let's give 'em somethin' to talk about

they think we're lovers, kept under cover

Gloria doesn't meet Hop until she's eight, though they're both born and raised in Postwick. His family originally lives clear on the other side of the small town, and the children don't have many chances to cross paths. However, when she's five, nearly six, it's a big deal that the newest champion of the Pokemon league is a ten-year-old from her hometown, and Hop's family is the talk of the town for a little while there, though Gloria is too young to really be concerned about that.

But then, three years later, the young champion begins putting his earnings towards building a new house for his family, something larger and nicer that he will rarely have the chance to visit. Early in the morning, Gloria wakes up to the sounds of construction, until the house is done and the family moves in.

Hop comes over to introduce himself right away, and from that point on, the two of them are best friends. They play outside together and talk about Pokemon and watch his brother's matches together, and slowly begin to plan for their own go at the gym challenge, as soon as they're old enough, as soon as they're able to get endorsed, and it seems like the day will never come.

But then it does come, and they each go on their own journey, with Gloria emerging as the champion and Hop choosing a new direction. Still, even when they're separate, Hop is always a part of her life. He's the best friend that she's ever had.

~X~

It's been five years since Gloria claimed the title of champion; now, she's twenty, the same age Leon was when she took it over from him. Hop has spent the last five years studying under Sonia, assisting her in her research, and has even released some successful articles on his own. Though they're both kept busy with their respective careers, they see each other often, and still find time to meet up and battle from time to time. Gloria is still undefeated, but Hop considers her the best place for training his team, and would never dream of breaking their tradition now.

Today, they've both invited to what most in the Galar region consider a rather high profile event- a wedding between two gym leaders. Milo and Nessa announced their relationship just a few years after Gloria took her place as champion, and have been at the center of several rumors since, but today, they're officially tying the knot, with several prestigious guests in the Pokemon community in attendance.

For Gloria, it is a chance to not only catch up with Hop, but also Marnie and Bede. The other two were also important rivals during her journey, and the four of them have kept in regular contact since those days, training and battling together whenever they have the chance. Marnie has come into her own as the Spikemuth gym leader, and Bede has calmed down quite a bit, though he never lost his snarky nature.

The four of them sit together during the ceremony, and spend time during the reception getting caught up. Soon enough, Sonia is waving Hop over so that he can talk to whoever she's talking to, and Bede is pulled into a conversation with some other gym leaders, leaving Marnie and Gloria to themselves.

"You know, this is actually the first wedding I've been to," Gloria admits. "At least, that I can remember. I went to one when I was a little kid, but I don't really count that."

"This is my first too," Marnie replies. "Almost thought my first was gonna be my own, but I think my brother would probably die if I said I was gettin' married."

"Is that a concern that might come up in the near future?" she asks, curious. Marnie hasn't mentioned anything about meeting anyone, but maybe it just hasn't come up.

But she shakes her head and says, "No, not any time soon. And you?"

"What, me? I've hardly ever even thought about it," she says, and it's true. She's no stranger to the concept of romance, but as for having romantic feelings for anyone...well, that is something she has absolutely no experience in.

There have been people that she's taken a superficial interest in, thinking them good looking enough that, if she were to fall for them, she wouldn't mind having to look at them every day for the rest of her life, but it's never gone any deeper than that. And sometimes, when she watches romantic movies, she'll feel that dull twang in her chest that makes is bittersweet and almost nostalgic, but she chalks that up to living vicariously through the heroine of the movie.

She just hasn't felt the need to try and enter into a relationship with anyone that she's met over the years. Even when she starts to feel lonely, she can always call one of her friends and feel just fine again, and whenever she starts to think someone she's met is attractive, she loses interest before anything can ever start. It's hard to describe it, but it always feels as though none of them can give her what she wants, as if she already has some sort of idea of what she wants to begin with.

She does her best to put this into words for Marnie, before realizing that she's been rambling for a while about it, and that Marnie has just been stuck listening to her. Trailing off mid-sentence, she says, "...oh, sorry, didn't mean to go on a tangent. I guess I'm just saying that I'm happy where I am. Maybe I just haven't met anyone who's a good fit."

"Really?" asks Marnie. She's looked confused throughout Gloria's entire speech, but now, Gloria realizes that she isn't confused because of the overly complicated explanation. "I always thought..."

"Thought what?" she asks, and her pulse quickens, though she isn't sure what she has to be nervous about.

"I dunno, just always seemed like you had someone, just didn't know if you were ever gonna make it official."

"I really don't," Gloria says, her heartbeat loud in her ears. She remembers the brief crushes- if she can even call the bare bones physical attraction that she always immediately writes off as "not what she wants" as crushes- that she's had over the years, and she swallows hard. Why she's thinking about Leon right now, and how she's thought, a few times, that he had almost the right look, if she had a type, she has no idea. Absolutely no idea, just like she has no idea why she feels like her hands are shaking.

"Sorry, sorry, shouldn't have assumed. You two were always so close, but I guess just cos you grew up together?" asks Marnie, and Gloria looks away from her, looking to where he was called off to.

He's standing there, talking to Sonia about something, and when he catches her gaze, he gives her a wide grin as he waves at her, and it clicks into place. It clicks into place several years too late, proving just how dense she's been about the whole thing, and Gloria gives a slight nod to acknowledge his wave.

Marnie, who hasn't noticed her looking at him, says, "A lot of us thought you an' Hop were gonna end up together, is all."

A fine time for Gloria to realize that she's in love with her best friend of more than a decade.