𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕆𝕗 𝔾𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕣 | 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒏

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 25: 𝑨 𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒆𝒔𝒔

I roll my neck popping out the kinks of it as I unlock my mailbox, I pull out the stacks of letters and papers careful not to drop anything before I close the mailbox. As soon as it re-locks I make my way out of the apartment, Leon has a full schedule today mostly consisting of preparations for the upcoming Gym Challenge a mere few months away. Most of our days from here on will be focused on the gym and training the gym members, no doubt Leon will be training as well.

The streets barely bustling this early in the morning despite this being one of the biggest cities in the region. I get to the stadium and the first thing I hear is a boom echoing the halls. I let out a long sigh, Leon must already be here. I lick my lips and drag myself to the battlefield, there I find Leon battling one of the gym members. The poor man is sweating like its midday sun when in fact the sun is barely up.

I sit down in one of the many seats before thumbing through my mail, some ads, a few bills, a letter from Atlis, but the next one I flip to is golden. Pausing, I flip it over to see it's from The Rose Tower and actually addressed to me. Carefully I open it up and a single card lies in it, glittering and shiny, I carefully read the white script that's written across. When the information registers I stand from my seat, mail splashing across the floor of the bleachers.

"LEON!" I call, Leon's gaze snaps from his battle over to me. He seems more alarmed when he sees me running down the stairs and onto the field, regardless if my heels sink into the grass. "What are you doing! There's a battle going on!" He panics rushing to meet me halfway. His Charizard abandoning the battle in favor of flying in my direction, the fire Pokémon reaches me first and takes on a protective position around me.

"I know! I know! But this is important!" I rush out waving the letter around, "What's so important you risked your safety by charging out onto an active battlefield?" Leon huffs, placing his hands on my shoulders. "I was going through my mail when I found this!" I hissed, pushing the letter in his face, "Really a letter? What's so important about—" He starts with an eye roll but the second he actually looks at it his words die on his tongue. "Is this an invitation to the annual Macro Cosmos Foundation Gala?" He whispers, "What do you think?" I snap.

"I don't get it, you're in attendance already by being employed under me, the letters are only sent to—" He mumbles, "The Poké Queen of Kalos," He realizes, cutting himself off as he reads my official title off the card. "I'm being invited as an official guest." I mumble, pressing my hand to my head, "The Chairman is in charge of that list." Leon whispers. I throw my hands up and look away, "Why would he do that, everyone here knows I have my plate full—" I pause in my ranting to roll my eyes. "He's baiting me," I start, "I guess I've been doing my job a little too well recently, given that I've managed to make room for you to go home early twice this week. The more attention I have on me, the less efficient I can be at my job. What is he trying to pull over on us that he needs us both distracted for?" I grumble.

"Maybe this is a good thing?" Leon offers, "How so?" I mumble. "Well..." He starts, "You would have the attention you need to get back at him, I bet it would really get to him to see you out class him at his corporate event, not to mention I'm sure having the Galar Champion as your date would put a kink in any of his plans for a while. Even if he were to try something all the media will want to do is talk about a dating scandal, which The Chairman has been very keen about avoiding since I've been Champion." He lists off with a smirk.

I look at Leon, almost shocked at what he was insinuating, almost. "Date huh?" I muse, "Chairman and I had dinner a night or two ago, and all he would talk about is the rise in funding thanks to all the fan clubs. I'm sure that would drop if they found out the object of their affections has someone else in mind, an added hurdle to go along with cleaning up a dating scandal." He chuckles. "Wouldn't you lose your fan clubs then?" I question, "No sacrifice, no victory. Plus it would make me feel a little better knowing that less people are romantically obsessing over me." He hums with a small smile. I feel my heart swell at his intentions, "Who knew the Champion of Galar could talk political strategy?" I giggle. "Who knew the fair Poké Queen of Kalos could be so ruthless in politics?" He shot back.

"Can I ask you a question?" I whisper, Leon's Champion gold eyes look down at me, soft and molten. "Are you saying you want to be my date because you're interested in me? Or is it because you want a shot at the Chairman?" I question bravely yet so meekly, scared and almost terrified of his answer. Leon is quiet for a minute and I didn't dare look up at him, scared of what I'd see, no matter how good it could possibly be. "I have an interest in you (y/n), more so than I can bring myself to admit." He chuckles weakly, "Why?" I mumble. "Because." He paused, "I don't have the courage just yet, these feelings scare me so much that I'm surprised I even told you I have an interest in you." He confesses quietly.

I nodded my head, "So this...Gala? It's just an excuse not an intention?" I mumble. "That's not what I mean." He sighs, I bite my lip when he takes my hand in his, "This Gala? It's an opportunity. An opportunity for me to show just how much I feel for you, because I'm too much of a coward to say it." He grumbles. "Leon," I whisper, "You should never be afraid of what you feel, especially when it's in regards of me, because no matter how you feel about me and how it might turn out...I'm still going to be right here with you, dragging your ass place to place making sure you don't end up in Kanto when your suppose to be going to your own gym." I laugh lightly. A small smile slips onto Leon's face, My cheeks flush pink as Leon raises my hand to his face. His golden eyes bore into me as he places a light kiss on my knuckles.

"It would be my honor to escort The Poké Queen of Kalos to her first Galar Gala." He smirks, I let out a breathy laugh. "And it would be my pleasure to accompany The Galar Champion to such a prestigious event." I replied softly, slipping my hand from his. The soft moment is promptly ruined by a sudden boom, Leon tucks me into him as Charizard spreads his wings out to block whatever comes our way. "SORRY!" The gym member calls, "He's mad the battle stopped." He grunts trying to get a hold of his rampant Pokémon.

"RIGHT!" I realized with an embarrassed smile, "Well, I'll let you get back to it!" I chirp before making a quick exit. Leon has Charizard escort me off the field as he helps the gym member get a hold of the crazed Pokémon. As soon as I'm off the field I press my forehead to Charizard promising him Poképuffs before gathering up my mail. With Leon being occupied most of the day, I'm free to do what I need to do.

In short, I scramble over to Hilbury and into the Gym stadium. Nessa is training with her gym members when I come rushing in babbling every kind of nonsense. "Help me! Oh Arceus, Please help me!" I beg holding her by her shoulders. "What's the matter?" She yelps, waving off her gym members as I have a meltdown in her arms. "Chairman! Leon! Oh sweet Arceus, the damn Gala!" I rant waving my hands, a million different things running through my head. Everything from Leon, to The Chairman, to the thoughts of my preparations all blurring together.

"(Y/n)!" Nessa snaps, My mouth zips closed at her tone. "Deep breath." She instructs both verbally and physically, I follow her instructions and take a deep breath. "Now." she pauses, "Tell me what happened." She smiles warmly. "I got an official invitation to the Macro Cosmos Foundation Galar and Leon asked to be my escort." I blurt, Nessa blinks, then two more times before it actually filtered through her head. "WHAT THE FUCK!" She screeches, "I know!" I hiss covering her mouth.

"Do you know how big this is?" She whispers harshly, "Yes, I know. I'm more than aware what could happen from this, Leon does too," I assured. "And you're okay with that?" She questions worriedly, grasping my hands in hers. I pause looking into her beautiful sea eyes, "I am." I whisper. Nessa bores her eyes into mine, really checking if I mean it or not. "Well, that's great." She smiles, "But Nessa, how am I supposed to make a full scale Poké Queen appearance in just a few days! I mean come on, preparations like that take at least a week," I stress.

"We got this okay? Look, remember that dress you wore when you stepped down from your title?" She smiles, "Yeah, I still have it." I mumble. "Great! Just send it to the cleaners to give it a bit of a brush off and wear it! It's a great dress to make a comeback in, the company literally had it tailored to you. It was made for a queen and what better dress to wear when you accompanying the King of Galar." she rambles. "He's not the king of Galar, Nessa. The Chairman owns that title." I snort, "It doesn't matter," She shrugs, "If he's going with you it makes him a king, because you are a queen." She declares strongly her grip on my hands tightening.

"What would I do without you?" I sigh out softly, "Be a total mess," She smirks. I laugh as she lets go of one of my hands to hold hers out and inspect her nails. "Seriously Nessa, thank you." I smile, "Mmhm, thank me by showing The Chairman his place." She grins. "It would be my pleasure." I chirp, holding my head high.

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