The Road to our Destiny II: The Galar Adventures

Chapter 57

Leon didn't sleep much since Pokémon began rampaging.

The day before, he participated in a charity event in one of the towns near the Wild Area, demonstrating Pokémon battles with his Charizard and Dragapult. Children were enthralled watching Leon's Pokémon in a mock battle. In the end, they crowded Leon, praising him and asking for his autograph. Some of them vowed to participate in the Gym Challenge when they became trainers so they might have a battle with Leon. Leon experienced this more times than he could count, yet it warmed his heart.

Then suddenly, a Centiskorch Gigantamaxed in a neighboring town. Leon left to battle it with Ash and Serena. Shortly after defeating Centiskorch, the three of them flew to battle a Dynamax Pangaroo and then to a mine where a Coalossal Gigantamaxed. They reverted the wild Pokémon back to size, but the miners rebuked Coalossal and threw rocks at it, blaming it for Gigantamaxing. Ash and Serena couldn't convince the miners to understand Coalossal wasn't to blame, but Leon admired the young couple's spirit in showing compassion for the Pokémon.

Suddenly, Chairman Rose and Oleana appeared at the site, praising the three trainers for their deeds. Leon introduced Ash and Serena to Chairman Rose, and the chairman was pleased to meet Ash, particularly after hearing Leon talk about him. When Leon asked Chairman Rose if he knew anything about the Pokémon rampaging, Rose pretended to think about it and gave a peculiar answer.

"We've been researching different possibilities, but none have quite panned out. This may simply be a present danger, or perhaps it's a test needed to jump-start Galar's future."

Leon didn't know what to make of the chairman's words. He put it in the back of his head, focusing on finding a way to prevent more Pokémon Dynamaxing and rampaging. Ash volunteered to help, then his stomach growled, and Chairman Rose offered to treat everyone to a gourmet dinner. Ash and Serena happily accepted, but Leon decided to stay and help repair the mines.

But as Leon spent the next several hours helping the miners, his mind was on the chairman's words. He then recalled Rose talking about having an energy plant below Hammerlocke Stadium and flew to Hammerlocke with his Charizard. By then, it was late at night, and the stadium was closed. He then noticed a large section of Hammerlocke's wall was gone and learned from a citizen passing by that a Dynamaxed Claydol destroyed it. Leon decided to investigate other places reported to have been attacked by rampaging Dynamax Pokémon.

Leon traveled to various places in the region, including a town in the mountains, where a woman's Pangaroo Dynamaxed and destroyed much of the town. Leon assured the woman that what happened wasn't her Pokémon's fault and helped the townspeople clear out the rest of the rubble. He then went to the port town near Spikemuth and heard of Ezria taking down a Gigantamax Lapras with her new boyfriend, Timothy. Leon was astounded that Ezria gave a man the time of day, much less was dating someone, but he mainly focused on how a trainer under the chairman's payroll happened to be at the right place at the right time.

While he was in town, however, he saw a round man and a slender woman with caramel hair sitting at an outside table of a restaurant having brunch. The man was talking about his progress in the World Coronation Series, while the woman giggled at how timid her date was speaking. Leon smiled as he watched the couple cutely interact, comforted that people were still finding happiness despite the destruction.

But as he watched the couple on their date, his mind drifted. He thought of his early days as a trainer, traveling with his childhood friend, Sonia. He smiled as he remembered Sonia teaching him about Pokémon battling with a bright smile. Looking back, he realized how much he owed Sonia for his success. Chairman Rose sponsored and mentored him since before he became Champion, but all of his skills, devotion to training his Pokémon, and learning to take something from each battle came from Sonia's teachings.