True to his namesake, a toddler hopped around the room while attempting to copy Pokemon attacks with his mouth.
"And here comes Chawizard with his super-mega-ultra-infooty-midwaife- prosti type-attack!" He jumped off the couch while pretending the blanket on his back was a set of wings.
The boy's mother glanced over to their grandfather. "Pa, where did Hop learn the words, midwife, and prostitute?"
For no reason, the grandfather continued to read his newspaper. He wasn't gripping the paper harder.
The mother sighed and put the breakfast plate down. "Hop, get ready! We're going to bring you to preschool."
"Noooo! I wanna watch Lee on the Tely!" The moving blanket whined.
"You can do that later. I promise you'll love preschool!"
[Take Back The Galar Region]
"AAAAAAAAHHH!" At that point, Hop's mother had trouble finding the difference between hell and preschool. It consisted of screaming kids pulling at each other's hair, ugly crying that seemed to be for the sake of crying louder, and Hop's strong need to go back home to hug Leon and never let go.
"Well," Hop's mom began, "Off you go then, best to get it over with." Despite her attempts to push her second son in, the boy tried his best to be like a tree and plant roots right where he stood, a shame he was less than fifty pounds at the time.
Fast forward a few minutes, and Hop learned what an existential crisis was. Actually, he didn't know the word, but he would recognize the feeling again later in life.
For the first time, Hop was the opposite of his namesake, staying as still as stone while kids everywhere did what kids usually do. While Hop was looking around, he spotted someone in the corner of the room. He didn't know that this person was the reason for this much chaos in the first place, and the teacher forced the ill-behaved girl in the corner with her superior height.
He did go to her, though. The teacher couldn't pay attention due to the fact she was failing to manage little tykes smaller but louder than her.
As he got closer to her, he could hear sniffles coming from the girl in a dress. There was someone else miserable here with him? That was ace! They could be miserable together, then! Hop moved closer to her and touched her shoulder.
"My name's Hop! What's yours!?"
The girl looked at him with teary eyes before she sniffed once. "Gloria."
Hop extended his hand to her—
Little Gloria grabbed Hop's hand and pulled him close. Hop didn't know what was happening until he saw Gloria's eyes turn into dark whirlpools.
ŴħŶ ƉĨď ŷōŪ ĻĚąṽḘ ḿḘ?
Hop woke up from bed, screaming.
His family and Gloria's mother ran to him. First, they tried to calm him down. Though when Hop stopped screaming, they started bombarding him with question after question. He didn't understand why some of them were about strange storms across Galar, but he didn't want to answer the important ones about his brother and Gloria.
SLAM!
The room looked to Professor Magnolia after she slammed a cane to the floor. "Times are desperate. I know what we're all feeling, but this isn't the way to settle things. Everyone but Sonia, leave."
Not many people wanted to argue with Magnolia's hardened stare. Hop's mom was the only one he seemed defiant. At that, the older woman's face softened. "I promise; he'll be fine."
That, Hop's mom could trust before she reluctantly left.
With everyone but the three in his room, Professor Magnolia started. "We've taken care of Zamazenta."
Hop's eyes snapped open.
"He seems weak, but he's alive. For now." Magnolia sighed. "But he's getting worse. We think it has something to do with the broken Rusted Shield."
The memories came back to ho as he curled his hand into a fist and didn't seem to stop. "It's all my fault! Why did Zamazenta choose me!?"
"Hop, it's not your fault!" Sonia stepped forward to try and comfort the boy.
"It is! Why was I chosen as a hero!? Gloria? Sure! Maybe even Leon should have been the second hero! All I know is that anyone could have done better than what I did!" Hop yelled out before he slammed the wall with his fist. "I failed them. I failed them all."
They let silence fill the air after that admission of guilt.
"Hop, it's not your fault," Sonia repeated before she started again. "We focused so much on Zamazenta and Zacian that we didn't even realize how much of a threat Eternatus really was. The two heroes, which might have been Zamazenta and Zacian, defeated Eternatus before. But the keyword was defeat. I'm not sure catching him was the way to stop him."
After hearing that, Hop's mind went back to that moment when Eternatus was defeated. The creature exploded, and it looked like they would save the day. But why? Why did he tell Gloria to catch it? They would all be safe if he didn't say those last words! "It really is my fault? I told Ria to catch Eternatus after we beat him! Hop you sodding idiot; you ruined everything!"
At that point, Hop slammed his hands to his head. "Hop!" Sonia cried out, but Professor Magnolia walked in front of her and threw a Vileplume came out.
"Sleep Powder." She ordered the Pokemon. The Grass-type acted fast and sent a puff of air on to the boy. His eyes became heavy, his screaming stopped, and Hop fell to his bed.
"He needs to rest more," Professor Magnolia covered Hop with his blanket. "I hope he calms down soon."
"Oh, Hop," Sonia went up to the boy and put her hand on his head. It felt hot to the touch. "It wasn't your fault. It was never your fault."
"We're going to need to look over your notes," Professor Magnolia recalled her Vileplume. "By the time he wakes up, we're going to need something for him to do. We can start by finding a way to fix the Rusted Shield."
They heard the sound of thunder. When they looked out the window, they spotted the sky turn dark and purple. It looked similar to the air around Dynamaxed Pokemon.
"We don't have much time," Magnolia made her way out of the room.
A second later, they felt the earth shake and heard a cry so loud, but they could tell it was still miles away.
"Or we don't have time at all," Sonia looked over to Hop, who was fast asleep.
Hop's mother rushed in. "People in Postwick are in a panic! Some are saying around half a dozen Dynamaxed Pokemon are heading our way!"
Hop was asleep, Zamazenta was on a bed in no condition to even move, and no one could find the other successful gym challengers or leaders. Postwick was a sitting Psyduck against a few rampaging Dynamaxed Pokemon.
"We need to evacuate." Professor Magnolia started before looking to Hop's mom. "We need to move people at the opposite end of where those Pokemon will come. Sonia, we're going to need your help."
"They're so large! They're coming here too fast before we can organize something like that for everyone!" As if to prove her point, they felt the earth shake harder this time while the roars became louder and less distant than before.
What could they do? They could not run away in time, and they had no one to defend them. Was it better for them to at least try and save some people, or else more people would get hurt? However, Sonia had a different answer.
"Yamper, get my old Dynamax Band."
"Sonia?" Her grandmother turned to see Sonia removing her Professor Coat.
"Sorry, grandma. I wanted to earn this coat a lot, but right now? No one needs Professor Sonia," She went to a nearby Rotom PC and withdrew five different Poke Balls. As she held the five Poke Balls, she paused for a second. It was like she was looking at a past life. At that point, Yamper came in with a Dynamax Band in his mouth, which Sonia quickly snapped on to her right wrist. She silently noticed how easy it was to slip back in as if it never came off in the first place.
"Let's see if Challenger Sonia can still give 'em a champion of a time."
[Take Back The Galar Region]
An Onix the size of a skyscraper battled with a Perrserker that could crush monster cars with ease. Alongside them, a Noctowl blew away trees and smaller Pokemon each time he flapped his wings. A Greedent lagged after the group, eating trees, rocks, and some concrete buildings. While this was sad, it was nothing compared to the roar from its stomach, which only seemed to growl louder than the other Dynamaxed Pokemon.
In the lead of those Dynamaxed Pokemon was an Arcanine who burned the ground and the air as he moved.
These five Pokemon made their way to Postwick. They didn't understand why, in fact, their higher brain functions weren't working. All they heard was this voice behind their ear, telling them to head to Postwick.
As they reached the edge of the humble town, A powerful blast of water slammed right into the face of the Dynamaxed Arcanine. The blow of the attack was enough to make the Fire Type stagger back and cause the other four to look at the direction the attack came.
Sonia stepped forward with a Blastoise, Orbeetle, Vanilluxe, Haxorus, Roserade, and her Yamper.
"Welcome to Postwick," Sonia twirled her hair before she raised her old Dynamax Band that glowed in the darkness. "Now get out."
The other five Dynmax Pokemon roared before rushing for her team.
Sonia raised her band. "Gigantamax Blastoise!"
In a burst of light, Blastoise grew. However, instead of just growing, his form started to change. Blastoise gained around three more canons above its shell, his arms boasted two separate cannons, and Blastoise's Gigantamax from held some kind of faceplate that covered everything but his eyes.
Gigantamax Blastoise aimed all seven canons in the direction of the five Dynamaxed Pokemon.
Sonia threw out her hand and put on her sunglasses. "G-Max Hydro Storm!"
The faceplate of the Blastoise closed up before seven blasts of water converged into one point before exploding into a water version of a laser beam. It encompassed and swallowed five fully Dynamaxed Pokemon before exploding in a torrent of water. When the attack died down, five unconscious Pokemon sprawled on the ground.
Sonia threw her fist up in the air. "Way to go, Blastoise! You still got it!"
However, her Gigantamax Pokemon stilled and narrowed his eyes. The storm up above stirred harder than before and shot bolts of bizarre lightning down. Sonia's eyes widened when she heard the sounds of pain coming from several wild Pokemon, but that was the least of her worries as five new Dynamaxed Pokemon grew from where the bolts struck. The new Dynamaxed Pokemon glared in her direction.
"Uh oh," Sonia looked up to the distortion in the sky. "I have a bad feeling about this."
[Take Back The Galar Region]
Hop woke up again, but this time with a horrible headache. "Uggh, what happened?"
The boy was alone in his room. Professor Magnolia was with the rest of Hop's family on the floor below, unaware that Sleep Powder wore off faster than they expected. Hop heard the sound of thunder and looked up from his window. His eyes widened when he saw the sky look like that of a Dynamax Den. His mind flashed back to the Championship Match, and with it, a slew of emotions bombarded Hop. The most prevalent one was an overwhelming sense of fear that froze the boy still.
Hop was alone with his thoughts and failures.
The memories played out of him being unable to save anyone when they needed it the most. He hated every moment of his mind screaming at what should have happened versus what did happen. To his fortune or misfortune, the storm struck a bolt down on a Perrserker not too far from Hop and Gloria's houses. Hop stopped his hurtful self-reflection when he saw a Dynamaxed Pokemon traveling towards the house. The old him would have started running the second he saw something like this. The old him would have gone out and fought it.
Yet, Hop stayed still. The doubts and second-guessing came faster this time. What if I screwed up again? What if I'm not good enough? What if I make things worse than they already are? Hop started to think when he should have been running.
Gloria was right—
Hop turned his head back to the window. He spotted Perrserker turning away from his house. He hated how felt relief, but where was it going? There was nothing in the direction it was going except for... Gloria's... house...
Hop got out of bed, grabbed the closest thing on his desk, and bolted out of the house.
He didn't stop when his family and Professor Magnolia shouted for him. He didn't stop when the Dynamax Storm fired thunder from the skies around him. He wanted to stop that Pokemon from destroying the home of his good friend.
"Oi!" Hop shouted at the bearded cat giant to get its attention. "Stay away from there, ya overgrown dirt bush!" Hop reached for his belt—but grabbed on to empty air.
His Pokemon were back in the house!
"You sodding buffoon! You did it again!" Hop slapped his forehead before realizing that he grabbed the two pieces of the Rusted Shield. He did remember there was a towering dynamaxed Pokemon above him. The Perrserker raised his claw, which signaled Hop to sprint with all the speed of the three Johto Legendary Dogs. He couldn't lead them back to his house, nor could he lead the Pokemon to Gloria's and her mom's home.
Hop dodged the swipe but felt the impact of the blow push him forward. Without missing a step, Hop landed on his feet continued his dash to the Slumbering Weald.
Despite how fast Hop was moving, Perrserker followed after the trainer. The Slumbering Weald had this thick fog, but something felt off about it to Hop. He didn't care much about it with a giant running after him. His run led to the end of the Weald, where the grave of the two wolves rested.
The air around the place changed from before. Its silence that was once serene and calming now felt empty and lonely. Hop couldn't help but feel as if that change was his fault as well.
The sound of trees crashing made Hop turn around to the Perrserker, pushing past trees to get to him.
Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. No Pokemon or friends to defend him, just him and a mad giant.
Hop's life flashed before his eyes as Perrserker raised his paw—
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
An electrical shock came from Hop's left side and struck the Perrserker. The attack caused an explosion that ate up the giant and forced him back to his original form.
Hop's mind recognized that only his brother's Charizard was able to defeat a Dynamaxed Pokemon without changing. But who called that attack?!
Hop looked at where the attack came from and saw a boy. The boy had black, spiky hair and a cap with a Poke Ball symbol on it. He wore a blue, sleeveless vest over a white t-shirt with an upper horizontal red stripe and blue shorts.
"Are you alright!? Maybe it was a good thing we got lost, after all." He addressed that second part to the Pikachu on his shoulder.
"Pika!"
"W-Who are you?" Hop pointed to the boy, a bit shocked that someone he never saw before, one that even looked to be around the same age as him, did the same feat as his brother Leon, The Champion.
The boy looked over to Hop, and he was about to answer until the storm above grew stronger and started zapping more Pokemon in the Weald. Soon, a Galarian Wheezing Dynamaxed along with an Orbeetle.
"Whoa!? How did those Pokemon grow so big all of a sudden!?" The stranger and his Pokemon stepped back in surprise.
"They keep Dynamaxing from that storm!" Hop looked up to see the distortion in the sky.
"Dyna-what?!" The new trainer repeated in utter confusion.
"Dynamaxing! Don't you know what that is!?" With how confused the boy look, and with his accent, Hop picked up that this guy was a foreigner.
However, at that moment, the two boys heard the sound of humming coming from behind them. The two looked and saw the lake behind the graveyard started to glow. Hop swore he saw something small and green, fly behind a tree before disappearing along with a whisper that sounded like, "Cele"? But Hop felt a powerful pull coming from the Rusted Shield. It was like the Shield wanted to go in the pool.
Sadly, the two Dynamaxed Pokemon grew in a frenzy when they saw the pool. They both started to charge up powerful Dynamax moves. Hop's heart dropped. As powerful the Pikachu was from that trainer, how could they stop two devastating attacks?!
The stranger's Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, gathering electricity. At the same time, the stranger himself took out a Poke Ball and threw it.
"Greninja!"
A water and dark type Pokemon appeared. With speed Hop couldn't believe, the water type raced for the Dynamaxed Orbeetle while Pikachu jumped in the path of the charging Galarian Wheezing. There was something impossible about the stranger. Hop spotted something on the stranger's wrist that looked similar but nothing like a Dynamax Band. Instead, it had a jewel with a Pikachu Tail encrusted on it? Not only that, why was his Greninja glowing!?
"Greninja, Water Shuriken! Pikachu, Gigavolt Havoc!" The stranger punched the air with his glowing wrist band, and both Pokemon followed the action of their trainer.
Hop didn't understand what was going on. He understood less when he saw the Greninja changed appearance, and the Pikachu gather electricity that no normal Pikachu should've been able to output. Then Hop gave up as he saw the two Pokemon overpower Dynamax moves with super moves he didn't recognize.
Yet even with the stranger taking down three Dynamaxed Pokemon, a feat that Hop knew not many could pull off, the storm fired more bolts of bizarre thunder that Dynamaxed nearby Pokemon.
It didn't matter how many they knocked down; the storm kept Dynamaxing Pokemon against their will! Hop ran for the pond. He jumped over the grave and dipped the Rusted Shield in the water. The lake shined bright instantly, blinding everyone in the area.
Back in Postwick, inside Sonia's lab, Zamezenta's eyes snapped open.
When the light died down, Hop saw that all of the water, even the river, disappeared. In front of Hop was the Rusted Shield, only it wasn't rusted anymore. It looked ornate, and a smaller version of Zamezenta's form. There was an empty groove that stood out to him as he picked it up. Huh, could an orb the size of a quarter fit in there?
Hop heard the sound of several Dynamaxed Pokemon coming from behind him and the trainer with a Pikachu and strange Greninja. The ground started to shake, as well as the sky. The distortion seemed to grow worse with each second before they heard the sound of howling.
Zamazenta arrived with a burst of light. With his appearance, the dynamaxed Pokemon roared with frenzy as they all charged for the legendary creature. The stranger and his Pokemon got ready to defend themselves. However, Zamazenta inhaled to gather energy and fired a red orb that shot past the Dynamaxed Pokemon and flew into the distortion in the sky. The attack exploded, nullifying the storm and turning those Dynamaxed back to normal.
"Whoa!" The trainer gasped in shock before looking at the Legendary with stars in his eyes. "That's one cool Pokemon!"
Hop couldn't quite understand the actions of this new stranger, but he knew that this foreign trainer saved his life and had powerful Pokemon to boot. While the other trainer zipped around Zamazenta like one of Leon's exuberant fans, Hop frowned because he looked to the new Rusted Shield. The vibrant power he felt from the artifact started to fade away. As it did, so too did all of its colors, giving it an empty rusted color despite how elaborate it now looked. At the same time, Hop noticed the Slumbering Weald felt like it was dying. Hop spotted some flowers nearby wilt even though they looked fresh and in bloom a few seconds ago.
The Slumbering Weald gave up its power, maybe it's life, to save them. Hop hated that idea. Had he been able to stop Eternatus, none of this would be happening!
"Hey, are you alright?"
Hop looked over to the stranger, his two Pokemon, and Zamazenta.
"Who are you?" Hop didn't want to be rude, but the question kept burning at his mind. This trainer was so different like no one ever was!
"Oh," The boy pointed to himself and blinked. "I'm Ash Ketchum. Nice to meet you!" He smiled and held his hand out, and Hop swore the boy looked like Gloria.
There was something child-like about Ash, but it was infectiously and kindly. Hop found himself smiling and shaking hands with Ash. It felt good to smile again after a long day.
Huh, Ash Ketchum? Why does that sound familiar?
[Take Back The Galar Region]
"Ash Ketchum? I feel like I've heard that name before." Sonia put a finger as she thought about it.
"You've heard of me?" Ash looked genuinely surprised that someone heard of his name before. "This is the first day of me visiting the Galar Region."
"Piikkkaaaa." The Pikachu added along.
There was something else. No one could explain it, but looking at Ash made many people feel this niggling sense of wrongness about the trainer. It didn't feel dangerous, but it just felt like Ash was a piece of a puzzle that didn't fit no matter how much one tried.
"Hold on a tick," Sonia saw Ash's wrist. "Can I see what's on your wrist for a second?"
"Oh, you mean my Z-Ring? I got this from Alola!" Ash said this with a smile before confusion replaced it. "Huh? I brought it with me?"
"Alola?" Sonia repeated before she, and then everyone else in Hop's house put a hand on their head. A second passed before Sonia's eyes widened. "Wait, Ash Ketchum!? As in, The First Champion of Alola!?"
"You're a Champion!?" Hop pointed to the boy in disbelief. He was nothing like Leon, but he looked to be around the same age as him and Gloria. "How old are you!?"
"I'm ten—no—I'm seventeen?" Ash corrected himself and shook his head. "I'm seventeen. Sorry, I've been feeling off this whole day."
To be honest, Ash wasn't alone in that. Hop felt something else as well, but then his mind started to realize something. Ash is a Champion of another region. That means he's just as strong as Leon or maybe even stronger than him! Those two Pokemon already took down Dynamaxed Pokemon so easy!
That means Ash could be the one to save Galar! His wish came true! Ash would save Gloria and Leon!
"Mate, this is perfect! We could really use your help right now!" Sonia looked at Hop after he said that.
"Help? Help with what?" It took a bit of time, but they caught Ash and his Pikachu up to speed. After learning about the state Galar was in due to an evil legendary, Ash and Pikachu agreed to help without question.
Professor Magnolia stood up. "Good, that storm we just had? I have a feeling it's all around the Galar Region. Zamazenta and perhaps Zacian are the only ones who can subdue these storms. However, they are but symptoms from the disease of Eternatus. If we want to save the Galar Region, we're going to need to more about Eternatus. The problem is that no one knows much about Eternatus besides the fact he is Galar's Darkest Day." Professor Magnolia paused. "At least, that's what I thought. We need to find Chairman Rose."
"Chairman Rose!?" Hop thought back to when this whole mess started. It was because Chairman Rose was so desperate to stop something that didn't seem like an issue yet. "But he's the bloomin' idiot who revived Eternatus in the first place!"
"Exactly," Professor Magnolia pointed her walking staff at Hop. "He knew about Eternatus long before anyone even knew he existed. If anyone knows his power or perhaps a weakness, it's him."
"But where are we going to find him? Last time I saw him, he allowed himself to get arrested back in Wyndon. After the Eternatus attack," Hop briefly winced but shook his head. "Who knows where he could be now?"
"I think I have an idea," Everyone turned to Sonia. "I remember one time, Leon told me in a half-joke that Chairman Rose has a secret bunker near Spikemuth in Route 7. There might be a chance he's there."
Professor Magnolia pointed to the younger kids. "I suppose it's better than nothing. You three need to get to Route 7 as soon as you can."
"Wait, three?" Hop pointed to himself before shaking his head. "N-No! I can't go. Ash and Sonia should do it!"
Sonia frowned when she saw Hop's reaction. He was usually the first one out the door before they could even finish. Did his encounter with Eternatus bother him that much?
Ash had a different reaction, mostly because he still didn't fully understand everything going on around him. "What? But aren't you Zamazenta's chosen?" He seemed to know enough about this Chosen One business though. Did he go through something like that?
"He chose wrong!" Hop snapped back before looking to Zamezenta. "You chose wrong." After that small whisper, Hop ran out of the house once more.
Zamezenta gave a low whine and looked to the floor in shame.
[Take Back The Galar Region]
"Hop!" Sonia shouted as she passed over several hills. She dropped her hands when she saw a willow tree older than Postwick itself. Its vines and leaves were so thick, you wouldn't even think of it as a tree, but a tall hill.
The stylish girl sighed and went through the vines.
"Why are you here, Sonia?" The red-head looked up. She didn't see Hop, but he heard his voice behind the upper branches.
"Well, we need you, Hop."
"No, you don't!" Hop's voice echoed inside the willow tree. "I screwed up! If I went with you two, I might cause more problems! Gloria was right: I don't think."
Sonia opened her mouth, only to shake her head and sit at the base of the trunk. Hop didn't want to hear anything about himself. He was too deep in his self-loathing.
But luckily, or unluckily, the red-head had an idea of what Hop was feeling. "You remember that I was Leon's rival during his Gym Challenge, yeah?" Sonia took that second of silence as a yes. "Do you also remember that he never lost a battle?"
Sonia felt the branches above shift a little after those two questions. The new professor moved her hair behind her ear while she gave a soft smile. "It was... frustrating... to never beat him no matter how much I tried. I have no idea how Raihan does it."
"You," She heard Hop's voice. "You also lost to him when it counted?"
"Yeah, that one stung the most. I was also really bitter at the time about it." Sonia gave a small scoff. "Some friend I was, leaving my mate alone to the crowd and paparazzi when he needed a familiar face in a new world that stole him away from his old one." The professor looked up. "I envy you in that sense, Hop. You stuck by your mate, no matter what. You're much braver than me."
The tree shifted a little. "You mean that?"
"Hop, I saw that interview where you shooed away those ankle-biting reporters when they kept asking question after question with Gloria. I never knew you had it in ya." She was proud of Hop, for doing what a bitter little girl could not.
"B-But I let them down, Sonia! We're all in this mess cause of me!"
"And I think you're the only one who can get us out of it."
"But you and Ash—"
"Hop, I don't know anything here!" Hop and Sonia spotted Ash walk in the willow tree. "I wanted to help because I don't turn those people that need help." Hop briefly wondered if all Champions were kind as they were powerful? Ash was willing to risk his life just because someone asked for help! It was then that the foreigner pointed behind him. "Also, I think Zamazenta wants you to save the Galar region. I followed him here, but he's waiting just outside."
That caught the teen by surprise. Hop tried to see past the vines and saw Zamazenta waiting outside. He was?
"Why?" Hop wondered out loud.
Ash took out the Rusted Shield that Hop left behind. "Before I knew he was a legendary Pokemon, I knew he was a Pokemon." Hop raised his brow at that odd statement, but Ash went on, "And Pokemon are our friends. They feel the same thing we do, so I recognized that Zamazenta feels bad for failing you the same way you feel like you failed everyone else."
That got Hop out of the branch and climbed down as fast as he could. "What!? He didn't fail me! I failed him!"
When he landed, Ash walked over and returned the shield to him. Hop paused for a second before taking it and going to Zamazenta.
Hop ran towards the shield legendary. The teen didn't expect the wolf to bow in shame at him. "Hey, no! Look, it's not your fault! Don't beat yourself up for it!" As the words left Hop, he realized what he was saying. "I've been doing the same blasted thing, haven't I?"
"You have," Sonia walked up with Ash.
The Alolan Champion spoke up while petting his Pikachu. "I've done stupid things too. A lot more than I'd like to admit." He looked to Hop. "But my friends always steered me back from doing something stupid for long, looks like it's my turn to do so!" He smiled a goofy grin in this dark time. "Me and Pikachu here will help out and make sure you save your friends!"
Hop looked between the two. He calmed down, and while he realized he was acting stupid, he also realized that both his old and new friends were both aces for trying to help him out of his sob party. "You mean it?"
"We're wasting time!" Sonia pumped up. "We're going to save our mates! And to do that, we need to find Chairman Rose!"
Hop looked around him, at Sonia, Ash, his Pikachu, and then to Zamazenta. They all waiting for him. Hop still felt a bit guilty for letting this happen, but more importantly, Leon and Gloria. He remembered how sad Gloria looked, how empty Leon and the other's eyes were. Eternatus took away something important from them, and he was not going to get away with that!
He messed up, but he wasn't going to let others suffer for his mistakes!
"Sonia! Ash! Zamazenta!" Hop threw his fist up in the air as if making a promise to reality. "I'm sorry, I was being daft! I-I want to save everyone! I need your help!" At that, he lowered his hand and bowed. "Please let me come with you!"
"We really can't leave without you, Hop." Sonia folded her arms and gave a small smile of relief.
"Yeah! Let's go save the Galar Region! Then, we can have a lot of awsome battles!" Ash and his Pikachu cheered along.
Zamazenta stood up and howled to reign in this renewed hope.
"Come on! Let's get back to Grandma!" Sonia motioned the two boys. "We can't use the Corviknight Taxi and the Train's down. We're going to need some other way to get to Spikemuth!"
As the new but bizarre team made their way back to Postwick, Hop froze for a second and turned back to the tree. He swore he heard something just now? He shook his head and followed after the others.
No one saw something shift from the willow tree they left. A small being watched the makeshift team with desperate hope in its eyes. "...Cele...bi?"
[Take Back The Galar Region]
{I Sense That Accursed Power Weakening, But Not Snuffed Out. It Seems My Initial Attack Had Mixed Results. Regardless, I Must Make Preparations To Continue A Plan Delayed For Far Too Long.}
{Oh? What's This?}
{I Sense Interference And Divine Mischief. Curious. But This Can Be Turned To My Advantage.}
{Wait! That Light! ...How Fortuitous That Those Against Me Have Unknowingly Aided My Ambitions.}
[Take Back The Galar Region]
"It is time, Shielbert."
"Indeed it is, Sordward."
Two voices joined as one, "It's time for the True Heroes of Galar to arrive!"