For my readers following Empower, I promise an update is coming your way soon! I just can't write properly with so many ideas flooding through my head, I just need to get them out and on paper.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this new story set in the Pokemon Sword/Shield Universe.
She liked him. She really, really liked him.
I mean…she'd have to be a moron not to fall for someone like him.
What with his kind, golden eyes that were befitting of his fiery spirit and his tan skin that she just ached to touch when he was close.
Then there were his charming facial expressions that made her heart warm and her tummy flip. She could almost compare his handsomeness to that of the sweet and warming sunset.
But her favorite thing about him was how he never stopped supporting her. He supported her as his friend, as a trainer in the Pokémon Gym Challenge, and even still he supported her as the Champion of Galar.
He had always been there for her. He saw her through it all.
She hadn't known it then, but he pushed her to become the best version that she could be and when Galar was in danger and most importantly, he never held her back.
He knew she could be the next champion, knew that she could save their home rather than belittle her when he had the chance. He had been by her side through it all because he believed in her strength instead.
All of this appeal had just added to his charm in the long run. So of course, after grasping that he had done so much for her so, when he broke down, it was only natural for her to be there to help him through it all.
She had been the one to remind him that he wasn't a failure that he portrayed himself to be. That he meant so much more, contributed so much to everyone he met…including her.
He was never weak in her eyes. To her, he was everything pure and good and just brilliantly amazing. That was when she realized that he meant everything to her because she loved him.
She loved how he was there for her. Loved how he glowed and looked so prideful when she recounted her adventures traveling and fighting trainers stronger than herself in the wilderness – including him.
She even loved how he would tell her all about his new work with Sonia over coffee or the latest book about wishing stars that he read. He looked so happy sitting there with her and she could feel the peacefulness too.
All those moments that had seemed so perfect…and all those years together. She had really thought it meant something.
Yet none of it did to him. At the end of the day, she had been nothing but a little girl with a crush on her childhood friend.
He had never seen her like that and she had been so clueless. It had been only a matter of time for him to grow and leave her behind.
Not in a million years would she assume that they would end up like that after everything that they've been through together. She had not been prepared for what would come after because she never thought it would happen.
Gloria's hands were shaking as she gently opened the latter, only to reveal what she already knew was hidden in the little package. With a deep sigh, she braced herself to read the wedding invitation that was shaking in her hands.
Leon and Sonia were finally tying the knot after all these years.
They were thoughtful – she'd give them that – for inviting her. They were like one big family after battling the Darkest Night, but the news still hurt her healing wounds.
She also couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the two, and she knew it was unbecoming of her, but the feeling just wouldn't go away.
They had been the lucky ones. Sonia and Leon, childhood friends turned rivals turned lovers were about to tie the knot after all this time.
She knew, in a perfect, parallel universe that could've been her and Hop. They could've been so blissfully in love.
She was a horrible, horrible person for thinking this way.
At least she was aware that she was wrong for thinking such a thing. Wasn't realizing that you were wrong the first step to help oneself move on to a better life? If so, why did she still feel so empty and still so bitter?
It didn't help that it had been so easy for him to move on as if she was nothing but a small, shy girl you've helped along the way. She felt like charity work now as she thought back to how she had continued to train under Leon.
While she had been traveling across the Galar region, learning more from the ex-champion, Hop had secured his internship with Sonia. She would always find herself returning to Postwick to visit him.
She would sometimes miss important events and festivals because she knew just how much he missed exploring would bring him gifts, wishing stars, even fossils and introduce him to her new rare Pokémons. Then she would tell him all about her new stories and how she wished he was there with her.
He would laugh, pull her in for a hug and she could almost believe that there was something between them. Her attraction to him had grown ten-fold during those interactions when she noticed how much taller Hop was than her. But when he embraced her, she could feel his strong arms and blushed at the thought that he had filled out quite well.
To say the least, he was handsome. His eyes were still vibrant, his hair still stuck up in every way, and he had exchanged his Wooloo denim jacket for a lab coat and blue light reflecting glasses.
She even enjoyed that he would still shout in excitement of all her stories or new achievements and badges like when they were kids.
She knew that being with Hop and just enjoying the moment was worth more than attending all those events in Galar. So, she made a point to visit often despite Sonia's scolding lectures about distracting her student with so many impromptu visits.
Luckily for her, Gloria always found a little sparkle in Sonia's eyes when she arrived with Leon in tow.
It wasn't until one night when she and Leon were traveling back home after a few days in Motostoke that they had made a bet to tell their lab coat crushes what they felt about one another, that she had finally gotten the courage to do so.
She knew now that it had been a mistake. Not a mistake to confess to him, but a mistake to fall for him in the first place.
Hop had never considered her more than anything but a friend. To him, she would always be that shy, little girl with a green beret.
She, on the other hand, had been convinced that they had a shot. That there had been something special between.
Instead, she had spilled her heart to him and ruined their friendship.
She could feel the sting in her eyes as Hop just looked down at her with pity of all things.
Sonia had been the one to break Gloria from the spell when a perfectly manicured hand was placed on her shoulder. Sonia sighed and with a little shake on her head, explained that Hop was seeing a "nice village girl" since her last visit back.
Hop looked ashamed, scratching the back of his head, but it didn't compare to how embarrassed Gloria felt right then and there.
She had run straight out of the laboratory and towards the train station. Hop on her tail, but his lack of training had made him slow over the years and she was grateful for it.
Leon, confused, had also attempted to stop her, but she didn't give him the chance as she pulled her hand from his grip. He didn't try again after he saw the tears spilling down her cheeks.
All she wanted was to be anywhere other than there. And Leon sensed this as he nodded his head in understanding.
She knew he was prepared to walk away with her, but she couldn't accept his companionship. He still had his side of the bet to fulfill.
She had wished him the best of luck and like a coward, she fled. That had been the end of her training with the ex-champion.
Only it seemed that it had all worked out for him and Sonia by the looks of the expensive invitation still shaking in her hand as she re-read their names spelled out in cursive.
None of this would've happened if she would've just continued her adventures on her own as she had done since the beginning. She always worked better alone.
But it was too late now, the damage was done.
The only thing left to fight for was her championship title – she's be damned if she let that slip through her fingers. It was what was keeping her together through it all.
Besides her team, and all the Pokémon she had rescued and trained on her journey through the Galar region, she had nothing.
Her life as a Champion and her new gym leader friends was all she had now to keep her sane.
Once the news of her rejection spread in her small hometown, she prayed her mum would understand because she would not go back to Postwick any time soon.
Unable to go to her mother, the first person she had turned to for help was Marnie and Piers.
If Gloria wasn't an only child, she would've hoped that her siblings would be like that of the two Spikemuth gym leaders.
They had been so kind in accepting her into their home and nursed her back into a version of her more confident self. They didn't ask for details or pry either and instead gave her words of encouragement to help her get back on her feet.
On her worst days, Marnie would bring her delicious treats while Piers dedicated some of his songs to her and it made those long nights a bit more bearable. But Gloria knew she couldn't do this forever.
It had been almost two months in Spikemuth before she had enough, and Piers knew it as he patted her head and said "finally".
Marnie had begged her to stay, but she wasn't the type to stay in one place. So, she said goodbye to Marnie and Piers with a round of a Pokémon battle (that she won and found that she had missed battling) and found herself at Wyndon in the blink of an eye.
From Marnie's bedroom to a little apartment near Wyndon Stadium and Rose Tower, Gloria had found a nice routine to help keep her occupied and focused on her new life as the Champion.
This time, she was going to do her job properly and she was not going to give up her love of the Pokémon world for a boy who didn't reciprocate her feelings.
If she wasn't spending her days' training at the tower, she was fighting other challengers in the arena.
When asked why she was rigorously training on interviews, she explained that a Champion must always be in top shape to perform. If they asked about her two-month disappearance, she would just laugh and explain that she had been sick and chose to spend her time in Spikemuth with Marnie.
A few white lies to hide the truth.
She had been training so hard because she simply missed the rush battling gave her and the guilty side of her knew all the training was to make up to her Pokémon's inactivity and their impeded constriction in their Pokéballs for those few months.
Her team was the sole reason why she kept moving forward.
It hadn't been just Hop to turn her from the shy and reserved girl she had been.
Her Pokémon had played the biggest role in shaping her into the young woman she was today. Without their trust and loyalty, she wouldn't be the Champion and Pokémon expert. They were the ones who lend her their strength so she could believe in herself first and become even stronger.
She owed them everything.
So, it was only fair for her to give back and dedicate more time to strengthening her bonds with her Pokémon.
She just didn't know that in her attempt to give back to her Pokémon, she had been overworking herself. With the lack of sleep and food coupled together, she had fainted after beating another unlucky trainer.
She had felt the floor first, her side stinging from the impact and watched with lazy eyes as her Mimikyu panicked alone before drifting off into a restless sleep.
That was how Bede had found her, sprawled across the floor aching all over telling her that she looked like a Snorlax with no intention of waking up but to eat.
She liked to imagine that she had looked like a sleeping princess, trapped under a Clefairy's melody, from the fairytales her mum used to tell her.
He had rolled his eyes and told her she had dried slobber on her chin before handing her a pink towel with the Fairy badge printed on it.
She had laughed at that. A real hearty laugh, god she missed laughing. When was the last time she laughed that hard?
She probably looked rather mad to Bede about now and one look at his scrunched up, worried face confirmed it.
She had also never realized how good-looking he was. He hadn't changed as much as Hop did, he was still tall with bored looking violet eyes. Except for his white hair.
It had fluffed down but oh, it looked so soft. How had he trimmed it just so that it framed his face so elegantly? She just wanted to touch one of his curls and leave her hands there resting on his scalp.
"Please tell me you're not going to barf on me," Bede panicked, rising to his feet to get out of the splash zone. "Or that you've completely lost your mind."
Maybe she was going insane. She had never thought about someone like that besides H-
Shaking her head, she had thanked him for looking after her and pushed the sudden thumping of her chest to the back of her mind.
Then he had told her he hadn't done it for free, saying that he wasn't that nice. He had leaned down, to look her in the eyes as he said that. Suddenly, she felt the temperature in the room rise.
Although he wasn't as wiry as other young men she knew, from this angle she noticed that Bede was not long-limbed anymore either. He was the lean, fit kind of man that made thin look appetizing.
"You can call it a favor, but I'll be sure to cash it in when I deem it appropriate," Bede smiled, a rather conceited mug covering his face and she couldn't help but raise her eyebrow at him.
"You're saying that I owe you one?" she asked, dumbfounded, and watched as Bede nodded before asking for clarification, "What do you want then?"
Did he want to battle? She still felt rather hot, maybe she was sick, and he just wanted to take advantage of her situation to win the championship title.
"Don't get too hasty," he said before shoving something into her hands, "You still need proper rest idiot."
He had whispered that last part and if he hadn't handed her whatever it was she was holding, surely, she would have missed what he said. She then looked down only to realize that it was a Pokéball. Her Pokéball that contained Mimikyu.
She quickly looked back up, from her place on the floor and watched him leave towards the arena doors in a hurry.
"Wait, you didn't tell me what I owe you!" She shouted at his retreating form and watched as Bede hesitated, his hand hovering over the handlebar.
"Let me think about it," he shouted back, not even caring to turn around and face her properly, "It's not every day that I have the Champion at my mercy."
She had scoffed at him back then. If only she had known that he was as red as a tomato as he rose his free hand to cover his face and walked out of the stadium.
Gloria crumpled the invitation, ignoring the remainder of her mail, and stuck the crumpled ball in her backpack.
Funny how she had gotten lost in her thoughts from just one little piece of paper. She needed to get her frustration out – without engaging in tough Pokémon battles – so she was going to head to a Giant's Mirror.
It was secluded there. It was away from the busy city and knowing her luck, the news of Leon and Sonia's engagement was already the talk of the town. She needed to get away from the people.
Sliding her shoes on and confirming that she had her camping tools in her pack, she ran out the door ready to get away from it all.
Thanks for reading!