Volo's Second Chance

• Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter

Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter

"Hey, you! Tall guy with the hat!"

Volo glanced behind him to the left. Then to the right. He finally pointed to himself and cocked his head at the young woman looking at him expectantly.

"Yeah, you! Come on over!"

He hesitated for a moment but approached her anyway. Resting up in Slateport City after exploring some ruins on Route 105 was part of Volo's agenda. Getting singled out by a merchant at the city's marketplace wasn't. Especially not this particular merchant. As Volo inched closer to her, he took note of her features: her short dark hair, her bright brown eyes behind red-rimmed spectacles, her sunkissed complexion... Yes, this was her. Casey. The girl who fell from the sky. The Survey Corps. girl. His... friend? Beloved? Centuries have gone by, and he still wasn't sure what their relationship was all that time ago. There was the night of the festival, but... Regardless, the two of them have reunited. If this was some sick prank Arceus tried to pull, Volo was not amused in the slightest.

As Volo approached, Casey snapped her fingers and addressed the Poliwrath who was arranging assorted necklaces on a display stand next to her, "Poliwrath, grab a seat for this fine gentleman here, won't you?" It nodded at her, finished hanging up the necklaces, grabbed a stool from behind a counter, and placed it behind Volo. Casey grabbed her own stool, positioned it next to him, and sat down. "I definitely haven't seen your face 'round here before," she observed. "The name's Casey. As you can see, I sell my handmade jewelry here! Who might you be?"

"Volo."

"Nice to meet you, Volo!" She rested her chin on both her palms and beamed, "So, where are you from? What are you doing here in Hoenn? Tell me everything!"

"Are you always this nosy with your customers?" he asked snidely.

Casey winked and stuck her tongue out at him, "Only the cute ones." Volo blankly stared at her. Her face turned red in embarrassment. "Okay, okay, bad joke! Don't look at me like that, come on!" She shook her head. "But, seriously, I don't know what it is about you, but something about you just drew me in."

"Is that all?" Volo shrugged and crossed his arms. "Well, if you must know, I'm from Sinnoh. I'm traveling around Hoenn for research purposes."

"'Research', huh? For what--Hm?" Casey's eyes focused on Volo's wrist. More specifically, the bracelet adorning it. "Hey, sorry 'bout changing subjects, but may I have a closer look at that bracelet? I haven't seen anything like it before."

Of course you haven't, Volo thought. You made it for me when you were in Hisui. "Oh, this old thing?" He held out his wrist to her, "I don't mind at all. Careful, though," Volo warned, "I've had it for a while, so it may have gotten fragile with age."

Casey gently held his hand in both of hers, tilting it from side to side slightly to get a better view of the bracelet from all angles without actually touching it. She nodded to herself as she examined the shells, pearls, and gems strung along the cord. "The craftsmanship on this is really good," she commented. "The helix shell here really compliments the pearls. The Star Pieces give it a nice pop of color too!"

As Casey examined the bracelet further, Volo couldn't help but smile at the casual intimacy she displayed. It took a lot of energy to resist pointing it out. Back in Hisui, teasing the girl was a favorite pastime of his, but now would not be the best time for it. To her, they had just met, and he wouldn't want to overstep any boundaries too early. Though, he did allow himself the luxury of imagining how the scenario would play out if he said something: she'd immediately recoil back in embarrassment and spew out repeated apologies for something that was admittedly innocent. He, in turn, would pat her on the head, assuring her that it wasn't a big deal, and that would cause her to squirm even more. He chuckled at the thought.

"What's so funny?" Casey asked, cocking her head at him.

"Ah, nothing," Volo shook his head. "Just thinking about someone."

"Oh?" Casey let go of his hand and sat on the stool behind her. "Who might that be?"

"Someone..." he thought for a moment, "precious to me. She was the one who made this bracelet for me, actually."

"Oh, wow! Like I said, the craftsmanship's great. She really has a talent for this sort of thing for sure." Nodding to herself, Casey thought deeply, "Hmm, Star Pieces are hard to come by, so maybe if I used Red Shards instead..." She cleared her throat, "Ah, sorry, it's just that I like using cool jewelry designs I come across as inspiration for my own stuff." Picking up a pendant, she explained, "This pendant for instance? An old man near Mossdeep taught me how to make Shell Bells, so I took what I learned from him to make this!" She put the pendant back and then grabbed a pair of stud earrings, "And these studs? A tourist from Unova was wearing something similar. She said that they were made from Comet Shards, but damn, you know how rare those things are? So, I used Blue Shards for my take on them." Letting out a laugh, she said, "Look at me ramble on and on. I'm probably boring you to death, huh?"

"No, not at all," reassured Volo. "I like hearing people get excited about their passions."

"Well, of course this stuff gets me excited!" Casey stood tall and put her hands on her hips, "Been doing this for years, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon!" She laughed and grimaced at him, "Still, I kinda feel bad for talking your ear off. Hmmm..." Snapping her fingers, Casey decided, "Tell you what, I'll give you twenty--no, no--fifty percent off any piece of jewelry you want! Plus," she winked at him, "maybe you could pick up something for that lady-friend of yours?"

"Ah," Volo hesitated, "how should I put this?" Casey raised an eyebrow at him, and he let out a short laugh, "I can't exactly see that girl anymore. I can't really go into the details as to why. It's a long story and much too personal."

Casey's mouth hung agape. After a moment, she flopped back onto her stool and facepalmed, "Damn, now I feel even worse! Me and my big mouth."

"Please, don't feel bad about it," said Volo, putting on the best sympathetic smile he could.

"Nah, man," Casey grumbled, "I've been messing up this conversation left and right. This is so unlike me." She rested her chin on one hand and drummed her fingers on her thigh with the other. "Hey, how long are you going to be in the area?" she finally asked.

"Hm?" Volo put a hand to his chin, "A few days? Longer, perhaps? I'm not sure yet." He raised an eyebrow at her, "Why?"

"Well, if you're not in a hurry to go anywhere else, uh," she averted her gaze and rubbed the back of her neck. "I was wondering, once I close up shop later, would you like to go out for dinner? I'd love to get to know you better, Volo." She smiled bashfully, "And I wanna make up for flubbing this first impression."

"I would love to!" he said with a grin. "I'm planning on staying at the Pokemon Center while I'm in the area, so feel free to meet me there once you're ready."

Casey beamed and jumped out of her seat, "Sounds good to me!"

"Then, it's a date!" Volo got out of his seat, walked away, and waved back at the girl, "See you later!"

"Wait, d-date!?" he heard her call out, "Who said anything about--"

Volo kept walking without looking back; he just knew that her face was completely flushed right now. He chuckled to himself. Perhaps Arceus's little prank won't be so bad after all.