When dawn broke and the fight died down, Daniel could finally rest. His Pokemon were completely exhausted, he was about to fall asleep at any moment, and Kyurem’s cold aura was not helping. Since Containment balls were hard to open once they had a Pokemon inside, he had to let the dragon out the whole time. Sure, the stares of disbelief were funny, but being shadowed by the massive legend was tiring.

  The good news was that he could capture the other two Genesect for relocation. After a few rounds of healing, they’ll be good to go. Since he had the historical accounts of their enclave, the league could send them there directly after a short period of rehabilitation.

  When he finally managed to sit down inside one of the 'hospital tents,' he practically collapsed into a chair, groaning as his joints popped with each movement. Kyurem stood outside, ever watchful of their new ‘partner.’ Though they couldn’t communicate directly yet, Daniel could read his aura well enough. The people inside, the nurses especially, were initially wary, but they soon shifted their focus back to tending to the patients.

  “Daniel?”

  Iris’ voice came from outside, tinted with uncertainty and trepidation. Daniel sighed, lamenting that he only got to enjoy comfort for no more than a few minutes. After cracking his spine with a groan, he went out.

  “Yes, champion Iris?” He asked, adjusting his vest and tie.

  The girl stared directly into the legend's eyes, transfixed. The dragon’s aura loomed over her, overwhelming hers and suppressing it. Finally, with a deep breath, she tore her eyes away and shifted her focus to the time traveler. A wry smile tugged at her lips as she bowed at him.

  “Thank you very much for your assistance. We would have lost a lot more people without your intervention.” She said in a professional tone and bowed again. “But we didn’t expect you to use Kyurem.” She said, uncertainty rearing back to the front.

  “Didn’t expect that either.” He shrugged and the dragon huffed. “But it was either that or using my last Dynamax.”

  Iris huffed and shook her head. “Good call.” She crossed her arms and tilted her head. “Now, what are you going to do? Do you still want to free Kyurem?”

  “I mean, I wanted that at the beginning, but he seems content staying with me for a while. I’ll double-check with my team when everyone’s less exhausted and give you a callback.”

  “Great!” She nodded, her usual energy coming back to her voice. “Also, we received a file from your number, but we can’t open it.”

  Daniel took a couple of seconds to process that before his face heated up. “That… makes sense.” He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It doesn’t matter, it was just telling you that I was coming, my team comp, supplies, all of that. Forgot you need a Porygon3 to read those.”

  Both chuckled at his small misfortune, more out of stress than anything else.

  “So, Mr. Mystery Man, what’s your plan now?”

  “Go home, sleep 12 hours, and prepare for class.” He shrugged once more. “I’m still debating on what I should be preparing them for.”

  “Oh? Scared of messing up?” she teased. Her smirk mirrored Aidan’s so perfectly that it almost felt like he was standing there beside her.

  Daniel desperately channeled his aura to rein in any stray thoughts or emotions. He made a show of thinking to get his breathing under control. Kyurem eyed him with suspicion, narrowing their yellow eyes.

  “Honestly, a little bit.” He shrugged. “It’s been a while since I had to teach people, and they were already adults.”

  “You’ll do a good job!” She punched him on the shoulder with a bright smile. Even with the aura reinforcing his body, it still stung. “Maybe they’ll be the next Gym leaders or Elites!”

  “That’s the plan,” he said with a grin, rubbing his arm sheepishly. “Oh, and before I forget, can I borrow a Pokeball? Mine don’t work on Kyurem.”

  Iris raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised, but then shrugged casually. “Sure, I’ve got a few spares lying around…”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  She rummaged through the pouches on her belt until she pulled out a regular red-and-white Pokéball. With a wry smile, she handed it over. Daniel gave her a grateful nod and took it from her.

  “Thanks.” He looked over at Kyurem, who stood calmly nearby, watching with silent intensity. “Alright, Kyurem.” His voice softened. “Let’s go home.”

  ***

  Leon was feeling pretty good lately. After getting his sponsors stitched to his cape and touring the Gyms, he felt ready to tackle the job. Sure, his declaration as the strongest trainer was ‘reckless’ to some people, but he felt like he told the truth. Few could stand toe-to-toe with his Pokemon, much less his Charizard.

  His new office was lavish, perhaps more than he would have preferred. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to change a thing, Chairman Rose had overseen the decoration, after all. Red and gold dominated the space, while carefully arranged portraits of his Pokémon lined the walls. The plush chair in the center, though overly indulgent, was too comfortable to even consider replacing. It was the kind of luxury that made settling for anything less feel impossible.

  If there was anything he didn’t enjoy about the position was the amount of paperwork that passed through his desk. It would be terribly irresponsible to delegate the work to anyone, not even trusted allies. It would give a bad image to the public.

  “Champion! You must see this!”

  He bit back a sigh at the sight of his secretary, his harbinger of work. Nothing good ever came when the man used that tone to relay the news. Not that he would say that out loud, it would break the poor man’s heart!

  The man in question was middle-aged, bald, and had a bit of a pot belly. His work ethic was immaculate, so Leon didn’t mind that the man ate a bit too many pastries on his breaks.

  “Yes, John?”

  “Look!”

  The man passed him a Rotom tablet with a video paused. It looked like news coverage of a great battle. The title read [Team Plasma Crushed: Pokémon League Stops Evil Plot in its Tracks!]. It took him a moment to recognize the Unovan broadcasting network and the lack of ‘Team Plasma’ in Galar. He pressed play and reclined in his chair.

  “Team Plasma has been defeated! Thanks to the efforts of the Pokemon League, the evil team has been defeated once and for all!” The caster said animatedly. The footage then jumped to the battle itself.

  The footage was taken atop a helicopter far from the scene. Flashes of light and bursts of energy erupted below as the camera panned the battlefield. The cameraman zoomed in on champion Iris battling against 5 unknown Pokemon. She seemed to struggle until a Dragapult crashed into the Red one with a powerful dragon rush...

  “A Dragapult?”

  Leon paused the video and stared blankly at the tablet, his fingers lingering on the screen. His mind blanked as he processed the image: A genuine Dragapult clashing with the insectoid Pokemon in the air. He blinked and looked at his secretary for an explanation.

  “Yes, sir.” His secretary added. “We triple checked the video’s authenticity… and that’s a Dragapult. A big one at that.”

  “Do we have any records of Dragapult eggs leaving the region?” The champion narrowed his eyes. “Or any… illegal acquisitions?”

  Every major power had specific Pokemon that represented their region, their ‘pseudo-legends’ and their ‘starter trios.’ Each was weak in their early stages and required a lot of work to properly train but were absolute powerhouses when they matured. As such, trading them was strictly regulated. He had to give an arm and a leg to get a Charizard egg all those years ago.

  Seeing a fully grown Dragapult in the hands of a trainer from another region was giving Leon a headache. He had expected some challenges when taking the mantle, but this felt like too much.

  “We’ve been discreetly asking ranches and breeders in Hammerlocke, but there are no unaccounted eggs…” The man looked for information on another Rotom tablet. “There’s not even transaction requests posted online.”

  Leon huffed and continued the video. The battle went on for a little more before it cut to another point. Kyurem, one of Unova’s legends, appeared. He noticed that, while every trainer was gawking and distracted, the Dragapult returned to a pink-haired trainer wearing Unova’s veteran uniform. The rest of the fight was short, Kyurem and a Lapras from said trainer dealt with the other Pokemon, and the champion captured the enemy leader.

  Leon leaned back on his chair with a sigh. ‘Being the best is quite tiring…’

  “We programmed a diplomatic visit to Unova, right?” He snapped his fingers, remembering that piece of info.

  “Yes.” The man nodded. “Their champion is very open to international relations and their side is excited for the visit. It was scheduled for…” The man double-checked his Rotom tablet. “Next year, about a month before their circuit starts again.”

  “Good…” He whispered.

  He replayed the fight once more, looking for the man in every shot. He noticed the cameraman didn’t focus on him, and sometimes the camera would jump after just snippets of his face. Even then, Leon could feel he was a strong trainer. Very few people could command a dragon as hard to please as a Dragapult and a legend on top of that!

  “Raihan would be excited to exchange pointers with another dragon trainer soon…” He muttered with a smile. ‘Well, can’t lie and say I am not excited too.’ More than a political reason, he was excited to challenge new trainers. His fiery aura roiled under his skin just by imagining it. He took a moment to calm himself, slap his cheeks, and nod at his secretary.

  “Call for a meeting with Chairman Rose, I need to discuss things with him.”

  “Understood champion.” The man nodded. “You should have time for that today after the grand opening of Turffield’s stadium, or tomorrow after your scheduled tour of Wedgehurst’s lab.”

  His excitement for future battles dimmed as reality came crashing once more. ‘Being the best is hard…'