Desolate [Pokémon Arven x Protagonist]

Time to Think About What's After

A lot of students had to take at least one biology class. It was an absurdly important class considering we had to take it three days a week instead of the usual two days for core classes and one day for electives. There were over a thousand different Pokémon, not including their variations and different forms. I had spent all my time studying the names and types of all the Pokémon, not ever focusing on the differences as Nemona had me bring up. Nemona shared the class with me. She waved at me as I entered the room. I waved back, but I remembered my obnoxious lie I had told her about catching one of each Pokémon. That would take an entire thousand Pokéballs. I didn't think I had nearly enough money for a thousand. I only had my six I had planned for my team. The Pokéball belt only held six after all. Plus, in all battles, it was an illegal play to use more than six. Why would I ever need a thousand? Where would I store them? Would Nemona ever be suspicious of where I kept my alleged collection?

I didn't want to seem rude by avoiding her, so I sat beside her in the front as I usually did. "I don't think we ever finished the phone call," she said, playfully punching my arm. "I think your phone shut off or connection issues?"

I rolled my eyes. "You could stop messing with me, Nemona."

"No! I need to know who it is now!" She gasped then whispered, "Ooh! Is it someone in the class?"

"No, I don't have any classes with him," I foolishly clarified.

"Hmm.... Really narrows it down there," Nemona thought.

Jacq began his class, delving into the variety of Ancient Hisuian variants of our modern Pokémon, how they were different back then, and how they came to be the way they are in the present. I doodled as I listened to help me focus. Beside me, Nemona was taking notes religiously. I loved how passionate she was about achieving her dream. I looked down sadly at my illustrations of Numel and her male counterpart with a smaller hump. I still couldn't tell if my passion was because I really did care about my Pokémon or because I was working with an attractive, single man. I felt guilty in either circumstance.

I started working on a drawing of Koraidon. He took a bit of a while because of his complex shape and scales. He was such a powerful creature. He had a lot of muscle he hadn't shown me yet. Once we found the two remaining Herba Mystica, I was sure he would be an unstoppable member of my team. What would come of that after? What came after the adventure?

Lugosi, I'm so happy I met you.

I smiled fantasizing about the stress of caring for a broken partner being lifted, finally seeing him happy all the time. I could imagine how beautiful he would be once Mabosstiff was back on his feet, running around and having Arven struggle to chase after him, being gifted a second life. I grimaced.

Again I'm thinking about him.

I hadn't realized I hadn't been paying attention at all to the lecture until I looked up and saw the chalkboard littered with scattered writing. I glanced over at Nemona's page. She was already a sheet through, and all I had were tiny doodles around the title: Hisuian Pokémon.

"Could you send me a picture of your notes?" I asked Nemona once class was dismissed. "I kinda dozed off."

"Woah, you never sleep through class. Are you okay?" Nemona seemed genuinely concerned.

I shrugged it off. "It's nothing crazy. I was just thinking about... stuff." That was a dumb thing to say. Now she'll know I was thinking about him.

"The guy?"

There was no point in trying to lie my way through this one. I sighed. "Yeah, I was thinking about the guy."

Nemona fluttered in a childish glee. "Right! I forgot we were talking about that!"

"You were asking about him, yes," I corrected.

"I still wanna know who he is. If you're not paying attention in class, it'll make you feel better telling me your secrets," she persuaded.

I groaned. "I just wanted the notes for today."

"Heh, heh, heh!" Nemona schemed. "I'll make you a deal. You get the notes; I get the secret."

"No! Nemona!" I scolded her, frustrated.

"No secret; no notes!"

I wagged a finger at her. "You're a terrible friend. I'll ask someone else." As I walked towards the door where everyone had left, Nemona hopped alongside me, pestering me.

"Was I right about the eyes? How cute is he? Is he muscular?" She chimed. I growled, but I remembered when I held his arm and admired the muscles hidden beneath. I felt it now on my fingers. I remembered when I woke up from my delusions to him holding my hand with the most caring, worried stare, asking me if I was okay. It tickled my stomach thinking he cared about my well-being. I imagined what it would be like if he held me like that again but with his arms around me. How strong would my feelings get?

"You're blushing!" Nemona squealed. "You're totally blushing! He is muscular isn't he? Man, I bet he's a hunk of a guy to have someone like you after him."

"If I give you a hint, will you let me use the notes?" I offered. Nemona thought for a moment before sealing the deal. I sighed, defeated. I listed through anything I could tell her that wouldn't reveal too much but would suffice as a fair trade. "He's definitely not a senior. I've never seen him before during the senior assemblies. He has to be a year younger, but he's surely our age."

Nemona placed her hands on her hips. "Hmph! You gave me a lot to think about, but I'll send you those notes when I get back to my dorm, okay?"

"Yeah." Nemona skipped away, satisfied, ideas buzzing around her already lively brain. When she was out of view, I let go of my breath, gasping. My cheeks immediately felt hot and my stomach trembled. I was smiling and fighting it back sporadically. I didn't think I'd be able to hold in my secret any longer. I wasn't exactly sure why I was so worried about her knowing. Yes, Nemona's hyper energetic and persistent demeanor would clash dangerously with Arven's more serious and somber personality, but maybe the contrast would help him. She was the most determined person I knew to train her Pokémon as strong as possible. Was I selfish to not care to invite her along?

My heart was thumping thinking about him again. I wanted the best option for him, but both ideas had me paranoid. If Nemona came, we could knock out all the titans in no time but I felt like she would somehow offend Arven in his situation by not understanding how badly this all meant to him and turning the whole thing into some kind of competition or a journey about herself. On the contrary, I didn't know if the Herba Mystica would wear off. Mabosstiff and Koraidon had eaten a different variation once a day, but now we were on hold for almost a week. What if everything wore away. Maybe we needed Nemona. I just couldn't decide.

What I could decide was that I was going to find myself a dark-type after classes were over for the day. Then, I'd have the rest of the evening to strengthen my existing team. I should be ready for both circumstances. For now, I decided to keep the two apart. Eventually I'd let her know... if anything comes of the crush. Otherwise, why would I stress my friendships with either person? I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up. Especially Nemona. If she found out, she'd do all that she could to make it happen. I loved her as a friend, but sometimes she was a little insensitive.

As I walked towards my next class, I looked through my rotom phone for dark-type Pokémon ideas, careful not to bump into anyone.

Lokix, houndour, umbreon is pure, stunky, zorua, maschi—

Something hurt inside me. Maschiff was a pure dark-type Pokémon which I wanted, but they were the pre-evolution of mabosstiff. I couldn't bring myself to remind Arven of what he used to have before his life suddenly deteriorated into nothing. The only other dark-types I could think of were umbreon and zorua, but both were difficult to obtain.

I then remembered Penny's fascination with eevee. I wondered if she had any idea on how I could get my hands on an eevee. I quickly texted her outside my classroom:

Hey, Penny! It's me, Lugosi. I'm trying to have an umbreon for my team, but I'd need to find an eevee first. Any ideas?

I set my phone to silent before entering the room, trying my best to pay attention this time.