Chapter 214. Elysia: I Know All of Xander's Weaknesses~
October, the turn from late autumn into early winter.
Wrapped in the chill, teachers and students at St. Freya had already switched into thick coats, and far fewer people lingered by the gardens. The once lively campus now echoed with only a faint patter of footsteps, and it was only the silhouettes cast beneath the bright lamps that proved people were still around. If nothing special happened, this bleak scene might have lasted straight through to the first snow. Only when the world turned silver and white would the teachers and students huddled in dorms and offices muster the strength to step outside.
But this late autumn was different.
By the end of September the whole campus had begun to stir. All kinds of costumed visitors from outside the school were frequently entering; on their daily walk to class, students could already see the gymnasium that had been fenced off months earlier at a glance.
The Pokémon World Championships.
From among one hundred regional Champions and Elite Four, the strongest eight would be chosen as the inaugural Eight Masters, and that honor would be engraved in the official Hall of Fame—without a doubt, the grandest festival for Pokémon players. As arguably the hottest game on the market, Pokémon had spawned clubs of all sizes right from launch, and its derivative industries stretched into every corner of society—countless people's livelihoods were closely tied to it.
A regional Champion is different from a local Champion. Weighing multiple metrics, the official Pokémon organizers divided "regions" by land area and population density, striving to pick the world's strongest one hundred competitors. For this World Championships, they were raring to go—victory or bust.
As temperatures dipped bit by bit, the campus itself grew ever hotter. Day by day, teachers and students could feel the changes. Here, the garden gained new Pokémon-themed decor. There, shops had put up Pokémon standees. Banners for the Pokémon World Championships were everywhere.
To give the audience a better experience, the whole gymnasium was expanded again; this time it could accommodate one hundred thousand people at once. The floor space, multiplied several times over, could also run ten matches simultaneously. They abandoned the idea of satellite venues—everything would be in the main arena.
At first, Theresa—pained by all the construction—had wanted to charge for tickets. But once the Gensokyo Park Plan was proposed, she quickly gave up on that idea. What are tickets, really? Better to use the Pokémon World Championships to promote Gensokyo Park in one go.
So aside from the internal tickets she reserved out of personal sentiment for St. Freya's teachers and students, Theresa gave away almost all the tickets in various forms—but not to just anyone. A portion went to celebrities and influencers she'd carefully vetted for decent reputations, but a much larger portion fell into the hands of lucky Pokémon players.
Unable to get in on this massive wave of traffic, some celebrities and influencers who didn't receive invites were naturally displeased. They tried to leverage their fanbases to call Theresa out online, demanding tickets, but she simply couldn't be bothered to reply. For a time, St. Freya's official site was flooded by hordes of celebrity fans. The result? After several consecutive "voluntary internet hiatus" statements from those same celebrities, no one dared say a word.
A giegie's face is important, sure, but a giegie's life is more important!
When Xander first saw this news, he could only sigh and shake his head. Egging fans on to curse out the granddaughter of Schicksal's Overseer—how many drinks had these newbies had? He even suspected those celebrities and influencers were brainless. A little digging would tell you who Theresa is—how did they dare?
Plenty came to curse out Gensokyo Company as well, but after this incident they all lowered their banners and kept their mouths shut. "The people have long suffered fandom culture," as the saying goes. This move detonated public opinion online. St. Freya practically stamped "not to be trifled with" across its face, and the hype for the Pokémon World Championships shot up another level, almost rivaling the Olympics' attention.
For this Gensokyo Championships, Theresa had gone all-in. Looking at those naïve, foolish college students on campus, a fire flared up in her eyes. Financial freedom for the next few decades, or going on playing the pitiable granddaughter to wring gold coins out of Grandpa—it all came down to this wave!
And so, under the gaze of the expectant masses, the day of the Pokémon Championships arrived.
...
After several days of drizzle, the skies finally cleared the day before the opening ceremony. Even now, you could catch a faint scent of moisture along the paths. Droplets fell from green leaves, and the air was fresh and pleasant. Such lovely weather turned Theresa's mood from cloudy to clear. Those endless rainy days earlier had worried her sick, reminding her of that coincidental typhoon last year. Even with all sorts of protective features added to the gymnasium, when faced with natural disasters, if it can't be held, it can't be held—there's nothing to be done. But it looked like heaven had eyes; her long labors wouldn't go to waste.
Early that morning, Xander was jolted awake by a flurry of relentless calls. Lifting his head from a sweet, soft chest, he saw the curtains drawn, the room still dim. Squinting, he groped around on the bed; the soft, sweet scent before his nose drew him in again, and he burrowed back in to nuzzle.
"Where's my phone?"
Murmuring, his lips brushed a slightly raised spot. As if he'd pressed a switch, a delicate whimper sounded above his head. A gentle arm wrapped around the back of his head and, with the lightest pressure, pressed him into that cotton-candy world.
"Hum hum~"
A pleasant voice sounded as something hard was placed next to his ear – his still vibrating phone.
Lifting his gaze, pink strands cascaded over delicate shoulders. Elysia, already awake, looked down at him, her eyes gentle as water.
Last night, using the excuse of rehearsing lines as fellow hosts, Elysia had dragged Xander to her room in front of Bronya and the others, committing the act right before them, then putting on a good show of 'moonlight script reading'.
They hadn't memorized many lines, too busy thinking about drinking milk... ahem, too busy discussing the greatness of the origin of life.
"Hello?"
With his eyes covered, Xander grew drowsy again. He burrowed deeper into that cotton candy and spoke groggily. The warm breath so close to her skin made Elysia tighten her arm around him a little more.
"Are you up yet?"
An excited voice came from the phone. Xander couldn't be bothered to move; hugging Elysia's slightly squishy waist, he drawled, "What time is it? Why are we up so early?"
"What time? It's already past seven! How can you still be sleeping? Get up, quick!!"
"It's just past seven. What's the rush…"
"You're the opening ceremony's host! We've got rehearsal this morning!!"
"Doesn't it start at nine? Let me doze a little longer~"
Recognizing Theresa's voice on the other end, Xander stayed lazy.
"Y-you—you jerk, you must be there before nine, got it?! Or I'll, I'll…"
"You'll what?"
"I—I'll tell Luna bad things about you!!"
Theresa hung up, huffing. She was already standing at the stadium entrance, watching the ceaseless bustle of staff coming and going. Thinking of how she'd been too nervous to sleep all night, she ground her teeth again. If anything goes wrong with the opening ceremony, she will absolutely tell Luna bad things about that jerk—she swore it!
Back in the room, once the call ended, Xander flicked the phone aside and let out a lazy yawn.
"Time to get up?"
Elysia's voice sounded again, but that gentle tone made him even less inclined to move. Unable to resist, he nuzzled her again and said languidly, "Let me hold you a little longer, Elysia-sis. Just five minutes."
"Really can't help you, can I~"
Her embrace grew even softer. Elysia happily narrowed her eyes.
She loved seeing Xander so dependent on her, acting spoiled towards her, just like the little brother from before, so adorable she wanted to eat him right up.
Pity, she'd already had her fill last night. Now, just holding him filled her heart with satisfaction.
She looked down at Xander for a while, noticing his lips move slightly. Immediately, her body trembled, her face flushing slightly.
The hand holding his head pressed down a little more firmly, letting Xander bury himself more comfortably. At the same time, her other hand reached out and gently pinched his cheek.
"You little rascal~"
Leaning to his ear with a soft, teasing whisper, she placed a kiss on his earlobe; after the kiss, her lips parted for a playful bite, and the tip of her tongue traced his auricle, making Xander go stiff all over.
"Hoo~"
Elysia had just lifted her head when Xander wriggled free and sat up, eyes bright and wide—no trace of drowsiness left.
"Up now?"
"If I don't get up, we really will be late."
Curled like a shrimp, he sounded a bit strained as he looked at her helplessly.
"Pfft—hahaha~"
The ample underfloor heating kept out the damp chill from outside. The thin sheet had already been kicked to a corner of the bed. Elysia was laughing so hard at Xander's state that she shook with mirth; in his eyes, those bright, snowy ripples only made his waist bend more.
"Quit laughing. I'm going to wash up."
He muttered, a bit put out, which only made Elysia laugh louder. Ignoring the enticing pink fairy, Xander had just meant to get up when he suddenly felt the mattress dip behind him. A warm body hugged him from behind and pushed him back down.
He hit the mattress, dazed, and as his focus snapped back, he met Elysia-sis's delighted gaze looking down from above. Her hands were planted on either side of his head; she gazed at him with bedroom eyes.
"Since it was Elysia-sis who caused the problem, of course Elysia-sis should fix it~"
"...We're going to be late…"
"Humph, don't worry."
Licking her rosy lips with satisfaction, Elysia winked. "Xander's weaknesses, Elysia-sis knows them all too well~ Come now, Xander—just relax and leave everything to big sis~"
...
Elysia wasn't bragging. She really did know Xander's weaknesses. In under ten minutes the two of them were out the door, hurrying to the bathroom.
Seele had already made breakfast; as they came downstairs, they saw steaming dishes laid out on the table. Paying no mind to Bronya's slightly displeased look, Elysia happily scooted over to cuddle and rub against her, only stopping when a blushing Bronya pushed her away.
"Big bro, Elysia-sis, do your best hosting today, okay~"
Seele had just taken off her apron; upon seeing them, she smiled and cheered them on.
"Don't worry, I'll guide Xander just right~"
Elysia spoke with sunny confidence. Xander smiled in reply. "I'll do my best. If I mess it up, Theresa will probably strangle me."
"Auntie is taking this tournament really seriously~"
Kiana finally found her chance to chime in, then quietly edged over to Xander's side. Cautiously, she pinched his finger; her warm little hand curiously squeezed it, and Xander, amused, curled his finger to scratch her palm. The electric jolt straight to her heart almost made Kiana jump. She shot her lover a rosy-cheeked glare, but said nothing, instead pressing in a little closer.
Naturally, no one present was fooled by this little move. Aside from Sirin's envious expression, the others glanced and then looked away. One glance and you could tell—no threat at all. It's been almost half a year and she's still this shy. What a little lightweight.
They finished breakfast quickly; Xander and Elysia changed into casual wear and hurried out. There was only half an hour till nine. As the two hosts, rehearsal couldn't start without them. Counting the time to change into formalwear, they'd be just on the mark. They didn't want to look like divas and make everyone wait for the two of them.
"The opening ceremony starts at seven this evening, right?" Bronya asked, sipping her porridge.
"Mm. Doors at six, starts at seven," Mei said with a smile, dabbing her lips with a tissue.
"Head out at five-thirty?"
Most of them agreed at once, but Seele raised her hand. "As for me, I'll go early—at noon."
Then she explained, "At noon I'll bring lunch over for big bro and Elysia-sis, then I'll just stay there. In the afternoon, I also want to do big bro's makeup~"
At the pleasant lilt in her voice, Kiana's eyes lit up. "Do Xander's makeup? I wanna help too, I wanna help!!"
"Get a grip."
Bronya tapped her on the head. Kiana huffed and glared back, only to get a disdainful look in return.
"What, you know how to do makeup?"
"I…"
"Everyone knows Mei's the one who basically does your face and hair. Don't make trouble."
"I… uu-uu-uu, Mei~"
There was no rebutting Bronya's words, so Kiana could only whimper and cling to Mei, who soothed her softly. Stroking Kiana's hair, Mei shot Bronya a helpless look; Bronya just shrugged, looking quite pleased with herself. Bully Kiana a little and, sure enough, you feel refreshed in both body and mind. Even her annoyance at Elysia had eased quite a bit.
Thank you, Kiana!
Minute by minute, second by second, time ticked by. Xander and Elysia made it onto the rehearsal stage at exactly one second before nine.
The opening ceremony preview officially began.
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