Sun And Lillie Vs. The World (The Sequel to Heart of a Champion)

Chapter 3- Sun and Lillie Take On Hoenn

3 Years Later

Today was the day of the Champions meeting. We would set the tournament and take any proposals. Fortunately for us though there weren't any proposals so all I had to do was meet the new champions and then set the bracket. I connected to the meeting. The champions also there were Kanto's new Champion Leaf, Johto's Champion Gold, Hoenn's Champion Brendan, Sinnoh's Champion Dawn, Unova's champion (and my friend) Iris, Kalos's returning champion Calem, My good friend Leon from Galar, and then there was me. I began, "Alright! Welcome everyone! We don't have much to do today so I'd just like to get to know those of you I haven't ever seen before, Leaf and Dawn..." Dawn waved to me in a very friendly way while Leaf also waved. "Right! I'm looking forward to talking to you guys when we get to Hoenn. Anyway without further ado let's set the bracket. The announcer in the call then started to pull names. "Our first matchup will be... Champion Sun versus.... Champion Iris." So I got Iris. That should be a fun test. "Secondly we have... Champion Leaf going up against... Champion Gold. Thirdly we have Champion Brendan who will be facing... Champion Calem. That leaves the final match as Champion Dawn versus Champion Leon. Best of luck to all of you and see you all later this year!" The call then disconnected and I got up from my couch.

Lillie was waiting for me to finish outside the living room and walked over to me and hugged me. "That went smoothly, huh." she said as we embraced I replied, "Sure did. Do you want me to fly over to Malie to pick up Elio?" Elio, now 7 years old, was doing his mandatory school time. I never had to since they didn't do that in Kanto where I grew up. "That would be nice! I can go ahead and take care of Stella while you're doing that." I kissed her, "Alright I'll take Charizard and I'll be back."

I flew over to the school building across the island and picked up Elio. On the way back he had some things to say to me, "Dad, my friends were talking about the World Championship this year...you're going to win again aren't you?" I shrugged, "Im going to do my best. Nobody had ever won 3 before so I'd like to be the first to do it." Elio sat silently for a bit, probably thinking about what I had said before saying, "The news said you might not battle anymore after this...what is Ninetails going to do after that then?" I laughed, "Well he'll probably want to spend some more time with you. I think after how hard he and the other 5 have worked over the last 13 years they could use a good retirement." Elio nodded, "...will I be able to go to Hoenn with you and Mom?" I shrugged, "I don't see why not, I'd love to have you with me." Elio laughed happily, I was glad to see he loved to watch battling as much as I loved doing it. We got back home and met with Lillie and Stella who was playing in the yard. "How was school Elio?" Lillie asked her son, "It was fine Mom, I'm gonna go to Hoenn with you guys!" Lillie tilted her head and looked at me, "Alright, that sounds good." I wondered if I should've cleared that with her first....I'll ask her later. Later that evening Lillie and I were getting ready for bed, "Hey Lil..." "Hm?" "I'm sorry I didn't ask you first before telling Elio he could come with us..." She laughed, "You were really worried about that? We brought him when he was 3, I think with how much he loves watching you it's gonna be something he'll never forget." I smiled. "You're the best Lil. I love you." We kissed and then went to bed for the night. Tomorrow started preparations for my match against Iris. I think the team will be raring to go.

Months Later

"Elio have you packed everything you want to bring?" "Yep!" I watched as he rolled his luggage case that I had gotten for him recently. "Sun, is there anything you want to do in Hoenn while we're there?" My wife asked as we walked together in the airport. We were going to board the plane to go to the quarter Finals in Slateport City. "Not much that I can think of, if you all want to go to the beach or something we could do that...I might get Stella something from the market or maybe go to one of the Pokemon Contests and have one of the performers sign something..." Lillie responded, "That sounds nice, she really likes watching this one in particular on TV...May I think her name is." I recognized the name. I think she might also be one of Hoenn's top contenders for champion. She must be super busy. "Hey that reminds me, Stella hasn't ever been to Hau and Mallow's place has she?" Lillie shook her head, "No, I'm sure they'll take good care of her though, we made them the godparents for a reason." I nodded in agreement and then we boarded the plane. As usual the plane was very nice. I suppose it wouldn't kill me to see the news in Hoenn leading up to the event.

I watched the special coverage from Hoenn's network and eventually they got to a topic that piqued my interest. The anchor began, "So have you guys heard the rumors floating around that this might be Sun's last tournament?" One of the three panelists answered, "I have but I don't know how much of a base they have...I don't see why he would retire, I think win or lose this time he has to be in the conversation for the Greatest of All Time. I honestly think he might not stop for a while now." The second one shook his head, "He's been a lot less active in the media recently, which is a shame since he's always one of my favorite guests on my show...I could see him stepping down if he wins...if he loses I don't know." That was accurate, I'd talked with that panelist a couple times in the past. I looked over to Lillie, "Hey Lil, you think I should call in and talk to them?" She laughed, "I guess, why not?" I called the second panelist and I saw him on tv reacting to the call and then saying, "I'm receiving a call from Champion Sun right now actually you guys want to hear what he has to say?" The other people nodded "...Hey Sun what's up?" I responded happily, "Not much I just heard what you guys were saying, and since you're so nice to me I figured I'd clear things up for you guys." The panelist laughed, "Well I appreciate it, so what's up with that, are you going to retire?" I sighed, "Yep. I've got a wonderful family I'd love to spend some time with, and I think the newer generation of trainers is more than capable of filling whatever hole I leave." He nodded solemnly "I can respect that. So do you have any plans on who will take over for you as Alolan Champion?" I thought a bit about that. I really hadn't thought about it before so I don't know what to say "...No actually, I'm not sure. Maybe my Elite Four member Kahili could take over, she's pretty good." After that I disconnected and spent the rest of the plane ride talking to Elio and Lillie.

Author's Note
The third World Championship of Sun's career is on the horizon, a lot of his thoughts are focused on being the first to win 3 championships. I've really enjoyed being able to write interactions between Sun and Lillie much more constantly in this story than the previous. Thank you!