Chapter 11

The weeks following the battle against Marian were a whirlwind.

A lot of time was spent in the Indigo Plateau Pokemon Center. Venusaur's leg had been severely broken and needed several different treatments. Leaf wasn't asked to do anything except sign papers, but she stayed at the Pokemon Center during all procedures and visited often in between. Though Venusaur tried not to show it, he was in great pain. Leaf wanted to be there for him as much as possible.

"I'm sorry you have to go through all of this." Leaf had told Venusaur some variation of that multiple times. "The doctor says you won't be able to battle anytime soon, which is totally fine. You need and deserve a nice rest. Besides, there aren't any upcoming battles, so you probably won't miss out on anything. And if you do, that's alright because there'll be plenty when you recover."

Venusaur smiled feebly and rumbled. It was hard to tell if anything Leaf said was actually comforting. Venusaur was too kind to not pretend. Sometimes, Leaf herself didn't feel assured. She knew that Venusaur would recover eventually, but this injury was definitely more severe than previous ones. Why didn't she anticipate Marian's Steelix falling down? If she'd done that, Venusaur wouldn't have to stay in the Pokemon Center for this long.

Venusaur wasn't the only Pokemon Leaf had to worry about. Leaf knew that everyone would be talking about how Dragonite lost control yet again. She knew that there was going to be criticism. However, the level of vitriol had thrown even Tasha off. Everyday, multiple times a day, there was an article or TV segment denouncing Leaf and Dragonite. One day, Leaf was irresponsible, negligent, and weak. Another, she was callous, cruel, and malicious. Always, Dragonite was a monster, a demon, a danger to all.

Worse than the reaction from the media, however, was the reaction from people in real life. Everyone at the Pokemon Center was passively cold towards Leaf. The exception was Marian, who openly glared at Leaf whenever they passed each other. Uncomfortable as it was, Leaf could tolerate this treatment. What was harder to stomach was the behavior towards Dragonite. The nurses acted as if Dragonite was radioactive. Most kept their distance. Only a handful were brave enough to approach him and even then, they were overly cautious. Once, Dragonite sneezed and the nurse tending to him screamed.

Like with Venusaur, Leaf felt the need to continuously comfort Dragonite. "Everything will be alright. People will forget what happened."

Unlike Venusaur, Dragonite couldn't mask his true feelings. His shame was plain on his face. He hid behind his wings.

Guilt sat in Leaf's heart like a clot. She'd tried to show everyone that Dragonite wasn't dangerous and only exacerbated things. What could she do now? She should've listened to President Ken and kept Dragonite away from the public eye. At least that would've only been three months. As much as Leaf tried to assure Dragonite that everyone would move on, she wasn't sure when that would happen, if ever.

The only time Leaf felt slightly better about the situation was when speaking with her parents. When she was at the Pokemon Center and couldn't see Venusaur or Dragonite, she would video call her parents. Though nothing they said could fully assuage her, it was good to know that there were people who still liked her.

It was during one call with her parents that Leaf heard Tasha yell her name.

"We need to talk, now," Tasha hissed, lowering her voice when others glanced at them.

Leaf was surprised to see Tasha. Her PR manager had been busy drafting statements for Leaf and privately trying to convince news outlets to dial down the criticism. Evidently, the latter strategy hadn't been working.

Then, anxiety began to creep up on her. Tasha visiting the Pokemon Center without warning, eyes blazing, was not good.

Leaf looked back at her parents. They appeared concerned as well. "I have to go now. I'll talk to you later."

Mom nodded. "Everything's going to be alright. Love you, Leaf."

"Love you." Leaf hung up, stood, and turned to Tasha. "Wha––"

To call Tasha stressed would be an understatement. Her eye bags looked pitch black on her pale skin. She almost looked like a diseased panda. "My connection at the Kanto Post tipped me off about an upcoming article. It's bad, Leaf. It could end everything!"

Leaf couldn't imagine anything worse than what was already published. "What do you mean?"

"An anonymous source told them how Dragonite was at the Cinnabar evacuation when he wasn't supposed to be. How you've been warned about him multiple times, but didn't care. The article is going to advocate for your resignation as Champion."

Leaf's blood froze. "W-What?"

"The article is being published Monday morning. We have to finalize a statement this weekend."

Was Leaf hallucinating, or was the room actually spinning? She shakily grabbed the chair so that she wouldn't collapse. "I don't understand. It's not like I'd actually have to resign, right?"

Tasha sighed. "Technically, no. But if enough people support it, you may be cornered into doing so."

"But why would anyone support it?!" Leaf cried. Her blood was boiling now. "Dragonite and I didn't do anything wrong!"

Tasha's eyes darted around nervously. "Leaf, lower your––"

"Dragonite is no more dangerous than any other Pokemon! If he needs to keep a low profile for a bit, so be it, but he's not evil and neither am I! The real villains are the reporters who call the bullshit they write 'news!'"

As soon as Leaf finished, her blood froze again. She turned her head and realized that everyone in the room was staring at her. One of them was holding a camera up.

Tasha sprung into action. "Hey, you there!"

Leaf didn't see what happened next. She ran away. She didn't know where she was going. She just needed to be alone, away from everything.

Somehow, Leaf calmed down enough to wonder who the anonymous source was. There weren't many suspects.

Champion Leaf Warned About Dragonite Before was the title. Leaf had gone back-and-forth on whether she should read the article. In the end, her curiosity got the best of her.

Tasha's summary of it had been accurate. The article stated that President Ken had requested her to keep Dragonite in his PokeBall during the Cinnabar Island evacuation. In an act of teenage rebellion, she allowed Dragonite to fly freely around an extremely vulnerable group of people. President Ken was rightfully enraged and ordered that Dragonite not be released in public for three months. Stubbornly and selfishly, Leaf used Dragonite in her battle against Marian, once again endangering others. The writer then discussed in-depth the special strength dragons had and how it typically took years to fully train them.

Being Champion isn't just about winning battles. A true Champion inspires strength, tenacity, and compassion. A true Champion helps people and Pokemon see that they can achieve their dreams. With great power comes great responsibility, and "Champion" Leaf is clearly too immature and self-centered to wield it. I, the writer of this article, call for Leaf Green to step down so that Kanto can have a Champion worthy of the title.

Leaf immediately stepped away from her computer, hyperventilating. This article wasn't anywhere near as crude as the others, but it eviscerated her. The article made its argument succinctly enough that it was convincing. The public could turn against Leaf permanently and force her to give up the title she'd wanted for so long.

What crushed Leaf the most, however, was the fact that a small part of her agreed with the article. A small part of her was murmuring, He's right. You should step down. You were never ready to be Champion and never will be. Red knew it. Why didn't you?

Leaf shut her eyes and tried to steady her breath. She forced herself to think of something positive. You beat the Elite Four and Blue. How many other trainers can say that? You and your Pokemon deserve to be Champion.

Leaf opened her eyes. Her heart was still racing, but not as violently as it did a moment ago. She paced around. Tasha was currently making last-minute edits to her statement. The plan was to release it tomorrow; it would look suspicious to do it any sooner. Until then, Tasha ordered Leaf to stay in her apartment.

Under different circumstances, Leaf would've gladly taken the opportunity to spend a relaxing day with her Pokemon. But she wasn't ready to tell her Pokemon just yet that they could lose everything they'd worked so hard for. And being alone with nothing to do was going to make the next twenty-four hours excruciating.

She needed a distraction.

Leaf hesitated for a moment before making the phone call.

Out of all the Viridian Tower restaurants, Chroma was Leaf's favorite. Though chic, it wasn't fancy or pretentious like the others, and the food was delicious. More importantly, since it was inside the Viridian Tower, Leaf would have some privacy. Paparazzi was banned from entering the tower and the other residents were respectful of Leaf's space.

Today wasn't too different. Leaf thought she saw a few diners side-eye her, but otherwise, they were minding their own business. As Leaf sat at her table, waiting, she found herself nervous about something else.

When Blue entered Chroma, there was a shift in the atmosphere. Leaf could feel eyes on her as Blue walked towards her table and sat down.

"Yo," Blue said flatly. He was wearing a crisp white button-down and navy slacks.

"Hey," Leaf replied. She paused before adding, "Thanks for coming. I know it was last-minute. I also realized I didn't have your number, so I had to call the house."

"It's fine. I had nothing else better to do."

Leaf had initially thought about calling her parents, but decided against it. They'd emailed her earlier offering their support. As always, if you need someone to talk to, we're here. Leaf wasn't in the mood to proverbially cry on anyone's shoulder. She trusted Blue to not try being supportive, so she called the Oaks' residency.

Daisy had been the one to pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Daisy. Um, is Blue around?"

"Leaf!" Daisy had practically squealed. "Yes, Blue's home. Blue! Come down! It's Leaf!"

Leaf heard some shuffling, some muffled voices, then Blue's deadpan voice. "What."

A part of Leaf was already regretting calling. "Are you free for lunch today?"

"Sure. Where were you thinking?"

Though Leaf had talked with Blue before about grabbing lunch, it still surprised her that he was willing. "Have you been to Chroma? It's in the Viridian Tower."

"Yeah, I have. It's pretty good."

"OK. See you there at 1PM?"

"Sure. Smell ya later."

They read the menus in silence. Leaf ordered a salad and Blue ordered a burger.

When the waitress left, Blue asked, "A salad? Really?"

Leaf shrugged. "It's healthy."

"Yeah, but their other dishes are so much better."

"They are, but they're more of a treat to me. I'll only order them on special occasions."

"Damn," Blue said. "The Leaf I remember loved junk food. Did Tasha assign Ryan to be your personal trainer, too?"

Leaf internally winced from hearing her PR manager's name. "Yeah, I have Ryan. He's pretty good."

"He is," Blue agreed. "I still follow his workout routine. Some of it, that is. I can't believe I didn't eat carbs for so long."

Now that Blue mentioned it, Leaf noticed his shoulders were broader than before their journey. Wanting to change the subject, Leaf asked, "So, how's everything at the lab?"

Blue shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Nothing groundbreaking has been happening. And I don't really do much anyway."

"You clean the equipment. That's something," Leaf replied. She was trying to be friendly, but her tone came out flat.

Blue rolled his eyes. "Gramps just didn't want me to be a bum. He actually suggested I go back to school first, but that seemed like a terrible idea, so then he came up with this bullshit job for me."

"Why would going back to school be a terrible idea?" Leaf remembered that Blue always got straight A's. She and Red, on the other hand, were mediocre students.

Blue looked at her as if the answer was obvious. "You do realize that we'll never be able to have normal lives again, right? Even if someone else is in the spotlight, we're always going to be remembered as Champions. We'll never be truly left alone."

Leaf felt stupid. Blue was right. Even though he was no longer Champion, there were still people who talked about him. Until now, Leaf hadn't considered the implications of that.

"So, what's next?" Leaf asked. "Are you just going to work in the lab forever?"

"Actually, I got an offer recently," Blue answered. "You know the Viridian Gym's situation, right?"

Towards the end of her journey, Leaf learned that the Viridian Gym Leader, whose identity had always been a mystery, was the Team Rocket boss, Giovanni. Red had just defeated him again and out of shame, he vanished. The public had no clue what happened, so there were countless theories on who the Gym Leader was and where they went. People also speculated on who the next leader would be, since the gym was still operating despite not having an official leader.

The day Red defeated the Viridian Gym was the same day he refused to battle Leaf, so she tended to avoid these conversations. She couldn't do that this time, unfortunately. "Yes, I know."

"Well, President Ken reached out to me recently. He wants me to be the Viridian Gym Leader."

If Leaf had been eating or drinking, she would've choked. "What?"

"They need someone to take over and I guess President Ken thought I was the best candidate."

The waitress came by with their food. Blue dug into his burger immediately. Leaf had so many questions that she barely noticed her salad. "I'm sorry, when did this happen?"

"Like a week ago? He called and asked if I was interested. I told him I needed to think about it." Blue raised an eyebrow. "Did you really not know? He mentioned the Elite Four approved. I figured he would've run it by you, too."

Leaf's stomach clenched. Now, she really didn't want to touch her salad. "No, he didn't."

"Oh."

A thick silence fell over them. Though Blue tried to mask his emotions as usual, Leaf could tell that he was debating whether or not to speak further on the subject. He definitely saw the article and Leaf was relieved that he was keeping it to himself for now. But Blue's courtesy, of course, couldn't distract her from the fact that President Ken was shutting her out. She never expected the president to consult with her on major decisions, but defeating all eight Gyms was a requirement for challenging the Indigo League. It did seem like she should be informed on whoever was taking over the Viridian Gym.

"Isn't it weird what happened with the Viridian Gym Leader?" Blue asked slowly. "No one knew who he was, then he disappeared into thin air."

Leaf appreciated Blue's attempt to change the topic, but she didn't want to talk about Giovanni, either. "Yeah, it is weird."

"The only lights the Viridian Gym had were over the battlefield. I couldn't see who he was at all. His voice sounded scarily familiar, though."

Leaf knew where this was going. Without hesitation, she knocked over her glass of water. It shattered on the floor, scattering shards in a puddle.

"I'm so sorry!" Leaf said as the waitress cleaned up the mess and set down a new glass.

Blue eyed Leaf the whole time. After the waitress left, he asked, "What was that?"

Leaf forced herself to take a bite of her salad. "What do you mean?"

"You should never go into acting," Blue retorted. "You did that on purpose."

"Why would I do that? That's stupid."

Blue leaned forward and said in a lowered voice, "Look, I wasn't going to bring this up, but I read that article this morning. I totally get why that would throw you off, but try not to dwell on it. The writer is just an asshole with nothing else better to do."

Leaf glanced down at her plate, feeling as if she was just caught doing something she wasn't supposed to do. "People seem to be agreeing with this asshole, though."

"This is how the media works, Leaf. They have to make bold statements to grab people's attention. In the moment, everyone gets riled up, but after some time, they move on to something else. Just live your life and eventually, they'll forget about Dragonite."

Leaf dared to look Blue in the eye. There was a softness in his gaze. It reminded her of how Blue consoled the child on Cinnabar Island. Leaf was still surprised that Blue could be so sympathetic, but she appreciated it, even if she didn't believe any of what he said.

She gave Blue a thin smile. "I doubt it, but thanks. And anyways, I feel worse for Dragonite than myself. He did nothing to deserve all of this."

"I know what you mean. I stopped showing my team articles about us a long time ago."

Leaf hesitated before asking, "How have you been handling all of it? The constant criticism?"

Blue smirked. "Honestly, I find them pretty entertaining. In the end, they're just jealous that I have it all."

It was now Leaf's turn to be skeptical. Blue was cocky, sure, but she wasn't sure she believed that he brushed off the negative press so easily. She was hoping for a more vulnerable answer, too. One that might actually give her insight to both her and Blue's position.

When Leaf didn't reply, Blue dropped his smirk and said more seriously, "I mean it. Just ignore the haters and if you can't, then prove them wrong."

Blue made it sound so easy. Leaf knew it wouldn't be, but she did feel a bit encouraged. Maybe that was what she needed to hear. Not whatever flowery, sugar-coated speech her parents would've given. Something simple and straightforward.

"Thank you," Leaf said more sincerely. "I'll try." Suddenly feeling ravenous, she began to shovel the salad into her mouth.

"Damn. Chroma is good, but how good could that salad really be?"

"They actually make the best salads. It's like they mix in drugs." Leaf paused. "Wanna try a bite?"

After a second, Blue picked up his fork and tried the salad. There was a slight smirk on his face as he chewed, then swallowed. "It's aight."

Leaf couldn't help but laugh. "Don't lie. You like it!"

Blue shrugged. "It's a fine salad, sure. Doesn't compare to this burger, though. Do you want to try?"

Leaf couldn't remember the last time she ate a burger. She deserved a treat. She picked up the burger and took a bite. Flavor exploded in her mouth. It was the juiciest burger she'd ever had.

"You're right. This is amazing."

"I'm always right."

"Shut up."

"Remember when we had that debate tournament in fourth grade? I absolutely wiped the floor."

"Only because you're so stubborn and annoying that the other side had to give up!"

"Oh, but if you had won, it would've been because you know everything?"

"Exactly."

If someone were to ask Leaf what she and Blue talked about, she wouldn't be able to answer. The conversation went in every direction. By the time the waitress came to take away their plates, they had somehow started debating over superpowers.

"You wouldn't want to fly, ever?" Leaf asked in disbelief.

"I just think teleportation is much more convenient."

Leaf tipped the waitress. Her meals at Chroma were comped, but it felt wrong to not pay anything at all. "Maybe, but flying seems more fun."

"I already have Pidgeot. I don't need to fly myself." Blue checked his watch. "I should head back to the lab. It's almost 4."

Leaf hadn't realized they'd been talking for three hours. "Oh, that's fine. Go help those scientists."

They left Chroma in silence. When it was time to split up, Leaf hesitated before saying coolly, "This was fun."

"Yeah, it was." Blue's tone matched hers.

Why was this so awkward? "We should do it again sometime."

"Sure, just let me know." Blue paused. "I can give you my number. So you don't have to call the house next time."

"Oh! Yeah that'd be great." Leaf handed her cellphone to Blue.

Blue entered his number, returned her cellphone. "Cool. Smell ya later."

As Leaf began to head back to her room, she smiled to herself.

A man was standing outside her room. Leaf couldn't believe who it was, even as she got closer.

"Hello, Leaf," Lance said. "I apologize for dropping by so suddenly."

"No, it's fine," Leaf replied, gaping at the Dragon Tamer. "I hope you didn't wait too long. Come inside."

"Don't worry. I got here recently," Lance assured her as they entered her apartment. "And I'll be quick, so don't feel as if you need to be a good host."

Leaf was mildly relieved, because she had no idea what she was supposed to do. "Is something wrong?"

"I read the article." Lance was so nonchalant, he could've been talking about the weather. "Your Dragonite has truly generated a lot of controversy."

Leaf looked away. "Dragonite doesn't want to hurt anyone."

"I know. That's why I'm here." Lance's face showed nothing but quiet determination. "I want to help you train your Dragonite."

I can't remember if I've said this before, but I love writing Blue scenes. They're just fun.

I'm making Leaf suffer a bit right now. It sucks, but it's realistic. Hopefully Lance can help ;)

Thanks for reading!