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echantedtoon · 5 months

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Love Doesn't Do Encores Ch28 The Champion Cup P1

(Or alternate title of the story: Reader Becomes The Gym Leaders' Go To Babysitter. Art is not mine but if anyone here remembers Gordie has like four younger siblings and Milo is also a big brother. I do NOT know the names of Milo's/Gordie's siblings so for Story's sake they will be given headcannon names until if/when their actual names are actually revealed. Please know the names for the younger siblings are NOT cannon ones and are only being used for story purposes.)

Shiny Pokemon.

You had not just been accidentally delivered not just one but FIVE freaking shiny pokemon that you had absolutely no idea how to take care of. There was only one thing you could do at the moment and it was to borrow five pokeballs from Gloria and catch them within them before you could figure out what to do with the whole lot of them and keep them all hidden away inside your bag for safe keeping just in case. You were already having a hard enough time dealing with Silver let alone five other shinies you had no idea what to do with. You'd figure it out later. Right now you were too tired to think straight and soon after clonked out on the floor. The next morning you woke up to Gloria bright and early again on Christmas Eve and you were wondering why, when she reminded you that Leon was taking the three of them back to the fair today to see the things you missed. Oh right! She did mention doing that didn't she? Well it was all fine by you. You were too tired from last night to wanna do anything so when she offered for you to join them today you politely declined and she shrugged before going along with her twin and friend to meet up with Leon again. Which means you could do something that you hadn't been able to do for a very VERY long time....Sleep in BABY!! You fell back asleep all curled up in your sleeping bag like no one cared until around noon when you groggily decided to get up only because Silver was crying out loud and shaking your sleeping bag frantically until you did wake up and tiredly blinked at him. He took the chance to point at him mouth indicating he was hungry...and you flopped your head back into the pillow with a groan.....You felt his pink hand prod your head with a curious sound.

"I'm up. I'm up."

By the time you did get dressed and ready and room service had brought up some food for you and Silver, it was nearly two o'clock. Well it was all fine with you. You still had the whole day to relax and spend time with Silver who seemed content to curl up by you with his food by the tv which you flipped through boredly until settling on a nature documentary because why not? You liked watching pokemon run around their habitats anyways and learning about them. You weren't sure how long you had been watching TV and relaxing without a care in the world. It felt...nice to just sit back and unwind without having to do anything, travel, or worry about anything else like your mother....Sadly all that was going to end so- You looked behind you as the door opened and in walked not only Gloria but Victor too. Guess Hop must've headed back to his room already or was still hanging out with Leon. But none the less you smiled at them in greeting.

"Hey, Guys! How was your day out?", you asked.

Immediately Gloria beamed and launched into a tirade. "It was bloody great! We got to see this cool performance these guys were doin', 'n then we went on the ferris wheel, n' the roller coaster, an' the rapidash rides-"

"We got to do everythin' we didn't do yesterday," Victor clarified cutting off her massive sentence before he gestured back to you with interest, "But besides that...Glory told us ya have a wee bit of a pokemon problem from last night."

You paused blinking at him before nodding. Gloria must've told them what happened last night. "Oh yeah. Well...Yes. But we haven't figured out what to do about it yet. Why do you ask?"

"Do you want to trade a shiny riolu for your shiny espurr?"

You had paused, staring at him for a long moment before asking, "What?"

"Your espurr? I've always wanted one but could never find one in the rotomi system or in the wild. An' no one I've ever met wanted ta trade with me for theirs. So when Glory told me ye got one I figured I'd swing by the pokemon center an' see if I could find somethin' good 'nough to trade for it." He response he held up a pokeball you didn't notice he had with a smile. "I nay care if it's a shiny or not, but I figured I'd trade a shiny for a shiny."

"....And what's that?," you asked pointing to the ball in his hand.

"That shiny riolu that I mentioned earlier. I found it by accident while browsin' the rotomi boxes open. Surprised no one took it yet. So whatcha say? Wanna trade with me?"

"Yeah! Tradin's easy! I've been tradin' for a long time! Just today some bloke traded me their duraludon for me frosmoth!"

You paused...blinking over to her blinking. "Wait..You traded what?"

"Yeah! And then I traded this obstagoon for this Mr. Mime in Spikemuth! An'-"

"Have you been trading pokemon since we've been traveling ?"

She nodded and you blinked. So she's been getting all the possible gifted and traded pokemon up to this point. "And this Type Null thing."

"What?"

"Well...One of those league workers was all jittery and nervous and just pawned off a pokeball ta me with this type null thing in it. I nay knew what ta do with it so I let it go."

"......You got a what and let what g- No. You know what? Nevermind. It was probably just another pokemon you were supposed to get like the game intended."

".....Huh?"

"Uh...N-Nevermind. *ahem* You said you wanted to trade?"

You ended up trading Victor the shiny espurr for the shiny riolu and you were happy for him. The way his face absolutely lit up upon receiving it made it worth while. Good news! You found a good loving home for one of the shiny pokemon you received! Bad news. It still left you with five extra pokemon you had no idea what to do with. You knew Silver would be secure since Gloria agreed to take him if/when you went back home but what about the others? You did end up asking Gloria if she'd take them in if anything happened to you as well, and surprisingly she agreed. So great! One more problem solved! The next few days were just plain. You would mostly stick with Gloria and the two of you would spend time just watching the tv, but sometimes you and the guys would go out into the city and hit up some of the local stores or cafes. Sometimes Leon would tag along, othertimes he'd take the guys out. But he was mostly busy. You could understand why as the Champion Cup was coming up really soon and with the chairman apparently 'too busy tending to something' it fell upon the Champion or Vice Chairman to take care of everything. So apparently the Champion was also an important member of the Galarian government in this world. Neat! It certainly explained why Leon seemed to have much more responsibility than his video game counterpart back in your world. Speaking of which, you hadn't really seen Piers or any other gym leader either. They also must've been getting ready for the Champion Cup as well. As days passed you began to get more and more anxious about actually going home. After all what was waiting for you was surely your mother and her nagging and the dreaded college experience she'd make you get. But...there wasn't anything you could do about it. You had accepted that reality but that didn't mean you liked it. Gloria visibly started to get more and more anxious as well. You thought it was just pre-battle jitters though, as well as her stage fright eating away at her. Understandable. You couldn't imagine yourself in her shoes much less without feeling very anxious about it either. But she'll win still. Everything so far has been going exactly as it went in game. All that was left for Gloria was to defeat Leon and become the new Champion. More and more days slowly went by, until the day finally arrived. New Years Eve. The big day for everyone. You didn't know..why exactly you did it, but when you woke you had the urge to pack all of your things sleeping bag included as if you all would be traveling again. Strange. Must be a force of habit. Gloria was awake and dressed but didn't seem....there if that made sense. She didn't even seem to notice you had gotten up and ready to head out constantly staring off at nothing. You yourself only noticed her doing it when Silver tugged on your pants leg and pointed a pink hand at her. Upon you noticing you rose a brow at her.

"Gloria?"

"HA!" You blinked as she jumped back and whirled her head towards you like a mouse startled like a cat. But she quickly noticed the stare you were giving her and quickly straightened up. "Oh h-hey, Y/n! Haha! Ye look ready ta go!"

Your brow raised. "....Are you feeling ok?"

"Ye-Yeah!" She smiled a way too big and strained smile giving you a thumbs up. "M' good! N-Never better! Haha! T-T-This is the big day! After all w-why would I be u-upset about battling? I-It's what e-everyone d-dreams of a-after all."

You stared at her for a moment longer but shrugged it off after noticing that you staring was causing her to get more nervous. She must've just been nervous about the upcoming battles. "Alright then. Did you eat anything yet?"

"N-Nay. I don' think I could keep i-if down if I did-" She blinked when you suddenly handed her a small oatmeal break bar thingy from your pack Silver hadn't gotten to yet. After a moment she took it from you.

"Eat. You'll feel better if you have something in your stomach before the match. Trust me. Where's the others?"

She gestured to the door. "W-Waitin' for us in the lobby."

"Alright. Then let's go meet up with them ok?"

She hesitated but did follow you reluctantly as you headed towards the door with her following behind. Out the door you both went, down the hall, into the elevator, pressing the down button, and down to the lobby you two went. It was a short trip with Gloria starting to nibble on her bar, and when you two exited the elevator you both found the two guys standing by the front desk waiting for you. Hop was first to spot the two of you, smiling and giving you both a full arm wave as you walked over making Victor turn his head over to the both of you.

"Gloria! There you are, Mate!," Hop greeted the two of you as you stopped in front of them. With a sigh he looked to Gloria. "This is it. Did you get enough sleep?" She nodded silently yes to his question. "You and your team are the ones battling, but I've had butterfree in my stomach since I woke up."

"M' pretty excited myself," Victor added crossing his arms, although he was still so covered up he looked like a walking closet. "After all the excitement lately, m' just glad that all o' this will be over soon."

"Yeah. You're right. After today the Gym Challenge will be officially over." Hop turned back to Gloria with an assuring smile. "And what's most important is just that you try your best. Win or lose doesn't matter. As long as you give it your best, then it's good enough for me!"

"Exactly. No one 'ere cares if you win or lose, Glory. We're proud of you jus' for makin' it this far. N' I'm sure Mum is too."

The encouraging words from the two seemed to make her relax somewhat as she gave a sigh of relief. None of your four noticed the woman in league worker attire walk into the lobby you were in. She paused for a moment scanning over the lobby before spotting you four, more specifically Gloria, and then proceeded to walk on over to you.

"Challenger Gloria?," she asked when close enough and the four of you looked over to her, surprised to see her there. "The Finals will be starting shortly. I'm here to escort you to the stadium."

Gloria's brown eyes widened in surprise but you were more surprised to suddenly see Hop take an unexpected step in front of her with an instant scowl. "What's all this! Didn't learn your lesson yesterday?! If you need another helping of Hop and his trusty wooloo, I'll be happy to give you one!"

"No! Wait please!," the woman pleaded all of a sudden holding her hands up quickly in a nonthreatening manner, "I'm not like those other league staff! I'm a good one if I may say so myself. I heard about what happened last week." Both boys gave each other a suspicious look. "Ms. Oleana can be a little extreme in her desire to assist the Chairman with his goals I'm afraid. It seems she was cultivating her own group of league staff in secret to be deployed for...well..things like that debacle last week. But you've no need to worry about today's staff! All of us are here for the right reasons."

Hop still stared at her for a moment. "Well...That's what she says. I guess we can trust her yeah, Glory?" He turned to Gloria who shrugged at his question.

"W-Would you like me to show you the way to Wyndon Stadium now?"

"Yeah! Let's go! I can't wait another minute!"

The woman nodded and gestured for you four to follow her. "Then let's be on our way."

Hop leaned back to the three of you and whispered before following. "Psst. Hey. I think something fishy's going on around here. It's better if we keep our eyes and ears open in case someone else tries to use anymore tricks."

You nodded. Couldn't agree more right there. That sinking feeling you got whenever the Chairman was around was back again, and it wasn't just your anxiety about going home today eating at you either. You would've stayed in the hotel room if you were to suddenly disappear, but you figured you should be there to support Gloria even in your last moments of being in the world of Pokemon. You all followed the woman right out to a corviknight taxi. Well...this certainly wouldn't be something you missed about this place. It was a little cramped with an extra person to ride with of course, but you were a bit busy trying not to lose your lunch on the flight over which wasn't as long as you remembered it to be. Like with the semifinals last week, the place was packed with A BIG crowd and like before you all landed in a small fenced off space in front of the doors.

"This is it," you heard Hop speak. "Here at Wyndon Stadium. The greatest stadium in all of Galar." He turned back to Gloria with a wide smile. "You're gonna show everyone the greatest battle ever, Mate! And set the world on fire!"

Gloria didn't really say anything to that but followed the woman along with the rest of you upon exiting the taxi. Around you all was lots of people yelling out towards you all and many bright flashes signaling cameras were being used as well. As a result Gloria pulled her hoodie further over her face as you four were lead by the woman up the steps of the stadium and into the much warmer building in front of you all. It was a much better welcome than the cold snowy outside. Once inside she stopped and turned back to all of you before gesturing to the front desk smack dab in the middle of the stadium.

"Would the Challenger please check in and then go wait in the locker room with the other Champion Cup contestants to wait for the matches to start? I've been instructed by the Champion to escort the rest of you to the V.I.P lounge to await his arrival after the start of the first battle."

Unsure Gloria turned to Hop who nodded. "We'll be cheering you on from the audience, Glory! So go get yourself checked in!"

You watched as she did reluctantly did turn and shuffle off, and the woman gestured for you all again to follow her. "Please follow me."

You three all left Gloria and followed the woman over to the same elevator you all took before and once inside the woman pressed the top button and up you went. Once at the top floor you three followed her on a similar path from before and escorted you all to the same room as before when you watched the semifinals from here with Victor. Hop looked around curiously as he was the only one who hadn't been here before. There was only four other people in the room with you and they were the three trainers Raihan was training personally, all three were lounged on the couch, looked up at you when you came in, and then went back to talking ignoring you three again. You smiled at Marnie and greeted her. Exchanging a few words as she gave a small half smile to you before going back to whatever she was doing on her phone.The woman stopped in the doorway, asked you all to wait here until the Champion arrived to see you, and then left closing the door behind her. You all did as she asked and went around to stand near the window to wait for the ceremony to start. You stared out the window at the crowd below in the cold winter air...and sighed. This was it. Your final day here and it just so happened to be another holiday too. But what better way to celebrate it than to watch the final matches? Then it's back to your mother. Back to her nagging and overbearing rules. Back off to collage. Leaving everyone behind-

"Hey look!" You were jolted back up into looking when Hop suddenly looked out the window with a big beaming smile. And the crowd suddenly cheering. "It's Lee!"

Your f/c eyes blinked back out towards the window and you blinked when you saw the very small form of Leon walking across the field to stand directly in the middle of it. The giant TV screen was lit up with his bright smile as he waved with one hand towards the cheering crowd, the other hand holding a mic up to his face. This must mean the finals were about to start. Another person trotted onto the field and it didn't too long to realize it was the referee for the matches.

"Happy New Years Eve, Everyone! Chilly day out today, isn't it?," Leon asked his voice echoing loudly throughout the stadium thanks to the giant speakers the mic lead to. His answer was the crowds' cheering to his smile. Beside you both Raihan's trio of trainers and Marnie had gotten up to join you in watching out the windows. "I hope everyone here had a good Christmas or whatever special holiday you all celebrate this time of the year! And what better way to end off such a wonderful year than to go out with a bang! And welcome the new year with such positive excitement! It probably goes without saying but..." He shrugged. "Hello, Galar! I'm your Champion, Leon! The Chairman is tied up with some business, so I hope no one minds me stepping in on his behalf in order to lead you all to greater heights as pokemon trainers of the Galar Region!" Well judging by the cheers and reaction the crowd gave, no one seemed to be against the idea. "The time has come for you to battle it out until only the greatest challenger remains! So on behalf of the Chairman, allow me to say-" He suddenly pointed a hand out towards the field. "Let the final matches begin!"

The crowd roared and you couldn't help but feel a big excitement bubble up. Leon exited the field with an arm up waving good bye for now to the roaring crowd as he did so, and the intercom voice came back on his place. "Wasn't that just a thrilling start to the beginning finals? First up we have a duo who'll surely put the ghosts of past, present, and future to shame with his spooky winning streak! First Match will be Gym Leader Allister verses that lucky Semifinals winner Gym Challenger Gloria from Postwick!"

"Gloria?", you asked suddenly suprised.

"So soon?," Victor asked before giving off a hum, surprised as well at the sudden choice of the duo.

"No. Actually that makes perfect sense."

....You both looked at Hop like he was nuts. "...HUH?!"

He sighed. "Isn't it obvious?" He gestured to the field as a figure, Gloria, was slowly making her away across the field along with ....someone else. "Lee's gotta know 'bout Glory's massive stage fright problem, and from I've seen of that Allister kid, he's not exactly the most comfortable in the spotlight. If either loses they get to sit out a lot quicker, making it easier for them."

.....Ah...That actually made a lot more sense now. You would know you'd want to battle as soon as possible and win or lose if you were in either of their shoes. Made you appreciate Leon's good eye a lot more. Victor had turned back to the window...blinked, and squinted his eyes at the other person on the field who WASN'T Allister with Gloria. Before his eyes widened to the size of plates. You noticed his sudden expression and was about to ask him what was up when Marnie beat you to it.

"Oi. Who's that bloke?," she asked staring at the same person Victor was.

You looked to Marnie, then out the window. And your eyes widened when none other was BEDE standing there! Of course you couldn't hear what he was saying being all the way down there but he looked to be saying something to Gloria. THUD! You jumped and turned to the source of the noise which was none other than Hop who was ABSOLUTELY GLARING at the white haired figure on the field. The noise coming from him suddenly putting his hands against the glass.

"BEDE!?," he asked both gobsmacked and annoyed, "What the absolute flaming rappidash crap is that 'I'm so much better haha' wool for brains doing on the battlefield!?"

"HOP!" He blinked when you grabbed his shoulder with a frown. "Don't call Bede names! You should know better than that! What would Leon say?"

Hop...blinked at you as Victor spoke. "He certainly can't be competing in the matches. He was disqualified long before the semifinals began, and there's only one challenger allowed to compete in the Champion Cup."

"SEE!?," Hop tried to tell you gesturing a hand back to the confused action. "That guy's crazy enough to try and hijack Glory!".....You rose a brow. "Uh.." He cleared his throat. "I mean he's trying to hijack Glory FROM the match and take her place!"

"I don't think that's really what he's doing-"

"What an unexpected turn of events!," you were interrupted by the intercom guy, "Former Challenger Bede has come for one last battle! We are currently debating what to do with Challenger Bede." Ah. So THIS is when Bede decided to make his grand reentrance for the last rival battle with him in game. Of course you knew Gloria would win but for now you'd try and keep Hop under control as he angrily went back to glaring out the window at him. "To all our viewers, both here in the stadium and at home in front of the telly, we ask that you please be patient." Hop grumbled something about Leon not standing for this and you sighed. His 'not crush' on Gloria was starting to show itself again at the most- "We've reached a decision ladies and gentlemen! The Champion himself has accepted Bede's sudden interruption!"

A glass breaking sound went off in Hop's mind as he stared wide eyed. "........W H A T!?"

"Is the Champion showing his love by giving every trainer a chance to grow stronger? Or is it a trail for Challenger Gloria? Either way....WE ARE ABOUT TO START A MATCH FOLKS!!" The crowd cheered as Hop glared daggers. Oh if looks could kill. "Challengers! Please take your places on the field!" You watched as both turned and walked to the opposite sides of the field. "Pokemon at the ready! Get set! Let the first round of this surprise match begin!"

You all watched as Gloria sent out her ...duraludon?? That must've been the new pokemon she mentioned getting a while back. And Bede sent out a mawile. Oh boy here you go.

"HOW IS LEE LETTING THAT NO GOOD FELLA JUST BATTLE OUT THERE!?," Hop shouted making everyone in the room look at him as he glared out the window at the battlefield.

"Hop. Calm down." You shook his shoulder as the battle began gaining his attention. "I'm absolutely sure Leon has his reasons. And besides every other time Gloria had ever battled Bede she's won. Now won't be so different. Let's just watch Gloria beat him and relax. Ok?"

Hop paused and it seemed the thought of Bede being bested and humiliated in front of the entire crowd and live TV made him calm down enough to smile. "You're right! Glory's always bested him before. Now won't be anymore different."

"Exactly. let's just watch and see what happens now," You smiled.

You knew Gloria would win anyways but at least Hop calmed down now and seemed to enjoy the battle. First round was Gloria's durluadon vs Mawwhile. Gloria won. Then her corviknight vs his gardevoir. Gloria won again. Then her corviknight again verses his rapidash. ...She won again. Scorbunny vs Bede's hatterene in a dynamaxed fight. You remembered to hang onto something this time around to avoid falling over as the giant pokemon duked it out. Bede won this round. But considering Gloria won three out of four, it was clear she was the winner.

"HA! Take that-"

"Hop. Don't be mean."

"It looks like Challenger Bede was no match for Challenger Gloria and her trusted team!," the intercom man commented to the cheering crowd. "The stadium is filled with voices cheering on these two young trainers! Now. Both challengers please head back to the locker room so that you can rest up from that unexpected match and the field can be repaired for the first match of the finals. We'll be taking a small commercial break in the meantime folks. Stay tuned for the promised action."

You all watched as the two walked off of the field and the repair crew for the field started rolling out with their equipment and you sighed. Well at least that interaction was over and done with but you did wonder what Ms. Opal was going to do about Bede performing such a stunt like that. You got your answer in just a few short minutes. While waiting for Gloria and Alister to eventually make their appearance back onto the field, you all had resorted to watching the repairs take place. None of you really moved an inch from the spot until the faint yells of someone saying 'Ow' over and over again came from behind you. You turned your head and was surprised when the door to the lounge opened and standing in the doorway all calm faced was none other than Ms. Opal. The old lady looked exactly the same decked out in her blue, pink, and white attire, with her umbrella over one wrist, and her hat. The only difference was that she was wearing a pretty thick blue and pink coat over her dress due to the cold weather most likely. You and Victor exchanged a confused look when she slowly walked in dragging something in the other hand behind her.....And that something was none other than Bede.

"Ow, ow, ow!! Let go of me you mad woman!!," he demanded slightly bent over from the fact that in old fashion grandmotherly style, Opal was dragging him along behind her by his ear.

....Hop snickered but you gave him a small shove and scowl to get him to be silent. Everyone from you to Marnie watched as Ms. Opal dragged Bede over to one of the couches before finally letting him go. Bede immediately leaned back up with a hiss, a hand coming to his ear as he scowled at the woman.

"Sit." She demanded not even looking at him pointing one hand to the couch before continuing to walk over to you guys which did surprise you. But what surprised you more was the fact that Bede actually listened to her. Albeit with him huffing, crossing his arms, and turning his nose up from her as she approached you. You blinked as the slightly taller older woman stopped right in front of you. "Excuse me, Young Lady. I do hate to put a burden upon you, especially one you didn't ask, but would I be able to bother you to watch the boy for me until I am able to return from the matches at hand?"

.....You blinked. "Huh?"

"Oh, I know this is completely sudden and I'd expect such a reaction. But the boy already caused enough trouble for the day and I'd rather not risk him unsupervised for the rest of the day. Unfortunately I won't be able to see to him until the finals are fully over but if I can know he's in good hands my mind would be at ease. I've heard from Dear Leon you did a wonderful job looking after his younger brother but if it's a bother I can certainly ask one of the staff to keep watch on him for me."

....You looked from her to Bede still pouting away before back to her and smiling unsure. "Uh...Sure. I can look after him for you if you want."

gaining a satisfied grin on her face she turned. "Thank you. I shouldn't be too long." ..You looked back to Victor who shrugged as Ms. Opal took her leave. As she passed the couch she gave Bede one last look. "Young Bede. Now don't get into anymore trouble while I'm gone. I don't want to come back to a bad behavioral report."

Bede mumbled something under his breath as she slowly left. Everyone else with the exception of you, Victor, and Hop turned back to the window once Ms. Opal closed the door behind her. You both exchanged a look before you steered Hop's smug face back towards the window in order to avoid him teasing or fighting with Bede again. You doubted Bede would cause anymore trouble now that his final battle with Gloria was over but you were still going to keep an eye on him just in case. Eventually the field did repaired and as the repair team exited the field the intercom person spoke again.

"We're back and ready folks! The time for waiting is over! The Finals of the Champion Cup are about to begin!" The crowd roared and everyone quickly forgot about Bede for the moment in favor of looking back to the field as two familiar faces entered the field along with the ref. Their faces brightly shown on the giant screens. "The two trainers to face each other in the first battle of the first round are! A trainer endorsed by the Champion himself, Challenger Gloria! And now to take her on here comes Gym Leader Allister! The boy known far and wide as the silent school aged star!" Whelp. There they were. Both children look really nervous despite Allister constantly wearing that mask to cover up his feelings as they met in the middle. "Challengers take your places! Get Set! Let the first round of the finals begin!"

First round. Here you go! Allister and Gloria sent out their first pokemon. A mimikyu and duraludon. You all were excited to watch but paused..and turned your head over towards Bede. He still sat down on the couch and was still frowning off at the ground away from the rest of the others. Purple eyes stared down at his feet unmoving as he sat there equally unmoving. That old lady just had to embarrass him further in front of everyone by making a show of dragging him along like a toddler throwing a tantrum over a toy! Things were only going to be downhill from here unless he fixed thin- ..!? His head snapped up feeling the couch cushions dip next to him and he blinked when he saw YOU of all people gently sit down next to him with a smile and soft eyes. He stared at you for a long quiet moment before you spoke.

"Hey. I saw you battle out there. Nice strategy with the rapidash."

He still stared at you for a long moment before scowling with a huff and again whipping his head from you. "Like a woman like you would care about someone like me! Why are you even bothering me? Shouldn't you be watching your friend compete?"

You hummed before rolling your wrist. "Eh..Yeah I guess so. But you looked upset and I wanted to make sure you were feeling ok."

"Don't pretend to care about me," he hissed back scooting his back around to face you, "I know no one here really gives any hoot about me or my feelings!"

"Well that's not true. Ms. Opal seems to care about you an awful lot." He huffed and you rose your brow, debated on whether or not to say the next sentence, and decided to say it to get his attention. "And Gloria cares about you too."

You waited for a moment as Bede didn't move or say anything and for a moment you thought it wouldn't work. Until he ever so slowly turned his head to you. His purple eyes narrowed looking you up and down for a moment until he asked. "She ...does?"

You nodded. "You're one of her rivals aren't you? She wouldn't want to see you hurt. After all she did kinda save your life from getting crushed by a boulder back in Stow-On-Side. "

His eyes went wide. "O-Oh...*ahem* Y-Yes. I see." He turned back away. "Still. Why would you of all people care?"

You shrugged. Fair enough question. "I don't like seeing someone get hurt when they don't deserve it, and I don't think you of all people deserved what you went through either. Especially what that Rose guy and Oleana did." Like a bullet, Bede's head snapped around wide eyed to you faster than any scorbunny and stared. You sighed. "We both know what they did was wrong ok? And...I don't really blame you for anything you did either."

He stared at you like you suddenly exploded in flames. "......I-.."

"You were put under a whole lot of heavy pressure and a lot of responsibilities were put on your shoulders when they shouldn't be. ..Yeah. Destroying the Mural and all those mean things you said to my pals were uncalled for." ....He looked down in shame- "But I don't blame you for doing what you thought you had to do." Aaaand just as quickly looked back to your smile surprised. "I mean...You're just a kid. You can't be older than thirteen-"

"F-Fourteen actually."

"That only furthers my point!" In a dead serious tone you placed a hand to your chest. "Take it from someone who was pressured into a whole lot of stress inducing things at your age. Things look bad now but your perseverance landed you in a really good place now."

...His brow rose and that resting 'really?' face came back. "Oh really? How am I supposedly in a better place now?"

"Dude. Just look at yourself right now." Bede's brows rose in..well surprise. You guessed he wasn't used to just talking bluntly like this. You gestured to his pink and blue uniform. "You're working your way onto becoming a Gym Leader? Do you know how many people would want that position? Do you know how many people can brag about becoming the next gym leader of Bellonlea? It may not be as fancy as the Champion, but Gym Leader Bede has a ring to it. Dont ya think?"

Bede stared at you for a moment, but hummed in thought. "Gym Leader Bede. ..." he nodded. "Yes. That does sound like a title deserving of my struggles. And everyone already was cheering me on so I'll have to keep up my training with Ms. Opal to not disappoint them."

"That's the spirit!" You gestured over to the windows as more cheers filled up the stadium. "How about we go and watch the matches now? Watching battles is a good way to learn and who knows? Ms. Opal might even be battling next. Wouldn't want to miss her fight."

Bede seemed to hesitate for a moment glancing over to hop who had his back towards the both of you too wrapped up in watching the match, but ended up standing with a nod. "I don't see why not. After all it'd look bad on my part if I missed my mentor's turn."

You smiled and got up from the couch Bede following as you both walked back towards the windows. Although he stood on the opposite side of you by Marnie away from Victor or Hop, which might've been for the best. You didn't want to get another headache from the two fighting again. From the looks of it you two were just in time for the two to have their final round in their match. Gloria's Duraludon verses Allister's Genger. Dynamaxed. You hadn't known what had happened between the amount of time you two were talking, but if things were going by game standards, Gloria should still be winning. You all watched as the two young children battled it out as the stadium shook under their combined attacks. Ultimately ending in Gloria winning. Just like in game. The audience roared as the pokemon reverted back to normal size and not too long after the intercom guy came back.

"The winner of the first battle and the one advancing to the second round is Challenger Gloria!," he announced as the crowd cheered in agreement. "The second battle of the first rounds will be against the Master of water types! The raging wave Nessa verses the Galar Karate Prodigy Bea! Two powerful lady gym leaders but only one will advance to the second round! Who will it be!? Stay tuned because after the small break for field repairs the second match of round one will take place! But now a word from our sponsors! The Swordward and Shielbert Enterprizes."

"Alright!," Hop pointed towards the disappearing forms of the two of them exiting field. "That's one down and more to go. Gloria's already advancing herself to the second round!"

Victor nodded. "That would seem so. But don't forget that the other gym leaders aren't going to be as hesitant and nervous as Allister is. She still could be taken out next round, especially if her pokemon are already tired from battling twice already."

You didn't want to admit it but Victor did have a point there too. Allister was a powerful gym leader especially for one his age but he suffered from almost the same problem as Gloria. Beside you Bede looked away in guilt perhaps but you supposed it was too late for that. Not long after the two left the field that the maintenance crew go back out to patch up the damage left behind by the dynamaxed pokemon and their attacks. ...Well it'd be a while before anyone else battled. So why not get you something to eat? You turned towards the small kitchen area and excused yourself from everyone to head towards it, Silver following behind you interested in getting food himself. Leon got you some hot coco last time you were here, so it wouldn't be too far a stretch to assume there was some hot coco mix around here somewhere too. Right? You took to opening the fridge and finding some small snacks like yogurt and fruit cups but no coco. So you then moved onto the cabinets. Let's see. Coffee beans. Napkins. Plastic silverware. Paper plates. Red cups. Coffee creamer. Instant ramen cups. The door being swung open-.....You paused. ...And along with most everyone else looked over again to the open door and froze. Your first instinct was to see Leon standing there as promised by that staff lady but were surprised to see a lady gym leader standing there. And not Ms. Opal this time. Standing in the doorway was none other than Bea, resting angry face plastered on as she held Allister in one arm against her and her other hand on her hip. You stared at her stunned as she gazed across the seven teenagers there ...before turning her gaze to you and whipped a pointing finger at you.

"YOU THERE!"

"......Who me?" You blinked. She nodded and that just brought up a whole bunch of questions. Bea wanted you? Why? Did she remember you from Bede's Stow-On-Side incident? But why? That was such a brief encounter. She certainly be angry at you for that seeing as it was Bede's and the Chairman's faults. Even if you didn't blame Bede for his actions you'd rather not get blamed for it.

"Opal told me 'bout the babysitter set up here." ........Wot- "I remember Lee said his pal was taking care of his endorsed trainers but I didn't know he had his friend babysitting for everyone too." She rose a brow and gave another look onto the amount of kids in the room. "But considering the circumstances I can understand why. Opal sure seems to like the idea."

"....Huh?" Babysitter!? What babysitter? Who-...Wait. Did she mean YOU? Why would she think YOU were a babysitter-.....Wait. You turned your head to the teenagers staring back confused at you as Bea walked in and it seemed to click. OH. ....Well. You guessed it would kinda look like that. After all you were the only adult in here and you did agree to watch Bede for Ms. Opal, so you guessed you were technically a babysitter. But only for Bede! You weren't watching ALL of these guys! ..Oh no. You guessed Ms. Opal must've told Bea about you agreeing to babysit Bede for her upstairs and Bea must've confused that for you watching everyone here. Simple mistake. You turned to her. "I think-"

Before you could even finish your sentence, Bea was already in front of you and gently shoving Allister into your arms. The small boy silently held onto you as you blinked at him surprised in your arms.

"My match is next so I can't watch him while I battle," she spoke pointing a hand at you and you blinked back at her. "And everyone else is too busy handling other things. Al seems to already like you too so this works out great." She sighed. "Thank ARCEUS Lee set up this sitter thing. Last time he tried wondering off by himself looking for the kitchen and we had to postpone the whole next match to look for him." You opened your mouth- She held up her fingers counting on them. "There's some things you should know. He hates too bright light. Make sure he stays bundled up so he doesn't get cold. Don't try giving him white chocolate. He hates it and frankly so do I. Don't make sudden grabs at him. Don't let him wonder out of your sight or else you're in big trouble. He hates real loud noises they scare him. Don't call him weird for liking Ghost Types. And whatever you do don't let him feed his ghost pokemon human food or else they'll get sick and vomit ectoplasm everywhere and no one wants to clean that up. Got that?" .......You blinked. And she nodded. "Good. I'll pick him back up after the finals are over and pay you then. For now just hang tight and DONT let him outta your sight." Her expression suddenly did a complete 180 as she smiled at Allister. "You be good ok? Play with your friends and no wondering off this time."

"O-ok, Bea." You weren't even given ANY time to react as she turned on her foot and as quickly as she came left, slamming the door closed behind her. .....A silence passed through the room and everyone looked at each other in a mix of confusion and 'What just happened'. ....You slowly looked back to Allister who stared at you and for a moment the boy didn't do anything until he held his hand up and waved. "H-Hi."

"What just happened?," Hop asked finally seeming to come out from the shock of Bea quick dine and dash like visit.

You turned to them with Allister now in your arms and shrugged. "I guess Bede's not the only one I'm watching now." You turned back to Allister who awkwardly looked around. "Hey. You want some hot chocolate?" He perked up at the words and nodded his head yes. "Ok. Let's go ahead and get you set up first."

You ended up getting one of the few chairs that were in the room and placing it down in front of the windows so Allister could just sit and watch the matches. Also you did end up finding the coco mix in one of the cabinets.....And ended up making every kid there a cup. Wouldn't want anyone getting too cold. By the time you were done making everyone minus yourself a cup, the repairs to the field were done and the announcer shouted out the start up of Bea's and Nessa's match. You wondered who'd win. Both were obviously pretty strong trainers. Allister did however perk up at the mention of Bea coming onto the field even leaning closer to the window to look out. You wondered if those two had some kind of brother sister bond. If so good for them. Allister could use someone as tough as Bea around to help him out. From the cheering of the crowd that must've meant their match must've started. With everyone else already having their drinks and being entertained, you decided it was finally time to get yourself something- Silver gave off a loud annoyed chirp and tugged on your pants hard. ...After you get Silver something. You didn't want to risk giving him chocolate. Maybe yogurt would be ok? You attempted to go back to the fridge. I saw attempted because just as you grabbed it the door opened once again. Only this time there was one or two knocks making a couple others and you look over. Who was at the door THIS time? Couldn't have been Bea. Her battle's not over yet.

"Knock, knock.~," a voice sang from the other side of the door before it opened. ..Oh no. You knew that voice- A fanged grin is what poked itself from the other side of the door as it opened making you groan. "I heard there was a meeting up here. And you didn't invite me?~"

You sighed. "Hello, Raihan." The man chuckled before defaulting to that lazed smirk and opening the door the rest of the way. You turned to him meeting him with crossed arms. "Ok. I know you're here to either ask me to dinner or something else. So which is it this time?"

He chuckled again holding up his hands. "You got me. And while my dinner offer still stands-"

"NO thank you."

"-I actually came here for something else." You rose a brow at him. "I heard you were the official League babysitter."

...You groaned. "Not...exactly." Your hand gestured to the kids. "I only agreed to watch two. The others were already here when I got here or came with me-..Wait. Why would you come here just to tell me that?"

"I was actually wondering if you'd mind keeping an eye on my little trio too? Just until the Champion Cup's over. I'm stepping out real quick to grab some stuff from the stands and I'd feel better knowing they were being taken care of."

.....You frowned. "Seriously?! Why are you doing that? What if you're called out next?"

"I won't be. Lee already scheduled everyone for first round. I'm not battling for another two matches."

"UUUUUUUHHHH!!!" Your head leaned back as you groaned. ....You pointed at him. "YOU owe me big time!"

"Don't worry. I'll bring you back something nice from the stands. By the way, thanks for the Keychain. I'll def get you a matching one for when you inevitably fall for me-"

"I still have Silver."

He paused mouth open. "....Oh. Look at the time. Haha! I better head out. Don't worry I one hundred percent promise the triplets will behave themselves."

"Uh huh."

And just like that you went from watching one child to two to now five. UUUHHH!! Well at least they all seemed to be behaving themselves alright. Sebastian and his sisters seemed to be more interested in chatting to Marnie and Bede and the matches to cause trouble and you were pretty sure you didn't have to worry about Allister unless he tried leaving which you didn't think he'll do. You only had to worry about Bede since he seemed the most likely to start a fight, especially with Hop. Hopefully the matches would distract them both from that. Silver reminded you of his hunger and you went to work getting him something. Ended up getting him some of the yogurt as it seemed to be safe enough for him to eat. He's eaten trail food and curry before, so yogurt should be fine. It wasn't too long after the stadium shook with the dynamaxed fight between the two women shaking everything while you were attempting to make yourself something and the intercom guy came back on.

"Nessa's Drednaw is unable to battle! Therefore Gym Leader Bea wins and will proceed to the next round of matches!" More cheers as you pulled a ramen cup from one of the cabinets. "Next match will be between our fighting farmer, Milo and his opponent the ice cold professional Melony! For now we'll take a small commercial break to allow the field to be repaired! Stay tuned folks!"

"Did you see the way Bea's machamp literally held the jaws of that drednaw shut?," Hop asked Victor, "That was some serious upper arm strength."

Victor nodded. "And just remember Bea regularly practices martial arts with her own pokemon as well. The real question is did the pokemon become strong from her or did she become strong from the pokemon?"

"I'd hate to be caught in her crossfires. No wonder Bede's scared of her after he had to pay her back for the mural."

"HEY! I'm literally right here-"

"That's ENOUGH." You snapped your head around with a scowl as both boys looked at you, you pointed the hand holding the ramen at them both. "There's not going to be any fighting or else."

"Or else what?"

You stared at Bede. "Don't make me tell Leon and Ms. Opal you two were fighting again." Bede scowled and opened his mou- "Do NOT make me put you in time out, Bede." He paused staring at your scowl for a moment...before grumbling to himself, and huffed back to the window. "That's better. We're here to have a nice time and watch the matches. So you two be nice to one another and watch the matches."

Well at least that stopped the two for now at least. And it gave you the chance to turn back around and start cooking that sweet, sweet ramen. You were hungry and while it wasn't as fancy as the hotel's dinner, it was better than trail mix again. After placing the ramen in the mini microwave the place had you took this time to sit yourself on the couch with a sigh. Definitely not what you expected on doing on your last day here after all but you guessed it wasn't the worse thing to happen- More knocking.....MORE. KNOCKING!!! Came from the door again drawing a few people attention as you looked on over and stared blankly. Until another knock came and you sighed as whoever it was just opened the door, and you prayed it was FINALLY Leon-...Nope. You stared as not one but SEVEN people walked in. And your jaw dropped a bit when seeing who it was exactly. Milo and Melony!! What the heck were those two doing here? Didn't they have to worry about their battle next? ...You got your answer as five children walked in with them. Three of them, boys all around Allister's age, giggled like little maniacs as they rushed in and ran straight for the chairs set up by the windows.

"Wha- Hey! Watch where you're going!," Bede barked as the three ignored him immediately clambering up the chairs only to press their hands and faces on the windows looking out at the repair team and crowds below.

You blinked as you stared at them, the three all had hair ranging from blonde to blondish-white hair and all with blue eyes. ...They looked a bit similar to Gordie actually.

"Boys! Where are your manners? Be nice to the other kids."

You looked back towards the sound of the voice and saw that Melony was giving the three a frown as a girl stood next to her. She looked around the same age as Gloria, only like Melony she sported snow white hair and the same blue eyes as her and the boys. Were they related? The girl looked slightly embarrassed but next to her was Milo and standing right beside him was a boy also around the same age as Hop and Gloria. You blinked at first thinking you were seeing double as this boy could easily pass for a much younger Milo. But the boy looked different too. Both had the same pink hair and green eyes, but compared to Milo the boy had darker green eyes and lighter pink hair, and no freckles were on his face which was something Milo had that he didn't. Everyone was staring at the commotion that had once again walked in through the door and inevitably as the two grown ups looked around, Milo eventually spotted you staring back at them confused and shocked from the couch. He smiled back widely and gave a wave towards you.

"Hello!," he greeted catching Melony's attention over to you too as you stared. "Um. So sorry to barge in like this. Definitely not our intention." He have a sheepish smile. "But we heard from Raihan you were watching everyone's children up here for them." He hand came down to pat the smaller him on the shoulder. "My brother's visiting the city today and I think he'll be better off here out of the way. I'm kinda busy at the moment with things."

"As am I." Melony sighed before placing her hands on her hips in the way only a tired mother could. "I can't ask Gordie to just watch them and I hate letting my little frostlings out of my sight. Can't turn my back for one second and their trying to climb a wall like a Bug-type."

Raihan. Of course!! That guy just had to go on and blab about this to the others. You scowled in annoyance. "Im gonna put out that dragon's fire next time I see him."

"...Pardon?"

"Uh..Nothing." You looked back to them with a small smile. "Let me guess. You guys want me to watch these little guys too?"

"Aren't you a bit.." Milo gave a look over all the other kids already there. "...Booked? Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. You look like you already got your hands full in here."

"What other choice do we have?", Melony asked looking back at him. "I can't just leave them in the stands by themselves? Elsa can't watch all the boys by herself, and Gordie's not an option either. It's either this or we'll both have to forfeit the match."

"I know. I know. It's just-"

"I can do it." They both looked back to you smiling and standing from the couch to face them. "It'd be no problem since I've babysat before."

They both looked to you before Milo asked unsure, "Are you sure? I mean Felix won't be any trouble, but we don't want to over burden you."

You waved him off. "Nah it's fine. You guys can just leave them here and pick them up after the finals are over."

Long story short...You went from five kids to watching ten now. Sigh. The triplets and their older sister immediately took attention to the window at least. Everyone seemed too distracted to really pay attention to you as you waited for your ramen to cook. You didn't even know Milo and Gordie were big brothers too.

"Ok Felix. Watch closely and learn how your big bro does things."

"Alvin, Allen, Alex. You boys behave or ELSE! Elsa you make sure to help keep an eye on your little brothers- Don't roll your eyes at me, Young Lady. Or else I'm not getting take out for dinner later."

And then they left. Leaving you with two other teens who made an effort to introduce themselves to the rest of the squad and the area by the windows all taken up by the kids. You probably couldn't get a good view now even if you wanted too, but you guessed you could always watch the matches from the giant TV in here too. You soon got your ramen and resorted to sitting on the coach to take a break from standing up and having the advantage of being able to see all of the kids from your place on the couch. They were all too busy excitedly watching the next match between Melony and Milo that had just begun. The peace and quiet (well quiet-ish since no one was bothering you at the moment-) was nice. Just sitting back, relaxing, and being able to eat something without hassle with Silver curled up next to you. But who knew how long things would last and stay this way? It was best to just enjoy things for now. Your stomach was full from the ramen and soon the battle outside was won with Melony winning and moving onto the second round.

"The third match of round one is over and has been decided! Gym Leader Melony has been bumped up to the second round! As we wait for field repairs let me announce the next round fighters! The fourth match of round one is against the hard rock crusher Gordie and his opponent the reclusive musician Piers!"..Your head perked up at the name. Hot Pink was battling next? "Stay tuned because we've only just begun!"

That caught Marnie's attention too. Whaddya know? But it seems there was going to be yet another break for field repairs before the fourth battle. Which meant you probably still wouldn't get to see his match even if you were wanting to see it- CHIRP!! You jumped when Silver suddenly yelled out and jumped into the air. Clinging to the back of the couch like a startled cat. Your eyes blinked over to him ...aaand you soon found out why he was suddenly so jumpy finding Melony's three young boys standing there staring at him. What the- Where did they come from?

"Is that a real shiny?!," one asked excitedly staring at Silver wide eyed and pointing.

"I WANNA PET HIM!!," a second one declared instantly gripping onto the couch cushion and pulling himself up onto it to get to your pokemon.

!? You instantly reached out and stood while pulling the small boy away from Silver. "Hey there, Buddy. Don't do that."

"Ah." He looked back up to you. "But why?"

"It's rude to just walk up and try to do things with someone's else's pokemon without asking them first," you firmly but gently placed him back on the ground. It was like explaining a dog really. "And you can't just try to pet a random pokemon you don't know first. You don't know if they're nice or not."

"Is he nice?"

"Yes. ..Well." Silver gave you a frown. "Most of the time. But he's a bit scared. You three should give him a couple minutes to calm down." You perked your head up at an idea. "Hey. You guys want some hot chocolate?"

Their answer was immediate as the three immediate perked at the idea. "YEAH!!"

You gently shooed them back towards the windows. "I'll tell you what then. You three go back and watch the next match and I'll make you guys some. Ok?"

"Can I have some too?"

"Yeah, Y/n! Can I get a refill?"

You looked up towards the crowd of children....and sighed. "Sure. Not that I have anything else to do right now."

So back to making now thirteen children hot chocolate after shooing the triplets back to their older sister before you went to work. The poor microwave was going to become burnt toast after this. You were maybe three cups into making these guys some more drinks, when you paused, and you had an expecting feeling. Like clockwork there was yet again ANOTHER knock at the door. You groaned and feeling a bit annoyed you walked on over to the door as someone knocked from the outside again. Now who could it be THIS time? Bea? Melony? Ms. Opal? Nah. They were still competing. Milo? Raihan? No. One was busy and the other hadn't even fought yet. Maybe now it was Leon? You gotten to the door, grabbed the doorknob, and with an annoyed frown YANKED the door open as the person on the other side froze. Your mouth opened to ask what they wanted now- But you froze coming face to face with blue eyes and black and white hair in the form of Piers. Silence followed as you stared at him. He stared back at you wide eyed, one hand in a fist as if he was about to knock again and in his other arm was the biggest paper bag you had ever seen with some kind of cafe-like logo on it. His eyes wide in surprise not expecting you to yank the door open.

......You sighed and leaned yourself against the doorframe. "Oh good Arceus. It's just you."

...He blinked. "Mmm hmm." He slowly returned to that blank face, hand falling to his side. "Not sure who else I would be if I wasn't me?"....His brow rose as you rubbed your face. "You look tired." He stated bluntly.

"You think?"

"What happened to ya?" You gestured behind you as your answer and with his towering height, it was easy for Piers to peer over you and figure out you were gesturing to the large crowd of kids in there. "..What 'bout them?"

"Well! Ms. Opal asked me to watch Bede for her and I said ok." Piers nodded with a hum as you gestured with your hands. "And then Bea asked me to watch Allister for her which I'm also ok with. He's a good kid."

His brow rose. "But?"

"But then Raihan asked me to ask his trainers and then he gave everyone else the great idea to have me watch their little brothers and kids too."

Both brows rose in surprise as he looked from all the kids either practically having their faces pressed against the glass waiting for the next match or talking and then you again. "And you said yes to all of 'em? Didn't ya tell 'em you were already busy as it was?"

This time is was your turn to pause as your eyes popped open comically like a looney tunes cartoon, and you slowly lifted your head from your hand. "I-...Weeellll-" He stared at you until you sighed. "Ok. I did say yes to watching all of them. Except Victor and Hop. They came with me here and Leon hasn't asked me to look after them at all, but everyone else here sure seems to like the idea of me being the babysitter."

"Then if you don't like it why did you even agree ta it?"

"Well.." You made a motion with your hand. "I mean they were pretty busy. And I didn't want any of them running around in big crowds without anyone to keep an eye on them. Besides, they deserve to have a good time too. From here there's a great view of the battles."

He sighed closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Oi. You sure put yourself into a tizzy."

You sighed again. "Well to be fair everyone's been behaving themselves pretty well. Haven't had any problems aside from one fight almost starting and a couple of them scaring Silver. But don't worry. I can look after Marnie too."

It was his turn to be surprised when he blinked at you. "What?"

"Well that's why you're here right?," you asked confused, "To ask me to watch Marnie for you? Everyone else has done it." It was then your eyes trailed over and finally noticed the big bag that mysteriously had the strong scent of hamburgers coming from it. ...You pointed. "And what's that?"

"The reason 'M here," he responded holding it up to your blinking self. "Leo figured the kiddos were getting hungry with it nearly bein' lunch time and got all these for 'em." You slowly took the bag from him. "He's too busy runnin' the whole bloody show to deliver them 'emself so I volunteered. Wanted ta check on Marn-Marn anyways."

You smiled. "Ah. I see Leon's still the big hearted guy. I'll make sure they'll get it." You then turned back towards the inside of the room turning your body so Piers could have a clearer view inside. Marnie hadn't noticed her brother was there having her back towards him and having a conversation with one of Sebastian's sisters. "She's doing fine. Just drink hot chocolate and watching the battles like everyone else."...You gave him a look. "But if you seriously want me to look after her for you I will. It's no big deal. Besides I think she'll be the least likely person to give me trouble."

He once again gave you a surprised look as if he wasn't expecting that. "You're serious?"

"Yeah. Besides I've babysat a lot before. It's no problem."

He seriously started at you for the longest moment, hummed, looked between you and Marnie for a moment, and spoke. "..Wouldn't mind knowing someone was lookin' out for 'er until I can come back. Y'sure though?"

"I'll be fine," you assured him with a smile, "Just focus on your match between Gordie. You have enough to worry about." He opened his mouth. "Just take this as a thank you for your helping us out with Oleana and helping me have the greatest Christmas I've had for a long time." You smiled wider. "We'll just call it all even now so no one owes any favors. Ok, Piers?"

He paused for a moment before looking away and his hand came to once again grab onto his choker. "Yeah. Even." He nodded. "'Right then. Sounds good to me.".......He nodded behind him. "Field's almost done. I should get goin' 'fore they declare me forfeit."

You nodded. "Yeah. I look forward to watching you battle out there. And Piers?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Good luck! You're gonna make a whole lot of people proud."

The man had thanked you and left in a hurry which was strange but you guessed he wanted to get to the field before the battle started. You didn't see the faint pink that was threatening to rise up from his cheeks...YOU didn't notice but someone certainly did. At some point Marnie had seen you two talking and didn't miss her big brother's reaction. You didn't notice her either too busy bringing in the food and closing the door.

"OK!! It's time for the fourth match of the the first rounds! Both fighters please head out to the field and we'll get this show on the road!"

Oh. Looked like their match was starting a lot sooner than you thought. Unfortunately you didn't get to see Piers's battle. You were too busy making the other ten hot chocolate drinks for the rest of the kids in fear of the boys trying to gang up on Silver again. Said poor pokemon had taken refuge laying on the back of the couch and didn't seem like he'd come down anytime soon. The kids took to the hot chocolate and burgers like hungry crows to a cornfield. One for everyone with one left over for you, but you chose to give it to Silver who showed interest in the food. Not wanting him to try and wrestle it away from anyone especially Allister. Plus you had ramen one or two hours ago by now. You could just make yourself some more if you got hungry again.

"Gym Leader Gordie has been defeated! Which means Piers will be advancing to the second rounds!" Oh. So Piers did win. You smiled. Good for him. Marnie seemed to be happy too as you swore you could see the faintest of smiles appear on her face. "Please exit the field for repairs! The fifth match will be against the Master of a Fantastic Theater! That charming fairy type user, Opal! And her opponent the Top Gym Leader, Raihan! So stay tuned for after the commercial break folks!"

Bede perked up finally eyes a bit more focused on the fields. And Raihan's trainers all immediately jumped their attention to the windows as well. Ah! So Ms. Opal and Dragon Boy would finally be battling. And it would be against one another as well. This should be interesting to watch. With everyone occupied with their food at the moment you took the chance to make yourself some more ramen and join them all finally able to watch the matches as well. Time passed and the field was repaired and the two gym leaders entered the field. The innercom voice announcing their arrival and the crowd cheering. You stood there peeking over the older kids to spot them eating your noodles as the battle began. It was a long and hard battle between the older lady and the top gym leader but in the end Raihan won and the crowd cheered along with his trainers. Bede looked crestfallen but you were sure if you pointed it out he'd deny it hard.

"Wasn't that a great battle folks?! Up next we have the final match of round one! Stay tuned for the finishing match between The Ever Burning Man of Fire Kabu and his opponent!" Ah. Well it looked like round two of the finals would be starting soon. And Piers made it. Good for him! As you waited for the final match to start you took a moment to look around you and check on all the kids. Everyone was here and behaving. Good! You finished your food no problem and waited for the final round with everyone else. Which didn't take long. "Ok everyone! It's time for the final match to begin! Fighters please head on out!'' Long story short, Kabu won but you didn't remember who he fought against. Which meant Kabu, Piers, Gloria, Raihan, Bea, and Melony would be competing in the second match. "The second round matches will be decided while the field is repaired. So sit tight as we wait for the Second Round Roster to be announced." It was just a matter of going back and forth between keeping an eye on everyone, who all behaved pretty well anyways, and waiting for the second round to start. Which didn't take that long at all. The field was soon fixed and the announcer was back catching everyone's attention. "OK EVERYONE!! WASN'T ROUND ONE EXCITING!?" His answer was cheers. "The field is set, the match pairs have been decided, and the players have been withered down to just six challengers! But who will be good enough to make it to the third round and be one step further to taking on the Champion himself!?" More cheers were had. "The first match of Round Two is between everyone's favorite martial arts Queen Bea and that Fire Veteran Kabu! Please give them a warm welcome as they pave the way for the second round!" Long story short, Kabu won again. would make sense as he has been described as the second most powerful Gym Leader. You stood there and proceeded to watch as Gloria and the Gym Leaders proceeded to knock others out one after the other during round two. "The second match is between that Winter Wonderland Lover Melony and the Rocking Piers!" Piers won. Which you were surprised at. Watching as his Obstagoon literally tear it's way through two rounds between being demolished by the dynamaxed pokemon in the third....Piers must've really not like to Dynamax. "The third match is between Dragon Tamer Raihan and Gym Challenger Gloria!" You perked up as did Hop and Victor as Gloria entered the field and watched closely as the battle ended with...A tie?? "MY MY!! This is an unsuspected surprise! What ever shall-....Hang on a moment as I see what I'm being handed." A small pause followed as you blinked. What was going on- "The Champion as decided that both are allowed to advance to the next round where they will continue to battle it out as no one winner or loser has been decided. Please stand by for field repairs as the third round matches are decided."

"Alright!," Hop cheered with a big smile on his face regardless. "Glory's made it to the next round!"

"Only barely," Victor corrected calmly as he held up a finger. "It's just most likely they're going to be paired again in the next round to get rid of the tie between them both. She may still have a chance to go onto the fourth and final round but remember so does Raihan."

You nodded to him agreeing, even though you knew very well who would win between them. As you all waited for the third round to start, Allister had timidly walked up to you and tugged on your pants leg to gain your attention. When you looked down at him, he held up his cup to you silently. Obviously asking in his own way for more hot coco, which you obliged happily....Along with getting everyone else a cup who asked. Sigh. Well it wasn't the worst babysitting job you could've gotten. By the time you were finishing making everyone who wanted a cup one and handing them out, the field had been repaired and the announcer was once again shouting out.

"ALRIGHT!! Who's ready for Round Three, Folks?!," he asked loudly making everyone outside cheer for them. "Four lucky contestants left but only two can compete in Round Four. So who will lose and who will go on to get a chance to fight against Champion Leon himself!? Starting off where we left off for the first match will be Gym Challenger Gloria from Postwick verses Top Dragon Trainer Raihan!!"

"Huh? So soon?"

"It's only fair," you answered Hop who glanced at you, "Both of them left off with a tie in the last round and Leon was nice enough to let them both get bumped into the next one. It's only fair they at least have a tie breaker."

Hop thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. That does sound like a fair trade off to me." He turned to the window again with a smile. "But I'm still counting on Glory to take on Lee for me!"

You chuckled as the two made their way onto the field. "Well let's just wait and see. I'm sure it'll be a good battle."

You all watched as the two got onto the field and the first round of their rematch began with Raihan easily winning, but you weren't worried. There was still two rounds left and you already knew Gloria would win. As the two slowly went forward into their second battle of their rematch there was a sudden commotion behind you. You all jumped when all of a sudden there was a loud squeal like sound only a little kid could make followed by a splash sound. You whipped your head around in a flash and what you saw absolutely SHOCKED you. Allister was standing there looking down at himself as the brown color of his hot chocolate was stained across his coat and gathered on the floor where the cup laid on the floor. Allister didn't seem to notice or care though because he was gripping his mask to his face hard and whimpering. Next to him equally as startled was one of the triplets. The one who's hair was most like his mother's. You all looked there stunned. Until the triplets' older sister, Elsa, gained a scowl and anger faster than a running scorbunny.

"ALVIN!!," She yelled startling the white haired boy into looking at his sister who placed her hands on her hips. Like mother like daughter. "Just what do you think you're doing!?"

"I-...I-I didn't mean to I swear!," he quickly defended himself quickly looking from Allister to Elsa again holding up his hands, "I just wanted to look at his cool mask! Honest!"

"What were you just told?!," Elsa insisted pointing at him. "You can't just walk up and touch stuff without asking!"

"I-I-...B-But-"

"S T O P!!" Everyone jumped at your loud yell your arms suddenly swinging out from your sides. Stunned, Elsa and her brother looked at you as you frowned back. After a moment of silence you sighed, arms flopping back to your sides. "There is going to be absolutely NO fighting. Got it! None. Zip. Nada. ZERO." You quickly turned and in one fluid motion scooped up the scared ghost type boy into your arms. Allister immediately latching onto you burying his still masked face into your shoulder as you picked him up with a frown. "First of all, everyone is going to calm down right now. Clearly this was just an accident. No one meant any harm." You turned to the triplet, Alvin as Elsa called him who blinked. "But your sister is right. You can't just grab something that's not yours especially without asking. Now apologize."

Alvin stood there stunned staring at you. But after looking between you and his sister he frowned and looked away. "....I'm sorry."

You nodded. "Good."...Your f/c eyes glanced back to the mess on the floor then back to Alvin. "Now you're going to behave and get some of those napkins and clean this mess up." He frowned at you- "Or else I'm going to tell your mother and big brother what you did."

"NO DON'T!!," he suddenly shouted panic flashing across his face.

"Then let's make an agreement. You clean up the mess and I'll just let you off with a warning. Ok?"

"Ok, Ok! I will! I promise!"

You nodded. "Ok then." .....You paused looking back at the spilt hot chocolate before back to Allister. Oh. Right...He spilt it all over his coat. You sighed. "I'm gonna have to take Allister to the bathroom and try to get him cleaned up." You turned around and pointed to Victor who blinked. "Victor. You're in charge until I get back. Elsa, make sure your brothers don't cause anymore trouble until I get back." Your other arm wrapped back around Allister who hiccupped. "And NO. MORE. Fighting! Anyone who starts a fight while I'm gone is going straight to their big brother, or mom, or whoever brought you here and forbidden from watching the rest of the tournament. I'll be right back. I've gotta go see if I can clean Allister up before Bea gets back."

No one seemed to make any protests when you turned with Allister in your arms and without another word left out the door. Once you stepped into the hall you paused...Wait. Where WAS the family bathroom??.....You ended up having to ask a nearby staff member who looked surprised at seeing you carry Allister but did point it out to you. Turns out it was just two hallways away from the lounge and easy for you to get too. The cheers and announcer's voice almost completely muffled from the walls. You guessed the walls must've been sound proof to make it easier for the staff to work. You were able to take Allister to the family bathroom and once inside gently got onto your knees to set him down. He stood up on his own without much protest thank goodness still sniffling from behind the mask.

You smiled at him from your kneeling position that allowed you to be closer to his height. "Hey there, Buddy." You gently spoke in a soft tone as he looked at you. "Are you ok there?"

He shook his head no. "H-He tried to take my mask!" He choked out which made you frown.

Slowly you held out your hands to him and while he did jump a bit, didn't stop you from gently patting his arm in a comforting way. "I know. I know he did. He shouldn't have done that I know. It wasn't very nice of Alvin to try and take your mask without asking." ...He sniffed and blinked up at you. "I don't think he meant any harm and it was an accident when he made you spill that hot chocolate, but that doesn't invalidate how you feel either."

He paused...before sniffling again. "It..It doesn't?"

You shook your head. "Absolutely not. He couldn't have known how you would've reacted but he was wrong to still try to take your mask. You can feel upset about that." He stared at you silently for a moment before you looked back to the small spill on his coat. Thank goodness it didn't look so big. It only fell on his coat as far as you could tell and it seemed that the majority of the liquid spilt on the floor. Still, you couldn't let him go home all messy. "Here. Let's get you cleaned up. Ok?"

He nodded and you slowly stood back up to not startle him further. Taking a couple paper towels available for people to dry their hands, you ran a little bit of the tap water soak it before return to your kneeling position and starting to wipe at the part of the coat that was splattered with hot coco. Before returning to get more paper towels and repeating the whole process over again after scrubbing at the small splatters for a good ten minutes. Allister stood still the entire time sniffling and letting you clean him up. Once you were done you stood back to look at your handy work. You could visibly see the area where you had scrubbed but it didn't at least smell like chocolate anymore and you didn't think it would stain since the spill was little. Hopefully Bea wouldn't be too angry about it- You looked back up again as he sniffed and you blinked as Allister reached up to pushed his mask a bit up his face.

"Hey. Do you need to blow your nose or wipe your eyes?" He blinked back towards you surprised. You held up a small paper towel you hadn't used yet to him smiling. "Here. If you want I'll turn around and you can wipe your face really quick ok? I promise I won't look until you say so."

What followed was a long silent pause as you waited patiently until he sniffled again and asked. "P-Promise?"

"Swear to Arceus. And I always keep my word."

He....slowly took the paper towel from you. "O-Ok. B-But no looking."

"I won't," you promised before turning on your knees and facing your back to him.

True to your word, you sat there on your knees facing away listening to the muffled sounds of the battle currently going on...Or ending. By now Gloria must've won her match and advanced to the final round against whoever wins the last match of the third round. You sat there silently until Allister gave you the ok to turn around. When you did you found him with his mask back fully on and adjusting it a little bit. You smiled and slowly held your arms out to him. His response was to reach his arms out towards you and you took that as the ok to pick him up. You scooped him back up into your arms and stood up before exiting the bathroom. Back all the way to the lounge you went but you were in for one last surprise. When you opened the door back up everyone was either gathered around one of the couches or still by the windows watching what sounded like a battle taking place on the field. The mess was cleaned up and it didn't look like anyone else was fighting or in any back moods. But what made you completely stop in your tracks with Allister in your arms was seeing Gloria sitting on the couch everyone was gathered around. She had looked back up to you and you took notice she wasn't wearing her challenger uniform that was required for competing. She instantly smiled at seeing you before waving at you. She seemed much more relaxed and cheerful than when she was on the field.

"Y/N!! There you are! Where were ye?," She asked happily.

You blinked but shook your head and smiled. She must've come to see Hop or Victor before the next match. After all Piers had done the same thing before when he wanted to just see Marnie and dropped off the food.

"Hey, Gloria!," you greeted walking in before giving an apologetic smile. "Yeah. I had to clean up a little spill but it's all good now. Sorry for missing your battle with Raihan."

Gloria just waved a hand not even bothered. "Nah. It's fine. It's gonna be recorded and uploaded onto the official league website later anyways. Ya can watch it then. Oh. Ye just missed Lee too."

"Really? I've been expecting to see him all day now." Your brow rose towards the battle outside as Marnie intently watched. Kabu and Piers must've been duking it out down there. "Sounds like I missed a decent chunk of the next match too."

"Yeah," Victor explained, "He couldn't stay very long since he has to keep an eye on everything goin' on but he brought Glory 'ere so she can rest."

Gloria sighed in relief leaning back into the couch cushion. "M' just glad I can finally relax for a while and not have a giant amount of pressure on meself."

Hop who was sitting next to her smiled widely and patted her shoulder. "Hey. No sweat, Glor. You were fantastic out there! M' sure your Mum thought so too."

You nodded smiling brightly. "He's right! I'm sure you did a great job too!'' She smiled at you. "And I'm sure you'll do a great job in the next round too."

Silence. Everyone went suddenly silent for a moment and all smiles suddenly left as they stared at you. Hop and Gloria looking at each other for a moment.

"Oh...Right. Y/n doesn't know cuz she wasn't here."

Your brow suddenly rose. "Don't know...what?"

They both looked back to you. "Y/n. Gloria isn't advancing to the next round."

You froze. Staring wide eyed at Hop for a long moment before shaking your head. "What? Of course she is. She won against Raihan."

Gloria shook her head no. "I couldn't. I tried me best but he was too strong. N' my team was too tuckered out ta compete against him in a one on one battle."

You froze again. Suddenly realization of her words hitting you like ice shooting down your spine. "WHAT!?"

She looked at you very seriously. "Y/n. I lost fair n' square. Raihan's goin' ta battle in the Fourth Round. Not me.

#pokemon sword and shield #pokemon shield #pokemon sword #pokemon swsh #love doesn't do encores #reader x piers #pokemon piers x reader #piers x reader #pokemon piers

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