Chapter 2: Motivation
The morning sun peeks out through the blinds in Haru's room as his alarm goes off on his Rotom phone: a tune from a game he played where you control a bug through a large maze-like world that seems close to the apocalypse. The tune playing was one of the more beautiful pieces heard earlier in it as Haru found it the best kind of tune to wake up; a slow build up that eases one out of Dream Land. As he did, he saw Nora, his Glaceon, was huddled up on the foot of his bed and tried not to wake her. The phone said '08:00'. He was expected to meet up with his parent within a few hours, and would do his best not to waste time idling in bed.
*thump*
His feet lazily land on the ground.
/There's no rush, I'll get to it when I get to it/ He thinks.
Downstairs he'd notice that the other Pokemon were all asleep and did his best not to wake them just yet and going through the usual morning routine: preparing breakfast for himself and all of them. Doing his best to make sure to add in their Pokemon vitamins to give them an extra boost, and with a still sleepy look around his kitchen thoughtfully, said "Screw it. I've been good lately." in terms of his diet, and decided it'd be a pancake, bacon, eggs, toast with jam, and hashbrowns kind of morning.
The rest of the morning routine would be mostly uneventful, if not for the one outstanding notion that he had put off laundry still. The basket was full and needed to be addressed.
/Whoops. Right. Well that can wait. I'll just...make a mental note of that for the morning./ He thought to himself, with his television on low volume and watching news. In between the meal he prepared for himself and having made six others for his Pokemon, he'd see updates on the day's weather, some news where the anchors were talking about a court hearing on some important figure that will be occurring soon, the usual saccharine 'positive' story, and snippets of his interview from the other night. "Guess they'll just put on anything these days..."
An hour would pass, and the reigning champion of Galar sets out ready to see the sunlight. While he gets his boots on, Haru looks to Goji who is standing in front of him as his trainer is about to leave. "I won't be gone long. Make sure you hold down the fort here, okay?" as he points to the tall rabbit-like Pokemon. Goji gives a confident nod and thumbs up gesture, as the champ gives a grin. "I know you will. Cuz if something DOES go awry I know Masako will tell me about it." making Goji keep that same face expression but with a bit of sweat forming on his forehead, peeking behind him as the Gardevoir briefly caught wind of the conversation and bore a hole in the back of his head just staring at him. "I'm sure it won't come to that though!"
- - Hammerlocke, Outdoor Mall and Shopping District - -
"..but it'll probably come to that." Haru thought out loud to himself, getting off the Air Taxi he took to meet his Mom, who had already arrived. Punctuality runs in their blood: sometimes to a fault. He hears her calling out to him not far away, as she could spot him by the bright red hair he had, thick black rimmed glasses, and stature. Plus, being her son of course she'd recognize him anywhere.
"Ah, you're here earlier than I expected. We said 10 right? I wasn't expecting you until a little bit cuz my taxi got here early." Haru said with a half smirk after giving his mom a hug. It was 09:34.
"Yeah well...I was bored at home after having woken up early. Didn't feel like waiting. I miss my kid!" she replied happily. Haru's mother had decided to wear something more outgoing for the day since weather was permitting: simple jeans and shirt with some happy faces on it, a pin with Haru's face on it from when he won the Pokemon League Championship, and a hat she bought while at the Wyndon Stadium. "Yeah yeah. You say that all the time."
"Well it's true! But what're you..?" she began to ask, raising an eyebrow. Haru realized then and there that she wasn't really aware of how he carried himself when being out and about ever since the Pokemon Gym Challenge was a big part of his life. Figuring that he would be wearing his champion outfit or nicer clothes but instead was sporting some graphic t-shirt of a Gengar with a sweatjacket with certain Gym colors on it.
"What, this? Oh. Right, this is the logo of the Water Gym in Hulbury! Sporting it today." he would say, turning around a bit with his mother inspecting him a bit.
"But that's what you wear when you're on business. Haru...is this because you don't have anything else to wear and figured that, alongside groceries, you'd put that on?" folding her arms over themselves.
It was Haru's turn to sweat a little, looking to the side. "Nothing gets by you, does it? Well...yeah but also no. I just really like how this Gym jacket looks so I'm wearing it today."
She gave an un-approving "Mom" look and he held up his hands in surrender. "Honest, I swear!"
His mother didn't quite believe him but she sighed and went along with it regardless. "I'll be fine Mom. I kind of figured while I'm helping you with what you need to get, that I not only get myself more food but we stop by somewhere for me to get more clothes."
"Yes. You're old enough now to shop on your own but you just figure doing this knocks out two Pid-
"Pidgeys with one stone, yes." Haru said finishing the sentence at the same time as she did and nodding.
At time throughout the venture outdoors Haru's Mom would be asking him how things are going. She's kept up to date on most of what she managed to find on television, but says she does her best to stay away from tabloids since magazine publications aren't really trustworthy these days. Trying to insist that what's going on with him isn't as exciting as it seems, Haru also informs her the same thing he told Nessa a few days ago. When he finished explaining they would be in a part of the market helping to locate some appliances she needed for her home. Being as tall as he was it came in handy to spot the things she had on her 'to-buy-list' in places she didn't notice initially. There would be a part later when they took a break in a court area, to talk more about it.
"Do you think I'll have some sort of epiphany like you did?" Haru would ask her, as his Mom had her notepad out and was making sure they covered everything on HER end.
"Like what epiphany?" her glance met his with a quizzical look, putting the pen back to settle on top of her right ear.
"When you decided you wanted to take care of Pokemon: you've done it for so long. I remember as a wee lad you sometimes taking home little Growlithes that needed extra care longer than what the clinic hours allowed because you 'had to make sure this little one would make it'. Like..." he sighed a bit and gestured with his hands in thought. "Nobody just does that without comitting or realizing something right? Not unless they just gave up on trying everything else."
His mother smiled and put down her pen, thinking back. "Well, it just sorta 'came'. One of many great decisions I made of course. Not the best one, but one of them!"
"What was the best one you made?"
"Being your mom." she said with a full smile.
"Mum that's incredibly cheesy, even for you to say that." he sighed but couldn't help but smile from the emanating positivity she was glowing.
"It's true. But, I'll be back. You don't HAVE to accompany me getting clothes for myself since that's the only thing left for me. Nobody wants to have to stick with their Mom in a department store for that, am I right?" she teased, getting up and leaving her purchases with him as he rolled his eyes a bit but nodded. "No problem, Mum. I'll be here when you get back."
She wandered off into one of the open outdoor mall shops there, leaving Haru by himself. Surely with him being alone he wouldn't need that security he dismissed the other day. Surely...
Twenty minutes pass and he gets a text from his mother saying she's almost done. Haru reads it, then sets his phone back down. He ended up sitting on the edge of the bench where his mother and him were relaxing at and stretches, yawning. Someone 'bumps' into Haru while he's sitting causing Haru to turn immediately to the offender. "Hey, watch it!" he shouts to the person, who didn't even seem to stop to apologize. The person freezes and turns back to look at him. It was a semi tall gentleman, about 6 foot, moderately built with a cut physique, short buzz cut red hair and militaristic camouflage shirt with bland brown pants. He's by himself and walks up to Haru, who then gets up from his seat to stand near eye-to-eye level with the man. "What's that? You talking to me?"
Haru was about to say something before the gentleman cut him off. "Oh wait a minute...I recognize you. You're the Galar Champion, right?"
"...aye, I am." he said. Out of the corner of his eyes he notices a few people stop in their tracks noticing the boistrous fellow. Him saying he was the Galar Champion was pretty loud to attract at least a few passing glances.
"Tch. I remember, you helped me in The Wild Area a few days ago during a Max Raid. Real helpful of you champ." giving a thumbs up. "Sorry for bumping into you."
"Oh it's no fus-!" Haru began to say before the gentlemen grabbed him by the collar, reflexively having Haru reach for his own shirt. "But then again I don't feel so bad for someone who was able to capture that Lapras when I couldn't...and wouldn't you know it, I'm only ONE away from a full Pokedex. You stole my one chance to get that one! That specific type isn't spawning for ANOTHER YEAR!"
Haru sweat a little and looked at him. "C'mon. You really want to do this here? I can trade it to you. Besides...maybe you'll get lucky! Do you have a Shiny Riolu? I uh...want to have a friend for my Luc-!" he's caught off guard by the man getting irritated and now pushing him against a lamppost that had a Pidove asleep on top. The clash of him being pushed against it startled the bird Pokemon and caused it to fly away frantically.
"You tryin' to buy my sympathy?! You think cuz you're rich and a Champion now that you can just MAKE this problem go away! Not possible." the man said then pushing him against a nearby wall, causing a few people to panic and make space as Haru was cornered against the brick wall. "Not so tough huh? Why aren't you bringing out your Pokemon to save you from this, champ?" the man said.
Haru says nothing and just looks at him, never breaking eye contact.
"...it's because you don't have them on you isn't it? HAHAHAH! Well what dumb luck for you, isn't it, because I got some 'Shine' to give you as a 'thanks' for helping me!" as the man looked ready to throw a punch before the situation took a surprise turn. He was immediately cut away from his assault when seemingly out of nowhere he was thrust away by a hard kick to the side and a loud yell.
"HIYAH!" Comes the voice of a girl who had kicked the man off of Haru, who almost lost his balance as the man's grip was yanked away from him, until another person came up and made sure he was back on his feet. "Holy Arceus are you okay Haru?" It was Nessa, sporting her own long sleeved sweat-jacket of white and blue stripes, slight mid-drift, white sports shorts, and white tennis shoes with blue accents. Haru nodded in response. Nessa was looking at his face, collar and his head when he was slammed against the wall. Haru noticed he had some unfortunate spittle from the loudmouth jerk, and was looking at Nessa while rubbing his face a bit. "Y-yeah I am..."he would say. The girl who gave the biggest dynamic entry to the scene then goes to pin Haru's assailant to the ground in a sleeper hold. "Aye! You should know better than to attack someone like him in public! Unprovoked even! How would you like it if I did this to you huh?!"
Haru recognized that fiery personality anywhere: Bea. The fiery silver haired Gym Leader of Fighting Type Pokemon was wearing a black and gold sweat-jacket, pants, her usual black/gold headband, and black tennis shoes, putting the man in a fierce submission hold.
The man is yelling in pain. "OWowowowow yes alright I won't do it again! Shit! Let go already woman!"
"C'mon Bea he's had enough." Nessa insisted, looking to her companion, having helped straighten Haru's shirt after looking for any bruises. She was looking at the side of his head having pushed Haru's face down a bit.
"What? I'm fine..." he insisted. The blue eyed water trainer raised an eyebrow, and after confirming that he was fine, looked back at the ground where Bea was finally letting the man go. Bea gives a huff, and gestures like she's going to chase him when he gets on his feet which prompts him to go off running. "Yeah that's right, get stuffed you daft cow! Don't let us see you doing that again!" she shouts. The people who had stopped to look seem much more calm now and thankful she came in when she did, as Bea's usual hardened look softens up when she sees Haru standing, with no harm done to him. "Are you okay?"
"Heck yeah I am. You're as quick as expected. Can't thank you enough, Bea. I had no idea what I was going to do." he admitted. Bea nods confidently, while Nessa cuts in. "Why are you here out without any of your Pokemon? Or security? You could have been seriously hurt or worse!"
Haru looks at her and sweats a bit, looking to the ground without a clever answer. "Well honestly I didn't think I'd need it today cuz...I'm on an errand run at the moment."
Nessa puts her hands on her hips. "That obviously was proven wrong now wasn't it?"
Haru laughs a bit nervously but she was right. "What about you two?"
Bea responded in kind. "Training! All Pokemon Gym Leaders should be able to say that not only are their Pokemon in tiptop shape but they too! We're doing a jog about, and Nessa was the first to spot ya. I was already at a good pace and then THWACK!" Bea says, smacking her hands together.
"...and I can't thank you enough for it. Thanks. I owe you two." Haru would go on to say, and then looked at the direction the man fled. There's a slight pause before he looks at them.
"Don't suppose YOU two have a spare Riolu about ya do you?"
Both shook their head. He sighs a bit.
"I s'ppose not. Ah well. Maybe I can set some of my guys out on a job one day and try to surprise Mirukon with a new buddy from a caretaker center." he surmised, putting his thumb to his chin. "Ah, but don't let me stop you two from exercising. Go on ahead."
Bea smiles. "Last one up those stairs is an Alolan Muk!" she says to Nessa before bolting it. Nessa gives a soft smile to him as she walks off and waves to him, joining Bea. "It was nice to see you again at least Haru! Glad you're okay!"
"Oh, same! I mean, it was nice to see you too!" Haru says, waving back. He sees Nessa almost trip over herself, but then regain her footing and catch up to her partner.
"Well well...that was something, wasn't it?" came a smug sounding voice from the side. Haru's mother returned and was looking at him.
"What? Oh, you're done? That's good, I was beginning to wonder if you'd come back. You missed a whole fuss out here." noticing she came with just one bag this time and wondered what took her so long.
"..."
"...what? Why are you staring, Mom?"
"Oh sweetie, I'm talking about those ladies you were just speaking to: they're beautiful. Are you planning on introducing me someday?" as she gave a grin, causing Haru to blush rather fiercely. "Mom it's not like that! They're friends; basically business partners cuz I'm Champ and they're Gym Leaders! That's how it is!"
/HONESTLY what is it with people giving me guff over this topic lately?!/ Haru thought to himself.
"Ohohohoho~ you say that, but I don't know. I think one of them would be a good fit for you at least." she insisted, reaching up to pinch one of his cheeks.
"Mum please, not this right after I nearly got beat up..." he sighed. "Besides, I don't know Bea that well, and Nessa has been key in helping me manage as a Champ. She's pretty smart, but that's to be expected from a professional like her! I've even gone to Leon too for this whole managing thing."
"Uh huh. How many times?" she asked with a coy smile.
"...once. But it's only because he was also a Champion too and is probably just as busy! I have them all on my phone contacts and can call them anytime..." Haru realized eventually that his mom wasn't buying the explanations and just exhaled. Deciding then and there not to push the point further.
"Well whenever you're ready to ask me for advice on how to ask out women you know I'm all ears." His mom said with complete innocence to the point it felt she was emanating the same energy as her shirt itself. Haru just grumbles a bit in response.
The thought came to him, however, that if it weren't for Bea and Nessa, he probably would have been completely snookered. Deciding to not worry about that, nor report it to any authorities, or his agent, or security, just went about the rest of his outing with his mom with little care. For the moment, anyway.
- - - Motostoke - - -
- - - Home - - -
Returning home from the eventful morning he had, Haru went back to his home carrying a few bags of groceries and one bag of clothes. Thankfully he still had plenty of time in the day to knock off that pesky laundry he avoided for a bit.
"I'm home everyone~" he calls out when he gets inside. He doesn't hear anyone coming immediately to greet him and calls again. "Guys? Nora? Goji?" He makes it to the living room den and sees almost nobody. "Miruk-!" he starts to call out but comes across something he didn't count on. Both his Lucario and Gardevoir are napping on the couch, as on the floor there's a few of his movies near them. Both completely and soundly asleep but with the Gardevoir subconsciously clinging to him. In the entire time he had been their trainer not once did he notice this and actually had no idea how to react. Pokemon, having connections like friends or family? That was common, especially amongst inter-species and humans too. However, like this?
He face softened up into a smile; finding the scene really cute and endearing. /What an interesting thing to come back home to. What kind of man would I be if I was to wake them? I already work them all hard to the bone as it is, and they recognized my fatigue lately too. I'll let them nap./ He thinks, finding a blanket and putting it over both. Masako shifts a bit in her sleep as her head still rests on his chest and Mirukon's eyes slowly flutter open...seeing Haru upside down and his face turning red. Haru quickly shushes him with a finger to his lips. "Just wanted to keep you warm. Go back and nap, bud." he whispers, walking away. The Lucario almost doesn't know how to react but gives a smile that his trainer is so understanding, then wraps his arms around Masako more.
/Well, that's a few of them. Let's find the others./ His mind wanders. He finds that Luna is messing around the backyard with the big open area that the home had, as Goji, Yuri, and Leafa were doing their own Pokemon games they create together. Haru finds Nora waltzing around the second floor of the house and happily greets him with a pounce. "hehehe, hey girl. Got a rather boring rest of the day but since I'm back, care to help me do laundry and other things?" he asks. She looks at him with the same sort of look that a Pokemon doesn't mind as long as they're around their trainer.
Be that as it may, the laundry was in the basement and doing this would require multiple trips over the day. Haru had Nora to help him do some housekeeping since Masako was out of commission for the time being: on his shoulders with a duster in her mouth, and using her abilities to help him give a clean area to certain spots that a damp rag couldn't. When they got to doing the actual clothes together, Nora helped him keep his balance to iron what needed ironing, and later would sit down with him to help fold his clothes as Haru had a TV on in his room playing online videos of fellow Pokemon trainers uploading their daily discoveries. His life was already filled up too much recently with interviews, rumors, and today, assault. There was no need to even entertain the idea of watching or ingesting more news so entertainment was the way to go.
"Nora even on a slow day like today Pokemon like you make it more enjoyable. Thanks for your help, Nora." Haru would say putting some of his underwear aside in a drawer, as he hears the four legged friend of his happily 'squee'. "Now I've got a question for you that's unrelated...and be honest." as he would sit down with his legs crossed.
The Glaceon looked at him with her full attention.
"How long has...'that' been going on?" he asked.
She looked confused, tilting her head like a Growlithe would.
"You know, downstairs. In the living room." specifying the earlier scene he happened upon.
Glaceon widened her mouth in shock, realizing what he meant and hopped on one paw twice. Over time he trained his Pokemon, who couldn't speak natively, to have their own way to respond back if it involved numbers, 'yes' 'no'. Otherwise he had such a deep connection with them all that their communication transcended needing direct wording.
"Two weeks?"
She shook her head.
"Months?"
Nora nodded her head.
"Man. That...that means it's been going on at least at the point in time when we were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Possibly longer." Haru would say, looking at a framed picture that was taken when he was inducted while in the stadium. It was himself and the 6 of them that he used in that final fight standing in the stadium together not long after the battle against Leon. He remembers how happy everyone was that such a colossal task had happened. There's a small bit of his memory that tries to recall something, anything, if there was a clue. The only hint was seeing Masako tackle Mirukon in what would call a 'glomp' and hung onto him posing for celebratory pictures when local and national newspapers came to Haru and his group for comment.
"Huh...I wasn't even counting on that sort of thing being possible. I was just curious Nora. I guess not everything has to be out in the open right? We have experience with that lately huh?" patting her on the head a bit and smiling; Nora absolutely loving the petting as any Pokemon would.
A few hours had passed when they finished.
Haru was in the kitchen preparing dinner for everyone; this time at an actual time-frame that was acceptable for responsible adults, as the sounds of cutting up vegetables caught the ears of a few nearby buddies of his. One female Gardevoir who slowly came to, and when she realized she had passed out on top of Mirukon went wide eyed, realizing there was a blanket over her and looked past the couch to see her master. "Good evening. Have a good nap?"
The poor girl was embarrassed, looking at Haru, then where she was, then back to him again and upon realizing they were caught she hid her face with a deep red blush.
He snickered a bit. "Don't feel bad Masako, I'm not mad or anything at all. I didn't want to disturb you because you two looked so comfortable." Masako slightly taps on Mirukon's face then his shoulder, causing him to wake up slowly too and sit up. The Gardevoir looks, for the first time the entire time she's been under Haru's care, speechless. She says nothing but looks thankful for his reaction.
"Just make sure it doesn't interfere with your abilities to work in battle, allright you two? That's all I ask. Or, anything else really. But I trust you two, cuz you two trust me." he would say, as both were looking at him from their spot on the couch, and nodded. feeling a bit cheeky, Mirukon is the first to properly sit straight upwards, but gives Masako a cheek kiss. She is heard making a noise Haru's never heard before. Sounds like what a Gardevoir would sound like if they could 'gasp'...so perhaps that's what she did. As a result of that, she just went face forward into the blanket and had a muffled Poke-Scream. A soft one anyway: she wasn't capable of being THAT angry or anything amidst all this, not when the Lucario who got up and walked off was smiling so wide like he got away with murder.
Not long later, Haru's Rotom phone rings, and he puts it on speaker. It was Hop calling. "Hey man!"
"Ay Haru! How's the region's number one guy doing?! Haven't heard from you lately and I found some time to talk!" came his cheerful companion's voice. Haru smiles and went back to prepping food as Yuri, his Hatterene, came in now to help. "Ah, rather boring day today but lately I've been fine. I'm managing. How about you? What's it like being a nerd now?"
"Funny."
"Yeah? I thought so." Haru snickered and both laughed it off.
"My day to day is quite different from when we were doing the Gym Challenge together. I spend more time with my nose in a book than I used to before, but as a result it has helped me appreciate our world a lot better!"
"Oh yeah? How so?"
"Well for one thing I've been looking at what sorts of things go on in other regions and their Pokemon. Turns out other regions don't have the Dynamax phenomenon like we do but one has..er..'Mega Evolution'-" Hop would say, causing Haru to blink like he couldn't believe it.
"Sorry, did you say 'Mega' Evolution?" he asked.
"I did! It's a special kind of evolution that can occur in the middle of battle. Think of how your Pokemon transforms in battle here in Galar, except they don't get bigger per se. Their whole body instead changes. But they do get increased or improved statistics!" Hop would say as it sounded like he was reading from some notes he took down recently.
"Unless you're telling me they also learn their own unique moves, that just sounds silly." the champ would interject.
"Ahh...I could not find anything on that. It just seems to be a boost of numbers."
"Hmm. That's weird."
"..and then Alola has some Pokemon learning Z-Moves after doing a dance that unlocks a whol-"
"Whoa Hop, slow down. What? A dance? A move? Pokemon already have dance moves to boost their defense or speed or-"
"No no Haru. They do a dance, and THEN they unlock new moves! It's kind of ritualistic. Sorta."
"That sounds like a load of bollocks you just made up Hop."
"It's not! I'll even show you!" he'd say, leading up to something.
"Oh yeah? WHEN? This is the first I heard from you in awhile and we're both busy. Me, usually in the mid to late day." putting aside from spices after using them for a dish.
"How's tomorrow? Actually, Haru, DO you have time tomorrow?" Hop would ask.
A part of him wasn't up to date on all of his appointments, and Haru looked to Yuri who handed him a notepad he kept. For tomorrow all he had was looking into the jobs he sent some of his Pokemon out on, and a podcast recording for a Hobby-Centered Podcast that was blooming in Galar. That would be in the evening, however, to match up with the scheduling of the host and the co-host.
"Ah...Yuri reminded me that I really only have one MAJOR thing tomorrow and it's in the evening. What's up?"
"Well it wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told ya now, right? I'll come by tomorrow morning, is that fine?"
"Only if you bring your Dubloo and Inteleon." Haru insisted, catching Goji's attention who walked back inside smelling food and hearing Hop's voice.
"Of course!"
- - - - The Next Morning - - - -
Hop would show up at roughly 0900, Dubloo and Inteleon intact, making Goji a little more awake faster than he normally would be. Like Hop and Haru, Goji was best buddies with them as well. After welcoming him to the house, Haru had given Hop some of the breakfast he prepared and sat down with him.
"So, what's up then? What did ya bring me?" the redhead would ask before Hop flashed some paper in front of him. Paper that had been printed from a ticket booth. Tickets for a Gym Leader's Battle.
"I figured you could use some time to enjoy what we were doing for awhile, but from the other side; as spectators!" Hop said with a wide grin. They were Gym Leader Battle tickets he won from a contest and were good for any of the Gyms in the entire Galar region for front row seats roughly to the west of where the Leader would be fighting from. Row 1. Seat 07. Row 1. Seat 08. They were at amazing seat placements, causing Haru to blink at the value of such a prize.
"So these are good for any of them? Hmm...who to see." with the gears turning in his head, Haru began to think up of who would be exciting to see do battle. A new round of rookies had begun their Pokemon journey so he wouldn't have to worry just yet on defending his title, but the pacing was unpredictable. Some people would be slower than others; earlier in their collecting of all the Gym Badges, while others would be in the later half of their journey. Despite this, it meant that after a set amount of time there'd be another Pokemon League Tournament with whoever was at the end.
Yuri, uncharacteristically awake this morning, was with them, and decided to help Haru decide: holding up a die. "Ah, good idea." Hop would say, as she rolled it.
"1. Milo it is. I'll phone his Gym and see if he's got any registered trainers that are going to be dueling with him today."
It was a no go. He just finished the other day dueling with several trainers and handing out a few Plant Gym Badges, so it would be a bit before another Gym Battle day would occur.
The Hatterene rolled another die toss, and the number '5' came up. Both Hop and Haru winced at each other, and even Yuri had a face of disgust herself. "If I show up and Bede sees me in the audience, he's probably going to stop the match and want another impromptu duel with me. I don't wanna deal with that..." Haru would complain, combing his hand through his hair a bit.
Yuri rolled her eyes a bit but tossed it again. '4'. "Bea? Hmm, that could be fun. It's kind of like watching a kung fu tournament. I could learn something new from her. Ran into her the other day by the way!"
"Oh?" Hop said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah...it was an 'interesting' run in. I'll tell you more in a second." Haru said quietly as he phoned her Gym. No dice. Turns out the last record of trainers that were heading in her direction hadn't reached her just yet, and so she was taken to training her fellow trainers within the Gym itself. It was something, but still no big Gym Battle day.
"Okay let's try this one more time. At that point if we got nothin I'll let you decide, Hop." Haru said, gesturing to Yuri to roll it again. She sighed a bit, annoyed with having to do this multiple times but also didn't mind. '2'.
"Well it looks like while Nessa did do battle the other day, she has more registered trainers coming in today! Good. We HAVE our 'Guy's Day Out'. Thanks Yuri." Haru had said, happy to have finally gotten that done as he got off the phone with their answer.
"...and here I am without my Water Gym Colors." the would-be professor bemoaned.
"Oh don't you worry, I have multiple shirts!"
"You what?"
...and so Haru did. Multiples of every shirt for every single Gym, including their sweat jackets and shorts, and the uniforms he won naturally by defeating every Gym Leader. Hop looked befuddled looking in the closet. "Why do you..."
"Now now don't worry about the details and wear this, huh? I got to get my own on, and some face paint too!"
"Why-"
Haru threw his hands out as if he were a magician trying to sell a hard crowd his act "Because you never know when you'll be able to go to a Gym Leader battle and ya GOTTA be in the moment! The food! The gear! The Gym Leaders fighting supported by that absolutely RIDICULOUSLY awesome battle music before we all chant together in the final phase! It's. To. Die. For!" as he posed like his League Card.
"Haru, you're weird."
"..and YOU'RE under-dressed. C'mon let's hurry up already."
Roughly 35 minutes later of Haru painstakingly painting the Water Gym logo on Hop's face, and having Masako help him have one put on his right cheek, Haru got equipped.
/""Why are you here out without any of your Pokemon? Or security? You could have been seriously hurt or worse!"/ Nessa's words from the other day echoed in his mind. He wouldn't want a repeat of that moment, so he would make sure all of his dream team was fed, and took all 7 with him with Goji being the one outside the ball. He normally wouldn't bring all 7 but...one could never be too prepared in this kind of world where you're threatened at a random outdoor mall for being the Champion.
- - - - Hulbury - - - -
- - - - Water Gym - - - -
The loud echoes of the jumbotron announcer rolled throughout the stadium as Haru, his security agents,Goji, Dubloo, and Hop would arrive inside not from the usual entrance that they previously took before as Pokemon Trainers, but now as simple civilians. It was a much different experience, especially with Hop and Haru walking amongst normal people after having redeemed their tickets. While not taking too much time to chew the scenery, thankfully the routine of being so far out in the open in vulnerable territory like this was quite a bit less hostile than the previous encounter in some outdoor mall in Hammerlocke. The sounds of multiple ad-reads and promotional music would be playing throughout the speakers, occasionally switching to adverts of Pokemon products coming out or were hot sellers, and snippets of battles that already occurred, including the times where Nessa came out as victor. It would switch, too, to showcasing the statistics of the other Water Gym trainers onscreen: showing the Pokemon they liked using the most, their W/L ratio, small snippet of their bio, before cycling back to the ad-reads again.
"Holy moly..." Haru would say to himself once they got out into the stadium seating and were looking onto the Gym Leader field. It seemed like he was so much smaller being on this side than out in that field. Who knew all it took to notice was a change of perspective? Him and Hop got some bratwurst dogs and chips to go for themselves, as a loud voice boomed on.
"AS OUR TRAINERS ARE COMPLETING THEIR GYM CHALLENGE LEADING UP TO THE GYM LEADER EVERYONE GIVE A ROUND OF CHEERS FOR A SPECIAL GUEST IN THE STANDS, YOUR GALAR CHAMPIONNNNNNN HARUUUUUUUUUUUUUUu" came the loud voice from someone who was voicing the microphone as the hype-man. The jumbotron showed Haru and Hop in their seats, and when Haru noticed he had been found he simply just waved. Turns out that even with their reserved seating the seats next to them were also empty so their Pokemon could relax as well.
"This is absolutely crazy!" Haru shouts.
"I know isn't it?! Absolute madness; the way how this feels so differently. Forget any complaint I ever had before on this whole process: if I could I'd be going to these every day!" Hop replied, obviously into the competitive spirit.
It was still early, but about 25 minutes pass with lots of people in their seats, and a switch up in the jumbotron feed, the pyrotechnics would go off signalling the first battle was mere seconds away. As all the sides of the stadium seating would showcase multiple big name sponsors of Pokemon League companies and the Water Gym logo, there would be a new wide eyed trainer that started walking on the field.
The crowd cheers them on with excitement and Haru smiles. He hopes this trainer does well and that they can one day challenge him. /You know, perhaps this is the clarity I need. Seeing raw talent like this will give me an idea maybe for my defending title./ he thinks to himself, before seeing Nessa walk opposite of the trainer from the field. Him and Hop jump from their seats to join the fans of Nessa who like her, are sporting fan-made t-shirts and signs with either her face on them or phrases such as "WHERE'S DREDNAW", "WE DYNAMAX NOW", and "BRING ZUBAZ" ...whoever that was.
"I watched you earlier, trainer, but I hope you don't think this is going to be as easy as the others you've dueled up until now. Still, let's see what you've got!" she's heard saying, as both the long haired brunette girl trainer and Nessa would walk away. Nessa is fully in the zone, and as she poses, the battle music starts.
Haru is completely entranced and brought back to the very moment he fought in the Gym Challenge just like it was yesterday.
The first Pokemon comes out and it's not Goldeen, but a fully evolved Cloyster. The opposing trainer brings out their own Pokemon to duel: a Ludicolo. The audience, Haru included, all shout loudly as the fight ensues. There's a type advantage/weakness going on here, but it seems something is different with Nessa today. She's brought an entirely different group and has a new fire in her eyes. Haru found himself mesmerized at the intensity of the fight with both Pokemon duking it out. Nessa finds an advantage at first with Cloyster avoiding the attack at the last second, retaliating by making the indoor area produce rain: hoping to strengthen future Water-based moves. Another attack ensues, and Nessa's Cloyster avoids damage with another close dodge, shooting out a piping hot Scald attack...! It does hit but Ludicolo manages to hold on with what seems to be a Protect maneuver and her first one in Nessa's lineup goes down before the turn goes on much longer with a Giga Drain attack. The loud crowd cheers them both on as the score on the jumbotron goes "1 - 0" giving a point to the female trainer.
The next Pokemon goes out and the second phase of the battle ensues, and Nessa whips out a tricky choice for a second Pokemon: Quagsire. The audience, and Haru, are confused at this change-up but nonetheless go with it as the trainer decides to keep who she has currently out. /Actually wait, this could be a good idea. Hmm../ Haru thinks.
Which doesn't play to her advantage as Nessa orders Quagsire to use Sludge Bomb. It takes down the Ludicolo easily with what is left, causing the trainer to reconsider her strategy. It's 1 for 1, and the crowd's already hyped for this first fight of the day. Nessa smirks for the camera, as the trainer comes out throwing Ferrothorn. This causes another rise out of the audience. Haru blinks, recognizing that one as one of the best of its type due to its incredible defense with Grass/Steel and could be dangerous for Nessa in this round. Nessa tries to take it out as soon as possible, using what she knows of type advantages. She knows Quagsire is a sitting duck possibly, and orders it to go 'Dig'. He does, and avoids the oncoming Giga Drain attack from Ferrothorn. Quietly cursing to herself, the trainer tells Ferrothorn to go with Solar Beam knowing that it will take awhile and have to just hopefully outlast the Dig attack's damage. The screen showcases the health points nearly dwindle to below half from the Dig attack...only for Quagsire to eat the brunt end of the powerful Solar Beam move as the crowd goes wild. No amount of X Defense on Nessa's part would have prevented that loss.
This can only mean that the battle is in its final phase, where things get the trickiest to deal with if one isn't careful.
1 and 2. Nessa being down to her last one, she smirks. The trainer withdraws her Pokemon and changes it out to Thwackey, before Dynamaxing it for the crowd to go wild, just as Nessa brings out her final Pokemon: Drednaw.
"Flood the stadium and make it our ocean! Drednaw, time to Dynamax!" Nessa cries out.
It's finally the part everyone likes the most of all the Gym Leader Battles when two Pokemon go at it with full capabilities. Haru joins in with the crowd, finally being able to chant in time with the music with everyone else.
The trainer's Thwackey was fully prepared to deal with Drednaw knowing what it could do: despite Ferrothorn probably having been the better call earlier in the fight she had faith in her Thwackey to pull out a move. Again, Nessa's the first to attack with Max Rockfall. A giant wall that might as well be a cliffside rises up from the ground and slams into the Thwackey. It rocks the ground of the whole stadium and is felt vibrating through the seats. The trainer's Thwackey retaliates with Max Overgrowth and both Pokemon are low on their health: the Thwackey having only less than half of it remaining and choosing to still keep it on the field despite the dangers.
"Wait what? She's not even going to use a Super Potion?!" Hop shouts; shocked.
/Super Potion wouldn't even do much in the case of a Dynamax Pokemon since their Health Points are double of what they usually are, but at this point trainers usually wouldn't have them anyways. Either the Pokemon has a recovery move we haven't seen yet that the trainer is waiting to use, or something else./ Haru thought to himself.
Max Rockfall is ordered again and...
No! It doesn't faint in the middle of battle as it's revealed the Thwackey was holding onto a Focus Sash and outlasts the move with only 1 HP left. Nessa's eyes widen in shock, as Drednaw eats another Max Overgrowth move and is taken out. The Pokemon 'explodes' from the impact of the move and her 3rd Pokemon is knocked out. The victor this early is a Pokemon trainer named 'Syra', who's very happy she wins, as the crowd cheers for her.
There's a period as Nessa walks to the trainer, congratulates her and hands the girl a Water Gym Badge, and as she turns to leave while another trainer was going through the Gym Challenge, she notices in the stands that Haru and Hop are there cheering her on. Her eyes widen and runs to where he's sitting in the stands. "Haru! Hi! It's so awesome that you're here!"
Haru got up from his seat and met her on the other side of the divide in the stands. "Nessa, your new team is amazing! Was that a perfect IV Cloyster; the one you told me about not long ago?!" Haru said. She proudly nodded, arms crossed. "You betcha! I had to breed a few hundred eggs for this one, but he's a real beauty! What're you doing here?!"
"Hop! He's the one who is responsible for this trip and well, screw it: I'm gonna be here for your matches today! This is really fun by the way, being on this side of the stadium. Man I'm hyped!" with both of his fists clenched it was obvious Haru was the more boisterous of the two. "I'll be in the loo, be right back." Hop said to him.
Nessa smiles, cheeks pink a bit from blush. His spirit was infectious. "I see you're certainly in the spirit." pointing to his face and clothes. "Ah well heck yeah: I have to! I couldn't get away with this when we were dueling of course, but out here I can go out here like this or buy a dumb foam hand if I wanted to and look silly all I want! But hey, I won't keep you from your next match."
"No, it's fine really. No bother." Nessa said, twirling her finger through part of her hair a bit and leaning from her part of the stands: almost eye level with him but a little bit shorter than usual due to the raised seating. At this point it was the 'break' or 'intermission' part and she had a few moments to spare.
"Ah well that's good then."
"You staying out of trouble? I HOPE you brought your Pokemon with you this time." eyeing daggers at him, Nessa pointed to her eyes with a "V" and then back at him. "Yeah I did. Goji is h-" he turns to point at him noticing he's gone, the Dubloo, however, was still there. It 'baa's' like it just had the time of its life. "Well he WAS here. But I also got my others!" turning his hips and showing Nessa he had his whole time. "Good. I don't wanna have to be upset with you doing something reckless like the other day again." her face softened up as a result of feeling good he was safe now. "I won't, I promise. I'd rather not be the reason you get upset again."
"Hmm? What's that mean?" tilting her head a little.
"Well, the life of a Gym Leader/Model is what it is. You have a lot to worry about, so I don't wanna give you another reason to stress looking over me."
"Oh? What if I wanted to?"
Haru smirked, raising his head a bit. "Well...that'd just be silly."
"Like you?"
"Yes."
They both just looked at each other then both broke out in laughter. "Gosh what were we getting to with that?" she asked, halfway hiding a laugh behind her hand.
"I don't know but it's fine. Anyway, go back out there and show them what you're made of, Water Master Gym Leader Nessa." giving her a thumbs up.
"Oh. I'll do =exactly= that, you watch me, and maybe you'll see how I will beat you one day!" turning away with a hair flip and retreating inside the stadium until the next trainer was ready. Haru sat back down, smiling, gave a pat to the Dubloo beside him. "You know Dubloo? This has been a good day." fist pumping to himself. The whole outing was proving to be very positive for his mindset that he's had lately, and it showed.
- - - - That Evening - - - -
- - - - Water Gym - - - -
"So you wanted to talk to me?" Haru said while in the staff rooms with Nessa and other water trainers who worked with her. By the end of the day he had actually bought some merchandise to support her gym and had his whole lunch and dinner there even if it costed him more than usual. "Yes, actually I ended up taking the idea we chitchatted about not long ago." Nessa pointed out, as she was tending to her Pokemon while talking to Haru. "Oh? You mean the one about the other Gym Leaders?" The Raging Wave herself nods in confirmation. "Yes! Turns out we're all going to have a big party together and it'll be in Stow-On-Side. Allister helped us get a big place for just us Gym Leaders plus you plus Leon. Raihan's gonna be bringing his special barbecue and I think Kabu his own custom curry."
Haru had a small laugh at that. "Well since he's the Fire Gym Leader bringing curry it'd better be hot!"
Nessa raised an eye after seeing her Cloyster was fine again from the last battle. "Ohh from what I hear he wants YOU to try some of his hottest and try to last. You think you got it, Champ?"
Haru fist pumps a bit again. "Heck yeah! Now I'm motivated! I love hot foods! I'll take on anything he throws at me!"
"Even a Carolina Reaper?" she asks.
Haru immediately backs off the fist pump and turns away with a sudden sting of fear in his face. "Okay not that. I know my limits."
Nessa laughs loudly and fetches in a purse she had, handing him the notes she wrote down. "Here's the address to meet us all there. It's going to be tomorrow night." The card read 1900 for the time, and Haru puts it in a pocket. "Count me in. It was awesome being here, but I gotta run. See you at the gathering?" Haru says, finger-guns at Nessa. "Definitely. I'll be bringing something too. I'm glad you came: it was a nice surprise for my work shift!"
Nessa gave Haru a big hug and they held it briefly. Haru waves with his usual smirk as Nessa does the same back. "Be seein' you!"
She watches Haru walk off to go meet back up with Hop. Behind her some of the water trainers murmur amongst themselves noticing she kept looking at Haru leave the whole time until he was out of sight.
Getting onto an Air Taxi, Haru and Hop were chatting about the whole day and Haru felt perhaps that his depressed stint was coming to a close. One could only hope. Whatever it had been, he returned to his home: letting all his Pokemon walk out, and got ready for bed that evening. Taking a look at himself in the mirror, his thoughts ran back a few days up until today. Scanning himself, there seemed little remainder of doubt: the kind that was plaguing his mind-space for a bit. Whether it was the trips with close ones, or the outing to the Gym as a regular person, he finally got back exactly one of the things he needed again.
Motivation.
- - - - END CHAPTER 2 - - - -
