I just want to give a little heads up for chapter 37. Editing for the chapter is taking a long time so it might not be up on the normally schedule time frame. So don't expect it on Friday. I wouldn't expect it on Saturday either. I will do my best to get it out on Sunday. In the meantime here is Chapter 36. Remember, please feel free to write a review with criticism or praise. It doesn't matter to me, I just like to see reviews :). But also, criticisms allow me to make changes in future chapters so that I don't repeat them. Anyways, thank you guys for reading this. This fanfiction is reaching the length of a novel and we still have quite a bit to go. I will have another update sometime around Chapter 40 on what is to come and how I will write it.
I was down to my final Pokemon, Dartrix, during my battle with Hapu. I had already taken down Flygon and Dugtrio, but Gastrodon has proven to be difficult sweeping through Muk and Passimian.
However, with the extreme type advantage I was able to dispatch Gastrodon. It didn't come without some damage being done to Dartrix.
Mudsdale was Hapu's final Pokemon and I had already known it was a fierce Pokemon when Hapu faced Caleb this morning. I was determined to defeat Mudsdale tonight and finish my Island Challenge.
One of the good things about this matchup is that Mudsdale is a ground type. They don't effect Dartrix at all.
"Heavy Slam!" Hapu urges her Mudsdale. Mudsdale speed is exceptional, much faster than my own Mudsdale. The hit is highly impactful on Dartrix who gets up looking furious. It jumps without instruction and slams into Mudsdale's face.
Then it jumps onto it's back and pecks away at Mudsdale's head. Mudsdale grows annoyed and begins to gallop.
"Leaf Blade!" I order Dartrix. The attack hits Mudsdale in the back as Dartrix keeps a grip on it.
"Mudsdale, charge towards Cameron at full speed."
Woah, what!?
I watch as Mudsdale charges at me so I hop to my left. Hapu orders Mudsdale to make an abrupt full-stop causing Dartrix to be sent flying in front of Mudsdale. Dartrix lands face first on the ground.
"Solar Beam!" I exclaim moments before Hapu tells Mudsdale to use Heavy Slam on Dartrix.
Caleb yells out telling me to get Dartrix to dodge but I don't. I'm hoping for Dartrix to get the blast off first.
I was wrong.
Mudsdale slams into Dartrix who is sent flying several feet back.
Dartrix doesn't move causing the match official to nearly rule the battle over. However, Dartrix begins to flinch. He tries to stagger to his feet when Hapu orders Mudsdale to tackle him. Out of nowhere Dartrix lets out a massive Solar Beam attack on Mudsdale.
Mudsdale collapses to the ground and is ruled unable to battle. A berth of excitement hits me as I run up to Dartrix to hug it. When I do, Dartrix begins to evolve into Decidueye.
And let me tell you right now, Decidueye looks badass.
"Well now, I think I've lost enough for one day," Hapu admits with a chuckle.
Hapu walks us back to Seafolk Village where Lana is. She spots us and walks towards. We hadn't seen her since are tantrum yesterday.
Caleb asked her where she had been and she said she was at the Battle Tree battling trainers. I grew irritated as they talked. She congratulated Caleb for completing the Island Challenge and turned to me. When she asked if I won I shrugged.
"Is that a yes or a no?" She had this odd smile on her face as if she is desperately trying to ignore what she did yesterday.
"You really think you can just act like nothing happened?"
Caleb looked at me and said, "Don't, Cam."
"No, screw her. She follows us around because she's a terrible trainer and needs a leg up on the competition by watching us. She faked all that sincerity for a damn advantage and she still lost. Now she can't even apologize. I knew I was right not to trust her."
Caleb scorns me for my harsh words but I don't apologize. Instead I keep my glare on Lana who purses her lips.
"It's okay Caleb. He's right. I had no intention of befriending you two. I only tagged along to see how you guys battled in case we met in the Tournament."
"Lana?" Caleb responds. His shoulders slouch as he sighs.
"But I did come to think of you two as my friends in the short time we spent together."
"Liar," I accuse.
"I am not lying about that. And you know I'm not."
I did but I didn't care.
"And I am not a terrible trainer," she said defending her ego. "If you believe so then you should have no problem defeating me right now 1 on 1." She grabs a Pokeball and sends out Primarina.
I shake my head. "I'm not wasting my time. I'll see you at the Tournament, Lana."
I walk away from Lana, Caleb and Hapu and walk into the motel room where Caleb and I are staying. I toss my bag on the bed and walk into the bathroom. Looking at myself in the mirror I can notice the exhaustion from this past week or so on it.
I turn the shower on and take off my clothes. I wait before the steam causes the mirror to become foggy, masking my face, before jumping in. I let the water stream down my skin pretending it's cleaning me of the anger and exhaustion I currently have.
The shower last 40 minutes and it couldn't have been more needed. When I walk out, Caleb is sitting on the bed looking down at his phone. He looks up and lightly smiles.
I decide to sit next to him and wait for what he has to say. However, he doesn't say anything. Instead he goes back to looking down at his phone and plays a video.
I can hear the giggling of a young boy.
"Zachary, what are you doing?" A woman says chuckling behind the camera.
I look down and I see Zachary. He is maybe 9 years old here. He is playing with a Jangmo-o. The Jangmo-o was hopping around Zachary who was on the floor.
"I'm playing with Janga, ma."
The giddy laughter causes Caleb to chuckle as he watches his brother.
When the video ends I ask Caleb why he was watching it.
"Because sometimes I like to remind myself why I decided to do this challenge."
"But don't you get sad?" I ask.
"Sometimes. Depends, really. Not every memory of him has to be cry. It can make me smile, and you of all people should know I like to smile." We both chuckle.
We sat there for a couple seconds as he looked down at his phone and scrolled through the pictures. He scrolled by videos without playing them when he got to one, hesitated, and then continued to scroll.
"Janga was one of Kukui's research subjects. Kukui had this Jangmo-o that summer and Zach fell in love for some reason. He later said that Jangmo-o was majestic. Anyways, Kukui let Zach play with the Jangmo-o over the summer. Zach gave him the nickname Janga."
"I see. And ever since then he wanted a Jangmo-o, right?" I ask.
"Mhm. He was devastated when Janga had to go back to its owner, so he promised himself he would get a Jangmo-o during the Island Challenge."
I grabbed Caleb's hand just to give him support cause I know it can't be easy to talk about it but I'm not sure he needed it. The squeeze showed he appreciated it but the smile proved he was okay.
"He was going to be the trainer, Cam. I was to be the breeder. I wanted to breed and care for Pokemon. When he died, I became determined to make Zach's dreams come true. He may be dead, but we're twins. He's still alive inside me."
I felt bad for Caleb after he said that. "But what about your life, Caleb?"
"Huh?"
"You are doing this trainer thing for him, right? You wanted a Jangmo-o because of him, right? What about living the life you want as well?" I was nervous about going to far but then he smiled. He smiled and gripped my hand tighter.
"You're my boyfriend, aren't you?" He moves in and pecks me on the lips.
"Touche," I say happily.
...
After we told our parents that we defeated the final Kahuna they desperately wanted us to come home and have a small celebration. So I messaged Gladion and asked if he could somehow give us a ride. He happily obliged. In fact he came and picked us up on his own rather then send one of his employees.
When we arrived at Melemele Island I told him to come and stay.
"I don't do get-togethers. Can't I just give you two money or an island as a congratulations?" Caleb and I chuckled but he was dead serious.
So I plead a little. "Gladion, I would really appreciate it if you came."
"How about this? You win the Tournament, I will come to that celebration, okay?"
Caleb looked at me and shrugged.
"You got yourself a deal, Gladion," I said.
Gladion smiled and shook my hand before heading back to Aether Paradise. Caleb and I joyfully walked back to Iki Town and the outskirts. Skitty walked half of the way until Caleb picked him up and carried him.
We split up for a few just to get situated at home but we were going to meet at his house for a little dinner. Professor Kukui was going to come as well.
When I got home my mom was enthusiastic about my success. She was telling me how happy she was and how dad would've been proud. And I think he would've been. However, I'm not quite satisfied. Only when I become Champion will I be satisfied.
I hadn't really talked to Carl in a little over a week so I decided to give him a call when I got to my room.
"Hey man, how's it going?" he asked. I can see that his Sceptile walking in the background helping Carl's mom clean.
"Sceptile is a maid, now?" I joke.
Carl turns around and chuckles. "The best there is. So what's up?"
"Well I just got back to Melemele Island. I completed the Island Challenge."
He smiled broadly and congratulated me. "That's awesome. See I told you that you would do it." I brushed him off. "I'm serious, dude. I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks, Carl."
"I see Skitty is still as lazy as ever." I looked over my shoulder and looked at Skitty who was laying on the pillow.
"Yup, still very lazy."
Carl hesitated for a moment but then spoke. "So are you coming back to see the Tournament in April?"
I looked away. "I don't know. Maybe."
He looked down and pretended to act okay by smiling and moving the conversation onto talking about the new changes at Lavaridge Town. Apparently they are looking to fully harness the volcanic activity and the springs into a form of energy.
As he talked I started to have a battle within myself. I was always making excuses for going back home to Hoenn. Now I ran out. I have to go back and get closure. Most of all, I need to go see Carl. If not for me, then for him. I have been so focused on me the last year or so, and for good reason, but it has been a long time. My life has moved on and so have I. Only recently have I realized it. Now I need to stop focusing solely on me and be there for those that got me here.
Before we hung up to say goodbye I decided to tell him about Caleb and I. I nearly forgot, lost in all of the other crap, to tell him.
"Wow, I didn't see that coming."
He was visibly shocked by the news but happy.
"I never thought you were gay, but it doesn't really matter, right? You're still Cameron Alistar, my best friend."
It was probably the best thing I could've expected from Carl and I was just happy to be accepted. I'm still coming to terms with it, because I'm not sure if I accept myself, but every day I'm becoming more and more okay with it. Having other people like that young couple on Poni Gauntlet and Carl say something positive about it makes it even better.
Over at Caleb's his family was making a huge dinner for everyone. His dad was finally home, getting a break from travelling so much. He was actually a nice guy.
The garden that Vanessa and my mom had created was still going wonderfully. Apparently they have raised a load of money. A lot of the revenue is being donated all over Alola. They are even giving some money to help rebuild Po Town.
Caleb took me to his room before I could even offer to help with dinner.
"What's up?" I ask feeling rushed.
"Okay, um are we going to be public with our relationship?"
I'm lost. "Uhh..."
"Cam? I nearly told my mom abut us. Did you tell your mom?"
I shook my head.
"Do you want to?"
"I don't know. I guess. I told Carl."
Caleb rolled his eyes a little. "Boy, that doesn't help."
I explained how I didn't really care if we are public or not. "It's a relationship. All that matters is how things are between us."
He took a deep breath and sat on his bed. "That's not how it works for us." His mood became sullen. "Some people are assholes. They hurt people like us."
I sat down beside him, close, and threw my arm around him. "But we can't let that control us. I'm happy with you and nothing will change that."
He looked down at his legs, one of which was tapping on the floor constantly. "We're going to be ourselves and that's it. If you want to tell our families then we will do it tonight. But if you want to hide it then fine."
He rested his head on my shoulder and said, "Okay." I kissed him on the forehead when someone knocked on the door.
"Dinner is ready!" his sister yelled through the door.
We got up and held each others hands and walked out. We walked out to the dining room where our families, and Kukui, were sitting.
Vanessa was the first to see us holding hands. She got her mom's attention and motioned to us while everyone else was talking, not paying attention. Her mom smiled. I gripped his hand slightly harder.
"How long?" she asks. Everyone else stops talking and looks at us. I could see the many smiles around the table in my peripheral vision. I was a little nervous to look at anybody but Caleb's mom.
"A few days," Caleb responded to the joy of his mom.
His mom walked towards us and hugged Caleb. She was crying a lot but she assured us it was "happy tears." Her crying made me uncomfortable, which I guess is strange considering all of the crying I've done. Oops.
I finally looked around the table and got goosebumps. I don't like all of these people looking at me. I kinda wish Aaron was here but I figured he wouldn't be. He wasn't in the house when I got back.
We finally took our seats and settled down. Everyone went back to talking as if it was normal.
After we ate dinner Caleb's mom prepared us some dessert. As I sat on the couch with Caleb, he poked me and pointed towards his window. Aaron was sitting on the porch to the home. So I got up and went to go see him because, well, why the hell is he here.
When I exited the home he looked over and stood. He looked nervous.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Ma told me you completed the Island Challenge."
"Yeah. Is that why you are here?"
"Um yeah. I don't want to go in, but uh, well here." He reached into his pocket and handed me an envelope. I opened the envelope and saw two tickets to go to Hoenn in late March. "It's for you and Caleb. You can go see Carl compete."
He looked away unable to meet my eyes.
"Why? Why did you buy these?"
"Because I'm proud of you. And I'm sorry."
"You aren't going to come?" I ask trying to control my emotions.
"I can't, Cameron. I really can't," he says tentatively as he rubs his left eye. I open my mouth but I can't say anything, so I just hug him. I wrap my arms around my big brother and hug him.
He places one arm around my back and can feel him pull just a little as he gently rubs my back. We don't say anything else.
After a few more seconds we let go of each other and take deep breaths. Aaron then walks down the steps of the home and walks home. I watch as my big brother walks up the route to go home, alone.
It was brief, but for that one moment I felt like I had my brother back. However, as he continued to walk away from me I knew it was just an illusion. He was still so far far away from me.
One day he'll be back, but today was not that day. However, I will be waiting for that day to come.