Pokémon
So, I have been trying to post this thing since Saturday and for some dumb reason it wouldn't let me. *Glares* As I understand it, a lot of people have been having problems. But I know how to get around it, if you're one of these poor annoyed people. If you want to know, message there goes my super early chapter :'(
Anyway, I thought this was rather cute, so I hope you think so as well. I'm trying not to let Paul get too OOC, but he's just so dang cute... and he's so different from his family xP Gotta love Xena.
Also, somebody reviewed that they were unsure of where this story was going. I'm trying to make sure that Alex and Paul's journey to collect badges and stuff doesn't just abruptly halt while I stick my plot in there, so I'm trying to balance it. So it's like a little bit of Shadow and the Soul Salvation, then returning to (somewhat) normal life and their journey. Plus, I'm trying to add a little humor (not sure if that's a fail or not). I hope that clears it up for everybody.
BTW, I got pokemon the black version earlier last week. Lovin it! Anybody else?
And I really do appreciate hearing from you and seeing people favorite the story, so I thank you a bunch. And I hope you like the new chapter!
Chapter # 27 – The Fantabulous Birthday
The brunette girl leaned back in her cushiony booth, relaxing a bit now that she and the purplette were now seated and he didn't seem to be thinking about pursuing his cousin back to his house at the moment. He appeared more comfortable, staring at her across the table with scrutinizing onyx orbs. Nonetheless, eevee was set up on the table next to the wall, ready to pounce if he tried to make a run for it.
"What's in your hair?" he asked finally after staring for a while.
"Hm…?" Alex quickly ran her fingers down the sides of her hair. Sure enough, white dust floated into the air and into her fingers on one side. "…oh, uh, there was a bit of a mishap at breakfast. Must not have gotten all of it from my hair," she giggled timidly.
In her rush to get out of the house and intercept Paul in his path, Alex only managed to quickly run a brush through her painted white locks, throw on the nearest clothes that were strewn all over the place, grab some money and book it out the door. So now, she was clad in a short, pleated mahogany skirt and a modest, tan v-neck tank top with thick, forest green seams and matching emerald flip-flops (all courtesy of Xena).
The weather had turned out nice after the rainstorm the night before, and the radiant sun dried up the damp air. All of Veilstone seemed to be compelled to get out of the house with such beautiful weather, as the streets were busier and the little café was bustling more than usual.
"So," Alex broke the silence that had fallen upon them, thinking of subjects to talk about that wouldn't set off a temper fuse for either of them, "Did you get a badge from Fantina?"
Paul scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. "Of course I did."
"Awesome!" Alex beamed. "I think Canalave City would be our next best bet. Don't you think?"
"Yeah, well, it's going to be a long flight to get there form here. We would have been better off leaving from Hearthome."
"Oh Paul, your such a fuddy duddy. Plus I have to strike a deal with my dragon or we'll have to take the blimp that goes from Jubilife to Canalave." Alex explained thoughtfully. Their meals arrived and she dipped her French-fry into some ketchup and popped it into her mouth. "But still, if we want to get to Jubilife we'll need to fly too, so we'll have to go shopping after this and hope that it'll stay this sunny for the rest of the day."
The purplette quirked a brow at her. "Why are you making a deal with your dragon? It's your pokemon; just tell it to fly you somewhere," he stated as if it was the natural solution that even the most dim-witted person should be able to come up with.
"Hotshot may be one of my loyal friends, but he still is a charizard with a fiery temper. We have a mutual understanding that I, as his trainer, need to understand," the brunette replied just as certainly.
Again, Paul had to mentally question several of her choices of words, the most being friend. He quietly ate his food while pondering over the girl, finally saying, "That's just ridiculous."
"And you're a stuck-up ass," she said with a grin creeping onto her lips, not daring to look up at the boy. "You remind me a lot of Gary when we were little. Well, except he was a cocky, stuck-up ass, and he talked a lot more. And those goddamn cheerleaders!" Alex shivered at the atrocious memories. "Anyway, my pokemon are my friends. We go through almost everything together and we have each other's backs. That's my opinion, and you have your own so I'm not going to try and argue with you."
Paul just stared at Alex for another minute. "Cheerleaders?" he asked with perturbed look.
The girl cringed and nodded. "Don't even get me started."
After lunch, Alex took Paul's arm again and pulled him along the streets of his hometown. She stopped at some various stands that occupied the edges, one specifically that carried almost every type of berry imaginable. There she picked out quite a few ripe Cheri berries – which were very small, soft, red berries with coiled vines still attached – and a couple of Tamato berries – which were soft, plump and red with spike-like bumps all over. She thanked the vendor and moved on down the road.
"'Kay, now I need some hot sauce," Alex noted, counting the berries in her bag.
Paul shook his head. "There's a grocery store just down the road."
"Goodie! Let's go," Alex alleged, letting the purplette lead her through the crowds since he knew where he was going. They walked in the sliding glass doors and wandered down different aisles, searching for the tiny bottle for a long while, as it seemed to be hiding.
Suddenly, something caught Alex's brown eyes, and thankfully she was the only one of them to notice. "Uh… I don't think it's this way. Come on, let's try over there." The girl suggested out of the blue, turning her companion around by his shoulders and nudging him along from behind as she cast an anxious glance back towards Reggie, who was at the end of the row with wide eyes as well, arms full of colorful decorations. He gave the girl a thumbs-up and a smile, and left in a rush for the checkout.
"You're weird," said Paul monotonously, as he moved to the side to see what the girl was doing, making her lose her footing and stumble forward, catching herself on a nearby shelf. He took her hand let a little vile filled with orange-red liquid fall into her palm. He smirked as she blinked owlishly at it, then at him.
"When did you pick this up?" she demanded, holding the bottle so close that he would have gone cross-eyed if he were to try and look at it.
The purplette shrugged uncaringly, dipping his hands once again into his pockets. "They were next to the door when we walked in."
Alex sweatdropped. "Seriously?" she asked weakly with a sigh. 'Maybe I should work on my observing skills. Hey wait a minute,' "If you knew where it was then why didn't you tell me?"
Shrugging once again, a smirk still on his lips, he said, "I was waiting to see how long it was going to take for you to realize, idiot."
Steam snorted from the brunette's nose as her eyes slit into thin lines and her face turned the same shade as the bottle. "Humph," she snuffed, tossing her brown hair over her shoulder and strutting away, not dignifying the boy with a response. Well, that and she couldn't come up with one, not that she'd let him know that. If she had been looking, she would have noticed the smile that appeared on the purplette's face for a brief moment as he followed her to the checkout, along with a brown fox that he helped by picking up the ice cream container she was dragging with difficulty. In turn, the fox leapt onto his shoulder and gave him a cheerful 'thanks' lick on the cheek as her trainer paid for it. "Traitor," Alex mumbled to the pokemon as she stomped out of the store ahead of the others, half smiling herself.
Alex managed to stealthily get lost within the sea of people, sufficiently getting Paul off her tail so she could get back to the house. Her bags brushed against her legs as she moved along swiftly so she didn't get caught. Shifting her purchases into one hand, she turned the handle of the door and slipped into the house to the sound of "Ouch…ouch…ouch…OUCH! Goddamn it, that hurt!"
Peeking into the living room, the brunette found the source of the noise: the two siblings. Both had tape stuck to nearly every visible piece of skin, little chucks of wrapping paper here and there, marker ink on their hands, arms and faces, glitter sparkling in the light, a random bow in places, and two small, wrapped gifts and cards neatly in the middle. Reggie was in the process of ripping the material off their bodies as Alex marched in with a bursting laugh threatening to break loose.
"Ow, Reggie!" Xena whined, rubbing the top of her skull where the last bow had been ripped off. Her golden eyes flickered to Alex with an upbeat smile. "How was your date with Paul?"
That wiped the smirk off her face straight away. She pursed her lips with a glare. "It wasn't a date," she defiantly contradicted. "Now it's your turn."
Xena squealed happily, springing up the stairs and leaping back down, now out of her pajama's, hair neatly back in its low ponytail, and a childish smile still adorning her lips. "I get to spend time with Paul-y~" she sang as she impatiently hopped up and down. Her houndoom soon flanked her side as well.
"Yupp!" 'Poor Paul,' Alex thought, positioning the fidgeting purplette in front of the main door. "Now stand right here until Paul comes, alright?" Alex patted her head and hid around the corner of another room to watch. 'Not only am I releasing the insane one on him, but with her tracking dog out he'll never get away.' Slowly, a spiteful smile spread across the brunettes face, a similar one on the delinquent fox at her ankles.
The sound of footsteps approached the door. The brass handle turned slowly, and with a thrust it burst wide open. Paul blinked. He wasn't actually scowling, or at least he wasn't at first. The first thing he noticed was that there was somebody greeting him at the door, even though he didn't knock (it was his house, after all). He saw the familiar, wavy purple hair and glowing golden eyes next, then heard the panting of the pure black hound reaching the girl's hips. After another blink, he abruptly turned on his heel and cautiously, as though he hadn't already been seen, walked away.
"Paul-y! Where're ya going?" the boisterous girl chirped loud enough to alert anybody in the immediate area of the oncoming game of hide and seek so they could get out of the way of the cursing Paul speed-walking out of sight and girl and her pooch skipping along giddily in his path.
"Hn," Alex locked the door and flipped her hair over her shoulder over her shoulder once again. "And that's what you get when you call me an idiot." Upon turning, she ran into a solid object. 'Funny, I don't remember there being a wall…' She would recognize those matching golden eyes. "Oh shit," she said under her breath.
"Hello there again, love." The boy grinned.
"…" Alex took an unsettled step back. With an unexpected smile, she said a merry "hello" and reached out her hand and ripped a strip of tape up from his cheek to his sideburns and walked away after he grimaced, stepped back, tripped over Xena's present, and fell directly into the accumulated pile of tape that had already been torn off.
"How sweet of you to get that off for me," Xavier feebly said with pain leaking through his voice as he lifted his head, then collapsed back down in exhaustion.
Now back in the kitchen, Alex pulled out her ingredients, a pot and a spoon, plus another spoon that stayed lodged in the container of chocolate ice cream that her eevee snuck into her purchases. So while the girl worked eevee, riolu and marowak sat in a triangle in the middle of the floor with the bucket in the center, charizard and houndoom took a nap in the sun and the shade respectably, and croconaw sat on its bottom and splashed in the shallow of the pond like a toddler.
The red berries were finely chopped and de-vined, nearly sizzling they were so hot, and fell with a plop into the pot with the cold water and the heat was turned up full blast. Next, it was sloshed with a few drizzles of hot sauce, and sprinkled with chili powder. She made sure to use a metal spoon, as the wooden ones, she had discovered long ago, happened to be hazardous with this specific recipe, and stirred it slowly, also being careful not to let it spill. A spicy aroma filled the room with rosy smoke puffing up in little ringlets. "Oh, looks like they're done," Alex chirped, slipping an oven mitt on to her already gloved hand for extra caution, keeping the pot a good distance from her body as she poured the thick, bubbling crimson liquid in a half a dozen molds and waited for let them set at the back of the counter while she went to see how the decorating was going.
As she walked into the living room this time, Reggie was putting the finishing touches on the hanging purple banner in the entrance archway with a bouquet of balloons pinned to each end. On the couch sat a huffing Xavier, irritably knotting the end of another balloon while it gave a sqee-eeeek-ek sound until it was fastened securely and flicked it over his shoulder where a rainbow of them littered the entire floor space, only to have it stick to his thumb and go with a pop! as he flicked it harder.
"That is a crap load of balloons," Alex said as she shuffled over to Reggie.
He shrugged apathetically, replying, "But it does keep him busy."
"Who knows, maybe he'll pass out after a few more." The brunette watched as Xavier yet again puffed out his cheeks and created a black balloon. "Anyway, could you frost the cake? But watch out for my cooling poffins, they have somewhat of a pungent smell that can make you rather light-headed if your not used to it."
"Sure thing."
There was a soft thud and a loud snore from behind the sofa as Xavier fell asleep from exhaustion. He snuggled up to a purple balloon that had just previously been blown up, flopped over still in a seated position on his side.
"That works," Alex mumbled as she began to hang the decorations everywhere. The corners were filled, and streamers all looped down from a grand balloon chandelier in the center of the ceiling. Stepping down off the ladder to examine her work, Alex nodded in appreciation and cracked the bones in her back with a stretch.
"I should probably go get Paul a Birthday present," the brunette thought aloud. "I wonder what he'd like…"
So Alex set off once again after claiming her bag from the guest room upstairs. The street crowds were beginning to thin as it drew near suppertime and it was much easier to navigate and window shop. "I just don't know what to get," Alex mumbled to herself, tugging lightly on her hair as she passed another few shops. But with the sun beginning to droop lower in the sky, she made a quick decision and headed back to the house with her bag of items.
Why was it that every time she walked into that house somebody was yelling? The brunette followed the distressed calls to the kitchen, and curiously peeped her head through. With a sigh, she fully materialized into the room and shook her head.
Xavier was in tears, head held under the sink and allowing an icy jet of water to overflow from his mouth. His fair skin looked like it had been stained with beet juice, and a faint cloud of steam could just be seen swelling out of his ears, nose, and even a bit from his cherry red lips.
"My poffins are done!" Alex exclaimed, dropping her parcel, sidestepping around the gurgling young man to poke the treats to make sure they were hardened to a satisfactory state.
"Phew," Xavier wheezed, wiping off his brow, "that's one hell of a way to wake up from a nap." He shot a glare at the other boy in the house while breathing deeply through his mouth to cool it off.
"Reggie," Alex reprimanded with a smirk and a taken aback glance. She didn't know that even the supposed nice brother could be so cruel.
With a bright, joyful smile, Reggie ran his hands down his apron. "Well, he was supposed to be helping. And he was drooling on my sofa cushions."
"Pretty little Alex can kiss it and make everything better!" Xavier sang, swooping in towards Alex, which was interrupted with a shrill sob and a "Whyyyy?" from the doorway. "Xena, my precious little sister, what's the matter? Big brother will make it better, he promises!"
"Pauly ran away from me," the girl pouted, ignoring her brother and jumping over the back of the sofa.
Alex perked up. "Are we ready for him yet?" she asked, scooping up her package that still needed to be wrapped when Paul was distracted with the party. Reggie answered with a nod while Xavier consoled a pouting Xena. "Xena, where'd you leave Paul?"
The happy aura shot back to the purplette girl as she explained, "Well, I spent about an hour just to catch him – he's gotten really sneaky since we were little; it only used to take me under ten minutes! Anyway, then I was tired and I wanted him to give me a piggyback ride but he kept pushing me off and mumbling something about having the 'weirdest and most annoying family in the world' and how that 'damn brunette' was going to pay. He was pretty grumpy so I decided that since it was his Birthday it was my duty to make him happy." There was a slight pause as Xena gasped air into her depleted lungs because, amazingly, she had said that all in one go of breath. She began to giggle with a childish smirk on her face. "Hehe, I said duty."
"He's plotting against me?" Alex whispered with a horrified expression, quickly back stepping so she was protected by Reggie.
Reggie smiled at the brunette from the corner of his eye. Turning back to Xena, who was pushing her affectionate brother away and running around like she was on a sugar high. "So, where's Paul?" he asked the distracted girl.
Xena stopped her bouncing movement and grinned. "I have no idea!"
Everybody fell to the ground.
"What are you doing?" demanded a voice. In all the commotion, nobody had heard the person in question enter the house and stumble upon the comical scene. He stood apathetically in the archway, arms crossed as his dark eyes observed each person's position carefully, slight amusement evident on his features. He arched a brow at the last one, a particular brunette hiding behind his beaming brother.
"Eep!" Alex squeaked, bolting up the stairs. The door slammed. It reopened only several seconds later as she calmly pranced back down as though nothing had happened with a wrapped box finished with a bow and smiled. "Happy Birthday, Paul!"
"Happy Birthday!" the others followed her example, each beaming. Xena tried to waltz over and smother him with a hug, while the flirtatious Xavier attempted the same on Alex. Alex simply moved behind Reggie again, but as he followed she ended up running around and around the room from the boy's outstretched arms, while Paul had an easier time just flicking his cousin on the forehead and watching as she collapsed to the floor and chanted "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!"
As Xavier went to the aid of his sister, Alex skidded to a halt next to Paul, panting as she leant on him for support. She noticed his smirk of revenge and shivered. "Let's open presents!" she exclaimed to take the unwanted attention away. It worked as hopped up and exclaimed "Mine first," and bounded for the couch.
Paul begrudgingly opened the presents on the table in front of him, wishing that his family could have forgotten his Birthday and left him alone like usual. Xena had got him a jumbo sized jar of peanut butter, hoping he would share. Xavier got him a book, which on closer inspection, was an anger management book called Just Smile. He put it to good use, throwing it at the boy's head, which ironically did bring a small smirk to his face. Reggie got him what any parental figure would, money, a new, gray knapsack since his old one was starting to look worn, and another purple tracksuit with a black tee. Finally he came upon Alex's. He opened it look in the box with large eyes. "What is all this?" he grumbled.
"I've been traveling with you for a while, and you use a lot of pokeballs, and I've gathered a lot over my journey's that I hardly use at all so there you have 5 regular pokeballs, greatballs, ultraballs, duskballs, levelballs, netballs, diveballs, lureballs, heavyballs, fastballs, luxuryballs, premierballs, repeatballs, timerballs, and quickballs."
"Damn, that's a lot of balls," Xena muttered, grinning cheekily as she and her brother laughed. Even Reggie covered a chuckled with a sad cough.
"And there's some potions in there too," Alex added thoughtfully. Basically, it was like raided the entire pokemart. "Oh, and this!" She picked up a small box from within the clutter and delicately danged a golden chain from within, an ursauring figure with crossed arms shining from the end. Its eyes were multicolored gems, which she soon explained, "It's a mood necklace. Its eyes change color depending on your mood. Isn't it cute?"
Paul stared at her for a moment, but had to look away. "Whatever." He gently took the bear out of her hands and cupped in it his palm.
"Now that that's done, who wants cake?" Xena exclaimed in her extreme sugar-high, hoisting her lovely sharp knife that she had found yet again above her head.
"NO!"
Slice
BOOM!
The purple-haired girl went wide-eyed and dropped the knife in fright.
Paul glared at the girl for her loud disruption, as Alex cried. "My balloon chandelier! I spent my whole afternoon on that!"
Xena stared up at the dead, limp balloons gloomily hanging from the ceiling, pieces fluttering to the floor. With a shrug she smiled. "Woopsie! Sorry, Reggie! Hey, where are you taking my knife? Give it back! Reggie!" She chased the boy out of the room, Xavier following, calling out that it was dangerous to run with sharp objects to his cousin. Alex, hearing this, ran to restrain the girl before she got it back, knowing her brother would probably give it back to her if she asked.
Xena finally got her big knife. Alex didn't want to have another conversation about this to the girl again, especially since the purplette seemed to find it after she chucked it to who-knows-where, and none of them really wanted to get that close to the weapon-wielding girl. "Paul~y! You're the Birthday boy so how big of a piece to you want?" Her ponytail swished back and forth as she rapidly looked between her cousin and the cake, the knife poised close to her face with bright, malevolent eyes and a creepy grin like a serial killer.
Paul unzipped his sweater and threw it over the back of a chair seated at the table. He was left in a black t-shirt and his regular purple pants with matching socks. Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose from the shouting voice, he sighed out, "Two slices."
"Oooh," Xena clasped her hands together the best she could, nearly sending the sharp object in her hands whizzing across the room. "I knew you would love the burnt cake cousin Xena and Alex made especially for you!" she shouted her obvious approval, slamming down the knife with a sure movement and made a clean slice down the dessert.
"Uh…burnt cake?" said Reggie skeptically, shifting his inquisitive eyes away from Paul appallingly to the cake.
"No," Alex assured immediately, waving her armed in front of her. "It's just, eh, don't ask," she sighed pitifully.
Paul walked over and accepted a piece of vanilla cake with white frosting on top and purple sprinkles on a paper plate in each hand. His head lowered, shadowing everything but his lips, which pulled up on one side in a smirk. Without warning, one hand thrust one of the plates and its contents into the absolutely beaming girl's face and smushed it in a semi circle before dropping it. "That is for torturing me all afternoon."
The plate slowly unattached itself from Xena's face leaving a spongy residue and fluffy white frosting behind. You could her lips pulled into an 'O' shape as she stood flabbergasted, with the knife she was holding clattering to the floor.
Turning on his heel, the brunette was just in distance to reach out and repeat the process with the second plate. "That is for disappearing and for making sure I was tortured all afternoon."
Alex gawked and brought her hands up and carved her eyes out so she could see. She promptly wiped one down Paul cheek, making him frown and step back out of reach.
Paul harrumphed and walked over to the sink to clean off his hands and face from the pathetic 'counter attack'. He had expected more of a comeback from the feisty brunette, and a good yell paired with a threat, while his cousin experimentally took some cake from her face onto her finger and stuck it in her mouth. As he turned the tap off and dried his hands and cheek, he turned to feel a strange sensation. Like something was sliding down his face. She didn't…
"That's the last time I ever take the time to make you a cake." Alex puffed out her cheeks in agitation and clapped her hands clean. After Paul had turned his back on her, the brunette had quietly snuck passed Xena, took the entire remains of the cake and dumped them on Paul head as he faced her. She smiled sweetly at him. "Happy fucking Birthday, jerk."
A low growl bubbled up from the glaring purplette's throat. His purple hair was matted down with sticky white gunk and dripping off his face, arms and clinging to his shirt.
"Eek! Reggie, Paul's going to hit me!" Alex shrieked as she took off out of the kitchen, a mad, cake-dripping Paul stumbled out after her as the girl evaded his near capture attempts.
Xavier snapped pictures each time the two passed. Luckily, Reggie had anticipated a cake disaster and bought one from the grocery store, but decided against candles with the hazardous group of teens around, and served it while waiting for the Birthday boy and the shrieking girl to return.
Paul eventually caught Alex, and tackled her to the ground outside the guest bedroom. He successfully smothered her with cake since he was drenched with it, and pinned her to the floor with her hands pinned by her head.
She struggled against him, lashing out her legs and whipping her head back and forth non-compliantly. After realizing that Paul was heavier and stronger than she, and he had locked her legs with his own, she groaned. Puffing her bangs out of her eyes, she leered up at him and went limp in defeat. "Get off," she frigidly murmured.
The purplette snarled, reflexively drifting closer to the brunette. His bangs brushed her forehead as their eyes bore unwaveringly into the others, neither relenting nor willing to lose. Both of their faces were cracking like a facemask with the cake and frosting drying as they scowled at each other. They didn't even realize how close they were.
"Alex! Paul! What's going on? Why'd it go quiet?" Reggie anxiously called up the stairwell, nervous that somebody was hurt.
As if awakened, the two blinked and tensed as their surroundings kicked in. They noticed that they were still covered in a sugary substance, Paul was sitting on Alex's hips, and they were about an inch away from each other's faces, and blushed on cue.
Before the flustered girl knew what happened, she noticed her appendages could move again and sat up to watch Paul hurriedly retreat down the hallway and wordlessly close his door. Before he did, she caught the sheen of gold around his neck: her necklace.
Clearing her throat, she called back, "W-we're just freshening up," and mentally cursed as her voice cracked. Standing, she glared at the door that had just been closed and maturely stuck her tongue out at it before waltzing into her and Xena's messy room, trying hard not to drip on anything as she took a cooling-off shower.
Honestly, she wasn't sure if it was more eventful and chaotic with Paul and his family, or with the Soul Salvation. Either way, it was difficult to predict what would happen next wherever she was, but she doubted she could avoid Dimentio and his crew for much longer.
But seriously, Paul looked so…sweet covered in cake. xD
Lol, I couldn't help myself. xP
I have big, huge plans for this yet, so stay tuned!
And Crimson, is Xavier in character? I have I bit of a tough time writing for him =.='
Well, that's it for today folks. And now, I am craving something sweet so ciao for now.
