The rumble of an engine passing by stirs me awake. The memories of my dream are quickly dissipating, leaving me with only a vague feeling of inadequacy. My eyes flutter open, but all I see is an unfamiliar pink fabric a few inches from my face. I roll onto my back, blinking the bleariness from my eyes, staring at the canary yellow ceiling. Sunlight streams in through a window above me to the right. It's morning, then. I don't remember falling asleep. I'd been trying not to because–

I jerk upright and look to my left. Lee is still lying in the bed in the center of the room, fast asleep…or unconscious. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference between the two right now. I don't know whether to feel relieved that I wasn't asleep when Lee finally woke up or worried that Lee still hasn't woken up yet, so the feelings mingle together in my chest.

I swing my legs off the couch, knocking both Lee's cape and the thin blue blanket that the Pokémon Center nurse gave me to the floor. I pick the cape back up and settle it over my shoulders. It's sturdy and warm, like a hug from him.

(Gloria had suggested that we leave it on the tower roof, since it was heavy and she kept tripping over it while we tried to carry Lee down. I nearly bit her head off at the suggestion.)

We brought him to the Pokémon Center, since his team needed healing too. The nurse didn't think his injuries were bad enough that he needed a hospital, so she gave him a room here. She offered each of us our own room, but only Gloria accepted; I'm not leaving Lee's side 'til he wakes up. Charizard must feel the same way, seeing as it's sleeping on the floor on the opposite side of Lee's bed.

I glance through the window behind me, where the city of Hammerlocke is going about its business as usual. Like it hadn't just been shrouded in darkness and facing destruction by rampaging Dynamax Pokémon twelve hours ago. Like Lee, Gloria, and I hadn't just risked our lives to protect the peace of Galar. Like Chairman Rose hadn't just enacted some insane plan that he somehow thought would protect the future of Galar.

A shiver runs down my spine. I don't know what happened to the chairman after Gloria captured Eternatus. For now, I'm perfectly fine with that.

Rustling on the bed catches my attention and I whirl around. Lee jerks upright, glancing wildly around the room. He relaxes when he sees me, but the concerned look on his face still lingers. "Hop! Are you okay? Where's Gloria?" His brow furrows even further. "And why are you wearing my cape?"

An incredulous laugh bubbles up in my throat. "You've been unconscious for hours, and your first thought when you wake up is wondering if I'm okay?" I slip the cape off my shoulders and slide into the chair beside his bed.

"The last I remember, I was facing down Eternatus and you and Gloria showed up to help, despite me telling the two of you to stay away and let me handle it. So you can see why I'd be a little concerned."

"A real bang-up job you did of handling it," I snap. "If me and Glo hadn't been there to help, then you would've–" My voice cracks, and I can't bring myself to finish the sentence. I rub at my eyes, wiping away the moisture that's starting to gather there.

"Sorry I made you worry, Hopscotch," Lee murmurs, taking my hand and squeezing it. "I'm alright."

I pull my hand away, only to dive forward and throw my arms around Lee's chest, head resting right above his heart. His arms wrap around me, holding me tight. I've missed Lee's hugs: the way he holds me firmly against his chest, the way he rubs his thumb gently on my back, the way he rests his cheek softly on my head. It always feels like I'll be protected from anything the world throws at me when I'm safe in my brother's arms.

Our quiet moment is interrupted by an eager roar. Lee's head shifts and one of his arms leaves my back, and suddenly Charizard is nuzzling up against us. Lee laughs. "Charizard, stop it! That tickles! It's good to see you too, buddy."

As he shifts around on the bed, Lee suddenly lets out a grunt of pain. I pull back and look at him worriedly. "Lee? What's wrong?"

"I'm still a little sore…" He shifts around and winces. "Okay, I'm a lot sore. Ow. It hurts when I move."

"Then stop moving, dummy," I say, swatting him lightly on the shoulder.

"Ow. Got it. I'll stop moving," Lee says, leaning back onto his pillows. Charizard rests its head beside him, and he scratches it under its chin. "So…what exactly happened with Eternatus?"

"Oh, uh… Glo caught it."

"Ha, good one. What really happened?"

"I just told you."

Lee stops scratching Charizard and stares at me for a moment. He blinks slowly. "You're being serious." I nod. "How?"

I summarize the events on the tower summit that Lee missed – Glo defeating Eternatus, Eternatus transforming into its second form, Zacian and Zamazenta showing up to fight it with us.

"Wow," Lee breathes, shaking his head. "Wow. That's – that's amazing, Hop. You and Gloria have grown so much. I'm so proud of you both," he adds with a smile.

The words snare my heart like dandelions – pretty flowers growing where they don't belong. I've always wanted to hear Lee say he's proud of me, but now that he's said it, the sentiment just feels misplaced. I cast my gaze down to the bed. "You shouldn't be."

"What? Why not?"

Does he really need to ask that question? There are so many reasons that I can give: that I wasn't ready to start the Gym Challenge when I was ten, that I couldn't be unbeatable, that I struggled with being weak for so long, that I lost my Gym Challenge in the Semifinals, that I couldn't do anything to help Lee during the fight against Eternatus when it really mattered most. But I don't have the courage to say any of those thoughts out loud.

I swallow down the lump that had formed in my throat. "I messed up, Lee… I made so many mistakes."

"So? Everyone makes mistakes," Lee says matter-of-factly. "You don't have to be perfect, Hop."

"But you are."

"Okay, but I don't expect you to be exactly like me."

I blink, attempting to process that information. How can that be? Isn't – doesn't Lee expect just as much from me as anyone else, if not more? I finally glance up at him, brow furrowed. "But – everyone else does."

Lee tilts his head. "Do they?"

"Yes," I say, a hint of exasperation slipping out. "Everything I do, I always get compared to you. It's all 'Lee started his Gym Challenge at ten', and 'Lee never lost a battle', and 'Lee became Champion on his first try'. I failed at doing any of that. I'm just a disappointment." I hunch up my shoulders and wrap my arms around myself. "Sorry you had to get saddled with such a failure for a brother."

Lee doesn't say anything, and I wonder what's going through his head. Embarrassment, probably, that he has to be related to someone like me. Definitely realizing that he shouldn't be proud of me. Is he angry, too, that I wasn't good enough? Or is he just disappointed in me, like everyone else? I don't know for sure, but I'm too ashamed to look up and see the expression on his face for myself.

Finally, Lee breaks the silence. "Is that what you were apologizing for, back when I ran into you in Hammerlocke?"

I nod without lifting my gaze. I hear Lee shifting on the bed, and I wonder if he hates me that much now that he'll put up with the pain of moving his sore muscles just to get away from me. He doesn't have to do that. He can just ask me to leave and I will. I want to tell him as much, but I can't quite put the words together.

"I'm sorry, but that's bullshit."

My head jerks upward. Lee's face is only a few inches from my own, and he has the fierce expression on his face that he normally only wears when he's battling his toughest opponents. He isn't supposed to swear when I'm around – Mum is always getting onto him about that. It's jarring, to say the least. Especially since I was expecting him to be distancing himself from me, not moving to the edge of the bed to sit and face me.

He puts his hands on my shoulders without breaking eye contact. No smiles, no softness – this is Lee at his most serious, and his most intimidating. I want to shy away, but Lee's hands keep me firmly in place. Whatever Lee is going to say, he wants to make sure I understand it.

"You're not a failure or a disappointment, Hop. Do I make myself clear?"

I blink – once, twice. "You – really?" I whisper.

"Absolutely," Lee says firmly.

"But… I couldn't be as good as you…"

"So? You've still got years and years of being a Trainer ahead of you. Keep working as hard as you did on your Gym Challenge, and you'll definitely be able to beat me someday," Lee says. He removes his hands from my shoulders, and a fond smile crosses his face. "And, besides…you're already so much better than me in a lot of ways."

"I…I am?"

"Yeah. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I would've gotten lost if I didn't have you to show me the way," he laughs.

I press my lips together. "Anyone can do that. You're just absolutely hopeless with directions."

"Well, I guess not even I'm perfect at everything," he says, giving me a meaningful look.

I look away. "That's one thing. And it's not a very important thing."

"How about the fact that you were able to stop Eternatus and save the Galar region? That's a pretty important thing, and even I couldn't do that."

"I told you, that was all Gloria, Zacian, and Zamazenta! I hardly did anything!"

"Whose idea was it to come help me?" Lee asks.

I frown. "Um, I guess I was the one who said we couldn't just leave you to stop the Darkest Day on your own, but–"

"And whose idea was it to look for the sword and shield Pokémon?"

"Uh, I suggested we find them, but Gloria–"

"And you couldn't have defeated Eternatus without Zacian and Zamazenta coming to help," Lee interrupts. "So, really, it sounds to me like neither Gloria nor I would have been able to stop it without you."

"I…I guess," I admit, gaze flitting down to my hands. I'm not used to it – the feeling of being necessary, the idea that I was able to do something that no one else could do. It seems like I'm always chasing after others' accomplishments, trying to copy what other people have already done. That's what everyone expects of me, after all. But this…this is an accomplishment that is uniquely mine. I feel a small flicker of something in my chest. It may be pride.

"And, for another thing," Lee says. "I've always admired your resilience, Hop. No matter how many times you get knocked down, you always bounce back up with as much energy as before. During my Gym Challenge, it was the momentum from scoring victory after victory that kept me going. If I had lost…it would've been so much harder for me to complete it, let alone become the Champion. The way you keep going even when you lose… That's a kind of strength that you possess in far greater quantities than me."

My heart sinks. "Oh," I say, looking away. "That's not… You shouldn't…" I shake my head, unable to put my feelings into words. My resilience isn't anything admirable. It's just a fear of failure – a fear that giving up and disappointing everyone will be even more painful than continuing to move forward. That fear is the only thing that kept me from giving up during my slump in the middle of my Gym Challenge. Lee shouldn't admire me for being scared.

"I shouldn't what? Admire your courage?"

"No! It's not courage," I say, looking back at Lee with wide eyes. "It's… It's the opposite. I'm afraid of disappointing people."

Lee's brow furrows, and he shakes his head. "You're not going to disappoint people if you struggle, Hop. That's perfectly normal."

"But I'm not supposed to be normal! I'm supposed to be like you," I say, voice cracking on the last word.

"Hop…" The confusion on Lee's face gives way to sadness, and he shakes his head again. "That's not what we expect from you. That's never been what we expected from you. And I'm sorry we ever made you believe otherwise."

"What…what do you mean?" I ask, sniffling.

He takes my hands and squeezes them, a sad smile on his face. "Mum and Gran and Gramps and I, we love you no matter what. All we want is for you to do your best. Comparing you to me just gives you a goal to strive towards. We're not disappointed in you if you can't reach that."

"But what if my best isn't good enough?" I whisper.

"Your best is good enough, Hopscotch. No matter if it's better or worse than mine," Lee says. "You can't expect more out of yourself than you can give. If you do, the only person you're disappointing is yourself."

I stare at our joined hands, mulling the words over in my mind. It – it makes sense, the more I think about it. I always gave my best on the Gym Challenge, and while I was disappointed when I couldn't do as well as Lee, no one else ever said they were disappointed by it. Maybe – maybe Lee is right, again. Maybe I'm just perceiving expectations that aren't really there.

"Hop, I want you to repeat a couple things after me. Okay?"

I glance back up at Lee and nod.

"I'm not a failure," Lee starts.

I blink. "I'm… I'm not…" I swallow. "A failure…" I finish quietly.

Lee squeezes my hands again. "Try again, but say it like you mean it this time."

I take a shaky breath and let it out. I think about all the things Lee had said – you don't have to be perfect and all we want is for you to do your best and you can't expect more out of yourself than you can give. I focus on Lee's hands, supporting mine. I swallow and try again. "I'm not a failure," I say.

Lee nods. "I'm not a disappointment," he says.

Another shaky breath. "I'm not a disappointment," I repeat.

"I'm Hop, and I'm awesome."

I let out a tiny giggle at that. "I'm Hop, and I'm awesome," I say.

"You sure are," Lee says, breaking out into a bright smile. "C'mere, you."

Lee pulls me into the hug this time, and it feels just as reassuring as the first. In fact, it's even better than the first, because my heart feels lighter than it has in a long, long time. I'm not a failure, I'm not a disappointment, and my brother is proud of me. I don't know that I fully believe those things yet – that'll take more time to accept – but it's undoubtedly progress in the right direction.

I rest my cheek on Lee's chest. "You know, Mum's not gonna be happy if she hears that you said a curse word in front of me."

Lee puts a finger to my lips. "What Mum doesn't know won't hurt her."

Yeah, as long as I've got my goofball unbeatable-Champion brother by my side, I'll be alright.

A/N: This fic is very personal to me, as having high expectations set for me - and feeling like a failure/disappointment when I couldn't meet those expectations - is something I struggled with for a long time. Having someone (in my case, a therapist) tell me some of the exact same things that Leon told Hop here was really beneficial to me in the long run, so I think it would be really good for Hop to hear them, too.

Plus, when I'm having a really bad day...it's good to be able to reread this scene and have Leon remind me of some of these things that my brain is just determined to ignore.

Thank you for reading! If you made it this far, I'd love to know your favorite line!