Dee.
Several Days Later.
Flint Stone made me want to vomit, he was so annoying. Why Tess kept cozying up to him and his doped-up sidekicked was beyond my belief.
It took several miserable days to make it to Jubilife City. I hadn't made it so far from Twinleaf in years, so it was a glorious sight, in my eyes, at least.
A whole city sprawled out in front of us, waiting. It felt like something was waiting for us. Something calling.
You don't understand how right I was.
We agreed to meet back up with the boys later at the Pokemon Center, because they wanted to explore and my sister, Amber, and I all wanted a shower.
Astro went with them, which was good. Annoying little twerp.
I was the last to shower at the PC. Amber and Tess were sitting on a bed, in fresh clothes, trying to figure what Amber should wear for the contest that night.
"What're you gonna do for a second pokemon, Amb?" I asked, throwing my bag onto the bed.
Amber looked up from a skirt she was considering. "What? Second pokemon?"
"Yeah. You need one for appeals, one for battle round. Haven't you ever seen a contest?" I took my hair down from the towel it was wrapped in. "Appearances aren't the only thing in contests, you know."
Amber blushed. "What about you?" She demanded. "All you've got is-"
"She's borrowing Sneasal to battle," Tess interrupted her. When Amber glared at her, she added, "Perks of twins..."
Amber groaned. "Well. I'm screwed. Thanks, Deadra."
"What? It's my fault you were flirting with the guys instead of catching another damn pokemon?"
"You're impossible." Amber flopped back on the bed, sighing.
She had no reason to be upset at me. I mean, at least I saved her the embarrassment of the registration.
The boys came back about a half hour later, when I had my hair dried. Astro was drinking a milkshake, and Volkner held a bag of burgers.
"Lunch!" He announced, slightly cheerier than he had been.
Flint sat on Amber's bed while we divided the harvest. "Volk, throw me one."
Volkner threw him a burger, unwrapping one for himself.
We all ate in silence, minus Astro, who loudly slurped his milkshake. After a few minutes, I was done with his crap.
"Whoever bought that little bastard a drink is going to die. Tonight."
Astro swallowed a mouthful of chocolate. "What's got your boy-shorts panties in a bunch?"
Tess shrugged. "Her and Amber had a little tiff earlier."
"Teeeess!" We both groaned.
Flint laughed. "A tiff?" He asked. "About what?"
Damn my sister.
"I can't do the contest tonight," Amber sighed. "I only have Astro, and a contest requires two pokemon. And, for Dee, Tess already pointed out the Twins Rule."
She made it sound so simple. Everything always seemed so simple to Amber, like there was nothing much to ever consider.
Flint raised his eyebrows. "Shoot, really?" He asked. "Aw, that's just not right, Ambie. Right Volk?"
Volkner swallowed a mouthful. "Don't bring me into your sick mind games, Flint."
"Get to the point, Stone." I took another mouthful. "You do have one, right?"
"Eh heh heh heh. You think of that one yourself?" Flint took one pokeball from his jeans pocket, and presented it to Amber. "If Dee is allowed to borrow Sneasel, hell, you can use my little bro, Chimchar."
Astro slammed his milkshake on the ground. "Aw, hell naw, Carrot Top!" He shouted.
Amber glared at Astro. "Azzy," She growled at him. Astro returned the look. Amber turned back to Flint. "It's a nice offer, Flint, but-"
"It really does seem fair," Tess interrupted. She always seemed to speak up only when another opinion seemed needed.
Volkner, standing near a wall, nodded. "Yeah."
So, literally everyone agreed that Amber should take Flint's offer, except Astro, but he didn't exactly count.
A little while later, Amber and I went to register for the contest at the downstairs desk. Once we were approved, we went back to our room, and got ourselves ready for the night.
Amber helped me put on makeup that would "flatter my outfit and help accentuate my natural features", probably as an effort to make up for snapping at me earlier. It worked, and I must say, she did an excellent job at what she told me she'd do.
Riley.
In Jubilife City.
When I got to Jubilife, the city made Canalave look like a dumpster. Even during the day, it seemed absolutely stunning to me. I couldn't even find the Pokemon Center for a while.
This time, Riolu chose himself to return to his pokeball, and I didn't blame him. All the tall buildings and the crowds of people sort of intimidated me, as well.
Just keep your head down and don't draw attention to yourself, I thought. Not very hard at all.
I'd earned a little more cash battling other trainers on the way to Jubilife, so I decided to treat Riolu and I to an actual resturant instead of eating some generic Center garbage.
There was a nice, almost empty little place near the Contest building, so I chose to stop by there. Riolu agreed.
The only other patrons worth mentioning were two guys, a boy with light blonde hair and another with an impossibly red afro, with a Pikachu, Chimchar, and Riolu eating happily near them. The Riolu was drinking a milkshake, one of those cheap ones in a plastic cup you can keep.
"Hello, sir! What would you like today?"
A peppy waitress snapped me out of my stalkerish daze. I glanced over the menu.
"Uhh...a hamburger and water, please. A bowl of fighting type food for my Riolu."
She nodded, jotting it down on a pad. "Alrighty, sir! It'll be out in a minute."
It wasn't out in a minute. More like ten. Riolu's food was quick, of course, and he dug right into it.
"So, she, uh, wants to come with us? Nice. She's cooler than her asshole sister, at least, and kinda cute..."
"Hey, don't patronize Tess, Flint. For what it's worth, she has a lot more planned out than either of us."
"Who said I was patronizing her? Did you hear a patronizing word, Azzy boy?"
The Riolu at their table shook his head, watching both the boys carefully.
It was entertaining, I suppose, to listen to their conversation. It's not like they were being quiet.
I overheard the afro'd ginger, Flint, talk about how they would go to the contest that night to watch their friends perform, and it turned out that Riolu belonged to a girl named Amber.
I couldn't help feeling curious about Astro. He kept on glancing at my table, studying my Riolu. As if there was something he needed to know, but he couldn't figure how to ask.
"Would you like something for dessert, sir?"
I looked at my then-empty plate, surprise how fast I'd eaten my food. "Uh...no, ma'am."
After paying for our meals, I scooped up Riolu and we left. Those two boys and Astro followed soon after, still chatting about the contest and Astro's trainer.
That night, I knew for a fact I had to watch that contest, if only to watch that odd, milkshake-drinking Riolu in action.