CHAPTER 47

It took a few minutes to recompose myself, but even then, I felt incredibly happy. I hadn't really had any close friends before starting on this journey. Oh, sure, there were school friends that I hung out with, but never outside of school, and they felt more like acquaintances. None of us had much in common, and we felt more like friends of convenience. Something that we forced upon each other to not be as lonely. It was the opposite with Denzel. He was someone I felt incredibly close with even though we had only known each other for a few months, because we were together every day.

And I couldn't stand the thought of not being on good terms with him.

"I probably need to apologize to Louis too," Denzel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was too aggressive. I shouldn't have started the fight."

I nodded. "You do that. I can watch Buneary for you if you want?"

"It's alright, I'll carry her," He said, lifting Buneary. She was startled for a second until she realized Denzel was picking her up. "I'll return you to your ball so you can rest, Eevee. Budew, you can come with."

I smiled at the grass type, who turned her body away from me. It looked like she had finally warmed up to Denzel enough to work with him.

"Alright, I'll go check on how Emilia's doing. I had Pauline and Justin comfort her," I said.

"Sounds good."

"Oh, and could you bring Louis back to where they are? We need a strategy meeting to figure out our next steps."

My friend nodded, and we separated shortly after. I walked through the thick woods and made my way to the same fallen log Justin and Emilia had been sitting on and saw the three of them talking. Pauline was gently rubbing the girl's back while she had her head on Justin's shoulder. I leaned against a tree and silently observed the scene. These three were incredibly close, which made me wonder what Cecilia and Louis' status in all of this was. The two were obviously nowhere as close to those three, although since Cece was from Unova, that probably made sense.

Although for Louis… I recalled one of Pauline's lines during their argument. She had said that they were all forced to stay with him because of his father. Had it been something she had said to wound Louis as much as possible, or was it the truth? Or maybe it was somewhere in between. I was starting to get a picture of their situation at home, at least. They all seemed to have issues with their parents. Trauma, crushing expectations, bad relationships…

I sighed and walked up to the trio.

"You're back," Pauline said sharply. "How'd it go with Louis?"

"You didn't see him?" I asked.

She nodded to my left, and I saw the man with his arms crossed looking at us. I felt bad at the fact that Denzel would probably look for him for longer than was needed. He could have just come with me.

"He's been there for a while," Justin said.

"I spoke with him, and it went well. Don't expect him to apologize, or anything, but I think he'll have no problems helping us when needed now."

Pauline rolled her eyes. "I wasn't expecting one of those."

"Cut him some slack," Emilia said quietly. "We're all on edge."

"Fine…" The redhead grumbled. "But I'm not apologizing either!"

"No one asked you to," Justin said.

We continued making small talk while we waited for Cecilia and Denzel. My friend eventually showed up, and we observed his talk with Louis. The apology was out of earshot, and I trusted him enough to know that he wouldn't screw it up and make the situation devolve into another argument. By the end of it, the two shook hands and nodded at each other, and they both walked toward us. Pauline clicked her tongue.

"Be nice," Emilia reprimanded. "I don't want us to fight anymore."

"Hey guys," I said. "Made up yet?"

"We have, and it feels damn good," Denzel smiled.

"That it does. It feels even better to see the group reunited once again," Louis said, eyeing Pauline carefully. There was obviously still tension there, but as long as they were civil with each other, it would be fine. "Should I go get Cece?"

"No," I blurted out. "She said she'd come out on her own."

"What if she feels hurt?" Louis asked. "She might need me."

"I trust her word."

The minutes passed slowly as we waited. I felt anxious, but at least Pauline and Louis were slowly getting back to talking again, however small and inconsequential the topic was. Denzel was still taking care of Buneary, while I tried getting to know Emilia better to distract her from the horrible state her leg was in. I had gotten off easy compared to her.

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Around twenty minutes later, Cecilia finally reached us. She looked completely fine, and not like she had just had a mental crisis about her father and Louis, whatever it may have been about. I knew better, though, and I'd have to try to support her as best I could. Pauline was strong. Strong enough to help Justin and Emilia, but who did Cecilia have?

The answer looked to be no one.

"Cece! We were all so worried for you," Louis said, running up to her and grabbing her hands.

She offered him a smile. "I needed to compose myself, but I am fine now," Cece said. "But we have much to talk about, so let's save the pleasantries for later."

"We need to turn back and get Emi to a Center," Pauline said right away with fire in her eyes.

"If the majority decides, we will," Cece said.

"No point in delaying the vote. Who's for turning back?"

Pauline, Justin, and I raised our hands, and then looked at Emilia in confusion when they realized that she wasn't raising hers.

"Emi, why?!" Pauline yelled.

The girl sighed, placing her hands over her eyes. "If I leave now," She started. "I won't be able to go back."

Justin stammered. "Y—you will! And even then, if your leg—"

"I took my decision. I don't want to turn back."

Pauline glowered at the others who had voted no, grinding her teeth. I personally felt the need to not go back and get through this trial, but I couldn't do it in good conscience when Emilia's leg was like this.

"Can you even walk?" I asked her.

"I don't know, I haven't tried since earlier. It's not as painful, so maybe."

"Try," Cecilia said.

The girl slowly got up, supported by Pauline, and managed to take a few steps. She was limping, and she would be slow, but it looked like she would be able to keep going, so at least we wouldn't have to stay in the same spot while we waited for her to get better.

"That settles it then," Denzel said. "What else is there? Should we change our formation?"

"I think that would be wise," Cece quickly answered. "Emi needs to be in the middle so that she's less exposed to threats and has more time to react to anything jumping at her."

"Thank you, Cece," Emilia said. "Beldum can stick around with you."

The dark-skinned girl nodded. "Then we have the matter with Louis—"

"Already fixed," I interrupted. "He'll help out from now on. Right?" I looked at him.

"I will. My performance might have been… unsatisfactory thus far, but I will be at the top of my form from now on."

Cece nodded, eyeing me with a slight smile.

"Then I have a proposition. We rest here for the rest of the day, and then tomorrow, we start heading northeast again," She said.

"I'm only going along with this on one condition," Pauline muttered. "If Emi's leg gets worse throughout the day, we head back, no questions asked."

"I can go along with that," Denzel said.

"Very well," Cece also agreed. "Then the meeting is adjourned."

We all went back to our occupations. Denzel and Justin decided to watch the opposite ends of the camp with Eevee and Growlithe, while Pauline decided to watch over Emi while she slept in her tent. Louis evidently tried to speak to his fiance, but she seemingly always had an excuse to avoid him, and apparently, I was her latest excuse. We were in a secluded part of the camp, where Denzel had been before. Water slowly dripped from the foliage, which was so dense it covered the sky and stopped the rain from falling on us.

"So Castelia's even bigger than Jubilife?" I asked, feeling mindblown at the existence of such a city.

"Much larger— twice as large if I remember correctly. It is truly a magnificent sight, especially at night. I'd love to go back one day," She said, looking at the sky.

"I mean, a year's a long time, I guess, but after the Circuit's over, you can go back, right? At least during the summer."

Cece smiled sadly and looked to the side. "I wish it was that easy, but to be quite honest, there are also advantages to being in Sinnoh."

"Right? I mean, it's not as populated or as dense as the other regions, but it's got a charm of its own."

"I mostly meant avoiding my father."

I felt my stomach sink. I should have known that was what she was talking about. I was so stupid!

"Sorry," I said, suddenly finding the forest floor to be very appealing to look at. "I'm super oblivious sometimes."

"Don't worry, I was the one who steered the conversation toward such a dark topic. The truth was, I had an ulterior motive to bringing you here— beyond avoiding Louis, of course."

"What is it? I'll help you out with anything," I blurted out.

"How about just listening to a girl vent? It may seem strange to you, and I mean no offense, but since we come from different upbringings… I feel like I can tell you anything without having to worry if my words will make their way back to my father's ears."

I nodded. "I'll listen to you. We're friends, right?"

"Right. I suppose I should start by explaining what the problem was at the outpost. I mentioned that I worried that my father was spying on me through the others, right?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Well— actually, it might be better to start with Amy. Amy… Amy is my best friend from Unova. Or maybe she was my best friend. We grew up together, and we supported each other through our struggles with our parents, but since I left for Sinnoh, she's been different. Like she's a completely different person, and it's obvious that my father has her under his thumb. So I can't help but wonder if our friendship was ever real in the first place," Cecilia said sadly.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. I knew nothing about their relationship, so any advice I offered right now would just look like I was pitying her.

"And suddenly, I hear that she's been talking to Louis? That crushed me. Completely crushed me, and I know it's only a matter of time before she starts asking about me to the others."

"She knows all of them?" I asked.

"We all know each other, or at least our parents do. That's how it is at our level of wealth. We all attend the same parties, the same galas, the same business conventions… everyone is connected to each other."

"I still don't understand one thing," I tentatively said. "You say your dad is spying on you, and I believe it. But what does he want from you? You're passionate about Pokemon battling, and you actually want to become the Champion, so you're not like Justin and Emilia."

Cece exhaled and stared at me. "I need you to promise me one more time, Grace. Promise me that father didn't send you."

"I promise," I answered, looking into her light brown eyes. "I'm my own person. I have my own goals, and I know nothing about your dad."

How much had her father done to Cecilia for her to have such a huge amount of trust issues? I bit the inside of my lip, wondering about what kind of hell she had had to live under back home growing up. And for her only support, her best friend, turning out to be some spy? It was obvious why she was so unwell.

"I choose to trust you, then," She said. "I'm being forced to marry Louis against my will by our fathers."