Tangled Up In Red Cords

The New Normal

"So, why are we not meeting next week?" Marnie asked.

"My sister is coming to town," Gloria told her, "and I want to spend as much time with her as possible."

"Katy's coming back?"

Leon perked up a bit. This was pretty abnormal for these meetings. He remained pretty melancholy since losing his champion title. He could fake it well enough for the public, but anyone he knew personally knew how much it was hurting him. Struggling to find another purpose, Leon was quickly falling into a depression.

That was why Gloria conducted this group. With several important people stepping down in Galar and replacing themselves with much younger faces, Gloria decided that they all needed to work together to fill the positions more perfectly. Weekly, they would all meet up to discuss how the progress was going. As much as Gloria tried to pass it off as a professional get-together, it was really just an excuse to get to see her friends more often and help Leon realize how much she still needed his help.

During the week, Gloria would meet up Leon, and they would go check on things around the region. He would show here various techniques he learned that made him a crowd favorite. He showed her how to get into various places and what to do to remain a figurehead in Galar. They would spend time checking on each gym, major and minor, and working with the new trainers. It was a busy job being a champion.

It was rough being Champion. Leon made the job look easy. However, Gloria didn't realize how much of her youth was over by taking on this responsibility. She loved Galar and being able to serve it, but she also missed just hanging out with her friends.

So, once a week, Opal, Magnolia, and Piers brought Bede, Sonia, Hop, and Marnie to Postwick to have a nice dinner together. While they all chatted for a while about business, but eventually, everyone split off into socializing. Sometimes, other gym leaders were invited (or invited themselves). It normally ended up being a big party. For Gloria, it made the job and all the hard work worth it.

"So, instead of spending six minutes talking about progress, we're just going to be hanging out?" Bede asked, bored of it all.

"Exactly!" Hop laughed. "How long has it been since Katy's come back to Galar?"

"Five years," informed Gloria.

"Has it really been that long?" Sonia questioned.

"Where has she been again?" Leon asked.

Piers leaned in a whispered to Marnie, "Since when has Gloria had a sis?"

Marnie whispered back, "I only found out when she told me a couple days ago."

Gloria laughed, "I didn't talk about her much because Kathryn did the gym challenged too, and I didn't want to be compared to her. She lost to Leon in the semi-finals, and after that, she left Galar to find a new adventure. She did the Alolan trial challenge first. Since then, she's been in Unova, training under Elesa."

Sonia leaned on her elbows as she asked, "So, what's bringing her back?"

"Celebrate my victory with me," answered Gloria. "She wasn't able to get off while I was in the finals or any sooner because Unova's tourist season was in effect. They get a surge of new trainers during that time. She did say that they closed the gym when my match against Leon aired so everyone could cheer me on from Kanto."

"It'll be nice to have her back for a bit," Leon pointed out. "If I have to help Sonia pick out another shade of nail polish, I'm going to lose it."

The meeting went on as normal, and as everyone was parting their ways, Gloria made her way back to her house. Before she got too far, Marnie offered to walk with her. As always, Piers tagged along behind Marnie. Two young girls walking alone at night? Not on his watch!