The Knight In Shining Armor// Pokemon Sword and Shield Fanfic

2

"Dad?" I said, stopping in my tracks, almost losing my balance. I wobbled and I put my right foot back to steady myself, feeling a strong arm around my back. I looked over at Raihan to see a shocked expression on his face, but also preventing me from falling.
"Sylvia?" He said in a confused tone, quickly coming toward me. I regained my balance and stood face to face with my father, who I hadn't seen in two years. "It's really you," he said quietly, breaking the silence. Tears formed in his eyes as he threw his arms around me in a tight embrace.
When he let go, I met his emerald green eyes. I didn't look too terribly much like either parent. I had my dad's green eyes and similar skin, just a bit lighter, but my mother's athletic build and blonde hair. I was a bit shorter than my father, and a good bit taller than my mother.
"You didn't tell me you were the chairman of an entire league," I said, still in shock the man I was supposed to love deeply stood in front of me.
"That was another reason you and your mother moved over here, so I can reconnect with you," he explained, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
"But you and mom divorced years ago, could you not wait another 6 months and just had me move over here when I'm 18?"
"It was your mother's idea that you move here. She needed to help her mother and wanted you to bond more with me, so it was mainly for both of your wellbeing," he explained. I didnt know how to feel about this, being lied to about why we moved, seeing the man I thought abandoned us, and only to see how much power he has here. I couldn't do anything but cry at this point. Tears began falling down my cheeks as I rejected another hug from my father.
"Maybe she just needs time to process all of this, don't worry, Mr. Chairman, I got her," Raihan said, leading me down the hall and into a room that looked like a locker room. He sat me down in a soft chair and fetched me a bottle of water. By this point, I stopped crying and was just trying to understand why I would be lied to like this. Raihan sat down in the chair next to me.
"I can't tell if you're sensitive, teenage hormones, or if that was just from solely being overwhelmed," Raihan said after a minute. I shot him a look.
"Okay, for starters I am a little sensible, second, I'm pretty sure I'm over the whole 'hormonal teenager' thing and finally, yes, I'm super overwhelmed by my father," I said, slowing my breaths down and lightening up a bit.
"Okay, well the list of reasons for your reaction was to ease you and lighten the mood, not offend you. Though the hormonal teen thing, that doesn't go away until your twenties," He said. I cracked a smile.
"Please tell me you're kidding," I said playfully.
"Unfortunately, no. I'm 23 and I still get it," he said seriously before smiling widely. "I'm kidding,"
He stopped for a minute before looking at me thoughtfully.
"Seriously though, you okay?"
I nodded as he gave me a sympathetic look.
"Hey, I know how tough families can be, so if you ever want to talk about it, I'm all ears, consider me a friend," he said. I smiled softly at him. After a couple minutes of him trying to distract me, the door opened to reveal a tall man dressed in an outfit of spandex and a cape with long, fluffy purple hair.
"Hey, Raihan. Rose said you'd be in here, did he seem a bit off to you?" The man came over and sat in a chair across from us.
"Nope, he seemed pretty normal to me. I'm surprised you made it here in a reasonable time, your wonderful sense of direction and all," Raihan lied and then switched to sarcasm. I looked over at him, seeing his face, not revealing any sort of hint he isnt telling the truth.
"Well, anyway, he said the match is off, something about a big test trial being done in his lab and they can't reschedule, so we're doing the match later this week. And to think, I flew here all the way from Postwick," the man continued on, occasionally glancing at me.
"Well that gives me more time to prepare to steal your title," Raihan said mishchieviously. The other man rolled his eyes. "By the way, this is Sylvia, she and her mother just moved here from Kalos, she's Opal's granddaughter, I think she's around Hop's age," Raihan introduced me. I gave a shy wave.
"I thought you'd got a new girl and didn't tell me. I'm Leon, the champion of the Galar region, though you probably already know," he said confidently. I was now understanding what Raihan meant by eye candy. He was tall, muscular, parts of him looked sculpted, bright gold eyes, a strangely hot beard sort of affair, and had the signature hot guy smirk. He caught me surveying him a little long and gave me the smirk. My face began to heat up again and I looked down.
"Are you alright, you look kind of upset," Leon said, trying not to sound rude or make me feel self conscious. He seemed like a good guy, respectful and mindful of others, confident but not arrogant. Definitely could see why people liked him so much.
"Yeah, she's alright, just a little overwhelmed by the big move. I had her with me because she was going to watch the match, but I guess I should send her to her new home," Raihan said, covering for me. He really wasn't one to go blab others secrets.
"Flying Taxi has been backed up all day," Leon said as he stood up and went to the mini fridge on the other side of the room.
"Of course it is," Raihan sighed.
"You could ride my charizard home," Leon suggested, sitting back down. I couldn't tell if it was a serious offer or a joke. My eyes widened at the thought of flying on something that wasnt surrounded with walls, something so easy to fall to my death off of.
"He's not serious," Raihan said, noticing my panic. Leon just shrugged while taking a sip of water.
"I'll be back in a few," Raihan said, leaving the room. I awkwardly looked around and tried to avoid eye contact, hoping the champion wouldn't try to talk to me.
"You look familiar," Leon said after a long silence.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you just look similar to someone I know, but I don't know who," Leon said, squinting his eyes at me.
"Well, uh,"
"Hm, I don't know," he said, dropping the matter.
I slowly nodded and looked at my phone, seeing I had tons of dms on Instagram about being in Raihan's post. I sighed and shut my phone, making a mental note to change my privacy settings later.
"So, are you a trainer?" Leon asked after another couple minutes.
"Not really. I mean, my parents used to be," I explained. He nodded.
"Did they specialize in a type, or had a well-rounded team?"
"My mother had a well-rounded team and my father had steel-types," I said, remembering the last quality time a spent with my father a few years back, him showing me his battle-style with his signature pokemon, Copperajah. He's had that pokemon longer than he's had me. I suddenly felt sadness build up in my chest, remembering my father used to be around all the time and cared about spending time with me. Leon's face softened, obviously seeing my reflection of sadness. His tone lightened as we continued, and he changed the topic of my parents, as if he could understand my thoughts.
"Well, do you have any pokemon of your own?" He asked. I felt myself relax a little as I got to talk about my best friend, poplio.
"I have one my grandmother gave me from Alola, a poplio," I said, getting his pokeball out of my back again and letting him out. Immediately, he was intrigued by Leon. He went over the him and quickly liked him.
"He has potential to be something great one day," he said, happy to be in contact with a foreign pokemon. "Hey, have you ever challenged a pokemon gym?" He asked as poplio came back over. He climbed up onto me and sat patiently in my lap. Leon smiled, seeing how attached my poplio was to me.
"I challenged the first gym in Kalos and lost, and I felt so bad for letting popplio get beat up, I decided battling wasn't for me," I explained, remembering the awful guilt in my chest seeing my poplio knocked unconscious.
"Its all a part of battling. Pokemon recognize you aren't trying to hurt them and eventually decide they want to fight and become strong, regardless of the pain. They're a lot more complex than we give them credit for," Leon explained.
"Of course you can understand your pokemon, you're the champion. I don't think I'll truly understand pokemon,"
"Its not just a natural thing, being able to understand them. You just kinda learn it as you go,"
"You're pretty chill for being the champion,"
He let out a light laugh. "You get the mild, calm Leon because I'm tired and you seem like you've had a rough day yourself. You're pretty chill meeting a celebrity. And quiet, most people talk my leg off and feel the need to tell me their life story, as if I'm some sort of all knowing being," he said, reminiscing on many encounters of meeting fans. I shrugged. Leon nodded, as if giving his approval for me being reserved and quiet, not wanting to pry.
"Alright, I got you a flying taxi to Ballonlea for you ready to go, he's waiting on the roof," Raihan said as he got back into the room. "Ready to go, Sylvia?"
"Yeah," I stood up and put poplio back into his pokeball before following Raihan out of the room and to the elevator. I waved Leon a quick goodbye. And he gave a half smile and put a hand up.
On the roof stood a huge bird pokemon attached to a buggy, a pilot standing beside it. I thanked Raihan for all he did for me today and he gave me his number, saying to call or text if I ever needed help or to talk.
Next thing I knew, I landed in a dimly lit town with vibrant colored mushrooms everywhere, with my mother and grandmother waiting beside the pokemon center.