"Aaaaaaand the Unbeatable Champion wins once more! Give it up for Samuel Barsony folks! The man continues to defend his title! No one can take him down! He is unstoppable, incredible!" The announcer voices from the nearby television, there was a large group of folk hovering around and observing the events. They all cheered, enjoying a good time and sharing laughs amongst one another.
Outside of the crowd was a small child around nine years old, he had short, spiky black hair that protruded upwards. He watched with a gloomy expression plastered on his face as he listened to the people around him, all praising the Champion. Praises included compliments stating that he was "incredible!" "The best pokemon trainer to exist!" "No one can be like him". The boy looked towards the ground in shame, leaving the vicinity and heading off. He walked in a daze, not thinking of anything as his mind was blank and he ignorantly walked forward.
He soon bumped into someone who cursed to themselves as they were hit. The boy was knocked out of his daze, snapping back to reality and looking up to notice he had bumped into one of his neighbors. A older boy who had a buzz cut and was hanging with his group of friends. The older one turned around with an irritated look and his facial expression certainly changed. Upon seeing the black haired boy, he gave out a sour look and mockingly said to him "Oh, would you look who it is! Trash boy Daniel! C'mon guys! Let's all say hi to trash boy Daniel!"
The group of friends began mocking Daniel, chanting said words repeatedly. He wanted to say something but he was so shocked and frightened he couldn't even bring himself to move. Tears swelled up in his eyes and he bolted off, running past them, running away from the laughter. Daniel sobbed as he ran, blindly running forward until he saw a tree and hid behind it. The boy curled up into a ball and cried his eyes out in distress
A honey-blonde girl, only a year and a half older than him, approached the boy. She peered from behind the tree and looked down upon the boy curled up in a ball. "Daniel?" She called to him, moving around in front of the boy and lowering herself down to his level. "It happened again?" Daniel simply nodded his head, not even bothering to look at her.
Daniel called out to her and questioned, "Serena… why? Why do they always laugh at me? I don't understand, I just want everyone to respect me like they do my big brother…" Serena found herself at a loss for words, she knew the answer but felt it wasn't appropriate to respond with it. The simple fact of the matter was that Daniel was nowhere near as good as Samuel who was the unbeatable champion. Samuel was world-renowned for his legendary pokemon which he used to defeat all his opponents, he was truly unbeatable. Serena couldn't afford to just tell it to his face, and she had to come up with something.
"Well, Samuel's just… he's a really good trainer, nothing can stop him but that doesn't stop you, does it? You try your best, despite your failed attempts, you always keep on trying… and, that's something I think makes you better than everyone else. Someday, you might beat him, you just have to keep going like always and eventually, you can do it."
Daniel barely lifted his head, only revealing his eyes and looked upon her. He blushed at the words and slowly brought his head all the way up to look upon her. Her bright blue eyes met with his, she could see the pain everytime she looked at him. "Y-you really mean it…?" Daniel muttered, a glow coming to his eyes.
"Yeah! Now get back up, you have a brother to beat!" Serena cheered, Daniel couldn't resist, the boy got up and cried even more as he hugged his close friend as a sign of appreciation for her support. All she could do is hug back and ease his pain.
She led the way back, she escorted the young boy through the town as the townspeople looked upon the boy with dismay. There was chatter amongst themselves until suddenly, they were stopped by the older boy from earlier and his group of friends. Their "leader" spoke up, "Hey Serena, why are you hanging out with this loser? You should hang out with me! I'm a lot cooler!" The boy rudely exclaimed, Serena looked away, making a "hmph!" sound.
"I can hang out with whoever I want, WHENEVER I want. Now if you'll excuse me, Spencer, I'm busy HELPING a friend instead of bullying them." Serena stated with plenty of sass, taking Daniel by the hand and speed walking past Spencer and his group. The older boy looked back, jaw dropped from shock, he got turned down? Impossible, must be a farce, or so he thought.
Daniel was taken back to his home where his mother brought him within her arms and thanked the young girl for all she's done. She smiled, dismissing it and saying she'd do anything for a friend. She soon had to leave, leaving him by himself.
Several hours had passed until the door to the house opened and in came Samuel Barsony, a thirteen year old boy who had short, brown and spiky hair compared to his younger sibling. "I'm home!" Samuel announced, looking around and noticing his younger sibling sitting on the couch and watching a cartoon on their TV. "Hey bro." He said, hanging up his stuff and leaning on the back of the couch behind his brother and observing the cartoon. "So… how was your day?"
"It was alright" Daniel lied, trying to avoid having his brother get worried but his older brother was smart. Samuel saw through the lie just based off the tone he spoke in, this made him sigh as a result.
"Don't give me that, who was it this time, Spencer and his group?"
"Yeah…" The younger sibling looked down, remembering the harassment from them.
"Man, I swear, I'm gonna have a talk with them right now, or tomorrow if you'd like so you can watch."
"No! I mean… You don't need to…"
"What do you mean? Those jerks are always being mean to you! I can probably get them to shut up if you want me to."
"Don't, you'll embarrass me…"
"Who cares?! My younger bro is being picked on by a bunch of bullies! As your older brother, I need to take action! If you keep on saying no, they'll just keep on laughing at you and the only thing you can do to prove them wrong is just getting stronger. And even then, you'd still have to wait a year to become a pokemon trainer, so better for me to yell at them now and save you the trouble."
"No… don't." Daniel mumbled, this irritated Samuel immensely, causing him to stomp away and moved elsewhere to greet their mother. Daniel felt worse, clenching onto his pants tightly and wincing. His older brothers words echoed through his mind, "... the only thing you can do to prove them wrong is just getting stronger…", the words continued echoing through his head. It didn't stop, it just kept on repeating until it stopped and he made a decision, he hopped off the couch, turning off the TV and going upstairs to his room. Once entering, he pulled up his backpack and and started putting various belongings inside.
The next day…
Samuel was downstairs, enjoying his cereal he hadn't eaten in so long and overall enjoying being in his own home once more. Across him was Daniel who was slowly eating his breakfast which came across as odd to Samuel but he was aware that one's appetite did change depending on their mood. Their mother had finished cleaning up and took off her apron, moving to the door and turning around to face her children. "Alright, boys, I'll be heading out to do some grocery shopping for you all. Don't let any strangers in and don't leave the house, alright?" The boys both acknowledged their mothers words, she smiled, "I'll bring you guys some ice cream when I get back, sound good?" Samuel became ecstatic, he very much loved ice cream and looked to Daniel to see his reaction. The boy grew a quick smile but it faded faster than it appeared and he had stopped eating at that moment.
The mother got her stuff and left the house, Daniel waited a whole minute before looking at his bowl of cereal and looked upon it with a determined look. He managed to scarf down the entire bowl so quickly it surprised Samuel. The young boy hopped off, running over towards the kitchen to put up the bowl and running upstairs. Samuel was baffled at all this, just what in the world does Daniel think he's doing? The older brother took a break from what he was doing and went up after his sibling. He heard some rustling coming from his room, Samuel made his way there before stopping and watching as Daniel walked out with a backpack. Daniel moved past his older brother quickly, trying to do what he wanted to do in a hurry. "Daniel? What are you doing…?"
Samuel hurried downstairs after Daniel who was already tying his shoes, the young boy dared not to look his older brother in the eye. Samuel exclaimed, "Daniel! Mom said no leaving the house!" The words made the younger one wince in pain but he didn't stop, finishing his shoes and forcefully opening the door. He walked out, trying to slam the door behind him to delay Samuel but he was quicker, managing to stop it and walked outside with his socks. "Daniel! Stop! What are you doing?!" The older boy jogged a bit and grabbed his brother by the arm but it was smacked away.
Daniel had tears streaming down his eyes once more and he yelled, "Don't stop me! Everyone won't respect me until I beat you, I want to win everyone's respect and you said the only way I can do that is if I get stronger! I can't wait another year, I'm going to become a pokemon trainer and get stronger with my pokemon! And some day, I will beat you!" He entered a full sprint, escaping his brother who attempted to pursuit him but couldn't make much distance with his socks on the rocky walkway. This made the older brother get angry, not at Daniel but himself as he clenched his fist and slammed it against a wall.
"It's all my fault… I did this to him…" Samuel murmured, falling to his knees and looked up to the sky as he was swallowed in self-loathing.
Daniel ran, he ran as fast as he could. He knew where the nearest professor was, he wasn't too far from Professor Oak, so it would only take him an hour perhaps to get to his lab. All he had to do was go there and become a trainer, no matter the cost. Everyone in the town looked, he passed by Spencer who looked upon the boy with disgust. He continued running and didn't even realize he had passed Serena, he continued running, even more and suddenly, he had passed his own mother. Daniel didn't stop, he couldn't bare to look or even talk to any of them, not after this. And with his mind set on doing this, he ran off into the distance, never to be seen again…
6 years later…
It was a bright and sunny day in the Kalos region, the skies were somewhat cloudy and everything was beautiful. In Lumiose City, everything was lively, people were moving about enjoying the weather. Inside of a bus that moved through the circular city, families and friends stuck together, holding onto the straps hanging above and sticking close to the window. In the back of the bus however, his face obscured by the dark, was Daniel.
Daniel was 15 years old now, a teenager, he of course had grown taller over the course of six years. His hair had grown to be taller and spikier, so much to the point it fell down to the left somewhat, and his bangs were pointed to the right. He donned a blue hoodie and black sweatpants, but the most noticeable change was his face. Nothing physically but his facial expression was drastically different from that of several years ago. He was emotionless, he started off into space with a blank expression on his face, no emotion in his eyes and he ignored the heat from wearing a hoodie in warm weather. He was nearly invisible to everyone, everyone who had acknowledged him believed him to be a creep and kept their distance, and everyone else simply didn't notice him.
The vehicle came to a halt and the doors opened, everyone flooded out of the bus including the teenager. He simply walked forwards, looking around and noticing posters about his older brother, more propaganda, more praise for his brother and less recognition for him. Daniel looked away from it, mumbling to himself, "enough with this shit…" He walked around until he felt a little weak and decided to grab some food. He found a nice restaurant and took a seat to wait for his order to be taken. He sat there, staring across to the empty seat in front of him and did nothing. He just stared, not a single thought entered his mind, it was all blank. A waitress soon came by with a very cheerful look and came with a pen and pen pad.
As Daniel began to explain his order, a group of men sat nearby, checking out the kind woman in the worst way possible. Once the woman was done taking the order, she turned around and was surprised to see a man in front of her with a mischievous smile. Suddenly, a second man from behind and abruptly smacked her behind as all the man snickered to themselves. The woman protested, raising her voice towards them. Daniel looked at the men, observing the situation and furrowing his brows upon seeing what they had done. "Come on babe, how bout you offer us a better meal? I'll pay you extra if you know what I mean." One of the three men offered.
The waitress continued to object to their desires, they got closer but stopped when they heard someone get up. They looked and saw Daniel had stood up and looked directly at them. "She said no, that was really rude of you. Apologize." The men looked at him irritatingly, the closest one brought up their hand and grabbed ahold of Daniel's neck and lifted him up with ease.
"You got a problem kid? Nobody gets in our way, when we want something, we get it." The man threw the teenager back, making him crash into the table and falling on the chairs which fell over. "Okay tough guy, how bout we settle this with a pokemon battle."
The three men began leaving the restaurant, pulling Daniel by his clothes and dragging him along before tossing him away into the middle of the street. "We'll battle here." one of them said, cars blared and honked their horns with Daniel in the middle of the street, blocking the way.
"This isn't a battle arena." Daniel informed, getting back up and brushing off his clothes.
"Any area is a battle arena, now take out your pokemon, I ain't got time for this."
Daniel complied, taking out his pokemon to release a Bisharp with no arm blades. The man laughed, throwing out a Gallade as the opposing pokemon. The other two men took out their pokemon and surrounded them, pushing everyone away and creating a open area for them to begin battling.
"All right, Gal, shred that puny Bisharp with close combat!" The man announced, the pokemon did as told, charging towards the Dark Steel pokemon and preparing to attack. Daniel said nothing, observing as his Bisharp maneuvered out of the way on his own and keeping his distance. Daniel and his Bisharp had developed a special bond, Daniel had owned Bisharp before he became a trainer, he owned the pokemon since he was only a Pawniard. The two have been together for the longest time and learned to communicate in battle without having to say a word, and they even understood each other language wise as well.
The man mocked Daniel for being too scared to command his pokemon and how he was a bad trainer, unable to properly teach his pokemon. That was not the case, however, but he said nothing, watching his Bisharp in action. Bisharp closed in on Gallade, leaping forward and attempting to spin-kick the opposing pokemon. The attack was successful, and the Dark Steel pokemon managed to kick away the Gallade.
Bisharp was without blades (Save for the head blade and the body), he had none since birth due to a birth defect. Without them, he is unable to perform any of traditional or natural moves a normal Bisharp would know. But he was different, being unable to perform any moves, he has had to rely on practical fighting moves such as punches and kicks to defeat his opponents. It was because of this that Daniel was mocked at such a young age, with a weak pawniard, there was no hope Daniel had at beating his brother.
However, times were different, they've turned their weakness into an advantage, unfortunately for the men. "All right! Gallade, try again, but this time, try to juke that damn reject!" Gallade closed the gap, letting out a flurry of punches but Bisharp predicted the moves, getting another good spin kick to deflect the punches and ultimately strike Gallade. The man cursed, Bisharp kept pushing them back with each attack. He became desperate, glancing over to his two comrades and nodding towards them both. They acknowledged and stood by, waiting. Bisharp figured he had a nice opening, moving in and jumping up to punch down but was stopped. Two projectiles came in from his side and struck Bisharp mid-air. The Dark Steel pokemon was pushed back, bruised and got up to see two other pokemon entering the fray.
The other two men started walking around the perimeter towards Daniel which made him panic. Daniel shouted towards his first opponent, "What the hell?! I thought this was just between us."
The three men answered quickly, "Does it look like we give a shit?" The teenagers eyes widened and he realized what was about to go down yet he couldn't stop it.
Daniel was shoved to the ground where he would get kicked repeatedly by the older men. Bisharp attempted to ward off the other opponents but it became too much for him as he became overwhelmed by his opponents. Both men and their pokemons alike continuously beat and attacked the partners, they tried defending themselves but couldn't and they kept getting hit. They began to get bruised, Daniel curled into a fetal position like he did in his younger days and protected his face as the endless kicks kept on coming. Daniel began to cry, the tears streamed down his face as he was hit back and forth in all sorts of places. He began to cough out in pain which made him cry more but he didn't make any other sound.
Other bystanders were horrified by what they saw but chose not to do anything about it, simply watching and pulling out their phones to record it. Meanwhile, Daniel cried for help, as loud as he can but unfortunately, it was all in his head. He was crying for help in his head and was not verbally speaking as he kept coughing out with each painful kick.
Help finally came, a hyper beam came from nowhere and struck one of the assaulting pokemon. This caused everyone to stop and look towards the origin of the blast. It came from a Garchomp accompanied by its trainer and officer jenny with her pokemon.
"Ah shit! The fuzz is here! Move!" The men announced, spitting on the teenager before bolting off in a direction away from Officer Jenny as she followed in pursuit with her pokemon. The garchomp accompanied by its trainer walked over to Daniel and knelt down. The crowd came in closer, trying to snap pictures of the boy and get a picture of his condition but the Garchomp trainer yelled at everyone, telling them they should be ashamed of themselves and they should stop immediately. They listened without hesitation and watched as the man and his pokemon picked up the partners and hurried off. The older man looked down in concern, the boy was sobbing still and barely processing what was even happening anymore.
It was a blur for Daniel, he didn't remember much of what happened but he remembered being taken to a couple places to get patched up and was suddenly inside of a laboratory with the man. He was a middle-aged man with black, curly hair, bluish eyes, and some facial hair under his ears. He wore a blue shirt, black trousers with a yellow belt, and also wears orange socks and brown trainers with grey stripes. He has a watch on his left arm and wore a white lab coat. He had introduced himself as Professor Sycamore, the Pokemon Professor of the Kalos region
Daniel was sitting on the couch, slouched over and looking down to the ground as the older man was typing on his laptop. "So, what happened exactly? Why did you end up in that situation?" Sycamore questioned, clicking on several tabs on his laptop. Daniel tried recollecting what happened and remembered what caused it. He began explaining what had happened, with the men harassing the woman and how he was challenged to an unfair match where they were kicked repeatedly. "I see, so you tried defending the woman but those men got angry and lashed out at you as a result?"
Daniel mumbled, "Yeah…"
"I imagine it was scary, it was horrifying walking in on it. Those men are bad people, they're a part of a large gang currently scattered in places around Kalos. They're criminals who have had committed several offences already. They've been caught but they keep being saved. They're a part of a gang known as the 'Rux Organization' led by Rux Sullivan, their confirmed leader. You got lucky there."
Daniel made a "hmm" sound, processing what the professor just told him and realizing how lucky he really was. This discouraged him as well, realizing he accomplished nothing, and all he managed to do was get beaten up for trying.
"Well, we should probably get your family-" the professor was cut off by Daniel who was quick to respond, objecting to the suggestion before he could even finish it. This caused the man to worry and turn fully towards the teenager. "What do you mean? Do you have a problem with your family?"
Daniel answered, "n-no… it's just…" he couldn't even find a remote explanation for his actions, there was no way in hell he could justify it. He groaned as a result of this, slouching forwards even more.
"What's your name?"
"Daniel…"
"And your last?"
"I don't wanna say…" Daniel didn't want to run the risk of anyone knowing he was Samuel's Brother, he couldn't suffer any more humiliation until he was ready. For years now, he's had to stick with only his first name or a made up last to cover up his identity but it didn't always work. But it ran its course and he was considered a ghost, rumors believing him to be dead or a runaway which wasn't far from the truth.
The professor was highly skeptical, but knew the boy was in distress and he needed to help one way or another. "Are you ashamed of your heritage? You don't want anyone finding out about it?"
"I'm not ashamed… it's just that… I'm the brother of Samuel Barsony, the unbeatable champion…" Daniel tensed up completely, shutting his eyes and preparing to be mocked like always, regardless of the professor believed him or not.
"Why would you want to hide the fact that you're the brother of the infamous unbeatable champion? That's something to be proud of, something to take pride in."
"I'm glad he's my brother but I don't have pride in it… everyone immediately assumes I'm as good as him but the simple fact of the matter is: I'm not, I'll never be as good as him. I'll never be like him, and everyone makes fun of me because of that. Everyone says that I'm weak and useless and that I can't accomplish anything, I want to prove them wrong but they're right. I can't do anything… I can't win a Pokémon battle, I can't do all the cool things everyone else can…" he broke down, his voice became weak as he sobbed. The professor watched, having put away his laptop to listen to the boy's story. He was shocked and felt the pain and severity of his situation just from his voice alone. "I can't even help anyone even if I want to… I'm useless…"
"... then you should ignore the people who hurt you. Pursue a career you want to follow, not what is put in front of you."
"I can't, I'm not good at anything else, and even if I did… everyone else would still mock me for running away for being the failure that I am… this is my life, I can't change it and I can't do anything about it… sometimes, I feel like it would be better if I was d-"
"Don't finish that sentence." The professor cut quickly, getting angry upon hearing those words. "I know it's rough, we have to live in this cruel and unforgiving world. But that's no excuse to go down that route, it isn't worth it. What about your family? Would you be willing to hurt them like that?" This caught Daniel off guard, he looked towards the floor in shame and had nothing to say. "I didn't think so. You still have a chance, everyone does, it's up to you if you want to take it."
"What chance? There's nothing I can do, nothing I can accomplish."
"You've lost your way, that's all right. All you need is a push in the right direction." Sycamore said, pulling up his phone and and putting something in. Daniel simply looked upon the Pokémon professor, anticipating what he was going to do. The professor finished as he put the phone to his ear and spun around majestically in his chair. "Uhh, hello, this is Professor Sycamore, the Pokémon professor of the Kalos Region, I would like to talk with Samuel Barsony please if it's not too much trouble."
Daniel understood what the professor was doing, he wanted to object like always, not wanting his brother to find out but the professor was already talking.
"It's something important I would like to discuss with him. I would need only a few minutes if he can spare the time… trust me, it's important… okay, thank you." The professor went silent, as he was now put on hold. He spun around in his seat playfully, looking up to the ceiling and patiently waiting for the elevator music to stop playing.
"Uh, hello? Who's this?" Samuel asked, Daniel could hear his dear brother from where he was. He had heard and seen Samuel on the television over the years, he got to watch his older brother grow into a fine young man, complete with a beard as well. As for him, he didn't do so hot.
The professor began talking with the champion, "you see, I have a special person next to me who I'm sure you would like to talk to."
"Who?" Samuel questioned, waiting. This was the que, the professor turned around and handed the device to Daniel, motioning for him to take it.
Daniel did as told, bringing the mobile device close to his ear and mumbling, "h-hey, Samuel…" There was silence on the other side until he spoke up.
"...Daniel? Oh my god, is that really you Daniel?!"
"Y-yeah, it's me…"
"Holy fucking shit! You've gotta be joking! Do you know what you put us through?!"
Daniel choked up, unable to bring himself to respond as it would only add fuel to the already raging fire.
"Daniel, what the hell have you been doing these last couple years?"
Daniel contemplated how to answer, this time he had to because this was his brother. Samuel was probably the one he hurt the most and he deserved an answer, he thought about it and he had to come to terms with it, he has truly accomplished nothing over the last couple years. All he has done was mope and whine over everything. "Nothing, I haven't done anything" he answered in a regretful tone, letting out a sigh and facing reality.
"... nothing, huh? That's not like you, you left with purpose. As much as it made me and everyone else angry, I understand why you left. I'll always be angry about it but I have come to terms with it. So you've done nothing? Life must have been harsh towards you especially, I don't even need to look at you to figure that. I feel as though I owe an apology towards you, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in this situation. I'm sorry, really."
"Nothing's your fault, Samuel. We all did what we had to… it was only me, I couldn't take it and I did the things I did… Samuel, I don't know what to do anymore… I don't know where to go…"
"... Daniel, what is your purpose? Why did you run off?"
"I wanted to get stronger and beat you, I wanted to be like you and have all the respect my big brother had."
"Yet you've had no chance to prove yourself, to deem yourself to everyone else?"
"Yeah…"
"Battle me, that's what you must do."
"What?"
"I will go over to the Kalos region to battle you. But we won't just battle, we are going to battle in the Pokémon league. The same way I became champion is the same way you are going to prove your worth. Here's what I want you to do, I want you to battle the gym leaders, earn your badges, and enter the Pokémon league so we can battle as equals on fair ground. Can you do that for me?"
Daniel processed the words and his eyes widened, for the first time in years, he felt excited. He had lost his way but now, he knows what he as to do, he regained the same drive he felt all those years ago to make a difference. He got up from he chair and declared to his brother, "I'll do it, I'll battle you in the Pokémon league."
"Now that's my little bro, you the man. Get your ass up and show the world what you're made of. Show the world who you are, you hear me?"
"Yeah."
"Damn straight you do. All right, I have to go for now. I need to get everything ready for our battle. Until we meet face to face bro, cya!"
"Cya."
Samuel hung up, Daniel removed the phone and for the first time, he smiled and handed the phone back to the professor. The professor heard what happened and smiled because he was able to help out, "Everything good now?"
"Yeah, I guess I just have to go out and defeat these gym leaders. Guess it's still gonna be me and Bisharp like usual."
"I'm sure if you go out there, you'll find friends. Again, it's all about taking those chances, am I right?"
"Yeah, you're right." Daniel stood there, entering his thoughts and remembering Serena. "Granted, the only friends I've ever really had was Bisharp and Serena. Oh well, at least I have Bisharp with me."
They heard knocking coming from the door, the Professor stood up, confused. He wasn't expecting anyone but then again, how is anyone able to expect any new trainers? Professor Sycamore told Daniel to sit tight as he dealt with it. He did as told until he heard the Professor talking with someone. It was a girl, this made him curious and caused him to sit up and decided to take a peak. He got close to the door and barely stuck his head out to see who it was. His eyes widened at what he saw.
Beauty at its finest, nothing else to really describe it. A teenage girl who appeared to be older than him. She wore a dark gray tank top with a white collar, dark gray stockings, long honey blonde hair that reaches just above her waist. She also wore red double waist side buttons pleated skirt, black hi-tops with pink semi-pokeball printing on the sides. Lastly, a dark pink hat paired with a black hat band and ribbon bow and beautiful blue eyes.
Daniel blushed upon seeing this, he's seen pretty girls before but never anything like this. The only other person he found that attractive was Serena when he was younger, and it might've been contributed to the fact that he held a massive crush on her back then. Regardless, he had to shake the thought off, and try to listen.
The girl spoke up, "My name is Serena Ferris, I'm looking for an old friend from the past." Danie's eyes widened to the size of baseballs, his heart raced as everything suddenly clicked. The stunning girl that stood only several meters away, was his childhood crush whom he loved immensely.