Chapter Text
"You sure are taking your sweet time to tell this story. We've been waiting for two minutes now." Mela grumbled, her arms crossed as she tapped her boot against the hard floor of the research building. Bea sighed.
"Apologies. I am... trying to remember all of the details." Bea replied, maintaining her stoic visage. Tierno chuckled.
"Hey, no rush, we got all the time in the world!" Tierno says, crossing his arms behind his head as Shauna and Trevor nods. Eventually, Bea takes a deep breath.
"As I said, this took place three years ago, when I first came here to become a Gym Leader, when I was around... fifteen years old." Bea said, her eyes drifting downwards.
"Fifteen, huh? You've been training for a long time!" Shauna said with a smile. Bea nodded.
"Yes, ever since I was young, but that's not important. The system for training Gym Leaders was mostly the same as it is now. I wasn't great friends with anyone, besides for a small rivalry with the boy who specialized in fire types. His name eludes me, but I do remember what Pokémon he had." Bea explained calmly. Mela held up a Pokéball.
"...This Larvesta? But it was a wild Pokémon when I found it." Mela questioned, glancing from the Pokéball towards Bea.
"As you've probably noticed, Larvesta has quite a thing for fighting. It attacks on sight, practically. This didn't meld well with its trainer's more... relaxed nature." Bea said, her eyes settling on the Pokéball in Mela's hand, the owner of which stared at it as well.
"So Larvesta's old trainer didn't meld well with it, huh? So why did it attack ya?" Mela asked, idly tossing tue Pokéball up and down. Bea sighs before responding.
"Larvesta became unhappy with its trainer and started running rampant. I was one of the trainers that had to help subdue the angry Larvesta. I wouldn't be surprised if it holds a grudge on me." Bea says, giving a half-shrug as she follows the Pokéball being thrown up and down with her eyes.
Mela catches the ball and stares at it. Eventually, her mouth contorts into a smirk.
"Don't worry! I'm a lot less laid-back than your last trainer was, Larvesta! I'll give you the fiery battles you're seeking... just, uh, not against people." Mela says towards the Pokéball. If Larvesta heard her, she couldn't tell.
Before anyone else could respond, the sounds of footsteps clanging against metal was heard. The group glanced over to the Normal Bridge, seeing Cheren walking down, deep in thought with a curious look on his face.
"Hey, Cheren, what's up? You see something interesting?" Trevor asks, waving towards Cheren. Cheren looks up and sees the group, glancing towards them and walking over.
"Yeah, you could say that. Speaking of, anyone wanna search for a potentially rare and elusive Pokémon with me?" Cheren asked, glancing around. Trevor's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Oh, do I ever!?" Trevor said in response, clutching his camera. Tierno and Shauna chuckled at Trevor's eagerness, although Cheren was caught a bit off guard by the sudden reaction. Following, Tierno and Shauna volunteered for it as well.
"Eh, I'll pass. I got some training to do." Mela said as she walked off. Bea nodded with a sigh.
"I will have to decline. I require rest after my bout of training. I do, however, have someone else who will be... well, maybe not happy to help, but he'll accept." Bea says before she steps aside, revealing Allister standing behind her.
"...How long have you been standing there?" Tierno asks, glancing towards the masked-boy with a curious look on his face. Allister adjusted the mask on his face nervously. Bea placed a hand on Allister's shoulder and nodded.
"O-only... a few... minutes." Allister said quietly. Tierno nodded with a smile. Mela raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, before offering a quick wave and walking off, murmuring something along the lines of "Hasta-la-vistar" or something similar.
"Alli, you should help them search for this rare Pokémon. They could use your help." Bea says assuredly. After a few seconds of silence, Allister reluctantly nods and steps towards Cheren and the group. Cheren was about to say something, but a sudden shouting voice cut him off.
"Waaaaiiiitttt! I wanna come toooo!" The voice of Bonnie yelled, nearly giving everyone a heart attack in the process. In no time at all, Bonnie was standing right next to them, a smile spread across her face. Soon, Lacey joined with a sigh.
"Hope you don't mind two more people joining you. I wanna see this Pokémon you were talking about." Lacey says with a smile. After shaking off his surprise, Cheren adjusted his tie before nodding.
"Alright, that makes seven of us. That should be more than enough. Follow me." Cheren says before he turns back towards the Normal Island, walking down the bridge that led to it, followed by the other six.
Bea watched them as they walked off, before glancing towards the horizon through a window. The sun was beginning to go down, which did activate her older sister instincts, as she didn't enjoy the idea of Allister wandering around at the dead of night... but she suppressed them, reminding herself that Allister vastly preferred the dark.
With a light smile crossing her face, Bea turned towards her room and went to go walk off, back towards her room, ready to rest for the night.