You will find the playlist for this chapter in the comments, I recommend reading this chapter while listening to it.
CH. 19: THE BONDS PART 2
Monday 11 October Evening / Cloudy
Promise
GLORIA POV
The brunette girl was standing in front of Mrs. Kleio's office door, she was quite worried.
Has Gloria was going to spend the afternoon with her friend Marnie, she had a short with Sonia, her class teacher.
Sonia asked her to come to see her in her office once she returned to the dormitory.
Despite her initial reluctance, the girl took courage and knocked on the door.
Knock Knock
"Come in, the doors open!" Sonia's voice kindly invited Gloria to enter.
"H-hi." Gloria greeted her timidly.
"Good evening, take a seat!" Sonia welcomed her student to sit.
"So... what did you want to talk about?" Gloria asked her straight to the point.
"Nothing in particular, I just wanted to check on you, that was all."
"How have you been holding up Gloria?" Sonia asked her in a thoughtful manner.
"Oh... was that's all… *phew*, that's a relief." Gloria whispered.
"Thank you for the kindness, Mrs. Kleio, I'm fine, of course, it is always difficult to wake up every day, knowing where Mum is now, but…" Gloria's voice stuttered a bit.
"But thanks to the support of the others, I can bear the current situation more easily than I would have alone." Gloria, confessed.
"Are you sure? You didn't start taking any special medications?" Sonia tried to be as ambiguous as possible with her question, failing miserably.
"Um, nothing in particular, why do you ask?" Gloria raised an eyebrow at the particular question.
"No-nothing, it's just that it's not uncommon to hear of people that had to take medication for a period of time, in order to cope with a stressful situation." Sonia rambled.
"R-rather, te-tell me a-about your companions? I am hoping that they are patient and understanding with you?" Sonia asked her, changing the course of the conversation.
"I couldn't ask for better friends, Victor in particular has helped me a lot lately, first with the incident at the station and now even all the current situation."
"Victor, Victor Sandmann right?" Sonia inquired.
"Yes..."
"..." Sonia was suddenly silent.
"D-did Victor get into some trouble by any chance?" Gloria asked with a worried tone.
"Um- NO, no, it's fine, it's just..." Sonia panicked a bit.
"It's just that… you see… last week, I-I saw you buying an alarming amount of vitamins with Victor." Sonia admitted with a serious expression.
"..." Gloria's heart stopped.
"If I'm not mistaken you were in Winscor station discount market, I was there to do a friend a favor, and there I saw you and Victor buying a lot of vitamins."
"... We..."
"What did you want to do with all those vitamins?" Sonia's voice took on a more authoritarian tone.
"Well... we ac - actually I ..." Gloria was sweating cold, her head was going haywire, trying to find the right words to say.
"Gloria, are you sick? Do you have a vitamin deficiency?" Sonia tried to press Gloria on the matter.
"I- I bought them, I bo-bought them to… I BOUGHT them TO REPLACE THOSE DAMN SUGARY DRINKS!" Gloria suddenly screamed.
"... What?" Sonia said confused.
"Y-yes, don't you know? V-vitamins are great substitutes for all those fizzy and sugary drinks." Gloria stated nervously.
"Not only do they contain less sugar, but they also keep their fruity flavor."
"... okay?" Sonia slowly replied, visibly confused.
"Ser-seriously if you find yourself having a hard time cutting up on sugary juices, just try the vitamins instead!" Gloria laughed awkwardly.
"I'll keep that in mind, actually, a friend of mine might find this advice useful." Sonia's tone softened.
"So... you don't have any health problems?" Sonia asked her again to be sure.
"Absolutely! I'm just fine." Gloria assured her red-haired teacher.
"Well, if there's nothing else, you wanna ask me, can I please return to my friends?" Gloria asked smiling.
"Of course, if you need anything or any advice, please do not hesitate to contact me or Milo, alright?." Sonia remarked her words, to which Gloria just nod in agreement.
"Having said that, you can go now, have a good evening." Sonia smiled.
"T-thank you for your concern, bye!" Gloria left the teacher's office with a certain rush.
"..." immediately after leaving the room, Gloria pauses for a moment to take a deep breath and rethink everything that just happened with a cool head.
Gloria looked around for a few seconds and after making sure she wasn't being watched by Sonia and someone else, she started running toward your room where you and everyone else were waiting for her.
NORMAL POV
Step
Four minutes later.
You, Hop, and Aion were in your room, while you were waiting for Gloria to start doing your homework, Hop had put a fails compilations video on Rotowatch.
The videos involved showed footage of people failing hilariously to complete an action or task.
"HAAHAHAHAHAHAA!" both you and Hop laughed out loud.
"Why are you laughing? That person just had an accident." Aion said seriously.
"Don't worry, the person is fine, look!" Hop reassures the alien about the integrity of the person.
"Ok, but is it still ok to laugh about such incidents? Aside from the physical damage that the person has suffered, his car also sustained minor damage." the alien remarked.
"After such an accident, the state of his car is the least of his problems, trust me!" Hop joked.
"Fortunately, the accident was not serious, but still." you added, making a tense expression.
"See the thing that made us laugh was the absurd situation that led to this situation, it was quite unwary of the driver to perform such a stunt on such a small road." you explained to him.
"If the person got hurt or... died, this surely would have been a completely different kind of video, the fact that he survived unscathed is what makes the video funny." continued Hop.
"… But laughing at the misfortunes of others isn't a little insensitive?" asked Aion.
"It's complicated to explain. But most of our human comedy hinges on the misfortunes and faults of others." Hop added.
"I see-"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Tension
"Hey guys! Open up!" Gloria's alarmed voice could be heard outside the room.
You hurry to open the door to the girl, as soon as the door opens Gloria rushes in and shut your bedroom door frantically.
"Red Alert! Red Alert!" Gloria said in a screamed whisper.
"What's going on!" Hop jumped alerted.
"What happened? Did you talk to Sonia?" you asked her.
"Well yeah, apparently she caught us buying the multivitamins!" Gloria said, leaving you, Hop and Aion astonished.
"WHAT! WHEN ?!" you and Hop yell in unison.
"SHHHHHHHH! Easy!" Gloria motioned to the two of you to lower your voice.
"Oh, sorry ... so? What else does she know?" you ask the girl.
"Did she by any chance stalk us to the Wild Area?" Aion asked worriedly.
"Not that I know... but it doesn't seem like it, I don't think she followed us."
"Where had she seen us?" you asked the girl that she didn't answer your original question.
"Apparently it was at the mini market near Winscor station, I forgot what she was doing in that borough." explained Gloria.
"So she didn't see you guys heading toward the woods, right?" Hop asked.
"I don't know, I don't know, but again… I don't think she has." murmured Gloria.
"Well, then I don't see where lies the problem." Hop told her with a shrugging of his shoulder.
"Of course, you don't, but the rest of us are not idiots like you!" Gloria, nervous, taunted Hop harshly.
"HEY!" Hop expressed his disagreement.
"Gloria is right Hop, if someone ends up following us, they would end up discovering the Wild Area." you sided with the girl.
"In the worst case scenario, a person without Pokesoul could end up in the Darkest Den, left alone and helpless surrounded by hostile Shadows." Aion added to the conversation.
"Well, of course, I took that into consideration to…" Hop lied.
"* sigh * what should we do now?" Gloria turned to you.
"Simple, that lot of land is property of the Macro Cosmos, we will delegate this case to the chairman, rather how do we behave with Sonia now?" you quickly answered.
"Right... I think she does suspect us, she thinks that I'm sick and that I'm hiding it from her." said Gloria.
"Sick?" Hop echoed Gloria's words.
"Yeah, she even thought I was having some illness due to recent events..."
"Of course, I did reassure her of the opposite, but..."
"Uhmm, Aion what do you think?" you asked the alien.
"..." the alien took a few seconds to think.
"Do you think by any chance that miss Kleio will follow us from now on?" the alien asked you all.
"No, I strongly doubted it." you replied.
"Then I would say leave the case to the chairman as planned, of course from now on we will proceed with caution." finally concluded Aion.
"... well, for now this seems like the only path to take." Hop admitted.
"..." you and Gloria, remaining silent.
After discussing for another quarter of an hour on the issue, and after finishing your homework, despite the arisen issue, you spend a peaceful evening in the company of your friends, until it was bedtime.
Tuesday 12 October Afternoon / Cloudly
Crossover
The next day after school, you were heading to Puntera together with Hop, the both of you were carrying some boxes.
"Thanks a lot, Victor, what will I do without you, my savior!" Hop playfully told
"Come on, stop it." you jokingly scolded him.
You and Hop were heading toward the ethnic neighborhood of Puntera.
After the afternoon Aikido classes, on the way back to the dormitory, Hop's mother called him to ask him a favor, the woman had sent some packages to Hop's aunt who lived in Puntera.
Due to some complications with the delivery, the packages were accidentally sent to the post office in Southern Wyndon, instead.
"Isn't your school closer to that post office?" you remember Ms. Mercury telling Hop through the phone.
The woman urgently asked her son to go and collect the packages and deliver them directly to her sister-in-law.
After his mother sent him the necessary pieces of information to go collect the deliveries, Hop snorting told you and Gloria to go ahead and wait for him at the station.
After getting to the post office, though, Hop discover that there were too many boxes for him to carry, so he called you asking for a helping hand.
You headed straight to the post office, while Gloria and Marnie decided to go ahead and wait for you at the dorm.
"But seriously, thanks man, unfortunately, it's typical of my mother to do things kind of things." Hop complained.
"Don't worry about it, my mom is like that too." you tried to console your friend.
"Anyway, what did Gloria have to do that was so urgently?" Hop asked you.
"If I'm not mistaken, she had to buy a small notebook for her Kalosi language lessons." you informed him.
"Kalosi?"
"Yeah, I think she chose that as, her second after-school activity."
"I see, what about you, have you already decided which second extracurricular activity to take?" Hop asked you.
"No, I'm still undecided, you?" you asked him back.
"Me too, but we still have time to think about it, don't we?." you and Hop keep talking about other various topics.
A quarter of an hour later.
"Here are we, finally, my aunt's apartment must be on this street." Hop said checking around in the search for a street sign.
The residential neighborhood where Hop's aunt lived seemed to be the most populated in all of Wyndon, full of apartments and small businesses, such as kiosks, cafés, bakeries, etc.
"Aunt's apartment... shoul-"
"Hop!" you and Hop were surprised by a female voice, you turn to see your interlocutor, it was a young adult woman with a tanned complexion and black short hair.
"Hop, OMG you have grown so much buddy!." the woman expressed with an enthusiastic tone.
"Shyama?!" Hop exclaimed surprised.
"Lil Hop, how are you doing?" the woman asked him.
"Wow, I'm fine, thanks, and you?"
"Well enough, thanks, I didn't know you were back in Wyndon, are you here with your family?" Shyama keeps asking him questions out of curiosity.
"No, it's just me this time, my parents stayed in Postwick with my grandparents," Hop told her.
"You could have at least warned us that you were coming back, you really are like your brother!" the woman teased Hop.
"Hehehe oops." Hop laughed awkwardly.
"Now that I think about it, lately he has been getting more and more attention, I just hope he still has time for you." Shyama said.
"..." at the mention of his brother, Hop fell silent for a second.
"If you meet him one of these days, remember to say hello to him for me." Shyama told him.
"Yes, yes, sure, don't worry." Hop replied with a smile.
"Perfect, oh yeah, I could do the same with Shyamala!" Shyama chuckled.
"EHM! Shy-Shya- Shyamala!" Hop lost his composure, nearly dropping the boxes he was holding.
"* phew * that was close." Hop heaved a sigh of relief after saving the packages that were about to fall.
"What's that Hop? Don't you feel like meeting my lil sister?" the tone of the woman's voice changed radically, from a calm tone to a passive-aggressive voice.
"N-no i-it's not like that, it's just th-"
"And just what?" Shyama seems to get angrier and angrier.
"I-it's j-just th-that..." while Hop tries to finish the sentence Shyama approaches him, more and more threateningly, Hop remained paralyzed.
"It's just..." the woman raised her hand ready to slap him.
"HOP!" you shout, trying to make the boy move.
Instead of slapping him, the woman pulls his cheeks and bursts out laughing heartily.
"*pfuuu* AHAHAAAAHA!"
"DAMN YOU SHYAMA! IT'S NOT FUNNY!" a rather irritated Hop yells at her.
"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't resist, AHAHAHAHAHAHA" Shyama told him while she was still laughing.
"Hop you haven't changed at all, it's always so easy to get you cornered." Shyama wiped a tear from the too much laughter.
"Sorry it seems that you have some errands to run, I'll let you go now."
"YES go and make sure to never come back!" Hop yelled furiously.
"Harsh dude, sorry if I haven't introduced myself, Hop's friend, I'm Shyama, I'm a family friend of the Mercury's, pleased to meet you."
"O-oh my name is Victor, my pleasure…"
"Ok I'll let you guys go, take care."
"Hop." Shyama called out to the boy.
"What?" Hop replied sourly.
"I was trying to tease you before, but I was also very serious." the woman's voice returned seriously for the moment.
"..." Hop fell silent again.
"I know why you don't want to meet her, but... come on Hop, it's been more than five years, right?" Shyama told him.
"Think about it, I'm sure Shyamala will be happy to meet you again."
"... I'll think about it." Hop answered.
"Think about it, then goodbye." having said that, the woman parted way with you.
"..."
"So?" you said to Hop.
"Nothing, * sigh * let's bring these packages to my aunt." he muttered.
After the meeting with Shyama, you and Hop take the packages to his aunt.
Later.
After delivering the packages to Hop's aunt, she gave you some typical johtonese food as a "Thank You" gift.
You were now returning to the dormitory.
"Hey Victor... about the meeting with Shyama... you see she, as she mentioned before, her's and our family are linked by a deep friendship." Hop was explaining to you as you were walking towards the Goalwick dormitory.
"You see not only are they family friends but the Nilakkaris, Shyama's family... how to say... our two families had to get intertwined."
This latest information leaves you astonished.
"Both Leon and I should have married the Nilakkari daughters, Shyama and Shyamala." Hop kept explaining.
"... and Shyamala, she was my ex-girlfriend."
"Ex?"
"Yeah... ex."
"What happened between you and her?"
"... it's not something I feel ready to tell you yet." Hop honestly admitted.
"I see..." you said, understanding his choice.
"Thank you, hey look! We have already arrived, who knows how the others are doing." Hop said.
"Anyway, thanks for today, pal, you didn't hesitate a second when I asked you for help, thank you." Hop smiled.
Your mind gets filled with the mental image of an orange card for an instant.
THE EXCHANGER ARCANA. RANK 03
You spent the rest of the evening with Hop and the others as usual.
Thursday 14 October Morning / Rainy
SONIA POV
Sonia was in the teacher's office preparing for her history lesson.
"Miss Kleio."
"Yes." the young woman answered the elderly female voice that called her.
"How can I help you, grandma?"
"Headmaster Kleio for you, miss." the old woman said in a solemn tone.
"* sigh * how can I help you, headmaster Kleio?"
"Much better, I wanted to know if you had prepared adequately for your presentation at the University of Wyndon?" the headmaster Kleio asked her.
"Yes, don't worry, everything is going well." Sonia said with a smile.
"Very well, I am pleased to hear this, remember that this presentation of yours is very important for your future political career."
"...Yes mam'..."
"Excellent, so make sure you don't make any mistakes, but above all try to keep up the name of the Kleio." the elderly woman remarked.
"Of course granm- er, I meant headmaster Kleio." Sonia corrected herself immediately, nevertheless, her grandmother did not spare her the reproachful look.
"* sigh * please, Sonia, be careful." the elderly woman warned her granddaughter.
"Well, I'm going back to the office, have a nice day."
"Y-you too, headmaster!" Sonia stood up to see her grandmother off.
After her grandmother left to return to her duties, the red-haired girl dropped, exhausted, onto her chair.
"* huff * good grief...".
NORMAL POV
Afternoon / Storm
At Mr. Izanagi's dojo.
"Well for today's lesson we will focus on the use of these staffs called Jō." your sensei Kabu Izanagi, was giving his Aikido lessons as usual.
"The Jō belong to the so-called category of staff weapons, these types of weapons were used as a last resort weapon by members of society that lacked military training like peasant." Kabu explained.
"A less warlike use, on the other hand, was made by the monks of the various oriental schools of meditation, who generally rejected any form of excessive violence, the monks were instructed in form of martial arts that avoided killing or inflicted heavy damage to the aggressor when possible."
"As a matter of fact, it is from these religious philosophies like those, that the modern Aikido was born."
As Mr. Izanagi continued with his monologue, Gloria leaned over to speak to you.
"I still can't believe that both Hop and Marnie have decided to drop out of the course." Gloria brought up.
"At least they could have warned us." the girl complained.
"Hop had already let me know about his perplexities regarding the course, Marnie on the other hand..." Gloria said.
"Well, what do you wanna do about it, in the end, that was their decisions." you told her.
"What are your plans, Victor? Are you planning to leave the course in the future as well?" Gloria asked you.
"I don't think so, I have no reason to do it, what about you?" you ask her in turn.
"Me neither, I like Aikido, I discovered this martial art from a cartoon I used to watch as a child, it was called Heracross King, and I wanted to learn it ever sinc-." explained Gloria.
"Mr. Sandmann, Miss Tyr, do you mind?!" Kabu called your name.
"Sorry!" you and Gloria apologize to Mr. Izanagi.
"As I was saying, the Jō disarming techniques are commonly known as Jō Tori, these were used to disarm in particular spear wielder and in more modern time even to disarm rifle wielder." your sensei said as he mimicked the attack of a spear.
"Come on, Charles, help me with some demonstration!"
The two positioned themselves facing each other, Mr. Izanagi's assistant had the role of attacker, while Kabu had to act as the disarmer.
"Like any main Aikido technique, you must first put yourself in a position where you not only avoid the attacker's aggression, but you must also be in a position that gives you the advantage for counterattacking."
Mr. Izanagi explained as he gestured to his assistant to push the staff towards him.
In order to show you how to avoid the attack, the sensei stepped aside where he could not only avoid the attack but also grab the opponent's weapon and turn it against him.
"See, like this!" Kabu said as he got back into his original position.
"Now I'll have you rewatch me again, Charles, ready?"
"OK, again, when you get attacked, you have to ca- ARGGH!" Kabu suddenly kneels in pain on the floor.
" !" Charles shouted, trying to help your sensei from falling on his back.
All of you stood up shocked, you got close to your sensei to ensure his condition, and while the others remained standing, you and Charles aided Kabu.
"Are you okay, Mr. Izanagi? What's wrong?" you asked him worriedly.
"N-no nothing, I'm fine, d-don't worry about me..." Kabu tried reassuring you and the other students.
"I think it's just a common low back pain due to advancing age... nothing serious ..." Kabu chuckles nervously, he was sweating profoundly.
"Common or not, it's not wise to leave you in this condition, wait a minute I'm trying to contact an ambulance." Charles insisted as he dialed the hospital number on his cell phone.
"An ambulance? N-no, no ambulance is needed, Charles!" Kabu tries to reassure his assistant.
"What are you talking about, of course is needed… yes, hello, Joy Nightingale Hospital?"
"Nightingale?!" Kabu exclaimed nervously.
"Yes, we have an emergency!" Charles communicates with the operator on the other side of the phone.
"Tch Victor, do me a favor, get Charles to hang up the phone, he's exaggerating." Kabu began to lose his temper.
"But-but why ar-"
"Please Victor, I swear I'm fine, you don't have to worry that much." begged you Kabu.
"I don't know…" you replied hesitantly.
"Our current position is the Twin Kin-"
"CHARLES, DAMN IT, I TOLD YOU THAT I'M FINE!" Kabu bellowed furiously at his assistant.
Silence fell in the room.
"ugh ... ugh ..." Kabu used all the air in his lungs for that last shout.
"Hello Hello?" the silence was interrupted by the voice coming from the other side of the phone.
"Er, yes..." Charles resumed talking to the 'operator of the hospital.
"Ugh... please, Victor... I beg you to stop him." begged you, Kabu.
"* gulp * are you really s-sure?" you ask him one last final time.
"Please..."
"..." you look at Kabu's desperate expression, then you turn your gaze to the other worried students and Gloria, and after a moment of hesitation, you get closer to Charles.
"Like I said... huh? What now Victor?" the guy asked you.
"Please end the call." you interrupt the assistant.
"This is no time for kidding, Mr. Izana-"
"I understand your worries but don't worry, I'm sure the sensei has his own reasons," you told him.
"But..."
"Trust him, end the call, if things get worse we'll call the hospital right away."
"... * sigh * ...yes hello?, ehm I would like to cancel my request for the ambulance... yes ... it seems that the situation is not so serious after all... yes..." while Charles canceled the requested ambulance at the hospital you approach Kabu to ascertain the conditions.
"Satisfied?" you asked your sensei with a rather irritated voice.
"Yes, thank you very much... I'm very very grateful to you."
You feel the trust that Mr. Izanagi places in you.
Your mind gets filled with the mental image of an orange card for an instant.
The Spirit
THE CALMER ARCANA RANK 03
"..."
"I don't understand you... why didn't you want me to call the ambulance, sensei?" Charles asked frustrated.
"... the ambulance... I don't want the ambulance to be mobilized for me... just for a patient with back pain, while another person in worse condition could lose his life."
"... I understand, but..."
"Come on, just help me move." Kabu was helped by you and Charles to get up.
"Let me lie down in the school infirmary, for you others the Aikido lessons end today." having said that, the lessons ended.
Later, as you and Gloria walked home in the rain.
"Today was, well, damn..." Gloria was reminiscing about today's Aikido lessons.
"Yeah..."
"What do you think got into him?" Gloria asked you.
"I don't know, he did say that he didn't want to be a burden, but still, his reaction was kinda exaggerated." you laid out your thought to Gloria.
"I think it is due to some trauma of his." speculated Gloria.
"A traumatic event, you say, that might be."
"Good evening." a familiar voice greets you.
"Wassup, Aion."
"Yo!" you and Gloria reciprocate the greetings, Aion was not alone, he was together with Beet, your new companion.
"* Gasp * Beet, what are you doing here?!" Gloria vocalized her surprise.
"Why the surprise?" Beet wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, you haven't been to school these last few days, so let's just say we were pretty worried." Gloria said smiling.
"W-wha?!" taken by surprise by the words of the girl, Beet blushed.
"Did I embarrass you? Hahahahaha." Gloria laughed.
"Stop laughing, it's nothing funny." Beet bellowed embarrassed.
"Anyway, what did you what from us?" you asked Beet with an annoyed voice.
"... Oh... you were here too?" Beet replied with an annoyed expression, all the embarrassment the boy felt had disappeared in an instant.
"... tch." the last comment of him irritated you, but you don't show it because you turned your face so as not to be seen by Beet.
"Anyway, I was here to remind you of tomorrow, nothing else." Beet informed you.
"Having said that, I'm going, see you tomor-"
"Wait, how is your leg holding up?" Gloria asked the boy.
"..." the boy turned pale.
"Beet... are you alright?" the silence of the latter worried both Gloria and you.
"D-don't worry about me, I'll tell you everything tomorrow, anyway I have to go now, see you tomorrow." Beet said as he headed for the S-Bus station.
"S-see you tomorrow." Gloria bid farewell to the platinum-haired boy.
"... Who knows what gotten to him, I hope it's nothing serious." Gloria expressed her concerns.
"What's up with him Aion?" you ask the alien who until recently was with Beet.
"He mentioned something to me about his injury to his right leg, but like you, he didn't tell me anything." Aion told you.
"..."
SB5 to Scorenwell, SB5 to Scorenwell
You and your friends take the upcoming S-Bus to return home.
Evening / Cloudly
Later that evening, during dinner.
"Wow, all this happened today?" Hop was in awe as you told him about today's events.
"We really don't know why he had that reaction, we assume he had some traumatic event of sort." gossiped Gloria.
"Of course, I can hardly believe it, but it seems that every time I'm not there, something interesting happens."
"I wouldn't consider this an interesting event if I were you." you say in a reprehensible tone.
"Yes, sure, you know what I meant, do not lecture me!" Hop groans before bringing a spoonful of rice to his mouth.
Today's dinner was Mediterranean-themed, Hop had risotto for dinner, Gloria and Aion were eating tagliatelle with ragù, while you were enjoying a plate of carbonara.
"On the other hand, have you found another activity to take part in?" Gloria asked her friend.
"Um, I think I'll start taking parkour lessons!" Hop enthusiastically announced.
"Parkour? Nice, where did you find such a course?" you asked him, curious.
"On the internet, of course, the course takes place in the Sporthall in Puntera."
"And it's entirely run by young people." explained Hop.
"Aikido is cool and all, sure, but how to say, it's too slow for me."
"After the fight against Shadow Mary, I noticed that when it comes to speed, we kinda sucks." Hop acknowledge.
"I think that training my speed and agility would be of great benefit to the group, what do you think?"
"Yes, yours is not a bad idea, everyone should bring their own unique skills to contribute to the cause." Gloria sided with Hop.
"When are you going to join?" you asked him.
"I've been invited for a trial day next week so that I can see if is it something for me."
The conversation continued until the end of the dinner.
Later
Later while you were watching some movies with the other students you take a moment to go to the bathroom, after exiting the bathroom on your way back to the common room you meet Sonia.
"O-oh good evening Victor."
"G-good evening to you, miss Kleio." you replied nervously.
"It's been a while, I haven't seen you around recently." you told her.
"Yeah, I had a lot on my plate lately, how are you guys holding on with the substitute teacher and Mr. Jibril?" Sonia asked you.
"They are fine, when are you going to come back?" you asked her.
"Well, I just finished my essay presentation today, so next week I will surely come back." she reassured you.
"You had an essay presentation? That's cool, what was it about?"
"The essay was about the Evolution of the Education System in Galar, sadly it didn't go that well if I have to be honest." Sonia made a nervous smile.
"Uh? Why is that?"
"Huh? Oh, don't worry about it, it's complicated anyway..." she answered.
"I see, well then I will take my leave, have a nice eveni-"
"Wait Victor!" Sonia stopped you.
"Y-yes?"
"This is about Gloria, I'm worried about her..." Sonia told you.
You gulped in preparation for the interrogation.
"Lately you, her, Hop, and Aion have been always together, right?"
"Then you should know something that she isn't telling me." Sonia's tone of voice got more severe.
"Tell me, is she really doing ok?"
END OF CHAPTER 19
CONFIDANTS
0. The Trainer (Victor): Rank 3
1. The Exchanger (Hop): Rank 3
4. The Determiner (Aion): Rank 1
5. The Calmer (Kabu): Rank 3
7. The Conqueror (Gloria): Rank 2
12. The Empathazier (Milo): Rank 1
19. The Saver (Leon): Rank 1
Author's Note
Hei kaverit, sorry for the long absence I had a pretty busy summer, but here we are ready again to start over.
During the break, I managed to publish the first chapter of my new project, Pokemon World History, if you are interested in the lore and a more complete vision of the Pokemon world (unofficial of course) I invite you to go and read it. Like always, I invite you to leave your opinion or critic in the comment, check the Deviantart account and the Pokesona Instagram account, and the playlists for the music can be found on my Youtube channel. And with that said stay safe and until next month, farewell