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This is one of my favorite stories since at first it was only to be very simple but I decided to expand on the idea. Also, I think this will be a good change from the "be the best trainer in the region" thing.
Note: Fan Fic won't be long but that doesn't mean it isn't good. ;)
Part 1: A Prelude to a Hunt
“I’ll be there, Jackson, see you later.”
Her voice was like an angel’s chorus drifting from the other side, the simple words soothing his agitated nerves. Not even the most talented of orchestra of the most skillful of singing Pokemon could match the tranquil pitch that floated to him like flower tendrils slowly wrapping themselves about him. The young man closed his eyes and let out a calming breath, what did he did to deserve such a perfect girlfriend.
Jackson Coal was snapped rather unpleasantly from his melodic thoughts by the dile tone of his cell phone that he still held next to his ear.
“Oh, right.” he sheepishly chuckled before closing it shut.
When the device was safely pocketed in his jeans pocket, Jackson let himself fall onto his bed. The white and navy sheets flew about him, floated in the air for a few seconds before coming down and landing without a sound on top his face. A silly grin was plastered on it and a jolly state took hold of him; even the peeling paint of his apartment’s roof looked like a marvel to behold.
At the moment, he just couldn’t believe what he had done, what he was about to do. In about three hours from now, he would be at the grand and mighty Moonshine Restaurant, on his knee, and with a beautiful silver ring that would gleamed along with the candles on the table. The small orchestra would stop in mid song and people would gape and coo at the scene that was taking place before their eyes. In his mind, Allison would be stunned with pleasant surprise and then she would reveal her pearl white teeth to say the three letter word that made his heart soar like an Altaria just thinking about it.
This is something straight out of those romance books Allison reads.
“This can’t be happening,” he said after a few moments of fantasizing, getting up into a sitting position. The tan walls of his bedroom stared at him along with the second hand photo frames placed carelessly on his bed stand. Chocolate eyes catching the photo of him and his dark haired girlfriend that was taken on their first date (a trip to the Orange Islands), Jackson’s mind couldn’t help but imagine the still figures in a flowing white, bridal gown and a perfectly tailored tux. “But it is, I’m going to get married.”
That’s if she says yes. a smart aleck voice remarked in his mind.
With a frown, the pale man shook the depressing thought from his mind and jumped onto his feet. He was positive she was going to say yes, they’ve been going steady for the last three years, she would have called it off if marriage wasn’t on her mind.
The smile now broaden so much that it threatened to split his face in half but he didn’t care. Swiftly running a hand through his messy hair, he turned in the direction of his open window where a steady wind tickles his face.
“I’m getting married!”
When the exclamation died down and he lowered his pumped fists, Jackson half expected to wake up from whatever dream he was trapped in or for his crazed up, cat loving neighbor to barge in, with a Meowth or Skitty sleeping peacefully on her head, and scold him in the harshest manner that other people shared the building. The stringy hair that was usually up in a misshapen bun would bounce on her head and the acne scarred face would be twisted in the deepest annoyance. One of her feline pets would wake up, hiss with small fangs bared, and batter a paw in his direction. Thankfully, neither nightmare came to wreck his perfect moment.
“I’m going to be married to the most beautiful girl,” he began to sing, stepping off the moth eaten rug that laid at the foot of his bed and onto the slightly less beat up hardwood floor. Bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet, he caught his reflection in the dresser mirror and, in a cocky manner that he never showed before, gave himself a charming smile that he imagined would make countless girls drop in a dead faint. “The most beautiful girl in the world. She’ll always bring a smile to my face, a shine in my eyes, when she’s near.”
While in this natural high trance, his hand found an abandoned hair brush near his desk and used it as makeshift microphone. The object moved in a blur from one pair of fingers to the other, switched hands with a graceful leap, and continued the dance on the other.
“What a beautiful girl I shall marry, so fine and..”
Once again, he was startled by his phone but this time, it rang and vibrated with a new call. Without missing a beat at juggling his brush, Jackson snapped open his cell from his back pocket and answered with the same sing song voice, “Cloud Nine, speaking.”
“Jackson? Is that you?”
“Mom?!”
So surprised by this revelation that one of his black and white Converse failed to fully step on the ruby rug from before and caused his body to slip backwards into a crumpled heap of flying limbs.
“OW!”
Jackson’s head hit the side of the bottom of his dresser, making the mirror that was mounted above rattle in unison with the brush and cell phone that clattered to the ground beside him. The room jiggled for seconds as his vision blurred in and out of focus, the throbbing pain in his now bruised skull not making matters any better. When the colored globs reformed into the familiar shapes of his possessions, he gazed at where the woman’s voice was still talking.
“Jackson, honey, are you okay?” his mother asked worriedly from where the cell phone landed.
Rubbing the back of his head with a grimace, Jackson picked up the cell and tried to refrain his face from bursting into a crimson color even though his mother could not see him.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” he muttered, picking his thin frame up to look at himself in his two foot mirror. Parting the shaggy hair out of his way, he inspected the small bump on his head that he deduced would grow larger in half an hour.
Well that’s just dandy. Jackson quipped, letting his hair fall back in place.
“Sounded like quite a fall.” his mom sympathetically said although the chuckles she tried to smother were clear as a solidified Ice Beam now that she knew her son wasn’t fatally injured.
Biting back the growl that was on the verge to spill over his lips, Jackson, landed with a plop on his bed, kicking the brush that he was previously using.
“It was just a fall, Mom,” he pointedly remarked and when the prominent giggles subsided, he continued. “So why did you call, anyway? Did you call about when you’re going to give me the ring?”
A silence that made him sift uncomfortably on his bed covers issued. After a few moments of hearing nothing but his steady breath, Jackson dared to break the ice, hoping that he wasn’t about to plummet to the chilling water below in the process.
“Mom...?”
“About that ring...”
The manner of which these words were said only made hin gulp as to what was to come. The imaginary water lapped against his skin, making the very marrow in his bones shiver like chimes.
“What about it?”
“I wasn’t able to find it.”
Splash! The fragile ice broke.
If it wasn’t for the fact that he was still breathing, Jackson would have thought that his heart imploded on itself when the words echoed from the phone. His muscles suddenly tensed up, his free left hand grasping the opaque sheets in a dangerous grip.
“You didn’t find the ring...?”
The words were crocked and hoarse as though his voice was unused for centuries and they came out with the most mustered of courage. The twenty-one year old man hoped with every fiber of his being that was nothing more than a cruel practical joke. The ring his mom was going to give him from when she was engaged was perfectly alright, probably sitting in its own satin box just like he envisioned it.
“I’m sorry, Jackson but I wasn’t able to find it. All the jewelry boxes were empty and your father doesn’t know a thing about it, either.”
“This can’t be happening,” he whispered to himself before finding that his breaths were coming out in short gasps. Putting a palm to his forehead, he closed his eyes and got out his next words with difficulty. “But you said that you knew where it was!”
Not offended by the sudden volume of the voice, Carla Coal let out a drawn out sigh. “I thought I did but I guess I sold it the last time we went to the pawn shop and I forgot about it.”
You and you’re pawn shops... Oh how he wished his mom wasn’t so until second hand stores.
“What am I supposed to propose with now?” Jackson asked her in despair, the joy he felt only moments ago now ebbing away. Why did he had to make himself so happy if it was going to be taken away in one foul swoop?
“There are a ton of jewelry stores in the town square, I’m sure at least one of them would give you a good price for a ring.”
Jackson looked at where his beige leather wallet laid on the surface of his mahogany dresser and he could almost imagine the Mothim flying to the outside world via the cracks that were supposed to hold money. Nothing but outdated coupons and scrawled on notes from long ago resided there.
“I guess I’ll go look but what if...?”
“That’s wonderful, honey I’m sure you’ll be able to find the perfect ring for Allison. Goodluckseeyoubye!”
Jackson didn’t realize the conversation came to an end until the dull note of the dial tone echoed in his eardrums. He brought the jet black cell phone to his face, looked at it with the ugliest of frowns, and forcefully stuck it back in his pocket. Suddenly, he felt as though the happiness from before shattered into many microscopic shards and no amount of super glue could piece them back together again. The bland colors of the room now appeared even more worn and threadbare and the cool breeze that had been blowing through his open window now ceased.
The stony expression that had settled over him snapped from existence when he lifted his hands up, palms outstretched with his face turned up so that he seemed as though he was calling upon every holy god imaginable, and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Dear Mew, this can’t be happening!”
Jackson jumped in shock when a loud thumping interrupted his cry and he swerved his head to the right wall, the unmistakable sound of a broom handle making itself known. A sharp and rather shrill voice whipped across the air with so much intensity that it hardly seem that a wall was in the way of her target.
“Hey you, hoodlum! Keep it down, there are other people living here, you know!”
A chorus of meows followed this complaint.
Note: Fan Fic won't be long but that doesn't mean it isn't good. ;)
_____
Raven Engagement
Raven Engagement
Part 1: A Prelude to a Hunt
“I’ll be there, Jackson, see you later.”
Her voice was like an angel’s chorus drifting from the other side, the simple words soothing his agitated nerves. Not even the most talented of orchestra of the most skillful of singing Pokemon could match the tranquil pitch that floated to him like flower tendrils slowly wrapping themselves about him. The young man closed his eyes and let out a calming breath, what did he did to deserve such a perfect girlfriend.
Jackson Coal was snapped rather unpleasantly from his melodic thoughts by the dile tone of his cell phone that he still held next to his ear.
“Oh, right.” he sheepishly chuckled before closing it shut.
When the device was safely pocketed in his jeans pocket, Jackson let himself fall onto his bed. The white and navy sheets flew about him, floated in the air for a few seconds before coming down and landing without a sound on top his face. A silly grin was plastered on it and a jolly state took hold of him; even the peeling paint of his apartment’s roof looked like a marvel to behold.
At the moment, he just couldn’t believe what he had done, what he was about to do. In about three hours from now, he would be at the grand and mighty Moonshine Restaurant, on his knee, and with a beautiful silver ring that would gleamed along with the candles on the table. The small orchestra would stop in mid song and people would gape and coo at the scene that was taking place before their eyes. In his mind, Allison would be stunned with pleasant surprise and then she would reveal her pearl white teeth to say the three letter word that made his heart soar like an Altaria just thinking about it.
This is something straight out of those romance books Allison reads.
“This can’t be happening,” he said after a few moments of fantasizing, getting up into a sitting position. The tan walls of his bedroom stared at him along with the second hand photo frames placed carelessly on his bed stand. Chocolate eyes catching the photo of him and his dark haired girlfriend that was taken on their first date (a trip to the Orange Islands), Jackson’s mind couldn’t help but imagine the still figures in a flowing white, bridal gown and a perfectly tailored tux. “But it is, I’m going to get married.”
That’s if she says yes. a smart aleck voice remarked in his mind.
With a frown, the pale man shook the depressing thought from his mind and jumped onto his feet. He was positive she was going to say yes, they’ve been going steady for the last three years, she would have called it off if marriage wasn’t on her mind.
The smile now broaden so much that it threatened to split his face in half but he didn’t care. Swiftly running a hand through his messy hair, he turned in the direction of his open window where a steady wind tickles his face.
“I’m getting married!”
When the exclamation died down and he lowered his pumped fists, Jackson half expected to wake up from whatever dream he was trapped in or for his crazed up, cat loving neighbor to barge in, with a Meowth or Skitty sleeping peacefully on her head, and scold him in the harshest manner that other people shared the building. The stringy hair that was usually up in a misshapen bun would bounce on her head and the acne scarred face would be twisted in the deepest annoyance. One of her feline pets would wake up, hiss with small fangs bared, and batter a paw in his direction. Thankfully, neither nightmare came to wreck his perfect moment.
“I’m going to be married to the most beautiful girl,” he began to sing, stepping off the moth eaten rug that laid at the foot of his bed and onto the slightly less beat up hardwood floor. Bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet, he caught his reflection in the dresser mirror and, in a cocky manner that he never showed before, gave himself a charming smile that he imagined would make countless girls drop in a dead faint. “The most beautiful girl in the world. She’ll always bring a smile to my face, a shine in my eyes, when she’s near.”
While in this natural high trance, his hand found an abandoned hair brush near his desk and used it as makeshift microphone. The object moved in a blur from one pair of fingers to the other, switched hands with a graceful leap, and continued the dance on the other.
“What a beautiful girl I shall marry, so fine and..”
Once again, he was startled by his phone but this time, it rang and vibrated with a new call. Without missing a beat at juggling his brush, Jackson snapped open his cell from his back pocket and answered with the same sing song voice, “Cloud Nine, speaking.”
“Jackson? Is that you?”
“Mom?!”
So surprised by this revelation that one of his black and white Converse failed to fully step on the ruby rug from before and caused his body to slip backwards into a crumpled heap of flying limbs.
“OW!”
Jackson’s head hit the side of the bottom of his dresser, making the mirror that was mounted above rattle in unison with the brush and cell phone that clattered to the ground beside him. The room jiggled for seconds as his vision blurred in and out of focus, the throbbing pain in his now bruised skull not making matters any better. When the colored globs reformed into the familiar shapes of his possessions, he gazed at where the woman’s voice was still talking.
“Jackson, honey, are you okay?” his mother asked worriedly from where the cell phone landed.
Rubbing the back of his head with a grimace, Jackson picked up the cell and tried to refrain his face from bursting into a crimson color even though his mother could not see him.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” he muttered, picking his thin frame up to look at himself in his two foot mirror. Parting the shaggy hair out of his way, he inspected the small bump on his head that he deduced would grow larger in half an hour.
Well that’s just dandy. Jackson quipped, letting his hair fall back in place.
“Sounded like quite a fall.” his mom sympathetically said although the chuckles she tried to smother were clear as a solidified Ice Beam now that she knew her son wasn’t fatally injured.
Biting back the growl that was on the verge to spill over his lips, Jackson, landed with a plop on his bed, kicking the brush that he was previously using.
“It was just a fall, Mom,” he pointedly remarked and when the prominent giggles subsided, he continued. “So why did you call, anyway? Did you call about when you’re going to give me the ring?”
A silence that made him sift uncomfortably on his bed covers issued. After a few moments of hearing nothing but his steady breath, Jackson dared to break the ice, hoping that he wasn’t about to plummet to the chilling water below in the process.
“Mom...?”
“About that ring...”
The manner of which these words were said only made hin gulp as to what was to come. The imaginary water lapped against his skin, making the very marrow in his bones shiver like chimes.
“What about it?”
“I wasn’t able to find it.”
Splash! The fragile ice broke.
If it wasn’t for the fact that he was still breathing, Jackson would have thought that his heart imploded on itself when the words echoed from the phone. His muscles suddenly tensed up, his free left hand grasping the opaque sheets in a dangerous grip.
“You didn’t find the ring...?”
The words were crocked and hoarse as though his voice was unused for centuries and they came out with the most mustered of courage. The twenty-one year old man hoped with every fiber of his being that was nothing more than a cruel practical joke. The ring his mom was going to give him from when she was engaged was perfectly alright, probably sitting in its own satin box just like he envisioned it.
“I’m sorry, Jackson but I wasn’t able to find it. All the jewelry boxes were empty and your father doesn’t know a thing about it, either.”
“This can’t be happening,” he whispered to himself before finding that his breaths were coming out in short gasps. Putting a palm to his forehead, he closed his eyes and got out his next words with difficulty. “But you said that you knew where it was!”
Not offended by the sudden volume of the voice, Carla Coal let out a drawn out sigh. “I thought I did but I guess I sold it the last time we went to the pawn shop and I forgot about it.”
You and you’re pawn shops... Oh how he wished his mom wasn’t so until second hand stores.
“What am I supposed to propose with now?” Jackson asked her in despair, the joy he felt only moments ago now ebbing away. Why did he had to make himself so happy if it was going to be taken away in one foul swoop?
“There are a ton of jewelry stores in the town square, I’m sure at least one of them would give you a good price for a ring.”
Jackson looked at where his beige leather wallet laid on the surface of his mahogany dresser and he could almost imagine the Mothim flying to the outside world via the cracks that were supposed to hold money. Nothing but outdated coupons and scrawled on notes from long ago resided there.
“I guess I’ll go look but what if...?”
“That’s wonderful, honey I’m sure you’ll be able to find the perfect ring for Allison. Goodluckseeyoubye!”
Jackson didn’t realize the conversation came to an end until the dull note of the dial tone echoed in his eardrums. He brought the jet black cell phone to his face, looked at it with the ugliest of frowns, and forcefully stuck it back in his pocket. Suddenly, he felt as though the happiness from before shattered into many microscopic shards and no amount of super glue could piece them back together again. The bland colors of the room now appeared even more worn and threadbare and the cool breeze that had been blowing through his open window now ceased.
The stony expression that had settled over him snapped from existence when he lifted his hands up, palms outstretched with his face turned up so that he seemed as though he was calling upon every holy god imaginable, and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Dear Mew, this can’t be happening!”
Jackson jumped in shock when a loud thumping interrupted his cry and he swerved his head to the right wall, the unmistakable sound of a broom handle making itself known. A sharp and rather shrill voice whipped across the air with so much intensity that it hardly seem that a wall was in the way of her target.
“Hey you, hoodlum! Keep it down, there are other people living here, you know!”
A chorus of meows followed this complaint.
Age 32
Riverside
Seen March 23rd, 2023
Posted November 2nd, 2016
2,322
posts
15.7
Years
Oh man, this is funny. I lol'd about ten times.
There's a few grammatical mistakes here and there, but nothing extremely serious. I would recommend running your chapters through a word processing program like Microsoft Word next time: it will help clean up spelling and grammar.
Anyways, I think I'm hooked. Expecting more...
There's a few grammatical mistakes here and there, but nothing extremely serious. I would recommend running your chapters through a word processing program like Microsoft Word next time: it will help clean up spelling and grammar.
Anyways, I think I'm hooked. Expecting more...

Thanks, txteclipse, this chapter hopefully has more laughs. =P
Part 2: Hunting Down the Prey
The warm sun above him warmed the mop of hair that bounced with every step he took on the cement sidewalk. Groups of people passed on either side of him, most of them carrying large shopping bags in the crook of their arms on in a slender grip while. The youthful laughter of children rang out above the aimless chatter of the families and small brightly clothed figures skipped along with freshly bought ice cream cones of every imaginable flavor in their hands. Whenever they would turn t their friends, multiple splatters of the sugary substance would plop on the ground.
Just like the buyers, the stores he passed were greatly varied. Punk looking teens would casually walk out of tattoo shops, showing of their newly etched designs as proudly as the gentlemen and woman, who walked out of the clothes tore a few ways off, did their fur coats. Mechanical whirring sounded from technoloy stores easily mixed in with the loud beats of the music store across the street just like how the pretzel stands merged their hot-off-the-oven smell with the recently grilled burgers beside them.
Jackson, however, could not afford to submerge himself into the busy and energetic atmosphere that throbbed around him. He only had one objective in mind and that was to buy himself the perfect ring to propose with. The man did not have time to peek into the music store (the neon sign, “Loudred’s Crib”, did not make the ignoring any easier with its pulsating rainbow colors) or to scourge the bookshelves of “A Niche with Noctowl” for the newly released mystery, Jackson didn’t even know if he had enough time to search all the jewelry stores before the time came to arrive at the restaurant.
“Curse Hearthrome for making such a big square,” he darkly muttered, peeling his eyes off the library’s display window to continue his search.
When he looked up a few minutes later, Jackson was greeted by the elegant duo of scarlet and gold that was the main jewelry store. Though not many people entered and exited this particular store (if you could called it that for it was nearly double in size compared to the neighboring businesses), the quantity of the people was made up for the quality. Until now, Jackson never realized how wealthy some of his fellow citizens were. If they were in any other city like Saffron or Lavender, the precious jewels that adorned the women’s necks and the gentlemen’s wrists would be filched faster than a Pikachu’s Quick Attack could be executed.
As he made his way to the great marble steps that lead to the sanded double doors, he couldn’t help but feel out of place as the middle age eyes studied him like a piece of Thanksgiving turkey. Maybe it was the his street clothes that seemed more than ready to be replaced or the way he walked compared to the straight as a rod posture of these people but they were silently shooing him away, away from their place and back into the alley he was sure they thought he came from.
I have as much right to be here that you do! Jackson mentally snapped.
Silently and awkwardly, he walked up the steps and entered Jewels World.
If he was shocked to see the outside of the store, his mouth literally fell open at the sight of the inside. It was as lavish as any mansion he had seen in the movies, maybe even more, with its great sloping ceiling tinged with sparkles of gold (the childish thought of it being actual gold swiftly came to him) complimenting the white as starch marble. The walls were covered with flawless crimson wallpaper and in front of them laid cases of glass that held necklaces and bracelets placed carefully on satin pillows.
When he was aware that he was getting some unwanted stares, Jackson wove his way through the throngs of customers and to the front of the store. A glass counter nearly the length of the store stretched in front of him like a buffet table but instead of scrumptious meals, numerous pieces of glinting jewelry all priced with individual tags laid. His vision was instantly directed at the frames that were mounted on the other side of the counter, the prominent size too much for him to turn the other cheek.
There were two, hung side by side, and at first glance, it seemed as though they depicted the same person. Two women were painted on the canvas, their wide frames that were dressed in soft lilac fitting perfectly with their oval faces. Powdered and splashed with makeup, they had an air off high importance, cherry red hair piled on top their head in a fashion that would be suiting if you were to meet royals. The woman on the right, though, sported makeup of bright blue and purple while the one on the left was coated in soft pink. The left one’s hair was daintily swept to the side of the face while the other one had wild tendrils framing the high cheek bones.
The round “O” that was his mouth widened when the weight of the world dropped onto his shoulders.
“Hello there, boy! What are you looking for?”
Straightening from where he nearly toppled over when the sudden weight came over him, he turned his head to find one of the women from the paintings smiling at him with a smile he bet was bigger than the one he had worn before he was forced to enter this store. Her pudgy hands lifted from where they landed on his scrawny shoulders.
“Umm, hello?” he sheepishly said, looking up to the woman’s face that was a few inches above his head.
The red haired woman looked down to where he was shirking and Jackson could see the sapphire mascara that lined her violet eyes.
“Hello, I’m Angela Lorry,” she introduced herself, stepping a few steps back to which Jackson was grateful for; the lack of space was already making him nervous. “But you can call me Angie.”
Running a hand through his hair before he extended for a shake, he introduced himself. “My name’s Jackson, Jackson Coal.”
Angie playfully slapped his back instead of shaking his hand and didn’t notice when Jackson nearly met the jade carpet.
“Nice to meet you,” she exclaimed before repeating her question. “So what are you looking for, Jackson?”
It took him a few moment for him to regain to his bearings, and his breath, before he could begin to answer.
“I’m looking for something for my girlfriend because I wi...”
Jackson jumped back when Angie let our a raucous laugh, half from the surprising volume of her voice and the other part out of fear of being slapped again.
“Come here, I have the perfect thing.”
With his face blushing bright at being the center of attention, he shuffled his feet as he followed the giant girth of the woman. Multiple stares were being burrowed on the back of his neck and was everything to restrained to urge to pop his plaid collar.
“That was me, you know,” she began when she caught him looking back at the picture frames. “The one on the right, the one on the left is my sister, Penelope. We both run the shop but Penny is out right now so you’re all mine.”
Jackson couldn’t help but cringe at the last words, they weren’t exactly the words he liked hearing from someone like Angie.
“Here we are,” she announced when they reached the store’s right corner. The dirty blonde had to stumble in order not to crash into her. “Some of the finest necklaces this store has to offer.”
Standing by her side, his brown eyes grew to twice their size when he saw the necklaces and bracelets that were displayed. The silver and gold bracelets with their large gems embedded deep into the metal seemed to him like the perfect devices to keep someone at bay.
Snap them on and BAM! You’re very own ball chains! was the first thing that came to mind along with a picture of Allison on her knees with four bracelets firmly clasped on her wrists and ankles.
Looking at the pearl necklace with its jewels strung one by one on its glimmering string, he imagined Allison’s thin neck snapping like a rotten twig under the weight of the enormous orbs. Grimacing at the mere thought of it, Jackson shook his head.
“I’m not really looking for necklaces, I’m really looking...”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Angie’s booming voice rang out and before Jackson could utter a yelp of terror, he was steered directly to another display case a few feet away. The woman’s wild braids bounced when she halted but Jackson was nearly tipped over, nose and cheek threatening to be smeared on the glass case.
“These are the finest earrings on this side of Sinnoh, made from jade discovered in the Ruins of Alph and diamonds dug up from the dark and murky depths of Mt. Coronet.”
Jackson looked over the extravagant pieces of jewelry, the rectangular shapes that were coated in a deep and rich emerald glinting whenever the diamonds on the outer edges caught a ray of light. Along with the beads that hung from the edges, he deduced they were at least twice the size of a normal ear lobe.
“I have other earrings, as well,” Angie spurted out when she caught the trace of rebuttal in the young man’s eyes. His whole body tensed when she pointed at a case in the front of the store, one more shove and would surely end up as splatter in the expensive carpet. “All the way from Johto...”
“Angela, are you bothering this man?”
Both figures turned to the source of the voice and Jackson gulped when he found an identical woman frowning down (even though they were the same height, the intensity of the glare made her seem at least a foot taller) at Angie.
Enter twin number two..
“Not at all!” the first twin shook her head, voice echoing in the jewelry store. “I was just showing Jackson some of our jewelry.”
“I actually only want a ring,” he squeaked out and when both sisters fixed their narrowed pinprick eyes on him, he showed them a weak smile, making his next words barely audible. “To propose with.”
Penelope Lorry straightened and creased her eyebrows at her relative. A silent message past between them for Angie looked down at her feet with an almost ashamed look before speaking again.
“I’ll go and check storage,” she began but this time with a lot less vigor in her voice. Turning to Jackson, she smiled. “Hope Penny takes good care of you, Jackson, she’ll know exactly what’s the perfect ring.”
“Don’t call me “Penny”, Angela,” Penelope said with an exasperated sigh, her neat bangs tickling her soft face. “It’s so childish.”
Seeing Angie rolling her eyes before walking calmly to a door in the far corner, Jackson was led to the front of the store once again. In his mind, he debated whether he was now saved or in the hands of two lesser evils.
“We have a wide variety of rings,” Penelope informed him when they came to a stop. Finally having a chance of browsing at what he was looking for, Jackson gaped in awe as the store owner circled over to the opposite side. Dozens and dozens of rings were displayed in velvet holders with their golden bands without a scratch. The gleaming gems that were mounted on top gazed back at him with their cleanly cut surfaces, his pasty complexion reflected at least a dozen times. “I understand you want an engagement ring, correct?”
Breaking the trance that he held with the numerous pair of reflected eyes, Jackson nodded and was now directed to the far right corner of the display case. Smaller rings were placed on this side but, nonetheless, they were a gorgeous sight to see. The diamonds still gleamed, the surfaces still shined, all of them were perfect for the highly anticipated moment of propoping.
“There’s this one,” Penelope indicated the first one with a ringed finger. “Six diamonds decorating the outer surface with a larger one in the middle. Around it, twelve sapphires, all of them the exact same size and guaranteed to make any woman proud.”
Nearly choking on his spit at the price tag that was placed right under it, Jackson shook his head.
I don’t think I’ve ever earned $1999 dollars in my life. he told himself, subconsciously feeling his nearly empty wallet in his jeans pocket.
Penelope showed a frown for only a second before it was replaced with a grin, now pointing at a ring in the middle row. Even smaller in both its band and gem size, it held four diamonds with a center flower arranged in amethyst crystals. A piece of Topaz was embedded in the center, completing the mesmerizing presentation.
“At only $759,” the youth sweat dropped but he was fortunate enough for Penelope being too absorbed in surveying the ring to take notice. “This beautiful piece shipped from Hoenn is small yet elegant enough to make it the perfect engagement ring,”
“I..I think it’s a little too much,” he stuttered, rubbing the back of neck nervously. Penelope looked at him with scrutinizing eyes, her purple orbs a darker shade then her sister’s. “I was planning on something...smaller?”
The last word came out more as a suggestion than a statement and the older woman did not miss the hesitancy. Keeping the nervous man in her line of vision like a hawk stalking its prey, she walked a few steps to the farthest ring in the case.
“I see...” she drawled out slowly. Manicured nails clicked on the clear glass surface when she moved her eyes to the smallest ring in the store. “Well, maybe this one will be to your liking.”
The dainty ring stared up at him with its mere three diamonds and sole sapphire piece. The $500 price tag written in complicated scrawl made his heart, along with his wallet, sink like a boat. Seeing his already flushed face pale even more, Penelope put both hands on the counter and stared at in intently. The illusion of a prowling cat suddenly came to mind.
“Is everything alright, sir?” Penelope carefully asked, her thick fingers coming slowly together like the petals of a Venus Flytrap, the sharp ends of her nails itching to find their prey.
Yeah, my neck.
“This store doesn’t really...have what I’m looking for.”
Stumbling during his next words, Jackson cautiously made his way to the store’s entrance. The shoppers with their Linoone coats and Clampearl pearls strung on their neck or pressed into their silver pocket watches, glanced at him like village people awaiting for someone to burn at the steak and then at the raging fire itself, Penelope
“I’ll just go and look at other stores but I greatly appreciate for showing me your jewelry, lovely pieces.”
The eyes still trailed him as he got closer to the exit and as though listening to the silent thoughts, his sneakers tripped over each other multiple times by the time he got to the double doors. Leaning his frame against the marble pillars to regain his equilibrium, he chuckled awkwardly.
“Well, goodbye! Thank you!”
The high classed shoppers returned to their browsing as though no middle class civilian had invaded their space despite the loud curses that filtered through the swishing doors.
_____
Part 2: Hunting Down the Prey
The warm sun above him warmed the mop of hair that bounced with every step he took on the cement sidewalk. Groups of people passed on either side of him, most of them carrying large shopping bags in the crook of their arms on in a slender grip while. The youthful laughter of children rang out above the aimless chatter of the families and small brightly clothed figures skipped along with freshly bought ice cream cones of every imaginable flavor in their hands. Whenever they would turn t their friends, multiple splatters of the sugary substance would plop on the ground.
Just like the buyers, the stores he passed were greatly varied. Punk looking teens would casually walk out of tattoo shops, showing of their newly etched designs as proudly as the gentlemen and woman, who walked out of the clothes tore a few ways off, did their fur coats. Mechanical whirring sounded from technoloy stores easily mixed in with the loud beats of the music store across the street just like how the pretzel stands merged their hot-off-the-oven smell with the recently grilled burgers beside them.
Jackson, however, could not afford to submerge himself into the busy and energetic atmosphere that throbbed around him. He only had one objective in mind and that was to buy himself the perfect ring to propose with. The man did not have time to peek into the music store (the neon sign, “Loudred’s Crib”, did not make the ignoring any easier with its pulsating rainbow colors) or to scourge the bookshelves of “A Niche with Noctowl” for the newly released mystery, Jackson didn’t even know if he had enough time to search all the jewelry stores before the time came to arrive at the restaurant.
“Curse Hearthrome for making such a big square,” he darkly muttered, peeling his eyes off the library’s display window to continue his search.
When he looked up a few minutes later, Jackson was greeted by the elegant duo of scarlet and gold that was the main jewelry store. Though not many people entered and exited this particular store (if you could called it that for it was nearly double in size compared to the neighboring businesses), the quantity of the people was made up for the quality. Until now, Jackson never realized how wealthy some of his fellow citizens were. If they were in any other city like Saffron or Lavender, the precious jewels that adorned the women’s necks and the gentlemen’s wrists would be filched faster than a Pikachu’s Quick Attack could be executed.
As he made his way to the great marble steps that lead to the sanded double doors, he couldn’t help but feel out of place as the middle age eyes studied him like a piece of Thanksgiving turkey. Maybe it was the his street clothes that seemed more than ready to be replaced or the way he walked compared to the straight as a rod posture of these people but they were silently shooing him away, away from their place and back into the alley he was sure they thought he came from.
I have as much right to be here that you do! Jackson mentally snapped.
Silently and awkwardly, he walked up the steps and entered Jewels World.
If he was shocked to see the outside of the store, his mouth literally fell open at the sight of the inside. It was as lavish as any mansion he had seen in the movies, maybe even more, with its great sloping ceiling tinged with sparkles of gold (the childish thought of it being actual gold swiftly came to him) complimenting the white as starch marble. The walls were covered with flawless crimson wallpaper and in front of them laid cases of glass that held necklaces and bracelets placed carefully on satin pillows.
When he was aware that he was getting some unwanted stares, Jackson wove his way through the throngs of customers and to the front of the store. A glass counter nearly the length of the store stretched in front of him like a buffet table but instead of scrumptious meals, numerous pieces of glinting jewelry all priced with individual tags laid. His vision was instantly directed at the frames that were mounted on the other side of the counter, the prominent size too much for him to turn the other cheek.
There were two, hung side by side, and at first glance, it seemed as though they depicted the same person. Two women were painted on the canvas, their wide frames that were dressed in soft lilac fitting perfectly with their oval faces. Powdered and splashed with makeup, they had an air off high importance, cherry red hair piled on top their head in a fashion that would be suiting if you were to meet royals. The woman on the right, though, sported makeup of bright blue and purple while the one on the left was coated in soft pink. The left one’s hair was daintily swept to the side of the face while the other one had wild tendrils framing the high cheek bones.
The round “O” that was his mouth widened when the weight of the world dropped onto his shoulders.
“Hello there, boy! What are you looking for?”
Straightening from where he nearly toppled over when the sudden weight came over him, he turned his head to find one of the women from the paintings smiling at him with a smile he bet was bigger than the one he had worn before he was forced to enter this store. Her pudgy hands lifted from where they landed on his scrawny shoulders.
“Umm, hello?” he sheepishly said, looking up to the woman’s face that was a few inches above his head.
The red haired woman looked down to where he was shirking and Jackson could see the sapphire mascara that lined her violet eyes.
“Hello, I’m Angela Lorry,” she introduced herself, stepping a few steps back to which Jackson was grateful for; the lack of space was already making him nervous. “But you can call me Angie.”
Running a hand through his hair before he extended for a shake, he introduced himself. “My name’s Jackson, Jackson Coal.”
Angie playfully slapped his back instead of shaking his hand and didn’t notice when Jackson nearly met the jade carpet.
“Nice to meet you,” she exclaimed before repeating her question. “So what are you looking for, Jackson?”
It took him a few moment for him to regain to his bearings, and his breath, before he could begin to answer.
“I’m looking for something for my girlfriend because I wi...”
Jackson jumped back when Angie let our a raucous laugh, half from the surprising volume of her voice and the other part out of fear of being slapped again.
“Come here, I have the perfect thing.”
With his face blushing bright at being the center of attention, he shuffled his feet as he followed the giant girth of the woman. Multiple stares were being burrowed on the back of his neck and was everything to restrained to urge to pop his plaid collar.
“That was me, you know,” she began when she caught him looking back at the picture frames. “The one on the right, the one on the left is my sister, Penelope. We both run the shop but Penny is out right now so you’re all mine.”
Jackson couldn’t help but cringe at the last words, they weren’t exactly the words he liked hearing from someone like Angie.
“Here we are,” she announced when they reached the store’s right corner. The dirty blonde had to stumble in order not to crash into her. “Some of the finest necklaces this store has to offer.”
Standing by her side, his brown eyes grew to twice their size when he saw the necklaces and bracelets that were displayed. The silver and gold bracelets with their large gems embedded deep into the metal seemed to him like the perfect devices to keep someone at bay.
Snap them on and BAM! You’re very own ball chains! was the first thing that came to mind along with a picture of Allison on her knees with four bracelets firmly clasped on her wrists and ankles.
Looking at the pearl necklace with its jewels strung one by one on its glimmering string, he imagined Allison’s thin neck snapping like a rotten twig under the weight of the enormous orbs. Grimacing at the mere thought of it, Jackson shook his head.
“I’m not really looking for necklaces, I’m really looking...”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Angie’s booming voice rang out and before Jackson could utter a yelp of terror, he was steered directly to another display case a few feet away. The woman’s wild braids bounced when she halted but Jackson was nearly tipped over, nose and cheek threatening to be smeared on the glass case.
“These are the finest earrings on this side of Sinnoh, made from jade discovered in the Ruins of Alph and diamonds dug up from the dark and murky depths of Mt. Coronet.”
Jackson looked over the extravagant pieces of jewelry, the rectangular shapes that were coated in a deep and rich emerald glinting whenever the diamonds on the outer edges caught a ray of light. Along with the beads that hung from the edges, he deduced they were at least twice the size of a normal ear lobe.
“I have other earrings, as well,” Angie spurted out when she caught the trace of rebuttal in the young man’s eyes. His whole body tensed when she pointed at a case in the front of the store, one more shove and would surely end up as splatter in the expensive carpet. “All the way from Johto...”
“Angela, are you bothering this man?”
Both figures turned to the source of the voice and Jackson gulped when he found an identical woman frowning down (even though they were the same height, the intensity of the glare made her seem at least a foot taller) at Angie.
Enter twin number two..
“Not at all!” the first twin shook her head, voice echoing in the jewelry store. “I was just showing Jackson some of our jewelry.”
“I actually only want a ring,” he squeaked out and when both sisters fixed their narrowed pinprick eyes on him, he showed them a weak smile, making his next words barely audible. “To propose with.”
Penelope Lorry straightened and creased her eyebrows at her relative. A silent message past between them for Angie looked down at her feet with an almost ashamed look before speaking again.
“I’ll go and check storage,” she began but this time with a lot less vigor in her voice. Turning to Jackson, she smiled. “Hope Penny takes good care of you, Jackson, she’ll know exactly what’s the perfect ring.”
“Don’t call me “Penny”, Angela,” Penelope said with an exasperated sigh, her neat bangs tickling her soft face. “It’s so childish.”
Seeing Angie rolling her eyes before walking calmly to a door in the far corner, Jackson was led to the front of the store once again. In his mind, he debated whether he was now saved or in the hands of two lesser evils.
“We have a wide variety of rings,” Penelope informed him when they came to a stop. Finally having a chance of browsing at what he was looking for, Jackson gaped in awe as the store owner circled over to the opposite side. Dozens and dozens of rings were displayed in velvet holders with their golden bands without a scratch. The gleaming gems that were mounted on top gazed back at him with their cleanly cut surfaces, his pasty complexion reflected at least a dozen times. “I understand you want an engagement ring, correct?”
Breaking the trance that he held with the numerous pair of reflected eyes, Jackson nodded and was now directed to the far right corner of the display case. Smaller rings were placed on this side but, nonetheless, they were a gorgeous sight to see. The diamonds still gleamed, the surfaces still shined, all of them were perfect for the highly anticipated moment of propoping.
“There’s this one,” Penelope indicated the first one with a ringed finger. “Six diamonds decorating the outer surface with a larger one in the middle. Around it, twelve sapphires, all of them the exact same size and guaranteed to make any woman proud.”
Nearly choking on his spit at the price tag that was placed right under it, Jackson shook his head.
I don’t think I’ve ever earned $1999 dollars in my life. he told himself, subconsciously feeling his nearly empty wallet in his jeans pocket.
Penelope showed a frown for only a second before it was replaced with a grin, now pointing at a ring in the middle row. Even smaller in both its band and gem size, it held four diamonds with a center flower arranged in amethyst crystals. A piece of Topaz was embedded in the center, completing the mesmerizing presentation.
“At only $759,” the youth sweat dropped but he was fortunate enough for Penelope being too absorbed in surveying the ring to take notice. “This beautiful piece shipped from Hoenn is small yet elegant enough to make it the perfect engagement ring,”
“I..I think it’s a little too much,” he stuttered, rubbing the back of neck nervously. Penelope looked at him with scrutinizing eyes, her purple orbs a darker shade then her sister’s. “I was planning on something...smaller?”
The last word came out more as a suggestion than a statement and the older woman did not miss the hesitancy. Keeping the nervous man in her line of vision like a hawk stalking its prey, she walked a few steps to the farthest ring in the case.
“I see...” she drawled out slowly. Manicured nails clicked on the clear glass surface when she moved her eyes to the smallest ring in the store. “Well, maybe this one will be to your liking.”
The dainty ring stared up at him with its mere three diamonds and sole sapphire piece. The $500 price tag written in complicated scrawl made his heart, along with his wallet, sink like a boat. Seeing his already flushed face pale even more, Penelope put both hands on the counter and stared at in intently. The illusion of a prowling cat suddenly came to mind.
“Is everything alright, sir?” Penelope carefully asked, her thick fingers coming slowly together like the petals of a Venus Flytrap, the sharp ends of her nails itching to find their prey.
Yeah, my neck.
“This store doesn’t really...have what I’m looking for.”
Stumbling during his next words, Jackson cautiously made his way to the store’s entrance. The shoppers with their Linoone coats and Clampearl pearls strung on their neck or pressed into their silver pocket watches, glanced at him like village people awaiting for someone to burn at the steak and then at the raging fire itself, Penelope
“I’ll just go and look at other stores but I greatly appreciate for showing me your jewelry, lovely pieces.”
The eyes still trailed him as he got closer to the exit and as though listening to the silent thoughts, his sneakers tripped over each other multiple times by the time he got to the double doors. Leaning his frame against the marble pillars to regain his equilibrium, he chuckled awkwardly.
“Well, goodbye! Thank you!”
The high classed shoppers returned to their browsing as though no middle class civilian had invaded their space despite the loud curses that filtered through the swishing doors.
