“Oh, shit.” Cashe swore. There were three pokeballs on his belt. The first two were Ivysaur’s and Mankey’s, but the third… “I, um, I kind of confiscated that from one of the Grunts.”

“You stole it?” Lindon said, looking at Cashe with a horrified expression.

“I confiscated it!” Cashe said. He lowered his voice as several people looked over at their conversation, “I was rushing back to try and warn people about the plan and there was a Grunt in the way. She threw the pokeball at me, but before it opened, Mankey caught it.”

“Oh, Cashe,” Emilia said with an exasperated laugh that sounded more like a groan, “You’re an idiot.”

“I was going to give it back!” Cashe protested, “I didn’t know all the Grunts were going to be teleported off the ship!”

“Cashe, you’re so dumb,” Emilia’s laughter was building, “You're never going to get the pokemon back to her now.”

“So you didn’t steal it, but you have it and you’re not giving it back?” Lindon said, confused, “How is that different?”

“I didn’t mean to!” Cashe said, “Intent! The intent is different!”

Emilia took several moments to get a hold of her uncontrollable giggling, “You’d better hope that pokemon doesn’t have a strong bond with its trainer, otherwise it’s going to attack anyone who tries to even feed it!” Emilia put her head in her hands, laughing harder. Her laugh was exhausted, not joyous, more a relief of tension than a response to humor.

Lindon gave Emilia an uncertain look before returning his gaze to Cashe, “Do you know what kind of pokemon it is?”

“I’m not even sure if the Grunt knew,” Cashe said, “She said Maple gave it to her and she didn’t even get the chance to meet the pokemon yet.”

Emilia erupted in gales of laughter, tears streaming from her eyes and drawing looks from the surrounding partygoers, “You’re going to be stuck with a hostile Rattata!” She wheezed, “Or a really aggressive Zubat!”

Lindon’s lips curled at the idea, “It’s going to be a Bounsweet. He’s going to have to run away trying to feed it candy as it uses Splash and Play Nice.”

Emilia stumbled, doubling over in her dress clutching her stomach in her laughter, “The great Blood Money, brought low by a Sweet Scent!”

“Come on,” Cashe said with a big grin, even as he attempted to keep Emilia on her feet, “It’s a psychic type. It’s probably a Flittle.”

“Oh no!” Emilia gasped, wiping her eyes and smearing her makeup, her voice barely a squeak, “I saw a Flittle attacking some trainers here. They were screaming! That’s going to be Cashe!”

“Stop,” Lindon giggled, putting a hand over his mouth, “That’s not nice. Those trainers were scared.”

“Of a Flittle!” Emilia covered her face again, descending further into giggles.

“Guys, quiet,” Cashe said, forcing himself not to smile, “People are doing something.” He pointed over to the displays where a man in a well-fitted tuxedo was waving his hands.

“Ladies and gentlemen and trainers alike!” The man called out, “May I have your attention please!”

Lindon looked over, curious and Emilia managed to quiet her giggling into a silent shaking.

“I wanted to thank you for sticking around,” the man continued, “I didn’t want my little tournament to be disrupted by a little drama, but then, trainers are used to a little drama every now and then, aren’t you?”

There was a general murmur of agreement as the crowd gathered, watching the man as he spoke.

“And while the recent excitement has disrupted things a little bit, there is no reason why we cannot still have a good time,” the man offered the crowd a brilliant smile, “And what better way to showcase that than with some prizes?”

“Apollo!” Lindon nudged Cashe in the side, “They’re going to announce the betting tournament prizes!”

“You have all seen the prizes for the True Rookie Tournament already,” the man continued, “But we have a tradition here of having more than one tournament. The True Rookie Tournament is a measure of skill, but our betting tournament is a measure of luck!”

The man pulled the sheets off the display cases with a great heave and flourish, revealing the contents below them.

The prizes were not similar to those of the True Rookie Tournament, for the most part. Instead of battle items, rare pokeballs, and evolution stones, the display cases showed off things more desirable to the average guest on the cruise.

Cashe saw various interesting pieces of technology, from new phones and pokegear, to barbeques and the keys to some sort of vehicle. He saw various displays of tickets, each with a little sign under it, giving the name of a Gym, a tournament, or in one case, even the Lily of the Valley Conference.

There were a few pokemon related prizes as well, including a few grooming kits, what appeared to be a poffin case, and for the grand prize, a pokeball.

The pokeball was unadorned with signage or decoration, letting the ball speak for itself. Cashe recognized the pattern on the ball from the games, but couldn’t place the type exactly. A dusk ball?

“As such, our prizes are not for trainers only,” the man continued, “And after complaints about last year, we decided to go with something more general for our grand prize,” he grinned, “However, this is still a pokemon tournament, and our grand prize is still a pokemon.”

The crowd murmured and Lindon pointed, bouncing on his toes in excitement, “It’s a pokemon! I’m going to get a pokemon!”

Cashe hushed him, putting a finger to his lips.

“We decided to go with something special,” the man said, “A pokemon not just easy to take care of and extremely friendly for non-trainers, but one that is potentially powerful, and rare to boot!”

He paused, scanning the crowd and letting the tension build, “This year’s grand prize is not just a rare pokemon, however! It is the rarest form of that rare pokemon. Captured in the iron-rich lakes of the Sinnoh region, the winner of the betting tournament will take home a Hisuian Goomy!”

The crowd murmured in approval and even Cashe felt his brows raise in surprise. Lindon’s jaw had dropped and he was staring at the pokeball with undisguised glee. Emilia however, had a different reaction.

“Oh Arceus!” She said bursting out again in poorly contained laughter, “Lindon gets a Goomy and Cashe gets Flittle!”

“Hey,” Cashe said, “Espartha is strong. I don’t mind if it’s a Flittle.”

***

“That’s not a Flittle.” Emilia said.

“No, it is not,” Cashe said, staring at the nervous pokemon on his bed. It was a Hatenna. The pokemon resembled an Igglybuff, but in a sleeping cap. It was a tiny, pink pokemon, with appropriately tiny feet sticking out from its body, and a mess of floppy, blue hair that gathered around its head. A tail extended into the air from behind her head, giving the pokemon the appearance of wearing a cap. According to his pokedex, the ‘cap’ stood up to sense the emotions of others around it.

“She’s so cute!” Lindon said in a whisper, face stretched into a smile of disbelief that was usually reserved for babies and tiny puppies.

“She’s adorable!” Emilia confirmed, bringing her hands over her mouth in an expression of pure endearment.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Ten-na?” Hatenna said, her voice high and cautious.

“That’s right,” Cashe said, “You definitely are. I’m your trainer, Apollo Cashe, and these are my friends, Emilia and Lindon. They are very nice.”

Hatenna wavered on the bed, turning slowly between Lindon and Emilia.

“Ten-na!” Hatenna took a few cautious steps forward.

Cashe grinned, “They are trainers, too, that’s right. I have other pokemon as well, but they are at the Pokemon Center right now, recovering from a big battle. Do you know what that is?”

“Ten. Hat. Ten. Na!” The little pokemon waddled a few steps closer to Cashe. He smiled wider and picked Hatenna up, careful around her sensitive tail. She was incredibly soft in his arms and squirmed happily, resting against his chest.

“I’m sure you are very powerful,” Cashe said, scratching her on the head, “And when you battle you’ll get even stronger.”

“Na!”

“Good to hear,” Cashe said, “Are you hungry, Hatenna? I have a lot of berries. Maybe you want one?” Cashe moved to place Hatenna back on his bed, but the little pokemon protested.

“Hatenna!”

Cashe frowned, “How am I supposed to get you berries if you don’t want to be put down?”

“Ten!”

Cashe sighed. “I thought the Hatterene line was supposed to like the quiet.”

“Ha!”

Cashe looked at Hatenna with a bemused expression. That sounded almost like mocking laughter. He returned Hatenna to his arms so she could again rest on his chest.

“Lindon, could you please go into my bag and get out my berry pouch?” Cashe said.

“Where is it?” Lindon said, looking around the small cabin.

“I got it,” Emilia stood up from the bed and straightened her dress so she didn’t trip over it and bent over the small couch to pull out Cashe’s backpack from underneath it.

“Hatenna!” Hatenna complained, wriggling in Cashe’s arms.

“You felt that? I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Cashe said, giving Hatenna a soothing pat on her head, “You’re really sensitive, aren’t you?”

“Feeling some strong emotions?” Emilia said, tossing the backpack onto the bed. Lindon opened it up, pulling things out to find the berry pouch.

“Just happiness and appreciation,” Cashe said. Among other things. “I didn’t think she would pick up on them.”

“Aww, poor thing,” Emilia cooed, “You’ll get used to it soon. Cashe has a lot of emotions.”

“I found it!” Lindon announced, pulling out Cashe’s berry pouch. Cashe laughed at the state of his bed. Lindon had pulled out what appeared to be every other object in the backpack before finding the pouch.

“Thank you Lindon,” Cashe said, taking the pouch from him and awkwardly searching through it for a variety of berries. Hatenna didn’t seem to care which berry she got, chomping down on anything Cashe put in front of her.

“That’s weird,” Cashe said, “Ivysaur and Mankey both have favorite berries.”

“Most pokemon do, but some just want to eat,” Emilia said.

“She’s hungry,” Lindon smiled at the little pokemon, putting everything back in Cashe’s backpack in the wrong order.

“Maybe,” Cashe said, feeding Hatenna another berry. He had moved to Oran Berries since she didn’t seem to care. No sense wasting all the expensive stuff.

“You’re going to have to be careful raising her,” Emilia said, looking up from the tiny pokemon as she munched on her berries, “Psychic pokemon are very intelligent and the Hatterene line is notoriously difficult to deal with once they start evolving.”

“Hat!” Hatenna protested.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Cashe said, giving the little pokemon a comforting pat on her head. Hatenna nodded in firm agreement.

“I’m serious,” Emilia cautioned, “Hattrem are known for knocking people and pokemon unconscious for thinking too loudly, and Hatterene are terrifying in the wild.”

***

Several hours passed as Cashe got to know Hatenna. Eventually, Hatenna fell asleep, exhausted from the excitement of meeting new people. Lindon went off to bed shortly after that, giving Cashe the chance to repack his backpack properly.

Emilia had showered and changed into her pajamas at some point returning to Cashe’s cabin to help him with Hatenna and his packing. She was currently lounging on Cashe’s bed, watching Hatenna sleep, kicking her legs happily, despite a large bruise forming on her thigh. Somehow she looked better there than she did on the ballroom floor in her beautiful dress.

“Did Maple’s assistant really say all those things?” Emilia said, giving Hatenna a gentle stroke on her head as she slept, “About going back home and corruption and all that? Does Maple really want to purify the world?”

“She said everything that I told Captain Robinson.”

“Vile woman.” Emilia spat. Hatenna stirred at the emotion of her worlds. Emilia immediately adopted a guilty expression and gave the little pokemon another comforting stroke.

“I don’t know if what the assistant told me was true, though,” Cashe continued, “She seemed a little off. Or a lot off. I don’t think she was the most reliable source of information.”

“Yeah.” Emilia fell silent, continuing to stroke Hatenna. Cashe watched her for a minute, lost in thought. He sighed and turned back to his bags.

“I’m a little worried about having a Hatenna,” Cashe said, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen between them.

“Because you technically stole her from a Grunt?” Emilia said, sitting up and shuffling across the bed to sit beside Cashe as he finished the last of the packing. She flicked her hair out of her face and Cashe caught the scent of Sitrus Berries.

“Because of what you said about emotions,” Cashe sighed, “I’m not always the most emotionally stable person.”

“No one is always the most emotionally stable person,” Emilia said, “Hattrem and Hatterene need a good foundation of support. Follow any advice on the pokedex and see if you can’t reach out to other trainers once we are back on land. There are lots of people who use psychic types. Even if Hatenna are rare, there are going to be a few who are willing to help out.”

“I’m also worried about Mankey,” Cashe admitted, “Her emotions may be very predictable, but they are also very loud.”

“Please,” Emilia scoffed, “Mankey sits on your shoulder more often than not and picks through your hair.” Emilia ran a hand through Cashe’s hair, leaning close and imitating Mankey searching for grubs, “Angry pokemon don’t do that.”

“Mankey are famously angry pokemon,” Cashe pointed out.

“In the wild, yes, in battle, maybe.” Emilia said, “But pokemon mellow out a lot when they get a trainer. Humans help balance them. It's why they do so well with trainers. It's why they domesticated themselves, too. They are much better off with us than in the wild.”

“Pokemon domesticated themselves?” Cashe said, “I know it's not the point, but really?”

Emilia snorted, “Do you think the humans of a few thousand years ago could have dealt with a single angry Tauros? There’s no way. The only reason pokemon became our companions is because they wanted to become our companions, not the other way around.”

“That makes sense,” Cashe nodded. There was no way people who had not yet invented metalworking could figure out how to deal with a raging pokemon that could burn down a forest or cause earthquakes and tidal waves. “So you think that Hatenna will be fine?”

“She’s sensitive to strong emotions right now,” Emilia said, glancing over at the sleeping Hatenna .The little pokemon had crawled under the blankets so only the top of her head and the tip of her tail were visible. She was making cute little peeping noises as she slept, “But she will learn to get used to them, just like anyone learns to deal with strong emotions.” Emilia sighed, “Anyway, I should really get going. I still have to put together a strategy for the battle against Marcus tomorrow.” She rubbed her eyes, “I can’t believe they are still going forward with the finals right after the incident with Maple.”

“It has been an exhausting day.” Cashe nodded, “Actually, about the battle,” Cashe reached into a side pocket of his Silph Co backpack and took out a small stack of papers covered in notes, “I wrote a few things down that you might find helpful.”

“Thanks,” Emilia took the papers, glancing at the first one. She frowned, looking closer at the page. She flipped it over, moving to the next, “Cashe, these aren’t just notes. This is a full battle strategy. For me.” She looked up at him, “When did you have time to make these? Did you think you would lose the whole time?”

“I had some time after my battle,” Cashe shrugged, not looking Emilia in the eye, “Before Lindon showed up. And after he left.”

“Cashe, this is so much,” Emilia flipped over another page, “and so detailed. How well do you know my pokemon?”

“I knew from day one that you would make it to the finals,” Cashe looked down and smiled, “I was kind of spying on you this entire time and planning to face off against you. When I lost,” Cashe pursed his lips, “I felt really bad. I guess that was only a few hours ago, huh?” Cashe snorted, “Seems longer than that. When I lost, I thought that I definitely did not want you to feel the same way. Especially after you came and comforted me. So I wrote down everything I could think of to help you win.”

“Thank you, Cashe,” Emilia said, “This is incredible. I really appreciate it.”

“I really appreciate you,” Cashe shrugged, looking over at Emilia. He bumped his leg against hers. She bumped him back.

Emilia swallowed, looking up at him, “You know, the whole world thinks we’re lovers.”

Cashe blinked, his heart pounding, “I think they-”

Emilia touched his leg with her hand, silencing him. She put down the papers and leaned closer, meeting his eyes. The scent of Sitrus Berries touched his nose. Her shoulder pressed into his and she slowly bit her lip. She was only an inch away. Cashe placed a hand on her shoulder. She licked her lips tilting her head back, “Cashe, I-”

“Hatenna!” Hatenna complained.

Emilia pulled away from Cashe, her head snapping over to the little pokemon.

“Hat-ten-na!” Hatenna shuffled around in the blankets, tossing and turning where she lay, making a grumpy face at both of them.

Emilia scooped up the notes Cashe gave her. She glanced at Hatenna. Confusion crossed her face, worry and anxiety clear in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I should go.”

“Emilia!” Cashe called out, but she was already gone.

*****