Afternoon was slowly giving way to night, the last orange rays of sunlight filtering through the leaves of the only tree in Sabrina’s pitiful attempt at a garden. And there, resting against the trunk, the young Gym leader read a small, worn book. Her breathing was slow and automatic, thin wisps of cold vapor leaving her lips every time she exhaled.
The oak behind her remained as strong and healthy as ever despite the coming winter. A handful of Pokemon (both wild and belonging to the Gym) rested atop its many branches, including the infamous Abra who only knew Teleport, the first Pokemon she’d ever fought with in this place.
So immersed was she in the book that she didn’t notice the man’s presence until he knelt in front of her, peering over the book curiously.
“WH-!?”
Sabrina instinctively jumped, slamming the back of her head against the sturdy oak.
“Fuck! W-what… what the hell are you doing here!?” she sputtered out, rising to her feet in a panic. “There’s… people guarding both entrances, how…!?”
The man with the cross formed a careless smile, arms resting over his knees as he looked up at her.
“I have my methods,” he shrugged.
“What are you, a ninja?”
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“Hehe.”
After looking around for a moment, the man let out a whistle and pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his knees. “Anyway, what’s this supposed to be? A setting for a horror movie? And what are you reading?”
Before Sabrina could stop him, the man was rifling through the small pile of books next to where she’d been sitting, inspecting the covers and authors.
“Robert Frost, Neruda, Stephen Crane…”
“T-that’s none of your business, bastard!”
Only then did the man turn to look at her, and the little O that his mouth became told Sabrina she’d forgotten a very important detail.
“Hey, aren’t your eyes a bit wet?” he said with sudden glee in his voice. “What, did one of these mean old books make the heartless Gym leader tear up?”
Sabrina’s reaction was as swift as it was predictable.
“Shut up! This is… I got some dust on…” Seeing that her excuses were pointless, each one only widening her rival’s amused smile, she decided to change her approach. “Bah! As if a brainless idiot like you could understand the beauty that lies in these-”
“Then teach me.”
The man wasn’t smiling anymore as he took a step toward her, staring straight into her eyes. And in that breathless moment, his usual childishness fell from his expression like a mask cracking, and beneath was the face of a more mature, deathly serious man.
“I want to see it too,” he said. “If what your eyes see is truly that beautiful… then I too…”
The Gym leader’s brain had turned off completely. It wasn’t until the man spoke again, that listless smile of him returning, that she could even take a breath.
“What’s wrong?” he said, tone teasing. “Your face is all red.”