Paradise
Music blares within the bar as hordes of people prepare for what is to come. They crowd around the televisions attached to the walls, every single screen reflecting the same image. People periodically glance at the screens in hope that the numbers on it might change to their favor. All they need is a simple majority, and the results were getting painfully close to their desires.
The crowd of people cheers as the small number next to the word yes ticks upwards. Above the percentages, a man in a suit talks to a co-host at their glass table. Their mouth move, but nobody in the room hears them over the other conversation.
From a corner in the back, a short woman readjusts her position on a sofa. She allows herself to cross her legs as she attempts to convey confidence to all those who may glance at her. She knows everyone in the room is relying on her. Her displaying weakness is not an option. No matter how she feels, her emotions cannot be allowed reflect on her face.
Her eyes remain glued to the television in front of her. She has a special seat as the leader of her campaign, for better or worse. If it were up to her, she'd be out at the polling stations. After all, she's a normal person as well.
Fervent supporters cheer around her as they watch the referendum results come in, yet her dark eyes remain unreadable. Oh, what those brown eyes have come to see in her decade of attempted revolution.
"Tradition or progress?" she says to no individual in particular.
"Sorry, what?" a younger woman asks as her innocent eyes observe the brunette she sits next to.
"This simple question has plagued humanity for its entire existence, Sia. Does society continue what has been working for decades, or does it choose to adapt to modern times?" the brunette says as her fingers fidget with her blue blazer.
Blue.
It gives off a sense of calm she can never manage on her own. Blue reminds everyone she gives a speech to of the bright and vast ocean surrounding their islands.
Blue. The color that reminds her of childhood.
It reminds her of playing at the beach on the few days of vacation her mother could afford a year. The joyful cries of her sister and her playing together resonate in her mind as she remembers the two of them swimming in the water. The memories of the two children digging deep holes into the sand to find young Krabby try their best to live on next to the other memories.
The memories of waking up late at night to find her mother crying.
The memory of herself as a six year old asking her mother why they never bought milk and her mother coming up with an excuse, unable to say they couldn't afford it.
The memories of her mother being unable to support her family despite living in the poorest town on the cheapest island of Alola.
The memories of herself struggling to pay off her college debt she accumulated in hope of a better future.
And the memory of the day Tapu Bulu gave her the chance to change everything.
"Are you really that worried?" Sia says as she pushes back her black hair before she places a hand on the brunette's lap.
"Yes," the woman says with a pained laugh. "People here like their life. They like the calm that island life entails. They're okay with the hand they've been dealt. They think it's a personal failure to be poor, and they're unable to accept they grew up in a system biased against them. They've all been brainwashed into thinking asking for help means they failed in life."
"You need to have more faith in people," Sia lectures, her monolid eyes closing as she holds the tense hand of the woman next to her. "You've gotten this far. You led a grassroots movement you could only dream of years ago."
"And look what we've been painted as. A group of young delinquents that failed in life and the island challenge. The media runs a hacky smear job, but it works. Those brought into compliance see our bandanas of patriotism as the sign of gangsters."
"Oh, how poetic. How drunk are you, Angelica? Actually, never mind, if anything you need a drink," Sia says as she grabs Angelica's arm and leans on her shoulder to try to comfort the rigid woman.
"I don't think you really understand how terrified I am. I'm not even scared of losing, Sia. I'm scared of winning. I've spent these past few years of success knowing that the Island Deities cared little of my actions. All I've done is instill hope and reallocate money to helping the poor. They don't care about those policies. Those are petty side-stories compared to what we're waiting for tonight.
"What we're doing here is a revolution, Sia. And nobody hates revolutions more than those in power. This vote threatens the governing system the Tapus have put to favor themselves. This is a system that at its core is built on humanity's subservience to supposed higher beings. It's beneficial to them and those they let govern, but nobody else.
"We are lead to believe older means wiser and inherently more knowledgeable. Why else do you think immigrants from Johto are so accepted here while those from Kalos are not? Johto and Kalos are built upon the idea of ancestor worship and respecting those older than you. Kalos, however, has allowed their society to embrace individualism. Those who grew up in that system pose a question of their subservience to those in power here.
"There's a reason we hate outsiders. It's not because of lighter skin color, and it's not because of history like we've been taught. It's because their progressive values threaten what the powers that be have thought best for us without our consultation," Angelica says as she notices Sia waving over a waiter.
"This girl needs a drink. Get her something light, though. A cocktail will do. She needs to be sober enough for her victory speech," Sia says to the attendant as he nods and walks over to the bar.
"I don't need a drink. It'll impair my judgment when I need it most," Angelica says as she breaks her stare at the television.
Sia sighs as she looks into Angelica's dark brown eyes. Angelica tries to hide it, but she knows that the woman holding her hand in comfort can see every emotion she feels.
Anger. Pain. Hope.
Fear.
Angelica knows there's fear in her eyes. The emotion has been gnawing at her insides for the past month. It consumes her every thought and action, but it's not like she can show it. She's supposed to represent the hope of a better future- a future where a person's success on the Island Challenge doesn't determine their value to society.
"Don't be so worried, there's nothing to be afraid of. You're going to succeed. The referendum is ahead in the polls despite the fact they only polled usual voters."
How can she not feel fear? She knows she's angering the powers that be.
Frankly, she will not be surprised if the Tapus came down and murdered her right here and now.
"Angelica," Sia says with a much sterner voice than the comforting one from before.
"Yes?"
"You need to calm down. You're making me worried with that look on your face," Sia says as she grabs the drink brought over by the waiter and hands him a tip. "Maybe nobody else notices it, but I do. Why are you so worried? Do you think Tapu Bulu is going to come flying down from the sky scream, 'Oh, ho, ho, ho. I'm going to kill you and your edgy skull logo campaign, ho, ho!'"
Angelica stares at her impassively before bluntly responding, "Yes."
"You're ridiculous. Here, just drink this," Sia says as she hands her the drink, closing her hands around those of Angelica.
She smiles grimly and says, "Thanks for the sugary drink. It's not like I have a family history of diabetes."
Sia sighs and says, "You're worse than usual. Do you know something I don't?"
A pale boy with spiky hair bleached to white runs over to the couple and exclaims, "Miss Angelica! Miss Angelica! Do you see it? The results! We're only five off from fifty!"
Angelica snaps up from staring at her sugar-ridden drink and says, "What, Guz? I thought—. Oh, my... Why..."
Only ten minutes before they had been twenty points behind with forty percent reporting. There has to be a mistake; it's impossible for the number to have jumped up fifteen points in ten minutes.
"Oh, no wonder. Eastern Melemele Island is starting to report," Sia says while glancing at the map the news displays.
"Yeah, they took so long to report because so many people were lined up to vote!" he exclaims before running back to where the other members of the campaign were congregated.
"I'll admit... I'm getting hopeful," she mutters as she rubs at the perspiration on the glass of her drink.
Forty-five percent in favor of yes is what the screen reads. A yes to a government of the people. A yes to a world where hard work is what defines success and not your family's ability to supply you with decent Pokémon for the Island Challenge. A yes to an Alola where everyone, not just the rich, can live a fulfilling life.
"Forty-six, holy—. I... I never thought... Forty-six percent," Angelica incoherently mutters to herself. She can't quite tell what's she's feeling. Joy is the obvious answer, but it can't be joy. Joy is for people who can say they lead a good life.
"Forty-six point two, now. Looks like it's a good thing you planned a victory speech in advance," Sia says as she places a hand on Angelica's shoulder.
"I... I want to hope, but the moment you let hope get to you is the moment it slaps you in the face and laughs at your plight," Angelica mutters as tense minutes go by.
The numbers tick up. Seventy percent reporting and forty-seven percent saying yes to an Alola governed by elected officials.
"See? No worries. The poorer areas are reporting now!"
Seventy-six percent reporting and forty-seven point nine percent saying yes to an Alola where humans can govern themselves.
"Maybe... Maybe you could be right."
Eighty-six percent reporting and forty-eight point three percent saying yes to an Alola where people are allowed to fail and not be given up on.
"Look! You'll be fine! Get out your victory speech and review it!"
Ninety-four percent reporting and forty-nine point two percent saying yes to an Alola where no child needs to wake up to find their parents crying because they can't pay the bills.
"You... You might be right. We... We might win... Maybe... Can you imagine what might happen? A world where no child needs to go through what I did. It seems impossible... But it might not be."
Hope.
It crawls into Angelica, and she allows it to coat her insides. Her vision is blurred by it. Her senses and emotions are ruled illogical by something so innate and primal.
Ninety-six percent reporting.
Ninety-eight percent reporting.
Ninety-nine percent reporting.
Ninety-nine point 4 percent reporting.
Ninety-nine point nine percent reporting.
And only forty-nine point eight saying yes to the referendum that can change Alola for the better.
Hope is a dreadful thing.
"That... No, there has to be an error somewhere! This can't be the case! What election is lost by point two percent! That's not a thing! That's in the margin of error! It has to be wrong! It is wrong!" Sia cries as the rest of the room falls silent. Sia is doing what Angelica can never express, and for that, Angelica is truly grateful.
The ice has melted in Angelica's untouched cocktail. It's for the better she supposes. After all, the short journey ahead of her would require every ounce of her rational thought.
Angelica sighs. She knows what's coming. They have waited long enough, and they'll be here in the next hour.
"Here," Angelica says as she hands the glass to Sia. "Finish what I never could."
"What are you doing? There has to be an error! This can't be—."
"Sia," Angelica cuts off as she gets up from the couch and take a few steps away. "My sister left this region fifteen years ago for Unova. At the time, I thought she was the naïve one who gave up on her home. Now I realize I am the naïve one."
"Don't give up, Angie! There's always a recount—"
"Sia," Angelica forces out as she turns away from the woman she came to know over the past five years. "There is no recount for me. There's no way the Tapus will allow an organized movement against them likes ours to continue."
"Wait, you're not saying that they would..."
"Yes, Sia, that's exactly what I know is going to happen. I sent out my Hydreigon to ask the local Pokémon what the Tapus were planning a month ago. They all said the same thing. That I was going to die no matter what."
"Not even they would do that! You're too iconic! Nobody will listen to them if they slaughter you!"
Angelica is crying, and she knows it. All she can do is hide it from Sia in the hope she will not also start sobbing as she replies, "It's because I'm iconic that they'll kill me. I'm an example for anyone who might repeat what I did. So, I beg you, Sia."
Angelica can't hold it in any longer.
She flings herself at Sia and hugs her while sobbing, "Please, don't let my dream die. I'm not asking you to make the ultimate sacrifice, I just want people to be happy! I want every child who grows up in Alola to be able to live a decent life! I'm sorry, Sia, I'm so sorry I'm forcing this on you!"
"Why are you apologizing? You don't have to die! Your Pokémon can defend you from the Tapus! You're a kahuna for a reason—."
"Every single one of my Pokémon is a dark-type, Sia. I won't force them to fight a battle they can't win," Angelica says as she begins to pull away.
"That's no reason not to try!" Sia screams back at her. Everyone in the bar has their attention fixated on the couple after that outburst. How could they not with the tears streaming down Sia's face? Those tears make even this cold unfeeling monster want to collapse and cry.
"It is, sweetheart," Angelica says as she steps away before she allows herself to say a statement she knows she'll regret, but that it will only be more painful not to say, "Sia, I'm sorry for what I put you through. I'm going to say something I should have said a long time ago. I love you. I love you, and I'm so sorry I forced you to hear that."
With that, Angelica runs away. She goes past Guz trying to stop her, and she runs out of the bar and into the streets. She runs through the streets until she reaches the edge of Po Town before she finally stops.
She looks up and sees just who she expects.
"I bet you never expected me to be such a pain all those years ago when you picked me," Angelica laughs out between haggard breaths. "I bet you expected a small-town girl would never do something so drastic. It's too bad. I bet I would have been a much happier cog in the machine if you never picked me."
"Bulu," the Tapu responds as it stares at the repulsive sight.
"You may as well be straightforward. I have no tricks to pull, and I have nothing up my sleeves. Yes... These sleeves are empty," Angelica says as she weakly smiles at the Tapu.
Even then, she never thinks they will be this forward.
The Tapu lungs forward and stabs its horn into Angelica's chest cavity.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
But nothing hurt as much as being forgotten.
So even as Tapu Bulu throws her limp and profusely bleeding body to the ground, Angelica smiles.
Being forgotten is her greatest fear, and that seems impossible to happen now with this dramatic death.
So even as the light fades out from her eyes, Angelica lets herself smile.
Even if she lost by point two percent in the polls, the revolution still started. She will be remembered as the kahuna that formed a group to change Alola for the better, only to be struck down by the Island Deities.
Despite her loss, she may as well have won in her own eyes.
Here's hoping life gets better for everyone else.
And Angelica lets herself pass as the Tapus begin to gather around her in disgust as she assures herself that she wins in the end.
~(*)~
"Wow, that was... Depressing," Moon says as she allows the woman with black hair to conclude her story.
Moon had only meant to explore the Haina Desert and had only stopped in the trailer park to gather supplies. Instead, she started talking to a punk girl who had offhandedly mentioned Team Skull was originally a group that formed around a previous Kahua and was struck down by the Tapus. She had meant to leave afterward, but a woman in her mid-forties perked up in the trailer and started telling Moon a story.
"Well, obviously. She only wanted what was best for Alola. Look! She won in the end! You carry a starter Pokémon that was given to you, right? That was all her vision to make the Island Challenge more fair for everyone!" the woman remarks in a mixture of happiness and sadness.
"Yeah," Moon says to humor the woman. "Anyways, I should get going. Bye, Auntie!"
Moon sighs as she runs out of the trailer, breathing a sigh of relief that she can escape.
To the Haina Desert, she goes. After all, she needs to complete her Island Challenge.
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