LIGHTNOVELONLINE B2 — 19. Open Hearts
PoV:
1: Amber (Amira's Fiery Fennekin!)
2: Amira Rocket (Our Guarded Redhead!)
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Family Tree / Characters
10:09: P.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).
Amber rushed after her Trainer just before the door slammed shut, agitation filling her breast with Holly trying to keep up behind them; the Comfey couldn’t get a word in with the speedy and hot-tempered Buneary’s shouts.
“W-What did we do, Amber?”
“I don’t—”
She hesitated as Amira looked left and right, searching for the normally cheery blonde. “Where did she go? It was…”
Amber sniffed the air before running left. “This way!”
Instead of going right to the stairs, she paused at the railing, looking between the bars in confusion. Huh? I don’t smell her going down—the scent’s older.
“What?” Amira gagged, using the rail guard to stop, scanning the small hotel yard. “She jumped… Is she that upset?”
You tell me! I don’t get why she’s crying; all you said was she should eat—everyone loves to eat! Oh, we’re going down now…
“Amber… Are you asking why she even cares? It is my fault, though—I shouldn’t have done that.”
Whatever. Alice is a lot like Mya… She can get mad about the stupidest stuff.
“It’s not stupid,” Holly mumbled, managing to loop around Amira’s neck on the way down to keep up. “It means a lot to her.”
Still stupid!
Serenity’s thoughtful tone passed through their connection. “Umm… Why is Rhea crying?”
Amira jogged left to the street, but Amber stopped her, nudging her head down the back alley. Not that way; she went this way!
Leading the charge, Amber gradually got a better understanding of the conflict between them as they ran through the Cerulean backstreets; ultimately, it came down to Amira not respecting Rhea and embarrassing her.
Amber still didn’t know why she was so hung up on not eating. Food tasted good; why would anyone not want to eat? Humans were weird.
A few minutes into their chase, she halted on a riverside jogging path lined with flowers and trees. Amira?
Huffing and puffing, her Trainer put a hand against her thumping chest, Amira’s face already red and slick. “I—I think… How does Rhea do it?”
“What’s wrong?” Holly whispered, floating up to try and wipe Amira’s forehead. “You don’t normally get tired this soon.”
She watched her Trainer’s red braid swing dangerously close to the dirty ground as the redhead breathed, bending over while resting her hands against her knees. “It’s… Holly, can you go back… into your pokeball?”
“Okay?”
Utterly bewildered now, Amber’s ears converted to flames, flaring outward with annoyance as Amira activated the purple sphere on her waist for the Posy Picker Pokemon to return.
What’s going on—first Rhea’s like that, and now you’re totally out of energy?
“Can you keep going, Amber? Just… a bit slower.”
Sure…
Eyeing Amira out of the corner of her vision, Amber frowned. Just explain it to me… What are we supposed to do about Rhea? You already said sorry; what more does she want?
“Yes, please explain, Amira! I want to help Rhea.”
Amber jumped into a gradual jog as Serenity shockingly connected the missing dots.
“It’s the Master Balls, right, Amira? Nova explained that we had to be careful when using your Fortitude.”
Hold up! Amber growled, turning her head a bit to see Amira still struggling a bit to keep up with her; they were only losing ground at this pace. We haven’t even battled today; that makes no sense.
“It does to me,” Holly mumbled. “Don’t we naturally take her energy?”
A short huff made flames flash out of her ears, shooting out and causing a nearby nighttime jogger to jump away in fright. No! Only Serenity does because she requires energy to sustain herself like Nova, Mya, and Alice; we’re perfectly fine!
Amira seemed to catch onto their conversation as they crossed a bridge to the opposite side of the large river; Rhea was still so far ahead of them that they couldn’t even see her.
“I think the Master Balls are a lot more complicated than we thought… Rhea’s mom told us we couldn’t be sure how it would affect us. It opens up the boundaries between us; I’ve been able to understand you better today, Amber, Holly. I haven’t really explored much of the differences because of how much was going on, but… We need to stop again.”
Amber flames shot out again as Amira leaned against the bridge guard, chest heaving. “It can’t be this bad… What about our battle tomorrow?”
Coughing a bit, Amira wiped away some tears that came to her eyes and the sweat from her flushed face.
“We’ll… figure it out when we get there. We’ve only been walking today; I need to start exercising in the mornings again, but is Rhea’s Fortitude really that far ahead of Lori and I… No, Lori was doing fine dancing today… It’s just me.”
See! I told you, it doesn’t make sense; you’re so much more fit than Lori. Are you sick? Amber whispered, hoisting her two front paws on Amira’s legs to look up at her. If we need to reschedule the Gym Battle tomorrow…
“No. No… I’ll be fine. Just… give me a minute—ack… If you see a place I can get some water, let me know, Muk… I didn’t bring my phone,” she groaned, attempting to stretch out her calves. “Did Rhea feel like this the whole time our first week… She didn’t let on at all.”
Amber was about to respond when a sad voice made her ears prick; looking further down the bridge walkway, she saw Nova being surrounded by the few humans that had broken away from the inner-city party.
“I can’t stop… Sorry, I need to go—I’m fine… Yeah, I’m Nova, but…”
“Amber?” Amira asked as she darted forward to meet the Eevee, people attempting to pet or talk to her.
It’s Nova! She’s like the only reasonable Pokemon in Rhea’s party!
“That’s a little mean,” Holly whispered as Amber ran around a bicycle and bridge fishers.
Serenity chuckled. “It is a little, but Amber does have a point; Alice won’t listen because she’s already assuming what you’ll say, like she’s five sentences ahead in the conversation, while Mya will plant her ground and won’t budge.”
Right! I’m not wrong. Nova’s the best, though; she always talks them down.
“Nova!”
“Can I get through—I know I’m pretty, but I’m too busy for pictures… Hmm—Amber?”
Her flaming ears made the humans jump back in surprise as she forcefully inserted herself. “Hey! Nova—why is Alice being a total Electrode; what did we do?”
“Umm…”
“Bah… C’mon—come back to Amira and away from the paparazzi.”
She forced a smile as the Eevee followed her through the big parting group of humans surrounding them. “Thanks for getting me out.”
They picked up their pace to the humans’ sad cries, attempting to snap pictures of them as they ran down the well-lit bridge.
I have Nova, Amira!
“Oh. Umm… Can you see if Rhea will see us?” her Trainer tentatively asked.
Give me a second.
Holly shifted uncomfortably in her pokeball, brushing up against Amber’s spirit. “Don’t be mad, Amber.”
I’m not!
“Hehe. You do sound mad,” Serenity mused.
Gah… I’m just annoyed; there’s a difference, she huffed, turning a slight frown to Nova as they ran down the sidewalk.
“Are you okay?”
Nova sighed, slowing a bit and forcing Amber to do the same; she looked at Amira before stopping between the laughing crowd and the redhead. “Not really… Rhea says she doesn’t want anyone to follow her… but she does.”
“How does that make any sense?” Amber rolled her eyes. “Amira said she was sorry already; what more does she need to do?”
The Eevee sat down, ears falling to the side a bit to stare at the stone walkway. “Rhea looks up to Amira, and it just… It’s not even the biggest issue. There’s just, she was dealing with a lot, and Amira telling someone she doesn’t eat properly—not that she doesn’t—but, umm, yeah, it really hurt.”
Nova’s big pink eyes lifted as Amber’s flaming ears flared.
“Humph. What does that have to do with Alice chewing us out? Even if Amira messed up, what does that have to do with us?”
“It’s not… really. Alice is just feeding off Rhea’s emotional state and trying to release, umm, steam; she blames everyone right now.”
“Whatever. I’m over the whole thing,” Amber mumbled, glaring at one of the boats below them with a crinkled nose; Amira was still struggling with her unruly body. “What do we need to do to get past this—say sorry again?”
Nova helplessly shrugged her small shoulders. “I don’t know; Rhea’s never gotten like this before. Her stress has been building for a while, but the kiss really pushed everything over the edge.”
Amber’s left eye narrowed. “Huh? What does a kiss have to do with Amira and the food stuff?”
“It’s complicated… I don’t know how humans think!” Nova grumbled back, clarifying how much it was bothering the Eevee. “All I know is how Rhea feels, and it’s not good… She needs you guys, but she tells us she doesn’t.”
Amber's jaw tightened as the self-destructive emotions Amira felt a little over a week ago filtered back; her Trainer was keeping her thoughts private, yet her feelings were hard to miss.
Amira… You think we’ll have to split up? Rhea said she didn’t want to before…
“I may have messed everything up.”
Holly flatly rejected the thought process. “No! Have more faith in Rhea; we’re all friends—with Star, and Hannah, Sam, Jade, and Jay now, too! Alice and Mya had their troubles, and they got through them! Friends stick together!
Amira backed up against the railing to look up at the stars. “Friends don’t do what I did… Rhea was right; I should have known better… I wasn’t thinking, and I should have thought it through before sending that text.”
Nova followed Amber’s gaze. “Is Amira doing okay?”
“No… Do you think Rhea will want to leave… go her own way?”
“Huh?!” she vehemently shook her head, big ears flapping back and forth. “No! Rhea loves traveling with everyone… I think Amira should talk to her; oh, I know!”
“What?” Amber mumbled, turning her hard, red eyes to the packs of humans that were now keeping their distance but kept taking pictures. “So annoying.”
Nova’s now wagging tail distracted her as the Eevee eagerly put forward her idea. “When Alice and Mya were having trouble, Rhea forced them to be together until they could get along! We should force Amira and Rhea together as she did; it worked for Alice and Mya.”
“Sort of…”
“Well, it’s not perfect, but at least they can be around each other now.”
“True… Will that work with humans, though?” Amber asked with a doubtful growl following the Eevee’s fervent nods. “Tell Amira she has to be with Rhea until they make up, and I’ll do the same!”
“I guess it’s worth a shot.” Amber puffed out a long stream of air. “Of course, this had to happen the night before our battle with Misty—and Amira’s having Fortitude problems now.”
Nova’s lips parted, her eyes widened, and tears spontaneously gathered. “No. That’s horrible! Rhea had a tough time after Mya’s first battle. Is it like that—do we need to go to the Human Center?!”
“Huh? No. It’s not that bad—I… hope so,” she mumbled, now not so sure.
“How bad is it? Rhea will be super worried; I’ll let her know—uh, we’re so far away, though!”
“Umm… Okay, let’s go with your plan so Amira can get some rest; I’m starting to worry now. Can you take us to Rhea?”
“Mhm! Make sure Amira doesn’t run away; we need to keep them together for this to work.”
“Alright. I’ll make sure she gets it,” Amber assured; she hadn’t seen other humans use this tactic on each other, but it was worth a shot if it worked with boneheads like Alice and Mya.
The more she thought about it on the jog back to Amira, the more Amber realized how much of a bonehead her Trainer could sometimes be; it was so hard for her to forgive herself that it was frustrating to no end to her.
It was time for her to train her Trainer because who else would knock some sense into her?!
* * *
Amira tentatively waited for Amber and Nova to finish talking, scenarios flashing through her mind of how this night could end; Rhea was the binding force of their party and far easier to deal with than Lori, yet she’d messed up again.
Why am I always Muking everything up for everyone? I’m so stupid… I thoughtlessly take them to a Platinum area, and now I’m treating Rhea like a little kid after she forgave me. What’s wrong with me? I’m supposed to be smarter than this!
Her fingernails dug into her sides as the two Pokemon finished their private conversation to run the rest of the way to her; Amber’s response made her question if she’d heard her right.
Trying to ignore the people who, thankfully, were keeping their distance upon seeing her, Amira bent down to address the two Pokemon. “You two… want to force Rhea and me together until we reconcile?”
Both nodded, hope in Nova’s eyes and doubt in Amber’s.
“That’s… not something—no, I get it worked with them, but—humans are different than Pokemon… It’s—you’re going to take me to Rhea… Ugh.”
Stomach queasy, Amira streamed out a long breath while holding it and standing up again; they had good intentions, but the whole problem was her treating Rhea like she couldn’t take care of herself, and if she now got her own Pokemon to treat her the same, it only spelled disaster.
Still, nothing could get resolved until they met, and if they walked, it could possibly buy enough time for Rhea to calm down.
“Haaa… Okay, but we need to go slow.”
Nova chirped, tail wagging vigorously; she nudged her head to the side, and Amira uneasily followed.
She got several looks from the various Trainers, and with how bad she felt—emotionally and physically—the pictures people took were not welcome. Unfortunately, it was a public area; throughout her very public life in Viridian, she knew the general law in the City-States was that people could record or take pictures regardless of a person’s personal desires.
It was rude but not against the law.
Mentally filtering out the throng, she tried to distract herself from her screaming muscles; it was as if she’d passed a threshold when running after Rhea, and it was a steep dive off a cliff to a hard bottom.
It probably had something to do with the boundaries taken away from all of her Pokemon and how inefficiently she utilized her Fortitude. It helped when Holly returned to her pokeball, yet the experience told Amira where she lacked the most, and she never would have guessed it was in her physical Fortitude branch with her life-long exercise routine.
This proved just how strong Rhea was, as well, and recalling how long the unnatural girl could hold her breath underwater, she was reminded how large the gap was between them. I’m so much further behind than I thought, and Rhea has to constantly sustain three Pokemon. Wait…
One particular piece of information Christie told them sparked a fire of thoughts as she focused on the bouncing Eevee and nervous Fennekin.
Is it a spiritual reflux? Serenity is projecting her strength onto Amber and Holly through the Master Ball, all cycling through me. I’m the conduit, and I don’t have the throughput needed to sustain it yet. Rhea isn’t just a conduit for them either, but also feeding them… What kind of a monster Trainer are you, Rhea?
Amira hugged herself as they followed the path, passively responding to her Pokemon’s inquiries; her mind was on Rhea’s mother, giving her a momentary distraction.
Did Christie realize we wouldn’t be able to keep up with Rhea, so she changed her plan? She is one of the world’s leading expert geneticists… Could that also have something to do with her daughter’s insane aptitude and Fortitude?
Growing up around all those Master-tier Pokemon likely had an effect, but I grew up near Legendary-tier Pokemon; true, not all my life, twenty-four hours a day, but a healthy chunk of it. Should I even be with her… She is Cynthia’s niece…
Losing track of time, her toxic thoughts came to a grinding halt at Amber’s internal shout; blinking as she slowed to stand in the middle of the sidewalk, Amira’s vision lifted to focus on her blonde teammate, taking shelter behind a cluster of thick, well-groomed trees.
The soft river breeze was pulling her thick, braided hair against the railing as she glared into the night; her cheeks were still red and slightly puffy, and Amira knew she must have known they were here with Nova.
If she didn’t before, Alice certainly made their presence known from Rhea’s shoulder, pointing and chattering angrily at Amber, who growled back several phrases.
The Eevee seemed to break it up soon before pushing against the back of her leg with Amber to force her forward with her Fennekin mumbling that they had to be together until they made up.
Amira’s fingers twitched at her sides as Rhea’s grip tightened against the guard, her jaw setting at likely Nova’s prompts, and Alice hopped off her shoulders to stand across from Amber, the Eevee mediating.
Gathering her courage to face her mistake, Amira fiddled with her tanktop collar, wishing she could do the same with a pair of glasses; walking next to her, Amira couldn’t glance in Rhea’s direction, guilt flooding her tight chest.
“Rhea… Is it okay if… I understand if you want me to leave.”
A shiver ran down Amira’s spine at Rhea’s almost unintelligible mumble. “I’d set a terrible example to Mya and Alice if I said no.”
Throat sticky with saliva, she tried to clear it, but no words came out; Amira took several agonizing seconds to gather her thoughts. “I never thought… I’d be so bad at being a friend… My mom always made it look so easy.”
Rhea didn’t answer, yet her eyes glistened again, possibly holding back tears.
“I should have trusted you to know your own body… I definitely shouldn’t have brought it up to anyone else but to you in private—no matter my intentions—I don’t know why I’m so stupid and thoughtless when I shouldn’t be…”
Amira coughed, a sniffle bubbling out as her nose burned and vision blurred; she couldn’t stop the emotion in her voice. “I try to do the right thing all the time, but the second I let my guard down… I royally mess everything up—I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
In shock, she stumbled to the side as Rhea collided with her body, arms wrapped around her shoulders. “What’s wrong with me?! W-Why do I have to be so different—a total freak?!”
“W-What?” Amira gagged, utterly blindsided by the embrace; she winced at the more petite girl's growing strength on her already sore muscles.
Almost falling over, Rhea pushed them against the railing, crying into her front, burying her face in Amira’s breast. “I’m—I’m always so awkward, and my body’s not normal—everyone worries about me, and I hate it… I just wanted to be normal… I wanted to have friends—to not be a total nobody loser in the forest that doesn’t know anything…
“I want to know how to dance and kiss boys like Lori—to not look like a Jynx—to have a normal mom who is always fighting to be with me like—like yours… I just want to be normal… Why can’t I be a normal girl?”
Chest fluttering, and arms shaking around Rhea’s back, Amira couldn’t sniff back her own emotions from bubbling over.
“I just want to be a nobody… I don’t want people to always judge me—to have to look good all the time—to not embarrass everyone I love by being stupid… I don’t want to h-hurt my family or make them worry about me—for evil people to target me to hurt them…
“Why do I have to have a good voice—h-have to be strong all the time. Why am I pretty—why does everyone want to shove me in the spotlight… I don’t want to be noticed—to be photographed every time I go out—harassed and bullied… Why can’t everyone leave me alone?!”
Unable to stop, they collapsed to the ground; their Pokemon gathered around them, unsure how to help, ending in the eight bawling together. Nose stuffy and cheeks puffy, Amira choked several times as her heart poured out with her teammate, hidden behind the bushes as the rest of the city partied into the night.
It took several minutes to reach a point where they could unwind and huddle, shoulder to shoulder, against the bars, unable to look at anything but the grass at their feet.
Amira tried to clear her airway but failed the first time; recovering, she puffed out a hot, shaky breath. “I’m—I’m sorry, Rhea… I don’t want to always screw things up for you; I don’t want to be the bad guy everyone sees me as… b-but maybe I’m just—”
“You’re not… Amira, you’re not a bad guy,” Rhea mumbled, arms pulling her legs tighter against her chest. “It hurt when you told Heneli how abnormal I am… b-but I’m the freak that can’t overeat, o-or I get sick… It hurts so much when I eat what others think is ‘normal’—it’s too much…”
Amira’s eyes started to water again. “I… didn’t know it hurt you…”
“I hate it when people find out…” she sniffed. “Plus, heh… I’m so awkward—Lori calls me awkwardly adorable, but… I’m not adorable—I’m just awkward… What’s Heneli supposed to think? I just kiss him on the cheek out of nowhere and run inside—who does that—a weirdo—I’m a weirdo…”
“What… Is that what—no, did… did you do it because Lori brought up how many boys she kissed?”
Rhea’s bottom lip began to tremble. “W-Well, Lori’s always so normal—kissing is supposed to be normal—dancing—partying… I just wanted to… I don’t know—I’m stupid!” she cried, burying her red face in her knees and arms. “So stupid!”
Trying to work through her sore muscles and the lump in her throat, Amira leaned over to rest her ear against Rhea’s back, mumbling, “I don’t think you’re weird, Rhea… I’ve never kissed a boy before.”
“What? No, but… you said…”
“Eh-heh… I kind of threw you under the Tauros to get Lori’s attention away from me—sorry. Truth is, I’ve never had a hard time going on dates, but trusting people is… hard for me. I care a lot about what people think of me, and… and especially people I get close to, so… I keep my heart guarded. Totally unlike Lori, huh?”
“Heh… yeah—she’s pretty amazing, but… she also is always harsh on her looks—it’s like she thinks she’s ugly or something.”
“If so, she’s dead wrong.”
“Totally… I’m sorry, too, Amira,” Rhea said through a shaky breath as she gently pushed back to rest her head against Amira’s, shifting a tad to play with her bound, blonde locks. “I took out my embarrassment on you.”
“But… I did embarrass you—I’m the worst.”
“Yeah, well… I guess we’re both the worst.”
“What? That doesn’t make any sense,” Amira mumbled, plucking at her tanktop again as a prick of agitation stabbed her chest. “How can we both be the worst when I was the one in the wrong.”
“Mmh… because I set a poor example to my Pokemon… because I’m insecure about being a country-girl Slowpoke.”
“Slowpoke can be cute, too,” Amira tried to tease, forcing a weak laugh.
“Hehe. I guess… Not as cute as my adorable little Nova,” Rhea giggled, pulling the concerned little Eevee onto her lap with Alice jumping up to join her, big eyes asking if she was okay. “Yeah… your plan totally worked, my little superstar.”
Amira smiled as Rhea rubbed her two girls’ heads, focus moving over to Amber. You don’t have to be so hesitant, she chuckled with Serenity and Holly cuddling around her spirit.
Amber promptly jumped onto her lap, flaming ears and tail turning to fur as she nuzzled her hand and spirit.
At least thirty minutes passed with little being said as they sat against each other, allowing their Pokemon to smother them with attention. As it neared 11:30 P.M., Rhea got up and held out her hand to help her up, making Amira’s chest burn in a new way.
“We should probably get back. Lori’s probably worried about us, and you have your match tomorrow.”
How can she forgive me after that? If it were me… I couldn’t.
Fingers locking with hers, Amber left her lap as she got up. “I’ll do better, Rhea… Thanks for accepting me for my mistakes.”
“Me, too. I’ve learned a lot from you, Amira; thanks for being my friend.”
“Hmm-hmm. That’s my line… Heh, I don’t think I’ve ever cried like that—b-but to my dad and mom. Thanks for being my friend, Rhea.”
“Friends?”
“Friends.”
Returning to the hotel, Nova clued Rhea in on Amira’s Fortitude strain, and they discussed it until arriving to give Lori a quick, somewhat hesitant recap; the Unova girl promised to be more delicate with her jokes, hugging Rhea and her before they got ready for bed.
Body aching but feeling lighter than she had in years, Amira got into bed and drifted into her dreams.
