It only takes a few moments for the minor commotion that caught my attention to turn into something much larger. The conversation at our table dies out as more of the crowd seems to move past us.
"What is going on over there?" I ask as I tilt my head slightly. I attempt to listen through all the building noise, but it is already at a low roar to my sensitive ears and drowns out any coherent words.
"No idea…" Flannery answers as she looks over, looking just as lost as me.
"I heard mention of a Champion, but I wasn't able to catch anything else."
"Ah, I think I know what this is about," Eira says a moment later. "I had heard that Champion Cynthia's little sister was exploring Kanto this year. She won her first circuit in Unova last year, and rumors are that she is planning on doing the Champion challenge."
"Cynthia has a sister?" I ask quietly. In my fading knowledge of the Pokemon series, Cynthia did not have family outside of her grandparents.
"Don't you use the Pokeforums? It was the biggest news last year, and you could hardly go anywhere online without seeing mention of it." Eira raises a well-manicured eyebrow at me, which causes my cheeks to heat up under her gaze.
"Ah, um… I didn't start using the forums until recently. Grandpa wouldn't let me, as I was busy doing school work, training, and helping around the lab."
"Lab?" Rosse asks with a curious tone as we pull our attention away from the crowd. Not like we could see anything over there anyway.
"My grandfather is Professor Oak," I answer sheepishly. I notice Eira and Rosse's eyes grow in shock before I continue on, "he raised my siblings and I after our parents disappeared. Due to this, he made sure that we at least completed our schooling."
"Seems like this cruise is just full of little celebrities this time~" Eira says with a teasing lilt to her voice, which causes me to let out a small whine in protest.
"Ugh... This is why I don't mention my last name outside of official venues. It always draws attention."
"It could be worse… I mean, at least you don't have that." My spicy lover says cheerfully as she motions towards the crowd. My returning whine causes her to smirk at me and bump her shoulder against mine, causing Eira to coo at us.
"Well, now that you know about me, what about you two?"
"I'm here on vacation~" Eira tells us as she flings her arms out in a jubilant manner. The sharp motion made her large white peaks jiggle tantalizingly and drew our eyes to them. She smirks at our reaction before continuing. "It took me almost two years to save up enough time off to be able to travel. Granted, I get to travel for my job, but it isn't quite the same."
"What she means is that she is a Ranger in Hoenn most of the time," Rosse added a moment later, causing Eira to throw a cute pout in her direction. "It's actually how we met; we are partners in all the ways that matter." She holds up her left hand that has a beautiful platinum band on it with an assortment of tiny stones embedded in it in a knot-like fashion.
"I didn't realize you two are married," Flannery says with a bit of interest leaking through. "How long have you two been together?"
"Two years as of today~" Eira answers with a sing-song voice.
""Happy anniversary!"" The two of them smile at us with a knowing smile as we congratulate them in sync.
"So, is there any news from home?" Flannery asks a few minutes later. "I am from Lavaridge and my grandfather is the current Gym Leader there."
"Oh! You are Flare's granddaughter? How is the old codger doing? Last I saw of him was during a poetry reading a few years ago."
"Of course you did…" Flannery says with a heavy sigh. "He was doing fine last time I spoke to him. He was gearing up for the season before I left. I haven't spoken to him since the season started, though. Which is normal for him."
"You never mentioned that your grandfather was a Gym Leader. Seems like I'm not the only one with a famous grandparent~" I tease Flannery, prompting a blush to appear on her cheeks.
"He isn't nearly as famous as yours!" She rebukes quickly. I just give her a very mature answer by sticking my tongue out at her.
"You two are just perfect for each other." Eira coos while Rosse giggles nearby, "as for news from Hoenn… There have been some reports of two different groups of environmental activists. One for keeping the sea clean and another with a concentration on the land. Other than that, it's as peaceful as always."
"No news is good news most of the time. Nice to hear that nothing major has happened. " Flannery responds with a smile as she relaxes into me.
"That is a solid mindset to have when you live somewhere peaceful. As a ranger though, no news usually means bad news." Rosse tells us a moment later. "But enough of that! The only other news I have is from Unova and the protests for Pokemon rights that seem to be escalating. There isn't much to share about it as it is halfway across the world from us and shouldn't have any impact on us unless they decide to go international."
My head tilts slightly at that last batch of news as something about that seems rather familiar. I tilt my head back and stare at the sea of stars above as I try to remember the few Pokemon games that I played all those years ago. I know that Firered was based in Kanto, Emerald was Hoenn, Platinum was Sinnoh… for some reason, I can't seem to remember the other games. I know that the last two games that came out are for the Alola and Paldea regions, but the names or plots of those games are missing from my memories. Suddenly, I get bumped from the side, breaking my train of thought.
"What ya thinkin' 'bout babe? I was starting to wonder if you were gonna float away with your head up in the clouds." Flannery asks as I start to blink owlishly as I try to get my brain to refocus on the surroundings.
"Uh…" I answer intelligently as my brain refuses to cooperate in a timely manner. "Oh, I was just thinking about what Rosse said is happening in Unova. I thought I knew something about it, but I was coming up blank. It is gonna bother me later when I finally remember what I forgot."
"I'm sure you will remember eventually." She gives me a slight shrug before continuing, "while you were pondering the intricacies of the universe, our tablemates decided to call it a night."
"Oh…"
"Yeah, oh… Don't worry though, I secured an invitation to hang out again while we are on the ship."
"You're the best!" I give her a quick hug as she preens at my praise.
"You know it~ Now, how about we call it a night and test the bed in our room?"
"You don't need to ask me twice. I've been worked up all evening." She just gives me a salacious grin as she slips out of her seat and starts walking towards the door, making sure to give her steps some extra sway, giving her tail some extra swing. I take a quick moment to enjoy the view before I quickly follow my fiery lover.
The scent of warm spices, brine, and sunlight is the first thing my brain registers as it slowly awakens from the pleasure-induced sleep from the night before. A moment later, a breeze caresses my skin, prompting me to snuggle into my wonderfully warm girlfriend as she continues to sleep.
After a few blissful minutes, I finally decide to join the world of the living and get out of bed. Being careful not to wake my sleeping mate, I slip from between the silken sheets, rumpled from our activities a few hours prior, and slowly stretch my muscles in the bright sunlight. With a relieved groan, I relax all my muscles and stand there like a limpet for a moment, just getting my body to wake up as well.
I lazily look around the room, taking note of our clothes and outfits thrown about the room before spotting our pokeballs sitting neatly on the small coffee table with our bags. I happen to see a brochure sitting on the table as well, my curiosity getting the better of me as I quickly open it to see what it is about. A quick glance informs me that these are the rules for the cruise, most of which are common sense, but a few special positions do stick out.
For one, there is a limit to the number of Pokemon a trainer can have out, which is only one, as well as the size of the Pokemon. They only allow Pokemon that are no more than 1.1 meters tall and weigh forty kilograms or less. The next major rule is that battles aboard cannot use high-powered or terrain-modifying moves, as these types of moves could easily cause damage to the ship and potentially sink it.
I make sure to double-check the rules before nodding to myself and reaching over to my pokeballs. I poke the release for Skadi's pokeball, and with a quick burst of red light, my little ice fox appears. I quickly crouch down and scoop her up, burning my face in her pleasantly cool fur.
"Pix~! Vulpix Vulpix."
"Hey sweetie, I'm happy to see you too. Sorry you had to stay in your ball yesterday," I whisper to Skadi as I use my fingers to brush her fluffy tails. We cuddle together for a few minutes before I step out onto the balcony, enjoying the freedom to not get dressed. The two of us just stand there watching the waves, enjoying the quiet time to ourselves. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a pair of deck chairs that I did not notice last night and make my way over to them. I sit down and set Skadi into my lap and close my eyes, basking in the golden rays of sunlight as I lazily pet my companion, who is letting out little noises of bliss.
Before long, I can hear tiny snores coming from Skadi as she seems to melt into my lap. However, before I can really start to enjoy morning for a second time, I get a new notification on the edge of my sight. Now that I think about it, my system has been rather quiet for some time now. I think around Bill's house is where I last saw anything. However, this indicator is slightly different; the usual indicator I had seen was like a blinking red escalation point letting me know I had a new notification. This new one though, is shaped like a letter with a yellow caution symbol on it. Out of curiosity, I focus on the icon.
[Notice to user: Frost Oak.]
[Your Beta trial has officially ended. You've been among the very first to experience the Gamer-lite system, and that's something really special. Having people like you on board gave us the chance to learn, improve, and build a better experience for everyone. We hope you enjoyed exploring the features, testing things out, and maybe even finding a few quirks along the way.]
[If you would like to continue using this system, please contact your sponsor.]
My brain suddenly screeched to a halt after reading the message on the screen. I just sat there frozen, blinking owlishly as I mentally re-read the message a few more times. My system was a beta version!? I look at the screen one more time, and at the bottom I notice a pair of buttons, one reading 'Thank you' and the other with a phone symbol on it. Mentally, I select the call option… maybe Yuna would be able to tell me what is going on.
[Call sponsor.]
[Ring…]
[Ring…]
[Ring…]