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

Chapter 17- Homecoming

The next year flew by, Elio was 2 years old now, and Lillie and I were doing a pretty good job with our routine. That being said, tomorrow was the big match. I've been prepping to battle Red for a long time. He certainly won't be a pushover, not after losing in the first round last time. Not to mention I don't have a ton of world Championship or recent film to watch on him. We had all the visiting Champions staying in the Hano Grand Resort. Kahili was pretty happy about that. I figured no one would care if I just stayed at home with my 2 year old. I had quite the entrance planned for tomorrow as well. As for the opening ceremony, I thought it's be fun for Kukui to do it. A lot of professors do it, but I don't think any of them want to do it as much as he does. That night I tucked myself in to bed and looked over to Lillie, "You excited for tommorow?" She smiled at me, "I'm really excited for you! I know how hard you've worked and you deserve this." I sighed, "Hey Lil, you know I couldn't do any of this without you right?" She giggled, "That's sweet of you, but it isn't true." I shook my head, "I don't lie to you Lil. If you saw how I battled without you to motivate me you'd know what I mean." She looked confused, "I'm sure it wasn't that bad..." I shook my head, "The day I proposed to you I had to battle Ryuki. I was thinking about how I was going to propose to you- I mean I already knew but I was really worried about It-" she nodded, "You were. Heheh." I continued after cracking a smile, "Anyway I beat him 6-2 while I was distracted and with no game plan. With training and a game plan a week or so after you left I nearly lost, I only won 6-5." Lillie looked over at me questioningly, "Not kidding?" I shook my head, "You can look it up later if you want to. I'm serious. I do this because you inspire me so much." She frowned, "You inspire me too... Sun, I just want you to know that I've grown to love you even more as we've been married longer. You're so honest, but trust me, I think you'd still be a World Champion without me." I shrugged, "I don't ever want to find out. I'd trade it all for you in a heartbeat." We kissed and then went to bed.

The next morning I woke up and did some stretches in the living room. I was getting myself as ready as I can. I'm heading out to the stadium, but I won't be in the locker room for too long. I'm the second match of the day, and I have something big planned. I was about to leave but Lillie stopped me on the way out, "Hey! Sun!" I looked back and she smiled, "Good luck today my love! I'll bring Elio and myself out to the crowd later ok?" I nodded, "Sounds good Lil, and thank you! See you soon." I placed a kiss on her cheek quickly and then flew off on Charizard to get to Manalo Stadium. I ran out to the couple thousand people who were filling in early and began to jump around and get them pumped up. Nobody cares that I'm on the field early, (I mean if somebody had a problem that would be weird considering I own a large part of this stadium) I spotted a family with an Alolan flag waving and a baby in the mother's hands. I ran up them and shook hands with the Dad. "Hey guys! Thanks for showing your Support! I see you brought a little one with you." The Dad nodded, "Anytime Champion! This here is little Selene, she's almost 2 now!" I laughed, "That's crazy! My wife Lillie and I just had our Elio 2 years ago and he'll be coming out today too! Hope you guys enjoy the match... Here..." I handed them a signed pokeball I kept with me for times like this when I wanted to give someone a souvenir. I smiled, "If little Selene ever needs money for school or something, keep that on hand, it might be worth something." The mom smiled and thanked me and I acknowledged her thanks with a thumbs up and then headed up to the top of the Stadium. I'll be waiting up here until my match starts, and for the opening ceremony I'm standing on a platform up here. Each Champion has their own pedestal in their own fraction of the stadium. We divided up the tickets so that international fans would be seated near their Champions pedestal for the opening ceremony. The crowd contained Mostly Alolans, then in order of population, Unovans, Kantonians, Galarians, Kalosians, Johtonians, Sinnohans, and finally Hoennites were the least populated.
Eventually the Champions took their places and the crowd filed in. The retractable roof on the stadium closed so it was all dark. A few phone lights lit up the inside of the stadium like small fireflies darting in a sea of people. A spotlight shone in the center of the pokeball in the middle of the battlefield. There stood Kukui, with a microphone and wearing a big grin on his face. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Pokemon battling fans from all over the world! Welcome to the peak of the sport! The pinnacle of pokemon battling! The most electric! The most amazing! The only place on earth where ANYTHING can happen! Welcome to the Pokemon Battling World Championship!" The crowd roared, I chuckled, wow, Kukui's into it. I knew he would be. The crowd is getting in to it now too! Kukui continued to smile and then began the introductions, "Introducing to you first! The Pride of Pallet Town! He doesn't speak, but he is an artist on the battlefield! The One and Only Red!" The crowd made a little noise. Thankfully the Alolans didn't boo, Red wouldn't deserve that. "Next up! The newcomer from Johto! Conqueror of gyms in Kanto and Johto alike! The always ready Gold!" Gold waved to the crowd as he received some cheers. "Thirdly! The best dressed battler in the world! The longstanding Champion from the lands and shores of the Hoenn region! Steven Stone!" The crowd gave Steven a good reaction, despite the lack of people from Hoenn. "Next up, he needs no introduction! He is the long Reigning, fan favorite Champion from the competitive Galar region! He and his Charizard have had legendary conquests the world over, could this be another one for Champion Leon!" The crowd roared for Leon. I clapped as well. Everybody likes Leon. If you don't like Leon I don't like you. "Next up! She and her Hydreigon are back for their second World Championship! The Girl Who Knows The Hearts of Dragons! The prodigy from Unova, Iris!" The crowd gave Iris one of the loudest reactions so far. "Next up, the viral pokevision battling star! The aggressive go-getter from Kalos! Calem!" The crowd cheered loudly for Calem too. "Next up! Her records and accolades speak louder about her than I ever could! The unshakable force from Sinnoh! The Two-Time World Champion, rebounding for a third! Cynthia!" Cynthia smiled and giggled as the crowd cheered loudly for her. Kukui then turned to where I was, "And now...!" The crowd knew what was happening and they made deafening noise all throughout Kukui's speech, "...The inspiration of our islands! The man who built the house we stand in! The man who made a name for the region we stand in! He was doubted! he was ridiculed! Nobody gave him or us a part of a chance! And yet here we stand... Ladies and gentlemen! I introduce to you! The Reigning! The Defending! The Undisputed Champion of the World! Our very own Champion from Melemele Island! The One! The Only! SUN!" The crowd made even louder noise as I raised the Alolan flag above my head and jumped up and down, then pointed to the fans and pumped my fist. That was such a cool introduction, maybe a little too much but the fans certainly aren't complaining. I sat down up there and waited for Leon and Iris to open the show. Leon walked out first after a short wait, then Iris came from the opposite end moments later. It was a hotly contested battle for the most part, but Leon took over at the end of it to win 6-4. That means I'm up next. First, from my perch up here, I get to watch the legendary Red make his walkout. He looked determined that's for sure. A lot of people think this might be his last tournament, so unfortunately for us, either I'm spoiling his dream ending or He's spoiling my homecoming. Not super fun, but now the fun part starts. Most people seem to have forgotten that I'm still up here. I smiled as the Stadium darkened once again and a ramp came out from my pedestal that led down to the battlefield. "Coming Home"

came on the speakers and the crowd went ballistic. At my side, Kiawe and his two Alolan Marowaks began their fire dancing routine. The green sparks cutting through the darkness in the stadium as the intro finished. The spotlight then shone down on me, Alolan Flag high above my head. I gazed up at the ceiling as the crowd continued to make noise. I walked slowly down the ramp as the song continued. I waved my arms up and down to further rally the crowd and then finally got to the bottom.

I ran around the edge of the field and high fived all the fans. I spotted Lillie a few rows up holding Elio and I jumped in to the crowd to go see her. "Lil! That look good?" She shrugged, "You shouldn't ask me, I always think you look good, go get em Sun!" I laughed and then patted Elio on the head, he had some obnoxiously large looking headphones on, which is good thinking on Lillie's part. I then jumped down and clapped a few times before shaking hands with Red. I then took my place in the box and raised my fist, prompting more cheers.

What a showing. I jumped up in the air and threw my fist out and began to point around at the roaring crowd. A 6-5 victory on the backs of Ninetales with his 2 points, Incineroar's 1, Lycanroc's 1, and finally Raichu closed the show on the Charizard to grab his second point. Close. Raichu never lets me down though. I ran up and hugged Lillie, careful not to squish Elio. She giggled, "This is crazy Sun! You killed it!" I laughed, "Thanks love! I gotta go speak, thanks for coming out." She nodded as I went to the center I grabbed the mic, "4 Straight for the Alolans!" The crowd cheered loudly. I chuckled, "Yeah. Remember when, just 6 years ago we weren't even competing here? Crazy. Crazy. You know what else is crazy... I know she doesn't like the spotlight or anything, but my friend Lillie I mentioned 5 years ago is my wife now." The crowd awww'd, I laughed, "Yeah. Crazy. She's the best, but I bring that to you because our two year old son Elio is with her." The jumbo tron showed Lillie holding our son in her hands as the crowd once again aww'd. Lillie smiled and waved to the crowd. I continued, "Heh, she's the best. Anyway all props in the world to Red for showing up and battling hard today. That being said..." The crowd waited for what I had to say next with baited breath. I cracked a smile. "Another trophy would look reaaaaaalllly good in here wouldn't it?" I put the microphone back and put up a peace sign as I exited through the tunnel to the tune of the crowd going absolutely wild. I walked in to the locker room and fist bumped Leon as he looked at me, "Sun! That was electric! Bring that same energy to our battle won't ya?" I laughed, "You bet Leon, I'm looking forward to it."

Author's Note

Another aspect I've really enjoyed in this story is the relationship between Leon and Sun, I just find that Leon is a fun and easy character to throw in to a lot of situations. Thanks again!