Rival Me This [Pokémon Fanfiction]

03| Yes, Gym Leaders can be Broke

The moment Blue pointed out the room where Bede would be staying at the apartment, which was Blue's office with a pull-out couch, Bede shut himself inside with no signs of opening the door anytime soon. Blue didn't even had a chance to give him a blanket or anything, so he left one folded next to the door. The couch had a couple small pillows, so Bede could use those.

Silver was sitting at Blue's small dining table, messing around on his Pokégear, while Blue retrieved a bottle of liquor from a cabinet. He did appreciate his alcohol, usually having a drink almost every night. No matter how little money he had, he'd always keep some aside for booze... and rent, and food as well, but those felt secondary sometimes.

"So, two more days, huh?" Silver asked.

"Yep," Blue said simply, pouring himself a glass. Maybe it was appropriate to pour himself a little extra tonight. After doing so, he sat down at the table with Silver and took a long drink before speaking again. "So whaddya think of him?" He jabbed a thumb at the closed office door.

"I like him," Silver said with a slight grin. "He has spunk and definitely doesn't seem like he'd be a pushover as a Leader."

Blue could agree with that. "You can say that again. So many Leaders nowadays seem to be ready to bend to the will of the chairmen and the League Board in general. I can't tell if they just care about the rules that much or wanna suck up to the higher-ups."

"It's probably a mixture of both. The newer Leaders are afraid to give themselves some space when they first start out, and those ones become the sticklers later on," Silver said.

He was right about that. Pryce, Olympia, and especially Kabu were all nice, but they were always ready to point out if everything stuck to the letter. "I can't imagine how awkward the Elite conferences are," Blue said. "It's all either young people or fossils. Oh, and Agatha. Just... ancient."

"She would kick your ass if she heard you say that," Silver said.

Blue took a swig from his glass, smiling wryly. "That's why I'm saying it here."

"All this is besides the point. What I'm saying is that it makes sense that Bede wouldn't have the highest opinion of the Board," Silver said. "After all, Galar's former chairman personally expelled him from the Gym Challenge after endorsing him."

"Yeah, I know that," Blue sighed. He still felt guilty for speaking so rashly earlier, and it didn't seem like Bede would take an apology.

"Apparently Rose was the closest thing Bede had to a parent," Silver pointed out. At Blue's puzzled look, Silver explained. "Bede has no family."

That was something new, and it surprised Blue. "Wait, what? That wasn't mentioned in any of the info I was given about him." Well, do you go around announcing that you and Daisy were raised by Gramps? An old pain hit him as the lack of information made more sense. "Never mind..." he muttered.