Welcome to another chapter of Holly Rising! This one's a bit on the shorter side, but explains a lot about what's going on in the rest of the story! No prompt this time, however.

As always, I do not own Pokémon and see the author's notes for details. All prompts are the property of Wizmonfan's and are being summarized here with permission.

13. Faraway Place

Holly blinked again.

With everything that had happened, Holly had almost forgotten the request she had made.

She wasn't sure it even mattered now. But clearly, Anabel thought it was important enough to tell her.

So, Holly kept her eyes focused on the woman as she walked back across the room.

Anabel sat down in the chair across from Holly, and Holly forced herself to meet her eyes.

To Holly's surprise, there was no trace of commanding coldness Anabel had shown before.

Instead, Anabel's eyes rated with the warmth and kindness Holly had seen at the hospital.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, feeling every part of her body relax.

Anabel gave her a reassuring smile, as she stated. "Are you ready?"

Holly nodded, and Anabel took a deep breath before beginning.

"I'm originally from Hoenn. I used to be the leader of a facility called the Battle Frontier."

Despite Anabel telling her to listen, Holly couldn't resist asking. "Battle Frontier? What's that?"

Anabel quickly replied. "It's an area where many strong Trainers gather. They're a level above most regions have ever seen, Holly. In fact, they're so powerful that most authorities won't let people in until they're on the level of a region's Champion."

Holly's eyes went wide. "Wow, you're stronger than a region's Champion? Those Trainers that conquer the Pokémon League? Then, you must be able to handle anything!"

There was no missing the pain in Anabel's eyes, and Holly simply stared.

What had Anabel gone through that simply saying she could handle anything brought back bad memories? If she was stronger than the Trainers at the Pokémon League, then it couldn't have been a simple loss…

How it suddenly realized how rude she was being, and quietly stated. "I'm sorry."

Annabel shook her head.

"There's no reason to apologize. It just brought something back…"

She closed her eyes before opening them again. "I couldn't handle everything, but I could handle a lot. I had to as the Frontier's Leader."

"Leader, like a Gym Leader?"

"No, not like a Gym Leader. It was my responsibility to look after the entire place. If something went wrong, I was to fix it. But that also meant I was the strongest Trainer in the Frontier. And everyone knew that."

Holly cocked her head.

"So does that mean everyone had to fight lots of Trainers, and then the challenge ended when they got to you?"

Annabel shook her head.

"Battling at the Frontier isn't like battling everywhere else. It's not just using everything to win and stopping when you reach the top. At the Frontier, everyone fights with special rules. There are five Facilities to battle at, and each have their own special requirements. They each have their own leader too. Those leaders are called Frontier Brains."

Holly could see fondness entering in Anabel's eyes as she reminisced. "I ran an area called the Battle Tower. In this place, Trainers had to win 50 battles in a row. They couldn't heal their Pokémon either, but they would get some money that could be used to buy things in the rest of the Frontier. And if they won 50 battles, they could challenge me. Double that, and I would fight them again with a stronger team."

Holly's eyes continued to grow as wide as dinner plates.

50 battles? That was a lot! And then to do it all over again? That seemed almost impossible!

Holly knew she was strong, but she doubted she could even come close to that!

"50 battles, and then 50 more? That's a lot! And all against Trainers stronger than the Champion…"

Anabel nodded. "Very few people got to me. But some were lucky."

"What happened if they beat you?"

"Well, the Frontier had something similar to badges, but instead they were stamps. The stamps were called Symbols, and each one had their own. Trainers who won 50 straight matches got a Silver Symbol. Those who won 100 got gold."

Holly started shivering again, as she could barely contain her excitement.

Symbols… Trainers stronger than the Champion… A Frontier… Different facilities…

How mind-boggling it was that such a place could exist! And yet, from what Anabel said, it must have been true! It would be the ultimate place to battle!

Holly had to go there!

A wide grin spread on her face, and she nearly bounced out of her seat.

"That's all so exciting! I want to go! How do I get there?"

At those words, Anabel recoiled. Holly thought she could see her cringe.

She shook her head.

"You can't, Holly."

A fire burned in Holly's eyes, as she replied.

"You mean I can't because I'm not the Champion. That's not a problem! I'll just become the Champion! No, I will become the strongest Trainer this region's ever seen!"

Annabel shook her head, sadness never leaving her gaze.

"You still can't, Holly."

Holly's eyes widened.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because the Frontier is gone, Holly."

Holly didn't think her eyes could go any wider, but somehow, they did.

An entire Frontier full of Trainers stronger than region Champions… Just… Gone? How could that be?

"What do you mean?"

Anabel closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Holly wondered if she was trying not to cry.

The woman stared straight at her as she spoke. "Everything was fine, until one night, monsters attacked us."

Holly clenched her fists. "Monsters? What do you mean monsters?"

"I'm not sure myself. All I know is that they were horrific, powerful creatures. They could've been Pokémon, but they weren't anything I'd ever seen. They appeared, and the entire Frontier was laid to waste… No one even stood a chance."

Holly's face went pale, and she could only stare in stunned silence.

Annabel didn't take notice of her distress as she continued.

"I was lucky enough to get out of there, but many I knew weren't. I witnessed many of those dear to me meet gruesome deaths before I escaped with my life. Even then, I barely survived my severe injuries. The fact that I'm standing before you now as a miracle…"

Holly found she was able to talk, and softly said. "Do you know any others who survived?"

Annabel shook her head. "I don't, unfortunately. I fled before the monsters finished their attack, so I never got to see the end results."

Holly found herself squeaking. "But why did the monsters attack you?"

"I don't know that either. Someone might've sent them, but there is no proof of this."

Holly simply shut her eyes to keep the tears from overflowing.

Annabel's words came echoing back to her.

"I know about the pain of losing almost all of my friends and family in a single night, and I nearly died in that same night."

"I've been through so much pain that sometimes I feel like I could destroy the world."

Holly blinked, still trying to hold back tears.

Annabel had meant every word, and she'd just blown her off.

Annabel's eyes softened. "It's all right. You can cry for me. I think I've long since stopped."

The tears started to fall again, as Holly took another drink.

She managed to ask. "If you ran the tower, how did you become a police officer?"

Annabel quickly replied. "Not many people visited the Frontier, so we couldn't sustain ourselves just by battling. Many of us did other jobs on the side. I already worked as a member of the International Police back then. So, it was easy to become a full-time member after that."

Holly nodded, but now she couldn't stop the tears.

She was stupid… So stupid… Thinking that her pain was something Anabel could never understand, when she had experienced so much more…

Holly managed to gasp out. "I'm sorry. So sorry… Going off on you like that, when all those bad things had happened to you…"

Holly couldn't see again, but she could hear Anabel walking up and throwing her hand around her back. She reached for a tissue, trying to wipe her eyes.

Anabel whispered. "It's all right. You understand everything now."

Holly thought she noticed a glimpse of a smile on Anabel's face.

"Besides, I have a little piece of my time at the Frontier with me now."

Holly stared, a question in her eyes.

What did Anabel mean? Hopefully that was not literal…

Anabel's smile grew wider, her voice warm as she continued.

"When I was in Hoenn, I knew someone named Holly. I'm not sure what happened to her, but I'm glad to hear the name again."

Holly couldn't conceal her surprise. She hardly even noticed that her tears had stopped.

To think that she had the same name as one of Anabel's old friends! It must've been a different person, though. She'd never been to Hoenn, and her mother never mentioned it from when she was a baby.

However, Holly managed to smile back. She might not have been the same person, and she couldn't take away Annabel's pain.

But at least she could ease the woman's suffering.

At least she could make her happy.

Author's notes:

-So this is it. Anabel's side of the story. Players of Emerald may recognize what she says about the Battle Frontier, as it works in the games exactly like how she described it in the story. It's also worth noting the Annabel's more aggressive side comes from Emerald, because she shown to be somewhat aggressive towards challengers. She's not quite as aggressive in Pokémon Sun and Moon. However, it's worth noting she doesn't battle quite as much there.

-The event that destroyed the Frontier comes from Pokémon Sun and Moon. In these games, it is heavily implied that the Frontier was destroyed by mysterious monsters called Ultra Beasts. Anabel somehow survived the attack, got transported to another world, and ended up Alola. This is how she is working as a member of the International Police.

-There is, however, one major difference in the way the games tell Anabel's story versus how this story uses it. In the games, Anabel has lost all her memories, other than her name, her battling skills, and the fact that she once protected a tower. In this version, she has her memories. This is both for story reasons and the fact that I did not like how the games handled the memory loss.

-According to the games, anyone that gets transported to another world loses their memories during the trip. However, many characters go back and forth between worlds within the course of Pokémon Sun and Moon, and their memories are perfectly fine. This gets even more bizarre because there comes a point where the player character can travel between worlds and stay as long as they want. Needless to say, their memories are never affected. So, Anabel losing her memories during the process made no sense to me. Therefore, it was omitted here.

-The characters working side jobs and Anabel already been a member of the International Police has to do with an observation I made during the games. In the games, Annabel quickly becomes one of the top ranking officers. However, this is despite the bag that she has less experience than anyone else. I thought that was rather odd.

-I also thought that Trainers in the Battle Frontier working side jobs when they were not battling would make a lot of sense, because not a lot of opponents would make it there. Therefore, Anabel working as a police officer on the side seemed logical. It would give a reason for her to rise as quickly as she did, despite being newer to the group.