Before joining Tocker Corporations, Helene had found the time to visit Coumarine one last time. She rarely met her family this way, but this one last time she felt, at least, more confident to confront them. Everything went as planned, really - they all talked about Helene's new job, of which she didn't share many details, in front of an abundant, delicious lunch. The girl then found some time to meet her Coumarine friends and enjoy some time in her hometown. By the time she came back to Lumiose, she had one additional baggage full of things - gifts, clothing, books, anything that she wanted to bring in the new home with her.
Most of her roommates and classmates organized another party in Lumiose as well, to celebrate Helene's new job… although the majority of them wasn't told where Helene would have ended up shortly after. Only the girl's closest friends really knew that if she succeeded, she wouldn't have been around for years - and to those concerns, Helene responded by saying, she would have done her best to at least communicate with them once again. Or even escape if things got out of hand… never say never!
This was her effort to prepare herself in advance. She'd already had a taste of things to come when she first got to know about Tocker, and had her theories confirmed when she was eventually told how their Living Facility worked. Despite her attempts to plan every next move of hers, she couldn't quite grasp what "ten years underground", as she used to say, really meant.
The last day before her final interview, she'd packed nearly everything she could into a various set of boxes and suitcases, only leaving out a handful of clothes and, obviously, all the furniture. She wasn't as afraid of leaving something out, as she was afraid of having packed too much stuff - and therefore having the Tocker staff not bringing some of her possessions inside her new home.
The day of Helene's last interview, two Tocker employees reached her shared apartment, located in Western Lumiose. On the doorstep stood Susan, one of Helene's roommates, who only had some morning lessons to attend to and was spending the rest of the day at home.
The place wasn't very new and modern anymore, but still cozy and large enough for four people. It was supposed to house a family with kids, but it was equally apt for a group of students with their Pokémon.
Being a shared apartment, Tocker couldn't take any of the furniture, unless it belonged specifically to Helene. It also meant the company had to provide Helene with new appliances - after all, not even the furniture at Helene's Coumarine home was available to take - but, at least, this meant less work for the moving team.
Susan directed the two men towards her room, which she had shared with Helene for years. There were in fact two beds, one with just a sweatshirt on top and one covered with various bags: nearly all of Helene's possessions, ready to be taken away. Susan could only wonder who would have taken her place as the fourth roommate - after all, apartments like that one were quite sought-after by incoming students or young people trying to build their future in Lumiose.
The girl offered to help the two employees with their job, but they refused and left her a little baffled. Telling them what was Helene's stuff and what was not was already enough.
Beside Helene's bed, one could find the largest boxes and suitcases, which mostly contained clothes and shoes… usually boots, to be precise. She packed in there almost every clothing item she had, with the few that remained now hung inside her wardrobe in her Coumarine home - or being worn by Helene herself, of course.
The day before, Helene was admittedly surprised not to have filled more bags of clothes… but that's because she used to borrow items from her friends to complete her fancier outfits - the ones she couldn't afford to have without external help.
Once that was dealt with, the two men eagerly looked around the room for more things to load into their moving van. The more things they could get, the less things Tocker needed to provide Helene, and therefore the better they would have done their job - according to their superiors, at least. Susan eventually pointed them towards a small office chair, which Helene had actually bought herself in place of the… normal chair that was part of the apartment's standard furniture. She could see why her previous roommate made that choice, and deep inside wanted to lie and keep that chair for herself, but that wouldn't have been fair towards Helene. One more run in the elevator and the small chair was gone.
Susan was reminded of the times where Camille, Helene's then Steenee, used to have her trainer spin her on that chair, and get down all dizzy. For some reason unknown to man, that Pokémon really liked it, even if it would mean hitting various things with her leaves afterwards and have Helene fix everything. Yet there was something charming about that little fella. About how she was so confident, spreading her scent everywhere, smiling and dancing all the time only to fall into Helene's arms as if she was testing her trust. Not even she and Chris, her Vanillite, seemed to have such a strong bond.
Finally, the Tocker employees started to take what was lying on Helene's bed, all of which was organized inside her few backpacks. They contained accessories, jewels, books, gifts… including a small parting gift from Susan herself.
One bag in particular contained Helene's skating gear - after all, it was mostly Susan who had persuaded the other girl and have her begin skating. Whereas Helene had never tried it before, and had spent her first year in Lumiose walking and using public transport only (even Gogoats if needed), Susan used to skate since she was much younger, as she came from Snowbelle City.
The two girls would often spend what little free time they had trying to learn tricks from each other (Helene favoured speed while Susan favoured figure skating): once, as the weather was terrible for two weeks in a row, they even tried to wear skates in their apartment's entrance room - also known as the "Pokèmon room" - when no one else was around. Of course, that experiment ended up just like with Steenee spinning (except on an even bigger scale), but it allowed the two girls to bond even more.
Now, Helene had always been selfish. Susan couldn't deny that: even worse, she and the other roommates often used to argue with the Coumarine girl. But… after living in the same apartment for a couple months, they all got to know each other better. In fact, Susan always prided herself of knowing a vulnerable side of her friend that was normally hidden - the Helene trying to prove herself, trying to get approval, trying not to miss out on anything, trying to make genuinely good friendships.
The red haired girl was - that also couldn't be denied - quite good at getting her friends do what she wanted. Rest assured, she'd do her best to give something in return, even if it was just some of her time. But as time passed by, Susan was only more and more happy to help Helene out.
All these thoughts crossed Susan's mind as the two men finished their work, greeted the girl, and left, their truck quickly heading towards Eastern Lumiose. Susan checked the fridge, trying to come up with something to cook for dinner, then got back to her studying.
Give me one more year.
Available Pokémon (Helene)
