Chapter Text
You are walking back from the hospital when you hear from behind you:
“Daddy…. Greta has a Pokemon.”
You’re surprised for a moment, but then think, figures. Chelsea hasn’t stopped talking about her friend from elementary school, who’s the daughter of two trainers. Despite the quiet demeanor that you’ve seen, word has it, she has a miraculous knack for training Pokémon. Her parents already wanted her to go on her Pokémon journey as soon as she was old enough, so it was only a matter of time before the next step happened.
“Ah, well, good for Greta,” you answer. “What is it?”
“It’s a Grookey, actually! His name is Druid. I actually saw her Pokémon yesterday at school! He’s so funny! He really likes to climb around and looks like he’s eager to get into Pokemon battles, too!”
“I see. Do you know when she will leave for her journey?”
“Next June, after school! Her mum and dad want her to wait until the school year is over… it sounds so exciting!”
You nod, then feel a raindrop land on your head and look up. Right, the forecast said there would be mild showers that clear up by tomorrow morning...
You hope that Chelsea doesn’t bring that up again.
---
The next time Chelsea brings it up is over the dinner table.
“Dad… Greta has a Pokémon.”
You can tell Chelsea is trying to bring it up casually, as she stabs pieces of fish, flaking them as she picks them up and shoves them into her mouth.
“M hmmm….” You don’t like where this is going.
“Greta and Druid are getting along very well, you see. They haven’t gotten into trouble so far.”
“M hm.”
“And Greta is doing all of this reading and asking around to help her go on her Pokemon journey!”
You sigh. “Chelsea, we’ve had this conversation before - “
“Why can’t I go on a Pokemon journey, too?”
You don’t hesitate to say, “Because you’re too young, and going on a trainer’s journey is very dangerous and risky.”
“I can handle it!”
“Do you realize how many trainers get injured or lost or into trouble on their journeys?”
“But many trainers don’t, too! I know what it takes to be a good trainer! I did my research!” Sure, she does, just because she spends most of her spare time watching major League matches and reading trainer’s magazines that she borrowed from her friends. (You wouldn’t buy these for her, of course. Wouldn’t want to make her obsession with being a trainer worse.)
“What if you don't make it?”
“I won’t! I want to be the very best!” Chelsea cries, getting on her feet. “Dad, why won’t you just let me go on a trainer’s journey? Greta’s parents are letting her!”
“Well, that’s their decision. My decision is that you’re too young.”
“But Mom was ten when she became a trainer, and I’m eleven! ”
Oh no, this argument again. “That was back when Kanto had different trainer laws. Plus, your mother nearly got injured on several occasions!”
“But she could handle it!”
And dammit, you're raising your voice again! “Please, will you understand?! I understand that you want to be a Pokémon trainer. But although you might see a lot of successful trainers on the telly, being a Trainer is still very very demanding! You’re going to be in the public, doing something that is very dangerous where the vast majority of Trainers are not successful enough to do it full-time - or worse yet, get injured, or lose everything! Lose their education, lose touch with their families - lose everything!”
You sigh, and regain your composure. Without looking at Chelsea, you mutter, “At the very least, you could wait a few years.”
You hear the dinner chair scrape, and Chelsea storm out of the kitchen and into her bedroom. She slams the door.
---
You can’t sleep well that night.
You lie down in your bed, mind foggy, yet somehow still replaying the conversation from dinner today over and over again. Maybe you shouldn’t have lost your temper. That’s why Chelsea isn’t getting it, probably.
As far as you are concerned, being a Pokémon Trainer wasn’t an impossible career path, per se. After all, that’s why full-time Trainers exist. Even Yoko used to be a Pokémon trainer. It was just that Chelsea… only saw the glamorous aspect of it. That’s what the League wants, after all. It was entertainment, an escapist power fantasy for your run-of-the-mill Galarian. Goodness gracious, Kanto’s Pokemon League was well-renowned too, but it didn’t need to make a spectacle out of itself to earn respect. It seemed like there - or even back in the day - people knew what being a Trainer meant - hard work, maturity, danger - , not here, where it seems just too over glorified.
At this point, it’s too futile to wish that Chelsea would no longer want to become a Trainer. It just simply was futile, as silly and risky that you think being a trainer is, as much as things would just be better if she had just focused on her studies and picked a tamer life goal. After all, Yoko said that being a Pokémon Trainer changed her life. Made her kinder, more open-minded, able to look after others better, something like that. Fine, you still wish that Chelsea could at least wait. At least she could wait until she was more mature. At least she could wait until Yoko got better, so she could start worrying about Chelsea then, not now, especially since Yoko had the first-hand experience.
At her age and with her attitude, you can only imagine Chelsea running back home in tears. Or worse yet...
You switch gears to worrying about Yoko instead.