The Theory of Grey | Pokémon X

Ten | Emilia's Nickname

Back in the Shabboneau Castle, the dire faces of both men had led me to assume something serious was going on. Naturally, I had begun to worry, so Shauna and I didn't hesitate to follow them to Route 7. I was expecting a crime scene or even a natural disaster. It would've been much more ghastly than what I saw the moment we arrived at Route 7.

I stared with a bored expression at the large entity that blocked passage through the bridge. Rather than something tragic, these men made a whole ruckus over a sleeping Snorlax that stood in the way of the bridge, allowing no passage to the other side. Who in the world made a big deal over a sleeping Pokémon?!

"Um... What do we do now?" Shauna asked the blond man.

What the hell could we even do? What were we supposed to do about a sleeping Snorlax that was difficult to wake under normal circumstances? I refused to waste more time on this pointless situation.

"We'll need to awaken it using the PokéFlute," he answered. "However, there's one small problem." The blond man turned to us with a serious expression, making me roll my eyes from how unnecessarily dramatic he was being.

"That damn rich guy from the Parfum Palace has it and refuses to give it back!" the man wearing a karate gi exclaimed with an agitated voice. "He's so stuck up. All he cares about are expensive things and his stupid Furfrou! It really bugs me that he owns so much stuff, yet he doesn't even touch most of it!"

I couldn't help but be slightly amused seeing him fume like this. I would assume that a trained man in the martial arts would have some self-control, but then again, he might be wearing the gi just for show. Honestly, it was hard to tell with these people.

"Don't worry, sir!" We all turned out attention to Shauna. That determined look on her face gave me a bad feeling. "Emilia and I will get the flute back. I promise!"

I gave her an incredulous look.

"I'm sorry, what?"

---

"Ugh, I can't believe you dragged me into this!" I shouted over my shoulder at Shauna.

The teenager let out a nervous chuckle as she sheepishly scratched the back of her neck. I threw a glare at her before focusing my attention elsewhere to control the annoyance that flared within me. That stupid palace the karate man mentioned earlier was up ahead. I was very much pissed that little miss impulse behind me volunteered us to get that stupid flute back. We could've always found another path to get to the other side, but no. Those people wanted to make things difficult and use a stupid instrument to wake up a damn Pokémon to get it to leave.

This was such a drag.

The further we walked the route, the more tourists began to show up. I was grateful that none of them wanted to battle me even when seeing Bulbasaur in my arms, but being asked to move out of the way for their stupid pictures made me all the more irritable. Some even had the audacity to ask me if I could take a picture of them, but my current mood allowed me to rudely decline them. I had no time to play nice right now.

Shauna and I finally reached the enormous gates of the palace. After passing through, an older man ran out of the palace in a state of panic. He paused and frantically looked around until his eyes fell upon Shauna and I. His eyes lit up before running toward us, the frantic look never leaving his face.

"Oh, you are both Pokémon Trainers, correct?" he asked at a rapid pace.

"Yeah, that's right!" Shauna answered with a smile.

"I have a favor to ask you both." The man clapped his hands together into a pleading pose and bowed to the waist. "Please look for my precious Furfrou!"