CHAPTER 5: In Which There Is A Grave Disappointment
Gwen woke early, in exactly the same way she had the day before. Rufflet on her pillow, chirping loudly into her ear.
"Ugh, seriously?" she complained, rubbing her face as she sat up. "Get out of my bedroom already!"
Rufflet gave one last ear-splitting chirp, before flying out the window.
"So that's how you got in," Gwen muttered, climbing belligerently out of bed. "What a brat."
She dug through her backpack for a clean shirt and a nice pair of jeans. Her skirt yesterday had been cute, and she'd kind of wanted to wear it to the hero appeal, but thanks to the forest, her leggings were revolting. They needed a good wash, and really, they made the skirt. So without them, she was left with jeans.
Once she was decent, she left her room and knocked on Adrian's door. He answered after a long pause, looking bleary and half-awake. His shirt was inside-out, Gwen noticed with a smile.
"What?" he grumbled, scratching his cheek.
"You don't get to be annoyed," Gwen pointed out. "You're the one who woke me up!"
"Right," Adrian agreed with a yawn. "I woke you up, that's totally what happened." He turned and walked into his room, collapsing on the bed. Gwen followed.
"Rufflet woke me up," she explained, sitting next to Adrian on the bed. "I guess he thinks he's my alarm clock now?"
Adrian's laugh was muffled, thanks to the pillows he'd stacked onto his face. Gwen pulled one away. "C'mon, dude," she pleaded. "Get up! I'm starving, and I'm nervous. Today's The Day."
"It's definitely a day," he agreed, sitting up with a sigh. "I guess it's the first The Day."
"The first The Day," Gwen repeated with a smile, standing up. "I like it. Now c'mon, fix your shirt, and we'll go get some coffee."
"What's wrong with my shirt?" she heard him say as she left the room. "I like my shirt!"
Gwen went back to her room and put shoes on, brushed her teeth, and gave Ralts a thorough grooming. By that point, she could hear that Adrian had actually managed to get up, he was talking to Rufflet. Gwen hoped he was telling the pokemon to leave her alone in the mornings, but she didn't have high hopes. She was pretty sure Adrian thought it was hilarious.
Eventually, there was a knock on the door. She opened it, and Adrian scowled in her face.
"You'd better be ready," he said. "I'm not waiting for you today, not after you woke me up so early."
"It's your fault I was awake!" she said, poking her tongue out. "And as it happens, I am ready. Let's go breakfast."
There was a cafeteria in the Pokecentre, but the cafe the day before had spoiled them, and now they wanted more fancy Galena food. They had a solid look at the poster map before heading out, trying to memorize the location of the clocktower in relation to the cafe they'd picked out.
"If we get lost again today..." Gwen started with a laugh.
Adrian sighed. "We'll ask someone for directions." he finished grudgingly, spurring Gwen into more giggles.
"You really hate doing that, don't you?" she asked, nudging him. "What's up with that?"
"We have a map," he explained plaintively. "We should never have gotten lost in the first place."
Thankfully, they didn't get lost on the way to the cafe, where they had a very satisfying breakfast of eggs benedict made with, their waitress assured them, the very freshest Chansey eggs. Ralts and Rufflet seemed equally happy with the bowls of pokemon food they ordered. It was a friendly, easy breakfast, and for the first time in what felt like days, the knot of nervous worry in the pit of Gwen's stomach eased. She laughed and gossiped, teasing Adrian as hard as he teased her, cuddling Ralts. It was – nice.
And it was over too soon. Before she knew it, they'd finished and paid, and the waitress was clearing their table. Gwen was excited and terrified in equal measures: it was time for the reunion she'd dreamed about for years.
Miraculously, this time they didn't get lost. Possibly they had grown to know the town a little more, or maybe they had worked out the map, or perhaps having Rufflet flying high above them, chirping down directions was actually super useful.
"We owe that Pokecentre girl," Gwen said with a laugh as the clocktower came into view.
"Don't remind me," Adrian groaned. "I can't believe we didn't think of that on our own!"
As they walked towards the tower, they noticed a group of people standing in front of the building.
"Hang on," Gwen said. "Is that..."
"Adrian! Gwen!" One of the people called, waving them over. It was Celia, standing with Zoe and Jason.
"Hey, guys," Gwen said with a grin, as they reached the group. "Fancy seeing you here!"
"We didn't think you were ever going to show up," Zoe said. "Slowpokes."
"You knew we were coming today?" Adrian asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Well," Celia explained. "We got here pretty late yesterday, and when we asked at the Pokecentre, they said you'd booked rooms."
"You got here late? How come?" Gwen asked.
Jason and Zoe burst into laughter, and Celia turned red.
"Look, it wasn't my fault," she said. "How was I supposed to know there were two Budew?"
"I don't even want to know," Gwen said with a laugh. "So you guys waited for us today? That's so nice."
"It was my idea," Jason said proudly. "I thought it'd be cool for us all to go in together!"
"Totally," agreed Celia. "Solidarity, and all that!"
Zoe was conspicuously silent, but for once Gwen couldn't get even a little mad. She had more important things on her mind.
"Alright," Adrian said after a pause. "Are we going in or what?"
Jason pulled open one of the double doors, and they all trooped inside.
The interior of the building was light and airy; the walls were covered in gorgeous stained-glass windows, the floor was tiled in a pale colour, and there was a desk made from some pale wood in the center of the room. An elegant receptionist sat behind it, with a Glameow curled up on the desk.
"Let me handle this," Zoe said to the group, before gliding to the desk.
"Hi," she said. The receptionist looked up from filing her nails, an unimpressed look on her face.
"Can I help you, Miss?" she asked.
"My associates and I are here to see the town hero," Zoe said with a graceful gesture towards the group.
"Do you have an appointment?"
"Oh – no. Is that a problem?"
"I'm afraid he's rather busy today," the receptionist said with a sigh. "You should probably come back tomorrow with an appointment."
Gwen could see Zoe's hands clench into fists. Her legendary temper was bound to make an appearance sooner or later if she had to deal with this twit much longer. Thankfully, that's when Jason stepped forward.
"Uh, miss," he said a little awkwardly, putting his hands on the desk. The receptionist glared at his hands, knowing as well as Gwen did that he was the kind of guy who would leave sticky handprints on pretty much everything he touched.
"Yes?" she asked testily.
"Look, it's really important we see him today. You see, we're -" he lowered his voice and leaned in, even though the room's acoustics were such that his voice echoed around the space anyway. "-we're the latest graduates from Adventurine? We need the Galena emblem."
The receptionist's personality changed in an instant. "Oh," she said, sitting back, eyes going round. "I see! Well, he doesn't have a meeting for a few hours, so I can buzz you up now. Good luck, heroes!" she added breathlessly.
Gwen rolled her eyes. She liked when people recognised that heroes were important, but this star-struck attitude honestly just annoyed her.
The receptionist pressed a button on her desk, and the elevator behind the desk slid open. Gwen and the others squished into it; it was a tight fit, but in the end they managed to all get in there. Gwen pressed the only button inside the elevator once they were all in, and the doors slid shut again. With a thunk, the machine powered up and began to travel up the tower.
"So she was...nice," Adrian said, causing them all to crack up with nervous laughter.
"I hope this goes okay," Celia whispered, saying what they were all thinking. "I hope he gives us the emblem."
"I hope..." Gwen started, then trailed off. What did she hope? That he remembered her? That he didn't reveal their shared past to the rest of the group? She wasn't sure.
Thankfully, the elevator stopped and the doors opened before the others could press her. They all tumbled out into the office of the local hero of Galenaville. It was a large, plush room, with a wall to floor window looking out over the town, and a lot of portraits on the wall. There was a huge man sitting in an armchair next to the window, and a glossy Scizor stood next to him. The man stood when they entered.
"The name's Mason," he rumbled, holding out a hand to be shaken. "Galenaville Hero. And you're the newest recruits, yes?"
There was stunned silence for a moment, then Celia stepped forward to shake his hand.
"Yes – yes, sir," she stuttered. "We're from Adventurine, and we were, um, wondering if..." she trailed off helplessly.
Mason's laugh was booming. "The Galenavill emblem, yes?" he asked, as he moved to shake hands with the rest of the group. "I'm sure we can work something out! A nice easy quest for you guys to prove your worth."
"Thank you, sir," breathed Celia, entirely star-struck. For once, Gwen barely even noticed the reaction.
Gwen was at the end of the hand-shaking line, and as Mason reached her, she gathered up the nerve to speak.
"Um, Mason, sir," she started, as he took her hand. "You aren't exactly who I was – I mean, I thought someone else was the hero here?"
He shook his head. "You mean Hugo, yes?"
Gwen nodded. "Is he, you know, okay?"
Mason laughed again. "Hugo is as fine as he always is," he said. "He works in another town, now."
"Which one?" Gwen asked, conscious of her friends muttering. Did they wonder why she was asking? How she knew the previous hero? Was Zoe telling them? She could feel herself start to flush, embarrassed, but she needed to press on. She needed to know how to find him.
Mason shrugged. "Last I saw, he was leaving for Carnelian City," he answered. "Maybe he is still there, yes?"
Gwen had to swallow down a hard lump of disappointment. Carnelian was forever away, past Tanzanite Town and Port Pyrite. It was on her way to the Hero League, but she wouldn't be there for weeks, at the earliest. It was hard to accept, when she'd been so sure she was going to meet him today.
He turned back to the group when Gwen was silent for a long moment. "Now, for your quest!" he boomed. "Something easy, yes? You're new at this, after all." He thought for a moment, then slammed his hand onto the closest surface, making them all jump. "Of course!"
"What is it, sir?" Celia asked timidly.
"Your quest," he answered. "I have thought of it, yes!" He laughed, a twinkle in his guileless green eyes. "And believe me, you will love it."