Love in the Time of Traveling

Chapter 7: A Debut

I think we need to note that each of the legacy characters (Ash, Serena, Astrid) will only be catching a singular Pokémon apiece. Which means Ash has his (Sobble). This is Gloria's story, not theirs. Please do not suggest Pokémon either. We've already gone through the work on this. That out of the way, please enjoy Chapter 7!

Chapter 7

A Debut

Gloria rolled over in her sleeping bag, barely lasting a few seconds before turning again and opening her eyes. No matter how much she tried, sleep kept eluding her as she thought of the recent events.

After several hours of walking through dusk, she and her group of companions had managed to reach the outskirts of Motostoke just in time, close enough to be able to arrive in the city proper in time for the entrance ceremony. Gloria knew that getting a good rest was what she needed before such an important event, yet here she was, too excited to even stay still in spite of her tiredness. After too many incidents and unwanted surprises, there was nothing left that would keep her away from her starting line.

As she kept shifting around to find a comfortable sleeping position, she glanced over the other occupants of the tent. Scorbunny was sprawled on the ground, a bit of drool escaping his open mouth as he snored loudly, a paw over Rookidee's head and a foot firmly planted on top of Chewtle's shell. The bird and the turtle didn't appear to be the most comfortable with that arrangement from the frowns they wore in their rest. She debated if to wake her partner up and force him to let their new comrades sleep in peace, but she decided against it, not wanting to upset their rest when they were getting some shut-eye.

Gloria almost laughed to herself as she continued to look at her three Pokémon some more. It still felt so strange, thinking that she now had two new friends to help her and Scorbunny achieve their dreams not even two days after leaving Postwick. Just as surreal was the realization that she was finally being endorsed and given a chance to prove herself, or the fact she got to face off with a Dynamaxed Pokémon and help bring it down. She had accomplished so much in so little time, and she knew that was only the beginning of bigger and more impressive things to come.

The road ahead was still long, but she was already going at full speed, and she couldn't wait for the whole region to know that as well.

"You should go to sleep, you know."

The sudden comment from the voice she knew as Serena's made Gloria go completely still, turning away from the tent's entrance to try and seem like she was already lost to dreamland. The moment she didn't hear any step coming closer, however, the girl tentatively rose back up and out of the sleeping bag, listening carefully.

"You're one to talk. You need more sleep than I do."

Curiosity piqued, Gloria crawled over to the tent flap so she could slowly open it, careful not to make any sound. Outside, under the star-studded sky, Serena was standing a short distance away from a sitting Ash Ketchum. Pikachu was nowhere to be seen and Gloria guessed Ash's partner was probably asleep as well.

The woman smiled back to her husband, striding closer to him. "I'm not the one who needs to report everything we see to the League, Mister Liaison."

"Touché." They both chuckled together, both of them taking things in good humor.

"I just wanted to look at the sky a bit more. The stars are beautiful up there," Serena explained as she sat carefully next to Ash, her gaze longing for the lights above.

The man gave her a nod, joining his wife in her stargazing. Even Gloria turned her eyes up above, enjoying the spectacle of lights dotting the dark sky, just as pleasant as it had always been. She almost wondered if any other Wishing Star would fall to the ground, for someone else to pick up.