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Ambrette Town
"Where amber dust dances."
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It's almost as if he's underwater, immersed with the water creatures he sees before him. There's goldeen, corsola, and seaking; a variety of pokemon here in Ambrette's aquarium. They swim around behind an enormous, thick glass and under a luminous, baking sunlight; which Calem wonders whether or not that's healthy for the water pokemon.
Feeling annoyed, he wonders to the next exhibit, the last of the only two exhibits within the whole aquarium. But there's no pokemon within this circular exhibit, just 'exotic' aquatic plants.
He rolls his eyes and begins to think the trip here was a waste of time. He didn't mind the trip to Ambrette town—the fatigue that resulted was definitely worth it. Ambrette town has a well-known fossil lab, and he planned on getting his Jaw fossil revitalized. He's heard of Ambrette's aquarium during one of his pokemon battles on the way here with another trainer. Critics gave the aquarium five freaking stars, they said. Does the aquarium deserve the five stars? Calem thinks maybe, but was it worth the long wait to get into the aquarium? Not at all.
However, despite him being obviously upset, he was still glad to have escape the doctor after three days of his seemingly 'house arrest'. Who had time to sleep all day in bed when there was pokemon to be discovered? Certainly not him. Nothing or no one can keep him locked up in a house all day. And besides, he was feeling better already. The poison wasn't that potent…
Though was it?
The revelation of the little amount of self-awareness about that particular situation finally comes to him. He remembers jumping into action to protect Serena from the horde of zubat, but then his memory fast-forwards to him waking up in bed, his head refusing to let him know what happened between the two episodes. If anything bothered Calem the most, it is the unreasonable and being vulnerable—the worst ideas that could ever be inflicted upon an individual…and be the very traits of a person he knows.
His memory becomes clear whenever he thinks back to that dire moment in the Connecting Cave. There was barely any light to make out any possible dangers within the cave, and the vast passage-ways allowed for echoes to exist, making it difficult to pinpoint direct sources of sound. Sound and vision were Serena's prime senses that she relied on to even move herself around on earth, so the cave was the last place he thought she'd be in. Out of all the accessible paths she could take to get to Cyllage City, she chose the most perilous one for a mute person.
And he knew something was wrong once she stormed off after their double battle against Tierno and Trevor. Rage will only make a person blind to their surroundings, and the cave probably and practically beckoned her towards it. A trainer could merely journey around the cave on the outside if they wanted to, but Serena might have not known about it. Little trainers know of the 'other' paths around Kalos.
Then he was cut off from the outside completely when he entered that cave. He remembers the experience starkly. No words could describe how uneasy he'd felt about what situations he'd see as he went further in, and when he saw her just frozen there, staring at the diving zubat—
"Calem?"
He turns to seek out who called, but couldn't see exactly who from the mass of people behind him. He steps away from the group of buzzing tourists, and goes to stand by the wall near the front desk.
He tries to look for any familiar faces once again, but it turns out he doesn't have to as someone taps his shoulder.
"Calem," the voice says again. It was the tourist girl from Parfum Palace.
"Mora," Calem immediately says once he remembers, and inwardly winces at the sincere smile that instantly spreads on her face. "Hey."
"Hi," she brightly says back. "Fancy seeing you here."
He nods. "Unfortunately."
"H-Huh?"
"Oh, uh, no! Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. It's just unfortunate for me to be in here because of this pitiful aquarium, but meeting you here is great. Awesome, really—"
She giggles. "It's great to see you too. Care for a look around the town outside?"
A walk around town with Mora? He breathes out, partly because he's debating whether or not to accept, and partly because the idea of being anywhere but here sounds ultimately desirable.
"Sure, anywhere but here."
She offers her arm and he has no other choice but to take it. He would breathe a little easier with the support.
(***)
She jumps in place as an attempt to see over the line before her in front of the aquarium's entrance. There's only about seven more people to go before it's her turn to enter, and she could barely hold in her excitement. She's never been inside an aquarium before. What will it hold inside? What's it like in there? Will water surround her behind glass walls as she crosses through the door? Or will it be a walkway above calm waters? Will she be able to swim with these pokemon?
In almost no time at all, it was her turn to enter the aquarium. She pulls open the door with infinite vigor and steps in, a cool blast of air hitting her on the way in.
She drops her shoulders and sighs. There was still a line even in the aquarium! And they had to pay too to gain access…?!
A sigh escapes her lips. She guess it can't be helped. She reluctantly rummages inside her purse for a few coins, and walks up to the lady at the desk while doing so.
"Afternoon, miss," the lady greets. "Any way I can help you?"
Serena cocks her head to the side, and holds up the coins in question.
"Oh, there's no entry fee here. As you can see, we only have two exhibits…"
"Calem!" A voice calls out in the background, and the lady's voice fades away in Serena's head, her mind now trying to tune in to that one voice that somehow caught her attention.
"Calem!" The voice calls again, reassuring that she wasn't just hearing things. She ganders out at the aquarium behind her, searching for the owner of the voice…
"Um, miss?" The lady asks impatiently.
She ignores and abandons the lady absentmindedly, and quickly hides behind a group of photo-snapping tourists while constantly scanning the dark room. Where was that voice coming from? Was it a female's voice? She can't tell from all the conversations going on all at once.
"But meeting you here is a pleasure. Awesome, really. Very glad to see you—"
Serena felt like her hair could've stood on end just then. That was Calem's voice! He was supposed to be back at Cyllage City resting in bed, just how she'd left him! How did the guy even get here?
Then the voice laughs, or giggles. It was definitely a female voice. "It's great to see you too. Care for a look around the town outside?"
"Sure, anywhere but here."
The people she hides behind notices her now, but she's not paying an ounce of attention at their offended glares because her mind is somewhere else. The feeling in her chest she can't exactly describe. There was another female in Calem's journey other than Shauna or her. Why? Calem would be the last person she would ever think of being a socially-active person. She thought he would be loyal to his group of travelers, and not hang out with others during their journey. And she remembered Shauna mentioning to her about a rendezvous point; their group was supposed to meet somewhere soon! Calem had to focus on getting there, not hang with some girl!
Who was this girl? His acquaintance, friend, cousin, sister…girlfriend? Hopefully the first option.
She blinks the thoughts away, trying to clear her head to move herself out of the way of other tourists. She may not know exactly what to do with the situation, but she knows she can't stay here.
(***)
"So, what brings you here?"
"Is that rhetorical, or are you being serious."
She raises a brow at him. "What's that supposed to mean, exactly?"
"I'm a trainer, Mora. Naturally we have to travel to every destination in its correct order. The gyms go in a pattern."
"Ah, true. Silly of me." She nods her head thoughtfully, and her stride matching with Calem's as they stroll at a nice pace around the town, their arms still latched onto one another.
Calem wonders with dread why they're still interlocked like this.
It was wrong. Did friends of the opposite gender walk like this out in public? He should probably slip his arm out from under hers slyly then play it off…
"Eek! Scorupi!"
The air's almost knocked out of his lungs as Mora suddenly has him in something equal to a 'death-grip'.
"Scorupi! Get it away!"
"M-Mora, calm down, it went back into its hole, it's not even there anymore—"
"But I almost touched it with my foot! What if it poisoned me? What if it hurt me?"
Calem sighs. "You know, I got poisoned not too long ago, and it wasn't that bad. I just fainted, that's all. I wasn't hurt or anything—"
"YOU WHAT?"
"Uh...err, you know what? Let's get to the fossil museum. We'll be safer in there, right?"
"But Calem—"
"No buts," he immediately said, and had to pry her fingers off his torso. "We should go." He made a move for the museum, but then he felt her hand pull on his own.
"I'm scared," she whimpered. "Please hold my hand."
He looked at her face to discern if maybe this was all just an act, but she was frowning. And if he looked closely, and long enough, she was shaking quite violently in place. Ironic how she likes pokemon, but at the same time said pokemon cause her great fear.
Holding her hand back with equal ferocity, he leads her away from the supposed danger and towards the fossil museum, unaware of a particular pair of vigilant, hazel eyes that gradually begins to brim and overflow with amber-like tears.