Glaseado Mountain.
Often called the frosted tip of Paldea, it stands as the tallest mountain in the region, boasting its highest peaks and coldest areas. Even amid the hot summer, the mountain was always covered in snow, with snowfall sprinkling down even into the neighboring routes.
It was an area so cold and desolate that few Paldeans made their home here, with the only settlement being the candle-lit town on Montenevera. Of course, most of the people living here have had family in Montenevera for generations, and so were well versed to the cold.
But then there was one lonely exception to the rest.
The Glaseado Gym was run by Grusha, one of the eight Gym Leaders. The only Gym to not surround itself with a town or city, it sat alone at the edge of the mountain. Nobody was completely sure why Grusha chose to make his Gym so reclusive compared to the others (nor why the League approved such a remote location) but everyone had their guesses.
The only attractions surrounding the Gym were its Battle Court, frequently commented to look like some sort of ice rink, and a lone Pokémon Center on the hill above. Rumors persisted that the Pokémon Center attendants received a triple salary deal from the League to make up for the harsh conditions they're assigned to.
This part of the mountain saw few visitors on the regular. Hikers and backpackers might stop inside for a hot cup of coffee. Challengers would eventually find their way here seeking a badge from Grusha, and residents of the nearby Montenevera would make the trek downwards to watch these battles play out. But otherwise, it was a mostly desolate spot.
Quite a funny place then, to see Medali's Gym Leader.
Larry clutched his thick black coat as he trudged down the path that led from Montenevera. It wasn't snowing at this part of the mountain, but the wind could pick up harshly for a few moments. Larry's normally used to the cold, living in a city that often experiences trickling winds from Dalizapa Passage. But then again, it was rare that he found himself this high up on the mountain.
He squinted his eyes, struggling to see in front of him, but his beacon came in the form of a familiar voice.
"Well, well, well. Look who finally discovered the miracle of coats!"
Larry snickered. This was a much more pleasant first interaction than he had been dreading.
Once the snowy wind had cleared, he could see his ex-lover sitting calmly at a table ahead of him. It was one of two tables set up in that spot near the Pokémon Center.
Katy happened to be accompanied by a Snom on the table and a Scizor standing behind her.
"And where's your coat? I was expecting to find you inside the Gym."
"Like a well-made cake, I have many layers of protection."
Larry stepped forward with a smile. But suddenly, in a flash, the Scizor behind Katy jumped out of sight and swiftly reappeared in front of Larry.
"Gah!"
"SCIZZOR…!" The Scizor raised its claw at Larry and growled threateningly. Larry felt a drop of sweat on the back of his neck.
"Down, girl," Katy sternly commanded it. "Larry's good. He's a friend."
Scizor leered at Larry warily.
"Scizzo…"
With a look that said it still didn't completely trust this person it had only met once before in distressing circumstances, Scizor nodded and leapt into the air, appearing once again behind Katy's back.
Larry nervously approached again.
"…Am I right to assume this is the mighty Lizzy I've heard so much about?"
Katy nodded.
"Scizz?" Lizzy said curiously.
"It's nice to meet you outside of your Poké Ball for once."
Uttering a murmur of realization, as if realizing that she recognized Larry's voice well, Lizzy bowed and gave a sheepish "Scizor…"
Katy giggled. Larry cracked a smile.
Having broken the ice, Larry looked right at Katy as he said…
"I'm sorry." He kicked some snow around his feet. "I'm really sorry, about what happened. I let my temper get the best of me, and said a lot of things that I regret. I want to say that I didn't mean any of those things I said, but… I know in that moment that I did mean them, and that's what I want to apologize the most for. I'm…" He paused to take a deep breath. "I'm not very good at expressing myself openly. I'm so used to bottling things up. And I'm not the best listener either. These are all things I know I have to work on."
Katy nodded softly.
"I'm sorry too," she admitted. "I don't have the best hold over my emotions either and I just… let them all out without thinking." She chuckled at herself. "I think it's been quite the month for realizing that about myself. I just got really hot and bothered. And I said a lot of things without considering your feelings…"
"So we're both a couple of screw-ups," Larry remarked.
Katy laughed. "Pretty much!"
Larry laughed along with her. Now that the ice seemed firmly melted, Larry felt at ease to walk over and talk more informally. His eyes were drawn to the Snom sitting on Katy's tabletop.
"And who's this fellow? Another old friend?"
"No! This is a brand new family member." Katy gave Snom some scritches on its chin, to which it cooed affectionately. "In fact, this Snom is the reason I came all the way up here. I've… tossed around the idea of training a Frosmoth for my Gym team before. I want to try some new things, so I decided to ask Grusha for his help in finding one and learning how to raise it."
"I see… Wait a minute." Curious, Larry decided to take an open seat. He recoiled for a second at just how cold the chair was on his bottom, but slowly adjusted to it after a few seconds. "I thought you weren't going to be a Gym Leader anymore." Katy beamed at him. "You changed your mind?"
"I did. I talked things through Geeta, and things are going to be much different now." She withered for a few seconds before deciding to proceed forward with this. "Geeta actually… she came all the way down to town just to visit me."
Larry's eyes flared up. "She did? Without making it an appointment? That's… so unlike her."
"It was… a very personal conversation we had, so I can't tell you the specifics of what we talked about. I hope you understand that."
Larry nodded. "I respect that you told me that so… I won't make a fuss of prying."
"Thank you," Katy said with a smile. "It wasn't just her actually, a bunch of my friends in Cortondo all gathered to tell me how special my Gym is for the whole town. You can't say no to all that," she chuckled. "But the most important thing is that I have free reign now, and my confidence is up again. In fact… more than that. I feel really, really excited for what's coming next!"
"That's great! That's—that's wonderful."
"Yeah! So now I'm thinking hard about how to take things forward, and I've… actually come up with something, sort of inspired by Geeta herself. I'm going to start experimenting with… having different teams to suit the level of whoever's challenging me. I'll have one team of smaller Pokémon for the students that come from Uva to challenge me. But for ones who already have more than a few badges under their belt, that's where I'm going to bring out the heavier hitters. Like my Heracross, Ursaring and… maybe even this Snom when it's all big and strong!"
Snom chirped in a unique voice that sounded like icicles chiming.
"Of course, then you have Lizzy here…" She looked up affectionately at her red-plated partner. "She might be a little too powerful to take on most Trainers except for the rare elites!"
Lizzy grumbled bashfully.
"So she's going to help me train up some of these new partners of mine for the battles ahead! This time, with her help…" Katy balled her fist up in a show of confidence. "I'm not going to let anything hold me back ever again!"
"That's amazing! I'm so happy for you," Larry beamed. "And scaling your teams, huh? That's… that's a very creative way to cover all your bases." He crossed his arms thoughtfully. "I wonder… is that something all of us could start doing?"
"Ooooh!" Katy cooed. "Geeta did ask me to help in enhancing our League's engagement. Maybe if this works out, I should bring it up to her at some point."
Larry chuckled. Then he frowned slightly. "Geeta…"
Katy stopped smiling and drew a worried look, afraid that she'd triggered something in him.
But, to her surprise, he just chuckled again.
"Maybe I am improving. That's the first time in forever I was able to think of her name without feeling my whole spine rattle." He drew a very calm breath and smirked a little.
"You have grown," Katy remarked in surprise.
"I'm starting to really see it now, I think. I got so used to blaming her for everything bad I was going through…" He closed his eyes. "But I think I need to accept that… I was also too scared to change anything. This whole time, I could've been pushing harder too."
"I know what you mean," Katy admitted. "I let all of that anger and resentment in me boil up, and then I spewed it all out on her, just like I did with you, because I tricked myself into believing that would fix everything. I still feel awful for what I did…"
Larry crossed his arms on the table, allowing Snom to nuzzle against them, as he ruminated on both their musings.
Finally, a funny look crept up on his face, and he started to snicker. Katy looked at him puzzlingly.
He looked up at her and remarked, "Why did it take us breaking up to finally start thinking like adults?"
Katy chortled. "I guess we just needed that time alone to really get to know ourselves."
After a pause, Larry asked "And where are we now?"
"…I don't know," Katy admitted. "I'll be honest, I… I think I still need to figure these things out before I can think about anything else."
"Me too," Larry agreed. "Actually… that's the other thing I came to see you about."
"Hmm?"
"You deserve to know. I'm finally making a move. To take control of my life." He breathed a big, anxious sigh. "I've taken up Geeta's offer… And I've set a meeting with her tomorrow."
"That's… soon!" said Katy, eyes wide.
"She said it was the best day to meet where we wouldn't be rushed," he shrugged.
"How do you feel right now?"
Larry squared his shoulders up as he thought about it for a second. "I feel… fine. In fact, this might be weird to say but I'm… actually looking forward to it. To the possibility of being able to talk with her on a more open level."
"That's great," Katy smiled. "I can't tell you what to do. I hope whatever you decide is all your own decision."
"It will be," Larry affirmed.
"Good."
"That being said… I still want to ask you something that will help a lot in making a decision."
Katy crossed her arms on the table. "Alright. Shoot."
"…What am I best at?"
Katy's eyes fluttered a bit at the surprise of such a broad question.
"Well… a lot of things," she answered.
"Sure, but… specifically. My duties with the Pokémon League. You know me… probably better than anyone else in Paldea at this point, if I'm being perfectly honest. So, with everything that I do… serving as a Gym Leader, an Elite Four member…"
"…"
A few minutes passed. Katy took her time to really formulate an opinion. Larry waited patiently, occasionally indulging the Snom whenever it wanted someone's finger to caress.
Katy made some faces of hemming and hawing. Eventually, she came upon something to ask.
"I know I've asked you this before, and I know you told me about how it's all baked into your contract. But… you're asking me to weigh in on a choice between giving up being a Gym Leader or being an Elite Four member. … Have you ever put any serious stock into the question of whether you would give up your office job?"
"My office job?" he reared back.
"Yeah."
"No. Because it's… like you just said? My other duties were all embedded into the contract I made as a worker. So if I gave that up, I'd have to give up being part of the League altogether. And I don't want that."
"Soooo, what about renegotiating your contract?"
"Renegotiating my—" Larry scoffed. "Geeta would never allow that. It's the one thing that's too delicate."
"Hmmmm, can you really be so sure of that?"
"Why wouldn't I be? She wouldn't even hear of having my workload reduced before. That's how vital she sees my position as."
"Yeah, but…" Katy stopped herself, knowing she was about to argue a point she couldn't fully defend. "I told you I met with her. She… well, she… I think her feelings towards matters like that might be a bit more complex now."
Larry raised an eyebrow. "Complex? What does that mean? … You still don't want to tell me what you two talked about, right?"
Katy nodded.
"Alright. Then… I'll ask you this one thing. In confidence."
"Okay."
"If I was to go so crazy as to… quit my desk job, and for the record, I don't even know how much I would want to do that. Especially since I've never felt allowed to consider that a possibility. But say if I were to raise something that extreme with her… do you genuinely think I could make that happen?"
Katy thought on it for a few seconds, and then smiled confidently.
"I will divulge one thing upon you: she seems to be in a very retrospective mood right now. Trying to figure out how to move forward as a more collaborative team and all that. I think she wants to get better at listening to others. So with that in mind… whatever it is that you want, if you were determined enough, and you went in there, proved your case, with all your heart…"
…
"As long as you never lose that drive… I really think you could make her listen."
"…Interesting," was Larry's only response.
The two sat there alone, enjoying each other's company, until they began to hear footsteps ambling through the snow.
They both looked over to see Grusha slowly walking up the path from his Gym, carrying a tray of steaming cupped drinks in his gloved hands.
He stopped short at a nearby table and put the drinks down there. With a slight wince on his face, he stretched out his right ankle. Then, he picked up two of the drinks and brought them over.
"Here. I made some hot chocolate."
"Thanks, Grusha!" Katy smiled.
"Thank you," said Larry. "Just what I needed."
Grusha picked up another cup, filled with hot tea made specially for Pokémon, and handed it to Lizzy. Lizzy sniffed the cup to inspect it, took a sip, and gave a grunt of satisfaction.
Snom looked between everyone getting special treats and began to chirp frantically. Grusha leaned down to it.
"Here you go, little guy." He reached into his pocket and took out a cookie. Much to Katy and Larry's confusion, he crushed it up into pieces.
He then whipped up a snowball from the ground with his gloves, grabbed the cookie crumbs, and mixed them in with the snowball, before holding it up to the Worm Pokémon. Snom cried out in joy and began nomming down on the cookie-infused ball.
Grusha looked at them as he explained, "Smom loves to eat snow. It mostly prefers to eat fresh snow off the ground. That snow is what helps it grow and nourish itself."
"Interesting," said Katy. "I guess until it's fully grown up, I should consider taking it here more often."
"You should also shower it with lots of love," said Grusha.
"Well that was going to go without saying!"
"Snom craves the affection of a Trainer, and it only evolves when it's really happy and formed a tight bond with you. From what I've read, it feels the most happy and eager at night, so that's when most Snom Trainers try to help it to evolve."
"Sounds like you're going to have to plan more weekend retreats here," Larry joked.
Katy playfully scowled at the little bug. "You're lucky that you're really cute and I already decided you were going to be on my team five seconds after meeting you."
"Snom-om!" Snom chirped happily as it continued munching.
Grusha next turned to Larry, and moved his face in a way that Larry believed he was smiling at him from under his scarf.
"Hello, Larry. It's been a long time."
"It has. I don't remember the last time you and I talked. You're rarely at the League parties."
"Not really my scene," he acknowledged. "So umm, Katy told me about her recent struggles as a Gym Leader, and your struggles with… everything."
"…Right."
Grusha put his hands in his pockets and looked ahead to the Glaseado Gym, which was practically eye-level from up on that hill.
"You know, up until recently, I was letting myself get pretty stagnant with my Gym. Not many people ever come by here, which I like because I prefer the quiet and remote. Most of the Challengers I face already have a team ready to take on you guys in the Elite Four, because they beat all the other Gyms and did a bunch more battles before finally finding mine. So I would just go through the paces, battle with my team, give them their badge, and move on."
"He's already told me most of this," Katy whispered to Larry. "He realized we came from common ground."
"It was kind of rocky…" Grusha lamented. "Because at first, I looked deep inside myself and I realized I was still pretty bitter that my greatest love in life had been taken from me since that accident I had. Then I ended up having a battle that… reminded me of how I used to be. The love I had for the sport, and the board. I realized I could find that love again in battling, just like that Trainer. I could become stronger, and put more of myself into it!"
His head flopped down. "Of course, then that bitterness melted into anxiety. I knew Geeta had already scolded me a bunch of times about not taking my duties seriously. I got all up in my own head, and got all scared that if I failed the next Gym inspection, then Geeta would take the rest of my talents away and I'd have nothing left. A complete wash-up!"
Katy and Larry both looked at him, not sure how to react to his oversharing.
"…And, how do you feel now?" Larry finally asked.
Geeta lowered his scarf for a few seconds, exhaling deeply as he did so.
"I feel better. I feel more fulfilled. Somehow, Geeta sent that exact same Trainer in her place to inspect my Gym... What was up with that, anyway?"
"Got me," Katy shrugged.
"I… know the reason for that, but it would involve me going into a long rant about my job," Larry muttered. "…She was very busy."
"Seeing that kid was a blessing, though," Grusha admitted. "It reaffirmed to me that I am passionate about this Gym now. I'm gonna put everything I got into making it a great place to battle."
"Does that include moving it to a place where people actually live?" Larry asked. Katy shot him a look. "…Sorry. Bad attempt at a joke. I should just stop trying."
Grusha chuckled. "…Is that the boss askin' again? No promises. I… really like it here. I like where I'm at now. I think… that's the important thing. Finding that one thing that keeps you going. Even when it isn't something you asked for, that just… makes you feel—"
He trailed off as he stared at something between them. Katy and Larry looked down, and found, to their surprise… they had unconsciously grabbed each other's hand for warmth. Larry's face went bright red, and Katy blushed too.
"…Makes you feel fulfilled," Katy said with a smile. Larry smirked back.
Grusha smirked too, beneath his scarf anyway.
"Yeah. Exactly. How's that old saying go? When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade? A part of me still misses snowboarding a lot. But I remember the passion I had for it, and now I put that into battling instead. I'm trying to make it fun. I figure… if I try to have more fun while battling, then my team will have lots of fun too. And when Pokémon have fun, people have fun."
"That's a great way of thinking about it!" said Katy.
"Although… I sometimes feel like people are having a little too much fun these days. Tell me something, do either of you guys get the ones asking you for selfies now?"
"That's become a common thing," Larry noted. "They expect that from all of us now. I don't really know where that came from."
Katy suddenly made an awkward show of clearing her throat. Larry and Grusha both looked to her in surprise.
"You…?" said Larry.
"Eh, heh heh…" Katy laughed nervously. "That um… that was something I started doing after my battles a couple years ago. I enjoyed every battle so much I wanted a way to capture each one as a memory, so I started suggesting a selfie with the Challengers every time they defeated me. I guess, they got really excited by that, and it really took off on social media, so that… led to them asking all of the Gym Leaders for selfies. So… yeah. That one's totally on me."
"Huh."
"Even now, you're still full of surprises," Larry said fondly. Katy gave him a fond smile back.
"Well, gee… now I feel bad for putting it down," Grusha said sheepishly.
This made the two of them laugh, and Grusha too. Even Lizzy and Snom joined in.
They eventually headed inside the Gym when the wind started picking up, and spent the next hour or so chatting with each other casually as Gym Leaders, relating their experiences, Larry sharing some details about what it's like at the Elite Four, and telling them of his talk with Hassel… which led to Katy goading him to have lunch with Hassel at the Treasure Eatery.
After a while, Katy and Larry both walked through the entrance of Grusha's Gym.
"Thanks again for everything, Grusha!" Katy called out.
"My pleasure. Take care you two… and don't be afraid to visit again. This was nice."
As the doors closed, Katy and Larry both looked at each other. They caught themselves smiling at one another, and turned away like bashful school children.
So much still unsaid. But both knowing that it's still not the right time.
"So…" Katy said to break the tension. "I have to catch a cab to Cortondo pronto. Were you interested in sharing one?"
Lary thought on it for a bit.
"No. I'd rather go back alone. I'll just go the same way I came."
Katy blinked. "Did… you not take a cab here?" Then her eyes widened further. "Please oh please don't tell me you walked here from Montenevera! Or… or all the way from Medali for heaven's sake! You're still as stubborn as always!"
Larry giggled a bit.
"What!?"
"I'm sorry. It's just… you are really cute when you're worried about me."
Katy flushed. "I'm not… I'm not that cute," she mumbled.
"No, I didn't walk all the way over here, if that assuages your worries, ma'am. Actually …"
He grabbed a Poké Ball from his coat and tossed it.
"TROOOOOOH!" Tropius cried out.
Larry went to put his hand on his Tropius's side and said, with an amused look, "Here's a riddle for you. Why did it take until a nefarious adventure through the skies to retrieve a certain somebody's hat for me to realize that I've been spending all that money paying on a membership for a Taxi service when I have a whole team of Pokémon that can fly?"
Katy snorted loudly, and then buried her mouth in her hands as she laughed obnoxiously. Well… Larry's proud grin would say he didn't find it obnoxious at all.
He grinned up to his Tropius, stroking its side. With a more thoughtful look, he began to gaze at the path going down from the mountain.
As Katy recovered from her laughing fit, an intrigued smile grew on Larry's face.
"…You know what? Feel free to punch me in the face if you think I'm crazy, but… a walk all the way back to Medali actually sounds, kind of nice."
Katy had an incredulous look.
"This? Coming from the guy who wouldn't walk through a small desert to get to one city…" Larry scoffed at her. "You know… feels like I haven't seen that sad, shambly man in a while. I wonder how he's doing."
Larry smiled back. "I tell you what… wouldn't want to be him."
Katy chuckled again. She groped her torso as she uttered, "My stomach's starting to hurt."
"Thank you, Katy," he said sincerely.
"For what?"
"For all your help. Not just today but… in general. I really, really appreciate everything you've done for me. Especially today. …You really are a huge part of what helped that sad man grow up."
"Ohh shucks, now you're really going to make me blush, city boy." She tugged at her mitten as she replied, "Thank you too. I wouldn't be where I am now without your help either, and I hope you know that."
"I do now. It's been my honor, Chef."
"Don't be a stranger. Okay?"
The two bid their goodbyes. Katy went up to the Pokémon Center to meet her cab.
Larry decided to walk down the mountain road, with his Tropius in tow, following the signs pointing him to the Dalizapa Passage.
It was the longest walk to Medali he'd ever experienced…
And Larry savored every second of it.
He spent the entire walk thinking about tomorrow. His final decision, still so lingering. All the things he wanted to say to Geeta. Where he was going to go from here. They circled through his head. Down the slopes. Through the caves. And into the snowy road back into town.
The sun was almost fully set by the time Larry found his way back into town. He greeted some of the locals. His townmates. Friends from the Treasure Eatery.
Valencia called him to ask if he was staying at the restaurant for dinner.
"Maybe just something light," he answered.
Valencia looked at him like he had grown an extra head. He explained how tired he was, and that he was hoping to have a big lunch tomorrow.
His belly feeling well and truly full after that meal, Larry walked into his apartment building. Trotted up the stairs. Unlocked the door to his apartment. The dull gray walls of his dwelling greeted him.
They didn't make him feel as low as they usually did. He opened the door to his bedroom… there was still a whole pile of paperwork lining his desk.
He knew Katy would have his head if she saw it.
That observation made Larry grin from ear to ear. As if it was the last bit of assurance he needed.
Now fully convinced of what his plan was, he dressed into his pajamas and tucked himself into bed with a grin.
No more lingering thoughts. No mountains of anxiety clouding his mind.
Just a fully confident, self-assured smile, as he drifted off to sleep.
