Hold On To Hope (Pokemon Fanfiction)

The rain pounded heavily, splattering onto the dirt road, turning it to mud. A worn leather boot splashed into a puddle, caking the boot with mud. A drowned forest splayed on either side of the past, conifers grey and dreary, deciduous stark and bare. The clouds framed a solid barrier in the sky, with no breaks into blue.
The owner of the boot trudged slowly through, gripping the straps of their backpack and looking up at the sky with a hand shielding their eyes from the brightness of the clouds above. Steel grey eyes scanned the horizon for a familiar figure, but saw nothing above the treeline. Boots trudged on.
A twig snapped. A head turned. A Pokeball drawn.
Two orbs hurled. Two creatures attacked. Two promises to uphold.
Three bolts of lightning. Three seconds. Three trees fallen.
Four minutes dueling. Four broken bones. Four words exchanged.
"You said-"
"I know." they leave.
One person left alone, mud caked boots and tears streaming down their face. A Potion used, a splint set in place, a Pokeball returned to its place on the belt. A single sharp humourless laugh cuts through the air. A Trainer with a duty moves on, laughing nonsensically. A heart that is weary, a mind that is broken, a body that will not stop. So they keep moving.
A promise kept six years will now be set in to action.
A Great Ball snatched, thrown, and opened, a Pidgeot materializes. An HM activated. Flying away from the spot. A memory thought to be left behind clings desperately. A final gambit initiated.
The game will be played.