Author notes : Hi! Now that these two first introduction chapters are done, let us proceed to the timeskip. I will be honest. I wrote this fanfic thinking I could post it all at once. But my body betrayed me. I was ill most of the time and couldn't write anything, thus losing some habits I had. It would be interesting to see how much my writing has improved or deteriorated... Was I taking good care of myself, or did I lost the habit of writing doing so? I wonder! I guess my analytics will tell me what you're thinking.
Losing track of time
« Urshifu's Wicked Strike demolishes Cinderace's Gigantamax! With that, the last Pokémon of Galar's second undeafeated champion ends as Gloria could maintain her title for nine-year straight! Will this become the era of Galar's undefeated champions, longing to top the decade champion Leon defended his title... »
The end credits rolled, as the two trainer shared a handshake. Gloria's cape was lying to the ground far behind her. And this Victor was only thirteen back then... The same as us I guess. It feels strange seeing young people being so tough today... Or maybe it's how the elites are selected? A chosen one in a decade, and so goes the hope of any victory the ten following years.
« Sis. I'm home. »
Anyway. I don't want to celebrate today remembering that. The day the final happened was also the national day, and since then, the new champ wanted it to occur that very day, around midnight... Without even realising it, the Champion annihilated his opponent. The new Spikemuth's gym leader. How many people have succeded there since I left? Four? Five? I don't remember about the two kids who wanted to be gym leader. One of them was sick, wasn't it?
« Are you alright, Piers asked, you look dead tired.
— I am. "Dead tired" but alright. The champion invited me because you refused to represent Spikemuth's old generation yesterday.
— It kind of happened some decades ago. I wanted you to have fun out there.
— Anyway, we won't celebrate anything talking about it. »
Piers looked round my house... I never invited him here in the end. I just recently moved, he might be thinking I don't have much furniture
« Do you want me to buy you something on your birthday?
— It's alright. It has become a habit to live like that.
— If you say so. »
He took a gym bag with him
« You can leave it anywhere you like. There's room for that.
— Eh. Still trying to look sarcastic in front of me. Just say the word; your big bro is here for that.
He tried to smile... That's one thing I learned to do better than him at least
— Thank you. I'm not ready yet. »
He nodded, approving the smile I gave him. He then pulled out two game consoles from his bag and offered me to lighten up the mood with his favourite game. I was apparently playing Bea's playthrough
« She gave you that, I jokingly scolded him, Are you actually exercising at the gym?
— I'm not hitting on her at least. She thought it would make you happy, so we kinda had it planned... »
Make me happy... To every gym leader from the generation I learned with, I remain pretty much a child. I played along with him, but in the end, we tried to play against each other
« Eh. Bea's game is quite strong against mine.
As in Pokémon battles, Fighting type always give him a hard time. That's why he's always playing defensively. I choose to attack. And got the victory with no efforts... More or less.
— Was it though to be a gym leader fighting another one? the question came to my mind befor I could think about it
— Far easier than a common challenger fighting a prodigy. »
Too easy. I tried to hide it all from him, but I was always ending up messing it up, and biting the hook. We spent the whole day together... It's a day dedicated to Pokémon trainers... I ended up hiding everything Pokémon-related from him to feel safe, but now, when he's about to head out, I loosened my guard.
« I promise, next year won't be the same.
— And I trust you. Sorry for nagging you with everything. You must have put a lot of thoughts into it.
— I have. I really owe you that.
— Maybe I can give you that then... Are you sure you can deal with your own memory by yourself? I had a lot of stuff packed into this bag. Inside, there's something pretty strong. If I had given this to you this morning, you would have kicked me out your house.
— I'd never do that.
— That's why you would have sheltered yourself even deeper in Regret Pit, sis. You might think I treat you as a child, but you're my sister. I'm not entirely proud of what I was doing when I had your age, but just look at how close we are. You're already bearing these regrets on your shoulders. I want to help you somehow. »
He approached me. Opened his long bag and brushed the inside with his hand... Well, he ended up having to properly look inside the bag to find whatever he was seeking for
« Eh. Comic relief. Here you go. »
At first, I only saw a red beret, then my hands bumped into a sort of wooden box. He said it was a gift. The beret gave away who it was from. He asked me if he would be needed afterward, I told him not to worry, that I will get myself together.
I put the box on my desk, and glanced around me. Aside this desk and three chair, I hid myself in a place where I could at least make quick meals, sleep on a blanket, take a shower, store food and clothes in the same closet I never really close. I recently moved, but with time, I was accustomed being a shut-in. It was the first time I saw my brother since last year, when we met up in the middle of autumn. That's when it collapsed I guess.
And there, the day he comes over, he also brings back that one I tried to run away from.
When she lost, she tried to jump back on her feet, like the previous champion did. With his help, they created a tournament in which so many trainers from the world participated. She beat most of them and lost to some. She was enjoying herself. And she lost to Victor once more. She wanted to understand what makes the Champion so strong and went to train herself... Nothing would come out of it. Mostly, her skill started to bend the wrong way and loses happened.
As her former travelling companion, we all tried to help her. Inside the beret was a little scrapped paper
« I'm sorry. Getting angry at you back then was a proof of something I lacked. I want to meet up with you someday. This paper doesn't... »
Allow me to...? I tried to read what was left, but with so little space available, the letters just became tinier and tinier, agglomerated... Uncomprehensible. The hat itself is way larger than the one she usually wears. I opened the wooden box, only to find a Gloria figurine, the special edition that was made for her fourth year as Galar's champion... It was my last edition as a gym leader.
With the figurine, a group picture all of us made after Travis lost to her the year before. She was all smile and light. I could still see how her body started to change. Then came... Medical prescription? It's pretty strong... Inside the medecine box, a Poké Ball strap. Was it like... A way to tell me being with us was something that maintained her health? What about the box?
When I thought I had seen everything there was inside the box, a thin layer of gold-colored plastic paper fell on the floor. A clean white paper slowly fell and drifted away.
« Eh. »
I glanced at this... Sketch... It really was back in the day. When I couldn't even smile. Did she draw this? The punk pigtails... The leather jacket covering my wrist. The slender, pink-coated body... Come to think of it, I hadn't really changed in the group picture... She could have skectched this before giving it to my brother... We didn't meet after her defeat. She doesn't know what I look like.