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cookies-over-yonder · 10 months

Text

the gap between a tragedy and comedy

Sure, Taylor gets frequent nightmares about Scary killing his dad, but he's alive, so everything is fine. Right?

[title from I/Me/Myself by Will Wood]

ao3

☆

Taylor gasps and opens his eyes.

Another nightmare about his dad dying.

But it's okay, he's alive and all is well. Taylor focuses on that thought as he slips out of the bed, grabs his cane, and starts pacing back and forth. It's a good way to get the excess energy out.

He and his friends were having another sleepover, so Taylor was careful to be as quiet as possible so as to not wake anyone up.

Link is still asleep in the bed, and Scary, Normal, and Hermie are in sleeping bags sprawled across the floor.

There's not much space to walk, but he manages.

As he walks, he still can't erase the memory of sobbing over what he thought was his dad's dead body. His dad, who just came back into his life, and got him such a perfect present, and who was truly wanting to connect with him… but he's alive. He's alive. So everything is fine. Everything is fi—

"Ow, fuck!" Taylor yelps as he hits the ground. He tripped over Scary's leg.

Immediately, he clasps a hand over his mouth. So much for keeping quiet.

He lays there for a few seconds, waiting for a reaction, but none come. Everyone was still asleep. Nice.

Taylor tries to lift himself up. He fell forward and his arms broke his fall for the most part, but now they were hurting more than they already were. His elbows buckle underneath him and he collapses against the floor again.

Maybe he'll just sleep here for the night.

He closes his eyes, but then all he can see is his dad's body.

Fuck.

"Taylor?"

Fuck.

"Hi, Link."

"Whoa, man, what happened?"

Link is already in front of Taylor.

"My arms hurt. I can't…" Taylor tries to lift himself up again, and he doesn't even make it slightly off the ground.

"Okay, I'm gonna lift you up, okay?"

"Yeah."

Link carefully turns Taylor onto his back and scoops him up, carrying him bridal style.

"Sorry if this hurts."

It does. "Don't worry. I'd rather have this than be stuck on the floor."

And then the soft bed cushions him as Link sets him down on the bed. "Blanket or no blanket?"

"No blanket."

"Alright."

After placing him back on the bed, Link grabs the cane off the floor and props it up beside Taylor's side of the bed.

"Thanks, man. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. Are you okay? What happened?" Link asks as he sits on the bed next to Taylor.

"I tripped on Scary's leg and fell."

"Why were you up?"

"I—I was, like, pacing. You know, too—too much energy and all… all that," Taylor stutters. His heart is beating too fast from the adrenaline of the fall. "I'm fine, though."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Taylor says, feeling his chest start to hurt. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm chill. Let's just go back to sleep."

"You look kinda shaken up, man."

"I'm fine, I just had a… I had a dream about… like… when Scary killed my dad—but then it turned out that he was fine and still alive so like it's fine and I don't know why—I mean—It doesn't make sense for… just—I'm fine. Yeah."

Taylor's chest hurts more now. He's unsure of whether he'll even be able to fall asleep after that.

"I'm all good. I just—I fell and couldn't move, so I guess that could explain the… I mean, that's like, happened to me before. I just call my mom for help."

Taylor remembers another thought that crossed his mind when he thought his dad was dead. What if it happened to his mom?

"Look, ju—just… Le—let's go to sss…sleep. I…I'm fine now. Thanks to you…your rescue, my hero. Uhh—"

"Taylor, take a breath," Link cuts him off.

"Huh?"

It confuses him for a second, but once Taylor's no longer trapped in his thoughts, he realizes why his chest has been hurting.

"Shit," Taylor says, shifting himself to sit up a little, "I—I'm—"

Frozen, Taylor becomes hyper-aware of his breaths coming too fast, and his hands shaking, and the memory of his dad's dead body, and it won't go away.

"Taylor, Taylor, hey."

Link is sitting in front of him now. "It's okay," he says.

It's definitely not.

"Uh…" Taylor can feel hot tears sliding down his face now. Crying is something that's happened before, but whatever's going on right now feels out of his control. And scary.

Taylor feels like he's choking. He can't get enough air in.

"I—I don't know what's… Link, I don't know…" Taylor's voice wobbles. "I—I can't…"

And he's still thinking about his dad dying, even though it didn't really happen. And it's stupid that he won't stop thinking about it.

Taylor is hyperventilating.

He's hyperventilating, and shaking, and light-headed, and dizzy.

He's definitely dying right now.

But it's not from a battle. It's not from a wound. It's… he doesn't know.

Whatever Link says next is muffled and faint. There's one thought circling Taylor's mind:

"This is such a suh—stupid way to die."

And of course, it's the perfect time for his pain to flare up. A terrible ache spreads through his limbs as if it couldn't have gotten any worse.

Everything hurts, and it's really cold, and his skin feels prickly and uncomfortable, and that makes him cry harder and breathe faster.

Suddenly, his cheeks feel warm. Something is pressing against them.

The unfamiliar feeling takes Taylor's attention away from everything that is so wrong right now. He blinks away the tears blurring his vision and looks up at Link, a lot closer to him than he was before.

There's hands on his face. Link's hands are on his face, and his mouth is moving. Past the static in his head, Taylor manages to make out what he's saying.

"...lor. Taylor. Taylor."

"Ye—" His breath hitches. Ah. He can't talk. A nod should suffice, so he settles for that.

After nodding, Taylor can see Link's expression soften a little.

"Listen to me," Link says, sounding surprisingly assertive. "You are not dying. Trust me, okay?"

Taylor trusts Link. He's always trusted Link. Usually he sounds a little unsure of himself, but right now he sounds the most confident Taylor's ever heard him be.

Something about that makes Taylor believe it. He nods again.

"Okay. Breathe in for four seconds. I'll count."

Taylor does his best to follow Link's directions.

"One, two, three, four."

Taylor takes in a breath as big as he can, which is not very.

"Now hold it," Link says, and Taylor focuses on how sure he is in what he's saying. It makes him feel safer.

"And out, two, three, four."

Taylor lets out a sigh. It gets a little easier to breathe, but not by much.

"Now let's do it again," Link says, practically hovering over Taylor, with his hands still on his face. He's so close, and he must feel so warm…

"Can—sorry—uh, can we…" Taylor leans in, presses his face against Link's chest, and wraps his arms around his back. "Can we do it like this?"

"Yeah, we can," Link answers, and Taylor can feel himself being held in his embrace.

It is warm.

And he continues to breathe with Link, feeling the rise and fall of his chest.

After a while, Taylor breaks the comfortable silence that fell over them.

"Hey… why did you cup my face earlier?" he mumbles.

"I didn't want to hold your arms, because you said they were hurting."

"Oh," Taylor feels his face get hot. Careful and considerate and kind… Link really is a hero.

A hero who's running his hands through Taylor's hair now. It's soothing.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Sorta… I mean. Thank you—I just, I don't know because… I… I've had that nightmare so much, Link. I don't know, I don't know, and I'm in a lot of pain, and I hate it, and none of this is badass like I want it to be. I don't know why this is… I don't know why it's still freaking me out."

"Mm, well… your dad is okay, but the sight you saw and fear you felt were real," Link says, and then he gently pulls Taylor off his chest and looks him in the eyes. "And you are totally badass."

Taylor lets out a wet laugh.

"I mean it. You're still here. You're alive. You're persevering. That's badass."

Link's eyes are wide and determined. Taylor can feel their gaze piercing through him, and all he can do is stare back. Their faces are as close together as they were before, though this time Taylor is a lot less out of it.

Their faces are really close together.

"Okay," Taylor whispers.

"Um, so, we should sleep."

Taylor cringes. "Yeah…"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm kinda scared. I know that nightmare keeps coming back."

"I have an idea."

Link guides Taylor to lie back down, and helps him turn to the side, then he shifts himself to lie down too, wrapping an arm around Taylor and pulling him close.

"If you have that nightmare again, I'll be right here. I'll protect you."

Taylor shudders, and a fresh wave of tears falls down his face. "Okay."

He's thankful that Link doesn't comment on how Taylor continues to cry into his shirt. Maybe he's already asleep…

Link silently starts rubbing circles onto Taylor's back. He is not asleep.

He just lets Taylor cry.

And eventually, they both fall asleep.

◇

The next morning, Taylor is the last to wake up.

Link watches as everyone else wakes up and files out of the room to brush their teeth and get breakfast, but he doesn't move, because Taylor is clutching his shirt with a death grip and his face is still buried in it.

"Taylor, wake up, it's time for breakfast," Link says, nudging him with the hand that's already on his back.

Taylor whines, shakes his head, and presses himself further against Link's chest.

"Taylor, come on, aren't you hungry?"

Taylor shakes his head.

It's not unlike him to be clingy like this, but Link suspects that what happened last night is still weighing on him.

That suspicion is confirmed when Link sees Taylor's face scrunch up and his hands start to tremble.

"Taylor, are you okay?"

Maybe it's a stupid question, but it's still worth asking.

At first, Taylor doesn't speak or move.

But then—and Link almost misses it—he just barely shakes his head.

It makes sense.

Taylor isn't really one to break down—last night must have shaken him up pretty badly.

And judging by him not knowing what was going on, Link could guess that that might have been his first time having an anxiety attack.

It must have been scary.

Seeing Taylor spiralling like that startled Link as well. Link was no stranger to recurring nightmares, but he had no idea Taylor has been going through the same thing.

Link tightens his grip on Taylor, holding him close.

"How about we get up after a few minutes?"

"No, it's—we can—" Taylor shifts back a little, and then cringes. "Ow—" he shudders and sucks a breath in through his teeth.

"It's okay, it's okay."

"We should ea—fuck, I… I can't… hurts…"

"Okay, okay, do you want me to carry you downstairs? Or I can bring you food up here."

"You can um. You can carry me again."

"Okay, okay," Link turns Taylor onto his back. Taylor cringes again, and he pulls his hands up to cover his face, and he starts breathing fast again.

"Hey, hey, just breathe."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry—I'm just kinda… I—I—uhh…"

"I know, it's okay," Link says, helping him shift to sit up against the wall.

"Mmm, yeah… Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just… I need—I need a second," Taylor says, burying his head further in his hands.

"It's okay."

Taylor takes a big breath in, holds it, lets it out, and lets his hands fall back down onto his lap.

"Thank you…thank you for your help last night."

"Of course, anytime. How are you feeling now?"

"I'm… I don't feel good. I don't know why," Taylor says.

He really doesn't look too great. His face is red and stained with tears, and he's trembling again, just a bit.

"Okay, it's okay, let's go downstairs and get breakfast."

"Okay, maybe I can…" Taylor slowly shifts closer to the edge of the bed and grabs his cane. Link slips off the bed and stands in front of Taylor, ready to help.

Taylor stands on his feet for about a second before he falls forward into Link, who wraps his arms around him instinctively.

"God, my legs hurt so bad."

"I'm gonna pick you up."

"Okay."

Link scoops Taylor up in his arms, and Taylor's face gets a little redder.

"Tha—thanks."

Link grabs Taylor's cane and hangs it on his wrist.

Taylor's eyes are shut, his cheeks are flushed, and his mouth is agape.

When Link shifts him a little to get a better grip on the cane, he can see Taylor's face scrunch up.

Taylor wasn't this bad before they went to sleep last night, but Link knows that stress can cause the pain to flare up, and Taylor has definitely been under a lot of stress.

Link carries him down the stairs.

☆

Taylor almost falls back asleep as Link carries him down the stairs, but the voices of the others quickly wake him up.

They sound concerned, though Taylor can't really process what they're saying. "'M fine," he mumbles, hoping that's enough reassurance.

Sounds like it wasn't, because now Link is saying something to them.

It seems to calm them down. He isn't sure.

And then Taylor lands on something soft and warm.

Taylor opens his eyes. It's the couch. And Link is propping him up against the armrest with a pillow.

There's also two sets of eyes looking at him.

Normal and Hermie. They're sitting on an adjacent couch, both glancing at him every few seconds like they're not wanting him to notice that he's being stared at.

"I'm fine, guys, don't worry," Taylor says, though the weak and raspy voice betrays him a little.

Before they can say anything, Link comes back with two bowls of cereal. He places one on the coffee table, and Taylor slowly shifts to an upright position, taking his legs off the couch.

Taylor grabs the bowl and puts it on his lap. He can feel Link hovering over him, ready to assist if needed, but not too overbearing.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, you're welcome," Link says, sitting next to him with the other bowl. He grabs the remote and turns on the TV. "What do you wanna watch?"

◇

The look on Taylor's face is worth everything to Link.

His eyes light up, and a big toothy grin appears on his face in an instant.

Taylor takes the remote and searches for a show.

He still looks a little frazzled, but he's got his spirit back.

Once Taylor finds a show, he puts the bowl back on the table, presses play, and leans into Link's side.

Link wraps his arm around Taylor's shoulders and pulls him closer.

"I love the soundtrack of this movie," Taylor says, and his voice is so full of love and passion and light.

Scary comes down the steps, fully dressed with her hair and makeup all done. "You guys watching Totoro?"

"Yeah," Taylor says.

"Ah, look who finally woke up," she comments, nodding to Taylor, before sitting on the couch with Hermie and Normal, kicking her feet up on the foot rest.

And suddenly, Link feels his heart nearly jump out of his chest. Taylor's got both his arms wrapped around Link's torso.

His breathing is nice and slow, his eyes are half lidded but fixed on the TV, and his face is still a little red.

☆

Taylor feels more emotionally exhausted than he has in a while.

He didn't sleep well, his head hurts, his arms hurt, his legs hurt, his back hurts, his chest hurts…

A lot hurts.

The girls in the movie thinking their mom is going to die makes him press his face further into Link's side.

Link's grip on him tightens, and all at once everything is too much, and his breath hitches, and tears fall, and then Link's thumb is on his cheek wiping it away.

Taylor turns to face Link.

They lock eyes.

Link's eyes are dark and warm and caring and concerned and protective and safe and wonderful.

His arms are strong. Taylor doesn't know when he and Link ended up intertwined like this, but he's being held and he wants to stay like this forever.

The music from the TV courses through Taylor's veins and relaxes him, or maybe that's just the warmth of Link's embrace and his enchanting eyes.

There's just something so… different about Link.

Toward him, Taylor just feels this gravitational pull.

Maybe it's his kindness.

Maybe it's his care.

Maybe it's his support.

Taylor doesn't know.

The way Link looks at him makes him feel like the most beautiful scene in any anime.

Link makes him feel like that even when he knows he looks like a mess.

Taylor can feel the hair stuck to his face with sweat, and his eyes are dry from crying so much. He's an emotional mess. He's a physical mess. He's a mess in every form.

But Link doesn't see that. Link is just gazing at him. Studying him, maybe.

And then Taylor's gaze drops.

Link's mouth is open just a tad. Taylor can hear him breathing in and out.

And his lips…

Taylor stares, and he stares, and he stares.

He can't tear his eyes away. He's looking… and thinking… and wondering… what it would feel like…

Taylor sucks in a breath and shuts his eyes. His heart is thumping and his face is on fire.

Fuck.

"You okay?" Link asks, and his voice is so warm and worried and it makes Taylor feel like molten lava.

"Uh… yeah."

Link's hand is on his head and carding his fingers through his hair again and it feels so nice and it feels so right and shit, Taylor knows what that gravitational pull is.

But it's okay, it's fine. This feels right. Taylor cuddles up against Link and closes his eyes.

"Taylor, are you even watching?" Scary asks.

"I'm listening," he mumbles into Link's side.

◇

Before Link knows it, Taylor is asleep on his side.

Some other movie autoplayed, but Link doesn't pay it much attention, he's too focused on Taylor.

He looks a lot more peaceful than earlier. Link is almost certain that Taylor did not sleep well last night.

Hopefully he was sleeping better now.

Link rests his head atop Taylor's and hums.

…Taylor has pretty eyes.

Link wasn't sure what was happening but somehow they'd ended up staring at each other for a while. Maybe Link was just seeing things, but was Taylor looking at his lips?

…Did he have food on his face?

He licks his lips. Nothing.

Huh. So Taylor was just… looking… at his lips…

Taylor's lips are kind of chapped. There's a little dried blood, too. He must have been biting them. Link does that when he's anxious too.

And just as that thought crossed his mind, Taylor started biting the skin on his lips again.

Not wanting to wake him up, but not wanting him to hurt himself, Link puts a hand on his cheek.

Taylor's eyes just barely crack open. "Wha…?"

"Sorry, just… you shouldn't bite your lips like that. They're bleeding."

"Mm…"

Link watches Taylor close his eyes again and lick the blood off his lips. "Fine..."

Slightly dazed, Link thinks he knows why Taylor kept staring at his lips.

And when Taylor presses his face against Link's chest, half–lying on top of him now, Link feels a new kind of nervousness.

But it's kind of nice?

It's nice.

And Link swears to himself that he'll keep Taylor safe from nightmares until the end of time.

♡

#swiftli #fic #hurt/comfort #dndads #taylor swift dndads #lincoln li-wilson #angst #I FUCKING DID IT #FIRST TIME POSTING A FIC ON TUMBLR HFIDFDUIGRHNG #cUZ AO3 IS DEAD #HDUG7SYEEGHREH #enjoy ! ^_^♡#cookies writes and cookies wrongs

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hummingbird-of-light · 9 days

Text

In Our Favor

Part 169

McCoy

McCoy stretched as he stood. Their shuttle had just touched down and the prince was ready to be on solid ground again. He and Scotty had spent most of the flight working on their homework and catching up on their reading. All McCoy wanted was to stretch out in bed and go to sleep.

Campus was quiet but that was to be expected at the very late hour. Five pairs of footsteps crossed the grounds of Starfleet, heading towards the dorms. David had sent Andre and his ‘Team Alpha’ to bring them back to the academy. In another day or so the undercover team would be in place. McCoy didn’t want to think about that anymore than he had too.

McCoy pushed open their dorm door and held it for Scotty. Andre grabbed the door from him and held it for Anthony and Averie.

“You may wait here,” Andre said to the other two guards.

McCoy frowned. “Aren’t you going now?”

“The king wants you escorted to your room and the room checked,” Andre answered apologetically.

McCoy sighed. “Fine,” he muttered.

Andre followed McCoy and Scotty into the elevator.

“S’alright love,” Scotty said softly and squeezed McCoy’s hand. McCoy gave a tiny nod.

On their floor they got out and walked to their room. Scotty tapped in their code, then followed McCoy in as the door opened.

“There. Empty. Good?” McCoy turned back to look at Andre.

“Len…,” Scotty scolded gently.

“Yes sir,” Andre said after peeking into the bathroom. “I can report to the king with a clear conscience.”

“Andre— I’m- I’m sorry,” McCoy said. “It’s not you. It’s just—”

“I understand sir,” Andre said, lifting a hand to stop McCoy. “I can imagine it feels stifling to be under royal protection again. We’ll be as unobtrusive as we can. Good night sir. Mr. Scott-McCoy.”

“Good night,” Scotty called as Andre left. He moved and dropped his bag on his desk chair. Then he stepped over to McCoy and hugged him.

“I’m sorry,” McCoy said, dropping his face against Scotty’s neck. He knew he had been acting like an ass.

“It’s been a long day and yer always tense after a flight,” Scotty said.

“I shouldn’t take it out on others. It’s not Andre’s fault and he does his job well.”

“Aye love. Come on, let’s get to bed. Get some sleep at least before morning comes too soon.”

“Ok,” McCoy said, resting his forehead against Scotty’s for a moment, before letting go of the Scotsman.

He had already dropped his own bag by the desks and sat down on the bed to kick his shoes off. Quickly he undressed and got under the covers.

“Why does it have to be cold everywhere?” McCoy complained, pulling the covers up around himself.

Scotty laughed. “Maybe if ye wore some pajamas…”

McCoy made a face as Scotty climbed into the bed next to him. “Pajamas would just make more work.” He grinned and gave Scotty a knowing look.

“Well, not tonight,” Scotty chuckled. “We have to be up for class in a few hours.”

“Oh fine,” McCoy pretended to pout.

“Oh stop ye big baby,” Scotty’s voice was amused as he stretched across McCoy to turn out the light.

“That’s not fair,” McCoy grunted at Scotty’s weight on him.

Scotty stopped on his way back to his side of the bed to kiss McCoy.

“As if ye don’t get enough of me,” Scotty said. “I’ll make it up to ye on the weekend.”

“Good,” McCoy said. “I’ll hold you to it.”

“But I suppose for now, just hold ye?”

“Yes,” McCoy said, snuggling closer and getting his head down by Scotty’s chest.

“Can do mo ghràdh.”

Part 170

Scotty

When he woke up in the morning Scotty was confused for a moment, wondering where he was, but he quickly remembered that Leonard and him had returned to San Francisco the night before.

They had been accompanied by Andre and his team who would keep an eye on them until the undercover team was set up. Even though it felt weird to be under protection again, Scotty couldn't deny that it kinda eased his mind a bit. Knowing that Leonard was safe was very important to him and he trusted the royal security team a lot. Aye, they hadn't been able to protect Leah from the attack, but that was just because there had been so many rebels.

"Morning," a soft voice and the sound of the covers rustling next to him caught Scotty's attention and he rolled his head to the side to meet his husband's beautiful eyes. A smile formed on his lips as he thought about the first time they had been that close. The first time he had drowned in that gorgeous mixture of green and blue.

"Madainn mhath, mo ghràdh." Scotty moved closer to Leonard and allowed for their foreheads to touch. Gentle kisses quickly followed, but they both knew that they didn't have time for that. They needed to get up and dressed for classes.

"You know, we could just call in sick for today. That way no one can see Andre and the others around us," Leonard mused, sighing.

Scotty chuckled softly at that idea. He had expected something like that to come from his love.

"Oh? I didn't know that ye're feeling sick. I suppose it would be for the best if I stay far away from ye then, huh?" The Scotsman pulled his head backwards, acting like Leonard was somehow infectious and the prince groaned.

"I know. I know. We have to get back to classes. Can't miss too much stuff."

"Aye, that's right. And I'm pretty sure that our friends want to see us. Especially Chris."

Leonard sighed yet again before he finally rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling.

"Alright. Fine." He looked back at Scotty. "But you owe me a lot this weekend."

The Scotsman only rolled his eyes. That was just the man he had married.

Andre hadn't lied when he had said that Team Alpha would try to be as unobtrusive as possible. They kept their distance, acting like they were just visitors at the academy for a day, but were never too far away from Leonard and Scotty.

When they entered the dining hall, Christine was already waving at the boys from afar. Keenser, Nyota and Cora were sitting with her and when Leonard and Scotty sat down, they were greeted cheerfully.

"It's so good to see the two of you. Did you have a good flight?" Uhura asked and Scotty nodded.

"Exhausting, but good. We managed to catch up with some homework."

From the corner of his eye Scotty noticed Cora leaning over to Leonard.

"How is your sister doing? Eugene and I heard about it too, of course," she quietly asked and the prince gave her a gentle smile.

"She's doing better, thanks." Leonard looked around. "Where is Eugene anyway?"

"Oh, he needs to finish a project last minute. But he told me that he's looking forward to seeing you in class." Cora was smiling, a soft blush on her cheeks as she talked about her boyfriend. Their love was still so fresh.

"I see."

Slowly more and more friends joined them, everyone asking about Leah and Robbie too.

Scotty was kinda surprised by the hard glare Jim gave them. He apparently couldn't believe that they hadn't called him, but the Scotsman was quite certain that he'd get over it quickly.

Aporal was the last to join them. He greeted them with a nod, but didn't say anything. It didn't matter. Scotty was just happy that he was sitting with them.

#star trek #montgomery scott #leonard mccoy #scones #au #in our favor

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pokeexehasstoppedworking · 1 year

Text

A Champion Time For The Heart Ch9 Travels To Hulbury

(This chapter will contain a small time skip of events as well as a past fight between y/n and her mother in the story.)

You swore you needed both a doctor and a nice bed to sleep away the pains of soreness racking your body.

Ever since you four left Turffield it had been like the time you left Motostoke except a bit longer. Walking, camping at night, taking time out for resting between walks and gathering food. Mostly from berry trees or snacking from whatever nonperishable foods Leon had given you. Some night Victor managed to make one form of curry or another. Mostly bean or apple curry which you didn't mind too much but the apples tasted a bit strange in the curry sauce, so you fed them to your sobble which you noticed had now taken a habit of laying in your lap any chance you were sitting and expected to be fed whenever you held any kind of food. Oops. You might have ended up spoiling it a bit. Oh well. You didn't mind too much. It's smiles and noises were pretty cute, and at least Gloria was able to add a few more curry entries to her book. After what had happened at the pokemon Nursery back in Truffield you decided to fill in Gloria and Hop about the mysterious band of rock star wannabes, but they seemed to be as confused as you were about who they might've been working for and who they were. Hop even suggested that maybe the eccentric costumes were disguises to they're real identities, which seemed a bit farfetched but hey. You were transported into the video game world of pokemon, traveling along with a few of the characters, and for all you knew could still wake up at any moment to your mother scolding you for being late for college. It wasn't really too out there to rule out yet. While you four traveled every so often you'd rest and Hop and Gloria would scamper off to have a battle or more likely try to catch some new pokemon from where you were at. So you weren't all too surprised to find out Gloria caught herself a wild Dottler and Hop's Grookey evolving from the....seventh or eighth day now as you four traveled. You lost count or couldn't remember how many days had past after seven or eight. You were mostly tired now a days with a heaping dab of soreness in your back and neck from your uneasy sleeping schedule and the rocky ground poking you from the floor of the test. Or the fact the only thing you had for a pillow was your backpack, but you never complained. If it meant getting to Hulbury faster then you could deal with it. It was like when your mother insisted you stay up a few extra hours to study or when you had to work late at the radio station after that. You yawned more, movements slowing a bit, and you had gotten noticeable bags under your eyes. Buuut the three teens must've noticed because on what was the ninth day Gloria decided to point it out to you.

"Hey, Y/n. I really didn't want to say anything but are you feeling ok?" She pointed at your face. "You've been yawnin' ever since we left Turffield like a week ago. And you've gotten bags under your eyes big enough to carry luggage for a full week's vacation. "

In response you yawned again before looking to her. "M' fine. Jus a bit tired I guess." You stretched out your back as you walked making it pop. "Haven't really gotten much sleep just laying on the ground like a rock."

"Hey. I have good news." Victor all of a sudden held up his phone. When did he pull that out? And held it up to all of you. "There's a small town up ahead about another day's walk. It has a convenience store, hotel, and a few other things." He looked at you. "I think we should stop by. We can restock up on supplies and rest for the night at the hotel. That might help out Y/n's situation and prevent her from dropping from exhaustion anytime soon."

"Hey. I-I'm not that tired," you lied stifling another yawn....But the promise of a bed tho- "But you're right about needing some more supplies. I don't know how much food and necessities we have left, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to stop by and restock."

The food Leon lent would only last so long anyways. It was best for all parties involved. So it was decided the four of you would stop by the upcoming small town. It took another day and night of walking and resting (giving you another night of uncomfortable sleep) and then shoving off he next morning for the town. It took half the day but the four of you managed to happen upon the small town. And you do mean small. It couldn't have been much bigger than Postwick actually. There was around maybe twenty buildings and most of them were homes or doubled as homes as well as stores. As the four of you walked through the small town a few people walked by or waved, and you could hear a few children laughing. It certainly was very peaceful wasn't it? The peace made you even more tired- You were shaken awake when your sobble chirped loudly and smacked you with it's tail, making you stumble as you walk and if it weren't for the two boys catching you you would've faceplanted the road again. Which ended up in the three kids making up a decision for you.

"Let's go find the Inn first."

The inn turns out was one of the first buildings you came across when you took the small side road off of Route 5 here and the only building in the town that had three stories. It was more like a tall house than an Inn when the three of you entered, Gloria helping to steady your sleepy self. The inside looked very similar to Professor Magnolia's house. Very homey and welcoming. The elderly lady looked lightly surprised when the four of you came in with you fighting to keep awake for a little longer. Ok. So maybe the little sleep over nine or ten days was starting to get to you a little bit you haven't been this tired since studying for college entry exams in high school.

"Oh my. Are you children alright?," she ended up asking lightly standing from her seat seeing you lightly sway a bit.

You waved her off. "I'm fine. Just really tired."

"We'd like to book two rooms please with double beds," Victor explained to the lady throwing you a worried look. "Do you have any available?"

"Oh. Yes, we do. Come. I'll show you to your rooms. By the looks of your friend there, she's in dire need of a good rest." Whelp. No argument there. Luckily the rooms she had the four of you follow her towards a long hallway a little aways from the front desk before stopping and opening one door. "Here's the young mens. Bathroom's through the door on the left. And as for the two young ladies." She turned to a door right across from Hop and Victor's room and opened it. The room was pretty much as you suspected. A simple large room with two beds on each side of it, a shelf, window looking out onto a field, Tv, and a white door that you supposed led to a closet. "This'll be yours." She pointed at the door. "The bathroom is through there. We also have a laundry mat attachment in the adjacent building to the left if you youngsters need it. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask."

"Uh yes actually. Do you happen to know where your town's convenience store is?,'' you heard Victor ask but you were too busy to deduce what else was said.

You managed to stay awake enough to take a quick shower and change before walking to the closest bed to you and just flopping face first on it. The soft cushions hugging your tired and sore body, and it was natural for you to fall asleep almost as soon as you hit the mattress. So it was no wonder that by the next time you woke up it was night time. Confused and dazed you managed to sit up blinking confused at the darkness around you, the only source of light coming from the moon shining through the window outside. Vaguely in the dark you could just barely make out Gloria's sleeping form on the other bed on the other side of the room. Her baby toxel at the foot of her bed. Your body was still tired with it being night so it was easy for you to fall back into slumber when you slowly laid your tired self back down, barely registering your sobble squirming next to you as you fell back asleep. And came to a strange sight. A sight you witnessed before in your life. One you were all too familiar with too. ....You...You were back in your room. Well a younger you at least. You were about sixteen then just minding your own business sitting there and playing games. Couldn't remember which one just that you were enjoying yourself playing and sitting on your bed playing the day away. Until younger you looked up at footsteps approached your room, the next thing your younger self knew your door flew open with a bang and it started the younger you so much you ended up dropping your old switch on your bed jumping from the sound. And there she was. Your mother standing there with an angry scowl on her face.

"You're playing those stupid games again!?," she snapped at younger you, stomping over and quickly wrenching the switch from your bed.

In an instant your hand was reaching out for it. "HEY! Give that back."

But instead of that, your mother only held it up higher with her angry face. "Is THIS what I work to provide for you!?"

You had stopped. Frozen in surprise at the words foaming at your mother's mouth and the game she waved at your face.

"Is THIS what you think is fair to me!? I work day and night to provide a roof over your head, food in your stomach, and clean running water for all you do is to sit on your behind and play these mind rotting things!? To make the electricity bill higher than Mount Everest with you staying up all night playing this day in and out!?"

"M-Mom! C'mon! I'm sorry," younger you backpaddled.

"You should be! I'm not raising you to be lazy and unresponsible!" The game was tossed back onto the bed with a small thump before she pointed at you. "Work and studies should be your number one priority right now! I don't want to catch you slacking off wasting time again! Do I make myself clear?"

Younger you looked at your mother's angry face for a long moment before looking away and nodding. "Yes, Mom."

"That's good. Make sure it doesn't happen again. Alright, Y/n?"

.....

...........

"Hey, Y/n!," a distant girl's voice called, "Are you awake?"

"I dunno. Maybe we should just let her sleep? She was really tired when we got here yesterday," a young boy's voice said worried.

"Hop's gotta point, Glory. Let her sleep in. She'll need all the rest she can get for traveling."

"Ah. You guys are no fun."

Silently the world of younger days faded away to black and the voices became murmurs in the dark abyss that was sleep until you finally woke up from your now dreamless slumber. Which wasn't too long. You slowly woke from your sleep and was greeted with the sunlight making your tired eyes blink as you rubbed them and blinked at the surroundings around yourself at the simple room that wasn't your younger self's from the dream. What the-....Where were you? Did you finally wake up from the pokemon world dreamland you formed up? Were you back home? Did you move into the college dorms and forgot you did? Is that why this room looked strange to you? That hope was all but dashed in a moment when movement under the blanket next to you caught your attention and you looked. A small lump under the blanket the size of a small cat moved around until it moved towards the end of it near your arm and your sobble poked it's head out blinking tiredly and gave out a yawn crawling the rest of the way out. You gave a sigh, shaking your head before smiling and holding out your arm and letting the sobble crawl into your hands. You were still tired but rather than go back to sleep, you opted to tossing the blanket off yourself and got up with your sobble in your hands holding him up to your face.

"Well, I guess it's time to start the day huh?"

You managed to get a few things done. Morning shower, got dressed, and made your first stop the laundry mat across from the hotel after asking the elderly woman at the front desk for directions. Just something to do to help take your mind off the strange dream that had happened. You had started to wonder where the three children had run off to now but it was only after you were coming back with your now cleaned clothes and your sobble curled upon your shoulders did you run into them. Or Hop at least. He was just walking past the door when you opened it and almost ran into him. Thankfully stopping at just the right moment as he paused and blinked.

"Oh. Hey, Y/n!," he greeted with a smiling and shifting the box in his hands, "Glad to see you're awake now."

"Hi," you greeted back before raising a brow at the box he held. "What's that you're carrying?"

"Oh this?," he asked holding up the box and you nodded. "The old lady needed help clearing out her old storage room. She offered to pay me to help out so Im taking this to the broom closet down the hall here. Glory and Vick are doing some Pokejobs too." The confusion must've doubled on your face because he seemed to take notice. pokejobs?? What the heck are pokejobs?! "OH! Right. There's no possible way you could've known what those are. I keep forgetting you're not native to Galar. Pokejobs are jobs people upload into the rotomis."

".....Say what?," you asked still totally confused to what Hop was even saying.

He sighed. "Pokejobs. How do I describe them?....It's kinda like how newspapers have ads. If someone has a job they need help with they send a post to their rotomi profile, then if someone wants to make some money they can look on the Pokejobs Rotomi Forum for a job in their specific area. There was a few listed in the Rotomi at the town's covience store." He held up the box again. "Like this one. We figured it wouldn't hurt to make a little bit of money in case of emergencies too."

"That...sounds like a great idea. But where are the other two now?"

He shrugged. "Glory took a job that involved babysitting and I think Victor's helping someone here with a garden."

Well that sounded like a good way to earn a bit of money while you were waiting. As to pass the time you decided to help Hop once you had finished returning your clothes to your bag. The elderly woman seemed rather grateful for the help provided. In the manner of speaking it wasn't too difficult work. Most of the boxes were pretty light mostly filled with cleaning supplies or old blankets. That explains why she was having Hop move them to the big supply closet down the hall. When you asked about it she explained she had wanted to turn it into another bedroom for the busier traveling seasons, makes sense. One extra room to rent means one extra way to make some money. You helped rehome the boxes and cleaned it out by dusting and sweeping to pass the time away. When it came to paying you declined the money offered and made sure Hop received it instead. After all it was originally his job, you just helped to pass time, and it'd be wrong to piggyback on his hard earned money after all. But you did however accept the free room service for later when she offered instead. Free food was a reward you had no trouble accepting, especially considering you hadn't eaten anything since you woke up and all the exercise you had done in helping to clean out the room. Hop though was thankful for your help and expressed so as much. It was when the two of you were heading out did you finally bump into said twins. Gloria was carrying two large paper bags but you had to do a double take when you noticed Victor looked....well remember how dirty you were after being bowled over by Milo's wooloo? Victor looked like he got ran over by ten wooloo during a sand storm.

"Whoa. What happened to you?"

He grabbed his hat and shook the grey beanie out letting dirt fall to the ground. "Well. As it turns out the ad for 'helping to remove unwanted weeds and debry from the garden' also happened to include a wild munchlax who didn't want to leave. I had to half wrestle half chase the thing out."

"Oh wow. Glad to see you got paid tho."

He huffed but Gloria smiled holding up the bags in her hands. "But on the bright side we managed to stock up enough for the rest of our trip to Hulbury! Glad to see you're up and feeling better too, Y/n!"

You nodded. "Yeah. Feeling better thanks-"

"OH! That reminds me!" You were cut off when Gloria suddenly shoved one of the bags into your arms as you blinked. The inside held food and other things you'd have to use in order to get to Hulbury. She went digging through the other bag, eventually pulling out a rolled up, sleeping bag looking thing that must've made up half that bag's weight. "Here! I noticed you probably weren't sleeping well cuz you didn't have one of these here. Turns out the convivence store is also a supply store, so I was able to get you one of these."

You slowly took the rolled up sleeping bag from Gloria and gave it a look over before looking back to her. "I-...Thank you. But you didn't have to get me this. I would've been fine without it."

"I know but you would've just kept getting bad sleep if I didn't, and it won't hurt me from what I earned from winning against Milo's anyways. Besides, I can now call it even from when you saved our hides back in Postwick."

You smiled and decided to accept this gift with a nod. "Alright. We're even. But have you decided when you wanted to leave yet?"

"First thing tomorrow morning. After seeing you stumble 'round like a zombie with a headache, we decided to let ya sleep in since you were so tired. But since it's getting later anyways, we figured we'd spend one more night here and leave early in the morning."

"Oh that's a great plan cuz Y/n got us some free room service from helpin' out around here."

Gloria's eyes widened at her friend's words. "Wait. REALLY!?"

"How about we let Victor get cleaned up first before we do anything?"

The four of you did just that for the night. Packed away all the goods they brought back with them. Hopefully it'll last enough for the rest of the very long walk to Hulbury. And after everyone was done packing their share and Victor was cleaned up, you ate. No surprise it was more curry but you chose to accept that at this point that curry was a very important part of Galar's culture and hey. Free food was free food. Nothing to complain about here. And if Gloria could fill in more of her Curry Dex book then it was good enough for you too. Luckily it seemed with the new sleeping bag things might get easier for you when you all start traveling again. Which is exactly what happened. The very next morning the four of you set off as soon as Victor paid for the two day stay at the front desk, and it was back onto Route 5 the four of you went walking. And walking and walking. It was basically the same as before until night came and the four of you set up camp in a small clearing, giving you the chance to use the new sleeping bag Gloria had gotten you. And it worked like a charm. You still had to use your arms as a pillow but otherwise it was much more comfortable to sleep now. And then the next day the four of you were at it again. This time listening to Victor's adventures traveling around since he had started his own journey at least a year before Gloria's. Mentioning of all the different places and events around Galar he had been so far and you were impressed at his tales of capturing so many wild shiny pokemon in his photos, going so far to show you all a few places he took photos of. One being the giant clock tower back in Motostoke.

"So does that mean you've been to Halbury before?," you asked curiously glancing at the pictures in his hands.

He nodded. "I've been there once, but not for long. I did see the Hulbury Water-Type Aquarium and Research Center. They have every water type pokemon you could imagine, some of them are from different regions as well. That's where I got most of the photo's of water type pokemon I gave to Glory. Nessa was a huge sponsor for it's development. It's also a research department to study water-types as well as their environments and biology." He hummed and looked up. "I think it's also where most Professors get their sobbles for starting trainers."

You gave a look to your sobble. "You hear that? Looks like we're heading to your home town." In response it smiled and gave a small chirp. "Does that mean you've seen Nessa before?"

He shook his with a sigh as you all walked. "Sadly no. But I've heard she's so busy between her modeling and gym leader duties she'll only do one gym battle a day due to her busy schedules, and that's considering if there's nothing important going on for her."

"So depending on the time and amount of trainers heading for Hulbury right now, we could end up waiting longer than we did for Milo's gym battle."

"Ah man!" Hop leaned back putting both arms behind his head. A habit you learnt he did whenever he was annoyed or thinking about something. "That could take forever then....but considering Nessa's Gym would've been one of the farthest from the Turffield Stadium, I'd like to bet not a lot of people would go for hers first and instead went back to Motostoke to challenge Kabu or someone else who was closer....Hm. I wonder if that's why Mr. Milo suggested we go see Nessa after our battle with him. We haven't run into any other Gym Challengers yet. Route 5 is less trafficked."

"Or those rockstar blokes," you thought as you gave another look around at the half field half forested areas you four were traveling past. But that was probably a good thing you hadn't seen them. You wouldn't want them causing you more trouble.

"There Hop goes all smart again!"

"H-Hey! Im just makin' an observation!"

"Well make an observation on that map. How much longer until we get there?"

Hop answered that after pulling out his phone and turning it on, pressing a few buttons. "...About two and a half weeks left."

This...Was going to be a long trip.

And you weren't wrong. Most of the trip was the same day in and day out. Eat, sleep, make camp, walk lots, stop for breaks, maybe a battle would happen every once and a while between Hop and Gloria or maybe they'd try to catch a pokemon every now and then. And you watched her start to carry around that baby Toxel more, usually in her arms like a cat but sometimes in her bag too with his little head poking out looking around. Victor making the comment that now the both of you would be pokemon taxis. It took quite a while of this old routine before you four even got to another town, with a train station. Breaking out of a small wooded area there was clearings now of flat land and Route 5 lead you all to a crossing across the railroad tracks and lead into a small town...Well you weren't sure if you could call it a town per say. It was more like a few homes a little bit a ways from the obvious train station the four of you took refuge in for a break. In the mean time Victor took out his phone once more and decided to flip through the rotom phone he had on your four's location.

"......Hey!," he shouted making you all look at him as he held up the phone all towards you. You leaned closer to get a better look at the screen he pointed to. "According to the map we're a four day walk away from Hulbury. Nearly there!"

"Oh thank Arceus!," Gloria sighed, "I was getting so tired of just walking around like a migrating murkrow."

"And you wonder why I was worried about you rushing into your journey."

"Hey!"

The next few days weren't very eventful or memorable. Just the same rinse and repeat scenarios your small group had been experiencing for the past month or so, until you FINALLY saw it. Well smelt it first would be more accurate. You all were walking up a steep hill that the path was connected too and that's when you smelt something like salt air. You had only been to a beach a few times but there was no mistaking it. Saltwater. And then you heard a very loud horn. It was loud enough to startle your Sobble into ducking behind your head and you perk up. If one had to guess, you would've said it sounded either like a train's whistle or a boat horn. Blinking as shadows flew overheard, you realized they were wild wingulls. ...Wait. Weren't those bird pokemon always like close to water?? You blinked. Shaking your head and hurrying your pace up the hill until the four of you finally made it. From the high point the view was high enough to let the four of you look a good ways ahead and still far but much closer now, maybe a day's travel. What was unmistakenly the glistening blue of the ocean as far on the horizon as you could see, that lead to the coast that clashed with the beginnings of it. The horn you heard was most likely one of the many boats you could faintly make out on the glistening blue and the unmistakable town that was nestled up against it all. It wasn't too big by the looks of it. Definately not Motostoke size, but it was definately bigger than Turffield and Postwick and you could make out the unmistakable structure of a stadium way over there.

Victor pointed with a smile towards the faint town. "There's Hulbury! We're nearly there!"

"Good. Let's get stepping before it gets too dark. If we hurry we'll be there by tomorrow."

And indeed you all were. Traveling until it was sundown, and you decided to set up camp for the night, only to pack up quickly and leave at the first sign of light the very next morning. It was somewhere around ten in the morning when you all finally made it. Seeing the town and beautiful ocean coming into view and getting closer, and closer the more and more you walked. Until you all finally arrived. First walking under a bridge connecting between two large hills, on top of one hill leading to a train station, the familiar pink building of the pokemon center greeted you next as the dirt path of Route 5 changed into concrete streets. Another loud horn shot off to the right of you and as you all looked over there was a giant port with as you suspected lots of ships and boats. Bigger than in game you imagined too. You inhaled a long sigh, the taste of salt on your tongue. If it wasn't for the many boats near the port and other people, you wouldn't have minded just standing there for a moment in the road. But since you didn't want to waste anymore time you sighed and turned to Gloria.

"So." She looked at you and blinked. "What's the plan here?"

"We go to the gym-"

"We head to the hotel-"

Both twins looked at each other for a moment, before Victor cleared his throat.

"I think we should head to the Hulbury's residential hotel first. Just in case one of us have to wait for a gym battle to open we'd have somewhere to stay tonight."

"Well I think we should head to the gym before anyone else gets here," she countered back one arm holding her Toxel and the other placed onto her hip. "It's still pretty early in the morning. If there's a chance no one got there yet one of us could get a spot! Right Hop?"

"Actually, personally I'm kinda hungry and wanted to check out that famous restaurant Hulbury's supposed to have." he mumbled but got ignored by the scowling twins.

You sighed again shaking your head. Teenagers. "How about this?" You held up a hand catching the three's attention. "We'll split up." You suggested. "If we do that we can get things done faster. You two can check out the gym and your brother can get us situated for the night because personally I'd like to take a break from camping, and then Victor can check into the gym as well. Then we can meet back up and get some breakfast..." You looked up towards the sky. "Or lunch depending when we're done."

Victor hummed. "...That doesn't sound like a bad idea actually and it could actually save us time. Now that I think about it, we're probably low on supplies anyways. While we're doing that Y/N can take a list of what we need and get it from the local super market here."

"I like that plan! We can meet up at the Light house."

And so it was agreed. After going through your inventory, and having Victor quickly scribble down a list of things you all needed, the four of you split off. Victor heading in the same direction as the other two with his phone's map out (you guessed the hotel and the stadium must've been down the same road) and you towards the docks list and borrowed money in hand. In all honestly you were just as hungry as the others but that could wait. It didn't take you too long to find Hulbury's local convenience store, it didn't take you all long as well to fill up the considerably large bags of travel foods and start carrying them off back off towards the direction of the light house. ....Only...there was one problem. You had absolutely no idea which direction the lighthouse was in, and with the giant bags of supplies to be split between the four of you obstructing your view, it made it harder to see by all accounts as you tried peeking around and over the large bags. Stumbling a bit and almost bumping into a few people walking past you, they gave you an odd look before carrying on. Certainly didn't help when your sobble gave a small chirp before literally climbing into one of the bags to which you panicked a little. The last thing you needed was him eating the food you just bought especially since it wasn't bought with your money!

"Hey! Bad pokemon!," you shouted jiggling the bags a bit, "You get out of there right now! You're not supposed to be in there!" The sobble peeked itself out over the edge of one of the bag's hearing it's master's voice as you frowned, and you didn't see where you were walking as you walked. "I'm serious! You can't just crawl in there! Out no- Oof!?"

"HEY!?," shouted a woman's voice.

You rammed into something or someone solid and you stumbled back, by some miracle not dropping the bags, and up righted yourself for a moment. Blinking you turned sideways to look at who you bumped into and were met with another woman who was looking at you with a bewildered look like everyone else who saw you walking around like this. The woman had a dark skin complexation with dark black hair with pretty blue streaks and eyes that were bluer than the ocean. What looked like a sports uniform adorned her body. She blinked at you as you stared before you seemed to blink and shake your head.

"Oh. Sorry about that, Miss," You apologized shifting two off the four bags in your arms. "I didn't see you there."

"Uh..Yes, I could tell." She ran an eye over the two bags in your arms and the other two hanging off your elbows. "That's a lot of groceries you're carrying there." Her eyes stopped at the little blue pokemon poking out of the top of one of the bags as it shoved a blue berry into it's mouth.

"Oh. It's not just for me actually. I'm traveling with some others and we needed this stuff." You followed her gaze and you gained a frown when you saw the sobble shove another berry into it's mouth. "HEY!" It fell back into the bag startled with a chirp....but slowly peeked the top of it's head and eyes back over to look at your scowl. "I said NO. Now you get out of there right now! If you're hungry I'll get you something else."

"Oh. Is this little one yours?," both of you looked over as the woman attempted to reach out and pet the sobble. Which resulted in your sobble giving off a sound of fright and immediately scuttle out from the bag in a hurry.

"HEY-" You leaned your head back as it jumped on your head and clung to your hair giving the other woman wide eyes of worry. You grumbled...but sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Sorry 'bout that. He's not used to strangers I guess."

With a smile, the woman placed a hand on her hip and studied the two of you. "Most sobble are, but it seems this one has become very attached to you."

You blew the sobble's tail from your face. "Believe me you don't know the half of it. Say. Could you tell me where I can find the lighthouse? I'm supposed to meet my friends there."

"Sure. I was actually heading towards the stadium actually. The light house is right next to it," she gestured to your bags. "I could even help you if you'd like."

You gave a relieved sigh. "Really?! Yes, thank you. That'd be a huge help."

You happily let the woman take two of the bags you were carrying and you followed her as she motioned for you to follow her. Gloria and Hop were most likely already waiting for you as they had first gone to the stadium and possibly Victor if he hadn't gotten side tracked or anything. As the two of you walked you took the chance to look around at the town. Seemed like the beach down you had gone to before the few times you went to the beach. As you glanced at the woman helping you out you couldn't help but...notice something. Did she seem familiar to you somehow?....You shook your head. Nah. Must've just been your imagination. She must've just looked like someone you've seen before. That's all. The both of you walked from the docks, past what looked like a restaurant of some sort, back towards the Pokemon Center before taking a right and heading down the same path the teens took when the four of you parted ways. From that point the two of you walked down a road with houses on one side and a fence overseeing the ocean on the other. There was a LOT more houses than you remembered in game so it took a good twenty minutes before you even saw the stadium as both of you passed a flight of concrete stairs leading up the hill towards the train station. You looked up and at the stadium as it's shadow loomed over you as you both walked past it. Unlike Milo's stadium this one seemed rather quiet right now even if it was as HUGE as his was. The gym leader mustn't be battling anyone right now where ever she was. As you two continued to walk past it, you blinked seeing a tall structure up ahead which was unmistakably a light house, letting you sigh in relief. FINALLY!! You sighed in relief at seeing the structure and sped up your pacing a bit as the two of you rounding the corner the path lead towards the lighthouse and that's when you noticed the figures standing there. One or two strangers were there taking a picture next to the statues or the ocean view, but there was three you recognized easily as the twins and Hop. They all seemed happy to see you at first. But soon those happy faces turned into surprised and shocked ones the closer you walked. Victor even shaking his head and blinking as you approached.

"Uh...Hey, Y/n. Whatcha got there?"

"Our supplies," you replied arms all sore and tired from the long walk over. Victor blinked as you shoved the two bags you were holding into his arms. "Here. Take these. Im beat." They continued to stare at you even as you turned to the woman and take the other two heavy bags from her. Your brow rising as you turned and saw their wide eyed looks. "....Are you three alright? You all look like you've seen a ghost."

"...Y/n. Do you even know WHO that is?!," Gloria asked pointed towards the woman and you turned to look at her again..before shrugging.

"She helped me out. Thanks by the way."

She nodded. "It was my pleasure."

"Don't you even know who that is!?" Gloria groaned at your utterly confused face as you blankly stared and as a result pointed right at the smiling woman next to you. "You literally don't know!? THAT'S NESSA!! Like the Gym Leader Nessa! The person we traveled all the way here to see!"

You blinked before looking back to Nessa as she glanced at you. "...Oh. Thanks for the help again. It was very nice of you."

She nodded again. "Your welcome. And you." She glanced over to Gloria who still stared in disbelief at her. "You must be a gym challenger right? You're one of the ones endorsed by Leon right?"

Gloria stared at her a little longer before Hop nudged her making her flinch. "HUH!? I mean- Y-Yeah! O-One of them." She gestured to Hop next to her. "And he's one o' the other ones."

"Hello, Ma'am." Hop smiled and waved. "I'm Hop and this is Gloria and that's Victor. You uh...Weren't at the stadium when we went there."

"My apologies," Nessa apologized as you turned back to her. OH! Now you could recognize her easily. She was on the cover of that magazine Gloria showed you and you vaguely remembered seeing her back at the entrance ceremony. "But I just got back from a boating shoot and I've already promised someone else a battle for later today. But I must say, you've become something of a hot topic among the gym leaders."

"Wait. We are?"

She chuckled. "Are you kidding me? Leon never stops talking about how awesome his little brother is and how he's just the smartest kid ever to come out of Postwick."

Hop coughed and scratched at his head in embarrassment. "Well...I wouldn't say that."

"I mean. He's not wrong. You're pretty smart."

"Glory! Don't embarrass me like Mum please!," he begged red faced.

You decided to help give him a break. "I had no idea he spoke so highly of Hop." You spoke to Nessa. Although you wouldn't be surprised considering how hyped up Hop got about Leon, and how loving Leon was to them.

She chuckled again before reaching behind her and pulling something out of her pocket. Well two somethings. "Here you go, Ms. Famous. I already heard about you, so you should learn more about me too." She held out what you made out as cards to Hop and Gloria as the two wide eyed teens took them in disbelief.

"OMG! Another League Card!! Thank you so much, Ms. Nessa! Does this mean you'll be able to battle one of us tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Sure. Just speak to one of my staff at the stadium and we can schedule a battle in the next two days for three." She then pointed behind her. "But I had better head to the stadium. I can't delay my scheduled battle anymore than I've already had."

You nodded in understanding. "We understanding completely, Miss. Thanks again for the help."

She nodded towards you. "I love fishing, but I love pokemon battles even more and I'm itching for a battle with you. Hopefully we'll get to battle real soon." With a wave towards you four, Nessa turned on her heel and began to walk away.

You waved back before turning back to the three teens staring back at you. ".....What?"

"HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW WHO THAT WAS WITH YOU!?,'' Gloria shouted gesturing to where Nessa walked off to which you shrugged again.

"Sorry? I was a little busy with something more important at the moment and I guess I wasn't paying too much attention to her. But she seemed very nice. But how did your guys' lil trip go?"

"I managed to book us a hotel here for a couple nights," Victor answered before gesturing his head over towards the other two. "And we're all set up to fight, but someone already beat us for a spot today."

"Oh. Who?"

"The Mareep Head!," Gloria huffed one hand one her hip and the other waving the small League Card in the air. Mareep Head- OH! She must've been referring to Bede. He must've been the one Nessa was rushing off to battle then. "We just waltzed on in and there he was acting all smug like he jus' won the whole challenge already. He even asked if I "Got Hatenna's good side' on camera. Psh! He's such a stuck up mudbray!"

You could only nod juggling the groceries in your arms. "I...see. Well since there's nothing we can do right now for the moment, why don't we just go back to the hotel Victor mentioned and take care of these?"

Victor nodded in agreement tugging his own bags along as you both turned with Gloria mumbling behind you all the way to the hotel.

#pokemon shield #pokemon swsh #pokemon reader #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon sword #Pokemon Leon x Reader #Pokemon Leon #Pokemon reader x Leon #Leon #Leon x Reader #reader x leon #reader

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echantedtoon · 5 months

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A Champion Time For The Heart Ch9 Travels To Hulbury

(This chapter will contain a small time skip of events as well as a past fight between y/n and her mother in the story.)