#postwick week

[bigfan-fanfic]

King of the Castle (Reader x Leon)

Requested by @jayfeather965 for  Could you do a fic on daily life with Leon (Pokémon) both as he is champion and after he is “dethroned”?

Well, for one thing, Leon doesn't really have a permanent residence until after the whole debacle with Chairman Rose.

He lives over in Postwick with his family officially, though in practice he usually has a hotel room in Wyndon he camps out in. And since you two got close, he practically lives at your place, too.

His Charizard will often grumpily pick him up, place him on its back, and carry him to your apartment's balcony whenever he gets too lost.

Often he'll encourage you to come tour with him when the Champion Cup season rolls around, and you get to stay with him in the fancy-schmancy hotels.

Honestly, it's a lot like dating a sports star in our world, with all the media attention and interest that allows. However, the paparazzi are a bit more courteous in the Pokemon world, especially since Leon's undefeated Pokemon could absolutely wreck them in a fight.

He's a gentle guy, and sweet, if a little absentminded. The man isn't totally mature, and oftentimes seems like a big excitable kid.

He can hide for days on end in your apartment, slumping on top of you and happily just camping out in his boxers and ordering pizza for you.

Or he can take you to a hotel and have the two of you not leave it for a week, with all that that might imply....

He probably begs you to come to Postwick with him practically when you start dating - I think you probably met his mom on the third date.

He's never been too interested in video games but loves to watch you play if you do like them. His Charizard likes to stick its head under blankets and rest on his lap, the rest of its body just flopped on the floor.

He's actually pretty good at cooking, but hates doing dishes, so he often prefers to order in, and considering he's a very active person, he's not too concerned about eating out so much.

He'll go jogging and work out daily, if he can. He enjoys if you join him, but isn't pushy about it at all. He's just as happy having you watch him, too...

Leon has a huge sweet tooth too.

He grows up quick after becoming the new Chairman, as there are so many new responsibilities he has to deal with.

He becomes a little more mature, but fundamentally he remains the same old Leon.

Except now he's got a home, having taken over Rose's residence when the former Chairman was taken into custody by the International Police.

It takes a few months for the place to be fully cleared out and redecorated, but it feels like home, and he offers to have you move in with him.

There's a lot more privacy, and since he's still pretty messy, you two still end up feeling quite at home in the private rooms you use most often.

He still makes time to work out every day, even with work constantly snapping at his heels, but he also makes time for you.

He makes a point of being unreachable after a certain time and being able to be with you fully.

Whenever he gets a vacation he's perfectly happy to just hide out with you, like old times.

I think he'd get a lot more interested in asking you to marry him after becoming Chairman. Something about not being tied to being Champion anymore makes him happy, because now, even with daily duties to conduct, he has so much more time on average to spend with you.

He may not be as happy-go-lucky, but he still has glimmers of that same excitability that reminds you that your Leon may be tired more often, but he's still there.

And no matter the time, every day he'll be happy to spend time with you.

And every day he says he loves you.

[microwave-core]

The Leon Post

It’s my lesbianism and I get to pick the fictional man to obsess over

I don’t know where to start so I guess I’ll just throw whatever at the wall and see what sticks. Not that I don’t normally do that, but like, more than usual.

Simplest thing that comes to mind: Leon is tired. This man does his best to be a good influence, telling everyone to get a good eight hours of sleep each night. Meanwhile, he only gets about four or five hours on a good day. He’s busy so he goes to bed late, takes forever to actually fall asleep, and then wakes up early. He’s good at dealing with the lack of sleep, at least.

Or he usually is anyway. Every now and then, that sleep deficit catches up with him, leading to him conking out for about eighteen hours straight. The first time it happened, everyone was worried out of their minds because it was three in the afternoon and no one had heard anything from him. Eventually, they just had to send Raihan to his apartment to make sure he wasn’t dead or something.

Being bad at directions is a given, but my opinions on this are… conflicted. In general, he just has bad coordination (dyspraxic Leon is near and dear to my heart), so he does just get lost. That being said, I also think that Leon purposefully gets lost at times just to get a moment to himself. He doesn’t do it often, but sometimes he just needs a second to breathe.

Speaking of naturally getting lost, when that happens he kinda just wanders around until he sees someone he knows or, by sheer luck, ends up where he needs to be. If it takes too long for one of those two things to happen, he’ll resort to texting Raihan or Sonia, or anyone else that would be close by, really.

He loves his friends. He tells them that all the time. That’s it. That’s all I have to say about this. He would do literally anything to help those he cares about, and he goes out of his way to make sure they know that.

HOWEVER. Leon himself is absolutely terrible at reaching out for help. He’s supposed to be the best of the best, he’s not supposed to have problems or issues. So, he just bottles everything up, does his best to work things out by himself, and hopes that things don’t overflow at a bad time. Even when it’s obvious something is wrong, he will take forever to admit it. These things have to be pried out of him.

The whole Eternatus situation weighs heavy on him for several reasons, mainly because he wasn’t able to protect Hop and his friend, but also because it made a lot of people realize “oh, Leon has problems and really needs help” and he hates that. Again, he will deny needing help for as long as he can before caving. Deep down, he feels like asking for help makes him a burden on others, and no amount of reassurance will make him think otherwise.

Speaking on a lighter note, Hop. If there’s one thing I like more than Leon, it’s Leon and Hop. The Postwick bros are incredibly close, even if Leon can’t be physically around all that often. He calls home several times a week, talking to Hop and mum and his grandparents (and Purrloin), just checking in to make sure everything’s okay. He tries to visit whenever possible, but things get canceled often because his schedule suddenly fills up, and even when he makes it home he isn’t around for long.

But when he gets the time to actually stay for a day or two, without any league interruptions? He spends all day with his family. He plays around with Hop and Wooloo, and helps out with farm work, and helps his mum make dinner and deals with the dishes afterwards. He gives Purrloin plenty of scritches and tells all kinds of stories to his grandparents. He’ll even check in with Sonia and Magnolia if he gets the chance. It’s not much, but Leon takes what he can get. Also sends money home all the time.

And on the topic of family, Leon and Iris are cousins. I know that one screenshot of Masters where Iris says that they’re related is edited and not real, but they’re cousins. Canon is my bitch and it bends to my whims. And while we’re at it, he and Hop are descendants of Laventon. 

And because I’m already bending the canon because I said so, Leon and Sonia are still close friends. At least once a week, they get on a call for about 2-3 hours just to chat and catch up (and complain). Childhood friends from small towns are just built differently. I won’t dump all of my thoughts on this right now, but I will at least say that the two definitely grew up getting lost in the forest and hitting each other with sticks.

Let’s break more into the territory of friends/coworkers, gonna start quick firing some of these. He relates to Milo, country boy solidarity. Has high respect for Kabu and looked up to him during his gym challenge. Acts like an older brother to Bea and Allister. Get along fine with Opal, but neither of them can get a good read on the other. Also gets along fine with Gordie. Meloney reminds him of his mum. Oleana still kinda scares him. His feelings towards Rose are complicated.

Going in longer with some because I have more to say. Nessa is within his closer friend group, but she’s, like, a double friend of a friend. They’re both friends with Raihan and Sonia, so they end up hanging around each other pretty often as a result. She hates the cape.

Pretty good friends with Piers because big brother solidarity. They’re obviously pretty different people, but the kind of different that mesh well together. They organized a play-date for Hop and Marnie when they were much younger. Marnie bit Hop. Hop cried. Neither of them remember this. Leon also just likes his music.

Obviously, he’s close with Raihan because they’re rivals and all. They trash talk each other constantly, but there’s no hard feelings and it’s mostly just for show anyways. He tries more than anyone to break down Leon’s walls and help him with his issues, although the effort normally goes nowhere…

But Leon’s closest friend of all is, of course, Charizard. They’ve been together since the start, after all. Their dynamic is closer to that of brothers who annoy each other at times, unlike most of his other pokemon, where he’s more parental. Tends to drag Leon by his cape when he takes a wrong turn, and is also prone to begging for food. He always sleeps on the bed.

Okay, talking some more about his other pokemon. In general, he lets them roam around his apartment when at home. They’re well behaved for the most part. 

Dragapult likes to hide in the shadows and creep through walls, so it’s a good thing that Leon doesn’t get startled easily. Both Dreepy like to float around together and are usually tethered to Leon. Haxorus is a big ol’ baby who likes to be held, and she also likes to sleep on the bed. Aegislash likes to people watch and is also highly curious. 

Whichever starter ends up raising, he will baby, even when they’re fully evolved. He raises all his pokemon with tender love and care. But they won’t be his true baby, that’s Haxorus.

Leon loves his job, even if the constant excitement of battle and roaring crowds drain him, and he loves Wyndon dearly, but he can’t help but yearn for a simpler life, sometimes. He loves the charm of small, sleepy towns and the mundane, stability they bring. He just misses home.

SO, he planned on moving back to Postwick or even Wedgehurst if he were to ever lose  the champion title. Of course, that didn’t happen, because Rose did a little fuck up and turned himself into the police, so he was basically pushed into becoming the chairman in his place. It’s not what he planned, it wasn’t ideal, but he was happy for a change of pace, at least.

But I don’t think he would hold the chairman’s seat forever. I think he’d eventually step down, happy to let someone else take over in his stead and do Galar and her people good. And what do I think he’d do? Set up a bakery. That’s right, I just made you read everything before this just to read my Leon is a Baker Propaganda. 

Leon loves to bake. He didn’t pick up his mum’s cooking skills, but he’s got her baking skills on lock. Whenever he has an off day (or just can’t sleep at night), he’ll whip something up just for the hell of it. That being said, he doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, so he normally gives the baked goods to his family or friends. He has texted people at 3am asking if they wanted a loaf of pumpkin bread and refused to elaborate. 

Let me tell you, if you’ve never really made headcanons for characters before, sometimes you conjure one up that just, like, festers. It just keeps growing as you put more and more thought into it. That’s what baker Leon is to me, because now all I want is for him to step down as the chairman and open a quaint little baker in Wedgehurst, spending the rest of his days in peace.

It’s such a funny image, too. Imagine walking into a bakery in a small town and the owner was one of the strongest champions the world had ever seen, and he ends up being one of the sweetest people you’ve ever met. Then he sells you a loaf of bread, and it’s out of this world. Incredible. Anyways, sorry for cringe posting, let’s move on.

Leon doesn’t have too many hobbies because work and training takes up so much of his time, but he does spend a good deal of time working out. It’s good stress relief for him, an outlet to blow off some steam. It also gives his team a break, which they more than deserve. In general, he is pretty damn strong. He’s not on par with Milo or anything, but he can pretty easily move, like, furniture and whatnot. He can easily pick up all of his pokemon and cradle them like babies, no sweat. 

I like to think that Mustard’s Dojo doesn’t just teach pokemon battles, but also, like, regular fighting. I choose to believe that Leon’s been taught to throw a punch. Probably owns a punching bag and gets some pretty good use out of it.

He also likes to read. He has plenty of books at home in Postwick, and even more within his own apartment. When he has a slow day and his social battery is completely drained, He’ll curl up on the couch and read something. Fast reader, too, the kind that can get through a pretty thick book in a day if he finds it interesting enough. Fantasy is his favorite genre. He’s also smarter than people give him credit for.

Always wanted to play an instrument when he was younger, but didn’t have the time. He tries to pick the guitar up after becoming chairman, but it takes him a while to get the hang of it because he’s not the most dexterous. When he’s more skilled, he totally jams with Piers.

His apartment doesn’t have a ton of decoration. It’s not a male living space or anything, his mum raised him right, but it’s not super interesting. Except for the hats. My god, the hats. He has at least an entire wall covered in them, not counting the one’s stationed in Postwick, and he just keeps collecting. He also really likes collecting patches. 

Not very good at video games. Never has been, and probably never will be, but he does like playing them with other people. He’s naturally competitive, but he’s also a good sport, so he won’t complain when he loses. He typically prefers co-op, though. I think he would really like Pikmin. I’m not projecting, he told me himself.

Massive nerd. He would absolutely love DnD if he ever had the time to play. When he and Sonia were younger, they’d reenact all kinds of fairytale and mythological scenes that they memorized by heart. It was pretty hard to do with only two people, but they made do. When Hop got a bit older, they involved him, too.

I don’t know if this makes sense, but he feels like “the generational gap between me and my friends who are of the same age” when it comes to his relationship with Raihan, and also Nessa and Sonia to a lesser extent. Which is not to say that he’s out of touch. Sorry if this didn’t make sense I just needed to write it out.

His alcohol tolerance is pretty high. He’s Galarian, after all. Doesn’t drink all that often, much less get drunk, but when he does he gets very touchy. He’s already a pretty affectionate guy by default, but when he’s drunk he’ll practically drape over the nearest person. Terrible with hangovers, but he at least gets some halfway decent sleep when he eventually passes out.

Also as a Galarian, he is a tea drinker, but he also drinks coffee. Coffee is his drink of choice in the morning, tea is his go to later in the day. He would probably drink his coffee black, because he doesn’t really care for sweet things, and I think he would like ginger tea. I’m not sure if I really feel that way or if I just have ginger tea on the mind because of the sheer amount of ginger I have in Sleep, but, uh, you didn’t ask. 

Okay, more romantic things. His love language is physical touch and quality time. He’s naturally a touchy-feely person. He often places a hand on another's shoulder, gives out the best hugs, and is a huge cuddle bug. His free time is pretty scarce, so he revels in what time he has to be around his loved ones.

When I put him in the wife guy (affectionate) section on my wife alignment chart, I knew what I was doing. Mans absolutely adores his partner. Just like Cynthia, he would totally be like “I love my girlfriend/boyfriend with my whole heart and soul” in interviews, and everyone makes posts like “get you a man who loves you as much as Champion Leon loves his partner”. Also, bi king.

He’s vocal about his love, but he also goes to great lengths to keep his love life private. He doesn’t get much privacy, and would prefer to keep the press out of his more intimate life if at all possible.

His favorite pet name is pumpkin. 

Lowkey repressed. He didn’t get into many relationships during his teen years because he wasn’t really allowed to explore parts of himself due to being champion, so he’s not very experienced. Tries his best, though.

Listen, Leon is literally THE quintessential pokemon protagonist. He comes from a home with an absent father whose absence is never brought up, goes on a journey at the age of ten with a very traditional starter, blows everyone out of the water and is a cut above the rest due to being a freakishly good protege, and becomes the champion.

BUT THEN he has to deal with the fallout that comes with becoming the champion at such a young age. His formative years were on display for everyone to see, wasn’t really allowed to be a kid or grow up at his own pace, and couldn’t be around his family or childhood friend as much as he would have wanted to be.

And ultimately, the only person that could stand up to him, the one to dethrone him, is another protagonist, the only other person viewed as a freakishly good protege who just seems to be a cut above everyone else. And when he loses, he just… accepts it. He moves on, and seems happier in doing so. Fucking king behavior..

[cryptidcola]

Reflections (of the Past)

>> Somewhere in Jubilife City, there’s a large monument celebrating the Hero of Hisui— it doesn’t depict their face, or any distinguishable features at all— but 5 days a week, a young person passes it on their commute. They pay little mind to it, a mundane part of their daily routine, until 200 years ago in ancient Hisui, when they reflect on their past in the future and they realize it was for them.

>> A set of identical twins in their high school days, idly flipping through a world history book when something catches both their eyes: a black and white photo of a group of people taking up the bottom half of a page. Their eyes scan the picture, and Emmet points out an older gentleman in the crowd, his hat tipped to reveal a balding head; “He looks like you, Ingo,” Emmet says, his voice teasing. “Like us,” his brother quickly corrects, adjusting the hat on his own head that he wears to cover the hairline that’s been slowly creeping backwards ever since he turned 16. They spare one more glance at the photo before turning the page.

>> Cyllene is a national hero— her sword is displayed proudly in a plexiglass container in Jubilife City Hall beneath a regal portrait. She is a celebrated figure, her name spoken with respect all throughout the region.

Somewhere in Sinnoh a boy grows up— the youngest member of a most prestigious bloodline. He has her face; her aloof, stoic demeanor; lacks her physical strength but has all of her ambition. It’s never enough. His parents are wealthy enough to buy him everything he could want but give nothing he needs. “Why can’t you be more like your cousins?” “Why aren’t you top of your class?” He can’t connect with his peers. He can’t even connect with most Pokemon. One night, a Zubat flies into his room through an open window. He guides the small, blind creature back out; eventually over the course of weeks it becomes routine. “I’ll show them someday,” Cyrus whispers to the Pokemon, now clinging to the ceiling above his bed, “I’ll create something perfect.”

>> The name Laventon synonymous with scientific achievement— he is held up as one of the first great minds in the study of Pokemon. His work viewed as the foundation upon which most of the knowledge of Pokemon biology is built even to this day. Scholars of all ages, from the youngest elementary school children to graduate students study his work on the first ever Pokedex. Dozens of universities all over the world have buildings bearing his name where researchers continue his life’s work— his legacy.

In the town of Postwick in the Galar Region, an 8-year old, purple haired future Champion beams with pride when his class opens their science textbooks to chapter 2 and a photo of his ancestor is among one of the first things they see.

>> Champion Cynthia wanders the stacks of Canalave Library— it’s late, and she is restless. Normally it wouldn’t be open to visitors at this hour, “But for you, Champion, I’ll make an exception,” the librarian had said, sensing the urgency in her voice, before asking her to lock up when she finished and wishing her a good night. The ancient floors creak below her feet as she walks across them— it was her own kin who had put them down, building this library in an attempt at penance for his ultimate betrayal— to educate future generations so that perhaps they would not make his same mistake.

Finally, the Champion approaches a nondescript door at the back of the building; and as she turns the key, Cynthia is greeted by a dark, long-disused office. A large, wooden desk sits at the center of it, sprinkled in a light coating of dust. She scans the bookshelves lining the room for a moment before she finds what she’s looking for— gathering the old, handbound tome in her arms; and as she sets On Giratina And The Distortion World down on the desk, her grey eyes are reflected back at her by an old picture of her ancestor, grinning mirthfully with his Togepi.

A/N: Whaddup, I normally don’t write anything to share but I had some Thoughts™️… and my dear @shmothman convinced me to post them here.

Speaking of! The Volo + Cynthia part of this fic takes place in the same canon as their masterpiece Judgement | Forgiveness where after battling him, Volo gets sent to eeby deeby the Distortion World and earns redemption for himself, in case anyone was confused!! If reader-insert fic is your jam I definitely recommend checking it out!!

UPDATE: Now cross-posted to AO3!

[emotionless-puppy]

raihan X fem Reader (kalos queen)

(All characters of legal age) (English isn't my first language so sorry for any spelling errors) ( you have black hair and bright blue eyes and snow white skin also fang like canines that look like rihan's BTW) (most people 18 or over except hop)

Right let's start!

Y/N POV

I can still remember a year ago when I was on the stage in the finale waiting for the votes to say if I become new kalos queen or if the current queen keeps her crown me my shiny umbreon and zorua (all your Pokémon are shiny btw and your team is umbreon zorua lucario ponyta absol and dragapult ) stood their nervously all of a sudden the host shouts "and the kalos queen is ...Y/N!!!!"I was so shocked as they placed the crown on my head I shook the previous queen's hand

Now to current times I have decided to move me and my team to Galar but I have not given up my title or my modelling job (you are a world famous model as well now) so I will at least go back once a month for work and family I'm chose a little cottage in a small town called postwick as I say goodbye to my mum and pick up my designer luggage going out the door getting into the back of my car "ready miss?" my driver called from the front "yes let's go" your driver speeds off towards your private jet 24 hours later you land in Galar soon after landing you sprint off into the public area forgetting you had no security guard so when the public notices you there was a massive crowd around you soon enough you could see news reporters are there

Raihan POV

I was sat in the locker room after another gym challenger it was silence until Leon bursts through the door "at least tell when you are coming to visit" I say but I generally want to know why he is here "have you seen the news" he said snapping me out my thoughts "no why?" I started to get confused I turned on the news and the head lines read 'FAMOUS MODEL , KALOS QUEEN AND WORLD CLASS BATTLER Y/N L/N HAS MOVED TO GALAR' my eyes widen as finish reading and turn to Leon " we'll be able to meet her soon!" Leon announced proudly Hands on hip 'what does he mean we ?' my thoughts overridden by what the Champion has just said "what do you mean we?" I questioned obviously curious "me and you are going to meet her?" My mind has already exploded by that one statement "WTH we stalking her or something?" I said rasing my voice ever so slightly "no you dumbass we both of us will be meeting her at the battle tower" at that moment my brain is SHOOK all I could do is blink and breath I finally got my words out by saying "when will we be meeting her?" "Next week Thursday see you bye I'm also bringing hop" he left before I could even open my mouth

Y/N POV

A week later

I wake up to lucario jabbing me " ok ok I'm awake" I groaned I got up and got dressed into f/c (favourite colour) crop top and f/c short skirt I check my schedule for today and see that I have a meeting at the battle tower today so I start to clean my Pokémon ready for the day I go and get my z-ring, my mega evaluation choker (for lucario and me) a dynamax band all shiny for later i turn and smile at my Pokémon

RAIHAN'S POV

I get up to the sound of my alarm I groan annoyed but I then remember Y/N L/N to be honest I've always had a little bit of a crush on her so I i jump out of bed and get into my normal clothes but put some expensive cologne on and I'm ready to go I'm pretty excited

Y/N pov

I get out of my car putting some shades on I thank my driver before he drives away I don't have any security guard with me but I don't care as I turn around a kid looking around the age of sixteen with purple hair and bright gold eyes jumps in front of me all excited "hello" i say sweetly to the boy "hi my name's hop nice to meet you!" hop says nearly jumping of excitement all of a sudden a new voice enters my hearing "hop come back here" I look up and meet eyes with the person I believe is the champion so I give him a soft smile "you must be Leon" I say kindly he looks at me with wide eyes "ah you must be Y/N L/N" the purple hair champion says i nod my head vigorously. And from that moment on I knew my life was going to change drastically.

To be continued...

[gen4grl]

are you gonna do post-game doodles of hpyu, eventually, maybe?👀 (/gq /nice)

oooooo hello!!!

definitely DEFINITELY wanna do some more hpyu :ppp i have so much angsty stuff for kbnz/dnsn it’ll be nice to draw just some cute hop & gloria lollll (i mean there’s still some angst but compared to the adults? absolutely nowhere close to the same amount lol)

i definitely wanna do a post game, time skip design! i love the idea of older mature hop with his lil lab coat and gloria who’s part time champion part time farmer that works with milo. love the idea of her combining some cute overalls, her champion top and a sunhat ahhh🥺🥺🥺 i always imagined hop walking from wedgehurst to turffield every night after work to pick gloria up, just to walk together all the way back to postwick

i’ve actually had a piece of them planned and in my drafts for a while, i’m on holidays for 2 weeks now so i’m gonna try and get a start on that hehe

thank u for the ask!!! and hope ur weekend was good :)

[pokemon-teacology]

!!! Many many updates on the challenger scene in Galar. Many thanks to Brandy (@paldean-ranger-brandy) for watching with me >:³

Okay so first off, last week the kiddos from postwick made it to Milo, smashed the competition, and carried on. Gloria's Scorbunny looked like it was having a Blast leading all those wooloo to their pens.

There's some kid in pink with The Worst Attitude I've ever seen, kids obviously got some issues. The internet tells me he was recommended by Rosie Posie himself, so I'm interested to see where that goes.

Monday, they got to Nessa, solved the puzzle beautifully, though Viktor got a bit distracted because his Sobble kept wanting to stop and play in the water. Which was adorable.

But! They all managed to defeat Nessa with very few hiccups. Raboot did struggle a bit, but Gloria managed to pick up a Charjabug on the way that finished the first two off fairly easily, then went for Raboot in the end to Max Knuckle the shit out of Nessa's drednaw.

I got a message from Sonia that our Beloved Chairman invited the kiddos out to dinner to "celebrate their victory" the day after, and pictures from the news show me he was wearing The Most Appalling outfit I have ever seen, even worse than the carpet he makes Leon wear all the time. Apparently they didn't even eat anything? Just sat in the restaurant while his assistant stared them down and he spoke at them for thirty minutes???

Anyway, capitalism aside, the kids got to Motostoke and took out Kabu with ease as well, and they're all doing fantastically. Hop did struggle with the fire types, seeing as his now Thwackey is weak to fire and his now Dubwool can't learn any moves that are super effective against it. Same with his Corvisquire (he got a rookidee somewhere around Turffield), its moves are completely neutral to the first two of Kabu's mons.

However! He managed to get it done and beat up Kabu with a shit ton of defense curls on Dubwool's part and three good max airstreams on Corvisquire's for that gigantimax Centiskorch.

Next gym for them is Stow-On-Side, where they'll either fight Bea or Alistair, depending on who they choose. I'm still dubious about letting two children run a gym, even if they only handle the battling side of things. I feel like that responsibility should fall on the adults?? Of the nation??? Is that an unpopular opinion? That we shouldn't let children have jobs for the government??? I feel like that might be an unpopular opinion but whatever. They should arrive in Stow-On-Side within the next week or two, since they have the wild area to traverse, and they'll probably want to catch some more team members between now and the next gym.

That girl with the rad outfit that looked familiar did great, too, her Pokémon are a force to be reckoned with.

There's not anyone worthy of being made fun of this year yet, but there is this old man who's competing because his granddaughter has a chronic illness that means she can't go on a proper journey without endangering herself, so he's going on a journey for her TvT he talks about her in all of his interviews and her dream is to be a professional battler. He acts as her body to go to the stadiums and she teaches him over the phone how to strategize and battle properly because he's never done it before. It's so sweet his name is Gareth his granddaughter's name is Isabella they share their Pokémon and I would die for them.

[flightlessribbons]

GALAR

GLORIA: An enthusiastic and well meaning girl from Postwick. Grew up playing lots of board and card games with Hop and her family, and is very open about her more niche interests and how she can implement them into her new Champion role. Plays a Pockets and Monsters campaign with her family in Unova and Alola every other week that she GMs. A big crybaby and will shed tears at anything remotely emotional. Tries to see the best in everyone and everything, and tries her hardest to show kindness and patience even with those who don’t reciprocate. Gets embarrassed about how loud she can be without noticing, but those around her appreciate her own high-energy presence. Loves to cook curry and would spend hours testing out different recipes.

Traveled with Victor over the course of their gym challenge after he helped her and Hop find the first gym challenge. Hop would travel with them some days when he'd run into them, which made Gloria happier than she'd admit to her best friend (Victor always sees through her and encourages her about her crush on Hop). Gloria also looks up to Sonia immensely and sees her as the big sister she's never had, which Sonia also loves.

ZACIAN: Entrusted Gloria with her care during the confrontation of Castiel and Brant.

VICTOR: Raihan's little brother. Grew up seeing Marnie a lot since their brothers started dating, and is close friends with the girl. Comes across as a smaller presence in battle and in public persona than his brother, but he doesn't mind it much. Eventually makes a good name for himself through the gym challenge, making it far and only being bested by Bede before he went on to fight Gloria. A gentle and understanding, yet straightforward, boy who sticks firmly to his beliefs and morals. Quick to speak out over injustices he sees, he was the one that confronted Bede after what he said to Hop. Enjoys cooking with Gloria, and likes seeing how outrageous he can make dishes. Though no matter how odd the recipes and ingredient lists end up being, they always taste amazing, with top notch presentation.

Watching his brother's matches, he grew interested in the technical parts of battle: like using terrain effects or battle items to confuse the opponent. Has crafted his battle style to be just as confusing with items and moves, one of the traits that impressed Leon and asked him to work in the Battle Tower with him. His starter was also a Grookey gifted to him after helping a lost Leon find his way back to the city.

GALARIAN BIRDS: Upcoming

KUBFUS/URSHIFUS: Gifted to Victor and Gloria by Mustard. Evolved them into the Water and Dark form, respectively.

HOP: Studying under Sonia, and has officially earned his entry white coat from his two years of study- but is still working hard towards becoming a full fledged pokemon professor. Has had a rapid growth spurt, and is now taller than Leon, and even Victor. Sadly outgrew his old denim jacket (though it's still stashed away safely in his closet out of sheer sentiment) but has since received a new denim jacket from Gloria that he wears almost every time he's out and about. Has nearly called Sonia his sister on many occasions since she and Leon had recently started dating.

ZAMAZENTA: Trusted Hop with his care during the confrontation of Castiel and Brant.

MARNIE: Spikemuth gym leader. Is a big softie for all things cute, and has a large plushie collection that only Gloria and Victor know about. The tabloids are constantly trying to guess who Marnie's "elusive girlfriend" is, as she's always seen out with someone- but they've never caught her significant other on camera.

BEDE: Ballonea gym leader. Has grown more tolerable since becoming friends with the others. Once broke down crying in laughter alongside Gloria on live television when a reporter asked them if they were a thing (their laughter lasted for 3 whole minutes straight- embarrassing the reporter for the tabloids the next day). Sees Opal, Rose, and Oleana as his odd immediate family- which leads to some interesting family dinners.

PALLA: Gloria's mum who is also the creator of the tabletop RPG "Pockets and Monsters". Originally from Unova, she studied abroad in Hoenn and Sinnoh, focusing on the study of ancient titan pokemon. Her research brought her to Galar, where she met a fellow researcher who would end up being Gloria's dad. Her research trail of the Titans drew cold for a time in Galar, but she had recently gotten reason to believe there may be truths to her old research than she'd thought.

CONAN: Gloria's dad and good friend of Peony's. Worked part-time in a pokemon center cafe when he met Palla, but eventually went back to the field in his study of Galarian mythos and history full time. Landing a position in his hometown in the Crown Tundra where he monitored and studied the max raid dens there, he began noticing odd things happening there in the recent year.

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Isle Connections Ch1 Towards The Isle Of Armor

The sixth and final Installment of the Galar Soulmate Series.

You're not sure how you stayed but you did. Never again to return home. After all the game's storyline was over. Now what? Well you were hired to play babysitter yet again so it looks like you're heading off to the famous Isle of Armor. Maybe this would be a fun time with your friends! Now only if this goofball wouldn't be such a pain.

(Ok. So like I know I said that Milo's route was going to be the last installment of this series but as A very is technically a Gym Leader at the end of the events of the Isle of Armor DLC and a lot of people voted for a route of him and I said that I would write for all of the male cast of the Sword and Shield Gym Leader cast (minus Kabu) ....Yeah. I got roped into writing for this psychic goofball but I am serious when I say this is actually the last installment of this series. I won't be writing for anyone else from Sword and Shield after Avery. I do however thank everyone for all the love that you all have shown this series and I genuinely appreciate all of the support. It means a lot! Also Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone reading this first chapter.

Also vote for what kind of Pokemon from the Isle of Armor y'all want plus names.)

This entire thing all started in March. That fateful decision that Leon made.

"Uh...What exactly is going on around here?"

It had been about a month since you arrived back in Postwick and already so many things had happened. Your Valentine's Day was great! And so was the rest of the week as the guys and Leon got to hang out with their families before he sadly had to once again take off for Wyndon again at the request of the new Chairman. Well he WAS still Champion after all. He still had a lot of responsibilities now that there was repairs going on. As for you, you got settled back into your basement room and had tried to once again (and succeeded in-) getting that job at Mr. Frederick's grocery store up the road a bit. And Mrs. L had instead started charging you a hundred dollars a month in rent instead of a hundred fifty. You suspected it was because of helping Leon but when you asked she claimed you were probably wanting to save money in order to move out once you figured out what you wanted to do again. Fair enough. If you were living in Galar now you'd need money to buy a house. The guys had been pretty chill. Usually going out to explore the fields or practice battle. Sonia had even published her book a week after you all arrived! Even making a free digital copy anyone could read on the web although you hadn't read it yet. Her publisher worked FAST! But that's not why you had woken up today. You had woken up to a whole bunch of commotion from downstairs and figured everyone was up, but when you came upstairs the strong scent of lemon and cleaning supplies hit your nose stronger than that roof piece did. And the sight of Hop wiping down one of the WALLS with a small rag certainly caught your tired brain off guard. Were you still dreaming???

"Oh uh. Good morning, Y/n!," the boy greeted your tired bed headed stare with an awkward smile. "Did I wake you up?"

"Kinda." You yawned reaching a hand up to rub your eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Oh! Spring cleaning! We do it every year once the weather's warm enough!"

"Spring cleaning?" He nodded. Oh. Makes sense. Lots of people did Spring Cleaning. You know you and your mom sure did.

"Yep! Once a year when it's Spring we clean the house literally top to bottom! But that's not the only reason why we're sprucing up the place!'' He turned back to the wall wiping it down with the biggest smile on his face. "I want everything to look it's best when Lee comes back this weekend!"

"...Say what now?"

"Lee called last night when you went to sleep! He's visiting us again this weekend and he's bringing a really special surprise for Glory! I dunno what it is yet but it's gotta be good! So today the house and then tomorrow the yard and shed! You wanna help?"

You shook your head no. "Sorry I can't. I have to work if I'm going to pay your mom that rent money for this month...But tell you what. Tell your mom to leave the basement and I'll clean that for you guys when I get back from work tonight. Ok?"

He beamed. "Yeah! That'd be a big help thanks!"

So Leon was coming that weekend huh? It'd be nice to see him again after so long. You just wondered what this 'surprise' was. Whelp you didn't have to wait long to find out that either because as he promised he showed up that weekend. The guys were pretty excited to see their big brother figure again and you'd be lying if you said you weren't excited to see him either. After all he was one of the few friends you had really. You kept your word of cleaning out the basement and downstairs bathroom for Mrs. L which she was grateful for but sadly weren't able to help much else due to your working. But it was alright. Mrs. G and the guys came over to help out and prepare things before Leon's big arrival that Saturday. And you were lucky enough to have the weekends off in order to see him. And then the day came. It was pretty early in the morning when someone bursts through the basement door startling you awake as Hop rushed down the stairs to wake you.

"Y/N!! WAKE UP WAKE UP!!"

"Huh?....What the-"

"LEON'S HERE!!", Hop excitedly called out for you from the basement stairs grinning like he had won a million dollars. "Everyone's here waiting for Mom to come back with him from the station! Come on before you miss him!"

You groaned. Oh. Right. It was THAT Saturday. "Alright. Alright. I'm up."

You groaned but did get up in order to go greet Leon. Whelp! You did want to see Leon again anyways. So you stumbled out of your sleeping back, slapped on come clothes that weren't PJs, and made yourself presentable in the bathroom before heading back up the stairs with Silver at your heels. But you were NOT prepared again for what you saw in the living room. Yes. Everyone was there. The guys, their moms, Leon's grandparents, and even Lee himself! But what you WEREN'T expecting was the extra person in the room. As soon as you had walked in someone had looked up from you at the couch and you paused seeing the much older man. And your eyes widened! NO. WAY. IT WAS KABU!! The older gym leader was sitting there in ordinary clothes right next to Leon and had looked up at you when you walked right in but paused in the doorway surprised. Kabu? Here? What in the world was one of the gym leader's doing here?

"Y/n!" You jumped when Leon smiled at you and gestured for you to come in as you stood there. "It's great to see you! Come in! You remember Kabu right?"

"Uh...Y-Yeah." You blinked before slowly walking in Silver at your heels. Still confused, you raised a hand and smiled at Kabu anyways. "Hey. Nice to see you again."

To your surprise instead of waving back the older man bowed to you. "It is an honor to meet our great champion's family and friends."

"Y-Yeah. Likewise. *ahem*....So what brings you to Postwick?"

"That's what this meeting here is all about." Leon looked back to Kabu who sat back up and looked to Gloria who you now realized was sitting across from him and Leon.

"Yes. You all must be very surprised someone like me decided to make the long journey here with Leon but rest assured that I had a purpose." His somber but calm expression met Gloria's. "You see there is a very good reason why I'm here. It is to see you." he then pointed a finger at Gloria.

Everyone looked surprised but more so Gloria who blinked and pointed at herself. "Ye came all the way from Motostoke jus' ta see ...me?" Kabu nodded but to her confusion. "But why?"

"A very good question to ask. And I have a very good answer. You see...I am in good shape for my age." ...You blinked raising a brow as he stated a ..true but very out of no where fact about him. "More than most people my age are, but as healthy as I may be it doesn't get rid of the fact that I am growing older. I have been the Fire Type Gym Leader for many years but it goes without saying I can't just keep that title forever. Like everyone there will be a time that I will decide or need to retire, but I can't as there's no one else to take over Motostoke's gym." ....He leaned forward making Gloria blink. "As with any Gym leader I study my opponents' moves, strategies, skill sets, and a slew of other variables in order to dictate their attacks. It's rare that I find a trainer who could not only beat me on her first try but in a way I wasn't expecting. Leon's judgement is something I respect highly and he wasn't wrong when he saw great potential in you Ms. Gloria."

The whole room fell silent for a moment as Gloria just..stared at him with the boys exchanging looks with each other before she spoke again. "Uh...W-Well thank ye. But what does that have ta do with anythin'?"

"It has to do with everything. Ms. Gloria if you're willing to accept my offer, and with your mother's permission of course." He nodded to Ms. G for a brief moment before turning back to her. "I would be honored to take you on and train you to become the new Fire Type Gym Leader of Motostoke."

Your. Jaw. DROPPED!! As did everyone else's besides Leon who smiled happily towards the shocked Gloria as she just sat there as kabu's words sank into everyone's heads. Kabu wanted to train HER!? As the new Fire Type Gym Leader for Motostoke!? THAT CERTAINLY WASN'T IN THE GAME!! After a moment of silence Gloria eventually sputtered out some noises that sounded like she was trying to talk gesturing her arms to him and around the room. Looking between him and Leon. Back and forth. Back and forth between the two league members before she finally let one word escape her mouth.

"WOT!?"

"Yes. Honestly with your skills and quick thinking I'm sure you'd make a great future gym leader. All you need is some guidance."

"I-I-I heard you b-b-but....WHY me!?" She gestured to herself again as if that was obvious. "I-I can't b-be a gym leader! I-I...I d-don't have the steel nerves it t-takes ta be one!"

"I thought you'd say that actually." She turned back to Leon who smiled warmly at her. "That's why I came up a plan that'd help you with your stage fright and anything else you might need improving on." With one hand Leon reached into his shirt's pocket and produced what looked like a tanish-golden colored train pass before holding it out to Gloria. "Here."

She blinked at it for a moment looking between Lee and the card before slowly taking it. "...What's this?"

"It's an exclusive Armor Pass."

"Armor Pass?," she asked him raising a brow.

He nodded with a hum. "Uh huh! With this you'll be able to directly go to the Isle of Armor station and catch one of their special taxi's to the island. That's where I trained when I first became Champion around your age. You see there's a very special dojo there with a very special teacher who specializes in training people into becoming better trainers. He's helped other people in the league before just like me. In fact he's pretty famous! You might even know about him. His name's Mustard."

You rose a brow. Mustard?? What kind of name was that?

"MUSTARD!?" You jumped hearing Hop shout eyes practically popping from his head with how wide they were in amazement. "As in like the old Champion who had the old title of Champion before he was defeated!? THAT MUSTARD!?"

Your eyes widened at Hop's words before turning to Leon who nodded. A former Champion?! No wonder Hop sounded amazed. "That's right. He's been running the dojo for years now and helps improve peoples' battling as well as themselves. I think it would be a great idea to have Gloria pay him a visit as I believe he'd be able to really help her come out of her shell. That is if she accepts Kabu's offer." He looked back to Gloria who still blinked at him. "You don't have to if you don't want to Gloria but know that you won't be in it alone."

"Yes. It's going to be hard work but that's what makes the end goal much more meaningful. But it depends on your answer."

Gloria blinked. Looked around the room at all of you. Looked at Leon. Looked at Kabu. Looked back down to the pass in her hands......Before smiling brightly like someone had just given her a brand new gym badge before looking back at Kabu! "YES!! O' course I accept ye offer! How can I not!? I just- Wow! THIS IS AMAZING!!"

A few smiles were shared even by the older man as Kabu bowed to her-

"Wait. When does she leave for the Isle of Armor?"

"Oh. Next Thursday. The train to the isle is already scheduled to arrive at noon then."

"NEXT THURSDAY!?" Everyone jumped as all of sudden Gloria shot up to her feet in panic. Hands grabbing her cheeks as a wave of fear washed over her all of a sudden. "T-THAT SOON!? I JUST- ....I NEED TA GO PACK!!" And with that she turned and fled. Silver having to literally jump out of the way as Gloria sped off out of Hop's out throwing the door open with a BANG behind her in her rush. Leaving everyone there sitting in silence...Until Mrs. G sighed.

The Isle of Armor?? Why did that sound familiar to you?...Oh well. You didn't pay it much mind but you were happy for Gloria to get such an unexpected surprise! Being trained by both a gym leader and a former champion sounds like a dream come true for someone like her. You didn't know all the details but Kabu talked for a while with Mrs. G getting Gloria's Mother's permission to train her before Leon had pulled you aside as everyone else was distracted by the sudden happy news. You were surprised when he lead you into the kitchen looking over his shoulder to make sure no one followed or was listening to him. 

It made you raise a brow. "Leon, is everything ok?" You gently pulled your arm away from the Champion. "You're acting weird, Dude."

He again looked over his shoulder back into the living room to make sure no one was listening before looking back at you with an inhale. "Actually I wanted to ask something of you and I wouldn't be asking you if it wasn't for a good reason."

Your brow rose higher as Silver waddled in following you before plopping on the floor by your legs. "It depends on what you're asking of me. What ARE you asking of me exactly?"

Leon reached a hand up to rub his neck, something you learnt that both himself and Hop had a habit of doing when nervous. "Well... I-its about Glory. I figured she'd accept the offer but there's a slight problem I'm worried about." Your crossed arms invited him to go on. "Well as you and I know Hop and Glory both have a habit of sometimes maybe running ahead when they shouldn't and ...Well...H-Hoppy's gonna be trained under Sonia's eyes and Victor's not very prone to running ahead. It's not that I don't trust Mustard but I was kinda maybe hoping that perhaps you'd agree to going along with her and making sure she was settling in ok there?"

You stared. "So...You want me to keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble like I've been doing this entire time?"

"I-Ill make sure you're fully compensated for everything!," Leon assured you, "I-I would just feel better knowing that she was with someone in case she needed help. W-What do you say?"

You hummed furrowing a brow. You didn't feel like traveling again so soon after just settling down two months after an almost region ending event. You were honestly still surprised that you didn't teleport back home to your horrible mother. Then again...there really wasn't anything else you were doing right now. You were still figuring out what you wanted to do with your new life. Maybe a trip to this Isle would help. Plus spending time with Gloria sounded like fun.

You shrugged before nodding. "Sure. Why not? It might be fun."

The purple haired champion lit up before sighing in relief. "Thank you. I mean it. Thank you! I'll make it up to you I promise! I'm just happy to know that Glory is in good hands."

Quickly Mrs. L and everyone else was made aware that you'd also be able to go with Glory and Gloria seemed excited to know that you'd also be going with her. Leon making sure to also gift you the same pass as Gloria before he had to leave with Kabu. Whelp. Guess you were traveling again somewhere. But why did this Isle of Armor sound familiar to you? Oh well. You just packed up and prepared to to go traveling again. Soon Thursday rolled around and You, Hop, Victor, and Mrs. G all traveled with to the station. Gloria both giddy and nervous with a big old stuffed pack on her back. Mrs. G asking over and over again if Gloria remembered to pack everything she needed. First aid kit. Food. Clothes. A coat. Her sleeping bag. Etc. When you got to the train station Practically no one was there except for one or two other people and the station master behind the counter as usual. You did pause to look at the other two people who were dressed somewhat strangely and very colorfully waiting for the train as well. One had really BRIGHT pink hair and the other guy wore this gigantic top hat with pokeballs floating around it like some psychic pokemon. Wha- How was he doing that? Your attention was brought back to the present as the distant sounds of the evening train approaching caught everyone's attention.

"There's the train!," Mrs. G commented before grabbing Gloria by the shoulders with a look. "Are you sure you packed everything you needed?"

"Yes, Mum! For the millionth time I double checked this mornin'. I'll be fine travelin' there. Lee said he was gonna meet me at the taxi station anyways."

Mrs. G still didn't look so sure but Victor assured her. "Don't worry none, Mum. Glory's gonna be fine on her trip there. 'Sides Y/n is gonna be with 'er."

Eventually she did sigh and remove her hands from Gloria. "You're right. I just can't help but be worried about her traveling by herself. You all are growing up too fast for my liking."

"She'll be fine!," Hop said smiling widely before looking to Gloria, "You're gonna do great Glory! I know you will! You're my rival after all so you have to do your best or else I'll become a better trainer than you."

Gloria smiled back at him. "Ha! We'll see 'bout that. OH! I almost forgot! I got something for ye!" She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a pokeball, holding it up to the purple haired boy. "'Ere! I had a couple a few extra o' these wee ones lying about an' I know they mean a lot ta people in a special way so I got ye one."

Hop slowly took the pokeball from her. "A pokemon? For me?" 

She nodded. "It's a rare find I had been gifted by Sonia back at Wyndon but I have no use for it. But don't see what it is til ye get home. Ok?"

Hop again blinked but smiled widely. "Wow! This is amazing Glory! Thank you." he excited turned to Victor holding up the brand new pokeball. "Hey, Vick! Look what Glory gave me!"

"You gave Hop a pokemon?"

Gloria turned to you and nodded. "I gave all me rivals an extra pokemon I got from the rotomi boxes ta show there's nay hard feelings. After all you said I shouldn't cause any bad blood between me rivals."

You smiled. "Oh ..Wow, Gloria. That was really nice of you! What did you give them if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh nothin' special really. I gave Marnie a wee purloin I found and I sent Bede a lovedisc before we went ta see you at the hospital."

You froze. .....And blinked. "Wait, wait, wait. You gave BEDE a what?!"

"This cute water pokemon I found called a lovedisc," she gushed obvliviously. "It was jus' the cutest wee thing shaped like a sweet lil heart! I figured since Bede's always wearin' pink and he has works with cute fairy type pokemon it'd be perfect! An' I gave Hop one of the extra pokeballs I had forgotten in me bag." She paused with a hum rubbing her chin. "I can't remember what pokemon it was but I'm sure Hop will love it all the same!"

You wanted to facepalm right then and there. Because as soon as the words 'I gave Bede a lovedisc' slipped out of her mouth so obliviously you knew she had once again blundered. And you had a good reason why. There was ONE specific pokemon Dex entry you specifically remembered about luvdisc-

"Its heart-shaped body makes it popular. In some places, you would give a Luvdisc to someone you love."

AND she gave one to Bede who she already flustered with accidentally making him think she was trying to gift him an applin. Great. You sighed but figured maybe Bede wouldn't know or he wouldn't think much of it since she also gifted Marnie a purrloin and Hop a....mystery pokemon you have yet to figure out. Here's hoping. The sounds of the train came further and further until with a high pitched screech it stopped right in front of you all and the station master announced it.

"The train to the Isle of Armor has arrived! Those with an Armor Pass please board the train! The train will departing in fifthteen minutes!"

"That's our cue!" Gloria said as the other two weirdly dressed people walked up to the station master. She turned back to all of you with a smile. "I guess this is good bye for now."

"Don't worry about us," you assured her smiling. "You're going to do great out there! And I'm still coming with you."

"Yeah! Glory, you'll do great!" "It's gonna be great to have a Champion brother and Gym Leader Rival!" "I'll miss you, Sweetie."

Hugs were had all around and good bye's were exchanged before Gloria a little tearfully joined the other two weirdly dressed folks in line for the train with you behind her as the station master checked their passes.

"Do you have an Armor Pass?"

"Naturally. I have made all the proper preparations which you can observe with unclouded eyes."

"Hee hee! Of course! I totally have one!"

"Then please allow me to check your passes."

You all watched as the weirdly dressed people handed their passes to the station master who proceeded to look over both behind the booth. Huh...Why did those two look familiar? Deja vu again. But you shrugged it off. Lots of different people in the pokemon world. They probably just reminded you of some you've seen before. After a moment the station master handed the two back their passes and they stepped out of the way for Gloria and yourself to walk up and also hand him your pass Leon gave you both. It was also at that moment the doors to the train opened and something came walking out of it. You turned ..and blinked as a SLOWPOKE slowly crawled it's way out of the train's doorway and into the station. It's dopey grinning face smiling at nothing as it randomly crawled into the station. Wha- What was a slowpoke doing here? Silver noticed too and chirped at it curiously gaining it's attention...or more so the food Silver held that he had been snacking on. the slowpoke peeked it's interest at that and came towards Silver making him chirp in warning backing up behind your legs holding his precious food from it's reach.

"Aw. Hey little guy." You slowly kneeled down to the pokemon who tilted it's head curiously but otherwise none threateningly at you as you kneeled down catching everyone's attention. "Where did you come from?" Of course it didn't answer you but made a happy noise when you reached out to pet it's head. CUTE!

"Oh a slowpoke!" "Hmph. To meet a slowpoke. Such a thing is simply elegant."

You paid no mind to the other two adults but the station master peeked out of his booth to see the thing before giving a groan. "Uh oh. Looks like another one's gotten on the train and ridden over from the Isle of Armor. Hey you're all pokemon trainers right?" He asked you all. "If Slowpoke blocks the ticket gate, it'll cause trouble for other customers. Slowpoke are actually really heavy. So do you think you can catch it for me?"

"I think it's just hungry," you answered back noticing the way it kept staring at Silver's food as your brave guard dog cowered away from the dopey looking teddy bear thing.

"If that case I can lead it out of the station with this." You turned to Victor who reached inside of his pocket and pulled out what looked like those granola breakfast bars that no one really liked besides him. Carefully peeling off the wrapper he exposed the granola berry mix thing and went over to the slowpoke. It was pretty easy to catch his attention as it almost immediately turned it's head to him. "C'mon boy! Ye want it? Come get it." And like magic the pokemon turned and slowly began following Victor as he made his way to back out of the station. The slowpoke slowly but surely following behind.

The station master sighed. "Thanks much! Slowpoke can be a big trouble to move sometimes." And he went back to finish giving Gloria and you your passes as Victor continued to lead the pokemon out of the station. 

"Hmmm? How interesting. I must say your catching style is quite simply elegant." "Whoa amazing! The way you're catching that slowpoke is the absolute coolest!"

Victor chuckled nervously as he continued leaving. "Are you guys getting on the train too?"

They both turned to Gloria and the pink haired lady nodded. "I'm heading to a place called the Isle of Armor! I'm gonna catch some rare pokemon and do some training!"

The blonde haired man nodded. Again HOW were those pokeballs floating around his hat?? "I've heard it's a place where one can catch rare pokemon and do lots of training."

Before Gloria could say anything else the station master turned back to the three of them. "We apologize for the wait. We have checked your Armor pass. All aboard the the train to the Isle of Armor! Mind your step when boarding. Please be aware there will also be a connection along the way."

"Okaaay!" "Understood."

The pink haired lady turned back to Gloria. "Let's hang if we meet up again, 'K? Bye bye then! See ya!"

The taller blonde man reached up to tip his hat slightly to Gloria. "Yes. Perhaps we shall meet again sometime. Well then please excuse me."

And both turned to board the train. You all watched them go before Hop hummed. "I could be wrong..But that lady looked familiar."

"You too huh?" Hop nodded and you hummed. Ok. That was strange. Hop seemed to kinda recognize them too so it's more than a deja vu affect. ...Well considering those two were in Wedgeherst Station that means they must've been from Postwick too right? You must've seen them around before and not paid them much attention beforehand. Yeah. That must've been it.

The station master ended up giving Gloria her pass and she quickly boarded the train with you and Silver behind her but she paused and looked behind her at them all....Smiling sadly and waved. You  waved too as they all waved back smiling and in Mrs. G's case crying lightly until the doors closed and the train moved. You both stood there for a long moment before you felt a jolt of the train move and you nudged her shoulder gently saying that you both should probably take your seats. She agreed so you both walked further into the train to take your seats. Huh. You didn't see the guy with the top hat or the girl with really bright pink hair anywhere. Guess they were in a different part of the train. It took a good few days and nights  of traveling by train and following the instructions Leon gave Gloria on her rotomi phone before stopping by and getting off at a station over looking an ocean. We're you supposed to travel the rest of the way by boat?

"Misses Gloria and Y/n?," a male voice called making you both look left and saw the familiar sight of a flying taxi. "You are them right?"

"Yeah!," Gloria happily answered with a smile, "Why?"

"I was assigned by the Champion to take you both to the Isle of Armor." He made a come on motion. "Climb aboard."

"Oh this is great!" Gloria beamed grabbing your arm. "We'll be there in no time!"

You groaned as she dragged you by the arm towards the taxi with Silver at your heels. Flying. WHY WAS IT ALWAYS FLYING!?

[echantedtoon]

Love Doesn't Do Encores Ch36 Welcome To Spikemuth

(Here's a pic of the motorcycle if anyone needs a visual. Is there anything specific people want to do in Spikemuth with or without Piers? Also my noticfications have been acting wonky lately so if anyone wasn't informed of the last chapter getting posted I apologize. Also, what names shall we have for the other shiny pokemon. You can see what kind of shiny pokemon the reader has back in Ch27 titled Christmas With Piers.)

You left on the evening train. Just a few hours after Victor left and chatting to everyone to pass the time before you did leave. After all you made sure you had packed everything. Paid for the ticket to Hammerlocke. And had been sure to pay Mrs. L for your extra time there before you left and made sure the basement room she rented to you was cleaned before you left. And bought enough travel food to last yourself until you reach Hammerlocke. There wasn't any lose ends to take care of before you left besides to say good bye to everyone. You were excited to be heading to Spikemuth!..But also a little scared to be traveling by yourself and sad to be leaving the place you made friends with, but this was a great chance to benefit yourself. If you were going to live in this world from now on you had to make a living for yourself. Besides. You could always come back and visit Postwick. It was all just a train ride away. Around four o'clock the evening train rumbled into the station and with the ticket you purchased from the station master, you slid it into the small slot while picking up Silver into your arms to pass through the gate, and into the train car you went. Smiling sadly and waving goodbye to them until the announcer sounded over the speakers for any last passengers to board before they left. With one last good bye you turned into the car and walked inside. Getting seated into one of the many bright colorful seats and the train pulled away from the station. Leaving everyone behind. But it was ok. Everything was going to be ok.  

You were going home. 

CHIRP!! You looked over towards the source of the loud noise and found yourself face to face with a familiar face as Silver made it his mission to climb on top of the table and just sit there looking out the window as he just plopped himself down. Still wearing that hoodie you bought for him so long ago. You couldn't help but chuckle which made him look at you.

"I'm sorry," you apologized even though you weren't sorry in the slightest. "You just look adorable wearing that." CHIRP!! He frowned and gave an annoyed look your way. Oops. You forget these guys could understand human language. "Hey. I didn't mean it like that. You really do look nice in that. But if you ever evolve again it'll be too small for you." He frowned more before just flopping on his stomach facing the window and you chuckled at him before reaching over to pat him on the head. "Alright buddy. You go ahead and rest. We'll be home soon."

At least you weren't traveling alone this time. As one day turned into two then three then four then an entire week and more. On your way to Hammerlocke you'd find yourself trying to talk with Silver every so often, which was more lively than you thought. You could read him pretty well as he responded with facial expressions, sounds, nods and shakes of his head, and gestures with his small pink hands. Often using it to wake you up or pointing to your backpack to indicate he wanted food. Which you happily gave to him. Watching him gulp down the food you gave him like no tomorrow making you chuckle. You couldn't remember how many days had passed, too busy looking out the window or playing with Silver but you made sure to listen to the announcer every time he gave an update to where you would be stopping but none were the stop you were looking for. It was during one night you had woken up early in the morning to Silver trying to rummage through your luggage looking for food. Making your groggy self annoyed shooing him off your pack. And then once you knew he wouldn't do it again, tried to lean back in the seat and tried to go back to sleep-

"Attention Passengers! We will be arriving in Hammerlocke within fifthteen minutes!"

You went from groggy to semi awake faster than Silver could use water gun. Blinking in your stupor, you looked out the window. The sky was still dark but the new sun in the morning was starting to come up over the edge of the horizon. Letting you know that the morning was indeed coming and your stop was coming in FIFTHTEEN MINUTES!! Jumping up, you quickly began gathering up your things and securing them in your bag before snatching up Silver in your arms as he gave a noise as you stood by waiting patiently looking out the window as the train wheezed and slowed until it completely stopped and you stood up. Making your way to the exit doors that had opened. 

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

You made your way out of the gates and into the familiar Hammerlocke Station you've been to so many times beforehand. Smiling as you could finally properly stretch your legs for a moment, looking around and seeing the familiar curry side cafe tucked away in the corner of the station you all had eaten before and then letting out an embarrassed sigh when your stomach rumbled. You did want something other than travel foods that tasted bland and dried for too long. But you doubted you had enough money in your pockets leftover to buy anything for yourself let alone Silver so you two would have to stick to the leftover travel foods for now. Silver was placed down and he followed you out from the station where you stopped resting your hands on your backpack straps and looked around. More of the sky was lighter and already there was a few people running around. Mostly a bunch of parents with their children, backpacks on their backs escorting their little ones towards the Hammerlocke school up the road.  And some others looking like they were heading on their way to work. A typical start to many peoples' days. ..But now you had only one other problem. What were you supposed to do now? You were sure Sonia would've called Piers to let him know you were coming like you asked her and you had come to Hammerlocke like he had asked you to do, but....What now? Now that you were here should you just wait? But how long would that take? Was Piers already here somewhere? If so where? ...Maybe you should try finding Raihan and seeing if he knew where Piers was? You really didn't want to do that last one but considering the two were friends, that would probably be your best bet right now. Plus he owed you one for helping to save his stadium from those two thieves. With a sigh, you turned your body and motioned to Silver to follow you towards the draw bridge leading towards the gym.

"Follow me, Sil. Let's see if we can't find anyone around here to help us."

Silver chirped and followed you as you began stepping towards the stadium. As you walked you took in the sight of Hammerlocke by yourself since it was the first time coming here by yourself, it actually seemed a lot more peaceful now which was good. You liked the peace after going through so much hectic events happened in the last year and a half. You approached the corner where you'd find the turn off for the stadium right by the resident pokemon center and was about to turn to walk to the stadium's entrance but you were stopped by one loud voice. 

"Hey, Sassy!," someone called out and your body froze on instinct. There was only ONE person's who's voice caught you're attention that THAT could belong to. And as you turned your head, you confirmed your fears as none other than Raihan him was already walking out from the gym's entrance towards you. Hand up in the air waving towards you. "I thought I saw a beautiful lady and her drizzle. Was wondering when you would show up!"

"Oh really?," you asked back crossing your arms and giving a groan. "Don't tell me that Piers-"

"Asked me to look out for you when you got here?," he asked interrupting you with that usual smirk on his face. "Haha! Pretty much! But I really wasn't expecting you this early. Lucky for you huh?"

"tch. Unbelievable." You pointed at him as he stopped in front of you. "What are you even doing out this early in the morning? I thought someone like you would be too busy to stay in Hammerlocke for so long."

As if to answer you his hand just pointed straight up. "I'm staying here until my stadium's roof is completely fixed. It's taking longer than usual due to the Chairwoman running all over the place trying to fix things and get them ready by next year." He sighed rubbing his head. "Things here are really a hot spot for bad guy operations lately." 

"Why don't you just have Sordward and Shielbert pay for the repairs and speed it up a little bit?"

He turned to you and blinked. "What?"

"The guys with the weird hair that broke in," you said gesturing to your head, "They're super rich and the Chairwoman's already making them pay for repairs and renovations in order to make them pay for what they did. And they must've caused some damage to your roof. It wouldn't hurt them at all to just have them pay for the fix ups to pay you back."

Raihan stared at you for a moment humming..before smiling widely. "Hey! That's not a bad idea. You're a smart cookie."

You shrugged. "Eh. I'm just pointing out the most obvious solution." Before you looked around the place for any flashes of black and white. "So where is Piers? I'm supposed to be meeting him here before I head to Spikemuth."

"Oh he'll be here," he assured you, "But not until around noon. With how Piers drives it usually takes him a little bit to get places."

"..Wait. Piers is driving?"

"Yeah. He said something about you not liking to fly so he's driving his way here instead. Pretty sweet huh? Piers doesn't do this for everyone y'know."

"I didn't know he had a car."

"Motorcycle actually."

"Still. I could've just walked by way there. It's not that far from Hammerlocke."

"True, but Piers considers you a friend at this point." he smiled a knowing look at you which you didn't get at first. "And Piers is always down to help those he cares about."

Well that was news to you as you blinked surprised. "We're...friends?"

"Of course! Piers doesn't really say he's friends with anyone even if you are but he'll let you know you're friends through actions. He's an actions speak louder than words kinda guy most of the time." And as if a lightbulb went off in his head, he smiled and pointed his hand to the left. "Hey. Since Piers asked me to be a good host how about I treat you and you're little friend to breakfast? He's not going to show up until later anyways."

At the mention of food your stomach grumbled again and you gave an embarrassed face to his chuckle. Well...He DID owe you one so you'd be knocking out his owed favor and getting some grub at the same time. And he was actually the one who offered so it wouldn't hurt to accept this. After a moment of thinking it over you nodded but shot him a warning look.

"Alright but don't try anything. I have Silver and I'm not afraid to use him."

"Trust me. I know that."

Reluctantly you allowed Raihan to guide you on over towards that cafe you ate the last time you were there. The same one where you had pulled the hood over Raihan's face...You chuckled at the memory but decided it was best not to pull something like that again. Unless..of course. He tried to pull something again. Hopefully he wouldn't along the way he was stopped by one or two people who he allowed to take pictures with him before continuing on your way. Good to know he was still popular. As soon as you two got into the restaurant and sat down the older man behind the counter greeted him like an old friend before you two placed the orders, having him disappear into the back to prepare said food for the both of you and Silver who was plopped into the seat next to you. Leaving the three of you alone to wait for him to come back with your food. Until he looked to you with a smile and decided to break the ice with a question.

"So how was the trip over here? From what I've gathered you seem to travel a whole lot."

You blinked surprised at the seemingly normal question but still rose a brow. "It was alright but I don't want to make a habit out of it. A bit chilly though."

He nodded. "Well it is nearing the fall months right around now. Seems time flies when you're helping to save Galar huh? Oh hey. That's right." He pointed leaning back in his chair. "You were always traveling with your friends right? So would this be the first time you traveled alone?"

You shook your head. "No. I came here alone last year during Mr. Rose's main event remember? And I have gone places by myself before even before I met you guys." Ah yes. Jobs, runs to the store, walking to school- You shook your head. "But what about you? How are you holding up with everything that's happened in Hammerlocke?"

This time it was his turn to look surprised and you blinked when the usually smiling man actually groaned. "It's been-..Well-.." He made a rolling motion with one of his hands. "It's had it's ups and downs. Mostly a temporary hit to my credibility as a gym leader and good person."

"Wait..Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Being the person's who's gym not only harbored that-...'thing' the Chairman tried to bring back but also was subjugated to two attacks and the fact I failed to keep one out..Uh." A hand reached up to rub his face with a sigh. "I should count myself lucky Lee vouched for me and me obviously being proven innocent by the police. Really scared about what might've happened to my trainers y'know."

This time you were surprised this guy was thinking about the welfare of the trainers he was basically raising, but considering that he has indicated he cared for them before their wasn't really a surprise there he was worried about them first.

You nodded. "Yeah. I can get that..How are they anyways?"

"Huh? Oh. They're fine. Right now they're off at school with a whole bunch of other kids. Y'know it is a school day."

"Ah yeah. So um....Which one of them is your actual successor?"

"Sebastian! His sisters are more into traveling and wanting to start their own businesses. Which I fully support! But speaking of which I heard your friends got some pretty sweet positions too." he smiled. "From Gym Challengers endorsed by the Champion to Heroes and now to being full on trained by gym leaders and the prodigy of a famous professor." He huffed a chuckle. "Those three are something else. I bet Sonia's going to have a field day with her next book."

"Next book?"

He nodded. "Her first one nearly sold out so her second one about the other incident should also do really well. I'm surprised you didn't already get a copy."

You blinked but shook your head. "No. But I'll have to grab a few and have her sign them for me. I bet they'd be a great pass time to read."

Your two's conversation was cut short when the food was brought out and your empty stomach made all your attention turn to the food placed down in front of you. Digging into the delicious waffles along with Silver who also seemed preoccupied with his own food to notice Raihan. In the end you considered things even between you and Raihan for now at least. You weren't sure if another big bad guy was going to swoop in and try to start trouble and surprisingly...the rest of the conversations between you two were actually nice. Mostly about domestic things like how everyone was doing and what your hobbies were. Which you were happy to comply to keep the friendly atmosphere going. Surprising to find out more about Raihan's daily life and how he took the incidents that happened. Before you knew it the food was gone and paid for. The dishes taken and you two both continued to talk and talk as Silver bored sat there. Eventually another round of food was had after a couple hours and you declined his second offer of buying you lunch. You had enough money left for you and Silver for lunch and you decided you didn't want to owe anyone anymore favors, especially Raihan. Although you had come to an understanding that be was actually a decent guy ..when he wasn't flirting with you or being smug at least. By now it must've been near noon time. You were taking a moment to eat through your lunch when a familiar ring tone sounded out and you paused when an orange blur suddenly shot up from one of Raihan's pockets. A rotomi phone. The pokemon inside the phone floated up towards Raihan who smiled at it when it spoke in a robotic like voice.

"Incoming phone call from Emo Softy. Would you like to Accept Call or Decline Call?"

"Accept Call."

"Emo Softy?," you asked at the same time making his smile turn to you. 

"Well yeah. I have nicknames for all my friends, Sassy. Don't you?"

Well..you kinda did. But a voice picked up through the other side of the line. "It's 'bout time ya picked up." A calm, bored sounding voice. And you both instantly knew who that was.

Raihan only smiled and said to the phone, "What? It was only a few seconds since you called me first. Don't I at least get a little credit on my end?"

A groan answered him. "Jus' where are ya? 'M already here at the stadium."

"Oh. We're not there. We're at that cafe we ate at for your birthday that one year remember? The one that sold the pokemon safe cake you gave your obstagoon."

There was a slight pause. "...We?"

"Yeah." Raihan smiled at you. And as you weren't looking Silver reached over and grabbed your plate, quietly sliding it over towards him to eat while you weren't paying attention. "We. Me, Sassy, and her little bodyguard. We're having lunch. You should come over and join us actually. This plate has great food."

Again another pause before the voice cleared his throat on the other side before saying, "M' on my way." Before hanging up.

Raihan gave a few chuckles before the phone zipped back to his jacket pocket. "Well it looks like we're going to have a guest soon."

Piers. Piers!! Piers was coming to see you. An excited feeling fluttered in your chest but that must've been from the thought of seeing someone who considered you a friend again. You fork came back down- Clink! Your f/c eyes blinked back to the table your fork connected with realizing your plate was no longer there before your eyes trailed over to Silver who shoveled the last of the lunch YOU paid for YOURSELF into his mouth. Making you scowl and Raihan laugh. 

"Silver!"

Unsurprisingly he didn't see the problem with taking your food and you were left sitting there with only half the plate eaten. Although your attention to the window soon made you forget all about your stolen lunch and Raihan as you all just waited anxiously. Or just you really. And you instantly perked up as a man slightly slouched over with long black and white spikey hair appeared briskly walking past the store window. PIERS!! You felt your lips smile widely in happiness as the punk opened the door and stepped right in the little bell over the door ringing out. And he instantly stopped in the doorway once he stepped into the door. Because he instantly saw you and vise versa. Not waiting for anyone else to happen, you jumped up from your seat startling Silver who blinked at you and you waved at him. 

"Piers!"

..A tiny smile speared across his face. "'Bunny! Yer here!...I mean." He cleared his throat hand reaching up to grab his choker before he walked in more. "'S good to see ya again."

You smiled brightly at him as Raihan looked between you two with a knowing look. "Same here. I'm happy to see you too. Man. It's been so long since I've been able to see you again. How are you?"

He hummed that small smile still on his face as he did so. "'M fine. 'Course I was jus' not sure if you'd be 'ere or not. I wasn't sure if I came here too early or too late. Seems we're both lucky huh?"

You nodded. "Yeah. Seems my luck is always getting better with you around. You're like a walking good luck charm!"

Piers blinked at your words before his eyes darted to the right suddenly interested in the ceiling, and a slight pink hue lit up on his cheeks. "Uh huh....*ahem* W-Well are ya ready ta go?"

"Oh already?" So soon? He nodded and you shrugged. "Sure. Just give me a second to grab something real quick." 

You went to grab your back pack and Raihan stood up with a sigh. "Well I guess it was fun while this lasted. I'll walk you two out."

Silver shuffled off the seat after you and after Raihan tossed a few bills on the table for the tip, the lot of you made your way back out the cafe with you smiling brightly like a child who just got free candy between the two guys. Raihan gave one look over to Piers who glanced at you but once he caught Raihan's gaze, the dragon man wagged his brows at him making the punk scowl silently back at him. The three of you walked all the way to where you remembered the way back to Spikemuth from when you all traveled there last year. Travel all the way down Route Eight until you reached the fork in the road that branched off into the rest of Route Eight and Route Nine. Then travel down Route Nine until you reach Route Nine Tunnel which marked the halfway point to Spikemuth, then go through a small forested area and boom! You'd reach Spikemuth. Upon reaching the exit out of Hammerlocke, you paused seeing what Piers walked over to. A motorcycle! I mean..Raihan had told you he had one but you were actually expecting to see one. It was a model unknown to you but it was dripped out in the classic magenta, white, and black colors Piers usually associated himself with. A magenta traveling bag strapped near the front that must've belonged to him, and a small white helmet and goggle set with a hot pink stripe on the back was hung on the handlebars which Piers instantly grabbed once he got near it. You slowed your steps approaching the bike wide eyed admiring it as Piers placed the helmet on his head securing the straps and throwing the goggles. You only really blinked when something was held up towards you which turned out to be another helmet than was tan. You slowly took it from him. 

"'Ere," Piers said pointing at it. "I had an' extra for Marnie, but you'd need  if you're gonna ride with me. " He paused.."You have ridden one of these 'fore right?"

You shook your head no. "Not really. I've ridden a bicycle before but never a motorcycle." You then placed the helmet over your own head and reached to attach the straps around your own chin. 

Piers hummed. "Well..Jus' hop on and hang on tight to me. It'll take a few days to get there but it'll be faster than walking." He then looked at Silver and pointed. "An' he'll need to ride in a pokeball. There's not enough room for three of us."

Well that was understandable. It took a few minutes of convincing and Silver whining and clinging to your arm but you managed to get him back in his pokeball and secured him safely in your backpack. In the mean time Raihan walked right over to Piers who gave him a look. 

"....Thanks for helpin' out."

"It's no biggy," he said waving a hand before smiling widely. "But if you gotta know her favorite hobbies is reading, literally anything involving music, going on walks, and she dabbles in cooking. Her favorite food is the sweet instant noodle curry and the sweet cheese one too. She hates people flirting with her out right if you don't get to know he-"

"What are you talking about?," Piers asked interrupting Raihan in his tyrade as you busied yourself with putting Silver away and climbing onto the back of his bike carefully.

Raigan smirked. "Oh. Just something to help you become better friends...Or if you ever decide to hang out again."

Piers opened his mouth ready to tell Raihan to come off it but he froze eyes suddenly blown wide and Raihan blinked for a moment confused as to why Piers suddenly looked like he saw a ghost but soon found out when he noticed that two arms were wrapped around his middle. Causing the punk to flush a slightly deeper shade of pink as you..Well you did exactly as Piers advised and what people usually did when riding the person driving the motorcycle. You made sure the helment was on securely before hopping onto the back seat and wrapped your arms around Piers in order to keep from falling off. Oblivious to the blush across Piers's face as you smiled at him. 

"I think I'm ready so you can start the thing."

Piers took a moment to process what you said before he cleared his throat and his hands grabbed onto the handles. "R-Right. *ahem*" With one leg he pushed the motorcycle in an upright position from it's parked form ignoring the smirk Raihan was boring into him before twisting the handle and the engine purred to life. Your arms on instinct tightening just a bit more around him and with one kick off the motorcycle took off down the road. "Hang on. O-Ok." ..Although not as fast as you expected him to go. You both indeed take off. Down the dirt path. ...Well it was certainly faster than you could walk and it was faster than you could even run actually. Certainly faster than Silver could run too. But not as fast as a car or anything like that. If you'd have to compare the speed to something, it would be a scorbunny jogging pleasantly down the path.

But who were you to complain? You both left Hammerlocke behind and the visual of Raihan waving good bye to the two of you and you would've waved back if you weren't too scared of falling off being this was your first time on a motorcycle and while it WAS better than flying, not having the comfort of walls between you and a crash and the lack of a seat belt made you a bit nervous. You watched back as Hammerlocke slowly got smaller and smaller until it completely disappeared other than a small visual of it looking as if it was a small toy castle. After a moment you turned back around the scenery as it passed. Silently the two of you road for what seemed like a long moment before you looked back to him curious.

....

.......

Well you decided to ask him.

"Hey." You weren't sure if he could hear you at first over the wind and engine but he tilted his head slightly indicating he was listening to you. "Why don't we go a little faster?"

"Cuz my motto 's safety first," he replied back loudly for you to hear him. "An' this is your first time ridin' with me like this. I ain't taking any chances with you 'gain." He mumbled a last part to himseld. "Arceus knows you don't deserve any more trouble."

"Oh. ....How long will it take us to reach Spikemuth like this?"

"About three and a half days," he answered back, "But I'm plannin' on driving all night tonight so it should be shortened to a day n' a half. Hope ya don't mind but I don't like the idea of leaving Marnie all alone for too long."

Oh. Well that was completely understandable. "No it's fine. Honestly I'm sure I can pull an all nighter." You've done so before a couple times when you were studying for a test or did a night shift at a job your mother badgered you to do. "But will you be ok?"

He seemed to pause for a moment again..and you didn't see it but he blinked as if the question was foriegn to him. "Wot?"

You were oblivious to his face so again asked, "Are you going to be alright driving all night? I don't want you hurting yourself if you become too exhausted."

He didn't answer at first but eventually regained himself and nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine. You jus' make sure ta just hang on and d-don't let go. I don't want you gettin' hurt anymore."

"Same here. I don't ever want to see you with a hurt arm let alone anything else again."

..He nervously gulped. "R-Right."

The next two and half days were pretty bland. Night soon fell upon the two of you but as Piers had said he kept driving. Half because he wanted to get back to Spikemuth and Marnie and half because he wanted an excuse to ignore the thoughts that made his heart pound in his chest for reasons he'd rather not contemplate. Switching a switch on his motorbike to make the front light turn on so he could see in the dark night as you stayed up to cling to him. You were tired of course but it was easier to stay away knowing you could fall off the bike and you definitely didn't want to end up in the hospital again. So through the night you drove on and on. The moon rising and falling as the night went on. Sometime during the middle of the night you both passed the fork in the road where Piers turned onto Route Nine and continued until the sun came up and he continued onwards still. You were so tired yawning every ten minutes or so, but you somehow were able to just stay awake blinking your tired eyes.

"Are you alright there?", he asked you a few hours into riding the second day...before he totally froze upon feeling something soft smooshing against his back and it took him a solid moment to realize your face was laid against his shoulder as you tried to keep yourself awake. Resulting in pink again rushing to his cheeks.

You nodded with another small yawn and blink head against his shoulder. "Y-Yeah. Just a bit..tired. Y'know?"

" W-W-Well...*ahem* Just stay awake for a lil longer. We'll be able to sleep tonight. Kay?"

You nodded still leaned against him and thus he continued to drive. By the midday of the day you both came upon something and you blinked your tired eyes up and behind you as the world blackened for just a few seconds before it was gone. Looking behind you, you realized what it was. A tunnel like bridge and it took you're tired brain a few seconds to realize something. That was the Route Nine Tunnel. That means you two were more than half way to Spikemuth already. That was a good sign. So again you two continued on with you leaning into him more as the day passed and eventually the sky started to darkened and the sunset started to form on the horizon. It was then that Piers began to slow down the bike even more and you blinked tilting your head up as he completely stopped, parking the bike, and reaching up to pull the helmet off himself as you slowly removed yourself from himself and the bike as well. 

"We'll rest here for the night 'n travel the rest 'o the way in the mornin'," he commented looking over at the quickly setting sun. "With any luck we'll be there by tomorrow."

"Mm hm." you yawned again half stumbling have fumbling to get off the bike and reach towards your pack in order to reach your sleeping bag. You were just so tired that you just wanted to sleep.

The night was a blur. Somehow you managed to fish out your sleeping bag and crawl into it, completely falling asleep as soon as your head had hit the ground. Leaving Piers to look at you for a moment before sighing and shaking his head before also retiring for the night. You were awoken the next morning by light in your eyes and noises coming from somewhere near you.

"Hey. You."

 when you opened your eyes blinking it took a moment of you yawning, rubbing your eyes, and letting your brain catch up to you before you were able to sit up and realize what was going on. Piers was already up and already to go. Already with the helmet and goggles on and currently strapping his travel bag back onto the front. But he did take notice enough of you stirring to talk to you.

"So you're finally awake."

You blinked and yawned again before stretching. "Y-Yeah. Man. What time is it?"

"Still early. Around eight in the mornin' I think." He turned to you before nodding over towards the bike. "C'mon. We're almost there. I'll help ya pack up."

After repacking everything back up and letting you wake up enough to put the helmet back on your head properly Piers was just about to hop back on the bike before something was shoved at him making him blink. It was a hand, your hand, holding out a piece of travel jerky to him. And he looked over to you who smiled while already chowing down on a piece of your own.

"Here. Breakfast." You said placing the small food into his palm. "You're probably hungry after all that driving. I don't have a lot but you can have that until you get back home." He blinked raising a brow between you and the food..before opening his mouth. "Dude. Don't try to give it back." You interrupted him making him lean his head taken aback as you pointed your free hand at him. "I know for a fact you didn't eat anything yesterday and you certainly didn't even eat anything this morning. You need to eat something even if it's just that. I'm not taking no for an answer about that."

"But I-''

"Piers." You narrowed your eyes at him. "I am NOT getting on that back until you eat that. Seriously, you need to take care of yourself dude." You smiled at him and he paused seeing it. "And I don't want to see you getting hurt ok?"

Piers just stood there staring at your smile. Your words slowly sinking into him conflicting emotions going through his mind. ..Until he eventually just said, "Thanks."

You two did eventually get back onto the bike and start to drive back again now more awake and less hungry than before although you did keep your promise and refuse to get back onto the bike until he at least ate the food you had given him. Long story short the two of you did reach Spikemuth. Through the woods and eventually out the other side as he slowed down the bike even more as he approached and you turned your head over his shoulder to look at the new restored town. And your eyes widened at what you saw. The high crumbling walls looked like someone knocked them down and slapped a brand new brick wall around the city as you two approached and with Piers slowing down more you saw even more improvement writing into town. It all looked brand new-ish! No trash was anywhere. The buildings looked normal and  while not brand new looking was better than the worn out look they had before. The signs and broken lamp posts was no longer broken. But what really surprised you was the amount of people walking around that wasn't Team Yell. There was ACTUALLY a decent amount of regular looking people walking around the streets of all ages. From an elderly couple to a couple people and their children. As you two passed a couple of people also clearly noticed Piers and either pointed or waved at him as you passed. Well it looked like Piers was still well known to some people. You smiled as you admired the place which looked like now any other Surburban neighborhood. Already you felt a good vibe come off this place. The ride coming slower and slower until you blinked as you both once again came to a complete stop in front of the gym stadium. He must've felt your confusion because he answered you.

"Marn-marn's waitin' for me here." He said before reaching his hands up to remove the helmet from his head. Shaking to where his ponytails shifted about before looking behind him at you. "The friend I told ya 'bout who's rentin' her house works for me as well. Ruby's the one who usually takes care of the garage with R.J. an' Benjamin. ...And the one who keeps everyone in check when I'm not here." he mumbled that last part to himself before shaking his head and carefully placing the helmet on one of the handles. "C'mon. I'll introduce ya."

You blinked at Piers but quickly made to remove your helmet and follow after the lanky man who calmly walked up to the gym's giant exposed entrance letting you both see the inside easily and even more as you two walked up the street and right into it. Piers stopping first his blue eyes pointing towards one corner and you blinked following his gaze over to said corner and also paused. Because standing there was Marnie, with her back towards the both of you talking to a woman decked out in Team Yell attire and the two of them were staring at a phone the woman held as they seemed to be talking about something, but Piers interrupted the two with a smile and a small tune as he stepped forward and sung something out.

"'M coming home.~" Both ladies jumped and instantly snapped their heads up and around to Piers who smiled and held his arms out in a gesture. "Tell the world I'm comin' home.~"

Marnie's reaction was instant. "Piers!" And you watched as the younger of the two siblings ran up to her big brother to let the both of them embrace in a hug. Which made you smile. "What took ya so long?" Marnie demanded face buried in her brother's chest from the hug. "You're travelin' and gone from home so much lately."

"I know. An' I'm sorry about that," he assured her with a couple pats to her back. "But I made a promise ta someone to help 'em out an' y'know I always keep my promises. Like I also promise I'm not going anywhere for a good while, Marn-Marn." He turned his head over towards you and Marnie eventually followed his gaze landing on you. "Ya remember Leon's mate, right?"

Marnie looked at you slowly pulling away from her brother's hug and blinked at you but nodded. "Oh yeah. You're my big brother's new friend." She curiously turned her eyes up towards Piers raising a brow. "So you're the gal he went ta help? ...Hm. He seems to like helpin' you out a lot."

Piers gave her a look but you just smiled and nodded. "Well he's a really nice guy that's for sure. I bet he's a great big brother too."

"Hmm..Well you're not wrong about that."

Piers cleared his throat gaining your attention and motioning over for the woman who was previously chatting to Marnie to come over. "A-Anyways since you two already know each other." He quickly changed the topic pointing between you and the woman. "Y/n, this 's Ruby. Ruby this is the gal I told ya 'bout."

The woman blinked over to you and you noticed she had yellow eyes and some of the hair dye Team Yell used had started to fade revealing some faint red hair underneath. She looked you up and down for a moment before smiling. "Oh. You're the woman interested in the room for rent."

You nodded. "Y-Yeah. Piers said you were looking for a new tenant."

Ruby nodded back. "He said some good things about you, and I trust Piers's judgement so I'd be happy to go over the lease contract with you. But unfortunately I'm still on shift and don't get off until five. I'd be happy to go over everything with you then though."

You held up your hands understanding. "That's alright. I can wait. It'd probably be best for me to look around the town anyways. And this might be a good chance to go job hunting anyways."

Piers blinked. "Already? Ya just got here."

You nodded at him. "Yeah but it'd be better to get situated as soon as possible. You mentioned you knew some places around here who were hiring?"

Piers still blinked but Marnie answered you. "There's that new cafe a few blocks away from here." She said pointing out the gym. "It was converted by the new owner of the ol' ice cream shop. Heard it was lookin' for new waitresses."

Hey! That wasn't too far from the gym actually! Smiling you turned and waved at them. "Well then that's where I'm heading! I'll be back around five so I can talk to Ruby about that lease."

''W-Wait. Do ya even know where you're goin'?," Piers asked holding out a hand and called after your form. "Don't you even need a ride there?"

You shook your head. "No. It's just three blocks to the right from the gym. I remember that from the last time I was here." You waved. "Thanks for the ride Piers! I owe you one!"

He stood there for a moment hand outstretched before slowly returning his hand to his side silently as Marnie looked between where you had disappeared and her brother for a moment seeming to see something he didn't before asking.

"If ya want to ask her out there's no shame in it."

"M-MARNIE!!"

You smiled walking through the familiar streets of Spikemuth. The brighter atmosphere and other people walking around put a smile on your face at the peaceful atmosphere. You were right. Piers was a great gym leader because if this is was how it was like when he was in charge, then Piers must be doing a good job looking after his town. It was incredible at home much the town had changed since your last visit. As you passed different homes and a few small businesses, you eventually came to the small cafe that was once the run down ice cream shop. Repainted, repaired, and reopened with a 'Now Hiring' sign in one of the windows. Perfect! Smiling you walked right up to the door and opened it. A small bell went off above you echoing out throughout the small cafe you walked into. Making you blink and look around. It looked like any other generic restaurant you've eaten at. About as big as the cafe in Hammerlocke but a bit bigger, with a couple tables and booths lined up on the opposite wall and by the windows with black and white tiled flooring and a couple lights and ceiling fans above you. There was a bar counter with a couple stools and a cash register sat upon the very end. Behind the counter was a shelf with bottles of drinks, soda cans, and instant noodles packages with a coffee pot right next to the shelf. A pair of double doors was by the counter which you guessed must've lead to the kitchen and back rooms. Seemed like a nice place to work. 

"Hello?," you called out when no one answered the bell.

What answered you was a clatter from the back kitchen making you jump and turn towards the double doors as footsteps approached. You watched as the double doors swung open and an older woman maybe mid forties in a professional chef outfit with the white sleeves rolled up and apron around her waist. Her light pink hair was already starting to lightly grey in some places, she smiled when she saw you.

"Welcome!," she greeted in a slightly higher pitched voice. "Sorry if I didn't hear you come in. I was in the back putting away some stock. What can I get for you?"

"Actually." Your hand pointed over towards the sign in the big window. "I'm here for the job opening?"

She seemed to instantly beam at this with a large smile. "You are?" You nodded and she huffed a chuckle. "Well hallelujah. That old sign's been hanging there for months now and no one's answered the call." She gestured to herself. "The name's Barbara. And you are?"

"Y/n," you said extending your hand to her to shake hers. "What job position are you looking for?"

She roughly shook yours. She seemed strong for her age. "Basically a helper around here of sorts. Someone to man the register, take orders, clean up the tables. The whole works. You have any job experiences doing those things?"

You nodded your head. "I worked at a cafe once as a summer job when I was seventeen." You answered truthfully. 

"You're hired!"

You blinked....."Wait. Just like ..that?"

She nodded. "Yep! Been waiting for someone to start working and you're the first in months to show interest." You blinked when she pointed at you. "You start first thing Friday morning. Be here by six sharp and I'll run you through everything you need to know."

"Actually if you have time, you can go ahead and show me right now. I don't have anywhere to be until five anyways."

Barbara blinked looking surprised for a moment before she smiled widely again and slapped your shoulder making you wince. "Ha! I like you already! Sure. Follow me and I'll show you were everything is and what you'll be doing!"

And she did. Showed you the kitchen which looked like your standard cafe kitchen with a grill, fryer, sink, dishwasher, oven, and a large place for dishes to be put away. The back room where the food, cleaning supply closest, and other thing like extra napkins and to go boxes were. Before leaning you back to the front to show you something you didn't notice at first glance. A small open space in the wall  leading from behind the cash register to the kitchen and right next to it was a small bell. 

"After you bring us an order the food will be placed here and the bell will be rung to let you know to take it. When a table's done eating just bring the dishes to the back for us to take care of."

"Us?," you asked blinking and Barbara nodded.

"Yep! I work here with my son. He's my dishwasher, stock storer, and delivery boy. You just haven't met him yet because he's out making a couple deliveries." She then pointed towards the front of the cafe. "I do the cooking and making sure we're kept up in stock. The duties you'll be in charge of is just making sure the customers are happy getting their food, cleaning tables, and manning the front here. But there's a few rules I have to go over with you." You nodded. Of course. All businesses had dos and don'ts and rules. "Number one, if anyone tries ordering an alcoholic drink you always, ALWAYS check their IDs first and foremost. I don't care how old they look or who they are. If you don't see a number over twenty one on that card then it ain't happening, and I have a rule only two alcoholic drinks per a customer. If they don't like that then they can take their business somewhere else." Ok. That was actually responsible. "Number two, the only one who counts the money at the end of the day is me and only me. My register automatically counts every transaction and calculates how much money should be in there at the end of the day. So I always know if someone tries to sneak any money from it." Ok. Out of the blue but still understandable. "And lastly, I have a three strike rule. I'm pretty understanding if you're late sometimes or you break a plate on accident because things happen, but I also have a limit. You get three strikes and you're fired. I run a tight schedule around here and I'm no push over. Understand all that?"

Ok. Well that sounded pretty reasonable to you. So you nodded yes to her.

"Good. You start first thing Friday morning. Make sure you're here bright and early."

You again nodded. Looks like things were finally starting to look up for you.

-SMALL TIME SKIP-

Well, you were finally back at the gym. After talking a little more to Barbara, you still had a couple hours to kill so you took the opportunity to walk a little more around town and familiarize yourself with your new town. Finding a few other small businesses, a small park, and a lot of other houses you weren't able to see before for the brief time you were here last year. Of course there was a considerable amount of houses with 'For Sale' or 'For Rent' signs hanging up in their windows but you expected that from what Piers had told you. Entering one random thrift store you were able to see the time thanks to a clock on their wall and made it back to the gym in time to find Piers and Marnie gone and some Team Yell grunts around cleaning up after the day was getting to a close. One being Ruby who after greeting you motioned for you to follow her which you did. Surprisingly the place she lead you was just up the street from the gym itself. The house a generic two story building on the outside and when you were let in, the inside was genuinely like any other house. Actually it looked a lot like Mrs. L's house. Generic furniture matching the specific room they were in. Example being the living room having a television and a few chairs on a white rug. Ruby naming the rooms pointing as them as you passed them.

"-and in there's the kitchen. Your room will be upstairs on the second floor and you'll be sharing space with me and Pearl."

"Pearl?"

She nodded. "She's our other room mate but she's not here right now because she usually works the late shifts at her job. But you'll probably meet her tomorrow since it's her day off. Follow me." You followed her into the living room where she went over to a small table with one or two drawers. Going over to it, she reached into one drawer, and a moment later pulled out a piece of paper before turning around and holding it out to you. "Here. It's the leasing contract. It has all the rules and stuff. You'll have to sign it."

You took it from her and began reading it. It looked like an official legal document. Stating the typical rules involving any damages caused by tenants and liabilites. 

"I have a few rules of my own since I do own the house," Ruby continued as you read over the paper. "I don't mind if you have people over but I'd like a heads up first and strangers can't stay overnight without my say so. Same with your pokemon. I don't mind if you let them run around but any damages they cause is coming out of your deposit." Ok. Makes sense so far. "Speaking of which. The room just itself is a hundred fifty but you'll also be contributing for water, electric, and wifi so I'll expect two hundred fifty each month. If you can't make payments for any reason you better let me know so we can work something out." Again, fair enough, and that's still a good price. "But..that's also where the problem lies."

At this you blinked looking up at her, her expression more serious. "Problem?"

She nodded. "You see when Pearl started renting I had her give me a seven hundred dollars for a security deposit, but from what Piers told me you didn't have that kind of money to just hand me. So usually I would refuse until I can get that....Buut. Since my boss spoke really highly of you and I trust his judgement, I'm willing to work something out. He has a good judgement of character."

You ..blinked. "He...did?"

Ruby nodded again. "But that doesn't mean I won't let you off that easily either. He said you were a hard worker so here's what I thought up. You won't have to pay the two fifty this month or next month." You nearly sighed in relief. "Instead you'll pay four hundred this month and three hundred the next." You felt your eyes widen and your hand nearly dropped the paper. "I'm not finished." She said seeing your expression. "That'll pay for your deposit, then when the second month's over we can start you on the regular payment. But in exchange for not charging the regular rent with the deposit costs, you'll be helping me out and doing chores around here for me for those two months. Does that sound fair to you?"

.....Actually that did. Because it was almost the same situation with Mrs. L only a little more expensive. Oi vey you'd be having to save up a bit more.

You nodded. "Y-Yeah. That sounds great!"

Ruby smiled. "Well then when you're finished reading the paper you can sign it and we can get you settled in."

You did sign the paper after rereading it carefully and finding nothing wrong with it smiling before Ruby took it from you and made you follow her upstairs where she continued to list off a few more rules of hers.

"You're welcome to the kitchen but everyone washes their own dishes and cleans their own messes. That also applies for any other messes you make around the house. But I have one very, VERY important rule." She stressed. "Everyone supplies their own stuff. Room furniture, hygiene products, food- You get the picture. And everyone stays OUT of the other's rooms. As long as you don't give me any reasons to search then we won't have a problem. Your stuff is yours. Our stuff is ours. Respect each others' privacy and boundaries."

"That's not a problem!," you confirmed and she nodded.

"Good. Then we're going to get along just fine then." She stopped in front of a door and out of her pocket she pulled out a key. "Here. Your own bathroom is through the door on the left inside." You reached for it but paused when she pulled away slight with a raised brow. "Don't lose your key. I have a spare if you need it but I can't replace it if you keep losing it." you nodded and she dropped it in your hand. "Oh. One more thing. You'll have to renew your lease at the end of the year if you want to continue living here next year too. You won't have to renew the deposit either if you don't cause any damages."

You again nodded and thanked Ruby for everything. Eventually her taking her leave letting you unlock the door with your new room key and opening the door to a...completely empty room. ...Well she did say you supplied your own furniture which was fair enough, and it's not like you weren't used to a sleeping bag by now anyhow. Closing the door you sighed looking around the empty place. ..Well. Wasn't too different from your old basement room, just less like Postwick. And of course without anyone you recognized...Hey. That's right. You hadn't let Silver back out of his pokeball yet. Oh crap! He was gonna be a little cranky but hey. You'd feel better with a familiar face lying around. Smiling you took your pack off and placed it on the floor. Opening it and rummaging around until your hands found a pokemon ball. With a smile and a small toss of your hand, the ball opened, and a bright flash of white light appeared letting a pokemon out...Only...It wasn't the one you expected. Instead of a shiny greyish water type pokemon instead someone in a flash of white and pink and spikey looking appeared. And a sound that you could only describe as something between a raccoon and dog growl sounded out. Your smile dropped. And you were staring at something that was absolutely not Silver. ...But a zigzagoon. A SHINY GALARIAN zigzagoon to be more precise. The small creature yawned in a downward dog style stretching out it's body as if it had just awoken from a nap before shaking it's head and blinking. 

....What the-

THIS WASN'T YOUR POKEMON!! You dropped the current pokemon ball you were holding in shock just staring at the thing. Before you suddenly moved. Hands shoving themselves back into the bad and moving things only to discover five other poke balls. And your eyes widened again. .....Ok. ONE of these was clearly Silver and he was yours. But where in the heck did the other five come from!? Did Gloria sneak them into your bag as a going away present of her own like she gave Hop and her other rivals? But why didn't she tell you then? You were about to seriously go right up to Ruby and ask to borrow a phone to confront her. When a sudden thought struck you. One from last year. With a poke poacher and small pokemon in cages. And someone accidentally delivering you shinies in your coat and with nothing else to do with them at the moment, put them in pokeballs and away to keep them safe and hidden....At least until now. You slowly looked over wide eyed to the panting zigzagoon who tilted it's head at you.

".......Uh oh."

[invictarre-archive]

okay so !!!! here's a timeline of (some of) leon's important life points:

at age four, a sickly charmander is brought back to postwick. arthur, leon's father and a ranger from almia, estimates that it has weeks left to live and should be made as comfortable as possible

at age five, charmander is given the all-clear to become leon's official starter and is given a pokeball of his own

leon enrolls into the isle of armor when he is eight. he trains under master mustard for two years, becomes fast friends with his kubfu, teddie, and meets rengoku, another trainer on the isle and one leon gets along excellently with

leon and red start their gym journeys not too far apart from each other. red becomes champion first and achieves worldwide acclaim, and when leon takes galar's championship, the region is quick to latch onto the idea of this new child prodigy. there are many comparisons made between the two

however, red's disappearance makes galar's officials nervous. they can't risk leon buckling under the pressure, and so they think of preemptive ways to tighten control to keep their new champion in line. these turn out to be unneeded, as leon takes to the spotlight like a ducklett to water and flourishes in the dynamic stadium environment

at age eleven, a year into his championship, he makes his debut in the world coronation series. he becomes the monarch of the master's eight

around seven or eight months before the events of swsh, dani breaks the 3000-year-ban on mega evolution in an exhibition match against leon. this is something leon was heavily involved in organising, and was the first step in drawing galar and kalos closer together after their rocky history

the events of swsh happen. leon and dani are an established couple, though the media coverage is largely focused on leon's battles instead

leon is hospitalised for a month following the eternatus attack. he is still heavily injured when the championship battle happens. he loses his title, and remains in galar while he completes the battle tower and creates the star tournament

leon and dani elope to kalos, after she accepted his proposal while he was hospitalised. soon after, he focuses on creating his mega evolution showcase and makes yveltal's image a prominent part of the branding

while in kalos he takes full advantage of the battle chateau, and soon rises up to the rank of duke. he also begins training to challenge the kalos league and all those abroad, curious to see which champions he could defeat even when on their home soil

at twenty-one, leon loses his monarch title to ash ketchum, following their battle at the master's eight finale

at twenty-two, leon learns how to mega evolve char into charizard Y. he debuts this skill to galarian audiences in the first battle of that year's mega evolution showcase

at twenty-three, leon enrolls in paldea's uva academy for a single term. he excels in the battle classes and chooses a quaxly as his introductory pokemon. it's a good introduction to paldea and the type of environment it has to offer, and he considers achieving champion rank. he ultimately chooses not to, this time around

at some point, he regains his monarch title. it is then lost to dani, where the two of them remain as the king and queen of the master's eight. everyone else is left to fight for third place

[youllallriseintheink]

Fight like a Champion, chapter 1

Trying to find himself after a rather devastating Pokémon journey, Hop spends a life-changing summer in Sinnoh as Cynthia’s research assistant. This story will have two chapters.

---

There had been about a week of school between the Championship finals and school starting back up. That was to say, a week for Hop to gather the stregnth to face everyone once he returned to school with his best friend, now champion of the Galar region. He couldn’t just stop walking to school with her- after all, she didn’t treat Hop any different. He ought to be a good sport.

The two kids weren’t even at school yet when Hop noticed parents stealing glances at the new champion as they saw their kids off to school.

“Ha. Looks like you’re pretty much a celebrity now, huh, Gloria?”

Gloria smiled. “Yeah.”

“You so deserve it. You’re like, the best trainer ever.”

As the kids entered the highschool, a swarm of teenagers gathered around them, chattering and trying to get Gloria’s attention.

“Oh my God, you have got to come tell us about the championship!” a girl squealed.

Gloria was already being pulled away when she gave Hop a conflicted look.

“Go! Have fun! You earned it, champ!” Hop said, and Gloria melted into the crowd.

As soon as she was gone, Hop’s smile fell. Thank God she was gone.

A younger boy approached Hop. “Hey, you’re Hop, right?”

The attention made Hop feel a little better. “Yeah!”

“So you know the champion and ex-champion! Do you know if...” the boy looked away shyly, “they do autographs?”

It’ll go away. It’ll go away. People will forget about the championship by mid-October. They always do.

The first day of school was all like that, and Hop took it like repeated blows to the face. Home wasn’t much better. Leon was visiting, and that meant that all the attention was on him.

“So, how’s college in Wedgehurst?” their mother asked. “Are you going to try and win back your title next year?”

“Ha. Not sure how those connect, but it’s good. And maybe! I wouldn’t just leave my title if I didn’t think it were in good hands, but Gloria’s hands are ones I can trust!”

“Well, I’m sure that whatever you choose to do, you’ll excel in it. You’re still our champion, Leon.”

Leon smiled awkwardly. “Yep, that’s me. Thanks, guys.”

Hop got up, leaving his plate unfinished. He vaguely heard his grandfather asking where he was going, but he took his bag and ran without answering. After a couple minutes of running, he was in the hills of Postwick, overlooking the misty forests of the slumbering weald. He dug into his bag for his pokéballs and threw them out one by one. Trevenant. Bolthund. Heatmor.

“Go away! I’m not a trainer anymore! Go find someone else.”

The three Pokémon looked at him with regret, but they turned and ran off as he ordered.

Pincurchin. Snorlax. Cramorant. They saw what was going on and ran off as well.

Reluctantly, Hop sent out Zamazenta. The mighty wolf looked at the procession of Pokémon leaving, and then turned back to Hop with sadness in his eyes. “Look... I wouldn’t use you if I kept you. It’s better this way. Goodbye,” he whispered. Zamazenta nuzzled into his shoulder before leaving. Hop stared down at his bag. All that was left was his first three Pokémon. He didn’t have the heart to release those. He sat down on the grass and watched the Pokémon run off into the mist, tears streaming down his face.

Hop was vaguely aware of someone walking up behind him before he heard Leon’s voice. “You’re really releasing Zamazenta? Dang, you must be depressed.” Leon sat down next to Hop. “What’s bothering you, kid?”

“I don’t know. I was always fine with people hyping you up, but it’s different with Gloria. I always knew you were the best, and I used to think I could be as good as you someday. Gloria and I used to be equals, and now I know I’ll never be as good as you two. Maybe I should just look into working for a professor or something. That’s what Sonia did, isn’t it?”

Leon sighed and sat down beside his brother. “Well, yeah, but Sonia was always an academic, and you-”

Hop winced.

“Chill. I wasn’t gonna say that you aren’t cut out for it. But you don’t like academics. I’m sure you could learn the skills to help a professor, but you shouldn’t do it just because Sonia did.”

There was a lull in the conversation.

“Do you want to know why I’m living in Wedgehurst right now even though Postwick is a stone’s throw away and I could just stay with our parents and save on rent? Because I know that if I stayed here, our family would just pressure me into challenging the new champion again.”

Shocked, Hop looked to his brother. He seemed serious, but he couldn’t possibly be. “You’re not going to? You’re just going to let her take your title and you’re not even going to fight it?”

“I’m not saying I won’t. But whether I do or not, I want it to be my decision. I’m a little scared that anything I do now, they’ll feel like it’s beneath me. I mean, I haven’t even declared a major yet. But I have to figure out what I want out of life on my own. And so do you. If you’re going to be a professor, don’t do it because you think that’s what failures do. If you’re going to to take the challenge again, don’t do it because you want to be me. You have to love the process.”

“I guess that makes sense. And I do have time to figure out what I want to do. Thanks for the talk.”

“No problem. Anyhow, I had a little idea. You see, the acting champion of Sinnoh is looking for a summer student to help her with some archeology research this summer. She offered me the position, but I’m pretty sure I could talk her into giving it to you. Who knows? Maybe you’ll love the whole research thing.”

“You’d do that for me? You really don’t have to. I know that you’re trying to figure things out, too, and who on earth wouldn’t want to spend a summer with Cynthia? Especially since you already know her!”

“You bet I’m doing it. Now let’s get back and stop worrying everyone.”

It took all of Hop’s willpower not to tell everyone about his summer plans the second he met up with Gloria the next day. Cynthia could say no, after all. It took a week to get confirmation, and Hop was glad for it, because by then he’d realized what an incredible opportunity it was. It wouldn’t just get him away from the championship next summer- it would be his first time out of the region on his own, set to travel all over a region with deep culture in mythology and archaeology, with Cynthia. Being an ex-champion’s little brother had benefits. Needless to say, once he got confirmation everyone Hop knew was aware of his summer plans before long.

Come summer, Hop was on a boat headed for Sinnoh, a little scared to be on his own. What would Cynthia think of him? Would he be able to keep up with her while mining? How much had Leon said about him?

The boat arrived at the beautiful port city of Canalave, and not long after, Cynthia rode in on her garchomp, long blonde hair flowing behind her like a Hisuian warrior queen’s. Hop watched as she dismounted. Then, he waved excitedly, hoping to get her attention. Cynthia finally noticed him and approached.

“Hop?”

“Yes!”

“Nice to meet you! Ready for an adventure?”

“You bet!”

“Then let’s get started. Follow me. You’re going to get your first glimpse of the grand underground.”

With that, Cynthia took Hop to the outskirts of Canalave City, to sign indicating an entrance to the mines Sinnoh was famous for. Cynthia looked like a kid on Christmas Day as she heaved the hatch open and jumped down what looked to be a fifteen-foot drop, landing nimbly as a cat.

“Throw your bags down, I’ll catch them!” Cynthia insisted. “And don’t try to jump down yourself. Leon wants you back in one piece.”

Hop did as he was told and climbed down using the ladder. The grand underground didn’t seem all that grand to him- just a reinforced tunnel lined with lanterns. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but he didn’t quite understand Cynthia’s elation.

“These tunnels go all through the underground of Sinnoh. They, and a whole lot of mudslides from the mountain ranges, are why we have some of the greatest archaeological and paleontological achievements in the world. It’s truly something amazing, isn’t it?”

“Well... yeah, I guess.”

“Sorry if I’m getting a little ahead of myself. We’re spending a few days here nearby Canalave. The, we’ll head to Oreburg. It’ll be our home base for most of the summer. We’ll get your bags dropped off at the hotel in a bit, but I wanted to do a little digging first. It’s been a long time since I had a whole summer for this! You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, ma’am!” Hop responded.

“The first task the head researchers at Oreburg gave us is to gather two dozen cranidos skull to compare by size, and outside Canalave is just the place for that. The radar’s telling me that there’s probably enough in this area to spend a day here, but after that, we’re going to have to go through some caverns. Did you bring any Pokémon?”

“Yes. Three.”

“Good. We’ll probably need them. Now, let me show you how to dig.”

Cynthia dug some hard hats and tools out of her bag, and Cynthia took to teaching him how to dig. It was tiring work, and it took a long time to get anywhere with it, but Cynthia didn’t seem to tire.

That was how Hop spent his couple days with Cynthia- digging in the dirt. They managed to recover four cranidos skulls and some other items that Cynthia said were valuable, and Hop got to wander the city at night. It wasn’t a terrible way to spend the summer. Maybe not something he could see himself doing long-term, but hey, he hadn’t even been to the labs in Oreburg yet, and he’d get to see the whole region this way. And he would have a summer where no one asked him about his failed Pokémon journey.

Or so he thought until he got to the cavern. The cavern contained an underground lake, and it was full of wild Pokémon that the two had to fend off. It was after his Dubwool had taken down a graveler with double-kick that Cynthia seemed to take notice of him. They didn’t talk until they were on the other side of the cavern.

“You seem pretty in-sync with Dubwool. You’ve been on a Pokémon journey, haven’t you?” Cynthia asked, returning her lucario to its ball.

Hop stiffened up. “N-no. It’s just- I uh- well, I’ve had Dubwool since I was a little kid. I pretty much raised him from birth after I found him lost and injured in the Slumbering Weald. I don’t have to battle with him to make him my partner, he’s been my partner my whole life.” Hop patted the giant sheep on the back as they walked. He’d heard somewhere that the best lies were ninety-percent truth.

Cynthia’s expression was unreadable. “Hm. Well, you’re an impressive pair regardless. It’ll help us get through wild areas.”

A day later, it was time to leave for Oreburg.

“Do you have a Pokémon that can fly?” Cynthia asked. “If not, we’ll have to find another way to Oreburgh. Garchomp can only take one person.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sure,” Hop said, letting out his giant, armoured corvid. Cynthia gave him that knowing look. Hopefully she wouldn’t ask questions about how a boy who had never been on a Pokémon journey had such a powerful-looking creature. Sinnoh didn’t have corviknight, so hopefully she would just assume they were commonplace in Galar.

They were in the air, Cynthia on Garchomp and Hop on Corviknight, when Cynthia received a call on her Pokétch.

“Yes? Earthquake. Celestic Town. We’ll be right over.” Cynthia shut off the call and turned to Hop, serious. “Change of plans. I’ve been called in to do some disaster relief.”

Cynthia shifted course, and Hop followed. For the first time, Hop could tell she was worried. He felt a little bad even speaking, but he had to know. “You get called on for disaster relief?”

“Yes. Sinnoh isn’t stable like Galar is. The very mountains we’re built upon house the most powerful legendaries in the world, and it helps people feel safe if they have hero figures to rely on. When the mountains shake, when the legendaries brawl, when terrorists strike, Sinnoh needs to know that the masters of our best-used source of power will be there to keep everyone safe. That's what our league is for.”

Cynthia guided garchomp into a dive, and Hop followed. Once they were through the cloud layer, Celestic Town came into sight. Rocks had spilled onto roads from the various peaks that surrounded the town, but what seemed to scare Cynthia stiff were the trees that had toppled onto to certain houses.

The two landed and dismounted. “What am I supposed to do?” Hop asked.

“Just stay within my line of sight,” Cynthia said, walking towards the center of town. “Find a way to help if you’d like. Whatever makes you feel best.”

Cynthia quickly joined up with the elite four. A boy a couple years younger than Hop was along with them, but Hop thought better than to ask about it.

“Alright,” Cynthia said, addressing the five trainers. “There’s seven of us, so let’s split up into three teams. I’ll take Lucas and my summer student. You know the drill: survey the area, help anyone who’s in danger, and then make a show of having your Pokémon repair damage until the authorities show up and can take over. Make people feel like the day has been saved. Is that a plan?”

There was general agreement.

“Excellent. Let’s go.”

Moving at a pace close to a run, the first place Cynthia went was to her parents’ house. To her immense relief, it was unharmed, and her parents were safe. The rescue effort wasn’t particularly difficult after that, and Cynthia’s calmness kept Hop calm as well. A few trees had to be lifted off of buildings, and roads had to be cleared, but thankfully no one was significantly injured. Cynthia sent her team out to help, and Hop sent his three Pokémon out as well. It was only right, and Dubwool was excellent at breaking up the large rocks that had fallen onto the street.

Not much later, a proper disaster relief team had arrived, and while the league continued to chip in, it was clearly mostly for appearances. As Cynthia put it, they were there to give the appearance that powerful people were setting things right. It was around sunset when the disaster relief crew told the league that they could take it from there.

“Wonderful. We could probably still make it to Oreburgh, but you boys have had a long day. Why don’t you two hang out down by the river? I’ll ask my parents if we can stay the night.”

And that was what they did. Hop and Lucas played by the river together, returned for dinner with Cynthia and her parents, and stayed up late talking and playing cards. Cynthia’s parents went to bed a little past 11, and Lucas followed about an hour after that. As soon as he was out of earshot, Cynthia turned to Hop with that knowing gaze. “You know, you have some very powerful Pokémon for someone who's never really battled with them. I don’t know much about Galarian Pokémon, but your rabbit Pokémon looks to me like a fully evolved starter. And Dubwool knows head smash. That’s typically learned at a pretty high level. Did you get them from someone?”

“Well, I did kind of go on a bit of a journey. But it was nothing worth mentioning. I got sick pretty early on and it was cut short. I honestly wish I hadn’t gone- then Dubwool would still be a wooloo and we could still keep him in the house.”

Cynthia turned away and sighed. “I think it’s time that I told you how I first took notice of Lucas. It wasn’t when he first challenged me for my title. No, it was at the peak of Mount Coronet. You see, the primary energy company in Sinnoh used to hide a dark secret: a destructive and criminal cult. I’d put together the pieces and realized that their leader, Cyrus, was planning on summoning Dialga and Palkia at the summit for Arceus-knows-what nefarious ends. The elite four didn’t believe me, so I went alone. Just as I’d thought, Cyrus was there on the Spear Pillar, fiddling with runes, portals, and a weird-looking floating chain. Two women were guarding him, and we battled two-against-one. It was as we battled that I saw a young boy- a boy I’d seen in passing before- run past us and challenge Cyrus. I honestly don’t know if Lucas’ presence changed anything. I could have beaten Cyrus’ Pokémon easily, and having his team defeated isn’t what stopped him. But Lucas had somehow figured out where a secretive cult leader planned to strike and rushed in to stop him without hesitation. And when I saw the kind of teamwork there was between him and his Pokémon, I knew he would challenge me one day.

“In a few months, he will have been the champion for a year, and so I’ll be able to challenge him again. And I will. As much as I love having the summer to myself, I’m not done being champion, and the longer I wait, the more he’ll go from the kid who took four tries to beat me to a seasoned champion who has taken down numerous challengers. But, I plan on contacting him to join the league as soon as Bertha retires, and I hope that I’ll be able to give my title to him once I’m done with it. Lucas is a hero. He’s what the league needs.”

Cynthia turned her attention to Hop, somewhat harshly. “And that brings us to you. You’ve been lying to save face. Leon told me everything. Your trip wasn’t cut short. You were beaten into the dirt in your Pokémon challenge both by your best friend and your bully, and it pained you so much that you released most of your Pokémon a week afterwards. And yet, not an hour after you were disqualified from the championship, you teamed up with Gloria to take on a Pokémon so powerful it could swallow Arceus if it wanted to. It never occurred to you that you might be too weak to make a difference. You just knew your region had to be saved. And you’re still like that. You let your Pokémon help to the best of their abilities today even though it would make it obvious you’d been lying. I know that the Champion of Galar is more sports star than hero, but you’re still the kind of person that I would want wielding that kind of power. You’re welcome to never battle again if you want. But if you’d like, I could show you how to battle like a champion. Would you like that?”

Hop was almost too overwhelmed to speak. “You want to train me? Yeah! Of course I’d like that!”

“Excellent. We’ll start tomorrow.”

[skepticalfrogcat]

ScVi is hitting its stride right now, so I figure there's no better time than now to pull this old SwSh idea out of the box! This is an rp advertisement! Please only interact if you're interested in rping. See the end of the post for guidelines!

So, here's the gist. Bulleting this because I feel like it'll be easier to read:

This would be a canon-compliant Sword/Shield rp

I'd be playing my OC (who takes the role of the game's MC, but isn't a self insert just to clarify), whoever's writing with me would be playing Hop

We can also definitely include other canon characters (I'd like to include Leon in this for sure), but I'd prefer no real doubling unless you've got a really good idea for a side plot that ties into the main one!

This would take place in the future, when the two characters are young adults (think like, early 20's probably)

My OC is still the Galar champion, he eventually left Postwick due to his duties as champion. Meanwhile, Hop became a successful Pokémon professor, but stayed in a more small town environment

Due to their distance apart, they went from best friends to near strangers. Now here's where the plot kicks in

My OC captured Eternatus and ended the Darkest Day at age 15, as complies with canon. He continued working with Eternatus for years and years, even using it to win him the championship, but the Pokémon's power eventually proved to be too much for him to handle

The dark energy started corrupting his spirit, and eventually his physical form, in an effort to make him a human vessel for Eternatus

At first he keeps it a secret from everyone, not wanting to send Galar into a panic over their champion. But when his situation becomes too difficult to hide, he turns to the only person he feels like he can trust: a certain scientist back in Postwick

Cue rekindling an old friendship- and sparking a new romance. This would probably get into some slightly darker themes, but no major character death (at least not permanent) because I don't really vibe with that!

Now here are the guidelines!

- Please be within my age range (16-19 y/o)

- Please have some experience rping, I'm flexible on this but I have a couple years' experience so I prefer writing with people who also have some

- No one-liners, please! I love some detailed responses, I can match your length anywhere from one chunky paragraph to multi-para responses!

- I only rp on discord!

- I'd like someone who is pretty active! Obviously everyone gets busy, I do too, but I just don't want weeks of inactivity. Even just one response a day would work

- I'd like to rp with someone I can talk to ooc! I love making art, moodboards, playlists, etc. Geeking out about our own rp my beloved <3

- We can discuss more boundary-related things in dms!

Interact with this post (like, reblog, comment, whatever) and I'll get in touch with you, or feel free to shoot me a dm yourself if you're interested!

[puhpandas]

Hello and happy Friday! This is the first weekly ask! See my pinned post but basically I want to send one ask a week to the Pokémon tumblr community as a whole (tell me if you’d like to be exempt from this moving forward, and people can dm me if they don’t get asks and want to)! We’ll start off with this question: what location/s in any iteration of the Pokémon universe do you feel the most of a connection with? From the most well-known town to a specific spot in a random route, anywhere!

this is such a nice idea! ^_^

and I would have to choose postwick or just all of Alola. alola is just the best

[epicspheal]

I posted 403 times in 2022

215 posts created (53%)

188 posts reblogged (47%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@a-tale-of-legends

@weliveinapokemonworld

@epicspheal

@incorrectpokechampionquotes

@ballonleaparadise

I tagged 402 of my posts in 2022

#ask epic spheal - 101 posts

#champion leon - 74 posts

#cactusverse - 67 posts

#pokemon worldbuilding - 55 posts

#pokemon oc - 44 posts

#anipoke - 32 posts

#pokemon meta - 28 posts

#pokemon headcanons - 28 posts

#rival hop - 27 posts

#pokemas - 27 posts

Longest Tag: 121 characters

#i love headcanons like these that show how people who can't get the traditional starters might choose their first partner

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Okay, a few weeks back, I posted how the success of someone trying to make a career out of Pokemon training largely depended on starting location and what their financial background looked like. So after thinking about it, you realize that of all of the regions with leagues so far, Galar is actually the fairest league as far as eliminating barriers for trainers to compete. Let's start with the money. We know at least in Pokespe that Rose has made programs in Galar to help poorer trainers get into the gym challenge (which confirms my sad headcanon that many trainers are screwed out of a traditional journey out of socioeconomic states *stares at my Trainersona and her story*). So we know Galar does make an effort to help struggling trainers. Then let's think about the sponsor system (not so much the endorsements as that just seems to be a letter of recognition and that the endorsers seem to not be obligated to give other support). We know you can gain sponsors as you become more well-known on the Galar circuit, which would mean extra monetary support. Then there's the whole starting location thing. I know many people IRL complained about the strict linearity of the gym challenge, but in universe, it makes a lot of sense. By having everyone start off with the same first gym, it's easier to accurately measure skill level. By having the opening ceremony be the send-off place, everyone is literally starting off in the same location Motostoke. That means a trainer from Wyndon isn't burnt out just trying to get to Milo's gym, and it doesn't give the trainer who already lived in Turrfield an unnecessary advantage by just hopping out of bed and mosying down to the gym. Even the fact that the gym is on a schedule helps create equality. The gym challenge is likely chosen at a time when there are no big harvests (therefore not screwing over trainers from Turrfield/Postwick/Wedgehurst who might need to help on the family farm) and when the weather is relatively mild so that trainers from say, Circhester or Wyndon aren't being snowed in and thus maybe having to halt their journeys due to a blizzard. Having a set date for the start (and thus dates for registration and endorsement) gives people the same amount of time to prepare. The watts trading system in the wild area also helps by allowing trainers to passively collect watts and can be used to buy needed Pokeballs and TRs at prices they may not be able to afford with regular money. This helps improve movesets among poorer trainers compared to rich trainers who can buy the expensive TMs from the Pokemon Center Stores early on. Now it doesn't mean Galar's system is perfect. One could argue that the endorsements (not the sponsorships) could still perpetuate class inequality because there's theoretically only a limited number of endorsements per year (as it's not realistic to expect Milo and Nessa to challenge hundreds of trainers per year in a small timeframe) and that people with more connections are more likely to rub elbows with people who could give them an endorsement. And again still coming from a rich family may give you a leg up by having Pokemon bred for you or just having extra money to spend on yourself and your Pokemon. But still, I believe the Galarian gym system sets up the fairest gym challenge for its trainer by actively attempting to reduce barriers that prevent sizable chunks of the trainer population from reaching their full potential.

106 notes - Posted April 20, 2022

#4

Alright I’m going to just say this now. I’m predicting that the antagonists of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are going to be the professors of the game. There’s two ways I can see this going. The first is to have the opposite version professor be the main antagonist. So in Scarlet, it would be Professor Turo, and in Violet it was Professor Sada. I’ve seen quite a few people talk about this option and it’s definitely a viable option especially to make sure both characters exist in both versions. Personally I’m thinking about the idea that it would be the reverse. So in Scarlet, since Professor Sada is the main professor, she would also serve as the main antagonist in Scarlet (with Turo doing the same in Violet).  I call them antagonists because I don’t necessarily think they will be flat out evil (I mean they could absolutely end up being monsters but I don’t feel like jumping to that conclusion just yet). I could see their deal being potentially just obsessive over a certain ideal, romanticizing it even and not really looking at the pros and cons. Perhaps they had an event in their life that makes them yearn for the past (Sada) or the Future (Turo) without considering the that the past, present and future all have value. 

111 notes - Posted June 1, 2022

#3

Okay, so I realized I haven't done a review of the Hisuian Snow episodes yet (which, spoiler alert, I think are really adorable) and I will do them soon. But for now, I wanted to focus on one part of the episode: the medicinal leek. I've always been curious about how the healing items in the Pokemon world and how they're able to heal. For the longest time, I thought that the modern potions we get in non-legends mainline games were just marvels of modern pharmacology. But then comes Legends, with probably my favorite mechanic in the game, crafting and foraging. And then, with this second Hisuian Snow Episode, we get to see exactly how the leek works. By squeezing some of the liquid from the inner portion, the shiny Hisuian Zorua was able to help Alec's sprain heal instantly. That's amazing, and honestly, I wish we had something like that in real life. Also, that debunked my original theory of the potions being a modern marvel of pharmaceuticals but just the fact that even the non-Pokemon plant life has special properties. This checks out when you consider the copious amount of berries and their effects in the games. Yet Legends Arceus does pose some limitations. As we see in-game, there's a whole medical corp that often contains people who were seriously maimed by the wild Pokemon. So there's obviously a limit to what things like the berries and leeks could heal both in humans and Pokemon. We've even seen massive injuries in Pokemon, like Ash's Pikachu having to be defibrillated or his entire DP team being bandaged up long after the Paul battle at Lake Acuity. Even in the Yellow chapter of Pokespe, Pika is badly injured getting back to Oak's lab, where it surely passed by berry trees. Even if we can assume Pika did consume an oran berry here and there, it still wasn't enough to heal everything. So it definitely begs the question of where the line is drawn between what can be healed by leeks, herbs and berries and where more modern medical advances need to be brought in to save the lives of both people and Pokemon

115 notes - Posted June 15, 2022

#2

It's been 25 years in the making but our boy finally did it... Ash Ketchum is now the strongest trainer in the Pokemon anime! Yes, I may be a diehard Leon fan, but before Leon was created I was an Ash Ketchum fan. Ash and Pikachu were what got me into Pokemon all the way back in 1999 and now to see this. After so many failures and setbacks, this was the thing my kindergartener self always wanted to see for Ash

This shot from the episode in particular put me into absolute tears. These are the Pokemon I grew up with (yes I'm a gen 1 person) and I knew at this point Ash was going to win. There was no way Ash could lose after a scene like that and with them playing Mesaze Pokemon Master. And also it makes sense storywise...Leon is always meant to lose his crown as the unbeatable champion...so Leon winning would just defeat the whole purpose of his own story arc

See the full post

312 notes - Posted November 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

My thoughts are with the people of Ukraine today as they deal with the invasion as well as the people of Texas as they deal with the horrific anti-trans legislation that is being put into law.  It’s been a horrifying past 48 hours to see so much of the world fall into even more violence against innocent people.

360 notes - Posted February 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[mpc-unofficial]

Interaction: A cheerful Galarian man in a cape. He is very, very lost, and was actually looking for that new restaurant in town when he ended up here. No, he's not sure how it happened either.

Oh hey! It’s you again.

Me? Oh! Are you a fan looking for a pokemon battle?!

Oh! No, I’m not. I just… kind of know you? Or many other versions of you at least. Your name’s Leon right?

You’ll be right about that! Though I am curious as to how you presumably know many versions of me.

It’s um… an alternate universe thing. You’re kind of in between universes right now?

In between universes?! Goodness! How did I get here? I was looking around in Postwick to find that new restaurant!

…I wish I knew the answer to that.

Does this happen frequently? To the other versions of me?

Yea.

Oh well! Guess I’ll just be staying here for a while! Thank goodness I’m on break this week!

Thank goodness.

[pokemon-teacology]

I'm back!!! I have been since Sunday, whoops, but I've been busy getting back into class, so no updates for yall.

However! I'm back now, home was great, I travelled out to stow-on side to see the kids. Apparently the little pink dude that had the attitude problem fully bowled down their mural and revealed an old statue??? Sonia would not stop texting me it was wild.

The statue actually looks really cool! I don't really understand why the mural was covering it but I'm glad it's out in the open now.

Anyway updates on trainers, Glo and Hop beat Bea and Vic beat Alistair (still weird to me that they let a kid run a government building but he did a good job). It wasnt too difficult thanks to their larger and more diverse teams. Gareth and his granddaughter did great, too! They truly fucked up Alistair's team with their linoone, zippy.

Carl is... Definitely also there. He now has a togepi, which was firing all sorts of attacks all over the place. He faced Bea, and in her interview afterwards she praised him???

"His strategy was so complicated and well thought-out that I could not understand. He was a formidable opponent."

Whereas Carl's interview:

"I have no idea what happened. I didnt recognise a single move that Tepi [the togepi] fired. I didn't know Tegepi could learn that?????"

The rotom drone capturing the match identified the attack as a prismatic laser???? Which is. Whilde. I assume the togepi knows metronome.

Everyone else did fine! That Marnie girl with the morpeko has been Killing it lately, which I love for her. Im excited to see her battle one of the kids from postwick when they face off in the finals. Brandy and I had a great time catching up with the battles after I got back.

As for the visit itself, I saw my relatives and their Pokémon, helped my nans around their gardens, and met up with my childhood bestie. I saw my dad and his girlfriend's new house, too! It's a nice house. My brother and I hung out a ton, too. I've missed him :)

I went to Stow-On-Side the day before the kids set off to Balonlea, we got foodstuffs from the shops and had a picnic next to the entrance of the glimwood tangle. I was wearing a nice hat that day, and it got stolen by some impidimps >:( so we had to go into the glimwood tangle to get it back from those little shits. They're lucky that they're cute, otherwise I'd be furious. I've found (and by that I mean I've been told by my buddy who had one) that playing along with their games is the easiest way to get your stuff back, and they especially like then you mess with them back. Despite not enjoying having my hat stolen, I actually had a really fun time :D I got to spend time with the kiddos, too, which was great.

My Mons had a great time, too. Bonfire night happened, which they all really enjoy. Pokémon are kinda touch and go with fireworks, but mine have always been fine. Chomp was scared the first time he saw them and didn't like the noise as a gibble, so he had this set of

It sucks to have to leave them again, but I've only got a month more before the holiday season is upon us, meaning I'll have a whole month and a half off to spend with my family.

Sorry for my update being a bit disjointed and worded not super great, I just got back from dyeing my hair (I got red instead of pink whoops) at my friend's place and I'm absolutely shattered (tired) so I'm heading to bed. I just thought I'd update since I've been gone for almost two weeks (whoops)