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.

27. Chapter 27

Chapter 26: Out of the Red...Part 1

- - - - A few days before the Fighting Gym Incident - - - - -
- - - - - ? - - - - -

Throughout the hallways of grime and rust, populated with the air of unfavorable villains and wickedness across the lands, Syra walked in silence. Guarded by a lone officer that was assigned to her person, they came to a cell. Number B16 appeared with a grossly dark green tint, and with only a slot for shoulder-height viewing to see the prisoner within, and one for either handcuffing the prisoner to move them, or hand them food. The cell guard looks to Syra. "You've 5 minutes, ma'am. I'll be at the other end of the hallway to escort you out should you come before that time is up." he says, turning to her with a bow as Syra exhaled slowly. Inside the cell she could sense the irritation coming from within, and swallowed to regain her composure. Lightly tapping on her cheeks and shaking her head from side to side, she leaned forward for the voice to reach through.

"They told me that they were moving you to another, more isolated facility. Maybe that will give you plenty of time to reflect."

Inside the cell a man was seen in the corner with one leg up on the bed and having an arm rest on it; a small grin coming to him as his eyes closed. "They should have put you in here with me...Syra." Came the voice of the once great leader of the evil organization known as Team Rocket, Giovanni.

She kept her eyebrows furrowed intensely. Despite him being behind a jailcell, she did not want to admit that a part of her was still somewhat scared of him. After all, he did point a gun to her head during the operation that ended up with his headquarters taken over. "Seems that self-reflection is beyond even you, huh? I hope I never get to that state when I'm old."

"Feh. Spare me your eagerness to show how limited your worldview is, child. There's no convincing me that you've suddenly turned a new leaf for good. You were one of the better agents on the field; helped us rocket to a greater technological heights for Pokemonkind...and man." he sighed, chuckling to himself in bemusement.

Turning to lean against the jailcell with her head leaned forward to peer in, Syra bit her lip. "Your team has been exhausted, captured, and resources stripped. Even when you had all the power added to Mewtwo, you fell down just like all the other villain groups in other regions. Just as Red and Gold did, Haru, Sam and I beat you fair and square." Syra huffed while her teeth grit. "If you'll excuse me the confusion, I don't understand how you can still talk like you own me. It's not like I chose to keep my uniform for a cosplay shoot or anything."

Giovanni shot straight up to his feet confidently. "Own you? Oh, but I do, dear girl: even in here. Look at us..." his left arm relaxing while his right hand rested within the pants pocket of his cell uniform. "The part of you that feels responsible for putting me behind these bars equally knows that for all this self sacrificial heroism, your change is only performative: a skin-deep performance for the whole of Galar to buy hook, line, and sinker."

Syra said nothing and just stared hard at him. That alone seemed enough to satiate his ego, as Giovanni huffed. "Those eyes of yours...they are the same ones that glared at me when you took over my headquarters in the underground. Such fire behind them. You walked into my office and had me dance for you, and like an oaf, I went along. Did you come because you feel pity for the one who held you into subservience? Hmm, no, perhaps that's not it."

"You get real fucking boring when you're preachy, you know that?" Syra said, sounding annoyed.

The older man laughed. "It's a shame that this means you were only going to waste everything you did for me just to rally behind Oleana."

Syra snapped her fingers in a 'Gotcha, okay' sort of gesture and pointed to him. "Man. That's a lot of words just to say 'Man I'm a dumbass'. You almost made me forget why I came: I was going to simply say 'Goodbye and thanks for the fish'. Heck, coming here just inspired me!" She grows a cheeky smile. "Tell you what: when I become Champion, I'll send you a bar of soap. Maybe a fellow cellmate in that new place will help clean out that coconut shell you call a skull. Arceus knows I wish I could end you myself, but my little brother, and family would never see me the same way if I took that step and crossed the line." Her eyes narrow and for a moment she thought back to Haru, a man who was once the hero of Galar, having be brought to his breaking point and nearly cross the line himself. If she had the strength to tell him never to cross it, then she could keep putting aside her past self, as well. "If Giratina and Arceus weren't looking over my soul, not even this cell could keep me from ripping into you."

She tapped on the cell as if to bid farewell, and stepped away.

His voice came bellowing back. "Do not think that just because you turned me in that the citizens have forgotten, Syra."

Syra froze in her tracks and turned back to face the cell, feeling a bead of sweat on her forehead. As if sensing the hesitation, Giovanni chuckled. "The second you step out of line again they will come for you like they did to your friend. The only reason you speak so highly now is because they have yet to find a reason to micro analyze your weaknesses...much like how we did to Pokemon. But did we judge each other within Team Rocket? I kept my staff in line, but judge? No. People of small minds do that every day, every hour, every minute, and every second. Do you think yourself any more virtuous than the one hero who nearly put a few criminals into the soil of the Earth?"

Clenching her fist, Syra stood there in silence as self doubt crept in. /One of them must have spoken to Giovanni and told him what Haru did.../ she thought.

"One day your luck will run out, and so too will your new 'family'."

Inside her head, Syra decided it was best not to say anything back to him as she walked to the security guard, nodded, and was escorted out. Giovanni laughed to himself and then sat back on his prison bed. /Galar, Isle of Armor, and the Crown Tundra...hmm. It may have a hero with a sword and shield, but both will be toppled by a single man who is a great Thinker at heart./

Going through the 2nd attempt at the Galar Pokemon League Gym Challenge, Syra got upended by her fellow trainer Sevan with the head start he got on her. Starting from the first week alone, he had surpassed her in sheer determination for how far the battling had taken him, but like a 'Tortoise and the Hare' sort of turnabout, Syra has already picked up the pace and leapt past his progress, taking down the 4th Gym in her 'Shield' set of challengers in half the time.

At Hulbury, Syra utilized a traded Thwackey from a Pokemon trainer near Turffield for her win. Instead of declaring her victory right then and there for the Championship she would hope to succeed in, she joined anyone else who defeated Nessa in a post-victory handshake. Which would go into a hug shortly therein.

"After this, am I going to hear you cooling down the Fire Gym in Motostoke?" Nessa asked, walking off the field with Syra, giving her Drednaw a homemade brownie that helped it recover from the battle.

"Yeah. He had a rather...'unique' challenge before I faced him, but I still need to get a Palpitoad of mine to a stronger level before facing him this time around." Syra comments. Looking back to Nessa, she caught her eyes looking a little glazed over as if something else caught her mind. "Hey, you okay?"

Sighing, Nessa stopped in the hallway and looked towards an analog clock that was hanging to check on her time. She bit her lip. "Yeah just...a little off my game today. I'll be okay. I'm not making excuses for me losing to you or anything."

Confidence was one word that Syra would use to describe Nessa, so it left her feeling a little blue seeing the Water Mistress looking shaky. "Is it about Haru? I'll back off if that's TMI."

Nessa exhaled through the nostrils and pursed her lips in a half smile. "Funny thing, being in a relationship. I'm so proud of him becoming a Gym Leader, but I do miss seeing him come to my games..." Her eyes narrow in thought. "There's certain things you miss when you don't have them for awhile."

Having a monologue within herself before speaking, Syra then held up a finger. "Well that's good. I was worried something else had happened. Since he's the 8th Gym Leader for the Shield division, maybe you can pay it forward and show up to his first day of challengers when they're announced?"

Closing her eyes, Nessa's face would slowly grow to have a smile on it spread. "Hmm. I think that would be nice. If a date comes, I may close the Gym for that day."

Syra blinked in disbelief. "...wait. I-Is that fine? You guys can do that?"

"Bea closed her gym once to go and train after losing to Leon. It's not an unheard of concept." Nessa replied, to a now nodding-in-understanding Syra.

"Oh, well before I leave, a little Chatot told me that some of you Gym Leaders were changing your loadouts of teams this year. Having fought you myself...looks like I was right. Any reason that sparked it?" Syra would ask, nearing the entrance to the locker room where she would dress back down to her normal trainer outfit.

Scanning Syra for a moment, Nessa thought back to a discussion that was brought up by Haru when Oleana was there with them, and smiled. "I don't think it's appropriate for League Staff to play favorites with trainers." The small tease would only roll off Syra's back, who ended up chuckling.

"Okay, that's fair. I'll let my legacy speak for itself when the day comes." She spoke, pushing the door open and walking in. After waving off the challenger, Nessa walked off while rolling her shoulders forward and back, and running a mental exercise/pep talk to keep her wits about her for the next challenger that was heading her way.

Syra would go on to make short work of the 3rd, and 4th Gyms, with the Gym Leaders giving their own different ways of congratulating her. Kabu, instead of falling to his knees like a samurai being struck down in his prime, just hung his head and smirked. "Youth such as yours burns hotter than it did before. You have great Pokémon, and you're a great Trainer! It's no surprise that you won!"

Taking a moment to look at the newly acquired Fire Badge, Syra then clasped her hand around it before looking back at him. "Kabu, I'd like to thank you for welcoming me to Motostoke's Battlefields here. It means the world to me."

He bowed to her, and upon walking off the battlefield site with her, raised a finger. "It's only fair. You've paid your dues like anyone else. If you've got time, I'd like to invite you and your's and Haru's comrade Sevan to my abode for some curry."

She did a double-take. "...why Sevan too?"

The Hoenn-born Gym Leader waited until they were out of the public's gaze before telling her upfront. "It's a long overdue way of thanking him for what occurred with Milo."

Her eyes narrowed as she grew cross. "Right..."

"I'll be honest, it has been deceptively complex to try and move on after taking note of what type of person he was deep down. But as true as Groudon's power to move the Earth itself, Sevan was willing to stand up for his friend. It's not far off from you wanting to move mountains to grow past yourself, correct?" He'd ask directly.

The tension in her eyes lessened when Kabu asked this, and nodded solemnly. "Yes. It's important that this trip in the league is done properly, and that I actually become someone that people want to care about. There's moments where I think I don't deserve any of it, and that you guys are just being too nice..." She would lean against the inner walls and fold her arms, huffing to herself. "...but then I recall everything Haru told me, and if I let myself fold after what that dork told me, having let his guard down so often, then it'd be an insult to not put my whole soul into this league."

Kabu clenched one of his hands into a fist and smirked as the fiery spirit within him came into his eyes and nodded. "The League will need more people like you to step up to be leaders for everyone else."

"...Gym Leaders?"

"No, no. Natural born leaders." The Gym Leader removed the towel that he often kept around his neck and dried his face by dabbing on his forehead. "If you'll pardon me, miss, I've to wait for my next challenger. Don't lose that fire, Syra!" He'd profess, and then walk off.

Syra took one final glance at the incomplete Gym Badge Medallion she was now 3 Badges into, and put it away before heading to the Locker Room.

In Stow on Side's Fighting Gym, Bea stared at her friend who stared down from opposite of the field after her Machamp had been downed thanks to Syra's strong Xatu performing the finishing blow: a Psychic Cut that echoed alongside the buzzer of victory in the competitor's corner. Stonefaced, and uncompromised from loss, Bea exhaled through the nose and nodded. "It's good to be unshakable in the face of battle. But it's good to be moved by battle, as well. Just like last time...you showed me how fierce Pokemon battling can be." Handing over the Fighting badge, Syra took it, and would exit the battlefield with the Gym Leader...only to embrace Bea in a big bear hug when they were away from the crowd's eyes.

"H-hey! Warn me first!" Bea says, holding back a smirk.

"Sorry. Just couldn't help it. It feels good being back here..."

Putting the musclebound fighter down, Syra narrows her eyes back to the incomplete, but work-in-progress badge medallion. Bea would tilt her head. "Oh? I had speculated you may have had to work your way back up to a sprint; starting over from step 1 isn't easy for the mind." Her eyes close, recalling the physical training she endured as a child up until then. "When you fail so violently and lose all progress, that the endgoal seems further away than when you started...that can be a big toll on a person's psyche." Her silver eyes opened back up and looked to Syra, then pivoted sideways in preparation to head off to ready herself for the next challenger. "But not you."

The hand holding the incomplete badge medallion clenched around it, before putting it back inside a breast-pocket. Looking back to Bea, Syra saw her friend's back turn to her. Before leaving to continue her journey, she heard Bea offer one final word.

"I hope that every one of those encounters will nourish your spirit."

- - - - - Outside Stow on Side's Gym - - - - -

Stepping outside, going down the long staircase from the gym and stretching, Syra felt a few bones pop. /Ow, fuck...I should have taken more breaks before walking and climbing to this town./ Her eyes narrow before she used her Rotom Phone to access the current map. It floats in front of her and displays a hologram of the current area, time, and spots to wait for Corviknight Air Taxis. She knew that there were a few hotels in the immediate area, but if she hoofed it hard enough she could make it to Ballonlea and face Bede.

"What do you think, Cyrus?" she asked, releasing the now evolved shiny Cinderace, who looked at her with a quizzical expression as he scanned the skies. "Yeah, but Glimwood Tangle is right there so...I mean it shouldn't be a problem." The rabbit Pokemon turned to her and then squinted his eyes like he didn't believe her with the tone she used. "Hey, damn it! I promise you it's not that confusing of a maze, and besides, it's not like you've ever been there! Matter of fact, the brief spite of confusion may even benefit us, since I hear there's more trainers this year than last y-"

"VeeeeeeEeEeeeee!" came a loud cry from within the woods. It was coming from around the rustling bushes that were seen in the growth of vines near the bottom where the raised land housed the Stow on Side Gym. Ducking from her spot to tiptoe towards the entrance, Syra readjusted her cap as Cyrus followed.

"What do you suppose that was?" Syra asked, bringing out her Pokedex and having her dominant, left hand at the ready near her waistline as the pair entered into the woods.

- - - - - Glimwood Tangle, outside of Ballonlea - - - - -

The pair was inevitably stopped in their tracks from following the sounds of something that alluded to danger via a Pokemon trainer/Cook that battled her. After losing, Syra withdrew her PokeBall that had Cyrus and snapped it onto her waist. "Hey, did you happen to hear where a high pitch noise came from?"

Looking at her, the chef appeared stumped. "High pitch noise? I've been in this forest for a bit, so you'll have to be specific."

Just as the words left the man's lips, Syra felt a small furry creature run between her legs sounding frantic. "Hey! Where did you go, little guy?" She'd say, but in the darkness of the forest, she couldn't even find a sign of where it was hiding. "Okay, plan B." Instinct took over, and the girl yanked out one of her PokeBalls and tosses it out. A happy-go-lucky Arcanine pops out with his tail wagging, and looks to his master. "Hey FireStorm, I need you to find a scent okay? I think there's a scared Pokemon that needs help...and it just ran between my feet." Leaning forward the large, lion-sized canine is heard sniffing rapidly, and then turning its head away. Keeping its head low, Syra followed the Arcanine as it would be able to track the scent of what brushed against her legs if even for a second, and led her through the thick brush of the neon, blacklight colored forest.

A moment passes before the Arcanine raises its head, looks in one direction then to Syra before sitting its rear end down with a tail wagging idly. Syra kneels down. "Hey, are you there little one? I'm not here to hurt you, but I heard you screaming just now. What's wrong?" she tries to coax the Pokemon out from the bushes, and only gets greeted by it sticking his face halfway out. It's an Eevee, which makes her gasp. "Whoa, you're a long ways from Route 4. Eevee like you aren't usually out here in Glimwood Tangle. What brought yo-"

**CA-THUNK!**

Feeling the presence of an intruder, Syra turned back to face not one Pokemon, but a herd of Passimian hollering and 'whoop whoop whoop' like primates. Some of them are seen banging onto the ground with the hard berries they had in hand, which caused the Eevee to hide itself back into the bush: it was a display of standing their ground. Looking to the group, the Passimian appear defiant to Syra's presence. "I think I know what's going on here, and normally I wouldn't be bothering since taking on so many of you is a pain..." she would start to say before reaching down to her backpack, finding a Pokeball and standing back up with it. "...but you all are fucking LOUD and annoying, and I'm sure that's also scaring this cute little guy! Go Alcremie!"

She throws the ball out, and landing on the ground was a cream-and-pink colored Alcremie with blue colored berries as part of its body and blue eyes. The Passimian got into a battle position, and charged her before she sent out her first attack. "Alcremie, Dazzling Gleam these chodes!" A bright light emits from the small whipped-cream-looking Pokemon, and the Fairy move hits the whole group. A few Passimian are knocked out, with only a few standing their ground. The group fires back with a Rock Smash, which hits her Alcremie but explains it further to Syra. /These bastards know Rock Smash? That's a Fighting type move! This Eevee was running for its life. Who knows how long it was doing this!/

"Right, Alcremie, take this Super Potion. I think we need to show these guys what's what. Dazzling Gleam again!" she says, but not before handing Alcremie a specialized potion which greatly, but only briefly enhanced the strength of the move. The ape-like Pokemon get hit, and then yelp as they hobble away licking their wounds. Hopping in place with what would normally be feet, the Alcremie excitedly looks to her trainer as Syra picks it up and nuzzles it. "Good job, Alcremie. You did good!" She would withdraw it into the ball and then kneel down. The bush where the Eevee was hiding was still shaking.

"Hey~..." she tried saying in a lower volume. "It's okay, they're gone now. You can come out now." Syra would gesture with a hand stretching out. "Do you have a trainer? A home?" Eventually, the Eevee would poke its head out again and fully come out from the bush with its tail wagging. Gasping, Syra saw a few cuts and bruises. /Those are probably from trying to dodge any attacks from the Pokemon we saw just now...or maybe others it encountered before here./

Making sure to not intimidate it due to her height, Syra then went to her knees and looked through her backpack for anything that was first aid. She only had one Potion left, but a few Berries on her person, of which the Eevee curiously was sniffing its nose in the direction where she had the bag. "We need to get through this forest as soon as we can. Forget necessarily training myself to attack the next Gym; I gotta get you to safety." Pulling out a pair of Pecha Berries, making the Normal type start wagging its tail faster, but didn't come forward immediately to take it even when she leaned forward holding the berries. Its ears were flattened and behind its head, and had taken small steps to make sure it wasn't a trap.

Then she felt the wet tongue of the Eevee eating from her palm as her free one would pat it carefully. "Really weird how you're all the way here when your kind normally convenes at Route 4. Either you're a wild Pokemon and got separated from your group, or you got chased here on accident somehow. Hmm.." Looking closer, Syra could make out most of the details in the dim light of the forest. No identification was marked on her Pokedex of the Pokemon, which meant no original trainer had caught this specific one. It was male, and seemed young. Had she not encountered it when she did, its odds of survival would be debatable at best. "...the Nurse Joy can help us with you, how's that?"

For a moment, though, she thought back to a thing that Haru told her when they hung out on how to handle Eevees in labor, since he was studying it himself. Perhaps she could use the same knowledge to carefully lift the furry guy to safety. Taking off her jacket, and reaching carefully with a hand to its side with another along its back, Syra was able to get the Eevee off the ground without spooking it. Cradling it in her arms, the Eevee was now mostly hidding by her jacket. The tiny 'mon exerted no fear, but instead he just looked up at her curiously like she was his savior. She pouted. "Aww...c'mon, don't look at me with those sorta eyes...you're going to make me want to keep you.."

As the Rotom Phone hovered in front of her, showing her location and how much further they had to the exit that led to Ballonlea, Syra huffed. "It's a bit of a trek, but I'll get you there okay?" She would turn to her Arcanine, who was still out of his ball, and nodded sideways as a gesture to lead the way. "You're on point, my dude."

Her Arcanine barked, and then walked in front of her, with the Alcremie now hanging on Syra's back, looking from side to side and at the ready for any battles.

- - - - - Ballonlea, Pokemon City - - - - -

Moving past a couple that was exiting the building, Syra gets to the woman in the middle: the Nurse Joy that managed all Pokemon to be healed in the immediately location at the whims of any trainer or person of any kind, for any reason. "Good evening, welcome to the Pokemon Center of Ballonlea. Do you have any Pokemon that need to be healed?"

Gently laying down the Eevee in her arms, Syra nodded, as the four legged furball laid on the counter. "I do. This one I found in Glimwood Tangle, being chased by a group of Passimian. I ran low on potions so..." her brain short-circuited for a moment. The second the Eevee lifted its face to look around, something stood out to her. The color of its fur was a hint of brown she hadn't seen before. It almost had no trace of brown at all, in fact, and had a lot more grey on it.

"...ma'am? Is everything okay?" The Nurse asked, with both the Eevee and her looking at Syra curiously.

"Ah! Y-yes! I was just taken back by...er..." She tilted her head sideways looking at the Eevee, who had its tail slowly wagging. "In the forest, I was able to spot and note that it was, and is, indeed an Eevee but I don't think I've seen any of this color."

The nurse felt her forehead sweat a little in embarrassment. "Y-yes, well if you'll give me a moment I will get this fella healed up okay? Please wait here." she bowed, before walking off with the Pokemon on a wheeled gurney pushed by a Blissey so they could take care of the Pokemon, as it was not inside any PokeBall.

She had to know, and began texting Haru.

[Syra: Hey quick question but uh...are Eevee silver in other regions?]

Tapping her foot in anticipation, Syra would not receive an answer in time before the nurse showed up again. "Miss? Your Eevee is healing slowly, but it will not be long now okay?"

For an unexplained reason, Syra hesitated to reply. "My Ee-...oh it's not mine!"

The Nurse Joy felt a might out of line speaking so frankly, but a part of her figured that maybe Syra simply did not know how to deal with this situation. "But since it is not belonged to any trainer, are you going to let it go back out into the wild as you found it, then? We have not been able to link this one to anyone, but the little guy never stopped looking at you before putting him in the healing room."

/Right, she has a point./ "Right, you'll have to forgive me. I've a habit of trying to make sure I return Pokemon to their rightful owners if I come across people who've met me in the past." She hung her head a little and rubbed the back of her neck.

Understanding where the details may become too personal, the nurse felt it appropriate to leave the conversation. Momentarily she would return with the grey Eevee happily crying out to Syra, as he hopped off the gurney entirely and ran up to her, going in circles around her legs. Her cheeks ran hot at the cuteness and bit her lip. /Sssssssso cute...!/

"As you can see, miss, your Eevee is recovered! Please come see us again should you need us!" The Nurse said, bowing, with the Blissey also bowing with her.

Syra's phone vibrated. Haru had responded as the small Pokemon was hopping up onto her knee looking for headpats, and purring happily when she ran a hand down its head. Picking up the phone, her eyes widened at the text message.

[Haru: Wdym 'in other regions'? There's currently no recorded 'regional variation', just Eeveelutions. If you find one that's grey, that's a Shiny. Why do you ask?]

Her cheeks stayed red with blush as she looked to the Eevee that was nearly headbutting the palm of her hand, and blinked in curiosity when she stopped. Biting her lip, Syra inhaled. "You're...a shiny Eevee?"

- - - - - Outside of the Pokemon Center, Ballonlea - - - - -

Doing a double take at the large Gym that seemed to be hidden away in the city, Syra looked back down to the shiny Eevee that had been tailing her, and kneeled to its level. As she got to the ground, it leaned forward until it was licking her cheek before nuzzling into her side. "So you want to be with me, then? Are you sure?"

It nods. Syra hummed in thought. As a part within her heart was telling her something about him, the sound of thunder in the distance crashed. The Eevee looked around until it spotted a clearing near the top of the trees where the sky and moon could be seen. She followed its gaze, and then was heard gasping. "Tsukiyomi." The Eevee stopped aiming its neck up to see the sky to look at her instead, tilting its head. "It's a Kanto-based name for a moon deity. Since I found you when a full moon was out, and I'll raise you to be a strong Pokemon myself, I want to name you Tsukiyomi. How's that?"

The grey Eevee ran off in a fit of the zoomies before leaping back at Syra, rapidly nuzzling into her. It appeared she had made a new friend, smiling all the while.

- - - - - A short time later - - - - -

Syra migrated from the town of Ballonlea to The Wild Area near the entrance of Hammerlocke, with the dragon-shaped head seen being kissed by the harsh sunlight. A call from a pair in the distance while she was resting in between training, and Syra groans. "Great...news anchors." A woman with a microphone that was accompanied by a cameraman had spotted her in her iconic attire, and appeared to be fishing for 'in the now' League information.

"Miss Syra, we understand you may be busy at the moment, but if you will, could we interest you in an interview to learn on your thoughts of the current League on-goings?" the blonde woman asked.

"Oh..." /Thank Arceus, holy shit/ She was relieved it was only something boring and mundane as this, and nothing else. Readjusting her cap after displacing it, she nodded. "Sure, ask away."

The woman motioned for her cameraman to start rolling 'live', and a few questions would come out. "Granted that Galar has now seen the biggest boom in history of Pokemon Challengers, how are you finding things this year to be in comparison to your first attempt?"

Syra was frank with them. "At first I was a little intimidated since the opening ceremony dwarfed my first time doing it...but I'm having a blast right now! 5 badges in, and I'm going to take a bit of rest before going to Circhester. I'll try not to feel a bit jealous of those in the 'Shield' set, since if I had been assigned to that, my rematch with Haru would be happening...but oh well."

The blonde woman nodded, clearly into the energy Syra was bringing. "Mmmhmm, yes, and what is your current progress? Any thoughts for the next Gym?"

"Well currently I believe I think into my Pokedex, and have been mingling with a lot of people so it's been helping my team to grow faster. As far as the next Gym goes..." She looked nervously at the camera then the woman again. "I guess I hope Gordie will give me a good match."

"...and do you have any comments in regarding to the Stow on Side incident?" Pointing the mic to Syra, the woman appeared to be fishing for a different topic now.

"Uhhh..." /What incident? Is Allister sick? I knew that boy was an introvert. Did he step outside and get sunburnt, closing the Ghost Gym battles for awhile?/ Syra was confused, and just folded her arms. "No comment?"

"That's interesting, because our records indicate that you have a history with the gentleman involved, and fans were guessing you two were to be rivals that would fight in the final tournament. Is there any truth to that?"

Syra felt a bead of sweat go down her forehead. "I...I'm not certain I understand anymore what we're discussing here."

Replying as if it were just a news anchor segment, the woman replied. "Yesterday afternoon, a trainer took on the Stow on Side Fighting Gym Leader, lost his match, and then proceeded to have a fist fight with Bea! We are looking for anyone who know anything about the little-known trainer named Sevan, as he-, Miss Syra?"

Feeling her face grow pale, Syra's eyes widen in shock and just shook her head. "N-no. I am unfamiliar. Pardon me, I must be going."

"Wait!"

But Syra would not wait any longer and turned to head towards the train station with a ghastly expression on her face. A child who spotted Syra walking to the train station suddenly shrieked seeing her face due to how scary it looked, with the only thought in her head being. /Sevan, what the FUCK did you do?! If you put yourself into another situation like the one I pulled you from, I'm going to kick your fucking ass!/

- - - - - Present. . . - - - - -

'Breaking News! We have live footage coming from Stow On Side Gym that Gym Leader Bea-'

'-as a trainer who brought several Pokemon to the Gym with him, with one that league officials are currently questioning whether he-'

'-a move that's sure to have many people talking about for quite some time...'

'But what some have brought up in the wake of this incident...was Bea's response to the challenge legal? We'll have updates every hour on the hour...'

'There are now rumors flying about that this man may have been involved in other incidents prior to this, but authorities from within Stow on Side's Gym are keeping tight lipped about the contestant. Where he's been taken, what's to come of the events after, and whether the league will go on a short break from Stow On Side's Gym remains to be seen.'

The media lit up like a Typhlosion belching out a Flamethrower with the news of what occurred within Stow on Side's Gym battlegrounds. The would-be short match between a trainer named Sevan and Bea that turned into a fisticuff brawl would put parts of the audience into an uproar that were there, yet could not drown out the sounds that broadcast gossip could bring. Some channels had begun to discuss on the legality of how he could be bringing Pokemon like Pidgeot without any authority halting his movements. Topics went easily in and out from 'Who is he', 'Why is he here', 'Is he a spy' to other outlandish questioning like 'Does the Galar League not train its staff to know what Pokemon isn't allowed enough'. Within short work, the reputation surrounding Oleana's tightly ran Galar League was coming under investigation again. If a lone cinder was seen from this blazing inferno of a story, the media was now intending to find it.

However in Circhester, all of this went unknown to one Steel Gym Leader. Haru stood in one of the training rooms he had set aside for him and his Gym Trainers, and was going through pre-battle strategies.

"Okay, hit me with what you guys have: starting with you, Desmond." Haru spoke, having a notepad on hand with Nora, his Glaceon, walking with him outside of her ball. Desmond would throw out 4 PokeBalls. Out popped a Skarmory, Copperajah, Bisharp, and Durant. Investigating each one, Haru would flash thumbs up in approval. "Okay. Since you're second to the last one in the puzzle phase of the challenge for this gym, I can see this being a good challenge to trainers...hmm."

"Thanks, sir!"

It felt weird being spoken to with some seniority, as Haru just laughed weakly. "Please, you can just call me Haru. Next up, Ferruccio, what's your team going to be?" Tossed out onto the floor were an Alolan Dugtrio, a Perrserker, and a Steelix. "Hmm hmm! Okay...so you're hoping to 'test' out newcomers since you're closer to the front and may be the first, right? Okay...hey, your Steelix is a strong boy! Check out those IVs..." Haru said enthusiastically, commenting on the team.

The buzzcut brunette boy nodded. "I had to think of a good team that was strong, but maybe not too strong for the level we're supposed to be."

"Right, I approve. Besides...my trump card.." Haru walked to the side and pointed with his pen to the long hair, ponytail wearing girl who had her hands behind her back: focused on the meeting. "Monika. You're the one I'm excited about. Show me what you will do to fight our challengers with as the last one before they meet me."

"Of course, Mister Haru!" She said a little too enthusiastically, before tossing out 6 balls, with every Pokemon from her group roaring to show dominance. An Aggron, Steelix, Mawile, Duraludon, Skarmory, and Excadrill all posed together, with Haru feeling his hair blown back a bit by the energy exuded through them.

"Such strong and vibrant Pokemon! Monika, is this the team you've been hiding this whole time that you've REFUSED to even let me see you train once?" He asked, as Nora sniffed curiously towards the Mawile, who would turn to actually face the Glaceon and start talking.

But Monika chuckled. "You flatter me, Haru, but if you're implying I had any intention of having the very first Steel Gym be as lukewarm as Raihan's challenge in Hammerlocke, you'd have another thing coming."

One of the other trainers spoke up in confusion, Desmond. "What do you mean? He's known notoriously as one of the hardest Gym Leaders to battle in the League!"

She would protest and stay confident in her choice of words while silently looking at Haru, who, upon meeting her gaze, purported that he understood her. "Truer words haven't been spoken, but I believe Monika is saying this because back when I challenged him, his trainers only had 2 apiece, and combatants who reached him would fight in a Double Battle of 4 total. Meanwhile, ours truly Monika here has brought forth 6. You, 3, and Ferruccio, 4."

Putting aside the notepad for a moment, Haru walked away and grinned as he exhaled. Stifling a laugh. "Which means I, as Circhester's Steel Gym Leader, have to up the ante even further."

"Sir?" She'd ask.

Turning back to his Gym Trainers, Haru's fists clenched. For a moment, he remembered the previous conversation that went down with Oleana about the league, and smirked wryly. "Perhaps old habits of the Galar die off. Perhaps those within the Shield division should get a true taste of Steel if they reach me. I believe we should change things up. As this region's 8th Gym Leader for the Shield division, I'll be preparing a full team of 6 that will shine like stars!" Putting down the notepad on the desk and then smiling at the Trainers he was proud to have appointed to his Gym, Haru declared "Let's truly see if our opponents will be ready!"

Nora let out an enthusiastic yelp as she ran over to his side, happy to see how he was molding into the role. The group went quiet as Haru sighed. "Be that as it may, our challengers may not arrive for some time, so until then, I want you guys to spar with each other and see if any changes should be made. I want to give our Gym a good impression. Until then, I'm going to talk to the other Gym Leaders and see what they think about reconfiguring teams and giving challengers a bigger run for their money. As of now though, you guys are dismissed. Save me a battle for later." dismissing them with a handwave. Walking out after the group and their Pokemon dispersed, Haru would bring out his phone with the intention to message Nessa but coming upon a slew of missed messages. Several from her, and more within the Gym Leader group chat.

[N: Haru are you there? I know you're busy but are you there? Check the news]
[N: Hon, I think your friend is in a LOT of trouble!]

He squints at the small touchscreen. /The fuck?/

Finding a spot to lean against the walls of the currently barren Steel Gym, Haru's face grows pale after scanning the comments his other Gym Leaders, sans Bea, would be saying. "...oh no.". Learning throughout messages and a few embedded links that contained 'Breaking News' headlines on his phone, Haru saw that hours earlier his friend Sevan had attempted Stow On Side's Gym. 'Attempted' would be the chosen word by those reporting on the situation if they were being completely unbiased...which weren't many. A few choice outlets were questioning on the changeup of brutish actions happening, others on Sevan's choice of only half a team, how he got there with a team, and that Bea had yet to make a statement.

A message came once again from Nessa.

[N: Honey, just found out that Oleana is on her way to your friend Sevan right now. He's probably about to be chewed out.]

He knew within his heart of hearts that she was right, but he had to ask.

[H: How can you tell?]

[N: One of my staffers who was reporting the daily intake saw her fuming and getting into an Air Taxi alone about a few minutes ago.]

He wasn't known to be the most athletic of the group, but when the time came he could use those legs of his to sprint like nothing else, and as he exited the Gym panic-stricken, he reached for a Master Ball on his waistline, tossed it as Zamazenta popped out, and got on its back. A cloud of dust from the grounds of Circhester formed in the wake of speed of Zamazenta, and an antsy Haru hoped his friend would be okay.

- - - - - Stow On Side - - - - -
- - - - - Hospital, 8F - - - - -

At the hospital entrance was a group of journalists that had piled up from the inside lobby all the way out: rife with a desire to be let inside to see Sevan. Anything else they could find at all about the challenger would be the main reward for them, bad press be damned. One notable source had spotted Sevan being put into an ambulance, ran with said news to their cohorts, and like a Mothim to honey from a Combee, the double doors became cluttered with media. Galar was under constant scrutiny in recent years, and for such an unconventional, unscheduled, unorganized bout to be broadcast from Stow On Side's Gym would be possibly 'too good of an opportunity to let slip by unnoticed'.

As Haru was caught unawares of the gravity of the situation, he approached the near parking lot and grumbled under his breath. "Roooo" Zamazenta went, looking upwards at his master, who got off. "Yeah, 'Zenta. Looks like an issue that hits too close to home, doesn't it..." Haru would say, turning to the Steel Legendary, who nodded, before huffing with its cheeks.

"Excuse me, , sir!" came a voice of a journalist who had seen him approaching, trying to milk a comment out of him. Steeling himself from any reaction, Haru would only stonewall the group of reporters and journalists who were curious as to his reasoning for arriving there. The inaction had caused them to merely move around him as he walked to the entrance's double doors, pushed through them, and kindly found a hospital staff who knew him that allowed him past the security checks. After some brief searching, the man was led down a hallway on the 8th floor where he'd then arrive at a counter sign-in. Writing his name, and now escorted by a pair of female officers with teal/blue hair, they led him to the room where Sevan was held currently.

"We've been ordered not to let anyone other than the Chairman herself, Gym Staff, Bea, or those from the scene of the incident into the room. Considering who you are, Haru, we have faith you will not make a scene." One of the ladies, whose nametag simply said 'Jenny' on her breast-pocket, stated.

He sighed with relief, and was confused for a moment as he had seen the name 'Jenny' on the other woman's nametag. "Good, er...Officer Jenny, I won't be long."

"Please note that all conversations within the room are being monitored, too, and if we feel it appropriate, you will be ejected." The other Jenny said, turning to him as they reached the door.

Feeling his skin go pale, Haru just blinked before laughing a little nervously. "T...this has turned into quite a problem, hasn't it?"

Both simply stood to both sides of the door and looked outwards. "Please be brief. The Chairman is on her way here."

A couple of light knocks echo in the quiet room. There is a curtain that is used for privacy for patients that was drawn around partway the bed, slightly covering the small couch guests could use. The first to greet Haru was the familiar troupe of Chorui, Shinrin, and Fen. Fully healed from post-battle, but nevertheless on alert, Shin appeared seen hopping down to the floor tiling and walking towards the sound of footsteps. Haru was spotted, and she turned her leafy head back towards him. Sevan turns towards the door and sees come walking in. "Are you here to give me an 'I told you so'?"

Haru went to Sevan's side of the hospital bed that faced the door, and took an analytical glance over the wounded trainer before him while waving to the 3 Pokemon. Shin would disappear near the end of the bed before reapparing, hopping up onto and laying on a free space on the mattress. Sighing and combing a hand through his hair from the forehead to the back, Haru replied looking strained. "No, not necessarily, but Arceus damn it, Sevan, what did you do? Is it as plain as what the paparazzi are saying online? I ran into a shitload of reporters outside that are being held back by security, hoping to get a nugget of information on you, and your room has an Officer named Jen-" he felt one of his own eyes twitch, and shook his head. "Sorry, TWO Officers named Jenny guarding it. On top of this, the Chairman is on her way to you."

Snapping his left hand near one of his ears, Sevan winced in pain and looked at Haru curiously. "Who's coming? Sorry, I heard you until the last bit: my hearing's not all there."

Looking over to the television, Haru saw that Sevan had the boobtube on as it was a channel about haunted grounds in Hoenn; its host using a Rotom to help act as tools for ghost-hunting. He turned to look at his friend. "Did the fight fuck up your ears, too or something, or was I just too quiet?"

"Nah. It's...something I have to do sometimes ever since that explosion way back when."

"!"

He suddenly recalled the memory of that headline on the news...'BOMB EXPLOSION AT WYNDON STADIUM, AUTHORITIES ON SCENE CURRENTLY'. The side of the stadium had a huge hole in it, and was part and parcel to a bigger incident involving Syra and Team Rocket. He recalled using his own Pokemon to help carry out people or assist firemen with rescue, and looked at Sevan.

"So you were there at the stadium on the day that happened..." Haru spoke as the memory came back. He felt as if it were merely yesterday with how vivid the images still played out in his head.

Nodding, Sevan groaned from a ping of pain in his shoulder. "Not close enough to sustain physical damage from debris, but the sound alone fucked up my left ear for a time. But to the matter at hand..?" His eyes scanned back to Haru sitting next to him, to the Pidgeot that was perched on the end of the couch, sticking its neck out of the window blinds, and sighed. "Yeah. I guess you can say I brought some heat onto me."

Folding his arms and having one foot starting to tap on the tile floor, Haru began to look nervous. "Look, if you being in the hospital or injured is commonplace then I probably can't do a lot currently to help, but if the CHAIRMAN is on her way you may soon have other things to worry about!"

"Th' fuck for?" Sevan questioned.

"To be frank with you, I've dealt with a LOT of shit since I began my Pokemon journey here in Galar, and in spite of everything I've told you, I have only seen the Chairman lose her cool a HANDFUL of times! It's not something I say with pride or anything, but it's enough to shake even the most hardened of Shieldons down to their core! League Staff and council members who are usually more muted in how they are at work are even shaken up a little if Oleana has to push them." There were few things that could break down even the usually calm Haru, but Oleana would be one of them. Whether it was seeing the sudden personality shift the first time he battled her under Rose's management or her commanding the conflict between him and Milo, all manner of verboseness leaves his mind immediately.

"Shit. I have never see you this rattled. Isn't Nessa the one who's supposed to be able to do that to you and nobody else?" Sevan teased, laughing a little before wincing in pain, and stopping.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, a certain tall woman was making her way down the hospital lobby to the elevator with top security following her. She would give a stern stare to all of those who would try to ask for questions or to elaborate on her reason of visit, which resulted in no answers for any tabloid to pick up.

"Putting aside my more...out of the ordinary reaction, Oleana doesn't normally go hands-on with big issues surrounding the league like this herself. If she's heading right here to see you, it may mean some sort of punishment is coming your way."

Sevan huffed, and looked to his injuries. "You fucking see me man? Not exactly a lot left she can do to take out on me. You heard from Syra about me, don't you?"

Haru held his arms together in a cross formation and felt bad that he was unconfident. "I think I follow. Are you referring to your other friends?" His eyes looked over to the 3 in the room with them.

The injured man just leaned back into his pillow with a sliver of irritation in his tone. "Yeah. You know nobody can really make me feel worse than I do now...not in a way that matters."

Incidents of the past were still a puzzle to Haru, who huffed. "Look, all I'm saying is the event in Stow On Side's Gym really shook the Combee's nest!"

"That'd be a Vespiquen, Haru."

"Whatever! Fuck...! I don't know what I can do, but if I can give some advice, one is to not sass the Chairman. There's a few things she's privy to when it comes to the league. You'll hear soon on how Oleana's main goal is to Galar's reputation in the future. Throwing down with Bea is expected of trainers, but you should have prepared better. Bea is..." Haru stammered, looking at his surroundings for the answer before Sevan just simply completed his thought for him.

"...the sexiest Gym Leader alive on the planet."
"...the strongest Gym Leader alive on the planet."

The two men tried to speak at nearly the same time, with Haru mentally 'auto completing' Sevan's phrase for him, but blinking when their sentences led to a pair of completely different thoughts. "Wait what? Did you say 'sexiest'?" /Where did that come from?/

His question went unanswered for the moment, as Haru briefly yelped at the sound of Sevan's hospital door opening, followed the loud clacks of two heels hitting the floor. All 3 of Sevan's Pokemon went on high alert, sticking their necks up straight and staring down the new visitor. Oleana stepped forward with a thick binder and dressed in her usual business attire, and the pair of Officer Jennys now stood at the door ready to remove Haru. They stood in silence, and compliance. "Steel Gym Leader Haru, a pleasure."

Sevan would now be witness to seeing what Haru's earlier warnings were like due to how pale his friend suddenly appeared with the lady walking in. "M-Miss Chairman."

Walking until she was at the foot of Sevan's hospital bed and facing the outside window, she would not make eye contact to Haru in her demand. "I need you to leave, Haru, as I have official business with our..." her eyes were seen scanning to her right and looking at the wounded trainer. "...esteemed guest who is quite a ways from home." Oleana turned by pivoting her whole body to face Sevan: poker face still visible. She kept the pair of olive colored eyes fixed on him and then asked slowly. "Aren't you?"

For the first time since arriving at the hospital, Sevan felt some shiver of anxiety crawl from the pits of his stomach up to his throat. "Uh..Haru...?"

"Yeah?" Haru replied but was now feeling the tension in the room rising at a considerable rate.

"Don't l-leave me here by m-myself man." His eyes darted from Haru and back to Oleana, who kept the stone cold expression while a slender finger pointed to the side of the binder. On it was the detailing of contents inside. Sevan's full history with his name, the date the file was made, and type of filing.

"Trust is an important trait to have not only in personalized relationships, but in business. Business is important, and my business, the Pokemon League, is the vehicle that helps keep Galar going. So if I may be blunt, Haru, what I have to discuss with our guest isn't all information that should be heard by those not affiliated with his record...and is purely..." Oleana slaps the side of the binder pointing to the thickness of contents within. "Business." Her eyes stay narrowed. "Our little Sevan has a lot of things he'd like to keep under wraps much like how I'd like to move forward from today's incident." Her eyes then looked at Haru.

"Yes, ma'am?" He asks nervously.

"If I recall correctly, Haru, you have somewhere to be soon in your preparation of your gym. For the league. The kind officers will escort you out."

Comically enough it was as if he felt question marks appear above his head. Haru squints. "I do? But I've already started running through the final steps where we're on team dyna-"

She insisted and tapped on the binder to the edge of the foot of the bed. "I'll give you to the count of 5."

"Ma'am, with all due respect to your position, I feel like since I've known Sevan the longest, I should do what I can to-" Haru stopped dead in his sentence when he saw that Oleana's expression had now changed to much the same that stared him down in the office with Milo. It was a more aggressive, ready-to-pounce look akin to when she completely lost her ability to stay collected when Rose's 'dream' was close to being shattered and would do anything to defend it. When Oleana means business it was usually never a good idea to stand in front of it if it can be helped, and thankfully with his history, Haru never put himself in the sights of her scope often.

...but when she did, the air ran cold not unlike a breath from mutiple Glaceon concentrating their low body temperatures in an isolated space. The severity of his friend's actions had caused Oleana to hold back in simply shouting him down, and instead had laser focused all of it to telling Haru to back off. It would be the first warning sign. As another bead of sweat formed on his forehead, Haru just nodded slowly. He stood up and backed a little to where the pair of officers were, as Oleana looked at them and nodded.

"Haru, I'm high on painkillers but I can feel a cold sweat, and fear. Don't leave." Sevan spoke, a little shook up.

He saw Haru dart his eyes to Oleana, and then Sevan again. Haru winced as if bound by an invisible force that was causing him pain and grit his teeth. "I'm sorry, Sev...I don't want to leave. I'll..."

Oleana kept the binder of files in hand as her gaze focused in staring him down.

/What the fuck./ Thought Sevan, as Haru reluctantly was escorted out by the federal officers, who would then lead him back out of the building. He is heard shouting back to the hospital room "I'll call you man!" from Haru, with his voice sounding muffled through the walls. Oleana exhaled through the nose and turned her face to Sevan as one hand opens up the binder and held it up. /This is a new level of fear./

"Now." The Chairman started to speak as the binder opened up and she pointed to a line of text on the page. "Sevan. Born in Hoenn. Current height, 5 foot, 11 inches, and last weighed at 190lbs. Reportedly carrying 3 Pokemon out of their balls unless fainted in battle: a Leafeon, Ninetails..." her eyes go from the paper to him. "...and Pidgeot."

All 3 Pokemon made their cry heard, as Fen had yet to break away from looking back at the woman in charge.

"Miss Oleana-"

"YOU WILL CALL ME CHAIRMAN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!" She interrupted him via raising her voice as he felt his heart sank.

"Miss Chairman, I can explain..."

"Sevan. Member of Grim, a gang that is all but involved in rival fights with underground clubs including, but not limited to locations in the underbelly of Spikemuth...to Hoenn. Reports vary from detailings of caged fights between Pokemon and Human, Human and Human, but always with gambling involved. There are very little rules involved, and as such, your medical records are...inconsistent on that end. Yet you keep coming back to the ring like it's a second home." Her voice went low, and then looked at him after pulling a strand of hair back and huffed. "Sorry, I meant third home, since you are quite a ways from your original home...ex-Champion."

Sevan felt a ping in his heart from stress, biting his lip. She was cutting right to his history.

"Apologies, it seems it would be inaccurate to call you 'ex' Champion. I see that you have collected every single badge from Hoenn, which is what allows you to yield such strong Pokemon willy nilly without the need for all of Galar's badges. In Hoenn, you were to be crowned would-be Champion of Hoenn, but it states you dipped out of the league for personal reasons. At the final match, no less."

She looked at him after a moment of recalling why, and bowed. "My sincere condolences."

"...thank you." Sevan replied, though he figured there was more she was going to bring up and stayed put.

"Diagnosed by doctors with insomnia, severe depression, survivor's guilt, longstanding physical damage to the left knee and right shoulder..." she scans him once more. "I suppose we can add several other areas now granted with what's occurred today." She spoke in a venomous, irritated tone before continuing. "Hmf. Now this part of the mystery unfolds itself: how you crossed our borders with the Pokemon you have on your person. Rose himself. There's not much here from him, so please...share."

She crossed her arms and tapped on an elbow quietly, giving him the floor to explain as she gestured with a sweeping hand motion. Sevan swallowed in the bit of anxiety he felt before trying to recall it, and was helped when Shinrin pawed at him. Looking at the Leafeon who's been there for him since the start of his journey, he gained enough strength to tell the Chairman what he could. "I was minding my own business in Hoenn when Rose took me aside for a conversation that led to me visiting Galar. I came here, and the talks that followed have stuck to me quite vividly ever since..."

- - - - Galar, Several years ago - - - -
- - - - Wyndon, Rose Tower - - - -

Sevan had been asked to come from his place to meet up 'with priority' to the former Chairman. The details were kept minimal, but Sevan had felt the bad vibes as soon as he took a single step inside. The monochrome, almost lifeless stylings of the interior and its staff, with the state of Macro Cosmos in the lobby near the elevators reminded him of those high strung corporate businessmen.

When he met up with the philanthropist, Sevan let Rose run his mouth about the opportunities to be seen, and considered all angles of what he'd be accepting or turning away, should he felt the need to do so. It didn't take long, however, for the offers to be rejected.

Rose frowned, as Sevan showed his unamused disposition. "I came here by choice, I can leave here by choice, but that does not mean I'll stand here taking your bullshit."

Laughing a little, but keeping composure, Rose shrugged it off. "Whatever do you mean, my dear boy?"

Not budging an inch, Sevan put a hand in a pocket and sighed. "You can keep trying to recruit me to this...shady Macro Cosmos shit you have going behind this facade of yours, but if you do, you'll learn how your floor tastes. I wasn't around when people like Brendan and May had to fight off a pair of bad teams to save Hoenn, but we know enough about them to spot snakes in the grass when we see them."

Giving a concerned sigh, Rose nodded. A thin, half smile came to his face. This trainer would not be the only piece to his puzzle, and would certainly not be scarce of them. Sevan rejecting joining up with him would not be for nought. "So be it. You won't hear of me pressing you on the matter henceforth. But now...your 'family' you spoke of at the start of today's conversation...I can't get you a pass to all of your Pokemon for our Region. Had you agreed to all terms, it would have been easier, but as it stands I can make some exceptions." He took a few steps forward, as Rose chose not to face Sevan as he was deciding when the meeting was over, not this youth. "In addition, I will also, obviously, not divulge my knowledge of your being the ex-Champion of Hoenn to anyone. I only ask you keep my offer in mind. Should your stance change, you know where to find me, and how to contact me."

Sevan lowers his defensive stance a bit. "Not an ex-Champion." His eyes squint. "Since you're being so generous, then may I ask you something?"

Turning his head to the side, Rose hummed. "Yes?"

"Is there anywhere cold...perhaps on the edge of a city that might have a decent house for sale?"

Rose nodded with confidence that such a thing would be easy to find. "I'll look into it." The man pivoted to face the man once more and extended his right hand outwards as a small form was produced. "Here, take this and fill out the information, mail it to me. I'll stamp it with my seal, and in doing so, one of your Pokemon will get a Pass when I mail it back to you."

- - - - - Current Day, Sevan's Hospital Room, Galar - - - - -
- - - - - Stow On Side, Hospital - - - - -

Oleana tentatively put a pen to her lips as Sevan recalled the encounter, inhaled deep before letting it out slowly. She was closer to getting him, if even by a little, but the important matter at hand was what this day had done. "...and after that you would end up moving here, taking the Pokemon you could, and entering into my league."

The binder was tapped against the end of the bedframe as she looked down at him. "Fast forward to today, where you would not concede defeat upon losing all of your Pokemon in a match, and threatened the sanctity of my league with a barbaric, hand-to-hand fight! Unaccounted for, unmitigated, and unregulated under the rules set forth!"

Sevan would only look up at her and tensed up, looking to the side. "Yes, that is true...I fucked up. The bruises and achy bones are indicative of that shit going south."

Stepping off to the side and now holding the binder to her hips, Oleana raised her chin upwards. "Sevan, I will have you know that in wake of ex-Chairman Rose's exit, I have made it my clearest of goals to raise the reputation of Galar through its league. The world's eyes are on me to see to it that annually this competition will continue to run and give a healthy birth to amazing fights. Whether or not we see a new era of Leon continuing an unending row of victories as he defends his title will be one thing, but what I will NOT have in this league are things I can't account for..."

Turning to him, she glared intensely. "...and what you've done has thrown an amalgamation of problems for me to solve! Inform me, miscreant Sevan, did you even consider to think for yourself for a moment before acting what this would mean for Bea? For her staff? For me? What about Galar itself? Are you aware of how many eyes witnessed what went down? How many eyes will possibly lay upon the news about it later? What this may mean for her reputation? The trickle-down effect of what it'll mean for merchandise from Stow On Side's Gym Leaders? If I let you go out there without so much as a slap on the wrist and the same injured body you've got, we'll be questioned. Questions lead to uncertainty, and uncertainty can lead to some unsavory moments in our history."

She turned towards the window and peered outside through the blinds near the windows and squinted in irritation. "All it takes is a tiny speck of disinterest to get people coursing the boat in the other direction. Now with you as a target of controversy that's attracted the media, some that speak loudest most likely will be asking about the 'one Gym match that went awry'. This is no 'Eternatus' or 'Royal Twin' level of problem for Galar's greatest to resolve, but one where I must pat down the fires all the same! In the couple of hours since your fight, questions have begun circulating about stretching the rules of challengers losing matches who go on to use their own unregulated 'challenge' to settle with the Gym Leaders. If EVERY single person that walked the grounds of a Gym Leader's battlegrounds that lost had a chance to then shove aside another challenger, to say 'Give me another chance right now, let's gamble for it!' like you did, do you think we'd even have a league at all?"

"Miss Chairman, I deeply apologize for what I've done, I've fucked up. This is a lot fucking bigger than I realize. I'm sorry"

"Are you? Sure you don't want to toss in another wager and challenge my position here? Because make no mistake when you did what you did it wasn't a throwdown to Bea, but a direct, arm-stretched, with finger pointed outwards challenge at ME. As if you didn't need my rules and wanted to win your way!" Oleana turned back to him from the window and spoke in a lower tone, and clasped her hands together.

"I've gone long in the tooth. But I, Oleana, am in charge of many things, and I make sure that Pokemon trainers are properly compensated and recognized for their skills as Pokemon trainers." She stated curtly as a thought of Rose surfaced again, grimacing in irritation. "The Pokemon Championship League needs more Reds, more Lances, more Wallaces, Cynthias, and Dianthas. The world doesn't need more people that will shove their way to the front of the line, cutting other youths at their knees. So with that in mind, I cannot in good conscious allow you to just go back out there and do the same thing again."

Sevan hung his head, fearing that he would be even further away from being able to have some form of normalcy in his life. If he was going to get thrown out of a league, what would that mean for the Pokemon that rely on him now? What of the ones back at his homeland?

The woman pressed a finger to her forehead and sighed, trying to breathe deeply and slow. "I am not removing you from the league. You will undergo a suspension of a month. No battles with Gym Staff, any Gym Leader, or anyone else challenging via the Sword or Shield gameset." Her eyes opened and looked down at Sevan, who appeared distraught. "Trust me, this is me being lenient to you and of what you've done. Trust me..." for a moment, her mind goes back to an incident where one such trainer destroyed the ruins near Stow on Side in a haphazardly unorganized bid for power. Bede, who was filled with immense pride from being chosen by Rose, and ongoing jealousy for Haru's talents in the league, was removed from the league challenge that day. "...I understand where you've come from and do not wish to repeat mistakes of my former employer, Rose, to you."

Leaning back into the pillow, Sevan watched as the woman walked to the hospital door. He would be barred from continuing the league challenge for a month, which meant no official rematch with Bea until then. His mind, high on the drugs going into his body to dull the soreness and pains, swirled with a conscious, fever dream-like sequence of thoughts that led nowhere.

As Oleana gripped onto the door handle, she spoke before making her leave. "As I make my exit, you should know that I am closing in on a deal that will allow you to bring your Pokemon here. All of them. Keep your phone close so I can inform you when it goes through." She heard the young man gasp in shock and a slight air of happiness hearing that coming from her. "This is for the good of our Pokemon League and for the livelihood of Galarians everywhere, but this may also mean something to help keep you in line. For now, your only order is to rest up, and stay out of trouble."

As the door swung open and closed from Oleana making her leave, Sevan laid there and considered what his immediate future would be. No league meant no badge hunting, which meant no Pokemon training, and increase anxiousness. Would his daily habits fall back and lay down until dissociation kicks in? Would it at all be necessary to come up with anything and everything to distract his mind? The spoken word promise that Oleana was working towards bringing more Pokemon to Galar would be all he had to hang onto: he missed the rest of his family.

His fist clenched and looked to the side where his sole window was located. /Should not have fucking done all that./ Sevan thought to himself, cursing his lackadaisical approach in coursing through the Gyms.

The sound of someone, or something squeaking was heard to the right of his bed where the hospital curtains hung. This stole Sevan's attention from the previous guest who just left and looked towards the sound. "I know that sound anywhere." As he says this, his Leafeon hops off the bed and goes to the curtained corner where it came from. His Leafeon exited the corner quickly with a Flareon following it. "Fucking knew it. Hi Quen."

Finally moving from the spot was a girl who wore an army green, off shoulder tee, short shorts with ripped camoflage print leggings, cherry red boots and a pink undercut hairdo. It was a familiar face, to him, and one that, upon standing from her spot came out of the makeshift hiding place. "Yo."

Half snorting in bemusement, Sevan asked, "Did you somehow fucking hide in the corner?". Quen began to look semi flustered, gesturing like there was a 'story' behind it before he ended up laughing loudly.

"Okay no, look! I came here because I heard what you did, but when I got here you were asleep! So I stayed, waited patiently for you to wake up, got a little too comfortable, and when Enya got on my lap I fell asleep. Before I knew it, I heard voices, was briefly struck awake by a loud woman speaking to you. Figured out quickly it was Oleana, so I decided 'fuck getting involved in this conversation now, you guys figure this shit out' because you know how I am...and..." Quen simply gestured a surrender and let a hand rest on her hips. Her lips flattened into a neutral look. "Enya helped me feel safe cuz of angry lady."

"...ah. So you curled up in a ball thanks to the Chairman. That explains why Shin was antsy. Seeing Enya made her want snuggles again but didn't feel safe enough to do that in front of you-know-who." Sevan sighed, rubbing his eyes a little. Even with the bit of drugged-up sleep he got, his head was killing him from a lack of it. Perhaps it was that, or the pain from being clocked by Bea. He'd ponder on this quietly as Quen now moved the chair she was sitting in and sat on it backwards while facing her friend.

"So...you're STILL a dumbass."

Sevan huffs and handwaves it off. The two were already back to chatting like always. "Okay, yeah. Good to see you too after all this time."

"I can't believe you'd throw yourself out there like that! It was understandable when...'you know'...but you weren't getting bounced around by whoever Oleana was talking about." The small woman said, looking annoyed with him.

"Let's back up a second, how the fuck are you talking about her so casually?" Sevan asks, squinting at her.

Quen points to Enya, the Flareon, and then has her palms face outwards in a shrug. "Who else do you think got me here to Galar?"

/Right. Quen went on to become a Pokemon Archaeologist. I remember her leaving to go to some region I hadn't heard of before, and informing me of her findings while there/

"Makes sense. So what're you going to be doing here, then? Anything good buried deep here?" Sevan asks.

Quen shrugged frankly again, with herself now getting up on the chair further so her knees were up to her chest. "No excavating has happened yet. Devon Corp has had talks with Oleana on a few locations based on books about Galar. I've been told to check out a placed called 'Hammerlocke' to look at the vault first due to where a large majority of history is archived and preserved."

"Haru told me about how once there was some confusing mix of history here. Something about 2 heroes, 1 hero; I'm unable to remember much now." Sevan grumbled, snapping his fingers to his left side of his head again.

The archaeologist grinned smugly. "...so this person that beat you up. Was she at least a hottie? Was it worth it?"

"Yes."

"So you should try being less stupid then the next time you see her, if what Oleana said was true."

"Ouch, Quen."

"You know I'm right."

"Did YOU find anyone then? Talking really high for someone here on her own." As Sevan asks this, he raised a finger. "Wait, I think I remember..."

But Quen felt all emotion in her face suddenly disappear from her. All the smugness dissipated within a second and she looked at the floor.

Sevan backed out of that subject quickly, sweating a little from his forehead. "Oh. Fuck, okay. I won't ask about it, then. Sorry."

The girl thought to herself, before shaking her head. "N-no it's fine. It's complicated." /...I just wish I had all the answers./

It was rare for Sevan to see Quen so immediately down after something like that being brought up. "I'd offer better commentary on it, but nothing is coming to mind currently. Brain fuzzy as it is."

"Yeah...that makes us the same for now."

An air of awkward silence went accompanied only by the sounds of the 2 Eeveelutions nearby cuddling and playing with each other happily. Chorui stayed the whole time on 'watch', even when dealing with the stressful environment Oleana brought, with Fen chatting up Enya.

"Well whatever it is you're working on, keep me in the loop."

Quen nodded. "I will. For now it's enough to come here and...I don't know. Get another chance at something." Her eyes looked back at Sevan. "Got a funny feeling though, and I can't shake as to why."

- - An hour later - -

Sevan felt his consciousness start to dip, but like his usual insomnia it would be a toss-up whether he'd meet the dream world or not. Now moping in the corner from not having a Flareon to cuddle, Shinrin just opted to try and soak up whatever light was left from the day by sitting where the windows were located.

Suddenly, the door opened once again. "Miss Chair-...man?" He raised his head up to look at the door of his room only to be met by the visage of the Fighting Gym Leader herself, Bea. "Oh wait you're..." /Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck I can't..I..I AM NOT PREPARED TO DEAL WITH THIS NOW/

The silver haired girl came to, holding a small basket and bowed before extending both arms out to show him the basket. "Please take this."

"Uhm..." In his confusion, Sevan was unable to properly figure out for what reason why anyone would have a basket made for him. Bea coming by to see him was one thing he hadn't accounted for so soon in his state. Shin and Fen looked to Bea, with Chorui slowly coming to out of his own light state of sleep.

"Right, it probably hurts for you to move, doesn't it? Let me just put this on the stand near the bed." She said, before sitting down next to him after placing the gift basket down. "Look, I hurt you pretty badly on the field, and I've felt terrible on the state I put you in, so, consider this a 'get well soon' package." she looked down with her head bowed.

/One word at a time, man. Try to speak to her properly./ He gulped, and thought hard on it before executing normal human speech. "Thank you, I wasn't really thinking anyone else would come by..." He peered under the cloth. A small ointment bottle for the bruises and aches he was experiencing. A homemade brownie, a few berries, and a vitamin drink.

There was an awkward quietness between the two with Bea fidgeting. Known as one of the most disciplined fighters in the region, and the star of her family, she was ill equipped to deal with post-battle results where the victim was taking the full brunt of her might. For many fights, she would never go all out, but felt going halfway would only make him feel insulted.

"I'm sorry!" Bea exclaimed suddenly. "I...I didn't mean to hit you as hard as I did, and it's no excuse of me for meeting your challenge so violently. There was a part of me that knew if I didn't go all out to meet the spirit you showed in the ring, that it would only insult you, and to be fair it didn't feel right to not match that."

Exhaling through the nose in a quiet laugh that turned into pain, Sevan just chuckled, and with a voice tone to match as if drugged on painkillers, replied, "Don't feel bad, I now know what it's like to be hit by punches that go faster than my eyes can keep up. It'sz fineee. Seriously.." He turned his head to look at her slowly and tried to give a thumbs up. /Fuck, god damn drugs are kicking in./

"Don't say that so casually, damn it! You could have, no, should have withdrawn and come back to fight me another day! I'm not going to ask why you brought only half a team with you, or why you have this stubborn aura of someone who has to do everything by themselves, damned the consequences, or why you're still smiling despite looking like Porygon-Z bred with a Trubbish, but your decisions today were stupid!" Bea said again, huffing in frustration.

"Well that's not the first time I've heard that today." Rolling his head to the side, Sevan looks off.

Bea would inhale deep before exhaling slowly. "Meditate on that while you get stronger. Let your body heal, and come face me again."

Sevan looked on at her with a half smirk. In truth, there were no good answers he could give that would satiate her curiosity. "I've been dealt worse injuries than this, okayyyy?"

Resting both hands on her lap, Bea took another deep breath and closed her eyes. "I'm not going to lie to you, Sevan, since Haru speaks highly of you, and Syra is a good friend of mine: I expected you to be a good battle. It was a learning experience for me despite being so shortlived. Losing in a League battle is not the end, so I will be expecting you to attempt once more in the future."

Her eyes opened and faced him sternly. "That is my thoughts when it comes to you as a Pokemon trainer. However, with your body..." She hummed in thought. "It's obvious your body knows how to react. It's seen many clashes. The scrapes, the cuts, and even the twitches your nerves would ellicit before throwing a punch on me. You've got what it takes to grow beyond, but I don't want you doing what happened there today again. There are folks who will now try to find every excuse to corner you and prod whatever they can out of you like a needle searching a vein."

Her expression did not change, as Sevan felt the entire day was just chastising him over and over. Bea, at the very least, was being the most informative and beneficial to him on her visit. "I will not be a mentor to you, Sevan, so I expect you to find your own avenue to enlightenment. Come face me soon again."

Sevan replied with an air of disdain. "Coming from you, I've heard it all before. I can't even get mad at you for not knowing this is nothing new to me."

/...what sort of response is that?/ Bea thought to herself. The girl huffed. "Well?! I'm saying to not make the same mistakes! Get proper sleep! Eat a proper meal! Bring a bigger team and-!" She started suggesting.

Speaking up to cut her off, Sevan had his eyes closed. "Can't."

Shin, Chorui, and Fen just looked sullen when he responded like that: they missed the rest of the pack.

"What do you mean 'can't'?" Bea asked in her confusion.

"Means I can't come back with a full team. Not until I am able to..." Opening his eyes slowly, he looked back at Bea and went quiet. The pair shared a moment of silence, and in Bea's case, confusion. The discipline within Bea kept her from looking away or shrinking from intimidation, but was completely stripped away of that strength suddenly when he spoke up next. "Fuck, you are the prettiest woman I've ever seen in my entire life..."

/Th-thump/

"w-w-w-wh...What..?!" Bea felt her heart skip a beat and face heat up; being told something so directly to her face while Sevan looked right at her took the wind out of her sails. Shortlived, however, as his eyes closed, and his face sank onto the pillow. "Sevan?"

Bea waited for a moment, and leaned forward to listen if he had actually passed out or not. Internally she was given some relief when she heard him exhale softly as if asleep. "Forgive me. I'll come back later to check on you." she would say, clasping her hands together and forward in a semi-bow of respect. She saw the Pokemon get comfortable as the Leafeon kneaded bread with its paws on the bed near Sevan's feet and laid down.

The fighter exited the room, nodding to the pair of policewomen at the door, went down the hall and to the elevator. Many names had followed her throughout her entire life, and contrarians to her overly serious nature landed seldom times a few discussions she wasn't a fan of hearing. Rarely did Bea have any outright 'haters', but no one had come up to directly tell her something so brazen as 'pretty'. She had a rock hard, lean body that lived and breathed discipline in combat and excercise. Anything pertaining to physical attraction was usually sorted for fellow female Gym Leaders. /I'll consider what he said to be the effect of drugs influencing what he wouldn't normally say./

Nodding to some hospital staff and walking into the elevator shaft herself, Bea pressed the 'L' button and leaned against the wall. A part of her would, despite this inner monologue, question itself: the chance of that honesty simply coming out with nary an inhibition. Her cheeks turned light pink in thought, and just walked it off until exiting the hospital. /There's just no way that someone could so easily think that about me./

- - - - - Sinnoh - - - - -
- - - - - Hospital in Eterna City - - - - -

Sitting at her desk, one skimpy clothed hummed studiously to herself as she had been slowly mulling over all of her findings, updates, and possible responses she needed to make. Her one longtime friend, the Ranger, Cherise, who was held up in the Intensive Care Unit, was making minimal progress. A few days prior, a seizure. A week before, sudden fainting spells. /Most people who have gone through what they do as Pokemon Rangers come out of the experience within years as hardened veterans. Well I suppose 'Rise is anything but a normal veteran./

Looking down through the lens in her glasses, she recalled some of the experiences that led to her admission. Pictures were included as part of a psyche evaluation that she did herself to try and help Cherise, but the girl had been through Darkrai nearly pulling her through the void of the abyss, a ship that almost sank, being knocked out from the sky and hitting the water at nigh terminal velocity, facing a floating island fortress that decimated an island in a second, and her testimonies given about going to the past. Dim Sun. Sinis Trio. Pokemon Pinchers. Societea.

She squinted at the weird codename that was given to the 3 people who led up to the bigger cause of problems during her tenure at Oblivia: Red Eyes, Blue Eyes, and Purple Eyes. They all felt like basic, elementary sounding codenames, but public records and Cherise's word was all one needed to know they were serious business. Behind the codenames lay some horrid, abominable acts enacted upon her that brought her here.

Kidnapped, and forced to be used as a scapegoat for Pokemon in 'halfling' breeding, starved of proper food, and yanked of her Pokemon team. All done by a collaborative effort between Team Rocket who had a double agent: pretending to be close to the Ranger one day, only to ruin a relationship she had with an archeologist that was living with her in Oblivia. A sudden disappearance where neither Keith, nor Ben or Elma, or anyone within The Ranger Union, were able to find her.

- - Some time ago, Kanto Team Rocket HQ - -

"Shit! There's a whole bunch of them outside!" someone shouts down the hallway, running with his Pokemon alongside him.

"What? A bunch of what?! We're running experiments down here, moron, don't bring so much attention!" Said an unruly scientist who was currently nose deep watching a beaten up Cherise that had her clothes torn off, nodding off via dissociating despite the mess of bodily fluids in a private cell. Several screens hanging nearby had dozens of digital 'pages' of notes that were scrolling by at a fast rate.

"Outside the HQ, we're being raided!"

"Red, Blue, and Leaf are here!"
"Shit, Cynthia!"

The irritated scientist looks back at the girl who stared at nothing and grumbled. "We're so close! Let's move the subject, then!"

The Gardevoir tapped one of her pointy feet on the floor in irritation at the little progress made, but felt she was reaching a point of 'eureka' revelation. /I don't think we're doing enough for her here...but I know where we can./

Vespa had been yelling right alongside Cherise, who had the television on and was seeing the broadcast from Stow on Side's match. Sitting upright and flailing her arms around in protest to nobody, her native Kalosian speech came out as easily as she breathed. "Attends quoi, non t'es un idiot ?! Ils sont fatigués et vous les envoyez à la mort, entraîneur de suceurs de bite Rapidash sans talent!" Exclaiming this before biting on part of her blanket, she just growled.

The machine that monitored her health signals were beeping, as her vitals had been going a little too high. Coming into her room, showed up and saw that her friend had been curiously enraged. "Cherise, honey? I'm here." half skipping to the drip bag and was seen with a needle in hand with something to calm her down.

Halfway pulling her own brown-and-pink hair out, Cherise's eyes were seeing red. "Grace! Fuck! You should've been here to see what was on the TV- okay maybe not, because if you had you would've been as angry...as...oooooh.."

Cherise would then slump back into the bed as the machines monitoring her blood pressure and pulse finally normalized and the girl found herself far quieter. The Gardevoir sank her head and frowned. "So...I have some bad news and good news. Bad news is that we seem to not be able to do a lot more for you here. After hearing your scars opened up again, it appears we aren't doing well to reinitialize that bit of half fairy blood that's in you. The other doctors and I are thinking there's not much else we can do...but what I *have* found out is I know where to further your recovery."

sat on the side of the bed as the Vaporeon circled around Cherise's feet as they were under the bedcovers and laid on them, with the girl looking back. "So what's the solution, then? I hope you're not considering having me simply 'get up' more to exercise since I'm already tiring out after an hour..."

The Doctor shook her head. "No no...that'll come later. The solution being looked at now is to transport you to another region: Galar. They have a more thorough facility, and-"

"Galar?! That's the-" Cherise suddenly huffed with her cheeks puffing outwards. "Galar...TV.. ce trou du cul abusif...attends je vais dans la région où j'ai vu ce crétin abuser de ses Pokémon à la télé?!"

Putting a hand on top of Cherise's brunette head, the doc just smiled. "Yes, the same region as that person you saw earlier, but also the same one as that lady you met one time: Oleana?"

Nodding, Cherise remembered easily. "Oh, right! I remember her. She was really nice."

"The location itself is undergoing a new circuit of the Pokemon League, but that doesn't mean we can't get you the best treatment for your recovery. You may even be able to see one of those fabled tournament matches they hold if enough trainers make it to the end! I heard they got a pair of new Gym Leaders this year, too." mused, with the Vaporeon hopping off the bed to go to a small inflatable kid-sized pool of water that was kept filled for its amusement and relaxation.

The wave of optimism ran its course. "After how long I've been in this hospital bed, recovering, losing progress of my recovery, then recovering some more, I'm willing to go through any sort of change at this point. But be honest with me, Grace, do you see a path where I'll be able to go back to how I was before?"

The Gardevoir took a deep breathe as her heavy cleavage rose with concern, and kept a stern face while Cherise, showing some bags under her eyes due to insomnia, looked back. Her mind flashed back to the cell in Johto that she was thrown in.

"Squeal bitch! Take it! This is for Red Eyes!"

"You'd never guess this heroine was once one of the most powerful Rangers around, but she sucks like a vacuum when the mood hits!"

"That's just the medication at work, and that thanks to her being a halfling she could be part Gardevoir for all we know which means they-"

"Hey, pack up, we got company! We're being raided!"

"COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP, WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED"

"Hey, get this girl some help!"

"Is that...?"

"Hey bud, we're going to save you...I'm sorry I was late..."

The last memory of that place she recalled her fellow Ranger, one named 'Keith' was carrying her out of the place to the first responders on the scene. One of her arms wraps around her own waist. "How bad does it look for me? Do you actually see me becoming the same person I was before all this?"

Keeping a stiff upper lip, Grace sighed but kept a strong smile. "What happened to you was horrible, I know, but we're going to see this recovery to the very end. Your story, your legacy will not end here. I'm coming with you to Galar, so you won't have to worry about not having a friend by your side the whole time."

As though the statement flew over Cherise's head, she perked up with a gasp. "Oh...but wait! What about the rest of my Pokemon? Will they be able to come too? There's so many that I bonded with...I...I don't want to leave them behind!" as Cherise said that in her worried tone, the window that overlooked the bright Sinnoh skies got a loud 'bump' as if something large had flown into with a loud 'thump'. It caught the attention of the doctor, who would investigate. Moving the blinds from it, Cherise perked up. "Well this makes sense, you have a visitor."

A long, red-and-white Pokemon with a potbelly and wing-like appendages poked its head into the hospital room and let out a happy cry. "Latias! I've missed you, I'm so glad you found me..." Cherise would say tiredly, as the Pokemon would morph briefly into a human form to fit through the window, before re-forming itself into the airborne Pokemon who nuzzled Cherise softly. Rubbing the sides of the Pokemon gently, Cherise would just smile tiredly with tears near the ends of her eyes as she was happy her reliable friend came and found her finally. "I thought they took you too...I'm glad they didn't."

"Latias, be gentle with her okay? Our Pokemon Ranger here has been through a lot." said, getting up and heading out, after waving off the two. As the door shut, Grace sighed and readjusted her red glasses. "750 Pokemon altogether...that's going to be a lot to move to Galar. This'll be a fun conversation to have with Oleana."

- - - - - A week later - - - - -
- - - - - Battle Tower, Wyndon - - - - -

"Fire Blast!"
"Zap Cannon!"

The clash of lightning and fire collided and merged into a ball of energy before spraying outwards as Haru and Leon stood at odds ends from each other, sparring within the Battle Tower as two strong trainers who were seeking to kill some time. As the match came to an end, Haru withdrew his Magnezone and began healing his team. "You know, I think you secretly are enjoying coming back to the Champion spot, Leon."

"Am I that easy to read?" the purple haired man asked, walking to meet his comrade in the middle of the ring.

"When it comes to Pokemon battles? I would say I can confidently feel you out by now with how often we've duked it out." Haru let his chin rest on his hand and then nodded confidently. "Yep. I'd say so!"

"Well when it comes to a few things that keep me at peace, Pokemon battling is one of those things. Sonia recommends I do it as a means to help keep my mind stimulated, and since she's the smart one of us, I trust her." Leon said in a joking manner, before exiting the floor to go with Haru outside. The pair exited the tower and walked out where the busy metropolis welcomed them back with a sound of parade music off in the distance. As Haru spotted a blimp that was showing a new commercial with Nessa on it, he looked to Leon.

"Either way, it helps me stay active. I have to keep myself busy until we start getting challengers who are 7 badges in and are looking to take me on. When I was a Challenger myself, it was exciting. Now, I'm bored." Haru proclaimed with some level of honesty he didn't expect himself to say, causing Leon to snort.

Leon would fold his arms together and leaned back. "You think that's bad? Imagine being in my shoes. Oh wait."

Haru chuckled and sighed. "Okay, fuck, you got me there. I think it's just a new cycle I have to get used to now: looking up updates to see where everybody is currently."

"Yeah? And what have you found out that it's like?"

As an icecream cart was wheeling by, Haru thought of Gordie and Melony, and how this will be the first year where the 2 Gyms aren't fighting each other due to the 2 having worked out their differences. How there wasn't a Grass Gym, and how he himself was a Gym Leader. Things had changed so fast, it appeared, since he began his journey. "Weird. The thing that's keeping my interest are learning about the few trainers who are already 4 or 5 Gyms in, and going from there. I've learned Syra is doing pretty well, but admittedly..."

The redhead combed his hands through his hair with both palms from the front towards the back and sighed. "...Galar really does kind of lack a lot of ways for me to have a proper rematch with her."

"You know the word going around is that even some fans want to see a rematch?" Leon asked him, poking his side.

"Really, huh?"

"Yeah. Some people were making comparisons on not just the way you two fought, but the constant connection you two share as Pokemon trainers. I haven't known Syra long enough like you have to place any faith in what they're saying, but when I was a Champion in my first go-round, what the audience says, goes." Taking off his iconic cap, Leon looked down at Haru with a smirk.

"You're saying there's something else to take from this that I haven't heard before?" Haru inquired, with an eyebrow raising slowly.

"Maybe, maybe not. How to put this..." Leon would put the cap back on and then snapped his fingers. "So...when I was Champion, I was known as the 'unstoppable, unbeatable Champion' of Galar, yes? You remember that, right?"

Haru nods in agreement. "It was basically almost cult-like how everybody had to add those words to describe you like it was part of a title."

Leaning back, Leon would look off where some archive footage playing on a sports channel alongside one of the shopping centre's screens played. "Correct, but what sells an audience doesn't just rely on one thing like being unstoppable: what they REALLY like is an underdog story!" The screen had even conveniently then changed to where it showed footage of Alola getting its first Champion when they began their league.

He turned to Haru with his right hand clenching into a fist. "What also sells is a 'heel': a 'bad guy', or an 'opposite' to someone else as a means to become better. Up until Syra, Galar didn't really have anything like that."

"You're saying that Syra ended up becoming for me what Bede was trying to become, huh?" Haru said plainly, with Leon pursing his lips and then shrugging.

"I guess that's correct, then."

Haru liked hearing that, because it only confirmed his own thoughts about the sort of spirit he had with Syra all this time. If he was feeling it, Leon took notice of it, and audiences were murmuring about it, then it only could mean that, league rules be damned, the audience would kill for a rematch as well. The gears would start turning into the back of his head as Haru hummed to himself. For a few moments, the pair would stand there in silence in front of the Battle Tower, watching as a few people dropped by to head to challenge the combatants inside. When the group disappeared inside, Haru snapped his own fingers and felt something 'click'.

"Leon, how would you like to help me make that possible?"

"Hmm?"

- - 5 minutes later - -

Chuckling and then tilting his head downward, Leon turned to head back into the Battle Tower, only to look back at Haru. "You know it would be easier to talk to Oleana about this one, right?"

"Yeah...but I don't think this time we should involve her. You said it yourself..." Haru would then perform a mock pose that Leon did often in his career and grinned. "Keep reaching greater heights!"

Laughing in agreement, Leon smiled. "Exactly, and this is the type that would make Galar reach new heights right along with us."

[BEEP BEEP BEEP]

The sound of Haru's Rotom Phone came from his pocket, and the Steel Gym Leader would wave before parting ways with the ex-Champion friend of his. Opening up the messages, he came to see a pair of colliding pieces of news.

[Syra: YO, H, I'm 5 Badges in! Look!] Syra would display within her text to Haru a picture of herself with a nearly completed Badge Medallion. Then as Haru read this, he received another that was short and to the point, from the Chairman.

[Oleana: When you have time, please get on a video call with me. We have to discuss your sanctuary posthaste.]

/Well, unless something drastic is happening like with the Steel Gym being paused, I don't get the feeling that there's bad news behind this text./ He hummed to himself in thought, but paid the brief sensation of doubt no mind as he waved down a Corviknight near a cab driver to head to his Gym.

- - - - - Steel Gym Office, North Circhester - - - - -

Closing the door and leaning back in, Haru informed his staff that he would be taking an important call, putting his phone on the 'silent' form, and signed onto his work computer's video call application where Oleana would be awaiting to hold a meeting with him. A few moments go by, and the call prompt came up.

Putting on the headset and leaning back, the digital phone dial started, and along with Oleana's video feed and his own coming onscreen, Haru took notice of an audio-only channel. He raised an eyebrow but stayed professional. "Miss Chairman, hello."

In her office, Oleana kept a straight posture and her usual muted glance. " , I'm glad you called as fast as you did. I'd like to introduce you to , who will be joining us in the call today. She's not here in Galar, but in Sinnoh, and is currently audio-only."

Figuring she probably saw him while he couldn't see her, Haru just nodded like he would 'bow' to a person sitting in his chair. "Nice to meet you, Doctor."

There was a small pause that Haru would internally chalk up to internet speed delay before hearing a voice come back that was deeper and more seductive than he anticipated. "Hello dear, it's a pleasure."

"So what is this about, Chairman?" Haru asked, not thinking twice on why they had a third party involved in the phone call.

Folding her hands together, Oleana went right to business. "As I begin construction plans for your sanctuary, you and I have to discuss some new venues on the future concerning how it's going to be run. As of this moment you have the credentials to become licensed for such a location to be run and founded by yourself, but I hope you weren't considering just having your Gym staff help volunteer as workers for it?"

Humming in thought, Haru saw the point she was making. "No, I wasn't...but I was struggling on what I should ask for since this is my first time running one. I need to surround myself with experts of all types. Holly is already a shoe-in: the scientist that we rescued from the operation a short bit ago. Outside of her...I'm a little stumped. We need people that help keep track of when to feed Pokemon, what to feed them, and how to make sure they are seen to their medical needs. We have to protect them from other, hostile Pokemon, too. It wouldn't be ethical of me to ask people I knew in my own Gym to double-up on possible time to do more hours for a completely different type of establishment. There's no way I could even screen for that myself."

"That's correct. Galar also comes with the problem where we are facing a doctor shortage. The minds and talent that running a sanctuary requires are currently few and far between. You're not only going to need medical professionals, but others like yourself to make sure Pokemon are safe, feel comfortable, and thus: like it's a safe haven. Then again, you knew that last bit: that's why you proposed us having one." Oleana explained.

Knowing all of this to be true, Haru nodded and saw the problem that now lay before him. "In my time walking around, camping, being the Champion, being now ex-Champion, innumerable interviews, and all the battles within my career, it's rare that I've met anyone of those professions." He folded his arms and looked a little conflicted. "I've battled all sorts of people from policemen, postmen, miner workers, maybe a few Pokemon Breeders..." He blinked. "Wait...! Maybe a few of those Breeders wouldn't mind helping. Gosh, there's still so much to do."

"I'll step in on this, Haru. You're going to be assigned several other classes of staff. I, and a curated staff will be helping you get via scouting. But you're a smart man: should you come across anyone willing to participate, send them my way." Oleana pursed her lips like she was setting up for a new topic. "That being said, we settled on that location you chose: west of West Lake Axwell in the Wild Area. For now, we're currently setting it up so the land can co-exist within the area of traintracks that lead to/from Motostoke."

"Thank Arceus for that...though that alone could be a good landmark for tourists to spot when they're here. New trainers could take a break from camping in The Wild Area to pay us a visit and even see if they can take any Pokemon up for adoption as either part of their team, or family, or both." Haru points out.

Quietly, Oleana nods in agreement before shifting her seat to point to the Audio Only window onscreen. "Our friend here, , also has given some thoughts in regards to the sanctuary. I've spoken about it with her off-call, and I think you'll find she's more than capable of assisting if you'll allow her. Her thesis paper on the sciences behind mating cycles of Pokemon and the cross pollination of human-and-Pokemon relations could be of interest."

Haru laughed a little nervously. "What, is this another person you've added to my staff now?" He joked, but then the realization of the latter half of Oleana's comment hits him. "Hold on. here has a thesis paper on mating and cross-species pollination? How could all that help the sanctuary? How does that relate?"

spoke up on call. "It is so that you know how and when to contain them during their 'time in heat'. There's a lot of knowledge to unpack, and it's not quite frankly necessary to commit to parts of said thesis...of which I am VERY proud of, but if you go in without knowing you could set yourself up for failure. I'll do what I can to help you prepare for this before everything is set in stone, but moving on...I come bearing knowledge of something else that can be of help. Another class of Pokemon expertise that matches one of a S class trainer like yourself. Have you heard of Pokemon Rangers?"

Haru's eyes widened in curiosity. "Pokemon Rangers...? No, I haven't." He looked at his desk in thought and tried to recall anything that Sonia or Hop may have mentioned when in their numerous discussions, much less his reviewing of Pokedex information, or any conversation he overhead with his mom. "Before we move on: the topic of Pokemon mating cycles is something I overlooked, so I'll be thankful for any help you can provide. It is an area I'm not as well versed in, so your expertise is needed."

In a seductive-like tone, replied without missing a beat. "Oh~ I know I'm needed."

/...what the fuck?/ Haru felt a bead of sweat go down his forehead, as he wasn't expecting that level of response. "...right. Like I said!"

Oleana chuckled and gestured. " , if you would."

"Thank you. Please look at the following images, if you please."

A set of images of people wearing an assortment of red vests, jackets, and hats appeared onscreen. Each one had Pokemon by their side either in or out of action. "Pokemon Rangers are elite class like you are in how they handle Pokemon, but they do not use them against other trainers in battle, nor use Pokemon for battles against other wild Pokemon. Instead, by utilizing the tool you see in their hands, called a 'Styler', they convey feelings of friendship to help deepen a bond between human and Pokemon. The same way how we have helped Pokemon bond with humans through things such as food, Heart Balls, or gifts of many types, Pokemon Rangers have the capacity to ask Pokemon to lend their abilities." More photos would come up showcasing a Ranger with a cowboy hat on working with some people in red vests in a mountainous region, and another with some small footage of a forest fire being put out.

"You can consider Pokemon Rangers to be able to stop anything from a forest fire, to any natural disaster on a countyside, or nationwide scale. They are, in every respect, the manned forces we can utilize to resolve any dispute or conflict without need of violence."

Haru blinked, completely infatuated with the idea of not using battles or badges to accomplish the tasks he would often see himself doing. The tools she spoke about especially caught his attention. "...and they do all this without battling?" He asks, while pointing to a girl who had a Rhyperior destroying a barricade, reuniting a lost Pokemon with its family.

"Yes."

It excited Haru enough to nearly cut off , as he waved his hands a little in place. "Miss Chairman, how come I've never heard of Pokemon Rangers before? I haven't met a single one in Galar, and nobody here has ever mentioned them before! Knowing that a class of people exist out there that is able to bond with these fascinating creatures on a level I can only dream of is amazing!"

Behind the monitor, narrowed her eyes pensively. The truth was far more brutal than a work-focused call would allow.

Oleana bit her lip and refrained from the full truth. "Rangers are hard to come by. Many are located in multiple other regions, from Hoenn, to Kalos, Pasio, Almia, Oblivia, Fiore, but not here."

Leaning towards the screen so that he was seen squinting at the camera, Haru bit his lip again. "Some of those names sound made up, but you're the Chairman so I'll believe you."

"They're real, Haru, trust me."

"Right. So...is it possible to maybe have one of them come here?"

"Perhaps." Oleana said in a bemused tone.

"Miss Chairman, if it's possible, I would like to at least express an interest in us maybe having a Pokemon Ranger help me. For now, I'm going to do what I can to get the word out and get those that love Pokemon and are able to help join my cause. Rangers sound like they could really be helpful."

"Who knows? Perhaps one day you'll get to meet one if things go well. That is, at least, what we are hoping for currently. Right now I'm still trying to put out the fire that your friend started." Oleana would say, grumbling while making a fist, as Haru could only laugh weakly in response. "But that's all I've to say for now. I'll give you a more detailed list on who to employ, and since it's your sanctuary, you ultimately make the final call. For the moment, concentrate on your new persona as the Steel Gym Leader."

He nods with a bit more of a positive spirit in him than when he started. "Yes ma'am. Am I dismissed?"

"You are. You may have some trainers coming your way soon, so I hope you'll be able to entertain the world with your first performance, 'Soul of Steel' Haru." Oleana teased.

"Yes, yes. Haru out. Thank you for your information, . Both of you have a wonderful evening."

He disconnected from the call, as the other women remaining continued further.

- - - - In Oleana's Office, Wyndon - - - -

Oleana leaned back into her chair, while still in the call and brought up the video feed as 's camera came on and looked over to her friend on the screen. "Thoughts? That's the one who's leading the effort over here, and now you have finally gotten an idea of what he's like. He's the same gentleman who helped save this region several times, so there may be a chance him and Cherise can connect."

Grace leaned back in her chair with one leg over the other, one arm under her breasts as she nods her approval. "Haru seems like a good guy with a good head on his shoulders. I'm worried, however, about how they will work together. We need to arrange a meeting to ensure all goes well."

The Gardevoir thought for a moment, pen lightly bouncing off her cheek as Oleana cleared her throat. "I'm sure that when the time comes we can get to that point, easily. For now, one day at a time, Grace."

"Hmm. Yes. Now can we discuss the transport over? We have a bit to go over." Grace said with a hint of growing anxiety in her tone.

Knowing where the subject matter would be leading, Oleana hummed in the same manner when she was in her 'zone' during business meetings with the more curmudgeon-like members of the board. "That's where I was going to mention next. I'm unsure if you think having Cherise go into something like this would work out for her right out of recovery. You're far more aware of her profile than I am..." Oleana said as screenshots of her record came up. "...so you tell me what you think is best."

Grace began sending more files as her friend spoke. "Cherise would do well in the setting yes, but only once she has recovered mentally. As it stands now Oleana, I don't want to be rude, but it's not looking good for her. I know you have your hands full but we urgently need to transfer her to Galar. A transportation to a better equipped hospital could mean the difference from several years recovery to no recovery at all." She took a deep breath. "Her condition hasn't improved and we are running out of time...if you're able to, please approve of her transfer now. Please...she needs your doctors and medical staff."

The urgency of the matter, as well as the importance of where this could ultimately lead her, Galar, Haru's sanctuary, and the future, was well within her sights. Oleana didn't even think twice on it, and snapped her fingers. "Then bring her over here. See to it that she gets a first class transfer to this region." Her eyes narrowed "...to think, that I came across the very same Pokemon Ranger that has that much strength within her. I would consider it fate that our meeting has led to this. One can only hope Elma won't be too cross with me plucking her further from the HQ of the Union."

"Fate huh.." The doctor whispered before sitting straight. "Acknowledged. I will also need a home for some of her Pokémon. Along with the Vaporeon and Growlithe you've met, she's bonded with an Altaria. Those are the usual go-to comfort Pokemon that have been very helpful in keeping her moderated. She also has a Mew, Celebi and a Latias who appear a lot: to say they're attached to her is an understatement of the century."

"Bonds with Pokemon through being a Ranger, hmm? Must be an invaluable trait to have, indeed..." Oleana comments, swirling a little in her chair until she was profile to on the camera feed.

nodded. "That's correct, 'Rise has an...unusual gift, a very high aptitude for bonding with Pokemon. She's done so with about 750 that have refused to return to the wild. All of them insisting on remaining with her."

/One who bonds with that many Pokemon, huh. So she is just like Haru is in more ways than the history of their talents./ The Chairman thought to herself with a smirk. "Works for me. I'm close to finalizing a matter where our land of Galar will allow a considerable number more Pokemon here, but for Haru's sanctuary in particular..." she raised a finger "If it's a Pokemon with a registered number in the dex, then it's allowed here. So his sanctuary truly will be, by law, allowed to have any, and all." Her hand lowered back to her side. "...at least that is the idea."

"Okay. I will send those over with a number already registered..." looked off to the side, her mind already at work. "...in which case it means her Staraptor will be.." her thinking of his temper tantrum gave her a headache. "Ugh. This may prove a might difficult to manage so many, and may take a small bit of time, but I'll manage." She signals for a nurse. "Prepare Cherise for transport to Galar at once." The nurse nods and hurries out.

Oleana smiled. "It's going to be a bit before his sanctuary is complete, but won't take as long as the stadium. I believe once she's recovered quite a bit she'd be able to handle meeting him..." Oleana turned back "Stay with me on this but be honest, is hospital food that bad?"

Grace blinked then laughed. "Not here in this side of the world, but you ought to see for yourself at your hospitals Oleana."

The Chairman wrinkled her face a little. "Hmm. Not sure I'll be up to that, but regardless, Cherise herself will get the best care and that includes food, too." She stood up from the desk and looked at the video feed. "Since you'll be coming with Cherise, it isn't much of a stretch to say you may have an interest in working at a sanctuary, correct? Am I wrong to have assumed as such earlier?"

"Oh, I do plan to my dear, working as a consultant, Head Doctor, and so forth." Grace winked at her friend as she gets up to pack everything. "I'll call you when we have reached Galarian airspace so you can meet us at the hospital."

"Thank you for your patience with me on this, doctor." She leaned over to the computer and exited the call before sighing. /So many things to do at once, nearly no time to complete any of it./

She would go back to Cherise's room and find the Ranger listening to a CD that was playing, as the album artwork was laid out on her bed of some punk rock singer sporting black-and-white hair on it. The girl unplugged one of her earphones from her ears as the Gardevoir spoke. "Rise? We're going to get you help!" The Ranger smiled with a sense of hope peering in from the horizon.

- - - - - Back at the Steel Gym - - - - -

Haru stayed at his desk, tapping on the desk studiously. He looked at the image of Nessa that was on the screen of his phone and exhaled slowly. The lack of being able to attend her Gym Leader Battles had been leaving him with a sense of longing, but other than that, another thought had risen. There wouldn't be anything that made him feel uneasy for the decisions he had done with Nessa in any part of the relationship, but something came up.

Hesitation hit him as he didn't want to seem clingy. The day had barely started as far as a Gym Leader was concerned, but there wouldn't be anyone else he could lean on. /Sam is busy getting used to his multifaceted new job in the league, so I can't bother him. Sevan is in and out of insomnia after Bea gave him a facelift, and Syra is focusing on her challenge./ His thumbs did the talking.

[H: Hey hon do you have a moment to talk? Hope the challengers are making the day exciting at least!]

Setting the phone down, Haru stood up from the desk and walked around. Anxiety came spiking from without a source or set reason, so he had to get up to the vinyl player across the room and put on one to play. The music began playing through the accompanying speakers and Haru's legs slowed their bouncing. A reply came from Nessa shortly after, and he lunged at the phone to read.

[N: Yeah, sure.]

Before he knew it, her face came back up in a live feed video call and his heartrate lowered immediately. "Hey beautiful."

He saw her walking down one of Hulbury Gym's hallways, presumably to her own office, smiling back brightly at him. "Hey. What's wrong? Talk to me. Your text gave me bad vibes."

There was no other way to say it, so Haru just said it. "I've uh...been wondering if I've been making the right calls."

Haru saw her eyes go from focusing on finding her doorway while holding the phone in her hand in the call to looking right at him through the camera feed. "...and you're not talking about logistics for your gym, are you?" She met his anxiety halfway. "Is this about what happened at your mom's again?"

He just chuckled and let one hand idly comb through part of his cheeks before ruffling his hair a bit. "Sorta. I've worried that there are some things in the past that have been catching up to me. This isn't about...you know..." His eyes narrow, thinking back to when him and Nessa won against Milo and Kabu in a Double Battle victory. What him and Nessa did as a 'performance' afterwards, and having it be a display of just how far he was willing to go to put someone else in their place.

Nessa caught onto him and hummed. "Mmm. I think about it too...but I don't regret it."

"Oh yeah, me neither! It's just...ever since the shit with Milo, the journalists, the incident at my mom's house, and Syra talking to me...it feels like there's a part of me that's made me unsettled." Speaking low, Haru would lean into his office chair and exhaled through his nose slowly. "Nessa, there are times where for some reason I get unreasonably angry. There's a force that just puts me back in time to that moment. Call it uncertainty, but it's like I could see myself going to those intruders and just-" Haru gestured using a knife to cut someone up. "It wasn't that long ago before I never even considered doing that! What the fuck is wrong with me? What if that happens again and I'm suddenly not who you fell for? What if I go too far?"

"Babe, that's not going to happen: not on my watch!" Nessa contested, sitting up straight and looking him in the eyes.

"It's like my nearly killing someone unleashed a part that's just..."

"Making you unsure if you're really 'you' or not?"

He nodded. "Mmmm."

Looking away from the camera, Nessa bit her lip. "I guess I understand how that can be frightening. Remember that one of the things older league cards of mine said how my Gym have 'stories' on not being peaceful thanks to my moodswings." She shrugged.

"I have to find a way to approach this growing negativity in a healthy way because soon I'll be representing Galar for the first time as a Gym Leader."

His fiance' raised a hand. "Haru, can I butt in? I want you to remember how you helped me not worry as much about the press and community's comments when we began dating. I felt comfortable telling you that as someone who is a model, I put myself 'out there' in a much different way than normal people do. Do you remember talking to me about those things?"

Smiling with nostalgia, Haru grinned from ear to ear. The memory of seeing Nessa in person wearing her infamous dress on her rare league card while he took her out to dinner was only one of the best things that evening brought him. The things they talked about, and consequently did, was forever implanted in his brain. "Yeah, I do. So you're telling me to do as you do. Perhaps since I will now be a Gym Leader, I too will be putting myself out there differently than some guy with a bunch of sponsor logos on his back." He laughed briefly to help stave off his own awkwardness.

/Putting myself out differently, hmm./ The Steel Master thought to himself.

Nessa pulled a strand of her hair back and smiled confidently. "Even when you were Champion, you were rather different...maybe complacent."

Haru chuckled, and nodded. "Yeah, I kinda was, wasn't I?"

Continuing, Nessa snapped her fingers. "Just remember the passion you had when you finally figured out what you wanted to do after researching other Champions. Recall how happy I was to be there when you figured it out. If for any reason you start feeling bad, think back to all the times I stood by you. It's all because you stood by me, first."

The other memory hit the couple at the same time: post first-match of the Pokemon League Tournament. Haru had defeated Nessa, then went to talk to her after the game. Insisting she not downplay herself, and that he'd like to talk more to her later. Fans would idolize her for the persona she put out in the battlefield, but for that second she felt that someone saw her for her: more than just an obstacle to progress their own career. Gym Leaders were meant to be a passing 'phase' for all Gym Challengers. One-and-done if they were talented enough, but a wall if they couldn't hack it. Nessa would smile recalling it all and looked at him through the phone. "I'm simply #2 in the Gym Leaders overall, but you chose to make me feel like I could fight with the rest of them. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Haru glanced at her on the video feed, then the clock hanging on his office wall for the time. "I gotta get going now. I'll see you later tonight. Thanks for listening. It helped."

She cocked her head sideways. "Don't I always?"

"Later, gorgeous. Love you."

Nessa flashed a 'V' for victory with her fingers and blew a kiss. "Love you too. By the way, it's *your* turn for dinner tonight." She hung up afterwards, causing Haru to do a double take.

"Hey wai-...!." He smacked his cheeks to let the anxiety rub off, stood up, and walked out of his office.

Trekking down the hallways where Haru would normally be patrolling in isolation, he spotted his Gym Trainers who finished up their sparring. They're now assisting the janitors in keeping the place spotless before the day arrives of the first set of matches. Over the speakers in the hallways, low volume music of Pokemon battle anthems would be playing, including the one that accompanies Gym Leaders. He poked his head through one of the set of double doors that leads out to attendee seating to glance at the view, then started to jog around the hallways until he started to lap. The anxiety of not knowing when his first set of matches was starting to kick in. A question spawns, though it only brief, of /Nessa brought up good points by reminding me of my epiphany about the Champions of yesteryear. The happiness it brought me was genuine, but is this really the lifestyle I want? Did I mess up by throwing away my Championship?/. He didn't know if these were the works of an inner demon, a moment of chaotic thought coming to the surface, or influence from all the media he had to fight back.

Skidding to a halt in mid-jog, Haru took a moment to reflect. /I should get some fresh air./

In stepping outside, Haru stretched and took a moment to take in the gusty air. By doing so, however, his attention is diverted to look near the entrance where normal people would arrive. The sounds of chatter were heard. Was there a promotion being run for him that he was unaware of, or a trainer battle occurring? It was neither, but a long line that was forming in front of the ticket booth. He gasps. /Wait...we're selling tickets?/ The anxiety shot back up. If his staff was now pricing and selling tickets to the general public, then it could only mean one thing.

Retreating back inside before the large part of the line spotted him, Haru searched for one of his staff members. He spots Monika down one hallway posting community events on one of the bulletin boards, who sees him sprinting. "H-Haru, what's going on?"

He takes a moment to gain some air from running before he asks, "Are we selling tickets now? Did we just get confirmation about some challengers coming?"

She gave him a patient smile. Looking down at the stack of papers she had in her arms, Monika dug through the files before bringing out a faxed printout sheet with a list of names of trainers. Haru gasped when his eyes read the lines...

'- / LEAGUE INFORMATION FOR: GALAR STEEL GYM / -'

"I look forward to showing everybody what we're made of soon, sir." She said confidently, humming to herself before walking away.

"Monika."

"Yes?" She turned back to face him in mid-walk. With his hand clenched tightly into a fist, Haru grins confidently. The brunette nodded in response and gave a smirk. "Understood, sir."

He looks off as Monika walked down the hallway, then continued to head back towards his office. Knowing soon that they would have their first day of games together, Haru began to consider his life goal having soon 'completed' itself. Many long days of waiting, planning, acting and reacting, only to come to this final step. It would be nothing but PR swill to the public eye, but he also now thought of the words Oleana spoke of...the 'persona' as the Soul of Steel.

/What does she mean 'persona'? Doesn't she just mean me going out like I usually do and battling?/

Haru bit his lip and, upon walking into his office, scanned his walls as memories of the past came to him. Wearing a black jacket that either had a Gym Leader's type on it, or a plain red polo shirt and some shorts. At times, he'd have a happy-go-lucky persona that didn't take crap from others, but was able to become a Champion after such a chaotic league. The rivalry with Bede. Learning about the 'heroes of Galar' with Sonia. Going to the vault with Raihan. Befriending Marnie. Rose revealing his underhanded tactics that involved him trying to goad Leon to work with him, only to end up bringing about a new Darkest Day. The royal twins, Sordward and Shielbert. Becoming deeper friends with the Gym Leaders, and in that process, romancing Nessa of Hulbury.

His eyes glazed over when thinking back to the fond memories, both happy and sad, of the past few years. Getting ready for the new league, and running into Syra, a girl who was a new antagonist that ended up becoming a friend, who would also be key to helping end a plot from another evil in the form of Giovanni's Team Rocket. His amber colored eyes looked to a photo of himself with Nessa that was hung up as a memoir of their first date, and then recalled his own promise to her.

/"As I promised to you, that will be the last 'heroic' thing I do."/

Narrowing his eyes, Haru reeled back a little. /Why did I just think about that for a moment? I've kept that promise to Nessa ever since, and I can't break that now if something happens./ He pressed his thumb and forefinger to his chin in thought, as his mind raced around the wording of that memory. /Heroic...heroic...heroic.../

Suddenly a lightbulb lit up in his brain, and Haru gasped. /...all this time when I enter the ring I've only shown the same bombastic persona, barring the serious tone I had to put on when Syra laid out her entire plan for my destruction. Instead of people at large getting mad at her for causing such a ruckus, her fanbase has exploded since then./ Both eyes squinting, then closing, Haru's brows furrowed while thinking on the importance of personalities that accompany the league. Nessa, for all her faults, did gain a big fanbase and was nicknamed the 'Raging Wave' in part due to her very combative nature, and rumors. Bede has retained a fanbase through his showy arrogance that allows him to welcome trainers to the 'True Power of Pink!' his battles become. Even the always smiling Melony was infamous for how 'ice cold' her battle persona is within her own Gym.

Having thought about everyone else's 'personas' made Haru have something click in his head before looking to a photo that Syra took as she re-entered the league this year. A smile slowly crept on his face as he looked to her iconic, but simple outfit. A flash in the pan idea reminded him of Blue, too, if only for a moment. /Being a 'hero' is boring if I'm to rebrand myself and work on my new lifestyle. There's no point in simply grinning like I'm the same man as tomorrow. Acknowledge my past, but move past it./ Haru looked at a glass case of memorabilia that he had placed in his office and saw his own reflection. He turned his head sideways, downways, and upways. Raising his chin, and, in a way, re-inspecting his appearance. An invisible, 'new' him appeared within the reflection, staring back. /If I'm to be the 'Soul of Steel' then I suppose my Gym would not be so farfetched to be known as a Steel Mill. What Galar needs.../

He suddenly exclaimed, looking at the 'other' self that was staring back within his reflection. "EUREKA!" Stepping over to his desk, Haru picked up the hardline and dialed some numbers onto it. He leans against the desk and looks back to the wall. "Hello, yes? It's Haru. I've got a task I need you to do for me, and if I may, it needs to be a rush order. Is that okay?"

There's a pause on the other line and Haru smirks, looking to the floor. "Good. The 'Soul of Steel' needs proper attire to manage his mill."

- - - - - Circhester, near Route 09 - - - - -

"DUMBASS!" The sound of a loud yell echoed across parts of the city enclosed with the snowkissed mountains, with Sevan grumbling in response. Several Corvisquire and Tranquill flying away in herds were seen, spooked by the sudden peak in volume near them.

Snapping his fingers near his left ear and making sure his right's hearing was fine, he looked to the sound of the noise. "Yeah yeah, I've heard it all about now already, you can fucking relax with it."

"DUMB. ASS! What were you thinking?! Look at you, you're like some halfassed Dusknoir looking all bandaged like that: even have the one-eye thing going, too." Syra, who had taken a momentary detour from her current Pokemon League journey, meeting up with him near Hotel Ionia, was shaking him with both hands. "Look, I know you're 3 weeks left on this punishment that Oleana gave, but I can help you beat Bea next time."

He pulled himself away from the shaking. Taking a few paces away to lean against a nearby wall, Sevan sighed. "I know how to take her on, Syra. I'm not stupid." His head looks back to Syra with his eyes laser focused. "Flying and Psychic are shoe-ins for type advantage, and I already have one of those covered. Fen can tank hits better than you'd think when she's on her A-game, but I made a mistake."

"So let me lend you a Gallade! Mine is newly caught, and I'm runn-"

"Stop. Syra, please." Sevan would interject with an exhausted sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. Shinrin was nearby the group, propped up near the fountain laying on her stomach, looking like some grass-based loaf with ears, while Chorui was seen preening its own wings on the lamppost nearby. Fen was, for the moment, not causing her master trouble since he was under so much stress as it were and the only 'heat' they needed were her fire-based attacks for when they could battle again.

Laying her arms to her side, the velvet haired trainer looked at him with pursed lips. "Are you sure? If I can't help you when it comes to battles, can I at least be a friend and help you get out of this rutt? Being alone sucks when you can't do anything." Kicking the ground lightly, she looked to his Pokemon while the two had a bit of awkward silence. "It's always like this with you. Let's, I don't know, do something that can get your mind off of things. I don't have a lot of time, but if you won't let me trade Pokemon with you..."

Sevan would only keep a pensive stance while mentally preparing what she may or may not say next.

"Let me actually pay you back for that meal YOU paid for me. I'm loaded right now from all the battles I've had, and you need your strength if you're the heal!" Syra points out.

But it was to no avail as Sevan shook his head. "I will actually fight you right now, bandages and all, if you try to pay for a meal for me."

"Oh fuck off!" She said in protest.

/Besides, I still have some goodies at home from Bea.../ He would think, looking off to the side and away from her eyes.

Attempt number 2 came when Syra hummed, then leaned towards him with her hands behind herself. "Well...then fuck! Let's go get some coffee at the very least!" She got an idea, and snapped her fingers, pointing to him. "Oh! Cooooooould you maybe share some of that banger coffee Haru told me that you make?" She asked, spotting her now evolved Shiny Cinderace behind herself, who was trying to keep mentally active by kicking a rock in place.

She managed to get Sevan to look confused. Dumbfounded, he raised an eyebrow to her and inquired her. "What, he's been itching to have more lately or something?"

"No, dude. Enjoying something like that with friends is something we oughta do more often. You've gone on with this lone ranger act for a bit, so try to open up and have us join you." Syra said, throwing out the idea with a shrug. "Besides, if not me, then should I get Bea to have 'hot coffee' with you?" she teased, sticking her tongue out.

His pulse rose quickly as Sevan just stammered. "S-shut the fuck up! I'll get you your god damn coffee! Shit! Don't even see what the big f-fucking deal is!"

Leading her to his abode, the pair would retreat in an awkward silence. Aware of the predicament for his temporary halt in the league, Syra was struggling to think of anything to lighten the mood. Going to his kitchen, Sevan would get the special brew he made himself, and start getting Syra's cup ready. The tension between them was thick in uncertainty. She could tell that the incident at Stow on Side may have set him off course, even if only temporarily. "So...do you want me to ask Bea for a tummy picture?"

As fast as the question came out, Sevan yelled back "C-CEASE!" with his nostrils flaring and some beads of sweat forming. A glare from across the kitchen counter pierced through to her, but the girl remained sturdy.

Instead, she was giggling and smirking like she were a Gengar. "Okay okay...I won't. At least not today, but if this coffee sucks I'm assaulting you with sweaty picture texts."

The words that Bea said to him echoed in Sevan's mind. /"Losing in a League battle is not the end, so I will be expecting you to attempt once more in the future."/ Mumbling to himself, and turning away from the setup near him, his eyes looked back at Syra's. "Maybe my initial thought about this league was right after all. Perhaps you were right a bit ago when it came to me. Perhaps Hilda-..." His gaze fell until it looked at a spot on the floor, then shook his head.

/"I refused to stick around while you destroy yourself from the inside out. All I'm asking now is to let someone else in someday soon, because I couldn't."/

He saw Syra tilt her head in curiosity when the name 'Hilda' was dropped. Clicking his tongue and rubbing the back of his head again, Sevan continued. "Look, you're here cuz of what's happened to me recently, and you've been a good friend. Thank you. But you're only putting yourself behind the competition in the league. Don't worry about what I'm doing. I don't know if I'm going to continue this league, but there's some things I'm going to properly work on." He said, while putting on the strongest smile he could muster.

Staring back at him quietly, Syra's eyes would narrow. "...and does part of this involve talking to Bea more?"

He was midway into extending his hand to hers, mug in place and froze up. A mental playback of the fight he had with her at Stow On Side ran through his head, with sweat forming on his forehead.

/Bingo./ Grinning like a Meowth having found loose change, Syra's fangs showed. "Not that you just want to talk to her, but see her more often, in and out of the Gym, working out together maybe, having her be your spotter, shit, I can keep going." Her hand swayed to and fro.

Suddenly the mug was placed in front of her with a semi-hard 'thunk' as Sevan looked to the side, flustered in thought about Bea thanks to this. "Drink your fucking coffee."

A bead of sweat formed on her forehead. Tentatively tilting the tiny cup to her lips, hissing briefly from the heat, then again when it was better to the touch. A punch of flavor went down her gullet and both eyes widen. "Holy fucking shit!"

Same as ever, Sevan just nodded with a neutral, tight lipped face. "Yyyyep...same way how Haru reacted. It's coffee."

Taking a more, slow sip, the brew went to Syra's lips again and on the second it went down again, her eyes glazed over from the taste. "Why do you always have such a muted response to talks about it, anyway?"

"It's one of the few things I'm good at doing." He looked at her and gave a halfhearted shrug.

"Well now I must say 'Thanks'. Now taking on the 6th Gym will be met with some extra gumption. But c'mon Sev..." She put down the mug and exhaled. "I'm not stupid. You got a thing for Bea, right? How can I help?"

He just stammered. From the side, Shin tilted her head while seeing his face contort into confusing mess of emotions; unable to settle on one. "H-he-haha, Syra, t-that's fine, y-you don't have to do anything."

Cheeks puffing outwards a little, Syra huffed. "You're such a hardass on this! Ugh! Well tough shit, I'm going to help you anyways." Tilting her head back, she sipped more of the brew and hummed in satisfaction. /This beats whatever Bea and Allister's Gym had in terms of coffee./ "Can I take some of this for myself?"

"Do what you want. Long as it means you head out and beast on the other trainers in that Gym."

A moment later, Syra was walking out of his home with the grounds he prepared himself with the plans to share it to some others. Tossing her Rotom Phone forward and having it turn into its bicycle form, Syra sat on the seat then looked back to Sevan. "Yo, it was really nice hanging for a bit." She says, adjusting the helmet on her head. "Oh, I almost forgot!"

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You should definitely keep laying on the compliments. Bea has been flustered ever since you called her the prettiest woman alive to her face!" Giggling, Syra would then start pedaling away to where Gordie and Melony's Gym lay.

Instant panic came to Sevan's face and the sweat from moments ago arrived twofold. "I SAID WHAT?! HEY! COME THE FUCK BACK!" he called out to her, but Syra only stuck a tongue out and pulled down an eyelid as the cycling trainer went off into the distance. /Did..d..d..did I really just put myself...directly. To her..?! But when the fuck did.../ A sudden realization hit him; a chance that he may have said something to her when drugged out of his mind. Sevan just exhaled slowly, grabbed a handful of snow and pressed it against his face in momentary self loathing. /If that's when I said it, then who knows what else occurred./

Fen watches, and starts cackling as she sees him briefly scream into his hands from embarrassment.

- - 7 days later - -

The Pokemon League was heating up. As the league season was advancing, the numbers of those strong enough to challenge the more advanced Gym leaders were thinning. Some would be going through the challenge slower, but a healthy number of trainers, both new, and some recurring from the previous league season, were beginning to arrive in numbers. As the hype was starting to build in audiences' mind for the next slew of Raihan-led Gym Stadium games, a new crowd was building their own excitement for the newest Gym Leader of Steel.

As quickly as that conversation would start, sports shows, podcasts, and publications ran wild with speculation. They asked how the pre-Gym-Leader, puzzle-based section of the Gym would be. One show started its podcast's segment based around the Gym Leader battles by saying "Hot new statement coming in right now from the Steel Gym from Gym Trainer Monika: 'Trainers should expect to be hardened into powerful forces with the introduction of strong, full-team battles.' The girl would go on to say that, and get this, Haru wants to raise 'the bar', whatever you want to call that, for Galar." the show host would go on to say in between some shots he had on his work station.

"There's several points of contention that could be made, but one thing we do know, and are wondering: is Haru just going to walk out there like he did before and expect the fans to get behind him? The fans that rallied behind his career as a trainer and Champion may not stay long if he keeps his battlefield persona the same." The host argued.

"Now now, that's not necessarily true: Kabu didn't exactly change overnight, and look at him!" another cohost argued. The segment ran as one of the hotly streamed episodes surrounding league-based discussions for awhile.

While in transit taking the railway to Hammerlocke, Syra stared out the window. Having been through as much of the league as she had been, the challenges were starting to rear their head yet again. Doubt swept up from time to time in the form of thinking whether she really had learned anything since the last time, or was going to repeat mistakes and falter in the end. When her career started, she was studying to defeat Haru, but with Leon coming back as the Champion, she hadn't had time to analyze why Raihan was his rival, and why many other challengers couldn't take him down for years. /There's no telling whether or not things are going to work out. I wish I had Haru's optimism. The guy somehow started off as a nobody, and did some crazy shit in one year. Him and I both got the whole region to look at us...just for different reasons./

Down a few rows in the train, she overheard a conversation between a pair of fans who were trading league cards between each other. "This new one of Marnie, hohohohoho..."

"You thinking Leon will hold onto his rank? What if that one girl comes up?"

"Look, I know it's common for us to start talking about her, but I think you're putting too much stock on her. She was a loose cannon when she started, and now what is she known for?"

"...uh."

"Exactly. Just known for the stuff she did before Haru stopped her Team Rocket schemes. Can't believe we had someone like that here..."

Sinking a little into her seat, Syra pulled down her cap to shield the top half of her face to most of the other passengers. /It makes sense why some would think that about me./

But another fan overheard their conversation and spoke up: a blonde woman who was reading a manga, who had an irritated glance. "You two think like a couple of chumps who only look at sports results and nothing else. Every time she's battled on the field, she owns the crowd. If you were there during her last Gym Leader battle, you'd be lapping up everything she'd do just like the rest of us."

**BEEP BOOP**

'The train is arriving to...Hammerlocke. Please wait for the cars to come to a complete stop before exiting. Please remember to secure your personal belongings and any Pokemon with you. Thank you.'

Narrowing her eyes as the train reached the station, Syra only heard Giovanni's words in her head again.

/"The second you step out of line again they will come for you like they did to your friend. The only reason you speak so highly now is because they have yet to find a reason to micro analyze you...much like how we did to Pokemon"/

All of the train cars came to a loud halt, and all the doors opened to a flood of trainers, non-trainers and other folk alike walking out. The goal when reaching Hammerlocke would be the Gym Leader battle with Raihan, and spending more time catching some new Pokemon. /Just tell that memory of Giovanni to piss off, Syra. Think on the bigger picture and you'll be able to move forward. Think of things like Haru's dumb smile when you're doing this! How he'll probably freak out when you get all of them, and become Champ!/ She smacked her cheeks a little and then snorted in satisfaction with a half-laugh. "Either that or he'll want to trade with me, putting him at my mercy..." she'd say to nobody in particular.

She spots a row of television sets where one had an advertisement of the Gym Leaders. On it, Raihan was seen in his battles. Raihan was a strong opponent, but had since changed his strategy from the previous league challenge. /The victory I had over him last time may have been a fluke, but I got to be careful this time around./ Thinking nothing of it initially, she spotted a broadcast of the discussions about the league playing on the other televisions and decided to watch for a moment. Unbeknownst to her at the moment, it was less strictly on the sports of the league events and more opinion pieces.

/I have time to kill./ she figured, bringing out a bottle of lemonade she got from the nearby vending machine.

The show had switched, then, to a more direct back-and-forth debate surrounding not just about Haru but some things that a host found 'peculiar' on this run. It was a pair of hosts where two men were facing each other in a studio. "I want us to circle back to a topic that was talked about the other day, however, where I want to focus is what is going on with a few of the contestants. There may be something there, there may not be. But...I think that even with his time as Champion being finished, Haru needs to be questioned, perhaps not now, but soon, on who it is he's leading around. You can say 'oh ever since he was around, Galar has faced nothing but calamity', but I don't think that it's just him."

Syra squinted, looking at the screen with a now heightened interest. She saw some people murmuring together in unison about what was being talked about.

"You go back a few years prior to his involvement, and the most you'd get out of cutthroat news is whether or not someone managed to perfectly train a Shiny Pokemon and then defeat a Gym Leader with said Pokemon! They are most notable for having a lower average of strong stats, and if trainers can pump them up to their best and win in the league, all the better for them! But since a certain 'Soul of Steel' showed up, we have been met with a few incidents back to back."

"Is he talking about Syra?"
"Probably."
"Girl is too high on her own gas. I don't get the fanbase about her."

Keeping quiet, Syra only grit her teeth and tried to blend into the crowd further. The broadcast continued.

"Do we not have it in us to care a little bit more on where the trainers of tomorrow are going? What they're doing? Heck, how did we even let such a person get by unchecked as long as she did? SPEAKING of unchecked! We have unreported, but nevertheless, rumors that the same person who threw down with the Fighting Gym Leader, Bea, has an unchecked history of criminal a-and gang war origins. NOW! I cannot prove this myself, but if you're telling me that we have TWICEFOLD learned Haru supporting, and befriend those with aggressive, unruly behavior that run without so much as a slap on the wrist when they do thi-"

"Whoa whoa hang on, really?"
"Holy shit, is Haru abetting crummy people like that on the fly?"
"That's a load of Tauros' stool, no way that's true..."

The broadcast cohost raised an eyebrow to his cohort that was talking about this. "Are you certain about this that it happened not once, but twice?

"YES, Jameson, TWICE! Oh, did you think I forgot about the girl he fought when he defended his title? Let's look at the facts here. One, this girl...er...Syra, right? She comes out of nowhere, nearly takes him out and seems to hold a personal grudge when they are about to throw down. Everybody who watched live or in person at the stadium saw how much effort she put into trying to paint our hero as some sort of sanctimonious deadbeat! Let's not even get into the uh, uh...times that she was later found out stealing Pokemon and roughing up people. Not about that part. But not only was this happening, but she was under Giovanni's payroll, and then conveniently is put top billing when taking him out? Was it all a ruse? It sounds too good to be true, too convenient!" The host was rambling at this point. "And just because of the traumas of her past, we're supposed to then just slide that under the rug? Preposterous! If anything it just shows the system we've been dealt with now allows those higher up to say and do what they want without-"

His cohost had to interrupt, holding up a hand. "I-I am not sure where this is leading. I don't think anyone should be defined by their past actions, but their current mannerisms and actions. I think if you take into account what's going on now, then the past shouldn't have to matter. Both have been reprimanded on the times they even try to do anything, and Haru isn't their parent: they're adults."

"So...while I get where you're coming from, who is there to say or confirm that we won't now have a weaker system that just lets these privileged, fake delinquents to-, to run wild! Right now, we've got no comment from Haru on his friend's shakeup at Stow on Side, and Syra? We heard she was last seen visiting the very prison cell where Giovanni is held. Why him? Why not the man she put behind bars with her court case? It makes you think that not everything is as it seems, right?! Well, I don't know what kind of fanbase she has, but putting on a smile isn't going to make people forget honey! You've been watched this whole time!"

Giovanni's visage came into Syra's mind again as she looked to the floor. /"People of small minds do this every day, every hour, every minute, and every second. Do you think yourself any more virtuous than the one hero who nearly put a few criminals into the soil of the Earth?"/

Standing there, Syra felt her hold on reality grow shaky. The same point where people looked on the outside in, talking down on her, was happening yet again. She was doing everything she could to put her past, stupid self behind her and was still meeting resistance in changing minds. The mistakes she made were something she regretted to that very moment, but hearing the gentleman on the telly cut through her self image, and had only realized when it was too late that her nails dug a tiny sliver into the lemonade bottle; cutting it open. The way the tabloid-heavy programme had gone on not just about them, but Sevan and Haru made her grit her teeth.

She straightened her back, had her head held high and closed her eyes for a moment. Taking a moment to focus, and try to think about the positive aspects of her life. /There's too much noise, and I can tell that a panic attack is just seconds away from happening../ Digging into her backpack, Syra tilted her cap downward and pushed through a crowd, apologizing as her heartrate started to spike, hearing others commenting on the gossip.

"Meh, these guys just theorize whatever they want, they don't care who gets hurt by what they say."
"I dunno, maybe it's time we stopped thinking the trainers are in the right? Look at Haru."

Her thumbs would tap on the screen with shaky hands, looking for some form of grounding. /C'mon, where is...where is the damn song. Oh, here we go./ Her cheeks were stricken with some panic-induced tears, and grit her teeth openly. The multi-floor building where her hotel was located, was in sight. The assurance of only having to walk a short trip to it was not enough, sending her to have chest palpitations while Giovanni's threats and stress from earlier stages in her life flashed before her. Quickly grabbing onto the headphones she kept within a breast-pocket, Syra tried to breathe deep, and chose a song that connected with her.

The beat of the EDM track came on, and she sang quietly with the lyrics while leaning against the brick walls of an alley. The seclusion and music was enough to bring back some strength to her legs.

"Inside my head, there's a little place left for you...
What do you know?
What do you know?

And all I want is to find out what you're going through
What do I know?
Maybe this silence is dangerous"

Her breathing was still bad, but pushed onwards. /I can do this...it's all in my head.../ To attempt to push away the panic attack, Syra saw to it to try tapping on the wall: mentally grounding herself to something nearby to touch. It being one of her favorite tunes also did wonders for her mental psyche, while she began to bob her head. As the main chorus hit, she gained the strength to walk, albeit slowly.

"Inside my head, there's a little place left for you
What do you know?
What do you know?

And feel what's inside you
I wanna come over
And see what you've found
See if you're hurting
After tearing me down
It's the rain of denial"

An image of Haru came to her, presented when he spoke to her in the jail cell. /"You deserve a second chance, Syra."/ The way he talked all the time when he was around her admittedly made her smile, and despite being angry with him back in the past in that moment...she now looked fondly at those memories. Her voice began to come out more, catching the attention of some passersby that noticed Syra half skipping to a tune in her head with the earphones.

"It's the way that you're faking
All the tears in your eyes
Feels like I'm in slow motion
Tonight

And all I want is to find out what you're going through
What do I know?
Maybe this silence is dangerous"

There and then, her stressful moment passed. Syra strolled to the hotel later than initially planned, but nevertheless doing her damndest to fight off the commentary of naysayers. She checked in without drawing attention to the flushed cheeks from her episode by wearing a mask, feinting sickness and not wanting others to catch her flu...at least that was the excuse she was using. After having her energy sucked away, she would have to hold off on registering at Hammerlocke's Gym to attempt the final Gym for the next day. Walking into her room, she dropped her backpack, took her shoes off and disrobed herself. She turned to the bathroom and let the tub fill up with warm enough water for her to get in comfortably, and then sat in before huddling her knees close to her chest. Leaning forward, her face went to her knees and began humming the tune again, singing in the bathroom's tiled walls; hair falling over her face all the while.

Bathing was not long, but this moment of meditation was an example of teachings Bea gave her awhile back: one of many ways the fighter was able to micromanage her discipline. Wiping the steamed mirrors in the bathroom, Syra almost saw an image of herself staring back. Far more confident, wearing an outfit in the future that she'd describe as 'regal': the inner image had finally changed for her. No longer someone who was fighting her own self hatred, but now began to envision a future where she'd be on top for herself. Syra then felt the end lyrics of the tune come back, almost duetting with the 'future' self.

"I wanted to hide
Now, I just wanna find you
And feel what's inside you
I wanna come over
And see what you've found
See if you're hurting
After tearing me down
It's the rain of denial..."

The light in the bathroom was turned off, and she'd come out looking at her gym badge medallion. /Everyone right now is doing their best to get to the next step. Sevan is working to move past his bullshit, Haru is about to become a badass Gym Leader, and my little brother will probably become an expert before me if I'm not careful./ Walking over to the bed, she fished for the PokeBall that had her shiny Cinderace, tossed it and let him out. He did, however, blush upon seeing her in nothing but a towel but she laughed at his reaction.

"Hey...you want to have some pizza? I'll order enough for everyone." She said with a cheeky smile. The rabbit Pokemon hopped a little in place, and she got the other Pokemon out of their balls before dialing on her phone. "7 Badges calls for 7 pizzas. You guys down for that?" She said, now viewing her current team. A Shiny Eevee, Shiny Cinderace, Toxtricity, Alcremie, Druddigon, and a Gigalith, all happily cry out at the same time as if trying to speak. "Ok! Ok! Maybe I'll add in breadsticks too...you guys have been pushing yourselves for quite a bit."

Laying on her back with her feet idly hanging off the side, she got on the phone. "Hello yes? I'd like a delivery...".

- - - - - Steel Gym - - - - -
- - - - - 2 days after, 10 AM - - - - -

As right as rain, the hype for Haru's first day of Gym Leader matches was so prominent that it was the main event for some pubs' televisions in Galar. Many, many seats are filled with anticipation. Haru had not been spotted by anyone outside the Gym, or walking through the interior. The only persons who had known of his whereabouts were his staff. As the shops, concessions, and party rooms all opened up together, the attention of all of attendees circled onto the jumbotron that hung in the middle of the dome that hung above the battlefield. On it, a live video played with Monika, a Steel Gym trainer, bowing to them and waving. "Hello everyone, and welcome all to the first day, the first opening ever, to Galar's one-and-only Steel Gym!"

In the stands, the VIP section had a big group of superfans who painted themselves to mirror the Steel-type's color scheme that is on the normal uniforms. Towards the front, however, was a specific type of visitor who had been waiting for this for a long time. A little girl with earphones on her head to muffle the volumes of the stadium for her sensitive ears, on the lap of her mom, joined by her dad. Donna, the fan who approached Haru a long time ago and made his day for being so honest and pure, made it to see the first day of his games after all. Decked out wearing a mock uniform that he had sent to her, with some plush of a Scorbunny held in her hand. "Look mama! Look! They're gonna start soon anytime now!" She says excitedly.

In the hallways of the stadium, occasionally poking her head out to view the battlefield, Nessa strolled along. /To say that I'm happy being here would be too one-note, but it really is surreal walking on the very grounds of Haru's Gym.../ As Nessa walked, she would spot some peculiar details: Haru had done his homework. For as much as people meme'd on him for having no sense of fashion as Gym Challenger by simply wearing other Gym Leaders' types, he studied for the job thoroughly. The interior hallways all had the proper amount of information and organization where it need be, and there was already a healthy number of those signing up for some of the 'extra' events. Be it meetings, birthday parties, etc.

A Gym Stadium Staffer sees her and waves "oh Nessa! Holy crap, Haru's gonna freak seeing you here!"

Nessa smiled from ear to ear, waving the girl down. "Where is he currently? I want to give him a kiss of good luck." Nessa replied while approaching the staff-man. "Is he nervous? How are you guys holding up anyways?"

The gentleman winced in thought. "I...actually don't know. He's currently being 'fitted'...? Is that the right word? I was told to leave him be in his 'zone', if that makes sense. Erm..." The Staffer got out his mini-map to remind himself of where things were located, including faculty since that was important.

Leaning in, Nessa's sight locked on to the upper faculty rooms. "Alright! Thank you!" She jogs off to the location, excited for Haru.

Nessa would stroll on by and spot a few hallways that led to where a set of offices would be. One for treasury, logistics, security, and one labeled 'Gym Leader'. Considering the role of a Gym Leader, it wasn't a stretch to imply that one day he would give the role himself to someone else, as is tradition. "Haaaaaru~" Nessa sang his name much like a siren of the seas while reaching to turn the handle and push the door open. Inside she sees a big, elaborate office that already gave the air of someone who was a workaholic. /It's the first day and he's made it appear to already be lived in./ Decorated occasionally on the walls were promotional material of Galar and other regions' leagues. She spotted a poster of work schedules, staff pictures, schedules, and one door that led to a smaller room where he would use for a bathing needs during late Gym Leader hours. The door was open, and she'd see Haru's back, looking at the mirror as he was slowly putting on a cap.

He was wearing a completely different outfit from the one she had gotten to know him by. A grey cap that made his hair flair outwards where a lone, circular logo of his upcoming sanctuary was patched onto it, a long, welder's-like coat with steel-gym colors in the shape of construction worker stripes. Horizontally alongside one stripe was a slew of sponsor logos: much like Leon's cape when he was originally Champion. Adjusting the hat while wearing a new pair of steel worker gloves, too, the top part of the hat slightly darkens the top part of his face. When she peeps in, their eyes meet, and he smirks: the air about him is completely different.

"Ah...there she is. My darling fiance'..." He turns to her, and walks out of the small room to show off the new outfit in its glory at the front. He posed, spreading his arms outwards. "...well?"

Being presented with a new fashion sense within Haru wasn't on the list of things she expected to see. Nessa's face went a little darker in the cheeks when he presented himself anew, biting her lip slightly. "You look like that character from that anime you like...or even like the gentleman on the trains of Unova." Nessa hummed as she approached then leaned in to peck his lips. "Most importantly, you look hot: like a Gym Leader who is ready to crush anyone who approaches."

He grinned, leaning forward and kissing back when she complimented him. His face goes serious right afterwards. "This hasn't been seen by anyone, yet. You're the first pair of eyes to lay on what the Gym Leader here looks like...and it came after a bit of meditating. Every one of you guys in the league has something unique that 'stands out' and tells the whole world why you're a badass. It, dare I say, 'sells' you to the crowd. I like the Steel uniform colors, but it had occurred to me that it just wasn't enough. So I wanted to don something else." He lifts the right side of his welder's-coat-like-cape and shows a rubber mallet that is on his beltline. "It wasn't enough that I wore the colors and had some keychains, so this admittedly has taken a lot of research. I have to actually give an aura that I myself come from a SteelMill; that whoever is intruding on my Gym in hopes of getting a badge is summoning the 'Master Foreman'. Plus...I've a new persona to go with it. Nobody is going to care if I just simply walk out there and act like I always do."

Nessa was nodding her approval as she walks around him, taking in every little detail. "I like this a lot my love, does this mean you also have a good song for your entrance?"

The question was seen a mile away, considering his outlandish performances in the past for having music accompany him, but Haru still laughed about it. "Maybe not for my entrance...but..." he leaned onto the wall "I've my own Gym Leader music. Piers can have one, so why not I? Let the trainers know who they're dealing with when they may or may not see their journeys end? It's a tune I think the audience can get behind..."

As both Gym Leaders looked at each other, Nessa too, put on a 'game face'. "Good. Be honest, how are you feeling right now, darling?" She asked while leaning against him.

"...very nervous."

"It's to be expected dear, but have faith in your team and yourself okay? I know you'll crush this like the 'Soul of Steel' you are now!" She grinned.

Haru looked up with his eyes narrowing at her. "Don't you start with that silly nickname Oleana gave me."

She responded with a wide smile and laugh. "It's true!"

Propelling himself from the wall, Haru began to walk towards the office door, turned to Nessa and stretched out a hand. "...so you coming to watch me for today? Almost unbelievable that we've come full circle to this. I still vividly remember coming to visit your games, and now you're doing the same to me?"

Reaching to grasp his hand, Nessa nodded. "I plan on watching start to finish dear, this is your debut after all!" She replied while fist bumping the air with a free hand. "I can't wait for everyone to see how far you came, how much you changed and why you're such an amazing trainer."

Haru nodded silently as the pair then walk together to an adjacent room with the marquee 'Studio Room' displayed on the entrance. Inside were multiple monitors and loads of staff operating the puzzle part of the challenge, keeping track of stats, projecting it to the jumbotron, and overall archiving all live footage. As the pair walks in, someone mistook Haru for someone else until they got a look from Haru, showing that it's him with a brand new outfit. Quietly staring at the footage, Haru now pulls downwards on his gloves and stretching his fingers. Tightening both gloves to his hands, the adrenaline of the upcoming match was palpable. "Looks like the audience is eating up this first one, then."

A staffer calls to him. "Hey boss, should you head down to the battlefield soon?"

"Feh..." He grins confidently and tilts his cap slightly. "I should. If this guy continues at the pace he is, then the audience will want to see me just as much."

"Hmm! That kid is making it pretty far, too bad he'll be crushed by you." Nessa purred while playing with his hand. Her confidence was part and partial to Haru's own. "Get out there and show them who is the boss here!"

- - - - - Steel Gym - - - - -
- - - - - Battlefield - - - - -

The trainer began walking out, expecting the Gym Leader to do the same, but spots no one meeting him opposite middle of the field. Knowing his career firsthand, the audience is now rising with an anticipation building up like nothing else. As Nessa goes to find her own seat in the VIP area, she spots the familiar visage of the one little girl, who had since grown a little from last time, chanting for Haru to appear. As fate would have it, Nessa's own seat was next to the family.

Nessa grinned at the child and knelt beside her. "Hey sweetie, excited to watch Haru battle?"

With her oversized headphones, Donna turns and nods "Yes I...gasp hey wait! You're Nessa! Oh! You're going to watch the battles too?!" The mother just smiled a bit, waving "He sent her a package months ago and she's been talking about this every single day since then. I hope he comes out soon, because the guy surely knows how to rile up a crowd."

"Yup! I'm here to watch and cheer him on!" Nessa giggled before looking at the mother. "I'm aware he did, I helped him set up that package with the things we hoped she'd like."

Watching from within the stadium, Haru began his waltz down the aisle and saw how the audience was cheering for him. It would only be a few steps before his boots touched the expertly tailored grass, gave a speech to his first contestant, and strike his first pose. To many upcoming Pokemon League Challengers, he would be the final obstacle in their way, and first impressions are important to set the tone. Taking a deep breathe, Haru felt the sweat pour down his face. A symptom of cold feet set in.

/No! I won't back down now! This is my life. I do what needs be with it./ He patted his cheeks with his now gloved hands. Tilting the cap a little downwards, Haru felt his chest have palpitations coming in. This wasn't a competition anymore. He had stepped into the role of those competing, and would be the stepping stone of growth for the next generation. Did he make the right decision going all this way for him? Deep down he knew it was the right thing.

...and yet, he stood there, frozen. Both knees started getting a little wobbly.

Then the scent of something like tuna hit his nose. Both eyes shoot wide open and he turned around. None of the concession stands would be selling such an unconventional food to eat at the stadium, and there was nary a lake nearby where one would smell tuna for many miles. /Oh, I see...Hiro's here, too./ Fighting back tears, Haru now could sense another presence that was waiting for him to walk out there to the fields. His breathing calmed.

Standing there for a moment, Haru listened to the cheers echoing for him, and leaned away from the sounds with the intention to 'absorb' the good energy in the air. /Well...no point in making them wait any longer. Come on brother. Watch me from down high.../ He thought to himself, and took the first step onto the battlefield to thunderous applause.

- - - - - Chapter 26 END - - - - -

Lyrics to 'Monophobia' are by deadmau5