Chapter 7
"I'm excited to present…St. Joy's Twelve Days of Christmas!" Leaf said in her cheeriest voice and stepped off the stage with the Elite Four.
The crowd, composed of the St. Joy Children's Hospital administration, donors, doctors, and select families, clapped politely. The projector began to play the hospital's spin on the Twelve Days of Christmas.
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Eight blocks-a-building
Seven trains-a-choo'ing
Six dolls-a-dressing
FIVE DO-NA-TIONS
"I swear, they get cheesier every year," Bruno grumbled.
"What do you expect?" Lorelei whispered. "It's for the kids."
"Does blocks-a-building even make sense to you? That doesn't sound like English to me."
"Since when were you a linguist, Bruno?" Agatha quietly cackled.
"Believe or not Agatha, I graduated from high school," Bruno said, raising his voice.
"Quiet!" Lorelei hissed.
It was December. Leaf and the Elite Four had to go on a holiday campaign. Mostly, they appeared at philanthropy events. Today's event was a gala at the largest children's hospital in Kanto.
Sometimes, Leaf had to give a little speech, like she did just now. Otherwise, she never really needed to do anything except show up and talk to some people. Leaf had conflicting feelings. On one hand, the press being all over her meant these causes were getting more attention. On the other, Leaf knew the real purpose behind the campaign was to make her look good and she didn't like that.
Four pairs of socks
Three board games
Two sweaters
AND A STUFFED BEAR IN A GIFT BOX
Everyone clapped when the song ended and the director of St. Joy's walked up the stage to explain the initiative (basically just encouraging everyone to donate to the poor children). After the speech ended, Leaf noticed Tasha gesturing for her to mingle with the crowd.
The moment Leaf and the Elite Four stepped forward, they were surrounded. Security had to usher everyone into lines. The lucky person to speak with Leaf first was a man with thin, graying hair and a giant bald spot.
"It's an honor to meet you, Champion Leaf," the man said, shaking her hand. Leaf internally cringed when she felt the man's thumb rub her. "I'm Craig Hampshire, CFO of St. Joy's. If you don't know what that means, I'm in charge of the hospital's finances."
Leaf forced a smile. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Hampshire."
"Please, call me Craig. So, tell me, Leaf, how do you like being Champion?"
Leaf hesitated. She wasn't sure how honest with Craig she wanted to be. Leaf had been over the moon when she beat Blue. And sometimes, she still felt giddy at the thought of being Champion. But the celebrity aspect of it was a lot more tiring than Leaf had expected. It was no wonder that Red, the definition of anti-social, couldn't handle it.
"I love it," Leaf answered. "I'm living my dream."
"Oh, I bet you are. My daughter––she's five––loves Pokemon, too. She wants to be Champion like you someday. Any advice?"
Leaf had been asked this question countless times in interviews already. She gave the same answer as always. "Hard work and determination. No matter how difficult things get, you can't give up."
Craig nodded as if Leaf had said the most profound thing in history. "Very true." He smirked. "One more question: did you ever date Red or Blue? I saw something about it recently."
Leaf's smile was frozen on her face. Just as she feared, her relationship with Red and Blue became a hot topic on TV, tabloids, and online. Tasha ran two social media accounts for Leaf. One was a blog where she thoroughly documented Leaf's activities and the other was a video platform that mostly showed fun, "behind the scenes" moments. All the comments on recent posts were about the so-called love triangle. People even created portmanteaus for them: Redleaf and Blueleaf.
"I knew them growing up, but nothing ever happened between me and them," Leaf said as calmly and firmly as she could.
"Ah, yes, of course. Nothing happened." Craig winked, which Leaf hated. "Alright, Leaf, I'd love to keep talking, but I gotta give the people behind me a chance. Let's take a selfie together!"
Craig threw an arm around Leaf and held his cellphone up. Leaf grinned widely at the camera, with the feeling that she was going to look awful in the photo.
"Thanks Champion," Craig said, touching Leaf's shoulder. "It was nice meeting you. Merry Christmas!"
The next person in line was a woman with blonde hair tightly tied into a bun. She wore glasses and a navy long-sleeved gown. She shook Leaf's hand firmly. "Marsha Roberts, member of the board of directors."
"Leaf Green, Indigo League Champion."
"It's an honor to meet you." Marsha smiled. "If I'm being honest, I don't know much about Pokemon, but I'm glad a young girl like you can become Champion. I'm sure you're an inspiration to girls all over the region."
"Thank you! I try to be." The thought of inspiring other girls to become Pokemon trainers was definitely nice, but admittedly, not at the forefront of Leaf's mind. She might not have even thought about being the first female Champion if others hadn't pointed it out. It wasn't that Leaf didn't care about female empowerment. It was that she became Champion for herself, not to make a statement.
"I'd also like a selfie, if you don't mind." Marsha held her phone up. After they took the picture, she said with a wink, "Keep beating the asses of every man."
Leaf was then greeted by a family of three. "We're the Ellises," the dad said. He had red hair and freckles. "I'm Michael. This is my wife, Allison, and our daughter, Rachel."
Allison was the palest person Leaf had ever laid eyes on. Even her blonde hair and blue eyes almost looked white. The contrast between that and her black lace dress was jarring. Rachel, who looked fairly young, was bald. She wore a sparkly green dress.
"Nice to meet all of you," Leaf said. She widened her smile for Rachel. "How old are you?"
"I'm eight," Rachel said, looking down at her feet.
"Rachel loves Pokemon," Allison said. She placed her hands on Rachel's shoulders. "Want to tell Leaf your favorite one?"
Rachel looked up with a shy smile. "Dragonite."
Leaf was actually kind of excited by Rachel's answer. "Oh, I totally get that. I have a Dragonite and he's super cool. Wanna meet him?"
Rachel nodded fervently, eyes round. Leaf reached into her purse (Tasha didn't want Leaf wearing her belt at fancy events) and pulled out Dragonite's PokeBall.
The room grew quiet as Dragonite flew out and circled around. He landed next to Leaf, head cocked to the side.
"Dragonite, this is Rachel," Leaf said, gesturing at the young girl whose mouth was wide open. "She's a fan of yours."
Dragonite bowed so that he was more eye-level with Rachel. For a moment, Rachel simply stared at Dragonite, absolutely starstruck.
"Got anything you wanna say, Rachel?" Michael asked.
Rachel's mouth slowly spread into a grin. She began to shake so much that Leaf knew she was doing her best not to jump up and down. "Wow! A real life Dragonite! He's SO COOL!"
"You can pet him," Leaf said.
Gingerly, Rachel placed her hand on Dragonite's snout and petted it. Dragonite let out a satisfied huff, making Rachel giggle. Her parents snapped photos.
"Can all of us take a picture with you?" Allison asked.
"Of course!"
Allison asked the person behind them to take their photo. Michael stood by Dragonite's side while Allison crouched down to be next to Rachel. As Leaf smiled for the camera, she became aware of the professional photographers also snapping away.
"What do you say, Rachel?" Allison asked once they were done.
Rachel beamed at Leaf. "Thank you!"
"No need. Dragonite was happy to meet you, right?"
Dragonite nodded, much to Rachel's delight. Michael and Allison thanked Leaf again before taking Rachel's hands and leaving.
Leaf was about to pull out Dragonite's PokeBall when she noticed the next person eagerly eyeing the dragon. In fact, all the other guests suddenly seemed to be standing much closer to them. She stifled a sigh. Poor Dragonite was about to have a long night.
"That was the worst one yet. Thank the lord we're done for tonight!" Bruno exclaimed, pulling his tie off. One thing that Leaf learned about the Iron Fist was that he wore full outfits so infrequently, they were uncomfortable for him. The whole night, Bruno kept tugging at his tie and scratching himself.
"It was the longest, but not the worst," Lorelei replied. "The kids were so cute."
"Cute? They were depressing."
"Maybe keep your voice down. We're still out in public, technically."
They had just arrived at their hotel. The Regency, in Celadon City, was the fanciest hotel in all of Kanto. Walking through the lobby, which had crystal chandeliers and velvet couches, Leaf felt as if she was in a palace.
Bruno rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows what I'm like. Me being offensive isn't going to faze anyone."
"No, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to be nice."
"You really are a PR manager's dream," Bruno retorted. He grinned at Leaf. "So, Champ, how've you been? You haven't had many controversies, so I'm guessing Tasha is training you well."
From the corner of her eye, Leaf saw Tasha had trailed behind a bit, distracted by whatever was on her phone. "Yeah, Tasha knows what she's doing."
"It helps that you're not difficult to work with," Bruno said. "The two kids before you stressed the fuck out of her."
Lorelei leered at Bruno. Agatha's lip curled. Leaf wondered if their reaction was directed towards Bruno or their memories of Red and Blue.
"What? You know they did. It's hard to convince people that Blue is the strongest trainer without him beating Red. And Red…do I even need to say it out loud?"
Leaf knew what Bruno was implying. Without thinking, she replied, "Red wasn't on the spectrum."
Now, everyone was looking at Leaf, brows raised. "Oh, right. You've known both Red and Blue for a while," Bruno said. He grinned. "Is it true you had a thing with both of them?"
Anxiety creeped into Leaf's chest. "N-No. Those are just stupid rumors. But I know that Red wasn't autistic. He was just shy."
Whether or not Bruno believed her, he didn't let on. He simply said, "Whatever he was, Tasha hated him. Kid had about as much personality as dry paint."
"Don't be mean, Bruno," Lorelei chided.
"Come on, I know you feel the same." Bruno glanced back at Leaf, making her heart jolt. "Wait, you two were friends, right? If so, don't take offense. He just never said anything, ever."
As much as Leaf wanted to lie and end the conversation, she knew she couldn't. "Yes, we were childhood friends. We grew apart though."
"Did Red used to talk more? Just can't imagine being friends with someone who was practically a mute."
"Bruno, that's enough," Lance suddenly said.
Leaf's eyes darted to the Dragon Tamer. For the entire night, Lance only spoke when he had to. In fact, he'd been fairly quiet for the majority of their campaign. Out of all conversations to join in on, Leaf wouldn't have expected it to be what was essentially a gossip session.
What really got to Leaf though was this: Lance looking straight ahead at the elevator, face and tone nonchalant, and Bruno's demeanor mellowing.
"I was just making conversation," Bruno replied, hands up.
The elevator doors opened. No one said anything when they rode up to the top floor or walked down the hall to their suites. It was only when they were right about to separate that Lorelei wished everyone a good night.
Leaf plopped down on her king-sized bed and kicked off her heels. With a wince, she massaged her aching feet. Tasha had insisted that Leaf would one day be used to wearing heels. She couldn't imagine that day ever arriving.
She changed out of her sparkly, silvery blue gown that cost an absurd amount of money into pajamas. Then, she went into the ginormous bathroom and began to remove her makeup.
Bruno, that's enough. There was no way Bruno would've listened had Lorelei or Agatha said it. He would've ignored them or replied with something snarky. Lance's tone wasn't even stern, but Bruno acted how a student would in front of his teacher.
Lance was considered the leader of the Elite Four. It made sense. He was the strongest. But tonight, Leaf got to truly witness it.
After Leaf finished using the bathroom, she opened her purse and tossed all of her PokeBalls. Her suite was so massive that everyone fit. She sat down on the plush couch by the window. Outside, Celadon City sparkled like stars.
Leaf pet Dragonite. "Sorry you had to meet so many people. You're just too popular."
Dragonite looked sheepish. Gengar cackled at his expression, but Leaf knew the ghost was somewhat jealous.
"All of you are loved," Leaf said. "People just aren't used to seeing dragons."
Gengar cackled again and leaped onto Dragonite, one arm around his neck, the other giving his head a noogie. Dragonite shook Gengar off, but it then began to play with his tail. Ninetales joined in on the fun, batting at Dragonite's feet.
Leaf glanced at her other Pokemon. Fearow and Golduck, though amused, looked at each other in a way that said, Get a load of these guys. Venusaur, meanwhile, reminded Leaf of a grandfather watching his grandchildren play.
It always astounded her how serene Venusaur was. Stubbornness and determination were the two traits she'd associated with Bulbasaur and Ivysaur. Venusaur was still stubborn and determined, but he regarded everything the way a wise old man would. It made Leaf think of Professor Oak or Elder Li or even the Master.
Did evolution really cause Venusaur to reach some higher plane of understanding? Except for Golduck, Leaf didn't see a drastic change in her other Pokemon. She wondered what clicked in her starter. She wondered if it would all click for her one day, too.
Leaf reached out and rubbed Venusaur's head. He rumbled softly. The vibration felt nice on her palm.
Leaf woke up the next morning when something tickled her nose, making her sneeze. When she opened her eyes, she saw a mass of cream fur waving in her face.
"Ninetales?" Leaf sat up, realizing that she fell asleep on the couch. Her neck was stiff. As Ninetales turned to her, Leaf also realized that someone was pounding on her door.
Rubbing her neck, Leaf weaved passed her Pokemon, all of whom were awake, and went to check who so badly needed to see her.
Not a single ounce of her body was surprised to see Tasha. She was, however, mildly surprised about how pale Tasha's face was.
"I've been trying to reach you forever!" Tasha moaned, pushing past Leaf to get inside.
"Did I oversleep? Sor––"
"Yes, but that's not the problem!" Tasha waved her phone in Leaf's face. Leaf was still groggy, so it took her a heartbeat to process the headline, Dragonite's Appearance at St. Joy's Christmas Gala Has People Outraged.
"Why did you have to send out Dragonite last night? Why?" Tasha wailed.
Leaf was so confused. "Wait, what's going on? Who's outraged?"
"This journalist from the Kanto Post was interviewing people during your meet-and-greet. There were complaints about you sending Dragonite out last night. I also posted photos this morning and had to turn off the comments because I was getting flooded with criticism."
Leaf was taken aback. "Why would anyone have a problem with Dragonite being out of his PokeBall?"
As soon as the question came out, Leaf knew the answer. People still hadn't moved on from the battle against Lance's Dragonite. They all thought her sweet Dragonite was dangerous.
There must've been a look on her face because Tasha sighed. "We're going to have to address this."
"I don't understand," Leaf sputtered. "This isn't Dragonite's first public appearance. Why was it never an issue before?"
"Because there were kids last night and they were very close to Dragonite."
Leaf was starting to heat up from anger. "Dragonite didn't hurt anyone, though! All the kids and their parents loved him!"
"I know," Tasha replied. "But people are focusing on what could've gone wrong."
"It hasn't even been twenty-four hours! How has this blown up already?"
"The Kanto Post can move pretty fast. Look, we need to release a statement and also think of a way to show everyone that Dragonite isn't some mindless monster. You can brainstorm as you get dressed. You're late for breakfast."
Tasha began to type madly on her phone. Leaf turned around and her anger dissipated.
Dragonite's expression was heartbreaking. Sorrow mixed with confusion. As if he'd been betrayed by a loved one. He looked down, embarrassed to meet Leaf's eyes. Around him, the rest of the team shared looks of pity. Gengar and Ninetales pressed against the dragon as a way of comfort.
Leaf approached Dragonite, placing a hand on his chest. "Hey, everything's going to be fine. It's just a stupid misunderstanding. Don't take what strangers are saying personally."
Dragonite nodded, but he didn't look convinced. There was nothing else Leaf could say. He would only feel better with time or hearing that people changed their minds about him. Leaf hoped that both would happen.
"All of you remember this," Leaf said, gazing at all her Pokemon. "You're amazing. You deserve to be here. Don't listen to anyone who says otherwise."
Except for Dragonite, who was still staring at the floor, her Pokemon nodded eagerly. Leaf smiled at them before returning them. The Regency had a restaurant just for guests' Pokemon, so she would drop everyone there before eating with the Elite Four.
Leaf quickly threw on an outfit, brushed her teeth and hair. As they headed down to breakfast, Tasha read the statement she already drafted. Leaf only half-paid attention; she generally wasn't given much control over anything PR related. Dragonite's despondent eyes were seared into her brain.
Leaf balled her fists. It was one thing for strangers to judge her. To judge her Pokemon was completely unacceptable. If there was anything Leaf wanted now, it was for everyone to see her Pokemon the way she saw them.
As much as I love Thanksgiving food, I've decided that Thanksgiving doesn't exist in this universe. Also, it's kinda funny releasing a Christmas chapter during the summer.
Thanks for reading! Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter and also part 2 so far in general!
