I froze at the spot when I saw the small fox Pokémon looking up at me. My feet couldn't move, as I am already so close to the little creature staring at me in wonder
"Hey.." Shauna slowly stood up. My eyes stayed on the Pokémon with its tail wagging "I'm Shauna...We met earlier when you arrived, remember?" I could finally take my eyes off the Pokémon and looked at her nervous smile "N-Nice to meet you!" My constant stare was making her shake "W-What did you say your name was again?"
"It was Sophia, was it?" The tall guy with a short pony tail smiled "I can't believe you don't remember! It's nice to meet you! I'm Tierno, and this is Trevor right here" he pointed at the short stuff with red hair beside him. I scoffed at him, making him and Shauna flinch a bit.
From the corner of my eye, the guy in the red hat chuckled with a happy smile and opened a seat for me before taking a seat next to Shauna, who was staring at him in complete shock "Please sit, we have important matters to discuss about Serena's disappearance" I furrowed my brows confused "We usually come here from time to time to discuss the progress of the search"
"It's been a month since her disappearance and this little huddle of yours isn't doing a thing?" I crossed my arms "you guys better have something good or I'm leaving" everyone frowned at each other
"I couldn't find anything..." Shauna looked down
"Neither could we... to tell the truth" Travis frowned with Terno. I rolled my eyes and turned my back
"Just as I thought. This was a waste of my time. Don't worry about finding her anymore. It's going to be my job from now on" I looked at Red Hat standing up
"You haven't heard what I have to say" I turned to him, looking all serious. What's with this guy? "You say you're going to find her on your own? What do you know about this region anyways?" I was taken back a little "What exactly do you even know? Since you just got here" I groaned and faced him completely, ready to snap, but kept my cool
"Nothing! My own mother hasn't even told me about Serena going missing! I had to find out on my own when she stopped calling me! I had to find out on my own about everything!" I pushed myself to calm down "I went through a lot, having to do things on my own. I never rely on anyone for help, so I don't care what you have to say. Your information might be useless for all I know. Anyways..." I tried to flip my hair, but forgot that I had a scarf on "I don't have time for any of this... if you don't have anything useful to say, don't bother me..." I took a deep breath and backed away from everyone before turning around and head back home. Something called towards me, something that stopped my feet from moving
"Huh..?" I looked down to see the fox Pokémon jumping off the table and walking towards me slowly. I panicked a little inside and found my feet moving away on their own. Red Hat guy came over to pick it up and faced me. I couldn't take my eyes off the little creature.
I remember seeing it for the first time behind the screen when Serena was showing it to me, telling me that her Pokémon had a egg. She begged me to keep it and have her send it over to me all the way to Sinnoh. Not only is it illegal to transport Pokémon that don't belong in a region's environments, it may cause disease if the Pokémon doesn't adapt to the new agriculture. Even if there are ways to take care of that situation, I kept telling her it's too risky in order to prevent her from finding out that I'm terrified of any Pokémon that isn't artificial
"This little guy seems to like you, not even caring that you have a bad attitude" Red hat guy smirked. I glared at his remark "this is Fennekin. It belonged to Serena before she went missing. This little guy is the only evidence of where she disappeared" my eyes widened. He offered his hand again "you shouldn't go empty handed. We know much more than you do. If your mom hasn't told you of the disappearance yet, I'm sure you're not going to get anywhere with the information you have now. Let's help each other out" I stared at his hand, trying to hold a glare. I was just uncertain...
"I-I don't need help" I bit my lips
"There's nothing wrong with asking for help. We want to find her just as much as you do, you know? It doesn't have to seem off as help, we can work together"
"You don't get it..." I looked back at the Fennekin looking at me with eyes full of hope. I hate asking people for help, I really do. I did everything all on my own. I can't rely on anyone to help me with anything. But... since I don't know much about this region or have the slightest clue where she was last seen, I don't have any other choice. This is for Serena, not me "fine..." I sighed, looking down for a moment to regain myself and look at him dead in the eye "I'll accept your offer, but remember that I'm not here to make friends. This is strictly business" he raised the hand he was still offering to make it official. I groaned to myself and took his hand, making a stern shake, not removing my eyes with his calm ones.
I did remember Serena telling me something about this guy. I wish I remembered now that I'm in front of him. He doesn't seem affected by my attitude and looks like he's the brains of the group... maybe. If he doesn't already annoy me, I can already get use to him. It's strange, but being close to him, something almost seems identical
"Now that we are a official team!" He smiled brightly. I could feel the vain on my forehead popping in annoyance "let's get to business! I'm Calem, by the way! I think you should head back to your mom later. If it wasn't obvious, she's pretty stressed out. Let her know about our search! Or at least the adventure up ahead" He told me. I nodded, understanding that already. His name... Calem. I remember now. Serena told me he's the mysterious and serious type who can watch a whole herd of Tauros running his way and not freak out. He knows how to handle situations in a calm manner and is quite intelligent. She said we'd... be a perfect match. What ever that means...
"Calem huh? I recognize the name" I said as a matter of factly. He looked at me confused
"What's that suppose to mean?" I smirked and stood on the back of my feet, teasing him
"Nothing, I just remember what my sister said about you" his face looked more confused
"She talked about me?" He blinked a few times, like he didn't have a understanding on what I just said "What did she say..?" I snorted and looked back at everyone staring at us. Shauna looked very unsure about this whole decision on letting me team up with them. She did see me without my scarf. I wonder what's going on in that head of hers. Serena didn't tell anyone she had a twin, only a sister. So to see that I looked exactly like her must had still freaked Shauna out. I might have to talk with her about staying shut
"You don't have to worry about that. Ask her when we find her. Now" I held my hips "if we're done here, I'm going back to my walk" nobody said anything. I just nodded and walked away. Fennekin wiggled out of Calem's arms and hurried towards me. I gasped loudly and ran as fast as I could to get away from it
I don't know how long I ran. All I knew was that I was following Z back home and slammed the door closed, scaring mom over at the couch when watching tv
"You're back! I was getting worried" I calmed my breathing and watched her walk over to me in a hurry to grab my face "You're not hurt, are you? Your cheeks are all red! And the rest of you got pale!" I touched my face confused. As I did this, Calem somehow appeared in my head
"I was out on a run, is all" I lied
"You look panicked!" I took her hand to remove her from my face
"I can say the same thing about you" I raised my brow "Are you okay? Is there something you want to talk about?" Her face suddenly went pale
"N-No! I-I don't know what you're talking about" she cleared her throat, calming down "I guess I overreacted. You just got here to the region, so its natural for me to worry about you getting lost"
"Z is smart enough to help me with directions mom. I'm okay" she nodded, looking down. To avoid the awkwardness, I decided to bring up what Calem told me to do "so anyways..." I turned my back "I met Serena's friends today"
"Oh! Did you?" She gasped "did they say something... out of the ordinary?" I rolled my eyes at her panic voice, like she didn't want them to tell me what's going on. It's only a matter of time, mom
"Well... they are pretty ordinary kids" I admit "they didn't really express themselves to me. As I figured" I shrugged "I don't let anyone express themselves in front of me. They're either too scared of me or... yeah, that's it" I thought for a moment "except for that Calem guy. He's quite the character. He didn't seem afraid of me at the slightest"
"I don't think everyone in the world is going to be scared of you, dear" she sweat dropped
"Only the very ordinary people... Calem was certainly not ordinary" Why am I talking about this again? It made mom smile widely to a point where she was holding her blushing cheeks in pain. I flinched at this sight "W-What are you doing..?"
"Does my little girl have a crush?!" She gasped. I backed away, feeling creeped out over her excitement
"Y-You're kidding... right?" Me? Having a crush? And on Calem? I don't even know the guy "mom... there's more issues around here than me having a crush... Which I do not have! That's ridiculous!" She crossed her arms, amused, starting to laugh a bit. My eyes lightened up when I saw her laughing. It's like the stress just suddenly lifted from her body. Mom...
"I'm sorry! It's just so cute that... I'm sorry!" She held her stomach "Its so cute!" My cheeks felt like they were on fire "I can't stop laughing"
"Mom!" I whined "stop laughing at me! I do not have a crush on Calem! That's disgusting! I'm not here to make friends!" Mom immediately stopped laughing. Something furry was rubbing on my ankle. I froze, feeling my face turning blue
"Sophie?" Mom furrowed her brows "What's wrong?"
"W-What's on my feet?" She looked down and picked up the Fennekin from earlier. It caught up to me!?
"Oh! It's Serena's Pokémon! I thought it was in the hands of Shauna? She was suppose to be taking care of it" I forced a solid face so she couldn't see the fear on my expressions "What's it doing here?"
"I guess it followed me here" I let out the breath I was holding and remained as calm as possible
"Maybe it thinks you're Serena" I headed upstairs
"I doubt it. I was covered when I met the thing. It couldn't possibly think that"
"Why not? That scarf can't hide everything" I looked at her, then at Fennekin staring with joy in its eyes. I didn't know how to respond "Even if you look like Serena, this Pokémon can see through you. It likes you!" I shook my head, wanting her to drop this conversation
"I'm not Serena, mom! I don't want that thing!" I snapped "I don't care if I look like her. I can never be her! We're nothing alike, and that thing is not going to accept me as a trainer, knowing how I am!" I huffed, calming myself. That was a little extra. I only ever behave like this when I'm in discomfort "I hate Pokémon, mom! I always had! And I always will!" Fennekin looked crushed. I looked away fast and ran upstairs to my room
Z floated over to my bed, giving me a disappointing cry. I shook my head and sat down "I don't have time to make friends... I'm not here to have a Pokémon journey and be the very best. All I care about is my sister" I pet Z's head "don't take what I said the wrong way. You're different..." I closed my eyes "I like different"
Z doesn't have self emotions, meaning it's feelings doesn't concern itself, so it didn't feel bad that I said I hated Pokémon. My dad knew a scientist and that scientist created Z with his own two hands. It's a man made Pokémon and gifted to dad. I inherited Z after he passed away... many Pokémon, even if they're artificial, make their way to create bonds with the person they became owned by. I expected Z to neglect me as soon as it became in my possession. The opposite happened... it accepted me, even if it didn't know me at the slightest
I removed my scarf and laid on my bed, exhausted "I can't believe I'm going to team up with those kids" Even if they're pretty much in the same age group as me, if they don't meet up to my expectations, they're simply children "I have no choice... Calem isn't going to give me information that easily. He's smart" I sat up "I don't want to receive help from anyone, but it is for my own safety that I at least follow the ones who know the way around. Especially when they know more about Serena, traveled with her, and even know where she was last seen" I cupped my face "I can... just ask people for clues, but I need to keep a low profile" I stood up to walk into the restroom in my room and stared at my bright blond hair and bright blue eyes
"I know nothing and yet I came all this way... What am I doing?" I stared into the sink "can I even help her? I... can't survive out there! There are Pokémon everywhere" I looked back at the mirror and found water falling down my cheeks. I flinched and looked at the ceiling "What is..?" I ignored it and quickly got rid of them by washing my face. Z made a worried sound and rubbed on my leg. I took a deep breath to put myself together and took a shower after a long day of being in planes and running from Pokémon
After a long shower, thinking about what gave me the drive to come all the way here even if back in Sinnoh I wouldn't leave my home to avoid Pokémon. I headed downstairs in my pajamas to see mom making dinner with Fennekin sitting on the counter, wagging its tail with every hand movement mom was making with the skillet
"Why is that thing still in here?" I asked in a harsh manner that often comes out on its own. Mom and Fennekin looked at me surprised. Fennekin's ears lowered when seeing the displeased look on my face
"It was Serena's Pokémon, after all" mom said with a straight face "I never knew you hated Pokémon so much, dear. Why didn't you tell me?" I was infuriated by that question
"Look who's talking" I grind my teeth "don't talk to me about not telling you something. Are you hiding something from me?" She was shocked at my come back, about to say something, but quickly stopped and looked down all sad
"W-well..." she played with her fingers nervously. I sighed and moved her to the side so I can continue the cooking, pretending like Fennekin wasn't so close and staring at me
"The food will burn if you don't put your attention to it" I can feel her staring hard at my neck "Go sit down. I'll finish from here since I wasn't here to help from the beginning"
"I didn't know you could cook either..." I sighed, stirring the food like normally. Something was off with this food
"This is over cooked, mom..."
"Oh! Is it..?" Knowing she wasn't completely here due to what's been happening, I have to keep things stable until I can calm her down. I'm not doing a good job by talking down to her, so this is going to take awhile before the both of us can calm down
"Don't worry mom. I'm going to take care of you, so sit down and relax and I can massage your feet after dinner if you want" I started the dishes
"W-what..?" I sighed
"You heard me" I waved the wet spatula, only to accidentally throw water at her. She flinched on contact and started laughing. I only smiled at her jolly smile and continued getting everything ready
~~
Even if Sophia is heartless, she can find the care to take care of her distress mom and find her sister. Sophia really grew on me as the story progresses. I'm sure you'll love her! And Calem... what's his problem? What goes on in that mind of his. He's not scared of Sophia like others are. Let's wait and see!