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Sitting outside one of the few cafes’ in Ecruteak competent enough to make a decent cup of Galarian tea, a slender blonde man aimed a dazzlingly white smile towards his tablemate. Leaning forward to gaze yearningly into her gilded eyes whilst gently cradling her hands, Mason Gilroy congratulated himself once more at choosing the perfect spot for this meeting. Nothing was as persuasive as the intimacy of close human connection under the right lighting.

“It’s all just so sudden,” the girl before him said quietly even as her face blushed bright red. She seemed to have trouble meeting his eyes and yet was unable to fully look away.

“Jennifer, I know you’re hesitant and normally I wouldn’t dream of pressing you like this,” he spoke in the upper-class Galarian accent that had been drilled into him since he was a boy. The lessons back then had been annoyingly trivial but he had to admit in hindsight that the effect the accent had on certain people could be helpful. “But I must now throw caution to the wind. Men only have so many chances to change the world for the better and I know I have one such chance now. It’s just, well, I equally know with all my soul that I need you by my side if I ever hope to succeed.”

“But we literally just met each other. They haven’t even brought out our food yet,” she babbled in that confused tone of hers even as she leaned closer towards him. Smiling charismatically, Mason pushed out with his spirit, making sure each of his words rang with all the sincerity he possessed.

“Jennifer, if there is one thing that I believe in with all my heart, it is that when two souls yearning for the same thing meet, no time at all is needed for them to become one.”

Jennifer gasped softly at his words and her eyes widened. After a few seconds of waiting for her to remember how to breathe, the man was rewarded as she slowly began to open her mouth.

Ching-a-ling, ching-a-ling, ching-a-ling-ing-ing! Ching-a-ling, ching-a-ling, ching-a-ling-ing-ing!

Mason’s heart reflexively started pounding harder in his chest at the distinctive ringtone even as he kept his face pleasantly surprised. Only one person had the number to that particular transceiver.

“I’m so sorry, my dear,” he soothingly told the crestfallen girl as he slipped his hands out of hers to dig the ringing device out of his pocket. “It’s a benefactor of mine who’s help has been life-changing for me. I really do need to take this.”

“Hello?” he spoke jovially while his heart raced in anticipation.

“IT IS TIME FOR THE ASCENSION! WE LABOUR IN THE SHADOWS OF FALSE KINGS NO MORE!! TODAY, WE RI–”

“Who is this?” the blonde man yelled angrily into the transceiver out of surprise at the complete stranger’s words. His pounding heart redoubled in speed. How’d they get this number? What did they want? What did they know?

.

..

…

“Carter? That you?”

“No.”

“… Fuck! Arceus-damn it Rotobi, you promised you’d stop doing that.”

The Galarian man held the device away from himself in confusion as what sounded like a distinctly amused series of beeps rang out over the line.

“Uh, hey man, wrong number. Sorry about that. You keep it up… The good work that is, keep up the good work, not it, it. Though, I guess keeping it up is you keeping up the good work, sooo yeah. You keep everything up then. Kay, bye.”

Mason felt himself breath heavily as his normally perfect face twitched ever so slightly in annoyance. Tucking the phone away and turning back to the now thoroughly perplexed girl across from him, he forced out an awkward chuckle even as he internally cursed the now dead mood.

“Sorry about that, Jennifer. So, where were we on you joining my team for the Indigo Pillars Tournament?”

*

The air within the bakery smelled deliciously of bread, cinnamon rolls and rage candy bars. Strategic lighting cast the interior in a cheery glow, highlighting the dozens of delicious pastries lining the counter. Altogether, the atmosphere was as warm and welcoming as could be. If only the bakery storefront wasn’t empty except for the large man leaning against the counter, the animatedly jiggling mound of vanilla cream atop the counter, and the puffy canine napping to the side.

Silence weighed down on the would be cheerful environment as the man resolutely stood without making any motion. It wasn’t until the door to the shop swung open that he sprang to life. A fierce smile spread across his broad face as he trained intense blue eyes on the door. Bulging muscles briefly swelled beneath his Jigglypuff apron as he straightened his massive frame and crossed his arms. A deep voice rang out with proud vigor.

“Welcome! What can –”

“Ah, sorry! Wrong door! Sorry!”

And just as suddenly, silence returned as the youth who had entered quickly paled and retreated. Chantilly, the Alcremie tsked angrily at the boy’s retreating back from her perch before hopping back to check on the ovens where a plump Grumpig named Ring-Pop was working on a snack for them all.

“Fi. Fidough?”

The Fidough, roused from its nap by the door chime, quirked her head adorably to the side and murmured to the man in a confused tone.

“It’s nothing Donut. Just proof that idiots are the only ones impervious to cold weather.”

“Fi-ii,” she nodded sagely in response before snapping back to sleep. Only half a year at the bakery and this was already old news to her.

‘Son of bitch. Third one today. How the hell are these brats making it all the way out here in the first place if that’s all it takes to scare them off? I’m wearing a Jigglypuff apron and standing next to baked goods for crying out loud. Clay really needs to make that tunnel of his more dangerous if this keeps up.’

With a sigh, Carter Rosen returned to a sullen slouch against the counter and gazed out the window. It was snowing again. To be fair though, for the peak of winter in Icirrus City, it wasn’t as bad as it could be. The locals had long since learned to adapt to such weather. Unfortunately, that meant that interested customers had placed orders for delivery ahead of time. After delivering the fresh goods in the morning, Carter’s afternoon had been nothing but skittish tourists.

Carter couldn’t help but release a deep sigh. He loved the bakery, he really did. When he’d first returned to Icirrus, it had been a true start to his new life here. He and Ring-Pop had worked into the night for months to perfect their recipes. Chantilly and Donut joining in over the years had only made the bakery thrive further. He and his wife had even moved the whole family into the apartments on the second level so there was no commute. Some days though, he would kill for just a little… more. Ever since the Gym had closed down, the formerly quaint city had become downright lethargic.

In years past, back before Carter settled within the area, trainers on the League circuit would spend weeks at a time in the city, training to take on Brycen. Each week would see an influx of trainers splitting their time between preparing and exploring the city’s sights. Trainers that walked into the bakery had still mistaken him as some kind of gatekeeper, but they at least challenged him rather than run away. Nowadays, the trainers tended to rush through Icirrus in order to get to Mistralton, Driftveil, or Opelucid. At most, the smarter tier of trainers spent a week or two exploring the Dragonspiral Tower and training up their Ice-types.

The bakery still did enough business amongst the locals that, combined with his wife’s work as a battle agent, their family wasn’t worried about money, but Carter himself had to admit that it was certainly duller this way. He couldn’t help but tap his fingers across the two pokeballs he was able to carry on his belt. It had been months since he was able to get his partners a proper battle with someone new. With the tunnel now providing easy passage through Twist Mountain, he didn’t even have an opportunity to ferry travelers through the mountain range for some extra cash.

Carter had to force back a second sigh. Resolving to break himself out of the mood the fleeing customer had left him in, Carter reached under the counter for his guilty pleasure of the day. He pulled out the box of small, identical appearing stuffed pastries his wife had actually baked specially for him with a smile. Circling the air over the goods once in contemplation, Carter eventually plucked one from the box and popped it into his mouth. Biting down caused the sweet taste of Pecha berry to explode wonderfully across his tongue and he couldn’t help a short fist pump of triumph.

‘That’s right. You shouldn’t be complaining idiot. I’ve got a beautiful, healthy family, the League is keeping off my back, and none of my neighbors give me a second look these days. Even the tourists are just a little afraid of the Beartic sized human.’ He thought sternly to himself before his gaze dropped unwillingly back to the pokeballs at his waist. ‘Still though, it wouldn’t hurt to get a bit of action going here.’

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Almost as if someone had been listening to his internal dispute, Carter’s Xtransceiver lit up with an incoming call. The fierce grin split his face again when he saw a caller ID he hadn’t heard from in quite a while.

“Bo! How’ve you been?”

“IT IS TIME FOR THE ASCENSION! WE LABOUR –” click.

Carter gave in to a brief eye roll before stretching his arms wide, listening to the subtle pops from the stiff limbs. Carter wasn’t sure what the hell Bo was getting at, but he definitely felt more awake. No matter how ridiculous the intro, at least Bo was reaching out again. He had just finished stretching when a second call came through.

“What’s up Skittles?”

“So cutting that speech off is normal, huh?”

“I’d be more concerned if you’re not hanging up when someone calls and tells you to join the ascension,” Carter chuckled briefly before a still sort of silence settled over the call. Carter ended up having to hold in another chuckle. He’d gotten the break in routine he’d wanted but it looked like he was going to have to put in some work to keep it going. Unthinkingly popping another pastry in his mouth, Carter considered what to do before his eyes bulged at the burning in his mouth.

“Koff-koff-, whooh, whoooh.”

“Carter? Carter you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, you’re good. I was just playing pastry roulette.”

“Oh, Emma’s Tamato jam?”

“You know it,” Carter said eliciting a quite snort from Bo. Doubling down, he popped another pastry in his mouth and sighed as buttercream cooled down his tongue. Taking a quick second to swallow, he tried to steer the conversation back to somewhere normal.

“It’s been a minute Skittles. How are you?”

“Well, considering my tongue’s not on fire and it’s been over a year since I’ve been called Skittles, I’m doing pretty good.”

‘No, that just means it’s been over a year since you’ve spoken to any of us bud.’

As if hearing Carter’s unspoken response, Bo rushed on, the words spilling out rapidly. “But how about you? How’s Emma? How’s Maddie? How’s Reese? Has he started on his journey yet? He and Cake-Pop must be bouncing off the walls to get going, right?”

As his friend finally ran out of air, Carter resisted the urge to hang up the phone again. So they were going down this route. Not even a few years ago, he’d have just kept cutting off the call until Bo got to the point. It seems like over a decade of child-raising really had done wonders for his patience, though he hadn’t imagined he’d need it for dealing with old friends.

“I’m fine Bo. Family’s whole, healthy and bouncing, though Maddie’s in a bit of trouble for bringing Noelle on a playdate with her without telling us. Some kid apparently made a mess of his pants when she spooked him and I apparently wasn’t supposed to laugh about it. You know, they’d love to hear from their Uncle Skittles. Five minutes in the same room as Reese and you’d have a play-by-play of everything since Cake-Pop’s egg hatched. Emma and I wouldn’t mind a visit from you either.” He stated this calmly, careful not to lay it on too thick. Even so, it was met with another awkward pause.

“And yes, the only thing I’m currently worried about is Reese giving Emma a heart attack. He’s trying to get us to agree to let him go on his first journey in Indigo, rather than here. Apparently I told a few too many stories. Emma’s threatening to move the whole shop there to follow him.” Carter paused as he an audible intake of air came over the call.

“That’s something she’s thinking about? Moving to Indigo, I mean. All of you moving there, maybe to Kanto for instance? It isn’t completely outside the realm of possibility?”

Now it was Carter’s turn to struggle to find a reply. That hadn’t been where he necessarily expected or wanted the conversation to go. Part of him felt like he should try and steer the conversation back to why Bo had avoided him for so long, but he felt something else. That small sense of opportunity he’d honed over the years as a trainer, dull and unused as it was, told him something different was going on. Maybe even something he’d been waiting on for years now.

“What’s up Bo? Why the sudden call?”

“… I need your help,” he started off slowly, but his voice was clear and steady. “I have a really, incredibly idiotic idea, that might just be amazing. You have no reason whatsoever to help, but I could really use it. I can’t do this without you.”

The words rang inside Carter’s head as he stood there, stunned. Bo’s voice was as serious and vulnerable as he’d ever heard it. Carter knew that he was speaking through a mountain of anxiety, with just a little hope. Truly, there was only one way he could respond.

“Pffft. Pfft. Ha. Ha-ha. BA-HA-HA-HA. BAH-HA-HAH-HAH! Oh Arceus, my sides! BA-HA-HAH. Just give me a second. Ha!”

“No, no, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have called. Don’ – ”

“I’m in,” Carter managed to choke out, silencing the younger man’s stammering. He took in a few deep breaths before managing to speak again. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to need to talk with Emma and consider the kids, but if there’s any way for me to do this than I’m in.”

“I haven’t even told you what the favor is,” came Bo’s stunned response, almost setting off another round of laughter. Carter breathed in again as his mind flashed back to almost three-and-a-half years ago now. The wild smile hiding within his friend’s normally blank eyes, the terror that came from the world breaking around them, and the shear thrill that came from doing what he was put into the world to do. Hearing his friend’s awkward request for help, Carter felt his spirit pulse more than it had in years. The two auras at his waist perked up in response. From a distance, he felt his other partners stirring as well. Even the slumbering Fidough roused herself to stare inquisitively at the man.

“Ha! You don’t remember the last time you told me you needed my help with an idiotic, amazing idea do you?” he said, no longer leaning his large frame across the counter, but leaning back and looking past the ceiling, up into the sky. In his mind’s eye, he saw the sky as it was back then. A maelstrom of roaring wind that seemed to suck away his breathe with every second. His team pushing themselves to the limit to fight the strongest opponent they’d ever faced. In the background, savage roars and bursts of searing heat erupted all around him. As horribly as it had ended, Carter reckoned he’d still cherish that moment for the rest of his life. “You once said the exact same thing to me back in Hoenn, Bo.”

“Ohhh. Fuck, no! That is not what I meant. This shouldn’t be anything like that, I swear!” came his bewildered reply. He was babbling again, but at least he wasn’t hesitating anymore. “Fuck, why in Arceus’ name would me saying that again make you agree to anything Carter? I nearly destroyed your whole life! I nearly got us all killed! Let alone visit, you and Emma shouldn’t even want to get a post card from me.”

Despite the guilt-ridden tone in Bo’s voice, the response was a boon to Carter’s spirit. It was the most direct Bo had been about his thoughts since that disaster of a conference had happened. Didn’t mean that Carter wasn’t’ going to set him straight though.

“You didn’t do anything to me and you didn’t destroy anything Bo. I was with you on that journey every step of the way and loved it. The fallout sucked for all of us, but it was my own fault that horrible decisions when I was younger came back around. You stood by me and helped us keep the things afloat while Emma and I were dealing with the whole mess and I couldn’t work. You and the old man even looked after my team while I couldn’t.”

“None of which would have been necessary in the first place if I hadn’t gotten us into that whole mess though.”

“I’ve had a good three years for that mess to become humorous and for the fallout to be cathartic,” Carter replied calmly. He was more amused to be having this conversation than he had expected. The mistakes he’d made in the past used to be much harder for him to speak about, even with those closest to him. Maybe the years to contemplate everything had been good for him too. “Bo, I have never once blamed you for what happened. Neither has Dani, Baron, Emma, nor the kids. The only thing we’ve ever been upset about is you sticking your head so far up your ass that we never see you anymore. It’s time to let it go man.”

The declaration was met with a short sniff that Carter gracefully ignored. Moments like these weren’t when you called your friends out for crying. That would come later, preferably in front of an audience. Both of them took a second to enjoy the silence, no longer awkward, before speaking again. Finally, Bo’s voice came over through the transceiver again.

“So, is there any chance you were serious about Emma being willing to move to Indigo?”

“Honestly, I think she’d love it there. Bakery business is slow since Brycen left town so we couldn’t do the expansion. Also, no Gym means there’s no local battle scene anymore, which means no local talent for her to scout. Also, I think going corporate’s starting to wear on her a bit. She spotted a gem of a trainer that finally made it through an annual circuit after six years of trying due to hard work, but her company wouldn’t go for him. Instead, they stuck her with two jokers that “branded” well because they’d had a little success with a Pokestar production. Now, her pick is crushing it in the tri-annuals and Dumb & Dumber flamed out completely about a month ago. She’s actually mentioned the idea of moving somewhere offering a little more opportunity, though I think she was thinking more along the lines of Mistralton or Opelucid.

On the other hand, Reese does seem pretty serious about having his first journey be the Indigo League and Emma hates the idea of having a freaking ocean between us. He got his trainer’s license last month though, and is dead set about entering the next season’s circuit. He’s been jumping off the wall ever since they disbanded the youngster license and pushed back the minimum trainer age to fourteen,” he paused for a minute, still not sure where this was going but trying to mull the concept over.

“Actually moving to Kanto could be pretty hard Bo. It was hard enough to keep up the bakery here in Unova. I’m pretty sure I’d have to jump through about two dozen legal hoops to get into Kanto, let alone make a living there. So I guess the long in short of it is, what’s in Kanto that we’d be moving for?”

“A Gym if we can swing it.”

Bo’s short response was enough to earn a stunned whistle. Even just that much was enough to give Carter a sense of why Bo was coming to him. Back when they’d traveled together with their third companion, the idea of their own Gym had come up often.

All three of them had a certain love for the same type and felt working as a Gym trainer would have been the perfect job after they left the competitive battle circuit. Skilled trainers could always find lucrative jobs somewhere or make money off of tournaments, but there was something about the guiding nature of a Gym that always appealed to Carter. They’d be able to battle, train, and teach others about what they loved to their heart’s content. Even back then though, the highest realistic hope he had held for his retirement was becoming a teacher for young hopefuls. He’d never thought he’d actually have the opportunity to be an official Gym trainer, even if most wouldn’t think it to be a dream job.

The way that most League circuits operated, much of a Gym trainer’s job centered around the annual circuit that near every person participated in at what point or another. Even if they didn’t dream of becoming a trainer, going on that initial journey was widely seen as a rite of passage, an experience that they’d share with everyone they’d come to meet. Each year, over a nine-month season, prospective trainers flooded their regions with newly obtained partners trying to obtain badges on their way to become Champion.

Only a small percentage of them obtained all eight badges, but thousands obtained at least a handful. The annual circuit even allowed for trainers to obtain minor Gym badges in order to qualify. The real purpose though, was the journey. Nine months where ambitious youths explored the world to their hearts’ contents; meeting, exploring, and finding their dreams. Not many trainers would really dream of becoming a Gym trainer with only the annual circuit to look forward to, though. After all, how many people would embrace a job where their main function was to lose, even in the occasional cases where they were the ones conducting the actual Gym battle for a badge.

The tri-annual circuit, on the other hand, was an entirely different beast. Trainers were only able to enter an annual circuit Conference four times. After that, most used their experience to find what they’d want to do with their life going forward, going on for further education or searching for a career going forward. For those few trainers that needed to keep going though, there was the tri-annual circuits. For nearly three years, staggered across the various regions, ace level trainers traveled and trained in order to challenge eight Gyms at their full power.

Some trainers at that level spent months scoping out individual Gym Leaders and working with high level Gym trainers in an effort to win, only to fall short. If Carter remembered right, last year’s annual conference saw over four hundred qualifying competitors. The last tri-annual hadn’t made it to seventy. When it came to the tri-annual circuits, being a Gym trainer meant working with and coaching the highest level of trainers in the world. Sufficiently senior Gym trainers were even entrusted with conducting the Gym battles in some cases.

Taking Carter’s contemplative silence as a sign to go on, Bo filled him in on the Indigo Gym Leaders’ retirements and the upcoming tournament.

“I’ve already looked into the rules and laws regarding who can become a Gym trainer. In your case, you’re eligible as long as I vouch for you. You’d even get your full carry limit re-instated for the time up to the tournaments and after if we get the Gym. The only thing we’d need to do is make it to the top five. After that, it’s just a matter of getting a working Gym up and running.”

“Is that all?” Carter mused. “That is the dream.”

There was definitely potential in the idea. If they won, he’d have stable employment in his dream job and he’d be closer to his friends and home region. Besides the bakery, they didn’t have any hard ties to Icirrus. If they did the move fast enough they could even ‘forget’ to leave a note for the next time Reese’s bio dad popped back into town. But…

“Okay Skittles, I’m definitely interested but you know family comes first. I need to talk with Emma and the kids to see what they think about it before I decide on anything.”

“We’re good with it. Go get’em Honey Bewear!”

The sudden, cheery exclamation that came over the line caused them both to pull up short. Years of instinct and flashbacks of apex predators sneaking up behind them sent chills down both men’s backs. Bo was the first to react as he spoke up in a hesitant tone.

“Emma?”