Chapter 2: Ralts
"At least you tried your best." Haru ignored her older sister. If anyone was going to try and console her, then Braixen was not the one to do it. After all, they both knew that Braixen was terrible at comforting, and whenever she tried her attempts always managed to bring out the sting.
"I'll leave you be, then." Haru was cooped up in her room all Saturday, her loss hurting more than ever. How could she clean a name that had already been sullied countless times? She was pretty much the laughingstock of the entire village, and her recent failure only gave the other Pokemon more laughing material.
She sighed in defeat, picking absentmindedly at her fire-shaped rug. Every day was a battle of searching for something her paws hadn't yet ruined, all just for the sake of seeing if if she could actually succeed for once. A daily struggle to find something that could help her atone for all she'd done the day before.
Haru stretched out her legs, shaking her tail when she was done. She didn't want to leave the house, but moping around wasn't healthy. In addition to that, she'd been meaning to find out just what Ralts had in store for her. Gardevoir promised a surprise.
Skipping lunch after having slept in until the afternoon, Haru sped out of her room and left the house. She knew exactly where Ralts would be waiting, but as she stepped outside, her eyes winced at the harsh sunlight. In Haru's opinion, there was nothing to be happy about, but the sun smiled for everyone without a care in the world.
"Hm." Haru hurried in the direction of the lake, her favorite place to hang out during the beginning of school. She ignored the other kids playing, who stopped to talk about her as she was passing by. I don't know why they whisper, she thought with a pang of annoyance, since I can still hear them!
"Haru!" Ralts was especially cheerful that day, bringing a smile to Haru's face.
"Hey, Ralts!" Her best friend had never judged Haru, and neither did her mother Gardevoir, who was always kind. Unlike the other parents who didn't Haru even near their kids.
"Look at this!" Ralts grinned with excitement as she pointed to a little spot on her hip.
"What's that?" Haru poked it, assuming that it was no more than a messy spot, but when she rubbed it with her paw, it remained.
"It's Pokerus!"
"Hm?" Haru tipped her head to the side in curiosity. She was on top of anything new, but Pokerus was completely unknown to her.
"It boosts a Pokemon's growth," Ralts explained. "It makes them stronger!"
"And it doesn't come off?" Haru was sceptical of this Pokerus thing. If it boosted her growth, then wasn't Ralts breaking the second rule?
"It works! Gardevoir told me herself!"
"Wow!" Haru still didn't entirely believe in Pokerus, but she had full faith in Ralts. Maybe she mistook it for something else? But Gardevoir never lied...
"I'll be battling later this evening, so make sure you're there!"
"Totally!" How could she miss Ralts's battle? This was only about her second one, since not every Pokemon in the village was able to battle every weekend. Some Pokemon had to wait whole months before they got a chance to be assessed. Haru wondered if Friday's battle would be her last until the next season. She hoped not.
"I'll see you later!" Ralts turned to leave in the direction of the dungeon.
"You're going by yourself this time?" They always went together whenever they went into a dungeon. "Are you sure?"
Ralts turned back around, giving Haru a smile of reassurance. "Only this time! I really want to train!"
"Oh. Okay! Have fun!"
Ralts giggled as she turned away and left, heading further and further into the forest dungeon.
"Hm." Now what would Haru do? She didn't have anything to do on weekends if Ralts wasn't with her, and she didn't have any other friends to hang out with.
For a few minutes, Haru sat and stared at the lake, glistening from the sun's reflection. "One day I'll sparkle just like that," she whispered to herself. She didn't yet know if she'd find her shine on the stage during a battle or a performance, but so long as she got the respect and admiration she'd waited her whole life to achieve, did it really matter?
Haru shook her entire body to get rid of the effects of sleep after her nap. For some reason she didn't feel hungry, and she smiled with amusement. Maybe sleep was all she needed for satisfaction? Compared to earlier, she felt much better now. Her body was rejuvenated and her previous battle seemed to be farther and farther away, as if one nap took her years ahead in time.
"Sunday Assessments will now begin." She heard Venusaur's raspy voice even by the lake. The battles were just starting, and she hoped that Ralts would be on the stage.
A yawn escaped from her jaws as Haru padded away towards the center of the village. Venusaur, the central leader of the Grass-Type division, was hosting today's assessments. The first pair she called up was Squirtle and an Eevee, who's pelt was an odd white color, completely different from the browness a normal Eevee's fur bared.
"Begin!"
Squirtle didn't waste a second in getting started, quickly launching Water-Tyoe moves at Eevee. The Eevee didn't do a thing to stop the moves, instead dodging ever attack sent for it.
After one of Squirtle's Water Guns missed, Eevee clearly had the chance of counterattacking with something like Swift, but landed on its paws without even attempting a move.
"You're finished!" Just as Squirtle was about to use Aqua Jet, the Eevee opened its mouth. Haru hoped that it was an attack Eevee had planned on using, but to her surprise it simply forfeited from the match entirely.
Haru could hear the groans and whispers, and each Pokemon seemed to be disappointed. "Grr..." Squirtle gave Eevee a sour look, and Haru could understand why. When a Pokemon forfeited like that from the battle before anything really happened, both Pokemon would have it erased from their record. Nothing lost but nothing gained either.
The Eevee looked annoyed with everyone, and to Haru his face looked like he was pouting. She had never met any Pokemon that disliked battles. The Eevee loomed like he was forced into it, and hopped off the stage without a word, probably glad to have gotten out of it. Haru saw Sylveon, central leader of the Fairy-Type division, giving the miscolored Eevee a look of disappointment, but the Eevee ignored her and walked away.
The judges had no choice but to arrange the next match, and in the meantime murmuring erupted from the audience. "That was Eevee's first battle and he just quite!"
"I feel bad for Sylveon. All her kids except him have done great with battling."
Haru stayed silent as the other Pokemon babbled on about someone else's business. "Get a life!" She wanted to say, but she kept the words locked tight in her mouth. She didn't need to draw any more bad attention to herself.
"Next up..." Haru could see the stage clearly from her seat, since everyone else was seated away from her. She jumped with excitement, hoping that the next pair of Pokemon contained Ralts, but her friend wasn't up yet.
"Hm.." Instead of watching the battle between Sentret and Glalie, Haru stared at the sky, which was now a fading orange as the sun was busy sneaking away to hide below the horizon.
She watched the sky turn a pale purple, and when she glanced over at the stage for the next pair, she still didn't see Ralts.
Eventually a battles concluded, but Ralts hadn't been in any of them. She wasn't anywhere in the audience, either. Haru began to worry. Had Ralts been stuck in the forest? Or maybe she got carried away and went to one of the desert dungeons. Maybe she'll come running down the hill, going as fast as her tiny legs will let her.
Even as the other Pokemon began to leave, and the lights surrounding the stage dimmed, Haru stayed in her seat, her eyes fixed on the hill in hope of seeing Ralts rushing down it. She'd talk about how she was late or how she had to fight off some bad Pokemon, since for some reason more were popping up all around the continent.
Haru waited and waited, even as the sky turned black, and the moon finally woke up to take the sky's night shift.
-I waited and waited, but Ralts never showed up.
The next day Haru decided to head off to school early, a piece of toast hanging from her mouth as she walked by herself. She wanted to ask Gardevoir about what happened to Ralts, but even she was nowhere to be seen.
Haru threw back her head to finish off her toast, her mind racing with questions she didn't have the answers to. Maybe it was too early to make any conclusions. Worrying about everything would distract her from her goals, and today's goal was to try to not screw up in class. It sounded easy, but to Haru it was as challenging as trying to steal honey from a group of enraged Beedrill without getting stung.
Haru climbed up the hill, and the only one present was Ms. Leavanny, who stared at her as if Haru had evolved twice. "Wow. Usually Ralts is here first."
"Well, she's not, is she?!" Haru was mad at herself to have snapped at the teacher, but she wasn' t in the mood to hear anyone else talk. Besides, a student showing up early was nothing to marvel at.
"I'm here!" How could Ralts let me down? Or did she get kidnapped? Feelings of betrayal and concern were waging full on war in Haru's body, and she couldn't take it anymore.
"Ms. Leavanny!" She raised a paw, intent on going to the nurse before school even started, but talking to the teacher was a new Pokemon.
"Hm?" Haru stared at the back of the Pokemon's head as if she could scan it's brain to find out all she wanted to know, but that obviously didn't work.
"Ahem!" Haru faked a cough to get Ms. leavanny's attention, but the tall Grass and Bug-Type was busy with the new kid.
"Ugh!"Haru watched them talk as she scratched at her desk in exasperation, no longer feeling sick but annoyed. The new Pokemon turned around towards her, and Haru's heart flew in her chest.
She had a familiar pink gaze, and a longer green bob. Her legs were green and her body was balanced on her tiptoed feet, her arms meeting in front of her. " Hello, Haru!"The Kirlia greeted her with tears, a smile on her face.
Haru could feel tears rushing out of her own eyes as well as she stared at Kirlia in awe."H-Hello, Kirlia." No way! There's no way! But Haru smiled even though her feelings were constantly swinging from side to side inside her. Happiness, shock, surprise, confusion, all at the same time. Finally a mix of sorrow and joy came at last."And goodbye, Ralts. "
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