Dreams of Dazzling the Stage! (Serverus Snope and Monarchy)

[Serverus Snope]

@Monarchy;

Seth Silva, a kid from Unova determined to become the coolest trainer alive, has arrived at Snowpoint City with lots of motivation but only half an idea of what to do with it. All he has is directions to his contact: Quinn Orfield, a local teen who wants to finally put his dreams of becoming a Coordinator into action.

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"Okay. We're here, we settled in with my host family, and nobody pickpocketed me on the way here. Time to-" Seth was about to slip into excitement, but then he remembered something very important missing from his plans. The thought sent his face on a collision course with one of his palms. "Oh yeah. Don't know what I'm gonna do yet." Seth took used the same hand to fish out the note and read over it again. According to the meticulously-written directions, his destination shouldn't be much further away. He jammed the note and his hand back into the pocket of his dark skinny jeans.

It was off-season in Snowpoint City. The blanket of snow that usually draped the city had melted away months ago. The rich burgundy roofs of the warm-colored buildings shone proudly, no longer obscured by snow. The usually icy trees were fully green and the formerly frozen-over rivers flowed freely once more.

But Seth cared little for the scenery. Not when he had something to prove. Not when he had a reputation to uphold... or create.

 

[Monarchy]

"Lake Acuity is particulalry great to visit if you have time, the views are great with the winter snow now completely disappeared, and if you're lucky - there's a legendary Pokemon that you could spot."

Quinn Orfield, a sixteen year old boy, spoke behind a desk to an elderly couple. Quinn worked at the hotel that belonged to his family, a small but homely building that resided in Snowpoint City. Today was going to be the last day that he would be behind that desk for some time, for he had finally decided it was time to take on Contests and become a Top Coordinator.

"Quinn ... honey?" shouted a sweet voice. Down the long corridor walked up a short female, light brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. "Quinn, there you are, you better get changed out of this uniform. I can't believe I'm seeing my little boy go. I'm going to miss you, the regulars are going to miss you" ranted the middle aged female.

"Mum stop! You're embarrassing me" blushed Quinn as he quickly turned away from the elderly couple he had served just moments ago as a deep crimson emerged throughout his face.

"Oh nonsense, look at you my pretty boy, now go, get changed and make sure everything is packed" ordered Quinn's mother, pinching his cheeks before nudging him down the corridor. Quinn walked slowly down the hallway, reminiscing many of the memories that were made at the hotel whilst also thinking of the nickname his mother just used. He was used to the pretty boy comments, something guests would sometimes compliment him on and soon after a phrase his mum used to nickname with. He had his mother's features; lengthy, light brown hair that fell past to his ears and a pair of dazzling, brown eyes.

After a short while, Quinn had changed out of his uniform and into a green and black outfit topped off with a cap. He walked through a pair of glass doors that led into a communal garden and sat down on a little bench. "I can't wait to do this' he said to himself, looking up at the sky as he leaned back on the bench, 'if only dad was here..."

 

[Serverus Snope]

After following the directions to the letter, Seth came across a small hotel. "This is it. Just play it cool..." Seth double-checked everything on his body to make sure he was properly pulling off his punkish style. High-top canvas sneakers... form-fitting jeans... black fingerless gloves... a skull T-shirt (plus a rolled-up long sleeve undershirt as an extra touch)... and a bright crimson Accelgor-styled neckerchief. The crown jewel of his outfit when he can't wear his other crown jewel!

Yup, everything was in order... except for his hair. He had to carefully adjust his messy brown hair for maximum mysteriousness. It was already covering his right eye, but mysteriousness min-maxing was something he couldn't afford to avoid.

After some fuss with his hair, the tan-skinned teen moved toward the hotel's entrance. Good thing he didn't remember seeing the trainer he was looking for outside, he figured, or else all that fixation on his look would have been awkward.

 

[Monarchy]

"Quinn, I think he's here!" Quinn's face turned towards the glass doors surrounding him as he heard the distant, faint shout of his mother. He gulped as he got off the bench and walked through the garden that was in the middle of the hotel.

"Thanks mum, I'll go see him now" smiled Quinn. He slowly approached the entrance of the hotel, but stopped at a wall mirror in which he took the time to take of his cap, ruffle his hair and just check that he was presentable. First impressions always were important, and he didn't want to look shabby of all days. With one final glance, Quinn left the main reception and approached the boy waiting outside.

"Hello, you must be ... Seth, right?" Quinn asked as he stepped down the front stairs of the hotel and walked closer to the boy. Quinn flashed his white smile and his brown eyes dazzled as the sun hit his face once he stepped off the final step. "My name's Quinn, it's a pleasure to meet you and I can't wait to get to know you" he continued, flicking his hair as his fringe fell across his face whilst sticking a hand out for a handshake.

 

[Serverus Snope]

The trainer Seth would be traveling with was about to make his debut. And he was already coming down the stairs! Seth hastily leaned against the wall and folded his arms. Now that he was in position, he was ready to make his introduction and verify that he was definitely a cool dude.

"Yeah. I'm Seth" he replied, keeping his long, pointy nose turned away from Quinn. His green eyes scanned Quinn as coolly as they could. "So you're the dude I'm gonna be traveling with..." After a short moment, he got a good look at his traveling partner.

"Cool." He returned the handshake. But he had to stay cool. "Yeah... you might. You are about to travel with the coolest guy in Unova." Seth then wondered if making that claim would make him look like he was trying too hard. He remembered trying something similar in middle school. All it did was make the other person laugh. But unlike that incident, he couldn't just back off after failing here. Seth really started to hope he wasn't doing it wrong... and he hoped Quinn couldn't notice him feeling a bit jittery.

 

[Monarchy]

Quinn giggled slightly but quickly regained his composure in order to save himself as coming across rude; his mother brought him up with manners. He glanced at Seth and quickly analysed his posture and behaviour. Without saying much else, Quinn ended the handshake.

"Well don't just stand there Seth, come inside. I'm almost ready to get going. I just have a few things to collect together." Quinn walked back to the entrance, stopped and turned around before using his arms and making an 'enter' signal pointing to the doors. "Please, you first..." he said, looking back at Quinn with a smile.

 

[Serverus Snope]

Seth abruptly snapped out of his nervous stupor when Quinn invited him in. He walked into the small, homey lobby of the hotel, which felt like walking into another dimension in which hotels that are this small actually exist. Seth remembered how he grew up in the city and didn't travel much. But the places he did go on vacation to never had hotels that could actually pass for a person's home. Come to think of it, it was uncommon for him to visit a home that wasn't an apartment. Seth could get used to staying somewhere where people weren't constantly making noise outside his window after midnight... for a little while. After that, it would probably get boring.

Seth waited for Quinn's next action. Was he going to lead Seth into his room or have him wait in the lobby?

 

[Monarchy]

After walking into the lobby, Quinn gestured Seth to follow him as he walked along the wooden-floorboarded corridor, passing several rooms - all of which were on the left as they were walking the right wing of the small hotel. The right side of the corridor was covered with glass, allowing the scenic, communal garden to be visible. Going across the garden would lead to another glass wall and doors which passing through would allow entry to the left win of the hotel. However, Quinn carried on walking to the end of the corridor and turned right in a spare corner that was hidden adjacent. The door to this room differed from the other room doors that were brown; this one was black.

"This is my room, my mother has a similar one on the opposite side of the hotel" he explained to Seth, the mention of his mother made him glad they seemed to have avoided her as she wasn't at the reception. No doubt she would embarrass him in front of Seth by calling him her 'Pretty Boy' and her general love to talk a lot. "Come in..." he said, opening the door and walking inside.

The room was a modest size and fairly homely. Consistent with the rest of the hotel, it had an almost spa feel with the wooden floorboard and neutral colours. Suddenly, the sound of running could be heard as a small, triangular Pokemon peered from the side of the bed and run towards Quinn.

"Neva, there you are girl!" Quinn hugged the Pokemon as it jumped into his arms. "Seth, meet my Snorunt, Neva" introduced Quinn as he turned to face Seth again. 'She came from the mountains and kept stealing food from the hotel. I told her to leave repeatedly but she kept coming back; eventually we became friends and she just walks around the hotel like a pet" Quinn explained, laughing at the memories of him and his Snorunt that emerged in his head as he spoke.

 

[Serverus Snope]

Wait, Quinn lived in the hotel? Constantly surrounded by other people? Seth was starting to think this place wasn't so different from home after all. He wondered if Quinn ever had to deal with perpetually arguing neighbors. Seth still couldn't forgive his old neighbors for all the sleep deprivation they caused him, not even after they moved out years ago.

Seth followed Quinn into the room and felt strangely excited to see this room. Maybe the appeal of getting to see a normally off-limits room was getting to him. But he sure wasn't going to show that feeling to Quinn.

When they arrived, Seth started looking around Quinn's room. "So... uh..." Seth started to make some small talk, "where do you have dinner? If it's in the same place as the guests... That'd be awkward."

The slight sign of something stirring jolted Seth. "Wa-What's that?" Seth immediately calmed down when he noticed the running sound was just a small Pokemon... a small Pokemon he had never seen before. Apparently this one was called a "Snorunt." And unlike his situation (or most trainers' situations,) the Pokemon chose the trainer. But then he remembered an affectionate Joltik that he decided not to take home. "Hmph," said Seth, adding an obligatory smug "hmph" to hopefully distract Quinn from his previous slip-up. "So she chose you."

 

[Monarchy]

"Yeah, we've just become the best of friends ever since" Quinn laughed as he put down the Snorunt which decided to walk up to Seth and look up at the stranger curiously. Quinn was walking around the room and started to pick things up and put them into his travelling bag that was placed on top of his bed.

"Well, we do have a house, not far from here actually, just near the mountainside..." he started explaining as he picked up what looked like some Pokeballs before stuffing them into his bag. There was a long pause as it seemed Quinn looked a bit uncomfortable, but he breathed loudly before carrying on. "We go home sometimes ..." his voice started to shake slightly, but he regained composure quickly and spoke confidently once again, "but it made more sense for me and my mother to live here mostly as we're constantly busy at the hotel, however we do have a separate lounge and kitchen for staff, so we normally eat there". After finishing speaking Quinn had already circled the room quite a few times and fastened his bag shut.

"I'm ready to go I think, anything you needed to do?" he asked, placing his hand on his hip as he looked to Seth and his Snorunt.

 

[Serverus Snope]

"Oh... That works." Seth didn't seem to notice Quinn's discomfort with the subject. He didn't seem to have anything else to bring up either.

"Hmph, nope. Already ready" he replied, crossing his arms coolly... hopefully. That was the idea.

 

[Monarchy]

"That's great, let's go!" Quinn took out a a black Pokeball with a gold centre and red stripe on the top. This luxury ball was different to the others Quinn had packed.

"Neva, time to return girl" he announced, holding the ball out and in seconds, the Snorunt disappeared into the Pokeball. Quinn walked out of his room and said his farewells to his mother, making sure Seth didn't see her, before exiting the hotel. Outside the entrance, Quinn looked at Seth, "I never asked you, do you have a Pokemon?"

 

[Serverus Snope]

Quinn's question was a no-brainer to Seth. "Pft, of course I do. It gets kind of lonel-" Seth quickly stopped himself before he could bring that up. "I mean, everyone has a Pokemon. What trainer wouldn't have a Pokemon? That'd be weird, right?" He laughed nervously, hoping Quinn was still not paying attention to his slip-ups.

Seth tossed a tiny Poke Ball out of his pocket and into the air. He barely caught it with his other hand and enlarged it. This ball was also pitch black like Quinn's. But instead of a classy golden trim, this ball looked like it was attacked by a Sneasel who couldn't wait for the red paint on its claws to dry first. The button was also painted to match the design. The ball looked almost like a mouth spitting out energy when it opened and released the Pokemon within: a short, long-nosed critter with long claws.

"This is my Spade, my Drilbur. She can be a little too much to handle sometimes, but she's cool." Spade gave Quinn a cheeky grin before she clasped her claws together. Seth recalled her before she could burrow underground.

 

[Monarchy]

Quinn raised his eyebrow as Seth stopped momentarily. After listening to what followed, he just flashed his pretty boy smile as always. There was something about Seth; he was trying to come across cool and Quinn was starting to notice it. Without wanting to make Seth feel embarrassed, Quinn just ran his hand through his brown hair before viewing the Pokemon. It was completely foreign to Quinn, he had never seen a Pokemon like that before. However, before he could inspect in much more, Seth had recalled it back.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Quinn asked, flicking his hair from his face and looking around the beautiful, summery city of Snowpoint.

 

[Serverus Snope]

"That's what I- That's what I was trying to figure out." Seth had to stop himself once again, this time by (poorly) covering up his frustration. "I gotta show the world that I'm cool (I already am, but they don't know that,) but I still need to figure out how to do it." Seth got to work thinking. "Hm... I could try to become the Champion, but they'd be expecting that. And even champions can be dorks. Like the one from Hoenn."

Seth tried to think of more figurative paths he could take on this journey. He'll think about literal paths next.

 

[Monarchy]

Quinn could start to see Seth slipping up. "Hey buddy, you don't need an act around me, okay?" he said supportingly. Despite not knowing Seth for long, he walked up to the boy and gave him a hug. People from Sinnoh were overly friendly compared to other regions where physical contact is sometimes misunderstood and disliked. Separating from Seth again, he smiled once more before nodding.

"Well that's settled! For you to be a Champion, let's head to the gyms and start collecting badges."

 

[Serverus Snope]

"Buddy? But we just met tod-" Seth was interrupted by Quinn suddenly hugging him. He was too bewildered by what was going on to say anything. His only response was an involuntary embarrassed blush from suddenly being hugged. After Quinn let him go, he nervously jammed his hands back into his pockets and tried to avoid eye contact. "But I... uh... I wasn't... I'm not..." his attempt to refute Quinn's claim that he was acting fell to pieces as he kept stumbling over his words.

And then Quinn put more words in his mouth, jolting him back into confusion. "Wait, we are?! Like, right now? Without thinking about any other options?" Seth couldn't even keep up his charade of coolness at this point, although he wasn't paying attention to his tone at the time. He wasn't feeling 100 percent certain on the idea of challenging the Pokemon League just yet. Sure, becoming Champion would be a good way to get a reputation for being awesome, but Seth also knew he would have to go up against some very tough opponents... a lot of them.

 

[Monarchy]

Quinn's face started to frown slightly as he noticed he had made Seth feel uncomfortable. He was kicking himself in his head. The intention was to make him feel at ease around Quinn and just normally, but it seemed that there would have to be an initial process where Seth would have to come to terms with himself. Quinn started walking off and headed in a direction that led out of the city.

"I didn't mean right now Seth, it was an option. We can start looking for Pokemon and train ourselves if we want to stand any chance" he smiled with a supportive tone. The brown haired boy seemed to walk towards a patch of grass. "Shall we see if there are any Pokemon?" asked Quinn, looking back at Seth, hoping he didn't freak out at the pace of which Quinn was going.

 

[Serverus Snope]

"Well, we're gonna need stronger Pokemon... or more of them... so why not?" Seth returned to the tone he used when he tried to convince Quinn he was cool. He kept behind Quinn as they neared a patch of grass on the city's outskirts.

His first battle would be happening soon. He felt a slight, annoying hint of nervousness trying to take over. He wanted it to go away and stop making him look bad, but part of him just couldn't help it. While there could be something cool waiting for him in the wilderness, he just hoped it wasn't something that would effortlessly steamroll his Pokemon.

 

[Monarchy]

"Watch closely Seth, I've done this just a few times" shouted Quinn as he released his female Snorunt. The Snow Hat Pokemon walked in front of the brown haired boy before noticing a small Pokemon on the left.

"Hey look, it's a Teddiursa! Let's catch it Neva; it's adorable" Quinn commanded as he rushed towards the wild Pokemon. Teddiursa noticed the human and his Pokemon and got ready to battle with them.

"Okay Neva, use Powder Snow!" Out from the mouth of the Snorunt emerged a blue, cold powder that knocked the small bear Pokemon back and on to the floor. "Great, now let's throw this Pokeball" he exclaimed loudly, aiming the ball at the fallen Pokemon. Unfortunately, one move was not even to weaken it, as the Teddiursa deflected the ball and ran off.

"Oh man, this is embarrassing" he laughed as he turned back to Seth. "I guess I didn't weaken it enough, why don't you have a try and see if you're luckier?" he asked, returning his Snorunt after a very quick encounter with the Teddiursa.