I walk quietly through the hallway of Team Plasma's Castle, both awed and disgusted by how beautiful it is. They have people working so hard they're practically skeletons at the stupid factories, and here everyone is all fat and lazy! It's injustice.
Suddenly, as I pass a wooden door, something grabs my hand and whirls me around. I find myself face to face with – shudder – N.
"Hey, beautiful," he greets me with a smirk, as his face inches closer and closer to mine. I do NOT like where this is going. As he leans forward, I tilt myself backward so my face stays away from his and scramble in my purse for a Pokeball. I grab the first one I find and click it open between me and N.
My Tympole pops out and – it's ridiculously hard for me to keep from laughing – N ends up kissing it instead. To Tympole's credit, it looks just as disgusted as N does.
"Why did you do that?" he splutters, wiping his mouth repeatedly.
"Don't ever try that again," I warn him, kneeing him in the stomach, flipping him around and grabbing his hands with one of mine. Then I open the door that's right next to me – it's filled with coats and mothballs, so I'm assuming it's a closet – and shove N inside.
I lock the door and return to Tympole to its Pokeball with a quick thank you.
"Guess I'll see you later, Plasma King … or not." Flipping my long brown hair over my shoulder, I continue down the hallway as though nothing has happened.
Of course, I barely get two steps before three barely-visible guys show up and surround me so I can't move. They kind of look like ghosts, but unlike PROPER ghosts, I can't walk right through them.
"Well, you aren't supposed to be here," one of them says.
"So kindly move along and then I'll go," I reply.
"Laugh," says one and I give it a WTF look. "We can't actually laugh," he explains. "So that's what we do when something's funny."
"Okay, freak-shows, who the fuck are you?" I demand.
"The Shadow Triad," they say together. "And we aren't freak-shows, we're special," adds the one on my left.
"Okay, you're special freaks," I agree. "Now give me some room to walk, would you?"
Before they can say anything, N, who seems to have the world's worst timing, starts banging on the closet door. "Touko!" his muffled voice yells out. "I know you're there! Let me out!"
"What was that?" the Shadow Triad member in front of me asks, giving me a suspicious look.
"Nothing ..." I lie.
"Oh please, we're not stupid. We aren't going to believe you," snorts the Shadow Triad on my right. "So, what was that?"
I get on the defensive. "How the hell should I know? You three are the ones who live in this castle, not me!" Then I pull out my pepper spray and point it at them threateningly. "I'm not afraid to use this. Ask anyone."
They look at the can of pepper spray and then each other. "Laugh," says the one directly in front of me. "She thinks she can take us out with a can."
I don't hesitate to shake the can and unleash the pepper spray on them. They scream in agony and start rolling on the floor – but not in laughter.
I crack up. "Don't underestimate the power of pepper spray," I tell them, stepping over their bodies and finally continuing all the way down the hall.
I keep walking and walking, since this hall seems to never end. My feet are actually getting pretty tired, and seeing how much walking I've done since I ran away from Nuvema Town, this is so not normal. I can't believe there hasn't been one single door in this hallway since the closet that I locked N in.
Just as I think that, I see a door. It's been spray-painted pink which is incredibly tacky and way too girly for my taste. Of course, since the alternative is to keep walking down the hall with no other doors in sight, I open it and slip in.
"N? Is that you?" a high, lilting voice asks and a girl maybe my age appears in front of me. She has long pink hair, even longer than mine, and is wearing the poofiest, sparkliest pink dress I've ever seen in my life. It goes all the way to the floor.
"Oh," she says, giving me the once-over and wrinkling her nose like there's something wrong with me. "You're not N."
"No shit, Sherlock," I reply, rolling my eyes.
"Who are you, then?" she demands.
"Who are you?" I retort, though I'm kind of surprised she doesn't know me. You'd think Team Plasma would educate all its members of the girl who most threatened their whole plan. But I guess not.
"I'm Anthea," she replies in a voice that indicates I should probably know who she is. But she's not that important to me, so I just shrug.
"You don't know me?" Anthea cries shrilly. "But I'm – I'm -"
"Anthea," I finish for her. "Yeah. I got that."
"Well, aren't you rude," she sniffs, smoothing down her ridiculous pink hair. I can't help wondering if that's the real color, or if she dyed it to match her dress. Suddenly, she lets out a gasp. "Oh! I do know you! You're Touko White, the nasty rebel girl."
"Thanks," I reply sarcastically. "But I suppose that's me."
"Well, get out of here," she says. "Before I call King N in on you."
I snort in laughter. "Yeah, like he's smart enough to get himself out of that closet."
"Excuse me?" asks Anthea, looking puzzled.
I say "Never mind" quickly and she purses her lips. "So what do you do with your life?" I ask
her finally, since I doubt she'll let me leave freely and the last thing I want is to wrestle a girl in a freaky dress.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Anthea asks suspiciously, as though I'm trying to spy on her private life.
"Just, you know, what do you do all the time?" I rephrase. "Like, no offense or anything, but you don't seem like a Pokemon Trainer."
"No one is a Pokemon Trainer," she hisses at me. "That's illegal."
"Doesn't seem to stop Team Plasma from raising Pokemon," I point out, causing her to turn red out of anger. "I happen to be one myself."
"Oh?" she replies, raising an eyebrow. "Well, they must be tired by now. All that battling you must have done just to be here – and more Grunts will be coming, along with the Seven Sages. There's no way your Pokemon can last that long."
"What are you trying to say?" I ask cautiously.
"Nothing, really," Anthea replies, with a smug smile I am just itching to wipe off her face. "It's just … I know how to heal Pokemon and get them well-rested in a short amount of time."
No way. There's no way I can honestly be so lucky that I found someone who'll heal up Pokemon. And Anthea seems so bitchy. Is she really offering to help me now?
I dig around in my purse for my Pokeballs. I hold them out for Anthea.
"Would you …?"
She laughs cruelly. "Aw, you fell for it. I would never heal your Pokemon. I only do that for Team Plasma – most especially King N."
Of course there was a catch for this. Nothing is ever this easy. I glare at that bitch Anthea, feeling my anger towards her and Team Plasma in general building up inside me.
"Oh, fuck yes you're healing my Pokemon," I threaten her, locking the door to the hallway shut. "Or else I'll get my Pokemon to use an attack on you, or I'll pepper spray you. Or both. Here's a hint." I lower my voice and whisper menacingly, "It'll probably be both."
"You wouldn't," Anthea retorts, but I can see she looks really freaked out. I was right in thinking that she wasn't a Pokemon Trainer. She has no defenses.
"Trust me, pepper spray burns," I add with a devilish smile. "Just ask the Shadow Triad."
Her eyes widen in fear and she takes a step back. "You took down the Shadow Triad!?" Tentatively, Anthea holds her hand out in front of me. "Give me your Pokemon."
I hand them to her, not worried in the slightest. She heals them and gives them back, muttering nasty things at me under her breath, though I can still hear every word.
I stick the Pokeballs carefully back into my purse and unlock the door to head back into the hallway. Instead of saying goodbye or thank you to Anthea, I give her the middle finger behind my back and head back out.
Anthea slams the door shut behind me.