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"FUCK" Alder shouted, as he slammed his fist against the wall.
The house shook a little, various picture frames, as well as the clock hanging on the wall, shook as a result, but not falling. He kept his bandaged hand against the wall for a few moments, before slowly taking it away. A few drips of blood seeped through the medical tape, but that was the least of Alder's problems at the moment. In fact, it wasn't even a bad thing, just an indicator that he was able to get that bit of anger out, his rage seeping out not just in his hoarse voice, but also in the blood itself.
Then, he just stood there for a minute, looking at the blank wall. Memories of the past day and a half playing on loop in his mind, stubborn in nature, but tragic in reality.
And finally, came the obligatory tears that were like a package deal during every single one of his frequent breakdowns, which have spiked over the last twenty four to fourty eight hours. He slumped into the chair, resting one arm over the crest, and letting the other fall limp to his tear-stained lap. His unruly red and orange hair was frazzled, undone and flowing down to his shoulders and back.
It was on days liked these that he thanked Floccesy Town for being so small, because he knew he was definitely loud enough to be able to attract the attention of others, but since the houses were farther apart from each other in his hometown, it wasn't something he had to worry about. And that was good, because he really didn't want to talk to anyone else right now.
What he did need to do, was sleep, since he had been awake much longer than the normal human should over multiple days, and if he stayed awake, it wasn't like he would be spending his time doing anything worthwhile anyway. So, he trudged up the stairs and lazily got ready for bed, washing up and changing clothes, before slumping down onto the soft mattress.
"Volcarona use Heat Wave!"
"Sirfetch'd block and use Meteor Assault!"
As the flames burst out of Volcarona, Sirfetch'd raised its shield, which covered it from the incoming heat for the most part. It then switched gears, the tip of its sword glowing, as it charged ahead and crashed into Volcarona. The latter tried to block by countering with Double Edge, but the knight won in the end, forcing Volcarona down to the ground.
"Volcarona is unable to battle, Alexander and Sirfetch'd are the winners!"
The quiet morning in Floccesy Town saw Alder attempt to perform the usual duties on the farm, however it just wasn't as easy as it was every day it used to be. Forgetting a thing or two, not watching where he was going, all of it happened at least once. But, he finally finished, and was now ready to actually start his day. And that was where the hard part came.
"Damn wheelbarrow, I swear I moved it the other day! The hell is wrong with me?" Alder scolded himself over letting such a trivial thing happen to him. 'What did I say, what did I say?! Is it gonna be this difficult to get to Virbank?!'
He tried to keep his mind clear the rest of the walk to the city, not wanting to argue with himself, because he know he will lose. He'll lose to the thoughts. And he doesn't want to think either.
When he passed through the forests of Unova's Route 20, he used to find it special each time, observing the Pokémon, commenting on them alongside Volcarona.
'Damn it...' he cursed himself, not even feeling anger, just disappointment. In himself.
But, leaving the forest, he was greeted by the...cloudy and smog-filled city of Virbank. On a busy day, it wasn't the prettiest city to look at, and that was because of its status as an important port city in Unova's economy, meaning a lot of things were being made, shipping out of here, and arriving here.
He was in the city for a specific reason though, to visit the florist. He wanted to get flowers to have ready when he buries Volcarona. He was going to have a little service for himself, no one else, because he didn't want any other person to see him in that state. He knows he'll be just the same mess he was at the kitchen table yesterday, and didn't want others to share that pain, no, the burden was only for him to feel. It wasn't like he had really any family, or other meaningful people to bring there anyway.
However, on the way to the florist, he had to pass by the Pokémon Center, and at the battlefield on the side, happened to be two people battling which Alder knew very well, a white-haired and well-dressed young man named Drayden, and a brown-haired guy who looked like he was ready to head to the mines, Clay.
He just put his hands in his pockets and looked down, not wanting to get into conversation, however as fate would have it, Clay noticed Alder, and called his name out. But Alder just ignored it, speeding up and entering the florist. Clay looked to Drayden with a worried look.
The two of them knew about Volcarona, but the last they heard about it was a few days ago, because after that, Alder stopped talking with them. And seeing that Volcarona wasn't with him as he always was, they knew something had happened.
As Alder entered into the florist, he headed for the section with the sunflowers. He knew that they would be the ones he would be getting, they just felt right in every way to him. But, what didn't feel right, was who he saw while on the line to purchase the flowers.
Just seeing him from behind was enough to trigger the thoughts again in his mind. Of the last battle, the battles before that, his disgusting behavior and poor judgement as a Pokémon Trainer. Why, why did he do what he did? Why did no one stop him? Why didn't anyone say anything? Couldn't they tell?
Of course they couldn't. And that pissed Alder off more than anyone could imagine. Because he only had himself to blame.
"Hey, yeah, I remember you! We battled back then, Volcarona and Sirfetch'd! I never got to talk to you after, that was a really fun battle we h-"
Alder placed the sunflowers back where he found them, and walked past the man. "Shut up and get out of my way"
He walked out of the store, only to be greeted suddenly by Clay and Drayden.
"Alder, about Volcarona, we-"
But he didn't want to listen to them either, squeezing through them and making a sharp turn right out of the florist and down the road. However, not just Clay and Drayden, but Alder's last battle opponent also was following him, just wanting to talk, something he didn't want to do.
"Alder!" Drayden called out. "Talking about it, and just letting it out, you'll feel much better afterwards, trust me! I know!"
"I don't give a shit what you know!" Alder shot back. "We'll talk when I want to talk!"
"Look, I know I don't know you very well, we were just trainers that battled each other, but whatever's wrong, maybe I, or your friends, can help you out with it! You won't know until-"
Alder stopped in his place, turning around and looking Alexander right in his eye. "Are you really that blindsided to not see?" he asked through gritted teeth. "I do not want to talk, especially with you. I do not want to see your face, or hear your voice right now, alright?"
Initially confused, Alexander then went on the defensive. "What did I do to you? Why are you saying these things?"
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Alder was now shouting, not even caring he was out in public. "I hate hearing your voice, I hate seeing your face, I hate that you were the last battle he had, I hate that you didn't do or say anything, even though that's on me!"
Turning on his heel, he sprinted out of Virbank, just wanting to get away from everything. It was a bad idea to go in public, but he just wanted some sunflowers.
Alder sat against the Pledging Grove rock, a crack down the middle which passed right over his head. No matter how much the voices in his head told him he wouldn't be able to, all he wanted was to just do one simple thing, take care of his morning duties, and go out to get flowers. That was it, but, of course fate had other plans. And once again, he was a mess, a crying, bloody-handed, broken mess.
He looked at his hand, wondering how he let it get to this point. He was supposed to be strong, both physically and mentally, a burden which fell on his shoulders due to his garnering a great deal of attention as an up and coming strong trainer in Unova, who is even projected to be strong enough to win a league. So, he wanted to show people that he was this beacon of strength and knowledge, spreading his word that he wanted people to want to learn alongside Pokémon because they were interested watching him battle.
The rustling of leaves was then heard, Alder jerking his head up. He saw Alexander, Clay, and Drayden, who had seemingly followed him all the way here. He was about to tell them to go away, but Drayden anticipated that.
"Please, Alder, just hear him out" he pleaded with his friend. "Trust me, you'll want to hear what he has to say"
Alder looked to the side, a slight stutter in his words. "Why, how could it make this situation any better?"
"Look, we know that you don't like to have other people with you during hard times, if that wasn't the case we would've been there for ya right before...well..." Clay stopped, his silence implying the rest. "But, a lot of times, when people are suffering, they don't know that they might need someone to be there for them, cause they're so focused on just shutting everyone out and refusin' it all. It's obviously not good to push things, but sometimes askin' questions is a good thing"
Drayden nodded. "People have come to me to talk about a lot, and sometimes it gets deep and personal, but they leave feeling a lot better. If you really don't want to talk to anyone else about this, and you're one hundred percent sure, we'll just drop it, but, I think it'll be in your best interest to hear what he has to say" Drayden said, referring to Alexander.
The man stepped forward slowly, before stopping a few feet away from Alder, taking a deep breath, and sighing. "I've been in your place before, exactly what you're doing now, is what I did. I had lost my little brother to cancer, and he was literally the closest person to me. We did everything together, from the beginning to the end. I didn't want to even try to talk to anyone else, because I thought they wouldn't understand. But, then a friend reached out to me, and simply asked if I wanted to talk. After contemplating, I did, and leaving that day, I felt one hundred times better about the situation. Do you want to know why?"
Alder showed only a bit of interest, although he was listening to everything Alexander was saying.
"My friend told me, 'what would Dylan do?', but, not to try and bring up my brother for the sake of making me think about it all, no, she was trying to help me. Dylan was in fact my brother, and I really thought about it for a second. Dylan was the adventurous kind, always wanting to explore, journey around, meet new people and Pokémon. And even at the very end, while he was in the hospital, he was preaching about his dreams. His final thoughts and words were about what he really loved. I know that I'm talking about my brother, and you're dealing with loss of a Pokémon, but, if Volcarona was still battling even while ill, then I can bet you that it wasn't doing it just for itself, but for you too. It wanted you to be happy, so, don't blame yourself for what happened, because Volcarona was already ill. The battling, that wasn't you forcing anything on Volcarona, because that's just what Pokémon are, and it's why the bond between people and Pokémon is so special, because they support you and your dream, just as much as you do yourself"
Alder sniffled. "He seemed so happy and positive until the end, but, to me, it just felt like he was hiding behind that pain. He had peripheral neuropathy, an illness that can induce a powerful weakness, I could only imagine what he was forcing himself through, and I was letting my desire to get stronger triumph that pain..."
"Well, even if he was, he was doing it with no regrets, because if he was happy, then he was happiest battling alongside you, so you weren't being selfish, because it was something that Volcarona wanted to do as well" Alexander explained.
He held a silent eye contact with Alexander for a few seconds, before his eyes narrowed, and tears began to pour out again. He held his face in his hands, stuttering and hiccuping with each word.
"Volcarona...was such a s-special Pokémon...he was the best friend a guy like me could ask for...always positive and determined..."
The others stayed silent, allowing Alder to cry a bit more, seeing it as the courteous thing to do. He had agreed to let them talk to him, so they should at least give him his space when he needed it, and clearly in this very moment, he just needed to have a few moments to himself.
Alexander nodded, eventually kneeling down and patting Alder's shoulders. "It was very clear through the battle, Volcarona was putting up a great fight, Sirfetch'd was really pushed to his limits by the end"
A small laugh escaped Alder in between sniffles and tears. "Y-Yeah, Volcarona never backed down from a fight, no matter how low the odds seemed..."
Drayden and Clay joined their friend's side as well, letting Alder talk about all his great memories with Volcarona, and even though they made him sad, they also made him happy, because he was glad he could enjoy the times he had with Volcarona, things he would never take for granted.
"Whenever feeling down our out, maybe because of a hard loss, Volcarona wouldn't weigh in on the fact that he lost, instead he would wonder about how he could make the best out of the situation. We'd always find new ways to train because of that. Maybe...maybe this service shouldn't be a memorial about his loss, but, a celebration of what he did, for me, and for many young children and their Pokémon watching him battle"
Initially Alder was planning to do this all alone, but, now there might just have to be a few changes.
"And, I'm sorry for being rude to you earlier, Alexander, I had lost my way" Alder admitted. "I really can't hate you at all, especially after doing what you just did. It must not be easy to tell your own story like that. It was just my anger and other emotions talking"
Alexander nodded, accepting his apology. "No hard feelings, everything is settled now, and, I just felt that if you heard what my experience was like, something similar to yours, then you would better understand it all. Do you feel at least a bit better about everything?"
"I...I think I do...thank you"
"Do you want to go and get some flowers, for Volcarona?" Clay held his hand out.
Alder pulled himself up, wiping his eyes and nodding. "Yeah, I'd like that..."
A few days had passed since their talk. And now, Alder, Clay, Drayden, and Alexander were standing at then edge of a small hill. Behind them, was a small photo frame which showed a picture of Volcarona battling, and next to it, was a bundle of sunflowers. As they stood and watched, a few sparkles whisked through the air, illuminated by the night sky. A shooting star then passed across the sky, painting the darkened back with light.
'I...I want to start again...to be the one that can inspire the other trainers of Unova, to be the person that can live the way they preach...to enjoy life, and to help others enjoy life too...'
Alder was technically now a trainer with no Pokémon, as Volcarona had been his only one since he was first a trainer.
But, somewhere in the forests near Floccesy Town, sparkles passed by a small egg sitting up against a tree, with an orange and white pattern, waiting for a new start.