Teddy dug his toes into the sand and stared out over the water. The Egg rested beside him, half-buried in the warmth of the beach as the sea gently crashed against the shore.

  It felt weird, not having his Pokémon with him. Sure, the egg was a Pokémon, but it wasn’t the same as his Munchlax.

  Or his Shadow.

  He and Gastly had really only been traveling together for a few months, but it felt like forever.

  And he had never been without her at his side. Even before he caught her, she had popped up randomly, always watching.

  Always there.

  Goldenrod’s Nurse Joy had been visibly upset with him over the state of his team, but she switched from “disappointed mom” to “sympathetic trainer” once he mentioned Whitney.

  Apparently her brutality was well known.

  And Whitney told him she usually held back.

  He scoffed.

  When Nurse Joy popped his Pokémon out, he had almost cried.

  Munchlax’s face was a map of hoof-shaped bruises. Even the Chansey winced when she saw it.

  “Well… he looks better than I would have expected, based off of what I’ve seen Whitney’s Miltank do to other trainers,” Joy had comforted him.

  “He was pretty stacked with Defense Curl,” he sighed back.

  “Oh. Well, you saved your little guy a week of recovery. I’m glad you aren’t completely incompetent.”

  That had brought a wince to Teddy’s face.

  He conveniently neglected to correct her, but thanked Arceus quietly for happy accidents.

  The battle had gone so quickly he barely had time to react.

  He had been on the back foot the entire time.

  Then they looked at his Gastly.

  She was completely pulverized.

  Joy had said one thing and one thing only. “Good thing she is a Ghost.”

  That cut his heart deeper than anything else she could have said.

  So, now he was locked out from seeing his Team until further notice.

  “A day at least, a week at most,” was all she had said as she brought his team to the back.

  A Week. How badly had he messed up?

  He sighed and leaned back, squinting as the sun warmed his eyes.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” A voice asked behind him.

  He leaned back further and opened his eyes.

  “Oh, hey… Gina?” Teddy said.

  “Yea, you got the name right,” she chuckled, sitting down beside him.

  “Beautiful Egg you’ve got there — didn’t really get a chance to see it last time,” she said, nudging his shoulder with hers.

  Teddy smiled. “Yeah, it’s pretty special. Hope it’ll hatch soon,” he mused.

  “Send me pics?” she asked, eyebrows shooting up.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  The face she made was so comical Teddy laughed before he even realized he’d started.

  Once he started, he didn’t stop. His chuckle became a full-blown laugh, aching until tears leaked from his eyes.

  At some point his laughter became tears, and he devolved into sobbing — completely unable to stop himself.

  Gina just sat there, probably thinking he was an idiot. He scooped up his Egg and sobbed softly into its shell.

  Eventually his tears softened to hiccups and Teddy came back to himself.

  Utterly mortified to have cried in front of a girl. His ears were so hot he wished he could run but —

  “Feel better?” Gina asked, looking out over the water.

  Teddy thought about it for a moment, then sighed. “A bit,” he admitted.

  Gina nodded. “I grew up here,” she said. “Whitney and her Gym have that effect on people — you aren’t alone.”

  “I… I messed up,” Teddy said, unsure why he was talking to her. Maybe it was because he had spent so long just with his Pokémon, he had almost forgotten what it was like to talk with people. Like, really talk.

  It felt good.

  “My team has been doing so well, I forgot we were still just at the start,” he confessed. He didn’t mention Celebi, or anything in Ilex for that matter.

  He didn’t need to. That was for him, and for his team. And a gentle reminder that special things happening to you didn’t mean you became special.

  He had to train extra hard to become worthy. Not just his team, but himself also. He needed to become a better trainer.

  They had failed that fight because he had frozen. If he had switched Munchlax sooner…

  He knew Shadow could have won for them.

  But he never even gave her the chance. He had no idea how he was going to face her once she woke up.

  “Mmm, they seemed pretty strong to me,” Gina grunted. “I seem to remember you absolutely crushing mine. My Hoppip is still moping over that Metronome-Body Slam.”

  Teddy winced. He hadn’t really thought what it was like to be on the receiving end of his Team.

  “Oh man…” he whispered.

  “Don’t worry,” Gina laughed. “You’re too earnest, too upfront — nothing like what Whitney does,” she playfully shoved him, tugging another loose smile out of him.

  She laughed at his blush, “it isn’t a bad thing.”

  Teddy smiled gratefully.

  “Honestly, I think that woman enjoys traumatizing people,” she finished with a huff. Teddy sensed a story of her own, but was wise enough not to pry.

  Let her tell him in her own time.

  “Aaanyway,” she sighed, shaking herself from her thoughts. She leaned back and grinned as the sun hit her face, “your team is pretty special. You don’t lose much, do you?” She glanced at him, quirking an eyebrow.

  Teddy found he thought she looked rather sweet, in a sister-he-never-had kind of way.

  “No, not much,” he admitted.

  She nodded, as if she knew the answer all along.

  “So, you gonna give up?” She said, gazing back to the Pokémon happily dancing in the surf.

  Teddy watched, too. He watched as a little Magikarp desperately struggled to jump out of the water.

  He was swatted by a Goldeen like a fly. Then a Tentacool took its swing. Right into a Staryu, who Bubbled him in annoyance.

  It was actually kind of depressing to watch. But the little guy didn’t give up, continuing to Splash its way through the water in search of a safe place.

  He watched as it swam away, beat up but unbowed. If that Magikarp made it, he would be a heck of a Gyarados one day. Heck, maybe that was why Gyarados were universally angry Pokémon.

  The guy had just tried to see the sun for crying out loud.

  Who knew, maybe his team would meet that Gyarados one day.

  “No,” Teddy said, “I won’t give up.”

  The two of them watched the waves for a while longer. At the Wingull circling over head. At the clouds, which hid who knew how many amazing Pokémon, just waiting for him to find with his team.

  It felt good. Teddy had forgotten what it was like, just existing. Not needing to push forward to the next big thing. Even Ilex had been stressful.

  Beautiful, yes, but it still demanded something of him. Demanded him to be the leader for his team.

  The waves shimmering in the sunlight did more for him than he was able to put to words. He didn’t need to be anyone but Teddy.

  Not Gym-Trainer Teddy. Not Team-Rocket-Hunter Teddy. Not Pokémon-Team-Dad Teddy.

  Just… Teddy.

  And it felt so good.

  “I’m glad,” Gina eventually said. “I would have been furious if you gave up before I got the Egg pics.”

  She smiled playfully and nudged him.

  “Wanna grab some lunch?”

  “That would be… great,” Teddy smiled, this time not having to force it.