“Roll call!”
“Lucario?”
“Ra!”
“Kirlia?”
“Kiya!”
“Growlithe?”
“Bwark!”
“And Duraludon?”
“Duraa!”
“Good! Seems like all of you got a good night’s sleep.” Lynelle chuckles at the amount of energy her Pokémon exerted. All of them were bouncing up and down, excitement in their veins. She can’t help but feel the same way. Even after the weird dream she had last night. But she didn’t want that to ruin her experience so she decided to push it aside for now.
The uniform she was given fit her perfectly. But the mini shorts showing most of her legs made her slightly uncomfortable, so she decided to put on some black tights to cover her legs.
She took a good look on herself and she had to admit, she looked quite nice. Seeing her chosen number on the back of her uniform gave her confidence and determination for the one event that she was looking forward to. She wore her large cream-colored trench coat to cover her uniform, some shades and face mask to cover her face, and made her hair into a simple braid. Another different disguise.
“Alright… I’m ready. Return to your balls, everyone.” Lynelle voiced her command, to which her Pokémon complied with no hesitation. She shrunk the balls and exited her room. With all the extra actions she did, the overflowing nervousness and anxiety was crawling on her back, dragging her down. Her thoughts all scrambled on her head.
Exiting the building, she approached the stadium next door. The tall man with a Pokéball head welcomed her and even gave her a Dive ball, which she gladly accepted.
Taking a deep breath, she entered the stadium…and then gulped at the overwhelming aura in the lobby.
Every contestant were talking to eachother, smiles in their faces as the spoke to one another. But Lynelle sensed their nervousness seeping out of their voices, their faces slowly revealing their true feelings about the upcoming opening ceremony: incredibly anxious and nervous. Talking to one another seemed to have helped them distract themselves…
…and Lynelle was stiff as a board due to the intense nervousness. She wanted someone to talk to her, to get her out of the fear.
“Miss Lyn’!”
The ravenette’s nerves quickly relaxed when she heard the voice of Hop behind her. Following behind the young boy was his two best friends, Victor and Gloria.
“Hey there!” Lynelle smiled as the three approached. “You ready, Miss Lyn’?” Gloria pumped her fist towards the ravenette, urging her to do a fist bump, which she happily obliged.
“Of course. I’m excited for this!” Lynelle showed them a bright smile. The radiance of her excitement affected the three that they can’t help but smile brightly at her light.
“All right! Let’s go change!” Gloria urged the boys to go to the male locker rooms and dragging the ravenette to the female locker rooms. Lynelle barely kept up with the young girl’s enthusiasm as they entered their locker rooms.
~~~~
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~
It was time.
Time for the opening ceremony.
Every trainer stood stiff ever since the ceremony began. Chairman Rose was the guest speaker, as expected of the Chairman of the league. His message hyped up the crowd till their cheers and chants can be heard from all over the Region. Lynelle had to admit, the man was good at his role.
As for her, she wasn’t wearing her usual look. She was wearing the uniform but with tights, shades, and a braided hairstyle. She didn’t wear her mega necklace as well. A disguise for herself until she meets two specific gym leaders.
“Gloria? You okay?”
Lynelle looked to her right to see Victor and Hop comforting their dear friend, who looked like she was about to puke.
“Gloria? What happened?” Lynelle guided the young girl to the wall and let her sat down. Her face was still showing discomfort, and her hand clutched her stomach as she pulled her knees up to her chin, clamping her stomach even more.
Lynelle began to worry for her. The other trainers around them were starting to worry for Gloria as she was not being subtle about her problem. Lynelle turned towards the two boys, who seemed to understood her question just from a glance.
“She tends to turn like this when she gets extremely nervous.” Said Victor. “Major events like this makes her stomach… well… not feeling good.” Hop adds in and handed Gloria a bottle of water.
Lynelle looked back at Gloria, who nervously chugged down the water bottle’s contents. Lynelle never knew the young girl had some vulnerability. From how long they have met, Lynelle saw how confident and loud she was. Seeing her in such a weak state made the ravenette feel bad for the young girl.
“Gloria? You nervous?” Lynelle showed the young brunette a smile, which she gave a weak smile back at her. Lynelle sighed, wanting to help the young girl with her problem.
“Gloria, take off your shoe real quick.”
Gloria looked at the ravenette with complete confusion. But she complied with her request and took off her shoe. Lynelle gently held Gloria’s foot and pressed a spot in the middle of her sole. Gloria gasped in surprise, but slowly and surely, she started to feel better.
“How are you feeling?”
“I-I feel better now!”
Lynelle breathes out in relief and pulled her hands away from the young girl’s foot. “Glad to hear it.” Lynelle smiled and stood up, happy to have helped her new friend. Gloria puts her shoe back on and showed everyone her bright smile.
“Sorry for almost getting myself sick right before the ceremony.” Gloria stood back up, looking healthy and well. The earlier uneasiness and stomach pain were long gone. Lynelle, Hop, Victor, and every trainer around them felt a wash of relief in their veins, thankful that the young girl was feeling alright.
“… And now, I will announce the gyms leaders!”
Chairman Rose’s voce was heard from the lobby’s speakers. Lynelle needed to focus on identifying who the Gym leaders to strategize in advance, if ever she managed to make it till Raihan’s.
So far, she only knew Nessa as the water-type Gym Leader, Ms. Opal as the Fairy-type Gym Leader, and Raihan as the Dragon-type Gym Leader.
Over the speakers, Chairman Rose introduced:
The grass-type Gym Leader - Milo,
The fire-type Gym Leader - Kabu,
The ghost-type Gym Leader - Allister, and the ice-type Gym Leader, Melony.
'Wait... That's seven... Where's-"
“For this year’s Gym Challenge, you will be facing Allister, the ghost-type gym leader, and Melony, the ice-type gym leader as your fourth and sixth Gyms, respectively. And… it would seem that one of our Gym Leaders couldn’t make it to the event.”
Lynelle’s head perked up from the announcement. She thought it was weird that the Chairman announced two specific Gym Leaders as if there were a change. Not only that, the mention of one missing Gym Leader made left her confused. ‘Why would a Gym Leader miss out on the opening ceremony?’ she thought, but decided to push the question aside for now.
“… and now, let us welcome our rookie contenders who will face these skilled Gym Leaders, and soon face the undefeated Champion!”
As soon as the Chairman finished his speech, every trainer in the waiting room got themselves ready to face the sheer pressure of the stadium. Gloria tensed up bit but was instantly comforted by Lynelle.
“Gloria… I know you’re nervous... I am too.”
Gloria looked up to the ravenette’s face as she felt her shoulders gripped from the young woman. She was hiding her nervousness yet she was still able to calm Gloria down despite it. With confidence rising with the young girl,, she held Lynelle’s hand with her own, surprising the said younflg adult.
“Let’s face this together, Miss Lyn’!”
Gloria flashed the taller woman a smile full of confidence. Lynelle was surprised to see the sudden change of Gloria’s behavior, and their hands holding. But she was thankful to have someone beside her, willing to face the pressure alongside her.
Lynelle smiled and nodded in agreement. Her hand squeezed the young girl’s and faced the forward.
Light protrudes from the entrance to the stadium. Voices of hundreds of people echoed from the hallway. Peer pressure spreads in the air as every trainer walked towards the stadium.
“Let’s do this.”
…
The lights flared as every challenger entered the field. Cheers of the crowd roared like thunder. Pressure was replaced with excitement.
It was heart-throbbing
Lynelle was in awe of how much of an experience it was for her. To see so many people together, cheering for them, it made her heart flutter with excitement. They were loud but Lynelle didn’t mind it, the lights were flaring but her shades simmered it down for her.
“So this is what Leon feels every time…” Lynelle mumbled as she thought of him.
“Miss Lyn’! It’s time for the meet and greet!”
Lynelle heard Hop’s loud voice across her position. He stood in a line of challengers waiting to shake the hands of the gym leaders, their future opponents. Lynelle ran up and stood behind Hop before anyone else could took it. Slowly but surely, the line started to move, until it was now the ravenette’s turn to shake hands with the Gym leaders.
The first Gym Leader was a plump, middle-aged woman in a winter-like attire, giving Lynelle the assumption that she was the ice-type gym leader, Melony. She had long tgick hair with a single blue streak, dark blue eyes and pale skin, her wrinkles showed too. She wore a white winter cap, a white thick turtleneck sweater, the ice-type uniform shorts, some grey tights and white knee-high winter boots.
She held Lynelle’s hand with glee and shook it happily. “It’s so nice to finally see a beautiful young woman entering the Gym Challenge!” She comments happily. “My name is Melony, I do hope you can make it to my Gym.” Melony smiles, a motherly aura radiates from her which made Lynelle flinch.
‘Don’t even think about getting sentimental now…’ Lynelle pushed the feelings of sadness and guilt away and made her way to the next Gym Leader, who was eyeing her for quite some time now.
“It’s nice to see you again, Dear.” Ms. Opal greets her and held her hand. “Ms. Opal. It’s quite nice to see you again too.” Lynelle smiles and shook her hand. “Thanks for letting me-uh I mean… “Us” use your gym that one time.” Lynelle nervously laughs. “Ohoho! You need not worry, child, I had quite the experience. Seeing you battle one-on-one with “Him”, I expect you to make it to my Gym with no obstacles.” The old woman smiled, hiding behind a sinister aura which Lynelle noticed right away.
“Uhm…. I’ll keep that in mind…” Lynelle nervously walks away and onto the next gym leader… who was just as tall as her waist.
The next Gym Leader was a young child in a ghost-type uniform, which Lynelle assumed that the child was the Ghost-type gym leader, Allister. He had dark violet hair, pale skin, and a creepy mask which hides his appearance. But he was recognizable because of his timid nature.
Lynelle kneeled down to his height but he backed up slightly. “Come now, Allister. We both know that she’s not going to hurt you.” The comment from Ms. Opal made Allister flinch. Slowly, he gathered up the courage to held out his hand. Lynelle took his hand and gently shakes it.
“I look forward on battling you, Allister.” Lynelle says in a gentle and soft voice. Allister didn’t comment but he shook her hand in response.
“L-L… Likewise…” He meekly responded, almost inaudible but Lynelle heard him well.
The ravenette stood up and went to the next gym leader. He was an old, well-built man. He has black hair but was already turning gray. He had prominent wrinkles on his face, dark gray eyes and beige skin. He wore a fire-type uniform which made Lynelle assume that he was the fire-type Gym Leader, Kabu
He didn’t spoke, not even just a few words. He held out his hand for Lynelle to take. And when she did, the man’s eyes widen and she saw flames of determination flaring within them.
“I look forward for our battle, Gym Challenger.”
Lynelle was surprised, but she shook his hand still. “L-Likewise…” She responded and went towards the next Gym Leader.
The next Gym Leader was the farmer wearing the grass-type uniform, which made Lynelle assume that he was the Grass-type Gym Leader - Milo. He was a well-built man with pink hair, green eyes, and peach skin with freckles on his face. He seemed slightly shorter than Lynelle despite his large Straw hat present on his head.
“It’s nice to meet you! Hope we can have a great battle soon.” He flashed a gentle yet bright smile, Lynelle could almost see a flowery aura around him. How fitting.
“it’s a pleasure to meet you as well.” Lynelle smiled back and shook the man’s hand. Her smile got wider when she sees the last two gym leaders: Nessa and Raihan.
She smirked and went between the two. The moment they saw her, they got confused. When Lynelle held out her hands for both of them to take, they got even more confused and started to eye her suspiciously.
“It’s uhh… nice to see you all worked up, Gym Challenger. You even have the confidence to shake two Gym Leaders’ hands at the same time.” Nessa nervously laughs, and elbowed Raihan on his sides as a sign for him to continue. “Ow – I mean, we look forward on battling you, trainer…
…if you can make it, that is.”
Raihan’s expression became sinister, almost like a predator showing off his bloodlust to his prey. His looked more like a dragon’s. The role of the dragon-type Gym Leader fits him well.
Nessa shook her head and lightly smacked the dragon expert. “There you go again, scaring the challengers.” Nessa sighed and looked at the ravenette. “Please don’t mind him. He gets a little… riled up sometimes. Though he’s not wrong. We do hope to battle you soon, Gym Challenger.” Nessa smiled. Her eyes shine like the blue oceans, fitting for a water-type gym leader.
Lynelle smiled at both of them. Then she slowly took off her shades and revealed her blue eyes. Her smile turned into a smirk as she chuckled at their widened eyes. With a sing-song tone, she responded.
“I look forward to it~.
“…”
“EHHHHH!???”
Every trainer and Gym Leader stopped whatever they were doing and looked over to Nessa and Raihan’s side. The two had widened eyes full of shock and jaws dropped from disbelief. They froze on the spot as soon as Lynelle spoke.
Lynelle sweatdropped. She loved their reaction but the attention she got from the others was a little too much for her. She shook the two Gym Leaders out of their shocked states and pulled their heads closer to hers.
“I’ll be waiting outside of the stadium.” Lynelle whispered and then walked away from them with a smile.
Everyone other than Nessa and Raihan were dumbfounded with what happened. But they quickly continued the meet and greet as if nothing happened. But certain trainers had their eye on the ravenette as she walked out of the field.
~~~~
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~
“WHOO! That was terrifying!”
Lynelle took deep breathes in as she laid down on a bench outside of the stadium. She stared at the endless orange sky, thinking about her sudden surprise earlier. She already knew that she would get way more attention than she can handle, and that she will be targeted by multiple trainers. She’s ready to handle all those things… but then she started to have second thoughts.
What if something happens to her? What if she regrets ever entering the Gym Challenge? What if
“I’m glad Hop and the others went on ahead… It’d be embarrassing for me if they saw me like this…” Lynelle mumbled as she blankly stares at the moving clouds.
The more she waited for the two Gym Leaders, the impatient she became. Then her head started to spin and she felt nauseous the more she stared at the sky. The thought of getting so much attention in the future because of her surprise made her even more nauseous.
“Oh Arceus above, I feel sick.”
Lynelle mumbled and held in the urge to vomit. So many thoughts piling up in her head and so much anxiety washing all over her that she became sick. She held it in, thankfully. But a shiver ran down her spine when she did. She slouched on the bench and cleared her head…
… that’s when she noticed Leon looking at her worriedly.
“AHH! LEON!?” Lynelle jumped off of the bench out of reflex, almost falling over had she not held the benches’ metal arms. She calmed herself down and straightened herself up before facing the man in front of her.
“*Clears throat* Sorry for that, I didn’t notice you there.” Lynelle calmly says as if nothing happened. But Leon did not want to let it down. Not this time.
“Hop told me you stayed back here so I came to check up on you. Didn’t think I’d see you on the verge of vomiting.” Leon nonchalantly says with a hint of annoyance. Then he looked serious.
“Lyn’, what happened? What made you sick? Is it the nightmares?” Leon sternly says. His eyes stared at hers like daggers. Yet there was a mix of immense worry in his voice and in his glare. That hit her…
… She was unintentionally hurting Leon.
Hiding her nightmare problem didn’t made him go away. For the times she ignored his help, he kept pushing on wanting to help her even more. And if she keeps ignoring his help, she may lose him in the future.
She doesn’t want that to happen.
Lynelle sighed in defeat amd straightened herself up. With a big sigh, she spoke. “What I’m feeling right now is from my recent experience in the opening ceremony. It’s not related to my uh… original problem.” Lynelle assures Leon who wasn’t as convinced.
Lynelle sighed again and sat down on the bench. She tapped the empty space besides her, urging the man to sit on it. He does so with no hesitation.
“…So I surprised both Nessa and Raihan about the fact that I’m joining this year’s Gym Challenge and I uh… gathered more attention than I can handle… just the thought of it made me nervous but I’m alright now. Really.” Lynelle nervously laughs. Leon sighed and decided to believe her.
“Moving on from that, I… didn’t want you to get involved with my nightmare problem.” Lynelle continued. “You're such a busy person that I couldn’t just ask you for help-“
“I still would’ve find a way to help you even if I’m busy.”
Lynelle went silent after Leon cut her off. She looked at his expression. He was serious, yet full of worry. She was convinced that what he said was genuine. That really surprised her.
“…I’m… sorry for worrying you.”
“Glad you finally noticed.”
Lynelle felt her eye twitch in annoyance at the comeback. But she didn’t have the strength to fight him, and she admits that she deserves any negativity that gets thrown at her
And she noticed it… Leon was mad.
She did not want to know what he’s like when he gets mad. It’s more scary if a kind and friendly person like him gets mad. She would know…all about it because of her brother. Lynelle sighed and decided to tell him all her about her problem.
“…I got these nightmares ever since I left Galar when I was on vacation.”
“The week when I first met you?”
Lynelle nods and continues. “I got the same nightmare three times in a row when I was in Hoenn. I told my brother about it and he said it may have some correlation to a disaster Galar endured all those years ago…”
Leon nods in understanding. “It’s the darkest day, right?” He turns to the ravenette who nods. “Yes. Then my brother suggested that I should talk to Sonia about it. That’s one of the reasons that I came back.” Lynelle paused and took a deep breath in before she continued.
“Sonia decided to help since it’s somewhat relevant to her research… and so far, what we learned wasn’t really… reassuring.” Lynelle nervously laughs but Leon looks at her with full worry. Just as he was about to speak, he got cut off.
“I didn’t want you to get involved with this… but when I slept at your house and saw my uh… problem, you really wanted to help me... I just couldn’t. But the more I push you, the more you want to help me. Why?”
Leon saw how confused Lynelle was just from the look of her face. He chuckled and flashed her a warm smile.
“It’s because you’re my friend, Lyn’.”
Lynelle went silent, Leon went silent as well. ‘Oh… was that what she wanted to hear? Did I mess up?’ Leon began to worry and started to think of something to explain his response…
“Heh…”
… until he heard laughter.
Lynelle was laughing.
Her soft laugh was a nice sound to his ears. Leon couldn’t help but blush. But he didn’t think that his response was something to laugh at. “Hey… what’s so funny?” He felt himself pout.
“Ahahah! …aha haaahh. N-nothing, haha…” Lynelle wiped the tears from her eyes. Oh how thankful she was to be friends with Leon, a person kind and understanding who’d keep his promises despite being a busy man. She smiled at him, fully believing that he can help with her problem. But what can he do?
“Thank you, Leon. But… what can you do?”
Leon looked at her with confidence. “I may not be able to seek the answers you’re looking for, like Sonia, but… I could give you some tips to help you sleep better or something to help you energize throughout your day…”
Leon went on and on about the things that he’ll do to help with Lynelle’s problem. The ravenette herself wasn’t listening anymore, she was to entranced by how kind Leon was. Him wanting to help her despite being busy, she never met someone like him. Because of that, she felt like crying out of gratefulness to have met someone like him.
In an instant, she hugged him.
“Ah-.” Leon froze, heat rising to his cheeks from the close contact. He was debating whether to hug her back or not but…
“Thank you, Leon. Thank you so much.”
“…Y-You’re welcome.”
Leon smiled softly and hugged her back. He couldn’t help but admit that he enjoyed hugging her. Her warmth felt calming and relaxing that he didn’t want to let her go.
Lynelle pulled away from the hug and smiled at him. He smiled back, wider than hers. Both still held each other’s arms like it was a natural for them. But then…
“THERE YOU ARE, LYNELLE CELESTINE!”
“YOU BETTER EXPLAIN, MATE!”
Two familiar Gym Leaders came marching towards them. Their appearance snapped both Lynelle amd Leon back to reality and made them realize that they were still somewhat hugging with each other.
They let each other go, blushing furiously. They composed themselves before facing the both the water-type Gym Leader, and the dragon-type Gym Leader approaching them.
“Guess I need some explaining to do…”
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A/N: Hiii! It's been a while :D
Merry Christmas, Happy holidays and A happy new year to you all!
Sorry for the long wait, hope you enjoy this chapter! :D