The New Normal – 12-12 – Interlude – Agatha
She had considered herself as someone who would never let herself be overcome with emotion, to be able to maintain a firm rationality and focus on what was important. However, as her final Gengar went down to Karen's Tyranitar – for the first time in a long while, she stood there blankly as she stared at her apprentice.
She had lost. As she hoped she would. Karen had won.
And the resulting wave of emotion confused her.
She felt proud; of course she did. Karen succeeding her was everything she had hoped it would be. But she also felt aimless; her goal – the one that she had pursued for the better half of her life, had finally been achieved. Her student had grown so strong, strong enough for her to entrust her with the protection of Lavender Town in her place – and to raise it to even new heights.
Yet, with her goal achieved, what was there left for her to do? She had spent her whole life ensuring that she was strong enough to protect what mattered to her most, but now…that was no longer needed.
A distinct feeling of emptiness set in for her, and a small but bittersweet smile began to form on her face.
But she reminded herself where she was; she was in public, and she would never show weakness in a public setting. Therefore, she forcefully shoved all those unnecessary thoughts to the side for the moment and adorned her usual expression once more as she approached her victorious student.
"Don't celebrate too hard." She said to a smiling Karen, "Holding onto power can be just as difficult as earning it."
"Oh don't be a spoilsport." Karen rolled her eyes, "Can't you let a girl celebrate?"
"Yes, yes, congratulations on your victory and all that." She said, trying to be her usual dismissive self, "Just don't forget that there's a lot on your shoulders now. You can't afford to rest easy."
Karen's smile turned soft, "I know. But that just means that your burdens are now mine to carry. You can rest now, Agatha."
Despite her attempts to stifle those emotions, her daughter'sstudent's words brought them back to the forefront once more. She willed herself not to react, but seeing the slight wetness in Karen's eyes as well, she knew that it was a battle that she was quickly going to lose.
"I'm not going anywhere yet, girl." She replied, pushing her voice to remain stable, "I'll still be around to make sure that you're not being an idiot." Idling around during her 'retirement' was never for her anyways.
Karen said nothing else and just chuckled at her words, sending a knowingly fond smile her way. Curse the girl; she was getting too good at reading her.
"…What are your first plans after your ascension?" She asked instead, trying to focus on something other than the well of emotions slowly rising up within her, "Are you sticking to what we previously discussed?"
"Mhm, but I'd like to build up my support first." Karen confirmed, "My achievements thus far have been trainer-related, but I've not proven myself in the political sphere yet. I plan to show off my political acumen to the Committee and earn their support that way – then, I'll start prioritising my plans for my expansion and development of Lavender Town. Give it a few years, and I guarantee that the Town won't be a mere town for much longer."
Agatha nodded, "It is essential that we keep the Lavender Gym under our control. Blaine's retirement was a stroke of good luck for us, one that I admittedly did not expect, but I will not let it fall out of our hands now that we've gotten hold of it. I will keep a tight leash on the Gym's internal affairs – I want you to make sure that Lavender Town is able to become Lavender City in the future."
She had already decided who the next Gym Leader of Lavender Town was going to be, and it most certainly wasn't going to be herself. Her own role, now that she was no longer in the Elite Four, was to ensure that the Gym would remain firmly under Lavender Town's control and to keep the new Gym Leader in line.
Cities lived and died on the reputation of their Gym, so she was going to do everything she could to make sure the new Gym at Lavender was going to be as successful and as prestigious as possible.
"Already on it." Karen replied, "Don't worry, you know I've already spoken to the other people at Lavender Town. With my victory, they'll have my back."
Agatha grinned. She had been increasingly hands-off with Karen recently, as she knew that her student was about to challenge her, and she needed to ensure that the other movers and shakers of Lavender Town would all acknowledge her student as her successor. She wanted to make certain that the transition of power between herself and Karen would be as smooth as possible.
But Karen's next words snapped her out of her political planning, "I can see that you have your thinking face on again." She said gently, "There's no need to think so hard anymore."
Before she could stop her, Karen wrapped her arms around her shoulder, enveloping her in a warm hug, "Take a rest, Agatha. Please, leave the worrying to me from now on. You deserve it."
Her first instinct was to immediately push her daughterstudent off of her, but then she felt the small patch of wetness forming on her shoulder. Her head snapped towards her daughterstudent, and she saw the tears pouring down her face. But the big smile that she had told her these were tears of happiness and joy, not sadness.
Feeling Karen's arms wrap around hers, the memories immediately came flashing back. To the time when she had first 'adopted' Karen.
She remembered that faithful day she found an orphan on the streets, staring at her with eyes full of distrust and loneliness. She remembered that spark of impulsiveness that made her stop and speak to this young and lonely child, deciding to let her sympathy rule her brain for that brief moment and keep the child company.
She remembered seeing that spark of budding talent within that young child. She remembered her decision to take this child in and nurture that budding talent. She remembered how proud she was when the child had grown into a teenager, and that talent had already blossomed beautifully into a capable and powerful Dark specialist. She remembered the honour she felt when this orphaned child called her 'mother' for the first time.
But then the memories faded away, and that young child was long gone – and in her place was the powerful and brilliant successor that she always knew that Karen would become.
This day marked the moment where they were no longer teacher and student. With Karen's victory over her, Karen had graduated from her teachings. There was little else Agatha could teach her in the realm of battling.
Her successor was right; her time as a trainer – as a symbol of strength of Lavender Town, of Kanto, and now of Indigo – had finally come to an end. Today, the last of the Elite Four formed under Samuel Oak had finally stepped down.
It was time for the old to step away, and for the new to take their up their positions in their place.
Without realising she was doing so, her own arms had unconsciously wrapped around her daughter, pulling her tightly against her. She gently patted her on the back of the head, ignoring the growing wetness on her shoulder.
For her own eyes had long stopped staying dry as well.
A.N. After all that build up, this is finally Agatha's 'passing of the torch' moment, where her duties have finally come to an end.
It also marks a significant and slightly emotional point in my story for me, because Agatha was one of the first characters ever introduced all that time ago – with her arc planned out all the way since then. A part of me never actually expected this story to reach this point, and I can only thank all of you for your continued support for encouraging me along the way. Truly, thank you.
And now, while she won't be written out entirely, most of her arc has concluded. She'll still be showing up from time to time, and she still has the Lavender Gym to manage, but its about time she gets her well deserved rest. Hope you enjoyed.
And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!