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It was a quiet spring day in a small town near the coast. The sun was finally warm enough to actually enjoy sitting outside. Chan was drinking a cup of coffee on his porch, watching the rolling green hills as a light breeze made a few Hoppips drift around in the distance. It was a peaceful morning. But of course, it couldn’t stay that peaceful.
“Bang Chan! I challenge you to a battle!”
Chan sighed as he turned around to see the young man who’d shown up at his house for the last few days.
“Minho, I’m preparing for class right now.”
Lee Minho was from the same sleepy little town as him, a year younger than him and had consequently started his journey as a Pokémon trainer a year after Chan. Instead of taking on gyms like Chan, Minho had become a Coordinator, participating in Pokémon Contests all around the world. They hadn’t seen each other in years until Minho and his Liepard suddenly started showing up in front of Chan’s trainer school last week, demanding they battle.
“Isn’t it your duty as Champ to accept every challenge? I got my eight badges, so it’s time to battle.”
“You know as well as I do that I retired as Champ. If you want to fight the best, you should go to the Wyrdeer Mountains and challenge Felix.”
“Well, I don’t want to fight Felix. I want to fight you, the undefeated Champ who retired before I got my chance!”
True, Chan had never been defeated in five years as the Champ, he’d simply grown tired of being the Champ. It wasn’t something he could see himself doing until someone finally came to defeat him. So, when a promising young trainer showed up at his door after defeating the Elite Four, with an unbreakable bond with his Pokémon and seemingly unending enthusiasm, Chan had decided to resign. Felix and his team didn’t win against him, but he got closer than anyone else. Chan deemed him worthy to succeed him as Champ. A controversial decision at the time for sure, but Felix was still standing at the top, undefeated, after two years. Proving that he was worthy of the title as Champ.
“Since when are you even interested in Pokémon battles? Aren’t you a big-shot Coordinator now?”
“Maybe I got bored of Contests and wanted to try something else.”
“I got bored of being the Champ, so you’ll have to find someone else to challenge. Sorry, I’ll have to go now. The kids are probably already waiting.”
Chan let out a sharp whistle to call his trusty partner so they could go. Only seconds later, Dachsbun came running through the small Pokémon door he’d installed in his front door, barking excitedly at the prospect of going somewhere.
“Let’s go, buddy.” He gave Dachsbun a small wave, showing her that she could run ahead. She already knew the way to school and Chan trusted her not to get lost.
“Wait, you can’t just leave. We were talking!” Minho complained.
“I mean, I wouldn’t mind if you came along and sat in on the lesson if you don’t want to leave me alone.” Chan said with a shrug as he started walking after Dachsbun.
Minho didn’t say anything, but Chan could hear him and his partner following.
The school wasn’t far from his home, just a five minute walk away.
His class of seven-year-olds was already gathered in front of the school, yelling excitedly, crowding around Dachsbun and petting her.
“Alright, class! Give her some space and go to your seats!” He called out, trying to bring some order to the group of children, only to be completely ignored in the face of Dachsbun’s cuteness. He sighed, every day it was the same.
“Dachsbun, here!” He called his partner to him. Luckily, she hadn’t completely forgot her training and immediately returned to his side. The kids let out a few disappointed ‘awww’s.
“Okay, to your seats. We’ll stay outside today.”
The kids quickly got to their little wooden stools that were placed in a circle in the school’s yard.
“Sorry, I don’t have any more stools. My class this year is pretty big, but you can stand in the back if you want to.” He told Minho before following the kids.
“Fine… but afterwards we talk.” Minho said sulkily, before going over to stand behind the class with his Liepard.
“Okay, okay.” Chan laughed lightly.
He walked over to stand in the middle of the half-circle the stools formed.
“Good morning, kids!”
“Good morning, Mr Channie!” The kids said in unison. He sighed internally. A while ago, some of the kids had started calling him Mr Channie, weirdly caught between formality and familiarity, and by now it had caught on and they had all started calling him that.
“Who is that, Mr Channie?” One of the little boys asked, pointing at Minho.
“He’s a visitor who’ll watch the lesson today, so you guys better be on your best behavior.”
Some of the kids were still whispering among each other, looking at Minho in the back. They would get used to his presence after a while, so Chan just decided to start.
“Okay, today we’ll start with a little demonstration.” That always got the kids’ attention.
Chan grabbed one of the Pokéballs he carried on his belt.
“Come on out, Arcanine.”
The class erupted on ‘ooooh’s and ‘aaaaaah’s as the large fire Pokémon appeared in front of them. While Dachsbun was a constant in his lessons, it was always special for the kids when Chan let out one of his other Pokémon.
Chan gave his Arcanine a quick pet before directing him to go over to a little arena painted in the sand. Dachsbun went over to the other side.
“Okay, now everybody watch closely. Arcanine! Use Flamethrower!”
Some of the kids were startled while others watched in awe when Arcanine’s Flamethrower hit Dachsbun. Instead of getting hurt, they all watched as Dachsbun’s soft fur hardened, turning a slightly darker shade of brown. When the flames died down, Dachsbun stood there completely unhurt.
“Can anyone tell me what happened there?” Chan asked.
“Are Fairy types immune to fire?” One boy asked.
“No, that’s not it. But good job remembering Dachsbun’s type!”
“Did you give Dachsbun an item to protect her?” One of the girls asked.
“Also no. We’ll talk about items you may give your Pokémon in a few weeks.”
The kids were whispering among each other again, trying to figure out what the right answer was, but after waiting a few minutes and nobody came up with an answer, Chan decided to look at Minho.
“Do you know?” He asked with a grin.
“It’s Dachsbun’s ability.” Minho asked, eyes wide as Chan addressed him directly.
“Exactly, thank you!” He said before looking at his class again, “You see, every Pokémon has an ability that makes them even more special than they already are. Sometimes all Pokémon of one species have the same ability, but sometimes Pokémon of the same species can have different abilities. Dachsbun’s ability is called Well-Baked-Body, it makes her immune to Fire attacks and boosts her defense.”
He called Dachsbun over, so the kids could touch her hardened fur. The Pokémon basked in the attention and wagged her tail wildly.
Arcanine pressed himself against Chan, almost toppling him over before he could adjust his stance and scratched the Pokémon behind his ears.
“Now, let’s look at some more abilities, okay?” Chan suggested, before he started telling them about different abilities Pokémon could have, more common ones and what to do when they encountered a Pokémon with an unknown ability. After the little demonstration the kids had almost forgotten that Minho was even there and actually listened to what Chan was saying. In the end, when the kids’ attention span ran out, he decided to go back to the demonstration part, unfortunately most of his own Pokémon didn’t have flashy abilities that lend themselves for an impressive show like Dachsbun.
“Minho? Do you have anything interesting to show the kids?”
Minho seemed to be caught off-guard as he looked at Chan like a Sawsbuck in headlights. Chan didn’t know which Pokémon Minho had on his team. It had been a while since he turned on one of his Contests.
“What are you looking for?” He asked when he managed to school his face.
“Something easily visible for the kids.”
Minho thought for a second before pulling out two Pokéballs.
“Out with you two.” He said before releasing his Pokémon.
“Wow! You have a Leafeon?” One of the boys asked, running up and curiously looking at the two new Pokémon in the half-circle.
“Kyehoon, sit down. Do you remember what we talked about on our very first day?” Chan scolded him lightly.
The boy quickly got back to his seat and parroted what he taught them, “Don’t run up to Pokémon you don’t know, because they might get scared and attack…”
Chan nodded, satisfied that his lesson stuck after all.
“Can you introduce them, Minho?”
Minho nodded shortly, “These are Leafeon and Oricorio.”
“My mom’s friend also has an Oricorio, but hers looks different!” A little girl yelled.
Before Chan could open his mouth, Minho had already started explaining: “Oricorio has many different forms. This one is a Sensu Style Oricorio.”
Minho crouched down and scratched the little Bird Pokémon under its chin, “But she is even more special because she is actually a different color than normal Oricorios.”
“Why?” The same girl asked.
Minho shrugged, “Sometimes Pokémon have different colors than usual. It just happens.”
“I actually don’t know what Oricorio’s ability is. I haven’t seen a lot of them in my time. Can you show us?” Chan asked.
Minho nodded, “I actually need help from one of you. Who of you likes to dance?”
A few of the kids looked around, clearly confused about the question.
“Me! Me!” One of the girls raised her hand and almost jumped out of her chair in excitement.
“Okay, then come here. Do you mind dancing in front of the class?”
Chan knew that the girl, Kyujin, had absolutely no reservations when it came to that. She was already always dancing around her classmates during breaks.
“Just stand here and do a little dance, okay?” Minho explained, placing her in front of Oricorio.
Kyujin nodded excitedly and started dancing. Chan vaguely recognized the dance from a little performance she and her dance group did for a festival in town a few weeks ago.
Oricorio watched for a few seconds before perfectly mimicking Kyujin’s dance. The girl immediately lit up with a bright smile as she danced with the little Pokémon.
“Oricorio can mimic every dance she sees. Impressive, right?”
The kids clapped and cheered when their little dance ended and Oricorio flew up to Minho’s shoulder to rest.
“What about Leafeon?” Another boy asked.
Minho nodded and gave Leafeon a sign with two fingers, pointing them into a direction and Leafeon immediately ran off.
Chan recognized the way Minho directed his Pokémon from the few Pokémon Contests he’d seen. It was almost like Leafeon was an extension of Minho’s arm the way they moved in sync, the Pokémon immediately following every direction Minho pointed in.
“Woah! Leafeon is so fast!”
Chan blinked, realizing that he hadn’t paid any attention to what Leafeon was doing, too busy staring at Minho.
“Leafeon’s ability is called Chlorophyll. She is getting faster in the sun.” Minho explained.
Chan finally looked over at the Grass Type Pokémon running around. There really was a clear difference in speed between the times she was in the shadow of a tree and out in the sun.
Finally, Minho called his Pokémon back, but couldn’t resist one last flourish with his hand, prompting Leafeon to jump and do a little twirl in the air before landing next to him.
Chan could imagine that this move was quite show-stopping on a Contest stage where Pokémon and Coordinator were dressed to the nines and beauty and grace were the most important thing in the world.
The kids clapped again at Minho’s little trick and Chan would see a mischievous smile tugging at the lips of the Coordinator. He clearly liked the attention, even if it was just from a group of little kids. He really was a born performer.
Chan cleared his throat before finally speaking up again, “Thank you, Minho. Now, everybody, say thank you.”
The kids echoed a “Thank you”.
Minho bowed slightly, “No problem. No need to thank me.”
Chan took a quick look at his watch, “Looks like we’re out of time for today. I hope you enjoyed our little lesson on abilities.”
“That was so cool, Mr Channie!” Kyehoon yelled, the other kids quickly joining in.
Chan laughed a bit as he slowly but surely herded the kids to go home.
“See you tomorrow, Mr Channie!”
“Bye-bye!” Chan waved at the kids leaving, shortly peaking at Minho who also gave the kids a little wave.
“You’re good with kids.” Chan said when the kids were finally gone.
“You too, I guess. So this is really what you gave up being the Champ for…”
“You didn’t believe me before that?”
“It’s not that I didn’t believe it. It was just that I couldn’t see you being content with this.”
“And now you do?”
“I think so.”
“Later, I have a class with older kids who already got their first Pokémon, but want to learn some more before they start their journey. We’re doing practice battles, so I guess I would have some time to fight you…”
“Really?”
“But only if you actually answer my question. You’re clearly passionate about being a Coordinator. Why do you even want to fight me?”
Minho seemed to think about it for a while, “I won my fifth Grand Festival earlier this year and promised myself something if I managed to win this one. Is that enough?”
Chan let out a laugh, “Do I get more when I win?”
“You mean, if you win.”
“Those are fighting words, Minho. Are you sure you want to be that cocky in the face of the Champ?”
“You told me earlier that you weren’t the Champ anymore. As far as I’m concerned, you are just a regular school teacher who will lose to me in a Pokémon battle.”
God, when was the last time Chan had felt like that? He actually got excited for a battle. Minho’s attitude riled him up slightly and he enjoyed every second of it.
“I’ll show you who is a regular school teacher.”
Chan and Minho had lunch together in a café close to the trainer school before Chan had to prepare for the afternoon class of twelve-year-olds. It felt so easy to talk to Minho while they both watched Dachsbun and Liepard play with a ball. Chan and Minho had never been exactly close when they were on their own Pokémon journey, so it was fun to compare their experiences. Apparently, Minho had started collecting gym badges at first too, but after receiving the last badge, he’d decided not to challenge the Elite Four and focus on being a Coordinator, something he’d only discovered being something he liked during his journey.
“I guess being a Coordinator isn’t really on the forefront of kids’ minds when they go on their journey…” Chan thought out loud as he listened to Minho.
Minho let out a huff, “Absolutely, just because there aren’t any battles, a lot of kids are underestimating being a Coordinator.”
“Do you have any plans for after our battle?”
Minho furrowed his brow, “Like, this evening?”
Chan realized that it might have sounded like he was asking Minho out, “No, no, I mean, are you going back to doing Contests?”
“Oh, that’s what you meant. I guess so, there is still time until the new season starts, so I’ll probably work out some new combinations. My parents are currently watching a few Pokémon for me that I haven’t used in Contests yet.”
Chan nodded, he could have figured that Minho was busy with his Contests. His own slow life probably wasn’t for everyone.
“Do you want a dessert? They even have a lot of pastries for Pokémon.” He asked after they finished their lunch.
“Not before our fight. Don’t want to weigh my Pokémon down with too many pastries.” Minho said, before a grin decorated his face, “How about we make a bet? The loser buys treats for the winner and his whole team?”
Chan let out another laugh, “You know I am undefeated as the Champ, right?”
“Former Champ.” Minho reminded him.
There it was again, that feeling in Chan’s gut. He enjoyed Minho’s teasing and he couldn’t wait to prove him wrong. Chan had never had a direct rival while he was still on his journey. Of course, there had been other trainers he’d been friendly with, but it never felt like they had been a direct competition. Of course, Minho also really wasn’t direct competition, but Chan was wondering if they would have been on the journey together, if they would have been rivals, riling each other up and making each other want to be better…
“Okay, fine. I hope all those Contest wins pay you enough.” Chan grinned.
“I hope you still have money left over from your Champ salary.” Minho shot back.
“We’ll see…”
The kids arrived with confused looks on their faces when they spotted that someone was with Chan.
“Okay, now that everyone is here, get together with the partner we assigned last time!” Chan said, clapping his hands.
“Who is that with you, Mr Chan?” One of the girls asked, before another girl, Yeji, suddenly started squealing and hitting her arm.
“That’s Lee Minho! He won the Grand Festival five times in a row!” She said excitedly.
“What’s a Grand Festival?” One of the boys asked.
“Ugh, you’re so stupid. It’s the event of the year for Pokémon Contests!” Yeji crossed her arms.
“Now, now, calm down. I know it’s exciting that we have a guest today, but we won’t let ourselves be distracted, okay? While you all do your training battles, Minho and I are going to have our own.” Chan explained.
“Woah! You’re going to fight? I want to watch!” One of them yelled.
“Me too!” The others insisted.
“You’re not here to watch me, though. You should focus on your own–”
“Why not? Let them watch, Chan. I bet it’s educational enough.” Minho interrupted him, “Or are you scared to lose in front of your class?”
“Me? Scared?”
“Yes! Let us watch, Mr Chan! We want to see what a Champ battle looks like!”
In the end, Chan gave in, instructing the kids to gather at the side of the battlefield. Minho and him had agreed on a double battle with all six of their Pokémon. No switch outs were allowed until a Pokémon was defeated.
It had been quite a while that Chan and his Pokémon had been in a battle that wasn’t just a demonstration for class. He might be a bit rusty, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t give it his all.
He took two of the Pokéballs on his belt, giving Dachsbun a sign to stay back with him for now. Minho did the same with his Liepard.
“Ready?” He called over to the other side of the battlefield.
“Are you?” Minho called back, before releasing the two Pokémon he had chosen to start with.
“Go! Mienshao! Oricorio!” Minho cheered on the Pokémon that appeared before him.
“Give it your all, Lucario and Lycanroc!” Chan called out to his own Pokémon at the same time.
And just like that, their battle started.
“Lycanroc, use Stealth Rock! Hinder their movement! Lucario, Aerial Ace on Mienshao!”
Lucario immediately started charging at Mienshao while Lycanroc used her power to cause big rocks on the ground to float all around Minho’s Pokémon.
“Your little rocks can’t stop my team! Oricorio, Icy Wind! Freeze the ground!”
It was a bit unconventional, but not against the rules. Chan was wondering where Minho was going with this. Sure, his Lucario was a bit hindered by the frozen ground, slipping around and missing his attack on Mienshao, but Minho’s own Pokémon would struggle as well, right?
“Mienshao! Ice Spinner!”
Chan watched, almost stunned as Mienshao started ice skating on the frozen ground. Had Minho trained this scenario with his Pokémon?
Lucario took a light hit as Mienshao skated past him, kicking him with its frozen paws.
“Not bad! I didn’t expect that!”
“You should focus on the battle, former Champ! Oricorio, Mienshao, use Acrobatics! Take Lucario out!”
“Lycanroc! Interrupt Oricorio! Accelrock!”
Lycanroc was too far away to reach Mienshao, but managed to weave between the floating rocks and hit Oricorio strong enough, so it wouldn’t be able to hit Lucario and had to retreat slightly. Mienshao skated over to Lucario once more, jumped off of the ground and hit him with the attack, causing Lucario to be sent flying back towards Chan.
Chan held his breath for a second, but sighed in relief when he saw Lucario get up.
“Keep your distance, Lucario! Aura Sphere on Mienshao!”
Lucario did as Chan told him, staying away from the frozen ground and aiming his Aura Sphere on Mienshao.
Mienshao actually managed to evade the attack for now, skating away from the ball of energy following it.
“Lycanroc! Earth Power! Break the ice!”
Lycanroc let out a howl as a mound of earth broke through the ice, tripping Mienshao and making the Aura Sphere finally connect, knocking the Pokémon out.
“Sh–” Minho had to keep himself from swearing in front of the kids, “Mienshao!”
He called his defeated Pokémon back, giving Chan and his Pokémon a few seconds to breathe as Minho chose his next Pokémon.
“Leafeon! Let’s go!”
“Lycanroc, put some distance between you!”
“Are you scared, Chan?” Minho grinned, “Leafeon! Swords Dance!”
Ghostly swords appeared around the Grass Pokémon, the leaves on its head seemed to get a sharper edge. At the same time, Oricorio copied Leafeon’s move, sporting sharper claws and feathers as a result.
“Oricorio! Acrobatics on Lucario!”
“Lucario! Extreme Speed! Take Oricorio out before it can hit you!”
Lucario actually reached Oricorio first, but his attack missed as Oricorio’s form seemed to become translucent for a second. A second later, Lucario was on the ground, defeated.
“What…” Chan muttered to himself.
“My Oricorio is channeling the spiritual Sensu Style! Normal attacks won’t hit her.” Minho explained cockily.
Chan felt stupid for having forgotten. Oricorio wasn’t a Pokémon he encountered that often. This kind of Oricorio was a Ghost Type, no wonder Lucario couldn’t hit it with Extreme Speed. He really got rusty.
He took a deep breath, before continuing, “You did great, Lucario.” He said as he recalled his Pokémon.
“Goodra! You got this!” He yelled as he sent out his next Pokémon.
The battle continued at a fast pace.
Goodra summoned some rain to slow Leafeon down, taking Oricorio out with Thunder in the process. Leafeon countered with a Sunny Day and a Solar Beam that defeated Lycanroc. Minho replaced Oricorio with his partner Liepard while Chan brought out Arcanine to take advantage of the sun to power up his Fire attacks and defeat Leafeon.
Minho brought out Luxray, which started a series of frustrating attacks on his part.
Luxray and Liepard consistently managed to confuse and flinch Chan’s Pokémon. Liepard even copied Goodra’s Dragon Pulse to get a super effective hit on the Dragon Type. It was impressive how Minho managed to use Liepard’s Dark Pulse to obscure his Pokémon in Darkness. The way Minho’s Pokémon used attacks was so unlike Chan had ever seen it. Was that how he used them in Contests? The fight against Liepard and Luxray was frustrating, but it made Chan want to try harder to beat him.
Arcanine went down to Liepard’s Swift that looked like stars streaking across the night sky.
Chan sent out his Dachsbun that swiftly took care of Liepard with Play Rough, forcing Liepard into a cuddle. Chan wasn’t sure, but to him it looked like Liepard gave up, choosing to lose instead of having to suffer more of Dachsbun’s cuddling.
This brought Minho to his last two Pokémon, but the fire in his eyes didn’t waver. He sent out his Meowstic, which took out Goodra with a Psyshock, bringing Chan also down to his last two Pokémon. The set up wasn’t in Chan’s favor with his last Pokémon, Toxtricity, being weak to Meowstics Psychic attacks, but that wasn’t going to stop him. Luckily, he still had Dachsbun who went after Meowstic with Crunch while Toxtricity used Boom Burst on the Luxray.
In the end, both of Chan’s Pokémon were left standing, although Toxtricity had to tank a nasty hit from Meowstic.
The kids next to the field cheered as they both recalled their Pokémon and shook hands.
“Good fight.” Chan said, smiling at Minho. Dachsbun barked to support his statement before standing on her hind legs to try to jump up and poke at Liepard’s Pokéball.
“I think Dachsbun wants to be friends with Liepard.”
Minho let out a breathy laugh, “We’ll see if Liepard returns that sentiment. Thank you for accepting my challenge.”
Chan turned to the class, “I’m sorry, but I think we went a bit overtime…”
“I want to learn how to do that!”
“Me too!”
The kids were swarming them, asking multitudes of questions, especially to Minho. Chan had to admit that he also had questions about his fighting style.
“I’m sorry, I think I’ll have to go to the Pokémon center now and take care of my team.”
“Oh, of course. Kids, give him some room. Remember, you have to treat your team well. Getting them to a Pokécenter after a hard fight should be the first thing you do!”
The kids let out a few sighs of disappointment, but let Minho take a few steps away. Chan himself was a bit disappointed to watch Minho go.
Minho stopped before getting too far away and turned around again, “Chan? Can you show me the way to the Pokécenter?”
“We’ll end the lesson here today, umm, we’ll talk about what you learned from this battle next time, okay?”
The kids looked at each other a bit confused, but nodded and let Chan go as they packed their things and got ready to leave themselves.
Chan quickly caught up to Minho, showing him the way to the local Pokémon Center, even though he probably would have been able to find it himself, considering that the sign was visible from just about anywhere in the village.
“I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun during a battle. Thank you.” Chan said as they reached the Pokémon Center.
“I had fun, too. Although, I have to admit I’m a bit miffed that I lost.”
“I, umm, I wouldn’t mind a rematch. The way your Pokémon used their attacks was fascinating, I would love to see it again.” Chan couldn’t help but get a bit shy. Minho had asked him for days to have a match, and when he finally caved in and accepted he had so much fun that he wanted to do it again.
“A rematch?” Minho asked, genuinely surprised, “I mean, yes, sure. I’ll probably have some time between creating new routines with my Pokémon. I’d love… to fight your team again.”
They handed their team to Nurse Joy and sat down in the waiting area of the Pokécenter.
“The combinations you used, do you use them like this in Contests?” Chan asked as they waited.
Minho nodded, “Some of them, I usually don’t have to deal with other people breaking my ice and tripping Mienshao.”
“It’s so creative, maybe I should watch more Contests. To use the darkness of Dark Pulse to obscure your Pokémon was cool, combining it with Swift to create a little galaxy with shooting stars… It was beautiful.”
“You should, but you should definitely watch them in person and not on TV. Some performances rely on a certain feeling that you can only get when you’re there.”
Chan nodded, “You could text me when your next Contest comes up, I could come watch.”
Minho’s eyes almost lit up in excitement, “Of course. Give me your number.”
He gave Chan his phone and watched as Chan typed in a number and sent himself a quick message, so he could save Minho on his phone.
When they got back their Pokémon, Chan was ready to leave when Minho stopped him again.
“Wait, your prize!”
“What?”
“You won, so I’ll invite you and your Pokémon for some celebratory dessert.”
Chan had already forgotten about that if he was honest.
“Oh, you don’t have to.”
“No, I suggested the bet, so let me keep my word.” Minho insisted, grabbing Chan’s arm and pulling him into the direction of the café.
Chan watched as Liepard snatched up Dachsbun by the scruff of her neck to carry her after Minho and Chan, but instead of struggling Dachsbun just wiggled happily as her new friend gave her attention.
They sat down outside, so there would be enough space for all of their Pokémon to share the space. It all felt calm and cozy as they ate the pastries Minho ordered for all of them.
“Do you want to join tomorrow’s lesson too? The class probably has questions about the battle today, and you can probably explain what you were doing better than I can.”
“Of course. I originally planned to take the train home after we fought, but I guess I can stay another day.”
“Great, the kids are going to be so excited. Where are you staying?”
“I’m camping, actually… It was a bit of a shock when I saw that this small town doesn’t even have an inn.”
“You’re camping?” It was a bit surprising.
“Yeah, it’s not that bad, but I have to admit that I need a shower by now…”
“Well, that’s what you’re getting for showing up every day to challenge a retired Champ.” Chan said with a small laugh before calming himself, “You could stay at my place today, shower and… stuff…”
“And stuff?” Minho asked with a mischievous grin on his face.
Chan got a bit shy again, blushing profusely. What was it about Minho that made him so awkward? His eyes were as sharp as his Liepard’s and the way he moved when he directed his Pokémon was only rivaled by Oricorio's gracefulness. He was stubborn as a Taurus and his smile betrayed him to be as cheeky as a Zorua.
“I’m just kidding. Thank you for letting me stay.”
They went to pick up Minho’s camping gear and made their way back to Chan’s house.
Chan showed him to the small guestroom in his house that nobody but his parents had stayed in until now whenever they came to visit. Minho went and took a shower while Chan got comfortable on his porch, watching Dachsbun following Liepard around in the garden.
He didn’t think that he would find his passion for Pokémon battles again. He and his team had fought so many trainers that didn’t spark the same joy. What made Minho different?
Maybe it was because Minho felt like a piece of his hometown, even though they hadn’t been close when they were children, talking to him just felt comfortable.
Chan was startled out of his thoughts when the door behind him opened, revealing Minho in cozy clothes, with a towel around his shoulders to keep his wet hair from dripping all over his shirt.
“Hey, uh, do you have a hair dryer? I couldn’t find one.”
“Ah, sure. I keep it in my bedroom, I’ll get it for you.”
Minho nodded and stepped aside to let Chan through the door as he went inside to fetch the hair dryer. Before he could return, he heard Minho call out from outside, followed by Dachsbun’s barking.
“Argh! Stop it! Bad Pokémon! Seriously, who raised you?”
Chan almost fell over, stumbling over his own feet as he rushed back outside, where he found Minho on the ground, wrestling with his own Liepard while Dachsbun jumped around them barking.
Liepard apparently tried to lick Minho’s wet hair, while the Coordinator tried to push her away.
“Dachsbun, settle down.” Chan said and luckily she followed his command and stopped barking.
“Uh, Minho? Are you okay?” He asked a bit awkwardly, unsure if he should intervene.
“Ugh, yes. I’m fine.” Minho grunted as he finally managed to push Liepard away and got back up. He took the hair dryer from Chan and quickly disappeared inside again.
Chan wasn’t sure, but for a second he thought he saw Minho’s ears turning red as he left.
He looked down to Liepard, “You and Minho are really good friends, aren’t you?”
He reached out his hand to pet Liepard’s head, but quickly withdrew it when the Pokémon hissed menacingly.
“I’m sorry.” He said, raising his hands in surrender, before sitting back down to wait for Minho to come back. As friendly and cuddly as Liepard was with her trainer, that didn’t seem to apply to everyone.
The next day, they returned to the trainer school together. The kids were already waiting for them, excited to talk about the battle yesterday.
Chan, again, was impressed how well Minho could deal with children, patiently answering all their questions on how he taught his Pokémon to do what they did, and explaining how they used these moves in Contests.
“The attacks all looked so pretty!” Yeji said, listening intently to what Minho was saying.
“I would hope so, or they are not going to win me anything.” Minho said with a laugh.
Yeji’s eyes sparkled, “I want to learn how to be a Coordinator, too! My Pokémon are going to be the prettiest in the world!”
“Me too! Can you teach us, Mr Chan?” Another girl, Yunah, asked.
Chan took a step back, a bit flustered by the question. “I’m not really an expert when it comes to coordinating Pokémon.”
“Then, can you teach us, Mr Minho?” Yeji asked.
Minho looked a bit surprised, “Oh, I don’t know. I will think about it…”
After the lesson was over and the kids were gone, Chan felt like he needed to say something.
“Hey, uhh, you don’t have to teach them if you don’t want to. I’ll find an excuse, so they won’t be too disappointed.”
“That’s not it. I wouldn’t mind teaching them about being a Coordinator, but I don’t want to take away your students. You probably have the lessons planned out. I don’t want to interfere.”
That surprised Chan. He didn’t think Minho would actually be interested.
“Oh, no, no, please, if you want to teach them, I’d be happy to let you take over. My trainer school is not that serious of an affair. It’s really just so the kids can learn what they want before they go traveling the region. If they want to learn about Contests and you want to teach them, please go ahead.”
“I would love to. Thank you.”
And just like that it was decided that Minho would stay a few days more to take over Chan’s class and teach the kids about Contests. A few days suddenly turned into over a week, which turned into a month as the kids wanted to learn more, causing them to split the lessons into battling and coordinating sessions.
On off-days Minho would use Chan’s backyard to work on new combinations for his next Contest while Chan watched him from the porch. Somehow, Minho just inserted himself into Chan’s life and Chan couldn’t say that he was bothered by it. He liked Minho. He couldn’t imagine how they hadn’t been friends when they were younger, but then again, they hadn’t exactly run in the same circles.
They easily fell into a routine. Minho got up earlier than Chan and made breakfast. After breakfast, one of them would go to the trainer school to teach a class. When it was Chan’s turn to teach, Minho would work on his next Contest presentation. When it was Minho’s turn, Chan would take his Pokémon to town to help with whatever troubled the people there, be it moving heavy objects, repairing something, going on errands. They would meet at their usual café for lunch, before going back to whatever task they had set for each other for that day. When Chan didn’t teach in the afternoon, he would usually go for a jog and train with his Pokémon. Just because he wasn’t the Champ anymore, didn’t mean he should let himself or his team get out of shape, after all.
Minho and him would meet up in the evening at Chan’s house again where Chan made dinner and then they would just let the evening take its course as they sat on the porch and talked, watching their Pokémon play with each other, before finally going to bed.
Minho had now taken permanent residence in Chan’s guest room.
Another month passed without much fanfare, and then another.
Their routine was finally interrupted by Minho.
“The Thunderous Fest is next week. It’s the first Contest of the season.”
“Oh, of course… You probably have to leave soon, right?”
Chan knew their little whatever-this-was had to come to an end sooner or later.
“Yes, it’s in Uloe City.”
“That’s pretty far away, how are you going to get there?”
“There is a high-speed train going from Bonbu to Uloe, I just have to get there and the rest is pretty easy.”
“Sounds like you already have a plan…”
There was a moment of awkward silence, until Minho finally spoke up again.
“So, are you coming?”
“What?”
“To see the contest. Are you coming?”
When Chan didn’t say anything, Minho continued.
“You said you would come see my next Contest, remember?”
“Oh yeah, I did say that.”
“Do you not want to come?”
“No! No, that’s not it! I just, I don’t know, I didn’t think you would invite me like this, I guess.”
“Well, I am. So, are you coming?”
“Of course. I’d like that.”
He couldn’t wait to see Minho on stage.
They travelled to Uloe City together a day before the Contest, first taking Chan’s car to the next train station and then taking a bullet train from there. They killed some time with card games and more stories from their youth.
“Have you been to Uloe before?” Minho asked.
“Only briefly. There is no gym, so I didn’t spend too much time there and continued my journey. What about you?”
“They hosted the first Thunderous Contest I participated in five years ago. That was the last time I visited.”
“So the others haven’t been there?”
“No, the Contests are hosted somewhere else every year, the next one is Twilight in two months in Sujeong City.”
Chan’s knowledge on Contests was a bit rusty as he had never paid much thought to it before, “And you have to win all five in a season to participate in the Grand Festival?”
“No, there are points assigned in every Contest. Everyone who passes a certain threshold after the five Contests qualifies for the Grand Festival. If I can get enough points in the first three Contests I don’t have to participate in the others and have more time to prepare for the finale. Maybe you should sit in on my classes.” Minho explained, ending with a short laugh.
“Maybe I should…” Chan admitted, “The Contests always have themes, right? Which one was Thunderous?”
“Thunderous is about Coolness, Twilight about Beauty, Double Knot is Toughness, Blind Spot is Cleverness, and Sunshine is about Cuteness.”
“Sooo, what kind of cool performance have you planned for tomorrow?”
“Nope, not giving it away. It just doesn’t have the same effect when you know what’s coming.” Minho flashed his teeth in his signature mischievous smile.
“Ohhh, how mysterious. I can’t wait to see it.”
They arrived in the late afternoon, dropping their bags off at the hotel they booked and then went out to a nearby restaurant to eat.
“I think I saw an Alolan restaurant on the way here. We could go there to eat if you want to.” Chan suggested.
“Sure…” Minho halted as he thought for a second, “You’re… umm… Aren’t you from Alola or something?”
“Yeah, I’m surprised you remember that. My parents and I moved to Urinara when I was ten.”
“Of course, I remember. You were kind of a novelty when you moved to our little town.”
Chan had never had trouble finding friends and being from one of the most well-known holiday destinations in the world certainly didn’t hinder him when he was the new kid in town.
“I probably was, now that you say it…”
“You are surprisingly dense when it comes to stuff like that.” Minho laughed.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing, nothing…”
The restaurant was nice. They had some Alolan barbecue that Chan had to admit was really close to home. Minho let Luxray out of its Pokéball, ordering an extra bowl of Pokémon-friendly barbecue for him, Liepard and even Dachsbun.
“Luxray and Liepard are the stars of the show tomorrow. They need a little morale boost before going on stage. Isn’t that right, you two?” Minho scratched both of them behind their ears as they dug into their bowls.
“I can’t wait to see it. Are you nervous?”
“Not really. I’m more excited than anything, but we trained and practiced a lot, so we’ll probably manage to score a good place.” Minho answered with a casual shrug.
“Not shooting for first place?”
“I didn’t say that, but if I say that I am going to be first, I get pressured into delivering. And people make mistakes under pressure.”
“Wow, I can’t believe how relaxed you are about this. Is this the Top Coordinator resting on his laurels?”
Minho flashed him a grin, “Oh no. Believe me, I have some plans for when I win as motivation.”
“Let me add to that. If you win, I’ll invite you and your Pokémon to dinner in a restaurant of your choice.” It felt appropriate considering that was what Minho had done when Chan won their battle.
“Careful, I’m going to look for the most expensive restaurant in town.” Minho teased.
“If you blow me and the judges away during the Contest, I would say you deserve eating there.”
If Chan were honest, he would invite Minho to dinner even if he didn’t win. He had so much money left over from his time as the Champ, and he didn’t really like spending it for himself. From what Chan had learned over the few months that Minho and him had lived together, Minho enjoyed good food immensely, so inviting him to a nice restaurant was the least he could do for his friend.
“Then I’m looking forward to winning.” Minho smiled at him so softly that Chan felt like his heart was melting.
Minho left the hotel the next day in the early afternoon, having to prepare and coordinate with the staff at the festival hall for his performance, so Chan spent the day sightseeing until it was time to go. Equipped with sunglasses and a face mask, he took Dachsbun to walk around the city, watch some street performers, look at the big plasma globe that oversaw the city as its most famous landmark, and even to do a bit of shopping. There were a lot of street vendors who used the Contest as an opportunity to sell cute Pokémon accessories, and Chan couldn’t resist buying a pair of cute, pink bows for Dachbun’s ears.
When it was time to go to the festival hall, there was already a crowd of fans and reporters in front of it. Chan quickly looked at his phone. Minho had sent him a picture of where he was supposed to come in. There was a side entrance for contestants and their plus-ones, so Chan didn’t have to wait in line.
As he approached the entrance, he could hear a voice behind him, “And it looks like a familiar face is here today. Going for the contestants’ entrance is the elusive former Champ Bang Chan.” A woman with a mic and a camera man approached him before he could slink away. He hadn’t been the Champ in a while and had retreated from the public eye, moving to a small town and telling nobody but close friends where he went, so he could have some peace, but from time to time there were still people who recognized him as the undefeated Champ, and this reporter’s keen eye apparently saw right through his sunglasses and face mask.
“Can we expect a switch in careers and your debut as a Coordinator today?” The woman asked, shoving her mic in his face.
He laughed, a bit embarrassed, pulling his mask down, “No, no. I’m just here to support a friend.”
“A friend? And which of today’s competitors has managed to win the Champ’s favor?”
“Former Champ.” Chan reminded her awkwardly. He didn’t want to take away from Felix’s accomplishments. He briefly wondered if it would discourage some of the other competitors if Chan said that he was here to support Minho, that would be unfair. He didn’t want to interfere in the Contest in any way. “Just… someone from my hometown. Sorry, but I think I have to go now. Enjoy the Contest.” He gave the camera a quick wave and made his way to the door, showing the doorman his invitation and entering the hall.
As soon as he was inside, he let out a long sigh. He definitely didn’t miss being in the public eye that much. A staff member showed him to a waiting room where some of the contestants waited with their guests, but there was no sign of Minho. When he asked another staff member about him, he was just told that Minho requested a private room and to be left alone until the Contest started, a request which was granted to him solely because he is the reigning Top Coordinator. So Chan waited alone until the Contest started, sometimes interrupted as one of the contestants gathered their courage to talk to him and ask him for an autograph, which Chan easily agreed to as it was something very small for him that could make someone else very happy. The young sibling of one of the contestants even asked to play with Dachsbun, as she was probably the only Pokémon in the room who didn’t have to stay concentrated for the Contest to come.
When it was time, Chan and the other guests were escorted to an extra VIP box with a good view of the stage as the general audience filed into the hall and found their seats.
When everyone was seated, the lights in the hall dimmed as the stage was lit up with a multitude of spotlights as the announcers took the stage and greeted the audience and went over the rules and criteria the judges were using. Every Coordinator took the stage with two of their Pokémon, causing damage to either of your Pokémon during the performance was forbidden as this was not supposed to be a battle, they each only had a few minutes. They were judging on idea, execution, atmosphere and theme.
After that, the first contestant took the stage with her Pliplup and Pachirisu, delivering a beautiful performance that made the Pokémon sparkle and shine as they did a little dance routine.
Chan felt himself be absorbed into the performances. He definitely saw a similarity in the way Minho’s Pokémon used their attacks and the other Coordinators’ Pokémon did. It was fascinating to see.
One Coordinator’s Timburr crushed a boulder while its partner, a Ninetales, used Psyshock to have the debris fly around them, creating an impressive rehearsed fight scene as the Timburr broke every single rock that flew towards it.
Finally, it was time for Minho’s turn. The lights dimmed again, causing a bit of a murmur in the audience as they hadn’t dimmed for any other competitor, but when Chan looked up, he could see that he wasn’t a technical difficulty, but the effect of Liepard’s Dark Pulse. Chan felt the hair on his arm stand up as a loud roar cut through the murmurs, silencing the audience. The lights came back on, revealing Minho with Luxray and Liepard on stage. The feeling of exhilaration didn’t subside as Chan realized that it was the effect of Luxray’s Intimidate Ability that made everyone feel on edge. Now Chan knew why Minho said that one had to see a Contest in person instead of on TV as this feeling could just not be transferred over a broadcast.
Chan also couldn’t help but notice how incredible Minho looked in his stage outfit, consisting of a sleeveless, thick leather jacket, fitted pants and multiple small belts around his toned arms, making him look more muscular than he was. The Minho he had come to know over the last few months was casual, cozy, comfortable. This was a different vibe, he was familiar while still looking like a completely different person. Chan couldn’t look away as Minho had Luxray and Liepard create the galaxy effect with Dark Pulse, Confuse Ray and Swift that they had used in their battle. Even Minho’s movements as he directed his Pokémon were part of the performance, every move oozing strength and confidence. With the darkness Liepard could summon with its Dark Pulse and Luxray’s Discharge, the big finale almost looked like a contained thunderstorm on stage, very fitting for the name of the Contest.
There was a short break as the judges deliberated. Chan returned to the waiting room where Minho finally joined him.
“Did you like the show?” Minho grinned with a twinkle in his eyes.
“Of course I like it! That was amazing! You were amazing! I–” Chan stumbled a bit over his words, still trying to process the show.
“Thank you. I’m glad I gained a new fan.” Minho winked at him, causing Chan’s heart to jump slightly. That was strange, he almost got a bit flustered.
“Yeah, definitely. I really missed out on all those years I didn’t watch you.”
“Do you want to come watch the next shows too?”
“Of course! Yeah, I’d love to come with you.” He couldn’t wait to see Minho’s next performance.
A bark interrupted their talk as Dachsbun started standing on her hindlegs.
“Did you like the performance too?” Minho asked, crouching down to pet her. “Oh, how pretty. Did Chan get you some bows?”
Dachsbun barked excitedly as she put her paws on Minho’s knee, trying to smell the Pokéball on his belt.
“Liepard is resting right now. You can play with her afterwards.” He said, patting her on the hand and standing up again.
There was a soft bell chime, announcing that the judges had finished their deliberation.
“I have to get back now. See you later, okay?” Minho said, smiling at him again before leaving towards the stage entrance again.
To no one’s surprise, Minho and his team won the first prize, being awarded beautiful blue ribbons to commemorate their win. Even after Minho got out of his stage outfit and took off his make-up, Liepard and Luxray continued to wear their ribbons proudly, showing them off as Minho joined Chan outside.
“I knew you’d win! You all did great!” Chan opened his arms to hug, but ended up in a weird half-hug position because he wasn’t even sure if Minho was much of a hugger. His temper sometimes was very close to his Liepard’s. He wasn’t big on skinship, except for rare circumstances. It was a bit difficult for Chan to read Minho and see when he was in a mood to hug and when he wasn’t.
Minho let out a sigh, almost but not quite annoyed, and took a step forward into Chan’s arms, hugging him very lightly, but tensing slightly when Chan hugged him back.
“So, I tried phoning around to reserve a table in one of the expensive restaurants in town, but they are all fully booked…” Chan admitted after they let go of each other.
“It’s okay. I have a place in mind where we could go. Still your treat?”
“Of course, lead the way.”
“This wasn’t exactly what I expected.” Chan said as he found himself at a tiny food stall near the river going through the city where Minho ordered for them and their Pokémon some take-out. Chan, as promised, paid for the meal.
“It’s comfort food. The best thing after a Contest.” Minho said, taking the plastic bag with their food before going ahead along the river, just trusting that Chan would be right behind him.
By now, it was dark outside. The street lamps by the way along the river were beautifully reflected in the water. They walked for a while, Dachsbun, Luxray and Liepard running around them, never straying too far, until they finally reached a bench where Minho sat down.
They gave their Pokémon their well-deserved snacks, before eating their dinner.
After they were finished, both of them made no move to stand up. They just sat next to each other, watching their Pokémon play in comfortable silence, until Chan finally spoke up again.
“You never told me what you promised yourself when you won that last Grand Festival.”
“Hm?”
“You said you would tell me when I won our battle, but you never did.”
“Oh…” Minho looked down at his hands. Chan thought he saw his ears turning red slightly, but wasn’t sure in the low light.
He watched as Minho closed his eyes and took a deep breath, seemingly steeling himself.
“I… I promised myself that if I won I would go see if my childhood crush was still single.” Minho mumbled.
Chan raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but it certainly wasn’t that.
“I kind of spent all of my time focusing on Contests, with no time for a relationship. Now I’m in my twenties and honestly, there wasn’t really anyone else I ever had a crush on. So, I had this stupid idea that if my childhood crush was still single, that was my chance to shoot my shot.”
Chan let out a small laugh, “You know, I kind of get it. I was so obsessed with Pokémon battles and becoming the Champ that I neglected my romantic life. So, what did you do?” Chan tried to ignore the small pang in his chest.
“Well, he was kind of hard to track down. Not a lot of people know where he went, but we just happened to have a mutual friend who told me where to find him. And when I got there, I got a bit awkward about it and did the only thing I knew would catch his attention. I challenged him to a Pokémon battle until he finally accepted.”
Chan blinked, his thoughts halting for a second at the very familiar scenario.
“And I kind of started living with him and it felt kind of perfect because he’s so warm. Like the sun. Well, and then this Contest season started and I made myself another promise… That I would tell him how I feel if I won…”
“Minho… Are you talking about me?”
Minho let out a huff, “Who else would I be talking about?” He finally looked up to meet his eyes. Chan could see that he was trying to channel the confidence he had on stage earlier, but his gaze was wavering, clearly unsure.
Chan was at a loss for words. Minho had been in love with him the whole time? That’s why he had even come to challenge him?
“Please, say something… Even if it is just to reject me. Don’t leave me hanging here…” Minho said after a while.
“No! I mean, not no. I just didn’t know you felt like this.”
“I thought I was pretty obvious, but apparently not. You can be a bit dense.”
Chan let out a breathy laugh. He didn’t know if it was to release the tension coiled up in his chest or because even in a situation like that Minho couldn’t help himself but tease.
“Maybe I am.” He said. “Minho, I don’t know how to say this…”
Minho buried his face in his hands, “Oh God…”
“No! I am not rejecting you! I’m sorry.”
Minho looked up again, “You’re not?”
“I’m not. I’m just trying to find the right words.” He looked down to his hands as he felt a blush heating up his head, “Minho, you spark a passion in me that I haven’t felt in a long time. I enjoy my slow life in the countryside, but, well, it gets lonely and you fill a hole in my heart that I didn’t know I had.”
“I also really enjoy living with you! And I like teaching the kids with you. And I like being with you, and…”
Chan couldn’t stop himself from crashing their lips together, maybe a bit roughly, but the kiss quickly turned softer and sweeter.
Minho actually leaned against him when they finally separated, “Does that mean you want to be my boyfriend?”
Chan put his arm around him, “I’d love nothing more.”