Clarissa stared at Alex, her lips parting before she caught herself. The silence in the waiting room grew awkward as she adjusted her glasses, her eyes dropping to the Dragonite print on her pajamas.
This was harder than she had expected. Asking the people in the mansion to bring Alex here had seemed reasonable when she made the call, but with his question hanging in the air, she found herself uncharacteristically at a loss for words.
"I… I—" she stammered, only for Alex to interrupt her.
"I'm not going to eat you, Clarissa," Alex said calmly. "Just tell me. I promise I won't get mad."
She struggled for another moment before suddenly blurting out, "I'm bored!"
"Okay," Alex said, clearly bewildered. "And?"
"No, wait, wait," she said in a panic. "I didn't mean it like that. Ugh."
"Calm down, take a deep breath, and take your time."
Clarissa sighed, took a seat, and finally explained.
"I don't have any close friends to hang out with," she said quietly. "I know a lot of people, and I have plenty of 'friends,' but nothing like what we had at school, where you were blunt and mildly threatening but still answered my questions without judgment."
"There was plenty of judgment," Alex said with a smile.
"See? Just like that," she said, pointing at him with one hand. "You joke with me without holding back, skip all the formalities, and make the conversation feel easy and comfortable, like I'm actually talking to another human being instead of a political mask."
She continued, "You were my first real friend, and that meant a lot to me. I've tried to find more, but there's always this layer of superficial politeness that gets in the way. Everyone's intimidated by my family or reputation, and it makes having real friends difficult."
"I've tried lightening the mood, giving permission, or even being outright rude to set the tone of my friendships, but they always hesitate or back away to avoid trouble," she said, exasperated.
"Now I'm bored out of my mind, just training with my Pokémon day in and day out with nothing else to do. I wanted to try going out on another journey, but I keep getting recognized and crowded. I tried calling up people I know to hang out with, but they were so restrained around me I could feel the stress rolling off them. I just wanted someone to cut loose with, you know?"
"Then, out of nowhere, you visit the island at my lowest point, like it was a sign from Arceus, so I couldn't help myself and had the guards bring you in. I didn't want to intrude on your vacation or cut in on your family time, but I… I just couldn't help myself."
She looked up, staring into Alex's eyes, tears forming.
"I know we're not exactly that close," she said as she began to sob. "But I could really use a friend right now, and you're the best one I've got."
"So you're lonely?" Alex said, as if stating the obvious while standing there. "Why didn't you just say so? You could have called me anytime instead of all this theatrics."
"We haven't spoken in years!" she nearly shouted. "How can I just call out of the blue like that?"
"Isn't that what we've been doing since graduation? I thought we had a decent friendship going there."
"You call that a friendship?" she asked, almost insulted.
"I mean… we have very long lifespans. I'm sure we'll meet up again at some point in the future, right?"
She stared at Alex, bewildered, unsure which one of them had their screws loose, before suddenly bursting out laughing.
"Hahaha," she laughed, freely and unrestrained, with none of the grace she was expected to portray in high society.
Alex smiled, relieved that he had gotten her to stop crying. He didn't want Lance calling him for making his precious daughter shed tears.
Once she finally stopped laughing, Alex asked, "Why don't you come with me and my family on our vacation? We're planning to finish touring the Sevii Islands before heading back to Cerulean City."
"I… I don't know… I just wanted to talk with you tonight. And besides, I don't want to impose."
"You want friends, right?" Alex asked. "Real ones who won't shy away because of your reputation?"
"Yes…"
"Then come meet my girls and get to know them. They're all quite the characters and very welcoming to strangers."
"Your girls, huh," she said with a light smirk. "You know, I never pegged you as someone who would have a harem. You were so anti-social at school that I thought for sure I'd be able to get married first. And now you even have an adorable daughter who's nine years old. Imagine my shock when I found out about it this morning."
"To be fair," Alex said, "I have no idea how it happened either. It just started with sex, then a job, and suddenly, boom, a harem. This wasn't something I planned or orchestrated. Hell, I don't think I'm even the one in control."
She chuckled softly, believing his every word. Her impression of Alex had always been that he was remarkably detached, with a worldview that was overly pessimistic. He was right, of course; her travels had taught her that much, but he often forgot to account for the good when judging society. It was something she had realized about him as she grew up and formed her own opinions while traveling through Kanto.
Now he was saying that his girls were people she could be friends with, and given Alex's rather pessimistic view, that could only mean it was true. She might actually be able to make genuine friends beyond Alex.
"Alright," she decided. "I'll come along."
"Great!" Alex said with a smile. "Pack for a tropical island getaway. We still have three more islands to tour along the way."
"I think I'll just stay on your yacht. I don't want to cause a scandal or anything."
"Don't worry," Alex said. "I have a Zoroark that can hide your face."
"It isn't just about the face," she said with a sigh. "The people who can track me do it by sensing my energy. I don't know how they do it, but they can pick me out of a crowd even if I cover up completely. It's like their attunement to energy is so precise that they can distinguish me from everyone else."
"Have you tried suppressing it?"
"Dragon Aura cannot be suppressed that easily. I can't command my energy to hide. At best, I can keep it below my skin, but I'm still unable to prevent them from detecting me."
Alex stepped closer, placed his hand on her shoulder, and controlled his energy to completely envelop her. With a few tweaks, he was able to hide her presence as if she didn't even exist.
"Wow!" she marveled at Alex's extremely high level of control, something even older Champions struggle to achieve.
Ignoring her reaction, he continued to tweak the frequency of the energy until it covered her Dragon type aura completely and amplified her Ice type aura, bringing it to the surface.
Once he was satisfied with the results, he committed it to memory before taking out a cover badge and applying copious amounts of his energy into it using the same cover he had just designed for Clarissa.
"Wear this," Alex said. "Then press the button."
She did as instructed and immediately felt the difference. Her dominant draconic aura vanished, replaced by the subtle ice aura she had never been able to bring to the surface due to the draconic cover.
"It's like I'm my mother, only much weaker," she said in awe before jumping off her seat and hugging Alex tightly. "This is amazing! Make me more! I want hundreds of these."
"Calm down," Alex said as he patted her on the back. "I'll make as many as you want, but it will take time to load them all with your specific energy configuration."
"Great. Just send me the bill."
"No need. This is a friend's discount. Anyway, go pack your bags. I don't want to keep the girls waiting too long."
"Oh, right. Be right back," she said, rushing off in excitement.
Alex took his seat and waited for her to return when suddenly the door opened, revealing Lorelei with an accommodating smile. She looked like a clone of her daughter, if Alex had to be honest, but she had a more intellectual demeanor rather than an exuberant youthfulness. She was like an ice sculpture that had already been carved to perfection.
"Hello, Alex," she greeted.
He stood and returned the greeting. "Hello, Champion Lorelei."
"Please, do away with the formalities. We aren't in that kind of setting."
"What can I do for you?" Alex asked immediately.
"That little gadget of yours is interesting," she said, getting straight to the point. "I want them in bulk."
"Unfortunately, I am the only one who can produce them at the moment. I doubt you would need me to specifically make them, though. Any Dark type trainer could make them for you."
"You have the best cover I have ever seen, and you can even feed it into a Move Crystal. I don't want mediocre imitations. I want the best. Just send them to the League addressed to me at your convenience, and I'll pay you in kind. I know how important a Champion's time is, so you don't have to worry."
"Sure," Alex said.
Since he didn't have a set amount of deliverables, it hardly mattered if he slacked off, although he would have to work hard for a few months to produce as many as possible to be polite.
"I'll send over the energy configurations I'll need some other time. Keep in mind that you have a very profitable ability to control Dark type energy," she said before turning to leave.
"Oh, and Alex," she said, turning back. "I would be more than happy to have you as a son-in-law. Don't worry about Lance. I'll handle him."
Alex smiled politely. "Your daughter and I don't have that kind of relationship."
"Not yet, but I'm sure it is heading in that direction. Just know that you have my support."
"Understood."
She smiled before taking her leave, while Alex sat back down and pushed it out of his mind. As always, he would accept it if that was where their relationship was truly headed, but he wouldn't make a fuss if it didn't happen either. It wasn't like he was in love with Clarissa. She was attractive, sure, but he wasn't able to fall in love on his own yet.
He would just have to see where the road takes him.
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