Dear Mr. Reed,
We regret to inform you that you will not be able to participate in this version of The Whirl Cup. Although we received a lot of interest from would-be trainers in the region, we will not able to accommodate all applicants with a starter. We're deeply sorry for this, and hope that you'll consider applying for next year's competition.
Our deepest apologies,
The Whirl Cup Committee
Leon must've read the letter ten times over, maybe more. How could this happen? Why him? He'd waited for so many years, almost ten now, and although he'd seen a light of hope here, it was now gone.
The nineteen year old didn't eat, sleep or read for the next couple of days following the letter. Countless times he'd sat down and begun to write an appeal letter, only to be reduced to tears. How could the world be so cruel?
His parents, although aware of their son's disappointment, couldn't offer much comfort, and obligated to work their respective office jobs, didn't spend much time with him at all. Slowly, depression started to grab a hold of Leon.
A week later, he found himself back in the library, organizing stacks of books.
"How come you didn't come to work last week?" Julia asked. Julia was a girl of seventeen, Leon's coworker. She was a small girl with curly, brunette hair and deep blue eyes, and although she seemed to be more than fond of the man, he was utterly oblivious to her advances.
"No reason." He sulked.
"Yeah right." She sneered.
"They would've fired you if there really was no reason." She was right, although their boss didn't know the reason for Leon's absence, he
had asked for a week off, and that had been granted to him.
"Come on, just tell me," she continued,
"I'll keep it a secret if you want me to" she finished with a wink.
Leon sighed.
"There's no point…"
"So what?!" Julia asked becoming exasperated. "Come on Leon, talk to me. You know how dreadful this place can be when you're not here."
Leon looked for a way out, but in the end gave up and gave in.
"Have you heard about the new Pokémon competition? The Whirl Cup?" Of course she had,
everybody had. After she nodded, he continued to explain what had happened…
By the end of the story, Leon was once again on the brink of tears, and although he
knew there was nothing to do about it, Julia listened, and offered comfort and a shoulder to cry on, and once again Leon felt human. But little did he know that his life was about to change…
Another week had passed, and Julia was about to finish cleaning up for opening hour when Leon barged in radiating happiness. He rushed over to his coworker and best friend and when he caught up with her, hugged her, picking her up and twirling her around before showering her cheeks in kisses. Flustered, Julia asked him to put her down.
"What this about?!" she demanded, face red as a Tamato.
Grinning widely, Leon showed her a piece of paper.
"A letter of resignation?" she asked, not understanding.
"I was accepted!" He exclaimed.
"Accepted?" Julia was still confused.
"Accepted to what? Did you apply to school or something?"
"No." Leon responded.
"No, no, no. Here, check this out!" He said pulling out a piece of paper:
Leon Reed:
It is my pleasure to inform you that you will be able to participate in this year's Whirl Cup. A number of applicants have had to withdraw from the competition, and your application was the lucky one to be picked up! Please send me a letter informing if you'll be able to participate after all, if you answer positively, I'll expect to see you at my Lab in Olivine City at the date of the start of competition. I look forward to meeting you.
Sincerely,
Prof. Woods
"Good." Julia said finally, although with a solemn tone.
"Good? It's great!" Leon demanded, wondering why Julia didn't share his rejoice.
"So you'll leave me here… alone?" she asked instead.
Leon could sense that something was wrong, but didn't care to find out what it was.
"Julia. I've waited for this opportunity for ten years!" Exasperated at his coworker's silence, he went on:
"I'm giving this to the boss right now, Julia, next time you see me, I'll be the Pokémon Champion; please understand, this is my dream."
"Good then. Now make space, I need to finish cleaning."
Julia's mood was ruining Leon's day.
"Fine. If you won't be happy for me, I'll be happy enough for both of us. I'm turning this in; I leave for Olivine tomorrow. Will I see you before then?"
Julia averted his eyes.
"I have to write like three essays for school, so no." Leon frowned, but turned around and headed to the boss's office.
"Good luck." He heard her say, but he didn't notice the crack in her voice… or the tear running down the cheek where he'd kissed her.
---
Leon was awestruck when he finally reached Olivine City. The taxi ride had been long, but he had scarcely slept the night before and he ended up sleeping most of the way there. Although the city wasn't noteworthy in Leon's eyes, he didn't want to miss a single detail of it, not knowing what lay ahead here in the near future; the start of his very own Pokémon journey.