Glimwood Tangle is gorgeous. From the soft glow of the mushrooms to the bioluminescent moss that covers almost every surface, there's something glittering everywhere Hop looks. The thick tree canopy blocks out almost all the light from the sun, making the naturally glowing objects stand out even more. Unfortunately, that also means that it's incredibly easy to miss the right path – whether it's shrouded in shadow or overshadowed by the naturally bedazzled flora.

So, after a couple of hours attempting to navigate through the forest, Hop is beginning to empathize with his brother.

"Oh, great," Hop says, stifling a groan. "We're back at the clearing with the droopy green mushroom."

He pats the giant mushroom in question, causing it to glow and illuminate the clearing. Dubwool lets out a concerned bleat.

"Don't worry. We can figure this out. There weren't any hidden paths that way," he says, pointing to the opposite exit of the clearing, "so there must be another path from here that we haven't found yet! Help me look for it."

He starts walking around the outer edge of the clearing, brushing aside bushes and peeking under mushrooms. "You'd think that with all the Gym Challengers that've come through here over the years, the path would be clearly marked by now," he grumbles. "I mean, I know not all Gym Challengers take the same route through the forest, but still…ah-ha!"

He pushes aside a low-hanging branch to reveal another path out of the clearing. At the same time, Dubwool lets out a bleat. Hop glances in Dubwool's direction; it's on the opposite side of the clearing, having tapped a mushroom that illuminates another, wider path.

"Oh," Hop says. "You know, I think that might be the right one."

He jogs across the clearing to catch up to his partner, and they head down the path together. "Thanks, buddy," he says, grinning. "I'd hate to get lost in here. That's Lee's thing."

A faint memory floats into his mind, and his grin fades. "You weren't hatched yet, so you probably don't know, but Lee got lost in here for days when he did the Gym Challenge," Hop says. "I don't remember much of it, but I remember Mum was really worried, so I was worried, too. We were so relieved when he finally called to say he'd gotten to Ballonlea."

Suddenly, Hop's Rotom Phone starts ringing. He checks the caller ID and grins. "Speaking of," he says, pressing the answer call button. "Lee! Guess where we are?"

Lee's silent for a moment, and Hop can't tell if it's for dramatic effect or if he seriously forgot what's the only location between Stow-on-Side and Ballonlea. "My least favorite place," he says with a sigh. "I should hang up, then. I think I'm going to get lost just by proxy."

"That's not how it works, Lee," Hop grins. "If anyone's going to get lost by proxy, it's me."

Lee hums thoughtfully. "Maybe I really should call back later. Let you focus on navigating…"

"No!" Hop yelps. "I – I mean, you don't have to do that. Unless you want to. Or if you're really busy. Are you busy?"

"I don't have anything scheduled for the next few hours. A trip to Hammerlocke, but I can talk on the way," Lee assures him. "If you want to focus on navigating, I can hang up and you can call me back when you reach Ballonlea."

"Um…if you don't mind, I'd rather you stay," Hop admits. "I'd appreciate the company."

"Sure thing," he says sincerely. "So, there's something I've been dying to ask you."

"What is it?"

"First off, congrats on winning the Fighting Badge!"

"Ah. Thanks!" Hop says, smiling bashfully.

"But the last time I talked to you, you said you were planning on challenging Allister," Lee says. "What made you change your mind?"

Hop rubs the back of his head. "Well, it's not that I changed my mind…I just didn't get a choice. They couldn't find Allister."

"They couldn't find him?"

"I was waiting in the locker room to get called in for my match," he explains. "A member of the League Staff came in and I thought he was going to tell me that they were ready to begin, but instead he apologized to me and was all like 'we can't find Allister, you'll have to fight Bea instead, I hope you don't mind,' and of course I minded, but what choice did I have?"

"You could've postponed your match. You should've postponed your match. Hop, that was an incredibly reckless move!" Lee says crossly. "Going into a Gym Battle unprepared… You don't get a second chance in the Gym Challenge, Hop. If you'd lost against Bea, your Gym Challenge would be done for good."

Hop's throat gets dry, and he stops walking. Of course he knew that, but it's different to hear Lee say it out loud. If he and his team hadn't been able to adapt to the change in opponent, he and Lee would be having a very different conversation right now.

Dubwool bumps his head reassuringly against Hop's hand, and Hop gives his partner a grateful smile. "I know, Lee," he says, resuming his pace. "But I believed in my Pokémon, and Corvisquire – no, Corviknight really pulled through for me!"

"Yeah, Corvisquire evolving right in the nick of time really made for an exciting victory!" Lee says. "That was some comeback!" He chuckles. "First Cramorant, and now Corviknight…are you planning on becoming a Flying-type specialist, little bro?"

"Nah," Hop says with a grin. "Once I'm Champion, I'm gonna be a Normal-type specialist and use a team full of Wooloo!"

Lee laughs. "Good luck getting past my Aegislash with a team like that!"

"No, no, I'm still using my regular team for you," Hop says, pumping his fists. "You better start preparing, 'cause me and my team are coming for you in the Championships before you know it!"

"I'm looking forward to it," Lee says fondly.

Hop pauses for a moment to tap a nearby mushroom, causing it to glow and illuminate the path. "So, what's up with you?" he asks. "How are preparations for the Champion Cup coming along?"

"Oh, they're fine. It's fine," Lee says dismissively.

"Really?" Hop says, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing's gone wrong? You're not feeling overworked? You sound stressed."

(He doesn't sound stressed, actually, even though he probably should. That's always what scares Hop the most.)

"Do I? I'm not, really…" He's silent for a moment, then sighs heavily. "Not about the Champion Cup, at any rate."

There it is. Hop feels a tiny burst of pride at being able to tease a bit of honesty out of his brother about his feelings. "What's going on?"

"Did you hear about what happened to Challenger Bede?"

"Yeah," Hop says, rubbing the back of his head. "He was kind of a jerk, but…getting completely disqualified from the Gym Challenge? And by the chairman, no less… I kinda feel bad for him."

Lee hums in agreement. "Ever since then, Oleana's been even more snappy and short-tempered than usual. I've been trying to avoid her, but there aren't a lot of good hiding places in Rose Tower."

The image suddenly pops into Hop's mind of Lee diving into the cubicle of a random Macro Cosmos employee to get out of sight of Ms. Oleana. He has to bite his lower lip to keep himself from laughing out loud.

"And the chairman's been acting strange, too," Lee continues. "Before he told me about Bede being disqualified, he went into this big monologue about how grateful he is to me for being his Champion and all that. It felt nice to be appreciated, but it's not really the chairman's style. I'm not quite sure how close he and Bede were, but…" He sighs again. "It's just been…a little weird around here."

Hop nods. "Thanks for telling me about it," he says earnestly.

"Thank you for listening. It feels good to get that off my chest," Lee admits. "But you don't need to worry about it, okay? I'm sure things will go back to normal in a couple of days."

Hop purses his lips. "Right," he says. Lee telling him not to worry about something just makes him more inclined to worry about it, but he does think Lee has a point – Ms. Oleana and Chairman Rose are upset about what Bede did, but that shouldn't last for long. If that's all that's stressing him out, Lee'll be just fine pretty soon.

Dubwool suddenly bleats, pulling Hop out of his thoughts. It has tapped a mushroom on the side of the path, revealing a fork that he would have missed otherwise. "Good catch, Dubwool," he says, patting his partner on the head and following it down the fork.

"Did I just hear you say Dubwool?" Lee says eagerly. "Wooloo evolved?"

"Oh, yeah! Wooloo evolved into Dubwool while we were training for the Gym!" Hop says, beaming. Lee would have seen it if he had fought Allister, but since he was up against a Fighting-type specialist, he decided not to use Dubwool after all. "Dubwool is so awesome! It's so much bigger and stronger and it has really tough horns! And the best part…" He flings his arms around his partner's neck, sinking into its wool. "It's twice as fluffy now!"

Lee chuckles. "That's great, Hop," he says fondly. "I'm really happy for you both."

"It's even softer than before, too," Hop says. "I wish you could feel it for yourself."

"Hmm…" Hop hears some keys clicking in the background, and then paper rustling. "You know what? There might be a chance that I can," he says.

"Really!?" Hop exclaims, eyes growing wide. It hasn't been that long since he last talked to his brother in person – since the opening ceremony of the Gym Challenge, in fact – but he didn't expect to see Lee again until he got to Wyndon for the Champion Cup.

"I'm leaving for Hammerlocke soon," Lee explains. "The chairman is taking care of some business at the Power Plant there, and he asked me to meet with him afterwards. But that shouldn't take too long, so if you can get your fifth Gym Badge and get back to Hammerlocke quickly…"

"I might be able to get there before you leave!" Hop finishes, pumping his fists. He breaks into a sprint. "It's settled then! I've gotta get to Ballonlea as soon as possible! See you soon! Love you!"

Lee barely has time to get in a "Love you, don't get lost!" before Hop hangs up on him. They'll have plenty of time to chat when they meet up in Hammerlocke, and that'll be in person, which is a thousand times better! He's already starting to plot out possible ways to surprise his brother with a hug when he sees him.

He glances over his shoulder at Dubwool, who's lagging a bit behind. "C'mon, buddy, pick up the pace! We're gonna see Lee again!"

Dubwool bleats excitedly and dashes to catch up to him. Hop turns his attention back to the path, which has been mercifully straightforward since the earlier fork. Next stop, Ballonlea – next-next stop, Lee.

A/N: Considering Hop doesn't have any friends and Leon's best friend hasn't spoken to him in a decade, I feel like it wouldn't be unlikely for them to be accustomed to keeping each other company over the phone.

The most difficult part of this chapter by far was figuring out how in the world Hop managed to be the last challenger (of the main five) to beat Kabu but the first one to reach Opal. I think he just needed sufficient motivation. :)