Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 24: Possibilities

'I have a crush on her, not gonna lie.'

'I don't think I even know what she looks like. I have her Introduction to Geology book, though.'

'That's a great book. The Landscapes series is great, too, even if you're only just getting into geology.'

They stopped at a rustic, coffee-scented café. Rustie ordered her usual pumpkin spice latte. Jet was like Chalcedony. He ordered black coffee, although unlike her and her five packets of sugar, he didn't add any.

'Do you mind if I take a photo of your pendant, Rustie?'

'Sure, but...'

Rustie wasn't sure it was a good idea to post it on Rotogram. How did she explain that without wading knee-deep into the conspiracy theories she and her friends came up with themselves? Theories that endangered Fire Agate if she was alive? Although Justy's son could be trusted... couldn't he?

'If you don't want me to, that's totally cool.'

'Oh, no, it's not that. It's just... it's a long story, but...'

If he couldn't be trusted, he probably already knew, or would figure it out now she inadvertently began to open that can of Wurmple.

'You won't tell anyone, will you...?'

'I don't have anyone to tell... I avoid most people because they want to take photos or touch me or whatever because I'm a Gym Leader's kid... and I'm a nerd.'

'Gosh. That's awful.'

'Well, that's why I'm here with you. I've been dealing with this long enough to tell at a glance if someone has ulterior motives. I know you don't. I hope you can feel that comfortable with me, Rustie.'

Chalcedony might have known if he was acting. Rustie couldn't tell. He seemed genuine, but...

'And if you don't want to tell me and you wish I'd change the subject... that's cool, too.'

No. She'd decided. He was genuine. Maybe he even knew enough about Abbey to help with their 'investigation.'

'It's fine. I really didn't have a clue that this pendant wasn't just colourful plastic until...'

She didn't need to mention the trailer park or Verzant's name. Even if Jet really did live under a news-deprived rock, she was sure he knew exactly who Verzant was, because he led the same political party as Justy before he was convicted.

'This dude asked if it was fire agate. He was a big Alfie fan and so is Chalcedony. They pointed out it looks exactly like some fire agate pendants that Alfie and Abbey got tattooed to represent their kid. Whose name was Fire Agate.'

'That's the kid who died, right? Well, that Lovrina murdered.'

'Yeah.'

'I haven't seen those pendants, believe it or not. I don't follow Alfie. Abbey's never posted hers. Makes sense, I guess. It probably reminds her of what happened.'

'It does look exactly like them. As much as that weirds me out.'

'Maybe Lovrina brought it back to Orre as a trophy? But it was evidence so she gave it to some innocent person? Dunno. You'd think someone would recognise it if it was the pendant. Alfie's so famous.'

It clearly didn't cross Jet's mind that Fire Agate could be alive. Maybe that told them it was ridiculous. Rustie knew all too well from her mom that once someone stuck their head deep into a conspiracy theory, it was difficult to take those distorted glasses off. They were probably too wrapped up in it already. Really, there were a few likely reasons that Lovrina or even Gretchen might have brought the pendant back. It could have been a trophy. They could have done it purely to deflect the blame by ensuring someone else was seen with it. Maybe they thought they could use it against Alfie because it was all that remained of his daughter... or maybe they even planned to pretend to him that she was alive. If it was that or a trophy, it made sense they threw it away once the International Police got involved.