Touya was stressed. Super stressed. The most stressed he’d felt in ages.
Not only was this looming Sinnoh Tour above and beyond anything he’d ever been asked told to do before, but at some point the trainer discovered that Lisia had texted him. They were only two messages - short, and vaguely cryptic. But they were enough to burden his already occupied shoulders with added weight.
What did she mean by ‘going away soon’? What did she mean by ‘leaving’?! Was she walking away from the contest life? Was she retiring? What did she want to talk about? Lecture him? Admonish him? Gods, was she aware that he still cared? Was she a mind-reader? He was doing his best to care from a distance, was that still not enough for her?
His desire to know was equaled only by his wish to never find out.
He’d texted her back, of course, the moment he saw her messages. And, of course, he never heard back. Now it was his turn to wonder: was she ignoring him on purpose? Or did she simply walk away... literally? Had he missed his chance?
His initial surge of anxiety eventually subsided the longer the days stretched afterwards. But his stress didn’t. And eventually he had to get away from it all.
Ideally he would have hopped to another region - as far away from his Braveman responsibilities as possible. But he was forbidden from doing that. So in the end, the most he could do was seek out this one tiny island in Hoenn, and try pretend it had nothing to do with the mainland before work swallowed him whole. It was just him and this piece of forgotten rock in the middle of the uncharted ocean, separate from civilization.
Fuffles was also there, under a certain definition of ‘there.’ She was high in the sky, out of view, styling herself the ruler of this miniature halidom. A halidom known to modern people as Sootopolis.
And she could see each and every one of her subjects, including Touya.
A tiny human speck walking down the volcanic beach and trying not to feel miserable.
@idoloatria
