"Victor had won the Circhester Gym Badge, then he and Gloria met up with Sonia, and met an unruly Cramorant. And now…"

Continuing on Route 9, Gloria looks over to Victor.

"Hum, Victor…" Gloria starts, when she looks ahead.

"What in the…?" Victor says, as he and Gloria come to a stop at a large bay, with no way to cross the water.

Victor and Gloria look ahead.

"So…" Victor starts. "Now what?"

"As our heroes try to solve this new puzzle before them, another story unfolds…"

"Bede's Story"

At the Ballonlea Stadium's battlefield, Bede, in his Gym Uniform, holds up a hand, "Hatterene, Mystical Fire!"

Hatterene breathes a large blast of fire, "Hatt-rene!"

"Mawile, use Crunch," Opal says.

"Maw!" Mawile runs to the side, dodging the blast of fire, before spins around and grabs Hatterene with its large jaw.

"Hatt-rene!"

"Maw!" Mawile jumps up, spins and uses its large jaw to throw Hatterene down into the ground, with it landing hard.

"Hatt-rene…" Hatterene has trouble getting up, as Mawile lands nearby.

Bede clenches his fist, "No, that won't do…"

"It won't help if you get frustrated," Opal approaches Bede.

"I know that," Bede says, as he walks over to Hatterene.

"What could be wrong?" Opal asks.

"Nothing's wrong," Bede stops next to Hatterene. "I'm gonna have Hatterene healed up."

Opal turns to him, "Bede, you must be true to yourself, if you ever gonna succeed as a Gym Leader."

"Hatt-rene?" Hatterene looks at its Trainer.

Bede looks down slightly, "I don't know how to be true to myself…"

A year ago, at the Galar Orphanage, a bunch of young children were playing and running around with a bunch of baby Pokémon. The children are happily cheering, as they continue to run, until one of them bumps into an older kid and falls down.

The child looks up at the older kid, Bede, who just sighs, "All this noise is so annoying…"

Bede is standing next to the orphanage's building, watching the other children and Pokémon running back and forth.

Ms. Nightingale, a woman in nurse uniform, walks over to him, "Bede, why aren't you playing with the other kids?"

"I'm too old to play," Bede responds, before he starts mumbling. "Too old to play, too old to get adopted."

Ms. Nightingale looks at him, shocked, before collecting herself, with a soft smile, "Remember, a bunch of couples are coming tomorrow to see everyone.

"Yeah, sure…" Bede mumbles.

Inside the orphanage, Bede is standing by himself, watching several couples talking with the other kids or playing with them, as time continues to pass rapidly.

Until, Ms. Nightingale is seeing the last of the couples out the front door, "We look forward to seeing you again tomorrow."

Ms. Nightingale closes the door, as a young girl approaches her, happily, "Ms. Nightingale, I have a family now!"

"I know, dear, I'm so happy for you, but you better make sure you're all packed for tomorrow," Ms. Nightingale says.

"Yes, yes," the little girl runs past her, happily.

Ms. Nightingale watches her with a smile, before looking ahead to see Bede is missing.

Outside, Bede is sitting under a large slide, teary eyes, "I don't want any stupid family, o-or anything like that, anyway…"

He then hears rustling of grass, causing Bede to look up, before looking around and looks out from the slide, and notices a rustling of grass. He crawls ahead and brushes the grass to the side, finding an injured Hatenna.

"Enna… Enna…"

Bede picks up Hatenna, looking at it, before getting up and runs back toward the building, as Ms. Nightingale comes out, "Ms. Nightingale! Ms. Nightingale!"

"Bede, what's wrong?" Ms. Nightingale asks.

"Ms. Nightingale, this Hatenna is injured," Bede approaches her with the Hatenna in his arms.

"Oh, the poor dear," Ms. Nightingale holds up a hand. "I have heard about a wild Braviary attacking people and Pokémon randomly."

"Ms. Nighting," Bede looks straight up at her. "D-Do we have any healing items? If I can, I would like to heal up Hatenna myself."

"Y-You want to heal Hatenna?" Ms. Nightingale's surprised.

Later that night, Bede is seated in a chair next to his bed, watching the healed Hatenna sleeping on the bed.

"We're similar are we?" Bede quietly asks. "You're on your own… just like I am…" Bede rests his head next to Hatenna, before falling asleep.

The bedroom door slowly opens slightly, with Ms. Nightingale looking in, watching them, then smiling.

"Ms. Nightingale allowed me to keep Hatenna, and without realizing it, I seemed… happier."

Bede and Hatenna are running around behind the orphanage, with the other children and baby Pokémon.

Inside, Ms. Nightingale opens the front door to find Rose and Oleana.

"M-Mr. Chairman?" Ms. Nightingale's surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I would like to see how the orphanage is doing," Rose responds, as he and Oleana enter. "After all, I have donated a lot of money into the orphanage."

Rose starts to laugh.

"R-Right…" Ms. Nightingale says, with a sweatdrop.

"Ms. Nightingale!" A little boy runs up to them. "Ms. Nightingale!"

"What could be wrong, dear?" Ms. Nightingale asks.

"We heard a loud noise outside, and Bede and his Pokémon ran off toward it," the boy explains.

"They what?!" Ms. Nightingale reacts.

Bede and Hatenna are hurrying through the woods next to the Orphanage, before coming to a clearing where a Braviary is hovering above a Rookidee.

"Brav! Brav!" Braviary brings it down talon down onto the Rookidee.

"Dee! Dee!"

"Enna!" Hatenna looks up at Bede.

Bede looks down at Hatenna, nods his head, then looks ahead, "Hatenna, try… Disarming Voice!"

"Enna!" Hatenna calls out loudly.

"Brav!" Braviary flies off away from the Rookidee.

"Dee?" Rookidee looks up, before quickly flies away.

"Brav," Braviary looks at the fleeing Rookidee, before looking over to Bede and Hatenna. "Brav!"

Ms. Nightingale and Rose are running toward them.

"Brav!" Braviary dive bombs at Hatenna.

"Hatenna, get away from it!" Bede calls out.

"Brav!" Braviary reaches out with its talon, with Hatenna jumps out of the way, before dodging Braviary's wing strike.

"Enna! Enna!"

"Hatenna, Disarming Voice, again," Bede instructs.

"Enna!" Hatenna calls out.

"Brav!" Braviary backs off slightly, before flies forward.

"Again!" Bede calls out.

"Enna!" Hatenna calls out.

"Brav!" Braviary backs off, before turns and flies away.

"It gave up…" Bede says, almost disbelieving, before turning to Hatenna with a small smile. "Well done, Hatenna."

"Enna, Enna," Hatenna smiles.

"Ah Bede, you scared me," Ms. Nightingale says, standing several feet away, as Rose walks by her.

"So you're Bede, I'm Rose, and I got to say, you greatly impress me with your skills and courage," Rose says, with a smile. "Very much so, being so skillful at such a young age. Although he might be kinda reckless, perhaps I could steer that recklessness in the proper direction."

Bede and Hatenna look at each.

"Tell me, Bede," Rose starts, with Bede looking back at him. "Have you heard about the Galar League?"

"A couple months after all of that happened, my endorsement from Chairman Rose had arrived…"

Bede and Hatenna are seen walking away from the orphanage, with Ms. Nightingale and a couple kids watching them from the building.

"So I left… and never looked back."

In the present, Bede looks down, mumbling, "Never looked back… Yet, it all led me to my current path…"

Bede turns to face Opal, "May I ask for a favor?"

Opal tilts her head slightly, "Oh yeah?"

"Mawile, use Crunch!" Opal calls out.

"Maw!" Mawile runs ahead.

"Hatterene, dodge!" Bede calls out.

"Hatt-rene," Hatterene starts moving across the field, dodging each of Mawile's swings of its large jaw.

"Dodging is all well, but you must also go on the offensive," Opal says.

"Couldn't agree more," Bede says.

"Maw!" Mawile spins, with its large jaw reaching out.

"Hatterene, Dazzling Gleam!" Bede calls out.

"Hatt-rene!" Hatterene emits a powerful flash of light from its body, knocking Mawile back.

"Now, Mystical Fire!" Bede instructs.

Hatterene breathes a large blast of fire, "Hatt-rene!"

"Maw!" Mawile gets knocked back by the blast of fire, before falling down with its eyes whirling. "Maw…"

"Well done," Opal says, before looking to the side. "And I don't think I'm the only one who thought so."

At the stands, Ms. Nightingale and several children are cheering them on.

"Thank you for the invite!" One of the young girls call out.

"Whatever," Bede says, as he kneels next to Hatterene, with a hand on its back.

"Hatt-rene," Hatterene smiles.

Opal smiles, "I'm glad Bede isn't ignoring his past anymore. This will allow him to be true to himself, and become a strong Gym Leader."

"Bede didn't live an easy life, but reflecting on his past reminded the young Trainer how he got to where he is and will help to decide his future."

"As for our heroes' future…"

Victor and Gloria are looking across the Circhester Bay, seeing no land in sight.

"What are we gonna do now?" Gloria asks.

"Find out, as the journey continues…"