Pasio University: Sophomore and Junior Years

Chapter 25- The Road Back

Rosa POV

I arrived back in my room after the match. I broke down and began to cry even more. Today I just wasn't good enough. It might not have been all on me, but there could've been any one of my teammates in my spot that would've done better. It stings so bad, to be trusted in, and believed on the biggest stage, then to let them all down, like you've done your entire life. I gripped my blanket as if i was holding on for dear life as I cried, bawling my eyes out at my own failure. All the teammates, fans, family, friends I let down. The weight of the world was on me and I let them down. I continued crying before I heard a knock on my door. Must be my roommate, I tried my best to stop wailing and dry my tears. I grabbed a towel and wiped my face before saying, "One second." As normally as I could muster. I opened the door and May was there. "May?" I asked confused, May walked in, "Hey Rosa. Sorry to intrude on you without giving early notice." I shook my head, "It's... Fine." May shook her head, "Anyway, I just wanted to check on you. I hate seeing you so down. "Do you need to talk about it?" I sat down on my bed again and was unable to hold back as I started crying again. May sat down by me and handed me a tissue as I continued to cry. I looked at her, "I-... I let everyone down! You all trusted me, and I worked so hard to be a working part on this team. And as soon as I was able to I was a failure on the biggest stage!" The warmth of the tears only further confused my senses as the build up of tears clouded my vision. May put her arm around me, "Hey. No one blames you. I know it's hard to see, but this was a team effort. We share our successes and our failures." I hung my head, "I just want to be enough..." May smiled sweetly, "You are. Look, whether or not we ever beat them or not, that match doesn't define you. You're an awesome person, people love you! Focus on what you have and not what you couldn't quite get. We'll bounce back together, and we won't ever give up on you." I hugged May, "Thank you... Why did you... Why did you want to tell me all this." May shrugged, "For the same reason I told you. Everyone was worried about you. It's your first loss with the team, but it's mine too. You're not alone, and trust me you won't be alone when we have our victory either." I nodded. "This means a lot to me May. Thank you."

Elio POV

"R̴̬̃u̸̘͠n̶̞̞͆͒n̶̥̙̉ī̴̝̮̒n̵͕͓̑ģ̴̦͂͒,̴̱̮̓͝ ̶̧̫̇r̸͕̈ų̷͙͒̈n̷̗̈́n̸̗͠ḯ̷͇̝͝n̵̻̙͑ĝ̷̘͉̚.̵̣̣̊̏ ̴̙̙̋W̴̥͇̕h̵̛̜̾e̸̺̱̍̊r̵͎̈́e̶͎͌́ ̶̬́d̵̺̿o̸̝͊͠ ̴͕̜̉ÿ̸̢̜́̚o̶̹̪̾̾û̷̙̇ ̶̜̈́p̶͕̩͐o̵̺̘͐s̴̨̧̛̎s̷̬̪͌i̴̺̠̓b̴̯̂̈́ĺ̵̬́y̷͇̤̅ ̷̘̎̎͜t̸̰̔̒h̸̡̺͂̑ị̴͌n̵͕̩̅͝k̷͔̾ ̸͈̫̍̈́ȳ̸̛̰ŏ̸̹̊u̶͙̤͠ ̴̫̎̇c̸̲̓ā̴̝͘n̵͍͆ ̷̩͋h̴̲͛̕i̶̞̔d̶͈͝e̶̡̓͐?̶̹̇͘" called the voice of my nightmares once again. I sighed, "You know I don't remember any of this when I wake up right?" Darkrai appeared once again, and as usual chills coursed through my body. "That is not my problem cursed one. Your destiny is what I have been trying to prepare you for." I stood firm, "Well you haven't been much help Darkrai. You've told me to be afraid, and to be prepared for nothing in particular. I get the feeling that you don't know much of this fate you keep telling me about." Darkrai moved directly in front of me, nearly touching my nose, "If you were not instrumental in this plan, I would enjoy tormenting you for your nonchalant arrogance in my presence." I raised an eyebrow, "Relax. I'm just a little frustrated. I've got a lot to worry about and these cryptic warnings aren't helping." Darkrai moved backwards, my words likely cooling his temper a little bit. He stared at me, "Your mission is to be ready for anything. You have to dedicate yourself to be able to be brave and adapt. You will not survive without this." I turned away, "... Darkrai. If you do know about this... My Lillie... Will she be safe?" Darkrai responded, "That depends on you. She is exceptionally strong, but you will be cursed with the burdens of this mission." I turned back, "Then prepare me! I need her to be safe, even if I can't be." Darkrai responded blankly, "This burden is yours alone. I cannot help you. You're lucky I even care enough for your species to continue to warn you About it." I went to respond, but a hole opened up beneath me and I sunk further and further into darkness before colliding with the ground.

I jolted awake. I let out a loud gasp and Brendan stood over me, "Elio? Are you ok?" I shook my head, feeling a little gross from all the sweat I was drenched in, "Huh... Yeah I guess so. Must've been a bad dream or something." Brendan sat down on his bed across from mine, "Yeah. I heard you mumble something about being prepared for something. Any idea what you were dreaming about? You seemed terrified." I shook my head again, "No. I have no clue." Brendan shook his head, "Probably not all that important then I suppose." I shrugged, "Yeah. Probably not."

Practice today is gonna be an important one. Leading a team through good times is something anyone can do. Now I gotta prove my worth by finding the changes we need to make and getting them done. I walked by Brendan after classes were done today and asked him his opinions on some things. "Brendan, what do you think went wrong against Regional?" Brendan looked thoughtfully ahead, "Paulo." I scratched my chin, "Well yeah, but that's a given. The rest of this team has more than enough talent to dismantle them." Brendan nodded, "I think so too." I shook my head, "Hmm... Why were we getting caught?" I thought back to the match. Every time one of us went down there was something about it... I'll ask the team for their input.

I walked in to practice and warmed up with Brendan before the rest of the team arrived, so I turned and looked at them, "Good afternoon everyone. Hope you've all shaken the loss off from yesterday. Remember, it happens, not one team in this league has ever gone undefeated. We have what it takes to continue getting better." The team nodded and I scanned around. I continued, "So. I could have you all scrimmage as usual today, but I don't think that would be all too helpful. I want to give us something to work on. So, anyone want to tell me what they thought went wrong. I don't want to hear any blame game either, we can all be better." Paulo raised his hand, I internally sighed and pointed to him, he responded, "Bad leadership." I shrugged, "Maybe. I'll make sure I'm more clear with my calls." Dawn raised her hand and I pointed to her, "I didn't feel like we were all on the same page, I think it would help if we reviewed our plays." I nodded, "Good idea. We can do that." I pointed to Nate who had his hand up, "Uh. I think you guys got too complacent with the same attacks, even if one thing works well it's important to mix it up every once in a while." I nodded, "Excellent point. Thanks Nate."

I thought about what they had told me and made up my mind, "Alright. Today, we're gonna run through our plays again, make some tweaks and improvements to them, and make sure we're clear on how they work. As for me, I'll also work on making up better and more clear calls for these things. Sound good?" The team nodded and we got to work.

After practice ended I noticed a lot of things became clear, even Paulo admitted confusion on one play (though he did try to spin it on me, I'll take it). I watched as everyone left, then stopped Rosa on the way out. "Hey, Rosa, got a minute?" She paused her humming and looked at me, then nodded and stopped to talk, "What's going on cap?" I filed it in the back of my head that somebody called me the thing I used to call Calem, then responded, "I just wanted to check on you. You feel ok?" Rosa nodded, "It was rough yesterday, but May talked to me and I feel a lot better now." I gave her a thumbs up, "Good to hear. Keep up the good work Rosa." She smiled and thanked me and then left.

I left the building. It's still really chilly out, I wish it was a bit warmer, but that's just because I miss Alola I guess. Just then I saw Lillie in her familiar white and light blue winter coat approaching me. I ran over to her and lifted her up in a hug. She giggled as I let her down, "Wow. You're happy to see me today huh?" I released her, "I'm always happy to see you." She smiled, "I just hadn't seen you since the Regional game. I wanted to make sure you were ok." I nodded, "Oh yeah, I'm fine. I think we'll be ok." Lillie warmly replied, "I'm so glad! Say, I'd like to go out with you somewhere tonight? Mind if I take you somewhere?" I nodded, "Of course not, that sounds wonderful." Lillie and I went off on a sightseeing date that was one of the best I've ever been on. I'm so thankful for her, hopefully one day I'll be able to show just how thankful I am.