Galar league friends

Chapter 18

"Okay, you hold this banner and make sure to use all your energy swinging it," said Bridget. She handed the banner to Bede and then handed little ones to her pokemon. The little girl had changed from her normal outfit to a dress that had the colors of the ghost gym. She had her long hair in pigtails, and the barrettes looked like Allister's mask. She also face painted the ghost symbol on her cheeks.

"Don't you think you're overdoing it a little," said Bede as he watched the girl grab a vuvuzela to play.

Bridget looked over to Allister's mum, Alice, and they both replied, "Nope. "

Bridget cheered for the other leaders during their matches, but everyone knew who she was really rooting for.

"Allister's match is next! He is going to fight Mrs. Melony," said Bridget excitedly.

"You know that Melony is a higher ranked gym leader, so he probably won't win," said Bede.

The boy quickly realized that was the wrong thing to say since Bridget went on a long-winded rant about the gym rankings and how Melony beat Raihan every time they fought even though Raihan had the highest rank gym.

Bede looked at Alice for help, but the woman just laughed at how passionate Bridget was. After she finished laughing, Alice used her phone to contact Bridget's parents.

The phone floated in front of Bridget, and she stopped her rant when she noticed her papa on the screen.

"Hi, Papa! How is the bakery?"

"Hello, my little tink. What did we talk about you fighting with Bede," said the girl's father.

"We aren't fighting, Papa. We are debating about gym rankings and the leaders' strengths," replied Bridget.

The two talked for a few more minutes before the phone went back to Alice.

Bridget tugged on Bede's sleeve. "I'm sorry if I was being rude. I just don't like people underestimating Allister. People can be so mean to him, and I feel like I have to protect him," she said.

"Allister is lucky to have a friend like you," said Bede as he grabbed one of the banners to wave in support of Allister.

Bridget grinned cheekily at Bede and hugged him unexpectedly.

"By the way, why does your father call you his little tink," asked Bede as he accepted the hug. There was no way he would be able to get out of it even if he tried.

"Papa is from Paledea, and there is a pokemon line called tinkatink. They are supposed to be tiny and mischievous, and he says that I am one of them."

Bede nodded at her explanation.

"Looks like my little poppet's match is about to start," said Alice as she passed earbuds to Bede, "You are going to need these."

As soon as Allister walked out to start his match with Melony, Bridget started playing with vuvuzela brought. The young girl was a skilled singer, but the vuvuzela was not among her gifts. Bede had never been more grateful for the noise-damping earbuds. He wondered if he could get away with hiding the instrument when Bridget wasn't looking. This was going to be the ultimate test of his sanity.

Allister took a deep breath as he walked out onto the field. He loved battling, but the attention could be a little too much. As long as he focused on the match and not the people in the stadium, he should be fine. If anything, he knows where his mum and Bridget are seated so he can look for them if he gets too nervous.

"Don't be nervous. Give this battle your all because I won't go easy on you just because you are one of my favorite gym leaders," said Melony when she shook hands with Allister.

"Y-yes, I'm going to do my best," replied Allister.

Melony might have been the ice type specialist, but her smile was heartwarming to Allister. She was the unofficial mother of the gym leaders for a reason.

With a deep breath, Allister sent out his first pokemon, Grimm the dusknoir. The first pokemon he had to face was her frostmoth. It was no match for Grimm's rock tomb and thunder punch combo. Neither gym leader had a type advantage over the other, but several of his pokemon knew type effective moves against hers. Melony's poor Mr. Ryme didn't stand a chance being part psychic type.

He sighed in relief when his polteageist finally took down Melony's lapras with a well-timed giga drain. It was a close battle, but he pulled out a win. Now that the battle was over, he started getting nervous again. Would Mrs. Melony be angry at him for beating her? He didn't think he could handle that.

"That was a great battle, dear. I will be cheering for you during your next battle," said Melony, smiling.

Allister nodded and shook her hand. He was so glad that Mrs. Melony wasn't mad at him. Now, all he had to do was get his pokemon healed and get ready for his next match.

"Allister! That match was so ace!"

Allister smiled as he saw Bridget enter the locker room. She was dressed up in his gym colors and had her pokemon following her. Her pokemon were carrying little banners with ghost symbols on them.

Bridget hugged him tight and asked for his pokeballs so she could heal them for his next battle.

Allister was so grateful that he had a friend like Bridget. She wasn't scared of his ghost pokemon, and she was always ready to argue with someone if they got his food order wrong.

It was always entertaining watching her heal his pokemon, especially Grimm, since he was such a large pokemon. The Dusknoir used to love sitting on everyone's laps when he was a duskull, but he was too big to do that now. The large pokemon leaned against the lockers so Bridget could heal him. She healed Flickwick the chandelure and Coraline the cursola afterward.

"Does Lady Grey need to be healed?"

The polteageist in question floated over to Bridget's lap and snuggled her. Bridget giggled and healed the little ghost pokemon.

"All healed! Now, you guys should take a kip before the next match. Your opponent will either be Nessa or Gloria," said Bridget.

"You should take a kip too. You healed my pokemon and Marnie's pokemon earlier," said Allister.

Bridget nodded and asked the security guard to wake them before Allister's next match. She wasn't about to tell Allister that she healed Bede's pokemon, too. Allister was a worrier, and she didn't want him to be distracted before a match.

They got into a cuddle pile between their pokemon and had blankets spread on top of them. Today was going to be a long one, and they needed all the rest they could get.