Chapter Text
Chat bit into his last piece of bread, slowly finishing it. Marinette sat next to him, snacking on her own loaf. They were sitting on the fountain in the middle of the city, relaxing after all the emotions they experienced from #winning.
"Y'know, Princess,” said Chat as he watched with a mix of fascination and terror while the blue-haired girl ravaged her bread, “it was a great idea to have signal words. Scare is such an inconspicuous word, too." He watched as she continued to stuff herself, sparing him a glance and a quick nod to let him know she was paying attention. She was starting to resemble a hamster with the way she was stuffing bread into her mouth. That is... oddly adorable?
Chat smiled as his thoughts drifted back to their win. "This is the first tournament I've won. First Multi battle... First journey..."
"Wait, this is your first journey? But you look around my age."
Roused from his thoughts, Chat saw that Marinette had finished her bread and was watching him curiously while kicking her legs back and forth against the fountain. She's cute. Chat turned away quickly, focusing instead on the ground in front of him. "Well, yeah. This is my first pokémon journey. I... never really had the chance to do something like this."
He thought back to his tenth birthday. When other children were given the chance to explore the world, he was given another tutor to teach him about the judging criteria in Pokémon Contests. When he turned eleven, he was given a Froslass, specially bred and trained from birth to be a pokémon worthy of use by an Agreste. He’d been excited at first, but soon realized that whatever training the pokémon went through had done a number on it. Froslass had become as cold as the relationship he had with his father, and was as empty as his home. If he hadn’t had Plagg he was sure his own heart would have frozen over. At twelve he received a Dragonair, but only after he told Natalie he didn't want the Weavile they presented him, claiming it wasn't strategically smart to have a team that consisted of only ice types. But the truth was that he couldn't handle another icy reminder of his father's cold demeanor.
Once he had his two contest pokémon, the training and tutoring grew exponentially and never ceased. Every single aspect and minutiae of contest battling was drilled into him and his pokémon. Only focus on one contest condition. Certain accessories highlight different conditions. Always be aware of what you put on your pokémon. How you present yourself is just as important as how your present you pokémon. And so on. And so forth. Before he opened a fashion line for coordinators and pokémon alike, his father was a renowned coordinator top himself, the bars were set high for Adrien Agreste. Set and locked, with him inside.
That’s why when Natalie informed him on his sixteenth birthday that he would be setting out on pokémon journey to compete in the Grand Festival, he asked if she was ill.
Only hours later, when he was standing in Vaniville Town, did he realize she wasn't sick.
But before he could sink any further into his past depression, he was roused by his Princess's voice.
"Sorry for asking, it's none of my business." She must have realized he was uncomfortable talking about the subject.
Giving her a small smile, he changed the subject. "Don't worry about it. What about you? You must have had tons of adventures by now."
Marinette scratched at her cheek, blushing a bit. "Well, this is actually only my second journey. I left home late too. To tell the truth… I was scared to leave."
"Wow, I never would have guessed." Chat grinned at her. "So where was your first journey?"
"Oh, Johto, my home region." She started twirling a finger around a pigtail as a wave of nostalgia washed over her face. "I started out with just Tikki. We had so many fun moments and close calls catching and building our team and battling other trainers. It was tough, but we got through everything Johto threw at us. I competed in the Silver Conference too, but I lost my second match... Top 16 isn't much, but I can definitely say I learned a lot."
Chat stared at her in awe. Top 16? That was great! Some trainers dreamed of even qualifying! "Princess! Getting into the Conference is a feat of its own! You had to beat all of Johto’s gyms! You should be proud you placed top 16!"
Marinette blushed at Chat's candid praise. "W-well, do you plan on competing in the Kalos Conference? I'm sure you could make it in."
Him? Competing in the Kalos Conference? He would do anything to compete. He would even don a leather cat suit and fling himself around a country’s capital city to fight people’s misguided emotions. Wow, that was oddly specific. But his enthusiasm quickly drained as he remembered his father’s opinion on the Kalos Conference. Namely that it was an unrefined mess of pokémon and a waste of resources. He sighed. "My father would never let me."
"So? Your father isn’t the one going on this journey."
Chat stared, baffled. Was she suggesting he go behind his father’s back? "But he'll find out when I register for the gym battles!"
Marinette's hands came up to muffle her giggling, eyes full of mirth. "Woooooow, this really IS your first journey. Let me tell you a secret. You don't need to register anything to challenge a gym leader. Just walk in and request a battle. They'll usually battle you right away but if they're busy, they'll schedule a time for you to come back."
Chat's eyes widened. I can challenge gym leaders without my father finding out? I... can challenge gym leaders without my father finding out! A whole new world of experiences were waiting for him now.
It was the surprise on Chat's face that did her in. Marinette broke out laughing, hands unable to muffle anything. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down, she turned body and pointed to a large building behind her. "You know, there's a gym in this city. Why don't you try that one first?"
Suddenly energized, he craned his neck to look at the building, taking it in. It had tall arched windows and a moss green roof. He could challenge that gym right now! He stopped himself. Actually, it's getting a little late. Maybe I should go tomorrow morning.
Turning back to face Marinette, he wondered if she would challenge the gym too. "What about you?"
She shook her head. "I'm not aiming for the Conference this time. I came to Kalos to try something different. I want to compete in Grand Festival."
Oh. That meant... She'd be competing in contest battles! And he was going to be competing too as Adrien! Those would be his chances to make good with Marinette and impress her! But wow, from Silver Conference Top 16 to Contest battling? Seems like a pretty big jump. "Really? Any reason why?"
"I saw a spread about Gabriel Agreste in Johto.” Her eyes lit up and her hands were clasped together in front of her chest. “His ability as a coordinator was amazing. I felt inspired just looking at the pictures of his contest battles! Plus, he's now designing clothes and accessories for Trainers and their pokémon. I mean, I make my own clothes, but I can only hope to be as good as him!" Her voice practically dripped with admiration.
No matter what Adrien thought about his father, he could never deny that he was good at his craft. Plus, this was a good spring board for him to bring himself up. "Doesn't he have a son? Adrien, right?"
Marinette's eyes bulged as she suddenly started choking. Panicking at her sudden choking fit, he started whacking her back in hopes of helping her clear her airways.
"S-stop!"
His hand froze an inch from her back.
Her eyes were watery and she was still coughing, but at least she could breathe again.
He pulled his hand back. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, sorry about that." She cleared her throat as she looked around nervously. "And uh, yeah, you're right. Adrien Agreste."
Wary of causing another choking fit, he cautiously continued. "Any... opinions on him?" Wow. Cha cha real smooth, Adrien.
It was silent. He stared at her. She refused to meet his eyes.
"He's... fine."
Oh. Well, that's not bad, right? That’s definitely better than being called something like, a dirty pokémon thief. I can deal with fine.
Her face was turning red, though, and she was starting to look uncomfortable. Is she getting sick again? He decided that that was enough secret info gathering for today.
After a second, Marinette spoke up. "So, are you going to battle the gym here?"
"Yeah! But it's getting late, so I'll do it tomorrow." Gyms close for the night, right? He wasn't sure, and he didn't want to ask Marinette lest she laughed at him again. Well… listening to her laugh wasn’t the worse thing in the world, but it was the principle of the matter.
"That's a good idea." She stretched a bit, slightly sore from sitting in one spot so long. "Gives your pokémon some time to rest too. I'm heading out to the next town tomorrow morning. I've read some great things about Lumiose city."
They fell into a comfortable silence, the trickling of the fountain behind them being the backdrop to their peace. Soon, the stars and moon chased the sun down the horizon to take its place in the sky.
Chat stood up first and offered Marinette his hand. "Shall we head back to the Pokémon Center?"
She gazed warily at his proffered hand before looking up to glare questioningly at him. He only grinned at her in response. She rolled her eyes and took his hand, allowing him to help her up. Once standing, she let go to dust bread crumbs off her white shirt and pink shorts. "Let’s go back, get food, and then get some much needed shut eye."
"After you, Princess."
The two made their way to the center under the soft glow of the moonlight. Chat was going to miss her.
"Audino what I'm going to do without you tomeowrow, Princess."
A frustrated groan reverberated into the night.