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Assistant: Title: Maybe I Was Just That Bad of a Trainer
        Author: danimorphs danimorphs 
        Chapter: 28/56 
        Summary: When DJ was 13 years old, she set out on her Pokemon journey, with the goal of becoming not just the next Champion, but the greatest Champion the Kanto region had ever seen. Two months later, she came home in tears.Ten years after that, DJ has finally found her success in the world of Pokemon, not as battler but as a researcher. Her topic? Pokemon breeding, biology, and their relationships with humans. And lucky for her, she just made the discovery of a lifetime with a little something called "Pokephilia".Join DJ as she navigates a new internship with a new professor in a new region, finding friendship, love, and a stylish new haircut along the way.Super self indulgent pokephilia fic that is waaay more plot heavy than it has any right to be. This is actually my first longform fic. I started it in 2017 but took a long break and only picked it up again at the beginning of 2023. As such, there's some early installment weirdness! The first 10 chapters or so are pretty different in tone, and more recent chapters focus more on relationships and the protagonist's internal journey than on sm@t. I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading everyone!
        Contents: Chapter 28: Superficial
    

    


      
        
          this chapter went through like 2 entire rewrites and im sick of looking at it so just take it lmaonext chapter we're reuniting with xanthe?!! maybe?!?!?!!?
      
  

  
  
    
    I woke up the next morning sore again. Satisfied… but sore again. The camera was still on its tripod, pointed at the bed, and Bullseye was between us just as cozy as could be. Korrina’s alarm was going off on her bedside table, and she groaned to life and smacked it silent before sitting up. Her long hair was in tangles and she looked just as dead as I was, but she gave a stretch and flashed a smile at me when she saw my eyes open.“Heh. Morning,” She grinned, and I exhaled in response, starting to sit up.I had been roped into filming a Verde X Korni collab last night, not that I minded. Korrina and Bullseye had finally gotten their threeway, and hey, I needed every opportunity I could get to produce content for the site between all my other responsibilities. Our clothes were strewn all over Korrina’s bedroom in a trail that led directly to us, Korrina’s dress, my jeans and tank top, and then finally sports bras and panties cl@stered right at the foot of the bed. I watched her go about cleaning it up as she got ready for the day, dumping her laundry into the hamper after separating mine out and putting it next to my bag and equipment. Her room was mostly tidy, which was kind of surprising, but also totally like her, I suppose. Her personality screamed devil-may-care, but then you remembered that underneath that excitable, fun-loving attitude was a serious, well-bred and well-respected Gym Leader who had her life together and a legacy to uphold. It only made sense that even though she had cute, bright colors on her wall paper and half of her bookshelf was anime dvds, she still had a seriously marked up calendar front and center amidst her posters and every shelf of manga was organized by series and volume.“Yeah. Hey,” I replied, disturbing Bullseye as I also started to get up. My mouth was dry, and I was aching for breakfast.Korrina, who was pulling on fresh panties and hooking her bra, looked back at me as I rose to life. She paused briefly, humming affectionately, before she tossed my bag at me. “The sooner you roll out of bed, the sooner I can make you breakfast, you know.”“Oh, I did good enough last night to earn breakfast? Score for me,” I chuckled, patting Bullseye on the head to rouse him as well. He was still dozing beside me, and he raised his head sleepily when I touched him, giving a big stretch. He tilted his head when I climbed over him and got up, remaining by my side the entire time I followed along with Korrina in getting ready for the day. That’s Lucario for you, loyal to a fault.First things first, I retrieved the camera and tripod. No doubt that thing was full of footage that was going to make Dexio and Sina drool, and I didn’t want anything to happen to it before they got their hands on it. I preciously stowed it inside its carry case before pawing around in my PC channels to find something to wear. I definitely had to do laundry before I left town again, the rate I was going through clothes was incredible. Occupational hazard, I guess. I set the camera onto the table in the living room after I’d finished picking up after myself, stowing the rest of my things in my bag before grabbing my laptop from where I’d put it away last night. I plugged everything in before joining Korrina in the kitchen, making breakfast while I let the new footage upload from the camera to the private server Dexio and Sina used to store raw cuts and editing files. My toast popped up while Korrina was setting up her blender, plugging the thing in and starting to gather up ingredients.“You want some protein with that?” She asked me, pulling down a canister of some kind of dried powder from a cabinet.“Uh… What’d you have in mind?” I asked, tilting my head curiously as she measured a couple spoonfuls into a blender.“Heh. You like mixed berries?” She was going for the freezer now, popping out some colorful, creamy looking ice cubes from a big tray.“Sure…?”“Cool,” She added a couple to the blender as well and poured in some water before letting it go. Whoa. Instant smoothie. She poured half into a glass and the rest into one of those fancy, insulated water bottles. “Here ya go.”“Thanks,” I said, taking a sip. Mm, it was like berries and cream, very nice.“Anything for you, Deej~” She gave me a quick wink before heading back into her room. She returned shortly, her helmet and various sports guards under her arm. “Hey, I gotta get rolling. The gym’s been closed for a few days while I was out of town, and I have a lot of catching up to do.”“I understand, I can get out of your hair if you need me to…” I started, but she cut me off with a quick shake of her head.“No, no! I’m sure you need a quiet place to work, feel free to settle in. Besides, I’ll be free again this evening, we should hang out some more!” Korrina shot me a grin, pulling on her elbow pads and flexing her arms. I returned it with a blush.“Okay, yeah. If you’re sure,” I said, trying to slow the fluttering of my heart in my chest. She was so freaking cute.“I am, don’t worry. I’ll see you tonight, Deej! Don’t work too hard,” She gave me a quick hug and then with another wave, Korrina was gone, snapping on her helmet under her chin and heading downstairs to open up the gym for the day. I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding as she left, sinking into a cushion on the floor in front of the table with my toast and what remained of my smoothie. Time to get to work.I cracked my knuckles and opened up my in progress research notes. I had a few preliminary observations down, and I got to work typing up a storm, focusing on getting everything I could about Nidoking into the document. Bullseye settled in beside me, napping comfortably with his head in my lap and occasionally readjusting or glancing up at me when I went too long without petting him. I obliged, continuing to read my previous notes with my hand stroking the top of his head, but I found myself reading the same line over and over again as my thoughts instead drifted to the Pokemon in my lap, and the girl who used to own him. Korrina’s vanilla scented hair drifted into my mind, and I rested my head in my hands, my cheeks burning.God, last night. I sure was glad we got that on video, because if we hadn’t, well… I wouldn’t have believed it ever happened. I mean, with Xanthe I thought it had been a fluke, you know, it was just his personality or something that made him like that, but clearly not. I didn’t really know how to feel about it, to be honest. Discovering pokephilia had brought out an entirely new side of me, sure, and after jumping in headfirst, I guess there were even more depths I was bound to uncover. But still, my heightened s@x drive was bad enough, I don’t know how many more layers of discovery I could take. I could feel myself becoming a new person, shedding the layers I’d built up over years and years of solitude. And, while I certainly admired someone like Korrina, who was confident and took her destiny by the horns, I still couldn’t find the strength to shake off my shell, no matter how loose it was becoming around me as I wiggled free of my old identity. I couldn’t shake the fear that I was still just a puppet wearing the mask of who I wanted to be, and the instant I broke free and laid myself bare, everyone would find out that what had been inside me all along was blank and boring, a pure nothing pretending and praying they liked the show well enough not to look too hard at who was pulling the strings.In the very depths of my heart, I knew I didn’t belong here. It was bad enough that Calem had seen through me. I don’t know if I could take anyone else finding out the truth.Bullseye got up, heading to the kitchen and rummaging through the cabinets on his tip-toes. He came back with a bag of pokemon food, Fighting-type formula, plopping back into his spot and getting cozy again. He flicked some kibbles into his mouth, watching my screen lazily.“Are you allowed to just grab whatever you want, sir?” I asked him, glancing over at him before I went back to my screen. The cursor on my document blinked back at me, mid sentence. He responded with a quiet woof, crunching another handful of kibbles. Ugh, he was getting them all over the table. I gathered up his spill and put them on my long forgotten empty breakfast plate, sliding it back to him and resealing the bag so it couldn’t get everywhere.“There. Please stop making a mess,” I said, and he chuffed, nuzzling in closer and continuing to munch. I patted his head and got back to work. I was trying to remain focused, but my work was refusing to swallow me. I’d been losing myself in it for years, it was the most reliable way I’d ever found to make my stupid brain shut up, but right now when I looked at it, the eyes of everyone I had yet to disappoint looked back at me. My work wasn’t my own anymore, it had become another part of the performance, and the realization had tangled up my feet and made me unable to dance.I saved and closed the file, snapping my laptop shut decisively. Bullseye perked up his head, his antennae quivering with attention. His nostrils flared for another moment, before he moved in, his arms going around my waist and his chin resting on my shoulder. He squeezed me tight, soothing me before my thoughts could race any faster. I turned so I could embrace him properly and gave him a squeeze in return, running my fingers through the fur on his back. Well… It wasn’t just my work that kept my self loathing at bay, was it? I ran my hand from the top of his head all the way down his back, and he shivered happily, pressing his forehead into my neck.Without my pokemon, I would be completely alone. After all, they were the only ones who knew me, the real me, and I had never once been afraid of showing them that part of myself. They really were so easy to love, and maybe right now it was a selfish love but it was a love I needed. I pulled away from the embrace just slightly, and so did Bullseye, our eyes meeting. His aura sensing appendages were still quivering at attention as he took in the merciless tide of my negative thoughts, and all he could do was just hold me in concern. I kissed him between the eyes, before my will crumbled and I met our lips.His ears perked up and his tail started to wag. Well, good to know my pokemon were just as insatiable as I was. He had been Korrina’s after all, and, as they say, like trainer like pokemon. I hoped she wouldn’t be too mad at me for f@ck@ng in her bed without her, but considering what she let me do to her last night, I don’t think she was really in any place to object. As soon as we were inside the door, Bullseye had wrapped his arms around me again and I was undoing my jeans. I felt the familiar pressure of his length poke against my ass as he ran his tongue up my neck, and I knew if he had his way he’d choose to mount me from behind, as canid pokemon liked to do. But, I wasn’t in the mood for that, lacing my fingers into his paws and disentangling myself with a firm touch. He seemed briefly surprised, pulling away from my neck, but when I pushed him onto the bed and straddled his hips, his ears perked up eagerly and he submitted.“Yeah, that’s a good boy…” I purred, one of my hands cupping his cheek and stroking his soft blue fur as my other gripped his length and started to stroke, bringing him up to full attention. He groaned in appreciation, his paws migrating to my hips and holding there as I took control, my heart beating heavily from the rush of his submission. He’d let me do anything to him right now. As long as he got his, am I right? My thoughts were getting cloudier, my hand working him faster as he panted in delight, until he was diamonds and I could take it no longer. I swallowed him to the base in one go, feeling his knot press against me as our hips met and moaning like the wh@r@ I was as his shape split me open. F@ck, that was exactly what I needed.I rode him slowly, methodically, savoring the feeling of working him deep inside me, tickling my cervix. I had leaned in close and met our lips, our incompatible mouths exploring each other and learning how they best fit together as I dictated our pace. I kept him in deep until I needed more, pulling back and sitting up so I could bring myself up and slide back down more easily. His arms had wrapped around me while we were close, and though disappointed I broke our embrace, he easily capitalized on the opportunity to grope my chest through my shirt. God, I really was losing myself, wasn’t I? I was still half dressed, and we’d skipped any semblance of foreplay in my desperation to be filled. I knew he deserved better, but right now, as I worked myself over every inch of him in a steady, mercilessly efficient rhythm, I don’t think he really cared. His tongue was flopping out of the side of his mouth and he was panting happily, watching my body use his and encouraging my dominance with happy yips and moans of delight. I guess that was another good thing about pokemon… They were easy to please.I leaned in close again, my elbows straddling the side of his face just like he’d done to me in the forest. He looked up at me, holding my eyes until I met our lips again, stealing his breath away and feeling his arms wrap around me again and hold me tight. He was so much stronger than me, I could feel the way he carefully controlled the strength of his grip so as not to squeeze me too hard and hurt me. He could throw me off at any time, do as he would with me, and yet I was the one on top, I was the one in control, and I knew he wouldn’t dare make any move without my say so. Why was that so f@ck@ng hot to me?? My hips were speeding up, taking him deeply inside me once again, and my fingers tangled into his fur as pounded him into me and refused to let go. His arms moved down my back, locking into place just above my hips and encouraging me to take him as deep as I could, enabling my intense lust obediently as his voice moaned into my mouth. I broke our kiss again, gritting my teeth as his mouth hung open and I pulled against his fur. His eyes met mine and I growled a single command at him, my voice low and demanding and one he couldn’t possibly disobey.“Knot me.”Oh, sh@t, sh@t, sh@t- F@ck! His paws gripped my ass, pulling me down as he surged his hips upwards, and my entrance strained for just a moment until the pressure of his knot won out and he lodged his way fully inside me. Oh god, the pressure was so good, I could feel his head straining my cervix and pressing against my womb but I didn’t care, it felt too f@ck@ng good. I ground my hips into him, working him inside me and kissing all over his face, his hot breath panting in my ear as I squeezed him all over and milked him his pleasure. Either I was getting looser or he hadn’t locked inside me just yet, I had a little bit more wiggle room than I remembered, and I would certainly have felt it if he came in me. It was okay, though. This was nice, and I found myself kissing down his neck as his paws gripped my ass and held me in place. I settled in against him, his c@ck still buried to the hilt inside me, and the two of us savored the hazy pleasure of being so near.I don’t know exactly how long we stayed like that, but I do know that when my phone started ringing, I was absolutely in no state to answer it. The old me would have let it ring, but I had literally just been chewed out by the Professor for that exact thing, so no matter how cozy I was all cuddled up on top of Bullseye, I had to answer it. I sat up from where I’d nuzzled in on his chest, pulling my head up from under his chin and readjusting with a stretch. Where was the sound coming from…? Ah, sh@t, I’d left my phone in my pants. Good thing we’d thrown them on the bed, there was no way I was going anywhere for a while yet. Bullseye blinked at me, opening his eyes when he felt me reach back. I eventually gripped the leg of my jeans and pulled them in to me, rummaging through my pockets as Bullseye also sat up, adjusting me in his lap and running his paws up and down my back affectionately. I kissed him on the nose in return, before finally finding my phone and answering it.“What’s up, Corncob, whaddaya want?” I said, seeing Korrina’s name on the caller id.“Hey, Deej- What did you just call me?” I could just see Korrina do a double take, and Bullseye’s ears perked up.“Corncob. You know. Cuz you’re Korni,” I explained, and I saw Bullseye put a paw to his mouth and snicker.“Oh my god- That has got to be the WORST nickname I’ve ever heard!” She scoffed, pouting as we snickered together.“Oh, shut up, you love corny things like that. Get it? Corny? Korni?” I winked at her, grinning, and I swear if she had been here, she would have hit me.“NO. Stop! I’m not letting you call me Corncob, not while you get to have a cute nickname!” Her voice was getting whiny again, just like it had when I’d teased her back in Reflection Cave. She was so fun to rile up.“Okay, okay,” I relented, pausing just for a moment. “Popcorn, then”“No!”“Cornbread?”“No!!”“Fine, fine… Corndog.”“That’s just Corncob but WORSE.”“Then I guess we’re sticking with Corncob.”“NO DJ! Ugh. Just come downstairs,” she said on the other end, keeping it short and to the point.“Huh? Do I have to? I’m a little… tied up at the moment, if you catch my drift,” I replied, leaning back into Bullseye as I did so. His arms wrapped around me again and his nose went into my hair.“Oh you-! I can’t leave you alone for a minute, can I?” She was giggling at the scandal, but I heard her scoff. “Look, just get down here asap, okay? One of your friends is here looking for you.”My eyes shot back open and I felt a spike of ice go through my heart. No way, what were they looking for me for? Who was it? Oh god, please don’t be…“Uh… Who is it?” I asked, my voice shaking despite my best efforts. Bullseye gripped me a little tighter, a paw going under my chin and raising my eyes to his in concern. I brushed him off apologetically, sitting up again to focus on my phone call.“It’s the little guy, uh what was his name… Trevs,” Korrina replied. “Why?”“Nothing. No reason,” I answered a little too quickly, unable to ignore the wave of relief that crashed over me. “Is it just him? What does he want…?”“Uh, yeah? What are you talking about, he’s your friend. Now get rolling, okay?” Korrina sighed, and I gave a vague affirmative noise before she hung up. I dropped my phone again with an equally weary sigh, staring at it before I felt Bullseye’s paw in my hair again. His paw beans squished against my cheek, stroking his thumb along the side of my face in much the same way I did to him. It was nice, and it soothed me more than I expected it to.“Mm. We have to get up now, you know,” I said, fluttering my eyes back open after he dropped his paw. His ears drooped and he screwed up his face in a pout, and it was just so adorable I had to pull him in for another kiss.“I know, I know,” I agreed, pulling away again after another moment. “I love you, too…”And I meant it. As much as I was dreading going down there and facing my friend, at least I was feeling brave enough to do it. That never would have happened without him. His ears perked up again as his antennae bristled, and his pouting face softened. His paw went back in my hair, and we came in for another kiss, gentler this time, leaving me smiling when it broke.“Thanks, Bullseye. Now come on.”It took a little bit of effort, but eventually I was able to pull my hips away from his, breaking our tie. We were both left messy, but I knew from last night that Korrina kept some baby wipes in her bedside table, right next to the lube and condoms. I cleaned up and zipped up my pants, and Bullseye did the same, nuzzling into me after he was finished. I got him into his ball and double checked that I wasn’t leaving anything behind before heading downstairs and finding my way to the lobby of the Gym.Sure enough, there was Trevs, sitting down on one of those little couch sofa booth things every lobby ever had for people to wait at. He had his pokedex out, scrolling through it with great interest and thinking hard over whatever it was on the hard light screen that had captured his attention. He looked up as I came out from behind the scenes, averting his eyes out of instinct before putting his pokedex away and getting to his feet.“H-hey, Deej,” Trevor said, smiling at me before averting his eyes again. I gave him an awkward little wave in return, heading over to him and becoming very interested in adjusting my bag once I joined him.“Uh, hey, Trevs. What’s up…?” I asked politely, doing a quick, surreptitious glance of the rest of the room. I didn’t see anyone else I knew… Kind of odd, Trevor never really struck me as the type to strike out on his own. Unless…“Oh, you know. Calem and Shauna and Tierno all decided to head off to train, but I stayed behind,” He answered. Oh thank Arceus, that answers that question. I really, really didn’t want to run into any of them today, especially not… I couldn’t finish that thought, he was speaking again. “So, uh… Do you want to hang out? I know we haven’t really gotten much of a chance to get to know each other…”“Oh, um… Yeah, sure. I was trying to work, but it wasn’t really happening, so… Might as well,” I replied politely.“Were you? What were you having trouble with?” Trevor asked, turning my way again. F@ck.“Oh, you know! Just… kept getting distracted…” I answered lamely, caught off guard enough that I was unable to come up with a clever lie. His eyes stared into me a hair longer before he nodded.“I know how that is. In that case, there’s no harm in taking a break. Maybe you’ll be able to focus better after,” He said.“Yeah… Maybe.” I replied. There was a bit of an awkward silence between us, until Trevor reluctantly took the initiative again and spoke up.“So… Do you want to get lunch?” He asked, and I unconsciously tightened the grip of my hands on my bag.“Yeah, sounds good,” I nodded, and he gave me another little smile before leading me out of the gym.It was a brisk afternoon, sunny and warm, and again the smell of the sea permeated the air. I looked out from the top of the cape at the beach in the center of town, and found the whole place swampy and underwater. The tide hadn’t completely gone out just yet, it must still be a little too early for the beach to be exposed in its entirety. Trevor led me into the heart of town, pointing out places as he went and keeping a good pace on his short legs so I didn’t have to slow down too much to keep up with him. I swear, he was almost a full foot shorter than me. I mean, I wasn’t short myself, but I never really considered myself particularly tall either, especially when compared to bean poles like Calem, the Professor, or my brothers. And yet, I completely towered over him. Hell, now that I was thinking about it, was he shorter than Shauna…? Let’s see… Shaunflower came up to right about my chin, I think, but Trevs was more like shoulder height, or thereabouts. Oh my god, he was shorter than Shauna. If you’d put a gun to my head, I never would have guessed that, the image of Shaunflower as this tiny, petite, cute thing would have absolutely made me guess her.“So what are you thinking?” Trevor asked me, and I snapped out of my thoughts, blushing pink as I realized he was turned towards me and awaiting an answer.“...I was thinking about how short you are. Sorry, it wasn’t to make fun of you or anything, I promise…!” I answered honestly, so startled by his sudden address that lying didn’t even occur to me as an option. He looked mildly confused, blinking and taking me in, before he answered.“I meant food…Were you… You weren’t listening to me, were you?” He said, and I blushed even brighter.“I’m sorry!” I apologized instantly, bowing politely in penance.“I-it’s ok! Um… How about we just try that place?” Trevor put up his hands, before he pointed at a bistro across the street. I looked up and followed his gaze before nodding, and he led us over. Despite the lunch rush, we were seated quickly enough, Trevor sipping his drink and me staring out the window after we ordered. I really had to stop making myself look like a fool in front of my friends…“So… Do you space out like that often?” Trevor asked me, interrupting my thoughts before they could start berating me too badly.“More often than I’d like, these days. I used to not be like this, I was way less in my head when I was a kid,” I sighed, turning back to him.“Really? You didn’t use to be quiet?” Trevor set his drink back in its place, giving me his full attention.“Hehe, nope. I was the loud one in my class for the longest time, actually, until about middle school,” I replied, chuckling at the memories.“Wow… I’ve always been the quiet type, ever since I was a kid. People used to think I was weird, and they’d pick on me,” Trevor said, and I nodded along.“Oh man, do I know the feeling. I was a completely different person by high school, and it’s always the quiet ones who get picked on first…” I said, before chuckling again. “Hey, hey, did your classmates ever do the thing where, like, they left white flowers on your desk and then gave you the silent treatment all day because they were pretending you died?”Trevor just looked at me.“Uh… No. Mostly I was just… picked last in P.E. and stuff… That happened to you?” He asked me, leaning forward and unable to hide the concern on his face.“No, no, no, it’s okay, see, I deserved it. It was my fault we got last place in the sport’s festival, so, y’know, I’d be mad at me, too,” I replied, trying to put him at ease. It seemed to work, at least somewhat. Trevor settled back in his chair.“I see… How’d that happen?” He asked, still taking me in.“Uh… I, uh, I was supposed to compete in the battle tournament for our year but I… I skipped it. I hid behind the school during the whole event, and it was too late for my class to enter a replacement so… We got last place by default. Tanked our whole score, everyone was talking about it all the way ‘til winter break, and even after no one really let it go…” I answered, my gaze drifting downwards. The silence stayed between us for a moment, until Trevor spoke again.“Did you- I mean, you skipped the tournament because you’re afraid of battling, right?” He said, and I looked up again, shrugging my shoulders.“You got it. I guess it just isn’t my thing anymore,” I said, leaning my chin in my hand thoughtfully. “Anyway… what about you? I can’t imagine you actually did anything to earn the ire of your classmates.”“Well, like I said, people thought I was weird. I’ve always been… I guess observant is the best way to put it, and people didn’t really like how I seemed to know things that I shouldn’t. So, I just kind of started keeping it to myself. I was mostly left alone after that, but I still didn’t really have any friends,” Trevor said.“So how’d you meet everyone then?” I asked. The garcon returned with our orders, and I accepted my sandwich and soup gratefully, Trevor doing the same with his salad. It took him another minute to speak again, but after getting settled with his food he answered.“Tierno, mostly. We’d been in the same class for a few years, and he was kind of a social butterfly. He decided he liked me, and introduced me to some of his friends from other classes. That’s how I met Calem, Shaunflower and Gracie,” Trevor said.“Oh, I see. Introvert adopted by an extrovert, huh?” I chuckled and he smiled.“Yep, exactly.”I nodded, going back to my food and thinking about what he’d said. It was funny, I used to be the extrovert adopting introverts back in elementary school. Sure, I was a little loud and obnoxious as a kid, but when you were in elementary school that just meant you were more fun to play with. I never had any shortage of friends, and no matter where someone was on the social hierarchy, if I thought they were interesting, I’d play with them. I always tried to give people a chance. I didn’t let anyone else’s judgments affect my own, and giving some of the more quiet kids a chance really helped them open up. I’m pretty sure I rescued more than one wallflower from being ostracized that way.Would have been nice if I’d gotten the same kindness back when I needed it. I guess it wasn’t the first time my good nature had been taken advantage of, though. Besides, now I was filling that void in my heart with s@x, so who’s the real winner here? Ouch, I thought that would be funny, but really it was just depressing huh…“So how’s your thesis coming along?” Trevor asked, bringing me out of my head again. The conversation had lulled as we ate, and I looked up, wiping my mouth and swallowing my bite of food. Sh@t.“It’s coming. It’s mostly really boring. Lots of technical biology stuff,” I replied. “What about you? Working on anything interesting?”“Oh, I’ve been focusing my attention on the pokedex. I’m hoping that the work I’m doing for the professor will qualify as my undergraduate field credits,” Trevor said, taking another bite of his salad.“Oh yeah? Where are you enrolled, anyway?” I asked, grateful he’d taken the bait so I didn’t have to figure out how to be cagey about my research.“I’m not enrolled yet. I was accepted to Lumiose University, but everyone else was going on a journey so I delayed enrollment for a year to join them,” He answered, and I nodded along. Wait a second…“I thought you guys were all already in college?” I asked, trying to piece it all together. Trevor shook his head.“No, I only just graduated. Tierno, too. Gracie and Shauna graduated highschool last year, though, and Calem graduated the year before that,” He said, tilting his head as I held my head in my hands and stared in shell shock at my half eaten food.“H-how old are you? How old is everyone else??” I asked, looking up again. Trevor blinked, a little taken aback.“Uh… I just turned 18? And Shauna and Tierno are 19. Calem and Gracie are both 20, though, but Calem is several months older than her, which is how he ended up a year ahead. Come to think of it, he’s probably going to have a birthday here soon…” Trevor said, thinking.“Oh my god I feel so old…” I exhaled, my reflection in my soup looking up at me.“Aren’t you only like… 23?” Trevor asked.“Yeah, but… I’m almost a professor, and you guys haven’t even thought about college yet. Holy sh@t…” I really had missed out on a lot, hadn’t I? I’d done nothing but eat, sleep and breathe school ever since I picked myself up from my disaster of a journey. Being busy had helped me cope, had kept the painful memories from stinging so badly, but now I was looking up from the grindstone and found my nose had been whittled away. I was moving on to a different life stage, but in the process I’d left people who should be my peers completely behind.“Yeah… You’re gonna be a really young professor, you know?” Trevor said delicately. He didn’t want to admire me too much, not while I was having a brief midlife crisis before I’d even reached midlife. “You must be really dedicated to your research to be studying so hard for so long.”“Yeah… Something like that, I guess.”“Hm…” Trevor took me in for another moment, and I wondered if he was doing the thing that made his classmates hate him, observing to figure out something he shouldn’t be able to know. But when he spoke again, he said something that surprised me. “Professor Sycamore says you’re brilliant.”“Huh?”“Yeah, he’s always saying that someone with a mind like yours is going to go really far. I think he really admires you, Deej,” Trevor said, smiling. His smile turned sad, though, and he continued gently. “But… I think I’m starting to get why you’re so dedicated to your work. It’s not a very happy reason, is it?”“Heh, man, I can see how people were freaked out by this,” I joked, and he smiled.“Sorry,” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.“It’s okay. And… Yeah, you’re right. This is all I have, and it fills a void in me that I’d otherwise have to carry alone. I don’t know what I’d do without it,” I said, Trevor nodding along.“I understand how you feel. And, I know it’s scary to let people in but… You don’t have to carry it alone. I, for one, am really glad to call you my friend, so if there’s ever anything I can do to make it a little easier, I’m happy to help,” He said, and I could feel myself softening. It was easy to trust him. I wanted to put up walls, to continue my marionette dance and keep him at bay but… It was weird, he really did seem to get me, one outcast to another. But he wasn’t really an outcast anymore, was he? And I guess I didn’t have to be either. I found myself wanting to believe him, desperate to take him at his word, and he was so empathetic and genuine, I let myself fall in.“...Thanks, Trevs.”“Of course, Deej,” He smiled back at me, and I went back to eating. I was scraping the last of my soup out of the bowl when Trevor spoke again. “You know… Calem feels really bad about yesterday.”I was hit by a spike of ice again, but I didn’t let it freeze me. I set down my bowl casually and smiled in return, forcing the panic rising in the back of my throat at the memory of his vitriol down.“Oh, that? Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. These things happen,” I replied, perfectly sweet and chipper. He wasn’t going to fall for that, though, was he?“He still wants to apologize. But, between you and me, he’s scared you’re mad at him,” Trevor said, refusing to budge. My smile got a little tighter as I clenched my teeth, but I kept it light.“No, no, no, never. It’s alright. Besides, the Professor told me what he’s been struggling with, so I really can’t hold it against him. It’s fine. Really. Water under the bridge,” I said, a little more firmly than I intended. Trevor gave a small sigh.“Well… I’m sure he’d like to hear that from you. Everyone should still be training at the Tower of Mastery… Do you want to come with me after this?” He asked.“I- I, uh…” I was going to say I had to get back to work, pivot easily into my favorite excuse to leave him behind, when I realized exactly what he’d done. He knew I used my work to avoid the people who cared about me, hell he’d all but gotten me to admit it. He’d figured me out, and in the process had robbed me of my plausible deniability. God d@mn it, the b@st@rd, how dare he make me face my problems head on? I couldn’t REALLY be mad at him, though. I would have to face Calem eventually, whether he hated me or not. Still, did I have to face him now?! My brain was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out some other excuse to weasel my way out of seeing my friends. Nothing was coming up, though, every excuse I could think of was lame and easily countered. Hell, I almost settled on telling him the truth, before I realized that even if I did he’d figure out something to say that would make me have to go with him anyway. There really was no out here, he’d played me so thoroughly.And then, my phone started ringing.I dove into my bag, relief flooding into me. Yes! Oh, Dexio, you sweet, sweet, precious man, I owed you my life. I held up my phone, showing Trevor the caller id.“Aw, jeez. I would but… I gotta take this, it’s probably something important. But don’t worry, I’ll catch up with you guys!” I said, jumping to my feet and dropping some cash from my wallet onto the table to pay for my half of the meal. Trevor blinked in surprise at just how eager I was to escape, before his face saddened.“Oh, okay… Yeah, sure. We’ll all come by Korrina’s later then?” He offered, but I was already heading off.“Maybe! Either way, I’ll see you later!” I waved, and I pressed the green answer button and put all of my attention on the call before Trevor could follow or argue any more, leaving him far behind. “Hey, Dex! What can I do for you, I’m all yours…”'
User: Summarize the chapter based on the content provided, ensuring to follow the set format and emphasize key aspects within the specified length.
User: Summarize the chapter based on the content provided, ensuring to follow the set format and emphasize key aspects within the specified length.
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