As a new day crept forth, a surge of life gradually grew inside of me as I had finally awoken from my slumber. It was relatively early in the morning from what I could tell since the sky wasn't twilight in color yet, but there was still the faintest hint of light crawling over the horizon. Not a single sound was made in my house, signifying that everyone else was still sleeping most likely. Ever so close to me with my arms still wrapped around her, Lyra looked so peaceful in her restful state. I didn't bother to move as my face continued to be pressed against the Pokémon's soft feathers; almost indulging in the sensation of her body. As I thought about yesterday, the pain of that defeat, I couldn't help but feel greedy as I stayed like this in comfort. I can only imagine if Anubis would still feel the same the moment he wakes up.
The solace I felt was so well received, I honestly wouldn't have had a problem just staying like this all day with the Latias. It was enough that I began to instinctively glide a few fingers along her back. Whether it was from my action or just her naturally waking up, Lyra's eyes gradually opened as a glint of life grew in that golden hue. I kind of froze in place as she glanced over at me while my hand was on the middle of her back.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wak-"
My words were cut short the moment she placed one of her fingers on my lips and shook her head with a gentle smile. The Pokémon then shifted closer as our bodies were even more against each other now, our faces side by side on my pillow. There was no hesitation as I instantly understood her gesture and resumed petting her.
"It's okay to feel bad, so take as much time you need. I'm here for you." Lyra lightly nuzzled my forehead before we went back into silence.
With time slipping away and the glow of orange slowly burning into my room now, I eventually came to accept that I should start getting ready for the day. Since the other Pokémon were still sleeping, Lyra and I snuck into my closet while I was also careful with closing the door so not to disturb the others. From there, I picked out what I was going to wear today.
"Hey, Alan, if it's okay to ask, why did you take that defeat so personally?" The Latias quietly asked.
"I don't know…Maybe the games conditioned me to think I was going to win? Maybe deep down it felt like a blow to me being a Pokémon trainer now? Or it could be that losing isn't a good feeling in general?"
"It's not like you'll win every fight."
"I know, and that's probably why this one hurts the way it does. Maybe it's a pride thing, I don't know, but this was Anubis' and my first battle together. Typically you want to show your best in your first competitive scene with someone, but to be defeated with an audience the size we had, it makes you seem like a failure. That's probably where the pain comes from, and for Anubis, he probably feels like he let me down."
"And do you? There is a reason you ultimately decided to stick with him for the fight."
"I don't." And I refuse to doubt that decision or try to think of what I could have done differently. If I did, then it would feel like I didn't have faith in the Riolu from the start. If I doubt any of my Pokémon like that, then I have no right to call myself their trainer or their friend. "We did nothing wrong, we simply got outplayed."
"Then you just gotta learn from it and move forward." Lyra's voice raised a bit to cheer me on.
"And will you keep helping me and the others move forward?"
"Of course!" She answered with a reassuring smile.
"Thank you…Is it okay if I do something really quick?"
"Sure."
I soon approached the eon Pokémon and placed one hand on her cheek. For some reason, Lyra's eyes grew wide as they darted downwards then back up to me. It was for a mere moment, but I intentionally pressed my forehead against hers and nuzzled the Latias. Since she does it to me, I figured I should do it to her to show my appreciation. When I finished and backed off, I noticed Lyra's cheeks were a little rosy.
"What? It wasn't that embarrassing was it? You do it to me." I soon questioned.
"No, it's not that. It's just…I thought you were going to do something different."
"Like what?"
"Well…I mean…You're…You're still naked." She chirped after saying that.
Upon hearing that, I immediately looked down and had a bit of a chuckle. "I guess I've gotten used to this; that it no longer bothers me if you see me naked." Either that or since my mind was elsewhere.
"Y-Yeah." Lyra also let out a light chuckle while still having a flushed face.
"I should get finished them."
The very moment, I turned and grabbed some underwear, Lyra's arms quickly wrapped around me from behind and pulled me into her chest. Lyra then pressed her cheek against mine and started to rub against it.
"…Payback."
I couldn't help but snicker as I caressed her exposed cheek with my right hand. Once freed, I resumed getting dressed while also occasionally smirking towards the still flustered Pokémon. Thanks to my friend, I definitely felt I was in a better place now, and one that could also help Anubis overcome his funk. Since there was time for it, I decided one way to help alleviate his mood this morning would be a freshly made breakfast. I could see it in the Riolu's face that he was still a bit upset about yesterday, so I gave him a smile as I returned to my room with enough waffles for everyone and some fruit. Everyone sat next to him as I gave his head a few pats and then handed out the food. Anubis was slow to start, but gradually as he dipped his meal in a cup of syrup I also provided, he began to pick up his pace since I could see him enjoying the breakfast.
It was nice, just enjoying each other's company without saying anything while having a hot meal. After everyone was finished and we cleaned up, things seemingly continued as normal as I left the house for school. I kept the fox siblings in their Poké Balls since I'm still waiting for the heat to die down on them. Joules was also to remain in her ball since I've yet to obtain a leash or something to keep her nearby on these walks. Lyra remained next to my side in her mimicry form. And with Anubis, to help keep his spirit up, I lifted him up onto my shoulders so he could ride me during our journey.
"…So you're not disappointed in me?" The Riolu chirped up as his paws rested on the top of my head.
"I never was." I glanced upwards to him.
"But yesterday-"
"I know how you feel, it's just something we've got to accept though. We lost together, so there's no reason to throw blame around, it'll just make you feel worse the longer you put yourself down."
"But still…if only I was just a little bit stronger…"
"What matters to me is that you did your best." A small smile gradually grew on my face. "Being honest, I'm kind of glad now. I don't mean that in a bad way, but since you're showing me this reaction, Anubis, you're telling me how much faith and respect you have for me now and that you wanted to win for me. And as your friend, that's a big compliment to me."
"Alan, me, and the others just want to see you smile again. We're not looking down on you for that loss." Lyra added.
"Look, if you want to get stronger, then just tell me. I'll help you as much as possible, so what do you say?" I then lifted up my hand and clinched it into a fist next to him, waiting for his answer.
The Pokémon was silent and remained that way, but after a few seconds of waiting, I then felt the soft fur of his paw press against my appendage. My smile then shifted into a big smirk as I accepted the Riolu's answer. Following that, I felt even more jubilant as I felt Lyra's claws grip into my free hand and then seeing her give the two of us a reassuring grin.
As it has become usual now, I eventually found myself entering the Advisor's room to wait for classes to begin. However, the sight before me soon let an odd feeling wash over me. With his Pokémon standing next to him, Victor was sitting in front of the computer looking at something. Even though his pose said he was relaxed with one leg up and leaning into his propped up hand, the moment he peaked over at me, I could see he had a very stern expression currently as Vic said nothing and went back to looking at whatever was on the screen.
"Everything alright?" I soon asked.
"We're the catalyst for debate again."
"What do you mean?"
My friend's response was to simply wave me over. The moment I reached him, I received a strong smack from reality.
"Shit. Any idea who posted this?"
"It's not the only video, multiple students recorded the fight." Victor then pulled up more recordings of our Pokémon battle.
As I scanned through the comments of each video, they were relatively the same on each page. A few shitposts and then a massive amount of debates with numerous rebuttals on both sides that the moment this gets spotted by journalists and hits the news, the situation involving Pokémon will become even more political. Yeah it was nice seeing people try to defend the battle since it's a change brought upon Pokémon being real now, but just reading the amount of people talk about this being a glorified blood sport was one punch, while the second blow were the ones bringing up the fact that there is now recorded proof that shows the strength of Pokémon and how dangerous they can be. The negativity simply can't be handwaved away with the positive points now with how vocal people are getting. It's going to be a hard fight to make peace, especially determining on how the news will spin their tale. It may even become an uphill battle at that point considering how much journalists love to paint a narrative at times just for more views.
"Is there anything we can do at this point?" I quickly questioned as I turned back to my friend.
Vic furrowed his brow as he sighed. "Maybe, but I'm not so sure. We were allowed to get away with this just because the school trusts us to educate others about Pokémon and handle those situations. Since our faces are out there, the media is going to hound us, and if we want to push this into a positive light, we would need a ton of support."
"Easier said than done. If the school gets too much negative publicity, they would easily turn against us. We would need the Pokémon fans to back us at that point, and even then, it's still against a scared majority."
Vic then leaned way back into his seat as he stared straight up at the ceiling. His eyes told me he was pondering any possible solution. After a couple of seconds, he turned back to me and said; "We're going to do a lot of research."
"What do you mean?"
"As I said. Research. We make a blog that documents Pokémon. If do this, we can help educate people on Pokémon and show that we can coexist with them like we do with animals."
"Okay I get you, but if we do this, what we record shouldn't just be about a Pokémon's battling capability; otherwise it'll just make them look like barbaric monsters bent on violence. We should also record information about their daily lives, just what they're capable of, how they interact with animals, and definitely how they interact with humans. We do that and maybe also cross reference it with what was already said in the games and such, that way we have hard facts we can show others and make a solid defense case for when the time comes."
"We're going to need to gather a lot of info pretty fast then. We're running of time."
"For what?"
"In eight days, Poké Balls will be officially released to the public. My grandpa has already told me that a lot of people has registered and preordered from his company so that they could be part of the first wave that gets released. Think about it, with a large number of people in control of a Pokémon now, there is bound to be some of them that will go mad with power due to them controlling a creature with incredible abilities. The information we gather needs to show and prove that if there is any incident with a Pokémon, that the fault is either that individual Pokémon or the people around it."
"Then we should start things today."
"I'll get started on a website and see if the school and my grandpa's company would be willing to promote it. Can you see if the other advisors would be willing to help?" Vic then spun back to the computer started pulling some stuff up.
Once the bell signaling for students to start heading to class reverberated through the building, my friend and I recalled our Pokémon and went our separate ways. With time passing, it then slowly entered the period where I could discuss things with Alisa. As I waited at my desk, the young girl eventually entered while carrying her Skitty in her arms.
"Hey, Alan…" She greeted.
"Hey. Is something wrong?" I asked because her tone seemed a bit anxious.
"How's…your Pokémon?"
"Anubis? He's doing fine. I can see something is on your mind, wanna talk about it?" I decided to postpone my initial reason for wanted to talk with Alisa now.
"It's about that fight yesterday, it's just that seeing it has kind of given me a new perspective on Pokémon."
"Nothing bad I hope."
"I don't know. It's really hard to say…Maybe a little bit scared now? Seeing such small creatures do what they did really made me realize that these aren't just normal animals. Sure the games and show exaggerates their powers, but seeing it in reality was an entirely different show of force. It made me question what Filia is capable of and if I should be worried about it."
I had a small sigh. "Pokémon can be dangerous."
"Wha…"
"Zeak can make an explosion of dark energy. Tamamo can spit out fire just like Vic's Torchic. My hands get shocked constantly as I rub out the static of Joules' fleece; plus she can do attacks involving electricity. I've seen Anubis punch a hole in concrete. And Lyra has psychic powers and is able to spew out fire full of dragon energy." I glanced back at Alisa who seemed shocked. "Yeah that power is frightening, but I'm not scared of my Pokémon. We trust each other, I consider them loyal to me, and they've become my friends. Even though they could easily hurt me, I have no reason to fear that happening because I know they won't intentionally harm me now. I know I can live with my Pokémon and keep moving forward with them."
"I wish I had that kind of resolve right now."
"Well, be it fate or coincidence, that Pokémon is stuck with you. Sure you told me you took her in for having a cute face, but with what's happening with the world now, there's a reason why you've kept Filia for as long as you have."
Soon the Skitty began to meow at Alisa in a manner to pull her attention to the Pokémon. Once the red head looked at her Pokémon, Filia then managed to prop herself up against girl's chest only to then draw her tongue along Alisa's cheek. Following that, Filia then pressed her face against her human's and started to nuzzle Alisa as the sound of purring vibrated out. The young girl ended up caressing the Skitty's back in response as I could see a soft and genuine smile form on her.
"You love Filia, don't you?" I continued.
"…I do."
"Then let that be the strength for your resolve. And like it or not, you are Filia's trainer now, so the two of you will have to support each other from here on out if that is the path you want to take forward."
"Thanks, Alan. You're actually quite mature with this, you know?"
"That, or I'm crazy." I chuckled.
Alisa giggled and then said; "Then I guess we're both crazy. So then since you're the expert, what would you say it means to be a Pokémon trainer?"
"Well it's a bit of a broad term if we look at what the games and such say, but I would have to say it means doing what you want in life with Pokémon by your side."
"I can see what you mean. So then what is it that you would want to do with your Pokémon?"
I took a moment to think about that. Sure with what Victor and I have planned now, we would be considered Pokémon researchers, but I'm not sure if that's something I want to do primarily. Yeah it seems like it could be fun, but I feel like that's something I would want to do on the side. Further thinking about it, I thought about what the character Ash and the game protagonists do in the series. It feels childish, but I wouldn't mind doing what they do. Still though, my options are open. So with a wink and a smirk, I gave Alisa my answer.
"That's a secret."
"Oh come on."
I laughed it off. "You just got to do what your heart tells you is right."
After sharing a smile, Alisa went to giving Filia her full attention now. With what's going through her mind right now, I'll hold off bringing up the research blog that's being made. Though I will say, with how this conversation went, I just wish convincing the political masses would be as easy. A lot of people will always hold onto their beliefs regardless of the outcome, and because of that, this world will always be in constant divide. I just hope that things can remain peaceful.