Pokémon: Out of the Woods | A Galar, Unova & Sinnoh Fanfiction

Chapter 13: Lonely

Cameras flashed outside the Ruby Swirl Dessert Bar in Wyndon. Only one fan asked for a photo with Khalid when he arrived, but now people had to push and squeeze through the crowd of fans and paparazzi to get out. He wasn't the only attraction. Poppy, his girlfriend, was the grandchild of four world-famous Trainers: Red, Lillie, Dawn and Hilbert. Even her parents, Verbena and Lambert, were famous. Lambert was a musician. Verbena was one of Wisteria's Frontier Brains. Then there was Poppy herself. She fronted a popular rock band, My Fiery Wrath, whose last album was almost entirely about her on-off romance with the Galar League Champion. It was no wonder the paparazzi couldn't get enough of them. Sightings were always sensational.

Khalid knew he would be chased by the media regardless. Whether he was training, clubbing, watching battles or DJing with Ace, his best friend, someone would see him and snap a photo. Still, whenever he was seen with Poppy, the attention doubled. They escaped the crowd only to find a new one growing outside his apartment block. There was the answer to the question journalists always asked: why did they keep breaking up and getting back together? Poppy said it was their differing schedules. It was really because when she wasn't there, Khalid looked at the photos, heard her songs and thought of her fondly enough to invite her back; but as soon as she arrived, he remembered why he distanced himself.

Truthfully, like most Galar League Champions before him, he was lonely. It wasn't that he was in the same terrible, isolated situation that Leon once was. There was no manager or creepy chairman controlling him. He was technically free to do whatever he wished, but with millions of eyes on him, he wasn't exactly free. That was the last thing Ace needed at that moment. He was nervous enough already. So Khalid replied to Poppy's text, letting him know her band's Galarian tour would soon begin, instead.

She released her Jigglypuff on the balcony overlooking Wyndon's rooftops and winding streets glittering below. It immediately darted under the deck chair. Even though it had a type advantage against Khalid's Garchomp, it was terrified of it.

'Be careful. We'll have the ghost of Ardos moving in if he sees Jigglypuff.'

Most people who kept Jigglypuff laughed at that joke. Ardos was known for constantly reminding one of his victims that his ex-girlfriend and son lived alone with one Jigglypuff, so he could easily dispose of them. Poppy rolled her eyes. She didn't find it funny.

'Well, you're not alone, are you? You've got all those big Pokémon...'

'I didn't mean it like that... I was just... never mind...'

It seemed clearer than ever that they were incompatible. Khalid's life revolved around Pokémon battling. Poppy actively disliked battling. When Jigglypuff wasn't hiding from Khalid's Pokémon, it argued with them.

'What happened to Dra... what's it called?'

'Dragapult?'

'What happened to her?'

'What?'

Poppy pointed to a barely-healed wound on Dragapult's back.

'Oh, that was Mum's Haxorus. It's alright, innit, Dragapult?'

Dragapult nodded, but Poppy wasn't convinced.

'It looks painful...'

How did Khalid politely tell her that it only seemed that way because she avoided battling at all costs? He was too tired to work it out, so he said nothing at all.

'Want to hear the song I'm working on?'

'Oh, yeah. Alright.'

Poppy picked up the guitar that had a stand, but never occupied it. As usual, it was flat on the floor because one of the Pokémon knocked it over. Once Poppy had Khalid's approval of her new song, the listening session became a guitar lesson. Khalid could hardly play it. He preferred playing the keyboard or electronic drum kit in his spare room, which Dragapult also enjoyed, but they rarely had time. From then until the morning, he could almost forget that there was no universe in which he and Poppy were compatible.