Lucky Clover Ch 2

“Do you know where we’re going, Sunny?”

Clover gently stroked her Espurr’s chin. The little cat perched on her shoulder, affectionately nuzzling her cheek. He looked at her, shaking his head to answer.

“Well, we’re going to the gym. We’re gonna have our very own job, and get money, and buy sweets!” Clover explained. She spoke a bit faster than normal; just hearing the word “sweets” come out of her mouth made both Clover and Sunny excited at the idea of food. “We need to stop by the Pokemon Center first, though.”

As in on cue, Clover turned a corner and the two were right in front of one of Lumiose’s Pokemon Centers. As per usual, Clover had to look around and make sure no one was watching her – although Nurse Joy had no problem with Clover going inside the center, for some reason the city’s police thought Clover going inside would “drive people away,” likely due to her or Sunny’s stench. Seeing that the coast was clear, Clover slipped past the doorway into the building.

The Pokemon Center was warm, inviting, and smelled extremely pleasant. Nurse Joy took great care in making her center presentable for visitors, and Clover always thought the pink-haired woman had done a fine job of it. At the sight of Clover, a few of the center’s usual visiting trainers plugged their noses and sat back in their chairs.

“Good morning, everyone …” Clover mumbled. No one answered her. Sunny growled, more cutely than intimidating, and swatted his small paw at the humans as Clover walked by – Sunny disliked anyone who made Clover upset. Clover reached towards her shoulder and patted Sunny’s head. “Let it go, Sunny. They’re not worth it.” she muttered.

“Espurr …” Sunny replied with a sulk.

“Good morning, and welcome to—oh, hello Clover.” Nurse Joy’s usual cheerful greeting was never completely finished when Clover and Sunny visited. Joy was too polite to hold her nose in front of someone, so she always turned around for a moment and quietly took in a breath of air. Clover pretended to not notice this.

“Good morning, Nurse Joy.” Clover replied, giving her a wave. “I’m gonna get a job today!”

“Congratulations! That’s great!” Joy said. For once, Clover took Joy’s smile towards her as genuine. “I’m happy for you! Does Sunny need a check-up?” No matter how Joy treated Clover, she was always one-hundred percent good with Sunny, something Clover appreciated.

“Not today.” Clover said, shaking her head. She looked nervous, looking at the counter in front of her and refusing to face Joy. “I kind of … I need to shower.” Clover mumbled quietly. Joy leaned closer.

“I’m sorry Clover, I didn’t hear you.” Joy said. “Would you repeat that, please?”

“I said I need a shower …” Clover muttered, her voice still barely audible.

“Once more, please?” Joy asked. “My apologies, I was treating a Pokemon this morning and the tools I had to use were rather loud on my hearing.”

“I said, I NEED A SHOWER!” Clover yelled. She instantly slapped a hand over her mouth as she realized what she had done. Her entire face was red and tears were beginning to burn her eyes, but she used her other hand to wipe them away. A few of the sitting trainers snickered, one boy whispering “Yeah, she sure does.”

“No need to shout, Clover.” Joy replied, seeming un-phased. “The bathrooms are actually free this morning; I barely had anyone stay overnight. Help yourself!”

Clover bowed in gratitude, and Sunny did the same – the little Espurr forgot he was standing on Clover’s shoulder and fell, but landed in Clover’s arms. Clover looked down at him, and the two shared a laugh as Clover turned from the counter and headed for the nearby changing room. Once she reached the doors, she stopped in her tracks. Sunny looked up at her, confused.

“Sunny, I just realized something. Even if we do get clean, I don’t have any clean clothes. My body being clean won’t do much if my dress still stinks.” Clover said. As she spoke, her smile turned more and more into a big frown. Just as soon as her mouth curved down, her lips turned right back up into a grin when an idea struck. “Maybe Nurse Joy can loan me an outfit!”

Clover placed Sunny on the floor, and walked towards a shelf next to the changing room door where a stack of towels were sitting. She took two; one large for herself, and a smaller one for Sunny. Pokemon Centers having showers wasn’t an unusual thing, but most trainers didn’t know they existed until asking Joy – the hallway that lead to it was somewhat hidden next to the changing room. Clover headed down the hall with Sunny at her heels.

A long, soapy shower later, Clover and Sunny stood outside of the shower stall with towels wrapped around their bodies – Sunny’s small towel was a bit too big and went from his legs to his chin. He found it annoyed to keep wrapped around him, even more so when Clover giggled and said he was ‘trapped in towel jail.’ Clover’s long, purple hair had gone from curled and matted to the usual long, flowing style of an ‘average’ Hex Maniac’s, complete with a now-washed purple clip on the top.

“Espurr?” Sunny asked. He looked up at Clover and patted her leg with his paw. Clover looked down at him, taking care not to drip water on his head. Sunny pointed at his eyes with his paw.

“Do your eyes hurt?” Clover asked. “Should we go tell Joy?”

Sunny shook his head and continued to point at his eyes. Clover stared at him, pondering what he could possibly be trying to say. It didn’t take her long to realize what he meant.

“Oh, thanks for reminding me.” Clover said. Sunny smiled at her and nodded. Clover walked towards the sink mounted on the wall and grabbed a small white case sitting near the faucet. She opened it up, taking out one small lens with a purple, swirled design on it. “I hate putting these things in.”

Before she braced herself for the irritation of putting the contact on, Clover looked into the mirror – her eyes were naturally a bright, sky blue, not the ‘purple swirls’ than most Hex Maniac girls had. A large majority of them wore contacts as well, but to the naked eye the swirl looked totally real. Clover had never seen anyone else with swirled eyes besides other Hex Maniacs, so she often wondered why no one else took it as weird.

It was something she thought too much on, or so Clover told herself.

She put the lens to her eye, but paused once more. She shook her head and gently placed it back into its plastic case, and snapped it shut.

“Not today, Sunny.” Clover said. “Today is the start of our awesome new life with a job, and I want to be me.” Clover looked at herself in the mirror once again, taking a strand of purple hair in her hand. “Well … as much of me as possible. This color’s never coming out.”

Clover looked down, seeing that Sunny had freed himself from the towel and was shaking his body dry. Clover looked over at her wrinkled, filthy mess of a dress hanging on the wall – she couldn’t put it back on, but she couldn’t walk out in a towel, either. She looked at Sunny, who was studying the toilet like it was some unusual machine.

“Sunny, I need you to go tell Nurse Joy that I need some clean clothes.” Clover instructed. Sunny was focused on the toilet – as if it had a motive to attack – but nodded to acknowledge Clover’s command. “If she can’t understand, just figure something out.”

“Espurr!” Sunny nodded once more and walked out of the room, backwards – his eyes stayed focused on the toilet as he reached the door. While he was distracted, Clover nonchalantly reached over and pressed her hand down on the handle – when the toilet flushed, Sunny jumped at least a foot in the air and ran away as fast as his little legs could carry him. Clover giggled at him – Sunny may be her best friend and defensive when he needed to be, but he was still a kid.

“I really hope he’ll get me something nice.” Clover spoke to her reflection in the mirror. “At least some jeans and a shirt, or something -- I’ll take anything that doesn’t smell.”

…

It may not smell, but this outfit was not what Clover had in mind.

After a good 20 minutes of waiting, Nurse Joy had apparently given up on understanding Sunny and just went to the bathroom herself and spoke to Clover through the door. At first, Joy told her that she didn’t have any spare clothing, but eventually ‘remembered’ that a traveling Pokemon actor group had visited the center many months ago and had forgotten one of their outfits. When Clover asked how a group of professionals had just ‘misplaced’ something that important, Joy didn’t answer her.

Clover expected an elegant dress, or maybe some street clothes – the one thing she didn’t expect was a Kanto schoolgirl uniform, usually worn by a ‘Lass’ trainer. Complete with a blue skirt, white sailor shirt, and red tie, it was every fetish nerd’s dream. White, knee-high socks and brown loafers covered her feet; they were quite comfortable, actually. Much better than the black high-heels she had worn before.

“I can’t believe I’m wearing this.” Clover said with disgust, looking up and down in the mirror. Through the years of her Hex Maniac life, Clover had grown to prefer the gothic style of clothing and refused to wear much else. “I’d even take a clown costume over this.”

“Oh, I have one of those too, if you’d prefer!” Joy replied from outside the door. “Shall I go get it?”

“No, this is fine, thanks!” Clover yelled in reply. “I’ll make due, thank you Nurse Joy!”

With her legs trembling, face red, and eyes closed, Clover slowly walked down the hallway and into the center’s lobby, refusing to look at anyone around her. She heard one of the boys whistle, and another whisper “who’s that?” as she and Sunny walked by. Sunny turned to the boy and gave him a wink, smacking his little gray-furred rear as Clover made her way out of the center … or tried to. With her eyes still closed, Clover walked right into the wall next to the door. She rubbed her nose in pain, ignoring the laughter as she quickly walked outside.

“That hurt, stupid wall!” Clover whined, continuing to rub her nose. Sunny hopped towards her, crawling up her body and sitting on her shoulder. “Come on, Sunny. Let’s go get a job.”

“Espurr …!” Sunny replied and pointed forward, as if directing Clover like a steed. Clover giggled but started to walk regardless, seeing the large tower off in the distance. While she walked down the sidewalk, Clover could feel eyes looking at her as she traveled – men made comments, asking “who’s that girl?” and some of the girls her age looked her up and down, judging her outfit. Clover felt like somewhat of a celebrity; being stared at for your looks is much better than being stared at because “dear God, something stinks.”

“Madame, would you and your Espurr like some lunch?”

Clover almost walked into a man standing in front of her. She looked up at him – tall, graying hair, and the suit of a waiter. The older man gave her a sincere smile.

“Certainly a woman as stylish as you eats at high-class cafes every day, no?” The man asked. “Come in, I will gladly prepare you and your Pokemon a fine meal!”

“Uh, I … I don’t have any money …” Clover muttered. “I’m sorry …”

“This is no problem!” The waiter said with a laugh. “If I wanted Madame’s money, I would not have offered her a free meal!”

“Free? Are you serious, sir?” Clover asked. Both hers and Sunny’s eyes widened. The little Espurr tugged on Clover’s hair, enough to hurt her – she looked over and his eyes met hers, his expression conveying his beg of “Please?” Clover knew better than to trust strangers off the street like that, but even if she said ‘no,’ she knew Sunny would just hop off her shoulder and happily head inside.

“You have my word, Madame.” The waiter promised. “A meal fit for a beautiful girl like you, and a strong Pokemon like your Espurr.”

“I … well, I …” Clover stammered. Her growling stomach and Sunny’s begging weren’t helping matters; they had finished all of their stolen food hours ago – so much for eating for a week, when Sunny’s involved – so this would likely be the only meal they had for quite some time. “Thank you, I accept.”

“I beg of you, come in!” The waiter stepped aside and motioned Clover to lead. Clover nodded and walked into the café.

The interior was stunning. Clover had never seen a place like this; Pokemon-themed jewelry and lights decorated the walls. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling. The plush carpet on the floor was soft to stand on, and even through shoes it relaxed your feet.

The waiter led her to a large table, pulling out a chair for her and another for Sunny, complete with a booster seat meant for a child. Sunny looked amazed at the room, but even more so at the aroma of food passing through the air. Clover picked up a large, cloth-lined menu from the table, and Sunny attempted to do the same, but couldn’t quite lift it.

“Here, Sunny. We’ll decide together.” Clover placed the menu on the table and opened it. “See? It has pictures of the food, so you tell me if anything looks good, okay?”

“Espurr!” Sunny nodded. His eyes began to browse the food, looking more and more excited at every picture. He leaned in close towards a picture of a large, delicious-looking chicken, and started to flick his tongue on it.

“No, we don’t eat the menu!” Clover said, pushing him up. “You point to what you want, and they make it for you. You don’t have to eat plastic!” She giggled at her Pokemon. Sunny smiled and blushed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “I wonder where that waiter went …”

“Here I am, Madame!” The waiter replied from behind her. Clover jumped in surprised, then turned to see the man with large plates of food on his arms. When he moved, another waiter appeared behind him, followed by another. As the plates were placed on the table, the lids on top were pulled away – meats, cakes, anything one might expect at a fancy place was on the table. Sunny stared at everything, but minded his manners and didn’t move an inch. He looked at Clover, his eyes pleading.

“Go ahead, but don’t make a mess.” Clover nodded. Sunny moved for a chocolate cake and sat in front of it. He started to grab a chunk of it with his paw, but one of the waiters put his hand in front of him.

“No-no, little Pokemon.” The waiter said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small fork, giving the little cat a warm smile. “This would work better, yes?”

Sunny nodded and smiled his appreciation, then tried to pick up the fork with his stubby paws – a task he soon deemed impossible. His large eyes lit up, covering the fork in a bright light. As if moving on its own, the fork dove into the cake, pulled out a perfect square chunk, then slowly moved into Sunny’s open mouth.

Clover watched her Pokemon eat while shoving a fork into her mouth, taking a bite of steak. The flavor was absolutely amazing, nothing like she had ever eaten before. Sunny continued to stuff his face with cake and chocolate, ignoring anyone around him.

…

Clover had no idea how much time had passed, but soon enough every single plate was empty, along with four glasses of soda – one for Clover, three for Sunny. Clover joked that Sunny was actually a Munchlax in disguise, but Sunny didn’t find it funny.

“Was your meal satisfactory, Madame?” The waiter appeared once more.

“It was delicious, thank you.” Clover replied. “We’ve never eaten anything so amazing.”

“I am sorry, but I find that surprising.” The waiter said. “Surely, an actress in the Pokemon actors’ troupe dines in the finest places?”

“… You think I’m an actress?” Clover asked.

“Well, yes, Madame, your clothing is the, how you say, spitting image of Lass Madeline from the Kanto play group.” The waiter said. “You are Madeline, yes?”

Clover and Sunny exchanged a nervous expression.

“Madame, please, I insist you tell me you are Lass Madeline.” The waiter said.

“I never said I was -- you invited us!” Clover protested. “I didn’t know you thought that …”

“You have lied to me … and to this restaurant.” The waiter said in a low, hushed voice. “I do not approve of liars, Madame. You are free to go, but please do not step foot in here again.”

“I never said I was anyone …” Clover muttered. “I thought you were just being nice …”

“Consider your two-hundred dollar meal ‘nice.’” The waiter said. “Leave, or I will inform security.”

Clover nodded and gathered Sunny, holding him in her arms and calmly walking out of the restaurant. She looked down at her Pokemon as they walked down the sidewalk.

“That didn’t make any sense, Sunny.” Clover said. “He thought I was famous, and then called me a liar after we ate all that food? Just because of this outfit? Won’t he get fired for giving me all that food?”

“Espurr …” Sunny shrugged.

“Best not to dwell on it, you’re right.” Clover agreed. “Let’s just get to the gym, right?” Clover smiled – and let out a loud belch. She blushed, covering her mouth with a hand while keeping Sunny held close. “Pardon me, that food was too good.”

“Espurr, purr!” Sunny laughed.

The two continued getting closer to the tower, soon approaching the plaza that contained it. Clover looked up at the gym, her eyes widened at the sight of the large building.

“We’re gonna work in here?” Clover asked out loud. Sunny looked up as well. Clover entered the gym as Sunny moved to her shoulder.

…

“Are you a challenger?”

As soon as Clover entered, she was greeted by a small, blonde-haired girl.

“My big brother is the gym leader here, but you’re not getting to him easy!” She said.

“I’m here about the trainer job, t-that’s all! I’m not a challenger!” Clover stammered. “I just wanna talk to him!”

“I don’t believe you!” The little girl argued. “If you wanna get to Clemont, you have to answer my questions!”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to do that!” Clover protested. “I’m late enough as it is, and I’ve already had a bad day, may I please just meet the gym leader?”

“No way, you’re not getting off that easy!” Bonnie said. “Hey, come here Arno!”

Clover watched as a teenage boy, one that looked to be a middle-schooler, appeared from behind Bonnie. He held a single Poke Ball in his hand. He let the ball fall and bounce off the floor, catching it when it moved into the air.

A Pachirisu appeared in front of him. Bonnie leapt for the Pokemon, cuddling it and nuzzling its face.

“Pachirisu is so cute, I wanna keep it!” Bonnie gushed. “I know it’s not mine, but I want it! I wanna keep it!” Bonnie looked at Clover, as if forgetting the situation. She stood back up and pointed at her. “If you’re not gonna answer my questions, you can battle our trainers!”

“But I wanna be your trainer too!” Clover said. “Come on, let me go!”

“Bonnie, stop this right now.”

Bonnie, Arno, Pachirisu and Clover all looked, seeing a figure walking out of a sliding door. The figure looked to be a boy, but had four arms coming out of his back. His swirled glasses hid his eyes, and his blonde hair seemed a bit messy.

“Leave this girl alone, Bonnie. If she isn’t a challenger, she doesn’t have to do anything like this.” The blonde boy said. He approached Clover and offered a hand, which Clover took. They shook hands and he gave her a smile. “My name is Clemont. I’m the gym leader here. I heard that you’re here for my trainer position?”

“Y-Yes sir, I am …” Clover mumbled. “Sunny is, too.” Sunny waved at Clemont, and the boy gave him a wave back.

“Well, I apologize for my little sister, but at the same time she sort of had a good idea. If you want to work as a trainer here, I do need to make sure you can battle. Would you mind battling Arno for me?”

“I … if Sunny is up for it, I guess …” Clover muttered. Sunny hopped from her shoulder and stood in front of her, looking at the Pachirisu.

“Espurr, Ess!” Sunny yelled. Pachirisu looked offended and ran in front of Arno.

“Chu, pa! Pachi!” Pachirisu shot back, its cheeks crackling with electricity.

“Okay, Sunny … l-let’s go.” Clover pointed forward. “Let’s win.”