Harmonia | Pokémon Fanfiction

08 | Let The Music Do The Talking

Music in media: Let The Music Do The Talking by Aerosmith

11 January, Tuesday, 12:30 p.m. | Winter

After an early lunch, the quartet made their way to the Virbank Gym. The faster Rae got her badge, the better.

"Yes, please, I don't wanna face Nurse Joy again," said Icosa as they walked down a flight of polished stairs in a glitzy building to the basement. "I don't want her near my Pokémon."

"You badmouthed her first," Rae stated.

"Sorry, then," Icosa quipped. "Hold on, are you allowed to be here? It's a club."

An underground music club, to be exact. No booze, no drugs, nothing of that sort, just pure, feel-good music, a place for various bands to promote themselves or hang out or practise. Unlike the three of them, it was Rae's first time in such a place. It made her feel foreign, from the strobing lights to the glittery dance floor. A hundred shards of herself stood rooted in the mirrorball dangling from the middle of the ceiling, her mouth rounded as she further took in the stage where a woman dressed in a long-sleeved blue-and-purple-striped shirt and studded trousers, whose white hair styled like she had been in a punk explosion, strummed her bass. The instrument reminded Rae of a Venipede.

"That's Roxie," said Lenora. "She's part of Koffing and the Toxics, a punk rock band."

Rae processed this information. It made sense now that Roxie and her members had a toxic spell about them.

"Everything feels too clean," Cheren admitted, piquing Rae's curiosity about the band. "Oh, she's on to another riff!"

Roxie's riff, however, was overshadowed by the other members, mainly the drummer who's known as Roughneck Nicky, whose beats Rae guessed were in sync with the thumping drum beats in Virbank's new music. The guitarist, Billy Jo, like Roxie, didn't stand out; the few moments they did were when he wasn't dropping beats. At the end of the instrumental, she hopped off the stage and greeted the foursome.

"What brings ya here to Virbank, Cheren? And Lenora, you've grown prettier since we last met! But who are those two?"

After introducing themselves, Icosa butted in commenting on how shitty the performance was, even if it was supposed to be practice. Roxie found his honesty amusing. Rae, wishing to be polite, said it was a good attempt.

"Well, we're in a bit of pickle now!" Roxie motioned for Billy Jo and Nicky to join her. "You see, we aren't as popular as we once were. And we've been playing around, creating new sounds the past few months."

"But we had a breakthrough yesterday!" said Nicky as he flexed his biceps. "We know what the people want now, but the weird music out there is affecting us too much!"

"And we have a concert tonight! It ain't helping us at all!" said Billy Jo with a flip of her magenta hair.

Roxie glanced at her friends, then at the quartet. "We have to solve this issue somehow... You." She flicked her gaze at Icosa. "You seem like you know a lot about music. Do you always have your headphones with you?" When Icosa replied that he indeed had them with him all the time, she went on, "What kind of music do you listen to?"

Icosa exhaled and looked away, his eyes trained on the dozen posters slapped onto the four walls of the music club. The bands were all givibg rockstar vibes just like Roxie. Was he supposed to choose one of them? Was he supposed to give her a confidence boost and say "Koffing and the Toxics" even though he hardly listened to their music? Rae squeezed his hand and he managed a small smile.

"Anything, really."

"Then you must come to our concert. It starts in an hour," said Roxie. "We'll give you a toxic shock."