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misskikuwrites · 2 months

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The Next Step Ch 2

Bede/Gloria (Dressedinpinkshipping)

Tags: references to previous assault, fluff (there will be fluff I promise), angst, its a plot fic, minor hurt/comfort, flashbacks

Words: 8,447

Gloria had never planned to come here, to step foot in the prison housing Rose. She breezed through security with a million thoughts jumbling together in her mind. It had been two years. Two whole years and yet the past kept finding her. Her battle with Leon, the Darkest Day, Rose’s plan, everything was being dredged up again against her will. She didn’t want to come face to face with the man responsible for what had become her worst nightmare. A nightmare in a Pokeball, forever housed in the Pokemon Centre.

Gloria shoved those thoughts away and approached the reception counter. The receptionist’s eyes widened a fraction in recognition.

“Champion Gloria,” she said, not bothering to hide her surprise. “I don’t believe you’re scheduled for a visit.”

“I’m not,” Gloria said. “I wanted to ask some questions about one of your prisoners, actually.”

The receptionist worried her brow. “I’m not sure we can-”

“I’ll take it from here,” a commanding voice boomed from the hall to Gloria’s right. An imposingly tall woman stood by an open door, the plaque on the front reading “Prison Warden.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” the receptionist replied quickly.

Gloria hoped the dreadful pounding of her heart wasn’t showing on her face, in her body language, as she headed down the hall and, following the gesture of the Prison Warden, into the office.

“It’s not often we get such high profile visitors,” the Prison Warden said. “You’re lucky it's a slow day. On any other, news of your visit would be out in the media in a second.” The door clicked shut behind the Warden, who nodded to the chair positioned in front of a fancy wooden desk. “Take a seat. I may be a Prison Warden, but even I can appreciate comfort where I can get it.” She rounded her desk and sat in the leather chair behind it.

“Thank you,” Gloria managed to say through the lump twisting itself into her throat, and took a seat.

“You, obviously, need no introductions,” the Prison Warden said. “Outside these walls, you can call me whatever or however you like.” She leant forward. “But while you have a single foot in my prison, you’ll address me with respect.”

“O-Of course!” Gloria squeaked. “Ma’am,” she added quickly.

The Prison Warden held her gaze for a long, silent moment, before she laughed. “You’re just as precious as the last one!”

Gloria gaped.

“Don’t give me that look,” the Warden said in between beats of laughter, “both you and Leon come in here like a Growlithe with its tail between its legs, I just can’t help myself!”

“Wait, Leon’s come here too?”

The Warden composed herself and nodded. “Oh, yes, he tried to visit ex-chairman Rose,” she said. “But he has severe restrictions on visitations, so we had to turn Leon away.”

“What sort of restrictions?” Gloria asked.

The Warden held Gloria’s gaze. “I think you need to tell me the exact reason for your visit. You may be the Champion, but I don’t answer to you. Not in here, at least.”

“Right.” Gloria shifted uneasily in her chair. “I… need to make sure that Rose isn’t communicating with anyone outside,” she began. “There are… certain things happening that point in his direction.”

“‘Certain things?’”

Gloria felt small under the Prison Warden’s gaze. She didn’t know how to explain why she was here without explaining everything, and she wasn’t yet ready to condemn Samuel as part of a bigger, deeper plot. If she did, then his endorsement would be…

The Warden sighed. “I’m not going to force you to say anything you’d rather not,” she said. “So ask your questions. I’ll answer them if I can, so long as I’m not breaching confidentiality.”

“Thank you!” Gloria perked up slightly as a fraction of the tension constricting her body eased. “I wanted to ask about Rose. Has he had any visitors?”

The Warden shook her head. “Given the nature of his offending, he’s only allowed one visitor - his brother - and as far as I’m aware, the man hasn’t set foot within the prison since Rose was first incarcerated.”

“What about letters? Has he sent any? Received any?”

“No. The same restriction applies - and if he had tried to send a letter, or received one, it would be thoroughly checked.”

Gloria thought to the letter she’d stuffed hastily into her pocket with the crimson ‘R’ on the front. If it wasn’t from Rose, then who…?

“What about other prisoners?” she asked. “Could they have sent a letter for him?”

The Prison Warden gave a single bark of laughter. “Ha! They’d have to speak with him first.”

“He doesn’t talk to anyone?”

“Look, we’re getting dangerously close to breaching privacy rights here - the prisoners still have those - so let me just say this: when you’re a prisoner as high profile as the ex-chairman, your every movement is watched. For your own good.”

Gloria swallowed. “Do you mean… he’s at risk?”

The Prison Warden folded her arms. “It’s hard to threaten the lives of every single person in Galar and not become a target. That’s all I’ll say.”

Gloria nodded. “Right. Thank you.”

“Whatever it is you think Rose is involved with, it’s not him,” the Warden said, an air of finality in her tone. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t push the issue. I may not run this place with an iron fist, but I sure as hell keep an eye on my prisoners. Especially prisoners like Rose.”

Gloria had no choice but to believe it. She left the prison dejectedly on her Corviknight, her investigation having run into a brick wall. For a start, she didn’t even know if the two letters - one from Samuel, the other from ‘R’ - were related. They’d arrived together, but so had a mound of flowers and presents. If she couldn’t force herself through the brick wall of the ‘R’ letter, all she had left was Samuel.

Him, at least, she could keep an eye on.

Bede downed his second coffee for the morning, wishing away the headache he could feel brewing on his forehead. He wasn’t a stranger to working on little sleep. That had been a part of his life from a young age - studying endless hours into the night in order to prove he deserved a position at the trainer’s school, to prove his worth for Rose, and later Miss Opal. What he wasn’t used to was an unintentional sleepless night. Bede wasn’t one for mulling over his mistakes into the early hours of the morning. If he’d made a mistake, he would fix it with hard work, with dedication, with study and training.

That worked for almost everything. Everything except love.

And Bede felt he’d made the biggest mistake of them all. He sighed into his coffee - first making sure no one was around to witness it - and cringed. Alone in the stadium, for no Gym Challenger had made it this far in the few days since the Challenge had started, Bede cursed himself for letting his feelings get the better of him. His Togetic fluttered up to his eye level, chirping sadly.

“I’m fine,” he said, gently patting his Pokemon on top of its head.

Yet Bede felt far from fine. He’d replayed his confession to Gloria in his mind over and over again throughout the night. It kept him awake, kept him paralysed.

What a fool he was, confessing to her? To the Champion, of all people?

He’d seen it on her face, the moment the words had left his mouth. She’d frozen. Blood had drained from her face, leaving her pale.

How could he have thought that she would share his feelings? She was the Champion. Leagues above him in every way. He’d prepared himself for her rejection the moment he’d read that in her expression, but of course the kindness in her heart spared him that - she’d asked for time. Time to prepare his heart for the inevitable shattering, was all he could think of now.

His confession had made her cry, for Arceus’ sake.

It was in his nature to break things. He’d failed his mother, left at an orphanage despite her assuring him she’d be back. He’d failed Oleana, never meeting up to her expectations, never doing enough, never being enough. And, of course, he’d failed Rose - in the Chairman’s words, failed Galar in the same stroke, having destroyed a historical monument.

It didn’t matter that failing Oleana and Rose gave him the opportunities he had now, not if he was going to destroy them as well.

He wished he could take it back. He wished to go back to that moment and swallow those fateful words before they formed on his tongue. He wished he could have realised that being in her presence, being Gloria’s friend, was enough. That someone like him, with a past as dirty and unforgiving as his, didn’t stand a chance with someone like her.

Bede had had his head in the clouds. He’d been caught up in the moment. In the desperation of the past few days. And when it was all said and done, his confession hanging in the air between them, everything had come crashing down.

The only saving grace was the fact that he now had time to figure out what to do next. How could he salvage this situation, this mess, if that was even possible? With the Gym Challenge underway, he didn’t expect to see Gloria anytime soon. He could prepare himself, and his heart, for what was to come.

Gloria landed out the front of Turffield’s Gym, recalling her Corviknight as she strode into the building. Muffled cheers filled the lobby, a Gym Battle underway in the stadium behind. Rather than watch the match from the VIP seating and risk her presence being announced, Gloria spoke with a Gym Trainer and got permission to wait for Milo in the locker room. She took a seat on a bench, waiting for the match to finish, and tried to remind herself that she wasn’t imposing herself on him. Milo had said she could rely on him, said she could ask for help at any time. She had his rare League Card, his number, to prove it.

But getting him, getting the other Gym Leaders involved with this mess… it sat uneasily in her stomach.

It wasn’t long before Milo returned to the locker room from the stadium, giving Gloria a bright smile as he pulled off his hat and mussed his curly hair.

“Hoo, that last Max Flare really brought the temperature up!” Milo said, dabbing his cheeks and forehead with a towel.

“That’s something I’ll never get used to,” Gloria said. She stood, anxiously fiddling with her Rotom Phone. “One second you can be squinting through a sandstorm, the next you’re sweating under a glaring sun!”

Milo nodded. “That’s the beauty of Dynamax Battles.”

Their conversation fell into silence, Gloria’s heart wedging in her throat. “So, um…”

“You all right?” Milo asked. His expression softened. “Is it something I can help with?”

It was now or never. Gloria quickly pulled up Samuel’s profile on her phone and held it out to Milo.

“Has this Challenger come through?” she asked.

Milo looked at the photo before shaking his head. “Not yet. I’ve only had a handful of Challengers so far.”

Gloria didn’t know whether to be relieved or not. “If he does come by, could you let me know?”

Milo handed back her phone and met her eyes. “Do you think there’s something up with this Challenger?” He was more perceptive than Gloria gave him credit for. “I could change up my team, make sure he doesn’t-”

“No, no, you don’t have to do that!” Gloria said quickly. “It’s just a… a suspicion, that’s all. I don’t know if he’s involved with-” she struggled to say his name “-Elliot.”

Milo nodded slowly. “Alright. If that’s what you want.”

“Yes, thank you.” The thought of sabotaging a Challenger based on a hunch made her feel ill.

With Milo on board, Gloria headed to Motostoke’s Gym and spoke with Kabu. Like Milo, he agreed in an instant, so she soon made for Hulbury to speak with Nessa. It felt a bit like overkill, getting the first three Gym Leaders involved, but there were so many questions left unanswered about Samuel. At least now she’d be able to learn what he was like from people she trusted - and could even study how he battles in the recordings from his matches too. If she’d learnt anything from her time as Champion, it was that you can tell a lot about someone from how they battle. Not the Pokemon they use and the moves they choose, but how they express themselves. Are they taking risks, or playing it safe? Are they sacrificing one Pokemon to get that last bit of damage in? And when their Pokemon faint, how do they react? When they win or lose, what expression do they have?

Of course, that wouldn’t help in the slightest when it came to figuring out whether Samuel had anything to do with Elliot, but any information right now was better than none.

As the Sky Taxi descended towards Hulbury’s Gym, Gloria spied Nessa by the lighthouse, staring out across the water. It reminded Gloria so much of her own Gym Challenge, the memory striking her hard in the chest, nostalgia and a longing to change what had happened churning together in her gut. She swept that away as she left the Sky Taxi and approached Nessa.

The Gym Leader turned at the sound of Gloria’s footsteps, her eyes widening a fraction before her expression settled. “Oh, it’s you! That’s funny, I was just thinking about you.”

“You were?”

“Yeah.” Nessa looked out across the water. “I’d just finished talking with a friend of mine, someone I hadn’t spoken to for years.”

Gloria waited. There was something in Nessa’s tone, the depth in her eyes, that kept Gloria silent.

“See, I hadn’t known-” Nessa’s lips twisted. She sighed. “Ugh, how do I even begin?!” She ruffled her hair, exasperated, before leaning forward and gripping the railing. “I feel so, so stupid. For all these years, I thought nothing of it, when it was-” she hissed under her breath “-that bastard.”

Gloria’s heart stopped. “You mean…?”

Nessa lifted her head slightly, turned enough to meet Gloria’s eyes for a moment. “Yeah, that bastard.” She took a breath and composed herself. “My friend, she was a model like me. We met early on in our careers, basically started out together. And then we had the opportunity to be a part of this exhibition, it was the boost we needed to get our names, our faces, out there.

“But then… when it was my friend’s turn, she could barely walk straight. She made it to the end of the catwalk and vomited.”

Gloria sucked in a breath.

Nessa pulled a rueful smile. “Exactly. We’d had drinks- one drink I should say, before the show- to ‘calm our nerves,’ as they’d said, and my friend said she’d only had the one… but there were rumours, and I didn’t piece it together until my friend called.” She paused. “She’d seen the livestream. And she told me, she said ‘there’s finally evidence that he’s a scumbag,’ and I remembered who’d given us the drinks that day. ‘For our nerves.’”

Gloria felt dizzy. Like the floor beneath her feet had collapsed and plunged her into the waves.

“No one wanted to employ her after that,” Nessa said, “and we lost touch. I never… it didn’t even cross my mind that someone might’ve done that to her.”

“He did the same thing to me,” Gloria said quietly. “He said that he got bored at those kinds of events so… it was for his own entertainment.”

Nessa turned to Gloria and took her hand. “I’m so, so sorry. It shouldn’t have happened.”

Gloria’s lip trembled as a flood of tears built behind her eyes. Her heart clenched tight. “I know. But it’s- it’s over now.”

A tear slipped down Nessa’s cheek. “All because of you.” She stepped forward and pulled Gloria into a hug. “My friend said that you saved her,” she said softly, her voice cracking.

Gloria squeezed her eyes shut, feeling each tear as it escaped.

“You did what no one else could,” Nessa said, “you got him to talk, you got it on tape, and I know, I know my friend wasn’t the first of his victims. Not when he was so damn good at it.” She gave a shaky sigh, a frustrated huff of air. “Arceus, who knows how many people he’s done that to?”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Gloria said. “Your and Raihan’s instagram accounts were the stars, really.”

Nessa pulled out of their hug, her hands on Gloria’s shoulders. “Nonsense!” She quickly wiped at a tear in the corner of her eye. “You're the one that confronted him. My friend, she tried to do the same, but couldn’t even get close. He hid behind his wealth, behind an army of lawyers… he was untouchable. Even the police told her there wasn’t any evidence. The glass she’d drunk from had been taken and washed up long before she stepped foot on stage.”

Nessa’s pained expression turned into a grin. “But now, we’ve got him!” She smiled through her tears. “So, thank you, Gloria. On behalf of my friend, and me.”

Gloria didn’t know what to say. She nodded, trying not to sniffle, and dried her tears with the back of her hands.

“My friend would love to meet you,” Nessa said. “One day, when things aren’t so hectic.”

Gloria managed a smile. “I’d love that, actually.”

“Great. I wasn’t sure how to bring up the subject, but then you just appeared out of nowhere…”

“About that…”

“Is something up?” Nessa asked. “It’s not to do with that bastard, is it?”

“Well…” Gloria pressed her lips together. “It is and it kinda isn’t.”

Nessa frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Gloria brought up the picture of Samuel on her phone and showed Nessa. “Apparently he’s been endorsed by Richard Murdoch,” she said. “Elliot’s father. Who, apparently, has never endorsed a Challenger before.”

Nessa’s expression sharpened. “You think he got his endorsement from Elliot?”

“I don’t know. At the moment, nothing Samuel’s done has been related to him.”

“What do you mean? What has he done?”

Gloria shrank a little under the intensity in Nessa’s eyes. She explained quickly about the letters and how Samuel had accused Gloria after the Star Tournament. Nessa folded her arms in thought.

“That’s the day he was lying in wait for you, wasn’t it?” Nessa asked, though she already knew the answer as she huffed, “that’s one hell of a coincidence if it wasn’t planned.”

“I’m not sure that it was,” Gloria said. “Because… what he did, what he was going to do…” Automatically, her hands touched the scarf around her neck. “Why set up a plan when he was going to end things?” Gloria shivered. “I mean, I don’t know whether he was going to-” it was hard to say it. Harder to stomach it “-to kill me, or not. In the moment, I thought he was-” She choked on her words. “I thought I was going to die.”

She saw his face, felt his hands around her throat, felt the burning in her lungs. It was gone in an instant, but her body reacted as if the threat was ongoing. Her heart raced. Throat constricted. Blood pounded in her ears.

Nessa took her hand again, gave it a squeeze. “Anyone would’ve felt the same.”

“Arceus, I didn’t mean to bring it up,” Gloria said, shaking her head, trying to rid herself of those memories. “I meant to talk about Samuel, not- not that.”

“Okay, so, this Samuel kid. How can I help?”

Gloria took a breath. “I’ve spoken to Milo and Kabu about him, asked them to let me know when he comes to their Gyms. If you could keep an eye out for him, I’d appreciate it.”

“That’s easy enough,” Nessa agreed. “But why take the chance? If he’s in cahoots with Elliot, wouldn’t it be better to out his endorsement as a forgery and get him kicked out of the Challenge?”

“Because I don’t know for sure,” Gloria said. “Even if his endorsement was forged, we don’t know what he’s up to, whether there’s some deeper plot going on. At the moment, Samuel doesn’t know that we’re aware of his connection to Elliot. If we give that away, it might be harder for us to figure out what they’re planning.”

Nessa sighed. “Alright. I’ll do as you’ve asked.”

“Thank you.”

“But,” Nessa began pointedly, “the second I get even a hint of suspicion that he’s going to harm someone, whether it’s you or anyone else, I’m putting an end to it.”

Gloria had no choice but to agree to those terms. It was what she had planned to do herself, if things went sour.

After Nessa returned to her Gym, Gloria remained by the lighthouse, toying over what to do next. In regards to Samuel, it was a waiting game. As much as she hated having to wait, there wasn’t anything else she could do. She still had the letter from Samuel, along with the photo, in her pocket, as well as the ‘R’ letter. She still had more questions than answers about both of them.

Again, she thought of Miss Opal. The ex-Fairy Gym Leader was friends with Richard Murdoch, and wise in ways that at times made Gloria wonder if she was actually psychic. It made sense to get Miss Opal involved, and yet…

The chances of running into Bede at Ballonlea’s Gym were extremely high. So early into the Gym Challenge, no trainers would’ve made it to Ballonlea yet. Gloria would have to wait weeks, if not months, if she was planning on waiting until Bede was battling a Challenger to speak with Miss Opal. With the two letters burning in her pocket, she knew she couldn’t wait that long. She’d have to take a chance.

The flight to Ballonlea had Gloria’s blood buzzing with nerves. She tried not to think of Bede, of what she might say if she came across him, but her mind spun out of control with various scenarios that made her want to turn the Sky Taxi around.

Somehow, she managed to gather up the courage to enter the Gym, shooting a quick glance around to make sure Bede wasn’t in sight. She hurried over to the Gym Trainer in the lobby.

“Good afternoon, Champion Gloria!” the Gym Trainer beamed. “Are you here to see Gym Leader Bede?”

“No!” Gloria blurted out a little too quickly. “I-I’m here to see Miss Opal.”

The Gym Trainer blinked for a moment. “I believe she’s in the theatre. You can head on through, we’re not expecting any Challengers for a while.”

Gloria muttered a thank you, ducking past the Gym Trainer in her embarrassment. It didn’t take her long to find Miss Opal, as she was the only one in the theatre.

“Now, this is a surprise,” Miss Opal said, her expression warming as she saw Gloria. “I wasn’t expecting you to come by, as busy as you get with your Champion duties.” Her smile carried a hint of amusement. “Are you here to see Bede, by any chance?”

Gloria’s heart thumped, missing a beat and almost tripping her up. “No, actually, I came to see you,” she said. She thankfully managed to keep herself composed despite the torrent of emotions jostling for centre stage inside her.

“You came all this way to see little ol’ me?” Miss Opal looked at her with interest.

“Yes, since you know Richard Murdoch, I thought you might be able to answer some questions I have.”

The amusement vanished from Miss Opal’s face. “I see. Am I right that these questions have something to do with Richard’s son?”

“Sort of,” Gloria conceded. “They’re more to do with this guy.” She pulled out her phone, showing Miss Opal the photo she’d taken of Samuel’s Challenger profile, along with the identity of the person who’d endorsed him.

“Now, that is interesting,” Miss Opal said after studying the information for a moment.

Gloria nodded. “From what I’ve heard, Richard Murdoch hasn’t endorsed anyone before.”

“That’s right. While he’s happy to sponsor talented kids to go through Trainers School, as far as I’m aware, he’s been against personally endorsing any such kids for the Challenge,” Miss Opal said.

“That’s… what I thought,” Gloria said, sighing. “Which means the endorsement is probably from-”

“Gloria?”

Her heart stopped. Bede stood in the door to the theatre, staring at her. He glanced at Miss Opal for a split second before walking up to them.

“H-Hi, Bede,” Gloria squeaked. Her tongue tied itself into knots. Her lungs filled with air, fluttering as if she’d swallowed a hoard of Butterfree.

“You’re not bothering Miss Opal, I do hope,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her. He was acting the same as usual, nonplussed by her sudden appearance in his Gym, as if he hadn’t professed his feelings for her the day before.

“Of course not,” Miss Opal answered before Gloria could untie the knots from her tongue. “She was merely asking me about this Gym Challenger.”

Before Gloria could stop Miss Opal, or even stammer out a protest, the ex-Gym Leader handed Gloria’s phone to Bede.

“Who is this?” Bede asked, and Gloria saw the moment he read the endorsement note. His expression darkened, his eyes snapping to Gloria. “You’re kidding me. This can’t be real.”

A sharp chill ran down Gloria’s spine. She nodded stiffly under his gaze. “It is. He’s the one who… made those accusations the other day,” she said. “He’s also the one who wrote the letter you got.” She dug out the letter she’d found amongst her gifts and held it out to Bede. “He also sent me this.”

Bede all but snatched the letter from her, cold fury in his eyes. He scanned it quickly, huffed at the photo. “We need to call the League,” he said. “And get his endorsement revoked.”

“No!” Gloria protested. “We can’t just do that.”

“Except we can.” Bede folded his arms. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t reveal this kid as a fraud, when he’s clearly motivated enough to do the same to you.”

“Now, now,” Miss Opal said, “why don’t you let her explain her reasons first?” She gave Gloria a warm smile, but it did nothing to break the ice forming around her heart.

“He hasn’t done anything yet,” Gloria said, before seeing the expression of incredulity on Bede’s face. “I mean he hasn’t violated any rules.”

“Forging an endorsement is against the rules,” Bede said.

“You know that’s not what I mean!”

“Who knows what this kid is capable of, or what Elliot has put him up to?”

Gloria clenched her jaw. “We don’t know that he’s been put up to anything yet!”

“You can’t seriously be this naive,” Bede huffed. “The fact that he’s clearly endorsed by someone who wished you harm is enough evidence as it is! We should have him kicked out, whether the damn endorsement is forged or not.”

“That’s unfair!” Gloria huffed. “Why should he have to pay just because he’s endorsed by Elliot?”

“He should pay for exactly that reason.”

“But that’s-” Heat surged up Gloria’s throat. “That’s like saying you should pay because Rose is a criminal.”

She knew the moment she’d said it that it was a mistake.

“Don’t bring Rose into this,” Bede said, his voice cold. “What he did to me has nothing to do with this.”

“I-I didn’t mean…” She couldn’t figure out what to say.

Bede sighed sharply. He thrust the letter, and Gloria’s phone, into her hands and turned away. “It doesn’t matter. You obviously didn’t want my input on the situation in the first place,” he said. “I can see when I’m not needed.”

Bede stormed off, the door to the theatre slamming behind him, making Gloria wince. She bit back the tears stinging in her eyes, wishing she could take it all back.

“I’m sure he’ll come ‘round,” Miss Opal said, gently touching Gloria’s back. “I’ll have a word with him about taking that sort of tone with young ladies-”

“No, it’s alright,” Gloria said. She shoved the letter and her phone into her pockets. “I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have mentioned Rose. I just- he wouldn’t listen, so I thought maybe if I used Rose as an example he might understand, but…”

Arceus, why had she done that? What a way to hit Bede where it hurts.

Despite Miss Opal’s attempts to reassure and comfort Gloria, she left Ballonlea’s Gym with her heart in more turmoil than before. Tears burned behind her eyes. She found a quiet spot by the entrance to Glimwood Tangle and plopped down out of sight on a mossy rock in case she couldn’t hold back her tears. A mixture of regret and indignation swirled inside her. Yes, it had been a mistake to mention Rose, but Bede hadn’t listened, hadn’t understood, a single thing she’d said. For someone who was supposedly in love with her, she couldn’t understand why he’d immediately jumped to argue with her. And the way he’d stormed out, the look on his face… The Bede who’d confessed the day before and the Bede who’d argued with her were hard to reconcile in her mind.

She couldn’t make sense of it.

It wasn’t long until frustration won over Gloria’s regret, and she worked her way through Glimwood Tangle to Stow-on-Side. Each step fueled by the thoughts blazing in her mind. Why wouldn’t he listen? He acted as if she hadn’t thought it through, as if she didn’t know what she was doing, what risks she was taking. He didn’t even know she’d already spoken to Milo, Kabu and Nessa about keeping an eye on Samuel.

Her jaw clenched. How can he say that he has feelings for me when he won’t even listen to me?

Those thoughts, looping around and around in her mind, accompanied Gloria as she trained in Bea’s personal workout room in Stow-on-Side’s Gym. On Bea’s suggestion, she’d begun supplementing her self defence training with boxing. It was another tool that Gloria hoped she’d never have to use. Another tool that Gloria feared she’d forget when it came to it.

Just like she’d forgotten everything beneath the weight of her fear when she’d seen Elliot that night.

Was that why Bede didn’t trust her? She tried to shove away that thought while practising with Bea, ducking beneath the Gym Leader’s swipe as instructed. The training was repetitive, and left Gloria sweating and her lungs burning, but it was better than mulling over her feelings, better than crying over things she couldn’t change.

At least throwing a punch at the lightning fast Bea didn’t leave her feeling helpless.

But Arceus, the hurt in Bede’s eyes when he’d said he knew when he wasn’t needed- Gloria ducked again, Bea’s punch coming close enough to feel in her hair. She punched out, using her frustration, and Bea deflected it cleanly.

The way Bede’s expression had fractured when she’d mentioned Rose flashed in her mind, and Gloria’s cheek exploded with pain beneath Bea’s gloved fist. She hit the mat on her side, vision blurring. Vaguely aware of Bea kneeling in front of her, calling frantically to someone, saying something to her. It sounded like an apology. Like many apologies.

“No, no, it’s not your fault,” Gloria managed to say through the pain in her jaw. “I got distracted.”

A simple exercise, punch and duck, a way for Gloria to train her body to keep moving instead of freezing in danger, and she’d failed even that.

She gave in to Bea’s urging and let the onsite nurse examine her, and was thankful at least that she’d gotten away without a break or concussion. She didn’t doubt that if Bea had been seriously sparring with her, that either would’ve been a possibility.

Bea remained at her side as Gloria soothed the ache with an ice pack, sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall.

“I’m so sorry,” Bea apologised for the umpteenth time. “As your trainer, I should have noticed that you were distracted. It’s my duty to tell whether or not you’re capable of training.”

“It’s okay. Your punch managed to break me out of my thoughts, so that’s a positive at least,” Gloria said.

“What had you so distracted?” Bea asked. “You’re usually very grounded when we train.”

Gloria sighed. “I had an argument with Bede.”

“Do you need me to have a word with him?” Bea asked, cracking her knuckles.

“I don’t think that’d work on him,” Gloria said with a dry laugh. She didn’t know if Bea was aware that Bede could hold his own in a fight, but against someone with formal training and a black belt, Bede wouldn’t stand a chance. “He just… wouldn’t listen to me, and then I said something that I regretted instantly, but…”

Bea nodded in understanding. “Just like in a fight, if you strike out in anger, you’re going to regret it.”

“It wasn’t so much anger, but frustration.”

“I find that they are more closely related than you’d think.”

“You’re probably right,” Gloria said.

She chatted with Bea for a while longer, even as the ice pack began to melt and was exchanged for another, before Gloria decided to head home. In the Sky Taxi to Postwick, she pressed her cheek against the cool glass of the window. Exhaustion finally began setting in. Down the street from her house, two teenage girls remained. A strange feeling formed in her stomach when she saw Nicole and Megan. Her two former-bullies-turned-fans were still on self-inflicted paparazzi removal duty. The sight of them distracted her enough that it was only after she’d left the Taxi that she turned towards her house and saw Bede standing outside.

For a split second, Gloria’s feet were rooted to the ground. A flash of frustration, regret, defiance, and then resignation was all it took to get her moving again. She walked up to Bede where he waited at the end of the stepping stones leading up to her front door. His eyes cased her face, landing on the red welt forming on her cheek.

“What happened?” he asked. His voice was surprisingly soft. Full of concern. There wasn’t a trace of the anger that had snapped at her hours before. “Are you okay?”

Bede stepped forward, his hand lifting from his side as if he were reaching for her cheek, before he quickly folded his arms.

“You’re hurt,” he said.

“That obvious, huh?” Gloria said dryly. Something cold clamped around her heart. The double meaning of her words registered like a slap across Bede’s face, his eyes widening.

“Gloria, look, I wanted to-”

“Stop.” Gloria cut him off. “If we’re going to talk, then let's not do it here.” She glanced down the street, then towards her house. She lowered her voice and said, “I haven’t told mum about Samuel. She doesn’t know the one behind the letters is taking part in the Gym Challenge. She’s already worrying about enough as it is.”

Gloria walked towards the Slumbering Weald, passing through the gate without checking to see if Bede was following. Soon enough she heard his footsteps on the ground behind her as the fog of the Weald enveloped them. She held back a shiver as the temperature dropped. Gloria kept her head held high as she powered past Pokemon that dashed for safety between the trees. She had a thought to keep going to the depths of the Slumbering Weald, if only for the possibility of losing Bede along the way so she didn’t have to deal with confrontation, but something in her decided against it, and she stopped in a clearing not far from the entrance instead.

Gloria folded her arms, partly to ward off the chill and partly to steady herself for what was to come, and turned to face Bede.

“I feel like we’ve done this before,” Gloria said. “You, coming all this way, and me, deciding to hear you out because of it.”

She was being callous. She knew that. But being around Bede, seeing the vulnerability on his face, the fear that lay deep in her heart slithered forth. This longing, these feelings that took hold, she was terrified they were going to break free. That her heart was going to reveal itself.

Bede sighed heavily. “It’s not the first time I’ve snapped at you, you’re right. I shouldn’t have done it.” His gaze dropped from her face. “I’m sorry, Gloria.”

Something in Gloria’s heart squeezed. “I thought… I thought that you would’ve listened to me. You didn’t even let me explain properly.”

“I was… worried,” Bede admitted. “I thought that this business with Elliot was behind us. And when you mentioned Rose, compared what he did to me with Elliot and this kid, I…” He shifted on his feet, keeping his gaze from her. “It still wasn’t right for me to lash out.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Gloria said. “It came out wrong. I wasn’t trying to compare you two, I just… when you had your endorsement taken away and were kicked out of the Challenge, I saw how much it hurt you.”

Bede met her eyes.

“I don’t want to be the one to do that to someone else,” Gloria said quietly. “That’s… what I was trying to say.”

Her explanation hung in the cool air between them. The silence was filled with the chirps and cries of nearby Pokemon, faint Wooloo and Dubwool calling from distant farms. Gloria took a breath, Bede’s gaze pinning her to the spot.

“A-Anyway,” she continued, “I’ve asked Milo, Kabu and Nessa to keep an eye on him, and to let me know when he challenges their Gyms. If anything does happen, I’ll take the information we have to the League,” she said. “I promise.”

Bede’s expression softened. “And I’d called you naive, when you’d already done all of this behind my back. You’ve thought this through.” The slightest smile came across his face, one that sent Gloria’s heart skittering. He almost looked… impressed.

“Well, I-I didn’t want to be a bother, y’know?” she said.

“That’s never stopped you before.”

She pressed her lips together. “Things are… different now.” Unbidden heat pooled across her cheeks the instant she said that, and the air shifted between them. Bede’s eyes flicked quickly away from her.

Bede cleared his throat. “I didn’t want things to be like this.” His voice was quiet. Heavy. “To make you… wary of being around me.”

Gloria’s heart stopped. Her stomach plummeted.

“I know how you feel about love,” he said. “It was selfish of me to push my feelings onto you, knowing that. You don’t need to come up with a way to spare my feelings.”

The floor pitched away beneath Gloria’s feet.

“If you’d rather forget that I said anything, then I understand,” Bede said. “Since I know you don’t share my feelings-”

“Don’t- Don’t put words in my mouth!” Gloria huffed. She blinked through the burning heat on her cheeks, the way her heart thundered in her throat. “I never said that I don’t-” her voice cracked “-that I don’t share your feelings.”

Bede froze. “You-”

Arceus, Gloria could hardly breathe. “I asked you to give me time not because I was trying to find a way to reject you, but so I could… figure out how to do this. How to stop myself from being so afraid…” She couldn’t bear to look at Bede, instead she took to staring out into the trees. Even feeling his gaze on her was almost too much. “I can’t return your feelings right now, but- but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the same.”

Movement from Bede in Gloria’s peripheral vision made her jolt, and she snapped her attention towards him with a start. He’d dropped into a crouch. With his elbows resting on his knees, Bede pressed his forehead into his arms and exhaled heavily.

“I thought… I thought you were going to reject me,” came from Bede, his voice barely above a whisper.

“What- why?” Gloria asked.

He peered up at her, bashful heat ablaze beneath his eyes. “You’re the Champion,” he said, “and I’m… me. Everyone knows what I’ve done.”

“You wanted me to see all of you,” she said, using his words from the day before. “And I do. The good and the bad. They’re all a part of you.”

“Of course you’d use my own words against me,” Bede grumbled.

“Wh-What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” he said, getting to his feet and tugging the collar of his magenta coat higher. It did nothing to hide the blush on his cheeks. “Although I suppose if I’d had said ‘I love you,’ yesterday, you wouldn’t have said it just now.” He saw the look on her face and frowned. “What?”

“You- You just said-” She couldn’t breathe again. She hid her face in her hands, unable to face Bede.

Bede coughed. “So what? You already know how I feel! Why are you getting all embarrassed now?!”

“It’s different!” she lowered her fingers enough to glare at him. “I’ve never… heard you say that before.”

“Yes, you have.”

Gloria dropped her hands from her face. “What? When?”

“When you helped me practise Kalosian,” Bede pointed out. “One of the translations was ‘I love you,’ remember?”

Gloria scoffed. “That’s completely different!”

“They’re the same words.” Bede folded his arms. “And besides, I-” He stopped.

“What?”

He quickly looked away. “Nothing.”

Gloria twisted her lips into a pout. “It’s definitely not nothing.”

He met her eyes for a moment, weighing his defiance against her stubborn nature, before sighing. “Fine,” he huffed. The swirl of heat across his cheeks burned brighter. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but… when I said that back then, it… carried the same meaning as it does now.”

Gloria’s mouth dropped open. “You mean… back then, you were…?”

Bede didn’t reply, but the look on his face said enough.

“Does that mean you’ve said that to me twice now…?” Gloria said, mostly to herself, mostly to try and come to grips with what was happening. It made her dizzy.

“There… was a third, actually,” Bede said, snapping Gloria out of her thoughts.

She blinked at him.

“But that, I think I’ll keep to myself,” he said. “After all, we’re not actually dating, are we?”

Gloria pouted. She couldn’t refute that. “Now you’re just being cruel. What do you mean there was a third?”

“I’m the one being cruel?” he asked, taking a slow step towards her, “when you’re the one keeping me at arms length?” There was a teasing lilt to his tone, but the heat in his gaze made Gloria shiver.

“I-I still can’t…”

Bede stopped. “I know. I won’t push it.” He unzipped his coat, Gloria blinking at him in stunned silence, before he closed the distance between them to wrap it around her shoulders. “Right now, hearing you say you feel the same is enough for me,” he whispered by her ear.

Gloria scrambled a few steps away from him with a squawk. “I-I didn’t say that!”

“Not those exact words,” Bede conceded, “but the meaning remains the same. Or are you going to deny it now?”

She pouted, feeding her arms through the sleeves of Bede’s coat. “Well, no, but…” She had no rebuttal.

“Feeling warmer yet?” Bede teased.

Gloria grumbled, but nodded to him. “I didn’t exactly dress for the temperature in the Slumbering Weald when I left this morning.”

“You’ve been busy, then?”

Gloria gave a brief explanation of her investigation so far, digging out the letter with the crimson ‘R’ on the front when it came up. She held it out to him, and Bede’s expression darkened.

“See why I thought it was from Rose?” she said. “I couldn’t think of anyone else who wants revenge against me that has a name starting with with ‘R.’”

“This isn’t the initial from someone’s name,” Bede said. “It’s Team Rocket’s logo.”

The answer snapped into place. “Team Rocket?!” Gloria gaped. “You mean- like those people from the Wild Area? But I thought they were ex-Team Rocket members.”

Bede held up the letter. “Well, it looks like someone is trying to get Team Rocket up and running again. Here in Galar, too.”

Gloria wrapped her arms around herself. “Arceus, this is bad. The traps they’d set for Pokemon were bad enough…” She thought back to the Vulpix she’d rescued, the teeth of the steel trap crushing the poor Pokemon’s tail. “This… is so much worse than if it’d been from Rose.”

“Based on the behaviour of the ones we came across in the Wild Area, I doubt they’re as organised as they were in Kanto,” Bede said.

Gloria nodded slowly. “I’ll have to get the League involved, see if we can station more staff across the Wild Area to keep a look out for any signs of Team Rocket.”

“Good idea.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t recognise the logo,” Gloria sighed. “A big red ‘R,’ how did I miss it?”

“It’s been a while since we encountered the ex-Team Rocket members in the Wild Area,” Bede said, “so I doubt they would’ve been at the forefront of your mind today.”

“That’s true. But ugh, seriously, Team Rocket on top of everything else? That’s the last thing we need right now.” She shook her head. “Come on, let's head back. It’s not getting any warmer out here.”

Gloria led the way out of the Slumbering Weald, grateful for Bede’s jacket to ward off the chill.

“You never did tell me how you got hurt,” Bede said, gesturing to her cheek.

“Oh, that.” She touched her sore cheek gingerly. “Bea punched me.”

“And how on earth did you even end up in a situation where that could happen?”

“Bea’s training me,” Gloria explained. “We’ve been doing self defence training for a while, and she thought maybe supplementing it with boxing would help, and well, today she was training me and I got distracted.”

“It looks sore.” Bede’s fingers graced her cheek, making Gloria suck in a sharp breath. The touch was there and gone in an instant, but left sparks on her skin and a smouldering heat in her belly.

“I-It’s not too bad right now, actually,” Gloria said quickly, trying to focus on anything else but the way his fingers had felt across her cheek. “I put ice on it for a while, which helped.”

They made it through the gate at the entrance to the Weald, and Gloria dragged it closed behind them. She looked to where Megan and Nicole were in the distance.

“They’re still there,” she noted.

“Your mum said they’d stopped two sets of paparazzi from setting up today,” Bede said.

Gloria sighed. “I know they’re being helpful, but…” She turned from them and headed up the path to her house.

“Welcome home,” Gloria’s mother said, giving her daughter a smile that was a little too knowing, and Gloria immediately shucked off Bede’s jacket, thrusting it towards him.

“I-I’m going to have a shower,” Gloria stammered. She made for her room, before looking over her shoulder and saying, “I-I’ll see you later!”

She had too much to think about, too much to process, to be around him any longer.

That night, Gloria woke up to hands around her throat. She screamed. Thrashed. Fought for her life until her bedroom door was flung open, the light clicked on, and her mother rushed to her side. There were no hands around her throat. No Elliot. Only her mother’s comfort as she cried and wailed beneath the onslaught of memories that felt all too real.

“I thought- I thought he was here,” Gloria choked out. She kept touching her throat, fingers trembling at the feeling of hands biting into her skin. As if she could somehow brush the physical memory away.

“I know,” her mother said. “It felt real, didn’t it?”

Gloria buried her head into her mother’s shoulder. “It felt so real.” She took a few shuddering breaths. “I don’t want to go back to sleep.”

“Why don’t you come and sleep in my bed?” her mother asked. “You used to do that whenever you had nightmares, remember? You’d squeeze in between me and Dad.”

“And then I’d roll so much in my sleep that I’d keep you awake,” Gloria said with a faint laugh. “You always ended up going to sleep in my room.”

“You don’t have to sleep, but I thought maybe having someone with you would help,” her mother said. “If you’d like.”

Gloria nodded, and the two headed to her mother’s room. She paused in the doorway, looking to the side of the bed that had remained empty for years.

“Are you alright?” her mother asked.

Gloria forced herself to move and got into the bed next to her mother, before whispering, “I miss him.”

“I miss him too,” came her mother’s reply.

Gloria squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that these weren’t the same sheets her father had slept on, the pillow wouldn’t carry his scent, but it was still the bed he’d slept in for years, and a part of her wished she could feel his presence. Any part of him.

She curled up on her side, longing for a time where she had to squeeze between her parents in this bed. Where the deep breathing of her father would lull her to sleep. Gentle fingers ran through Gloria’s hair, bringing tears to her eyes.

“You used to fall asleep in an instant when I played with your hair when you were little,” Gloria’s mother said. “It was the cutest thing.”

“Hey, mum…?” Gloria began.

“Yes?”

“Do you think… Dad would be upset if I moved out?”

It was a nonsensical question. Her father was dead, and the dead hold no opinions. But still, a piece of her wanted to know.

“I think,” her mother said after a moment, “that he’d want what’s best for you. And if you wanted to move out, then he’d support you.”

“You think so?”

“I know so,” her mother said.

And with that, Gloria let the gentle touch of her mother’s fingers through her hair pull her into a deep sleep.

#bede #gloria #bederia #dressedinpinkshipping #btyu #my writing

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soap-dispenser-tom · 1 year

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#it’s okay bede you can say PastelGoth #pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh #pkmn #pkmn swsh #bede #gloria #trainer bede #gym leader bede #trainer gloria #dressedinpinkshipping #my posts #my stuff

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rosyreef · 2 years

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forgot to post this

#pokemon swsh #pokemon gloria #rival bede #dressedinpinkshipping #bederia #my art

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christarmewn · 10 months

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Pokémon SwSh Masterpost Pt 1

Collection of all of my Pokémon Sword & Shield/Jirachi's Twin artwork.

#bederia #btyu #bede x gloria #bede #gloria #bede pokemon #gloria pokemon #hpyu #postwickshipping #dressedinpinkshipping #gloria x bede #hop x gloria #gloria x hop #pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon fanfic

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darkmatter-nebula · 2 years

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Bede: That's ridiculous! Gloria doesn't have a crush on me!

Allister *timidly*: Yes, she does.

Bea *grinning*: Yes, she does!

Raihan *laughing*: Yes, she does!

Nessa *snickering*: Yes, she does!

Milo *smiles sweetly*: Yes, she does!

Gloria *raises her hand*: Yes, I do!

#pokemon swsh #gloria #bede #allister #bea #raihan #nessa #milo #dressedinpinkshipping

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lost-soul-of-silver · 2 years

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and again, and again, and again [Bede x Gloria]

Rain falls outside, softly pittering against the window pane and the wooden rooftop of the Master Dojo. It’s more like a light mist, sprinkling from the night sky, the summer air quickly evaporating the droplets to form a thinly-hanging fog.

Bede watches it absent-mindedly through the window, sitting upon the makeshift futon, his heart aching inside his chest. Whether it is from yearning, or anxiety, or uncertainty, he can’t say for sure.

But, he can at least pinpoint the exact cause: Gloria.

Gloria. Gloria. Gloria.

He always had a love-hate feeling for how much she dominated his thoughts since he had first met her. Even now, after dating for close to a month, that feeling remains.

Maybe it’s not so much that he hates thinking about her, but that he just can’t comprehend it. No one has ever entranced him quite like she has, with her impressive battle techniques that he still fails to measure up to, to her love and adoration for her Pokémon, to the unconditional kindness that she has shown him, no matter how rude or cold he was toward her.

Not to mention her cheeky grin, her dorky laugh, the way everything she cooks is too spicy to handle, her temper that would be terrifying if her cheeks didn’t puff up like a Greedent’s—

Bede feels his face growing hot. With a frustrated huff, he runs his hands through his curly hair and flops back onto the futon.

He’s really in too deep, isn’t he?

Read more on Ao3

#dressedinpinkshipping #bederia #btyu #bede x gloria #pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh #my writing #fic by me

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galarfiend · 1 year

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Saw the post. What do you think Of Gloria x Bede or Gloria x Hop?

im watching childs play 2 at a sleepover time to answer some asks

im a well-known devout postwickshipping fan, so i’ll do gloria x bede / dressedinpinkshipping

i think they have a lot of potential but most interpretations kind of suck. i like the dynamic of “upbeat but kickass champion x aloof and rude but secretly very caring gym leader,” but it usually gets written as “silly ditzy girl x violent self-centered asshole” and it makes you doubt if he even likes her as a person at all. its like a shitty dating game relationship.

i think the best way to approach them is like. gloria trying to get him to be more open and find out how to bond with him, and hes trying to get the confidence to tell her his feelings but is struggling to do so without coming off as desperate. anyway yeah i think i like the them in my head instead of the them in the bede/gloria tag on ao3 :(

also their ship name is ass :( theres gotta be better options, right? like. muralshipping? something about the mines?

#mailbox #dressedinpinkshipping

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basilisk06 · 9 months

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Which do you prefer. I have already chosen which one for my rewrite of Sword and Shield. (And I’m saving Marnie for someone else)

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kagura-arts · 18 days

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Cauliflower Boy I love you! part 15: hear to heart (1/2)

Part 15 baby 😎 the kids has fun in the market when Bede has to drop a bomb all the sudden 😬

Cover | first part | previous part | next part

#pokemon #pokemon swsh #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon switch #bederia #pokemon gloria #pokemon bede #bede x gloria #gloria x bede #rival bede #dressedinpinkshipping #btyu #bede #pokemon opal

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franstastic-ideas · 2 years

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hello friend! i saw that you made a pokemon ship blog- i can't? find it? though??? would you mind my asking for the blog name? if not it's totally fine and i understand! i'm just interested in taking a peek because it seems our ships run in similar circles,,, either way, i hope your day is going well and that you're having a good time, whatever you're doing! thank you for your time, i greatly appreciate it!!!

The blog’s name is sweet-hearts-and-destiny-knots.

I’m admittedly rather proud of the name. But at the moment there’s nothing there aside from the banner image that took much more time to make than you would ever think.

I’m... I’m working on WOWW, I swear.

That’s why I haven’t revealed it until now. I didn’t think anyone would be interested in it until they saw that something was there and worth following it for.

The ask box there is also closed, but I’ll be opening it after the first chapter of WOWW is finally finished and posted - and yes, I definitely do expect to receive some hate messages, but I might also receive some nice ones expressing interest in what I’m writing and wondering what will happen next.

WOWW will have four chapters, but most of any future Wieldershipping fanfics will take place after the events of this one. And I do have several ideas for more floating around in my head.

Thank you for the message, anon!

And I hope that your day is going well too!

#wieldershipping #adamantshipping #conflictingshipping #ferriswheelshipping #hoennchampionshipping #barriershipping #soulsilvershipping #hoennshipping #orchardshipping #dressedinpinkshipping #i have soooo many more ships

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amistyshadow · 1 year

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Pokémon ghost story Part 3

There are many things Nessa thought she would see in her life, some beautiful, some unexpected, some wacky and unexplainable… but never would Nessa have thought, that she would see a corpse… and not one… but two. Yet here she was… in Gloria’s hotel room that she was staying in for the month. Raihan sitting on the couch, still in shock and staring blankly off into space. Gloria was currently on the phone with Hop, telling him what happened. Hop was on the other side frantically yelling with worries, Nessa could hear him from here, and he wasn’t even on speakerphone. It was still better than when Gloria had called Victor to tell him. Her brother didn’t even give her a choice, he was coming over the second Marnie’s gym closed for the day. Guess that’s just regular brotherly protection.

Nessa looked down at the small Pokémon bed, Kubfu was still crying with that damn doll in his arms. Gloria’s Pokémon were by the little teddy bear’s side, trying to comfort him. Flamey looked at Axel, Gloria’s Aegislash, as if looking for advice. Axel just gave him this Sawsbuck in the headlights look, telling Flamey that he was just as lost as him. He knows her, Nessa thought, he knows exactly who that doll belongs to, he knows exactly who murdered those two people… but how does he know her?! Nessa felt herself more on edge with each passing second. She thinks everyone in this room was.

Gloria got off her call with Hop, she sunk into the couch cushions next to Nessa. She exhaled sharply and looked at her phone once more. Nessa could see over her shoulder she was texting Bede. The previous text showed Bede worrying about how Gloria was holding up after the incident, along with a photo of his Pokémon fooling around with each other, one of his subtle ways to try and cheer her up. Gloria gave a soft chuckle at the picture. Nessa tore her eyes away from the champion’s phone. Nessa needed to calm down, but she couldn’t, especially not with that doll in the same room as her.

After a long, long, silence, Gloria broke the ice. “Nessa,” she said, “You drove by that lake, right? During the night of the gala.” Nessa bit her bottom lip as she quietly nodded. “Did you happen to… see anything… or… anyone?” Gloria looked at the water type gym leader, waiting for a response. Nessa looked up; a bit taken back by the question. Nessa looked at Raihan, who gestured her, “go for it”.

Nessa cleared her throat. “W-well, yes actually,” she confessed, “there was this little girl I saw on the way home… I thought she was in trouble, so I pulled over. But when I tried to help, she vanished. It was freezing cold that night, yet she was dressed in – “

“In a blue summer dress with summer boots,” Gloria finished for her, shocking both gym leaders.

“H-how do you know that?” Nessa asked.

“Because I saw her… how she was floating above the water, right before she disappeared,” Gloria replied.

They were silent for a while once more after that. Until Gloria saw both Nessa and Raihan staring at Kubfu. “You think he knows who she is?” Gloria said.

“We know who she is,” Raihan spoke up, “she’s the little girl from the missing posters. She’s Gretchen Moya.”

“But that’s all we know,” Nessa said, “we don’t know anything else about her, but Kubfu…” She paused, looking at how Kubfu had seemed to fall asleep with the mossy Buneary in his arms. “He knows something… he must, otherwise, why else would he react to that plushy the way he did?”

“Yeah, I can feel it, I know he knows something,” Gloria paused, “… but I don’t know what.”

***

Kubfu could hear them talking about him. He disliked it, but maybe it was better if they thought he was sleeping… or not, they wouldn’t be able to understand him even if he tried his best. They couldn’t even understand that Marill from the park, when he was trying to tell them that the bad human had taken his best friend. Kubfu smelled all the mud, dirt, and moldy moss on the plushy, but he didn’t care. Despite all the damage that the plushy had gone through, her scent was still etched into the fabric of the toy. It was still as comforting as it used to be.

Kubfu felt soft yet firm paws stroke his head, he lifted his eyelid just enough to see who it was; Flamey with a concerned look. That’s sweet, but it still doesn’t change what I did… I don’t even know if I deserve any of this. He closed his eyes once more as he let her scent -along with all the grime- enter his nostrils once more. Kubfu didn’t focus or mind the dirt on the plushy, he only focused on the scent of his first savior. He became so focused on the calming scent and the comfortable head rubs that he felt his body succumb to sleep.

***

Kubfu was lost! He wasn’t used to this environment! Why was it so cold? Wasn’t it supposed to be spring? Where was he? Kubfu forced himself through the bushes and just kept running. He didn’t know if those humans were still following him, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He couldn’t take any chances! He felt like he was running for hours, but eventually he found himself at a wooden fence with a loose board. Kubfu punched the board until it was opened wide enough for him to slip through.

Kubfu felt his wounds sting as he fell into a bed of flowers that were almost bigger than him. When he looked up, he found himself in a garden of some kind. There were hydrangeas, daisies, sunflowers, and a rosebush. Kubfu was only thankful that he didn’t fall into that bush. Kubfu sneezed as the pollen got up his nose.

“Huh?” A small voice squeaked. Kubfu froze, despite his mind telling him to run. “Aw! Hey there… how did you get in here? Woah!” Kubfu looked up as a small human with ebony hair pined with a white pokéball hairclip to keep it out of her blue and purple eyes. Those big eyes widened as she saw the condition this living teddy bear was in. Kubfu was frozen and felt too tired to run. He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the tears welling up, this was it. All his cleverness that he used to escape from those humans that stole him from his home had been for nothing, he was so freaking tired, closing his eyes felt so good, maybe a nap would do him some good? Kubfu felt small soft hands cautiously rub the sides of his head, he opened his eyes to see this human, smiling gently as she quietly spoke. “Shh, it’s okay… you’re okay… I won’t hurt you, pinky promise.” Kubfu felt comfortable in this tiny human’s hands, and he didn’t know why, but for some reason, he believed her and her words.

After a bit, he felt himself being picked up gently, and he didn’t try to fight or squirm. What was wrong with him? Did he have a death wish? Why wasn’t he fighting or flying? Kubfu was abruptly pulled from his thoughts as he felt cold water wash over him. “Raa!!” He squeaked. “Whoops! Is that too cold for you little guy?” The human girl said. Was she- was she trying to clean him? Why? Shouldn’t she be stuffing him into a pokéball or a cage right about now?

Kubfu stared curiously into the human’s mismatched eyes. The girl smiled. “It’s okay, I’m you friend, my names Gretchen,” Gretchen spoke. She stroked the top of Kubfu’s head gently, Kubfu found himself nuzzling into the feeling. Gretchen giggled at the tiny Pokémon in her arms.

The human who called herself Gretchen took him inside her home. Kubfu found himself devouring delicious foods. Sandwiches inside of Darumaka lunchboxes, fruit slices in the shape of Mudkip, Torchic, Hatenna, and many others. Kubfu doesn’t think he’s ever been this full in his life! Has he died and gone to heaven? He hasn’t had anything to eat since those humans kidnapped him from his home.

He looked over to the girl filling up a large pot with soapy water, she waited until he was finished with the final sandwich before picking him up and gently setting him inside the pot, it was far warmer than the water from the garden. Kubfu was warry, but this girl hasn’t tried to cause him any harm… yet. Still, that was more than he could say about the other humans he’s met. Gretchen took a warm hand towel and started rubbing the soapy water over other parts of his body.

Once Gretchen seemed to have deemed him clean enough, she took him out and wrapped him in a towel, before grabbing a hairdryer and set it on the lowest setting. It was completely foreign to Kubfu, he tried swatting at the powerful air at first- causing Gretchen to giggle in amusement- before he eased into it as he felt his fur becoming softer and dryer.

“There we go,” Gretchen smiled, turning off the hairdryer. She pulled a chair out from the dining room table, before using it to step on the kitchen counter, she grabbed the first aid kit from the top shelf. It was still a mystery to her why her parents left her home alone while they worked all day, yet they put the first aid kit completely out of reach for her. Gretchen pulled out one of the purple potions. “Okay, just so you know, this will sting a little, but just like daddy says; ‘when it hurts, that means it’s helping,’” Gretchen warned him. Oh, that’s what it was. For a moment, Kubfu thinks that he let his guard down for too long and got too comfortable with this human. Even if she wasn’t fully grown yet, she was still a human, and therefore, still just as dangerous.

Kubfu squeezed his eyes shut, wondering just how much this will hurt. He felt something wet and cold spray mist across his body, causing his wounds to sting a little. The mist sprayed once, then twice, then twice more on his backside, the mist made his wounds sting a little, but it wasn’t painful. “There you go, all done!” Gretchen said cheerfully. Wait… that’s… that’s it? Kubfu opened his eyes and looked at her confusingly, that’s all? Gretchen grabbed a stuffed Buneary plushie, heading over to Kubfu. “Mama and Daddy will be home soon, I don’t know if they’ll allow me to keep you, but they don’t have to know,” Gretchen winked. Kubfu was a little confused, but he liked this human. He gave a smile back, “Raa!” he squeaked.

***

Kubfu’s wounds have fully healed now, yet he still stayed. It turns out, Gretchen’s parents didn’t get home until late at night, they both worked full time jobs just to make ends meet. They left her notes on the fridge and left a lot of her favorite meals for her to heat up. But Gretchen didn’t seem to mind, especially now since she has a friend to play with. When her parents were home, it just meant that Kubfu would have to stay in Gretchen’s room until the early morning when they left for work.

Today Kubfu and Gretchen, along with Bun-Bun (What Gretchen named her Buneary plush) were watching a bit of TV, and frankly, Kubfu’s mind was blown! There was this human man on the screen with a Charizard, fighting this other human man with a Duraludon. The man’s name was apparently Leon, and the man he was fighting was Raihan, they were in a Pokémon battle for this “Championship”, and they were down to one Pokémon each. The Charizard looked tired and beaten up, the same could be said about the opposing Duraludon. But as if the battle couldn’t get any more heated, both trainers returned their Pokémon to their pokéballs. Kubfu was confused at first, the battle wasn’t over yet, what were they doing?

“OH! OH! Look! Look! Their about to do it! Dynamax time baby!” Gretchen said excitedly with stars in her eyes. Kubfu watched in wonderment as the pokéballs grew to the size of watermelons before his very eyes and when they threw the pokéballs behind them, the Pokémon not only looked different from before, but they were almost bigger than the stadium they were in! Kubfu’s eyes widened with wonder and amazement. How was that possible?! Fire and dragon aura filled the stadium and before he knew it, the Duraludon was defeated, and shrunk back to normal size before being returned to it’s pokéball.

Gretchen soon grabbed Kubfu and started shaking him back and forth. “Did you see that?! Yet another victory! The champion keeps his title once again! Those two have been at each other for years! I can’t wait to see what will happen this season with all the new challengers! Maybe this will be the year where a challenger will get to dethrone the champion! Oh! I wish I was old enough to be the one to fight Leon!”

Kubfu started feeling sick from how much she was shaking him, but he understood her excitement. Kubfu looked back to the screen, the crowd seemed to be cheering, the Charizard had shrunk back down, Leon was stroking him and seemed to be praising his partner. Kubfu had only seen toxic and even abusive relationships between trainers and their Pokémon, so to see someone care so much about them was a bit surprising to him. It’s almost like how Gretchen and I are, Kubfu thought. He paused at the thought… he never thought of himself as a tamed Pokémon. If he was going to be honest, he only ever thought about getting stronger, evolving, and staying wild forever. But being with Gretchen and watching the Pokémon and their trainers on the television… he glanced at Gretchen, she was wearing her favorite Milotic t-shirt with a navy-blue skirt. Maybe… I mean, she already takes care of him, and if he was honest, he probably trusts her more than he's ever trusted any other Pokémon.

No, what was he thinking? But she’s not like other humans, if anything she was just a lonely little girl. No friends, no family to make time for her, it was just her and Bun-Bun against the world. But the duo had become a trio with Kubfu around.

Kubfu’s attention was pulled back to the TV, Leon was shown doing some kind of pose, and before Kubfu could question what it was, Gretchen bounced up and down excitedly as she mimicked the champion’s moves. “It’s called the Charizard pose! It’s super iconic!” She spoke. The Charizard pose? Well, it looked fun! “Ra” Kubfu smiled. He mimicked along with her. “Hehe!” Gretchen giggled.

Kubfu giggled, this really was a perfect moment. Maybe living with a human wouldn’t be so bad, after all; he’s never been able to get three meals a day with all the nutrients, he’s never had a warm soft bed, he’s never had someone tend to his wounds, he’s never had someone love him. He looked at the white pokéball in her hair once more… well… if Gretchen asks him… he won’t deny her. He might even be her first partner if she wants.

As the commercials came on, the girl became silent. “Hey, Kubfu,” Gretchen said, “thanks. Thank you for being my best friend. I don’t really have many friends, and when I do, they always want something from me, or just use me as a dumping ground for their issues and they don’t really do the same for me.” She looked at Kubfu and picked him up, she held him high above, smiling. “Kubfu, I really want to help you get stronger, I want to go on adventures with you, I want you to become my first ever Pokémon partner, would you like that?” Kubfu thought for a moment that she could read his mind. Kubfu just simply stared at the girl who had saved his life just a month before. He didn’t know how to let her know just how much he wanted that, then he had an idea. “Raa!” He exclaimed, as he did, he did the same Charizard pose he saw the TV.

Gretchen’s face lit up at the pose. “I knew it! You want to be with me too! Alright! Kubfu, I promise you that I’ll be with you and always take care of you forever,” she promised him, “let’s go to the championship together!” Sounded like a plan to him!

***

Kubfu awoken to the smell of fresh curry floating through the apartment, surely that wasn’t Gloria’s cooking. Sure, her cooking was edible, but it wasn’t the greatest either. Kubfu rubbed his eyes as he looked down to see that Bun-Bun wasn’t with him. “Ra!” He cried. Where was Bun-Bun? Why wasn’t Bun-Bun here with him? She was here when he fell asleep!

Nessa sat down in one of Gloria’s t-shirts. She decided to sleepover for the night, the police wanted to question her and Raihan about the bodies for the investigation. But if this would help solve the mystery of little Gretchen... She looked to see Gloria cooking bone and coconut curry while looking at the texts Bede had sent her. Nessa assumed that they were texts with recipes or cooking tips. Nessa will admit that she was a little scared to try Gloria’s cooking with how her Pokémon acted to it. Raihan was currently using Gloria’s shower, and Nessa could tell that he was just as messed up as she was from what they saw earlier that day. Nessa found a steaming hot coconut mixed with bone curry placed in front of her, it looked good. Nessa picked up a spoon. Looks okay, she thought, as she gave it a sniff. Smells okay. She took a bite. Tastes magnificent!

Nessa suddenly chowed down, ever since Bede started teaching Gloria and Hop to cook, they have both improved greatly. Nessa looked at her Pokémon, she gave them a thumbs up, its safe to eat this time! That was all they needed to start eating. Nessa and Gloria have not really spoken a word since they all suspected Kubfu knew something about Gretchen. “Hey,” Raihan called, he came out of the hallway in boxers and no shirt, he was drying his hair with a towel.

“Raihan,” Nessa whispered, her face flushing bright pink, “Put some clothes on! We are not at home!” Raihan seemed to remember and grabbed his t-shirt.

"Eh, it’s okay,” Gloria said, “Victor tends to do that, even before he started to date Marnie, it used to drive Mom insane. And I had to share a room with that guy my whole life!” Nessa and Raihan chuckled.

Raihan still put a shirt on anyway. Flamey seemed to be helping Gloria with the dishes, which was cute. “I didn’t know Pokémon could wash their own dishes,” Nessa smiled.

“They don’t usually, but Flamey has been a neat freak since he was a little Scorbunny, he actually learned from watching me and then tried to mimic me, guess he got fed up with my messy habits.”

Nessa smiled, almost enough to forget about the horrific sight they saw earlier… almost… Nessa looked to the living room, not able to see Kubfu’s bed from here, but she could only assume that the Pokémon was still asleep. Gloria had taken the plushy from him while he slept, according to her; he was holding on to it tightly even while he slept. Nessa wonders if he met Gretchen while she was alive, or if he had watched her die… it would be a traumatic event for anyone. Nessa hopes Kubfu would understand, that plushy was evidence, the police said they would be here tomorrow morning to pick it up. Which was fine by Nessa, if she was going to be honest, she did not want to spend another second looking at that thing.

Raihan sat next to Nessa, eating his coconut bone curry. Raihan never understood why everyone made such a big deal out of Gloria’s cooking, it didn’t taste at all bad to him. Nessa said that he would learn someday. Once the dishes were finished, Gloria finally dished up her own plate and sat down. “Thanks for the food, Glory,” Raihan said.

“It’s no trouble whatsoever,” Gloria responded.

“Raa! Ra! Ra!” Kubfu squeaked loudly. Before anyone could look in his direction, the teddy bear Pokémon had hopped up on the table, not caring that there were plates below his feet. “Ah! Huh!?” The trio exclaimed. “Kubfu!” Gloria scolded. Kubfu paid his trainer no mind. Kubfu looked frantically around, she had to be around here somewhere! Where was she!? Kubfu’s breathe quickened, but no one seemed to notice. Only the Pokémon eating could make out what he was saying and panicking about. “Bun-Bun! Where’s Bun-Bun!?” Kubfu shouted in his Pokémon cry.

“Cinder!” Cinderace got up and dashed to the laundry room. Axel tried to get Kubfu off the table but before he could, Kubfu hopped down and onto Tyr’s belly. Tyr, Gloria’s Tyranitar, looked at the tiny Pokémon with immense concern, this wasn’t like the Pokémon at all! “Kubfu! Come here!” Gloria stood up, Kubfu was bouncing everywhere with curry on his paws, he was making a giant mess! What was up with him?! Kubfu continued running around the apartment, looking around frantically.

“Ra! Ra! Ra!” The tiny Pokémon continued to cry. “Kubfu! Stop! Come here now!” Gloria tried reaching for him. “RAA!!!” Kubfu shouted, his paws turned ablaze as he furiously glared at Gloria. Only when Gloria stepped back in fear did Kubfu come to his senses and realized that he almost used fire punch on his own trainer! Kubfu looked around, his teammates looking at him in concern and disbelief. Kubfu hiccupped and started to break down, he cried his little heart out.

“Kubfu…” Gloria said softly, she cautiously reached out for him, and pulled him into a warm embrace. Kubfu sobbed his Pokémon cry futilely apologized over and over to his trainer. “Shh~ it’s okay, it’s okay,” Gloria whispered. “G- Gloria,” Nessa said softly, “has he- has he ever tried to do that before?” Gloria simply shook her head as she continued to comfort the crying Pokémon in her arms.

What was Kubfu thinking?! He almost hurt his trainer, his friend! It was bad enough that he had that reminder that he failed once at protecting his last friend, but he almost directly failed once again! Kubfu just kept sobbing in his trainer’s arms, it wasn’t until Flamey made his presence known once again that he looked up from Gloria’s chest. Cinderace was holding Bun-Bun in his paws, looking overly concerned for his teammate. Kubfu’s eyes widened. There she was! Kubfu hopped out of Gloria’s arms and ran to Cinderace as he set Bun-Bun down, Kubfu hugged the toy with all his might, sobbing more than he was while he was in Gloria’s arms, it that were possible.

Gloria, Nessa, Raihan, and their Pokémon could only look on as the Pokémon had found what he was searching for so frantically. Flamey kneeled and stroked the top of the sobbing Pokémon as he was reminded of that wretched day.

***

They almost got him! If Kubfu hadn’t fought his way out of the pokéball, he would have been captured by the same people that had taken him away from his home in the first place! Kubfu wanted to go back to the garden! He dashed through the trees of Wyndon Park, he was just here with Gretchen having a picnic. “Oh, hey there you are Kubfu,” Gretchen said as she saw him fall out of the bushes. Gretchen’s smile faded however when she saw how scarred Kubfu was. “What’s wrong?” She asked concerned. Kubfu ran to her and hugged her tightly.

Gretchen heard something, she looked at the crate she had brought for them to use as a picnic basket. Gretchen held Kubfu, wondering what had scarred him so bad. Gretchen gasped as she heard growling from the trees, as a Houndoom emerged from the bushes with a man wearing a creepy grin behind him. What the heck was a Houndoom doing in the Galar region? They didn’t come here, not unless someone had brought them from another region. Gretchen grabbed the crate and put Kubfu inside as she stood up.

Kubfu peeked out of the crate, looking at the man that had tried to capture him. “Well, hello there little missy, ~” the man said, as if trying to start a pleasant conversation. Gretchen didn’t respond, she continued to eye him wearily. “What are you doing here? In a park? All alone?” The man bent over to meet Gretchen’s Hight. Gretchen took a step back, trying to send him her best glare. “I’m… I’m not alone, and I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” she said. The man stood up straight, as the Houndoom stepped closer, growling louder. “Down boy,” the man told him, “it looks to me like your alone,”

Gretchen glanced down at Kubfu. “I’m here with my partner Pokémon,” she said convincingly. The man threw his head back and laughed. “Well, I’m going to need your little partner Pokémon,” he said. Gretchen looked at him in disbelief. “Why should I even think about giving Kubfu to you?!” She shouted, “What do you want with him?!”

The man’s smile faltered. “Just make this quick missy and give him to us,” he growled. “No! Never! Go away!” Gretchen said, as she dashed away. The Houndoom took this as his cue and chased after the little girl.

Gretchen cradled the crate and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. She didn’t even know how fast Houndooms could run or sprint, but she knew that she would never let them take Kubfu. Kubfu peaked out of the crate just enough to see where Gretchen was running to. Why was she heading to the bridge? That was still under construction. When they were on the bridge, Gretchen screamed as the Houndoom bit her sky-blue summer dress, she tripped and fell as she dropped the crate. Kubfu braced himself for the fall as he was launched out of the crate. “Oh finally,” the man from before said as he marched over to Kubfu. “Ra!” Kubfu squealed in fear, hiding in the crate once more. “This was starting to become tedious,” he said picking up the crate with the terrified Pokémon inside.

Gretchen gasped as she saw the bad man pick up the crate with her friend inside. Gretchen had to think fast, she looked over to the side of the bridge, maybe she could push him over? Gretchen got up and sprinted towards the man. “Let. Him. GO!” She yelled pushing the man to the side, causing him to lose his balance, he dropped the crate containing Kubfu over the side and into the water! Kubfu screamed as his crate splashed into the water. “Kubfu!” Gretchen cried. That wasn't the plan at all!

Gretchen was grabbed by her neck and lifted off the ground, she couldn’t breathe. “You little shit!” The man snarled, “I can’t go back empty handed, my best bet is if the team will pick him up at the end of the river!” He paused and glanced over to the side and looked back to Gretchen. “I wanted to be nice little missy; I really did… but you brought this on yourself.” As he said that, he marched over to the side of the bridge and hurled Gretchen over the side. Kubfu could do nothing but watch as his best friend plummeted into the water with a loud splash! “Wait! -” Gretchen screamed, her head sinking under the water as she flailed her arms frantically, “help! Please! I- I can’t swim!” Kubfu cried as the currents sent him further and further down the lake and towards the rapids, hearing Gretchen’s cries and pleas for someone to help her, praying to Arceus to save her. It wasn’t until Kubfu was sent down the rapids that he couldn’t hear her cries or begs anymore. As his crate floated down the rapids, he could only pray to Arceus that he would save his partner.

Kubfu somehow fell asleep in that crate, waiting for it to hit land. Although, it wasn’t until one morning he found someone opening his crate on the beach. He found a little boy with blonde hair, blue earphones, and a pink sweater opening it. His name was Hyde, he was with his father, Mustard, who took him in and trained him. But nothing could stop him from thinking about Gretchen. He didn’t think he would ever meet another human like Mustard or Gretchen. That was until a trainer named Gloria came to Mustard’s dojo and took him away from the island. He joined her team, got stronger, and was treated like family. It almost felt like he was with Gretchen once again.

Kubfu never gave up hope that he would see Gretchen again, there were plenty of people at the park that day, surely someone heard her cries and came to help. Kubfu looked at the crowds during his battles, thinking he would see her cheering on, or she was watching the matches from home on the TV! Watching him and cheering him on just like she would do while watching Leon’s matches. When Kubfu and his teammates defeated the undefeatable champion Leon, he could only imagine Gretchen when he sees her again. He did it! He defeated Leon! Even though that was something he and Gretchen promised to do together, he could only imagine how proud she must be for him.

Kubfu had so much hope that the day would come where he would see her again… but any and all hope he had was shot down and terminated the second he saw Bun-Bun. Bun-Bun was covered with moss and debris. Gretchen would never ever go anywhere without Bun-Bun, she carried her around everywhere. So, the fact that Bun-Bun was here… and not at the house, in the same spot that they had their picnic together all those months ago… Gretchen was… she was…………… dead…

Which was why Kubfu didn’t want to let go; he spent all this time thinking that she was safe and at the house, when really, no one had come to save her, no one had heard her cries, no one had found her body, no one knew the truth about what had happened to Gretchen Moya. Not even her parents must know that their little girl will never return home.

***

So, here he was now, hugging Bun-Bun as tightly as he could, like how he wishes he could’ve held Gretchen instead. He didn’t want to let go… not ever again. Bun-Bun was all he had left of Gretchen, he didn’t care if her parents wanted it back, they were never even there! He didn’t care what the human authorities would do if he didn’t give them Bun-Bun. He didn’t want to let go… not ever again.

#pokemon #pokemon buneary #pokemon oc #pokemon ghost story #gretchen #lochnessshipping #pokémon raihan x nessa #dressedinpinkshipping #kubfu’s old friend #pokemon kubfu #pokemon ghost #pokemon swsh #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon nessa #pokemon leon #pokemon gloria #pokemon raihan

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misskikuwrites · 3 months

Text

Side by Side Ch 4

Gloria/Bede (dressedinpinkshipping)

Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Fluff, Not Actually Unrequited Love

CW: Stalking, choking, physical assault (in THIS chapter)

Gloria returned Zacian, her vision blurring. The air in her lungs felt cold. Leon’s Charizard gave a triumphant roar, a spurt of fire billowing from its mouth, before Leon returned it. The world tilted beneath her feet. She blinked but nothing looked right. Nothing felt right. She barely registered the weight of the Ultra Ball in her hand.

The elevator doors opened behind her. She knew it was Hop before he spoke.

“Gloria!” He ran up to her, grabbing her shoulder to turn her to face him. “What happened? Tell me you didn’t battle Leon!”

She clenched her jaw tight as a lump wedged in her throat. Heat poured behind her eyes and she looked away from Hop, knowing he could see her tears form.

Hop’s hand fell from her shoulder. “No… you didn’t…?” He took a breath. “You lost?”

Gloria turned from him, busying herself with putting Zacian’s Ultra Ball into her bag, refusing to let anyone see her cry. “That obvious, huh?” she said, her voice cracking.

“Glo-”

“Don’t.” She pushed Hop’s hand away when he reached for her again. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine!” Hop huffed. He cut a fiery look towards Leon. “Why did you do that?”

“She… She wanted to battle.” The regret in Leon’s voice twisted Gloria’s heart.

“You didn’t have to beat her!” Sonia scoffed.

“Just stop it!” Gloria snapped. She palmed away her tears and glared at them. At Hop, at Sonia, at Leon. “I wanted to battle, alright? I made my choice. And-” she took a sharp breath, “-And if Leon hadn’t battled me properly, that would have been worse, okay? At least- at least Leon respected my wishes.”

Gloria turned from the three of them as burning tears spilled from her eyes again.

“Gloria-”

“I’m fine,” she said, cutting Hop off. “I just- I need to be alone.” She made for the elevator, before whirling on her feet and jabbing a finger at Hop as he made to follow her. “Don’t follow me.” She let him see her tears. The anger on her face. Her defiance. “I mean it.”

And with that, she stepped into the elevator and left the Battle Tower, fighting her tears the entire journey home in a Sky Taxi.

Gloria’s eyes were raw and aching by the time she trudged up to her front door, her street silent save for the beating of the Corviknight’s wings as the Sky Taxi took off. All the lights were off, and when she tried the handle, she found the door was unlocked. Gloria scoffed. She’d told her mother hundreds of times not to leave the door unlocked, even if she was coming home late. She pushed the door open and stepped into the wedge of darkness.

“Typical,” Gloria muttered to herself as she kicked off her shoes and shrugged her bag off her shoulders, tossing it to the floor. She fumbled her hand across the wall by the door until she found the lightswitch and clicked it on, finding herself face to face with a man.

A scream leapt up her throat, caught by Elliot as he grabbed her face with his hand. His fingers dug into her cheeks.

Elliot. She hadn’t seen him since the Gala. Since he’d plied her with alcoholic drinks with the sole intention of getting her drunk for his own sick entertainment.

And he stood in front of her. In her house. Her eyes flicked to the side at the sight of movement, and she spotted a Machamp standing by the door to her mother’s bedroom, both pairs of its arms folded.

“Ah, good. You’ve noticed,” Elliot said, tilting his head. His blue eyes bore into her. Despite the crystalline colour, his eyes were dark. “If you want your dear mother to come out of this unscathed, I’d suggest you keep quiet. No screaming. Do you understand?”

Despite the hold Elliot had on her jaw, her jaw trembled as she nodded. He yanked back his hand, wrinkling his brow in disgust, and brought out a pristine handkerchief to wipe his palm on.

For that split second, his attention moved from her, and Gloria thought of the Pokeballs in her bag. All her Pokemon but a metre away. She could lunge for her bag. Rip open the zip. Grab and throw as many of the Balls as she could get her hands on. Any one of her Pokemon would suffice. Even her Gyarados, which would fill up the entire living room, was better than nothing.

Gloria couldn’t move. She screamed internally at herself, at her frozen muscles. Do it. Now. While he’s wiping his hand. Go for your Pokemon…!

But she could barely breathe. Her body felt numb. Heavy. Like it wasn’t her own. Like she wasn’t here, like she was watching the scene from afar.

Elliot made a sound of disgust as he shoved his handkerchief back into his pocket, his eyes fixing on Gloria’s again.

“Now, where were we?” he asked, his voice a soft whisper that sent an icy chill down Gloria’s spine. “Do you know how much of a nuisance you’ve been to me?” He stepped towards her.

Somehow, she jutted a step backwards. Further away from her bag, her Pokemon.

Her mother had always told her not to dump her bag on the floor the second she got home. Why didn’t she listen? Tears pricked her already raw eyes. Why, why didn’t she listen?

“You took everything from me,” Elliot said. He drew another step closer. “So I’m going to take everything from you. Piece by fucking piece. That’s what you get for ruining my life.”

Fear trickled out of Gloria’s throat as she said, “you ruined your own life.”

Elliot’s eyes flashed. “What did you just say?”

“You can’t blame me for the consequences of your own actions,” Gloria managed to say. Her heart thundered in her chest, in her throat, she couldn’t hear herself think. She didn’t know what she was saying, how she managed to speak through her fear, feeling her voice crack and waver with every word. “It was your fault you got sent to Kalos-”

“You bitch!” Elliot lunged at her, his hand slamming against her throat. His fingers dug into her flesh, cutting off her air.

Gloria staggered backwards a step. She grabbed his wrist, his arm, panic searing through her veins. She blinked, gasped, gaped like a magikarp on land. Elliot pushed her backwards, driving her against a bookshelf. Her head slammed against it. Her lungs burned. She kicked her feet, hoping her weight would make him release her throat, but he only tightened his grip.

“I’m going to make you suffer for what you did,” he hissed, drawing his face close to hers. She could see the blood vessels in his eyes. The heat of his breath seared across her cheeks. “And then I’m going to do the same- no, worse, to that Fairy Gym bastard.”

Bede.

Gloria’s heart thumped harder, faster, in her chest as her vision began to blur and speckle with patches of darkness. Her nails dug into his skin, tore at the flesh of his wrist, the back of his hand, but he didn’t flinch. The veins on his neck bulged with effort as he crushed her windpipe. Gloria squeezed her eyes shut, clenched her jaw. She didn’t want his face to be the last thing she saw.

And then she remembered. She remembered where she was. In a final, desperate gamble, Gloria stamped her left foot to the side, saying a silent apology in her mind, and stomped on Munchlax.

The baby Pokemon immediately let out an ear piercing wail. Elliot startled, stepping back and dragging Gloria with him as he recoiled from the Pokemon who’d been sleeping in his bed behind the couch. Gloria took her chance the instant his grip loosened and tore herself free.

“Fuck!” Elliot spat as Munchlax kept wailing. Gloria fell to the floor, no strength in her legs, as her assailant returned his Machamp and fled through the front door. She coughed and hacked, tears welling in her eyes, air filling her aching lungs. She heaved on the floor as a thud sounded from her mother’s room, the door flinging open a second later.

“What’s going on-” Her mother’s voice caught. “Gloria!”

She barely heard her mother ask rapid fire questions beneath the crying of Munchlax, the hammering of her heart in her ears, and her own coughing. Somehow, she managed to speak. She managed a single word. A name.

“Elliot.”

The hours that followed were a blur. An ambulance arrived and ferried her to hospital, where she was surrounded by doctors and nurses in the emergency room as they monitored the bruising and swelling around her throat. She had a cannula inserted into the back of her left hand in case the swelling around her throat obstructed her breathing and she needed to be intubated. They didn’t bother giving her painkillers to swallow and used the line to give her pain relief instead. Gloria was thankful for that, at least.

She tried to block out the police presence the entire time, not wanting to be reminded of what had occurred, but it was impossible. Images flashed in her mind. Elliot’s chilling blue eyes. The hiss of his voice. The pressure around her throat. Pain like she’d never felt before blooming in her lungs as her oxygen ran out. A blond-haired nurse walked past the gap in the curtain shielding her cubicle from view and sent Gloria into a panic attack.

After that, they gave her something to calm her down, and she fell asleep.

When Gloria awoke, she was in a private room, her mother dozing in a chair by the window. There were ice packs delicately balanced on either side of her neck. Pain crushed her throat and she gasped when it hurt to breathe. It hurt to swallow. Her mother jolted awake in the chair and called for the nurse, and another round of questions and medications followed. They managed to get her to sip water, and she winced when she swallowed what couldn’t be more than a teaspoon. It felt like the lining of her throat had been cleaved away. When she tried to speak, her words came out in a dry croak. The sound of her own voice made her cry, despite being reassured that it was a good sign that she could speak. Apparently, she looked and felt worse than she actually was. When the nurses asked if she wanted to see her neck, Gloria declined, even when they expressed sympathy and told her, again and again, that “it’s not that bad.”

Whatever that meant.

When the nurses left, Gloria turned to her mother, and croaked, “they let you stay?”

“I’m surprised too,” her mother said, shuffling her chair closer to the bed. She ran her fingers through her daughter’s hair, making Gloria’s eyes droop shut. “I guess being the Champion has its benefits.”

Gloria snorted, then grimaced at the pain laughter caused. Now that she was awake, the police came into the room to ask questions. She answered as best she could, through the pain, through the memories that returned. When she told them that she’d scratched his wrist, they brought in another officer to clip her nails and secure the evidence. Gloria looked down at her short nails and silently wept.

It felt strange, pathetic even, to cry over her nails. She’d finally managed to grow them, to shape them nicely, something she’d never been able to do before because she’d always anxiously bite or pick at them.

And now they were short again.

Bede followed Hop mechanically, one foot in front of the other, barely registering where they were going. His heart thumped in time with his steps. His thoughts jumbled. Adrenaline combined with a lack of sleep made it feel like time was stretching out to infinity. They turned a corner in the hospital and Hop pushed a button for the elevator. Bede swallowed. His throat was dry. His hands clammy, mind dizzy.

It didn’t feel real.

The elevator arrived and Bede followed Hop inside, trying to snap himself out of his stupor. He needed to get it together - if not for himself, then for Gloria.

Fuck.

Gloria.

His throat tightened. He didn’t know what floor they were going to, what room. He’d hardly taken in any information at all after that phone call, after rushing to the hospital in the dead hours of the morning with his heart in his throat. Hop had looked as distraught as Bede felt, spilling what little he’d heard from Gloria’s mother in frantic sentences.

She’d been attacked. Strangled. By someone Bede never thought he’d hear from again.

Other than the fact that Gloria was alive, they knew little else, and the tortuous hours of waiting before visitors were allowed in felt like a nightmare within a nightmare. He kept repeating in his mind that she was alive. That she’d be okay.

That she wasn’t going anywhere. He hadn’t lost her.

He hadn’t lost her.

“You alright, man?” Hop’s voice broke the silence of the elevator, broke Bede out of the darkness creeping into his mind.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” Bede had never felt more inadequate in his life. This was Gloria’s best friend, her childhood friend, her “practically family” friend. Shouldn’t he be the one comforting Hop? He’d known Gloria for what, two years? That was nothing compared to the lifetime that Hop and Gloria had spent together already.

“You’re the one who looks like he’s about to faint,” Hop said.

Bede inhaled shakily and tried to slow his breathing. Tried to focus on where he was, what he was doing. Where he was going. The elevator chimed, doors opening, and Hop gave him one final look of concern before stepping out.

“I’ll be fine,” Bede said, more to himself than to Hop, and fell in step beside him.

“Just… try not to react, okay?” Hop glanced at him.

Bede almost shuddered to a halt. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Look, I don’t know the details, but… from what Gloria’s mum told me, there’s a lot of bruising.” They turned a corner. “Like, a lot.”

Bede clenched his hands into fists, feeling them shake at his sides as he walked. “That- That bastard…!”

Hop stopped and grabbed Bede’s arm, his voice lowered to a whisper. “And none of that, either, okay? I get that you’re angry. We all are. But this is about Gloria, not-” Hop’s mouth twisted, refusing to give the fiend a name.

Bede shifted on his feet as Hop released his arm, and nodded. “I understand.”

This pain, this anger swelling inside him, now wasn’t the time to let it billow forth.

After what felt like a eon wandering endless halls of white, Hop finally drew up in front of a room and nodded to Bede. They’d arrived. He steeled himself as Hop knocked on the door. Gloria’s mother opened it and let them in with a tired, but grateful, smile.

“Thanks for coming, you two,” she said, but any response Bede could have said died on his tongue when his gaze landed on Gloria.

She looked small. Weary. As if she’d aged impossibly in the hours since he’d seen her, shadows at home beneath her eyes. She tried to smile, her lips wobbling with the effort.

But it was her voice - barely louder than a whisper - that broke something deep in Bede’s heart. “You didn’t have to come so-” she coughed, voice faltering, “-so early.” Gloria took the plastic cup of water offered by her mother and sipped slowly, grimacing when she swallowed. “They’re going to discharge me in a few hours anyway.”

She kept her tone light, despite the cracking of her voice, but Bede knew the look on her face. How close she was to crumbling. To shattering. It kept his feet rooted to the floor. His eyes on her face, not the blooming colours enveloping her neck. It was impossible not to notice. It was the first thing he saw. The first thing everyone saw. If it looked anymore like a handprint, Bede would have torn from the hospital and unleashed hell until he found the one responsible.

“You serious?” Hop asked, shooting a pointed look at Bede, and rounded the side of the bed so he was close to Gloria. “They’re throwing you out of here already?”

Bede finally uprooted his feet and stepped further into the room, stopping by the end of the bed. His gaze dropped to the plaster on the back of Gloria’s hand. To the window and the sleepy world outside. He didn’t know where to look.

Gloria snorted at Hop, her short laugh overtaken by a hiss of pain. “You make it sound like they’re just gonna turf me out on the street. The doctors only wanted to keep me in overnight as a precaution, and since it looks like my airways aren’t going to collapse on themselves anytime soon, I’m free to go.”

“As soon as the doctors sign your discharge form,” Gloria’s mother added.

“I know, I know.” She took another slow sip of water. “It’s not like I’m all that eager to go back there, anyway…” Gloria’s expression faltered, the carefully crafted mask slipping for an instant, and Bede gripped the end of the bed to steady himself. Her home, her safe place, was no longer that.

“He-” Gloria swallowed, turning her attention to Bede. “He mentioned you.”

Bede’s gaze snapped to her. His blood ran cold. “He what?”

She nodded stiffly, a tiny dip of her chin, the fear in her eyes palpable. “He said- that after he was done with me, he’d…” her voice broke. Tears welled in her eyes. “He’d…” She pressed her lips together firmly to stop them trembling. Blinked up at the ceiling to stop her tears. The sight splintered Bede’s heart.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Hop said, rubbing Gloria’s arm as she swiped at her tears. “Nothing happened to Bede.”

“But he’s not going to stop!” Gloria cried. “Not until he- not until he’s taken everything from me…”

“We’re not going to let him do that,” Hop said. He met Bede’s eyes. “Are we?”

Bede mustered confidence, a look of defiance, from somewhere deep inside. “Of course not.”

Gloria sniffled, looking between the two of them. “But how? We- the police don’t even know where he is.”

“We might be able to help with that,” a voice came from the doorway. Gloria gasped and Bede turned, and he stilled in quiet surprise as members of the League stepped into the room.

Gloria’s heart fluttered as she took in, one by one, all the Gym Leaders as they entered. Milo, Nessa, Kabu, Bea, Gordie, Marnie, Raihan, as well as Leon, Sonia, Piers and Miss Opal, filed into the room. Bede came round the side of the bed in order to make room, looking as surprised as she felt.

“What- What are you all doing here?” Gloria asked. She tried to clear her throat as subtly as possible, reaching again for her cup of water.

“I went and got ‘em all,” Marnie said. She stepped up beside Hop and took Gloria’s hand.

“Sorry for eavesdropping,” Nessa said, her smile carrying a hint of sheepishness. “We were going to come in when the opportunity presented itself, but-” She shot a look at Raihan. “Some of us can’t help themselves.”

Raihan grinned, leaning against the windowsill as if he owned the place. “What, I’m supposed to just keep to myself the fact that we might be able to help our dear Champion in her time of need?”

Sonia rolled her eyes. “It’s called tact.”

“Marnie reached out to us,” Leon said, stepping forward before Raihan could retort. “Because when someone hurts one of us, they hurt all of us.” He looked at the crowd gathered in the room. “You’re part of the League, Gloria. That makes you family.”

Gloria’s heart flopped. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Marnie squeezed her hand, a warm, gentle smile on her face, and nodded. It snapped the final thread holding Gloria’s composure together. Tears came without abandon. She crumbled into her hands, palming her eyes, and wailed despite the pain roaring in her throat. Arms surrounded her, cradled her, as she cried. She didn’t know whose they were. She didn’t care. Even with the turmoil roiling inside her, the pain and grief and fear, she felt grounded. She felt safe. Safe to cry, safe to bear her bruises and fear, safe to let it all out.

And so she did.

Gloria was the first one to break the silence, after calming down enough that she could soothe her throat with another desperate sip of water, and asked, “what did you mean when you said you might be able to help us?” She looked to Raihan.

“Marnie told us the jist of what happened,” Raihan said, “including everything about this scum who’s name is dead to us.”

Gloria gave him a thankful smile. Talking about him, about what happened, was hard enough without hearing his name.

“He should have been in Kalos,” Miss Opal said. She tapped the tip of her umbrella on the floor in frustration. Her eyes glinted dangerously in a way Gloria had never seen before. “And he was, according to his uncle, until last week, when he apparently ‘vanished.’” She gestured, unconvinced, in the air with that word.

“When you’re that rich, you’re bound to have friends in high places,” Gordie said. “Probably called on a mate to fly him to Galar. Private, almost certainly untraceable.”

“And that,” Raihan said, flashing a smile at Gloria, “is how we’ll get him.”

“How is that going to help?” Bede asked. Gloria jolted, not realising he was at her side. Nor did she realise, until then, that one of the hands on her back was his. “You just said it was ‘almost certainly untraceable.’”

“We’re not talking about the plane, or his friend,” Raihan said. “But the fact that this is a rich brat who’s used to every convenience under the sun.”

Kabu nodded. “The staff.”

“Exactly!” Raihan’s grin was one of self satisfaction. “Wherever he’s staying, whoever he’s staying with, they’re bound to have staff. Chefs, cleaners, security. Someone would have seen him.”

“I’ve got a friend who’s a private chef for that section of society, and Bea’s trained with lots of high-end security guards,” Nessa said. Bea nodded in agreement. “And I’m sure they’ll be on board once we tell them what’s happened.” She met Gloria’s eyes. “If that’s alright, of course. We’ll have them swear to secrecy.”

Gloria absently picked at the edge of the plaster on the back of her hand. “Are you sure?”

“Cross my heart,” Nessa said.

“But aren’t people like that known to keep their client’s secrets?” Hop asked. “Otherwise they’d lose their jobs.”

Nessa threw him a look. “They’re not heartless. And I know my friend - she’s not going to keep silent about someone harbouring a fugitive who assaulted a friend of mine.”

“Neither will my friends,” Bea said confidently.

Nessa continued, “once we find out where he’s hiding, we’ll contact the police and-”

“And then what?” Gloria spoke up before she knew what she was doing. “He’s not naive. He’ll… He’ll probably have it all worked out. An alibi, an excuse for the scratches on his hand, for the-” she choked on her words “-for the DNA under my fingernails.” Gloria shook her head. “He’ll have the best lawyers. The best defence. And I… I know what happens in court. How they twist everything against you, turn your words against you…”

She felt small. Impossibly small under the weight of what she was facing.

“Then… what do you want to do?” Nessa asked.

Gloria lifted her head. She took a breath, then another. All eyes in the room were on her. “I want to make him regret taking on the League. I want to face him. To stand on my own feet and make it so he can never touch me, or any of us, again.”

Raihan grinned. “Well, I’m in.”

Sonia gave him a blank stare. “Of course you are.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Milo chimed in, “how do you plan on doing that? It sounds… well, almost impossible.”

“She’s got guts.” Piers said, looking at Gloria with a gentle, protective smile. “I’ll give her that.”

Gloria managed a smile in return. “I think I have a plan,” she said, glancing between the friends and family gathered around her. “But I’ll need help. From all of you.”

The reply was unanimous. They had her back, no matter what.

Gloria wasn’t sure what it would be like to return home, to come face to face with the memories clawing at the forefront of her mind. She didn’t know whether seeing the place where it happened would bring it all back. Whether her house would be forever tainted by the horrors that took place the night before.

But in the daytime, in the light of the morning sun, there were no shadows to be found in her heart. Her bag was there on the floor where she’d tossed it. In the living room, books were scattered on the ground, having fallen from the bookshelf when Elliot had shoved her into it. Gloria walked over to the books and picked them up, one by one. Held them in her hands. Waiting for the impact of last night to hit her, as if the books carried her silent screams, inanimate witnesses to the assault.

“Let me do that,” Gloria’s mother said, hurrying over to her daughter. She went to take the books, but Gloria shook her head.

“It’s okay. I want to do it.” She placed them back into the bookshelf methodically, fingertips lingering on their spines. These were her dad’s books, she realised. Untouched for years, the dust disturbed on the shelf as they’d fallen. Silently, in her heart, she whispered, I’m okay. To herself, to the memories of her father, as if by coming home, by whispering those words, whatever remained of him would hear her.

After stacking the books, Gloria knelt down and gave Munchlax’s belly a gentle rub.

“I’m sorry, Munchie,” she said quietly, not wanting to disturb the well earned rest of the sleeping Pokemon. “Guess you’ll never know that you saved my life last night, huh?” She stood and gave her mum a sheepish smile. “Think he’ll ever forgive me?”

“Oh, hun, of course he will.” Gloria’s mother embraced her in a soft hug. “For all he knows, it was an accident.”

“He deserves a treat and a half, anyway,” Gloria said. “The best berries, Combee honey, anything he wants. It’s on me.” She checked her phone, heart thumping in anticipation, only to drop when she saw there were no messages. Not yet.

“Give it some time,” Gloria’s mother said. “I’m sure they’ll find him soon.”

Gloria nodded. “I know.” But her nerves weren’t going to calm until this was over. In order to pass the time, and to scrub off the scent of the hospital that lingered on her skin, Gloria decided to have a bath.

It should have been so simple. Undress, have a bath, dry herself off, get dressed. But the second she stepped into the bathroom, the second she caught sight of the bruises wrapped around her neck, everything stopped. Her legs buckled. Air sucked from her lungs. She fell into the bathroom counter, knocking her toothbrush to the floor. A broken wail filled her ears. The pain in her throat told her the sound was her own. She slid to the floor, curling in on herself, as the bathroom door was thrown open behind her. Her mother held her tight as her cries filled the room. What remained of her nails dug into her palms. Into her hair. The pain that burned in her throat was nothing compared to the anguish tearing through her body.

“I’m here, Gloria, I’m here,” her mother’s words grounded her. Like pinpricks of light filtering through the clouds. “You’re safe. You’re safe.”

And together, they rode out the storm within her heart.

By the time Nessa’s message arrived, Gloria had collected herself, managed a bath, and was so put together that other than the bruises on her neck, she didn’t look any different to normal.

“Is it time?” Gloria’s mother asked, seeing the look of cold determination on her daughter’s face.

Gloria nodded. “It’s time.”

After a not-so-brief hug, where Gloria felt seconds from crying all over again, she departed on her Corviknight, heading for the address she’d input into her Rotom Phone’s GPS.

With her arms wrapped around the neck of her Corviknight, she went over the plan again and again in her head. What she would say, what she would do. How she would face Elliot after everything he’d done to her. She touched her forehead to her Corviknight’s dark feathers and took a deep breath. It was up to her now.

When the mansion came into view, Gloria’s heart tripped and stuttered in her chest. It was a glorious, modern three-storey house that looked like something out of a movie. Huge pillars flanked the entrance. An intricate fence spanned the perimeter, dual fountains working a dazzling display in the garden on either side of the driveway. Gloria instructed her Corviknight to land right by the front door. She slid off her Pokemon, adjusted her jacket to make sure it was sitting right, and had just pocketed her Pokeball when a security guard opened the front door.

“This is private property, Ma’am. I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” he said, stepping through and closing the door behind him. He towered over Gloria on the front steps, arms folded.

“I’m here to see Elliot,” she said. “Elliot Murdoch.”

The security guard’s face didn’t change. No hint of recognition in his steely eyes. “You need to leave.”

Gloria swallowed and stood her ground. “Tell him the Champion is here to see him. I’m sure he’ll let me in. I know he’s here.”

The guard opened his mouth to speak before he stopped. His eyes shifted from Gloria for a split second, before he nodded. “I’m bringing her through,” he said, touching the tiny earpiece in his ear that Gloria wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. He opened the front door, the hard expression on his face unchanged, and said, “Follow me.”

Gloria followed the guard as quickly as she could without appearing nervous. She let out the tight breath she’d held in her lungs and swallowed the urge to look behind her. She had her part to play. Now wasn’t the time to doubt her plan.

The guard led her through the house to a lounge room with a sprawling white leather lounge suite, huge glass doors that overlooked the immaculate garden, and a TV the size of a Snorlax on the wall displaying the CCTV captured from around the house. The figure reclining on the couch stood and turned off the TV, tossing the remote aside.

“Now, this wasn’t very smart of you, was it?” Elliot said, cocking his head at her. His blue eyes, icy as ever, bit into Gloria’s skin. “Do you have a death wish, or are you just a masochist?”

“I’m here to end this, Elliot,” she said, stepping into the room. She walked around the couch, facing Elliot and the gardens behind him.

Elliot breathed a laugh. “You really are an idiot. What makes you think I’d listen to you?” He gestured to the guards standing outside without turning around. The one that had led Gloria into the room remained in the doorway. “You’re outnumbered. And before you think that your Pokemon count, each of my guards has six of their own.” He stared down his nose at her. “And so do I.”

“I’m not here to battle you,” Gloria said. She kept her eyes on him, despite the urge to look away. To run away.

“I don’t care why you’re here,” Elliot said. “You’ve just made everything so much easier for me, you know that?” He took a step closer. Then another. “I didn’t get to finish the job last night.” His icy gaze dropped to her neck. “I have to admire my handiwork, though. You really do bruise nicely.”

Gloria didn’t move an inch. “You wouldn’t dare. Not with witnesses.”

Elliot stopped a few feet from her and laughed. “These men wouldn’t bat an eye if I choked the life out of you like I did last night,” he said, baring his teeth as he grinned. “Although, I have something more planned for you now, after what you did.” He flexed his wrist, dark scabs showing where Gloria’s nails had torn through his skin. “What do you say to that? Oh wait, hold on, I don’t care.”

Elliot reached for Gloria’s throat.

“I’d have to say, ‘you’re a natural,’” a voice came from behind Elliot as the doors to the garden were thrust open. Elliot whirled as a flash of movement came from the entrance to the lounge, and Gloria cut a few quick steps away as Bea pinned the guard to the floor. Nessa and Raihan stepped through the glass doors, Leon on their heels, as Kabu, Milo and Piers made quick work of the guards outside.

At their entrance, the two Rotom Phones hidden in Gloria’s jacket flew across the room to their respective owners. Nessa and Raihan kept them trained on Elliot.

“Say hello to your audience!” Raihan said, flashing a grin. “Instagram is really lapping this up. I’ve already got 1.5 mil and counting!”

“That’s nothing,” Nessa said. She swept a lock of dark hair off her shoulders. “I’ve got 2.2.”

“You- what?!” Elliot turned, his eyes flashing, and lunged at Gloria. He didn’t get far. Bea crossed the distance from the doorway to Elliot in record time, and had him on the ground before anyone could blink. He roared, struggling aimlessly beneath Bea’s grip.

“That’s what you get for targeting my friend,” she hissed, pressing her knee firmer into Elliot’s back.

“And that’s that!” Raihan said, talking to the livestream casting from his Rotom Phone. “Thanks for joining us!” With a final wave, he and Nessa cut their streams, and Gloria sagged to the ground. It was only then that she spotted Bede and Hop in the doorway by the guard who’d surrendered his Pokemon after being upended by Bea.

“Fuck!” Elliot roared. “Get the fuck off me, you demon!”

“I’d stay silent if I were you,” Leon said. “The police will be here soon.”

“You’ve got nothing on me!” Elliot continued his rant. “Those videos mean nothing! I did nothing! Get- Get off me!”

Gloria felt dizzy. Her vision swam as someone took her arm and helped her from the room to the front of the house. The adrenaline that had kept her upright, kept her focused, suddenly flooded from her body. Her mind reeled. She felt sick. Someone ordered her to sit and she all but collapsed on the front steps. She registered Hop beside her when he put his arm around her back. She glanced up from her knees and caught Bede’s eyes before he quickly looked away.

“You alright?” Hop asked. Her hands were trembling in her lap.

“I-I think so,” she said. Her throat ached. Her body felt heavy. It didn’t feel real. “Did it work?”

“Not sure it constitutes evidence that’d be allowed in court,” Hop said, “but I doubt any judge would grant him bail after seeing that.”

“You won’t have to worry about him for a long time,” Bede said. Gloria looked up at him, wondering what look he had on his face, but seeing his back, seeing him stand tall and confident, was enough for her.

Gloria nodded slowly before resting her head on Hop’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

“That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?” Hop said, giving her a sideways hug.

Gloria held onto those words, held onto what everyone had done for her, until long after they’d left the mansion, Hop taking her home on the first Sky Taxi they could get. She collapsed into bed, putting off sleep long enough to take some painkillers, forcing them down through the pain in her throat, before succumbing to the weight of exhaustion.

It was late afternoon when Bede stepped out of a Sky Taxi outside Gloria’s house in time to see two teenage girls chase a group of reporters down the street.

“Get outta here!” one of them cried, her Drednaw shooting a powerful spray of water towards them.

“And don’t even think of coming back!” the other shouted. Her Peliper dive-bombed the reporters, making them scramble away even faster.

The two girls glanced towards Gloria’s house, shrinking when they saw Bede. It took a few moments before he recognised them as the two girls Gloria had denounced as bullies, the ones she’d said had harassed her throughout their childhood, only to act like it’d been nothing but a childish mistake when she’d become Champion.

“Is… is she okay?” the girl with the Drednaw asked.

“Don’t!” the other hissed, grabbing her friend’s arm and dragging her away.

Bede didn’t answer. He waited until they were further down the street before he turned and headed for Gloria’s front door. It wasn’t his second chance to give.

He went to knock when the door opened, Gloria’s mother glancing down the street where the two girls had gone. “They’ve been keeping reporters away for the last few hours,” she said. “It doesn’t make up for what they did, but…”

Bede nodded, stepping inside as Gloria’s mother let him in, understanding what she meant even if she didn’t voice it.

“How is she?” he asked. He glanced towards the closed door of Gloria’s bedroom.

“Tired. Well, ‘exhausted,’ is how she put it,” Gloria’s mother said. “I think it’s all catching up to her now. What happened to her, what you guys did… it was a lot.”

“And… Elliot?” Bede lowered his voice as he said the name, angling himself away from Gloria’s room. “Have you heard anything?”

“Arrested, awaiting charge, is what I’ve been told.”

Bede let out a quiet breath. “Good.”

“Did you want to see her?”

He shifted on his feet. “I don’t want to be a bother.” The ache in his heart said otherwise.

“You’d never be a bother,” Gloria’s mother said, gently touching his arm. “She’s awake. Go and say hi.”

There were so many more things other than “hi,” that he needed to say to her. With a silent nod towards Gloria’s mother, Bede headed for Gloria’s room. He knocked gently, heart thundering in his chest.

“Come in,” Gloria called, and so he did.

She sat upright in her bed, leaning against a mound of pillows and cushions, looking remarkably better than she did hours earlier in hospital. The light, however faint with exhaustion, was back in her eyes.

“Hey,” she said, before clearing her throat. “Sorry, my voice is still a bit croaky.”

Bede shut the door behind him before stepping as casually as he could up to her bed. “How’s the pain?”

“It’s… manageable,” she said with a shrug. “I had some honey and lemon tea earlier, that seemed to help. Along with a steady dose of painkillers.” Gloria laughed, but it was quiet, barely an echo of the laughter he’d known to come from her.

Bede swallowed the lump in his throat and sat down on the edge of Gloria’s bed, close but still a respectable distance from her. He dropped his hands into his lap, looking away from her.

“I heard from Hop that you challenged Leon,” he said slowly. Saw Gloria stiffen in the corner of his eyes.

She folded her arms, drawing her knees to her chest. “Not you, too. Hop and Sonia already tried to lecture me. I don’t need another.”

Bede glanced at her. She was looking out the window, through the sheer curtains and to the fields of Wooloo and Dubwool in the distance. There was a defiance in her eyes that Bede had seen before. One that he, too, had felt before. A burning defiance to prove oneself, no matter what.

“I’m not here to lecture you,” Bede said. “I only want to know why. Why after all this time?”

Gloria sighed. “I guess… I wanted to know for myself.”

“Know what?”

“Whether or not me beating Leon was a fluke. Whether or not, if we’d been battling on even ground, I’d have won.” She turned further away from him. “And… I lost.”

“And what does that prove?”

“It proves that I’m not meant to be Champion!” Gloria huffed at him, turning back to him with a start. “The only reason I beat Leon was because he was injured. Last night proved that.”

“Does it?” Bede kept his eyes on hers. Challenged her with his gaze.

“Of course it does!”

“And when you challenged him, were you thinking straight?”

“What- of course I was!”

He raised an eyebrow. Kept his demeanour as calm as he could, despite the rising urge in his chest to plead with her that she was wrong. Arguing wouldn’t help. He needed her to see it for herself, with her own words, not his.

“Well…” Gloria shrank a little under his gaze. Her knees plopped back onto her bed. “I hadn’t really thought my team through,” she admitted. “I just… rushed over there and challenged him.”

There. That was where he’d start to unravel the tangled mess she’d gotten herself into.

“And if you’d thought it through?”

Gloria unfolded her arms, tracing the embroidered flowers on her quilt cover with a finger. “I wouldn’t have chosen so many physical attackers,” she said. “My team was unbalanced. Leon always sends out Aegislash first, yet I… it threw me. I kept trying to power through Aegislash’s King Shields… It was a mess from the start. And once I’d made that mistake, I couldn’t recover. I ended up with Zacian facing Leon’s Charizard, and there was only one way that would go…”

“How come you weren’t thinking straight?” Bede asked. It wasn’t like her. Gloria thrived on adrenaline. It focused her, like an arrow pulled taught by an expert marksman. It seems, this time, that the string had snapped.

Gloria pursed her lips, picking at a loose thread on her quilt cover. “There was this kid,” she said with a huff, “after the Star Tournament. He stayed behind after everyone else left, and I thought maybe he was just shy or something, but… then he made all these accusations…”

The letter Bede had received right before the Star Tournament flashed in his mind.

“About Rose?” he asked.

“Yeah!” she looked at him in surprise. “He said that I was in cahoots with Rose, that we’d staged the whole thing with Eternatus so that Leon would be injured and I’d become Champion. How did you know it had to do with Rose?”

Bede reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter. He’d taken it with him, kept it with him, as it held too many burning questions for him to discard so flippantly. He handed it to her and said, “I think we’ve been set up.”

Gloria read the letter in silence, her eyes widening, before she reached the part that mentioned a photo, and Bede handed that to her as well.

“But this- this isn’t Rose!” she gasped.

Bede shrugged. “It fooled me.”

Her expression dropped. “You mean…?”

“A League Staff member handed that letter to me right before the Star Tournament began,” he said. He glanced away at the sudden realisation that filled her eyes.

“Is that why…?” she let her unfinished question linger in the silence between them. “Oh, Bede…”

“It’s my fault for being taken in by it,” he said. Irritation laced his words. Shame. Regret. “I shouldn’t have…”

“It’s okay,” Gloria said, touching his arm, barely gracing him with her fingertips, but it was enough to burn through to his skin. “I understand.”

Did she?

“I wanted to prove myself,” he admitted. “But I also… I also wanted you to look at me. To see me.”

The barely-there touch of Gloria’s fingers solidified as she gave his arm a gentle squeeze, making him look at her. Unable to hide the heat behind his eyes.

“But I do see you,” she said.

And it was too late.

“Not in the way I want you to,” Bede said.

The words died in Gloria’s mouth. Her heart, already thundering loud enough to deafen her thoughts, sped to a crescendo. She was caught. Trapped in Bede’s gaze, by his words. By the depth in his eyes.

“What-” she couldn’t think. “What do you…?” Her hand, lightly resting on Bede’s arm, felt aflame.

She couldn’t breathe.

“I know it’s not what you want to hear,” Bede continued. “But after… after everything, after almost losing you again, I…”

Don’t, her mind cried. Don’t say it.

Don’t stop- Her heart echoed in response.

“I know how you feel about love,” Bede said. His gaze dropped. He looked away from her, across her room, but in that split second before he’d turned, she saw the hurt in his eyes. “But I don’t want to hide how I feel anymore, even if it means you despise what I say, even if it changes things between us. I want you to see me. All of me. And that includes my heart.”

With that, Bede stood, and Gloria’s hand fell silently onto her bed.

“That’s… all I wanted to say.” He turned to leave.

“Wait-” Her voice made him stop. He glanced at her over his shoulder, something fragile in his eyes.

“If it’s all the same to you,” he said quietly, “I’d rather not… hear your answer, as I’m sure I know what it is.”

Again, he made to leave. Took a step towards the door.

“Bede, wait, please!” she cried, heart leaping into her throat. The sudden outburst made her cough, and she croaked his name. “Bede…!”

He turned back to her, eyes wide. Mouth agape.

Gloria blinked back tears. Tears of pain, tears of heartache, of realising he thought she was going to reject him. That his feelings were unreciprocated.

She tried to breathe, tried to form the words, anything to convey what she needed to say to him. “Please, I need…” she swallowed a gasp, a sob. “I’m scared,” she finally managed to say.

Bede remained where he stood, watching her, emotions she couldn’t read building and falling on his face.

“I can’t… I can’t just…” She held back another sob. “I need time. And I know it’s not fair, it’s not fair of me to ask you this, to ask you to wait, but…” Gloria balled her hands into her quilt, blinking through her tears, and met Bede’s eyes. “Will you wait for me?”

He watched her, studied her, took in her words. Tension slowly ebbed from his body. “I’ll wait,” he said quietly. “For as long as you need.”

Gloria nodded, mouthing a broken “thank you,” as tears slipped from her eyes.

#bederia #btyu #Bede #Gloria #dressedinpinkshipping #my writing #yes hello im alive #there are probably tons of mistakes BUT YKNOW WHAT HAVE THE FIC ANYWAY

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