Fuse

Well, I guess I should've expected the champion to show up in front of me eventually. It's not as though I was keeping a low profile.

The city of Motostoke seemed to stop to watch the commotion that was going on in the middle of the street. After all, it was a confrontation between the strongest man in Galarian history, and the hot shot newcomer with weird magical abilities.

Still, that Charizard's level is in its 60s, and California is barely in its 40s while everyone else is far behind it.

If I were to fight Leon, I would win without a doubt. I don't think the Pokemon world, well, anything nearby, has the firepower to put me down if I fought seriously.

That being said…

Angeles notified me that I've been solving way too many issues by fighting. It's unbecoming of an American like me.

Though the United States was forged from war, we prefer to use diplomacy over the gun because making friends is always superior to making enemies.

That being said, we obviously were the best in beating enemies. As am I.

Leon crossed his arms with a stern expression as he asked, "So, how's the new dynamax band that you stole from Chris?"

I casually shrugged in response, "I wouldn't know. I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet."

I would love to, but there aren't actually that many places I could dynamax in Galar. It would be nice to get a perk or something that would let me dynamax anywhere.

Not liking the answer, Leon pressed, "Oh? Would you like to return it, then? After all, a brave and young challenger needs it for their adventure," Narrowing his eyes, Leon threateningly said, "We wouldn't want you to be convicted of any crimes, after all."

I wanted to stick my tongue out at him, but unfortunately, I have to wear a mask because I fear my face being broadcasted.

Still, I don't fear being judged by the courts of lesser countries. The only valid courts that are able to judge an American are American courts, by a jury of their peers.

Walking over to a nearby wall with a convenient alleyway close by if I needed to escape, I leaned on the wall and asked Leon, "Well, if you were to fight me with all of your Pokemon, do you think you can win?"

"I don't know, do you wanna test it?" Leon confidently held out a Pokeball, as if challenging me to a battle.

Well, this is a very tempting offer, however…

I waved him off, slightly reluctantly saying, "I got told off by some friends of mine- You just missed them- That I solve too many of my issues with fights. I'm not adverse to fighting, but I would like to prove that I don't solve everything with combat."

It was probably not the most efficient way to go about this. After all, they are right, I am a thief who is tampered with one of the challengers of the biggest event in Galar. I could solve this with a fight very easily, and it wouldn't change much.

However, this was a man's pride to prove a friend who said "I know you will win the fight," and "I'll wait to hear tales of your victory," wrong.

Leon amusedly laughed, "Hahaha! You've got some good friends, then! I definitely need someone to say 'Oh! Leon! I think you're winning too much!'"

I will admit, I did snort a bit at that. Mostly because of the delivery and not the joke itself.

"Alright, well, I guess we're at an impasse," I said after the laughter died down, "I have a journey of my own to go on, and you want justice. Where do you think lies a middle where we all exit this city at least partly happy?"

Putting a finger on his chin, Leon thinks to himself, "Hmm, well, I suppose we all kind of want to know how you pulled off those weird powers… Or maybe why you're so obsessed with Lily…"

Then, Leon hit a fist into his palms as he exclaimed, "Alright! I've got a good deal for you! Why don't you tell us how you did that weird domain expansion thing, and why you're so dead set on challenging Lily? In exchange, I'll let you go!"

He wants two things from me? The audacity of these British wannabes.

"Don't get it mixed up, Leon," I lowered my voice threateningly, staring directly into Leon's eyes, "You're the one at a disadvantage here."

If I wanted to, I could probably combine enough of my magic, skills, and items to wipe Motostoke off of the face of Galar. The idea that I would get the lesser end of the stick was laughable.

Leon seemed to figure out that I have more in my pockets than what I showed off against Chris, so he wisely conceded, "Alright, I guess you're right. I would have a hard time protecting everyone here against you."

At that, it seemed as though the entire crowd around us felt collective guilt due to the fact that they were making the negotiations harder for their Champion.

It was funny, in my humble opinion.

Leon seemed to think of the most important question he had, taking several seconds to ponder it.

It was honestly making the situation more tense then it had to be. Because the question he was going to ask was fairly obvious.

Leon stared directly into my eyes, asking his question, "What do you want with Lily?"

…That was not the question I thought he was going to ask.

I suppose the Champion of Galar wanted to make sure that his people were safe. How noble of him. I'm sure that my next answer will absolutely devastate the possibilities of us negotiating ever again.

I could lie, but as a famous crook said…

I am not a crook!

"Lily has something of mine that she doesn't want to part with," I calmly said, standing tall, "I will get it from her, even if I have to kill her."

Leon had a difficult expression on his face, staring at the ground, "I see…"

Dusting non-existent dust off my shoulders, I told everyone around us, "With that in mind, the next time we meet, we'll likely be enemies. At that point, you'll see why my friends trust in my ability to win fights."

I pointed up, "There's my ride."

Everyone looked up, trying to figure out how I was going to make my escape in this crowded city.

But there was nothing in the sky.

I was trolling, I just entered the alleyway I was standing next to and entered the nearest storm drain using the fact that my body is basically jello because I'm half slime, letting me loosen my form to fit into the small holes of the drain.

Even I forget I'm half-slime, sometimes.

It smelled like crap, and this sewer system was most definitely filled with a bunch of Pokemon that probably also eats crap. Luckily, I have teleportation in my tool kit.

So, I'm gonna go back to Dori's place for a hot minute just so I can teleport somewhere else.

And that was the last time I ever visited Motostoke.

Leon

He had to admit, that was very funny! Fuse had completely fooled everyone!

Chairman Rose wasn't very enthused about it when he got on a video call with him, Leon not having to explain anything because the entire confrontation was already put onto every social media website that could host videos.

Rose groaned as he massaged his head, "What an annoyance! This is going to cause other investors to pull out of Galar because you let a criminal go!"

Leon shrugged, not very concerned about the investors, "Eh, so what? We have enough money to last a few years without them."

"It's about the image," Rose said, knowing full well that Leon wouldn't care, "You are the undefeatable Champion of Galar, you can't just let things go like that! But even so… That question!"

Tilting his head, Leon innocently asked, "What about it?"

Leon knew full well without even looking at the internet that people all over the world were questioning Leon about what he asked Fuse in the end.

However, even if he were allowed to ask 100 questions from Fuse, Leon would always ask about Lily first.

Fuse was absolutely ruthless against Chris and his Hydreigon, they were still in the hospital recovering, and Chris might never be able to walk again due to the collateral of Fuse's fight. Despite Leon's words about Chris needing the dynamax band to continue his journey…

Chris was all but disqualified from the challenger circuit already. There was no way Chris could continue his journey.

And it absolutely destroyed Leon to know that someone with a lot of potential was cut down so early. And to be utterly powerless to do anything against it.

Lily was one of the rising stars of the Galarian Challenger Circuit, despite being the youngest challenger in Galar's history. And for some reason, she had some mysterious past with Fuse.

With that in mind, Leon could've only ever asked one question from Fuse, no matter how much Leon wanted to know how Fuse surpassed humanity's limits to be able to fight like a Pokemon does.

Because now, Leon knows that Lily is in danger because of Fuse…

Next time, Leon won't be so merciful, and Fuse will learn why he's been undefeated for so long.

Lily

Allister, the gym leader of Stow-on-Side, had the courtesy to walk Lily all the way to the front entrance, which was really nice of him!

Lily pulled out a little sticker of a chibi version of herself giving a thumbs up from her inventory, and handed it to Allister, "Thank you, Mister Allister! Have a sticker!"

"...Eh?" Allister looked confused, but took the sticker anyway, "Thanks?"

Lily smiled, "No problem!"

As Lily was walking away, Allister called out to her, "Ah! Wait! This happened right before our match started, so you might not know about it. I just saw it on my phone, but… Did you hear what Fuse had to say about you?"

Lily stopped to turn around, curiously tilting her head, "Fuse? Did he say something rude?"

Allister nervously scratched the back of his head, "Ah… Kind of?"

Oh… Fuse really needed to be nicer! It'll help him on his journey a lot more than being mean!

Sighing, Lily assured Allister, "He'll get better, don't worry!"

Lily could hear an audible gulp from Allister's throat as he pointed out, "...He wants to hurt you, you know."

With an unshakable smile, Lily told him, "Don't worry! I'll be fine! Bye bye!"

Lily turned back to leave the gym, happily skipping towards the exit.

So, Fuse was being rude again?

As the sun shined on Lily's face, revealing her to all of the people who were just watching her in the stadium causing a cascade of people asking her questions about Fuse, all Lily could do was sigh.

One day, Fuse will learn about the importance of kindness! Just like Lily's part of the domino taught her!

Fuse

Sitting on top of Washington, my Braviary, as he flew across the wild area, searching for nothing in particular, I held in a groan as I mindlessly scrolled through Pitter, figuring out what Lily was up to.

That brat sweeped Allister, the current gym leader for Stow-on-Side, with just her Corviknight.

That wasn't even the right gym for a Corviknight sweep. That gym cycles through gym leaders every year, changing between ghost and fighting types.

And despite the type neutrality, Lily's Corviknight utterly swept through Allister's entire team.

What a monster… I need to make sure that California is capable of fighting against it. Otherwise, I'm gonna get swept by her lead Pokemon, and that would be awful.

Still, I only know that she has an Obstagoon and a Corviknight. The Corviknight is countered by California, and Obstagoon can be countered by Hawaii once it becomes Volcorona.

I want to assemble a larger team, but without knowing what other Pokemon Lily has, team building is going to be rough.

That being said, I should do a bit of training with my current Pokemon. After all, they're disgustingly underleveled for the task ahead of them.

I'm not sure what would be the correct method of training them, so I'll just train them in the only way I know how.

I tapped Washington on its back to get its attention as I pointed to a random spot in the wild area, "Land over there. We're about to decimate its population."

AN:

Made this chapter in about an hour and 30 minutes because it's Thursday/Friday and I have something to do on Friday. So, if anything seems off this chapter, that's the reason why.

Good to know that I still have my writing speed though! (Despite the heat draining my will to write, clashing against my desire to stick to the upload schedule without fail.)

Next chapter is July 4th, obviously. And then a chapter on July 6th.