The Last Gym
#23 of Cassidy's Journey
A day passed since Cassidy successfully earned Anistar's City's gym badge. Violet took quite a beating even though she had a type advantage, and it was apparent to Cassidy that her opponents were now providing her more of a challenge. They were getting more robust as she neared the league, which was expected, but it stacked more anxiousness onto her. Snowbelle was her eighth and final gym. It used ice types. That meant Fenny would be a good counter against it, along with Añu. Cassidy stood in her front yard, leaned up against the wall in the same gray shirt, and a pair of matching colored jeans while watching the cloudless evening sky above her. She had to tell Fenny and Añu what to expect, however, Cassidy didn't want her pokémon to get hurt badly. It came with the territory of battling, but Cassidy avoided it if possible. It's part of the reason she always trained her pokémon so hard. She especially didn't want Fenny to get beat. She'd feel terrible for it as he barely wanted to battle in the first place. Cassidy would make sure to train with him plenty before fighting Snowbelle's gym.
She entered the house minutes later and didn't know how to approach the situation. It would be best to tell them individually, and that was what Cassidy ended up doing once she had Fenny in her room that night. He was sitting on the right side of her bed while she took the center near her pillow.
"Think of it as... a huge warm-up battle."
'But it- it's the last gym.' In no way would gym number eight be an easy task to fight through.
"I'm trying to be positive... You'll do fine, okay? We're going to train throughout the week to be sure," Cassidy said and laid on her back, resting her head on her pillow. "Añu, too, I'll tell him in the morning."
'...If I fail this gym battle or even come close to it... that would mean I'm not ready for the league, right?' Fenny looked at Cassidy from where he sat.
"I mean, yeah." She sat up. "But that's exactly why we're training. You're a lot stronger than you think, Fen. I know you'll do great."
--
As soon as the next day arrived, and after Cassidy told Añu the news, she spent hours training them. She was currently closing out Fenny's afternoon session. She took him to Route 19 to train this time, and they were now on their way home.
"After all of this, I need a huge break. No matter what I decide to do later on, and no matter the outcome, I just want not to do anything for weeks," Cassidy thought aloud for the most part, but Fenny heard it.
'You'd deserve it,' he replied.
She glanced at him. Fenny gave her an extra sense of purpose. If not for him, who knew how far downhill she would have spiraled mentally? "Do you want to keep walking? I don't want to go back in yet." Temporarily getting away from her main focus was one of Cassidy's new favorite things to do.
'Of course." Fenny walked beside her, his bushy tail slowly swaying from left to right.
They entered Couriway City but passed their residence and sat under the city's railway far north under the shade to avoid the harsh sun. They sat near the ground's edge, Couriway's water underneath them.
"I think I'm making progress." She stared at the rich blue water.
'What do you mean?'
"I'm more open... with myself. I kept my emotions bottled. I stayed indoors if it wasn't to go after a gym. I neglected my well-being overall." Cassidy glanced at Fenny. "And now that I'm nearing the end of this journey, with your help, I think I'm beginning to pay attention to myself a bit more and enjoy life. So... thank you, Fenny."