The door behind her closing shut, Alice steps into her friend's house and slides off her shoes. Her keys jangle as she haphazardly drops them back into her purse, which is thrown onto the mail table next to the door.

"Aunty Angelica! Aunty Angelica!" the small child exclaims in joy. Alice looks at the living room to see the girl running toward her.

"Hiya, what's up?" Alice says as she smiles at the little kid hugging her lower body. If Alice has to be honest, she rather not deal with other people for a few hours since her last serious human interaction ended with her getting slapped. Seriously, who slaps someone when they're apologizing to you over something they didn't have to apologize about?

"We just ate dinner! You missed us by only a few minutes! We had... What did Papa call it... Low cal salmon and lettuce dish?" Elize says, dragging Alice to the dining room.

"Urg, typical of him to put together something I like and something I hate. You people are basically sticks, anyway. Why do you need to eat low cal food?" Alice mutters to herself.

"I thought you liked salmon?" Elize asks, her eyes the same color of blue as her father's shining upwards at the older woman.

"Ah, well, I have no problem with salmon or lettuce. Though, I will admit I prefer salmon sashimi and sushi to cooked salmon. I like it better raw, basically," Alice says to the confused girl.

"...Uh-huh," Elize says as if she understands she needs to stop asking questions but not anything Alice said.

"Don't mind me, I'm just weird. What's your dad doing? Working?" Alice asks a question she knows the answer to.

"Yep. He said he had to finish something and do some emails," Elize explains.

"Good lord, he works more than I do, and I'm up at three writing articles sometimes. Anyway, since he clearly isn't going to join us and because you've had your family dinner at the table tonight, I'm going to say it's acceptable for us to eat in front of the TV now," Alice says, piling salmon and lettuce on her plate before she douses the leafy greens in vinegar dressing.

"That's a lot," Elize observes as Alice walks to the living room her plate and a fork.

"Yeah, I'm making up for the complete lack of calories in salad. Seriously, there are fewer calories in a cup of this salad then there have been years this millennium. I ate an apple for breakfast and basically skipped lunch; I need those calories," Alice says as she situates herself on the couch.

"What's a calorie?"

Alice pauses for a moment before she remembers Elize is only three. "A unit of energy. Don't worry about it."

"How does it work as energy?" Elize asks as she sits on the couch next to Alice.

"Your body absorbs nutrients from your food and uses it to-."

"The Dao Industrial Average closed today with an increase of two percent after a largely successful quarter in the credit and banking industry. Despite the Dao having continuous growth since it's recovery in the nineties, the Unovan Reserve is considering raising the interest rate. Here to discuss this potentially disastrous move with me is the economist and author of-."

"Oh, right. I forgot your dad always watches financial networks. Ew," Alice mutters before changing the channel to the government-run news hour program.

"What's wrong with them?" Elize asks as Alice shoves a large amount of salad into her mouth.

"Cable news is gross," Alice responds after her mouth is cleared of the large amount of salad.

"Why?"

Alice shoves even more salad into her mouth to put off Elize's questions. As much as Alice likes to encourage the girl to grow up curious about her surroundings, the girl's persistent questions can become tiring after a while.

"Corporate media has more reasons to feed the Unovan establishment narrative than it's own state media ever will," Alice mutters, her eyes focused on the report of Johto's worsening economy.

"But we live in Alola. Why does what Unova say matter?"

"Because Alola exists as state of Unova. We're granted a large amount of autonomy, but we still pay our taxes to Unova. Honestly, it's a necessary evil; Alola would die without the Unovan military being stationed here."

At the most unfortunate moment for him to, Nicholas walks down the stairs to observe Alice shoving lettuce in her mouth while explaining Alolan civics to his daughter. He pauses as Noé pads past him and jumps next to Elize, the Espeon's forked tail hitting Alice as he plops down next to Elize.

"Ow, my soul feels abused from the light tap you have assaulted me with," Alice jokes to Noé.

"Esp," Noé grunts as he wacks Alice again, clearly having none of her nonsense.

"I walk downstairs and you're telling Elize more propaganda. Which reminds me, I need to talk to you about what you say around her," Nicholas says, shoving aside Noé to take a place between Alice and Elize.

Noé is clearly unhappy thanks to the rude gesture and hits Nicholas with his tail, not that it has much of an effect on the blonde.

"It's not propaganda if it's true," Alice jokes before shoving salmon into her mouth in what is most likely the least sexy way imaginable.

"Yeah, just like your alternative facts," he grumbles, stealing a lettuce leaf from Alice's plate.

Who the hell steals lettuce? Of all things he could take, he chose the lettuce leaf.

"They're still facts," she says with a smile.

"Yeah, sure. I bet that your mother would be horrified to hear you say that."

Alice pauses before she lets out a pained laugh. "Yeah, she's more concerned about literally anything but my career. Seriously, I love her, but I don't need to hear more about my weight or the fact that I'm unmarried in my thirties."

"Well, you could always try to find someone to shut her up about it," Nicholas says, stroking the smooth lilac fur covering Noé.

Sure, it's not like she's tried that strategy already.

It's not Alice's fault that nobody else can keep up with her. Everyone else just isn't good enough for her. After all, there's no way she could be the problem! Clearly, the issue lies in other people and not herself.

Totally.

"Yes, because it's very easy to meet people who are okay with the fact that they're talking to a vending machine of political knowledge, and also want to fu- ...Have sexual relations with said vending machine," Alice restates as she remembers that an impressionable three-year-old is less than a meter away from her.

"Probably not a vending machine, no. I wouldn't doubt the fact that some people might be put off if they know who you are. Then again, you can do a convincing Kalosian accent, and if I remember enough from university, makeup is a witchcraft that bends light itself."

Alice pauses as she realizes the truth in his statement. She does have a new eyeshadow palette she would love to abuse, so why not have a night out? Sure, she's mentally exhausted, but it's only seven. She might as well head out.

"Actually... You're potentially giving me a terrible idea," Alice says before consuming a large portion of salmon.

"As long at it doesn't affect me, I'm fine with whatever you do."

"Well, I can't guarantee I won't get too drunk. I'll probably need you to open the door for Lily if that happens. Otherwise, nah, don't worry about it," Alice responds, getting up from her seat to put away her plate in the kitchen.

"As long as you accommodate my messed up sleep schedule, I'll do that."

Alice walks back to the living room with a smile. "I won't make any promises on that front."

~*~

"I'm not drunk! I'm just Johtoan. Come on, just another cocktail!" Sienna begs as she desperately tries to convince the bartender that her face being the shade of a Tomato Berry is not a symptom of early alcohol poisoning.

"Look, uh, as bad as I feel for you, I really don't need you getting drunk to the point someone takes advantage of you, and I don't want to get fined for allowing that to happen," the bartender sheepishly responds to the woman whose face is the color of a Baile Oricorio. Ah, how Sienna loves her genes.

"Man, this isn't drunk. College was me being drunk! I was so drunk for all of college that I don't even remember if I was drunk! I only know because my former roommate keeps reminding me of when I ate thirty-one Wishiwa-. Actually, I really don't know if that's true. I should probably ask her about that the next time I see her," Sienna rambles while waving around her empty glass, the ice inside clanking when they hit the glass.

"Uh-huh," the bartender says, clearly wanting to leave the discussion and woman but can't out of fear of government fines.

"Hey, don't worry about her. I'll deal with this for you."

Sienna turns her bright red face to the left to see a woman with short dark brown hair pulling aside the bar stool next to her. The woman readjusts her deep red off-shoulder dress underneath her as she takes a seat. Shoulders: the most sexual part of the body and the reason Sienna got sent home in high school when she wore a tank top. Good times.

"You sure? Do you know her or something?" the bartender asks.

"Well... I know of her. I'll make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Just give me some club soda," the woman says as Sienna begins to pick up on an accent. The bartender seems convinced to leave Sienna alone and goes off to finish the new order.

"Alright, you clearly know who I am. Are you here to expose me in my lowest moment to some right-wing news source? Which one? Bulbabart? AbraWars? Go ahead! I'm ready for whatever you want to do to me!"

The woman laughs before responding, "What about me makes you think I'm a right-winger? I'm clearly hapa, I'm on the younger side, I have short hair that's been dyed to be slightly red, and I'm not at the closing ceremony for CiviCon. If I were somewhat important in right-wing circles, I'm sure I would be there."

"You never know with foreigners," Sienna says.

This evokes a laugh from the woman. A small smirk covers her face as she pays for the glass of carbonated liquid

"I'm from Kalos, ma cheré. We don't have crazy right-wingers or left-wingers like you Unovans do. We're actually capable of civil debate," the woman says as leans on the bar, her head on her hand with her legs crossed.

"Sure. It's not like Le Stylo family exists," Sienna says with a laugh before eating one of the ice cubes in her empty glass.

"Exactly, she doesn't exist, and I have no idea what you're talking about," she says before picking up her drink.

Sienna stays quiet.

The woman shifts on the bar stool before Sienna looks up from the ice cubes, locking eyes with the brunette before asking, "So, what do you want? 'Cause frankly you can go away unless you can convince the bartender to get me another drink."

"Ahah, I am not going to buy a drink for such a severely intoxicated person." The woman smiles and puts down her drink. "Do not get me wrong when I say this, 'kay? I know who you are, and I know you didn't have a great day today. Is there a reason why I cannot want to cheer up a pretty girl? Do I come off as creepy or something?"

"Uh, yeah. How about the fact that you just decided to randomly come up to me in a bar for one?"

"So what? I'm sure it is normal for plenty of men to crowd around you given the chance," she says with a giggle like she knows something Sienna doesn't.

"Just because it's normal doesn't mean it's right. Just because a child dies every other day from gun violence doesn't mean it's right," Sienna mutters to herself as she thinks of the one industry she hasn't sold herself to.

"Ah, you Unovan and your gun issues. Why can't you just ban guns," the brunette says with yet another giggle before taking a drink.

"Because that's not how it works. The idiots who founded this country, you white folk, decided a right to guns was a good idea."

"Oh, do I really look that white then?"

Sienna finally observes the woman's face to make sure she didn't actually incorrectly assume their race. The more Sienna stares at her, the less sure she is in her assumptions. Sure, those boobs don't happen without plastic surgery for someone of Johtoan descent, but those eyes were surely not those of a white person.

And that's when Sienna remembers the woman said she was hapa. What an oddly specific term for a foreigner to learn, but then again, it's used quite often.

"You have an accent. Good enough," Sienna says as she realizes that she's had enough critical thinking happen in her head today.

"Oh, are we doing racism now? I thought that was the thing of what's her face. The girl you debated."

Sienna giggles at the comment before responding, "But I can't be racist because I don't benefit from institutionalized racism. Urg, I hate her so much."

The woman laughs at the reference before responding, "Hate is such a strong word. Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," Sienna grumbles. "If she were here right now I'd make sure it's known too."

"Oh, really? What would you do? Scream burning roasts at her?" the woman says with a sort of twinkle in her eye that unnerved Sienna.

"No, I'd probably look up a bunch of roasts and then scream them at her. Don't know if you noticed, but I'm not creative enough to come up with any."

"Yes, I have noticed. Well, make some edgy joke that will trigger everyone. Say that your favorite imaginary Pokémon is the honest government official."

"Wait, she's a government official?"

The woman seems almost disgusted by Sienna's lack of knowledge as she says, "Yes. Did you not hear when they announced her as the Kahuna of Ula'ula Island?"

"Uh, I wasn't paying attention, and I didn't know who she was until her fanbase became the reason I woke up to over a thousand notifications. I can't believe a Tapu would choose someone who literally said 'we should just build a wall to keep all the white people out.'"

"Yes, we should also build a train to Unova while we're at it. I'm sure it would give a lot of people some jobs," the brunette jokes back.

"No, we should dig a tunnel to Kanto, obviously," Sienna responds with a smile. Alright, maybe she's starting to enjoy this conversation just a little bit. It's nice to not have to be on the defensive after that debate.

"See, all you need to do is make a sarcastic comment and be short with people to win a debate. I am pretty sure that's what messed you up today."

Sienna cringes and crunches on some of the ice left in her glass in the hopes of there being some residue of the alcohol on it. She messed up so badly. Actually, not just badly, more like horrifically, and she's going to have to deal with the fallout of that terrible performance for the next few years. It was such a simple argument to rebut, but no, she couldn't. Instead, she humiliated herself and-

"Ahah, don't remind me of that any more than I need to be reminded of it," Sienna says to stop her insides from having a breakdown.

"Yes, of course. Je suis désolé. That was insensitive of me."

"Anyway, are you sure you can't buy me another drink?" Sienna asks, mostly joking at this point.

"What did I say about buying drinks for you again?"

"That you wouldn't buy one for a severely intoxicated person. I'm not severely intoxicated, even if my face makes you think otherwise."

"Mh, if you can hold a coherent conversation like this, maybe you'll be fine. Then again, I don't think you should have another drink when you are by yourself. If you were here with a friend I might have, but not now," the woman replies as she picks at the ice in her glass.

"What? You're not going to stay and creepily stalk me for the rest of the night and figure out where I live when I drunkenly go home?"

"I was not going to since you seem set against it, but if you'd like to sign away your body for a night then you can."

"You don't have to phrase that so weirdly," Sienna mutters as she begins to wonder if this is a good idea. Maybe just going home is a good option.

"You see, I do, though. That is just the person that I am."

Sienna stares at the smirking woman. Eh, why not.

"Alright, that sounds good. I can accept those terms."

"Kinky. Anyway, hey, Alex, she's vaguely sober...ish. Can she get another drink?" the woman asks the bartender who she seemingly knows.

The bartender looks concerned for a few moments, but he seems to trust the woman's judgment. He starts making another drink and Sienna plans how to continue the conversation.

"So," Sienna starts.

"So," the woman comments back.

"So, what's your name?" Sienna asks.

"What do you mean?" she says in a way Sienna would call oddly cagey.

"What's your name? You seem to know mine, so why can I know yours?"

The woman pauses before she releases a sigh. "It's, uh..."

"You having trouble remembering your own name over there?" Sienna says as she raises an eyebrow.

"No... No... It's..."

The woman lets out a sigh

"My name is Angelica."