And Hark’s smile stays on as he helps her up, giving a salute to Zeke before looking at Rebecca.
“I know. Take your time, dear. There’s no hurry.”
Zeke gave Hark an approving grumble before rolling over and promptly going back to sleep. Rebecca chuckled, leading Hark to her house and opening the door to the kitchen, letting Hark go first.
“Y’can sit at the table while I’m in the bath, if you like. Triton’s running around upstairs if ya need anything.”
He was glad. Glad that Rebecca finally agreed to his way of thinking. Glad that she was finally going to take some rest. Yes, it was going to take her a while to readjust to her new lifestyle and he definitely expected some relapses, but progress was not something that came easy. It never came easy.
He smiled, and gave a gentle nudge to Triton so he could get up and face Rebecca as he winked, mindful of Expy.
“Now I’m ready to see your home. And do me a favor, first thing you do when he get there, take a bath. Relax okay? Not because I’m here that you have to be all over the place.”
Triton got up with a quiet trill, excitedly bounding inside the house, much to Rebecca’s surprise.
“I… I will. I might take a bit though. It takes a while to fill up.”
The champion stood up, offering Hark her scarred hand to help him up without a second thought.
That’s when Hark gave a smile. An encouraging one.
“If I were one of those trainers, I’d want to face the best, certainly of a Champion. My win doesn’t mean much if my opponent is sick or incapacitated. And the loss hurts twice as much if they are. If I’m going to fight against someone, for whatever reason, I want them to be fully capable, at their fully capacity, and if I were to settle for less than that, than I wouldn’t be able to rest well until I face them again at full power. It’s unfair, for me and them.
"So if they’re waiting for your best, give them your best. Sure it takes longer, but at least your challenger won’t feel cheated. Don’t you think?”
“I… You’re right, Hark. I’ve been a real numbskull for years. I’m gonna start doin’ that the next time I get called in. And I’ll try to get rest in between battles. I have a bad habit of going one after the other…”
Triton let out an approving trill, causing Rebecca’s face to light up in another blush.
“Triton, I know I’m a slight idiot, you don’t have to give me another kick in the pants.”
It wasn’t hard to know that he’d hit a soft spot. From the way Rebecca blushed, was now making excuses – Hark looked at the setting sun, remembering quite clearly that the light on the path they’d taken had come on, before looking at Triton who was still comfortably installed on him – to get inside, he’d definitely hurt the Champion who was trying so hard to be self-sufficient, certainly if the guy that had shown up earlier was the one she’d given the title to.
Gently, he grabbed her hand.
“Hey, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve just been in your place, Rebecca, and I nearly crashed myself to the ground because of it. It’s not just about looks. It’s about your health, too. And how are you supposed to be healthy when you overrun yourself day in and day out? I’m surprised you don’t fall sick more often.”
Rebecca had just been standing up when Hark took her hand. She looked at him, biting her lip.
“I… I wouldn’t be able to battle very well if I was sick. Or take care of my Pokemon and my orchard. I do get sick every few weeks but that’s usually when a sick trainer comes to the league, which happens more often than you’d think…”
“I don’t want to let those trainers down. I know they’ll understand if they have to wait until I get sleep but I just don’t like making them wait…”
The champion sighed, wrapping her fingers around Hark’s hand and sitting back down.
And she got a look that would rival the one of a scolding parent.
“For. Your. Orchard. I’m sure that you’ll find someone more than willing to help out, at least with the harvests! And if you’re a champion, you must be making a decent amount of money, don’t you? So why the hell don’t you pay the poor bloke?”
“The shipments? Build a schedule. Find people willing to make deliveries. You are the Champion, no one can take that away from you, but for God’s sake, Rebecca, that does not mean you are the only one who wants to help people! Do you listen to the whispers? I’m sure half those people would love to help you, even more so if they’re getting paid. And that would give you more than enough time to take care of yourself.
"Handing your title is like handing over mine. Power cannot be given away. But that doesn’t mean you have to do everything by yourself. I’m sure you know some people who’d be more than willing to help you out, no?”
Rebecca’s face went bright pink with a bit of shame.
“I… I honestly hadn’t thought of that. I was so used to helping my parents out all on my own that I didn’t think of asking anyone else for help.”
“I’ll ask around in the League tomorrow if there’s anyone willing to volunteer… I think Marshal said he had a lot of free time lately…”
She mumbled that last sentence, her blush not fading from her face.
“A-Ah, I’m gettin’ ahead of myself a bit. Let’s go inside, the sun’s beatin’ down a little.”
… Well that was one way to discover the gender of your pokemon. And they were both laughing? Go figure. At least they were no hard feelings, he guessed. That was better than nothing.
He chuckled, a bit awkward, and preferred to go for the second conversation.
“You could employ someone. Not me because hell knows I’m always busy myself, but you could ask for help. You need some time to care for yourself, dear, and if you’re a Champion, you need to be presentable. Certainly if you’re a Champion. I’d know, I’m supposed to be a god and I have someone who’s always fussing over myself being presentable.”
“I would but when would I have time to sit down and pamper myself? As it is, I can get called in for battles any day of the week and I have the orchard and my Pokemon to take care of. Not to mention getting berries shipped all over the region on time.”
“I only get days off if I’m sick and there’s no one to fill in for me. The guy from before is who filled in for me months ago and it didn’t turn out well.”
Rebecca softly sighed, absently adjusting her headphones.
… He got her to smile. And she agreed too. Great! Now he could actually see what was wrong with her nails and help out. With a closer look, he’d be able to determine quite a few things about her health, too.
All of that flew out of the window when Rebecca analyzed the young Wrumple, and said it was a female.
… Well now he felt sheepish.
“And here I thought it was a boy. My bad,” he chuckled. “Thank you. And well… as soon as I’m free and we get to your house, I can check your nails. Hell, even a few more things if you’d like.”
“Eh, I bet Expy wouldn’t blame ya. I actually thought Triton was a girl until I woke up with his butt on my face. That was fun.”
Rebecca let out a soft laugh, giving the Vaporeon a playful glare. The Water-type let out a laughing-like trill, his fin ears giving a twitch.
“That’d be perfect. I haven’t been able to get anythin’ fixed since I’m always so busy lately. I kinda cut my hair myself cause of that. Ah, such is the life of a regional champion with a job on the side.”
Even if the jealousy was supposed to be subtle, Hark still caught it. Caught it and let his ears lower at it. It was a feeling he would never feel comfortable with, certainly when he knew how bad, how horrible some people could get because of it.
So, after Triton finally settled down and Hark resumed his petting, he was quick to try to make small amends.
“If you want… I can show you what I do to take care of my nails. It takes a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”
Before trying to look up at the question, knowing that he couldn’t really move his head or Expy would fall and probably hurt itself, badly.
“And can you do it, please? My communicator doesn’t have a scanning feature and I’m kinda… stuck, you could say.”
Cue awkward chuckle.
“Th-That’d actually be great…! My nails tend to break when I’m working on a harvest so it gets on my nerves sometimes.”
She gave him a bright smile, the earlier jealousy gone and replaced with appreciation.
“Sure, not a problem.”
Rebecca held up her Pokedex to the little Wurmple, tapping the scan feature. It let off a beep when it was done and she looked over the data, giving Hark a bright grin.
“Looks like you’ve got yourself a female Wurmple.”
The smile was returned, and Hark pulled away a glove to show Rebecca his hands, more specifically, his nails.
“They used to be brittle and break all the time. I could barely keep them a decent length due to the fact that I didn’t eat much, even skipped on physical exercise because I thought I didn’t need it. Now, I sit myself down every evening to give myself the equivalent of a manicure. I even help my husband with his nails while he helps me with mine,” he chuckled before giving a gasp as he felt Triton nuzzle him right in a ticklish spot. Oh hell.
He looked at the Vaporeon and gave a whine of discomfort, one he could only hope the Pokemon would get and gently remove its face from his side. Because he did not want to deal with this right now.
The newly named Expy, on the other hand was now making a circle on Hark’s head before settling down for yet another nap. Too much excitement did that, certainly to a baby.
… That reminded him.
“Is there a way to know the gender of a Pokemon?”
Triton let out a soft trill in response to the whine, moving his head on top of Hark’s leg instead. Rebecca looked at Hark’s nails in a bit of jealousy, her broke often when she harvested and carried berries inside. Then came the question and she nodded, holding up two fingers.
“Two ways, actually. Y’can ask the Pokemon themselves or simply scan ‘em with a Dex. The first one’s generally for older Pokemon though.Y’wanna use mine or does yours have a scanning feature?”
She patiently waited for his reply, slouching a little bit to relax.
If there was one thing that Hark wouldn’t get used to, it was the worry. The kind of worry that had him going center stage and remind him of the mistakes he’d made.
The one thing that actually caught his attention was the Wurmple, though, as he rose and put its tiny legs against his face before laying its mouth on his cheek. It was then that he also caught another worried look, although a lot more watery than Triton’s or Rebecca’s.
… Well then.
“Yes, I’m fine. Never been better in fact. There’s a reason I’ve been promoted to god in my world. I’m okay.”
And the happy chitters resumed before the Wurmple seem to break into its equivalent of a happy dance, getting a chuckle from Hark.
“Totally calling you Expy. You’re a little ball of expressiveness, that’s what you are.”
Before the pokemon stopped, looked at Hark for a second or two, then proceeded to climb atop Hark’s head and resume its dance, giving a happy squeal.
Rebecca softly sighed in relief, the worried look fading before she gave a small smile.
“I’m glad you’re okay now.”
Triton let out a soft huff and nuzzled his face into Hark’s side while Zeke promptly sat down on the grass next to them, resting a bit. The champion chuckled a bit at the tiny Wurmple’s antics, a smile on her face.
“That sounds like the perfect name.”
Back in the Game 
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