Extra—Forger des Liens
(noun)
French for "forging links"

.

.

.

It was summer.

Blue sky, shining sun, a nice afternoon in early June. Shauna was sitting at the lunch table with your friends. Summer school—it was become a tradition of theirs as of last year, back when they'd first started high school. Tierno was taking a condensed biology course after flunking chemistry, on account of needing a science credit and thinking the experiments would be fun, only to sorely underestimate the amount of math and calculations required. Trevor had warned him, but Tierno hadn't listened, and Shauna and Calem had both teased him lightly when the school year ended. Trevor, meanwhile, was knocking out his art requirement by signing up for a photography course. His reasoning was that it was the least objectionable option and, because handling the dark rooms required a certain amount of caution, there was likely to a smaller number of idiots in that course. Basically, his plan was to take all his required courses early and then coast on electives for senior year, which, in Shauna's opinion, was kind of a smart move, but it only worked because Trevor had little to no involvement in extra curricular activities and was a grade A nerd in the studying department. Unlike her, who had her thumbs in the school paper, the cheer squad, and the party planning committee and she had the studying habits of a Pachirisu on caffeine.

Oh, and Calem was taking extra battle courses. Probably as preparation for the upcoming Journey, but Shauna still find it odd how insistent and adamant he was about them, training almost religiously every night. She'd know—she lived across the street from him and she could hear the sound of fire and water clashing, from where Alistair fired a Flamethrower to meet Hayami's Bubblebeam. The hiss of it sometimes kept her awake at night, but she could always drown it out with some Katy Perry blasting through her headphones.

Shauna? She wasn't taking any courses, not this year. She had in the past, but not this year. Mostly, she was here because she wanted to spend some time with her friends. She may be the sole girl in a group of guys—the only reason she joined the cheerleading squad was to make a bunch of girl friends in order to maintain herr femininity—and their overwhelming, testosterone-induced stupidity could drive her absolutely nuts sometimes, but they were her best friends in the world and it was only a matter of time before they all graduated and parted ways.

Not all of them were attending, but they all gathered there regardless, out of friendship and camaraderie and tradition. Back before they were labelled the quote unquote "Queer Crew" in middle school, and became one of their school's consistent topic of gossip—especially since Calem alone was practically a school celebrity, not that he'd ever admit it.

But today, Shauna huffed and pouted and swung her leg out restlessly underneath her as it dangled from the bench.

Because Calem was late.

He'd been getting more obsessive about his classes—showing up late because he'd been challenging the other students to casual battles. He always came back flushed and panting, mumbling apologies, and then he sat down and Shauna let it slide, because she knew he'd been fighting with his dad recently—he won't say what about, but given his family history, she heavily suspected that it was involved with his sudden decision to become a Trainer—and they would all chat with each other like nothing had ever happened.

It had been happening so often that it was practically a tradition now, this aberration from tradition.

"He'll be here," Tierno said in an attempt to comfort her. He really did have a way with platitudes, she thought with a sigh. "He's just running late."

Shauna knew he was. Calem always lost track of time when he got super invested in something. Normally, she could let it roll off her back, because that was just how he was. But today, she had news, and she was bursting at the seams, waiting to let if fly. She could admit to herself and everyone else that she'd never been good at keeping secrets.

Trevor tapped her insistently on the shoulder, jolting her from her thoughts. "He's here," Trevor said, and from the sound of his voice, he was even less pleased than she was.

Calem jogged over soon after, looking sheepish and a little out of breath. "Oh déesse, je suis tellement désolée je suis en retard, j'ai perdu la trace du temps—"

"Whoa, Cal." Shauna held her hands up urgently. "I don't speak Kalosian."

Calem winced, apologetic. "Right. Je suis désolé."

"Again—"

"Screw it, I'm sitting down," Calem interrupted, a little sharply. He'd evidently gotten tired of apologizing—and that was another thing that had changed. Cal had always had a temper, but his fuse had been getting shorter lately...

Well, with that out of the way, thus began to ritual of small talk.

"So," Tierno began. "Does anybody have any news—"

"Me!" Shauna shouted, leaping out of her seat. "Me, me, me!"

"Yes, Shauna?" Trevor asked dryly, in a way that reminded Shauna of her pinch-faced kindergarten teacher Mrs. Zarbs. God, she'd hated that woman, and she'd hated Shauna in turn.

Shauna sat back down, buzzing with anticipation from head to toe. "Okay, so my Mom talked to the Professor, recently, and you'll never guess—"

"Does this have anything to do with the chick that's been staying with him?" Calem interrupted.

Shauna's jaw dropped and she was stuck dumb for a second, mind going blank—and when it restarted, she was three parts shocked and one part upset. "What the hell, Cal? How did you even know?"

Calem arched a brow, looking blatantly unapologetic, like, what did you expect?. "Rena works with Sycomore, remember?"

"Oh." Right, yes, that made sense. Calem was really close to his cousin—they grew up together before he'd moved, and they still talked regularly over video chat—and it made sense that Serie would pass news along. "Yeah, um. It kinda. Involves that."

Trevor and Tierno exchanged a look before turning back to Shauna and Calem. "You guys wanna catch us up?" Trevor asked.

"The Professor has a family friend staying over," she explained. "Or, he's the family friend? She's family of one of his friends, I think. Anyway, she's our age—and I guess Serie mentioned it to Cal already. But anyway. I guess the lab's a little too crowded, y'know, with all the aides and the subjects and stuff, so... she's kinda... gonnabestayingatmyplace—"

"What!?" Trevor interrupted.

Shauna pressed her hands together in what, in Hoenn, was considered an apologetic gesture, but more closely resembled praying to the Kalosian eye. "It wasn't my idea. The Professor asked my Mom and she said yes, I figure we should just make the best of it, y'know?"

"How long do you think she'll be staying for?" Tierno asked her. She knew that he usually wasn't off put by new people, but this friend of the Professor's kinda messed up their plans for setting out on their Journeys after summer school ended.

"...'bout a week," she answered cautiously.

"Oh," Tierno said, and Calem and Trevor exchange a look of mutual relief. That was about the same time they were setting out.

Problem solved.

...problem not solved.

Shauna bit her lip. "And... she might be... kinda... coming with us..."

Trevor and Calem leaped from their seats in stunning unison. "What!?"

She winced, but she'd expected this. "She's a Trainer, apparently, and she's starting a Journey, here, I guess. Like... around the same time we are..."

"Are you kidding?" Trevor asked. He and Calem sunk back down into their seats.

Shauna winced at his tone, but she understood. This was supposed to just be the four of them, but four wasn't four when you add an extra person. "Look, guys, I know it's a bit of an imposition, but we can still make the best of it! I mean, the Professor says she's a vet, and she has a few years of experience under her belt. So, we can come to her if we ever have any questions."

"If I wanted advise, I'd ask Père," Calem drawled. "And at this point, he's practically shoving it down my throat."

Shauna arched a brow, but decided not to comment. That could wait. "Aren't you always saying you want a decent rival?"

Which, frankly, wasn't a commentary on her, Trevs, and Tierno. Cal was just inherently better at battling than the three of them. It was probably because he'd gotten basic lessons from his dad at a young age, and he and Serie used to compete when they were younger before Cal moved and Serie decided to become a researcher.

It still smarted a little, though—not that Shauna minded.

Calem snorted and looked irritated.

"She's from Kanto," Shauna singsonged, trying to make this foreigner sound more enticing as a rival and potential friend. After all, everyone knew that Kanto was the Trainer capital of the world.

"It's not like we can change the fact that she's coming," Tierno interrupted. "The only thing we can change is our attitudes."

"Oh my god," Trevs muttered, rolling his eyes. "You are such a dork."

"And you're a nerd," Calem quipped, coming to Tierno's defense so automatically that it was practically second nature.

Trevor wheeled around to glare at him. "Shut up! You're freakishly tall."

"Six feet is not freakishly tall."

"You're a freaking giant."

"And you're a midget."

"Fuck you."

"You first."

Shauna exchanged a look with Tierno and they both sighed. Something could be said about friends who could argue without really arguing, laugh and insult each other and yet know there was no spite to it. But Tierno and her were much more content with amicability.

"Boys," Tierno interrupted, amused. "Please. Save it for your wedding day."

They rounded on him immediately with a simultaneous "fuck you". She stifled a snort.

A thought suddenly hit her and she leaned in a little. "Hey, Calem?"

"What?"

"If she's pretty—this friend of the Professor's—you want me to set you guys up?"

Calem stared at Shauna with so much incredulous she had to wonder if he'd been blessed by the god of skepticism. He slow blinked. "Come again?"

"Set you up," Shauna repeated slowly. "Like, on a date. With sunsets and a romcom and stuff."

Calem blinked again.

She leaned back and placed her hands flat on the tabletop. "What part is tripping you up, Cal?"

That snapped him out of his stupor. He frowned. "Shauna, I'm not interested in dating anyone right now."

"Aw, c'mon."

"No."

"C'mon, Calem," she pressed. "I wanna see you happy!"

"I'm fine," Calem answered.

"Oh please," Tierno interjected with an eyeroll. "You swore off dating because of that nasty break-up with—"

"Don't," Calem growled, and no one said anything after that.

Shauna sighed. Last summer had seen them all in Lumiose, trying their hand at independence while support Serie in her internship with the Professor, still new then and unpaid and not yet promoted to an official aide. Trevor aside, with his adamancy to remain celibate, they all dabbled a little with romance. Tierno had casually dated at least twice before the season was out and autumn rolled around, and Shauna had found a dreamy agender painter named Avery with a Sinnohan accent that had made her melt. They'd whispered sweet nothings to her, called her their muse, and she remembered skipping work at the smoothie joint she'd been working at so often that Trevor—her fellow employee—had threatened to report her, friends or no. But eventually that had petered out too, leaving her wistful and fond and a little nostalgic, they way you feel when you think about summer fading into autumn.

It had been different for Calem, though. What had begun as a summer romance lasted when autumn came, turned long-distance in nature and for the most part remained stable—until abruptly breaking off when he'd gone to Lumiose for a visit during winter break, returning single and with a determination to stay that way for the near future.

Shauna didn't know what happened between them, and if she hadn't known any better, she'd have thought that his sudden change in attitude and newly developed assholery had been a result of the breakup. But Shauna did know better because that wasn't it. His shift in demeanor had long predated the breakup, and the relationship termination had only served to exacerbate Calem's already foul mood.

Honestly, Shauna just wanted to see him happy. To see him smile a little more often and little more easily, like he used to before he started pulling away and acting strangely. She wanted him to stop being so moody and withdrawn—and maybe cut his hair, because his bangs fell over his eye in a way that looked oddly emo.

She'd never say that, of course. He'd just deny it and shut down, like always did when he was pressed about a subject he didn't want to talk about.

About a week later, a sleek black car had shown up on Shauna's curb. She and Calem had been walking home—again, they lived nearby, so walking home together was rather standard, in a non-romantic, platonic-boy-girl-friend sort of way—and he was the one who pointed it out. Especially since Shauna's dad was there, talking with a lanky blonde man that looked vaguely familiar...

"Hey, isn't that Dexio?" Calem asked, stopping suddenly.

Shauna stopped too and took a closer look, squinting a little—and yeah, maybe? Dexio was the Professor's senior assistant and s PokéDex beta tester, and Serie had worked under him directly while she was just a nameless intern. Shauna had seen him maybe once when she'd first moved and she'd learned that her dad was an old student of the Professor's, so the man had felt obligated to help her family settle into Vaniville. She remembered Dexio had been there too, had even brought Mint along and that was how Shauna had first bonded with the Chespin. He'd been younger then, though, about the same age as she was now. She hadn't seen him in years, but Calem probably had. He and Trevor had both visited the labs on more than one occasion during last summer.

Another figure emerged from the car, this one with long, thick ebony hair that was either distinctly feminine or a dude in desperate need of a haircut.

"Oh!" Something clicked in Shauna's brain and an excited grin split her face as she turned to Calem. "That's probably my houseguest!"

Calem frowned. "Ah."

She huffed and looped her arm around his. "Oh don't be like that. C'mon, let's go over and introduce ourselves!"

But he untangled his arm from her and fixed her with a bored expression. "Yeah, no, I'm gonna head home. Evalynn's probably getting lonely."

"So?" Shauna never really understood the relationship between Calem and his stepmom. Maybe Calem didn't either. He never called her "mom" for one thing, but in his mind, that space was probably filled permanently, so.

"So when she gets lonely and there's nothing left to clean, she'll go through photo albums." Calem shuddered a little. "I can't have her looking at my baby pictures—not after last time."

"You mean where she accidentally took a selfie with the book in the photo?" She grinned while he grimaced. "Great Golems, that was hilarious."

"For you, maybe," he grumbled. "So I'm going to head back before I have to risk reliving that humiliation."

"Okay," she relented. "Bye!"

He offered her a quick wave before heading off.

She sighed and hiked her bag up a little higher on her shoulder, made her way home and tried to pretend she didn't feel a little lonely.

As it turned out, she'd arrived at the perfect time, according to her dad. He reintroduced her to Dexio—and yeah, she'd been right, it was him, point Shauna—and Dexio introduced Shauna to her temporary houseguest, a one Celestine Lavieaux.

The first thing Shauna noticed about Celestine was that she was tall. Like, six feet tall and taller thanks to those heels. Why was she wearing heels, anyway? Did she just like towering over people or what? Shauna had to tilt her head up to look at the newcomer, but she grew up around Calem and he was practically the same height as Celestine, not mention that Tierno was pretty close to Calem in terms of height, so looking up at people was nothing new.

The second thing Shauna noticed was that Celestine was pretty. Like, in a fashion magazine model sort of way, with curves in all the right places and an unsmiling mouth with deep, seductively blue eyes. She seemed to know it, too, because she wore jeans and a shirt with a neckline that dipped a little too low, but honestly, she was beautiful enough to have any guy (or girl? maybe?) without revealing to much skin. Her face alone would make anyone drool, beautiful in a traditional way, face set with high cheekbone and porcelain angles, and lots of long, thick black hair that really didn't look too Kantonian, honestly. In fact, the structure of Celestine's face was more New Continental in nature, something that even the oval shape of her eyes betrayed. Other than the dark hair, there really wasn't much oriental about Celestine at all. Which made Shauna wonder because, well, she was supposed to be Kantonian, right?

Lastly, it was her demeanor that Shauna noticed. While her dad and Dexio talked briefly—Dexio informing him that one of the Professor's assistants would be arriving in a week after Celestine's licensing situation was sorted and Shauna thought, He must mean Serie—Celestine made no attempt to engage. Not with Shauna, not with her dad, not with Dexio. She'd simply given her hosts a once over before letting her gaze wander around the space, her arms crossed over her chest like a set of chains over a locked treasure box with no key. She was so rigid, so distant and taciturn, her hair cascading down behind her, a curtain meant to conceal. The air around her made Shauna unsteady and strangely sad, for reasons she couldn't even begin to explain—she wanted to, though. Wanted to be able to explain and know and make the oddly morose air around the foreign girl dissipate.

"Hi," Shauna said in an attempt to start a conversation.

Celestine started a little, as if she'd forgotten Shauna was there. "Oh. Uh. Hi."

Oh, so that was where the Kantonian aspect came in. There was an inflection in her voice, a cadence that was distinctly foreign. Old Continental in nature.

Shauna smiled a little, trying to appear friendly and welcoming and everything sad people needed. "I'm Shauna—Shauna Gabena."

"Lavieaux Celestine," the other girl said stiffly. The 'l's sounded like 'r's, and her 's's curled elegantly. Very lovely sounding.

"Nice to meet you." Shauna tilted her head to the side, curiously. "Can I ask a question?"

Celestine hummed but didn't say "no".

"I heard you were Kantonian, but your name sounds Kalosian. How come?"

"My mother was from Kalos," Celestine said flatly. "She gave me a name that matched her origins."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

Celestine grunted.

Shauna shifted a little, because she didn't know what else to say. There was an air around this foreign girl that stifled conversation, that made you want to pull away and go warm your hands over a furnace, because yeesh, chilly as hell.

That didn't mean Shauna was going to stop trying, though. Ask anyone—she was persistent as hell.

"So, uh..." Shauna trailed off into a pensive hum. "Want to see your room?"

It piqued Celestine's interest, at the very least—if a slow blink and an actual acknowledgement of Shauna's existence could be counted as "interest". "Yeah. Yeah, okay. Sure."

Shauna's dad had just finished his sentence, asking how the Professor has been doing and how the research is going and, oh, how is young miss Serena doing?—when Shauna tapped him lightly on the arm.

"Hey dad? I'm gonna go show Celie her room, okay?"

Shauna's dad smiled at her, white teeth against tanned skin. "Of course, darling. Sounds like a great idea."

But Celestine blinked dumbly. "Celie?"

"Yeah." Shauna giggled a little at the other girl's blank expression. "It's your nickname."

"My... what?"

Shauna smothered a smile and started up the stairs. "C'mon, silly. Your room's a-waitin'."

"It's not like it's going anywhere," Celestine muttered, but followed nonetheless.

"Here it is!" Shauna announced with enough drama to earn her a commercial of some sort (she totally nailed it) as she opened the door. It was really just a small room, kinda cramped and mostly an extra space that was once home to all the moving boxes when Shauna's family had first arrived. For years, those boxes had stayed there, gathering dust, until recently when they'd all been moved to the garage to accommodate their temporary houseguest. "Sorry, it's kinda small though..."

Celestine poked her head in. "Oh. This is... nice."

That wasn't the word Shauna would use, but it was nice that Celestine was trying to be considerate.

Shauna lingered in the doorway like a shadow, waiting for Celestine to step into the room and examine it more thoroughly. When the other girl remained at Shauna's side, Shauna swung the door a little, trying to get a handle on her nervous energy at having a distant, gorgeous stranger so close.

"Sorry it's so cramped," Shauna apologized.

"It's not so bad," Celestine answered, and finally peeled off the door jam.

"Yeah, until you get all your luggage in."

"Oh." Celestine clasped her hands behind her back, and the view of what she looked like from behind was concealed by her hair. "I don't... have any."

Shauna tilted her head in confusion. "Any what?"

"Erm. Luggage."

Shauna blinked rapidly in amazement. People brought luggage to foreign places, that was just common sense. When you went places, you brought belongings. So this girl—was she saying she didn't bring her belongings, or that she simple hadn't any to bring, or both?

Something changed about the air, with Celestine standing in the center of the room and her hands clasped firmly behind her back, form concealed by a shiny black mane. Sunlight filtered in through the windows, tinted and stained by the silky drapes so it was colored green and blue instead of the usual warm yellow, casting tessellations of the curtains' patterns across the floor. Without the warm inflection in the light and knickknacks to fill up the room, it suddenly seemed skeletal, the faded blankets folded neatly on the old bed shoved in the corner wan and sickly looking, the dresser placed nearby too empty. And now, with this strange, guarded girl in the center, her shoulders tight and the air around her almost dead, Shauna was struck by an overwhelming sense of emptiness, and lack of something too great to name.

Now she knew what it was about Celestine that threw Shauna off so much—she seemed so... lonely.

Shauna was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to walk over to the other girl and touch her shoulder in a comforting manner, assure her that she doesn't have to be so alone.

But she restrained herself, because strangers didn't do that.

At the same time, though, she couldn't help but wonder, curiously, what was hiding under that sorrowful, solitary exterior with so few words and spacey gazes. It was probably someone who was scared, aching from loneliness, wishing for home—lost in a place that was so new and so different and where she knew nothing and no one.

Shauna kinda knew how that went.

She remembered being eight and sullen, new to a region that was much more formal and noble than free and easy Hoenn. She remembered how it took her about a year to first make a long-time friend, and months more to make two more. And that was okay, because these things took time. People had roots just like plants, but people's roots took longer to settle and anchor themselves into the ground, create a place where you can thrive instead of just exist.

But for Shauna, there had been no one there to help her acclimate to her new school and expedite the process of making friends, tear down the walls of shyness and loneliness so that you could find within yourself the courage to actually bond with other people. That was not the case this time, though.

Not this time.

"Hey." At the sound of Shauna's voice, Celestine started a little and glanced over her shoulder, blue eyes inquisitive. "You wanna meet Johnny?"

"Johnny?" Celestine repeated, turning fully to face Shauna. She unclasped her hands, letting them fall to their side.

"Mom's Rhyhorn," Shauna explained. "He's in a paddock in the backyard. Wanna see him?"

Celestine looked thoughtful for a few moments, idly admitting, "Well, I've never seen a racing Rhyhorn before..."

Shauna grinned brightly. "Great!" She grabbed Celestine by the wrist. "C'mon. I've even got some oats you can feed him!"

And then she was dragging Celestine down the stairs and out the door and into the sun.

Five days had passed since Celestine had arrived and she hadn't left the house—and Shauna was beginning to worry.

In addition to Celestine's seemingly chronic nightmares, the foreigner was extremely antisocial. Shauna had tried to push and prod, be as sunny and nice as Tierno had been when Shauna was gloomy and feeling aimless without the roots of her hometown—but Celestine always shrank away. It seemed like she was the opposite of Shauna's eight-year-old self, shying away from human contact like it was a deadly disease and Shauna was carrier. She seemed to find the idea of interacting with anyone to be an unnecessary component in the human experience and cutting it out of her life would ultimately enhance said human experience. Or maybe Celestine was just unable to properly navigate social situations—that seemed more likely—and just didn't want to bother with it.

Well, screw that.

Shauna knew Celestine would really enjoy Vaniville, so long as the foreigner gave it a chance as Shauna had nine years ago. Each day, she made an attempt to drag Celestine out from the sanctuary of her room. So far, Shauna had yet to be successful in getting Celestine to leave the neighborhood.

Today, she was trying a different approach.

Shauna threw the door open, and it banged so hard against the wall she was legitimately surprised it didn't leave a crack in the wall. "If you come with me right now to Aquacorde High, I promise I'll convince Mom and Dad to get some Kantonian food for dinner tonight."

Celestine—who had up until then been lying on the bed with the curtains drawn, creating deep pools of shadows despite the fact that it was almost noon, and staring listlessly at the wall—glanced up sharply at Shauna's sudden appearance. "...should I ask?"

"I want you to meet my friends," Shauna explained. While the idea of setting Celestine and Calem up had vanished the moment she'd seen how absolutely frigid this other girl was (didn't stop Cal from avoiding her house like the plague, though, in case she might still be entertaining the notion), but that didn't mean she still didn't want them to meet.

Celestine rolled her eyes and let her head fall against the pillow again.

"C'mon, Celie," Shauna begged, knowing full well that Celestine was not fond of the nickname but using it anyway. "I know you've been craving some Kantonian food. You've complained enough."

Celestine grunted.

"You know how persuasive I can be." Shauna arched a brow. "You scratch my back, I scratch yours."

"What is your obsession with getting me to meet people," Celestine muttered. It was probably meant as a question, but it sounded less like one.

Shauna thought about that for a moment. "I think it would be good for you."

The eye roll Celestine made was loud enough to fill the room.

"Five minutes, tops," Shauna pleaded.

Well, no one could deny how insistent Shauna could be, and Celestine seemed to realize that, because she sat up slowly with colossal sigh. "Fine. But you'd better make good on that promise. I've been craving teriyaki chicken for ages."

Shauna grinned. She knew she might be pushing a little, but honestly, it was for good reason. Being around people who were genuinely nice and caring and comforting was one of the quickest and easiest ways to establish connection, and that was the best way to make loneliness abate. And Celestine might not realize it, but Shauna was helping, in the best way she knew how. And she wanted to help because she understood, to some extent. There had been a time when, in the depths of loneliness and its throes of depression, that she had convinced herself she was fine with being alone.

But no one was fine with being alone and Shauna knew that. So she would get Celestine to meet her friend, because it was a good thing, and she was certain, at the time, that nothing could go wrong.

Her heart had been in the right place, at least.

Author's Note:

More teenage drama.

Celestine is kinda nasty to Shauna in the beginning, and while she is warming up to Shauna, I just wanted to explain why Shauna keeps being nice to Celestine despite her dismissive attitude. I dunno. I felt like writing something with Shauna. I'm really starting to like her character, honestly.

And I absolutely adore Calem and Trevor's dynamic—they kinda bag on each other but in a loving sort of way, all friendly teasing a stuff. Most of it involved height and grades, though, because Calem is way taller than Trevor and Cal used to have Trevor tutor him when they were kids. They're both kinda competitive and I love them to death.

Super excited for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, btw, and I'm definitely purchasing UM (is that okay to use?) and there's a high chance I'm going to Nuzlocke it.

Calem's French bit:
"Oh déesse, je suis tellement désolée je suis en retard, j'ai perdu la trace du temps", directly translates to "Oh goddess, I'm so sorry I'm late, I lost track of time", a la Google Translate.

Really not much else to say here, so, until next time
Luna out