Morning time was awkward.
I could understand Lida ignoring me that time since I had accidentally seen her naked and she was shy about it, that was fair enough but Taunie ran off the moment I got to the dining room without even looking at me, and as for Lida, she ran off too and didn't even make breakfast.
That was how bad it was.
Maybe she was shy because she had tried to kiss me last night and chickened out. If I had known it would come to this I would have taken the step forward and kissed her myself but then again that would probably have made things worse.
I was genuinely confused.
"Rara?" Ralts looked down at me from the top of my head and gave me a small pat on the forehead.
She would evolve into Kirlia soon.
It was early but considering I was clearing fifteen opponents a night in the Royale, it would be more surprising if she hadn't leveled up this fast.
"Thank you." I said, heading down the corridor toward the kitchen with Fletchling on my shoulder.
Fletchling yawned.
"That's what you get for flying around at three in the morning." I said. I had let her out before sleeping and the first thing she did once I hit the bed was leave the room to sharpen her flying.
I wasn't against the initiative but a bird that trained itself into sleep deprivation was a bird I had to worry about. "Don't try and act innocent. Tch, bad bird."
"Fletch~"
Floette had joined us in the corridor without announcement, floating quietly alongside. I touched her cheek as I walked and she lit up.
"Flo~"
"Thanks Floette." I opened the kitchen door.
And instead of finding it empty, there were already two people inside.
Félix and Naveen? Both in the same room without any apparent complaints? That was rare. Was Félix finally growing up?
"Yo." I gave Naveen a salute.
He gave me one look.
"Tch. You look like a pregnant woman." He said, glancing at the Riolu egg strapped to my stomach in the harness before returning to what he was doing.
Félix was on his own side of the kitchen, sitting with his elbows on the counter, looking at something on his Rotomphone.
"You're just jealous because a pretty lady gave me a Pokémon egg and you didn't." I stepped inside and closed the door. "You really need to get out more, Naveen."
I looked around, the kitchen was empty of anything Lida had left out with no dough, no prep, and not even a scent of anything cooked. "She seriously didn't cook today, huh."
All three of us let out a small groan at roughly the same time.
I hadn't even thought about buying food outside since Lida's cooking was so genuinely good that the idea hadn't occurred to me. The fact that she hadn't cooked this morning… was she trying to kill us?
"She would have." Naveen gave me a look without stopping what he was doing. "If someone hadn't scared her off."
Despite what it looked like, it wasn't my fault. Lida was unexpectedly shy sometimes. Taunie too apparently. I had not asked for any of this.
"I…" Félix said.
Both of us turned to look at him. I'll be honest, I didn't hate the guy.
I wasn't the type to look down on someone for caring about a person, even if the way he was going about it was difficult to watch.
If you loved someone and wanted to do everything for them, that was your own choice. The only issue was it only worked properly if the other person was doing the same thing back.
Félix lifted a plate from the counter and held it up.
"I made you a sandwich." On the plate was a large, thick sandwich with peanut butter clearly visible at the edges. "It's just a simple one."
Naveen and I both stared at it.
"What?" Félix said. "I was being nice. If you don't want it, forget I said anything."
He set the plate back down on the counter.
I had actually come to the kitchen to make a peanut butter sandwich myself if I could manage it. Another chunk of my old world memories had returned overnight, including the fact that I could apparently cook, not at a chef level but enough to survive.
I was getting them back slowly and in no particular order, which was its own frustration. I still needed more of them, especially anything that told me more about how this world worked beyond the Pokémon I already knew.
But I was more thrown by the fact that Félix had made a sandwich for me at all.
"You sure you didn't poison it?" Naveen asked the exact question I was thinking.
"Huh?" Félix blinked. "Why the hell would I do that?"
I took a step toward the counter.
"We know you've been glaring at me since the moment I got to Hotel Z." I said. "We know how you feel about Taunie. So why make a sandwich for me unless it's poisoned?" I asked.
Naveen was also making sandwiches of his own, several of them in fact with his Scraggy handing him ingredients from the lower shelf with surprising efficiency.
"Honestly." Naveen finished one and set it aside. "You're not slick, Félix."
Félix was quiet for a moment. I kept my eyes on him.
Maybe this was the only real conversation I was ever going to have with this guy, outside of the battle where I'd beaten him.
"My feelings for Taunie and my respect for Paxton are two different things." He said finally. "He's a strong trainer who beat me fairly. If we battled right now he'd beat me again, Those are just facts."
I puffed out my chest slightly, which made Riolu's egg puff out alongside it.
"And you—" Félix looked at Naveen. "You say you're brothers with Paxton but you haven't actually told him that, have you?"
He said. "Should I be the one to say it?"
We both turned to Naveen.
Naveen went very slightly pale and he looked down. His Scraggy looked up at him even Ralts on my head, Fletchling on my shoulder, and Floette hovering beside me all turned to look.
"Come on, you too?" Naveen said to his Scraggy and it remained maintained eye contact.
"Fuck." Naveen exhaled slowly and closed his eyes. When he opened them he looked directly at me.
"I sew." He said it clearly, like someone who had decided to commit.
I looked at him.
I used to sew up my school uniform when it ripped in my past life. That was coming back to me now as a memory.
Naveen looking like this about the fact that he sewed was strange, I genuinely didn't understand why it would be a secret.
"Why would that be surprising?" I said. "You look like a grandma."
Félix laughed even Naveen chuckled with one short sound.
"Not like that." Naveen said. "I own a clothing brand. It's called Fil Noir. I make luxury pieces."
The laughing stopped.
Fil Noir.
The new clothes I had bought to treat myself after my first paycheck from the Royale, the ones that fit better than anything I'd worn since arriving… The three pairs of clothes that I bought which cost thirty thousand Pokédollars.
I had stood in that shop and picked them entirely by myself based on nothing but how they looked on the rack and it was Naveen's brand?
I set the egg down carefully on the counter and I walked to the open section of floor.
"Paxton, are you good?"
I got down on my knees and slid across the kitchen floor to Naveen's feet.
"Naveen." I looked up at him. "Imagine charging me full price to buy from your own brand. What happened to our friendship? Are you really going to put business above the bond between us as brothers?"
I would have done exactly the same thing without hesitation but that wasn't the point.
Naveen looked down at me.
"Right, actually I should charge you extra for choosing to support my work without knowing it was mine." He said.
I sighed and got back to my feet.
"Fucker." I said, but I was smiling. "Owning a luxury clothing brand is genuinely impressive Naveen and it's selling well too. Which means now, any time I want lunch, dinner, or breakfast and Lida decides not to cook…" I pointed at him. "I'm calling you."
"Thank you." He said flatly. "Want a sandwich?"
He extended one toward me and I raised an eyebrow.
"Did you wash your hands after jerking off to Cana—"
He hit me on the head. It was light by the standards of the dojo but still hurt.
"I don't do that to Canari's streams. I might be weird but I'm not that weird." He said.
I took the sandwich. It had cheese, tomatoes, the works and looked properly made.
"I wanted five total so let's make some more." Naveen said, already back at the counter. "You too Félix. Let's have a proper breakfast."
…
"How do you like the juice, Pax?" Naveen asked.
He had asked if he could shorten my name at some point during the sandwich making and I hadn't minded at all.
Félix had done the same which meant he was no longer the edgy simp in my head, it was small but real improvement.
"It's very nice." I said, feeding a small sip to Ralts from my cup. She could handle juice fine.
Coffee was a different matter entirely, I had learned that recently and wasn't going to revisit the topic.
"Rara~" Ralts gave Naveen a smile over the rim of the cup.
I gave some to Fletchling too who blinked appreciatively.
Floette didn't want the juice but accepted some berries I'd brought along, holding them with the same hand she kept the black flower in.
"So," I set my cup down. "Since we're all in Team MZ, what are everyone's actual goals?"
Knowing someone's goal was the fastest way to actually know them.
"My goal is to own the most prestigious luxury clothing brand in Kalos." Naveen said without hesitation, a small smile crossing his face. "Pieces sold at Boutique Couture, pieces that even people like Diantha are wearing. Nobody, not even my grandmother will be able to say a word about it by then."
Naveen had a bad relationship with his grandmother?
"Mine." I said, leaning back on the chair. "I want to be rich, actually rich. I want to take vacations, see the regions, meet women from everywhere."
I thought about it for a second. "I heard Galar women are beautiful. Like Gym Leader Nessa of Hulbury, I'd genuinely like to meet her at some point."
"Such a generic goal." Naveen said. "And if you're planning to meet women from every region that essentially means you're building a harem."
I hadn't actually framed it that way before but when he said it out loud…
"Naturally." I said.
Naveen gave me a look.
"All you're asking for is the immense pressure that comes with cycling ten women at once." He said. "You think it's easy to manage that?"
It wouldn't be easy at all but if it was possible, I would.
"Regardless." He exhaled. "Whatever your plan is, I'll support it. Just make sure you find the right women before you end up divorced and lose everything you built."
I shivered at that image, that sounded like actual hell.
"I'll hold you to the support part." I said. "Félix, what about you?"
We both looked at him.
"I…" He paused.
His jaw moved slightly before the words came out. "I want to become a professional Pokémon trainer."
He said it quietly but clearly.
"I want to travel between the regions, compete in official Gyms and even win a League." He exhaled. "Maybe face the Elite Four and become a Champion like Red in Kanto."
I put my sandwich down.
"Just put the fries in the bag." I said, shaking my head slowly. "No offence but you're pretty weak right now and you've been in Rank Z longer than me. Are you sure you want to keep going down this path?"
It wasn't an insult, it was just accurate.
At some point I had the same kind of dream myself… not just the vacations but genuinely traveling the world and competing in Leagues after the Royale.
The difference was I was thinking about it as a future thing after building a foundation. Félix seemed to be trying to build while the foundation was still wet.
"Yes." Félix said without hesitating. "I want to continue no matter what it looks like right now. That's why I'm training under Taunie."
"Have you thought about your team composition?" Naveen asked. "Type advantages? The things that professional trainers consider before going into a serious battle?"
I wanted to know this too. A full Fighting-type team wasn't bad in itself but it had hard counters and if he'd been running the same approach without studying matchups…
"Type advantages?" Félix said. "What's that?"
Silence.
I looked at Naveen and Naveen looked at me.
"You don't know what type advantages are." I said. "Fuck."
Naveen put his face in one hand.
"I knew you were an idiot." He said. "But not this specific kind."
He shook his head slowly. "What exactly is Taunie teaching you?"
"Hit as hard as possible." Félix said plainly. "If the first attack doesn't work, hit harder with the second one."
"Dude." Naveen's voice dropped. "What kind of advice is that?"
"She's setting you up for failure." I said, though honestly Taunie probably just didn't think about the fact that he was that new.
She'd been battling so long it probably didn't occur to her that someone could not know about type advantages.
"We need to fix this before you embarrass yourself against anyone with a basic Pokémon knowledge."
Félix looked between us, then nodded slowly.
"I also wanted to ask…" He shifted in his seat. "Both of you seem like you have experience with women. How do I get Taunie to date me?"
"Forget about it." Naveen and I said at exactly the same moment.
I cleared my throat.
"She obviously doesn't feel that way about you." I said. "And the more you push it, the stranger it gets for everyone involved, including her."
Naveen nodded.
"He's right." Naveen said. "You've been here longer than me and Taunie has turned you down several times. Continuing to ask at this point doesn't say anything good about how you see her answer."
He paused. "I'd genuinely not want my sister to meet someone with that pattern."
"You have a sister?" Félix sat up. "Introduce us…"
"No." Naveen said. "She's younger. And even if she wasn't, I wouldn't want her with someone who doesn't listen when a woman says no."
"I'm not saying it like that." Félix said quickly. "I just wanted to know more about you through her, like your preferences and…"
Félix stopped himself. He put both hands flat on the table and exhaled through his nose.
"I like Taunie because she helped me." He said. "I'm not an important person. I lost my parents in an incident when I was younger, I'm originally from Kanto."
He didn't say which incident, there were several that had happened in Kanto. If he didn't want to name it, I wasn't going to ask. "I came to live with my relatives here a while back and when I got to Lumiose, Taunie was the first person who treated me like my goal was worth something. She was kind to me. She even helped me catch Pancham as my first Pokémon."
He looked at the table. "Naturally that turned into something else."
He took a breath.
"But there are so many other guys, Rich trainers, Scientists' sons and people with connections. No matter what I did she kept rejecting me quietly and I kept telling myself it was because I wasn't strong enough yet." He said. "Then I saw something online that said women liked men who devoted themselves to them so I tried that and it just made her uncomfortable."
He put his face down on the table briefly.
"I'm tired." He said to the surface. "Pax got here a few days ago and she's already holding his hand. I've been here for months and she hasn't held mine once."
I exhaled slowly. He sounded genuinely worn down by it and though I couldn't relate, I felt a bit sorry for the guy.
I checked my Rotomphone, Lida had told me to come by ten in the morning so there was still time.
"I told Lida I'd come to her dance class at ten." I said. "We've still got a couple of hours. Why don't we all head to Nouveau Café and keep talking properly?"
Félix lifted his face from the table and he looked at me for a moment.
"Alright Pax." He said. "If you want me there, I'll come."
We both turned to Naveen who was gritting his teeth at his phone screen.
"Canari's morning stream starts around now." He said then he put his phone down. "But fine, let's go. Though I'll say… drinking coffee straight after juice is not ideal."
"It's a bro outing." I said, finishing the last of my sandwich in one bite. "You just have to accept some things. Now let's move."
…
The sky had gone cloudy while we were inside. The grey of it meant rain was coming soon… If it was going to fall it could at least wait until after I'd gotten Lida to her school.
We found a table at Nouveau Café with three seats which were different from the one I'd shared with Taunie yesterday, it was a bit further from the counter and slightly in toward the middle where the morning light came in better.
"Your order." Griselle set three cups on the table with her usual unimpressed face.
We had all ordered the Creamy Charizard. By we all ordered, I meant I forced them to order it since I was paying and I wasn't funding anyone's Ember Roast when the Creamy Charizard existed.
"Thank you very much." I said.
She didn't smile but instead gave a small nod.
"Finish those and order more." She said, and walked back to the counter.
I lifted my cup and took a slow sip. The foam sat on top of the coffee exactly right and the cinnamon was still there like yesterday.
It really was amazing.
"I still don't understand why we had to order this specific one." Naveen said, turning his cup slightly. "Doesn't the name sound concerning to you?"
"No." I said.
"Rara~" Ralts reached toward my cup hopefully.
"Coffee isn't good for you." I told her firmly. Fletchling, who had been watching with the same hopeful energy, also got the look. "You too."
Both of them deflated.
"Next time Naveen, you can cover the bill." I smiled at him.
He gave a flat Tch and took his first sip, then didn't say anything negative about the drink after that which was the only review I needed.
I put my hand on the back of Félix's chair. "Don't be too down about Taunie, Fel. The world's bigger than one city."
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Kalos alone has plenty. But then there's Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Galar, Paldea." I counted them out. "The Orange Islands too. You've got options on every continent."
Naveen's eye twitched.
"It's strange that you know all of those including the Islands." He said.
"I've been planning a vacation circuit for when the Royale wraps up." I said. "All three of you can come if you want, you just have to cover your own expenses so let's make sure we're all properly paid up before then."
I took another long sip and they did the same.
"This is actually peaceful." Félix said.
He was looking at his cup with a light expression. "And the Creamy Charizard is good. I think I can actually move on from Taunie now and just focus on my training."
"That's good to hear." I nodded.
Then I saw her.
A woman coming in the direction of the café, crossing the plaza with ease. She was beautiful with blond hair just like Félix.
I tilted Félix's head gently by the chin so he was looking in her direction.
"That's why I brought you here… to find the Love of your life." I said.
"Love of your life in a café?" Naveen's eye twitched again.
He genuinely could not believe this was my strategy.
"What do you mean?" Félix asked.
"That woman that's ordering at the counter." I said. "Go over there after she sits, start a conversation and see if you can get her number."
Félix trembled slightly.
"This is the first step." I said. "Taunie rejected you because she's Taunie and those were her feelings but sitting in Hotel Z running the same loop doesn't help you grow, as a person or as a trainer. You need to start moving."
"If your method really works, you do it yourself." Naveen said.
He had a point. I couldn't ask Félix to do something I wasn't willing to demonstrate.
I was also very confident in my own ability here… I had done this before, in the past life as I remembered this morning so I would manage.
"Sure." I said. "Watch and learn."
The woman had taken a table with two seats a short distance from ours.
I crossed to it at a comfortable pace and arrived at her table.
"Morning." I said. "You look wonderful today."
She looked up from her phone.
"Thank you, but…" She tilted her head slightly. "Why do you have a black eye?"
I stopped.
Fuck!
I had completely forgotten about it. These people had sent me over here knowing exactly what I looked like and said nothing.
These people set me up!
[Author's Note]
Phew managed to finish the second Chapter and I'm feeling a bit more better now. I'm glad you all liked the last chapter.
The goal for now is 150 Power stones for 2 Bonus chapters, by the time the book hits it, I'll be prepared this time.