Like No One Ever Was

Surprisingly, that wasn't the only uncomfortable party I attended that year that ended with me getting a lifelong friend I didn’t expect. Which isn’t that much, but it is weird that it happened twice.

My first notice of the party was the day of the event when I saw we had twice as many staff, as usual, running about.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I saw it, coming back inside from a training session with Dun. Right now I was just working on the basics; dodging, closing distance, and how quickly he could burrow and resurface. It was pretty easy for him to drill through the sand, but still took two seconds to get fully submerged. Once we got that time down to half a second I’d get him started on soft dirt.

The technical machines had gone great, he’d been able to learn a lot of them. Body Slam, Poison Jab, and Earthquake all gave him amazing coverage and power. Unfortunately, he was still pretty young and I could tell he couldn’t use them to his full potential (though he was showing exceptionally close results for the first one; the matching Type energy went a long way in his Moves), so I decided to focus on the basics to start.

Build up a solid foundation and work on the more advanced stuff from there. I think that sounds right. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a ton of information online about how to begin training a young Pokemon. Or rather, there was, but little professional and verified, beyond the generic tips of things like ‘trust in your partner’, and ‘make sure to care for their well-being.’ Perhaps there is no ‘best way’ and the Professors and the like don’t wish to guide potential trainers down limited paths.

Mom smiled as she turned from directing the staff to look at me. “Nemona hunny, we’re hosting a little house party today. Some very famous and important people will be coming.” I questioned the ‘little’ part, as I saw the giant Swanna ice sculpture being carried behind her. Even more shocking was the fact that Mom was wearing an elegant and tasteful red dress. Wow, this must be important if she isn’t wearing her usual tacky gold stuff. And apparently, she has some inkling that such clothing wouldn’t be appropriate for such an event.

“Oh, ok. Should I just stay in my room then?” She blinked at my question.

“Whyever would you do that? Stay and enjoy the fabulous party.” She swung a handout, waving it around the room at the decorations about. One of the regular staff would have been hit by her arm, but expertly ducked under the blow without tipping the tray he was carrying and went on as if nothing had happened. Nice professionalism.

I bit back a frown. I really don’t like interacting with large crowds. “I just- I thought you might want to talk adult stuff and wouldn’t want me bugging the guests.” I tried to weedle my way out of it, but to no avail.

“I’m sure you won’t be a bug at all, so well behaved my dear. As expected of my daughter.” She gave me a soft, encouraging smile that made it hard for me to hold the forced interaction against her (especially when O’Nare and her had been quite understanding about me canceling the Haxorus order and missing out on seeing me catch Dun). Then her grin broadened. “Besides, there will be another kid your age too. One professor is bringing his child along.”

“Yay,” I said with as much false enthusiasm as I could inject into my voice. A kid is even worse than an adult. I might have a reasonable conversation with adults if they overlook how young I look. With another kid, it’s just going to be awkward.

***

As I expected, the party was quite boring. All the adults were far too quick to ‘coo’ and ‘aww’ over me, and pretty much no one actually bothered to try to interact with me on anything approaching an intelligent level. In spite of the fact that my parents are busy bragging over how ‘smart’ I am!

I let out a sigh and tried to not let it bother me. Probably for the best anyways. I doubt even if one of them would be willing to talk to me on their level that I’d actually have anything I’d want to do with them.

The party was an event for the famous and wealthy to come and mingle. Most of them were important business people like my parents and were more than happy to talk about stocks or ‘funny’ anecdotes that only (to me) showed how out of touch they were with the common folk. Admittedly my only view of how the average person lives their life in this world is through the Pokenet and what I can glean from T.V., but I still think I have a better view of things than most of this lot.

One face that had me do a double take was that of a young man with delicate features and long blue-hair. Outside of his parka and over a decade younger, I didn’t recognize the man until I heard someone call his name. “Grusha! So glad you could make it. I heard you placed second in the Glassedo Slope Grind.”

He smiled and greeted the Galarian man in a business suit who walked over to talk to him. So this is what he’s like before he was a Gym Leader. Before the accident that cut his snowboarding career short. He looks happy. He was far more open than the Icy gym leader I remembered from the games.

Before I had the chance to introduce myself and ask him about his Pokemon and/or snowboarding, another guest arrived, and this one I recognized instantly. His coat was in a slightly different pattern than the one the AI wore in the games, but it had the same color scheme as his body suit, black, purple and some lighter purple highlights. He didn’t have a 5 o’clock shadow but his hair and face for the most part were the same from the games.

Professor Turo. The Real one, not an Artificial Intelligence made in a fit of paranoia down in Area Zero. By his side, holding on to his hand was a young boy that could only be Arven. His hair didn’t fall down to cover one of his eyes yet, but he was just as recognizable to me as his father.

My parents went up to warmly greet him. “Ah, the esteemed Pokemon Professor. It’s a pleasure to have you here,” my mother said.

“Ah, the pleasure is all mine. And thank you for allowing me to bring my son along as well. Finding a sitter on short notice would be difficult and well...” He trailed off before giving a small gesture for the young boy to introduce himself.

“That’s O’Nare for you; her generosity knows no bounds!” Billy declared loudly. Geez, can you simp any harder? Still, it was nice to see that they loved each other so much. More interesting to me though was the way Turo’s gaze intensified at the mention of O’Nare’s ‘generosity.’ My musings on that matter were cut off as I turned to watch the nervous boy stumbling over his words introduce himself to my parents.

“I-I’m Arven, nice to meet you,” he practically whispered. I noticed him clutching something for comfort and saw that he had a Pokeball in his hand. Turo frowned slightly at his son’s shy behavior, which is when I decided to step in, pushing through the crowd to approach them.

“Hello, I’m Nemona.” I offered my hand for Arven to shake. He took it, hesitantly, but still looked a little overwhelmed. Okay, think. What did Arven like in the games? Mabostiff? Probably shouldn’t release him in here though. Sandwiches? “If you’re hungry, we have some appetizers over there.” I pointed at where one of the butlers was carrying a tray of cucumber sandwiches. He perked up right away and started walking over.

“You must tell us all about your research.” My father faux-whispered. Turo chuckled good naturedly.

“Well, I can hardly say everything or else I’ll have nothing to write my papers on. But I do think this will be quite a revolutionary discovery. It has to do with the phenomena of Terastalization-”

“That’s where some Pokemon are randomly found to be a different Type than they’d usually be in the wild.” I interrupted. He blinked, eyeing me a bit more closely.

“Yes, that’s correct. The effect will often wear off with time, or when captured in a Pokeball.” I did my best not to grit my teeth at ‘captured’. Right, this is the guy with 7 Master Balls at least to capture all the Paradox Pokemon. Hmm, I wonder why he just used a regular Pokeball for the other Miraidon? “I’ve been studying Terastalization and believe I’m close to a breakthrough that will allow us to utilize this in a more controlled fashion.”

“Wow. How long have you been studying this?” O’Nare placed a hand on my shoulder at that question.

“Our daughter is quite the little genius; her Glitterati intelligence shining like the brightest star in the land.” My mother praised me, and I cringed a little in embarrassment. “Still, you probably don’t need such questions at a party, Professor.”

“Nonsense. An inquisitive mind is the sign of a budding scientist; I’d never reject such curiosity.” He gave a winning smile to my parents, which seemed just a bit too unreal. Not that they noticed. He’s up to something. To me he said “I’ve been studying this for almost eight years now, along with my team and my wi- my ex-wife.” A bit of real strain showed on his face at that, but he quickly pushed it aside. “I’ve heard how smart you are, young lady. I’m sure if you keep up your studies and stay sharp, you might become a Professor someday too.”

“Nah.” I answered instantly, much to the surprise of the adults. “I mean, I might want to, way off in the future. But I want to be Champion first. That means I have to study as much as possible; knowledge is power afterall.”

He blinked, taking in my statement. “Knowledge is power… a fascinating idea, and one that may be more correct than you know. Especially if I complete my research.”

“If?”

“I’m hoping to get a bit more funding to complete my project and unveil it to all of Paldea.” He gave a significant glance at my parents. They caught it and began walking further into the living room, settling by the couch and table.

I wasn’t directly told off, so I sat down on a chair opposite the professor. “So, you want their money. Why should they give it to you?”

O’Nare considered it for a moment before agreeing. “That’s a wonderful idea, my dear! We’ll host a little interview right now.”

Billy blinked before raising a hand up to cover his face. “Why, from the mouths of babes! Such wisdom from our youngest daughter! And so great of you to notice it as well, my dear wife.” He said to O’Nare before turning to Turo. “We could do this at a later date though, if you’d rather enjoy the party.”

“It’s fine. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves afterwards.” I doubt that, or rather, doubt that you care about that. No, this is the only reason why you came to the party in the first place, to get more funding for your research.

“As for why you should sponsor me? You’d be able to put the Glitterati name on the biggest scientific discovery of the century.” Bold, especially since Mega Evolution was widely announced only about a decade and a half ago. Still, if this is the Tera Orbs, it’s not that big an overstatement. I felt he was probably also overselling how much their - our - name would be put on this discovery. Glitterati might be mentioned as one of the sponsors on a couple of papers he wrote while he would get all the public acclaim.

“What do you plan to do with the sponsorship money, exactly? The methodology you plan to use in your research and the like?” My knowledge meant I knew what he was going after already, but I wanted to find out more about what he was like as a person. The game only showed you an AI that had definitely diverged from his base personality, and a glitchy protocol.

“I plan on touring a number of dangerous and exotic locales within Paldea. The study is on Terastalization, so me and my team will set up in areas where such Pokemon undergoing the phenomena have been commonly noted to study and compare them. These findings may be the last piece we need to finish the project.”

“I see. Are you planning on going to the Great Crater?” I steepled my fingertips together, staring him in the eye. Billy, who had been looking on amused at my efforts, started coughing on his drink at that.

“No, I don’t believe I’ll need to delve that deep. However, I do confess that I think there is much to be explored within the Crater. Using records from previous attempts I’d like to make an expedition within at some point… but that’s far off. Another project to look forward to.”

Right, he’s all about the ‘future’ stuff. “You’ve already started this project. Why do you need more money now?”

The smile he’d kept in place this entire time dimmed a notch. “There have been complications within the project structure. My… former wife, Professor Sada, has left. Without her aid we aren’t as far along as we could have been. It’s sad, but we have to move on. Always looking forward.” Darn it. I don’t really have anything else to probe with or try and undermine things here. I really don’t want Arven to grow up without a father for most of his life though… like he will entirely with his mom…

“Do you wish you could go back to when you were with your wife.” I asked suddenly. Turo’s face darkened immensely, his hand suddenly clenched in a fist.

“Nemona!” Billy shouted. Apparently, even for the Glitterati, that was a breach of decorum too far. Which was my point, but I was hardly going to admit to that, so I just turned to him and gave him my most innocent face. Kids say dumb stuff without realizing it all the time, so it’s totally believable that I did that here and not at all me trying to get Turo to publically lose his cool and not get his funding, right?

The gambit failed, however, as a second later Turo let out a deep sigh and waved down my father. “It’s fine. All questions are legitimate searches for knowledge, I can approve of that.” To me, he kneeled down to look me in the eye and said: “No. I loved her, and the times we shared, our memories, and our son, have been some of the greatest treasures in my life. But science marches ever onward. You never know what new treasures will await in the future, which is why even though I’ll always love what we had, I can’t stop striving forward.”

I was stunned into silence. That was really well said… and proof that I’m never going to be able to turn Turo away from his dream. No way to keep Arven’s father around.

Billy started clapping in response, and other guests followed my father’s suit. “Wonderful! That’s simply a splendid way to look at things! Why, my dear O’Nare often says similarly when closing a deal. Speaking of, there’s a great construction team she hires for specialty jobs that I think would be perfect for the ‘waypoint stations’ you were talking about…” Their voices blended in with the rest of the crowd as they started chatting again. I’ll never forget the victorious gleam in Turo’s eyes as he walked away with my father, though.

I definitely need to make apricorn Pokeballs or something like that off the system whenever I go to the Great Crater.

I wasn’t the only one sighing sadly, as I noticed out of the corner of my eye young Arven was doing the same. He was also lightly touching the Pokeball he had at his hip, likely seeking a small measure of comfort.

“Hey. You uh, have a Pokemon too?” I said, holding up my own Pokeball. Establish a point of commonality and most kids open up pretty fast. I was proven correct when that immediately caused him to brighten up.

“Yeah! Maschiff is my best bud. We run around and play all the time and he helps me make food and stuff when dad’s busy.” Seriously? Already letting things go at home, I see. It didn’t improve my opinion of Paldea’s foremost Professor any more, but I let it go for the moment.

“Wanna go play outside then?” He looked eager, but hesitant, glancing over at our parents. “It’s fine, I think they’re busy.” Considering they’re busy unwittingly helping make your life miserable, playing with you now is the least I can do. “Rotom can let us know if they need us anyways.”

The phone in question hovered, smiling at us. “Oh wow, you have a Rotom Phone? That’s so cool!” Arven cheered.

“Be careful - you’ll give them a swollen head. And that’s bad, because they’re pretty much all head already!” Rotom pouted at my joke and I stuck my tongue out to let them know I wasn’t serious. “C’mon, let’s go.” I led the three of us out of the stuffy house party to the beach where Arven could play and actually be happy. I hope you’ll get to keep on to that joy for a while longer. And that I haven’t somehow made this situation worse.