A Flower's Bloom (SunxLillie rewrite)

Goliath

"Hey! Here they come! The Champions have arrived!

"Wow! Look at them!"

Roars and cheers of the crowd echoed throughout The Peak as we walked through town on route to our hotel. It was almost like we were world famous celebrities.

As we walked, I looked behind us to see the man in the hoodie from before, still as ominous as our last encounter.

"Keep your head down." Silver nudged my shoulder, "Most of us that go to The Summit, we like getting a look at the new competition."

A confused look spread upon my face, "He's a champion?"

Silver nodded, "Yes." He turned back to look at the man, "Akihiro Raibaru, Champion of Sokoku. He and Otoko were heated rivals in their younger days."

Lillie poked her head up, looking at Silver intently, "Rivals?" she put a finger on her lip, "Does that mean he's as strong as Otoko?"

"It's been a while since I last saw Raibaru battle." Silver lit a cigarette, "But back in his younger days, it was his strategies that came the closest to defeating Otoko."

Raibaru coughed, moving closer to us. "You do know I can hear you, right? You red-haired bastard." he put a hand on Silver's shoulder. "And for the record, I could kick ol' Hikaru's ass any day."

"Raibaru." Silver exhaled, and turned around, "Even in his retirement, Otoko's still got the title of the greatest trainer of your generation. At age 12, he held his own against Cynthia in her prime. At age 20, he held eight championship titles at once, and kicked your ass to win the eighth."

I stepped between them, "Save it for The Summit, you two." I scoffed, "It's as you said Sil, it's best we keep our heads down and avoid confrontation."

"You're only sayin' that 'cause you're just as much of a pushover as Ol' Sil, Kagayaku." Raibaru scoffed, "Or you're too much of a coward to face me yourself. Either way, I'm not gonna let either of you stop me from becoming Sovereign."

Raibaru walked ahead of us, and to the same hotel we were heading toward and disappeared.

"So he was Otoko's rival." Lillie pondered, "I wonder if he's as strong as him."

I took a moment myself, "You knew Otoko when you were in Kanto, Lil. Did he ever open up and tell you anything."

She moved closer, taking hold of my hand. "We were acquainted. The only thing he and Eclipse ever spoke about was his family. Nothing about rivals, or even a career in training."

"That doesn't help."

"If you wanna know more about Raibaru, or any of Otoko's history..." Silver lit a cigarette, "I have a champion friend who gets a craving for a certain blend of Galarian Tea around this time of day, and there's only one shop on this island that sells it." he puffed, adjusting his coat afterward, "Why don't we check in to our rooms, and pay him a visit."

"Sounds good." I looked ahead as Silver sped up, a trail of smoke following him.

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The hotel was grand, almost like something you'd see in one of those Victorian Era sitcoms my mom would watch, each room specially suited for each champion. It was like we were royalty.

We set our suitcases on one of the two large beds that occupied our room, and quickly sat on the other. Lillie moved herself so that she could be in my lap, nuzzling into my neck with her petite little nose, as my arms wrapped around her back.

"You know what sounds amazing?" I asked, "Some Galarian Curry. I saw an advertisement for it on the way here. Why don't we catch it for dinner in a few hours?"

Lillie pulled back, "Are you asking me on a date?" she said, giggling ever so softly.

I smirked, "What? You don't wanna have a night out with yours truly?"

She leaned into me, making me fall over onto the bed, "Handle your thing with Silver, I should be ready by then." I took a hand off of her back and cradled her cheek. We stared at each other for a few seconds, smiling like a pair of idiots before I pulled her closer, and locked our lips together. Please Arceus, don't let her leave me again. I thought to myself.

"Fornicating on the freshly cleaned hotel bed sheets, are we?" the sly voice of Silver rang through my ears, I didn't even hear the front door open. "My friend's at the tea shop, let's go."

I shuddered, "We're not at that stage...quite yet." I got up off of the bed, kissed Lillie goodbye, and exited our hotel room.

Silver chuckled, "You think the teasing's bad now, but you ought to ask Otoko how I was when he and Cynthia first started going out."

"Yeah yeah" I sighed, as we left the hotel and went onto the main street, "Who's this we're meeting again?"

Silver lit another cigarette, "Wick Smaragaide, Champion of Kanto and Hikaru Otoko's first coach." he puffed, "If there's anything you wanna know about the competition, he's likely to tell you."