LionHeartedShipping

LionHeartShipping is the Het ship between Leon and Sonia from the Pokémon fandom.

Canon
In all canons Leon and Sonia are childhood friends, Sonia bore witness to Leon's rise as the undefeated champion, though she once herself was a battler and even traveled alongside Leon through the Galar region she retired to become a researcher and in-training Pokémon professor. Regardless of her different career path, the two remained close and in contact, even as Leon's fame and his undefeated streak grew, and Chairman's Rose sponsorship drew a slight wedge between them. In the events of the game canon, Leon and Sonia don't interact much but their history together is alluded to multiple times through the story. After Leon loses to the player they presumably rekindle their deeper friendship since Leon is no longer bound by his Champion duties and is shown to have forged a new path for himself. In the anime canon their relationship is expanded on as during focus episodes we learn of how Sonia and Leon became close friends and how truly meaningful their friendship really is.

In In Sword and Shield... The Legends Awaken!, Sonia rescues an injured Leon and takes care of him after his botched attempt at subduing and catching Eternatus. Once Ash and Goh succeeded in catching the out-of-control Legendary; Leon, Sonia and Professor Magnolia all decided to keep Eternatus contained in its Pokéball out of caution about its power and aggressiveness. In Meeting Up with the Monarch! Sonia talks to Goh about hers and Leon's childhood experiences and information about Leon himself. She tells him that Leon's still at heart a kid amazed by Pokémon and that she was Leon's only friend in their childhood, as Leon himself was shy and reserved and only ever confided in Sonia since she was the only person of his own age he could rely on. In the final round of the Masters Eight, regardless of her own support for Ash, Sonia roots for Leon and alongside Hop is one of the only named major characters to be shown actively rooting for the Galar Champion in his match against Ash.

At the start of the final match, Leon reminisces of his first-ever battle against Sonia when both were children and trainers. During the heat of the match between Leon's Mr. Rime and Ash's Gengar, Sonia notices that Leon is for the first time truly excited and fired up in a Pokémon battle, a passion she hadn't seen in a long while. During a clash between Ash's Pikachu and Leon's Charizard, Sonia is reminded of how much Leon has grown as a trainer ever since they were children. She is also reminded of her battle with Leon. It is in the final part of the match between Ash and Leon that we learn that Sonia was the only trainer before Ash to ever defeat Leon in a fight, defeating his Charmander with her Rookidee in an unofficial battle.

Fanon
LionHeartShipping is a relatively popular ship in the fandom. It's also among the most popular Leon and Sonia ships rivaled only by TrueRivalShipping (the ship between Leon and Raihan) and AquaHeartShipping (the ship between Sonia and Nessa). The ship's followers enjoy the existing childhood best friends dynamic and trust that exists between the two, particularly due to Sonia having been the most important person in Leon's life as his only friend as a child and even with the rift that grew between them still knew him all too well, and thus it's common for fandom plots to involve a budding childhood friendship to romance scenario. Other material expanding on their interactions also make their relationship be based on both characters admiring the other in their own strengths and vice-versa.

It's fairly minor in AO3 compared to TrueRivalShipping and there might be ocasional friction between shippers due to both Raihan's and Sonia's dynamics with Leon in canon, especially as Raihan has a crush on Sonia himself complicating matters further. It's also rivaled by AquaHeartShipping, as Sonia and Nessa are canonically friends as well, though not to the extent that Sonia and Leon are.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Leon/Sonia on FanFiction.Net
 * Leon/Sonia on FanFiction.Net

FAN ART

TWITTER

Trivia

 * Sonia is the only trainer (former in her case) besides Victor/Gloria and Ash to defeat Leon in a Pokémon battle.
 * Leon's battle against Ash in the anime was said to remind him of his own battle against Sonia. Notably it's both battles the only ones he ever lost.