My Name is Marcus: Dark Times

VII. All On the Line

Her green eyes darted to the side, looking at Hop with a cold sharpness. "This ain't a game, Hop", she snapped.

Hop recoiled from her response. "I, uh... no, M-Marnie, I didn't, uh, I-"

"He didn't mean it like that", Marcus intervened in a gentle tone.

Marnie let out a heavy sigh as her eyes seemed to glaze over. "I know... I'm sorry."

Marcus noticed the look immediately. His intuition wasn't lying to him; something inside of him seemed to have been telling him that Marnie was struggling. It was as if he had a sixth sense, alerting him of her state of mind.

"It's just...", Marnie continued, "...I ain't never had to do a battle with this much at stake, y'know?"

"Marnie", Marcus began, "you gotta try not to look at it from that angle."

"Easy for you to say", she replied bluntly. "If I lose today's match, the Gym's toast. That means no more Pokemon battles in the city, no more traffic from tourists, no more money for local businesses, no more Spikemuth." She looked up at the two boys, her eyes seeming to lack their usual gleam. "I'm just worried about lettin' people down... Everybody's putin' all their hope in me, and if I mess this up, it'll all be for nothin'..."

"Then you won't mess it up", Marcus fired back quickly and optimistically, "and it won't be for nothing."

Marnie's eyes widened a little. Marcus spoke so confidently and so effortlessly. "How can you be so sure?", she asked in uncertainty.

Marcus smiled. "Because I know what you're capable of as a trainer, Marnie - it's incredible. You're one of the strongest trainers I've ever faced. You've even had me on the ropes in battles before, and I'm supposed to be Galar's "untouchable champion", or whatever. You're more than a match for any challenger Galar has to throw your way. And if Weston didn't come to the match today already afraid of you, then he didn't come prepared."

The young gym leader smiled at the champion's praises, the glimmer of determination beginning to return to her eyes.

"Marcus is right, Marnie", Hop added, "you're crazy strong! There's no way you can lose to this bug-eyed jerk." He smiled brightly. "You don't need to worry about letting anyone down; everybody knows what you're able to do, and we all believe in you one-hundred percent. So get out there and beat that brat to tar, and we'll make sure not to let you down while we're cheering you on!"

At the end of the day, we're all in this together, Marnie thought to herself.

The gym leader steeled her nerves. She was feeling the fire and determination for battle now. "Thanks, guys...", she said quietly.

Marcus and Hop smiled warmly.

"We should get a move on, mate", Hop said to Marcus as he turned, making his way to the exit. "We've got a long trek to our seats!"

"Yeah", Marcus agreed as he turned to catch up to his friend. "Kick his butt, Marnie."

"...Marcus", Marnie called after him.

Marcus paused in front of the door and turned around to face Marnie, who was now standing and walking towards him. "What's up?"

She stopped in front of him, not saying a word.

He looked at her in confusion. "Uh... Marnie?"

Her eyes broke contact with his and fell to the side, a blush overcoming her face as she hesitated to make her next move. Before Marcus even realized what was happening, her arms were wrapped tightly around him; her left arm around his waist, and her right arm over his left shoulder. She rested her head upon his right shoulder as she held on, not daring to let go. Marcus was taken by surprise by this motion, but quickly fell into the embrace with a smile as he wrapped both of his arms around her waist and held her in return. The two stood in their mutual embrace for another moment, neither one seemingly wanting to let go of the other.