Thornes and Blumes, An Interview with Alex

	Ivy walked into her hotel room, ready to retire after a long day. A protein shake and the latest issue of “Machamp & Fitness” magazine were waiting for her. However, relaxation time had to wait; as she entered the room, she was assailed by a cloud of blue and purple shimmering spores. Although visually appealing, the fumes Ivy inhaled sent her into a coughing and sneezing fit.
	“AH-CHOO! What the hell was that?” Ivy sputtered between coughs.
	When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a small, carbon-black room. The interior was bare, save for a black office chair  and wooden desk. On the desk was a paperweight that resembled a strange flower, and above her, what Ivy assumed was a chandelier with a similar design hung.
	“What the? I could’ve sworn this was… What is this place?” Startled by her new environment, Ivy turned around to leave, but the door behind her closed abruptly, audibly locking itself shut.
	“Well, that was weird.” a cool voice spoke out.
	On the other side of the desk, a more luxurious office chair swung around to reveal a young man dressed in fancy clothing. He was wearing a vibrant orange suit with a black tie. His hands were gloved in black leather and interlocked together. Black tassels dangled from his pierced ears and fell right below his medium long brown hair. Although there was a smile on his face, his cold eyes led Ivy to believe it wasn’t genuine. “Don’t worry about that.” he continued. “Hello there. My name isn’t important-”
	“Like hell it isn’t!” Ivy cut him off. “Who are you? What’s going on here?” Ivy demanded.
	The young man rolled his eyes and sighed. “My name is Damien Thorne.” he lied. “I’m just here to ask you a few questions. You’ll return to wherever you came from soon enough.”
	“Well Damien,” Ivy emphasized his name “that still doesn’t explain how I got here. What is this? Some sort of interrogation? Ya know, I was ready to relax and make myself a nice shake after such a long day, but nooo. Now I’ve ended up here, God knows where, of all places.” Ivy prattled on.
	“Okay!” He cut her off. “I see you’re not too thrilled about this so…” he moved his chair back and reached into the bottom right drawer of his desk, with both arms he pulled out two stacks of cash and set them on the desk. “If you comply, I’ll give you fifteen thousand Pokedollars. Should be enough, right?”
	Ivy was taken aback for a moment as she stood there and stared at the money in front of her. She quickly put on a serviceable smile and sat down in the black office chair in front of her.
	“Why of course Mr. Thorne!” She said cheerily, her aggravation and confusion seemingly disappearing into this thin air. “My name’s Ivy by the way, Ivy Blume.” She stuck out her hand for him to shake, however Damien did not reciprocate and instead just stared at her.
	“Hm… quite.” he said dismissively.
	She awkwardly retracted her hand and spoke softly to herself “Okaaay then…”
	“Alright, let’s start.” Damien eyed her up and down. “I noticed you’re dressed quite strangely. Why is that?”
	Ivy furrowed her brows. “Well, I’m a nurse and this is my uniform.” She stood up to flaunt her outfit. She was wearing; a pink, cropped nurse's top, denim booty shorts, thigh high socks, and pink high heeled crocs adorned with some cute charms. On her head, she wore a modified Nurse’s cap turned headband alongside a heart hair clip. She also had on her red fist guards, complete with heart-shaped cut outs. “I just uhh... Made a few adjustments to it. It’s a lot easier to workout and train in. Cute, isn’t it?” Ivy winked at Damien with a smile.
	“It’s certainly… interesting.” he said with a hint of disgust. “Can’t say I would ever wear something like that. A bit too much pink, don’t you think?”
	Ivy was insulted by his insinuation. “You can never have too much pink!” she huffed as she sat back down. “Besides, you’re not a nurse are you? I wouldn’t expect you to wear something like this.”
	“Anyways, next question.” Damien pointed to the pen Ivy had sticking out of her breast pocket. “What’s that thing you got there?”
	Ivy looked down. She was a bit flustered, wondering what he meant by pointing at her boob. “Oh, this?” she said, realizing that he was actually pointing at her pocket. She took out the pen to show him. It had a Heal Ball charm as a topper. “It’s just a pen.”
	“How much is it worth to you?”
	Ivy stopped to think for a moment. “Hmm… I think it was rather cheap actually, maybe a bit pricey for a standard pen though. They make em in all types of Pokeball designs. Why? You interested?”
	“No. It’s just a question.” He said flatly. “I find it amusing exactly how much value people attach to their things. You know, I have a little thing of my own.” Damien reached into his shirt and pulled out an Amulet Coin. “It’s interesting to see what sorts of useless things people carry with them.” He took a pause and let the amulet coin dangle in front of him. “So now tell me, what do you carry around that is actually useful?”
	The way he posed the question irked Ivy a bit. “Well…” she said, pulling out the trainer bag attached to her belt. “How’s this?” She set her bag on the desk and gave it a pat. “This baby’s filled with all the first aid anyone could ever need.” she smiled proudly.
	“Nice. Has it ever come in handy?”
	“Of course! I got everything I need in here to make sure people and Pokemon are in tip top shape.”
	Damien furrowed his brow, trying to think. An awkward silence ensued.
	“Umm…. Do you have any other questions planned out?”
	“No, not at all.” he chuckled. Ivy scoffed in disbelief, amused that this boy wasn’t as prepared and perfect as he might've led on.
	“Oh I know. Tell me, what kind of music do you like?”
Ivy pondered for a moment. “Hmm… well I like Punk music I gue-”
	“I expected better.” he interrupted her matter-of-factly.
	“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ivy retorted, but Damien ignored her and continued on.
	“Alright, well, I’ve got a deal for you. For an extra five thousand Pokedollars, all you’ve got to do is listen to this song and tell me what you think about it. Can I see your phone?” He stuck out his hand expectantly.
	Ivy’s anger subsided at the mention of more money. “Um, sure?” She pulled out her Rotom phone and it floated over to Damien's open palm. He cringed at the sight of the pink phone cover it was encased in. With a few taps of the screen, the sounds of a man scream-singing in front of a heavy metal track filled the room. Ivy was surprised by the song choice; she was not expecting someone so corporate like Damien to be into this kind of music. After a little over 4 minutes, the song ended and Damien handed the phone back to Ivy, staring at her expectantly.
	“Well?”
	“I'll admit I was a bit surprised. It’s not bad, but...” she paused for a brief moment, “not really for me I guess. I did enjoy the instrumentals though.”
	Damien laughed a bit. “Yeah, I didn’t think you would like it anyways. Few people are accustomed to such sounds. Anyways… Pokemon. Let’s talk about Pokemon. What is your WORST Pokemon?” He questioned her with a wicked smile.
	“Worst Pokemon?” Ivy repeated, a bit confused. “I think that all of my Pokemon are pretty capable.” The thought of her mischievous Plusle and how it’s always getting into trouble crossed her mind, but she chose to not say anything on the matter.
	Damien’s mood shifted slightly, unsatisfied with her response. “Don’t lie to me.” he said sternly, yet playfully. “I know one of your six comes in last place.”
	Ivy pulled back a bit at the mention of six, a bit embarrassed that she doesn’t have a full team yet. She stayed quiet on this matter as well.
	“For me, it's Dragalge.” he continued “It's gotten me through a lot, but it's also got one of the lowest BSTs out of any fully evolved Pokemon I have, even getting edged out by Revavroom and Corviknight by a few points.”
	Ivy smiled, a look of confusion was written all over her face. She chuckled internally, surprised that this preppy young man was nerding out so much. “Dragalge? Revavroom? Corviknight? I’m not really familiar with those Pokemon truthfully.”
	“Really?” Damien seemed surprised. “Hm, that’s too bad. Anyways, the second spot on my team has frankly always been a bit weaker, but that’s okay. As long as the role I use it in checks out, right?”
	“I get that." Ivy agreed. "My Pokemon serve different roles too I guess… like this one.” She reached for a Heal Ball at her waist and held it out in front of her. A beam of light shot out from the ball as it opened, materializing on top of the desk into a small, yellow and red rodent Pokemon.
	“Plusle!” the electric Pokemon called out. The flower shaped chandelier hanging above them shuddered in response, but Damien quickly raised his hand, as if he was gesturing for it to back down. However, this went unnoticed by Ivy as the Plusle jumped into her arms.
	She giggled. “This little guy here isn’t the best when it comes to one on one battles, but he does a great job in double battles. He’s real enthusiastic and helps cheer on our other team members from the sidelines. Isn’t that right Plusle?” Ivy scratched Plusle under its chin as it pipped out in happy agreement, sparks popping out its cheeks.
	Damien stared at the two of them a bit mystified. He agreed with the sentiment behind Ivy’s response, but was a bit disappointed to see that Ivy would keep what he considers to be such a weak Pokemon on her team.
	“So, it’s this one then?” he asked.
	“Hm?”
	“Nevermind. I digress.”
	Ivy’s Plusle climbed up onto her shoulder and started playing with her hair.
	“Tell me, what’s your favorite Pokemon?” the boy said in a slightly odd tone.
	“Oh, that would be-”
	“That you haven't caught yet.” he interrupted.
	Ivy mused for a second, giving some thought to Damien’s strange question. “Oh!” She pulled out her small notebook and opened it up to a page filled with notes and diagrams of a fish Pokemon.
	“I guess maybe Alomomola. It’s not just cute, but really helpful too!” She pointed to a doodle of one on the page. “They have a special mucus that has wonderful healing properties. And they go out of their way to help injured Pokemon at sea, isn’t that so cool?”
	Damien stared at her. “Nice.” he said a bit condescendingly.
	“Plus?” Plusle popped its head out from behind Ivy’s headband and looked up at the chandelier curiously. It started reaching its little arms towards it. The chandelier shuddered again slightly, which surprised Plusle. It started generating sparks and growling a bit. Without missing a beat, Ivy quickly returned Plusle to its ball. “That’s enough out of you mister.” she said sternly. “Sorry about that.”
	“No worries.” Damien changed the subject. “What’s your favorite type?”
	“Fighting types for sure.” Ivy flexed her one her arms and patted her biceps with the other, a big show-offy smile on her face.
	Damien let out a sigh, it seemed he was trying not to be rude this time. “I frankly don't have any strong opinions on those. I tend to like the moves more than the Pokemon, but they’re generally not offensive to my senses. Usually though, only the dual types are worth it.”
	Ivy furrowed her brows a bit, perplexed by his strange way of thinking. “Uhhh…” she trailed off.
	A brief moment of awkward silence ensued until Damien broke it with another question.
	“What was the worst battle you’ve ever had?”
	Ivy’s expression dulled a bit as she recalled the fight she had recently lost.
	“It was a recent one... With Marshall of the Elite Four.”
	“Oh?” Damien’s interest was piqued at the mention of such a formidable opponent. “Do tell.”
	“I had the jump on him and everything, but he was just too tough. I guess you don’t get to his level for no reason, I wasn’t expecting the difference in our abilities to be so great.” She clutched her stomach and smiled softly. Despite her sad expression and tone, her eyes were glimmering with a sort of twisted excitement and admiration as she spoke more about him. “His punches were so strong, his fists are like steel. The way he was able to block my kicks so easily-”
	“Wait, wait, wait. You FOUGHT him? Like physically?”
	“Well… yeah.” Ivy responded nonchalantly, as if getting into a brawl with someone was commonplace.
	“That’s so barbaric.” Damien recoiled a bit. “I meant what was the worst Poke- you know what? Nevermind.” He pouted slightly, frustrated with Ivy's simplemindedness. He paused for a moment to recollect himself.
	“A lot of times, we think about the Pokemon that we like. We sometimes go as far as to walk tens of miles just to catch them, and sometimes we go even further. But you know what's something we don't think about a lot? The Pokemon we HATE. Tell me about a Pokemon that you hate.”
	“Galvantula.” Ivy said almost immediately, she shuddered at the thought of it.
	Damien was amused with how quickly she responded. “Interesting." He thought for a moment. "It does have a lower BST than even my Dragalge, but that speed is nothing to sneeze at though.” He continued on about the Pokemon’s stats and weaknesses, offering various scenarios in which it would lose easily to his Pokemon. Ivy just stared blankly at him with a smile as to not seem rude. She didn't fully uunderstand what he was going on about, but didn't want to interrupt his stream of conciousness. Damien seemed passionate about this kind of stuff.
	“Okay, we're almost at the end of this, so I'd like to introduce you to a view- an idea. I won’t say that this is necessarily my view, but it’s… something. Something that I’ve been meaning to share with people."
	"Alright." Ivy complied, excited this interview was nearing its end.
	"You see, people usually think of Pokemon as their friends, but not everyone does. Some view them as tools… possessions to be used. I think these people are unfairly judged because of how pervasive this ‘friends’ mentality is. But what say you?”
	Ivy was surprised a bit by this philosophical question and gave it some thought.
	“Maybe some people think that way because they don't have the capacity to make friends. Sure, some Pokemon have their uses, but treating them like lifeless tools is a bit heartless don’t you think?”
	Damien shook his head. “I thought you’d say something like that. It’s not a view that’s too common or popular.” He seemed a bit disappointed, but Ivy's come to expect that from him at this point. Another moment of silence followed.
	“Well, I guess that’s it. As promised,” he said, reaching into the drawer again, pulling out another small stack of cash, “here’s your twenty thousand Pokedollars.” He nonchalantly slid the stacks of cash across the desk to Ivy. She happily pocketed the money, thinking about all the supplies she could buy with this.
	The sound of unlocking clicked from the door behind her. “You can go now. You’ll end up back where you were.”
	“Thank you very much!” She said with a big smile on her face as she walked to the other end of the room.
	“Oh, and a word of advice. Try dressing like a normal person.”
	“Excuse me!?” Ivy filled with rage, but as she was about to wipe the smug expression off the young man’s face, another burst of blue and purple shimmering spores filled the air around her. Another forced sneezing fit later, and Ivy found herself back at her hotel room with no recollection of the encounter she just had. She paused for a moment, trying to remember what she was doing.
	“Oh yeah, protein shake time.” she smiled and hummed a happy little tune to herself, unaware that her pockets were twenty thousand Pokedollars thicker.