AN: Hello, I'm Yojimbra, I'm new to writing Pokemon fics. I apologize if what I'm writing isn't to the meta of what's in this fandom. I'd like to say that while I have played every pokemon game, I'm a casual enjoyer of it. I've never even seen a shiny that wasn't scripted. The region is an unnamed custom one. Pokemon may or may not learn moves that they can't learn in the games. Some game mechanics may be ignored. Some variations of pokemon may appear. And yes, once this fic is over it will end with a romance between two female characters. I hope you enjoy!

"The sheer psychic and electrical power of Zenobia's unique Raichu has been putting up the numbers against many of Hoenn's finest!"

The screen flashed to the battlefield. Zen's Raichu effortlessly took to the water as the opponent's majestic Milotic used surf. A blast of psychic energy distorted the camera before a bolt of thunder shot from Zen's Raichu, and the Milotic began to fall.

"It should come as no surprise!" The announcers continued as I kept trying to peel my eyes away from the T.V. only to be drawn in once more when the T.V. shifted to Zen's face once again.

Five years had done her far more good than it had me. There was almost nothing left of that scrappy little redheaded tomboy that had left this town with a Ralts that she had nothing in common with. Back then, I had thought the world of her.

Still do.

Seeing her make another run at becoming champion was pulling at my heart and made my own failures as a pokemon trainer sting all the more. The aching was more like the soreness from a shot to the arm; the pain was long gone, but it was so easy to remember, and easy to want to avoid.

That's why I might be the only person over eighteen that didn't have a pokemon.

I just wasn't cut out for it.

But Zen more than was.

There was something about how she effortlessly formed bonds with pokemon, how she was able to bring out the best of each and every single one she encountered. If ever there was a chosen one in this world, it would be her.

"Indeed!" the second announcer continued. "With four championships under her belt already, Zenobia has already made a name for herself as a force of nature! And she's showing no sign of stopping! What do you think—"

"Oh my goodness!" The camera shifted back to the battlefield once again, where Wallace's Swampert was being pinned to the water-soaked rocks that dominated half the battlefield by thick grassy vines. The more the Swampert flailed, the more the vines grew back and pinned tighter and tighter, until barely a few seconds since switching in, Wallace was forced to recall his pokemon. "A grass move? From Raichu? What could that be?"

"I believe that was Grass Knot!"

"A single Grass Knot was capable of taking down a swampert? That's putting Wallace in a pickle! He must have been hoping to counter Raichu's impressive electrical abilities with Swampert's ground type! Instead, he fell right into Zenobia's trap. Could it be he's just not used to fighting against an Alolan Raichu?"

"That's Zenobia's most oppressive advantage! She brings pokemon from all over the world into every fight, and most trainers struggle to adjust to the new abilities her pokemon have."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to my work. Zen was going to win because she was Zen. It was as simple as that.

The announcers continued to rave about the battle, and I continued to pretend I was procrastinating. It really wasn't like Professor Cherry would be upset that I was watching Zen's match. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she was currently in her office scaring the Loudred with her cheering her daughter's every match on.

Normally Professor Cherry would be in the stands, pulling double duty of cheering her daughter on and trying to find a date, but Hoenn was simply too far away.

That's why the live broadcast of the championship match was happening at… I glanced at the clock and glared at it. This was before I normally woke up. The sun had barely gotten past the horizon. I glanced down at the data I was compressing: an analysis of pokemon types and how the environment seemed to change it. It was way too early for this.

But since I was waking at the ass-crack of dawn to show my emotional and mildly bitter support by watching one of my best childhood friends continue to fulfill her dream, I figured I'd at least attempt to finish this.

It wasn't like Professor Cherry was going to do anything with it today anyways.

In true spectacular fashion, the Hoenn Championship Match came down to Wallace's Mega Gyarados against Zen's Mega Gardevoir.

It was hard to connect the image of that little runt of a Ralts that hid behind Zen's legs every chance it got to that elegant and commanding creature.

I had always been jealous of a pokemon's ability to evolve and have a whole new personality. But then again, people were supposed to do that too, but instead of evolution we called it growing up. And it felt like I hadn't.

If I was a pokemon, I was one of the ones that didn't evolve.

Like a Dunsparce.

"Zenovia!" The T.V. grabbed my attention once again, and I watched as she jumped the last two few steps off the trainer stand. Her entire body was animated, and her smile wormed its way into my heart, making my cheeks warm and a smile creep upon my face. She bounced up in front of the cameras, her flame-red hair barely contained in a ponytail that started high on the back of her head. "Any words for all the kids and fans watching?"

"Sure!" She smiled and grabbed the microphone from the reporter's hand without any prompting. "You can do this too!"

Why did it feel like Zen was talking to me?

"It doesn't matter how many times you failed. It doesn't matter how much you feel like giving up. You can do this too. You just have to not give up. You just need to stand up and move forward." She smiled sweetly at the camera. "And try to travel with friends; the Routes can get pretty lonely."

"Are you saying anyone can beat five separate championships around the world?" The reporter asked.

"Of course!" Zen shot one arm out wide and bounced on a single foot. "I mean, I did it!"

"You sound like you want more challengers."

The spark in Zen's green eyes sent a chill down my spine and likely any number of hopeful trainers'. "Of course! The better the battle, the more fun it is! So if anyone wants to challenge me to a real battle, I say bring it on!"

"And what's next for you?"

"Galar!"

I smiled even as I felt the tears stream down my face.

I hadn't actually seen Zen in years. There was no way she was talking to some girl that had given up on her first gym and released her first pokemon. Me and Zen couldn't be more opposite if we tried. I had given up on everything, and she had never given up. I let out a sigh and blew some of my snow-white hair out of my face before I started the report again in earnest.

There was no way she still thought about me.

She had to have a boyfriend or something.

Even if she didn't, chances were slim that she was into girls.

And if she was, chances were slimmer that she was into me.

XXXX

I made my way down the main street of Mill Creek, a small community that was in the transition between town and city. For a long time, the only thing of note had really been the old logging area that gave the town it's name and the pokemon lab that Professor Cherry worked from. A couple of years ago, they had gotten a pokemon center complete with a pokemart. The rangers had even started to properly maintain Route 101 again, which allowed trainers to traverse from Mill Creek to Long Valley.

We were even getting a gym.

Mill Creek's growth had really boomed when Zenovia began to make a name for us after becoming the Kalos champion.

I kept my laptop bag tucked under my armpit as I traversed the town. I took a moment to appreciate the aroma that wafted from the local coffee shop and then stopped in front of the would-be gym. It looked finished, but construction crews still moved in and out of the double-sided doors to bring in materials. Most of the heavy lifting was done by the Machokes and Gurdurrs that were fairly common around the logging area and the quarry.

"Mel?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin hearing my name being called in the middle of the street. I wasn't exactly a social butterfly, and most of the time all I got was friendly nods on my way to and from the professor's lab.

A large tan man waved at me and sprinted across the street after checking both ways. He was dressed in standard trainer garb, but a deep blue that really helped him stand out from the crowd. I stared at him, trying to rack my brain for any clue on who on earth this guy could be. I didn't know a lot of people, but I would have remembered meeting this giant of a man.

He stopped in front of me and he held out his large muscle bound arms wide. "Mel!" He shouted again.

"Yes?" I squeaked.

"It is you!" He bellowed and laughed. "I can hardly believe it! You look so different from back then. Not in a bad way! I mean, just look at you! You look great. A bit tired though."

I blinked and stared at him for a second. A name and a memory edged up on my tongue. I knew this man. "Samson?"

"In the flesh!"

And then some!

"What happened to you!" I flailed my arm and stared up at him. He used to be a mousey little boy that hung out with me and Zen! We had all started our pokemon journey together! And from the six pokeballs currently placed on his vest—-Could he even zip that thing?—he had continued his journey and then some. "I mean, you used to be shorter than me! And like, I think Zen had more muscles than you!"

"Haha!" Samson let out a laugh that was as large as his body. "Basically, puberty."

Puberty does not come with a six pack. It comes with back pain and confusing feelings and cramps, and hair in places that I don't want it.

"Uh huh… So, what are you doing here then?"

"Oh!" He clapped his hands and then pointed towards the gym. "After going solo for a while, I realized what I wanted in life, so I decided to come back here and open up my very own fighting type gym."

"Fighting type?" I tilted my head and thought about the area. "Well, there's plenty of those in the area, but there's also lots of flying types and rock types, so I guess that works."

"Yeah! It works out well. Besides, I heard rumors that there's a Primeape variant hanging around the region, and I want to try and find it." Samson flashed me a smile and gave me a great big thumbs up. "Say, why don't you prototype my gym in a bit? I know your—"

"I don't have any pokemon."

"Huh?" That stopped Samon's train of thought like a boulder. "What do you… Oh. I… guess you never really made it past the Long Valley Gym, huh?"

Zen had cleared the gym on her first attempt. Samson by his second. Me?

The gym had cleared me.

I shrugged. "I wasn't really cut out for being a pokemon trainer."

Samons narrowed his eyes at me and placed his massive hands on his hips. "I'm having a hard time believing that, Mel."

"Well, it's the truth."

A month of training.

Countless losses.

Many nights spent sleeping at the pokemon center.

Eventually I ran out of Pokemoney and had to call it quits.

"Well it doesn't have to be." Samson cracked his knuckles. "Come on, let's go catch you a pokemon. After that, we can catch up over lunch or something."

I held up my hand and winced slightly. "No thanks, I gotta get to the lab today." I wasn't really in a rush though. "I'll see you around, Samson."

"Oh. Yeah. It was nice seeing you again Mel!"

I nodded and brushed past him.

The sense of failure was one I was familiar with. I felt it nearly every day that I walked past the entrance to Route 101: a long trail that went through the woods with several lakes, caves, and other areas where wild pokemon could be found in abundance. The route had changed since I last set foot on it. The path was more clearly marked, and there were signs that directed trainers to points of interest and warned them about certain pokemon to watch out for. Mostly the poisonous pokemon.

If I wanted to go to Long Valley, I'd just take the highway.

XXXX

"Hey Professor!" I called, half-stumbling into the mostly clean—albeit slightly disorganized—laboratory that I had been working at for the better part of two years. I was instantly greeted by one of my main jobs here.

An Eevee and every single one of its evolutions came bouncing up towards me, all of them yipping and purring for me to feed them. Even the normally abrasive Umbreon had taken to nuzzling my leg the moment I entered. Honestly, I had no idea why not a single one of them bugged the Professor to feed them.

I placed my bag down at my usual work station and set about my daily tasks, and a train of nine different pokemon followed after me, each one expressing their own impatience that I hadn't fed them yet. Feeding nine of anything was always frustrating, even when they all ate the same thing, but each individual pokemon had its own diet. Just making a week's worth of food for any one of them took an entire day.

"You know," Professor Cherry sang from behind me, "if you ever wanted to adopt one of them, I'd be more than happy to let you."

I glanced at the Leafeon nuzzling my hand as I filled her bowl. "No thanks. I'd prefer not to take my work home."

Professor Cherry smiled and sipped her cup of coffee. She looked exactly as tired as I felt. She must have woken up early like I did to watch Zen live. In terms of looks Professor Cherry was a knockout, and her cherry-red hair was normally tied in a long braid that fell over one of her shoulders giving her a motherly look. She nodded towards her office with a sly smile. "Package came for you."

"For me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, and I felt my day get even worse. "Were the lab results bad?"

"No, no." She took a sip of her coffee. "Those were fine. I actually think you'll like this package."

I finished feeding the pokemon with a great deal of suspicion directed at both Professor Cherry and the mystery package she was acting so smug about.

I followed her into her office and was greeted with a small, square package that was haphazardly wrapped and stamped a dozen times over from various shipping lanes. The lab's address was still firmly printed on it, but it was addressed to me.

And it was from Zen.

Cherry's smile only grew as she watched me panic over a knife before she handed me a sharp pen that I used to tear into the tape. Inside, covered in packaging stuff, was a snow-white pokeball staring up at me and a letter from Zen.

The message was short.

"It's never too late. I'll see you at the top.

Love Zen.

Ps. I caught this beautiful girl to train up, but it reminded me so much of you I thought that you should have her. I hope you two become great friends and partners."

My heart pounded in my chest and I covered my mouth. I stared at the letter for far too long. Disbelief, anxiety, joy, and love all mixed in my stomach, sapping me of my strength and making the world spin. I felt tears stream down my cheeks for the second time that day.

"She never gave up on you." Cherry's motherly touch pulled me into an awkward hug due to me being more than a few inches taller than her. She patted me on my back and smiled up at me, the pokeball already in her hand. "So I think it's only fair if you do the same."

I reached out and touched the pokeball with a shaking hand.

I had almost forgotten how heavy they were.

AN: I wanted to write some pokemon.