fic: pokemon: Trails in the Valley of Youth, Chapter Three
Title: Trails in the Valley of Youth, Chapter Three
Word Count: 2018 words
Verse: Gameverse, Gen 5
Characters/Pairings: Alder/Cheren, appearances from Black and N
Rating: PG
Warnings: A bit of violence in later chapters.
Summary: Cheren has spent five years under Alder's teachings, becoming a full time apprentice in learning what it means to be the strongest trainer in Unova. Now he's 23, and while he has learned so much, he is becoming increasingly frustrated with where he stands, both with his mentor and his place in the Champion's pinnacle.
----------------------------------------
Three years ago
"Look at this!"
Kneeling down, Cheren pulled back the leafy branch, revealing a small grove of rare Yache berries amidst the brush of the forest. Their waxy blue skins glinted in the sunlight, and though there only about five or six berries, it was more of this particular berry than Cheren had ever seen.
Alder was running a little slowly behind Cheren, but once he’d arrived he squinted to see what his pupil had found. He smiled at the grove, then down at Cheren. "Very good work. There's a lot here."
Cheren's face lit up. It was not the same excitedly ecstatic expression as his friend Bianca whenever she was pleased with herself or her friends; Cheren was alwayst subtle: the corners of his mouth turned upward, a sparkle in his eyes.
Cheren leaned over more and hovered over the plants, and slowly picked one from its stem. Alder watched how careful and meticulous he was being with the fruit. So he had been listening during the last talk they'd had about berry picking, where Cheren had rolled his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Cheren now had all of them in his palm, but when he moved his arm to put them into the satchel around his shoulder, he felt a large hand slid onto his arm and hold it steady.
"Wh..." Cheren looked up and took in Alder's stern face.
"We're not taking them with us today." Alder said smoothly, gently taking the delicate fruit from Cheren's hand, by cupping his own under his, and guiding them in.
"Why not?" Cheren demanded, watching as Alder crouched into the space next to him and started to brush away the berry plants from the soil.
Once there was a space of bare soil, he used his fingers to create a small but deep hole. He placed a berry inside, and smoothed dirt back on top of it.
"If we replant them, and take care of the plants, then the harvest will be doubled. I've told you how this works."
"But what if someone comes along and takes them all for themselves?"
Alder took Cheren's hand and put some of the berries back into his palm. "You'll have to trust that they'll do the same thing and replant them. Then there will be a triple harvest, and so on. People can do wonderful things, if they work together."
"Hmph." Cheren was dissatisfied with this lesson, and he let it be known. But he still helped Alder replant the rest of the berries, and smooth the dirt over the newly planted grove.
Alder chuckled, looking at his pupil's furrowed brow. "I didn't think you would understand completely. But you will someday. I know you will."
----
Alder tried to put his nomadic days behind him when he became champion, tried to live in the pinnacle where the champion normally resides and settle into a normal person's (well, Champion’s) routine. But he found he could not, and today, he is still known for disappearing for a week every now and again, much to the disdain of the other elite trainers.
But he always came back, just in time for the next challenger to reach his level. How he always knew when he was needed was a mystery, but he never failed to be there.
When Cheren started to apprentice under him full time, he didn't even try to give up his penchant for travel, and often disappeared along with Alder. Although, when he got older, he became prone to traveling bouts by himself, the most recent journey of course, being his announced year-long study of Unova.
"I'm nothing like you," Cheren often thought out loud, as he groggily watched his teacher get up at five in the morning to watch the sun rise over the valley, just like every other morning.
Alder would just smile crookedly and says nothing.
-----
Present Day
Alder was not surprised when he saw Cheren packing a travel bag in his room a few nights later. He predicted this, after all. But he still frowned as he watched from the door frame.
"You're leaving again?" He asked, trying to keep his voice casual, calm.
Cheren shrugged dismissively. "Yeah."
Alder knew he should turn around and leave him alone. But he didn't. "But you just got here. Where are you going?"
Cheren paused, his question throwing him off. After a moment he spoke again. "Does it matter? I never tell you where I'm going."
Alder leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms, and he exhaled slowly, feeling his temper rise despite himself. He could not lose control, not now. "I know you don't. Though it'd be nice to know sometimes."
Cheren turned and looked at him, his eyebrows raised and looking thoroughly confused. "What's gotten into you? Are you my father now?"
Alder sighed slowly through his nose, realizing how strange he must be acting. A little voice told him he should probably stop while he had realized that. But he kept talking. "Hey, no need to be snippy. That’s just what I think."
Cheren snorted, shutting the bag and standing up, smoothing the wrinkles in his shirt. "You really do think you're my father."
"I don't," Alder replied, the lines in his forehead beginning to deepen as he frowned. "It'd just be great to know your comings and goings in order to plan our lessons better.”
"How can you say that?" Cheren asked, rounding on him. "You go MIA without telling me all the time."
Alder was taken aback, and not just because of Cheren’s snappishness. He had never seemed to care when he left. It wasn't like he didn't have his affairs in order before he left - he always made sure they were. But apparently Cheren had cared, judging by his tone and the way he was clenching his fists. He’d cared all along.
"You make it sound like I'm abandoning you," Alder said quietly, after he’d regained his focus.
Cheren sat on the edge of the bed and hesitated before he started to pull his shoes on, as if Alder's words had struck something deep. His Liepard, which had been dozing on it, lifted its head lazily, oblivious to what was going on.
When Cheren stood again, he looked even angrier than he had looked before. His eyes were flashing and he was frowning so deeply it caused lines in his forehead. Alder had never seen him quite like this before.
"It's just rich that you you ask me to warn you when I'm leaving, when you don't. You only tell me what to do to an extent before you're a hypocrite," He said, his voice was dangerously low.
Alder blinked at him before he sighed. He had been waiting for this moment, for awhile now. He could see all of Cheren's discontent churning within him for weeks, ever since he came home from his lengthy jaunt. And it was only a matter of time before it rose to the surface.
"What is it you want from me, Cheren?" He asked, cutting straight to the point.
Cheren stared at him, then roughly ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up. He just stood there for a second, his mouth twitching. Alder could tell he had a lot of things to say, that there was a lot boiling beneath that stoic exterior. But he couldn’t figure out how to quite articulate what he felt.
Eventually he only shook his head. He reached over and picked up his coat, sliding the khaki material over his shoulders. Alder thought he was just going to leave without saying anything, and was surprised when he approached him and started to speak again.
"I want to know where I stand. I want to know how much progress I've made. I want to know when... when it'll be my turn." He said.
"You're supposed to be my teacher. And I have learned a lot from you. But... but I've been with you for five years. And I don't know where I stand. How close I am to becoming Champnion. You always avoid the topic. When will I be strong enough to take your place? You don't tell me anything.
"And another thing - stop treating me like I'm a child. You say you respect me as an adult, but then you say things like this. Admit it, you've never seen me as anything but a child. You'll never see me as an equal. And that's why.... that's why we can't..."
Cheren caught himself, letting his words trail off. He clenched his fists hard at his sides, and he let the strong eye contact he had been keeping flicker to the ground.
Alder listened to him intently, his eyes wide as Cheren's concerns came spilling out of his mouth. He was dumbstruck at the exasperation in Cheren's tone, his anger. The way was breathing a little heavier when he finished, and how he kept eye contact the entire time.
At first, Alder had nothing to say. He'd never expected Cheren to explode all at once like this.
"Cheren..." He said after awhile. He looked at his student, in front of him, his mouth twisted. He brought his hand up, and it looked like he was going to touch him, but dropped it again.
Where could he even start to address those questions? He had to say something.
"Cheren, I apologize for not being up front with you. But we've had a talk about this before. You will take my place when you understand what it means to be strong. When you truly earn it."
Cheren made a frustrated noise. He threw up his hands, and looked up at him, looking furious now.
"Oh, you mean like how you earned your title?"
Alder blanched, not wanting to believe Cheren had actually said that. But he had, and there was no pretending he'd misspoken.
"I don't think I like what you're insinuating," He replied, his tone lowering to an almost growl.
Cheren turned, slinging his pack over his shoulder. "Oh, come on. We both know you were asked to be the Champion. You didn't earn it."
He turned to the bed. "Come on Liepard, we're leaving."
Liepard tilted its head before it gracefully lept off the bed and followed Cheren to the door.
He didn't look at the completely speechless Alder as he brushed past him, as if looking at him would physically hurt. His body seemed stiff.
Finally, Alder found his voice just as Cheren was about to move out of sight, and he said the first thing that came to his panicking mind.
"You know, if you don't like the way I do things, you don't have to come back."
Cheren hesitated as he reached for the doorknob. But he said nothing then as he grabbed it and opened the door, slamming it shut behind him.
----------------------------------------
They’d been walking for awhile now. Cheren wasn’t sure how far away he was from the pinnacle now. He was still pretty deep in the forest.
He paused when Liepard lifted its head into the air and sniffed, catching a scent on the wind..
"What is it, Liepard?" He asked, brought out of his thoughts. It was getting too dark to see anything, but Liepard had good sight in the dark, and and it mewled as it led Cheren over to a big
evergreen tree.
The sun was about to go down and it cast harsh shadows across the valley, but when Cheren pulled back the branch, he could clearly see the last rays of light glinting off a plentiful grove of Yache berries.
There were so many, Cheren didn't even bother to count them.
But, he did replant them.
----------------------------------------
<< Chapter Two | Chapter Four >>
Word Count: 2018 words
Verse: Gameverse, Gen 5
Characters/Pairings: Alder/Cheren, appearances from Black and N
Rating: PG
Warnings: A bit of violence in later chapters.
Summary: Cheren has spent five years under Alder's teachings, becoming a full time apprentice in learning what it means to be the strongest trainer in Unova. Now he's 23, and while he has learned so much, he is becoming increasingly frustrated with where he stands, both with his mentor and his place in the Champion's pinnacle.
----------------------------------------
Three years ago
"Look at this!"
Kneeling down, Cheren pulled back the leafy branch, revealing a small grove of rare Yache berries amidst the brush of the forest. Their waxy blue skins glinted in the sunlight, and though there only about five or six berries, it was more of this particular berry than Cheren had ever seen.
Alder was running a little slowly behind Cheren, but once he’d arrived he squinted to see what his pupil had found. He smiled at the grove, then down at Cheren. "Very good work. There's a lot here."
Cheren's face lit up. It was not the same excitedly ecstatic expression as his friend Bianca whenever she was pleased with herself or her friends; Cheren was alwayst subtle: the corners of his mouth turned upward, a sparkle in his eyes.
Cheren leaned over more and hovered over the plants, and slowly picked one from its stem. Alder watched how careful and meticulous he was being with the fruit. So he had been listening during the last talk they'd had about berry picking, where Cheren had rolled his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Cheren now had all of them in his palm, but when he moved his arm to put them into the satchel around his shoulder, he felt a large hand slid onto his arm and hold it steady.
"Wh..." Cheren looked up and took in Alder's stern face.
"We're not taking them with us today." Alder said smoothly, gently taking the delicate fruit from Cheren's hand, by cupping his own under his, and guiding them in.
"Why not?" Cheren demanded, watching as Alder crouched into the space next to him and started to brush away the berry plants from the soil.
Once there was a space of bare soil, he used his fingers to create a small but deep hole. He placed a berry inside, and smoothed dirt back on top of it.
"If we replant them, and take care of the plants, then the harvest will be doubled. I've told you how this works."
"But what if someone comes along and takes them all for themselves?"
Alder took Cheren's hand and put some of the berries back into his palm. "You'll have to trust that they'll do the same thing and replant them. Then there will be a triple harvest, and so on. People can do wonderful things, if they work together."
"Hmph." Cheren was dissatisfied with this lesson, and he let it be known. But he still helped Alder replant the rest of the berries, and smooth the dirt over the newly planted grove.
Alder chuckled, looking at his pupil's furrowed brow. "I didn't think you would understand completely. But you will someday. I know you will."
----
Alder tried to put his nomadic days behind him when he became champion, tried to live in the pinnacle where the champion normally resides and settle into a normal person's (well, Champion’s) routine. But he found he could not, and today, he is still known for disappearing for a week every now and again, much to the disdain of the other elite trainers.
But he always came back, just in time for the next challenger to reach his level. How he always knew when he was needed was a mystery, but he never failed to be there.
When Cheren started to apprentice under him full time, he didn't even try to give up his penchant for travel, and often disappeared along with Alder. Although, when he got older, he became prone to traveling bouts by himself, the most recent journey of course, being his announced year-long study of Unova.
"I'm nothing like you," Cheren often thought out loud, as he groggily watched his teacher get up at five in the morning to watch the sun rise over the valley, just like every other morning.
Alder would just smile crookedly and says nothing.
-----
Present Day
Alder was not surprised when he saw Cheren packing a travel bag in his room a few nights later. He predicted this, after all. But he still frowned as he watched from the door frame.
"You're leaving again?" He asked, trying to keep his voice casual, calm.
Cheren shrugged dismissively. "Yeah."
Alder knew he should turn around and leave him alone. But he didn't. "But you just got here. Where are you going?"
Cheren paused, his question throwing him off. After a moment he spoke again. "Does it matter? I never tell you where I'm going."
Alder leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms, and he exhaled slowly, feeling his temper rise despite himself. He could not lose control, not now. "I know you don't. Though it'd be nice to know sometimes."
Cheren turned and looked at him, his eyebrows raised and looking thoroughly confused. "What's gotten into you? Are you my father now?"
Alder sighed slowly through his nose, realizing how strange he must be acting. A little voice told him he should probably stop while he had realized that. But he kept talking. "Hey, no need to be snippy. That’s just what I think."
Cheren snorted, shutting the bag and standing up, smoothing the wrinkles in his shirt. "You really do think you're my father."
"I don't," Alder replied, the lines in his forehead beginning to deepen as he frowned. "It'd just be great to know your comings and goings in order to plan our lessons better.”
"How can you say that?" Cheren asked, rounding on him. "You go MIA without telling me all the time."
Alder was taken aback, and not just because of Cheren’s snappishness. He had never seemed to care when he left. It wasn't like he didn't have his affairs in order before he left - he always made sure they were. But apparently Cheren had cared, judging by his tone and the way he was clenching his fists. He’d cared all along.
"You make it sound like I'm abandoning you," Alder said quietly, after he’d regained his focus.
Cheren sat on the edge of the bed and hesitated before he started to pull his shoes on, as if Alder's words had struck something deep. His Liepard, which had been dozing on it, lifted its head lazily, oblivious to what was going on.
When Cheren stood again, he looked even angrier than he had looked before. His eyes were flashing and he was frowning so deeply it caused lines in his forehead. Alder had never seen him quite like this before.
"It's just rich that you you ask me to warn you when I'm leaving, when you don't. You only tell me what to do to an extent before you're a hypocrite," He said, his voice was dangerously low.
Alder blinked at him before he sighed. He had been waiting for this moment, for awhile now. He could see all of Cheren's discontent churning within him for weeks, ever since he came home from his lengthy jaunt. And it was only a matter of time before it rose to the surface.
"What is it you want from me, Cheren?" He asked, cutting straight to the point.
Cheren stared at him, then roughly ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up. He just stood there for a second, his mouth twitching. Alder could tell he had a lot of things to say, that there was a lot boiling beneath that stoic exterior. But he couldn’t figure out how to quite articulate what he felt.
Eventually he only shook his head. He reached over and picked up his coat, sliding the khaki material over his shoulders. Alder thought he was just going to leave without saying anything, and was surprised when he approached him and started to speak again.
"I want to know where I stand. I want to know how much progress I've made. I want to know when... when it'll be my turn." He said.
"You're supposed to be my teacher. And I have learned a lot from you. But... but I've been with you for five years. And I don't know where I stand. How close I am to becoming Champnion. You always avoid the topic. When will I be strong enough to take your place? You don't tell me anything.
"And another thing - stop treating me like I'm a child. You say you respect me as an adult, but then you say things like this. Admit it, you've never seen me as anything but a child. You'll never see me as an equal. And that's why.... that's why we can't..."
Cheren caught himself, letting his words trail off. He clenched his fists hard at his sides, and he let the strong eye contact he had been keeping flicker to the ground.
Alder listened to him intently, his eyes wide as Cheren's concerns came spilling out of his mouth. He was dumbstruck at the exasperation in Cheren's tone, his anger. The way was breathing a little heavier when he finished, and how he kept eye contact the entire time.
At first, Alder had nothing to say. He'd never expected Cheren to explode all at once like this.
"Cheren..." He said after awhile. He looked at his student, in front of him, his mouth twisted. He brought his hand up, and it looked like he was going to touch him, but dropped it again.
Where could he even start to address those questions? He had to say something.
"Cheren, I apologize for not being up front with you. But we've had a talk about this before. You will take my place when you understand what it means to be strong. When you truly earn it."
Cheren made a frustrated noise. He threw up his hands, and looked up at him, looking furious now.
"Oh, you mean like how you earned your title?"
Alder blanched, not wanting to believe Cheren had actually said that. But he had, and there was no pretending he'd misspoken.
"I don't think I like what you're insinuating," He replied, his tone lowering to an almost growl.
Cheren turned, slinging his pack over his shoulder. "Oh, come on. We both know you were asked to be the Champion. You didn't earn it."
He turned to the bed. "Come on Liepard, we're leaving."
Liepard tilted its head before it gracefully lept off the bed and followed Cheren to the door.
He didn't look at the completely speechless Alder as he brushed past him, as if looking at him would physically hurt. His body seemed stiff.
Finally, Alder found his voice just as Cheren was about to move out of sight, and he said the first thing that came to his panicking mind.
"You know, if you don't like the way I do things, you don't have to come back."
Cheren hesitated as he reached for the doorknob. But he said nothing then as he grabbed it and opened the door, slamming it shut behind him.
----------------------------------------
They’d been walking for awhile now. Cheren wasn’t sure how far away he was from the pinnacle now. He was still pretty deep in the forest.
He paused when Liepard lifted its head into the air and sniffed, catching a scent on the wind..
"What is it, Liepard?" He asked, brought out of his thoughts. It was getting too dark to see anything, but Liepard had good sight in the dark, and and it mewled as it led Cheren over to a big
evergreen tree.
The sun was about to go down and it cast harsh shadows across the valley, but when Cheren pulled back the branch, he could clearly see the last rays of light glinting off a plentiful grove of Yache berries.
There were so many, Cheren didn't even bother to count them.
But, he did replant them.
----------------------------------------
<< Chapter Two | Chapter Four >>