The Last Challenge

Jethro was a man that didn’t often get himself involved with anyone. That was, of course, the niche he filled by becoming the person he imagined himself to be. It meant few things made him crumble, and even less sway. His heart was upon a shelf higher than he could reach himself when it came to people. Not that it couldn’t plop itself in their hands, but it wasn’t something that smooth words could bring to him.

The entirety of the day, he could see a woman on the other side of the room in the Pokemon League Event. She looked well enough, and was surrounded by quite the company. Normally, he’d steer clear of anything that might attract that sort of attention, though seeing as one of the sponsored events included a talent portion, he had to sit up on a platform, and do something. 

In the end, he would end up singing…and he caught her attention. How could he tell? She was looking at him. He knew because he was looking at her too— right in the eye. Averting it was hard, so he pried them away, and looked at other people as well— met their eyes…though he always came back to her’s. Something about her seemed odd…enticing but admitedly odd and made him anxious to get off the stage, and so when they called him off by reintroducing him at the end of the song as the Champion, he raced off the platform and attempted to delve himself into the crowd. Being the tallest of them, it was hard to do that without being obvious about it.

"Hey!"

Turning around, he saw her coming his way, and he could do nothing else but smile politely.”Hello. I’m Je—”

"Jethro Hayes. I heard." She took a step forward, which the man did not respond to at all, though he begun to sway slightly. "You can sing pretty well but seeing as you’re the Champion, I’m sure you battle better."

Such words instilled a confidence in him, and he stopped moving around, instead simply looking at her with self assurance. “Of course,” he would say with pride. She moved in a little closer, almost as though testing him in his mind. 

"How about we have a battle then, hm? If I win, you come with me and you can sing a song for me. Maybe you can even buy me dinner, yes? Sounds good?”

Jethro really didn’t take too much time to think about it. “As much as I would like to, I don’t think so. I’m a bit too busy most of my time to do private performances and things of the like. If you’d like to battle me, you’re more than welcome to challenge the Elite Four tomorrow. Otherwise, I think I’m a little tied at the moment. It’s been nice speaking you.” Slowly, he got out from where he was, and slipped through the crowd, keeping his head low. His heart was nearly pounding out of his his chest!

Jethro was a man that didn’t often get himself involved with anyone.

"It can be any place you want it to be…"

"Any place?"

Out of all the things the two decided to do, Jethro decided he wanted to get himself as immersed into Tova and how she deals with ‘vision’, using other sensory techniques. Why he couldn’t simply go into her Gym and have a battle was beyond him at this point.  No, instead he had taken her to an indoor pool at the local Recreational Centre and the two were simply lying there…doing nothing but floating. 

"Don’t think of this as a pool," he encouraged. "Think of it as anything else but!"

Tova had to turn her head slightly towards his direction. “Excuse me?”

"You know…think of it like the black space outside of earth or the big blue ocean! It’s  a place where you just float…and you can lie there and think in pure weightlessness." Jethro explained, though he resisted any hand gestures to avoid himself from taking in water. He then moved out his arms from his stomach and extended them a ways away. 

Silence overcame the two, and although there was much he wanted to say— things he wanted to describe and notions he wanted to reveal to her, there was so little that he could say without making him feel as though he shouldn’t even have vocal chords to speak with. There was simply something about being truthful, and being genuine that he wasn’t comfortable with. Being at an arm’s distance in the mind made him feel safe…and this was dangerous. In all his time within the Acirema Region, he’d not made a single human friend.

At least, not until now.

Tova was the closest thing to a ‘best friend’ he had, and even then, he ambled so awkwardly from topic to topic. He would love to get to know her mind intimately…to understand the world from her perspective, and if he was able to bridge their two visions of life, it’d mean so much to him.

He fidgeted momentarily, and when his hand brushed her side, he knew he’d caught her attention. “Oh, hey…” It wasn’t his intent, but he decided to start speaking anyways. “Do you know what space looks like? or stars?”"I’ve always thought they…they were like dots in blackness."

"You know what blackness is?"

"No, but I’ve heard it’s supposed to be what I see."

Jethro turned his head her way and furrowed his brows. Without his shades, she looked rather bright, he noticed. They were a darkened tint on his eyes, though not exactly the blackness that she said she experiences. “But you can’t see, right?”

"Right." Tova was careful when she rose one arm from the water and put it over one of her eyes. "You sort of have to think of it like…put your hand over your eye, or close one." She’d wait a moment until she heard the water moving beside her, knowing Jethro would try to mimic her. 

"So you see how you can still see with one eye?"

"Yeah."

"What do you see in the other?"

"Nothing—." The man had to pause, and it was sort of like an epiphany to him. Of course, as quickly as it came, a slew of questions came from it, the most prominent of which only confused him further, unraveling her explanation. "When I close both eyes though, why do I see blackness?"

"You’re seeing the same thing as before. Nothing. The only reason you see black is because you know what black is. I just can’t see, so I don’t see anything."

Jethro was quickly becoming frustrated, and pressed his hands against his forehead, feeling his migraines beginning to take fold once more. At to think that the was probably the only person to not trigger them yet. “This is all too confusing to me. I mean, how can you see nothing when nothing is black? Is black just a colour or a lack of sight?” Jethro who only put more pressure on his head by holding it down soon found his nose sucking in pool water, which make him flail upwards with his head above water, sputtering for a moment.

…

"You know," Tova pulled herself from her back and turned to face the general direction in which Jethro had been flailing worse than Magikarp. "Most people try to empathise with someone by talking to them…attempting to put yourself in their shoes. You might just be trying to steal my shoes by this point." 

"What do you mean? I’m just trying to—"

She put up her hands. “Yes, yes, I understand what you’re trying to do, and I really appreciate the efforts, but I don’t really think it’s necessary. You’ll just never understand how I feel the same way I wont know what colour blue is and why you like it so much. You can’t help this. It can’t be fixed. “

The Champion couldn’t help but hang his head slightly, though it wasn’t exactly seen by anyone, the listless movements of the water only giving way soft sounds of his movements. She’d put her hand on his shoulder, almost propping herself to float upright in addition to attempting to console him.

"You know, it’s fine, alright?"

"I know, thank you."

There were moments in the life of Jethro Hayes where no meant no, and enough was supposed to be the end all phrase that would silence those who were supposed to be his subordinates. This was not exactly one of those times. This was due mostly because the man he was speaking to didn’t exactly listen to rules, or authority, or anything that was…well…

He pinched the space between his brows and lowered his head in thought. The man was going to age twenty years in the next five years, he could feel it. The eyebags were certainly coming in! “I understand that you want to have parties here. This sort of behaviour will get you not only kicked out of the Elite Four, but banned from coming back into the Polaris Tower ever again! You should apply yourself in your training the same way that you commit to your ‘YOLO Swag Parties’. Additionally you also nee—”

"Hey, man! You may be the Champion and all, but how I live my life and how I put my hours in is up to me! I mean, I’m still taking on challenges."

"Yes, but we can’t keep opening up at three in the afternoon so that you can get the sleep you couldn’t get in the evening! Maybe if you wouldn’t have so many parties you wouldn’t need those glasses to hide the eyebags that would obviously drop to the floor!"

"Hold up now, buzzkill McGrowlithe the Crime Dog. I ain’t do nothin’ so y’all ain’t got nothing on me! Check it!" He would hold up a rather large contract and slam it on the table. "I got impunity from being fired on the grounds of technicality, playa." This was then followed by him tossing punch cards in the way one would toss stacks of paper at a crowd of people. "I don’t punch in until three, so it doesnt count as sleepin’ on the job, bro. What’cha gonna do now, bro. Fire me? Can’t bro. Swag!" And with that, the man would get out of the chair, and begin making his way out.

"Oh, and by the way, partying is my life, and my life won’t ever end!"

BOOM!

Jethro’s shoe hit the door as the man closed it, and all he could do now was simply stare at the contract and the punch cards.

"So is this going anywhere?" Kaleigh seemed nearly bored to death, and Jethro was on some sort of roll, though perhaps one meant barrel roll into a cliff. "Hold on, hold on! So what did Sara Barailles’s composer say to her? I’m not gonna Raichu a love song!!" This only made the woman pull her lips apart into a thin line. It was nearly enough to make one punch the man for not being funny. 

"Hey, don’t give me that mean look!" Jethro’s smile trembled slightly as he put his hands up defensively. There was no doubt that jokes wouldn’t help. Clearly she had not a single funny bone in her body, though truth be told, that was probably Jethro.

"Well, hey, how about this? I could draw you like one of my Kalosian girls! I mean…not that I have any."

"That’s a shock." Sarcasm dripped as thickly as sludge did from a muk.

Jethro puffed out his chest the slightest it, and took the woman’s hand, pulling her out of her seat on his sofa. “Lets go to that club again. You had fun last time, yes? Even though all everyone was doing was this…” He leant back and shook his body haphazardly, while taking steps in circle. Hearing a giggle come from her, he stopped, and smiled. “Hey, did you just laugh?”

"Of course I did! Do you see how you’re dancing?"

"Did you see how they were dancing?” He raised his tone in challenge, a smug smirk at his finally breaking through to her.

"Of course I did, but that was actual dancing! It's called the tentakarp!"

"Was it?"

"Yeah! And you know what, we’ll go to prove it! Go get something good on. We’re going back to the club!"

Battles and this woman’s genius aside, Tova was quite a great person too. It was quite a while since he met someone that wasn’t a complete nut job (to him). Then again, becoming a hermit in the Polaris Tower did the man no favours.  He decided that he’d actually pay her a visit out in her town, despite everything in his body telling him that it would be a bad idea. That something would go wrong, and he’d end up regretting it. Impressions were so important, and him messing up was the last thing he wanted to do! He was lucky she liked what he was like without his facade, but it couldn’t continue on as a constant!

"Damn my doubts!" Jethro declared proudly. Like hell he would allow for simple insecurities about how his image was to others! He puffed out his chest, and made a stride down from the first storey, pulling out of the tower on the back of his trusted Dragonite.

Actually getting there was the easy part. He simply rode in, asked for directions and made his way into the Gym, which seemed to be buried in snow…just like everything else. In fact, the man came in with his coat closed for once, and his chest shivering, which was actually his poor Whimsicott attempting to keep itself warm close to the man’s body. Once the doors closed though, the room was found to be very warm, and a new problem surfaced in it’s place: Where in the world is everything?! Tova wasn’t kidding when she mentioned plunging the challengers in darkness. Poor Jethro literally bumped into everything almost immediately, and it was not until the lights suddenly flickered on that he realised that he was right up against the statue in the beginning of the Gym.

"Who’s there?" Tova asked, her Arcanine pulling itself down from the light switch. Though Jethro waved at her, it seemed nearly too stupid of an action to take. It was when he finally spoke up that she realised why her Arcanine had not barked out that it was an intruder. After all, anyone who was anyone knew that the gym was closed if the amount of snow outside reached a foot. 

"Hey, uh, Tova."

"Jethro?" She had to come closer, and Arcanine would lead her up to the man. "What are you doing here?"

"Look, I just came to ask you a question. I thought it was important, so I came over." Well, it wasn’t so much a question as it was a request, or even an offer.

"Well, sure. I don’t mind!" She stared at the direction of the sound, which of course, lead straight ahead, rather than a foot above straight ahead. He would naturally excuse it and clear his throat, only too deepen his voice. "Well, I—…" 

"Hey, is everything alright? You doing like you have a chest cold." She murmured with a tinge of concern.

"Oh, no." Oh no was right. Clearly he couldn’t try at all to seem at a level above her! He’d already established enough that his facade would not be able to rescue him! Coughing a little an clearing his throat was his only escape. "I uhm, ahem…the flight just chilled my lungs is all."

"I can tell you aren’t used to it."

"Oh yes, yes, entirely not used to it. None at all." Partial lies, though his Whimsicott couldn’t say the same. The poor thing whimpered in his chest, which caught all three of their attentions. Pulling it out, it was entirely chilled, with much of it’s cotton riddled with frost.

"What’s wrong?"

"Whimsicott is in danger…the cold isn’t it’s best climate and I didn’t bring her ball with me. She’s freezing."

"Oh no…" She reached out, and managed to touch some of the frozen cotton, only to reel her hand in. 

"We should take it to the fireplace to warm up for now…not too close, of course…"

"Of course."

…..

It took about an hour, but it was not long after warming her up, that she was able to stand up and waddle around on her own, though she stayed rather close to the fire.

"Thank you for your help," Jethro brushed his hand on her shoulder momentarily, something though surprising to both of them, only showed how much it meant to him.

She could only smile in return. “Of course, Jethro. It’s really no trouble at all. I’m just glad she’s fine.”

A small smile came from him too, though it shied itself away, as thoughts reentered his mind. “Hey uh, do you mind if we meet a particular location. Maybe I could buy lunch. I mean— if you dont mind. I really appreciate what you’ve done.”

"Oh, well…of course…but…"

"But…"

"It’d have to be a day where  everything isn’t snowed in."

Jethro shook his head and chuckled. “Right.”

The most used phrase in this tower had to be this. ‘Lets go drinking!’ Hestia declared loudly on his Holocaster. Jethro could only indulge the pleasure. Of course, he wasn’t the sort to drink at all, with his last being an underaged pleasure he took part in just to test the waters. With the exception of the diluted wine with a meal, of course, though that was a different issue. With a twitchy smile he lowered his wrist, and plopped himself back on his sofa.

…

He was going to be such a light weight.

———

The first drink touched his lips not long after he sat down— a shot of straight vodka which he immediately regreted when it burnt at his throat. “Ough! Oh…oh, bon sang. Oh, que brulage…!” The French slipped out naturally. As  it was his first language (being Kalosian), though the moment he heard it come out of his mouth, he immediately slapped it.

Hestia who was next to her downing hers with a satisfied sound, could only giggle at the way Jethro reacted. “Don’t be such a baby, now.” She slapped his back and gave a hardy laugh. “If you want, you can get yourself something a little more your speed.”

"No!" Jethro sat up immediately and shook his head whilst clearing out his throat. "This is perfectly my speed, alright? It’s…just been a while since the last time I had a drink."

"Look, you’re clearly more of a wine kind of guy. I mean, that’s what Kalosians drink all the time, yeah? I don’t mind if you can’t handle it I—"

Jethro slammed his hand against the table, which got an immediate reaction from everyone. “I can handle it,” he insisted.

Hestia simply put her hands up and leant back slightly. “Calm down there, TM97. I was just saying…” To this, Jethro could only sigh and sit himself down.. “I know…right. I can handle it though. Seriously.” He couldn’t…but he’d rather be pissed and unable to remember his own hair colour than to look a fool.

"One more, please."

————

"On—…ah..—one more please!" It was at this point that the snickering bartender would stop serving him and he threw his head back (and almost his entire body) before looking to Hestia. "Come on…come on now, lets just go somewhere else an’ get ar drinks yeh?"

"Hey, buddy, maybe it’s time to get to the tower again instead." She suggested, though immediately was denied by Jethro. "No…n-n…no! We should…we should go battle!"

"What." That word was said as flatly as the floor they were over.

"Yeh-heeeh! Some midnight battlin’, mec! Just you and me and our Pokes, grinding it out like two awesome…magnetons…yeah."

Hestia had to pause for a moment, and though she was attempting to keep a straight face, that smile was undeniable. “Hey yeah! Lets battle! Here, give me your pokeballs and we’ll go battle I drive us to a super secret spot.”

Jethro looked like his jaw would drop the rest of the way to the floor, and that his teashades would go with it. “No fucking way.”

"Way." She gave a thumbs up, and immediately was given the man’s pokeballs before leading him to the passenger’s seat. Of course, the moment that she drove, it was through the road that undeniably took them to the tower— a place that Jethro suddenly couldn’t even recognise. Soon, she would be battered with questions about what that place was an where it came from and why it would rise from the ground the way it did.

"Don’t worry! It’s a super special battling place! They have a bed there you can use to sleep, ‘cause we wont be able to fight until morning."

"You promise we’ll fight then?"

Jethro was a man about the law, and the last thing he would have wanted to do today was not uphold it. Well… at the very least, not be on the running away end of it. The two were actually in the office of the Pokemon League founder, speaking about getting some funding to create more of a city like feel around the otherwise barren Polaris Tower. Whilst Hestia probably wanted it to attract tourist and have people watch her jump through hoops of fire or something, Jethro simply wanted to be able to buy himself shirts and tank tops without having to fly all the way across a bloody mountain range to get there!

No, but things had to get complicated. For the first time in a long time, Jethro got himself into an arguement.

"You don’t have any right to talk to her like that!" He swung his arms out wide, only to smack the man right in the face, dropping him to the floor with what would only become a bruise later.

"Oh…oh no…"

"Move it, Jethro…you dont want him to get up!" Hestia was already half way out the door by the time that Jethro managed to cup his hands. Hessitating to look back at the man slowly getting up, he quickly followed.

Walking turned into race walking, and once the alarms went off, he knew he was sprinting. Guard dogs (consisting of Arcanines and Houndooms) would surely be released to sic at them soon. 

"Why did you have to hit the guy?"

"Me?! You act as though it was my fault!"

“‘Cause it kinda is! You dont see me hitting Pokemon League Officials, Mr. Mike Tyrouge Punch Out!”

Jethro paused right there, at the entrance of the imposing building. “I…I think you’re right. Maybe I should just turn myself in.”

"No! Did I ever say you should?! You know, it’s your passive attitude that makes my blood boil! Don’t you have a fire in your belly?!" Hestia was already making her way past the fence, when both heard the familiar voice call out a command.

"Use flamethrower!"

…..

Hours later, Jethro found himself in the hospital with third degree burns, and the fire elite right beside him. Though she tried her best, stiffling that laugh was just not possible. The man simply glared at her, slightly irritated, but still in quite a lot of pain. 

"Oh come on now. At least we proved you had a fire in you…but it was in your a—"

"Shhhh!" Jethro hissed, his body face down on the recovery bed.

"Hey come on! At least you got to keep your job—"

"Shhhh!"

"But—"

"SHHHHHHH!" This was the loudest one by far, and the one that made the most point. The woman shook her head and sat up. "Unbelievable," she said on her way out. A minute later though, she would come back to the door. "Oh, hey Jethro?"

The Champion only looked at the woman and couldn’t help but chuckle.