Chapter 22 - Mother and Daughter

They were the coolest people I knew, and I wanted to be around them a little more.

—*——*—

Three Years Ago…

Lights were out, but the volcano stood out with its eerie glow. Dips of a red substance emerged from small holes and flowed down through the ragged surface as white smoke surrounded all those brave enough to watch.

“Lava!” Celeste shouted, causing the children in front of her to wince. She took a calculated step out of the shadow into the faint reddish light. “Long ago, it flew freely from massive volcanos, destroying everything in its path.”

The volcano was rumbling. One girl, no older than seven, put her hands over her eyes and an equally young boy hid behind her.

“The seas receded and new land was created,” Celeste continued, dipping her tone but not taking her eyes from the children. “Some say these events were natural. Our planet was young and active, volcanos were plenty.”

An even younger boy gasped. He seemed nervous, but excited. Celeste smiled menacingly as she reached for her pocket. Her hands were hovering dangerously over the release button.

“…but others say that those events were not in some distant past, nor that they were natural.” She intensified her glare. Almost time. “The god of land has been angered. It’ll awaken from its slumber to punish all creatures, human and Pokémon alike.”

The rumbling got louder and louder, and then…

“GROUDON!” Celeste's voice thundered as she pressed the button that made the volcano explode, oozing the red glowing liquid all over her and the now screaming children. Taking advantage of their distraction, she turned the small lever on the side, making a red play-dough figure emerge from the small hole of her home-made volcano.

“Groudon,” she repeated, in a lower voice this time. The children stopped screaming and got closer. “Will destroy all in its path and end the world as we know.”

The kids exchanged worried glances and Celeste responded with the most disturbing smile she could muster.

“Right now, the real Groudon slumbers. But one day…” Her voice was barely a whisper. She took the play-dough Groudon figure and looked at it knowingly. “One day, it’ll wake up.”

From the corner of her eyes, she saw the children’s livid faces. She was about to burst into laugh when her eyes caught someone else.

“See, I told you she was terrorising the younger students,” Lyra said. Her green eyes glinted with the innocence of a Banette. She distorted her round freckled face into a smile and brushed her long hair, coloured green this week, to the side. “Surely, this is not a healthy learning environment…”

Of course Lyra was doing this. Celeste had noticed she made a volcano of her own. Only hers was no fun.

“Celeste…” the head teacher groaned with annoyance, but resigned himself to sigh. “My office. Now.”

Lyra laughed silently and walked away to her own stand in the science fair. Instinctively, Celeste wanted to jump in her throat with as much violence as she could. This would make the situation worse, so she simply grumbled with some protest before dragging herself away.

Mr Quill, the head teacher, massaged his temples as he walked towards his desk. “Do you realise I will have to deal with parents complaining that their kids are having nightmares about Groudon the entire week?”

Celeste looked away. The office was large, and through the window on the side she could see the tip of the crown that sat on top of Hammerlocke stadium. Closer to them, in the schoolyard, parents and children were gathering.

“They liked it…” she said, refusing to look at Mr Quill. “The other kids liked it…”

The head teacher sighed and looked out of the window as well. He followed Celeste’s gaze to a particular family. There, a young girl and a Minccino were excitedly dragging their parents inside the school.

“Did your parents make it this time?”

Celeste looked up at the teacher and shook her head slowly, putting on the smile she practised as much as her volcano presentation. “They are in Hoenn for work.”

Mr Quill glanced at the yard again. The family outside had disappeared, and Celeste kept insisting on smiling.

“They went to Mossdeep,” she said. “Investigating how far back the belief that some Pokémon came from outer space dates.”

The head teacher nodded with some concern. “And also Groudon, I suppose?”

Celeste pressed her lips together. “I suppose…”

—*——*—

“I thought there was no wrong choice if your heart was in the right place. And honestly? They probably believed that too…”

—*——*—

Two Years Ago…

“Pokémon. Our planet plays host to these mysterious life-forms. They live in the forests, in the sky, and under the seas,” Tia said, changing the slides as she spoke. “Or so every professor has been claiming for the past few centuries.”

A steady laugh resonated from the packed lecture hall. She knew her audience and played them like a fiddle.

“We, however, have come a long way since the early days of Pokémon research, when pioneers, such as Professor Laventon, made the first efforts to systematically study and catalogue different species of Pokémon.”

The slide changed again, this time to an anatomical drawing of the electric sacks on a Pikachu’s cheeks.

“Our understanding of Pokémon biology, ecology and even their social behaviour has been exponentially advancing each year,” Tia continued speaking while moving around with calculated casualness. “So I ask you, are our esteemed professors correct on still calling Pokémon mysterious life-forms?”

She asked for a show of hands. Two-thirds of the audience thought Pokémon were not so mysterious anymore. How could they be? People knew about the sacks on Pikachu’s cheeks, after all. Tia smiled. They had fallen for her provocation.

“Well, I’m happy to say I’m not making enemies within the scientific community just yet.”

The screen blinked, and the image of an ancient artefact showed up on the screen. A vase, recently unearthed in the Sinnoh region.

“Lunala, Cresselia and Darkrai,” she said. “We date this vase back to three thousand years ago. This is the first instance where those three creatures, considered by many to be deities of the moon and dreams, have been depicted together. Yet, to this date, we do not know if there is any relation between them. In fact, the same can be said regarding the Pokémon of time, Celebi and Dialga.” She stopped to take a sip of water before continuing. “Although we have no proof of the existence of most of these so-called legends, the discovery of such artefacts can tell a much larger story. Aspects of the Pokémon world remain mysterious, but so does our own world. Artefacts representing Pokémon revered by distinct groups of people can often help us reconstruct migration patterns and trade routes of ancient civilisations. Such is the case of the Sinjoh people…”

Tia went on with her lecture, never losing her audience. She might have left the classrooms in favour of other mediums, but that had only improved her teaching abilities. Be it a lecture or presentation on her latest findings, she was a natural teacher. Her only struggle was in catching the eyes of the younger ones. Although she was only in her mid-forties, reaching out to kids had proven to be a hard barrier when expanding her science outreach project.

One she was determined to break.

“Knowledge and research,” Tia said with gravitas. It was almost over, just two more slides to go.

The screen shone with the figure of an old carving of an Arcanine on a wall in some temple. Below was a painting of the Fire-Type being offered gifts from kings of a distant region.

“As our understanding grows, it morphs and reshapes the world that surrounds us. It helps us sort out between the fog of fantasy…” The Arcanine evaporated and the slide transitioned to pictures of kids and police officers with growlithe. “And the reality of our world.”

The room came alive with applause. Among the people enthusiastically clapping was the young Celeste. It didn’t matter how many times she saw her mother speak, she always ended up marvelling at the woman’s confidence.

“Great as always,” Otto placed a kiss on his wife’s cheek before continuing with a laugh. “Celly didn’t even blink this time.”

“Told you! Kids are interested in this sort of stuff,” she beamed at her mother as they left Hammerlocke University. “You should do more lectures here. Close to home and all that.”

Tia affectionately hugged her child. “I would love it if more shared your enthusiasm, honey.”

Celeste’s parents exchanged a glance and nodded to one another, which made her nervous. She had seen that silent gesture a million times before. They were about to tell her something important, probably that they were not even getting the weekend together because something magical happened on Faraway Island or whatever.

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“If you are leaving early and can’t find someone to stay with me,” Celeste started preemptively. “Please, don’t send me to Ballonlea. I don’t think I can ever wear pink after last time.”

Tia laughed. Surely Opal had sent them the pictures. Traitor.

“We were actually thinking…” Tia began in a gentle and careful tone. “We could take you with us this time… Maybe you can even help us with the show?”

Celeste stopped, somewhat in shock. Did she hear it right? Was she not going to be left behind this time?

“Kids your age go out on Pokémon journeys,” Otto said with a grin. One of his arms was wrapped on Tia’s back, the other, he used to reach his kid’s shoulder. “But you could learn so much more by travelling with us full time instead.”

“You would be ahead of everyone who wasted their time aimlessly wondering around.” Tia continued their pitch. Celeste could see some of those words were as calculated as her presentation had been. Not that it mattered… they’d won her before they even started talking. “Think about it. Instead of training for silly battles, you could do something that truly matters.”

—*——*—

I was happy. I had everything I wanted… but there were those little pushes.

“You should wear this, study that, become friends with them.”

It was always subtle, although never in the direction I wanted to go.

—*——*—

Four months ago…

Celeste loved the air in Alola. The salty warm breeze coming from the sea, the smell of malasadas and fresh fruit. This place was paradise, and Malie City was just, chefs kiss. The perfect place for her and Aria to get themselves lost around the sights.

She looked at her Eevee and grinned. They could be tourists later. Now she needed to go on to this meeting with some big corporate woman that her parents were friends with. Hopefully, they would not ask her to star in some commercial again. Last time ended with her calling Diantha in tears, asking why she subjected herself to that horror every day.

“Hello,” Celeste greeted as she and Aria made their way inside the small café. At the table with her parents was a tall blond woman dressed in white. She was so stunning that part of her dreaded this was indeed going to end with some commercial or photoshoot. No way someone so beautiful could exist in real life.

“Celly, do you remember Lusamine?” Tia asked.

“Come on, she was too young last time you came to visit,” the blonde smiled. “Nice to meet you again. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about you.”

Celeste politely nodded to the woman as she sat down by her father’s side. She felt her stomach jump in a clear signal she should indeed be very nervous about whatever this was.

“So, like we were saying.” Otto stirred his coffee and looked at Lusamine. “We have been invited back to lecture at Hammerlocke Uni. Just for a term or two.”

Lusamine leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. “Can you juggle both the TV show, teaching and research?”

“And the work we do with the museums and all the events we have to go…” Tia finished with an amused smile. Celeste felt completely out of place in that conversation. Her two cents on the topic were that going back home would be great.

She had been travelling non-stop with her parents for the previous two years, and, as much as she liked it, they were always so busy. It would be wonderful to spend some quality time together. Of course, they would have to do the lectures, the planning for next season and… whatever else they needed to do. Still, even if they were busy, there would be free time for Celeste to work on what mattered: herself and Aria.

Not that she would reveal that to her mother, but she had been toying with the idea of trying to battle more. Yes, they would say the whole training thing was a waste of time, but honestly? This was hypocritical. Both of her parents had a team of powerful Pokémon and were very accomplished trainers themselves. Worse than that was the Lyra problem. Apparently she was a “young prodigy”, “expected to surpass champion Peony in the coming years”. Heck, now even Rai-rai was all about battling and building his trainer profile (whatever this was).

Everyone she knew had a clear vision for their future, and they were working on it. It was time Celeste broke free and did the same.

“… Celly?” Otto elbowed his daughter and gestured to Lusamine’s and Tia’s eager faces. She blinked at them with an empty expression.

Tia sighed. “I’m sure she would love to, Lusamine. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Celeste shot a puzzling glance at her father, who smiled diplomatically. “An internship in the Aether Foundation will certainly get Celly into any university. Her future will be set!”

Her future will be what now? She widened her eyes with a tinge of panic.

“Someone so young and with two years of experience working under such prominent researchers already… that is a treat for us,” Lusamine smiled back at her. “Just be careful. If I like her too much, I might steal your kid for myself.”

The three adults laughed, but Celeste could not. It was only when Aria nuzzled her she noticed the corner of her eyes were wet. Inadvertently, she let out a loud sniff that made all heads turn to her.

“Celly, are you okay?” Tia asked, frowning.

Celeste muttered something unintelligible. Her head was spinning and everyone was still staring at her. “I… I’m sorry, miss Lusamine, but I won’t be taking the… the internship,” she finally managed.

Before Tia could say another word, Otto placed a hand on his daughter’s shoulder.

“Celly.” He nervously glanced at Lusamine. “The Aether Foundation is a renowned research institution. From Pokémon, physics and history, you could learn a lot there. It will be fun!”

“It is v-very generous, but…” Celeste bit her lip. But I’m tired of people making choices for me. Tired of being shipped away whenever I’m not useful.

“No buts.” Tia’s voice was firm, but there were notes of concern there. “You are not throwing away such a great opportunity.” She turned to Lusamine with an apologetical smile that turned into a very forced laugh. “So sorry about that. When your little one is born, you will see what that’s like. Kids… am I right?”

Otto tried to gesture for his wife to stop. Unfortunately, Celeste’s stubbornness was almost genetic and not from his side. Tia simply looked at her defiant kid and smiled.

“You are not spending six months at home watching TV and complaining about Lyra. You need to do something productive with your time, honey.”

To that, Celeste only huffed, and in a daze, stood up. She wanted to yell, but she knew how arguments with her mother usually ended. They would butt heads until her father calmed them both down. Leaving this place and not escalating things in front of Lusamine, who they were clearly trying to please, would surely be the mature thing to do.

“Where are you going?” It was Otto who asked this time. He looked genuinely worried.

“Out to do something productive with my time.”

Celeste marched out of the café without sparing even a look back.

—*——*—

One push here, another pull there. Like this, bit by bit, they pushed me too far.

—*——*—

Celeste clutched the premier ball by her chest while Aria protectively sat on top of the metal table ahead of her.

“Two men and one woman, all dressed in black,” Officer Jenny repeated Celeste’s statement while she jutted down the words in some notebook. “They abandoned their van, but escaped on a flying Pokémon.”

“A Fearow,” Celeste added, rubbing one of her hands on her forehead. She was so tired… Before grasping the pokéball again, she saw her fingers were stained with blood. Red, just like… “They also had this big R on their chest. Blood red.”

The officer looked at Celeste again and nodded.

“Officer…” she carefully spoke. She was afraid of the answer, but she needed to ask, anyway. “W-what about the Vulpix?”

Jenny, not letting go of her gravitas, glanced at the ball in Celeste’s hand. There seemed to be sympathy in her eyes. “Mount Lanakila is a preservation area,” she simply said, probably trusting Celeste would be smart enough to understand the meaning behind those words.

“Yes…” She knew that already. The area was off limits and catching any Pokémon there was strictly forbidden. More importantly, catching rare ice foxes was downright illegal. Of course, that only made her clench the ball with the rare ice fox she had just caught in that exact off-limit area even more tightly.

“I understand the circumstances of you obtaining the Vulpix were unique,” the officer said, placing a hand over the bridge of her nose. “An evaluation board will assess whether you’ll be allowed to keep the Vulpix or if it will be rehabilitated and released back into the wild.”

Celeste took a deep breath. Her Vulpix would not be released back anywhere. “She just hatched, and she’s all alone and—”

Before she could plead any longer, the door of the interrogation room was pierced by a sharp metal claw and flung open, allowing Tia to march inside. Celeste’s mother was armed with a Pokéball in one hand, an angry frown on her face and her faithful Sandslash by her leg. At least she didn’t release the fossil.

“CELESTE!” Tia rushed to her side. The frown somehow softened into a panicked stare as she touched the dried blood on her daughter’s forehead.

On the back, by the swinging door, Celeste could see her father. He was apologising to some guards, while sporting a harmless smile on his lips. The Yamask hovering around his head, swinging his slab around, didn’t let Otto fool anyone, however.

“What happened?” Tia’s voice came out too sharp, and her eyes never settled on anyone. “You need a hospital.”

Celeste looked down at the Sandslash. He looked worried too…

“I’m fine. It’s… It’s not my blood,” she said dryly, only adding tension to the atmosphere. Their argument before had been bad, but in light of the stress of what came after, everything was a million times worse now.

“I’ll check on the documentation you need to submit for ownership of the Vulpix,” Jenny said, as she carefully made her way around the Sandslash frosty quills and left the room.

Once they were alone, Tia’s voice was softer, although still uneven. She placed a hand on her daughter’s cheek. “Celly…?”

“What is the region our… your show is less popular?” Celeste immediately changed subjects.

“Celly, please, talk to me. I’m worried… We… I shouldn’t have sprung that internship into you like that, but…” Tia looked around in exasperation. Her eyes fell on what she often referred to as Celeste’s unruly Eevee. But instead of a hiss or a prank, Aria simply looked down awkwardly. “Earlier… We just thought it would be good for you… Lusamine is still willing to…”

Celeste finally allowed her eyes to meet her mother’s. She was just as rebellious as she was early in the café, and now, more than ever, sure about not staying in Alola, walking in the shadow of her parents. “What region, mum?”

Tia sighed. “Kanto. But we are growing there too.”

Celeste nodded. She looked at the white pokéball smeared red. Maybe the lesson in this experience was that we should cherish our parents while they were still around… or perhaps it was just that life was short and we should make the best out of it.

Either way, the answer wasn’t to keep threading the steps someone else laid down for her.

“I… I want to go out on a journey. To b-become a trainer…” Celeste started. Gaining resolve as she tried to untangle her thoughts and turn them into words. “I want… I need to figure out who I… What I want to do.”

Independence. Freedom to find herself and explore the possibilities. That was what she needed.

“Celly…” Tia took a breath. “I’ll tell Lusamine you will go back home with us… M-maybe she can still take you next year, if you change your mind?”

Celeste shook her head. She didn’t think she would change her mind about it, but that was not her issue. The issue was that she wanted to grow and be strong to protect the little creature in her new pokéball. She wanted to be strong enough to help fight against the poachers. She wanted to be more than what she was now.

Of that much, she was sure.

Right now, however, all she could do was be strong enough to keep her resolve.

As much as she might have wanted to go home with them, that would be just rehashing the same old play and falling into the same old roles. Celly was their creation. A character on a show that followed someone else’s script.

Where did Celly end and Celeste begin?

“I need to be on my own for a bit…” she said quietly, knowing this would not be the end of this conversation. Tomorrow, after Tia recomposed herself, she would insist her daughter could do better than be a trainer and they would argue more. Celeste had no doubt of that. But for now… “I’m going to Kanto, mum. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

—*——*—

I just wanted to make my choices for once. When I left, I didn’t even look back. Quite the opposite, really. I stubbornly looked ahead and have been marching on, aimlessly and carelessly, ever since.

Not once did I stop to wonder what it was like for them to just watch me as I faded into the distance.

Not once…

Until now.