#my partner kept asking me where sobble was

[letmelookatyouagain]

I drew another thing.

Some of the colours are wrong, but I'm working with my limited supplies, so they'll do.

I love drawing these guys; they're fun.

One day, I might be able to draw without a reference image, but for now, I'm just happy I can actually put pencil to paper and it doesn't look a complete mess.

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Love Doesn’t Do Encores Ch4 The First Battle

You were alseep. Deeply fast asleep. Which is why when something violently shook you awake you snorted and sort of panicked sitting up as whoever was still shaking you kept going. For a moment you were back home. Back with your mother shaking you violently awake to get ready for school so you got up before she could scold you- but those conclusions were dashed out the window when the normal sight of Gloria came into your view. Your sobble had been spooked with a squeal and clambered onto the back of the couch in front from the rude awakening Gloria gave you both.

"Y/N!! WAKE UP!! Today's the big day!," she shouted in your ear which made you wake fully and blink at her.

"Gloria??....Wha-"

"Leon's supervising my first pokemon battle today! C'mon!! You don't want to miss it do you!?"

...OH! Right. The memories of last night came flooding back to you as you yawned and stretched out your body tiredly. So you were still here. Food smells wafted in from the kitchen and you were encouraged to get up more from that alone.

"Gloria!" The teen stopped and looked up towards the kitchen where the voice came from. You guessed Gloria's Mum must've been cooking breakfast for the two of you. "Now don't you go shaking her around like a ragdoll. If you want to do something, come in here and feed Munchy and your new pokemon. They're making a racket in here begging to be fed."

Gloria blinked. "Oh! Right!" Before running off towards the kitchen and it gave you time to wake up. Tiredly, you gathered your old bag and clothes and shuffled towards the bathroom. Sprucing yourself up and coming out in the clothes Gloria's mother had given you previously much more awake, but now with the added weight of the pokeball in your overalls' pocket. Must've been for your Sobble. Once you got back to sit back to the coach and sat down a plate of two pancakes covered in syurp and Gloria already eating a plate of the same thing was waiting for you. At her feet was your sobble and her scorbunny already eating more of that kibble stuff from their bowls. She waved a fork at you as you sat back down. "Hey! Mum left you breakfast. She wanted us to eat before we left anyways."

"Oh. That was nice of her." You smiled as you took the food from the small coffee table. "Where is she now?"

She pointed over her shoulder towards a door. "In the back garden with Munchlax. She wanted to finish planting some more lettace and try to see if she could catch the Bedew that likes to hang out around there."

Your mind went back to the bedew you saw when you first left Gloria's house and wondered if they were the same one for a moment. As you ate Gloria and the pokemon finished long before you did and by the time you did finish, the three were ready to go. And you guessed you were too considering you had a feeling Gloria was going to drag you along with her whether you like it or not. And she did. Rushing you out of the house and down the steps towards the road towards Hop's home again. And guess who was already waiting for you two outside. Hop seemed excited to see Gloria again and waved hi to her and Leon seemed Surprised but happy to see you too with her, but greeted you none the less when you approuched.

"Hey Glory! Y/n! What a nice surprise seeing you too."

"Uh, thanks! Good morning," You replied watching as the two teens and their pokemon chatted a bit.

"And I see your new friend is settling in nicely," he replied pointing to your shoulder where the tiny sobble chittered at him.

"Oh!" You hadn't even noticed he had climbed on you before the two of you left the house. But nodded. "Yeah. He seems to be well behaved thanks."

He nodded. "Well it's nice to you see you two getting along well." He turned back to the two children in front of him next and they instantly perked up as he placed his hands on his hips and gave a 'im going to win this' smile. "Now then. Down to business. You spent the whole night with that new partner of yours, right, Hop? You two getting on all right? Understanding one another? Maybe even built up a bit of love?"

"Course I have, Lee!," Hop confirmed proudly, "Gloria's made fast friends with her scorbunny, too!"

"Naturally I would!"

"Then listen up, new Trainers! Believe in yourself and your pokemon! If you trust in one another and carry on battling side by side long enough, then someday you might even become worthy rivals for me, the undefeatable Champion!" His bright gold eyes turned to Gloria looking her over for a moment and Hop caught on quick.

"What're you looking at her for, Lee?," Hop asked raising a brow, "I'm the one who'll be coming to challenge you!" But a soon reaization came over him before he snapped a challenging smile to Gloria. "If you think Gloria might be able to challenge you, then I guess she's my first rival!" Gloria blinked in surprise at her friend. "But I'm not planning to lose to her and miss out on my chance to beat the unbeatable champion!"

"NO WAY!! SO I DO GET A RIVAL BEFORE MY JOURNEY TOO!! SWEET!!" She cheered with an equally challenging smile before pointing at Hop. "But don't get your head too big yet Hoppy. You may have more pokemon but that doesn't mean I can't catch up to you!" Scorbunny let out a squeak agreeing with it's master.

"Heh. Just having a pokemon with you doesn't make you a real trainer, you know. Proper trainers raise their pokemon up to be First-rate in battle, too!"

"Oh, and you think you're worthy of calling yourself a 'proper trainer' already, Hop?," Leon hummed and Hop froze under his older brother's smile, losing that challenging smile he had earlier. "Guess I'll be the judge of that. Let's see how you handle a battle against your friend, if she's up for it." He turned back to Gloria. "What do you say? Willing and ready to take Hop on in the first ever Pokemon battle of your life?"

"HECK YEAH I AM!!" Gloria confirmed loudly and holding her fists high.

"So am I! Don't think I'll back cuz you're a 'pretty girl'!"

"HA! The only thing that Im pretty at is pretty good at kicking your butt!!"

"Then it's settled!" Leon pointed to the battle area a few yards away from them. "Everyone to the field! Believe in your partner pokemon! And care for them, too, with all your heart! Do those two things and I'm certain you'll learn to chose the moves that suit your pokemon. And most importantly...to have a champion time battling with them!'' The two kids, with Hop getting his challenging spirit back took off towards the trainer area and you couldn't help but chuckle and Leon turned back to you. "Oh hey, Y/N. Did you want to try and battle too? Might come in handy with that Sobble of yours."

You waved a hand. "Nah. I'd much rather just watch. That's what Im here to do anyways, besides I think those two don't need me stealing their thunder today."

Leon smiled and chuckled. "Alright. But the offer still stands if you change your mind." He turned cape waving behind him, "In the mean time I better be the ref for those two. You might want to stand back by the grill as you watch in case of any misfires with their pokemon. This is they're first battle after all."

"Noted."

You walked back towards the grill and watched as Leon made his way over to the two already stationed there with the scorbunny and grookey and also watching as the Champion went right over and stopped midway between them. "RIGHT! Looks like everyone's on board, pokemon and trainers alike? Then's let's do this!" His hands went back to his hips.

"I've watched every match that Lee's ever had! I've read every book and magazine he left behind at home, too!," Hop bragged challengly at Gloria doing his famous stance that looked very similar to Raihan's but had both his fists up, "I know exactly what to do in order to win!"

"Heh! We'll see about that!"

"This will be a one on one battle!'' Leon shouted. "The first one to make their opponent faint or knocked out of bounds wins! Let's begin you two!"

Scorbunny hopped flames at it's feet in challenge waiting for the grookey to- Hop pumped a fist at Gloria. "A pokemon battle it is, then! I've got two partners with me!" The same hand pulled back and tossed a pokeball to the arena to your surprise. "LET'S WIN WOOLOO!!" In a flash of light the sheep pokemon appeared before you all and baaed in challenge towards the scorbunny. You guess he wasn't starting with his Grookey like you thought.

"By now your pokemon should only know one or two moves at best being starter pokemon before your journies! So let's see how creative you two can be!" Leon pointed up. "BATTLE BEGIN!!''

You couldn't keep your eyes off them as you sat down nearly tripping over one of the green chairs before sitting down in one.

"SCORBUNNY!! USE GROWL TO PULL THE WOOL OVER THEIR EYES!!," Gloria yelled and pointed at their target as soon as those words left Leon's mouth. With lightning speed the scorbunny obeyed the command given to it and with a loud squeak it sent the move out in a flash of white and loud echo making Hop and his wooloo flinch from the sudden attack. He must've not expected the first move of Gloria's to be that quick you thought.

But he recovered quick with a scowl, pointing back. "WOOLOO USE TACKLE ON THE ENEMY!!" With a baa towards Scorbunny the wooloo curled into a ball and-

"REV YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND AND COUNTER THAT WITH TACKLE TOO USING YOUR FEET TO HIT IT!!," Gloria demanded in the middle of the command from Hop. And the scorbunny made a scowl and some kind of squeaky growl. You watched wide eyed as it stamped it's feet on the ground as fast as it could causing flames to rise from it. Leon hummed and rose a brow surprised and both you and Hop could only watch wide eyed as it generated enough flames by stomping to completely cover it's feet so when it squealed a battle cry and charged, it's feet were completely covered in flames.

"WOOLOO WAIT!! DODGE IT INSTEAD!!", he desperately shouted but by then it was too late to stop the on coming attack. With a squeal Scorbunny jumped at the very last second and used the force of the tackle to counter the force from it's opponents- Flames instantly engulfed the wooloo's wool as it was knocked back a few feet onto it's legs. ...Well it seemed to notice the flames on itself real quick. It baaed loudly in panic and began to run itself in a fennzy back and forth with the flames on itself. Hop seeming to panic too seeing the flames on his poor friend. All the while Leon watching calmly. "WOOLO-"

"SCORBUNNY USE GROWL AGAIN!! INTIMIDATE YOUR FOE!!" Another loud squeal noise came from the fire pokemon which only seemed to put the wooloo in an even crazier frenzy.

Hop gritted his teeth scowling and growl. "Rrrr!! Wooloo!! Stop, drop, and use tackle on them to put out the flames!!" Despite being in a panicked frenzy, you had to give credit when the baaing pokemon rolled instelf into a ball and finally managed to deliver a successful hit to his opponent. But because of it's defense being lowered by two growls, all it did to the Scorbunny was harmlessly knock it back a few feet unharmed. But it did sucessfully put out any flames on the wooloo's wool leaving only teeny tiny black markings where they once were calming it down. "That was a cheap trick, Glory!"

Gloria flipped her hair in victory. "What was so cheap about it? We came up with a unique way to use the fire generated from Scorbunny's feet to our advantage! The lesser the moves, the more creative you have to get-"

"WOOLOO TACKLE!!" Scorbunny squeaked in surprised and was actually sent head over heels a few feet away from a finally full on attack from the wooloo. Hop taking the moment in Gloria's talking to make a move. And though surprised at first she also scowled back at Hop's smiling face. "What? You said it yourself. The lesser the moves, the more creative you have to get."

"Tch. Yeah well jokes on you cuz Scorbunny knows a third move!!" She pointed. "SCORBUNNY USE EMBER!!"

"YOU CAN ALREADY USE THAT?!" Hop looked wide eyed and scared as the scorbunny took a breath and released it-...only for a puff of smoke to fall out and Gloria froze jaw dropped......."USE TACKLE!!" Scorbunny squeaked again as it was again hit with the brunt of another spinning wooloo and Hop chuckled. "Don't you remember that a beginner's pokemon only learns that move after a lot of practice?"

"RRR!! Good thing Leon got us the best starter pokemon then, because Scorbunny does know how to use Ember! He just needs practice- AH!!" She flinched as her pokemon as tackled for a third time, hop smiling and ordering one last tackle! but with fire in her own eyes she pointed at the wooloo! "EMBER AGAIN!! GIVE IT YOUR STRENGTH THIS TIME!!" The scorbunny sucked in enough breath to bloat out it's chest and cheeks. Holding it in as the wooloo approuched, before releasing a bright orange-red blur from the inside of it's mouth and hit the wooloo straight on! It let out a loud 'BAA!!' as it as engulfed by smoke left behind from the attack and Hop reached a hand out towards his companion with a worried look.

"WOOLOO!!" As the smoke cleared he saw the wooloo laid upon the ground. Spirals for it's eyes as it lay unconcious on the concrete battle area. And Leon held up a hand. "UH!?"

"Scorbunny and Gloria win the first match!," he smiled over Gloria's way. "Nice job you two. Gotta say, that trick you did with the flames and tackle took me off guard for your first battle. And perfecting Ember too? Not bad."

Gloria stood proud hand on her hips and Scorbunny mimicked her pose. "Well I got the idea from your move with Charizard! You once made charizard to a flip in mid air and light a flame to one of your opponents unexpectedly using the flames from it's tail! I simply just used the same method in a slightly different way."

Even you were a little impressed at that the fast, even though Hop claimed to use Leon's battling ways for fighting, it was in fact Gloria who'd end up beating him....Well you knew this would happen. the player usually won against both Hop's wooloo and other pokemon in their first battle in this game. And since Gloria was the living persona of her alternate game self, it came as no surprise she would win the first round. But who knows? Maybe Hop would have better luck this next round. But you still felt a little sorry for him, watching as he held his pokeball out as wooloo returned inside.

Hop gave it a sad look for a moment before closing his eyes and seeming to collect himself before he inhaled and smiled again. Steeling Gloria with another look. "Nice job! But it's not over yet! I've added another trusty ally to my team! GET IN THERE GROOKEY!!" Hop pointed and you were surprised when Leon didn't stop the two from having a second match, but from his calm smile towards his little brother you guessed he wanted to give Hop another chance. Not that you minded either. So far the story was progressing just how it did in game with Gloria(or Victor) battling Hop a second time and if the game goes as correctly as you remembered, minus a few minor differences. If you remembered right, and hopefully so, she should win. "Time to see what opposite pokemon types can do!"

"You're on! Use growl again-"

"Grookey jump over them and use scratch!" Hop ordered and you all watched as the grass pokemon dodged the growl attack by completely jumping over it and with a fast swipe of it's hand, delivered a hard scratch across the scorbunny's face! The poor fire type squealed out from surprise and the pain from the scratch across it's face and you cringed. Having had an outside cat, you knew that it felt to leave scratches on you.

"EMBER!!", Gloria countered and using the advantage that the grookey was within close range from jumping at them, Scorbunny managed to shoot out a ball of orange-red energy from it's mouth and hit the poor grass type directly head on. Grookey chittered in pain and rolled head over heels backwards away from the firetype, but by some miracle managed to land back up onto it's feet giving a scowl. But noticable black marks were left from it's opponents attack.

Hop seemed a little impresses tho. "Did you already know about type advantages?!"

"EMBER!!" That's all it took. another fast inhale and shoot of fire towards the grookey and in a puff of smoke, it was over. The grookey gave a loud chitter as the force collided with it and sent it skidding along the pavement and past Hop who followed it with his head.

"GROOKEY!!" The pokemon stopped half way between you and where Hop was, spiraled eyed landing on it's stomach in the same state Wooloo was it.

"Grookey is unable to battle and out of bounds!" With a flutter of his cape Leon pointed to Gloria and Scorbunny standing tall and determined. "Gloria wins the match!"

You smiled and clapped your hands for Gloria who squealed in delight and ran towards her scorbunny. The pokemon chittering as the girl brough him up into her hands and twirled him around! "OMG!! YOU WERE SO TOTALLY AMAZING AND COOL!! YOU TOTALLY GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO BE CHAMPION POKEMON!!" She turned towards you and waved. "Y/N! DID YOU SEE THAT!? I WON MY FIRST TWO MATCHES!!"

You gave her a thumbs up and smile. "Great job! I knew you could do it!"

Hop had returned the down grookey to his pokeball before reaching a hand to his head and looking at Gloria. "You beat my two pokemon with your one?! You and that scorbunny are too much!" he slumped down and frowned. "Well that was a shock. Guess I know now why Lee thought he should give you a pokemon, too."

"Hop." Gloria came walking over and reached out to grab his shoulder making the boy look back up at her in surprise when she smiled at him. "You shouldn't feel bad. This was just our first battle after all and you still managed to get some good hits on us." The Scorbunny held in Gloria's other arm squeaked in agreement at Hop who blinked. "If you're going to be my rival, then as your rival and best friend it's my job to make sure you grow strong together with me. I'm not going to leave you hanging like that. Ok?"

Hop stared at her a moment before looking away with a small pink hue to his cheeks nodding and you rose a brow at it. Wait a second. Was Hop...being shy? You didn't really have a chance to answer before Leon interrupted the two smiling.

"You and your pokemon all fought hard," he nodded towards them complimenting them, "Made me almost want to let out Charizard and join in on all the fun! Good effort out there, Scorbunny!" Gloria smiled as the pokemon in her arms chittered in approval. "Why don't I get you all sorted?" Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a small candy like object and handed it to Gloria. "Here. Have him eat this. It should help the aching muscles from the battle. And, Gloria, you've got real promise!" Gloria stopped and blinked up at Leon in the middle of handing her pokemon the small candy. To which the scorbunny grabbed it from her and popped it into his mouth. "In fact, I've got a favor to ask you. Be a real rival to Hop, would you?" Both teens seemed to be surprised he would say that, but with memory coming back, you smiled and nodded. Knowing this would happen. "Push him, and make both of you stronger!"

...Gloria smiled. "Trust me. I'm WAY ahead of you."

"I already want to get stronger and stronger!," Hop pleaded quickly catching his brother's attention, "You've seen me battle now, Lee, so come on! You've gotta let me take on the Pokemon Gyms!"

"You? Join the Gym Challenge?," he asked arms crossed and brow raised tho the smile remained, "You think you're ready for the single greatest competition in the Galar Region? Not putting the cat before the Rapidash there, Little Brother?" Hop paused for a moment. "If that's what you really want to do, you two have a whole lot you need to learn about pokemon." He turned to Gloria for a moment. "Especially your friend, Gloria. Before you think about getting Gym Badges, Best to think about getting a Pokedex. A trainer's pokedex helps them learn lots of things about all the pokemon out there, including their strenghs." Leon explained to the two children. "But it's more than just a collection of data, you know. It's a record of a trainer's love and passion for pokemon training."

"Right, Right. We get it.," Hop waved a hand, "Pokedexes then! We're on it! Looks like it's off to the Pokemon Research Lab for you and me, Gloria!"

Leon smiled and nodded at his brother. "That's the kind of enthusiasm a trainer needs! I'll let the professor know to expect you."

"I'm going to be the next Champion, so completeing a simple pokedex will be nothing! Just another page in the tale of my legend!" Hop turned to Gloria for a moment. "You'd probably go tell your mum that we're heading out, though."

A shocked face suddenly came over her. "....OMG!! I forgot to tell her I even left for our battle!!" She looked over at you. "Y/n! I gotta go run over and tell Mum where I we are before she worries! Meet us there ok!" You opened your mouth to speak- She snapped back to Hop. "Go tell your mum and then meet me in front of my house, k!?" Hop quickly nodded and you watched as both children turned and skidaddled off. Hop towards his home and a door slamming indicating he rushed inside and Gloria rushing off down the path towards her own house. Leaving you standing there next to Leon.

After a few seconds he chuckled, and shook his head turning to you who blinked up at him. "Well, it looks like the both of us are stuck meeting those two at the research lab. Since we're heading the same way how's about you be my traveling buddy for a bit. I doubt I these two would be happy if I suddenly go missing in the middle of them receiving their first pokedex." He gestured a hand behind him towards the road.

The professor- OH RIGHT!! After the player managed to defeat Hop in both battles the player then would get a pokedex from the Professor and the Professor's granddaughter! Although you couldn't exactly remember her name. You guess it'd be the best thing to do considering the kids would be heading there anyways after they told their parents, so you nodded smiling and he smiled back.

"Great!" He nodded towards the road. "It's the building with the purple roof by the train station. I haven't seen Sonia yet since I arrived here anyways, so she should be surprised to see me too!"

SONIA!! Of course! That was her name! The granddaughter of the town's professor was Sonia! You wracked your brain as he turned and you followed him. You felt like you were forgetting something, but you couldn't put your finger on it even as the two of you went walking down the road and towards the hill towards the train station you first met him at. By the time you two were half way down the hill you had shrugged it off and continued to walk with him towards the train station. Must've have been that important if you forgot anyways. Probably just a random battle or gameplay thing. You could already see the research lab right next to someone's assumed home and you smiled. Well, in this town it must've been convienyet to just have everything within walking distance.

"So, how do you know Sonia?,'' you asked to keep up conversation as you two walked over the bridge leading to the train station.

He was happy to answer. "Oh me and her go way back. Actually she was my rival when I first started my journey to become the Champion I am today. I think you'll like her actually. She's really smart and a great cook to boot! Not to shame my mom's cooking, but if I had to chose between her's and Sonia's dishes, I think I'd have to go with Sonia's." He chuckled smiling widely and reaching a hand up to rub the back of his neck.

You chuckled along as you both turned right at the train station and kept walking towards the research lab. Walking past you heard and noticed a lot of people stopping to stare at Leon as he passed with you pointing, and he just smiled and waved to them. A few women swooning and giggling like fangirls as he walked past with you.

"Heh. You must be pretty popular with the ladies," you teased and you were surprised when he got a bashful look over his face.

"Yeah..Well I don't really have much time for really thinking about dating or anything. Being the Champion means more responsibility for me to handle. I'm lucky the Chairman gave me a few days off to sponsor the kids. Now a days you need a sponsorship by one of the main benefactors to compete in the Gym Challenge, and I wanted to help those two when I had the chance." You blinked vaugely remembering Gloria mentioning that and in the game some of the trainers were sponsored. But you supposed you shouldn't interfere with the game's progression if you wanted it to go accordingly so you should get back, so you nodded reaching a hand up to scratch the happily chittering sobble on your shoulder- before you bumped into Leon from not watching where you were going. But he seemed to dismiss it as he pointed up in front of the building. "AH! Here we go! Looks like I remembered the right way after all!" You blinked and looked up to the building in front of you. A pokeball was painted above the doorway and it looked like a fancy old cottage home with a purple roof, and a few leafy plants hanging off of it. OH! The Lab! You must've not been paying attention while thinking, Leon grabbed the door without hesitation and smiled. "Let's head on in then."

Before you could protest, he had already walked into the home and left the door wide open for you to follow. You looked at your sobble for a brief moment and it made an unsure face. Ultimately you decided to follow him in since after all you had been there before in game, so it couldn't have been much different in person right? On instinct, you closed the door behind you with your foot and ended up finding Leon standing a few feet away looking around at the place. So you looked around too and slowly got a sense of the area. Next to the door was a small kitchen like area with a sink, table with chairs, coffee pot, and a tea set sitting on said table. The walls and floors was a simple white, with a few table and desks covered in books, equipment, and what you guessed was whatever 'research' they were doing here with all the books on the shelves. Literally. There was a LOT of books with a staircase leading up to even more, and of course a few houseplants here and there. A lot more like a library than a lab to you really. You looked back to Leon as he whistled.

"I've got to give it to Professor Magnolia. Everything in here looks fascinating."

You had to agree. It didn't look like much, but it was a cozy place you could calmly read in. Maybe chill and listen to your favorite movies. You went to walk to stand beside Leon until you jumped back with a yelp as a yellow blue jumped out from right in front of you and barked like a dog. The sobble on your shoulder also let out a chirp in surprise ducking itself behind your head startled by the-.....Yellow dog??? What looked like a small yellow yorkie dog stood before you two panting happily and barking again at you excitedly.

"Hey there lil buddy!," Leon exclaimed kneeling down and reaching out to pet the small pokemon who gladly accepted his affection with a couple yips. "It's Sonia's Yapper. Which means she's in here somewhere."

And close she was. "What is it today, Leon?" You both looked up at the voice and the small Yapper turned around and barked happily seeing it's master. You blinked at the sight of an orange haired blue eyed woman standing above you on the upstairs level. Her orange hair was mostly tied in a side ponytail with a few heart clippies in it, a tan jacket, and aquamarine-lightblue clothes, and a pair of glasses sitting on her forehead. And a black bag around one of her shoulders. Hands on her hips looking down at you two. "Looking for info on another never-before-seen, superstrong pokemon? I wish you'd stop with these outlandish requests."

He opened his mouth to say something- "ACK!!" He turned his head away as the yamper jumped up and licked his cheek like a dog, causing Leon to laugh and stand back up shaking his head. "Good to see you, too, Yamper!" He turned his head as the orange haired lady came walking down the steps. "Yamper here is a real champ when it comes to helping you find your way around." He pointed to the pokemon who barked. "He came to my rescue plenty of times back in the day, when I got lost on the road. Oh yeah, and that's his trainer, Sonia!" He pointed to the lady who by now was at the bottom of the stairs and walking towards you two. The small pokemon barking and running over to her feet. "What can I say about Sonia? Well I like the way she cooks. She makes food you can gobble down in a flash."

"Tsk." He turned back to the woman with a smile as she suddenly stood before him arms crossed. "What kind of an introduction is that? Did you forget we were rivals during our Gym Challenge? It wasn't just Yamper helping you out. I did, too! "

He chuckled and reached a hand up to sheepishly rub his neck. "Yeah. Can't forget how many times you had to drag me to the right gyms for my battles?"

She rolled her eyes. "I still for the life of me how you end up in the most random of places. Seriously. The only place you never get lost to is the kitchen for a snack."

"Oh come on, Sonia. You don't have to be so mean." he pointed to you. "I even brought a friend to wait while we get the pokedexes."

Sonia looked over at you and the Sobble on your shoulder peeking out from it's last spook. "Are you one of the trainers Leon's sponsoring?"

"Wha- Oh no! This is Y/n. She's actually going to be traveling with one of the trainers I'm sponsoring. She just tagged along to wait for them...aaand to make sure I didn't get lost on the way here. Ahehe."

"Oh I see." ...A smile came back onto her face. "Anyway, nice to meet you!" She pointed a hand at herself. "Name's Sonia. I'm the professor's assisstant. It's very nice to meet you."

You smiled and waved a hand. "Hello. It's nice to meet you too." Your head did another look around the place ultimately landing on the glassed off area with plants. "This is an interesting lab you've got here.." You pointed at the area. "What's that?"

"Oh that?" She glanced to it quick before looking back to you. "That's the terrarium my grandmother and I sometimes conduct small environmental study tests with although it's not being used for anything at the moment." She pointed back to your Sobble. "Oh what a little cutie. It reminds me of the starter Sobble Leon was given by my grandmother for the trainers he's sponsoring."

The sobble chirped and Leon gave her a nervous chuckle. "Actually that IS the same Sobble Professor Magnolia gave me."

Sonia blinked to him faster than lightning and he gave an even nervous smile holding up his hands. "WHAT?! Lee! What's it doing back here then? Grandmother made sure you had the starter pokemon for three trainers!"

"Take it easy, Sonia. I'm not returning it." He held up a finger. "I-It's actually a pretty funny story."

She hummed. "Uh huh. I'm going to LOVE hearing about this." She started walking and you stepped aside as she passed one hand reaching up to rub her temples as the other one motioned for you to follow her Yamper at her heels. "Come on. I'll make you two some tea." You watched her go before looking to Leon who shrugged with that nervous grin and turned to begin walking towards where Sonia went, you following. "So. Mind telling me why the sobble we gave you is back here?" She asked grabbing the coffee pot and placing it on the small oven by the sink and reaching over to click it on as Leon and you came over.

"Well you see." He gave that nervous smile as she turned around to him brow raised. "Those three kids I told you about was reduced to two when one decided to go on a seperate journey instead of doing the Gym Challenge with the others. So Sobble was kind of an extra." He took a seat across from her as she went to sit down, and pointed to you and the sobble. "But luckily Y/n here was in need of one too so it kinda worked out for the best."

The sobble chirped happily as you took a seat opposite of both of them and shrugged. "I mean...It's better to have one now just in case right? Still kinda getting used to it."

"Oh that's right. Hop mentioned you never had a pokemon before like Gloria."

Sonia rose a brow to you. "You've seriously never had a pokemon before?"

You quickly shrugged and used the same lie as before as an excuse. "I had more interest in traveling really. New to the region."

Sonia hummed but nodded. "Well I think you'll find the pokemon here very interesting. Especially the dynamaxing battles?"

"......Dynamaxing?," you asked confused. That did sound familar tho. "What's that?"

"You DON'T know what dynamaxing is?," Sonia asked eyes wide.

"Oh boy. Here comes the professional speech," Leon smiled good naturedly and leaned back in his seat. Arms and legs crossed. You looked to him and was about to ask what he meant...only to get interrupted by a speech of intel by Sonia.

"It's known as the Dynamax Phenomenon. This phenomenon, in which pokemon take on gigantic forms, has only been obserbed in the Galar Region. Moreover, it only seems to occur in specific locations and under set conditions." You opened your mouth- "On the gigantification of pokemon, while the general principal holds that pokemon grow stronger and larger by evolving, it is also true that simply making oneself appear larger is another survival strategy with merit." You raised a hand- "But regarding the changes pokemon can ungergo. Pokemon do not only change in appearance when they level up. They can also do so through the use of certain items or under the influence of the area they live in, in some cases. It is hypothesized that some factor within the pokemon itself is what allows for these changes to their form and biology, but thus far, conclusive evidence of such a factor has not been found by researchers."

She finished with a smile content with her eyes closed and arms crossed, her Yamper not understanding but barking in total agreement anyways as you just....stared. Leon seemed to be the only one to make a noise as he chuckled in amusement at himself for Sonia seeming to break you for a long moment of silence.

".....So basically dynamax-whatchamacallit stuff is just pokemon Super evolving for a hot minute?..Cool," you finally replied seeming to make some kind of sense of what she just spewed out to you. Sonia stopped and stared at you. Leon however snorted and quickly covered his mouth, turning away to shake as snickers escaped his body as you blinked. "Was it something I said?"

Sonia gave her laughing friend an annoyed frown before clearing her throat professionally and looking back calmly to you. "Oh no. But trust me when I say that Dynamaxing in the Galar Region is more than just pokemon with super evolving. We're the only region in the world who's pokemon is able to do so. We still don't know why, but it's one reason why our pokemon battles are so popular around the world."

"So you guys like to brag about your region of super hero pokemon evolving into bigger super hero pokemon to gain viewers??"

"PFFFT!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Leon couldn't contain himself anymore. Arms coming to hug his middle as he half leaned over the table laughing his lungs out. Sonia back to glaring at him annoyed and you raising a brow. What was so funny? Isn't this basically what is was?...Well from you're point of veiw yes, but now that you're seeing these two, maybe it's just that serious to Sonia. "I-I-..." He wheezed. "I-I-I'm so-o-orry! Ahahaha! I've just never heard anyone say something like that especially to Sonia! M-Most d-d-don't even question what she says. Hahaha!" He coughed a few times covering his mouth as he started to come down from his laughing high Sonia still scowling.

"OH!" You held up your hands catching Sonia's attention. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make you feel bad I swear."

Sonia huffed but shook her head. " Nevermind. It's fine. Some people." She side eyed Leon with the stink eye as he wiped his eyes coming back from laughing. "Just don't get how scientific research is."

"So what is it exactly that you two do here?," you asked trying to lighten the tension. Luckily it seemed to work as Sonia smiled back towards you.

"Oh. Leon's a right amazing Champion, and I'm basically just an assistant. I'm not even Gran's official assistant, either." She looked down to the table with an almost sad look, "I've just been calling myself one. Somehow, it makes me feel a little restless. ...But to really answer your question." She pointed back towards the desks and tables covered in books, papers, etc. "We do research on ancient history of the pokemon and dynamaxing phemnonenon. We also supply starting trainers in this town with their first starter pokemon, although this is the first time Lee's delivering them personally. I just hope that whoever he decided to give them too aren't reckless. No offense."

"None taken," you replied, "But don't worry. I think they'll be in good hands with the new trainers." You smiled.

"Speaking of those two, where are they?" Leon hummed and gave the door a curious look as if Hop and Gloria would burst through it any moment, before looking behind him at the clock on the wall. ".....It's been almost a whole hour. Telling Mum can't take that long, and surely they couldn't have gotten lost. That's my thing."

Yeah...That was kinda strange now that you noticed it. You mirrored Leon's expression with a raised brow and nearly jumped out of your chair when the teapot whistled. Making Sonia excuse herself to stand up and get it for the three of you. Hm. They SHOULDN'T have been taking this long to get here. Gloria was too excited, and Hop didn't have the patience to wait this long to get here....Something wasn't right. A heavy feeling settled on your guts as you thought long and hard. After the battle with Leon, the player and Hop were to receive their pokedexes from the Professor's granddaughter which was obviously Sonia but...you're mind went blank. There was something ...missing. Something you were forgetting. There was something that happened between these two events-...You're mind went back to the other day. A wooloo using tackle on the fence over and over- Your chair made a scrape sound startling Leon and Sonia as you shot up to your feet making the table shake a bit. Sobble chirping in surprise and clinging to your shoulder. Oh NO!! How could you have forgotten!? In the game the wooloo manages to break open the fence and then the player and Hop would venture into the Slumbering Weild to try and retrieve it, also encountering their first Lengendary Pokemon sighting of the game!!! But luckily Leon ends up finding them and escorting them back home but-..Your startled eyes cut to Leon who was confused looking at your panicked f/c eyes. Leon didn't know they were in there right now! This major difference in events right now could change the game and your chances to get back home and worse! THOSE KIDS WERE IN DANGER!!

Your hands slammed on the table and you desperately looked at Leon. "WE HAVE TO GO! THE KIDS ARE IN THE SLUMBERING WEILD!!"

"WHAT!?" Leon asked eyes wider than dinner plates as if you were far away and he didn't hear you.

You nodded. "They went there after this wooloo knocked over the fence leading to it by Gloria's house! We have to leave right now or else they could get seriously hurt!"

Leon didn't have to be told twice at the mention of his baby brother being in potential danger, only a panicked look in his eyes and he adbruptly stood and even you blinked as he raced to the door. Startling you into freezing for a few seconds before adreneline kicked in and you were right behind him. The door was already thrown open by the time you got to it, so you just followed he purple haired blur of Leon as he raced away from the house with you not so far behind. Sonia shouted something after you both but neither of you two noticed. How could you be so dumb enough to forget such a crucial detail!? Because of you those two could get lost or hurt in there! If a flock of giant bird pokemon wasn't bad enough then there was the gigantic legendary pokemon!!! You couldn't even remember what it was just that it was a legendary one! Dummy!! Sweat began to pour from your forehead as you raced after him away from Sonia's lab, past the train station, over the bridge, and up the path back towards the two kids' homes right after Leon who was must faster than you so of course no surprise the scared older brother would get there before you did. The sobble chirped and chittered in protest into your ears as it young onto you going past. Some people gave you both confused looks as you passed them but you didn't care. You just had to get to them and making sure they didn't get hurt. In fact you were so focused on running you hadn't even noticed Leon stopped until you nearly ran into him when he stopped by where the paths split up between the paths to both kids' houses. Instead you stumbled from the sudden stop and nearly collasped to your hands and knees. Panting, worried, heart beating against your ribcage, and looking up from your leaned over form to Leon who stood there and stared in stunned silence. What? Why had he stopped!? You looked towards where he was looking and froze upon realizing what he was looking at. I mean...you knew it was there and you knew it would happen, but you still froze seeing the open fence there. Leading down into a grassy field which lead into a fogging wooded area. More intimidating than the sunny fields behind you where the wooloos grazed.

"No.." It came out so quietly you weren't sure if Leon even spoke but you looked to him regardless. A look of horror, panic, and absolute FEAR on his face. "No...NONONONO!!" He suddenly darted forward again and stopped right at the fence entrance darting his hands up to cup his mouth. "HOP!! GLORIA!!"

His only answer back was the echoes of his own voice which eerily and spookily echoed back to him slowly fading out into the woods before them and even tho breathing heavily for breath you forced yourself to walk up next to him and in an urgent voice said. "We HAVE to go after them! They could be hurt!"

"NO!" He turned to you a determined scowl on his face. "I'm going after them! I need you to stay here in case they come back before I get out or in case I get lost and can't find them! I can't risk you coming with me and getting lost too! And if they come back and notice Im gone they might just come right back in looking for me!"

"WHAT?!," you blurted out, "But won't two of us searching make it easier to find them!?"

"I CANT RISK THEIR LIVES OR YOURS, Y/N!" He gave you a desperately look and you paused. In the game Leon's able to find both the missing children and runaway wooloo. Since everything thus far has been going accordingly then this should work out fine too, but if you go along and interfere-...They could all be in danger. So..it was safer for all of you if you stayed out of this. As much as it pained you, you nodded to him and he nodded. "Don't worry about me! I'll get charizard to fly me out if I need to! If none of us are back within an hour I NEED you to run back to Sonia and tell her what happened! She knows where to get the proper help!"

One finally nod was what he gave you before facing back towards the fence and darting off in a speed you thought no human could have. You only stood there and watched. As the thudding of his footsteps faded, and the figure of his body running away, soon being swallowed up by the fog of the Slumbering Weild. And you could only stand there and watch...How could've you had forgotten this? I mean, yeah you were pretty sure they WERE supposed to go in there and yes you WERE sure Leon was supposed to go after them in order for the game to be set on the right path-...But still, you probably would've liked to give Leon a head's up for this. In the game you had never seen him sport such a look of...fear. The champion in the game, even when he found the kids in there, always wore the 'Champion's Smile' because that's what he was programmed to do. Heck. In the game you never even saw how Leon discovered the two kids went into the Slumbering Wield. To you it wasn't a big deal because at the end of the day it was just a game you were following the story too...You never thought...you'd ever see the confident happy-go-lucky jokster older brother so wracked with fear. Fear you might have prevented. You weren't sure when you did it. But you ended up sitting on the ground, back leaned against the fence post with your eyes closed just-....sitting there for the longest time. Your sobble had long since gotten off your shoulders and chittered at you in question. Moving around the area but staying close to where you were sitting.

At one point it made a very OUD chirp and jumped onto your lap. "OOF!?" You opened your eyes to the blue pokemon and slowly blinked. "Hey! What was that for? Wasn't very nice of you!" It chirped again loudly and pointed past you and the gate glancing at something. Raising a brow tiredly, you slowly turned your head to see what in the world it was pointing a- Your sobble chirped a loud squabble when it tumbled out of your lap as you jumped up eyes wide and overwhelming relief washing over you. "LEON!"

Yep! It was the champion alright. His face a mixture of slight annoyance and extreme exhaustion. In front of him was Hop and Gloria to your surprise and relief. Both were avoiding eye contact looking extremely embarrassed, and....a wooloo trotting along with them. To think that all this commotion was started by one runaway wooloo. You shook your head, glancing to the chirping Sobble starting to clambor up your leg and towards your shoulder for a moment, before glancing back towards the Champion who sighed tiredly at you. Making your relief even more validated.

"What were you two thinking!?," was the first thing out of your mouth once the two children were close enough. I mean yeah this was supposed to happen, but it was still incredibly wreckless of them! Both children winced from your question and you were stopped when Leon held up a hand calmly.

"Now, now, Y/n. *sigh*" He sighed and reached a hand up to rub his face. "Everything's fine now. These two are safely back. The lost wooloo is found. And they know better than to go in there again." He rose a brow down at them, "right you two?" They instantly nodded mumbling some form of sorry as he nodded. "You both had your hearts in the right place, but the best thing to do was to come tell someone. If Y/n hadn't figured out where you two went, who knows what might've happened?" The two teens(mostly Hop) looked ashamed of themselves. "I'm not angry at you two." Both(again mostly Hop) blinked up surprised at Leon but he folded his arms with a frown. "But that doesn't mean I wasn't nearly scared half to death knowing two kids were running around a highly dangerous area by themselves. Now you two promise to never EVER go back in there again especially without telling someone again, no matter what reason."

"We promise, Lee!" "Yeah. I'm real sorry." The two agreed.

After continuing to stare at them with the frown for a moment, he sighed again and shook his head. "It's fine. As long as it doesn't happen again." Holding his arms out, he herded the two kids and wooloo out past the fence and looked to you. "I'm going to make sure these two get to Sonia. There's a limited amount of time they have for earning my endoursment and they still need their pokedexes...besides." he looked back to the wooloo who baaed at him. "Someone has to make sure this little guy gets returned to farmer Harry down town. Hopefully he'll keep this one from causing anymore trouble. In the meantime, could you close the fence?" He asked looking to you. "I can talk to professor Magnolia into issuing a stronger lock and chain for the gate."

You nodded thinking that was best. "Sounds good. I'll meet you guys there."

Smiling, Leon nodded and turned back to the kids placing one arm on each their shoulders before pushing them forward. "Come on you two. Let's drop this little troublemaker off and then get two a pokedex. The day's still early so you should have plenty of time to change my mind." As they began walking off he shook his head. "Boy Sonia's not going to believe this."

The kids didn't protest when Leon shuffled them away and you sighed. A hand coming to your chest, as you completely calmed. That could've gone a lot worse, but thankfully it all went according to plan and game. Sobble chirped having clambored back onto your shoulder and you reached up a hand to scratch it's head, to which it smiled and chirped happily at the affection. Now..for the fence. From the rush of adreneline eariler, you just decided to take your sweet time in grunting and pulling the heavy fence gate closed. That wooloo must've been stronger than Hop's if it was able to use tackle enough times to make this heavy wooded fence open all the way. The lock or whatever it was last used to keep it closed was no where to be found, so what you did was take a decently big rock and roll it towards the fence, it took all the strength you had to lift the fence up enough to shove the rock under the gate and lodge it enough to make sure it wouldn't move before letting go and observing your handy work. It...wasn't the best. If someone pushed hard enough or rammed their body against it, it would open, but at least it should stay closed for now until Leon could get the Professor to fix it again. Satisfied, you turned around and slowly began making your way slowly back towards the lab. Sobble on your shoulder as it lazily yawned. Whelp. Good to know someone was having a relaxed time at least. The walk all the way back there wasn't too bad. It was actually kinda peaceful listening to the wind and passing by field of wooloo baaing like sheep, and the streams of the two bridges you walked over to get to the lab. A few people gave you a curious or confused look as you passed but you paid them no mind, and wouldn't you know it, Leon was standing their waiting for you.

He smiled upon noticing you and when you got close enough waved. "Well done! You reached the goal and managed to find the Pokemon Research Lab! You did a far sight better than I did my first time. I'm hopeless with directions. I know I'm sure glad I got Charizard with me...to keep me from getting lost all the time."

You chuckled but stopped in front of him raising a brow. "I think I figured that out by now." You looked back towards the lab. "Are they inside?"

He figured you meant the two kids and shook his head. "Nah. They went up the road to Professor Magnolia's house. I just decided to wait for you so you'd know where to go...and so I wouldn't get lost either. ehehe...heh."

You blinked as he gestured with a hand and started walking and you followed beside him. OH YEAH! It was starting to come back to you. The player and Hop raced towards the Professor's home, catching a few new pokemon and battling one last time to convince Leon to sponsor them before the opening ceremony for the Gym Challenge! So far so good. "How was Sonia after you explained what happened?"

He groaned leaning his head back and crossing his arms, giving a closed eyed grimace as you two walked. "Not too good. She yelled at me about how rude it was to just run out like that without giving her a heads up, and then she got even more annoyed she's going to have to fix that fence. Hopefully no other wooloos get the idea to enter Slumbering Weild...." His eyes popped open for a moment before he turned to you with a look. "Speaking of which, how'd you know they went in there?"

"Um..." Your face was frozen. Great. Now you have to think of even MORE excuses. You shrugged. "Well like you said. I saw the wooloo earlier with the other two when it was trying to bust down the fence yesterday, and your little brother must really love wooloos by how much he talks about them....So it was just a lucky guess based off..wooloos??" Good gosh that was the lamest excuse ever-

"I see..." He smiled. "Well that was a pretty good guess. I can't say how grateful I am for helping Hop and his friend."

He waved a hand with a bashful smile. "Think nothing of it. I'm just glad I could help...So do you think they'll catch any pokemon on the way there?" You asked changing the subject. Thank goodness that was good enough to work.

"Probably. Lots of wild pokemon live near Route 2 in this town. They'll probably have to end up putting a few of them in Rotomi boxes."

".....Rotomi..boxes?"

"Oh right. I guess they don't have those over in the Kalos Region huh? Rotomi boxes are a sort of storage system for your pokemon when you can't carry them all around, "Leon explained, "You can find them in any pokemon Center. In fact you can find one in the center in town here. You recieve your pokemon from your boxes at any Rotomi you visit, too!"

"Oh. I guess that's how Pokemon storage works around here," you mumbled to yourself but Leon nodded with a hum.

"Yep! It was developed a long time ago when Professer Magnolia was just starting out as this town's professor. She's been a genius from the very beginning, Sonia's a lot like her."

"Oh wow. She sounds smart."

"heh. You're not wrong. It's going to be nice to see her again after so long."

Yo two walked peacefully down the cobblestone road, passing by lots of people who waved or took photos of Leon as he smiled and waved to them, and you guys had to stop a few times for a few little kids who either wanted a picture or autograph from the famous celeberty. Sheesh. It was sweet but you didn't think you'd be able to stand all the attention after a bit. You always much rather jam out to music or play video games....that was until your mother kept shoving studying and schoolwork into your face and most of that joy was replaced with visits to the lirbrary or studying quietly at home...Oh well. That was the reality of it of life, And you wanted to help pay your mum back for all the hard work she put into raising you without- You jumped when Leon suddenly pointed ahead of you and you silently nodded to his directions as he lead you. Hopefully he wouldn't be getting the both of you lost. You two were just coming over another bridge when you saw and heard the two teens again. Right next to the tall Route 2 sign. Both didn't notice you and had their backs towards you, so they didn't notice the two of you walking up from behind them.

"Over here, Gloria!," Hop suddenly pointed to the tall patch of grass in front of them on the road excitedly and Gloria looked just as excited seeing the small blurs running around in it. "All right, Glory! It's time to fill our teams a bit!"

"And I'm here to teach you how!," Leon exclaimed loudly from right behind the two. Both kids yelped and whipped behind them startled from you two walking up to them, "You'll need to catch pokemon if you've got any hope of filling in that pokedex."

"Lee!? Where'd you come from!?," Hop asked calming down upon realizing who it was.

Leon smiled wider as you smiled. "Well I thought I'd might as well meet you two at the Professor's while you two try catching some wild pokemon of your own, and wait for Y/n. It would've been unfair if she was left behind to bear the brunt of Sonia's anger." Leon then looked over at Gloria and as if reading her mind asked. "Only...look at you, Little Glory! You've already caught some on your own!" Hop's eyes widened and turned to Gloria who smiled proudly and nodded asking 'You did?!' "Your mum gave you those poke balls, did she?" She nodded again and Leon hummed....Before reaching behind him under his cape where you couldn't see. "I'll give you two some more poke balls. In return, I'll only ask that you catch plenty of pokemon."

''REALLY!?" Hop's eyes widened when Leon pulled out three pokeballs in each hand and held them out to the wide eyed teens who obviously took them. As soon as the smooth metal catching pokemon devices were in Hop's hands, his smile widened and began starry eyed at his brother. "THANKS! YOU'RE THE BEST LEE!!"

You couldn't help but smile at the sweet exchange between the three of them, and Leon chuckled before looking at the tall grass. "The pokemon around here seem easy to catch. Almost like they're itching to join some Trainer's team, wouldn't you say? But don't forget. Pokemon and Trainers alike gain experience from battling. Like how Gloria's Scorbunny learnt to improve it's Ember Move after your first battle. So this should be good practice for the two of you. Your teams will keep on changing and growing as you get stronger together, no doubt. But even I don't know exactly yet."

"WE WONT LET YOU DOWN, LEE!," Gloria exclaimed thrusting a pokeball into the air, "You're going to flip seeing what I caught on the way there!"

"Not unless I catch more than you, Glor."

Gloria gave Hop a challenging smile to rival his own. "Oh? Hm. Ill accept that challenge then dear rival!"

Leon chuckled again before waving a hand to catch their attention. "Well make sure you make it to the Professor's house before nightfall. " He jabbed a thumb behind him at you. "Ill just take Y/N here with me and meet the both of you there. Show your Champion something good, all right?"

"Sure, Lee!" "Aright!"

Both children agreed immediately before turning back to the tall grassy area in front of them and Hop pointed off towards the tall grassy area a few yards away from them. Gloria eagerly nodding before she took off after Hop when he ran for it pokeballs in hand. You couldn't help but smile. This was good. Gloria and Hop would have the chance to collect some more pokemon on the way to the professor's house like in the game and in turn you can relax now that you know they probably won't get in trouble from catching a few wild pokemon for themselves. You jumped when Leon cleared his throat and you looked to his smiling face as he gestured down the pathway as if questioning for your permission and you nodded at him. Matching Leon's pace as he set off down the path towards the Professor's home.

"Sorry if I ruined the chance for you to tag along with 'em,'' he apologized to you with an apologetic look to match, "But I really want to see how they can do on their own without any distractions or anyone holding them back. No offense."

You waved him off. "None taken. It's fine actually." In truth you didn't mind that at all. "You were happy to wait for them to capture pokemon instead of walking around after them all the way there after you were nearly scared half to death by the Slumbering Weild incident. And you didn't mind just waiting to see what they would catch. "In fact I'm interested in seeing the Professor. I don't think I met a Professor before."

He chuckled. "Then you're in for a treat! Follow me. If we don't end up lost, then it should be just down this road."

You chuckled and continued to follow him down the dirt path. Passing taller grassy areas and a few more trees showing the Professor's house was a little more far back into the wild life than the town. Must be a hassle to go to and from the Lab all the time you thought, even if it was within walking distance. At one point you were watching a small squirel pokemon with massive chuuby cheeks skittering past when your attention was once again caught by Leon. You looked towards him in question and he pointed ahead of him. Yo looked down the path and blinked. There was a small bridge with a white fence running along it over a river, a concrete battle area like the one at Hop's house was standing before the house which was also by a decent sized lake. The house itself was pretty lovely looking. It was a dark purple all over with green vines all over itself. You followed Leon all the way to the door of the home as it's shadow loomed over you. Without any hesitation Leon knocked rather loudly on the door and waited. A few seconds went by before there was finally an answer.

"Whoever it is come on in!," it sounded like an older lady's voice, like the kind you'd expect a grandmother to have, "The door's open!"

Without missing a beat Leon opened the door with a creak and threw a smile over his shoulder nodded towards the inside. "Follow me. You're going to really like Ms. Magnolia! She's a super nice woman!" You nodded and went ahead and walked inside. You followed right after him into a small space. Coats and shoes were placed by the door, with a stairway in front and a couple houseplants. "HELLO!" leon called as you slowly closed the door behind you. "Professor Magnolia! Are you in here?"

"Leon! Is that you, you old troublemaker?,'' came the elderly woman's voice happily from the left and you two turned your gazes past what looked like a kitchen area into a different doorway which lead to a blue room.

"Yeah! And I brought a friend if you don't mind!" He started walking towards the blue room and after a few seconds you slowly followed.

"Oh no. Not at all, dear,'' the old voice said as you two entered into the kitchen area and made your way closer and closer to the voice, "Any friend of yours is welcome, Young Lee." Yo continued to Follow Leon until he stopped in the doorway to the blue room and you stopped beside him blinking inside. The room was rather homey. The walls, ceiling, carpet, and some of the furniture was a blue. White cabinets lined the walls and they all either had some plants or some other decorative object set upon it. A few paintings hung off the walls, and against the far wall was a brick fireplace. And on one of the blue couches sat an elderly woman who could've been old enough to be your granny, calmly looking back at the two of you. She had grey hair held back by a purple-grey band, gold earrings, a gold necklace with a purple pendant, white lab coat and shoes, and a plain really light yellow dress. She held a cane that had some carved creature on the end you gripped, glasses, and green eyes. "Well if my glasses don't decieve me, I'd say that the Champion himself was standing in my living room."

"Professor Magnolia!,'' Leon greeted coming right in and over to her, she didn't even have to get up and reached a hand out for him to shake, which he did happily. "I haven't seen you in ages! HAHA!!" He let go of her hand and plopped down in the blue couch in front of her. "So have you unraveled all the secrets of the Dynamax Phenomenon yet?"

"Oh goodness no. The whole thing is still full of questions." the professor chuckled and sat back into her comfy couch. "And I'm very close to retiring too. So, so close. I'd hoped that my granddaughter would take over my research but..." She trailed off and looked away- "Hm?" And noticed you still standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Oh my goodness! Dear me, I'm sorry. I didn't even notice my guests! Please come in and have a seat young lady." She smiled gesturing to the spot next to Leon on the couch and you smiled politely taking her up on her offer. Walking in slowly and going next to Leon who scooted over to allow you some room. "My name is Magnolia." She greeted you with a smile that made you think of a grandmotherly vibe. "Welcome, young trainer."

"Thank you," you smiled politely. "My name's Y/N. Nice to meet ya!...But I'm not a trainer." You explained with a sheepish smile as your Sobble chittered and moved to plop inself ontop of your own head. "I'm more of a....traveler."

She hummed still smiling. "I see. We'll I'm sure you'll find lots of interesting things around here if you look hard enough. That's why I love my job so much." She chuckled. "Never know what you're going to find among the rest of the dust."

You chuckled too. "So what kind of work do you do? Leon told me Sonia and you work at the lab in town."

She shrugged. "Oh the usual. Pokemon anthropology and development. Medical research a bit. But I've mostly looked into dynamaxing."

"Oh yeah!" You jumped at Leon's loud voice startling the Sobble on your head enough for it to tumble off your head and into your lap with a loud squabble of protest. He didn't seem to notice as turned brightly smiling to you. "You must already know about Dynamaxing right, Y/n?" You nodded. " The Champion nodded towards the smiling woman. "Professor Magnolia's been doing research into the Dynamax Phenomenon for years and years. And it takes proper understanding of the thing if you plan to use dynamaxing to the fullest!"

Magnolia chuckled and shook her head at Leon. "There you go again, Leon, always talking about pokemon. There are other things that are worth knowing about, too, you know. Like how many different types of teas there are. "

"Ha! Says the Pokemon Professor?," he teased back.

She gave a sly smile. "Hmhmhm. Touche, Champion. But there are other things you enjoy too besides pokemon, aren't there?"

He let out a hum. "Yeah. Sonia's cooking."

"Well they say the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach." She teased. "Getting a crush are we, boy?"

"Hey! C'mon, Professor! Any one likes a good dish!" He paused when his stomach let out a small rumble. "....Heh. Sorry." His smile became bashful. "Guess running around all day all over the place made me forget about lunch and dinner."

"You, Lee? Forget about food? My. How shocking." She chuckled at his grumbling pouting face before she grabbed the couch and, with the help of her cane, stood right up. "Well then. I guess we can get some tea to help pass the time."

"Oh wait!" You held out your hand as she started walking past you. "You don't have to do that, Professor. I'm fine really." You threw a look back over your shoulder as Leon gently grabbed you. "I've learnt that Ms. Magnolia is even more stubborn than Sonia. If she wants to do something, not even a million Dynamaxed pokemon working together could stop her! It's best we let her."

You went to argue-....But sighed and sat back down. Leon was right. You didn't know this woman outside the game you played as a teenager which was a long time ago, so it was best to let things be for now.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!

All three of you turned your head towards the door as loud fast knocks pounded from the other side of it making the professor hum. "Oh? More guests? I wonder they could be?" She started towards the door but you knew who it was already.

The Trainers had arrived.