Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss
Chapter 3
Chapter Summary:
The lights dimmed, the orchestra pit hummed, the conductor tapped his baton, and the curtains were about to rise on the world premier of "Serena Obliterates Quasartico."
-OR-
Grimlin was a city Sableye through and through. He’d gladly sacrificed his stone diet variety for Lumiose City’s chic fashion, poise, and elegance. However, deep in his heart, or rather, stomach, Grimlin yearned for the mines.
After tucking her into a taxi to ensure she would get home safe, they bid goodbye to Moire. Serena had made sure to exchange contact information with the woman.
Urbain had suggested they grab a taxi too, but Serena wanted to walk a little while longer under the stars and observe the city at night as AZ had suggested. Grimlin hadn’t wanted to go back into his ball yet either, and strolled alongside them.
In the night, the pink crystals scattered about the area looked even more beautiful than before, each shimmering as if there was a light hitting them. Serena meant to ask about them on the way over, but she hadn’t dared to interrupt Urbain’s excited tour guide routine. It was really too cute.
“What are these pink crystals everywhere? Is it some kind of city-wide modern art installation?” Serena wondered. It would be the least they could do to compensate for the scaffolding everywhere. She could see it being an installation playing on the idea of luminous crystals lighting up Lumiose City.
The pink crystals were quite pretty. She really enjoyed their color, they had so much light refraction inside the stone that it almost looked like it was glowing. They must be shining a small light inside to get the stunning soft glow effect. It was like twinkling night lights across the city. Truly, a beautifully crafted kaleidoscope.
“Nah, nothing like that!” Urbain chuckled. Art insulation! Serena could be really funny! “It’s a bunch of Mega Crystals! No one is quite sure what they are or why they’re showing up, but people say they’re made from some kinda mysterious Mega Energy, apparently. They’re all over the city, and you can break ‘em surprisingly easily with Pokemon moves.”
Serena blinked, processing his words. “What do yOU MEAN THEY’RE MEGA ENERGY?!!?!? WHAT?!”
Urbain faltered, “Uh–”
Serena continued frantically, “It’s everywhere in the city?? And no one knows why?!” She kneeled down and picked up a piece of it carefully and examined it. “This color… and the Mega Energy…”
Serena tucked the sample into her bag, and stood. She needed to go to Anistar City and see the Sundial again to confirm and run some tests just to be absolutely certain, but she was already sure this was the same type of crystal.
There was NO way this was normal. In fact, this was a MASSIVE concern!! What do you
mean Mega Energy crystals were popping up all over Lumiose City and no one knows why?? The only other time anything of the sort ever happened was thousands of years ago in Anistar!
Literal magic crystals start popping up out of nowhere and NO ONE cares?!
Why the FUCK weren’t people freaking out and stupidly concerned??!!! This was like watching the most aggressive doomsday-level black mold visibly growing everywhere in your home and going “Nah, that’s fine. I’m not gonna worry about it.”
UM, NO!!! You should be worried!!
Now she had
even more of a reason to go to the Lab! Serena had to hound Sycamore about what was going on here.
*Shingggg*
Upon hearing a slicing noise, Serena turned around to see Grimlin
stuffing his face with the cursed rock.
Grimlin froze under the heat of her accusing glare, fisting huge chunks of the stone in both hands. His mouth was so full that the Sableye couldn’t fully close it, and his cheeks bulged, looking like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
A shard slipped out of his mouth and hit the sidewalk with a soft *
tink.*
“...What are you doing?” Serena asked slowly and calmly, not at all matching the crazed, overly intense look on her face and twitching eye.
Grimlin gulped down his mouth full and unceremoniously dropped the stones in his hands, letting them clatter to the ground. Grimlin laced his fingers together behind his back, and without breaking eye contact, slowly shuffled the two massive crystal chunks he discarded behind him with one foot as if he could hide them behind his thin frame.
“...Sableye,” he answered, claiming he was doing nothing, you know, like a liar.
Urbain figured he should step in before Serena truly lost it. Tonight was hard enough on her already. “Er, Grimlin, my guy, I don’t think you should be eating that,” he offered, wincing. Even he recognized that
eating the weird Mega Crystals was probably NOT a good idea.
“Sableyeeeeee??” Grimlin whined, stomping his foot. Why?? He hadn’t been really listening to what Serena was saying about the pink precious pretties before, Grimlin had been too busy snacking, but he had realized he was in trouble when she whipped around and glared at him.
“What do you even mean “why?” Those crystals are full of Mega Energy! You can’t be eating that!!” Serena exclaimed.
Grimlin crossed his arms. “Sable, sableye, sableye, eye,” he countered, using his gestures to help get the point across. He’d been eating those pink shinies for a while now. How else do you think he, as a Sableye, was surviving in this city? It’s not like there were heaps of wild Carbink and gem stones to dig up with all the pavement and buildings. The pink stone was the staple of his diet!
“Oh shit. OH SHIT!!!” Serena shouted and all but dove to pull Grimlin into her arms, her hat tumbling off her head in the process. Serena brushed his necklaces out of the way, and looked closer at the gem on his chest.
Bright kaleidoscope luminous pink.
She quickly turned him around to see the gems on his back.
All spectacular pink.
“Eye!” Grimlin yelped, startled by her sudden actions. Serena let him jump out of her arms, her mind whirring a mile a minute.
Sableyes’ gem patterns could theoretically be infinite and of infinite colors because they reflected the Sableye’s diet. Aside from his eyes, Grimlin’s gems were entirely pink. She hadn’t noticed before due to his necklaces obscuring them and the fact that it was very dark out. Serena had just assumed they were red! At least the gem deposits on his body were notably NOT actually glowing like the free standing crystals were.
That had to mean they were okay… RIGHT?!
Grimlin put his hand on her leg. “Sableye?” Grimlin asked, concerned. Was she okay? She was just staring off into the distance.
Serena snapped out of it. “Am I okay? Grimlin, are YOU okay?!”
“Eye, eye.” Grimlin was fine. Why wouldn’t he be?
“You don’t feel weird eating that?” Urbain questioned anxiously. He picked up Serena’s hat and tucked it under his arm.
“And how long have you been eating the pink crystals?” Serena pressed, adding on to Urbain’s question, but keeping her eyes trained on Grimlin. Based on the prevalence of the deposits, she’d guess he’d been eating them for over a year, if not longer. Holy shit, Serena had to talk to Sycamore!!
Grimlin waved his hand dismissively. “Sableye, sable, eye, eye.” Yeah he felt fine. It's sparky, like pop rocks! “Eye, ble, eye, Sableye, say,” he began explaining, trying as best he could to communicate effectively.
Grimlin had been eating the pink shinies for about a year now. Most Sableye don’t like it though, that’s why they don’t stay in the city. It tasted like spicy Carbink. It’s an acquired taste, but Grimlin had a sophisticated palette. He did like it. With how prevalent the pinkie pretty was, it was like an all you can eat buffet! The other Sableye were missing out! Besides, he wasn’t about to dig in the dirt and ruin his jewelry now was he?
No, Grimlin was a city Sableye through and through. He’d gladly sacrificed his stone diet variety for Lumiose City’s chic fashion, poise, and elegance. However, deep in his heart, or rather, stomach, Grimlin yearned for the mines.
Managing to understand a decent amount of his story, Grimlin was an excellent little actor who’d be killer at charades, it only served to worry Serena even more. “While I’m relieved to see that you seem relatively unaffected, I don’t like this. That much concentrated Mega Energy can’t be good for you.”
Grimlin tilted his head to the side. “Sable?” He asked. What was Mega Energy? He’d never heard of that before.
“Mega Energy is a special energy that lets only a handful of certain Pokemon undergo a phenomenon called Mega Evolution. It’s like a temporary evolution, it gives you a great boost in power and alters your appearance,” Serena informed him.
“Sableye is capable of Mega Evolution, so you could Mega Evolve eventually if you wanted to, Grimlin,” Urbain provided, grinning at the little goblin.
“Sableye!?” Really!? Yes! Grimlin wanted to try that! He’d never evolved before, and it would be interesting to see what it would be like!
“Alright, we can work on that.” Serena nodded, causing Grimlin’s eyes to gleam. “Can you please stop eating those pink crystals until I do research to verify if it’s okay for you?”
“Sableye, sable,” he relented. Fine. “Sableye!” Grimlin rubbed his stomach. Well, what was he going to eat instead of the pink shiny rocks?
Serena chuckled. “That’s what you have me for, dummy. I’ll get you the best stones!” Serena took out a few spare Water Stones and a Fire Stone she had stashed in her bag. “Here, try these!”
Grimlin woofed them down. “Sableye!!” Yum! So smooth and hydrating! Oh! Spicy! The flavor is lovely. Ahhh what a wonderful day!! VARIETY ONCE MORE!!
“I’ll get you a bunch of different stones to try until you find what you like the best! You must develop an advanced palette after all if you are to reach the heights of graceful sophistication!” Serena instructed him.
“Sableye, eye!” Yes, Grimlin understood. He shall try everything!
Z • ──── (*ᴗ͈ ˬᴗ͈) ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ──── • A
The next morning, Serena sat in the Hotel Z courtyard watching Lemis chat excitedly with Floette. Serena felt like a mom watching her kid on the playground. She’d introduce Lemis to her new team additions later. She didn’t want to interrupt Lemis’ quality time with Floette, and based on how Grimlin and Engarde reacted to Sensei last night, she was sure it would derail the whole morning.
Serena took out her phone and shot a text to Cynthia. Cynthia should still be on her
extended vacation in Alola, no doubt terrorizing people with unexpected and inescapable battle challenges. Thus, she would be the perfect patsy for delivering Serena her Rowlett doormen.
Serena || Cynthia
Serena: Can you get me 6 Rowletts as a souvenir from Alola?
Cynthia: …6 Rowletts, Serena?
Serena: I’m dabbling in the hotel business and prepping your next vacation destination. The Rowletts are essential.
Cynthia is typing…
Serena and Cynthia’s last battle had ended in a draw. Their standing record was Serena: 40, Cynthia: 41, and ties: 24. Cynthia was one of the very few people Serena had ever lost to. However, Serena was going to take back the lead next time!!!
The two of them had become friends over the years, and battled each other frequently. They both loved getting to fully let loose!! It was rare that either of them could go all out against opponents in a battle nowadays, and that got boring. Quickly.
As such, Cynthia and Serena had started to form what was essentially a secret underground Champion-only fight club.
May eagerly joined. Ethan pretended like he was hesitant but was so fully on board. Nate seemed indifferent but didn't want to be left out. None of them really knew the Champion of the relatively newly formed Alolan League well. It seemed like every other week there was a new Champion, mostly cycling through a few people. Which tracked given how new the League was. It would be a while before they actually crowned a long-term Champion.
Cynthia apparently had a weird “my rock is better than your rock” rivalry with Steven Stone, and gleefully
forced him to leave the club in retaliation for some dumb fossil argument. When Steven tried to claim Cynthia was biased, acting unfairly, and had no authority to make that decision, Cynthia countered that Champion fight club was only for
actual Champions only, not
former Champions, kicking off that precedent. So their membership roster was rather small, unfortunately. Serena was half convinced that once those two got over themselves, Cynthia and Steven would probably end up married and going on weird digging in the dirt and spelunking adventures together. Ew. Serena would never. She liked her nails too much.
Red didn’t own a phone and was probably off on a mountain somewhere, so they couldn’t invite him. Honestly, Serena loved that guy, he was so extra. He won his Champion title, then fucked off to live on a overly snowy mountain in jeans and a t-shirt. Because he’s mute, no matter how much anyone asks him about
why he’s living that way, he won’t answer and categorically
refuses to sign to anyone or provide any explanation. Iconic.
It might be rude but they explicitly didn’t invite Geeta or tell her about their club, given that she wasn’t technically “THE Champion” and was the “Chairwoman of the Paldean League.” Because of Paldea’s ranking system of “Champion Level-Trainers,” Geeta kept her title no matter how many
many battles she lost. It really just wasn’t the same.
Leon, that narcissistic idiot, rejected their invitation and carefully made sure to never challenge any of them to preserve his stupid “unbeatable” title. Leon, sweetie,
all of the Champions were unbeatable! That was the point! But they
could fight
each other in a secret fight club and it wouldn’t matter if any of them lost!! And that overly garish outfit and cape of his. Ugh. Serena wanted to burn that cape. Walking around wearing that cape should be illegal. It caused psychological damage to anyone who saw it.
Then, after Leon lost his
oh so precious unbeatable status, he came crawling back and asked to join their club. Serena took great joy in telling Leon that since he wasn't a
Champion anymore, he couldn't join the
Champion-only fight club, and made sure to rub it in his face that Gloria had taken his club membership spot.
Typical Galarian idiocy!
Galar: the land of bad food, sheep, and idiots! Gigantamaxing? Who wanted their Pokemon to look like a giant parade balloon? Mega Evolution was clearly superior. Serena had no interest in visiting.
However, she’d get her hands on a Dreepy one day!! Damn that Leon for shoving the existence of Dragapult in her face, offering to give her a Dreepy, and then NEVER following up! Were his thoughts just as scrambled as his sense of direction?
Serena had also heard rumors of a Ghost-type Corsola and a Dark-type Linoone evolution… Perhaps a visit wasn’t
too entirely out of the question. Hmm…
“Woah, that’s some Pokemon!” Urbain marveled at Lemis as he walked out of the hotel and joined her at the bench. Urbain stood by her side and put his hands on his hips. “What is he?”
“Oh, that’s Lemis. He’s Yveltal,” Serena answered and returned to looking down at her phone. She was still in the middle of her very important Rowlett conversation with Cynthia.
Urbain stilled. “Like as in
that Yveltal?!” he tried to clarify. Surely there was no–
“Yeah,” Serena confirmed offhandedly without looking up or fully paying attention to him. Urbain’s presence was only preferentially registering to her right now, her attention fully dedicated to texting back and forth with Cynthia about the Rowlett trade logistics. These Rowletts were
extremely important!
“…Serena, what the fuck,” Urbain breathed, stunned, unable to yet muster up the ability to shout in disbelief.
Serena finally looked up from the phone. “What?” she asked, confused and not at all following whatever Urbain had been talking about. She wasn’t really paying attention before.
“That’s Yveltal!!” Urbain stressed, trying to indicate the clear obvious absolutely-fucking-huge problem with that statement.
“Yeah, that’s what I said.” She didn’t really see what Urbain was failing to grasp here. It wasn’t that hard. Her phone dinged, it was Cynthia again. Serena returned to her texting.
“It’s
Yveltal!!” he tried again, growing increasingly baffled.
“And? Do you have a point here?” Serena questioned, still looking at phone. She’s more than a little distracted, honestly. Rowlett doormen were on the line!!
“Serena, you have a god of death on your team,” Urbain explained, unable to fathom how that was a sentence he actually said.
Everything finally squared away with Cynthia, she was getting her the Rowletts, Serena finally tuned into the conversation and put her phone away. Urbain had been asking about Lemis, right? Right.
“Yeah, isn’t he just the cutest? He’s one of a kind!” she gushed, so proud of her little guy. “Do you want to meet him? He likes Roseli Berries if you have any. If not, I can give some to you!” Meeting Urbain wouldn’t be a huge distraction like Grimlin or Engarde. And Serena knew Lemis would be thrilled.
Honestly, no, Urbain didn’t want to, because what the actual fuck was going on right now? Who wants to meet a
god of death??
…But Serena’s eyes were sparkling, and she looked
so excited to introduce him to her eldritch horror nightmare creature. Her cheeks were flushed, and she genuinely couldn’t wait for him to say yes. Like nothing would make her happier.
Urbain’s heart was pounding, and not just because of the god of death standing
right there.
“...Okay,” he weakly agreed.
Serena brightened as if she was made of the stars themselves and looked at Urbain like he’d said the greatest thing ever said by any human. Urbain couldn’t help but marvel at the sight and triumph in the fact that
he’d been the one to make her this happy.
Shit. He was doomed and in
wayyyyyy too deep already for only knowing Serena for a few days.
Serena grabbed his hand and dragged him over to where Yveltal loomed. Well, whether Urbain liked it or not, this was happening.
“Le~mis!” she called, making Yveltal look over at her. “I want you to meet my new friend, Urbain! He’s AZ and Floette’s dear friend as well and has been doing very good work to help the both of them.”
Urbain would have been flattered by her words, but he was a little distracted by the fact that the hulking bird of death was now looking directly at him.
“Flo, flo!” Floette agreed, seconding Serena’s words.
“Yv?” Lemis chirped, very excited to meet someone Floette and Serena liked! His social circle was extremely limited, so any addition to the flock was a HUGE affair! He was
so thrilled that Lemis started snaking his head, swaying it fluidly from side to side in excitement like a dance as he slightly shifted his weight from foot to foot, making little twittering gurgling noises all the while.
In his splendor, Lemis accidentally knocked over a flower pot with his tail. Given how big his tail was, it launched into the wall, shattered against it, leaving dirt stuck on the wall, and then crashed on the ground. Lemis ducked his head, saddened by his actions. He nudged the remnants of the flower pot with his beak and cooed in despair at his accidental destruction.
“I know, buddy,” Serena started, walking over and consolingly petting Lemis. “I know you didn’t mean to destroy it. It’s alright.” Serena leaned down and started brushing away the dirt and pottery. “Hey, look at that! The flowers are all okay! We can replant them no problem!”
Joy immediately returned into Lemis’ eyes. “Yvel~!” he cheered, whistling merrily.
Urbain’s hesitance immediately evaporated. Apparently, the Destruction Pokemon, Yveltal – Legendary Pokemon, bringer of disaster, and mighty god of death – was just a big overly excitable clumsy goofball of a bird.
Okay, yeah, Urbain could do this. The Pokemon was
way less intimidating after that display.
Z • ──── ٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´- ̑̑ෆ(⸝⸝•́⸝ᵕ⸝•̀⸝⸝⸝ ) ──── • A
Serena left Sensei with Grimlin and Engarde in the courtyard of the hotel to train together, trusting Sensei to get the two of them up to speed a little, while she visited the Pokemon Research Lab.
Urbain had jumped to come with her, but Serena had said no. She wanted to talk to Sycamore privately about Mega Energy and get his take on why droves of wild Pokemon were arriving in Lumiose.
While that was something that Urbain could be present for, Serena really didn’t want Urbain to see her scream furiously at the Professor about the utterly deplorable job he was doing. She was going to rip that man to shreds, and knowing Sycamore, there was a decent chance that he might cry.
Sycamore was always one to react passionately to every little thing and believed in embracing all emotions. Which would normally be a very healthy mindset, and Serena appreciated his over-the-top flair. However, Serena also thought Sycamore embraced emotions a little too much when it meant he couldn’t take criticism because he’d feel just
so hurt. Serena was no doubt going to be treated to the full wide rainbow of Sycamore’s emotions during her visit today.
Serena was very proud of her ability to make a grown man cry, but she had enough self-awareness to know that it probably wasn’t the best look to present to a new friend, who was also a
very cute boy, that barely knew her. She’d spare Urbain the fate of suffering through Sycamore’s blubbering this time.
Because he’d looked dejected, Serena had reminded Urbain about the rocks still blocking the Hotel Z entrance, gave Urbain the TM for Rock Smash, and left him to his own devices. He’d seemed very enthused about solving that problem. Last night, they’d been too tired to try to do anything about the rocks blocking the hotel path. Serena had sent out Sensei and Cheshire who shuttled the two of them across.
After a short walk, Serena arrived at the Pokemon Research Lab.
“Ah, you must be here because of the Pokedex prize. Our acting director is in her office. You can take that elevator there to the third floor,” a receptionist greeted upon seeing Serena enter the Lab. Well, NOW Serena’s disguise worked!! Were Pokemon Center nurses psychic or something?!
“Yes, that’s absolutely why I’m here.” Serena would let them think what they wanted. She finally processed what the receptionist said. “Wait, “her?””
What?? Where was Sycamore? Did he leave and NOT tell her?! How dare he!
No, no, that’s
exactly what he’d do! Vanish as soon as she needed his expertise on Mega Energy. Ugh, that man!
“Yes, Director Mable took over for Professor Sycamore five years ago,” she helpfully informed Serena.
FIVE YEARS?! So not only did he run away and not tell Serena, the man waited until right after SHE left and then slipped away so he wouldn’t have to tell her! Typical. Why was she even surprised!
When Serena inevitably got ahold of him, because she was hunting him down after this bullshit, she could vividly imagine Sycamore saying, “Your departure was such a grand inspiration that it stirred something inside me I just couldn’t shake! Much like you, dear Serena, I couldn’t help but be entranced by the siren song call of international research. I had to bid Kalos adieu! I was so wrapped-up in the moment – the intrigue, the mystery, the unknown! – that I’d forgotten to inform you. Surely you must understand, we are all loyal followers at the behest of science!”
AKA “I waited till you left and then didn’t tell you for five years so I wouldn’t have to deal with you yelling at me and making me cry for knowingly shirking my responsibility of dealing with the Team Flare fall out.”
Sycamore just rose even higher on Serena’s shit list. She’d tear him limb from limb. Now, when Serena finally got to yell at him, it wasn’t going to be only a possibility that he might cry, no, she’d insure Sycamore
sobbed like a baby.
“Thank you for telling me,” Serena thanked the woman through gritted teeth. She tried to be polite, it wasn’t the receptionist’s fault after all, but some of her ire couldn’t help but slip through. Serena briskly walked over to the elevator and took it up to floor three.
“THAT SHORTSIGHTED NITWIT!!” a voice shouted as soon as Serena stepped foot off the elevator.
Hold up, Serena recognized that voice.
Director Mable was
that Mable. What kind of dystopian-Kalos had Serena come home to because what was even happening anymore?! First AZ owns a hotel and actually dresses well, next Quasartico’s crimes against Lumiose, then rampant Mega Energy deposits everywhere with Sycamore thinking he was being cute by jumping ship, and now
this? Arceus, what was next for her to discover?!
Serena had followed the Team Flare trials closely. She knew exactly who took plea deals and who was put away. Serena herself even served as a prime witness and victim in the cases, giving substantial testimony in every trial. Serena had ensured every Team Flare member saw justice served before she left.
Serena was aware Mable took a plea deal in exchange for providing information that aided in the capture of many other members and Admins. However, the terms of the repentance to society clause, present in all the Flare plea deals, were only to be decided upon the ratified conclusion of every Flare trial. Namely, it was left to decide how exactly each member in question was going to serve community service while on house arrest.
At the time, Serena hadn’t really cared about which ex-Team Flare member cleaned up trash on the side of the road, worked at Pokemon shelters, or served at a food bank. She’d departed for Hoenn before it had been decided and didn’t try to follow up. Their sentencing and punishment had been more than enough for her.
Looks like it ended up being more important than Serena thought.
“That stupid mayor’s poured even MORE money into this ridiculous urban redevelopment plan?! Sure, great – more Pokemon! Love it! But you can’t just throw ‘em in a wild zone and call it a day! No, you’ve got to have scientists SURVEY and STUDY these things to figure out what’s safe! But who can keep up with all the work when they keep adding wild zones every time I turn around?!” Mable ranted passionately from the other side of the half wall, out of sight.
Wait, Mable was spouting SENSE!!! Finally someone questioning these eyesores and that idiotic mayor! Serena took off her glasses and tucked them into her tote bag. Serena rounded the corner, and leaned against the divider wall. Mable was too wrapped up in her computer to notice her.
“Oh, I fully agree with you. It’s crazy that we finally see eye to eye on something, isn’t it, Mable?” Serena announced her presence theatrically.
Mable jolted, whipping her head to look at her, and rapidly paling at the sight of Serena and her iconic outfit. See? The symbolism was working perfectly!
“S-Serena!?” Mable stuttered, eyes wide, truly and utterly surprised. Serena was the LAST person she ever expected to see again!
“Aww you look like you’ve seen a ghost! Boo! Haha!” Serena laughed at her own joke.
“W-Why are you here!?” Mable eeped, her visor slightly askew, and looking like she was ready to run at any moment.
Serena rolled her eyes. “Don’t sound so scared, I’m not gonna do anything.”
To be fair to Mable, they were never on good terms or anything like that. The only times they’d ever seen each other was sparingly during Serena’s journey and peripherally amidst the Team Flare trials. They might not know each other, but they definitely
knew each other. There was no way either of them would ever forget the other. This was probably the first proper conversation the two of them had ever had.
Serena took note of the impressive dark circles under Mable’s eyes and just how exhausted she looked. Dressed impeccably, yes, but exhausted. No doubt, these past years haven't been easy for her. Based on what Serena walked in on Mable saying, Mable had been one of the few, if not potentially the only appointed official arguing against the Urban Redevelopment Plan. Serena didn’t expect there were many other opponents to the company’s agenda given how much of a free pass to do whatever they wanted Quasartico was given.
Going against the masses and challenging authority was a very hard stance to take on, even more so for someone in Mable’s position. Trying to be heard and taken seriously when you’re constantly publicly shamed, stigmatized, and dismissed for your past was an impossible battle to fight.
Mable deserved recognition for her struggle.
Especially from Serena.
Arceus, who would have ever thought
ex-Team Flare Admin Mable of all people would be the one to try to hold the fort down in Serena’s absence?
Serena looked Mable in the eyes and smiled softly. “I don’t know exactly how you ended up taking over for Sycamore, but good for you for turning your life around and taking the plea deal. I mean it.”
“…Thank you,” Mable said curtly. Despite her tone, Mable
did actually mean it. However, Mable was ridiculously apprehensive, on edge, and more than a little spooked by this whole situation. Serena was
here, complementing her, and being
nice???
“So fuck the mayor, right? What an imbecile!!” Serena spat, unable to hold off commenting on Mable’s earlier declaration any longer. “Who is paying to feed all the Pokemon that are moving into the wild zones? It better not be taxes!! There is not enough space for them either. There’s no way that’s a balanced ecosystem!”
Mable’s unease was won out by the sheer degree of her built-up exasperated frustration. “Arceus, THANK YOU!! Finally! Everyone seems so in love with these stupid wild zones.”
“I have no idea how everyone is acting like they’re not a powder keg disaster in a lake of gasoline. And don’t even get me started on how tacky the scaffolding is!” Serena blustered, furiously straightening her arms by her side and curling her hands into fists.
“The scaffolding is the WORST!! They’re ruining the aesthetics of the city!” Mable groaned, sinking back down into her chair. She might be a reformed member of Team Flare, but Mable was still a part of Team Flare for a reason in the first place! Things should be beautiful! Preserved!
“YES!” Serena shrilled as she approached Mable’s desk, leaving her place by the wall now that she knew Mable wasn’t going to run off. “And the fact that they’re ruining Lumiose’s architectural beauty to put in their dumb little habitats! It’s blasphemous!!” She was reveling in venting to someone who FINALLY agreed with her!!
Mable slumped over her desk and repeatedly banged her forehead down on it, completely at wits’ end. “Ugh, I can’t even deal with the number of migraines these fucking people have caused me. That stupid fucking mayor!!” She looked up, fuming, and met Serena’s eyes. “And you just
know he’s revoking the historical status of the landmarks to let that company do whatever they want!”
“That’s what I said!” Serena exclaimed fervently. “Oh, he’s absolutely doing that!!” Serena scoffed in mock disbelief at his audacity. Arceus, it felt SO good to be validated! “Mable, we’ve had our differences in the past, but I think this is the start of a very beautiful friendship.”
Mable blinked, suddenly realizing she had been bitching with
Serena and enjoying it. “What has the world come to where the only other person in this city who has any sense is Serena of all people,” she couldn’t help but snark.
“I’ll have you know that I am very sensible,” Serena huffed.
“You were the one that was on Team “let’s kill everyone.””
“Don’t remind me! I see the error of that now, okay?!” she sputtered, attempting to defend herself.
Serena leveled her with a dull stare. “Sure, sure, I totally believe you, little miss house arrest.”
Foregoing a response, Mable slammed her head back down on the table, this time with much greater force. The items on her desk trembled.
With Mable’s head down, it revealed the logo embroidered on the head of her chair. Serena blinked, noticing it for the first time. “Mable, why do you have the Team Flare logo on your desk chair? …And Flare branded Laptops?” she asked slowly.
Mable didn’t bother looking up, keeping her head down on the table. “My parole officer thinks he has a sense of humor. I hate him,” she lamented, voice dry and slightly muffled. It wasn’t like she could go
outside and buy anything else! Or afford to replace it!! And even then, Mable was only allowed “vetted and approved items.” That fucking asshole.
Serena winced. “Speaking of Flare,” she started, “you are aware that Quasartico bought out all of Lysandre Labs, correct?” Serena figured Mable would have picked up on that by now given how closely she was working with the wild zones.
“W-WHAT?!” Mable rocketed out of her chair and crashed her hands down on the table. A post-it note was stuck to her forehead. Mable slapped it off.
“Okay, so you didn’t know,” Serena observed.
Mable’s eyes were wide and looked a little scared. “Serena, how the hell do you know that?!” she shouted, somewhere between furious and distraught. “That shouldn’t have happened!”
Serena met Mable’s gaze, looking her directly in the eye.
“No one knew that I was coming to Kalos, let alone to Lumiose City. There hasn’t even been a peep in the media. If they even heard a rumor, it would be plastered everywhere. I arrived the day before last in the late afternoon. I got trapped unexpectedly in a battle zone that night for about 20 minutes, no one in there recognized me even the slightest bit. I was wearing a disguise. Yesterday I woke up late due to jet lag and was in the lobby of my hotel at 4:00 pm. Minutes later, I received an invitation from Quasartico to join the Z-A Royale. How did Quasartico know I was here? And how did they find my personal private phone number, which no one should have beyond close friends, within a few hours?”
Mable’s stare was vacant, she looked miles away. Eyes wide, she muttered in disbelief, “The Flare spyware. It’s in the wild and battle zones’ holo-tech.” She sat down in her chair, put her elbows on the desk, and gripped the sides of her head, looking down.
That utter devastation was the proper reaction to Serena’s information! Not Urbain’s “not good.” Ugh, that boy! At least Mable had a brain.
“And the only way they would have gotten their hands on that is if they somehow bought all of the Lysandre Labs data,” Serena deduced intensely, face stony.
“All of the data, Mable.”
“Shit. SHIT!” Now processing the implications, Mable snapped her head up to look at Serena. “Then they must have the-”
“Yes.”
“Then do you think-”
“Yeah, I do.”
“…We’re really fucked, aren’t we?”
“Oh yeah, absolutely.”
“FUCK!” Mable screeched down at the desk.
Vindicated that someone in this damned city finally properly cared, Serena continued while twirling a strand of her hair and examining the ends, “If you want the icing on the cake, have you seen their ads they’re blaring in the city?”
“Obviously, I haven’t. House arrest, remember?” Mable sassed.
“I had the pleasure of seeing one yesterday right off the train.” Serena recalled the ad from hell. “The CEO literally said, “A city even more beautiful than before awaits all of us.” Sound familiar?”
“Arceus, we are so fucked,” Mable muttered, horrified.
Mable was one of the few who would truly understand just how big of a problem this was. It wasn’t just the spying on Lumiose’s citizens, or whatever horrible agenda they had for the wild zones, it was more than that. It was the return of the haunting Team Flare ideology, extensive knowledge on the Ultimate Weapon, and full control over whatever other horrible secrets Team Flare undoubtedly had hidden in the depths of their data.
Serena knew Mable would see that it meant that all of her suffering, the house arrest, the ridicule, the guilt Mable lived with, would have been for nothing. She’d probably have just as much reason to be pissed as Serena did. Well, almost as much.
Huh, Mable
was the acting director of the Pokemon Research Lab, which would be very helpful to Serena’s plans. Recruiting Mable might be a good idea. Serena had intended to work with Sycamore anyways. The more she thought about it, the better of an idea it was to Serena.
Serena examined her nails. “Well, if you really do want to prove that you’ve seen the error of your ways and maybe cut down on that house arrest time, want to help me utterly destroy them, ruin everything they stand for, get rid of these wild zones, and probably save Lumiose from complete destruction along the way?”
“FUCK YES!” Mable declared instantly, looking more than a little frazzled.
“So glad to have you on board!” Serena grinned brightly, tilting her head slightly to the side. “Welcome to Team Neo Noir! It’s a much more chic name than Team Flare, don’t you think?”
Team Neo Noir, named for film noir, a Kalosian term that literally meant “black film,” dubbed after the cynical attitudes, darkness, shadows, and Dark-types present in the genre, and neo-noir film, which accentuated the classic genre with a modern high-tech spin complete with vibrantly colored pink and blue contrasting lighting.
Which was exactly what Serena was doing – putting a modern flashy pink twist on a classic shadowy tale of nosy private detectives uncovering institutional corruption, exploring the ethics of technological advancement, and glamorous mysterious female leads with a hidden past.
Stopping Team Flare had been Serena’s noir era, Quasartico was the sequel.
Kantotown, Gilda, and Bisharp Runner eat your heart out.
“Serena, I don’t care what the fuck you call us, I’m in,” Mable commented in mirthful disbelief. “What do you need me to do?” She didn’t want to see things spiral out of control again, didn’t want to have to watch others repeat her mistakes so soon.
It didn’t hurt that this was also an opportunity to get more freedom and trust that Mable thought she deserved at this point after years of house arrest. She’s been good, okay?! Helping out should make her leash a
little longer at the very least.
It wasn’t just the obvious that had Mable invested, no. If they had all of Lysandre Lab’s data, then that meant they also had all of Mable’s life work on Pokemon energy! She wouldn’t stand to have them make a mockery of her research or bastardize it and then blame
her later for their fuck ups! They’d put her back on trial! NO! She’d been dragged through the mud enough!
Serena took out her Pokedex and put it on Mable’s desk. “First off, can you port over this to the new app? That's why I came here in the first place.”
Mable scoffed. “Really?”
“I refuse to have everything I worked on become irrelevant,” Serena countered stubbornly. Mostly though, she had a Pokemon Center nurse to humiliate.
Mable raised an eyebrow. “Did you complete the Pokedex?”
“Well, no, but it’s pretty complete.” Serena wasn’t like Trevor, she didn’t really care about completing the Pokedex. Her Kalos dex was about 60% filled out or so, but she also had part of the Hoenn dex completed too!
Also, what the hell does “complete” even mean? Did she have to magically catch Xerneas, other legendary Pokemon, and maybe Arceus themselves somehow? She loved Pokemon, yes, but Serena was
not about to free climb a god damned mountain in the middle of a sandstorm at 5:00 am just to find a specific coat of Burmy solely for a momentary dopamine rush of checking off another box.
No fucking way. That’s not her problem, and she’s not dealing with that.
Completing the Pokedex was stupid.
Besides, she’d like to see someone else have a Pokedex with Yveltal registered in it. Heh.
Mable pinched her nose. “Why do you even want it if it’s not complete? Ugh, whatever, I don’t care. Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Secondly, you’re the head scientist here, so I wanted to hear your opinion.” Serena technically was a scientist too, given the Mega Evolution study she conducted in Hoenn. However, she considered herself more of a researcher than a scientist, and she was highly specialized. Serena would prefer to defer to the actual expert on this one. “Obviously the wild zones are a disaster waiting to happen, but what data specifically do we need to irrefutably prove that?”
“Ecological studies is the big one for sure. Data on what they’re being fed, size and health comparison over time to the same species outside of Lumiose in their natural habitats, observation notes on behavior, and long-form video recordings to name a few,” Mable rattled off, contemplating what else might be needed. “I can make a full list later.”
Serena nodded. “I’ll go into the field, gather all the data, and send it to you to analyze.”
“Given I’m chained to this chair, as it just so happens, I have a known program running right now called “Mable’s Research,” where I entrap newbie trainers into being field research minions for me in exchange for TMs,” Mable snickered. “For appearances sake, I’ll set that system up on your phone. We can use the research program as a cover and exchange our data through it. I’ll just make a new server to store your data on specifically.”
Serena handed over her Rotom Phone. Mable installed the app and began running a calibration test. Afterwards, she worked on configuring the special settings, bypasses, and server directions.
“How accessible is that server?” Serena questioned, narrowing her eyes.
“Paranoid? I like it. It’s a local password-protected encrypted private server. All of the Lab’s data is stored like that.” Mable tapped her finger on the table. Lysandre Labs had a similar set up, and look what happened to that data now? “But to be completely honest, I have a suspicion that if someone really
really tried hard and directly plugged into the Lab’s devices, they could possibly hack it. Unlikely though.”
That wasn’t ideal, but Serena was no tech wizard, far from that, nor did she want to bring anyone else on board that had that skill set. Definitely not stupid Clemont. She’d lost all faith in him.
“As much as I’d like to offer a solution, I don’t have one, nor do I trust anyone else to join us.” Serena ran a hand through her hair, frustrated. “We’ll have to be cautious. Since you’re here all the time, keep a watch. Let me know immediately if anything seems off around the lab. Even if you think it’s nothing, tell me. Trust your gut.”
“Well, well, would you look at that? And here you are trusting me with your clandestine operation,” Mable mused with a smirk. Internally, however, she was extremely grateful. No one had trusted Mable in years.
“If anything, Mable, you are absolutely the person to trust with a clandestine operation.” Serena jokingly said, and raised an eyebrow. “Given your
experience with them, that is.”
“Might I remind you it was a
failed clandestine operation. No thanks to
you,” Mable bantered back. Honestly, Mable appreciated that Serena wasn’t walking on egg shells about her history. People typically were either terrified of her, still treated her like an active criminal, judged, or dismissed her. Teasing her, however, was new. It made Mable feel just a tiny bit normal.
“Yes, which is why if we put our heads together, your experience failing and my successful thwarting expertise, we finally have all the building blocks to pull off a half-decent operation,” Serena quipped with a smile.
Mable grinned. “I’ll drink to that.” She handed Serena back her phone. “The way it works is I can send you research tasks, experiments, and anything else we can think of through the app. It will track your data, and you can enter any additional notes. I’ll make and send you questionnaires, forms, and data requirements to make sure you get everything we need. It will update on my end in real time, so I can nudge you if you come across something I think we should look into more.”
Serena examined the app, familiarizing herself with the interface. “This is perfect. No matter what, we cannot let even one shred of bias leak into these results. If you need me to take 200 samples of something to make that happen, you tell me. I don’t care how silly or excessive it may seem,” Serena stressed, voice firm. “We’re going to do this right. Our results need to show causation, none of that “statistically significant” crap that could be written off. This needs to be the most cold hard scientific report ever.”
Serena couldn’t wait to compile this insanely bland, stupidly factual report! It was going to be SO great! The more boring it was, the more official and sciency it would seem. It would lend to its credibility.
“That’s great and all, but no one actually reads scientific papers, Serena,” Mable griped, rolling her eyes. That was one of the problems Mable was already dealing with. If it was that simple, she’d have stopped the wild zones ages ago! “Scientists don’t even read scientific papers anymore. Especially not ones
that dense.”
The other major problem was that even if Mable screamed her findings from the rooftops, no one cared to listen to her because of her Team Flare accreditation. She’d been forced to sit in silence and watch as this disaster unfolded, unable to do anything to stop it, or even walk out the door to try to do something about it. House arrest was a bitch and a half.
But with Serena as the face of the operation, that particular credibility problem would disappear.
The fact that no one would still read the damn paper didn’t.
Serena’s eyebrow twitched. “I’m not an idiot, Mable. I’m not expecting anyone to read it.”
“Ouch.” Mable rested her chin on hand. “Make my work even
more irrelevant, why dontcha?”
“It’s not irrelevant,” Serena countered, gaze determined. “This is going to be our failsafe of evidence for when that company tries to call us liars down the road. We need to have the moral high ground no matter what. Whatever they’re claiming the wild zones are doing, when the right moment strikes, we have undeniable proof they’re lying. We just need the piece of paper that is so expertly done from the top Pokemon Research Lab in the region that no one can deny it being fact.”
The more facts Serena could point to as truth during her inevitable media coverage, the better. If she wanted to really effect change and ruin Quasartico, Serena had to get the public, the media, and the scientists on her side.
And Serena needed to be
right. One slip-up could potentially ruin her credibility.
“At least my work won’t be totally useless,” Mable resigned, tapping her cheek with her finger. “Then, the sooner we start, the more airtight it will be. Especially if those idiots keep adding wild zones, which I know they will, we can observe the changes from day one of installation."
“How are they even getting the Pokemon into the wild zone in the first place? What’s preventing them from leaving?” Serena started thinking out loud now that she had someone to listen to her. “Holo-tech is just a hologram. It’s intangible – it’s only light rays. How are they making it into a barrier?”
“I have no idea,” Mable admitted worriedly, the questions piling up in her head. “If it blocks Pokemon and people, does it also block Pokemon moves? What about something like Dig? The barriers aren’t very tall either, why can’t Pokemon jump or fly over them?”
“It shouldn’t be possible with holo-tech capabilities alone,” Serena noted. “Write all these questions down, we’re going to test all of it. See if you can come up with some controlled experiments I can do in the field so we can gather reliable data. There’s bound to be something they’re lying about or a glaring flaw in what they’re doing beyond the spyware. We need to find it.”
“What excellent dirt that would be,” Mable hummed. Mable got to have Serena on HER side this time and use Serena as HER research minion! Lysandre would be rolling in his grave! HA! “Are we above blackmail?”
“Well…” Serena considered it seriously. “Not exactly, no? But I don’t want to just get them to stop, I want to
destroy them, which means under the table deals aren’t going to cut it. We’ll be using the media to our advantage and get everyone to turn against them. Boo hoo, having a charismatic CEO isn’t going to help you then,” Serena gleefully mocked.
Mable grinned. “I’m really loving learning
all about you, Serena. Who would have thought the Hero of Kalos was more than a little morally flexible.”
“People assume a lot of things about me.” Serena sighed. “It works to our advantage here. Quasartico thinks I’m a ditzy blonde airhead, so they blatantly flashed their spyware in my face, assuming I wouldn’t think anything of it, and then graciously gave me the recipe for their own demise by inviting me into the Z-A Royale. They think they can use my title to their advantage to gather good will, notoriety, credibility, and publicity. That’s going to backfire spectacularly.” She grinned cunningly. “It’s better to be underestimated, after all.”
Mable felt a chill run down her spine. Oh, she knew first hand
exactly what happened when you underestimated Serena. “Quasartico signed their own death warrant then.”
“I’m
so glad you see it my way!” Serena chirped and smiled innocently, but Mable learned from experience that smile was
anything but innocent.
‘She really is a terrific actor,’ Mable marveled in morbid fascination.
‘Serena’s actually a conniving little shit, isn’t she? Fuck, we really are going to end up being friends.’
“I also need you to write down all of the flaws Team Flare discovered with holo-tech. Anything you can remember,” Serena continued.
“I know of a few things,” Mable admitted, “but I really wasn’t on that part of the development. It was almost entirely Aliana’s project.” Aliana notably did not take a plea deal. When her trial concluded, Aliana was sent to a remote maximum security prison.
Serena rubbed one of her temples. It was never easy, was it? “Is there any chance you think Aliana will talk and cooperate with me?” Serena was going out on a limb here, but she had to ask.
Mable viscerally remembered just how feral and upset Aliana had been when they’d been arrested together. She was kicking and screaming, trying to attack and bite her arresting officers. That energy carried over into her trial. Ailana was fully indoctrinated to the extent where she showed no remorse and still stood firm in her beliefs. Her trial had been the quickest.
Aliana was someone Mable had looked up to once upon a time. She was the first scientist Lysandre had recruited, and was one of the eldest of the bunch. Holo-tech had been Aliana’s brain child, as was the spyware she later created. Looking back, Mable reasoned that Aliana had been in on Lysandre’s plans from the start. Lysandre was the visionary, but Aliana had adopted it just as fiercely.
When the rest of them joined Team Flare, or rather “Lysandre Labs,” it had been a slow, soft, and careful conditioning to adopt the Team Flare dogma. Obviously, they didn’t find hundreds of people and scientists who wanted to destroy the world right off the bat. No, it was a grooming process that converted them over time. They had been psychologically programmed, gaslit, and manipulated.
Mable had been a young hopeful scientist struggling to find funding for her research on a fringe topic that was not commercially marketable: Pokemon energy. Lysandre Labs courted her, saw the value in her research, and made her feel seen and extraordinary. It was an adrenaline rush! Every time Aliana or Lysandre would complement her or let her in on secrets, Mable felt special. She did everything in her power to keep them looking at her, desperately longing for their approval. Slowly but surely, Mable adopted and internalized each little piece of information they drip fed to her. Every chunk seemed so believable and reasonable as it was presented to her.
Lysandre’s ideas hadn’t seemed so ridiculous then.
Mable didn’t push the blame fully on Lysandre, no, Mable took ownership for her actions and beliefs. After all, she
was fully on board with the plan. Sure, they guided Mable to get to that point, but it didn’t change the fact that she still believed in the Team Flare ideology.
At the time. Not anymore.
Mable’s gut wanted to say, “No,” that there was no way Aliana would ever talk to Serena. But the more she thought about it, Mable realized there might be a way.
“My instinct is to say no, but there’s potentially a slim chance she would talk if we approach her with the right angle.” Mable took a deep breath. It was hard to talk about this, and it was even harder to talk to
Serena of all people about this. “Aliana was the most indoctrinated out of all of us, and was essentially Lysandre’s right hand. Or it would be more accurate to say that Aliana
believed she was Lysandre’s right hand, though he never took any action to confirm or deny her thoughts, which was most definitely intentional. In all my time at Team Flare, there had never been a moment where she wasn’t aware of the greater plan or had doubts about it. She viewed Lysandre almost like a god. I think we could take advantage of that.”
“What are you thinking?” Serena asked curiously.
“There’s no way she’d ever talk to you. She
hates you. And Aliana isn’t really a rational person. Brilliant, yes, but not very psychologically sound. I can only imagine what five years behind bars has done for her mental state,” Mable divulged. She absolutely despised what she was about to say next. “But we could capitalize on that too. Let’s say I show up to see her in my old Team Flare outfit and feed her some story about how Team Flare is reforming, and we need information from her to recover lost technology because she’s oh so important and no one could replicate her work. I’d tell her that as Lysandre's right hand, she knew things no one else did and we can’t bring Team Flare back without her valuable help.”
Mable
hated that she was essentially suggesting doing exactly what Lysandre did by taking advantage of someone’s vulnerable mental state. What had been done to Mable herself.
“Mable, that's…”
“I know,” Mable interjected, cutting her off.
“No,” Serena declared firmly without hesitation. “I refuse. I will not stoop to his level, nor would I ever even
consider asking you to do something like that. We’ll go without her information.”
Mable blinked back tears, ever so thankful that her visor was translucent and not transparent. Mable knew Serena was in no way like Lysandre, and Mable was the one offering to do this in the first place. It wasn’t about Serena specifically at all. But hearing
that out loud from a powerful authority figure she was working with was a closure Mable didn’t know she needed.
Mable’s past was
over.
Team Flare might be gone, but house arrest made every single day a deserved continued sentence to repay for her crimes – Mable still felt like she was still a member, her Team Flare branding had never faded, and each day served as a constant reminder. She might be repenting, but Mable never really left the confines of Team Flare.
But Serena’s words were a sign that things
had changed. Mable wasn’t being treated like she had been treated in Team Flare. It was different. It was so different, so unlike anything that would have ever been said to her at Team Flare, that it could only mean that it was truly
over.
‘Thank you,’ Mable thought softly.
“Alright,” Mable said instead, voice very slightly wavering. “If you say so.”
Serena noticed the emotion in Mable’s eyes, but didn’t comment on it. Mable was definitely the type who thought showing certain emotions made her look weak. Serena disagreed, but she wouldn’t force Mable to talk about anything she didn’t want to. Instead, she’d reassure her in a way that Mable would resonate with.
“I
do say so,” Serena insisted, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “We’re too classy to need the “gaslight” in “gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss.” We will absolutely be gatekeeping and girlbossing though,” she made sure to clarify. “We already have the miniskirt dream team right here,” Serena gestured to herself and Mable, “and there’s
no way Aliana could pull off her previous miniskirt uniform anymore. Can you even
imagine what prison did to her skin? Especially at her age? Ew.”
Mable snorted. Her eyes flew wide at the sound, and Mable slapped her hand over her mouth, shocked.
“Pft!” Serena wheezed.
That was her breaking point, Mable couldn’t help herself any longer and burst out laughing, devolving into a fit of laughter alongside Serena.
‘Yeah,’ Mable thought in between bouts of delirious laughter,
‘this was nothing
like Team Flare.’
Z • ─── (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)✨ ꉂꉂ(≧ヮ≦ )ʱªʱªʱª ─── • A
Fake-glasses in place, Serena walked out of the Lab. Not even a few seconds later, someone called out to her.
“Would you happen to be Serena?” a boy with startlingly purple eyes asked as he approached her, a Scrafty walking alongside him.
“…Yes, who is asking?” Serena said carefully. He
was rather fashionable in his elevated streetwear meets academia style. The edginess, actual sense of fashion, and the accompanying Scrafty just screamed “I’m a Dark-type trainer” to Serena.
So her kind of people.
“Hmm,” Naveen hummed, assessing her. “So
you’re the new member who Urbain is so pleased to have aboard. I recognized you by your skirt. Urbain was going on about a red miniskirt and you not wanting to wear the jacket because you’d cover your outfit, or something. He was a little frantic explaining it to me. I’m the one who embroidered that team jacket you see.”
Naveen had been so confused and frustrated by Lida and Urbain continuously smirking like they knew something he didn’t. The new team member explanation had been a flurry of excitement, snickering, and “You just gotta meet her yourself! You’ll see!”
“Of course he was,” Serena groaned. Ugh, that boy!!
“My name’s Naveen. I’m another member of Team MZ. So we’re teammates, I suppose.” Naveen didn’t really care about this new member, he
still didn’t get Lida and Urbain’s hype, but he figured it would be rude to not make some degree of polite conversation. “I see you had business in the lab. Helping out with Mable’s research?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.” Serena didn’t bother offering her name as he already knew hers.
Naveen closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “I’m surprised she found anyone willing to help.” No one really wanted to help ex-Team Flare Admin Mable with anything. “But I suppose it’s not a bad deal for you. After all, you’ll fare better in the Z-A Royale if you have your Pokemon learn a wide variety of moves. The TMs you earn as rewards for helping with Mable’s research will come in handy for that.”
‘Ah, they didn’t tell him who I was. Well, that’s funny.’ Serena would have taken off her glasses right then and there to formally introduce herself, but given that they were in the middle of the street and in public, that wasn’t really an option she was willing to risk.
“Now about your outfit…” Naveen scratched his cheek with a finger, holding his elbow with his other hand as he stared at her, contemplating.
‘He better not say anything bad… or else.’ This was Serena’s iconic outfit and he would do well to recognize how incredible it was!
Naveen dropped his hands, and nodded. “It’s perfect. It suits you perfectly. I’m actually quite surprised our new member is quite fashionable.” His Scrafty cheered by his side.
Serena preened at his assessment. “I do quite love your outfit as well,” she complimented back. “I’ve never quite seen the mix of streetwear and academia before, but you’re executing it wonderfully. I think you’re on to something. It’s very elevated and chic. Who are you wearing?”
Naveen blushed at the unexpected praise and from someone so chic herself. Actually, she looked like a model. Now that he thought about it, something was very familiar about her. She probably
was a model then. Huh, not the
worst teammate Urbain could have recruited then.
“Thank you… and it’s actually my own label, er, rather, I made all of this myself. I’m just starting out though, so I’m not in any stores yet,” he babbled somewhat.
Serena’s eyes widened. “Really?! How wonderful! You really are quite talented. Your stitching is impeccable! Are you hand sewing or using a machine? Say, do you have any other work I could see?”
“Yes, I do. I–” Scrafty tugged at Naveen’s pant leg and pointed to his wrist in a check your watch movement. “Actually, I’m about to be late for something. Do you mind if we talk later back at the hotel? Apologies, I can’t miss this appointment.” Naveen conceded that maybe this new member was slightly less irrelevant than he’d initially thought. Maybe.
“I understand. I actually have somewhere to be myself.” Serena had diabolical plans to enact and errant Professors to scream at, after all.
Naveen nodded. “See you later then.”
Now to tackle the Mega Energy problem. Serena dialed Sycamore’s number.
*Ring…ring…ring…*
*Click!*
Sycamore’s jovial greeting came through, “Bonjour~!!”
“Sycamore you incompetent little shit–”
“You’ve reached the voicemail of me, the illustrious Professor Sycamore! I must be off doing very important work, so please leave me a message. I shall endeavor to return your call once science has been stated!”
*Beep!*
Serena left a
very heated voicemail on Sycamore‘s phone that promised many terrible things if he didn’t call her back.
Serena took in a long, extremely deep breath, filling her chest and lungs. She held it in for a few seconds, then exhaled with a noise of frustration. A cathartic and mildly calming way to recenter herself.
Once again, Serena had to do everything herself. She couldn’t afford to be hung up on Sycamore or the constant disappointments from people around her anymore.
Serena grinned fiendishly. Instead, she’d focus now on something she
was an expert on: performance.
Now that the groundwork was in place, the stage was set. It was time for the curtain call.
The lights dimmed, the orchestra pit hummed, the conductor tapped his baton, and the curtains were about to rise on the world premier of "Serena Obliterates Quasartico."
Serena was ready to execute her opening gambit.
Serena scripted the show in her head as she began the performance. The opening prologue act she had in store was bound to cause waves. The sequence focused on something Serena
thrived in.
The media.
First things first, Serena needed to talk to a reporter. No noir was complete without a reporter after all!
And obviously, talking to a reporter called for a costume change. It was time to go full film noir and embody the soul of a femme fatale journeying alone, wrought with grief, to report the completely random and ill timed death of her husband that she absolutely had no hand in.
Serena took out her trench coat and a silk scarf from her tote bag. She exchanged her fake-glasses for her white sunglasses and put on the trench coat, tying it shut to cover her outfit. She took off her hat and placed it carefully back in her bag. Serena pushed her bangs back behind her ears, wrapped the scarf around her head, tied it under her chin, and tucked the remainder of her unobscured hair into the back of the trench coat.
The media always had a much sharper than average nose. If Serena was going to do this perfectly and on her terms, she couldn’t risk them getting a whiff of her when she walked into their den.
Outfit update completed, Serena hailed a taxi and got inside. The taxi driver tapped his hands against the steering wheel in rhythm to the song playing on the radio.
“Where to?” the driver asked. Serena was careful not to meet the taxi driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
“The Lumiose Press please.” Serena tried to look as broody and mysterious as possible as she stared out the window, watching the bustle of Lumiose’s streets pass by.
The taxi driver started making idle chatter, “Say, did you know that Prism Tower’s been remodeled and renovated a few times?” Serena’s eye twitched at his interruption of her moody masterpiece. “I hear its… skeleton? Its framework? The insides, whatever you call them, are pretty old, and…” the taxi driver’s voice faded away as Serena turned him out.
Serena needed to outmaneuver Quasartico before they could get the jump on her and publish a story about her debut in the tournament first, where they could essentially claim whatever they wanted and be the ones to announce her return to the region. It would be a
terrible look for her.
Serena needed to look composed, not like she was doing this on a whim, and that SHE was the one doing THEM a favor!! Those condescending assholes.
Serena had social media, but she didn’t do that much with it. Serena was the type of celebrity you saw in magazines, red carpets, occasional formal print and televised interviews, high-brow events, and so on. She was an A-lister that didn’t need to have an avid social media presence to be a household name.
However, this approach also made her seem mysterious, out of reach, and an unrelatable figure. Unapproachability had been a boon to Serena when she wanted people to leave her alone for the past five years, but now, it was a problem that had to change.
It was time to start activating her “Champion Serena” accounts effectively. She needed to become the most damn relatable Champion ever and work overtime to repair her bruised reputation. She needed the people of Kalos behind her and assure them that her Honor of Kalos medal was still squeaky clean and ready for a sibling.
Unfortunately for Quasartico, Serena knew exactly how to accomplish this.
Her machinations started with making Quasartico look irrelevant in their own home: The Z-A Royale.
Serena would drown them out and make it about herself instead, break the story of her involvement on her own terms, and execute her first big move on boosting the public’s opinion of her in one fell swoop. The Z-A Royale would get the attention Quasartico wanted, sure, but it would be first and foremost Serena’s idea in the public’s eyes, not that company’s. Serena would set the narrative before they could.
Quasartico would have no choice but to go along with her story. What could they do? Call their biggest promoter and esteemed national figure a liar?
They wouldn’t
dare.
“Here we are at the Lumiose Press! Thanks for choosing Lumi Cab! That will be 710P.” The taxi driver’s voice broke Serena out of her thoughts. She quickly paid and exited.
After one final check to make sure her disguise was in place, Serena made her way into the Lumiose Press building and asked the receptionist to speak with Alexa.
Alexa was probably the only journalist Serena really truly trusted. They’d met way back at the start of Serena’s journey, and the woman had seen Team Flare’s horrors first hand. Alexa would work
with Serena, not at the expense of Serena.
Alexa approached the front desk. “I’d like to speak with you privately, please,” Serena said in a weird fake accent before Alexa could speak.
“Alright, follow me,” the journalist easily agreed. Alexa had played this game before, and knew that the other reporters in the building would try to out scoop her if they sensed a story. Alexa led her to her private office in the back, and closed the window shades.
“Don’t freak out.” Serena took off her head scarf and glasses.
Alexa snorted, now realizing who it was and instantly understanding why she was dressed the way she was and the silly accent she’d made before. “I should have known it was you.” Serena had frequently showed up to their past meetings looking like this. She always did love film noir. Though, the act was more effective now that Serena was 18 and not 13. Before, she’d just looked like a weirdly suspicious child looming in alleyways. “Welcome back.”
Z • ──── ( •᷄ ᴗ•́)っ ୧( •᷄ . •᷅ ) ──── • A
Alexa jotted down notes as she listened to Serena speak, her recording device running in parallel. What Serena was saying was actually insane. She was going to enter a
public battle tournament? And tell everyone she was joining?! Alexa was used to Serena being a
little eccentric, but this was something else entirely.
Alexa reached out and pressed pause on the recording device.
“Off the record – what you’re doing is unprecedented. Are you sure you’re ready for the level of attention this is going to bring? It’s going to be chaotic,” Alexa cautioned.
“I’m fully aware I’m putting a target on my back and am well prepared to deal with it. A necessary sacrifice to win back the people’s trust as Champion,” Serena answered diplomatically.
“Serena, I’m not an idiot,” Alexa scoffed, “and I’d like to think I know you at least a little better than most. Do you really expect me to believe this is all that’s going on here?”
“Off the record?” Serena reiterated, questioningly raising an eyebrow. Alexa always could spot a story a mile away. She was an excellent journalist. Serena had counted on it. Things were going swimmingly.
“Off the record. I swear,” Alexa confirmed, placing down her pen on the note pad and pushing them to the side.
“Obviously, that’s not all that’s at play,” Serena admitted. “I’m running an… investigation of sorts. I actually trust you as a reporter, Alexa, which is why I’m willing to even tell you this much.” She leveled Alexa with a harsh look. “Don’t violate that trust and tell anyone that I even said that.”
“I won’t,” Alexa declared honestly. She’d be a terrible journalist if she lost Serena as a source. She wouldn’t dare jeopardize their rapport. “So this time, you’re the femme fatale and the private eye? Going for a one-woman show?” she joked.
“Actually, my lovely journalist friend, I’d like to propose a deal,” Serena offered, eyes gleaming. “I’ll point you in the right direction of the story here, give you access to me for quotes on anything, and I’ll do interviews for you whenever you want. I won’t go to any other papers or reporters. Just you. I’ll even give you the good stuff, the juicy things I normally won’t say. Essentially, exclusive unfiltered Champion access.”
“And in return?”
“In exchange, you share everything you find in your snooping with me, and do I mean everything – documents, sources, emails, anything, you name it. We work together on this.
Only us,” Serena stressed, narrowing her eyes. “You can’t tell anyone you’re working this story or share your findings. Not to your coworkers, not to your boss. I don’t care who asks, you keep your mouth shut and your files secret.”
“Is that all?” Investigative journalism was Alexa’s bread and butter. She’d worked several secret stories before, and was willing to do it again. Her editors wouldn’t probe her silence on account of her very successful track record. However, Alexa knew Serena wouldn’t be leveraging herself for such a small secrecy clause. There had to be more.
“Of course not.” Serena laughed. “I’ll come to you with a few interviews and statements that I want to make sure get out there through credible channels, so you’ll have to report them no matter what. Additionally, for everything, this interview included, you need to do your damndest to get it on the front page. It needs to be everywhere and on all platforms.” Serena leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “Lastly, you wait to publish
anything related to this until you have my say so. I trust you with the editorial – I don’t need or want to influence what you write. You’re free to publish and say whatever you’d like about the information we find. I’m not looking for censorship. I just need to control
when information comes out. It’s vital that I do so.”
“...This is not a minor story, is it?”
“No, it most definitely is not.”
Alexa leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, contemplating. “How big of a story are we talking about here?” There wasn’t an ethical problem with what Serena was asking for, but it still was a
huge ask. The situation must be very delicate. And a killer story.
Hook, line, and sinker. Serena smirked. “Pulitzer Prize winning level, if done correctly.”
“Deal.” Alexa uncrossed her arms and extended a hand out to Serena.
Serena gleefully shook Alexa’s hand. “I’m excited to work with you!” How wonderful that everything was going perfectly according to plan! Another recruit for Team Neo Noir! Not that Alexa knew that yet.
“Now, fill me in on everything.” Alexa grinned viciously.
“For now, I’m only going to give you a name, and it’s a big one. I want to see what conclusions you reach and dig up on your own without my potential bias influencing you or making your field of view too narrow.” Upon seeing Alexa’s glare, Serena added, “I’ll share what I have later.”
“I’m a little pissed you’re holding back on all the dirty details.” Alexa rolled her eyes. “But you’re unfortunately right in terms of confirmation bias and all that.” She’d just have to find them herself. “So who is it?”
Serena looked like the Meowth who ate the Pidgey. “Quasartico.”
Z • ──── ✧(≖‿ ≖ ) ──── • A
Urbain was waiting to greet Serena in the lobby once she returned. She’d texted him earlier that she was on her way back.
“Hey!” Urbain stood up from his seat. “I got us some good food. Let’s have a bite!”
“That’s wonderful, thank you, I’m quite hungry,” Serena admitted, taking off her trench coat. She’d taken off her head scarf earlier and switched back to her fake-glasses. “Scheming is a very exhausting affair, you know?”
Urbain chuckled. “No, I wouldn’t know.” He winked and gestured to where he had food waiting for them on the nearby low table. “You ever dipped fresh-baked croissants in café au lait? Get ready. It’s so good!”
Serena’s stomach flipped. Arceus, Urbain really
was too charming for his own good. He didn’t just get them food, he brought her
hot coffee and
fresh-baked croissants?? Did he run out and buy them as soon as she’d texted him she was coming back to the hotel? What was he, a saint?! No boy had ever done something so kind for her before. It was a simple act, but the sheer thoughtfulness truly hit her hard.
“This is perfect, thank you, Urbain,” Serena swooned, a soft blush on her face.
Urbain’s face reddened in response. “You’re welcome!” The smile he gave her was dazzling, and Serena had to ignore the butterflies in her stomach.
Serena had barely sat down and taken a bite of her croissant before her phone chimed in a specific ring she’d never heard before, so it definitely wasn’t Sycamore. Ugh.
*Do-do-dooo*
“Ooh, you’re gettin’ pinged. Is that the Z-A app?” Urbain guessed, putting down his own croissant.
Her Rotom Phone flew out of her pocket
*This is a promotion match announcement for Trainer Serena (Rank Z). The opponent for your next promotion match has been decided. You are to face Trainer Zach (Rank Z).*
Serena’s app updated to show her opponent’s profile and picture. Oh, he was a taxi driver.
*The Trainer who wins will be promoted to Rank Y. To qualify for your promotion match, you must earn enough Ticket Points to obtain a Challenger’s Ticket.*
“Promotion match time, huh?” Urbain noted.
Serena nodded. “Yes, it seems pretty straight forward from the description.” Kick ass, get points, kick bigger ass. Rinse, repeat.
Urbain glanced out the window. “It’s getting late… When night falls, the Z-A Royale gets going,” Urbain commented leadingly, implying that they should head out soon to participate.
“This is going to do wonderful things to my jet lag,” Serena groaned, mostly to herself. “Not tonight, I’ll go tomorrow night.”
“Why?” Urbain tiled his head to the side. “I thought you were raring to go at ‘em, what with your plan and all.” Not that Urbain knew really what the plan was yet. He’d have to schedule a Team MZ meeting ASAP.
“The plan requires me not to act until tomorrow. I shall say no more,” she said mysteriously. Serena could fill him in, but where would the fun in that be?
“We’re back!” Lida chorused, entering the lobby door with Naveen in tow. Lida walked over to Urbain and Serena and sank into a chair next to them. “Whatcha talkin’ 'bout?” Lida eyed their café au laut and croissants. Ah, another pseudo date.
“Just getting Serena up to speed on the Z-A Royale,” Urbain filled the two in. “She just got her Rank Z promotion match assignment.”
“Oh?” Naveen didn’t look that interested. He crossed his arms, rested them atop the back of the fourth chair, and leaned over it slightly. Engaged, but distant.
Lida had no such disinterest. “Who’d you get assigned for your promo match?” she asked eagerly.
“A man named Zach. It looks like he’s a taxi driver,” Serena provided.
“Oh no, Serena,” Urbain started, worried. “Your next opponent is a big deal, be careful.”
Alright, Serena would bite. “Really, why?”
“He’s got a Cleffa,” Urbain answered, completely serious.
Serena smiled tightly and stomped on Urbain’s foot with the heel of her shoe. Really drilling it in there and twisting her heel harshly. Urbain yelped in pain.
“Thank you for the heads up!” Serena said primly with very false exaggerated gratitude.
“Ow!!!! Ow! Ow!”
Lida thought they were being adorable, which she kinda hated because, ew,
Urbain. Instead she chose to focus on how Serena would make quick work of her opponent. “Oh my gosh, you’re going to easily beat him and rank up! You’re a natural, so you’ll reach Rank A in no time!”
“Eeehhh….” Naveen hummed lightly, his stagnant and almost mocking tone highlighting his lack of belief. “Let’s not be hasty. Lest we forget, her opponent is Zach – Le Z Éternel. Beating him doesn’t exactly prove you have talent.” He looked at Serena and raised an eyebrow. “If you even beat him, that is.” She might be fashionable, but that didn’t mean anything when it came to Pokemon battles.
Rather than be offended, Serena was entirely too amused by the situation and appreciated her fellow skeptic’s reserved judgement. She sympathized with being the only grounding realist force in a group of hyper-excited easygoing people. Yes, he was definitely her kind of people. They would get along famously!
“You wouldn’t be raining on our parade like that if you saw her battle, Naveen!” Urbain guffawed. “Serena has
serious potential! I can tell she’s gonna shoot straight up the ranks!” he claimed, though his tone made it sound like it was a huge joke.
“Pffftt–” Lida started laughing, and Urbain followed suit. “Yeah, for real!!” Lida joked.
Naveen scowled at them. “There’s clearly something here I’m missing, and I don’t appreciate your laughing at my expense and making me the butt of your joke.” He clenched his jaw.
Serena smiled knowingly, stood, and approached him. “If I may, Naveen. I believe those two purposefully did not fill you in on who exactly I am. I wanted to formally introduce myself earlier, but we were in the middle of the street in public.” Serena took off her glasses. “I’m Serena, Cham–”
“YOU’RE SERENA!!! Why are you here–” Naveen abruptly cut himself off, pausing in total silence for a moment as his brain buffered, loading in the higher resolution bigger picture, like he couldn’t comprehend what he was thinking was actually real. His mind worked quickly to play catch up and started to connect the dots. Naveen’s eyes flew even wider and looked dumbstruck. “Wait. Oh my god,
Serena liked my clothes!” he shouted to himself.
“Yes, I did,” Serena agreed with a grin. “You are very talented, and I am still holding you to your promise to show me more of your design work. That is, if you’re alright with that,” she teasingly offered him an out. Serena couldn’t help but have a
little fun with this.
Naveen was starstruck. Serena! Here! Talking to him! AND SHOWING INTEREST IN HIS WORK!! Meeting Serena would have been one thing, an incredible
amazing thing, but having this sprung on him out of nowhere? AND she wants to see his designs?! He wasn’t prepared for this mentally or emotionally!!
He wasn’t Serena’s fan because she was Champion, Naveen didn’t care about that at all. Naveen was a die-hard fan of Serena the fashion icon, model, and international celebrity.
“If I’m alright with that?” Naveen echoed in a sarcastic disbelief. He wiped his face with his hand, then suddenly schooled his features. Naveen looked Serena in the eye and said with the utmost serious sincerity, “Your work in the winter ‘95 International Women's Dessert Mignon catalog inspired me to take the final step and truly dedicate myself to becoming a designer... I freakin' worship you!!”
Lida and Urbain fist bumped and only laughed harder. Yeah,
that reaction was the reason why they didn’t tell him! They knew how big of a Serena fan Naveen was! That little parasocial dweeb liked to think he was above the typical fanatic fans, and it had been their goal to prove that Naveen could be just as cringy.
Bye, bye calm and collected Naveen! Hello, confused and overwhelmed Naveen who said things to his idol he would have
never said to her otherwise! They’d gotten him to achieve FULL fanboy mode!!
“I freakin’ worship you”??? GOLD!! Sooo worth it!!
And of course, Lida had been recording on her Rotom Phone from just before Serena had introduced herself.
“You have a very good eye. I’m pleased to see that you are above the masses,” Serena announced, nodding her head. She was tickled, loving the praise. “Most people usually say their favorite work of mine is the spring ‘96 DENSOKU issue. They claim it was groundbreaking. They would be wrong. It was a blatant derivative of the winter ‘95 Dessert Mignon issue and failed to capture the impact of the original. That photographer had no ideas of his own.” Serena shook her head, disappointed. “That Dessert Mignon catalog is my personal favorite as well. The depth of emotion and storytelling truly jumps off the page. What a shame that the catalog as a whole flew under the radar.”
Naveen snorted. “It was the publisher’s fault for not putting one of your shots on the cover.”
“It seems we are cut from the same cloth,” Serena declared approvingly. “With your disconcerting eye for art and elevated taste, if the rest of your designs are anything like what you’re wearing, I believe you’ll go far in fashion.”
Pure joy bubbled up within Naveen. Not only had Serena recognized that he was set apart from the rest of her fans – he was decidedly NOT in the same category as those other fools – but she also believed in his work. She believed in
him!
Naveen’s dreams had been trampled over one too many times by people he’d trusted, so now he held them close to his chest, guarded. The only person Naveen could count on and trust was
himself. He had to believe in himself enough to never rely on outside validation again.
Had he seen Serena from a far or recognized her sooner, Naveen would have never approached her, and stuck to his silent distant appreciation. He recognized his role as an avid supporter and the proper distance he should maintain. Naveen was fully aware that his dynamic with both Canari and Serena was a parasocial relationship, and he’d never violate their boundaries by doing something stupid or making them uncomfortable. He was there to raise them UP, not bring them down.
Naveen knew them, they didn’t know him. At all. That’s the way the world worked, and he had no desire to upset the status quo.
Doing so only ever led to pain, betrayal, and disappointment.
He’d just end up with another sewing machine in the trash.
With the people Naveen followed, it was a different story. At least with his idols, the one-sided dynamic protected him. Canari and Serena weren’t infallible by any means and could very well let down their fans, but Naveen could get to know them safely through the safeguarded security of his screen without having to open himself up at all. He got the quiet comfort of a constant friend without needing to reciprocate such emotional vulnerability.
Someone that couldn’t choose to leave him. Naveen followed them, and they didn’t even know who he was behind his screen name in the sea of countless others, so there was no chance of them turning on him. It was a perfect relationship.
Chat messages, comments, and engaging with his idols’ work was the least he could do to thank them and continue to feed and sustain his illusion. It wasn’t that Naveen didn’t want to interact with them, oh he
did and thrived on when his comments were acknowledged, but there was a safety in anonymity. Of sticking to the shadows. Of fading to the background.
And the brighter the light, the darker the shadow.
Naveen figured he’d always be afraid that if he tried to be his own stand-out protagonist again, everything he’d managed to build for himself since he left his grandmother – Lida, Urbain, AZ, Hotel Z, his new support network, and budding business of sparse sewing commissions – would come crashing down.
Naveen almost wanted to thank Lida and Urbain for their prank. Almost. Not that he would, obviously, he was
very pissed at them, but Naveen recognized that he would have never talked to Serena or said what he said so ardently without their meddling.
He would have never received such meaningful support.
However, by letting someone’s words affect him so strongly, Naveen knew he was opening himself up to potential disappointment. As the saying goes, never meet your heroes, but Naveen couldn’t help it. This was
Serena, someone he felt like he knew, and that softened his wariness. While he understood very much so that his perceived relationship wasn’t truly founded in reality – it was a comfort, not a
delusion, he wasn’t one of
those fans – Naveen could tell Serena meant what she said. She wasn’t just saying it to placate a fan.
His willingness to believe her words as truth was the first ever downside to a parasocial relationship Naveen had ever found. Looks like he hadn’t been protecting himself as much as he’d thought.
He’d never expected to get such glowing encouragement. From anyone. Let alone
Serena.
“But most importantly, Naveen,” Serena smiled warmly at him, “I cannot wait to be your friend.”
Naveen short circuited. Serena
wants to be his friend?! This was almost better than designing a collection for her!! Naveen felt like he knew her alrea– NO, Naveen! Maintain proper distance!!
Oh, right, Serena was
on Team MZ. How the FUCK did Urbain manage that?!
But if Serena was well and truly here to stay, Naveen guessed it was okay to let his one-sided dynamic evolve into an actual friendship. Eventually. He wasn’t going to jump the gun here and become way too attached quickly! And besides, knowing someone in-person was
vastly different than online. Naveen would have to ease into this for his own insurance. Trusting someone entirely or right off the bat was never a good thing.
The screen no longer protected Naveen, and he now had to be wary of someone he had never hoped to doubt. If everything went wrong, he was inviting an even harsher pain than usual. Naveen knew he was an idiot for letting this play out, but he couldn’t help himself.
Because he could make all the excuses and erect as many barriers as he wanted, but at the end of the day, Naveen
did want to be Serena’s friend.
Trying to get it together as best he could so he didn’t look like a massive loser, Naveen said, “Yeah… you too.” Not great, but better than the alternative of just staring at her like a fish out of water.
“Oh, don’t listen to him!” Lida cackled. Naveen whipped his head around to glare at her. “He might be trying to act cool
now, but it’s a little too late for that! He’s freaking out inside for sure!”
Urbain added on with an impish grin, “I bet he can’t wait to talk to you for
hours about the Filet Mignon collection.”
“It’s the Dessert Mignon collection!” Naveen snapped.
“Sure, sure.” Urbain laughed. “The Sweatshirt Chignon collection, I get you.”
“It’s the
Dessert Mignon collection, and I’ll thank you kindly
to get it right!!” Naveen glowered, his voice pitching up at the end.
‘Oh, Naveen and I are most definitely
cut from the same cloth,’ Serena mused and took off her hat. She would
more than happily support her new friend in his valiant endeavors to defend her name and fashion.
“I’ll have you know, Urbain, that if you had
seen my work in the winter ‘95 Dessert Mignon catalog, you
wouldn’t have forgotten the name,” Serena declared, smirking deviously to drive home her implication and saying just enough for Urbain’s imagination to run wild. She very deliberately ran her hand through her hair and slowly pushed it over her shoulder. “What a shame that copies are so hard to find nowadays. And after your disrespect, I doubt Naveen would lend you his,” she tutted as she fixed her hat back in place.
Lida, absolutely not expecting Serena to
flirt with Urbain so blatantly to get the two of them to stop their fun, watched on excitedly to see Urbain’s reaction. Oh, she was going to
hound Serena about this later!!!
Serena’s words seemed to have the exact desired effect, because Urbain quickly shut up and looked at Naveen intently with pleading eyes.
Naveen snorted and crossed his arms. “Never going to happen,” he said flatly, taking great joy in crushing Urbain’s hope. The best part was, if Urbain even knew at all what he was talking about, he’d know that there was
absolutely nothing risqué about Serena’s work in the winter ‘95 Dessert Mignon catalog, let alone the collection as a whole!
Ha! It wasn’t two against one this time! Let
Urbain be the butt of the joke for once!! Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?
Perhaps being friends with Serena might not be as much of a risk as Naveen thought.
Z • ──── 📰 ──── • A
The printing press whirred into motion, and the newspapers piled up, mint and crisp. Pallets of papers were loaded into trucks and set off across the region. Just before the sun rose, the paper boys took their loads and ventured out on their routes. Lumiose’s residents and all of Kalos would wake up to a picture of Serena on their doorstep.
At the same time, the online Lumiose Press updated, Alexa’s article was now live. The Lumiose Press blasted it across their social media. Y, Pinsirgram – you name it. If The Lumiose Press had an account, it was there.
The Lumiose Press @lumiosepress ✓ · 4h
Kalos’ Champion
@championserena ✓ is back and here to stay! Recognizing her absence, Serena cares deeply about reconnecting with Kalos’ people and Pokemon. As a part of her effort to do so, Serena, sporting a brand-new fresh-faced team, is joining Lumiose’s hottest public battle tournament: The Z-A Royale. In a never before seen opportunity, without having 8 Gym Badges and the E4 under your belt, you too can test your mettle against a Champion! Think you’ve got what it takes? Read our full exclusive interview with Serena here:
Link.
10K Replies | 1.8M Likes | 540K Reposts | Share
S O U P @internationalsoup · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓
HOLY SHIT WHAT
120 Replies | 100K Likes | 40K Reposts | Share
Charizardzzz @charizardwing54 · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓
Ok but she’s starting from scratch tho 👀
308 Replies | 246K Likes | 54K Reposts | Share
boot-e @carrotmaster · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓ @charizardwing54
The only way we even possibly stand a chance… BUT NOW WE STAND A CHANCE!! #BeatSerena
34 Replies | 8K Likes | 68 Reposts | Share
GO! DYN4MOO @caffinefree · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓
Guys what even happens if you beat the Champion in a public tournament?? Bc you don’t become Champion so???
457 Replies | 56K Likes | 1.1K Reposts | Share
It’s Rick @battleboyrick · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓ @caffinefree
Bragging rights of the fucking century my guy
51 Replies | 3K Likes | 42 Reposts | Share
Joey @toptierrattata · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓
Bc she’s starting over w a vv low level team, imagine if some dude went into a battle zone, challenges her, and then wins with like a Rattata or a Bunnelby. You could say you beat the Champion with a single Bunnelby
392 Replies | 302K Likes | 63K Reposts | Share
GouDADA @cheesemush · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓ @toptierrattata
based let’s do it #BeatSerena
135 Replies | 20K Likes | 3K Reposts | Share
BunnelBYE! @bunnelbyfan3 · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓ @toptierrattata
My team of 4 Bunnelby and I are about to pop off tonight 💅🏻 #BeatSerena
103 Replies | 4K Likes | 1K Reposts | Share
Fight On! @kungfutussle · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓
Bro the battle zone tonight is gonna be PACKED omfg
428 Replies | 101K Likes | 30K Reposts | Share
🌙Dusk @hexiemaniac · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓ @kungfutussle
Like I’m actually concerned about it. I want to challenge her too, but I don’t want to get stampeded.
89 Replies | 4K Likes | 23 Reposts | Share
Clive @joggerlifeee · 4h
Replying to @lumiosepress ✓ @kungfutussle
Lol what if the fire marshal shuts it down bc there’s too many people
24 Replies | 2K Likes | 30 Reposts | Share
@capitalmankey · 3h
I’ve never really cared for Serena, but this move is kind of the most bat shit insane move I’ve ever seen, and I respect the hell out of her for it. She’s apologizing for being gone for 5 years by literally asking all of Kalos to come beat her up and mug her. And she’s not even worried about it. Serena’s kinda iconic #ChampionSerena
302 Replies | 13K Likes | 1.5K Reposts | Share
Cynthia is life <3 @girliepopcrew · 3h
Replying to @capitalmankey
Queen behavior I’m obsessed with her now 👸👑💫 #ChampionSerena
15 Replies | 3K Likes | 209 Reposts | Share
Gotta go fast @zoooooom · 3h
Replying to @capitalmankey
The best and most effective apology of all time. Serena understood the assignment.
21 Replies | 5K Likes | 382 Reposts | Share
AIR @shinyballoon · 3h
Replying to @capitalmankey
No bc it’s not just that, she’s asking the world to come and jump her EVERY NIGHT!! Like I actually feel bad for HER now!
30 Replies | 3K Likes | 291 Reposts | Share
𐙚Serena @championserena ✓ · 3h
If anyone beats me with a team of only Scatterbugs, I will pay you 1,000,000P myself because that should have never happened.
Bitato @spikyballot · 3h
If anyone beats Serena with a team of only Scatterbugs I will personally pay you 200,000P
8.7K Replies | 204K Likes | 89K Reposts | Share
27K Replies | 728K Likes | 203K Reposts | Share
SHORTS @comfyandeasy · 3h
Replying to @championserena ✓
Challenge accepted #BeatSerena
1K Replies | 30K Likes | 2K Reposts | Share
F @figyberrydreams · 3h
Replying to @championserena ✓
Bet me and my Scatterbugs about to pull up #BeatSerena
1K Replies | 50K Likes | 2K Reposts | Share
Pinkie Girl 🌸 @petchalove ✓ · 3h
Replying to @championserena ✓
UM HELLO– why did no one tell me that Serena was funny???!!
1.2K Replies | 103K Likes | 13K Reposts | Share
Flantastic @flantime · 3h
Replying to @championserena ✓
Love that Serena broke her multi-year silence on Y for this post specifically
203 Replies | 43K Likes | 16K Reposts | Share
Sleepy Time @chestoresto ✓ · 1h
The funniest thing about all of this is that bc Serena never actually published the research she left Kalos to do in the first place, it means she didn’t finish it. So the implication is that she did the most feral and rabid thing of all time by challenging the entire WORLD to a come fight her bc she got SO bored doing science shit in Hoenn
7K Replies | 304K Likes | 67K Reposts | Share
Butter @jellyyyyy · 1h
Replying to @chestoresto ✓
She’s so real for this
29 Replies | 40K Likes | 2K Reposts | Share
It’s Amazing! @thepowerofscience · 1h
Replying to @chestoresto ✓
As someone who’s doing science in Hoenn rn, can confirm the Hoenn science crash out is real
592 Replies | 102K Likes | 21K Reposts | Share
🍎🍎 @applintears · 1h
Replying to @chestoresto ✓ @thepowerofscience
note to self, do not go to Hoenn to do science
35 Replies | 29K Likes | 12K Reposts | Share
Bubbles @bubbubble3 · 1h
Replying to @chestoresto ✓
Hoenn is 7.8/10, too much water
2K Replies | 145K Likes | 40K Reposts | Share
#ChampionSerena is trending
#BeatSerena is trending
Z • ──── 🌐 ──── • A
Serena was out in the courtyard at the very early hour of 5:00 am. Training with Engarde and Grimlin was Serena’s only priority for today. They had no time to waste, but they also needed their rest. Luckily, Serena had the rest of her usual team to help her train the newcomers. They were already out of their Pokeballs and ready to help. Except for Lemis, sadly. Unfortunately, Serena knew he’d serve as too much of a distraction for the newbies.
The schedule was as follows:
Train in the morning and early afternoon. They’d stop at around 1:00 pm for a lunch break, then nap time until 6:00 pm when they’d do 1 hour of warm ups, and then head out from the hotel at 7:00 pm for the battle zone.
First things first, because of the insanity that was about to unfold, Serena planned to have an ace up her sleeve with Mega Sableye. Just in case. She wanted to practice with Grimlin before tonight and do a few test runs.
“Grimlin, this is for you.” Serena gave him the Mega Stone, the Sableye’s eyes sparkling excitedly at the sight. He carefully examined the stone, rolling it between his fingers and holding it up to the light. Serena chuckled at how excited he was. “With this stone, you can Mega–”
Grimlin popped the Mega Stone into his mouth and ATE IT!!!!
Grimlin chewed a few times, the stone crunching and shattering between his teeth until it was reduced to a gravel like state. He swallowed, consideringly smacking his lips at the flavor before he reached a conclusion.
“Sable!” he announced, giving Serena a big thumbs up with a wide grin. She was providing so many new interesting stones for Grimlin to eat! He’d truly missed having variety in his diet.
“NO!!!” Serena abruptly screeched, aghast.
Grimlin flinched, his finger drooping, looking confused. “Eye?”
“WHY! Why would you do that?!” she demanded.
“...Sableye?” he hesitantly answered. Because it was food?
“No! It wasn’t fo– ugh, this my fault.” Serena disparagingly rubbed her temples. She should have explained before she gave it to him. Serena had wanted him to see it and get his opinion on what kind of jewelry item he wanted made from it! She never would have thought he'd EAT it!! “Do you know how hard it was to find that?”
“Say?” Grimlin guessed.
“I’ve only ever found one in my whole life. And I found that in Hoenn! I don’t even know if I’ll ever be able to find another,” Serena lamented.
“Sableye,” Grimlin comforted her. It didn’t taste
that good, he could live without another. She didn't need to beat herself up over it.
“Grimlin, that was your Mega Stone! You needed that to Mega Evolve! You said you wanted to!! Now, we can’t until I magically find another!” Serena explained, hoping he’d finally understand the weight of his actions.
“EYE?!” he yelped. Grimlin’s eyes flew wide, then sat down and held his head in his hands, finally understanding what he did. “Sable…” he despaired, moping.
Cheshire’s face emerged from the ground right under Grimlin’s downturned gaze and tauntingly blew his tongue at him, Gengar’s long tongue whipping out and licking Grimlin’s face. “Ppppffffffffttttttt!” Cheshire cackled.
Furious, Grimlin swiped down at Gengar, but Cheshire vanished before the hit could land, his mocking laughter continued despite his intangibility. Cheshire reappeared bedside Serena, draping his arm over her shoulder, flaunting his Mega Stone ear cuff with his other hand.
“Gen, gengar,” Cheshire commented admiringly about his Mega Stone. He glanced at Grimlin and broke out into a fit of laughter once more at his expense.
“Sable, Sableye!!!” Grimlin barked while pointing accusingly at him. Cheshire continued to cackle.
Serena sighed. “Grimlin, you don’t really have the high ground here, buddy. You did this entirely to yourself.” Well, there goes that plan. Mega Sableye was officially off the table for the foreseeable future. Serena had
a lot to work on today before they could be ready for tonight.
“Sableeee….” Grimlin whined plopping down in the dirt, defeated, and flopped on his back, spreading his arms wide. He stared up at the sky, regretting all of his choices.
It wasn’t even THAT tasty!
End Notes
Team Neo Noir is here! Everyone has a “Team” in this game, so Serena needed her own for her agenda!! Soooo I’m a huge film nerd if you couldn’t tell lol. Serena essentially deciding she’s in a neo-noir film is actually so accurate because the Z-A storyline, and even more amped up in this story, is VERY neo-noir.
I’m aware Zach doesn’t have a Cleffa lol. Now he does.
Grimlin eating his Mega Stone and the Mega Crystals around the city was one of the very first things I wrote for this fic! The absolute disaster that is Grimlin the Mega Stone eater will return… hehehe…
Anistar City and the Sundial were somehow NOT a big thing or really even a thing at all in Z-A, and that is absurd!! I only found 1 NPC that even mentions Anistar city at all!! In XY you literally use the Anistar City Sundial to upgrade the Mega Ring. It’s a giant thousands-of-years-old bright pink crystal that radiates Mega Energy that no one knows how it formed and is connected to Mega Stones. It’s canonically THE SAME STUFF as what’s in Lumiose guys.
Also, not Sycamore being the leading and ONLY researcher on these pink crystals in the world and he just peaced out and went, “Not my problem lmaoooo.” My guy, I know you’re off in some other region doing science with Trevor for some reason, but like, literally where else in the world would be a better spot for you to do your research right now than Lumiose City??? You know, where the biggest Mega Energy phenomena in thousands of years is happening? No? Not relevant to your hyper-specific work on Mega Evolution, Mega Stones, and pink mysterious crystals that have Mega Energy in them? My bad.
Let’s be real – Sycamore is likely off living his best life on a beach somewhere, wearing shades and sipping drinks from coconuts. With Trevor, hilariously. Because the “all the characters inexplicably flee to Alola” pipeline is actually very real in Pokemon, his assistants Dexio and Sina are already there, Zygarde, and you CAN do Mega Evolution in Alola in the post-game, I’m choosing to believe that’s where Sycamore is – on a beach in Alola.
MABLE DESERVED A CHARACTER ARC!! I will die on this hill. She is a fascinating character that should have had WAY more investment in the Z-A storyline. For those that don’t remember: Alexa was a character we met frequently in XY who was a journalist from Lumiose City and worked at the Lumiose Press (WHY was she not in Z-A? How was the media in general not a thing in Z-A??). She’s also Gym Leader Viola's sister. Aliana was the Flare Admin and scientist who siphoned power from the Kalos Power Plant.
I love seeing people’s reactions to stories, discussing, and debating them!! Any stories, not just projects I’m working on. This is to say that every single one of your comments, be it short or long, genuinely makes my day!! I LOVE hearing all of your thoughts/reactions to every little thing in the fic and going back and forth with you in the comments!!
