Blue Ribbons | A Pokemon OC x Alain Story

8. - Smudged Art

{Perla's POV}

The second day of the Lumiose Conference. As much as my excitement for battle was on, I lost my shot yesterday. I wanted to prove to Alain and other people that I can be on that level of intensity, but I slipped off.

Apparently, Alain let me have a room to sit in, so I don't have to be in an extremely crowded place, where all the shouting and intense explosions and clouds of smoke and debris are. That's nice of him to reserve one. Maybe he noticed how I acted yesterday, how I held onto my neck ribbon when the crowd cheered, or how I covered my face when the smoke came in. Was my body language that obvious?

I was about to enter, when Mairin exited the room that's on the left. "You're here too?" The literal red-head smiled in surprise.

"Yeah... Alain gave me access to this one." I nodded, showing the VIP card.

"Wow... He's been treating you really well, huh?" She giggled. I frowned.

"We're just acquaintances, Mairin..." I tensed up once more.

"He says that too. And, I feel like he's rubbing off on you. You're starting to act like him." She started to tease me, as I tried to shimmy away.

"Now, Mairin, don't scare your new friend." A voice that sent chills came out all of a sudden. A tall man with a dark gray and red suit. "We've never met before, but I'll introduce myself. My name is Lysandre."

I bowed, and nodded. "Perla Nacre, nice to meet you, sir..."

"Alain has told me all about you. On how you're a Mega Trainer, and how you've helped him. You do have some potential, with how you followed his orders and didn't ask anything else of him." He spoke formally.

"Oh... it's no issue, I don't see myself like that... Even if I follow orders, and don't complain about anything, that doesn't sound like a valid reason for having potential," And I kept on going. Mairin and Lysandre looked interested in my rambling. "If you've seen what happened yesterday, I lost and didn't reach the semi-finals." I denied all of it.

He smiled in a sort of sweet way, and left along with Mairin. I waved goodbye, before heading in.

I opened the door, and sat down on an armchair in the room, left with my Audino, while Mairin stayed with Lysandre in the room beside her. Mairin leaned on the window glass, eager to watch all of Alain's matches.

The room was decorated nicely, with a hint of a floral scent, dark velvet walls covering each side of the room, and a soft ivory couch for the viewers to sit in. Audino, of course, enjoyed how soft the pillows are. And I left them in that state.

Then I noticed something out of the dark red walls of the room; multiple blue paintings in small white frames, lined up on one side of the spacious room. All of them were smudged out faces, signed with 'A. Sycamore.' "Did the professor paint these?" I walked over to the artworks. There were three paintings, using the same shade of blue. One looks like a Charizard's wings, another is hands clasped together, and the one in the center... it was someone's face all scribbled out. There's no way the professor would paint something like that. "This had to be Alain's handiwork."

The match wasn't going to start until much later, so I used that amount of time to write him a letter. Mainly because I don't want to get lost in the crowd trying to get to him, but also it's something I haven't done before. A new experience.

I used a pen in my bag, and a piece of paper from my notebook. "Alright, now how should I write this..." I murmured to myself.

---

{Alain's POV}

I stood in front of the gates of the large stadium, waiting for the matchups to show for today. It seemed like a while, so I took the time to fix my gloves and my Mega Ring. The competition only gets harder from here, so it's time to bring it on.

But before I went inside, I heard a chime. I turned with one motion, and noticed a Chandelure. Perla's Chandelure, to be exact. It only took a moment of eye contact, before passing a letter to me using its lamp part acting as a hand clutching it together. It quickly trilled, before flying back to the room where I let its trainer stay. "Hm. Maybe this is from her."

I opened the letter, which had a note inside.

"Dear Alain," It started.

'I wasn't expecting you to give me a room, so I can watch the entire event without being overwhelmed. Is this your way of returning the hotel room favor? Or the multiple other times I've offered something and you didn't really pay back? Well... All I have to say is thank you, right? And... I know I did my best yesterday, in the first round. I just felt really bad because I lost the chance to battle against you, to see and potentially feel how fun it is, how you enjoy it. I just hope you win for yourself, and for me too. Good luck!'

The signature was smudged out, but I can barely make out the word 'Nacre'. So it definitely was from the Audino trainer. The note also had lightly erased doodles of a familiar painting... my paintings. "So she did know that too..."

I put the letter in my bag, before entering the stadium. Even if she wished me 'good luck', I know only pure and brute strength works out in something intense like this.