It's a worthy sacrifice

Money Lost: $3, Total: $0

Drinks acquired! Time to head back to your friends. Or rather, your friend and Gina, who’s still pretty gosh darned rude. She’s nothing like your best friend Samantha. You’ll beat her in a pokemon battle at some point, but maybe not on the same day that she helped you rescue your best friend.

“Okay, I have- W-W-WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!?” you yelp. You find Gina laying flat on the bench while Samantha looms over her on all fours, their faces less than an inch from each other’s. “I leave for five minutes and you’re dating now!?”

“WE’RE NOT DATING!” they object, sitting up like lightning and sliding to opposite ends of the bench.

“R-Right. Ha! I guess I jumped to that conclusion too quickly. You obviously weren’t about to kiss or anything!” You all laugh awkwardly. “…Okay then. I brought some drinks,” you offer. “Lemonade, tea, and a-”

“LEMONADE,” Sam states urgently, grabbing it from your hand and chugging it without delay.

Gina reaches for the tea, then stops. She narrows her eyes at you and asks, “Where’d you get these?”

“From a vending machine, silly. They’re not poisoned or anything.” You smile warmly to encourage her to take her choice.

“That’s not what I meant. Here,” she says, mashing a $20 bill against your face. “I haven’t stooped so low that I’ll let the likes of you buy something for me.”

Money Gained: $20, Total: $20

“A-Are you sure? They were only a dollar. I can check if one of the shops will give me cha-”

“Keep it, Cum-For-Brains. I don’t wanna hear about some sun-deprived, balloon-titted trainer from Rifure found starved to **** in the streets. I don’t need that on my conscience.”

“Thank you!!!” The word “hug” doesn’t give justice to what you do to her. She squirms in your arms, but your vice grip of gratitude is too strong. Maybe Gina’s not the worst after all. She probably still is. But maybe there’s, like, a 1% chance that she isn’t.

You twist open your fizzy soda and drink it, sitting squarely between your best friend and your maybe-friend-but-probably-still-arch-nemesis. “Hey Gina, what are you doing in Celadon anyway? Did you come just for the casino?” Um… are you even allowed to make small talk with a super-cool famous celebrity like Gina? She may be infinitely more important and influential than you, but you know her, right? After the S.S. Anne, you probably know her more intimately than most, s-so a question like this must be okay!

“Badges,” she says flatly. “Another year, another round of travelling around Kanto and kicking all the Gym Leaders’ asses. Not like it’ll amount to anything in the end, though.”

“Really? You’re entering the Pokemon League too?” you inquire.

“ ‘Too?’ Yeah I’m entering, but you I’m not so sure about. Last time I checked, you didn’t even have two badges.”

“I have THREE!” you emphasize. “And I’m gonna get my fourth here in Celadon!”

“Well, if you say so. It’s not like the Gym Leaders are the real challenge anyway. The only trainer who really matters is the Champion.”

You cock your head. “Champion?”

“Yeah. She’s something else. I’ve faced her the last three years, and every time I’ve lost. Someone like you doesn’t stand a chance. You should just give up now and quit wasting your time.”

Samantha gulps hard, clearing away the lemonade so she can speak. “That’s what I keep telling her! This trainer thing is a lost cause. You have so much to come back to in Rifure Town!”

“Yeah, like having my clothes torn up and getting fucked while doing simple errands,” you sigh. “So I’ll have to beat the Champion, huh…”

Gina scoffs, “Even if you were lucky enough to get all eight badges, you’d get demolished in the preliminaries. I might even get the pleasure of doing it myself! And then I’d really make you earn the title Cuntlicker.”

Samantha shakily says, “Please stop, you’re only encouraging her.”

Disregarding Sam, you shout, “I’ll show you! I’m going all the way to the Pokemon League! And I’ll beat you! AND the Champion! And then…” your cheeks turn red as you follow through with the only threat that comes to mind, “…I’ll make you lick MY-”

At that instant, the elevator opens up, letting a man with a camera dash over to the bench where the three of you are sitting. Several others are on his tail.

“Gina, are these women related to the recent criminal allegations against you?”

“Gina, is your night life so spicy that you need not one, but two women to take home?”

“Gina! Is this your favorite brand of tea now!? This completely ruins the quote I got from you last week!”

“I DIDN’T GIVE YOU ANY STINKING QUOTE!” Gina screams, sending yet another brave photographer’s camera plummeting to the ground. She turns to you and Sam. “You two should take the stairs. There are probably more of these creeps taking the next elevator up.”

You ask, “But what about you?”

“I’ll be fine. They’re annoying, but otherwise harmless.”

“Your sacrifice will not be forgotten! But I’ll still beat you!”

Samantha drags you down the stairs before you make your departure any more dramatic.