The Heart of a Champion

Chapter 11- Good to Be Back

I walked out of the locker room and was immediately squished by Lillie. "You were great out there Sun!", I smiled, "Thanks Lillie, I'm so sorry I took so long, I planned on taking you somewhere to eat or something but I think everything is closed now..." She released me and smiled, "That's alright Sun, we can do something tomorrow right? You don't leave for Galar until the day after tomorrow right?" I nodded, "Yeah you're right..." Lillie frowned, "I guess I should probably head back to the hospital now..." I stopped her, "Wait! I know this is kind of sudden, but if you'd prefer I have an extra bed in my hotel room you can stay at tonight." She blushed, maybe that was a bit too sudden. "...That's alright with me if you wouldn't mind..." She trailed off and stood there kind of nervously. "Great! Let's find Kukui and get going, oh speaking of which, did Kukui tell you the news?" Lillie shook her head. I continued "Ah, ok I'll let him tell you, I'm surprised it wasn't the first thing he said..."

We walked together for a long time before we met up with Kukui outside the hotel. It felt like a missing piece in my life had finally been reattached. I asked Kukui if he had told Lillie the news yet and he told me he was just going to let Burnet say it. We went to the professors' room and I let Lillie enter first to talk with Burnet. I waited a while until I heard Lillie make a very excited reaction to Burnet's news. I let them catch up for a bit before Lillie finally decided to go upstairs with me. I opened the door in front of her and called out to Nebby, "Nebby! Someone's here to see you." Nebby opened one eye and checked the room before noticing Lillie and quickly scampering over to receive some pets from her. "Nebby!" Lillie exclaimed, "I missed you so much! Glad to see Sun is taking such good care of you!" Nebby began to purr, he never really did that around anyone but me or Lillie. "So Lillie, is everything alright with your mom?" Lillie looked at me and nodded, "Yeah. A doctor came in the other day and was able to remove all the toxins from her body, she's ready to move pretty much any time now." I smiled, "That's great to hear Lillie, so-" I paused as my phone was ringing, "- Hey Lillie, it's Gladion, do you want to talk to him for a bit?" "That sounds great!" I picked up the phone, "Hey Gladion! I found your sister." He laughed, "That's great! Is she there with you." I looked at Lillie, "Yeah she is, you want to talk to her?" Gladion replied, "Yeah I would." I handed the phone to Lillie and she began to talk to Gladion. They discussed a few things, mostly about their mother and the current state of the Aether Foundation, and then Lillie handed the phone back to me. I started, "Hey Gladion, did anything I said during the match come through on TV?" He laughed, "It sure did, I haven't laughed like that in ages, everyone in Iki Town was having an absolute blast." I chuckled, "Good. you know I'm not like that usually but I did it because you asked heheh." I paused "Anyway I'm gonna head to bed I'll talk to you later." "Alright, good job again."

I hung up on the call and put my phone back in my pocket. "That reminds me Lillie, I got you something." I unzipped my backpack and sifted through it before I found the rectangular box I had purchased earlier today, I tossed it over to her where she was sitting on Nebby's bed. She looked shocked as she saw what it was. I had gotten her a light blue rotom phone. I explained, "I thought I'd get you one now while I was here, I don't ever want to lose contact with you ever-" I was interrupted by a tight hug. "Thank you so much Sun!" I shook my head, "It's nothing really, I'm just glad to see you again." She smiled and began to set it up. I took that time to go shower and get ready for bed, which Lillie did too after I had finished. I laid down in my bed, watching as Nebby willingly surrendered his to Lillie and flopped on the couch out in the living room. It was pretty funny seeing such a huge lion fit in smaller places like that. Lillie laid down on the bed across the room from me and smiled at me. I told her goodnight and went to try to go to sleep. She returned and also began to try to fall asleep. I was looking forward to tomorrow more than I had been for almost anything else this week.

I woke up earlier than usual. That was on purpose, I had an alarm set for then. Luckily I didn't wake Lillie. I looked at her as she was sleeping still. I'm just so glad to have her back. I went downstairs and got us both some breakfast to bring back up to the suite. I had just today to spend in Vermillion before I had to fly to Wyndon tomorrow. I quietly slid open my door, placed the food on the table and then sat down on the floor by Nebby. A little while later I heard rustling and guessed Lillie had woken up. "Morning Lillie! I got us some breakfast if you want some." I stood up and looked back over to her, she sat up and rubbed her eyes before replying "Thanks Sun." She seemed really tired. "Did you not sleep well?" I asked her, "I think I may have actually slept too well, heheh." She stood up and stretched a bit before walking over to Nebby and petting him for a while. I laughed as I sat down and began to eat. After we both ate I asked Lillie if she knew any good places to go in Vermillion. She shrugged and said that she usually just liked to sit by the marina and watch boats come in and out. That sounded good to me. We both went out and watched the marina for a while. The ocean was really calm this morning. After a while I suggested that we could go visit Lusamine, since I still had yet to see her. Lillie agreed and we began the long walk to the hospital. We had a really good conversation on the way about what we had been doing the last 4 years. I told Lillie about my house and about Manalo Stadium, those two things that I had helped make were my pride and joy. Lillie told me about working at the hospital and learning about the Kanto region. She said she had attempted to take on the gyms, she had a really good advantage over Misty, but beyond that she didn't have any luck with the other leaders. Considering she only had 2 Pokemon, I was really impressed. We eventually got to the hospital and they recognized both of us and sent us to see Lusamine. I walked in the door and saw Lusamine pacing around. "Hello Miss Lusamine!" She turned and looked at me "Sun? You came to see me?" I nodded, "Yeah, I was hoping I'd get to know you for real after that whole fiasco." She smiled, "That's sweet of you Sun. I don't deserve any of your kindness, you or Lillie, and yet you give it to me anyway." I shook my head, "wouldn't be fair to you if I judged you off of that, I'm glad to see you're ok now." She looked at me, "...So how long until you leave for Galar?" "Tomorrow, The final won't be for a bit after that but I have to be there tomorrow." She nodded and looked to see if Lillie was in the room, which she wasn't at the moment. She looked at me seriously, "So are you taking Lillie with you?" I was taken aback and I blushed, but as mothers do, she read my plans like a book. "Erm- I was uh- yeah I was hoping to if she wanted to." She chuckled, "I knew it, you two are great together." I scratched the back of my head, "...thanks..." I took that as her permission so I changed the subject, "What about you, do you want to come too?" She chuckled, "That's sweet of you, but I think I'll be going back to Aether Paradise, plus I wouldn't want to get in your way hehe". New Lusamine's strong point was not subtlety. Nor was mine, apparently my blood had completely routed to my cheeks. This prompted more quiet laughter from Lusamine. Eventually I'd have to do something about this. I'd rather stop blushing about it and just make it a normal thing. That would probably have to wait though.

After that Lillie came in and decided to talk with Lusamine for a bit. I left to wait outside and link up with Lillie again. We decided after I mentioned it to go get something to eat from the place with those good milkshakes I had gotten earlier. Getting to talk to her over lunch made me realize she really was the same person I knew all those years ago. She was still confident and sweet to me, I appreciated it a lot. To go through all that and remain strong... I don't know if I could do the same. We talked for a while before finally heading out, it was about 5 PM now. The day had gone by too fast, there was so much I wanted to do but so little time, at least for now. We continued rather happily back to the hotel and stopped in to talk with the professors for a bit before heading back upstairs to my suite. When we entered I took off my backpack and went over to Nebby. I figured now would be as good a time as any. "Hey Lillie?", She turned to me and replied "Yeah?", "I know this is really short notice but- I've enjoyed being with you again more than anything else this week and that's saying a lot- anyway what I'm trying to ask is, would you mind coming to Galar with me for the finals?" She looked very taken aback, she was blushing very brightly. "I- Sun I'd love to but I don't have any-" I waved her off, "Don't sweat it, I can pay for everything, being a champion has its perks."
I quickly added, "But if you don't want to you don't ha-" She embraced me immediately. "I'd love nothing more in the world Sun, I- I love you." I was shocked, was this a dream or did the girl of my dreams just say that she loved me? "Do you- do you mean it?" She nodded, "With all my heart, I've been wanting to tell you since Exeggutor Island." I just stood there shocked, "I- I love you too Lillie, more than anything in the world." We kissed for the very first time, right in the living room, Nebby was enjoying it but probably not as much as I was. We separated and I scratched the back of the head, "So is it alright if I call you my girlfriend now?" I asked sheepishly, she nodded, "Of course Sun, I'd love that." With that we went to our beds. This was the greatest time in my life.

Author's Note
This chapters were hard for me to write. it's one of those things where it's hard to expand on something while also trying to stay as true as you can to the source material. Thanks for reading!