19 Chapter 18 "Summer Ball Pt. 2"

After Professor Oak's speech, the party moved on rather quickly. I saw my mom looking a bit grouchy, but when she caught me looking at her, she smiled.

"Don't mind me, kiddo. Just irritated that apparently so many of the adults here acted like children because the children and grandchildren of former champions and gym leaders won the tournament."

"Is that why Prof. Oak said there would be two tournaments in the future?" I ask.

"Yes. He and Lance have a point though. With so many people managing to secure spots at the summer camp, it isn't right to expect someone like your friend Lucy to win against someone like Cynthia or Gary. Or even you. But it still irritates me that he felt he needed to make the announcement now, because several of the people and families here complained that you guys obviously got preferential treatment or something like that."

"But I didn't, did I?"

"Nope. About the only thing that might be considered preferential are those Miracle Seeds you've been feeding Danu. And they aren't expensive at the grade you are using. I mean, the Oak Lab can provide them basically offhand for you."

I nod my head. It's a real eye opener that people wanted to complain about the people who won the tournament to me. I mean, John didn't win and his Dad is Red! You'd think that he'd have been at the top of the list in first or second place. But no, he was in fifth or sixth. They didn't exactly make any of the positions below fourth place a priority.

"Anyway, you go have some fun. It might be called a Ball instead of a normal party, but that's what this is." My mom says, shooing me away from the table. I see my dad coming back to the table with a couple of plates, and realize that my parents might want to eat dinner alone.

"Sure thing mom. I'll see you later." I say, before getting up and walking towards the actual dance floor.

I see a bunch of people on the floor, doing some kind of elaborate dance. It's actually really pretty, with the girls in their dresses and the guys all in suits. Granted, several of the dancers are clearly a bit better than the others. One girl is in a dress that looks like it was made from Gyrados scales. And there's the guy who is dressed in a style of tuxedo that makes him look like he's distantly related to a Pyroar.

In fact, watching the crowd around the dance floor, I realize that almost all of the people on the floor are the rich kids or their parents. None of the poorer kids who got invited to the summer camp are here. I look around for a moment and spot Gary, who's looking almost as lost as I am.

I walk over, "Hey there Gary. Where is everyone?"

He snorts a laugh. "Besides you and John, none of the others came to the Ball. I mean, Cynthia and her grandmother already left. Apparently they have a very early transport time to get back to Sinnoh. Lucy gave the excuse that she didn't have anything to wear to this. My mom offered to help her find a dress, but I don't know what came of that. Haven't seen her at least. Ash probably fell asleep getting dressed and never showed up. That's really about it."

I nod my head. It really is almost our entire group of friends. But then I spot someone looking just as lost as me and Gary.

Andrew is off to one side, looking like he wishes he wasn't even in the building. I see an older woman with a walking stick giving him the stink eye, as he approaches the dance floor, but it's pretty obvious that none of the girls are exactly going to pick him for a dance. Maybe if he asked one, but I don't think he will.

So I motion my head toward him and ask Gary, "What about him?"

"Andrew?" Gary says thoughtfully. "Well, I know his grandmother is a close friend of my gramps. Don't know much else though. He's kind of quiet, and his grandmother is kind of scary, not going to lie."

I look at him for a moment, before asking, "Why is she scary?"

"Oh, because she likes to play pranks on people with her ghost types, but when anyone asks her about it she treats the ghosts like they're children." He replies. He knew that I knew Andrew's Grandmother was Elite Four Agatha. Which is still rather impressive honestly. But treating her pokemon like they're her children? Out there, but not that uncommon.

"I mean, a lot of people treat there pokemon like they are children though," I tell Gary in a monotone voice.

He looks at me with one eyebrow cocked, and I say, "I'll explain it to you later. For now, let's go see if Andrew would like to join our merry band of misfits." At that he chuckles and we set off around the display of Oricorio on the dance floor.

*****

Walking up to him, I realized that we never actually had a chance to talk to him before. For us, our entire summer camp was training and learning about pokemon. Any chance that we might have had to talk to him, none of us had wanted to step away from what we had been doing.

"Hey Andrew," I say as we reach him. Even if we ignored him out of neglect, he still managed to take fourth place in the tournament. And he seems like a good sort of person as well.

He nods at me and Gary as we approach him. "What can I do for you," he says.

"Well, we were watching the Oricorios and figured you might want some friends to at least pull you out of the way. I mean, I'm assuming that grumpy old lady at the table is your grandmother, but I could be wrong. And with all the Oricorios being as they are, it doesn't make much sense for you to be miserable."

He smiles and nods for a second. "My grandmother is kind of old school and thinks I need to have an arranged marriage set up. Thankfully for me, she can't as arranged marriages aren't really a thing anymore. But it isn't going to stop her from trying. Thankfully, she can't just get Gengar or one of her other pokemon to do it for me. But she does insist on me going out and trying to meet some nice girl as she says."

Both me and Gary kind of shudder at that. To have your grandmother trying to set you up with a girl? Kind of weird.

"Anyway, want to hang out with us? We are going to head over to the dining tables and get some food." I ask.

"Sure," he says, shrugging his shoulders. With that, we head over to get some food and start talking about our pokemon and what we are planning to do in school.

The conversation doesn't get too far along when I look over and see Lucy. She's dressed in a modest skirt and blouse that is just barely formal enough for her to be here without possibly insulting someone.

"Gary," I say, "I see Lucy, I'm going to go get her and bring her back over." He smirks at me, but nods his head.

As I approach Lucy, I see one of the rich kids approach her and start saying something. I don't actualy hear what is said, but I notice that Lucy is starting to tear up.

As I get close enough, I call out, "Hey, Lucy!" Thinking quickly, "Come on, we're over here. You can leave the wimpod over here."

She wipes her eyes really fast, before flashing me a smile. I hold out my hand and she promptly grabs it and we walk away from the rich kid who is still imitating a Magikarp with his mouth doing the open close thing.

We make it back to our table, and do our best to enjoy the rest of the party. About an hour later though, Gary and Andrew got called away by their respective relatives, which left me and Lucy alone.

"You want to go for a walk in the Garden?" I ask her. Thankfully, the Oak Gardens are also open to the party goers, or I would be slightly worried.

"Sure," she says, standing up from our table.

I hold out my hand to her, and she takes it. Remembering my Dad's slightly dubious advice, I tuck her hand into my arm which I hold out for her, and we walk rather closely outside.

*****Nicole's POV*****

"I still say he's too young to be doing anything like that."

"Yes dear. However, it's good for him to get out and make some friends. Especially now that he's going to be attending the Academy."

*Grumble* "He'll still be coming home during the summer. Why couldn't you give him the full talk when he's fourteen?"

"Because, he'll be attending a school full of talented young people. More than a few of them will have already figured certain things out. And I only gave him part of the talk now. When he's hitting puberty, I'll give him the rest of it."

"If she ends up being a gold digger or something…"

"We already know dear. You'll kill her and drop her into Goldenrod Bay."