Nice Guys Finish Last

By: Comicker

Chapter Seven: The Proposition

No-one is useless in this world,
Who lightens the burden of it
To anyone else.

For many trainers, the night of the introductory gala was one of delight. It was an opportunity to connect and network with not only their potential future employers, but to also get to know their fellow academics. It was a social event that had been organized to accomplish many different goals at once. By and large, it had succeeded in doing just that. Students, investors, faculty and professors mingled together under the glitter of chandeliers and starlight. The hall had been abuzz with life and laughter, and countless bodies swayed in tandem with the gentle music. An audible happiness permeated the space, and gave way for the forging of both old and new friendships.

However, the warmth of the festivities could not be felt outside it's doors. Touya could see it from where he stood. Whatever joy they all felt on this night, it couldn't resonate with him. He should've dealt with these feelings long ago. He'd had so much time to tell her everything. Instead, he'd allowed the years to pile on top of one another without so much as a whisper of his true feelings. He wanted to give her time, to allow her to heal - because he knew - that her unspoken love for N would always be a point of contention. Still, even so, he couldn't stop his heart. If he'd just stayed away, then...

A drop in the bucket. The tides had shifted. Touko had opened herself to N again, and now it was only a matter of time. He would take her away, and years spent healing and forging new bonds together would be lost to his whims. Like always, history had a way of repeating itself. He had taken her heart then when he left the first time, and he would reclaim it now as his own.

Touya grinds his teeth as he turns his gaze away from the hall. His breath billowed in a soft cloud in front of his face, and the cool spring air tickled at his forearms. He was tired of this.

"Are you not interested in the festivities?"

The voice is smooth, practiced and slow. It hardly breaks the layer of natural silence that sat atop his shoulders in the courtyard, but it draws Touya's attention all the same. He glances to the side to see the figure of an older man, the same one who'd sat with a Persian in the hall. Almost exotic-looking with his tanned skin and deep chestnut hair, he seemed to exude a sense of purpose and wealth. Touya straightens up and shoves his hands into his pockets, not exactly interested in speaking with some likely investor.

"I'm not fond of dances," Touya mumbled. "It all seems pretty pointless to me."

"You may be right." The stranger replied without hesitation, his own gaze turned to examine the hall behind them. "It is guised as a way to bring together all members of the community, when in reality, it is merely a show of power." Touya watches as his fingers move to twist a stark golden ring on his index finger. "Adler has… grown quite prideful since the string of events some years ago." Smooth as silk, the stranger turns his line of sight back onto Touya. He can sense resentment in this young man, a side of him not yet touched by the light. It sits in the rigid pull of his shoulders, and in the dark corners of his eyes. There was something there.

"What troubles you, young man?" The hum of music behind them is muffled. Touya's face scrunched, as he didn't quite want to talk about his troubles with some odd-looking adult. But nobody had asked him that for a long time - as if he was always supposed to be the picture of happiness without worry - so it strikes a chord. Auburn bangs tickle the bridge of his nose, as his chin dips down towards the ground. "I don't know," Touya drew in a quiet breath, avoiding the lock in Giovanni's eyes as he turned his glance down towards the space between his feet. "I'm not even sure I know what I feel like. Empty… like I'm stuck in one place and… I'm never going to be able to move past it." And it was an exclusive truth to the eternal broken ventricles of an abandoned heart. How was he supposed to define this - not even to a stranger, but to himself?

"Is your heart lead by any purpose?" It seems an odd question, and Touya blinks. "What I mean to say is, do you have anything that guides you? Something only you can do?"

Something only I can do? There was a time, long ago, when he felt that was true. Back then, he had the support of his comrades and his Pokemon at every turn. They'd conquered countless foes and overthrew Ghestis when nobody else could. He had been part of something bigger than himself, but in the end, it was never anything that he could've done on his own. No, he was always relying on others: Cheren, Bianca, Touko… even N.

"I don't think so. I don't know if I ever will find my own way."

A bitter laugh escaped him, and Touya looks to the man with a grim smile. Giovanni gauged the boy's expression, knowing full well of his past and the type of person he was. If one was to give the heart just a little room for darkness, those feelings could explode into an entirely new chapter of someone else's life. There was space in this young man's soul to accomplish great things, he thought, but never like this. A potential pawn. An open wound that yearned to heal, but couldn't quite find the energy to do so. He had come to this gala with an expressed purpose in finding someone for his task, and since N had decided to reject his proposition…

Giovanni reaches into his pocket and pulls out a sleek, silver card. He held it out to Touya between two nimble fingers, and offered him a kind - albeit misguiding smile. He had waited patiently to find a suitable candidate in absence of Ghestis's son. The almost-hero would do quite nicely.

"Should you decide that you want a better life," Giovanni begins. "Your own life...I would be happy if you were to reach out to me. I'm the leader of the Viridian City Gym in Kanto. I believe you could accomplish great things under my tutelage."

His fingers twitch at his sides, both surprised and taken aback by such an offer. Since when did someone extend an opportunity without so much as a battle, or an interview?

"You don't even know me, why would you..."

"Quite to the contrary, Touya of Nuvema Town. There is not a soul in Unova or Kanto who does not know your name."

Silence sits between them, until Touya eventually takes the card from the man's fingers. GIOVANNI reads scrawled in cursive on the front, with a small set of numbers on the back-face, but the card is blank and silver besides those minor details. Without so much as a final word, the man turned his back on Touya and moved carefully back down the path towards the hall. He left the young brunette in stunned silence; both afraid and intrigued by the presence the man left with his departure, the card tucked neatly inside his palm.

Something only you can do.

"What can I do on my own?" Spoken only to himself, Touya pondered this notion in silence. A spark, a quiet noise; a beginning.

A path was opening before him, a choice that would lead him in all the wrong directions.

As Giovanni re-entered the hall, a figure stood near the double doors. Through waves of dark hair, deep brown eyes locked with blackened orbs. Slow music danced between them easily, a stark contrast to the way their eyes met.

"I don't know what you're up to," The young man spoke quietly, a low drawl that bordered on the cusp of a threat. "But I'll make sure you don't succeed."

The sleek man smirked, as he stopped just before him.

"Of course you will, Red."

Authors Note: Welp, it's been four years since I've updated this story, and I doubt anybody is still around. As I've decided to get back into writing, this story has always stuck with me - so what better time to pick it up than now? Chapters will be much shorter from here on out to keep things moving along. It's sort of crazy that I'm still in love with this premise, and I hope I'm able to entertain some of you as well. C: