Elsie only partially remembered the face before her. Certainly they had gone to school together, for she remembered seeing him in her classes. And yet, his name escaped her.
He was a relatively decent looking boy, though, as far as she could tell. Dark, messy hair and warm, glowing eyes. How he was managing to wear black clothing in such boiling weather was beyond her, though.
"Dmitri said pretty much the same thing as you, earlier," quipped Moriko, hands on her hips as the four of them stood under a shaded area of a nearby park. Chloe and Moriko had let out their pokemon to enjoy the rays – there was also a water park for those curious enough – and Dmitri's inkay Splatoon was floating behind him, cooing. Kazimir had, for lack of a better word, flopped down belly to the sky to enjoy the sun. The sylveon was currently snoring, which gave Chloe's skitty time to investigate him.
Elsie tilted her head, brows furrowed. "Oh, so you were thinking about travelling, too?" Mind you, the news did say that trainers were starting to travel again. It could have been that the effects of Team Flare were wearing off, finally.
"Yeah, basically," Dmitri replied, hands in his pockets. "I'm starting to get sick of staying at home. Its boring."
Behind them, another group of people were passing out flyers. One girl, with curly red hair and bright green eyes, was holding a megaphone. "People of Kalos!" She began, "How environmentally friendly are we, really?"
"Oh, Arceus, what is this?" Moriko groaned, turning to face the pamphlet-givers. "I'm pretty certain we're more environmentally friendly than Unova! Or Kanto! Have you seen how often they get grimer infestations?" Chloe paled.
"Mori, please don't draw attention to us," she said curtly. "Its never a bad thing to be concerned about the environment." Another groan emitted from the depths of Moriko as she plopped down onto the grassy earth, cheek resting on her fist, knowing better than to challenge Chloe.
Elsie, on the other hand, was interested in what the group had to say. Her parents took care of the local pokemon daycare, and also had a vast garden. Recycling and composting was a daily part of her life, and she always found it out of place when she visited Lumiose and saw the amount of trash lying around. Mind you, most places were good about having different bins for different materials. As far as she could tell, it had more to do with people being lazy and "not having enough time to care".
The rest of the group took a seat on the ground, more curious than anything to see what the redhead had to say. Elsie admired how she, and the rest of her group, dressed. It was similar to mori-kei fashion, if she had to put a finger on it. Loose, earthy coloured clothing that swayed with the breeze. It seemed comfortable.
The redhead pointed out Moriko, "As this young woman stated, certainly we are ranked higher than some regions when it comes to how progressive we are, but is it really enough?" She brushed her hair out of her face, a small smile tugging at her lips. "The answer is no!"
She absolutely radiated beauty and intelligence, Elsie thought. She was captivating, and she knew the rest of the audience in the park felt the same way. The girl continued on with her speech, going over the subject matter of how more solar panels would help Lumiose tremendously. "Besides solar panels, why do we not have lights that store energy throughout the day – especially with how reflective the buildings are – and use them to light our streets at night?" The redheaded girl quipped.
Honestly, her points were valid, Elsie mused.
After the girl's speech finally ended, she introduced herself. "I am Sol, and we are Team Solace!" The team struck a pose, and the audience clapped.
Elsie's brows furrowed. She does know that calling yourself a team is like putting yourself on par with the likes of Team Flare, right? The girl became dumbfounded, but decided against bringing it up to the others. They had plenty of time to talk about it later.
"Okay, now we have to go shopping!" Chloe exclaimed after the congregation of people broke away, going back to their everyday lives. She grasped Elsie's hands with her own, eyes shining like the galaxy at night one could only witness in the wilderness. "Especially because you and Dmitri are both going to need supplies for your journey!"
"Also, travelling gear. Clothes. Gloves. You have money, right, guys?" Moriko added, ticking off the list on her fingers. Dmitri and Elsie yeah'd in unison, both a little hesitant.
"Good! Then let's get going!"
With that, Chloe dragged them to every shop conceivable.
By the time they had "found all the necessary supplies", the sun was starting to set. Piled so high Elsie could barely see were the bags she had trouble trying to carry. Dmitri, next to her, had managed to get away with only two rather large bags, as he had insisted he had bought most items already. Kazimir, in all his fairy glory, trotted behind the group with a pokepuff bag in his mouth.
"I literally have one togekiss to get home on," Elsie whined, making Chloe giggle at her predicament.
"I mean, I borrowed my dad's salamence today," Dmitri spoke up, "We could probably tie most of the stuff to her and fly to your house. Its just outside Camphrier, right?" Elsie nodded in affirmation.
"That would actually be wonderful, thank you."
Once the salamence – Tanith – was settled and ready to go outside of Route Five, Elsie released her togekiss. Actually, it was her mom's, but Aila was the purest of fairy types, and would help anyone in need.
She was a lot different than Kazimir, who had hidden in his ball as soon as Elsie started talking about flying. He wasn't good with heights.
The two trainers turned to face the couple, and Elsie hugged them with the force of ten snorlax. "Any idea how long you'll stay in Lumiose for?"
"At least a month, if not longer," replied Moriko. "Mostly because we want to spend some time with our families, as well as train."
They said their goodbyes, and Elsie and Dmitri hopped onto their pokemon, taking off into the cool evening sky.
As they glided past valleys, farm land and houses below, Elsie began to wonder how they were going to get along. They had talked a bit during their shopping spree, but nothing major.
"So, what are your hobbies?" Elsie called out to him over the air. If he spent a year at home much like she did, he would have picked up something, surely.
Dmitri hummed and hawed before responding. "Well, I like to draw. Makes me seem like ten times more attractive, right?" Elsie laughed at his attempt at a joke.
"But you don't spend all day online?"
"Oh, no, I do that too. How else am I going to watch the next biggest psychological thriller anime?" He retorted, eyes gleaming.
"Oh, so you're a weeaboo," Elsie deadpanned. Dmitri pouted, one hand clutching his chest while the other traced an invisible tear down his cheek.
"I'm so hurt."
The duo burst into fits of laughter, and Elsie couldn't help but think they would get along fine.
The next morning was what Elsie tried everything in her power not to face.
She had to tell her mom she wanted to leave.
She knew her mother would be fine with it, of course. The prospect of leaving and having something happen while she was gone, however, was something else to consider. Her father had left to stay with her uncle up in Coumarine, though she was never told why.
Elsie groaned, banging the back of her head against the wall in her room. She was sitting cross legged on her bed, laptop on her lap, studying the map of Kalos. Kazimir laid beside her, eyes on the window watching the fletchlings sing outside.
"This is dumb," Elsie whined.
"You think too much," Kazimir replied, even though Elsie couldn't understand him. That was the worst part about being a pokemon, he thought. No humans could understand his sarcastic quips. It pained him.
His ribbons reached over to Elsie's laptop, swiping her hands away and closing it on her. Elsie glared back, only to receive a gruff sylveon-bark.
"Fine, I'm going." Stretching her legs out, she stood up and clambered to the door. Loud footsteps could be heard as she strode down the stairs, making Kazimir cringe with every "thunk".
She definitely needs to get outside, he mused.
Elsie entered the kitchen, watching as her mother bustled back and forth, preparing lunch for the pokemon. Standing by the cupboards was a little espurr, watching every movement intensely.
It almost weirded out Elsie, if it wasn't for the fact she was used to it.
"Hey, mom," she greeted, leaning against the counter. Her mother, eyes hardened from years of being a trainer and breeder, turned around and greeted her back.
"It took you long enough to come down here," she chided, cutting up oran berries at the same time. "Moriko and Chloe already phoned me."
Elsie paled. Her chest twisted as if someone had grabbed her heart and squeezed it. She was no fan of confrontation, be it negative or positive. "Oh," she replied meekly.
"I'm surprised you didn't decide to go sooner, honestly," her mother carried on, voice soft and not the least bit resentful. Elsie let loose the breath she had held in, relaxing her shoulders.
"So you think you'll be fine here?"
"You know there's nothing I can't handle," her mother replied, smile forced, though Elsie couldn't tell the difference. It was better if she just went off and got to do what she could, while she could, her mother thought.
After all, eventually she wouldn't be as happy as she looked in this moment.
It was the promised day, and Elsie was elated. After sorting through her items, and messaging Dmitri throughout the week, they had decided when to leave.
They were going to meet at her house, walk to Lumiose, watch Chloe and Moriko battle against Clemont, and then officially start their journey. That was what the four had decided was best, in the end.
And so, there she was, sitting out on the lawn in front of her house with a snoozing Kazimir, waiting for Dmitri so that they could finally do something with their lives.
She would never expect what kind of journey she was in for.
200 words shy of 2k :/
Anyway, hurt/comfort will be on the way eventually, but not for a while yet. Muahaha.
I guess I should at least keep track of who has what for pokemon, huh?
Elsie: Sylveon
Dmitri: Inkay
Moriko: Delphox, dedenne, heliolisk, magnemite
Chloe: Florges, skitty, clefairy, sentret, leafeon, skiploom
A buddy of mine said that they saw Chloe working out. That she had an eight-pack. That she was shredded.