I kinda want to write fic inspired by the ballad of Tam Lin, where after becoming the Galar champion Gloria hears some rumors about a rarely seen, powerful pokemon living somewhere in Glimwood Tangle. She of course decides that catching this pokemon is the job for her and goes to ask everyone in Ballonlea if they know anything about this pokemon, but she doesn’t get all that much info about it. Apparently it only comes out at night, it’s cry resembles that of a weeping human and people leave souvenirs there where it’s believed to live. If they don’t do that, it supposedly causes devastating damage to that person who trespassed on its land. As expected, this just makes Gloria more determined and she sets a camp in Glimwood Tangle in hopes of catching it.
Around midnight she starts to hear some weird noises outside her camp and goes to investigate. While doing so, she picks up some roses and then someone starts to talk to her. She’s terrified by this and orders her pokemon to attack the sudden intruder, only to realize that it’s a boy around her age which makes her relax a little. However, Gloria does notice that there’s something off about this boy - he looks and feels ancient despite them being around the same age, like he was born in the middle ages or something.
He introduces himself as Victor and asks what Gloria is doing in this part of Glimwood Tangle during night - and she says that she’s trying to catch a rare pokemon. Victor of course knows nothing about this rare pokemon, but is more than willing to help Gloria on her search as long as he doesn’t have to be near fairy-type pokemon. This continues for a few weeks and the two become close friends.
At one point Hop visits her during daytime and she tells him all about Victor. Hop thinks the whole thing is extremely sketchy - this boy just came in at one night, is nowhere to be seen at daytime and seems to be afraid of fairy types? Something must be wrong here. Gloria can’t help but admit that he’s right and decides that Victor has to tell her the truth the next time they meet.
So when night comes, Victor comes to meet Gloria again and he’s bombarded with questions - he promises to tell her the whole story if she promises to not do anything unthinkable after hearing it. Promises are made and Victor starts to explain his backstory.
Apparently Victor was born during 1100s and during a one day he was riding with his father and some other people when he fell from the back of his mudsdale straight to arms of some sketchy fairy-type users who may or may not be actual fae folk, but they use fairy types regardless. By using the power of their pokemon, they trapped Victor on a limbo. He’ll never age but he can’t leave Glimwood Tangle, meaning that what the locals on Ballonlea thought was a undiscovered pokemon was actually Victor getting more and more desperate as centuries went by. And the angst doesn’t end there - those sketchy fairy-type trainers have done some weird things before, are planning to do that again soon and Victor is fearing for his life.
Gloria of course isn’t going to let that happen, so she starts to do a lot of research about fairy types and fae in general - so much that Hop and Sonia are starting to worry. Eventually they confront Gloria on the act and demand answers. For Gloria’s surprise the two are surprisingly helpful and help her with her research. They do find the way to break the curse and not a moment too early - when night comes Victor tells Gloria that if they fail, next night may be his last. He does think that Gloria’s plan is crazy, but knows that there’s no stopping her now.
So when the fateful night comes Gloria does everything almost as planned, because those probably fae folk fairy-type trainers don’t take it well when she comes and steals their cute boy. While they do pose some challenge, they aren’t really that hard for the Galar champion to take down. So when morning comes, Victor’s curse breaks - he will now age like any normal person, but he can go wherever he wants and he can do whatever he wants now.
It can go practically anywhere from here.
