[IC] Galarian Stories

[Jumbus]

---

Isla walked away on a high note from the cameras and continued back to join the increasing group. It was perhaps best for herself, Zeke, and well just about everyone that she was out of earshot for the last part. Or else she may have gone back in for round two. Perhaps someone on the outside may think that Isla would be able to see her continuing to brag about her claim to be the champion, or putting others down about falling from the minor league, as wrong. Unfortunately this is not the case, Isla has zero regrets for something like that and is incapable of seeing any of it as wrong. In her mind it was just the truth about what had happened and what was going to happen. So she just went to join the group with a skip in her step as if nothing was wrong.

Isla admired the flight show above her as she approached. She was still jealous about all that she needed a flying type of her own. All Isla could really do display-wise was produce a bit of chilly weather. Well, if she had brought her Pokemon. She had yet to get this whole gym thing and was not expecting everyone to have their Pokemon. She had never seen them come out on television, so she thought they might enjoy staying home in Chirchester. Isla knew Abomasnow hated the place anyway so it wasn't a hard choice to make. But she still kept Alolan Sandslash on hand just because he is too damn cute.

"I like your work Fi. I'm going to need to get a high flyer for myself one day."

---

The ceremony was great, better than she could imagine. Isla could never come to watch it in person and could only watch it from a screen with shaky reception during training breaks. It was breath taking. But the was one bit of criticism that she had. Why the hell was she not apart of it? Isla sat on the sidelines, the wonder of the ceremony clashing with her hurt of being pushed aside. She even got on her gym leader costume for it, which was boiling her inside. She would get the occasional person recognizing her from the audience and she would do her best smile and wave whenever that happened.

Once the ceremony was over she met up with everyone in the lobby. She finally took off her ski googles and beanie and let out a big huff, as if she only just gotten the ability to breath again. "Next time, someone tell me if I don't need to wear my gym leader gear. I just about boiled in there. Ski gear, in Motostoke of all places." She begun throwing the rest of the ski gear off of her as she returned to her previous light sporty outfit.

"I need a drink and a meal. You coming Zeke? I think I owe you at least a drink after today. Gotta make sure you aren't too bent out of shape about that whole thing, you know?" Isla lightly hit Zeke's arm as if to say 'no hard feelings'.

Someone may be surprised that Isla made no mention of the missing champ. She was bent out of shape about it, but it wasn't anything for her to call out yet. Why had she not appeared? It was something Isla cared about, the champion is the ultimate mountain to climb after all. But it wasn't something she could change and it didn't look like anyone else had a clue. Guess she will let the alcohol bring it up as the night goes on.

Mentions: Zeke@Prints Avoid Fiona@Psyker Landshark

[Exit]

^{Some bbcode may not display correctly on your device.}

	______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ __________________... in Motostoke at the Motostoke Stadium

mentions:                  interactions: @Majoras End

Thomas was somewhere else. Physically he'd been among the others, both on the field and now here in the lobby sending off the trainers of the larger crowds. But while he wore his usual smile and bright eyes and while he shared in the excitement and awe of every hand that passed through his, his mind was stuck on the two whose absence weighed curiously on everyone's mind. The chairman's weary dismissal did little to dissuade his worry.

Not only was Victoria not one to miss out on the festivities that were the season's open, Elijah was never the type to be late. The man had more structure to his life than a well built gift shop and if anything, it was Elijah who remained Thomas's gut check. As the smarter of the two and the one with much better habits than his own, Elijah often made sure Thomas wouldn't arrive late to important functions, even those he had no part in, or checked in to make sure Thomas wasn't trapped under his own clumsy mistakes. The sentiment extended also to Moira.

He glanced over to the Dragon type leader who was busy with her own dwindling crowd of admirers. The plate armor she often donned during her outings as her gym persona, who's attitude often mirrored her own, was a constant draw to enthralled children and the like. They'd timidly reach out and place their hands on it, gawking in amusement at the reflections they found in the polished steel and making faces back at themselves. The adults would awkwardly apologize while fetching their children away and the last few trainers would follow soon after, pushing past each other with trainer cards in hand looking for a signature. She seemed strong in it; Safe, and sometimes looking at her made him forget that they were all wearing masks for these people and it was a hard thing to know what they were really feeling. He had to wonder if she was as worried about Elijah and Victoria as he was... or if exhaustion from a long day and soon to be longer night was influencing his concern.

When the excitement finally died to a hum, and the other leaders had gathered to discuss dinner plans, Thomas pulled away and found Moira, inconspicuously drawing her attention.

"Hey. Did... did Elijah say anything to you about not showing up today?"

"Uh...No? No, he didn't tell me if he was busy or not. You?"

Thomas shook his head. "No... and that's what worries me. It's not like him to not show up and even less like him to 'no-show' and not say anything about it" As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and swiped to his messages. Past the first few contacts was Elijah with messages still unread. He opened the conversation and the last three texts he sent stared back at him:

He felt a thread poke him in the back of his neck and reached up to adjust his collar. Already not entirely comfortable in his jersey, the gradually worsening anxiety was only making it harder to ignore and more than anything now he wanted out of it. With no comfort to be found in his phone, no answers from Moira and a jersey stifling his air, he decided that a change would do him some good.

"I'm getting out of this.." Thomas told Moira, putting his phone away and turning to her again. "It's getting itchy. Uh... text me when they've decided where we're going." He started toward the lockers as he continued. "Oh! And you looked great today. Good job!" A nod at her armor and a warm smile was his final farewell, for now, before turning to enter the locker room. However, before he moved inside, embarrassment tugged at his memory and he found himself quickly turned around and headed in the opposite direction toward 'Lost and Found'.

[Lord Orgasmo]

---

The commotion had been broken up by none other than the chairman's assistant, Cereus. Joseph had always felt the slightest bit of resentment from him. There could only be so many blondies. But either way, it was time for the ceremony to start. The main gym leaders would be out on the field, while the minor league leaders would be on the sidelines. Joseph was perfectly fine being on the sidelines, what with the enormous influx of trainers he just finished fighting, he was kinda tired, all things considered.

The ceremony itself was about what you'd expect, the chairman introducing the leaders, the crowd cheering, and deafening noise. So much noise. Though there was one discrepancy. Where was Elijah? Or the champion for that matter? Maybe they both coincidentally hot sick? How odd. He noticed a few of his fellow leaders let out their pokemon, so why not join them? Ares or Athena would probably be his best bet, but with how much fighting Ares had been doing, he probably just wanted to rest. Athena it was then. Joseph tapped the button on his pokeball, letting Athena the Aggron out next to him. As she appeared, her metal armor glistened in the various lights. "Hope you like the celebration, Athena. We wouldn't be here if bot for you guys. Everyone else is either too big, or too tired to come out right now, but have fun and hang out for a while why don't you?"

---

The ceremony was over at last, and everyone had started to filter out, and the gym leaders reconvened. From what he could overhear, apparently the champion had gone missing quite suddenly. Either something terrible had happened, or she was planning a really big surprise party. But apparently, that wasn't important, because who cares about two missing people who are important to one of the biggest events, if not the biggest, in Galar?

As he thought, there were suggestions of what and where to eat. The first thought to cross his mind was Nordin's restaurant, but he didn't exactly seem like the kind of guy who'd treat them for free. Especially with Athena's appetite. Fiona suggested somewhere Johtonian. "Actually, if you're looking for somewhere Johtonian, there's a place in Hammerlocke that's been around since I was a kid. The folks who run it are a little old now, but they still make good food when I go there on occasion. The place is called 'Surfing Charizard'. It's even got a surfing charizard on the front of the building. I know the owners pretty well, so I could probably call and get us the restaurant reserved if you guys wanted."

[Solace]

Mentions: the homies

Malik was happy to see that his arrival was mostly well received by the other collective gym leaders that preceded and followed after him, returning the gestures like Liam's hug and Nordin's nod. It wasn't long after that there would be another handful of dynamic entrances, finding himself particularly impressed with Moira's Dragon Dance and the exhibition from Fiona's Flying-types and clapping quietly with the performances. A gathering of stars such as theirs only occurred every so often, and while they were each their own rivals in that regard, it was the feeling of unity from the ceremony that he always loved. Nothing could have possibly spoiled the night for him; that is, until his mind drifted to the rather haughty greeting that he'd received from one Hestia Quintell. 'Of course,' he thought to himself, internally rolling his eyes. 'Somethin's always up with her.'

The Espeon that was perched on his shoulder, however, did not seem to share any of his previous compliments, as Lady was also not the greatest admirer of Moira's dragons. His hand rose to stroke the feline's head, a light chuckle passing his lips. "Heheh, don't worry, we'll get 'em this time," he reassured his little friend.

---

Cereus Rothschild had been hard pressed to quickly usher the gym leaders into their respective preparations, and it was only a matter of time until the ceremony truly began in earnest. Though he would not be taking the pitch as one of the main attractions, Malik didn't have a problem with staying outside of the spotlight in the last few years. He watched on as the familiar stature of the Chairman announced the commencement of the Gym Challenge and began to introduce each gym leader one by one, only counting seven out of the total eight. 'Teach?' It came off as a shock to him that Elijah of all people was absent, but the magnitude of the situation only seemed to worsen when it was apparent to everyone that Victoria was also missing from the ceremony.

It was an awkward predicament for everyone to be in as the stadium was clearing out; he could even hear the theories begin to chatter up among the attendees, and it was an entirely different landscape on social media. Malik was leaning against the wall in the corner of the lobby as he dialed Elijah's phone number, frowning when it took him straight to the voicemail. He was even more disappointed to receive the same outcome when he tried to call Victoria, sighing heavily. "Hey V, what's goin' on? Gimme a call when you can," he was in the process of leaving a voicemail for Victoria when he was cut short by the arrival of a familiar face, cutting the message short and stuffing the phone back into his pocket.

"I knew I'd see you out there, Malicia," Malik smiled towards the person who approached him, crossing his arms together. The purple-haired girl mirrored the same motion, her lilac eyes brimming with confidence. A distinctly patterned Dreepy circled around her average stature before stopping between them, its curious eyes studying him closely. He looked at the Dynamax Band on her wrist that he'd given to her along with his endorsement, nodding towards it. "Hope you're ready to put that to some good use, you're gonna need it. Not many other challengers have one."

"That's because there aren't any other challengers like me," Malicia whipped her hair to the side with a conceited gait forward, calling the Dreepy back to her presence. The small dragon twirled around her hands before climbing onto her shoulder, letting out a small cry. "Make sure the Champion comes back by the cup so I can take the title and make it actually mean something."

Malik simply laughed at the girl's elevated faith in herself. "Get through the eight gyms and I'll consider it."

"Well, I beat you, so I don't see myself having any sorta problem," Malicia never seemed amused with any answer that she received, even if it was in jest. She turned around, looking over her shoulder as she showed off the number '1' on the back of her uniform. "So when I make it to the Cup, I'll just beat you again."

Before he had the chance to respond, the purple-haired girl had already walked off, disappearing beyond the masses. Scoffing, Malik opted to join up with the rest of the gym leaders that were situated at a different part of the lobby, feeling the familiar rumbling at the side of his belt again. 'I don't like her.' "I know, I know," he brushed off the words of concern as he reunited with the others, catching onto their ongoing discussion about finding a place to dine. "Mmm, sushi," Malik added to the rumbling, feeling the pangs of hunger clip at his stomach. "Haven't gotten 'round to tryin' out that place yet. No objections from me."