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It was a nice clear day in Galar. Marnie had taken the train from Hammerlocke to Wedgehurst so she could go to Postwick to spend the day with her girlfriend, Gloria, the champion of Galar.
She’d never been to Postwick since it wasn’t part of the Galar Gym Challenge, but she was excited to finally see Gloria’s home.
When she arrived at Wedgehurst Station, she walked over to the gift shop and bought a bouquet of flowers. She’ll love these! Marnie thought to herself, giving the bouquet a sniff.
She stepped outside and she was pleasantly surprised by how quaint it was. She was used to the cities, even Spikemuth was more of a city compared to this little town. But she liked it there. It was nice, a lot cleaner and much more quiet than Spikemuth. “This where she lives, huh?” She said under her breath.
She looked to her Rotom phone which displayed a map that would lead her right to Gloria’s house. As she followed the map, she looked up to see she didn’t need it after all. There was a sign right ahead that pointed to a small bridge nearby. The sign read: 'Route 1 to Postwick, the Champion’s house all the way down.'
Marnie put her phone away and proceeded towards the bridge. With every step she took past the bridge, she could feel Butterfree in her stomach.
She didn’t understand it though, she was fine on the trip over and it’s not like this was her first time being with Gloria or anything. She then realized that every other time they went on a date or hung out was at Spikemuth or one of the other cities. This was the first time she was going to her girlfriend’s house.
As she made her way down the dirt path, Marnie wondered why there weren't any tours or anything to Postwick, especially since not one but two champions of Galar came from it. Then she started approaching a hill. "Oh, that's probably why."
She powered all the way up the hill until she came across two lines of stone fencing on either side of the path. A sign was in front of the fence on the right. 'Welcome to the town of Postwick. A farming town since days of old, where people and their Pokemon live in close harmony. Home of the Galar Region Champion Gloria.' The sign had been painted recently.
Once she made it to the top of the hill, she came across a two-story house to the left. The sign said all the way down so this must be Leon's house. After taking a minute to take in the former champion's house, Marnie continued on her way.
Marnie continued on the path and came upon another hill. "Great." She murmured under her breath.
She figured either Gloria and the other people who lived here must either have their groceries delivered for them or make their own otherwise it must be a pain to have to walk to Wedgehurst anytime they needed something. Across another stone bridge and up the steps of one more small hill was a little one-story house. This must be it.
Once she crossed the stone steps leading to the entryway, she stopped at the door and started adjusting her clothes and hair, trying to make sure she looked presentable.
Once she forced herself to stop fussing, bouquet in hand, she knocked on the door. All of a sudden she felt like Jack knocking on the doors of the giant's castle atop the beanstalk, with loud booming footsteps coming towards the door.
She was brought back to reality when a woman wearing glasses opened the door. "You must be Marnie!" She said cheerfully.
"I sure am. It's nice to meet you ma-"
"Are those for me?" The woman asked, grabbing the bouquet out of Marnie's hands.
"I uh-"
"Oh, they're wonderful dear, thank you."
"Uhhh… you're welcome." Marnie uncertainly said.
"Oh but you're not here to see me, obviously. Please, come inside. Gloria! Marnie's here!" From the kitchen to her right emerged her beautiful girlfriend, the Champion of Galar, wearing an apron that had splotches of flour on it.
"Hey!" Gloria gleefully shouted, reaching her arms towards Marnie.
Marnie cracked a smile seeing her again and extended her arms for a hug, but Gloria stopped short. "I'm all covered in flour. Don't want to get it all over you."
"Right." Marnie replied. They instead opted to lock their arms together and press their foreheads together.
"I missed you." Gloria said.
"I missed you too." Marnie replied. It hadn't been that long since they'd last seen each other and they did talk on the phone this morning when Marnie was getting on the train, but she was just really glad to see her again.
Gloria moved her head upright and looked Marnie in the eyes. "Did you have an easy time finding the place?"
"Yeah, with all the signs pointing right to it, how could I not?" They both just then noticed Gloria's mom, watching them with a grin on her face.
When she realized they were looking at her, her smile changed to a surprised expression. "Oh, uh, I'm going to go put these in some water." She said, heading into the kitchen.
"Those were meant for you." Marnie whispered.
"I know. Just let her have it. I'll always know the truth." Gloria whispered back.
Gloria's mom came back into the entryway and grabbed her bag off the rack. "Alright girls," she said, halfway out the door, "I'm off to Circhester for the day. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"We won't Mum. Have a good day!"
"Bye!" Her mom said, closing the door.
"Alright, she's gone.” Marnie said. “Do we break out the weed now or later?"
"WHAT?!" they heard Gloria's mom shout through the door.
"She was joking Mum! Get going!" Gloria shouted. The two girls had a laugh as they heard footsteps departing. "I'm almost done with lunch!"
"Whatcha make?" Marnie asked.
"Shepherd's pie." Gloria replied gleefully. Marnie looked out the window to a trio of Wooloo rolling around the field outside, eyes widened.
Gloria followed her gaze and immediately figured what she was thinking. "No no no. It's beef. Got it from the store myself." Marnie breathed a sigh of relief.
"And for dessert, I found a really great recipe for bread pudding onli- oh crap!" Gloria said, feeling around her pockets. "I left my phone on my bed. Could you go get it for me please? I've still got some finishing touches to do on the pie."
"Uh, sure."
"Great thanks! My room's right through that door." Gloria said pointing across the kitchen. "Thanks babes." Gloria said, planting a kiss on Marnie's cheek.
Marnie put her hand to her cheek as Gloria walked into the kitchen. She didn't have any time to dwell on the kiss. Her wonderful girlfriend gave her a mission and she intended to fulfill it.
She walked through the kitchen to the doorway on the other side, opened the door and stepped right inside. She didn't want to keep Gloria waiting too long, but she did want to look around a little bit.
There wasn't really anything special about Gloria's room. Marnie figured it was roughly the same size as her room in Spikemuth.
But Gloria's love of Pokémon was on full display throughout the room. A Pokéball mat on the floor, a Pikachu poster on the wall, an Eevee plushie next to her Switch, and a Pokéball pattern blanket on her bed where Marnie immediately spotted the phone. She walked right over to the bed, the phone lying right in the center of it.
As she reached toward the phone, her foot moved slightly forward too, her boot bumped into something under the bed.
Marnie paused and let her curiosity get the better of her. What did she bump into? She knelt down on the floor and looked to see what her boot hit. It was a lidless wooden box. Marnie couldn't help herself, she had to know what was in it so she eagerly pulled the box out from under the bed.
In that moment, she wished she had left it. Inside the box was a pile of pictures of Kabu.
What did this mean? Was Gloria into Kabu? Was she not into girls? Marnie picked up the top picture, and adding to her confusion, underneath it was a picture of Nessa.
Her head started spinning. Was she not enough for Gloria? Was she some kind of practice for her for Nessa? Her mind went to all kinds of dark places, like going to meet Gloria for a date but finding her and Nessa together instead, or her and Kabu getting married and laughing at her for ever thinking Gloria loved her. It was so overwhelming she felt like she was going to pass out.
The voice of an angel brought her out of it. "Marnie! You ok in there luv? Did you find my phone?"
"Yeah, fine! Just... admirin' your room!" Marnie quickly replied.
She heard a soft giggle. "It's not that much to look at."
Marnie knew she couldn't just leave this unresolved. She had to know. Piers told her relationships are built on communication and that's what she had to do.
She grabbed one picture of each Gym Leader and put them in her jacket pocket, afterwards putting the box back in its place. She got up off the floor and grabbed Gloria's phone then started heading out of the room. She stepped back into the kitchen, closed the door behind her and started making her way back to Gloria.
Every step felt like she was walking underwater. Her heart started pounding in her chest and her free hand was shaking. Every noise sounded amplified, her footsteps seemed to echo loudly whenever she took a step forward. Her vision started to blur the closer she got to Gloria. She stopped and braced herself against the counter.
She took a few quiet breaths then one big breath and walked up behind Gloria who was humming a little tune to herself as she was just then putting the pie in the oven. "I found your phone." Marnie said, holding out the phone.
"Thank you! I'll just start getting out the ingredients while we wait for lunch to finish." Gloria turned on her phone and started opening the cabinets.
Marnie opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. What’s wrong? Why can’t I-? She put her hand in her pocket and felt the pictures inside. It felt like touching sandpaper.
Go on. Say something. She thought to herself. Do it. Her mind once again went to the dark place with Gloria turning into a monster and telling her she never loved her. Marnie shook her head. That's not her! Just say it! "Uh, G-Gloria?"
"Yeah?" Gloria asked, turning her attention away from her task.
"I, uh, I found these in your room." Marnie said, pulling out the pictures.
"Where'd you get those?" Gloria asked.
"In a box under your bed. I didn't mean to snoop, I just-"
"I haven't thought of those in a long time."
"Pardon?" Marnie asked.
"I built up that collection years ago. Kabu was so dreamy and Nessa's, well, Nessa."
"Years?" Does that make it better, or worse? Marnie asked herself.
"As embarrassing as it is to say, that was part of why I took on the Gym Challenge, to meet my two major crushes. But to tell you the truth, I forgot all about that when I met you." Marnie’s eyes widened as she felt her heart stop.
"I mean, sure it was still cool to see them in person and all, but… I just couldn't stop thinking about you, even when I got to meet them. When I met Kabu, I thought it'd be the best thing in the world, but it wasn't. It was just another Gym Challenge for me. And Nessa? I wasn't even excited. All I could think of was you."
"You mean, you weren't planning on going after them and leaving me?" Gloria stepped up to Marnie and pushed her hand that held the pictures down.
"Why would I? You're my girlfriend. I love you." Gloria wrapped her arms around Marnie and placed her chin on Marnie's shoulder.
Marnie's lips started trembling as a tear escaped the corner of her eye and she involuntarily let out a sniff. Gloria stood up straight and looked Marnie in the face. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"I just love you so much and I don't want to lose you."
"You won't. I promise." Gloria wiped the tears away from Marnie's face. "Wanna help me with the bread pudding?" Marnie nodded and started wiping her face with her sleeve.
The two started back to the cabinets. "Besides," Gloria started, "Nessa's got Sonia and Kabu's not interested in anyone."
"Don't!" Marnie shouted, playfully smacking her hands on Gloria's arm.
"Kidding! I'm kidding!" Gloria shouted back.
The two went about working together on making the pudding. Once the pie was ready, Gloria set it aside so it could cool so they could finish on dessert. With that done, they could finally get into the pie. It was amazing. Gloria was always the better cook than Marnie, but she didn’t mind because it meant she got to eat the best food made by her.
After that, the pudding was ready. They decided to watch a movie together for the rest of the afternoon while they ate.
They went into the living room with their plates and settled on a nice lighthearted movie.
They were both tired, Gloria from how hard she worked on lunch and Marnie from all the walking. Neither of them could barely keep their eyes open any longer and they ended up falling asleep leaning against each other.
It was a few hours later when they woke up. Marnie looked at her phone and noted the time. She needed to go if she was going to get home before dark.
Gloria walked with Marnie all the way back to Wedgehurst Station. "I'll call you when I get back to Hammerlocke." Marnie said.
"Let's get together again soon, right?" Gloria asked.
"Yeah." Marnie replied. “Get home safe, alright?”
“You too.” Gloria said. The two shared a brief kiss, then held onto the other's hand as Marnie walked through the turnstiles, holding their hands out towards each other until Marnie got on the train.
She picked a seat where she could see Gloria still standing there, smiling and signing 'I love you' at her. Marnie smiled and signed back. As the train started taking off, Marnie saw Gloria start to leave the station.
Once the train was past the station, Marnie pulled out her phone to try to find something to do for the trip. As soon as she opened her phone, a text message popped up at the top of her screen.
From ♡♡Gloria♡♡: I miss you already.
Marnie smiled to herself and quickly sent her reply. Miss you too! She knew exactly what to do for the rest of the ride. Figure out what to do for their next outing.
When Gloria got back home, she went into her room and grabbed the box out from under her bed. “I should have done this a long time ago.” She went outside to the backyard and dumped the pictures into the fire pit then had her Cinderace light them on fire. She only stood to watch the fire until she was sure it wouldn’t get out of control. She and Cinderace went back inside as the photos smoldered in the pit.