Pokémon Journeys: A Star and A Wish

Galar's Champion

Lyric: Sora! Look! I think that's the Galar Region! That's, uh...whatitsface!

Sora: You mean Wyndon? Haven't you been here for Contests before?

Lyric: Uh, not really. This region is Reese's territory, so I never had the chance to check it out...

Sora: Oh. I guess that makes sense.

Lyric: Yeah. Well, while I'm here, I might as well catch some sweet Galar Pokémon!

Amber: Ruff!

Lyric: Hehehe! You too, Amber?!

Sora smiles at this display of affection, and picks up Fast from the railings.

Lyric: Oh yeah, I just thought of something. You're from the Sinnoh region, right? So why is Fast your ace? Wouldn't you have one of the Sinnoh starter Pokémon?

Sora: Hm? Uh, yeah. I had one. But it, well...it ran away...

Lyric: It did? Why?

Sora: I don't know... I suppose I wasn't up to its standards, so it left.

Lyric: So then, how did you meet Fast?

Sora: I saw him stranded on a beach in Sandgem Town. He looked lost, so I took him with me.

Lyric: A Pincurchin getting stranded in Sinnoh? That's real far from Galar, so he must've been alone for so long until you found him.

Sora: Yeah. It took him a while to adjust to the climate, and he got sick more times than I can count. But even still, he stuck with me when my Piplup left, so I'm happy to have him. Sure, his stats are underwhelming, and he doesn't evolve. But I grew to really appreciate him as my Partner Pokémon.

Lyric: Man, we've both been through hardships, huh?

Sora: What do you mean?

Lyric: Believe it or not, Amber and I had a big fight when he was still a Rockruff.

Sora: What did you fight about?

Lyric: When I had started my Contest debut, I couldn't win. No matter how hard I tried, me and Amber just couldn't do. I got frustrated, and blamed our failures on him. I remember what I said to him, even after all those years... "I wish you weren't a Rock type. Maybe then we could win."

Sora: But I thought you wanted to show the world the Appeal of those kinds of Pokémon?

Lyric: That's what I want now, yeah. But back then, I just wanted to win. And after that, Amber ran off. I was so mad that I didn't care very much. But then, I was attacked by a group of Venipede. Amber was my only Pokémon at the time, so I had a hard time trying to fight them off. And the way they attacked. In a group. It was...beautiful. And it made me realize something. Something important. If I can't win with one Pokémon, maybe I could with more. With help. Of course, I was still terrified, and cried for help. But people in Pinwheel Forest at night? Yeah, that's not gonna happen. But then, Amber jumped out of a bush and saved me. Then, we caught one of the Venipede together.

Lyric pulls out one of his Pokéballs, and lets out a Scolipede.

Lyric: And that Venipede is this big cutie right here! Meet Tiny the Scolipede!

Sora: Tiny?! He's the size of a Rapidash!

Lyric: Yeah, I know. I didn't think he'd get this big either. But I couldn't just change his name. He got so used to being called Tiny that it would just confuse him if I changed his name.

Sora: I guess that's true. Well, it's good that we're bonding and getting closer to each other. We're stopping soon, so let's get ready to get off.