A/N: This is where the fun begins...and by fun, I mean that Hop and Leon both start getting involved in the plot, so there's more canon information that I have to work around! That's gonna wind up creating some interesting conflicts in the next couple chapters, and presumably the last couple as well. So this is your warning that we're dipping into slightly less fluffy territory from here on out.
And I do mean slightly; this is still a really fluffy chapter. Without further ado, please enjoy!
When Hop returns to the locker room after defeating Opal, someone's phone is ringing. The ringing only gets louder the closer he gets to his bag. He scrambles forward the last few feet to unzip his bag and check his phone, and his stomach drops when he sees that the person calling him is his brother. He jabs at the answer call button, misses, and jabs at it again.
"Lee! What's wrong?" he asks urgently.
"Huh?" Lee says, bewildered. "Nothing's wrong. Why would you think that?"
"This is the second time today that you've called me," Hop says. "I thought it was an emergency!"
"No, no emergency. I'm just bored."
"Since when do you have the time to get bored?" Hop says, feeling his heart rate start to fall back to a normal speed.
"Never. I don't know what to do with myself," Lee chuckles. "I saw you just beat Opal, so I thought it'd be a good time to call!"
"Ah, well, not that I'm not happy to hear from you, but…I haven't even had time to change out of my uniform yet," Hop says, rubbing the back of his head. "Can I call you back in a few?"
"Oh. Yeah, sure!" Lee says cheerfully. "I'll be here."
Hop hangs up and holds the phone in his hand for a moment, processing the weirdness of that conversation. Lee being bored – Lee calling him when he's bored – Hop asking to call him back later – it's like the reverse of what they used to do when they were kids, except that for Lee, "later" could be anywhere from a few hours to a few days. At least Hop knows he can do better than that – all he needs to do is change out of his challenge uniform.
So, Hop quickly changes back into his normal clothes and leaves the locker room. He lets Pincurchin out of its Poké Ball to ride on his head – a reward for its hard-fought victory today. He intends to call Lee back as soon as they're outside the Gym, but his ears are immediately blasted by the live commentary of Tsurugi's battle being played over the loudspeakers. Pincurchin squeaks its disapproval, too, so he keeps going in search of a quieter spot.
It's mercifully silent on the other side of the pond in front of the Gym. Hop finally gives his brother a call from there; he picks up on the first ring.
"So how is it that you suddenly have all this free time?" Hop asks. "I thought you had a meeting with the chairman."
"I do," Lee says. "But he's still busy with some project at the Energy Plant, so I'm just waiting at the Pokémon Center until he's done. They're playing Opal's matches on the telly in here, so I can't complain!"
"How can you be bored if you have Gym battles to watch?"
"Well, the lobby of a Pokémon Center isn't the most inconspicuous place to wait. I was drawing a bit of a crowd," he explains. "I asked the nurse to let me into an empty room so I could have some privacy while I called. Downside is, I can't see the telly from here."
"Oh," Hop says, furrowing his brow. "You didn't have to do that…"
"Do what? Go into the back to call you?" Lee asks. "I thought you were the one who didn't want everyone to know you're my brother. I didn't want to spend the whole phone call being as vague as possible so people listening in wouldn't be able to figure out who I'm talking to."
Hop winces at the reminder of how much trouble Lee has to go through to keep him secret. "I – no, I meant that you didn't have to miss Tsurugi's battle just to call me," he says.
"I wanted to!" Lee says. "Your battle with Opal was great! You sure made quick work of her. That's the fastest I've seen her lose to a Gym Challenger in years!"
Hop's cheeks heat up. "Aw, well… I'm sure it was nothing compared to your battle with Opal…"
"Are you kidding?" Lee laughs. "I nearly lost to Opal during my Gym Challenge. Half my team was weak to Fairy-types, and I only got one of her questions right. If I hadn't just caught my Honedge, I would've lost to Opal, and then…"
He trails off. Hop waits in silence for a few moments, waiting for him to pick up his train of thought again or explain what tangent his mind had gone off on. "Lee?" Hop finally prompts.
"Sorry, I was just…thinking," he says, a hint of wistfulness in his tone. "What were we talking about?"
"How you nearly lost to Opal," Hop says. "What were you thinking about?"
"Just…stuff," he says vaguely. Hop suspects it's more than just the hypothetical scenario where his brother lost to Opal on the first try. "Anyways, before that… We were talking about your performance at the Ballonlea Gym, weren't we? You managed to make beating Opal look like a piece of cake. And not to mention, you aced her quiz!"
Hop shakes his head, though he can't help smiling. "It was only a single question. I don't think that counts as a quiz."
"Normally, she asks more," Lee says. "I wonder…" He hums thoughtfully. "She's been Gym Leader for seventy years. Last year, she didn't even participate in the Champion Cup. Maybe she's getting tired of it."
"Maybe," Hop says, reaching up to scratch Pincurchin under its chin. The Pokémon trills contentedly. "But if she retires, who would be the new Ballonlea Gym Leader? I can't imagine it being anyone but Opal."
"Well, she's allowed to name a successor, if she has someone in mind. Otherwise, Chairman Rose and I will pick someone," Lee explains.
Hop nods. "That's what happened with Nessa, right?"
"Right! When the old Hulbury Gym Leader retired, he didn't have anyone to pass the title to. So, the chairman asked me if I had any recommendations, and I recommended Nessa," Lee says. Then he chuckles. "Now, as I was trying to say before you distracted me, getting all of Opal's questions right and beating her as easily as you did is really impressive. You're shaping up to be a great Trainer, Hop!"
"I – you really think so?"
"Definitely!"
"Th-thanks," Hop says. His cheeks are pink, but he's smiling from ear to ear.
"So, what are you doing next?" Lee asks.
"Coming to meet you in Hammerlocke, duh," Hop says. He plucks his phone out of the air and begins navigating to the Corviknight Taxi app.
"Just checking! Schilly's in town, so I thought your plans might have changed."
"H-huh? She is?" Hop asks, heart starting to race.
"I assume so. Sou's battling Opal right now, and they're traveling together, right?"
"Yeah, but…I ran into him and Marvin before my Gym Battle, and Schildemilia wasn't with them." He glances at the city around him; there are plenty of Pokémon and a handful of people out and about, but no sign of Schildemilia. "I don't see her out here, either. She might've been held up by something."
"Guess so," Lee says.
They fall into a comfortable silence as Hop works on calling a taxi, but his thoughts quickly drift back to Lee's odd behavior from earlier. It's not that Lee getting distracted is rare – they both have a bad habit of letting their brains wander off – but he's usually honest with Hop when that's the case. And if there's something serious on his mind that he doesn't want Hop to know about, he's better at hiding it than that. In fact, he usually only slips up when he's thinking about his old rival – that childhood friend of his that he took the Gym Challenge with.
"My friend gave up on the Gym Challenge entirely after losing to Opal."
Oh. All this talk of Opal and losing… Lee was thinking about how he left things with his friend again, wasn't he?
Hop doesn't know why they fell out of touch with each other. But he really wishes they could just make up and become friends again so his brother can stop feeling so sad about it.
"Hey, remember how I was telling you that Oleana's been in a bad mood lately?" Lee says, breaking Hop out of his thoughts.
"Because of Bede getting disqualified?"
"Yep. Well, she's still in a bad mood today," he says. "I was supposed to meet the chairman outside of Hammerlocke Stadium, right? I got there five minutes after the scheduled meeting time, so she spent a few minutes berating me for being late. But then she turned around and told me that Chairman Rose wasn't even ready to meet yet! So who's the late one, really?"
Hop grins. "Maybe the next time the chairman tries to meet with you, you should make him wait an extra – however long you've been waiting for him."
Lee chuckles. "Well, the more time it takes him to wrap up his project, the more time I get to talk to you. So I think I'm already being rewarded for my patience."
Warmth blossoms in Hop's chest, and he ducks his head bashfully. Pincurchin cries out in alarm as it starts to slide off his head, and Hop quickly straightens back up and helps it settle back into a secure spot.
"And pretty soon, we're gonna get to talk in person!" he exclaims, glancing at the taxi's estimated arrival time on his phone. Then a thought occurs to him, and his smile falls a little. "Unless…do you think I should wait to come to Hammerlocke until after you meet with the chairman?"
"Oh, sure, so you can dally in Ballonlea until Schilly arrives," Lee teases.
"Lee!" Hop protests, face heating up. "That's not what I…" He trails off, because while that's not the reason he brought it up, it does sound like a good reason to stay in Ballonlea a little longer. "I mean – it's better than twiddling my thumbs in Hammerlocke until you're done!"
Lee snickers, and then says, "It's up to you, really. I don't know how much longer the chairman will be. If he's still occupied for a while, we could–"
He cuts himself off as a heavy, rumbling sound filters through the phone's speakers. It reminds Hop of the sound of a bookshelf full of heavy textbooks tipping over, causing all its contents to tumble to the floor in a cascade of paper and hard covers, before falling atop the whole heap with a resounding thud.
(Not…that Hop has any personal experience with that sort of thing.)
"Lee? What was that?"
"I don't know," he says tersely. "I think it came from the Energy Plant."
"The Energy Plant?" Hop echoes. "But isn't that where–"
"–the chairman is, exactly," Lee says, a hint of worry in his tone. "I need to go see what's going on."
"I'll come help!" Hop declares. "My taxi's gonna be here in five minutes, so I can–"
"No," Lee says firmly. "This isn't your responsibility. And if it's dangerous, I don't want you anywhere near it. Stay in Ballonlea, watch Sou and Schilly's battles. I'll take care of this."
"Okay," Hop says quietly, gut twisting. "Be careful."
"Of course," Lee says, warmth finally seeping back into his voice. "I love you. I'll talk to you soon."
"Love you too," Hop says, swallowing hard.
Lee ends the call, and Hop takes the phone in his hands. He taps the button to cancel his incoming taxi, and then continues to stare at the phone screen.
It's not the first time that Lee has had to respond to some big disaster or emergency, and he always handles them flawlessly. But being present for the emergency, and having to stand back and let Lee take care of it…it makes the experience feel so much more real, and so much more dangerous.
What even was that rumbling noise? Something collapsing? An explosion? The chairman is probably in danger, if not already injured, and Lee is running headfirst into that danger. And meanwhile, Hop has to stay in Ballonlea, unable to do anything to help. He could call another taxi, head to Hammerlocke despite Lee's orders – but even if he got there, what could he do? He's not as strong as Lee, and his Pokémon aren't trained for fighting fires or shifting rubble.
(Useless.)
Pincurchin lets out a cry and starts shifting on top of his head, and Hop tries to look up at it without tilting his head. "Pincurchin? Do you want to get down?" he asks. That, at least, is something he can help with. He holds a hand flat beside his head for Pincurchin to crawl onto, and then brings his hand down to hold Pincurchin in front of his chest.
Pincurchin leans forward, nuzzling its face against Hop's chest, careful not to poke him with any of its spines. It makes a few noises that Hop thinks are meant to be reassuring. A fond smile crosses Hop's face.
"Are you trying to cheer me up, Pincurchin?" he says, rubbing a finger along the Pokémon's back. "Thanks, mate. I appreciate it!"
Yeah, it might be dangerous. But Lee's the unbeatable Champion! He can handle anything that might be happening down at the Energy Plant. He'll fix the problem, rescue the chairman, and come out of it completely unscathed.
In the meantime, Hop can stick around and watch his friends' Gym Battles. Tsurugi and Schildemilia are both great Trainers – their battles are sure to be exciting!
He pockets his phone and heads back to the Gym with a skip in his step, carefully holding Pincurchin so it doesn't fall. It sounds like Tsurugi's battle is almost over, but at least he'll be able to watch all of Schildemilia's. Has she found any more of her missing team members? How will she answer Opal's quiz? She's pretty smart, so she'll probably catch on to the trick. But if she only has two Pokémon to Opal's three…
Well, it wouldn't be her first time winning with a disadvantage in numbers. She'll be fine! Especially when she has Hop in the audience, cheering her on.
A/N: Fun fact about the development of this fic: this was actually the first chapter I wrote for it. Crazy, right? Well, back in February, when the translation of the chapter where Hop beats Opal's Gym was released, I found myself really impressed by how quickly Hop was able to beat Opal - Sou and Marvin barely had the time to get a training session in by the time Hop was done. That gave me the inspiration to write a quick little ficlet about Leon congratulating Hop on how well he did, which became the basis for this chapter. I'd had the idea before then of writing a fic where Leon calls Hop after each of his Gym Battles, and writing that ficlet was the push I needed to start formally planning it out and writing it :)
On a related note, because these first five chapters were all planned out in advance, I think I was able to keep them all pretty balanced in terms of length and discussion topics covered. But from here on I don't have the benefit of hindsight, which means the chapters might end up a little less cohesive - more variety in length, and fewer unique discussions. I'll try my best to keep things interesting, though!