The trainer was sitting on the chair, enjoying his meal with his friends. He looked at them, with a soft expression on his face. He was in a spiral of emotions, filled with gratefulness and sadness. Then, he looked at his female Morpeko, Hoshi, carefree as always as she hungrily ate her food. The trainer beamed slightly, knowing that Hoshi will always be at his side no matter what.

One of his friends looked at him before asking, "Hey, Will… Are you sure you're going to leave this place? You've spent such a long time here already, it'll feel empty without you around."

"Exactly… You've been part of our family already. It's been so many years since you came here, and we'll definitely not get used to you not being around anymore." Another friend agreed.

"Hey, hey…" He raised his hands slightly with a wistful smile, "I'm sad and all, but my decision is firm. I've been working hard in another region… It's time to go back home."

"Yeah, we get ya. We'll miss you." The friend beside him petted his shoulder. Will looked at him and smiled.

"It's all worth it though! Even though you're leaving the region, people will definitely remember you as one of the best trainers in Hoenn. The years you've been here have been a blast, eh?" His friend grinned.

"Good things, bad things." Will shrugged. It was undeniable that he had many achievements throughout his journey, but it wasn't all happy stuff. Like that one time he struggled because he couldn't get used to Mega Evolution, the one time he barely lost to his most hated enemy…

And of course, when he-

Before he sank further into his thoughts, he stopped himself from doing so as he concluded, "Don't worry about it, lads. It's not like this is forever goodbye. We can still keep in touch through social media. Besides, I can always take a trip back to visit if I feel like it."

"Hell yeah, Will. Those prize money you got from winning all those tournaments are definitely enough for more than a few trips." His friend chuckled, as Will looked at him and shook his head with a chuckle.

"Hey hey, that's enough. What's important is… you all have been such good friends in my journey. Without y'all, I'd go nowhere. So thank you all." Will heartily presented his thanks, which his friends happily accepted.

"Woah woah, don't be humble, Will. You've been important to us too. Now… let's enjoy this last meal together for a while!" Will nodded as they thoroughly enjoyed talking about the past and savouring the dishes.

After bidding farewell with his friends, Will was about to head to his apartment. However, he wasn't alone on this trip.

"H-Hey, Will!" Will looked behind him, as a younger girl approached him. She seemed like she took a lot of courage to ask, "L-Let me walk along with you back to your place? One last time?"

"...Sure, Joy." Will smiled lightly, as the girl quickly walked towards his side, as they quietly walked back to his apartment. His Morpeko looked at Joy happily, while Joy took Hoshi into her hands and petted the Morpeko, which made her really happy.

"Hoshi is surely going to miss you once we're back in Galar." Will chuckled, as Joy smiled upon hearing that. She was happy, sure, but she wanted to know about something else, too.

"What about you, Will?" Joy asked.

"...Of course I would." Before Joy could be happy with his response, he knocked her head softly and chuckled, "Because there's no one else I can tease and bully anymore!"

Joy jokingly groaned, before grinning as well. He's always like that, playful, yet kind towards his friends and Pokemon, and serious in Pokémon battling. She had always looked up to him for years.

After some aimless conversations, they had reached Will's apartment. Will looked at her and smiled playfully, "We have reached the place, Joy. You can leave now."

He continued in a more serious tone, "For real, you've been a really good friend, Joy. You've always cared about me, and are super supportive whenever I had a problem, or faced a defeat to make sure I cheered up. I'll definitely keep in touch with you when I head back home. Thank you so much, Joy."

Joy was stunned upon hearing that, as she went ahead and gave Will a hug. During the embrace, tears fell from her face uncontrollably.

"Hey hey, don't cry. You told me that tears are precious, so you shouldn't let them out that easily." Will tried to comfort her, but it was to no avail as she kept on crying.

As they broke the hug, Joy said between sobs, "Y-You idiot… No need to break me on the last day. I-I was doing so well too…"

"Joy…"

"I-I thought I could just keep my feelings in my heart forever, b-but I guess I couldn't. Will… I like you. A lot. Ever since we became good friends? Yeah, since that time. I can't believe you didn't notice, you idiot."

"...Of course I do. Those friends have always been shipping us. They clearly knew something." He sighed.

"Then… the reason you didn't tell me anything… is because you don't like me back." Joy said.

"...Yeah." He looked at her, "You've been an amazing person, don't get me wrong. It's just that… there's another person in my heart for way too long. There won't be any happiness between us if we become a couple, if I don't like you the same, right?"

He grinned at her, "Besides, you'll definitely find someone better than me. I just knew it."

Joy looked at him, before she wiped her tears and smirked, "I know, I know. You know what? I will find someone better than you eventually. I've faced things worse than a rejection. You too… get whoever that stole your heart, alright? I'd be mad if you don't."

Will smiled at her reaction, so headstrong, so her. "I hope so."

"You'll always be my best friend, okay? That'll never change no matter where you are. Keep in touch always when you're back." Joy looked at him with mixed feelings.

"Of course I will."

They then bid farewell as Joy left his apartment. Will looked at her, knowing that it will not be the last time they see each other again.

Making sure he packed up all his things in his apartment, he looked at the place one last time. All his life as a trainer in Hoenn… a huge part was spent here. It was like a second home.

It's time to leave, though.

As he opened his door with his luggage bag, Hoshi suddenly excitedly ran out of the door. The only thing that can have that effect on her… is food.

"H-Hey, Hoshi! Don't run!" Will tried to catch up to Hoshi as fast as he could, but the heavy luggage bag was preventing him from doing so.

Finally after some time, he caught up to Hoshi. Hoshi was eating one of her favourite treats: Alcremie Cupcake. Weird, this shouldn't be around this region…

There was a girl beside Hoshi, which Will assumed was who the female Morpeko stole the cupcake from. He started apologizing, "I'm sorry, my Morpeko didn't mean to-"

Then, he looked at the girl and was shocked. He couldn't say anything else besides her name.

"...Sky?"

"Will? It's… been a long time!"

"Y-Yeah, it definitely has been. What brings you here?"

"I'm just travelling around Hoenn while visiting a friend. You?"

"Oh, this is where my apartment is…"

"What a coincidence… It's good to see you!" Sky grinned.

"Wanna have a cup of tea together? My treat for Hoshi stealing your cupcake. We can also have a chit-chat." Will offered.

"Sure! It'd be nice."

As the two both took a sip of their tea, Sky started the conversation, "The moment Hoshi stole my cupcake, I knew I've seen her somewhere. Hoshi likes her cupcakes, after all."

"Don't talk about her. I still couldn't believe she couldn't control herself in front of food."

"She's a Morpeko, after all. Besides, without her, we wouldn't be having tea together right now."

"I guess so…" Will shook his head.

"No worries, I'm over it. Anyways, how's your journey in Hoenn going? I've heard you did great things."

"Eh, just some small achievements. But it's going great. I'm heading back to Galar today, though."

"Oh, you're heading back home after so much success?"

"Yeah. In the end, home is the most important place. I will miss my friends though."

"I can see that you really wanna go home."

"For sure! I've always missed the food in Galar. Like that one café we'd always head to after school? I've been craving for the Vanilluxe Ice Cream for years now. It'd be nice to try it again-"

"Will… The café closed down last year." Joy cut him off.

"H-Huh? Closed down?" Will was shocked.

"Yeah, sadly."

"O-Oh, that's a shame, then." Will sighed. I guess… Things change as time goes by.

He thought about the times himself and her heading to the café after school, where they would always order their favourite treats and savour them like hungry kids. Now… he would never be able to do that again.

"I was hoping that after I head back, we can go back to the café and eat together." Will sighed.

"Yeah… it won't happen again, though." Sky looked down slightly.

It won't… happen again.

A few years ago…

He was a talented trainer at his young age, to say the least. Not the strongest, but he and the potential. He would always outclass some trainers here and there, but nothing too impressive.

One day, walking around the town, he heard noises coming from the alleyway. Out of curiosity, he peeked into the place and saw two older teenagers threatening a younger teenage girl.

"How long are you going to struggle for? Just hand us your money, and we'll leave you unharmed, simple as that!"

"B-But I told you, I don't have any money…"

"Argh! Let's just take it by force, man!"

Will stepped into the alleyway, slightly shocking the two teenagers, "Hey now… We don't have to do this the hard way, do we? Just let her go!"

"Don't act tough, kiddo! We'll have to beat you up too if you stand in our way!"

Before the two could touch Will, Hoshi showed up behind him as Will commanded, "Hoshi, Bite!"

The female Morpeko gave the two powerful bites on their arms, which was quite painful to say the least. The two teenagers who seem to bully the good people and be scared of the evil ones, ran away after getting a taste of Hoshi's power.

Will then checked on the girl, "Are you good?"

"Y-Yeah… Thanks. I could've been in serious trouble." The girl said, shyly.

"It's nothing."

As a way of repaying him, the girl took him to a café, and treated him to the food there (apparently, she had money, but didn't want to hand it to the greedy bullies), which in his opinion was the best food he ever had. They had some time for conversation, and he found out that they studied in the same Trainer School, just in different classes. They became good friends as they knew each other more, and promised to meet each other in the café for lunch every week. Every week eventually became every day, and they certainly became much closer.

One day, they were just enjoying their food as usual. However, Sky noticed that Will was staring at her more often than usual. "What's up, Will?"

"...!" Will blushed slightly, before deciding that it was now or never. He eventually took out something he had been hiding from his right hand for a while. Sky curiously looked at him, before he opened his right hand, which was revealed to be a handmade red heart using coloured paper.

"Sky… I like you. Will you go out with me?" It felt like he took all the courage of his life to say that one sentence. How would she react? Run away? Reject him? Think it was an early April Fools joke? The endless possibilities went through his head.

However, to his surprise, Sky blushed upon hearing that. Slowly, she nodded, "S-Sure, Will."

Will's eyes widened in surprise, before he gave her a big hug. That was the happiest moment in his life for quite a while.

Months had passed, and they were nearing graduation in the school. Will's class teacher noticed Will's potential in Pokémon battling, and suggested Will that he should head to Hoenn to try battling as an official Trainer. After hearing the battling mechanics and famous trainers from the region, he was definitely hooked into the suggestion.

He shared the news to Sky, "Sky, my teacher said that I should head to Hoenn as a Trainer. They use a different mechanic known as Mega Evolution, and the evolved forms seem so cool! I wanna go check them out and become stronger."

Sky however, was not as excited hearing the news. "But… that means you'll have to leave Galar, right?"

"No worries!" Will seemed to be carefree about the potential issue, "I can always fly back here if you need me. It's not that hard to do that nowadays."

"I suppose… But, things wouldn't be the same." Sky looked away, concerned.

"We'll always keep in touch, right? Some distance won't affect our relationship like that. You trust me, right?"

It took a while before Sky nodded. Will grinned, happy that he had gained her permission and trust to head to Hoenn.

Back to the present…

"Things changed so much back home since you left, " Sky smiled wistfully, "The Café closed down, our school's headmaster retired, the Stadiums there had a renovation, and there's so much more I could talk about."

"I-I've left for a long time, hadn't I?" Getting no response from Sky for the answer, the atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward. As they took another sip from their drinks, Will was a little too frantic in his movement, as his arm knocked into his backpack beside his cup of tea, making it falling onto the ground, the items in it escaping and scattering around the floor.

"Crap." Will started collecting the scattered items, while Sky quietly offered help. There wasn't many things in the backpack, but Sky stopped her movement the moment she saw something among the items that escaped.

It was a Soothe Bell, an item that is used to make a Pokémon friendlier towards a Trainer. However, it seemed like the item was used for quite some time, as there were some scratches here and there. However, the letter "W" written on the surface of the item, was still barely visible.

Will picked up the Soothe Bell, relieved as the Bell managed to chime a soothing melody as it was being picked up. Sky stared at the item, then reverted her gaze towards the guy in front of her.

"You… still keep this around with you?"

Flashback…

It was the day of separation. Will and Sky were at the Hammerlocke Train Station, spending their time together before the train arrived.

"Text me when you arrive in Hoenn, alright?" Sky looked at him.

"I will." Will replied and gave her a reassuring smile. Soon, they would be separated for quite a while now. Only social media can keep them together. But would that be enough to face the obstacles of a long distance relationship?

I believe in us. Our love is strong enough for these challenges.

"Hey, Will... Have this." Sky gained up her courage to say that sentence, as she handed her boyfriend a Soothe Bell, with a letter "W" written on it, probably with a permanent marker pen.

"Keep it with you, alright? I heard that Hoshi was having some problems with you recently, and I heard that this Soothe Bell could help you out, probably…"

"I mean, our issues will probably be solved in a few days once I give her some delicious treats. But thanks, Sky." He smiled.

"Even so, just… keep this with you at all times, okay? Just think of it as a… lucky charm or something. A sign of me being around you as a support in spirit." As she said that, she took out another Soothe Bell from her pocket, with a letter "S" written on it. "I have one too, just like yours."

"You're so silly, Sky. But I love you for that." He beamed as he took the Soothe Bell from him, before putting it into his pocket. He planned to give it to Hoshi later.

[The train from Hammerlocke in Galar to Lilycove in Hoenn will be arriving soon. Passengers, please get ready to get on the train for your destination.] The P.A. system announced, and it was time to say goodbye.

"Well… I guess this is goodbye, Will." Sky said, her eyes becoming redder.

"I'll miss you." Will said as he hugged her. Netiehr of them wanted to break from the embrace, but they had to, eventually. Will was the one to do that first, as he got into the train with his luggage.

As the train's entrances slowly closed, the engines were started and the train was ready to leave. Sky never stopped waving her right hand towards Will through the window. She kept on waving it as the train went further and further away from her, eventually disappearing from her sight along with Will.

Her tears finally escaped her eyes, as she stared blankly at the place where the train originally was.

"...I'll miss you."

Will arrived at Hoenn after hours of a long train ride. As he walked out of the train station located in Lilycove, he was able to witness the cool and modern looks of the city. There was also quite a crowd around the Contest Hall, and overall, it's something he would not have seen in Galar.

Immediately, he took a photo of his sight using his mobile phone, and sent it to Sky.

[Arrived in Hoenn safely. Lilycove is cool, sweetheart 3]

Sky immediately replied with, [That's good, have fun there :)]

Will had quite a long day today. Just learning about capturing Pokémon was quite a tedious task already. He thought he could conquer the scene with Hoshi, but it proved to be something more. It tired him out quite badly today.

Opening his mobile phone back at his apartment, he received another message from Sky, saying, [How's training today? Going good?]

Although drained, he still took the time to respond to her in detail about how his day went. They texted for quite some time and eventually, both of them needed to head to bed, and ended it off there.

"Mega Evolution could be useful on Woody, I suppose. Mega Sceptile would definitely surprise my opponents in this battle. But I definitely haven't mastered Mega Evolution yet…" As he scribbled down notes about battling on his notebook before his tournament the next day, the exhaustion for staying up late at night was getting to him.

After a while, the exhaustion overtook him, as he collapsed on the table, asleep.

At the same time, his phone was vibrating with unread messages. He, of course, was too deep in his slumber to notice.

"And… the tournament's winner is Will from Hammerlocke City! This is his first tournament win after such a long time, we can only expect so much more from him in the future. Never stop battling, Will!" The host happily celebrated Will's victory, as the audience cheered on him. Will held his trophy high in the air with a smile on his face.

As he left the stadium, his supportive friends he met in Galar said, "Good stuff out there, chief! That calls for a celebration! You're treating us for dinner today, victor!"

He chuckled slightly, "Sure sure, I'll do that for this time."

"Hell yeah! Let's go!" As his friends walked along with him, his smile slowly disappeared. The feeling of victory slowly descending, replaced by more mixed feelings.

He finally won, but in the end, he also lost.

Back to the present…

"You… still keep this around with you?"

"Well… Err, yeah! You said it, it's a good lucky charm for me, after all." He said, before chuckling nervously.

Truth is, he never let the Soothe Bell disappear from his sight.

He would always keep it in his backpack, bringing it along wherever he goes.

The relationship… was long over. But his feelings… were still there all along.

They went back to their seats, awkwardly drinking their tea. As they were finishing their drinks, he was struggling to gain the courage, but he had to.

He needed to express how he felt again. Another chance… to cherish this girl he once failed to cherish.

Eventually, he gained up the courage to ask her-

Suddenly, he found another guy beside Sky, tapping her shoulder lightly. The guy said, "There you are! I've been wondering where you went."

"Ehehe… Justin, you know I'd never go too far without you." Sky smiled.

"Of course you wouldn't." Justin gave her a smile, as he suddenly had his attention on Will. He curiously asked, "Who is this guy?"

"Oh… He's just an old friend of mine. We met coincidentally and now we're just chatting."

He politely smiled at Will, before asking Sky, "Chatting? But… we're about to watch a movie later, Sky. Detective Pikachu, remember?"

"No worries, love. I'll be done in just a second."

"Alright." Justin gave Will another friendly look before walking away from the table.

Will was… silent. Unexpectedly silent. It took him a while to finally ask, "So… your boyfriend?"

"...Yeah." Sky responded briefly.

After a while, they were both finished with their cups of tea. Sky said, "I-I guess I'll be leaving now."

"No worries. Goodbye, Sky." Will bid farewell to Sky as the girl did the same, and went back to her boyfriend. Her boyfriend seemed to be a nice and gentle guy, treating Sky very well according to his small actions.

But… why couldn't I be happy for them?

Will was on a seat of the train, just staring outside through the window blankly, as Hoshi was beside him, sleeping soundly.

He thought about the times Sky and him were together throughout the entire trip. Those memories… are now bittersweet to him, to say the least.

After a few hours, the train has arrived in Hammerlocke. Finally, he reached home again.

However, he didn't feel like going back to his house just yet. Not at all. Instead, he carried his luggage bag and walked along the path of Hammerlocke City.

Eventually, he went to one of the alleyways around the city. It was where… they first met. It felt like the scene was replaying right in front of him.

He sighed, and a drop of tear escaped from his eye.

Things really did change.

We were in love together. For quite some time. It was quite hard for us… when we broke up for good. The memories we had eventually became more than just bittersweet for me.

However, people said that no matter how madly you were in love, time will eventually make the feelings fade away.

They also said, the way to not be in sulk with someone you once loved, is to find another person to love.

It's just that… you've already found that person to love. While I… chose to stay at the same point.

Sky… If I have another chance…

Can I… fall in love with you again?