Chapter 173

“Make way, make way! Future Conference Champion coming through!”

Redi practically burst straight into the restaurant before Sam, and Sam awkwardly followed her in. Just about every person here quieted down to send a look at the newly arriving pair of trainers.

And then everyone saw just who they were.

And the entire place erupted into cheers.

Sam and Redi got to eat free, with food and drinks being slid their way from both the restaurant itself and the other people paying respects. In return, they shared stories, offered tips, and talked about their teams. The boisterous atmosphere lured other people into the building, and that was the perfect bait for the restaurant. Though Sam and Redi got to pig out without paying for anything, everyone who walked in still had to pay for their own meals.

At a certain point, Redi jumped on a table to regale the place with all of their adventures. She spoke of their first battle on the boat, their battle in the Beginner’s Tournament, the time they had fished up a Muk in Ecruteak, Misdreavus’s spooky approach in Ilex, the Lapras in Union Cave, a “wild” Dragonite attacking them while approaching Blackthorn, their fight through the Pokémon horde north of Mahogany Town, and then so much more.

She had a story to tell for every question, and Sam laughed along. The bright atmosphere was infectious, and some people even approached him with questions of their own. He gave answers, advice, and anecdotes in reply.

Out of all of the people to approach him with questions, the vast, vast majority had a Gastly or Haunter on their teams. He’d give them his answer, and then someone else would speak up. Though he was being crowded, he found he didn’t mind this. It was nice to help out.

With the tournament having lasted what felt like ages so far, Sam was already tired heading into the party. By the end of it, he was outright exhausted and needed to escape. Redi still looked pumped and full of energy, but she caught his glance and understood he needed to step how. Somehow, she managed to get them a chance to slip out of the restaurant, and then they found themselves a nice, quiet bench that let them look out at the entire town.

“Ugh, yeah. All of my Pokémon are exhausted,” Sam said to Redi as they took in the sea of lights before them. “I might have to use a Haunter in my next match. My team went from a bunch of tough battles straight into a match against Xavier, and then they had to use whatever they had left in our battle against you.”

Redi laughed at the unintentional compliment.

“I think Ursaluna passed out in the Pokémon Center and still hasn’t woken him up,” she said. “Porygon’s in my Pokégear, and Wyrdeer likes to go to bed early. I’ve already sent Kangaskhan back home, and she’s making sure Baby is getting all of the candy he needs.”

Sam laughed as well, and he let out a sigh as he thought of his team.

“Yeah. Typhlosion is basically both my starter and finisher, and just think about everything she’s gone through. She kept standing even after Honchkrow’s attack when facing Xavier, she finished it off with the strongest Blast Burn I’d ever seen her use, and then against you, she did the same thing to finish off Ursaluna with a Flame Wheel.”

“Huh,” Redi replied. “So if your team’s so exhausted, are you worried about your next battle?”

“Eh,” Sam said with a grunt. “Maybe, but not really. Most of us are pretty tired, but we should still have a few good fights left in us. We still have a few tricks left, too. Like, Gengar hasn’t even used Haze to punish anyone who tries to set up against us—and did you know Dragapult knows Sucker Punch?”

“Wow. She never used that against Dragonite,” Redi replied..

“That’s because she didn’t need to,” Sam said, continuing. “That whole battle with Dragonite was all about straightforward clashes. And then at the end, Sucker Punch should have been used, but she was too far away to slip past Draco Meteor. But her use of Dragon Darts was pretty much inspired by that, anyway.”

Sam and Redi had received a pretty stern talking-to after their battle. As much as it was a victory that Dragapult and Dragonite had evolved, immediately throwing themselves into such a serious battle could have been a risk. Evolutions needed time to stabilize, though, as Dragon Types, this match was likely to their benefit. Evolving and immediately trying to prove their superiority against another Dragon probably helped them out, but fainting so soon right after likely wasn’t good.

“Dragonite is still in the Pokémon Center,” Redi said, “but she’s not injured. The Chansey there are helping her get used to having hands.”

“Dragapult is asleep,” Sam said with a sigh, “but I’m not sure about her chances from here. She’s stronger than ever, but she only has one Dreepy with her. A Dragapult uses its Dreepy to help stabilize its flights, so unless she wants to slow down, she’s going to have a pretty nasty drift to one side that our future opponents can take advantage of. And I doubt she’ll get another Dreepy until I find some way to talk to Dragon Tamers in Galar.”

The only Pokémon on Sam’s team that he could say were truly ready for their next battle were Annihilape and Mismagius. Annihilape could take and recover from a punishment quickly, and Mismagius didn’t actually have that much stamina to recover. Technically, she tired out quickly, but she recovered just as fast and could shift a lot of that exhaustion off onto others by clever applications of Pain Split.

“But that’s enough of the Conference,” Sam said, turning to the side and throwing an arm over the bench. “I know it’s the big thing on everyone’s mind, but I have to know—”

He spoke in a reporter's voice for this.

“So! Miss Meredith! Now that you’re free of all these battles, what are your plans next?”

“Well,” she said alongside a giggle, “I’m going to go to Pokémon Land!”

Both of them cackled at that joke.

“But... for realsies, I’ve been thinking about this. Sam, I know the rest of the Conference still needs to happen, but I think... I might pay a Psychic Type trainer to teleport me home.”

Sam sat up in his seat.

“You’re leaving? So soon? You lost, and now you’re going home?”

Redi’s eyes widened at his shocked tone, and she quickly waved her arms in a panic to try to settle his reaction.

“No, no! It’s not like that! I’m not abandoning because you beat me! It’s just...”

Her gaze fell, and she returned to staring out over the city. Sam knew this was serious, and he returned to his normal position on the bench to stare out with her as well.

“I left home without saying goodbye to anyone,” Redi said quietly. “I took Teddiursa, and then I just... dashed. I used all of my savings to buy myself a ticket on a boat, and from what I heard from my parents, Mama Bear was furious.”

She let out a conflicted laugh.

“My parents were terrified until my aunt contacted them and told them I was with her, and then I spent months without calling home because I was scared about what they were going to say. But I kept advertising their business, and my Pokémon and I kept getting stronger. And then, when I finally called them to talk about Mr. Pokémon, they were just... happy that I had contacted them at all.”

“I... don’t want to stay so far away from them any longer,” Redi said. “I want to go home. I want to see my parents. I want to see Mama Bear. Our Machoke. Our Machop. And everyone else. I’ve been gone for months at this point, and I want to see them again.”

“Plus,” she said, a bit of laughter returning to her voice. “Imagine their reaction to Dragonite! I’ve talked to her, and both of us want to see the looks on their faces when they witness a pseudo-Legendary Pokémon helping them carry everything around.”

Sam laughed alongside her at that idea, and then he let out a long sigh. It hurt to know that Redi would be leaving so soon, but at the same time, he completely understood.

“I get it,” he said. “I was able to call my mom all the time, but I think if she hadn’t come here, I would have wanted to return. As much as I love traveling the world and seeing all these new places and training with so many Ghost Types, I also miss home. I would have been too homesick to stay.”

Redi wiped her eyes, nodding, but she had a smile on her face. Despite her defeat, she hadn’t mourned her loss in the slightest. She’d been eliminated from the tournament, but everything she’d done had been a victory.

She had earned all eight Gym Badges. She had earned herself a sponsorship. She had gathered a genuinely incredible collection of rare and powerful Pokémon, and she had made it into the top sixteen of a tournament that involved hundreds.

Her achievements firmly placed her within the top few percent of every trainer in Johto. Honestly, she probably would have had the chance to go even further if she hadn’t faced Sam in the previous round.

“All that time apart, just to meet up for a week and a half, and now, I’m heading home,” she mumbled.

“Why are you looking so sad?”

Redi suddenly looked up only to find that Sam was standing, and he smiled down at her and held out her hand.

“Sure, you’re heading back, but is this really the end? I’m still in the Conference, and we’ve only been through one region. Are you telling me that you’re planning on ending your journey here?”

Redi stared at him, wide-eyed, her gaze flicking between the bright smile on his face and his offered hand.

And then, she laughed. Joyously.

She clasped his arm, and he dragged her up to her feet.

“Yeah! No point in getting sad—we’ve only been to one region out of so many throughout the entire world!” she cheered. “And the Conference is still going on! We have to support you! As soon as I get home, I’ll actually spend some money—”

Sam gasped, and Redi rolled her eyes.

“I’ll actually spend some money,” she continued, “and buy a bunch of snacks while gathering my entire family up! I’ll even grab the projector we use for movie nights! Because of me, you’ll have the support of my entire family behind you by the time your next match starts tomorrow!”

“Thanks, Redi,” Sam said with a laugh.

“No problem, Sam. You’d do the same for me, right?”

He blinked, mouth hanging open without any response behind it. He would try to do the same for her, but he didn’t exactly have as many people and Pokémon to gather up as Redi. 

Seeing his stare, Redi once again burst into laughter.

“Aw, come on, Sam! You’d let me down like that?” she asked, batting her eyes.

“No, no!” he said quickly. “I’d walk all over town talking about you! I’d have my Ghost Types enter every home in Dewford! I’d get my mom to share the news with all of her contacts, and then you’d have the entire island shouting your name!”

“Nah, with your Ghost Types, they’d be shouting your name out of fear,” she countered. “Anyway, once I have everything set up, I’ll take pictures of everyone and send them to—”

She froze.

“Hold on, you have an email, right?”

Sam froze as well.

“Did we really never exchange emails?” he asked, barely believing his own words.

“I mean, we sent each other messages during the last month of the season, but we usually just passed notes through the Pokémon Centers or talked through calls,” Redi said with a sniff. “We were usually out training, and Porygon would get hungry. Neither of us had access to any usable computers.”

“Shoot. Oh, uh, yeah.” Hurriedly, Sam checked his pockets to see if he had any loose paper on him, but Redi just pulled out her PokéGear with a typable screen open and placed it in his hands. “Okay, thanks. I’ll just give you the same email I use for online forums.”

“...I think I have to make a new one,” Redi muttered. “Now that I think about this, I probably can’t just use my family’s business email to send messages to you.”

The idea of that made Sam laugh.

They quickly swapped contact information, and they made jokes about how they had never bothered to do this until now. Afterward, they started to head back to the restaurant.

As stuffed as they were, they wanted to see just how much they’d be able to bring back to their teams.

“Oh yeah. By the way, who’s your next opponent tomorrow?” Redi asked as they walked back to the people so willing to give them free food.

“Oh. Victor, I think,” Sam said.

“That other first-season trainer?”

“Yeah, but I’m not too worried,” he replied. “I’ve already beaten him twice, now. Sure, it might have been a while since our last fight, but how hard could he possibly be?”

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Author Note:

Depending on how much I include in the next chapter, there are only 2 - 4 chapters left in total. The Ghost Specialist will have concluded by the end of next week. 

Next chapter on Monday.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Dragonite
Kangaskhan
Porygon2
Ursaluna
Wyrdeer

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