The Type Specialist

“What do we do next?”

The answer was clean-up. There was a lot of clean-up.

The Aether Foundation needed to be investigated from the top down, just about. Even the most slightly suspicious paper had to be gathered and checked, and almost every employee had to be looked into for evidence of wrong-doing. The “incident” at the Altar of the Sun and Moon was enough to lock almost the entire leadership away for a long, long time, but there was no telling what other crimes had been hidden by the Foundation’s bureaucracy.

Recovering from the battle only took a handful of hours; I had passed out from exhaustion rather than any physical injury. My entire team was there to greet me when I woke up, and Hope and Anabel had taken over giving out orders in the meantime. Lillie and Nebby were secured, Lunala had already taken Necrozma back into the portal, trainers and Pokémon were getting treated, and after sharing a vitamin-rich meal with everyone else, it was time to get to work.

“Oh, Alex,” Cynthia would say, “this is your operation. I wouldn't dream of getting in the way!”

“I stand by her for this,” Steven would add. “It's a great learning experience to take charge of these matters.”

And then Diantha would silently nod along. For an actress, she was surprisingly keen on not delivering any lines.

Despite three of the League's top authorities being present in Alola, none of them took command out from under me. I was the one to call everyone in, therefore I was the one in charge of finishing this investigation. I had to issue orders to League-provided Ace Trainers, I had to read the steady stream of reports coming my way, and I had to work with Wicke to ensure that the Aether Foundation remained above board.

Speaking of Wicke, as she was one of the few members of the Foundation’s leadership not implicated in any crimes, she quickly took up the role of acting President while the hierarchy fell into chaos. She had once been the “assistant branch chief,” the person responsible for the Foundation’s rescue work, so she knew exactly what to do to ensure those operations continued while anything else less-than-legal or ethically questionable was immediately stopped.

Eighty percent of the foundation’s research staff and leadership was arrested. That would have been enough to cripple the organization if it wasn't for Wicke's efforts to promote the deserving employees that actually wanted to help. As for the Ultra Beasts they had captured, most were sent home. It took little effort to have Lillie wake up Nebby from wherever he'd taken to napping at the time, and then the Legendary Pokémon would create an Ultra Wormhole to send them through. A threatening roar from a Solgaleo was enough to convince (terrify) them into staying away, too.

An irresponsible use of reality-warping powers? Maybe. An effective one? Absolutely.

However, the entire process wasn't that clean, unfortunately. Despite everything, there were still some Ultra Beasts that had somehow made a genuine connection with their temporary trainers. Those included Guzma’s Red and White, Hope’s Kartana, and that Blacephalon Phoebe had caught, strangely enough. Even weirder, that massive Guzzlord Elio had captured went on and decided to stay on his team.

Those ones were the easiest to accept. In the Guzzlord’s case, the League was more than happy to keep it around, as if they treated it as an extra-large Snorlax and fed it hourly, high-calorie treats, it wasn’t going around Ultra Space and ravenously consuming the cities in other dimensions. A small cost to save many lives. The other captured Ultra Beasts—the ones handed out to the Aether Foundation’s most loyal—were more problematic, as no one really wanted to allow criminals access to such powerful Pokémon.

Thankfully, there were already rules in place for that, but they were somewhat headache-inducing. The Pokémon had to be checked for emotional manipulation, interviewed about their condition, and provide an analysis of the trainer they wanted to stay with. Keeping them apart allowed us to see if they really cared about their trainer or if it was simply a matter of latching onto the first human that treated them well. Though Gardevoir had proven communication possible when he “recruited” Hope’s Kartana, this process was made much more difficult thanks to the Ultra Beasts’ alien minds.

Though, I was able to shove the responsibility firmly into the League’s hands. All I had to do was fill out paperwork for each one that went through this process.

There was a lot of paperwork.

Days passed, and we made slow and steady progress into cleaning up the Aether Foundation. Staff provided by Stephen ensured we kept a positive, public spin. While I never had time to check, I was told the Alola news cycle was almost exclusively reporting on the “crime of the century.” Conspiracy theorists were constantly on the air, making wild claims about League overreach and my and Hope’s true reason for coming to Alola. Honestly, it was exhausting. I did my best to leave the media circus to the experts, and I tried to find time to take breaks whenever I could.

In one rare moment in which I could actually step away, I went on a walk through Aether Paradise. The main building itself was like a futuristic monument to humanity’s potential. The sky around it was a deep blue—perfectly clear—and despite all the investigative work going on inside, there were few sources of noise. The only sounds were my own footsteps and the waves lapping against the island’s base.

It was peaceful, but my aimless wandering did not leave me alone for long. I found myself approaching one of the island’s power-generating solar arrays, an area that had been slightly remodeled.

Several solar panels had been dislodged from their stands and now laid flat on the ground, with several others rotated to point towards them, rather than at the sky. At the center, a massive, white-metallic mound shifted up and down with every breath, a maned cat napping and passively giving off an extreme amount of energy to fuel the panels around him.

A few low-ranking Aether Foundation members stared at the napping Solgaleo in stunned awe. Legendary Pokémon were not supposed to hang around like this. But, Nebby had a level of power that let him do whatever he wanted, and he wanted to sleep.

Next to him, a trio of chatting trainers caught my eye.

Pokémon played around them. A certain Pikachu trained against a certain Gallade. A team of growing Fairy Types ran about and chased one another. Other Pokémon sat to the side and watched.

When I neared, three teens smiled at me as I joined their conversation.

“Alex!” Wally greeted.

“Alex!” Ash said with a battle-hungry grin.

“Alex!” Lillie said right after. We’d been apart for some time.

“Hey, everyone,” I said. “It’s been a while since any of us actually had a chance to talk. Honestly, I didn’t think any of you were still on the island.”

“I couldn’t exactly leave when these two were so desperate for a tour,” Lillie said, concluding the statement with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

“It’s incredible here! I never thought humans could make something so large!” Wally added.

“And we couldn’t leave just yet! These two promised me a battle! Wait, you should battle me as well!” Ash cried.

I took one look at the anime protagonist’s challenging grin and, despite the temptation, I let out a long, tired sigh.

“I have paperwork to do.” I could picture just how sunken my eyes must have been. “So, so much paperwork.”

They let my statement hang, filling the air with a respectful silence that mourned my loss of free time. I cleared my throat after several seconds, speaking again and hopefully changing the topic to something more pleasant.

“Anyway, I didn’t mean to interrupt. If you were already talking—”

“We were just sharing what we were planning to do next!” Wally interjected.

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah! I actually think I want to take on the Island Challenge. Lillie was talking all about it, and it would be cool to explore the region where Comfey comes from!” Wally continued.

“Ah, I’m probably going to wait a year before going to Alola, myself,” Ash said. “I’ve already been asked to go to Kalos. And I want to learn all about Mega Evolution over there!”

The two boys grinned as they silently pictured the next arc of their respective journeys. As for Ash, I had to wonder just what he’d get up to with Team Flare having already been taken care of. In Unova’s Vertress Conference, he made it to the finals, but a trainer with a team full of eeveelutions had taken him out.

Maybe he’ll win Kalos this time around?

As for the third member of this group, Lillie turned away when I looked towards her.

“I, uh...” She awkwardly scratched her cheek. “Promise me you won’t get mad?”

“Why would I get mad?” I asked.

She didn’t meet my eyes.

“Ash and Wally were talking all about Kanto and Johto, and now I really want to go! But... I want to experience it for myself! I want to go to those regions with just me and my team!”

I blinked. Lillie’s eyes were closed and her hands clenched into fists at her side. Next to her, Ash laughed a bit, whereas Wally looked somewhat awkward. After a few seconds of me not responding, Lillie peeked open an eye, only to see the smallest of grins on my face.

“You don’t need to worry about offending me,” I said. “You’re allowed to travel on your own.”

“...Are you sure?” She pressed her lips together. “It’s... It’s not that I don’t like traveling with you! It’s just that I want to try traveling on my own, where I don’t have super-powerful friends to fall back on when something goes wrong.”

I snorted. Meanwhile, Wally looked almost offended on my behalf. I made sure to speak up before he could jump to a wrong conclusion in my defense.

“I get it. You spent an entire region essentially being forced to be escorted by two members of the Wandering Elite. You deserve the chance to have a proper journey and experience going out on your own. I know you can do it. You’ve proved time and time again that you’re more than just a capable trainer.”

“...Really?”

“Really.” I placed a hand on her head only for her to get annoyed and shove it off. I laughed a bit as her face turned bright red.

“Besides, what’s your plan with Nebby, anyway?” I asked.

“He won’t be a part of my team, but he’ll be stopping by every so often,” she said, expression faltering slightly. “So he’ll visit a lot, but I won’t be able to travel with him like before.”

“I’m glad he won’t have to completely leave,” I said.

“I am too.”

Behind us, Nebby snored in his sleep.

He’s really become just a big cat, now, hasn’t he?

“You know...” I said, speaking after everyone had the appropriate time to laugh, “if he’s really going to show up every now and again, that means you can have him bring you over to visit me a bunch, right?”

She huffed and mumbled something about not wanting to do that, doing her best to look cool in front of Ash and Wally. Seeing that, I just laughed and continued the conversation from there. It was nice to see that their own journeys would continue, but it started to give me thoughts about mine.

Alola’s Manalo Conference would start soon, and I managed to finagle time off for myself, away from the constant stream of work. Like most Conferences, it followed the same schedule as the others around the world.

The Manalo Conference consisted of a week of side-tournaments and preliminaries before properly starting off. With the mess involving the Aether Foundation, that first week had been delayed a few days, but the actual, official start date remained unchanged.

I planned to head there and join in as soon as I could, but when my free time actually started, I didn’t visit right away. Instead, I went to Poni Island, with Altaria flying to Po Town to meet with a certain person of interest.

I didn’t go to the Shady House, where Guzma and Team Skull had returned and were now hard at work. Instead, I found my way to the same police station that Kahuna Nanu ran, and I entered the back, where his team of Dark Types managed the most secure cell in the region.

Lusamine sat in a simple room that contained a bed and a few pieces of transported furniture. A television on the wall remained turned off, finishing the overall look of a holding cell turned into a bedroom. This place didn’t exactly hold up to the luxury she once enjoyed as Aether’s President. Opening up the door, I stepped in, and I found the woman sitting on her bed and staring at the sky through a barred window.

Her outfit had changed—instead of white, she wore prison orange, and her long hair was tied up into a ponytail.

I very much disliked how that hairstyle increased her resemblance to Lillie.

Lusamine was still waiting for her trial to start. Faba, given his malicious use of Psychic Types, had already been rushed through and charged just in case. The League’s lawyers could be miracle workers at times, but only when it was truly needed. For her, however, things were being taken slow. Evidence was still in the process of being gathered, as everyone wanted absolutely everything to be brought to light.

(The International Police was trying to fight that, but they were currently having their own problems after their support for her had been revealed. Anabel and a few of her friends were making sure of it.)

When I stepped into the room, Lusamine didn’t look at me for a long time. I didn’t speak either, until eventually my limited time here forced me to say something.

“Was it worth it?” I asked.

I was genuinely curious. What drove someone once so dedicated to helping Pokémon towards something as insane as chasing a Legendary?

Slowly, Lusamine turned her head. Her green eyes, once so sharp, now looked dull and heavy.

“Have you ever wanted something? Truly and undoubtedly wanted something with your entire heart?”

I stayed quiet. Several thoughts came to mind.

“You have,” she said quietly. “No trainer gets where you are without being properly motivated. I had the information needed to understand what I wanted was unrealistic. So, I used alternate methods to get everything to work.”

“No experiment was too much. No demand was unreasonable,” Lusamine continued. “Everything—everything—I could do to chase it, I did. ...Of course I did.”

She sighed and turned away. The woman no longer looked as in control of her appearance as before.

“I lost my husband to this, but that’s no excuse. He was consumed by an Ultra Wormhole long before I first glimpsed that light.”

And there it was. An unnatural lust glazed over her eyes. She stared forward at nothing, as if distracted by her thoughts about it, and I could only let out a sigh.

“I’ve had things I’ve desperately wanted, you’re right about that,” I said. “But to hurt so many Pokémon in your experiments to chase after it, there’s nothing about that that’s okay. I’ve traveled through so many regions, met with so many different people and Pokémon. The amount of criminals I’ve fought is way above the average. Heck, even if I just fought one, I’d still be above the average!

“But in the end, you know what, Lusamine?” I asked. “Do you know what motivated me that whole time?”

She remained looking away.

“It wasn’t anything too specific. I just wanted to travel with my team, and I just wanted to be happy. And you know what? I am. But you? You could have had a good life with both Lillie and Gladion, but you threw all of that away for your own selfish interests. Do you even care about Pokémon anymore? Do you even remember why you first created the Aether Foundation? After everything I’ve read through, I can say this honestly: You disgust me. I’m glad Lillie ran away.”

There wasn’t any reaction on her face. I searched, but there was nothing there.

“I’m not even sure why I came here,” I mumbled. “You’re too lost in your own obsession. I think... I think maybe how you treated Lillie reminded me of my own mother? But now? ...I don’t know.”

Turning away, I moved to exit the room. Nanu wasn’t outside, but one of his many Alolan Meowths hopped up and unlocked the door for me.

“By the way, Lusamine...” I chewed on the thought for a moment. I might have disliked everything she stood for, but she at least deserved to learn one piece of information. “Your husband is alive. I can’t say where he is for sure, but I know for a fact he’s in our world. He just doesn’t know who he is thanks to extreme memory loss. I hope some part of you can appreciate that.”

A shift of fabric. The intake of breath. Those were the only sounds I heard from her before I stepped out into the hall.

I walked away to make some distance from her before taking a deep breath. Leaning against the wall, I rubbed my head out of frustration. A second later, there was a brief flash. Ninetales released herself from her Premier Ball to press her chilly head into my side.

“Just you and me, huh? You and me and everyone else on the team,” I said.

She chuffed as I ran a hand through her long mane. Not long after that, I properly left the precinct, now aiming to reach the Conference grounds before it all started without me.

Later, Lillie and Gladion would go on to visit Lusamine. They went alone every time. Gladion only visited once, but Lillie went again, then again, and then again. Despite everything, she still cared about her mother, and I knew she still held hope that the woman who raised her would eventually return.

The crowd cheered, and the sun was as bright as ever. Rows of trainers who had earned the right to compete stood on a dirt-covered floor, and Professor Kukui himself stood proudly on a raised stage, mic held firmly in his hand.

“Alola, everyone!” he shouted. “Welcome to the Manalo Conference!”

Professor Kukui’s voice echoed out over this floating arena. Tens of thousands of people sitting in the stands cried out in a deafening cheer.

“We’ve had quite an exciting season this year, but it’s time to finally conclude it! I see so many wonderful faces in the crowd, and I absolutely love the vibes you all are giving off! Only the best of the best have managed to earn the right to compete, so let’s give them a hand! Give yourselves a hand, too, for making it through the year!”

More cheers. An even greater applause. Kukui was practically glowing in the stage’s light. His speech went on to describe just how proud he was of everyone despite certain— recent—difficulties. He alluded to a few events without explicitly stating them, but the one moment he did make sure to brag about was the birth of his son Lei and the amount of love he felt for his wife, Professor Burnett.

The reaction that garnered told me the man was popular, to say the least.

“So who do you think he chose in the end?” a voice whispered next to me.

“Not sure, to be honest. I didn’t even think he’d make his decisions so quickly,” I replied.

I turned to Hope as we stood hidden within one of the entrances to the arena’s lower floor. We were just out of view, but we had a perfect line of sight to everything happening front and center within this massive complex. She and I were dressed in the best battle-ready outfits we had; I wore my black-and-purple, Valerie-designed clothes, and Hope wore a long, flowing dress that matched the expected appearance of a Grass Type specialist but stood at odds with how I knew she acted in private.

The Conference opening ceremony went on as we listened in.

While Professor Kukui spoke, my eyes drifted out to the rows of trainers lined up in front of them. I searched the mass to look for the people I knew were competing. Elio stood front and center, already ready to fight. Gladion, surprisingly participating, stood nearby. Close to both of them, Hau, Elio’s rival and grandson of Hala, was in the crowd of trainers, too. For someone so important in the games, I had rarely ever seen him over the course of this year.

However, the one person that drew my interest the most was Lillie. She was in the dead center of the mass, and she looked like she was doing her best to not cry from the amount of pride she currently felt.

I was proud of her, too.

“And for one last announcement,” Kukui said, a knowing grin spreading across his face. “I know you all have heard the rumors and seen the reports, so I’m here to tell you that...”

He let his voice drift off into a whisper. The people in the stands started to murmur among themselves. Kukui was perfectly in his element. Then, to dramatically conclude his announcement, he leaned in to say just a short phrase.

“Those rumors are absolutely true,” he said.

Ecstatic screams started right away, but before the reaction could come to head, Kukui pushed on, continuing his announcement as if that hadn’t happened at all.

“It won’t be next season, but in the season after that, I can finally state that there’ll be some changes in Alola’s Pokémon Battle Circuit! The Island Challenge will remain, but I’ll confirm here and now that Alola will be getting its very own Gym Challenge!”

The audience erupted into an explosion of shouts. The cheers that followed that declaration were so loud I had to cover my ears. Of course, Hope and I had already somewhat leaked that information here and there, but this was the first time any local figure had confirmed our presence was actually leading to a new Alolan League.

Back on the platform itself, Kukui continued on. Above, giant, electronic screens flashed to the Pokémon League’s logo, ready to provide close-ups of what was about to happen next.

“Eight Gyms. Eight new challenges for trainers to take on. With them, we’ve selected individuals to serve as their Gym Leaders. Do you want to meet them?”

More cheers. Kukui laughed.

“Okay, okay. I could introduce them one-by-one and talk about them in detail, but y’all probably want me to cut to the chase, yeah?” People shouted at him in agreement. “Alright, then! Everyone, come on out! Gym Leaders, show the world who you are!!”

From the entrance opposite to Hope and I, a group of familiar faces began to make their way out. Gasps and cheers of surprise and excitement rang out. Yet again, the noise hurt my ears.

Leading the group, Ilima walked out first, the Normal Type specialist from Melemele calmly striding forward while waving his hand. He had impressed me and Hope with both his team’s flexibility and the Z-move capability of his Eevee.

After him was the “trio” of Trial Captains from Akala—the three trainers that represented the classic starter Types. They were Mallow, Kiawe, and Lana, representing Grass, Fire, and Water respectively. These three were still rather green, but they each carried a lot of potential. I had no problem at all seeing that Kukui had selected them.

After that trio were two more expected trainers—Sophocles and Mina. Sophocles was the Electric Type trainer from Hokulani Observatory, and Mina was the Fairy Type specialist from Seafolk Village. Both of them already had solid plans in place for the creation of their own Gyms. It made sense to see them here alongside everyone else.

However, while those six trainers were expected, the two that came after were much more controversial.

The first was Ryuki. The Dragon Type specialist looked like he was tearing up, but I knew that he wasn’t the most popular of local figures. However, he still received a surprising amount of support, though those cheers were cut short when the eighth and final Gym Leader stepped out of the darkness of the tunnel leading in.

Guzma.

The self-titled “Big Bad” himself entered the field.

When Guzma revealed himself, he walked out with his hands in his pockets and an arrogant grin on his face. The audience immediately reacted with an even split of boos and cheers. All future Gym Leaders, Guzma included, moved to stand in a line in front of Kukui, but the audience might as well have only cared about Guzma being here. Any flak Ryuki might have received was cut away thanks to the sheer amount of focus the crowd put on the Team Skull boss. Honestly, while I was the one to suggest him, I had doubted Kukui would actually go through and choose him as one of Alola’s Gym Leaders.

“These eight will be your Gym Leaders starting the season after the next!” Kukui shouted, trying to speak up over the crowds. “Cool, yeah? Why doesn’t everyone give them a big—”

He cut himself off when he noticed Guzma turning around. To everyone’s surprise, the man left the line and ambled on over to Kukui’s side.

Guzma stood there, silently grinning, while the audience continued to both cheer and boo. Eventually, he held out a hand as if to request the mic from Kukui. It took a few moments, but he eventually handed it over—rather reluctantly, I noted.

The audience went silent. Guzma cleared his throat.

“Yo,” he said.

Once again, the audience exploded into noise in reaction to such a controversial man.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. I’m not the most popular pick for a Gym Leader out there.”

A few jeers and cries of support came out. The audience’s reaction remained perfectly split down the middle.

“I don’t got the best of reputations,” his voice echoed as he continued to speak. “Team Skull is a mix of delinquents and thugs, yeah? We’ve bothered the lot of you in the past, and I can’t say the grudges y’all have are too unjustified. We’ve been a bunch of annoyances, haven’t we? So let me make an announcement.”

He cleared his throat again.

“Team Skull is disbanded!” Guzma shouted at the top of his lungs, stopping any reaction before it began thanks to his microphone’s whine. “I don’t want to see any of y'all wearing its symbol or using its name! Got too much baggage in it! Alola’s getting a new League, and the region deserves a new start!”

I heard a few horrible cries of pain from one spot in the audience. Looking over, there was a group of about four to five grunts with absolutely distraught looks on their faces.

“But that doesn’t mean the end is the end, y’know?” Guzma continued. “I’m still starting up a Gym. And I still need Gym Trainers alongside me. So, this message is for all of you out there—the ones that everyone just glosses over. You know, the ones stomped on by society? Yeah, I specialize in the Bug Type, but my Gym is open to anyone and everyone who wants to join, no questions asked. Don’t care where you come from, if you need support, head on in. That’s what Team Skull was always about. That’s what I’m all about. After all, I’m ya boy, Guzma! Reconstruction in human form!”

He cackled. The reaction of the audience seemed a lot less mixed this time around. Sure, there were still boos, but they almost felt less determined than before.

“And for those of you who think I don’t got what it takes...” Guzma’s voice dropped to a low tone. “For those of you who think ol’ Guzma doesn’t have the chops to be a Gym Leader...” A grin appeared on his face. “Challenge me. Face me in a battle. I’ll fight anyone, and I’ll prove to everyone here that Guzma’s Gym is the strongest in the region.”

Now the boos became harsh once again. I had to resist putting a hand against my face. Despite it all, the man continued to grin, silently passing his mic back to the annoyed-looking Kukui and rejoining the other soon-to-be Gym Leaders.

“...I can’t believe he just challenged all of Alola at once,” I groaned.

Hope patted me on the back.

“Regretting submitting his name?”

I didn’t, really. After all of that, I had a strange feeling that Guzma would eventually be the most popular Gym Leader around. After all, while he had a lot of baggage, people always enjoyed a heel.

Meanwhile, on the stage, Kukui rubbed the back of his neck and eventually managed to force a smile as the audience’s cries died down.

“Well, that was Guzma,” he said.

The comment actually got a few laughs.

“Of course, we won’t just have Gym Leaders. We’ll have an Elite Four, too! Come on out, everyone! Show Alola its new set of Elite!”

A quick change in topic saw a more solidly positive reaction this time around. Molayne, Acerola, and Kahili strode out from the same entrance the Gym Leaders came from. Honestly, these three were expected as members of the Elite Four. Molayne and Kahili were strong and experienced, and while Acerola was young, her expertise in the Ghost Type would help make the region more secure. I’d even heard rumors that Phoebe was providing her advice from the shadows, too.

(Those rumors were from Phoebe. She told me explicitly before sneaking off.)

However, their fourth member caught me off guard. Hala was an obvious pick for the Elite Four, but the last person who walked out wasn’t him. Instead, picking up the rear was the Kahuna of Akala Island, the Rock Type specialist Olivia.

“This doesn’t make any sense? Where’s Hala?” Hope asked, practically stating my own thoughts for me.

Kukui smiled as a few cheers continued. Just like me, I could sense an underlying sense of confusion in their noise.

“And finally, for your Champion...” the Professor started.

That was barely any build-up. Wait, hold on! Is Kukui not taking up the role?

The Masked Royal, Kukui’s alter ego, was by far the most popular trainer in the region. I knew Kukui had the personal team strength comparable to a Champion, but it seemed that it wouldn’t be him.

Instead, to my utter surprise, the very person I had just been thinking about, Hala, strode out on his own.

The man was big. His hair and mustache were pure grey, practically screaming his age and experience to the world. Just like Kukui, he held the title of one of the strongest trainers in the region, but to see him actually become the Champion was a genuine surprise.

He walked over to where the Gym Leaders and Elite Four were lined up, positioning himself next to where Kukui stood at their back. At this point, I was no longer hearing the crowd. I just wanted to hear what Hala would say.

Kukui handed the microphone over. The old man stared into the crowd for several long seconds, taking in the entire arena.

“Alola, Alola,” he said, a deep voice echoing around before being punctuated by a rumbling laugh.

People shouted back with “Alola,” themselves. Others in the crowd merely shouted in excitement. Quickly though, everyone quieted down.

“It is a great honor to be presented with the title of Champion. It comes as much of a surprise to me as it does for all of you. I am experienced, but I am old. Though I accept this role, I do not plan to hold it for long.”

Mumbles in the audience. I mumbled a confused question, myself. Yet Kukui nodded along, as if he expected this.

“My tenure as your future Champion will last only a single year. The same season our League will begin, I will step down to let the young lead. The reason I have been presented with this role is not to give me power, but to give one of you power.”

Silence. The words needed to settle in.

“The first Alola League Conference will not simply decide a champion, but whoever proves themselves will become the Champion of the region.”

“No way,” Hope whispered.

“Now that’s a way to motivate people to compete,” I replied.

The audience was screaming at this point, but when Hala continued to speak, his commanding presence cut through all of the noise.

“Defeat me. Win the Conference, and battle the Elite Four to earn the right to face me in a match. I invite the strongest trainers to climb the rungs of power to stand at the top. I will guide Alola as well as I can, but the end task will not fall to me. Ask yourself if you have the strength and responsibility, and then demonstrate it to all of us! Give Alola the strongest Champion in the world!”

Once again, the audience’s cheers were deafening. Each and every trainer standing in rows were staring ahead with sharp looks in their eyes.

With Hala’s declaration, these new members of the League weren’t just Gym Leaders and Elite Four. Now, these people were hurdles to overcome and surpass, all in the name of reaching the top. Hala’s challenge echoed out through all of Alola and the world at large, encouraging practically every trainer to take on the soon-to-form League. Yet, even with such a universal challenge, my eyes locked onto one person in particular.

Elio. He was close to bursting at the seams with the sheer amount of determination he was giving off.

“And now, I think that’s enough of that,” Hala said. The Interim Champion held the mic out, almost as if to pass the torch. “Kukui, if you will.”

“Of course! Battle pairs will be announced shortly. You’ll be able to see who’s facing who soon enough. But, before then, to start the Conference off with a bang...”

Hope and I stood up and straightened out our clothes. On the field, competing trainers started to file out, and the Gym Leaders and Elite Four moved to exit as well.

“Say Alola, everyone, to two members of the Wandering Elite, Alex and Hope!”

More cheers. Not as much as the announcements received moments before, but enough that people were showing real support. Rather than leave from opposite sides of the field, Hope and I purposefully left from the same one to show that this would be a friendly match.

We waved, and Kukui talked about our history. He hyped us up to the audience and announced that we would be having a battle to show off the Wandering Elite. He spoke of our achievements and experiences, going through almost everything we had done.

Notably, there was a lot more listed for me, and I briefly closed my eyes as I listened to him speak.

I placed in the Top Sixteen in Hoenn. I defeated a team of Legendary Pokémon and won Sinnoh’s Conference. Though it hadn’t been planned, I fought criminal organizations across the world, fought Cynthia, almost won the Grand Festival, and now, I was here in Alola.

Faces of people and Pokémon flashed through my mind. I thought of all the friends I made along the way. My team had grown to incredible heights in just the few short years I had been in this world. Genuinely, I had never thought my life would turn out this way.

It was hard to describe just how I was feeling. Bittersweet, as this match marked the end of my time here, but also happy, as it also marked recognition of everything I had been through. I found myself tearing up a little bit, even as Hope and I moved to stand across from one another.

Ninetales. Azumarill. Florges. Altaria. Mawile. Rapidash. Whimsicott. Dedenne. Carbink. Gardevoir. Togekiss. Tinkaton. Sylveon. Ribombee. Mimikyu.

Phew.

Fifteen Pokémon. I had fifteen incredibly powerful friends, and then at home, I had others in reserve as well. I couldn’t feel regret for any part of my journey. If anything, one emotion stood out above the rest:

Satisfaction.

Sure, my team still had room to grow, but that would always be the case. As it stood, no one could doubt their strength. And after everything that happened—after everything we had been through—I genuinely had fun. I would still have fun. This wasn’t necessarily the end.

“Hope and Alex here will face one another in a battle to show off their strength! It’s not everyday we get to see such a high level match take place!”

The sounds of the crowd faded away around me as I readied myself for this fight. I opened my eyes. Hope was grinning, and seeing that, I grinned as well.

This part of my journey might be over, but there was still so much to explore and see. I hadn’t met the Fairy Type leader of Galar. I hadn’t visited any of the new regions I only learned about after I entered this world. The species I hadn’t seen were nigh-uncountable. I wanted to experience it all.

My journey wasn’t over, but all things ended eventually. Sure, this would be it for now, but I was excited. Everything would still go on.

A referee moved to stand at the edge of the field. He shouted the rules for this fight as Hope and I stood off. The only thing I cared about in this moment was what was about to happen:

A Pokémon battle. A sport that defined my life. Something that I would never tire of.

Soon enough, the whistle blew. My heart thundered in my chest. Hope and I released our built-up energy as we both did the same thing.

To mark the start, we each threw a Pokéball forward. Just like that, a flash signaled our Pokémon coming out, and our battle properly began.