The next month of high school drifted by. Julie's reputation hadn't fixed itself, but some students had said hi or waved to her on multiple occasions. Most turned away, talked to their friends about her in her face, or briefly double-looked, seemingly afraid to interact with her for how they'd be judged for it.
At least Julie hadn't been bullied directly a third time, though, and wasn't viewed by absolutely everyone as she once was: stuck up and rude, right? She'd come to terms that she couldn't fix the past or that it still rubbed everyone the wrong way. Who knew what they'd said about her? There had to be some lies thrown in too.
Julie wasn't making friends, but she didn't need any. This school had turned into nothing but an ultra-negative experience for her. Julie couldn't wait to be free from the shackles.
She had visited and regularly spent time with Midnight in between classes throughout that month while enduring some background snickers and teasing for doing so. However, she never skipped lunch and ditched Alyssa. In fact, Julie hadn't done anything sexual with Midnight since the room 200 incident, no matter how badly she wanted it, and it got unbearable enough to where it made her whimper sometimes, but she couldn't continuously risk throwing away her chance at college and life itself for sex.
She had just two more months left at school before graduation and would have to study for finals soon, but none of that was bothering her.
On a Friday morning, Julie wondered why Midnight had spontaneously disappeared as she lay in bed. He just hadn't been around. It started three days ago when she didn't see him wandering the halls of Ecruteak High.
She told Alyssa about it yesterday, and of course, she recommended that Julie ask the principal again. She may have to this time. By Thursday, she promised herself that if she didn't see Midnight during the week, she would.
Julie went through her morning routine and rode to school while despondence stirred within. What had Midnight done to her— or was it her fault that she so deeply and emotionally attached herself? Either way, he had claimed her and helped her get through classes daily. Of course Julie would love him a lot. She was more addicted to him than she had been to sugar, and this one was twice harder to shake.
She sat through all of her lectures, and Midnight was still nowhere in sight. He wasn't waiting by her locker or the restroom throughout the day; it felt like a piece of her was gone. The halls were full of students, but they were empty in her eyes. She always singled him out among the crowds.
"It was a mistake. I knew it was..." And it hurt like nothing else, making her want to cry. She would never do something like it again, but that wouldn't fix the heartbreak she'd go through. Julie didn't want to believe she would never see him again.
"It's just so strange without him. He made everything feel worth it... gave me daily motivation," Julie said to Alyssa as they strolled through sunny Mahogany Town after school during the afternoon, on the way to a popular Fioreanese cuisine. They'd left their bikes and bags at Alyssa's house.
It was refreshing seeing buildings that Julie usually didn't bother with since she usually headed straight home after school. Mahogany was a small and cozy residential town with rocky mountains and mini forests of trees lining its outskirts, presenting a genial climate. It had roads spotted with potholes and cracks, and most cars on them were older models. It was also considered a Pokégear city like Ecruteak, mildly cut off from the modern world but catching up slowly as the years passed.
It sometimes felt like many parts of the world were still developing with the times. On a larger scale, cars and mobile devices were still new and foreign phenomena to many, but it felt like they'd been introduced forever ago to Julie.
Alyssa had come to Ecruteak on day one with a cell phone, but Julie recalled some students from older cities wearing gear, which never ended in their favor. They were either teased out of ever returning after a week or came back to school with a phone, even if it was a cheap one.
Julie put some attention to how life was lived here since she hadn't visited in a while. Not quite as old and slow as Ecruteak, but not nearly as fast and sophisticated as Goldenrod.
Older men stood leaning against walls in dingy tees and faded jeans, some with sodas or taking smokes on their breaks, and people packed groceries in their vehicles' trunks from beaten stores while employed pokémon like poliwrath and scizor aided seniors by carrying bags to their cars or transferring many from cart to trunk.
A few young unguided teens in caps, slim sweaters, and shorts lingered by liquor marts, one sitting with his larvitar on the lookout for anyone they could approach that looked rugged enough to buy alcohol.
"No one told you to attach yourself to something that wasn't yours." Alyssa stuck her hand into her pocket. "That's a disaster waiting to happen. Don't you even have a Doption place a few blocks away from your house?"
"Alyssa... It just… happened. I don't know..." Julie spotted a green bench in some grass ahead by a few worn shops and sat on it with her hands resting over her thighs, watching people walk, wild pokémon traverse the streets aimlessly, and a crew working on remodeling a nearby store.
Alyssa sat next to her. "If he doesn't show up, ask. You need to ask. It's the only thing you can do. I'll go with you if it makes you feel any better. Just let me know."
"I guess I'll have to if I want to know... Thank you, Ali."
"How'd you two get so close, anyway?"
She shrugged. "Like I said, it just happened. Maybe I shouldn't have brought him berries from the mart in the plaza I stopped at that day... and every other day. I saw him around the school for a year, and he just seemed without purpose. Barely anyone said hi or even petted him, and I guess I wanted to fill that gap."
"Well, you definitely did that, but at what cost?"
"A broken fu... frickin' heart." The one thing she strived to avoid. How was Julie supposed to recover?
Alyssa bit her lip to conceal a grin. "I know it's serious when you're holding back swears. I guess we're doing this then, huh?"
"Mh..." Julie didn't have the slightest idea. Her stomach churned. She didn't even want to eat anymore. "I think I just want to go home, Alyssa... I'm sorry."
"You're good. Rain check. I'll eat macaroni at home and game or something."
So they headed back, chatting a bit along the way. The walk took around five minutes from their location, and Alyssa handed Julie her backpack from inside.
"See you tomorrow," Julie said while walking her bike to the road from Alyssa's modest home. It was a dull yellow outdated one-story with barred windows among a row of others. The lawn had spots of dead grass, and sections of the pavement leading before the line of residences protruded from the roots of thick tall trees growing by them.
Mahogany needed help that the mayor wouldn't give it. Who knew where all the money was going?
Julie used to go over to Alyssa's residence and vice versa to hang out and play video games since it had been a mutual hobby, although Julie never had the urge to buy a console herself. They were a ton of fun, but Julie had always been interested in other things, and they'd be a massive distraction, knowing herself.
Julie had also gone to sleep over, so their parents knew each other too but never talked outside of phone calls pertaining to their daughters or having dinner at each other's homes a couple of times. Julie's mother never let go too often, though.
"Yep, and think about our discussion!" Alyssa returned while watching Julie ride off. "Text me!"
She would for both. Julie began the nearly lengthy journey back to her city while her mind spun, pedaling down the pavement beside parked vehicles, old homes on her other side, and past a few people who stepped out of her path until Julie came up on a driveway that she used to ride into the street against active traffic.
Why did it have to come to this? It was such an unreal situation. Granted, it likely had to happen anyway since Julie would graduate soon, and she wouldn't want to leave without Midnight since she coveted him, which would result in her asking for him.
And the answer, realistically, would be no, because he didn't belong to her. It made her feel deeply wistful. Why couldn't Julie have caught her own eevee to evolve into an umbreon, or better yet, go and adopt one in need of love like Alyssa brought up? Alyssa was right. This was beyond stupid of her.
Julie was roughly fifteen minutes from home, riding under a sullen, sunless Goldenrod sky saturated with thick clouds. She was in the bike lane pedaling past endless traffic, liquor stores, busy marts, and apartments just past the Radio Tower.
Julie never got tired of seeing it. She remembered listening to the 'Pokédex Show' and 'Pokémon Search Party' on the radio on the way to school in the car, along with others or music her parents enjoyed. She remembered looking out the window at the passing lively city while cool morning air hit her face until her father rolled it up to keep the heat in.
The Pokédex Show explored various species and discussed interesting facts, stories, and events around the region involving them. Pokémon Search Party had been her absolute favorite, though. It was a documentary that followed a data crew and their encounters in-depth while exploring caves and ruins in various regions.
She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled it out while riding with her left hand, holding the device tightly to make up for her hand being numb to the climate.
She glanced at her screen. "Oh, Mom... She's probably worried." She sucked her teeth. "I meant to tell her I'd be out for a while."
Julie had to get herself together. She'd been pensive all day. It's not like she was a sneaky or disobedient teenager. She had no reason to lie to her mother unless it would come to Midnight for whatever reason, but she had stopped their love sessions and was suffering because of it.
She put the phone to her ear. "Hel–" Julie widened her eyes while coming up before an intersection ahead after the light turned red and put both hands on her brakes. She squeezed and felt her back tire lift from the ground, standing and putting her foot down to compensate and skidding to a steady stop before the crosswalk. She refused for it to end as it had last time.
Julie sat and adjusted herself afterward. She blew relieved air through her mouth that was visible in the cold as a misty puff and looked aside at a car with its passenger window down and the guy inside looking at her, who she grinned mareepishly at before turning away. Some people waiting on the sidewalk to cross were looking too. "Need to start bringing my earphone with me again..." That way she would have a hands-free.
Julie put the phone back to her ear while watching traffic pass in front of her "Hello?"
"Julie. Out later than usual?"
"I was just out with Alyssa," Julie replied. "I meant to let you know. Sorry."
"No worries, sweetie, but try to remember next time so I don't get bad thoughts. I'm not trying to control you, but Goldenrod is too big to be safe. Are you close?"
"About ten minutes or so, yes."
"Could you stop at the gas station for a lotto ticket? It's up nine billion. I've been meaning to pick one up recently."
"Sure, Mom. Anything else?" Julie pushed off the ground with her foot to start her bike and put both on the pedals after the light turned green and traffic on both sides of the intersection stopped. She rode across the street while cars drove with and passed her.
"That would be all. Thank you, Jule. I'll see you soon. Love you."
She grinned. "Love you too." Julie hung up and put her phone back in her pocket. There was a gas station up ahead on the corner that her father used to frequent for its prices, just her luck. She saw the tall red and blue elevated sign with '67' as its logo and gas prices digitally displayed under it.
Julie pulled onto the sidewalk and rode slowly behind a few pedestrians, then veered into the station past people filling their vehicles. Others went in and out of the store, leaving with baggies or from paying for a pump. The station and every pump were occupied at this time, with vehicles in line too.
She looked up upon hearing a familiar whirr and saw a black ranger helicopter over a street several blocks away shining a spotlight onto the roads. They were likely searching for or following a criminal, which wasn't often serious enough to bring out a chopper unless they had to observe a pursuit or suspect track a major threat. Julie would be twice as aware of her surroundings until she got home.
She unmounted her bike while in motion and kept up with a jog that she slowed to a walk, kickstanding it a distance from the double doors and pushing one side open. Julie pulled her bag's strap over her shoulder and slipped her hands into her jacket's lower pockets for some quick warmth. It was also relatively warm inside the mart, with more people than she expected around.
A pre-teen boy grabbed various snacks from the chip and candy aisle while his parents browsed alcohol in the refrigerated section.
A male teen in a jacket and cap, maybe seventeen, was at the slushie station with his braixen beside him. He put a top on his cup and stuck a straw through it, then grabbed another medium one for his pokémon, handing it to her while grabbing a top and straw.
She held it in two hands and eyed the machine with an eager grin, surveying all four available flavors. With a happy swish of her bushy tail, she put the cup under pecha and pressed her palm on the button to release, holding it until the creamy, thick pink mix filled half of her cup, then let go and did the same with nanab two flavors over. After she made her slushie, she brought it up and attempted to sip it, licking at it to get the liquid to move but stopping after her owner stuck a straw inside for her.
There was also a line of about ten people before the register and a bearded man pointing out cigarettes behind the counter.
"Was going to get a Violet Cola, but nevermind..." Julie went straight to the tall orange machine by the door that offered various scratch cards one could choose via buttons for a small chance to win big money and three types of lottery tickets. She stood before it and pulled her hands from her pockets, eyeing her options and spotting the 'Regionwide Dreams' lottery option in white and blue cursive letters at the top of the machine. Its staggering amount was stated below on an LED screen.
Julie took out her wallet and pulled out three bills that equaled 1,500. One ticket cost 500. "Mom said one, but two more won't hurt..." She slipped them into the machine's slot and hit three for Regionwide Dreams, then chose the option that let the system randomize the numbers for two tickets. She was about to hit it for the last one but stopped.
Julie reached for the keypad and typed in her birth month, Alyssa's, her mother's, the month she met Midnight, and filled in random for the last two, then was out the door and back on the road.
Julie made it home in a little over ten minutes, a block from her street and at the beginning of her neighborhood, where she saw a purrloin hop a fence into someone's backyard, who may or may not own it, and some homes with jingly chimes hanging up on porches, chairs and table sets, Johtoan flags hanging high, lights and living room TVs on inside. Some vehicles pulled into driveways or garages for the night, and people walked the pavement coming from local jobs or night school.
Julie stopped at a crosswalk and saw a truck with 'Nimura Rentals' plastered on the side in green letters slow at the stop sign without a blinker on, so Julie assumed it was going straight. She looked left and right to ensure no other traffic was approaching, then started pedaling— until the truck turned in front of her to get onto the next street.
"Ihg!" She felt her heart drop and squeezed her brakes with a grimace all over again, planting her foot on the asphalt. She watched it pass while peering at the truck's rear. "Nice blinker..." Julie muttered, looking both ways before riding again, but she pushed her foot out and skidded to a stop before a telephone pole, grinning. Stapled to it was a poster of that once-lost eevee. It read: 'Found!' It warmed her to know. "Glad you're safe and sound with your family again, Bara."
Upon arriving at her house a minute later, she locked her bike up and went through the front door after unlocking it, sighing when in a comforting and much warmer environment. Her mother must have pre-heated the house.
"Welcome home, sweetie. Dinner is in the microwave for you whenever you want it," her mother told her while sitting on the couch, smiling. "Turned on the heater while you were on the way to prepare for your arrival."
"Thank you," Julie replied while taking off her shoes and walking to her mom while pulling the tickets from her pocket. "I got three."
"Much appreciated. I'll let you know if we win." She took them and brought Julie in for a hug, kissing her head.
She hugged her back and nuzzled her cheek. "It would be crazy if we did. What would we even do with that much money?"
"Invest a good amount, some into stocks, and move to Alola or Unova, of course. Those who invested in Silph and Wikiblux forty years ago are well off now... Well, maybe we wouldn't run to Unova, although it would make a fun visit. Great sovereign nation, but, you know, only as free as the others until it gets bored enough. Hope it doesn't influence the rest of the Accord one'a these days." She chuckled and let Julie go. "And I know you tell me, but do you need a refill of your medication yet?"
"I like Alola. It's so tropically warm and beautiful... Do you think Unova will always be a republic, then?" Julie asked.
The entirety of the Accord and SNDA were considered free regions and used a multiparty system, but anyone paying attention could see the direction Unova was heading in, at the beginning of slowly restricting freedoms among their masses. Their government was currently seeking to start by banning Veela on all Unovan networks on account that it gathered intel alongside spreading falsified propaganda about their region from the SNDA, and they pressed the Accord to restrict the application on SNDA networks, as the Accord was a close ally, but that likely wouldn't come to be for two reasons.
While Veela was used by citizens and officials living in SNDA-affiliated regions, it was founded in Kanto and made a lot of money through the SNDA, which funded groundbreaking technology and the general advancement of the Accord's collective economy. Although Kanto shared its tech with other regions within and sometimes outside of the Accord, it was the largest tech hub in the world and the forefront of its industry.
Johto and Goldenrod in particular because it was the region's hub, as massive and contemporary as it was, barely held a candle and certainly wouldn't at the rate Kanto progressed with research and the cross-fertilization of key-enabling technologies to boost its own economy further than ever, such as photonics, nano and biotechnology, and more, including information tech that were all more or less new to the tech scene and world stage. Crossing them would mean combining said technologies to innovate and improve them.
Moreover, it would have a direct and indirect impact on stimulating the economy, including job generation, general growth, and increasing competitiveness in specific fields. Many corporations based in Johto and citizens looking to find more success and funding looked to move there in the coming years, as the region offered the future and was well prepared for it. Johto was behind by a few years, less innovative and ambitious, but felt like the more grounded half of the region.
The world had catching up to do and was, albeit slowly, but surely. Julie could feel the greater future practically knocking at the door; she was of the age where she would have to start working with it in the coming years, possibly in her twenties.
On top of Kanto's investments, restricting the platform would be a direct imposition on the citizens' liberties. Everyone was watching to see what the Accord's move would be regarding Veela. What many political figures and users on Veela warned Unova's citizens of was true anyway. The region was spiraling downhill.
There was also talk of their government trying to do away with independent or alternative media, freedom of assembly, establish an autocracy, and more to set up something sinister, but there was no sufficient evidence of that. None of it was official.
"No one can say; I'm leaning toward no. If I lived in Unova now, I would be looking into settling elsewhere. I don't have a good feeling about it."
"I guess we'll see," Julie returned while going to the stairs.
She was glad to live in Johto. The Accord had among the best living conditions, the biggest economy, and held the most power in the world. Its currency was used in a majority of international transactions and held in the exchange reserves of most regions.
It was also a bully, established in many regions to remain in power, eliminate or deter threats to the nation, and instill fear and subservience. When not involved in world affairs and conflicts, it manufactured them, but that was no secret. It came with the territory of being and remaining the best. Julie would never agree with it; it usually created unnecessary issues and deaths, but she could do nothing but enjoy the provisional results it provided in her life.
"...And about my antis, no. I still have half a bottle."
"Good. Just let me know!"
Julie set her backpack by the wall once in her room. "Hey, Lilly." Lilly usually took her bed while she was in the house and always left dirt behind from outside, which Julie was used to.
She unzipped her backpack and took out her math book with 'Arithmetic' and various equations spelled out on its yellow cover, a pencil, and several sheets of lined paper. It would be easier to get the most challenging subject for her over with, but she had to wash her face first after such a long day.
Julie did so and replaced her pants with purple pajama ones, then threw herself onto the bed with her phone beside her, watching Lilly groom and nibble at her sides and stomach with her hind leg held behind her neck.
Julie put her hands under her thighs to warm them up. She still felt hollow inside, in the sense that Midnight hadn't been around to make her happy, of course, but more so that he hadn't been inside of her lately. That thought made her stifle a giggle. She wanted him like no other recently. Instead of asking about him on Thursday, Julie would on Monday. That gave her the weekend to decide how she'd approach the situation.
She would complete all her work before Sunday hit as long as her small procrastination habit didn't set in. There wasn't as much motivation to do her homework as usual, but she had to finish everything before Monday. "Eh, just the stupid math tonight."
Julie picked up her phone after it vibrated, reading a message from Alyssa upon unlocking it:
'Excuse me, but WHERE'S my text?'
Julie giggled and opened her messaging app: 'Oops, forgot. My mind's a mess. I'm home though. Xoxo.' She locked and tossed her phone aside, getting comfortable to focus on her homework. She eyed the rows of numbered algebra problems and sighed, grabbing a sheet of paper and setting it on the book's page to write her name: 'Julie Lenita,' and the date at the top.
The teacher always made everyone show their work, so she couldn't use the calculator on her phone for anything other than to know what answer she needed to get.
It took her over an hour of PEMDAS and two sheets of scratch paper to finish since she had to redo several problems multiple times, and she was done for the night afterward. It had been difficult not to pull her phone out and scroll Veela several times over during her homework for a breather or out of boredom, but she'd fought the urge well enough so she could focus and get her work done faster.
First, Julie would go downstairs and eat whatever her mother made for her, then she would sleep if she could as long as Midnight or school, in general, didn't plague her mind throughout the night.