What originated as a simple phone call home had turned into a nerve-wracking waiting game. Burgundy tightened her grip on the phone's receiver as her parents debated in rapid-fire Kalosian. For as long as she could remember, Kalosian was the language of secrets. The fluid words, unintelligible to Burgundy and her younger siblings, masked anything and everything her parents wanted to hide.
"Burgundy," her papa finally said, his expression more serious than usual. "Maman and I have decided that it's time we return to Kalos." Her grip tightened again out of instinct, preventing her from dropping the receiver instead, but it failed to stop her mouth from falling open in surprise.
"Why?" She blurted out the question almost without thinking, the hand hidden in her lap beginning to shake. She currently sat in Striaton City's Pokémon Center, smarting from her loss to the local gym leader, Cilan, who had the audacity to lecture her in the midst of their battle. She had called home in search of reassurance—reassurance that she was a perfectly good pokémon trainer regardless of what that stupid, jerk of a connoisseur thought.
She hadn't anticipated her parents telling her she was about to lose the only home she'd ever known. The deceptively simple statement sent her mind reeling into overdrive as her parents tried to explain their decision. They missed their home and family. They had job offers too wonderful to pass up. All perfectly reasonable justifications, but Burgundy couldn't help but feel resentment churning in her gut.
She couldn't help but pin part of the blame on Cilan. If he hadn't said those awful things, she wouldn't have called her parents. She wouldn't be having this conversation now.
She wouldn't know that her parents intended to leave Unova. Intended to give up on Unova, she might even say. Bitterness rose in the back of her throat. She was still here, wasn't she? She was in the middle of challenging the Unovan Pokémon League! It was all fine and well for them to transplant themselves to Kalos, but she could not do the same—it was too late in the season to start over.
Furthermore, the Kalosian media only covered the League Champions' battles against the Elite Four, if the few, hazy memories of the region of her parents' birth served her right. Even at her most confident, Burgundy knew she wouldn't make it that far. Swallowing and balling her hidden hand into a fist, she came to the realization that her parents would never see her compete in the League. They wouldn't be able to afford a plane ticket to Unova to see her in person. Even worse, she might not have the funds to go see them, either.
"I understand," she said, swallowing back the bitterness for the sake of her parents, who anxiously awaited her response. She inhaled slowly as their tense expressions melted into smiles. "Have you told Winslow and Ruby?"
"Not yet," her maman admitted. "We wanted to tell you first." Burgundy nodded stiffly, blinking rapidly to distract herself from the tears pricking at her eyes.
"You should probably tell them soon," she said tersely. "It's a big change." Winslow and Ruby would adapt. That, she knew. But it pained her to know that Winslow, at nine, would not receive his first pokémon from Professor Juniper, and that Ruby, only four, would probably forget that she ever lived in Unova.
Once the screen had gone dark, she slammed the phone back onto the receiver, ignoring any quizzical or disapproving stares from the Center lobby's other occupants. She marched up to the front desk, snatching her pokéballs from Nurse Joy with as much courtesy she could muster, and shut herself into her rented room. Not caring what anyone in the neighboring rooms might here, she allowed herself to succumb to her emotions—rage, terror, grief. Her sobs, punctuated with frustrated snarls, echoed in the confines of the room until her throat protested and her voice cracked.
Exhausted, she plopped onto her bed face-first, not bothering to change out of her dress. Deciding at the last minute that she didn't want to spend her time brooding alone, she shuffled around for Oshawott's pokéball and released her oldest companion, who had traveled with her only for a few months. Oshawott curled against her stomach as she let her eyes flutter shut.
Maybe everything would be better in the morning.