Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 52: The One

Drivers without permits couldn't enter The Under. Dirk had no choice but to nervously leave his dad's car in the parking lot.

'I guess Jet's scooter hasn't been stolen yet... that's good! Right?'

Zileh snorted. 'I think your car might be worth a little more, Dirk.'

The elevator juddered roughly down. It stopped. Rustie shrieked. They felt like they were falling when it abruptly rattled back to life. The burst of neon light was blinding. Everyone was watching Ivor's battle against Wyatt that played on screens at every street corner. Streets were quiet, but the bridge to the colosseum was crowded with food and merchandise stalls. A tourist information centre and housing association replaced the chainlink fence that once served as the town's jail. Apparently, there were tourists. Two Ace Trainers speaking Kantonian wandered from The Under Grand Hotel.

Chalcedony was as quiet as the dirty streets. She couldn't help wincing when she looked up at the screens. She left because she thought there was no future in Orre, yet she failed and Wyatt was the one who made it... but that wasn't really what bothered her. It was that she could have left without leaving him. He would have gone with her. Even if she hadn't wanted that, he would have waited. She chose to leave him behind. She couldn't escape, because she had to face him if she wanted to complete the Gym Challenge.

While her friends scoured the streets for Trainers, Chalcedony took their bags to check in to the hotel. They couldn't see a Pokémon Center. Zileh texted her a few minutes after she sat down on the bed to say she found it, but it didn't matter. Chalcedony didn't want to hear about how tough Wyatt was from everyone in the dormitory. At least the screen in the hotel bar was broken. They weren't showing the match. The bartender asked if Chalcedony wanted to watch on his P★DA.

'No, thanks.'

It was months since she last drank heavily. After two glasses of wine, the pale face that entered the bar was blurry; but Ruby Jane pulled out a chair to sit opposite her.

'We meet again.'

'Yeah.'

'Your battles sure are impressive. Not just because of how you've raised your Pokémon. You really put on a show.'

'You made it as a talent scount yet?'

'I'm getting there. I want to do it, obviously, because it's my dream... but I just want to get out of Orre at this point.'

'How'd you end up here again?'

'I moved to be with my boyfriend. I think you'll have met him by now... Jet Jorjadze.'

'Oh. He made out with my friend in an alleyway after knowing her for, like, 10 seconds. They didn't even speak.'

'That... doesn't sound like him.'

'A rebound, maybe? He doesn't really like her. He just left her on her own in Quartz Town because she traded my Raboot to some other dude.'

'Well, that sounds more like him. Abandoning people is his greatest talent.'

'One of my talents, too.'

'Oh, no. I can tell from a glance you're not like him.'

'That bad, huh? So what happened? Don't worry, I won't even remember tomorrow. I'm drunk already. I guess he was in Unova when his dad was Governor? No. That's way too long ago.'

'Yeah... he was studying geology there. But he quit, bitching about how Unova was "too expensive" and he was paying for a piece of paper, when he could "do actual geology" for less money in Orre.'