AKA Pokewrite Drabble No. 8. Very little has changed. The prompt is the quote below.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Otherwise I would be rich from all the treasures in the Sinnoh Underground...
Proud Flesh
"I've said it before! One day I'll surpass you. This time I will be the one who is worried." –Misaki, 'Kaichou wa Maid-Sama'
I did it, thought Roark. I've finally gotten better than my dad. But he felt little joy upon accomplishing this goal.
All his life Roark had aspired to be a Gym Leader, just like his father Byron. Then, once he finally achieved that status, he wanted to surpass his father. This second goal proved to be much harder than the first, and it often left him frustrated. Whenever it seemed like he was finally better, his dad pulled off something even greater and pulled ahead again. He often had long griping conversations with Janine and Falkner, who had similar parent issues. If they weren't around, he complained to Gardenia instead.
It didn't help that his chosen type, Rock, was weak against his father's Steel type. But he didn't want to be just like his dad anyway - that's why he chose a different type in the first place. Besides, if his Rock Pokemon could overcome his father's Steel types, that just proved that he was the better Trainer, and therefore the better person, right?
He was such a stupid kid back then. He was so lustful for fame and power that he didn't notice his dad's increasing weariness, the coughs, the smiles worn to hide the pain. In fact he didn't know about his father's lung cancer until he got a call from the hospital. Suddenly everything caved in, like the old mines his dad used to work in his younger days. Suddenly all that fuss to become better and stronger seem as pointless as confetti littering the ground after an outlandish party.
Once Byron started going in and out of the hospital for chemo and check-up visits, it was easy enough to become the stronger Trainer. But that didn't cure disease. That didn't help other people. That...wasn't true strength. It was something his father had told him over and over again, but he just didn't get it, just didn't-
I...need to take care of him now, thought Roark, as he left the hospital to head back home. I...need to be like him, to be truly strong. And I will be, for his sake, and for everyone else. Dad, I finally understand now...what is really important.
IIIIII
Sometimes we're so obsessed with being the best, we miss what's important. Hoped you liked it!