I Choose You...

Chapter 3: The Ruins

Moon was sitting on the porch drinking some tapu cocoa, enjoying her free time. Then Hau ran up to Moon startling her, breaking the silence.

"MOOOOOOOOON!!!!"

"What is it Hau? I'd ask what's wrong, but you're grinning ear to ear."

"It's a surprise! Just come!" And Hau ran off in the direction of Iki town.

Moon shrugged and left to follow her friend. Iki town was particularly quiet today... as mysterious as that may be. Iki town is usually really busy.

Moon spotted Hau over by the path to the ruins of conflict.

"Hurry, Moon!" Hau called. Moon sighed and jogged over to the ruins.

"Hau, is this really necessary? I mean-" she was cut short when she saw no one was there. Not Hau, not a single Pokémon.

"Where did you go? Hau?" she looked around for a whole minute before she decided to give up and go home.

But as she was leaving, a whole bunch of people jumped out from hiding.

"SURPRISE!!!!" Everyone yelled in unison.

"EEEEEEEKKK!!! You guys scared me! What is this, Hau?" Moon asked.

"It's a surprise party! To celebrate you being champion for so long!" The excited boy replied.

"That's awesome! Thanks you guys!" Moon looked around at the smiling faces. There was sun(her brother), her mom, Kukui, Mallow, Kiawe, Sophocles, Lana, Acerola, Ilima, Kahuna Hala, Kahuna Olivia, Wicke from the Aether foundation, and even Gladion, though he wasn't exactly smiling.

"First, we're going to have a Pokémon battle! Yeah! A tag battle!" Kukui said. "You get to chose who."

"Cool! Hmm... I'll go with...." Moon though for a moment. "I'll challenge Kiawe and Mallow, and battling with me will be Gladion." She finished.

"Wha.... why.... hmm..." Gladion stammered.

"Yay!" Mallow cheered. Kiawe, Mallow, And Gladion took their places on the battlefield, and the battle began.

Kiawe sent in Alolan Marowack, Mallow sent in Lurantice, Gladion sent in Silvally, and Moon sent in Incineroar.

"Now remember!" Kukui called. "This is a one-Pokemon only battle, no substitutes. And we have Hau'oli's own nurse Joy for after the battles! Now let's have a good friendly battle!"

The opponents all nodded in understanding, and the battle began.

It was a tough match: Kiawe even ended up using a Z-move, and Moon used a full restore.

Gladion and Mallow were defeated, so Mallow cheered Kiawe on, and Gladion stood in silence. It was down to Kiawe and Moon.

"Don't think I'm going to lose without help. I'm going all out now!" Kiawe panted, the excitement of battle was exhausting for all trainers.

"I'm counting on it! Incineroar, use Outrage!" And the battle continued, the lead shifting between the two trainers.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Marrowack collapsed in defeat. The crowd exploded.

"Nice match, that was actually a challenge!" Moon said to Kiawe and Mallow. Then she turned to Gladion.

"You were a great help too! Your Silvally is one fine Pokemon! You shouldn't get so down when you're defeated, especially when you do your best! Plus, you didn't lose! We won as a team! Together! Even though your Pokemon fainted."

Gladion was taken aback. He understood, but he was still as stubborn as ever.

"Hmph. I guess you're right." He said as he smiled for the first time in forever. "Thanks Moon."

Moon blushed, smiling still, being her normal bubbly self.

During the battle however, professor Kukui seemed to have disappeared, who knows where.

"Let's have another battle!" Moon suggested. Everyone seemed to agree. "Hey Sun, how about you choose who battles with and against me this time?"

"That's awesome, Moon! Thanks! Let's see..."

"WAIT!" A voice called, cutting off Sun. A silhouette appeared in the distance, against the setting sun.

"I wish to participate in your battle! Would that be accepted, Sun?" The silhouette called. And with that, the figure came into sight, and to everyone's shock, it was the Masked Royal!

"Of-of course! You can battle against Moon!" Sun stuttered, still stunned to see this legendary face.

"Oh my, will I be able to beat this foe? Hmm... this should be fun!" Moon said. "And who else? Hmm?"

"Hmm... let's go with Hau with Moon... and Ilima with the Royal!" Sun finished.

Everyone took their places, and prepared to fight. Hau sent in Raichu, Ilima sent in Gumshoose, the Royal sent in Lyncaroc, and Moon, with a sly smile on her face, sent in Mimikyu.

This battle was even more intense. No one refused to give up, and the Pokémon shared the same intense gaze in their eyes that matched their trainer's gaze.

Soon Hau and Ilima were defeated, but the excitement of the battle continued to surge through them, leaving Moon alone yet again to face her opponent.

"At this point in every tag battle I have, when it's just me and whoever has happened to survive this long, I simply must compliment. You have really outdone my expectations, having stayed in this long. Maybe you should challenge me for the title! I'd love to battle you with a full team!" Moon said with a smirk to replace her smile.

"Maybe I will! That's nice of you to say Moon, but don't try to soften me to let you win. Prepare to lose, Mimikyu! Moon!

"Mimikyu! Use shadow claw! Then use play rough immediately after!"

The battle was just as close as the last one. Then, the moment Moon was about to lose, when Mimikyu had only 1 HP left, Moon said with her eyes closed, still smirking, "It seems you've almost beaten me... it'd be a shame if... I used a full restore!" And used a full restore, returning Mimikyu to max HP.

After that, it was pretty easy to beat Lyncaroc. When it seemed too weak, everyone held their breath. Then finally, it fell to the ground, unable to battle.

A collective crescendo of cheering and clapping arose from the crowd. No one could've guessed who would win. The champion of the Pokémon league, or the champion of the Battle Royal.

After all that battling, Moon had to sit down to regain her strength. Battling took a toll on the trainer as well as their Pokemon.

"Great job Mimikyu! You did awesome!" Moon said to the small Pokémon rubbing against her leg, that squeaked and jumped up for a hug.

The party lasted all night and until morning, as long as the celebration of Moon becoming champion in the first place.

Almost everyone had a blast! There were lots more battles, lots of dancing, and a little bit of napping. Gladion was the only one not participating in the dancing, though he did take part in several more battles.