A Genius's Story

Sage took a deep breath and pulled out his phone. The gentle glow of the screen shone on his face as he slowly typed out his mother’s phone number. His finger hovered over the call button as he wondered whether he really should do this. He really didn’t want to, he got this feeling in his chest whenever he was about to do it, but he really should. It wouldn’t be right to leave his parents worrying. Sage pressed the button and waited three rings until hearing a click.

“Sage? Are you ok? Where are you? I saw what happened on the news. Are you alright?” the sound of his mother’s voice made Sage pause for a moment. It was nice to hear her voice after what had just transpired but this call likely wasn’t going to be fun.

“Hello mom. And yes I…” he said as his voice trailed off. His other hand went up to the eye patch and touched it softly. He wanted to tell his mother he was fine but he couldn’t bring himself to lie to her.

“I am alive. That’s what matters,” he said.

“Well I’m really happy you’re safe. Where are you?” came the sound from the device.

“I am in Hearthome City right now. I’m going to take a train back home. I should be back in Jubilife within the next 3 or 4 days,” he said. He didn’t know why he was so nervous for this, but he was even more confused on why his nerves hadn’t settled.

“I am assuming Dad wants to talk to me?” Sage asked.

“Oh honey, he would but he’s at work right now. I’ll let him know you called though,” came the response.

“Thank you Mom. I am going to hang up now. I love you,” he said.

“I love you too, sweetheart.” And then there was a click. Sage took a deep breath in and sighed. That was much more nerve racking than it should have been. But that wasn’t very important right now. His priority right now was getting a train ticket to Jubilife.



Sage woke up from a nap, hearing the sounds of a train. He forgot where he was for a few seconds before realizing that he was arriving in Jubilife today. He did his best to patiently wait until they arrived at the station, but he was tired of being cooped up with nothing to do, and that made him a bit restless. Still, it was out of his power, so he did his best to manage.



The train finally came to the Jubilife stop, and Sage got off the train. He was greeted by a man with black hair and glasses, someone who was shorter than he was. It, of course, was his father.

“Sage!” called Mr. Beech as he almost ran up to his son and gave him a hug.

“Oh we’ve missed you a lot! And you’ve grown so much, now you almost tower over me!” he said with a bit of a laugh. It took him a split second to realize that something was off.

“Wait… Sage, what happened to your eye?” Sage winced at the question. He knew it was coming, he just hadn’t been prepared for it. Sage sighed.

“I’ll tell you and Mom together, I’d rather not talk about it now,” Sage said.

“Understandable. But here, let me take that,” Mr. Beech said as he took his son’s luggage. The car ride back home was silent until they reached their house.

“Well, we’re here. Welcome home, Sage,” Mr. Beech said. When Sage walked inside, he was hit by nostalgia and also a hug from his mother.

“Ooooh, we missed you Sage! Welcome back,” she said while engulfing Sage despite her being very much shorter than he was. As she pulled away, she noticed the eye patch.

“Sage, what happened?” she said, concern and almost panic clearly showing in her voice. Sage sighed in response.

“I suppose I should tell you two now,” he said with a sigh.

And so he did. Sage told his parents how debris from an explosion got stuck in his eye and how when he got to Hearthome, he had to have surgery to remove it. He hadn’t gone into such detail that he mentioned the Galactic attack, and his parents didn’t question the story as explosions matched what they saw on the news.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to simply relax for the evening,” Sage said.

“Yes, of course,” Said Mrs. Beech. “Oh! Sage, we have a gift for you. It should be on your bed,” she finished.

“Thank you, Mom,” he said in response as he got up from the table and made his way to his bedroom. On his bed, he noticed blue clothing and a note. He picked up the note and read it.

    Welcome home! Your father and I got a gift for you. We thought, since you’ve been wearing the same clothes for over a year, you might want something different. We hope you like it! Oh, and welcome back, Sagey!

    Love,

        Mom.

Sage smiled warmly to himself as he finished the note. He looked at the clothes. They seemed to be very similar to what he wore now, albeit perhaps a little more formal and the colors being navy blue as opposed to beige. He made a mental note to thank his parents for the thoughtful gift before moving the clothes and doing his best to relax.



Sage had just finished brushing his teeth when his mother creaked the bathroom door open. She was planning on using it but saw that her son was using it before bed and decided to wait. She watched as Sage, now in his sleeping clothes, removed his eye patch. He slowly opened his glasses case and stared at his glasses. Very slowly, as if time itself had come to crawl, Sage took his glasses and put them on. He looked at himself in the mirror and tears welled up in his eyes. He almost felt normal again. But, he knew he likely never would. Not with that eye patch. By this point he was crying. He wiped his tears away and put his eye patch back on. As he left the bathroom, he saw his mother.

“It is all yours, now,” he said, forcing a smile. As he got back to his room, he took his eye patch off again. He put it on his night stand, and did his best to sleep despite his emotions running wild.
He decided that he would talk to Professor Rowan after he woke up.