"Uh, guys…"
He really did think that today would be a normal day. Why wouldn't it? After Grimsley's last visit, almost two weeks had passed by in peace. As far as he and his brothers were concerned, they were finally free from the League's oppressive gaze. At least that's what they thought until Cilan called out to them just a few hours after the cafe's opening.
Cress was finishing up work in the kitchen when he heard his brother's voice. He casually peeked out the door. "What's u—"
Chili immediately yanked him down behind a counter where he and Cilan were already huddled together with bated breaths. The elder redhead quietly gestured out a "hush" and pointed urgently over the counter. Cress carefully crept upwards and what he saw beyond…
He zipped back down to the floor alongside his brothers.
"Why is he here?!" He hissed out in between a whisper and a scream.
The three slowly glanced out once more as if they were hoping they had just experienced a collective delusion. But lo and behold, Grimsley was at his usual table, idly clicking his fingers across the railing as he waited to be served.
"He saw us fight already, didn't he?" Chili griped as the three met their way back down. "Isn't that what the League wanted?"
"I, I don't know," Cilan gulped. "He didn't say anything when I seated him. M-maybe it's because…" The two turned their heads over to Cress. "He saw us battle, but not Cress."
"Me?" Cress scoffed. "Why would they need to check on me too?"
"Fair's fair, little bro," Chili humbly patted his back. "If that's it, we just have to wait for another challenger to come by."
"We, we haven't had any since those two Galarian kids," Cilan nervously chimed in.
Chili twitched. "Yikes, uh, that sounds really bad when you actually say it out loud."
"It took ten visits for us to finally show him some battling," Cress sighed, his palms over his face. "Are we just supposed to keep doing what we were doing until then?"
"Yes."
Cress grumpily wiped his hands off his eyes. Cilan and Chili had both responded at once and were now looking away with distant eyes.
"Come on. Can't we tag out for round two?"
"..."
"Please?"
"No can do," Chili shook his head. "Rules are rules."
"What rules? We own this place!" There was no use arguing any further. Cress threw his arms up in frustration and got up to begrudgingly resume his shift.
As he made his way over, his mind flashed back to the trail end of Grimsley's last visit. It was supposed to be a form of mockery. One final flip of the bird before saying "bye" for good. But now, he was back, and Cress could only imagine how much worse the teasing and obtuseness would get in retaliation. The closer he got to the table, the more he tried to mask away his awkward furrows. And with one big attempt at a calming breath…
"Welcome to the Striaton City Cafe. May I take your order, s—"
A fat wad of Pokedollars slammed on to the table with what felt like enough force to echo beyond the walls.
Cress stared in complete disbelief and confusion. "Wha—"
"I hope this clears up any confusion about my last visit," Grimsley cut in with a tone of levity despite his grumbling.
"Uh," Cress blinked. "What am I supposed to do with—"
"Serve me food, of course."
He blinked again. "Huh?"
"This is a cafe, is it not?"
The situation was catching up to Cress, and he waved his arms in a disgruntled manner over the absurdity of the situation. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, this isn't how it works. You order first and then pay the amount due. You can't just do it in advance. How am I supposed to know how much change to give back?"
"Then pick out as much food and drinks as you have until it totals up perfectly."
And another blink. "What?"
"You heard me." Grimsley pointed to the stack with a devilish grin. "This is exactly 1,000,000 Pokedollars. You co-own this place, so you should know the exact price of everything on your menu. Figure the rest out yourself."
Cress could feel his mouth quiver, but nothing came out. He warily teetered his eyes back at the counter where his brothers still hid. He hoped either of them would pop up with some brilliant plan to stop this nonsense, but both seemed to be just as shocked and panicked as he was.
He turned back. He wasn't sure what he expected to see. This wasn't some sick dream. Of course Grimsley would still be there. Of course he would still be gloating along to his massive money stack. Of course he would keep hitting him with that dastardly smile of his. One that was now curved at the edge into a mischievous knot.
To think this was the first time he could parse an actual ounce of genuine emotion from him.
And even then, he wasn't sure if Grimsley was getting a kick out of this or if Cress had just managed to really, really piss him off.
Perhaps both!
He had no other choice. Him and his brothers didn't. For the next two hours or so, they scrambled throughout the cafe, attempting to tend to their regular customers while also seeing to Grimsley's lofty request. Cress frantically played a balancing act with the pastry stock, Cilan ran back and forth between the tables and the stove, and Chili was ready to tear his hair out crunching all the numbers together. At first, they intended to roll everything out in one big cart, but they decided at some point, it was much wiser to toss the finished dishes to his table as soon as they were ready. The customers all looked on in awe as the Elite Four member's designated corner transformed into a contained banquet with each passing minute. And most infuriatingly, the whole time over, he would just sit there, chin on his hand, arm on the table, and intently watch the gong show without ever touching his food.
"Oh, for the love of…" Chili was in the kitchen, strangling the very notepad he was writing on, while his brothers busily toiled away with a cake fit for a celebrity wedding. Chili had suggested they take the risk of sacrificing what was left of their extra cake layers for the day for what he assumed would wipe out the rest of their due. Unfortunately, to his horror, they were still somehow over 300,000 Pokedollars short.
"I," Cilan flopped on to a chair beside his malding sibling. "I don't know if I can last the rest of the day."
"This is my fault," Cress whined as he finished off the cake decorations with the face of misery. "I pissed him off. I really pissed him off."
"You sure did, bud," Chili threw his notepad to the ground, trying his best to stave off his own pending frustration. "You're done, right? Hurry up and get that thing outside."
Cress bowed apologetically to both his brothers and their Pokemon, who had been forcefully enlisted to help, and silently trudged off into his walk of shame. Pushing around the cart, he could barely make his way through the room with how tall the confection was. Panpour had to follow him out the doors as his own personal guide. At some point however, he could sense the proper path. That familiar sense of dread returned to him; the sign that he was quickly approaching.
"My." Cress could hear that annoying voice whistle out in amusement. "Going all out, aren't you?"
Shut up. He lost all energy to snark back a long time ago.
"And does this cover all costs?" Grimsley had the nerve to walk up and stand beside him. "No use lying by the way." He waved around a menu in what was frustratingly the first time Cress had ever seen him interact with one. "Got a bit bored and decided to do some reading. I might even know your store's prices better than you do at this point."
I want to die.
"You…" Cress gulped. "...Don't plan to actually eat all this, right?"
"Of course not."
"So you've wasted all this food just to—"
"They will."
Grimsley's smile softened ever so slightly. He had set aside the menu and pulled out all six of his Pokeballs in exchange. In an almost graceful manner, he triumphantly tossed the whole lot into the air like he was throwing around confetti in celebration. His six companions, Liepard, Bisharp, Honchkrow, Scrafty, Krookodile, and Houndoom, all manifested with shining eyes of awe over the mouthwatering display before them.
"Dig in, ladies!"
Not even a second after their trainer called them out, the six already started to devour everything in sight. The blue haired waiter practically jumped back from the sheer force of speed the six had bouncing right into their rowdy buffet.
"Geez, how badly do you starve these guys?"
"I'll have you know I treat them like queens," Grimsley huffed in response. "They liked the treats you made, so I promised them I'd let them have a feast for today. They got excited and skipped breakfast. Haven't eaten anything since last night."
"..."
He noticed it earlier, but something about Grimsley felt different today, like there was something bursting through the seams. He marched in that day with the intent to scare the triplets absolutely shitless, a marked difference from his usual demeanor that always seemed to feign both cordiality and ire for the sake of going through the motions. There was always a weird sense of detachment surrounding him that made him unapproachable to all who were near, like he had inserted himself somewhere he didn't belong in with full awareness of the fact. Aside from his usual banter with Cress, he usually ignored any and all chances to interact with the space around him, but there he was, openly displaying his wrath in a way he never would have before. And then there was the way he happily looked over at his Pokemon.
Happily…
"Oh, and before I forget."
Cress jumped. Grimsley had suddenly grabbed his hand out of nowhere. His mind was set ablaze, both confused and terrified at the act. Those past two times with the cake and cookies were the closest either had ever gotten to direct touch, and this was many steps above that. He didn't know what to expect. He could feel his mind numb into a halt, utterly fearful of what new trick the man had up his sleeve. He could feel his palm tingle ever so slightly as Grimsley carefully brushed off his fingers, which were caught in a tight cage position, with the same delicacy one would have taking the hand of a dainty princess. He stayed still and silent, not even taking a breath, and did nothing but stare at the entanglement. After what was surely seconds, but felt more like ages had passed, Grimsley finally pulled away, and in his place was a crumpled up 100 Pokedollar bill on Cress's palm.
"Matcha today, please."
"..."
He was silent all the way back to the kitchen. All he had were Panpour's worried mews to greet his brothers on their way back in.
Grimsley was a terrifying man.
XO
After what felt like an eternity, the sun had dimmed, and the cafe's final hours of operation blew by. Chili and Cilan had already called it quits for the day and laid limp and lifeless at one of the tables closest to the kitchen. Amongst the two of them, they lamented their food stock that had been woefully wiped clean from this experience, and they debated whether or not it was worth doing an early morning grocery run or just simply clocking out for the rest of the week. Meanwhile, back at the source of their ire, Grimsley's table laid as an unseemly mess between half finished dishes and teetering piles of stained plates and cutlery. The group of dark type Pokemon were all slumped over, both on the chairs and floor, in lazy bliss, and their master continued to sit poised and still as he finally finished the last drop of his tea.
"Ow! Watch it!"
Grimsley glanced towards the kitchen door. Cress had apparently exited with armfuls of boxes and bags. Chili had dangled his head lazily against the edge of his chair and became an easy victim to his brother's blind door swing. Too tired to even listen to his ails, Cress continued over to Grimsley's spot, and dropped everything to the closest open table before he too collapsed into a chair right next to him.
"The rest of your orders," Cress explained as he weakly pointed to the newly formed pile.
Grimsley smirked at the sight. Cress looked like he was on the very cusp of dreamland. "My girls enjoyed it all, you know."
"Oh yeah?" Cress droned.
"Yes. They loved your pastries obviously, but the savory food was excellent as well."
"Oh," he replied in stilted volume. "The cooked food was all Cilan."
"Compliments to the chef."
Cress creaked his neck over just enough so he could look the man in the face. The convincing half smile he'd seen on him earlier that day was wiped clean, now reverted back to the stunted one he was used to.
"I appreciate you giving them the same cake from last time. They especially loved that."
"You could tell?" Cress snorted. "Did you actually eat any that one time?"
"Not really. Just a nibble. It was mostly my Pokemon."
Cress rolled his eyes, mouthing an "Of course" while he turned his head back away. "What were you even trying to pull here today? If we actually had a trainer come in, we would've been too out of it to battle."
"I didn't expect any trainer to show up. Simple as that."
The tides shifted over. Cress was the one pissed off now.
His sudden anger mustered what was left of his strength, and he forced himself back on his feet and towards the stairs. "I'm done."
Grimsley blinked, seemingly surprised at the disgruntled response. "Aren't you going to pack up the leftovers?"
"They'll do it," Cress pointed to his brothers in frustration. The two were so knocked out, he doubted either could hear him.
With everyone more or less down for the count, Grimsley could almost make out the faint sound of a door slam from the distance above. He looked over the scene and sighed. The remaining two brothers were most certainly not going to wake up just for his benefit, which left pack up duty solely on him. After retrieving all his Pokemon back into their balls, he diligently packed and tidied up the table in silence to the best of his abilities. With everything relatively cleared out, he laid one final bill on to the center of the table, a gracious tip for all the trouble he purposely caused, and headed on out. Throughout it all, he never could figure out why he so easily caved into pettiness that day and forced the boys' entire kitchen into calamity.