Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 20: Conspiracy

One thing Dirk wasn't exaggerating about was his dad's 'sick car.' It was the most expensive vehicle Chalcedony ever got close to. Her scuffed bags looked wrong in the spotless trunk.

'Does your dad know you're driving his car?'

'Well... he's a banker who's away on business, so...'

'Better not hit anyone, then, or he'll kill us if the crash doesn't.'

The seats were luxurious white leather. Poliwrath sat in the passenger seat. Chalcedony, Rustie and Zileh crammed in to the back. Zileh reached through to jab at the illuminated buttons around the radio.

'What do all these do?'

'Some of 'em are for the heating and air con. The rest... I have no idea.'

The engine whirred smoothly. At least it appeared Dirk was a decent driver. He carefully reversed and meandered through the parking lot.

Rustie was distant. She was yet to say more than 'good morning.' Zileh nudged her.

'Come on! You gotta tell us what happened eventually!'

Chalcedony smirked. 'He didn't waste any time.'

'Neither did I,' Rustie said, 'To be fair.'

'...You didn't, did you?'

'Huh?'

'Did you get it on...?'

'No! No, I'm not that fast! We made out. That's all.'

'Where were you?'

'The alley behind the Krabby Klub.'

'Oh, delicious.'

'So,' Zileh gleefully continued, 'Did he talk about rocks?'

'He didn't really... talk about anything. We just...'

Chalcedony's smirk faded. 'What? Seriously? The entire time you were gone, you were making out and he didn't even say anything?'

'Well... sometimes you just know, right? That's how it is in the movies... and I feel like I'm living in a movie right now!'

'Movies aren't real. That's why they're movies.'

'Didn't you and Wyatt "just know?"'

'We'd known each other, like, 10 years when he asked me to marry him. We were best friends. And even we're not together now. Have you actually said anything to Jet...?'

'We talked this morning. Before y'all woke up. He said he was sorry if he came on too strong and that he got carried away because he was drunk, but I said I was, too. And he said he'd see me in Agate.'

A suspension bridge decorated with flags and lights representing Orre's eight Badges carried them over the river from Gateon Port. The road forked. Dirk turned onto Highway 5. The car juddered over potholes as the worn road ascended. Cacti and dusty wastelands gave way to trees.

'Y'all wanna look for Pokémon, right?'

'Yeah,' Chalcedony said before Rustie could contemplate rushing to Agate Village to meet Jet, 'I know you don't have your Pokédex, Rustie, but you can register all your Pokémon when you get it back.'

To her relief, Rustie was as excited about meeting new Pokémon as ever. Maybe there was nothing to worry about, but when Chalcedony drunkenly prompted them to dance, she thought it would only go as far as talking and maybe one kiss. She never expected him to drag Rustie into an alleyway and make out without a word. Did anyone ever like someone that much without even speaking? Chalcedony's relationship with the guy who played Till, Kaeden, did escalate quickly and she did like him, but only after working together for weeks and several long conversations about music. It was hard to tell when the lines between friendship and love blurred with Wyatt, at the same time as it was so inevitable there was never any question about whether it was actually love... and it took running away for Chalcedony to see that was real.