A.N. Okay! Well, I've got a bit to say before this chapter takes off, so let's do this!
So, this is Chapter 2, but after I read the reviews made on this story by Pure Gamer (which I must thank you for- your advice helped me so much, and I rarely get reviews on my stories, so thank you so much for helping me out and making my day! You rock!) I decided to redo this chapter.
Enjoy!
Boutique Couture, located in the stylish Lumiose City, was a store for the fashionably gifted.
It was a store for the high-class consumers of Kalos on the high-class end of fashion (and the economy).
And, in Bella's opinion, it was a store solely for snooty rich people, ridiculously high prices, and ridiculously low pay.
"You have to pay 40,000 Pokéyen just to buy a FEDORA in this place, and yet, they only pay me 500 Pokéyen for one week's wages?" the blonde cashier griped to herself as she rang up another patron's purchases. "I'll never make enough money for the plane ticket! I've been working here for over a MONTH, and I've only managed to amass 5,000, including the money that I had before! And the tryouts are in two weeks…I'll never get enough money at this rate. This job was not one of my better ideas." She stuffed the purchased clothing into the bag with pure venom, then shoved the full bag at the consumer, who happened to be a middle-aged lady. "Have a nice day." Bella snapped as the affronted woman walked away, her stilettos clicking on the marble floor.
Bella looked back at the long line, which has slowed down due to two women at the front who were deeply engaged in conversation. She slumped down and rested her arm on the stone countertop. With a heavy sigh, Bella called: "Next!"
When the two ladies didn't respond, Bella began to tap her fingers impatiently on the marble surface, and yelled: "I said, NEXT!"
As the two ladies continued to ignore her, Bella's patience, which had been wearing thinner since she had started her job, was almost out. "I'M NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER HERE! YOU TWO ARE NEXT!"
When her third reminder yielded no response, Bella slammed her hands on the counter, grabbed a Pokéball from her bag, and threw it in the air in front of the two women.
The ball popped open in a flash of red light, calling out Bella's fearsome Chesnaught, a mostly beige Pokémon with an impressive shell on its back with terrifying, razor-sharp spikes.
"CHESSSSS!" Chesnaught roared, drawing the attention on all the shoppers and employees in the store, including the two gossiping women.
The two women turned around in fear towards the checkout counter to see an infuriated cashier glaring at them with antagonized grey eyes.
"YOU'RE HOLDING UP THE LINE!" Bella roared, jabbing a finger on the countertop. "LET'S MOVE IT ALONG, LADIES!"
The enraged cashier felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, and found herself looking at the constantly annoyed face of her manager.
"Bellatrix! What is the meaning of this?"
"They were taking too long!" Bella snapped, pointing an accusing finger at the two women, who were currently cowering under the glare of Chesnaught.
"You cannot terrorize our customers!" The manager scolded, pulling at his bushy handlebar mustache. "That's how we lose customers!"
"Are you kidding?!" Bella spat. "People pay 40,000 Pokéyen just to buy a hat! They pay 120,000 Pokéyen to buy a SHIRT! If we loose a few customers, what's the difference?!"
The manager sighed and rubbed his temples. "Call back your Chesnaught." Bella grudgingly agreed, and held her Pokéball in the air, sending her Chesnaught back into its Pokéball.
"Honestly, Bellatrix…" the manager groaned, gesturing for another employee to come over and help the two women purchase their clothing. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Well, I-"
"I've put you in the stockroom. That didn't work! I've put you on door duty. That didn't work! Quite frankly, I have no idea what I was thinking with that…and then I had you work as a cashier. That…obviously didn't work either, considering your recent performance."
Bella sighed and folded her arms across her chest. "So you're going to fire me, aren't you?"
"I might have to," her manager replied. "That is, if you keep up this pitiful performance."
"Listen, the customers-"
"Sir?" Another employee interrupted, walking towards the two workers. "Sir, there's a customer upstairs, in the Men's section."
"Your point?"
"Well, he needs some help selecting a hat."
The manager sighed, then looked over at Bella. "Go up there and help him. Screw this up, though, and I'm firing you."
"Oh, fair enough." Bella shot back, turning and storming towards the red carpeted stairs that led up to the second floor.
Upon arriving at the second floor, the blonde looked around for the customer that she was supposed to be helping. She turned her gaze over to the hat section, and her stomach seemed to do a nosedive off a cliff.
If her day hadn't been bad before, it certainly was now.
The male in the hat section turned in her direction upon hearing a frustrated groan.
"Bella!" he exclaimed, walking over to her. "Bella, you WORK here?"
With an elongated sigh, the exasperated teenager glared at the brunet standing before her, wearing what had to be one of the most ridiculous hats she had seen in her life. It was blue and yellow striped, with a huge red feather coming straight out of the top, and many other decorations adorning the hat, most of which were big, fake, plastic jewels.
"Calem." Bella replied, hatred dripping off of her voice. "You SHOP here?"
To pretty much all who talked to Calem, he was a polite, well-tempered good-looking, and exceptionally skilled Trainer who had recently taken Diantha's title of Kalos Champion.
But to Bella, Calem was her annoying next-door neighbor who had called her his "rival" throughout their journey, even though Bella had beaten him mercilessly every time they battled.
And yet, though Bella had proven herself to be more skilled than Calem, it was him, not her, who now held the title of Champion.
If Bella hadn't been jealous of the navy-eyed Trainer before, she certainly was now.
"What are you doing here?" Calem asked as he led the incensed worker over to a rack of hats, all of which were, in Bella's opinion, were overpriced and looked terribly ridiculous and uncomfortable.
"Working." Bella growled, grabbing the oversized hat off of Calem's head. "You know, I'm surprised that they even allow you in here. You've got no sense of fashion at all."
"This from the girl who terrorized two patrons with her Chesnaught." Calem responded, brushing off the insult that his rival had thrown at him.
"Go play in traffic, Calem."
Calem laughed and took three hats off of the extensive hat rack in front of the two Trainers. "So, how's the training for the tryouts going?"
"You know about that?!" Bella cried, nearly dropping the hat she was holding. "How?"
"I was talking with Wulfric a few days ago, and he said that you had been training with Olympia for the tryouts at the new Baliar Island place."
"What's it to you?" Bella snapped, her hands clenching around the blue and yellow hat she was currently holding.
"Well, nothing, I was just wondering what you were doing here if you have tryouts to be training for."
"I'll be fine at the tryouts."
"I'm sure you will be," Calem said dryly, selecting yet another hat from the rack. "You'll terrify all your opponents in surrendering with that glare of yours - you didn't even need to train."
Bella shook her head and replaced the hat she was holding. "Don't be ridiculous."
"But, like I said before, what are you doing here?"
"I…" Bella whispered. "I need money…"
"You need what?" Calem asked, looking over at the embarrassed blonde.
"Money." Bella replied, a little bit louder. "To…to get to Unova."
Calem shook his head in disbelief. "Then why are you working here?"
"Because it was the only place that I could find work!" Bella cried, turning away from her "rival" as a feeling of despair started to grow in her stomach. She'd never make enough money in time, and she knew it. "And at the rate I'm going…I won't have the money that I need."
"When are the tryouts?"
"In two weeks." Bella mumbled, shamefacedly. She pulled at the collar of her grey and black uniform. "But since I'm making only 500 Pokéyen per week, I won't have enough!"
Calem looked over at his upset rival. A small plan began to formulate in his mind. "How much money do you have?"
"5,000 Pokéyen." Bella mumbled.
"How much do the tickets cost?"
"They cost-wait!" Bella cried, pointing angrily at Calem. "Are you going to just GIVE me the rest of the money?" She threw a hat on the ground and glared at her neighbor. "You idiot!"
"Yeah, that's what I was planning." Calem responded evenly. "And before you say anything, Bellatrix, you're going to accept this money."
"Oh, and you know this how?" Bella growled, curling her fingers into fists.
"Because I know how much you want to go to those tryouts!" the brunet Champion laughed. He took a wallet out from his grey bag and pulled some bills out of it.
"I don't want your money!" Bella cried. "I'll earn the rest myself!"
"Reeally?" Calem chortled, waving the money in the air. "I thought you said that you couldn't make enough in time."
"I…I'll find other ways!"
"Like what, walking along the streets and looking for coins?" Calem retaliated. "Give it up, Bel, and just take the money."
"Why are you offering me this, anyway?"
Calem smiled. "Because I know how hard you've been training, Bellatrix, and I know how badly you want that job, rather than the crappy one you have now."
Bella hung her head in defeat, and held out her hand. "Just give me the money."
"I knew you'd say yes eventually." Calem grinned, handing the money to his rival. He turned back to the mirror and grabbed a random hat from the rack. "Good luck at the tryouts."
The blonde trainer shrugged and walked back towards the stairs. She looked back at the Kalos Champion, then remembered what she had been sent up here to do in the first place.
"Oh, Calem?"
"Yes?" Calem answered, wearing another terribly ridiculous hat on his head.
A smirk curved across Bella's usually frowning face.
"That hat…looks absolutely horrible on you."
A.N. I just realized how long this is. Ack, sorry! Hopefully the other chapters won't be as long- but I do like this one better!