When the sun arose the next morning, Gloria looked out the window to see about an inch of snow on the ground.
All that snow yesterday, and this is all that stuck around?
She rolled her eyes and stepped out of her bed quietly, concerned Bede might still be asleep.
"Good morning guys," she smiled to her Pokémon as they blinked themselves awake.
After straightening out her blankets, Gloria opened the door and stepped out into the loft. She looked over the railing to see if Bede was on the couch, but to her surprise, he wasn't there. Curious, she hopped down the stairs and stepped into the entryway to see Bede standing in the kitchen making breakfast.
"Hi Bede," she yawned, "Smells good—what is that?"
He flinched when he heard her voice, making Gloria smile a bit. She'd personally found his shyness quite adorable.
"Just some crepes. I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep, so I went ahead and got ready for the day."
"I can see that." she noticed he was already wearing his gym uniform, "Going in for work soon?"
He shook his head, "I technically have the day off, but I was going to stop by the gym first. I mostly dressed like this out of habit."
She laughed, "I need to buy you some casual clothes sometime."
Gloria took a seat at his dinner table, and within a few minutes, he had a plate of crepes ready to eat. After a quick thank you, they both dug into the breakfast.
"It's good!" she complimented between bites.
He smiled, "I get a lot of practice cooking around here when it's just me. Glad to know someone other than myself enjoys what I make."
She sighed and leaned back in her chair with a full stomach, "What a nice date. I should probably go home soon though..."
"Yeah... probably," he agreed, "It would be bad if someone saw you wearing my clothes."
"Are you still embarrassed about that?" she nudged him playfully.
Bede glanced to the side, mildly annoyed, "Not necessarily..." he mumbled.
With a huff, Gloria shrugged and responded, "Fine! If you want me to leave so badly, I'll change and be out of your hair within the next hour."
Bede shrugged, "That's fine. I think this date has gone on long enough anyway."
After that, Gloria stood up, grabbed her clothes from the dryer, showered, and got changed. In the meantime, Bede deconstructed his couch-bed, and tidied up anything out of place in his bedroom. When Gloria returned, she was just as stylish then as she was during the beginning of their date.
As she walked down the stairs, she looked for Bede, but couldn't see him anywhere.
"Bede? Where are you?"
Upon hearing her voice, Bede suddenly scrambled to the various windows in the house and started shutting the drapes. His face was extremely red, and he was short on breath. Shocked, Gloria rushed to the bottom of the stairs and asked what was wrong.
"Bede—what is it? Why are you closing all of the curtains?"
He spun to look at her, his face somehow beet red and pale at the same time, "People."
"People?"
"There are people outside."
Gloria's eyes widened and a lump formed in her throat, "Wait—slow down, what do you mean? I didn't see anyone earlier—"
"Look—let me explain..." he sighed, rubbing his forehead, "During the festival, I signed a bunch of autographs and stuff, but there was this one group of people that really bothered me. Apparently they were my fan club or something—the point is, they're a little obsessed with me, and I think they came to my house."
"What!?" Gloria stiffened, horrified, "You've got a girl group scoping you out!?"
"Something like that..." he sighed, "I think I spotted them in the woods for a moment while I was looking out the window. They're easy to spot because they all dress rather colourfully."
Gloria tapped her foot, concerned.
"How do we get rid of them without them seeing me?" she wondered nervously.
"I... I don't know..." he sighed and rubbed his face, "Um... maybe I can get someone from Macro Cosmos to come over here."
They thought about it for a moment, thinking about ways Gloria could escape, "Well... perhaps you can catch them with a psychic move or something? Then while they're distracted, I can sneak off through the woods."
Bede thought about it and nodded, "I think I'll use Hatterene to catch them for me, and when it's safe, I'll give you a signal. Either way though, you've got to be tactful about this—and keep your disguise on!"
She nodded, "Okay—let's do this!"
After a few more minutes of building up courage, Bede reached for the doorknob. Gloria swallowed hard as he opened the door, and moments before he stepped outside, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Be careful!"
He nodded, now a little embarrassed, and proceeded out the door. Silently, Bede waited in front of the door to listen for sounds of the girls. He could hear some not-so-quiet whispering in the nearby foliage that was giving away the location of the nosy girls.
"Hatterene," he whispered, letting the Pokémon out of its Poké Ball, "Go teleport over in that brush, and use psychic to restrain whoever those people are. Got it?"
The Pokémon nodded and teleported out of sight. A few moments later, he heard a collection of girly screams ring out through the air.
"Eek! Put us down, you crazy Pokémon!"
Bede stepped out from the front of his house, and unsurprisingly, the people were exactly who he thought they were.
"You lunatics again..." he glared angrily, "I thought I'd seen the last of you at the festival."
"Nooo! Don't yell at us—we were just, um... passing through!"
He glanced at the girl dressed in blue. She was holding her phone with two hands, as if using it to record something.
"Is that recording?"
Their faces went pale, "W-we just wanted uh... uh..."
"Enough." he dismissed angrily, "Whatever nasty excuse you have, I don't want to hear it. I'm calling security."
Still suspended in the air, some of the girls began weeping dramatically.
"We only wanted a picture! J-just a little slice-of-life post for our blog!" the pink one whined.
"And we were only slightly curious if maybe... well..." the yellow one mumbled.
"If what?" he pressed.
The yellow girl puffed out her cheeks in fury, "The fans are worried that you have a girlfriend! We just wanted to know for sure if the rumors were true!"
Bede's left eye twitched.
What? Did someone see us yesterday?
"I have nothing of the sort," he lied, gritting his teeth, "And even if I did, I have the right to my own privacy, thank you very much."
With a tap of his thumb, Bede sent a quick text to Gloria that simply said: "👍", and then proceeded to contact Macro Cosmos about his situation. Getting the message, Gloria replied with a quick thank you for their date, and disappeared out of the woods without catching the girl's eyes. Bede smiled at her response, and then waited for his call to reach security.
"Hey—can I get some help over here? I caught some stalkers at my house..."
* * *
Making sure she wasn't spotted by anyone, Gloria sprinted out of the woods until she'd finally arrived back in front of Ballonlea stadium.
"Phew! What a way to end that," she laughed quietly to herself.
Noticing the Corviknight taxi nearby, Gloria started to approach it so she could return to Wyndon. Before she could even talk to the man, however, her head turned to notice an abrupt commotion near Ballonlea's entrance. Sirens were blaring, and people were fleeing the streets to let an ambulance pass into the woods. Gloria halted instantly, and a look of concern ebbed across her face.
Are they heading to the gym? What happened?
As she looked around, she realized the ambulances were, in fact, parked in front of the stadium. Officers and security members alike were gathered in front of the stadium to investigate, and many people were exiting with panicked looks on their faces. Worried, Gloria hurried over to the entrance of the stadium, and squeezed past the rows of people fleeing outward.
Past the crowd, she stepped left through a single door to enter the halls, and quickly rushed onto the gym's field. When she looked around, all she saw on the grassy field was a quivering challenger with a Cherrim standing fearfully by their side.
Did someone get injured during a match?
She looked farther—letting her eyes rest on the emergency exit doors, and found a group of nurses rushing a stretcher in the direction of the exit. Her heart dropped in fear, and Gloria instantly broke into a sprint to see who was being carried away.
What's happening!? Who is that!?
As the distance closed, it became clearer and clearer to her who the person lying on the stretcher was. Since the field was unoccupied, its gym leader nowhere in sight, the injured person was undoubtedly Miss Opal; and as she finally closed the distance, Gloria's eyes confirmed this to be true.
"Miss Opal!" Gloria choked, horrified.
The gym leader raised her hand to halt the nurses for a moment, and smiled faintly back at Gloria, "It is I."
"What happened? Are you alright?" she gasped, tears beginning to sting around the corners of her eyes.
Opal shook her head, "I guess I just got a little too excited. Unfortunately though... I feel this might've been my last Pokémon battle, sweetie."
Gloria's eyes trembled in disbelief, "Nonsense. You're going to be just fine, right?"
Opal sighed and gave Gloria her hand, "Listen. When Bede comes here, I want you to be the one who tells him what happened—alright? Just say that I fell down—but that I'm going to be fine. The point is," she coughed once, then smiled, "Just look after the boy for me, would you? You and I are the only people he's got, and pretty soon I believe it'll just be you. Oh... and tell him I'm sorry for being so hard on him."
Gloria's face fell, leaving her heart empty with grief, "Of course, ma'am... get well soon."
Then the medics took Opal away, leaving Gloria standing by herself in the empty hallway of the stadium.
She didn't know what to do with herself. The chaos had happened so fast—and right after she'd had such a fun date with Bede, too. It left her feeling horribly guilty inside, like there was a black hole of regret now tearing apart her lungs.
What do I do now? she wondered, clenching her fists as her hair fell in front of her eyes, What am I supposed to say to Bede when he gets here?
A few minutes later, Bede came tearing across the field—searching for Opal just as she had. Once the stalker incident was resolved, Bede drew his attention to the blaring sirens in front of the gym, and decided to investigate on his own means. When he made it to the field, he spotted the lone challenger, but was horrified to find Opal missing.
"Where is she!?" he yelled, fear behind his eyes.
The trainer blinked, a mix of sadness and terror in their eyes, "I-I don't know—they took her to the ambulance..." the trainer paused, "I didn't get to finish my match."
Bede wavered where he stood for a moment, his eyes widening in disbelief.
She's in an ambulance?
His fists clenched as he managed a response, "Here, kid. I don't think she'll get back to you anytime soon. Just take this for now—okay?"
Bede handed the trainer a badge, and turned away coldly towards the sidelines. Each step felt almost dream-like as he neared the edge. Surely he was asleep still—this whole morning had been so strange, after all. Right?
He turned into the hall, and stopped for a moment as a blanket of trepidation fell across his stiff shoulders.
You know there was a reason she was getting so irritable these past days, Bede, his mind taunted, The woman's over eighty years old. You knew it was coming.
He shook his head firmly to clear away the thought.
No—I'm sure it was just a little accident. And who knows? The ambulance might not be for her. Or maybe this is all just some sick joke. Yeah... that's gotta be it.
With a deep breath to calm his unstable nerves, Bede finally lifted his eyes and spotted Gloria standing in the middle of the hall. The sight of her almost made him sick as a ripple of horror jolted through his stomach.
I know that face, he realized dreadfully, I know what that face means.
Her eyes were vacant—vacant and cold like drops of white moonlight. She knew what had happened. Surely she knew, and it was not good news.
He approached her slowly, his esophagus tight with the terror of being right.
"Gloria—what's happening?"
She didn't speak at first. Her eyes merely skimmed the tile of the floor quietly, unwilling to admit to him the truth.
"She fell."
His heart squeezed. Bede's head fell again to stare at Gloria's shoes.
"But she said she'll be okay, so..." she mumbled on unconvincingly, "anyway, she wanted me to tell you that she's sorry for being so short-tempered lately. That's... that's all she really said."
Bede waited silently for her to say more, but nothing else left Gloria's mouth.
"That's it?"
Gloria held her gaze in place and remained silent.
He straightened up and placed a trembling hand on his head in shock, "How could this happen? I don't understand—" his voice broke.
As he swayed on his feet, Bede let his hand fall over his eyes as he started to shake his head.
"First it was Rose, now Opal. How many times—" but his voice hiked as the terror finally set in.
Gloria's mouth stiffened as she listened to him. She could hear the pain in his voice, but was too scared to know what to say. After all, what was there to be said when the fate of the future was so plainly laid out in front of them?
"I just wish someone could do something," he finally managed, defeat flooding his voice.
Gloria suddenly blinked as his words resonated inside her head.
Wish?
Her eyes shot open, and suddenly the blood drained from her face in the way water drains from an unplugged sink.
Not noticing her sudden reaction, Bede stumbled defeatedly over toward a nearby bench, and sat down with his head in his hands. Silence flooded the air as Gloria's sympathy changed to pure and simple terror. Her eyes landed on Bede quickly and sharply as she processed the words he'd just uttered.
"I just wish someone could do something."
Finally, with a voice sharp as a steel blade, she spoke.
"You wish?"
Confused by her sudden comment, he mustered the strength to pry his eyes back open.
Adrenaline nearly stopped his heart when he looked at her face.
"Didn't you just ask that something, anything could be done?"
Her eyes had somehow changed from vacant to delirious. There was a psychotic terror—a look of pure, vile fear and surprise mixed into her fake, brown lenses. For some reason, he felt lucky to be alive. Her contacts were, in an odd way, shields from the mercilessness, grey voids that normally occupied her pupils, and he felt if he ever dared see her without those lenses in, he'd simply cease existing.
What's with that look? he pleaded, It's as if you suddenly want me d—
"Bede?" she asked, her hair falling across her face like lifeless doll's hair would.
"I—" he stammered, "Technically I said that, but why do you ask?"
She paused.
"If it is your wish, maybe something good can come out of this."
"My wish—" confused, Bede leaned forward and began to raise his voice, "Gloria what're you talking about? I don't know what you're thinking, but..." he lowered his gaze, "Whatever happens to Opal next depends solely on what the hospital can do. It's up to fate now."
"You're wrong."
He snapped his eyes back at her again and watched as they somehow grew even wider. The greyness of her eyes was swirling behind her contacts like hypnotic whirlpools, sending chills down Bede's spine.
The only thing that finally managed to pull Bede's eyes away from her ensnaring gaze, was the sudden crowd that began to trickle down from the bleachers as people started to exit the stadium. With bodies all around them now, Gloria finally turned—leaving Bede with only the sight of her flowing hair as she melted into the blur of people passing by.
When she was gone, he gasped suddenly through his mouth, realizing he'd been holding his breath in her presence. Then, clutching a balled fist around his breakneck heartrate, Bede continued to breathe for a minute in stunned consternation.
What's gotten into her all of a sudden?
* * *
Later that evening, all the gym leaders gathered in the waiting room at Opal's hospital. They all sat together silently, worry and anxiety increasing with each passing minute. The only person who wasn't present was Gloria.
Bede sat with his head down and his arms resting on his knees. Marnie was on his left, her hand on his back, and there was a vacant seat to his right. The sound of a clock drummed through everyone's ears as they sat quietly in the plastic chairs. Down the hall, inaudible murmuring could be heard between chairman Leon and one of the doctors.
"Bede," Marnie whispered soothingly, "They said Opal'll be jus' fine. Don't stress too much, okay?"
He shook his head slightly, unable to provide a response.
An empty seat away from Bede's right, Hop was sitting anxiously, his fingers interlaced and his thumbs rubbing together in tiny circles. Though he wasn't as miserable as Bede, his knee kept bobbing with anxiety as he sat in silence.
Suddenly, the double-doors at the entrance opened, revealing Sonia—who had just arrived. Sonia glanced about nervously, noticing the sullen looks on everyone's faces.
"Where's Leon?" she whispered to Raihan, who was sitting to the left of the doors.
He moved the hand he was using to prop up his chin and pointed down the hall.
"He's getting the news in the hall right now."
Sonia's eyes fell a bit as she scanned the seats, "What about Gloria? Is she with him too?"
Raihan shook his head, "No one knows where she is. Disappeared right after Opal was taken to the ambulance. Bede's the last one who saw her, but he's not in a 'talking mood' right now."
"I see... guess I'll just take a seat then," she responded shortly, sitting down next to Raihan.
There were several more minutes of sitting and waiting before Leon came back into the room.
"Leon," Sonia said, looking up.
"How is she?" Nessa asked, worried.
Leon took his cap off his head and held it in his hands for a moment, "She was supposed to get better," Leon began, "but even after the surgery, she's still not doing well. They reckon she only has a few hours left."
Bede jolted, his nails digging into his palms as he suppressed his desire to weep.
Leon glanced at him and sighed, "She wants to speak to everyone one by one in case she..." he hesitated, "I've already had the chance to speak with her, and she's just the same as ever." he smiled a bit, "That woman's impossible. Honestly..."
There was another clock-filled silence.
"Bede," he spoke suddenly, "She wants to see you first. Feel free to go whenever you're ready, but try to be quick—" he began, but Bede was already standing.
Arms and legs stiff, he kept his head bowed, and faced away from everyone as he somewhat stormed out of the room. His footsteps carried briefly before disappearing down the hall, leaving everyone is a sad silence.
"This must be so hard on him, isn't it?" Nessa sighed.
Melony shook her head, "Immensely so, I'm afraid. Poor boy was an orphan before getting taking into Rose's care—and look where that man ended up."
"Such unfortunate timing..." Kabu agreed.
Hop looked up, a little surprised to hear Melony's comment, "Wait—Bede was an orphan?"
"Yes. It's written on one of his old league cards. You never knew?" Melony asked.
"Never cared..." Hop mumbled guiltily, "It explains a lot, come to think of it..."
"Hop." Marnie cast him a painful look, and he fell silent.
"Sorry..."
* * *
Bede's hand shook as he shut the door. For a moment, he couldn't find the willpower to look Opal in the face.
"Bede, my dear," she whispered, "Come here. Hiding won't get you anywhere, will it?"
He turned slowly, his eyes fixed on the floor as he pulled a chair to Opal's bedside.
"Look at me, Bede."
Wincing, his eyes slowly crept up to Opal's face. A painful surge of sadness tugged through his veins as he stared silently at her pale face. He bit his lip, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him.
"There you are," she smiled, "Do you know why I wanted to see you first?"
He shook his head.
"It's because I knew how much it would mean to you, getting to see me even once before I go." she smiled again, "I might be old, but despite that, you still really want me to stay with you, isn't that right?"
Bede couldn't respond. He sucked in a harsh breath and shook a little.
Exasperated, she rolled her eyes and sighed, "Speak to me, kid. I haven't got all day. I've hardly got a few hours as it is..."
The reminder shook Bede to his core, and suddenly his shoulders tensed up and his eyes filled with tears. He shut them instantly and tore his face away from hers as he bit deeper into his lower lip.
"Don't say stuff like that..." he whispered, choking on his words, "You'll be fine."
She shook her head, "Listen to me, Bede. You're a tough boy. You always hide the things from me that I want to know the most. It's alright to be sad once in a while—nobody's holding you at gunpoint."
His eyes opened again, and suddenly the pain of facing her overwhelmed his pride. One by one, tears rolled down his face as he rested his hand painfully on his forehead. Opal smiled sadly, and for a few minutes, she simply listened to him with her eyes closed in contentment.
After he calmed down, they talked for several minutes, clearing up old disputes and exchanging heartfelt words of gratitude—things Bede normally could never find the courage to say. Though long and painful, the time they spent talking was well spent. He almost didn't want to leave the room, but he had to so that Opal could speak to the others.
"Thank you," he whispered, wiping a tear from one of his swollen eyes, "I think I'm ready to accept whatever comes my way now."
Opal smiled, "Good. I'm glad something I said has finally gotten through to you after all these years."
He smiled a bit, sadness seeping behind his wet eyes, "I need to go soon, don't I?" he sighed.
Bede stood up and started to head towards the door. Before he left, Opal gave him one last message.
"Take care of the gym, sweetie. From this day forward, it's yours. Understand?"
Bitter happiness floated onto his face as he managed to leave her with one last smile, "Of course. I promise the gym will be in good hands."
She nodded, "Goodbye, sonny."
His hand twisted the knob.
"Goodbye, Nanna," he whispered, closing the door.