- Soul of Steel -

Chapter 29: Post-Game Missions

Artwork provided by: https://twitter.com/20xxDt

- - - - - East Motostoke, Lower Tier of City - - - - -

- - - - - GGT: Galar Geomancy Therapy - - - - -

- - - - - 4 months after Syra's Victory - - - - -

Today was an attempt to see Haru come closer to terms of his past traumas so that he may properly heal from incidents he had endured. The soft-hued walls and portrait paintings of abstract art that hung in the office were starting to become second nature to Haru's sights. Taking the advice of his fiance to seek therapy, the young man already felt that the banal environment and doctor were helping him with just a few visitations. Laying on a couch that was more comfortable than those in his own home, he stared into the ceiling as an aura of zen enveloped over his mental constitution. His focus narrowed, then relaxed. Haru heard the doctor speak to him and invited him to answer on his own time, as she would join him on the mental battlefield for his demons.

"I hope the couch is comfortable today, because I noticed you walked in with a limp...are you feeling okay, Haru? Do you need some more time to reconvene?" the woman asked.

"No. Just a result of an exercise routine I've started with help of a friend. Thanks to him I've been able to get more fit, though it does leave me pretty sore." He commented. "So...I suppose since we talked about my mom just now, you want me to go through some of the stuff I was witholding last time?"

"A natural part of this process is me helping to guide you into taking the steps of healing yourself. I'm here to help you move on, and you're moving slowly. You spoke before on the last visit how you find yourself getting scared of future failures, and that this leads to your fear of losing Nessa. Can you tell me where these feelings of self mistrust started?" she had asked.

"I have been trying to not mistrust anyone, doc, but I can't see the future. I envy Pokemon who can. Knowing what went down before, I-" he retorted with a unwound tone before appearing nervous and biting onto a knuckle. "Pardon me."

The doctor, one named Victoria, was a beautiful green eyed lady with long blonde hair that grew past her back and tied to a ponytail towards the end, was ready to listen to him, pen in hand and stationary resting on her knee. "Please take all the time you need."

He bit his lip and took a deep breath, before exhaling. "Okay. The place where all these feelings of mistrust started is what you wanted me to start with, right? It may come as a surprise but...I guess becoming the person that Galar relies on makes me worried that the trust of others in me may be misplaced. In that regard I suppose it was misplaced trust in myself from both myself and from others."

Curling the pen through her fingers, Victoria replied softly. "You feel your accomplishments are more of luck and circumstance than of your own doing? But you had told me previously that you don't believe in fate when I asked about how you became the hero: that you did it of your own volition, and not by any prophecy or doing of any deity's plan."

Haru let out a weak chuckle. She was right; he did say that on their last visit. "I guess it's only something I agree with if I romanticize it enough on falling in love with Nessa." The smile faded quickly.

"But yes, I feel it is sometimes that people trust me when I shouldn't be trusted. I mean..." His eyes furrowed in self reflection. "How could I be? I'm not that valuable. How could I be?"

"I'd say we all have value. You don't truly think that do you? Is it actually you that you think doesn't deserve to be trusted, or that you shouldn't be giving trust to others? Perhaps...you find it harder to trust than you let on?" Victoria proposed.