Pokemon: The Queen of Kalos

Teaching Trust!

Sorry if the pacing's been a bit wonky as of late; I'm trying to balance dialogue and small moments between our heroes with moving the plot forward, so some filler chapters with moments like these might come between big things like battles, showcases, catching Pokemon, and gym fights. I hope you're all still enjoying, at least, because we've still got a lot to cover!

~

"Hey, why isn't Trevor with you guys?" Ash asked, taking another bite of the mini-muffins that Zenith brought out for them. Everyone had one, and then Ash took it upon himself to eat the leftovers.

"The plan was he was supposed to come with us, but... he found another Pokemon that's not in his photo collection yet, so he's been chasing it around to get some good pictures," Tierno told them as he sipped his drink.

Clemont chuckled. "Sounds just like Trevor, all right."

"That's cool. I'd really like to know what Pokemon Trevor's looking for!" Ash added.

"Me, too. There's lots of different types of Pokemon in Kalos, after all, so I wonder what it is this time?" Zenith mused. The others voiced their agreement. "I guess the next time we run into him we can ask."

"Ash," Tierno said while turning his attention back on the boy across from him, "You gonna challenge the Anistar Gym next?"

He leaned forward as his pupils got bigger, like how they always did when he talked about things that excited him. "Yeah, definitely! My Pokemon and I have been training for it!"

"Well, I already challenged it! But... we lost."

"Wait, really?" Clemont wondered.

Zenith nodded. "The Gym Leader, Olympia, is a powerful psychic and also an incredible battler using Psychic-Types. She doesn't mess around when it comes to fighting, which is why many people can't defeat her."

"You're right. She's... mysterious, and the battle is kind of hard to explain, but it was truly incredible!" Tierno said again, but then Ash shushed him.

"I'll let the experience be a surprise and find out for myself!" Ash exclaimed. "All the more real for a battling experience."

Shauna looked amusedly at the boy. "That Ash is always so upbeat." She winked at Serena as she whispered to her, "That's why you like him, right?"

Her face instantly went red and she started stuttering. Everyone except Ash himself had noticed her raging crush on him, but it was, as most of them realized, just some childish infatuation. Serena began ranting about upbeat mental states and admiration, which just caused everyone to stare at her and she screamed that it wasn't important, then sat down and went silent.

Meanwhile, the Pokemon were eating Pokepuffs that the Sawyer sisters, with the help of Nic, had made that morning. Bonnie's Eevee happily accepted one from Bunnelby who gave another to Serena's Eevee. Chespin noticed and, trying not to devour its own, attempted to force the snack onto the more timid of the Normal-Types.

Of course, this only scared Eevee, who ran away from him and ended up leaping blindly into Serena's lap. "Eevee!?" She yelped, but once noticing that the timid Pokemon was willingly in her arms for the first time pulled it close and began stroking its fur. "You guys leave my Eevee alone! Don't force it to eat if it doesn't want to!" Serena barked at Chespin, while Bonnie went over to scoop him and her own Eevee up.

"You two stay right here, and you can eat your own Pokepuffs."

Shauna looked concernedly at the ball of fluff in Serena's lap. "With the Sawyer sisters, their shiny Eevees were already confident enough to do performances with them and interact with other Pokemon, and Bonnie's Eevee is the same way. But yours is so shy; if you take it to performances, won't it get scared and try to run off?"