“Hi, Galar,” Annais said, left alone on the field with her faithful Golisopod.  The fact that she had to say this out loud almost stopped her from going through with it entirely.  All eyes were on her, all ears tuned in.  A silence fell over the crowd.  She mustered her courage, using the last little bit of adrenaline left from that match with Leon to carry her through.

“Most of you know I don’t talk much.  I kinda get stage fright.  Can you believe that?” she laughed nervously.  “I prefer to let my Pokémon speak for me, but I’m sure if I got Quesalupa here to tell you this, you wouldn’t understand the first thing he said.”

Her joke was positively received by the crowd, earning a bit of laughter.  She smiled, feeling a little more confident about what was to come.

“When I joined the challenge last year, I thought best case scenario was that I’d end up leading an electric type gym like I got tired of back home.  I never dreamed I’d come this far.  I never dreamed I’d beat Leon.  I never dreamed that you all would accept me, an outsider, as your champion with open arms. I never dreamed of all the people I’d meet, and how they’d change my life.”

Her eyes surveyed the crowd for Piers, hoping for him to flash a smile for emotional support, but he was nowhere in sight.  He wasn’t even on the sidelines with Marnie and the other league members.  She swallowed hard.

“This opportunity has meant the world to me.  And I’m grateful for it.  I’m grateful for all of you!  But it hasn’t been easy.  It wouldn’t be a challenge if it were easy, would it?  Parts of it came far easier than others… Battling Pokémon, knowing which moves to go with, that was easy.  But there’s so much more to being a champion than that.”

The crowd had grown silent, allowing her to speak.  She could hear the echo of her voice over the speakers and it made her want to shut up. But she persisted.  It was the least she could do.

“Many of my fans know I moved here two years back from a little region south of Unova that’s so small, it’s not even on most maps.  The few maps that do have Carolus have it drawn in as part of Unova.  As you can imagine, you don’t get a lot of exposure in a place like that.  I’m a pretty private person, so all this fame and attention has taken a lot of getting used to…  And I’ve decided it’s just not for me.  Not only that, but those who know me best know I get bored easily.  I can’t hold one title for long.  There’s just so much to do out there…”

Every cough she heard in the crowd made her paranoid.  She was going on way too long.  Did she even have a point to what she was saying?  She took a deep breath.

“Sorry, this is why I don’t talk much… I tend to just ramble.  I’m sure you’re wondering what the point of this whole lecture is…  I…  I’m stepping down as champion.”

Annais winced at the reception of these words.  There were gasps.  There were exclamations of disbelief.  She thought she heard a little bit of booing.  She could hardly bear to look at the astonished faces of everyone present.  And she still couldn’t locate Piers.  

But the most difficult part was already out in the open.  All she had to do is smooth it over a bit and she, Piers, and Marnie would be on the first plane back home to see her family again.  Though it was hard, she took off her crown, donned a smile, and continued.

“Just like Leon’s goal is that every trainer in Galar be the strongest, I have a goal too…  My goal is that everyone in Galar will be able to be true to themselves and aim their dreams, no matter what they are.  Being a champion isn’t for everyone.  Some of us are better suited elsewhere, and that’s okay! It’s not always easy to accept this. God, this wasn’t easy at all, but it takes strength and bravery.  As long as you’re true to yourself, as long as you do what ultimately makes you happy and proud, you’re a champion in my book.  You can be a champion researcher, a champion nursery worker, a champion stay-at-home mom, whatever!  And I bet you’d have a hard time finding any member of the league who disagrees with me on that.”

She looked over to Leon, her rivals, and the other gym leaders, who offered various forms of affirmation. Confidence restored, she looked back up at the audience.

“I hope to be back out here one day, if you’ll have me.  But like I said, I have a lot of dreams.  There’s a lot more I want to accomplish, and I know that being champion trainer is a dream to many of you, so I’ll let you have at it!  When the league starts up again next season, it will be a fresh start.  There will be no crown to snatch, no reigning champ to defeat for the title.  It’s anyone’s for the taking!  And I encourage everyone who has dreamed of this to give it a shot!  Don’t worry…  I already ran this past Leon- consider this your endorsement!”

Excited chatter filled the air, replacing the air of disappointment.  She felt slightly better knowing she wasn’t leaving them on such a bad note.

“I’m sending cheers to all of you!  Thank you again for everything, Galar!  Good night and good luck next season!”

She passed her crown over to her Golisopod to hold, and waved to the crowd.  As she was bidding farewell, some microphone feedback echoed in the stadium.

“Annais Renée Amaryllis!”

Annais stiffened at the sound of her full name from that all too familiar voice and spun around. Across the field, she saw Piers opposite her.  Her face lit up, but her heart raced.  What the fuck was he doing?

The crowd buzzed at his sudden appearance.

“It’s Piers!”

“What’s he doing here?”

“Is he going to challenge her?”

“I thought he retired?”

Piers smiled, one hand clutching his microphone stand, and the other holding something over his chest. She looked past him to the others that were gathered at the field entrance.  Most of them looked as lost as she did, save for Leon.  Piers was up to something, and Leon was in on it.  She thought back to when she let Leon know she was going to be stepping down, but had wanted one more exhibition match with him as a sendoff.  Piers requested a minute with him afterwards.  At the time, she had assumed he was just making sure that Leon understood this wasn’t some spur of the moment decision from her, or that he wasn’t the bad influence who talked her into it.

“Oi, Galar,” he spoke.  He was donning that mischievous grin of his.  That same grin he first gave her the first night they teamed up together.  “Did I hear ‘er right?  Ann, y’want everyone to be true to themselves, yeah?  To follow their dreams?”

The crowd cheered in agreement.  A furious blush claimed Annais’s cheeks.  She sheepishly nodded.

“Glad to hear that.  Galar, y’have no idea how long I’ve been waitin’ for this opportunity.  Pretty much since the first time I saw ‘er.”

Annais felt her heart melting.  He had always promised to one day kiss her in a stadium full of people, but she felt like it would never be allowed to happen.  Now that neither of them were at risk of getting suspended, she guessed he finally had his chance to make good on his word.  Maybe Piers had warned Leon of what he planned to do.  The crowd was hushed, only confused mummers amongst the stands.  Piers’s voice rang loud and clear.  Picking up his microphone, he wandered closer to the center of the field.

“Well, about a year back, this little unknown from Carolus crossed my gym.  I knew that moment she was the one.  Not only that she would be champion… But that she’d be the one I wanted to spend my whole rest of my life with.  It took me a while to get it together, but man, am I glad I did.  Y’know, this past year I felt like I was the real champion. I won somethin’ way better than any competition.”  He paused, beaming as he looked directly at her.  “I won this girl’s heart.  An’ true to her nature, she won mine with no contest.”

The audience cooed at Piers’s love confession; he really knew how to work a crowd.  As he spoke, the world around Annais felt like it was starting to spin.  This didn’t sound like the lead-up to a kiss at all.  This sounded a lot more serious, a lot like something she never expected of him. Oh God, he wasn’t… Was he?

“Galar… Y’probably never seen anythin’ like this.  An’ ya probably won’t again.  The League doesn’t much like PDA, but seein’ as both of us are retired now, we’re just a couple punks with nothin’ left to lose.  Get your cameras ready, cos there’s not gonna be an encore.”

Piers stopped a few feet in front of her.

“Annais,” he said, sitting his microphone stand off to the side.

“Piers…”

She felt herself shaking. She was nervous.  She was nauseous.  She could hardly breathe from waiting for what he would do next.  But it wasn’t a bad thing.  Not at all, she’d never been more excited in her entire life.

“Ann…”  The microphone couldn’t pick up his voice now.  He got down on one knee, and her hand clasped her mouth.  It was really happening!  He cleared his throat.

“My dream is to be your husband, an’ for you to be my wife,” he sang, so softly that only she could hear.  “My dream is to spend the rest of my days with you, all my days for the rest of my life…”

He opened the Pokéball that he had been clutching over his heart- a love ball, much like the ones she kept each of her Pokémon in.  The top of the Pokéball popped open, revealing a little ring inside.  Annais’s eyes grew wide as they darted from the ring to catch his own eyes.  She began to tear up as he gave her the most comforting smile.

“Will you make this humble singer’s dreams a reality?  Annais Renée…  Will you marry me?”

Annais burst into tears in front of all of Galar, bobbing her head because the words couldn’t come out. She fell to her knees with him, throwing her arms around him and nearly knocking him over, not caring how ridiculous she may have looked.

“C’mon, Ann… Y’know the song an’ dance by now.  I need to hear that beautiful voice of yours say it,” he whispered in her ear with a smile. “Don’ make me the only fool out here tonight.”

“Yes,” she sobbed, pulling away from him and holding his shoulders.  “Yes!  Yes!”

Everyone in the stands continued her ‘Yes’ chant as Piers slipped the ring on her finger.  After helping her up to her feet, he held her hand up so a close-up could be projected onto the stadium jumbotron.  His own free hand reached for his mic stand.

“Y’here that, Galar?” yelled Piers.  “She said yes!”

Piers inadvertently started a new chant.  As the crowd repeated his last words over and over, Annais wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest.  The sanctuary she sought was short-lived; the knuckle of his forefinger and thumb lifted her chin up so she could meet his eyes.

“I believe I’ve been promisin’ you somethin’ since our very first night together,” he said.  Face flushed; she gave him one nod to proceed.

Arms around her waist too, Piers leaned down and gave her that long-awaited kiss in front of all of Galar.  He swept her off her feet, dipping her body back dramatically as he deepened the kiss.  If this was going to be their one shot at it, why not make it a big one?

The crowd went wild.  Whistles and shouts filled the stadium.  Piers squeezed Annais tight, letting his tongue coax hers and take her breath away.  Annais swore she felt a tear or two fall from his eyes onto her cheek.  She clutched him tighter as he eased up.

“Y’like that?”  Piers whispered against her lips.

“It was everything I ever dreamed of, Nez”

He smiled and gave her one more peck on the lips.

“Think I can carry you outta here, love?”

“I know I could carry you out,” Annais laughed.  “But that won’t look as cute.”

“Yeah, I think we've already caused enough of a bloody uproar.” Piers straightened up.  “Let’s get outta here.  Carolus is waitin'.”

His fingers laced between hers and they crossed the field, waving to the crowd as her Golisopod trailed behind them.  She may no longer have been champion, but she believed she still came out on top.