Chapter Text
August 1st
Raihan is half asleep on his bean bag chair when the buzzing of his phone startles him back awake. Flygon, who is sprawled across his lap, is also disturbed, letting out an indignant chirp. He sighs deeply and chooses to ignore it, reaching down to scratch Flygon's neck instead. They rumble happily and relax again, satisfied with their trainer's decision to continue resting.
Unfortunately, that decision would not last long. Two minutes later, Raihan's phone buzzes again, and he groans before reluctantly sitting up. Flygon grumbles and lifts their neck enough for their trainer to stand. Navigating the room by the light of his multi-monitor streaming set up, he picks his phone up off of his bedside table to see a message from the last person he expected to hear from at eleven p.m. on a Thursday night.
You have two new notifications from: Leon 2
Raihan rubs his eyes and blinks away his grogginess, making sure that he was reading the text bubble on his lock screen right. Yeah, no, that is definitely a text from Leon. From his personal phone, too. What in the-
Raihan sighs and pulls his phone off of the charger, sitting down on the edge of his bed before opening the messages.
hey
are you there
yeah whats up
Leon 2 is typing...
Raihan stares at his screen, a feeling of unease slowly worming its way under his skin. Then, Leon stops typing.
?u okay
A minute passes. Then two. Raihan resists the urge to just call Leon, but he knows that he usually takes a bit to formulate what he wants to say. Raihan knows to be patient.
I'd rather not have to be patient when I'm half asleep at 11 o' clock, though, Raihan grumbles internally. Instead of pressing Leon any more, he opens Instagram and scrolls for a bit. Clips from his and Leon's battle in the Champion Cup a few weeks ago are still circulating, and Raihan checks the comments under a few of them. They're all fairly standard, as far as comments go- mostly supportive and admiring with a few hate comments from idiots who have no idea what they're talking about (Turtonator is not a fire-rock type, and sending them out against Rillaboom was absolutely the correct choice). After reading a particularly nasty comment about how annoying it was that Leon kept winning (he's literally just doing his job, you asshole), Raihan decides he's had enough and switches back to his chat with Leon.
Still no response.
Raihan groans. "Flygon, I think something's off," he mutters to his partner, who warbles softly in reply. "I haven't seen him since the Cup and then he texts me out of the blue at 11 at night? He's like, never up this late unless he has to be."
Flygon chitters quietly, only sounding mildly interested. Raihan continues regardless. "I'm worried about him. He seemed off during the Cup. He seemed... I don't know, anxious isn't the right word, he's always anxious, but something close to that? Scared, maybe? Of what, though? It definitely wasn't me."
Flygon lets out a small huff of agreement.
"And the hug, too, what the hell was that about? He hasn't hugged me like that before ever, not even when we were little. He was like, holding on for dear life, and he never told me why. It's weird. I mean-" Raihan sighs. "I don't know. He's just been weird. Weirder than usual, I guess."
Flygon seems to sense their trainer's distress and whines, craning their neck upward to study Raihan. He scoots across his bed, puts his phone in the pockets of his shorts, and offers them a hand, and they gently press their head into it, a low rumble emitting from their chest. "It's alright, it's probably nothing. I really hope it's nothing, and he just wants to chat or something."
Flygon nods and presses their head further into Raihan's hand, who responds by scritching the slightly rough, scaly skin on the top of their head. "We'll go flying tomorrow. Let you stretch your wings some. Sound good?"
They chirp enthusiastically, tail raising into the air in excitement. "Good 'mon," Raihan smiles. "I probably need it too. I'm tired of all this damn pre-Opening Ceremony paperwork. It's a whole two months away and challengers don't even come by the gym until May, I don't get why Rose insists on having all of us do our paperwork ahead of time. It's so that he can decide budgets, apparently, but I don't buy it. Don't know why he has that power in the first place. Stupid rich prick."
Flygon snorts with a similar amount of disdain, and Raihan chuckles. "I bet you understand more human words than I think. Or maybe you can just tell by my emotions. Maybe both," he sighs, reaching out to scratch the membrane of their wing. "Don't know what I'd do without you."
Raihan's phone buzzes again. He practically tears it out of his pocket, and Leon's reply makes his stomach drop.
i need your help
"Fuck, Flygon, this is definitely not nothing," Raihan curses under his breath as he frantically types out a reply. Flygon whines and shuffles closer to their trainer, resting their head on the bed. "He never asks for help, what the-"
dude whats up r u okay
i mean yes absolutely i will help but whats going on
Leon 2 is typing...
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, come on, Leon, type faster," Raihan hisses at his phone as his mind races. Is he out and not safe, is he lost somewhere, what if he's-
i need out
?of what
talk to me leon
r u safe right now
yeah
out of my job
im quitting
Raihan blinks, unsure he read that right. Flygon clicks nervously as he whispers shakily. "...What?"
i cant do this anymore
and i can request to terminate my contract through court once i turn 22
and i need a lawyer that isnt under macro cosmos because they would rat me out immediately
so i was wondering if you had any recommendations or advice on finding good lawyers who will not get me in trouble
"Holy fuck," Raihan whispers, shock pulsing in his veins. "This isn't real."
yeah i can do that but like
what happened
why now
Leon 2 is typing...
"He's quitting? That's insane, that's-" Flygon butts their head against their trainer's arm, and Raihan takes a deep breath. "I know, I know. It's probably a good thing-" Messages continue to pop up on the screen.
its just too much
i dont want all of it anymore
and if that means i cant have any of it thats okay
im just so tired
and i need out
and the worst part is that rose is gonna be so fucking pissed
i have no idea what he'll try to do
but i cant do this anymore
"Arceus, he sounds miserable," Raihan whispers, to which Flygon tries to shove their head under his elbow, trying to comfort their trainer. "It's alright, Flygon. I'm just worried about him. He's right, Rose is gonna lose his shit when he finds out. I just want to make sure he's safe. His birthday isn't until close to the end of the month."
okay
do u like
need a place to stay
no
its three more weeks
i can make it three more weeks
i just need to talk to a lawyer so i can get the papers the second i turn 22
what about like after everything
oh
uh
i dont think so
i'll just go back to postwick
see hop
okay
i can probably get my contract lawyer to help u out
but id have to explain everything to her
?is that okay
yeah thats fine
where should i send u her email
not to ur work email i presume
yeah no definitely not
uuuh honestly just write it down and i'll swing by soon to grab it
make up some excuse to visit hammerlocke
less digital evidence there is the better
i dont know how much they have access to
"Gods, I hate how nervous he sounds," Raihan hisses. "It's not, like, natural, for him, he tries to present himself as so invincible. He's sort of implied before that living at Rose Tower isn't all it's made out to be, but I always thought it was weird, and-" Raihan shudders. "I don't like how much control Rose and Oleana have over him. It's kind of creepy. Maybe it's worse than I thought."
Flygon warbles sympathetically in assent. Raihan sighs and rubs his eyes before typing a reply.
did something happen
like with rose or oleana or smth
Leon 2 is typing...
"He's a grown ass adult, he doesn't need to be told what to do 24/7," Raihan grumbles. "When he was younger, fine, we all needed someone to help us get through the Gym Challenge when we were younger, and then he had to navigate having the title at ten, so I guess it's fair because he was a child, but even then, Rose has always been sort of possessive. Being protective, I guess, but it hasn't changed at all since he was ten. Maybe it's gotten worse. Maybe it really is worse than I thought." Dread pools in Raihan's stomach. "How much have I missed?"
Leon's reply pops up on the screen
not really
nothing like big i guess
im just tired of it all
so no
"I don't buy that," Raihan frowns. "He's being weird." Flygon chirps in agreement again.
its all fine
im gonna handle it
i'll let you know when im gonna come by hammerlocke
thank you so much
Raihan resists the urge to scream. "No, tell me what happened, don't just end the conversation," he growls, grinding his teeth together. He takes a deep breath. "I shouldn't press him anymore, though. He would've told me already if he wanted to. But something definitely happened, I'm sure of it."
okay keep me posted
and its np
be safe
i will
"Maybe I should call Sonia," Raihan mutters. "See if she knows anything. Maybe he already talked to her about whatever happened."
Flygon rests their head in Raihan's lap as he switches apps to call his old friend. The line rings once, twice, three times...
"What the hell are you doing up?" Sonia yawns into the phone, sounding disgruntled.
"Do you know if anything's been going on with Leon?" Raihan answers her question with his own, too worried to bother with pleasantries.
"No hello, cool, got it," Sonia sighs. There's a sound like ruffling, maybe her sitting up in bed. "No, I don't know, he hasn't texted me in like, a week. Why? Did he text you?"
"Shit," Raihan curses, rubbing his free hand on his other forearm anxiously. "He's being weird. I don't wanna say too much because I honestly don't know half of what's going on yet, but he's just-" he sighs. "He's being weird."
"Weird is pretty standard for Leon," Sonia points out.
"No, like, bad weird. Like being vague and avoidant when something is clearly wrong weird. He seemed scared when I talked to him."
That alarms Sonia as well. "Scared?" She asks, voice rising in concern.
"Yeah. It's unnerving, he's usually good at hiding it, but not now. It's kind of freaking me out."
Sonia lets out a sigh that morphs into a yawn. "I'll check in on him in the morning, see if something's off. I believe you, but maybe he just had a bad day."
"It's not that, Sonia."
"Then what is it?"
"I can't really tell you," Raihan hisses. "Again, I don't really know what's going on. He's gonna visit Hammerlocke because he needs something from me, and I'll see if I can get him to tell me what's going on then, but it's kind of something big." Kind of is an understatement.
"Okay, well, if that works out let me know. I'll text you tomorrow if I hear from him. But seriously, go to bed. It's like midnight, and I'm sure you have shit to do tomorrow," Sonia says, a bit of annoyance lacing her voice. "I'm going back to bed."
"Sorry for waking you up, I'm just worried," Raihan apologizes. "I can't shake the feeling that something really is wrong with him."
Sonia shrugs. "Not much we can do about it at the moment. And don't worry, you didn't wake me, Yamper did. Little stinker decided that whenever I get a phone call and I'm asleep he has to start licking me to get me to wake up. I need to wash my face," she mutters.
Raihan chuckles. "Thank the little guy for me. I'll see you."
"See you," Sonia replies before hanging up.
Raihan sighs and flops backwards onto his bed, staring up at the high ceiling. "I don't like this one bit, Flygon."
Flygon chitters and scrabbles up onto the bed, craning their head over Raihan. He frowns. "You know you're too big for the bed."
They chirp in protest and narrow their eyes a bit, as if to say no, I'm not!
Raihan sighs again. "Whatever. Not like I can stop you. You're basically the biggest Yamper ever. C'mere," Raihan pats the space next to him, scooting over a bit to give his partner ample space. Flygon chirps gleefully and flounders a bit on the unstable surface before flopping down next to their trainer, tail tapping the blankets happily.
"World's biggest Yamper," Raihan chuckles and shakes his head, patting his Pokemon on the head. Raihan then pulls up his chat with Leon again to review it. As he stares at his phone, Flygon burrows under a stray blanket on top of the covers and curls up beneath it, dozing off in a matter of minutes.
not really
nothing like big i guess
im just tired of it all
so no
its all fine
im gonna handle it
That's so weird for him, Raihan thinks, staring at the texts, hoping that something about it will make him understand what Leon was really thinking when he sent them. What qualifies as nothing big? What does he have to handle?
Stifling a sigh, Raihan rolls over to plug his phone back in, leaving it on his bedside table. Sonia will get back to me. Hopefully she'll figure something out.
Raihan pats Flygon on the head one last time before getting a blanket of his own, laying down on his back, closing his eyes, and dozing off to sleep.