FSE

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One late clear afternoon on a weekend, a group of young teens stood amid a sprawling grassy field struck with sun in Laverre City—four teens in total, an even mix of boys and girls in casual clothing with bulky Pokétches strapped to their wrists.

A redheaded boy and a girl stood off to the side while watching another boy and a girl who stood across from each other with their pokémon facing off.

The girl locked into battle, whose worn Pokétch was black with a violet stripe, had a black bob cut with purple streaks and a fanny pack on the hip of her skirt. She commanded a female gardevoir; the blonde boy across from her commanded a male meowstic.

The girl stood with the most competitive of glints, a boot before the other. She jabbed two fingers out at the meowstic. “Garna, moonblast his meowstic!” she shouted in a Kaloan accent with determination spelled across her expression.

Both pokémon stood with a slight drag in their gaze and a kneel in their stance, the meowstic more so, yet they peered at one another.

The boy, Cassidy's opponent, flicked his eyes between his meowstic and the gardevoir, who opened her mouth and brought pink essence from within. It swirled into a physical ball of levitating, vibrant energy before her mouth. Its center shone a bright white.

The boy now eyed his meowstic with a squint. ”C-Counter with three rapid shadow balls!” he retorted.

“Euh? (Uh?)” The girl slightly tilted her head with arched brows and eyes that glowered.

Before she could take action, Garna grew her sphere to an adequate size and shot it just as the meowstic did. The spheres collided and burst on impact, creating an electric-esque, multicolored sparkly glitter that spread across and dissolved in the air.

“Woah,” one of the spectating teens said. All four were glued to it.

However, the meowstic followed up almost instantly with another three rapid shadow balls that zipped through the clearing of the spectacle.

Garna was able to dodge the first one at the last second; however, the next three struck her chest and face—one after the other, snapping her head back.

The gardevoir cried, and the attack sent her stumbling back until she hit the ground, unmoving.

“Gh-Garna!” The girl leaned before her legs followed, running to Garna while the boy watched with a pleased smirk. His meowstic eyed the situation without much expression.

She knelt before her gardevoir, who slightly brought herself up and leaned on her hand. The girl then double-glanced and spotted the boy’s smug face. “Mh.” She pursed her lips with pink cheeks and stormed over to him. “You cheated!”

“Cheated?” He chuckled with crossed arms. “My meowstic attacked and knocked your pokémon over. We’re tied now.”

She clenched her teeth and fists, digging her nails into her palms while everyone watched. She glanced back at Garna, who held her red cheek. “We are not. You could never beat me in a real battle! Jamais (Never)!”

“You sound stupid, Cassidy. What was that, then, a fake one?”

She peered harder at his response with reddening cheeks. “You know nothing. You would never survive a real gym.”

“Cassidy." The other boy who had been watching approached and tugged her arm.

The blonde boy kept his smirk. “Just say you’re a sore loser with more to learn. You throw a tantrum whenever you lose around here.”

“Because everyone and their stupid pokémon are clueless!" Cassidy hissed and ripped her arm away from the other boy's grip. "I learn nothing from you people…” She swiveled sharply and reached into her bag, pulling out Garna’s pokéball and returning her in a flash of white while storming off.

Cassidy tuned out the boy’s snickers and trudged through the grass, heading toward the pavement that people walked on.

“Cassidy!”

She kept her head down as the rapid footsteps approached and stopped beside her.

The redhead who had tugged her arm walked with her. “Cassidy, you’ve gotta quit.”

“Do not talk to me."

“You can’t keep treating the other trainers around here like that.”

She stopped with a scoff and turned to him. “They are not trainers. I lose only when they get desperate.”

“Cassidy, it’s not that serious… We battle for fun around here. You've gotta take it easy."

“I am going home. Do not follow.” She turned again and stepped onto the pavement, leaving the boy standing alone.

Cassidy’s fists were still clenched, her nails digging marks into her skin. She kept them clenched while passing locals and ignored those who called to greet her as she strolled the walkway by the bridges nearing Central.

As she neared her home closer to the outskirts, her cheeks lost their fume and her demeanor calmed a little.

From a distance, she looked ahead at her modest one-story home and saw two adults stepping outside with layered clothing and coats, huge backpacks on their backs, gloves, and thick boots.

Cassidy broke a grin as they waved and raised her hand to return it. She sped up to a slow jog until arriving before them.

“Cassidy, we were going to wait for you,” her father said and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing.

“Vous êtes en retard (You’re late),” her mother added.

Cassidy looked down with a frown. “Désolé… (Sorry…)

“Ça va (It’s okay).” Her mother brought a hand and rubbed her daughter’s cheek. “Ça va. Se battre, hein (Battling, huh)?” Then gently pinched it.

Cassidy again grinned with a slight nod.

She let go of her daughter's cheek. "Continuez comme ça. (Keep it up)."

“Cassidy, remember, we are going to hike up Pomace with our group. We’ll be back late tonight and left dinner in the oven for you and Garna,” her father said. "We made berry cakes for you both too."

Her eyes lit up a little. "Be safe.” Cassidy hugged him tightly, then did the same to her mother, which they returned.

She watched them saunter off toward Laverre’s exit for a minute, then went inside, where she shut the door, kicked off her boots, beelined across the living room, hall, and straight into her room.

It was as modest as the rest of her home, consisting of a bed against the wall, a small TV atop a dresser, and an unorganized pile of books in a corner. Her curtains were almost fully closed, letting in soft light through the window.

Cassidy took Garna’s pokéball out of her bag and held it out, pressing its release and letting a white, radiant ray of light beam from within it and stream to the carpet by her bed while making a soft, airy white noise.

A thin, smoky mist started from the floor and filled the air vaguely in the shape and height of a gardevoir before revealing the pokémon as the mist dissipated.

“Garna…” Cassidy frowned a little while eyeing her bruised cheek, then paced to her dresser and grabbed a potion from one of her drawers. She used the moment to take off her Pokétch and place it atop the dresser.

She returned and patted the bed, which Garna sat on. “They cheated. We did not lose, okay?” Cassidy brought up the item and sprayed her cheek. "No more than two back-to-backs."

“Gard,” Garna replied with a subtle grin, wiping her cheek after the injury faded.

Cassidy sucked her teeth and huffed. “We talk soon.” She went over to her book pile and grabbed a thick one titled ‘Hex Guidelines: Deep Psychic’ with a slice of paper sticking out the top between pages as a bookmark.

Cassidy's parents weren't fond of Hex culture. Most people weren't, in fact. Their lifestyle was generally viewed as depraved and degenerate, but Cassidy would keep her interest at using a piece of them to intricately learn psychic, as she'd told them.

She brought the book back and set it on the bed, sitting beside Garna and opening to the middle pages. She took off and set her Pokétch aside. “I mean… really talk.” She looked at Garna and pressed two fingers to the side of the gardevoir's head, then brought her fingers to her own. “With our minds. I just have to learn more. I will take a huge break from the battle guides and focus on this.”

“Gardevoir?” Garna placed a hand on Cassidy’s upper back.

“Promise.” She shifted closer to Garna’s hip and set the book across their laps, eyeing the text.

The book was written as numbered rules with paragraphs beneath—approximately one thousand rules one had to study and master each or most of. The more one achieved, the stronger the supposed telepathic connection and its clarity would be. They targeted key areas of the mind, included meditation and hours of daily, deep mental exploration, and becoming completely involved and understanding of oneself, among more.

“Our bond is strong, my mind is becoming stronger. I can feel it. We just need to connect more.” She looked back up at Garna, who was watching her trainer with the same grin. “One chapter, then we will go eat, ouais (yeah)?”

---

Cassidy sat across from Garna at the dining room table under dim lighting, both with bowls of soup that steam rose from, but Cassidy had barely touched hers.

She stared at the bronze puddle while stirring it with her spoon, her other palm smooshed against her cheek. Cassidy huffed before letting her spoon go. "I am still annoyed."

Garna watched from her seat, lowering her hand after having taken a sip from her spoon.

"I am never battling with them again. No more." Cassidy looked up at Garna. "We will wait outside the gym for tough trainers only. That is how we will get really good."

Cassidy licked her lips under a grin and shifted her eyes up to Garna. "But then we go back, and no one will ever beat us, even if they get desperate." She faded her grin while averting her gaze. "But maybe I am too serious."

"Gar."

She looked back and saw Garna shake her head. She let her hand slip from her cheek. "How? They all think I am weird... I am, no?"

Garna shrugged.

"I want to have fun battling, but not in their silly ways." Cassidy picked up her spoon. "You will explain this to me... Soon—when we can talk."

A grin spread across Garna's face.

"...You do not believe me?" Cassidy shared her grin. "Or you do."

A single nod.

"I will tell Maman and Papa too. They do not believe people and pokémon can talk together." She looked down and lowered her spoon into the soup. She let it fill with liquid before raising it but stopped midway, looking back up at Garna with pinched eyes. "But how will we prove it to them?"

Cassidy dropped the spoon inside her bowl, which clinked. "I do not want this boring salty soup. Let's have the cakes."

Garna gave an approving nod.

Cassidy slid out of her chair and went to the oven, which she swung open with a grin. Inside were two square cake portions with white sugary frosting and bluk berries atop and between its three multicolored vertical layers.

The first was a rich purple, sweet bluk berry spread, the second was a neon greenish-yellow bittersweet wacan spread, and the last was a deeply red haban spread, which was also sweet but less so than the bluk layer.

She grabbed both bowls and two forks from the silverware drawer, then paced them to the table. "This dessert always heals me." She slid Garna hers. "Hopefully it will make a good evening."

Cassidy returned to her seat and sat before hers, sliding her soup aside and taking her fork. She watched Garna do the same; both cut through a thin slice of all three lush layers effortlessly, then picked it up and took it. She grinned while chewing. "Too sweet... but that is the fun part."