Chapter Text
When Satoshi was pulled aside by Professor Cerise one afternoon, he wasn’t sure what he was really expecting, but being beckoned back to Alola for quote-unquote “official champion business” was the last thing on his mind. Was he complaining about it though? Absolutely not! If anything, he was expecting this to happen eventually.
“Oh, awesome!! Do I really get to go back? For how long?” Satoshi said eagerly, bouncing on his heels.
“Professor Kukui requested that you stay for about a week. Flights are already arranged, so you don’t need to worry,” Professor Cerise smiled.
“What about research assignments? I don’t want to miss anything important! What if there’s a really big battle, or Team Rocket gets in the way?”
Professor Cerise lightly laughed. “Now, don’t go worrying about that! Goh can handle the assignments and battle on his own just fine, I promise.”
Satoshi blinked in surprise. Hold on…
“Goh isn’t coming with me? Why not?”
“The Manalo League requested that you come alone - why, I am not entirely sure. If you decide to stay down there past the one-week period, the professors gave me the clear to let Goh come and join you until you decide to come back. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, I guess…” Satoshi sighed as he looked off to the side. If he was honest to himself, after thinking over it, he shouldn’t be so surprised by this whole ordeal. Just a couple of weeks ago, Satoshi had his 18th birthday (which did not pass by without some fanfare from his friends and family). This meant that he was seen as a legal adult in the eyes of the Alolan Law system. Past all of the legal garbage, it basically meant that he was now considered old enough to step up to the mantle and take up his official Regional Champion duties. Since the league system is still fairly new, the positions of power needed to be established as soon as possible. Surely, he is going to have to meet up with all of the Island Kahunas and talk to them about the position, as well as attend a few meetings with Professor Kukui; there was no doubt that one of them was going to be with the infamous President Goodshow.
Satisfied that Satoshi fully understood what was going to be happening, Professor Cerise smiled and turned on his heel, heading back into his lab to go over some documents with Chrysa. As the man disappeared from his sight, the Kantonian boy shook himself to suppress his excited jitters. Once he felt that he was sufficiently calm, Satoshi made his way towards his room with Pikachu hot on his heels.
He didn’t particularly mind being called back to the region - in fact, he was very excited to go back to his second home! Ever since the Pokémon World Championship ended (and his subsequent defeat by the undefeatable monarch) he felt like he had no direction anymore. Months passed and he was still working as a research fellow at Cerise Laboratories, still traveling the world with Goh and their partners. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with that, but Satoshi couldn’t help but feel lost. Goh still had Project Mew, in fact, the boy has been getting more and more calls to action recently with more sightings being reported. As Goh kept pursuing his dream, Satoshi felt stagnant. Maybe finally taking up his responsibilities as a champion will add a goal for him to reach for in the meantime.
Getting down on his knees, Satoshi pulled out a bright blue duffle bag from underneath the bunk bed. With Pikachu’s help, the two of them went through his clothes and started to “carefully” pack for the week-long trip. He wasn’t particularly worried about under-packing if he was to stay longer, he could always just use the washer and dryer in the basement of the beach home. As he and Pikachu shoved t-shirts and shorts into the bag, the bedroom door creaked.
“Satoshi?”
Satoshi blinked and looked up, a smile immediately growing on his face. “Goh! How are Paras and Greedent doing? Did they finally make up?”
Goh hummed as he walked into the room, sitting down on the bottom bunk. “Pretty much, yeah. I had to remind Paras to stay away from Greedent’s stash, you know how territorial it can get,” he said with a shrug.
“Definitely,” Satoshi laughed. “Personally, I wouldn’t want to get anywhere near Greedent’s berry pile! Its bites are super powerful!”
“Y-yeah, me neither,” Goh chuckled. As he quieted, he awkwardly shifted in his seat. The young trainer fussed with his hands, trying to keep his nerves down. Biting his lip, he gathered up the courage to speak.
“So, uh…Professor Cerise, uh…he told me everything already. About you leaving tomorrow,” Goh mumbled.
“Wait, really?” Satoshi gawked as he shoved another graphic t-shirt into the bag. “When did he do that? I was only just told about it 15 minutes ago.”
“This morning, actually,” Goh sighed as his shoulders slumped.
Satoshi frowned. That certainly explained the boy’s off behavior all day. After they had breakfast together, Goh had run off to the park, stating he had to resolve a conflict. He only found out it was the whole Greedent/Paras situation later when Koharu found him in the main room brushing Lucario and Pikachu.
If he squinted, he could see the dark rain cloud that hung above his friend’s head, just waiting to storm. He could sympathize with the young trainer – it’s been getting a lot harder for him to leave his friends, even just for a while. When he first left Alola, it was difficult to build up the courage to admit he even had to in order to continue his journey. When he finally bit the bullet, he couldn’t help but cry when he saw his friends wishing him goodbye. As he and Goh have been traversing through all of the different regions, Satoshi started to feel this sort of hesitation bubble up whenever he met with old friends. And with Goh, those types of feelings seemed to increase ten-fold. He’s gotten very used to the day-to-day routine the two of them have, the comfortable familiarity. When Goh left for a week to go on a trip with his parents, Satoshi didn’t know what to do with himself. It was Pikachu who gave him the idea to call up Takeshi and Kasumi and meet up for lunch one day. He didn’t want to leave, at least not permanently yet, and Satoshi was certain that Goh felt the same.
“Hey,” Satoshi started as he pulled himself up to his feet, despite his knees screaming in protest due to being bent for so long. He carefully walked over to the bed and sat down next to Goh. “It’s only going to be for a little while. We can still call! And I’m sure the professor and Project Mew are going to keep you super busy! And when I am done with all of this ‘champion’ stuff, maybe you can come to Alola as well and we can have fun! Don’t you still have pokemon you need to catch?”
“Well…I still have to catch all of the different Oricorio variants…” Goh mumbled.
Satoshi chuckled as he grinned. “See? Then there’s nothing to worry about! Just trust me,” he beamed as he wrapped an arm around Goh’s shoulder. “When I’m all done, you can come over and we can catch all of them together! How does that sound?”
“I suppose that’s a fair trade,” Goh hummed. “But before we do that, try not to do anything stupid. Got it?” he smirked as he nudged Satoshi with his elbow.
Satoshi playfully gasped. “Me? Do something stupid? Never! I am going to be very professional. I have to do all sorts of paperwork and official business stuff!”
Goh rolled his eyes. “Oh, sure, I believe that. Maybe I’ll ask Professor Kukui if you keep that promise,” he teased as Satoshi whined. “Now, are you going to make Pikachu do all of your packing for you, or are you just gonna sit here?”
“Pika!” the electric mouse chimed in. He haphazardly threw another t-shirt into the bag, making his trainer roll his eyes at his joking attitude.
“Okay, okay,” Satoshi sighed as he pushed himself off of the bed. “We’re almost done anyway!”
“Are you sure about that? Did you remember to pack your toothpaste?” Goh grinned.
Satoshi froze in place as he hesitated. A few seconds passed, until it seemed as if a light bulb appeared over his head as he gasped. “Oh, shoot! I forgot! I’ll be right back!” he exclaimed. As the trainer ran out of the room towards the bathroom, Goh fell back onto the sheets of the bed as he laughed.
Satoshi couldn’t really explain it, but he had a gut feeling that something big was going to be coming up – what exactly that entails, he is not entirely sure. There have been a couple of other instances where he felt this strange and foreboding feeling in the depths of his gut.
The most recent event that comes to mind was the whole fiasco with Chairman Rose and Macro Cosmos. The moment the man spoke to him and Leon, Satoshi had his suspicions. He had this look in his eyes, a subtle glint that he has seen in the eyes of many other people. The greed, the desire for power. That unshakeable desire to do what he believed was right, even if it was at the expense of others. Satoshi has seen that greed in the eyes of many other people in his experience as a trainer.
Lusamine, as she gazed in awe at the Ultra Beast Nihilego.
Lysander, as he beamed at the idea of using him and Greninja to create a new world.
Cyrus, as he stepped through the portal to the new world he so desired.
Hunter J, as she grinned as her Drapion attempted to hold him in an attempt to get Riolu.
Those eyes still haunt his nightmares, often accompanied by the harsh cries of legendary or mythical pokémon. Rose, Oleana, and Eternatus were no different. They were just another item on his ever-growing list (one that was far too long for his liking).
Satoshi couldn’t quite understand why he was so worried by this call-to-action. The Kahunas most likely just wanted to hold a ceremony with the tapus and introduce his duties to him. Satoshi knew them all well enough to have faith that there weren’t going to be any ill intentions in all of this. Even if they did have any ulterior motives, he was sure that the tapus or the professors would pick up on it and stop it.
It wasn’t all going to be work, Satoshi had to remind himself. A week was more than enough time to get some simple paperwork done! One of the first things Satoshi wanted to do was meet up with all of his Alolan friends, it has been a couple of months since he last saw them all in person. With Lillie and Gladion back in Alola with their father, they could all meet up and mess around as they used to after school. Not to mention, he also had his little brother Lei waiting for him at home. Satoshi was certain that Professor Burnet was going to ask him to babysit for a couple of nights (whether its so that the professors could go out on a night out or not was not his business). The little boy was just learning how to walk and talk, and Satoshi was determined to get him to learn to say his and Pikachu’s names (and wouldn’t that just be the cutest?). And finally, his whole Alolan team was waiting at home as well! Satoshi was thrilled with the idea of training with them again, he was sure that his current team would have a great time sparring with them.
He just had to shake this worry away. The Alola region has been nothing but good for him, it is practically his second home. And what an honor it was going to be, to be considered the protector of a whole region! It’s not like it’s something Satoshi has never done before (as Pikachu often liked to remind him). From the Orange Islands to the entirety of Kalos, Satoshi was (and still is) no stranger to sudden and world threatening dangers. He is more than qualified for the job (even if he couldn’t put these qualifications on his resume).
Team Skull was, and still is, a very minor threat. Ultra Beasts haven’t been an issue in months - the last time they appeared through Ultra Wormholes was after the finals during the Manalo league nearly a year ago. And even if they did start appearing again, it wasn’t something the Ultra Guardians and the Aether Foundation couldn’t easily handle.
Even still, why did it feel like Arceus was laughing at him?