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Notes: Chapter Eleven's title is a reference to the Darkest Day in Pokémon Sword and Shield. The Darkest Day was an ancient event that nearly brought an end to the entire Galar region; Your Darkest Day implies something a little more personal.

---

They found Acacius' pokémon on the drive back. His belt had been thrown on the side of the road, but both pokéballs were accounted for. Acacius let Flapple and Trevenant out briefly, but they were too weak to stay awake for very long. "They need to be healed," he said, getting back in the car. "I don't think curry's going to cut it, either."

"They'll be alright," Raihan said. "We'll get them taken care of at the gym."

"The gym?" Rose said. "We're not going to the hotel?"

"No. Mable knew we were in Wyndon, so there's no point in staying there. We'll meet the others at Hammerlocke Stadium."

"Not too far from where Mable used to live," Acacius said. "You sure that's smart?"

"Tell that to Leon," said Raihan. "I just didn't want to piss him off any further."

With that, he started driving again.

Few words were spoken during the long, tense ride. Rose and Acacius sat in the back, leaving Gloria to take the passenger's seat in front. There were no stops, not for food nor other needs, and no one could muster the energy to want to stretch their legs.

As long as it was, they did reach the Hammerlocke gym. Raihan pulled into a lot behind it, empty except for one person.

Hop ran up to meet them. "Is Gloria okay?" he said, barely giving Raihan time to open the car door.

"I'm fine." Gloria got out and put considerable space between herself and Hop. "I'm probably a lot better now, honestly."

"Gloria…"

"What?" she snapped.

Hop shook his head. "Lee's gonna want to talk to you," he said. "He's not happy."

"Whatever."

Raihan patted her shoulder. "I'll go first," he said. "He'll tire himself yelling at my stupid ass, and then he won't be so hard on you."

Acacius stumbled when he stood up and put a hand on the car to steady himself. "I'm fine," he said before Rose could express concern. "Kinda dizzy. Probably need water."

"Was your head injured?" Rose asked. "If you have a concussion–"

"I don't have a concussion," Acacius said. "Let's just go inside."

---

When they walked into the stadium's locker rooms, the first words out of Leon's mouth were, "What the hell were you thinking!"

Raihan stepped forward and crossed his arms. "I thought Gloria needed a way to destress, and all she wanted was to battle the chairman. How was I supposed to know Mable would show up?'

Leon hissed air through his teeth. "It was still completely stupid! I can't imagine it would have turned out well even if it wasn't the worst possible scenario!"

"I'm sorry," Rose said. "I should have–"

Leon put a hand up to stop him. "For once, Chairman, I'm not actually angry at you."

"I know it was stupid," Raihan said, "but Mable already knew where we were, and she had a hostage. Something would have happened if we hadn't gone out, and it would've been way more public."

"If you had waited for me–"

"So you could have said no?"

While their argument grew in volume, Acacius sat down on the bench, rubbing his arms. Rose sat next to him. "You were hurt," he said.

"Not badly," Acacius said.

"Someone should take a look to make sure."

"Are you volunteering?"

Rose blinked. "Wouldn't it be better if it was someone with medical training?"

Acacius glanced at him. "I mean, you're probably as good as anyone else in this group. I don't want to go to a real doctor if I don't have to."

"Well, if you're comfortable with it–"

Acacius took his shirt off before he had finished the sentence. Rose lost his train of thought.

He quickly regained his senses. Most of the bruises were on Acacius' arms, but there was one on his side that stretched from just below his arm to his waist, slowly turning a nasty color. Rose sucked in a sharp breath. "That doesn't look good," he said. "I think you do need a real doctor."

"Really?" Acacius swiveled to look at the bruise himself. "Aw, crap. I mean, it definitely looks worse than it feels…"

"You could have a broken rib," Rose said. "We can't do anything to treat it here."

"I'm not going to the hospital," Acacius said flatly.

Pushing the issue wouldn't do either of them any good. "Alright," Rose said. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I dunno." Acacius picked up his shirt again, but didn't put it on. "Just…"

He trailed off. Rose was about to prompt him further when he heard Leon say, "Gloria," and he looked up.

Gloria stood in front of Leon, staring firmly at the floor. "So?" she said. "Is it my turn to get yelled at?"

Leon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Why did you do it?" he said.

"She wasn't going to leave us alone," said Gloria. "Maybe now she will."

"That's not–" Leon cut himself off. "Gloria," he said, "you gave her Eternatus. Don't you realize how dangerous that is?"

"Yeah," she said, "but hey! Maybe it'll kill her, or she'll kill it! Either way–"

"Gloria!"

She snapped her head up and met him with a glare. "What?!" she shouted. "That thing almost killed you! It tore the chairman's heart out! You think I wanted to carry it around in my pokéball?"

"I–it–" Leon stumbled over his words. "You could have asked for help if you were struggling," he said. "I need you to know that. No one wants you to take everything on your shoulders, you're just a kid!"

"I'm the champion," Gloria said. "You know that means I'm not just a kid anymore!"

Leon threw his arms in the air. "I didn't want it to mean that for you!"

Silence fell. The rest of the room stared at Leon. Gloria lowered her head, tears in her eyes.

"It shouldn't mean that for you," Leon said, lowering his voice to a more reasonable volume. "You're a good kid, and you're strong, but there are some things you shouldn't have to be strong for, alright? I'm sorry I made you think otherwise."

He reached for Gloria's shoulder, hesitated, and turned away without touching her. "We need to get a plan together," he said. "Raihan, can you come with me for a second?"

Raihan started. "Yeah, of course."

They left the room. Gloria stood there with her shoulders shaking until Hop approached her. "C'mon," he said. "Marnie and Bede are worried about you."

"Okay," Gloria said. She let Hop take her arm and lead her away.

That left Rose and Acacius alone in the locker room. Acacius put his shirt back on and folded his vest in his arms. "You think we need to go with them?" he said.

"I'm assuming someone will fetch us once we're needed," Rose said. "Until then…"

"Can I ask you some questions?"

"Of course."

Acacius took a deep breath. "Why do you care about me?" he said.

Rose frowned. "It would be wrong not to, given all you've done for me."

"That's not what I asked. Sure, I helped you, but–" Acacius shook his head. "What makes you want to help me?"

"I'm not sure I understand the question. You helped me when I needed it the most. It's only right to help you in return."

"I'm trying to ask why you like me, alright?"

"Oh," Rose said. "Well…"

It wasn't something he had thought about before. Why wouldn't he like Acacius?

"It's not only that you've helped me," he said. "It's that you make helping me sound… easy. You said any decent person would have done the same." He paused. "But it wasn't easy at all, was it? You risked your life for mine, and you still faced negativity just by associating with me."

"If you're talking about the professor chick being a little rude, I can handle–"

"Acacius," Rose said, "you were kind to me, and before Oleana arrived, you were the only person who was. I am very grateful to consider you a friend."

Acacius looked away. "Even after what I said?'

"I judge people by their actions. After you sacrificed so much for me, I found it hard to believe you meant your words."

"Actions speak louder, huh?"

Rose nodded. "Words are meaningless without action to back them up."

"Cool," Acacius said. "'Cause there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

Acacius took a breath and met his eyes. They held each other's gaze for a long moment before Acacius leaned forward and kissed him.

Rose's first reaction was to pull back in surprise. Acacius straightened his back and held up his hands. "Sorry," he said with half a smile. "Should've asked first, huh?"

"You're fine," Rose said quickly. "I, ah, didn't expect… I haven't kissed anyone since I was a teenager."

He hadn't meant to say that. His face felt much too warm. He averted his eyes and reached a hand up to toy with his hair.

"Really?" said Acacius. "That's surprising. I figured you would have had dozens of people after you."

"I'm… flattered you think that."

An awkward silence followed. Rose was acutely aware he was fumbling the interaction. He was still searching for something to say when Acacius sighed.

"I get it," he said, and stood up. "I just needed you to know that, alright? Doesn't have to mean anything else."

"Acacius, wait." Rose stood up with him. "I…"

As chairman of the Pokémon League, the persona Rose had worked so hard to maintain was not indecisive. When faced with a hard decision, he made a choice and stood by it. There was no time to waste thinking about what could have been–when an opportunity came, he took it.

He put his hands on Acacius' cheeks and kissed him again.

---

Eventually, someone remembered they were still in the locker room. Raihan came to fetch them. "Sorry about that," he said. "Didn't mean to leave you two alone for so long."

"Don't worry about it," Rose said with a smile. "We didn't mind."

The room they had gathered everyone in was a kitchenette with mismatched chairs that appeared dragged in from all over the gym and no table. Oleana stood up from hers when she saw Rose. "Are you alright?" she asked. "They said–"

"I'm fine," Rose said quickly. "Don't worry about me, Oleana. I believe there are other items on the agenda."

He sat down next to her, Acacius pulling up a chair next to him. Oleana furrowed her brow, but didn't press the issue.

Seated in the circle of chairs, Rose was reminded of elementary school. He ran his eyes over the group: himself, Acacius, Oleana, and then Gloria, Hop, Bede, Marnie, Piers, Sonia, Nessa, Raihan…

And Leon. He stood up and cleared his throat. "I've filled all of you in already," he said, "so don't make me repeat myself. Mable has Eternatus, and we need to get it back from her. To do that, we need to figure out where she's going next."

He paused. No one spoke up.

"I have some theories," he said. "Mable lived very close to Hammerlocke, and Celosia's body was found in this city. I think there's a good chance she'll either come back here or somewhere close by."

"Is she still after the chairman?" Nessa asked. "Might be a dangerous for him to be here."

"She better not be," Gloria muttered, just loud enough for Rose to hear.

"We don't know," Raihan said. "She let him go when she got Eternatus, but, y'know, she might not keep that promise."

"Either way," Leon said, "he has protection here. It's not any less safe than Wyndon was."

Rose stayed quiet. He didn't think he had much say in the matter.

Raihan spoke up. "I'll get the bunks set up, but we're not exactly a five-star hotel, so we're gonna have to share rooms. Kids, you're gonna have to stay here tonight, and I strongly recommend the adults do the same. We don't know how long Mable was watching us go in and out of that hotel–everyone here could be a target."

"Do we know for sure she was watching us?" Marnie asked.

"It's not unreasonable to assume," Leon said. "I don't think it was a coincidence she took action when we were all split up."

Sonia spoke up. "I'm going back to the lab," she said. "If there's any useful information there, I want to have it, but I'll need someone to come with me."

"I'll go with you," said Nessa. "As long as you don't mind me crashing there tonight."

While the others decided who would be going where, Rose's mind wandered.

He and Acacius had decided to keep their relationship private until the situation had resolved. There wouldn't be many chances to express their developing feelings, what with sharing close quarters with several other people, but Rose was optimistic about the future. Even though Mable had Eternatus, she must be running out of options–she'd be apprehended, his own sentence would be sorted out, and after all that nonsense was dealt with, he and Acacius could decide what they wanted their lives to look like.

Everything would be fine. Everything would be better than fine–it surprised him how hopeful he felt.

"Chairman?"

He jumped at the sudden address. "I'm sorry," he said, turning to Leon, "I spaced out for a moment. What… is it?"

The circle was staring at him. Rose's first thought was that he had something on his shirt, and he looked down at himself.

"Ah," he said. His chest was glowing.

"Uh," said Raihan, "does that happen often?"

Rose put a hand over where his heart should have been. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Acacius answered for him. "It's happened once before, to my knowledge," he said. "Couldn't figure out a cause then, but it went away on its own, too."

"Is it hurting you?" Oleana asked. "Is there something I can do?"

"I think we need to step out for a minute," Acacius said.

"Yes," Rose managed to say, standing up. "Excuse me."

He took the nearest exit out into a hallway, where he put one hand on the wall and tried to take deep breaths. He heard someone entering behind him. "I'm fine," he said without looking to see who it was.

"Chairman," said Oleana, closing the door behind her, "you are clearly in distress. What can I do to help you?"

Rose shook his head. "I don't know. I'll be fine in a minute. I need…"

The door opened again. "There shouldn't be anything else we need to be in there for," Acacius asked. "You good out here?"

"He said he's fine," Oleana said.

Acacius furrowed his brow. "Did I ask you or him?"

"There's no need for either of you to be rude to each other," Rose said, grateful for a distraction. "Oleana, I can answer for myself; Acacius, she's only trying to help. I just need a moment to recover."

"Sure," Acacius said. "I'll figure out where the bunks are supposed to be, see when you can head over there."

Oleana spun towards him. "And what gives you authority over him?"

"Excuse me?" Acacius exclaimed. "I'm not claiming to have authority, I'm just trying to sort things out!"

"The chairman and I are more than capable of handling the situation ourselves."

"So you're the one with authority, huh?"

"I've worked alongside him for years," Oleana snapped. "I know him better than anyone else. I am the most suited to helping him through this."

Acacius crossed his arms. "So you're just going to yell at me and not even ask what he wants?"

Oleana winced and glanced back at him with a guilty expression. "Rose, I'm sorry–"

"No, no," Rose said. "Your argument is a wonderful distraction from the thing sitting in my chest imitating a human heart. Please, both of you, keep going."

They both stopped. "Aw, crud," Acacius said, his voice softening. "Guess I'm being an asshole, too. Sorry."

Oleana shook her head. "There must be an explanation for how it reacts," she said. "If we study it, there has to be something we can do to–"

"There's nothing to be done." Rose stood up straight. "My original heart is gone, and I doubt putting anything else in there would work. No, I'm stuck with this for the rest of my life, or eternity, whichever comes first." He turned and smiled bitterly. "Maybe I'll still be alive in a thousand years, to see the results of my failed efforts. Don't you think it's a fitting punishment?"

"You shouldn't have been punished at all!" Oleana protested.

"I attempted to contain and control a creature that brought calamity to the region. I deserved Eternatus attacking me, and I–" He clutched his shirt. "–I only wish it had been gracious enough to end my life there. I should be dead, Oleana. I don't understand why I'm not."

"You're spiraling," said Acacius. "Look, we should find a place to sit and calm down, alright?"

"Rose, I–" Oleana's voice caught. "Don't say you should be dead. Please."

"What else should I say?" Rose snapped. "No one can explain why I'm alive! Physically, I should not have survived what I did!"

"I don't care!"

The emotion in her voice threw Rose off his train of thought before it went increasingly off the rails. Oleana stepped forward. "It may have been a freak accident," she said, "but I don't care why you survived. What matters is that you're still here, and–" Her breath caught. "–I don't know what I would do if you weren't. I want to stay by your side for as long as I can, Rose."

His mouth hung open. Oleana smiled at him, her eyes damp. "I just want to see you happy," she said, taking his hands in her own. "Rose, I love you."

Rose couldn't find words. He looked down at their hands, looked back up over Oleana's shoulder, and made eye contact with Acacius. "Oleana," he said. "I…"

He pulled away. Oleana's smile faltered. "Rose?"

"I have to go," he managed to say, and took off down the hall.

---

The stadium was closed to the public. Rose found a place to sit among the hundreds of empty seats and buried his face in his hands.

Eventually, Acacius found him. "You were kind of an ass back there," he said, sitting next to him. "She obviously cares about you a lot."

Rose didn't respond.

"I told her about us, by the way."

Rose sighed and raised his head. "How did she take it?" he said.

"Mixed," said Acacius. "She didn't seem upset, but she wasn't exactly happy, either." He paused. "All she said was that she hoped I made you happy."

His thoughts swirled in his head like a storm. It was easy to be angry, but Rose knew there was no justification to be angry at Oleana. Acacius had done nothing wrong, either–there was only Rose himself.

"You're going to have to talk to her," Acacius said.

"I'll screw it up," said Rose.

"You can't just leave her like that."

"Maybe it would be better for her if we went separate ways."

"Don't say that."

Acacius spoke with a sharp edge to his voice. Rose looked at him and was surprised to see anger in his expression.

"Don't–" Acacius ran a hand over his face and turned away. "I mean, I can't judge you for ghosting someone after I lived in the woods for a decade, but you'll regret it, alright? She's an important person in your life, and you're an important person in hers. You have to at least give her closure before you leave."

Rose looked up at the sky. The sun was setting. "I feel like I've failed her by not reciprocating," he said. "I was oblivious to how she felt for so long…"

A chill ran through him.

It hadn't just been her, had it?

Oleana may have been the only one who felt romantically towards him… but Bede had been devoted in his own way, and Rose had severed ties without considering his feelings. Even as it dawned on him how he had mistreated the child, there was a voice at the back of his mind, telling him: everything he did was for the good of Galar. What did one orphan matter when the future was at stake?

And before Bede, there had been another promising child, one who fulfilled every expectation and shouldered every responsibility Rose set upon him. The region's unbeatable champion. Leon carried the weight of Galar, and Rose had refused to wait a single day before awakening Eternatus.

"Are you alright?"

Rose slowly shook his head. "I've hurt so many people," he whispered. "What if I hurt you, too?"

"Well," Acacius said, "you can do the same things you did to everyone else, or you can change and find all sorts of new ways to hurt me. We're gonna hurt either way, Rose. Just try to make it interesting."

He put an arm around Rose's shoulders and pulled him close. The light from Rose's heart colored Acacius' face a deep pink as the sky grew darker and darker.

The burden he carried didn't feel any lighter, but he wasn't carrying it alone.