Pokémon Homecoming | A Galar Fanfiction

Author's Notes

⚠️ Spoilers ahead if you haven't read the full story ⚠️

2023 update: Looking back, several stories later, this is by far the worst one I've written. I didn't really know what I was doing and doubted I'd ever write another story. I just thought Leon needed a biographer. Now I am most definitely Cipher's biographer. Anyway, I've done quite a bit of editing to make this story easier to read, but I've got to think about how I'll fix the storyline without actually changing too much, because it's already part of this massive universe I've created.

I wanted to crawl into a hole when I reread Abbey and Leon's first sex scene. I removed some of the worst bits but left the rest there because, well, it's what it is and some people are probably reading just for that. I'm sorry to everyone who isn't.

I'm also sitting here grimacing at Abbey's total lack of character other than 'I pretended to hate Leon because I'm secretly madly in love with him.' I feel like people need to read this story to care about Abbey and Alfie, but I hope it doesn't put anyone off reading my other work. I promise it's not as bad.

If you're one of the few who's stuck with me to read everything since this story, THANK YOU for seeing my potential and sticking it out.

If you came here without reading the entire story and you're looking for something better, try reading Fool's Gold, Azurite, Turquoise, Mars or The Hour Before Dawn. They're actually great stories that don't revolve around a badly-planned romance.

Anyway...

These notes cover how I expanded on characters and locations to write a mature story taking place after Sword/Shield end, while staying as true as possible to canon.

Characters

Notes on character personalities, extra names (eg. surnames) I gave them and pairings.

Leon

Leon is more of a miseryguts in my story than he is in the games. At the same time, what we see in the games is a carefully practiced public image. As Opal notes, the real Leon is 'extremely hard to read' regardless. The closest we get is in the Battle Tower, where he acts differently – and far less dramatically – than he does in front of a crowd. That gives any fanfic writer lots of room to project onto him without worrying too much about canon, but I've detailed how I got to my interpretation of Leon below anyway.

Since Leon got famous at 10, like most child stars he probably has some mental health issues. We know he's always had a terrible sense of direction, because he couldn't find his way on the Isle of Armour, but when he can't find something that's right in front of him (eg. Motostoke Stadium), that may be indicative of underlying issues that existed even before fame. It could just be comic relief, but given how layered the Sword/Shield characters are, I took it this way.

It's implied in the games that Leon doesn't particularly want his Champion title anymore. He's very happy to give it up to Victor/Gloria, which is partly because he's genuinely happy to see a young Galarian kid grow so strong. Given how he behaves and dresses like an entirely different person (leggings under booty shorts under cape → classy tailcoat) at the Battle Tower and is repeatedly described as 'more lively than he was as Champion,' though, I think he's also ready to move on. Pretty sure the only reason he's still wandering around in his cape outside the Battle Tower is because the designers couldn't be bothered to change his appearance!

My Leon, of course, has PTSD from his experiences with Rose. He associates his time as Champion with Rose's abuse which is another reason he's so eager to move on and shake off his 'I'm an unbeatable Champion' dialogue. Since he's 30 when this story starts, he's hopefully grown out of that anyway!