Spilling Coffee at Conferences
By tanker44
Ash sighed as he waited for the elevator, tapping his right foot anxiously. With his left hand, he tugged at the top button of his shirt and tie, trying fruitlessly to give his neck some breathing room. In his right hand, he held a lidless paper cup of burnt coffee from the hotel. Standing to his left, his trusty Pikachu – the infamous electric mouse – stifled a yawn.
As Ash awkwardly adjust the messenger bag on his left shoulder, he started to stare at the clock above the elevator banks. He wondered, when did being a Pokémon trainer mean so much non-Pokémon work? At first, becoming World Champion was a dream come true. He was lauded by friends and loved ones – he was the supreme battler! – and became the inspiration for aspiring trainers around the world. He had finally achieved financial security for himself and his mother. Secretly, deep down, he felt redeemed, that he succeeded in spite of an absent a father who chased the same dream and disappeared in shame.
But then, over the years came the business side of the Pokémon League. It started off small, occasional requests to meet with trainers here or to give a talk there. In hindsight, it felt like a surreal trial period, and his life was bliss. However, two years later, Ash just barely defeated a new challenger, and the expectations grew. The same with the third. Now, having just secured his fourth term, Ash was officially the longest reigning Champion in recent memory. But as along with success came responsibility – endless conferences, public relations events, lectures, and meetings. Oh, the meetings. And the email. Ash sighed and looked down at his companion. When did being a Pokémon trainer stop being fun?
As the elevator dinged, he felt the phone in his left pocket buzz as well. While looking down at the phone, the man walked into the elevator and straight into an unsuspecting woman and her duck.
"Hey!" she shrieked.
Ash, jolting in surprise, stopped just in time to avoid a collision. "Arceus, I'm so sorry!" He quickly stepped back, sloshing some burning coffee onto his hand. He winced in pain and looked down at the droplets of coffee on his new leather dress shoes and elevator floor.
"Watch where you're going, jerk. You almost spilled your hot coffee all over my face!" Looking at the steam wafting from the cup, she furrowed her brows, "And broke my Psyduck." Hearing no response, she continued the barrage, "What were you even thinking? It's a good thing I saw you first. You could have…"
Tuning out the reprimands, Ash stared at the furious woman in awe. She had wavy, medium-length red hair that cascaded across her face as she scolded him; her skin was delicately smooth, with a gentle red blush in her cheeks, though that was perhaps due to anger; she had piercing blue-green eyes, like pools of beachside ocean water, at the moment frothing in anger at him; she was tall – taller than him – and underneath a navy-blue suit jacket had an athletic build whose body language strongly disliked him at the moment. Nevertheless, Ash's heart began to jump – who was this woman?
Realizing he wasn't apologizing profusely (or even responding), Ash began to awkwardly mouth his apologies like a Magikarp. "So- so- sorry ma'am," he said stammered. "It's a bit early for me and-," he began to smile to charm her, "before coffee time, so I was zoning out until I saw–"
"Don't be cute with me," she cut him off. The woman bent down to fawn over Psyduck, who appeared to have barely registered the near-death-by-coffee experience. She pulled out a pink handkerchief with yellow stripes out of her bag and began dabbing the duck. "And don't call me ma'am. I'm the same age as you."
Ash, uncharacteristically, wanted to give a witty retort. Controlling his urges, he asked "Is Psyduck okay? Is there something I can do to make it up to you and Psyduck?"
"No." was the one-word response, full to the brim with venom. And with that finality, the conversation was over.
Ash sighed in defeat and looked at the elevator button. Great. It looked like this woman was going to the same League Conference as him. Ash stood to the back left corner of the elevator, Pikachu grabbing his pant leg to hide from the argument, and he finally looked at the phone in his hand.
It was a text message. From mom. It said, "I found your speech in the clothing hamper!"
Double great. A long elevator ride to start even longer three-day conference. Ash sighed again.
After what felt like an hour, the elevator reached the top floor and the red-haired woman, without a word or looking back, departed with the duck waddling behind her, to the registration table. Ash deboarded after her and was quickly ambushed by the event organizer.
"Ash, there you are," she exclaimed, "and you're almost late!"
Ash chuckled nervous, "Yeah, here I am." Without another word, she rushed him to the back conference room for preparation. He nearly had to jog after, careful not to spill the coffee again all over his hand.
Reaching the room, Ash looked inside and saw his old friend, Professor Kukui. But, before he could even say hello, the organizer looked at him top to bottom, and she tutted while muttering to herself, "No time to fix that hair." Hesitating her hands over her neck, she asked, "May I?"
Ash nodded silently, and the woman quickly adjusted his tie.
He looked to the back and saw the Professor and Pikachu snickering at the young man, who never could wake up early enough and never really could figure out how tie a tie correctly. Even after all these years, Ash was still the same.
However, before the student and the teacher could have a proper greeting, an applause broke out from behind the conference room walls. The introductory speaker had just finished and now it was Ash's turn. The organizer rushed Ash to the side stage.
Taking a deep breath, Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash stepped into the spotlight, ready to improvise, as he had done through most of his career.
At the conclusion of his half hour session, Ash sat down at his reserved seat at the Champion's table in the front. He nodded to his colleagues around the table – a mix of champions from other leagues, though most were new faces.
As Ash watched Professor Kukui take the stage and begin to lecture on the latest research of extra-dimensional Ultra Beast Pokémon, he started to wonder about the red-headed woman again. Having competed in countless tournaments and climbing the ladder, he had grown used to having rivals. Of course, they were always a sore spot to his ego, but he never tried to antagonize anyone purposely. However, this time the interaction bothered him. Did she really dislike him that much over such a small mistake? Was it salvageable? Maybe he could try finding her again at the conference to apologize…
The young man started to daydream. He imagined that maybe, somewhere among the hundreds of attendees, the fiery woman was at that moment staring at his back. Maybe she was throwing daggers at him with her eyes? Ash smiled a bit at the thought. Or, maybe she was staring at his back, hoping to apologize? Or, maybe she was even staring at his back in admiration of his (in his own opinion) insightful and inspirational speech about his journey to mastery? Ash smiled even more at the thought. Why, of course he would forgive her and then they could be friends. Or maybe more? At the thought, Ash started to feel a little giddy at his own fantasy.
Suddenly, Ash's phone buzzed, bringing him back to reality. He quietly pulled the phone out of his pocket and glanced at the message. It was another text from mom, "And let me know if you meet any ladies. You're getting older, you know."
He shuddered at the message. Or maybe timing?
AN: After a few short stories, I thought I'd try my first ever multi-part ficlet. This story will be published in 4 parts. Feedback is much appreciated!