Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 2: Time Will Tell

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?'