Opening lore? I guess.
News reporter: our latest update on the attack at the Pokémon league. Merely hours ago there were several explosions and what appeared to be airships descending onto the championship battle. Both the champion and challenger were moments away from a deciding call when panic ensued.
Reporters have been sending in footage however some appears distorted. Between these airships a large Pokémon or an entity was coming out of nowhere. Local professor theorizes it could have been Giratina but deems it nearly impossible.
Next day’s news: we are sad to announce. There were some fatalities amongst the casualties during yesterday's attack. The challenger for the champions title was saved after the entity vanished by her team of five Pokémon. They caught her from what would have been a fatal fall and threw her towards the fire marshals, though it has been confirmed there were injuries. Witnesses claim that her infernape tried to save her team as the league building fell.
The organisation known as team galactic have been accused of being behind this attack and many affiliates have been taken in for questioning. However the ones present are nowhere to be found, one airship apparently vanishing into nothing.
The tv was shut off by the nurse tending to Sammy who was staring at the ceiling with tears streaming down her cheeks.
she had fought every attempt to help her, insisting she had to get her team back? That they needed her there. However her back had suffered a few fractures and her left leg was broken in three places. It would be a long while before she could go anywhere. She felt the cold and heavy weight of the great ball hanging from her neck on her chest. Her last ditch attempt at stopping whatever it was coming through the rift and destroying everything.
The nurse was speaking but she couldn't hear her. The news was still ringing in her mind. Dead. She refused to believe it. She couldn't. Her heart already hurt being away from them and the possibility that she would never see them again almost killed her. If the nurse's reaction of pushing the crash button was any indication.
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Almost a year passed before Sammy could finally get up and move on her own. Several surgeries had made sure she would walk again with the aid of a cane, otherwise she’d use a wheelchair for walks longer than ten minutes.
The champion had tried getting in touch with her and even offered the title, declaring she would have won or that her team's heroics were a testament to her character.
She refused.
Today however was different. The champion reached out again and offered to bring Sammy to the monument placed in the garden of the new league building.
The monument was shown live at the reopening ceremony and she nearly went mad. Why did they keep her team there and not send them home? It Occurred to her later that given what happened that it wouldn't be possible.
So Sammy found herself in a limo being driven up to the league and pushed in a chair up to the garden gates. When asked if she'd like an escort she declined and slowly hobbled through. She knew the champion was following and ignored them. Once she got in sight of the gravestone she could feel her heartbreak anew.
It was beautifully made out of polished granite, the likeness of her team's faces all looking up from a gold plaque along with their nicknames. She broke. The next few hours were the most painful she’d ever been through, more than coming to in hospital, more than the physical therapy. Her world ended here and the universe clearly felt it. Rain struck and quickly soaked her through. The cold granite and gold faces looked like they were crying too. She couldn't help them, they weren't coming back. It wasn't fair. A year's worth of rage, frustration and sorrow hit her all at once and she fell, sat with her back to the stone unable to face it and clutching her face as she let all these things out in a scream of absolute anguish.
It was midnight before the champion came back, worried that she hadn't gone home. Sammy was picked up and taken inside out of the rain and cold.
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When Sammy turned 23 she had recovered from her injuries but had not taken on another Pokémon since. She kept the great ball on her at all times. Constantly worried that if anything happened to it the world would be at its mercy. She avoided trainers questions and pleas to battle and avoided interviews about what happened even more. When asked ‘hey weren't you that challenger whose team saved the league?’ it tore her in half, wanting to lie just to get away or trying to say yes without breaking down.
A friend happened to suggest travelling a bit. She still had a trainer passport and a not too bad chunk of savings. So with little warning she did just that. Grabbed a boat ticket and just left. She wasn't sure what would happen but as long as it was as far away from painful questions and sympathetic looks it would be Better.
