A/N: Hop, Hugh, and Hau are my three favorite rivals in all of Pokémon and I was so excited when the rival event in Pokémon Masters happened and not only featured all three of them, but even let them all interact! ...kind of. I wanted to see more of that, because I think there are really fun dynamics to be had between them, so I wrote this fic! Enjoy!

"Pancakes," Hop repeated. He pulled his feet up onto the edge of the fountain, sitting cross-legged so that he could turn and look Hau in the eye. "That's why Alolan Raichu are Psychic-type?"

"Yep!" Hau said, leaning back on his hands. "That's what everybody says, anyways."

Hop folded his arms. "That doesn't make any sense. I've eaten loads of pancakes in my life, and I haven't developed psychic powers."

Hau burst out laughing, and Hop fought to keep a straight face. After a few moments, he dropped his arms and started snickering, too.

"Who knows? There could be something different about their diet in Alola that leads Pikachu to evolve differently there," Hop said.

"Maybe you can do research on them and figure it out for sure!"

"Hey," someone called, catching Hop and Hau's attention. Hugh was approaching the fountain, holding up a Poryphone. "One of you guys drop this? Found it on the ground just outside the arena."

Hop patted the familiar blocky shape of his Poryphone, which was resting in his jacket pocket. "Not mine," he said.

"Not mine, eith…eh?" Hau patted his pockets, blinking. He swung his backpack off his back and poked around inside, but there was no phone to be found. "Oh, that must be mine! Thanks!"

He stood up, swinging his backpack back around and taking the phone from Hugh. He unlocked it and winced. "Screen's cracked," he said. "I'll have to ask Sophocles to fix it later. I wonder how it fell out of my pocket?"

"Probably flew out at some point while you were jumping and cheering," Hop said. "You did it for every team in the tournament!"

Hau laughed. "Well, yeah! Everyone battling in the tournament did great!" He nudged Hugh. "You guys especially! Your teamwork was way better than when we battled you a few days ago."

"Thanks," Hugh said, giving him a curt nod. "It's too bad we didn't get to fight your team in the tournament proper. I would've liked to prove to you exactly how strong we are."

"Hey, who says we can't do that right now?" Hop said, pumping his fists. "Let's have a battle and see whose team is really the best!"

"But, Hop, Calem went back to the PMC already," Hau pointed out. "And the rest of Hugh's team isn't here, either."

"That's fine," Hugh said. "I'll take you on, Hop, one-on-one. Let's see how strong you are on your own!"

"You're on!" Hop exclaimed, readying a Poké Ball.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Hau said, raising a hand. "I have a better idea! Let's head to the bakery for some malasadas instead!"

"Or, you could go to the bakery and bring us back malasadas while we battle," Hop suggested.

"Aren't your Pokémon still tired from the tournament?" Hau asked, glancing between the two.

"No way. Bouffalant is still raring to fight," Hugh said.

"Zamazenta may be a little tired, but that's not enough to slow us down," Hop declared.

"Oh. Well, okay, then! What kind of malasadas do you want?"

"Sweet for me!" Hop said.

"I don't really care," Hugh said, shrugging.

"I'll pick something for you, then," Hau said. As he started jogging towards the shopping district, he called, "I'll be back in a jiffy! Have fun with your battle!"

There was no line at the bakery, so Hau bought the malasadas quickly. On the way back, he made only a brief stop outside the bakery to label them. Even so, by the time he returned to the fountain plaza, Hop and Hugh were standing and chatting, their Pokémon nowhere to be seen.

"Hey!" he called, waving to them. Hop waved back.

When he reached them, he asked, "Is the battle over already? Who won?"

"I did!" Hop beamed. "A Normal-type against a Fighting-type. It was no contest, really."

"At least Bouffalant and I know what we need to work on now," Hugh said.

"Awesome! Wish I could've seen it," Hau said with a sigh. But his demeanor immediately brightened as he held up the bag of malasadas. "Hey, now we can unwind with piping hot malasadas!"

Hau led the way to a picnic table on the edge of the plaza, where Hugh and Hop sat down on one side while Hau sat down on the other. He put the bag down on the table and started pulling malasadas out of it. He glanced at the wrappers before placing one in front of Hop, one in front of Hugh, and the final one in front of himself.

"Thanks, mate!" Hop said, pulling his malasada out of the wrapper and taking a bite. His face immediately puckered up, and he spat the bite of pastry into the empty wrapper. "Hau, I asked for sweet!"

"I ordered you a sweet one…"

"That's not sweet," Hop said, eyeing the malasada as if it had personally attacked him.

Hau's brow furrowed, and Hugh bit into his own malasada. He swallowed it, grimacing. "Mine's sweet," he said. "A little too sweet, if you ask me."

"Oh, I know what happened," Hau said, hitting the heel of his palm against his head. "I mixed 'em up and mislabeled them! Hop, you must've gotten Hugh's sour malasada!"

"Yeah, it's really sour," Hop said, wrinkling his nose.

He swapped malasadas with Hugh, took a bite of the new malasada, and grinned. "Mmm… That's the stuff!"

Hugh took a bite of his new malasada, and his eyes widened slightly. "Man, this is delicious! The sweet dough with the sour filling is a great combination."

Hau grinned. "See? It's just like I always say: if you think you don't like malasadas, you just haven't found one with the right filling!"

"Thanks," Hugh said. "How much do I owe you for this?"

"Owe?" Hau echoed around a mouthful of malasada. He swallowed and shook his head. "You don't owe me anything! It's a treat!"

"Oh," Hugh said, blinking. "Well…thank you. Again."

Hau smiled wide, mouth too full of malasada to answer verbally.

"How'd you manage to mix up our malasadas, Hau?" Hop asked. "I thought you were, like, a malasada connoisseur."

"Well, I was labeling them so I could easily tell whose was whose," Hau said. "At first I was just gonna use our initials, but then I realized that wouldn't help because we all have the same first initial!"

"Hm, you're right."

Hop laughed. "What are the odds of that?"

"So, I had to go back and write the full names instead," Hau continued. "I realized it while labeling Hop's, but I went back and labeled Hugh's first, so I must've mixed it up in my head and written Hop's name on the first malasada."

"That'd do it," Hop said.

"And you know, the funny thing is, if I'd labeled them with the flavors I would've run into the same problem," Hau said. "You guys got sweet and sour, and mine is spicy!"

Hop snorted, covering his mouth with a hand so he didn't accidentally spit out his last bit of malasada. He swallowed, balled up his wrapper, and stood up. "I'll take your trash," he offered. Hau and Hugh gave him their trash, and Hop took it all to a trash can nearby.

When he got back to the table, Hau and Hugh were looking at him expectantly. "Hop, how long have you known Hau?" Hugh asked as Hop sat down. "Hau doesn't remember when you guys met."

Hop raised an eyebrow. "Hau, we met six days ago," he said. "The day we got the team assignments for the tournament. How do you not remember that?"

"I heard about you as soon as you arrived on Pasio!" Hau protested. "And I saw you in the Pokémon Center, and around town, and…" He shrugged. "I figured we had run into each other before at some point."

"You're kidding," Hugh said, shaking his head. "You guys had never met before this tournament?"

"Apparently not!" Hau chirped.

"I'd seen him around, but I didn't know his name," Hop said.

"You guys get along so well, I figured you must've known each other before coming to Pasio," Hugh said.

Hau grinned. "Well, I get along well with everybody!"

"And I get along well with almost everybody," Hop added.

"Plus, both our names start with the same letter, so I think we were fated to be friends," Hau said.

"That means we're fated to be friends with you, too!" Hop said, giving Hugh a playful nudge.

Hugh rolled his eyes. "Sure. If that's what you wanna think."

Hau leaned forward across the table, scrutinizing Hugh. "You don't get along well with other people, do you?"

"Sure I do," Hugh said, shrugging. "If they're the kind of people I want to get along with."

Hau laughed. "You know, you remind me a lot of Gladion! You act tough on the outside, but deep down you're a really nice person."

Hugh's brow furrowed. "Is that an insult or a compliment?"

"It's a compliment, mate," Hop said, grinning. "Nothing wrong with being a little rough around the edges! It's what's in your heart that counts."

Hugh quirked a tiny smile. "That sounds like something Bianca would say." He glanced from Hop to Hau. "You guys both remind me of Bianca, actually. Friendly, cheerful, boundlessly optimistic…"

"And future Pokémon Professors," Hop put in.

"What?"

"Well, for me at least," he amended. "Bianca and I are both working as assistants to Pokémon Professors. We're aiming to be professors ourselves someday!"

"Really?" Hugh said, folding his arms. "You're a professor's assistant? You don't look like it."

Hop narrowed his eyes. "What do you think a professor's assistant looks like?"

"I dunno. Glasses, a lab coat, maybe…"

Hop elbowed him in the side. "Not every smart person wears glasses, mate. I don't, my brother doesn't… Heck, even Sonia doesn't wear glasses! And she's a full-fledged professor!"

"Okay, sorry, I take it back. Uh, you have a brother?" Hugh said, grasping for a new conversation topic.

Hop's demeanor immediately brightened. "Yeah! He's here on Pasio, too. You might've met him. Leon?"

Hugh shook his head. "Can't say I have."

"Oh, I know him! The Galar Champion, right?" Hau said. "I didn't know he was your brother!"

"That's right!" Hop beamed. "Lee's amazing. He's never lost an official match! That's why they call him the unbeatable Champion!"

"That's impressive," Hugh said. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Have you ever been able to beat him?"

Hop smiled sheepishly. "Not one-on-one," he said. "I've won against him a few times in Multi Battles, and in team battles here on Pasio."

"I'd love to battle him," Hau commented. "I bet it would be a lot of fun!"

"Even if you lose?" Hugh asked.

"Of course! A battle's not fun just because you win," Hau said.

"Hey, you've just given me a great idea!" Hop exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "There are three of us here, right? So let's go find Lee and challenge him to a team battle!"

"That sounds awesome! I'm in!" Hau said.

"I'm down," Hugh said, standing up. "But won't he need a team, too?"

"He's got loads of friends here on Pasio. I'm sure he can find a couple of sync pairs to join him," Hop said.

"If he can't, we can always make it a two-on-two!" Hau suggested. "You and Leon versus me and Hugh!"

Hop laughed. "That just seems unfair! Lee's the strongest, and I'm almost as strong as him. Plus, we've got tons of experience battling together! You guys wouldn't stand a chance!"

"Well, if it comes to that, we can decide teams then," Hugh said. "Let's find him first. Where would he be? The Pokémon Center?"

"Knowing Lee, he could be anywhere on this island," Hop sighed. "He's pants with directions. He always gets lost. But the Pokémon Center's a good place to start!" he added, pumping his fists.

"Let's go!" Hau exclaimed, jumping up and down.

The three new friends sprinted off to the Pokémon Center, eager to experience together whatever battles awaited them.

A/N: Reviews and favorites are greatly appreciated! I might write more of this trio in the future, so feel free to let me know if that's something you'd be interested in seeing!