You Can't Hurry Love

Jack said goodbye to me at the Pokémon centre that night, and did not try to kiss me as he said goodbye. Instead, he went for a modest hug.

I went into the centre and said hello to Nurse Joy as I got my keys out and made my way into the room Cat and I were sharing.

She was sitting on the bed, in her pyjamas reading a magazine.

“You’re back pretty early, I wasn’t gone for that long. I thought you’d still be with Lance and Clair.” I said, digging through my large bag to get my own pyjamas.

“Apparently they go to bed early. Lame,” Cat replied bitterly, snapping her magazine shut “So I’ve been waiting for you to get back.”

“Ah, well I’m here.” I stated, getting out of my clothes and into my pyjamas in front of Cat without her even flinching.

“So? How’d the date go?” Cat grinned.

“Eh, it was alright I guess. Not the best one I’ve been on, but not completely horrible either. Not that it matters though, for both of us it was a mission.” I shrugged, finishing my transformation from clothes to pyjamas and flopping onto my bed.

“That’s good, I guess. Lance will be happy, it’s more likely to work out if the date didn’t go completely horrible.” Cat stated.

“That’s true. What did you, Lance and Clair do?” I asked Cat curiously.

“We went out for dinner. It was a really nice dinner and Lance paid. Clair was kind of quiet though, but Lance and I spoke a lot. He asked about me a lot. We seem to hit it off really well.” Cat replied, a big smile on her face.

“Aw, that’s great. I’m happy for you.” I said, putting a very false smile onto my face.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was jealous. I was not jealous that Lance the Pokémon champion dragon tamer was showing interest in her (According to her anyway) but that Lance, the good looking yet kind guy we had just known was going for her. The only date I could get was for a ‘mission’ because the guy wanted to recruit me into his cult.

Cat then began to ramble on about why Lance was awesome, and I tuned out, yet paid enough attention to see when I could change the topic.

“Are the boys still out?” I asked, once there was a lapse in conversation.

However before Cat could reply, there was some banging on the door to our room.

“Come on girls! Come and join us. We’ve had two bottles of Scotch to drink between us, the night is still young! It’ll be fun!” I heard Aaron shout through the door.

Cat and I looked at each other, before I raced to the door.

“What the hell you IDIOTS? You have a Pokémon battle tomorrow you’ve been dying for. Go to bed!” I hissed at them.

“Only if you come with me babe.” Aaron winked at me, earning a huge snort from Brent.

“Guys, go to your room. Wait for us there. We need to get some supplies from our bag to make the party amazing, then we’ll drink and watch some movies in your room, okay?” I asked the two, trying my best to refrain from sighing.

They said nothing but turned around, obviously to stumble off to their rooms.

“Are you actually going to drink with them? What the hell Emily! You have to meet up with Lance tomorrow, to tell him about what happened on the date. You also have to be up early for their battle, and to help me tell them we’re staying with Lance.” Cat whined.

“No, I’m not going to drink with them. I am however, going to make sure they go to bed. They may be idiots, but they’re still my friends. I don’t want them to fail to turn up to the match and regret it tomorrow. I’m sure if I were in their position I’d want them to do what I’m about to.” I snapped at Cat.

“Whatever. Just make sure you’re in a position to help me tell the guys tomorrow we’re staying. It won’t be an easy task and will take a lot of explaining.” Cat snapped back.

“What happened to me going on the date so you’d tell them personally?” I asked Cat.

“I was thinking that’s a little unfair you know…my task is obviously harder and it affects both of us so yeah…I think we both should.” Cat explained.

I shrugged my shoulders as I dug through my bag to get what I was looking for. I didn’t mind so much telling the guys we would not be continuing our journey with them.

I did however; dislike the fact that Cat reneged on her promise of delegating tasks – me going on the date and her telling the guys. It seemed she only wanted to do that to look good in front of Lance.

A girl who is willing to be sweet for some guy, and not for her best friend was a girl who was not to be trusted.

***

“You’re amazing. Who’s our number one top girl?” Aaron said to me, patting me on the shoulder as we walked towards Blackthorn City gym.

“Emily of course. She’s our biggest hero right now. Screw Lance, the hero of Kanto. Screw Red, the strongest of Kanto. It’s all about Emily right now.” Brent agreed.

“Aw shucks guys, as much as I’d like to say ‘you’d do the same for me’ I know you wouldn’t, so I’d say I’d want you guys to do the same.” I teased.

It was true though; those guys owed me a lot.

Last night I gave them some vitamins and painkillers to take BEFORE bed, to stop the hangover coming in the first place. I made them fall asleep by watching a movie, and tip toed back to my room.

Then at around 9am, I bought some bacon and egg sandwiches back for Aaron, Brent and Cat, mostly for Brent and Aaron to help cure any hangover or ill feelings they had.

Thanks to me, they were now ready to face Lance, not feeling any ounce of illness, fatigue or soreness, and they were ready to get their ass kicked fair and square.