Silence covered the table as Inyssa and her mother shared what could be described as a pleasant breakfast if one had a proclivity for describing things in a sarcastic manner.
Between them were a bunch of sugar packages, a silver platter with freshly baked pastries, Johanna's purse and anything else she could find and unconsciously put in front of her. One of her hands grasped the cup of tea she'd ordered out of habit while the other one gently stroked the fur on Kuro's back. The Shinx purred softly in his sleep, sending vibrations and jolts of electricity to her lap.
She took a sip of the tea. Flavorless and rough. It coated her mouth with an unpleasant, sandy feeling similar to that of eating a bad apple. She wondered if she even liked tea, and if not why did she keep fucking ordering it?
With a sigh, she looked at the table on the other side of the room, where Barry and Sarah talked energetically about something she couldn't hear. Couple of damn traitors, she thought to herself only half jokingly.
"I never expected you to have such a cute team of Pokemon," Johanna spoke, startling her. "You've taken good care of them."
Inyssa sat there frozen, not knowing exactly what to say to that, and then looked down to the rest of her Pokemon eating alongside her. Shadi and Bret shared their meal respectfully, locked in a conversation she couldn't understand, while Steven pecked at the pellet of dry food he'd taken with him to the top of her hat.
Both Enma and Hao had refused to come out, although for different reasons. She arched her brow; she'd have time to take care of that later.
"I chose them for my team because they're strong. Cuteness has nothing to do with it."
Her mother let out a deep sigh, probably restraining herself from rolling her own eyes. "I heard about the trial," she added, attempting to change the subject. "I'm really proud, sweetie."
Inyssa looked down, suddenly very interested in the silverware. "Yeah, it was kinda rough but I managed." She took another sip of the tea. "Did Fantina tell you about it?"
Now it was Johanna's turn to look away, and Inyssa took that opportunity to study her expression carefully. Heavy bags adorned the underside of her eyes, which were ever so slightly bloodshot, and while her face looked as soft as ever she noticed more than a few new wrinkles at the edges of her mouth and cheeks.
"Yes," she replied still looking down, her hands resting atop of her legs. "We've been… in contact, recently."
"Did she also tell you to come here?"
Inyssa didn't need a response, her mother's mannerisms told her the answer. She closed her eyes and tried to summon that familiar fire in her belly. She wanted to be mad at the Gym Leader for trying to interfere where she had no business doing so. She wanted to feel furious at her mother for appearing out of nowhere and turning the day of her victory sour, but she just couldn't.
Maybe she was too tired. Maybe something had changed while she was inside that dungeon, but for the first time in years being angry at her took actual effort. And effort was something that was low on supply that morning, to Johanna's fortune.
"Well, it's good she did so." Inyssa crossed her arms and reclined back into her chair. "You'll finally get to see me fight, and after I beat Fantina effortlessly you'll have to stop worrying about me so much."
Johanna looked up, and she felt a small stab in her chest at the sight of her expression brightening, even if it was just a little. She uncrossed her arms and took the cup of tea to her lips, perhaps too abruptly.
"I can't wait," she leaned forward, uttering her words with a sweetness Inyssa barely remembered from long ago.
The beat of her heart turned painful. One. Two. Three, faster than she would've liked. "I'll have to thank Sarah later for giving you a free ride. Sometimes I wonder how that woman gets things done without drowning herself in caffeine and energy drinks." She chuckled to herself, deciding that rambling for a bit was better than concentrating on what happened inside her chest. "And I'm glad she's here too. The bigger the audience the better, and it'd be a shame if her only memory of my prowess as a trainer was that time I lost to Gardenia."
Johanna nodded, a tinge of nervousness dictating her every action. "Yes, Sarah is too good for this world. I'm sure she could've watched the match online but she chose to be here anyway for both of you."
Her cup froze midway towards her lips, and she lowered it slowly while she tried to process her words.
"Online?" she tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"
Johanna stared at her with a confused expression, and after a few moments her eyes opened wide.
"Oh. Oh dear…" She pursed her lips, nervous. "Fantina didn't mention it to you? About… the way her fights work."
Horror slowly crept up Inyssa's expression as she heard the explanation. All of the Gym matches would take place in the local Contest Stadium, and they would be televised. Not only that but each contestant was required to wear an outfit designed specifically for the occasion, which wasn't negotiable, as she was strongly told.
Inyssa was pretty sure her entire body had turned to ice, which surprised her when she moved forward and she didn't shatter into a million pieces; not on the outside at least. She tried to swallow, but her throat was dry as sandpaper.
"That's one of the reasons Fantina called me here. She's too busy preparing for the fight, so she asked me to choose something for you to wear on that day."
A bright memory came to Inyssa, that of one of her mother's performances back when she was a famous Contest star. She remembered the small blue top she wore, with a fuzzy jacket around it which failed to cover her midriff, and a frilly skirt with very tight shorts below. She suppressed a heave at the thought of… no, she wouldn't…
"I am NOT going to…"
She was interrupted by her mother's hand being raised. "I know what you're thinking and no, you don't have to wear anything you don't like."
That calmed her nerves a bit. "Are you sure? I don't want anything that like… you know…" She looked away as red tinted her cheeks. "You know."
"No need to worry." Johanna couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her blushing. "Anyone who thinks fashion involves only dresses and revealing outfits is a complete fool. The best clothes are those who fit not only a person's body, but also their personality. Half of a someone's beauty comes from how comfortable they feel, and how that feeling exudes from their body outwards." She nodded to herself, a hint of smugness in her expression.
Inyssa raised an eyebrow. "You… sure seem to know a lot about that."
"It's… it was my passion, Niss." The woman's shoulders lowered. "Fantina taught me everything I know."
"Well at least not all of her passion was rubbed off on you. That woman is unbearable, and her tackiness knows no bounds."
A slight blush covered Johanna's pale cheeks, and Inyssa wondered why. Was it something she said? The woman's hand went to the untouched cup of coffee in front of her.
"Everyone has hobbies." She opened one of the packages of sugar and poured it in as she spoke, "Fantina just happens to be very dedicated to hers."
Inyssa watched in horror as the drink became more sugar than coffee. "That's why her hair forms an X behind her head?" she muttered to herself. "It's like she has a nest of Murkrows in there. Seriously, I could go to a hairdresser and ask them to fucking kill me and they'd give me something better than that."
"Niss, don't make fun of her." Her mother pointed at her. "Besides, you two have a lot more in common than you'd think."
She snorted. "Yeah right, I have in common with her about as much as I have with a Dunsparce. You're both crazy about fashion and I wish you'd keep it to yourselves. I wasn't made to wear cool outfits like you."
Johanna tilted her head forward and showed her a reassuring smile. "Niss, I'm sure you'll look wonderful in the clothes I have in mind for you."
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"Oh come on." She couldn't help but laugh at her mother's words. "You don't have to pretend, mom. Contests are for people who are…" She almost choked on the words, but forced herself to let them out. "…good looking."
"Oh honey, you are…"
"I said don't bother," she repeated, her tone almost a growl. "I'm not in the mood for being lied to."
Johanna blinked a few times, confused. "Do you really think…? Niss, you are beautiful. Anyone can see th-"
"Will you cut it out already?" She slammed her fist on the table, making it shake. "If there's something I hate is people lying to my face. Yeah you're right; anyone can see I didn't get your good looks, not that I wanted them in the first place!"
Inyssa couldn't stop the words from coming out, nor the clear poison behind them. She bit her lip, and quickly looked down to her lap. There it was; the slip up she knew would happen if she spent long enough around her. She tried to chuckle, tried to make it seem like a joke, but to no avail. She felt those familiar needles pricking the inside of her skin. She looked up towards Johanna. Her lips quivered for a moment and a shadow danced over her eyes, stealing some of the light behind them. Her mother seemed to age ten years in those seconds alone.
It was clear she needed to get away before she ruined the small progress they'd made. "Anyway… I should probably get going. Me and Barry wanted to try some Kalosian food for lunch and there's a good restaurant nearby," she lied. "And we have a lot of training to do afterwards, so…"
She grabbed Kuro from his belly and put him down, which prompted the small cub Pokemon to stretch lazily and give her a look of irritation that almost made her feel bad.
"W-wait!" Her mother almost tripped on the foot on the table as she stood up. "I mean... sorry, I know I don't... I can't really stop you." She curled her fingers together, avoiding her eyes. "I just... thought we could talk a bit more. About..."
She stopped, apparently not being able to formulate her next words. Inyssa didn't need a translator for that particular silence; she knew exactly what her mother wanted. She let out a small sigh and placed a hand against her head, barely brushing Steven's wing. Below, her Pokemon did a terrible job at pretending not to be listening to their conversation.
"You want to talk about what happened in Floaroma and Eterna."
Johanna's lower lip trembled as she lowered her gaze to the floor. "I want to talk about a lot of things but …yes, especially that, if you want to. I know I have no right... after everything that's happened but..."
Inyssa choked on the anger trying to rise from her chest to her throat. She concentrated on her face, on her expression. She looked for any sign of her mother trying to manipulate her by guilt tripping her, but that didn't seem to be the case. Her worry was genuine, as was her sadness.
"I got myself and Barry in trouble. More than a couple times. It was my fault, and no one but me should take responsibility for it." For the first time Johanna's eyes met with hers, and Inyssa's voice quivered a bit. "And I'm sorry for worrying you, but I couldn't just stand by while Team Galactic did such horrible things next to me. I had to interfere; I wouldn't have been true to myself otherwise."
Her mother's eyes started to water. She looked down and smiled to herself. "Yeah... I guessed that was it. I wouldn't have expected any less of you." She bit her lip. "I just… worry a lot. I know I'm really bad at showing it but Niss I promise I'm trying to get better and I'm so s…"
"Don't."
She didn't realize she'd raised her hand to stop her until she saw it with her own eyes. She slightly shook her head and took a step backward, attempting to calm her nerves. This wasn't good enough. She had to act properly if she wanted this to be different from all the other times she'd spoken with her.
"Look. Things have been... complicated, to say the least. I've been through some stuff and I don't think I've... had enough time yet, to properly process all of it." She paused to take a breath, almost not believing she was saying those words. "And even less time to think about... us." She put emphasis in that last word. "So I don't think I'm ready to have this talk yet. I'm sorry for not writing you back, and I promise I will from now on, but I still need to sort some things out before... well, you know."
Johanna seemed ready to burst into tears, whether from happiness or something else Inyssa wasn't sure, but managed to contain herself enough not to do so in front of her.
"I understand," she nodded, and formed a crooked smile that extended to her eyes. "Take all the time you need, sweetie. It's the least I owe you."
Inyssa nodded as well, mostly because she didn't thought she'd be able to say anything else without her voice breaking. And without another word she turned around and went to look for Barry, a storm of emotions raging inside her.
----------------------------------------
Sarah observed carefully as her son ran from their chair to the exit of the Pokemon Center in the time it took her to blink. Inyssa followed, three of her Pokemon tailing behind her like baby Psyduck and one of them sleeping on top of her hat. She smiled at the image, and even that small effort made the muscles in her face hurt.
She got up and walked towards Johanna, her entire body loudly protesting at every step. She pushed the mountain of exhaustion as down as she could, and tried not to think about the hours of work she'd have to make up for later. Right now her friend needed her, nothing else mattered.
Her fingers gently fell on top of the woman's shoulders. "So... how did it go?"
Johanna took one of her sleeves and started cleaning her tears with it, until se realized what she was doing and grabbed a napkin instead.
"Better than I expected," she said after clearing her throat. "Worse than I wished."
Sarah knit her eyebrows, trying to decipher what the hell that meant. "Well... you know what they say, happy medium and all that. Silver lining."
Johanna crossed her arms and let out a long, premeditated sigh. As perfect and elegant as the rest of her. "I suppose. Let's hope the outfit I have in mind for her will win me some motherly points. Maybe I'll finally get her to wear something other than that hat."
She laughed. A short, weak laugh that sent pain through every fiber of her being, but one that she enjoyed nonetheless. She leaned against one of the stone pillars close to her, and its cold stuck to her back like the sweat under her clothes. Everything itched, everything hurt. The past weeks had been cruel, giving her more work than she'd ever done in her life and very few opportunities to check on her son and the people she loved.
All thanks to Team Galactic. The name turned sour in her mouth, and the frustration and tiredness rose from the depths of her chest until she was barely able to control them. She was starting to understand how Inyssa felt, and she wasn't the one who had lost a Pokemon to them.
Which brought her to Johanna. She looked up at her friend and found her still with her arms crossed, a scowl adorning her face. She didn't need to be a psychic to know what was bothering her.
"Did you tell her?"
She decided cutting to the chase would be the best course of action.
Johanna wrinkled her nose, and her hands grabbed on strongly to her biceps. "No, I didn't," she sighed again, closing her eyes for a few moments. "How could I? She's happier than I've seen her in years."
"She doesn't need to hear it right now, but at some point-"
"Are you two sharing secrets without me!?" A voice spoke up from behind them.
Sarah turned around to find Fantina's face only a couple inches from hers. She jumped back a bit but was ultimately too exhausted to be scared. Johanna on the other hand let out a high pitched shriek as she jumped in place and almost tripped on one of the chairs.
"Good morning Fantina," Sarah smiled without much enthusiasm. "Nice of you to join us."
"You scared the soul out of me!" Johanna protested, punching their stalker lightly in the arm. "Were you eavesdropping on us!?"
Fantina scurried to hide behind Sarah, never losing her smile. "My dear Johanna, perish the thought! I just happened to pass by after I finished grading the trial goers and I wished for a nice cup of coffee on my way home!" Her tone made it clear as crystal that she was lying. "All of them failed, by the way. Hurrah for me!"
"Right... and you couldn't ask your servants to make you coffee." Johanna's anger was short lived as a warm smile slowly formed on her lips.
Sarah felt herself being dragged as Fantina brought them both together and put her arms around their shoulders. "It's just been so long since all three of us had a nice lunch together. Now, tell me..." She ducked her head a bit, an ominous grin forming on her lips. "What's this juicy gossip you two were talking about?"
The mood dropped to the floor as both women looked away from her, instead choosing to focus on the floor or walls of the center, which had become very interesting all of a sudden. The Gym leader didn't fail to notice this, and her smile slowly disappeared as the moments went by.
"Ah... not happy news, are they?" She bit her lip, an almost invisible blush appearing in her cheeks. "Well now I feel bad for wanting to know."
Sarah scowled at her friend, and saved to herself the comment that she should've felt bad about eavesdropping regarding of the mood of the news.
"It's fine," she said, freeing herself from Fantina's grip. "You would've found out eventually, since this is official Association business. There have been a couple of sightings of what we think may be one of Shadi's Pokemon."
For the first time all lightheartedness left Fantina's expression. Her eyes opened wide and she let out a small gasp which seemed to make the air around them a lot colder.
"Where!?" Her tone made it sound more like a command than a question. "Which Pokemon?"
Johanna hugged herself, her voice coming out as a whisper. "Her Charizard, Midir."
"It was seen flying northeast towards Veilstone," Sarah clarified. "When I was notified of it I thought it was just a false alarm. Charizard are rare here, but that didn't mean..."
Johanna stomped the ground, startling her. "It was hers! We both saw the photo, didn't we?"
"Yes, we did," she conceded, "I admit it would be extremely unlikely for another Charizard that gigantic to exist in Sinnoh."
Silence spread through the room as the color bled from Fantina's face.
"That day. They never found her Pokemon, did they?"
Sarah nodded weakly. "We only found the corpse of one of the people she'd been training with. Ciro Pafteau."
Fantina crossed her arms, and her fingers tapped the inside of her arms in an almost rhythmic manner. She furrowed her brow and her lips became thin and pale. It'd been a long time since Sarah had seen that expression on her friend.
Finally she looked up at both of them with cold determination. "I will give you any assistance you need. If Shadi is still alive... then we must find her no matter what."
Johanna barely managed to contain a sob as she spoke. "Fantina... t-thank you..."
"I appreciate it," Sarah said, "but we'll keep this investigation secret until we have more information to go on." She put a firm hand on Fantina's shoulder. "What I do need of you is to look after the people of this town. Team Galactic has been spreading throughout the region, and I fear for the worst. If the Association is not able to stop them we'll need the help of people like you."
Fantina smiled, and the room grew cold enough to make Sarah shiver. The Gym Leader's eyes were dark as night, and thick shadows covered her entire body as she spoke.
"I will not let them set foot in my city," she declared, her voice sending a painful chill down Sarah's spine. "When the moment comes, you can count on me. Both for finding Shadi and for obliterating Team Galactic."