Hop ships everything. Nothing is sacred.
Victor had expected Professor Magnolia to be an old woman. After all, the scientist she took over from had been the one to endorse his father, and she'd been second-in-command of the lab at the time. But the only movement they saw was a young redhead and her Yamper, both of them brightening up upon seeing Leon.
"It's been a while," the redhead said with a smile. "What is it this time, Leon? Looking for more information about the forest gods?"
"There's no such thing as forest gods," Victor whispered under his breath, but his words were drowned out by Leon's.
"What's this? Sonia, I didn't know you became a morning person!" He got down to pet Yamper, who then bounced back to Sonia. "You never could wake up in time for breakfast unless I got involved."
"And you could never find anywhere you needed to go unless I got involved," Sonia taunted. At Leon's sheepish smile, she laughed quietly. "I suppose we did need each other back in the day. And I spent all these years thinking that you only liked me for my cooking."
"That, too," Leon admitted with a laugh of his own. "You do make delicious food."
"Just kiss already," Hop's voice called from the entrance of the lab.
Sonia laughed as Leon choked. "Hop hasn't changed," she said, and Leon groaned in embarrassment. "Who are the others?"
"Hop's friends," Leon explained, seizing the chance to change the subject. "Victor and Gloria. They're here to see if your grandmother would endorse them for the Gym challenge."
"I see." Sonia looked between the three. "Gran isn't here at the moment. It's just me and Yamper." The computer lit up on its own. Sonia's smile vanished, falling into a grimace. "And apparently Rotom."
"You have a Rotom?" Victor asked. The computer exploded the second he did, and the cackling Pokémon leapt out.
"Wish we didn't," Sonia replied, as Rotom buzzed loudly.
"You meatsacks aren't fun to be around either," it hissed in its own tongue, not particularly caring if any humans present could speak Pokémon.
But Sonia noticed the funny shape of Victor's pocket, and immediately perked up. "You have a Rotom phone? Does it have a Rotom in it?"
"Why do you ask?" Victor believed his suspicion was very appropriate, given the context.
Unfortunately, Sonia was quick enough to catch on. "So it doesn't," she announced, and Victor cringed. "Well, then. If you agree to take Rotom with you, I'll make sure Gran gives all three of you those endorsements that you want so much."
"Careful, Sonia," Leon cut in. "Don't go making promises. Your grandmother must be up to her eyes in research."
Sonia rolled her eyes. "Where do you think my procrastination comes from?" she challenged. When Leon once more stopped mid-thought, she laughed out loud. "Well, let's let the boy make up his mind about the Rotom. You have some questions about the forest gods?"
"A few," Leon admitted. "For example, would it be likely for somebody to encounter one if he or she wandered into the woods, say, this morning?"
"Of course," Sonia said, nodding like she was an expert on forest gods. "It is mating season."
Victor immediately decided that if taking Rotom was what he needed to do to get out of there faster, he'd do it. This woman was crazy.
Though she did give him a Pokedex, so he was fairly confident that her grandmother would give him that endorsement after all.
By the time they got to Route 2, Leon was gone. Hop didn't seem to care much - "he's still got Charizard" - so Victor and Gloria decided not to care, either. Instead, they decided to fill up their teams. Even Gloria, who already had two Pokémon, decided to catch a few.
When Leon arrived, Gloria was facing off against a Nickit with Dishwasher.
She'd put her glasses back in her bag to prevent them from getting damaged by stray attacks. She wouldn't want a Zigzagoon getting tackled so hard he flew into her face and put glass in her eyes. Better to wait until the Pokémon could control their power before wearing them to battle.
Even with the missing glasses messing with her aim, she managed to catch the Nickit. Leon, despite knowing Gloria for less than a day, was impressed.
"It looks like you already know how to catch Pokémon," he said, and Gloria turned, not paying attention to the Zigzagoon rolling the Nickit's ball back to her. "I guess you don't need a tutorial."
"No tutorial?" Victor repeated, his eyes wide. "I think I love you."
"Sorry, Victor, I'm too old for you."
"Not in that way," Victor protested, and Leon laughed.
"I didn't think so," he promised. "But I hear it so often I had to be sure. Now!" He handed each of them Pokeballs, Gloria lighting up and handing Victor two more to pay him back for the ones she borrowed. "Go and catch yourselves some full teams! Give your Champion something to be proud of."
Later on, the four of them would remember that line and laugh about it. At the moment, none of them able to see the future, they laughed only at Gloria naming the female Nickit "Rogue" before heading to Professor Magnolia's house.
The professor was outside when they got there, fortunately. Leon, as the tallest and loudest of the group, decided to make their presence known.
"Hello, Professor!" he called, and she looked up from her garden, startled. "Have you unlocked all the Dynamax secrets yet?"
"Not yet," Magnolia answered, returning to watering her plants. "It's a long study, and I'm afraid I don't have much time left to work on it."
"Don't say that," Leon insisted. "You'll outlive us all."
"And dance on your graves," Magnolia finished with a joking smile. She looked past him, her eyes settling on the trio of teenagers. "And who are they?"
"This," Leon said, proudly ruffling Hop's hair, "is my brother. Those two are his friends."
"I see." The professor's joking tone vanished. "Hop, then. And...Victor and Gloria?"
"You've heard of us?" Gloria asked, surprised.
"Of course. Leon is friends with my granddaughter, and he talks about his brother nearly as often as he talks about Pokémon."
Hop brightened up at once. "Then if you know who we are, you can help convince Lee to endorse us for the Gym challenge!"
Magnolia turned back to Leon. "Why won't you endorse them? They seem to be capable."
"Capable, yes," Leon admitted, "but they're just starting out. Gloria has two Dark-types on her team. She has to rely on Sobble to deal with type disadvantage."
"A team that's only half full," Gloria pointed out.
Magnolia rubbed the bead on her glasses chain. Gloria noticed the movement and realized that she'd forgotten to put her own glasses back on.
"Perhaps Gloria is destined to be a Gym Leader," Magnolia suggested. "Or go to another region for their Elite Four. Or perhaps she doesn't quite have a fondness for Dark-types and merely found a few cute ones on her way over."
Gloria nodded along. Leon grinned back.
"Then I suppose you kids won't mind battling for it?"
"Not me, then," Gloria said quickly. "I just want to get money. I don't need badges at the moment."
"Are you sure?" Leon's smile vanished. "You need badges to catch Pokémon later on. What if you find a Sneasel or something on the way to Circhester?"
"Then I'll just steal Victor's badge and pretend I can catch it." Gloria sounded sure of this plan, and Victor struggled not to roll his eyes. He couldn't refuse Gloria - she had too much blackmail on him. "But I have an extra Pokémon on these idiots. I have advantage in numbers, and in type against Victor."
"Good point," said Leon, and turned his full attention on the boys. "What do you say, then? Are you ready to fight for your endorsement?"
They were, so they went outside to the battlefield that the professor had in front of the house.
Victor won again, surprising nobody. Luckily for Hop, Leon pulled out three endorsement letters, putting one back when Gloria once more turned it down.
"The challenge does sound fun," she admitted, "but I already agreed to travel with Victor, and that's already a challenge." Victor made a face at her. She ignored it.
"I might not be willing to endorse you next year," Leon warned, and Gloria shrugged.
"I'll go to Kalos if I have to."
As if through her determination alone, something shot across the sky, leaving a streak behind. It was too far away for her to see more than the light without her glasses, but Victor was kind enough to push her along as he and Hop went to investigate.
"Wishing Stars," Hop said quietly, and Gloria knelt down to look. Ace popped out of his ball and handed one to his trainer, which prompted Hop to pick up two more, handing one to Victor.
"With these," Hop announced, proudly holding his like it was the Champion Cup trophy, "our Pokémon can Dynamax! Not sure if Gloria needs one, though, since she's not taking the challenge..."
"I'll take it anyway," Gloria cut in, holding both the item and the Sobble close.
"They say that those come to people with a true wish in their heart," Leon said, and Hop held his to the sky.
"My wish is to be the greatest trainer ever," he declared.
Gloria held hers up, too. "My wish is to get enough money that I don't have to eat oatmeal every week." Her eyes narrowed. "Or ever again."
Good wishes, Victor thought. How could he top that? "I wish," he started, holding up his star, "that I was a superhero. No...a king." He took another moment to think. "Or that I get a girlfriend. Doesn't matter which."
Magnolia only grew more concerned. "Should we tell them that Wishing Stars don't work that way?"
"Eh." Leon shrugged. "Won't hurt them to have something to work for."
"True." Magnolia looked over at the kids. "Well, our business is done. Go out and enjoy yourselves, but be careful in the forests." Her tone was deadly serious. "It's mating season."
She sent them off immediately after, but as soon as they were out of earshot, Victor turned to Gloria. "Looks like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," he said, just as serious.
Gloria nodded. "And it looks like that tree doesn't go all the way to the top branch."
Victor nodded, and they immediately dropped the subject.
Teams
Victor: Dash (Scorbunny) Rookidee
Gloria: Ace (Sobble) Dishwasher (Galarian Zigzagoon) Rogue (Nickit)