[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

Pia walked on the strugglecon floors with clothes she wouldn't want to be found dead in. Wearing an oversized hoodie, sweat pants and sunglasses she was nearly unrecognizable. Especially with her long wavy hair tucked away underneath a pet and no trademark Milla at her side, she was truly incognito.

Or… so she thought.

"Hey! Watch where ya goin'!" Pia heard as a male on the somewhat larger side bumped into her with so much force that her pet and sunglasses dropped to the floor faster than Ruben's reputation, revealing basically everything she had tried to hide since the contest.

"Is that Pia McGuire?!"

"OMG WHERE?!"

"Over there!"

Pia felt chills run over her spine. She was surrounded by every local journalist in the area within seconds. She shielded her eyes from the flashes of the camera's and tried to push the microphones that were almost being shoved up her nose as best as she could while she tried to escape but failed miserably while she was pushed more into a corner with every joining journalist.

"Pia what made you decide to join the contest after being in hiding for so long?"

"Oh, uhm… well…" Pia stammered.

"Pia what do you think about the newfound relationship between Mr. Sancho and international R&B sensation, Misha Marsha?"

"I-I... "

"Mrs. McGuire, why do you think about the allegations that are circling around about you?"

"W-Which ones would you be speaking off…?" Pia tried to cut in.

"Ruben Sancho confirmed that you had no intimate relationship with him. Is this true? What is the kind of relationship you did have with him?"

"Wait, what…?" Pia looked confused.

"Were you aware that Sancho was two-timing with a celebrity of much higher conduct?"

"Did Sancho pay you?"

"What do you think of your mother's profession?"

"Is it true you were conceived on the back streets of Hammerlocke?"

As the questions kept piling up with no space for Pia to confidently reply, the amount of media training she had had was evident. It was little to none. She was shaking uncontrollably on her feet, the pressure that was suddenly put on her so high that she couldn't get a word out and stood there frozen on her spot.

"Sorry guys! This sesh is over!"

The media coverage was continuing -- but then interrupted by someone grabbing Pia's hand, dragging her away. The figure who had done so, slightly lowered her own style of pink sunglasses, greeting Pia with a wink and a smile. "Aaaaand we are out!" The two started to sprint away. A few of the journalists attempted to follow them, but the ongoing crowd made them difficult to pursue.

Pretty soon, the duo had made their way back -- for Pia's case, she was in a smaller section of the building, one with less people. "Whew, media peeps, what are ya' gonna do? Luckily for us, we bolted outta there like a Sableye runnin' from a lovestruck Mawile!" the one who saved Pia -- Valerie -- took off her glasses and leaned up against the table nearby, looking up at Pia. It looks like she had brought her to her booth, where she does signatures for people who want them. "Long time no chat, girl, LOOOOVE the new look... but, ngl queen, kindaaaa surprised you're even here, what with the media's been saying bout' you and all."

"Haha. yeahhh……" Pia smiled awkwardly at her hero of the hour. "Nice save there, Val. I didn't know how I was going to get myself out of there." Pia let the stress fall from her shoulders and sat down on a chair herself. She stretched her arms and once she was situated, she let out a long deep sigh. "The worst part is, they are mostly right. There is just so much more to the story than they want to see and you have to be so careful with what you say because they want to interpret it wrongly. It's… suffocating." Pia brushed through her hair with her fingers. "It's… good to see you, Val." the girl glanced up with a gentle smile.

"Nice to see ya' too!" Valerie said with a soft smile back. "And no worries, I get cha. When I saw the whole thing on Chatter and people were chatting about it, I was like, Mareep? *Stay in your lane!* Cuz there's obvs more to this story, like you said! Never doubted you!"

Pia blinked a few times at the words of Val. She never doubted her, huh? Well… 'She better start to' was what came to mind but… Pia had attempted to use her in the past. Was all of this really alright?

"Did you watch the contest the other day?" Pia blurted out despite her previous thoughts, avoiding the topic overall while it still lingered in the back of her mind.

"Of course! I watched all of you guys!" Valerie replied excitingly. "Like, Mel-Mel, suuuuper amazing as always, but then, BANG! She transformed! I was like—you know when people face roll their keyboard because they're like, shocked or something? I was like asdfghjkl;!"

There's no bigger stan than Valerie. "Then there's Aeliana, which btw, not to toot my own horn, but I am a daaaaamn lucky woman; Jet got some SERIOUS moves! And then there's Chlo, just saying, Catherine better watch out cuz' there's a demon with the weather in town! Froslass looked suuuper gorgeous and Luxio? Ultra cool! Then! Then, omggggggg Rosa with the TWIST and the Bellossom outfit? Mega cute! Ahhh and, speaking of twists, can we talk about The Tea Rose?? Like, that was super amazing and mysterious! Really hope we can see her again!"

Valerie continued her fangirling rampage. "OMG, can I like, become your number one stan for a sec, because girl, I shoulda called the police because you killed it! Like, few things— Ruby man, I love you, but you F'd up! You and your Pokémon looked gorgeous, Pia-chu! Ahhh, I think my heart is still swimming! It was like…idk, like you evolved or something!"

Pia listened to the excited Valerie talking about all the contest performances of their classmates. There was something soothing about knowing that no matter if they were alone or not, they'd always have Val cheering them on. However, for Pia it was also a bit uncomfortable knowing that Valerie held her in such high regard while she came to her at first with a wicked scheme in mind.

"I'm glad you liked it so much." Pia smiled again, though twiddled with her fingers. While she stared at her feet, she tried to catch every bit of courage she could muster up to be able to tell the streamer girl what had been on her mind. That which had bothered her. She had never gotten the chance to actually make use of the girl but she was glad now because that might make this conversation easier. "Val, I don't really deserve your kindness…" She started but fell silent again shortly after. "I… last time we met and I said I'd be your friend… I did that with impure intentions." she finally brought up. "And… I apologize for that." She finally looked up. "And… I'd like to be your friend for real. If… you'd still have me."

The confession stunned Valerie for a bit. After a while, she sighed and stood up on her feet. "Ummm, tbh, Pia? You're not the first person to do that. And, ngl, you'll probably won't be the last," Valerie stated quietly. "I am a bit too trusting, and it's sorta my fault for blindly trusting you before. After all, it can come back to bite me where it hurts, and all…" a moment of silence veiled between the two. Valerie was still staggering after what had happened with her ex-friend LunaBeam, and in some ways, she still wishes it wasn't true.

Still, she managed a sincere smile towards Pia. "...It kinda sucks to hear that from you, ngl. Buuuut…" Her soft smile turned into her regular friendly grin. "But… you know what? I think I'd rather forgive you than just keep wailin' on it, you know? Sooo… Imma do just that."

Pia smiled back at the girl. She had expected Val to give a response like that but having finally come out with the truth felt like a Snorlax fell down from her shoulders. Now they could start over. Sort of. It was the thought that mattered. Pia brushed through her hair. There was something else she had to ask, something she just thought of that could help in a part of Pia's plan. That would mean using Val for real this time though… but this time she'd ask. As a friend.

"There's something else." Pia started, looking a bit more seriously. "You had this battle against the Jamesons, right?"


"And won, ofc!" Valerie added.

"Serves them right. The pricks." Pia huffed with crossed arms. "The thing is, the media currently only associate me with the football scandal. It's all I am to them. You just saw for yourself how hung up they are over it. They seem to have forgotten that I'm a challenger in the gym challenge first and foremost." Pia stood up and held out one of her pokéballs. "So I'd like to remind them of that." She threw the still sitting girl a grin.

"Valerie Amity, I would like to formally challenge you to a battle."


"Weeeeh?!" Even for Val... that was sudden. She rested the palm of her hand against her cheek in thought. Normally Valerie would jump at this chance, but… "I dunno Pia, even if you battle Val, it's not all that easy changing minds, you know? Especially online--"

"But I'll have to try at least something and this is my best bet." Pia shot back. "I can't keep staying hidden forever…"

"Hold up! I wasn't done yet!" Valerie interrupted. "If you have a regular ol' battle with Val, it's gonna be tough. BUUUUUT…" Valerie then got something that was quickly passed through her Morpeko from her bag. A dark robe that she promptly put on. "If you battle Demon Queen Valerie? The mortals shall bow down, fuahaha!" Still donning her costume, her demeanor changed. "Fairy Queen! A normal battle does not please the DQ! Soooo, instead, let's have a Double Battle! Double the evil, double the fun! So: Step 1, challenge the Demon Queen! Step 2, wow 'em' in a battle they hadn't seen before! Step 3? Ummm… Question mark, question mark, question mark! Step 4, Profit!"

Pia was stunned at the sudden change in demeanor that Valerie showcased in front of her. She had heard that Valerie tends to show a bit of a different persona when with her friends but this was truly something else. Still… Pia could vibe with it. She smirked.

"Then I, Fairy Queen Pia shall challenge Demon Queen Valerie to a battle and reclaim my rightful throne!" Pia crossed her arms and held a hand in front of her face a bit more theatrically, her emerald eyes shining through as her own demeanor changed as well. Acting. One of Pia's specialties. This would be fun.

***

The people in Strugglecon were busy and lively as always, going about their business. Even going through the battling areas, you'd never know what the hottest thing to witness would come around. This time was no exception.

"Hey, isn't that…"
Yeah! That outfit! It's Valerie!"

The crowd caught a glimpse of the newly discovered two battlers about to have a contest: Valerie, and Pia. The crowd swarmed in drones to witness the show, while Valerie and Pia were on opposite ends of the battling stage, committed to their plan. "Welcome, my Little Monsters, welcome!" Valerie addressed the crowd. "The Demon Queen once again has arriveeeeed! Claws up, my minions, for this is a show just for all of you!"

"Brilliant! It's Demon Queen Valerie! She's going to be battling!"
"Against who, though?"
"Wait… that's… Pia?"
"Wasn't she in the news lately?"
"Yeah, about that scandal…"

"Looks like they're all getting restless and a bit anxious," Valerie pointed out. "I hope you're not too surprised, Fairy Queen. When I invaded your realm, you cowered before my might, and made the DQ rule it flawlessly… Now here they are, branding you. Now we're face to face again. Come to take back your realm, are we?"

"It's true." Pia started, sighing and shaking her head. She had replaced her hoodie and overall outfit for shorts and a light pink blouse with ruffles at the ends of the sleeves and lower part of the blouse. "I abandoned that which I should have protected and fled with my tail between my legs." Pia dramatically held the back of her hand against her forehead. "But no longer! I shall reclaim the throne that I was so blatantly robbed off!" She pointed out, "And I shall protect and rule it better." She cast away her face from Valerie. Her acting was actually quite good for someone who had to get into this role at the spur of the moment but she was enjoying it greatly.


"Alrighty then, let's see what you got!" As an award for Pia's determination, it was time for Valerie to get serious. She got two Pokeballs from her person. Valerie threw her two Pokeballs in the air. One of the Pokeballs released a friend who had long ears: Queen, her Buneary. Another released a friend who had two wings who fluttered all about: Nora, her Noibat. "Hear me, Little Monsters! This is Queen and Nora, my two friends and allies! Now, show me, Fairy Queen! Show me how much you've evolved!" As her two Pokemon let loose their battle cries, the crowd cheered thunderously for Valerie and her Pokemon.

"It's Nora and Queen! We hadn't seen them in battle before!"
"Hah, if it's the DQ's friends, they're sure to be strong!"
"Give her hell, DQ!"

"Gladly." Pia smirked and threw up two Poké balls of her own. From them emerged her Cottonee and Eevee, Soma and Cintra. "I'll warn you Demon Queen. We've gotten a lot stronger now and we are here to show you justice!" Pia once again pointed forward. Cintra looked a bit confused at what was happening but just rolled with it and showed a confident growl. Soma just really didn't care for all the bells and whistles, he was here for the battle.

"Smashing! Let's not wait any further, and let us battle!" The crowd's cheering intensified as Valerie started things off. Pia is a very tactical opponent… but let's start things off the normal way. "Queen, use Pound on Cintra, and Nora, use Gust on Soma! Go get em'!" Queen readied her ears—it was a trait for Buneary, using their strong ears for melee attacks to their opponents. Nora meanwhile flapped his wings with all his might, conjuring up a small wind storm from them. They were about to engage with their two foes.

"Cintra, use Sand-attack to throw off the Buneary! Soma, dodge and use Cotton Guard!" Pia commanded her Eevee and Cottonee with a smirk. As soon as Queen neared closer to Cintra, the fox-Pokémon dug into the stage to kick up the dust in Buneary's face, causing her to miss the hit. "Follow-up with Quick-Attack!" Pia followed up, allowing Cintra to quickly get a powerful hit in thanks to the adaptability ability before taking her distance again. Soma on the other hand dodged the incoming pound timely and wrapped his body in created cotton to protect himself for future damage.

"Hey hey, not too bad!" Valerie complemented. Nora was hit, and flew a few feet a little, but quickly recovered. "Nora! Double Team! Queen, Quick Attack! Don't let that Eevee beat you!" Nora created a display of multiple after-images from itself, combined with Queen, who used her speed to jump and run - between hiding herself with the help of Nora's copies, and closing in for a fast paced attack.

"Use baby-doll eyes, Cintra! Soma, fly up and use Fairy wind to get rid of the copies!" Pia gave them the counter defense that was done as instructed. Cintra used Baby-doll eyes to make her cute eyes sparkle. This caused the attacker to become less vicious and the damage would hurt less. She allowed herself to yet hit as dodging was meaningless. She knew that if Pia had wanted that, she'd gotten different instructions. She had faith in the strategy of her trainer. Soma flew up and used his Fairy Wind on all the copies of the Noibat, causing the to swiftly disappear until the real one was the only one left.

"Soma, use Stun Spore on the Buneary!" Pia called out quickly right after so that the Cottonee could let out Yellow sparkles from his tint leaf wings. He sprinkled them over the Buneary. "Cintra, use tail whip to distract the Noibat!"

"Going for a status move, are we?" Valerie observed, as the yellowish powder approached. "Well then, DQ gloves off then! Time for Thunder Wave, Queen!" Queen released static blue electricity from herself, and held it in the air. By the time the Stun Spore cloud was close, she released it all at once, allowing it to collide with the powder. Using her control over the electrical waves, she swirled both moves around and around. The powder sparkled and glittered using all that energy.

"Send it up!" Valerie finally ordered, having her Buneary release the mixture of both moves upwards. The moves created a small explosion, releasing light-green and very beautiful particles that rained down harmlessly both on the field, and to the audience. The audience stood in awe and then promptly cheered with this sudden, pretty display. "Teehee, not as glam as a real contest star, buuuut I think I've got some moves myself!"

Meanwhile, Nora did his best, trying to hover and maneuver from the constant brushing of the Eevee's tail. "No worries, Nora, if she wanna be cute, we've got something that she's gonna looooove~!"

The audience cheering intensified.

Here it cooomes!
Demon Queen's favourite move!
Eee, it's so pretty! I love it too!

They know what's coming next. Valerie blew a kiss. "On fields of love n' war, the DQ's gonna rule em' all! ♡♡Attract!♡♡" Nora cutely winked, releasing small hearts that circled around the air. Then, like blossoms in a storm, he released one heart after another, towards the Eevee.

"Those are indeed pretty moves but we're not done yet. Soma, use Fairy wind to blow the Hearts back to them!" Pia called out. It was a very Val way of attacking so it wasn't out of the ordinary for the perspective "enchantress". "More specifically, towards the Buneary and let's add a little spice to it. Poison powder." She added with a clever smirk and tapped her chin. Soma, like the knight he was, flew in front of Cintra to protect her from the incoming heart and used his pink sparkly wind to blow them back. Combined with his purple sparkles, they made a spectacle to behold. What became of the three combined attacks was a pink, purple confetti chaos with big red balloons while they flew back to Valerie's Pokémon and specifically hit the bunny Pokémon. Pia gave the audience a theatrical bow.

"Eva!" Cintra thanked the heroic Soma who stood in front of her, the more tsundere of the two only giving a nod in return.

That wasn't too bad…
Pia sure knows her stuff.
That was so pretty! Did you see her contest performance too?!
Yeah! No wonder she won!

"Queenie!" Valerie cried out. Her Buneary was hurt, but… she was in bliss, the moment she ran up to Nora, and gave him a quick hug and a cuddle. Nora, being confused, turned to Valerie with a puzzled, uncomfortable expression. Though Valerie cheerily shrugged. "Guess she really likes you, huh?" That wasn't the response Nora wanted to hear. He slipped away from Queen's grasp, and fluttered back in the air. Valerie turned back to the battle arena.

"We gotta step up our game a bit, it looks like…" she observed. "Listen up, you two! Time for one of the DQ's spells? You game?" Nora nodded, but Queen continued to have a loving gaze at Nora. "Then Nora, use Air Cutter! Queen! Er… do what you're doing and watch Nora!" Nora launched razor-like wind blades that he controlled overhead. Queen, seeing this - seeing how expertly he controlled them, was in awe. "Now use Gust!" With a follow-up call from Valerie, Nora then uses his Gust attack to increase the velocity of the wind-blades, sending them with increased force and power towards the Eevee and Cottenee. "This is one of DQ's powers.. Her Ultimate Wind technique!!"

That a flying move would eventually come their way is something Pia expected, that it would be two combined moves was something she should have seen coming considering this was Val. Soma, however, wasn't any good against those flying attacks.

"Cintra!" Pia called out. The Eevee nodded, understood what her trainer meant and jumped up to take Soma out of the air and covered him from the impact. Once the storm subsided, a badly damaged Eevee remained. Soma laid there in shock while his friend got up and only gave him a half-hearted smile to tell him she was "alright".

"Soma! Cintra! Are you alright?" Their worried trainer called out to them. That was the call he needed to be dragged back to the reality that unfolded in front of his eyes. Cintra gave Pia a determined nod but Soma stood in shame and didn't respond.

"That was a nice display of your skillset, Demon Queen." Pia's gaze shot back to her opponent. "But I promised I'd take back my kingdom. At all costs." Pia gave Valerie a determined look and balded her fistsists. "But look what you've done to my people! I can't allow this. I must not allow this!" Pia got a bit more into her acting, setting a convincing performance.

"Fufufufu~! And what do you plan to do about it?" Valerie eagerly asked, her persona shining through. "I thought you were going to show your people how much you and your friends have evolved! Or will you just fall under the Demon Queen again?" Nora and Queen were side by side, awaiting battle orders with fierce eyes. "If not, come on then! Defeat me, and prove you really are fit for your throne! Show me…!" Her voice deepened, and softened, before she stopped.

"We'll show you!" Pia held her hand against her heart. "Cintra, use a quick attack! Soma, stay behind Cintra and use Razor Leaf at the right moment!" Pia commanded her Eevee and Cottonee once more but while Cintra followed her instructions exactly, Soma didn't follow the Fox Pokémon at all.

"Soma?" Pia called out, watching her Cottonee not move an inch on the field. "Soma!" Pia called out once more to grab his attention but it fell upon deaf ears. Soma stood still and did nothing. But while to Pia and everyone else it seemed like he had given up, he was actually thinking. What could he do to get stronger at this very moment? What could he do to make sure that neither Cintra or anyone else would have to get hurt protecting him again? He needed to show them. He needed to make it clear to all of them…

That he, Soma the Cottonee, wasn't just a showpiece for the contests.

He turned around towards Pia who looked even more confused than she already was. Not just that, he was currently disobeying her orders. With all that had happened to her lately, there was something else that the Cottonee felt like he needed to protect other than his fellow Pokémon friends. It was his trainer's dignity.

He rushed towards Pia, surprising the audience as they all fell into a gasp.

What's going on?
Looks like she doesn't know how to handle her Pokémon properly
This win for Demon Queen Val is in the pocket!
Show her DQ!

Soma bumped into Pia, more specifically into her bag which flew through the sky with all the stones and trinkets that his trainer had collected over the past few months. There was something in there that he needed. It was calling his name. When it flew through the air together with the other stones, he knew that it was what he needed. Like a primal instinct told him that he needed this to become stronger. To become a true protector. A stone that was formed like a sun, a sunstone.

"Hey, what gives?" Valerie muttered, looking on.

He caught the sunstone in his cottonlike body and the moment he was exposed to it, Soma's entire body emitted a blinding light.

An evolution?!
Yoooo! Did he just grab that stone by himself?!
That's fricking nuts!

"Soma…?" Pia stood with her eyes widened. Cintra had ceased her attack and stared at her partner in battle as well. Once the blinding light faded, Soma was no longer a Cottonee.


"Whimsi! Whimsicott!" he screeched and prepared a brand new attack. One that Pia had seen Milo's Eldegoss do back in Turffield. Soma drew upon the power of the nearby plants and flowers that were used to decorate and gathered the green energy particles into one big ball that he shot towards the loving Buneary. While the opponent was still distracted, Cintra shook her head and also got her quick attack on the Noibat.


Both Queen and Nora both got hit hard by the simultaneous attacks, both crashing on the stage. "Whooooa, that's SO awes-- I-I mean, so THIS is the Fairy Queen's new power?!" Valerie almost broke character, but she couldn't help but gaze in awe, and in delight. That Pokemon looked sooo cute! It kinda looked like Milo's Eldegoss! Still, she turned back to her two Pokemon, who were both stumbling on the floor. "Are you both okay?" When they both eventually rose back up, it was an answer that was far better than something verbally communicated.

"Nice! You two are the best friends a Demon Queen can ask for! Now then, time to unleash… one of the tippy top of our powers! Queenie, use Thunder Wave! Nora, use Wing Attack!" The two Pokemon nodded to each other. Queen managed to hop on Nora's back, much to her delight that she finally held her lover again, and while she was on top of him, unleashed her electric attack. Fighting through the shock, Nora opened his wings, as they then glowed. Queen stopped her electric attack, as the wings were now coated with a yellowish-green hue that glowed, sparkled, and spreaded out across the field. Nora lifted himself off the ground with his Electrically-charged wings, and flew himself towards the opponents. Queen tucked in her ears, readying to unleash continuous strikes with them when she was about to come in contact.

"Let's see how your new power fairs against… the DQ's DARK LANCE OF AWESOMENESS!" Yes, that's actually the name.

"Oh no you won't!" Pia called out. "Show them my lovely fairies! Show them our newly acquired power! Cintra, use sand attack! Soma, end this with Fairy wind and Razor leaf! Give them a combination that they'll remember!" With Pia's next commands, Cintra shot dust upward with her paws as she did before, clouding the view of the Noibat. Soma used his newly acquired tiny arms to shoot sharp leaves upward. He coated them with his fairy wind to create pink sparkly leaves and shot them towards the pair in front of them while their vision was obscured.

The Noibat/Buneary pair was struck with multiple leaves, all under the guise of the Fairy Wind cloud. Nora used his wings to try to block the attacks, causing the attacks to clash. The combination of leaves, electricity, and sparkling effects from the fairy wind and from the wings from Nora gathered and gathered until eventually, before each of the audience members' eyes, the attacks exploded. All remained was sparkles of beautiful pink, blue, and gold powder to shower the entire stadium, and the audience. It was like time stood still — everyone was in awe from the beautiful display. Through the glittering effects, everyone's eyes shifted towards Queen and Nora, as they hung in the air for fleeting moments… until they both dropped down to the ground, both no longer able to stand.

Valerie was stunned. Such a gorgeous display was in her mind… until the waves of defeat washed in her, and her fans' minds.

Did… the Demon Queen lose?
No way…

Everyone in the audience had their own reaction. The air was tense, only to be lifted from sudden clapping from Valerie. "Hehehe!" her chuckle and slow clapping was heard through the area. She slowly approached Pia with a warm smile. "Looks like the Demon Queen loses. Just as I thought, you're as strong as I figured you were!"

She then carefully and calmly grabbed one of Pia's hands, and took out something from her pocket. Valerie handed something to Pia — a TR, and clasped her hand with both of her own. Valerie then gave Pia a playful wink. "Welcome back to your throne, Fairy Queen!"

Then, the audience members began to clap. The clapping turned into a rousing applause.

You were awesome, Pia!
All hail the Fairy Queen!!
Did you see how strong her Pokémon became like a strong knight?! So awesome!

Valerie glanced at the cheering crowd, then back to Pia. "Looks like it worked after all!" she happily said, letting go of her persona. "Woo, playing as a bad guy was tiring work! But it looks like it paid off! That was an awesome fight, girl!"

Pia let out a deep sigh in relief and held the TR Ice beam in her hands while her two Pokémon partners swiftly returned to her from the battlefield. With how proud she was of the both of them, iIt felt weird to give the TR back now. Besides, it was quite the valuable item… She'd take it.

"Thanks, Val." Pia gave the other girl a smile, dropping her own act as well while she gave the streamer a playful salute. "And I meant what I said earlier. Let's be friends for real this time."

Valerie nodded, giving the girl a warm hug. "I think I can fully trust in you now."



​

Pia had not slept a wink since the revelation of last night. Not only was her mother doing unspeakable acts… She's also ditching her birthday because of it. Not to begin about how much worse the bullying would get if everyone found out…


She kept thinking about what had happened and had searched up what was supposed to take place in the Hammerlocke conference hall. It was a reveal party organised by the company owned by Franklin Montgommery, Veronika's father. Pia sighed and got up. With the last ounce of energy she had, she made her way downstairs. She found her mother at the table, preparing breakfast for one person. Probably meaning that she'd leave soon…

"Happy birthday, sweetie!" Her mother greeted her as if nothing had happened during that night. Pia sat down at the table and gave her a weak smile, her eyes red from the lack of sleep. Her mother fidgeted, stood there and seemingly was waiting for a right moment to tell her daughter the bad news she had been preparing. She hesitated but ultimately decided there was no right moment to tell such things.

"Pia…" She started to grab her daughter's attention, not realizing that this attention was something she already had. And not the good kind, Pia already knew what was coming. "I'm so sorry… I unexpectedly got called in for work tonight. That… means I won't be here to celebrate your birthday today." Pia's mother revealed with a sad smile across her face. Pia didn't look up once but flinched at the words themselves. Despite everything, it still was painful to hear. "We'll celebrate it tomorrow, with a huge birthday cake to top them all and with a really nice present."

Again… no reaction from Pia.

"... I-I'm going to have to pick something up now. It will be late tonight so you don't have to stay awake for me. There's dinner in the fridge that you can warm up." Her mother walked over to her and gave her bend-over head a kiss before packing her purse and heading out. Pia was left there with her breakfast, that she hadn't touched even a bit. It was a waste of food that they weren't able to proquire as easily before but she also really couldn't get anything through her throat.

How long had her mother been doing this kind of thing? How had she never noticed before? Pia only just now realised that she never actually knew what kind of job her mother did before. Things started clicking despite her not wanting them to click. She knew her mother had constantly gone from job to job… Had this actually to do with customers? … and what about her father? They never talked about him. Pia knew near nothing about him…

Was it because her father had just been another client?

Something then snapped inside of Pia. She sat quietly at the table, not moving an inch. The anger started boiling up again, the anger that had not left her ever since yesterday. Her mother was a prostitute. For all Pia knew this could have been her occupation all her life with Pia noticing and now… Veronika's father, of all people… was the one paying her mother for her "services" right now.

How utterly humiliating.

Both him and his daughter were despicable. Mentally deranged from the bone and living showing off their wealth only so they could order those who had less around. The girl who sullied Pia's dignity and pride for her own enjoyment and the man currently sullying the dignity and pride of her own mother.

She would ruin them. Both of them. She would take every inch of honor they had, put it in a bonfire and let it burn up in ashes. Nothing of it would be left once Pia was done with them. Their status, their pride, dignity and honor. Pia was going to trample on it all. It… was time to take matters into her own hands.

Pia went back upstairs, dressed herself in her school uniform and left the house herself to go to school despite what she had said about taking the day off. Her eyes were cold and her fists were clenched. Still, there was a fire raging in her heart.


She was ready to take revenge.

"You wanted a reveal party? You'll get a reveal party..."

---

"Oh that top looks SO good on you, Veronika! I bet Aaron is gonna look twice now before he runs past you again."

Veronika's friends were sucking up to her at her locker while the girl was changing. They were about to have P.E class and were changing into their sweat suits but Pia was planning something else. She held a small broken mirror in front of her and turned it just well enough that she could see Veronika in the reflection.

"Aaron will regret it if he doesn't choose me as his partner for the end of the year party." Veronika put her long crimson hair into a ponytail, reapplied her lip gloss and took off her bracelet to put it inside the locker to close it. Little did she know that Pia was checking what code she was entering on her locker through the little mirror she was holding. Pia smirked and closed her own locker once she had seen what she wanted.

"Ouch!"


Pia screamed and dropped to the cold gym floor during the jogging they had to do to warm up.

"Are you alright, McGuire?" The teacher ran over and tried to help her back up. "That was a nasty fall."

"What an attention whore…" Veronika spouted among the group as all eyes were now on the girl laying on the floor and being helped back on her feet by the teacher. Pia was doing her best not the smirk knowing what she was going to do to the girl.

"I-I'm fine…" Pia huffed, trying to look as distressed as she could. The teacher gave her a sympathizing look.

"Get some water and take a breather in the locker rooms. We'll see you again when you feel a bit better." The teacher dismissed her with a kind smile. Pia nodded and limped towards the locker rooms, hearing more whispers behind her as she did but ignoring all of them.

Once inside the locker rooms again, the girl walked normally again and walked straight towards Veronika's locker to open it with the code that she saw her lock it with.

And bingo. The locker was open.

Pia's eyes went straight to the golden bracelet that was decorated with various gemstones that average people wouldn't be able to afford, let alone touch. An evil grin appeared on her lips as she grabbed it. It was kind of heavy for a bracelet. It was definitely bought just to show off her status as a person. How infuriating.

Now that Pia had the bracelet, she still needed to find a way to bring Mrs. Montgommery to the location as well.

Bzzzzz

Like a blessing from the heavens, Pia's rage-filled eyes fell upon Veronika's buzzing phone and the lit up screen that showed she had received a text message from a contact that showed up as "mom". The message wouldn't open unless she put in a pincode… Pia tapped against her chin to think, then tapped in the same code that was used on the locker.


It unlocked.


"Of course Veronika is the kind of person that puts the same password on everything…" Pia huffed with the same evil grin that had since earlier. "Guess I'll be taking that as well." Pia grabbed the newest addition to her plan and started typing a reply to Mrs. Montgommery in the name of Veronika.

"Hey mom, I'm going shopping with friends. Can you pick me up at the Hammerlocke Conference center at 8 o'clock?"

Pleased with herself, she closed the solution to an earlier problem and grabbed her own stuff to head back home. She knew that she'd be the first one that would be accused as soon as Veronika noticed her stuff was gone and therefore couldn't stick around. Too bad really, she would have loved to see the panicking face of that wench.

---

As it was getting closer to the estimated time, Pia sat hidden near the Hammerlocke Conference building where everything would go down. She was only now starting to get more nervous. It was a big risk she was taking here but she had made her plan almost waterproof. If it was going to fail, then at least she tried. The results would still be the same.

Her train of thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of a beautiful woman wearing a sparkling blue fancy dress and long wavy brown hair with beautiful hair ornaments to compliment the rest of her figure. She was stunning. Pia knew her as her own mother. If the situation wasn't what it was she would even be a little proud of what she was seeing but every image she had of her mother was ruined by what she had discovered last night. Every memory she had of her mother of the last 14 years was overshadowed by that disgusting truth.

Not long after, an excessive limousine arrived, delivering Franklin Montgommery to the location. The fact he didn't even feel the need to pick her mother up the same way made it clear how lowly he thought of her. When he laid his disgusting hand on her mother's bottom even more so. She was his property. An object. Something he could just buy. He wasn't wrong but still…

The two of them entered the building together as was to be expected. Pia searched her surroundings to check if Veronika's mother had arrived yet but when the coast seemed clear she crossed the street and got in front of the building. A few bypassers that passed to attend the festivities as well gave her some curious looks but all Pia did was smile at them. Not long later, another car arrived. A big and expensive one. It was black and the windows were blackened but Pia could still recognize the figure that was hastily searching around. She walked over and knocked on the window that slid down shortly after.

"Hi, I'm a friend of Veronika's." Pia gave her a beaming smile. Pia could see her eyes glancing at her from up to down even from behind the sunglasses that the woman was wearing. "She isn't feeling well, she's waiting for you inside." Pia added.

"I'll need to talk to her about what sort of people she befriends…" Mrs. Montgommery scoffed. She stepped out of the car and with a beeping noise she locked it despite the car being parked at a highly inconvenient spot for other visitors. God damn rich people…

Pia followed the women inside who immediately served as her entrance ticket as this was an adult event. The halls were decorated with a lot of extravagant items. Golden vases and candles left and right and a red fleur de lis decorated carpet. Pia had never seen anything quite like it but soon enough they entered an even bigger area. A huge ballroom in which the festivities took place. Waiters and waitresses walked around with a plate holding either luxury snacks or glasses with champagne. While the young girl had sparkled in her eyes from the sight, Mrs. Montgommery looked less impressed and only searched around for her daughter. Though it took her by surprise when she saw the huge banner with the logo of her husband's company. She hadn't gotten the memo that this party was being held by him but when she figured this out she started searching around even more hastily.

Pia had already seen her mother and Mr. Montgommery and while she realized who's brain Veronika inherited when the mother was still searching for him like a Zubat lost in a cave, Pia decided to help her a bit.

"Oh no~ Is that Veronika's dad? What is he doing here~?" Pia hinted at her with a voice so fake and sarcastic that she was surprised Mrs. Montgommery took her seriously at all and hadn't figured out yet Veronika wasn't even here.

Like a predator searching for its prey, the woman locked her eyes on a man that looked an awful lot like her husband even with his back turned towards them. Upon stepping closer with the clicking heels, both her and Pia noticed they were standing in a group. And yes, his hand was still on her mother's bottom. Earning him another look of disgust from Pia.

"Honestly, my wife here is so beautiful. She makes eyes turn even from across the street! I'm lucky to be allowed to call myself her husband." Mr. Montgommery spoke and gave the bottom a little tap that could be heard loud and clear for the people standing close...

"Excuse me?!" Mrs. Montgommery snarled from behind the group, causing the unfaithful man and Pia's mother to turn around as well. Mrs. Montgommery was startled at the sight as he saw the familiar figure of his actual wife. He was sweating more than a Piplup on a summer day. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get out of this unscathed. Though his friends behind him seemed to be amused by the sight.

"I-I can explain." He tried but Mrs. Montgommery's glare was enough to shut him up again.

Pia came closer as well and it was only then that her mother was met with an unexpected sight. Her face turned as white as a sheet. She was here. At a party. Not working. And not on her daughter's birthday. She already felt guilty but the amount she now felt made her stomach turn.

"H-Honey, what are you doing here…?" Was the first thing she managed to get out of her mouth.

"YOU UNFAITHFUL SWINE!!" Pia heard Mrs. Montgommery's scream in her eardrums. Everyone in the room had turned around to see the drama that was unfolding in front of their eyes. The music had stopped as well as even the musicians were interested. "IMPOSTUROUS! YOUUUUU PRICK! I'M DIVORCING YOU! HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME LIKE THIS!" She kept on screaming, Mr. Montgommery being the target of her slapping and harsh words.

"Let's go." Pia grabbed her mother's hand and pulled her away from the situation. She knew that if they stayed there any longer, her mother would become the next victim to Mrs. Montgommery's screaming.

"Pia, it's not what it looks like..." her mother tried to save herself the embarrassment in front of her daughter and thought to do so by explaining the situation. Little did she know that her beloved little girl already knew everything.

"No? Then you mean to say you weren't whoring yourself out?" Pia spouted. She turned around to face her mother with tears welling up in her emerald eyes. "You missed your daughter's birthday to earn some extra cash? Mom what do you think this looks like to me! That was the father of a classmate! Do you have any idea how this could impact my life?!"

Any attempt that the young mother wanted to make in explaining the situation left her completely as she stayed quiet. She was hurt but… Pia wasn't wrong.

"Let's just go home… I want to forget this ever happened…" Pia tried her best to calm down but every word she said hissed between her teeth. Just before she was ready to drag her mother away from this messy situation once more, she remembered she was supposed to leave a "gift".

"Hey! Mr. Montgommery!" Pia held her hands next to her mouth in order to be heard better. Once she caught the attention of the pitiful man, she grabbed something from her pocket. It was the golden bracelet decorated with expensive gems he had given to his daughter and the one Pia had stolen from Veronika's locker. She held it up in clear view for the man… And then dropped it to the floor.

She heard screaming and yelling behind her when she dragged her mother and herself away from the situation.

---

"I have an announcement to make, kids."

Pia sat in class and scribbled in her notebook when the teacher spoke to her and her fellow students. She didn't look up at all and rather kept on what she was doing.

"Unfortunately, Veronika won't be joining us anymore for class. It's a little sudden, but she'll be transferring to another school." The woman spoke, clearing her throat after she was done. The announcement caused several whispers in the class.

And all alone by the window, the knowing Pia smirked.



​

Pia stared outside of the hospital window as she recalled the memories of old. She watched how young children played with a football on the field outside. Some of them wore hospital attires and some of them just regular ones but the fact that the ones with hospital attires were completely bald was… a sad sight to see. Her mind momentarily shifted to Ruben and the memories they had together. To the coaching gig he had to do during their date and the kids he was training back then. Hospitals always had grim atmosphere's about them and this was no different. She heard her mother talk to her about random topics in the background of her mind but only gave slight hums and nods to show she was listening. The only thing she had actually responded to was that her mother wished for her to continue her journey.

It was strange, really. Strange how they never talked about the situation that happened that day again. There were actually a lot of problems and misunderstandings that were never explained and Pia couldn't recall the last time they had sat down and just talked about miscellaneous stuff. It was just mother and daughter. Her silence hadn't gone unnoticed, however, and soon her mother would give her a worried confused look. Was something wrong, perhaps?

"Hey mom… Why did you do it?" She suddenly asked as she shifted her gaze from outside the window to the brown haired woman.

"Do what?" Her mother gave her a questioning and surprised look.

"Why did you go into prostitution?"

There was a moment of silence for the bomb that Pia had dropped out of nowhere with which she immediately changed the overall mood in the room. Rosa wasn't here so this time was as good as any for her but her mother had not expected such a question so out of nowhere. She was still in the dark about what had been going on for the most part.

"Sorry I didn't expect that." Her mother chuckled. "It's… different from regular prostition." she glanced at her knees that were underneath the blanket while twiddling with her fingers. "I was an escort. While a prostitute is not picky about the customers they take and allow about anyone as long as they pay, escorts are often substitutes for a partner and only have a small group of regular customers. Not all of them have… intercourse necessarily." She explained, not looking at Pia even once as she did which made Pia realise how insensitive it was for her to just bring this up with prior notice. "I had two that… p-paid for those services. The other two paid me just to be arm candy during excessive parties."

Pia listened attentively to the words of her mother and the differences between the two parties. How short sighted it might be, for most people it just meant the same thing. You're selling your body and that is a shameful thing to do. Pia… used to think the same thing but she had a lot of time alone with her own thoughts over the past few weeks. Rather than accusing her, she wanted to try to understand this time. Though seeing how uncomfortable her mother was with the story...

"Ah… So I only have like… 2 possible fathers." Pia sighed in relief and shrugged at the words. She thought to throw something more light hearted in there but all her mother did was look at her in surprise and widened eyes. There was a moment of silence that even Pia thought was uncomfortable and made her squirm. "What? Please don't tell me it's that sleazy prick of a Montgommery." Pia made the remark with a sheepish grin but when her mother still stayed quiet and even blinked a few times she grew more worried. "MOM?!" She called out. "I can't be Veronika's half-sister!" Pia shot up.

"Ha… Hahahah!!" Soon enough, Mrs. McGuire would burst into laughter. Pia looked at her surprised but also in relief because no way her mother would laugh if that were to be the case. She kept on laughing for a bit to the point she needed to catch her breath and regained her composure.

"I've only done the escorting job for two years. I didn't lie about all the other part-time jobs I had before that." She picked away a tear from her eyes. It wasn't like this was funny but the way her daughter was worried who her father might be… it caught her. "When you were around 12 years old, you got really sick. Now it might be true that you've always been a sickly child, back then it was different. The medication you needed was more expensive than I could afford and we were in danger of being evicted while it was a cold and snowy winter. We had a hard time making ends meet. Just when I got fired from my job again, Mr. Montgommery happened to be there and offered me a job in the escort service." She calmly explained what she had never gotten to tell her daughter. "I refused him quite harshly back then at first but… problems arose." Pia's mother went back into twiddling with her fingers. Pia noticed her change in behaviour and didn't feel the need to press on further on that particular part of the topic.

"So… It's none of those two then." Pia sighed once more, surprised her mother once again and initiated another silence.

"Have you been curious about him?" Her mother asked.

"I can't say I haven't. He hasn't been here all my life so I kind of resent him for leaving you alone with me. I had you so it didn't bother me too much." Pia shrugged but the glance she gave the kids outside the window was telling her mother a lot about her curiosity.

"Would you like to know?" She asked, giving Pia the option to refuse if she wished so. Pia hesitated for a moment but nodded shortly after. "Well then." her mother tapped the sheets on her bed and while Pia had shifted her gaze back to her mother once more, she herself was now the one staring outside.

"It's a long story but I used to work at a lab before I had you."

"That explains the research books we stored in the attic." Pia immediately intersected. Her mother sighed before continuing.

"I suppose you could say we were friends. He wasn't usually around people but I think he didn't mind being around me. The silence between us was... comfortable. We could talk for hours about Pokémon and research too." Her mother smiled. Clearly these were fond memories that she was recalling. "Something… happened. It was mostly a mistake on our part. I think we were both confused. We pretended like nothing had happened after that for a while but…"

"But what? So he found out you were pregnant after that and decided to ditch you? What a prick." Pia crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow.

"No no it's nothing like that." Her mother shook her head. She seemed to hesitate to speak again and Pia toned down her attitude in response.

"You don't need to force yourself to say it if it's hard." She said worriedly.

"No, it's alright. You deserve to know." Her mother took another deep sigh. "It's quite the opposite really. He's a dutiful man. He's someone who likes travelling around and continuing his research in different places. I didn't want to tie him down but I also didn't want to get rid of my unborn child. So… I left. I went somewhere where he couldn't find me. He would never know." She explained. Though the silence between the two that came after once more was suffocating to her. In Pia's case, she was growing more angry despite the reasons her mother could have had for the decisions she made.

"So you choose to not let him know."

"I… did."

"Mom, do you have any idea how selfish that is? I understand but… this is a lot to take in." Pia rubbed her temples. She had never heard or seen her mother do something selfish, this was a first. While she was doing her best to make sense of her thoughts on this, she suddenly realised something. The reason they never talked about it before. "Did you never tell me because you were afraid I was going to hate you for it?"

"... Yes. I know that was selfish of me… and I'm sorry." Her mother clenched the sheets she had pulled up in her hands. She was nervous for her reactions, that much was clear. Pia relieved herself from the anger she felt and calmed down. This was not a moment to go judging her mother when they were finally on speaking terms again.

"Mom, I could never hate you. I am angry because that's a series of stupid choices but... You're my mother." She stood up and sat down next to her on her bed to grab her hand and hold it between her own to comfort her. Last time she didn't listen to what her mother had to say and that resulted in them never communicating properly anymore at all. They could not repeat that same situation. Everyone makes mistakes. She had too. Plenty even. To how she treated her mother once she found out about her occupation to the words she screamed at Ruben when they broke up. It was odd she only came to understand this when she had gotten older… Not every situation was the same but she didn't feel she had the right to be angry. Not right now at least.

"Am I… Do I look like him?" Pia broke the silence.

"You resemble him." Her mother nodded, doing her best to hold back the tears that had steadily started to form in her blue eyes.

"Huh. Would you look at that…" Pia pondered her mother's answer. She hated how that small bit of information she had now gotten actually did make her feel better… She had a father. And it was not one of those random clients. It was someone her mother actually had a connection with. What form of connection was left in the middle.

"knock, knock." A nurse opened the door to Mrs. McGuire's room. "Visiting hours are over. The patient needs to rest so I would kindly request for you to finish your conversation. You may visit her again tomorrow." She immediately walked over to the heart monitor next to Mrs. McGuire and readied her medication. Pia nodded and obediently grabbed her stuff.

"We'll talk more tomorrow." Pia gave her mother a kiss on the side of her head and headed off towards the door without another word. Her mother glanced at her as she did and suddenly reminded herself that there was still something else she wanted to tell her.

"Wai-" Her mother reached for her but Pia waved with a smile and closed the door behind her. The necklace she once gifted Pia when she was younger and she always had worn ever since… That was a present she had received from her father. Back then it felt only right that she became the new owner of it. Mrs. McGuire defeatingly pulled her hand back and held it against her chest. She could only hear the rummaging of the nurse beside her and the footsteps of Pia getting further away. "Next time." She whispered to herself.

"Hm?" The nurse looked up.

"Nothing." Mrs. McGuire shook her head. "Nancy, would you be so kind and bring me pen and paper? I'd like to write a letter."



​