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The default alarm music coming from their phone dragged Rush to the waking world, and with barely a sound, they rolled over and tried to swipe the alarm off.
Tried being the operative word, because when their index finger touched the screen, they received a small shock. It wasn’t more painful than static, but it was enough to force them fully awake.
Jolting upright to a sitting position, they whisper shouted, “Impulse!”
The Rotom in question escaped the phone and giggled. Rush stuck their tongue out at him as they pouted, but they weren’t actively upset. They had asked him to make absolutely sure they woke up with their alarm today, so he was just doing his job.
After some pointed staring, they scrunched up their face, pulled off the cover, and swung their legs to the side of the bed. “I know, I know. But still, weh.” The childish sound only made Impulse lift a plasma limb up to his mouth to cover his smile.
The closed eyes and bobbing body indicated how hard he was laughing.
They waited a few seconds before standing up. As long as they didn’t lay back down, Impulse wouldn’t have to bother them. As they passed him to get to the hotel room’s bathroom, they asked, “Hey, why don’t you pick something to watch? That should wake up everyone else.”
Their eyes darted over to the Pokemon that had wanted to relax out of their Pokeballs overnight. Despite the noise, they hadn’t stirred.
Amatiel was a golden mass of fur and tails that was somehow still sleeping at the foot of the bed. The fox’s ear did twitch, but he was keeping his face buried under a pillow.
Tempest was coiled up very close to Amatiel, likely enjoying the warmth the Ninetales radiated even when he was asleep.
Vivace clearly hoarded all the spare pillows at one point after Rush had fallen asleep, and the Flygon was pointedly covering any not directly under her body with her wings.
Rush sighed. They needed to get on her about that habit. Not only was about half the room blocked, but they could see poor Auger curled up in the far corner on the single Pokemon bed the room offered by default. Her steel claws were notably pointed in the general direction of Vivace.
Yeah, even if the Flygon was too big for the bed, she would steal it as an addition to the pillow hoard.
And this was why one of the first things they were going to do after breakfast was to get her worn out with some practice flights. If she was tired, she was less likely to terrorize the others behind their back.
Rush stretched their arms overhead as they watched Impulse enter the TV and turn it on. Thankfully, whoever had used it last had kept the volume down, so when the news channel appeared on screen, the chatter was at manageable levels.
As the Pokemon began to stir, Rush smiled fondly before taking care of their morning rituals.
-
When they came back from the bathroom, Tempest had stolen the pillows back from Vivace, and the rest of the Pokemon were watching the TV with interest.
Amatiel and Auger were on the bed, the Ninetales’ tails idly curling around the Excadrill, Impulse was hovering over them, and Vivace was sitting on her noticeably smaller pile of pillows on the floor next to Tempest.
Rush continued brushing their hair as they sat down on the free bed space to watch as well, and noted with some interest that Hollyhock, their old rival, and… Miles? Rush’s replacement, were scheduled to have a televised battle in Wyndon later that day.
Maybe they could come back to the hotel to watch? While they were coming back to visit, certain parts of their previous life were being avoided. They had absolutely no intention of going to Wyndon due to the very likely possibility of running into their old... coworkers? Opponents? They weren’t entirely sure what the right word was for what the Minor League Division members were to each other.
On one hand, their Minor League days were full of anxiety, guilt, and unending pressure to keep up a persona for the fans they never really wanted. That wasn’t even touching the loneliness of their position due to them not having any people-energy left by the time they were done with the celebrity portions.
(They tried to not think too hard how close the others were to each other. They felt like they were always outside The Group despite their apparent prowess, but they never knew how to really cross the gap between them.)
But on the other, the battling was always really fun. They had only wished that losses weren’t such a big deal. Yes, they liked winning, but maintaining a winning streak was way more trouble than what it was worth.
Ultimately, it was a question of whether they wanted to engage with anything from back then other than Kabu.
… Okay they were admittedly curious and wanted to know how the new guy battled. It was fun to see how other people handled their favored type, and Holly was always a great opponent. With their ace being immune to Ground types, it was a challenge to take the Corviknight out before they got walled.
Tempest was also looking up at them with interest, and they had a feeling he wanted to see the battle, too.
“We can check that out before we eat tonight,” They finally said to the expectant Sandaconda. “But first, we have big plans for today.”
Their other Pokemon turned to look at them. “Kabu said he is going to meet us in the wild area near Motostoke-” At the mention of Rush’s old mentor, Amatiel and Impulse perked up, “-But he has a few challengers coming through. Since I don’t want to risk getting caught, he said he’d call me afterwards.”
Amatiel laid his head down, ears drooping, prompting Rush to gently pet him. “He’s probably gonna stream whichever ones make it to him, so we can try watching on the phone. But until then-” They clapped their hands together, “-You all have some energy to burn, so I had some thoughts on training today!”
As they spoke, Impulse grabbed his battling oven in preparation for a day of training, and the other Pokemon picked up their own items.
After some detailing of what Rush planned, they recalled their Pokemon so that they could walk through Wedgehurst with fewer eyes on them. They wished they could have at least Amatiel for his fur, or Auger for moral support, but they were currently too anxious to risk even that.
Though this was part of why they finally invested in a fidget ring, and currently that was the best 20 dollars they could have ever spent in Hoenn. They spun the ring on their finger as they picked out their disguise of the day.
They pinned up their stark white hair to hide under the large straw hat, a set of sunglasses to cover most of their face, a bulky turtleneck sweater to hide their shape, and some cargo pants so that they could carry any interesting finds they encountered in the wilds. Their hiking boots might be a problem with riding a bike, but they had managed before.
The “I’m a tourist!” look was completed with a generic bag that they had clearly purchased at the first store they walked into.
They didn’t hate their look, necessarily, but they were aware that they looked a little silly to the locals. It was the intention, but they couldn’t help the thought that crept in.
They shook their head. No one would know it was them, and even if- Even if someone did, it didn’t matter that they looked silly. Their celebrity days were gone, and they were not going back.
After making sure their room was locked, they exited the hotel and pulled out their phone as they tried to check the times for the train. They hoped they had enough time to grab some food for them and their Pokemon to munch on later.
So focused were they, they didn’t notice the very bright uniform and the very loud person wearing it until they almost ran into him.
“Oh sorry!” They apologized immediately as they took a step back. They took a quick glance at the outfit he was wearing, and the polite smile fell as they recognized it.
It was the Psychic uniform. As their gaze went upward, they only noticed blonde hair and glasses before quickly looking away again and attempted to sidestep the tall blonde.
While they thought Danny kept his hair shorter, and the rest of his uniform relatively tame despite the colors, their bad memory for faces was kicking in hard. It had been a while since Rush last saw him, and, for all they knew, he had revamped his look for funsies.
They had no idea why he was here of all places-
“Hmm, have we met before?”
The voice was wrong. They had heard Danny speak enough times to know that was not his voice.
But why was this random person wearing a steampunk flavored Psychic type uniform? How would he know them-
So lost were they in their thoughts, the stranger snapped his fingers in their face. The movement and sound made them flinch backwards. “Did you hear me? Or are you a Slowpoke in disguise?” The tall blonde bent down to stare more intently at their face, and as he adjusted his round glasses, Rush caught a glimpse of their reflection.
First they backed up. “I- uh- I don’t know you? I thought you were someone- Did the Psychic gym leader change?” They stammered out the questions, some getting overrun by others as their brain went into overdrive.
The sneer that overtook the stranger’s face made Rush take another step back. “I’m sorry! I’ll just-” They tried to get around him, and hoped that he took the apology for the social blunder.
Clearly he didn’t. One of the floating Pokeballs that originally danced near his extremely tall hat broke away and landed in front of them. A Galarian Slowbro materialized and gave the stranger a confused stare.
Really, the default stare of most Slowbro, but still.
“I’m sure if we battled, it would help me Meditate on your identity.” The confidence the words were said with sent a spark of fear down Rush’s spine.
They carefully schooled their mouth into a neutral line, and thankfully, their disguise doubled to hide their expressions.
“I don’t want to fight.” They felt the wave of anxiety hit like a truck as they tried to stare the Psychic type trainer down.
And failing within seconds, but hopefully the sunshades would hide the fact that they couldn’t hold gazes for long.
The knowing look he developed as he straightened up only made the shard of ice dig deeper into their chest.
Until he opened his mouth and said, “Ah, you’re just nervous about fighting me. That is perfectly fine! You must have Future Sight if you can already see a losing battle. But don’t worry, I’ll take it easy on you.” The statement was punctuated with a hair flip that was far too pretentious for the situation.
The fear dissipated as the smug tone in which he said his monologue stung their pride. Danny at least occasionally gave them a run for their money, but this guy wasn’t even strong enough to take his place-
Oh. They now had a hunch on who this was. Danny’s cousin, Avery. Last they heard, he had gone to train on the Isle of Armor… Which had a train connection to Wedgehurst.
…There was no way he would recognize them, right? He never even spoke to them before all this...
This all passed in their mind quickly, but they elected to keep their response short. “I’m busy.” The terse tone was accompanied by them sidestepping Avery and his Galarian Slowbro, and they took purposeful steps towards the train station. They’d figure out food later.
But, clearly, that wasn’t enough. They could hear the sound of a Pokemon being recalled, but before his footsteps could catch up to them, they sprinted.
Avery had longer legs, but Rush was banking on the fact that he was not dressed for any sort of run. Not in those shoes, anyway.
They’d have to thank Kabu later about his insistence on them keeping up their running. They were more of a long-distance runner, but they still had a leg up in this race.
Unfortunately, this stunt did get a decent amount of attention. They could see people staring as they hurried through the street, and the realization almost made them turn their steps towards the edges of town.
Until someone, they couldn’t see who, stepped between them and Avery, and they could hear them chewing Avery out.
They didn’t stay to find out what that was about. After getting a few streets away, they finally slowed down and tried to slow their breathing before entering the station. This still garnered a few more looks, but they simply tried to keep an eye out for the rainbow uniform and bright yellow hair.
Whatever stopped Avery must have completely diverted his attention. Despite standing in the same spot for several minutes, Rush saw nothing indicating that he had followed them.
They sighed before finally getting in line to get their tickets sorted.
-
The Wild Area was just as lovely as they remembered. At first, Rush just wandered around with their Pokemon, only letting one or two out at a time, before settling near the Lake of Outrage. This was where they took on some of the stronger wild Pokemon in lieu of finding other trainers to fight.
After a while, they finally settled down by one of the large rocks, and their Pokemon all huddled down nearby as Rush pulled out their phone. It didn’t take long for them to pull up the site Kabu’s battles would stream on.
Apparently they lucked out, for the camera was just starting to pull out and show the challenger that had bested the pre-battle trial. Kabu’s intensity could be intimidating for a lot of people, and they could see the nervousness on the kid’s face.
It was funny how once they felt the same way. He was a lot softer once one got to know him, though, and they forever appreciated what he had done for them. Likely, regardless of how this fight went, the kid would get to see his gentler side.
Rush was admittedly not paying nearly the same amount of attention as their Pokemon were, so when the fight ended, they didn’t notice when the screen cut to black and faded to some Battle Commentators talking about the fight.
They left it to play since Amatiel and Impulse were enjoying it, but Rush almost dropped it when the phone started to ring.
Right. Kabu said he’d call.
Despite knowing who it was supposed to be, Rush couldn’t help the questioning tone they answered with. “Hello?” They held back their tongue from fully introducing themself just in case Kabu was not the person on the other end of the line.
“Hello!” Just one word and they felt their body release tension. “Only had one challenger today, and unfortunately, they weren’t quite up to the challenge. Are you still available for meeting up?
“Yeah! We were just finishing up a training session-”
The conversation went on as they settled on an exact meeting place, and soon Rush hung up as they got ready to move. Pokemon were returned, though Amatiel insisted on staying out this time.
-
It was good to see Kabu again. They couldn’t deny it. The moment that they saw him approach their meeting spot at the bridge, a weight lifted from their shoulders, and a genuine smile crossed their face.
Amatiel was similarly happy and ran towards him. He stopped in front of him and placed his front legs on the ground in a play bow before jumping up and circling Kabu once, twice, and again before running back to Rush and standing by them.
During all this, Kabu laughed at the excited fox, and he even tried to pat him as he ran around. The smile remained as he commented, “I see he still has his Vulpix energy!”
“You’re still one of his favorite people.” They ruffled the fur on Amatiel’s head. “When I was trying to figure out who to bring today, he would not hear of being left behind.”
“Just like his mother then.”
That was all the warning Rush got before he released his own Ninetales. Who had far less control than Amatiel. All they got out before being buried under a pile of gold fur was, “Kyoko, no-”
-
After finally escaping the pile of Ninetales, the two of them managed to find a secluded and shaded spot without any issue. Rush was admittedly surprised that their mentor didn’t have anyone trying to follow him around.
Though his tourist disguise was pretty convincing, if they were honest with themself. He was where they learned the trick, after all. The ill-fitting Alolan Shirt, big sunglasses, and long pants were apparently things few ever expected him to wear.
Rush was the first to plop down next to the tree, and Kabu joined them with a little more consideration for his older bones.
After another look around, Rush released all of their Pokemon, even Tempest. Kabu’s joined them, and soon, the Pokemon were all playing together.
With the Pokemon occupied, Kabu quietly asked, “So, how have things been going?”
Rush didn’t look at him, but they did smile a little. “It’s a lot more calm there. You weren’t kidding about Hoenn being very different.”
“See, I’d never lead you astray!” The playful tilt to Kabu’s words only made Rush roll their eyes as they handed him a bottle of water.
“What about that one time you told me to use fire attacks on a Litwick?”
“That was to show you that not every Pokemon has the same ability.”
“Yeah, but that one did have Flash Fire.”
The banter continued for a few minutes, before Rush decided to ask, “How did things go when I uh, quit?”
“Your fans weren’t happy, of course,” Kabu’s answer was immediate. “But the sponsors moved on and put in someone new.”
“I saw. Some guy called...” The name had already slipped out of their brain, and they spun their ring as they realized they couldn’t remember the name they heard earlier.
“Miles Landon.”
“Yeah, him.” They mused a minute trying to figure out how to phrase their next question before finally blurting out, “I know it sounds bad, and I don’t mean anything by it, but is he any good?”
Kabu took a sip of water before answering. “In battle, yes. His team works differently from yours, but he can hold his own fairly well.”
“And… out of battle?” Rush could feel Kabu’s eyes on them without looking, but they didn’t try to meet his gaze.
“He refuses to maintain any sort of public relations. Once he leaves the battlefield, he basically hangs up the uniform.” He motioned with his hands the act of hanging up a coat.
They laughed, “Man, I wish I knew that had been an option.”
“… Would it have mattered?” Of course Kabu would challenge that.
“Not really,” They said with a shrug. “You know how my folks were.”
The silence they fell into afterwards was only moderately uncomfortable. Unlike their aforementioned family, he didn’t push them to keep talking when they didn’t have much to say. However, just thinking about Rush’s family was an instant way to sour their mood even when watching their and Kabu’s Pokemon play with each other.
Vivace was currently hovering just out of reach with something in her claws while Katsu and Kyoko teamed up with Auger and Amatiel to get whatever it was back. The Centiskorch’s reach was impressive, but Rush mused that they were missing their gigantimax height right now.
Deciding to steer the topic to something lighter, they asked, “I think I saw that New Guy-” Yes they already forgot their replacement’s name, “-Is supposed to fight Holly today?”
“Yes! The battle has been the talk of the minor league fans for a while now.”
“Oh? I just happened to see a mention about it on a news channel. Didn’t realize it was a big deal.”
“Since Holly is maintaining the top spot in the minor league, and they’re dealing with a type they’ve historically had issues with, there’s been a lot of talk about how it will go.”
They smiled at the mention of Holly’s rise through the ranks. “Holly is a good trainer that gave me hell. I’m pretty sure they’ll win unless-”
“Miles.” Kabu kindly reminded them of the new ground leader’s name.
“-Miles is really good or Holly has a bad mess up.”
“I could see it going either way. Miles’ ace is a very bulky Runerigus...”
The talk about the new ground leader’s team continued for a while. During this, Vivace’s stolen treasure was reclaimed thanks to Impulse stealing it while the rest of the Pokemon distracted her. Eventually, Akamaru, Kyoko, and Amatiel returned to the humans and plopped down next to and between them.
As he petted his Arcanine and Ninetales, Kabu asked, “Were you planning on going to the match in Wyndon?”
“Nah, too risky. I’m just gonna catch it on TV.” They stretched their arms above their head and leaned backwards until they heard a pop.
“Probably for the best.” He looked down at his watch. “Oh, in that case you might want to head back soon.”
“It’s time to leave already? Dang.” It hadn’t felt like it had been an hour yet, and they had been enjoying themself.
“Don’t worry, we can meet up again soon. You’ve got a few days to spare, right?” He stood up and offered them a hand.
They took it and joined him in standing. They started wiping grass and dirt off their clothes as they answered, “Yeah, I don’t have anything that needs me desperately back in Hoenn yet. And as long as no one tries to bother me, I won’t just up and leave.”
“Alright then, I should be free the day after tomorrow so we can have a proper visit.”
“Sounds like a plan!”
-
The trip back to their hotel room was blessedly uneventful. The train wasn’t quite as full, but as they got closer to Wedgehurst, they remembered their earlier encounter. Hopefully whoever had stopped Avery earlier had dragged him away…
They let Amatiel stay out of his pokeball for the bulk of the trip, and they idly ran their hands through his fur to help keep them grounded. However, once the train stopped, they recalled him to ensure there weren’t any incidents.
Amatiel wasn’t nearly as recognizable as one of their Pokemon, but the unease wouldn’t leave.
When their hotel door shut behind them, they immediately took off the hat and sunglasses and placed them on the dresser. The frenzy to let their hair down before a headache could overtake them would be comical to some, but they were glad to not have an audience as they pulled out bobby pins and the hair ties.
Next they released Impulse and asked them, “Can you turn on the TV and find the station for the fight?”
The Rotom gave a salute before zipping towards the TV, dropping his oven right in front of the dresser, and entering said TV.
They could hear the channels switch as they sat down on their bed to take off their boots and socks. Once that was handled, they released their other Pokemon as Impulse finally found a channel that was displaying some battle commentators that looked vaguely familiar.
They glanced at the time on their phone. Originally, they had planned on trying to squeeze in a shower before the match started, but despite their hurry to get back, it had taken a while to get to a station, and even longer to find a non-crowded car.
Three minutes until the match was supposed to start.
Yeah, they’d just wait until afterwards.
Tempest was the first to join them on the bed, and they were soon joined by the rest. Amatiel promptly took over their lap, Auger took the side that Tempest wasn’t on, and Vivace claimed the rest of the bed.
Thankfully, her wings were tucked in, so they could still see the TV, but having a dragon lay on their legs hadn’t been their plan.
Whatever, as long as she didn’t start a fight with the others, they would put up with it.
Impulse left the TV to instead hover near Rush’s head, and with all their mons accounted for, they could focus on what the commentators were saying.
“-really mysterious. Miles is a real dark horse in the minor league.”
“Yeah, but Hollyhock has been maintaining their spot as the strongest in the minor league.”
“Can’t wait to see how they handle a proper five v five.”
The screen cut to the Wyndon field, and with all the people they could see in the stands, Rush was reminded of how much they did not miss that part of being a minor league trainer in Galar.
The camera panned over to Miles first, and while Rush wasn’t sure what they expected, Miles seemed very… plain. Not that it was a bad thing, but a lot of leaders tried to jazz up their uniforms.
The look on his face made them wonder if he even wanted to be there. Whether it was a resting bitch face problem or if he truly hated it was up for debate, and it wasn’t like Rush was ever going to ask him.
Any other thoughts they had about their replacement was wiped away when the camera decided to focus on Holly. While cameras could be unkind even on the best of days, the dark circles under their eyes could not be blamed on an unflattering camera angle. Their teal hair, normally well cared for and tied up relatively neatly, was in disarray. As if it had been thrown up into a ponytail with minimal thought.
An uneasy thought floated in about how Rush stopped braiding their hair and their own eyes sported those same dark circles near the end of their career.
They shook their head. Surely Holly was just going through a rough patch. Even before Rush had reached their breaking point, they had had some off days that didn’t mean they weren’t doing okay. Holly must’ve been busy.
They decided to not think about it for now. The battle was starting.
Kabu wasn’t wrong; Miles had a good handle on the ground typing and was holding his own very well.
Holly, however, was not.
Their first four pokemon fell quickly, only taking out two of Miles’ before they went down. The infamous Runerigus took out the fourth one with minimal damage, and there was a notable pause.
So notable, the referee had to call it out and remind Holly of the time limit.
As the camera focused on them, Rush wasn’t sure what to make of the look on their face. It was like they were both there and not.
It was. Concerning to see Holly getting so thoroughly trounced. Despite the type disadvantage, they had been able to hold their own against Rush many times.
On one hand, Rush had come back and won from a fight this dire, and they didn’t want to discount Holly’s ability to do so.
But that had also involved some serious luck on their Mamoswine’s part…
Once Lancelot came out and Gigantimaxed, Rush secretly hoped that the Corviknight would be able to pull off something similar.
Miles matched Holly’s gambit by dynamaxing his Runerigus, and soon, the huge Pokemon were going at it.
Until Lancelot fell.
Holly had lost.
Even before the cameras turned to Holly, Rush could hear the screaming, and they froze. They could only watch in horror as Holly completely lost it as the camera switched to focus on them.
Screaming was accompanied by tears streaming down their face, and while Rush could see their lips moving, the crowd’s voices overpowered any words being said.
Holly’s hands gripping the sides of their head started to pull at their hair. They saw the beginnings of the hair starting to come out-
Rush didn’t think, and they’d apologize to their Pokemon later, but they yanked their legs from under Vivace and almost shoved Amatiel and Auger off the bed as Rush flinched and tried to cover their ears while curling up.
They had half a mind to recall their Pokemon to remove the feeling of staring, but that would involve having to get out of bed. Tempest had blessedly taken the cue to give them space, and they sat there, halfway curled into a ball, running their hands through their own hair as they tried to self-soothe.
They hadn’t known Holly was that bad off. As bad as, or at this point, even worse than they were when they quit.
At least Rush’s meltdown hadn’t been on camera.
The realization that Kabu had caught them crying and almost yanking at their own hair in the breakroom had been mortifying, and that was just a singular adult who cared about them.
They couldn’t even imagine what Holly was feeling about that.
They don’t know when, but they realized that Impulse had changed the channel to some kid’s cartoon when a familiar music opening played. Somehow, the familiar melody knocked their mind out of the cycle it was stuck on, and they looked up.
Sure enough, the channel was playing a rerun of a cartoon they had been following with some of their Hoenn acquaintances.
They glanced around, and their Pokemon were clearly trying to not stare at them as they lounged around the room, but when Amatiel saw that they were looking, he took a few steps towards the bed and put his front paws on it. Rush’s shaking hand reached out to pet the fox’s questioningly tilted head, and they quietly said, “C’mon up here.”
This time, Amatiel was more gentle as he laid across their lap, and he allowed them to pet his fur as they further grounded themself.
They weren’t sure what to do now. They wouldn’t have wished such a horrible thing on anyone, much less Holly or any of the other minor league leaders. Sending a letter saying “yeah, I know how you feel, and I fucked off to Hoenn, wanna join me?” probably wouldn’t go well.
Especially since Rush would probably just remind Holly of their previous failures.
As they let their attention get grabbed by the show playing, they decided they would deal with it later. Hopefully when their mood had stabilized more.
-
The media shitstorm that followed was basically their own worst nightmare but happening to someone else.
They couldn’t go on most social media sites without encountering a wall of posts talking about Hollyhock’s breakdown, and after finding out that Miles and the refs had had to help carry them off the field, Rush decided they didn’t want to know anymore.
While the majority of people weren’t being awful, there was a vocal minority saying some truly heinous things about Holly, and the knowledge that they themself had been close to this kind of attention was not helping their state.
Their disguise started to include a facemask while they wandered around outside. They could fake a few sniffles to ensure no one asked about it, but when they had to stop and eat, their anxiety about being seen would spike.
At this point, they thought about leaving early. Their name was being brought up since they had been the previous top trainer of the minor league, and people were speculating about their sudden departure.
They thought their sudden reappearance might cause a stir before, but now it was certain. And they didn’t want to make assumptions about Holly and answer a million questions about their own mental state.
They also really didn’t want their family to know they had come back, and ending up on TV was a surefire way to make that happen.
They’d need to make a decision soon. Though Kabu had mentioned that going to the Isle of Armor or the Crown Tundra might be a good idea since they were far more remote...
Maybe later. When things had calmed down.