Archive of Our Own

Hammerlocke smells like cast-iron cooking and forest fires. It’s earthy, ashen, but not as unbearable as the good ole smokey Motostoke.

Leon doesn’t like to keep Charizard in his pokeball when he travels, but the train was too packed to let him roam the car. Leon would say that’s the source of his anxiety, but that would be a lie.

He’s jostled as the crowd enters and exits the car behind him. The station is full of people and pokemon alike, and Leon begins to question if he should just turn right around and get back on that train car.

“Now don’t tell me you’ve already gotten lost. Fresh off the car, I think that’s a new record.”

Leon spins around on his heel. Raihan is a head taller than any human in the crowd, and Leon’s stomach knots with stinging joy and thick nerves.

“Raihan!”

Leon claps his hand, and Raihan squeezes, giving him that sly, pointy smile. His eyes are full of fire, and it warms Leon to his core. Raihan’s rotom zips around for a selfie, and Leon poses quickly before turning back to his friend.

 “You’re late,” Raihan grins. “I thought you were arriving on the three fifty.”

Leon scratches his jaw, “Yeah…sorry mate, I got lost at the Wyndon station.”

Raihan laughs and slaps his shoulder, leading him towards the exit, “I figured. That’s why I just got here.”

It’s not challenge season, so Raihan is in civvies. Worn out jeans, a beanie tugged over his ears, and his trademark hoodie. It's um, it's a really good look for him. 

Leon begs the butterflies in his stomach to sit still. They hatched when he was twelve and they haven’t quit since, but god damn it, Leon can still try.

“Six months is too long, brother,” Raihan says, pocketing his hands like normal, and this is fine, nothing has changed, Leon is fine. Raihan’s eyes are alive, and he’s excited to see his very good and platonic childhood friend, because Leon is an awesome pal, thank you.

Leon beams, “Yeah man. If you grew again I’m going to kick your ass.”

“I haven’t moved a centimeter, I swear,” Raihan laughs. “I think this is it for me.”

“A tragedy.”

“Come on, this way,” Raihan leads. “I moved flats a few months ago.”

Raihan leads him down the road out of central, and that’s all Leon knows. Leon takes to studying the people, the pokemon and the smell of vendor hotdogs, rather than watching where he’s going. It’s butterfree season, and eldeglosses float by with the breeze. The journey is more fun than the destination, and Leon finds many things to focus on instead of Raihan’s overpowering and familiar presence.

“You’ve filled out, mate,” Raihan elbows him, jostling his thoughts. “You still working at the battle tower?”

“Yeah, our new champ really sparked a generation. The tower’s gotten an influx of wicked, determined little things.”

Six months, and it still feels strange to call someone else the champion. It’s not a matter of pride, but a massive change in lifestyle that he’s still adjusting to.

Raihan barks a laugh, “You put ‘em in their place?”

“Well, yes.”

“That’s my boy.”

“What about you? I see you all over social media but it’s always selfies and food and gym pics.”

“Excuse you, I’ve built my entire brand on selfies and food and gym pics,” Raihan grins, sharp. “At least my instagram isn’t flooded with granola quotes about seizing the day.”

Leon rolls his eyes, “Answer my question.”

“I stay busy,” Raihan shrugs. “You know how the off season is. Most of it is spent training.”

“I hear that. The Foundation keeps asking me to officiate in Roses’ place next year.”

Raihan jostles him again, burning Leon’s shoulder.

“And you keep saying no, like a dumbass.”

“It’s not my place anymore.”

“The people want you, Leon. Even our new champ is on board with you being the new face of the gym challenge.”

Leon snorts, and Raihan leads them up to a gate. Leon takes a quick look at his surroundings, and is surprised to see that they’ve wandered into the forest suburbs of Hammerlocke. There are big lawns here, more trees and space between each home.

“This’ll be it,” Raihan gestures. “Say hello to your new casa for the next week.”

Leon switches his hat around, petting back the sticky bangs of his hair, and blinks at the cottage home.

“This is your new flat?” Leon steps through, and it feels so much like mum’s place in Postwick, that it makes his heart squeeze. “Rai, this isn’t a flat at all.”

The lawn is a bit overgrown, and the hedges are wild, but there’s a swing on the porch and a gate leading into a large backyard. Raihan steps by, fishing for his keys.

“Some bachelor pad, right?”

“Yeah, if you’re a nana baking cookies. Seriously, what is with this?”

Leon isn’t so airheaded to forget Raihan’s old flat. It was in a Hammerlocke complex that was shiny and modern and stuck out like a sore thumb against all the old architecture in the city. Apparently, Marco Cosmos had built it to fit the housing crisis, and the flashiness had been right up Raihan’s alley. Leon definitely hadn’t minded, he likes fancy stuff.

Raihan handles the teasing with a cool and smooth attitude like anything else. He steps up and fiddles with the lock, shrugging.

“Change is good for you, man. This hit the market a few months back, and when I saw the acre, I knew it’d be perfect for my dragons.”

And speak of the devil, as soon as Raihan throws open the lock, there’s trilling and chirping from the backyard. Leon peeks into the house and mutters,

“No shit…”

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’,” Raihan sighs, tossing his keys on the kitchen counter and making his way to the sliding door in the back. “Set your bag anywhere! And feel free to let Charizard out in the yard! Flygon will be thrilled.”

Leon slides his bag onto the couch, and sets his hands on his hips. Raihan’s new place is smaller than his previous bachelor pad, but the interior isn’t grandma-ish or dated looking, like the outside would suggest. It’s filled with all his old furniture, and the walls are painted white, but there are houseplants and framed posters and a shelf of trophies shoved on his bookcase.

It’s homey.

Leon clicks his pokeball and follows Raihan into the yard. He’s scratching under Gigalith’s chin with a handshovel, and god does it make Leon’s insides twist like a wrung towel.

Charizard shakes off the glow of the pokeball, and stretches his leathery wings. He gives Leon a curious look.

“Here you are, bud,” Leon greets Charizard with a pat on the nose. “Come say hi.”

“Rrrgh!”

Charizard recognizes Raihan immediately. Raihan gives Charizard a hearty scratch on the head, and Charizard purrs for him.

“Hey there, old frenemy.”

“I’m sure Raihan’s got treats, yeah?”

“Oh do I,” Raihan says, but Charizard’s attention is lost when Flygon comes begging for attention. Raihan smiles, and turns to Leon again. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Daycare,” Leon explains. “My apartment in Wyndon is too small to keep them all out. I feel bad, you know.”

Raihan nods, “I get it. S’ why I moved.”

Leon takes a good look at his acre. There’s a line of trees, a pond off in the corner and a small practice arena. Raihan treats his pokemon well. Leon always told nosy reporters that Raihan’s gentle hand is the reason why he was the only one to come so close to beating him.

Well. One of the only ones.

There’s a familiar gloop, gloop, sound slurping from the lake, and Leon’s stomach drops.

“Uh oh.”

“Oh yeah,” Raihan coos, way too smug, and screw him and his stupid blue eyes, because Leon is too distracted to run. “Goodra, look who I brought!”

Leon is suddenly coated in a very thick, syrupy hug. Leon sputters, and it’s cold, but he starts laughing from the bubbly fussing in his ear. His vision is filled with purple.

“Ahh. It’s goo to see you, Goodra.”

“Boo,” Raihan deadpans. Goodra is heavy, and Leon nearly looses his footing at the weight in his arms. Raihan shows mercy and says, “Alright baby, don’t suffocate him yet. You can play after dinner.”

Goodra pulls back, eyes squeezing shut in a smile, and she’s a cute little thing, but Leon is now officially soaked.

“Thanks for that,” Leon says tonelessly. Raihan snickers, and pats his sticky shoulder.

“You can use my shower. The guest room is the second door on the left. Try not to leak nickelodeon slime all over my floor.”

“Eat shit.”

Raihan hasn’t changed in six months, or even six years. His rotom still hovers around him like a bee, he still dresses like an edgy teenager, and he still has that cooler-than-you attitude.

But this has definitely been one of the longer stretches they’ve gone without seeing each other. It’s not like Leon was actively avoiding him. It was more like, strategic avoidance.

There are things he can’t say and stuff he can’t act on and all that’s good and well and normal. Raihan is hot, Raihan knows he’s hot, and these are stone pillars in Leon’s life. Constant and unchanging.

But Raihan never posted pictures with girls. At least, not before the whole chairman fiasco that made national news. But Leon started seeing dance clubs and cute flirts and handsy girls in Raihan’s timeline, and the ugly beast in his stomach gorged on all his internal organs until Leon was peer pressured to text him and say I’m coming to visit.  

Is he being petty? Probably. But Leon needs to know.

Raihan is in the kitchen when Leon finishes his shower. He smells entirely of Raihan now, and Leon has to tie up his damp hair because the scent is maddening.

“Whatcha’ got there?” Leon asks, finishing the tie on his hair.

“Mac and cheese,” Raihan says. “Is that cool?”

“Well, duh.”

“Just checking,” Raihan sings. “You’ve gone all beef bus on me lately, so I wasn’t sure if you were on a special diet or sumthin’.”

“Beef bus?” Leon laughs, sitting at the barstool. “Maybe you’d get some gains if you actually picked up a dumbbell here and then.”

Raihan’s smile is closed-mouthed and cheeky, and Leon almost wishes he’d grin and show off those teeth of his.

“Sorry mate. I’m a runner, not a lifter. I was built for speed. You know, aerodynamic.”

“Yeah, like a string bean.”

Raihan laughs, but he turns his head to stir around the macaroni, so Leon misses his smile. Raihan looks big in his kitchen, but really, he’d look big in any kitchen. Despite Leon’s teasing, Raihan is rather built. He’s broad across the chest, maybe more-so than Leon, and he’s got this sharp, model-like face to him that he grew into at twelve and proceeded to ruin Leon’s entire life.

Leon isn’t sure who would win in a hand-to-hand fight, but he’s pretty confident he would still have Raihan’s ass in a pokemon battle.

Raihan serves Leon a bowl of mac and cheese, but eats out of the pot himself, and nothing’s changed. Nothing except everything.

Because Leon is a subtle and classy man, he glances around at the photos on his fridge and says, “I don’t see any pictures of your girlfriend.”

Raihan lifts an eyebrow, spoon scraping the bottom of the pot.

“Girlfriend?”

“You know,” Leon waves his hand around. “The bird you’ve been posting with.”

Raihan sets a hand over his heart, “So you do still follow me on twitter. I thought you blocked me after the Lord of the Rings spam.”

“I did,” Leon says. “Screw you, by the way, for watching it without me.”

“You live in fucking Wyndon. You’re the bad mate, here.”

“Nah, you’re the bad mate for getting a girlfriend without telling me.”

Raihan studies him a moment, expression unreadable, before he softens and sets his pot in the sink.

“But I didn’t. Sherry’s just a good friend of mine. Some new pubs opened up in Hammerlocke and Spikemuth, so we’ve been doing crawls on the weekends. Piers is kind of a beast, he’ll drink you under the table.”  

Leon makes a face, “Really?”

“Now why would I lie to you.”

“You used to tell me my head would turn into a fruit gusher if I ate too many,” Leon defends. “You convinced me the pinheads were real. I thought the slenderman would really eat my toes because of you!”

“I think what we should take away from this is that you are very gullible, my guy.”

“Exactly!” Leon shouts, and then frowns, because wait – but Raihan is already laughing. Leon huffs, “My point is. You would keep a girl secret from me just so you could pop up with a wedding invite and laugh at my face.”

“Now that would funny,” Raihan points, leaning over the kitchen island to set his head in his hand. “It’s a shame I didn’t come up with that one. What else have you got?”

“Raihan.”

“Tchh, calm down. I’ve got no girl and no fiancé. It’s just me and my pokemon, doomed to be beautiful and alone forever.” Raihan salutes, “I swear it.”

Leon stays serious a moment more, before he starts to laugh. He swats Raihan’s elbow, and watches bright blue eyes light up in amusement.

“Shut up. Your thirst followers are freaking mental.”

“But that’s all they are,” Raihan says seriously, keeping his eye. “It’s not like they really know me.”

There’s a beat of silence. It stretches a little thick, and Leon knows he should break the eye contact, but he’s hesitant to.

Leon isn’t a stranger to the weirdos on the internet; even if he’s no longer the champion, he’s still got a hefty following online. But Raihan plays an entirely different social game. He really could pick up anyone he wanted, and it wouldn’t mean a damn thing to him.  

Raihan looks him up and down. Leon’s heart begins to beat out of his chest, but Raihan breaks the moment by standing up straight and snatching Leon’s bowl.

“If you’re so bent outta’ shape over my Lord of the Rings marathon, then why don’t we give it a go tonight?”

“So you did like it!!”

“I didn’t say that.”

“All that bitching… I knew it! You’re a hack!”

“All they do is eat bread and walk!”

“That’s no different than you mate, now is it?”

Raihan barks a surprised laugh, and Leon is fumbling with his DVD player as the sun goes down. He can see the dragons sleeping out in the dens, Raihan vaults the back of the couch to slip in next to him, and things are a little too perfect, but Leon lets it slide.

The guestroom is normal. Black quilted comforter, tan sheets, a bedside table and some crap Raihan stores in the closet.

Things should feel like they always have. Nothing is different.

Leon hovers by the window, chilled and shirtless and in pajamas, and he runs his fingers over the dark edge of the windowsill.

“Hey, champ. Good work out there.”

“Don’t call me that,” Leon snaps.

Raihan approaches him from across the locker room. Leon slams his locker shut and sighs, rubbing between his eyes.

“I—shit. Sorry.”

“I’d never seen anything like that,” Raihan says, sitting close on the bench so their knees touch. “You were like a beast out there.” 

Leon shakes himself, and grips the edge of the windowsill with white knuckles. He slides the window shut and cuts himself off from the breeze, and the memory.

Get it together.

The pond in Raihan’s yard is big enough to skip stones across. They used to sneak over to the lake in Wedgehurst and toss rocks across the water to lure out the Lapras rumored to be sleeping under the island. Officer Jenny dragged them home by their shirt collars more times than his mum would like to admit.

There’s no trespassing here. Just a cool Tuesday morning, their pantlegs rolled to their knees and sleepy dragons hidden around the acre. They both turn twenty-four this year. It’s weird to think about.

Raihan is good company, even when his nose is in his phone. Leon gives another toss, the stone bounces three times, and he jolts at Rotom’s flash.

“Very nice,” Raihan says, and Rotom flips around to show him the picture. “I’m posting that one for sure.”

“Pfft, don’t. I look way too serious.”

“The champ has a deep side,” Raihan captions.

Leon swallows, and kicks his feet in the water. He tries to keep his voice light.

“Not anymore. Just post a bunch of emojis like you always do.”

There’s a stretch of silence, and it takes him a moment too long to realize Raihan is staring. Leon turns to him, and Raihan lifts an eyebrow.

“You’ll always be a champion, mate. Why else would everyone keep calling you that?”

It’s so much of what Leon needed to hear, that it sends him reeling. His stomach knots and his eyes sting. He recovers quickly and a little too loud, slapping Raihan on the shoulder and laughing.

“Right! Because I’m the greatest, of course.”

“Hmm.” Raihan eyes him again, and smiles down at his phone, and Leon lets out an unsteady breath.

Charizard shifts his head on his lap. His leg is going numb, but Leon can stand the tingling a bit longer.

“Are you sure you’re not missed at the gym?” Leon asks.

“Huh? Nah. My trainers are all on leave this week. The gym is actually open, if you wanted to give it a go.”

The prospect of a battle with Raihan sets all his hair on end. Leon grins, competitiveness rolling around in his chest.

“For real?”

Raihan smirks back at him. His full attention is addictive, and his eyes are just as blue as the pond next to them.

“Yeah, betcha’ we could gigamax too. I’ve got some new tricks I’ve been meaning to try on you.”

“Don’t underestimate me,” Leon teases. “I haven’t exactly been laying supine these last few months.”

Raihan leans over and squeezes his shoulder tight, and tingles zip up his neck and down his back. His stare is panther-like and laser focused.

“Leon, you’re the last man on earth I’d underestimate.”

They get permission to use the stadium for an unranked match, and decide to post about it on social media just for fun.

The turn out is much larger than they’re expecting for an hour’s notice. Leon can already feel the adrenaline rush that comes with performing, and that’s good, because he does better under pressure.

More than half the stadium fills with people, and one of Raihan’s gym trainers volunteers to referee on her off day.

“Should’ve known you two couldn’t go a day without battling,” she jokes.

“I’ve still got a reputation to uphold,” Leon replies, lighthearted. “I definitely won’t let that shmuck beat me.”

Raihan covers his heart, “You wound me, old friend. I’m coming for that record of yours.”

Raihan never treated him differently after his loss, and Leon appreciates that more than he can express. Technically, there is no more record. No more reputation. No more champion.

But Raihan still sees him as a goal – as the ultimate win – and it keeps Leon grounded and focused.

They tear up the gym in the meantime. Raihan is strong, he’s always been strong, but he’s wild too, always trying new tactics and moves and battle styles, and it’s an equal game of wits and strength, and only their current champion has ever challenged him this way.

Raihan has this unhinged edge to him when he battles. It makes Leon want to let go too.

He wins anyways. Raihan gives him that look – the one he always has when he loses. It’s full of respect, defeat and acceptance, but happy. And that is why Leon’s stomach hatched butterflies. That’s why it feels like he can’t breathe.

Leon is still surprised when people ask for autographs. He doesn’t see Raihan until the crowd has dispersed, and a Rotom comes zipping around in a flash.

“Post defeat selfie,” Raihan peace signs. “Loss number four thousand.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Leon smiles. “Besides, that was pretty good. You even made me nervous for a minute.”

“Then I’ll count that for a win.”

“Do you mind showing me where the center is? I need to ship my pokemon back to daycare.”

Raihan frowns down at him, slouching with his hands in his sweatshirt pockets. “You don’t have to. They’re welcome back at my place.”

“That’s nice of you, but I don’t think your yard is that big,” Leon pats his back. “Besides, Haxorus will fuck up all your landscaping.”

Raihan laughs, and it’s so soft and carefree. Leon’s throat feels tight. Raihan handles defeat with class and indifference, and that in and of itself, is sexy. It’s impossible to forget that Raihan is still one of the top trainers in the world.  

“Alright alright. Will you let me buy you lunch?”

“Well it’s not like I’ll turn down free food.”

They go out for pizza and skeeball. They’ve got beer and chips on the table, and Leon leans over the old Die Hard themed pinball machine and tries to beat Raihan’s score.

Raihan is leaning over the back of the machine, and he’s making it hard to see, but it gives Leon a clean shot down his shirt, so he doesn’t throw a fit.

Raihan taps the glass, and settles his head in his hand.

“You’re not gonna’ beat me. Just give up now.”

“Shut up and let me concentrate.”

“Why’d you stop coming around?”

Leon flounders, and he misses the ball with the paddles. The game flashes and goes dark. Leon blinks.

“Huh?”

Raihan leans down and slides another quarter in the slot without looking. Bleep bleep bleep! The game lights up again.

“You used to stop by at least once a month, even when you were on your crazy champion promo schedules,” Raihan says.

Leon clears his throat, and focuses back in on the game.

“I dunno’, the battle tower got busy. Why’d you never come see me?”

Raihan frowns, “You know I can’t leave Hammerlocke for long stretches of time.”

Leon does know, but feels like being petty anyways. A gym leader is more than a roadblock in a pokemon challenge. A gym leader protects the town from whoever and whatever danger might come. Crimelords, poachers, rampaging pokemon, you name it.

When the police need backup, it’s you.

Being the champion means this, and more. 

“Yeah,” Leon says, and wracks up his score.

“I kept making offers,” Raihan shrugs. “No reply. I figured you were busy.”

“Well we’re adults now,” Leon snaps. “I can’t run south whenever I want to visit a friend.”

Raihan doesn’t flinch, but his expression walls off. His smile is obviously fake.

“True. All I’m saying is that I missed ya’.”

Leon pauses. The ball falls through, and he gets another game over. He forces a smile and says,

“Beat you.”

Raihan’s head whips down.

“What!”

“Nah, but I made you look.”

Raihan laughs and shoves him over, and at least that one sounded a little more genuine. The pitfall in his stomach is easy to ignore, until Raihan starts to flirt with the waitress – and then Leon just feels sick.

“Hey, champ. Good work out there.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Leon flies up in bed. He digs his hands into his eyes, and forces himself awake.

He frequently struggles to sleep after a good battle. That’s no surprise – nor is the memory that continues to haunt him.

This has to stop.

Raihan is needed at the gym to handle some business, so Leon is left free to wander the shops. Raihan has a very serious talk with Charizard, who nods enthusiastically about keeping Leon on the straight and narrow.

Leon doesn’t put much thought into it. He’s not much for fashion, but Hammerlocke has a different style than Wyndon, so it’s fun to poke through.

Raihan is much better at this stuff. Leon sticks to jeans and t-shirts when he’s out of uniform, not too different from Raihan – but he doesn’t wear the earrings and the headbands and the studded belts like Raihan does.

He finds a Hammerlock snapback in a store, and swaps it out for his usual hat. It’s humid today, so he braided down the front of his hair and left the rest of it to curl as it pleased.

“Lookin’ fly my guy,” Raihan approaches. 

“These churros are the shit,” Leon replies.

“I know for a fact that there’s churros in Wyndon.”

“Yeah, but they don’t fill ‘em with custard up there.”

Raihan grins, and pets along Charizard’s neck.

“Good job keeping him safe. I was worried he’d wander into the wild area.”

“Rrrrgh!”

“I’m not that helpless.”

Charizard and Raihan snort together. Leon huffs.

“Whatever. I guess I’ll just eat both your churros.”

Both dragons make scandalized, huffy noises, and it sends Leon into a laughing fit. They’re in public, and there’s cameras around, and Leon isn’t so mad when he sees the pictures all over his timeline.

“Who was that?” Raihan asks, feet up on the coffee table.

Leon pockets his phone and collapses into the end of the L-couch.

“Hop. He saw the videos of our fight and wanted to ask how the week was going.”

“And? What’d you say?” Raihan flings a chip at him. “That I’m the best host of all time, right?”

“That you have slow ass wifi,” Leon says, and catches the second chip in his mouth. He chews, “How’s someone on their phone all the time and not pay for high speed internet?”

“Unlimited data, baby,” Raihan waves his rotom phone. “Faster than any service.”

The petname rolls down his spine like water. Leon hides his shiver by readjusting on the couch.

“You’re an enigma, mate.”

“An enigma with WKD blue.” Raihan pops the cap off the coffee table, and Leon’s eyes follow the flex in his arm as he hands it over. “Bottoms up.”

“Sweet Arceus, are we trying to relive the old days or what?” Leon sniffs the top and cringes. “I still remember what this tastes like coming up.”

“Yeah, but this time we aren’t hopping six fences and running half a football field,” Raihan says. Leon snorts at the memory, and clinks his glass against Raihan’s.

“We did so much dumb shit just so you could impress those birds.”

“You couldn’t turn down a dare,” Raihan defends. He makes a thoughtful face, and takes a swig, “I could probably dare you to walk up the hill on your hands and you’d still do it.”

“That’s not even hard,” Leon says. 

Raihan runs a hand through his hair, shaking out the dreads and rubbing along his undercut. Leon rarely sees him without some kind of headband these days.

“Don’t make me out to be the bad guy. You did plenty of shit chasing tail.”

And that, likely, is one of Leon’s longest running lies. It took him a long time to realize that it wasn’t no girls he was trying to impress. 

Raihan is curled up on the edge of the couch, long legs folded under himself, a pillow in his lap and his fingernail picking at the edge of the bottle label. Leon hurts, hurts to look at him, curdles and boils with secret self-hatred and shame.

Time was supposed to make things easier, not worse.

Leon stomachs a swig of watered down vodka and cringes at the taste, slamming the bottle on the table and making a series of wrenching noises.

“That’s going on my story,” Raihan says, tapping his phone.

“You better not!”

Leon comes back from a piss to find Raihan long gone. It’s past midnight, and Leon doesn’t put it past him for Raihan to sneak off to bed – but he finds him in the yard instead.

Duraludon and Charizard are sleepily begging for attention. Raihan isn’t drunk (Leon isn’t even sure if it’s possible), but the back of his neck is red, and he tore off his jacket hours ago.

Charizard’s head is in his lap, and Duraludon’s eyes are closed as Raihan rubs up and down his shiny snout with an old cloth. Leon hovers by the sliding door, and keeps his breathing quiet as Raihan smooths up and under metal eyes, squeaking between joints in a pattern almost ritual.

Leon’s Charizard doesn’t like many other people, but it was never surprising that he took to Raihan like a fish in water. Raihan’s affinity for dragon types was something ingrained in him since they were kids. If he closes his eyes, he can still see Trapinch riding around in Raihan’s sweatshirt pocket, little Goomy always spitting slime in his shoes.

Raihan’s silhouette stands out from the porch light. Broad, handsome, confident. Raihan says he’s spent his life catching up to Leon, but it feels far from the truth.

Friends shouldn’t look at each other this way. They shouldn’t be jealous of waitresses in tiny skirts. They shouldn’t have – god, dreams like Leon has.

He leaves Raihan in the backyard, and goes to bed. Slightly drunk, dejected and lost, he’s powerless to stop the memory this time.

Everything feels hazy and numb.

“Hey, champ. Good work out there.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Raihan approaches him from across the locker room. Leon slams his locker shut and sighs, rubbing between his eyes.

“I—shit. Sorry.”

“I’d never seen anything like that,” Raihan says, sitting close on the bench so their knees touch. “You were like a beast out there.” 

“Shouldn’t you be laughing?” Leon asks, voice croaky. He fists his fingers in his lap, and stares with detachment. “My streak is broken. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Raihan’s voice is low and gritty with a seriousness not usually found there.

“I’m not laughing at you, Leon. Nobody is laughing at you.”

Leon clenches his fingers hard enough for the joints to pop. One of the overhead lights flickers on and off, and his voice sounds too loud and echoey in the open locker room.

He lets out a dry laugh.

“I am. My reputation is built on the fact that I’m a sore loser.”

“Maybe,” Raihan shrugs. “But the best of the best are allowed to be sore losers.”

Leon makes a noncommittal sound. He jumps when fingers find his, and Raihan’s hands are so much larger than his own. He jerks to meet Raihan’s eye, and the seriousness is a good, but scary look on him.

“We’re rivals, but we’re friends first,” Raihan says, squeezing his fingers. “I’m always gonna’ be cheering you on, mate. What, you think this is the end of the road for you, or something?”

“No,” Leon says, even though it feels like a lie.

“Good,” Raihan says. “Cause that’d be stupid.”

Leon swallows. He doesn’t cry, but his throat still feels tight. It’s stupid to break down to the person Leon has defeated over and over and over again, but Raihan never took any of that to heart. Leon knows he shouldn’t take this to heart either.

Feeling brave, Leon turns his fingers over in Raihan’s, and squeezes back. Raihan’s eyes widen in shock only for a moment – and Leon hopes he can’t see his heart beating through his shirt.

“Thanks,” Leon says. He clears his throat, and looks away. “You’ve always – you never – ”

“You don’t gotta’ say it,” Raihan says, and the rasp in his voice gives Leon chills.

All you can hear is the drip from the showers. That light flickers again, and Leon follows the line of Raihan’s throat as he swallows.

Raihan hasn’t pulled his hand away. They’re sharing the same space, the same air, thigh to hip on the bench. Raihan sits taller than him, but he’s hovering anyways, and Leon finds his head tipping closer, like the opposite ends of a magnet. He leans close enough to smell his aftershave, the cologne he slapped on this morning, the smell of his shampoo –

The locker room door swings open.

“HEY LEON!! You’ve got a whole gaggle of reporters out there waitin’ on you! I ain’t gonna’ make up no more lies, get your arse out there!”

They jerk apart. Piers stares back impatiently.

Raihan rises with a easy smile, clapping Leon on the shoulder and nodding. He moves on as if nothing happened. As if the air isn’t still staticky with all the tension between them.

“I’ll bide ‘em over for you, bruv. Take as long as you need.”

“Ah,” Leon says, heart breaking into pieces. “Thanks.”

Raihan stays a respectful distance for the rest of the week, and Leon feels like a fucking idiot.

It took half his life to realize he was in love with his best friend.

He came way too close to ruining everything.

Leon got three hours of sleep at best. He figures it’s all he’s getting.

He loathes to disturb the dragons out back, so Leon finds his way to the front porch and leans over the railing to get some air.

He scratches at the late stubble on his cheek, and sighs. It’s a little cold, but not unbearable. It smells like the day before rain; airy and damp and full of fresh pine.

The breeze disturbs his hair, and Leon catches the purple strands and tucks them behind his ear.

Leon has spent so much time forcibly moving forward. Working past the disappointment, the self-deprecation and the sting of defeat – so much so, that he’s never been able to admit it, even to himself.

It’s not the loss that burns. It’s the fact that he disappointed himself.

He can smile and laugh for his family, he and wave and chatter for the cameras, he can post fun pictures and inspirational quotes on his social media – but Leon can’t lie to Raihan. Of everyone in his life, it’s always been him.

No one knows him better, and true to that, the front door creaks as it opens and closes. Raihan’s voice is a low purr, tired and deep, and Leon closes his eyes in defeat.

“You’re up late,” Raihan observes. He scratches his own stubble and comes to lean against the post, smiling sleepily, “Or early, however you look at it.”

“Did I wake you up?”

“Nah, had to piss. I thought you conked out on the bathroom tile, so I went to check on ya and...”

Leon hums, and watches fireflies hover around the berry bushes.

“Sorry.”

Raihan doesn’t reply. The quiet feels too loud; nocturnal pokemon are cooing in the trees, and Leon’s heart pounds in his ears.

Raihan inhales, and then exhales. He slouches over the railing, and the serious look on his face makes Leon think he’s steeling himself for something. 

“Somethings been eating you,” Raihan says. The breeze blows.

“Why do you say that?” Leon deflects.

“You’ve been different for a while,” Raihan shrugs. “I hoped…no. I knew you’d bounce back, and ya’ did, but not all the way, huh?”

Leon swallows, and his voice is devoid of emotion.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“I think you should.”

“What do I even say?” Leon asks roughly, and means it. He’s not supposed to be like this. He’s Leon, the champion who pumps up crowds and runs headfirst into danger. Leon shakes his head, “It’s stupid. Drop it.”

“Nah. It’s not stupid if it matters to you.”

“We both don’t want to have a mushy heart-to-heart this early in the morning, and you know it.”

“I do,” Raihan says honestly, and it pierces Leon through the chest.

He looks to the laneway. The trees rustle, and something scurries up the bark. Leon summons a smile, and rips his heart open because Raihan is asking him to.

“I don’t know who I am anymore.”

Raihan shifts closer, ever that tall, (comforting) presence.

“Why do you say that, mate?”

Leon clenches the wooden railing, and then lets go with a sigh.

“I feel empty. I thought the battle tower would help me get my head on straight, but all I’ve done is go through the motions.” Leon swallows. “I disappointed everyone.”

Raihan’s eyes narrow, “Are you still hung up on that? You didn’t disappoint shite, Leon. This silly competition is not who you are.”

“I couldn’t protect Galar when it mattered most!” Leon barks, and Raihan’s eyes widen in recoil. Leon leans away from him, eyes stinging. “A kid had to fight my battles. A very powerful kid but – a ten year old, Rai. I couldn’t even shield my brother.”

“You protected him with your life,” Raihan says, still chasing after him, still shifting closer. His voice leaves little room for arguing. “You protected all of us. You’re still that man. Fuck, if it all went to hell tomorrow, I know you’d be right there with the best of us.”

Leon finally meets his eye, and it’s scorching and all ice blue fire. Damn him.

“You have a new champion.”

“A ten-year-old,” Raihan repeats, poking his finger in the muscle of Leon’s chest. “Champion is only a title. There’s only one Leon.”

Leon can hear himself swallow. Raihan’s stare is laser focused on him, and it strips Leon of all his stupid armor. He chuffs a laugh under his breath, and shakes his head. He feels heavy and light all at once.

“Why do you always do this?”

“Do what?”

“Know exactly what to say.”

“Because I know you,” Raihan says softly.

Leon’s heart lurches into his throat.

Raihan is hovering again. His hand is braced on the railing, and Leon can’t look away from the slope of his neck, the thin line of his nose, or the shine of his canines in his parted mouth.

Leon is subconsciously leaning forward. Raihan is down in his space, slouched and close enough that Leon can smell his faded cologne and the alcohol they shared.

Raihan’s skin is always clear and flawless and smooth, but up-close Leon can see stubble, clumpy eyelashes and small, almost non-existent acne scars, and it makes Leon’s stomach tumble that much farther.

It’s so slow, hesitant and almost an accident, but Raihan is just close enough that with a short tilt of their noses, they kiss.

He’s never kissed a man, but Leon becomes addicted almost immediately. Raihan’s mouth is soft, a contrast for the jaggedness of his teeth, and he moves confident and fluid and slow, and Leon’s brain melts right out of his ears.

Leon must be overreacting. The kiss is nothing special, but good god, the butterflies in his stomach are going haywire, and it feels like he can’t breathe and – and – there is no possible way this is happening, not in any reality.

But that’s Raihan. That’s his best friend. That’s his rival in his mouth.

That’s –

Raihan cups his jaw, and Leon is by no means small in any sense, but Raihan is the only man that can make him feel that way. Like he isn’t six feet and a wall of muscle. Like he’s a highschool kid instead.

Jumping fences.

Skipping stones.

The thumb sweeping across his cheek jerks him back to reality.

Leon reels backwards, catching himself on the rail and covering his mouth with his hand.

“Shit,” he blurts.

Raihan stares at him. His expression is walled off completely, and for once, Leon can’t read him worth a damn. It sends him into a panic. 

“Shit,” Leon repeats. He scrambles to save this. “I’m sorry. I’m – I’m still drunk, fuck.”

“Okay,” Raihan says.

“I should – dammit.” Leon curses, still touching his mouth. “I should go to bed.”

Raihan nods stiffly.

“Alright.”

Leon scrambles the hell out of there. He throws open the door, slams it behind him and all but runs to the guest room. Then he curses himself all the way to hell.

"Raihan is worried about you," Sonia says, in that I-Am-Very-Disappointed-In-You tone of voice that Leon knows all too well. 

"Me?" Leon blinks, feigning naivety. "Why?" 

"Because you won't ring him back! Whenever I'm in Hammerlocke all he asks about is you." 

"I've just been busy," Leon smiles. "No biggie. I'll ring him soon." 

"Ring him  now," Sonia dares. Leon doesn't move, and she crosses her arms. "Leon." 

"I can't right now, okay? Just drop it." 

"You're not having a fight, are you?" 

"No! That's exactly what I'm trying to prevent!" 

Leon knows he's said too much. He pops the empty pokeball in his hand nervously, shrinking and growing it to size. Sonia stares through him like she always has. She then sighs. 

"I don't know what's going on, but you should be honest with him." 

"Honest about what?" Leon tries, uncharacteristically nervous. Sonia doesn't say. Leon continues, "Everything's fine, okay? Just let it go please." 

Sonia shakes her head, and turns back to her work desk. 

"This isn't like you. I miss the old Leon." 

That cuts deeper than she knows. Leon smiles and laughs instead. 

He sits on the guestroom bed for who knows how long. The sun hasn’t risen yet, so it can’t be more than an hour.

Leon ran to his room fully prepared to hide under his sheets and scream until morning, but he can’t stop touching his mouth.

Raihan’s lips were soft. Soft.

Leon has kissed girls before. He’s had sex. He knows what all of this should feel like, but this is not it.

It’s like standing in an exhibition match. A full body rush of adrenaline and nerves and excitement.

Raihan kissed him back.

Leon hasn’t allowed himself to hope for a long time. But Raihan’s face had been so cold. So emotionless and –

Hurt.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

The room is eerily quiet. Leon feels that fuzziness that comes with the knowledge that he's about to do something stupid. 

Leon throws the covers off. He doesn’t bother with slippers. He treads barefoot down the hall, and the floor is cold on this toes, but it grounds him against the drum beating in his chest.

This is ridiculous. That look could mean a lot of things. It could’ve been disgust or regret or anything, really but –

He kissed back.

Leon bravely pushes open Raihan’s bedroom door. Dirty clothes are piled up in the corner, a clean laundry basket is shoved on his desk, battle paraphernalia and famous movie posters hang on the wall, but it’s all barely noticeable in the pitch black of his bedroom.

Leon can make out a lump in the sheets. It becomes harder to see as he closes the door, and the hallway light dims through the cracks.

His room smells more like Raihan than anywhere in the house. Leon brushes his fingers against the sheets as he approaches. Raihan hasn’t moved yet, so Leon lifts them and slips into the empty side.

Raihan rolls over. It’s so dark, he can barely make out his eyes.

“I wasn’t drunk,” Leon admits. His voice is a whisper, even if they’re the only ones sleeping in this house.

“I know,” Raihan says. He doesn’t budge, but continues, “I wasn’t either. You know that too.”

“Yeah,” Leon whispers.

Raihan lifts a hand up to cup Leon’s jaw again. Leon closes his eyes, and it feels his heart is a thumping jackrabbit.

He opens his eyes when Raihan reaches for his hand, and slides it against his own chest. The cotton of his shirt is sleep warm from his body heat, and Leon’s eyes widen when he feels how quickly Raihan’s heart is beating. Leon didn’t even know his heart could beat that fast. He thought Raihan had a resting heartrate of chill.

“See?” Raihan mumbles.

Leon swallows. “Rai, what are we doing?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping you’d let me kiss you again.”

That sounds really, really good right about now. Leon’s brain is still tripping over itself to process the fact that it’s mutual, it’s mutual, it’s mutual. By arceus.

“Hoping?” Leon repeats, false bravado in his voice. “What are you, chicken?”

He can feel Raihan’s laugh, rather than see it. There’s a shift in the sheets, and Raihan rolls to a shoulder, and that looming weight is so bloody welcome, Leon’s hand goes straight for the back of his neck.

The kiss is a hundred, million times better. It’s movement, a back and forth kiss that they share together. It starts slow, but it grows faster, and Leon revels in how tingly it makes his mouth feel.

He’s been gagging to get his tongue in Raihan’s mouth, so when his lips part, Leon excitedly runs his tongue over those canines. Raihan makes a low, pleased sound, and Leon chokes when his tongue slips along the side of his own.

“Your mouth is so soft,” Leon blurts.

Raihan laughs under his breath, and kisses him one more time before saying, “Is it not supposed to be?”

“I’ve never – ” Leon starts, but cuts off, because he doesn’t want Raihan to beat him in this. He’s not inexperienced, except he is.

“Never…been with a dude?” Raihan finishes. Leon huffs, but Raihan cuts him off by rolling his tongue along his bottom lip and finishing with another surprise kiss. “That’s fine. It ain’t rocket science.”

“Hey,” Leon snaps. “Don’t underestimate me.”

“Baby, you are the last man on earth I’d underestimate,” Raihan says, and Leon feels that one right in the chest.

He grips Raihan’s neck tight and hauls him in close, and Raihan purrs, fuck, he feels like he’s going to burn into a crisp. It’s hot, whatever it is they’re doing. Necking is supposed to be juvenile and sticky and awkward; not like, the best thing since sliced bread.

Raihan aligns them better by planting an arm in the sheets and swinging a leg over Leon’s thigh. Leon wishes he could see his face, but he settles for petting over the shaved hair on the back of his neck, hauling him in and nearly cutting himself on those teeth. It’s weird, because this is his best friend, but also incredible for the same reason.

They kiss for so long, Leon starts to feel like someone’s sitting right on his lungs. He can’t get enough air through his nose, but Raihan decides to lick down the side of his neck, and Leon uses that distraction to take a shuddery inhale.

“Can I touch you?” Raihan asks.

“And uh…what would you say we’re doing now?”

“Smartass,” Raihan chides. “You know what I mean.”

Leon bites a noise as teeth dig into his neck. Raihan doesn’t break skin, but he sucks hard and pulls blood to the surface, and Leon balks.

“Are you giving me a hickey?”

“Answer the question,” Raihan rumbles, and the treble of his voice is like a string bass.

“Yes,” Leon grits, and squeezes his eyes shut as a hand immediately slips under his shirt and runs upward. It’s slow, and Leon wonders if he’s being a tease on purpose, but Raihan mumbles something that makes it seem like he’s the one enjoying it.

Raihan sits up a little, just enough to get Leon’s shirt to his collarbone. He squeezes his pecs, his hand big enough to reach his ribs – and then he sighs.

“Damn these tits, Leon.”

“You,” Leon laughs breathlessly, “- are the worst.”

Raihan hums, and he finds Leon’s mouth again, and he continues to work and squeeze at Leon’s chest, thumbing over a nipple now and then. Leon is surprised only because it feels so good. Girls never worshiped him like this.

“You can touch me too,” Raihan whispers, and Leon shivers like it’s the sexiest thing he’s ever heard.

“Needy much,” Leon teases.

“Yeah,” Raihan says, and Leon groans when they kiss again, this time with more heat and slick speed.

Leon rolls his hand down Raihan’s shoulders. He squeezes hard, tugs at Raihan’s shirt and drags his callouses down his spine, and Raihan breathes a moan against his mouth. Leon didn’t realize they were rocking together, just little movements – but Leon itches to know if Raihan is as hard as he is, and he squirms, grinding a little too shamelessly into his thigh.

“Rai,” he starts. 

A hand grips his hair and pulls hard. Leon gasps, and his back arches off the bed, turning into the grip to fight the pain.

“Shit!” Raihan curses, and lets go quickly. “Sorry, sorry.”

Leon blinks at the foggy shape of Raihan’s worried face. His scalp tingles, but his cock is rock solid against his pantleg, and that should say more than enough.

Raihan’s reaction was automatic. Leon squints in the darkness.

“Don’t treat me any different just because I’m not as experienced as you are.”

Raihan’s shoulders relax, and he dips his face back into Leon’s neck, kissing at the mark he’s put there.

“Of course I’m going to treat you different. It’s not every day you get to snog the mate you love.”

Leon freezes. Heart in his mouth, he forces his hand still as he runs his fingers into Raihan’s hair.

“You love me?”

“Well, yeah.”

Cool as always. Leon tips his head back against the pillows and laughs.

Raihan sits up and stares at him. Leon laughs more, squirming to cover his mouth with his hand.

“You know,” Raihan says sweetly, fingers petting over his adam’s apple. “Anyone else would be very, very hurt if you laughed in this sensitive situation.”

“Sorry,” Leon giggles, and then coughs to try and stop. He clears his throat, but the humor still comes through. He can breathe, he can breathe at last.

“Sorry?”

“It’s just…” Leon smiles, and pets across his bony cheek. “I’ve probably loved you longer.”

He can feel Raihan’s smile with his fingers.

“That sounds like a challenge.”

Leon finds his mouth and they kiss hard. Too much teeth, too much everything, just how it should be. Leon is a cup overfilled, jittery and relieved and so, so happy.

This was supposed to be impossible. Leon is going to take what he can get.

He kisses headstrong, rocks their hips together, and their cocks slide through the flimsy fabric of their pajamas, and Leon’s eyes nearly roll back.

He’s seen Raihan naked in the locker room, but never hard – holy shit. Leon moans when Raihan grinds into him, and it all becomes very, very real.

“Fuuuck babe,” Raihan breathes, kissing his mouth. “You sound pretty.”

“I would tell you how hot you are, but you already know.”

Raihan snickers, and Leon breaks out in goosebumps as a hand sneaks down the waistband of his pajamas.

“This cool?”

“Yup.”

His lack of sight heightens every other sense. Every sound Raihan breathes, every shift he makes – he smells earthy and good, too good. Raihan wraps a dry hand around him and Leon bites his tongue. He rolls his hips up as Raihan pumps him steady, and the angle is strange, but Raihan isn’t willing to give up kissing quite yet, and Leon is on board with that.

His hands are big. Raihan twists around the head and Leon throbs, moaning a sound in the back of his throat.

“Damn,” Raihan curses. “Hold on.”

Leon sighs as Raihan sits up and leans over to the bedside table. He fumbles in the drawer, and Leon’s ears ring with the familiar squelch of lube. His heart jerks.

“Raihan…”

“Chill chill,” Raihan mumbles. He sits back on his knees and uses his dry hand to yank his pants down under his ass. His dick bobs to his stomach. “I just gotta – listening to you is making my balls hurt, bruv.”

“Don’t. Call me that,” Leon chides, but immediately has his hand around Raihan’s cock because holy crap. The angle is strange, but he’s thick in his hand, and Leon pumps once out of curiosity. Raihan groans. Wow, that’s hot.

“Hold on, hold on,” Raihan presses. Leon has never heard his voice so thick. He lines up against Leon and squeezes them both with the lubed hand, and Leon’s entire body jerks.

“Oh,” Leon blurts. “Oh, oh.”

He doesn’t have to see Raihan’s face to know he’s grinning.

“Yeah. Work with me, I still wanna’ kiss you.”

Leon is down for that. He wants to touch as much as he can, so he runs his palms down Raihan’s stomach and covers his fingers with his own. It’s messy, but Raihan uses his free hand to hitch up his thigh, and Leon ignores his burning muscles as he leans up to kiss him.

The twist in his stomach tells him he won’t last long. Leon can’t even find it in himself to be embarrassed, because Raihan’s mouth is so fucking dirty. Their hands slip together, and Leon groans from the heat and the pressure and all the grooves of Raihan’s cock sliding wet against his own.

They’re stifling noises into each other’s mouths. Raihan already knows what feels good, and Leon is a quick learner, and they find a rhythm freakishly fast.

“Shit, shit,” Raihan tremors, and Leon’s eyes go wide as he feels stickiness shoot up his chest. Raihan moans so low it’s almost inaudible, and Leon squeezes him tight and follows his fingers to work him through it. “Ah. Babe, fuck.”

Woah.

Leon’s thigh twitches, and he gasps from the heat. That’s it for him.

“Rai I can’t –” Leon whispers, but Raihan is there at his mouth, urging him on and spilling out senseless words like fuck yeah baby, I’d come again just listening to you, god, I’ve thought about this so much – and Leon goes entirely numb. Hit like a tidal wave, he holds on for dear life, and likely bruises Raihan’s shoulder in the process, but he doesn’t hear any complaints.

“I meant it,” Raihan says, kissing him deep. “I meant that I love you.”

“I know,” Leon says. "You don't have to say it." 

There's softness in his voice. Vulnerability, Leon realizes. 

"I want to," Raihan mumbles. "There's too many mushy reasons why." 

His tone leaves no room for joking. Drying sticky and sated to his bones, Leon cradles his face and says, "I love you too." 

He wakes up alone, and Leon comes to the realization that this is what a panic attack feels like.

Rubbing his eyes, Leon sits up in Raihan’s bed. Sun is filtering through the blinds; the sheets are everywhere, and the room smells like sex.  Just before Leon can begin to spiral, the bedroom door is toed open. Raihan pauses, and then grins like nothing happened at all.

“Oh good, you’re up. Apparently its like, past noon, but I made coffee anyways. I even put in that hazelnut crap you like.”

“It’s good,” Leon defends on autopilot, taking the coffee from Raihan’s hands.

His nerves swirl around in his throat as Raihan takes a sip of his own coffee, and then flops back on the bed. He’s only in boxers and a long sleeve t-shirt, and Leon still cannot believe that last night happened.

“You’re thinking too much,” Raihan yawns, rolling over to press his face into Leon’s lap. “S’ bad for you. Stop that.”

Leon swallows, hands glued to his cup.

“We gotta’ talk about this, Rai.”

“Ughhh,” he groans. “Too early.”

“Apparently it isn’t,” Leon says lightly, eyeing the clock. Raihan snorts.

“Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts.”

“No!” Leon says, too loudly. Raihan rolls to blink an eye at him, and Leon feels his face go red. “I mean…”

“I didn’t say all that nice stuff just to get into your pants,” Raihan says. He looks upward in thought, “Well…technically I’ve been trying to get into your pants for years, but that’s unrelated.”

“How many years?”

“A lot of years.”

“I only realized it after…after the tournament,” Leon says. Raihan is staring. Leon leans over to set his mug on the bedside table, and lets his hands fall to Raihan’s hair. “Um. I think I…”

“Yeah?”

“I liked you for a long time. I just didn’t – didn’t know I loved you.”

Raihan hums thoughtfully, “I almost kissed you back then.”

“I almost kissed you,” Leon balks.

A sharp eyebrow jerks upwards, and Raihan asks smugly, “Is that what happened?”

“Shut up.” Leon tugs on his dreads and Raihan makes a fake ow, ow noise. “I was terrified of screwing up our friendship. I still am.”

“Aww. That’s so sweet.”

“I’m not going to play games with you, Rai. Not about this.”

Raihan’s teasing tone sobers, and even his serious face is handsome from this angle. “Nah. I was going to say the same. I’d do whatever it took to keep us right. I can do private if you want, but I probably won’t make it very far. You know me.”

Rotom comes zipping around the bed, and Leon sighs as the shutter snaps.

“Really?”

“What? Your bedhead is cute.”

Leon never considered the likelihood of their relationship being public. He never even considered a relationship period. It makes him nervous, but it almost makes him giddy and proud. All of Galar would know Raihan is his.

“You can tell who you want,” Leon decides.

Raihan’s face doesn’t change from his cool demeanor, but his eyes light up.

“That’s what I love about you,” Raihan says, arms working around Leon’s middle. “You’re an attention whore, just like me.”

“I am n-“ Leon starts and then stops. “Whatever.”

Raihan laughs into his stomach, and it tickles, so Leon laughs too.

This should be strange – cuddling in bed with your best friend – but it turns out to be the most natural thing in the world.

“Your breath is rank,” Leon says, but lets Raihan kiss him anyways, because he’s nice like that.

"I think I owe Piers a thank you," Riahan says, stroking his chin. "He was totally right." 

Leon pockets his hands as they walk down the laneway, and blinks innocently, "Right about what?" 

"He told me if I posted pics with a buncha hot girls then you'd come running." 

"He told you what?!" 

"Ow! What?? He was right, wasn't he? You were totally jealous." 

"I, Leon, do not get jealous. Where's Piers? We need to have a talk." 

"Something tells me I shouldn't say." 

There are two days left until Leon is doomed to return to Wyndon. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing or where he’s going with his life – but for once, he’s not having an internal meltdown over it. Yay.

Raihan is feeding the pokemon when Leon pets down Charizard’s snout and says,

“I have to tell Hop first.”

Raihan eyes him, “Yeah?”

“Yeah. He’ll throw a right fit if he finds out through your twitter.”

Raihan snorts, and tosses a treat for Flygon to catch.

“I wouldn’t blame him, babe. I oughta’ tell my rents too, huh.”

Leon runs his tongue along the back of his teeth and turns his head away.

“Quit calling me that.”

“Why? It turns you on.”

Leon equally loves and hates that Raihan can read him like a book. He dips his hand in the bucket and tosses feed into Raihan’s hair, and gets to watch as Flygon and Turtonator fight to peck the treats off him. Raihan smiles for the camera, but he never laughs like this. Ugly and loud and snorting like a pig. Only Leon knows this dragon gym leader.

“Let’s get more churros,” Leon says.

“Fine. Then we’re finishing that crappy Hobbit movie,” Raihan points, and Leon stops worrying about stuff he can't control. Things don’t have to change between them. Only the stuff that matters.

To their credit, they keep their hands off each other for most of the movie. Leon can’t really help it; he spent the majority of his life not touching Raihan, and now that it’s allowed? Oh, it’s over.

Raihan pulls him in his lap and teaches him how to take fingers up the ass. It feels alarmingly better than Leon ever thought it could, and he ends up riding Raihan right on the couch. He’s mildly disgusted that Raihan keeps lube under his coffee table, but that’s a fight for another day.

He can’t stop cutting himself on Raihan’s teeth. Fangs dig in his neck over and over, and Raihan’s hands don’t stray from his ass, glued to where they’re connected. Leon knows his face is red all the way down to his neck, but Raihan’s face is reverent, like Leon is the best thing that’s happened to him, and it makes him burn brighter.

“You are fucking gorgeous, love,” Raihan says shamelessly. “You and that damn rack of yours. Stupid hair, too. I always dream of pulling it. Love your body, babe.” Fingers squeeze his ass, his thighs and back again. Leon bounces in his lap and feels full all the way to his stomach.

“Arceus, you're thick,” Leon curses, and Raihan starts to laugh against his ear.

"Such a romantic." 

"If you wax poetry I will throw up on you," Leon says, and then moans from his core because bloody hell that feels good. Raihan's hands are scorching, and his mouth burns when Raihan kisses him.

"Shall I compare thee to summers day?" Raihan teases. 

Leon makes them go back and finish the movie. 

"Bro, I love you. But you are mad thick sometimes.”

“Thanks? That definitely wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.”

“You better tell Sonia, too,” Hop says. “She’s going to go mental. Now I have to hear ‘I told you so’ for the next ten years.”

“I just can’t fathom how everyone knew before I did,” Leon frowns, and Raihan makes a snorting sound from the kitchen.

“Because you’re the Great Leon and everyone knows what you’re thinking just by looking at ya.”

“Thanks. Just for that, I’m not bringing you any new pokemon next spring.”

“Hey hey hey! Now don’t get ahead of yourself! Raihan is obviously the second-coolest guy in Galar, so I don’t care if you two decide to get all gross together. When are you going back to Wyndon?”

Leon doesn’t let himself sound touched, even if he kinda’ is. He definitely doesn’t tell Raihan that Hop thinks he’s cool.

“Tomorrow. But I’m going to call the Foundation and tell them I accept the position for next year’s challenge.”

Raihan spins around so fast, he drips curry sauce all over the floor.

“What?!! You are! Leon, that’s awesome! I can’t wait to challenge you again! Oh, I have to tell the champ, they’re going to be so stoked.”

Leon smiles, and scratches along his beard. Raihan is giving him the biggest heart eyes, and Leon has to roll his own.

“You know me. Can’t stay away from a crowd.”

“This’ll make the gym challenge harder than ever. I’m so pumped!” There’s talking in the background, and Hop turns away from the phone to mumble, “Huh? What? Oh. Hey Leon, Mum says to come home soon and to bring Raihan so she can cook for him, or something.”

“I’m sure he won’t turn down a free meal,” Leon says, eyeing him. Raihan gives a thumbs up.

“Train lots for next year’s challenge! I’m coming for you, and the champion seat.”

“Sure thing, bro.”

They say their goodbyes, and Leon slides his phone to the coffee table after he hangs up. Arms squeeze him from over the top of the couch.

“I’m so proud of you,” Raihan says into his hair. “Screw what anyone else says. You’re the best host the challenge ever had.”

“It’ll be a lot of traveling…” Leon trails.

“You’re happier when you’re on the move anyways.” Raihan straightens up and kneads his fingers into Leon’s shoulders. “Besides. It’s only three months out of the year. Then you can spend the rest of your time with my pretty face.”

Leon smiles around the butterflies in his stomach.

“Is that so?”

“Yup,” Raihan says. “I’m coming for that champion seat, too. Now come eat, and I’ll teach you how to fuck me after.”

“Teaching me?” Leon scoffs, even if the idea alone makes his heart race. “I'm not that naive." 

“Oh young padawan,” Raihan sighs happily. “You don’t even know all the fun stuff we can do.”

As it turns out, Raihan can bend in half.

Leon spends a long, long time kissing him. Running his tongue over those teeth, digging his hands into strong thighs and mapping out the lines of his body. Raihan treats him gentle in his own way, if Leon’s aching scalp can be called gentle.

Raihan posts a photo of their shared breakfast in bed that next morning, and the internet loses it’s collective mind. Leon logs off for once, just so he can enjoy this in it’s fullest.

He’s not sad when Raihan kisses him goodbye at the train station, because it’s not really a goodbye. It’s a new beginning.

The roaring of the crowd is so loud, it vibrates the stadium floor. Leon’s face is projected on the jumbotron, and he waits amid the field as the challenger approaches. Everything about this is familiar in the best of ways, and it thrills Leon to his core. 

“You’ve done well to get this far, young challenger!” Leon says into the mic. More cheering, more vibrating. Charizard ripples with unspent energy, flexing his wings in anticipation.

The challenger nods.

“You’ve collected all eight badges, and you’ve defeated every gym leader in your rematch. Few have made it this far – but now, before you see your champion, you must face – me!”

Deafening cheers. The stadium trembles with dynamaxed pokemon, larger-than-life attacks and show stopping theatrics.

Raihan is hiding in the tunnel. Leon can see him in his peripheral. Shoulder up against the wall, arms crossed; Raihan is the picture of cool indifference, but his eyes are wild, and Leon knows Raihan is expecting him to win.

So he does.