- N - = Nicky's part

- J - = my part

Chapter 023 - Type compatibility!

- N -

"Gym Leaders and E4 members are also powerful trainers and they don't have pokédex, if you think about it! Being strong doesn't have to equal to having a pokédex'."

Brown had to admit, there was something to that. Morganite was sounding like quite the conversationalist. She wasn't too sure about what she felt about her own pokedex – it itself was the symbol that she had a family in the ranks of the other holders, but she'd never thought of it as a symbol of power.

"Moreover, I don't need a device to prove I'm strong! I know Pink's bro, Red, who suffered a huge crisis just because he didn't have his pokédex. Don't you think it's pretty sad? Relying on a device like that..."

"I've never met Red," Brown noted. "But I can't imagine living without my pokedex, either. I guess that is pretty sad."

She gave a tiny chuckle, her face now interested in her shoes. "It's not just about showing the world how strong you are – my pokedex isn't supposed to be some sort of sign that I'm gifted beyond belief or anything – Arceus knows I'm about as talented as a rock – but it's a sign that I… I belong somewhere. Being able to tell what's attacking us helps, too, I guess, but feeling like you have a family? I like that more than anything!"

Rodent skittered off her shoulders and onto a nearby railing, Brown leaned her backside against it. "So, you're Red's… uh…" She counted with her fingers, "…sister in law once removed or something?" She laughed. "That's a mouthful… Anyway, what's he like? I keep hearing all these rumours about how he's strong enough to move a mountain and stuff. Have you seen him? Oh, what's Pink like? I know she's a lot louder than he is. She's pretty famous, too. Then again, so are most of the dexholders."

"Hey, Steph, seeing your personality, I'm surprised that you're friends with Amy. She's so... uh, don't get me wrong, I'm fond of her, but she's always so serious, always trying to act correctly -so boring!"

Brown laughed loud enough for several miners to turn towards them both.

"Weeelll… I don't know Amy much, to be honest," Brown admitted. "I just met her yesterday. She's a really really really powerful trainer, so I made her teach me. I'm going to challenge Roark and Rodent and I need all the help we can get."

"Raticate!" Rodent agreed, sparking tiny flames from his fur in excitement.

"You're definitely right – she's way too serious. She ought to take things easy, take a couple risks here and there. Like… saaay… that Riley fellow. She does like him, right? It's kinda obvious… but I could be wrong." She shrugged. "It's like Gold would say: 'If you spend all your life on solid ground, you'll never learn to fly'."

She smiled, remembering her old mentor back in Jhoto. Hadn't Gold been the one to make her all obsessed with collecting badges in the first place?

"Which reminds me," She continued. "Are you going to fight Roark for the Coal badge? You seem really really really strong, plus you got a Nuzleaf – that type advantage could work out pretty well for you, Moorgaaaniiiite..."

She paused, not liking the way the name flowed out of her mouth. She clicked her tongue, lolling it, testing the name, before finally shrugging.

"You know what? Morganite's a mouthful," She laughed. "Do you have a nickname? Morgan? Momo?"

"Riririr," Rodent laughed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"It's a pity."

Serena laughed. "Yeah, I'll miss Sinnoh," She sighed wistfully. "I've met a lot of interesting people here."

"Ms. Brown is still very young. You can't expect from her a mature, serious personality. When I was her age, I was certainly a bit more serious, but not so much as I am now. I'm 24, after all."

Serena nodded. "True, but when I was a teenager, I at least had some manners. That kid is just plain tactless!" She stopped, realising she was insulting one of Amy's friends right before her face. Trying to change the subject she added. "So… you're twenty-four? You're even younger than me! I thought you were a little older, to be honest. Maybe twenty-seven, like Roark. You're really mature like he is."

True, Amy was a little on the… short… side, but Serena was never one to judge a person's maturity on something as superficial as his height. Besides, Roark was pretty short himself. She was almost taller than he was.

She listened enraptured as Amy told her how she'd met Riley, giggling when she discovered Amy had been taught by Riley to cook.

"Really?" She bit her lip, amused. "I didn't think he'd know how to cook! Well, I've never met a man who could!"

"I'm sorry, I think I'm boring you... I guess you expected a more interesting story, but it's just what I've said, really."

"Are you joking?" Serena smiled. "That's interesting! Don't worry about boring me – I'm definitely interested a good adventure. It's the only reason I like folklore as much as I do."

As the band ended their song and began another, this time with a trumpet to lead a little jazzy two-step, Serena finished off the last of her wine.

"That's the thing I've been so curious about," she added. "You and that Stephanie kid mentioned something about a pokedex… I know about Professor Oak and his inventions, I mean, who doesn't?, but I don't understand what you mean by 'dexholder'. I've read the news – 'Dexholders save this' 'Dexholders do that'… Are you guys some sort of superhero team? Or some… organisation… like Team Plasma?"

She stopped, wondering if that had sounded a little too forceful. Amy was her guest, after all, not someone to interrogate. Arceus knew, after her conversations with that Riley fellow, she'd had enough of being interrogated.

"Sorry," She muttered. "I guess I'm just really curious. You've battled legendaries, been shipwrecked at sea… that must be pretty amazing."

The waiter poured her another glass of wine, which she simply stared at. "I'm not a trainer myself," She said. "I've only had a Sawsbuck, and my parents gave me Audino. I never battled with them, which was probably the reason why Sawsbuck died so quickly. I… never explored anywhere, or left Castelia, my hometown, until I went to Nacrene for college. This is the first time I've ever been out of Unova. I never realised the world was so big… I guess you can say I've been pretty sheltered all this time."

She chuckled.

"My parents… well, they're the sort that dictate your entire life. What you eat… who your friends are… what you're supposed to be when you grow up…" She laughed emptily. "When I had to go for college, I told them I'd had enough. They couldn't control everything about my life.

"Naturally, they took it as well as you can expect. My dad still won't talk to me and my mom's Braviary keeps swooping about Oreburgh trying to spy on me. When they found out about Roark…" She sighed. "When they found out about Roark, they were sooo angry. They told me I was supposed to marry a doctor…"

She paused, her back stiff. "Wait. Not that I want to marry Roark. Or anything like that. Because that would be wrong." She sipped her wine, both her cheeks burning.

Finally calm, she rested her glass down and looked up at the trainer's purple eyes. "Have you ever felt that way, Amy? As if your life wasn't yours to control? Like… like you were someone's puppet?"

She bit her lip.

"Sorry," She added. "It really isn't my place to ask, huh?"

- J -

Morganite watched how Stephanie talked about her purposes of having a pokédex and chuckled when she mentioned the "I'm about as talented as a rock" line.

"I see!" Morganite exclaimed. "Well, I'm not critizicing pokédex, in case you're wondering -I just think they're kinda overrated- but I respect it, and I agree, they're very helpful! But you should appreciate your skills a bit more, girl!"

Self-esteem was what Morganite least lacked, definitely. And she wanted all the women around her to feel the same!

"…Anyway, what's he like? I keep hearing all these rumours about how he's strong enough to move a mountain and stuff. Have you seen him? Oh, what's Pink like? I know she's a lot louder than he is. She's pretty famous, too. Then again, so are most of the dexholders."

"Red and Pink?" Well, they're... cute? Hahaha!" Morganite laughed loud. "I can't find a single word to describe them, but yeah, Red's pretty cute, too bad he's 25, hehe. Both of them have very dark hair, but Red's is red-ish brown and Pink's is fuchsia, and they have red eyes. I hafta admit, I love Pink's hair!"

"As for their skills," Morganite added. "well, Red's the strongest Dexholder, he's even a Champion! And he won the League when he was 11! Isn't that incredible? Pink's not bad, either, but she's too... duh, wimpy and fearful. She has a natural talent but she doesn't know how to use it... But, anyway! Pink doesn't really care about battles anymore, so...!"

"They're both quite stubborn," The silver-head affirmed. "but Red's more serious and peaceful, while Pink is always very loud and throwing parties! Heck, I've never met a girl who likes shopping and gossipping more than Pink! But she's very sweet, and she cooks pretty well!"

Definitely, Morganite was proud of the people who were closest to her. She listened to Stephanie's explanations of how she'd met Amethyst, amused.

"Amy? Strong?" Morganite asked. "Well, I'll give her that. But she's like Pink in that topic, she doesn't know how to use her skills. Then again, Amy doesn't really like battling - she always try to avoid troubles as much as possible. But I'm glad she helped you!"

The blue-eyed girl nodded and smiled as she saw the blondie and her Raticate enthusiastic about their Gym Battle. She wondered how they'd planned to win against a rock-type expert with a normal-type, but didn't say a thing since she didn't want to disturb their jolly nature.

"...here and there. Like… saaay… that Riley fellow. She does like him, right? It's kinda obvious… but I could be wrong."

"Pfft, you're not wrong at all, kid." Morganite said, trying her best not to laugh. "Pink told me about it eight years ago - nothing's a secret if Pink knows it, ha! It freaks me out how such a young girl can love the same guy for SO long... not to mention he's SEVEN (or maybe even ten, I'm not sure) years older than her!"

Morganite kept listening to the other teenager, her hands on her waist. Right, she had to answer to her question, but first she needed to clear some things up about her name.

"Well, as long as you DON'T call me 'Annie', you can call me however you want." Morganite said. "Most people call me Morgan, and I like it because it sounds... I dunno, boy-ish? Well, that's the guys, because girls mostly call me Anne."

"And yeah, I had planned to challengue the Gym Leader of this city as soon as the Miner's Dance is over." Morganite nodded. "I've heard he's a rock-type expert, so I'm gonna kick his ass with Perla and Noha!"

She was referring to her Gorebyss and Nuzleaf. The girl rested her light blue eyes on her pokéwatch and then looked back at Stephanie.

"Cling! Gling!" Campanilla exclaimed when she saw what time it was.

"Well, Steph, I hafta go now, really." Morganite said. "I want to visit some places in this city before going have lunch. You should go back with your friends."

Morganite patted Rodent's head and brushed his fur in a notoriously less soft way than Amethyst but equally fondly.

"See ya at the Dance, guys." Morganite said. "And I wish you the best of lucks for your Gym Battle!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Amethyst still couldn't believe that Serena had mistaken her for an older person. Really? That was completely new to Amethyst! Most people thought she was twenty, or even nineteen! But the Joy'd believed she was older... Definitely, the pink-haired woman was special.

"Really? I didn't think he'd know how to cook! Well, I've never met a man who could!"

The purple-eyed woman smiled warmly as she always did when she thought of his loved one. Indeed, Riley was a marvelous man... And Serena seemed quite wonderful, too. She was even more interested than Stephanie in her stories!

"...what you mean by 'dexholder'. I've read the news – 'Dexholders save this' 'Dexholders do that'… Are you guys some sort of superhero team? Or some… organisation… like Team Plasma?"

Amethyst flickered. Serena seemed somewhat uncomfortable after making all those questions, but Amethyst didn't certaintly mind it at all.

"Well," The chestnut-head shrugged. "Dexholders are those who own a pokédex. Of course, to own a pokédex you have to gain first some famous Professor's acknowledgment. You know, Prof. Birch for Hoenn, Prof. Oak for Kanto, Prof. Rowan for Sinnoh and Prof. Elm for Johto. If they acknowledge your skills and trust you, they'll give you a pokédex."

Amethyst realized that it was her time to explain why she had a pokédex. She decided not to add many details because that'd imply confess that she'd been travelling alone since young because she had no parents.

"When I was younger, I met Kanto Dexholders and they were like idols to me." Amethyst explained. "I always tried to go after them because... well, because I wanted to be like them. That ended up driving me to the final battle between Kanto/Johto Dexholders against the Man of the Ice Mask - although I wasn't really helpful, but oh well."

"After that, I decided that, if I wanted to be stronger, I'd have to earn some Gym Battles, so I conquered all of Johto Gyms." Amethyst added. "Well, it sounds easy, but it actually took me ten months to achieve that, hehe."

The tiny woman took a deep breath before continuing.

"When I told Prof. Birch the whole story, he decided that it would be worthy giving me a pokédex." The purple-eyed woman said. "It's ironic, because only a few months later I stopped liking battling. I got some traumas after the battle against Kyogre and Groudon..."

Amethyst bit her lip. Unused to talk a lot, she realized she was talking too much.

Serena's story was certainly sadder than her own, she noticed. Specially because of her Sawsbuck's death... And maybe she was lucky for having her parents, but maybe having such... dictatorial parents wasn't a good thing, after all. However, things lightened a bit again when she mentioned Roark again.

"They told me I was supposed to marry a doctor… Wait. Not that I want to marry Roark. Or anything like that. Because that would be wrong."

The chestnut-head giggled as the Joy's cheeks reddened.

"Haha! Wrong? And why?" Amethyst asked, smiling.

However, Serena jumped onto the other topic quickly. Amethyst had always considered herself the type that hid her emotions -and she certainly was- but Serena definitely surpassed her!

"Have you ever felt that way, Amy? As if your life wasn't yours to control? Like… like you were someone's puppet?"

"No, not at all. I've always been..." Amethyst looked quickly for a word that could replace 'alone'. "independent. Quite independent, I'd say! I've always wanted to do things my way, and the few people that have trully cared about me respect that."

She remembered Red, the first person to worry about her - and the person who pushed her not to live a poor life like a vagabond when she was 10.

"And, since I travel a lot," Amethyst added. "there's not many people that can be watching over me, you see."

The small woman rubbed her chin. A waiter arrived and asked them their orders.

"Yes, I'd like a steak with pea sauce and a salad." Amethyst ordered, being followed by Serena making her order.

As soon as the waiter went away, Amethyst turned her head back to Serena.

"I'm glad we're having this conversation." She said. "It's being very... mmh, mind-opener? And I've got to know more about you, which really helped me to understand you better."

Amethyst took a few sips of whine more. She began to felt her cheeks somewhat warm, but didn't really mind it.

"And I must say I admire you." Amethyst added. "Having the guts to confront your parents... no, your entire family! Studying so hard... Who cares if you're too blunt or strict? People should know you better before judging you."

Which made her think of Stephanie. Where would she be? And why was Amethyst complimenting someone's personality? It was something that she certainly never did...

"I'll admit... that I should have more temper, like you." Amethyst added, shyly. "But, leaving that aside, we're quite similar! I'm always too serious and always want to do things right... Not to mention we also tend to hide our feelings! Yes, Serena, by observing you and realizing we're not very different, I've come to that conclusion."

"And you shouldn't be ashamed of that part of your personality! I honestly think that kind of people are adorable~"

She remembered her old comrade, Silver, who was the perfect sample for the "hide-your-emotions" type.