A/N: Team Roster: Jackson (Cinderace), Hudson (Mudsdale), Rosa (Bellossom), Theodore (Corviknight), Rouge (Weavile), Ophelia (Haxorus)
Chapter 30 - The Slumbering Weald Shrine
Dolly's heart skipped as her eyes tore over the bracket in the locker room. Nessa first. She and Rosa could handle her with ease.
She turned and took in the appearance of every Gym Leader there with her. Nessa said that the Gym Challenge battles were really just test matches, and this was real battle. Dolly couldn't help but grin at the thought of how she blew past Nessa so long ago, when she was desperate to get to dinner with Rose. She barely even thought about it when she destroyed Nessa, and Dolly had every intention to destroy her again.
After exchanging friendly words with most of the Leaders (and some good-natured trash talk with Raihan), Dolly stepped over to Kabu. He looked up as she approached, and a small smile formed on his face.
"I wanted to say thank you again, Mr. Kabu," Dolly said. "You're part of the reason I'm here today, part of the reason I was able to press on."
"And you have inspired me to do the same," Kabu said as he set a hand on her shoulder. "You have grown, and as long as you continue to push yourself, your brilliance will never fade."
After a bit more conversation, the League staff ushered Dolly out onto the pitch. The opening ceremony was starting soon, and Dolly was as ready as she'd ever been. It was like the muscles between her ribs were pulling her forward and into what she had been wanting for so long. She grinned when Leon's voice boomed throughout the arena.
"It probably goes without saying but… hello Galar! I'm your Champion, Leon!" he called to the audience, who in turn let out a mighty roar at their Champion's greeting. "The chairman is tied up with some business, so I hope no one minds me stepping in on his behalf in order to lead you all to greater heights as Pokémon Trainers of the Galar region!"
The wind was billowing through the stadium as Dolly stood beside the Gym Leaders.
"The time has come for you to battle it out until only the greatest challenger remains!" Leon continued. "So, on behalf of the chairman, allow me to say… let the finals matches begin!"
The crowd roared and Dolly turned again, only to stop at the sound of a familiar voice.
"Wait, you!"
She turned to see Bede storming up to her. The audience muttered amongst themselves, wondering who this pink and teal-clad man was standing across from Dolly in the middle of the pitch. Bede addressed the crowd, explained who he was, and where he had been. Then, he turned to Dolly.
"I have a score to settle with Challenger Dolly here."
The crowd continued to mutter, and Bede called out to them again, stating he'd retire as a Trainer if he lost to her, how he only needed one final battle. As the commentator asked for the audience in the stadium and those watching from home to be patient as they decided, Bede squinted his eyes at Dolly.
"I know this is ridiculous of me," Bede sneered. "But I had to say something… do something! Ever since you showed up, everything I've done has gone wrong! It was Oleana who asked me to gather Wishing Stars for the chairman, but then the chairman himself disowned me…"
Bede's shoulders tensed as he glared at the ground.
"And then that old bat comes out of nowhere and drags me into a boot camp on Fairy-type Pokémon! Do you have any idea what I've been through?! Covered in pink, dealing with quizzes and battles with Fairy-type Pokémon every day?! Because of you."
He took a threatening step forward.
"If only I had taken out the rest of your Pokémon after that Eevee, I wouldn't be standing here, pouring my heart out to you."
Dolly gazed up at him, and a small smile formed on her face. Bede paused, his scowl softened, and he stepped back with a huff.
"Why must you have this way about you, huh? I've never lost my cool before!"
Dolly's eyes flicked about his face. Before she could reply, the commentator boomed over the stadium again.
"We've reached a decision, ladies and gentlemen! The Champion himself has accepted Bede's sudden interruption! Is the Champion showing his love by giving every Trainer a chance to grow stronger? Or is it a trial for Challenger Dolly?"
A smirk formed on Bede's face, and his familiar air of smug confidence returned.
"My will hasn't been broken yet."
Dolly was thrown into battle, and Bede's familiar pink Pokémon flashed out. She couldn't help but smile as they wove through their battle - he had certainly grown stronger. But, so had she. The flashes of light that once toppled her, that once toppled her Pokémon, only glinted beautifully around the stands as Bede's Pokémon fell one by one. Dolly's steps did not waiver, her Pokémon's moves did not falter, and even Bede had a hesitant smile on his face. She was calculated, controlled, and her Pokémon's abilities were not pushed, but highlighted and enhanced as they tore through a Mawile, through a Rapidash, and finally through his Hattrene.
The Hattrene's cry echoed through the stadium as it fell, and Bede calmly returned it to its Poké Ball. He still had a small smile on his lips as he met Dolly in the middle of the pitch. When he opened his mouth to speak, shouts from the audience interrupted.
"Stay in the League, Bede!"
"Yeah, keep being a Trainer!"
His brows furrowed, and he whipped back to Dolly.
"B-but this isn't what I planned!" he spat. "You keep messing up my plans! With everyone cheering me on like this, I have no choice but to continue my training as the Fairy-type Gym Leader..."
Dolly stepped toward Bede, and after a slight pause, she set her hand on his shoulder.
"You ought to. You're strong, and it's obvious you love your Pokémon," Dolly said.
He glanced at her hand, and his eyebrows furrowed as he looked back to her.
"Why are you… why are you like this?" he whispered. "After how cruel I've been? After your Eevee and trying to get you disqualified?"
"I... understand your motives," Dolly sighed. "I've been desperate, I've been selfish, and I've been cruel too. I've done things because I thought they would get me attention, or love. But now, I'm doing my best to move forward."
Bede's eyes softened as Dolly continued.
"I didn't agree with Rose's decision," Dolly confessed. "You should have stayed in the Gym Challenge. I thought he was too harsh, and I know he didn't make any time for you. I know what it's like to feel no one loves you, like the whole world hates you... trust me."
Bede nodded slowly at the Trainer blazing before him.
"I know what it's like to feel rejected," Dolly said. "And I know what's it like to claw and clamber to get someone to even look at you."
She held out her hand.
"But I also know now how important it is to have friends that lift you up," she continued. "I'm not asking for you to call me a friend, Bede, but I hope… this can be a step towards that. I hope that you can take this as another encouragement to keep growing stronger, because I know you can. Because, obviously, Galar knows you can."
Bede looked down at her hand. Then, he looked around to the audience, and back into her eyes. He chuckled as he shook Dolly's hand.
"You're an odd one, Challenger Dolly."
"It takes one to know one, Bidet," she grinned in return.
With a final squeeze of her hand, they made their way back off the pitch.
After a brief respite, a swig of some water, and bickering with Raihan when he tried to show her a ten-minute video on his phone, Dolly headed back onto the pitch as the finals officially began.
She blazed through battles with the Gym Leaders and tore through the bracket with ease. Nessa was furious to see that Dolly beat her for a second time (even faster than the first), Dolly could barely see Allister's horrifying Gengar through her fingers covering her face, and finally she let out a laugh as Raihan sauntered onto the pitch. She beat him as well, almost feeling guilty for how high-leveled her Pokémon were at that point. Almost.
Dolly slumped onto the bench in the locker room and smeared the sweat and rain off her forehead. She wrung out her sopping wet hair, thanks to Raihan's obsession with changing the weather, and heaved out a sigh before standing again. The red and blue League Challenge insignia glinted, as if winking at her. One final hurdle, and it was Champion Leon himself - the very man who endorsed her so long ago. She reached for her necklace, and her fingers flicked through the charms as she stepped through the double doors.
Dolly would never get over the walk. She would never get over tense air, the muffled cheer of the crowd, or how her heart beat with each step.
Beat the Champion, break the Curse.
There was one final hurdle, and he was already waiting for her in the center of the pitch. Leon grinned as the wind blew through his hair, swayed his cape. When she finally stood across from him, their megawatt grins were identical.
"The tense, still air on the pitch…" Leon started, gazing around. "And the exact opposite from the audience, cheering and yelling… They're both fantastic, wouldn't you say, Dolly?"
Dolly nodded.
"But remember," he continued. "The audience is also a bit cruel. They want nothing more than to see one of us lose, after all. It can fill you with fear knowing that, but I absolutely love pushing past the fear. I love giving it everything I've got as a Trainer and seeing my team give everything they've got to seize another victory!"
Her heart was pounding in her ears as Leon blazed before her. Although she had seen each and every one of his battles through a screen, never before had she witnessed his passion and power so close. It oozed out of him, out of both of them, and the audience was going wild because of it.
"It's the greatest feeling in the world, and I can't get enough of it!" Leon continued. "I know you've been through a lot, Dolly, but that is what is going to make this a battle to remember. I can feel my partners itching with anticipation inside their Poké Balls… We're going to have a real champion time!"
Leon folded his arms over his chest and called to the audience.
"I'm the Galar region's Champion, Leon! Me and Charizard, and all the rest of our team, will use all our knowledge and experience to crush you completely!"
As Dolly walked toward her end of the pitch, her heart beating in her ears, something flickered on the massive screen overlooking the arena. Her smile faltered as Rose appeared on it.
"Hello there, Leon and Dolly," Rose smiled.
Leon's head whipped to the screen.
"Just letting you know, I think it's time I brought about the Darkest Day," Rose said from the massive screen. Although his smile was easy, Dolly's eyebrows pulled together as Rose spoke with a tinge of anxiety in his voice - something she had never heard in him before. "It's all for the sake of Galar's future, of course."
The air on the pitch was tense, still, but not for the battle that was supposed to occur. There was something eerie, something uncertain, that laced into every particle in Wyndon Stadium as Rose's voice strained.
"Unfortunately," Rose continued. "The energy released from the Darkest Day is too much for us to contain-"
His sentence was cut short when the screen glitched, and the stadium began to shake. Screams tore throughout the audience as a beam of light erupted from the center of the pitch.
"I'm sorry it's come to this," Rose continued. The screen cut to footage from four of the Gyms across the region. "But it's you who forced my hand, Leon. We had a chance to talk to Eternatus, we could have negotiated, and you refused to listen!"
The screen cut out again as Leon ran to Dolly, and he pulled her away as another beam of light shot out of the ground. They sprinted off the pitch and met Hop in the hallway to the locker room.
"That video stream was from Hammerlocke Stadium, right?" Hop asked as the stadium shook again. "What in the world did the chairman do?"
"I don't know," Leon said. He had to raise his voice over the screams from the crowd beyond the hallway. "But everything he was saying yesterday… Did he really pull this crazy stunt to solve some problem a thousand years in the future?! I've got to see what's going on, I should have realized what the chairman intended to do before it came to this… I'll take responsibility now for fixing this mess."
Before either of them could stop him, Leon had sprinted off. Hop started to follow, only to pause when Dolly gripped his wrist.
"Hold on," Dolly said. "The chairman was talking about the Darkest Day. That's the thing where the sky went all dark once, ages and ages ago, right?"
"Yeah, but what does that mean?" Hop said as his eyes followed his brother.
"Sonia said something about it way back in Motostoke," Dolly continued, scratching her chin. "She was wrong then, because it turned out there were two Pokémon. Sonia thought the Pokémon might still be sleeping somewhere though, right?"
"Then we need to find them!" Hop said, stumbling to stand straight as another beam of light burst from the pitch behind them. "But where?"
Then, both their eyes widened. They whispered in unison.
"The Slumbering Weald."
They broke into a sprint, tearing through the locker room and down the steps.
"That illusion you tried to fight that day-" Hop said as they pushed open the doors to the Wyndon plaza.
"That vision, too-" Dolly added as they ran across the plaza tiles.
"It must've been one of the Pokémon that are supposed to be sleeping there!"
Dolly and Hop sprinted to a cab and it took off. They had little time to wonder at the sudden nightfall, as thick clouds were starting to swirl above their heads. The Corviknight pumped its fierce wings, and before long they landed in Postwick. They barreled out of the cab, sprinted up the dirt path, and nearly pummeled into Sonia, who was standing before the Slumbering Weald fencing.
"Hop and Dolly...?" she said, spinning around. "I completely forgot about the Championship match! What're you two doing here?"
A door opened and a warm glow enveloped the air around them. It cut through the sudden nightfall, casting a yellow beam onto the path as Dolly's mum came sprinting down their front steps.
"Haven't you been watching the news at all?" she asked. "The tournament is off, Sonia! The chairman saw to that - and to sending the entire region into a state of havoc!"
Sonia started backwards. Dolly's mum explained everything Rose said, and then about the clouds swirling over Hammerlocke Stadium.
"We've got to find the sword and shield Pokémon, Sonia!" Hop huffed as he pulled on the sleeve of her lab coat. She shook him off.
"I'll catch up," Sonia said. "I've got to look into something out here first, you two go on ahead!"
Hop nodded and pulled Dolly along instead, and they rushed headfirst into the Slumbering Weald. They passed the fence, passed the first few trees, and slowed to a walk as the nostalgic mist slithered around them.
The two gravitated together as they made their way through the winding forest path. Compared to the rumbling and the beams of light erupting in all of Galar, it was like the Slumbering Weald was detached entirely. Their world existed of nothing but tall, dark trees, and the mist that swirled around them.
When something rustled in the bushes beside them, Dolly hesitantly curled her pinky around his. It only took a moment before Hop deftly laced their fingers together and they continued forward, sidestepping around the tall grass and the little Sqwovets that darted about.
"Going into the forest after Wooloo that day…" Hop said quietly. "That was the start of everything, wasn't it? A legendary beginning, really…"
"I'm sure whatever we're about to see will be pretty legendary itself," Dolly agreed, giving his hand a squeeze. He turned back to her, and that soft smile graced his lips.
"Let's head in," he said. "And add another page to our tale."
Dolly paused, and her brows furrowed as she gazed at Hop.
"Our tale?" she repeated quietly.
When Hop squeezed her hand, that gentle question brushed through her mind again.
Could she be…?
Maybe…
Why else would her heart pound at the implication?
They traveled further into the forest, and the wild Pokémon darted about the trees. The Pokémon only watched and waited, as if they all knew the gravity of the state of the world - they could feel it as they all watched the two Trainers push forward hand-in-hand.
The fog started to thicken as they followed the river north. Dolly was grateful to be holding onto Hop this time, because she could barely make out anything past him. He slowed to a stop and looked around.
"Ugh," he huffed. "I can't see anything. This fog is even worse than the last time we came in."
Dolly sighed as well and peered around. The forest was cloaked in the thick mist, and Dolly could barely see the dirt beneath them or Hop beside her. She looked forward through squinted eyes. She could see two trees in front of them. Or were those bushes?
Her blood went cold, and her heart started to pound. Whatever it was that was looming towards them, the power that they exuded made the hair on her neck stand on end. Hop glanced at her, then followed her eyes. He froze. Two pairs of yellow eyes shone through the fog, tore into her soul.
"Shield of Galar. Visit the shrine, best the beast, save the region."
Then, each let out a mournful howl as the fog began to thicken. After the echo dissipated, they were gone.
That was the voice.
That was the Pokémon.
Dolly was frozen in place, unable to move as Hop called after them.
"What're you two doing, yelling at the fog?" came Sonia's voice from behind them.
"Come off it, Sonia," Hop huffed, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "You had to have seen those two Pokémon! They were right in front of us!"
"That was the Pokémon!" Dolly yelped as she desperately turned to them. "The one from my visions, the one from Stow-on-Side, I know it!"
Sonia's eyebrows pulled together.
"You sure you haven't lost the plot?" Sonia asked. "There was no one here but the two of you…"
"They went this way," Dolly said as she pulled Hop forward again. "The one in front looked so familiar, felt so familiar. We've got to find them!"
"Hold on, Dolly," Sonia said, waving her hands. "I've been doing more research, and I found something about a sword and shield Pokémon - their names are Zacian and Zamazenta. The writings said they were born somewhere beyond the Slumbering Weald sometime long, long ago."
"If they're the sword and shield Pokémon then maybe they've got those weapons, too," Hop said. "Thanks, Sonia,"
"Come on," Dolly huffed, still trying to pull Hop along. "We've got to go!"
Without so much as another wave to Sonia, Dolly and Hop sprinted deeper into the fog.
They followed the river, and as the path continued, Dolly and Hop slowed to a walk again. Hop wove their fingers together, and when the bushes rustled, Dolly curled her other hand around his arm. Soon, the only sound was the crunching of the dirt beneath their shoes, and faint chirps from the Rookidees in the trees. The further they walked, though, the quieter the birdsong became.
That voice that came with those piercing yellow eyes… it was the same voice Dolly heard the last time she was in the Slumbering Weald, and that very same voice she heard after that Perrserker knocked her off the bridge by Hammerlocke.
It told her to best the beast, but what did that mean? Every time that voice spoke to her, it added another request. What, or whom, did she need to get past? What did she need to do to best the beast? To save the region? To break the Curse?
The fog began to thin as they made their way further down the path. The bubbling of the water beside them grew louder, and soon the mouth of the river opened into a small lake. Light trickled down through the canopy of trees, and the song of the Rookidees began again. Although the tension in her shoulders was intense, Dolly couldn't help but breathe a sigh of wonder at the sight before her.
The Slumbering Weald had opened into a clearing, and the purple mist glinted in the light of the moon. The waves of the lake lapped against the shore, and there was a peace that blanketed the shrine. Their path was untrodden, and at the end, laid a dilapidated stone grave.
Dolly couldn't ignore the strange familiarity that laced in the air as she and Hop approached. She was responsible for graves such as this, and even so, it was as if the one before her belonged to her too.
Something clattered, and the noise cut through the peaceful clearing like a sword. They looked down to see it actually was a sword, or at least the remnants of one. Hop grimaced at the ancient artifact, and Dolly's gaze lingered on the one beside it.
Shield of Galar...
Was it this?
"Guess the legends were true," Hop whispered.
Dolly picked up the shield. It was rusted, old, yet it fit comfortably in her hand. Hop did the same with the sword and grimaced again.
"Not sure what these will do," Hop grunted. "Looks like they'll fall to pieces if you so much as look at it funny."
"It's all we have," Dolly said, and she again breathed out a sigh of wonder at the strange familiarity. "Maybe these things will help fight the Darkest Day."
She wasn't sure how helpful some rusted steel would be, especially when she and Hop had such strong Pokémon... Perhaps these things were a key, or a clue, to whatever needed to be done to stop the Darkest Day?
Whatever they needed to do, they needed to do it fast. Even though they were deep within the Slumbering Weald, untouched by the outside world, Dolly could only imagine how many more eruptions tore apart the earth. Dolly started forward. She needed to stop the Darkest Day, she needed to best the beast, she needed to save the region, she needed to beat the Champion, and she needed to break the Curse. She was so close, and yet the hurdles kept multiplying, but there was nothing she couldn't do, nothing that could stop her from-
Hop grabbed her hand.
"Dolls, wait."
Dolly turned and the moonlight speckled down from the canopy above them.
"We don't have a lot of time," she said, hesitantly pausing beneath the archway.
"I know, but this is important," he said as he stepped towards her. "I don't know what's going to happen, with all this..."
"We'll be fine, Hop," Dolly said as she scanned his face. "Even if these rusty things are useless, we're two of the strongest Trainers in Galar."
"I know," Hop said, leaning an inch closer. "But we don't know what we're up against."
Her eyebrows pulled together.
"Whatever it is, we'll make it through this," Dolly said, and gave his hand a squeeze. "I know we will."
"… But if we don't..." Hop said quietly. He stepped closer and held her hand to his chest. His heart thrummed beneath her fingers. "I need you to know something."
As the specks of light fluttered through the canopy of trees, Hop tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The leaves around them were trembling, the Rookidees were watching and waiting in the trees, and it was as if the forest itself was aching as Hop held his breath.
"I… I… um…"
His hands were shaking as he swallowed, and his eyes were scanning her face.
"I…"
Hop breathed out a sigh, and he stepped back. She watched as he turned away and rubbed at his face.
"Hop?" Dolly asked. Her head tilted as she watched him.
They were standing beneath the archway, and the vines draping from it whispered in the slight breeze of the Slumbering Weald. The waves of the lake were lapping against the stone and beams of moonlight highlighted Hop's trembling shoulders. He turned again, and something gnawed within her when he stepped back to her, and again held her hands in his.
"Dolls, I love you."
The words were as soft as the light trickling down from the canopy of trees around them. The waves lapped against the shrine, the leaves rustled around them, and the ache in Hop's eyes made her heart stop. His hands trembled as he continued in a whisper.
"I mean it. I always have."
She could hardly breathe, when he looked at her like that.
It was as if the wind had stopped, as if the Rookidees didn't chirp, as if the light only glinted on the two standing still in the shrine. Neither heart was beating, neither strayed their gaze, as Hop held his breath.
And then, Dolly smiled.
"I love you too, Hop."
Hop was barely breathing, he was barely moving, as he whispered as quietly as the leaves.
"Really?"
"We've covered that a few times," she grinned. "We're friends, yeah? Of course we love each other."
Then, his smile fell.
"No, I mean..." Hop said, as he gripped her hands tighter. Dolly's eyebrows pulled together. "Well yes! I mean, we are, of course, but-"
Hop took a step closer as he desperately clung to her hands.
"But more than that."
The leaves were rustling again, and the wind started to billow.
"Well, yeah, best friends," Dolly said, pushing her hair from her face as it whipped in the wind.
The wind was howling now, pushing and pulsing around them. Whatever Hop said next was muffled, as a Corviknight and its cab driver landed beside them in a rush of feathers and wind.
"You both Dolly and Hop? Took a right long time to find you two!" the cab driver said. "Miss Sonia was pretty specific, but it was still tough with all these trees!"
Dolly grabbed Hop's hand and pulled him towards the cab.
"You're my best friend too, Hop, but we've got to go! Leon might need our help!" Dolly called over the howling of the wind.
As soon as they stepped into the cab, Sonia called them and filled them in on more information she gathered about the Darkest Day, and what she knew about what Rose may have been planning. Rose had awakened a Pokémon called Eternatus, that that Pokémon was where Wishing Stars came from, what caused Dynamaxing, and was what Leon was trying to fight at the top of Hammerlocke Stadium. She said she would meet them in Hammerlocke as quickly as she could.
The world was dark around them, although it should have been the light of midday. As they traveled, beams of light were erupting all around Galar - some in Wedgehurst, some in Motostoke, and dozens, maybe even hundreds, in the Wild Area. Although no noon sun shone over Galar, the beams of Dynamaxed light cast a glow over the land. Ash flew through the sky like gray snow, and even with the whipping of the wind around them, Dolly could hear faint cries from the ground below.
Dolly curled her pinky around Hop's as she gazed over the destruction in Galar. When he didn't lace his fingers around hers, she turned. He was still gazing at her in the same way he had in the Slumbering Weald shrine. It hurt, how he was looking at her. She wanted to never see him look like that, because he was looking at her as if his entire body ached. He was looking at her as if something were gnawing at his very bones. He was looking at her as if she were the moon, as if she were unable to understand the blazing heat of the sun.
Instead, Dolly laced her fingers around his. She pulled him into a hug, and it only took one fluid motion before Hop curled his entire body around hers. He wove his hands around her waist, folded their legs together, buried his face in her hair, and heaved out a sigh. They sat like that only for a moment, or perhaps for an eternity, as the cab finally landed in Hammerlocke.
They thanked the cab driver and sprinted through the city. Raihan directed them into the stadium, Oleana directed them down into the energy plant, and it wasn't until the lift opened that Dolly and Hop paused.
Lights spontaneously flickered from the exposed wires above their heads, and emergency lights glowed on the floor, guiding them forward. The only noise was the sizzling of snapped cords, and the clunk of their shoes on the tin floor as they stepped down the dark hallway. The air was dry, and Dolly found it hard to swallow past the faint smoky smell in her throat. Their steps echoed, and the sound paused when glass crunched beneath their feet. They had reached the strange light at the end of the hallway.
Before them was miles of glass tubes, some glowing harshly, others not at all, as they loomed over the room like underground skyscrapers. Glass was strewn over the ground, as were slabs of a strange indigo steel. Dolly's eyes followed the trail of shrapnel, only to land on a capsule the size of a house, broken open, and laid bare. The blinding yellows and deep indigos contrasted the crisp gray suit of the man that stood before the rubble.
As Hop motioned to move forward, Dolly pulled him back by his hand.
"Leon might need your help, who knows what that Eternatus thing is like," Dolly said. "I'll take care of Rose."
Hop's eyes widened.
"Are you mad?!" he hissed. "I'm not leaving you with that lunatic!"
She gazed up at him gently and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
"I'll be fine, Hop, I promise."
"But… what if he… what if you…"
Dolly reached up and brushed her thumb over his cheek.
"I'm not leaving you forever, Hop, just for this bit. Leon needs you, and I can distract Rose, or figure out what is even going on."
Hop gazed at her, though his brow was still furrowed. He breathed out half a sigh and nodded. The electricity was sparking above them, sparking between them, as Hop gently cupped her face. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. His kiss lingered, and when he broke off, he rested his forehead against hers.
"Good luck, love."
Hop turned, stepped into the lift at the end of the hall, and was gone.
...So, she hadn't imagined it the first time.
Dolly shoved down the ache that gnawed within her as he left and made her way across the steel bridge. Her shoes clattered against the floor, and her steps echoed through the massive chamber. The tinny sound of steel was laced with the occasional shock of electricity from the broken bulbs beyond her. The calm in Rose's voice contrasted the sharp sounds around them, and yet, he seemed to harmonize with them as well.
"And what do you plan on doing, Dolly?" Rose asked, though he was still gazing into the abyss of the energy plant.
"I'm stopping the Darkest Day."
"Why, it's already begun," he replied as he finally turned. He had an easy smile on his face as he held his hands behind his back. "We have brought about the Darkest Day, or should I say, the ultimate Pokémon - Eternatus. Our dear Champion is fighting Eternatus above us as we speak. But, it's too late. I tried to tell him."
Rose's shoes clattered as well as he walked towards her, as if his steps portrayed the tinge of anxiety that his voice now so masterfully hid.
"From your perspective, I suppose it must seem that I am doing something terrible," Rose said as he gestured to the rubble. "I don't expect you to understand, but I must provide the Galar region with limitless energy to ensure everlasting prosperity. It is my purpose, my duty, my destiny."
Rose reached down and picked up a shard of glass from the broken capsule around them. He turned it in his fingers as he spoke.
"...You are aware of what that must be like, hm, Dolly? To have a purpose in life, a destiny you must fulfill? Something you were born with, something you know to your very bones?"
Rose finally met her gaze, and, just like the glass between his fingers, something glinted in his eyes.
"Or perhaps… something in your blood?"
Dolly's brow furrowed, and Rose tossed the glass to the floor. Her eyes followed him as he paced around the chamber.
"In order to solve the energy issue as soon as possible, we awakened Eternatus," Rose continued. "But, we couldn't control it. I feared that may happen, and I hoped to enlist your help… We could have used your ability, Dolly."
Rose's voice echoed in the grand chamber. His sharp cheekbones cast dark shadows each time one of the bulbs behind him flickered.
"The Nuzlocke Curse is quite a rare condition, as I'm sure you know. Such a terrible curse, with such strange benefits. I had hoped to use you to speak with Eternatus. We could have spoken to it, described our needs, and then we wouldn't be in the conundrum we are now."
"Pokémon aren't tools, Chairman Rose."
Rose paused in his steps as Dolly's voice cut through the chamber. He glanced at her again and chuckled lightly.
"Ah, interesting to hear you say that. It did take quite a bit of negotiating to keep you in the Gym Challenge, you know," Rose said, still with that easy smile. "And quite a bit of negotiating with our Gym Leaders to get them to battle with you. Our ratings this year have been like nothing we've ever seen. They have also been the most contradictory, as I'm sure you can imagine. It's not often we have so many Pokémon die in our Gyms."
Her skin pricked at the word.
"But," Rose continued. "I needed you to get stronger. Everything was going to plan, minus a few bumps in the road. It took quite a bit of persuading to get Opal to tell you her history, you know, and a bit of pocket change to keep a hostel running. I was worried you would drop out altogether after our experiment Dynamaxed that Perrserker. And yet, you prevailed. Good work, Dolly. I wouldn't expect any less from a challenger endorsed by the strongest Champion ever to grace our beloved Galar region."
Dolly's mind flicked to the Glimwood Tangle, to the Wild Area hostel, to the bridge before Hammerlocke.
"And yet, it was all for nothing," Rose sighed. "Because our dear Champion Leon wouldn't listen to reason. He wouldn't let us utilize your talents, even for the sake of Galar's future. And so, here we are, standing in the rubble of being too late."
Dolly's knuckles were turning white as she clenched her fists.
"You're wrong," she growled.
"Pardon me?"
"You're wrong!" Dolly shouted again as she stomped forward. "I'm not just a tool you used, and neither are my Pokémon! They're living creatures that need love and care, just as much as you and I do. I'm not just a tool, chairman, and neither is anyone who's helped me thus far. I'm not just a monster who can talk to Pokémon. I'm sorry that it's taken until now for you to realize that."
That easy smile was still apparent on Rose's face as she spoke. When she finished, he offered her a respectful nod.
"Well said, Dolly. You are quite perceptive - you saw right through my lie. Even if most of your friends refused my bargaining, I'm afraid I can't have you interfere with my plan to protect the future."
Rose reached into his pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball. The green of his eyes glinted like the steel and glass around their feet, and his easy smile finally fell. Dolly stood firm on the tin floor of the energy plant as electricity shocked around them from the broken bulbs and bare wires.
Soon, it was the metal coat of an Escavalier that glinted in the light of the broken bulbs as Rose hurled his first Poké Ball forth. It was the blaze of Jackson's fire attacks, then the coat of a Ferrothorn, of a Perrserker's claws, of a Klinklang's gears, that all blinded and flashed in the sparkling light of the energy plant. With each attack, the floor rumbled, and the glass and shrapnel flung about, cutting at the two Trainers and their Pokémon. Rose's Copperajah dented the floor when it appeared before them, and the support beams beneath them groaned when it Dynamaxed.
Steel, fire, and electricity glinted, just as Rose's light green eyes did, as they tore through their battle. Dolly was sweating, panting, her pulse racing as her blood coursed through her veins - the very blood that Rose so coveted. Stains of sweat, dirt, and blood saturated them both as they battled on the groaning steel of the energy plant. Rose's Copperajah returned to its Poké Ball, and the clean cut and powerful man before her again had a tinge of anxiety laced around him.
When the dust settled, the expression was gone as quickly as it came, and Rose chuckled.
"Again, most impressive, Dolly, that was satisfying," Rose said with a nod towards her. He delicately brushed off his hands and wiped a drip of blood from his face where the glass grazed him. "I really do wish I could have seen the Champion match."
Dolly's eyes were glued to his every movement, and Rose gestured towards the dark hallway behind her.
"Of course I won't stop you. Head up via the lift, if you wish."
With a final nod to the chairman, with a final glance to those light green eyes, to that easy smile, Dolly turned, and headed towards the roof of Hammerlocke Stadium.