Chapter 6: Two Cents
Akari didn't even know what to say. She stood rooted in place as she took in the sight of the gigantic city she was in. The variety of colors that were etched in the stones on the ground, the buildings scattered around the city towering larger than the Galaxy Team base, and the amount of people that walked around going about their daily lives. Sure, she had met a lot of people in Hisui, but she never saw so many people in one place.
"We finally made it, huh?" Nemona smiled and put a hand on her hip. "So, what do you think?"
"It's…" Akari paused to try and find the words. She shook her head when she couldn't find any. "I'm speechless."
"Right?" Nemona looked around. "Mesagoza's been a big trade hub for a long time now. A lot of people would come here to learn about all sorts of things."
"I see," Akari mutters.
"Well, where do you want to go first?" Nemona asked while turning to Akari. "If you want my recommendations, there's a restaurant and a hair salon not far from here."
I'm not sure I'll be needing a salon anytime soon, Akari thought. Apparently the Arc Phone had her covered in that front. "Can we go get something to eat?"
"Sure! Arceus knows the last time you ate," Nemona slapped her hand on Akari's back. "It's a surprise you can battle well on such an empty stomach."
Honestly, I don't feel hungry at all, Akari thought to herself. She'd been so caught up in everything she didn't even think about food.
"Ah, speaking of battling, I want to get you that Tera Crystal. I have to do a couple things to get it for you, but I'll be back!" Nemona flashed a thumbs up. "In the meantime, there's a lot of stuff you can explore here."
"Alright," Akari's smile was a lot less confident, but she returned the thumbs up nonetheless.
"Well, I'll see you in a jiffy!" Nemona waved before running off.
That girl has too much energy, Akari felt like a broken record thinking that. Now, where do I go first?
The first place Akari went to was the cafe. As much as she loved Hisui's cuisine, something other than potato mochi and berries were in order. The cafe was packed. All the seats were full and it took ten minutes for her to get to the front of it.
"Good afternoon! Welcome to Seabreeze Cafe," The woman in the front had a nice smile on her face. "May I take your order?"
Akari looked up and read the menu. She had caught a few glances of it and had a good idea of what she wanted.
"Good afternoon," Akari nodded politely at the woman. "May I please have a serving of 3 alfajores and a medium coffee?"
"Would you like sugar and milk with your coffee?" The woman asked.
"I'll have two teaspoons of sugar please," Akari said. Laventon liked his coffee black, but Akari had no idea how he could stand the taste.
"That'll be 1800 credits please. Would you like to pay with cash or LP?" The woman asked. Akari's phone flew from her bag. Akari looked at the numbers on her phone and nodded.
"I'll pay with LP please," Akari said. The cashier nodded and Akari's phone's screen changed into an image with a phone and an arrow pointing from the phone to a cash register.
"Would that be for here or to go?" The barista questioned.
Well, Nemona will likely take a while, Akari thought. An image of Cyllene behind a mountain of paperwork flashed through her mind. "I'll have it for here please."
"Alright. Find a seat and we'll call you when it's ready," The barista then looked at the packed cafe. "Well… you can stand to the side. We have seats outside for when your food is ready. What's your name?"
"Thank you. My name is Akari," Akari nodded and turned to walk out of the restaurant. As she was, she caught an empty seat with the corner of her eye. She turned to look at it to see a young woman was already sitting on the other side. She seemed to be focused on a screen and a pad with letters on it.
Well, I guess it can't hurt, Akari thought as she walked over the girl and gently tapped her on the shoulder. The girl flinched, causing Akari to flinch in response.
"Yes?" The woman looked up at her. Her hair was an odd mix of red and blue and she had a backpack that looked like an eevee.
I wonder how Irida's doing, Akari thought, a frown forming on her face as she addressed the girl. "Sorry for startling you. I was wondering if I could sit here."
"O-oh," The woman visibly relaxed as she looked at the empty seat in front of her. "Go ahead."
"Thanks," Akari nodded to her as she sat down. "My name's Akari, by the way."
"Penny," The woman replied. The two sat in silence for a while before Akari started to speak up.
"So what brings you here?" Akari asked. She wanted to know a bit more about the people in Paleda and figured Penny was a good place to start.
"Oh, I go to school here," Penny said. Her eyes remained glued on her screen as she spoke. "What about you?"
"I'm here to register," Akari said, looking at the stickers of Eevees and its subsequent evolutions on the back of the screen. "I'm from another region. My friend Nemona brought me here, but she had some stuff to do so I decided to stop by here and try the food."
"Nemona…" Penny typed something on her keypad and narrowed her eyes. "You already know the student council president?"
"Student council president?" Akari echoed with a tilt of her head. "What's that?"
"Have you been to a school before?" Penny looked up, only to flinch. "Sorry… that was out of line of me."
"It's okay," Akari smiled and shook her head. A lie quickly formed in her head as she opened her mouth. "My education was… interesting. I only learned what I needed to, which is why I came here."
"I see…" Penny looked down at her screen. She stared at it for a good while before looking up. "Well, since you're new, would you like to be friends?"
"Sounds good!" Akari smiled brightly.
"Akari?" The voice of the barista rang through the cafe.
"Well, that's for me," Akari stood up. "I'll be right back."
"Alright," Penny muttered as Akari went to get her food.
Penny had to admit, Akari was pretty nice. On the outside, she was quite extroverted, but Akari was patient with Penny, gently prompting her to speak more in a way that didn't seem forceful. Some of the gaps in her knowledge were concerning, like when she asked what her laptop was, but on the other hand, she knew quite a bit about other things like Glaceon's diet and behavioral patterns.
The two had spent some time in the cafe together before leaving.
"By the way, those are some odd clothes," Penny looked at the baggy clothes that Akari wore. "Don't you have a school uniform yet?"
"Nope. My friend handmade this for me," Akari looked down at the navy blue garments she had on her. "I don't think the school has my measurements. My arrival to Paleda wasn't exactly planned."
Didn't she say she came to Paleda for school? Penny thought. She nodded, accepting the lie before looking around. "There should be a clothing store nearby. Last time I checked, they sell school uniforms."
"Really? That's great," Akari said with an easygoing smile. "Can you please lead the way?"
"Sure," Penny thought. The way Akari talked to her. It reminded her of…
No, I shouldn't think about them right now, Penny shook her head before leading Akari to the center so they could have a better vantage point.
"Hey, you two!" Penny flinched and turned as they heard a voice. When she saw who shouted, she froze. Not out of shock or fear, but out of pure irony. Standing before the two were two members of Team Star. "You should join Team Star!"
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to pass," Penny replied almost too quickly, shaking her head.
"Really?! Come on," The male grunt's smile faltered. "If you join us, then you can shine as bright as a Star!"
Penny just stared at the young man. She was surprised that she hadn't been harassed by one of her former underlings until now, but she still had no idea what to say.
"What's your deal, man?!" The grunt's smile faded from his face. "Don't you want to burn bright with awesome friends?"
"Hey, she said no," Akari stepped in front of Penny and held out a protective hand.
"Akari, you don't have to…" Penny tried to stop her, but Akari only looked at her and smiled.
"Don't sweat it," Akari shook her head. "Friends protect each other. It's what we do."
Protect… Penny looked down, guilt crashing down on her. "Thank you."
"Look, we have a quota to fill with new members, so just join already," The female grunt stepped forward with a scowl.
"Look, I don't know who you are, but no means no," Akari's smile turned into a grimace.
"Man, we can't just let this slide," The woman turned to the man. "Look. I'll take care of the weirdo. You keep an eye on four-eyes over there."
"You got it," The man nodded back. The two ran back several paces and the woman grabbed a pokeball.
"You're gonna regret messing with Team Star!" The woman declared, pointing a finger at Akari.
I hope things will turn out alright, Penny thought while eyeing Akari. The confidence in Akari's eyes never wavered throughout the entire interaction.
Maybe she can… Penny shook her head again, dismissing her thoughts. We'll see how things play out first. Then I can try and recruit her to Starfall.
Well, it looks like we're doing this here, Akari looked around before grabbing Sprigatito's pokeball. Luckily, she went to a PokeCenter with Nemona before she ran off.
The grunt made a pose, tracing a star with her hands before throwing the pokeball. "Shroodle!"
"Let's finish this quickly," Akari nodded to the pokeball before throwing it. Sprigatito barely appeared before them when the grunt shouted an order.
"Scratch!" The grunt shouted. The pokemon dashed forward with an angry look on its face.
How does it… Akari shelved her thoughts for later. "Dodge left then bite! Strong style!"
Sprigatito let out a cute imitation of a roar before weaving around the opposing Pokemon. Power welled around him as he opened his jaws, sinking his fangs into the grunt's Pokemon.
"Shroodle! Break out of there!" The grunt shouted.
"Back off, then magical leaf!" Akari shouted.
"Magical what?!" The male grunt shouted from the sidelines. Sprigatito responded by jumping back two meters and letting out another "roar" while glowing leaves shot from his fur. The leaves hit the Shroodle with astounding force, sending it flying, only for it to land on its trainer's head.
"Pfft," Despite the tense situation, Akari could barely hold back her laughter. She could hear Penny giggling behind her as well.
"Damn it! Return!" The grunt yelled as the Shroodle returned to its pokeball. "I can't believe a nobody like you is so good at battling!"
"Wait…" The male grunt had a scared look on his face. "Does that mean I have to battle her next?"
"Hey!" Before anyone could respond, another voice chimed in. The four of them turned to see Nemona with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "What's going on here?!"
"Ugh, it's the student council dweeb. Let's book it!" The grunt shouted before the two of them ran off. Nemona ran down the stairs and stopped in front of Akari, glaring at the young woman.
"I can't believe you, Akari!" Nemona said. Akari prepared to defend herself, but Nemona's scowl vanished in favor of a smile. "You don't need to go find randos to battle! You can have all the battles you'll ever want with me!"
"Uh Nemona… they're the ones that tried to battle me," Akari shuffled nervously. Seriously, what is it with that girl and battles?
"Oh!" Nemona looked away and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry, I read the situation wrong."
"It's fine…" Akari shook her head.
"Anyways, I finally got all the paperwork done to get you this, so here you go," Nemona held out her hand and gave Akari a Tera Crystal.
"Thank you," Akari smiled and nodded.
"Now, I would have had you battle the other Team Star member, but it seems they ran away," Nemona shook her head. She then noticed Penny standing behind her. "Hey! You're perfect! Can you help us out—"
"We can always battle later," Akari hastily interjected. She knew Penny was already an introverted person and Akari didn't want to put more pressure on her.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Nemona said.
"Hey…" Akari turned when she heard Penny's voice. "Thank you for helping me out there."
"No problem," Akari replied with a smile. "That's what friends are for, right?"
"Yeah…" Penny looked around. "Well… I have to go do… something, so I'll catch you later!"
Before Akari could protest, Penny was already running up the stairs.
Was it something I said? Akari thought.
"Look at you, already being a hero on campus," Nemona slapped Akari's back. "Dunno who that is, though. Maybe she's a new transfer?"
"Her name's Penny," Akari replied. "Met her at the cafe."
"Making new friends without me?! I'm hurt," Nemona put her hands on her chest and faked a pained expression. When Akari said nothing, Nemona just pouted. "You're no fun. Anyways, we should probably head over."
"Yeah," Akari turned to the large staircase. Despite all the running around she did in Hisui, the task before her was still daunting.
"Yeah, I understand," Nemona put a hand on her shoulder.
"Am I really that obvious?" Akari asked.
"The look on your face says it all," Nemona turned back to the horrid task before them. "Now, get ready to climb the worst staircase of your life.
Thank you all for reading! So excited for the school miniarc I have planned! By the way, nickname suggestions are still open! Please do consider leaving a review! I would love to read and reply to your thoughts. Also please join my Discord! I would love to talk to you all and answer all your questions! I talk a lot about my thought process while writing, so if you're interested in that, do consider joining. The url is discord . gg (forego the spaces) followed by a slash and CpVs7R8KXz. Unfortunately you'll have to type the rest of the url in manually because I'm not allowed to post links. Thank you for reading and I'll catch you on the flipside.