Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.

Before Umber Left Alola…

BGM: Battle! Trainer - Pokemon Sun/Moon (Super Smash Bros Ultimate)

"Come on, Salazzle… you got this! Flamethrower!" A trainer exclaimed as his Salazzle, looking a bit weak, lunged at Umber's Empoleon and unleashed Flamethrower.

"Use Surf…" Umber ordered, where unlike the trainer, he looked a bit bored out of his mind as Empoleon unleashed to push back the Flamethrower and hit the Salazzle, pushing her away and at the same time, washed away the trainer.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Whoops." Umber grimaced. "Sorry!"

"I'm okay!"

"Vaporeon, Ice Beam!" A female trainer ordered as her Vaporeon unleashed Ice Beam, but a Decidueye avoided it and then used Spirit Shackle to snipe the Vaporeon after weakening it with a Razor Leaf attack.

"Vapoooor…" Vaporeon groaned as it fell to the ground in defeat.

"Ack, no!"

"Force Palm!" A trainer yelled as his Lucario used Force Palm on Marowak, where Umber didn't tell him to dodge as the Lucario hit him with the Force Palm, but it didn't even budge. "Huh?"

"You do know Alolan Marowak isn't a Dark type… but part Ghost, right?"

"HUH?! …Uh oh…" He sweatdropped.

"Lucar…" Lucario sweatdropped as well where he was completely knocked out from a Flare Blitz attack.

"Uh… aheheheh… my bad!"

End BGM

It just never ended… fight after fight, no Pokemon trainer was worth his time to pass the torch to. Umber becoming the champion was more than he ever bargained for. He'd spend all nighters defending his title, all the responsibilities thrown at him the moment he became champion… it started to wear on him.

His usual happy go lucky demeanor that he had a few years ago was long gone. Now he's just tired and slightly depressed towards his ever busy schedule… he usually spent his free time taking naps. To him, the champions were the best of the best and proved they could do anything, but now… now it's more sitting on a throne waiting for some shmuck to go through the Elite Four so he can fight the challenger.

It was wearing on him… and some people were starting to take notice.

The only thing that was the least bit exciting for him was when Team Rainbow Rocket happened, but that came and went. Now all there was was just… boring battles in the Pokemon League. Same ol' stuff, all nighters because some trainers thought they'd catch the champion when he's at a tired state, rinse and repeat. It was tedious.

BGM: Hau'oli City (Pokemon Sun/Moon)

"Heeeey cousin!" Kukui waved him over as Umber was wandering around Hau'oli City. "How ya hangin' my good man?"

"Mmm… fine…" He quietly mumbled.

"Hmm? Somethin' wrong, cuz?"

"No, it's nothing."

"Hmm…" Kukui rubbed his chin. "Allllrighty, suit yourself." He said as he walked off as Umber continued to wander around Hau'oli City, unaware of Hala spotting him.

"Hmmm…" Hala mused.

Later, at Akala, in Mallow's shop…

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lillie asked. "I mean, you spent all week doing all nighters."

"Yeah man, I think it's starting to wear on ya." Hau said.

"I'm fine, trust me… it's not a big deal."

"Are you sure?" Hau tilted his head as Mallow came over with their food.

"Here ya go!" Mallow smiled before turning to Umber, her smile fading. "Umber, I don't mean to sound like Kiawe, but… you look like crap. Are you-"

"Yes, I'm okay. No need to be worried."

Lillie looked at him in concern. "You… you don't have to push us away, you know. You can tell us what's wrong." She turned to Hau. "Right Hau?"

"Mhm!" Hau nodded with his mouth full of malasada.

"I'm not pushing you guys away. Really… I'm just… heheh, I'm just tired, that's all." He said, forcing a grin as his phone went off where he would pull it out and see Guzma was calling. "Hello?" He answered.

"Yo! Umber, ya wanna come by and do a little rap off? Plumeria's got Casteliacones!"

"Maybe later." Umber said as he hung up and walked off. "See you later." He waved to his friends and walked off, where Mallow, Lillie and Hau all looked at each other with worry… unaware of Olivia pulling down the newspaper she was reading.

"Hmm…" She narrowed her eyes.

End BGM

Later, with Lillie, Hau and Guzma…

BGM: Route 1 (Pokemon Sun/Moon)

"Something's not right with Umber." Lillie said as the three of them were near Route 1.

"Well, of course something's wrong with him. He's always been a weirdo." Guzma snarked. "Those yellow eyes of his tend to creep me out…"

"You're missing the point!" Lillie said, lightly slugging him on the arm. "I'm saying that Umber's… not himself."

"Yeah, I've been seeing it too." Hau nodded. "I wonder if he's been having nightmares… oh! Maybe a Darkrai came over! Surely we gotta find Cresselia."

"No, if Darkrai were here, all of Alola would be under…" Guzma said. "That said, I wonder if we can knock some sense into the guy."

"No no no no!" Lillie protested. "We're not beating it out of him! It's just he's been like this for a while now… I've started to notice this about, oh, a year ago?"

"And you didn't even bother telling us?" Hau asked.

"I thought it was just me!" Lillie explained. "I thought maybe the Alolan sun was playing tricks on me or something but… now that some people are starting to notice…" She sighed. "I should've said something sooner."

"Ah, don't beat yourself up." Guzma said. "He did seem to hide it pretty well but now it's starting to crack. Did he say anything to you earlier?"

"He… said he was just tired. It was enough to make Mallow worried." Hau said.

Guzma grimaced. "I see. Sounds like our guy's depressed… but what caused it?"

"Maybe he's watching too many soap operas." Hau said.

"Hau… why the hell would you think that?" Guzma asked.

"I dunno!" Hau shrugged.

"Maybe we need to figure out what's troubling him." Lillie said.

"And how do we do that?" Guzma asked.

"Oooh, I have my sources." Lillie smiled as she walked off, with the two of them following her as Lillie would soon approach a door and knocked on it, and then the door opened up to reveal a woman.

"Oh! Lillie dear, hello!" She smiled.

"Hi, Mrs. Lightwave." Lillie smiled back as she looked down and saw Meowth poking his head around her leg. "And hello to you too, Meowth!" She said, petting him on the head.

"Meow!"

"What can I do for you and your friends?"

"Well, I was wondering-"

"What's goin' on with Umber!" Hau suddenly got on top of Lillie.

"Mmmph!" She grunted as Guzma then got on top of Hau.

"Yeah! What the hell's goin' on with your boy? He's been acting sad for a long time and claims he's just tired!"

"C-can't… hold on…! Don't… have… muscles like… Olivia…!" Lillie grunted as they all fell on the porch. "OOOF!"

"Oh, Umby…" His mother sighed. "He has been very distant lately… I asked what's wrong and he… I don't know, I can tell something's bothering me, but he won't tell me about it. I worry about him."

"Well, maybe we can talk some sense into him. He in his room?" Guzma asked.

"Actually, you just missed him. He just went out for his evening walk."

"Maybe we can cut him off!" Guzma said. "Come on, Hau! Let's do it!"

"Right!" Hau nodded as the two of them ran off. "Come on, Lillie! Don't be such a slowpoke!"

Lillie groaned, shaking it off. "Wait up!" She said as she chased after the two.

End BGM

Meanwhile, in the Malie Gardens…

BGM: Malie City - Night (Pokemon Sun/Moon)

"Alright, I've called you up here to discuss something important." Hala said, sitting in the food court as he was joined by Olivia, Mallow, Lana, Kiawe, Acerola and even Lusamine. "…But hold on a second. Ace? Where's Nanu?"

"Oh, Uncle Nanu couldn't be bothered to show up so I'm here in his stead!" Acerola smiled.

"…Let me guess, he's taking a nap?"

"Yup!"

Hala laughed. "That sounds like him alright!"

"If I were to guess, it has to do with Umber, correct?" Lusamine guessed.

"Indeed." Hala nodded.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but why is Lusamine here?" Lana curiously asked.

"Because I've taken a liking to the boy." Lusamine said. "After all, he tends to visit often and he acts like a surrogate brother to Lillie and Gladion, soooo, he's pretty much a surrogate son to me." She giggled.

"That explains a lot." Kiawe mumbled.

"Oh, that's adorable!" Mallow smiled.

Hala chuckled. "Indeed!"

"So… Umber…" Olivia spoke up. "I can't help but notice he's been quite distant with everyone lately."

"I, too, have taken notice of it." Lusamine said. "Usually when I give him hugs, he's… stiff."

"He flat out said he was fine, just "tired" earlier." Mallow said. "I don't know about you but that raised some major red flags."

"I wonder if it has something to do with him being the champion?" Acerola wondered. "He's contributed so much to Alola but he has told me he's done several all nighters defending his title."

"That's my fault. I came up with the idea that the Elite Four can be battled 24/7." Hala said. "To be fair, none of us expected some trainers to be night owls and battle us at 3 in the morning."

Lusamine sweatdropped. "I… think that should be changed."

"I wonder if… nah…" Kiawe shook his head.

"What is it?" Olivia asked.

"Do you think Kukui might be at fault here? He put too much pressure on Umber."

"I wouldn't put all the blame on Kukui." Hala said. "To be fair, we never had much of a Pokemon League to begin with so this was all new to us. That said, Umber becoming Champion was a momentous occasion for all of Alola. However, over the years, it's slowly taken a toll on him…"

"Maybe he goes all out because everyone has high expectations of him?" Lana asked.

"He did help us out with that Rainbow Rocket nonsense a few years back." Hala mused. "But, I don't think that's the case."

"Is there too much pressure on him? Oh, that poor dear…" Lusamine quietly said with worry on her face.

"Hmm… no, I don't think that's the case." Olivia said.

Acerola folded her arms, deep in thought… until she opened her eyes. "Has he ever had time to himself?"

"I've seen him take a nap under a palm tree every now and then." Mallow said. "Usually about an hour."

"But like, has he ever had a day off, practicing self care and all that stuff?" Acerola pointed out. "I wonder if he's putting too much pressure on himself."

"Don't be ridiculous! I don't think that's the case." Kiawe said.

"Oh yeah? When was the last time he went on vacation?"

Olivia's eyes widened. "Dear Arceus, I don't think Umber's ever had time for himself… a week off, a vacation… he's put too much pressure on himself because he thinks we have high expectations of him!"

"I did hear him grumbling about "how come the other Champions look refreshed while I feel like hell"." Hala said. "Though, I think he used a stronger word than hell…"

"The poor guy's killing himself, working hard for everyone in Alola while we're oblivious to what's going on…" Acerola said somberly. "We have to do something before it's too late!"

Hala stood up. "I know just what to do. Let me go talk to the boy."

"Do we even know where he's at?" Olivia asked.

Hala chuckled. "I have a hunch…"

End BGM

With Umber, in Tapu Koko's domain…

Umber knelt down in front of the statue, his head down and lost in his own thoughts. His eyes looked bloodshot and it looked like he was about to crack at any moment. "What am I supposed to do…" He wondered to himself.

"Umber?" A voice called out to to him, making him nearly jump as he turned to Hala approaching him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay…" He mumbled.

"Is something wrong? You've been… not yourself lately. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine, really… I'm just… tired, ya know?" Umber forced out a chuckle. "Everything's fine, really."

"Are you sure?" Hala got close to him. "Come on, you can tell me. I'm a sponge! I can absorb anything… haha!"

"I don't want to trouble you." Umber said as he walked off.

"You can tell me." Hala said as he reached out and gently put his hand on Umber's shoulder. "Come on, I can tell something's bugging you."

"No, nothing's bugging me."

"You sure? You look troubled… perhaps some tea will calm you do-"

"I'M FINE!" He snapped, turning around and glaring at Hala. "I'm perfectly fine so you don't need to hound me with your damned questions and wondering if I'm okay, because clearly, I'm NOT!" He yelled as Hala stood there with Umber still giving Hala the stink eye… before his eyes softened, realizing what had happened. "…I… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Come here." Hala said, wrapping Umber into a hug as he teared up before softly crying into his chest. "There there… let it out."

"I don't get it! I don't know how the other champions in the world are perfectly fine as they are. They've been doing it for longer as I have and… and… I don't… I don't know if I can go on much longer. This whole thing has been stressing me out, the tedious schedule… it's all just… too much!" He exclaimed. "It's just… depressing…"

"You've put too much pressure on yourself." Hala said gently, rubbing his back. "You've contributed a lot to Alola, but you never had time for yourself. You believe everyone has high expectations of you and you don't want to let anyone down, correct?" Umber nodded. "That is understandable… however, there comes a time where you just need to take a step back and take a deep breath. Alola won't fall apart if you don't complete a certain task. The world will keep turning, the Pokemon will continue to thrive, Team Skull will… still be Team Skull… the world won't fall apart if you don't complete everything on your to do list."

"But-"

"Umber, listen to me… you've been destroying yourself for far too long. And I have a feeling this started after Team Rainbow Rocket, correct?"

"Yes… I… I have to get stronger… because… what if Giovanni comes back with an even stronger team? I nearly lost that fight with that Mewtwo of his… I… I have to get stronger no matter what…"

"That is reasonable. However, there is no need to destroy yourself over this. Sure, they may come back again, but there's no reason to put your foot in the grave over this. There is nothing wrong with asking for help." He smiled at him.

"I… I don't really understand how the other champions do it… they look so well rested, at peace and… they don't look like shit."

"Well, it's because they take time off of their busy schedules to have some "me" time, if you will. There's nothing wrong with that. Heck, I've heard Cynthia has herself a villa in Unova and I've heard she challenges those who are unlucky enough to wander into her villa. Diantha tends to go shopping, Alder likes to explore Unova and rock climb, I've heard Red is in this tournament… and I'm not sure what the other Champions do in their spare time."

"I… take naps…"

"That's all you do." Hala said. "I believe… it's time you take a vacation. We'll all share the workload and when you come back, we'll all share this burden together. There's no need to have all of Alola on your shoulders." He then turned his head. "Isn't that right, Tapu Koko?"

"Kokoooooo!" Tapu Koko jumped off of the platform and landed in front of them. "Koko Koooo."

"Even the island deity agrees." Hala said. "Dry your tears, my boy… there's no need to hold Alola on your shoulders for a second longer."

Umber took a step back, wiping his eyes. "I'm… sorry I yelled at you."

"No no, it's fine. I had a feeling you needed to vent to somebody sooner than later." Hala chuckled.

"…I really need a vacation, don't I?"

Hala chuckled. "Just take all the time you need, my boy. We'll be right there with you." He said as Umber slowly nodded, and then he walked out.

A few minutes later…

BGM: Beautiful Lie Reqiuem (Danganronpa Decadence)

Umber sat on his porch, looking up at the moon and then closed his eyes, the wind blowing through his hair and took a deep breath before opening them.

"Your mind's made up?" A voice asked as he turned to see his mother approaching him.

"Yeah…"

His mother smiled. "I had a feeling this had to do with you being champion, but I didn't want to pry." She said and wrapped his arms around him. "Be safe, okay? Love you…"

Umber smiled. "Love you too, mom." He said as she kissed him on the cheek as Umber petted Meowth. "Keep an eye on this one, alright?" He teased.

"Mrow!" Meowth saluted as Umber got up and tossed the Dusk Ball in the air, calling out Nebby as she let out a cry.

"Come on, Nebby… let's go." He said as he hopped on the Lunala's back as Nebby flapped her wings and flew up into the night sky.

Kukui would look up and see Umber flying into the sky after chatting with Hala. "Ya know… perhaps I should've suggested a vacation a long time ago."

"Heh, happens to the best of us, Kukui." Hala smiled, looking up at the sky as Mallow, Kiawe, Lana, Lusamine, Acerola and Olivia looked up into the night sky to watch Umber set off.

"Wait, is that Umber?" Guzma asked as he and Lillie looked up, where they would see an Ultra Wormhole opening up as Umber and Nebby disappeared into the wormhole.

"Where's he going?!" Lillie exclaimed.

"Come on, we gotta follow him!" Guzma said as Lillie nodded.

End BGM

"And THAT is how Umber decided to take a vacation without notifying the rest of us." Guzma said.

"Huh! So that explains a few things…" Gloria said, glancing over at Umber who was casually resting on top of the library with Xena/Yagami accompanying him.

"…By the way, thank you for leaving me at Alola when you guys went off after him." Hau said. "You could've taken me with you!"

"We didn't want to disturb ya, you were happily eating some malasadas." Guzma said.

Hau sweatdropped. "I could've taken it to go…" He mumbled.

"Quick question!" Zinnia spoke up. "Where exactly did Umber go on his vacation?"

An Ultra Wormhole opened up in the sky as Umber and Nebby flew out. Nearby was Peach's private jet but Umber would take notice of Isle Delfino in the distance. "Huh… that island in the distance reminds me of Alola. Did we make a wrong turn?" He wondered before shrugging. "Eh, whatever, let's go, Nebby!" He said as they flew off, then he took notice of the private jet.

"Hey Nebby, let's do a flyby! I wanna wave at those passengers."

With a cry, Nebby flew over closer to the plane, and the first to notice them was Sarge. "What in tarnation?!"

"Hello!" Umber waved to them before Nebby pulled ahead of the jet and flew off to Isle Delfino.

Ibuki: Oooh! One of the earlier ideas for Gaiden!

Yeah, this idea was conceived when Gaiden was born but this idea was put on the backburner for a good while, and then a few days ago, Yoshi brought this up and I was all "Yeah, let's do it!"

All credit goes to him since this was his idea and the backstory for his OC. Thanks, bud!