A Show For The Aegis
"Sun!"
The boy in question groaned and rolled out of bed. He had been up training all night and he'd only managed an hour's rest before his mom, Elena, came into his bedroom to talk to him about something. He picked himself up off the floor and sat back on the bed, looking at his mother who had a package in her hand.
"Sun, I know you were trying to sleep, but I just got this package off the Delibird courier. It's addressed to you. Have any of your friends said anything about getting you anything?" she enquired. He shook his head. As far as he could remember, none of them had said anything to him.
"Huh. Well, open it then! Let's see what you've got," Elena said excitedly as she passed him the package. He ripped open the package and found a small box inside.
"A box? What's in the box?" Elena asked. Sun shrugged and opened it. Inside were four tickets and VIP passes. He grabbed a ticket out and looked at the name on it.
"Aegis-blade? What's an Aegisblade?" He asked.
"Zzzt! Aegisblade are a band who originate out of Kalos! They recently released an album called Through the Decidueye and are on tour playing songs from the album!" Rotom sqwarked as he flew out of Sun's bag.
"Huh. Didn't they go on tour supporting the Go Rock Quads a year back?" Elena asked.
"That's right! They had just signed on with Meloetta Records then!" Rotom replied.
"So these are tickets to a concert? Okay, but who'd send me tickets to a concert?" Sun asked. He checked under the VIP passes and found a small note. He pulled the note out and begin to read it.
To Sun,
I hope you have enjoyed your time in Alola. I hear you have become the Alolan Champion now? That's great to hear. I was able to purchase these tickets using the money I obtained during my travels in Unova. The company branch here is making a profit and I've been doing the Gym circuit here to promote the company, so don't worry about me or yourself money wise. I'm not sure if you are into this band but it can't hurt to try something new. I will try to visit Alola soon but I can't promise anything. Stay safe over there okay?
Say hi to your mom for me.
Love,
Dad
"...It's from Dad. Huh," Sun muttered. Elena raised an eyebrow.
"He sent you that? I'm not surprised, he did say he was making a fair bit of money on his run of the Unova Gym circuit," Elena commented. Sun yawned and shrugged in response.
"We can talk about it later, I'm gonna go back to sleep," Sun told his mom, lying back down on my bed.
"Okay. Sweet dreams," Mom says as she left the room. Rotom went back into Sun's backpack as the boy began to doze off, exhausted from the training.
Six hours later, by Kukui's Labratory...
Skipping a third rock across the waves, Sun watched it skip twice before plopping in the water. Primarina promptly swam up to where it landed before popping out the water and performing a backflip. Next to him, Poipole does a backflip in imitation while Lopunny watched the trick, a thoughtful look on her face.
Who should I go with? Sun thought to himself. Hau and Gladion are busy and I can't ask Lillie to watch the show since she probably doesn't know who Aegisblade are...
"Hey, cousin!" Sun turned around to see Professor Kukui strolling up towards him, Rockruff plodding along happily next to him.
"Hey, professor. Something wrong?" Sun asked.
"Yeah, you've been standing out here for an hour just looking out over the ocean. What's bothering you?" he asked back. Sun shrugged.
"Just... thinking," he said. Kukui looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "I got some tickets to a show off my father earlier, so I'm debating who to go with. I know Hau's off training again and Gladion just set off back to Johto, so I can't exactly just go with them," Sun explained. Now Kukui looks thoughtful.
"Sun! Professor Kukui! There you guys are!"
Both of them turned to see Lillie walking up towards them, an Alolan Vulpix walking along behind her.
"Lillie! It's good to see you!" Kukui calls out to her.
Sun nodded and smiled. "Hey Lillie. Who's your new friend?" Sun asked, crouching down to meet the Vulpix.
"I caught her outside Mount Lanakila. She's adorable!" Lillie squealed as the Vulpix moved to hide behind her. Sun frowned and looked behind him, where Primarina snuck up and surprised the Vulpix without him noticing.
"I see. Prima, you may need to say sorry to Vulpix, I think you scared her," Sun told her as he stood up to look at her. Primarina lowered her head and let out a sad noise, which was followed by Vulpix responding with a happy yip.
"It's fine, Primarina. She's fine," Lillie said to Primarina. Lopunny crouched down to Vulpix and held out her paw to Vulpix, who shook it with her own paw.
"Figures you'd get on with the Vulpix," Sun joked, earning a giggle from Lopunny.
"So why are we all out here?" Lillie asks. Sun frowned and looked out over the ocean again.
"Sun has gotten tickets to a show, but isn't sure who to go with, what with Hau and Gladion off training," Kukui explained.
"I'll go," Lillie said without hesitation.
A smile unintentionally jumped onto Sun's face as he turned around to look at her. "Just like that? You don't have any training to do? You don't even know what the show is?" Sun asked, surprised at her eagerness.
"Yeah. It's a show, and you want people to go with. It'll be a fun time anyway," she explained. Sun's smile grew wider.
Of course she'd be up for it. Why had I doubted her?
"...Thank you Lillie. That leaves two more," Sun said. Lillie beamed at him while Kukui smirked at the two of them.
"What?" Both of them turned to look at Kukui, which made him smirk even more.
"Nothing." Sun shook his head while Lillie looked between them in confusion. Kukui had recently started to smirk whenever he found out Lillie and Sun were doing something together. Always had some comment along the lines of "Sounds just like me and Burnet when we were younger, yeah!" It was like he found some amusement out of them hanging out. Or he knew what Hau knew, which didn't make Sun feel better about his smirk.
"What about inviting Guzma and Plumeria along? We haven't seen them in a while, so why not?" Lillie suggested, having given up trying to decipher the expressions on Sun and the professor's faces. That did seem like a good idea, plus they seemed like the kind of people who'd enjoy whatever Aegisblade made, so it seemed like the best idea.
"Sure. I'll call them up and let them know. Here." Sun pulled his bag off of his shoulder and rummaged around in it for a moment, before pulling the box out of his bag. He grabbed out the ticket and the VIP pass and passed them to Lillie, who quickly shoved them in her bag.
"Rotom, can you call Guzma please?" Sun asked. Rotom flew out of his bag in response and looked at me.
"Certainly! Zzt zzt!" Rotom's screen flickered as a telephone symbol appeared in place of his face, which wiggled for a short while before the icon changed, showing a video feed of Guzma's room with a little video of Sun, Lillie and Kukui in the corner.
"Yo yo, it's ya boi Guzma." the white haired man answered.
"Guzma, hey. I was wondering if you and Plumeria would be up to coming to see a band called Aegisblade with me and Lillie. I got tickets off my dad and-" Sun's question was cut off by a chortle from Guzma's side of the call.
"Why am I not surprised the princess is going with the hero somewhere yet again?" Plumeria poked her head into the video feed, smirking. Poipole starts giggling as Sun looked at Lillie in confusion, but she's gone bright red and is looking down at her feet for some reason.
"She wanted to go. Something wrong with that?" Sun asked as he looked back at Plumeria and Guzma. Plumeria let out an "Ugh" sound and leaves the view of the video feed.
"Someday, you'll get it. I'm down for seeing this Aegisblade band. Plumes?" Guzma asked the lady next to him.
"Aegisblade? Guz, you know how much I love them. You need to ask?" She responded.
"Cool. We cool, Sun. Drop the tickets at the mansion in Po Town, that's where we are," Guzma promptly cut the call. Sun turned to face Lillie and Kukui.
"Well, there's all the tickets accounted for," Sun said in a chipper tone. Lillie was still bright red and was looking at her feet now, with Lopunny and Vulpix next to her giving her sympathetic looks.
"Something wrong?" Sun asked her. She continued to look down at the sand beneath her feet and shook her head.
"...Wait, why are they back at Po Town?" Kukui asked him.
"Guzma took the place back a few months ago. The whole Team Skull thing became really popular with tourists so they've opened up shop selling Team Skull merch there. It's given the ex Skull members something productive to do and helped bolster Ula Ula's economy, and it's helping to get rid of the stigma that follows those who fail the Island Challenge. They even have a new name, Skull Company," Sun explained.
"Oh yeah, I remember Guzma mentioning he had plans for something like that." Kukui gave Lillie a reassuring pat on the back as Sun pulled out his Ride Pager and called up Charizard, with the Flame Pokémon landing in front of me shortly afterwards. Sun returned his team and looked at her, frowning.
Something's bothering her, but she'll tell me when she's ready, I guess, Sun thought to himself.
"I'm gonna go drop these off with Guzma. See you guys later." Sun told them as the Charizard began to take flight.
A week later, outside the Battle Royal Dome...
"So, we all here?" Sun asked the group behind him. Guzma was decked out in his usual attire, but wasn't wearing his jacket, with Plumeria instead wearing Guzma's jacket over her usual attire, probably to protect her better from the cold. Even so, she's still shivering. Lillie's wearing a white jacket over her usual attire. It was unusually cold tonight, so Sun had chosen to wrap up warm in a long sleeved top and jacket.
"Yeah, now can we get inside? I'm turning into a Bergmite here!" Plumeria complained. Sun chuckled and nodded, and began to lead them inside, to where a queue was forming. They joined the queue, ignoring the muffled murmurs around them, and promptly spotted some Skull Gruntsat stalls selling Skull merch who they waved at.
Guzma had mentioned that the poor PR guy had wanted them to be called Skull Company Merchandisers until enough of them had them had graffitied his car to change his mind. Apparently, the old stigma that came with the name wasn't worth losing their identity.
The group waited in line until the queue moved along enough that they arrived at the ushers, who checked their tickets.
"Oh, Mr Sun! It's a pleasure to meet you. Right this way, please," they said, leading them along towards the seats where loads of fans were currently stood, waiting for the show to begin. They had taken down the ropes around the ring and the Battle Royal symbol had been replaced with a symbol showing an Aegislash with a shield on its back with a Doublade crossed in front of it.
"Hope they weren't going for an interesting design," Sun joked, earning a disapproving glare from Plumeria.
"At least we here. Hey, Sun, don'tcha know what they are playing?" Guzma asked. Before Sun could say anything, Rotom popped out of his bag and flew over to Guzma.
"Zzt! The song listing is right here!" Rotom promptly pulled up a list of songs for the former Team Skull Leader, now owner and CEO of Skull Company ("Repping the Skull til our coifiers are full, it's Skull Company, yo!" was the group's new motto) to look at.
"Hmph."
"Hey Guz, they got In the Midst of Gyarados on this show!"
"Wait, you know this band?"
"Yeah I do! I love Aegisblade!" Plumeria almost shouted, being stopped by Guzma who had noticed that a few people have spotted them and begun whispering amongst themselves.
"Well, at least one of us knows the band," Sun muttered quietly. Then the lights suddenly go dark.
"Was there a power cut?" Lillie asked. Sun glanced towards the stage, and was about to turn back to the others to ask if everything was alright when suddenly-
"AEGISSSSSSS!"
A roar broke out amongst the crowd as Sun's head snapped around to see where the cry came from-
"DOUUUUU!"
Another cry. Sun could see Plumeria barely keeping herself composed out the corner of his eye as he continued to look around.
There.
An Aegislash descended from the roof, carrying a man on its back, supported by a Doublade. The duo gently lowered the man to the ground as he stepped forward towards the microphone.
"AKALA ISLAND! ARE YOU READY?!" the man screamed into the microphone.
"There he is! That's Lyle Stratis, the lead singer!" Plumeria yelled. How Sun had managed to heard her above the sounds of the Dome, he didn't know.
What he did know is that there was suddenly a very painful screeching sound as the man picked up his violin and began playing it, akin to a Magnemite using Metal Sound. Sun and Lillie both covered their ears to try and block it out.
"What is that?" Sun asked.
"He's warming it up!" He heard Plumeria reply.
After a moment or two, the screeching had ended. Both of them took their hands off their ears. Then suddenly, the Doublade split up and began spinning around the Aegislash as the Aegislash held its shield in front of him. Suddenly, Aegislash turned itself around and slotted itself in it's shield, with the shield behind it's face and the Doublade crossed in front of it.
"AEGISSSSSS!" he roared. Pyro went off behind it, causing Sun and Lillie to jump. Suddenly, Lillie spotted the other members of the band emerging from shadows behind Lyle and pointed at them.
"It looks like they are using Shadow Sneak to appear!" Rotom called as Sun looked over to check on Lillie, who seemed fine. "Starting recording!" He shook his head.
Lyle began playing his violin again, this time a more melodic sound came out, which was joined by the sounds from the electric guitars and drums the other band members were playing.
"That's Critical Strike they are playing!" Sun could hear Plumeria shout. Judging from the reactions it seemed like everyone was enjoying it. This seemed like a decent night out at least.
Three hours later...
"...THANK YOU AKALA!" Lyle shouts. Suddenly, all four members disappear back into the shadows along with the Aegislash and Doublade.
"That was... different." Sun observed. Plumeria looked like she'd had the time of her life while Guzma had been enjoying the show, but not to the same extent as Plumeria. Lillie had been quiet through most of it but started having fun towards the end of it.
"Zzt zzt! And I recorded the entire thing!" Rotom sqwarked. Sun grimaced.
"Are you sure that's legal, Rotom?" Lillie asked. Sun shook his head again. For a machine, Rotom could do some stupid things at times.
"We'll have to ask permission off the band," Sun said to them both. We head out the doors only to be stopped by an usher.
"Sun? Can you and your friends come this way please?" Sun promptly flashed a glare at Rotom, figuring they were now in trouble because of him, before nodding to the usher. The usher lead them down some corridors before we arrive outside a room. He quickly peeked his head in before poking back out.
"You can come in."
The group walked into the room where Lyle was seated and the other band members (As far as Sun could recalled, he believed their names were Daniel, Steven (not the Steven from Hoenn) and Mitchell) were packing up.
"So you two are the Alolan Champion and the CEO of Skull Company?" Lyle asked, without looking up from the case he was storing his violin in. Sun nodded, but took a moment to think over his words. He had a bad feeling that if this goes wrong, Plumeria would never forgive him.
"Yes. Do you mind if I ask some questions?"
"Sure. But promise me something first." Sun looked at Lyle in confusion.
"Once your questions are finished, I want a battle. It would be an honour to fight Alola's Champion," Lyle said to Sun, smiling.
A Pokémon battle? That should be fun.
"Of course. It would be an honour to fight Aegisblade's lead man," Sun said to him.
"Good. Now, what are your questions?" Sun beckoned Rotom forward.
"My Rotom decided to record your show tonight. As long as it doesn't send the recording to anyone else, would it be allowed to keep it?" Sun asked hesitantly. Lyle's head snapped up with an annoyed look on his face, but he eventually nodded.
"Sure. Just don't do it again, it's against the law."
"Zzzt! Thank you Mr Stratis!" Rotom replied. Lyle looked at Sun as Rotom returned to hovering by Guzma. Sun looked at Plumeria, then back at Lyle.
"My friend here is a huge fan of your band. Would it be okay for her to get a picture with you?" Sun asked. He could hear Plumeria start hopping with excitement behind me. Lyle's annoyed look vanishes and is replaced with a smile.
"Of course." Plumeria calms herself and walks forward to stand with Lyle as Rotom prepares to take a photo.
"Ready?" Plumeria poses. "And... Photo taken!" Rotom called out as a click rang out.
"Thank you so much!" Plumeria almost squealed. Lyle smiled again in response.
"That's all. Now, you wanted a match?" Sun asked. Lyle nodded and stood up, his smile vanishing.
"We don't have a lot of time, so here's the rules: one Pokémon only, first to be hit loses," he told him. Sun nodded and stepped back.
"Aegislash, rock the stage!" Lyle called oit as he released the Royal Sword Pokémon.
"Bisharp, go!" Sun shouted as he released the Sword Blade Pokémon. He turned and saluted Sun before adopting a grim look as he turned back to face Aegislash.
"Aegislash, King's Shield!" Lyle called. Multiple blue hexagons appear in front of Aegislash's shield.
"Bisharp, Protect!" Sun called. Bisharp surrounds itself with a green shield.
"Smart. Aegislash, Shadow Sneak!" Lyle ordered. Aegislash unsheathed and sent its shadow crawling forward.
"Bisharp, Sucker Punch!" Sun ordered. Bisharp darted forward and dodged Shadow Sneak by stepping to the side before smashing its hand into Aegislash's sword, knocking it back. Bisharp bowed to Aegislash and Lyle, before walking over and pressing the button on his Poké Ball, knowing his work was done.
"Well, you made contact first, so you win. Well played," Lyle said as he extended a hand forward. Sun returned Bisharp's Poké Ball to his belt and turned to him.
"First turn King's Shield was a smart play, though," Sun admitted as he shook Lyle's hand. The door opened a bit and the usher popped his head in.
"Mr Stratis, there are more fans waiting when you are ready," he said.
"Can't keep them waiting. It was nice to meet you all," Sum said. The group walked out the room and start heading for the exit past the scores of fans waiting to meet Aegisblade.
A few minutes later...
"Sun... thanks." Guzma mumbled behind Sun as they walked away from the arena.
"What for?"
"For bringing us along. Plumes' gonna be happy 'bout this for a long time to come," he says. Sun smiled in response as Plumeria walked along, talking to Rotom about the band excitedly. They reached the end of the path.
"So, we heading our seperate ways?" Sun asked.
"Yeah, we better get back to Po Town. Thanks for the day out, Sun!" Plumeria called out as she and Guzma walked off.
"Well, they enjoyed themselves," Sun said as he turned to Lillie, who looked exhausted.
"Yeah..." she responds. Sun frowned.
"Come on, I booked a room at the Pokémon Centre before you all arrived. We can stay there for tonight." Lillie nodded and they both walked into the centre. Sun checked in first with Nurse Joy, and then they set off to their room.
"You think that Lyle guy's violin was a Stradivarius?" Sun asked as he sat down on one bed while Lillie sat on the other. Sun set his bag down and his team's Poké Balls by his bed. He looked up and saw that Lillie has that worried look on her face again.
"Is everything alright, Lillie?" Sun asked.
"It's nothing, Sun..." she replied. Sun shook my head.
"Clearly it's not nothing." Lillie sighed, knowing he wasn't going to leave it be.
"It's just... I see Hau and Gladion training to become better trainers. I know Hau's hoping to impress Tapu Koko and become Kahuna of Melemele once his grampa, Hala, steps down, and Gladion's looking to become Johto Champion. I see Guzma and Plumeria running Skull Company and making a profit. I can see Hapu working to please Tapu Fini as the Kahuna of Poni Island. And yet I don't know what I want to do. All I can do is follow you..." Lillie trailed off and her cheeks turn red again.
"You are saying that like I don't follow you when you take the lead. Remember Poni Island? That was all you, Lillie. I followed your lead, and it helped save your mother. It's okay to not have a future planned out yet, you've still got time to think about it," Sun told her. She still looked uncertain.
"Remember what we talked about on Exeggutor Island? I told you I didn't know what I wanted to do next after the championship battle. I still don't. I've been here defending my title and wandering the islands while everyone else goes about following their dreams. Guzma and Plumeria have Skull Company. Gladion's doing the Gym circuit in Johto to get stronger. Hau's training on Poni in the hope he can be picked as Kahuna once Hala steps down. Hapu's working as the Kahuna of Poni Island. And here I am, sat in a room after a concert with no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow while my father explores Unova and all of my friends are off working towards their dreams. So don't worry about not knowing what you want to do, because I don't either," Sun explained to her.
"Regardless of what we do, everyone will support us. So take your time to think about it, Lillie," Sun finished. Lillie looked at him now.
"...Thank you," she said, with uncertainty still written on her face.
"Lillie-" Suddenly, Rotom flew in front of my face with a sqwark and a message written on his screen.
"Oh yeah, need to do that thing." Sun muttered to himself. Lillie looked at him in confusion as he quickly picked his bag back up and dug through the contents before pulling out a box and setting the bag back down.
"What is that?" she asks.
A few hours prior, in Kukui's Labratory...
Sun? Do me a favour please?" Kukui asked.
Sun held up his hand to Poipole to tell it to stop practicing Fell Stinger for a moment. "Yeah, sure." he said.
Kukui picked up a present from his desk. "Give this to Lillie after the show finishes and say it's off you. It's her birthday today and it'll make her day," he told Sun.
"Okay..." Sun said as he put the box in his bag.
"If she asks, say you got it from a stall in Konikoni and that you thought it'd go with her outfit," Kukui explained.
Sun nodded."Okay. Poipole, back to practicing Fell Stinger!" he ordered.
In the present day...
"Sun?" Lillie asks, a worried look on her face.
"What? Oh, yeah, happy birthday Lillie," Sun said, holding the present out to her. The worried look vanishes and is replaced by a huge smile.
"You remembered!" she says happily. She quickly grabbed the present and opened it. Inside is a lei.
"A lei?" Lillie asks, picking it up gently.
"Zzt! It is a lei from a Comfey! Comfey are known to give their flowers to people they like! So I guess Sun's being like a Comfey! Zzt zzt!" Rotom explains as Lillie puts it on her head. Inwardly, Sun sighed. Classic Rotom.
"...I'm not sure if it's true that Comfey do that, but I saw it at a stall in Konikoni and I thought you'd look good with it. Plus it goes with your outfit," Sun said lamely, scratching the back of his head. Rotom had made this a lot more complicated than it needed to be.
"Really?" Lillie asked as she took it back off and placed it back in the box it came from.
"Yeah." Sun said. Without warning, Sun found himself getting tackle hugged by a flying Lillie, sending them both flying into the wall next to the bed he was sat on.
"Woah! You okay?" Sun asked, but the impact seemed to have had no effect on Lillie as she was babbling out thank yous and how much it made her happy. Sun sighed and patted her back. She liked it, at least. He looked at Rotom, who giggled before returning to the bag.
"...And I was worried I was annoying you by wanting to go with you to see the show because Plumeria made a joke the other day about how I'm always going where you are going and-" Sun suddenly remembered a film he had used to watch where a man had been reunited with an old friend and used a hug to comfort them when they were feeling unsure about themselves.
It couldn't hurt to try, right?
So he promptly cut off Lillie's babbling with a hug. Clearly she wasn't expecting that since her glomp just eased up significantly. She turned to face him.
"Listen to me. Don't ever think you are annoying me. I'm more than happy for you to go with me wherever we go. I mean, I followed you through an island filled with powerful Pokémon despite us knowing nothing more than some old legends that related to the island. I'll happily go anywhere with you, you know that right?" Sun said to her. He turned around so that it more comfortable for her to be hugged.
For he knew what he wanted to say now.
"No matter where. We're a team, we'll put on a show for the ages no matter where we end up, okay? I wouldn't trade you for the world. You mean too much to me for me to want to go anywhere with anyone else," Sun told her. She looked at him again.
"Sun..." Lillie said. He knew what she was going to say.
"I know, Lillie," Sun said as he moved his forehead against hers. It's not what most guys would've done in this situation, but it was something Sun was more comfortable with, and Lillie understood the intention, and the words that it said for him. She returned the gesture, promptly reapplied her glomp to him and started crying. Sun didn't know why she was crying, so he did what he saw that guy do in that film and held her closer.
I'll have to talk to Kukui and Mom about this when we get back.
Eventually, the tears subside, and she gets her breath back.
"Sun..." she whispers, her voice hoarse from the sobbing. "I-I don't want to make you u-uncomfortable, but c-can I stay here with you?"
Sun was confused. "Of course you can, you've got a bed too," he answers.
Lillie shook her head. "No, he... here. With... your arms," she explained, cringing at her words.
Oh. Sun realised what she meant.
"Y-yeah." The two shifted over to rest their heads on the pillow. "Are you comfortable?" he asked her.
"Yeah. T-thank you, Sun," she told him, wrapping her arms around him and gently snuggling up to him, before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Sun didn't respond, but wrapped his arms around her. He wasn't sure how he was going to sleep like this, but at the very least, it felt nice, having her this close.
Lillie... We've got this. We're a team. Always remember that, he thought to himself as he rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes.
...
Character Ages:
Sun: 14
Lillie: 15
Plumeria: 16
Guzma: 18
Author's Note: Apologies about this taking so long to upload, 5000 words is a lot to change into third person from first person, especially when you have uni assignments due.
I added in the section at the end about Lillie wanting to stay in Sun's arms because I thought it'd be a cute moment between them.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Be sure to leave a favourite, a follow and a review telling me what you think!