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Reaching the end of the old dirt road, Brendan looks at the small town that is Petalburg.
It had felt far larger as a child. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, everything had been so new and exciting; with his Treecko by his side he had felt ready to face the world head on.
Now, years later, he’s done it. He’s done what many dream of and few achieve; he’s defeated the Elite Four and become the very best, like no one ever was. Everyone around him had been so congratulatory, so happy for him and there was talk of a party and he-
Left.
Brendan slipped away during the excitement, took out his Flygon and just. Flew away.
He should feel bad, he knows. He should feel awful because his mom is going to worry and May will be so confused and hurt but he doesn't. Brendan doesn’t feel much of anything.
These past years have been the best of his life. He’s made many good friends, enjoyed battling his ‘rival’ immensely and adored traveling and seeing all the unique pokemon of the region. It was amazing.
Was.
Truth be told, he’s been ready to defeat the Elite Four for close to a year now. Brendan only chose today to actually do it because May practically begged him to after he beat her in what she declared to be their ‘final battle.’ He can never say no when it comes to her.
Now that it's finally over he’d expected to be overjoyed, to be thrilled and proud of himself and this massive accomplishment. It’s what anyone else would be feeling.
That’s why when all he felt was an emptiness in his chest and an ache in his bones he couldn’t take it. He couldn’t take seeing their smiling faces so full of unbridled joy.
He doesn’t deserve for any of it to be directed at him.
Brendan had no real destination in mind, allowing Flygon to take him where it pleased. Looking down at the world below, everything looked so small. So insignificant. The details change every time he’s up there - different people passing by and the occasional building knocked down or put up - but everything else stays the same. The trees and grass and trails, the ponds and hills and towns. It’s nice.
When Flygon landed at the beginning of route 102 he wasn’t surprised, not really. It’s where his ‘real’ journey began. Armed with his flashy new pokedex and a gung-ho attitude, he had his first trainer battles here. Inexperienced as he was, he vividly remembers spamming Pound and hoping for the best. It’s amazing it worked as well as it did.
He even caught his second pokemon here, Lotad. Now evolved, Lombre has served him well and he doesn’t know how to repay her, or any of his pokemon for that matter. They’ve stuck with him through thick and thin, and he’ll forever be in their debt.
Taking a deep breath, he walks past the pokecenter and turns left, heading towards the lake. He’s always loved looking at the water, it’s calming. Soothing. Peaceful. Like nothing in the world can touch him if he just stays there, watching the ripples without a care in the world.
There’s already someone sitting by the waters edge, a brown haired boy in a blue shirt. Brendan would prefer to be alone but he’s in no position to be picky, so he sits next to him and gazes into the distance. Closing his eyes, he listens to the rusting of the leaves and feels the grass between his fingers and. Breathes.
What is he going to do now?
Brendan is going to have to go back eventually, it’s inevitable. He’s going to have to pluck himself up and find May to apologise, talk to his mom about those party arrangements and chat to his extended family he hasn’t seen for years, putting on a smile all the while.
Because what else can he do?
He knows what he wants to do. What he wants to do is give in all of his badges and start over. He wants to battle May and walk down trails that lead to dead-ends because he doesn’t know how to read the map. He wants to defeat other trainers and collect new pokemon and plant berries and use up his money on potions and have fun again.
He just wants to have fun.
Brendan first got into this whole trainer thing because that’s what his dad did. As the son of a gym leader, he was expected to follow in his footsteps. His dad wanted him to surpass him, to do what he couldn’t.
He’d been apprehensive at first, weary of the long shadow left by his father and the high expectations.
When he met May, however, he thought for the first time that, hey, maybe it won’t be so bad. She was, is, so passionate about the adventure of it all that it was hard not to be swept away by her enthusiasm- and be swept away he was. Suddenly everything he’d been dreading looked exciting. Leaving home to travel the region wasn’t daunting or intimidating, it was full of new experiences and fun. He owes a lot to May.
It’s all over now, though. His journey has come to its natural conclusion, he’s reached the finish line.
Is he really so selfish for wanting it to have never ended?
Hearing the boy shifting next to him, Brendan opens his eyes to glance over at him, wondering if his presence is unwanted.
“My face is reflected in the water.”
Confused, Brendan looks down at the lake. Sure enough, there’s a blurry reflection of both their faces there, shifting in the slowly moving ripples. He can’t help but compare the image to the first time he’d seen it all those years ago, in this very lake. His hair is a lot longer now, coming past his shoulders, and he has new clothes. His face is the same, though.
“It’s a shining grin full of hope.”
Only, it’s not the same face, is it? His younger version had been smiling, grinning ear to ear after he beat his first gym. “Or it could be a look of somber silence struggling with fear…” He’s not smiling now, face devoid of any positive emotion at all. “What do you see reflected in your face?”
He doesn’t know.
“What do you see?”
Brendan asks without really thinking, but finds that he really does want to know. This person is a total stranger and yet he feels desperate to hear the answer and turns to face the boy, eyes pleading.
The boy smiles, grin stretching from ear to ear, and it’s only now that Brendan notices the shiny new Stone badge proudly displayed, pinned to the boy’s shirt.
“New beginnings.”