Chapter Text
Penny thought she was going to be sick. At least this time, it was all physical. She'd gotten carsick on the train ride from Wyndon to the Isle of Armor, despite the copious amount of anti-nauseants she'd foolishly imbibed, thinking it'd save her from her suffering. Unfortunately, the universe had cursed her rather thoroughly with carsickness, so it barely did anything to help.
She sat down just outside the train station on the grass, Sylveon bursting out of her Poke Ball to comfort her. She probably didn't even need her special abilities to know Penny was feeling sick, it was very easily predictable. She rubbed her body against Penny's knee and gently wrapped her feelers around her wrists, with one checking her temperature.
"...and that big fat oaf was supposed to meet me there, but here I am, chasing his tail all the way to the freaking dojo..." Penny heard a girl rant, probably over the phone. Her voice was getting louder as she approached the exit, her gentle and sweet tone contrasting very heavily with the annoyance in her voice. "Mustard's gonna charge him overtime, a time and a half, I'm sure- Whoa!" The girl squealed as she tripped over Sylveon, only avoiding taking a tumble to the ground thanks to her Leavanny's swift reaction time.
"Cripes..." The girl whined, dusting her completely spotless floral dress off with her sleeves. "Oh, dear! I'm sorry, Sylveon! I should've been watching where I was going!" She cried, kneeling to the ground to scratch Sylveon's chin, who eagerly accepted the attention. "She's yours, yes?" She asked, though Penny was far from able to speak.
The girl was beautiful. Jesus Christ, why did she always have to run into beautiful women at her most vulnerable?! Mela, Eri, her, and now this girl. Her round, gold eyes stared kindly, if a little confusedly, into hers, and Penny lost the ability to function.
"U-Uh, yeah...! Yeah, sh-she's mine, she's my Sylveon, I-I raised her from an Egg..." Penny blurted out, the words escaping her mouth faster than she could stop them. "S-Sorry she tripped you! She's- I tried to sit out of the way...!" She mumbled weakly, finally managing to tear her eyes away from her.
The girl clicked her tongue, waving away all of Penny's remaining confidence. "Oh, don't worry about it. What brings you to the Isle? Specifically, sitting right there."
"O-Oh, uh... I-I, uh, I get carsick." She admitted, regretting the words the moment they left her mouth. It was so embarrassing, yet here she was, spilling it all out in front of a gorgeous stranger. What the fuck was her problem?!
"Ah, I feel you. My brother always gets sick on boats." The mysterious girl said with a kind smile, brushing some of her curly black hair out of her face. "So, I'm in a bit of a pickle. I'm trying to go to the dojo around here. Y'know, the one with the condiment owners. But I've never even been to the Isle of Armor before, so... I have no idea where to go. Can you, uh... Show me the way?" She asked hopefully, grinning as she held her hands behind her back.
"U-Uh... Gimme a minute..." Penny mumbled, clumsily standing up, leaning on the brick wall of the station for support. "I know where it is. Just- Just a few minutes away." She informed her, closing her eyes as she willed her nausea away so she could escort the beautiful girl wherever she wanted to go.
"Oh, great. So Ife was only a few minutes away from the train station this whole time, and he's still there..." The girl grumbled. "I'm Asami, by the way. And this is Loony." She said cheerily, gesturing to her Leavanny, who waved hello with its razor sharp arms. Penny was only a little bit freaked out by the Bug-type that was almost taller than her.
"P-Penny." She barely managed to choke out. "Just this way..." She muttered, pointing to the left and slowly trudging along, her nausea scaring her out of walking any faster.
"So what brings you all the way out here, Penny? I admit, the weather's quite nice, but there's not much of a beach here..." Asami murmured, tapping a long, matte goldenrod nail to her glossy lips.
"U-Uh... My Vaporeon likes the ocean out here." She stammered, looking down to the ground as they walked. She had to stop looking at Asami's face, the sheen on her caramel skin, how soft and round her face was... See, there she went again. She was always such a disaster around pretty girls at first, before she got used to just how beautiful they were. She used to be friends with a plethora of them. Mela, Eri, her-
Asami hummed thoughtfully. "I see. Sylveon and Vaporeon, and that Eevee backpack. Dare I ask what other Pokemon you have?"
"Leafeon, Umbreon, Jolteon and Flareon."
"Jeez. Where'd you find all those Eevee? I've never seen a wild Eevee." Asami remarked. "Or are you really rich and you bought them from a breeder?"
"U-Uh... Y'know, I don't know where my uncle found them..." Penny admitted. "Where'd you find a Sewaddle? I-I don't think they have those in Galar."
"Well, Loony's from Pinwheel Forest, Bebe is from Kalos Route 4, and April is from Malie Garden." Asami explained, tapping each of her Poke Balls in turn. "Oh, I should probably explain. Bebe is a Florges, and April's a Whimsicott."
Penny hummed in approval. Thankfully, she only had the one unnervingly large Bug-type. The others were nice little Fairies.
"I moved around a lot as a kid." Asami explained further. "Loony was my first Pokemon. She's a big sweetheart. There's no need to be afraid of her. I can see you shrinking away from her."
"I-I'm sorry, I'm not the biggest fan of Bug-types...!" Penny protested weakly. "A-All the legs, the eyes, the silk...!"
Asami frowned. "Loony's got as many legs and eyes as you and me. She does shoot out silk, though. From her mouth, mind you."
Penny shuddered. "I-In Paldea, they have these Spidops. A-And they're just so damn freaky, I can't even handle it. And I've never liked Orbeetle. One of 'em tried to abduct Sylvie one time." She grumbled.
"Oh, you're from Paldea? You go to Uva Academy?" Asami asked curiously.
"U-Uh... I'm from Wyndon, I just go to school in Paldea. A-And, yeah. I do." Penny muttered, feeling a bit grimy at the half-lie. She did technically still go to Uva Academy. She was heavily considering transferring back home. So it didn't quite feel like she still went.
"Oh, nice! I know a few people who go there. There's this guy who's, like, big into costume design. He's got a huge following on Palafinstagram. We follow each other, and sometimes he even likes my posts. So, we're, like, tight." Asami boasted, puffing out her chest a little. "His name's Atticus, you know him?"
Penny blinked. She certainly did know him. She knew him in ways that felt thoroughly inadequate when described in words. They were so much more than friends. All of them were. They were supposed to be forged-in-fire companions. And she supposed they probably still were. Penny, on the other hand, had been burned off the mural, excised like a wart from the inner core of Team Star. So, instead, she forced herself to lie and say, "Y-Yeah, I suppose. He's in my year."
"Fabulous! Maybe I could get you to introduce me to him for real. I think we'd make a really good pair." She gushed, and internally Penny's heart slammed into a brick wall. How was Atticus capturing Asami's attention from across the sea? How was she getting passed over for a boy who wasn't even in the region? Of course a girl that pretty would be out of her reach. Every single girl she liked turned out to be straight.
"You know, our styles are so different. I think we could really push each other in an interesting direction." Asami remarked. "You know, my designs could use a little edge. His could use a little glam. We'd make a fantastic collection together."
Penny blinked. Of course. She wasn't crushing on a guy over the Internet, because she was a well-adjusted individual. She was a fellow seamstress. Of course. She had a Leavanny, the seamstress Pokemon. She just wanted to collaborate with him. Well, then lesbianism was still on the table, wasn't it? Penny's heart managed a miraculous recovery from its prior slam into a brick wall.
"I-I'll see what I can do!" Penny said brightly as they approached the dojo. "Well, here we are...!" She announced weakly, gesturing to the old, wooden building.
"Thank you, Penny. This was very nice of you." Asami said warmly, patting her shoulder. "Hey, d'you have a Rotom Phone?"
"U-Uh... Yeah."
"Can I see it?"
Penny shrugged, and pulled it out of her pocket.
Asami then tapped her own phone against Penny's, instantly sharing their contact information between them. "There we go. Now, I can find you even when I'm not chasing my idiot brother around because he's LATE!" She yelled at the door, though her tone was very sweet whenever she was fully directing her attention to Penny. "Have fun on the beach, Penny. Try not to let your Vaporeon get stung by the Tentacruel out here. My BIG FAT OAF OF A BROTHER once got stung swimming out here, and he had to go to the emergency room."
The door to the dojo finally opened, revealing a rather sweaty man in a gi with matching brown skin and curly black hair, pushed back by a green bandana. "Oh my God, just a minute...!" He protested, flicking who Penny assumed to be his sister in the forehead before slamming the door shut once again.
"You've had a minute. In fact, you've had ninety! Ninety minutes late, Ifelewa! No wonder you can't keep a girlfriend, you're always late to every single commitment you make!" Asami scolded her brother (???) though the door. "Y'know what girls like?! Reliability. Consistency. Punctuality. They don't like flaky little manchildren!"
"I'm assuming that's your brother...?" Penny asked quietly.
"Yep. He pissed me off so bad by being late today, I literally punched a ticket to the Isle of Armor just to whack him in person." Asami grumbled, leaning against the wooden railing of the front porch. "Because, honestly. He insists on taking me to lunch because he misses his little sister, 'cause he's been away at college for so long, and he just wants to see me, and then he's LATE! How does that make any sense?!"
Ifelewa finally burst out of the door, in a white tank top and camo-print cargo pants this time. "Sorry I'm late. Mustard was just showing me-"
"I do not care." Asami interrupted bluntly. "Honestly, making me take a train all the way out here..."
"Aw, you came all the way out here for me? I knew you cared about me." He teased, ruffling his little sister's hair from his absolutely absurd height advantage. "Who's this mysterious teenage girl your age?" He asked, pointing at Penny but looking at Asami.
Asami rolled her eyes. "This is Penny. She very kindly escorted me to the dojo, 'cause you made me take a train to an unfamiliar land because of your absurd tardiness..."
"Oh! Thanks for making sure my sister made it down a straight, fifty metre path safe and sound." Ifelewa said kindly, if a little sarcastically, before turning back to his sister. "Shall we go, then?"
"Finally." Asami mumbled. "Bye, Penny! Have a nice day!"
Penny blinked. She was being dismissed like a customer after checking out, despite the fact that Asami had literally given her her number. It took her an embarrassing moment to realize she should probably say goodbye as well, much to her dismay. "U-Uh, ta-ta!" She called after them with a shy wave.
She watched as the siblings were clearly bickering all the way down the path, with Asami's Leavanny tactically positioning itself between the siblings so their argument didn't get physical. Penny thought it was cute. Something like her and Peonia would have done when they were kids.
Penny shook the thought out of her head, and instead looked at her phone. A new contact had been added to her phone. Asami Myoga. The suggested profile picture showed her with her curly hair tied up in a bun, a few pieces of her hair framing her cherubic face. Was this a school dance? She looked to have been going somewhere formal. Penny accepted the suggestion, and just stared at the contact on her phone. She was curious, Asami and Ifelewa looked so similar but their names were so different. What was up with that? Were they only half-siblings? For a fleeting moment, Penny thought of just finding out for herself, either by stalking Asami's social media or even by hacking her phone, but she quickly buried the thought. Sometimes she thought her cheek still hurt from where the last girl she'd taken such an interest in had slapped her. She'd learned her lesson, she'd take what information Asami gave her and be happy with it.
Just then, a text message popped up, obscuring Asami's picture. It was from her dad. It read, "Where did you go, Pen-Pen? We were supposed to go to the Max Lair today!" Penny rolled her eyes, and swiped it away. She may not have been as posh or as polished as some other girls, but running around inside a cave wasn't the way she'd imagined spending her summer. She just wanted to be alone. Away from her dad's scrutiny, away from Peonia's judgment, all of it. She felt eyes on her everywhere she went nowadays, back home in the region her uncle almost destroyed, back where people had known her before. Maybe people weren't staring, she could never catch anyone, but she felt like a lab Rattata nonetheless, poked and prodded so everyone could see what was wrong with her.
But another text came in, this time from Asami. She wrote, "hey !! it's me, Asami... just making sure you got my number 🩷" Penny's heart felt like it was simmering like a sauce on the stovetop as she looked at the heart emoji Asami had included. What did that mean? Was Asami flirting with her? Surely not, right? Atticus had been known to send hearts himself, and she was pretty sure he wasn't flirting with her. Besides, they'd just met, and Penny knew damn well she wasn't as instantly bewitching as Asami was. Asami was poised, delicate, her voice sounded like liquid honey, and her smile was like being blasted with sunlight. Penny was just... Penny.
Penny sighed as she returned her phone to her sweater pocket. Another day, another crush on a girl squarely out of her league. She was such a disaster. She always did this, she got so charmed by a pretty girl, quickly grew attached and had her heart squashed as they rejected her, some much more kindly than others. But against her better judgment, she texted back, "i did! this is penny btw"
Another text quickly rolled in. It was a simple heart emoji once more, again sending Penny spiraling.
Before, she'd had no idea what she wanted to do over the summer. She just knew what she didn't want to do. She didn't want to sit at home, collecting dust as the world moved on without her. She didn't want to spend another second in that damn Max Lair. And she didn't want to feel smothered under the weight of her family's well-meaning concern and their barely-hidden pity. But now, she knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to see Asami again.
Ifelewa took Asami to a mall in Wyndon, as he'd often do. If there was one thing he loved, it was a food court. He'd peruse each menu like it was all new to him, even if he'd been to that same food court a million times. It drove Asami up the wall, so she'd just taken his credit card and bought herself some pad Thai while he took his lap, considering what to eat.
He found her at the table she picked to pick up his credit card, and he ended up deciding on... Fish and chips, as always. Honestly, Ifelewa had a way of getting under Asami's skin without even trying. It wasn't even intentional, this was just what he liked to do, but it drove Asami insane.
"Are you seriously already done? How fast do you eat?!" Ifelewa cried as he sat down with his tray.
Asami shrugged. "How slow do you order?"
"Hey, I'm just making sure I'm not missing out on the next big thing. I don't leave stones unturned!" He insisted, unwrapping the paper the fish and chips was packaged in and finally diving in. "So, how did you and Penny meet? How long have you been together?"
"We're not together, you moron!" Asami squawked indignantly. "I met her ten minutes before you did! I tripped over her Sylveon, and then she showed me the way to dojo!"
Ifelewa shrugged. "Seems like the average amount of time it takes you to get into a relationship."
"Oh, you-" She hissed, before whacking him with her purse. "You are such a hypocrite. Remind me, what was your last girlfriend's name?"
"...Morgan."
"Melanie." She corrected him. "And who says I'm trying to get into a relationship with Penny? I literally only met her for ten minutes."
"And yet, she has your number! You're such a fucking Mew-Haul lesbian." Ifelewa teased. "If I catch you having her model your clothes-"
"Shut up!"
"You always love making clothes for the girls you like. You did it with Marnie, you did it with that girl who was way too old for you whose name I don't remember..."
"Klara."
"Yes, right. Scammerella. It's your thing. Honestly, I wonder if you even like these girls, or if they just inspire you. 'Cause you tend to mine 'em for all they're worth and then politely break it off." Ifelewa remarked. "I'm just saying. We're both pretty shit with women."
Asami sighed, poking her remaining pad Thai with her fork. "...Yeah, I guess so. Maybe I'm just inspired." She muttered under her breath. He had a point. It wasn't really Penny's personality that made Asami ask for her number. It was her look, the bright hair, the glasses, her soft face yet blunt haircut... She just saw an opportunity there. Really, she didn't pay much attention to what Penny was saying, she just had ideas flooding her mind.
"Well, you need a muse." Ifelewa shrugged. "If she's down to be a muse, then what's the problem? Just- I dunno, be honest about what you want from her." He told her gently. "Y'know, I've learned that the hard way."
"Several times." Asami remarked. "So, how's the training working out?"
"...You really want out of this conversation, huh?"
"Yes."
"Well, let me tell you! Mustard is such a hard-ass. He's only letting me drink water, no protein powder or nothing, and he's-" Ifelewa started, before Asami started to tune him out. Instead, her brain started running through various things she could put Penny in. She'd love to paint that bob jet black, gel it up a bit, and do a nice oil spill look with her. Her skin was so pale, the contrast with a pitch black bob would be edgy, it'd be a bit editorial... It'd be just what she was missing. She'd take some flesh-toned fabric, and drip some kind of gelatin over it, just to get that sheen looking nice and oily...
Yeah, maybe Ifelewa was right. She was just as bad as him for using women and throwing them away. But unlike him, she was much less honest about it. This time, she'd be more forthright about her intentions. Maybe she'd even pay Penny for her time. That seemed appropriate. It'd just be a nice favor between friends. Nothing more, nothing less.