A/N: I know I said I'd update this on Fridays but I got excited and built up a bit of a buffer and thought I should probably have my protagonists get their starters finally (spoiler alert for this chapter, I guess, lol). Reviews are welcome, as always!
It took only a few minutes of walking before Victor found the pathway and we made it out of the Weald, led by the fire on Charizard's tail. Hop told the story about the two beasts we saw, and Leon listened intently. Victor chastised me for being so impulsive and I ignored him. As the lights of Postwick came into view, glistening in the last light of the day, Leon stopped all of us.
"Gloria, Victor. Your folks are already off at our place, so why don't you meet them? I've got to make a quick phone call and I'll catch up."
"You sure you'll be able to find your way home?" Hop asked. "After all, you're—"
"Pants with directions, you've said it a million times," Leon said, rolling his eyes. "But I think I can navigate Postwick of all places. Go on ahead."
"He means that he'll have Charizard lead him back home," Hop said under his breath once we were out of earshot. Victor and I both laughed and the three of us headed back to Hop's house, guided by the smell of the masterpiece Hop's family was cooking.
Dinner was exquisite, as it always was when Hop's father was manning the grill. The lot of us sat under the stars on a picnic table while Wooloo rolled around, happy to be back home again. Hop's mum needled us a bit about what took us so long meeting Leon, but Hop told her Leon got lost on his way out of the station and that seemed to satisfy her. She was halfway through telling the story of how Leon came back the first day of his journey, not being able to make it to Professor Magnolia's lab when he caught up with us.
"C'mon mum, you know that's not the full story," he whined theatrically as he gave his dad a quick hug hello.
"Did you mean the bit about how you knocked down my door thinking it was yours?" Mum chirped. "I'm sure she's getting there." More laughter, and Leon rolled his eyes. I had to admit, it was a weird sight, seeing someone so strong and sturdy on a gym pitch look so sheepish and humble around family and friends.
"So, what took you so long getting back in this time?" Hop's dad asked.
"I forgot to call Sonia. Told her I would the second I got back to Wedgehurst, but as you probably heard from these kids, we got a little held up." He glanced at Hop, and the two shared a brief conversation in facial expressions. I wondered if Leon would rat us out. I hoped he wouldn't. Mum had already been a bit more restrictive once we lost Dad, and I couldn't imagine she would take kindly knowing we went to the Weald like it was nothing.
"Damn it all," Hop's mum said. "I knew I was forgetting something! I should've invited her. I haven't seen that girl in a few years now!"
"You know Magnolia works her to the bone!" His father said.
"Well, it's good I called then. She's on her way over now if you want to save her a sausage. She's got a surprise for you lot," Leon said, eyeing us all.
"Who's Sonia?" Victor asked.
"Right good friend of Leon's," Hop answered excitedly. They've been thick as Thievuls for years, but she gave up being a trainer for a professor nowadays."
"Right," Leon said. "In fact, she just finished up her schooling a couple years ago and now she's working with Professor Magnolia. One of her top aides, in fact."
I was impressed. Professor Magnolia was one of the highest respected scientists in the entire world, and not only was she a top researcher on the Dynamax Phenomenon, but she had also taught Professors Sycamore and Juniper, researchers equally as credited as hers in other fields, as students.
"Don't get too excited," Hop said quietly. "Happens when you're Magnolia's granddaughter."
"Hey, don't go crying nepotism on Sonia," Leon smiled. "Sonia may have had a lucky break in her birth, but you know just as well as I do that she's smarter than all of us combined."
"Well outside of battles, you're kind of a dumbass, so it's not as high of a barrier as you would think, Lee."
The table erupted with laughter at Hop's quip, and after ruffling Hop's hair again, Leon sat down to join us. The rest of dinner was uneventful. Leon told plenty of stories about his exploits as League Champion, and even was happy to tell us little things about the Region's gym leaders, like how Milo, the Turffield Gym Leader, was more fond of Wooloo than Hop was, or how the Psychic Type Gym Leader, a young man named Avery, had to get his title revoked due to a very violent attitude when he lost matches. Hop, of course, was eager to talk the nitty gritty of strategies, but Leon dissuaded him, saying it was too boring for polite conversation, which Victor and Mum happily agreed with. The night passed this way and after a few more minutes, we were clearing the table and Mum was fixing to head home.
"Oh, stay for a while, Marge," Hop's mum begged.
"No, I really must be going."
"You really should stay, there's a surprise in just a mo," Leon said.
"Gloria and Victor will tell me all about it."
"Oh, come on, mum!" Victor begged.
"Yeah, don't leave on account of me now," said a bright voice from the front gate. A woman in her mid-twenties with fiery red hair walked through the gate, accompanied by an excitable little potato of a Pokémon yipping by her side. She wore a poofy brown waistcoat and skinny blue jeans and fashionable teal boots that matched a flash of teal underneath the coat. In her thick red hair were what looked like little gemstones, as well as an expensive looking pair of orange sunglasses, all somehow looking both casually thrown together but meticulously detailed, just like her messy ponytail. Slung over her shoulder was a small black purse. The Pokémon accompanying her, a Yamper, stopped barking long enough to clock the Wooloo on the other side of the table, and with an even louder bark, it shot like a furry yellow bullet straight to the sheep, causing the two to hurdle around the table like madmen.
"Way to ruin my entrance, Yamper," the woman said, and on their second pass, she grabbed the tiny dog as it ran by and pulled it up to her chest, where it wriggled uncomfortably for a second, and once it realized it wouldn't escape resigned itself to panting and looking at the humans around it. Wooloo cowered behind Hop, who knelt to pat his head. "Anyway, Leon probably mentioned I was coming, I'm—"
"Sonia!" Hop's dad cried. "I'll be damned, I haven't seen you in far too long! That Magnolia better not be working you too hard." He pulled her into a tight hug, and in the commotion, Yamper wriggled free and flopped onto the ground. It was about to chase after the Wooloo again until it started to smell the food still out on the table.
"Oh, you know how my grandma is," Sonia said sheepishly. "In fact, if it weren't from a few…choice words from this one, my partner in crime over here, I don't think she'd have let me come for as short of a time as I will be." She nodded towards Leon, who beamed.
"So, you brought 'em?" he asked, helping pry Sonia from his father's arms and giving her a friendly hug as well.
"'Course I did!" Sonia said, rummaging through her purse and pulling out a small black case. "You know she's had these saved for when Hop came of age, right?"
"Not…just Hop." Leon guided Sonia over to Victor and me. She looked at Victor and me quizzically.
"Gloria," I said, smiling. "This is Victor," I added after a pause. I looked over at my brother. He seemed to be rooted to the spot for some reason.
"Oh, I've heard about you!" Sonia said excitedly. "Marge's kids?" Hop won't shut up about you whenever I come for a visit. Seems pretty convinced you all are going to do the gym challenge together. Which is a great segue for thiiiiiiiiiiis!" With a sing-song voice and a dexterous move of her hands, the small case clicked open, and the professor's assistant showed us its contents: three Pokéballs gleaming red under the house lights.
"This…are you serious?" I asked. I could feel my heart racing again, but instead of fear it was out of pure excitement. Was she giving me my first Pokémon?
As if she read my mind, Sonia nodded. "You three are fifteen now, yeah? Seems like a solid time to get your hands on a starter and maybe fight a gym leader or two!"
"Well, let's not get carried away…" Leon said softly.
"IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING?!" Hop shouted. "Ah! I've waited my whole life for this! Can you believe it?!"
Victor stayed silent, his eyes still transfixed on Sonia.
"Lee, you better watch out. It's bad enough that I'm going to be coming after your spot in the league, but Gloria and Victor are gonna knock you all the way down to number four!"
"You've got to get an official endorsement from someone in the league first, little man," Leon said. "I didn't even get my endorsement right away. I told Sonia to bring these over so you could have a taste for training in case you…run off anywhere." He glanced quickly at me, and I blushed. Guess we weren't completely getting off the hook for running off into the Weald.
"Oh, I've already been planning my team and training up Wooloo here. You should see our rolling tackle!"
"I've seen what it can do," Leon laughed.
"Alright, so you'll endorse us for the league, right?" Hop asked.
"Well…" Leon scratched the back of his head.
"Oh, come on, Leon," Hop pleaded. "I've waited for this for years!"
"I know you have," he replied earnestly. "But look, the champion doesn't just throw out endorsements, and I don't want to just throw you in unprepared. Why don't you take one of these guys and practice a bit more, and then we can go get you a league endorsement same why I did?"
"By begging everyone in Motostoke to battle you?" Sonia piped in. "You're lucky my grandma found you and endorsed you before you made an even bigger fool of yourself, you big lug. Here, Hop. Take your pick." And with that, she pressed the small button on the side of each ball, enlarging them, and tossed them all up in the air, releasing the Pokémon inside.
The first Pokémon on the ground was a white rabbit, who landed hard and started rocketing around the table. I could almost see smoke wafting up from its large feet. I recognized it immediately as Scorbunny. A fire type. The second Pokémon did not land as gracefully but landed hard on one of its legs. As it gingerly prodded its hurt limb, its tears started to water, covering its body in tears, nearly rendering it invisible. This one had to have been Sobble, a water type. The third Pokémon never actually came down, but instead landed in the branches of a tree. It was a greenish yellow monkey, and as it twirled around in the branches, it pulled a loose twig and started beating out a surprisingly steady rhythm. I didn't recognize that one, but I didn't need to.
"Oh, wow, a real Grookey? Those are wicked rare!" Hop said excitedly. "But I already have my Wooloo as my partner, so Gloria and Victor, why don't you get first choice?" Victor had finally found the volition to move on his own and was tending to the Sobble. Meanwhile I looked down to see the Scorbunny curiously sniffing my feet. I knelt next to it, and it hopped away in surprise, but when I reached out my hand, it hopped back and playfully kicked it with his feet. He was incredibly warm to the touch. I giggled and spread my arms out wide, and the bunny immediately hopped into my arms.
"I think this Scorbunny chose me before I even got a second look," I said, though I would have picked the cute little guy to begin with.
"And Victor looks smitten with that Sobble, so it looks like we all got who we wanted!" Hop said. As if on cue, the Grookey jumped down from the tree and started tapping Hop's shoe with his stick in that same rhythm.
"Looks like it was love at first sight," Leon laughed. "Just like me and Charizard, back when he was a wee Charmander. I know the lot of you will have a champion time getting to know each other!"
"A battle!" Hop shouted, quickly looking around to Victor and me. "How about a battle? Lee, then you'll see how ready I am—I mean how ready we are to take on the league!"
"Fine, fine, you know I can't say no to fighting or watching a good battle. Who's up?"
Victor stood up and took a step back. "I…I think Sobble's still a little shaken from his fall. I'll…I'll sit this one out." He looked quickly at Sonia, then just as quickly looked away, and then wandered back over to the table.
"Guess that means it's me," I shrugged. "You ready Scorbunny?"
The bunny squeaked in excitement, and we wandered onto the dirt path in front of the house to set our battle.
"I'll have you know that you're at a disadvantage, even if fire types do overpower grass types!" Hop said confidently. "Because I've got Wooloo ready to go!" The sheep energetically rolled up in front of him and readied itself to fight.
"Alright, Scorbunny, go get 'im! Tackle!" I shouted. Scorbunny bounded forward with incredible speed and slammed directly into Wooloo, who bounced back.
"Two can play at that game! Tackle it back!" Hop commanded. Wooloo dove forward and rolled at Scorbunny, who couldn't quite get out of the way in time.
"Don't let it build momentum!" I shouted, but as Scorbunny looked back at me, Wooloo skidded to a halt and then started rolling back towards my Pokémon. Another direct hit, and Scorbunny had to spit some dirt out of its mouth. Fortunately, it was still good to fight.
"Keep on rolling, Wooloo!" Hop yelled gleefully.
"Jump out of the way! To the left!" I yelled. Scorbunny hopped to the left next to a fence pole, and without a minute to spare. Wooloo kept rolling and took a wide turn before, with a yell of encouragement from Hop, it began to roll even faster, directly at Scorbunny.
"Stay there!" I yelled, and Scorbunny looked at me quizzically. I didn't want to shout out my strategy for Hop and Wooloo to hear it, so I looked at the bunny intently, begging it to trust me. Uneasily, it stayed put, and as Wooloo came barreling down, it made to jump out of the way anyway.
"Hold on…hold on…JUMP OUT OF THE WAY! NOW!" I yelled. Not needing the extra encouragement, Scorbunny hopped up and out of the line of fire just in time. Wooloo sped past and smacked headfirst into the wooden pole. Scorbunny dropped down next to it and looked at me expectantly.
"Give it a good kick!" I cheered, and with a quick hop to set itself up, the Scorbunny leveled a powerful kick to the poor sheep, sending it flying into the air and bouncing down at Hop's feet, dazed and unable to get up.
"Wooloo!" Hop cried, kneeling down to check on him. The sheep bleated feebly; it wasn't terribly hurt, but it was out for the count. "You might've gotten lucky this time, Gloria, but Wooloo's worn your Scorbunny down enough for Grookey to finish the job!"
Grookey then leapt off the very fence pole that Wooloo had crashed into and stood at the ready, its twig in its hand like a sword.
"All right, Scorbunny?" I asked. The bunny nodded and started hopping from side to side in anticipation, but I could tell that Hop was at least partially right. As confident as it looked, it also looked very tired. If we still wanted to win, we couldn't get caught off guard again.
"Poke it with your branch!" Hop yelled, catching me off my guard again. Grookey flew at Scorbunny.
"Knock it out of the way!" I yelled in response. Scorbunny kicked up at the perfect time and the stick went flying into the air. In a bit of flair, Scorbunny kicked up some dirt and breathed some white-hot fire onto one of the rocks and kicked it at the stick, igniting it and quickly turning the branch to ash.
"Was that ember?" Hop asked. "It knows a type advantaged move already? Oh well, tackle it, Grookey!" Grookey obeyed, and while Scorbunny was still celebrating its new fire move, the monkey knocked him to the ground.
"Scorbunny, get up!"
"Tackle it again! Don't let it get its footing!"
Scorbunny had barely pulled itself up from the dirt when Grookey was on it again, and in a couple tackles, it lay on the ground in front of me, wearing the same dazed expression Hop's Wooloo had worn not too long ago. Scorbunny was unable to battle, and Hop had beaten me in my first battle.
"Grookey, you did it! I'm so proud of you!" Hop cried joyfully.
"Alright, let's get everyone healed up," Leon said, tossing us some oran berries. I handed one to Scorbunny, who feebly munched it.
"You did great, buddy," I said. "We'll get him next time." Scorbunny chirped softly and nuzzled up in my arms.
"Gloria, that was a bang-up battle," Leon remarked. "Way to use Wooloo's momentum against it. Hone that skill and I'll see you in the Pokémon League Championship Tournament in a few years."
"You mean you'll see us in the Pokémon League Championship Tournament this year," Hop corrected, but Leon shrugged and smiled.
"We'll see, little bro. You both clearly have some talent already. I'm sure you won't have any trouble getting an endo—whoop, gotta take this." Leon's phone started buzzing and he quickly excused himself to take the call privately.
"Hey, let me deal with that nut," Sonia said, walking over. "You fought like right little warriors. Why don't you pop by Gran's lab tomorrow? We can get you fixed up with Pokédex app for your Rotom phones, and if I use my words right, a couple of endorsements, too. Maybe even one for you. It was Victor, right?" Victor nodded intensely, still not being able to find many words to say.
"Alright, kids," Mum said, resting her hand on my shoulder. "We should head home. Looks like you've got a busy day tomorrow."
"First thing tomorrow morning, we're heading out, right Gloria?" Hop asked.
"Sure thing," I replied. Scorbunny said nothing, as it was already asleep in my arms.
A/N: Nothing like a fun little battle to end the night and the chapter. Hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it!
NEXT WEEK: TEAM BUILDING