Chapter Thirty Seven – Dusk
Colin and Hailey quickly dismounted from the backs of their Salamence and Altaria as they headed straight into the Daycare Centre, their faithful dragon Pokémon following swiftly behind. Once through Troy's threshold, David and Annabelle hurried over to their newly evolved daughter and embraced her, both euphoric and proud of Piper's achievement. Similarly, Peggy shot off of Troy's sofa and flung herself into Hailey's arms.
"Hey, baby," Hailey greeted gently as she cuddled her youngest child. Colin looked around at the numerous recovering Pokémon around the room; the amount of bandages he saw staggered and somewhat disturbed the architect.
"Were things really this chaotic?" he asked Troy as he stood up off of the floor, holding onto the freshly bandaged Meowstic in his arms. The Meowstic held onto her bandaged tail and tried to hide her face from everyone present.
"Yep. Frankly, I'm just lucky the twins showed up when they did," he replied gratefully.
"I'm glad, but I think it's time the girls went back to school," Hailey said as she attempted to gather her two daughters. As Colin looked at the time on his Xtransceiver, he suddenly felt awkward.
"Hailey..." Hailey looked over at Colin in confusion until he held up his Xtransceiver, showing her the current time.
"...ah. School's out now." Now Troy felt bad.
"Sorry, Hailey. I shouldn't have joked about asking the girls if they should be in school, but-"
"No, it's fine...at this point, I'm just happy to be content. I can always meet the principal tomorrow and explain the situation..."
"Is that really the best idea?" Colin wondered.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Hailey asked, almost crankily.
"I'm not insinuating that it's a bad idea...I'm just wondering how the principal would react to a backstabbing Co-Ordinator terrorising her rival's children," Colin explained. Hailey merely shrugged in response.
"That's his problem; I'm not going to sugar coat it. For now, though, let's just enjoy what calmness we have."
"I agree," Daniel said with relief. Although part of him felt disturbed by how Adelina knew about his cruel nickname.
"Anyway, Troy, is there any—whoa!" Colin almost tripped over the heavily sleeping Furfrou as he walked towards Troy. "Uh, anything we can do to help?"
"I don't think so, but are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine; that wasn't anything big," Colin laughed nervously.
Keenan sat gloomily on the sofa as Lily, Cheryl and Hayden exited their shared bedroom. Hayden had finally changed out of his business suit and into a more casual polo-shirt and jeans combination, while Lily changed into a tasteful blue sweatshirt and long black skirt that covered her knees and almost her ankles. Iara couldn't help but stare at Keenan anxiously as he ignored his parents preparing for their evening outing.
"Okay, your father and I both have our Xtransceivers if you need us for anything, but you can get a hold of either your aunts, uncles or even your grandfather if you can't reach us," Lily said as she very briefly tidied her long honey blonde hair. She began to worry a little when Keenan showed no response. "I would suggest utilising room service to get your dinner, as well as anything else you might need or want, and we should be back by bedtime unless you hear otherwise. Okay, sweetie?" Keenan simply nodded silently in reply, further worrying his father. Lily approached Keenan and crouched in front of him to achieve eye contact with him. "And don't worry about your sister; she'll come back when she's ready." Keenan felt little to no comfort from his mother's reassurance, picking up her well-masked sense of anxiety from Alexa's sudden departure.
"I hope so," he said quietly.
"Me, too," Hayden sighed as he took hold of his black wallet.
"Oh, you boys...!" Lily chuckled. She planted a quick, yet soft, kiss on Keenan's cheek that he instantly returned. "Take care of yourself, sweetie, and we'll see you later," she said kindly as she walked over towards Hayden.
"Bye, Mum, bye, Dad," Keenan said half-heartedly.
"See you later, kiddo," Hayden said just as unenthusiastically as he, Lily and Cheryl exited the hotel room. With his newfound solitude, Keenan suddenly lay on the sofa as he sighed; Iara jumped up to prevent Keenan's swinging legs from knocking her down. Iara then lay down on Keenan's chest, the gesture giving the boy a small sense of comfort that he felt grateful for as he began to softly stroke his mini Vaporeon; Iara sighed contently as she enjoyed the stroking.
Hayden shoved the hotel key card into his wallet before putting it in his pocket. Lily couldn't help but feel concerned for him.
"We don't have to do this, you know," she said as they walked away from the hotel room, Cheryl following close to Lily.
"What's the alternative? We search the entire Unova region for another heated debate with Alexa?" Hayden asked sadly. Lily suddenly stopped him from calling the elevator.
"Like I said to Keenan, she'll come back when she's ready. Besides, she has a lot on her plate and mind right now; let her deal with those first." Hayden sighed.
"Sorry..." Lily smiled weakly.
"Let's not worry about it now and just enjoy the evening."
"How? We don't even know what we're doing," Hayden said observantly.
"You don't, but I do," Lily said teasingly. "Cheryl, you know where to go."
"Gardevoir," Cheryl nodded compliantly as she relaxed her stance. With a brief flash of light blinding the corridor of the hotel floor, she, along with Hayden and Lily, disappeared from sight.
Alexa and Ryder sat opposite one another at a table at the roadside café near the Driftveil Drawbridge, away from the other café patrons. Alexa had a freshly baked ham salad sub roll with a creamy hot cocoa in front of her while Ryder, Jollie and Phoenix, who sat on the ground next to Alexa, enjoyed their plates of fresh poffins and warm MooMoo milks.
"So, what's the plan of action?" Ryder asked with a mouth full of half of his red poffin. Alexa looked over at him with confusion.
"Hm?"
"Y'know, for talking to Keith," Ryder clarified as he swallowed his poffin. As he waited for Alexa to finish her bite of sub roll, he tossed the rest of his poffin into his mouth and took a sip of his warm milk. Phoenix looked up at Alexa curiously as he chomped his pink poffin in half. Alexa swallowed before she began to speak.
"Actually, I'm...I'm going to talk to him alone."
"Rrrgh?" Phoenix, though mildly surprised by her decision, was impressed with her budding confidence. Ryder, though, wasn't so certain.
"You sure?" Jollie couldn't help but marvel at how Ryder was capable of speaking so clearly with his mouth full of food and drink at the same time.
"Yeah, I...it's a delicate matter; crowds won't do Keith any favours, I don't think," Alexa explained as she took a quick sip of her drink. "Uh, no offence."
"None taken, but we WILL be on hand if things get furry, right?" Phoenix raised an eyebrow at the Lucario; why would he need to be on hand during a conversation?
"Yes, but...the word's hairy, Ryder," Alexa said sheepishly.
"I know what I said," Ryder said cockily. Jollie chuckled, but Alexa began to feel rotten again, concerning her Charizard greatly.
"...I just hope Dad didn't hurt him too much..." Jollie and Ryder began to feel just as worried for Alexa as Phoenix.
"You can bring him around; just show him the Alexa you were meant to be and he'll be fine in no time flat," Ryder smiled. He felt worried again when he noticed Alexa's lack of confidence in his words. "C'mon, you KNOW what that is; I told you!"
"That's not what I'm worried about..."
"Hrrgh?"
"Then what is it?" Ryder asked worriedly. Alexa shook her head.
"I'm probably thinking too deeply into it, but...Uncle Harvey's proposition is still bothering me...the proposition itself, I mean, not the timing of its reveal..."
"How is that bothering you?" Ryder asked in confusion.
"It's like...like I need to choose...to choose between the Vatonage Styler and the Poké Ball," Alexa said sadly.
"Rhrrrhrrrgh?"
"It WOULD be the Poké Dex if I bothered to pick one up in the first place," Alexa grumbled.
"Rrrrgh, hrrrgh, rrrrrgh?"
"It's hard because...I just don't know what to do..." All three Pokémon looked at one another worriedly.
"I think you should take Harvey's proposal," Ryder said earnestly. "I mean...you lost everything that made you who you are after Oblivia, but things weren't exactly fantastic between then and Operation Brighton either..."
"But things didn't exactly end up being a bed of roses during my time as a Trainer either," Alexa said pessimistically. Ryder took a drink from his milk bottle as Phoenix sighed.
"Rrrrgh, rrrrrgh..." Ryder suddenly spat out his milk in horror before glaring violently at Phoenix.
"Forfeit her license!? Are you crazy?!"
"Buneary!" Jollie tried to calm Ryder down.
"He's just giving me options, Ryder!" Alexa said defensively. "...but I can't do that either..."
"Buneary?" Jollie looked over at Alexa in bewilderment.
"I'd be giving up on Lydia's sacrifice if nothing else... That's why it's so hard to choose between the life of a Ranger and the life of a Trainer; no matter which I pursue, I'll be giving something up!" Ryder was sceptical.
"Technically, though, you didn't give up being a Trainer while you were growing as a Ranger..."
"I know, but, this time, I can't have both," Alexa said definitively. "...I...I don't know..." Phoenix rubbed his cheek against Alexa's affectionately. Alexa seemed to cheer up slightly as she embraced her partner's gesture, gently resting her hand against his opposite cheek.
"Focus on sorting things out with Keith first...worry about that later. You avoided unnecessary stress before; do it again."
"Yeah...sorry I worried you guys..."
Harvey walked through the main doors of the Driftveil Star hotel just in time to witness a troubling discussion of sorts between Naomi and Keith; Robbie appeared to be hesitant, while Naomi looked both worried and perplexed.
"I-I just need to be alone, okay!?" Keith said snappily as he dashed towards the nearest elevator.
"Keith, hold on!" Naomi called, but Keith had already gotten inside the elevator before her words could reach his ears. Concerned again, Harvey approached Naomi.
"What was that about?" he asked as he petted the distressed Sawsbuck. His sudden arrival caught Naomi by surprise, but, at the same time, she was glad to see him.
"Oh! Harvey! I, uh, I don't know; he just asked me to look after his Sawsbuck and his other two Pokémon for the night."
"For the night?" Harvey asked in shock.
"He looked so upset I didn't have the heart to turn him down...I don't know what happened to him, the poor thing..." Harvey sighed silently.
"Hayden happened."
"Hayden?" Naomi asked in confusion.
"That's partly why I'm here; to bring you up to speed with everything," Harvey said truthfully. Naomi was even more lost than before; it was clear she'd missed out on a lot.
"So, uh, w-what happened between Keith and Hayden exactly?" Harvey shook his head.
"As soon as Hayden saw the kid, he just lost it and damn near traumatised him." Now Naomi understood the cause for Keith's sudden anxiety. "I've seen Hayden lash out before, but...that...that was disturbing..." Robbie looked back at the elevator; as much as he absolutely hated the idea of Keith being left alone in his emotional condition, he had no choice but to respect Keith's wishes.
"Harvey, is everything all right?" Naomi asked worriedly. Without warning, Harvey faced his ex-wife and held her close to him, catching her even further off guard.
"It is now," Harvey smiled. "That bronze burner is no longer our concern; as of...um...I guess ten minutes ago...we're ignoring her completely." Naomi wasn't as optimistic as Harvey was starting to become.
"Ignoring the problem won't make it go away..."
"I know, I know, but we're just focusing on something bigger – making sure our families don't fall apart." Naomi smiled.
"Sounds nice. Really, I mean that!"
"Mmhm," Harvey nodded as he continued to hold Naomi in his cuddle. "And I want that to include you." Naomi felt herself blushing from Harvey's heartfelt sentiment.
"...l-let's talk...over...tea? I don't know what you drink now..." Harvey laughed as he finally released Naomi from his gentle grip.
"It's still peppermint, hun." Naomi felt herself blushing even more than previously as she led Harvey and the reluctant Sawsbuck into her office.
Keith stormed into his hotel room and paced around as the door closed itself behind him. He held onto his head with both hands as he tried to comprehend what had happened outside Castelite, but the violent look in Hayden's eye was enough to petrify him with fear. Not knowing what else to do, he headed straight into the en suite.
"By the way, Harvey, I've...I've been meaning to ask you..."
"What's up?"
Keith turned the shower on and left it to warm up as he hastily removed both of his shirts at once. However, as the upper body garments were pulled over his head, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror above the faucet, notably the scars on his chest.
"Is it true? T-That you still love me, I mean..."
"Heh...I haven't lied to you before, have I?"
Seeing the scars on his chest merely added to his anxiety as, out of frustration and despair, he threw his combined shirts at his reflection as he turned his back on it, almost losing himself in his tears.
"...no...you haven't."
To be continued...