I stared at mom's Talonflame sitting a little too close to the dinner table where mom and I were having lunch together. She hasn't stopped talking about her Rhyhorn races she did the other day and how she got first place again 5 times in a row. I sat here wishing Talonflame didn't have to eat with us
"Honey, what's the matter? You haven't eaten your food" mom said. I looked down at the appealing looking sandwich she put together for me
"Uh... I'm just used to..." I peaked at Talonflame noticing my uncomfortableness "eating alone. This is kinda new"
"Eating alone? Do you ever eat with your dad?" I looked down further into my plate
"No... h-he's been away for a long while" mom scoffed
"Of course he is" she played with her salad annoyed "even after the divorce, he's still the same. He's never going to change"
"Yeah" I finally forced myself to ignore Talonflame and started eating "it never bothered me... I was always busy myself, as well. Can't really blame him" I could feel her staring at me
"How's the fashion line? I see you got yourself a really cute outfit on" I looked down at my blue waist skirt with a white sleeveless top and white shoes "it's not really your style" I chuckled at that response
"I know... but I don't design for myself. My agent told me to wear this if I wanted to come here and see you guys" I leaned back on my chair "Anyways, where's Serena?" She stared at me in the eyes, continuing to chew her food slowly so she doesn't have to answer. As soon as she finished, she just looked down, acting like nothing was wrong
"Oh, she's out traveling" I narrowed my eyes at her lies and stood up
"That's too bad. I'll stay here for a few days if that's okay" I took my plate "I'll eat this in the guest room" she stood after me
"What will you do after those few days?" I smiled a little
"You want to get rid of me already?" I joked
"N-no! You can stay here as long as you want! It's just that..." she looked down. I nodded, knowing it wasn't time to talk about it
"It's okay. I'm going to be here with you until you feel better" she looked up confused "I can see you're in distress"
"Is it that obvious?" I nodded "I'm sorry, I just have a lot-"
"You don't have to say it" I peeked over at Talonflame staring at me "I'll be up to unpack a little. It's good that I didn't need to bring a lot" I sweat dropped, knowing that wasn't true
"Yeah... for a designer, you sure didn't bring anything with you" All I did was nod and headed upstairs with Z. As soon as I entered this house, I could already feel a bit of my sister here. This is where she lived since we were separated. She lived in peace like she should have
My first instinct was to find her room, which didn't take long to find at all. Her name was printed in front of her door with paint. I wouldn't be surprised if she did the cursive. Everything she touches comes alive. She knew how to purify the world with her talents, something I don't have at all. I have to depend on my brain to save my life
The inside of her room smelled like it just got cleaned. Not a bit of dust was visible. Mom must clean this room all the time when Serena leaves. She must have done it recently since she likes to clean to clear her mind
I sat on her neatly made bed to eat and look at every detail of her room. Pictures of us were all over her body size mirror, and her closet had nothing but dozens of my designer shoes and clothes. I always send her the good things, the things that I haven't released or even told my agent about
Her bed was full of stuffed Pokémon of my home region and some from here that I haven't even seen before. I have a feeling I'm going to see a lot of new things here I won't be expecting
What caught me by surprise when I looked over at her desk was the laptop dad gave her for our birthday. I guess she didn't hate him enough to get rid of that thing... the hatred she and mom had towards him was the same reason why the family had to split up. It was the whole deal of him overworking and only coming home once a week. This brought distrust and they couldn't handle what they thought were lies he told. Knowing they hated him so much, it's the reason why I haven't told them he died 8 years ago
I opened the laptop and stared at the screensaver of our complete family on the screen before dad had to overwork himself to death. I took a deep breath and closed the thing, not wanting to wonder why I didn't know that my sister still had this picture
"Did you see that?" Mom asked behind me. I stayed in place, not looking at her "I already know you could see how much your father did to this family. You never talked when you were younger, but you and your sister had to watch everything your father and I went through"
"I don't want to talk about this" I said a little too softly for her to hear
"Your sister understood why I was mad, but you were always quiet and chose to stay with your father. I guess you still see the good in him" I looked down
"He was a good man... mom" I looked at her holding her arms with eyes full of hurt "you didn't believe in him, but I did" I sighed, shaking my head "I don't want to talk about this. We are not talking about this, understand?" I tried my best to not sound too stern but showed how serious I was about talking about him "it's in the past now. It doesn't matter anymore" my lips quivered a little "It doesn't matter anymore!" I accidentally raised my voice "so please, don't ever mention him again" her eyes were wide, shocked to see this side of me she never saw before
Before she left to Kalos, I rarely spoke. I would often have to go to therapy for those reasons, but it was no use. I never had a use to talk because I was always with my parents or my sister. They would often talk for me. I had no choice but to talk to the doctors in the hospital about dad's condition, and had to out speak myself, later using that skill in order to survive life on the streets before one of dad's friends, a fashion agent like him, found me and helped me find the place my dad spends his time in working and living in the company building to get things done. I owe my life to that man for saving me from the streets, but because of what I went through, I can still out speak myself and know how to defend myself when he tries to overwork me
"Sophia..." she cupped her mouth. I picked up the Pikachu doll I gave Serena for her birthday and walked out the room, careful not to crash into her shoulder like I do with everyone back home when I'm giving them my usual attitude. I walked into the room with B and Z already in the room together, that's across from Serena's room
"If you don't mind, I'm going to go on a walk later" I sighed, wishing I wasn't doing this to her when she's feeling depressed about Serena. She touched my shoulder gently
"Okay dear... I'm sorry I mentioned it. Be careful when you go out, okay? I'll be downstairs if you need me" I looked over at her gentle smile and gently closed the door behind me. Z was floating over my bed, looking at me in wonder
"I'm fine... help me fold my clothes" since I just dumped everything into Banette's mouth "This town doesn't look like there are any fashion scouts, so I can finally wear at least something comfortable" I held the scarf around my neck "although... I still have to hide under this scarf"
I finally finished the folding of what B had in its mouth portal with my casual and sleepwear. I threw on a white sleeveless shirt with big pink roses on the bottom edge and a peach colored skirt with white running shoes
Taking my time to find a headscarf to match my outfit, I threw on a sun hat to complete the look and headed out my room with my designer bag with B attached and Z next to me. Mom looked up from washing dishes and looked at me
"That's something Serena would wear!" She gasped in awe. I sweat dropped a little "I thought you said it wasn't your style"
"It's not" I dusted my skirt "sadly, my agent doesn't let me actually get the exact clothes I want on a normal basis, so I get to wear what's second best for me. I'm usually home so it doesn't matter sometimes. What he thinks is appropriate is it's too girly for me, but it's pretty comfortable, like how I usually make my clothes" I sighed, disappointed "don't wait up mom" I walked to the door
"Hold on! Why is your agent making decisions for you-?!" I closed the door on her. She wants to keep secrets from me about Serena's disappearance, I can keep secrets too. Only thing is, I have a good reason to stay shut
"She seriously thinks I'm going to open up her like that. If she's not going to tell me about Serena, why should I say anything at all?" I fixed the hair coming out my scarf and began walking to the fence full of farm Pokémon my mom often takes care of!
I might not have many emotions, but it always soothes me to watch Pokémon from afar. I could never be so close to them or even make contact. Nobody knows this about me, not even my own sister. I always stay home so I can avoid Pokémon altogether. Not that there's anything wrong with them, I just have quite the... uh
Putting that aside, I shook my head and followed the path of the fences to look over at many Pokémon as I can. Looking around, I start feeling myself getting pretty embarrassed that I can't get close enough to these Pokémon without wanting to move as far as possible.
I can't help but stare at the cute Mareeps playing around together, all fluffy and cute. I sighed in awe, wishing I can reach out to touch them. Serena told me that the Mareep are very open to people and are very cuddly. I wish I can at least try and put myself together
"How embarrassing..." I groaned, leaning on the fence "I need to stop trying if I know I'm just going to fail"
"Fail at what?" I calmly looked over to see one of Serena's friends standing there with sudden pink cheeks. I think his name was... well, who cares? I didn't care enough to remember the people Serena became close with. If I remembered all the friends she told me about, it'll probably be a best selling novel... not that I'll care to read it
"None of your business" I scoffed and walked away. Z quickly followed me and kept looking back, watching the guy in the red hat following us
"Hold on, you're walking too fast!" He said. I sped up my pace
"That's the idea, stop following me! You creep!" I glared, hoping he'll stop following me! He can't find out who I am already! I'm trying to stay hidden
"I'm not a creep! I'm your neighbor!" I stopped walking, hearing him out of breath. We weren't even running... I turned around to see him leaning on his knees "you walk really fast like you were running or something" well, running is a form of escape, and I do that a lot when I try to avoid people
"So what of it? Do you know me or something?" I crossed my arms. After he caught his breath, he stood back up and tried to take a good look at me. I lowered my scarf to cover my forehead just in case
"Shauna told me someone went into the neighbor's house, which is my friend Serena's house. Shauna went to talk to the owner and told me that Serena's sister came to visit. I want to welcome you to Vaniville town!" He smiled gently. I stared at him for a bit longer before turning away and continued my path "hey! Wait!"
"I appreciate the greeting, but I'm not interested. I don't have time to play with my sister's little friends"
"Little friends? We're all in the same age group! Not that far from each other, only a year less or older" he rubbed the back of his head "I'm a year older, and Shauna and the guys are 2 years younger than me. Serena is only a year younger, so how old are you?" Is he talking about the others that Serena traveled with across Kalos? Shauna must be that girl I met when I first came into the house. I wonder if mom mention I was a twin. I mean... Serena never said she mentioned it to anyone, only that she had a sister that looked a lot like her. She didn't make it seem like she had a twin. I told her to keep quiet, mainly because it wasn't anyone's business and no one should try to compare twins at the slightest. I know people enough to know they like to compare who's better than the other, which was her obviously
"That shouldn't be of your concern. We're in the same age group, isn't that enough?" I turned to him and held my hips. His eyes immediately focused on mine, staring hard and widened a little "Anyways, I don't need a greeting card. I don't care who you are. Leave me alone, got it?" he looked beyond confused
"I don't get it... I thought you were..." his eyes narrowed as if he was trying to get a better look at me again. They saddened in appearance and looked down. I blinked a few times in confusion before brushing it away and walk off
"Hey!"
"Leave me alone!" I glared "I'm not here to make friends!"
"B-but!" I lost sight of him shortly after yelling at him. I finally stopped and made it back to the front of my house. This wasn't how I wanted to take my walk... I guess I'll check out the town a sign directed with an arrow
To get to the next town, I had to walk a straight path through many trees filled with Pokémon playing around and resting. My entire body froze on the spot when seeing them
"Why are there so many of them..?" A hand gently touched my shoulder. I looked to see that it was the red hat guy
"So many of what?" I glared at his curiosity. Why does he keep showing up? This better be the last time "steps or something? You look like a city girl, so I'm sure you don't have to walk a lot, don't you?" He joked with a chuckle. I huffed and turned away
"Shows what you know... don't assume how I am just by looking at me. You don't know me" His eyes softened for a quick second
"Yeah... but I know enough to know that you have an attitude even when I was trying to be neighborly" he widened his smile, joking again. I sighed "Serena never told us how you act, looks like Shauna and I found out on our own" he crossed his arms
"Don't think I have any interest in getting to know you guys. Serena told me about you all, and I didn't really care for it. But I'm glad she at least got to have fun with you all" his smile faded slightly "you can think all you want about me, but I'm not here to make friends or have fun. I have important matters to attend to..."
"Did you hear what happen to her?" I stared at his serious face for a solid minute. Maybe if I talk to Serena's friends, I might have some clues on where I can start looking
"What do you know?" He made a close-eyed smile and chuckled
"It'll be rude to continue speaking without knowing each other's names, leaving out proper introductions"
"You already know my name, and I told you I'm not here to be friends!" I grabbed his collar and pulled him in "you're going to tell me what you know about my sister's whereabouts. I don't care if I seem off as rude, I want answers" he stared down at me calmly, looking directly into my eyes. I slowly let go of his jacket and backed away, feeling my body shaking all of a sudden. This feeling... what the fuck was it?
"Don't make this difficult... I just want to find my sister, and I don't care what I have to do to find her" he nodded and offered a hand, confusing me
"If you really want our help, you have to cooperate with us. We are also looking for her, but this is going to take time. It won't hurt to have another team member. Come with me... the rest of our group have gathered up for another plan to find Serena. Will you join us?" I stared at his hand, uncertain on why he was so calm when I was being rough on him. Normally, when I act this way towards others, they back off
"I'm not taking your hand" he closed his hand and pocket it calmly "but I'll see if you guys are worth my time" I looked around the route, still shaky about the Pokémon around "let's just head straight to this meet up. I have to get this over with..." I looked down "I have to see her..." I can feel him nod
"Well then" he took my hand and placed it on his arm "shall we?" I stared at him continuing to give me that smile of his. It was clear that he lacked a crease on his cheeks that it almost made him seem like he never smiled the way he's doing now
We walked the route quickly enough to make it feel like it didn't take much to pass through those creatures. We made it to the town I wanted to get to and could already see Shauna waving at us from a table with a few others I recognized from Selena's pictures
"Over here!" Debating whether or not I wanted to go there, the guy pulls me over to greet them. Instead of taking in the stares the kids were giving me, I froze at the sight of a little fox Pokémon staring directly at me