Recap
>>Phoebe sees Sabrina as a mother figure and pines for a life where her Trainer Randi and Sabrina are romantically involved. Through clairvoyance, she sees that they have mutual feelings for each other but both are apprehensive about sharing these feelings for fear of complicating their friendship.
Phoebe consulted with Sabrina's primary Pokémon Gothitelle, who can see Sabrina's entire timeline and alternate futures. She tells Phoebe that a number of interventions are required to change the future in which Sabrina proposes to Randi (in Sabrina's culture, both women and men propose marriage.)
Sabrina's best friend Paige arrives for the summer and develops an intriguing crush on Randi. They begin dating, which complicates Phoebe's goals. Gothitelle has a stronger future vision than Phoebe and can see that Randi and Paige's relationship will be only a summer fling, but the resulting emotional complications will cause Randi and Sabrina to part ways. This invokes Phoebe's instinct as a Gardevoir, impelling her to protect her Trainer from the future emotional damage.
***
July 11, 2019
Midtown District, Amphitheatre Ward
Master is out with 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗲 tonight. I can't believe he's falling for her tricks. Lady 𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮 did say she was quite an accomplished actress back home though. She's also grabbing his attention with that shiny 𝗥𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘀. That Paige, I sense she is a reasonable woman, but she seems to have a twinge of narcissism. What does she want with Master? Why is she playing him like this?
Lady Sabrina is back at Master's place. With Anemone and Cosmo, she's studying ancient civilizations from pictures she took at the library today. She seems to constantly pour through any possible tidbit of ancient knowledge that could assist her teachings of the powerful ancient arts.
She sent 𝗚𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 and me out to the Amphitheatre near the library. Interestingly, we're only a couple of blocks from the restaurant Master and Paige are patronizing. Paige's hotel is right behind this park.
《I saw them, 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗯𝗲.》Gothitelle raises her brows behind her low-cut hair. 《She is being very coquettish with your Trainer. She bats her eyes and brushes her hair across his arms and shoulders.》
I feel sick. My skin crawls thinking of them together. The future shows this relationship as merely a fling that ruins Master's chances with the Lady.
《Master... has a weakness when it comes to women,》 I look around, being extra cautious not to divulge confidential information to unseen Psychic Pokémon. 《He gets very flustered if put into a... how do I say it... a sudden change in atmosphere, an escalation...》
Gothitelle turns away.《A hot situation,》she glances from the side, smirking.《I can see it, I can feel... that he will flee.》
《I see it too. I know the inner workings of his mind. Master won't be able to handle the situation. There's this part of him that dictates he must be emotionally bound with someone before getting physical with them. Without the bond, his constitution will crash. Panic.》
《He has no emotional attachment to her. So, you simply must turn up the heat.》
《By using my ability to teleport, telekinesis, and short term clairvoyance... we'll actually heat things up with... ice.》
《Do it. Work your magic, Phoebe. Protect your Trainer. Save him. It is your duty as his 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗿. Sometimes you have to cause some temporary embarrassment to help your Trainer find long-lasting happiness. Go set it right. He's escorting her to her hotel room now.》
***
Upon teleportation, I phase into a nook containing an icemaker around a corner from a long corridor of hotel rooms. I hear Master and Paige approaching her door.
"Well," Paige laughs, "I had such a great time."
Master chuckles a bit. I sense a bit of hesitancy. This is going to work. Through the corner, I sense he is carrying a large pail of ice water. Moments ago, he filled it from this machine. Paige is manipulating him for her errands!
Paige touches his arm.
"So..." she bites her lip, looking into his eyes. She fidgets with her key card with her other hand.
He's leaning in to kiss, awkwardly taking his time, as he does. There's a doorstop next to his foot. Just a quick flick of my fingers does the trick. The doorstop moves ever so slightly.
《Forgive me, Master... you'll thank me later...》
Master trips slightly on the doorstop. Were it not for the heavy bucket of ice water, he would have kept his balance. However...
A loud thud and splash later,
"Aieeeeeee!" Paige screamed.
It really took everything not to burst out into laughter.
"Oh no! I'm so, SO sorry!!" Master panicked.
The couple thoroughly distracted, I had a chance to glance at the damage. I slowly peeked around the corner to see Paige against her door, soaked in ice-cold water. Melting ice cubes laid strewn about the floor. Paige's shrinking dress had developed a rather embarrassing translucency.
Master, in a panic, seeing a group of men dressed in business suits walking down the hallway, ripped a decorative curtain off the wall, wrapping it around Paige.
"Oof!" Paige whined as Master wrapped her up and patted her down. The businessmen turned their heads as they walked by. Paige's blonde hair was in soaked mats.
"You need to get changed immediately. You'll get sick if you stay in this dress," Master explained as he took Paige's key and opened the door. Master seems to have taken a fatherly role. He nudged her towards the inside, pointing to her bathroom and hairdryer. Paige was tugging at his hands.
"Please, please. Come inside!" Paige shivered. "We could stream a funny movie or something, order champagne."
"No, you should really take care of yourself. You shouldn't drink after being in cold water, that's dangerous. Please get changed and get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning. I should be getting home. Bri probably needs a break from her research and I've got to take care of Anemone and Cosmo."
"Call me in the morning."
"I'll do that. Good night." Master closes the door and heads to the elevators.
Success! I quickly phase back to Gothitelle in the park.
***
《The future has changed, Phoebe. Your intervention was effective.》
《Will Master be with the Lady?》
《They are now on the right path to be together. There will be more trials.》
My job is not done. But I have steered the ship in the right direction for now.
《Why does Paige want Master? Doesn't she know that could complicate her friendship with the Lady?》
《I can only see my own Trainer's destiny. She does seem a little frustrated with her friend's advances on her old boyfriend. They can salvage the friendship. But Paige seemed drawn to your Trainer's affinity for Psychic Pokémon, Ralts in particular. I don't understand her motives. There's something strange about her. She seems very different than when she last saw my Trainer.》
《I'm keeping my eye on her.》
***
AN: And my first ever drawing depicting soaked clothing is complete! I followed a YouTube tutorial. I'm watching several of that channel's tutorials on character art, actually. I'll post details later, ANYONE can draw characters!
I'm going to start to fine tune the basics. Body shape, proportions, design, anatomy. It never hurts to revisit the basics in art! I want to become very skilled in drawing convincing characters in any pose. I might even pause the story for a bit to try and refine the techniques, so you might just see some character drawings coming up.
Keep following for more art, more Pokémon, and more Gardevoir!
J