Chapter 4: 10 Years Ago

The sidewalk to Sam’s house had never seemed so long before. Heck, the day itself had never seemed so long! Even on the days where he had back-to-back-to-back exams, none were as long as this day had been. It had been exactly four class periods, twenty-eight minutes into a fifth, and a bus ride home since he had gotten the news, and all he wanted to do since that moment was tell Tommy. He had briefly considered getting his cell phone out of his locker between classes, but it wasn’t worth having his whole PokeGear taken away again. But the classes and the bus ride were behind him now, and it felt like the handful of seconds he spent running up his walkway might as well have been another hour. The front door was locked–Tommy always kept it locked, and Sam usually joked that he did it just to prolong the time it took him to be officially home from school–and fumbling his key into the lock was agony. Why couldn’t he just pass right through the door like a ghost?

He barged into the kitchen to see Tommy stuffing junk mail into the garbage next to their countertop. “Tommy! Guess what?”

Tommy studied him. Sam knew Tommy could tell how imperative this was by the gusto with which he’d asked him to guess, and he knew that Tommy was pretending to put careful thought into his reply when he was really just dragging it out even longer.

“You finally got an A in Geometry?”

Sam let out a laugh at the improbability of that. “No, stupid! I–”

“You can’t get an A in Geometry, and I’m the stupid one. That’s fair.”

Sam ignored him. “I got top seed in the freshman class!”

Tommy nodded his approval. Sam remembered that it was just six years ago that Tommy had been the top freshman pokemon trainer in his school, and he had carried that through to four consecutive years as Trainer of the Year at Goldenrod High School. Tommy had changed only slightly since those days; he was still a very charming young man, but now–even at just twenty years old–he had slight bags under his eyes from all he’d taken on in the last two years; his hair was less naturally flowing and more frazzled and out-of-place. Sam was embarrassed when he realized he must have been beaming; he wasn’t as good of a trainer as Tommy, but he was still apparently pretty good on some level. He probably wouldn’t finish as top trainer overall like his brother, but at least he was seeded higher than Miah Vanderbelt. The look on his face when they had announced him as number two in the class was the second best part of Sam’s day; he had been insufferably smug ever since his dad gave him a Tangrowth for Christmas. 

“Tommy, this is all because of you. Seriously. If you hadn’t been pushing me and training with me so much, I’d have never been good enough to get this.”

Tommy grinned. “Well I’m related to you, stinky. I couldn’t face the customers at work if they came in every day and said ‘Hey, isn’t your brother the kid that couldn’t beat Miah and his Tangrowth?’”

“Oh, so I told you about that?”

“Just once or fifty times. And there was a lot of muttering under your breath about how you’d like to see his Tangrowth hit Bree while she was in the air.”

“Yeah, I really don’t think it can…”

“Well I tell you what, champ. Anything you want for dinner tonight. You name it. I’ll run out to the department store and pick it up. Twenty percent employee discount celebratory dinner.”

“Sloppy Joes!” Sam responded with no hint of hesitation.

Tommy laughed and shook his head in disbelief. “Sam, you are cheaper and easier to feed for a year than most pokemon. You’re too good to me.”

Tommy picked his wallet up from the counter and began rooting around in his pocket for his keys; he probably did not notice Sam’s expression sobering up. The news of being top of his class for training wasn’t the only thing he had brought home with him today. There was also a sharp lump in his right pocket. Tommy was musing aloud about never having the sense to put his keys in the same place, but Sam was miles away from those words, in his own head. What would Tommy think? Would he be excited? Saddened? Sam’s hand slowly went fishing into the pocket and pulled out the rock he had been given at the seeding ceremony hours ago. When he pulled it out, he unconsciously checked it to make sure it was the same as what was presented to him: a bright, transparent orange crystal. Wordlessly, he held it out in an open palm for Tommy to see. His brother, having finally reclaimed his keys from the top of the refrigerator, stopped short at the sight of it.

“Where did you get that?”

“They handed out prizes to the top seeds in each class this year,” Sam replied sheepishly. For some reason he couldn’t figure out, his eyes refused to meet his brother’s. “Freshman class winner got a fire stone.”

Tommy’s hand was patting Sam’s shoulder so fast, he hadn’t even seen his brother extend it.”That’s great, Sam! I guess poor little Zeek is going to become a Flareon! And just in time for your Trainer of the Year tournament.”

Sam wanted to use words, but he suddenly found that he didn’t know any. He merely shook his head, afraid of what his brother would say when he found out.

“No, huh? You’re still shooting for an Espeon, I guess. You really should groom it a little better then, Sammy. I can’t imagine it loves it when I am cutting the knots out of its fur.”

“Vlam.” It was the only word that Sam’s brain would release.

Tommy withdrew his arm from his younger brother’s shoulder. His mouth opened, but then closed again right away. A second time it gaped, but again no words followed. Tommy was twenty now, and had been with Vlam for half of his life. Sam knew their father could have gotten Tommy a fire stone if he had wanted to while the elder brother was growing up, but he never did. Sam remembered the lesson his father had taught him once, giving the impetuous child a Nest Ball for catching his first friend. Was keeping Vlam a Vulpix all those years a lesson for Tommy? Sam tried to imagine what lesson that might be: appreciating what you have? Not expecting others to change for you? It didn’t matter. Dad was gone now, and Sam wanted his brother to have this stone. 

“No, that’s all right, Sammy.” Tommy’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Vlam’s been fine all these years. And she barely ever gets to battle anymore except in our spars. You should keep that.”

Sam shook his head furiously, his brain still on the fritz for spoken language. His eyes did finally get the bravery they needed to look into Tommy’s.

Tommy sighed. “Okay.” He relented, Sam thought, and the pressure that had been building in his jaw that he hadn’t even been aware of until now eased away. The older brother grabbed Sam and pulled him in for a hug. When was the last time they had spontaneously hugged? Sam couldn’t even recall. “Dad would be so proud if he could see you, Sammy. Just like I am.” And just like that, Sam was hugging him back. 

After releasing each other, they said their temporary goodbyes so that Tommy could get going to the Goldenrod Department Store where he worked as an assistant manager and pick up Sam’s victory Sloppy Joes. Tommy had been employed there since shortly after dad had passed. Their father was a doctor, so thankfully he had managed to save enough to help keep the brothers afloat, but there were still taxes to be paid on the family property, as well as utility bills and upkeep costs. Sam had thought it would be better if the two of them just moved into a smaller apartment, but Tommy wouldn’t hear it. Their parents had this house built when they found out mom was pregnant with Tommy, and he refused to let it go; he thought of it as his birthright. It was uncomfortable to think about, but they had been kind of lucky ever since dad passed. The University of Goldenrod City Medical Center swallowed all of their dad’s medical costs and they footed the bill for his burial. And since dad worked at a university-owned hospital, Tommy (and eventually Sam, too) had their tuition paid for at the school, as well. That assistance only went so far, however, and Tommy did the best that he could to cover all the bases, working as many hours as he could grab when it wasn’t absolutely necessary for him to be in class. 

Sam’s mind went back around to the Trainer of the Year tournament; he’d need to choose which friends he’d be entering. Bree was a no-brainer; she was his first and his best. As his brother had noted, Zeek was not ready for this, though. He hadn’t heard from the Johto Day-Care Center recently, so he didn’t know how his Nidorino, Barnabus, was doing. It was weird, the day care had been mailing him weekly updates, but he hadn’t heard from them in a while… Sam’s eyes caught a glimpse of the garbage can and he remembered his brother stuffing mail in their as Sam walked in the door. He might not have recognized the update letter and thrown it away. Sam started digging through the pile of coupon periodicals and credit card offers, and while he did not find the letter he was hoping for, he did see an official-looking paper from the University of Goldenrod City. He easily recognized the UGC watermark that had come on so many of Tommy’s other notices from the school. He either must have thrown it away by accident or it just wasn’t important; Sam checked just to be sure.

He was barely a few words in when the shock of the letter hit him. Tommy had failed out of the university! The notice attributed this to bad grades and an overall lack of regular attendance. But Sam couldn’t figure out how that could be; his brother was always so smart and ahead of his class. Even if not for his family ties to the university that got him in for free, Tommy’s test scores had assured him a slew of scholarships at any school of his choosing. There’s just no way he could have failed out! The realization crept into Sam’s awareness like a spider stalking prey in its web. Tommy hadn’t failed his classes because he couldn’t handle them; he had failed because he simply wasn’t going often enough. He was working fifty hours a week at the department store on top of taking care of the house and helping Sam with his studying and training. He had forsaken his future in favor of providing Sam one for himself. 

Tommy had given his brother a normal life despite their parents both being dead. Sam, in return, gave him a rock. He buried the letter back in the trash where he found it and headed to his room to study Geometry.