Chapter Twenty Two – Getting To Know You

"Lunch...? Daniel, wait, hold up!" Troy suddenly exclaimed. Daniel glanced at his eldest cousin in suspicion while the rest of the family faced him in confusion.

"What's up?" Daphne queried. Troy rubbed the back of his neck timidly.

"Alexa's in the middle of a lunch meeting with Keith right now," he replied.

"And?" Daniel asked sceptically.

"I, uh...I told her to focus solely on her relationship issues..."

"It's true, I was there," Xavier said quietly, raising his arm slightly.

"Why would you say that when you clearly heard her saying we should shift all of our focus on Mum?! She was the one who said so!" Daniel fumed. "And now you're telling me you told her to turn her back on her own words?"

"Give her a break, she's recently gotten over a concussion!" Troy argued back. "Even though she's only just gotten the all-clear from the doctor, she shouldn't put herself under too much stress!"

"That's no excuse to make a hypocrite out of her," Daniel said rudely.

"What do you care anyway? You don't like her!" Troy snapped.

"Okay, boys, cool your jets," Colin said calmly, gently stepping in between the conflicting boys. "I honestly feel it is better for Alexa to focus on her problems right now, so I think Troy was right in telling her to put her focus into that."
"Dad!"

"It's okay, honey, I don't have a problem with it," Hailey said kindly. She sighed as she ran her fingers through her bleach blonde hair. "Alexa has her own demons to face; I should face mine."

"You sure, Mum?" Daniel asked with concern.

"Yes, I need to buck up sooner or later," Hailey smiled. "I'm just sorry it took Piper getting hurt to make me realise that."

"Peggy's not going to hold that against you," Daphne beamed, giving her mother a loving cuddle. "But she'll be so glad you have this new resolve!"

"I wouldn't go that far, sweetheart...it's more of a kick up the backside," Hailey said sheepishly.

"Either way, it's an improvement," Colin smiled.

"So," Hailey continued, looking at her sceptical son. "Let Alexa worry about her problems; nobody needn't worry about me anymore anyway." Daniel folded his arms.

"I hate to admit Troy being right about this, but...fine, I'll roll with it."

"Gee, thanks," Troy said sardonically.

"Right, where was I...?" Colin mumbled to himself as he resumed fiddling with his Xtransceiver again.

The streets of Castelia City were as lively as expected from such a large city; many people of different social standings were walking passed one another, some talking on phones, some talking with the people walking alongside them and others wearing an assortment of headphones. Hayden, Harvey, Lily, Keenan and Cheryl were among the crowd, staying as close to one another as possible. Rick was flying slowly overhead, observing the group in case it ended up scattering unintentionally. As everyone was about to head into the Castelia Art Gallery, Harvey's Xtransceiver rang with a gentle xylophone tune, attracting his attention and the attention of his company.

"Who's that, Harvey?" Hayden asked as Harvey lifted his arm to look at his caller.

"Colin," he replied as he accepted the communication. The xylophone melody died as Colin's face appeared on the screen. "What's up, bud? Is Hailey okay?"

"It's not Hailey; it's Piper," Colin replied.

"Piper?" Lily questioned curiously. "What happened?"

"We're currently in the Striaton Pokémon Centre right now; Piper's been attacked."

"Attacked?! What happened?!" Hayden asked in shock.

"Well, we don't know the full story behind the attack," Colin said reluctantly. "But what we know for sure is that Piper was hit by an Electric type attack, an equine Pokémon was the culprit and Adelina was the one who found her." The very mention of Adelina's name sparked immense suspicion in Keenan's mind.

"Adelina? As in our Adelina?" Harvey asked in disbelief.

"Who else?" Colin asked rhetorically.

"What was Adelina even doing around the academy to begin with? Presuming this was where the attack took place, at least..."

"You're right, Harvey, it took place just outside of the academy's playing fields, according to the kids," Colin nodded in confirmation.

"Then what was Adelina doing there?" Harvey asked again.

"Haven't a clue," Colin replied. "We thought you should know, though."

"Any reason to suggest Adelina being behind the attack? Does she have a Pokémon fitting the description of Piper's attacker?" Harvey asked as Hailey poked her head over Colin's shoulder.

"Not that I know of, but, even if she does, I don't know why she'd provoke an attack against a Pokémon who can't even fight back," she explained. Keenan had a fair few possibilities running through his head.

"In any case, it's safe to say she's trying to get a reaction; I say we don't give it to her," Harvey smirked.

"I thought we established this before," Hayden said as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, it was Alexa's idea to ignore Adelina," Lily noted.

"Is that right? Well, I can't say I argue with her on that one," Colin smiled nervously.

"But I really want to nip this in the bud, Harvey; before she instigates a challenge with anyone else in the family," Hailey said keenly. Hearing her optimism greatly pleased Harvey and Hayden.

"Sounds like you're getting your fizz back!"

"Good to see you again, Bubbles," Hayden said teasingly.

"Very funny, wise guy," Hailey retorted sarcastically. "But, seriously, I want to be the one to deal with Adelina; nobody else needs to get involved."

"I respect that," Hayden said approvingly.

"In the meantime, I think the rest of us should be cautious," Harvey said seriously. "We all know how Stephan fared against Huey, so it's not unorthodox to presume that her strongest Pokémon is capable of murder; it doesn't matter if we avoid her or end up talking to her, do not get into battle with her. If the choice isn't there, stay attentive and bail out whenever you can." Everyone nodded in complete agreement, but Keenan took a deep breath and sighed silently, concerning Iara.

The Nimbasa restaurant was slightly busier than it was when Keith and Alexa first arrived; a few more tables were taken, though most of them were still quite a distance from Keith and Alexa's booth. Most of the other customers were just chatting over a drink, some were eating quietly, but others, like Keith and Alexa, were having a conversation as they ate. Keith was enjoying a piping hot cheese and vegetable risotto with his glass of cola, while Alexa enjoyed a piece of flatbread with her chicken salad and cola. Miraculously, Jollie, Ava and Chutney were still asleep under the table, despite being in the midst of overlapping conversation.

"Be honest; what was your favourite Pokémon encounter?" Keith asked curiously as he lifted a forkful of his creamy rice from his ivory white bowl.

"You mean out of my Pokémon or in general?" Alexa asked as she tore a small piece of flatbread and dipped it in some salad dressing.

"I meant in general, but you can tell me which of your Pokémon had your favourite encounter as well," Keith smiled before consuming his cheesy rice.

"When it comes to my Pokémon, my favourite encounter was..." Alexa politely paused to take a bite from her flatbread piece and waited until she swallowed it before she resumed speaking. "Urgh, I can't decide...but my top three are Razor, my Crobat, Cassie and Bouquet, my Roserade." Keith swallowed his rice.

"Cassie doesn't really surprise me, given that she's a Lapras, but why the other two?" Keith asked as he took his icy cold glass in one hand; he drank from the glass as Alexa elaborated.

"Cassie because she looked absolutely beautiful when I first found her in Union Cave," she said admiringly. "You needed to have been there, but it was just...stunning..." Keith's smile died slightly as he returned his glass to the table.

"Makes me wish we saved that pod from Jordan," he said carefully. Part of him was surprised to see how casual Alexa appeared after having reminded her of a grim part of their past mission in the Johto region.

"Cassie was on her own, but I do know how you feel," Alexa said calmly as she stabbed some of her lettuce and a piece of chicken breast with her fork.

"What about the other two?" Keith asked with interest. Alexa smiled as she lifted her stick of chicken breast and lettuce leaves from her plate.

"Bouquet because of what she was doing when I first saw her," she began with an amused grin on her face. "She was dancing in the rain just outside Verdanturf Town," she explained before consuming the food on her fork.

"Dancing?" Keith questioned. "In the rain?"

"Mm," Alexa nodded. She swallowed her food before she spoke up again. "She loves the rain. Like, even more than sunshine."

"A bit odd for a Grass type... And why Razor?" Keith asked before eating another forkful of his creamy rice. Alexa appeared to be relatively embarrassed, carrying a timid smile and looking very slightly away from Keith's line of sight.

"Ah...that was because we found him in our attic," she replied quietly. Keith swallowed his rice before he ended up choking on it; Alexa's reply astounded him to say the least.

"You're kidding?!"

"No, I'm not," Alexa laughed nervously. "About six years ago, Keenan got scared because of an unusual noise in the attic just before we went to bed, so my Mum went to investigate," she continued, pausing to take a drink from her cool cola glass. "She couldn't find anything until something flew passed her; it was so quick and so sudden that she got scared half to death. Actually, I was scared she found an Ariados or – worse yet – a Galvantula when we heard her scream."

"Was she okay?" Keith asked with concern.

"She was spooked, but she was fine otherwise," Alexa said happily. "Razor didn't mean to scare her; he just got scared when she moved one of the boxes near where he was hiding."

"How did he get there anyway?" Keith asked curiously.

"Haven't the foggiest; our roof has always been in top form, so we don't know how he got there, when he got there or how long he was up there," Alexa replied with uncertainty. She glanced towards Keith as she lifted a cherry tomato from her plate with her fork. "What about you? Do you have a favourite Pokémon encounter?" Keith chuckled light-heartedly as Alexa consumed the lone tomato in one bite.

"Yeah; a Flabébé," he replied. Alexa's eyes widened.

"A Flabébé?!"

"Yeah; when I was five, I was playing outside in the back yard and I saw a Flabébé in my Mom's hibiscus bush," Keith explained dreamily. "It held onto one of the flowers, so I picked it out of the bush and let the Flabébé leave with it."

"Awww, that's so cute!" Alexa squealed with delight. Keith laughed.

"That's rich coming from a girl with a Rhyperior in her roster!"

"Girls can train Rhyperiors if they want to, just like boys can train Clefables if they want to! ...actually, I fought a guy with a Clefable once in the Hoenn League..."

"Random bit of information there, Alexa," Keith said observantly as he consumed some more of his rice, with a piece of fresh veg on top of the pile as a nice little bonus.

"What kind of Pokémon did you expect me to have anyway?" Alexa asked out of interest. Keith swallowed before answering, taking his glass in his hand again.

"To be honest, I'm not sure, but Rhyperior certainly wasn't one of 'em!" he chuckled.

"Y-yeah...that doesn't surprise me," Alexa replied nervously. The pair were silent as Keith drank the last of his cola, and it wasn't until he placed the empty glass on the table again that Alexa looked at him; she instantly noticed the look of mild dread on his face.

"...hey, Alexa? Can you help me get to Troy's Daycare to pick up Robbie and Reese after we're done here?" he asked shyly.

"Yeah, of course," Alexa said kindly. "I don't think Phoenix will be too wild about it, but he'll be able to give us a lift." Keith smiled at Alexa.

"Thanks, Alexa. I'll pay you back for it."

"No, it's fine," Alexa declined courteously. "I was planning on seeing Troy after this anyway, it's no big deal."

"Yeah, but...between that, this and Ava's Soothe Bell...I need to do something to pay you back!" Keith said insistently.

"It's really no bother, but I appreciate the thought," Alexa said modestly as she ate another forkful of her salad. Keith smiled gently at her, but began to think of how he could return the favours Alexa did and was going to do for him.

Peggy returned to the Pokémon Centre's main lobby and approached her parents, siblings and eldest cousin with the kind and gentle nurse who contributed to Piper's treatment. Peggy was back to her usual sunny self, carrying a bandaged Piper in her arms. Daphne and Troy were relieved to see a smile on the Swablu's beak, but Daniel was happy to see both Piper and Peggy carrying cheerful grins. Colin approached the nurse as Hailey cuddled her happy daughter.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Piper just needs to rest for now; she should be perfectly fine by this time tomorrow," the nurse said kindly.

"Thank you so much!" Peggy said politely.

"You're welcome, little miss," the nurse smiled.

"Right, now that this crisis is over, I think it's time to get back to school," Hailey suggested. "Come on, I'll walk you three there."

"Okay," Daphne said willingly. Daniel nodded compliantly as he followed his mother and sisters out of the Pokémon Centre.

"Is there anything we need to know about her after care?" Colin asked worriedly.

"The doctor saw no reason to give Piper any specific after care, but if you do have any concerns, I recommend taking her to the GP, especially if any problems do arise, such as restricted muscle movement, for instance."

"Thank you so much," Colin said with relief.

"It's my pleasure," the nurse said courteously as she turned to leave the lobby. Satisfied, Colin faced Troy and Xavier.

"I'm going to get back to Hailey. Make sure you bring Alexa up to speed, okay?"

"What, after establishing where her focus should be?" Xavier asked quizzically.

"It's just bringing her up to speed; so long as you can convince her to keep her focus on her own problems, then there shouldn't be any harm in keeping her updated," Colin explained.

"Isn't that being a little hypocritical..?"

"It's fine, Xavier," Troy said calmly. "Don't worry, I'll tell her." Colin smiled.

"Good. I'll see you later," he said quickly as he raced out of the Pokémon Centre. Troy and Xavier began to walk out of the Pokémon Centre slowly as they began to analyse what just happened.

"So, Adelina found Piper after she was assaulted... Adelina's involvement alone is enough to suspect foul play."

"You reckon?" Xavier asked.

"Well, Adelina's bullying Aunt Hailey, isn't she?" Troy asked rhetorically. "And her being around at the precise moment Piper was attacked is too much of a coincidence..."

"What do you think?" Xavier asked curiously. Troy sighed as he tightened his ponytail.

"I haven't a clue...but I'm more interested in Aunt Hailey's well-being..."

"Why? She's doing okay now."

"Now she is, yeah...I'm just worried she'll end up teetering on the edge of depression again," Troy sighed. "All we can really do now is be there for her when and if she needs the support." Xavier nodded in agreement.

The Castelia Art Gallery was vast and spacious, with many pieces of art on display; there were canvases hanging on the walls and statues placed strategically around on the floor. The smaller statues were displayed on the identical white display stands, some of which were protected by a glass case. Lily and Keenan were happily talking about the history of a beautiful painting of a Reshiram and Zekrom in the company of their Pokémon, Cheryl and Iara. Hayden and Harvey stood further away from the Reshiram and Zekrom painting and conversed as they observed the interaction between mother and son.

"What's your take on this whole Adelina versus Hailey issue?" Harvey asked.

"Versus? You make it sound like a full-on confrontation," Hayden said. "No, to me, it feels one-sided."

"Seeing as Hailey's still seeing Adelina as her friend, that doesn't surprise me," Harvey nodded. "Actually, it's almost admirable of Hailey to carry on seeing Adelina in such a light."

"Admirable? If I had a friend who began treating me like that, I'd certainly question if they were a true friend!" Hayden said nastily.

"Yeah, almost was the operative word," Harvey chuckled. "But what the hell happened to make Adelina so...devious?" Another gallery visitor, who was observing a masterfully sculpted statue of an Articuno, suddenly looked in Harvey and Hayden's direction, the Helioptile sitting in his hood looking in the same way.

"Arceus knows," Hayden sighed as the visitor cautiously made his way over to the conversing brothers. "But all I care about in this situation is Hailey."

"Amen," Harvey agreed whole-heartedly.

"Excuse me," the visitor said curiously. Harvey and Hayden drew their attention to the Helioptile owner now standing next to them; the man was dressed mostly in black clothing, wearing a thin hooded jacket, thin black bootleg trousers and black leather boots. His jet black hair was stylistically messy with a single patch of his fringe dyed bright violet and he had a black lip stud in the lower left corner of his lip. Despite how intimidating he appeared to be, his demeanour and tone of voice were non-threatening. "I couldn't help overhearing; you weren't talking about Adelina Cross, by any chance, were you?"

"Yes, we were," Harvey replied. "You know her?" The young man smiled.

"My name's Toby, I'm a long-time Pokémon Co-Ordinator," Toby said politely.

"Same with our sister, Hailey Hawkstone. I'm Harvey, and this is my brother, Hayden."

"Hailey Hawkstone...heh; her Jolteon made me want to find an Electric type Pokémon, y'know," Toby grinned as he petted his Helioptile's head. "Am I right in assuming that there's bad blood between Hailey and Adelina?"

"Albeit one-sided, yes," Hayden confirmed. Toby took a deep breath and quietly exhaled.

"That doesn't surprise me."

"Come again?" Hayden asked in confusion.

"There was a rumour about six years ago, when I was competing in my first Contest in Slateport City, that Adelina's starting to turn," Toby explained.

"Turn?" Harvey asked in bewilderment.

"Y'know, like a yoghurt? People said she started to turn sour after her battle with Hailey in Fallabour Town," Toby continued.

"So why would Adelina start something now and not six years ago?" Hayden questioned.

"Rumour also had it that she spent the last six years intensely training her Pokémon," Toby responded.

"How intense?" Harvey asked.

"The six Super Training programmes," Toby said hesitantly. Harvey and Hayden went wide-eyed with terror.

"Bloody hell..."

"My daughter took her Charizard through a mix of two of those programmes; that's how he became so slender!" Hayden said in astonishment.

"Mmhmm, those programmes aren't child's play," Toby nodded. "Any Pokémon who completes just one of them one time becomes significantly stronger, but going through them for six years? They're sure to end up beastly."

"No wonder my Serperior had a hard time against her Jellicent! And my Serperior is my strongest Pokémon!" Harvey said in consternation.

"Mmhmm, sounds about right," Toby nodded. "I'd steer clear of that one if I were you; personally, my guys, gals and I haven't met her face to face, but she definitely sounds like a bad seed."

"We're kind of trying to, but she's starting to find ways of getting to us," Harvey said nervously.

"Try to ignore her; she's looking for a reaction."

"My daughter suggested something similar, or so we've been told," Hayden said in agreement.

"Keep at it," Toby said encouragingly. "I should really be off now; I'll be competing in the Nimbasa Contest once the stage has been repaired."

"Do you think Hailey was responsible for damaging it?" Harvey asked reluctantly.

"Honestly, I doubt it very much," Toby shrugged as Lily, Keenan and the Pokémon approached him. "I couldn't see anything wrong with her Bellossom's appeal; if anything, it was splendid until it suddenly intensified." Keenan was instantly struck by deja vu; it was as if he heard the exact same thing before.

"Thanks for the advice at any rate," Hayden said earnestly.

"No problem," Toby smiled as he began to walk away from the brothers. Harvey and Hayden then spotted Keenan, Lily and the Pokémon nearby.

"Oh, hi! You done with your art lesson?" Harvey asked playfully.

"What was that all about?" Lily asked curiously.

"Long story short, Adelina seems to have turned against Hailey at some point six years ago," Hayden said quickly.

"And Adelina took her Pokémon through a six-year long run through the Super Training programmes," Harvey added.

"Super Training?! Oh, gosh...!"

"What's Super Training?" Keenan asked in bemusement. Hayden crouched down to Keenan's level, looking at his son squarely in his sapphire blue eyes.

"Do you remember when Phoenix evolved into Charizard?" he asked.

"Yeah, he was overweight, I think..." Hayden nodded.

"Alexa took him through a mixture of two special training programmes that, individually, are designed to drastically increase a Pokémon's strength in a different aspect, like their physical strength or their speed. There are six programmes in total, one for each aspect, and Adelina took all of her Pokémon through all six of them for six years." Keenan's eyes widened with horror in light of what he had just heard.

"Six Pokémon through six Super Training programmes for six years..." Harvey mused. "...I'm going to tell Hailey about this; I'll go and see her myself as soon as we're done here. After that, I'll bring Troy up to speed."

"Lily and I will tell Alexa once she comes back to us," Hayden said seriously, Lily nodding in agreement. Keenan scratched his head; there was something about Adelina that didn't seem to add up to him. Iara looked up at him in confusion.

Troy and Xavier casually approached the isolated Daycare Centre just as they saw a slender and very cranky Charizard landing on the ground just in front of the main entrance of the centre. Recognising the Charizard all too well, Troy and Xavier ran up to the Charizard just as Keith and Alexa dismounted from his back; Ava, Jollie and Chutney were all wide awake and holding onto their respective human partners. Robbie and Reese spotted Phoenix's landing and raced to the fencing near the Flame Pokémon in hopes of greeting Keith.

"Hey, good to see ya!" Troy greeted. "I take it everything went well?"

"A rocky start, but we're getting there slowly," Keith replied. Despite his optimism, he felt intimidated around the angry Phoenix.

"Sounds like you had fun, though," Troy smiled. Keith nodded as he approached his Buizel and Sawsbuck, petting the pair of them over the fence.

"Yeah, it...it was nice," Alexa said, smiling timidly. Jollie noticed that Alexa was blushing slightly.

"So they're ready for me to pick them up?" Keith asked as he stroked Robbie's snout.

"Yep, they're ready for ya," Troy nodded. Keith backed away as Robbie leapt over the fence with Reese clinging to his antlers during the entire stunt.

"Do you charge?"

"Normally, I charge by the hour, but I'll let you have this as a favour; that means you owe me one," Troy grinned.

"Thanks," Keith said kindly. After placing Ava on Robbie's back, he looked over at Alexa. "Now what?"

"Same time tomorrow?" Alexa inquired.

"Yeah? How about meeting at the coffee shop on Route 4?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Alexa nodded. "I'll see you then."

"Yep," Keith nodded. To Alexa's absolute surprise, Keith pecked an incredibly quick kiss on her cheek. "See you tomorrow," he said as he climbed onto Robbie's back. Before Alexa could react, Robbie galloped towards the direction of Nacrene City, Keith, Reese and Ava riding on his back. Alexa watched the Sawsbuck galloping out of sight as her blushing became slightly more obvious. Troy and Xavier looked at one another worriedly as Phoenix watched the disappearing Sawsbuck disapprovingly.

"Hnmmph," he snorted.

"Chipachi-pachi," Chutney said teasingly. Alexa quickly shook her head before facing Troy and Xavier.

"Sorry about that," she said coyly. Troy smiled at her sweetly.

"It's no big deal; if anything, that shows progress," he said kindly. "Why don't we head on inside? You can give me all the dirty details over a brew!" he proposed as he opened the front door of the centre.

"It was lunch; hardly scandalous," Alexa muttered as she and Phoenix followed Troy and Xavier inside the Daycare Centre.

Not too far away, Adelina watched as Troy and Alexa entered the Daycare Centre with Xavier and the Pokémon from the shadows of a tall pine tree; after the door closed, a tiny grin made its way on Adelina's face.

To be continued...