"No, no, NO! The angle is completely wrong! Do I look like a commoner to you?"
Alister Nashville posed in the center of his opulent, marble-floored training courtyard, his hands on his hips. He was currently wearing a custom-tailored, pristine white cape lined with a gold trim.
My apologies, Young Master," Sebastian said, his voice entirely monotone. "Perhaps if I angle the fan three degrees to the left, the cape will achieve the desired 'heroic' effect without blowing your hair into your eyes."
"Make it happen, Sebastian! Aesthetics are half the battle!" Alister huffed, striking a dynamic pose next to his Wartortle, who was currently wearing a pair of custom sunglasses.
"Wartortle, look fierce! We must strike fear into the hearts of our inferiors!"
"Wartortle!"
Sebastian adjusted the fan, this time making the cape flow perfectly.
"Ha ha ha! Behold!" Alister laughed maniacally, throwing his head back so hard his spine popped. "The sheer, magnificent aura of Alister Nashville! The world is simply not prepared for a genius of my caliber! They will gaze upon my cape and weep from sheer admiration!"
"Well, the local neighborhood has indeed wept significantly..."
Sebastian held back his words as he inwardly sighed. He then put down the fan and brought out a sealed black envelope from his court pocket.
Alister dropped his pose, stepping off the pedestal with a dramatic flourish of his cape. "What is that, Sebastian? A love letter from one of my countless adoring fans?"
"It is an official invitation, Young Master. From the Williams family. It appears they are hosting a prestigious social gathering next month at their primary estate. It is an event curated specifically to showcase the region's prominent rising talents."
Alister's eyes opened wide as he snatched the letter from Sebastian's hands.
The name 'Williams' instantly triggered a group of traumatic, rage-inducing memories in his mind.
Alister's face turned a violent, unnatural shade of crimson, as the image of a certain little girl in a pikachu jacket appeared in his mind.
"THAT YELLOW-HOODED GREMLIN!" Alister roared at the top of his lungs,
"She dares?! She dares invite me to her domain?! This isn't a social gathering, Sebastian! This is a calculated psychological provocation! She wishes to parade her historical fluke of a victory in front of Kanto's high society! She is mocking the Nashville name!"
'He's at it again...'
Cough.
"If I may offer a alternative perspective, sir, the invitation has been given to all notable rookies of the current generation, including the likes of the Pallet Town prodigies, Red and Blue, and many other famed trainers like Erika of the Celadon Gym, Lorelei the up and coming ice type prodigy, or even Iris Belmont, from the Belmont famil--"
"Irrelevant! They are merely secondary characters, mere stepping stones for the grand tapestry of my destiny!"
Alister scoffed, waving his hand dismissively.
"This is a trap, Sebastian! A stage set by the devil to stop me from achieving my destiny! And a Nashville never backs down from a fight!"
"..."
Sebastian wanted to bang his head on the wall. But outwardly, his expression stayed the same. He would be very good at poker.
Alister began to pace around inside the courtyard, his cape flowing along with him.
"We will go to this gathering, Sebastian! We will completely dominate the social landscape! I will wear my finest outfit! We will confront that yellow demon in front of her entire family, and I will extract total, absolute vengeance on the battlefield!"
"...As expected of young master, the pride of the Nashville family. Shall I instruct the tailoring department to prepare the cerulean silk cape or the crimson velvet variant?"
Sebastian had given up.
"Both! A true genius changes his wardrobe mid-gathering to keep the enemy off balance!" Alister declared, striking another dynamic pose, his chest puffed out with delusional confidence. "Wartortle! Triple your training! We must learn how to counter that yellow rat immediately!"
"Wartortle!" Influenced by his master's enthusiasm, Wartortle, still wearing his black sunglasses, gave a war cry.
Sebastian watched the two of them sprint off toward the private battlefield, both of them shouting nonsensical battle cries about fashion and destiny into the wind.
The elderly buttler closed his eyes and sighed.
"I'm not paid enough for this. I need to confront the family head and ask for a pay rise."
Alister didn't even know that he wasn't originally invited - it was his father who requested the Williams to let him join, thinking it would be useful for the family.
---
Saffron City.
Inside one of the rooms of a large, imposing manor, a young girl with blue hair lay on her bed, with a black envelope in her hand.
She red the entire thing before putting it down at the side table near her bed.
"A gathering of prodigies, huh."
She muttered as she looked up at the ceiling.
"What do you think, Murkrow? I hate gatherings but it seems to be useful."
"Murrk!"
"You're right. We should go. I wonder...would Eric be there as well? He did make a name for himself recently..."
The girl was Iris Belmont, the same person Eric met in the Redwood torunament.
Eric had clearly casted a large shadow on her, as he was the first name that came to her mind when she heard of this event.
"Murrkrow!"
"You are right, Murkrow. We can't sit still. Let's go on our training trip!"
With that, Iris collected her things and set off for another training journey. She was quite competitive, despite her quiet persona.
---
A lot of similar things happened across Kanto as everyone relevant got their invitations. Things seemed to be building up, all pointing towards the William family's gathering.
Even though this was just a small-scale event, it was received by so much importance because of the person behind it - Seth Williams, who had singlehandedly brought the William family into the spotlight after their decline.
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Thanks for reading. Giovanni has finally made an appearance!
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