Cashe and Emilia returned to the living room to a small sea of gazes. Bruce had come back down during his talk with Emilia, trusting Annie to put herself to bed. It looked like his hasty exit was not a retreat after all, just removing his daughter so she did not have to see her aunt and mother fight.
Emilia sat back down on the sofa with Cashe, tucking her legs under her as she made herself comfortable on the couch. Cashe joined her and Lindon joined them both since it appeared that they were not leaving yet.
“You talked some sense into her?” Elise said, in way of greeting as they returned.
“I don’t know if anyone can do that,” Cashe grinned, causing Emilia to sniff haughtily, “But we talked.”
“I’m not going to take a pokemon,” Emilia announced.
“Emilia, don’t be silly,” Misty said, frowning from her end of the couch, “There’s no reason not to take every advantage you can get. Cashe, what did you say to her?”
“She made her decision and I’m going to respect it,” Cashe said, looking directly at Elise and Misty, one after the other.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Bruce chimed in, putting a hand on his wife’s leg as she went to speak.
Elise made a face, scrunching her nose and mouth up in frustration, but ultimately sighed, “Fine.”
“I’ll take a pokemon,” Lindon volunteered with a smile.
Elise laughed in exasperation, “Maybe you should have won the True Rookie Tournament. This would be much less stressful.”
“Not that the Champion can’t deal with it,” Bruce said with a warning look at his wife.
Emilia frowned at her sister, shifting uncomfortably in her spot, “Maybe we should go. Since things are so stressful.”
“Actually, there was something I wanted to speak to you about,” Misty said before anyone could start arguing again, “I don’t really know if I need to say it anymore, considering everything that’s happened, but I would feel better about doing so.”
Emilia turned to look at her mother and made the same frustrated face that Elise just did. Cashe doubt she even realized she was doing it. “What is it?”
“Actually, Emilia, this is something I wanted to bring up with Cashe, more than you. But it would be good for you and Lindon to hear this, too.”
“OKay?” Cashe felt a little spurt of anxiety rise in his stomach, “What’s this about?”
Misty crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap, “Your persona, Blood Money, is taking the form of a bit of an anti-hero, at least in the eyes of the audience,” Misty began.
“I know,” Cashe scratched his chin, “It was a bit of an accident. I didn’t really want a ‘persona’ at all. It kind of took shape on its own.”
“Like I said it would if you didn’t take charge of your public image,” Emilia pointed out.
“Tell that to Miss Clumsy and Cute,” Cashe smirked.
Emilia smirked right back, “They’re not saying that. Not anymore. Clumsy and cute doesn’t get a perfect victory to win the True Rookie Tournament.”
“That’s right,” Bruce grinned, “Now you’re competent and cute. It’s a big step up.”
Emilia frowned at her brother-in-law and Misty spoke up again, “Do you know what the big risks are for having a well known persona, especially one like yours?”
“People will judge you by it, I assume,” Cashe shrugged, “They might think that you are someone they know and latch onto that as a frame of reference to how they should treat you.”
“Yes and no,” Misty said, “If you are trying to maintain a fanbase, it can be disconcerting and uncomfortable for some fans when they discover that the face they see in the battles is a mask, at best. But the real problem is the other trainers.”
“I thought trainers would be less of a problem, since most are aware that we all have these weird public images that almost shape themselves,” Cashe frowned, “I’ve found most of the trainers I’ve met to be fairly understanding of that.”
“Those are rookies who are all going through the same thing as you at the same time,” Misty waved a hand dismissively, “The problem trainers are the ones who know your persona is fake and seek to take advantage of that.”
Elise nodded in agreement with her mother, “The pokemon journey is a brutal one, and not just because you are traveling through the wild, on foot, and battling other trainers. A lot of those other trainers will have it out for you.”
“Some will think that you chose your persona on purpose and think you are stuck up or arrogant because of it,” Misty continued, “They will try to ‘reveal’ that to the world to hurt your public image.”
“They’re mostly just jealous,” Bruce shrugged, “You don’t need to worry about them too much. They are the easiest to deal with.”
Misty and Elise nodded, agreeing with Bruce. Lindon tilted his head to the side in mild confusion, “Those are the easiest?”
“They are,” Misty said, “The troublesome ones are the veterans who know your public image is going to be largely false and seek to take advantage of you for that. People who have been around a long time and have secondary or tertiary objectives.”
“People like Max Maple,” Cashe finished. He leaned back against the sofa, forcing himself further into the cushions, “You’re saying he tried to take advantage of me because he saw my persona and assumed I was a loner, or wanted to be one, at least.”
“I think getting involved with Teams is a little more sinister than what Misty means,” Bruce said with a comforting smile, “Not to mention I don’t think anyone expected the True Rookie Tournament to be attacked by a Team.”
Misty nodded, “I am talking about people that will see you traveling with an Oak, see your persona, and assume that they can use you to get to Emilia.”
“Or me,” Elise said, “Or our other sisters, or father.”
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“Exactly. Veterans, not some rookies fresh into the Third Circuit. People who know what they are doing.”
Cashe frowned and nodded. A strong trainer with trained pokemon was a threat all on their own. He knew that already. Pair that with ambition and flexible morals, and, well, he had already seen the birth of a new Team.
“I thought the League had protections against stronger trainers attacking people like us,” Lindon said nervously, his eyebrows furrowing in growing fear, “Everything you are warning Apollo about can also be said about me, too, right? I know I don’t have the scary persona he does, but I’m only twelve.”
Elise, Misty, and Bruce exchanged a series of looks in silent conversation. Elise frowned and looked Lindon directly in the eyes, “You don’t have to worry about that,” she said, her voice firm.
Lindon blinked, “I don’t?”
“There is a widely held understanding that children are off limits,” Elise said, “If anyone tries to take advantage of you like that, I will show up. Understand?”
“What, nothing like that for me?” Cashe joked.
“Champions are busy, but children are off limits,” Elise said, no hint of amusement in her voice, “It’s not widely advertised, but there have been times in the past when children have found themselves mixed up with the affairs of Teams. Champions show up every time and put them down.”
Lindon’s eyes widened, “Okay.” He sounded more frightened than he had previously.
Cashe, though, was frowning. Champions had a habit of showing up in the pokemon games. Was it just a coincidence?
“To answer the initial question,” Misty said, giving Lindon a gentle smile, “The League has protections to stop the most common forms of abuse of weaker trainers, like challenging them over and over again to farm Pokedollars. It is much more difficult to protect against all possible eventualities.”
“We give trainers lots of warning about pokemon, how dangerous they are and how to be careful around them, especially when trying to catch them,” Elise said, staring straight at Cashe, “Perhaps because of this, people often forget that humans are actually-”
Cashe burst out laughing. Everyone in the room turned to stare at him.
“Is something I’m saying funny?” Elise said.
“You’re trying to say people are the real monsters,” Cashe snickered. He waved off Elise before she could voice a protest, “I understand. I really do. It’s just-” Cashe descended into giggling again.
“This is serious,” Misty frowned, “Are you sure you understand?”
“It’s a cultural thing, I’m sure.” Cashe forced down a laugh, holding his face uncomfortably still as he forced himself to take their concern seriously, “You have to understand, where I come from people aren’t the real monsters. We are the only monsters.”
***
It was a beautiful day for farewells. The sun was high in the sky over Route 2 and pokemon flit through the air and rustled in the grass, going about their day. The edge of the city was busier than Cashe expected, but their departure did garner more attention than he expected as well.
The first problem was that the Champion was traveling with them. Elise had insisted on seeing her little sister off on her adventure, with Misty, Bruce, and Annie tagging along. People had noticed, and soon the departure was more than a family farewell.
The second issue was created by the first. The gathering of people was noticed by the local police, and they were stopped multiple times by them to make sure their ‘paperwork’ was in order. Apparently someone wasn’t happy with the way Cashe or Emilia handled the situation, and in Cashe’s opinion, it was only due to the presence of Elise Oak that they were allowed to proceed as easily as they did.
Cashe stood apart from Emilia as she hugged her family goodbye. A moment later she joined Lindon and Cashe as they stepped out of town and onto the route. Annie was waving in her father’s arms and Elise stood with her arms crossed, watching them go. Misty watched with a smile on her face, one that told tales of fond remembrance and nostalgia.
The edge of the city transitioned from urban development to unkempt wilderness abruptly, the city cutting off and being replaced by grassy fields over a matter of steps. Wind swept over them as they exited the city, sending the grass rolling in green waves of vegetation. The route was still paved, however, acting as the sole guild through the area.
The route was busy, but not so busy that people were getting in the way. Trainers were both leaving and entering Hau’oli City, but paid them little attention. The region's tournament season was just starting, the Manalo Conference eight months away, and most of the trainers with them on the route were more eager to fill out their teams and get used to traveling than they were for battling.
“What’s wrong?” Emilia asked after a few minutes of walking, “You look a little lost in thought.”
“It’s nothing,” Cashe said, adjusting his backpack slightly to make the long journey ahead of them more comfortable, “This entire thing is just reminding me of the last time we did this.”
“You’ve done this before?” Lindon said as he walked alongside them. He had to take two steps for every one of Cashe’s or Emilia’s. It would likely mean they had to slow down significantly once the routes became difficult to travel.
“When we left Pallet Town in Kanto,” Emilia said.
Cashe nodded, “It was almost the same this time, but on a larger scale. There was a crowd then, but it was smaller. Emilia’s family was there, too, but it was just her mom and dad. There was even an Officer Jenny who pulled me aside to make sure I wasn’t going to cause Emilia any trouble.”
“The local Jenny stopped you?” Emilia said with a small frown, “I guess she had a point, though. You do cause almost as much trouble as you’re worth.”
Cashe grinned, “That’s not fair. At least half the things that happened to us so far would have happened anyway.”
Emilia snorted and shook her head, gazing off into the route, eyes moving over the landscape as she scanned for hidden pokemon, “You know there was one thing that happened last time that didn’t happen this time.”
“What’s that?”
“You haven’t made a little boy cry.” She glanced at Lindon, “You’re not about to cry, are you?”
“No?” Lindon said. He scowled a second later, “Hey! I’m not a little boy!”
“That wasn’t my fault,” Cashe laughed, “Someone gave a Trainer ID to a child and he decided to challenge me. Not the other way around. Plus he called me-”
“OLD MAN! STOP RIGHT THERE! ”
Cashe turned. A child, perhaps eight years old and with heavy tan lines from long hours outdoors in the sun, emerged from behind a rock. He had a pair of pokeballs on his person, one in each hand. He was wearing a white tee-shirt, blue shorts, and a baseball cap with a pokeball pictured on it.
Cashe’s Trainer ID chirped as he received a challenge. He sighed, deep and weary.
***
This one wasn’t my fault either,” Cashe said again as Emilia gave him a skeptical look.
“Is he going to be okay?” Lindon was walking half backwards as he craned his neck to look back at the sobbing young trainer behind them. The boy was in the process of throwing his hat on the ground and stomping on it repeatedly.
“He will be fine, Lindon,” Emilia said, “Trainers lose all the time. It’s better it happens now so he can get used to it.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Lindon shook his head, “His pokemon aren’t very strong. Is he going to be alright outside of the city?”
“We know they aren’t very strong, Cashe made that obvious,” Emilia said, giving Cashe another mocking glare, “But he’s also within walking distance of the city. He should be fine. Even if Cashe comes back to bully him.”
“This was not my fault,” Cashe said again, throwing his arms in the air, “He had two Alolan Rattata. I used Hatenna. Sure, she knows Disarming Voice, but she’s also a psychic type. It should have been a neutral match up. I didn’t know he was going to use Tail Whip over and over again and never attack. It’s also not my fault he didn’t ever give instructions for Rattata to dodge.”
“I can’t believe you,” Emilia teased, shaking her head, “We are back on our journey for less than five minutes and you have already reduced a trainer to tears. It’s like you enjoy this.”
“It does seem pretty suspicious,” Lindon agreed, picking up on Emilia’s teasing, “He was only a little kid.”
“Hey, you don’t get to call anyone a little kid,” Cashe said, “You are barely older than him yourself.”
What?” Lindon cried out, “I am way older than that kid!”
The conversation descended into bickering as they continued on their journey, the sun shining down on them, bright and high above.
*****