Tales of

Sinnoh

Nero abruptly came to a stop as a door flew open, followed by two people. A drunk couple, both tumbling through the door, only barely remaining on their feet. They laughed as they clung to each other, saying how stupid they must have looked. With a concerned look on his face he looked at both of them and they returned the gesture only less serious. Something that sounded like an apology came out one of their mouths before they continued stumbling forward.
After one quick glance at the club, he also carried on. He never felt the urge to attend one of those parties, they always were too loud and too busy.

His eyes went up to the roofs where he barely got a glimpse of Cleo who was making her way over the tall buildings. She gave him no other option than to follow her through the night, no matter how tired his legs were. If he could be certain that she would return once she’s finished her round, he would have let her go on her own, but there was no saying what she would do when left unsupervised.

They ended up in an alley that was connected to the club but was fairly empty apart from one lonely figure against the wall. Nero’s hands were hidden in the pockets of his coat to keep them from freezing. No matter what he did, his hands were always cold and the evening air only made it worse. “Everything alright?” he asked with a tilt of his head, almost in a bird-like manner.

The loud voice was not what he expected and it startled him too. His yellow eyes widened for a second as he straightend his back and stared at the man. He did not mean to sneak up to him, but that was exactly what happened apparently. With his dark clothes, light steps, it didn’t really come as a surprise actually. “Only when it’s night time?” A failed attempt at a stupid joke. Still, he forced one corner of his mouth up, in something that resembled a smile. It didn’t stay on his face for long and disappeared when he cleared his throat. “What I meantto say is, sorry,” Nestor apologized.

The stranger didn’t look too good. Given that he was leaning against the club, Nero could already guess why he was like that. “So uhm-,” he started and looked down at his own feet for a moment when the other also looked away. Somewhere on the roofs above them, he heard Cleo, which was a very good thing. At least she didn’t take this chance to run away. “You sure you’re alright?” The first time he never got an answer, but maybe this time he would. Although, the answer still might surprise him, given the state the man was in.

This was exactly why he prefered to keep to himself. Not everyone was happy when you tried to help, as this man showed him once again. The claim that it was doing spectacular, made Nestor raise one eyebrow. “Right.” He made a mental note not to approach drunk people, again.

Nestor looked bewildered when the man started to speak again, again not giving an answer and instead- insulted him? He blinked a few times, trying to process everything. This must be the alcohol speaking. Right? That didn’t change the fact that he was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable and right now he wanted to turn around and disappear into the night again. If it wasn’t for Cleo who was Arceus knows were, he’d done it.
“Yeah, sure, of course, uhm- Does that mean, no?” Ignoring everything the man just said was the wiser option. Nestor had grown up with four siblings, over the years he’d learn to ignore those kinds of comments. “That must be quite the party. Have you been inside?” he asked with a nod towards the building, trying to change the subject. Everything was better than to talk about himself really, and the stranger seemed to think the same thing.

They were getting nowhere, both more or less ignoring each other's words. It was when the stranger started moving, that Nestor became a little tense. The man had given him no reason to trust him. “Would it change anything if I said yes?” He asked with raised eyebrows and a slight tilt of his head. The answer was, in fact, yes but only because of Cleo. For some reason she liked going out at this hour. His eyes drifted back to the roof, hoping that she was still there somewhere. It was too dark to actually see anything up there.
This time it took some effort not to sigh at the next comment. It wasn’t obvious if it was meant as another insult or simply an observation. “No offense taken. Can’t say you’re wrong, that’s why I was asking you. You do seem like the type that enjoys a wild party.” His yellow eyes found the man’s dark brown ones. A long time ago he’d thought about attending one of these kinds of parties, but he never actually made it inside. It didn’t look like he was missing out on something anyway.

Nestor couldn’t say he felt very welcome here and he played with the thought of leaving without saying anything else. That was before the stranger’s invitation. “Excuse me?” he said surprised, immediately looking at the large building. Inside the loud music was still playing. Saying no was not his strong point and already he started doubting what he would do. “I’m not sure,” he said doubtfully. Nestor didn’t want to, yet a part of him was curious. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he thought it was.
No. It was a horrible plan to go inside, especially with this man. Slowly he shook his head underneath his hood. “I’ll have to find Cleo first, and I don’t know where she is so it might take a while,” he blurred out while scratching behind his ear, something he always did when he wasn’t exactly telling the truth. It was a good excuse, even though finding her was not a problem. A loud shriek sounded from above them, making Nestor clench his jaw. He knew exactly who made that horrible noise, probably because he mentioned her name. Right now, Nestor wished he could disapear.

That pokémon was only here to make his life more difficult, or impossible even. Defeated he looked at the sky. A purple silhouette flew down and landed between them, looking pleased with herself. Did she know that he didn’t want her to come? Probably. Otherwise she wouldn’t have come this willingly. “So it seems,“ he breathed, keeping his eyes locked on the pokémon. The Gligar made happy noises and - was she laughing?

Nestor didn’t trust her enough to let her roam around at night on her own, it wouldn’t be beyond her to fly away. He grabbed her ball and he was surprised to see that she willingly went inside. Getting bullied by his own pokémon, that was the saddest thing he’d heard all week. “Uhm- where do we enter?” Hesitantly he looked back at the stranger with a forced smile while putting away the pokeball.
Five minutes. Only five minutes and then he would leave again. There were probably a lot of people inside, making it easy for him to sneak away and leave again. The stranger probably wouldn’t even notice it if he left.

Did he hate himself right now? Oh absolutely. One word was all he needed to get out of this situation and still he managed to screw up. He really had to learn to say no.
The backdoor flew open revealing two other drunk people. With a disapproving look, he gazed at them. He already knew more of those people were inside and he really wanted nothing to do with them.
The stranger moved to the door and used his foot to hold the door. Already he could hear the music more clearly now that the door was open and it was too loud for his liking. As the man yelled they could go through there, he forced a smile on his lips and entered.

Once inside he could immediately tell it was too hot to wear a coat, leaving him no other choice than to take it off. The music was even louder and there were people everywhere. He could only follow the other man to what he assumed was the bar. While Nestor did that, he kept looking around, searching for the exit but couldn’t find it. So much for his escape plan.

Nestor sat down at the barstool, putting down his coat over his legs. Before he could even interrupt, the man had ordered two drinks he had never heard of but he doubted it was something without alcohol. The uncertainty shone in his eyes as he looked at the stranger who looked to be in his element.
He probably looked as uncomfortable as he felt, not knowing where to keep his hands or even look. The music drumming in his ears. Even without his coat, it was too hot in here.
The voice he recognized to be the stranger made him look at him again. “Nestor,” he answered and he soon came to the realization he wasn’t speaking loud enough. “I am Nestor,” he said louder. Two drinks were placed before them, but he was hesitant to take one. “What’s that?” he gestured towards the glasses.

One drink and he would leave. There were enough people here for the other to bother, there was no reason he should stay. By now he was already used to the snarky comments the other made. “Close.” Another attempt at something of a stupid joke. “And what is your name?” While he was stuck here, he could at least try to make it somewhat pleasant.

The plan was to take one small sip, but accidentally he drank more. His throat started burning when the liquid went down and he wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. “That’s a lot of alcohol,” he said, sounding more hoarsely than he wished. There was probably less alcohol in than he thought, but for him, every drop was too much. “It’s not too bad,” he continued when he had recovered. He was not lying, the taste was good but he wouldn’t order it again.
Although he should probably take his time drinking, he took another sip. The burning worsened again, making him cough. “But strong.” Nestor held one hand against his chest. He had never even touched a beer, of course, this would be too strong for his liking. It probably wouldn’t take long before a soft blush would reach his cheeks. And was it getting hotter here?

“How many did you already have?” the young man asked as he raised his glass a little. The man had looked quite drunk already when they first met so he was curious how well this man could hold his liquor. He feared one was more than enough for him.

Everyone could see that Spencer had more than a few drinks, but he would not judge. The man could still stand up and walk in a straight-line last time he saw. Who was he to judge? “And only casmo-cosmo, cosmap- only these or other drinks too?” Quickly he raised his glass to show what he was talking about. For the life of Arceus he couldn’t remember what the thing he was drinking was called. It was something long.
Nestor was not great at making small talk, but the other did not seem to have any problem with it. “What am I?” he repeated confused. Quickly he looked at his glass to make sure it was not empty yet. And it was not, so he could not be drunk. “I don’t think I understand what you mean by that.” The words were repeating themselves in his head. “Like, am I a trainer?” The head tilt was back as he looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes. There were a lot of possible options and he did not know which answer Spencer was expecting. He brought his glass to his lips and took another sip to give himself something to do.

The question caught him off guard, mostly because he had no idea what answer Spencer was expecting. There was so much he could say, but most of it would not be the correct answer. He slightly narrowed his eyes when he heard the question again that was still as confusing as before until he got a better explanation. “Yes.” That answer would not be enough for the other to understand what he meant. “I am. A trainer that is, not a coördinator,” he nodded at that. Nestor never understood why anyone wanted to become a coördinator. There were too many eyes on you during every show.
Every time he took a sip, his throat was slightly burning, which was an unpleasant feeling though most seemed to enjoy it. Nestor only needed to finish this one drink and then- look at that, it was almost empty already. “Is it normal it does something funny to your head,” Nestor asked, looking up at Spencer while rotating one finger in the air, indicating that the world was starting to feel a bit- lighter? Was that how he could describe this feeling? The world around him was not yet spinning, yet it was different from what he was used to. Even the music was less noisy and more of a pleasant sound accompanying him. “I’m not sure if I like this,” he decided as he looked around before his amber eyes drifted back to Spencer.