I strangely felt light on my feet. As I was trying to get use to this feeling, Yvonne and I walked into the Perfume Palace so we could grab a Pokéflute from the owner so we can wake up a Snorlax blocking our way trying to head to the Battle Chateau to meet up with my friends.
After that massage, I had fallen asleep and was told by Yvonne that she left to the Pokémon center to fax the contract and got us some healthy food that actually tasted good for being healthy. She informed me that eating healthier will help with my condition and soon get use to the exercise I've been doing when walking from place to place.
At the moment, Yvonne was staring at a towns map before we entered the Parfum Palace and saw a guy in expensive looking clothing running around speaking a foreign language while panicked.
"Looks like something happened" I said. Yvonne nodded and watched the guy running around until he noticed her and hurried over to her before taking her hands and cried in a language I didn't know.
"$ &$& $!" He cried " &)&& $ $!" Yvonne patted his hand and responded in the same language, which I was surprise to hear. After saying so, he lightened up a bit and ran off.
"What was that?" I asked.
"He's missing his Pokémon and I told him we could help find it if he can help us with the item we're looking for" I thought back at how fast he went up to her.
"Does he know you?" Yvonne looked at me before scratching her cheek, sweat dropping.
"He's an old client" I huffed and walked forward, wishing I didn't ask "What?" She caught up to me.
"The sooner we find this Pokémon, the sooner we can just leave" she didn't say anything after that and searched the place with me to find this Pokémon that ran away from that guy who must be the palace owner. I can only imagine what a guy like him would want out of Yvonne and became curious on what kind of jewelry he gave her in exchange for her attention.
I shook my head at myself thinking about something that shouldn't be my business, but bothers me so bad. When we couldn't find anything in this huge mansions, Yvonne suggested we go outside instead.
"I'm sure a Pokémon who is owned by someone as snobby as the owner would want to find a way to escape for a bit to be a regular Pokémon" she said, running to look up at a statue in the middle of the garden "He use to tell me that his Pokémon always likes running around the garden, even if it was messy and got dirty a lot, but I didn't tell him what he should do with his Pokémon. I just said that if his Pokémon seemed happy just getting dirty, there's nothing wrong with that. He told me he gets everything for his Pokémon since his wife died. He gave me such a pretty ring just so he can talk to me about his problems and stuff" I got annoyed that she was telling me this and walked away "Calem?"
"If you like the jewelry he gave you so much, why don't you just stay then if you keep talking about it" I snapped, knowing it was just my irritation that was making me say that. I have no idea why just being here, knowing Yvonne talked to that old guy, bothered me.
"Sorry..." I said, turned away "I didn't mean to snap at you..."
"It's okay... Sorry I brought it up" I shook my head, telling myself that this sort of thing shouldn't bother me. She's just here to help me, but I can't help but get bothered of the things she use to do with other men "Let's keep looking for the Pokémon, okay?" She came to hold my arm. I nodded and followed her through the garden in silence. I need to say something... Why is my body holding so much anger? I thought I would be a bit more relaxed than before.
"I don't know why I got mad" I said to her walking beside me while looking around. She looked at me to listen "The guy came up to you and held your hand. I got upset... and the fact that he was a client of yours and you did whatever with him..." my first were shaking "I know the contract said that personal feelings are bound to develop during our time together, so when he came to you, I started thinking of whatever you could been doing with other men. It made me feel uncomfortable" I rubbed my face, wishing I didn't say that out loud, but it was better than stressing myself out "I'm sorry... I don't know why I was bothered by it" I stopped when she held my hand and look at me with a sad look on her face.
"I'm sorry you're feeling that way. I know that could come off as me being dirty and used, and I'm not proud of the things I did... but I know when to limit things. I might have done very dirty things, but I never felt right about it" I turned to her looking down.
"You didn't like doing any of it?" She shook her head "Why did you do it? Why would you work at a place like that where men have dirty intentions?"
"I never allowed it to go too far... but the other things..." she looked away "not everyone was after my touch... but even so, the things I was paid to do was for the sake of helping my mom"
"Your mom?"
"My dad died a long time ago... They had a hard time dealing with debt and always worked to pay it off. After he left, I would help my mom with patients and later decided to find my own job, but I wasn't really good at many things. I found that lounge and started making good money off the jewelry I was given. I sold a lot of it to give to my mom so she wouldn't struggle on her own. She doesn't know about my job, but I know now that recently she finally paid off everything. I don't have to work as hard, so being on this journey with you wouldn't hold me back on anything" she held her heart "I enjoy our time together. You never experienced the things I've done to a man, and I feel like I can just be myself without needing to feel like I have to work for what I need"
"Oh... so you feel better now that you don't have to force yourself on anyone just to help out your mom" she nodded, ashamed "I'm sorry for making you feel like this. I don't know what got over me. I guess I got stressed again. My mind always starts to wander with thoughts I don't want to think about"
"That's what stress does to you, but believe me when I say that what I've done isn't what I'm proud of. You are not after pleasure or even attention. You just want someone to take care of you if something happens to you. I'm more than happy to help you out in exchange for friendship" my eyes widnened a bit "It feels so good that I can finally start acting like a normal girl again! My teenage years weren't the best, but I'm happy to be by your side" she took both my hands "I don't mind anything you want from me. I'm just happy I get to be by your side..." she looked down and rested her forehead on my chest. I lifted my arms, watching her relax on me and taking in my warmth with her curled up hands resting on me. My body settled down and I held her shoulders, feeling so much better now I understand.
"It shouldn't have been my business anyway, but thank you for being here. I promise to make it up to you. I'm not normally this mean" she chuckled and smiled at me.
"Okay!" We heard something rustling beside us. We looked and saw a Furfrou wagging its tail, jogging over to stand on Yvonne catching it's front paws "There you are! Your trainer has been worried sick about you!" The Pokémon turned in circles and barked. Yvonne giggled and smiled back at me "Let's go back to the palace owner. He'll probably give us an award" she winked. I sweat dropped.
"After being here for hours now, he better" she took my hand and walked us to meet up with the owner on the balcony where the Furfrou led us to. The owner, with his servant, had cried over his missing Pokémon and thanked Yvonne over and over in the language I didn't know. Yvonne spoke back to him and gestured her hand at me and all.
After a while of speaking, the owner spoke to the servant and they rushed off together "They're going to set up some fireworks for us in thanks for finding his Pokémon" she told me "He thanked me first, but I didn't do it by myself" she smiled happily "It's been a long time since I've seen fireworks. I'm looking forward to them"
"He's giving us fireworks? I would think for a rich guy like himself, he would offer something else. Like the flute we came here for" Yvonne shrugged.
"Beats me, but I'll see what I can do" hearing that made me uncomfortable, but I don't even know what she means, so I shouldn't jump into conclusions.
The sky was starting to get darker with the stars starting to appear in the dark blue sky. The sun was leaving the horizon and as soon as the light vanished, a screechy sound came out of nowhere and made some fireworks pop in the sky above us. Yvonne gasped and leaned on the balcony gate in front of her to look at the colors closely with that big smile of hers.
"This is the closes I've ever seen fireworks!" I pulled her away from getting too close to it.
"These people are dumb for putting those fireworks so close to us. That could be dangerous. This is a fire hazard for crying out loud" we moved away from the fireworks and admired them from the door. Yvonne was still very happy to look at them until the show was over.
"Amazing..." she gasped "This is a moment worth remembering" she took out a camera I didn't know she had and looked at the picture of the show from before "I'll keep it safe in my album!"
"When did you get that camera?" I asked.
"I got it while you were asleep after the massage" she showed me the camera "we can take tons of pictures of special moments" I smiled and pet her head.
"Yeah. Sounds like fun" she blushed with a jolly smile and turned to the palace owner coming over to us with a long case and another box wrapped with a ribbon. Yvonne and the owner started talking in the foreign language about who knows what. In the middle of the conversation, Yvonne shook her head and the owner looked disappointed, but nodded like whatever she said was the right thing to do. He handed her the present with a shining necklace that sparkled like glitter while the butler came over to me to give me the case.
"The young lady asked if we could grab this for her. There you go, good sir" the butler opened the case with the Pokéflute "my master seems to be very found of the young lady and wanted to gift her that necklace as thanks for helping him find his Pokémon. I hope you take this flute as a appropriation for your hard work" I took the case and bowed to him.
"Thank you. We'll put this to good use" he bowed and Yvonne came back to show me the necklace she was given.
"Isn't this cute?" She smiled "I can't wait to sell this" she stored it in her bag and we left the palace "It will be enough to give us a grand meal! Eating healthy is good and all, but there's nothing wrong with a cheat day" she clapped.
"You just got that necklace and you already want to sell it?" I asked.
"It's a really pretty necklace, don't get me wrong, and I'm sure he gave it to me because he was thankful, but I don't need it. Especially in this journey. The money will be used in a better way. Maybe your friends can join our feast?"
"That sounds nice, but you should save that money"
"I know all about saving money! There will be a lot left over" she took my arm and looked up at the sky full of stars "To be honest with you, I'm glad I'm not working with other men anymore" she hugged my arm "I get to be with a nice guy like you who is willing to take care of me like I'm taking care of him" I smiled and pushed her playfully.
"Aren't you going to sell the keychain I gave to you?" When we left the hotel, after she told me she faxed the contract, I gave her my keychain since it was a rightful exchange for her coming with me.
"Well..." she hummed "The guy pretty much paid for your services, so I don't need to sell it!" She smiled "not that I could really get much out of it"
"It still makes me wonder why you bother accepting it and later give me gifts like it's worth a lot of money"
"Stop asking me!" She whined "I just really wanted to go on a journey and this was my excuse!" She hugged my arm hard "Helping you was my payment to you, mostly!" I widened my eyes.
"So am I really the client?" She let go and pouted.
"Why are you so difficult!?" I laughed at her outburst "Come on! Stop doing that! We're together for equal exchanges! I told you you can hang onto your keychain!" I shook my head.
"An exchange is an exchange. I gave you the keychain to convince you to come with me, and you took my offer for your benefit in exchange to help me. It's pretty equal, so keep the keychain" I chuckled "It's better that it's out of my hands. All it does is bring back bad memories"
"About Serena?" I looked at her confused "You said that name before you fell asleep. How close were you both?" I looked down and started walking again.
"Well, we first met when we were 10 years old. She moved here with her grandparents at that time and became my neighbor. We started going to the same school together and go on adventures with our other friends every summer. She was loud and outgoing. She'd get into fights a lot at school because of bullies always picking on our friend Trevor for being nerdy. I was a nerd too, but because I was good at battling, they didn't really bother me" I looked at the sky "She would always talk back to a teacher and get detention for it" I chuckled "One time she dragged me into a fight she had with a girl she didn't like. I didn't want to be part of it, but we ended up getting detention anyways. Even if I got mad at her for doing crazy things, we'd always laugh about it in the end. She was always confident and challenge me to battles, but I always won. She always tried redeeming herself, but I was always one step ahead of her"
"She sounds fun" Yvonne smiled.
"Yeah, she was. She'd get into fights with anyone who she doesn't like and always made the plans for our friends and I to do. She had long brown hair and tan skin. Every time I leave my house, she'd always be on her front porch sun bathing" I sweat dropped "I always told her how she needed to put sunscreen since the sun damages your skin. She always called me a nerd for knowing things" I rolled my eyes "it's the little things really... but I feel like you two are a lot alike" Yvonne looked confused.
"Really?" I nodded.
"Whenever she gets happy or nervous, she'd spin side to side all the time" she held her chin to think.
"I do that?" She doesn't notice? "What else?"
"Well... For one thing" we made it to where the Snorlax was blocking the path and I faced her under the moonlight "You two have similar blue eyes..." she frowned "I don't know... I want to believe in the possibility that you are her, but she left so suddenly. Her grandparents said she had to leave back to her home region and never came back" she sighed.
"I wish I can be as outgoing as she was. She seemed really confident in herself to always get into fights" she hugged herself "but I can never do that... and tanning under the sun without sunscreen? Sounds like a nightmare" I chuckled "I'm pretty shy, so I don't really think you can compare us too much together"
"Yeah... Serena doesn't freak out like you do" she flinched and started waving her arms angrily.
"What's that suppose to mean?!" I laughed and leaned on my knees, liking to make her mad. She groaned and turned away.
"Sorry! Sorry!" I calmed down my laughter.
"Do you think she liked you?" I froze "I don't know... Maybe that's why she pulls you into those situations because she likes you around?" I stood up and looked at Snorlax.
"She was always making fun of me. I don't think I was her type. It would be pretty weird to think that way towards a friend I knew for years"
"Did she ever confessed to you?" What kind of question is that?
"No?" She held her chin, looking as if she was confused "I can't really tell you much about her other than the times my friends and I were with her. When we're not around and doing our honor student work, she'd just stay home"
"That's weird... It makes you think what really goes on in her mind" she crossed her arms "People are hard to understand. Sometimes they want something they can't have, and when they can't, it changes them" I looked at her holding her hand out "Do you know how to play the flute?"
"Of course I do" I took out the Poké flute from my bag "I am a nerd, after all" she giggled and listened to my playing until the Snorlax woke up and attacked.