This is probably going to be the last fic I make for the year because I'll be heading off to visit family for Christmas…and where I go…there is no Internet. (Sob) So even if I keep writing, I may not be able to post anything. So have this story and have yourself some merry holidays and a happy new year, courtesy of Blu Rose!

Summary: As honored as I was to be Alola's first champion, sometimes the title felt like a shackle that kept me from my greatest dream: to see the world beyond a single region.

~"Wanderlust"~

When I was young, it was my desire to travel the world. My quest would start in Kanto and continue on to Johto, the Sevii Islands and Alola, but I would move on from the region I called home and those close to it in favor of farther places. I would see the Prism Tower of Lumiose City in Kalos, the bustling Nimbasa City in Unova, Fortree City in Hoenn where people lived in trees—the entire world with all its wondrous sights, people and Pokémon.

But we moved before I could start my journey in Kanto, to the Alola region. I didn't mind so much. I figured, "I can always start in Alola and continue from there. Kanto can come later. It's not going anywhere." My plans were still flexible back then as I got my first Pokémon from Hala, and I would tell my starter my hopes and dreams of the future—how we would travel the world together, seeing what it had to offer. And like that one kid I saw on TV, no matter how many Pokémon I caught, it would always be by my side. Back then, it seemed as if it were only the beginning of our journey.

It wasn't until things happened that moving on from Alola became more difficult. Well, a thing happened. I became the very first champion of the Alola region's newfound Pokémon League. And being the very first champ, everyone naturally made a bigger fuss of it than they probably would have if I had been the tenth or twentieth to gain the title. At first, I had no worries. I enjoyed the fame and attention, even if I had to occasionally protect my title from trainers who wished to take it from me.

And then Lillie left Alola. She had to do it, of course, to help her mother as well as to learn how to stand on her own two feet. I was sad to see her go, but happy to see her taking initiative…and envious. I had joked about how Lillie would get the chance to explore the region I thought I would explore years ago and see what it had to offer while I was stuck in Alola being its reigning champion. It wasn't until more time passed that I began to think that my honesty was hidden behind a smile and a laugh.

The urge to travel hit its peak when a month after Lillie left for Kanto, a trainer who wasn't from Alola came to challenge me. It was a guy dressed in outrageous clothing who used Dragon type Pokémon. He was someone different from the locals that I was starting to grow familiar with in and out of battle. It was fun to challenge him, even as I won for what seemed like the hundredth time since becoming the champion. Before he left, I urged him to stay and tell me about his home region, curious what sort of place could turn out a guy like him. And to my delight, he was eager to spill his guts about himself and his region before leaving, promising to defeat me in battle when he next returned. I thought maybe his story would calm down the wanderlust within me, but it didn't. It just added fuel to the fire and made it burn more brightly.

Instead of leaving the Pokémon League, I found myself sitting on the floor and staring out into the distance, fingering a pair of particular Ultra Balls. I wondered how Nebby and Tapu Koko would feel about leaving Alola. They were important figures to this region, practically treated like gods. Maybe they'd refuse in favor of staying where they were needed. But maybe they were like me and were sick of the attention, the reverence and the responsibility. Maybe they wanted to see the world beyond Alola the same as I did. I almost wanted to call them out of their balls to ask them, but I feared that their answers would either depress me or make me do something crazy, like run away from home.

Was it normal for champions to feel like this? Did those guys, Red and Blue, ever feel like being champion kept them from doing something? Were their titles taken from them, or did they simply give them up because they didn't want their journeys to end in one region? I wish I could ask them, but it I never got to see them outside of the Battle Tree, and there was never enough time to speak to them when I saw them in the Battle Tree. They both seemed like such normal guys, though, despite their quirks. They had to have felt the same way at some point. Someone had to feel this way at some point so I didn't feel like a jerk for wanting to toss my cherished title aside to go run around in some far away land.

At some point, I'd been shoved out of my thoughts by a janitor. Night had fallen and he had to clean up the room I held my battles in, so I was shooed out of the Pokémon League and forced to make my way home. Once I got there, I slunk into my room without my mom's notice and began sifting through the travel brochures I had picked up for no reason other than fuel for my daydreams, back when my plans still seemed possible. Then I found myself staring out of the window, wanting the moon and stars outside to make a majority vote about what I should do. When that didn't work, I stared at my reflection in the full body mirror that stood in one corner of my room, searching my own eyes for an answer.

Tomorrow, I decided, I would tell Professor Kukui how I felt and see where it went from there…