CHAPTER 5

Togepi hid behind my leg as I introduced myself to everyone at the table. They were all nice people, which made me breathe a sigh of relief. Even my grandmother seemed to have eased up on me. It seemed that most of her hate was toward my dad and not me.

“So this is your Togepi then, Grace? Those are pretty rare, from what I’ve heard,” Casey said, tilting her head to get a better view.

“Yeah, she’s mine. They’re not that rare— I’ve seen multiple people with one, and even a Togetic once a few years ago,” I answered. “Forgive her, she’s pretty bad with crowds. I’m trying to work on that.”

“Oh, no worries,” Ronald waved his hand. “I don’t have any Pokemon, and no one ever comes to Twinleaf, so I’m just happy to see a new one.”

“Sit, Grace. You can have some of this if you want. You must be famished after your journey here,” Mom said.

Well, I wasn’t going to say no to that. The juicy meat they were eating looked really appetizing, as was that salad on the side.

“Thanks,” I said, sitting down in an empty seat. I grabbed food while they continued chit-chatting, stuffing myself with as much as I could. It was a very welcome change after days of eating granola bars. “Cun I have sum watew?” I asked. Grandma poured me a glass.

“What’s wrong, Denzel? You haven’t talked since Grace got here,” His mother asked.

“I’m— uh, yeah, I have a stomachache. I think I ate too much,” He answered. His voice was extremely deep— deeper than his father’s.

“You were fine when she was showering. Why don’t you tell us all about your plan for the Circuit,” Mom said.

“Oh, don’t remind me,” Casey exclaimed. “If he hasn’t changed his mind by seeing Grace’s state when she came here, Denzel’s a fool— no offense, Grace.”

“None taken,” I answered, my mouth full.

“Let’s not do this here, mom. I already told you I was going no matter what. You already stopped me from going last year!”

“Oh, sorry for not wanting my son to risk his life out there when he has a perfectly normal life in Twinleaf. So sorry!” Casey said in a sarcastic tone.

This was getting awkward. Ronald had stopped talking altogether and was fidgeting in his seat. Casey kept going.

“Do you know how many trainers die out there? Poor kids that get lost going through Mount Coronet, or Eterna Forest? I don’t want that to happen to you!”

Denzel slammed the table and stood up. “I already made up my mind. Thank you for the food, Samantha.”

I slowed my chewing as I observed him go out. He slammed the door. A few seconds later, he opened it again and apologized for slamming the door, and then left again.

Casey and Ronald took off pretty quickly after that. I finished my food and fed Togepi an Oran Berry. She didn’t eat much— I couldn’t blame her; the entire berry was bigger than her head. Maybe next time, I’d slice it up instead. Mom and Grandma worked on cleaning up the dishes while I played a little bit with Togepi. I’d throw her on the couch, and then she’d jump off, chirping happily. How cute.

“Are you ready to talk now?” Mom tapped my shoulder.

I inhaled sharply and nodded.

“Let’s do this in my room,” She continued.

I followed her, and she invited me in, closing the door behind her.

“Whew… let’s do this,” Mom said. “I’m sure you have questions for me. Go ahead, and then I’ll ask you mine.”

“Why did you cheat on dad?” I blurted out.

She put her head against the wall and sighed. “The big one’s first, huh? I’m sorry, Grace, but there… there wasn’t a good reason. I was a terrible person, and I’ll always regret it. I begged Arthur to stay when he found out, but he wanted a divorce. At first, I wanted to stay in Jubilife to see you, but the city had this… oppressive force. It was like I couldn’t breathe properly there. It reminded me of what I had lost too much.”

I let the statement marinate in my mind for a few seconds. I knew it was stupid, but I had been hoping. Hoping for there to have been a reason better than ‘I was selfish, so I slept with someone else.’ “So you moved to Twinleaf to escape that?” I asked, crossing my arms. “Why’d you take dad’s Herdier?”

“Your dad worked long hours, and I didn’t work at all. You were still a toddler, and Herdier take a lot of work to care for. He was… extremely disheartened to let go of him, but we mutually agreed in the end. Plus, Twinleaf’s a better town for him than Jubilife. All that open space.”

“Why does Grandma hate dad? I heard her call him a son of a… b-word,” I asked hesitantly.

“Oh, don’t mind her. She just loves me too much. She knows I’m in the wrong, but she can’t help it.”

“That just isn’t right! Dad’s always so nice to me and so understanding… I don’t like it,” Togepi chirped in agreement. “But anyway, I’m done. It’s your turn now,” I finished, crossing my arms and legs.

“Well, I certainly won’t ask why you never answer my messages or calls, but I’ll ask you now. When you leave, can you please at least talk to me every few weeks? Just so I can hear your voice?” Mom asked as she began tearing up. She fanned her eyes with her hands. “Sorry, it’s just— I don’t want us to never speak again.”

“I can try to make an effort…”

“Thank you, I mean it.” She said. “And um, I was wondering if you were signing up for the Circuit? You have a Pokemon.” She lifted her chin toward Togepi.

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“Toge!”

“I wasn’t going to, but I changed my mind recently. I’m all in,” I said with a reluctant smile.

“I’m sure you’ll do well. Denzel’s also signing up this year, maybe you guys could help each other out? He’s quite the shy one, and he likes to keep to himself. There aren’t any kids his age left here.”

I thought back to the scene in the dining room. “He seems a little scary, though.”

“He’s as sweet as they come! He’s just been having problems with his parents, but it’s not my place to say. Speaking of, I hope your dad agreed to you joining the Circuit?”

“He did,” I said before slapping my head. “Crap, I was supposed to call him when I got here!”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. Me being in this room when he’s calling would be a bad idea,” Mom said. I nodded, and she left.

I called dad, put him on speaker for Togepi, and told him about me signing up for the League Circuit. He was ecstatic, saying he’d root for me and watch every battle I would have. It was embarrassing, really, but I couldn’t help but smile. I also told him I kind of made up with mom, and he was genuinely glad for me, even though he would still never forgive her. The call ended after I told him I’d spend a few days here to get to know mom better and maybe deal with this Denzel situation. The truth was, I really wanted a trainer friend to talk to, but right now I had nobody, so there was certainly a selfish reasoning behind my reason for helping.

That night, Herdier came back and licked my face all over. He somehow recognized me, even though I hadn’t seen him in eleven years. Mom said it must have been my smell. We gave him his vitamins by mixing them with his food, and I went to sleep shortly after in the Guest room. The only good thing I could think of about living in Twinleaf was that every house was huge. More space for me.

The next morning, I trained a little bit with Togepi outside. We practiced the speed of her rollout, which was getting more and more powerful, and we also practiced Sweet Kiss on wild Pokemon like Bidoof near the lake. Maybe with enough training, it would be more effective, but right now, I was basically shooting in the dark. The worse thing was that if Togepi eventually evolved, she wouldn’t be able to use rollout anymore.

After a few hours of training, I recalled Togepi and made my way around the lake toward Denzel’s house. It was slightly larger than my mom’s, and there was a pasture with a bunch of Milktank in the back.

“Woah. They’re bigger than they look like online,” I said, quietly observing the Pokemon go about their day.

I climbed the stairs to their porch and rang their doorbell. Surprisingly, Denzel was the one that answered, and not his parents.

“Who— oh, you’re that girl from yesterday. What’s up?” He asked.

“Uh, I’m really bad at this, but… do you want to be friends?” I said, averting my eyes. “I’m also signing up for the Circuit soon, and I think we could help each other.”

His face brightened up in surprise. “Oh, no shit? Come in!”

——

Denzel brought us glasses of Milktank milk and homemade cookies that his mother had made.

“Those look really good, thanks,” I said.

“They are. My mom runs a patisserie. That’s what she calls it. Apparently it’s a Kalosian word. So yeah, usually we have a bunch of homemade stuff lying about,” He explained as he sat down. “So,” He took a deep breath. “The League Circuit, huh? How are you feeling about it?”

“To be honest, I’m super excited, but the nerves will probably get to me when I actually am a part of this thing. Right now, it’s unofficial, you know? I just declared it.”

“I totally get that,” Denzel said, dipping his cookie into his milk. “I’m so happy I can finally go, though. My mom wants me to keep helping her around the store, and dad just lets her walk all over him. They guilt-tripped me into staying last year, but not anymore. I’m going no matter what!”

“Sounds rough. My dad’s been supportive. In fact, he had to basically push me to get out of my shell. Just a few days ago, I basically wanted nothing to do with Pokemon battling.”

“I think you’ll be glad you changed your mind. We only have a few attempts at the Circuit before going back to the real world, you know? Even less for people that fail really early,” Denzel pondered.

“Why? Can’t you just try over and over? The League hasn’t set a limit.”

“Yeah, but consider this: have you ever seen someone older than, like, twenty-five attempt the Circuit?” He waited for my answer, and I shook my head. “I’ve been watching a lot of Circuits online in preparation for this year, and everyone’s young.”

“Wait, you have internet here? I thought you didn’t.”

“What? Why wouldn’t we have internet? I think that’s just your mother’s house— but anyway! The fact is, you can’t be trying over and over. At some point, you’ve got to start working in the real world, right? Boring nine-to-five office job.”

“Couldn’t you make a living off of fighting trainers?” I asked, remembering the pokedollars I had gained on my way here.

“Theoretically, you could. But the truth is, you’ll be making less money than with a normal job, and if you can’t at least do well in the Circuit, what’s the point? Might as well go back home and sleep in a comfy bed every night and eat hot food.”

“Ok, I get your point. But some people still do it and join tournaments too. Like that Craig guy with the Salamence—”

“You know Craig Goodwill?” Denzel said, his face lighting up. “Isn’t his Salamence the coolest?! I heard he was signing up for the Circuit too. I hope I can see it in person.”

“A Salamence? Those things are capable of killing thousands on a whim. Dragon types are terrifying…”

“But he raised it correctly, so it’s not a danger. Plus, he’s not allowed to have them out in cities. The danger rating’s too high, and it would cause a panic.”

“Ok, enough about Craig,” I said, shaking my hand. “Want to show me your starter?”

“Sure,” He said. He grabbed a ball from his desk and released a sleeping Eevee. “This is my Eevee. I rescued him from route 202 two years ago, and he’s been with me ever since.”

“He’s so cute!” I gushed. The Eevee slowly woke up and looked me straight in the eyes. He then ‘huffed’ and jumped onto Denzel’s bed, turned a few times, and laid down. “I think he doesn’t like me.”

“He’s a little bit rude,” Denzel said. “But I’m hoping the Circuit will get him to open up a little. So you have a Togepi?”

I sent her out, and she chirped happily, much to Eevee’s dismay. He barked and crawled under the covers.

“She’s still a little young, but I believe in her fully,” I said.

“Prrri!” She said with a smile.

“She looks energetic. How long have you had her for?”

“She’s eight months old,” I replied. “Hatched her from an egg.”

“Cool,” Denzel said. “It’s my first time seeing one ever— well, outside of a computer screen.”

Denzel spent some time getting familiar with Togepi while I tried approaching his Eevee, but that was to no avail. Togepi was a little wary at first, but she got used to him very quickly.

“Her little noises are too much! I love them,” He smiled. “But anyway, I’m a little nervous about asking you this, but… want to battle?”