Pokémon Sword & Shield: Mark Of A Star (Champion Leon X Reader)

The Ol' Stomping Grounds

        You woke with a kink in your spine and drool in your hair. Thievul sprawled across you, her snout resting beneath your chin, while Luxio curled into a ball in the crook of your shoulder and shoved her back legs against your ribs. Princess' morning breath steamed your skin as drool continued to puddle in the dip of your neck. Your arm was going numb from Dazzle's weight. Grunting, you tried to retrieve your arm to wipe the wetness away. The two growled in protest the moment you shifted. When you paused, they settled once more, snoring and twitching with dreams. Chuckling softly, you let your lids fall. You supposed you could kill time a little while longer.

You stirred again when the sun speckled the overhead of your tent, casting warm light beneath your eyes. You squinted, swallowing the grossness in your mouth, and decided you couldn't sleep the morning away. After all, you had to make your way back to Motostoke to take on Kabu—a roundabout trek that would take much longer if you didn't wake up now. You sat up, rolling the whiny Thievul off your chest as Luxio grumbled without the cradle of your arm. Outside your sleeping bag and lacking your pokémons' warmth, the chilled ocean air prickled the hairs of your skin. You shivered and dressed quickly. Beside you, Princess and Dazzle slowly shook sleep from their fur. You smiled when the Thievul flopped beside Luxio, grooming the bed head from her blue mane.

Your morning routine included checking your phone, though, it seemed to have died in the night. Unlike your peers, your parents had never allowed you to have a Rotomi phone—labeling it another practice of practicality, but in reality, they only feared what you might do with pokémon-powered technology. After all, what if another pokémon lead you to rebel? A strained smile flickered your lips as you recalled your conversation with your father the night before. You certainly hadn't needed a Rotomi phone to catch Leon's eye or win your second Badge. Handing the device to Dazzle, she powered it with a quick jolt of electricity from her tail and leaned back into Thievul's tongue. You waited for it to turn on as you brushed the tangles from your hair.

You'd gotten a text in the night. Apparently, Bunnie had successfully harassed Nessa into being the last competitor of the night and had won without breaking a sweat. She thanked you for softening Nessa up, but you felt it had more to do with the fact it was near 2:00 o'clock when she messaged you than with your battle against her. You had beaten her pretty bad though. You congratulated Bunnie with a smiley face and a thumbs up. A few more notifications poured in, mostly spam emails, social media posts, and updates you didn't bother with. Then, a Pokégram notification you'd never seen before blinked to life on your phone. You tilted your head and selected it. It was a message request from a familiar account:

Champion Leon ☑️ • @galarchampionleon

Today 6:39
Hey, all-star, txt me back when u get the chance ✌️

Do you want to let @galarchampionleon send you messages from now on?
They'll only know you've seen their request if you choose Accept.

[Accept] [Delete] [Block]

Your lips parted with a soft hum of surprise. You were mostly surprised he'd managed to find your account than the fact he had messaged you—you'd abandoned it during your studies and had only posted a couple of pictures of Dazzle when she was a Shinx. Your favorite was on of her batting a crumpled paper ball that'd missed your trash can. She'd been so adorable back then... Not that she wasn't cute now, but she definitely didn't beat up paper balls for both your amusement either. And she had the softest baby fur and the fattest cheeks you loved to squish and those paws— Before you could get caught in the snares of memory lane, however, you shot the man a reply.

Reader_2000 • @ausernamethatsnotalreadytaken

Today 7:58
hey what's up?
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