"Oh? You're still here." Raihan sounded surprised, and Gloria looked up, still prodding the extinguished campfire with a stick.
"Yeah. It seemed kind of rude to just leave, you know? Especially since you fed me and my team." Gloria got up from her squat, wincing as sensation suddenly rushed back into her legs. Her clothes were finally dry, though she was still sniffing a little. "We packed away the rest of your things if you don't mind."
"Nah, that's real nice of you. Thanks." Raihan looked curiously at her, and she turned away, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. Maybe she should have just gone back to Wyndon, after all. "You going to stay in the Wild Area? I'm heading back to Hammerlocke. Managed to blow off enough steam for now."
"Oh. I don't know. Maybe. I'd feel bad for Leon though." She paused. "Did something happen?" she asked, wondering if she came across as nosey. Raihan didn't answer for a while – instead, he stuffed his clean plates and utensils back inside his bag, and Gloria waited in silence, kicking awkwardly at the grass.
"Not really. At least nothing you need to worry about," he finally said, flashing her yet another toothy smile. "We can head back to Hammerlocke together if you want, just so you can stretch your legs. You've been cooped up in Wyndon for weeks."
She was surprised he had noticed. Then again, he was part of the League. All of the Gym Leaders probably paid attention to what the champion was doing. "Yeah, it's been pretty busy. I didn't know there was so much work for the champion to do."
Raihan's smile became something more like a smirk. "Why, are you thinking about giving up the championship already?" he asked. "I'm right here, you know. Ready whenever you are."
She rolled her eyes, unable to help herself, though she felt her lips curving upwards. "In your dreams, Raihan."
"It was worth a shot." He slung his bag over his shoulders, then glanced back at her. "I'm walking to Hammerlocke. Could use a little more fresh air before I go back to the stadium. You coming with?"
"Sure, why not?" She fell into step beside him, and for a while, neither of them said a word. Gloria kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, stubbornly refusing to look in his direction. She didn't want to suddenly think about what he'd look like without his shirt on though, given his Rotogram, she didn't need to imagine anything.
It must be the hormones. Raihan was attractive, yes. She had found him attractive ever since she saw him battling Leon during the exhibition match. But c'mon. No matter how good-looking he was, surely there ought to be a line drawn somewhere. There were little kids following Raihan on Rotogram, for goodness sake.
"Hey, miss champ?" She heard Raihan call out to her, and a little reluctantly she turned her head, looking at him. To her surprise, he wasn't looking at her – instead, he was staring in the direction of the Lake of Outrage. "I think I saw something. Let me just go over there real fast. One sec!" He turned, shot her a wink, and headed towards the tall grass. Gloria wondered whether she ought to follow, but Raihan was gone incredibly quickly, and she doubted she could catch up with him.
As always, the weather in the Wild Area was unpredictable – it looked like it was raining at the Lake of Outrage. She sighed, a little reluctant to get wet since she had finally managed to dry off, but she went ahead anyway, keeping her gaze focused on Raihan's orange headband in the distance. She saw him send out his Flygon – Flygon used Dragon Claw, and right after that Raihan threw a pokeball.
The whole thing was over by the time Gloria reached them, crossly shielding her face from the rain. Raihan waved at her, holding the pokeball in his hand – she glanced at it, wondering what he had captured. "You didn't need to follow me, you know. Since you already got hosed down by Inteleon earlier," he said.
Well, it was a bit late for that. "What's in there?" She nodded at his hand. Raihan grinned, studying the black and yellow Ultra Ball in his grip. The smile on his face made her feel like there was a lump in her throat.
"A real cutie." Raihan released the captured pokemon, and Gloria cooed when she saw a familiar purple blob press itself into the ground, its antennae quivering. It looked frightened, but Raihan crouched towards the Goomy, slowly stretching out his hand. The Goomy watched, then tentatively inched towards him, relaxing a little.
"Don't you already have a Goodra, though?" Gloria wondered. She didn't consider most dragon pokemon to be particularly adorable, but Goomy was an exception. Even its final evolution, Goodra, looked very squishy and very huggable.
"Yeah. I can't resist these little fellas, though. And they're built like a tank." Raihan glanced up at her, one of those roguishly charming smiles on his face again, and she felt her chest tighten. "You don't have one, do you? Why don't you keep him?"
"You're giving Goomy to me?" she asked, wondering if she was hearing things. She would never have pegged Raihan, of all people, as the kind to give pokemon away. Like, he was nice but not that nice. Raihan shrugged, glancing down at the Goomy.
"What do you say, buddy?" he asked, tilting his head towards Gloria. "You want to follow her?" The Goomy seemed to study her for a moment, then she watched in disbelief as it crawled over to her, looking like it did actually want to join her party.
"You must want something out of this, Raihan," she accused, though she kept her tone light. The Goomy reached her ankle, and she knelt down to hesitantly pet the pokemon – it was gooey and cool, but also surprisingly dense. Kind of like mochi. Her mind immediately started going through various possible strategies, trying to work out how to incorporate her new team member into her battle style.
Gloria didn't think Raihan was a bad person – she just figured he wasn't the kind to do something for nothing. Raihan tapped his finger thoughtfully against his chin. "I guess I do have one condition. The next time I challenge you at the tournament, you have to use that Goomy against me," Raihan declared. "I want to see whether you'd be able to beat me using my own type."
His challenge set off the competitive streak she had in her – Gloria was generally easy-going with most things, but when it came to pokemon battles, she played to win. "You're going to regret that, Raihan," she couldn't help but tease, and Raihan just smirked back, tossing Goomy's Ultra Ball at her. Thankfully she didn't drop it, and she looked down at the pokeball in her hands – it was still warm from his touch.
"Okay, let's head back then. I'm looking forward to seeing how that Goomy will grow under your care." His smile turned warm and she quickly glanced away from him, looking down at Goomy instead. Ugh. Seeing that little canine just made her feel weird. Think sobering thoughts, Gloria. Like how he's basically polluting the minds and eyes of little children with all those racy selfies he's always taking.
Yeah, that was more like it. "The last one to Hammerlocke treats the other to curry!" Gloria yelled, doing the first thing that came to mind in a bid to distract herself from her thoughts. She immediately sprinted off in the direction of the stairs, but had probably only run for half a minute before Raihan bounded past her on his long legs, somehow still able to turn around and make a face at her.
In hindsight, racing Raihan, the tallest in the Pokemon League, the one who practically towered over her when she stood beside him, was a pretty bad idea. Gloria resigned herself to losing, but at least this managed to get her mind off things.
Raihan was gloating when she caught up to him at the stairs, but he decided not to claim his curry treat, saying that watching her attempt to eat his cooking had provided him with more than enough entertainment.
"Glad to know I'm your personal jester," Gloria muttered, still panting a bit from all the running. Raihan looked perfectly fine, and she wondered if beating Leon had caused her to let herself go. It had only been a few months since she became the new champion, but she had been so caught up with all the work and her boring administrative duties that she hardly had time to go out anymore. She felt…weak.
"I do find you genuinely funny if that's any consolation." Nope, it wasn't. Gloria fanned herself, staring up at the giant castle that was Hammerlocke Stadium. Raihan looked back at her when she paused in front of the entrance, gaze flitting over the imposing stone walls. "What? You've forgotten how the stadium looks like?"
"No…it just brings back memories." She shook her head. The underground power plant where she fought and captured Eternatus was right there. And this was where she got the final badge she needed to complete the Gym Challenge and move on to the Wyndon Champion Cup. She smiled wistfully. It didn't feel like that long ago when she was still a starry-eyed young trainer, looking up to all the Gym Leaders and to Leon, the reigning champion. The times sure had changed.
"You make yourself sound old." Raihan tipped his head back to look at the stadium too, sounding thoughtful. "It's been a while since I stood here and just looked at the castle, you know. Kind of strange, seeing it from here. Since I'm usually training inside and everything." He paused. "Fancy a double battle?" he asked.
Gloria blinked, turning to look at the Gym Leader. "That's sudden," she said, unsure if she should take him up on that offer. She definitely wanted to – battling in a Max Raid and battling against an actual trainer were two very different things. And that Max Raid alone hadn't been quite enough to settle her itch for a good fight. But she had responsibilities, and she couldn't keep asking Leon to cover her champion duties while she waltzed around Galar, doing as she pleased.
Raihan raised an eyebrow. "We can make it a quick one. Battle Tower rules, how about that? No using of items on our pokemon." He looked so hopeful that Gloria wavered, but right before she could make a decision her phone started to ring. She picked it up and saw that Leon was calling her.
"No, not today. Maybe another time." She shook her head, picking up the call. "Hey, Leon. What is it? Yeah, I'm at Hammerlocke – going to take a Flying Taxi back soon. I'm fine! The Wild Area was pretty tame today." I gotta go, she mouthed at Raihan, gesturing at the phone pressed to her ear. Raihan waved her off, though he looked pretty disappointed. She covered the phone with her hand. "Next time we can have a battle, I promise!" she whispered before she turned and hurried away.
"You know, there's a lot of paperwork on your desk – you really haven't been following up on things, have you?" Leon was saying as Gloria searched for a taxi. Why did the taxis only ever seem to appear when she wasn't actually in need of one?
"I'm sorry, I was just procrastinating," she huffed, finally spotting a Corviknight next to the pokemon centre. She rushed over, getting onto the taxi before someone else could snatch it away from her. "To Wyndon Stadium, please," she told the cabbie, and off they went. "Leon, it's such a chore. I have no idea how you could handle it."
"Through sheer determination and willpower," the former champion deadpanned. Gloria laughed. If there was one thing she and Leon had in common, it was their hatred of miscellaneous champion duties. Gloria just wanted to have fun with her team and engage in exciting pokemon battles with different trainers. She did not want to be the person officiating matches and events, giving interviews, attending galas, brainstorming national plans…she wasn't comfortable with these things.
She wasn't naturally charismatic, not like Leon, not like Raihan, and she always felt painfully awkward when people shook her hand and asked for an autograph. Part of her still felt like the clueless girl who left Postwick with a Sobble in tow, going along with her best friend and neighbour on a grand journey to hopefully become Galar's newest champion. She missed those times. Things felt so much easier back then.
"Leon, will I ever be as comfortable in front of the camera as you are? Or the rest of the Gym Leaders?" she sighed. "Even Allister has more camera presence than I do, and he's so shy. Don't even mention Nessa or Raihan." Raihan again. He was on her mind a lot lately, goodness knows why. Must be his Rotogram. She should delete that app. She hadn't even wanted to make an account in the first place, but Leon told her that everyone who was part of the League had to maintain social accounts to connect with their fans, so she had grudgingly set up whatever she needed to.
She hardly even posted on her own Rotogram, though she had taken to scrolling through it at least once a day – it was a mindless activity that helped her procrastinate when she was stuck behind a desk, forced to do administrative things. Gloria mostly followed the other League members, plus Hop and Piers. Raihan was part of that list, and at first, she hadn't paid him any attention. But that was only until she realised that most of her daily feed was usually taken up by Raihan's selfies.
That realisation was abruptly followed by another one – that for every five pictures Raihan posted, at least one would feature him without his shirt on. And that around once every two weeks, he would post a random photo showing nothing but a sandstorm. The sandstorm picture usually didn't come with any caption, either.
How Raihan managed to get so many likes on each photo despite how often he posted was beyond her. Even the weird sandstorm ones got loads of likes, with his fans speculating on the possible symbolism of the sandstorm in the comments. She only knew this because Marnie pointed it out once – it wasn't like Gloria actively stalked him or anything. She didn't have the time or the interest for that.
Leon snorted. "Raihan? He's a slave to the camera, and he sure is proud of it." But there was affection in Leon's words and she smiled, knowing the two men had a solid friendship. Despite being rivals, they always had each other's backs, and both Raihan and Leon spoke of each other with a great deal of respect. At least most of the time. "You'll get there, Gloria. It's not easy at first, but like everything else, you get used to it. Soon enough you'll have your own special pose!" he exclaimed.
"I think I'll pass on any special poses, Lee." The mere thought of it was enough to make her cringe. Leon mumbled something about her being a spoilsport, but she ignored him. She sighed, watching the clouds go past as the Flying Taxi brought her steadily towards Wyndon. Despite not saying a word, the silence between them was comfortable. Leon was good at getting people to relax and let their guards down. She had been a little stiff around him at first, but now she hardly thought twice about chatting with him. It probably helped that he was Hop's older brother.
"Hey, Lee?" she asked. Leon made a sound of assent, though he seemed a little distracted – probably looking through her undone paperwork. "Did you ever date before? I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want to," she quickly added, feeling flustered – the question had slipped out without her thinking. "Just curious."
"Oh?" Leon sounded surprised. "I have gone on dates before if that's what you're asking. Why? Someone caught your attention?" he teased. Gloria rolled her eyes. Leon was one of the top trainers in Galar and he had a powerful presence few could match, but at the end of the day he was still Hop's brother and he had quickly taken to teasing her the same way Hop did. "But yeah. Why, what about them?"
"How do you know if you like someone or if you just find them really distracting?" She frowned. She wasn't asking this with anyone particular in mind, just – well. She felt like this was something she needed to know. She could hear Leon chuckle.
"Whatever relationship you have Gloria, it sure sounds complicated," he said. She didn't answer, and Leon suddenly exhaled – she could sense he was getting serious, and she gripped the phone a little tighter. "I don't think I can give you a clear answer on that. Relationships, in general, aren't black and white. If you like someone you're probably going to find them distracting, but that doesn't mean that vice-versa is true. It's something you'll probably just have to figure out on your own."
Leon sounded wistful. She wondered who he was thinking about. "That's real helpful advice." Gloria herself couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
"Hey, it's better than nothing," Leon defended himself, and Gloria absentmindedly agreed, looking around her. She could tell they were fast approaching Wyndon. The Battle Tower loomed in the distance, as distinctive a landmark as ever.
"I'm reaching Wyndon. Chat later." She exchanged goodbyes with Leon and hung up, placing her phone back inside her pocket. Her fingers brushed against her pokeballs, and she paused, drawing out the Ultra Ball Raihan had given to her. Her new Goomy was inside, and she smiled, wondering what she ought to do with it. Maybe she should let him get familiar with her office and new home first, then she would help him get properly acquainted with the rest of her team. Yeah, baby steps.
She had never really trained a dragon-type pokemon before - unless Gyarados counted. She heard stories about how temperamental and demanding dragon pokemon could be, and how they refused to listen to trainers unless the trainer could prove their strength and worth. People respected Raihan because he was able to capture and bond with one of the most stubborn pokemon types out there, and Gloria was determined to do the same. As the champion, she wouldn't fail.
"I can't wait to beat Raihan at his own game," she mused, rubbing her thumb across the Ultra Ball. He had issued her a challenge after all, and Gloria was never one to back down from a challenge.