Cashe spent a few minutes going over the bets he could make with the casino before ultimately deciding to not make any at all. He was too far behind the leaders of the game to have any chance of winning a prize and his options for betting were severely limited with his status of still being part of the True Rookie Tournament.
They spent another few hours or so playing a small variety of games in the casino, but it was clear that Lindon’s intention was only to show off his success with his betting. The evening came upon them and they had a small meal at the cafe instead of a proper dinner when they got hungry. The cafe didn’t have a large variety of meal choices, but the food was still fine. The casino floor crowded as the guests of the cruise filtered in, dinner and the day’s battles having ended. Before long, they left the casino to return to their cabins.
When they arrived, Cashe nodded a goodnight to Emilia, who responded with an awkward smile and entered her room. Lindon made to do the same, but Cashe put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him to the side, “Can I talk to you for a minute, Lindon?” He said.
“Am I in trouble?” Lindon said. He looked nervous, but he let Cashe pull him into his cabin.
Cashe smiled, as he sat down on his bed, “Do you have a reason to be in trouble?”
Lindon’s eyes went wide and he shook his head. He didn’t look at Cashe directly, “No.”
Well, that was telling. Cashe ignored Lindon’s mystery transgression and continued, “I wanted to apologize to you.”
Lindon tilted his head to the side like a curious dog, “What for?”
“I’ve been thinking about some things recently. A lot of things, actually-
“What kind of things?”
“It doesn’t really matter,” Cashe shrugged, “Life. Death. Loss and leaving. My friends and family. Relationships. Stuff like that.”
“Apollo,” Lindon gave him an earnest look, “Those things matter.”
Cashe grinned, “They do, but not so much for what I was about to say.”
“Oh.”
“I was thinking about a lot of things and I realized I had not treated you very well.”
Lindon frowned, “Yes, you did. You were always nice to me and you helped me a lot when I got lost those times and you didn’t even blame me for leading us into the ship over and over again. And you helped me when we were training together.”
“I avoided you out of self pity for the last few days. I treated you like a child I was responsible for and not as a friend and training partner,” Cashe explained, “Especially not in my head. I didn’t treat you the way you deserve to be treated. And you got stuck between Emilia and I when we were fighting. I’m sorry for that too. I should have tried my best to not let it affect you, but I did nothing instead.”
“Oh,” Lindon scratched his nose, “Okay. I forgive you.”
Cashe sighed, leaning back on his bed so he was propped up on his elbows, “You know, you’re making it kind of hard to apologize properly.”
“No, I’m not,” Lindon said, “You said you’re sorry and I said I forgive you. That’s how apologies work.”
“There are usually more pregnant pauses,” Cashe said, pausing to emphasize the effect, “And some people like to hear how the other person is planning on fixing the issues.”
“That’s only so grownups know that kids have learned a lesson,” Lindon crossed his arms, “I already know you did because I don’t even understand what you are apologizing for.”
“I’m not sure that makes sense,” Cashe said.
“I don’t care,” Lindon said with a stubborn shake of his head, “You’re my friend and you apologized and so I forgive you.”
“Okay, I guess that’s that, then.” Cashe said, “I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow.”
Lindon nodded and marched out of Cashe’s cabin, returning to his own.
***
Cashe stared at his pokedex, a small frown on his face. He was in the cafeteria for trainers with Emilia and Lindon. The trainer cafeteria was almost empty these days, as it was technically only available to those who were still in the tournament. Fortunately, no one seemed to mind Lindon coming in with them, and he was able to eat with company, instead of being forced into the guest dining hall to eat alone.
With only the top sixteen trainers left, the giant space was eerily quiet. Cashe recognized a few faces, including those of Marcus Daye and Lisa Summers, who joined them as they ate. Marcus came over to make sure Lindon was doing well after his loss, and Lisa to deliver some surprising news.
Lindon, advantaged with the resilience - or perhaps inattention - of youth, had already moved past the loss. Going by his formidable position at the top of the betting tables, it was likely he had predicted the loss well ahead of the actual battle. Marcus was clearly unsure about Lindon’s mood, but after hearing his ecstatic bragging regarding the betting, he seemed more relaxed regarding the situation.
Lisa, on the other hand, had less altruistic motives in mind.
“I have come to offer my last respects,” Lisa said to Cashe in a deadpan voice, “It is unfortunate, but you will not qualify for the top eight at this year’s tournament.”
Lindon stopped his rambling about how he correctly guessed Emilia’s Charmander would evolve and stared at Lisa, wide eyed. Cashe put his pokedex down and glanced up at Lisa. Unlike with her usual antics, her pale blue eyes lacked a spark of amusement behind them.
“You’ve already seen today’s pairing then,” Cashe said, meeting Lisa’s gaze, “You’re trying to intimidate me because you don’t have any confidence in getting a win legitimately.”
"That's rich, coming from you," Marcus snorted, “Didn’t you literally punch out one of your opponents the night before the match?”
“That’s different,” Cashe said, not taking his eyes off of Lisa, shooting her a smug grin, “I knew I was going to win. This is just sad.”
Lisa matched his grin with her own, equally empty of mirth, “No sun out today, Cashe. You won’t be able to fluke your way to victory against me.”
“Doesn’t your Eevee have Run Away?” Cashe mused, “Seems appropriate.”
Lisa smirked, genuinely this time, “That was pretty good.”
Cashe grinned, “Thanks.”
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“You were joking?” Lindon slumped in his chair, sagging with relieved tension, “I thought you were going to hate her like you do with Stonehead.”
“Stonehead?” Lisa said.
“Steven Stone III, obviously,” Emilia provided, “Do you not remember the punch?”
“No, I just- Stonehead, really?” Lisa said, “I could come up with a way better name than that.”
Emilia shrugged, “I have other gifts.”
“We came by to make sure there were no hard feelings,” Marcus said, nodding to Lindon, “And to make sure there won’t be hard feelings,” he glanced at Cashe, “whatever the outcome.”
“I’ve already accepted I’m not going to win the tournament,” Cashe said with a blithe tone, “I’m going to have to face Emilia eventually, and right now she’s simply better than me.”
“More like I’ll always be better than you,” Emilia teased.
“Truth be told, I’m happy you came over,” Cashe said, ignoring Emilia’s gibe, “I was a little worried you might be upset with me after the battle. I’m not going to take it easy on you.”
Lisa frowned slightly, “What are you saying?”
“If Bulbasaur isn’t going to be able to out-speed you, he’s going to outlast you.”
Lisa’s frown turned momentarily to a scowl, before she sighed, “I was hoping you only used poison strategies against people you didn’t like.”
“I do.”
Lisa grinned again, “Shut up. I knew it was a long shot, but…”
“We don’t like the idea of Eevee or Cyndaquil being poisoned,” Marcus said, putting an arm around Lisa, “A lot of trainers avoid using those kinds of attacks.”
“Like a lot of trainers avoid using fire attacks, right?” Emilia said, crossing her arms, “Burns are pretty horrific, after all. So you wouldn’t use a fire type attack against a poor Bulbasaur, who could be seriously hurt from fire?”
“Well, no-”
“Pokemon endure awful things every time they battle,” Emilia said, leaning forward in her seat, glaring at Marcus and Lisa, “Do you think it’s pleasant being beaten until you faint if poison isn’t used?”
“Emilia, it’s fine,” Cashe held up a placating hand, “They are just nervous, it’s normal before a battle.”
***
“I can’t believe them,” Emilia said, pacing back and forth through her cabin, “They come over and act so concerned for Lindon, ‘Oh we just wanted to be sure he’s okay after the loss. Oh, we don’t want any hard feelings.’ But what they really want is to figure out your strategy before the match. They try to guilt trip you into using your pokemon suboptimally.”
Cashe watcher her pace with a frown on his face, scratching Bulbasaur, who was on his lap. Emilia’s hands were balled into fists and her hair kept falling out of her loose ponytail and into her face. She blew a loose strand away with a huff of breath.
“I thought this was a strategy meeting,” Cashe said.
“I can’t believe you’re not more upset.” Emilia complained, “You get crap for using a strategy whenever you go, but I thought we could expect some level of understanding from friends.” Emilia crossed her arms, “Supposed friends, I guess.”
“I have to get used to it eventually,” Cashe shrugged, “Now did you actually want to strategize or just complain? Because I can do both, I just think we should be clear.”
Emilia flopped onto her bed, “I don’t care.”
“You are more upset than I expected you to be, to be honest,” Cashe said, “You got really mad at that trainer outside of Viridian city for the same thing, if I remember correctly.”
Emilia grumbled at the unasked question, “It just pissed me off.”
“Apparently.” Cashe said. He turned back to Emilia’s laptop, clicking through Lisa’s trainer profile to view her recent battles, “I’m a little nervous about this Cyndaquil. It’s pretty quick, and I don’t think Bulbasaur’s Leech Seed will stick unless we hit its stomach.”
“Bulba.”
“I know you can, buddy. But Cyndaquil might burn them off anyway.” Cashe frowned, letting Mankey out of her ball as well. She immediately climbed up his shoulder and perched there, wrapping her tail around his neck for balance, “I think you will have to take on the Cyndaquil, but that means you probably won’t be able to take on the Eevee as well.”
“Key!”
“Don’t you start too,” Cashe complained, “This will be a serious battle. Lisa Summers is not a pushover.” Cashe scratched his jaw, “What do you think, Emilia?”
Emilia looked up from where she was splayed out on the bed, “I used to say those things too,” she said in a small voice.
“What?” Cashe looked up from the computer screen. Emilia had a miserable expression on her face.
“I used to hate poisoners,” she confessed, “Years ago. I really hated them. A trainer beat my sister with poison strategies when I was a kid and I didn’t take it well.”
“Ah. I see. What changed?”
“My sister found out about it.” Emilia said, “She yelled at me a bunch and forced me to meet the guy who beat her. He was really nice. His pokemon were really nice. He let me ride on his Arbok a bunch and play with his Toxel.”
“Well there you go. Not so bad.” Cashe raised an eyebrow, “He beat one of your famous sisters? That’s a big deal, right? What happened to him?”
Emilia smiled. “He married my sister. It was why she was so mad at me; she was already dating him.”
“Oh, is that Annie’s dad?”
“Yeah. His name’s Bruce. He married Elise.”
“Okay.” Cashe turned back to the laptop, “Thanks for sharing.”
“You’re not mad?”
“You sound like you learned your lesson,” Cashe shrugged, “I really don’t see how it’s relevant.”
“Because I’m a hypocrite.”
“Emilia, you’re what, twenty-two?”
“Almost twenty-three,” she grumbled.
“Well, you’re allowed to be different from when you were a kid. If I were the same as when I was that age, I would still want to be a dinosaur.” Cashe said, “People change a lot throughout their lives. You’re not the same person you were then and you won't be the same person as you are now in ten years. I don’t even know why you brought it up.”
“It was bugging me and you kind of asked.” Emilia said, sitting up and taking the laptop from Cashe, clicking through Lisa’s recent battles. She looked only at the screen and but her lip. “We were talked about communicating better. I guess I wanted to try being more honest.”
“Oh,” Cashe watcher her click away on the laptop for a moment. He swallowed, “When Mr Maple pulled me aside at the party last week, he told me he had a way for me to see my wife again.”
Emilia stopped clicking. She looked up from her laptop, “What?”
“I think he’s telling the truth.” Cashe looked away from her, “He knew somehow. About me. But he apparently needs something from me.”
“Cashe, that sounds really suspicious.” Emilia said, putting her laptop down.
“I know, but he was telling the truth. I could feel it. You had to hear him, Emilia, he was so certain.”
“He can still be wrong,” Emilia said, “And even if he’s not, what makes you think he would help you? And why would he need you?”
“I don’t know,” Cashe said, “I don’t even know what he wants me to do.”
Emilia bit her lip, “Are you going to help him?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Do you want to?”
“I don’t know.”
Emilia took a deep breath. “Thank you for telling me, Cashe.”
“We’re being honest, right?”
“Yeah,” Emilia’s smile was a little strained, “How about we stop being honest and start strategizing for our battles. You’re back on the main stage today, and I’m right after. We don’t want to embarrass ourselves.”
“Not any more than usual at least,” Cashe said with a tired smile, “Let’s get to it.”
***
For once the light did not blind him upon leaving the tunnel. Just as Lisa said, the day was not bright and sunny, instead overcast, with a dark layer of clouds covering the sky. The forecast did not call for rain, which was unfortunate. Cashe would have appreciated his opponent’s fire type attacks being dampened by the weather.
As was the standard now, Cashe was accompanied by two Machoke as he entered the stadium. They did not drag and toss him, but the brothers Charlie and Tommy were happy to lend their pokemon to the theatrics.
The crowd booed and jeered as he entered the arena, which was unsurprising. Lisa’s stage personality was straightforward and likable. Coupled with her natural skill, her obvious beauty, and her relationship with another, much loved trainer in Marcus Daye, she was the audience favorite for the battle.
In the crowd, adjacent to the stage, Emilia and Lindon whistled and cheered, perhaps the only two voices in his corner. No, that wasn’t quite true. He had the Bloodsworn. He couldn’t see them anywhere, however. They were likely lost in the crowd.
As he took his place on stage, the crowd erupted in uproarious applause. At the far end of the stadium, Lisa walked out. She ignored the crowd, marching straight for her position across from him.
A voice boomed through the stadium, “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ARE YOU READY FOR A BATTLE?”
*****