Chapter 18: A Booming Reception

A week and a half had passed, and I was standing in front of the gym. At least one attempt to get the feel for it- I only had four pokemon still, but they weren't getting any stronger. Aevium really was a strange place.

'All our moves are perfected, and now it's just a matter of if we can win.'

I fiddled with the medallion Rusty gave me before opening the door. It would always rust, but I kept the steel brush and polishing materials in a small pocket in my peacoat. It was a necessity for me. 

"Fen!"

"Ah, yeah."

BOOMDA-BOOM-DADA-BOOM...

Loud music shook the building in front of me as I stepped into the gate. My team was itching to battle the sound-loving poison gym, and waiting here was my first-

"Wait, WAIT! THE BEST PART OF THE SONG IS ABOUT TO COME ON!"

"Veronica!? How many times do I have to tell you to not blast music like this!?"

"Ugh… Mom!? Can't you wait three seconds? The beat is about to drop!"

I could hear a very loud argument from the upper floor window despite it being shut tight. It shook with the noise of the music, and I honestly thought it would break if it continued. 

'I thought this was the gym? ...No, the sign clearly says it's the gym.'

"NO. That's enough. I've had it. Your incessant annoyance is too much for me! The neighbors have been complaining, the police have come and warned us!"

"WHO CARES? EAT THE POLICE!"

'This brat.'

"I SAID- ENOUGH!"

The music cut off- did the girl's Mom unplug the power?

"...H-hey, why are you looking at me like th-that? Cool it!"

"Veronica, I said I've had ENOUGH!"

"Nooo!!!"

Boom-bang-stomp-stomp-

Was I hearing a murder? 

BANG

The door shot open, and two figures appeared before one drop kicked the other outside with a thud. 

'Hot dang that woman knows capital punishment.'

I moved closer to make sure the girls was alright- being treated like a soccer ball would hurt anyone, let alone somebody her size.

"Ouch… ouch… it looks like that wretched wench has defiled things once again…"

'Brat.'

I looked closer, but she was fine. If anything, she needed the bruise to her ego given how rude she was being to her own mother. She met my eyes, rolling over to her back. 

"She's gone too far this time… I have been fatally wounded..."

"..."

"This is… Cough, the end for me… I need you… to do me a favor… There's a store on the shopping district called 'The Berry Emporium'... Totally kickass place, by the way…"

'Fat chance I'm helping an ungrateful brat.'

"Their pecha berries are so sweet… So nice… If only I could have one last bite… I need to taste a pecha berry one last time before I go… Please…"

…I could work with this. 

"I-I'll be right back!"

Tak-tak

I ran off, stopping to call back to her as if I were flustered by her supposed demise. 

'They should sell wasa berries…' 

My cooking practice was about to come in very handy. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just a wasa berry and a pecha berry."

"Oh? Usually people don't even know about wasa berries. Are you a cook?"

"It's a hobby of mine, but for now I need to prepare a gift for an annoying girl by the gym."

"By the… Wait, does she have purple hair?"

"Yeah? Why do you ask?"

"You… you're a genius! It's been like twenty times people have come in to buy berries for the damn- Er, darn girl. Here, take the berries- I'll pay myself."

'Twenty times? With that acting…?'

"She keeps stopping people from battling her until she is given a berry, Straight up extortion, but nobody cares to complain because these things are so cheap- here you go, I put them into a bag for you. And here, a paring knife- on the house, since we have dozens of them lying around."

"Thanks. Also, what's up with the weird badge rule for buying berries?"

"Ah, that?"

She looked at the sign on the counter with a sigh.

"Aevium regulations for trainers. You guys have a ton of privileges, but some berries are actually poisonous to certain species of pokemon so we are limited in what we can sell you. But… since you're a cook, I can ignore some under the table purchases if you promise not to use them in battles."

"Really!? Absolutely yes! Can I get-"

I whispered in a hurry, refusing to lose out on such a perfect deal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walked out of the store with a backpack half filled with berries, a free paring knife, and a hotline dial for an illegal berry supplier. Half of my remaining money was spent, but since the apartment was rented out for the rest of the next month by the professor I had a freezer to keep the berries fresh. 

"And she did the work in the store- she's a really nice lady."

A wasa berry was incredibly spicy, and she had managed to prepare a Pecha berry with small dollops of the wasabi made from the wasa berry inside of it. It almost looked perfect too- far better than I could have done. 

Tak-tak-tak-tak

"Hm? Y-you got me a pecha berry?"

"Yep."

The reddened skin of the Pecha berry didn't catch her eye. She didn't really look at it much though with her body sill glued to the concrete in front of her house- Mary's hard work was wasted. 

"Th-that's… A pecha berry from the Berry Emporium! So delectable, so tasty, so exquisite. The taste is unimaginably delicious…"

She sprung to her feet. 

"Hand it over, now."

I handed it to her, not caring for her attitude. She was about to be in for a rude awakening.

Crunch-Monch-Chew…

"So tasty… Thank yo-"

Her face became redder and redder, becoming like a cherri berry within a few seconds. 

"H-h-h-h-h-h-h-HOTTTTT!!!"

I held myself back from giving her water. 

"Hahahaha!"

"Heh-"

Kastanna was laughing- I didn't know fennekin could laugh, but it sounded oddly human-like. I chuckled along with her. 

"...Cough."

She met my eye after she had recovered. Her brow was furrowed, and I noticed even her eyebrows were purple- no, she was definitely trying to look intimidating.

'I should pay attention.'

"That berry you gave me… It was filled with wasa… wasahaha… wasahahaha… Wasahahahabi! Hahahahahaha!"

Unable to hold a serious face, she doubled over in laughter. I couldn't help but smile- she was a good sport at least. 

"I can't believe I fell for that! Were you the one who put that wasabi in that berry?"

"Sort of- I had the idea and Mary did the dirty work for me."

"Shoot, that broad down by the Berry Emporium finally found me out, huh? Well damn, looks like my days of swindling gullible tourists are over."

'She mentioned trainers… did this kid mistake them for tourists?'

"What a bummer, but nothing lasts forever I guess. I'm totally over it."

"..."

"Really!"

She brushed herself off, turning to the side to hide her face with her violet hair. She was slouched- she was probably about 5'7", but because of it she looked 5'5". She was wairing a black camisole with a red stripe across the chest, with a white skirt an black and red knee-high socks. All in all, definitely a punk-girl. 

"...Anyway, you probably heard my Mom call me Veronica back there, but I would politely ask you to call me Venam. Veronica's such a prissy name. I hate it. I don't want to be called it. Venam tough, and also scary."

'...She's definitely still just a kid. With this attitude, she probably has dad issues- if she even has one around.'

I had seen it in some of my old friends, especially when I moved away from them. They tried to be tough and cool, and were rude for the sake of shielding their bruised pride. 

'I guess I'll comply- best not to poke a snake when its rattling.'

"So as for introductions. I'm Venam, Gym leader of East Gearen City."

'A kid being a gym leader? Dang, talk about talent, this kid must be a monster.'

She fiddled with the pink flowers in her hair, fixing them after her little collapsing stunt earlier. I electively ignored the drop kicking her mom did. 

"What about you? What's your name?"

"Mykah- a newbie from Unova."

"Mykah, huh? I like it. Hey, you should come meet my friends! They're cool people. In fact, I'm meeting them right now at the Abandoned Sewers."

She walked by me gesturing for me to follow. 

"I'll be there for a while, so you might as well join if you were planning to battle me just now. It'll be a blast!"

Takakakaka-

She ran off, heading south. 

'Who hangs out in the sewers… Well, might as well I guess.'

"Kin?"

"Yep. Hang on!"

"Fen!"

I ran after her, feeling my grin grow as the wind filled my lungs.