From The Ground Up (A Heart Of A Champion Prequel)

Chapter 8- Alola's Champion

I jumped up and down and shrugged my shoulders as I tossed my head side to side. "Intro"

began and I walked out of the tunnel and on to the recently finished battlefield. I clapped my hands and raised my arms up as the crowd cheered for me. It was a packed house, and I was so glad to see that many people here. Now all I gotta do is keep them coming back. I walked to the center and hugged Hau, "Good luck man." he nodded, "Yeah same to you, hey, I told you I'd beat you, and that's what I'm gonna do!" He gave me a wide smile and I pointed back at him.

The match began and I was slowly falling behind 4-3. Hau had Vaporeon, Decidueye, and his Raichu, while I was left with just Ninetales and my own Raichu. Things could be worse but they also could certainly be better, I haven't been pushed like this in a long time, Hau definitely did his homework. "Alright Ninetales you're up!' I let him go up against Vaporeon, a rather even matchup, Vaporeon is tough though." The battle began and Vaporeon was outmaneuvering my Ninetales fairly easily, Ninetales was not daunted though. As the Vaporeon circles, Ninetales was low and ready to respond, And respond it did with a picture perfect Moonblast as the Vaporeon tried to move in. all tied up. I pumped my fist and pointed to Ninetales, "That's what we like to see Ninetales!" Ninetales yipped back and readied itself for the next opponent, which was Hau's Decidueye. I took a look at Haus Decidueye Z-crystal and at my own Fairy Z-crystal. I know where this is going. The battle raged until Hau tapped his wrist for the Z-move and I responded by calling mine at the same time. A clash of two Z-moves insured and smoke covered the battlefield as the crowd entered a stunned silence. The smoke cleared and it was a double knockout. The crowd went nuts. They were getting everything they payed for and more. Now an Alolan Raichu and a Kantonian Raichu are gonna square off to determine the winner. This will likely be the only time I will want Kanto to beat Alola. Both the Raichus entered the battlefield and the crowd was making a lot of noise. I bet there is a full 15,000. I waved my arms up and down to rally the crowd further.

The Raichus traded blow for blow, each one looking like it could be the last. My Raichu was as gritty as it could be, it was scratched all over and was covered in sand from getting knocked down. The Alolan Raichu flew in to deliver a zen headbutt and I came up with a plan, "Raichu, All you got! Meet it with Iron Tail!" The Raichu nodded and launched forward and planted its tail right on top of the Alolan counter part. The match was over. We won 6-5.

I raced over to the wall and jumped in to the crowd as they roared. A huge victory for Alola's future and for Alola's history books. I was locked in a huge group hug with many Alolan spectators all jumping up and down with me and chanting. I then broke from it and ran over and hugged Hau. He sighed, "Darn. So close." I smiled, "Come back again some time, fans loved it. It was fun Hau." He smiled and nodded, "You bet. Now go deliver the promo of your life." I nodded, "I plan on it." I walked over to the mic and screamed, "Manalo Stadium!" The crowd went berserk. I laughed, "Thank you all so much for making this a success. If we can get you guys to continue to support the competitive scene here I honestly think we'll compete in the World Championship in no time." I paused as the crowd cheered, "That being said..." The crowd looked to me as I held the mic close and began to pace, "Today was supposed to be a match between me and a Champion from one of the 7 regions. I sent each one a contract, not a single reply." The crowd started to murmur, I nodded, "Now granted I understand, a lot of them are really busy and I get it. But you can't tell me that not one of the 7 was available for one day out of a year? I dunno about that... I dunno." The crowd cheered for me as I nodded, "So that brings me to my point. Kanto. Johto. Hoenn. Sinnoh. Unova. Kalos. Galar. If you guys are the best, why won't you prove it? All I ask is that you give me...us...a chance. I promise we are on the world level. Thank you all." The whole stadium cheered as I waved and made my exit.

I flew home that day and was met by my Mom sitting at the island in the kitchen. "Hey Mom." "...Sun, you might want to see this." I tilted my head, "See what?" She pointed to an online statistic about how successful the match was. I smiled, "Heh, guess it was pretty great, it sure did bring in a lot of-" Mom grabbed my shoulder, "...You do remember you own half of that right?" I looked at the figure on the screen again. I reeled back in shock as my Mom chuckled, "Safe to say you'll be pretty good financially for a while." I nodded slowly, I had completely forgotten that I made money off of this besides my pay as Champion. I shook myself a bit and then responded, "Alright, it's been a long...albeit really good day, I'm gonna go to bed now." Mom nodded, "Take a good rest. You deserve it."

Author's Note

Sun's plan paid off literally and figuratively, the stadium is a success. The people of Alola love their champion, and soon the whole world will too.