The Shield of Galar

Reminiscing

Bea is up with the morning sun, getting into her uniform, she ties the knot on her shirt, and starts her morning sprint alongside her Machamp. Thoughts run through her head, as she plays out how best to tackle the conversation with Gloria later. She needs to say enough, without saying too much. Balancing that fine line, will be the trick.

Having reached her typical end point on the far side of Stow-on-Side, she turns back, and starts to see people begin to make their ways through their morning routines.

"Morning Bea," She gets from the baker, who has a small bit of bread all ready as Bea passes.

"Thank you," Bea mumbles around the bread as she pays for it and continues her sprint.

During it, she says good morning to all the people she always runs into. Each morning could be documented, and every entry would be the same.

The only time things were different in Stow-on-Side was during the Gym Challenge phase. Some preliminary matches are always done here, and when the matches are coming through, everything transforms.

Stow-on-Side always has a moderate tourist income, so there are always locations to cater to that, but when people are traveling from all over to see matches, they change their tune. The one or two stands or shops turn to twenty, as people grab souvenirs, or pictures taken by different photographers within the stadium during the matches. Half the money people make in a year is during those three months that mark the start of prelims, to the end of the Challenge Tournament.

It was during one of these runs that she first met Gloria over five years ago. That year, Allister had been named the gym leader due to Bea's supposed subpar performances during the Challenge the year before, and during that year's preliminaries. Not that her brother hadn't earned it, even at age ten he was a powerful and well respected trainer of ghost types.

Still, it had left her in a bit of a sour mood when the time for the challenge came around. Bede, the now Gym Leader of Ballonlea, had been the first to strut into town. The difficulty he had against Allister showed as pure frustration on his face. Likely because the type matchup of ghost vs the psychic types he used at the time made the battle an uphill climb. Much to her dismay at the time, his smug face lingered until his eventual expulsion from the challenge by Rose.

The next two people are faces she does not remember, but Marnie was challenger number four. This battle caused issues after for Allister as he was completely ripped apart, and he felt very deflated after the match. After a night consoling him, he went in the next day and beat three opponents. Two of which would surrender the challenge, the third of whom was Hop, who went in and beat him the next day.

Then, lingering behind the whole group was Gloria, whose smiling face at the early hours of the morning caught Bea off guard. The purple skirt and shirt she was wearing were straight lines out of a Hammerlocke Boutique, and clashed with the huge bag she had slung over her shoulder. She had sunglasses which hid her eyes from the rays of the rising sun, but her enthusiasm was unmistakable. After noticing Bea, she came skipping over.

"Hey, so I just got into town, and was wondering if you knew any decent hotels?" Gloria had asked her.

Bea was caught completely of guard. "Oh, uh, there is one by the stadium a little further into town. It has discounted rates for trainers in the Gym Challenge,"

"Oh great," Gloria beamed, and took both Bea's hands and shook them in appreciation. Just before walking away, the girl facepalms. "I'm an idiot,"

"O...oh?" Bea gasped at the reaction as this Challenger comes back over to her.