Your eyes slowly opened as sunlight shone through the thin fabric of the tent. You tried to sit up, but something warm and firm was wrapped around your midsection. You looked down and saw two strong arms around you. Your face heated up as you realized Leon was spooning you, intentionally or not.
You noticed that there was pressure on the top of your head, which you found out to be Leon's chin as you heard soft, rhythmic breathing. He was still fast asleep. So clearly this was unintentional.
"Leon," you said quietly.
"Just a few more minutes," Leon mumbled.
You elbowed Leon in the side. "Get up! Diantha wouldn't approve of this."
Leon's eyes snapped open and he realized the situation he was in. He immediately pulled away, his face pink.
"I'm sorry! I don't know what happened," Leon said nervously.
You laughed it off. "It's okay. We just can't do that because you're with Diantha, remember?"
"Right, Diantha," Leon said, uninterested. "She wouldn't care."
"Why?" you asked.
Leon's eyes widened as he realized he said something he shouldn't have. "I'll explain some other time."
Was there something about Diantha and Leon's relationship you didn't know about?
"Let's forget about this," Leon said. "We have to get you to your next Gym!"
---
Along the way to Hulbury, Leon helped you with training. He didn't train against you this time, since the only Pokemon he had with him was his champion team and didn't want to hurt your Pokemon.
Leon was a nice guy and all, but he nitpicked your every move and your battle style. You knew it was for your own good, but it got mildly frustrating after awhile.
Eventually, you made your way to Hulbury. Leon smiled at you sadly.
"Unfortunately, this is where I have to leave," Leon said. "I have to meet with Diantha for business reasons back in Motostoke."
"Oh," you replied quietly, feeling heavily disappointed he won't be there for your second gym match.
For some reason, the mention of Diantha left a sour taste in your mouth.
"When will I see you again?" you asked sadly.
Leon's expression brightened. "Right after you get your badge from Nessa! The third gym of the challenge is in Motostoke."
You grinned. "Really?!"
"Yep, and I'll be renting more rooms for you and Hop once you make your way back," Leon said. "You might want to hurry. I received a text from Hop that he already registered to be on the list for a battle soon."
Leon sent his Charizard out from its Poke-ball. Charizard let out a mighty roar, catching the attention of passerby. It would be a matter of seconds before fans swarmed Leon.
"Anyway, I better get going," Leon said. He pulled two things out of his pocket and handed them to you. "The card is a Flying Taxi pass. Just call the number on the card and show them the pass and you can fly to places you have already been. Unfortunately, they make you walk to destinations you haven't gone to so they can keep their lines open."
You looked at the paper on top of the card. A number was scrawled onto it. "And what's this paper for?"
Leon rubbed the back of his neck. "That's my number. Keep in touch, alright? If you need help call me."
He waved goodbye and jumped on the back of his Charizard, who flew off to go back to Motostoke. You watched for a second, clutching the slip of paper. You immediately registered the number to your phone.
Your stomach growled and you decided you were going to get some food. You noticed a restaurant by the dock and decided to head inside. Immediately, you were greeted by Hop.
"Hey, (y/n)! What took you so long?" Hop teased. "I got here yesterday!"
"I decided to set up early," you explained, deciding not to tell him Leon was with you. He definitely would get pouty that he missed the chance to camp with his older brother. "I was really tired!"
Hop laughed. "I'm only teasing! Anyway, chairman Rose is here! He wants to meet the both of us since we were endorsed by the Champion."
"That's cool, I'm pretty hungry, so let's go," you said.
Hop lead you to a table where Sonia and a man with a dad hat, glasses, and a skin-tight, long sleeve shirt. This was Rose, wasn't it? He looked much different in this attire than how he usually looked on television.
"Ah, the darling (y/n)!" Chairman Rose exclaimed. "It's nice to finally be of your acquaintance. Lunch is on me."
He seemed like a genuinely kind man.
"Oh, you made it!" Sonia exclaimed. "I heard from Leon that he was escorting you here."
You smirked. "Is that what he told you?"
Hop sent you an evil glare. "You and Leon were hanging out, and you didn't tell me?" Hop's eyes dimmed from disappointment.
"Sorry, you were so far ahead and I didn't want to slow you down," you teased, remembering his words from earlier.
"C'mon (y/n), cut it out," Hop whined.
Rose and Sonia shared a laugh at your bantering.
Soon enough, the food came and you were delighted with the delicious seafood in front of you. As you ate, Rose began to speak.
"Champion Leon really must have seen something special in the both of you to endorse you," Rose said. "Hop, I know you're his brother. You're really set on a path to becoming the next champion."
You rolled your eyes internally. He didn't even acknowledge that you could be competition for Hop. Then again, you haven't won against Hop just yet. You decided that after you got your gym badge you'd challenge Hop to another fight.
"Yep, as much as I love my brother, I am looking forward to the day I finally beat him!" exclaimed Hop. "I'm already undefeated, like him."
That's something you couldn't say. You've already been defeated.
"I endorsed someone as well," Rose said. "I endorsed my son Bede, who has shown excellence in the area of Psychic Pokemon."
You were intrigued. Another rival? You already knew of Marnie and Hop, but adding a third to the mix will make your journey incredibly harder.
"A third rival?! Amazing!" Hop shouted, excited as normal.
Truly, he does not fear anything. And that, you envy.
After more conversation of the Pokemon league and eating, you finally finished and decided it was time to leave. Like he promised, Chairman Rose paid for lunch. You and Hop decided you would go fishing before you went on to the gym. You both walked to the dock.
"You can catch a lot of Pokemon while fishing," Hop explained. "Luckily, I bought two fishing rods! Here, you can have the pink one."
He held out a small rod.
"Here, press this button and it'll expand into a full rod," Hop said. "It's very portable."
You pressed the light pink button on its side, and it expanded to a five-foot long rod. Hop prepared his rod and cast it out into the sea.
Soon enough, there was a pull at your rod, and you attempted to pull it in quickly, but the Pokemon let go last second.
"Bad luck," Hop shrugged. "Watch this!"
He pulled out a Dive Ball and reeled in his catch. It was an Arrokuda. He touched it with the Dive Ball, clutching the ball tightly with his hands. He caught it with ease.
"Yes!" Hop cheered.
You took his victory as inspiration. Soon enough, there was another tug at the reel and you started to pull it in. Hop threw a Dive Ball for you to use. You grabbed it right as you reeled in your new catch. You recognized it as a Chinchou.
You didn't hesitate and hit it with the Dive Ball. It didn't take long before the ball stopped twitching. You just caught a new Pokemon. It was a dual electric and water type. You really favored electric type Pokemon, however, you definitely needed variety, which it gave you with its Water type part.
"Welcome to my team, Chinchou," you said to the Pokeball. "We're going to go on a great journey together."
"Wow! We both managed to get great Pokemon today!" Hop exclaimed. "Let's go challenge the Gym next!"
Without waiting, he sprinted off in the direction of the Gym. You stared after him for a second, before looking back to the ball.
You wondered how Leon would react to you getting a new addition to your team.
1381 words
Since the 10th chapter is coming tomorrow, I have some news. I have to cut back on the amount of chapters I publish. This was my last pre-written chapter. I'm going to post chapters three to four times a week. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays will be my publishing days. And sometimes Saturdays if I got enough done! This is so I can write the week's chapters on the weekends so I can continue to make good content for all of you. So yes, still frequent posting, just not everyday. This is how it will be until I finish the book. I plan on making it very long!
Thank you for the read and don't forget to vote!