LIGHTNOVELONLINE B2 — 15. Conquering Fear Pt. 2
2:49 A.M. July 3, Friday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event)
Events: The Joint Kanto and Johto Indigo Summer League have concluded; Saria Surge has become the new Vermilion Gym Leader, converting it to a Fairy Gym. It will be open for challenges on the 10th.
Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June—she’s been a Trainer for 24 Days (23 officially; 24 since getting Maya and Nova).
Rhea blinked as the stomach gripping sensation of Teleport took them to the pier of Cerulean City; the weather was slightly overcast with dark clouds and teasing rain, compared to the relatively sunny morning they’d experienced within Samiya’s controlled environment.
Diantha waved them off, her Gardevoir keeping the Champion and her son hidden from view to not attract too much attention. Rhea was a little surprised at how likable the Kalos superstar was compared to her son; then again, he was awkwardly quiet and bashful while in her presence.
All of Jason’s hints about him going through his own Muk came up as they said their goodbyes to the mother and son pair. Obviously, Diantha was an extremely busy woman, and, by her admission, it seemed to have severely cut into her time with Lucian.
It did make her happy to hear the Champion moving away from acting and modeling for the near future to spend time with her family; in a way, she wished her own mother could have done the same—even if that wasn’t quite fair to her mom—and it helped Rhea empathize more with Lucian.
Looking at the well-dressed Kalos woman next to her suit-wearing son contrasted how she fantasized he’d grown up. Lucian had always been in the spotlight like Amira, and she could see why the two would cause friction with one another.
Amira could have a rather pointed tongue, as well, although it was usually in retaliation rather than starting an argument.
Thinking about the powerful, Legendary-tier Champion of Kalos, and her explanation as to her visit, brought Rhea’s thoughts to her aunt.
Len, Jason, Mallory, and Amira gathered around her to plan their next move as Rhea pulled out her phone to scroll through any updates; Bianca moved to the side to talk to her husband as he called, a giddy spring in her step, possibly excited to inform him of her new discovery.
“So,” Len began, eyeing the ships loading up to prepare for their voyages, “got any plans, Lori?”
“Mmh, yeah,” she shoved her thumb behind them in the direction of the inner city. “We gotta stop by the Center to grab some packages and do some stuff before meeting up with Cass; I think they gotta get ready—oh, hehe, Rhea, checking on the Alola boys—what are they up to?”
Amira pulled out her own phone to check her messages, glancing Rhea’s way to see what was on her projected hologram as Jason scooted in to watch.
“Eh, I did see a message from them, but no—my aunt’s in the Region… well, she was two days ago; I don’t know if she’d still be here, unless…”
Jason snickered, finishing her sentence. “Unless Gold, Red, or Leon challenged her—wait, didn’t Diantha say something about shopping or sightseeing?”
The conversation clicked in Rhea’s head. “Right… Yellow, Green, and Leaf dragged Blue into it.”
“Pfft…” Amira rolled her eyes. “More than likely, it was my mother’s idea, and I bet Kris is there, too.”
“Ohh,” Lori grinned. “They’re having their own girls’ time out! Champions and Legends need a break sometimes. Am I right?” Her eyes suddenly widened with a sparkle. “Wait, does that mean—hehe, is Iris involved in that if all the girls are getting out?”
Len’s lips lifted into a half-smile. “I mean, my mom’s had her on the fashion strip more than once, and she seems to love it; she had my mom help with the design of her formal Champion outfit, so I can see them having a good time.”
Recalling images of the current Unova Champion on the Gossip App, Rhea nodded. “Oh, so that’s her official outfit? It’s really cute—she’s like a dragon princess—and wait, Iris and Leon…”
Mallory and Len gave each other knowing looks.
“Hmm?” the Unova girl mused. “A gossip addict like you, Rhea—I bet you're wondering if Iris and Leon are related. Right?”
“Are they?” Jason questioned, glancing between them. “It’s a pretty popular rumor among the Masters.”
Amira lifted an eyebrow, vision momentarily drifting to Rhea. “I thought you would know that answer since your grandfather is such a huge fan.”
“It’s never really come up in conversation,” Rhea shrugged. “Is she? I mean, that’d be really cool if the Galar and Unova Champions are related.”
Mallory pulled up her own Pikabook to show private pictures of the Unova Elite 4 with Iris in the center with Leon behind her wearing his hat; all of them were doing his trademark pose—there was clearly some embarrassment on some faces. “Yup!”
She scrolled down to see more photos of Iris and Leon with someone else Rhea didn’t know at all; Iris was a lot older than she looked—the curse and blessing of high-tier Trainers growing too fast in their youth.
Len forced a chuckle. “Yeah, Caitlin can’t really handle the hyperactive cousins… especially when they get together—so, I don’t know if Iris would be with the boys or girls.”
“Could honestly be either!” Lori chortled.
Bianca soon rejoined them, looking bubbly. “Oh, talking about Leon and Iris? They’re such good cousins; hehe, but Hilbert kind of has trouble being with them—it always turns into a battle…”
“Wait,” Rhea grumbled, “did everyone know but me?”
Jason and Amira held up their hands in the not-informed party.
Mallory suddenly doubled over with laughter.
“What?” Rhea asked, blushing a bit.
“N-No! Not you—hehe, it’s just—I remembered this story Iris told me! Eh-heh—there was this time when they went to the top of the Reversal Mountains together, and Iris said she should have worn pants because it was cold—pfft… Had Leon spitting out his coffee!”
“Why?” Rhea questioned, looking to the others for the punch.
Bianca doubled over with laughter, face turning pink. “She—hehe! In Galar… pfft-hehe… In Galar, pants are—are underwear!”
“Underwear?” Rhea mumbled; a smile and laugh soon followed after replaying the tale. “He thought… Haha!”
Jason forced an awkward chuckle. “Eh-hah, yeah, not something you want to picture on your cousin…”
“Anyways,” Amira waved her hand, “we got to hit the Center and get ready for the club; you boys gonna get dressed up?”
“I… don’t really have anything else,” Jason muttered, looking down at his Training gear. “Do I really have to get some stuff?”
“Yeah, man!” Len smacked his shoulder with the back of his hand, drawing his attention. “We’ll be grabbing some new threads; by the way, I’ve been teachin’ Lucian and Jason how to shuffle, Lori.”
“Oh?” She gave them an inquisitive look as Bianca’s face blanked.
“Shuffle?”
Taking the opportunity to tease her cousin as Lori inspected Jason with a smirk, Rhea leaned in to whisper. “Way to get behind the times, cuz—married life in the mountains turning you into an old lady?”
“Huh?!” Bianca gave her a dirty look. “Old lady, am I? Show me what this shuffle dance is—I’ll have it down in no time—I dance with Hilbert at least once a month.”
Mallory looked away, clearly not finding that impressive with her track record. “Eh-yeah! We can do some practice while we find a good outfit. Catch ya later, Len, Jason!”
“Totally!”
“See ya, Rhea!”
“Yeah! Lori’s been showing us how to shuffle, too. Want to see who’s better?”
“Ah, a competition?” Jason snickered. “You’re on—amature shuffle hour!”
Feeling a little better having Jason there to act the fool with her, she laughed as they split apart; Bianca still seemed a bit salty at her jab.
“Old lady… Pfft, who taught you the waltz, hmm?”
She didn’t know why it felt good to tease her cousin sometimes, but it did make her giggle.
Stepping closer to her cousin to put her arms around her, she giggled. “I know; I was just playing! What’s Hilbert up to?”
“Mmh… don’t change the subject—even with my amazing husband—what is this shuffle?”
“Lori?”
“Well, to be honest,” the Unova girl chuckled, breaking into a backward slide, “Shuffling can be mixed into a lot of different dancing styles, such as the moonwalk. There are all sorts of combinations and techniques, but the simple stuff is just the basic step.”
“Woah… wait, is this the new thing the kids are doing in Unova—” she choked at the self-implication. “I’m not old; I’m 26!”
“Hehe, yeah,” Lori mused, sliding around their slow-moving group as Amira played with her phone. “I suppose you could say I have a doctorate in the Unova shuffle, inventing a few popular moves myself!”
Bianca hissed, taking her phone out of her purse to show them. “It’s the MemeStar thing, right—the short video social media platform that’s been popular?”
“Mhm! I’ve posted a few things since our journey started; memes with our battles and the like—see, this one with Gables and Pewter Gym has 8 million views and 420k upvotes.”
Rhea reached over to find Lori’s account on her cousin’s phone. “It’s… here—you can subscribe to her stuff.”
“Woah… you have 6 million followers—aww, that’s so sweet and funny—you have hearts over Gables’ head when his opponent is flying toward him; did he like her?”
“Yeah, eh-heh, at least 10% of them are bots, I bet—I’ve gained a ton since I started posting some of our daily stuff—and totally! In the end, she was a little bashful, which really got his heart thumping—he hates that one, but it is pretty funny!”
“Okay, eh… can I do this in a dress—and here you are doing it in a dress…”
“Mmh-hmm-hmm! Yup, it takes some confidence and not being embarrassed—”
“You’re telling me! Man, fashion has gotten crazy in eight years… Oh, but you look so cool with this outfit—this one is cute, too…”
“Bi! Hehe, you’re totally fanning on the clothes over the dance.”
“Can’t I enjoy both? Woah, you can do those moves on a tall wall like that—how did you not get freaked out and fall?”
“Oh, yeah, that one was a competition between Len and me to dance across the dam edge when we were 13—hehe, we got it pretty bad from Elesa when she saw it—called us just as we finished since she saw the tail-end of the stream.”
“So reckless…”
“Eh-yeah, we were a bit reckless back then.”
Amira glanced over. “Obviously, on the side with no water.”
“Yeah, even more dangerous to not have the water there.”
“Speak for yourself,” Amira grumbled. “At the time, I’d take the straight 300-meter drop.”
Laughing at Lori’s past stunts, Rhea shifted her attention to Amira; the redhead had been texting someone most of the time.
“What’s up, Amira?”
“Kekipi, mmh?”
“Mhm,” the redhead bashlessly admitted. “He’s asking me questions about the Unova Shuffle; they’ve never done anything like that and are interested in learning—I’m just pointing them to your MemeStar, actually—you have a few tutorials.”
It was the lilac-haired girl’s turn to blush. “Old stuff, sure—eh, but I guess it works. Man, I should update that—I haven’t done a basic tutorial since I was twelve… I looked so Fletchling…”
“I think you look adorable,” Bianca cooed, looking it up. “Hehe—you’re missing teeth and have pigtails!”
“Mmgm… I should delete those.”
“No! It’s wonderful—I bet your mother looked back on them dozens of times and smiled—so many memories can be triggered.”
“Painful ones—ugh… So cringe—no-ho-ho…”
“What?” Rhea asked, increasing her pace to look around her cousin’s head to see Lori glaring at a video of her at 9-years-old, attempting to sing one of Elesa’s old classics. “I’m trying to hit Amira notes—so bad…”
Instantly recognizing the world hit song and its implications, causing her cheeks to turn red; certainly, she had been guilty of singing pretty inappropriate songs that had a really good tempo, and with someone as skilled at singing as Elesa, it wasn’t hard to see why many little girls would sing it for generations to come.
Back when Plasma was seen as more of a benevolent organization—during its roots—several big names, such as Burgh, made headlines and had a cultural influence on people, making waves.
Yet, there was one name that stood out a lot—and not in a good way—which had an effect on Plasma’s image to the point he had to go underground; in fact, even now, it was a cultural name that parents blacklisted in naming their children—Weiss—someone who’s obsessed with a girl.
The phrases, He’s a Weiss and Don’t be a Weiss, became popular due to the controversy that Plasma’s PR team went on overdrive trying to suppress to no avail.
Amira redirected the conversation with a slight chuckle. “It’s nice that you think I can reach Elesa’s notes.”
“Seriously, Girl!” Lori instantly replied, pulling her attention away from her first post. “I’ve heard Elesa sing more than most, and you can sing!”
“If you think I can,” she dismissed, but the Unova girl wouldn’t let it rest.
Pulling up one of Elesa’s old videos, she played it, showcasing the woman’s range.
Amira put away her phone with a frown, listening to the compilation. “Those higher notes are whistles, but yeah, she can go quite low, too.”
Rhea jumped in. “Mhm! You’ve whistled really high like that before when humming songs.”
“See! Rhea thinks so, too.”
Voicing her curiosity, Bianca added her own voice. “I want to hear! Did you take music lessons?”
Amira glanced around with a small frown, likely looking for any journalists. “I did… My grandma made sure I had a tutor.”
“At what age?” Lori urged. “Five?”
“Six…”
Now wanting to hear Amira sing again to brighten the mood, knowing she would be happy after getting into it, she asked, “Can you sing a song?”
“Oh, this one!” Lori interjected, pulling up another Elesa song. “I love this one so much!”
“Bliss?” Amira hissed. “Just give me one where I have to go high and low, why don’t you… Fine, but it’s going to draw attention.”
“Bah!” Lori waved her hand dismissively. “Who cares what others think—oh, and you should sing at the club to finish out the night!”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Amira sighed. “I’ll need water if I’m going to sing that song.”
“I’ll buy it!” Bianca said, motioning them to a vending machine.
Moving to the location, Amira started to exercise her throat. “Rhea, if I’m going to do this, we need to do it right, which means you’ll need to do the background.”
“Eh?! I can’t do those super high notes in the background.”
Lori shook her head. “No, she wants you to do the lower background sounds—you know, the humming—I can help! It’s like what we did when on the Routes.”
“No one was around then,” Rhea mumbled, now feeling embarrassed, but she’d be a hypocrite if she didn’t participate. “Mmgm… Okay…”
Amira gave her an encouraging look. “A good way to deal with crowd pressure is just to pretend it’s just you; get lost in the music.”
As she’d expected, Amira was totally into it once pushed.
Amira put on the instrumental at a lower volume so she could start getting used to the tempo and rhythm, and after a bit, they were moving down the sidewalk, drawing eyes and whispers as they went through various songs.
Naturally, Lori pulled up Elesa’s music to test Amira’s vocals, and just before reaching the Center, they’d attracted the ear of a producer, who eagerly approached them; he hadn’t even noticed it was Amira Rocket until getting her name, which brought a bit of hesitation, yet he pushed forward, giving the redhead his card.
They were polite, and when they finished, there were claps from those who followed to listen, compliments being thrown around; Rhea smiled at the embarrassed Rocket girl, not used to receiving such comments from the public.
However, once inside the Center, Mallory revealed she’d recorded a part of it with a toothy grin, making Amira’s face drain of color.
“You can’t…”
“Think about it!” Lori pressured, walking backward while playing it; Amira had really been into the song, proved by the fact she hadn’t noticed the Unova girl’s expert timing. “What better publicity and support could Rocket get—I have six million followers—free publicity! They’ll be swooning over the amazing Rocket girl—the next Elesa!”
Dirty! Rhea grimaced at Amira’s pulled-in lips, downcast vision seriously considering it now. You totally know Amira would do anything for her family, even if she’s uncomfortable!
Mallory wasn’t backing down, wearing an innocent smile that hid the Impidimp within, and if Rhea didn’t know any better, Miky had been the one to suggest it.
“I… suppose it is good publicity, but it’s mainly for me, not my grandfather…”
“I can totally manipulate it with the title and text! Rocket’s hiding a Fire Stone worth of talent like this red-haired beauty?! Conspiracy! Fire Stones come from this Rocket girl’s voice! A voice from Rocket that reaches the stars!”
“Mmgm… Work in progress…”
“Yes! Let’s make this good!”
Bianca and Rhea giggled at the pair as they came together, Amira working on a title and texting with Lori to give Rocket free publicity; the snickering, lilac-haired girl playing dirty games to push Amira out of her comfort zone and into the public eye again.
Rhea had no doubt it would generate dozens of articles to be written, and worse, they weren’t even asking if she was okay with being plastered in front of millions of people singing!
Settling on a conclusion, Rhea saw Casey Delibird it a minute later, which reposted it to her over 46 million followers, causing Amira and her face to go white, and it got worse as it was then followed by their mother’s Delibird to her own 45 million followers—it was beyond viral in an instant—and with the Rocket tag, it was number one on every trending chart.
The three of them singing Elesa’s Bliss was getting insane attention, and to make matters worse, dozens of high-profile, verified individuals—Elesa included—commented on the video within fifteen minutes, sparking further Delibirds to reach across the world.
3:39 P.M. Gym Leader Elesa: Masterful, Girls! I look forward to singing with you when you come to Unova; Amira has a natural vocal talent.
3:40 P.M. Elite 4 Drake: My darling is so talented! T_T
3:41 P.M. Pop Idol Curtis: Wow! Amira can hit some incredible notes.
3:42 P.M. Living Legend Leaf: Ooh! I didn’t know you girls could sing! Heavenly!
3:42 P.M. Living Legend Yellow: <3
3:44 P.M. Rocket High Executive Ariana: Lovely, as always, Darling!
3:44 P.M. Champion Diantha: You’d be brilliant in a musical! I can see you have a place in Hollywood in the future; keep up the hard work, Girls!
3:44 P.M. Pop Idol Yancy: So much talent! Your range is phenomenal, Amira! Rhea and Lori are excellent, too! I didn’t know you could not only dance, but sing.
3: 45 P.M. Gym Leader Fantina: Fantastique!
3:45 P.M. Former Champion Lyra: You’re melting your mother’s heart! Your grandmother just tagged me; I’m going to put this as my morning alarm!
3:47 P.M. Contest Idol Lisia: Dazzling! Dazzling! Sooo miraculous! You muuust do Contests! Let’s set up a concert together when you come to Hoenn! It will be sooo spectacular!
3:49 P.M. Champion Cynthia: Lovely, Girls! I look forward to hearing it firsthand soon. ¬‿¬
So… Does this mean Auntie is going to show up soon? She can be such a tease…
“Lori…” Amira mumbled, vision throwing daggers at the chuckling girl.
“Wow! I didn’t expect Cass and Mom to Delibird it out to their own audience…”
Totally unconvinced by her side-long grin, Rhea sighed, and clearly, she knew Yancy somehow, considering she used her nickname. “Well… I guess the world knows us now…”
Trying to not let the notifications blowing up her phone get to her, Rhea put away her phone as Amira and Lori collected their Master Balls and the package for their custom Trainer dresses.
They moved to a more private dressing area, but even then, the younger girls that entered further drew them into awkward conversations, enthralled by the viral post their friends shared with them.
Miky, Gables, Amber, and Holly transferred to the Master Balls, which required them to do some internal function within the devices to make the capsule their new homes; upon inquiry, they communicated it was a vast improvement, like moving from a house to a castle, according to Gables.
Keeping their Training dresses in the packages to be used later, Lori guided a disgruntled Amira and Rhea to the Cerulean Shopping District with an amused Bianca in-tow, watching the video again.
“You really are gifted, Amira.”
“Haaa… I suppose. It feels good when I’m in it, but… this is a bit much,” she grumbled, seeing the sparkling eyes of people following them. “It’s as much attention I had when I got into that fight…”
“Totally different!” Lori flatly denied. “You see how people are reacting; it’s only been an hour, and look at the reception. You’re a superstar—like I knew you were! You’ve become the face of Rocket; I bet if you called your grandma, she’d tell you sales are up so high!”
“That’s not the point… but yes, thank you…”
“No, the point is perception! Before, everyone saw you as the hothead, beautiful girl that beat up a boy, but now you’re a gorgeous, superstar mascot—as you should be!”
“I’m not that good,” Amira mumbled, cheeks darkening as a group of teenage girls pointed at them and ran over.
“Hey!”
“Amira Rocket, right?”
“Are you kidding? What other girl has red hair like hers!”
“Oh, are you going to do a concert with Lisia?”
“Yeah, I saw she invited you to Hoenn!”
“Your voice is so pretty!”
Rhea awkwardly stood back with her thrilled cousin as the redhead stole the spotlight, a few other girls taking these teens’ self-invitation as courage to make their own approach. Amira handled it expertly as expected, better than Rhea would have.
“Eh-hehe… thanks. I’m just trying to complete the Encrusted Gym Challenge at the moment; I can’t say for the future.”
“It’s not a no!”
“That would be so awesome—oh, and Gym Leader Elesa!”
“Yeah, she commented that she wanted to do a song with you—wouldn’t that be amazing?!”
“We’ll see, but right now, we have somewhere—”
“Umm, can I have your autograph!” a twelve-year-old girl asked before stopping in her dash, practically bouncing on her toes as her older brother hung back, not making eye contact. “I saw you trending—are you going to be a singer—I want to be a singer, too, but you have such a great voice!”
“Thanks…”
It took a bit to get away from the throng, and they didn’t make it far before Casey joined them, a toothy grin in place as she was flanked by her two teammates; Inoa seemed to be having a bit of trouble, vision nervously drifting around at the emotionally charged attention they attracted.
Bianca couldn’t help but take pictures herself, posting them to Pikabook for the family as she documented their journey and Rhea’s first experience with a dance club; Alice and Nova were alight with activity at the attention they were getting from the people too shy to approach Amira.
“Yo, Sis! When did you become a singer? You turned down every offer Elesa gave you for lessons.”
“Not my thing! How’s it been?”
Rhea tucked in her bottom lip, not knowing what to do as the pair broke into insults, yet each one was followed with grins and laughter.
“Chill. You were on point, Munchlax! Have you added even more weight to that bust?”
“Stuff your mouth with that Tangla hair—just how long are you gonna grow that mess?”
“Hehe! At least I can get rid of mine!”
“True! Wanna take a few pounds off me?”
“I think I’m perfectly proportionate, Sis, but ever since I let Ellie manage my social media account like you said, I’ve been blowing up!”
“Nice! Hate you, by the way.”
“Oh, totally—go die!”
“Eat an Onix!”
“Haha! I mean, not everyone can have hair like mine!”
“Says the lawn chair; grown paler, Sis?”
“What do you mean, heh, I’m totally tanner—ugh, maybe not as much as you now.”
“Been soaking those rays!”
“Nice! I can tell, and soaking up that meat! Oh, and not seeing all the hate is nice—she found some awesome comments this morning!”
“Sweet! Yeah, I saw you passed Mom!”
“Right?! I literally cried when Inoa told me.”
“She cried with you?”
“Naturally, she’s sensitive like that, which was so nice!”
The Alolan girl blushed at the compliment.
“You two… good?” Rhea questioned.
“Hmm?”
Casey snickered. “Yeah, it’s just fun; I’ve been having a blast with Inoa and Ellie—did you know Ellie is just a Meme expert? Like, she’s a genius, I swear!”
“I’ve seen! Memeing on the trolls and fake fans; thanks for helpin’ my sister, Ellie, Inoa!”
The straight-faced, Galarian girl gave a peace sign that made them giggle, and the Alolan girl twisted her dress with an embarrassed smile.
“Cass has been such a supportive friend…”
“Yeah, she’s cool,” Ellie stated, giving her a thumbs up. “It’s been fun.”
Rhea’s heart warmed at the sight of the bonding girls, looking back at the scattered information she’d known about the group; it had been a mess so far as she’d been able to tell, but after Jade and Lori spent time with them, they’d seemed to make up.
“So,” Rhea cleared her throat, ignoring the photos from those who followed them, some journalists, “we going to get clothes for this dance?”
“Yeah—I got this awesome place,” Casey grinned, motioning for them to cross the street. “Lori and I will get you fitted for an awesome club night! Let’s go!”