"What?!" asked Leon in surprise.
Sarah was quiet but was just as surprised as Leon.
She had looked forward to the next two weeks to visit her family and to prepare to be in charge of the Gym League's social media accounts as the main handler during the gym challenge. Besides going to the exhibition match and opening ceremonies of course. Now, she had to spend every day with her fake boyfriend.
She didn't think even their newfound friendship would survive when they were forced to spend every moment together.
"Chairman Rose," said Oleana, "I believe the 'couple' is not finding this situation logical. The Champion needs to rest and prepare for the Gym Challenge. It looks like Ms. Char is quite winded from all that she had to do in the past few hours."
Winded was such an understatement. Sarah was extremely knackered and wanted out of this mad life. She was being told by the Chairman himself about spending more time with her famous fake boyfriend. She thought graduating from uni would lead to a career where she worked for various news companies and live comfortably. Her life in the past two months has been very different from what she had planned.
"It looks like Sarah is taking good care of Leon. He'll be needing that as he heals his sprained ankle and cracked rib. He can't completely take care of himself if he wants to even be ready to stand for the duration of the exhibition match at the end of the week." said Chairman Rose.
Sarah looked at Leon. How did Rose know about the diagnosis? Leon was not looking at her, he still seemed a little dumbfounded at the idea of spending every day with her. Maybe he was regretting offering the peace branch of friendship to her.
"Also, Sarah, I received a heated phone call from your cousin Gordie," said Chairman Rose.
Oh no, thought Sarah.
Sarah and Gordie were close despite Gordie being five years older than her. He always looked out for her growing up and was the one to teach Sarah how to battle when she decided she wanted to try the gym challenge.
"He was very concerned. At least that's what I could tell from his shouting," said Rose as he scratched the back of his head looking like he rather not be on the receiving end of that call again, "He wanted to know what happened to you. You were supposed to arrive in Circhester today, but your parents weren't even informed about what happened until they saw the news."
"Well, I had to make sure Leon was taken care off and also we got a lot of baby Pokémon." said Sarah, "Also, Oleana has versed me well on making sure to not waste the precious Chairman's time."
The Chairman seemed surprised for a moment and Sarah was wondering if she would get berated for her rudeness, but to her surprise, the Chairman chuckled.
"She speaks!" said the Chairman and then laughed at Sarah's incredulous look of surprise.
"Of course, Sarah," said the Chairman, "It's just that you are normally very quiet, so I was surprised to hear you say something. You need to speak up more in the public, kids these days would appreciate that sass you have."
Sarah didn't know what the Chairman was talking about but just shrugged her shoulders. The Chairman liked to give unsolicited advice.
"Anyways, I told him that you were safe at Leon's flat," said the Chairman, "I told your cousin that you were in a very high-stress situation and haven't replied. Gordie said he got a text from you at that moment and hung up. That's when I received a call from your aunt, Melony, asking me for updates as the newscasting in Sinnoh wasn't good on what was going on."
Sarah was even in deeper trouble. Her aunt Melony had gone on her annual journey to another region to avoid the Galar Gym Challenge and all the festivities with it. Melony was still emotionally hurt after having to battle Gordie over the gym four years ago. The mother and son relationship had been strained since then.
Sarah didn't know what would happen if her aunt came back for the gym challenge. Arguments still left unresolved might surface again. Circhester couldn't take any more fracturing from the Voss family. Some people still saw Gordie as a troublemaker and wondered why he had to be so adamant about rock type Pokémon.
"I invited her to stay at the Rose of Rondelands Hotel, along with the rest of your family. I invited them to the exhibition match too if they wanted to stay for that long. It seemed to appease Melony, but I was the one who had to call Gordie back. It seems as if they have not quite gotten over that type dispute from all those years ago," said the Chairman
Sarah took out her Rotom phone that was vibrating, but it didn't pop out of her jacket pocket. Her Rotom phone knew not to do that when she was meeting with the Chairman or his secretary.
"It's a call from Gordie," said Sarah,
She looked at the people around her. There was Oleana coolly observing her, the Chairman relaxing and Leon who looked slightly terrified at hearing Gordie's name.
"I'm going to answer it," said Sarah.
Sarah decided to go to the balcony for some more privacy. She hoped that Gordie could tell her what she needed to hear and then get back to the meeting. She wished he would have called later as they would only have a minute or two to talk.
"Gordie?" asked Sarah
"Sare! Am I so glad to hear from you!" said Gordie.
"Glad to hear from you too," said Sarah
"You're not injured or anything?" asked Gordie, "I know you have your Pokémon with you, but those ice types, especially the big ones can be quite violent."
"Nope." said Sarah, "I didn't see any big ones.
There were a Cubchoo and a Snom I picked up along the way."
Gordie let out a chuckle.
"Wow, you're as bad as Uncle Rick." said Gordie, "He'll probably be so proud of you."
"Well, what can I say? I'm my father's daughter," said Sarah.
Sarah's dad Rick Char was a renowned professor known to specialize in Ice Types. He started in Alola where he was from but relocated after marrying Sarah's mum. Sarah wished she could continue to chat with Gordie but knew that she didn't have all the time in the world.
"Look," said Sarah, "I'm taking a break from the Chairman and his secretary for a bit right now. They are talking with me and Leon right now."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," said Gordie, "I saw what happened to you and Best on the news. I didn't hear anything from you and called the Chairman a few minutes ago. I thought something fishy was going on especially since he said you were going to take care of Leon the next two weeks."
"What?! No no no!" said Sarah.
At that moment Oleana opened the glass doors.
"Ms. Char," said Oleana, "Is everything alright?"
Gordie scoffed through the phone and Sarah nodded her head.
"We're waiting for you before we can continue. The Champion seems worried for you right now. Try not to look so distressed."
Oleana then closed the door and Sarah turned towards to look at the skyline.
"They didn't say anything about me babysitting him," said Sarah.
"Sare, you need to be careful. Rose and that evil clingy lady are like Aborks." Said Gordie, "They won't hesitate to get what they want."
"I know," said Sarah.
"Besides, the Champion can't hurt you. Especially after I came over and gave him a talk," said Gordie.
"Wait, when did you talk to Leon?" asked Sarah, "I thought you only speak to each other at gym league meetings."
"Remember that day I was in Wyndon almost a week ago?" said Gordie, "I decided that the Champion needed some sense knocked into him after treating you so rudely. I lost it when Natasha told me how you came home crying and talking about all the things you were doing wrong and why the Champion hated you."
Sarah put her face in her free hand. She remembered the last dinner party she and Leon went to, she felt so deflated and sad. He was still refusing to talk with her and gave her the cold shoulder when no one was watching. She even excused herself at one point to go to the loo and stayed for ten minutes wanting to cry but couldn't. When she got back to the flat that she shared with her half-sister Natasha, that was when the tears went freely down her face. She thought that Natasha would keep it to herself, but Natasha didn't.
"What did you do to him?" asked Sarah.
"Oh, you know, brought Coalossal out, almost started a fight with Charizard inside Best's flat, and yelled some threats at him," said Gordie casually as if he was recounting what he ate for breakfast that morning.
Sarah didn't know what to do. She understood that her family had a constant fear that Leon would take advantage of her. The contract though stated that any form of PDA had to be of consent, and both had to agree to it. Oleana though liked it when Sarah seemed uncomfortable when she had to remind Sarah to kiss Leon on the cheek every once in a while, at these social events. Sarah was sure that the woman knew how awkward she felt about it and got sadistic pleasure from it. Leon didn't like Sarah besides today and the previous check-up meeting, so they would probably would never even kiss on the lips by the time of the last official battle in the Gym Challenge.
"Gordie, you shouldn't have done that," said Sarah.
She wasn't going to condone Gordie's methods of threatening. Especially letting Coalossal in a flat? Coalossal could easily burn down the building if he got angry enough.
"You're welcome. Did Best apologize to you?" asked Gordie.
"Yes," said Sarah.
"Well, good. My threat worked, and he won't be such a bloody prick now," said Gordie.
Sarah heard a knock on the glass doors behind her. Sarah turned around to see Oleana, with hands on her hips, waiting for Sarah to end her call.
"Look I have to go." said Sarah, "But I'll call you back later?"
"Call back as soon as the Chairman and freaky lady get out of there. Tell Best that I'm glad he apologized, but the threat still holds.
Love you, Sare!"
"Love you too Gordie," said Sarah.
Sarah ended the phone call and walked back in. Sarah glared at Chairman Rose.
"You told Gordie that I am going to nurse Leon back to health?" asked Sarah flatly.
"You did not," said Leon in disbelief.
Leon also seemed slightly terrified when Sarah mentioned Gordie. Since Sarah knew about Gordie's threats to Leon she could understand Leon's reaction better. Gordie was technically Leon's co-worker and Sarah wondered how it would play out for the next few months as they had to be in the same room for meetings.
"To be frank Leon, Sarah is the only one that should watch over you. You seem to run into a lot of trouble on your own. Charizard has gotten you out of some tough situations, but Sarah is like your good luck charm now." said Chairman Rose.
"Besides," said Oleana with a grin that made her look like a devil, "A part of the contract outlines that we have control how much time you do spend together. You could be inside here all day, but as long as that generates interest, it has done the job."
"I'm not going to be cooped up here," said Leon, "I still have to train, Sarah has work and we have to figure out what we need to do with Scorbunny, Sobble, and Grookey. I'm not going to hand them over to just anyone!"
"What do you think we're here for?" said Oleana, "We have so much more to plan and discuss. It's going to be very busy for the two of you."
It took over an hour to plan the next two weeks. It wasn't easy. They were like a family figuring out who takes one child to football practice while the other child needed to be at ballet at the same time. It seemed impossible to appease everyone. Chairman Rose and Oleana weren't the parents that were looking out for their children though. They push the boundaries of what Leon and Sarah were comfortable with multiple times.
At first, it started with the logistics of where Sarah's family was staying and what Leon and Sarah would be doing. Lodgings were when the first compromise was made. It was clear in the original contract that Leon and Sarah were never expected to move in together. Yet Oleana and the Chairman kept trying to insist that a new line would be replaced for the time being as someone needed to make sure Leon was alright. Sarah already had her flat in Wyndon that she shared with her half-sister Natasha and their friend Kate that was a ten-minute trip on her Corviknight from Leon's flat. Despite this fact, the Chairman and Oleana wouldn't budge as they wanted to keep the appearances of Sarah and Leon spending a lot of time together
Sarah quickly said no, Leon could take care of himself and they could order a nurse to come in. They argued about it until Sarah agreed that she would stay at Leon's flat and stay in one of the guest rooms. Leon's flat was huge and had three extra bedrooms besides his own. One room would go to her parents, one would go to Sarah and one would go to another member of Sarah's family.
Once that was settled, they began making a loose schedule. Sarah and Leon would go to work respectively during the mornings and afternoons while their evenings would be free to spend time with Sarah's family whether in a private or public sphere. The Chairman suggested that maybe Leon and Sarah could go on their first public date at some point, but he left it up to them. The Chairman commented that he did this because when he and Oleana didn't plan their interactions, it would be more natural, and it would probably get more press.
Oleana kept getting more frustrated throughout the planning as she was not in complete control of what was going on. She would try to calmly coax Rose out of a decision and suggested to not follow Leon's or Sarah's suggestions of things to do with Sarah's family or on dates, but Rose politely declined each time. Oleana just nodded her head demurely and said, "Of course, Chairman." in response. Sarah wondered though if there was a lot of resentment that Oleana had about what Rose was doing. Oleana had always hovered around the Chairman and usually had a lot of control over him, but as of right now the Chairman seemed to be fine doing things on his own today.
Then the worst of the troubles came when Leon wanted to take time off to visit his family in Postwick the next week right after his exhibition match. Chairman Rose flatly refused and tried to move on, when Leon almost lost his temper.
Sarah had never seen Leon ready to explode like a Voltorb before. Leon insisted that he was going to visit his family and would be backed in Motostoke before the official event that celebrated gym challengers beginning their challenge.
"Must I remind you that Ms. Char is to be accompanying you on your little holiday if you want to go and see your family. She could not possibly take off work to go and visit your family. Her work schedule is more or less set to be busy with the gym challenge. Usually, the social media spends time posting lots of information needed for the challengers this time of the year." said Oleana, "Why don't you plan for your family to come and visit you? They can come after Ms. Char's family leaves."
"No, they can't exactly leave the Wooloos on short notice," said Leon, "I promised my brother Hop that I would visit him at Postwick before the official starting gym challenger ceremony. Sarah should stay here in Wyndon since she has work. She has a lot to do being in charge of the social media coverage of the Gym Challenge."
Sarah was glad to hear that Leon remembered the specific occupation that she now held. She was working in a prominent position in the media world of Galar considering that the gym challenge is the hugest sporting event in the region. This was due to Oleana's behind the scenes work as if to show Sarah that signing her rights away to being single was fine because she got an amazing job. Sarah was a uni grad leading a team of professionals who had vied for her position to lead the group that had control over how the Galar Gym League would reach out to fans via social media throughout the gym challenge. Not only that, but Sarah would be part of news broadcasts to update viewers about what social media was saying about the gym challenge.
Her co-workers were not happy with her at first as they all thought she wasn't qualified at all and that her boyfriend used his connections to get the job. Sarah though was able to win them over by showing them that she was a leader, not a boss and she needed their help to make the Gym Challenge's social media the best it could be. Soon her team felt comfortable with her because she would listen to their ideas and wanted to implement them. Teamwork was what made her job easier, but that didn't mean the stress decreased. She wondered how they would react to finding out she won't be in the office during the two weeks leading up to the gym challenge, which had more or less begun already for her and her team. A few days to visit family was fine, but if she were to switch those days out to be later all of a sudden? That would be a nightmare.
"Leon," said Rose, "You must understand that a part of the deal was that you two will be spending these two weeks together.
You have to consider your health Leon! Don't get offended when I say this, but you were foolish to travel unprepared on Route 10. Especially since you notoriously get lost even in Postwick. Postwick! I've been there and it's five farmhouses barely outside Wedgehurst."
"But Charizard helps me to make sure I don't get lost," said Leon with gritted teeth.
"But Charizard is a Pokémon." said Chairman Rose, "A very loyal and heroic one like its trainer, but similar to you it attracts trouble. Your duties as champion include helping to protect those in need in Galar, but Leon, you need to make sure you are safe too. Sarah here is a human. A human who took care of you and multiple Pokémon and got a rescue team for you. Having another person helps, I wouldn't be where I am without help from Oleana"
Chairman Rose smiled and Oleana looked quite pleased by the compliment. Sarah looked at Leon and it seemed Leon had the same thoughts as she did: 'Um….no…she made our lives worse.'
"Mr. Best have you agreed…" said Oleana.
"I'm going to see my family and I will travel by train. It has people on there. I'll make sure my Rotom phone is completely charged so that while I travel on the train, I can call for help." said Leon
"I'm sorry, Leon, but that's final," said Rose.
"Hop just turned fifteen. I wanted to see him off at the start of his gym challenge," said Leon.
Leon at this point looked downhearted at the thought of not being there for Hop. Sarah knew that the media loved to praise Leon for helping out his single mother and little brother through the money he earned from battles, sponsorships and whenever he helped out the Galar region. Sarah didn't know much about his family, but if Leon was fighting so hard with Chairman Rose to visit them in Postwick, he must love his family a lot.
The Chairman looked shocked at this statement.
"Your brother is old enough to be a gym challenger?! I remembered when I first met him! He hadn't even entered kindergarten yet!" said the Chairman, "I sympathize with you Leon, but unless Sarah is coming, I cannot guarantee any safety. I want to be 100% sure you are taken care of by someone even if Obstagoons came raiding through those farmlands and declared Wedgehurst a place of anarchy."
Sarah then realized that Chairman Rose had put her and Leon in a corner. Leon knew that his family couldn't just go and leave the family business on short notice and he wanted to keep a promise to his brother. She had enough family drama in her life to know that one action could ruin a relationship for up to years on end. Sarah then thought of what she could do to make sure Leon could see his family. She hated how the Chairman seemed to not care whether or not Leon wanted to see his family. She could always video call in when needed for work and she could bring her laptop with her. She had only so far taken off one day from work like she was supposed to. Maybe since she was going to work this week, she could ask for the days she had off to be moved the week after. Sarah knew that it was a risk, but it wouldn't be fair to Leon if he couldn't see his family while the Chairman was willing to accommodate her family.
"I'll go," said Sarah.
Leon turned his head to her, with a shocked expression on his face and then a different emotion came on his face. It was guilt.
"Sarah," said Leon, "You don't need to do this."
Chairman Rose just chuckled and waved off Leon as if what he said was foolish nonsense.
"Oh Leon, always looking out for others. It looks like though Ms. Char comes to save you again!" said Chairman Rose, "Thank you! We are indebted to you to keep our Champion safe from whatever nature throws at him."
"Well Chairman, I think that's all we needed to do for today with the 'couple'," said Oleana.
"Alright," said Chairman Rose, "Is there anything I can do for you two before I go?"
"Yes," said Sarah, "Could you get in contact with those that run the sanctuaries of the Scorbunny, Grookey, and Sobble evolution lines? It will be helpful to talk to them about the specific care needs for them in person. They also might know how they ended up so close to Wyndon."
"I don't think—" began Oleana.
"Brilliant idea Sarah! I'll do that right away!" said the Chairman.
Oleana glared at the Chairman, but he didn't see it as Oleana was standing slightly behind him. Sarah wondered why Oleana was not happy with the Chairman's suggestion. It was as if Oleana was trying to direct the conversation in a different direction.
The Chairman nodded his head and stood up, already typing away on his Rotom pad in what Sarah assumed was an email to the head researchers at the sanctuaries.
"It was good to see you two. I hope that you two have fun together!" said the Chairman, "Well, not too much fun."
Oleana rolled her eyes and guided the chairman out of the apartment. The Macro Cosmos Workers followed them and shut the door behind them. The meeting was over, but the time Leon and Sarah were supposed to spend together had only just begun.
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Life has certainly been crazy. My university went to being completely online due to COVID-19 (coronavirus) and an internship abroad I was supposed to go on became internship to be done completely online. There's a lot of uncertainty and it can be scary. I know some of you might have experienced the full brunt and I offer my condolences and sympathy.
Yet, this is a time where I have found myself slowing down. I've been connecting with friends and family I haven't talked to a while by phone or video chat. I am catching up on school work. I have more time to write, draw and play the ukulele. One of my professors did mention in our last class we got to meet on campus that when Newton was at Oxford he got sent home due to the black plague During Netwon's time at home, he created calculus. I haven't fact-checked it and I'm not sure if people would rejoice at this statement, but I think that there's a time for a lot of new things to be created.
