Disclaimer: It probably goes without saying but I do not own Pokémon. Nintendo does.

With the recent release of Sword and Shield, I decided to venture into new territory here with this side project. Hopefully you enjoy my unique take on the Galar journey.

An excited roar filled the stadium as the colossal charizard breathed a plume of searing fire into the air. Hundreds of eyes were now fixed on the spectacle before them as the Galar' League's reigning champion Leon Powers began his exhibition battle with his challenger. Amid the din of the match that started the tournament season, two figures departed the main pitch and headed away down the main access tunnel. Chairman Rose walked with a calm pace and glanced idly at the lights which lined his way. The smartly dressed middle aged man brushed some grass off his expensive gray suit and spoke idly to his secretary beside him.

"No power flickers… and the dynamaxing went off without a problem. That's a positive start Oleana."

"Yes sir," the elegant woman nodded with a cool, almost disinterested tone. She smoothed out the long white dress coat that she wore over her blood red blouse, "It seems the safeguards you put into the stadium's power grid was a wise decision after all."

Rose snorted quietly to himself, "Maybe so, but it's only a temporary measure. The Galar region's energy crisis will only get worse and it's only a matter of time before it becomes disruptive, both for the cities and for the operation of the league."

Oleana glanced over at her employer and noted the subtle frown that crossed his face. The Chairman of the Galar Pokémon League was well aware of the growing shortage of dynamax energy which came from the hotspots over which the cities were built. Not only would it affect the people of the region in time, but it threatened the future operation of the Pokémon League and most importantly, his profit margins. Rose seemed to sense her thoughts and asked aloud, "What is the progress of my special side project?"

"Your power generator is nearing completion sir," Oleana reported, "But… are you really sure about the 'human' element of your plan?"

Rose glanced over and gave a calm smile to his secretary as they reached the end of the tunnel and approached a young man waiting for them in the lobby. "I have faith Bede will do his part, Oleana. After all, he has been my ward, and I've endorsed him personally. You aren't questioning my judgment, are you?"

Oleana paused and looked slightly alarmed as she began to apologize, "I… no Chairman! Of course not! I didn't mean to imply…"

Chairman Rose smiled and gently raised his hand to silence her before turning to the young man in the lobby. This trainer named Bede waited with a cool arrogance and smugness about him. The young man with curly fair hair and a long purplish coat fixed his adopted father with his beady eyes, "You called?"

"I wanted to make sure you were ready to head off," Rose answered, "There's a lot of work to be done. There's even more riding on the completion of your task. I want to know you'll be up to it."

Bede gave a prideful scoff and swept a hand through his fair locks of hair, "Don't worry Dad. I'll get you those Wishing Stars. I'll search every inch of the region to get them if I have to."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Rose nodded in satisfaction, "Best you be off now. Good luck."

Bede gave a flippant wave and strode off from the lobby to exit the stadium leaving the two adults to watch him depart. Oleana glanced over quietly and asked, "He doesn't actually know what the stars are for… does he?"

"The less the boy knows right now the better," Rose answered as he headed back toward his office, "Come along Oleana. We have plenty of work that needs to be done here too."

A few days later, bright sunlight streamed in through the windows as Victor Bennett sat on the living room couch pulling up a video on his new smart phone. He gave a content sigh and relaxed as he loaded the video until he was interrupted by the excited sounds of someone knocking at the front door of his home. Victor hopped off the cushion and walked over to the front door of the house calling to his mother in the kitchen. "I've got it, Mum!"

He opened the door and blinked in surprise as he was greeted by a girl his age who also happened to be his next door neighbor. The fifteen year old girl was dressed in her usual pink dress with a gray cardigan sweater over it. Atop her brown shoulder length hair she had donned her trademark green Highland beret with a white pompom. "Gloria? Hi. What's going on?"

Gloria McLeod flashed a bright eager smile to her childhood friend and proudly thrust a small booklet in his face with an ID and official documentation. She grabbed the collar of his red shirt and the faint brogue accent in her voice was clearly filled with excitement, "Victor, today's the day! It finally came! Have you got your own yet? Have you checked the mail?"

"Hey… slow down Gloria," he replied pulling her off, "Has what come?"

She stared at him and pointed to his mailbox, "You're kidding, right? Our pokémon trainer licenses! The applications went through!"

Victor blinked again and rushed over to his mailbox, sorting through the letters until he found what he was looking for. Sure enough, he found a small booklet and ID with his own trainer's license. He couldn't help but break out into a bright smile, "Yes! This is going to be awesome!"

"Victor? Is everything okay?" came his mother's voice as she came to the door. The bespectacled woman had warm kindly features and dark brown hair like her son's. She wiped her hands off on her gardening coveralls and stopped to give their visitor a warm smile, "Gloria? I didn't expect to see you today, dear. Is everything all right?"

"Everything is great Mrs. Bennett! Victor and I just got our trainer licenses today!" Gloria answered brightly.

"That's terrific news, kids! Congratulations!" Mrs. Bennett beamed, "It's the perfect time, what with the region's tournament season starting up and all."

"I'm guessing you've been doing some homework?" Gloria noted as she pointed to Victor's other hand where he held his phone. On the screen was a loaded video with an image of a charizard on it.

Victor sheepishly rubbed his neck and shrugged, "Ah… well, kinda. I wanted to watch Leon's exhibition match and study his strategies."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Gloria teased him gently, "You're always thinking ahead, even since we were little kids. Maybe now you can figure out what to do about our new problem."

"Oh? What's that?"

Gloria sighed, "What good are our licenses without pokémon of our own?"

Their thoughts were interrupted as they heard a crash and looked across the yard to see a wooloo making a ruckus nearby. The fluffy sheep pokémon were a common sight in these pastoral areas and despite their gentle natures, sometimes they could be a bit of a nuisance as well. If anyone in Postwick knew that better, it was Gloria's family as her parents raised wooloo for a living in the nearby farm fields. This particular offender was one that Gloria knew intimately. It just so happened to be the McLeod family pet. Victor winced as the wooloo curled itself into a ball and ran into a wooden gate nearby with a rolling tackle.

"Bonnie! Hey! Cut that out!" Gloria called loudly as she hurried over to rein in her errant pet. The wooloo named Bonnie stopped and blinked in surprise as Gloria wrangled her and gave a calming scratch behind her fluffy ears. Gloria spoke softly and gave her a gentle scolding, "What do think you're doing you silly girl? Don't be tackling the fencing! You know you shouldn't wander off into those woods at the edge of town. Who knows what kind of scary wolves and ghosts are out there in the Slumbering Weald, eh?"

As Bonnie contently nuzzled her owner and calmed down, Victor glanced across the street and caught sight of another neighbor running down the road toward the Bennett house. Victor's classmate Howard "Hop" Powers was known by everyone in town as the younger brother of the famed Galar League Champion. It was no secret that Hop's older brother was a hero to every aspiring trainer in the little town of Postwick. For many people in the sleepy rural villages of southern Galar, Leon was a shining symbol of their pride and a source of excitement whenever he competed in a match. It was no secret either that Hop wanted to be just like Leon and follow in his footsteps. He had gotten his own license a week early and waited eagerly for the tournament season to begin.

The excitable dark skinned boy dressed in his favorite jean jacket stopped at the gate and gave an enthusiastic wave, "Victor! Gloria! There you are! Come with me!"

"What's going on, Hop?" Victor asked as he walked down the front steps of his house.

"Haven't you heard? Today's the big day!" Hop answered impatiently, "Lee is coming home! Let's get a move on and greet him!"

Gloria came over and joined Victor at the gate, "What's the rush, Hop? The Wedgehurst train station isn't very far from here."

"Aw, you two know the way Lee is. He's terrible with directions and always getting lost," Hop protested, "Besides, he always brings presents when he comes. I wanna see what he brought! Maybe if you're lucky he'll have something for you guys too."

Victor exchanged a look with Gloria and shrugged before he turned to his own mother, "I guess that's that. We're going to the station, Mum."

She caught her son by the scruff of the collar, "Not so fast, dear. If you're headed out, why don't you take your father's old backpack with you? And a hat, just in case of weather."

Victor grumbled and hurried back into the house to fetch a large bag and a gray wool beanie hat from his room. As he made his way back to the front gate, Mrs. Bennett quickly inspected her son causing him to whine, "Geez Mum, is this really necessary? It's not that cold out, and this bag is kind of clunky too."

"Nonsense luv," Mrs. Bennett said straightening his red shirt collar with an affectionate touch, "Just like your father says, always better to be prepared, right?"

"The hat looks fine too luv," Gloria teased as she gave a playful wink and ruffled some of Victor's hair sticking out from the front of his cap.

Hop bounced on his heels with an impatient look, "Are you guys ready to get going? Come on, I'll race you to Wedgehurst!"

Before Victor could answer, Hop took off running down the lane past several other villagers and free range wooloo that were grazing about the town.

"Oi! Wait for me!" Gloria shouted as she hurried after him with Victor scrambling to catch up to his two neighbors. Mrs. Bennett crossed her arms and smiled as she shook her head. With the arrival of Leon and pokémon tournament fever setting in, she could only wonder what kinds of trouble the kids were sure to get into.

About half a mile up the road, Victor and his friends crossed a small bridge which led into the neighboring borough of Wedgehurst. Much like the other older towns in this quiet pastoral region of Galar, Wedgehurst had a quaint homey feel with its cobblestone streets, its brick storefronts, and the cozy cottages lining the roads. Even from a distance, those approaching the town could see the distinct form of the town's clock tower jutting out from the top of the train station's main building. Although the town was never particularly busy on any given day, a surprisingly large crowd of locals had all begun to congregate near the train station. When they arrived, Victor stopped and raised his hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the bright morning sun so that he could get a better look. "Hmm... not every day you see the town like this, right?"

"Well it's not every day that we have celebrities and champions coming through here either," Hop replied as he tried to push through some of the onlookers, "Okay make way, make way, famous person family coming through!"

As the three began to push forward, they stopped when they heard an excited stir from the crowd as a figure emerged from the doors of the station. Hop poked his head over a man standing in front of him and caught sight of his brother making his grand entrance. Leon strode forward to greet the onlookers wearing a custom designed Pokemon League uniform tailored to fit his flamboyant style. The tall champion had a powerful athletic build with his stylized hair flared out to give a regal look. Around his shoulders, he wore a long fur-lined cape plastered with the logos of big businesses who sponsored the Galar Pokémon League. As Leon approached, his loyal charizard followed close behind looking less like a pet and more like a royal bodyguard. Leon grinned as he met the cheering crowd and stopped to strike his trademark victory pose causing girls to swoon while the rest of the crowd cheered even louder.

"Hello, hello, Wedgehurst! Your champion Leon is back! I promise I'll keep doing my best to deliver the greatest battles for you all to watch!"

People from the crowd began calling out to him, "Hooray for our undefeated champion! You and Charizard are the greatest!"

Leon winked, "Thank you for that! It's true that Charizard is blazingly strong. But other pokémon can be strong as well. That's why I want the strongest of challengers to take the Gym Challenge and come battle me. My wish is for Galar's trainers to work together to become the strongest in all the world!"

Charizard gave a loud roar of agreement before Leon gave another nod, "I hope you'll all carry on training up your pokémon and never shy from battle. Then you can come and challenge me for the champion title!"

Leon stopped as he heard a familiar voice call out from nearby, "Lee! Over here!"

Leon smiled and strode forward into the crowd to greet his younger brother with a big hug and a ruffle of his hair, "Hop! So my number one fan in all the world has come to pick me up! Look at you! You must have grown a few inches since I saw you last!"

"Heh... that's the kind of sharp eye that's kept you undefeated for so long, right Lee?" Hop laughed as he escaped Leon's affectionate headlock.

Leon stopped and glanced over to see Hop's two companions waiting with equal looks of awe. The champion flashed his brilliant smile, "Ah... I remember you two. From across the street... Victor and Gloria, right? Hop talks about you two all the time!"

"Nice to see you again Leon," Victor said shaking the champ's hand. "Welcome home."

Gloria did the same but remained unusually quiet at having been a little starstruck. Hop gave his brother a light elbow in the side, "Come on Lee! Let's head home. I'll race you, okay?"

The eager boy took off running back down the road towards Postwick leaving Leon to shake his head and chuckle, "That Hop... always wanting to be the best. With a proper rival of his own, I bet he'd push himself to become something truly special."

He turned to Victor with a thoughtful expression, "Wouldn't you agree?"

Victor paused, unsure of how to answer but Leon turned back to the crowd to strike his pose and bid them all farewell. "Well everyone, I'm afraid that's all for today. I'll be around for a few days more so I hope to see you all around town!"

As the crowd dispersed, Leon recalled his charizard and turned toward Victor and Gloria, "Well... now that that's all settled, let's head on home. Sound good?"

"Sounds like a plan," Gloria agreed but stopped when she noticed that Leon had yet to move from his spot.

Victor eyed the Champion of Galar for a long moment before crossing his arms with a smile, "You don't remember the way, do you?"

Leon rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile, "Guilty as charged. It's been a while... but I guess that's no excuse, huh? Lead on."

Late that afternoon after having returned to Postwick, Hop invited Victor and Gloria over to his house to hang out with Leon in their backyard. After Leon had become the league champion a few years ago, the once small and modest home of the Powers family had grown in size with the addition of another floor of rooms along with a small pokémon training arena in the spacious grassy yard. Despite having become very wealthy from his fame and his product endorsements, Leon had never forgotten his small town roots and made sure that his family was comfortable and well provided for. As they stood around having some afternoon tea, Hop looked to his older brother and tried to sound indifferent, "So Lee...I was wondering if on your travels, you've picked up any interesting things to bring home and show us."

Leon chuckled as he immediately saw right through the smokescreen, "You're wondering if I brought you any gifts, right?"

"Well... that too," Hop backpedaled causing Leon to laugh harder.

"Don't worry little brother. I brought something very special," Leon smiled, "I heard that you and your friends have gotten your trainer licenses recently. I decided to give you a little something to get you started... the greatest gift from the greatest champion."

He pulled three pokéballs from his pocket and tossed them to the blacktop arena, opening them all at once. "Come on out everyone!"

Victor, Gloria, and Hop all stood watching with a mixture of awe and delight as three small pokémon emerged from the balls in bright plumes of light. The first to greet the new trainers was a grookey. The small monkey pokémon with bright green fur carried a small stick in his hand and gave a playful smile before clambering up a nearby tree to poke at objects with it. Moments later, a small white rabbit with red markings on his feet and ears bounded forward. The scorbunny happily bounced around and darted about the yard running rings on the blacktop leaving small plumes of flame and embers in its wake. The last to emerge was a sobble, a little blue lizard pokémon with large round eyes and a curled tail. While its two fellow pokémon bounded around the yard, they blew past the timid sobble causing it to cry and whimper until it spotted a small pond of water in the yard and jumped in for a swim.

The three young trainers continued to watch as the little pokémon played around until Leon called them all to attention, "All right everyone. Line up. Today you're going to meet some new friends who will be taking care of you from now on."

Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble all scampered over to the blacktop arena and waited as Leon turned to his brother, "So... which one will it be?"

Hop walked over and made a beeline for the small green simian who was bouncing on his heels, "No question about it. He's got the right spirit and energy. Grookey, you're the one for me! I aim to be the next champion so you and I have a lot of training to do. But first you'll need a name... what do you think of Scamp?"

The monkey gave a happy squeak and climbed up on Hop's leg to hang off his arm, "All right... Scamp it is."

Leon crossed his arms proudly and looked over to Victor and Gloria, "How about you two? Any of them catch your eye?"

Gloria carefully ambled over bent down to reach out toward the little blue sobble. The lizard hesitated and cautiously looked toward the girl's outstretched hand. Gloria spoke to it in the same soft and soothing voice that she used to calm her pet wooloo, Bonnie. "Here now... aren't you just a wee little thing. It's all right. I won't hurt you."

The sobble padded forward and gingerly climbed into her hand allowing Gloria to pick him up and hold her new pokémon in a reassuring hug while she gushed, "Aww, look at him. He's so cute! Just you wait... you and I are going to conquer the world."

Victor and Hop exchanged bemused looks with each other before Victor asked, "And do you have a name for your new little warlord there?"

"I was thinking of calling him Gilly," Gloria said thoughtfully before Victor pointed something out.

"Uh, he's a lizard. You know he doesn't have gills, right?"

Gloria gave a little huff, "Oh, it doesn't matter Victor! I'm naming him Gilly, and that's final!"

Victor shook his head and turned to face the last remaining pokémon waiting on the blacktop. He bent down and offered a kind smile to the rabbit, "Well I guess that means it's you and me, huh? What do you say? You wanna be my partner Scorbunny?"

The small rabbit tilted his head and gave Victor a curious look before the trainer paused again, "Ah... I see. You probably want a cool nickname like your friends, don't you? Hmm... how does Hotspur sound to you?"

The scorbunny responded with an excited grin and hopped up in the air giving Victor a fist bump of approval. "Then it's settled. I think we'll make a good team."

"How about we put that to the test, Victor?" Hop asked with an eager look, "How about we start training now and have a little battle?"

"The battles can wait dear," said the voice of Mrs. Powers as she came to the yard with her husband, "To celebrate Leon's return home, we were thinking of having a little cookout tonight. Of course, the Bennetts and McLeods are invited to come too."

"Thanks Mrs. Powers. I'll let my parents know," Victor said as he turned to leave the yard, "And show them my new pokémon too."

He tucked away the scorbunny's pokéball to his belt and gave a wave, "Come on Hotspur. I'm sure Dad and Mum are going to flip when they meet you."

As the energetic rabbit pokémon bounded forward and left a few cinders from each step, Victor couldn't help but smile as he followed along. Even if they were going to take a break with a barbecue dinner for tonight, Victor Bennett still had his own hopes and dreams of one day competing in the league tournament. He knew that iif he could match he same fiery passion and energy of his new scorbunny, Victor had a feeling that just maybe... they'd yet have a chance for a great adventure and an even more unforgettable ride.