Pokémon Hoenn Short Stories Collection: The Elite

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Prompt #41: A lot of people expected to Drake to resent Steven for becoming Champion.
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In the immediate aftermath of the Championship match, the interviews were coming hot and heavy. Drake could barely set foot outside without being accosted by some kind of reporter or news camera.

"Drake, what's it like to be a former Champion?"

"How does it feel to be bested by someone under half your age?"

"With Lance still the reigning Champion in Johto, you're the first Dragon Master to fall from the Championship position, what does it mean for the future generation of Dragon type trainers of Hoenn?"

"Now that you no longer hold the title, have you thought about retirement at all?"

"Your supporters are calling this loss a fluke. Are there any thoughts of a potential rematch in the future?"

You name it, Drake had heard it. And it was odd. For all of the constant prodding, not once did anyone stop to ask him if maybe losing was actually a good thing. Not one person thought to see if maybe part of being a Champion is knowing how to step down with grace. Not that Drake had ever considered himself to be a graceful person, but he was at least tactful enough to have enjoyed a comfortable reign atop the Hoenn League. No, he wasn't bitter, or disappointed, or past his prime. Well, maybe that third one, but he'd be the last person to actually admit it aloud. No, he decided, losing to the upstart Stone was probably the best thing that could have happened.

Pokemon training belonged to the young. He'd slowly watched the average age of the Elite begin to drop, and yet the talent never fell with it. New faces, new strategies, new fans; they all kept the region's dreams alive and burning, spurring the newest generations of trainers to pick their starters and strike forth into the world. It was his task to weed out all but the best of the best, and then pass the torch onto them with as much knowledge as he could impart.

It was kind of ironic, watching someone hoist such responsibility onto their young shoulders without knowing exactly how much the burden could weigh. Yet, at the same time, he'd barely felt a thing when he wrested the title free in his own two hands those many years ago. And with one handshake and an approving look at the eager young trainer, the weight had been lifted from him for one final time. Frankly, it was a relief.

But, he wouldn't just drop the burden and leave. Oh no, as cold-hearted as his battle persona was, Drake was no bastard. He may have been the saltiest of sailors back in his young and stupid days, but time had taught him well, and many times the hard way: the failings of a subordinate ultimately stem from the failings of their superior. He would not let the League fall into disarray at the hands of someone inexperienced, and he had no doubt that those hands were not really as inexperienced as they may have looked.

It was funny, he hadn't even made the connection until after the match concluded. The same determined gaze he'd known from his friend's brief time at sea. But for all the fierceness it held during battle, it melted away in an instant, almost too eager to please and more inquisitive than anyone had a right to be. If anyone could do the region proud, it would be Joseph's kid. Besides, he had a heck of an impressive team to boot. It wasn't often that a pokemon could stand up to his dragons in terms of sheer power... The kid would be fine.

Drake huffed as he silently pushed his way through the throng of journalists that stood between him and his ship. The papers might see it as shirking his post-Championship duties. The disgraced former Champ all too eager to run and hide from the public eye. Except, he wasn't running. Oh no, Dragon Masters run from nothing. It was just so damned noisy... Damned Vullaby, those reporters. And yet this was a small throng. For the number of newscasters that wanted to talk to the ex-Champion, he could only imagine how many more demanded an audience of the current one.

Thanking his lucky stars that social media wasn't really a thing back in his heyday, he clambered aboard his vessel and fired up the engine as camera shutters clicked left and right. He had to stifle a chuckle at how much worse that wide eyed kid from Rustboro must be having it right now. Gods, if the paper caught a picture of him smiling, that would truly be the end of things. Nah, Steven would be just fine.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Prompt #42: To be fair, Sidney wasn't really sure what he was ordering off the menu...
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As soon as the steaming plate landed in front of him, Sidney started to sweat. The bowl of what undoubtedly had to be inedible made him want to squirm in his seat. Except that he was determined to be polite in his present company, and he returned Phoebe's beaming grin with a shaky smile of his own.

"...Looks... good..." he grated out as he watched the way the spoon slowly sank into the purple goo, and he felt his eyebrow twitch.

Mercifully, Phoebe hadn't noticed his thinly veiled disgust as she already had began to tuck into her own dish; 'poke', if he remembered correctly. The description hadn't sounded great at the time, but as he eyed the colorful cubes of raw fish and herbs in Phoebe's bowl, he suddenly became very jealous.

Sidney gave a listless poke at the slabs of what he assumed to be meat resting on a plate off to the side of his own bowl. It wasn't springy or tender in the slightest, and the nagging thought that perhaps this was all an elaborate prank wormed its way up in the back of his mind. But this was Phoebe's idea, and she said she had loved the food, and she was nearly done with her own plate, so there's no way it was all a prank... right?

He had just mustered the courage to scoop up a spoonful of the purple-gray gunk, silently thankful that it was so goopy it wouldn't slosh from the spoon in his rattling grip, when Phoebe suddenly leaned over to his side of the table with her chopsticks and plucked a slice of meat from his dish.

"I gotta have a piece of this before it gets cold. I love pipikaula!"

With a deft flick of her wrist, she dunked the pipi-whatever-it's-called in the purple gunk and popped it in her mouth. Still chewing, she talked around her mouthful.

"C'mon, you have to at least try the poi. It's a staple dish here!"

At Phoebe's urging, the spoon resumed its trek towards his mouth, slowly, so slowly... He couldn't chicken out now, not when he'd told her he was a casual fan of Alolan cuisine. It was a bald-faced lie, but he had really wanted to impress her... But it was just so slimy...

In a sudden burst of bravado, Sidney took the plunge, and shoved the spoon straight in.

This time, he did shiver, caught completely off guard by the poi's texture, even though he knew it was going to feel exactly how it looked. He sloshed the mixture around with his tongue, there was no way he could consider it "chewing", and felt his nose scrunch as the tangy, starchy sourness of the taro coated his tastebuds. With a concerted effort, he finally swallowed the stuff, and it took every ounce of willpower not to instantly dive for his glass of water.

Phoebe, who had been watching him with interest, suddenly burst into laughter. Chopsticks discarded, she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Sorry, Sid, your face was priceless!"

Too shocked to do much else, Sidney huffed and crossed his arms, but not before sliding the bowl of poi over to Phoebe's side of the table with a scowl.

Still giggling, Phoebe scooped up the bowl and began to eat it herself.

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise. I just had to see your reaction," she dipped another piece of the pipikaula in, "It's definitely an acquired taste. Although I can promise the luau roast will be more to your liking."

Slowly, Sidney nodded, recalling the delicious smells wafting from the resort's fire pit earlier that day. He still might not know how to pronounce it, but anything sounded better than the stuff he just ordered in an effort to impress Phoebe.

"Just, next time you invite me out for traditional Alolan food, warn me before I pick the weirdest things on the menu."

Phoebe simply giggled and finished off the last bit from Sidney's plate.