Seeing that he’s in good company, the sheriff pulls out a cigar. He doesn’t like smoking around most people. They get fussy. He just smokes the long, thick roll of tobacco for flavor. There’s no inhalation. A careful chewing of the flavor is followed by an exhale calculated to carry off on the breeze above them.[break][break]
“Blooms?” He asks, remembering that name from somewhere before. Blooms, Blooms…[break][break]
Oh.[break][break]
Wait.[break][break]
He was supposed to check in on her after she first moved to Hoenn. Fortunately for him, the entire upper brass of Hoenn’s government was busy recovering from Galar related post-traumatic stress. No one had time to badger Navy for doing one part of his job too well and another decidedly less so.[break][break]
“Pretty name. Pleasure to have you in Dewford, Ms. Blooms.” People are already whispering. By evening, the hipsters will be calling him a ladykiller. Only present company keeps him from rolling his eyes.[break][break]
“To answer your question…it’s fun. I’m makin’ a bid for Champion myself. I get to scare some kids straight and get in good practice when serious opponents come in. Good gig.” With a wave of his hand, he gestures out across the carnival grounds.[break][break]
“How d’you like Hoenn?”

[break][break]

+ DESIREE BLOOMS

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“It’s pretty wild.” Navy agrees with a puff of smoke. He could get used to this woman’s company, if only because it would let him indulge in his vice. That she’s beautiful and affable helps. Oh, the follies of a man in his twenties and the exceptionally low standards such an age breeds.[break][break]
“You ever study history or mythology, Ms. Blooms? All of this…it reminds me of somethin’ out of the history books.” She’s caught him in a pensive, reflective mood. Woe on her. He takes her candies, enjoying the offer of friendship. This sheriff has a sweet tooth.[break][break]
“There’s stories. Lots of ‘em probably not true, about heroes with legends rising up to save the day. If Hoenn can survive until the next generation’s all grown up, they’ll say that. About the days we’re living through, I mean. Not everybody’s lucky enough to realize they’re living through tomorrow’s age of heroes.” The sentence is punctuated by something between a sigh and a scoff.[break][break]
“Gonna write a song about it?”

[break][break]

+ DESIREE BLOOMS

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Not for me to say.” His tone is clinical, lacking self-deprecation. Such questions spur him to introspection, the whetstone of the mind.[break][break]
“That’s something others call you.” His eyes leave the idol’s beautiful painted face and wander through the crowd behind her. There’s people in that crowd that would call him a hero. Others would name him a madman for how he dives in dark waters on a near-daily basis. There’s probably no rift more contentious than the Ultra Sea.[break][break]
“I just know that it’s my job to keep everyone around me safe. Policy stuff, legislation, the boring bits…that’s the council’s job.” That’s why he hungers for the title of champion. Its post within the government plays to every strength he has. Navy is not the sort of animal that would prosper discussing taxes.[break][break]
“There’s plenty of trainers higher up the totem pole than me they’d call that. Melody Miro ’s got two legendaries that support her. Callan Young is a genius battler. MATIAS SILPH has Groudon.” He says that word with a boy’s wonder, as if the importance of such a name is self-evident. “…also depends on who wins.”[break][break]
The town has recovered well from Rocket’s attack. It was the most excitement this town has gotten in decades.[break][break]
“You picked a messy time to move. Most people run away from war zones.” He says, equal parts concerned and impressed.

[break][break]

+ DESIREE BLOOMS

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Not for me to say.” His tone is clinical, lacking self-deprecation. Such questions spur him to introspection, the His hand is rough. There’s little scars all along the skin on the back. Each knuckle has been cracked. These are the hands of a man that has bled time and time again. There’s a story for every discoloration of his tan skin.[break][break]
He doesn’t shy away, neither from the peck nor her touch. This is one part of fame he’s not used to, people treating him like this. No one ever gave Michael Navidson, private detective this courtesy.[break][break]
People are gonna talk.[break][break]
He thinks that while glancing past her again. The young and the hip old of the town are already whispering to one another when they see Desi offer the peck. Given the rumors he’s heard about the idol industry, he wonders what that will do for her career. Probably nothing, he hopes nothing.[break][break]
Courtship rituals demand he follow this up with something witty or profound. Make her laugh, make her weep. Build momentum. Love and war truly are two sides of the same coin.[break][break]
He does neither, and not for lack of interest.[break][break]
“Just…be careful, alright?” His voice has the concern of one who has walked this road. “It changes you, being here. Everyone who’s anyone ends up in all the wrong places. This place takes things from you that you’ll never be able to get back.”[break][break]
Affection does this to him, spurs him to defend. Girls used to tease him for being so severe when he was a teenager.[break][break]
“World would be a little less bright if that happened to you.”


[break][break]

+ DESIREE BLOOMS

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

His hand is rough. There’s little scars all along the skin on the back. Each knuckle has been cracked. These are the hands of a man that has bled time and time again. There’s a story for every discoloration of his tan skin.[break][break]
He doesn’t shy away, neither from the peck nor her touch. This is one part of fame he’s not used to, people treating him like this. No one ever gave Michael Navidson, private detective this courtesy.[break][break]
People are gonna talk.[break][break]
He thinks that while glancing past her again. The young and the hip old of the town are already whispering to one another when they see Desi offer the peck. Given the rumors he’s heard about the idol industry, he wonders what that will do for her career. Probably nothing, he hopes nothing.[break][break]
Courtship rituals demand he follow this up with something witty or profound. Make her laugh, make her weep. Build momentum. Love and war truly are two sides of the same coin.[break][break]
He does neither, and not for lack of interest.[break][break]
“Just…be careful, alright?” His voice has the concern of one who has walked this road. “It changes you, being here. Everyone who’s anyone ends up in all the wrong places. This place takes things from you that you’ll never be able to get back.”[break][break]
Affection does this to him, spurs him to defend. Girls used to tease him for being so severe when he was a teenager.[break][break]
“World would be a little less bright if that happened to you.”


[break][break]

+ DESIREE BLOOMS

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

His first thought is to scare her away. All he’d have to do is tell her the truth. Navy doesn’t know what the ruination Fernando Silph and others talk about entails, but it can’t be good. Nothing with a name like that can be. A few hints of what he saw in the skies of Galar might help.[break][break]
But he doesn’t. Instead, he moves from his stall, still holding her hand, and he starts to walk through the crowd. It feels good to hold someone’s hand again. Other than one night spent with a woman who has gone the next day, he’s had precious little contact with another person. Let them talk. Let them whisper. His heart’s already been torn away once. What’s the worst they can even say?[break][break]
“I’m just scared I won’t be good enough, when the chips are down. But I made a promise I’d fight, no matter what. So, gotta keep that promise. Warrior’s gotta keep his word.” He leads her to the first ride he sees: a ferris wheel. There really isn’t any rhyme or reason to the choice. Only after he starts walking up to an open carriage does he consider how it might look.[break][break]
“Wanna take a ride with me? View’s beautiful up there.”


[break][break]

+ DESIREE BLOOMS

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

It’s nice to hear the words, even if they come from a stranger. They board together. The wheel rises. Navy wastes no time when she nudges her head against his shoulder. With no one there to judge, he raises the shoulder and lets the songstress rest against him, if she wants. It feels good. He didn’t realize how badly he needed this until he had it.[break][break]
“I made someone a promise.” Says the warrior. “My kid brother. I told him, no matter what, I’d keep fighting. That’s all either of us knew how to do.” Someone else told him that, too. A daughter he would never see again told him that he was a warrior. If he can’t even do that right, what’s the point? What were the sacrifices that led him to this moment for?[break][break]
“But this ain’t all ‘bout me, you know? What about you? Your music? What made you wanna sing? I’m not much for new music, but I’ve caught a song or two you’ve put out. It really captures people’s hearts. Makes ‘em forget. Makes ‘em happy. I don’t know music, but I know people’s hearts. How they react when your song comes on the radio.”



[break][break]

+ DESIREE BLOOMS

[attr="class","pokeclass"]