Work Text:
Victor runs on fragile earth, hoping to prevent the world from falling apart at its seams.
The sunset colors the earth that trembles. Sobble is firmly attached to his right shoulder, his entire body reverberating with panic. The carefree chatter, sights and sounds flowing through the Stow-on-Side Market melt into nothingness as the young trainer runs towards his friend, desperately hoping Hop won’t melt into nothingness as well. The last couple of hours have been an incomprehensible blur, filled with monumental twists and turns, but being a still and helpless creature is no longer an option. The biggest twist just slapped a young brunette in the face a moment ago, coming from the creature he believed to be made of sunshine and stars. And it is that twist he must stop from undoing the earth beneath their feet.
Hop just turned away from him a few moments ago. He’s intent on walking away, intent on disappearing, intent on making it seem as though things between them never were. Victor’s head is spinning, but he knows standing still is no longer a choice. And there’s no time to catch his breath. The cosmos have been turned inside-out, transforming Hop into a person he can’t recognize. Into a person he knows he has to save. So, as Victor runs, his friend’s words echo in his ears.
”Sorry, mate. I won’t do anything but slow you down. It’s not like I’m worth anything.”
”You’ll be just fine on your own, chum. Not like you ever needed me around anyway.”
Wrong, wrong, wrong. All wrong. By the good grace of Zacian and Zamazenta, something has to be done.
Victor runs towards Hop with this in mind, heart racing, mind wondering, spinning, insides churning. And it is in a heartbeat he reaches out for Hop’s arm, hoping his fingers won’t go right through him. Luckily, Sobble’s owner is able to catch the other’s arm. Leon’s brother stops and an electrical surge of relief shoots through Victor. Hop is still real, still physically there, still with him. Nothing else seems real, but at least Hop is still there, just as tangible as the skin on his bones. But there’s no time to celebrate. “Mind telling me what you’re going on about?” Sobble’s owner demands, his voice quiet but furious, stern, worried. “What’s this about me not needing you?”
Hop doesn’t face him. Doesn’t speak to him. The Wooloo beside him tugs on his pant leg, whimpering in a clear show of immense concern. Victor’s eyes burn into his back, angry and frantic, uncomfortable with where things are going. “I’m not letting you go until you start making sense again,” the young trainer snarls, squeezing his friend’s hand. His stomach churns, and everything within him is turned inside-out, because the spark in Hop’s eyes is missing. Hop’s head is bowed, reminding Victor of how nothing’s making any sense, of how nothing is real.
“You’ve been off your game the last couple of hours, and I let it slip because I know things have been crazy. I know things have been out of control. But now things have gone too far. If something’s bothering you-”
Wooloo and Sobble watch the conversation unfold as though it is a ping pong match, their faces wreathed in worry. Hop’s response is instant. Devoid of his usual meteoric, shining energy.
“Nothing’s bothering me, Vic. I’m fine. Just don’t feel like slowing you down, that’s all. You can take care of things without me, I know you can.”
Victor’s eyes burn deeper holes into Hop’s back. “Right. And I’m supposed to forget about everything that’s happened so far. I’m supposed to forget about how we’ve been fighting side-by-side, sticking together through thick-and-thin. It’s that easy. We get this far, and all of a sudden you turn your back and walk away.”
Hop still doesn’t turn to face him. He kneels to pet his frantic, whimpering Wooloo, then gathers the creature into his arms. “You’ll be fine,” he repeats, seconds away from tears, struggling to smile while his insides are crumbling, bleeding. But Victor follows those words instantly, furiously. Sobble’s owner laughs, the sound dark, laden with fire.
“You don’t get it, do you?! I need you!”
Leon’s brother whirls around, Wooloo clutched to his chest. Shock is at cosmic levels in his widened, tear-stained eyes. The world around them ceases to be, leaving only them and their rapidly beating hearts, whirling minds and the spinning earth beneath their feet. Hop and his Wooloo are all that remain in Victor’s eyes, becoming the center of his world. “I don’t know where this is coming from, all of a sudden, but I wouldn’t have made it this far without you,” Sobble’s owner presses on, his voice made of lighting and fire. Confusion breaks out on Hop’s face.
“One of us has been hit in the head too many times, Vic. You wouldn’t have made it here without me? Nonsense!”
Anger erupts on Victor’s face and envelops every breath. “You’re the one spouting off a bunch of rubbish! I don’t know what’s going on, but you’re the one not making any sense! I need you just as much as I need to breathe, Hop. You’re very much a part of me, just as my Pokemon are! If I let you walk out on me, I might as well rip my heart out with my bare hands! You’re saying I don’t need you, which is completely and utterly ridiculous because I can’t imagine life without you!”
Disbelief and sadness are at astronomical levels in Hop’s eyes. He’s submerged in a cavalcade of emotions and tears, clutching his Wooloo even harder. Sobble falls quiet, still panic-stricken but sensing how the conversation is possibly going in a much better direction, as his friend is at the helm. Victor knows what he’s doing. “Maybe this is my fault,” the brunette wonders, his tone softening, voice becoming quieter. Sadness breaks out in his eyes and envelops every one of his words. “No, this is my fault. I took too long.”
Hop’s voice is barely above a whisper. “Took too long to do what, mate?”
Victor takes the worried Sobble into his arms and begins to pet him. The horizon behind him begins to transform into a canvas of nighttime, colored with the reds and oranges of an ebbing day, splashed with the arrival of night’s softness. “I took too long to tell you how I feel,” he admits, bowing his head. “I’m supposed to be on this journey to become this great Pokemon Champion, but I was too much of a coward to tell you how I feel about you. Which is why we’re here now. I didn’t look after you. But without you, I wouldn’t be on this journey at all.”
Hop doesn’t respond. Victor continues, still petting Sobble, seconds away from surrendering to tears. “You’ve inspired me to become this person I never thought I’d become,” he confesses. “If it hadn’t been for you and your goal, I never would’ve made the decision to go on this journey. I never would have met Sobble or any of my team. You made becoming the next Champion of Galar sound like so much fun, it was something I finally decided to try. And I knew I had to go on this journey with you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to see you shine brighter than the stars. I wouldn’t have seen you light up my life or the sky or anything, in the way only you can. So I’m glad. I’m happy you’re here. For you to tell me that I don’t need you…”
Sobble claws at Victor’s chest as tears paint it. “I’m sorry, Hop,” Sobble’s owner sobs, sniffs, tries to keep his voice steady but fails. “If I had told you that earlier, you wouldn’t be feeling this way. You wouldn’t be feeling like I don’t need you, but the truth is...I really do need you. You’re holding me up. And it’s not because you’re trying to be like your brother. It’s because you’re you. Hop. The one and only.”
Tears envelop every one of Hop’s words. His voice is hoarse, faint, trembling. “Do you really mean all of that, Vic? Every last word?” he sobs, stepping closer to his friend, still holding his Wooloo close to his chest. Sobble and Wooloo meet eyes, silently sharing an understanding of the situation at hand, at the bond that’s strengthening. Victor nods at Leon’s brother, also trembling. “I do,” he reveals, his voice barely above a whisper. Their foreheads are close enough to meet, the sky behind them has become an azure blue canvas of stars-
Sobble’s friend brushes his forehead against Hop’s. “Sorry. I’m trying not to cry so much. It’s just that everything’s been really crazy, and you saying I don’t need you-”
Hop’s words are almost incomprehensible, as he’s an inch away from surrendering to sobs. “Not everything’s your fault, Vic, but thank you,” he tells the other, forehead brushing against Victor’s, smiling. “Thanks, chum. Never would have imagined you’d say all those things to me, but thank you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Can’t tell you how much I needed to hear them. I owe you, big time.”
They laugh, foreheads brushing against each other, tears flowing, shining like the stars above. Sobble and Wooloo chirp in relief, their tiny bodies reverberating with joy. Victor finds his voice again after a few minutes, smiling, weary, hoarse. “There’s something else I need to tell you, Hop,” the trainer admits. Confusion returns to the other’s face, just as gentle as the light painting the night sky above Stow-on-Side.
“There’s something else I’ve been trying to tell you for a while now. See, the thing is...I’ve been wanting to ask you...will you go ou-”
They’re broken apart by an explosion of flame and sound. Victor makes it so he shields Sobble, Hop and Wooloo as much as he can, from the surprisingly large object that fell from the azure blue sky. He and Hop exchange wide-eyed glances, Wooloo and Sobble shriek in shock, and-
Leon, Galar’s Unbeatable Champion, faces them with a smile. Charizard’s at his side, wings spread, emitting sounds that prove just how embarrassed he is.
“Sorry about that, guys. Just thought I’d-”
Hop, still holding Wooloo against his chest, storms towards his self-conscious brother. “You thought?! Since when do you think?! Lee, how did you manage to fall out of the sky on your Charizard?!”
An exchange between a sheepish big brother and a frustrated little brother ensues. Champion Leon, all the while scratching the back of his neck, tries to defend himself by saying he merely wanted to visit Stow-on-Side with Charizard, and just doesn’t know how his own Pokemon fell out of the sky. Hop, once again, is thoroughly flustered by how clueless Leon can be outside of Pokemon battles. Victor stands safely off to the side, Sobble close to his chest, a smile on his face. “Guess it wasn’t time for me to ask,” the brunette tells his Water Pokemon.
“But don’t worry. I won’t wait this time. It’ll be different from now on. I won’t back down from anything ever again, I promise.”