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It was a particularly rainy day, but that much is common in Galar. Allister had just been blindsided by the news that somebody else was joining their pretty small family. Up to this point it had only been him, Bea, and their respective Pokémon keeping the house alive. And while Allister mostly yearns for peace and quiet, he can't deny he often thinks about what it'd be like to have somebody else around. Be it a mother, another sibling who hopefully isn’t as mentally scarred as either him or Bea are for their sake… anyone, really.
So for once, The silent boy of mystery was actually kind of excited to meet someone new! Still a nervous trainwreck, but.. not showing resistance. That's as good a start as any.
And as for Bea, she's a master at being difficult to read. Being pressured by your parents at a young age into only demanding perfection out of yourself and never to settle for anything less will naturally make you really good at repressing feelings and faking your emotions.
So It should definitely come as a surprise that Bea actually kept an earnest smile throughout the whole flying taxi ride from Stow-on-Side aaaaall the way to Wedgehurst. Especially considering they’re out in public! At any other point in time her mind would’ve been racing thinking about what the press, her fans, or the other gym leaders would think of seeing her so earnestly happy, but I guess thinking about her is almost always a surefire way to make Bea break character, to be fair. Korrina’s one of very few people she feels she can put her stoic persona aside with.
It should go without saying that Bea is absolutely ecstatic over the fact Korrina is coming from the Kalos region to Galar to watch her compete (AND win, preferably) in this year’s Champions Cup.
“Allister.” Bea mumbled.
“Y-yeah?” responded Allister, caught off guard by Bea ‘s sudden question.
“Nothing is going to change between us. You know that, right?”
“O-Of course!” Allister didn’t actually know whether or not that was true, but when caught off guard like that, there’s not much else to respond, is there? Plus, he appreciated the reassurance.
“Good. That 's… That ‘s good.”
The Flying taxi landed right outside the Pokémon Center outside the quaint town of Wedgehurst, Bea tipped the driver accordingly, Allister made sure to give Corviknight a pat in the back, and they got off. With both full of anticipation, they made their way to the train station, just down the block.
They entered the station, sat down on a bench, and waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
“...M’ bored.” mumbled a not particularly amused Allister through his mask. “When did she say she was arriving?”
“3:00 pm.” responded Bea, It was 1:30 and they arrived at the station at 1:00 pm.
“No wonder she hasn’t arrived yet! Why did you make us come so early!?” said a now very annoyed Allister. “...Can I at least leave to go explore the town for a bit? This wait is gonna kill me.”
“Suit yourself, If I lose track of you and leave on the flying taxi without you, don’t say I didn't warn you.” said Bea, she was also mildly fed up with the wait she had imposed onto herself, but her pride would never allow her to admit that.
“You wouldn’t.” Allister knew she was bluffing to scare him into staying put. “And even if you did, The Champion lives in the next town over. I could just ask them to take me home.”
“...You got me there.” No point in arguing, Bea knew she couldn’t stop him. “Alright, whatever, just don’t get lost, and try to come back before 3:00 pm.”
“I’ll try.” ..with that, Allister got up and left the station to give himself some time to mess around the town.
Allister made his way through the town of Wedgehurst and came down to Route 2, Where one would usually expect a myriad of feisty young trainers roaring to embark in their Pokémon journey, but due to it being the offseason, It was uncharacteristically quiet, Not that Allister minded, to be fair.
He marched through the multiple patches of tall grass, Paying no mind to the few Rookidee ‘s and Hoothoot ’s that crept up along the way, After all, he was out here to explore. Maybe find a quaint place to train his Pokémon in, Gather his thoughts, And relax a little. Sure beats being crammed with Bea in an uncomfortable bench around a bunch of strangers at the train station.
Bea had grown increasingly tired of waiting. She wasn’t gonna leave without Korrina, Obviously, but she was starting to think “I really shouldn’t have made a point to arrive 2 hours early. It’s not even that crowded.”
Just as her head was beginning to formulate the thought of getting off the bench she’d been sitting on for the last 2 hours and go look for Allister, She could faintly make out “Attention, The next outbound train from Lumiose City will be arriving shortly.” shouting out over the station's super old speaker, signaling that the train Korrina was in was pulling into the station.
Crumbs. Well, not much else to do now other than wait.
And sure enough, her train pulled into the station. Bea finally got up from that god-awful bench, Did a small stretch, And stoop up right in front of the platform with a bouquet of gladiolus flowers in hand, she picked those because, when she did her research on what to give Korrina as a gift, Bea found out they apparently symbolize faithfulness, integrity, and strength of character, all things that describe Korrina very well, according to her. (Plus, she made a point to pick out ones that match her usual color scheme. How romantic!).
When the doors opened, she half expected Korrina to be waiting for her right in front of the train door, but that wasn’t the case. Korrina fumbled her way through the crowded train car looking for the exit. And as soon as she set foot into solid land and noticed a familiar set of colors not too far off in the distance, her eyes lit up so brightly you’d think the sun itself was shining upon them.
Without even giving the chance to Bea to get any words out of her mouth, She lunged at her and hugged her tighter than ever.
“BEABYYYYYYY!!!” was the last thing poor Bea heard before getting hugged tighter than anyone ever had before. She never stood a chance. “I mean-.. *cough* ..I missed you, y’know that?” said the successor, overflowing with emotion.
“I know, I know.” said Bea, realizing just how much she missed having someone who loves her physically the way she does around. “I figured I would bring something to commemorate our reunion.” She handed Korrina the bouquet. “I read these represent strength, loyalty, and integrity, and thought these would suit you well.”
“Awww… Beaby…” Korrina’s heart melted as she was handed the bouquet. “When did you get so romantic?” She teased, They both know how much she liked doing it.
“Oh!-” she let go of Bea to reach into her bag. “..I assume you won’t want THESE then~?” and pulled out custom ordered box of Lumiose Galettes that matched the color scheme of Bea ‘s league uniform.
“...Wait until we get in the taxi.” Bea said. She was ecstatic, not only because she found her gesture of ordering a custom case for the treats to match her outfit incredibly endearing, but also, she LOVES Lumiose Galettes. Sadly for her, Bea ‘s self imposed a rule upon herself to not enjoy sweets in public, Another bad habit of hers.
“Thought as much.” said Korrina as her expression shifted from one of utter glee from reuniting with who she loves most to one of confusion when she noticed a conspicuous metaphorical Allister shaped hole standing alongside Bea. “...Say, wasn’t your brother coming along? You wanted me to meet him, right?” asked Korrina, concerned for the both of them.
“He 's-... Allister is out right now, He said he wanted to go to take a walk and explore to spare himself from the wait.” Bea embarrassingly admitted.
“Oh!” Korrina exclaimed “That’s fine, We can just go look for him then!” she proposed “Makes a good chance to show me around the region, doesn’t it?”
“I-.. I suppose.. If you’re up to it..” Not the way Bea was expecting to spend her girlfriends first day in galar, realistically, but this could be a good way for Korrina and Allister to bond whenever they find him, she thought. He’d probably be more comfortable in a secluded place anyhow.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Your brother could be getting eaten by an Ursaring right now!” She gripped Bea ‘s arm tightly and made a run for the exit.
“...We don’t have those here, Korrina.” Bea sarcastically rebutted.
With that, the couple were off to scout the town of Wedgehurst in search for the silent boy of mystery, They searched all through route 2, the fields, Bea even went to ask Sonia at her gran’s old lab, but she, expectedly, knew nothing. So there was only one other place in the general area to look in.
They made haste toward the lake, where they found the quaint sight of Allister, quietly sat watching Gengar playing around in the lake.
“..*sigh*...Allister.” said Bea, with an all too familiar stern tone to Allister.
“…Yeah?” Allister knew there wouldn’t be any pointing in trying to justify his tardiness.
“You said you’d be back by 3:00. You missed your introduction at the station.” she remarked.
“...M’ Sorry… Got lost in M’ thoughts again”
“Well.. Guess’ there’s no point in dwelling on it..” Bea stepped aside to let Korrina come into Allister ‘s view.
“Allister… this… is Korrina, my… Partner… and Korrina, this is… My brother. Allister.” She introduced each other, then stepped aside to give them room.
For once, Allister made the first move and reached his hand out for a handshake, expecting a firm return on it. He'd been practicing an introduction while alone in the lake. “...Nice to meet you…” he mumbled through the mask. “..M’ Allister… Bea ‘s told me about you… You’re a gym leader as well, right..?”
“Aww… Aren’t you just the cutest?” She ignored his proposed gesture and immediately went in for a hug, she raised the boy into her arms and squeezed him even tighter than Bea ever had. Arceus, how strong is this girl? And while Allister was pretty taken aback at first, he didn't really oppose. Bea sure seemed to be having fun watching the interaction play out, too. “No need for formal introductions kid, I know who you are. Your sister hasn’t stopped talking about how great you are since we met. You know that, right?”
Allister did not, in fact, know that. Though giving more than one second of thought, It does sound like something her sister would do. “I figured she did…So, w-we’re cool?” He’s never really had a feeling of joyous confusion like this before, He felt both incredibly surprised and weirdly safe in the embrace of Korrina, as if it's something he’d been missing. Not to speak ill of Bea, Allister would never, but surely Bea had never gotten THIS affectionate. He loved his sister for who she was and would never try to change her, but even if for a fleeting moment, it felt nice to have someone as affectionate as Korrina around.
“Sure we are! I can tell you and I are gonna get along just fine, kid.” said Korrina excitedly “...but, to scrub any shadow of a doubt still left in me..” she reached into her pocket and let her ace, Lucario out of its ball “How about we PROPERLY introduce ourselves… with a Pokémon battle!”
“R-right here?” said Allister, now a nervous trainwreck. He turned his head around to look at Bea. “B-Bea… may i?” he earnestly asked.
“Absolutely, Allister. Show her how strong you’ve become.” said an uncharacteristically enthusiastic Bea.
“A-Alright then… If it's ok with you…” He took Gengar out of its ball once more and with a confident look Korrina couldn't quite see through his mask, he responded “I a-accept your challenge! L-Let 's battle!”