#Quest for Galar: Side Sword

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hello and Happy Birthday! I have a questions, if its okay?

What do you think of the Pokemon side Quest games? Like pokemon contest, pokeathelon.

Favorites in Pokemon?

Top 3 (or 5)

Top spin-offs or side games (Ex. Pokemon Conquest, Ranger, Cafe remix)

Top Trainer class (Ex. Aroma Lady, Gym Leader etc. )

Top Villainous Team/Group

Top Starter Pokemon

Top Legendary Pokemon

Top Region

Bonus: Fave moments/scenes, in games or series

Hello my dear. I don't really play the side games, I just play the standard games so I'll just answer those questions!

My favorite trainer class are the veterans!

My favorite evil team is Team Skull- let me join!!!!!!!

Favorite starter is Totodile. That adorable little gator is so stinking cute!

Favorite legendary is Entei! I adore that design.

And my favorite region is Alola, with Galar being a close second.

I love, in sword and shield, when the gym leaders walk out during the opening ceremony. And I love when Guzma helps us against Rainbow Rocket, especially when he's holding the two grunts back, that always makes me laugh!

[echantedtoon]

Love Doesn't Do Encores Ch29 The Champion Cup P2

(Warning: Someone does get hurt with a hurt arm and someone does get knocked out And Leon is a lil hurt from his Eternatus confrontation but don't worry. They're all ok.)

"Y/n. I lost fair n' square. Raihan's goin' ta battle in the Fourth Round. Not me."

You had ..completely froze. Allister still in your arms looking at you confused as you stared wide eyed like a goldfish at Gloria. ...WAIT. W H A T!?!? No. No. NONONONONONONO!! N O!!! That...CAN'T BE RIGHT!! IT JUST CAN'T BE!! During the game the player (or Gloria in this case) would battle their way through threw the The Champion Cup and after winning the final match would face off against Leon and become the new Champion of Galar! NOT.....lose? But...Gloria said she..lost. HOW COULD THAT HAPPEN!? EVERYTHING WAS GOING EXACTLY AS PLANNED!!!....Something must've happened to disrupt the progress! Throwing it off balance somehow!! Something you all had missed doing or skipped over! Or-...Or something! The kids all looked at one another as you looked down spacing off in thought, trying to figure out what exactly might've gone wrong along the way. Every single thing up to this point had been exactly as in game!! If not more so. Gloria managed to get all the gym badges. All the side quests were finished. She had gotten all the possible traded and gifted pokemon other than one which was after the game and was a charmander given to the player by Leon. And as far as you could tell there wasn't anything else missing. Gloria had gotten all the possible league cards of the standard game. As well as finished off her 'Dexes' thanks to Leon and Victor gifting her all those pictures. Every encounter. Every gym. Every win...It SHOULD have gone so smoothly but-..IT DIDN'T!! Gloria had somehow lost and instead..wouldn't even get a chance to battle Leon for the Champion title now..Instead. Either Raihan or whoever won the current battle between Kabu and Piers would. You thought long and hard..Maybe it was because in the games you only battled 8 gyms instead of 10?? It depended if you either played Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield which two gyms would've been different. So was it because Gloria battled all of them instead of chosing either the Sword or Shield path?? Or maybe it was because you were the one that solved the 'Lucky Egg' side quest in Hulbury instead of her?? But that was the only time you could think of interfering in the game's story. Could one little thing really stop Gloria from winning?!

"Y/n?"

"AH!?" You had jumped a bit startling Allister a bit in your arms as well. Blinking at most of the children staring at you with confused expressions.

"...Are you ok there, Mate?," Hop asked you raising a brow. "You sort of spaced out for a second."

"Um.." You shook your head. "Y-Yeah. Sorry. I guess I'm just shocked that ...G-Gloria  lost. Is all."

"No sweat. I was pretty shocked too. But these things happen. You can't just press the restart button like on video games. Oh well." Video games?...How ironic. Your excuse must've worked because he was instantly back to smiling and patted Gloria on the shoulder. "But look how far she got. Second to final round is a lot farther than any of us really got. I dunno about all of you, but I'd say that's a really fantastic accomplishment."

Gloria smiled at Hop gratefully. Beside her Bede rose a brow between her and Hop before raising a hand and coughing loudly. Gaining her attention. "*AHEM*....Yes. This is ..all well and good." He peeked one eye open at Gloria who blinked at him before looking away again. "I suppose some congratulations is in order. You were..very good out there. I'm surprised you were strong enough to last through all that to here. I may have underestimated by rival's perseverance."

Gloria blinked surprised but smiled at him. "Well that's a surprisingly nice thing ye would say 'bout me. Thanks, Bede."

You didn't miss the light pink of Bede's cheeks...and neither did Hop who scowled at him. "*ahem* Y-Your welcome. It's only natural to comment on one's strength if they get far."

"Uh..Y-Yeah!" You made yourself smile at Gloria. "Great job out there, Gloria! You did your best."

"Aw. Thanks, Y/n! By the way, Hop was tellin' me 'bout you makin' everyone hot chocolate. I don't suppose I could bug ye for one?"

"Yeah. I can make you some. You must be hungry too. I-I'll make you something to eat."

It was..kinda a blur at first from the shock. But you had set Allister back down in his seat by the window, thanked Victor for making sure things didn't delve into further chaos, and then went about making a LOT more coco for everyone around you who wanted another cup. Which was almost everyone. You absolutely made sure Allister got a replacement cup to replace the one that he had spilt a little while ago. When everyone was satisfied with the hot coco, you were about to go sit down when you remembered. Gloria probably hadn't eaten anything yet. Everyone else had burgers and countless amounts of hot chocolate, but she probably hadn't eaten anything since you'd given her that small oatmeal bar this morning too busy focusing on battling. You'd better make her one of those ramen cups so she'd have something in her stomach- B O O M!! The entire place shook again as a gigantic boom went off outside shaking the entire stadium. You had to grip the cabinet to not fall over before it quickly stopped. What the world was THAT!?

"IT'S A MIRACLE FOLKS!! THE FIREY FIERCE FIGHTER KABU!! HAS BEEN DEFEATED!! THE TALL, DARK, AND MYSTERIOUS PIERS HAS EARNT THE RIGHT TO BATTLE IN THE FINAL ROUND!!" Oh! Was THAT what that was? The crowd cheered and Marnie stood there staring out the window. Her blue eyes suddenly slightly narrowed staring out and down to the field. "BATTLERS PLEASE EXIT THE FIELD FOR REPAIRS AND PREPARE FOR THE FINAL MATCH TO DETERMINE WHICH GYM LEADER WILL BE LUCKY ENOUGH TO COMPETE AGAINST CHAMPION LEON FOR THE FINAL MATCH OF THE CHAMPION CUP!!"

You slowly let go of the cabinets and minded your own business as you made another cup of ramen for Gloria, and along with her cup of coco, and brought it over to her. All the while swiveling your head around and keeping check on all the kids there. Making a head count. One, two, three- Ok! All fourteen children (now including Gloria) were accounted for and safe. Gloria smiled and thanked you for the food once you handed it to her and you finally got the chance to sit down on one of the couches with a sigh. Almost as soon as you did, Silver slunk over and plopped himself next to you curled up like a cat. Well good news. You didn't have to worry about anything else at the moment. Bad news....Now you had to deal with ANOTHER giant problem. The game for whatever reason was...derailed. Derailed harder than a train flying off the tracks at a million miles per hour. So now begged the question. HOW WERE YOU GOING TO GET HOME NOW!? If the only chances you had of getting home were riding on the game ending then how would you get home now? Would you still go home once the Champion Cup was over? Would it really matter if Gloria (or Victor you guessed) wasn't the one battling Leon in the end? ...You shook your head stomach in knots. You didn't know. There was only one thing to do. You'd have to wait with the others and watch the last two battles of the entire finals. Would Raihan or Piers be the one to battle Leon in the end? With a sigh you leaned back. Wonder what those guys were up to now?

-Meanwhile In The Stadium's Locker Rooms-

The guys' locker room was pretty quiet for the most part. With the exception of the cheers of the crowd outside the doors and whatever noises the guys were making in there. The white walls were helping to reflect the light around him and the screen on the TV went on with whatever generic news was being broadcasted at the moment. A few lockers lined the walls, along with some benches, and one or two vending machines. At the moment most of the guys were relaxing with some kind of food or watching the TV or talking amongst themselves now that most of the battles and excitement were over for them. Except for two. And they were a bit busy themselves. Raihan was what else, doing something with his phone, his pokemon currently out to be fed. As if the place wasn't crowded already. Or maybe that was just his take on the whole thing. Piers himself was just...sitting. Sitting in the corner with his body leaned back against the wall and his eyes closed. The adrenaline from the last battle still rushing through his body but slowly leaving him as he had the chance to let his heart slow down from the excitement. ..But he did slowly open his eyes feeling a presence over himself and his blue eyes opened to meet Kabu standing over him. The older man stood in front of him for a moment before straightening his body and giving a small smile.

"The battle we had was most enjoyable, Young Piers. I truly enjoyed being able to see what strengths you can throw at someone, and while not dynamaxing. Sticking to your code is most honorable." He bowed to him. "Let us have another battle again sometime and may you flourish in the next round as well."

Piers in equal respect pushed himself off the wall and bowed his head back to the older Gym Leader. "Thanks, Mate. I intend on puttin' on a good performance before my retirement."

"Retirement? You make yourself sound older than you are, Piers."

Both men looked over to notice that a third party had joined them as Raihan smiled down at Piers, his flygon tagging along behind him like a curious lillipup. Piers didn't react all too much besides lifting himself up and out of the bowing position to look at him with his usual neutral face.

The dragon type gym leader smiled cheerfully at him. "By the way you were giving Kabu the old one-two treatment out there, anyone would've thought you were a top gym leader. ..In fact." His brow rose. "I don't think I've ever seen you let lose THAT much in a battle before."

"Well, I figure if I'm goin' to resign then I might as well go out with a bang everyone would remember me by."

Raihan nodded. "That's totally something you'd do alright. Your lil sis is taking over for you right?"

Piers nodded back to him. "'Course I gotta train her a bit. Show 'er the ropes a bit. But considering that she spent so much time with me in the gym anyways I reckon it shouldn't take her too long to pick up the full responsibilities. And then there's the legal paperwork I have to sign and have approved by the Chairman to transfer property of the gym. ''

"Whatcha planning on doing then once you fully hand over the position to her? I don't think you have another job lined up for you."

"'M focussin' on something I've been wanting to do for a long time now, Rai-Rai."

"Ah.~" Raihan smirked and pointed a hand at him. Kabu leaving the two to talk together. "You mean your music career! Good for you man! Have you reached out to any record dealers yet?"

He shook his head no leaning it back against the wall. "Not yet. None o' them really appealed to me yet. But Nessa's talked to her modelin' agent who knows a few people in the industry and promised to connect me to a few o' 'em. Not much but it's a start I guess."

He blinked when all of a sudden Raihan shifted and a moment later he plopped himself on the bench next to the rocker. The warm air of the locker room helping their bodies to warm up more. "Well a start is better than no start at all if you think about it."

"Hmm. I 'spose that's true. Who knows where it's gonna go, eh?" He looked from Raihan at nothing in particular really, his hand coming up to grab at his choker. Raihan watching his friend's actions carefully. ...Maybe a little TOO carefully for what was normal and after a moment the pal man looked back to him raising a bold brow. "......What?"

Raihan gave him a genuine smile back before shrugging looking forward. "Oh nothing. I was just wondering is all. Might there be another reason you're pushing yourself so hard in these battles this time."

"No? Why are you asking?"

The man hummed rolling his eyes. "Well...This is the farthest in the finals you've ever made it and I can't help but wonder about it...I figured maybe you were throwing your punches more aggressively for Marnie. Or your team. Or for Spikemuth. You know since you just want what's best for them all and everything."

Blue eyes narrowed at the other gym leader as his gaze hardened. Studying the man but Raihan kept up that innocent smile. After a moment he hummed but looked away. "....I guess you're not far off from there." He sighed. "Any attention I can give to help Spikemuth will be worth the effort. I want Marn-Marn to have the best future I can provide for her. Being a Gym Leader will guarantee her success and income. But I've got to fix the city. Leo can only help so much. I can't-.....I HAVE to give her a brighter future than mine."

A small silence hung between the two of them as Piers still stared off and Raihan had long since dropped his smile and his own blue eyes turned back to his friend. Fill of pity and slight worry for the rocker. Eventually after a moment his hand came up to gently grab his shoulder but Piers ignored it.

"Hey. Y'know what happened to your city wasn't your fault. Sometimes things happen that's out of our control. That doesn't mean the fingers point back to you."

"....It's funny. I've been told that a lot lately."

"Well it's true! And you're working on fixing the city. That only means people's going to come flocking back anyways. I swear once people hear the Mighty Rockstar Piers lives there you'll be having people going there just to swoon at your presence!~" Piers yelped when an arm suddenly wrapped around his shoulders just to pull him against him in a side hug. "I can see it now!" He held his hand out as he talked. "Piers, the Dark Type Musician! Babes fighting to be in your shadow and guys throwing friend requests at you just to claim brag rights! Kids looking up to you as their inspiration for years to come!" 

Piers groaned and brought a hand up to push against Raihan to let him go. Eyes rolling. "Like that would happen- ACK!!"

Raihan threw them back and forth with a smile pumping a fist into the air. "The crowds cheering your name! PIERS! PIERS!! PIERS!! HHAAAAAAHH!!! WE LOVE YOU!! YOU'RE AMAZING!! SIGN MY T-SHIRT!!"

"RAIHAN!! I GET MOTION SICKNESS-"

"THE BABES SWOONING!! OH PIERS!!~" He then started talking in a raspy poor impression of a lady's voice. Pulling Piers closer in a hug, making the man blush red in embarrassment as some of the others looked over at them now. "Oh PIERS YOU'RE SO HANDSOME!!~ PIERS PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME!!~ I WANT YOU TO SWEEP ME OFF MY FEET!~ SERENADE ME WITH YOUR MAGNIFICENT VOICE!~"

"OK!! IF I AGREE WITH YOU WILL YA LET ME GO!?"

In an instant he stopped and looked back to the red faced man and in a calm voice spoke. "Yep!"

"F-Fine! Bloody h*ll! it's n-not my fault! There. I said it!"

"I'm glad you see my point." True to his word, Raihan released his friend from his hug. And Piers quickly pushed himself away embarrassed.

"Arceus! You're bloody impossible to deal with!," he pouted.

"And yet somehow still adorably loveable!~"

"Ha! Loveable? Maybe to your fangirls."

"Not every girl though. There's one who's got it in for me I think." He paused as Piers..chuckled. And the rockstar finally sported a small smile giving him a side glance from under his bangs. 

"Yes. If I remember right she left you speechless for an entire week."

...It was Raihan's turn to be embarrassed as he turned his gaze upwards much to Piers's amusement and his arm rubbed the back of his neck. "Mmm. I mean I wouldn't say 'speechless' more like confused."

"Oh?" His brow rose. "Then I 'pose when I visited you in Hammerlocke that week finding you in the cafe staring at the table like ya were studyin' for a test tryin' ta make heads or tails of what jus' happened, isn't speechless?"

Raihan opened his mouth pointing at Piers...Piers smiled wider. ..Before Raihan sighed but smiled. "Alright. Maybe I was a little speechless. But can you blame me? She's a..A bit different from the usual women I've met. She can give Bea a run for how blunt she is."

Piers nodded totally agreeing. "You got that right. The bloody lady was gonna try to make it all the way back to Hammerlocke with a dislocated shoulder jus' so her mates wouldn't be behind on their trip."

Raihan's brows rose in surprise. "Seriously?! Man. I dunno if that's stubborn or sheer determination.".....He smirked eyes half lidded at his pal. "But uh...She's a good jokester."

Piers chuckled a bit more. "Yeah...Can't remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did."

"....So you DO like her?"

"WHAT!?" Piers instantly snapped to his friend who chuckled at his reaction.

"Hey. It's ok.~ Everyone gets crushes in their lives-"

"NOT YOU TOO!" He groaned and facepalmed himself. "I don't even KNOW 'er that well! First Marnie an' now you."

"Well you did invite her out for Christmas."

"Because I felt bloody BAD that she got hurt in Spikemuth!," Piers defended himself now scowling, "Bloody heck. Y'know how I feel 'bout that."

"I know, I know." Raihan smiled at him. "I was just pulling your leg, Piers. You know I was just teasin'.~" He made that innocent oh so angelic smile and Piers hummed again. But also didn't get a chance to speak when another gym leader approached them. Neither saw Gordie opening the door to a delivery boy and bring in a to-go bag until he walked up to them and spoke.

"Hey, Raihan!" Both men looked up to Gordie who held up the bag to them as he walked forward. "The guy from the door said you ordered this."

Immediately Raihan's eyes perked up. "Oh yeah! My lunch is here!" He took the bag from Gordie with a smile. The flygon next to him taking a very keen interest at the smell. "Thanks man! I'm starving more than a snorlax after hibernation."

Piers rose a brow and watched as Raihan immediately started digging through the bag. "Food? At a time like this? We could get called out ta field any moment now and you're chosin' to stuff your face?" 

Raihan shrugged pulling out a decently big container and opened it. Inside was delicious smelling curry and on top of it was a giant egg. Some kind of boiled egg curry? The flygon immediately locked it's eyes onto the egg. "Hey. You know me. I've got to keep my energy up. Besides it's cold outside. I need something in my stomach to keep me warm." He turned to Piers oblivious to the flygon reaching it's neck out. "You should get something for you too. It'll help when we battle because I'm not holding back."

Piers huffed with a half smile. "Well...I'd say I aim to win this thing. And I'll do it without dynamaxin' to help everyone in Spikemuth reclaim their pride and ta see 'em smile once again-"

"HEY!!" Raihan yelled as in a flash of green the flygon dove at his container of food and (literally-) took almost all the food with it in one big bite. The now mostly empty container was dropped to the ground from impact and both men blinked as the flygon sat back up cheeks puffed out with what WAS once Raihan's curry. Everyone sat there stunned for a moment, before the dragon tamer scowled at the pokemon. "HEY! Flygon, that was MY take out. I already gave you food with everyone else!" The pokemon gave a thrum sound in return.

....Piers blinked and slowly looked down to the small mess on the floor. "Guess he must've been hungrier then ya thought," he said kicking a lil bit of the mess from him.

"Yeah? Well he could've let me know. I would've given him seconds." he gave a scowl to the Flygon who thrummed and Piers chuckled.

-Back With The Others-

"Thanks for the food, Y/n! I haven't eaten anything all day. Nice ta 'ave something warm in me."

You smiled at Gloria. "Hey. No problem. I'm surprised you've eaten three of those. Must've been real hungry huh?"

Gloria smiled a bit embarrassed but you smiled. Wasn't her fault. You probably would've been hungry too having to just battle in the cold and focus on your pokemon most of the day. You had been trying to not fall down the rabbithole of worry with your thoughts about the unusual circumstances and focused your energy into talking and playing with some of the kids, and making Gloria some food. Which you didn't mind at all, keeps you busy. All the while Marnie had been standing at the window looking out with that narrowed eye thinking face of hers. And for good reason, but you hadn't noticed being too busy taking care of everyone there until Bede had perked up towards the window..and hummed before asking.

"Isn't that field repaired yet?"

You had looked up from Silver for a moment and blinked at him. "Huh? What makes you say that?"

He rolled his eyes but answered. "We've been sitting here for nearly two hours now!" He complained gaining the attention of everyone else who looked at him. "The next match should have started long before now!" He threw a hand towards the window. "We should we watching the Champion defending his title RIGHT THIS SECOND!!"

That made Hop look towards the window as well with a confused look. "Huh...As much as I hate to admit it, Bede's right. Piers and Raihan should've already battled by now. I wonder what's keeping them?"

"Well maybe the field is still being repaired?," you offered.

Hop shook his head. "Can't be. Field Repairs usually only take thirty or forty minutes. An hour at most if the field's really banged up and it's already been repaired.." he took a moment to pull out his phone to check the time. "...About an hour and twenty five minutes ago." He looked back towards the window again with narrowed eyes. "That's not normal unless something's wrong."

"What could have gone wrong-"

It was at THAT exact moment that that the intercom voice came back ON.

"SORRY FOR THE DELAY FOLKS!! TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES!! BUT NOW WE'RE BACK AND HERE IT IS!! THE LAST MATCH OF THE FINALS!" The crowd cheered and almost everyone sitting down stood up to immediately make a beeline to the windows and so did you. Dragon Boy verses Hot Pink? No way were you missing this! "WHO WILL EARN THE RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE UNBEATABLE CHAMPION LEON!?  WILL IT BE THE BRILLIANT ROCKSTAR PIERS!? OR WILL IT BE THE ONLY TRAINER THAT CHAMPION LEON CALLS HIS RIVAL!! THE TAMER OF DRAGONS RAIHAN!?"  

The crowd roared from his announcement as the two gym leaders made their way out onto the field both their faces lit up on the screen. Both meeting each other in the middle of the field. Here we go. Icy wind blew around the two as they met at the center of the field. Electric blue eyes meeting dark ocean blue ones as both Dark and Dragon gym leaders made eye contact. Piers barely suppressed a shiver as the cold winter wind bit his pale skin and made his long hair blow around him. His neutral face meeting the smiling face of his friend. His eardrums pounding around him as crowds roared their desire to see one lose and one fail. One could easily buckle under the pressure of it all.

"Scared, Piers?"

"....Nah." He blinked tilting his head lazily to his friend. "Just takin' in the scenery is all."

Raihan felt a smile perk up on his lips. "Didn't think so. You've made it all the way here. I'm impressed. Not everyday I say that."

He chuckled before letting a smirk tug at his lips. "But there's a catch. Ain't there?"

"You know me so well.~ Leon's my rival. So I've got to first prove I'm better than you if I'm to beat him."

"Hmph.O' course-"

"And how else am I supposed to impress that Y/N lady into that dinner date I've been asking her about if I can't beat you?"

Piers paused. Blinking at the now amused smirk tugging on his lips. ".....You've asked her on a what?"

Raihan held up his hands. "Hey. You said so yourself, she's not seeing anyone. And I like her sass. So beating you might get me bonus points.~"

"Don't get so cocky, Mate. Our battle hasn't even begun."

"Then brace yourself. Because I'm coming for Leon, and I'm not holding back."

"Funny. Neither am I."

"BATTLERS PLEASE GET TO YOUR PLACES!!" At the sound of the announcer both men turn. Piers pausing to give one upwards towards the windows high above for the VIP lounge. Marnie was surely watching him. Were you too? Not that it mattered to him if you did or not..But he couldn't help but still wonder...Before he closed his eyes and continued walking towards his place in the field. "READY YOUR POKEMON!! GET SET!! BATTLE BEGIN!!" 

There was no grand THUD sound when Piers pulled out his microphone to stamp to the ground in one hand and pokeball in the other! Having thrown it out as soon as the announcer said to, challenging Raihan to dare make a move against him. And the pokemon were sent out. Piers Skuntank verses Raihan's torkaol!

"LET'S START THIS OFF WITH A LIGHT TO CHASE AWAY THE DARKNESS!! DROUGHT HIGH AND PROUD!!", Raihan had yelled out immediately on sight practically roaring out his command. And in an instant the slow looking turtle pokemon immediately did as it was told. With a giant huff a tan-sandy like fog was exploded from it's back shell and spread throughout half the stadium in a bright light. Piers stared narrowed eyed at it until suddenly a bright flash of light erupted from it. The skuntank yelling out in pain from it as it's master held up an arm to it. "HOW DO YOU LIKE MY TORKOAL'S NEW MOVE!? TOOK A WHILE TO LEARN THIS ONE!! GETS THE SUNLIGHT BURNING REAL HARSH!!"

"M' all for a good spotlight! But I think I'd rather settle for a little SMOKESCREEN!!" The skuntank obeying it's master's commands opened it's mouth, and a torrent of abyss fell from it's maw.

From above you all watched as the field was covered half in lit up fog and black smoke, as if day and night was fighting against one another. It was fascinating. But there was one problem....You couldn't even see what was happening and neither could either gym leaders. How could either tell who was winning if it was either too dark or too bright for either to see? Marnie leaned in closer pressing a hand to the frosted glass as she watched closely.

"Nice counter, Piers! But you're forgetting I can still get my way through to see you! USE SOLAR BEAM TO PART THAT SMOKE!!" The barely visible torkoal gladly obeyed the command by opening it's shell and let a ball of light come thro-

"SCREECH YOUR HOPES HIGH!!" It was then that a figure shot up from right beside the turtle looking pokemon from the dirt at it's side and before it could even turn it's head an ear piercing SCREAM tore through the air! The torkaol gave some kind of yell itself of sharp pain through it's skull that was drowned out by the screech. Raihan gave a growl of pain himself both hands shooting to his own ears! "BITE!!!" Any more screaming from the torkoal was immediately cut off by fangs latching around his neck and with a swift yank the turtle pokemon was helplessly flipped onto its side. "BRING ME YOUR PREY!!"

Raihan could only see the silhouette of his torkoal through the slowly dissipating bright fog before in one swift movement it was yanked backwards back into the heavy smokescreen it had created earlier. His eyes widening to the size of plates as if the earth itself had just swallowed the both of them whole. "TORKOAL!!"

You stood there stunned as did everyone else who had witnessed the fast attacks A FREAKING SKUNTANK DID TO THAT POKEMON!! Then again...Piers had raised it well enough that thing could almost keep up with a scorbunny despite it's bulk and size. You weren't surprised it was fast and strong enough to pull a torkoal like that, but how did it sneak up on it?? It was too big to just crawl without Raihan being able to see it's shadow in the lit up fog even if it was near blinding. You all watched with baited breaths until a moment later barreling out of the slowly disappearing  smokescreen came the skuntanks running on all fours like a mini furry tank and dragging along the poor torkoal on it's side as it useless flailed. It ran straight towards Piers who pointed his hand towards the nearest boundary line and with a sharp turn you had seen it use on Gloria's scorbunny, it turned hard right and barreled towards it. 

"TORKOAL YOUR BACK IS TOWARDS IT!! USE SOLAR BEAM TO HIT IT IN THE SIDE!!"

Piers with his hand still outstretched gave a flick of his wrist the skuntank did a twirl and SLAMMED the torkoal down onto the ground before it could even respond to Raihan's orders, before continuing to run towards the boundary line. What they- He didn't even give the pokemon an order! How was-...Did- Did Piers train it to respond a certain way to his hand motions? Either way the skuntank ran at full speed charging towards that line before stopping and releasing it's jaws. As a result the poor turtle went round and round head over shells from the speed and throw it received flipping around and around until it finally landed on it's stomach, body half laying across the line.

"Raihan's torkoal has been thrown out of bounds! Therefore the Mighty Piers is the winner of match one of Round Four!" The crowd roared regardless of the fight you had just witnessed and you sighed. Watching as Piers once again made a motion with his hand in the universal sign of 'Come here', and watching the skuntank paddle up to it's training. Rubbing his body against Piers's leg in the way a cat would and Raihan returned his poor pokemon. "Ok folks! What a quick start to thing's but now it's time for the second match! Get your pokemon ready!" Piers also returned his skuntank, not bothering to take his eyes off Raihan.

"I'm impressed! Again!" Raihan made a finger gun towards Piers. "Wasn't expecting you to take me down so fast like that! Really caught me off guard."

"Then don't bloody leave two feet of space below your fog for us to crawl sideways under! Can't light us up if the light doesn't even touch us!"

Smirking, Raihan held up another pokeball. "Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to work on that flaw."

"Ready!? Let the second match begin!!"

Up next was Piers's liepard against Raihan Goodra. You watched with wide eyes and baited breath as Pier's mostly directed the pokemon with single commands or hand gestures as the two pokemon battled it out. Ultimately ending with Raihan winning the second match, but it left you wondering. Most of the gym leaders and even Gloria had given their pokemon detailed attacks on what to do fully instructed meanwhile with Piers all he did was give simple commands and hand gestures that obviously by now the pokemon were trained to recognize and move accordingly too. But Piers pokemon also did things without him ordering them too. Piers hadn't ordered his skuntank to slam the torkoal on it's side the first time, and he certainly didn't order it to toss it out of bounds. Only to take it to the boundary line. Which means he deliberately allowed his pokemon the choice of doing so themselves, and they did it fully knowing Piers wouldn't make a big deal of it and frankly didn't care. Which meant two things. Either Piers didn't care what his pokemon did outside commanded moves or there was an incredible amount of trust between them to do that, and if the latter was true...Then that meant Piers was far more experienced than he lets on. But that didn't mean he wasn't having a hard time with Raihan. After all for all his cocky attitude, you had to admit he had his own unique way with his pokemon that showed his strength. And it showed in the next round as well when it was his turtonator verses Piers's malamar and completely destroyed Piers in the process. Past the third round now and so far it was Piers one Raihan two. Oh you hoped this didn't end up in another tie.

"The fourth match of Round Four is about to begin!," the announcer blared through the cheering crowds as both men readied their fourth pokeball. "Get your pokemon ready! Let the next match BEGIN!!"

In a flash of light and shadow from each of the two gym leaders the two sent out their fourth pokemon. Raihan presented his flygon and Piers a toxtricity. Raihan gave a smirk pointing to Piers. "GET READY CUZ HERE WE COME!!"

"I'm waiting to be impressed then!"

Raihan smirked at Piers's snarky remark before pointing towards the toxtricity. "Let the winds blow! STREAM FORWARD SANDSTORM!!" With a loud cry from the flying pokemon, a literal whirlwind suddenly appeared and enveloped it in a tornado of sand before the thing spread out and Piers was forced to push his hand up in front of his eyes to keep the sand from them- "BREAKING SWIPE!!" The toxtricity gave it's own yell of pain as all of a sudden the flygon as fast as lightning, DOVE towards it before doing a quick roll in air and with a sickening WHACK sound nailed the toxtricity in the head before continuing it's fast flight- "STEEL WING!!"

Piers raised a wrist as the flygon flew close to the ground, but still with some space for someone to duck, with it's wings lit up a bright silver color, headed right towards the toxtricity. The poison type stared at Piers who with his hand still raised bent it back with a yell. "VENOM DRENCH!" You all watched as fast as the flygon could fly the poison type formed a toxic ball of thick purple posion smoke into it's hands and when the flygon was close enough. BENT. BACKWARDS. Like how a rockstar would bend back doing those knee slides, the toxtricity bent backwards with it's hands throwing up and by the time the flygon realized the danger it was in. It was TOO LATE!! The toxic purple ball was thrown up and with a wet splat sound a water balloon would make, it smacked right into the flygon's face as it soar over the toxtricity. The pokemon gave a shriek of surprise and perhaps pain as it's flight faltered and slammed onto the ground. Rolling a few times before fully stopping with a finally thud.

"FLYGON GET UP-''

"GIVE IT A JAB OF YOUR PERSONAL POISON!!" With a sharp twist of it's body the toxtricity turned it's back towards the struggling Flygon who was shaking his face from being drenched in the purple goo from the venom drench, and a torrent of dark purple missiles projectized from his spines. And by the time the flygon turned towards it, it was once again too late. It gave a loud cry as the multiple projectiles slammed right into it and with a heavy thud it went down to the ground. And that's where it stayed. 

"FLYGON IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE WHICH MEANS FOURTH MATCH VICTORY GOES TO GYM LEADER PIERS!!" The crowd roared in cheers as both men returned their pokemon as the announcer still spoke. They were tied. Both winning two matches each. But the question was who would win and who would lose. "BOTH POWERFUL FORCES ARE TIED TO THE MAX!! WHO WILL REIGN SUPREME TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION!?" From high above in the VIP lounge you all looked on intently and excitedly to see who would win the tie. Raihan's trainers cheering their mentor's inevitable victory while Marnie held one hand firmly against the glass as she watched brother intently. You watched with wide eyes wondering who would win...but one look at Raihan told you all you needed to know. "IT'S TIME FOR THE FINAL MATCH OF ROUND FOUR!! THE VICTOR SHALL GO ON TO THE CHAMPION MATCH!! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS FOLKS!! IT'S TIME TO DYNAMAX!!"

Both men took out a final pokeball. Their final chance. Piers sent out his pokeball and in a puff of dark smoke appeared that giant badger-man looking pokemon out. The cold wind beating around him as he pointed. "Face the mighty high roar of my Obstagoon!" The pokemon roaring out from Piers's introduction of the dark type. "He'll tear through your steel like paper!"

Raihan laughed at his friend producing a pokeball himself in the cold wind. "You do realize I'm the great Raihan, right!? I'll be the one to beat Leon! So first I'll beat you and then I'll just walk away today as the new Champion!" With a single pokeball in one hand, red energy filled it to the point it suddenly surged to the size of a bowling ball in his hand. With a quick pose and smile, his rotomi phone quickly snapped a picture of the Dragon Tamer before be turned around and with a hard throw single handedly tossed the ball through the air. It soared through the cold winter sky before cracking open and out came the duraludon. The stadium, Piers, and his Obstagoon wobble from the sheer force of the roaring giant pokemon hitting the ground. Piers had to desperately cling to his mic stand just to stay standing but all would be lost with Raihan one and only command to end the battle. "MAX STEELSPIKE!!"

Blue eyes widened as the crashing of the titanium spikes shot up from the ground upon the leader's command. The ground cracking open as dirt flung high and the shiny steel reflected his terror as it struck. It a crash. Piers fell. Or more like flung back by the sheer force of the ground that shot up from under his feet. Blue eyes wide and body light, he flew a few yards into the cold air before landing down hard onto the frozen ground like a sack of brick. Crashing down with a thud and rolling a couple times before finally coming to rest on his stomach face down and unmoving. The Obstagoon suffering the same fate as it's owner flying through the air before smacking down WAY outside the boundary line. You all stood there in stunned silence as no one moved. Marnie's eyes widened to the size of plates. After a long moment of Piers being still on the screen he moved. A shaky hand slowly coming up and digging into the frozen grass of the field. Lose dirt and rubble fell from his body as he pushed himself from his stomach onto his back. Indicating he was alright. Marnie sighed in relief.

"PIERS'S OBSTAGOON HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT OF BOUNDS!! THEREFORE THE MIGHTY RAIHAN GOES VICTORIOUS AND IS ONCE AGAIN THE ONE TO BATTLE CHAMPION LEON!!" The announcer sounded and THE. CROWD. ROARED!! You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding and sighed in relief. Well that could've gone worse. After a moment, the duraludon gradually was returned to it's normal size and returned to Raihan. "THE FINAL BATTLE OF THE CHAMPION CUP IS COMING UP NEXT FOLKS!! WILL THE CHAMPION REMAIN UNBEATABLE OR WILL HIS LONG TIME RIVAL AND TOP GYM LEADER FINALLY CLAIM THE TITLE OF CHAMPION FOR HIMSELF!? STAY TUNED!! FOR NOW PLEASE CLEAR THE FIELD FOR FINAL REPAIRS!!"

With the triplets cheering for their mentor and you not noticing, Marnie slowly retracted herself from the wall and turned to the door. You didn't notice her leaving or the door closing behind her on her way to see her brother. In the meantime Raihan was racing his way across the field, going around craters in the dirt or jumping over larger pieces of rubble on his way over to Piers who had still not gotten up from his crash landing earlier. His mic stand right next to him. 

"PIERS!?," he cried out half alarmed half worried as he raced over to the man. Soon dropping to his knees and blocking out any light above him. "Piers!" The rockstar was jolted into opening his eyes when Raihan's stronger grip grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Hey man! Are you alright!? You went flying higher than a kite!"

"AHH!! " Piers instantly bristled as a spike of pain shot up from his other arm. His arm was brought up to his chest as his good one clutched it. A scrunched up face of gritted teeth and closed eyes met the frozen Dragon Man as Piers's body slightly curled in instinct from the pain. "NO! I'M NOT BLOODY ALRIGHT!! I THINK I HURT MY ARM!!"

Raihan was frozen for only a moment before he nodded and reacted. "Hey! Don't worry man I got you!" Piers gave another groan of pain as his friend grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him to his feet. The pain in his arm worsening with the jostling. Was this how you felt when you had gotten that dislocated shoulder? His eyes opened to peer up through the falling snow towards the window again but he didn't get the chance to wonder what was going on before Raihan started rushing him forward. "Hey. It's ok buddy. C'mon! We'll get you to medical professionals stat!"

You watched as the two gym leaders disappeared and released a breath you didn't know you were holding. "Alright. The big moment's finally here, eh?" You blinked to Hop.

Gloria nodded. "Yeah. Who do you think's gonna win?"

"I came here just to cheer on Lee Y'know. But it's not easy picking sides for some. After all, it's the show down between my big brother and his rival who's also a fan favorite. Who should I really want to win more?''

"Hop. We all know you're cheering on Leon."

Hop chuckled caught red handed. "Yeah. I guess that much is obvious. If anyone can defeat the unbeatable Champion it'll be Raihan. He is the top gym leader after all."

You nodded in understanding. That was true you guessed. By what you just witnissed Raihan was a very strong and capable gym leader. But you STILL couldn't  understand why it wasn't Gloria who was going up against Leon- You thought process stopped when you felt a tugging on your pants leg, and when looking down discovered Allister was there and was holding his cup up to you again. Indicating he wanted more hot chocolate. With a sigh you graciously took it from him and decided to make him some more hot chocolate. Might as well have something to do while you wait. As the field was being repaired, the room was alive in excitement. All the kids happily chattering away pumped to see who would win. The Champion or The Top Gym leader. Both had titles deserving of their might but only one would walk away with a win. You were a bit busy making more refills of hot chocolate and a few more cups of ramen for the few kids who were still hungry. So you had your hands full playing babysitter and cook to all these guys who wanted the food. It wasn't too long a wait. The kids were sated with their full stomachs against the cold. The field was repaired. And possibly the loudest cheer you had ever heard the crowd made yet came roaring out as someone walked out onto the field. And you soon found out why.

"HEY! IT'S LEE!!" You looked up at Hop's cry and he beckoned for you to come to the window. You blinked and went over towards it again and peered down along with everyone else. And low and behold Leon was right there in the middle of the field. Standing arms crossed and smile on his face as the cold wind blew his cap and long purple hair around with the snow. Looks like you'll finally be able to see Leon after all.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND FOLKS OF ALL AGES!! I GIVE TO YOU THE GALAR REGION'S UNBEATABLE CHAMPION LEON!!" The crowd kept roaring at the announcement and you watched on. Here it was the final battle...But wait. Your face scrunched up in thought. Something wasn't making sense. Something was missing. You felt it in your gut. "THE FINAL BATTLE OF THIS YEAR'S CHAMPION CUP SHALL NOW COMMENCE!! WILL LEON REIGN SUPREME FOR ANOTHER SEASON OR WILL WE GO INTO THE NEW YEAR WITH A BRAND NEW CHAMPION!? THE FINAL MATCH WILL BE BETWEEN NONE OTHER THAN LEON HIMSELF AND ONCE AGAIN HIS LONG TIME RIVAL THE STRONGEST GYM LEADER IN GALAR!! PLEASE WELCOME GYM LEADER RAIHAN!!"

You still let your mind whirl with thoughts as Raihan made his debut out onto the field. Waving at fans and the rotomi phone floating around snapping pictures....And it was THEN you remembered eyes wide. Where was the big bad guy you were supposed to beat!? Every pokemon game had one and despite the mishap with Gloria losing, there was STILL the threat of the bad guy!! You remembered now! Before the player could battle Leon there was a bad guy you needed to defeat before earning the title of champion! But...you didn't remember who is was. Your hands shot to your head as you gritted your teeth and growled at yourself! Empty brain!! WHO WAS IT!? You had thought it was Piers at first being the leader of Team Yell and they had been causing trouble, but it wasn't then wh-.....Your eyes widened to the size of plates as you slowly turned your head back down to the field where Leon and Raihan was. ...Leon was here organizing this whole thing...But the Chairman wasn't.

".....Oh no!"

Raihan made his way back to the middle of the field without a care in the world. After all he had been here multiple times challenging Leon for the title in other Champion Cups. So he was used to this right now. The arm he had been waving going back to relax on his hip as he stopped in front of his long time rival with an amused smirk. Blue eyes meeting gold. "Waiting for me as always? Aw.~ You shouldn't have. If it makes this easier you can just leave and let me win."

The golden eyes smiled. "Hehe. As tempting as that is we both know I won't do that. I would say that I'm surprised you made it this far, but we've done this so many times it's practically a family tradition now."

Raihan lazily shrugged. "What can I say? I'm good at my job. But I will give you kudos for endorsing strong trainers. They actually gave me a challenge. By the way how is that trainer of yours? I heard you took her to the 'babysitter'."

Leon chuckled and shook his head. "Gloria's just fine. I'm proud my trainers was able to make it this far."

Raihan chuckled back before smirking. "Yeah. It was nice of you to give me a challenge. But now I think it's time for an even greater challenge don't you think?"

Leon inhaled taking a moment to shiver against the cold wind and snowflakes falling on him. "..The tense still air on the pitch and the exact opposite from the audience cheering and yelling. They're both fantastic wouldn't you say?"

"I hear ya." With a turn of his head, Raihan looked upwards towards the snow falling down and the sun setting down. In a few hours it will be the new year. Many people celebrating and watching them. "It can be easy to get distracted by it all."

"But remember the audience is also a bit cruel. They want nothing more than to see one of us lose after all. It can fill you with fear knowing that, but I absolutely love pushing past that fear! I love giving it everything I've got as a trainer and seeing my team give everything they've got to seize another victory." Raihan slowly looked from the sky and back towards Leon who smiled. "It's the greatest feeling in the world and I can't get enough of it! I can feel my partners itching with anticipation inside their pokeballs! We're going to have a real Champion Time this year!"

"...Hmph. Always had a way with words Lee. No wonder you can get a crowd going with just a speech. But I've got to let you know." he pointed finger guns at him. "I've got three kids who look up to me personally, and I promised to make them proud by finally beating you today. And let me tell you." Leon watched as those Gree-blue eyes turned slightly up towards the windows where he knew they must've been watching. "I never let my fans down. So as you're rival, you'll have to excuse me for taking that title from you."

Leon chuckled. "You can try but you're also forgetting something. I'm the Galar Region's Champion Leon! Me and Charizard and the rest of our team will use all our knowledge and experience to crush you completely, Raihan."

"Heh. I guess we'll just have to see who can out dazzle the other then." He winked. "After all how am I supposed to tease Piers if I can't make him jealous over winning that babysitter gal?~"

Leon blinked. "Oh. How is he anyways? I saw you practically carrying him off the field. The fall he took was pretty brutal."

Raihan paused for a moment blinking before sighing and shaking his head. "He seemed alright but he thinks he might've busted his arm. Took off with his little sister to the Wyndon Hospital."

Leon hummed looking a little concerned. "That's for the best. When I'm done here I'll go see if he's alright."

"You and me both. But I think for now we have another matter to settle."

Leon nodded. "The show must go on. Let's make sure to make Piers proud by putting on a good show for everyone."

"THE CHAMPION MATCH SHALL NOW BEGIN!! BATTLERS PLEASE GET TO YOUR PLACES AND READY YOUR POKEMON!!" 

The two turned and began walking to their places once getting there the two most powerful trainers in Galar turning to face one another. Pokeballs in hands and the cold wind whipping the snowflakes around them both in some kind of flurry, waiting for the cue from the announcer to start the match. But that's not what they had gotten. Instead what happened was that the ground shook, which wouldn't have been too shocking considering this was a stadium made to withstand dynamaxing pokemon. But that wasn't the cause of the rubble. The ground shook like an earthquake on a sugar rush for a few but long feeling seconds, during that time both men on the field wobbled around arms flailing for balance before the earth collapsed in the middle of the field and a stream of blood red poured out of the frozen earth and into the dark sky above. Lighting the sky like some sick firework. Horror riddled across both men's faces as they stood there, as loose dirt and gravel was spewed their way from it. The harsh red light reflected in their shocked gold and blue eyes. And then among the red lights screams of panic began to scream out from the masses and the monitor turned on with a familiar face and voice.

"Hello there Leon and Raihan." Both men turned to the monitor hands over their eyes to sheild from the harsh light and just barely making out the face of none other than the Chairman hacking into the giant screen. "Just letting you know I think it's time I brought about the Darkest Day. For the sake of Galar's future of course. But I'm in a bit of a pickle. The energy released by the Darkest Day is too much for me to contain. I'm sorry it's come to this. But it's you who forced my hand Leon. You refused to listen." And then the monitor cut out-

There was a high pitched scream as soon as the red light burst out of the ground making the whole place shake and on instinct you reached out and snatched the nearest screaming child into your arms in a protective hold. Allister whimpered and locked onto you as you pulled his scared form to you. Wide eyed you stared as the red light took up everything around the field and the two men fleeing from the field as a result. You didn't notice, but Hop and the twins did. As a result the three of them fled from the room, slamming the door behind them as everyone else was too busy panicking or watching the red light in horror. AND. YOU. REMEMBERED!! During the game's final battle between the player and Leon it would be interrupted by Chairman Rose in a crazy plan to 'help' everyone by releasing the ancient evil pokemon Eternatus that would bring destruction to all! But the player and Hop manages to team up with the two dog-like legendary pokemon to combat it at Hammerlocke Stadium where the Chairman's power plant was after receiving the ancient shield and sword from Postwick!! THAT'S WHAT YOU'VE BEEN FORGETTING THIS ENTIRE TIME!! Which meant that-...Your head snapped around you at the remaining children who were there. The triplets were huddled together, Elsa had her little brothers hanging onto her looking horrified, Bede and Felix could only look on in horror at what they were seeing, and Allister clung onto you scared out of his mind. But Gloria, Hop, and Victor were GONE!! AND SO WAS MARNIE!! WHERE DID THOSE FOUR GO!? ....Oh NO- Your head whipped to the door and with Allister in your arms you RAN to the door, throwing it open to meet the sight of many, MANY league staff running up and down the halls and in and out of the many rooms around them. But no signs of any of those four missing children.

"HOP!? GLORIA!?", you yelled desperately snapping your head either way as the dread and sinking feeling in your gut sank into realization. Your arms reaching to cradle the whimpering boy in your arms. No...NO! NONONONONONO!!! THIS COULDN'T BE HAPPENING NOW! "VICTOR!! MARNIE!!"

It was no use...They were gone. On their way back to Postwick in order to get the ancient sword and shield of the fallen heroes from the Slumbering Wield then off to where ever the Chairman was. ....YOU HAD TO GO AFTER THEM!! GAME PLAY BE DARNED THEY WERE JUST KIDS!! YOU HAD TO LEAVE AND HELP THEM!! And you would've....if something hadn't held you back. The whimper in your arms snapped you back in reality..and you slowly turned back into the room. All the children were still in there terrified and crying out from the shock as the sounds of panic set in. You couldn't leave these children here alone!! With one missing and three taking off to danger was bad to see, but you couldn't just leave all the others here by themselves!! Especially since Allister refused to not let go....Which a panicked whirled mind you made a choice. You stepped back in. And closed the door. Choosing to turn around and try to calm down the frightened children...Heh. Easier said than done. With Allister refusing to let go of you, you somehow managed to herd Elsa away from the window view and sit with her brothers on the couch. Two of which were crying while another kept asking where their mother and big brother were. Poor baby. You wished you could answer his question. Once or twice one of them would try to leave but you dragged them back and told them they had to stay unless they be swept up in the chaos. You tried not to look out the windows to see hundreds of people panicking, and screaming instead ordering everyone and pulling a couple to come sit down away from the windows as well and sit on the couch. Bouncing Allister in your other hand trying to keep him calm at the same time of calming down the others. You didn't blame them for panicking and being scared, but you weren't going to just let a bunch of young kids wonder around by themselves and get swept up in the chaos. You knew where the other three were heading and by some suspicion you felt that Marnie was somewhere safe. You didn't want anyone else panicking anymore than they should've with everyone sitting on the couch you took a head count of everyone and by some Miracle everyone except for the 4 missing teenagers were accounted for. But the next few hours weren't easy. Everything blurred as the skies grew dark and the MORE and MORE anxious you became. Practically sweating buckets by the time the sky had gone completely dark. You were worried scared! Pacing back and forth in front of the door as lots of people still shouted and ran around on the outside while you bounced Allister who clung to you and assured all the other kids it would be alright. Until you almost dropped Allister when the door all of a sudden behind you open. You yelped and jumped forward, giving a yell before turning around-....And breathed a sigh of absolute relief when none other was Ms. Opal stood there. The old woman didn't look the least bit bothered as she slowly walked into the room and calmly looked around, spotting Bede's shocked expression at seeing her.

"I came for that behavioral report."

You stared at her blank faced and numb for a moment before shaking your head. "I- He's fine!" You gestured a hand. "Bede's fine! But I need to ask a favor of you." The older woman rose a brow as you, as much as you hated to, started prying Allister from you. "There's some friends of mine who might get really hurt! If I don't go after them they're going to get in big trouble! PLEASE! Will you please take care of these guys until everyone comes back? I know I shouldn't ask but-"

The older woman held up a hand. "I am more than capable to handle these children."....Well that was pretty fast. And for some reason you believed she could if she can handle Bede. She held out her hands for Allister who was whimper at you prying him away. "Hand over the boy. You've handled the roles of ours long enough."

You sighed and nodded. "Thank you. Thank you so much." You finished untangling Allister from yourself before handing him over to Opal who easily took him into her arms. "Silver!" With a chirp the shiny pokemon came running over and in an instant you swept him up into your arms and made a beeline for the door. "THANK YOU AGAIN!!" You called over your shoulder to the older woman who nodded at you're retreating form. 

With Silver in your arms you RAN through the building to the elevator practically spamming the down button as people ran around you Silver under one arm until with a ding the doors closed and down you went. Your heart pumping and lungs heaving with anticipation. The hotel. You HAD to get back to the hotel. As soon as the doors opened back up you RAN past all the people especially the ones giving you looks and out the lobby and stadium doors you went. With how crowded and noisy it was outside you would've thought the world was ending. And it might thanks to that airhead Chairman! WHAT ON EARTH WAS HE THINKING!? ...Ok. You get it was the gameplay. BUT WHAT WAS HE THINKING!? You ran directly into the crowds with silver under one arm and SHOVED your way through the crowds and through the streets. You didn't care how long it took you HAD to get to that hotel!! By some miracle your brain tuned out the noises and feeling of bodies pressing against you as you swam through the crowds, and made your way through. Despite it being dark you managed to remember your way through the crowds and someone made it to the less crowdy streets where you were free to run the rest of the way through the night and towards the giant fancy hotel. You didn't stop. Even when you barged into the fancy gold lobby and startled the hotel staff. You ran straight to the elevator, hoped into it, and spammed your floor's button until the doors closed. You waited with baited breath as you went up..Until with a ding the doors opened and you flew in. The first room you checked on instinct for some reason was the room you remembered Piers and Marnie had. When checking the doorknob it was locked so you pounded on the door only to receive no answer. Which meant Marnie must've not been there. You didn't have time to dwell on that before flying to the guys' room and throwing the door open. No signs of Hop or Victor. In fact their things were gone too and the only thing left behind that they were there at all was the unmade bed. Leaving that behind, you raced to the room you shared with Gloria and threw that open as well. The same thing. Unmade bed and Gloria's things were gone indicating they had left. But your pack still laid where you left it that morning. Without hesitation you ran to it and grabbed the pack, throwing it over your shoulders as you ran back out. Good thing you packed everything away already. You HAD to get to Postwick!! Spamming the elevator back down to the ground floor, you ran up to the front desk startling the man behind it and DEMANDED to know where the train out of Wyndon was. As luck for have it, it was just a little bit past the square and near the stadium. You didn't hesitate to run back out and into the cold weather outside. Snowflakes and wind still falling from the storm clouds above. If you were lucky they might still be there having missed the afternoon train and be waiting for the night train instead. Lungs burning from the cold and tiredness you felt but your determination pushed you on until you got to the train station back through the big crowds. You were sweating, breathing heavily and Silver looked ready to pass out from the sheer stress of it all. You must've looked a shocking sight to the station master who blinked as you stumbled up to the booth he was in breathing heavily and reaching a hand out to grab the wall. 

"P-PLEASE!! *GASP* When's....*wheeeeeeze* T-the next *gaaaaassp* T-TRAIN!?", you forced yourself to talk between gasps of air into your overworked lungs.

The man blinked before sputtering, "I-I- Not until morning, Miss. The night train's left almost two hours ago now."

THAT wouldn't stop you. Right then and there, you put Silver down, and reached into your pocket. Pulling out some of the last remaining money you had, you slapped it down on the counter heavily breathing still. "G-Give...*GASP* ticket-...F-For next....*gasp* one!"

The conductor did end up giving you a train ticket for the next one just a few hours away and you did NOT sleep a wink that night. Holding Silver in your arms as you sat there worried out of your mind as he fell asleep in your arms for hours, not being able to bring yourself to sleep. HOW COULD YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THIS!? YOU REMEMBERED THE REST OF THE GAME! WHY DIDN'T YOU REMEMBER THIS BEFORE IT HAPPENED!? ..Didn't matter right now. You HAD to catch up with them. But..where was Marnie?! She wasn't with the others! You shook your head. Can't think of it now, focus on the kids you knew for a fake where they were. Hours passed and FINALLY at around six in the morning the first train of the day came in and you didn't hesitate. Rushing up despite the tired feeling in your bones jostling Silver from his slumber. You shoved your ticket into the slot on the gate ways and made your way through the open doors. Going to the nearest seat and just plopping yourself down. As if it would take off as soon as you did. And after about fifthteen more minutes the doors closed and off you went towards Postwick. Days passed as you traveled more and more by train. Resuming your routine of BARELY sleeping on the seats during the nights and just sitting, watching, worrying out the window. The same thoughts circling over and over and OVER again in your head. How could have forgotten? The one thing you should've known and you forgotten...You HAD to make sure they were ok. The silence of the train combined with your lonesome....Had it always been this quiet? Usually by now if you were with one of them Hop would go on a speech about amazing history facts or Victor would be telling you something related to his hobbies. Heck. At one point you could've sworn Gloria would be right there with a bright smile and shoving her phone in your face to watch something she found cool...You would take anything over the silence. You always had silence at home if your mother wasn't nagging you and you had come to like the silence more than her voice, but now....You would take them having a petty fight over the still silence. Your only saving grace was Silver who when he wasn't laying on the table or seat would dig in your pack for food and shove something for you to eat into your hands with a demanding chirp and would screech if you didn't eat it then and there in front of him. He may have been a pain, but at least he was your pain. You weren't sure exactly how much time had flown past since you had left Wyndon, days were blurring together, but you did notice the city turned into farmland a long time into this trip. ....That must've meant you were getting close right? Everytime you stopped and it wasn't Wedgeherst you mumbled curses under your breath and praying for the train to just GO already until it finally did. One night you just couldn't sleep. Letting your head touch the cold glass of the window, about to nod off before jolting back awake and repeating the cycle until-

"ZZZTT. Attention Passengers!," the conductor announced over the speakers to anyone left on board. "We'll be arriving at Wedgeherst Station within ten minutes. That is all."

You IMMEDIATELY STOOD WIDE AWAKE!! WEDGEHERST!! THAT WAS IT!! You once again jolted Silver awake when you abruptly grabbed him up into your arms with your pack and stood with a determined face. This was it! Maybe you'd catch them here! And how did you know it was Wedgehurst? Well the familiar town and the farm houses with flocks of wooloo the shepherds were herding in the fields as you all went past gave it away before you arrived around six in the morning at the train station. Flying off the train like a rapidash on a sugar rush! You burst into the familiar woodened stadium panting ...and looking around. Everything looked the same from the wooden floors to the man at the booth who blinked towards you rushing in.

"Attention Passengers! The morning train leaving Wedgehurst Station will depart in fifthteen minutes! Please exit or enter the train within that time. That's all!"

Fifthteen minutes. YOU ONLY HAD FIFTHTEEN MINUTES TO GET BACK ONTO THAT TRAIN AND GET TO HAMMERLOCKE BEFORE IT LEFT YOU STRANDED!! Rushing to think your head shot to the man in the booth and he jolted when you dashed up to him panting and clearly distressed!! He would know surely if a trio of teenagers got onto the train sometime before you. You stared at him hard before speaking.

"HEY! Excuse me!," you yelled despite him being right there making him blink more. Considering how small this town was and how this guy had a job here he must've been local! Which meant he would surely know who Leon's family was being semi celebs here, "I need to know if three kids ever got on this train here recently! One was a guy with purple hair! It's an emergency!"

the man didn't respond for a moment, only blinking. Before he rose a brow. "I-...Well yes recently there was a couple kids who got on."

"How long ago!?"

"I-...I d-don't know! A day..maybe a day and a half ago??"

One or two days! So you weren't that far behind them! Reaching back into your pocket, you slapped whatever money you had left on that booth. "I need a ticket for the morning train RIGHT N O W!!"

The man scared by your yelling, did indeed give you your ticket. Without looking back, you immediately used it to board back onto the train to ride it back to Hammerlocke. You weren't far behind them then! That was good! Bad news though you were still behind! Which meant you had to catch up as fast as you could! Feeling more determined, you steeled your worries to the side and pushed on. This time sleeping and eating better to keep up your strength as the train went along. Paying attention to every stop and announcement the conductor made, checking to make sure it was the right stop. OH!! WHEN YOU GOT YOUR HANDS ON THAT ROSE GUY HE WAS IN BIG BIG TROUBLE!!! The train continued on and on and your worry grew less, your angry growing in it's place. THATGUY WAS SO DEAD MEAT!! The train carried you on and on. Day after day. Night after night. Until one fateful morning when you again couldn't manage to sleep-

"Attention Passengers! The morning train will be arriving at Hammerlocke Station in ten mintues! That's all!"

HAMMERLOCKE!! THIS WAS IT!! YOUR STOP!! Standing up you immediately began walking your way over to the doors and stood there as the train rattled on. Eventually slowing to a stop coming near the city. Slowly the train came to a stop and the doors open to the cold air and the dark morning greeted you. No light to be found yet are you immediately ran out of the train and into Hammerlocke's familiar stadium. Running past you noticed the small curry place in the corner you recognized and knew! You were in Hammerlocke alright! But no one was here! Most likely because the place had been evacuated like in the game when the player arrived, only to find Raihan there-...And like in game you would also find him. Stepping out of the pokemon center, you turned in the night and booked it down the castle looking street up towards the deserted gym where you would know they would head. And you heard...Yelling? The closing you got you heard it louder. And then you saw it. DRAGON BOY!! Raihan was there! And his arms was a flailing boy no older than fourteen as the man tried to hold him back. IT WAS VICTOR!! The boy was yelling like a mad man. Tears in his light brown eyes and reaching and kicking out desperately towards the gym.  

"NO!! NOOOO!!!! LET ME GO!! MY BABY SISTER'S STILL IN THERE!!," He wailed as water trickled from his eyes. "SHE'S GONNA GET HURT!! LET ME G O!!!"

"C'mon kid!," Raihan tried reasoning back trying to drag his flailing form towards the nearest entrance. "You can't go in there! It's too dangerous!"

Breathing heavily, you raced right towards them. "VICTOR!!!"

Your voice echoed all around the otherwise deserted pace as your feet slapped against the pavement heading right towards the two guys who seemed shocked to see you of all people there. Victor sniffing. "....Y-Y/n?''

Raihan nearly fell over as you harshly shoved him with one hand out of the way and GRIPPED Victor by the shoulders. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" You asked him as Silver caught up to you. "YOU HAD ME SCARED TO DEATH RUNNING ALL OVER THE PLACE AFTER YOU ALL!!" You looked around again...before back to the still crying boy. "....WHERE'S HOP AND GLORIA!?"

"They ran on ahead into the stadium." You snapped your head to Raihan who for once seemed as concerned and worried as you gesturing to Victor. "I tried to stop them...Honest I did. But I was only able to catch one of the the troublemakers!"

You felt your stomach drop. "WHAT!?"

"The city was evacuated when Leon got here. I'm supposed to be in there helping him but them these guys side blinded me when they rushed in! It's not safe for them here!"

That means the others were in there with- Victor blinked as you shed your back pack and SHOVED it into his hands, he blinked more as you grabbed his shoulders. "Victor. LISTEN. TO. ME!! I need you to get out of here and stay there! DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME!" You stated firmly when he opened his mouth. "I PROMISE you I'll make sure they'll come back ok! I did it for you when we traveled together, and I'll make sure it happens now. But you gotta go. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Still crying his eyes out, he nodded and you quickly patted his shoulders, "Good. Wait for Leon or someone else outside the city. I'll be back I promise. SILVER!! You STAY with him and protect him alright!" Silver gave some kind of noise before faster than Raihan could comprehend, you turned and started running away from them all.

He blinked. "H-HEY! WAIT A MINUTE!! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS TO GO IN THERE!" And he ran after your form. 

You didn't stop. You already knew the way anyways! The player would go into the stadium and take that fancy elevator down into the powerplant, fight the Chairman, and then take another lift to the very top of the roof where they would find Leon and battle Eternatus! So that's EXACTLY where you went. Right into the stadium, around the corner and right up to that fancy lift. Practically spamming the down button on the thing until it dinged and the doors opened.

"HEY, SASSY!! WAIT UP A MINUTE!!" You ignored Raihan as you immediately stepped into the elevator, unfortunately he was able to catch up fast enough to jump into the lift as well just before the doors closed and with a ding noise the two of you descended. He breathed a bit shivering from the cold outside before looking around the lift...before to you're angry face staring at the doors. "H-Hey. What's up with you bursting in like this? How'd you even manage to get into Hammerlocke in the first place?!"

"I took the train!," you answered truthfully, "Guess you forgot to shut down the entrance from the station." He blinked surprised. "Look! Those kids are in trouble and you sure as heck aren't stopping me from helping them! Where's Leon?"

He held up his hands. "Hey. Take it easy there." He pointed a finger up. "He's flew in a little while ago while we were evacuating but I don't know what's been going on up there."

"You'll see soon enough."

He didn't know what that meant, and you didn't answer anymore only looking ahead as you continued down. Until another Ding noise rang out and the doors opened. You didn't even wait for him immediately running out and down the metal platform. A giant opening to the right was where you would find where the player would battle the Chairman. AND FROZE!! Almost tripping over your own feet and falling onto your face as someone came around the corner and Raihan caught up to you. You both watched wide eyed as none other than the Chairman himself casually walked around the corner like it was just another day at the office, straightening his tie! But paused seeing the both of you there. For a moment all three of you stared at one another before a sigh came from the older man who shook his head. 

"I see that I'm seeing a lot of familiar faces today."

....You scowled and pointed at him walking forward. "WHERE'S HOP AND GLORIA!? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THEM!?"

Mr. Rose simply turned his head to the other elevator at the end of the hall. "I'm afraid you just missed them. You see they are on their way up to see dear Leon. Unfortunately I'm afraid they're lacking. If they couldn't get to the end of the tournament what hope would they have to help Leon?" YOUR. RAGE. B O I L E D. "Yes. I'm afraid we're all doomed."

He looked back to you. You were already walking for him when you asked where the two went, but he hadn't expected was when two smaller but strong hands GRABBED the front of his suit jacket, and with surprising strength, SLAMMED the man two the side against the wall. Which made a metal thud when he got slammed against his back, one arm forcibly laying itself across his chest to make sure he couldn't move. His light green eyes stared down at you wide eyed as did Raihan. Both men stared at you as you snarled like a beast teeth clenched.

"Listen here you stupid old man," you growled through your teeth, lowly, threatening in a way the Chairman was NOT used to seeing since he absolutely froze under your grip. "This is all YOUR fault! How dumb were you to see that this wouldn't save Galar!? That monster you unleashed will kill everyone in it's path and you decided to release it anways!?" You snapped. "IF ANY OF THOSE KIDS ARE HURT WHEN I GET UP THERE I SWEAR NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO I WILL FIND YOU AND MAKE YOU W I S H THAT ETERNATUS HAD FOUND YOU BEFORE I DID!!" 

With a last shove to him, you turned and RAN down the hallway and to the elevator. Spamming the button open and hopping in. Pushing the up button for dear life until the doors closed and with a ding you started upwards. Both men stood there stunned for a long moment before the Chairman looked over at the sound of footsteps and looked over to Raihan ABSOLUTELY ANGRY at him despite the calm look he held.

"....I could threaten you more for destroying my gym, but I think her words work well enough for me."

You breathed heavily, panting in fear as the elevator took you up and up and up towards the roof. Until with another ding noise sounded and you ran out. Turning and following the red stairs up...And what you were met with stopped you in your tracks. Wind blew all around you like crazy. The roof completely destroyed. Purple storm and lightning all around you as pieces of the roof whirled. And in front of you was a battle. A battle between four pokemon and two kids all fighting a GIANT SKELETON WORM THING!! Two of the four pokemon in front of the kids dog like...And you stared. THE BATTLE AGAINST THE BIG BAD ENEMY!! This was it and you recognized those pokemon! The legendary ones from the game cases depending if you bought Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield. They must've been in the final stages of this battle! In the game the player and Hop battled with those two in order to capture Eternatus and then eventually win after Leon couldn't-.....LEON!? Your head whipped to the side and your eyes widened in shock at what you say. Leon's proud Charizard, hurt and knocked out laying on the ground and the Champion himself not looking too hot. Looking as if he was standing with a limp, covered in bruises and scraps and seemed to be holding his hand as he stared on horrified at what was taking place before him. CLANK!! You gave a yell and jumped away as a metal piece of the once roof finally broke lose from the wind and slammed onto the ground right next to you. THAT WAS CLOSE!! Just a few more inches and it would've completely crushed your legs! Raihan was right! This place was too dangerous for anyone to be here! ...Your head snapped up and around towards Leon, as a heavy looking piece of  roof came right for his hurt form. And your eyes widened....YOU. RAN!! Right for him arms out and one goal in mind. 

"LEON LOOK OUT!!"

Leon barely had time to turn his head to you before a force suddenly hit his chest strong enough to knock him out of the pathway of the falling roof piece. But replacing you with it. With no time to dodge out of the way from impact as the thing slammed into you. Pain exploding.

....And then everything went black.

[touristbree]

Teacher’s Assistant Dory Rose-Joy

My main girl is back 🥹🥹🥹. She's 19 and in college now, attending Hulbury College for Performing Arts where she's studying music education. She's spending a year abroad in Paldea, getting experience as a Teacher’s Assistant working at Naranja Academy. She also helps Operation Starfall since she has experience being part of a “villainous team”.

Team

Her team hasn't changed much. The only ones who have evolved are Mercury who is now a Galarian Linoone and Kiki who's now a Sandaconda. She has her team split in two:

She has the team she uses to help around classes:

And her team for battling Team Star:

Side Quests

Just like how you can bond with all the other staff, Dory can be bonded with over the course of the game. It's a bit of a fetch quest as she lost a bunch of photos and asks the player for a bit of help. When she gets a photo back, she’ll talk a little about the people in it:

- First is a picture of her with several Nurse Joys. She mentions that she's a member of the Joy family, and is just the rare outlier of the family.

- Second is a wedding picture with Peony and Stephanie. She's happy to say that they got married last year, and that her new sister Peonia was crying a lot at the ceremony.

- Third is Dory with Bea when they were 16 (during the events of Sword and Shield). Bea is her best friend that's training in Galar.

- Finally is a photo booth picture of her with Marnie. They broke up before college, well more accurately, taking a break as Marnie feels she has to find herself, and Dory is happy to give Marnie the space.

[sv-npc]

QFG: Sword - Bryce’s ‘Revolt’

A light dusting of snow drifted among the feet of the people as they gathered in front of Motostoke Castle. Their voices echoed off the brick walls and echoed back across several streets as the crowd grew. Knights had been stationed out front to block their way into the Castle and there presence only added to the sense of unease that grew among he streets. 

Finally, a figure emerged on a Castle balcony, far above their heads. One by one faces turned to look up and the voices quieted to a murmur as Bryce emerged on the balcony surrounded by several guards. He stopped at the edge of the balcony and raised his hands in the air and as he did the crowd fell completely silent.

“Citizens of Motostoke!“ His voice bellowed out over the crowd with the aid of four small Loudred that stood on the balcony railing and pointed in different directions. “As many of you know, when the Old World fell, a Great King rose up with the aid of Zamazenta, and together they shielded Galar, and brought her back from the ruins even stronger and greater than she was before! And, because in honor of his actions, Zamazenta blessed that man as the ‘True King’ with the ‘Divine Right To Rule’, and together that King and Zamazenta would protect Galar for generations. Under Zamazenta’s protection, Galar has grown strong. Our great Kingdom has become a wonderful place full of thriving nature and beautiful cities.“

“Our fair Kingdom has been able to grow and thrive all thanks to Zamazenta - but only one year ago, our late King was willing to throw that all away, and hand Galar over to the hands of our enemies-“

A sudden uproar from the crowd cut him off. A mixture of shouts defending and denouncing the Late King’s actions rose up and the crowd erupted into nearly a fit. For a moment, Bryce just watched them, before he raised his arms once more to silence them. When that didn’t work, he signaled to the Loudren, who unleashed a loud bellow that toppled over the first rows of the crowd below and brought all attention back to him. 

“It is true that our great King was manipulated, and nearly willingly handed Galar over to our hated Rivals - the Aldebrands, and their misguided faith in Zacian. He brought in the son of Lord Aldebrand, and raised him up to Heir Apparent.“ More shouting. But this time Bryce continued through it, “He took in the Aldebrand boy, and raised him as his own - and then one year ago that boy repayed our great King’s generosity by murdering him in cold blood in order to gain the thrown in the name of Zacian!” 

The shouts supporting Bryce’s word, and the shouts proclaiming him a ‘liar’ rose up so loud that Bryce once again had to use the Loudren to silence them.

“With this heinous act, we will no longer tolerate Zacian supporters in our city.“ As if on cue, armed Knights dressed in the Red and Blue colours of the Zamazenta Flag stepped out into the crowd. “Any found supporting Zacian will be declared a traitor. We will no longer allow that False God to have any sway over the people.”

As if also on cue, a scream echoed out from somewhere in the streets as the Knights went to work. They started smashing any market stalls that did not wave the Zamazenta Flag. Metal shined in the sunlight and flashed at anyone who rose up to stop them. They targeted anyone with the thick, Northern Galar accent and soon people were fleeing from the crowd in terror. Even the Pokemon that rose up to defend their human friends and partners were not spared.

Bryce watched it for a moment with a stone-cold face. Those that remained in the crowd looked up at the balcony with looks of nervousness and horror. 

“For an entire year now, our throne has been vacant.“ Bryce continued as if nothing was happening, “Only a Solvieg can sit upon the throne and bring us Zamazenta’s protection - and a Solvieg we shall have.“ 

Bryce stepped aside and motioned to someone behind him. Slowly another figure emerged behind him. It was a small, feminine figure, and whoever she was, she hesitated before Bryce reached up and gently removed her hood - revealing a young woman with chestnut brown hair, and blue eyes. Her skin was rather pale, and she looked as nervous as the people below... but she still smiled and waved at them. 

“People of Motostoke!“ Bryce called out, “Meet your future Queen! Our new Princess - Lady Briar Solvieg! Daughter of a Cousin to the late King, and one with real Solvieg blood running through her viens! She will lead us to prosperity!“

---

Freya had heard enough. She felt like her blood had run cold in her veins. She pulled away from the window and looked around her room... no, her prison. She had been locked in this room ever since her Father-in-Law, King Ulric had died. 

A pain shot through her heart at the memory. She had spoken to King Ulric right before he died. She had been the one who told him that Bryce had ridden off after Youta. She had seen the King ride off in a hurry after them...She knew the truth... and for that, she had been kept a prisoner for an entire year. 

But no more. She bitterly thought. She was going to find a way out of here and find and take the Behemoth Bash with her. She reached down to pick up her Yamper, Sebastian. The two of them would sneak out and steal the Shield and take it to Youta... somehow... even if it killed her!

[regalia-solvieg]

(( I will post this again in the morning when more people come online but I just realized something- 

The Quest For Galar Plot was originally plotted and started before Sword and Shield came out. Therefore, the world had different problems going on then. The plot contains mentions of war between the Exiled Prince Youta, and the Grandmaster Bryce as both sides fight for the Galar Throne. Due to the current state of the world, I do not wish to make anyone uncomfortable. Therefore, I will make sure to tag any posts mentioning it, but if the subject matter makes you uncomfortable, please feel free to block the ‘tw: war mentions’, ‘Quest for Galar: Side Sword’ and the ‘Quest for Galar: Side Shield’ tags. ))

[esquire-shield]

The flags were all at half-mast when Thanion finally rode into town. It had started to rain again as he rode through the quiet streets. Something was off... Motostoke was a bustling city full of commerce. Even in the fain, the fact that it was mid-afternoon, and all the shops were shuddered, and not a soul walked about was very off.

Suspiciously, he pulled his hood far over his head, and kept his mount at a steady pace towards the Castle. He finally started to see people as he reached the Castle gates... the last few stragglers that marched in towards a large crowd that had gathered outside the castle.

He cautiously dismounted from his Rapidash, and tied her to a post, before marching forward to blend into the crowd. His original intention was not to head to the castle at all. He was going to ride straight through, while Jocelyn was to go straight to the castle... but a mix between curiosity and worry got the better of him, and he decided to see what was going on. 

By the time he got close enough to the castle to see though, he was glad he did. 

Thanion froze in the middle of the crowd, and looked up to see Bryce standing on one of the Castle balconies... and too his right, stood Jocelyn. 

[regalis-solveig]

The Truth

Youta stood out in the hall feeling a mixture between betrayal and frustration. He turned around and looked at the doors leading back into his Father’s office. They were talking about him in there... but he was not allowed to hear it...

He crossed his arms and thought about it for a moment, before turning to Thanion, “Come on. We’ve got to get back in there.”

(( @esquire-shield​ ))

[hobard-knights]

Making the First Move

Bryce stood in the now empty room for a moment. He stared at each of the chairs surrounding the round table, at the banners and tapestries that lined the walls, at the various bookshelves full of important documents... and, at the King’s Chair that sat to the left of him. The wooden chair was larger than any others in the room, and there was a large banner draped over the back, decorated with the Solvieg Family Crest. He ran his hand down the worn down wood on the arm rest for a moment, before his eyes drifted to the Solvieg Family crest, and his jaw tightened. 

The doors entering the War Room opened suddenly, and without warning, and Bryce quickly drew back his arm, and turned to look at them, just as a very tired, and very stressed looking Raintree hurried into the room. 

As usual, the old man carried several large scrolls under his arms. He glanced at Bryce for only a mere moment, before he shuffled over to one of the walls, and fumbled through the scrolls as he tried to file them in a shelf. The sound of his slippers against the stone was the only sound in the room, as the old man fumbled around his long, silver beard. 

Bryce clapped both of his hands on table, “Chancellor Raintree.”  The old man did not startle at the sudden noise, but instead went very still, “Can’t you see I am busy?” He said in his usual, mousey tone. He paused for a second or two, before he went back to filing the scrolls, “What is it?” 

“As the Chancellor of Galar... I want to hear your thoughts on what happened today.“ Bryce ordered.  “Chancellor? Bah!“ Raintree spat, “I’m nothing more than a glorified majordomo. It’s not like the King will listen to anything anyone sa-“  “Raintree.“ Bryce snapped. 

Raintree sighed, and seemed to deflate slightly, and placed the last scroll away, and shrugged over-dramatically, “What do you want me to say? Hmm? I was more than open about my opinions on the matter during today’s meeting.” He turned around to face Bryce, “Like I said, I don’t like it. I’ve always said that boy will lead us to ruin! His very presence in this household must displease Zamazenta entirely!” He stroked his beard, “Not to mention the risk involved if word got out... nope, nope. It is such a bother. I-”  Bryce cut Raintree off from another rant, “What if I told you I had a plan?”  “-swear it... wait plan? What plan?“ Raintree replied. 

Bryce pulled himself away from the table, and started walking over towards Raintree. The gauntly old man visibly grew nervous as Bryce approached, but was still trying to be proud and hide it. Regardless, Bryce stopped in front of him. 

“The King has betrayed not only us, but his Family name, and his people.“ Bryce explained, “That Aldebrand boy has poisoned his mind, and after four generations of Solvieg’s on the throne, we are facing the possibility of the Aldebrand taking over.“  “Precisely what I’ve been saying.“ Raintree exhaled loudly through his nose, “He’ll bring ruin I say!“  “Then... you agree we must ‘remove’ the boy at any cost?“ Bryce said in a slow, meaningful tone.  Raintree froze, and looked away from Bryce. He suddenly looked very uncomfortable, “Well I agree that the King should have a legitimate heir at least. Even if it means taking on a concubine or two...but...”

“We both know he won’t!” Raintree was dodging around Bryce’s statement. In a burst of rage, Bryce punched the wall to the left of the Chancellor, and spoke between clenched teeth, “Chancellor! How many people died to keep the Solvieg name on the throne? And for what?!”  Raintree’s expression went from uncomfortable to fearful, but he brushed Bryce’s arm away regardless, “It is not our call. The King’s word is law, and if the King says the boy will be his heir... then all we can do is pray that Zamazenta accepts him.” “That’s not enough!“ Bryce snapped. He shook out his fingers, and stared down at his bloodied knuckles for a moment. 

“...Our only choice is to rid the Kingdom of the false Prince!“ Bryce’s voice had leveled out to a calm, calculated tone, “Then, even if the King does not have a legitimate heir, a cousin of the throne - a real Solvieg - will have the chance to inherit it, and uphold everything we, our parents, fought and died for.“

[excalupus]

Quest For Galar: Side Sword - Review

After Ulric scarified his life to save Youta, Bryce framed him for Regicide, and sentenced him to death in order to place his own, chosen heir on the throne. Youta managed to escape, and together with his best friend, Thanion, the two fled to Turffield to seek the help of Lady Angela at her fief. 

To get there, they had to cross through the Galar Mines which would hopefully slow any pursuit down. 

After they arrived, Lady Angela welcomed them in with open arms, and offered them a place to stay to recover.

However... not long after they arrived in Turffield, word arrived that Bryce was on his way with an army to capture Youta once more. With nowhere to go, Youta was willing to stay and fight for Turffield... but before the army from Motostoke could arrive - another mysterious letter arrived - this time, from none other than Lady Jocelyn - the Crimson Knight who had fought alongside Thanion against Bryce’s assassination attempt. 

She had survived, and was waiting for Youta in Hammerlocke - the old stronghold of the Aldebrand Family. 

Despite wanting to stay and help, Lady Angela convinced them to leave as quickly as possible. So, disguising themselves as Farmers, Youta and Thanion escaped out through Route 5, and started their long journey to Hammerlocke.

[cxndaquil]

Maybe its because i grew up with hoenn/sinnoh and might be heavily biased but the story of legends arceus is probably the best story they have ever put in any pokemon game ever it has a hero put through countless trials proving themselves to the world and unexpected plot twists that had been hinted all along and a surprisingly vast amount of lore and characters they really put their heart into this one

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Love Doesn’t Do Encores Ch29 The Champion Cup P2

(Warning: Someone does get hurt with a hurt arm and someone does get knocked out And Leon is a lil hurt from his Eternatus confrontation but don't worry. They're all ok.)

"Y/n. I lost fair n' square. Raihan's goin' ta battle in the Fourth Round. Not me."

You had ..completely froze. Allister still in your arms looking at you confused as you stared wide eyed like a goldfish at Gloria. ...WAIT. W H A T!?!? No. No. NONONONONONONO!! N O!!! That...CAN'T BE RIGHT!! IT JUST CAN'T BE!! During the game the player (or Gloria in this case) would battle their way through threw the The Champion Cup and after winning the final match would face off against Leon and become the new Champion of Galar! NOT.....lose? But...Gloria said she..lost. HOW COULD THAT HAPPEN!? EVERYTHING WAS GOING EXACTLY AS PLANNED!!!....Something must've happened to disrupt the progress! Throwing it off balance somehow!! Something you all had missed doing or skipped over! Or-...Or something! The kids all looked at one another as you looked down spacing off in thought, trying to figure out what exactly might've gone wrong along the way. Every single thing up to this point had been exactly as in game!! If not more so. Gloria managed to get all the gym badges. All the side quests were finished. She had gotten all the possible traded and gifted pokemon other than one which was after the game and was a charmander given to the player by Leon. And as far as you could tell there wasn't anything else missing. Gloria had gotten all the possible league cards of the standard game. As well as finished off her 'Dexes' thanks to Leon and Victor gifting her all those pictures. Every encounter. Every gym. Every win...It SHOULD have gone so smoothly but-..IT DIDN'T!! Gloria had somehow lost and instead..wouldn't even get a chance to battle Leon for the Champion title now..Instead. Either Raihan or whoever won the current battle between Kabu and Piers would. You thought long and hard..Maybe it was because in the games you only battled 8 gyms instead of 10?? It depended if you either played Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield which two gyms would've been different. So was it because Gloria battled all of them instead of chosing either the Sword or Shield path?? Or maybe it was because you were the one that solved the 'Lucky Egg' side quest in Hulbury instead of her?? But that was the only time you could think of interfering in the game's story. Could one little thing really stop Gloria from winning?!

"Y/n?"

"AH!?" You had jumped a bit startling Allister a bit in your arms as well. Blinking at most of the children staring at you with confused expressions.

"...Are you ok there, Mate?," Hop asked you raising a brow. "You sort of spaced out for a second."

"Um.." You shook your head. "Y-Yeah. Sorry. I guess I'm just shocked that ...G-Gloria  lost. Is all."

"No sweat. I was pretty shocked too. But these things happen. You can't just press the restart button like on video games. Oh well." Video games?...How ironic. Your excuse must've worked because he was instantly back to smiling and patted Gloria on the shoulder. "But look how far she got. Second to final round is a lot farther than any of us really got. I dunno about all of you, but I'd say that's a really fantastic accomplishment."

Gloria smiled at Hop gratefully. Beside her Bede rose a brow between her and Hop before raising a hand and coughing loudly. Gaining her attention. "*AHEM*....Yes. This is ..all well and good." He peeked one eye open at Gloria who blinked at him before looking away again. "I suppose some congratulations is in order. You were..very good out there. I'm surprised you were strong enough to last through all that to here. I may have underestimated by rival's perseverance."

Gloria blinked surprised but smiled at him. "Well that's a surprisingly nice thing ye would say 'bout me. Thanks, Bede."

You didn't miss the light pink of Bede's cheeks...and neither did Hop who scowled at him. "*ahem* Y-Your welcome. It's only natural to comment on one's strength if they get far."

"Uh..Y-Yeah!" You made yourself smile at Gloria. "Great job out there, Gloria! You did your best."

"Aw. Thanks, Y/n! By the way, Hop was tellin' me 'bout you makin' everyone hot chocolate. I don't suppose I could bug ye for one?"

"Yeah. I can make you some. You must be hungry too. I-I'll make you something to eat."

It was..kinda a blur at first from the shock. But you had set Allister back down in his seat by the window, thanked Victor for making sure things didn't delve into further chaos, and then went about making a LOT more coco for everyone around you who wanted another cup. Which was almost everyone. You absolutely made sure Allister got a replacement cup to replace the one that he had spilt a little while ago. When everyone was satisfied with the hot coco, you were about to go sit down when you remembered. Gloria probably hadn't eaten anything yet. Everyone else had burgers and countless amounts of hot chocolate, but she probably hadn't eaten anything since you'd given her that small oatmeal bar this morning too busy focusing on battling. You'd better make her one of those ramen cups so she'd have something in her stomach- B O O M!! The entire place shook again as a gigantic boom went off outside shaking the entire stadium. You had to grip the cabinet to not fall over before it quickly stopped. What the world was THAT!?

"IT'S A MIRACLE FOLKS!! THE FIREY FIERCE FIGHTER KABU!! HAS BEEN DEFEATED!! THE TALL, DARK, AND MYSTERIOUS PIERS HAS EARNT THE RIGHT TO BATTLE IN THE FINAL ROUND!!" Oh! Was THAT what that was? The crowd cheered and Marnie stood there staring out the window. Her blue eyes suddenly slightly narrowed staring out and down to the field. "BATTLERS PLEASE EXIT THE FIELD FOR REPAIRS AND PREPARE FOR THE FINAL MATCH TO DETERMINE WHICH GYM LEADER WILL BE LUCKY ENOUGH TO COMPETE AGAINST CHAMPION LEON FOR THE FINAL MATCH OF THE CHAMPION CUP!!"

You slowly let go of the cabinets and minded your own business as you made another cup of ramen for Gloria, and along with her cup of coco, and brought it over to her. All the while swiveling your head around and keeping check on all the kids there. Making a head count. One, two, three- Ok! All fourteen children (now including Gloria) were accounted for and safe. Gloria smiled and thanked you for the food once you handed it to her and you finally got the chance to sit down on one of the couches with a sigh. Almost as soon as you did, Silver slunk over and plopped himself next to you curled up like a cat. Well good news. You didn't have to worry about anything else at the moment. Bad news....Now you had to deal with ANOTHER giant problem. The game for whatever reason was...derailed. Derailed harder than a train flying off the tracks at a million miles per hour. So now begged the question. HOW WERE YOU GOING TO GET HOME NOW!? If the only chances you had of getting home were riding on the game ending then how would you get home now? Would you still go home once the Champion Cup was over? Would it really matter if Gloria (or Victor you guessed) wasn't the one battling Leon in the end? ...You shook your head stomach in knots. You didn't know. There was only one thing to do. You'd have to wait with the others and watch the last two battles of the entire finals. Would Raihan or Piers be the one to battle Leon in the end? With a sigh you leaned back. Wonder what those guys were up to now?

-Meanwhile In The Stadium's Locker Rooms-

The guys' locker room was pretty quiet for the most part. With the exception of the cheers of the crowd outside the doors and whatever noises the guys were making in there. The white walls were helping to reflect the light around him and the screen on the TV went on with whatever generic news was being broadcasted at the moment. A few lockers lined the walls, along with some benches, and one or two vending machines. At the moment most of the guys were relaxing with some kind of food or watching the TV or talking amongst themselves now that most of the battles and excitement were over for them. Except for two. And they were a bit busy themselves. Raihan was what else, doing something with his phone, his pokemon currently out to be fed. As if the place wasn't crowded already. Or maybe that was just his take on the whole thing. Piers himself was just...sitting. Sitting in the corner with his body leaned back against the wall and his eyes closed. The adrenaline from the last battle still rushing through his body but slowly leaving him as he had the chance to let his heart slow down from the excitement. ..But he did slowly open his eyes feeling a presence over himself and his blue eyes opened to meet Kabu standing over him. The older man stood in front of him for a moment before straightening his body and giving a small smile.

"The battle we had was most enjoyable, Young Piers. I truly enjoyed being able to see what strengths you can throw at someone, and while not dynamaxing. Sticking to your code is most honorable." He bowed to him. "Let us have another battle again sometime and may you flourish in the next round as well."

Piers in equal respect pushed himself off the wall and bowed his head back to the older Gym Leader. "Thanks, Mate. I intend on puttin' on a good performance before my retirement."

"Retirement? You make yourself sound older than you are, Piers."

Both men looked over to notice that a third party had joined them as Raihan smiled down at Piers, his flygon tagging along behind him like a curious lillipup. Piers didn't react all too much besides lifting himself up and out of the bowing position to look at him with his usual neutral face.

The dragon type gym leader smiled cheerfully at him. "By the way you were giving Kabu the old one-two treatment out there, anyone would've thought you were a top gym leader. ..In fact." His brow rose. "I don't think I've ever seen you let lose THAT much in a battle before."

"Well, I figure if I'm goin' to resign then I might as well go out with a bang everyone would remember me by."

Raihan nodded. "That's totally something you'd do alright. Your lil sis is taking over for you right?"

Piers nodded back to him. "'Course I gotta train her a bit. Show 'er the ropes a bit. But considering that she spent so much time with me in the gym anyways I reckon it shouldn't take her too long to pick up the full responsibilities. And then there's the legal paperwork I have to sign and have approved by the Chairman to transfer property of the gym. ''

"Whatcha planning on doing then once you fully hand over the position to her? I don't think you have another job lined up for you."

"'M focussin' on something I've been wanting to do for a long time now, Rai-Rai."

"Ah.~" Raihan smirked and pointed a hand at him. Kabu leaving the two to talk together. "You mean your music career! Good for you man! Have you reached out to any record dealers yet?"

He shook his head no leaning it back against the wall. "Not yet. None o' them really appealed to me yet. But Nessa's talked to her modelin' agent who knows a few people in the industry and promised to connect me to a few o' 'em. Not much but it's a start I guess."

He blinked when all of a sudden Raihan shifted and a moment later he plopped himself on the bench next to the rocker. The warm air of the locker room helping their bodies to warm up more. "Well a start is better than no start at all if you think about it."

"Hmm. I 'spose that's true. Who knows where it's gonna go, eh?" He looked from Raihan at nothing in particular really, his hand coming up to grab at his choker. Raihan watching his friend's actions carefully. ...Maybe a little TOO carefully for what was normal and after a moment the pal man looked back to him raising a bold brow. "......What?"

Raihan gave him a genuine smile back before shrugging looking forward. "Oh nothing. I was just wondering is all. Might there be another reason you're pushing yourself so hard in these battles this time."

"No? Why are you asking?"

The man hummed rolling his eyes. "Well...This is the farthest in the finals you've ever made it and I can't help but wonder about it...I figured maybe you were throwing your punches more aggressively for Marnie. Or your team. Or for Spikemuth. You know since you just want what's best for them all and everything."

Blue eyes narrowed at the other gym leader as his gaze hardened. Studying the man but Raihan kept up that innocent smile. After a moment he hummed but looked away. "....I guess you're not far off from there." He sighed. "Any attention I can give to help Spikemuth will be worth the effort. I want Marn-Marn to have the best future I can provide for her. Being a Gym Leader will guarantee her success and income. But I've got to fix the city. Leo can only help so much. I can't-.....I HAVE to give her a brighter future than mine."

A small silence hung between the two of them as Piers still stared off and Raihan had long since dropped his smile and his own blue eyes turned back to his friend. Fill of pity and slight worry for the rocker. Eventually after a moment his hand came up to gently grab his shoulder but Piers ignored it.

"Hey. Y'know what happened to your city wasn't your fault. Sometimes things happen that's out of our control. That doesn't mean the fingers point back to you."

"....It's funny. I've been told that a lot lately."

"Well it's true! And you're working on fixing the city. That only means people's going to come flocking back anyways. I swear once people hear the Mighty Rockstar Piers lives there you'll be having people going there just to swoon at your presence!~" Piers yelped when an arm suddenly wrapped around his shoulders just to pull him against him in a side hug. "I can see it now!" He held his hand out as he talked. "Piers, the Dark Type Musician! Babes fighting to be in your shadow and guys throwing friend requests at you just to claim brag rights! Kids looking up to you as their inspiration for years to come!"

Piers groaned and brought a hand up to push against Raihan to let him go. Eyes rolling. "Like that would happen- ACK!!"

Raihan threw them back and forth with a smile pumping a fist into the air. "The crowds cheering your name! PIERS! PIERS!! PIERS!! HHAAAAAAHH!!! WE LOVE YOU!! YOU'RE AMAZING!! SIGN MY T-SHIRT!!"

"RAIHAN!! I GET MOTION SICKNESS-"

"THE BABES SWOONING!! OH PIERS!!~" He then started talking in a raspy poor impression of a lady's voice. Pulling Piers closer in a hug, making the man blush red in embarrassment as some of the others looked over at them now. "Oh PIERS YOU'RE SO HANDSOME!!~ PIERS PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME!!~ I WANT YOU TO SWEEP ME OFF MY FEET!~ SERENADE ME WITH YOUR MAGNIFICENT VOICE!~"

"OK!! IF I AGREE WITH YOU WILL YA LET ME GO!?"

In an instant he stopped and looked back to the red faced man and in a calm voice spoke. "Yep!"

"F-Fine! Bloody h*ll! it's n-not my fault! There. I said it!"

"I'm glad you see my point." True to his word, Raihan released his friend from his hug. And Piers quickly pushed himself away embarrassed.

"Arceus! You're bloody impossible to deal with!," he pouted.

"And yet somehow still adorably loveable!~"

"Ha! Loveable? Maybe to your fangirls."

"Not every girl though. There's one who's got it in for me I think." He paused as Piers..chuckled. And the rockstar finally sported a small smile giving him a side glance from under his bangs.

"Yes. If I remember right she left you speechless for an entire week."

...It was Raihan's turn to be embarrassed as he turned his gaze upwards much to Piers's amusement and his arm rubbed the back of his neck. "Mmm. I mean I wouldn't say 'speechless' more like confused."

"Oh?" His brow rose. "Then I 'pose when I visited you in Hammerlocke that week finding you in the cafe staring at the table like ya were studyin' for a test tryin' ta make heads or tails of what jus' happened, isn't speechless?"

Raihan opened his mouth pointing at Piers...Piers smiled wider. ..Before Raihan sighed but smiled. "Alright. Maybe I was a little speechless. But can you blame me? She's a..A bit different from the usual women I've met. She can give Bea a run for how blunt she is."

Piers nodded totally agreeing. "You got that right. The bloody lady was gonna try to make it all the way back to Hammerlocke with a dislocated shoulder jus' so her mates wouldn't be behind on their trip."

Raihan's brows rose in surprise. "Seriously?! Man. I dunno if that's stubborn or sheer determination.".....He smirked eyes half lidded at his pal. "But uh...She's a good jokester."

Piers chuckled a bit more. "Yeah...Can't remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did."

"....So you DO like her?"

"WHAT!?" Piers instantly snapped to his friend who chuckled at his reaction.

"Hey. It's ok.~ Everyone gets crushes in their lives-"

"NOT YOU TOO!" He groaned and facepalmed himself. "I don't even KNOW 'er that well! First Marnie an' now you."

"Well you did invite her out for Christmas."

"Because I felt bloody BAD that she got hurt in Spikemuth!," Piers defended himself now scowling, "Bloody heck. Y'know how I feel 'bout that."

"I know, I know." Raihan smiled at him. "I was just pulling your leg, Piers. You know I was just teasin'.~" He made that innocent oh so angelic smile and Piers hummed again. But also didn't get a chance to speak when another gym leader approached them. Neither saw Gordie opening the door to a delivery boy and bring in a to-go bag until he walked up to them and spoke.

"Hey, Raihan!" Both men looked up to Gordie who held up the bag to them as he walked forward. "The guy from the door said you ordered this."

Immediately Raihan's eyes perked up. "Oh yeah! My lunch is here!" He took the bag from Gordie with a smile. The flygon next to him taking a very keen interest at the smell. "Thanks man! I'm starving more than a snorlax after hibernation."

Piers rose a brow and watched as Raihan immediately started digging through the bag. "Food? At a time like this? We could get called out ta field any moment now and you're chosin' to stuff your face?"

Raihan shrugged pulling out a decently big container and opened it. Inside was delicious smelling curry and on top of it was a giant egg. Some kind of boiled egg curry? The flygon immediately locked it's eyes onto the egg. "Hey. You know me. I've got to keep my energy up. Besides it's cold outside. I need something in my stomach to keep me warm." He turned to Piers oblivious to the flygon reaching it's neck out. "You should get something for you too. It'll help when we battle because I'm not holding back."

Piers huffed with a half smile. "Well...I'd say I aim to win this thing. And I'll do it without dynamaxin' to help everyone in Spikemuth reclaim their pride and ta see 'em smile once again-"

"HEY!!" Raihan yelled as in a flash of green the flygon dove at his container of food and (literally-) took almost all the food with it in one big bite. The now mostly empty container was dropped to the ground from impact and both men blinked as the flygon sat back up cheeks puffed out with what WAS once Raihan's curry. Everyone sat there stunned for a moment, before the dragon tamer scowled at the pokemon. "HEY! Flygon, that was MY take out. I already gave you food with everyone else!" The pokemon gave a thrum sound in return.

....Piers blinked and slowly looked down to the small mess on the floor. "Guess he must've been hungrier then ya thought," he said kicking a lil bit of the mess from him.

"Yeah? Well he could've let me know. I would've given him seconds." he gave a scowl to the Flygon who thrummed and Piers chuckled.

-Back With The Others-

"Thanks for the food, Y/n! I haven't eaten anything all day. Nice ta 'ave something warm in me."

You smiled at Gloria. "Hey. No problem. I'm surprised you've eaten three of those. Must've been real hungry huh?"

Gloria smiled a bit embarrassed but you smiled. Wasn't her fault. You probably would've been hungry too having to just battle in the cold and focus on your pokemon most of the day. You had been trying to not fall down the rabbithole of worry with your thoughts about the unusual circumstances and focused your energy into talking and playing with some of the kids, and making Gloria some food. Which you didn't mind at all, keeps you busy. All the while Marnie had been standing at the window looking out with that narrowed eye thinking face of hers. And for good reason, but you hadn't noticed being too busy taking care of everyone there until Bede had perked up towards the window..and hummed before asking.

"Isn't that field repaired yet?"

You had looked up from Silver for a moment and blinked at him. "Huh? What makes you say that?"

He rolled his eyes but answered. "We've been sitting here for nearly two hours now!" He complained gaining the attention of everyone else who looked at him. "The next match should have started long before now!" He threw a hand towards the window. "We should we watching the Champion defending his title RIGHT THIS SECOND!!"

That made Hop look towards the window as well with a confused look. "Huh...As much as I hate to admit it, Bede's right. Piers and Raihan should've already battled by now. I wonder what's keeping them?"

"Well maybe the field is still being repaired?," you offered.

Hop shook his head. "Can't be. Field Repairs usually only take thirty or forty minutes. An hour at most if the field's really banged up and it's already been repaired.." he took a moment to pull out his phone to check the time. "...About an hour and twenty five minutes ago." He looked back towards the window again with narrowed eyes. "That's not normal unless something's wrong."

"What could have gone wrong-"

It was at THAT exact moment that that the intercom voice came back ON.

"SORRY FOR THE DELAY FOLKS!! TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES!! BUT NOW WE'RE BACK AND HERE IT IS!! THE LAST MATCH OF THE FINALS!" The crowd cheered and almost everyone sitting down stood up to immediately make a beeline to the windows and so did you. Dragon Boy verses Hot Pink? No way were you missing this! "WHO WILL EARN THE RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE UNBEATABLE CHAMPION LEON!?  WILL IT BE THE BRILLIANT ROCKSTAR PIERS!? OR WILL IT BE THE ONLY TRAINER THAT CHAMPION LEON CALLS HIS RIVAL!! THE TAMER OF DRAGONS RAIHAN!?"  

The crowd roared from his announcement as the two gym leaders made their way out onto the field both their faces lit up on the screen. Both meeting each other in the middle of the field. Here we go. Icy wind blew around the two as they met at the center of the field. Electric blue eyes meeting dark ocean blue ones as both Dark and Dragon gym leaders made eye contact. Piers barely suppressed a shiver as the cold winter wind bit his pale skin and made his long hair blow around him. His neutral face meeting the smiling face of his friend. His eardrums pounding around him as crowds roared their desire to see one lose and one fail. One could easily buckle under the pressure of it all.

"Scared, Piers?"

"....Nah." He blinked tilting his head lazily to his friend. "Just takin' in the scenery is all."

Raihan felt a smile perk up on his lips. "Didn't think so. You've made it all the way here. I'm impressed. Not everyday I say that."

He chuckled before letting a smirk tug at his lips. "But there's a catch. Ain't there?"

"You know me so well.~ Leon's my rival. So I've got to first prove I'm better than you if I'm to beat him."

"Hmph.O' course-"

"And how else am I supposed to impress that Y/N lady into that dinner date I've been asking her about if I can't beat you?"

Piers paused. Blinking at the now amused smirk tugging on his lips. ".....You've asked her on a what?"

Raihan held up his hands. "Hey. You said so yourself, she's not seeing anyone. And I like her sass. So beating you might get me bonus points.~"

"Don't get so cocky, Mate. Our battle hasn't even begun."

"Then brace yourself. Because I'm coming for Leon, and I'm not holding back."

"Funny. Neither am I."

"BATTLERS PLEASE GET TO YOUR PLACES!!" At the sound of the announcer both men turn. Piers pausing to give one upwards towards the windows high above for the VIP lounge. Marnie was surely watching him. Were you too? Not that it mattered to him if you did or not..But he couldn't help but still wonder...Before he closed his eyes and continued walking towards his place in the field. "READY YOUR POKEMON!! GET SET!! BATTLE BEGIN!!"

There was no grand THUD sound when Piers pulled out his microphone to stamp to the ground in one hand and pokeball in the other! Having thrown it out as soon as the announcer said to, challenging Raihan to dare make a move against him. And the pokemon were sent out. Piers Skuntank verses Raihan's torkaol!

"LET'S START THIS OFF WITH A LIGHT TO CHASE AWAY THE DARKNESS!! DROUGHT HIGH AND PROUD!!", Raihan had yelled out immediately on sight practically roaring out his command. And in an instant the slow looking turtle pokemon immediately did as it was told. With a giant huff a tan-sandy like fog was exploded from it's back shell and spread throughout half the stadium in a bright light. Piers stared narrowed eyed at it until suddenly a bright flash of light erupted from it. The skuntank yelling out in pain from it as it's master held up an arm to it. "HOW DO YOU LIKE MY TORKOAL'S NEW MOVE!? TOOK A WHILE TO LEARN THIS ONE!! GETS THE SUNLIGHT BURNING REAL HARSH!!"

"M' all for a good spotlight! But I think I'd rather settle for a little SMOKESCREEN!!" The skuntank obeying it's master's commands opened it's mouth, and a torrent of abyss fell from it's maw.

From above you all watched as the field was covered half in lit up fog and black smoke, as if day and night was fighting against one another. It was fascinating. But there was one problem....You couldn't even see what was happening and neither could either gym leaders. How could either tell who was winning if it was either too dark or too bright for either to see? Marnie leaned in closer pressing a hand to the frosted glass as she watched closely.

"Nice counter, Piers! But you're forgetting I can still get my way through to see you! USE SOLAR BEAM TO PART THAT SMOKE!!" The barely visible torkoal gladly obeyed the command by opening it's shell and let a ball of light come thro-

"SCREECH YOUR HOPES HIGH!!" It was then that a figure shot up from right beside the turtle looking pokemon from the dirt at it's side and before it could even turn it's head an ear piercing SCREAM tore through the air! The torkaol gave some kind of yell itself of sharp pain through it's skull that was drowned out by the screech. Raihan gave a growl of pain himself both hands shooting to his own ears! "BITE!!!" Any more screaming from the torkoal was immediately cut off by fangs latching around his neck and with a swift yank the turtle pokemon was helplessly flipped onto its side. "BRING ME YOUR PREY!!"

Raihan could only see the silhouette of his torkoal through the slowly dissipating bright fog before in one swift movement it was yanked backwards back into the heavy smokescreen it had created earlier. His eyes widening to the size of plates as if the earth itself had just swallowed the both of them whole. "TORKOAL!!"

You stood there stunned as did everyone else who had witnessed the fast attacks A FREAKING SKUNTANK DID TO THAT POKEMON!! Then again...Piers had raised it well enough that thing could almost keep up with a scorbunny despite it's bulk and size. You weren't surprised it was fast and strong enough to pull a torkoal like that, but how did it sneak up on it?? It was too big to just crawl without Raihan being able to see it's shadow in the lit up fog even if it was near blinding. You all watched with baited breaths until a moment later barreling out of the slowly disappearing  smokescreen came the skuntanks running on all fours like a mini furry tank and dragging along the poor torkoal on it's side as it useless flailed. It ran straight towards Piers who pointed his hand towards the nearest boundary line and with a sharp turn you had seen it use on Gloria's scorbunny, it turned hard right and barreled towards it.

"TORKOAL YOUR BACK IS TOWARDS IT!! USE SOLAR BEAM TO HIT IT IN THE SIDE!!"

Piers with his hand still outstretched gave a flick of his wrist the skuntank did a twirl and SLAMMED the torkoal down onto the ground before it could even respond to Raihan's orders, before continuing to run towards the boundary line. What they- He didn't even give the pokemon an order! How was-...Did- Did Piers train it to respond a certain way to his hand motions? Either way the skuntank ran at full speed charging towards that line before stopping and releasing it's jaws. As a result the poor turtle went round and round head over shells from the speed and throw it received flipping around and around until it finally landed on it's stomach, body half laying across the line.

"Raihan's torkoal has been thrown out of bounds! Therefore the Mighty Piers is the winner of match one of Round Four!" The crowd roared regardless of the fight you had just witnessed and you sighed. Watching as Piers once again made a motion with his hand in the universal sign of 'Come here', and watching the skuntank paddle up to it's training. Rubbing his body against Piers's leg in the way a cat would and Raihan returned his poor pokemon. "Ok folks! What a quick start to thing's but now it's time for the second match! Get your pokemon ready!" Piers also returned his skuntank, not bothering to take his eyes off Raihan.

"I'm impressed! Again!" Raihan made a finger gun towards Piers. "Wasn't expecting you to take me down so fast like that! Really caught me off guard."

"Then don't bloody leave two feet of space below your fog for us to crawl sideways under! Can't light us up if the light doesn't even touch us!"

Smirking, Raihan held up another pokeball. "Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to work on that flaw."

"Ready!? Let the second match begin!!"

Up next was Piers's liepard against Raihan Goodra. You watched with wide eyes and baited breath as Pier's mostly directed the pokemon with single commands or hand gestures as the two pokemon battled it out. Ultimately ending with Raihan winning the second match, but it left you wondering. Most of the gym leaders and even Gloria had given their pokemon detailed attacks on what to do fully instructed meanwhile with Piers all he did was give simple commands and hand gestures that obviously by now the pokemon were trained to recognize and move accordingly too. But Piers pokemon also did things without him ordering them too. Piers hadn't ordered his skuntank to slam the torkoal on it's side the first time, and he certainly didn't order it to toss it out of bounds. Only to take it to the boundary line. Which means he deliberately allowed his pokemon the choice of doing so themselves, and they did it fully knowing Piers wouldn't make a big deal of it and frankly didn't care. Which meant two things. Either Piers didn't care what his pokemon did outside commanded moves or there was an incredible amount of trust between them to do that, and if the latter was true...Then that meant Piers was far more experienced than he lets on. But that didn't mean he wasn't having a hard time with Raihan. After all for all his cocky attitude, you had to admit he had his own unique way with his pokemon that showed his strength. And it showed in the next round as well when it was his turtonator verses Piers's malamar and completely destroyed Piers in the process. Past the third round now and so far it was Piers one Raihan two. Oh you hoped this didn't end up in another tie.

"The fourth match of Round Four is about to begin!," the announcer blared through the cheering crowds as both men readied their fourth pokeball. "Get your pokemon ready! Let the next match BEGIN!!"

In a flash of light and shadow from each of the two gym leaders the two sent out their fourth pokemon. Raihan presented his flygon and Piers a toxtricity. Raihan gave a smirk pointing to Piers. "GET READY CUZ HERE WE COME!!"

"I'm waiting to be impressed then!"

Raihan smirked at Piers's snarky remark before pointing towards the toxtricity. "Let the winds blow! STREAM FORWARD SANDSTORM!!" With a loud cry from the flying pokemon, a literal whirlwind suddenly appeared and enveloped it in a tornado of sand before the thing spread out and Piers was forced to push his hand up in front of his eyes to keep the sand from them- "BREAKING SWIPE!!" The toxtricity gave it's own yell of pain as all of a sudden the flygon as fast as lightning, DOVE towards it before doing a quick roll in air and with a sickening WHACK sound nailed the toxtricity in the head before continuing it's fast flight- "STEEL WING!!"

Piers raised a wrist as the flygon flew close to the ground, but still with some space for someone to duck, with it's wings lit up a bright silver color, headed right towards the toxtricity. The poison type stared at Piers who with his hand still raised bent it back with a yell. "VENOM DRENCH!" You all watched as fast as the flygon could fly the poison type formed a toxic ball of thick purple posion smoke into it's hands and when the flygon was close enough. BENT. BACKWARDS. Like how a rockstar would bend back doing those knee slides, the toxtricity bent backwards with it's hands throwing up and by the time the flygon realized the danger it was in. It was TOO LATE!! The toxic purple ball was thrown up and with a wet splat sound a water balloon would make, it smacked right into the flygon's face as it soar over the toxtricity. The pokemon gave a shriek of surprise and perhaps pain as it's flight faltered and slammed onto the ground. Rolling a few times before fully stopping with a finally thud.

"FLYGON GET UP-''

"GIVE IT A JAB OF YOUR PERSONAL POISON!!" With a sharp twist of it's body the toxtricity turned it's back towards the struggling Flygon who was shaking his face from being drenched in the purple goo from the venom drench, and a torrent of dark purple missiles projectized from his spines. And by the time the flygon turned towards it, it was once again too late. It gave a loud cry as the multiple projectiles slammed right into it and with a heavy thud it went down to the ground. And that's where it stayed.

"FLYGON IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE BATTLE WHICH MEANS FOURTH MATCH VICTORY GOES TO GYM LEADER PIERS!!" The crowd roared in cheers as both men returned their pokemon as the announcer still spoke. They were tied. Both winning two matches each. But the question was who would win and who would lose. "BOTH POWERFUL FORCES ARE TIED TO THE MAX!! WHO WILL REIGN SUPREME TO CHALLENGE THE CHAMPION!?" From high above in the VIP lounge you all looked on intently and excitedly to see who would win the tie. Raihan's trainers cheering their mentor's inevitable victory while Marnie held one hand firmly against the glass as she watched brother intently. You watched with wide eyes wondering who would win...but one look at Raihan told you all you needed to know. "IT'S TIME FOR THE FINAL MATCH OF ROUND FOUR!! THE VICTOR SHALL GO ON TO THE CHAMPION MATCH!! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS FOLKS!! IT'S TIME TO DYNAMAX!!"

Both men took out a final pokeball. Their final chance. Piers sent out his pokeball and in a puff of dark smoke appeared that giant badger-man looking pokemon out. The cold wind beating around him as he pointed. "Face the mighty high roar of my Obstagoon!" The pokemon roaring out from Piers's introduction of the dark type. "He'll tear through your steel like paper!"

Raihan laughed at his friend producing a pokeball himself in the cold wind. "You do realize I'm the great Raihan, right!? I'll be the one to beat Leon! So first I'll beat you and then I'll just walk away today as the new Champion!" With a single pokeball in one hand, red energy filled it to the point it suddenly surged to the size of a bowling ball in his hand. With a quick pose and smile, his rotomi phone quickly snapped a picture of the Dragon Tamer before be turned around and with a hard throw single handedly tossed the ball through the air. It soared through the cold winter sky before cracking open and out came the duraludon. The stadium, Piers, and his Obstagoon wobble from the sheer force of the roaring giant pokemon hitting the ground. Piers had to desperately cling to his mic stand just to stay standing but all would be lost with Raihan one and only command to end the battle. "MAX STEELSPIKE!!"

Blue eyes widened as the crashing of the titanium spikes shot up from the ground upon the leader's command. The ground cracking open as dirt flung high and the shiny steel reflected his terror as it struck. It a crash. Piers fell. Or more like flung back by the sheer force of the ground that shot up from under his feet. Blue eyes wide and body light, he flew a few yards into the cold air before landing down hard onto the frozen ground like a sack of brick. Crashing down with a thud and rolling a couple times before finally coming to rest on his stomach face down and unmoving. The Obstagoon suffering the same fate as it's owner flying through the air before smacking down WAY outside the boundary line. You all stood there in stunned silence as no one moved. Marnie's eyes widened to the size of plates. After a long moment of Piers being still on the screen he moved. A shaky hand slowly coming up and digging into the frozen grass of the field. Lose dirt and rubble fell from his body as he pushed himself from his stomach onto his back. Indicating he was alright. Marnie sighed in relief.

"PIERS'S OBSTAGOON HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT OF BOUNDS!! THEREFORE THE MIGHTY RAIHAN GOES VICTORIOUS AND IS ONCE AGAIN THE ONE TO BATTLE CHAMPION LEON!!" The announcer sounded and THE. CROWD. ROARED!! You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding and sighed in relief. Well that could've gone worse. After a moment, the duraludon gradually was returned to it's normal size and returned to Raihan. "THE FINAL BATTLE OF THE CHAMPION CUP IS COMING UP NEXT FOLKS!! WILL THE CHAMPION REMAIN UNBEATABLE OR WILL HIS LONG TIME RIVAL AND TOP GYM LEADER FINALLY CLAIM THE TITLE OF CHAMPION FOR HIMSELF!? STAY TUNED!! FOR NOW PLEASE CLEAR THE FIELD FOR FINAL REPAIRS!!"

With the triplets cheering for their mentor and you not noticing, Marnie slowly retracted herself from the wall and turned to the door. You didn't notice her leaving or the door closing behind her on her way to see her brother. In the meantime Raihan was racing his way across the field, going around craters in the dirt or jumping over larger pieces of rubble on his way over to Piers who had still not gotten up from his crash landing earlier. His mic stand right next to him.

"PIERS!?," he cried out half alarmed half worried as he raced over to the man. Soon dropping to his knees and blocking out any light above him. "Piers!" The rockstar was jolted into opening his eyes when Raihan's stronger grip grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Hey man! Are you alright!? You went flying higher than a kite!"

"AHH!! " Piers instantly bristled as a spike of pain shot up from his other arm. His arm was brought up to his chest as his good one clutched it. A scrunched up face of gritted teeth and closed eyes met the frozen Dragon Man as Piers's body slightly curled in instinct from the pain. "NO! I'M NOT BLOODY ALRIGHT!! I THINK I HURT MY ARM!!"

Raihan was frozen for only a moment before he nodded and reacted. "Hey! Don't worry man I got you!" Piers gave another groan of pain as his friend grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him to his feet. The pain in his arm worsening with the jostling. Was this how you felt when you had gotten that dislocated shoulder? His eyes opened to peer up through the falling snow towards the window again but he didn't get the chance to wonder what was going on before Raihan started rushing him forward. "Hey. It's ok buddy. C'mon! We'll get you to medical professionals stat!"

You watched as the two gym leaders disappeared and released a breath you didn't know you were holding. "Alright. The big moment's finally here, eh?" You blinked to Hop.

Gloria nodded. "Yeah. Who do you think's gonna win?"

"I came here just to cheer on Lee Y'know. But it's not easy picking sides for some. After all, it's the show down between my big brother and his rival who's also a fan favorite. Who should I really want to win more?''

"Hop. We all know you're cheering on Leon."

Hop chuckled caught red handed. "Yeah. I guess that much is obvious. If anyone can defeat the unbeatable Champion it'll be Raihan. He is the top gym leader after all."

You nodded in understanding. That was true you guessed. By what you just witnissed Raihan was a very strong and capable gym leader. But you STILL couldn't  understand why it wasn't Gloria who was going up against Leon- You thought process stopped when you felt a tugging on your pants leg, and when looking down discovered Allister was there and was holding his cup up to you again. Indicating he wanted more hot chocolate. With a sigh you graciously took it from him and decided to make him some more hot chocolate. Might as well have something to do while you wait. As the field was being repaired, the room was alive in excitement. All the kids happily chattering away pumped to see who would win. The Champion or The Top Gym leader. Both had titles deserving of their might but only one would walk away with a win. You were a bit busy making more refills of hot chocolate and a few more cups of ramen for the few kids who were still hungry. So you had your hands full playing babysitter and cook to all these guys who wanted the food. It wasn't too long a wait. The kids were sated with their full stomachs against the cold. The field was repaired. And possibly the loudest cheer you had ever heard the crowd made yet came roaring out as someone walked out onto the field. And you soon found out why.

"HEY! IT'S LEE!!" You looked up at Hop's cry and he beckoned for you to come to the window. You blinked and went over towards it again and peered down along with everyone else. And low and behold Leon was right there in the middle of the field. Standing arms crossed and smile on his face as the cold wind blew his cap and long purple hair around with the snow. Looks like you'll finally be able to see Leon after all.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND FOLKS OF ALL AGES!! I GIVE TO YOU THE GALAR REGION'S UNBEATABLE CHAMPION LEON!!" The crowd kept roaring at the announcement and you watched on. Here it was the final battle...But wait. Your face scrunched up in thought. Something wasn't making sense. Something was missing. You felt it in your gut. "THE FINAL BATTLE OF THIS YEAR'S CHAMPION CUP SHALL NOW COMMENCE!! WILL LEON REIGN SUPREME FOR ANOTHER SEASON OR WILL WE GO INTO THE NEW YEAR WITH A BRAND NEW CHAMPION!? THE FINAL MATCH WILL BE BETWEEN NONE OTHER THAN LEON HIMSELF AND ONCE AGAIN HIS LONG TIME RIVAL THE STRONGEST GYM LEADER IN GALAR!! PLEASE WELCOME GYM LEADER RAIHAN!!"

You still let your mind whirl with thoughts as Raihan made his debut out onto the field. Waving at fans and the rotomi phone floating around snapping pictures....And it was THEN you remembered eyes wide. Where was the big bad guy you were supposed to beat!? Every pokemon game had one and despite the mishap with Gloria losing, there was STILL the threat of the bad guy!! You remembered now! Before the player could battle Leon there was a bad guy you needed to defeat before earning the title of champion! But...you didn't remember who is was. Your hands shot to your head as you gritted your teeth and growled at yourself! Empty brain!! WHO WAS IT!? You had thought it was Piers at first being the leader of Team Yell and they had been causing trouble, but it wasn't then wh-.....Your eyes widened to the size of plates as you slowly turned your head back down to the field where Leon and Raihan was. ...Leon was here organizing this whole thing...But the Chairman wasn't.

".....Oh no!"

Raihan made his way back to the middle of the field without a care in the world. After all he had been here multiple times challenging Leon for the title in other Champion Cups. So he was used to this right now. The arm he had been waving going back to relax on his hip as he stopped in front of his long time rival with an amused smirk. Blue eyes meeting gold. "Waiting for me as always? Aw.~ You shouldn't have. If it makes this easier you can just leave and let me win."

The golden eyes smiled. "Hehe. As tempting as that is we both know I won't do that. I would say that I'm surprised you made it this far, but we've done this so many times it's practically a family tradition now."

Raihan lazily shrugged. "What can I say? I'm good at my job. But I will give you kudos for endorsing strong trainers. They actually gave me a challenge. By the way how is that trainer of yours? I heard you took her to the 'babysitter'."

Leon chuckled and shook his head. "Gloria's just fine. I'm proud my trainers was able to make it this far."

Raihan chuckled back before smirking. "Yeah. It was nice of you to give me a challenge. But now I think it's time for an even greater challenge don't you think?"

Leon inhaled taking a moment to shiver against the cold wind and snowflakes falling on him. "..The tense still air on the pitch and the exact opposite from the audience cheering and yelling. They're both fantastic wouldn't you say?"

"I hear ya." With a turn of his head, Raihan looked upwards towards the snow falling down and the sun setting down. In a few hours it will be the new year. Many people celebrating and watching them. "It can be easy to get distracted by it all."

"But remember the audience is also a bit cruel. They want nothing more than to see one of us lose after all. It can fill you with fear knowing that, but I absolutely love pushing past that fear! I love giving it everything I've got as a trainer and seeing my team give everything they've got to seize another victory." Raihan slowly looked from the sky and back towards Leon who smiled. "It's the greatest feeling in the world and I can't get enough of it! I can feel my partners itching with anticipation inside their pokeballs! We're going to have a real Champion Time this year!"

"...Hmph. Always had a way with words Lee. No wonder you can get a crowd going with just a speech. But I've got to let you know." he pointed finger guns at him. "I've got three kids who look up to me personally, and I promised to make them proud by finally beating you today. And let me tell you." Leon watched as those Gree-blue eyes turned slightly up towards the windows where he knew they must've been watching. "I never let my fans down. So as you're rival, you'll have to excuse me for taking that title from you."

Leon chuckled. "You can try but you're also forgetting something. I'm the Galar Region's Champion Leon! Me and Charizard and the rest of our team will use all our knowledge and experience to crush you completely, Raihan."

"Heh. I guess we'll just have to see who can out dazzle the other then." He winked. "After all how am I supposed to tease Piers if I can't make him jealous over winning that babysitter gal?~"

Leon blinked. "Oh. How is he anyways? I saw you practically carrying him off the field. The fall he took was pretty brutal."

Raihan paused for a moment blinking before sighing and shaking his head. "He seemed alright but he thinks he might've busted his arm. Took off with his little sister to the Wyndon Hospital."

Leon hummed looking a little concerned. "That's for the best. When I'm done here I'll go see if he's alright."

"You and me both. But I think for now we have another matter to settle."

Leon nodded. "The show must go on. Let's make sure to make Piers proud by putting on a good show for everyone."

"THE CHAMPION MATCH SHALL NOW BEGIN!! BATTLERS PLEASE GET TO YOUR PLACES AND READY YOUR POKEMON!!"

The two turned and began walking to their places once getting there the two most powerful trainers in Galar turning to face one another. Pokeballs in hands and the cold wind whipping the snowflakes around them both in some kind of flurry, waiting for the cue from the announcer to start the match. But that's not what they had gotten. Instead what happened was that the ground shook, which wouldn't have been too shocking considering this was a stadium made to withstand dynamaxing pokemon. But that wasn't the cause of the rubble. The ground shook like an earthquake on a sugar rush for a few but long feeling seconds, during that time both men on the field wobbled around arms flailing for balance before the earth collapsed in the middle of the field and a stream of blood red poured out of the frozen earth and into the dark sky above. Lighting the sky like some sick firework. Horror riddled across both men's faces as they stood there, as loose dirt and gravel was spewed their way from it. The harsh red light reflected in their shocked gold and blue eyes. And then among the red lights screams of panic began to scream out from the masses and the monitor turned on with a familiar face and voice.

"Hello there Leon and Raihan." Both men turned to the monitor hands over their eyes to sheild from the harsh light and just barely making out the face of none other than the Chairman hacking into the giant screen. "Just letting you know I think it's time I brought about the Darkest Day. For the sake of Galar's future of course. But I'm in a bit of a pickle. The energy released by the Darkest Day is too much for me to contain. I'm sorry it's come to this. But it's you who forced my hand Leon. You refused to listen." And then the monitor cut out-

There was a high pitched scream as soon as the red light burst out of the ground making the whole place shake and on instinct you reached out and snatched the nearest screaming child into your arms in a protective hold. Allister whimpered and locked onto you as you pulled his scared form to you. Wide eyed you stared as the red light took up everything around the field and the two men fleeing from the field as a result. You didn't notice, but Hop and the twins did. As a result the three of them fled from the room, slamming the door behind them as everyone else was too busy panicking or watching the red light in horror. AND. YOU. REMEMBERED!! During the game's final battle between the player and Leon it would be interrupted by Chairman Rose in a crazy plan to 'help' everyone by releasing the ancient evil pokemon Eternatus that would bring destruction to all! But the player and Hop manages to team up with the two dog-like legendary pokemon to combat it at Hammerlocke Stadium where the Chairman's power plant was after receiving the ancient shield and sword from Postwick!! THAT'S WHAT YOU'VE BEEN FORGETTING THIS ENTIRE TIME!! Which meant that-...Your head snapped around you at the remaining children who were there. The triplets were huddled together, Elsa had her little brothers hanging onto her looking horrified, Bede and Felix could only look on in horror at what they were seeing, and Allister clung onto you scared out of his mind. But Gloria, Hop, and Victor were GONE!! AND SO WAS MARNIE!! WHERE DID THOSE FOUR GO!? ....Oh NO- Your head whipped to the door and with Allister in your arms you RAN to the door, throwing it open to meet the sight of many, MANY league staff running up and down the halls and in and out of the many rooms around them. But no signs of any of those four missing children.

"HOP!? GLORIA!?", you yelled desperately snapping your head either way as the dread and sinking feeling in your gut sank into realization. Your arms reaching to cradle the whimpering boy in your arms. No...NO! NONONONONONO!!! THIS COULDN'T BE HAPPENING NOW! "VICTOR!! MARNIE!!"

It was no use...They were gone. On their way back to Postwick in order to get the ancient sword and shield of the fallen heroes from the Slumbering Wield then off to where ever the Chairman was. ....YOU HAD TO GO AFTER THEM!! GAME PLAY BE DARNED THEY WERE JUST KIDS!! YOU HAD TO LEAVE AND HELP THEM!! And you would've....if something hadn't held you back. The whimper in your arms snapped you back in reality..and you slowly turned back into the room. All the children were still in there terrified and crying out from the shock as the sounds of panic set in. You couldn't leave these children here alone!! With one missing and three taking off to danger was bad to see, but you couldn't just leave all the others here by themselves!! Especially since Allister refused to not let go....Which a panicked whirled mind you made a choice. You stepped back in. And closed the door. Choosing to turn around and try to calm down the frightened children...Heh. Easier said than done. With Allister refusing to let go of you, you somehow managed to herd Elsa away from the window view and sit with her brothers on the couch. Two of which were crying while another kept asking where their mother and big brother were. Poor baby. You wished you could answer his question. Once or twice one of them would try to leave but you dragged them back and told them they had to stay unless they be swept up in the chaos. You tried not to look out the windows to see hundreds of people panicking, and screaming instead ordering everyone and pulling a couple to come sit down away from the windows as well and sit on the couch. Bouncing Allister in your other hand trying to keep him calm at the same time of calming down the others. You didn't blame them for panicking and being scared, but you weren't going to just let a bunch of young kids wonder around by themselves and get swept up in the chaos. You knew where the other three were heading and by some suspicion you felt that Marnie was somewhere safe. You didn't want anyone else panicking anymore than they should've with everyone sitting on the couch you took a head count of everyone and by some Miracle everyone except for the 4 missing teenagers were accounted for. But the next few hours weren't easy. Everything blurred as the skies grew dark and the MORE and MORE anxious you became. Practically sweating buckets by the time the sky had gone completely dark. You were worried scared! Pacing back and forth in front of the door as lots of people still shouted and ran around on the outside while you bounced Allister who clung to you and assured all the other kids it would be alright. Until you almost dropped Allister when the door all of a sudden behind you open. You yelped and jumped forward, giving a yell before turning around-....And breathed a sigh of absolute relief when none other was Ms. Opal stood there. The old woman didn't look the least bit bothered as she slowly walked into the room and calmly looked around, spotting Bede's shocked expression at seeing her.

"I came for that behavioral report."

You stared at her blank faced and numb for a moment before shaking your head. "I- He's fine!" You gestured a hand. "Bede's fine! But I need to ask a favor of you." The older woman rose a brow as you, as much as you hated to, started prying Allister from you. "There's some friends of mine who might get really hurt! If I don't go after them they're going to get in big trouble! PLEASE! Will you please take care of these guys until everyone comes back? I know I shouldn't ask but-"

The older woman held up a hand. "I am more than capable to handle these children."....Well that was pretty fast. And for some reason you believed she could if she can handle Bede. She held out her hands for Allister who was whimper at you prying him away. "Hand over the boy. You've handled the roles of ours long enough."

You sighed and nodded. "Thank you. Thank you so much." You finished untangling Allister from yourself before handing him over to Opal who easily took him into her arms. "Silver!" With a chirp the shiny pokemon came running over and in an instant you swept him up into your arms and made a beeline for the door. "THANK YOU AGAIN!!" You called over your shoulder to the older woman who nodded at you're retreating form.

With Silver in your arms you RAN through the building to the elevator practically spamming the down button as people ran around you Silver under one arm until with a ding the doors closed and down you went. Your heart pumping and lungs heaving with anticipation. The hotel. You HAD to get back to the hotel. As soon as the doors opened back up you RAN past all the people especially the ones giving you looks and out the lobby and stadium doors you went. With how crowded and noisy it was outside you would've thought the world was ending. And it might thanks to that airhead Chairman! WHAT ON EARTH WAS HE THINKING!? ...Ok. You get it was the gameplay. BUT WHAT WAS HE THINKING!? You ran directly into the crowds with silver under one arm and SHOVED your way through the crowds and through the streets. You didn't care how long it took you HAD to get to that hotel!! By some miracle your brain tuned out the noises and feeling of bodies pressing against you as you swam through the crowds, and made your way through. Despite it being dark you managed to remember your way through the crowds and someone made it to the less crowdy streets where you were free to run the rest of the way through the night and towards the giant fancy hotel. You didn't stop. Even when you barged into the fancy gold lobby and startled the hotel staff. You ran straight to the elevator, hoped into it, and spammed your floor's button until the doors closed. You waited with baited breath as you went up..Until with a ding the doors opened and you flew in. The first room you checked on instinct for some reason was the room you remembered Piers and Marnie had. When checking the doorknob it was locked so you pounded on the door only to receive no answer. Which meant Marnie must've not been there. You didn't have time to dwell on that before flying to the guys' room and throwing the door open. No signs of Hop or Victor. In fact their things were gone too and the only thing left behind that they were there at all was the unmade bed. Leaving that behind, you raced to the room you shared with Gloria and threw that open as well. The same thing. Unmade bed and Gloria's things were gone indicating they had left. But your pack still laid where you left it that morning. Without hesitation you ran to it and grabbed the pack, throwing it over your shoulders as you ran back out. Good thing you packed everything away already. You HAD to get to Postwick!! Spamming the elevator back down to the ground floor, you ran up to the front desk startling the man behind it and DEMANDED to know where the train out of Wyndon was. As luck for have it, it was just a little bit past the square and near the stadium. You didn't hesitate to run back out and into the cold weather outside. Snowflakes and wind still falling from the storm clouds above. If you were lucky they might still be there having missed the afternoon train and be waiting for the night train instead. Lungs burning from the cold and tiredness you felt but your determination pushed you on until you got to the train station back through the big crowds. You were sweating, breathing heavily and Silver looked ready to pass out from the sheer stress of it all. You must've looked a shocking sight to the station master who blinked as you stumbled up to the booth he was in breathing heavily and reaching a hand out to grab the wall.

"P-PLEASE!! *GASP* When's....*wheeeeeeze* T-the next *gaaaaassp* T-TRAIN!?", you forced yourself to talk between gasps of air into your overworked lungs.

The man blinked before sputtering, "I-I- Not until morning, Miss. The night train's left almost two hours ago now."

THAT wouldn't stop you. Right then and there, you put Silver down, and reached into your pocket. Pulling out some of the last remaining money you had, you slapped it down on the counter heavily breathing still. "G-Give...*GASP* ticket-...F-For next....*gasp* one!"

The conductor did end up giving you a train ticket for the next one just a few hours away and you did NOT sleep a wink that night. Holding Silver in your arms as you sat there worried out of your mind as he fell asleep in your arms for hours, not being able to bring yourself to sleep. HOW COULD YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THIS!? YOU REMEMBERED THE REST OF THE GAME! WHY DIDN'T YOU REMEMBER THIS BEFORE IT HAPPENED!? ..Didn't matter right now. You HAD to catch up with them. But..where was Marnie?! She wasn't with the others! You shook your head. Can't think of it now, focus on the kids you knew for a fake where they were. Hours passed and FINALLY at around six in the morning the first train of the day came in and you didn't hesitate. Rushing up despite the tired feeling in your bones jostling Silver from his slumber. You shoved your ticket into the slot on the gate ways and made your way through the open doors. Going to the nearest seat and just plopping yourself down. As if it would take off as soon as you did. And after about fifthteen more minutes the doors closed and off you went towards Postwick. Days passed as you traveled more and more by train. Resuming your routine of BARELY sleeping on the seats during the nights and just sitting, watching, worrying out the window. The same thoughts circling over and over and OVER again in your head. How could have forgotten? The one thing you should've known and you forgotten...You HAD to make sure they were ok. The silence of the train combined with your lonesome....Had it always been this quiet? Usually by now if you were with one of them Hop would go on a speech about amazing history facts or Victor would be telling you something related to his hobbies. Heck. At one point you could've sworn Gloria would be right there with a bright smile and shoving her phone in your face to watch something she found cool...You would take anything over the silence. You always had silence at home if your mother wasn't nagging you and you had come to like the silence more than her voice, but now....You would take them having a petty fight over the still silence. Your only saving grace was Silver who when he wasn't laying on the table or seat would dig in your pack for food and shove something for you to eat into your hands with a demanding chirp and would screech if you didn't eat it then and there in front of him. He may have been a pain, but at least he was your pain. You weren't sure exactly how much time had flown past since you had left Wyndon, days were blurring together, but you did notice the city turned into farmland a long time into this trip. ....That must've meant you were getting close right? Everytime you stopped and it wasn't Wedgeherst you mumbled curses under your breath and praying for the train to just GO already until it finally did. One night you just couldn't sleep. Letting your head touch the cold glass of the window, about to nod off before jolting back awake and repeating the cycle until-

"ZZZTT. Attention Passengers!," the conductor announced over the speakers to anyone left on board. "We'll be arriving at Wedgeherst Station within ten minutes. That is all."

You IMMEDIATELY STOOD WIDE AWAKE!! WEDGEHERST!! THAT WAS IT!! You once again jolted Silver awake when you abruptly grabbed him up into your arms with your pack and stood with a determined face. This was it! Maybe you'd catch them here! And how did you know it was Wedgehurst? Well the familiar town and the farm houses with flocks of wooloo the shepherds were herding in the fields as you all went past gave it away before you arrived around six in the morning at the train station. Flying off the train like a rapidash on a sugar rush! You burst into the familiar woodened stadium panting ...and looking around. Everything looked the same from the wooden floors to the man at the booth who blinked towards you rushing in.

"Attention Passengers! The morning train leaving Wedgehurst Station will depart in fifthteen minutes! Please exit or enter the train within that time. That's all!"

Fifthteen minutes. YOU ONLY HAD FIFTHTEEN MINUTES TO GET BACK ONTO THAT TRAIN AND GET TO HAMMERLOCKE BEFORE IT LEFT YOU STRANDED!! Rushing to think your head shot to the man in the booth and he jolted when you dashed up to him panting and clearly distressed!! He would know surely if a trio of teenagers got onto the train sometime before you. You stared at him hard before speaking.

"HEY! Excuse me!," you yelled despite him being right there making him blink more. Considering how small this town was and how this guy had a job here he must've been local! Which meant he would surely know who Leon's family was being semi celebs here, "I need to know if three kids ever got on this train here recently! One was a guy with purple hair! It's an emergency!"

the man didn't respond for a moment, only blinking. Before he rose a brow. "I-...Well yes recently there was a couple kids who got on."

"How long ago!?"

"I-...I d-don't know! A day..maybe a day and a half ago??"

One or two days! So you weren't that far behind them! Reaching back into your pocket, you slapped whatever money you had left on that booth. "I need a ticket for the morning train RIGHT N O W!!"

The man scared by your yelling, did indeed give you your ticket. Without looking back, you immediately used it to board back onto the train to ride it back to Hammerlocke. You weren't far behind them then! That was good! Bad news though you were still behind! Which meant you had to catch up as fast as you could! Feeling more determined, you steeled your worries to the side and pushed on. This time sleeping and eating better to keep up your strength as the train went along. Paying attention to every stop and announcement the conductor made, checking to make sure it was the right stop. OH!! WHEN YOU GOT YOUR HANDS ON THAT ROSE GUY HE WAS IN BIG BIG TROUBLE!!! The train continued on and on and your worry grew less, your angry growing in it's place. THATGUY WAS SO DEAD MEAT!! The train carried you on and on. Day after day. Night after night. Until one fateful morning when you again couldn't manage to sleep-

"Attention Passengers! The morning train will be arriving at Hammerlocke Station in ten mintues! That's all!"

HAMMERLOCKE!! THIS WAS IT!! YOUR STOP!! Standing up you immediately began walking your way over to the doors and stood there as the train rattled on. Eventually slowing to a stop coming near the city. Slowly the train came to a stop and the doors open to the cold air and the dark morning greeted you. No light to be found yet are you immediately ran out of the train and into Hammerlocke's familiar stadium. Running past you noticed the small curry place in the corner you recognized and knew! You were in Hammerlocke alright! But no one was here! Most likely because the place had been evacuated like in the game when the player arrived, only to find Raihan there-...And like in game you would also find him. Stepping out of the pokemon center, you turned in the night and booked it down the castle looking street up towards the deserted gym where you would know they would head. And you heard...Yelling? The closing you got you heard it louder. And then you saw it. DRAGON BOY!! Raihan was there! And his arms was a flailing boy no older than fourteen as the man tried to hold him back. IT WAS VICTOR!! The boy was yelling like a mad man. Tears in his light brown eyes and reaching and kicking out desperately towards the gym.

"NO!! NOOOO!!!! LET ME GO!! MY BABY SISTER'S STILL IN THERE!!," He wailed as water trickled from his eyes. "SHE'S GONNA GET HURT!! LET ME G O!!!"

"C'mon kid!," Raihan tried reasoning back trying to drag his flailing form towards the nearest entrance. "You can't go in there! It's too dangerous!"

Breathing heavily, you raced right towards them. "VICTOR!!!"

Your voice echoed all around the otherwise deserted pace as your feet slapped against the pavement heading right towards the two guys who seemed shocked to see you of all people there. Victor sniffing. "....Y-Y/n?''

Raihan nearly fell over as you harshly shoved him with one hand out of the way and GRIPPED Victor by the shoulders. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" You asked him as Silver caught up to you. "YOU HAD ME SCARED TO DEATH RUNNING ALL OVER THE PLACE AFTER YOU ALL!!" You looked around again...before back to the still crying boy. "....WHERE'S HOP AND GLORIA!?"

"They ran on ahead into the stadium." You snapped your head to Raihan who for once seemed as concerned and worried as you gesturing to Victor. "I tried to stop them...Honest I did. But I was only able to catch one of the the troublemakers!"

You felt your stomach drop. "WHAT!?"

"The city was evacuated when Leon got here. I'm supposed to be in there helping him but them these guys side blinded me when they rushed in! It's not safe for them here!"

That means the others were in there with- Victor blinked as you shed your back pack and SHOVED it into his hands, he blinked more as you grabbed his shoulders. "Victor. LISTEN. TO. ME!! I need you to get out of here and stay there! DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME!" You stated firmly when he opened his mouth. "I PROMISE you I'll make sure they'll come back ok! I did it for you when we traveled together, and I'll make sure it happens now. But you gotta go. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Still crying his eyes out, he nodded and you quickly patted his shoulders, "Good. Wait for Leon or someone else outside the city. I'll be back I promise. SILVER!! You STAY with him and protect him alright!" Silver gave some kind of noise before faster than Raihan could comprehend, you turned and started running away from them all.

He blinked. "H-HEY! WAIT A MINUTE!! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS TO GO IN THERE!" And he ran after your form.

You didn't stop. You already knew the way anyways! The player would go into the stadium and take that fancy elevator down into the powerplant, fight the Chairman, and then take another lift to the very top of the roof where they would find Leon and battle Eternatus! So that's EXACTLY where you went. Right into the stadium, around the corner and right up to that fancy lift. Practically spamming the down button on the thing until it dinged and the doors opened.

"HEY, SASSY!! WAIT UP A MINUTE!!" You ignored Raihan as you immediately stepped into the elevator, unfortunately he was able to catch up fast enough to jump into the lift as well just before the doors closed and with a ding noise the two of you descended. He breathed a bit shivering from the cold outside before looking around the lift...before to you're angry face staring at the doors. "H-Hey. What's up with you bursting in like this? How'd you even manage to get into Hammerlocke in the first place?!"

"I took the train!," you answered truthfully, "Guess you forgot to shut down the entrance from the station." He blinked surprised. "Look! Those kids are in trouble and you sure as heck aren't stopping me from helping them! Where's Leon?"

He held up his hands. "Hey. Take it easy there." He pointed a finger up. "He's flew in a little while ago while we were evacuating but I don't know what's been going on up there."

"You'll see soon enough."

He didn't know what that meant, and you didn't answer anymore only looking ahead as you continued down. Until another Ding noise rang out and the doors opened. You didn't even wait for him immediately running out and down the metal platform. A giant opening to the right was where you would find where the player would battle the Chairman. AND FROZE!! Almost tripping over your own feet and falling onto your face as someone came around the corner and Raihan caught up to you. You both watched wide eyed as none other than the Chairman himself casually walked around the corner like it was just another day at the office, straightening his tie! But paused seeing the both of you there. For a moment all three of you stared at one another before a sigh came from the older man who shook his head.

"I see that I'm seeing a lot of familiar faces today."

....You scowled and pointed at him walking forward. "WHERE'S HOP AND GLORIA!? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THEM!?"

Mr. Rose simply turned his head to the other elevator at the end of the hall. "I'm afraid you just missed them. You see they are on their way up to see dear Leon. Unfortunately I'm afraid they're lacking. If they couldn't get to the end of the tournament what hope would they have to help Leon?" YOUR. RAGE. B O I L E D. "Yes. I'm afraid we're all doomed."

He looked back to you. You were already walking for him when you asked where the two went, but he hadn't expected was when two smaller but strong hands GRABBED the front of his suit jacket, and with surprising strength, SLAMMED the man two the side against the wall. Which made a metal thud when he got slammed against his back, one arm forcibly laying itself across his chest to make sure he couldn't move. His light green eyes stared down at you wide eyed as did Raihan. Both men stared at you as you snarled like a beast teeth clenched.

"Listen here you stupid old man," you growled through your teeth, lowly, threatening in a way the Chairman was NOT used to seeing since he absolutely froze under your grip. "This is all YOUR fault! How dumb were you to see that this wouldn't save Galar!? That monster you unleashed will kill everyone in it's path and you decided to release it anways!?" You snapped. "IF ANY OF THOSE KIDS ARE HURT WHEN I GET UP THERE I SWEAR NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO I WILL FIND YOU AND MAKE YOU W I S H THAT ETERNATUS HAD FOUND YOU BEFORE I DID!!"

With a last shove to him, you turned and RAN down the hallway and to the elevator. Spamming the button open and hopping in. Pushing the up button for dear life until the doors closed and with a ding you started upwards. Both men stood there stunned for a long moment before the Chairman looked over at the sound of footsteps and looked over to Raihan ABSOLUTELY ANGRY at him despite the calm look he held.

"....I could threaten you more for destroying my gym, but I think her words work well enough for me."

You breathed heavily, panting in fear as the elevator took you up and up and up towards the roof. Until with another ding noise sounded and you ran out. Turning and following the red stairs up...And what you were met with stopped you in your tracks. Wind blew all around you like crazy. The roof completely destroyed. Purple storm and lightning all around you as pieces of the roof whirled. And in front of you was a battle. A battle between four pokemon and two kids all fighting a GIANT SKELETON WORM THING!! Two of the four pokemon in front of the kids dog like...And you stared. THE BATTLE AGAINST THE BIG BAD ENEMY!! This was it and you recognized those pokemon! The legendary ones from the game cases depending if you bought Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield. They must've been in the final stages of this battle! In the game the player and Hop battled with those two in order to capture Eternatus and then eventually win after Leon couldn't-.....LEON!? Your head whipped to the side and your eyes widened in shock at what you say. Leon's proud Charizard, hurt and knocked out laying on the ground and the Champion himself not looking too hot. Looking as if he was standing with a limp, covered in bruises and scraps and seemed to be holding his hand as he stared on horrified at what was taking place before him. CLANK!! You gave a yell and jumped away as a metal piece of the once roof finally broke lose from the wind and slammed onto the ground right next to you. THAT WAS CLOSE!! Just a few more inches and it would've completely crushed your legs! Raihan was right! This place was too dangerous for anyone to be here! ...Your head snapped up and around towards Leon, as a heavy looking piece of  roof came right for his hurt form. And your eyes widened....YOU. RAN!! Right for him arms out and one goal in mind.

"LEON LOOK OUT!!"

Leon barely had time to turn his head to you before a force suddenly hit his chest strong enough to knock him out of the pathway of the falling roof piece. But replacing you with it. With no time to dodge out of the way from impact as the thing slammed into you. Pain exploding.

....And then everything went black.

[terrific-togekiss]

What if Pokémon Legends went on to other Regions?

This has been a topic of the Pokémon fandom for awhile. With the announcement of Pokémon Legends: Arceus not too long ago, many fans are anticipating and speculating the future of this ambitious side series.

Being able to not only witness, learn and partake in the legends that shape both the regions and Legendary Pokémon, leaves much room for creativity.

This is all merely speculation.

Here's my take for how any future Pokémon Legends games could play out.

Pokémon Legends: Mew

Set about roughly 20 years before the events of Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow, the elusive Mew makes an appearance in the Kanto Region.

This prompts many scientists to want to study and catch the original Pokémon, foreshadowing the creation of Mewtwo and the Ditto.

You, the player, are taken under the wing of a much younger Professor Oak, with the Gen 1 Gym Leaders also showing up to lend a hand.

As the plot focuses on you tracking down Mew before various criminals and an older Team Rocket, try to for their own nefarious purposes. Helping Professor Oak invent the Pokédex and with his research.

Gene splicing and gene testing on Pokémon grew after the War LT. Surge fought in, with an older Team Rocket using it to their advantage.

This Team Rocket being a much bigger criminal organization, before the player took them down and a smaller one appeared in Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow.

A younger Giovanni is also present, as the player gets to know the man that would go on to lead present day Team Rocket. He's a friend to the player... for now, giving some insight on who he was beforehand and show how he took over the criminal organization, setting up the events Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow.

Mew's appearance in the Kanto region, inspires him to the point of illegal gene testing on Pokémon.

As a nod to Pokémon first debuting in 1996, the game takes on a more of a late 60s to mid 70s aesthetic, so it feels like the player is shaping the legends that set up Gen 1 of Pokémon.

Plus Kanto in the Legends artstyle would be mindblowing. And take inspiration from 60s to 70s Japan.

In addition, to avoid looking too similar to Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Being more of a modern era Japan region, than a Meiji period Japan inspired region. While following in said game's footsteps, by focusing on the secondary legendary than the main one (Mewtwo).

The starters would be Chikorita (Gen 1 is about Nature vs Technology), Torchic (Peace and War aesthetic) and Popplio (60s to 70s definitely saw a rise in many famous and popular musicians).

Pokémon Legends: Celebi

Ever wonder the origins of the Legendary Beasts: Raikou, Suicine and Entei?

What they were before they were killed in Brass Tower revived by Ho-Oh? How Ho-Oh came down and choose them, saving their lives? The sea Lugia stays in the deep for? The early days of Johto? The ruins of Alpha in the past? The early days of the Kimino Girls?

Well now you, the player, do now! ...sort of. As the title of the game implies, the player meets and befriends Celebi and gets to see many of these events via time travel.

Not only would this include a huge mechanic separate from other Legends games, but it would be the most unique in how it could be approached. As Nintendo is no stranger to time travel games (e.g. Majora's Mask) that impact both the plot and gameplay.

Time travel tends to create stories that are very confusing or very heartwrenching. Or both. But I have no doubt it would be the latter.

It also leaves room for many side quests.

Starters would be Bulbasaur (Time is all about growth), Scorbunny (Bunny Rabbits are not only a common symbol in the older days of Japan, but of Spring much like Ho-Oh) and Froakie (ninjas were more prevalent during this time period, as they slowly faded out).

Pokémon Legends: Jirachi

1000 years before the events of Pokémon Emerald, (Omega) Ruby and (Alpha) Sapphire, chaos raged across the ancient Hoenn Region, between two legendary Pokémon: Groudon and Kyogre. The Draconid people hope and pray for the arrival of Rayquaza to save the Hoenn Region itself.

This is where the player steps in: in order for all this chaos to end, the wishes of the people must be heard. And the only Pokémon capable of that is Jirachi.

The player would go around helping wishes be granted, traveling and training Pokémon along the way.

An ancestor of Zinnia also makes an appearance as a friend and rival of the player.

To maintain the wishes and stars aesthetic, Deoxys also makes an appearance with its origin being explored. Being able to explore space itself, meeting Pokémon said to have an "alien" origin, like Elgyem and Beheeyem.

Latios and Latias can also be caught, flying on them just like in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

The meteor that would hit the future Sootopolis is what awakened Groudon and Kyogre, said Meteor containing Deoxys. Setting up the game's plot.

Since it's roughly 1000 years before the Gen 3 Pokémon games, Hoenn resembles and takes inspiration from Japan during the Heian period.

The starters would be Turtwig (Theme of continents being at stake), Chimchar (Japanese and Chinese relations) and Totodile (sea monster symbolism, which is often associated with crocodiles and related animals).

Pokémon Legends: The Dragon

Two Princes, of Galar origin, known as the "Twin Heroes" share the power of an unimaginable Legendary Dragon. Bringing Truth and Ideals to the people of Unova. They live and lead from Relic Castle.

You, the player, are a friend of the princes and over the course of the game, your alliance with them changes. Struggling to choose between Truth or Ideals. Serving as a major story mechanic.

A feud and disagreement between the Princes happen, with the player being caught in the middle and to try to quell the anger of the Dragon.

In addition to finally seeing Reshiram and Zekrom before they split, Victini is also present with the Swords of Justice Pokémon (Cobalion, Virizion, and Terrakion), the Forces of Nature (Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus) and even Meloetta tries to raise people's spirits.

Team Plasma's origins are alluded to, with the army of the Princes baring an odd resemblance to the future evil team.

The game has more of a wild western aesthetic since Unova is based on New York. Think late 18th century America. With horseback riding on Pokémon like Zebstrika and Rapidash, bandits and criminals that try to steal your Pokémon and being able to explore Unova in its entirety.

Or perhaps roaring 20s to 30s America. If that setting sounds more vibrant and close to the Unova of Gen 5. This is all still speculation.

You even get to ride Keldeo in a later part of the game.

The starters would be Chespin (Chesnaught is based on a Glyptodon; fossils were found in South America), Litten (Wrestling is popular in New York) and Mudkip (mudpuppies are found in Lake Michigan).

Pokémon Legends: Diancie

Set after the Kalos War, you the player are caught in the middle of it going off to fight with your Pokémon. Hoping to make a difference as the Professor (ancestor of Professor Sycamore) takes you under his wing. And hoping to help the war turned world that is Kalos.

Yveltal and Xernas have both gone into slumber, with Zygarde needing to be restored to at least 50% (player can go to 100%), so the world of Kalos can be healed from this war.

The main game focuses on Diancie: since Diancie is the Pokémon of diamonds, the war has forced soldiers and leaders to exhaust the many resources of the Kalos region. Particularly precious stones and diamonds.

The player befriends Diancie later in the game as the two work together to bring an end the greedy hearts of those involved.

The game resembles France during the 100 Years War, with the player character even having armor as part of their attire. Due to Kalos being based off of France, roughly Middle Ages or Medieval France in this game's case.

AZ also makes a few appearances in the game, racked with grief over firing the Ultimate Weapon, mostly keeping to himself over the game's plot.

As a new gameplay mechanic, the player can befriend other trainers to amass armies to overcome many challenges, like beating other armies and crossing obstacles.

Volcanion and Hoopa are also present in the game and can be caught.

The origins of Mega Evolutions are expanded on, with the player getting their hands on some Mega Stones. Due to the energy of the Ultimate Weapon.

The starters would be Snivy (said Pokémon is based on French nobility), Piplup (Empoleon is based off of Emperors and can be a nod to Napoleon) and Charmander (Charizard is based off of European Dragons).

Pokémon Legends: Marshadow

Set in the ancient Aloha region, when Tribes followed the Tapu Pokémon, you the player find yourself stranded in this intriguing region.

Ultra space wormholes begin opening across the region and its up to the player to figure out why and how to stop them. Even being able to traverse the Ultra Megalopolis in its entirety.

Necrozma is up to it and the player must learn why. With Marshadow playing a bigger role, since most of its origin is shrouded in mystery, so this would be a great opportunity to explore those origins.

Along with the origins of the Z-Crystals.

The game has more of an ancient Polynesian world, seeing as how Aloha is based of Hawaii. Being able to sail to smaller islands and even catch Pokémon while doing so.

The starters would be Grookey (drums are a popular musical instrument in the tropics), Sobble (chameleons are native to Hawaii) and Tepig (pigs have been brought to Polynesian Islands in the past).

Pokémon Legends: Zarude

3000 years, before the events of Pokémon Sword and Shield, a black storm covers the very region itself. This black storm causes Pokémon to randomly Dynamax and Gigantamax. Many live in fear of what the next day brings, as hope of a better day seems like only a naive dream.

The player joins with many Pokémon researchers (some being ancestors of familiar faces in Pokémon Sword and Shield), in order to track down the source of this chaos.

Zarude comes in as he helps providing with resources from various forests, so less Pokémon and people are harmed. Or worse.

The player believes tracking down Zarude, will lead them to stopping this madness (Eternatus).

The game looks much like 13th to 14th century Britain, in much of the fashion of characters and even dealing with the equivalent of a plague. Ironically enough.

The starters are Treecko (Forest theme and light in the dark theme in contrast to the Darkest Days), Fenniken (Magicians are a common Middle Ages motif) and Squirtle (Cannons were first invented in Europe, around this time period).

[bainhardt]

#RibbonQuest2.0 - Part 3: Master Ball Rank or Bust

It’s kind of poetic, in a way. My very first meeting with Jin, and the beginning of our travels together, was commemorated with the chucking of a Master Ball - a guaranteed capture. It’s a one-of-a-kind ball typically reserved only for one-of-a-kind Pokemon (like Jin). When it comes to capturing Pokemon, the Master Ball stands above the rest as the symbol of infallibility, the promise of success overcoming any and all odds.

Well, we’re gonna need to channel that spirit in our latest challenge, because our success is anything but guaranteed: we have to take on the Master Ball rank in online rated battles for Pokemon Sword and Shield! Among our countless trials and triumphs spanning generations, Jin and I have never actually battled online against other real players. The World Ability Ribbon back in Platinum would’ve been our first foray, but the DS Wi-Fi connection had long been shut down in the time before our quest began.

Keeping with the theme of RibbonQuest2.0, this comes as an unexpected surprise. Jin, like all transfer Pokemon, is ineligible for rated battles; the standardized rules only permit Pokemon born and raised in the gen 8 games. Back when our time in Galar first started, I had never even planned on mentioning the Master Rank Ribbon, simply because we weren’t allowed to try and earn it!

But all of that changed with the release of the Isle of Armor DLC and patch version 1.2. By accepting the reset of your Pokemon’s move pool to only moves compliant with its gen 8 iteration, you’re allowed to mark your transfer Pokemon eligible for rated battles online! The icing on the cake is that Jin’s XD-exclusive purification move, Baton Pass (which I bent over backwards to keep even through all the Pokemon Contests), is now a TR which Farfetch’d can learn anytime. All’s well that ends well, I suppose.

It’s like getting your hand stamped at a concert, but with a side of forced amnesia.

With that, preparations were complete. There was nothing left to do but hop to it and get battling! The Master Ball Rank doesn’t earn itself, and if I’ve learned anything from our past, I think that means we’re going to need some help...

However, in the interest of cutting down on superfluous Ribbon Gang members like (sorry to single you out) Speedrun the Talonflame, I’ll only be honoring the final 5 actual contenders accompanying Jin when the ribbon is earned. Numerous grueling battles will be fought on the path to Master Ball tier and those stories will be lost to time, for only the best of the best deserve to call themselves part of Ribbon Gang 2.0.

I got boxfuls of second-stringers here, for real.

When first beginning in earnest with the July season, I mainly played Double battles, my preferred format for fun. I had a couple different teams, but never climbed any higher than Great Ball. Some teams of note included:

self-proc Weakness Policy Stamina Mudsdale with Skill Link support and Psych Up Stored Power follow up

Entrainment Plus Dedenne alongside special attackers with spread moves (coined the “fuck redirects” team)

a strange combo Sandstorm and Round team that was kind of an excuse to see if Refrigerate Aurorus could amount to anything

I was too committed to gimmicks, and at this time still hoped to reach the necessary heights using something built for fun at its core. I convinced myself that whenever I got around to really trying, it’d come together easily enough. In the past I’d do anything and everything to increase my chances of success, and I needed to return to this mentality moving forward.

After burn out from facing VGC competitive teams, several months of distraction with other games, and the arrival of 2021, I changed gears to test out Singles beginning in March. Despite having essentially zero experience with the format, I drafted two main teams during my Singles stint:

a Focus Energy Baton Pass team designed so every other Pokemon is then guaranteed crits with every attack

a Shedinja team with Pokemon like Ditto and Zoroark designed to help determine whether Shedinja can survive the opponents

Still sounds gimmicky, I know. I can’t help it. But a funny thing happened as I continued to chip away at this challenge: the Focus Pass crit team actually kind of... worked. Once you’re critting every attack, you start to notice just how many game mechanics critical hits outright invalidate. Intimidate? Your negative offensive stages are ignored. Bulk stacking opponents? Their positive defensive stages are ignored. Grimmsnarl and Lapras walling you out? Screens don’t apply against crits (although a Shell Armor Lapras did shut me down quite handily once). Honestly, the boosted damage almost feels like an afterthought.

Every team I played required considerable reworking as I’d progress, honing in on specific threats often encountered and dropping low-participation Pokemon who weren’t pulling their weight. There was even a rule set which allowed the use of extremely powerful Legendary Pokemon for a time (a very bad time). But all digression aside, allow me to introduce the team that would eventually carry me higher than ever, swiftly through Ultra Ball tier and directly into Master Ball. They are the new and final members of Ribbon Gang 2.0.

The ones on the left, I mean. This box is just more second-stringers.

First is Gepigop the Togekiss, sporting Super Luck as a core member of the original crit team. Spamming STAB Life Orb boosted Max Airstream is the Singles meta, after all. And he’s from my Y version, same as Speedrun!

Second is PkmnConquest the Kartana, probably the most consistent and useful member I picked up along the way. Give it a Scope Lens and it’ll BEAST BOOST its way to easy sweeps - just pray your opponent isn’t hiding any Fire types in the back...

It goes it goes it goes it goes it goes it goes it goes it goes Guillotine... the Weavile at number three. YUH. She was included as a direct response to the unending hordes of Cinderace and Zapdos I faced. Focus Sash and Counter helped her turn around so many unfavorable matchups, I can’t recommend it enough!

Bringing up fourth is 8008 8008 the Rhyperior. Need an idea of how broken Dynamax Zapdos’ bulk is? Rhyperior is the only Pokemon I found who can one shot it from full HP without needing to Dynamax in return... and even then, only using Rock Wrecker. Seriously.

In our final slot is AZKi the Espeon, because Hololive kept me company through many of my battle sessions, lol. After one too many Focus Passes were blocked by Taunt, I put an end to it with Magic Bounce. You remember that scene in The Incredibles where Syndrome’s robots were revised as they faced off against more and more heroes? She’s basically that.

By the time I was barely breaking into Ultra Ball tier, I found much greater success if I didn’t try to force the crit gimmick every time, but still had it if I wanted it on AZKi, the fourth in the succession of Focus Passers. Yes, after months spent honing my skills in battle, I finally learned that just bringing three Pokemon that can beat your opponent’s is the simplest way to a win. Incredible, I know. And win we did!

The final needed victory in Master Ball tier was secured by PkmnConquest, Guillotine, and 8008 8008, a trio I found myself locking in very frequently.

It’s... it’s beautiful.

With this Master Ball ribbon attached to my Master Ball Farfetch’d, we’ve finally brought our lengthy Galarian story to its conclusion. Having managed to snag this online-exclusive ribbon before these games lost popularity or network support, Jin is once again a tried and true Ribbon Master, and I’ve no unfinished business to worry about any longer.

Until it is time to take up your sword once more,

Rest easy, Jin.

POKEMON SWSH: COMPLETE!

[dishabanerjee]

STILL GOTTA CATCH ‘EM ALL: Pokémon 25

I want to be the very best,

Like no one ever was.

To catch them is my real test,

To train them is my cause!

The opening lines of a theme song that's still stuck in our brains. A fictional multiverse from our childhood that we even now connect is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the franchise release. The franchise is non-other than Pocket Monsters or better known as Pokémon.

Started by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori, the roots of the franchise came from a gaming magazine known as Game Freak in the early 1980s. At that time, the arcade scene wasn't doing well, and so Pokémon made its debut in Japan's Game Boy as well as Nintendo, the largest known electronics and video game Company in early 1996. Pocket Monsters: Red and Green the very first Pokémon game was a basic Japanese role-playing game that became the baseline for games that were released over time. Pokémon released a number of core games that not only changed the gaming experience but also introduced us to new and profound Pokémon characters from every generation. Pokémon: Sword & Shield (Gen 8) has recently been released, with a total of about 900 Pokémon’s filling up Pokédex from every region. Along with core games, there are a few side and spin-off games they've been a resounding hit.

Pokémon world is not just about video games but has developed over the years to such an extent that it has become a social and media phenomenon. A very successful and long-running anime with more than 1000 episodes was released because of its video game success in 1997. The anime had its own spin-offs, such as Pokémon Chronicles, Pikachu's Vacations, Pokémon Origins, and more. Outside the TV, there were 24 animated movies that were filmed parallel to the original series. The protagonist of the series, a 10-year-old boy named Ash Ketchum, and his partner, Pikachu, are working on a quest to become a Pokémon Master. So he's working his way up the ranks in the Pokémon Leagues across different regions. Starting from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Karlos, Alola and now his journey continues to Galar now.

In the year 2019, even a live-action Detective Pikachu was released, which also bought a decent success for the franchise. Outside the franchise Pokémon is referred to a number of TV shows like The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory to video games like Civilization V, Grand Theft Auto V, and even Minecraft.

Outside the screens, it even boasts a long-running trading card game and seemingly endless numbers of toys and other merchandise. Pokémon theme parks or Poképarks have also been constructed in Japan and Taiwan. It's hard to find someone who hasn't at least heard of the franchise in some form.

In 2016, the franchise launched a new mobile game for both Android and IOS known as Pokémon GO. It soon became the biggest mobile game in the history of the world with more than millions active daily users. Unlike the video games of Game Boy and Nintendo, players need to go outside and roam around to capture Pokémon and fight with multiple players and gym leaders. The game's theme held true to its origins, but new spins were introduced. In essence, Pokémon Go called out both young and old’s inner Ash Ketchum.

The most remarkable thing about the Pokémon world is that it's really as large as ever, even today, 25 years since the series started. The unbridled popularity of this role-playing game series has remained high, arguably without a single mistake, even after 2 decades. When it started, Pokémon knew exactly what it wanted to be, and since then it has only gotten bigger, better, and more adventurous while staying true to the cornerstone laid 25 years prior. Celebrating the silver jubilee this year, the franchise promises that 2021 will be a Poke-filled year for the fans. With new and exciting experience coming on the way it only states that the Pokémon series will continue to entertain and inspire for generations to come who will want to catch ‘em all.

[fantasyresident]

Pokemon Sword and Shield Plot *THEORY*

After researching the folklore of the UK, the region Galar is based on, I discovered that giants/titans were a big part of the legends of particularly Britain. These stories point to giants being the first inhabitants of the region , making them a cultural legend of the region. This explains why gigantamaxing has become such a big deal in the Galar region. 

But the theory part comes in now. After reading 2 parts of the Wiseman Leak of Sword and Shield (the part about Marnie stopping gigantamaxing and Eternatus using gigantamaxing to destroy all of humanity and technology), I came to a possible conclusion for how the story might unfold using these 2 story elements. I find Marnie being against gigantamaxing quite believable, especially considering she’s never even seen gigantamaxing her special Pokemon Morpeko, or any other Pokemon of her’s. This indicates that she may very well be against it like the leak suggested. I feel like this puts her at odds with not only Eternatus like stated in the leak, but either Zamazenta or Zacian as well. 

It seems like Zamazenta and Zacian are clashing over something, and that “something” may be regarding the gigantamaxing. Zamazenta, being the shield, will likely fight on humanity’s side, being their “shield.” Zacian on the other hand may support the will of Eternatus, wanting to wipe out all of humanity and technology, representing the “sword” of Eternatus. Whether if this is true or not is yet to be determined, but we do know for certain that they are at odds over something, much like most legendary duos. If we continue going off of the Wiseman Leak info, I also predict that many people in the Galar region (especially Chairman Rose, Oleana, Bede, and possible Leon) will abuse the gigantamaxing power that Eternatus gave to Pokemon to strike back at humanity. It would be ironic that a power meant to destroy humanity ends up being abused by them in an effort to make Pokemon battling the most competitive its been, a form of sports-like entertainment for the Galar region. I assume Chairman Rose is in charge of delivering this entertainment and will do anything to keep the spotlight on him. 

Team Yell may very well not even be villains of this story, just foils supporting Marnie on her quest to defeat Eternatus and save not only humanity, but Pokemon being forced to Gigantamax as well. That doesn’t sound like bad people to me. Just foils meant to get in your way, but for possibly a very good reason. The player is guilty of using Gigantamaxing as well, but I have a feeling these games will make the point that this new system of battling can be just as good as it can be evil and it will likely still remain a part of Galar’s culture. If any of you have any other theories for how this story may unfold, feel free to share! (Just be respectful!)

[regalia-solvieg]

crunch

The snow crunched under her boot as Jocelyn stepped outside. She was both leading, and leaning against a large Rapidash Stallion. It was snowing slightly, and she could see both her, and the stallion’s breath puff out in little clouds as they exited the stables. 

She stopped for a moment and looked around. The city about her was vastly different than any she had ever encountered. Old houses were build nearly on top of each other in crammed rows. Many were dilapidated. Light could be seen flickering out of the holes in the worn out shudders that probably did little to keep out the cold. The cobblestone road beneath her feet was old and uneven. 

Jocelyn sucked in a sharp breath against  the pain that wracked her body. How long had it been since she had been out? Too long. She started forward, but a large shadow stepped out in front of her and blocked her path. She reached down and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and looked up... but relaxed when she saw the shadowy figure reveal itself as a large Obstagoon. 

“And where do you think your going?“ A high pitched, almost effeminate voice echoed out from behind her in a thick, northern accent that was almost hard for her to understand.

She sighed, and turned around as a man followed her out of the stables. He was shockingly tall - even taller than herself, and had layered black and white hair that covered half his face, and ran down his back in a dual-coloured braid. He wore a loose-fitting layered white shirt, over tight-fitting pants that were tucked into knee-high boots. He had an air of flamboyance around him that Jocelyn had never seen before. 

“Alasdair.“ Jocelyn sighed out his name, as if she was disappointed to see him.

Alasdair - the Lord of Spikemuth - Lord of Darkness. He was one of the Northern Galar Lords who’s family was disposed by the late King Ulric during the end of the last Civil War. Jocelyn had never spoken to him before she came here to seek his aid. She had little idea what to expect from the North.

Seventeen years ago, King Ulric had defeated the Northern Lord they called ‘King’ in a bloody battle. He overpowered the North, and then spent the next seventeen years fighting to keep the North under his control. He executed or banished many Northern Lords and their families. He cut resources going to the North to keep them weakened. He did everything in his power to force Zamazenta on them, when the North was known to worship Zacian. 

As the late King Ulric’s sworn soldier... she had no idea what to expect when coming here - half dead, and wracked with deep wounds. Even still... she had no idea what to expect when she came to him to ask for his aid. Whatever she had expected though... was not this.

Spikemuth looked like a poor Duchy from the outside. Its houses were old, dilapidated, and so crammed together that they looked like they were built upon each other.... but the people who lived in those houses were strong and unified. And, since the subjugation of the North, Spikemuth had only grown stronger under the leadership of the new Lord Alasdair. He took in those who had lost their homes and together they rebuilt their lives. Spikemuth was perfect to harbor those who had grudges against the Government. It was isolated and off the beaten path. They could gather here without anyone ever knowing - and had been doing so for seventeen long years. 

And as an injured Late King’s Knight... that could have instantly spelt out death for her... and would nearly have done if it was not for one thing. Her one bartering chip.

Prince Youta. 

Alasdair smacked her hand away from the reins of her mount with a ‘tut tut’ and seized them for himself, “You are in no condition to ride, missy.” 

Jocelyn bit her bottom lip for a moment, “I thank you for your hospitality, but I have stayed too long.” She reached for her reins back, “There is still so much to do.” “For the Prince.“ Alasdair added in an off-the-cuff way. 

Jocelyn paused, and turned to look at the Dark-Type Lord, “Can I count on your aid?” 

Alasdair frowned. He released the reins with a sigh and stepped back. For a moment he aid nothing... but then he crossed his arms with a playful grin, “While I don’t disbelieve your word on the Prince - I shall meet with him myself, and judge him as I see him.” He reached up to twirl a lock of his hair between his fingers, “Even I have heard the rumors, my dear. And if is like you say, then I shall want to meet with Lord Aldebrand’s heir.”

Jocelyn opened her mouth to respond, but Alasdair cut her off, “And, Lord Aldebrand’s heir or not - he was still raised by that tyrant. So I will not give my aid freely.” He turned away from her and shrugged, “Should I find him worthy - you have my word that my army shall ride to Hammerlocke.” He looked over his shoulder with a sinister gaze, “Though shall I find him not - Lord Aldebrand’s kin or not - I will slay him.” 

And with that, Alesdair turned and strutted back into the stables without another word. Jocelyn watched him go with a tired look, and bit her bottom lip. This was a gamble - but it was a gamble they couldn’t afford to lose. 

The Obstagoon moved aside, and she quickly mounted her Rapidash, and with a firm kick, he broke into a quick gallop.

They needed the Lords support to overthrow Bryce.

They needed an Army if they were going to go to war against Motostoke.