The Professor's Secret

9. A Sentient Gift

I ran, rushing back to the shore and crossing the lonely beach under a cold drizzle that didn't take long to quell the burning under my skin, replacing it with the bothersome feeling of my bones shaking in both chill and concealed panic.

All the scientists looked my way as I passed through them – they all saw my flustered face, my undone hair, my unchecked race... They could probably guess something was off, I just hoped the Professor's reputation wasn't one to make obvious exactly what was. Sycamore tried to reach me, running as far as the lab's entrance, where he called my name in his sung voice and velvet accent, and stretched fingers that brushed softly against my hair, luckily failing to grasp me. He hesitated then, like a vampire who couldn't bear the light outside; and just like a vampire would, he timidly drew back into his cove, remembering that if he took chase of me, the entire town would bear witness and he would have more than just his colleagues at the lab to explain himself to.

I was quite breathless when I met the rest of the guys at the hotel lobby in Cyllage city. They were all prepared to leave for our training session, as we had planned – and they all followed my approach with ready eyes, proving they had been expecting me for a while.

"What's wrong?" Shauna asked as I stood by her to catch my breath.

"Is something after you?" Calem quickly stood up from the reception couch – either passionate about protecting me or hot for a battle, I couldn't tell.

"Something new?" Trevor's attention got captured as well, and I could see him reaching for his Pokédex.

"No, no, it's nothing!" I quickly interrupted them, suspecting they might go out and meet Sycamore on his way or something, and infer the rest. "I just... I was taking a walk and realized I was late, that's all..."

They all eyed me with somewhat bored expressions. Calem sat back on the couch and stretched himself with a yawn:

"That much you are, it's true..."

"Look at you, Anne!" Shauna walked towards me, all dressed in plastic "You're so wet you don't even need a raincoat anymore!"

I evaluated my own state, and she was right. The run there had been such a frantic one, I was only now beginning to feel how wet and cold I was.

"Well, you go ahead and get changed, we'll just wait here, right guys?" Calem suggested.

But Shauna's expression didn't look so pleased:

"Aww but I promised I was going to show Tierno that dance moves don't guarantee any spot in the battle other than that of a stylish loser... and I look forward to doing so!"

"Ha! We'll see!!" Tierno fiercely replied, firing up.

"I don't really want to battle that much, but I can't wait to study your strategies..." Trevor timidly added, reinforcing the general opinion.

Calem looked around, outnumbered and annoyed, and sighed, picking himself up: "Alright, alright... We'll go ahead and you catch up with us later, if that's okay with you, Anne..."

"Sure!" Tired and stressed as I was, it's not like I cared much...

"Guess we'll be the last ones to battle then, huh, neighbor?" – He walked past me, following the others outside. "Don't take too long, okay?"

"Okay!" I nodded.

Upon returning to my room and closing the door behind me, I sighed with the relief I couldn't show in front of them. I got out of my drenched clothes, filled the tub and took a long, hot bath, not even remotely caring about how long it would take: I wasn't looking forward to going back to the cold drizzle outside. But the experience wasn't completely relaxing and free of trouble: inside the silence that only the water covering my ears could provide, I could recall his whispered words. The strange feelings returned again – the burning in my chest, the skin swelling, hypersensitive, nervous, anxious and angry... Angry that the conscious mind couldn't bend the body once it was willing to be a proud slave of such wild attentions. I was beginning to consider the Professor a most dangerous man – If I allowed him to begin, he would not stop... And I got weaker and weaker in my own resolve of doing so.