The Heart of a Champion

Chapter 4- The Future In Kanto

                       Lillie POV

I woke up again this morning in the Vermillion Hospital as I had for the last few years. I had a bed reserved next to my mother who was still in a barely conscious state. I sometimes questioned why I was here, after all she did to me and Gladion, but I have to keep faith that it really was all caused by Nihilego's poison. On the bright side though, the doctors and nurses treated me very well, which is why I'm allowed to sleep here with nowhere else to go. Im thankful, but that doesn't mean I dont still miss my little loft in Professor Kukui's house. I missed Professor Burnet as well, not to mention Hau and... Sun...     I snapped out of my trance when one of the nurses brought me a coffee. I didn't mind coffee, but I certainly preferred the fresh Moomoo milk I used to get all the time. "Thank you!" I said to the nurse. The nurse smiled and said, "No problem Lillie." I appreciate the people here very much, they even told me recently that the doctor who would be able to perform the expiramental surgery on mother would be free this month. I hope he is, all I really want is to go back to Alola to see my friends... As usual I sat down by my mother, some days she would talk to me, and in a lot of those instances she seemed to be returning to her old self.

As I sat by her side in the small hospital room with only our two beds, I watched the nurses take her vitals. Mother's breath was always shallow, but at least it was consistent. At times like these my thoughts drifted toward my friends in Alola, as they seemed to most of the time. I wondered if they even still cared about me. Sun sent me a letter about a year ago, but since then I haven't seen anything, plus there were some new procedures in place that meant mail had to go through a couple checks before it could be handed out in or leave the hospital.

Eventually I went to the break room where I would socialize with the staff and watch whatever they were watching on TV. Supposedly there's going to be a big battle with many major Champions from major regions around here soon. Everyone is really excited to watch it, I don't know much about it, but if I remember correctly it was Kukui's end goal of founding the Alola League to have a consistent competitor on the world stage like that. I certainly missed Kukui's enthusiasm. He, Hau and Sun's positivity never failed to cheer me up. I sighed, it probably isn't healthy for me to think like that all the time, I have to be strong, I'm 18 now. I aimlessly watched as the news anchor described some results from the latest battles. I had my own Ribombee and Comfe now but I still didn't like battles that much. "... The match ended 6-3 in his favor, which qualified him for the Quarter Finals in Kanto in a few weeks from now..." I left the room to go help some of the patients, as I did to help the workers here...

                      Sun POV
"... The match ended 6-3 in his favor, which qualified him for the Quarter Finals in Kanto in a few weeks from now, this will be the first time the tournament will have 8 competitors vying for the championship." The report ended there. I decided it was time to make dinner for myself. It was such a relieving feeling to have won that match. I would now be able to go to Kanto to compete with the very best battlers on the planet. Not to mention I might be able to see Lillie again, hopefully she got my letter. As I finished straining the pasta, I remembered that they were going to reveal the matchups for the world championship. I sat down on my couch again to see the braket form. The sports anchor detailed the bracket. "In the Quarter Finals, the first  matchup
will be..." He would pause every once in a while to draw a name from the hat. "The hometown Champion Red! His opponent will be...The fan favorite Champion of Galar, Leon!". Now that's an interesting match, hopefully their two Charizards will face off... "in the second match of the topside of the bracket we have...The reinging and defending two time World Champion Cynthia! Going up against...The exciting new Champion of Unova, the dragon master Iris!". Iris was gonna have a rough test for her first World Championship set. I can't say I Envy her there, but she's always game and ready for a challenge. "...Moving on to the lower side of the bracket we have... The newcomer from the tropical islands of Alola, Sun!". Shoot that's me. So I could be matched with any one of Lance, Steven, or Diantha. "His opponent will be... the highly esteemed champion of the lands and seas of Hoenn, Steven Stone!"

I turned off the TV for now. I knew that made Lance and Diantha the next matchup. I didn't necessarily need to see them announce it officially. Steven Stone...He lost in the Semifinals to Cynthia Five years ago at the last world championship, but it was by no means a cakewalk for Cynthia. This would truly be a test to see if I could swim in the deep waters.

We're leaving for Kanto in about 2 Weeks, and then my match will be about 3 days after I arrive. That should give me ample time to get a feel for the battlefield and it's terrain before the match starts. I don't think it's sand but I think Im going to continue doing our agility training in it, after all if the field is something like grass or just hard turf, it will be like my team has chains removed from them as they're used to sand. I just realized now that I won't be in Alola in a few weeks. That could mean that some gang or something could try to do something without a giant sun lion immediately on their tail. So I called the obvious choice on my phone, "Hey Guzma." I heard the former team Skull leader on the other end "Yeah kid, what's up." I scratched the back of my head, "Well as you probably know I'll be gone for the Wo-" "And you need me to run any non organized deadbeats off the streets I got it." Read like a book. "You know me too well Guzma." "Of course I do, y'all are stupid." with that he hung up. I definitely preferred being on his side rather than not.

Later that night I had Mom over for dinner as I had promised her a while ago. She mainly talked about how excited and proud of me she was, but she also had her heart set on me finding Lillie while I was out there. I tried to explain that I didn't have the foggiest idea whether or not she was where I thought she was. before she left she told me it didn't matter and that I'd be able to find her. Honestly I think that's the least of my worries even though it might be the hardest to accomplish, im more worried about what would happen after.

I decided to call both Hau and Gladion before finally calling it a night. This would be a long training camp, and possibly the most difficult of my career. I had faith in my team though. They had never let me down and I never plan on letting them down either. The whole of Alola is counting on me, if I lose immediately they may not consider us worthy of the tournament. Beating the third best trainer in the world though, that would be a whole different outcome...Before going to bed I decided I would check the world power rankings before the tournament to see where I stacked up, Cynthia, Lance, Steven, Leon, Red, Iris, Diantha, Blue, Calem, Raihan, Gold, and then finally at number 12 there I was. Alright then. Guess Gladion was right, they don't respect me or Alola at all. They will though.

                  Author's Note
Alright this is probably all I'm gonna post for today. I hope you're all enjoying it. As always if you have any suggestions I'm completely open to them. Thanks!