Pokémon Obsidian | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 54: Obvious

A rare chilly breeze swept through Gateon Port. Waves lapped against the grimy walls of the harbour. Its rotating bridges creaked. On a long, coastal avenue that terminated at Gateon Colosseum, dotted with stalls selling fishy snacks and souvenirs, Scarlet's Hawlucha dropped her off outside a house that was unsuspecting at first. When she rang the doorbell, she saw the white paint was peeling to reveal faded yellow and beige.

A key turned. The sliding steel door was scraped open. Brown eyes peered out. Cullen was expecting Scarlet. A bandage kept his fractured jaw in place. He saw a dentist, as scheduled, but his dentures weren't ready yet.

'Howdy. Come on in.'

Scarlet followed him inside. It was a tiny, one-storey home, where the only separate room was the bathroom. Yellow curtains were ruffled by the salty breeze. The couch, cushions and bedsheets were yellow, too. Everything was. The Pikachu in the photos on the walls, where they triumphantly showed off Gym Badges, played with the pet Pichu in a ball pit. There was a framed poster of Eagun. If Cullen was GoD and deliberately mocked Zileh's divorce, it wasn't obvious from the photos of him smiling with his family.

His Dedenne and Morpeko cheerfully ran on an exercise wheel. The Pokémon happily invited Scarlet's team to play with them, except Guzzlord, which was too big to fit in the house. She didn't want to let it wander off outside, either. It would inevitably swallow one of those snack stalls in one gulp and, if it thought it could get away with it, the owner too. She sat opposite Cullen on the couch. Country music quietly twanged on the stereo.

'Can I get you a coffee? Snacks?'

'I'm good, thanks. How're you doin'? In general? I know bein' a suspect is stressful, but hopefully, we'll be able to rule out y'all who aren't GoD soon.'

'I'm surprised some Falinks player hasn't written to you to tell you I'm too pathetic to be a criminal mastermind.'

'It wouldn't get you off the list, to be honest. I know you're a great Trainer, so you've gotta be pretty resourceful – and not pathetic at all. Pika power, huh?'

'Oh, I just prefer to battle with my favourite Pokémon. Like Emili and Julia – and they're the Orre League's greatest Gym Leaders of all time, in my opinion – like they'd say, I think restricting yourself to one type or even species makes you a great Trainer. You can't win without putting tons of effort into strategy and understanding your Pokémon, instead of relying on natural strength.'

'My dad would've agreed with that.'

'Guzma, right?'

'Yeah.'

Cullen smiled. 'You look just like him.'

'Makes a nice change to "you look like Lusamine."'

'I feel you. For obvious reasons. Dakim.'

'Did you get on with him?'

'I only knew him for, like, two years before he died. But I was only 10 and I'd had people calling me "Cipher Admin," "Darmanitan" and "serial killer" for years before I even knew I was his grandson.'

'Damn. I can relate to that, too. I used to get called "Prez," "Nihilego" and "ugly Lillie," to name a few.'

'Yeah... I wasn't exactly desperate to know him, back then. He tried. And he seemed decent enough. I never really let him in, though, you know? I feel like I should've, but there's no point in dwelling on the past.'

'You got pretty far in the World Championships, yeah?'

'One time, yeah, but Julia obliterated me. Which is why she's the Gym Leader and I'm not. But that's OK. I'm not out to be the very best.'

'You ever been to Galar?'

Scarlet knew there was no record of Cullen ever visiting Galar. She watched his eyes when he said no. There was no indication that he was lying.

'Any Galarian friends?'

'Just my relatives.'

'OK. If you're up for it, I wanted to ask about your divorce.'

'Oh, jeez...'

Cullen sighed. 'I've tried to repaint and redecorate, but...'

'Well, I'm not here to judge anyone. You or her. I want to hear about it in your words. I don't care what the press said.'

'OK. Here we go.'

He took a deep breath. 'Kim was really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really obsessed with Stantler. I'm not talking this sea of Pikachu – which honestly, has helped me get through this by yellowing out my memory. I'm talking worshipping Stantler. Having more than she could take care of. Wiping out our joint account to rent more stables.'

Cullen gestured to the Pikachu cushions. 'As you know, I really love Pikachu. Eagun is my idol. So I was totally up for trying to work through it. But as I'm sure you also already know, Kim was hospitalised after having sex with a Stantler and... that was that. I filed for divorce the next morning.'

That was how Zileh described the divorce to Scarlet. Cullen didn't change any details.

'Damn. You upset about it?'

'I mean, I'm upset that my wife turned out to be a weirdo and I wasn't even aware of it. I'm upset for the poor Stantler. I'm not upset about the divorce itself, for obvious reasons. It's gonna be a long time before I can trust a partner again.'

'Understandable. One last question.'

'Go for it.'

'If I asked you if you're Grand Master of Cipher, what would you say?'

'Uh... no. I'm definitely not. I'd say the Falinks players are right in this particular case. I'm not smart enough to lead a criminal syndicate. I'd rather be at home with my Pokémon, which I hope is obvious.'

He looked a little worried when Scarlet didn't immediately reply.

'It is obvious, right?'