Love in the Time of Turmoil

Chapter 16: A Pride

We're now entering the third act of this book, and with a revised itinerary, just about anything could happen. Please be excited for Chapter 16!

Chapter 16

A Pride

There was something very wrong with Ash. Gloria could tell.

She would have written it off as nothing; just a few glances aside or a frown here and there combined with Pikachu's heavy consternation. However, it was a pall that was cast over the whole entire group of her traveling companions. From Astrid, who was far more kinetic than even herself, keeping shifty gazes on a distracted Butterfree, to Bonnie, who'd hardly said a word since they had left Hammerlocke a few days before. At best, she had just been singing to Squishy, as though it gave her comfort.

All in all, it was a difficult set of circumstances, made more so by the fact that her Pokémon were clearly still not getting along.

It felt...insulting. Disrespectful, even. Though she didn't voice it aloud, Gloria felt...small. As if she was beneath inclusion for whatever was troubling them. Looking back, it wasn't first time either. The issue with Bede, to Ash wanting a tour of the power plant without her. She was starting to feel rather excluded. This wasn't helped by how Hammerlocke appeared to have changed them, and her destination.

Letting a sigh part her lips, Gloria took a break from stirring their pot of stew. Toxel tried to take over, climbing up the pot to take hold of the ladle, only to fall over. Clobbopus appeared very displeased at that. Unsure how to sort their issues, and letting Flapple continue her task of fanning the flames, Gloria took her phone out, trying to search for details on her revised itinerary to Spikemuth.

There was nothing. No footage, barely even a ranking, and from everything she could try to glean, there wasn't even a name of the Gym Leader who operated it. Just a mention that there was a Gym.

"Well, this is unhelpful..." she muttered, putting the phone away. Or she would have, before Ash called for her.

"Hey, Gloria, can I borrow your phone? I wanna call Serena." It was a simple and innocuous request, far lighter than the faces Ash had been wearing lately, but it felt good to be asked for help. To be included.

"Sure." Without hesitation, she tossed it towards him, not worried even as he fumbled with it. Having no more distractions, she returned to the pot, but it made her brain no less idle. Raboot soon seemed to noticed, staring at her until he got her attention. "What?"

"Rab rab."

"I'm fine," Gloria insisted. She couldn't help the frown as she did so, removing Toxel from climbing up the pot and placing him near Clobbopus. Toxel reached a hand out, which the mollusk refused until he saw his trainer glaring at him. "I'm fine, Raboot. Just...do you think they're ignoring me?"

"Bah?" Raboot's sliding eyes indicated he knew what she was talking about, both sharing a glance at the table of the silent Astrid and Bonnie, and Ash on the phone. "Rabuh."

"I don't know. Just thought they'd trust me more. I know something happened in Hammerlocke. I'm not stupid," she continued, stirring the stew more vigorously than she would have liked. "I just wish they'd tell me. I've proven myself enough, haven't I? Five badges down, with a sixth on the way! Would've thought the battle with Opal meant something..."

"Raboot..."

"Cor! Cor!" Corvisquire's sudden screeches alerted Gloria to the fact that her stew was done, careful to not make it burn. Once alerted, her trusty bird pulled back and dove at Drednaw, testing his speed and dexterity. He, at least, had been super fired up.