Dragon's Champion

Leon

Upon entering the terminal both Hop and I looked at our ticket number. We gazed out at the train lines, there was a single train in sight but there sure was people gathered around it. Seemed like they were backed up today. Hop groaned and rubbed the back of his head as he sighed and turned to face me. A frown was plastered to his face.

"We'll never find our train at this rate."

"Relax, we'll find it eventually. Just looks to be way too busy here."

"I know we can but we don't have that much time to waste. We need to go so you can make it sooner."

I sighed and said nothing when he grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to the crowd before us. They were yelling at the conductor as he tried to keep everyone calm and collected. It was a crazy time as we came closer only to see that it was our train. The man groaned and stopped when he noticed us standing behind the roaring crowd.

"Thank goodness you're here, we almost left without you."

He stepped out and separated the crowd with a large Galarian Slowpoke that divided them quickly. It gave us enough room to shoulder our way through and up into the train. We were joined by the conductor after his Slowpoke came back inside. The doors shut behind us. Hop looked in my direction, keeping silent as a frown came to his face. It made me feel bad and I wasn't sure what to do about it.

The conductor let out a loud exhale. "Your seats are in the back of the first car. I'll get moving once you're seated."

"Thank you." Hop said as he turned and pulled me with him.

We found our seats quickly as they were the only two that were open. They faced each other with a small table in between them. We sat promptly on the hard seats. It beats walking all the way to Wyndon without a ride. I stared out the window at the people who started to disperse. The whistle of the train echoed within my ears. It lurched forward as I saw the station as it vanished from sight. I closed my eyes but it didn't take long for Hop to speak to me.

"Hey, Lee. What's going on? I've never seen you turn down when everyone gathers to wish you luck and to do well. What's wrong with you?"

I sighed, "I said don't worry about it."

"There's no way that I'm going to worry about it. I don't like seeing you or anyone else feel so out of place."

I said nothing for a short bit but it felt like an eternity. Eventually I knew that Hop and other people would recognize that something was wrong with me. They saw the weak man that I truly am as it bubbled to the surface. It wasn't right to keep things locked away for so long but it was to uphold the name of Galar Champion. I heard Hop clear his throat as I averted my attention from the window to him.

"You know you can tell me what's going on. I'm not going to tell anyone else and you know that."

I took a deep breath and responded, "I'm afraid of what will happen. I don't know if I can do any of this today."

Hop processed for a moment and perked up. "I know it's hard but look at what you've already accomplished over the years Lee! That's such a great thing for you to have and how big you really are!"

I shook my head, "I'm a huge fake. I didn't do anything amazing that's memorable, it won't continue either."

"Lee, you can't just hang up your cape like that. People in Galar need you. You've supported me and hundreds of people! Some of these people aren't even from around here either."

"But what am I supposed to do? There's nothing that can be done since the last battle that I had with Raihan. Do you not know how stressful this all is?"

Hop's eyes opened wide. "I know you hated that match and it did a number on you but that's in the past. You can always make things change between you two. I know you can do that."

I paused, "You can say all you want but that's the day that broke us apart. It's not that easy to fix something as broken as that."

"True, but I've seen you go through things that are so much harder than that. I get what you mean but I'd love to see you at least smile today. A real one if you can manage it."

"I'm not sure what will happen today."

"Nobody does. But that's the joys of the unknown. An adventure that you don't expect. You're a great older brother and I know you'll break through."

I turned to look at him. "Thank you. You're a great little brother too."

A moment passed as my attention went out the window. The world beyond the train passed by in a blur of colors of the different landscapes. This part of Galar wasn't interesting and it felt bland making me more drowsy than I already am. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the train and the chattering within this car. I slowly after a few minutes as I drifted off into a light sleep that didn't last long.

A nudge came to my shoulder, I didn't want to get up but I slowly opened my eyes after rubbing them and gazed up at Hop who continued to nudge me. I wasn't sure how long I was out for and sat up as the others in the train stared at me with wide eyes and frowns. I felt my body tense as it left me feeling uneasy. The conductor was also there as he looked at me and nodded.

"I wish you the best Leon. It's nice to finally meet you from all of the things I heard about you."

I stretched widely and stood up using the back of the seat for balance. "Thank you." I paused, "What happened?"

"You blacked out but you'll be fine and able to keep going."

I tilted my head, "I what?"

"Come on Lee! Let's go." Hop said as he placed his hands on my shoulders and shoved me to the door.

Out the train doors in a flash I followed behind Hop as he had a hold of my wrist. I saw the entrance to Wyndon as we shot through the walls that surrounded the area. The big red flower shaped stadium building came into view. I came to a stop, Hop released my wrist and gazed back at me. The stadium felt bigger than normal as it felt like it would swallow me whole while I stood there. There was so much pressure and I wasn't sure how much more of it I could handle. What am I going to do when I go inside? Will I crack at the seams? That was likely but there wasn't anything that I could do about it.