To all the fans who thought we died: We didn't. We have been in and out of Pokémon writing moods but that was the only problem.

The standard disclaimers apply, including that we are Americans who have never left the country and as a result do not know much about British speech. We've done some research, but there's only so much research that can be done, so I would like all British readers to forgive us for having the narration (and possibly characters) speak American. We wouldn't even be apologizing if the game hadn't been translated to reflect the speech.

Thanks to all the memes, we do imagine Gloria as Scottish, but the accent seems hard to write if you don't have it yourself, so we're not even going to try.

The Galar region was home to many things. Interesting legends, strange Pokémon, a wildly different Pokémon League than anywhere else, and the two teenagers sitting in front of the television.

Neither was watching, however. They had the local Champion's exhibition match playing, but it was only background noise as the girl tried to read the notes scrolling under it and the boy died of laughter beside her.

"The Pokémon League registration…" she paused and squinted, "begins…"

"What did you think it said?" the boy interrupted, and the girl huffed.

"Blankets," she admitted. She had a rough accent despite living in Postwick all her life, a side effect of her dad (who, in Victor's opinion, sounded alarmingly like Groundskeeper Willie from the Simpsons) being the one who taught her how to talk. This, combined with her status of 'limited funding' and bad eyesight, was why she and Victor were friends. He liked the types of people who would be prime targets for bullies.

"Put on your frames, Gloria." He said it like he was merely giving optional advice, not telling her things she already knew she should be doing.

"Don't think I will," she said stubbornly. "Mum said not to lose them, and I'm always forgetting them somewhere. It's best to keep them in the case unless it's important."

"I'd say reading would be important."

"But I can fill in the blanks," Gloria pointed out. "Or the blurs, if you want the truth." She gave him an annoyed look from the corner of her eye. "Didn't think you read much, Victor."

"Didn't think you could see much," Victor retaliated.

Gloria would have retorted, but Victor silenced her as he stared at the television. On the screen was Champion Leon, a well-known figure in Galar – one of the few regions that didn't ask the Champion to keep his or her identity a secret. A few others let the Champion choose, like the nerd in Alola that Victor was subscribed to on YouTube, but only in Galar was the Champion a celebrity. Or maybe Leon was famous because he had been undefeated for years.

Either way, Victor was determined to join them. All he needed was a Pokémon and an official endorsement, and he was sure he could take Leon's title, fame, and fangirls away from him.

Gloria had pointed out that no one important in the League knew he existed, so he couldn't get an endorsement and all hope of being a celebrity would vanish. He'd retaliated that his dad got seven badges before dropping out of the challenge and maybe he could be sponsored after all.

There was a knock on the door, and Victor heard his mother go to let whoever it was in. Seconds later, a boy Victor and Gloria's age rushed into the room, screaming about the exhibition match they were currently watching.

"We've got it, Hop," Victor promised. "Honestly, did you think we wouldn't?"

Hop shrugged it off. "Sorry, mate, but that's my brother there. I have to be proud of him. I'm the only one who can beat him."

Victor leaned back into the couch, giving Hop a disbelieving look. "With a Wooloo? Against his Charizard?"

And, yes, just like he mocked Gloria's vision, he mocked Hop's dreams. He knew his friends were strong enough to take it.

"Well, he'll be a Dubwool by the time I reach the Champion," Hop declared, before noticing the girl stretched out on the floor. "Hello, Gloria. Lose your glasses again?"

"How do you know I didn't switch to contacts?" she snapped back.

Hop knelt down and gently patted her on the head. "Because you can't afford it."

"You're a pain, Hop." She returned to watching as the chairman of the Galar Pokémon League challenged any viewers that dared to step up, promoting the upcoming challenge.

Victor would be that person. If only he could get that endorsement.

The trio watched as Leon claimed yet another victory over Gym Leader Raihan, and then Hop got to his feet.

"I was going to tell you, Lee comes back today. He was always gone when I wanted you to meet him, so I wanted to prove that I wasn't making up a friendship."

"But you are, Hop," Victor said in mock-seriousness. "We're pieces of your shattered imagination. You're in a coma from when your brother's Charizard ate a piece of your brain."

Hop pushed him back into the couch, not amused. "Just get a bag," he ordered. "Lee usually brings presents."

"I'm too poor to afford a bag," Gloria said simply, even though the huge brown bag from a charity shop was still over her shoulders. "It's why my dress has pockets."

Hop and Victor groaned in unison. Her family didn't have a lot of money, but they weren't living out of a cardboard box. The boys didn't mind lending Gloria video games, but her 'too poor to pay attention' jokes were more annoying than funny.

"Just get up," Hop demanded. "I'll be out waiting."

Victor quickly ran to his room and put on a hat and his dad's old bag. It was much too big for a trip to Hop's house, since it was from the man's trainer days, but it was still in great shape and good enough to hold anything Leon might have brought home.

He didn't count on the Wooloo headbutting the gate blocking off the nearby forest.

"Can't you keep that under control?" he asked, and Hop looked offended.

"You think that's my Wooloo?"

"Isn't it?"

"Of course not!" Hop tapped his Wooloo's ball for emphasis. "Mine knows not to cross that gate."

"Sure, Hop," Gloria said with an overdramatic eye roll. "Well, if it isn't yours, we'll just leave it. Can't do much on its own, can it?"

"Have you ever met a Wooloo?" Hop demanded.

The Wooloo bleated loudly, tackled the fence again, and rolled down the hill, crying out in anger.

"Don't think it's a problem," Victor said quickly, and Hop, reluctantly agreeing, led the others to his house.

Leon wasn't there.

Not that Hop, or even Victor, hadn't seen this coming. Apparently, Leon was so bad at directions that his own mother believed him to be incapable of following the straight path from Wedgehurst to Postwick. The kids were very aware of how to follow a straight path, and so they were sent to collect him.

They found a crowd gathered around a man and his Charizard, who were finishing up a performance of some kind.

"Thank you all for your support!" Leon cheered as Charizard spit more fire into the air. "And thank you for helping me get off at the proper station!"

"I love you, Mr. Champion!" a little girl cheered.

"And I love you, random child!"

"Lee!" Hop called, bouncing up and down to show Leon he was there. "I brought my friends!"

"Friends?" Leon called Charizard back to his ball and took a step closer to his brother, searching for Victor and Gloria. "I thought you were making them up." He laughed as Hop punched him, barely seeming to notice. "You're getting better at that, Hop. Now, I'll bet Mum sent you over to collect me? Or did you want to see the presents?"

"You brought presents?" Hop asked, almost succeeding at pretending to be surprised.

Leon, fortunately, was not an observant man. "We'll have to wait for that," he said as he started heading in a completely wrong direction. "First, we have to go home."

"First," Hop corrected, grabbing his brother by the cape, "you have to go the right way."

Safe at Hop's house, Leon showed them the presents he'd brought with him. He'd known that Victor and Gloria weren't imaginary, and had brought three Pokémon for them to choose from.

"You each get one," he warned them.

There was a Grookey, a Sobble, and a Scorbunny. Victor immediately picked up the Scorbunny.

"I like this one," he announced. He looked over at Hop. "I didn't steal your choice?"

Hop shook his head. "I wanted the Grookey," he promised, "though maybe I should take Sobble instead, for the type advantage."

"Don't touch it," Gloria hissed. The Sobble's eyes were watering as he looked up at her, and she focused on the tiny blue blur until he was close enough for her to actually see. She picked him up and hugged him tightly. "This one's mine."

"Those big eyes got her, too," Leon said to himself as his brother scooped up his first choice, plopping him on Wooloo's back.

Gloria laughed as Sobble buried himself in her sweater. "He's a real ace, isn't he?" Sobble squeaked in agreement. "That's your name, then. You're Ace."

Ace popped his head out of her sweater, squeaked again, and retreated. The resulting lump made it look a lot like she was pregnant. Naturally, she immediately pulled him out, and Victor laughed.

"Congratulations, it's a boy!"

Gloria held Ace out as a warning. "I will throw this," she hissed, to her new Pokémon's panic.

Scorbunny jumped to Victor's defense, all four little paws flopping around in an attempt to defend his new trainer from flying Sobbles. Victor lifted him off the ground, grinning. "And you," he declared, "will be named Dash."

Hop looked Grookey over, debating. "You shouldn't be left out of the nicknaming," he decided. "I would call you Boomer, since I've seen your final form…but that's gotten a bit insulting." Grookey made an irritated sound and climbed up Hop's leg to cling to his back.

"Name him Jojo," Victor suggested.

Hop groaned. "Have you been watching Powerpuff Girls again?"

Victor shrugged. "Not my fault they had one of the greatest episodes in animation history."

Hop looked back at the green monkey in front of him. "Jojo," he repeated, and then he grinned. "Don't know why, but it fits you. Let's go make trouble for Victor." He lifted Jojo off the ground and held him out, just like Gloria had when she'd threatened to throw Ace at him. "What do you say, mate? Up for your very first Pokémon battle?"

"Will you be using Wooloo too?"

"Naturally." Hop put Jojo down, reaching for Wooloo's ball. "You have the type advantage. I might as well even the odds, am I right?"

Victor thought it over, but was called to a barbecue before the match could begin.

Leon's mother looked up at him, confused. "I thought you said you found four Pokémon," she said, and he grinned back.

"You didn't think I wouldn't keep one of them for me, did you?"

It was a small barbecue party, inviting Victor's mother and Gloria's parents and even Gloria's parents' pet Zigzagoon, a creature Gloria had named Dishwasher. True to his name, Dishwasher ran around excitedly, begging for scraps from the humans' plates, Ace along for the ride.

Victor returned home that night with a very excited Scorbunny, who refused to slow down even as his new trainer prepared for bed. Eventually, Victor had an idea.

"Do you know how to play video games?" he asked. Dash finally slowed down, staring up with big, non-comprehending eyes. Victor reached for the system he kept next to his bed. "If you let me sleep tonight, I'll show you tomorrow."

Dash hopped into Victor's bed, scooted under the blanket, and patted the bed beside him to invite Victor back.

Victor took a moment to ask himself what he'd done, but decided that was a problem for Future Victor.