THIRTEEN
Although it was not what he had intended to retrieve, Augustine pulled a beaten-looking spiral notebook out of his desk's file cabinet once he noticed it was in there. This notebook, which had been in pristine condition a year ago, was now wrinkled and marked with coffee stains and a long black scar running diagonally down the front cover. The pages inside contained notes and pictures documenting how he and Serena raised his Garchomp, starting the day after a Gible followed him home from outside Coumarine City.
He flipped through the notebook, skimming over log entries written by both himself and Serena, spending slightly more time on her entries so he could trace his fingers over the small, neatly-lettered words she had imprinted on the page, trying to feel some connection with her. On the page opposite of one log entry was a picture of Augustine trying to teach Gible to play catch; the ball had sailed right over Gible's head, and the Pokemon was looking up with his mouth wide open in an attempt to catch it. She had captioned: "Good thing he decided to become a scientist and not a professional ball player!"
The caption made him chuckle, but then he felt a twinge of longing. His work for the Department required very long days, leaving precious little time for his own research, and the time he set aside to spend with Serena was slowly dwindling. In the past weeks, any evenings the two of them did spend together began later at night and usually resulted in an overnight stay by one of them. He had now left a spare set of pajamas at Serena's apartment, and she had left one at his.
Tonight, in particular, he hoped she didn't resent him too much for having to suddenly cancel plans to have dinner with her and her friends when Teleurac called him into work. At that moment, Teleurac was probably finishing up his address to the public, giving them statistics about cleaner air and water that were greatly embellished and not at all what the Professor had said they were, and lying to everybody about what was being built in Centrico Plaza.
The lab was kept open and not shut down for being too big a drain on power, but the price Augustine paid was his compliance in the suffering and death of countless Pokemon. He may not have been administering the electrical shocks himself, but he stood by and let it happen as he recorded and analyzed data, telling himself that at least now the Pokemon were no longer kept in cages and had plenty to eat as they waited their turn for experimentation. However, none of that justified what was being done to those Pokemon, or why, and the scant information he had gathered on Teleurac's true plans was hardly worth it to him.
On the day before Christmas Eve, Augustine arrived at his office and walked with dragging feet to his desk. He stuck his hand in his pocket and fumbled around for a bit until his fingers grabbed hold on a small box, and he pulled it out and looked at it. He hadn't done the best job of wrapping it – or tying the ribbon on top of it – but in his sleepy distracted mind, he thought the contents would be an acceptable Christmas present for Serena.
He set the box on his desk, next to the framed picture of him with his parents. From there, he turned his attention to his computer and pulled up the spreadsheets he had been working on last night, quickly reviewing the data before sending them to Aliana. The rest of the morning was spent browsing the internet or recording a "Just been thinking about you and hoping you're having a good day" message for Serena before his meeting later that afternoon.
The sound of heels walking on tile floor caught his attention, and he looked up to see Diantha approaching his desk. She was wearing her usual flowing, winged coat, and a sparkly red beret sat on top of her head, covering almost all of her pixie cut.
"Diantha, hello!" he said cheerfully, suppressing a yawn.
"Bonjour, Augustine! I thought I would drop by on my way to City Hall," said Diantha as she rounded the desk to his chair. She stooped over and exchanged the customary Kalosian greeting with him. "We barely see each other anymore."
"That's right – you just got back from filming that TV show in Sinnoh, didn't you?" asked Augustine; he noticed her glancing at the open browser window on his computer, which was on a website for planning weekend getaways.
"Oui, mon ami. I have been working very hard, unlike someone," Diantha smirked as she nodded towards his computer.
Augustine's cheeks grew pink, and he closed the browser hastily. "I don't have anything to do until a meeting with my colleagues at one, where we'll be discussing the next phase of our project. Which, coincidentally, is also at City Hall. What time is it?"
Diantha checked her watch. "Eleven thirty. Care to grab lunch on the way?"
"I'd love that," said Augustine. He powered down his computer, patted his pockets to make sure everything was in place, and then his eyes fell on the little wrapped box. Although he knew that the lab assistants and staff were not ones to run off with things, he still stashed it away in his desk drawer, feeling it would be more secure there.
"What was that?" asked Diantha curiously.
"A, uh, Christmas present," said Augustine; he then realized that Diantha didn't know about him and Serena.
"For whom?" she pressed.
"For . . . Serena," admitted Augustine, "We've been dating for two months now."
"Really?" Diantha said as he stood up. She sounded intrigued and excited. "You and her? Cute! I guess there aren't any young men her age who can keep up with her emotionally and intellectually."
"There are thirty-three-year-olds that have a hard time keeping up with her," Augustine informed his friend. "I should know. I'm one of them."
Diantha had planned to go to City Hall to apply for a Pokemon Breeding license, so she intended to part ways with Augustine at the front entrance. Instead, she and Augustine ran into Teleurac in the foyer.
"Professor, your timing is impeccable!" Teleurac said to Augustine as the two men shook hands. However, he soon caught sight of Diantha, and his eyes widened in awe and reverence.
"Good afternoon, Governor," said Diantha cordially, nodding her head slightly.
"Madame Diantha! An honor to see you again!" Teleurac floated over to Diantha and took hold of one of her hands. He raised her hands up to his lips and kissed her fingertips. "What brings you to City Hall today, ma belle?"
"I am applying to be a Pokemon Breeder," answered Diantha. "I have a young niece who desperately wants her own Ralts, but they are so hard to come by in the wild these days!"
Augustine's eyes flickered briefly over to Teleurac, and he wished he could tell Diantha what had become of all the wild Ralts.
"A worthwhile endeavor, Pokemon Breeding. Madame, before you go about that, would you care to accompany us to the board room? I am sure you will find the scientific research we have planned quite interesting."
"I would, thank you." Diantha grinned.
Flashing his usual crooked grin, Teleurac placed his hand on Diantha's shoulder and guided her towards the elevator, with Augustine following behind them. During the ride up, Augustine noticed how Teleurac would look up and down Diantha's body, his eyes lingering a little too long on her chest and her legs. Diantha glanced at Teleurac, seeming to notice, but then looked straight ahead at the closed elevator door.
"You are like a classic work of art, Diantha," said Teleurac smoothly. "Photographs do not do you justice. One must see you in person to fully appreciate your beauty."
"Thank you," said Diantha stiffly. She turned her torso away from him slightly, and Augustine could see on her face how the attention was making her uncomfortable.
"Are you familiar with what the Department of Environmental Sustainability is undertaking in order to provide Kalos with clean, renewable energy?" Teleurac continued.
"No, I am not," replied Diantha as she looked over to Augustine with pleading eyes.
"It's simple, really," began Augustine, picking up on her cue. "See –"
"Allow me to explain, Professor," Teleurac interrupted him, holding up a hand as he spoke. At that moment, the elevator door opened to reveal a long hallway. The three of them stepped out onto the plush green carpet and began walking down the hallway.
"As a Pokemon Trainer, you know that each Pokemon has power and strengths that humans do not have. Our team of scientists at the Department, who are currently consulting with Professor Sycamore here, hope to capture some of the innate energy in each Pokemon and use it to power our lives. There have been bumps on the road, though, as a few Pokemon have not survived testing. We have determined that those Pokemon with higher Special Attack ratings and higher Special Defense ratings provide the greatest energy output and are the hardiest, respectively. Ideally, we could maintain a group of powerful, sturdy Pokemon that could each provide us with energy over their entire lifespans."
"That's fascinating!" Diantha said. Although Teleurac smiled at the display of enthusiasm on her part, Augustine had been friends with her long enough to know when she was being sincere and when she was putting her acting skills to use. This was a moment when he believed she was not at all impressed with what Teleurac had to say.
"I thought you would be intrigued," said Teleurac as he opened a door into his office and held it open so Diantha and Augustine could go inside.
The clock hanging on the wall over his liquor cabinet showed that it was twelve forty-five, fifteen minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin. As Teleurac approached his liquor cabinet, his Holo Caster began to beep. He answered the call, and the holographic image of a square-jawed woman with her hair in a sleek updo materialized.
"President Oria! What a pleasant surprise," Teleurac greeted his caller.
"Cut the crap, Alexandre," snapped Oria. "I got a transmission of the address you gave your constituency last night. You may be able to fool your citizens like that, but I'm still not convinced something fishy isn't afoot."
Diantha and Augustine exchanged looks.
"I don't see how this is any of your business," said Teleurac bluntly. "If there was a problem with corruption in Kalos, I would have dealt with it already."
"It is my business when Unovian journalists go missing in Lumiose City," responded Oria. "They were there to report on your new conservation policies and other changes to civil liberties happening in Kalos, and their news station loses contact with them three days after they arrive in your region."
"If you like, I could launch an investigation," said Teleurac diplomatically.
"Stop skirting the issue, Alexandre. My cabinet thinks there's an oncoming human rights catastrophe in Kalos."
"A human rights catastrophe? Why? Because a few people get arrested for disorderly conduct? Because musicians and artists are having their work censored because said work is deemed not suitable for public consumption? Because my administration listens in on the occasional Holo Caster message? . . . My goal is the safety and security of all citizens of Kalos, in addition to making sure that there is still a Kalos for future generations to enjoy. A few unruly dissidents or inappropriate artists cannot be allowed to let their selfish ambitions risk our regional unity and strength." Teleurac struggled to keep his voice even, but every now and then his annoyance and offense cracked through.
"Regional strength and unity? That doesn't excuse what you're doing to your citizens," commented Oria.
"I don't tell you how to govern Unova, so don't tell me how to govern Kalos!" snapped Teleurac. "When I visited Castelia City some years ago, I saw the homeless begging for scraps of food, while the wealthy stuffed their faces. The crime rate was high, and the smog was so thick – how is there anyone in that city who doesn't have cancer? You should worry about fixing your own problems before you go commenting on mine!"
"We are working on environmental efforts here in Unova, but they're just not as extreme as yours. People need to gradually ease into this kind of thing," said Oria, trying to stay calm.
"But by the time you've nicely eased into it, it could be too late," objected Teleurac. "Is that what you will tell your grandchildren when they have no clean water or air? That you had to think of the people who couldn't adjust to change quickly enough?"
"You're starting to sound ridiculous, Governor."
"Perhaps the world would be better off without Unova!" shouted Teleurac.
Stunned silence filled the room.
"I hope that wasn't a threat. You know I don't respond well to them," said Oria indignantly.
"I await your response, President," sneered Teleurac before he ended the call. He looked up at Augustine and Diantha, allowing them to see the fury and frustration in his eyes.
"That call . . . you did not hear it. Understand?"
Augustine and Diantha both nodded obediently.
"Oria . . . always poking her nose where it doesn't belong. Anyway, it's one o'clock, so I guess we can officially begin our meeting, Professor." He looked to Diantha. "It was a pleasure seeing you again, Diantha. Would you care to join me for dinner tonight?"
"That's kind of you, Governor, but I already made plans with Drasna," declined Diantha.
"Oh, but I insist!"
"Then perhaps some other time," said Diantha coolly as she walked to the door. She turned to look at Augustine once more. "You must come for New Years' dinner, Augustine. Siebold will be preparing a feast! Bring Serena, too."
"All right. I'll call you about it later," said Augustine.
With one last wave to her friend, Diantha exited Teleurac's office. Teleurac's gaze lingered on the door for a while before he opened his liquor cabinet.
"Before you begin, Governor, I have a question for you," said Augustine, lacing his fingers together and twiddling his thumbs nervously.
"I'm listening," said Teleurac as he poured some brandy into a small glass.
"What exactly is being built in Centrico Plaza? I know the device itself is inside Prism Tower, and is attached to it, but – I don't know what it does."
"Why do you need to know what it does?" asked Teleurac critically.
"I . . . just . . . would like to be fully informed if I'm going to work for you. I want to be sure that these, erm, ethically questionable procedures being performed on our Pokemon are justifiable." Augustine used his firmest tone of voice, hoping to project confidence even though he knew it was likely he would be shot down.
Teleurac scoffed. "When I deem it fit that you know, I will tell you. Anyway, onto business, shall we?"
Feeling utterly dejected, Augustine nodded.
"The next phase of your project is relatively simple," began Teleurac. "It starts next week – I'm giving you a small vacation for Christmas. What you will be doing is meeting with a Pokemon Trainer by the name of Bernard Lecroux. After he was discovered to be illegally possessing Pokemon that we confiscated from him, he faced the choice to either go to prison or to assist us in our research."
"What will I be doing with him?" asked Augustine uneasily. He thought of how shattered Serena would be if she knew that Bernard was in trouble again.
"I want you to teach him to use Mega Evolution."
Augustine gulped. "Sir, with all due respect, I research Mega Evolution. I am no expert at using it, and I have only accomplished it once."
"With your Garchomp? I know. But you know how it is done, and you can show Monsieur Lecroux how to do it with his Medicham," said Teleurac before he took a sip of his drink. "This is the reason you are on board, Professor. We can capture plenty of energy from Pokemon such as Alakazam or Porygon-Z, but think of how much we could get from an Alakazam that is Mega-Evolved! I want Bernard's Medicham to be used for preliminary testing of Mega-Evolved Pokemon, to see how much more they have to offer us."
Augustine stuck his hands in his pockets to hide how sweaty and clammy they were becoming. Instead of directly stating his displeasure with the idea, of telling Teleurac how he felt that using Mega-Evolved Pokemon in such a way was a slap in the face to what he had dedicated his life to, he let his glare at Teleurac communicate all of that.
"I know you're not thrilled, Augustine, but you're hardly in a position to refuse. It would be such a poor way to repay me, now that I've made sure that the Pokemon in our facility have open spaces to live in and enough to eat and drink. Besides, this is all for the greater good!" Teleurac took another drink. He reached over to his desk and picked up a sealed envelope.
"Before you meet with the Abra that will transport you to the lab, I want you to deliver this to the Looker Bureau. It's a little case for young Mademoiselle Emma to solve – apparently this criminal gang from Kanto, Team Rocket, has been spotted in Kalos. I need her to look into it."
"Have they really?" a skeptical Augustine asked.
"No, but I have people laying out clues and a convincing trail for her to follow . . . Serena's not the only one who likes to snoop around, apparently." Teleurac handed Augustine the envelope.
With a sigh, Augustine turned to leave.
When he was done in the Team Flare lab that night, it was almost eleven-thirty. He fully intended to go home and go straight to sleep, but Serena had left him a message earlier that evening inviting him over if he had the time. He called her back to see if the invitation still stood.
Luckily for him, it did.
"From now on, you can just come over whenever you want," Serena told him as he lay his head in her lap, enjoying the way her hand felt as it cradled his head and her thumb stroked his cheek.
"You don't have a spare key, though," he said, tilting his head to the side to lean into her hand.
"I can get one made. I'll wrap it up in a little box and give it to you for Christmas," said Serena as she began to comb her fingers through his hair.
"Sounds like a great Christmas present." Augustine smiled faintly.
"Oh, you'll be getting another present. It'll be much better," said Serena as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Augustine's tired face lit up.
"We've been nice all year. It's time to be a little naughty, don't you think?" Serena added, trying to sound seductive, but she soon broke into a fit of embarrassed giggles.
"Didn't your mother invite me to Christmas dinner this year?" Augustine reminded her as he blushed furiously and started laughing as well.
"Yes, but we're not spending the night in Vaniville." Serena leaned in so her face was closer to his.
Augustine's laughter moved seamlessly into a yawn.
"He gave me this next week off," he mentioned.
"That's nice of him," said Serena. She looked away from him and stared at the blank television, her mind likely thinking bitter thoughts about Teleurac. At the same time, she dragged her fingers out of his hair and held her hand to her chest, clenched up in a fist.
After a moment in which neither of them spoke, Augustine sat up and arranged himself so that he was seated on the couch next to her. "Serena, what's wrong?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Nothing. Sorry. I just got to thinking about . . . things."
"What things? Tell me." Augustine implored, cupping one of her cheeks and turning her head to face him. He told himself that eventually she would be broken of this habit, of pretending nothing was wrong when something was clearly on her mind.
"It's dumb, and I shouldn't bring this up because you're tired and stressed . . ." Serena paused expectantly and watched him, hoping he'd leave it alone. However, Augustine gave her a look that invited her to continue.
Serena sighed.
"I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this."
Augustine's heart sank. Surely she didn't mean what he thought she meant.
"I'm not talking about us!" Serena added reassuringly, grabbing his hands and bringing them down to rest in her lap. "Believe me, Augustine, you make me happy. But it drives me up the wall that we keep going about our lives, work and school and our stay-in dates, while Teleurac's plotting something dastardly for Kalos, and there's not much we can do about it. You have to see Pokemon suffer each day, and you don't even know why – I don't know how you're keeping it together."
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead, closing his eyes tight to keep in the tears that were forming. Of course he had never told her about his occasional sleepless nights, or how when he did sleep he was often visited by nightmares filled with the cries of dying Pokemon. She also didn't know how staring into his own reflection was starting to repulse him, or how he would never work in science again if it meant he could put an end to Teleurac's plans.
"I'm not," he said, his voice soft and strained. He inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of her hair. Serena let go of his hands, and he felt her hands slide their way up his sides and onto his back, and she pulled herself closer to him to embrace him tightly. He hugged her back, allowing his head to rest in the crook between her neck and shoulder. The comforting sensation of her fingers combing through his hair soon followed.
Not much could have ruined the moment, but Augustine did as he yawned. It had escaped before he tried to shut his mouth and keep it in.
"Come on, sleepyhead," said Serena as she pushed the two of them apart. Taking him by the hand, she led him into her bedroom and sat him down on the bed.
"Is Christmas coming early?" asked Augustine, yawning again.
"No it isn't." Serena went to her closet and pulled out a gray T-shirt and plaid pajama pants. "Here," she said as she tossed them to him. Augustine slowly changed clothes, taking off the microphone that was taped to his chest and setting the battery pack on the nightstand. He extended the wire and draped it over the bedframe so it hung directly over the pillows.
Serena wanted to ask him why Teleurac was still making him wear that thing, but instead she pointed to it and shook her head in exaggerated disapproval. Augustine shrugged, and then covered his eyes while Serena changed into her own pajamas: a pink camisole and pajama pants with a repeating Pokeball pattern.
She walked over to the bed and pulled the covers back, allowing Augustine to crawl underneath them. Her bed was long enough to accommodate how much taller he was than her, but it was narrow enough that two people could only share it if they got cozy. Serena climbed into bed, turned off the lamp on her nearest nightstand, and curled up next to him so that her head lay on his shoulder and a hand rested lazily on his chest.
"We stay over at each other's places so often," Augustine noted, speaking softly into her hair. "Maybe we should just . . . erm . . . you know." He felt Serena shift slightly, propping herself to look up at him. His stomach dropped; she must have caught on to what he was trying to ask her, and he had no way of telling how she was going to respond.
"Dammit, Augustine. I was going to ask you about that at the end of February. Assuming we're still together by then, of course."
"The end of February? That's oddly specific, and a ways off," said Augustine as he drew his arm around her shoulders.
"That's when those fancy new condos on South Boulevard will be put on sale. We can look at those, spend a couple of months looking at other places, and have more than enough time to learn if we can actually live together. I want to, but I know it could make or break our relationship."
"You're right, cherie." Augustine gave her a gentle kiss. "It's smart to not rush . . . ." his sentence was interrupted as a large yawn escaped his mouth.
"We can talk about this later. Right now, you need to go to sleep," said Serena; she sounded excited, but also tired herself. After the two of them shared a good-night kiss, Serena drew the covers over the both of them and settled in before closing her eyes for the night.
The combination of the dark room, the soft pillow under his head, and Serena's warmth snuggled up next to him was enough to start lulling Augustine to sleep. He concentrated on how soft Serena's hair was under his fingers, and how she smelled faintly of vanilla and lavender, and how her heart was almost beating in time with his. Thoughts of their first Christmas together – happiness, food, exchanging gifts - were almost enough to drive away images of electrocuted and burned Pokemon from his mind's eye as he dreamed that night. His last thought before drifting away into sleep was a wish: for him and Serena to be able to leave their worries behind; and for them to lay next to one another, as they were doing then, forever.