At least Chalcedony found Gateon Port's branch of Hexagon Coffee. She knew the barista, Bianka. They both attended Pyrite High School. Her Psyduck once one-hit KO'd Salandit. It was no surprise that she made it as far as Zane, but he must have been strong if she couldn't beat him. None of that stopped her misspelling her name as 'Charlie.' It happened wherever Chalcedony went. Yellosix called her 'Chase.' Once, at a gas station on the way to Unova, she was 'Charles.'
Bianka gave her directions to a laundromat. The washing machines looked and sounded questionable, but the forgotten bottle of luxury detergent she found under the bench would blast the smell out of their clothes.
Metal soles clipped the floor. A girl as pale as her clothes were deep black, with shimmering crescent moons clipped to her pile of dyed hair, emptied a backpack into a washing machine. She sat beside Chalcedony.
'Nice boots. And hair.'
The accent that replied wasn't Orrean. Was it Unovan? Chalcedony couldn't quite place it.
'Thank you. I like your boots, too. And your hair.'
'I'm what happens when you like blue as much as black.'
'Were you... in Unovan Idiot?'
Chalcedony blinked. Someone recognised her? From Unovan Idiot, not the strip club? Maybe she was one of the creepy Blue Night fans who followed anyone they hoped might be connected to the band... but she glanced at her phone like she had things to do.
'Yeah. In Sunset City.'
'I saw you. You were great.'
'Wow! It's a small world. Thanks! What do you do?'
'I'm a talent scout.'
'Oh... really?'
'Or an aspiring talent scout, at least... but there aren't many opportunities... or talented people... out here.'
'I think we've got our share of talented people. What we lack is the ability to promote them. But that's gonna be your job, right?'
'Yeah. If I ever make it, maybe I can get you somewhere.'
'What made you come to Orre, of all places? You're not from here, right?'
'I was dating an Orrean guy and got offered a job at ONBS, but...'
Her turquoise eyes scanned a text. 'Sorry. I have to go. Are you on Rotogram?'
'You can Roto-Search me. I'm the only Chalcedony Nedali.'
'Well, it was nice to meet you... Chalcedony. I'm Ruby Jane. Maybe we'll meet again some time.'
Chalcedony's laundry was washed and dried before Ruby Jane returned for hers. If she wanted to get anywhere near the entertainment industry, she too was chasing an unattainable dream as long as she was in Orre. Maybe Chalcedony should have pointed that out, or maybe she didn't need to. When Ruby Jane followed her on Rotogram, she saw that she already had 12,843 followers. Two more people followed Chalcedony purely because she did. Was there any chance she would 'make it' and give Chalcedony a chance? She seemed to be well on her way. Hoping was dangerous. Why don't I ever learn my lesson?
She didn't return immediately to the Pokémon Center. Just thinking about the Boltund to Unova made her crave a blast of fresh air, even if Gateon Port's sea breeze did carry a vague scent of fuel. Communal fishing rods were lined up on a pier. Chalcedony inserted a P200 bill into a machine to release one. A vending machine sold bait.
There was only one other person, an old man, fishing. Chalcedony sat on the opposite side of the pier. A Water-type Pokémon wasn't what she needed to take down Emili's Electric-type team, but it would certainly come in handy against Cassia, Justy and the Elite Four member who replaced Lovrina.
Lovrina... no-one took Theta seriously when she insisted her mom didn't kill Fire Agate, but what if she really didn't? What if she was sitting in the Pokémon Center? Lovrina intended to kill her, didn't she? So why would she let her live? Chalcedony's P★DA had switched itself off again. She managed to revive it. Before she could attempt to load Roto-Search, something tugged at her fishing rod. She clumsily reeled it in. The Magikarp sailing over her head brought with it a curtain of fishy sea water. She was soaked. Servine, enjoying the sun beside her, knocked Magikarp out. She threw it back in. Something else bit seconds later. Chalcedony wasn't fast enough. It snatched the bait and swam away. The old fisherman yelled. Someone was swimming in there.
'Sorry, bro!'
A towering, muscular boy still wearing his too-tight Gym Challenger's uniform – #94 – emerged from the water. He didn't bother swimming to the steps. He just climbed one of the poles suspending the pier and lifted himself up.
'Y'all fishing?'
Chalcedony raised an eyebrow. 'What do you think?'
'Yo! You were at the opening ceremony!'
He thrust a damp hand at her. His huge fingers almost crushed hers when she reluctantly shook.
'Name's Dirk! Number 94! This is my partner...'
Chalcedony expected a Machamp, although to the disappointment of jocks everywhere, they were yet to be introduced to Orre. What else did douchebros train? Aggron? Skarmory? The Pokémon that leapt from its Beast Ball was little and timid.
'Poliwag!'
'Did you catch that in there?'
'Nope! We've been together since I was just one – 19 years! We were trainin' in there. There's a bunch of Ace Trainers and Veterans guarding the way to Citadark Isle, so naturally, I challenged 'em!'
'Did you win...?'
'Nope, but it was close! How're you doin'? Wanna take us on?'
The grumbling fisherman stood. He shoved his rod back into the rack and left. Chalcedony wanted to catch something decent, but if there was anything left in there, Dirk's shouting had probably scared it off...
'One-on-one? Or do you have another Pokémon?'
'I sure do! I'm not tellin' ya who it is yet, but I'm warning ya – she's tough!'
Chalcedony wondered if he was some idiot who didn't know he was using a Shadow Pokémon. She sent out Rotom to join Servine. Poliwag stared them down. Its teammate was... Weedle. She was pretty sure Dirk's battles with the Trainers guarding Citadark Isle weren't 'close.'
'OK, Servine! Leaf Tornado! Rotom! Thunder Shock!'
Poliwag went down before it could attack. Weedle looked terrified. Even with sticky String Shot momentarily glueing its limbs to its body, Servine was faster. Weedle was squeezed by Wrap. Rotom's Thunder Shock knocked it out. Dirk had no more Pokémon.
'Damn! And we were so close!'
He scooped unconscious Poliwag and Weedle into his huge arms.
'It's not you guys! It's me! Oh. Here's your prize money, Charlie!'
'Chalcedony.'
He gave her P3,500. That made it worthwhile.
'You must be real tough to beat us! You won't have any trouble gettin' your Machine Badge!'
That wasn't exactly reassuring coming from Dirk, but she appreciated his genuine enthusiasm.
'Thanks. Have you got yours yet...?'
'We're gonna challenge Emili tomorrow!'
'I guess I will, too.'
'Sick! Y'all drivin' to Agate?'
'I've only ever had one driving lesson. I hit Cail's car. I'll take the Boltund.'
'My new car is super-sick! Well, it's actually my dad's, but it's still sick! Need a lift?'
'Erm... maybe. I'll see what my friend wants to do. She has a Pokédex, so she might want to explore a little more.'
'Yo! She must be real smart! Maybe I'll hang around to get some tips off of y'all! See you at the colosseum!'
Chalcedony was pretty sure it would take Dirk a while to defeat Emili, so even if they wanted a lift, it wouldn't matter how long they stayed in Gateon Port. There was silence once he ran off. She returned to her fishing rod. Nothing was biting. She took her P★DA back out. It was slow, but remained on. Man, I need to replace this Shite 100. Roto-Search laboriously loaded. Before she could type anything, a Rotogram notification froze the P★DA completely. Maybe she wasn't meant to question Fire Agate's death. Rustie didn't want to know, even if it was true, after all.
She couldn't even restart the P★DA this time. Apologetic Rotom managed to shock it into switching off. Water sloshed. Chalcedony cast it aside to grab the fishing rod. She frantically reeled. Rotom narrowly dodged the Tentacool that flew at them.
'Go on! Thunder Shock!'
It zapped Tentacool off the pier and back into the water. That was anticlimatic. The same Tentacool returned for revenge a few minutes later. Rotom knocked it out again. Another Magikarp was reeled in. A Remoraid. Maybe Tentacool sought reinforcements, because a Tentacruel too strong for any of Chalcedony's Pokémon to fight alone leapt out with no warning. They teamed up to force it back in. There were no more Tentacool for a while. After she threw a third Magikarp back in, the water was still. She picked her P★DA back up. She knew it was letting Rotom in that broke it, but it also managed to zap it back into life. The offending notification was Dirk following her. Of course it was. She hardly knew him, but she already knew that was 'So Dirk™.'
Two more Magikarp came. Something else ran off with the bait. Chalcedony had invested too much time into this to settle for a Magikarp. She at least wanted a Gyarados. She stood to buy more bait from the vending machine. Rotom lightly zapped her.
'Hey! What was that for?!'
Something tugged at the rod. She ran back. She expected whatever it was to be gone, but it reeled smoothly in. A Clauncher splashed onto the deck.
'Ah-ha! Capture on! Rotom! Thunder Shock!'
She panicked that the super-effective move might knock Clauncher out, but it was stronger than Rotom. It was only paralysed. Its Vise Grip didn't affect Rotom. It got in another Thunder Shock before it was blasted back by Water Gun. Chalcedony threw a Poké Ball. It rolled and shattered. Servine darted to block Clauncher falling back into the water. Flail didn't affect Rotom, either. Chalcedony threw another Poké Ball. Clauncher burst out. Paralysis slowed it down too much to move before she tried a Great Ball. Her stash of Balls from Jovi was dwindling. The Great Ball shattered. Another Vise Grip passed straight through Rotom. Chalcedony threw her fourth Poké Ball. It rolled and finally clicked.
'Hi, Clauncher! Let's get you to the Pokémon Center!'
Rustie was asleep on the table when Chalcedony rushed up to the counter. She only stirred when the bag filled with laundry shook the table as Chalcedony dumped it down.
'Oh... how long have I been sleeping?'
'Did you learn anything interesting?'
'Emili – like all our Gym Leaders – uses four Pokémon. Emolga, Raichu, Tynamo and Pachirisu. She could send them out in any order, though. I got distracted reading an awful story about how some woman stalking Leon Fayed maimed her Boltund...'
'I heard about that. April Schultz?'
'That's the one. Did you find a laundromat?'
'Yeah. Clothes all clean and dry. I caught a Clauncher, too!'
'Oh! Cool! Can I meet them?'
Chalcedony released Clauncher onto the table. It wasn't impressed about being pulled out of the water. Its claw jabbed Rustie's arm when she stroked it.
'Hey!' Chalcedony scolded, 'That's not nice, Clauncher!'
'Don't worry. She'll soften up.'
Rustie peered around Chalcedony at excitable Rotom. 'How are you, Rotom?'
'We battled this... I feel bad calling him a "douche," because he's not a bad dude, so I'll just call him a "bro." Dirk.'
'Oh, he's a challenger, too, right?'
'Yeah. He offered us a lift to Agate Village.'
'Ooh! I don't care how douche-y he is – I'll take a lift if it means we can stop to meet Pokémon!'