Interlude - Leadership
#28 of Sara's Story
Short chapter of Flen becoming a gym leader, and the lead in to story number five.
Flen sat in front of the abandoned building and idly rubbed at his sleeping Espeon's head. It had been a hectic couple of days, with a lot of disappointment and upset, and a lot of excitement and happiness. But now he was back home, back in Jyrrian city. He had expected to just relax for a few days and enjoy being off the road, but a strange message had dragged him to what looked to be an abandoned fast food restaurant of some sorts. Flen had checked the number and confirmed it was legitimate, which had only confused him further. Why would the Le...
A stumbling sound interrupted his thoughts, and he looked to see an older man in a fancy suit walking towards him. It was late at night, but the streetlights gave him a good enough view of the man. He wore the official Pokemon League badge on his coat, confirming it was the person who had sent the message. Flen waved his spare hand as the man got closer.
"Hello Flen! I'm sorry, I didn't expect your answer until the morning. I hope you weren't waiting too long; I came as soon as I saw your reply."
Flen flinched a little. He had just assumed he was in trouble and wanted to get it out of the way; he hadn't considered he might have been expected to wait. The message had said it was important, so he had come right over. He had been here long enough for Clara to doze off... but it was late at night, so that didn't really say much.
"My name is Jack. I'm here for the League; we wanted to ask you a few questions. And depending on your answers, we might have a job for you."
"A job? Then... I'm not in trouble?"
Jack shook his head. "No, of course not! Well, we are a little annoyed you left early and skipped closing ceremonies; it would have been a lot easier to have somebody do this at the Championship. Why did you leave, anyways? You have two friends still in the tournament, right?"
Flen nodded. "Todd and Perry. They're doing well from the sound of it. But... I didn't think it was appropriate; the judge disqualified me." Flen remembered back to that. It had been a tough fight, but Obsidian was doing well. He hated putting Clara in her Pokeball, though, and when she had started shouting to encourage the Onix, the judge had accused her of using Helping Hand.
Flen frowned, suddenly thinking. Had Clara said anything since then? She had talked to him and others psychically, but had she actually used her voice for anything? He couldn't remember anything immediately, but surely she had at some point...
"You could have challenged that decision. It was obvious on review that your Espeon wasn't breaking any rules or increasing your Onix's power. If that was a violation, everybody in the audience broke the rule too. And even if you had actually broken a rule, you were attracting a lot of attention - Espeon's are very rare, and there hasn't been at the tournament in at least five years; a lot of people were tuning in to see your fights. There would have been pressure to let you keep battling just to keep viewers no matter what you had actually done; you must have heard all the booing from the audience at the judge, and people will be looking for you and her at closing ceremonies. So... why didn't you stay?"
Flen hesitated, feeling embarrassed. He had heard the audience's boos, but had assumed it had been directed towards him for 'cheating' and not at the judge. That hadn't been the main reason he had left, though. Most trainers wouldn't understand. A League official, concerned with numbers and rules, viewership and technicalities, would probably understand even less. Still, it was his only reason...
He looked down towards the sleeping Espeon. "Clara was really upset by what the judge said. It hurt her; she was apologizing and promising to stay silent and kicking herself for cheering in the first place. I knew she'd be too upset to focus even if the ruling was overturned, and I knew staying would just make her feel worse about the whole thing. I had seen how good the other trainers were and didn't think it would be worth putting her through that to have it overturned - we would maybe get through one or two more rounds anyways, if we were lucky. So I took her and came home."
Jack nodded slowly and smiled at the still-sleeping Espeon. "I see. Most trainers wouldn't have done that for their Pokemon." There wasn't any accusation or judgement in his voice, just simple recognition.
Flen smiled, realizing that the League official did understand after all. "Most trainers don't have an Espeon."
"No, they don't." Jack reached into one of his pockets and pulled something out, though he kept it out of sight inside his fist. "Which brings me to why I'm here. I spoke with your parents before you got back - the League saw what kind of a trainer you were during the tournament and started running the paperwork, and that meant dispatching somebody to do reviews. That's why I'm out here to meet with you even though everybody still expected you to be back at the tournament." He paused for a moment before continuing on a new subject. "Your mother told me about... well..." Jack looked at Flen's chest and hesitated awkwardly, but Flen knew what he meant. The trainer looked away and out into the empty parking lot before Jack spoke again. "Why are you doing it? Being a trainer?"
"Heh." Flen laughed a little. "That's easy - what else would I do? I want to be happy, and make the most of the time I have. I want to help the Pokemon I come across and make their lives better, and be there so they can do the same for me. Same with my friends. Being a trainer makes me happy, and gives me a chance to take care of Pokemon that wouldn't have anyone if I didn't. I can take care of them, make their lives better, give them experiences they would never have otherwise. The memories I've made with them, the friendship I have with Clara, with the rest of my team... seeing Clara smile, and knowing she's happy? I wouldn't trade that. Not for all the time in the world doing anything else."
Jack nodded again and held out his hand, palm up, and slowly opened it. A metallic badge rested there, glittering in the dim light of the streetlamps. A badge in the shape of a heart.
Flen went pale and glared up at Jack. "Is this some kind of joke?"
Jack shook his head. "No, it isn't. It's a job offer. We don't really announce these things during the tournaments - it leads to too much speculation as to why, or who will replace them, instead of focusing on the trainers and Pokemon who have worked so hard for these days and deserve the attention - but we have two gym leaders retiring this year. The League decided to bring a gym leader in from another region to replace one, somebody who's an expert in those double battles that have started to become popular, but... we'd also like a gym leader who really cares about Pokemon. Who sees them as partners, as friends, and not just as tools to fight with. When you registered an Espeon on your team and we saw how you battled we thought that could be you - and everything I've heard since just confirms it."
Jack motioned to the abandoned building. "The League will buy this place to be an official gym, if we have a leader who wants to set up here." He looked back at Flen, seeing the indecision in his eyes. "You can help a lot of Pokemon by doing this. More than just the ones on your team. You can help the trainers in this region form better bonds and take better care of their Pokemon too. Your parents are okay with it, and the League will send somebody to help you manage expenses and such while you're learning. You'd just have to focus on teaching other trainers." Jack extended his hand back out to the trainer. "You heart is strong enough to help countless other Pokemon and trainers. What do you say?"
The shiny piece of heart-shaped metal gleamed in Jack's hand as Flen stared at it. So many thoughts ran through his head. He had enjoyed traveling and seeing all the other cities, and meeting new Pokemon, and seeing other trainers... but... Jack was right. A lot of other trainers just saw their Pokemon as machines to use, not creatures to care for and love. Maybe...
The trainer reached up and took the Heart Badge from the League official, holding it up and noticing a small hole punched in the corner. A thin string had been threaded through, allowing it to be worn just like a pendant on a necklace. Flen slipped the string quietly over his head before tucking the metallic badge underneath his shirt.
The brand new gym leader turned to look back at the abandoned building. It would need some work, but he knew his team would be up to the task. "I say... thank you."
Many years later...
The Wartortle stared at the television screen. The announcer was going over the opening ceremonies of the League Championship, but nobody in the room cared. Even when Sara was singled out for the novelty of bringing an Umbreon to the battles, nobody had really said anything. Todd just stared at the remote and fidgeted with one of the buttons. Perry glanced out the window every so often. Feren occasionally got up and paced around before hopping back up on the couch. And the Absol...
Flen's Absol had been in town for a week now, and everybody knew why. There was no avoiding it - there was nothing to do but wait for it to happen. And it was supposed to happen tonight.
So nobody really paid any attention to the television. And the Absol slept fitfully against the side of the couch.
The announcer droned on about the various Pokemon that would be involved, mentioning John at one point in regards to a Milotic before moving on to talk about a Golem from a far-off region that most trainers wouldn't be familiar with...
The anguished wail filled Shells' awareness all of a sudden. There was no physical sound to go with it, but it was still somehow loud enough to cause him to fall off the couch. There were no words, just a meaningless scream of heartache that was more than he could handle, and he found himself starting to cry. He was dimly aware of Todd clutching his head in pain while Perry wobbled on the couch.
The television cut out as the psionic shockwave radiated outwards, followed shortly by all of the lights in the room. A second later there was an explosion somewhere in the distance as something electrical exploded. Absol whimpered as he woke up - Shells knew he wouldn't have heard the scream, but would be feeling the sorrow even more than anyone else in the room had.
Shells pushed the door open and started running. Other than a fire somewhere in the distance the city had been plunged into darkness, but he knew the way. He was dimly aware of Feren starting to follow him before Absol stopped him, telling the Nidorino they would be needed at the fire. Shells felt a little guilty as he ran - he would have been a lot more help there, as a water type - but his mind was made up. He needed to help her first if he could.