AN: Hello there! I wrote a little Pokemon One Shot :) I'm really happy with it, as I usually struggle to write stories, but this was done fairly quickly. Please consider rating and reviewing : (Also, sorry for the wonky formatting here! It looks better in the archive of our own version- the formatting stayed properly there. You can find it under the same username as this account, under the same title.
You watch him fly away, off into the sky above. It's filled with fluffy clouds, and they seem to roll away with him. The last you see is Zekrom disappearing into the clouds, and with that, it's finally over. N is gone, and you don't know when or if you'll see him again.
You suppose it's time you go claim your spot as champion, as you were supposed to in the first place.
For some reason, such an idea is… wrong now. All you can think about is what just happened, so for a few minutes, all you do is stand right there and watch as the clouds move ever onwards.
You wonder where it is those clouds are going.
•~~~~•
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•~~~~•
It's been 3 years. It's now 2012. Plasma showed up again, but you were so, so tired , and before you could even think of trying to dust off the old battling skills to fight them, some other kid pummeled them.
You suppose that means you can continue resting, but you still feel bad about it. If only you'd hurried up, maybe they wouldn't have had to fight Plasma themself. You did this once. You could've done it again!
You can practically feel the guilt gnawing at you for this.
It hurts.
On this particular day, you find yourself in Anville Town, listening to the gentle flute played by that same girl. She's always standing in the same spot with the same tune to play. Some things just never change, you suppose.
You stare at the train car down below, trying to deduce which one it is. You can't remember now, but you recall a time where Ingo brought you down here and told you all about them. That was a good day.
You look up for a moment, watching the sky. It's crystal clear, not a single cloud in sight. It's as if they've all gone away, paving their own paths forward.
Yet you're still in this same spot, listening to the same old song.
•~~~~•
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•~~~~•
At the tail end of the next year, it's December 10th. 2 months ago, you woke up and couldn't access the Dream World. It was weird. Nobody in Unova seemed to notice or care all that much, but you were still upset. You haven't gotten around to talking to Fennel about it, but she's probably distraught about it.
You're stopped in a cafe in Castelia City, not notable besides its "now hiring" sign, sipping at a coffee you definitely put too much creamer in.
It's not very good.
You shouldn't have been allowed to do this, but you don't feel like buying more.
There's a little window next to your seat, and you look out at the sun peeking over the city.
It's beautiful, the light filtering through each and every crack it can reach. It bathes everything in a golden glow, and you find you like it. Love it, maybe.
You'd never been a morning person as a kid. You preferred midday, the sweet spot between the drowsiness of early morning and the peace of late night. Nowadays, you're not sure what it is you like about the day. Lately, you're not even sure who you are supposed to be defined as.
Life just keeps moving forward, but you were never ready. Never ready to be catapulted into a journey, never ready to fight Team Plasma, never ready to become Champion..
Never ready to say farewell.
So many things change. In the blink of an eye so many things happen. Now Dream World is gone, your friends have moved on, life is going so fast.. and yet yet you still feel like the same old you.
What has changed about you ?
•~~~~•
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•~~~~•
You visit the Cafe again the next morning, and every morning after that up until Christmas. You sit in that same spot, watching clouds waft about the sky. You consider that question again and again as you sip the same order of coffee.
Outside, you see 2 people on the sidewalk having a small Pokemon battle. It reminds you a bit of the battle you and your friends had in your room that day. You wish, sometimes, you could go back, that you could be the bright-eyed kid you were back then. Sure, you were just about growing out of it at that age, but it was still there. The optimism and naivety was still… a part of you.
Maybe that's how you've changed. You feel the same but you're not. You're someone else now.
Maybe someone a bit worse.
You want to be the person you were. You want to live in the time you used to.
You want Dream World back, and you want your friends to stay in Nuvema, and you want N to turn around and come back and say something . You want time to stop going, you want it to stop abandoning you, you want the clouds to stop rolling away, mocking you as they slowly waft off into skies unknown. A place you cannot follow.
..where did the years go?
•~~~~•
-•|•-
•~~~~•
It's Christmas Day. Your mom isn't home. You don't know where she went.
You sit on your old bed in your old room. Your old wii is dusty, the screen of your old TV is dirty. Your old rug is worn. Your old blankets are fraying.
You wish they weren't.
You wish time would stop moving forwards. You wish the clouds would stay still for 5 seconds so you could stay where you used to be. You wish you could go back. For how much you wish you would change, you also hate the idea of it. Repulsed by the idea of time passing for even a second.
Snow blankets everything. Clouds cover the sky, as if it was never there.
You don't know what to think. Why haven't you done anything? Both your friends are successful. Even the kid who beat you has led a good life. Why are you sitting here ? Why were you so much better as a kid than you are now?
Alone and upset, you slump back and stare out the window next to your bed. You stare for ages, watching and waiting. You're so conflicted and distressed about everything you hadn't sat and actually thought about a solution.
You get an idea, all of a sudden.
•~~~~•
-•|•-
•~~~~•
It's January 14th, 2014. The Cafe you kept going to is open today, since there isn't snow to your knees anymore.
You open the door and step inside, noting the 'now hiring' sign once again. You walk up to the counter, and instead of the usual order..
you inquire.
Time is marching forward. The clouds may move, they may go where you can't.
That's OK.
Life is never always the same. Nothing is black and white, after all, and you don't have to compare to the person you used to be. You don't always have to be the very best.
There will always be constants, too. A little Cafe, nestled somewhere in Castelia town. Your messy room at your old house in Nuvema. Your team, who will always be by your side. Perhaps, one day the constants may change too, but you appreciate that they're here now.
You can grieve for the past, but you're done letting it cage you.
You stand behind that same cafe counter now, speaking to another regular. You smile, because finally, you are here in the present. You are not held up to the standard you once placed for yourself. There is no bar to reach, no challenge to clear.
You glance out one of the windows. The clouds dance along the path they take. The sun is peeking out through cracks in the skyline.
It bathes everything in a golden glow.
It bathes you too.