6:08 p.m. August 15th, Saturday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event). Day 67.
Events: Rhea won another Silver-tier Encrusted Badge after a tough battle! Now, our girls are on their way to getting their four Encrusted Badges for the League. Onward! Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June, and the end of registration for the Winter Indigo Cup is December 5th (111 days away).
Rhea smiled as her story about meeting V came to a close, and her mother’s limp hand fell away; she’d fallen asleep a bit ago, unable to keep her eyes open, but it was nice being able to feel her touch. Bending down, she held back her bangs to kiss her mother’s bandaged forehead.
“Sleep well, Mom… I love you.”
Ambrosia and Nova nuzzled her leg as she pulled back to watch her mother’s peaceful, resting face. Lulu had fallen asleep during story time, crawling into her shirt front, as usual, to be close to her heart. Nova jumped onto her lap, Ambrosia taking the opposite side to settle in. Passively stroking their smooth fur, Rhea closed her eyes and sat back to sit in the silence.
Her mom was going to be okay.
Things like this were happening all across the world. Life really was cruel and harsh. Ultra Wormholes could bring enemies across space and time. Aliens visited their planet to kidnap professors and researchers. Organizations spread their own ideals across the globe… and it was only the imposing figures of Legendary Trainers—Trainers like her aunt—who kept chaos from consuming them.
Walking along Viridian, Saffron, and Vermilion City streets, it was easy to see the order and peace that their current system brought. Yet, they didn’t realize the weight it put on the Masters’ Community to maintain that security.
Opening her eyes, she breathed out her stress in a long stream. If all of this could still happen when someone as strong as Ash, Red, Ethan, and her aunt were around, then was it even possible to create a world where something like this would never happen? Probably not. She didn’t have an answer. Then again, if she did, she wouldn’t have the power to see it through.
Rhea swallowed and rubbed under Nova’s chin, which sent positive waves back to her that said her Eevee loved it. Plasma wanted to destroy that connection she shared with Nova. They really were evil.
All she knew right now was that she didn’t want to feel powerless. Ghetsis was on the run, but not because of her; Iris was hunting him. Power wasn’t everything, and she could realize that—obviously, her aunt had that in spades—an answer to how to prevent heartache wasn’t so easily solved through force. Still, power was needed for everything.
A short chuckle shook her chest, and she rubbed her forehead. Rhea could see why everyone chased power, yet it was useless fuel without a vehicle or destination to put it to use. “I have so much to think about…”
Nova and Ambrosia got up as she prepared to rise while Mya and Alice’s spirits instantly drew closer, which meant Koga had returned with them.
Giving her mom one last kiss goodbye, she tucked her blanket in and went to the waiting room. Almost everyone was gone except for Koga, her grandparents, and Jason. She accepted the two Master Balls from the Elite-4 member as Jason got up to join her, leaving his Galarian Zigzagoon curled around what appeared to be a t-shirt.
“Where did everyone go?” she asked, releasing Mya and Alice to join Nova; they immediately jumped forward to hug her, the bunny hanging around her hips.
“Mawile…”
“Lop-Lopunny…”
“Aww. I’m okay now,” she soothed, preventing Lulu from falling out of her shirt as she bent down to stroke her Pokemon. “I know you were worried.”
The pressure of having her three Pokemon out was there, but V’s spike of energy had helped to replenish what she’d lost during the battle with Janine. She should be dying on the floor, yet the Victini’s warm strength sustained her like an enveloping, comforting flame.
Koga cleared his throat, and Rhea’s stomach twisted with excitement as he held up a Silver Encrusted Soul Badge. “You earned it.”
“Thank you!” she breathed, taking it and squatting to let her Pokemon see it. “Here, Mya, Alice! Hold on to it for me, will you?”
“Loppuny!”
“Maw-Maw—Mawile!”
“Lop-Lop-Lop!”
Rhea giggled as the bunny snatched it and danced away, taunting the Mawile to chase her.
Jason folded his arms and glanced around before chuckling at her troublemakers. “Sabin and my sister went out to train… probably. You know how Sabin can get, and I said I’d hang with you. Lance is out doing Lance things, Elaine left to support Iris, and your dad is talking with Bi now. You really okay?”
“Huu,” she held her breath a second. “Haaa. Better. What about Brock?”
“Conference with a few other doctors. They’re discussing more treatment options, as far as I know.”
Rhea’s light-blue eyes shifted to her grandmother as she rose to approach them. She opened her arms, and Rhea welcomed the hug.
“Grandma…”
“Hmm. Your Spiritual Allocation feels full, Rhea, but your Mental and Physical could use a little treatment. Why don’t you go force yourself to eat something with Jason?”
“Haha. Knew I’d say I wasn’t hungry, huh?” Rhea softly laughed. “Alright, if you insist, Grandma. And full disclosure, I have been eating a very healthy amount since starting my Aura training.”
Glacia drew back to fuss with her hair and clothes. “I do. And that is what a grandmother loves to hear. We’ll be with your mother as long as it takes.”
“Thanks, Gran.”
Stepping away, Rhea grabbed her elbow as she saw one of the signs Jason must have been waving during the battle move a little. Alice noticed, too, because she jogged over to check it out, peering behind it.
“Lop?”
“Rab…”
Alice jumped back as Sunny jumped in the opposite direction, sticking his hands in his fluff and looking away.
“Rab-Raboot.”
“Lopunny?”
Jason chuckled with Rhea as her Pokemon surrounded the rabbit, Mya pointing at what was in the shirt the Zigzagoon was wrapped around. It seemed the Raboot hadn’t gotten over his shy streak around the bun.
Nova chirped at her mother as she nuzzled her and ran a short distance away; it soon became apparent they were saying their goodbyes when a Venomoth came to pick up the current Kanto Champion’s Ace.
Staring at the shirt, Rhea’s brow furrowed as she saw the rounded end of something poking through the collar. “Is that… a Pokemon egg? Yellow and black?”
Jason nodded, hands going in his pocket as he nudged his head to the door. “We can talk about it on the way to the Ninja Restaurant District. Care to leave everyone to tease Sunny?”
His Raboot gave him a look that said he’d been betrayed as Alice and Mya giggled, jumping forward to poke at the shy rabbit.
“Ra-Raboot!”
“Lop-lop-lop!”
“Mawile!”
Nova’s tail wagged as she snuck up behind him and tackled the boy, currently in the middle of backing away, making Rhea snicker.
“That’s evil, Jason. Three girls vs. one boy. He’s going to get eaten alive. Let’s do it.”
“Raboot?!” he cried in desperation, hand outreached to his Trainer as Mya and Alice dragged him toward Kate’s discarded bag, no doubt to raid the woman’s accessories and makeup, Nova bringing up the rear with a wagging tail.
Jason held up his fist as his Zigzagoon teammate chirped, waving his tail and ever the sociable one. “Good luck, Bud!”
“Rabooooot!”
Leaving him to the machinations of her three girls, Rhea giggled and was about to follow Jason out when her grandmother tapped her on the arm.
“Rhea…”
“Hmm?”
Moving between Jason and her, Glacia showed a soft smile while looking down at her chest, where Lulu’s puffy clouds could be seen poking out. “I’ll take care of Lulu for you while you’re out.”
“Oh. Thanks, Grandma,” she laughed, seeing Jason turn his back to her, rubbing his neck. Was his ears red?
Carefully extracting the sleeping gas cloud, she couldn’t help a smile as the Legendary groaned in protest, clinging onto her hand. “She likes to hear my heartbeat. It calms her down.”
“I completely understand,” her grandmother whispered. “In that case, mine will have to do.”
Rhea was a tad surprised when her elegant and proper grandmother lightly pulled back her dress front to allow Lulu to crawl inside and snuggle in. The Cosmog relaxed, allowing her poofy clouds to float freely. It seemed she’d taken a liking to her grandmother.
“I’ll leave her in your care then. Thanks, Gran.” Moving in to kiss her on the cheek and hug her, she broke away to grab Jason’s hand and prompt him forward. “Let’s hope the food isn’t as poisonous as everything else here.”
“Eh-hah. No joke. Thanks, Mrs. Bliss.”
“Just relax a little. We are here.”
From the corner, her grandfather held up his fist, and Rhea did the same as they exited, seeing a look she hadn’t seen before on her grandparents’ faces. It almost seemed nostalgic, but a little different. Whatever it was, the Aura vibes were nice.
Entering the hallway, she let go of Jason’s arm and turned to smile up at him; he really had grown in the last few months. “And what is up with that egg? Is it from my mom? She hasn’t told me anything about giving you an egg.”
Jason hummed and showed a half-smile. “Probably because I asked her not to mention it.”
Rhea’s head tilted to the side, bangs falling in front of her right eye. “Why?”
“Because I was insecure.” His laughter fell with a sigh. “Rhea, you’re so stupidly strong… it has everyone worried. It’s a lot of pressure. I… don’t want to be left behind, ya know?”
“I… didn’t know,” Rhea whispered, brushing the loose lock behind her ear as they walked past the bathroom she’d comforted her cousin in. “I guess Lori and Amira were kind of concerned about that, too. I don’t want to cause people stress. I just… want to get stronger so I don’t make everyone worry about me.”
Jason bumped into her, but it was lighter than it was the previous night. “It’s not something you should be fretting about. You know, I’ve kept in contact with most of the other Starter Award Trainers.”
“Oh?” Rhea found her forearm behind her back, not looking where they were going since Jason probably knew the way. “How are they doing? I should be checking up on them, but everything’s just been… No, I’ve had time, I guess. I’ve seen stuff from Casey; that’s easy since she’s my teammate’s sister, though.”
Her thoughts jumped to the day she’d officially become a Trainer when she’d met Jade, Hannah, and Sam. The two girls who sat with her so she wouldn’t be alone came to mind. Girls she’d known due to their mothers interacting with her aunt in Sinnoh.
“How’s Olivia and Amy? I heard something about the speedrunning competition thing?”
Running his fingers through his blue hair, Jason chortled. “They were set to win, but now they upped the game. It’s the first to get all Silver Badges now; there’s a Bronze to Encrusted Silver speed run that your team is leading.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I… had no idea,” she said with a depressed laugh. “Aww. I should message them… I saw that we started this big push to get from Bronze to Silver, but I didn’t know it was getting that big. I just want to get stronger now… after everything with Plasma.”
She looked up at Jason as he moved closer to press their elbows together, his hands still in his pockets; he was still wearing a small smile. “I get all of that just flies right over your head with everything that’s happened. Uh… You know where we are?”
He paused as they exited the labyrinth-like hallways to a wooden bridge at least fifty meters above the watery depths of the cavern floor. Rhea walked to the edge to peer down, noticing teenage ninjas running along the thin, tiny sticks poking out of the gently moving lake or massive river; whatever it was, it was impressive, nonetheless.
“Haha. No clue,” she said, feeling oddly better than before despite the conversation. “I had no idea from all the videos that this Gym was actually inside this crazy ninja village. It’s like… it’s its own city down here… Look at the trees, buildings, and bridges—it’s crazy.”
“It is kind of pretty,” he said, glancing around the vast cavern space. “You don’t think all of this is natural, right? Do you think Koga’s past clansmen built this with the help of Pokemon?”
“Probably,” Rhea nodded, sliding her fingers across the well-polished and worn wood railing. Above them were packs of flying cave Pokemon, and below there was everything from Mankey to Squirtle following the ninja Trainers as they went about their daily lives. “It seems to be thriving. Uh, maybe we should use the signs?”
Jason pointed at a split in the wide walkway, further down the bridge as it descended a level, showing a few wooden signs. “I guess we can start there.”
Rhea nudged him as they continued their path. “You were the one that was supposed to be good with directions.”
“I was, wasn’t I? Haha. Hey, Rhea…”
“Uh-huh?” She turned her gaze from the black ceiling, high overhead, natural light from mirrors or openings in the cave bringing glistening waterfalls that spread a light mist over areas to look at her childhood best friend. He wore a tight-mouthed frown “What’s up?”
“I wanted to talk to you privately tomorrow, but… who knows what will happen between now and then.”
Rhea’s eyes fell to the uneven steps as they descended them, which was probably a design choice. “Right… you’re leaving for Kalos tomorrow to support Lucian. It might be half a year or more until we see each other again.”
“Yeah, probably,” Jason mumbled, vision shifting to a lift to their right that went down to a little island beside the signs. “Looks like the mess hall is to our left. Want to grab the food and come back here to eat down there?”
Rhea tried to add a positive smile and nodded. “I’d like that. Oh, is there a bench down there, too… and did that guy just use a Blastoise to swim up that waterfall?”
“Wait, where?!”
Rhea pointed the pair out, where a group of student ninjas rode Squirtles, attempting to do the same, and quite unsuccessfully at that.
“Muk, education here is rough! Haha.”
Laughing with him, Rhea started listing all the things they did out in the wild growing up for fun rather than training: who could hold their breath the longest, mountain climb the fastest, or jump between the most tree branches.
She started to enjoy herself more as they talked about their past adventures again, continuing the conversations they’d had over the past few days. It made her realize how much of her life Jason had been growing up, and part of her wondered if Kate had hated her a bit for stealing all her little brother’s time.
Rhea gasped, a lightbulb flashing off in her mind as they waited in line behind a ton of ninja students who gave them questioning stares; clearly, word spread that they could be there, though.
“Jason!”
“What?” he asked, glancing around at the ninja, eating upside down or in other weird ways as they practiced their art, even during their ‘downtime.’ “Yeah, the wall sitting is impressive.”
“No! No! Do you—do you think Kate got close to my brother to spite me, and… and they grew closer together because I took all of your time when we were kids? Did I cause them to get together?!”
Jason gave her a blank look as he took one of the two rice balls from a tray. “Come again? Are you serious?”
“No, think about it!” Rhea chimed, getting into her head now. “I’d always sneak out and throw rocks at your window to come down and play during the Ultra War, and she was always harping on us not supposed to go out alone, so she got my brother to go with us, so—no, she was trying to get me in trouble all the time by calling my brother!”
“Mmm.” Jason’s left eye creased as they got their food and walked back to the lift they’d seen earlier. “I think you underestimate my sister’s infatuation with your brother. You know that class picture we do when we’re thirteen?”
Rhea’s head bobbed as she bit a chunk out of an apple. “Uh-huh.”
“Well, yeah, you do realize she blew that up a ton and literally cut out everyone else in it so she could put her and Sabin together? She had this whole thing in her room where she’d cut Pokemon and them out to have the perfect little family and poke-pals.”
“No way!” Rhea giggled. “That’s so cute.”
“Uh… more like creepy,” Jason snorted. “It’s why she wouldn’t let you or anyone else in her room. I snuck pictures of it, and when I was fourteen, I threatened to show Sabin them if she told our parents that I ate all the ice cream. I thought I had her pinned as my slave for life!”
“Ooooh!” Rhea’s eyes grew big. “What did she do?! She was seventeen then, right? If my brother did that… nope, I can’t see it. You’re just a total Muk of a brother,” she snickered, looking off to the side. “Did she beat you black and blue?”
“No!” Jason forced a laugh. “It was actually pretty scary because she actually broke down. She was acting so panicked, and I never expected to see my brute of a sister collapse into tears that I deleted it on the spot…”
“And then she beat you black and blue!” Rhea said with a big grin as they descended the lift. “I remember the result but not the cause. Hehe. I guess a guy would kind of see that as creepy, so I can understand why now.”
“I didn’t at the time,” Jason grumbled, sitting down on a bench on the lone island to stare across the underbelly of the ninja village, which had a shocking amount of secrets to hide. Interestingly, all the pipes were mostly hidden in wooden covers that followed the support beams. “I thought I was an awesome brother for being so kind to my sister and destroying the blackmail. Haha. I was so stupid.”
“You really were!” Rhea agreed, biting into one of the rice balls.
Silence fell over them as she swung her legs on the tall bench, barely unable to touch the grass. Her heart had stilled by quite a bit since leaving her mother, and she didn’t laugh like this when she was with her teammates. Sure, she had fun with the girls, but it wasn’t the same when she was with Jason.
Her mind wandered back to Pallet Town when she’d first touched down on her brother’s Aerodactyl outside of the city, nervous about meeting all the other Starter Award Winners. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought her first time away from home would be like this, or that she’d be here with her best friend, inside a ninja cave, sharing a meal.
Jason finished his food before her, but she did grab almost double his since she needed the extra intake due to her Aura burn. He wiped his mouth and took a sip of his bottled water before scanning the orange light that was cast from the falling sun, reflecting into the cave.
“Rhea, you know… my sister used to always tease me a lot.”
“Pfft! I know; she was a total bully to you,” Rhea mused, looking back. “I mean, you did deserve it a little, from time to time.”
“Yeah, hah, I guess I did…” He sucked in the corner of his bottom lip. “She said I’d start noticing a lot of hidden things about you as I grew older.”
“Oh?” Rhea asked, giving him an impish grin and lifting her eyebrows. “And what secret things have you discovered? My stress acne suddenly going away as my Aura increased?”
He nudged his head to the side, lifting his own eyebrows. “I mean, that one was pretty obvious, but you never had bad acne to begin with.”
“Liar! I had it soo bad when I was thirteen.”
Jason held up his hands and wiggled them. “Oh-no! I have one pimple on my nose for picture day!”
“It was picture day! It’s immortalized!” Rhea defended with a glare.
“Totally!” His smile softened, and he reached up to pull around her long braided hair. “I know that Bianca did your hair and added a little makeup to hide the fact you’d both been crying.”
Rhea’s eyes creased while looking down at the shiny sheen of her bound locks. “Bi always did love fussing over my looks… She was the one who taught me about dressing nice before Amira’s advanced courses.”
“Well,” Jason whispered, holding up her hair for her to study again, “she’s done an amazing job because I’ve never seen your hair look this golden and bright. You always had beautiful hair, but it’s on a whole new level now.”
“Thanks…”
He let go, letting it fall across her front as he looked straight into her eyes, making her swallow when staring into his amber irises; she’d never noticed how bright they were. A pressure spontaneously hit her chest as his hand closed around hers—adaptive, strong—and the cool cavern breeze tickled her neck. His touch was like fire and ice sliding across her skin, locking air inside her lungs as she saw the warm light touch his tanned face.
What’s happening? This can’t be…
Jason’s breath felt hot and cold at the same time against her cheek as he sighed. “Rhea, what I wanted to say to you was… I think I really like you, and… I have for a while now.”
Heartbeat picking up, thoughts going wild, all the cave’s sounds faded away as she focused on his serious eyes and determined voice.
“H-Huh? No, w-what’s there to like about me?” she asked, throat feeling as if a Froakie was lodged inside it, yet Jason’s hand tightened around hers before she could pull away.
“What’s there to like? Heh. What’s there to not? You’ve got a glow that I haven’t seen in any other woman, and I’ve looked… When I look at your hand, I want to hold it. When I see your hair, I want to feel it, and your lips…”
Feeling as if the world abandoned her, Rhea gulped, gut untwisting, and it felt like her heart had stopped working. “What about my lips?”
Jason swallowed, drawing her gaze to his mouth as he spoke. “It’s just, your pink lips really drive me crazy sometimes… I know this is out of the blue for you. Heh. You can be a bit dense, which is something I love… Can I kiss you?”
Rhea was sure she said yes, but she didn’t recall it as her brain was pulled into the clouds as he scooted closer. His blazing hand left hers to slide around her waist, drawing her closer as his other moved toward her face, gentle fingers caressing her skin to hold the right side of her head, just below her ears.
Eyes closing, fireworks lit in her belly as his lips met hers, soft and magnetic, the warmth sucking the air from her lungs with the sweet taste of apples on his breath. World whirling as he pulled away, Rhea felt a restless sea rush into her tight chest, and she pushed forward to kiss back, the world melting away.
It could have lasted forever, the rush of electricity that sparked from her back and tickling hair from his caring hands, yet in a rush of icy-hot air, she drew back, feeling breathless. A meek smile lifted her tingling lips as Jason mirrored her, chest shaking with weak laughter.
“Wow… that was… like a Tyranitar fighting for territory. No prisoners, huh?”
Rhea blushed, but a grin split her lips. “You’re the one that started it, dummy! Did we really just—eep!” Jason went in for another peck, making her bite her tongue and cough. “Ack! Not fair! Ouuuu.”
Jason snickered, bonking heads with her before pulling back. “I can kiss it better!”
“Stupid!” Rhea laughed, wiping away tears and punching his hard chest. “Geez! Is… that what kisses are supposed to be like? Ack. Haaa. Let me breathe!”
“Right?” Jason said, scooting closer to lean against her as she turned away and fixed her skirt; if she had pants, they’d be on fire as she tried to make herself small, not that it was hard with her ‘best friend’ looming next to her.
Her throat caught again as he grabbed her hand and guided it to his thigh, holding it there.
Stupid! Stupid! Calm down, girl! she internally scolded, legs and thighs locking together. Lori, help! What is even happening?! Why is he nibbling his lips like that? Was I a bad kisser? Of course I am! I’ve never kissed anyone… not like that—wait, how the Muk is he so good at kissing?!
Rhea looked up at him with a suspicious frown that got a laugh out of him and broke her scowl, imagining him walking down the street with a line of girls waiting to be kissed. “Stop looking at me! Gah…”
“Haha! You’re so shy compared to how you normally are!”
“Shut up! Mmmgm…” She forced down the sticky saliva in her mouth, forcing herself not to touch her still-tingling lips. Her body was burning up inside; she blamed V. “Do you… really like-like me? Why… wait until now? It’s kind of a douche move since you’re leaving,” she grumbled, shooting another glare up at him. “Since how long?”
“Eh-hehe. No, you’re right,” he whispered, being a total jerk and distracting her by tracing the back of her hand with his free fingers. “I’ve been trying to figure out if… I do love you, and… and after that kiss, I think I do. It’s just… that simple, and so I went for it.”
Rhea leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder like she’d done dozens of times before, yet now, it felt different. “Honestly, I… don’t know if I can say I love you the same way. That kiss was… everything I ever dreamed a kiss would be like… and more,” she said with a weak laugh. “I… think I might like you, but…”
She felt his silent chuckle through his muscular arm as he puffed out a short sigh. “I’m not saying you need to love me back. I just needed to be sure of my own feelings, and now I’m sure. I know I suck for doing it when… everything is happening, but I was scared I wouldn’t get another chance, ya know?”
Rhea’s eyes drifted to the rippling water, a new kind of pressure banding around her chest. “No, I get it. After everything I’ve been through since we left home, I get it. Right now, I… think I do want to explore this more. Heh. That is if no Kalos Lass gets her claws into you. Hmm? You are pretty handsome now, after all.”
“Wha—now? Haha. Was I just some dorky kid that was smaller than you growing up all this time?”
“I mean, facts are facts,” she giggled, squeezing his hand. “Aww. Now I’m thinking about Alice and Sunny. Hmm. Jason…”
“Hmm?” He tilted to look down at her as she pulled his hand onto her thigh, reversing the tables and tracing the veins. “What’s up?”
Her voice lowered, cheeks darkening. “Thank you for punching me in the face…”
Jason breathed and added a strained smile. “I mean, it was a competition! I got you that plushy to make up for it.”
“Jason!” She smacked the back of his hand and glared up at him. “I’m not talking about the Mankey Slap Contest!”
“Hahaha! I know! I know! You’re just really cute when you get that look on your face, and I’m not talking about the black and blue look.”
“Mmgm!” She headbutted his shoulder. “Be careful out there… I’ll look at your posts every night… Promise.”
Jason gulped before leaning in and kissing the top of her head. “Talk about pressure to succeed. Don’t want to look like a loser in front of the girl I love. I guess I will have to get stronger than you, huh?”
A half-smile lifted Rhea’s lips as she rubbed the spot he’d pecked. “Fat chance, buddy. You have your work cut out for you if you think you’ll beat me and my team.”
“Haha. I sure will, but… hey, I’m not gone yet. Want to wander and get into trouble before heading back and checking up on your mom?”
“Sounds like fun,” she said with a grin. “Where to first, Mr. Raboot?”
“Why not enjoy the mystery, Ms. Lopunny?” he chuckled, pulling her up and interlocking their fingers. “Right this way.”
Letting herself be guided around the ninja hideout, Rhea found a new sense of happiness with Jason that she hadn’t experienced before, which was a nice contrast compared to how things had been the last several hours.
Whatever this feeling was, she liked it, but there was that nagging feeling in her gut that he would be leaving tomorrow. It was something she’d have to address before he did board his plane. Did she enjoy what she considered her ‘first kiss?’ Without a doubt. That didn’t mean it didn’t have a bitter aftertaste that she would let slide.