Chapter Text
Leon awoke in the Wild Area to what he thought was Charizard’s claw poking him in his side.
“ Nooooo ,” he mumbled lowly, rolling over in the grass. He had really been enjoying his nap, for someone with as much energy as he had. But still the poking continued. He sat up, running his fingers through long purple hair.
“Charizard, cut it out ,” he groaned, smacking his hand lightly at the offending appendage, before feeling something that was distinctly not his partner pokémon. His wide golden eyes snapped open, fully alert.
A few meters away, Charizard was staring at him curiously, having been assigned to stay on guard while his trainer slept at the base of a tree, which, in retrospect, was probably not the best idea. However, the little something that had been headbutting Leon’s hip was no bigger than a ball that children played with, and it glanced up at him with long, thin eyes.
Leon cocked his head, before scooping the Applin in both of his palms. “Well, hey there,” he cooed with a gentle smile. “Why’d you come all the way over here?” He used his pointer finger to lightly stroke its body, the little pokémon shuddering at the touch, but it beamed nonetheless.
“Hey, Rotom,” called Leon a bit louder, arousing the attention of his electric-type cell phone from his pocket. “Can you get a reading on this?” Not that he knew nothing about Applins, of course, but this one seemed much bolder than any of the others he’d ever come across.
Rotom zoomed out with a metallic hum, floating in front of its owner expectantly. “Analyzing...” it chirped, as it scanned Applin. “Applin: the Apple Core Pokémon. As soon as it's born, it burrows into an apple. Not only does the apple serve as its food source, but the flavor of the fruit determines its evolution. This pokémon is a grass-type and dragon-type, and a female.” The phone then hovered by Leon’s knee, who thanked it.
“Alright, then,” mused the Champion, “I guess it’s time for you to wander back home now, huh?” He set Applin back down on the ground, nudging her towards the tall grass. Standing up himself, he made his way over to Charizard, when he heard a faint cry behind him.
Turning back around, Leon once again saw Applin, who hadn’t moved from her spot. She wriggled around defiantly, inching slowly towards Leon. He chuckled, then knelt down to invite her to rest on his palm again.
Applin stilled when she felt the warmth of his hand and trilled. “Adamant, aren’t you,” said Leon, chuckling. “Do you really want to stay with me?” He heard another contented trill.
“Then would you mind if I caught you in a PokéBall?” Leon asked the question gently, but he sighed when he received a compliant response from Applin. “Alright, hold on a sec.” One of his hands darted to his bag, where he always kept some spare PokéBalls just in case of any encounters such as this one. He held up an empty one for Applin to approve of.
“I’ll let you right back out again, if you’d like,” Leon offered, and without any more hesitation, Applin nudged the center button of the PokéBall. She disappeared with a flash of red light streaming into the ball, and it shook thrice before clicking, affirming to Leon that she had completely consented to being caught. Moments later, though, Applin rattled in her confines, and reappeared in the same red flash in Leon’s cupped hands. “You really like it there, it seems,” he noted more to himself, and Applin blinked owlishly at him.
A thought then occurred to the Champion. “I think you’d do well with a nickname, what do you think?” The small apple pokémon hopped excitedly in her spot, turning to face Leon expectantly. She certainly was a sweet little thing…
“How about Honey?” In response, she playfully nipped his thumb, then nuzzled it. Leon laughed, shrugging. “Alright, Honey! You and me, we’re gonna have a champion time, huh?” Honey let out a trill.
Leon waved over his first partner, still keeping Honey securely in his grasp so she didn’t fall out. “Come on Charizard, I need you to lead the way again! I know I’ll just get us lost...” Charizard huffed a small wisp of smoke, like he was laughing at his trainer, but beckoned to the call. He bumped foreheads with Leon affectionately, and then peered down at their newest companion like he didn’t know what to make of her.
“Honey, this is Charizard, my number one,” explained Leon, shaking his hair behind his shoulder. “I’ve had him since I first started my journey, and look at us now!”
As Charizard led the way through the Wild Area, Leon chatted amicably with Honey, although he didn’t get much of a verbal response from her other than little cries here and there. He told her all about his journey, and life as champion, although Honey could sense the discomfort in the young man when he mentioned Chairman Rose. She decided she didn’t like whomever this Rose was, because he always had things for Leon to do all the time, and so he never had time to be with his pokémon outside of battling very often anymore.
“Other than you,” he had said thoughtfully, “I haven’t really caught any new pokémon in a long time. And even when I do, I don’t have the time to raise them properly. It leaves me feeling a little… empty, y’know?” Leon blinked rapidly, then snorted. “Or maybe you wouldn’t know. We just met, after all, ha ! But I hope I’ll be able to watch over you as much as I’d like to, although I can’t promise anything because I never know what the Chairman has going on. I’m only sorry that I can’t be the best trainer for young pokémon anymore, as much as I want to be. It’s almost a shame you like me so much.” His thumb once again rested on Honey’s body, petting it almost delicately.
He only snapped out of his melancholy train of thought when Charizard let out a roar to get his attention, and a large shadow loomed over him, obscuring the sunshine. Right in front of him was a large, dark staircase, surrounded by an opening resembling a dragon’s maw. To the left and right of it, medieval style walls branched out for miles, acting as some sort of barricade formation.
As unique as the entrance to Hammerlocke was, it was the dragon’s maw that piqued Leon’s interest the most. It was ornately sculpted of black stone, and supposedly the structure had survived for centuries, when Galar was ruled by kingdoms long ago. Not only was it a popular tourist attraction for trainers hailing from other regions, but it also brought Leon comfort because it reminded him of someone…
A certain “tall, dark, handsome, and talented dragon-type trainer as well as his only challenging rival” someone…
Then the gold eyes of the Champion glinted with interest. His lips fell open limply as his brain developed an idea, and suddenly they were stretched into a charming smile. “I may not be able to take care of you,” he began, humming to the little Applin, “But I know somebody who definitely can.” He called Charizard back to his PokéBall and rushed up the stairs and between the high walls, only bidding the guards stationed there a quick greeting.
Emerging back into the sunlight was always refreshing, and it never grew old, especially not in Hammerlocke, where Leon’s favorite gym was. It was intentionally put right at the heart of the city, completely unmistakeable for anything else.
“His name is Raihan,” Leon told Honey, who hung onto every word. “He’s a gym leader, which means he’s really strong and coordinated in battle, of course, but he specializes in dragon-types. And because he isn’t Champion he has much more free time for his pokémon than I do. Trust me, Honey, he’d absolutely love you.” She released a giddy string of chirps, and Leon cooed at her. He already knew he’d have trouble giving her away.
As he entered the lobby of Hammerlocke Stadium, Leon took caution to wrap the corner of his cloak around Honey, so that any press who might happen to be they wouldn’t speculate why the Galarian Champion had an underleveled pokémon with him that he didn’t need for battle. Thankfully, Raihan wasn’t in the crowded lobby, which gave Leon the incentive to move past the curious trainers and towards the back entrance where he knew he’d be able to skip the gym challenge and get straight to Raihan’s quarters.
He approached the man standing guard at the door, and discreetly asked for access to the Gym Leader’s room, which he was granted almost instantly. Once the door was shut again, he removed the cloak from around Honey, who shuddered furiously.
“Sorry,” Leon winced, taking note of her discomfort. “It was just so I wasn’t stopped. Don’t worry, though, we’re almost there.”
As he walked down the long corridor, Leon found himself daydreaming, which was, admittedly, often why he got lost so easily. And this time, as he’d caught himself doing more often than usual recently, he found himself thinking about Raihan, and all the features he found likeable about him, like his staggering height, toothy grin that allowed his fangs (!) to peek out, calloused yet smooth and big hands, and all the funny nicknames he called Leon. For a while now, the dragon-type trainer had taken to calling his rival “Princess”, which although Leon found confusing, it was cute nevertheless, so he always teased his Dragon right back. It was the evidence of a friendship that had survived many years.
Did he want something more than a friendship, though? He wouldn’t have any way of knowing if Raihan did, too, and he didn’t want to risk what he already had with him, so Leon shoved those intrusive thoughts away.
At last, Leon could see the door at the other end of the hall, and his palms suddenly grew sweaty. Unfortunately, this displeased Honey, who skittered onto his shoulder and behind a curtain of soft violet hair while her current trainer wiped his hands on his white shorts.
Leon stood, silently, for a few minutes, twirling a lock of his hair between his fingers, a simple nervous habit. Wait- why was he nervous?
Without even having to knock, the door slid open to reveal the man he’d been looking for. Narrow electric blue eyes sparked with mirth upon seeing the newcomer. “If it isn’t Princess! What brings you here? I’ve got a match in a few but I can always make time for you~” Raihan’s toned arm rested on the doorway, his hand hanging inches from Leon’s face.
“I have something for you,” Leon offered innocently, as he was led inside to sit down on a couch.
Raihan seated himself across the way casually. “Yeah? What’s up Lee?”
Leon held a hand out to his shoulder, where Honey uncovered herself from under his hair and nestled back into her favorite spot. He held her out to Raihan, whose face quickly contorted to shock as she trilled to him in greeting.
“Are… are you kidding, mate?” Raihan accepted Honey carefully, in awe of both her and Leon. His mouth fell open, bright blue eyes turning a puzzling stormy gray. His entire body was twitching, his eyebrows constantly shifting to convey so many confused emotions all at once. “I mean… wow , are you kidding? Are you serious?”
Leon wrung his hands together. Albeit a bit taken aback by the amount of surprise the dragon-type leader conveyed, he hoped that it was a good surprise for him. “Yeah, Rai, I had a feeling you’d like her. Her name is Honey.”
Raihan’s cloudy stare snapped back into a fierce, piercing electric blue again, trying to read Leon for any trace of a lie. One of his hands went to massage his temple under his headband. “Shit, Lee, that’s really adorable. Shit. I can’t believe it. I love her. I love you.” A shy fanged smile crept across Raihan’s face, but Leon was the one frozen in place this time.
HE LOVED HIM?!
Where in Arceus’ name did Raihan get that idea? Why did he pick that moment to confess? Raihan was always so cool and collected, a little goofy, but so was Leon. He had never seen him so put off by something before, and they’ve known each other for over a decade. Sure, Honey was certainly a good gift on Leon’s part, but he’d expected nothing more than some more teasing and a quick thanks. But here was Raihan, a prominent blush blossoming over his entire face and creeping up his ears and down his neck.
“W-what now?”
Raihan’s face stiffened completely, eyes even wider than before. “What? Wait- why are you confused? What’s happening?” Honey trembled, sensing the nervous energy between the two. She cooed lowly.
“You love me, Rai?” Leon, having processed the truth even more by saying it out loud, gripped the armrest of the couch. He leaned in, but Raihan leaned back.
“Wait, you mean you don’t know-?” Raihan’s stare darted between him and Honey, back and forth, over and over. Then he slumped over, completely defeated. “Holy fuck. You don’t get it, do you,” he deadpanned. He stood up, blowing a slow stream of air into his hands, which were cupped at his mouth. “Lee. Do you know what it means when you give an Applin to somebody? Please tell me you know. Please.”
“I-” Leon was at a loss. Why was Applin special other than it being a dragon-type? That had been the whole reason why his first thought was to give her to Raihan… right?
Right?
No it wasn’t. It was because he loved him too, and he’d always been to dense to see it for himself. For Arceus’ sake, he already found Raihan attractive and still he didn’t put the pieces of the puzzle together! He was a bloody idiot, no wonder Rai looked so frustrated.
Leon spent so much time sorting out his own thoughts that he hardly noticed his rival angrily preparing for his upcoming gym match. A scowl set deep in his face, Raihan stuffed all his potions and the PokéBalls containing his competitive team into his pockets and stormed out of the room and towards the entrance from his chambers to the stadium arena, only turning his head to the side once.
His long fingers gripped the doorframe. “Just forget I said anything. Sorry, Leon.”
The doors slid shut before he could hear the Champion desperately call his name.