"It's been awhile, Calem" Viola, Santalune City's gym leader, approached me as Yvonne and I finally made it to the Battle Chateau "It's good to see that you're out in a adventure again. It's been years since our last battle"
"Yes, it has" I agreed. She looked at Yvonne hiding behind me a little "Viola, this is my friend. She doesn't go to my school, so she's not here for credit" I explained "She's tagging along while my other friends and I are helping Professor Sycamore with the usual and other things" Viola nodded and came to offer her hand.
"Hello. Nice to meet you. My name is Viola. I'm a gym leader in Santalune City" Yvonne shook her hand.
"Hi... My name is Yvonne. I'm a certified masseuse and nutritionist" that's also another hidden skill she told me about in the middle of route 5 "I also use to be a nurse's assistant, but nothing professionally. I'm with Calem for his condition"
"Oh, that's nice" she smiled "I heard what happened from Sycamore. You should really be careful with all that studying and battling. Studying from books and training isn't everything. You should always remember to care about yourself" she looked at Yvonne "Boys are pretty stubborn, so I'm glad you're around to keep him in check" that made Yvonne giggle, which I rolled my eyes at "It's been awhile since the two of us battled. Since you're on a journey, are you going to battle other gym leaders?"
"Yeah, that's always been my goal from the start. Since I'm out now, I can start doing that again" Viola nodded.
"Well, you had my badge for about 10 years now. I don't believe it's right for you to use that badge to participate in the next gym when it's been so long since you battled me. How about a battle?" It has been a long time since I battled her. It's like holding a badge that has no meaning in it anymore since I've had it for so long now. It was only right to give her the battle so my badge can mean something again.
"Yeah! I'm up for it!" I looked down at Yvonne looking up at me "They rent out rooms here. Why don't you go to the reception desk and get yourself a room?"
"Can we share a room?"
"You have enough money for yourself" she pouted.
"But what if something happens?" I chuckled and pet her head, making her huff "Hey, I'm serious"
"I know you are. You have a good point. Getting a room with two beds should be good. I'll pay you back"
"No need! How about a massage later tonight" she winked. I flinched when she did that "Just teasing, but I think you should have one. Count on me!" She left to talk to the receptionist. I chuckled and watched her requesting a room for us.
"I thought your friend went by another name" Viola said "oh wait, you said she didn't go to your school"
"Yeah. You're probably talking about my other friend that came with me to your gym 10 years ago"
"Oh, my bad. I just assumed. She's really cute. Are you guys hitting it off?" I blushed, trying not to get annoyed from that. She's just a friend!
"She's very helpful and a good friend. If something happens to me, she knows what to do. I probably would had gave up this journey too soon if she never became part of it" Viola nodded.
"That's good. Your friends are out in the lounge area" I walked off with her and looked back at Yvonne walking away with the reception lady after waving to me. I waved back and later arrived at the lounge with other fancy trainers in suits talking to their friends while drinking tea and cookies.
This place had always been so fancy looking, especially when I come here with my friends every summer. Many of the people here are part of the academy who are younger than us, but most are just snobby rich kids from another school who want to show off their money.
"Calem!" Tierno waved at me from a distance in their own seating area with Trevor and Shauna.
"I'll catch up with you later" Viola said "I have my Pokémon resting upstairs in the infirmary. They should be good for our battle. For now, enjoy yourself" she waved and left the room. I went over to join my friends.
"Hey guys!" I sat down beside Tierno sitting across Shauna and Trevor.
"Wow! Is it me or is your acne getting better!?" Shauna gasped "That's good to see!"
"Not to mention his new haircut. It's like seeing the old Calem again!" Trevor laughed. I nervously laughed.
"You're looking really well, man" Tierno told me "Has that girl been treating you good?"
"Y-Yeah..." I rubbed my head, feeling weird how they don't even know Yvonne and she was traveling with me. From the look on Shauna's face, she looked annoyed again when she was mentioned "She's been treating me great. We had a few instances with wild Pokémon and when I got tired, she lend a hand and-" I started telling them every little thing she does for me, including the blood pressure records and physical exams like checking my eyes and ears and whatever a nurse does at hospitals.
"You said she was a nurse assistant? What luck that you found that she wanted to go on a journey! Good for you!" Trevor said, eating a cookie.
"It seems too good to be true" Shauna said "How did you find this girl again?" I lied and said that we met at a café and happen to sit next to each other "From what you told us, she's pretty good at taking care of you, but how do you know she's not planning on killing you?" I sweat dropped. Even if that were to be true, I don't really have anything she wants.
"She doesn't even look like she can hurt a fly. She gets embarrassed about everything" I chuckled "It's sort of cute" Shauna looked more upset when I said that "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"Nothing!" She shouted at me and stomped away.
"Shauna!" I stood up, reaching out for her "What did I do?"
"Give her a moment to cool down. I'm sure she's just overthinking things" Tierno said. I sighed and sat back down to grab a cookie from the coffee table.
"Oh great" someone said behind the couch I was on "another commoner coming in here and making the place feel like a barn house. Why does this place insist in letting commoners in where they don't belong?" I looked back at a snobby looking guy with his rich looking friends sneakering at what he said.
"You talk a lot for someone who thinks that tie matches with those shoes" I pointed out his pink tie clashing with his green leather shoes "not to mention that black speck on your teeth" he glared and cleaned his teeth with a tissue "Want to put that mouth where it belongs?" I stood up and smirked with my arms crossed "Battle me and see who belongs where" he snorted and stood up to face me.
"Calem! That's not a good idea! You shouldn't be battling out of spite!" Trevor whispered to me. I ignored him and took out one of my Pokéballs.
"One against one in the field. What's your rank?" The guy snorted and wiped his nose.
"I'm a viscount" I snorted.
"That's cute" this made him glare harder "Viscount ? Bring it on" I walked away to inform a maid who sets up the battle field.
"E-Earl!?" The guy shouted, shocked. Even if I haven't been here for years, my rank remains the same no matter how long it's been since I've been gone. My Pokémon are still good to battle, and are even stronger than they use to be when I earned the title when I was 13.
"I will bring your robe now, sir. It's been locked away, waiting for your return" the maid said, bowing before leaving. For each rank we earn after beating a certain amount of trainers, we are given robes that represent our rank to those who will watch us battle.
"Are you sure you should be battling?" Tierno asked me "What if you lose? You know how you get when you lose" I shook my head, knowing I've been trying my best to change that. I often get stressed out if my team didn't perform a perfect match and lose, but because for obvious reasons, I need to cool it down and take my win or lose as it is.
"Yes. I'm sure..." I looked over at Yvonne walking up to me with a welcoming smile "Hey! How's the room?"
"It's very nice! Very luxurious! It was a bit pricey though..." she tapped her chin "I didn't expect this place to be that expensive"
"Normally it's not a big deal if we all pay our parts for one room. I'm sure it was expensive for a room for just both of us" I could feel my friends staring at us "You like it alright?" She put her hands together.
"Actually... They didn't have a room with two beds" I blinked confused "Just one large bed" she nervously laughed "I'll sleep on the couch! No worries!"
"What do you mean? I can't have you sleep on the couch. You can sleep on the bed. I'll take the couch" she smiled.
"You're too sweet. Let's this discuss this later" she looked around "It seems like something is going on"
"Calem is about to battle a viscount" Trevor said. Yvonne turned to look at Tierno and Trevor sitting on the couch, very closely watching us. Yvonne panicked and moved out the way.
"S-Sorry!" Trevor reached out at Yvonne holding onto the wall, shocked "Didn't mean to scare you there!" She sighed and walked back up to us.
"Yvonne, these are my friends. Trevor and Tierno" I introduced. Yvonne shyly blushed and waved softly.
"H-Hi! Sorry... I didn't expect to meet Calem's friends so soon!" She bowed "Sorry I freaked out like that!"
"No worries. I'm Tierno" Tierno reached out to shake her hand. She was about to offer her hand before getting pulled back in a hug by the guy I was going to battle.
"Hey there, cupcake! I never expected to run into you here!" He smirked. Yvonne looked confused at who was hugging her. My blood boiled at the sight of someone touching her without her permission.
"Get off her!" I glared. The guy scoffed at me and came up to my face.
"What? Do you know my cupcake?" He laughed "Who do you think you are, thinking you got a chance with a gem like her?" The maids holding our robes were standing near by.
"I don't care what relations you have with her. You can't just come up to her like she belongs to you!"
"Anyone who's as gorgeous as she is deserves every piece of jewelry in the world!" I froze, realizing how he knew her... "What can you give her?! You're poor! Just look at your clothes! She belongs with someone like me!" My blood boiled. I was about to throw a punch before he sudden leaned forward with a groan. Yvonne had kicked him between his legs from behind him.
"You're being ridiculous" she crossed her arms "I don't belong to anyone" the guy got back up to face her.
"You can't be serious, cupcake! Why are you with someone like him!?"
"I choose who I can be friends with. Why do I need your permission? And stop calling me cupcake" I snatched the guy back to look up at me.
"Get ready for battle! I'm going to make you feel sorry about touching her again!" I threw him on the floor and went to have my robe placed on my body.
"Calem..." Yvonne frowned at me. I reached to pet her head.
"Don't worry, I'll be okay" she looked worried for my sake. She saw how angry I got, and that most likely will mean I'll be feeling this pain soon "Just watch me" she nodded and followed me with my friends to the balcony while the maids escorted us to the battle field outside.
"Ready to get your ass whooped!?" The guy said "I don't care if you're an Earl! I'll beat you so bad that you'll end up giving me my Cupcake back to me!" My eyes twitched "She belongs to someone like me! Not a commoner!"
"I'll shove my foot up your ass if you don't shut up!" I shouted back.
"Hey, cupcake!" He shouted at Yvonne who sweatdropped at the nickname "Watch me win, baby! I'll show you a good time when I do!" I snapped and send out my Greninja.
"Shut your crap and battle me before you think you have the chance!" The guy put his attention back on me and send out his Litleo. A small Pokémon like that as a Viscount? He's definitely going to be sorry he ever messed with Yvonne.
My Pokémon was absolutely over powered for the Litleo to battle anymore. The type advantages didn't even matter since Greninja was so fast that all it needed to do was use its shadow sneak and have it run away every time until Greninja decided to land the attack.
"Litleo is unable to battle!" The maid yelled out as referee "The battle goes to Earl Calem continuing his undefeated streak!"
"Undefeated?! I never heard of you!" The guy glared at me before looking over at Yvonne looking at her camera and showing it off to Tierno and Trevor by her. I sighed in relief and sat on the floor to collect my breath. That certainly took a lot on me. It's been awhile since I battled this intensely.
"Calem!" Yvonne rushed over to me with a bottle of water and handed it to me "Are you alright?" I nodded and took a huge sip of the refreshing water "That battle was intense! Best I've ever seen!" I chuckled when she widened her arms.
"Thanks. I just couldn't let that guy do what he wanted with you" she blushed, smiling.
"Thanks for defending me" I nodded and looked over at the guy kneeling down to face Yvonne quickly coming up to stand behind me.
"Cupcake! Why are you by this losers side!?" He whined.
"I'm the loser?" I snorted. He ignored me and kept his eyes on Yvonne looking uncomfortable.
"Why does it matter you to? I'm with him on this Pokémon journey" she told him.
"Forget him and I'll take you to much more places than he can!" I glared. He opened his arms "I'll buy you anything you want, baby! Just please accept my proposal!"
"You had signed a contract stating that you will not interact with me once our section has expired. The legal listing will always be active. If you violate those terms, I won't hesitate to put you in your place" Yvonne huffed.
Yvonne's contract stated that the client may not interact with her outside of services. Though it's fine to have a friendly conversation, they cannot try to ask for relationships or bribes. Each time a client wants to receive her services again, they'll have to sign a new terms of service with the same contract in hand. It's like a file piling up on the same client. What does this guy want out of her anyway? Just thinking about it made me want to ask for another battle or simply just throw him in the lake we were surrounded by.
"But cupcake... don't you enjoy when I come over?" He asked. I got up and stared at my feet, shaking hard.
"Calem..?" Yvonne frowned. I grabbed the guys shirt and without thinking, I threw him into the shallow lake out of spite. That will teach him to mess with my girl...