Pokémon Homecoming | A Galar Fanfiction

Chapter 56: Victory Road

Piles of sandwiches and dried food covered Abbey's kitchen table. Sableye stirred bubbling pasta sauce. On the living room floor, almost entirely taken up by Pokémon, Hop and Victor shared malasadas with Hau. The kahuna stood with a carefree grin.

'Howzit?'

He gestured to Hop and Victor. 'I've set these two their own trial. You guys can battle it out at the end to see who's learned the most!'

Seeing Leon blink bewilderedly, he laughed. 'Abbey hasn't told you anything, has she?'

'Well, I know there's this test...'

His eyes scanned the food. 'I'm guessing it's more of an adventure.'

'It sure is! You're gonna love it. I won't spoil the surprise!'

While Leon sat with Hop and Victor and Acerola served her pasta, Hau pulled Abbey aside. She, too, was a little baffled.

'I was just going to take Leon...'

'I know, but it's my job to get them to train, too, right? An awesome battle at the end of your journey will be sure to impress any tapu!'

He saw her hesitate. 'C'mon – a real battle, out in the wild, will be even better than your Battle Tree!'

'I know.'

She smiled down at her feet. 'I suppose I've got my own things to overcome.'

'Right! If we're gonna take on some bad guys, we need to be our very best – all of us! You, me, Leon...'

'Leon isn't...'

For some reason she couldn't discern, tears suddenly stung her eyes. Man, I've cried more since I met him again than I have in my entire life!

'He's not going to be helping us. He's a suspect.'

Hau shrugged. It apparently didn't surprise him. 'So what? You know him better than they do.'

'They told you, too, eh?'

'Yeah, but so what?'

'...What do you really think?'

Abbey wasn't asking if he knew Leon was a criminal. She didn't believe it... but she didn't like the idea of her friends being kind to him, at the same time as they suspected and felt uncomfortable around him, just for her.

'He's troubled. I just wanna give him a big hug and some malasadas, you know? But if he's good enough for you and Tapu Lele, he's good enough for me.'

His smile was tinged with distant sadness. 'And he was good enough for gramps, too. Anyway, c'mon – our pasta's going cold!'

Their knees bumped together on the crowded floor. Abbey was squashed against Sandshrew, who refused to leave Leon's side. Her arm went numb against its icy skin. Once they were all full and tired, Hau took Hop and Victor back to Konikoni City. Abbey dug two camping backpacks, usually used by her and Acerola, out of a storage box. The yellow tent she rolled up was the same one she bought in Stow-on-Side, when Leon already had his supplies from his time on the Isle of Armour and they thought they'd always share, but Janice's parents urged her to buy her own. Well, I might be 20 years late, but we will always share, now. Buried under paperwork in a case was her incomplete coin made up of Galarian Gym Badges. When she first returned home, though she'd never have admitted it, a part of her wondered about completing it one day or if not, just getting rid of it. Now, she unashamedly propped it up on a shelf beside her island challenge amulet. She'd come to feel that was how it should be. It didn't need to be completed. Her island challenge was her Pokémon adventure... but the fractured beginning didn't need to be discarded, either. That self-acceptance was the first step of her trial.

The morning Abbey dropped out of her Gym Challenge, the sunrise was burning red. That day, it was clear blue. She knew it meant nothing, but she still felt it somehow symbolic of clearing her mind. Olivia waited at the ferry terminal. She wished Leon good luck and left before the others arrived. Her casual manner made it impossible to tell, but Abbey knew she'd come to see him off. He was taking Tapu Lele's test, after all.

Hau boarded the ferry with them. Leon's smile was strained when he accepted a bag of malasadas, but he couldn't refuse. Hau was too kind, too cheerful. Jovi, Sonia and Acerola waved goodbye from the harbour. Mallow would drive them around the remaining sights with Jovi's new friend Lillie.

The ferry made a stop at the artificial island of Aether Paradise, where commuting scientists and janitors disembarked. Hau told stories of storming in to rescue a Cosmog, the baby form of Alola's legendary Pokémon, named Nebby.

'But they're good guys now,' he assured them, 'Us kahunas make sure of it!'

An island in hues of sunshine and earth grew closer. Jutting out was a town of anchored boats shaped like Pokémon. Waves sprayed the deck as Abbey took Leon outside to watch the approach.

'This is my favourite place in the world... I got off the boat and saw the biggest challenge of my life. And I knew my island challenge was going to be worth it.'

There was no ferry terminal here, only a narrow dock leading to the wooden paths connecting the town. Hau remarked there was no malasada shop, either. He reminded the village chief as he passed that there should be. The chief gave him a look that said he was tired of Hau's reminders. A Mudsdale pulled a cart piled high with vegetables. Hau waved to its Trainer, a petite woman wearing a purple bonnet over long plaits.

'Howzit?'

'Greetings, Hau. And you've brought along Abbey and...?'

'Leon, Hop and Victor. All the way from Galar!'

She removed her muddy gloves to shake their hands. 'Well met! I am Kahuna Hapu. Are you here to challenge the Battle Tree?'

Abbey smiled. 'Not yet.'

'Ah! Then it must be that challenge you set yourself to–?'

'Shh!' Hau interrupted, 'These guys don't know where they're off to yet!'

Hapu chuckled. 'Then you're in for a surprise. The roads of Poni Island are tough, but rewarding. There are many Trainers out there – the strongest you'll find in Alola. Best of luck to you.'

Hau took Hop and Victor to the Wailord-shaped restaurant Hapu delivered her vegetables to. Abbey and Leon bid them goodbye and walked on. The town's paths met the dirt roads of Poni Wilds. Salty sea winds ruffled palms and tall grass. No-one had ever hounded Abbey on the wildest and most deserted of Alola's islands, but even if they had, she would have taken Leon's hand anyway.

'I think I get it,' he said with a smile as they found their footing on uneven ground, 'Mount Lanakila isn't the real Victory Road, is it? It's Poni Island.'

Abbey mirrored his smile. 'You might be Galar's greatest-ever Champion, but you've never taken one of a Trainer's greatest challenges – a real Victory Road. And I personally think it's the toughest in the world, so here we are. Your old rival challenges you to take it on and grow... together.'