Chapter 13

"After ten years of service, the previous Viridian Gym Leader, who wished to keep their identity a secret, made the decision to retire. Thanks to its hard working trainers, the Viridian Gym has been operating smoothly. But it's the time for the Gym to have a new leader, and we have found the perfect successor. You already know who he is. He amazed the world by defeating the Elite Four and becoming the first Indigo League Champion at the age of fifteen. During his two tenures as Champion, he showed a mastery over Pokemon battling that many cannot achieve in a lifetime. As the Viridian Gym Leader, he will push all challengers to their full potential. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the new Viridian Gym Leader, Blue Oak!"

Leaf's speech was met with claps and cheers. She couldn't help but notice a lot of teenage girls in the crowd. No surprise there. Blue was, unfortunately, a ladies' man. There was, however, an alarming amount of adult women squealing as well.

Blue, who had been hiding behind the podium, came up. Some of the girls screamed as if they were at a concert. When they calmed down enough, he spoke into the mic. "Thank you, Champion Leaf, for the kind introduction…"

As Blue orated about how grateful he was for the opportunity, Leaf took her seat between President Ken and Lance. Being so close to the president made her automatically stiffen, as if her body was preparing itself for an attack.

Next time, you won't disobey me.

A week had passed since President Ken gave that ominous statement in his office. Leaf knew it was a threat, but she was frankly too scared to think about how unjust it was. What was a teenager even supposed to do when threatened by the freaking president? Nothing, except do what she was told.

Of course, since it had only been a week, there weren't many opportunities for Leaf to prove her loyalty. But President Ken knew his words had gotten through. For the past week, no news outlet shared anything concerning Leaf and Dragonite. Hours after her meeting with President Ken, it was announced that Blue was going to be the next Viridian Gym Leader.

Truthfully, Leaf was shocked at the announcement. Blue had just told her the day before he was still contemplating the offer. That meant he decided to accept it right after their lunch, for some reason. And President Ken wasted no time letting the world know.

The press went into a frenzy over the announcement. The shift was so sudden, it was as if they'd never slandered her in the first place. Everyone just seemed to forget about her and Dragonite. Tasha had even called Leaf the other day to inform her that the article preaching for her resignation was nowhere to be found.

Blue's debut was also planned with incredible speed. Most events Leaf attended had to be scheduled far in advance. In one week, all preparations were made and everyone invited was miraculously able to attend.

When President Ken wanted something done, it was done.

There was one thing Leaf couldn't wrap her head around, however. President Ken was the one who chose Blue to be the next Viridian Gym Leader. He was the one, Leaf realized, who chose all the other Gym Leaders. Presumably, he had chosen Giovanni as well.

Giovanni was a crime boss. Leaf didn't know what his other credentials were. Why did President Ken make Giovanni a Gym Leader? Why did he allow Giovanni to remain anonymous?

There had been numerous rumors, not only about the previous Viridian Gym Leader's identity, but about why they disappeared. To dispel the rumors, President Ken told Leaf that the Gym Leader had approached him about retiring. I ask that you share the truth with the public. It was a lie, of course, whether or not President Ken knew the true story, but Leaf obeyed.

Blue finished his speech, triggering another round of screams. Something was thrown onto the stage, landing right by Blue's feet. Leaf cringed when she realized it was a bra.

It was now time for the second half of the event. For his debut, Blue was to face a challenger. The challenger was selected from a lottery. The lucky fans who could watch the battle had also won their seats through a lottery. It would've been too chaotic if they let anyone come watch, which was standard for most Gym battles.

The last and only time Leaf set foot in the Viridian Gym was right after Red defeated Giovanni. For this reason, Leaf was apprehensive about attending the event. But as Champion, she had to make an appearance and besides, she wanted to be supportive of Blue. She didn't know exactly how Blue felt about reentering the battling world, but being a Gym Leader suited him more than being a beaker washer. So, all day, Leaf did her very best to think less of Red and more of Blue. Until now, she was doing a pretty good job at that.

Leaf's hands were clammy as she stepped off the stage and made her way into the Gym. The memory of that day was so vivid in her head. The dark Gym, which in retrospect was that way so that Giovanni could conceal himself. A defeated Giovanni, disappearing into the shadows. Red, unable to meet Leaf's gaze when she insisted they battle.

When she stepped into the Viridian Gym, Leaf had to shield her eyes for a second. Probably because she hadn't expected it, but the fluorescent lights that hung from the ceiling seemed obnoxiously bright. Once her eyes adjusted to the lighting, Leaf saw that the Viridian Gym was…completely normal.

Every other Gym in the region had something distinctive about it. What made the Viridian Gym distinctive, Leaf supposed, was that there was nothing distinctive about it. It looked like a regular Gym. The floor was made of wood. White lines indicated the bounds of the battlefield. The left and right side had bleachers. All the fans were seated on the left side. On the right were Leaf and the other VIPs: President Ken, June, Gary, the Elite Four, the other seven Gym Leaders, the Viridian Gym Trainers, some news reporters, and lastly, Professor Oak and Daisy.

Professor Oak and Daisy were seated further away from Leaf. Unfortunately, she was stuck between President Ken and Lance again. They'd waved at each other earlier; Leaf wished she could actually talk to them.

Blue's challenger was a man named Terry Holt, who looked to be in his thirties and very intimidating. He was tall, beefy, had a shaved head, and tattoo sleeves. Standing opposite of Terry, Blue looked like the teenage boy he was.

Terry's first Pokemon was a Machoke, which was fitting. Machoke was the second evolution of the Machop line. It very much looked like the transition stage between Machop and Machamp. It was a bulky Pokemon, though not quite as muscular as Machamp and also only had two arms. Its skin had a slight purple tint to it and there were red stripes on its arms. Interestingly, the championship belt it wore seemed larger than Machamp's.

It would've made sense for Blue to send out his Pidgeot or Alakazam, but he started with Arcanine. This was going to be his first battle in months. Leaf figured he wanted to show the world he didn't need to rely on type advantages.

For someone who hadn't battled competitively in a long time, Blue was a force. Though Terry's Machoke managed to grapple Arcanine for a bit, it was no match for the fire dog. With lightning speed, Arcanine barreled into the Machoke from all directions, surrounded by flame. Flame Speed was the name of the move. Leaf was sure she'd seen it when Blue challenged the Elite Four. It was a combination of Flame Wheel and Extreme Speed.

Terry's next Pokemon was a Poliwrath, the final evolution of Poliwag. Instead of a tail like Poliwag had, the Poliwrath had muscular arms. The white gloves on its hand reminded Leaf of boxing gloves. Its bulbous eyes were narrowed in a way that made it look furious.

The Poliwrath also struggled to keep up with Arcanine's Extreme Speed. Its arms flailed about as Arcanine tackled it numerous times. From its white belly that had a black spiral on it, water shot out. By sheer luck, the Poliwrath was eventually able to shoot Arcanine at a close range with Hydro Pump and win.

Of course, it then immediately lost to Blue's next Pokemon, Exeggcutor, who only needed to use Psychic once. Leaf hadn't realized until that moment that the Poliwrath was partially a fighting-type.

Throughout her journey, Leaf had used the Pokedex to identify Pokemon. She couldn't remember the last time she'd touched it. Since becoming Champion, learning all there was to know about Pokemon had fallen onto the backburner.

Leaf half-expected Terry's third and final Pokemon to also be a fighting-type. It ended up being a Rhydon, the evolution of Rhyhorn. Rhydon stood on two legs and had a cream-colored horn that looked like a drill on its snout. There were spikes along its head and back. The plates on its body looked like armor; they covered the Rhydon's entire body except for its cream-colored abdomen. Its long tail had thin black stripes.

The Rhydon looked strong, and its roar shook the Gym. But Exeggcutor had the type advantage. It didn't take too long for the palm tree to knock the Rhydon out. All it did was hold the Rhydon still with Psychic and launch a few Egg Bombs at it.

The referee raised a flag. "Rhydon is unable to battle. The winner is the Gym Leader, Blue Oak!"

The audience cheered wildly. Blue smiled for them, but Leaf could tell he wasn't as excited about his win. Terry wasn't the most formidable opponent. Leaf also knew that Blue didn't even give the battle his all. Blue was supposed to go a little easy on his challengers, since the gap between Champion and Gym Leader was a chasm.

It seemed that without trying, Blue's opponents still weren't going to pose much of a challenge. If Blue got bored of winning every battle as Champion, it would be even worse as Gym Leader.

But at least it could be said that Blue won his debut battle. There was nothing for his detractors to ridicule, as far as Leaf could tell. Even if Blue didn't try so hard, he fought beautifully. He commanded his Pokemon with confidence. His Pokemon, in turn, didn't break a sweat, maneuvering gracefully around their opponents. Watching them effortlessly take down Terry's team, Leaf was reminded why Blue was once Champion.

After the battle, they had a meet-and-greet with the fans. Even though there weren't too many of them, it felt like facing an angry mob. People shoved and yelled at each other to get ahead in line. They only calmed down once security kicked out two women who started to actually fight each other; one of them had slapped the other, causing the other to tackle her to the floor.

Leaf still found being a celebrity weird. For her entire life, she was just an average teenage girl. She wasn't even that popular in school. Now, not only did the entire world know her name and face, people wanted to be around her just so they could say they were. They worshiped her like she was a goddess.

Sometimes, it did feel kind of nice. Though most had come for Blue and were desperate to speak to him, a few girls told Leaf that she was an inspiration, that they hoped to be a strong trainer like her someday. Tasha's efforts to brand Leaf as a feminist icon always made her cringe a little, but meeting girls who reminded her of her pre-Champion self was bittersweet. Sweet because these girls had dreams they wanted to achieve, and Leaf helped them believe they could even though she herself didn't know what she was doing the majority of the time. Bitter because Leaf wasn't sure they should dream to be in her position.

For the most part, the actual interactions with the fans were fine. Every now and then though, someone would say something to Blue that made Leaf's skin crawl.

"You're so cute," a woman who looked twice their age gushed. "I have a huge crush on you."

Blue chuckled politely. "I'm flattered."

"No, seriously. I know you're younger, but I have the biggest crush on you."

Blue forced out another chuckle and took a picture with the woman. Leaf always knew that Blue was popular with girls. Other than herself, she couldn't think of a single girl in their year at school who hadn't crushed on Blue at some point. And throughout her journey, she'd hear people talk about how attractive Blue was, even on TV.

But until now, she didn't realize exactly how creepy it could get for him. Leaf's experience with gross men ranged from cat-calls to even attempted assault. Though at different levels, there was often clear aggression. Even if it was more subtle, like when an interviewer once made comments on her body in a seemingly innocent way, a lot of people could probably agree it was inappropriate.

What Blue faced seemed different. Everyone else seemed to think of the woman's comment as normal. But it wasn't, even if Leaf couldn't quite articulate why.

Leaf had to admit though, she admired the way Blue interacted with fans, both the weird and normal ones. He knew how and when to turn up the charm. If he wanted to, he could make someone feel he had a personal interest in them, that they were special. He had every girl blushing and giggling. One even fainted and had to be carried out.

Leaf thought of how he broke up a fight during the Cinnabar Island evacuation, how he comforted a child. She recalled past interviews he gave. She knew he hated them, but he looked so natural on TV. In photographs, he could pass as a professional model. Compared to Blue, Leaf was so awkward in both looks and personality.

Strong, charismatic, photogenic. If not for his loss against Red, Blue would've been the ideal Champion.

When the meet-and-greet finally ended, and the fans and reporters were ushered out, President Ken shook Blue's hand. "Congratulations on winning your debut battle. You truly are worthy of the Gym Leader title."

"Thank you, sir," Blue replied coolly. Leaf wished she could maintain her composure when talking to President Ken.

"I have other matters to attend to, so I must leave now. I wish you the best of luck in running the Viridian Gym." President Ken turned to say goodbye to everyone else. When his gaze glided over Leaf, she couldn't help but look down.

"I have to head out, too," Lorelei declared. "See you around."

"Same here," Bruno asserted. "We gotta go work out." Leaf was both surprised and unsurprised to find out that we referred to him and Lieutenant Surge. The two burly men headed out together.

"I must retire as well," Agatha croaked. Was it Leaf's imagination, or did the Ghost Whisperer glare at Professor Oak on her way out?

Lance didn't announce his departure like everyone else. He simply nodded at Blue and Leaf. She thought that Lance might reference Dragonite's first training session (See you tomorrow!), but he didn't. In fact, he barely even acknowledged her when they all arrived at the Viridian Gym. Leaf didn't think that Lance's mentorship was supposed to be public knowledge, but she didn't realize they were going to be secretive about it either.

The Viridian Gym Trainers paid their respects to Blue before leaving as a group, laughing and throwing their arms around each other. Somehow, it never occurred to Leaf before that Gym Trainers would be friends with each other.

Just like how it didn't occur to Leaf that Gym Leaders would be friends, too. Misty and Erika left together, giggling about something. Brock was following Sabrina out like a puppy. Blaine and Koga were chatting with each other.

Now, it was just Leaf, Blue, Professor Oak, and Daisy in the Gym. Daisy wrapped her arms around Blue. "Congrats, Blue! I'm so proud of you! Viridian Gym Leader!"

Blue patted Daisy's back. "Thanks, Daisy."

Daisy released Blue and turned to hug Leaf. "Missed you, girl. How are you doing?"

Leaf could tell by Daisy's tone that she was thinking of her recent media beatdown. "I'm doing much better now." It wasn't a complete lie or truth. It was a huge relief for the witch hunt to be over, but Leaf was still affected by it.

"Good, because you deserve all the nice things in the world. And I've said this before, but if you need to talk to anyone, I'm here."

Leaf fought back tears. Somehow, Daisy always knew how to tug at heartstrings. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

Daisy smiled. "Happy early birthday, by the way! Are you excited for it?"

Leaf's birthday was next week, May 20th. With everything that happened recently, she'd forgotten about it. "Oh, yeah! I'm probably not going to do anything super special, just have dinner with my parents."

"Actually––" Tasha interjected. Her PR manager could be like a ninja at times, hiding in the shadows and appearing out of nowhere. "––you do have something. A dinner party with President Ken, the Elite Four, the Gym Leaders, and other important figures."

"Oh. Right." Leaf vaguely remembered Tasha mentioning this party a month ago. "My parents are invited, right?"

"Of course they are! They're going to be seated next to you." Tasha gestured at the Oaks. "They'll be there, too."

"We wouldn't miss your birthday celebration for anything," Daisy said.

Professor Oak, who'd been conversing with Blue, overheard and turned to smile at Leaf. "We're looking forward to it! By the way, the three of us are going to eat lunch at Bistro 98 in a minute. Would you like to join?"

Tasha answered for Leaf. "She has a dress fitting today for her birthday." Damn, Leaf had forgotten about that, too.

"Oooh, that's fun!" Daisy said. "I can't wait to see what you pick, Leaf!"

Leaf couldn't tell Daisy that it would be Tasha picking for her. Blue, however, rolled his eyes in a way that indicated he knew the drill. She found it strangely comforting.

"The appointment's soon," Tasha said. "We better head out now."

Leaf said her goodbyes and followed Tasha out. When everyone hated her and Dragonite, Tasha decided it was best to keep a low profile until the controversy blew over. That meant Leaf was mostly stuck at home with nothing to do. Other than Tasha, the only people she really saw were her coaches, who fortunately spoke nothing of what was going on outside.

Now that everyone had moved on, it was back to her regularly scheduled programming. Back to cultivating whatever image the public apparently needed.

And Leaf was going to do everything that was asked of her with a smile.

Happy July 4th to all Americans reading this! Quick update this time. I actually finished writing this chap last night and proofread it just now. Wanted to post it before I headed out for July 4th celebration.

Someone in the reviews pointed out I've hit 50 chapters, which is so crazy to me. The story's been coming a long way.

Thanks for reading!