Galar league friends

chapter 22

The Galar ball came in a flash. Allister's sponsor paid for his tuxedo and Bridget's ballgown. She wore a ghostly purple gown with a pink bow tied at the back. Allister kept his mask on, so Bridget got a masquerade mask that looked like the top half of a purrloin's face to match him. The press wasn't allowed inside the venue, so the attendees always got hounded on the way in. The paparazzi always tried to get interviews and pictures of Allister much to his dismay. When they arrived at the ball, Bridget made a big show of her cute ballroom gown and kept twirling her dress to attract the cameras.

By the time time the paparazzi realized that Allister slipped by them, Bridget did a curtsy and went into the venue.

Bridget walked in with a skip in he step, "Operation: Ballgown was a success!"

"Thank you again for helping me escape the hounds," said Allister.

The two went to the chocolate fountain to enjoy the treats while they waited for the ball to officially begin. This year's ball was going to be different since Rose usually made a speech at the ball, but he was currently in jail.

Leon's opening speech was short and to the point. Professor Sonia just happened to arrive at the ball with him, much to Bridget's amusement. After the speech, the opening dance had to be performed. As a gym leader, Allister was obligated to dance in the opening dance. He and Bridget worked very hard to master the waltz.

As soon as the opening dance was over, the two of them grabbed a table in the corner to get away from all the people. Bridget was glad that her gown was floor length so she could take off her shoes without anyone noticing.

Bridget wondered if she could sneak out early with Allister since most of the attendees were boring adults. The chocolate fountain was the only thing interesting at the ball.

"I should have known you two would be hiding in the corner."

"Leon! Sonia! You two look like royalty," exclaimed Bridget.

Allister nodded in agreement. He would know since he met two gentlemen who claimed to be of royal blood. He would rather not meet them again. It was funny when Bridget threatened to shave the brothers bald for causing trouble for all of the gym leaders.

"So I have personalized gifts for all the gym leaders for all the hard work they put in during the league challenge," said Leon as he presented a pokeball to Allister.

Allister took the ball and let out the pokemon inside.

"Drep dreep!"

"A dreepy...!... Im so happy... my mask almost fell off," mumbled Allister.

The dreepy happily landed on Allister's head and made herself comfortable.

"I'm glad you like her. She is the child of my dragapult, and I knew you would take good care of her," said Leon.

The new chairman then brought out another pokeball for Bridget. She looked at him confused since she wasn't a gym leader.

"I know what you are thinking, but you healed me at the hospital and are always ready to help everyone," said Leon.

Bridget grabbed the pokeball reverently and moved away from the table. She wasn't sure what pokemon it was, so it was better to have more room.

She gently threw the ball and out came a cutiefly.

Bridget held in a squeal since she didn't want to scare the pokemon. The cutiefly line was rare in Galar since the region rained a lot, so seeing the pokemon was a dream come true.

She raised her hand to let the pokemon land on it. "You are the cutest lil fluff," she told the cutiefly. She started cooing and gently petting the pokemon.

"H-how did you know... we wanted these pokemon," questioned Allister. The dreepy was busy playing with his cowlick.

Leon replied that he had a special gift for such things. Sonia laughed and was about to say something, but Leon covered her mouth.

She rolled her eyes and handed an envelope to Bridget.

"Consider this my present for helping Leon and for the incident at Stow on the Side," said Sonia.

Bridget guided her cutiefly to flower centerpiece to get some pollen and opened the envelope. She squealed and went to hug Sonia.

"Look! An increase carry license. If my family grows, I don't have to send them to the professor," Bridget said happily.

Normal trainers rarely got the license. Gym leaders and pokemon breeders tended to be the only ones who would want to have more than six pokemon at a time.

"I can't wait to introduce Dandelion to the rest of the family," Bridget said as the cutiefly went back to rest on her hand.

"You named her after Leon," said Allister. He knew how Bridget's mind worked since they had been friends all their life.

"You got it," said Bridget, "Leon means lion, and since she is fluffy like a dandelion, it makes sense."

Leon couldn't follow the girl's logic but was honored that she named the pokemon after him. The children thanked the two for the gifts. Leon and Sonia went to find the other leaders for their gifts and said goodbye to the pair.

Soon enough, dinner was served, and Bea and Bede joined them at the table. The two gym leaders more or less treated Allister and Bridget as their little siblings and made sure they ate their food. Bede complained about the lack of vegetarian dishes since he knew Bridget didn't eat meat. He would take the meat off her plate and give her some more of his veggies. Bridget held in laugh because he would act like Bridget annoyed him, but then he would do things like that. Bea, for her part, made sure that Allister ate some of his veggies since he was tiny and needed veggies to grow.

After dinner, Bea had enough of the ball and asked if Allister and Bridget wanted to go back to the hotel together. The two jumped at the chance since the ball was boring to them. They used a back exit to avoid any lingering paparazzi and made their way back to the hotel. The three of them shared a room together. The room was supposed to have two single beds, but they ended up with one with a giant bed instead.

"Bea, did Leon give you a pokemon," questioned Bridget.

Bea nodded and told the others not to laugh. She sent out her new pokemon to show them.

"Stuff," cried the little bear pokemon.

"So cute," said Allister and Bridget together.

Bea warned them about touching stufful since she didn't like being touched by strangers. Bridget knew that Bewear were powerful pokemon and could cause major injuries since she helped her mum at the hospital.

Bea assured them that she would be training the stufful to tolerate people and control her strength.

Bridget released all her pokemon to meet their newest family member. They all seemed to get along, which made Bridget super happy. Pistachio, the impidimp, finally decided to officially be part of the family, and he let Dandelion rest on his head.

Allister showed his dreepy to his other ghost pokemon, and they happily greeted the baby pokemon. The dreepy fell asleep on top of Cheshire the gengar and the gengar looked so happy.

"That pokemon has the right idea," said Bea, "Time for bed, everyone."

"Awww," replied the two children.

They got ready for bed and whispered to each about going to the Isle of Armour and the adventures they were going to have.

Their adventures were far from over.