What's So Great About Second Love Anyways? {Pokemon Romance}

Chapter 2 - Why Does It Always Turn Out Like This?

"Oh, that's right!" said Ira, stopping in the middle of the road.

"What?" asked Elron.

"There's someone that I need to say goodbye to before I leave."

He shrugged. "Alright, I guess we can drop by."

"Great!" she said, doing an about-face and walking a different path.

She lead him back into the sea of concrete and towering buildings that was Castelia City, and after a while they arrived at a big futuristic building, with its almost entirely glass side recently cleaned and its metal bones shining slightly in the sunlight. They walked forward, and the doors slid open to greet them.

Ira waved to the receptionist, who seemed to recognize her, and they went to the elevator on the other side of the floor. She pressed the button for the second basement floor.

When they stepped out, it was like they had arrived at the future itself. Computers with hundreds of small flashing light littered the room and machines of strange shapes and unknown purposes were scattered throughout. She snuck up on a man that was alone and hunched over a circuit board, referencing paper blueprints to figure out what was wrong.

"Hey Lyne!" she said.

The man jumped a little, then turned around. "Oh, Ira!" he said with a smile. He was a not particularly tall freckled man with brown hair, and his glasses without the top rims peered with enlarged glances at the world around him. His lab coat was a little worn, as were the rest of his work clothes, but it seemed like the lab itself and his paperwork had their own senses of chaotic organization and were in perfect condition. "What's up?"

He saw Elron with her and his hands fidgeted a little, as if he had something to be afraid of.

"You won't believe it, but I'm about to go out on a pokemon journey!" she said gleefully.

"Really?" he asked with disbelief. "You can hardly take care of yourself in the city, how can you expect to do so out in the open world?"

"Well, I managed to get Elron here to let me come with him!"

Lyne's heart skipped a beat. This can't be happening! he thought to himself, internally in turmoil. I never thought that she would actually find him! He straightened his glasses to fake confidence and strided up to Elron. "Can we talk for a minute?" he managed to squeeze out.

Elron looked at him curiously. "Sure?"

"Okay."

Lyne and Elron moved just out of earshot of the clueless Ira.

Truthfully, Lyne didn't want to say this, and there were a hundred thousand other things that he would rather say, but he knew that he couldn't think selfishly here. His heart fell as he faced his reality and pushed forward. "Listen, I don't know why you would let her go with you, but promise me that you'll take good care of her!"

"That's it? I mean, yeah of course."

Elron's blank expression and reaction ticked Lyne off a little. Is he acting like this isn't a big deal? Or is it maybe not actually important to him?! He managed to keep his internal conflict internal. As a man of science, he tried his best to not let his emotions take control of him. He spun around and went back to Ira.

"What were you guys talking about?" she asked.

"Nothing, just a little man to man talk," Lyne replied.

I assume you are the "little man" in that expression then, Elron retorted in his head.

"Hey Rotom! Come out for a second!" Lyne yelled into the laboratory.