...and if the answer is no, can I change your mind?...
Anselme softly sang the song sounding into his ears from his music player, trying to ensure that nobody around could hear him. Lumiose city was busy as always, though, so his quiet words were easily drowned out by the hustle and bustle of cars, skaters, tourists, and Gogoats among other things. He was in a good mood today considering that he had just come back from finishing his shift at the oh so prestigious Hotel Richissime as pretty much a janitor. Yeah, he hated the job, but that's what made leaving it so great! Honestly, though, his upbeatness was a result of the fact that today was pay day meaning that he could afford to keep his shelter and stay fed for just a little while longer.
Despite all the lights and luxury of Lumiose City (most of which Anselme couldn't afford anyway), his favorite place in all of Lumiose was his flat. Anselme stepped inside the small one-bedroom home and instantly wandered over to his bed onto which he promptly allowed himself to fall. The force of his head hitting the soft mattress shoved the earphones out of his ears, but he didn't care. If he could, he would just stay home forever. Unfortunately, though, real life was always knocking at his door demanding rent and hunger wasn't helping much either. And so it was that he had to work to be able to live and keep this little piece of heaven.
After a couple minutes of just lying on the bed, the young man decided he ought to prepare a meal. He didn't exactly know what to call it, being somewhere between lunchtime and dinnertime, but he hadn't eaten anything all day so he decided he would call it breakfast. After quickly changing out of his uniform, Anselme walked over to a cupboard and considered his options. Chicken flavored instant ramen, shrimp instant ramen, beef instant ramen... After some careful deliberation, he decided on the chicken one. As he reached for his soon-to-be breakfast, however, there was a knock on the door.
Ignore it, it's probably a salesman or something… The knocking continued for a few moments before it stopped. Just to be sure that person was gone, Anselme walked over to the door and peered through the peephole. "Gah!" He jumped back at the sudden sight of a massive inhuman eye up close and staring back at him. He soon heard a familiar voice pass through the door.
"Ah, I knew you were home, bro! Now, are you going to let me in?"
Being left with no choice, Anselme opened the door to let his brother and the culprit who gave him away both in. "Have I ever told you how much I hate your Charizard?"
"All the time."
"Good. Now tell me what you want and then leave." Anselme's eyes passed over his twin brother as if he could discern his motives by looking at him hard enough. He didn't learn anything from it, but at least he knew that looking at his brother still pissed him off. Pretty much everything about him did. His brother was like a more successful reflection of himself, complete with nice clothes, a full badge case, and soon he would even have a damn mega ring. NOBODY HAS A MEGA RING! All on a body identical to his own. Actually, that last part was a lie. Dear brother Enzo was lean and toned with a tan and nice hair and just looked better in general. Naww, Anselme definitely wasn't jealous of him. Not in the slightest…
"What, I'm not allowed to take a break from training at the tower to visit my bro?" Anselme didn't bother responding and only continued to glare. After a sigh, Enzo's playful grin faded, leaving a look of seriousness. "I've got a job for you."
Anselme didn't miss a beat before starting to argue. "Not this again… I already have a job, in case you've forgotten. Maybe it's not as impressive as 'pokemon master', but it pays the bills and that's all it needs to do." Anselme made a quoting gesture with his fingers as he said "pokemon master" in addition to saying the words with a heavily sarcastic tone. Sure, Enzo was strong and famous or whatever, but it wasn't like he was the Champion or anything. Not even close!
Enzo returned his Charizard to its pokeball and gave another sigh before continuing, his composure unbroken. Indeed, the two had addressed the topic many times in the past with the same result every time. "This isn't about me, it's about you, and I'm worried. Are you really fine with living like you are?"
"Stop. Just stop. I thought I made it very clear that I can't be you or even anything like you, so get out and let me live that life which I am in fact perfectly happy living. I don't need your charity." Anselme pointed to the door. his voice slowly beginning to rise. "I have friends, a job, and a home. I may not have gotten anywhere near where you are, but I've gotten where I am all on my own."
Finally, the combined weight of all Enzo's futile attempts in the past to get through to his brother caused him to snap, his face contorting with exasperated rage. "You live in a one-room flat you can barely pay for because you don't bother getting off your lazy backside to find a better job, all you can afford to eat is those damned noodles because you keep spending what's left from your measly income on games and cigarettes, you don't have a girlfriend, you're a chain smoker, a high school dropout who has never even owned a pokemon, much less gone on your own adventure, and the cherry on the top of your miserable life is that you're almost THIRTY!" A long and painful silence followed the outburst of truths. Anselme could only stare in disbelief at the fact that Enzo finally said what they had both known for a long time. "You aren't happy with your life, you're content at most. I want you to become someone you're proud of..."
Anselme opened his mouth to argue, but Enzo was right. The music that usually filled his ears wasn't there to blot out his thoughts this time, so he was fully capable of mentally checking off the list of accomplishments in loserness as his brother had spoken them. Deny it as he may, he was telling the truth. The hand Anselme was pointing to the door with drooped to his side. Nobody said a word as he wandered over to his pack of cigarettes on a nearby counter and pulled one out. His hands were shaking as he tried to light it making it impossible, so after several failed attempts he just threw both the lighter and the cigarette to the ground in anger. A few more moments of silence passed before he spoke again. "I haven't had one all day, you know," Anselme said as he stared at the cigarette on the ground despondently, as if saying that made his situation look any better.
This had never bothered Anselme too much before. In fact, he was fairly open about some of the things. Who cared if he was single or where he lived, or even that he smoked? Individually, it all seemed harmless, but having it all spelled out to him at once by Enzo, the man who shared his genes but lived a much better life, helped it all actually sink in. Yes, he would be okay continuing to live how he had been, but no, he wasn't a person he could be proud of. Yeah, he was jealous of Enzo and angry at him, but deep down he was proud of him. He always felt that Enzo had accomplished what he could not. That wasn't the case, though. It wasn't that he couldn't, it was that he never wanted to. Now it was too late. He had dug himself into a hole too deep to climb out of. Almost thirty meant more and more of his options were closing off. It would probably take a miracle to give his life that 180 it needed.
His thoughts were interrupted when Enzo finally decided to speak again. "So are you ready to hear what I have to say?"
Anselme sighed. "Fine, but don't let this get to your head."
A new smile crossed Enzo's face. "I'll try," he chuckled. "Have you ever heard of Apollo?"
"Is that a trick question?" Of course he'd heard of Apollo. He was a lot of things (as Enzo so kindly pointed out) but stupid wasn't one of them. New region, dead professor, loot and wishes, nobody would shut up about it. Anselme found it very annoying.
"Good. Now do you know Dr. Hazel Jacobi?"
This question was a little tougher. Sure, Anselme had heard of her, but he didn't exactly know much about her. "Some famous scientist chick or some crap like that, right? Are you going somewhere with this?"
"Close enough, and calm down. I'm getting there." Enzo pulled out his Holo Caster, something that made Anselme grimace as he moved his hand over his own plain cellphone. "I've got Dr. Jacobi's number here and I've given her yours. She is currently on the hunt for people to send to Apollo to search for the so called 'holy grail of Apollo', the Sol of Gaea. You already know what that is, so you should understand how big a deal this is. I'm also sure you see where I'm going with this now."
Anselme did indeed get where Enzo was going with this and he was having none of it. He was desperate, but he wasn't 'go adventuring in a mysterious and probably deadly uncharted land for lost treasure' desperate. "Oh hell no. What makes you think I could find this Sol thing anyway? Like you said, I'm a loser who's never had a pokemon. I'd probably die there. Why don't you go do it instead?"
"Did you forget that a lot of trainers start their adventure when they're ten? Besides, you wanted a chance to turn your life around, didn't you? An archaeology expedition for Dr. Jacobi to Apollo would look good on any resume, even if you don't find the Sol. I was also positive you would do well because you've got good genes." Enzo gestured to himself when he said that last part.
"Cocky jerk." He had a point though. Several points. So he just had to go then? He didn't even have to get the thing, and it would all change anyway? Anselme's phone buzzed once, and he quickly checked the message. Dr. Jacobi's number… Enzo gave him a thumbs up as he stared at the number, his own thumb hovering over the call button. This was his ticket out, his 180, his miracle.
…
"Hello, this is Hazel Ja-"
"I'll do it!" Anselme shouted into the phone before Jacobi could continue.
"Well, Enzo told me you'd need a little bit of convincing, but I guess he took care of that part already. Wonderful! You certainly seem eager to get started, so why don't we skip to the details."
This was it, there was no turning back anymore. This had better not be some elaborate prank...
