It wasn't long after Gloria had taken the title of Champion from Leon that he announced to everyone his and Sonia's engagement. This came as a surprise to no one. It was a well known secret around the region that Leon was in love with his former rival, and now that the Undefeated Champion was beaten, he was finally able to take a step back and spend time with the professor. Hop of course was ecstatic for his brother, but at the same time was feeling lonelier than ever.
He didn't want to take his brother's attention away from his bride-to-be, and the reverse was true for his mentor Sonia. Gloria being the new Champion was rarely around Postwick. He spent most of his time learning what he could from Professor Magnolia, and training with his team out of habit more than anything. He had given up on the idea of becoming the Champion like his brother had, and he was fine with that. He was able to do what his heart desired, and not follow a predetermined path following in the footsteps of his brother. He turned his head and looked at his Pokemon.
Zamazenta let out a big yawn, curled up in the corner of the room with its head on Dubwool's fluff, and Cinderace draped over it, all of them napping. Hop loved his Pokemon and was glad that he had such a great team that was there for him through thick and thin. But they could only fill so much of the hole that was in his heart now that he was missing the two most important people in the world to him. The teen let out a sad sigh and flopped down on the desk dejectedly.
His behaviour did not not go unnoticed however. Hop's mother had been watching her son over the past few months and watched him as he fell into a deeper and deeper slump. She poked her head into her son's room, saw the state that he was in, and clenched her hand into a fist. She left with a face full of determination and headed outside to call the one person she could trust to get her son back.
She tapped on her Rotom Phone and waited as it rang. It didn't take too long for a feminine voice to chirp from the speaker. "Hey mum! How are you doing?" Ava smiled. Gloria had been calling her 'her 2nd mum' for as long as Gloria and Hop had been friends, and she was glad that being Champion didn't seem to have changed that. "I'm doing well hun. Are you busy? Do you think you could make some time to come home?"
There was silence for a few moments from the other end of the speaker before Gloria spoke again. "I'm pretty busy… but I think if I delegate some of my responsibilities to the Gym Leaders for a bit I could take a bit off. Is everything okay?" A tone of worry was in her voice, as she asked that question.
"No no, everything is fine. You just haven't been home in a while dearie, and I'm sure your mother misses you very much. I do as well. We could take some time and all have a barbeque together. How does that sound?" She of course didn't want to out her son and embarrass him, so she laid a clever half-truth.
Gloria perked up a little after hearing that and replied, "I haven't been home in quite a while huh? Alright ya twisted my arm. I'll pack up and head on down. I'm in Hammerlocke right now, so if I take the train I can be at Wedgehurst in about 4 hours."
Ava nodded and said to her "Then I should prepare for your welcome home! I'll see you soon dearie." To which Gloria replied "Love you mum. See you soon." and hung up the call. Ava let out a sigh of relief and slipped her Rotom phone into her pocket. First thing was first, she needed to go tell Elise that her daughter was coming home.
Hop had stopped pouting for a while to dive back into one of the textbooks about Pokemon moves, interested about Professor Kukui's annotation about Z-Moves which were almost exclusive to Alola, and how they could be using the same kind of energy that Mega Evolution from the Hoenn and Kalos regions used. Hop wondered if perhaps it could be the same with Dynamaxing as well, when his train of thought was cut off by a knock on his door, and his mom coming in.
"Hop dear? Can you do me a favor? I know you are busy." The professor's assistant swiveled around in his chair and placed his hands on his knees. "I'm never too busy to help you mum. What's going on?"
Ava internally smiled, thinking this was way too easy before replying. "I need you to run to Wedgehurst and pick up a package for me at the train station. It seems that they couldn't bring it to Postwick for some reason. I need to head next door and spend some girl time with Elise." Hop nodded and pounded his chest with a smile "Leave it to me! I'll be back with that package before you know it!"
Ava laughed and waved her hand dismissively. "Take your time, don't rush. I'm sure Zamazenta would enjoy the walk if you took time as well." The legendary fairy perked its head up at the mention of the word 'Walk' and started to wag its tail slowly. Hop smiled and recalled Cinderace and Dubwool to their balls, before standing and getting Zamazenta's ball. "Yeah, good point. Come on boy. I'll let you back out when we're outside. You're still too big for the doors." The dog let out a happy bark as it was recalled back into the ball.
It only took hop a few moments to slip on his jacket, bag, and shoes before he headed out the door, letting Zamazenta back out in the process. The Hero of Many Battles stretched out, much to his trainer's delight who commented "Ooooh Big stretch." Patting the dog's side.
It was rare that his mom asked him to do anything, and he definitely needed a break from all the studying he had been doing. "Yeah.. Mom's right. There's no need to hurry! I can take my time to clear my head." The sunlight hit him like a deathray, wincing at the sudden change. "Bloomin sun… Has it really been that long since I've been out?" He wondered out loud.
The Legendary Pokemon let out a soft affirmative "ruff." In response, and ran on ahead, giving the local wild Wooloo a play bow and wagging its tail. Hop laughed at this and called out to it "Make sure you're gentle with them yea? They might be gobsmacked as it is!"
As they made the slow walk to Wedgehurst, he noticed something odd going on near the station. A large excited crowd had gathered, and compacted themselves around the entrance. "I wonder what's happening over there." The teen mused at his companion, but then noted that it looked much more alert than usual. "What is it boy?" He asked, placing a hand on its side. Zamazenta let out a happy howl as its tail started wagging with exceptional speed. "What's got you… so…"
Hop began to put two and two together. "Uh oh… Come on boy, this could be trouble" He hopped up on the Hero of Many Battle's back, and it began to zoom towards the crowd, and with a big leap sailed over everyone's heads. Hop examined the situation from his fast and very excited vantage point, and saw exactly what he suspected. A little bit out from the station, stood the Champion of the Galar region, looking very uncomfortable as people swarmed her.
Gloria noticed the swift shadow over her head and tilted her head towards the sky, locking eyes with her childhood friend. Her worried expression melted away, as she gave him the same brilliant smile that he loved to see. Zamazenta landed behind her and Hop extended his hand to her "Cabbie is here for you miss." She grasped his hand and was hoisted upon the legendary Pokemon. The Professor's assistant turned to the crowd and said "Well you lot are full of beans, but it's time we leave this Kerfuffle," And with that, much to the dismay of the crowd, another beautiful leap and a fast stride brought them well beyond the reach of any fans.
"Boy those lot need to learn to take a hint" He said with a smirk on his face, wind blowing through his hair. She wrapped his arms around his waist, held on tight and buried her head into his back. His warmth was something that comforted her, and his scent was something she had missed desperately. She remained silent, just enjoying being near her friend after such a long time. Hop's heart was racing at this point though, and his face was beat red.
He was desperately trying to ignore the fact that he could feel her soft breasts press against his back, cursing how thin the champion's uniform was. He shook this quickly as they started to approach their hometown, and Zamazenta's pace slowed to a trot before stopping altogether. Slightly disappointed that she had to release her hold on him, Gloria hopped off the Legendary dog and patted him on the side "Thanks for the quick rescue you two, I don't know how Leon managed to handle all these fans." He hopped off as well and recalled the Pokemon to its ball, thanking it simultaneously.
"Speaking of the quick rescue… do you mind explaining how you came to be in that situation ya daft cow?" She feigned offense for a brief moment before letting out a stifled giggle. "Your mum invited me for a barbeque. She didn't tell you?" The wheels turned in Hop's head before he let out an exasperated sigh. "So… you're the package huh? Should have known." She took his hand and dragged him suddenly towards her house saying with a grin on her face. "Come on! I'm gonna get out of these duds, and then I want to catch you up on what's been going on recently!"
He was caught off guard by her eagerness, and got pulled along. The boy's mind flashed back towards when they were younger, before their journey when she would do the same thing, dragging him around postwick as they played. His heart skipped a beat when he realized that even though she was now the champion, she was still his Gloria. "Right behind you, I wanna fill you in on my research as well!"
The two approached her house on the small hill, not letting go of his hand until they were almost at the door. "Oh! Let's let the Pokemon out for a bit of a stretch while we go inside. I'm sure they'd love to see each other again." Without waiting for his response, she grabbed all six Pokeballs off her belt, pressing the center button on each one to expand them before throwing them one by one. The first one was her ever faithful partner, Noir the Inteleon who tried his best to look super casual. Flubbers the Dracovish came out after, who immediately dashed towards Hop, gently and affectionately clamping its jaws on the boy's shoulder who let out a chuckle while patting the fossil on its head. "Good to see you too Flubbers"
Another flash of light, and Zacian, the Hero of Many Battles emerged from his ball and leaped to the roof of the house, and sat overlooking the scene below. Sage the Meowstic came next, who stretched and rubbed her eyes before they rested on Hop and Flubbers. Feeling slighted by how comfortable the Dragon was with him, she used her Psychic powers to pry the Pokemon off, and deposited it at her side with her arms crossed. Flubbers had absolutely no fucks to give and latched itself around Sage, affectionately gnawing on her head.
Kuma the Urshifu came next, glancing over at his trainer, who gave a slight nod, allowing it to run towards the local Wooloo population with a look of bliss on its face (it apparently liked the way Wooloo and Dubwool felt). Last but certainly not least, Neptune the Gastrodon popped out and rushed to Gloria's side, feeling safest there. "Neptune still doesn't want to leave your side I see." Hop said, placing his hands behind his head. The champion shook her head with a soft smile "Believe it or not, she's doing a lot better! I'll have you know she rode around on Flubbers' back the other day around the Lake of Outrage!"
Hop smirked and released Cinderace, Dubwool, and Zamazenta. The latter instantly got pounced on by its counterpart before Hop had a chance to throw another ball. A playful scuffle was initiated, each wagging their tail with excitement, and leaping around. "It really has been a minute hasn't it?" the young woman said slightly guiltily. Hop let out Corviknight who saw Kuma and decided to try to settle the score again, dashing off to challenge it. Pincurchin was last to come out, who looked up at the fire type, wanting to be picked up. Cinderace gently scooped up the electric urchin and placed it on his shoulder.
"You all play nice ya hear me now?" She shouted after her party, opening the door to her house and entering, leaving it open for Hop and Neptune to follow in her stride. She was finally home after all this time, and neither of them could wait to spend time with each other, so much so that she nearly forgot to say hello to her mom and 2nd mom. Hop's smile grew wider, and his mother took notice immediately. As usual, she was right on the money about how he would react. After all, whether or not he knew it, Hop was in love with Gloria.
–00—-000-0-000—-
So I wanted to get this out there, as I thought it might be fun to explore the events after Sword and Shield, and delve into what Hop would be studying. The mysterious energy that let Pokemon all around the world use special abilities like Mega Evolution. I hope that I can release more chapters of this. But until next time guys, Fare thee well.
