Chapter Text
You can hardly believe your eyes the first time you see him at the arena. Surely this is some kind of mistake. The Unbeatable… well formerly unbeatable… now dethroned Champion Leon.
The first few times he came he just watched and you just watched him. Your curiosity getting the better of you, besides if rumor has it, he’s looking for you.
Tonight as he steps into the ring there is a tension in the stagnant air. The old warehouse that is playing arena this month rife with the smell of sulfur and dust. The abandoned warehouse is old and in disrepair, but not old enough to become home to Pokemon or not be able to handle the battles. After all, these weren’t League battles, these were something else entirely. A high chain link fence goes up almost to the rafters of the old building. Spotlights shine down with a yellow light and makeshift stands were brought in. The betting pool is where the real fun is though. Everyone is betting against him, this isn’t his usual crowd.
These are rejects of the League, the dropouts and unsponsored. They hold no love for the champion of a sport that rejected them. However, they still love the thrill of battle, that’s what draws them here.
Leon only thought he was the strongest trainer in all of Galar.
He has never battled here.
He has never battled you.
“What does our former Champion want?” taunts the Five of Clubs.
He’s new meat, just beginning to make his way up the battle ranks. He’s progressed fast and he shows promise. That cocky attitude of his is to be desired though.
“I want to battle the strongest trainer here.”
“The Queen doesn’t take challengers that haven’t proven themselves worthy.”
“I’m the Champion!”
“Former Champion.”
Leon grits his teeth and lowers his head to hide his face under his hat.
“Still! Isn’t that proof enough? I was the Unbeatable-”
“We know! We know! The Unbeatable Champion!” interjects the Knight of Hearts. Her shrill voice cutting through the air like a siren.
“To answer your question, no it’s not enough. This isn’t your precious League. That would be like one of us walking out onto your pitch and demanding a battle from you. You haven’t earned the right to battle The Queen yet.”
“What do I have to do to battle her?”
“Move up the ranks, this isn’t playtime and you aren’t the king anymore.”
There is a chorus of cackles that go up from the crowd and Leon accepts the challenge with false confidence. He’s three battles in when he falls.
You watch emotionlessly as the Three of Diamonds’ Machoke slams his Charizard to the ground and Leon panics when he doesn’t get up.
“Charizard! Buddy?!” He rushes towards him and cradles the fire lizard’s massive head in his hands. You’ve never seen such a sight in your life.
“Deal with your teammate Diamond,” you mutter as you glance over to the young woman to your left.
“What?” she asks with faux innocence, “He knew what he was getting into!”
“You know they went harder on him than was appropriate. If something happened to his Charizard I’m going to have to deal with it. Don’t make me do that.”
“You got it Majesty!” She says in a mocking tone.
You roll your eyes at her as you leave your place on the upper level. Heading down the stairs you can still hear Leon’s panic over his friend. The crowd parts for you, but he doesn’t even notice your presence until you are right next to him.
“He’s going to be okay. Let’s get you two out of here.”
He whipped his head around to face you with fire in his eyes, “Don’t touch him.”
His voice is cold and hard. You put your hands up in a surrender position and stand up before backing away.
“You need to get him to a center. The angle that he hit the ground could have seriously harmed him and the faster you get him treatment the better.”
“You don’t think I know that?! I know how to take care of my team!”
“Then perhaps you should stop panicking and get moving.”
You feel his glare more than you see it as he returns his partner and rushes from the arena. You can hear the jeering crowd as he rushes out the door.
“It’s weird not seeing him in that stupid cape…” One of the cards says.”
You pay him no mind as you return to your place to watch the rest of the battles.
A week goes by before you see him again. He’s standing in the crowd watching the battles take place before he challenges one of the contenders.
“Look, we humored you the first time, but this is serious shit okay? I got rent to pay and I can’t do it if you don’t let me do my thing.”
“What you don’t think you can win against me?” Leon challenges.
“Listen Ace, you need a team to endorse you. One of the Kings or Queens have to let you on their team, once that happens you battle up the ranks. Once you’re a rank that is of any kind of importance then you can challenge royalty. Until then…. you’re a Joker. Jokers gotta prove themselves worthy of challenging those on a team by an elimination tournament. Only the top four competitors get the chance to be chosen for a team and that’s only if one of the royals likes you enough to pick you. No guarantees.”
“What makes this any different than the sponsors then? You’re still excluding people.”
“Anybody can join the Tournament of Fools, only the strongest get chosen for a team. The Kings and Queens have standards and you have to meet them. That’s the rules.”
Leon has a fire in his eyes you’ve never seen before, so you aren’t surprised when he asks.
“When’s the next Tournament of Fools?”
“Two weeks.”
“I’ll be there.”
With a roll of your eyes, you watch as the former champion leaves the arena. There is only one person you know that may have the answer to what’s going on.
Spikemuth feels like home as you walk through the neon-lit streets. When you get to the arena and you see Piers up on stage you lean back against the wall to watch the set. It’s a few songs before he notices you, but when he does he puts a halt to the practice.
“What have I done to warrant a visit from her Majesty?” he asks in an almost mocking tone. You know better though, you can hear the underlying nerves from a life he’s left behind.
“Absolutely nothing, I figured you may be able to help me through… It seems a former champion intends to join the Tournament of Fools in a couple of weeks.”
“Leon? In the Underground?”
“Yes, and I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“They’ll eat him alive…”
“They already have and he’s coming back for more.”
Piers looks away from you, “I’ll go talk to him…”
“That’s a good idea.”
“If I can’t convince him though…”
“You know there is nothing that I can do Piers.”
“So you won’t even try?”
“I can’t just scoop the former champion up in order to protect him… You of all people should know this. I got you out Piers, now I need you to keep him from coming back.”
You don’t see Leon over the next two weeks, and you believe that Piers got through to him. It’s not until the night of the tournament that he returns. You notice among the crowd Piers and Raihan obviously trying to keep their friend from making a big mistake, but he doesn’t seem to be listening.
The crowd is rife with anticipation and as Leon walks up to the sign-in sheet you can hear the whispers go up among them. They can’t wait to watch him fail.
“You have all heard of the Four Royals of the Underground, but now it’s time to see them with your own eyes! We have the King of Hearts, and his specialty is Fairy Types! Don’t let their innocence fool you! You will fall in love just for him to break your heart!” A tall man with dark hair swept back neatly stands up. He’s wearing a black suit with a red shirt underneath. The mask covering his eyes is white, he winks flirtatiously at the audience.
“Next, we have the Queen of Diamonds! Her exterior isn’t the only thing icy about her! Her team will freeze you in place and shatter your chances of victory.” Diamond stands up with her icy blonde hair down in loose curls. Her white dress is long and form-fitting shimmering in the light. The smirk on her face is haughty as she regards the crowd.
“We can’t forget our King of Clubs! This master of street brawls will put any and all dojos to shame! One right hook is all it takes for his killer team to take the win!” Clubs stands up and cracks his knuckles while he regards the audience with a sneer. He’s wearing a pair of ripped jeans with a black shirt and black leather jacket.
“And finally, last but certainly not least, the Queen of Spades! She may let you pick your poison, but that doesn’t mean you can take it!” You stand up in your black pants, combat boots and long black coat cascading down behind you. You regard the crowd cooly as you give a smirk and a wave.
“Alright contestants! It’s not only your job to win, but you have to impress royalty as well! Better bring your A-game. Only four of you have a chance at getting chosen tonight. Let’s go!”
The battles begin with four on four battle royals. You aren’t surprised when among the amateurs Leon shines. He wasn’t the Unbeatable Champion for the last few years for nothing, and despite his previous losses, he isn’t weak.
“Leon’s doing pretty good… I may just recruit him so I can break him a little bit…” Clubs chuckles as he glances over at Diamond. She snickers before she turns back to the battle. There is no love for Leon here. He represents everything that most of the trainers in the Underground hate. He succeeded where they couldn’t and now he’s infringing upon their territory.
When the battles are over Leon stands victorious over all of the competitors. You had hoped he would be ignored regardless of how good he is and be turned away, but you know that’s not the case. You know what you have to do even if you hate it.
“Our reigning champion will be choosing for her team first. Your Majesty.”
You watch as Leon’s eyes zero in on you as you stand up and regard each of the trainers. You know you’re who he has been searching for.
“Leon,” you announce in an almost bored tone.
The crowd is silent as Leon makes his way to your team. You can feel the eyes of your rivals and they are rife with hostility.
“Someone is going soft…” mutters Diamond.
“I literally destroyed you last week… you sure?” you ask as you turn towards her with an arrogant smirk.
She huffs and looks away.
You regard Leon as he walks by you to sit in the only vacant seat on your team.
“You know Spades… If you didn’t already have a target on your back, you do now. Sticking your neck out for the former champion… bleeding heart ain’t ya?” Clubs drawls from his seat.
“If I couldn’t handle a target on my back I wouldn’t be the High Queen, would I? Do your worst Clubs… it still won’t be good enough.” you murmur almost innocently.
“Now… now… this is supposed to be a fun event! You’re all so serious!” Hearts interjects with a pointed look at Clubs.
He just sneers at the two of you before he turns to evaluate the rest of the candidates. The other royalty chooses their teammates quickly and the teams welcome their new Aces to their teams. Once the formalities are over everybody heads out to go to a party in the warehouse. Before Leon can leave you whip your head around to face him, “You’re coming with me… we need to talk.”
You lead him into your makeshift office before you round on him, “I hope you know precisely what you’ve gotten yourself and me into.”
“Look! I just want a chance to prove-”
“What? That you’re the best? The most powerful? News flash. You’ve never been the best or the most powerful, there is always someone better and more powerful. Victory is fleeting and now you’re a target. They want to destroy you.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle!” he says clearly offended.
“Like you handled it the other night?” he looks away from you.
“Look… I feel for you,” you continue, “but you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“It’s just a battle league!”
“It’s way more than that…”
Before you can explain Piers and Raihan burst into the room and you roll your eyes at the pair.
“(Name)! You chose him!”
You glare over at Piers, “You didn’t do your job…”
“I tried… it’s not my fault he didn’t listen…” he says with slight annoyance.
“Wait. How do you two know each other?”
“We used to battle together, we went up the ranks together.”
“Piers… you were in the Underground League?”
“Yeah… I had to make money somehow and this was the best way. When Marnie got older I got out, but it wasn’t easy. If it wasn’t for (Name) here I would still be in the League.”
“Doing what?”
“Whatever I needed to do.”
“Getting out of the League isn’t always easy. Sometimes you just have to retire otherwise, you have to be released.”
“What do they do if you aren’t released?”
“They pretty much destroy your life.”
“Destroy your life?”
“Look it’s all fun and games for the most part, but there is a market for illegal Pokémon here. That’s where the Underground comes in.”
“You steal Pokémon!?”
“No! We aren’t Team Rocket! We catch them, some of the more esteemed are breeders. No body’s abusing Pokémon here, but if you want a Pokémon that isn’t exactly supposed to be here, we have our ways. For this reason, it’s exclusive. I don’t even know how you found out about us let alone found us.”
“Some guy just told me about you all.”
“What guy?”
“I don’t know his name… maybe if I saw him I would recognize him?”
“That’s not good… It sounds like a trap…”
“Why would that be a trap?”
“Because this is an underground league with illegal side work and you’re a celebrity. What makes you think this isn’t a trap?” you in annoyance.
“I didn’t know you smuggled illegal pokemon!”
“That’s because you aren’t even supposed to know we exist!” you snap.
“Well what do we do now?” asks Leon.
“I don’t know… but you have to get stronger, they are going to be coming for you.”
He frowns at you but nods, determination in his eyes, “What do I need to do?”
“We’re going to the training ground tomorrow.”
“Where’s that?”
“Oh, you’ll see…”