This had to be one of the most embarrassing days in Alexandra's life.
She didn't expect an energetic young man to burst into her shop and show her some fanfiction, or that the subject of said fanfiction would be of herself and a guy she had never met. Nevertheless he seemed eager to have her meet him, which is why she was currently outside the Pokemon Gym in Danali Town.
Alex was even more impressed he managed to get to Indry City with only a Growlithe, but then again she had a feeling it had something to do with his brother, who had accompanied the pair of them. From what she can recall, the pair were called Paparus and Sans.
She stopped outside the Gym doors, steeling herself for what was yet to come.
Papyrus and his Growlithe, the wonderful Toby, were bouncing in the spot as they awaited outside the doors of the gym. He had actually done it! The Great Papyrus had managed to get Alex to this gym so that they could meet. It would be wonderful and there'd be romance in the air!
He could just sense the good vibes. What a romantic scene together. Two people destined by a story online, only to meet and find each other. They'd see how destined they would be together, how correct this wonderful (note; not so wonderful) piece of literature was. Hopefully Sans had his back in all this.
"ARE YOU READY? I'M READY. LET'S GO!" Papyrus didn't even wait for an answer, pushing the doors wide open and looking inside, calling out multiple 'hello's into the distance as he jogged ahead, Toby by his side, leaving Alex and Sans in the dust.
Monte hadn't expected company that day. The gym was empty and quiet, the trainers off adventuring or doing other things. His cousins were off on their own. He had time to himself for a while until it started getting busy with young trainers arriving.
He was on one of the tall ladders when the doors suddenly opened and broke the silence he'd been enjoying, nearly startling him off his perch. The pale leader looked over as he adjusted his glasses and twisted until he could actually see who'd entered. It was a trainer with a growlithe and at least two others. A challenger already?
Not missing a beat he slid down the ladder and started walking over to the group while dusting his hands on his pants.
"I wasn't expecting challengers today or I would've had the trainers ready," He apologized, glancing over the trio before back to the one that, he assumed, was ready for a battle," Or are you here for something else?"
Monte looked quite different from how he was depicted in the fanfiction she had read, despite some similarities. His eyes weren't 'smouldering', as the fanfiction had described it, but mismatched. His left eye was almost as pale as his white hair, which intrigued the technician. In terms of appearance, the only things they had in common were their pale skin and above average height.
"Good afternoon, Monte" Alex said, knowing she would have to introduce herself before approaching the main issue "I'm Alex, owner of Fawkes's Fireworks and former Gym Leader of Indry City. I wanted to speak to you about some... literature about the two of us."
She looked at Papyrus, hoping he could explain the situation better than herself. Alex was no stranger to badly-written fanfiction, but was dumbstruck at the thought someone out there had written some about her.
Oh, there he was! Papyrus was trying to remain cool and calm, but that statement never did fit him. Instead he was actually standing there bouncing up and down, energy overflowing. It was clear he was way too excited for whatever purpose he was here for.
Which was the fanfiction. Papyrus cleared out his throat and waved a finger in the air as he explained. "THERE WAS THIS BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF WORK THAT WAS PLACED ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THIS LOVELY WOMAN AND YOURSELF, AND I, THE GREAT LOVE DOCTOR PAPYRUS, AM HERE TO SEE IF THERE HAS BEEN A MATCH! AFTER ACTUALLY MEETING THE WOMAN, I WAS LIKE WOWIE, I MUST MEET THE MAN AND FULFILL THEIR DESTINY! YOUR DESTINY! NYEH HEH HEH!"
Papyrus took bouncy steps off to the side, making his fingers into a box around the scene as if he was taking a picture. He moved back until he could get both of them in the 'shot', and once he did, there was a satisfied nod from him. "YES. PERFECT! YOU TWO WOULD LOOK WONDERFUL TOGETHER!" The growlithe of his barked in agreement, but given from the dumb look on his face and the drool, he clearly had no idea what his trainer was on about.
Having the tall young man bouncing like he was, the gym leader half expected him to leap through the ceiling with the pent up energy he seemed to have bottled up. Which hopefully wouldn't be the case if for nothing else than the poor ceiling. He still managed to tear his attention away from him to listen to what the woman, Alex as she said, had to say. Which only puzzled him more as he looked back at Papyrus when he took over speaking.
Yet the more the young trainer spoke, the more confused and lost Monte seemed. Until it finally clicked and made the mis-matched eyes go wide and quickly glance between Alex and Papyrus.
"Her and-? Oh, no you've got to be mistaken, I haven't even met her before," Monte spoke up quickly,"Besides that I don't intend to even think about dating any time soon. You shouldn't take what you read to heart." He could feel his heart sinking with the thought that this energetic teen wasn't going to take 'no' very well. Or at least not easily. This was going to be a long day.
When sans had left to accompany Papyrus he hadn't expected to stumble upon his brother reading some raunchy fanfiction that Arceus only knows who wrote it. Sans was lucky enough to catch him in time before he got to the bad bits. Which was actually anything past the love confession. And here he was, walking into the gym late with a cup of coffee from Sawsbucks, about ready to witness something he'd rather not. He caught the tail end of what the white-haired boy had said, but that was enough to go off of.
"sup kiddos." He closed the distance between him and his brother, standing next to the taller teen and then looking at the fanfiction couple. There were certainly some discrepancies between the story and real life. "looks like you've already been introduced to each other, that's good. great start to a healthy relationship; actually meeting the other party. but uh," he looked around, taking an obnoxiously loud sip of his coffee. It already wasn't strong enough to get sans through this. "i'm afraid this isn't where they met, pap. you sure you got the right people?"
Thank Arceus Sans intervened when he did, she didn't know how much of this she could take. If she wasn't in front of three people she would have unleashed the scream she had been supressing the entire time. Using the moment the attention was on the older brother, Alex was able to take a few deep breaths and compose herself before stating her intention of her meeting with the Leader.
"To be honest, I wasn't looking for a relationship, either" she said. Alex wasn't telling the whole truth about her interest in dating, it was just Monte was not her type. She could appreciate his appearance aesthetically, but he was someone she'd share some tea with rather than date him.
"The website that published this..." the desire to say something derogatory about the book was strong, but she thought better about it. There were young people in the room she didn't want to offend. "...story refuses to remove it unless both parties request for it to be taken down."
Not looking for a relationship? What non-sense! Why would they not be looking for a relationship? It was one of Papyrus' life dreams of finding a life partner. People should feel blessed to find such a soul mate! He wishes someone would find him love like this.
"THEN... WHAT EXACTLY WERE YOU LOOKING FOR?" Maybe he could find some sort of compromise or discover something more. It'd be a step in the right direction. They couldn't possibly be associating just to rid of the wonderful literature. This masterpiece!
Papyrus turned to Sans, ready to retaliate, but stopped in confusion. He was right. This wasn't where they met. Was it possible that these were mere similar copies to the people in the story? "SANS- OKAY THIS ISN'T THE EXACT-BUT- THIS! IS! CLOSE!" Maybe he seemed a bit angry, but he was just trying to comprehend how this was different from his fiction. Papyrus certainly didn't understand the difference between fantasy and fact.
It was a little hard to tell at this point whether the additional commentary from -whom he assumed- was the young man's brother was a blessing or simply made things more complicated. Although he got the feeling this was going to be a circular argument no matter what the three of them said to Papyrus. The best news thus far, however, was the fact that the story could indeed be taken down. But who knew how many had already read it.
Shoving that embarrassing thought aside, Monte resisted the urge to groan at the frustration of not knowing how to approach the situation. At least his cousins weren't here, they'd probably encourage him.
"I'm just not interested in a relationship currently," The gym leader repeated, trying to at least calm the teen," I'm so busy running the gym and everything else, and besides that I'm only twenty. I have plenty of time to think about things like that later. I'm sure Alex is a wonderful woman and will make someone happy, but it just isn't going to be me."