A Soul Of Steel

by CeroAjax

The dream of a lifetime was finally achieved by one attempting the Galar Region Gym Challenge: a trainer named Haru. However what is life afterwards for someone unsure of how to handle being Champion? What, if anything, lies next? Does he persist in his new busy life or move to something else? This story explores one such trainer.

17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Charm

Credits to 'Songbird' by Shannon & Keast for the version implied in this chapter

"So...you nervous?" Marnie said, walking down a long hall with Hop by her side. The fellow ex-Gym Challenger-turned-professor-in-training had joined her on her outing today as the marble hallways of the building they were in were lined up to wait for an elevator to come down.

As Hop was readjusting his tie, Marnie turned to him while clicking her tongue. "Ugh. Let me do it."

Hop stifled a sigh as the goth girl made sure his tie was tightened as the elevator reached the bottom lobby floor they were at, and went in. Pressing the big "4" on it, they rode on it together. "So today is 'day 1' isn't it? Suppose if nobody else heard about all the baggage before, they will today won't they?"

Folding her arms over each other, the fellow Dark Gym Leader would sigh while eyeing the elevator 'floor level' count. They were nearly there already. "Mmh. Haru was the one who invited me to come here, but since it's all going to be public record I would want to see this turned around in the end. After all, it's not about me today, it's about her.."

As the doors opened up onto a wide floor filled with news reporters shuffling nearby, Haru was seen wearing a grey suit. He sees Marnie and Hop come out and goes over to hug both of them. "Thanks for coming you two, she's already nervous as it is but knowing you all came it's going to be a bit less for her to take."

"Is she already inside, waiting?" Hop asked, peering over Haru's shoulder at the double doors that were opening and closing with press members walking around. Nodding and gesturing with a 'thumbs up' behind his immediate location, Haru reaffirmed as such.

"Yes. This will be my first hearing that I'll be attending, but I figured for everything that's gone on I should be here for it."

Marnie looks at the analogue clock hanging on the wall. "Well then, we should head inside and find some seats. I'm certain that things will be starting soon. Does she know we're coming by the way?"

Turning back to the double doors and opening it, Haru spoke quietly to his comrades. "I only said I would be coming, but I was unsure if you two would be able to do so, and Nessa is currently on a new model shoot for a magazine. While I look forward to that, this is something else I must do. The REAL post-hero support begins today..."

Inside the room were several familiar faces. They had come to show support for Syra during her first day of the court case against her dad, Ritsu, as Amiri and Gabriel were sitting in the immediate row behind where the girl was placed. Despite arriving armed with one of the best lawyers Haru and Sam were able to cooperatively find, the famliar velvet haired girl found herself nervous. She spots Haru and then Marnie and Hop.

/I...I didn't think anyone else that I knew would be coming! I know Mom and Gabe are here but.../ Syra did her best not to show tears in the one place where it would matter, but it really touched her heart to see at least several others come. Even Hop, who she had previously wronged in the past, showed up.

In short while later, Ritsu showed up in prison garb and handcuffs with his lawyer that was defaulted to him with Syra eyeing daggers in his direction. Though that would pale in comparison to the ice cold, murderous intent that came from Amiri who had to be held back by several people upon seeing his face. What could he say, however, that wouldn't end up making him look worse in the end?

For the moment, it mattered not.

In short order, everyone rose for the honorable judge that came and sat. As the gavel banged, Syra's first day of her case against Ritsu began. It would be a very long road ahead, but at this point she felt she was an expert in handling long-road challenges where everything was aimed against her. To a degree, it was almost poetic. Two parts of Team Rocket were, in a way, being tried. Giovanni back in Kanto, and now Ritsu in Galar.

Syra stood up when asked to do so, and took one long look at the man she initially at one point trusted to be her guardian. The transition of no longer seeing him as related by blood had already begun, and today she would see to tear away those connections he held onto her.

In the Kanto Courtroom where Team Rocket & Giovanni were being tried, there were currently a few there that was involved in the grander scheme. 3 officers who were known to be in charge of the 'Rocket Go' sect of the company giving their testimonies: answering any and all questions aimed in their direction. From the looks of things, Team Rocket would possibly be disbanded and put down for good if things kept up in the light they were.

As the first day of court for Syra ran on, many stories were shared. Many of those who attended who either were fans of her or were reporting otherwise got to see the uglier side of her backstories that she dared not have printed on her league card. It seemed as if this was going to be a case that would be as by-the-numbers as it could be, but still it dragged on. Hours and hours later, everyone was dismissed, awaiting to attack this with further questioning later.

- - - - - Outside the Courthouse, Wyndon - - - - -

"Holy shit, I was so nervous. Even now I still am..." Syra began to say as she was bent over slightly; hands on a railing while looking over a scenic view of the city. Letting go, she turned back to those that had come to give support to her: Hop, Haru, and Marnie. Amiri and Gabriel were there was well right next to her on both sides, with Gabriel giving Haru a few inquisitive eyes from time to time.

Giving a sweeping motion with his left hand, Haru replied as his other hand readjusted his glasses. "The best thing that you did today, Syra, was you stuck by your convictions. I think that, through this hard time you're going through, that in of itself is a victory."

Sighing with a ping of regret of inaction and inability to have helped when the time was right, Amiri hung her head a little. "It surprises me that I was able to sit through all of that without just yelling at Ritsu the whole time, or that everyone there was able to hold me back. Usually it would not have mattered, but, I know this is important to have it be done through due process." While the mother of Syra said this, Gabe walked forward to Haru slowly. It catches him off guard to a degree when the younger brother of her extended a hand.

"What's...this?" Haru asks, pensive.

"I wanted to show that I forgive you and I don't harbor any hate or ill will towards you. From what I understand, a lot of what my older sister did was based around things that you and your Mom ended up having in connection to my own. But I also know that Syra did this cuz...y'know, I'm her little brother. She's...protective over me to a fault." He explained, as Syra froze hearing the last bit.

Blushing at the way her past self reacted, the girl exclaimed. "Hey you little shit! I did all with good intentions!" Her brother backfired and turned back to her. "Be that as it may!" His glance went back to Haru and brought the hand back up. "I still wanted you to hear all that from me, personally."

Looking down at the black haired sibling of the most fiery trainer he ever faced in his lifetime, Haru shook Gabriel's hand firmly twice and smiled. Letting go, he looked at Syra and her family as a whole. "Thank you, that means a lot to me. I apologize but for now I must make my leave." bringing out his phone and tapping into it to turn it into its bicycle mode.

Marnie, with her hands in the pockets of the formal suit she wore, looked at Hop and then Haru. "Don't know if I'll be able to come for every court date m'self, but I'm glad I was here to at least see it start. Haru: don't go stretching yourself too thin though, okay?" Next to her, Haru's friend Hop nodded in agreement.

Assembling the helmet onto his head and tying the straps around his chin, Haru halfly gestured an annoyed wave to them. "Right right. You beautiful folks have a good rest of the evening. I got a friend to meet for some business!" Without explaining himself any further, his right leg put the pedal of the bicycle down and would sprint off on it towards another part of Wyndon.

- - - - - Elsewhere in Wyndon - - - - -

Goji stood by the familiar entrance bouncing a small hackey sack with his feet as he watched his master, Haru, perform a choreographed dance with another man. It seemed to be another lesson, but had also turned into smalltalk where Haru would update his teacher on the latest happenings.

"Hmm...I'm not quite certain where I follow your logic, Haru. Are you saying you're struggling to keep up because of the recent events?" Mathias would say, as he embraced Haru in another lesson as the two danced together. At this stage, Haru had moved on to more advanced maneuvers, being able to speed himself up and remember the choreography for what would end up being far more complex dance steps. Though the initial idea had been 'dance to impress Nessa for the 6 month anniversary' had already been long since fulfilled, he wanted to further his own ability to be light on his toes.

Twirling Mathias with one arm and letting go to have him and his teacher mirror each other's footwork, Haru sighed. "Ahh...is it confusing? Sorry. I've just never had these thoughts before so I am also struggling just to figure it out."

The pretty man was not upset, but it appeared as if he had to prod his student just a bit to get a more concrete answer. "Well, try to clear your mind as you do when approaching my lessons. See if you can just let your body take over and have your legs speak for you."

He would do his best to follow the tutor's words but had to stop. Haru sighed and folded his arms, as the black-and-magenta stripe haired man also slowed his movement before meeting Haru's side. "Take 5?"

"Yeah, I'll take 5."

The two would end up on the floor doing stretches together while Haru took a swig of a bottle of water and using a wet towel to moisturize his forehead. "I don't know. I've never felt this way about anyone and we have been having an amazing relationship for all this time. If anything, the only downside as of late was when I had my own issue recently but that's not really important. What keeps going through my head are other things, like how it's crazy to think about how we've both been able to maintain what we're doing. How Nessa and I keep each other in check. Recently I had this..." Haru fought his own wording. There was no stress, no anger, no hesitation, nothing short of love and adoration for the woman he was with yet this new sensation was clouding him slowly.

Taking a second to un-pretzel himself from his stretching, Mathias looked over at the increasingly puzzled youth near him, walked over, sat down next to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Tell me, Haru. When you think of Nessa, what immediately comes to your mi-"

"Eyes."

"Hmm?"

Haru looked to the floor with a small smile and pink in his cheeks. "Those damn eyes she has are the first thing that caught me when I first met her, and it's one of the things I love the most. That's of course, speaking physically. At first I thought that maybe I wouldn't be able to keep up with her 'speed' of tackling life, and I couldn't be more wrong on that front! As of late it feels like this love I have is starting to swallow me up and a part of me is super nervous at what it's leading to and I don't know what the feeling is; a form of want beyond simply wanting to be with her is bubbling up."

Haru folded his arms and hummed to himself. "Okay...'swallow me up' may be wrong, actually. Perhaps it's more like I have grown to accept these changes and have begun to work with it, yet I haven't compromised myself so much that I'm unrecognizable from before. Her too. At least...that's what she tells me. Shit! I would worry about all these other minor things before now but now not so much."

Grinning ear to ear like a smug Meowth having found some loose change, Mathias would pat Haru's shoulder as if he was given an answer to explain what was going on with him. "Okay Haru, that's enough for now. Right now I have a pretty good picture of what your intended message is, and I think the canvas has been painted rather vividly. What I believe you are experiencing is a sort of epiphany about the actual, true depth of what she means to you because your own feelings for her have advanced beyond what they were before. They aren't anymore simply just a brief infatuation from you realizing your compatibility, your thoughts towards her, or the ideals she holds to her chest, nor is it just you having settled 'in' and working around how you two aren't perfect. You've had your rises and downfalls together. Seen the 'ugly' side of each other."

Clicking his tongue in annoyance at himself for reacting this way, Haru narrowed his eyes. "It isn't? So why am I so stressed when I shouldn't be at all? It doesn't make any sense! I'm finally learning how to love myself so that I can have self-respect AND it's thanks to her helping me."

Satisfied with his own twist on the advice, Mathias smirked once again and laughed. "It seems to me she has simply 'guided your hips' to those correct answers, much like yours truly."

"Perhaps you're right. Honestly I think what's happened is that ever since a few weeks back there's this new growing sense of connection. As if it's not just 'love', but it's...fucking frustrating because I can't pin on what I'm trying to say! Like, it's not obsession or any-" Haru was silenced with another pair of shoulder pats as Mathias took him by the hand and helped him to his feet. Silently, the two would begin again the lesson they were doing earlier and as the music played to keep the pair in sync, his teacher began to explain.

"What you are experiencing is a possible phase of integrating yourself with her; now that you have found a way to resolve any dispute the two of you have had, as well as retaining your self importance and mental image, you're realizing just how deep the connection is going. You now see that what was just love on a surface level has grown far greater than that: the combination, nay, fusion of you two is bigger than the two of you combined."

He looked to Haru once the two embraced in a tango-esque sort of rehearsal seriously. "When you told me about Nessa in the past, you were nervous about doing anything to upset her mood, and always worried about trying to impress her. Now, you speak of her peacefully as if you have obtained a new level of 'zen'. She is, much like the moniker she entails, a 'Raging Wave', and it seems, Haru my darling, you've learned to start surfing along those waves yourself." He dips Haru, switches sides and then cycles back to the first step of the routine. "Let's think back to the past and use the 'music' with dancing to your 'love' of Nessa; this relationship you hold dear. Much like your ability to dance back then compared to now, you are 'feeling' the music in your feet, your toes, and in your soul how to move...even if you don't necessarily know the steps that lay ahead of you. Your instinct is telling you what to expect and are moving along whilst being guided towards it. You are no longer simply just learning new things, but you are doing so with a new air of a confident stride; bouncing your feet like a Scorbunny through the fields!"

The two finished the set, bowed, and Mathias folded his arms to look at his friend once again. "So tell me, student of mine, what is it you FEEL when your heart recalls Nessa nowadays?" pinning a finger on Haru's diaphragm.

The man of Steel-type Pokemon stood there making eye contact and confidently answered. "Nessa is...zen or maybe, the characterization of strength to me. There's not a moment that goes by that doesn't make me want to plan the next day and see where our combined values and goals take us. There's a level of understanding that I've been able to obtain being around her, and for even all my dumb faults she refuses to let me downplay myself. I feel strength being held by her, talking to her about my problems, and confiding in even my worst of times. I was so worried at first about doing things that would upset her balance in life since she is a dual-career woman in charge of her own destiny...yet the strength of her doing things like that kiss-cam incident at her stadium. Like...what a fucking woman."

Mathias seemed pleased with himself and smiled, letting out a content sigh. "With the exclusion of the crass nature at the end of the statement, that was a beautiful, and far different answer than the 'Haru' of months ago."

"Hehe, sorry. It's just, you know..." waving his hands together while his face showed his flustered he was, his friend put a hand on his shoulder again and smirked.

"Tell me something. Would you love her in 5 years? 10? 20? Would you still love her even if she had gray in her hair, and was wrinkled? What if she put on a few pounds or more? What if she lost a limb?" Mathias would answer, as Haru shouted in response immediately. "ABSOLUTELY!"

The whole dance hall echoed after he said that, as Haru cleared his throat. "Sorry. Yes. Absolutely. If the situation was different and she was an older woman, weighed more, weighed less, or anything else it wouldn't matter. Nessa is Nessa! I am me!"

"She may very well be your 'one', then. Have you considered that?" Coming from Mathias, the phrase alone had implications so powerful that it immediately got Haru to briefly picture Nessa wearing a bride outfit. As a result, he would start nosebleeding after a few seconds. Freaking out that he had gone too far, Mathias goes to search for another towel and brings it to his student. It's to little avail however, as the lesson would end shortly afterwards.

- - - - - The Wild Area, East Lake Axwell - - - - -

As he was cooling off from the end of his lesson with Mathias, Haru took an Air Taxi heading towards Motostoke and had the cabbie halt in mid-air while peering over East Lake Axwell once they got there. For the moment he was looking for someone to appear that would be very helpful on a favor.

/If there's someone that can help me right now for that whole 'find Syra a Shiny Pokemon, I can only think of one person I can rely on. Tch. Should have come to them far earlier in the year when I was lamenting the process that it would take to get the charms that would make the process easier, but right now I don't have the time to invest into it. She told me that I would find her around here so.../

"Aha! Driver, drop me off right here!" He calls back to the man in goggles, who flashes a thumbs-up. Slowly landing, there was a girl with a rather classy getup with a shiny Sylveon trailing behind as its partner. Decked with a navy blue turtleneck sweater and a white leather jacket for her top, and a navy blue pleated skirt with fine fishnet tights, the girl looks up as one named Haru landed near her. The Sylveon, named Oberon, walked a litle closer and behind her while he waved. "Hey, Hestia! It's been a bit, but I see you're the dog's dinner as always."

Tilting her sunglasses up onto the top of her head and letting it rest there, she smirks. "Hey Haru! You don't look so bad yourself. So what brings you to me? It sounded like you required my services, though I can't imagine for what."

He placed his hands together as if to plead. "I need your assistance and absolutely insane luck and abilities to help me breed a Pokemon. It's intended to be a gift for a friend, and I currently have no way to figure it out myself that I can't push it into my current time."

Folding her arms as one eyebrow raised, Hestia looked up at him slightly. "What are you hoping to get? I can get you a perfect breed Scorbunny if you'd like, since I know that's what Goji evolved from, and you were hoping to get him a friend last I heard right?"

Beginning to gesture as if drawing on an invisible chalk board, Haru explained. "That was Mirukon, and it's fine since he is a dad now. A-anyways, 'perfect breed'? I'm sorry but what do you mean? I haven't quite gotten to that part yet of the many books I'm going through to study for the sanctuary I hope to run..."

"Ahhhhh~ I see. Well it takes some time but you can actually breed a Pokemon to have perfect stats. I know your Nora is a perfect Glaceon, Arceus knows how that happened, but it IS a complicated means to an end. It takes a long while, and this isn't accounting for Shinies, but since you asked..." She turns to her side, facing Haru from her profile. "IF you have time, that is."

If he got one step closer to understanding how to breed for this sort of Pokemon, then it may pave the way to understanding Pokemon better. For this, Haru figures /This may help me, now that I think about it./ "Ehh, I sorta do? All that's left of my errands today is to spend the evening studying at home when I meet up with Hop."

In a very definitive matter-of-fact way, Hestia started to prepare the immediate area as one would do when camping in Galar, but would actually bring out a sketchbook she keeps around. Oberon comes to her side with her drawing pencils in his mouth happily, with the girl giving him a headpat. Staying silent, Haru watches as he sees her quietly sketching up what appeared to be a simple graph. In a few minutes, Hestia holds up the sketchbook and points with her drawing hand. "Okay, so let's say you're willing to breed another 'Nora' but it's not going to be a Glaceon. You wanna make sure that Eevee is properly prepared! So! First, you take a Togetic that knows the move 'Wish'. Has to be a male. Pair him up with a female Pikachu. The resulting egg will then make a Pikachu that knows 'Wish'. It will be male, so pair this one with a female Eevee. Doing this will result in an Eevee that's a boy that knows Wish."

"You have to do it in this way...why?" Haru asked, now folding his own arms and sitting on the grass as if a student attending a lecture.

"It's to guarantee the Pokemon retains stats or moves from one of the parents. Now...you continue on with either a Ditto, because they are genderless, or a- HEY!" She snaps her fingers as Haru looked a little stressed hearing all of this as she was going through the list. "This is important stuff here, man!"

"I'm certain it is, but if this is all for a 'perfect' Pokemon, what's the case then with getting Shiny Pokemon? Are you going to tell me there's a crazy 'method' to that as well?" Snickering under his breath, to which Hestia answered plainly. "Yes."

Haru halfly choked on his own spit when her answer came so bereftly while she held up the sketchbook again, sketching a much smaller diagram. It was easy to understand but she still spoke it out loud. "Just breed your native Pokemon with a Ditto from another region entirely. Voila! You now have increased odds at breeding a Shiny; moreso if you own a Shiny Charm!"

Be that as it may, the conversation reminded him of when he went to see Sonia on being explained about Shiny Pokemon in the first place. "So you're saying doing that increases the odds then huh? That seems, simple enough. You joked earlier, but I actually do want a Scorbunny. It's not for Goji, nor for me to have on my own team, but for ex-Gym-Challenger Syra. You saw her in the battle I had at Wyndon, right?"

Oberon had since helped place her things back into the backpack while Hestia looked back up at him; halfway knelt to the ground. "Oh yes, I do. I was hoping to have a chance to meet her at some point myself and give her a makeover."

Upon hearing that, Haru had the distinct mental image of Syra sitting in a saloon chair as Hestia was behind her on a stool with an increasingly pissy expression. It was almost too vivid to be played as a video recording; sounds of Syra going 'If you put a bow in my hear, I swear...' and being unable to stop himself from laughing about the imagery.

"What is it?" Hestia asked, to which the man just handwaved it dismissively. "You said that, and I think I know her so well currently that I pictured JUST how she would react. So you know what? I think you should do exactly that for her."

She was unsure where Haru went with that train of logic, but nonetheless if he said it was a good idea, and by gosh she already was just on Syra's fashion style alone, she was going to go through with it. "If the shiny is for her I think I can wing it pretty easily. Why her, though? Did you lose a match against her when everybody wasn't looking?"

He rolled his eyes to put words onto the thought, but Haru leaned forward as both hands rested in his pockets. "More like a matter of a bet. Even though I didn't lose the bet, per se, I still feel some sort of sense of...pride, I guess, that I just wanna do it. I don't know."

She stood up and made sure to now bring her sunglasses back down to her eyes, glancing back. "Hmm. Any way you slice it, I'll see that I can work on one then for you, though I'm also in the middle of helping some other folks currently too. Do you have a timetable that you'd prefer this to be delivered, Haru?"

"None, but I do have a request."

She looked him up and down, studying where his change of face expression was going to lead. "Aye, what is it?"

He thinks about Hiro and his fallen Pokemon for a moment before addressing Hestia with a smile. "If you can keep the non-shiny buns safe, I would not mind welcoming them into my sanctuary once the place officially opens. That is, if they don't find proper owners and homes. You know: give them a nice peaceful home to live in."

The classy dressed Pokemon breeder grinned back with a sense of pride welling within. "Count on it. I'll see you later then!"

"Ciao! Take care Oberon, Hestia!" The Steel Gym Leader looked up the steps leading to Motostoke and started to walk up them while looking at his phone. If he sprinted for a good bit of the way home, he'd make it roughly in the time it would take for Hop to be there and for the two to have a study session.

The thoughts of the past conversation with Sonia and the Galar Pokedex came back while he took the last step of the stairs and entered Motostoke. /How anyone can have the patience and mentality to handle that breeding chart is utter barmy nonsense, but I gotta hand it to her. She's the perfect person to pull it off. Maybe in due time I can come to her to help me complete the regional Pokedex. Another time, perhaps. I already have a lot on my plate as it is./

- - - - - Motostoke, Haru's Home - - - - -

"What is the National Dex number of Zigzagoon?"

"Fuck, I hate these questions...uh..263."

"..and it's Galar Dex number?"

"31."

"Name the Pokemon that professors have yet to agree on is even an evolution of its previous form at all."

"PorygonZ"

"What Pokemon, when angered to its breaking point, can create a blizzard so severe it can freeze anyone close to it whether it's friend or foe?"

"Hmm...Vanilluxe."

"What's the egg group that Gardevoir is classified in?"

"Human-like and...amorphous."

"Then name two it can breed with."

"Lucario, cuz of my own having already done that, and Dusclops."

"If it breeds with a Dusclops what move can it learn from it?"

"...uh. Grudge."

"What type is Diglett known to be in Alola?"

"Ground and Steel"

Hop put his pen down after marking the question as 'correctly answered' and looked across the table at Haru with a stiff upper lip. "You knew that because it's part steel don't you?"

Throwing a hand aside while leaning back in the chair, Haru had a smug expression to the friend who was quizzing him. "I don't know, is it? Or is it cuz I've been looking through these dozens of books for the past few, what has it been, weeks? Months? I'm losing track of time honestly." Across from him, Hop had stood up and took a moment to stretch his legs by moving one that had fallen asleep. "Okay that's fair. Did you want to take a break? M'leg fell asleep."

Watching Mirukon walk by while holding the egg, as Masako had floated by and gone outside right by his side, Haru smiles. Ever since they all had that roundtable discussion he saw how the couple had been spending more time and, in between his own errands, were walking with the egg in tow. "Sure thing, pal. Did you want me to cook you up something? My head could use a break. I don't know how you can deal with that while hanging with Sonia for hours."

Laughing heartily to that, Hop shook his head as the two went to the fridge simultaneously to get some cans of a locally made beverage. "You should see how my brother deals with her. When Leon gets a moment to break away from the Battle Tower, his time is mostly spent listening to Sonia go on about new discoveries she's made."

The two compatriots sat down back at the table, the slightly-smarter Steel man smirking. "Care to share, or is it for professors only?". Hop shook his head again and looked outside to see his Dubwool enjoying the rays of the sun in Haru's backyard, letting out some 'me-e-e-e's contently. "Right now she's trying to coordinate with another professor, I think named 'Willow', in trying to learn what she can on the way other regions are learning that are different than us. There's also something about 'Valor', 'Instinct', and 'Mystic'."

Haru quietly just eyes a hanging hat he owned from the wall that had the picture of a Moltres on it and looked back at Hop. "Valor seems like the best sounding one if you ask me."

"You know about all that, too?" Hop asked, raising an eyebrow. Turning his head away and grinning to nobody but himself, Haru chuckled. "I guess you could say that, or maybe not, who knows?" "Why are you being facetious on something like this? Is it that big of a deal?" Hop asked, though his bookstudy buddy would turn back to him and reply swiftly, holding up a pointer finger. "All I'll say is that in the end, from what little I researched on those 3 things you said, I dig Valor the most. Plus, they like the same Legendary Bird from Kanto that I do, so we have that in common."

Nora had walked up to where Haru was sitting at the table and called to him from the floor. She seemed to want attention, and had hopped up onto his lap. Even though she wasn't a small Eevee anymore, she still had tendencies to want to be on Haru's lap. "N-nora, hey we're going to be studying, girl." The Glaceon didn't respect his space nor his request and had circled on his lap while in the chair and then laid down with her flat tail hanging off the edge. He sighed. "Okay, sure. Sit there for all I care. Not like I love you, little cute ice Pokemon of mine." patting her coat slowly while Hop looked at him.

Hop tried to be delicate in his next statement, but since they were on break there was another question bugging him that did not come from his study guide. "While we're on break, I would like to ask you since the rumor came about and I know you haven't confirmed it with anyone but Nessa and Oleana I assume. DID something happen to your Gym?"

Slowly dragging his hand delicately across Nora's fur, Haru looks to Hop with a morose expression. "Someone on the inside of the League's higher ups thinks I was colluding with Syra and Team Rocket throughout this past year. They're using the match I had with her as well as my insistence on having her with us during Operation Critical Hit as their anecdote to halt the construction of it. Oleana is fighting it currently, though it remains to be seen if she can do anything. So...I try to hide the pain of such things occurring."

Having no idea that Haru was holding back the frustrations of such events, as well as not knowing about Haru's social blow-up of anger, Hop looked to the floor. "I'm sorry for inquiring, bud." "No no, I'll have none of that, Hop. You asked a valid question, and I wanted to answer. It's fine. There's been a lot that's been happening in both of our lives and I haven't exactly helped key you in on a lot of what's been going on, so it was only fair to tell you instead of hide from it."

/You know what, Haru? I think I've found a dream of my own! I want to be someone who can help out Pokemon that're in trouble, wherever they are...I think I want to become a Pokemon Professor!/

"Something on your mind?" Hop would be asked, as Haru reached to the notes he had been taking this whole time to make sure his mind was still updated and consistently keeping track of what he was trying to retain.

Hop smiled, thinking back on the time when the two had a sort of celebratory match in the Slumbering Weald and upon losing to Haru once again, telling him of his epiphany. "Haru, even though I kept losing over and over again my Gym Challenge career to you, I never once gave up. So you shouldn't either."

He would laugh a little weakly, though Haru wouldn't deny the truth within Hop's wording. "Heh...right. Sorry if I'm a little distracted. It's not that I don't believe you. I'm just thinking about a conversation I had earlier with my dance tutor, Mathias." Looking down at his hands continued to grace the Glaceon in his lap that was most assuredly falling asleep in its master's embrace, he sighed. "Hop, do you believe we have a 'one' in our lives?"

Reflecting on the word-choice, Hop nodded while folding his arms together. "Romantically you mean, yes? Well, I hadn't ever given it thought, personally. While I would like to believe that everything we come across is for a reason despite the chaotic nature of life itself...I also believe there may be someone who just 'gets us' the best out of anyone else you know?"

"That's a roundabout answer of saying 'Yes'." Haru would say while grinning from ear to ear. The response was not a bad one, though it kept him at arm's length on the conversation. "Anyways, I was talking to him earlier about some new confusing level of thoughts. Good stuff though, talking about Nessa. After a bit of training and learning, rehearsing, Mathias ended up asking me if I ever considered Nessa may be 'the one' for me."

A side grin flashed on Hop's face. "Well to think we've hit this part of the conversation...it's interesting."

"Yeah, 'interesting'. It's so weird cuz you know I never thought of this stuff long-term. Not that I never saw myself wanting to be with her for a long time; I of course wish that for myself and her for me! I guess..." Hop saw a confusing set of looks come upon Haru's face when he said that and tried to pinpoint them. Standing up from his chair and walking over to Haru, the boy leaned in on the other one. "H-hey, what the heck are you doing?"

"Do you love her?"

"Pardon?"

"DO you love her?"

"YES I do, idiot! It's-"

"BUT WHAT"

"I'm starting to get scared of if something will happen!" Haru finally admitted, to which Hop just placed a hand on the table near his vision and sighed. It made sense. "You're scared of committment because of a 'what if'?"

"...more like, I'm scared that I'm not going to be good enough for her in the long run." Haru kept his face looking at the floor, and was hugged by Hop who was still standing. He had the full answer to what he was seeking before, and patted Haru's back. "I'm sorry, bud. I forgot with what you deal with before.."

Doing his best to dismiss the past while not pulling from Hop's hug, Haru just put on a strong facade. "Nah, it's...it's nothing, you know? That just sorta happened, we weren't even together that long." In his mind he still saw a certain face. A girl with thin brown hair and piercing eyes. Memories of back then still hit him deep, even though he had hid them deep in his psyche. A previous flame...

/You know what, Haru? I'm tired of having to answer to a lot of people lately, and I really don't need this today./

/I love you, you know that, right?/

/..what do you want me to say? What could I say at this point that would actually fix this?/

/Hey Haru, it's half a year today! hahaha, crazy right?/

/It's as they said: I don't want you talking to me anymore./

/So are you just going to shut me out of your life so quickly? That's harsh, isn't it?/

Haru looked back up at Hop and smiled. "Nessa is such a unique case you know? Literally everything that's happened has been a wildcard: I don't know what to expect. Yet all that I have so far I'm loving it. So I guess, I'm-"

Sitting back down and facing his friend with his legs crossed, Hop would take a small sip of his bottled coffee drink and eyed the red haired man at the other end of the table. "Your defensive wall is still up because by now you're expecting something bad to happen."

Admitting 'defeat' by agreeing to Hop's assessment, Haru sighed. "...yeah. But I want to be mentally assured that never happens. Nessa is the one I want to keep. I don't wanna lose this feeling, ever. You know?"

Smugly, Hop had leaned on his hand while an elbow propped it by the table. "You said it."

"Said what? We're just talking here." Confused, Haru had looked Hop from the side as if he were an Ultra Beast.

" 'The One'. You said 'Nessa is 'the one' I want to keep'. Is that not confirmation enough for you?" Hop explained once more.

The two sat in silence for a bit and for once in their whole time that he was there, Haru found himself tongue tied. He was without a single rebuttal, counter, or response to that at all. For the whole day he was dancing around the idea, and doing what he could to deduce all possibilities even if it meant looking at his own insecurities. Yet in the peer review that just occurred, Haru arrived at the same end result as before.

The words echoed in his head and Haru's face went deep crimson red, and the tension in his face no longer showed. /Perhaps it is time I put this era of my past away. There seems nary a point in overthinking this at this point onward.../

Snickering and completely pleased with himself, Hop picked up the stationary that he had brought with him and took out his pen once more. "There you go. THAT is the face of a man deeply in love with the Gym Leader from Hulbury! Now, let's continue, shall we? We're going to be going over the whole Kanto Pokedex review."

Immediately in irritation, Haru drags a hand down from the top of his face downwards. "Sweet Fanny Adams, Hop, right now? That's a lot to come up at once. What do you want me to do-"

"Rap it." Hop interrupted.

Haru's face immediately makes a sour expression. "Sorry?"

Jabbing at the air with his pen, Hop insists. "I want you to RAP the entire Kanto Pokedex. All of them."

Groaning, Haru takes a moment and brings out his phone to search for a metronome that could be used at any one time. Upon starting it, Haru breathes deeply and began. "Electrode, Diglett, Nidoran, Mankey, Venusaur, Rattata, Fearow, Pidgey..."

"Hey boys, I'm ho~me" would come the voice of Nessa who decided to drop on by, knowing that Haru was studying. What she didn't count on was seeing Hop writing down notes in his checklist and hearing Haru raving like a madman while standing up as Nora was now no longer asleep in his lap but walking around in circles on the floor.

"What the fu-" she would say to herself, catching the tail end of Haru's miniature rant.

"CHARMELEON! Wartotle. Mewtwo, Tentacruel, Aerodactyl, Omanyte, Slowpoke, Pidgeot, Arbok, that's all-NESSA! Hey!" Haru nearly chokes on himself at the end since his peripheral vision catches the dark beauty standing from the side with an increasingly confused and tense look. Meanwhile, as if nothing was happening out of the ordinary, Hop is seen marking once more on his sheet. "Yup. That's all of them. Good job Haru, you did it. You named all of the Kanto Pokedex by memory."

Haru's face once again went red again having seen Nessa staring at him from several meters away. The couple said nothing to each other until Nessa just pointed to him with her usually gloved hand and said "You're a fucking one in a million, Haru." laughing, with Haru guffawing in response. "Hello to you too, darling!"

"Hey Nessa! Haru's studying has been good today, and you caught him at the tail end." Hop replied before getting up and fetching his things. Walking over to where he stood frozen like a Stonjourner, Nessa poked Haru's forehead and grinned. "I don't know what exactly prompted you to rap like that, but frankly it doesn't matter cuz it was kind of cute!" she admitted, laughing.

The rest of the evening involved Haru being teased for doing what was called amongst them a 'PokeRap' by Nessa, though it would be just the thing he needed to relax after having stressed his brain for hours on end. Homemade dinner would be around the corner, and after thinking about earlier it was a relief to see her and be in her arms.

While gazing at her in the kitchen while the two were preparing food, a new kind of smile spread on Haru's lips. She leaned over and let him taste the sauce she was making and ended up looking deep in the bright blue eyes she had. /'The One', huh.../

- - - - - 1 week later - - - - -

Moving Day finally came. After the much longwinded process of paperwork, preemptively buying new supplies for the house, being antsy, and otherwise not being able to wait to move in together, Nessa and Haru finally went through with it. The moving day involved Haru, Nessa, her Drednaw, his Lucario, Leon, his mom Lana, and his Glaceon all doing their part in assisting. Taking multiple trips back and forth from the large truck they rented, a large part of the early morning to mid afternoon was used in simply transporting all their belongings and putting them inside. As they were able to use almost all the furniture they had, and have room for more, they figured on doing those as late as possible since moving all boxes with fragile items or otherwise was a priority.

The biggest priority, however, was Haru taking a large plot of land that was dug up from his home: Hiro's tree. Making sure to keep it hydrated before moving, his first instinct was to find the spot him and Nessa agreed on and start planting it. Once outside, Haru looked at his waist, threw a Pokeball and out appeared an Excadrill. "Hey bud, do you mind helping me for a bit? Need you to assist me in making sure the new home for my buddy here is as comfortable as possible."

The Pokemon looked up at Haru saw that even as its mandibles were more claw-like than hand, he got the implication of it doing a 'fist bump' all the same. Masako had walked in, now carrying the egg herself that was hers and Mirukon's and sat down next to it while on the empty carpet to take a break. With Lana and Nessa communicating while inside on how to set up some spots, Haru made a call to have some food delivered to them since no way would anyone be willing to cook once this house was going to be in its infancy no matter how much progress they made.

Lana looked at Haru while he walked in, while talking to a Lilligant she had brought from a neighbor. "What is it, Haru?"

"We've been at this for a bit, and I know we're all probably thinking of food, considering it's midday. I was thinking about ordering out for us because no way are Nessa and I going to cook after being exhausted from doing all this. After all, we still have more to unpack and bring in...even though we've brought in a good portion of it."

Nessa had put down a box full of books slowly and wiped her forehead before looking in Haru's direction. She sighed, stretched her arms over the other and asked "What, you think I didn't want to cook?"

Blinking, almost taken back by what she said and how she said it, Haru then fired back. "...do you?"

The Raging Wave herself smiled once she was handed another box by Leon, set it down and then bellowed "Haha, no. I'm just taking the piss, darling. Sure, let's order out." Being happy to hear this, Haru looked to the Lilligant that his mother brought along. "I'll order some for you as well, since you came here today Lilligant."

"Her name is Kiara." Lana said happily, as the plant based Pokemon bobbed in place happily upon hearing it was going to be fed as well as everyone else. He surveyed the surrounding, empty room he was in trying to scan for either Mirukon or Masako since he brought both of them out of their balls and had secured the others on his waist or in a personal box. With his phone in hand, he walked around until he saw the two Pokemon sitting outside on the grass with the egg holding onto each other. It seemed already that the two had taken a liking for their new home.

"Hey you two." they both hear him pipe up, causing the Psychic Fairy and Fighting Steel Pokemon to turn their heads to him. "Gonna get us food, so I'm sure you two will wanna be alert when it arrives. I'll leave you two alone for now, 'kay?". They seemed pleased with the update, and went back to communicating with each other; happy to be in a new place with the egg that still had yet to hatch.

"Hello yes? I'd like to place an order for delivery. It's a big one, so I apologize. Okay cool..."

- - - 5 hours later... - - -

Plop

Leon, Lana, and the adorable Lilligant named 'Kiara' had gone away, leaving Nessa, Haru, and their Pokemon to the new home by themselves. The fridge that was there would work 'for now', as both Nessa and Haru realized it didn't quite contain everything they figured it would. Small miscalculation as it were, he was finding they had plenty of space to put the other things away: all the spices, dry foods, kitchenware, etc. He had to stop at one point with Nessa reminding they would then have go soon to see on a pantry for just the Pokemon they both take care of; an idea he was on board with immediately.

As the hallways lay bare however, they had their essentials down for that first night. The bedroom, bathroom, and part of the living room was set up. Not wanting to worry on the first night about setting up the entertainment center, they had earlier settled on simply just having one of the speakers connected to their phones to play music just to help kill time. Their conversations with each other and the tunes had helped progress the moving in and make the progress all that more easy to accomplish. Already however, Haru was eyeing all the hallways and looking on how to decorate them with decorate prints of stuff he brought over, though him and Nessa had an impasse.

"Haru, please. For the last time, not putting your graphic and movie prints along the walls in THIS hallway." She said flatly to him.

He was still all for it, gesturing like he was a salesman. "Why not though? Make our place feel like a movie theater, except we can tell people outright 'Hey you may have a fun time, or you'll be D*A' and who's to say otherwise?"

She had stayed on her point by waving a finger and looking him in the eyes. "Because that sort of stuff is more fit for an entertainment center or 'man cave'. I'd prefer if we used these walls here to put the frames of other things, like our families, the memories we've shared..."

"Yeah but that's just so...samey. Everybody does that." He bellyached, though it was short-lived as she placed a definitive finger on his lips and came with a suggestion he wouldn't be against. "...and pictures of Hiro. Regardless of how little photos you have of him, I think it would be nice for everyone coming in our home to see how important he was to you and how he belongs here just like his tree does too. We DID bring that along, but it's a nice touch, you know?"

"Damn. You're good." He would end up saying with a small chuckle, as Nessa gave him a kiss on the lips before walking off towards the living room where they only currently had one shelf up for the moment and one couch. "Thank you. Now while you're considering which one to hang up first, I'm going to start sorting through the heavy stuff I brought in earlier after I relax for a bit. Also, wash up." She tapped one of his cheeks with a hand delicately. "You got a bit of dust and grime from all that lifting you were doing all day, ."

Her voice had lowered towards the end of the sentence while a finger curled near his chin, causing Haru's face to turn red. "Y-yes dear."

In the bathroom, Haru looked at himself in the mirror as he washed his face. It was such a weird sensation; moving to another home in a similar manner when he became Champion. Life had been seemingly moving very fast for him, and now on his second occurrence of doing just that, it was with a woman he so dearly loved. The man in the mirror stared back at Haru; both pairs of amber brown eyes looked back. Wiping his hands on the single hand towel that was hanging off the rack, his mind ran through the concept once again.

/I've just moved in to a new home with a woman. Not just any woman, either. It was Nessa, the Gym Leader of Hulbury, who's my beloved girlfriend. Holy shit, what even is life for me anymore...? I'd say that I doubt I would be surprised anymore, but I know not to test fate saying something so callous./

Walking back out from the bathroom, Haru intended to get back to doing what he had yet to arrange earlier, yet something caught his attention. Nessa had the music playing from the speaker that was set up and from within the speaker was some nice guitar music not dissimilar to the one he sang to her on their 6 month anniversary. The mood was familiar, and appropriate considering the deep meaning of the day. He thought nothing of it and simply figured she was going to let the tune play out.

" For you, there'll be no more crying..."

Haru's eyes went wide as dinner plates and he felt his heart leap into his chest immediately. He was facing the wall, ready to begin putting up a frame when the most gorgeous sound ever to grace his eardrums was registered to him which made him about-face to the source.

" For you, the sun will be shining..."

It was Nessa.

She was singing.

While putting up the books and as the music was playing, she had absentmindedly begun to sing lyrics to a tune that got Haru to stop entirely what he was doing. She sofly chuckled to herself, and stood up, turning to him slowly.

" And I feel that when I'm with you,

It's alright, I know it's alright."

Haru felt like his heart was exploding with feelings insurmountable to be described by any lexicon he knew. She extended an arm to him, and in a completely unexpected turn of events, Haru was now on the receiving end of the very same situation he himself put Nessa on during their anniversary. He took her hand as the two slow danced together: Nessa's vocal chords sounding like a chorus of angelic beings. She had leaned forward, embracing him close until their foreheads touched.

" And the songbirds keep singing, like they know the score.

And I love you, I love you, I love you like never before..."

" To you, I'd give the world.

To you, I'll never be cold."

" Cuz I feel when that when I'm with you,

It's alright, I know it's alright."

Her eyes had opened up and stared deep back into Haru's eyes.

" And the songbirds keep singing, like they know the score.

And I love you, I love you, I love you."

" Like never before..

for you..."

The pair stood alone in the room, hand in hand, as Haru's face was flustered to a degree she had only seen when the two were physically intimate in bed or elsewhere. That she had kept such a talent unspoken about up until now only to reveal her hand in such a light made him feel like he just fell in love with her yet again. "You okay darling? Meowth got your tongue?" she teased, looking at him and kissing him lightly. As their lips pressed against each other, his hands clasped onto hers, and then parted lips after a short while. "I...I had no idea you could...sing. You had complimented my own ability to do that way back at that one party from long ago. Man, it feels like eons ago that it happened, but enough of that, holy shit, Nessa. You...your voice...it's..."

The Water Gym Leader leaned down briefly to put her ear to his chest where his heart was and was reaffirmed of his words by hearing the distinct increased rhythmic pounding in his chest. His heartrate had increased drastically, much to her delight. Straightening herself while still embracing him, her eyes narrow in the same way when she did modeling shoots; specifically the same expression in her rare League Card. "Hmm. I don't recall you ever asking me if I could sing."

"H-hey! Well how would I know to ask you?! Neither you nor your parents ever menti-mmmf!" The little outburst that Haru gave was shut up by Nessa cupping his cheeks with both hands and kissing him again. "Shush, you." She said in a low, soothing tone. He replied quickly, and weakly with a simple "O-okay." granting her a wide, satisfied smile. "Good boy~" Nessa says once again in the same tone before giving another peck on his lips. Sharing the silent moment for a bit long before going back to arranging their new home, the couple just stood there relishing in the swelling romance that was thick in the air. Though no music was playing, and they were only kissing slowly, both had begun to slow dance to nothing. If anything, the sounds of the new scenery near their new abode served as the soundtrack to the mood and both were its audience.

/Maybe...she really is.../ Haru's mind had wandered, if only briefly, in the middle of embracing his beloved. Nothing else mattered for now. Both had been going through so much together, but nights like these would be one of the most important and valuable memories Haru and Nessa would make. Even as the bedroom laid somewhat bare that night, the two simply cuddling together until they fell asleep gave them a rest unlike any that either had experienced in a long time.

Like the song said: 'it's alright, it's alright'.

- - - - - National Park, Johto - - - - -

- - - - - Earlier that evening... - - - - -

The Sports Ball fell to the ground below as Sam stood nearby, having thrown it to hopefully catch a Pokemon for the Bug Contest.

Wiggle.

Wiggle.

Wiggle.

'Click'.

The Sports Ball clicked shut and Sam sighed with relief. As the daily court hearings had been weighing on his mind, it meant staying vigilant. "Good! Hopefully this one will net me the win. Hmm?" Bringing out his PokeGear, it seemed that the mere capture of it meant a new addition to his PokeDex. All this time he had been exploring Johto and this would be one of the few he hadn't logged in for his personal records. Looking to his feathered friend who landed on his shoulders, he used a hand to pat it softly. "Good work, Pidgeot."

The National Park was one of the few spots in Johto that Sam enjoyed traveling to when he needed to have time to himself or to clear his mind. Watching several other trainers walk by who weren't competing for the contest, he gets flashes of memory from the days he started his own 'HeartGold' Challenge. Coming back here was almost like getting a home cooked meal served to you by a family member whom you hadn't seen in a long time. The taste alone transports one's mind to the days of yesteryear, making the longing for those times more painful and bittersweet.

He ended up not winning the contest, but in the end he wasn't taking it too seriously. His and his Pidgeot's attention were simultaneously brought together upon hearing a familiar voice call out. "Sam...!" Turning towards it, he was met with the visage of a familiar light blue haired woman wearing a cape. "Clair..! It's been so long." She walked towards him and embraced him fully. The last time they had met had been not long before he went on his trip to Galar to continue his investigation, and beforehand it was even longer. She was the cousin to Lance, the Dragon Master from Kanto, known for her own proficiency for the same type at her Gym.

Letting go from the hug and looking at him, her expression softened. "I had almost forgotten you were in the area, but it's nice to see you again. Been keeping up to date with everything that's happened lately and, well to say you have your plate full would not be a stretch of the truth." Sam's brow furrowed while giving a half smirk. "We've been digging at this for a good while now, and just running through all the charges has been a hellish procedure of the law. I have faith we'll finally be rid of him, though."

Deciding to exit the National Park together and hang out near the waters not far from Goldenrod City, the two decided to catch up. Sam would go on to tell her all the nitty gritty details that had yet to be brought up in the courtroom that he was able to share, and she updated him on how things were going in the region. She learned that the new Champ had been handling things well within their grasp, and sent their thanks to his way. "I know she was busy for the moment, but our Champ was all the same grateful to you and the others assembling together as one in the region next door. I can't imagine how intimidating it all was to battle so many Pokemon, to face down Giovanni on his headquarters in what many say will go down into the history books."

"After this is done, Clair, I'm going back to Galar." The fuzzy black haired ex-Champ stated, turning his face towards her. Claire lets out a small chuckle, somewhat getting the sense there was ultimately a good reason for it and as such, entertained asking him. "Let me guess, you're going back to make sure things there are fine even after things wrap up here? I know you from personal experience: you chase after the remnants of a case to make sure everything is definitively resolved. Whether it's helping to save some Slowpokes with cut tails, or chasing Team Rocket from here to Galar and back. Gold taught you well."

One deep breath later, the Johto ex-Champion shook his head. "No, that's not the reason why." He went silent and looked at some Magikarp and Seaking swimming in the waters below his feet, idly following them with his eyes. Claire turned a gloved hand to her lips and then turned to him. "It's a woman, isn't it?"

He wasn't eating or drinking anything but still ended up choking on spit, finding the way she made such a guess so casually throw him off his guard. The Dragon Pokemon specialist snickered at his reaction but waved a hand dismissively. "You don't have to say who, but it seems somewhat obvious." Looking over to Clair, Sam looked as if his feathers were ruffled and patted himself on the chest to clear his own self-inflicted congestion. "Clair, you know that when I became Champion, I had the wish to travel the other regions, right? So I did. I went to those places, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Kalos. Sure, that's not everywhere but I've stopped at Galar. Long-distance isn't the way to keep a relationship going, and I've done enough to toy with a woman's heartstrings."

He ended up laying down on his back and staring up into the night Johto skies, watching a Noctowl leap from a tree to swoop down at some prey it had found. The clear skies did nothing but simply open up a blank canvas of which he saw a woman appear in space. /Oleana../

Clair decided to lay down on her back with him; cape crumpling all the while. "It wasn't just this whole thing with Giovanni that got you to think this, was it?"

"Well, somewhat yes, somewhat no. You know how leading up to this we got the ex-Gym Challenger Syra involved, right? Well, I think back to all the lost time she said she wants to make up for with her Mom. She completely turned a new leaf, and is putting her all into making things right. Her and I are battling an enemy in the court room, and while her story is quite a different, no, darker one than my own, Team Rocket was still a part of it all the same." Sam would go on to explain as his eyes stayed dead center on a star he focused on in the void of space above him.

Letting those words sink in, the girl next to him sighed and continued to look at the stars with him. "You know if you do this, whatever happens you'll have my and all of Johto's support right?" Her face turned towards him. "You're putting Team Rocket away for good. That is something this region, and Kanto needed for a very long time. In my opinion? I think you deserve a bit of a reprieve, and if it means following your heart to be with someone then there's no way I could not support that at all."

"You know.." Sam began to say, halting his thought. The very next thing he had on his heart to say would hurt to say, but it was coming. Being patient, but all the more supportive, Clair asked. "What is it?"

"I'm...I'm going to miss this place." Sam said for the first time since being there in a way that carried a ping of sadness. Everything must eventually move on, and he had long since reached that point. But that was okay.

- - - - - Amiri's Home - - - - -

- - - - - Galar, Circhester - - - - -

It was weird coming home to a nice place for once where Syra didn't feel like she had eyes constantly poking in her direction. The whole act of being home with a loving parent and a sibling...it was so wholesome. She wasn't used to this quite yet, but she was adjusting. Amiri had been catching up with Syra over the years they were apart that weren't in any of the letters written to her, and with Gabriel by her side it was a lot easier for her to be 'grounded'.

The easy part of transitioning there was simply the move; bringing her things over from the old home to here. If not for these traits alone, it helped her mental fortitude that her Intelleon and Tyranitar had accustomed to the place as well. It was not only a slightly bigger home, but there was just a better 'air' about the place.

Syra found out that in the timetable away, Amiri had gone on to be a successful businesswoman who was working in one of the branches of the Pokemon League. While not in the same vein as those directly at Wyndon, she was able to at least say one thing as encouragement. 'If you become the Pokemon Champion of Galar, allow me to be your manager!'. That's what her mother said, and it gave her a confidence boost in her own future. Not only would she be able to be the best there ever would be, but she wouldn't have to be alone in doing so.

But for now, 'alone' is what Syra wished to be. It was getting late in the evening, and she had walked back into her bedroom, faceplanting the bedsheets after tossing her Championship Tournament hat to the side. Things had been stressful and she needed some form of...release. Her thoughts led her back to a weird mishmash of things. First flashed the imagery of Bea. Seeing her talk and being able to fight alongside her was something that made Syra blush. She turns over onto her back to relax: the bedsheets had nearly suffocated her breathing from the way she divebombed onto them.

"Damn..." she whispered to herself with no inner monologue to carry it. Staring up at the ceiling, her thoughts go elsewhere again. This time the mental image of Haru came up. How it was strange how in the time she began hating him then turned to what she was now equating as a 'stupid reactionary' move. Amiri had teased her on having a crush, and pissed off as she was in denying it, her memory of what she did to him was still vivid. The way his lips felt, how the height difference of the two of them would have made it so pitifully easy for her to overpower him if she wanted to do so. Those face expressions he made while retaining his dignity. It was so pathetically cute the way he struggled.

The whole thing pissed her off so damn much.

Yet the flashing of this caused her face to get flustered. Her nether-regions were starting to react. Deep down an instinctual need had to be met, and her thoughts started to run wild. The brain started to construct a 'what if' scenario of an alternate universe where the situation was similar but certain things were changed. Perhaps he wasn't with anyone...perhaps she wasn't such a bitch to him. She easily had begun to picture pushing him down onto the bed on the ship they used to transport back to Galar after locking the door and gyrating her hips dryly onto him. It didn't matter what he said, since she used her mouth to shut him up.

"FUCK!" Syra said out loud, getting increasingly pissed off at herself for even thinking these thoughts. Nothing was going to work if she merely let this stew in her brain, so the velvet haired girl went to her door, locked it from her side, then turned the lights off to imply she simply went to sleep. In the comfort of darkness, the imagination within her brain went completely haywire and as such was able to visualize everything far easier. Both Bea and Haru came to her mind, and it seemed in one way or another, Syra was going to try and decide what to do...even if one was 'off limits'.

The big busted trainer found herself tired, fatigued from the intensity of her little 'self care' and the revelatory thoughts that came from it. It felt good to clear her thoughts up and finalize what she truly had been hiding deep down. Tapping away on her phone, Syra would make a note within an alarm:

[- 10:15AM: Reminder to call Bea ]

She set it down on the drawer near her bed, sat up and would collapse once again while on her back on the mattress. /Well, either way I'm glad I got that out of my system. Now that 'the horny' has subsided I'm thinking more clearly. I wouldn't do Haru dirty like that, nor would I do that to Nessa...but fuck if it didn't at least feel good to imagine stuff for a bit. Bea, however...I hope that I didn't scare her when we last met, and I know I'm going through this case. My attention has been on that for a good bit, but maybe a bit of relaxation in between the court dates wouldn't be so bad. I told Haru I wouldn't bother doing much outside of getting to know my mom and re-acclimating to a decent life. For what it's worth, I'm happy./

Her head looks to the side where only slim peeks of the nightlife were visible from the curtains. /There's still a lot more left I should aim to do. But now I'm thinking much clearer. I hope it's not too much to ask a Gym Leader to hang out. Haru would know about that right? He went through the same process, so perhaps I should ask him for help. Af...ter...some...sleep...p../

As both her magenta colored eyes shut, the girl now nicknamed 'Miss Blue' by her fans passed out under the covers and dreamed of cute dates to have with one punchy girl that was named 'Bea'.

- - - - - Elsewhere in Hulbury - - - - -

- - - - - Haru and Nessa's Home - - - - -

- - - - - The next day, 8:00 AM - - - - -

Morning came once again with the loud screeching from some Cramorants nearby from outside, with Nessa slowly opening her eyes and rubbing them. Haru was passed out as her alarm started going off. "Haru, honey...it's morning." She shook him gently before laying her head on his bare shoulder. "mmgnn..." one of his eyes opens, looks around and back to Nessa before he chuckles. "You know...almost forgot I moved in to a new home for a second."

It was a day off so Nessa was not needed at the Water Gym to help with the maintenance or keep her Gym Trainers up to par, and figured another day or two completing the move-in process on her and Haru's home would suffice. While he had been spending more than plenty of time studying, taking a few days on the house was both of their priorities. Before she could respond to his quirky comment, his phone rang, which was on the side where she was at; reaching over to grab it she spots a name. "Haru, it's the Chairman."

"You answer it." he says passively while sitting up with a messy bed of red hair. "Why should I?" Nessa initially challenged him, but was met with a small peck on the lips from her love. He eyed her and gestured with a finger. "Cuz I'm going to make breakfast for both of us, how's that?". She huffed at him with her cheeks puffing up before answering. "Miss Chairman?"

The lady on the other end seemed taken back, but not by much. "Nessa? Good morning. I take it I didn't wake you?" Oleana would say, as Nessa idly started stretching with one arm before laying back down on the bed. For a split second she didn't see Haru leave and noticed that he was being goofy by exiting the bed in reverse like some Slakoth; noticing his bare ass and trying to swat at it herself. "No, I actually just woke up. I take it you needed to speak to Haru? He's..." she had to think of something. "...making breakfast in the kitchen currently but I can re-LAY~! the message."

As Nessa's voice pitched upwards she was met by a sudden, alien sensation that took her by surprise. Silently she looked in between her legs underneath the bedsheets and saw what seemed to be the top of Haru's head having spread her open. /o-Okay I...that bastard didn't...warn me..!/ "That's fair. I wanted to inform him that his issue with the Steel Gym has been resolved. To make a long story short, the person who was solely responsible for the problem has since stepped down."

Nessa bites her lip to stifle any oncoming sounds of pleasure to keep the conversation going, looking down under the bedsheets with an eye wincing. "That's so lovely..Miss Chairman...!"

"Quite. Though it pains me to say all this, they were a problem on other factors that I had found through investigating. They've been shown the door as of this morning, and I'll be making the calls so that Haru's Gym gets completed on time. Then again, I should-"

Oleana was interrupted by Nessa letting out a small yelp of pleasure, though from the phone's end it sounded like she did it in pain. "Ah! Sorry just...realized I was really stiff, popped a bone and it kinda hurt." the dark beauty lied, now aggressively holding Haru's face down with her fingers entangling in his hair; having to press the 'mute' tab on the call for a second to speak to him. "You didn't warn me, damn it!"

"Ah, makes sense with your regiment. Anyways, please inform Haru. I got some stuff to take care of for now. Be seeing you around, Nessa. Have a good one." The woman said, as Nessa responded in kind. "Yes, have a good day!". The second Nessa hung up she let out a loud moan as her toes curled up and shivered while implanting both hands down on Haru's head. As a minute passed by he got back up from under the covers and just smugly grinned, wiping his lips. "So. You were saying?"

Nessa was too exhausted, panting from how intense her 'surprise' she just received was, and shook her head. As her cheeks were flushed, she had to wipe the sweat from her brow and dismissed her original thought. "Oh nevermind, darling. But thank you for...that. Let's both get some morning grub though, yes? Besides, now I get to tell you good news that the Chairman passed on to me."

Popping a thumb out of his mouth, he looked back with a quizzical expression. "Is that so...?"

- - - - - Kitchen - - - - -

"You hear that, Mirukon?! The Gym is back!" exclaimed the now fully energized upcoming Steel Gym Leader. Throwing a fist outwards while Nessa had her hair up in a bun, she spotted the Lucario nodding in understanding. "He seems tired, hon. Maybe he's not as awake as we both are?" she suggested.

At the level of understanding Haru was at now, he could start to pinpoint what was going on with Mirukon just by looking at him. Putting a hand under the snout and looking closer, he combed a hand through the smooth top of its head and eyed Mirukon from the side. "You having insomnia, bud? What's keeping you awake? Surely it's not the egg. It hasn't hatched yet." As the Lucario nodded in affirmation, Haru only got the idea that it wasn't the egg but that the first part of his question was correct. "Well, perhaps it's just the anxiety of a new location. You were like that with the other place, too. Hmm."

After cracking a few eggs and starting to cook them, Haru had his PokeDex on hand and looked over the stats of his Lucario to see if he had perhaps missed anything. All the stats read normal. No condition out of the ordinary. Turning his head back to the Pokemon as Haru began to stir in some ingredients for an omelet, he spoke up over the sounds of his active kitchen. "Mirukon, just take the day off bud. Go relax with Masako and the others. Don't worry about Nessa and I unpacking the other stuff we have or helping me shop."

The bipedal fighting and steel Pokemon seemed to regret feeling this way, showcasing with a fist pump it would be fine but then looked woozy. Nessa helped him sit to relax. "Yeah yeah that's what we thought buddy. Look, it's fine. Her and I have to get some paints, frames for pictures, and set up our home network. May even be able to find some nice carpets. You, on the other hand." Haru pointed a spatula in Mirukon's direction. "Rest up. Be an egg daddy."

While leaving Mirukon's side, Nessa got up with the intention to get herself a refill on her orange juice and just side-eyed him from the comment. "Egg daddy? Why not just 'dad' or 'father', Haru?"

Putting some extra peppers his mom gave him on top of the omelet, Haru points his spatula in Nessa's direction while looking at her. "Well...it's not hatched yet. He's not a dad yet. Not fully. See like..."

Mirukon looked at him with a face that showed genuine confusion along with Nessa, who had tilted her head. "...uhh..." she sounded confused, but was also just trying to get his point. As such, his face flushed red and he began to finish his breakfast omelet before plating their food, huffing a bit. "L-look it sounded better in my head! Don't question it!"

As she laughed at his sudden backdown from the comment and sat down with him. On the sole couch that was in the adjacent room, the Lucario had laid down and already went well on its way to getting extra hours in of sleep. A curious Nora had finally joined up with the two, noticing the sleeping Mirukon and joined up along his side. While the Gym Leader couple would go on to discuss their plans for the day, someone else had already made up their mind.

- - - - - Stow-On-Side - - - - -

- - - - - Outdoor Shops - - - - -

"Thanks, Bea! Glad you came by, come again!"

"Thanks for always making sure you bake these fresh for me. I appreciate it. Have a good one!" said the dojo leader of the Fighting Gym in Stow-on-Side, Bea. Known for her intense levels of focus, little show of emotion, physical skills in martial arts, and not much else, she liked to keep it downplayed of her love of sweets. Looking both ways, it appeared the coast was clear of large crowds. Stepping back outside, hugging the bag she bought for herself, and having a fellow Machoke guard her, Bea took another bite. /Fresh baked donuts are the best. So glad it's a cheat day for me!/

The Machoke made sure to shadow her from others so that it would be a bit harder for fans, paparazzi and others to bug her; being experienced in having to look out for her. "Hey, I'm sorry I called you out for this, but I'm thankful all the same." She said putting a hand on its back swollen with blue muscle. The bipedal Pokemon turned to her and flashed a big grin and thumbs up.

"Choke!" it says. The connection she shared with all her fighting Pokemon was as deep as any human she knew, possibly like her own family, so direct translation wasn't needed. He knew that she knew he had the same goal in mind. "I was thinking today that we see how some of the others are doing. Being holed up in the dojo, my bones are a little sore. We could use-hmm?" Her thoughts had become distracted at the distinct sound of her phone going off. Reaching into her waist pocket, she took out the phone with a number going off. Unsure of who this was, she answered with a slight hesitance to her voice.

"Hello...? Bea speaking."

"Bea...! Oh gods I wasn't sure you'd a-actually answer." came a voice on the other side, with Bea's eyes widening. She recognized that voice immediately and stopped in her tracks.

"Syra?"

Syra was heard whimpering a bit away from the receiver and came back to the phone. "Y-yes. It's been awhile. I wanted to talk to you well after the Pokemon League Tournament was over but stuff happened. For a bit I wasn't sure if you'd even answer, after hearing about everything I did. Knowing that I was lying to you and other people's faces must make you think different of me.."

Syra was currently outside of her mom's house watching the skies while her Pokemon relaxed in the sun; the belly of a Tyranitar seen expanding and retracting as it slept. Wearing a punk vest, her usual champion hat, black leggings and boots, Syra was leaning back in a lawn chair rolling a Great Ball in her hand nervously. Bea spoke up in response to what Syra said. "Actually, at first all that was going through my mind was that I wanted to know more from your side of the story. Hearing as much as I did through the reports ended up making things sound muddled. What I know personally was the Syra that ended up defeating me in a Gym battle, and that I was able to fend off those assaulters awhile back."

Bea would turn and find a few steps to sit on before continuing, laying the bag of sweet goodies in between her feet. "I don't think you're a bad person, Syra. If anything, I'd like to get to know you better."

Syra's face turned red and her hat's cap slipped down to cover her eyes. "Are you serious? But why? You have such a strict reputation to uphold. Aren't you worried that hanging out with someone like me would..."

"Would what?" Bea said, challenging the notion outright.

"...would be a problem for you? Like, I get it, honestly. The way I worded things last time must have made it awkward, and now that you know all that you do about me I would understand if you needed to keep your distance." Syra's usual confidant stride in her voice wasn't there, recalling the last thing she said when they had previously seen each other.

/"I.. .i..i...wanted..to know if you..you'd like to go out with me some time when this is over."

Bea blinked a little. "Huh?" as if not sure she heard Syra correctly. The black haired girl shook her head and started running. "Nevermind! I uh...we need to get to the stadium!"./

The thought had caught up to Bea on where Syra was going with this.

/Is this the first time she has tried talking to others like this? She sounds spooked. I wonder if it could be that she is struggling to socialize. I shouldn't make this any harder on her./ Bea had briefly thought to herself as Syra recalled her past. Sighing, but tilting her head up to look to the side with her phone up to her ear, Bea responded confidently. "You're not a problem to me. Whatever the past contained is in the past. Tell you what: you wanna go out with me right? It's a cheat day, buuuu~ut if you like I can show you around my dojo."

Syra felt her awkwardness come up. Truly, just trying to talk like a normal human being to anyone outside of family, Haru and Nessa was rough but she felt she was improving. "Y-eah? Okay. Uhm. I'll be there as soon as possible. Is that fine?"

"Just make sure you bring some gloves. I don't want to hurt you too badly on our first hangout." Bea said in her usual neutral-faced manner, to which the reply came "Won't need 'em. But thanks for the warning! See you there!" as Syra exclaimed, and hung up.

click

click

Syra stood up, put the phone in her breast-pocket of the vest and slapped both her cheeks to knock out the anxiety building up. It worked for only a small minute before a smile spread across her face. "Right! I may only have a small sliver of time to myself, but I'm glad I got that out of the way. Now..."

Her face faltered, realizing how nervous she may become being alone with Bea. /Fuck, is this what Haru felt like once he realized he had a crush on Nessa? No matter. I'm just going to hang out with her. Girl day. Girls do that often, right? This isn't out of the ordinary.../

At that same time, Bea had stood up from the stairs and handed the bag of donuts to the Machoke next to her. Grabbing one and munching on it in one hand, she tapped on the step with her feet before jogging upwards to the Gym. As the Pokemon followed, Bea had a small smirk spread on her face. It would be fun to have someone who could possibly tank hits like herself to come by.

- - - 1 hour later - - -

Dropping off her own personal bag of donuts in the office, Bea then walked back outside waiting for Syra to show up. It was starting to turn to the middle of the afternoon according to the clock on her phone. "I know she didn't get lost..." the silver haired girl said, looking at the Machoke that was standing next to her; both her and the Pokemon having their arms crossed. Staring with little blinking between them, a figure finally appeared off in the distance at the bottom of the stairs. Running up at full speed, Syra was seen leaping several steps in bountiful jumps before stopping not far from where Bea stood. A single bead of sweat forms on Bea's forehead. /Did she...run all the way here?/

The long, velvet hair girl was hugging her knees while bent over, panting in deep breaths. She held up one hand as if to say 'Give me a moment' while trying to catch her breath. Syra took off her hat, standing up and fanned herself for a moment. "i...ran...all...the way...here..." she was gasping in between words. "Do you need some water...?" Bea asked, a little nervous from the extent that Syra was going just to meet up. The girl shook her head back in retaliation and before long finally caught her breath. "The Corviknight Air Taxi was already in use when I stepped outside, so I ran here from Circhester."

A wave of shock hit the fighter girl's face and Bea stepped forward. "Syra! Honestly, why would you do such a thing?! What is wrong with you?"

Syra almost gave a smug, self-deprecating look upon hearing that and eyed her from the side. "Where do you want me to begin?" This didn't make Bea laugh, but only frown upon hearing it. Not knowing that Syra would throw herself under the bus at a simple comment, she bowed briefly. "I apologize. The wording on that was really poor on my end." Shaking her head and finally catching the breath she had expended in order to get to the Gym, Syra placed her own hands together. "Regardless of that: I know we are about to hang out of course but I have a request! I-I'd like to have a go one-on-one with you!"

Both the Machoke standing to her side and Bea look at each other, with the bead of sweat returning twice fold. "Did you really only come here just to do that? Is that all you wanted?" Looking Syra over, the neutral faced Gym Leader put a hand on her hip. "You don't have your Pokemon with you, what were you going to attempt this one-on-one with then?"

Now meeting Bea's gaze with her own eyes, the ex-Gym-Challenger held up a fist in place and grinned. "Fisticuffs. One-on-one. That's what I mean." she said confidently. Thinking about it, Bea had no idea how to respond. It wasn't too commonplace to have other fighters come up to try and challenge her at one of the things she took pride in, but with her, it would certainly prove difficult. Turning away as if to walk inside and then holding up a hand to wave, Syra sees the rock-ab fighter turn back with her eyes meeting once again and say "Try to keep up."

Eyes beaming back with renewed vigor, the woman named Syra felt her heart leap out of her chest and smiled wide. "Got it! Don't hold back either!"

- - - - - Inside the Gym - - - - -

- - - - - Bea's Personal Dojo - - - - -

Considering this was one of the Gyms that shared two Gym Leaders it would have its interior split up amongst who had managed. As one part of the inside would have Allister's staff primarily function while the other was for Bea, both would have free reign in general if they had challengers for the day. As such, while Allister has his own personal area, Bea requested to have a dojo made for herself.

Looking not too different from a traditional house of martial arts that would fit right in at Johto, Bea stood there with her arms still guarded up. Syra had tossed the vest aside upon them coming inside, and had her own fists up to her face. It felt like it was a perfectly balanced clash between the two for a bit: Syra having been obviously a faster hitter, but with the expert level of technique that Bea retained she was never truly able to get much of a hit in.

"Your arms are starting to bruise." Bea said coldly, still focused.

Lifting up a forearm to wipe her forehead, Syra rolls her neck to try and rid herself of the tension. "Tch. These are nothing."

"Your form is open!" Bea once again shouted, before seemingly teleporting mere inches away from Syra. The sweets-loving fighter flashed in front of her stomach with a right fist being aimed to her gut. Avoiding the strike narrowly with a sidestep, Syra barely grazes the fist. It was a feint; an elbow piercing the side of Syra's stance causes her to get knocked back. It hits, causing Syra a microsecond of reaction time to wince in pain as Bea struck once again. Bea twisted her body as her foot swept the floor and tripped Syra's balance. She hit the ground with a loud thud, and Bea went in for the 'kill strike' with a down balled fist as if to leave the match on a checkmate. It was fast, but not fast enough as Syra rolled away and got back up on her feet while Bea's fist stopped a mere inch from the floor.

The face that was reflected back to Syra was a level of focus the likes which reflected similarly from the Pokemon battles. Cold. Calculating. Focused. Neutral. Strong.

Syra would close the distance, throwing fists one after another to try and get Bea distracted. Tossing what she could using mid and low strikes seemed to keep her attention, but even the occasional overhead fist was easily dodged by the expert. Every single strike was parried as the Femme Fatale of Fisticuffs would then use the kinetic movement of an uppercut to throw Syra to the side. Tossing the raven haired girl with a front flip, Bea stood with her fists by her side.

Readjusting the bow in her hair, Bea looked down at the girl who was writhing on the floor from the attack. "Still too slow. AGAIN."

Syra groaned as she got up slowly. "You're really fucking fast..." As the two moved to face each other again, Syra dusted herself off before assuming her stance. Exhaling and putting up her fists to her face once again, Syra now tried to come up with something else different. /Any attack and counter attack I throw her direction she's able to throw me completely off. Even as fast as I am throwing things to her, she's ricocheting my energy back to me. The way she's able to keep her motion going with the control of her center of gravity is insane...maybe I can try and lead her on something./ Leaping at Bea with a drop kick and missing, Bea throws another fist while Syra landed. Both of their fists met. Both girls throw a standing roundhouse kick, and the second the impact meets, Bea goes on the rebound by tripping the other foot.

Her foundation for the ground broken, Syra could not see the approach coming and falls on her back. She is immediately met with Bea holding a fist in front of her face. Both girls panting, and Syra laying there, the Gym Leader spoke. "You're pretty good at countering, but you can't think far enough...which may be your issue. No thinking!"

She had reached her peak, and let her head lay on the floor. "Ok...okay you got me. I yield."

Bea's hand opens up as Syra holds it while she is pulled up easily. For a small girl it appeared Bea had so much muscle she wasn't normally flexing. It made sense in the grand scheme of things that not many would notice the 'finer details' of Bea's figure. She was viewed upon many thousands upon thousands of fans in a large stadium, and only seen in close by her League Card and rarely outside as she kept to herself. This small girl who was known as an expert in Fighting Pokemon had refined lean muscles and abs almost begging to be shown off.

"Can I ask you something, Bea?" Syra asked, removing her hat and moving her wrists around as if to combat the muscle tension built up from the fight.

Unwavering from her usual neutral state, Bea responded. "Yes? Go ahead."

The loser of the match seemed confused. "You're such a talented fighter. I'd say moreso than a Gym Leader. NO offense of course!"

"None taken." Bea had winced upon hearing those words.

"Having gone toe to toe with you right now however, you're very talented. Extremely talented. You worked through blood, sweat, tears, and possibly torn ligaments and muscle to get that body and level of focus that you have, so why stick to just being a Pokemon Gym Leader?" Syra would ask in the most honest way she could. This would be the first time that Bea was asked such a question from anyone who had personal experience with 'the real her' behind the veil of the Pokemon League. It felt nice to chew the scenery, so Bea would gesture with a handwave to follow her.

Walking down from the private training room to one that would be considered Bea's break room, Syra was met with several vending machines that contained candies, one that made ready-to-eat lunches, drinks, and multiple scrolls that Bea had collected over the years. Instead of having a traditional seating area, however, there were tatami mats with small cushions for people to relax. Bea finds one to sit at while Syra follows, putting her hat on her lap. "It's not so much that I chose not to become a Gym Leader, but I enjoy it. A lot of my time is spent on making sure that I focus all I can in order to become the best possible. There's no pointing in facing a weak opponent, so even as I am at the 4th stage for the Sword challenge, I make sure I attack as intensely as I can. Still, there's no other place for me than here."

"Right, but...why not forego that to become a Gym Challenger? I can feel that burning spirit within you Bea. You have a fire within you, just like me!" Syra raised a fist trying to come off positive, but Bea just kept the same neutral glance as her eyes looked to the floor.

"The opportunity never came." Bea said the statement so matter-of-factly that it was a little worrying. For a second, she saw Syra dig into the back of her head by the way her eyes rolled to the side. A level of understanding washed around the girl's face when she recalled Bea's League Card.

Raising a finger, Syra looked at Bea. "Of what little I know your upbringing has been suggested that you had a possible strict childhood. They even wrote the wording 'special attention by her parents'."

She was met with silence by Bea, who only looked away.

It was strange, and no doubt a much different circumstance, but it appeared Syra had found something in common the two girls shared. "I see. At the very least you weren't, you know. I guess it only makes sense how we two ended up the way we are, right?"

It was a weak attempt at finding a silver lining, but it did not go unfounded. Bea relaxed and looked back at Syra with a bit more of a calm demeanor. "People began spreading rumors about you as soon as the news broke out. They haven't stopped since your court case began but I'll be the one to tell you that those like Haru, Nessa, myself, and the other Gym Leaders, have been doing our best to shut down any such slander."

"Why? You don't owe me anything." Syra shrugged and just laughed weakly, looking back. "If anything I owe you a lot. You went and saved me that day. If it weren't for you, things would have been a lot worse. I don't even know if I would have had a chance to have any sort of comeback."

The tiniest creak of her neutral face turning into something else, Bea's left eyebrow had raised inquisitively. "You know, I don't know what it is about you, but there's something about you that makes me feel so relaxed to be speaking about all this."

Bea got up from her spot, walked over and sat next to Syra. Syra's face immediately turned red and found herself unable to speak as properly as before. "R-really? Look, all that I know is...I have trouble being able to properly go about vocalizing myself to others. Haru is actually the first person I've really had a conversation with at great lengths outside of my family, and even with him I had hated him at the start. You of course know why." Turning to her side, Syra looked back at the stonefaced fighter girl and sighed. "If anything, I'm the one who kind of feels relaxed around you. By quite a large gap, too. What I'm unable to say with my words, I expressed physically you know? Like...the cool way we just coordinated together during that one fight."

"Hmmm~" Bea put a thumb to her chin, recalling the memory. "You were able to hone in on my instincts and what was necessary at the time to make sure our attacks wouldn't collide with each other. I don't have that sort of ethereal connection with others outside of my training partners." Pulling some of her silver hair aside, Bea looked up at Syra again. "Machop, Machoke, and Machamp are the ones I train with often, and we share a connection. Anyone else I've had around that tries to take me on tends to go down in a few hits!"

Her quote was challenged by Syra immediately. "Only a few hits, huh?"

Both hands of Bea's went to her side as if remembering her disappointing past bouts with other challengers. "Okay, okay. Sometimes it's ONE hit."

"Hmm. Bea the One-Punch-Girl from Stow-On-Side, huh? Surprised that's not a nickname of yours that has spread around to your fanbase. But you know, I think you're a bit of an anomaly in other aspects." Beginning to relax a little more around such a strong person, Syra looked back with a smile. "For one thing, you're probably one of the prettiest fighters I've personally seen, and prior to looking at the Galar Gym Challenge I took note of others around in other regions. I personally say nobody compares!"

Throwing a thumbs up to her own chest, Syra nodded a few times like she were declaring it as law. "What does my physical attraction have to do with it?"

/Oh shit..!/ Syra thought to herself, her face went red once again. "No-no it's...I'm just saying you're kinda like a great combination of beauty AND strength! For guy's it's so easy to work out and be seen as a smart-..er..maybe that's not right."

Bea sank her head a little and narrowed her eyes. It appeared Syra was losing her. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

It was time to stop playing around. "Either way it doesn't matter. You're very beautiful to my eyes. The way you speak with your actions and not necessarily through words; utilizing the heart of battle itself is sexy! Not that it isn't if it's by anyone else, but you're one of the best out there! You're unmatched!" Syra blurted out all together without feeling any regret.

"Uhm...t...thank you." Bea's strong outside had been slightly chipped away by the way Syra spoke so bluntly about her that it caused a tiny streak of pink to appear on her cheeks. Even as she still held a neutral expression, it was something new to behold. "I...everything I said before about how you're so easy to talk to, and how I feel, it's because I think very highly of you over everyone else. I don't know. Maybe it's just me feeling confused cuz of what I've been through, maybe it was when we were last together or some other thing but..."

Syra had been stumbling over her words and looked towards Bea once again, as the two started to stare at each other. "Syra are...you okay?"

For a second, Syra hid her face with her cap, confusing Bea only further before she put the hat back on her head once again. "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this."

"Take your time. Here, I have a method I told Haru about on reaching his own inner peace. It's basic meditation. Perhaps you need this as well." Bea had turned to face Syra completely, now assuming the same zen-like sitting posture as before with Haru when he was readying for the Pokemon League Championship Tournament.

Not trying to interrupt things anymore, Syra just quietly nodded and took on the Gym Leader's advice and tried to assume the same position. Her knees hurt from the physicality of the match earlier, but she could assume the same posture all the same. Both began to close their eyes and breathe in sync.

Speaking in monotone to set the new mood, Bea did her best to guide her makeshift 'student'. "Clear your consciousness. Let everything go, and become one with the Earth beneath you."

"Let everyth-" Syra would begin to speak before Bea hushed her. She was serious. The two girls sat there in silence, and another hour passed by as if it were nothing. Uncertainty was the keyword Syra would use to describe whether she was able to truly reach a 'zen' at this one time, but she was far calmer as a result of what Bea had suggested.

A thought crept into her mind. While the two were still sitting there together in their silent ascension into a much more peaceful state, Syra opened her eyes and looked across at the girl who was most likely already a master of reaching her own mental peak. The feelings she had inside just looking at her and being around Bea were swelling, and even though it may not have been right for the moment something nagged at her.

Bea's eyes slowly opened. "Syra, have you-?" Her eyes widened as she saw Syra's face was only a single inch away from her own and the two girls' lips pressed against each other. Due to her being caught off guard, Bea could only sit there frozen as she felt another girl's lips pressed against hers. As uncertain as this sensation made her, no fight-or-flight shot within her veins. She simply sat there while the other named Syra had seemingly now let it be known in a physical sense what her feelings were in truth. Bea instead had relaxed and opened her mouth slightly more as Syra pressed her lips against her. One hand started to caress one of Bea's cheeks as only the sounds of both letting out a small whimper was heard.

Syra broke off, staring back at Bea, who finally had a full face of blush pink/red across her face and a new line of saliva between the two of them. Syra gently pushed away from Bea and stood up. "GAH! Fuck! I'm sorry!"

"...eh?" Was all Bea could say in her own confusion, doing a double-take and blinking.

Syra's face was flush with the same flustered expression Bea held, but had shame and some tears budding on one of her eyes. "No, like...gah! I did that too soon! I screwed it up! But you were so peaceful and cute looking and and...and...and...I've said and done too much!" Syra ran to where she put her jacket and ran off. "I'm so sorry Bea!"

All Bea could do was sit there watching the back of the raven haired girl run off, seemingly in fear of any negative blowback. Her heart was beating faster as new thoughts had begun to swarm her mind. Things such as 'What just happened' were the most common, but the second most common was whether or not she was actually 'like that'. The two of them were both female, but for some reason doing such a thing left Bea completely breathless. No ill will towards the fleeing 'Miss Blue' was felt, but new feelings were coming forth.

/I don't understand. That was so nice, and so soft. Gentle./ Bea had began to feel a new heat from her forehead that was hotter than any of the sweat she had from the fight.

- - - - - - Hammerlocke, near the Pokemon Center - - - - -

/Damn it, damn it damn it! DAMN IT Syra, you just HAD to go and make a move like that and ruin everything! You ruined everything!/ The girl ran through the streets of Hammerlocke, avoiding all eye contact with anyone that may have recognized her; fan or paparazzi. She got towards the city's entrance where the familiar dragon head stairway led to The Wild Area and collapsed on the top of the stairs with her face in her hands.

As her hair covered her face while staring at the ground, both hands went to her face to suppress the tears from anxiety and self rejection. /I fucking blew it. I could have worked my way to maybe going out with a cute girl, and one of the biggest hardasses of Galar, and I blew it by kissing her like that! What was I thinking?! GAH! I wasn't thinking, thats what!/

A voice came that wasn't Bea from behind her. "Syra?"

"YIAH!" Syra yelped and looked behind her. It was Haru, with Nessa by his side both carrying some large bags from what appeared to be errands they were doing. She didn't have time to look away when they met glances, as Haru spotted the tears immediately.

"Hey, are you okay...?" He took a step forward.

Syra balled up a fist, fighting an urge to tell him to piss off before sighing and just hugging her knees and looking at the stairs again.

"Noo~o..." she replied weakly.

Nessa took a step forward on the other side. Putting down one of the bags herself and squatting so she was closer to eye level with the girl, she asked "Would you like to vent in peace? You could use somewhere to get it out of your system..."

- - - - - Haru and Nessa's Home - - - - -

Tilting back a large can of 'Red's Wicked Razzbery', Syra let out a long satisfied 'ah~', finished with a giggle at the end. Haru is sitting at the dinner table at his home while Syra sat on the end of the table. They ended up sharing some of the drinks they brought back from their day of errands. Having cooked some home-made meals for themselves and their 'plus one', Syra was in a giggly mood. Haru looked over to her side where she had already downed one can entirely of what they brought back home and sighed.

"You know if you wanted some advice on how to talk to women or whatever you could have asked me, honestly. I didn't exactly have the most finesse' way of going about things but it worked on Nessa you know." He said, looking over to Nessa across from the table who smirked back.

The Raging Wave smiled and pursed her lips together. "At least you didn't pass out immediately from your first kiss like Haru did here."

"Hey!" Haru's face turned red with blush, with Syra joining Nessa in laughing. "hahahahahahah ohhhh Haru that's so ffffzzucking funny. You passed out?"

"What happened was that him and I had a private battle at my Gym and instead of accepting any prize money from the fight I just kissed him. He passed out for only one minute of course, but it was cute. The rest is history of course, but that was an adorable first impression of how he would react towards me." Grinning from ear to ear and satisfied with having another lady friend to, at the very least, talk about such a subject made Nessa a little more relaxed to have Syra around.

Scratching the back of his head, Haru tried to turn the conversation around back in favor. "To be fair, I was surprised, and we all know how much by now how much I crushed on her. Not that anything has changed."

Nessa simply blew a kiss in Haru's direction and smirked. "Nnnn~ope."

Syra's constant smile could not waver even if anyone had tried to do so, and tilted back another sip. The taste of alcoholic razzberry by the company on the can was seemingly just the right thing she felt she needed to relax. "You put up such a good frr-urp-front that I had no idea you were that weak to her! I didn't figure you would be the only Steel Type weak to a Water Type! hahahahahaha."

"You know I try. Still, Nessa's at least weak to good vocals."

"Oh, you sing, Haru?" Syra asked, looking at him with one of her eyes half open. He nodded, but looked to Nessa, who was looking back at him with a cute smile. "But, it's only with her. No other audience is currently allowed."

"Awwwwwwwww stingy! Well that's still one more thing than I got...~!" Syra looked down at the can and sighed. "All I know how to do is be a good Pokemon trainer, maybe be a good sister, and fight with my hands and feet. I don't really have anything else going for me."

"That's not true!" Haru began to say before Syra started swatting at him lazily with an empty hand. She eyed him with the can still being held in her hand and pointed. "Oh yeah? Name something else about me then NOT relating to the things I pointed out."

Before Haru spoke up anything, Nessa was the one to chime in. "Your ability to seek out most of the Pokemon here by yourself was, stolen or not, a task in of itself. Most trainers have to rely on word-of-mouth, coordination with teams, or promotional events held here in Galar in order to help fill their Pokedex. But you? You have an innate ability to feel Pokemon out. Whether you consider that a part of you as a trainer or not is up to you, but that level of foresight is rarely seen."

Grumbling to herself, Syra's guard was down and took the full brunt of the compliment Nessa gave before taking another sip of her can; finishing it. "Thank you."

Smiling widely, Haru gave a thumbs up. "I think your loyalty to your Pokemon also rippled across your growing fanbase more than you think, as well. Stuff like that means to everyone else."

Stretching out both arms and then planting her cheek to lay on one of her arms, Syra looked at both of her hosts sideways. "...still. I did all that and now Bea will be afraid of me. I did something rude, crass. That's all I'm capable of doing when I express myself to others. I should have just waited it out, but I let my emotions get the better of me."

Try as they might to dress it up in any other way, Syra was at the very minimum, correct. Feeling sorry for the way how Syra's self rejection had played out, and how her fear had such a stronghold on her, Nessa patted her on the shoulder. "I can't promise you that what Bea will do after this will be something you'd like, but I can say that she doesn't think poorly of you okay? So tomorrow no matter what happens, do your best to wear a proud smile, okay?"

Syra sniffed, tearing up again. "Nessaaaaaa you're so niceeee..."

The rest of the evening was spent hearing Syra vent her frustrations in her drunken stupor before calling her a personal cab home and informing Amiri that Syra was arriving in an inebriated state. Frustrated as the woman was to hear her daughter was arriving home in a less than prime condition, she understood all the same what led to it.

Elsewhere, Bea was undoing her combat wrappings that she wore underneath her Fighting Gym uniform and dressing down into casual clothing with the intent to go home for the evening. After getting into her sandals and heading outside, she called for an Air Taxi.

Standing outside and watching as the large steel-bird type land, she waved down a cabbie and got inside. Closing the door and looking out at the horizon while rising upwards into the sky, Bea was alone in her thoughts.

/I don't know why she ran away...was I really putting on such a scary face? That is something others say when I'm at my matches../

She sees the nightlights of the other cities in Galar from far away, and looks down at her phone. The only person who called her earlier was Syra, and while she doesn't get many calls as it was, it was nice. Perhaps the confusion and sudden nature of the situation put her into such an expression that it alone made Syra reject anything before she could speak. There may have been more deep down than what even she knew of the girl. Bea was not filled with shame from the kiss, but she felt bad at the flashback of watching Syra run away.

/I should contact her, and tell her that I'm okay. I don't know what exactly had occurred, but whatever it was, I didn't NOT like it. Thinking back to it kind of../

She had mentally pictured back to the few times they hung out together, that day included, and smiled for the first time in awhile due to another person.

/It was really nice../

Bea dialed onto her phone when the Air Taxi reached the apex of its height during travel and got a voicemail message from Syra's phone. It was unavoidable, but decided upon leaving a message being the right choice. Her thoughts weren't so clouded that she couldn't figure out what to say, and let her words speak for her for once.

"Hey Syra, it's me, Bea..."

- - - - - END CHAPTER 17 - - - - -