The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

This episode was probably one of the most difficult to write. Trying to articulate how Charlotte sees herself in the grand scheme of things, without it being predictable, and how Jon addresses that, without him being a cliche'd White Knight was actually super difficult, but I am happy with the character development in this chapter, even outside of Charlotte.

Enjoy.

Episode 7: Priorities

Spoiler:

“Not again…” Abbee groaned, as she looked around the lounge of the common area, as Charlotte sat on a couch nearby, eating some instant ramen, and watching through the recording of one of her and Chris’ competitive battles from a year earlier.

“What’s wrong?” Charlotte asked, not looking away from the TV.

“My phone. Justin has taken it again…” Abbee muttered. Justin first took it right before the Eon Academy was attacked, however indirectly returned it quickly when he realized that they were all at risk. However he took it again only two weeks ago, holding on to it for a few days, before returning it indirectly, Abbee thought due to the constant notifications that were coming through from her Twitter followers, that could only be turned off if the phone were unlocked, something he was incapable of doing. With the phone not being used outside of receiving notifications, the battery would have lasted nearly a week, driving Justin insane, especially at night.

“Seriously?” Charlotte asked, now equally annoyed. Her mood was already less than pleasant, and hearing this crappy joke being played for the third time this summer was not helping.

It was the Thursday of the seventh week of summer, having been a little over a week since Chris beat her, winning the egg that hatched into a Vulpix. If she wasn’t already irritable at the fact that her lead over Chris had dwindled, the fact he brought the infant Pokemon with him everywhere made her even more annoyed. It’s not that she was jealous of the Pokemon, but more the fact that it was a constant reminder of Chris beating her.

Since his win, Chris seemed to have his confidence back, but it had seemed over the last few weeks his demeanour had changed. Since he started doing that remedial training with Jon every few weeks, the way he handled his Pokemon had improved, and the confidence that seemed so absent when he told her about Lance was back, but it was different. It was subtle, almost humble, compared to the arrogance he showed before the summer, which somehow made her feel worse.

Losing to an a**hole sucked, sure, but at least she still had that over him. But now she didn’t. He had stopped acting like a self-obsessed a**hole, and Charlotte was now only losing. And the fact it annoyed her as much as it did made her feel like the self-obsessed a**hole…

Charlotte had been working harder than ever since then. Jon’s one-on-one sessions usually finished for the day at 3pm, so once the battleground was free for the day, she was spending the next two and a half hours training, only stopping for dinner, then sometimes even spending an hour or two after dinner training as well. She knew it was working, and she was improving, but she didn’t stop, because she knew that Chris was also improving. She had to beat him, but couldn’t stand another loss like the week earlier. If she were to challenge him again, she had to know she would beat him.

The only reason she was sitting in the lounge having lunch was because Chris was having his session with Jon at that time, with hers starting in about half an hour.

“So what are you going to do?” Charlotte asked. “Shake him down?’

“I tried that,” Abbee muttered, as she collapsed on the couch next to her. “He just denied it. Said I really need to take better care of my belongings.”

“I would have hit him, personally,” Charlotte retorted.

“Believe me, I wanted to, but that sort of reaction…” Abbee said. “His small and feeble mind will get bored quick enough.”

“Hopefully…” Charlotte replied, as she turned off the TV. She had finished her lunch, and had to get her dishes cleaned before her training with Jon. Whilst she had time, she wanted to get there earlier, and hopefully get a decent look at Chris’ progress, ideally before he noticed she was there.

“You think you’ll relax this weekend?” Abbee asked, as Charlotte got up. “As silly as it turned out, it was nice watching the movie together that one time…”

“We’ll see,” Charlotte said, though having no plan of slowing down.

Charlotte went to the kitchen, quickly cleaning her bowl and fork, before making her way to the door, surprised to see Abbee waiting for her.

“You planning on spectating?” Charlotte asked.

“Another day maybe,” Abbee replied. “I saw Dylan leave earlier, but I know Justin is in his room, and Chris is training. We can’t leave the property by ourselves, so he must be around somewhere…”

The two girls left the lodge, before parting ways when Abbee saw Dylan in the shade under the monastery, as Charlotte made her way to the battleground.

Dylan knelt on the grass with his Metang floating in front of him, with a small jar of an orange paste on the ground between them, Dylan getting a dab of it on one cloth to spread over Metang’s surface, before using a cleaner one to wipe it around, polishing the Steel Type Pokemon, much to its enjoyment.

“Metang’s doing well,” Abbee said as she came over. Whilst before Dylan would have jumped out of his skin, he now just nodded, continuing to focus on the task at hand. Abbee hoped he might actually talk on his own at some point, but knew she was pushing her luck.

“It seems to be,” Dylan said. “It’s difficult to train it since it is a lot less experienced than everyone else’s Pokemon.”

“Maybe when Chris’ Vulpix is a little older they will be on a similar level?” Abbee asked. “Though the odds would be stacked in your favour. Maybe once my Eevee evolves it could match up well?”

“Maybe…” Dylan said. “You have a slot left? Do you know what you want to catch?”

“No idea…” Abbee muttered. “I still don’t know how I will evolve my Eevee, so I might wait until then. I should get a type I don’t have, but that being said, I don’t want to be that restricted, especially if a good opportunity comes for a Pokemon with a type I already have…”

Realizing she was getting distracted, she remembered why she came.

“If you can spare some time, I need your help…” Abbee said, causing Dylan to look at her, slightly confused.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Charlotte approached quietly as she watched Jon’s Blaziken and Dylan’s Charizard spar. Whilst Blaziken was definitely the faster of the two, probably because of Speed Boost, Charizard was not letting it land any solid hits. Whilst it was mostly blocking or avoiding hits due to its own instinct, Chris was calling out, trying to anticipate Blaziken’s moves, giving Charizard a heads up when he could, and telling it the best way to dodge. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t impressed.

The pair finished their session, as Jon called Blaziken back to the Pokeball. Chris walked past, back towards the lodge, picking something up off the ground and flashing her a grin. And the fact she knew he didn’t mean anything hostile by it, made her even angrier at him.

Charlotte called out her Magmar, ready to begin the session, before Jon held up a hand.

“I think you need to take a break,” Jon said. “Everyone else is doing five hours of hands on training a week. In the last week you’ve done nearly thirty…”

“You’ve been monitoring my training?” Charlotte asked suspiciously.

“I can literally see the battlefield from my lounge room window. If you look now you can probably see Alyssa…” Jon laughed. “Don’t take it personally, I’ve just been observant.”

“But you want to cancel our session?” Charlotte retorted.

“Not cancel. Maybe be a little less hands on to give you and your Pokemon a break,” Jon replied.

“My Pokemon can handle it,” Charlotte said stubbornly. “Besides, this time is the most effective training I can have. Isn’t that the point? For you to be able to assess how well I am doing, and direct me from there?”

“It is, but-” Jon began.

“If I can’t train now, I’m only going to train twice as hard later to make up for it,” Charlotte said. Jon was silent for a moment.

“I’ll make you a deal,” Jon said, though sounding slightly irritated at the defiance. “I will do a practise battle with you now, because you are right about that, you get more from these sessions than training by yourself.”

Charlotte grinned, though didn’t know what Jon wanted in return.

“But I don’t want to see you training this weekend,” Jon explained. “You and your Pokemon rest, and going forward, you only do an hour extra training a day, at most five days a week.”

“What do I do with all the spare time then?” Charlotte asked, somewhat annoyed. “I didn’t come here to make friends and spend all my spare hours playing board games with the others…”

“I think three of them would find board game nights to be a nightmare…” Jon chuckled. “You do what Chris is doing now. He filmed the whole session, and is going to spend the next hour or two going over the footage. He was asking me which areas of study to focus on, and I told him to brush up on moves that his Pokemon don’t use, and their side effects so he isn’t as taken by surprise when they show up. Last week he came along to the gym to see Steven and I train, and if you’d like, I’d love to bring you along. Steven would love it too…”

Charlotte was silent. Deep down she knew Jon was right, somewhat, but being compared to Chris was the last thing she wanted to hear, especially if these things that would probably help her, Chris is already doing.

“There is more to growing as a trainer than just training,” Jon explained. “And you’re Pokemon will thank you for it…”

Charlotte reluctantly agreed, before asking if she could come to Jon’s practise match that evening. Jon agreed, before sending out Nidoking, as the pair began their practise match.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“Have you talked to him about it?” Dylan asked, as Abbee finished explaining the situation.

“First thing I did, but that just feeds him,” Abbee explained. “He wants a reaction, and the only thing I can do to get it back is just ignore him until he gets sick of it buzzing, but that takes days.”

“Charlotte said I just gotta be really vigilant about not leaving it anywhere, even for just a minute, but I shouldn’t have to be on edge about it all the damn time…” Abbee muttered. “So will you help me get it back?”

“Do you have a plan?” Dylan asked. “Or are we just going to be winging it?”

“I have one idea,” Abbee explained. “Stupidly simple really, and it relies on you being a hermit 90% of the time…”

“Thanks…” Dylan said quietly, as Abbee backtracked.

“I was only joking!” Abbee said, realizing that her choice of words hadn’t been ideal. “I just mean you tend to spend a lot of time in your room, and that will come in handy…”

“So what’s the plan?”

“During dinner, I will antagonize him a bit. Give him a taste of his own medicine, and the reaction he wants so badly…” Abbee explained, “You go to your room, open the window, and wait until you hear us leave the lodge. I will challenge him to a battle, which should keep him busy. All you need to do then is figure out how to get into his room, and get the phone…”

“You make that sound a lot easier than it actually is…” Dylan replied.

“I do that because I think you will figure it out quite easily…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

As the practise match continued, Charlotte and Jon were both down to their last Pokemon, Latios and Luxray. Latios had the definite advantage, however, Luxray had a new move that Charlotte had been working on. Should her plan come to fruition, she doubted even Latios could take the entirety of the attack without being knocked out.

Luxray had been focusing on building strength, using two Swords Dances, and before using Charge. Anticipating something big like a Wild Charge, Jon had prepared Latios to use Protect via the telepathic channel Latios had created.

The previous week, Charlotte had been looking into electric type moves, trying to find ones that suited Luxray’s physical strength. One stood out to her, that most people didn’t think Luxray could learn. Volt Tackle, a move used only by Pikachu and its evolution line. However looking into it, Volt Tackle seemed like a faster, harder and more electrifying version of Wild Charge, which Luxray knew.

Her training with Luxray since had been amplifying his speed and electricity output, in order to cross the line between Wild Charge and Volt Tackle. And in that time, Luxray had improved in both those respects.

“Volt Tackle!” Charlotte called out, as Luxray lunged forward, encased in more lightning than Jon had ever seen on the Pokemon. Jon’s heart skipped a beat hearing Charlotte call out that command.

“Latios, don’t use Protect!” Jon called out frantically, as the Protect barrier Latios had erected a split second earlier disappeared, and Luxray launched into Latios, with a loud crack.

Luxray screamed in pain, as Latios was knocked unconscious, hitting the ground meters away.

“F**k!” Jon said frantically, rushing towards Luxray, who was still crying out in pain. Charlotte stood on her side of the field, frozen and pale for a moment, before rushing over.

“Do you know why only the Pikachu line use Volt Tackle?” Jon asked sharply, as he inspected Luxray. It’s front left shoulder was out of place, and it winced in pain as Jon touched its paw.

“I didn’t think anybody else had taught it to another Pokemon…” Charlotte stuttered, shocked at the pain her Pokemon was in.

“Luxray is about 50% heavier than Raichu, and six or seven times heavier than Pikachu,” Jon explained, as he continued looking over the injured Pokemon. “Between the shock of the hit, and how much they are weakened in the moment they discharge that much electricity, the recoil is massive...”

Charlotte realized where Jon was going with this, as she felt tears forming at the thought of driving her partner hard enough that he’d hurt himself like this.

“They are the only electric Pokemon who are fast enough and heavy enough to land an attack like that, but not too heavy that the risk of injuring themselves is too high…” Jon explained. “It’s not that only they can do it, it’s that any other Pokemon that can pull it off shouldn’t do it. I had Latios pull the Protect, because the force of hitting that barrier would have broken Luxray’s neck...”

Jon called Latios back to his Pokeball, instructing Charlotte to do the same.

“They both need a Pokemon Center,” Jon explained. “Latios might have a concussion but can communicate easy enough to make it easier to help him. But Luxray is in bad shape. He will be unable to battle for a few months, in the best case…”

Charlotte lost control as she began to sob desperately, while Jon grabbed her by the forearm and guided her to the car, though remaining silent. Whilst part of him wanted to console her, he needed to make sure that this harsh lesson stuck. Had she pulled this move in a battle against someone else, who would have used Protect, Luxray would be going to the Pokemon Center to be euthanized instead…

As the pair drove to the Mossdeep City Pokemon Center, Charlotte remained silent, having run out of tears, and wallowing in her guilt, terrified of what could happen to Luxray if the injury was worse than they realized. When they arrived, Jon took both Pokeballs to the counter, explaining what happened, as Charlotte waited at a chair on the edge of the waiting room. Charlotte overheard the Pokemon Center staff discuss taking Luxray in for X-rays, whilst Latios, who had regained consciousness was being kept in another room for observation. Once the conversation was over, Jon left the building with his phone in hand, quickly calling Alyssa to explain what had happened, and Steven to cancel on their training that evening.

Whilst he was gone, Charlotte thought over what had led her here, blaming herself, and even more than before, thinking about how Chris’ Pokemon didn’t wind up injured like this. When Chris messed up and went to Shoal Cave, in the end, his Pokemon was no more worn out than during a training session, he was the only one hurt by the mistake. And now, she had made a stupid mistake, and instead of her being the one to suffer for it, it was her Pokemon, as well as Latios.

Jon returned to the room, however before he could say anything, the pair were approached by one of the Pokemon Center’s doctors.

“Miss Jones?” he asked, as Charlotte nodded silently.

“I have looked over the X-rays on your Luxray, and whilst it is far from good, it isn’t anything he won’t recover from.”

Whilst Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief, the news didn’t do anything to alleviate the guilt.

“He has a dislocated shoulder, which needs to be put back into place, however he has also broken his front leg, which is going to require a procedure to give him the best chance of recovering. We can perform it this evening…” The doctor explained. “All costs are covered by the League as you are still a minor, however we do need your consent to proceed.”

“Do it.” Charlotte said quietly, as the doctor nodded before turning to Jon.

“Mr. Drake, I think your Latios will be fine, but we do want to keep him here overnight to observe,” The doctor explained. “However he is restless, and becoming quite a handful.”

Jon groaned hearing those words.

“Of course…” Jon said. “I will go have a chat with him…”

Assuring Charlotte he would be back, Jon left the room, following the doctor to try and calm his Legendary Pokemon…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Abbee sat at the dinner table in the lodge with Chris, Justin and Dylan, alongside Alyssa who sat with Amelia on her lap, and Chris’ Vulpix snoozing on his lap, whilst they ate the meal that Alyssa had brought. They noticed Charlotte hadn’t returned from her training with Jon, and presumed she had decided to stick around and practise more, like she had been. What they didn’t expect was Alyssa to tell them that her and Jon were at the Pokemon Center, with Latios in not-too-good shape, and Luxray in a lot worse.

“So did Latios just not hold back?” Chris asked, as he poked at his dinner.

“That’s not it, but it isn’t my place to say,” Alyssa said. “Jon sent me a text to say Latios will probably be okay, but Luxray will be needing surgery…”

“S**t…” Justin muttered.

Abbee looked down at her food, feeling sorry for Charlotte, knowing how much she cared about Luxray. She felt a twang of guilt, as she remembered her plan for the evening was something as insignificant as trying to get her phone back.

“I’m sorry, I’m not that hungry,” Dylan said quietly to Alyssa. “It tastes great, I just don’t have much of an appetite…”

“No, that’s fine,” Alyssa replied, though more shocked that he just spoke to her.

Dylan left the room for a moment, placing his half full bowl in the fridge, before passing through the dining room and going back up the stairs to his room. Whilst Abbee knew he probably would still be willing to try and get her phone back, antagonizing Justin to lure him into a battle was the last thing she wanted to do after hearing of what happened on the battlefield that afternoon. So when Justin excused himself, not even ten minutes later, she didn’t attempt to stop him, with Alyssa excusing herself as well to put Amelia to bed, leaving Abbee and Chris alone at the table.

“I wonder what happened...” Abbee thought out loud.

“I have a hunch, but I hope I am wrong…” Chris said quietly, surprising Abbee. The pair had hardly shared a conversation outside of large group chatter in the six weeks leading up to this, and Chris had never seemed that interested in talking with her.

“Charlotte is one of the hardest working people I know. I used to mock her for it, because she always had to try twice as hard to keep up with me, but after seeing how far ahead she got, I respected her for it,” Chris explained. “Really, I have only known how to improve here by seeing how she has done it the last four years…”

Abbee nodded as Chris continued.

“Then I beat her last week, and you’ve seen how she has been since…” Chris said, before trailing off into silence.

“It’s not your fault, you know that right?” Abbee said sternly.

“Damn well feels like it…” Chris muttered. “I’ve been rubbing her face in it for years every time I got the tiniest bit ahead of her… How is this not my fault?”

“You know when I felt the same way?” Abbee asked, as Chris shook his head. “When Jon dragged you in after you almost froze to death in Shoal Cave.”

Chris looked at Abbee in shock, unaware that she carried that guilt.

“I felt like it was mine and Charlotte’s fault for antagonizing you and setting up the bet. That we drove you to do it. I ended up talking to Dylan, and he said something to me,” Abbee explained. “He said at the end of the day, it was your decision to go out there alone, not mine. He was glad that you were okay, and didn’t think you deserved what happened to you, but ultimately it was your choice, and I shouldn’t carry the weight of that…”

Chris was silent hearing this. It took a few seconds to break that silence.

“If he’d talk a little more, I’d have realized how wise he can be…” Chris chuckled to himself quietly.

“He was right, and that goes the same way here. Regardless of what you have done, Charlotte made the call to go too hard…” Abbee explained. “My heart breaks for her right now, and she and Luxray don’t deserve it. But if this is the result of her working her Pokemon and herself too hard, that is her responsibility to shoulder, not yours. I will still try and help her with that, but don’t think this is your fault…”

“She’s lucky to have you, even if she doesn’t always realize it. You know that right?” Chris said, shocking Abbee with his sincerity.

“I try.”

Chris took his dish, as well as Abbee’s to the dishwasher, before returning, making his way to his room, before stopping.

“Does Justin still have your phone?” Chris asked.

“Yeah, but I’ll get it back tomorrow,” Abbee answered.

“I’ll get it back for you tonight,” Chris said. “It’s stupid, I don’t know why he finds it so funny.”

“Feeble minds?” Abbee asked, as Chris chuckled before going upstairs.

Abbee quickly refilled her water bottle, before going upstairs to her room. However as she made her way to the door, she noticed Dylan’s door open with his head sticking out. When he noticed her, he gestured for her to come in to his room.

“You know I’m not allowed to go into the guys rooms…” Abbee said quietly as Dylan closed the door behind them.

“Jon’s not here, so don’t worry,” Dylan said, before pulling something out of his pocket, and handing it to Abbee. Her phone.

“How the hell did you get this?” Abbee asked. “Justin came up not even ten minutes later, and hasn’t left his room since?”

“I had Duskull go through the wall into his room and find it,” Dylan explained. “He opened Justin’s window then flew back with the phone once he found it.”

“Well make sure to thank Duskull for me. It means a lot, really…” Abbee explained, as she opened the phone. “All of my pictures and videos of my mum from before she died are saved on it, and I don’t remember a great deal from before then so…”

Before Dylan could say any more, they were cut off by shouting from Justin’s room next door.

“What the f**k do you mean it’s missing?” Chris shouted.

“I mean it isn’t where I left it!” Justin shouted back. “It was buzzing all goddamn night, so I left it in the cupboard and now it’s gone…”

“Should we tell them?” Abbee asked, holding back a giggle.

“No, let him suffer a little…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

An hour had passed since Jon had left to go calm Latios down, when he finally returned, Charlotte having not moved since. The staff had informed her that the surgery had begun however it would take hours before it was completed and she could see Luxray, and at least another two days before Luxray could come back with her.

Jon arrived, picking up his jacket off the seat next to Charlotte, and handing her her own.

“I want to wait to see Luxray,” Charlotte murmured.

“We both need to eat, and it will be at least two hours before Luxray is out of the operating theatre, and possibly longer until he wakes,” Jon said. “We will be back well and truly before then. But you need to eat.”

Charlotte sighed before accepting the jacket as Jon let the receptionist know where they were going, before they left the building, looking for the quietest restaurant or cafe nearby, eventually settling on a dumpling restaurant. As Jon quickly browsed the menu, Charlotte said she wasn’t hungry, though Jon ordered a couple of different smaller plates of dumplings to graze from. When the food arrived, he finally broke the silence.

“So why is it that Chris gets under your skin so much…” Jon asked, as he fumbled a dumpling with his chopsticks.

“He doesn’t…” Charlotte replied quietly.

Jon snorted for a second, before swallowing the mouthful he had.

“The first time I met either of you, you were both goading and taunting one another, and both doing everything you could to show everyone else around you that you didn’t really care about what the other one said or did. I let you two do your own thing, because I thought that rivalry would drive you both to improve,” Jon said. “Then you beat Chris, and as much as he tried to hide it, and play it off as an isolated incident, anyone could see he hated it. And now he has beaten you, and all of a sudden you’re working yourself to death to try and beat him…”

“This wasn’t the first time he had beaten you? Didn’t you say that you two are fairly one for one when you compete against one-another?” Jon asked. “I guess what I’m trying to figure out is what is different about this time?”

Charlotte was silent, before quietly picking up one of the dumplings in front of her.

“Do you remember why I came to the Eon Academy alone?”

“Wasn’t your brother graduating?” Jon asked. “Your parents couldn’t make it to that and see you off at the same time?”

“That’s just another Tuesday for me…” Charlotte explained, “I have three older brothers, the youngest of which is eight years older than me, who by the time I was born, all had their pursuits and commitments, which my parents made a point of being involved in. I was the only one who ended up wanting to battle, but when you have to choose between attending your son’s regional level soccer match, or your daughter’s little league battle, which do you think takes priority?”

“I love battling, really, but half the reason I busted my a** growing up to get better was to give them the reason to give me the time they did my brothers, and even then, it is hard when they have an eight to fourteen year head start…” Charlotte continued. “But it worked. Eventually I was achieving enough that I’d take priority for once. I’d make it to the finals, and my parents would be there supporting me, and recognizing the work I was putting in. I just had to keep working to keep that happening. Then Chris started competing...”

“The first few tournaments he was in, I didn’t make it to finals because of him. So I kept working, and after long enough it came down to us being in the final match of most of our tournaments. My family noticed that. Every time I would win, I’d be praised, but every time I lost, they would be telling me that it’s okay, and I battled well, but he was just too good. I hated hearing it…”

Charlotte went to take another dumpling, before recoiling, and starting to sob again.

“I’d try so hard to get better and get ahead of him, but by the time we competed again, he had caught up, so effortlessly. At first I thought he was just working even harder than I was but when I got to know him a bit better, I realized he just had something that I didn’t, and the only way I could compete with that was to try harder.” Charlotte sobbed. “Then we came here, and I finally beat him. Twice. I started to see the gap, and started to feel like it was all worth it. All the hard work was starting to pay off. Then something changed in him. He started to actually apply himself, and within a few weeks, that gap that I had worked years to create is now gone. I thought that if he could close the gap so easily just by starting to put in the effort, I'd have to work harder just to stand a chance at keeping up, and trying to do that, I almost killed Luxray…"

"Try not to dwell on Luxray. It could have been a lot worse if it were against someone else, and Luxray will recover before too long so we gotta be thankful for that…" Jon said, as he picked up another dumpling.

“I’m sorry that you need to work yourself so hard to get the time of day, I really am. But I need to tell you this, and make sure you understand it before we go any further,” Jon explained, “What happens when you finally pass Chris for good? What next?”

“I- I don’t know…” Charlotte replied quietly, drying tears. “For so long, I have just wanted to pass him…”

“Charlotte, there is always going to be someone better than you,” Jon said. “The reason I say this now is that even if what happened today didn’t happen, and you eventually got what you wanted and passed Chris, I honestly think you would find yourself in the same position you are in now, just with someone else who is that little bit ahead of you…”

“I’m not saying that there being someone better is a bad thing. It’s good if anything, it gives us an attainable goal to reach for, but if you think passing Chris will make everything better, it won’t. This need to be the best is taking something healthy, and turning it into something damaging, because even if you pass him, and the world recognizes that and applauds it, you will still find yourself feeling like you aren’t enough…”

Jon was apprehensive about saying this, not wanting to hurt her anymore than she already was given the circumstances, but knew that this was a make or break point. If this cycle didn’t break now, chances are it never would.

“You are a talented trainer Charlotte, really. I wasn’t half the trainer you are when I wasn’t your age.”

“My Pokemon nearly died today because of me…”

Jon opened his phone, before typing quickly and passing it to her.

“When you signed up for the Eon Academy, I did my own digging, and found some match reviews from your last tournament,” Jon explained. “Read this…”

Charlotte took the phone, reading the text on the screen.

“Whilst Christopher Kingswood took the first place prize in the Inter-Regional Junior Cup, the true star of the competition was Runner-Up, Charlotte Jones. Her grit and resilience far eclipsed her years, as well as her natural ability to communicate well with her Pokemon and think on her feet. Every time I see her, I am in awe of the improvement she has made since the last battle. The performance she displayed during this tournament was indicative of persistence and hard work on her part, and I have no doubt that she will be making headlines in the major tournaments should she continue battling in her adult years.”

“Even this reporter, who hasn’t even met you, and even saw Chris beat you, recognizes that you are plenty skilled as it is and are on the right track. Even if you feel like certain people don’t see that,” Jon explained, before asking a question. “Why did you start battling Pokemon to begin with? Because I doubt it was to beat Chris...”

Charlotte went silent, having not thought about this for a long time, struggling even to remember.

“I wanted to challenge myself. To be stronger than I thought possible…”

“Charlotte, before we leave here, I want you to promise me something…” Jon said. “I want your goals to reflect that. I want you to battle for yourself, not for anybody else…”

“Because this is one of many accolades I found,” Jon continued, tapping on the phone. “And if you take nothing else from this, the one thing you have to understand, is that you don’t have to prove a damn thing to anybody. Not me, not your parents, not Chris. If your rivalry with Chris motivates you to work towards those goals, great. But don’t let that motivation stop you from seeing how talented of a trainer you already are…”

Charlotte struggled to believe what Jon had to say, but couldn’t deny the affirmation she felt hearing those words.

“So what now…?” Charlotte asked quietly, picking at a dumpling.

“Tomorrow, don’t come to practical training. You and your Pokemon need rest. We can skip one-on-one training on Monday as well,” Jon explained. “This isn’t a punishment. More so I have something I want you to focus on more, and I know that you aren’t going to fall behind taking the time off.”

“I want you to spend that time looking over the battle recordings from your matches against Chris, even when he beats you, and I want you to go through those clips with a fine-tooth comb,” Jon explained. “What you are going to be looking for is from each clip, five things that you did that you are proud of yourself for. Five things that showed you are reaching the goals you had when you first started.”

“Really?” Charlotte asked cynically. “I couldn’t think of anything more cheesy…”

“Cheesy or not, you have more than proven your skill as a trainer, even if you don’t see it yourself,” Jon replied. “Why else do you think Chris started to apply himself now, after years of cruising through life?”

Charlotte remained silent, as Jon continued.

“Everyone can see how brightly you shine, and I will do whatever I can to make sure you see it too,” Jon said. “Now eat. I can’t afford to shout my students' dinner too often, so this might be the last chance you get for some really good food. Though don’t tell Alyssa I said that…”

Charlotte couldn’t help but chuckle at the sentiment, before piling a few more dumplings onto her plate. When the plates were empty, Jon paid the bill, before they returned to the Pokemon Center to wait for Luxray’s surgery to finish. Whilst they waited, and Jon eventually fell asleep in his chair in the waiting room, Charlotte opened her phone, and began searching online for clips and articles about her battles.

She found herself watching an early battle with Chris on YouTube, and though he beat her, she was surprised to see some of the comments that had been left.

“Charlotte did so well. I know that she will bounce back even stronger!”

“I have been watching her battle for a little while now, and one thing I know is that when she goes down, is usually right before she blows us away with how much better she has gotten.”

“Your fans are cheering you on regardless Charlotte!”

Charlotte continued to look through, finding one comment less than pleasant.

“Not quite sure how she made it this far tbh. Dumb luck?”

However to her surprise, the comment was downvoted to hell, with many jumping to her defence, one of the highest rated comments in her defense from three months back, even more to her surprise, by Jon Drake, before he even knew her.

“I hope the joint you are flipping burgers in has a TV in the kitchen, because I want you to be able to see it live when she wins her first High Seas Tournament. Maybe if you’re lucky, she’ll spare a moment to sign your spatula…”

Amazing her given the circumstances, Charlotte cracked a slight smile…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It was nearly eleven when Charlotte and Jon arrived back at the Eon Academy. Jon offered to walk her to the lodge, however his fatigue from the afternoons events, tied from the lack of sleep caused by Amelia, was evident in his falling asleep in the waiting room, and Charlotte declined.

Luxray’s surgery had been successful, with pins being placed in his leg to hold it in place, though they would have to be removed once it healed, meaning that Luxray would be unable to battle again this summer. However he was expected to make a full recovery long term. Charlotte was thankful her loyal Pokemon showed no resentment to her carelessness, and struggled leaving Luxray, as he had to remain in the Pokemon Center for another few days.

When Charlotte arrived in the lodge, she found the common area lit up, and empty with the exception of one person. Abbee, who rushed over to hug her.

“Are you alright?” Abbee asked softly. “How’s Luxray?”

“I’ve been better, but I will be okay,” Charlotte said. “Luxray had to have surgery, and won’t be able to battle for a few months while he recovers, but he will recover.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” Abbee asked, almost nervously. “It’s fine if you’d rather not talk about it.”

“No, it’s fine,” Charlotte explained. “I taught Luxray a move that I shouldn’t have, and it resulted in him being injured pretty badly. A dislocated shoulder and broken leg. It even knocked Latios out, though he was about to use Protect, and Jon called that off because if Luxray had hit a Protect barrier, it would have been even worse…”

“I’m sorry…” Abbee said, shocked at what had transpired.

“Don’t be, it’s my fault,” Charlotte said. “I was focusing on the wrong things, and when Chris beat me, it sent me over the edge, trying to be better than him. If nothing else, this has put things into perspective for me…”

Abbee nodded, before yawning.

“I’m sorry, but I’m exhausted, and need to get some sleep,” she explained. “Do you mind if we continue this another time?”

“Of course,” Charlotte responded, as Abbee made her way to the stairs, before stopping.

“For what it’s worth, I had a chat to Chris today…” Abbee said.

“Really?”

“He had a lot to say about you. About how much he respected how hard you are willing to try,” Abbee explained. “That he has only improved this summer by seeing how hard you worked the last four years…”

Charlotte was silent, surprised to hear something so sincere came from Chris.

“I think if you two talked a bit more, outside of competing against one another, you’d get along quite well,” Abbee continued. “Heck, I think if we all gave each other a little more time, and a little more grace, we’d all be quite close…”

“Maybe you’re right…” Charlotte said, smiling. “You’re a saint, you know that?”

“I do try…”

“Also, I will go and shake down Justin tomorrow and get your phone back…” Charlotte added.

“Don’t worry, Chris offered to do that tonight, and Dylan had already stolen it back,” Abbee said. “Chris was having a go at him because they both thought he lost it…”

“So we don’t tell him?” Charlotte asked.

“He will find out soon enough. Let’s just enjoy ourselves before then…”