Chapter 5: Personal Date

Ambrosia Landlyn

"Sorry I'm late," Ambrosia said, embarrassed. She looked at Umber, noticing how simple he dressed for the occasion, while she wore a dress. A dress! Maybe a little too much for this date, she thought. "I hope I'm dressed right. Maybe I should go change."

Umber ignored her and jumped down to the floor behind a couch. His poochyena yelped as it jumped with him. Both began to crawl away. She looked down at Cubone and he just shrugged at her. Maybe he's angry because I'm late, she thought. Truth is, she had been considering whether to come or not. Apparently, she had made the wrong decision.

"What are you doing?" she finally managed to say. He coiled himself into a ball and peeped out an eyeball. He wasn't looking at her, however. Ambrosia glanced around the main floor. Many guests and competitors filled the room. She searched for what Umber could've been looking at. Then she looked at the elevators and her eyes met the eyes of Aiden, the trainer that had won the battle earlier. His magby glared at her as the elevator door closed.

"I am so sorry," Umber said, picking himself off the ground. He dusted his jeans off and walked up to her. Poochyena tackled Cubone, together they ran around, playfully. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," again, he made her blush. "Why'd you run - er, crawl - away?"

Umber hesitated. "Forget it. Come on, let's see if the restaurant is as good as the signs say it is." Umber lifted an elbow and she held on to it. Pokemon running around behind them, they made their way up the stairs. Ambrosia noticed the receptionist staring and giggling at them.

Umber took her up a few floors. Poochyena ran up the stairs before them, but Ambrosia had to carry Cubone. Eventually they reached a restaurant on the fourth floor. Above them, a sign read "STRIATON DELICACIES" with paintings of a pansage, a panpour and a pansear jumping off the bright letters.

The restaurant was divided into three sections, each defined by their color. The left side had green walls, seats and tables. Pansages accompanied the waiters and could be seen occasionally swinging on vines bringing drinks and utensils to the tables. In the middle, the room turned completely blue. A small waterfall was placed there and Ambrosia saw panpours splashing in the water. The right side, naturally, was red. It was the largest size, due to a playground placed between tables. There were red jungle gyms, a red seesaw and a red swing, all placed over a sandbox with sand painted red. Poochyena and Cubone picked the side for them and raced to the playground, happily joining the pansears stationed there.

"I've always wanted to eat at the Striaton Gym," Umber told Ambrosia, taking her to a table where the pokemon were visible. They were there for them, after all, she thought. "Guess this is the next best thing."

"It's amazing," Ambrosia said, studying the room in awe. The mixture of pokemon, the decorations, and the smell of sweets delighted her. "I love it. You picked the perfect place. Just look how happy Cubone looks. Poochyena, too!"

The two pokemon were playing on the seesaw, giggling every time one of them hit the ground. Cubone, in particular, chuckled loudly. Ambrosia couldn't remember the last time he laughed that much. She looked back at Umber. He was smiling at her with a large grin. She wanted to ask him why, but then she noticed the earphones and a thought occurred to her: Was he actually listening to her?

"What will it be?" A waitress with a simisear by her side appeared. She flipped open a small notepad, took a pen out of her black hair and chewed on its end, nervously. "I recommend the Pansage-Leaf Salad and the house special: the Triple Flavored Steak." The simisear nodded approvingly. The pokemon wore an apron and had its arms behind its back.

Umber pointed at a poster placed near the entrance. It had a photo of a juicy-looking hamburger, made of many layers of ham, cheese, lettuce, and other foods Ambrosia didn't know. "I'll have that," he said.

"Ah, the Pansear-seared Burger!" the waitress said enthustiastically as she scribbled in her notepad. "Excellent choice." She turned toward Ambrosia. "What about you?"

Ambrosia wasn't sure what to choose, so she went with the Pansage-Leaf Salad. The waitress told them that both plates came with complimentary pokemon food (Oran Cookies and an array of poffins) and left, leaving them alone. Minutes of awkward silence passed.

"I don't know if you can hear me," she said, curiously. "But why do you wear earphones all the time?"

"Oh, yeah, I can hear you. I can hear everything, really. I just wear them because—"

Out of nowhere, the simisear leaped onto the table, placing down two bowls of poffins and Oran Cookies. It jumped away just in time to dodge the two charging pokemon that followed. Cubone and Poochyena attacked the bowls furiously. When they were empty, both disappeared to the playground once more.

"My turn to ask you a question," Umber said, his blue eyes shining. Ambrosia prepared herself for a personal question. "Why Ground-types?"

That's it? She thought. She gazed at her pokemon. "That's easy. Because of Cubone. He's been with me for years. Someone had abandoned him at the Pokemon Tower, in Lavender Town where I live, so I took him, promising to never leave him like his previous trainer had. I just couldn't come here and leave him behind. I just couldn't."

Umber just smiled at Ambrosia, eyes studying her. She felt weird with him staring at her so she just asked him another question. "Why Dark-types? They're strange and… well… dark…"

"Misunderstood," Umber retorted. He pointed toward Poochyena, who was in a tug-of-war with Cubone, using his bone as the rope. "Does that look dark to you? My uncle Grimsley gave me an egg when I was younger, and she came out."

The name sounded familiar to Ambrosia. She tried to remember where she had heard it before. Then the name clicked. "Grimsley? Of the Unova Elite Four? He's your uncle?" she said with a tinge of distaste in her voice. Grimsley was known for his horrible gambling, and the fact that his family fell into ruin, losing all their money. Could Umber's family have fallen into ruin, too?

"Yeah, on my father's side," he said calmly, clearly familiar with the reaction. "Well, when he gave me the egg, he told me that Dark-types aren't all that they appear to be and that they are to be respected. Since that day I've wanted to be like him. But better. I vowed to be the first trainer to make a Dark-type gym, and here I am."

Ambrosia felt torn between wishing him luck and hoping he would lose terribly. No words came to her tongue so she just looked away, avoiding his glare. Where was the food? A distraction would be really helpful right now, she thought.

"Well, I answered two questions," he said, shifting slightly in his seat. "Now I get to ask you two."

Ambrosia kept watching her pokemon, trying to hide her worried face. Revealing personal information always made her want to run away.

"What's your story? Why are you here?" Umber leaned in over the table, his voice nearly a whisper. "A harmless and sweet girl like yourself is hard to find in a tournament like this one. There has got to be a reason. Come on, tell me."

"Um… The money," she said, knowing how shallow it made her appear. At least it wasn't a lie, though it wasn't the complete truth.

Umber eyed her suspiciously. She averted her eyes, her hands fidgeting slightly.

"You're lying." He said, a half-smile forming on his face.

"No, I'm not. Really, I came here for the—"

"One yummy Pansage-Leaf Salad!" the waitress interrupted, lying a bowl of salad the brightest hue of green Ambrosia had ever seen. The bowl shook as she placed it. Then, trembling even more, she placed a plate with Umber's hamburger on it. "And a steaming Pansear-seared Burger." The plate nearly fell before she placed it, wobbling slightly to one side. "Sorry, sorry! It's my first day and the bosses are watching."

She looked over her shoulder. Ambrosia and Umber both followed her sight. Staring back at them were three pokemon: a simisage, a simipour and the simisear that had accompanied her earlier. The three, wearing stained aprons, leaped away to their respective sides when they noticed the three looking at them. The waitress sighed heavily and laughed before leaving them with a final "Enjoy!"

Ambrosia and Umber ate their meals in silence, speaking only occasionally to make small comments. They watched their pokemon playing, and, by ten minutes before curfew, they had said goodbye and were already on their way back to their rooms. It might not have been the best date, but Cubone's smile made up for it. Ambrosia hugged her Ground-type as she carried him back to her room, contemplating the errors of making friends during a tournament.

Author's Note:

Looks like we still have a few hidden secrets. Is that all of Ambrosia's reason for competing? A Gym Leader does get a big amount of money. What of Umber's story? Could he, too, be hiding secrets? And what of his always-present earphones? Well, guys, now the fun begins. The next chapters are very battle-heavy, trust me. Now the true tournament will begin and contestants will begin to lose and leave. Will our six make it? Stay tuned to find out! Oh, and we have a debut-viewpoint next chapter. Who do you hope it will be?

Behind-the-Chapter:

Who wouldn't like to eat at the Striaton Gym? I had fun naming the food, especially the Pansear-seared Burger. The idea of the three elemental monkeys being the bosses came to me after I had finished the chapter, so I had to go back and rewrite it. Grimsley always seemed to me like a character shrouded in mystery. He does have a past, yet the games hardly gives us any information. So, he made his way into my story!

Review, please! Until next time, guys.