He drew in a shaky breath and looked down at Odette. A fellow Champion. He should warn her. Even a Champion's might was nothing in the face of this attacker.
Not a Champion's. His. He was nothing.
He withered under her stare. He couldn't bring himself do it.
"A...a fine coincidence. It's fortunate we decided to stay so late," he mumbled. "Otherwise this attack may have gone unnoticed."
![Odette Neutral.PNG Odette Neutral.PNG](https://forums.thousandroads.net/data/attachments/3/3976-b2ad41f6a972f6e8937651fc61db0785.jpg)
Odette studied him, her eyes unwavering. Looking for a crack, a leak, something that would answer any of her questions before he had the chance to do so himself.
She wasn't expecting so many to appear at once. The stammer in his voice, his shaky inhales the way he now struggled to keep eye contact. When he did manage to look at her, she realized the pain in his eyes was something familiar. Extremely familiar.
Slowly buy very surely, her leer softened up into a sympathetic glare. One that wanted to be mad, but couldn't because she felt like she understood what was happening here.
"Merde, je ne peux pas faire cette merde réconfortante," she grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Sighing, she reached out and grabbed a firm hold of his wrist and began to pull him along as she walked toward the side of the building.
"Come with me. You need to sit down."
***
Odette found a couple of benches against the outside wall, among a neatly landscaped garden area that matched well with the building's overall landscape. Seemed private enough. Whatever he'd been running from hopefully wasn't a flower person.
As they neared it, she let him go and gestured. "Have at it, champ," she said. The edge in her tone insisted it wasn't an offer, but a demand. She let him sit before lowering herself into the spot next to him. She shrugged her backpack off her shoulders, unzipped it, and after some digging, she withdrew a full and unopened water bottle, which she handed to him.
"Here. You're probably dehydrated as shit going for a jog in a suit like that."
After that, they sat in silence for a while. All that filled the space between them was the distant buzz of the island bug types, and perhaps the occasional cry of a distant wild 'mon out for the hunt. The breeze swirled around, rustling Odette's bangs and forcing her to smooth them out every now and then.
After she'd worked up enough of a sweat, she finally sighed loudly. "Can I tell you a story?" she queried. "Not any 'once upon a time' shit, we don't have time for that. This is a true story. Because maybe I jumped a gun asking you to level with me first."
![Odile Beaming.PNG Odile Beaming.PNG](https://forums.thousandroads.net/data/attachments/3/3978-1adfe825043a2806b02c8886136e9e4d.jpg)
As Odette was talking, Odile came sauntering up, now holding a filthy looking rubber chicken.
"̴H̷e̸y̶ ̷O̶d̷e̸t̶t̷e̵,̷ ̷I̷ ̵d̵i̶d̶n̶'̷t̸ ̴f̴i̵n̷d̷ ̵a̵n̴y̸ ̸g̸h̷o̴s̶t̷y̶ ̴r̶e̴s̵i̸d̸u̷e̷,̷ ̵b̵u̸t̷ ̴I̸ ̶f̵o̶u̵n̷d̵ ̷t̵h̷i̴s̶ ̶r̸u̸b̶b̶e̷r̷ ̸c̴h̵i̷c̴k̴e̶n̵ ̵a̸n̶d̵-̴-̵"̵
![Odette Deadpan w Sweatdrop.PNG Odette Deadpan w Sweatdrop.PNG](https://forums.thousandroads.net/data/attachments/3/3977-349d0c4b69759a2111ccb39870c912fa.jpg)
Odette whipped around to shoot a stern look at the demon 'mon. "Odile. Not now."
![Odile Neutral Frown.PNG Odile Neutral Frown.PNG](https://forums.thousandroads.net/data/attachments/3/3980-52dba43d2a9635ad06c95f71bd745fde.jpg)
She squeezed the chicken again, letting the squeaking noise ring out without bothering to stop it.
"̸W̷h̴y̵ ̸n̴o̴t̵?̵ ̸T̸h̶i̵s̶ ̴s̶e̷e̷m̴s̴ ̸l̷i̶k̵e̸ ̶t̴h̴e̷ ̵p̴e̸r̴f̴e̵c̴t̸ ̶t̶i̵m̴e̴ ̸t̷o̶ ̴s̷h̴o̸w̸ ̵t̷h̴i̷s̶-̷-̷"̷
![Odette Pissed.PNG Odette Pissed.PNG](https://forums.thousandroads.net/data/attachments/3/3979-943eea0b656ca50427574d9f5beb6db2.jpg)
"I am going to beam a fucking rock at you, go find Enora."
![Odile Smug.PNG Odile Smug.PNG](https://forums.thousandroads.net/data/attachments/3/3981-421ec9c9af695b12c5dcc039b56c4042.jpg)
Odile stared at Odette for a while.
However, soon her eyes cut to Steven.
Then back to Odette.
Eventually, her eyes lit up in understanding.
"̸O̴O̸O̶O̵O̸H̵H̸H̷H̷H̸ ̶I̵ ̴g̷e̸t̷ ̸i̵t̵,̸ ̴h̸e̶'̸s̷ ̷d̴e̷f̸i̷n̷i̴t̴e̵l̸y̴ ̸C̷l̴o̷v̶i̴s̷ ̸2̴.̶0̷,̶ ̶i̵s̸n̷'̴t̵ ̷h̴e̸?̶"̶
![Odette Pissed.PNG Odette Pissed.PNG](https://forums.thousandroads.net/data/attachments/3/3979-943eea0b656ca50427574d9f5beb6db2.jpg)
Without a moment's hesitation, Odette reached down into the dirt, picked up the first rock her fingers grazed, and lobbed it right at Odile's head.
![Odile Smug.PNG Odile Smug.PNG](https://forums.thousandroads.net/data/attachments/3/3981-421ec9c9af695b12c5dcc039b56c4042.jpg)
Odile caught the rock effortlessly, her expression unchanging.
"̶F̵i̵n̶e̵,̷ ̵m̸a̶k̶e̸ ̴o̵u̸t̴ ̸w̵i̶t̵h̴ ̵y̵o̸u̵r̸ ̴b̴a̶c̶k̵u̷p̵,̴ ̸s̷e̸e̷ ̸i̷f̴ ̷I̴ ̵g̷i̴v̵e̴ ̷a̵ ̵f̴u̶c̵k̸.̸ ̸I̶'̷m̶ ̸g̶o̶n̶n̶a̴ ̴g̷o̷ ̶h̴i̷t̸ ̶s̷o̶m̷e̷b̸o̵d̶y̸ ̴w̶i̴t̸h̵ ̷t̸h̶i̵s̶.̵"̴
She tossed the rock into her mouth and bit down on it. The crunch it made was audible, even with her mouth closed. She turned heel and sprinted off, squeezing the rubber chicken once more as a parting word.
"Dieux, cette putain de douleur dans mon cul absolu, j'ai besoin d'une putain de batte en métal ou quelque chose, putain de putain de merde ..."
She quickly sat back down and pushed her fingers through her bangs, allowing herself to calm down some more before she attempted to steer this conversation back on track. When she was sure she didn't feel as hot anymore, she folded her hands in her lap. "Anyway. As I was saying. Quick storytime."
![Odette Neutral.PNG Odette Neutral.PNG](https://forums.thousandroads.net/data/attachments/3/3976-b2ad41f6a972f6e8937651fc61db0785.jpg)
She focused on a hibscus flower growing on the bush just in front of them. "About three years ago...I think I'd just turned twenty-two...Kalos was dealing with a drug epidemic. Lots of people, the wealthy and their Pokemon, namely the shinies, were overdosing and dying on it. Cops couldn't find anything about it because the group distributing it was slippery. Just some backstory."
Another sigh. "My grandpa was the chief of the Lumiose City police force. He was tired from all the drug shit happening. A lot of the 'mon dying were shiny 'mon, and having a shiny partner myself, it hit close to home. Even more so because Kalos fostered this institution that allowed the rich to buy and sell shinies like stocks, so with that happening in tandem...I was aggravated about it. My best friend was something of an internet sleuth at the time, so with his finesse, we got involved in finding out what the fuck was going on with it. My team was 50/50 on it, but they all eventually got on board. With my coaxing, of course."
She clenched her fingers around some of the fabric on her pants before she even realized what she was doing. "Without going into the gross details, I..." The words hung for a second. She had to build up the courage to say it. "I pretended to date my stalker for about three months. Because we were sure he had something to do with the drug and he was blatantly apart of that trade, so I made myself deal with the act of dating him to get some answers. I didn't know he was stalking me at the time, of course. By the time I did, the shit had already hit the fan."
Her eyes remained on that hibiscus, but her mind had wandered elsewhere. It took a few seconds for her to speak again.
"I got hurt. Third degree Houndoom bite to my prominent arm. My team got also hurt. And I was...a fucking
mess."
Rolling her eyes, she began to shake her head ever so slightly. "I went through the motions of grief, of-of...wallowing in my self pity.
How could I be so stupid? Why wasn't I strong enough to handle what was thrown at me? I was only trying to look out for the ones I cared about, so why wasn't I able to protect them in the end? All of it. I'm still fighting with it every now and then. I know better now, but it's...it's heavy shit."
That was when she finally looked at him. "No matter how tough you think you are, there's always going to be a chance you face something that is just...way fucking more than you can chew. And it'll take your ass out. Champ or not." She allowed the words to run laps around Steven for a few seconds, before eyeing one of the overhead palm trees.
"I still fight with it, but I've come to terms with what happened. My team came to terms with it. I guess I found solace in the fact that there was a chance that everything that had happened would have happened even if I didn't stick my nose where it didn't belong, but...we're so much closer than we were to begin with because of it. I'm stronger because of it. I grew from it, weirdly enough. Even if it did traumatize me."
She held out her left hand and began to flex it, cringing at the way she had to somewhat push herself to touch her fingertips to her palm.
"I'm going to struggle to grasp things with my left hand for the rest of my life, but best believe I have something to show for it. I never took any shit before, but now?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes, sending Steven a half smile. "No shot. I put a man twice my size on his ass for catcalling me. I'm fucking unstoppable now."
She paused. "PTSD aside. That's why therapy exists. It's a good thing, you know. Nothing wrong with admitting you need it, and it will never make you any less of a hard ass. If you want to be. You don't strike me as the hard ass type, but you get what I mean." She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that.
Now she was rambling, and she held up her hands as if to silence herself.
"So what I'm really trying to say is...if something happened to you last night. Or Aggron. And you're beating yourself up because you got hurt or because Aggron got hurt, because you-you...you
think that as a Champion you need to be stronger...I'm just telling you that you need to take a good,
long moment to consider the fact that we are in some deep shit right now. And that there is absolutely," she made an 'O' with her fingers, "
zero chance of you fighting this thing alone. It speaks wonders of your character for attempting to your own. You bet your ass I'd have attempted the same thing because while I'm stronger now, there's no hiding the fact I'm a risky reckless bitch and have learned nothing and will still run head first into a fire to protect my friends," she said, leaning back against the backrest and crossing her arms.
"But don't sit here and wallow in pity because you think you're weak. You're not. Aggron's not. This thing is just bigger than all of us. You'll find your strength in helping the group collectively take it down."
The breeze blew around them again. This time, it felt much less...tense.
"I know it's easier said than done, but...don't be so hard on yourself, Steven. Your heart was in the right place. If there’s somebody who knows that for certain, it’s me.”