"Impossible…"
Nothing is impossible for the legendary Paxton.
Women in this world were significantly calmer than most of the women I remembered from my old one.
They appreciated when someone made the effort to walk up and talk to them.
"Aww~ You're funny Pax." She said with a smile.
Apparently everyone felt the need to shorten my name to Pax. I didn't hate it but I didn't appreciate my name being compared to something you polished floors with… I wasn't Wax. "You want more Coffee?"
This was the third time she had offered.
She had also tried the Creamy Charizard on my recommendation and declared it better than her usual order, which I had taken as a personal victory for the Nouveau Café menu.
She had been easy to talk to… warm, genuinely funny, and not thrown off by the black eye at all once I explained it.
The truth had been more interesting to her than any story I could have invented, A dojo master hitting me hard enough to briefly delete my consciousness was apparently a better opener than most.
"Maybe later." I said. "I genuinely have somewhere I need to be today."
I had a very busy day coming up… Lida's dance school first, then Emma at noon, then Battle Zone Y to scope things out in the evening.
"Damn, same." Elaine said. "I have to get to work too so how about we exchange numbers? Just connect our Rotomphones."
"We can do that?" I lifted an eyebrow.
I had been in this world for a while now and somehow nobody, not even the girls at Hotel Z had asked for my number. Emma had been the one exception.
Were we all collectively forgetting this was an option?
"Yes, silly." She held out a Rotomphone with a pink pouch on it and a small brown bear Pokémon charm attached to the corner.
It looked neat. "Touch them together at the tip and say Share at the same time. It'll swap your contact info."
"I see." I pulled out my own completely plain red Rotomphone. I really did need to customize this at some point. Maybe get a custom back cover… something with Lida's face on it just to see what color her cheeks went.
We held them together at the tips.
"Share."
A new tab appeared on my screen immediately.
[Contact: Elaine ❤️]
[Call] [Text]
"Got it." I tucked it back in my pocket.
If I was being honest, I was probably going to be too occupied with Lida and the others to follow up quickly but it was good to know the instincts weren't rusty.
"Same here." She said, finishing the last of her Coffee then she blew a kiss in the direction of my face. "There there. I hope your eye heals up."
She dug into the front pocket of her trouser and pulled out a white card, holding it across the table. "Oh and before I forget."
I took it.
[━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━]
[CAFÉ WOOF JAUNE DISTRICT]
[LOYALTY DISCOUNT CARD]
[30% OFF your next order… show this card at the counter]
[Valid for one visit, see you soon!]
[🐾 Elaine ♡]
[━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━]
"I work at Café Woof." She said, standing up and collecting her bag. "It's not far from the Fist of Justice dojo. You're a member there, right? Come check us out sometime."
She gave me a wave over her shoulder as she went. "See you, Pax!"
A coupon, a number, and a blow kiss, even with a black eye.
The haircut was carrying!
I stood up with what was left of my Creamy Charizard and walked back to the boys' table.
"Well?" I asked, setting the coupon on the table.
Félix put both hands together like he was witnessing a religious event.
"Please Master Pax." He said. "Teach me how to become you."
I wasn't exaggerating, those were the exact words he said to me and I raised one hand to calm him down.
"You can't become me." I said. "I'm unique. But you can become like me."
I patted his back.
"First things first… we need to get rid of that hair situation you have going on. No wonder Tawn keeps turning you down. You look like you haven't had a haircut a single day of your life."
"I heard women liked long hair." Félix said, and he said it with conviction. "Champion Red hasn't had a haircut in his entire career and there are documented cases of people losing their minds over him before he deactivated his official account."
He wasn't wrong about that though, Red was genuinely in a different category of existence.
"And Naveen—" Félix pointed. "His hair is in locks and it looks good. Why do I need to cut mine?"
"I'm actually thinking of going shorter, like a low cut or something." Naveen said, swaying his head slightly so the locks shifted.
"Pfft." I let out before I could stop it. Naveen turned to look at me, still holding his Coffee.
"If you cut your hair, how exactly are you planning to win over your crush Canari?" I asked.
"You're misunderstanding something." Naveen said with a completely flat voice. "I do not have a crush on Canari. What I have is genuine admiration for what she built."
He set down his cup. "She streams alone, from her room, with no label, no management, no team behind her. She built DYN4MO from nothing and kept her real identity separate from the persona the whole time. Canari never needed anyone to validate the work before she put it out so no that's not a crush, I have genuine respect for her as a person."
He picked his cup back up.
"That's all it is."
I looked at him for a moment.
I believed him. It also sounded almost exactly like what he was doing with Fil Noir… building something without attaching his name to it and letting the work exist before anyone knew who made it.
"I see."
If I somehow ended up with Canari later down the line which I doubted since I wasn't a Harem Protagonist… at least Naveen and I wouldn't have a conflict about it.
"Alright. Back to you Fel." I turned to Félix. "There's a clear difference between you and Champion Red. You want to know what it is?"
Félix nodded.
"He's a living legend who has completed the International Pokédex across multiple regions and owns the strongest Pokémon League currently." I said. "There are documented records of him going silent on his official account for extended periods and people losing their minds waiting for him to come back. That's the level of presence he operates at."
I leaned forward. "You're just a Rank Z trainer who just learned what type advantages were this morning. Do you really think you can compare?"
Félix stared at his long blond hair for a moment then he exhaled.
"You're right." He said. "I'll get it cut."
"Good." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "The woman who did mine will handle it. She's good, she'll fix that emo situation you have going on and give you something that actually works with your face."
"We'll need new clothes too." I chimed in but all of that cost Pokédollars and not to be rude but a trainer still in Rank Z would barely have Poké in his account.
Félix's face fell slightly.
"I can't afford all that."
"Don't worry." I placed my other hand on my chest. "I've got you. I'll lend you the money."
I cleared my throat. "Thirty thousand Pokédollars borrowed, three hundred thousand paid back. It's not that steep."
Naveen looked at me and Félix looked at me too.
What? I was being generous and doing business.
"Alright." Félix said.
Naveen put his face in one hand slowly.
I almost laughed out loud. Even Naveen… who was sharp about most things wouldn't touch a loan at a 1000% interest rate.
Who genuinely would be dumb enough to borrow at that rate... other than the blondie of course?
But Félix had agreed to it without even pausing to think about the math.
I was being generous enough to lend him money from my salary so he should be generous to give me such a large interest, I was making an investment now… Even if Félix didn't manage to become a strong Pokemon trainer, the change in style will most certainly land him a rich sugar mama since he didn't look bad and then we could share the inheritance together.
"Perfect." I said warmly. "Nav—"
My alarm went off.
I had set it to give me enough time to get to the dance school before 10am. Better early than late with Lida already in a complicated mood with me.
"I have to move." I adjusted the Riolu egg incubator against my stomach and settled Ralts back on top of my head. "We'll sort everything else later. Félix… start on your type advantages today."
"I'll handle it." Naveen gave me a small salute.
I returned it and took off running.
Even with the weight bands adding resistance to every step I was making real distance now… my legs had been adapting over the past few days.
Still, Bleu Sector 3 wasn't close and I had a time to keep.
I hailed a cab on the boulevard and it stopped.
I got in the front seat, adjusted myself around the incubator, and found Zach behind the wheel.
"Where would you like to go, Paxton?" He asked and I pulled out my phone to open Rotom Maps which was an app that allowed you to see the full maps of the current city you were in and could even be maximized for the whole region.
It was a solid replacement to what the Kanto trio had been using back in the day, Town Maps is crazy.
"So I want to head to… uh… L'Académie? de… Mouvement Libre. Yeah." I said, I was having a bit of trouble pronouncing the names.
"L'Académie de Mouvement Libre." Zach repeated it correctly without effort. "That'll be ₽710."
I felt the urge to get out and run there anyway just on principle.
"Rara~" Ralts yelped at the price. Fletchling made a similar sound as well and I patted them both on the head.
"Alright." I said. "Take us there. Put on some music."
Zach switched through gears like we were entering a race, flipped an outdated-looking switch on the dashboard music box with genuine enthusiasm, and the car pulled away from the curb at the legal speed limit while something played through the speakers and he began singing along.
That was on me. What taste did I expect from a man whose entire life philosophy was that taxis should be the only mode of transport in existence?
…
"L'Académie de Mouvement Libre." I said, standing outside on the pavement. "There it is."
It was a bigger building than I had expected.
With a stone exterior that was older than everything next to it, it looked like the kind of building that had been here before the Urban Redevelopment started and had clearly decided it wasn't participating like Hotel Z.
The buildings alongside it were clean and modernized while this one stayed exactly as it had always been.
The brass nameplate beside the entrance confirmed it.
I made it at 9:56am which was right on time.
"New face." A voice came from beside me and I turned to find a man I hadn't noticed a moment ago.
"Oh, new face. I haven't seen you here before." Someone said from beside me suddenly and I turned my head to see a new person dressed in different usual Kalosian attire that I was used to.
The brand of his clothing was much more different than what I had been highlighted back where I bought mine, it looked like Hoenn clothing. I don't know, it just had that exotic look.
Now it sounded like I was a fanatic of clothes… sigh…
"I just came here to see Lida, she invited me over." I decided to say who had invited me over, after all, he was probably a regular here and would know what to do.
"Oh, so you're Lida's boyfriend? Goddamn, she really hit a score." He eyed me up and down and I felt suddenly uncomfortable. I didn't mind if someone was gay as long as they gayed away from me. I have straighter priorities to fulfill. "I actually came here to watch her though, she really has a small band of fans just for her."
What? Next thing Lida would say that one of them can give her a gig but she wanted to earn it herself… Why did these girls have to be so popular?
"Can we go in?" I asked and he nodded.
We went up the steps and through the entrance.
The ground floor was clean and simply arranged with coat hooks along the walls, a noticeboard with schedules and performance announcements, as well as a small waiting area with a bench and chairs near the door, and a reception desk with an actual receptionist behind it.
"Welcome to L'Académie de Mouvement Libre." She said pleasantly. "Are you here to register or to watch?"
The man with flowers put a ₽1,000 note on the desk before she finished the sentence. Apparently he did this regularly like he said.
I stepped forward.
"I was invited by Lida." I said. "I should be noted somewhere—"
"Paxton?" She opened a book. "Yes, you're listed… Official verification please."
I verified with my Rotomphone and we were heading up the staircase. Apparently, I got to sit in Seat 6.
"Recommended guests get front row." The man with the flowers said. "Lucky."
The second floor hit you differently from the ground floor.
The first thing that caught my eyes were high ceilings. The pale hardwood floor had a slight give underfoot that felt like it was absorbing impact.
A ballet barre ran along two of the walls at hip height, the wall facing the entrance was entirely mirrored floor to ceiling and a row of chairs had been arranged against it… maybe thirty seats, some already occupied by people who had clearly been here before and knew where to sit.
On the opposite wall, tall windows brought the morning light in cleanly, it was the kind of light that made everything look properly lit.
The instructor was an older woman near the windows.
She held a cane in one hand and tapped it against the other at intervals. She had glanced at us when we came in and then looked away, which seemed to be as much acknowledgment as she gave visitors.
A pianist sat at an upright piano in the far corner playing for them.
The dancers were in the center of the room. All eight of them were in practice clothes and working through a sequence together.
Lida was among them with her hair pulled up, and the posture completely different from the girl who brought pancakes to the dining table every morning.
Her back was straighter and her attention was forward. She had a focus on her face that I didn't see at Hotel Z.
She didn't look at me when I came in and I took Chair 6.
"Oho so Lida finally invited someone?" The person from Seat 5 whispered to me, he was talking but it sounded like a whisper over the music. "Tell me, are you the boyfriend she was talking about?"
So Lida was calling me her boyfriend? I was flattered… but if she was doing this to avoid the unwanted male attention then I couldn't blame her but shouldn't she tell me so I could ease into the act first.
"Yeah." I said back and the man nodded while extending his hand for a handshake.
"I'm Miles… the Boyfriend of Dancer Mika who is Number 5, I can understand the troubles of dating someone that wants to dance regionally." Miles said, "The distance will most especially be an issue sometimes especially once they get signed but don't panic… It's just usual over here."
Well I could understand him, if Lida was getting gigs across regions then she would stop making me breakfast to attend those gigs. Besides, doing a long-distance relationship is nice though it requires a whole lot of trust.
"Now let's watch the show."
…
An hour passed like that.
They went through run-throughs while the Instructors delivered corrections in two sentences or even fewer with applause from the chairs at intervals.
The instructor stopped one sequence three times in a row on the same exact moment which was a transition where one of the dancers in the second row was coming in half a beat late without raising her voice.
On the third attempt it landed right and she walked on without acknowledging it… That was apparently a compliment in this hell.
At some point I realized I had been genuinely watching the whole time without once reaching for my Rotomphone.
That was new, my attention span had been patchy since arriving in this world with too much happening at once and too many new things to process but this dance made me focus on them a lot,. maybe it was the music or maybe it was just watching Lida have a bit of fun because she smiled a lot of times while dancing.
The instructor tapped her cane at the wall and turned away.
"Change your clothes and get out." She said, walking back toward the staircase. "Practice more… The day is coming."
She went downstairs.
The room exhaled.
People in the chairs stood, some moving toward the dancers immediately and some waiting. A full cascade of applause broke out properly now and the dancers came off their final positions.
The doors from the staircase opened almost immediately and people poured in.
Apparently the visitors from outside waited until class ended before entering. Within thirty seconds the space around the dancers was completely occupied.
"Lady Mirabel, that was an amazing performance, please take these—"
It was a simp fest… with full commitment, flowers and everything. Was this standard in Kalos? I was genuinely asking.
Lida received several sets of flowers from different directions, her head going slightly pink from the attention then her eyes found mine across the room.
She walked over while a girl beside her kept moving with her, she was blond-haired and I could practically feel the trouble coming from her.
"Are you Lida's boyfriend?" The blonde arrived in front of me before Lida could. "You're so handsome… where'd you get that haircut? What skincare are you using? Share share."
I appreciated the acknowledgment of the cut and I also noticed the number 5 on her practice clothes so shouldn't her boyfriend be her main priority? Miles was right there.
Lida bumped her to the side with a firm shoulder.
"Pax—" She started, looking at me.
Her voice came out smaller than usual. "I… uh…"
"What did you even do to make confident Lida stutter?" The blonde, Mikae evidently looked at me with genuine curiosity. "Is the sex goo—"
"Mika!" Lida and Miles both said at the exact same time.
Mika exhaled like she had just been asked to do something deeply unreasonable.
I decided immediately that the smartest thing I could do for my long-term peace of mind was to never have a sustained conversation with this person.
Not because she was bad but just because engaging with her seemed like the kind of activity that would burn energy and sanity too.
Lida grabbed my hand and pulled upward, almost taking Ralts off my head with the motion.
"Pax, let's find somewhere quiet." She said.
There was a staircase at the far corner of the studio that some of the dancers were already retreating through.
The regulars in the chairs didn't follow which made me guess it was staff only or something.
We went up to the third floor which was a corridor of numbered doors with each one closed. So these were changing rooms, huh? Why would Lida pull me into a changing room?
Lida opened the door to Room 6 and I revised my guess immediately.
It was a miniature dorm room with a small bed, desk, a mirror on the wall, and even a hook behind the door. It was really small though.
She stepped inside, took the flowers she'd been handed and put them directly into the waste bin which was already half full of other flowers from other sessions without breaking stride.
The bin being that full told me this happened regularly and she wasn't even slightly moved by it.
I set the Riolu egg down carefully on the desk. It was noticeably heavier than when I'd started carrying it this morning which felt like a good sign.
Ralts settled next to it and examined it with mild interest as I reached back to close the door.
Before I fully turned back around, Lida stepped backward and pressed herself against me with her ass to my crotch and I processed what was happening in real time.
"Huh… Lida, what's going on?"
Yes… a good question, why was she pressing her ass against me? While saying nothing?
"You… You told me you liked my butt, didn't you?" Lida finally talked and even her voice sounded embarrassed as well which was cute.
"Of course I did."
She didn't answer immediately as her ears were red.
"Then why…" She pressed against me slightly harder. "When you were carrying Taunie last night, you were holding her butt and you kissed her forehead."
Lida exhaled.
"Pax. Do you not like me anymore? I didn't do anything wrong so why are you—"
"Come on Lida." I said. "Let's actually talk about this."
I said but come on, I'm a guy that misses attacks not opportunities. She pressed up harder against me and placed the back of her head on my chest, her face was red like a tomato.
This was oddly… stimulating.
"Are you jealous?" I asked and she paused.
"A little." She said quietly.
Sure we've only known each other for a few days but hey, there was a thing called love at first sight so I couldn't blame her.
"So you have to do everything you did with Taunie with me instead." She said. "Or…"
She paused, seeming to be working herself up to the ultimatum. "Or… Or… I won't stop pressing against you."
I stood there for a moment.
Was she threatening me with a good time?