#Sycamore initially thinks they're there to learn but then he catches one trying to steal the childhood photos from the walls

[sage-nebula]

How do you think Alan would handle fans gushing over him after he becomes champion?

TL;DR: He really doesn’t like it.

As for a longer explanation …

It’s going to be explained (by Alan himself!) in a quick little fic I hope to have posted soon that Alan does not become Champion for accolades or glory. It’s the opposite, actually; Alan takes the Champion challenge both as a way to atone for what he did while in Lysandre’s service (because though it was unintentional on his part, given the lies and manipulation and emotional abuse, he still blames himself), as well as to ensure that nothing like that ever happens again. More specifically, Alan believes that strength is meant for protecting others. He says as much in canon when he opposes Lysandre. By becoming Champion, Alan can use the strength he has to protect everyone in Kalos. That’s why he goes for the job. It was never about accolades or glory. 

(And as a side note to that, it’s important to remember that this is Alan’s approach to literally everything he does. For Alan, it’s never about accolades or glory. He doesn’t care about that. When Alan says that he wants to defeat other mega evolution users and “stand at the top,” he says that because he wants to have the strength necessary to protect those he loves (namely Sycamore, at the time of making that little speech). The primary reason, after all, that he agreed to work for Lysandre in the first place was so that he could protect Sycamore. And while he did enter the League because he wanted to do something nice for himself for a change and see / battle Ash again, the reason why he was happy about winning the League was not because he now had a shiny trophy to prove how awesome he was, but because it assured him that he had the strength necessary to protect those he cares about + the world. Alan does not care about accolades and actually tends to look down on those who have an inflated sense of self-importance / only care about looking awesome (i.e. are pretentious—see his reaction to Louie). So it stands to reason that his motivation behind becoming Champion would not be because he wants to look supremely awesome, but rather because he wants to use his strength to protect, just as he always has, and being Champion is a job designed for him to do just that.)

So to that end, having people fawn over him for being the Champion would make him uncomfortable. Alan is reserved to begin with, and doesn’t enjoy being in the spotlight to the point where it’s clear (though sometimes very subtle) that certain social situations make him uncomfortable. For instance, when he and Manon first meet, he keeps looking away from her in the midst of their introductory conversation to look at / pet Lizardon instead:

This is, as we especially see in XYZ036 when he moves to stand closer to Lizardon after Malva enters the stadium and starts talking to him, something he does whenever he feels uncomfortable. Lizardon makes him feel safe and secure, restoring a level of comfort to him when he feels he has lost it. So although it’s very subtle, the fact that Alan keeps tuning Manon out to pet or otherwise interact with Lizardon instead is a sign that he wasn’t exactly into conversing with her. As a bonus point to this, a play-by-play of what led to the second screencap:

Manon brings up Sycamore, and that immediately catches Alan’s attention, and not in a happy way. We know (and we are shown in beautiful, subtle detail in short order) that Alan misses Sycamore terribly at this point in time. So when Manon brings Sycamore up, on top of not wanting the attention, Alan feels emotional distress, and so what does he do? After Manon says Sycamore’s name for a second time, Alan looks away from her and starts petting Lizardon, seeking comfort. It’s not until Manon brings up Gabrielle that Alan looks back at her:

And none of this is happy news, either. Poor Manon. She thought she was telling Alan an exciting story that would make him feel friendly toward her, and instead, since she doesn’t know him at all, it has the opposite effect … (And it is specifically when the word gablias / garchomp leaves her mouth that he looks over. As if the close-up on him a second later wasn’t enough to drive the point home, it is specifically hearing that something happened to Gabrielle that shocks / upsets him enough to look back. She’s just going on and on about the family he feels he’s not allowed to see anymore, and he …)

Anyway, on top of that, Alan also isn’t exactly thrilled when she climbs up on his rock to invade his space and continue asking him questions.

He answers her questions, but the look on his face and the preceding “uh …” shows that this isn’t something he’s very used to, nor necessarily comfortable with. (And again, even before this point, the way he kept turning again and again to Lizardon …) 

On top of that, there was how visibly uncomfortable he was when that reporter started pestering him during the Kalos League:

And then, though the episode is non-canon to his story in my mind, he also shows very noticeable and obvious anxiety / discomfort when Manon tries to drag him to dance during the Showcase following the Flare crisis. It … actually triggered some very, very bad memories from my adolescence for me when I saw that, because of the way Alan was pushed into doing it despite his obvious discomfort and protests (with Sycamore verbally pushing him toward it, no less? Sycamore, you know better), so I’m not going to grab a screencap because I don’t feel the need to put myself through that trigger and have an attack because it all over again, but you can always reference the episode yourself. 

Nonetheless, the point I’m trying to get here is that while Alan is not timid by any stretch, and while he can talk to others and form relationships with them, he is still a reserved person who doesn’t really enjoy spotlight, and does get noticeably uncomfortable in certain social situations (particularly if you know him / can pick up on subtle things like how he pulls closer to Lizardon for comfort when he’s uneasy). So in all honesty, having anyone fawn over him for anything is bound to make him uncomfortable. He would really, really rather not be showered in attention if it can be avoided. (As a sidenote, I headcanon that this is why Sycamore held a private medal ceremony at the lab, rather than putting on the parade in the games. The state of Lumiose aside, Sycamore knows that Alan is reserved and still somewhat shy even now, and didn’t want to put him through the stress of a full parade, especially after what happened. It’s what makes Sycamore telling him to go dance when he should full well know that Alan wouldn’t want to dance in public like that, especially after Alan has said he doesn’t want to, even more mind-boggling, but … whatever.)

But even setting all of that aside, and going back to how Alan did not go after the position for the accolades, it’s important to remember that Alan does not have a sense of self-importance, at all. Setting aside self-worth issues he has after all that happened, Alan has never been arrogant. He’s confident in his and Lizardon’s abilities (though he does recognize when they need more training), and he believes in Lizardon absolutely, but he doesn’t place massive importance on himself and, as mentioned before, actually shows open distaste for pretentious people (see: Louie). To that end, this extends to how he wants others to address him. When they first introduce themselves to each other, Ash actually calls him Alan-san at first, which is a respectful honorific (like, not massively respectful, but it’s equivalent to “Mr” in Japanese). And what is Alan’s reaction?

Alan doesn’t want to be referred to with respectful honorifics or titles. He’d much rather people just call him by name. I actually reference this in “Validation”, through narration:

“You remembered,” Ayaka said, and she laughed a little. “I can’t help but feel a little pleased about that.”

“Don’t be,” Alan said. “It’s not really saying much to be remembered by me.”

Ayaka chuckled again, and ducked her head for only a moment before she looked back up at him. “And so humble, too, after all this time,” she said. “I’d say that’s pretty impressive, Champion.”

Alan didn’t know what to say to that (he was just being honest, his memory being what it was, and really he preferred it if people addressed him by his name rather than his title), so he shrugged.

So on top of not being fond of having people lavishing attention on him to begin with, Alan especially wouldn’t care for people to fawn over him because he’s the Champion. To him, the importance of being Champion lies in the opportunities it gives him to protect people, and do right by them (especially after all that happened with Flare). It’s not about prestige, and it’s certainly not about his own importance (of which he feels there is very little). It’s not something to be gushed over, and anyway, he wouldn’t very much see the point in gushing over him. Don’t the fawners have anything better to do? If they really admire his strength, then it would make more sense for them to go train so they, too, can be strong. On top of being uncomfortable, he’d also be a little confused as to why the adoring fans are wasting their time with him when they could be doing something productive elsewhere instead.

So yeah, he really, really wouldn’t enjoy it. It would be his least favorite part of the job. To that end, part of the online (in-universe) Discourse™ about Alan is that he’s such a reclusive Champion, particularly when compared to his predecessor, Diantha. As a famous movie star, Diantha never had any problems being in the spotlight, and in fact was routinely in the spotlight throughout her seventeen / eighteen years as Champion. On top of making the public appearances necessary for her position (as Champion, but also appearances as a movie star at award shows and the like), she also regularly appeared on talk shows, as a guest on cooking shows, as part of a paid promotional campaign to promote Fleur-De-Lis Laboratories’ technology a few years back, in magazines for interviews, et cetera. On top of all that, Diantha uses various social media platforms pretty regularly, and has millions of followers. Diantha was always very, very in the public eye (and still is even after Alan becomes Champion since she’s still a movie star, but you know).

Alan, on the other hand, is at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum. He doesn’t use social media aside from his ImmediGram, which never has selfies on it and very rarely has pictures of his human family or friends (though there are a decent number of Lizardon photos, as well as photos of pretty scenery he took while they were flying). He doesn’t friend strangers on FateBook and has his privacy settings locked down, and is rarely on it besides, and he doesn’t have or use a Tripter or Shakr (well, he might have a Shakr thanks to Manon’s badgering, but he never logs on). He declines requests to appear on talk and variety shows and doesn’t do interviews unless it’s absolutely necessary. Compared to Diantha, Alan is practically a cryptid Champion, and this causes quite a bit of Discourse™ online as a result. (Of course, people can run into him on the street and such, but again, he tends to excuse himself if people start fawning, and the paparazzi learn quickly not to get too close because Lizardon, as we see in that one end tag with the reporter, will protect Alan from them of his own volition if necessary.) 

So yeah, while he would appear at events where his presence is required (e.g. at the annual Leagues and such), and while he would give interviews / press conferences when absolutely necessary, and while he doesn’t mind talking to people like a normal person on the street … Alan would not at all enjoy people gushing over him. It’d make him uncomfortable, he’d wonder why they’d waste their time with it, and he’d try to excuse himself as soon as possible. He would also, I think, usually try to tell people to call him “Alan” instead of “Champion”, but I have a feeling that some people would insist anyway. He’d try, though, at the very least, and that’s what matters.