A/N: Hi, everyone! Thank you so much for all the support on this story so far. This was a completely unplanned update; it's a little out of order, timeline-wise, actually. But I was playing a writer ask game on Tumblr and was requested to write "something that's already happened, retold from another character's perspective" for one of my WIPs, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to revisit one of my favorite scenes from this fic from Leon's perspective. I didn't originally intend to incorporate it into the fic yet, but I got so invested in it that I thought it was worth sharing now - I'll worry about reordering the chapters when the fic is complete.

Also, to the guest reviewer who asked: like all the characters in this fic, Iris is meant to be the one from the games. However, my characterization of her is slightly influenced by her anime and manga portrayals as well.

Without further ado...please enjoy the opening ceremony, from Leon's point of view!

The Pokémon World Tournament is nothing like the prim, pompous sponsorship parties that Leon frequently has to attend. He's surrounded by fellow Champions – kindred spirits who understand the hearts of their Pokémon and the joys of Pokémon battling better than anyone else. Talking with them is easy as breathing; there's so much he can learn from Trainers who rival him in skill but have years more experience. Leon feels like he could do it for hours, soaking up as much wisdom from them as possible.

So, really, is it any wonder that he doesn't think to keep an eye on Hop the whole time?

Hop was sticking close to him at first, shadowing him around while Leon greeted – and, in some cases, met – everyone else. He had introduced Hop to all the Champions he already knew, mostly from exhibition matches and the like. But sometime between meeting Wallace and Professor Kukui, Hop must have drifted away from him, and Leon feels awful that it took him this long to notice.

"We'd better Aqua Jet back to our seats before the ceremony starts, yeah?" Professor Kukui says.

"Right, that's a good idea," Professor Burnet agrees. "It was lovely meeting you, Leon."

"Yes, ma'am," Leon says, only half paying attention to the professor's words. He scans the rapidly growing crowd for any sign of his little brother. How did he lose Hop already? They haven't even been in Unova a full day!

"Looking for someone?" asks Diantha, the Kalos Champion, who's seated in the front row.

"My little brother," Leon admits, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought he was right behind me, but…"

She nods in understanding and stands up, glancing across the seats. "What does he look like?"

"Short, purple hair, always wears a denim jacket…"

"Looks like a miniature version of you?"

"More or less. Did you…?"

She points to one of the seats in the second row. Leon has to shift his position to see which seat she's pointing at, and – ah! There he is. Sitting behind Alder, who's probably the tallest person there, and looking just about ready to nod off. "That's him. Thanks," he tells Diantha, who waves him off with a "no problem" and a kind smile.

Leon squeezes past the other people on the row to reach where Hop is sitting, between Lance's cousin Clair and an empty seat. Hop's head is starting to drift forward, but he jerks it back up to look at Leon when he approaches.

"This is really boring," Hop says, rubbing his eyes.

Leon quirks an eyebrow at Hop as he takes his seat. "I told you it would be."

Hop sighs and rests his head on his hands. "I'm tired."

"I told you that would happen, too," Leon says, not bothering to hide his amusement. Hop looks so jetlagged that Leon doesn't think he'll even notice. "And I offered to let you stay at the hotel and sleep. But you insisted that you'd be fine."

He groans and slouches in his seat. "Stop being right," he grumbles.

"Can't. I'm always right," Leon says cheekily. An announcer comes on over the loudspeakers to ask people to get to their seats, as the ceremony will be starting in five minutes. "Just a couple more hours. You can make it," he adds, ruffling his little brother's hair and giving him an encouraging smile.

The ceremony begins when a Seismitoad meanders onto the battlefield in the center of the arena. A Hydreigon flies down from somewhere up above to meet Seismitoad, and the crowd noise dies down as people begin to sense that something is about to happen. Water begins to condense in a ball in one of Seismitoad's hands, and Hydreigon's mouth begins to glow with bright orange energy. Leon leans forward eagerly in his seat – are they about to have a battle?

But to his confusion, instead of launching the attack (a Water Pulse, Leon recognizes) at Hydreigon, Seismitoad lobs it up into the air; Hydreigon tilts its head upward and shoots the ball of energy (a Draco Meteor) straight into Seismitoad's attack, causing an explosion that sends a rain of sparks and water droplets on everyone in the rows closest to the battlefield. It's fun, flashy, and gets everyone's attention, just in time for Iris and a stout man wearing a wide-brimmed hat to walk onto the field.

"Welcome, welcome, everybody!" Iris exclaims, waving to the crowd with both hands. The giant telly behind her, which had just been displaying the PWT logo, now switches to a camera focused on her face. "Thank you all for coming to share this momentous occasion with us!"

"The Pokémon World Tournament's been a long time comin'," says the man, putting his hands on his hips. The screen switches to a camera view showing both him and Iris. "It ain't easy ta put together somethin' as massive as this, eh, Iris?"

"You got that right, Clay! But it's totally worth it!" Iris grins. She stops beside Hydreigon and pats its head. "Hydreigon's been chomping at the bit to see all the Trainers from all over the world who'll be coming to participate in these tournaments. The Pokémon World Tournament is a place for all the strongest Trainers to test their skills against each other!"

"But it ain't just fer them, ya know," Clay says. He nods at Seismitoad. "Seismitoad here is all eager to meet the young 'uns and the rookies who are lookin' to start makin' a name for themselves. Ya never know which feisty li'l whippersnapper will turn out ta be the next Unova Champion."

Iris laughs. "I better keep an eye out, then!"

The pair exchange a few more introductory remarks before Iris dismisses herself to give Clay the spotlight. While he continues to talk about what the opening of the Pokémon World Tournament means for Unova, Iris takes the seat beside Alder, right in front of Leon. She twists around in her seat, and just as Leon opens his mouth to comment on the fantastic job she did with that opening, she reaches over and taps Hop's knee.

Hop jolts back to semi-alertness, glancing first at Leon and then at Iris. She waves at him, and he gives her a tired smile.

Iris turns back around, and Leon nudges his brother to get his attention. "You can sleep on my shoulder if you're tired. It's okay."

Hop blinks at him a couple of times, and Leon wonders for a moment if Hop couldn't hear him over the crowd noise and Clay's speech. But then Hop shakes his head. "I can get through it. I'm not gonna fall asleep," he insists.

"Alright," Leon concedes. He doesn't want to force him. He just hopes that, when Hop starts feeling sleepy again, he'll remember to lean on Leon instead of continuing to fight it.

Meanwhile, Clay is still talking, and Leon is starting to think that it's going to put him to sleep, too. The opening ceremony of a world battle facility should be more exciting than an old man droning on about tournament rules and sponsors. Can't Clay have his Seismitoad throw some more Water Pulses in the air or something to keep things interesting?

Clay, Clay…where has he heard that name before? The only people from Unova that Leon has heard of are members of its Pokémon League, and Clay is clearly a strong Trainer. And if he's working with the Champion to start a battle facility…maybe he's a member of their Elite Four? The Elite Four are the Trainers who work the most closely with the Champion in other regions, after all. Would only one of the Elite Four be helping out with this sort of thing, though? Maybe he's just the local Gym Leader. His Seismitoad doesn't seem anywhere near as skilled as Leon's own.

Leon feels pressure on his arm, and he glances down to see that Hop has finally given in to the exhaustion and leaned against him. Hop's eyes are still half-open, though – he's nothing if not stubborn. Leon smiles fondly.

Unfortunately, not even a minute later, Iris stands up and asks all the Champions to come with her so she can introduce them to the crowd. Hop looks a little disappointed when Leon gets up, but there's not much Leon can do for him besides ruffling his hair to help him wake up a little bit.

The Champions line up next to one of the staircases leading up to the battlefield; Iris calls them up one by one and talks a little bit about them – who they are, where they're from, and what kinds of Pokémon they use. Leon doesn't know what she's going to say about him; he was never asked to submit an introduction of any kind. Either Iris or another organizer wrote the introductions themselves, or Chairman Rose submitted an introduction on Leon's behalf – which typically means that Oleana wrote something for the chairman to send in. He hopes that's not the case – he can't imagine that something Oleana wrote about him would be terribly flattering.

"And, last but not least, please welcome to the field…Galar's Champion, Leon!"

Showtime.

Leon puts on his best Champion smile, jogs up the stairs, and waves to the crowd. Their cheers are far less enthusiastic than the kind of reception that he gets back in Galar, which doesn't surprise him at all. The unbeatable Leon has far less notoriety outside of his home region. That's alright, though – he'll just have to give them something to cheer about!

"Hailing from the small town of Postwick, Leon holds the impressive distinction of being the youngest-ever Champion, earning the title when he was only ten years old," Iris announces. "While he uses a diverse team of Pokémon, he tends to favor Dragon- and Ghost-types. Shauntal and I love him – give it up for Champion Leon!"

Leon continues smiling and waving at the crowd as they cheer for him again, but inside he's cringing. Of all the fun facts about him that they could have used, they had to pick the one that emphasizes just how young he is? Nothing about how long he's been Champion, or the fact that he's never lost a battle… Oleana definitely wrote that introduction.

Iris talks a little bit about how the tournament of Champions is going to be structured, and then the tournament bracket is displayed on the big screen. Leon scans it for his name and discovers that he's matched up against Cynthia in the first round. He glances across the battlefield at her, and she nods at him, a smug little grin on her face. He shoots her a cheeky grin back.

He fought Cynthia once before in an unofficial battle when he visited Sinnoh several years ago. He had lost to her then, but it won't happen again. Not when the whole world is watching. Not when Hop is watching.

Speaking of which… Leon glances back at their seats, wondering if Hop has managed to stay awake this long. He doesn't see him, which could mean that he's fallen asleep, or it could just be that he can't see Hop from this angle with all the other Champions' guests blocking his view.

Thankfully, the ceremony wraps up not long after that, so Leon can follow the others back to their seats. While the other guests get up to meet their respective Champions, Hop is still nowhere to be seen. When Leon reaches their row, he discovers why – and he can't help chuckling at the sight.

Hop is curled up in a ball in his seat, his head pillowed on the armrest. He doesn't stir when Leon approaches him, but he shifts a little bit when Leon scoops him up. Leon could probably carry him all the way back to the hotel like this, but his arms would be sore for the rest of the tournament – especially when factoring in the extra time it'll take when he inevitably gets lost on the way. Plus, Hop's at that age where he's super self-conscious about looking childish, so he probably wouldn't appreciate being carried back to the hotel like a little kid.

(Even if he is, in fact, still a little kid.)

So, Leon only carries him to the end of the row, where he puts Hop down and attempts to rouse him. Hop lets out a half-hearted grunt of protest. "C'mon, Hopscotch. You're too big for me to carry back to the hotel."

"Lee…?" Hop mutters, not opening his eyes.

"Yeah, it's me," he says softly. "Ceremony's over. Let's get back to the hotel."

Hop finally allows Leon to pull him to his feet, but he flops into Leon's chest as soon as Leon lets go of him. Leon wraps an arm around him to steady him and keep him from falling any further.

"'m tired," Hop murmurs.

Leon rubs his back. "I know. Let's get you back to the hotel and you can sleep all you want."

"You'll…get lost."

Leon grins, shaking his head. Only his little brother could be half-asleep and still find the energy to roast him. Or maybe he's just concerned. Still. "I'll manage, Hopscotch," he says fondly.

He lets go of Hop and takes Hop's hand instead so he can lead him back to the hotel. Hop follows right behind him. But the first time Leon has to stop because of the crowd, Hop keeps going and bumps into him. That's when he realizes Hop still hasn't opened his eyes. The tacit display of trust fills Leon's heart with even more affection, and he holds Hop's hand a little tighter to be extra certain that he won't lose him.

When they reach the lobby, Iris and Alder are standing just outside the main flow of people exiting the stadium, and they wave Leon over when they see him. "Hey, Leon! How would you like to join us Champions for a little afterparty?" Alder asks, grinning heartily. "My son and daughter-in-law live here in Driftveil, and they're letting us borrow their house for the night!"

"There won't be any alcohol or anything. We're just hanging out," Iris adds. "Hop, you can come – Hop? What's the matter?"

Hop's face is buried in Leon's side, and as happy as he is that Iris extended the invitation to Hop as well, Leon knows he has to decline. "Jet lag hit him pretty hard," Leon explains. "I need to get him back to the hotel. I can't join you all. I'm sorry."

"Aw. Well, maybe after you drop Hop off, you can come to the party?" Iris suggests.

Leon considers the suggestion for a moment; Hop will be fine to sleep alone in the hotel room for a few hours. But Hop's not the only one who jumped ahead six hours today, and even if he's not feeling it now like Hop is, he will definitely be feeling it when he has to wake up at seven in the morning in order to get back to the stadium on time tomorrow. Best to get in as much sleep as he can.

"I'd love to, but I can't," he says, shaking his head. "Thanks for the offer, though!"

"Aw, darn," Iris says, pouting. "We'll have to do it another time, then. See you tomorrow!"

"See you!"

After they make it outside, Leon runs into Professor Kukui, who asks him if he and Hop are coming to the party; once again, he has to explain that he can't because he needs to get Hop back to the hotel. The professor is understanding, though, and asks if Leon has seen his wife instead of pressing further.

Professor Burnet shows up a moment later, and Professor Kukui tells her about the party. She immediately assumes that Leon is coming, too, and he doesn't have the heart to correct her. He says goodbye to the couple, and after subtly watching other people to figure out what direction most of them are heading in, he heads towards the PWT exit, Hop stumbling along behind him.

He's a little disappointed that he has to miss the party; it would be a blast to hang out with his fellow Champions even more. For the first time, he wonders if it would have been better to invite Sonia as his guest instead of Hop; the guest accommodations were clearly made with adult guests in mind, and he wouldn't have to let his activities be so rigidly dictated by what she could or couldn't do.

But…he thinks about how excited Hop has been about this trip, and how much fun Hop has already had so far. He thinks about the joy he felt having Hop sprint into his arms back at the airport, and how amusing it is watching Hop's reactions to everything. He looks back at Hop, following behind him faithfully like a Growlithe following its Trainer, and his heart swells with so much love that he thinks he could burst.

No, he wouldn't trade this time with Hop for anything in the world.

When Leon turns back to watch where he's walking, he comes to the sudden realization that he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings while he was lost in his thoughts, and he has absolutely no idea where they are. He stops and lets out a resigned sigh. He knew it would happen, but it's still a pain to get lost once again.

Normally, in situations like this one, he would let Charizard out of its ball and let him lead the way. But Leon hasn't let Charizard out since they arrived in Unova, so Charizard has little more idea how to get to the hotel from here than Leon himself does. Hop is far too tired to give coherent directions now. There's only one option left.

Leon lets go of Hop's hand to crouch in front of him. His eyes flutter open, unfocused and confused. Leon smiles apologetically, grabs Wooloo's Poké Ball from his waist, and releases the Pokémon. "Hey, Wooloo," Leon says quietly. "Think you can guide us back to the hotel?"

Wooloo glances around for a moment before bleating in affirmation. Meanwhile, Hop slips his hand back into Leon's, and Leon squeezes it. Wooloo begins to trot back in the direction they came from, and Leon and Hop follow him. Leon doesn't bother trying to memorize the path Wooloo takes them down; he's rubbish at remembering locations, and this whole area will look completely different in daylight.

By the time they make it back to the hotel, it's nearly ten o'clock, but the hotel's main doors haven't been locked yet, thank goodness. Leon waves at the concierge as they head over to the elevator and take it up to the twenty-third floor.

He has to let go of Hop's hand again so he can open the hotel room door, but he doesn't take it again afterwards. Hop is capable of getting himself to bed from here without needing Leon to guide him, especially when he has Wooloo at his feet to nudge him in the right direction.

Leon isn't going to make Hop change into proper nightclothes when he's so tired, but he knows Hop will be more comfortable sleeping without his jacket on, so Leon takes it off for him as Hop slips off his trainers. He hangs it in the closet next to the bathroom, and he hangs up his cape beside it while he's in there.

By the time he turns back around, Hop has already crawled into bed, Wooloo curled up by his feet. Leon heads over to the bed and pulls the covers up to Hop's chin.

"Night, Hopscotch," Leon murmurs, leaning down to kiss his little brother's forehead. "I love you."

Hop is already too soundly asleep to reply.

Leon smiles fondly at him, but it's broken up by a yawn. He needs to be getting to sleep himself, but there are a couple of things he needs to take care of before he can.

First order of business is feeding his team. He would prefer do it somewhere where they won't run the risk of disturbing Hop, but he doesn't have anywhere else where six large Pokémon can fit comfortably to eat. And even this huge hotel room might get a little tight. But his team is exceptionally well-trained; he trusts them to be able to eat quietly.

So, he sends out his team, and the first thing he does is shush them. "Hop is sleeping," he whispers, pointing to Hop's bed. "We need to be quiet, okay?"

The Pokémon all seem to understand, so Leon proceeds with taking out their food bowls and filling them up. He sets out the food for everyone, getting to Charizard last, who nuzzles him in thanks. Haxorus, Dragapult, and his Dreepy decide to join in, and Leon can't help barking out a laugh at being assaulted with affection by all his dragons all at once. Then Charizard sticks a claw in his face to remind him to be quiet. Leon grins; of course Charizard would take that rule super seriously. He's always had a soft spot for Hop.

"So," Leon whispers, taking a seat in the middle of the floor. "Tournament map. We'll be facing Cynthia in a one-on-one tomorrow, and Alder or Diantha in a two-on-two the day after that. The final match will be a three-on-three, and we could be facing just about anyone. Charizard, Aegislash, Seismitoad, you three can handle anything that comes our way."

Charizard and Seismitoad nod their agreement, while Aegislash holds his shield a little higher.

"Haxorus and Rhyperior, you two can take on anything that Alder or Diantha throws at us. And you, Dragapult…" Leon grins. "You're well overdue for payback against Cynthia, don't you think?"

Dragapult grins eagerly, while Charizard lets out an annoyed huff.

"Sorry, buddy," Leon says, rubbing his snout. "You'll get your chance for a rematch, too. But for this tournament, I'm counting on you to give everyone a great show in the final round!"

With his strategy settled, he returns all his Pokémon and heads out into the hall to make his daily call to Mum. Since he doesn't have as much privacy out in the hallway, he opts to make it a regular phone call instead of a video call. However, it's only after he dials her number that he remembers it's the wee hours of the morning over in Galar, so she's probably fast asleep.

She answers on the second ring.

"Mum! Why are you still awake?"

"Why are you calling me if you didn't think I was awake?" she teases.

"I wasn't – I didn't think it all the way through," he says sheepishly. "We just got back from the opening ceremony, so it was a convenient time for me to call…"

"Well, better a late call than no call at all," Mum says. "I haven't heard from you since you left, and I couldn't sleep a wink if I didn't know that you boys had made it to Unova safely."

Leon winces. "I'm sorry, I should have messaged you earlier," he says guiltily. "Yes, we both made it here in one piece. Although, Hop's been vibrating with so much energy today that I'm afraid he might have shaken something loose," he jokes.

Mum laughs. "I'm glad to hear it! Where is he? Can you put him on?"

"He crashed after the opening ceremony," Leon says. "Well, during, to be precise. He's fast asleep now."

"Oh, well… I don't want to disturb him," she says. "I'll wait 'til tomorrow, then. In the meantime…how are you doing?"

"Me? I'm fine. Better than fine, in fact. I feel great!"

"Really? I watched the live broadcast of the opening ceremony. I saw you're going up against Cynthia in the first round," Mum says. Leon swallows. "You're not nervous about that?"

"Of course not! Why would I be nervous about facing Cynthia?" he says lightly. "I'm unbeatable! I won't lose to her."

"Leon, honey, I'm not your brother. You don't have to put on a brave face for me," she says. "If you're really not worried about losing to her, you wouldn't feel the need to assure me that you won't."

Leon casts his gaze to the floor; Mum's hit the nail right on the head. "I…I'm much stronger than I was the last time I fought her. But – but she'll be stronger, too. I'm…I don't wanna lose to her, Mum."

"But you're worried that since it happened once, it could happen again," Mum says knowingly. "You know, even if you do lose, it's not the end of the world. You're still Champion. You're still undefeated in the Galar League. You're still loved."

"Yes, but…" Leon runs a hand through his hair. "I just – I invited Hop here to watch me win the tournament, and I don't want to let him down," he admits.

"Oh, sweetheart, you could never. Hop adores you."

"Hop doesn't know that I ever lost to Cynthia."

"And why is that, hm?"

"Because I don't want him to," Leon says quietly. "I want to be someone he can look up to – someone he can always depend on. I want to be his hero."

"You already are," she says. "One loss isn't going to change that."

Leon nods wordlessly. She's right – he knows she is. Hop will still love him and look up to him even if he loses to Cynthia tomorrow. So there's really no reason for him to be worried. He and Dragapult will give their best tomorrow, and that'll be good enough – regardless of the outcome of the battle.

But it won't matter – because he's going to win.

"Thanks, Mum," he says, stifling a yawn.

"Anytime," she says. "But I think it's time for both of us to be getting to bed, now. Goodnight, sweetheart. Good luck tomorrow! I love you!"

"Night, Mum. I love you too."

He hangs up the phone and heads back to the room, where he changes into pajamas and brushes his teeth. He pauses by the foot of Hop's bed for a moment to pet Wooloo, noting with satisfaction that Hop is still sleeping soundly. He lies down in his own bed, kicking off the too-thick comforter and snuggling under the sheets. The mattress is soft, the pillows softer. He closes his eyes, and within minutes he's fast asleep.

A/N: Someday I'll remember how to end a chapter in a way that doesn't involve the POV character falling asleep. But today is not that day.