Chalcedony's ex was as shocked to see her as she was to see him. That put a damper on things. Back when he registered for the Gym Challenge, she thought she was far too edgy for it. Then she left and he was too depressed to go on. He dropped out. She knew he would eventually hear she changed her mind, but she didn't expect that to happen on the battlefield at the opening ceremony. Rustie caught up to her in the lobby.
'Hey, Chalcedony! What's up? Did you get nervous out there? I sure did...'
Her eyes as blue as Champion Zane's jersey were innocent. Chalcedony could see that telling her anything would be like writing in a locked diary.
'That... Gym Leader...'
Theta shoved past Amethyst into the lobby. She apparently had fans already. A small crowd gathered for her autograph. Rustie grumbled.
'Let's get out of here...'
Amethyst was indeed 'another Mesquite.' She brushed off her parents, Michael and Megg, before taking off on her pastel pink scooter. Rustie and Chalcedony walked to the nearest café, Hexagon Coffee. The view from the long windows, distorted by canal water cascading down the building, was of the city's main square. A yellow-haired barista took their order of two sandwiches. Chalcedony added black coffee. Rustie asked for a pumpkin spice latte.
'My mom keeps saying I'll lose weight on the Gym Challenge...'
Rustie sat on one of several colourful chairs. 'But I don't want to lose weight. Being fat isn't the end of the world.'
'Of course it's not. People are so superficial. It's ridiculous.'
'Anyway, before "jerk rival" interrupted... some of those Gym Leaders scare me, too! Cassia is so cool. Cail is, well, Cail. And the Elite Four are really scary. I mean, Seth is Wes' son and Zane beat Michael... gosh. The pressure has to be awful for Amethyst.'
'She seems to be taking it all in her stride. What a cool kid.'
'I know a lot of people are crushing on Wyatt, but he scares me! He's so strong. Maybe if we work really hard, we'll be able to beat the Pokémon he uses for Gym battles, but have you seen him battle with his real team?'
'Yeah... I never could beat him. And that was four years ago, so...'
'You battled him? That was so brave!'
'Not really... he was just my boyfriend. Fiancé. Whatever. I didn't even know he made it as a Gym Leader...'
'Ohh... yeah, he took over from Blusix. He's The Under's Gym Leader. He worked for Cipher for a while, but he came good.'
So that was what became of Wyatt after Chalcedony left. He joined Cipher.
'I left him to chase some sad old dreams of bigger things... but he apparently one-upped me without going anywhere.'
'But you're gonna beat him one day...'
'Here you go!'
A girl with a Galarian accent delivered their cooked sandwiches. Her brilliantly glittering engagement ring was bizarrely juxtaposed with her stained apron and nails with chipped turquoise paint that looked weeks old.
'I love your hair! You're so pretty! Both of you!'
Rustie blushed. 'Oh! Thank you!'
Her golden eyes wandered to Chalcedony's guitar case, propped up against the table.
'You're a guitar player!'
'Unfortunately. You too, huh?'
'Yeah. Haven't had much time to practice, lately, though. So I may well sound like a strangled Meowth. Is that your Servine?'
'It is. Servine! Come here! Say hi!'
'Hi, Servine! I've never seen one of you before! Are you all from Unova?'
'He is, but I'm not. I'm from here. So is my Salandit.'
'Cool! How is Unova? I'm moving there next year.'
'Not to play guitar, I hope...?'
'Oh, no. My husband's a football player. He's gonna play for Unova Emboar once he finishes college.'
'I knew I recognised you!' Rustie exclaimed, 'You're Amber! You did the Gym Challenge, right? With Champion Zane? How was it?'
'Well, I got kidnapped by Cipher while I was pregnant because this crazy woman was stalking my dad, but I got an apartment and husband and a load of free food out of it, so it's all good.'
Rustie's smile faded. 'Uh...'
'So you're doing the Gym Challenge?'
'Yeah, but... that's kind of off-putting.'
'Oh, don't worry. I mean, Ardos is still alive, but he's only had two years to regroup. And they say he's bumming around a trailer park – where Verzant Robel keeps superglueing his door shut – so I doubt he'll be bothering you lot. He'll never get back into The Under. Not now Wyatt's down there.'
Chalcedony stopped herself flinching. Rustie nervously swirled the last of her coffee in its mug.
'Alfie's still in Galar, right...?'
'Oh, yeah. And he's harmless. He's been very misunderstood.'
In the circles of aspiring actors Chalcedony left behind, people either hated Cipher's past leader Alfie Addison or believed, like Amber, that he was misunderstood. The latter celebrated him as one of the greatest actors of all time. That seemed justified when the International Police cleared him of all charges and Lovrina, Cipher's lead scientist he was charged with abusing, was jailed for actually abusing him and killing his daughter; but most people never forgot that he was initially blamed for everything. That was lodged more firmly in their minds than the press statement about how his mental illness was manipulated by his manager and Ardos.
Chalcedony, however, was one of those who believed he was innocent. She nodded.
'I agree. What happened to his kid – and him, to be honest – was bad enough, but getting blamed for it all? It's just wrong.'
Rustie hesitated. 'Some people think the murder was a hoax.'
'That was no hoax.'
Amber was no longer smiling. 'She would have been my sister. My mum still has her name tattooed over her heart. So does Alfie. And I've seen his scars with my own eyes. Even my dad shouts at anyone who's, like, "but you have two beautiful kids with Leon!" My mum loves me, obviously, but it's not like I replaced Fire Agate. Anyway... Browsix is glaring at me for talking your ears off, so good luck! I'll come and see your battles in Phenac!'
The Gym Challengers had to go, too. Chalcedony didn't know there were only two Boltund buses to the Pokémon HQ Lab each year. So she was lucky to meet Rustie, who studied fervently to prepare in the years her parents refused to let her go, until the shadow of Cipher's last revival faded. She knew every bus schedule, wild Pokémon and Trainer they would face.
Many of the challengers were of a similar age for the same reason. That was lucky for Chalcedony, too, because it meant more drove and there was room for her on the Boltund that was usually packed. It was strange to see The Under as a stop. Until two years ago, when Cipher's headquarters there were revealed, only conspiracy theorists and adventure tourists believed the old mining town was never filled in.
The Boltund driver carelessly tossed Chalcedony's guitar case into the luggage compartment. He shook his head.
'Always one with a damn violin or ukulele or whatever y'all got in those. But aren't you going on a Pokémon journey? What d'you need that for?'
'Gotta keep writing. Someone might actually listen to me if I become the Champion.'
'You wish.'
Chalcedony sat at the back. Rustie was gone. She reappeared as the door was about to shut with a bag of magazines and snacks from the bus station's convenience store.
'Phew!'
She sat beside Chalcedony. 'Hopefully we won't get so delayed we need all this stuff, but it'll come in handy later!'
It was clear that Chalcedony would never get rid of Rustie now. Though she usually preferred to be alone, Rustie was so innocently kind and enthusiastic, she couldn't help liking her. She smiled.
'All we need now is a tent. I guess we'll find one in Gateon Port.'
'Can you swim? I sure can't. I'm gonna need that ferry to Citadark Isle.'
'Had to learn for a role.'
'Ooh! So you've been in some movies?'
'Hardly. It was a student production that about 10 people – including the teacher – watched. The most exciting thing I've been in is Unovan Idiot. Not the original, obviously.'
'That's pretty cool. I love Blue Night. I felt a bit weird about the soundtrack because of Alfie, but... you really think he's a good guy now?'
'Always was. He didn't join Cipher willingly. Ardos threatened his son. Unlike Randal, who blames Alfie even though he was like "ooh, evil team! I don't get it, but I'll join!"'
'I actually don't know who Randal is.'
'The Galarian Admin. In charge of all the stuff that happened over there.'
The bus reversed to join a line behind a tourist coach to Eclo Canyon. Chalcedony had never visited, but like most of Orre, she was sick of hearing about the 'Big Ditch.' As they passed Hexagon Coffee, they saw Amber charge out in sewer worker's uniform. Her Charizard flew after her. She opened a manhole and climbed onto Charizard's back to dive in.
'She's definitely one-of-a-kind.'
'I guess if she likes Alfie, even though he nearly killed her dad, he can't be so bad. But what about Ardos? If he really is out there...'
'A guy was getting arrested for handing out Cipher flyers when I arrived.'
'Eek! Chalcedony... do you think they're back already?'
'Well, they do say you've only really beaten the Orre League if you've fought at least one Cipher Peon.'
'I don't want to! They scare me. Is it really possible...?'
'I guess time will tell.'