A New Plan

Upon a semi-hasty return home, after finding no evidence of levitating Malamar following me, I decided to commemorate by baroness-hood with a mini-sewing session.

Currently, I'm prancing around my living room wearing a lavish silken mantle (it's cotton). Letting the purple waves flow behind me as I bounce around the couch, striking poses here and there with my white fur adorning my chest… It's moderately elevated.

All of my pokémon, with the obvious exception of the Riolu egg, cheer at my poor attempts at parkour, even when I cheat with the Octillery Arms.

Even the Zorua, still unnamed, gets in on the fanfare!

As I awkwardly tumble over the couch, landing on my back with a heavy thud, the door swings open. Courtney, after her day out, looks around at all of my pokémon slightly paralyzed in…embarrassment until her gaze follows Zorua's and locks on me.

Meanwhile, from my upside-down perspective on the ground, I can spy two things. One, she's wearing white panties today. Two, she has a small box that she's carefully hiding behind her back.

However, I'm not one to pry unnecessarily, so I spin around and get back up.

Courtney does another once over before gesturing one hand towards me, keeping the other behind her back holding that box.

"As of today, I'm now Baroness Bellerose, so you may treat me with the respect I deserve," I command in the haughtiest tone I can muster.

Too much so as I double over in laughter, much to Courtney's chagrin. "Okay," she mutters. "This is a new side of you… Not that I'm… No, wait. Yeah, I'm complaining."

I roll my eyes, throwing my mantle onto the couch. "There's this place called the Battle Chateau. It's a place for recommended trainers to hone their skills against each other. You get a title of nobility for your rank."

Courtney raises an eyebrow. "Someone gave you a recommendation?"

I chuckle. "Technically, yes."

"There it is." Gesturing to the mantle, she asks, "What's with that? I don't remember seeing that in your closet."

"Why do you know what's in my closet?" I ask, deflecting her question with a question.

"What?" She deflects again. I'm…probably going to go nowhere fast if I keep pushing.

"When I was little," I explain, "my dad and I used to dress up and play around. In actuality, he was teaching me espionage skills. Stuff like how to disguise myself with a group. He's much better than me. I can only dress up like females with similar builds to me and alter my voice to sound like anybody with a feminine voice. Only for twenty minutes at a time too."

"Who is your dad?" Courtney asks, inching towards her bag on the right side of the room.

"Nobody important," I wave her off.

"Obviously not," she counters, but I refuse to budge on this point.

"Anyway, I was thinking about that lab under Lysandre's café. It'd be easier to sneak in if we looked like we belonged since there's almost nowhere to hide…except in plain sight." Giving her the chance she's looking for, on purpose, I grab the mantle and run to my room to grab two new outfits.

Upon my return, I find Courtney standing with her hands crossed in front of her. Not suspicious at all, but I mostly trust her. I probably shouldn't, but I will.

"Tada!" I say, holding up two grunt uniforms. "I made one for each of us. I had to estimate your size," I say, handing one to her.

She inspects the article of clothing. "This looks like it perfectly fits me."

I continue, "As I said, I had to estimate with my eyes, but Zorua here" —I gesture to the pokémon— "will help cover up the details and your voice. She can't extend herself too much, but she can do enough."

She looks at me with a flat expression, and I can already tell what she's going to say. "This is a terrible idea. I'm fine with sneaking around when there's almost nobody there."

My smile falters. I know she's right. It just hurts to hear her say it. "Yeah…it's not my best work. I just needed a distraction. I've hit…several roadblocks with the crystal research. There's the whole Malamar issue—"

"Malamar?"

I nod. "Yeah, there's one specific Malamar—er, a Psychic pokémon—that seems hellbent on mind controlling humans for potentially nefarious means. It's an unknown, dangerous variable, and I don't like it."

Flopping down on the couch, I sigh. "Then my love live, excluding you, is going nowhere. Sycamore's researcher friend hasn't called me back. I got a phone call from Lusamine, but…the vibes with her were…off."

She sits down next to my head and begins running her fingers through my hair. "Off how?"

I shrug. "Something felt off. I don't know. Just instinct, I guess, but dear ol' dad said to never ignore that, and it's failed to fail me yet."

She hums. "What about Serena?"

"She said she would make her decision when we meet here in Lumiose. Honestly, it's part of the reason I've been keeping us here instead of moving on and backtracking."

"Maybe you should spend some time with her? She seems to attract a lot of adventures."

"Ash attracts adventures," I correct. "I attract logic and boredom…Maybe that's why she's partially attracted to him?"

She hums again. "Maybe you should join in? I know you don't like Ash, and I don't either, but it might give you opportunities to win over her heart."

I remain silent, letting Courtney's words wash over me. I could do that. It wouldn't even be difficult. Serena's profile page has her location constantly update, so I know generally where she is.

"I'll think about it," I reply.