“Prepare the table. He should be here anytime”.

A couple of days after their phone conversation, at one of the houses within small Littleroot Town,

Brenda’s mother was preparing dinner. Her characteristic long brown mane fell graciously on her back, wearing a red blouse and blue long skirt that were partially hidden with a yellow apron. Since they decided for a dinner meeting, she was preparing some of Brenda’s favorite dishes, a nice treat after being away from home for so long. In the meanwhile, her father Norman was placing the dishes and cutlery on the dining table.

“I’m excited, ya know? It’s been a while since I’ve seen him. How couldn’t he pay me a visit? I wanted to check how much he’s improved”, complained Norman comically.

“Oh, you and your battles. There’s more in life, you know?”, asked Brenda’s mother jokingly. Then, the doorbell rang. “Oh, he’s here! Can you check this? I’ll be back”.

Leaving the not-so-experienced Norman with the meal, Brenda’s mother walked towards the front door at a somehow fast pace, unable to hide her happiness to see her ‘son’ again. She was ready to greet ‘him” when she opened the door, but stopped the instant she noticed it was May calling.

“Hi, miss”, greeted May.

“Oh, hi, May! What a coincidence. Brendan’s coming home soon. Do you want to stay for dinner with us all?”, invited Brenda’s mother.

“Actually… we came together. Right… Brenda?”.

For a moment, the mother thought she misheard her child’s name. Just a single letter, nothing special. But seeing May looking at the her side, extending her hand… and another trembling hand grabbing hers, everything turned more confusing. But it wouldn’t last long, for a second later, someone appeared. She expected to see her ‘son’, and while she recognized those eyes, everything else was different. A young girl stood at the front door, one with a yellow top, a blue skirt and long hair tied in pigtails. She couldn’t ask, but she didn’t need to. Just by looking at each other’s eyes, she recognized her child. For a moment, only silence filled the space, until Norman broke it from afar.

“Hey, what’s taking you so long? I turned off the heat”, said Norman as he rushed to the front door. “Hey, champ! How you…”.

However, he couldn’t finish his greeting upon seeing his child in her new attire. It was a strange moment, no one daring to take the first step. Still, Brenda took it upon herself to say:

“Hi mom… Hi dad… I’m home”.

It took a couple of minutes more for everybody to assimilate the situation and go inside. Leaving dinner cooling off at the kitchen, Brenda, her parents and May sat down in the living room. Norman and his wife still didn’t know what to say, so Brenda decided to explain everything. Not only her self discovery at the Contest and her later experiences, but also all her feelings she had when she was a child, her wishes that she hid for so long. Her parents remained silent, but listening carefully, seemingly not showing any sign of disdain at what she had to say. In fact, the more they heard, the more surprised and intrigued they looked. It was upon finished when her mother finally said something.

“So… you are a trans girl”, murmured her mother, to which Brenda nodded. “I never knew you felt that way”.

“But why didn’t you tell us before? Or after?”, asked Norman confused.

“I… I didn’t know if you would be okay. Nobody back home did, so…”.

The sudden mention of ‘home’ made Brenda’s parents freeze, a cold sensation traveling down their spines. They looked at each other with sadness, and then they looked at May, who never experienced such a place.

“May, you probably don’t know, but…”, began saying her mother.

“She kinda told me. That town was weird and everybody mocked her for being different”, interrupted May.

“It was far more than ‘weird’”.

Norman’s words sounded cold and harsh, out of his usual character, surprising both children. His eyes showed some sort of anger, while the mother’s were full of sadness.

“Our hometown was very old-fashioned, and with that I mean, they cared about hierarchy and prestige. Ever heard ‘the very best, like no one ever was’? In that town, it was more than a motto, it was their way of living”, explained Norman. “Since children, everybody was raised to be better and look down on others. And grown-ups were not much better in that aspect”.

“We… we never liked that way of living, but we were used to it”, added the mother. Then, she looked at Brenda and continued: “But for you… it was much worse. Just like us, you didn’t fit in that environment. The other children mocked you and the other parents were cruel as well. We saw you suffer, you barely talked to us, but what could we do to help you? As long as we stayed there, nothing would change”.

“So we decided to change it!”, exclaimed Norman, gathering everybody’s attention. “If they wanted competition, they would get it! I trained to become as strong as possible so I could apply for a Gym Leader job very far away, away from all that toxic environment. A place where we could be happy. A place where you could be happy”.

“We… we moved to Hoenn… for me?”, asked Brenda in shock.

That sure was a revelation. She never knew why they suddenly left their hometown to move to such a distant region. She always believed there had to be another reason. However, for the first time, she felt her parents actually cared about her.

“Of course. We wanted to leave all that as well, but you were our inspiration to work hard to get it”, added the mother. “And once we got here, I wanted to talk to you, help you. But you suddenly began your Trainer journey and… I thought you were okay. That you found your passion, just like your dad”.

“No, I… I just… I did it to make you two happy”, said Brenda, surprising her mother and Norman. “You always looked so sad, I thought it was my fault, that I wasn’t good enough for you, that I wasn’t the son you wanted, so…”.

But she couldn’t continue. A lot of strange feelings rushed her mind. Her parents had the best intentions and she never noticed. She felt guilty for thinking bad about them, she couldn’t even look at them. Lowering her head, ashamed, with a few tears falling on the floor. And then, she noticed a warm feeling, something embracing her. It was her mother.

“No, don’t blame yourself! It was our fault!”, said the mother. “I shouldn’t have waited all this time. I should have talked to you and learned about your feelings much sooner. I…”.

At that point, the woman began sobbing as well. When was the last time Brenda saw her mother crying, she couldn’t remember. However, she knew it came out from her heart. Then, the woman said something that reached Brenda’s soul:

“I’m sorry… Brenda”.

It sounded so sweet, so pure, so… honest. She believed it would take much more for her mother to call her that way, she wasn’t even sure she would do it. But hearing her real name, Brenda, felt like a dream that she couldn’t believe.

“Are… are you okay with… me?”, asked Brenda with broken voice.

Her incredulous eyes witnessed how her mother looked at her, her eyes full of kindness and love, as she caressed her daughter’s cheek, a warm sensation enveloping her skin.

“Of course! I can see how important this is for you. I can finally see who you are! That makes me so happy”, asserted the mother.

Suddenly, another warm sensation on her head. A hand, her father’s hand caressing her hair. Still in shock, she looked up to Norman, who was smiling as well.

“We never expected you to follow my steps. All we care is that you are happy. If you are a girl, you should live like your true self. You must follow your own path”, said Norman.

It was a strange sight. Her parents, smiling at her. A wish that she always long when younger. Something she witnessed for the first time upon arriving to Hoenn. And still, that was completely different. They were truly happy, like never before, and it was because of her. Because they loved her as who she was. Her guilt, her fears, vanished instantly in front of that image. A warm sensation engulfed her heart, making her cry and run to their arms. Hugging her back, her mother and Norman realized that was the instant they finally left their past behind. Finally, after so long, they were a united family. May, who observed silently the whole time, could feel the happiness and love they all shared to each other. After a while, they all released and the mother laughed.

“I must say, I didn’t expect to have a cute daughter at this point in life!”, commented the mother jokingly, making Brenda blush. “I’d have loved to see you in your Contest debut!”.

“Actually, I have a video on my PokéNav, if you want to watch it!”, added May, picking up her PokéNav.

Before an embarrassed Brenda could stop them, her parents got next to May and watched the video. Even on the small screen, they could see Brenda wearing her yellow idol outfit, dancing and acting along May.

“Hey, look at my little star! You look so cute!”, commented Norman proudly.

“Daaaaad!”, complained Brenda red as a Tamato Berry.

Among laughs, Brenda finally shared a happy family moment along with her parents. They finally had dinner and, even if it was cold already, it didn’t matter that much. They had a great time talking about everything Brenda lived during her transition in the last month. Before they all realized, it got quite late, which meant it was May’s time to go back home. Brenda accompanied her to the front door.

“I had a lot of fun! And I’m happy for you and your parents!”, said May happily.

“Yeah, I’m glad it went okay”, said Brenda. Then, a bit bashfully, she added: “Thanks, May. I don’t know if I could have done this alone”.

No feeling any need to answer, May giggled. She was used to Brenda’s continuous gratitude, although there wasn’t any need. She was there to support her, but it was her friend who took the steps to go that far.

“Hey, do you mind if we stay here for a few days?”, asked Brenda. “I’d like to spend some time with my parents”.

“Oh, sure! A break will be fine. I can spend some time with mine too!”, answered May. “But if you wanna hang out, just call me, got it?”.

“Sure, we can meet tomorrow. We can decide on where to go next on our journey!”, said Brenda before bidding farewell and closing the door.

May remained in front of the house, alone in the dark, observing the lighted up windows of the house. She could hear the happy conversations between Brenda and her family. That made her feel good inside. When reminiscing back that last month, she realized how much Brenda had grown during that time. At that point, she began questioning if there was anything else for her to learn. And it actually seemed there was nothing more. Brenda was ready to go on her own. While she was happy about that, a random thought crossed her mind. A thought that brought along a slight pain in her heart, with her smile slowly fading away. A thought that she couldn’t help but murmur, with no one else to hear it.

“She… she doesn’t need me anymore… right?”.