A Late Start

Aftermath

We sat up on the lookout point, the sun had just started setting bathing the city in bright orange.
"So, you got your first badge then huh?" I said quietly.
"Yeah. It was pretty tough you know."
"Guess that means you're leaving town then."
"Nah, not for a few weeks at least. Got some important stuff I need to attend to first." I smiled a little, thinking I knew what he meant.
"Soo. What's with the second ball? You catch a new 'mon without telling me?"
"Oh, you noticed that huh? Nah, it's not mine, just looking after it for a little while."
"The friend of yours from Floccesy?"
"Yeah."
"Can I scan it?"
"Sorry Lexi, they specifically asked me to keep it a secret."
"Aw, alright then." I decided not to push any further, whatever happened he clearly didn't want to go into details about it. "How's Royce holding up after the battle?" I changed the topic
"Pretty good. Few scrapes, but mostly he was just worn out. That was way closer than I was expecting."
"Told you you couldn't just tank it. If he landed one more attack you wouldn't have made it through."
"Yeah, guess you were right about that."
"You know the battles are only going to get harder as you go through the gym circuit right?"
"Of course, but I've got a plan to work that out when it comes to it." He gave me a smirk as he finished speaking.
"You, planning? What happened to instinct?"
"Come on Lexi, give me some credit. I can think ahead when I need to."
"Yeah, I guess you can. Congrats on getting your badge though, it was fun to watch."
"I meant what I said on camera, I couldn't have done it without you, Lexi. I was too hardheaded and would have just gotten pummeled."
"Don't sell yourself short, man. I may have suggested it, but you were the one who made it work." We both smiled, taking a moment to enjoy the view.
"I should really get home. I still need to do my chores before Mom gets home." I said after a while.
"Oh shoot, yeah. Guess I got you caught up huh. I'll come with, give you a hand."
"Thanks, Ethan, you don't have to though, I promised to get 'em done, and you've already had a big day."
"Call it an apology for keeping you out so late, it's the least I can do."
"Well, if you really want to, I'm not gonna turn down an extra pair of hands."
"Hah, well, C'mon then, let's go." With that, we made our way down the stairs and back to my house.

We arrived at my house and I slid my key in the lock and opened the door.
"Okay, I'll start with the dishes, if you don't mind think you could tidy up the lounge while I do. It shouldn't be too bad so just go over it with the vacuum."
"Not a problem, I'll get it done." He exclaimed way too enthusiastically before disappearing behind the door. We didn't have a dishwasher so I filled the sink with hot water and some detergent. Grabbing my gloves I went over the two plates, bowls, forks and spoons from yesterday as well as the stuff from this morning and left them in the draining rack to dry. I looked up at the clock to see the time, almost 7:30. Mom will probably be home soon. I took my gloves off and went to check up on Ethan. Nobody had been home all day so there was no reason the lounge would be dirty. Sure enough by the time I got there he had already finished.
"Okay, that just leaves the laundry, I should be fine to get that done."
"Alright Lexi, I should be getting home then, mom might get worried if I'm not home for dinner."
"Okay then, thanks for the help. And good job again on the battle." He let out a chuckle and ran off through the door. I shut the door behind him and headed into the back of the house to get started with the washing. I gathered all of this week's clothes and piled them into the machine, adding powder and softener before closing the lid and setting the cycle before Heading back upstairs.

I pulled the door to my room closed before flopping into bed. Mom should be home soon and I was exhausted. I rolled over and stared at the ceiling, I hadn't eaten since this morning and I could hear my stomach growling but I didn't care. as I stared at the ceiling I began to daydream, remembering the only time I'd left Unova, the best few months of my life. A research trip the professor managed to convince my mom to let me go on. It was about 6 months ago, And we went all the way to Kanto. I remember being so struck by the wilds In the region since it was rare to see such large fields without any significant human presence in Unova even the mountains had seen their fair share of intervention. Though I had only seen most of it in documentaries barring the forests around Aspertia. I had always dreamed of seeing the world beyond the city walls, beyond even Unova and for a few months, I had the opportunity to do just that. Sure enough, shortly after I'd started daydreaming I was interrupted by Mom calling out my name from downstairs.
"Yeah, I'm here," I called back, lazily
"Can you come down here please?"
"Okay. Give me a sec" I exclaimed while slowly pulling myself out of bed. I stumbled down the stairs, stepping out into the kitchen shortly after reaching the bottom. Mom was standing in the doorway, her face a stoic look of disappointment.
"I saw you on TV today," she said rather flatly.
"Oh... that was live huh?" I instinctively looked at the floor.
"I take it Ethans challenge went well then."
"Well, he won his badge yeah."
"Why didn't you tell me it was going to be televised."
"I had no idea it was until the cameras were already rolling."
"You know I don't want you getting caught up with those kinds of people. I only let you watch because I know Ethan is your friend."
"I... I know, mom."
"Why did he bring you onstage like that, what did he mean you helped him 'Strategise' ahead of time."
"I may have given him a few ideas." I bit my tongue before saying any more.
"What would YOU know about Pokemon battles that could have helped him. I know the professor gave you that fancy computer. but studying and battling are VERY different things, Alexis."
"I just picked up a few things from watching the old recordings on gym battles from TV." her glare narrowed and she leaned towards me.
"What EXACTLY have you been doing when I leave town."
"I told you, I just watch old gym battles that air sometimes."
"No, no no no. you can't really know any game-changing strategies from watching old recordings, where do you go when you're not at home."
"I... I've been studying at the Trainer's school," I mumbled.
"How long?"
"A few years now."
"Go to your room, now." her tone was calm, but I could see from her expression that she was seething. not wanting to escalate the situation I nodded my head and slowly went upstairs, I knew this wasn't the last I would hear of this. I got back in bed and decided to just sleep the rest of the night away, I was starving, but I wasn't risking another trip downstairs.