Significant Nothings

It was a seemingly insignificant moment, stepping onto Route 1 together. Despite it being the first route I would travel, I knew it would be only one of many steps. But what I have come to realize is that no moment is insignificant. Every breath taken is an imprint on history: your imprint on history. What will you do? I can't help but wonder if what I did was good for me. Sometimes I criticize myself for being so selfless, but my protests mean nothing because what is done is done.

It seems like it was so much more than mere choice, though. No matter what I did to prevent It, that Event was far too great to avoid. It would've manifested itself, one way or another. It would be pervasive, prevailing. It couldn't have been my choice.

It was meant to be.

"So that's how you catch a Pokémon…" Andrea says. "Thanks, Cheren."

"It's no problem. I can't believe the Professor forgot; she must've been in a rush to meet as at—"

"Guys! I have a great idea! It'll be so much fun!"

Cheren rolls his eyes. "Bianca, we don't have time for that. The Professor is waiting for us in Accumula Town, remember?"

Bianca sighs and stomps her foot, like a frustrated toddler who is trying to be understood. "Gosh, would you just listen for a sec? Seriously!"

Hilbert chuckles at Cheren's shocked expression.

"I think it would be fun to see who could catch the most pokémon! Whoever is carrying the most pokémon, including the one Professor Juniper gave us, is the winner!"

"Bianca, you're on fire today!" Hilbert exclaims.

"Agreed; it does sound rather interesting."

"Yay!" Bianca beams, "What do you think Drea?"

Andrea looks off into the distance, hoping that Bianca wouldn't try to get her involved. "Well, I mean—"

"Oh no."

"No no, you're idea is cool!" Andrea reassures. "I mean, it's just…My parents always told me to only catch a pokémon if I felt like I had a close bond to it."

"Well, I guess that means you'll be making a lot of friends today!" Hilbert grins.

Andrea smiles. "That would be nice."

"Furthermore, it will fill up Pokédex pages, which I'm sure the Professor would appreciate," Cheren replies.

"Er, that's the other thing I was thinking about." Andrea's eyes were glued to her foot, which was mindlessly kicking the grass. "I don't just want to catch pokémon just for the Pokédex."

"Why not? It'll help with research and the advancement of knowledge."

"Well, that's true…Like I said, my parents raised me to learn that pokémon are meant to be caught so that we can become good friends!" Andrea asserts. "Anyways…"

There is a long moment of silent before it is shattered by Bianca's enthusiasm.

"Well, Flare and I will surely do our best! Let's go!"

Everyone except for Andrea runs off in search of pokémon. Hilbert looks back at her, confused and concerned, but ultimately continues walking forward.

Andrea aimlessly wanders along the route until she finds a river. She decides to take off her boots, sit down, and put her feet in the water. Shortly after sitting down on the bank, she lets Kai out of his poké ball so he can have some fun swimming.

"The water sure is nice, isn't it?"

"Osh!"

Peace washes over Andrea as she watches her oshawott float around the river. Even the jovial cries of her friends in the distance fill Andrea with a sense of serene satisfaction. Still, she is bothered by her friends' flippant reaction to her earlier comments.

"Was what I said really that weird?" She mutters to herself.

She idly swings her feet back and forth in the glimmering, cerulean waters as she stares at the ripples she creates. Her mind drifts off into an odd state of numb curiosity as she contemplates the validity of her beliefs. As time passes and the sun casts different shadows upon the surrounding trees, Andrea realizes that her thoughts had wandered too far, and that wandering thoughts can be a fascinating and dangerous thing.

Kai swims up next to her and nuzzles her leg. Picking up on his signal, Andrea picks him up, dries him off with a small towelette from her bag, and sits him in her lap.

"You're just like a baby, huh?"

Kai only curls up in her lap as a response.

"Do you think I'm strange? Well, maybe I said that wrong. Do you think it's weird to think the way I do? I mean, is it wrong to not catch a pokémon unless I feel like we're friends? When you think about it, the reason I'm beginning to bond with you is because you were a gift from the Professor…which sounds weird now that I say that out loud…Anyways, my point is there was no way I couldn't have bonded with you before you were caught so maybe it's the same for wild pokémon? Then again it seems weird catching a pokémon for a game or to fill up the Pokédex or because a certain pokémon seems cool."

"Oshawo…"

"Who am I kidding? It's not like you can talk to me; you probably can't even understand me! I'm a mess."

Kai pouts, jumps up from Andrea's lap, and shoots a jet of water at her. Andrea screeches, gasps, and bursts into laughter.

"Kai, what was that for?" Andrea shrieks, "Did I say something wrong?" She holds out her arms out as a plea for forgiveness. "I'm sorry..."

The oshawott jumps into her embrace, making a sequel of noises that Andrea can only coo at.

Ring, ring…

Startled, Andrea jumps up and rummages through her bag for her cross-transceiver. Upon finding it, she clumsily turns it over and presses the answer key.

"Oh, Hilbert, hey…"

"Hey Andi—oh, uh, did you go for a swim?" He smiles.

"Huh?" Andrea scrunches her eyebrows in confusion.

"Well, your hair's kinda wet…and, uh, your shirt too, actually." He coughs and looks off to the side.

"Oh! That was Kai,"

Ugh, how embarrassing! Wait, is Hilbert embarrassed too? Ha!

"Anyways, we're all done catching pokémon; Cheren said we probably shouldn't spend any longer out here because the Professor's waiting for us. Time flies, huh?"

Oh shit, the contest!

She laughs nervously. "It sure does!"

"We're at the end of Route 1, so meet us here soon!"

"See you then!"

click

"Alright Kai, we gotta go…" She pauses and thinks about how enjoyable Kai's company is; she doesn't want to return him to his poké ball yet.

"Do you wanna walk with me?"

His eyes gleam with delight, like those of a child in Nimbasa City's theme park. "Osha!"

Andrea giggles, "Alright! If you get tired, let me know so you can sit on my shoulder!

With an agreement reached, the two stroll through the small route. Andrea wonders if she should be jogging, considering that everyone was waiting for them, yet she knows the route isn't very long.

She shortly reaches her friends, who are chatting up a storm. Well, Bianca and Hilbert are chatting up a storm while Cheren fiddles with his Pokédex.

Bianca catches Andrea's gaze. "Drea, you finally made it!" She exclaims, "Hey, did you go for a swim?"

Andrea sighs and motions to Kai.

"Ah, it must've learned water sport or water gun," Cheren comments, "Those are the only two moves it learns until it learns Razor Shell, which triggers its evolution into dewott."

Hilbert stares at Cheren. "What are you, a walking Pokédex?"

"That's pretty neat Cheren! Anyways, you ready to compare pokémon?" Bianca asks, turning her attention to Andrea.

Andrea winces as her mind raced to find a way out of the situation; she couldn't think of a silly excuse, and lying is always risky.

"Uhhh yeah why not?"

Bianca, Cheren, and Hilbert throw their poké balls up in the air to release their pokémon while Andrea awkwardly watches and tries to do everything but attract attention to herself.

"Let's go clockwise! I'll go first," Bianca gushes. "Sooo I have Bailey, my new lillipup, and Flare! What about you, Hilbert?"

"I have two pokémon too!" Hilbert exclaims. "Here's Emolga and Patrat."

"How many do you have, Drea?" Binaca inquires with eyes full of curiosity.

"Well here's Kai ok next—"

"Wait a second. You didn't catch any pokémon?" Cheren asks incredulously.

"Well, what does it look like, smart ass?"

Cheren gapes, unable to come up with an articulate response, and Hilbert can't contain his laughter at Andrea's sudden and melodramatic sassiness.

"Drea, what happened?!"

"I uh…lost my poké balls. Tragic."

"Andi, you're a terrible liar," Hilbert sighs. "Is Bianca rubbing off on you? Were you spacing out?"

"Heyyy…" Bianca pouts.

"Shut up! Maybe I just didn't want to catch a pokémon!" Andrea huffs.

"Honestly Andi, how do you expect to grow stronger without adding members to your team?" Cheren questions.

Andrea glares at Cheren. "Hey, it's not like I'm never going to catch a pokémon! Weren't you listening to me earlier?"

"Well yes, but—"

"Hey!" Hilbert exclaims, "Let Andi do what she wants."

"Thanks, Hilbert."

"I see you're taking sides now," Cheren smirks.

"W-Well yeah, but it's not like that!" Hilbert stammers, "I can't agree with you if you're being stupid! Whatever. I'm over this stupid conversation. Let's get back to the contest."

It takes Bianca, all wide-eyed and anxious, a moment to recover. "So, how many pokémon did you catch Cheren?"

"According to the Pokédex, I've caught every species of pokémon in this area."

"Woah," Bianca remarks.

"Ok, but why?" Hilbert asks, clearly irked by Cheren's overachievement.

"Simple. After multiple battles with Lillipup, Purrloin, and Patrat, I will determine which is the strongest and keep them on my team."

Andrea frowns, wanting to speak out. Dismay twinged the pit of her stomach, flooding her senses with pervasive discomfort; what Cheren was doing didn't seem right to her. But she didn't want to get so fired up that she'd start another argument with him; the last thing she wanted to do was alienate her childhood friend. Despite his stiffness, he had been a good friend for the past decade she's known him.

"Looks like Cheren wins…" Bianca sighs, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I want to see Accumula Town," Hilbert says.

"Me too! Let's go!" Andrea exclaims.

As Hilbert and Andrea walk away, Bianca turns to Cheren.

"Cheren, I know you're really passionate about pokémon and the Pokédex and stuff, but…it's not good to keep getting into arguments with everyone!"

"Bianca, it was just a civil discussion."

"Ok. Still, you're very competitive and that tends to turn people off. I mean, there's nothing wrong with friendly competition, but you tend to go overboard with these things…why? What do you have to gain?"

Cheren's blood rushes to his face. "I don't know."

He knows why. He knows perfectly well why. He feels the need to be extraordinary; the world is a competitive place and he has to be clever and strong if he wanted to defeat the champion. He has to be talented to succeed. He has to impress people. The feeling of recognition is what gives him the power to move forward, and, to his chagrin, he's realized that he feels most motivated when Bianca, his beloved childhood friend, praises him.

"Oh, your face is red!" Bianca notes. "You must be tired from running around all day; why don't we go rest somewhere indoors?"

"Well, that's really all there is to know about pokémon centers," Professor Juniper concludes after her rather brief tour of Accumula's pokémon Center. "I'd better be off, then! Remember to contact me if you need help!"

"Thanks Professor!"

With that, the lively Professor walks out the door.

"I already knew all of that," Cheren sighs, lamenting the wasted time. "Oh well. Now that my pokémon are all healed up, I'm going to see what this city has to offer."

"Hey, wait for me!" Hilbert nearly yells. He quickly gathers up his supplies and rushes out the door before Cheren even gets the chance to open it.

Bianca giggles. "Boys are so silly, huh? They're so different from us. I mean, male and female pokémon are barely different from each other, so why isn't that way with us?"

"Huh, you're right," Andrea replies.

"So I'm going to buy some po—"

The doors of the pokémon center quickly open as Professor Juniper dashes inside. She takes a moment to catch her breath, saying "Get it together, Aurea." Her face notably lights up when she sees the girls.

"Thank goodness you girls are still here! There's something I forgot to tell you! I can't believe I forgot."

"It's ok Professor!" Bianca replies, "What's up?"

"A colleague of mine lives in Striaton City. She's conducting groundbreaking research about a mysterious substance called dream mist."

"Dream mist?"

"I'm no expert on it, but from what I've heard it's pretty cool. You should visit her if you want to find out more; besides, she could use a helping hand! Her name is Fennel and I think you guys should visit her."

"Will do!"

"Stay safe, kids!"

"Goodbye, Professor!" Bianca waves just as the Professor walks out the door. "She's so cool."

"Yeah. She reminds me a bit of you; kinda flighty!"

"Heyyy!" Bianca whines.

"Nah I'm just teasing you. Anyways, you were saying something before the Professor arrived?"

"Uhhh...Oh, yeah! I need to buy potions and poké balls; thanks for reminding me,"

"That's a good idea," Andrea comments.

After the girls finish shopping at the pokémart, they are at a loss of what to do next. The small town doesn't offer much in terms of excitement.

"This just seems like a town to pass through," Bianca notes.

"Yeah!" Andrea replies. "I'm already bored…"

"Maybe the boys found something fun to do! Let's go find them."

Hilbert and Cheren sit on a grassy knoll with their pokémon. They watch young children play tag and energetically run about.

"Man, too bad there's like, nothing to do here," Hilbert says.

"I know. I don't understand why we can't leave," Cheren replies. "I want to keep training and challenge the gym…I'm just wasting my time right now."

"Who gave those weirdos the right to block the town's exit anyways?"

Cheren shrugs.

"Oh, it appears that Bianca and Andi are coming over here; at least that."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with Bianca," Hilbert crudely jeers.

"Honestly, you're so childish. So much for being the oldest of all of us..."

"Honestly," Hilbert mimics in a nasally voice, which, in retrospect, doesn't do much to prove Cheren wrong, "You're not as mature as you think you are-and you're the third oldest. Oh, hey guys."

"Hey," Andrea greets as she and Bianca approach them. Hilbert notices her oshawott perched upon her shoulder; how cute.

"Did you guys find anything fun to do?"

Cheren scoffs, "If you consider a family owned café 'fun', then yeah."

"Ohhh, that could be interesting," Bianca beams, clearly not picking up on Cheren's sarcasm.

"Well, at least it's something to do; it can't be that bad," Hilbert adds. "And I am kinda hungry…"

"If there's nothing really worth our time, why don't we just head to the next town?" Andrea inquires.

"Already thought of that," Cheren states. "But we can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't know; some weirdos won't let us through!" Hilbert sighs melodramatically.

"That's weird." Andrea hums in thought, gazing toward the direction of the end of the town, "I'm gonna go check it out."

Kai pulls on Andrea's strand of hair, but, clearly not understanding his intrinsic wariness, she just pets his head.

"Ohh, can I come with?" Bianca asks.

"I don't think that's a good idea for either of you."

"Come on Cheren, remember what we said earlier today? Don't be such a worrywart!"

"And would you care to remind me, Bianca, what exactly happened earlier today?"

Bianca sighs in defeat. "No…"

"Sorry guys, I have to agree with Cheren on this one," Hilbert says, albeit reluctantly.

Andrea pouts, shocked that Hilbert would side with Cheren and, dare she admit it, upset he won't side with her. "Whatever! That was a totally different situation!" Andrea exclaims. "Come one Bianca; you're curious to see what's going on, right?"

"Totally!" Bianca replies. "Sorry Cheren…But don't worry! Drea will keep me safe."

"Oh yes, that's such a reassuring thought."

"Ha ha," Andrea sarcastically jeers before storming off. Kai slumps in defeat, but Andrea merely thought he was tired from their long day.

"W-Wait up!" Bianca exclaims and jogs after her.

Cheren groans, resting his face in the palm of his hand. "I swear to Arceus that Andrea is going to get herself, and maybe even us if she's being especially brash, into some big trouble someday."

Bianca gasps upon seeing two people blocking the town's exit like they were knights protecting a king. The analogy extends further than the way they guard the exit, though. They are actually dressed akin to the way knights would dress in the medieval age of Unova.

"That's so cool…" She whispers to Andrea.

"What? Why would you say that? Don't you know—"

"Their outfits are neat. Maybe they're doing a play or something?"

Before Andrea can explain who the mysterious people are, she feels movement on her shoulder and looks over at Kai. The otter-like pokémon had jumped onto a nearby ledge; he holds his stubby arms up, a gesture that was so clear he knew Andrea would understand. She smiles and picks him up while Bianca coos and comments on the way she cradles him like a young child.

"Is it just me, or does he seem a bit nervous?" Andrea glances at Bianca.

"I don't know, Drea…"

Before they knew it, the two girls stand face to face with the two mysterious figures.

"Um, excuse me, I need to get through—"

"You can't go through here," The uniformed man on the left interrupts.

"Why not?"

"We're not finished with our preparations yet."

"Oh neat," Bianca jumps in, "Are you guys putting on a play?"

The man and woman stare at her with condescension.

The woman scoffs, clearly trying to stifle a laugh, "Are you kidding me?"

"So what if she is?" Andrea retorts, clearly getting pissed off with their haughty air. Kai cuddles further into her chest.

"Drea, don't—"

"Hey. You can't go through; we're not finished with our preparations yet," The man repeats upon seeing that Andrea has not budged an inch.

"Well, ok, but I don't understand why we can't just go through...like, what do your preparations have to do with us not being able to fucking leave?"

Bianca taps Andrea's shoulder. "Drea, I think we should go—"

"Well?" Andrea inquires.

"We have an important message to share with everyone," the woman states.

"That doesn't mean you can block the way! You can't just trap people here!"

"Look," the woman, glaring daggers at Andrea, approaches her, "People need to hear our message. So either you scram, or I'll get our boss involved. And believe me: you don't want to be on his bad side."

Had it not been for the woman's threat, Kai would have jumped out of Andrea's grasp and defended her. He doesn't like how close this strange woman is getting to Andrea, but he could knows things won't go well if he attacked her.

Bianca squeezes Andrea's arm. Andrea looks back at Bianca, who is utterly terrified. That's when Andrea realizes she had crossed a line; somehow, the threat didn't quite register. But because she cares about Bianca, she decides to back away when given the chance.

But not without getting the last word in. Oh no, she's too proud to walk away without saying anything; especially after they insulted Bianca.

"Alright," Andrea narrows her eyes, "But if I were here alone, that stupid boss of yours would get a piece of my mind."

Finally, with one last death glare, she walks away with Bianca and her oshawott.

The woman scowls in a fit of pique, "What a brat! She'll be sorry she messed with Team Plasma."

"Hm," The man merely nods in response.

"We should tell Ghetsis about it."

"She's just a whiny, reckless kid; it's of no importance."

"Were you even listening?! That sounded like a threat," She hisses.

"You have a point," He concedes. "Still, I think you're letting your emotions getting in the way of your logic."

"Ugh, whatever! Even you agreed it sounded threatening," She replies. "It's my job to report such things."

With that, the woman stormed off into the indoor gate that connects Accumula Town to the next route. The man sighs.

"Just wait until Ghetsis gives his speech…"

It is late afternoon. Andrea, Bianca, Cheren, and Hilbert sit at a small table in a cozy, family owned café. The atmosphere is tense. No one has said anything. Until now, that is.

"So. Andrea," Cheren's tone is professional, like a psychiatrist toward his patient, but his demeanor is angry, with crossed arms and an icy cold glare. "Care to explain why you returned with Bianca in a state of utter distress?"

Andrea mirrors him, crossing her arms, yet is unable to look him in the eye. Despite the state of fiery anger she was left in after her precarious encounter, she can't bring herself to be mad at him; as much as she hates to admit it, she is clearly in the wrong. She even left Kai in a state of worry.

"Look…I'm so sorry…" Andrea takes a deep breath as she tries to quell her anger, "I really am. And I thought I was being kinda decent at first! I just got really pissed off after the way they treated Bianca."

"Drea, I—"

"Bianca, it's not your fault."

"That's something we can both agree on," Cheren states. "Believe me, if I was there, I would've been very upset as well. In fact, I am upset! But you can't just go around agitating shady people and giving pseudo-threats to their bosses! Honestly, you're so melodramatic."

"What exactly did you say to them, Andi?" Hilbert asks without an inch of disappointment in his voice. "I'm still confused…"

So Andrea explains the situation, only pausing when their food is served. She continues talking, giving pieces of her food to Kai—as an apology for stressing him out—rather than taking a break to eat it herself.

"Shit…that…doesn't sound too great," Hilbert remarks. "And just to make things clear, they got all snobbish just because Bianca didn't know they were Team Plasma members?"

"Yup."

"What douchebags."

"Hey, the food here is really good!" Bianca remarks.

Hilbert and Andrea giggle at the sudden subject change. Cheren, on the other hand, remains too worried about Andrea's actions to let any relief pass over him. He feels an odd sense of apprehension; it isn't completely illogical, he reasons, but it is strange to have any irrational fears clouding his head.

"I'm going to get some fresh air," He announces, tersely standing up from his chair and walking out the front door.

Bianca frowns, puffing out her cheek. "What's up with him?"

"Well, the truth is…he's worried about you," Andrea replies.

"I know he's a worrywart, but it's not like we're going to be running into Team Plasma everywhere we go!"

"You know Cheren; it's like he has a computer for a brain," Hilbert reassures. "He's probably, like, calculating the probability of you running into Team Plasma again and then thinking of what they would do. The guy needs to chill."

Andrea laughs. "Yeah. Actually, he'd probably kill us if he knew we were telling you this!"

Bianca tilts her head to the side. "Why?"

Hilbert and Andrea look over at each other with a smirk and mischievous glint in their eyes.

"Here's the thing about Cheren," Hilbert begins. "He's like a cactus; all thorny and hard on the outside but a huge softie on the inside; especially for those he cares about."

Bianca blushes. "How can you tell?"

"Well, for one, the way he looks at you!" Hilbert exclaims, "He's clearly guilty of favoritism."

"But why would he be upset if I knew this?" Bianca quizzes. "I think it's sweet that he's worried about something that might never even happen to me."

"Why don't you ask him?" Andrea giggles.

"No way! That's way too embarrassing. Just tell me! Pleaassee?"

Before Bianca could draw out a response from either of them, Cheren swings the door of the café open.

"Guys…There's something going on outside that I think you need to see."