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C hapter X
Glasorden went back to the tavern.
"There's our hero!" Peter exclaimed joyfully.
"We wouldn't expect any less of you!" Roger said. The other three men gave a hearty "Aye!" The men clanged their mugs together once again.
Glasorden saw that the TV was on. "Joy has been brought to many Trainers whose Pokémon were unjustly stolen from them today. Crews are still in the process of returning the stolen Pokémon to their rightful owners. Stay tuned for more information."
"You're a darned good Gym Leader, old chum!" Eldritch said.
"I never would have thought it," Byron said. He was sitting at the same table as Eldritch. Next to him was the man from the garden.
Glasorden wished that Rose could be there. She did help out a great deal, after all.
"Three cheers for our hero!" Peter yelled.
The whole tavern chanted, led (naturally) by Peter: "Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!"
Glasorden drank to his good health. When he went back to his Gym, his Junior Trainers were relieved to discover that their hard work and turmoil was over. Rose made Glasorden wonder what kind of lover he was being by oppressing his Junior Trainers.
Suddenly, Glasorden realized that there was one more thing that he had to do. He went to the local flower shop.
"Hey, it's the Gym Leader!" the woman at the counter exclaimed. "I've never seen him in here before! You know what? I think that these flowers will-"
"I'll take it from here," a somber-looking dark-haired girl said. "I suppose that you're getting these flowers for a girl you love. In that case, you should get these ones." She pulled some flowers off of a shelf, walked over to the woman at the counter, and put down some money.
"Here you go. These ones should...zzz..."
"Thanks," Glasorden said to the girl. He attached instructions and a letter to the flowers:
Dear Gardenia,
These are some flowers from where I come from. I hope they find you well.
Yours truly,
-An admirer
He put everything in an Item Capsule and attached it to a Staraptor, which quickly flew towards the horizon. A tear fell from his eye as he watched it disappear.
He walked back to his Gym.
A few days later, another Staraptor came to Glasorden's Gym. He took the envelope off and started reading:
Dear Glasorden,
Please come back to the garden. There's something important that I would like to discuss with you if you have the time. Do you know Eldritch?
Sincerely,
-Rose
Glasorden puzzled this letter. He didn't want to go back to that depressing garden, but he respected Rose fully and decided that she deserved another audience with him. He wrote Eldritch a letter. Sure enough, his ship pulled in on the very next day. Glasorden climbed aboard.
"Hello, old chum!" Eldritch said. "What brings you back to Canalave City?"
"An old friend," Glasorden replied. He smiled as he thought of Rose back at Miror B.'s headquarters.
The ship left the dock. Glasorden made it to Canalave City by nightfall. When he climbed off the ship, he saw a familiar face.
"Did you think that this old man would miss a good party?" Byron said. "You're back so soon! What brings you here?"
"Some Trainer named Rose," Glasorden said. "I highly respect her."
"I wonder what Roark is up to right now," Byron said. "You never know what he's doing."
"I need to take care of my business with Rose," Glasorden said. "It was a pleasure seeing you again, Byron."
Glasorden remembered the route to Eterna City. He couldn't help but feel worse as the city's towering buildings became closer and closer to him. He could still see himself in the forest...Gardenia disappearing into thin air...
Glasorden noticed a small drugstore which was still open. He walked inside.
"Good evening, sir!" the woman behind the counter said.
"Do you have anything to treat allergies?" Glasorden said to the woman.
"We have everything you could ask for! They're getting bad around this time...believe it or not, but I've been getting people who are allergic to the opposite sex!"
"I just need something to treat my Lapras's allergies. She's allergic to pollen."
"Let me take a good look here...yes, I've seen this before. You need this medicine here. If Lapras takes this for five days, it'll be like nothing ever happened!"
"Let's hope so." Glasorden took a tablet out of the bottle. Lapras hid her head in disagreement.
"Come on, Lapras," Glasorden said. "Don't you want to feel better?"
Glasorden comforted Lapras, who eventually consented and swallowed the tablet. He went to the garden. Although it was late, Rose was there.
"I've been waiting here for quite a while," Rose said. "There's something important that I want you to do for me..."
Rose ran up to Glasorden and grabbed one of his hands. Glasorden was dragged along the ground at high speed. "Where are you taking me?" he said.
"You'll see!" Rose answered.
Before he even knew what was happening, Glasorden was pulled out of the garden, through a doorway, into another garden, through yet another doorway, and finally into a corridor. Rose stopped at yet another door. She knocked several times.
There was no answer.
Rose knocked again. There was still no response.
"I hate to do this," Rose said as she reached for the door. She opened it slowly. Glasorden followed her into a small room. He looked around and saw more flowers, a dresser, and a small bed. Next to the bed were some ice flowers that Glasorden recognized immediately. He saw that the soil was kept frozen, just like the instructions specified.
"Rose?" Glasorden said to Rose. She stood transfixed in the center of the room.
"She's supposed to be here," Rose said in a sad voice. "I still remember the first time I met Gardenia...I was being chased by this blue-haired man in a dark jacket and shades who had an Alakazam. I went into Eterna Forest to lose him...which I did...but I then got lost myself. I sat down and cried because I had no hope of getting home again...and that's when I saw a hand offered in friendship. When I looked up, Gardenia introduced herself and got me out of the forest. I decided to become a Junior Trainer for her after that happened. Now, she's gone..." Rose began to cry.
Glasorden looked around and wondered where Gardenia could possibly be.
Chapter X-aside
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