Chapter Text
The crowd is deafening. Leon throws off his cap and congratulates the new champion, his voice ringing across the scorched field, loud enough to be heard by those in the front row. His challenger is Hop's friend, he knows. Hop's friend, who saved the region from Eternatus. Not him. The kid deserves this win, but Leon's chest is aching painfully. He wants to leave, but he knows that won't be possible for a few hours. He needs to steel himself off, focus on something else. He turns towards the entrance to the stadium, and sees Raihan standing there, a gentle smile softening his features. Leon smiles back, to which Raihan tilts his head, arms crossed across his chest.
He mouths something to Leon, but the champion – former champion – can't make it out.
The new champion – Victor – stands next to him now, brown eyes brimming with tears. Excitement. He recalls how he felt on this same day, six years ago. It feels like it's been longer. It feels like it's been no time at all. Leon allows tears to fill his own eyes, only for a moment. He'll have a proper cry later, maybe. He reaches out and shakes Victor's hand.
His voice doesn't feel like his own as he announces the new champion to the crowd. His head feels cloudy, dizzy. The shouts muddle together and it's like a crescendo of noise descending upon him, suffocating him. He wants to be anywhere but here, but he keeps smiling.
When the two turn around to exit, Raihan is gone, leaving only interview teams in his wake, and Leon feels his stomach twist. He feels tears threaten to fall from his stinging eyes, as if Raihan being there was the only thing keeping him together, and maybe it was. It wouldn't be the first time.
Ten Years Ago
Leon, Age 12
Wild Area
Leon's Charmeleon was strong. When he jumped into dynamax dens – something Sonia hated – he was always the most powerful Pokemon there. That was what he had been doing all day, fighting dynamax Pokemon after dynamax Pokemon. He never caught them. He tried a few times, and they always broke out, but he sure had a lot of berries and technical records, now. He'd taught his Charmeleon flamethrower with one, and now he was kicking even more butt.
Sonia's dad wasn't doing well. Leon had wanted to go with her to visit him, but she didn't want him to. It secretly hurt his feelings, but he didn't say so. He had a lot of feelings, and it always felt like too much. Like if he talked about them he wouldn't be able to stop, and then no one would like him, or something like that. It might be dumb, but it was what he thought.
What was really dumb was how lost he was.
Hail pelted him harshly, and although he clung tightly to his Charmeleon, he was freezing, his breath came out in puffs in front of him, and his Charmeleon cooed quietly, something like concern coloring his expression. He needed to set up camp, soon. He'd intended to get back to the meet-up spot, and nap on one of the couches in the train station, but without Sonia, he hadn't been able to find it. At one point, he'd tried to call his friend, but she hadn't picked up. She hadn't responded to his text messages, either, and if Leon wasn't worried about her dad, he might be annoyed.
“Okay, Flicker,” he said, placing the Charmeleon on the ground. The Pokemon tilted his head as his name was spoken. “I'm gonna make some curry and uh- set up camp.” He crouched down, the packed snow soaking through his pant legs and sending a shiver through him. He dug through his bag, removing his gloves so that he could rummage easier. Maybe something spicy? He had some spicy berries somewhere here, didn't he?
A blast of fire shot past his ear, incinerating his train of thought, and singing his ear. Leon fell backwards with a yelp. He grasped frantically at his long, purple hair, checking for any signs of singing. His hair had caught fire before. Not fun. “Flicker, what the-”
Leon's almost-cuss was cut off by a feral roar. He froze in place, wishing for the ice to consume him, because he knew that cry anywhere. He knew that if you heard that cry, even distantly, you ran in the opposite direction as fast as you could. That was the number one rule of the wild area. Leon turned around, trembling. A massive pink head stared down at him, lips pulled back in an angry, hungry smile. Bewears weren't sneaky. How had this one--
It roared. Really roared. It sounded sort of squeaky, really, but Arceus above, Leon knew this thing could kill him by looking at him wrong. He was gonna die.
Flicker tugged at his pant leg, a whimper sounding from him, and Leon snapped back to reality. He turned and ran, tripping immediately over his bag. Berries tumbled onto the ground, and his bare hands felt like they were burning with cold, but Leon didn't have time to care about that right now. He had to go, go--
He ran. He ran until his chest felt like it was going to burst. The fire on his Charmeleon's tail was twice its usual size, and the Pokemon left a trail of melted snow behind him as he ran. Eventually, Leon had to choose between dying from a collapsed lung, or possibly dying from a Bewear. He stopped, chest heaving painfully as he doubled over. His hands clasped his knees and he looked behind them. No Bewear. No camp stuff, either. Leon shuddered and fell into the snow, a groan escaping him. Flicker let out a soft whine and curled up next to his trainer.
“Sorry, Flicker.” Leon rasped. He was going to die. He was going to die in the wild area, alone, before he even registered for the gym challenge. He closed his eyes. He breathed slowly. He felt flicker curl up on his chest and nuzzle his neck.
He was going to die.
“Uh, are you alright?”
Leon's eyes blinked open, his jaw parting slightly. Above him stood a boy, about his age. His skin was darker than Leon's own, and he wore loose-fitting clothes. The sides of his head were shaved, with the remainder sitting atop his head in a pile of thick curls, and he had the most stunning blue eyes Leon had ever seen. He realized all these things before he thought to reply, or before he bothered to realize that he might not die today. Flicker stood on his hind legs and tilted his head up at the other boy.
“I'm. Cold.” Leon managed. Flicker turned to him, eyes narrowing, as if asking a question. Leon kept his eyes on the boy.
“Uh, hi Cold, I'm Raihan.” The boy- Raihan – extended his hand toward Leon, who snorted at the joke. Raihan grinned, sharp canine teeth poking out. Oh. Leon blushed. He didn't know why he was blushing- something about that smile. He took his hand. It was warm. He was warm. Suddenly. He didn't know when that had happened, or why, but he tugged his hand out of Raihan's as soon as he was standing, focusing instead on patting snow off his legs.
“I'm Leon.”
“Okay, Leon. Why are you out here, lying in the snow, without a pack?”
Leon frowned, not making eye contact. “Bewear.” He said, his cheeks feeling hot. He must look like a right idiot. Leon hated when people assumed he was daft. He wasn't daft. He was better at maths than anyone in his class. Not that it mattered, because he'd left all his homework with his pack, which was probably in a Bewear's belly by now.
“Rough,” Raihan said. He was taller than Leon, and standing close. “Well, I was gonna set up camp anyway. I'll make come curry or you and the cutie.” He leaned down to scratch Flicker's chin. The Charmeleon hesitated for a moment, before leaning into the touch, making a noise not unlike a purr. Raihan laughed and sent out his own Pokemon- a Trapinch and a Torkoal. Instantly, the area around them warmed, and Leon breathed a sigh.
“Yeah, I don't gotta worry about getting cold s'long as I have Torkoal,” Raihan said, picking through his own pack for curry ingredients. His eyes were focused, and Leon noticed that he bit his lip when he was focusing. He was tall. He had already noticed that, but he was really, really tall. “Say, could you stop staring at me for a second and help pitch the tent or something?”
Leon flinched. Staring? He supposed he had been. He cleared his throat and, not saying anything for fear of looking even more like an idiot, he began to pitch the tent, something he was, thank Arceus, good at. He didn't know if he could handle being bad at anything else.
Silence fell between them, and Leon got to thinking about everything that had just happened. His pack was gone. His supplies, his own tent, all his food. He had some money and his phone in his pocket, but the charger for the phone had been in the pack, too. His teachers weren't going to believe that a Bewear ate his homework. Sonia was probably miffed at him for not leaving her alone. Flicker probably thought he was pathetic. He'd almost died, and the only reason he wasn't dead was because of a friendly beanpole.
“You alright, mate?”
Raihan was beside him now, and Leon felt, again, like an idiot. He blinked away the tears and nodded. “Fine.”
“Well,” Raihan placed a hand on his hip, “I won't press ya, but you can talk to me, or whatever. I don't talk to a lot of people, but, y'know,” he made a vague hand gesture. “Curry is ready. It's spicy, so don't... be a wimp.”
Leon laughed at that, and Raihan smiled.
They settled in and ate. Raihan wasn't lying about spice levels. Flicker couldn't seem to get enough. He reached over when he was done with his and tried to snatch some from Leon, who responded with a light tap on the Pokemon's nose.
“Wanna battle me?”
Leon blinked. “Battle?”
“Never heard of it?” laughter echoed in Raihan's voice.
“No- yes- yeah, sure.” Leon stood, Flicker standing by his side. Maybe a battle would help shake off the whole almost dying thing. It couldn't hurt.
Raihan grinned and rose. He nodded to his Trapinch, who hobbled forward. “Alright, girl, hit 'em with a bulldoze!”
“Flamethrower!” Leon called. He couldn't let that bulldoze hit. He didn't have any other Pokemon, and he didn't want to go down easily all because of a type advantage. Luckily, Flicker was never one to be outpaced, and the jet of fire flew towards the Trapinch, hitting it just as its front legs were about to hit the ground. It cried and tumbled back, flailing a bit in the snow, before letting out a low whine and hunkering down.
“Aw, what?” Raihan grumbled, but he didn't force the Pokemon back into combat. He picked her up and let her snuggled into his jacket instead. “Come on, Torkoal. Show this lizard a real flamethrower!”
The Torkoal was slow, and Leon managed to get another Flamethrower off first, but the attack seemed to bounce off the shelled Pokemon. Its own flamethrower came in full force, sending Flicker tumbling. He wasn't out of it yet, though. The Charmeleon shook his head and bared his teeth. “Right, uh, uh- dragon breath!”
Flicker nodded affirmatively, then breathed a beam of sparking purple light. It hit the Torkoal square between the eyes, and sparks of electricity burst around the battlefield. The Torkoal grunted and tried to shake off the paralysis, to no avail.
“Fuck-- ah, sorry. Damn. Call 'er off.” Raihan stepped forward, medicine at the ready, and began to pat his Torkoal's head. The turtle let out a happy rumble in response. “That Charmeleon of yours is something else.”
Leon smiled like that, about to reply with some sort of affirmation when Raihan interrupted once again. “That smile's something else, too.” Leon faltered, his voice catching, but Raihan only snorted.
“Want to be my--” Friend? “Rival?” Nailed it.
Raihan paused for a moment, staring at Leon with wide eyes. Then he jumped to his feet, startling Leon, who stepped- fell- back. “Thought you'd never ask." He cleared his throat, "Ready to snuggle, rival? I'm beat, and I only got one sleeping bag.” None of this seemed to fluster Raihan at all. He wore the same wide grin, and his eyes glimmered the same way, as they had when Leon first saw him two hours ago, or a lifetime ago. Leon felt like his chest was going to explode.
Raihan had saved his life, but Leon was pretty sure that he was going to be the death of him.