Nova never used to have an awkward laugh, but somehow he had learned one.
"Oh! Miss Tucker, what a coincidence, you're here too! Good evening!"
Thelma had taken over the camera from Aresdra's side. Her snow blue eyes were full of confusion, along with a strange kind of panic and helplessness. She looked like a little girl who had just watched her favorite doll get snatched away by someone else.
"What do you mean, 'you're here too'? This is my house! And what is going on with you? You're Aresdra's brother, the one she always talks about? Why didn't you ever tell me that?"
Nova said, "Well, I would have told you if I ever got the chance. Every time we talk, it's about Pokémon battles. We never really talk about our families."
Aresdra, whose phone had been taken by Thelma, could only whisper timidly from somewhere off camera. "Why would you use a word like 'brother'? People might misunderstand. I told you already, he's just someone I rely on like an older brother..."
Thelma realized that what Nova said actually made sense. She did feel a small, quiet kind of possessiveness toward Nova, but so far, all they had ever done together was battle.
Still, the young lady felt that Nova had been hiding his connection to Aresdra on purpose. But she had no real right to blame him for it either.
Thinking about this made Thelma feel oddly hurt. She handed the phone back to Aresdra without another word, made an excuse about needing a shower, and hurried out of her own bedroom as if running away.
Lying comfortably on her large bed, Aresdra got her phone back and pulled her Vulpix close to use as a pillow, glad for its cool body in the late August heat. Dressed in pajamas, with her silver hair spread across the sheets, she looked like a figure straight out of a painting.
Thelma stood in the doorway, watching Aresdra chat with Nova through the phone screen, while she herself stayed hidden in the shadows. She felt foolish. This was her own bedroom. Why did she have to hide in it?
But if she walked in and listened to their conversation, she was afraid of what she might hear, afraid it would break something inside her heart.
In the end, she told herself that what she didn't see wouldn't hurt her, and went to take her shower after all.
Nova thought he had gotten through the day without any trouble. Aresdra hadn't asked about Thelma. Instead, she told him about her training and everything she had learned over the past two months.
Her Torchic had already gone through its first evolution and was now stuck in that awkward middle stage. Combusken no longer had the cuteness of a Torchic, but it hadn't yet gained the powerful presence of a Blaziken either.
Still, this stage would not last long. Once Torchic finished evolving completely, it would become one of Aresdra's most dependable Pokémon, just like her Meowscarada.
Her Riolu had also evolved, into a fine looking Lucario.
The only one still giving Aresdra trouble was her Psyduck, who had caused more than enough chaos during training camp to leave her at her wit's end.
After telling Nova all about her recent progress, just as he was about to share his own big news about earning forty million, he noticed Aresdra's expression darken on the screen.
"Well," Aresdra said, "we finished the happy part. Now it's time for the not so happy part."
Nova felt his chest tighten without knowing why. "What could possibly be unhappy?"
"What is going on between you and Thelma?"
Very good. She was as sharp as always, her instincts as strong as ever. That was truly his Aresdra.
Nova kept his voice calm on the outside, putting on his best performance to hide his nerves. "I interned at her family's Gym before, remember? We battled a few times, so we became decent friends."
Aresdra let out a small snort. "Just friends?"
"What else would we be?"
"Then why have you never once mentioned this friend to me?"
A sudden idea flashed through Nova's mind.
Just that night, before Aresdra had called to wish him a happy birthday, Nova had been complaining that he had no one but her to share his good news with. That sad truth, a lonely star with barely any friends, suddenly became his way out.
Nova kept up his calm act, though the corner of his mouth was already twitching upward. "It's not only her. Since when do I ever talk to you about my social life?"
The reason he never talked about it wasn't because he had nothing to say, but because he never thought she would want to hear it. This excuse would cover up the fact that Nova barely had any friends, while also steering the conversation away from Thelma.
Genius.
Sure enough, clever as she was, Aresdra fell for Nova's flawless acting and his talent for lying without so much as blinking. Her attention shifted right where he wanted it.
"But I get the feeling Thelma doesn't look very happy whenever she sees you. Did you do something to upset her?"
Nova nodded eagerly. As long as Aresdra believed there was simply some conflict between him and Thelma, then everything would be fine. Whatever kind of complicated feelings might really be involved, tonight's Nova could handle it well enough.
"I battled her six times back in Goldenlight City, and I won every single one, so I guess that didn't leave her with the best impression of me."
Hearing this explanation, and remembering how seriously Thelma took Pokémon battles, Aresdra thought that this might really be the reason.
"I thought someone with your personality would go easy on girls during battles, at least a little."
"How could you think that of me? That's an insult! A Pokémon battle is a battle. How could I hold back just because of someone's gender? That would be disrespectful to the sport."
"But you're always so gentle with me."
"That's completely different."
"Is it? Good, then it really is different. But if I ever find out you're being just as gentle and caring with other girls as you are with me, I will bite you."
As she said this, Aresdra leaned toward the camera and showed off her weapon: a sharp little canine tooth on the upper right side of her smile.
Nova thought, that would actually feel pretty nice... no wait, that would really hurt.
Meanwhile, soaking alone in the large hot spring, Thelma sat sulking with a heart full of complaints and nobody to share them with.
Like Nova, the young Miss Tucker had never had many close friends. Ever since she was small, she had always been the center of her father Charlie Tucker's world, and her proud nature had kept her at a distance from most girls her own age.
It was only over these past two months of training camp, living and training alongside three equally talented teammates, that Thelma had finally felt she had made real friends.
But of course. Her closest friend now, the one she relied on the most, turned out to be the childhood companion of the boy she secretly cared for. Of all the people it could have been.
Of all the people...
She couldn't even bring herself to say the words, "I was the one who liked him first."
Because if it came down to comparing how long she had known Nova against how long Aresdra had known him, Aresdra had eight years behind her.
Thelma only had five months.