Chapter 22: The Calmed Waves

- - - ? - - -

Haru was unable to figure out where he currently was, and the last time he recalled such darkness thick and dense with intimidation was that fateful duel with Eternatus. It was something he often recalled, if only half heartedly as a memory of a 'long gone' era of his yesteryear. Low sounding hums and a thunderous shockwave could be heard in the distance as he stood tall, straight, and in the some shorts. He turns to his left to gaze over a grey blue field as the skies showed only clouds, and a Galar that was far more flattened, and seemingly endless with fields but no large hill. Here, there was no apex view to mentally assert his place: the quiet whistling of wind being his only companion.

Off in the distance, Haru sees some clouds light up in a flash of lightning; his mother told him when he was young it was called 'heat lightning'. 'THOOOOOM' goes off a sound in the distance as a large dust cloud suddenly chases towards where he stood. Just as he turns to run away from the oncoming dust-cloud, he's cornered by the visage of his own mother's homeland. Inside he sees the men attempt to take and tie up his own mother, and constrict the Pokemon she has as fellow friends. He tries to shout for them to stop but doesn't see them once he runs inside. The front door suddenly acts as a gateway to somewhere else, and finds himself in the backyard in a field overlooking some gardens his mom has planted.

Another 'THOOOOM' is heard, causing Haru to look up behind himself. 'Surely her home is right where I was just trying to run to' he figures, but it's gone. A crash of thunder sends a vibration so strong he feels his bones rattling as if the lightning bolt were mere feet away. The house of his mother, that he was near is gone. The ex-Champion can only see himself in a long hallway with a red light at the end. The fields and outdoors were gone, and the man only now found himself within a nebulous location that bore no familiar signage nor gave any hint of its truths. On the other side of the hallway, he spots an exit sign hanging over an open doorway frame.

The hallway stretched outwards unto infinity, with Haru almost 'feeling' the ground give way and stretching onward as if some cosmic entity was taking the very floor he stood on and was mending its length to be far longer. Beneath his feet, the ground felt elastic in nature not unlike children playgrounds. One of his hands goes to his throat and clasped onto it. A moment of clarity: he had no voice. All sound felt 'muted', and as he turned to try to find out some answers he saw a mirror reflection of himself in the walls as if they were marble. They are of himself, only infinitely repeated as if other variations of himself.

The other 'Haru's' that he saw sometimes had brown hair, black hair, some long or short hair, and some with blue, and others with green eyes. Yet they all reacted to the reflected, true, Haru, him, much in the same way he did. It was as if he was in a Fun House attraction that was only confined to the one, seemingly endless hallway that still bore nothing close to an answer for its origin or purpose.

He recalled, if only for a second, that this could be a dream, and tries to mentally fight back against what may be trying to zero in on his position. A few slow, cautious steps forward and an extension of his hand, Haru went to investigate the light.

A laugh is heard from the light: a figure forms within the red lights. Retracting. Refining. Haru gazes upon it in horror as it appears to look just like himself and as such, starts to hear what he would only describe as hundreds of thousands of voices like his own speaking out at the same time.

Haru fell to his knees, alongside his many reflected 'selves' as the refined, red figure that bore his resemblance walked forward with a snide tone. It appeared to bear his own voice but transmuted and vocalized through some ethereal tunnel. He looked to Haru with a grin. "After all that talk, you backed out immediately, but you enjoyed the bloodshed right?"

Making another attempt to respond, Haru once again found he had no voice, and the light from the Red figure began to glow brighter. The hallway began to disappear as the figure started to move towards him. "You've been holding me back in the recesses of your mind, letting me grow. Grant me a tiny morsel and I'll reward you for it. Trust me."

As Haru tried to respond, the figure that looked like himself disappeared and all that was left was the bright red light that pierced through the seemingly infinite hallway in both directions. It gave chase, and Haru took off running. He sees all of the reflections run along with him within the marble-like walls. Inside his mind, Haru sees there is an exit appear in the distance only for an unseen force pull him backwards. He goes undertow as gravity turns sideways. He tries to fight the red light as it begins to swallow him up as he's screaming silently into the void.

- - - - - Haru & Nessa's Home, Hulbury - - - - -

- - - - - 9:20 A.M. - - - - -

"NO! NO don't...wh..." Haru shouts as tears stream down his face as the blanket that previously covered his body was nearly thrown off the bed. Keeping him pinned to it was Nessa, who had her arms around him. Nessa gently caressed his face while gently pressing kisses to his face. "Shhh my love, it was only a nightmare. You are safe and sound here in my arms."

Whilst being held, Nessa saw that Haru's face was pale white and had been sweating in his sleep. The fear he felt was so real his actual body was left shivering, causing her to put a hand over his face while she hugged him. A minute passes by before Haru is able to speak properly. "...I had a bad dream. I never felt so scared. Something that looked like me was...was chasing me. But...there were 'other' me's? Something about wanting to take over...my body." He looked to the side, confused at it himself, recalling it. Normally, the memory of his own subconscious dreams would dissipate quickly, but this one was sticking out quite vividly. He looked liked a frightened Yamper. His heart was pounding and felt like it would leap out of his own chest. It was only through Nessa slowly pulling his face into her cleavage that he began to relax.

"What else happened in it? Do you want to tell me?" She asked gently, stroking his red mane.

"I...there were...okay. I was in my Mom's house, and then out in her backyard, and then in a hallway. The aforementioned hallway was some weird place where the walls were reflective as if it were glass, or marble." His eyes narrowed as the familiar scent of the soap Nessa went through his nostrils and he began to become grounded in the reality he found himself in. "The way it looked like didn't even seem physically possible by any human architect. The place felt so alien. There were what felt like an infinite number of reflections, or versions of, myself all looking at me as if I peered somehow into a multiverse or something. But it was a mirror so how...?"

Once again, Haru spoke in a confused tone as if trying to figure it out. "The red light I saw at the end of a hallway seemed alluring, but it then turned into me. Talked to me, and then chased me. It felt overwhelming and then I just sorta..." The dark beauty heard Haru sigh as if trying to shrug off the fear he still felt even if it were only the visions of one's mind.

She looked at him loving and in a understanding way. "Maybe we should go see a therapist together to talk about what you been through and about this nightmare." Nessa whispered softly while running her fingers through his sweat coated hair. "Dreams sometimes are trying to tell us things...but we need help to understand."

A deep inhale and exhale later, Haru shifted until his forehead was resting on Nessa's chest. "...feel like maybe it was 'Me' chasing myself. Or something..." He sounded no more confident about the thought than he did before.

The aquamarine blue eyes scanning the top of her boyfriend's head narrowed sadly. Syra speaking to him the day before would be only the first step to him getting over such events, but she, and others may have to consider this has turned into a traumatic memory with some repercussions. Still her voiced was filled with understanding and gentleness that didn't waver. "It was as if you're the one doing the chasing. The darker 'you' wants control while the happier, loving Haru doesn't want to disappear, yes?"

Haru felt ashamed that she may be correct, but the bigger folly would be in denying it. He replied sadly, "Yeah".

Nessa wrapped a leg over his waist as she traps him against her while playing with his hair. "Well now you're trapped against me until you need to pee or...I cook us some breakfast." She says playfully to lighten the mood

She was able to get him to laugh. "Wait...I slept in?" He didn't figure the events of the day prior would mess with him already, but it wasn't as offensive as missing his turn to make breakfast for them.

"You did yes and I'm not letting you go work or study today. I have some things planned...plus..I love you." She hummed while doing a kiss attack. Nessa wanted him to know he won't be able to escape her efforts.

But it wasn't like he at least tried to fight back. "But...! I have to talk to Monika on our Gym! Now that it's almost finished, I wan-" Regrettably or not, he was pinned to the bed and being pecked on the lips everywhere. The man couldn't get a solid word in.

Nessa moved to pin him down by shifting until she was on top. He sees the woman frown when looking down at him. "It's already taken care of, my dear. Monika was going to come over LATER after you and I went on a date. Now? You're going to shower while I cook breakfast okay? Afterwards we are going to see on getting you a therapist and get you some anti-anxiety and depression meds. We can work on this thing together." She spoke in a matter of fact tone. "After that, we can spend a day at the amusement park in Wyndon, go to the festival that's being held later today in Hulbury, and end with a romantic walk on the beach at night time."

The upcoming Steel Gym Leader blinked several times in awe. "...you...did you plan this when I fell asleep watching the movie last night?" He blushed intensely.

Bouncing lightly as she straddled him, Nessa raised an arm to fist pump the air. "YUP!" She had the goofiest grin on her face while looking down at him. "I'm going to fucking pamper you today, my handsome ex champion~"

"Wait...but you've already done so much from when I was sick recently. Are you sure this isn't overkill? I mean...do I really deserve it you know?" Nessa said nothing, but let him continue on. Her energy appeared to waver hearing him speak. "It's nothing, seriously. I'll get over it. It's was just a dumb dream." Haru laughed weakly, but the response wasn't met with the same enthusiasm as Nessa looked worried. There was a thick silence with only the sounds of the Hulbury air outside picking up in gusts of wind.

"Nessa..?" He asked her, worried on why she went silent.

"Haru...why are you rejecting me?" Her voice sounded defeated.

"Wait, what...?" The confusion he had before only increased; pinged now with a slab of 'worry'. The woman who was so supportive of him looked pained when he was fighting back the support she was so eager to give him.

"Am I being a bad girlfriend or something? Did I do something wrong and come on too strong?" Those words left Nessa's lips as Haru then sat up and embraced her. The couple squeezed each other while in the other's arms as his eyes closed. It was taking him a minute to remind himself just how blessed he was to be with her, and that things, even in hardship, would have a positive end to them.

His head buried into the nape of her neck as the back of his palms went to her back. "No, no...I'm sorry. Shit. Bad habit of mine to be like this, so I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget where I'm at, and I should know to say 'Thank you'. So thanks, Nessa. You're the fucking world to me."

For now she felt comforted by his words. He was a stubborn one at times, but was grateful that they were always able to bounce back from even their 'worst' moments. She pecks his lips a few times after the couple let the moment pass. "That's better, but no thanks needed, and you're welcome. Oh, and Syra dropped off a box of treats."

"What did she bring over?" Haru asked, now getting out of bed with her by his side and stretching.

"Things I always see you obsessively eat that remind you of home. It's on the kitchen counter." She gets off with him and lightly taps his rump with a grin. "Take a shower darling then come downstairs okay?" Nessa winks before walking out. He wouldn't delay and went to shower. Downstairs, Nessa saw the television broadcast news of the upcoming Galarian Olympic Tournament and that tickets were starting to get sold. The announcer would only go over the basic information, but it was another reminder of the upcoming match as a few profiles came onscreen.

She turned and folded her arms together as the exhibition match was announced to the public: Her and Haru versus Milo and Kabu. /Just you wait, Milo. This will be the one time I showcase the power of my Water Pokemon, and I'll do it with the one I chose to be by my side. I will show you that when the chips are down, Water can easily destroy Grass, just you fucking wait./

- - - Later That Day. . .- - -

News got around about an 'incident' that occurred at Haru's mother's home, though details were kept sparse from the public on broadcasts. When the gentleman were brought in, questioned by the police, they commented on choosing not to contest being convicted cuz of them being scared of Haru. The latter wasn't outright spoken, but having seen him mentally go past his limits and retaliate to nearly killing them put them off entirely from wanting to make another attempt.

For better or worse, Haru would try to stay calm when talking about the worries he had with Nessa by his side as they would take on the more important task before their 'day out'. Accepting that oneself has an issue was the biggest pill the Steel-based man had to swallow, and he had to consider that there would be trauma involved. Before any amount of 'spoiling' happened, the pair would end up going to see a doctor first. His volatile mannerism from the onset stress and newly acquired post trauma would now be enough that he had to seek medical help. His heart may not be able to truly heal from Hiro's death, but his mind would begin to get help from therein onward. From everything he had done before being a Pokemon trainer to the current day, it was obvious that Haru had yet to actually try and resolve the longstanding years of issues he was undergoing.

The visit was short, and to the point. Getting to that first step was a big hurdle for someone like him to jump over due to the amount of trauma and everything else he'd bottled in for too long. Haru felt that due to being the Steel man, he'd have to be 'like Steel' and stand on his own, forgetting that Steel needs other things to stand on itself. Telling him that they needed to head back home first before the rest of the day took place, they got in an Air Taxi as Haru would recall the words that Leon said when he first became Champion.

/"It may feel like you're riding high, but don't forget us, Haru. You shouldn't have to burden this all alone. Come talk to me when you need me, okay? I'll be back in Postwicke. You have my number, yeah?"/

His girlfriend looked over to him and tilted her head as his left hand clenched, then relaxed. "What's wrong, hon?" It appeared Haru was just trying to think back to his past and sighed when considering his own reactions.

"I know we spent a good while with me talking to a doctor about my issues, but damn if I can't curse my past self for never taking up Leon more seriously. When I became Champion, he offered to help me if I felt overwhelmed or confused on where to take myself. Being at the number-1-spot as Champion put me into such a drive it was as if I was invincible." Haru looked to his lover and gave a weak smile. "You've heard me say it before, but it was just a case of me thinking that it was nothing 'big' so I kept moving on and pushing it far back to a point that I basically forgot some of my bigger problems."

Her eyes only had the utmost of patience and understanding towards him. "To a degree, I get it." One of her hands rested on her chest and sighed. "Not that you need me to tell you of course: you've been with me long enough to know how much I tackle."

He only nodded. "This is true."

"I guess we're both guilty of some baggage huh?" Nessa laughed weakly, which caused Haru to laugh with her; no judgment coming from him.

"Yeah. But I'm glad you're helping me...so thank you." His head laid against her shoulder, and her head rested against atop his own as they clasped hands around each other. The 'big problem' was tackled head on, so the only thing left on the agenda for the day was to push aside all the internal drama with some pre-planned activities. "I'm scared, Nessa. I really went over the limit this time, and I don't want that happening again. Hiro wouldn't want that of me, and nor would you or my Mom or anyone else I care for.."

"You're right. We don't." She replied softly.

Nessa took it upon herself to see that Haru would be getting help, and saw one thing clearly: they had to retrieve as much of Hiro's ashes as possible. Being attacked so hard that he landed on top of the urn and getting ashes smeared on himself was the trigger that sent Haru over the proverbial 'edge' into brief insanity bordering on villainy. The takeaway that came from the post-incident investigation was that a lot of his ashes were still thankfully retrievable, and with that, Haru wanted them in another container that had far less chances of being so easily broken but in something just as personable.

He broke the silence when a thought came to him. "So what was it that you needed to do that required us to head back home?"

Giggling in a manner that made Haru wide-eyed with a slight tinge of anxiety, Nessa looked too pleased with herself. "Oh, just you wait. I have something special for today."

- - - Back home. . . - - -

"Hon, are you almost set? Should I be getting anything to match you or something?" Haru calls out upstairs. His eyes widened and time just appeared to stop. Nessa stood on the top of the stairs and walked down to him whilst putting an extra wiggle to her hips. Meeting him on the bottom floor, she grinned wide at him: wearing a sleeveless silver, dark grey, and neon green top, mini skirt, and leggings. The familiar logo of the Steel Gym spread across her chest, she stood straight, letting him notice how freely her body moves in the top. Tilting her face to the side, Haru could also spot new earrings and a necklace: her entire outfit was decorated in the aesthetic of the Steel Gym.

His face went red and stiffened up seeing how good Nessa appeared while adorning the same colors he often does wearing his Steel uniform. "Yy-y-y-y-you look a-a-am-amazing dear."

Nessa took the compliment in stride and grinned proudly. "Why thank you. The concept came to me that I should wear something that matches you more directly and gives you something new to look at." walking by him, she intentionally bumps her hips into him and looks back. "Now let's head out."

- - - - - Wyndon - - - - -

Arriving at the amusement park in Wyndon, Haru now bore a custom necklace around himself containing Hiro's ashes: that he may be safe wherever Haru may find himself in. It wasn't the same as an urn, but perhaps it would offer some new form of peace knowing he was safe. Clinging to it in his hand when he put it on, Haru sighed. /I'm sorry that such an event happened to your leftover body, Hiro, but I want you to be with me, big brother. That hasn't changed./

"Haru?" Nessa's voiced pierced through his thought process of semi self loathing as he raised his head back up to her. She points to a line of booths as they were there in Wyndon to the multiple outdoor booths from not only imported goods of other regions but some within Galar. "C'mon, let's forget about the previous day okay?"

His face softened up and a smile spread. "Thank you, my dear."

She took the time to ask Haru about his 'big brother' Hiro and find out more of the things they did together when he was around. They saw an arcade, and while hesitant to go in, she encouraged him. "C'mon, it's fine. Show me some of the stuff you two enjoyed together."

The air was thick with the scents and smells of dated silver coins, dusty carpets, and lit only with black light and the fluorescent illuminated screens from the machines. Each one was available to play for only a few coins of PokeDollars. It appeared one machine was being repaired as they came in, and another was being installed. The staff appeared to not have a lot of the supposed newest games available.

Which means the arcade was perfect in Haru's eyes. The couple find an old-school beat-em-up arcade machine that required only a cheap payment of PokeDollar coins; showcasing super heroes in tights fighting bad guys. It wasn't the best game of its genre, but it was one that him and Hiro bonded together in their playtime together. He would go on to tell Nessa, as she stood to the side of him at the arcade machine, that from here they would invest a lot of time talking about the series where the heroes came from and making up head-canon stories. This reminded her of something long ago he mentioned.

"That reminds me darling, a long time ago when we started going out you said there was a document about the 'roleplay' universe you and Hiro created. How it's kind of a co-operated storyline that you two wrote. Do you still have it?" she asked, leaning with her elbow on the machine.

Haru, more than capable of multitasking with gameplay and conversing, side-eyes her and smirks. "Yes I do. It's still on my computer. I know that I've held up a pretty volatile state of mind when talking about him, and that recent events make it seem like I can't even talk about Hiro without breaking down." The arcade machine bellows out a loud noise that he needed to insert more coins. He eagerly put in a few more coins to continue before he'd continue on the topic. "But uhm...did you really still want to read it? There's a whole lot of backstory that's kind of dorky and confusing...and it honestly may not reflect my better writing nowadays.."

She only smugly replied while looking at the screen with him, watching enemies explode and a score counter continue to rise. "Yeah well, you're dorky and I like that a lot about you, you know? If it's okay, I'd like to see the stuff you and him created. Even if it didn't have an official 'ending' cuz of his passing, would you be okay with letting me in?"

A few seconds later, Haru lands the final hit on one of the bosses. Older, retro games worked on a much simpler style of programming, and he had played it so much that he memorized how to approach the villain almost as easily as breathing. Closing his eyes briefly as the score tallied up for the next 'chapter', he looked up to his girlfriend and smiled. "Nessa, I can't guarantee that you'd be into everything we wrote exactly...but...okay."

She could see that him opening this specific door was a much different side of him than anything else the two had explored together, but that he was willing to let her see those sides. "Even if I may not be fully into it, it's still a world you built with your big brother. It's a world I want to embrace and help nurture in some way possible so it may grow and bloom beautifully."

The machine shook as Haru tapped hard on the buttons to continue playing, but chuckled and looked back occasionally to side-eyei Nessa so she knew he heard. "I don't know about 'bloom' per se, but it is something him and I spent years and a lot of online, and in-person discussions with. So...it's another side of me. Only you can see it. Y'know..." His eyebrows furrowed with a bit of mischief "Just like how I don't sing for anyone else anymore."

She noticed that expression that held mischief and oh how it made her giddy. "And? I want that side all to myself." She whispered in his ear before kissing his cheek and pulling away.

Haru blushed and...another 'door' in his mind opened as he kept playing. "Hey uhm...if...if you want...I could see myself finally starting to play some of the games him and I enjoyed. I know it's been awhile since you saw me truly feel at ease to look at or bother playing with them, but do you wanna play or learn to play with me..?" His voice full of nervousness. They already had gamed together with their pair of Switch consoles, but ever since Hiro passed away Haru completely boxed up his other consoles. Up until now, they had been 'forbidden' in his mind.

Nessa leaned back with a mischievous smirk on her lips. " I would love that very much darling. But we will need to get those out of the boxes first, right?~" She turns to wink playfully at him.

After the talk they had at the arcade together, it was time to check the smells that wafted through the air.

"So this 'story' you two wrote together...what was it about?" Nessa asked, as she walked out with Haru and handed him a glass bottle of iced coffee.

He chuckled a bit trying to recall it all, and thought up of the basic premise rather easily. It had been recalled so quickly despite how long it was since he wrote anything new to it. How could he, without his brother there with him? "Well...it's a world different than our own, and it starts in the past."

"Hmm." She replies, sitting with him on a bench. They watched other couples walk by and she kept her attention on him.

"It involves a man who is a supernatural being of Greed. He embodies the idea of Greed itself, and is an evil entity in of itself. You could consider him a demon. Well, he doesn't have a grand ambition outside of wanting to control and obtain everything because that's his purpose. Except the problem is he can't take it all so easily due to this woman, a female angelic figure, who becomes his enemy. He, a man with long flowing dark purple hair, and her, bright golden hair down to her hips. Good vs Evil. These two duel it out with each other for millennia over and over: her stopping him from ultimately becoming some oppressive force that would be powerful enough to take over the planet Earth, and him trying to come up with ways to combat that." Haru was in a zen-like state reciting all of this, but had a smile creeping up on him remembering it all so vividly.

"One day, without either of them realizing it, they start to tire of the fighting, but they don't call for a truce. Instead, the man of Greed himself ends up falling for this woman. He does not want to throw away everything he's fought for so hard all these years and years, but it becomes a struggle to even continue." Nessa watches as Haru closed his eyes and a single tear goes down his cheek. He sniffs and wipes it off. "Hiro and I wrote the story of these two together: I, taking on the role of this guy, and he, doing what he could to work behind her actions as herself. It was never 'two guys roleplaying', it was just 'two directors sitting in a chair coercing characters we created into performing scenes'. Except, to us, that world was real."

Haru went silent and looked down as the winds picked up, and Nessa leaned over. He spoke quietly. "...it was real to me, and I miss it so, so much. But how could I continue it? Nobody but him to write her but him. So, I wrote a single 'chapter' ending that little universe we spent so much time putting together, and digitally shelved it." He sniffed again quietly and took a deep breath.

Nessa thought long and hard as she began to massage his arms. "Have you ever gone back to look at that story when you feel alone? I'm sure wherever Hiro is, he is in that world waiting for you to help him finish the story in some way." The blue eyed beauty spoke softly as she offered a loving smile.

He looked at her above his glasses' rim. "...no, because it hurts to look at it."

She nods and brings his hands up to her lips. "Then maybe in time when you're ready, you can embrace that world once more." She wondered if she was helping at all as they sat there side by side. "You can try again in time when the pain is manageable. Grief never goes away, it only becomes a part of us."

Haru had to bite his lip because he thought of the movie Hiro liked so damn much that had a very similar quote. So he quoted it. "We never defeat our demons, we only learn to live above them..." Gritting his teeth the whole time.

"By living above our demons, can we hope to live a little happily." She whispered and kissed his hands then leaned in to kiss his forehead. /Whenever he needs a shoulder to lean on or a kiss for no reason, I will always be here./

His eyes closed when she kissed his forehead and smiled weakly...but it was there. "Thank you, this is true."

She tapped on one of his knees gently. "You know…I want us to have a room dedicated to Hiro. You know those rooms that those in Kanto and Johto have with pictures of their dead loved ones? " She was already planning for such an enhancement to the home. "It's a place you can sit and talk to him for hours, leave snacks for him and his favorite drinks."

She sees him look off the distance for a moment, showing he is visibly trying to recall this. "...OH. Okay. Sure. We have his tree, but a dedicated spot that won't get wet by nature or hailed on would be nice."

Nessa nods in agreement. "We already have a room on the first floor by the living room that could work! You know, the large window that lets in a lot of light? It'll be the perfect spot for him. Maybe we can ask Blue and Red for advice to see if we'll get it right." Nessa suggested happily to try and be the light in the storm for him.

"Yeah..." Haru's eyes squinted. "...wait, ask Red?"

She realized the folly in the idea now. "Okay, ask Blue, then."

"There you go."

They both laughed.

Nessa then would try to derail from the negativity into something they both can mutually vibe together in. "Now let's switch up the topic for the moment. Our upcoming battle. I had some thoughts. The Red Gyrados I got in a trade from Sam thankfully has a good speed stat, but knowing Milo and Kabu's match-ups we have to be smart. What does Mirukon know that can help? You being primarily Steel is going to be a little rough since you'll be a sitting Psyduck against Kabu unless you have something that can take a few hits, and take out Milo as my backup."

He had to think of it while sipping his iced coffee drink. "Hyper Beam, Poison Jab, Aura Sphere..." he noticed that Nessa was squinting when he read off the moves from his mind. "What?"

"Your Lucario has a very good attack stat, why not change up a few of those with something that can help us both? Consider the Gyrados I just mentioned: it's part Flying, and won't be hit by Earthquake. But perhaps you should teach him Meteor Mash and Drain Punch."

She saw Haru tilt his head as the gears quietly began to turn as Nessa explained further. "The Gyrados also has the ability Moxie; the one that raises its attack per KO in the match. It doesn't have to be a long, enduring battle of back-and-forth. Much as I know you like your theatrics, I don't think we can take chances with Milo and Kabu backing us up in a corner."

The to-be Steel Gym Leader took a bite of some Fried Arrokuda sticks and looked back at her. "I could, you know, NOT, just go all-Steel-based in my battle." She turned to him with fire blazing in her eyes.

"Hon! If we did that, then Milo wouldn't feel the full strength of the revenge that I have cooking up for him! All that planning would have to start all over again!" her arms gestured in a wild swing to the side and looked not dissimilar to when she loses matches at her Gym. Frustrated as she appeared in this manner, Haru found it cute. "If we both use our brains together and shove the weaknesses we may have back in their faces then it'll show him to never underestimate us ever again!"

The couple looked at each other as Nessa panted and her chest rose and fell with deep breathing. "...what?"

"You're fucking sexy when you're angry." Haru replied, fully amused at her reaction as her face went red and huffed as her nostrils flared.

She grumbled and pouted. "Aaahhh! It's hard to be angry when you say that to me after a rant! Regardless: do you understand? We're going to crush him!" her right hand clenched into a fist as her boyfriend looked at her expression.

/Gods, what a woman./ He thought to himself.

Throughout the day, the couple hit up locales and sights they often either walked by or took for granted from the large utopia that was Wyndon. Freshly cooked Tentacool flavored takoyaki from stands. Eating contests for Milk Pudding that was won by Nessa. A retro photography booth. The large ferriswheel that was seen that Haru walked by anytime he was in Wyndon. All of these sights were visited and more, with the couple getting on for a ride Nessa got an inkling of an idea. "You know this one takes about half an hour to get to the top right? This ride alone basically makes it perfect for cuddling." She gestured to the late afternoon skies that had cleared up to paint orange and peach streaks with cyan hues as the door shut closed behind them both.

"Really? That's a long wait then, huh." His eyes glance over to her left hand and spots the gift he got her during the whole day. A promise ring that Nessa had been happily gushing about ever since she received it.

She looked down at him and nodded. "Yep. It'll basically be an hour before we're back down here."

They shared a moment of silence while she laid her head on his shoulder. "Haru, I love you. I can't believe you gave me such a pretty promise ring and chose to give it to me today of all days. This whole outing was supposed to be for you, dummy!"

"I'm a stubborn asshole sometimes." He replied smugly, as Nessa sat up straight to look down at him.

"Sometimes?"

"Okay, a lot of the time."

"Heh. In any case, we're going to finish this whole day with a ferriswheel 'ride'." She said in a lower tone, leaning down and kissing up his neck slowly and gyrating her hips. Haru's eyes went wide. They hadn't even considered doing something as racey as sex in a public setting, much less a ferriswheel. Though his willpower was strong, it was fading away with her intentionally nibbling on one of his earlobes.

Nobody would notice how the carriage shook slightly as it reached the top, or that it smelled of sweat and bodily fluids when they came back down. It blended in right along with everything else of the scents of a festival, and Nessa gained a new idea when the pair got off the carriage to call on an Air Taxi. "Hey darling?"

"Yeah? What's up?" He looked up at her as she was holding one of his hands and squeezed it.

As a Corviknight landed nearby with its pilot waving the couple over, she looked down to him with the same fire in her eyes from earlier. "I thought of something that will be the ultimate revenge against Milo: a final, apex-level declaration of our union together."

"Y-yeah..?"

- - - - - The next day, noon. . . - - - - -

Syra recalled the memory of what she just had bore witness to when she made it to Haru and Nessa's home. Sitting across from Nessa in complete befuddlement in the living room, her drink had been held shakily. The girl was invited to be told in person about a 'favor' she would be asked to help on, and as such her face reddened, her heart quickened in pace, and innumerable thoughts swirled in her head. Many questions formed. Were the words she heard spoken to her for such a favor reality, or did she briefly hallucinate them? A hand slaps on the table to get Syra to realize the conviction in her voice as Nessa stares. "Syra, are you willing to help or not?" She asked before sipping the tea and looking at Syra with a fierce look.

"!" /She's so intense...what the hell?/ "Uhm...wi...uh..." She shook her head and then took a deep breath /I may regret this./ "Y-yes. Yes I will."

At the current moment, Syra looked around as she was inside the Fighting Gym at Stow-in-Side; alone with her thoughts in one of multiple training rooms. She threw off her jacket and looked at the ground frustrated with herself. /I agreed to help Nessa with that, so it should come as no surprise that this will be the most risk I and they will be at in my life. Forget what happened with Team Rocket, this is more crazy. But if it's for them, I'll do anything./

Wrapping her hands up in bandage tape, her thoughts began to unwravel and become restless. /...so why am I feeling jealous of the two of them? It's not like I.../ She shook off her thought process before continuing it and then put on a Fighting Gym uniform top that Bea gave her, before facing the wooden dummy in the middle of the corner she stood at, exhaled deep, and got into a fighting stance. It had been quite some time since she took to sparring alone where only her thoughts could accompany her. As Syra struck the dummy with both boot and fist, her focus waned. /To think, that had I not been the bitch that I was, I would maybe have had a chance with Haru. I don't even know why I jumped around and did what I did on that trip back to Galar. But it felt so 'right' to do at the time./ She struck the wooden dummy hard in practice, and grit her teeth.

/Am I just fickle?/ The thought shoots through her as lightning were to strike the Earth, and it caused her to withhold a punch. The hand unfolds from its fist and rests on one of the wooden arms as she sighed. /Even as my younger brother, Gabe can tell when I actually like someone...and teased me about it./

Her hand tightened into a fist once more as she looked alongside the walls of the training room and saw one of the portraits of Bea. /But then there's Bea. What should have been an honest to God friendship start only got awkward because I tried to hit on her. That didn't go anywhere so I felt like shit for even attempting to be a flirt. May as well not bother if my record isn't so hot on that...and that's without even counting that I was a complete, gormless, daft Miltank to Haru. I caused so much trouble for him.../

/Syra, don't think about anyone else, since at this point it's not as if someone will romance you. Once they find out you slept with your old man, it's all moot right?/

/Look, sis, it's not really any of my business, but it does make me disappointed and worried. You don't think I've caught you two going at it before? Do you not think about how this will affect you later in life if you find you want to have some independence or seek out someone else romantically?/

"Shut up! None of you understand me!" She yells. Her fists began to punch the wooden dummy harder, before she tried to practice with roundhouse and high knee kicks. Her eyes welled up in frustration. /Then Sevan had to show up, and for a short moment I actually started to believe that I had regained some form of normalcy for once in my life. I was trying to not be such a flip flop, and I still haven't really talked with him about what I did, so the poor guy is probably confused./ Both of her eyes slammed shut, as she stopped hitting the wooden dummy and threw her fists down to her sides. As her teeth were grinding, guilt on her past actions continued to climb. /...gods, I fucking flashed him my abs as if I was meaning to gain some sort of feedback. Then I didn't even capitalize on it! Now I wonder if I even give a shit, or if I was just doing it to toy with him! Why can't I figure out what I feel and stick to it?!/

/With all this obsession over Haru for revenge, I wonder if you're beginning to take to him, Syra. You don't plan to leave me, do you?/

/Keep the Team Rocket outfit on and lift it for Daddy: just like that./

"I DON'T OWE YOU ANYTHING!" Syra shouted at the top of her lungs before rapidly wailing on the wooden dummy without any finesse to her form: only wishing to hit it as hard as she could. Both of her eyes started to leak, and the bandage wrappings were starting to tear from the impacts that lacked proper form. There was no break in between punches, and an adrenaline fueled by a calvacade of thoughts numbed the pain within her knuckles. Wood began to splinter, and the dummy was beginning to shift from its spot in the room and skid along the floor from the force. /All this time I've been jumping from one person to the next, being a stupid, big tittied flirt, batting my gods damn eyelashes like the idiot I am and pretending that I can be worthy of anything! Leading them all on! If any of my fans figured out what I was actually like behind the scenes, they'd see me for the disgusting, irrepairable flake that I am! To think there was so much spent time doing this only to leave it all behind!/

Syra grit her teeth as both eyes began to leak lines as she sniffled. Her punches became carnal and were thrown as if to cover for her ghosts of the past. Seeing Haru's smiling visage caused her to shut her eyes in shame and yelled. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" /I fucked up my chances with Haru!/

A fist flies hard and destroys one of the dummy's 'arms', causing it to fly sideways. /I screwed up with Bea! Made things worse and awkward cuz of the dumb fuck I am!/ One of her legs hit the torso of the dummy, causing a large crack to form on the 'torso' of it. /...and I can't commit to Sevan! I can't commit to anyone!/

/You can be angry with me all you want, but you're not going to be able to recover from this now are you? Or do you actually have what it takes to fight back? Now clean yourself up, your brother will be waking up soon./

/Why? Why am I like this?!/ Syra let out another loud wail of screams, and caught the attention of Bea, who was walking in the hallways to see her friend hitting the dummy. The long haired trainer reeled back her right arm and rammed her fist into the dummy one more time as pieces of the wood splintered. Lumber and wood cracked as the impact spread splinters and makes the dummy explode. One rage fueled punch now made the training prop inoperable. Syra stood there: tears freely shedding.

/I know. Try as you might, this memory is going to live with you, but is that so bad? Just stay with me, my dear. Daddy's got you./

Speaking to no one and forgoing her inner monologue, Syra growled. "You bastard, you ruined me! Fuck you Ritsu! YOU DON'T OWN ME ANYMORE!" She turned to one of the matted walls and hit it repeatedly before turning back to the destroyed prop. All her eyes saw was an imaginary fantasy of Ritsu being beat up by herself. How badly she wanted to take him down and physically handicap him even in the court room, but couldn't. Having to defend herself and have her background and every ugly secret revealed to all freshened up the wounds.

Years ago, she grew to love the taboo connection she had no matter how much society and others condemned it. It didn't matter to her then, it felt great.

Months ago, she grew to ask questions to her own self. If it was right to continue to allow it to happen and enable it without fighting back.

Today, she hated her past self and everything that 'stupid, idiotic girl' tolerated as if it were a sin to be so naïve and accepting. How could she at any point be okay with it? Why was she okay with it? It was only a miracle that she was now surrounded by other friends who were willing to look past her own memories that dared not to be silent anymore.

"Syra! Syra! Hey...! What happened? What's going on?!" Pushing one of her hands on Syra's stomach and another on her shoulder, forcing her friend to look at her. Bea took note that one of Syra's fists bled through the bandage wrappings, as Syra laughed weakly.

Hiding her shame if only for a minute, she commented. "...lost my form so bad I bruised and cut myself..."

"Syra. Seriously, what happened? Did you get into a fight with someone?" The silver eyed girl forced Syra to look down at her with her hand.

The taller girl only looked to the copper-tone Fighting Gym Leader with shame that she was seen losing her cool. She was more directly reminded of her flakiness and failures in the past and then all her strength to keep up the 'act' of confidence collapsed. Her face turned into a frown before both eyes shed tears and then held onto Bea by the shoulders. "I'm sorry...I...I just can't do this today..."

"What can't you do? Hey...talk to me..." Bea asked, sounding worried, and doing the only thing she knew she could do by simply hugging on Syra and rubbing her back.

The only answer she got back from 'Miss Blue' was a morose "Anything..." before sobbing. She wasn't asked in detail about what happened to lead to it, and clung to Bea's uniform. The two sat there alone in the disheveled training room in muted silence: the sound of sniffles and teardrops hitting the mats echoing off the walls.

She had yet to begin figuring out how to get past her own past; one of many steps to finding herself.

"Bea, I'm a disgusting, taboo-loving piece of shit." she said quietly as her hands clung to Bea's uniform. "You know of it all by now."

The silver haired girl hummed quietly and nodded before one of her hands began to stroke Syra's long velvet black hair. "I do. I went to a few of the court hearings and heard the rest of the summaries from the public record."

"Then you know the true me. That man is behind bars and will be for the rest of his life...for what he did to me. But even then, it kind of feels like a part of me isn't going to ever go away. What am I supposed to do with this knowledge?" Syra chose not to look Bea in the eyes as she continued.

"Syra, are you feeling bad because you feel guilty for how you've been acting since trying to get away from him? Like...some form of being 'normal' is beyond you or something?" Bea tried to ask for an answer, and only got a weak nod from her friend. "I can't relate on the same scale...but I myself grew up with a very strict family. Father wanted me to pursue training since a very young age and since then it's kind of why I rarely smile in public."

The sniffling from Syra slowed down as she let go and looked up at Bea as the two girls sat across from each other. "Y...you did?"

Nodding, Bea continued. " 'In order to become strong, one must face opponents who are stronger than oneself: even if defeat seems inevitable.' Quotes like that were, sometimes too many times, beaten into me until I adopted that mentality. There's days where I can't tell if I can thank my father for helping me get into martial arts, or if I lament not being able to be more 'girly' and enjoy life growing up. Not being able to have as much time to the things I really enjoyed was a little more than a problem, but I held those thoughts back all the same. Because it only mattered to get stronger..."

"Hmm..." Syra's eyes squinted.

"He was never abusive. Far from it. But...I do wish I could be at least a little more feminine you know? Sometimes. Maybe I gotta practice at it just like my Galar Karate." Bea took one of Syra's hands and held it as her other covered the top of it. "Maybe it's like how you gotta practice to forgive yourself."

Syra grew a little sheepish and avoided eye contact. "You think so?"

"Mmhmm. I know you still feel bad for doing what you did with me, and I know that even small things like that are weighing heavily on you because of what you've been through right? So let's do what we can to work on small things together okay?" Bea asked with a gentle smile spreading, causing Syra to blush before bringing her in for a tight hug. The Fighting Gym Leader let out a small chuckle and then patted her friend on the back. "There there. I'm here."

"Thank you for not judging me Bea. Hopefully one day I'll learn to not be so skittish and open up more to others..." Syra whispered as her head hung over Bea's shoulder.

The wooden dummy may have been destroyed, but it wasn't the thing Bea was going to concern herself on repairing. Her friend was far more important and would start to add her own focus to do so from then onward.

- - - - - That same moment, Turffield - - - - -

- - - - - Grass Gym - - - - -

"Milo! The Wooloo are getting a little restless. Is it too early to feed them or not, sir?" asked one of the multiple Gym staffers that were new hires. Walking over to his spot, as well as looking at the cuddly sheep-like Pokemon, Milo adjusted his strawhat and grinned.

"Hmmm. Maybe. We try not to spoil them too much otherwise they won't want to assist us in our Gym Challenges for any Challengers, and we don't wanna make things too easy on newcomers for their first battle for a badge you know?" he points out, grinned from ear to ear.

The staffer smiles, thinking he understood and brought out a Yamper to corral the Pokemon together. "Okay okay settle down now, calm down!"

"Yeah. Wouldn't want anything out of the ordinary to happen, right?" called another voice from near the entrance to the challenge field. The staffer and Milo looked towards the voice's direction and saw a woman standing there with a blue Hulbury themed cap with a black and white romper, and the familiar sandals that adorned her feet. Nessa tilted her head up, her lips pursing as her chin was at an upwards tilt. "...isn't that right, Milo?"

"Ahh...Nessa. Nice to have you here." He gestured to the staffer to go about their business as he walked to her. A little bit of tension was felt the closer he walked until he tipped his head. "To what do I owe the pleasure? Is it about the last time you came here?"

"Hmm?" The blue eyed Water Gym Leader looked to the side in thought. "Oh! No no no, I figure we've grown past that. No, sorry about that! But no." Her eyes grew serious and nodded to the entrance of where she walked in from. "Let's take a walk, Milo."

The farmer nodded his head and followed her as she exited with him; gently waving to fans that saw them both leaving the building. /This is different. She is usually so short with me, but then again, it has been awhile since we spoke in person. Wonder what this could be about?/

- - Turffield, near the geoglyph - -

Bringing Milo with her, Nessa leans against one of the benches as the two find the large geoglyph that was a small tourist spot in Turffield. As the two came to see the large grassy hillside with the unusual imagery, Milo met her at the same spot and leaned against the railing facing the geoglyph hill. "So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Pft." Nessa clicked her tongue before looking over to him. "You know...we've been at this whole 'thing' for years now. This self-imposed rivalry where I made you my enemy since the days of the Gym Challenge has gone on much longer than I thought it would."

Milo looked at her and blinked. As her voice was seemingly poignant, or even nostalgic, he jumped in with his own thoughts. "You got that right. Honestly, the time flew by faster than I'd like. A part of me is sorry it grew to the point it is now. You did more than enough to prove the strength in your Water Pokemon."

She didn't let him have much time before firing back with a half smirk. "Please don't play coy with me Milo. We both know how things ended up going." Nessa folded her arms and looked to him.

Milo tilted his head and pursed his lips in confusion. "Not sure I follow." he said which caused Nessa to only sigh in exasperation.

"I want you to name any number of times you were given a discussion by a higher up about having to choose your career after losing a match against a Challenger. Can you name one? You're a farmer, and Gym Leader much in the same vein as I am a model and a Gym Leader." Her eyes squinted in annoyance as the Grass Gym Leader looked up into the skies and hummed in thought.

He gave a passive shrug. "That's what I thought. I lost to you at Wyndon during an exhibition match, and got a passive, oh let's call it a 'suggestion' by ex-Chairman Rose that I should instead consider leaving my being a model to become a better Gym Leader." her eyes grew fierce in remembering the conversation.

Milo lowered his head. "I...I didn't know that such a thing happened. I knew there were comments from others, sure, but him?"

Nessa gestured with a dismissive handwave and increased disgust in her eyes. "Yes, and why do you think that is, hmm? It's so unfair: I work hard and hard and hard to get to the spot that essentially raised me as one more 'difficult Gym Leader to battle' than you. Yet what does it get me? Not much more than lip service."

Her tone only grew more crass. "Despite all the challenges I usurped, it's not enough. It's never enough. People still talk, you know, Milo. Every time we fought be it at an exhibition match in Wyndon, or elsewhere, there you were: the 'Grass Guru Milo'. But the day that came when I got my own nickname wasn't because of my talents in battle, or that I became the 2nd Gym Leader, or that I'm a fisherwoman and model or anything. Nope. It was due to how mad I get when I'm in a competitive mode. Tch."

"Right. The 'Raging Wave'." He sighed, and saw her point of perspective, if even a little, on why Nessa constantly was in a tense mood when he was around.

A wind picked up as she held onto the bun in the back of her head. Her eyes narrowed before turning her face more directly towards him. "This is how it has been for quite some time between us...but not anymore. Very soon, I'll be able to show the whole world that I'm more than some nickname. More than just someone who gets upset at losing."

For just a slight moment, the guard was lowered within Milo, and he felt relieved that they could talk about something else. "I look forward to it: this is something you've been practicing a lot huh? Much more than any other battle."

The blue in Nessa's eyes became more striking: like Arceus looking to strike down punishment on the Earth. "There is a point to all this, so I suppose I'd rather get right to it now. In more ways than you realize, Milo, this WILL be the end of our rivalry. When the battle is over, you and I will part ways. This Gym Challenge that follows after the Olympic Tournament will be both of our final ones together as Gym Leaders."

"Wait, what?!" Milo felt the atmosphere in between him and Nessa grow thicker in intensity.

"In one way or another, Galar is going to witness the end of this rivalry, and to be frank, we can't risk another schism much like Gordie and Melony. Circhester is Circhester, but ours is of two locations: Turffield and Hulbury. I would rather die than see either location deal with something like Circhester did for some undeterminable time. We may all be fellow Gym Leaders, but Gordie and Melony are family, and I don't think that highly of you enough to work things out like she did with him. So..." She stepped off of the bench with a light hop to her feet and clasped her hands behind her back as their eyes locked.

A curious eyebrow raised. "Go on."

Nessa took a deep breath and closed her eyes making doubly sure that she was going to say this with 100% intent right to the end before speaking. "Let's make this final bout between us more interesting. If you win, I will simply step down. After the following Gym Challenge comes to an end, my career will then involve only being a model, and a mere fisherwoman. I'll give the Gym to someone else to step in my place, and take on the fact that I simply couldn't move past the weaknesses that our types have when clashing against each other in battle. I'll merely disappear into the shadows."

"Nessa you don-!" Milo felt some sweat drip down his forehead to his cheek. That she would be so willing to throw away her career showed a higher level of conviction than any other time in history. /Is she being stupid or is she just that confident in herself? What the heck is going on?!/

Her eyes narrowly opened, eyeing him like a Persian having found prey as a dark blue aura had began to emanate from her. "...but if I win, you apologize to Haru in front of the whole audience after him and I celebrate our win, then admit that I was the better trainer of Pokemon, and must step down from your Turffield Gym at the end of the Gym Challenge. Whether you choose to leave it to another Grass leader is up to you. There are...other options in case you don't."

"!"

The two Gym Leaders stared down at each other as Nessa pursed her lips into a smile and chuckled. "Do we have a deal, Milo?"

"You're crazy! Have you gone mad, Nessa? Are you really willing to put so much on the line to get at me for this rivalry? Do you have any idea what you would be throwing away by losing at this stage of your career?! You'd be giving up so much!" The Grass Gym Leader said, beginning to contest the notion of gamble she had laid down whilst throwing his arms to the side.

Her face expression changed to that of someone void of ill intent. The scary side of her completely disappeared as if they were having a normal conversation. "What ever do you mean then? In any case that just means you have nothing to worry about am I right?" Nessa laughs before folding her arms.

/Is this some sort of mental warfare or something? Is this all really my own doing?/ "L-look...I don't know if we should do this. It's too risky." He replied with a tone of nervousness in his voice.

The woman turned away and let out a single laugh. "You know it's funny, Milo. I found out something interesting recently the other day." Her head whips back to look at him as one of her eyes squinted at him. "Some men don't like taller women because they feel intimidated. It has something to do with a weird, cult-like belief about how they think women should be more demure, doll-like. You know, that sort of shit that our grandparents grew up making commonplace. I couldn't figure out if it was tied to a political or religious belief, but thinking like that doesn't belong in this day and age right? I wonder if there's a correlation between that, and men who constantly talk down to those of us of color who also happen to be women. It makes me wonder if Rose was like that..."

As she began to speak of random statistics, he only looked on in confusion. His arms folded. "I uh...no I was not aware of that."

"Hah. I wasn't aware, because you strike me as the type of person who perpetuates such small person energy: quite a quandary for someone of your burly stature, huh?" She leaned forward in a very challenging manner and wide open smile.

He stepped back. "That's big words coming from you. What are you saying?"

The menacing aura came back full force as Nessa stood up straight. "Gods. So many questions today and so little answers from you Milo. Don't give me that tosh, you burly, potato-armed, asshole. Do you think me stupid? I saw Haru come home with those bruises and cuts: his nose bleeding. His face wincing from getting into a fight. Haru's not the type to throw fists with anyone because he's so patient: it takes a real prick to push his buttons, be it a journalist that is trying to spread rumors about his Gym or life..." her eyes look to him as her expression grew cold. "...or a Grass Gym Leader talking shit about his life and who he decides to romance."

/Fuck./ Milo froze when she said that and held up his hands slowly. "Now now Nessa...Oleana already had a talk with the two of us, and I apologized. I know I have yet to apologize to you, and I admit it was uncalled for, but you have to understand that my point of vi-"

"YOUR POINT OF VIEW?! ARE YOU INSANE OR DID AN ELDEGOSS USE 'COTTON DOWN' ON YOUR FUCKING BRAIN?! Do you think I give a SHIT about your 'point of view' after you talked about me like some object?! I am not your girlfriend, or comrade, hell, we are barely coworkers, Milo! We represent Galar as Gym Leaders, and as a professional courtesy I try to not cause fights because that's how adults should act!"

She leaned towards him with a sinister yet mocking smirk. "You have this public image like you're so friendly to everyone, so it would be a DAMN shame if I were to, oh I don't know, let out those skeletons you have in your closet. I could tell people that you started the whole fight with, as one Sevan told me..." She brought out her phone and looked for the screenshotted text messages from a conversation she had with Sevan. "Ah yes, here we go. 'Haru's so short it's amazing he can even reach her in bed, if at all'." She grinned, slowly raising her voice while smirking.

The growing panic on Milo's face was too enjoyable, so she continued. "Oh you didn't figure? Just because Haru himself heard the end of your little gossip doesn't mean his friend didn't tell me everything leading up to it. 'Do you think he's a quick pump' 'I've only put on this façade since I am still trying to get over how much he favors only a few of you compared to me.' My my, jealous ARE we, Milo? That's not a good sign!"

A small group of people had noticed that Nessa was talking to Milo near the geoglyph and began to turn their attention when she spoke up a little louder.

"Nessa please stop, I know that what I said was really shitty and bad, and I had a few drinks-"

She was having none of his excuses and glared at as her voice filled with venom. "Fuck off! You're old enough to know it only lowers your inhibitions and doesn't change your personality! You actually DID think those things about Haru! What was it you said about me too? Right...Sevan said, and I quote, 'If only Nessa could look to someone not as volatile, since it ain't right. Can't believe I fucking missed my chance.'"

Nessa broke out into laughter and pointed at him. "You think just because we're rivals that you can then turn around and ship us both together? With what chemistry? Is it cuz you feel sorry for me or something? That it's your Arceus-given right to fantasize like this? You can't even speak to me in person about such hidden feelings and then expect me to reciprocate them back! You and I are not Leon and Sonia! Far from it!"

Both of Milo's hands clenched into fists as he looked at her. "Nessa, you are twisting my arms on this, please. I don't want to do this bet alongside the challenge in Wyndon."

She smirked. "Okay, fair. I still have my trump card left."

"...which is?"

"That you think I'm owed to you because you are the 'son of a farmer'."

There was another gust of wind as the strong woman angrily looked at him. "I chose to be with Haru because he calms the waves within me. Thanks to him, I don't have to be a 'Raging Wave' at home, or anywhere when he's by my side. I'm not asking you to understand why any of it happened, but I am telling you that thanks to this, you'll never be able to recover what very little comradery we had, even in passing. So if you want to end this tension between us, then accept my terms. To show that I'm serious..." she brought up an image of a document that had been typed up, addressed to Oleana that was yet to be sent. "Here is a document I typed up of a resigning note should I lose to you."

Her right arm extended as her hand opened up for a handshake. "This will be the end of it all, and I am confident that at the end of it, I'll see you admit to the strength of Water Pokemon and me as a trainer."

Finally after their violent back-and-forth, Milo conceded. His hand stretches forward, and Nessa shook it. The two quietly stared back at each other in silence, and before long, she let go. Putting her arms behind herself and keeping her back straightened, Nessa hummed to herself. /Nothing is going to stop me from reaching my goal. If this were the me of years ago, I would never be so harsh to anyone or want to insult or berate them in front of others./ As she exited Turffield's landmark, she turned back to look at Milo one last time. /But the second you hurt Haru, and insulted both of us behind our backs was the second I lost all respect for you, and it won't come back. Milo, you won't be ready for our little 'celebration' that you just agreed to witness, and I am very much looking forward to your face expression from it. That by itself will be the best reward out of all of this./

She passed the sign that pointed to the route between Turffield and Hulbury. The long haired model laughed calmly to herself as she took the long walk back to her home in Hulbury instead of calling for an Air Taxi, and then would plan for the rest of the day. /It's lab time./

- - - - - 2 days later - - - - -

A lot of preparations had to be done, and outside of the unusually risky maneuver that Nessa and Haru had planned post-battle, they had to run tests for the actual battle. Taking in his Lucario, Haru had to change up a few of his moves on recommendation by Nessa that even if he's going to be a big target, that he doesn't have to take it sitting down.

"Dual Battles are not something I proudly like doing, or am good at, so I'm going to rely on you for this, hon." He says, apologizing while walking to the Hulbury Gym for some battle training. On his back, he carried the same egg that was laid from Masako, as she followed him from behind. Nessa looks back and sighs as she takes that information to heart.

She put a thumb to her lip in thought as the pair walked onto the empty arena of the Water Gym. /Dual Battles were only something that happened seldom in our league. If I recall correctly, Raihan's Gym Battles with his challengers are like this, which allows him to create the strategies he does./ The model from Hulbury turned to Haru as she stopped in her tracks. "Hey hon? I have an idea. Why don't we invite some of our friends to help us out? Maybe we can use some realtime battle talks. Do you know anyone that's available?"

As his phone sprang to life, Haru scrolls through his calendar to remind himself of the recent scheduling from everyone. Syra was available, Hop was getting new books for Haru and him to study over for his scholastic requirements for the sanctuary. He scrolled over the name 'Sevan' and saw that the blonde streak brother of his 'read' his text but didn't reply quite yet. A slight concern waves over him. "Hey babe? You have time for a detour? I think Sevan would have fun watching some Galar-based combat but...I wonder if he's okay."

To say she was confused would be putting it lightly. Tilting her head to the side and squinting both eyes, Nessa pursed her lips. "...why is that?"

- - - - - Between Circhester and Spikemuth - - - - -

- - - - - Route 09 - - - - -

"Oh."

Haru and Nessa arrived to the front of Sevan's home only to see a scene neither were mentally prepared to deal with: the man face down in the ground as his partner Shinrin was trying to get him inside with Fen nuzzling him too. Nessa presses her hand to her forehead and sighs. "So uh...does he do this often?"

Haru knelt down as Shinrin looked up worriedly to Haru as she was unable to move him all by herself and Fen. "This is my first time seeing him passed out actually, and I'm going to guess his insomnia just acted up super badly this time. Makes sense. The other day he texted me 'Going on 48 hours this time'."

"Fen, Shin, let's help you get your master inside..." Nessa said, worried that he would get sick if he laid outside for too long.

Inside the home, the two help the lean friend of Haru's get in bed as Shinrin hops on the mattress to help cover him up. Haru then leaned against the wall as Chorui waddled over in between the two trainers, and caw'd at the two before going to his trainer's bedside. "Perhaps we can have him join us next time?"

They would come back to check on him another day.

Time passed on and the air surrounding Galar began to change: a restlessness was more obvious and pertinent. Haru and Nessa took turns cycling out their scheduled training. With the pedigree of Pokemon that him and Syra caught, they formed a cumulative training regiment where Syra acted as a proxy of both Kabu and Milo, as Haru and Nessa tried to find ways on how to defeat the trainers. Syra agreed to train under as close circumstance that the other Gym Leaders would, but not before bringing Sevan along to watch since he was invited. He would, at times, take place in commenting or critiquing the battles when they finished.

Milotic was withdrawn back into its Dive Ball and Nessa sighed. Haru raised an eyebrow.

"Hon, are you okay?"

She folded her arms after putting the other PokeBalls away. "We're doing good, but it's not enough."

Syra met the other pair in the middle of the battlegrounds and looked at Nessa. "Let me guess: you don't 'feel' a guaranteed victory in your mind, huh?"

"I have to figure out something on Milotic that can help us turn this around...because I'm on the precipice of figuring it out. But I just -can't- come to terms of what it is quite yet." Nessa said out loud, intensely studying how the combat went down. They were winning against Syra as many times as they were losing, with no clear road towards victory.

"If I could make a suggestion..." Sevan said, raising his hand as he propelled himself from the walls of the stadium grounds and walking to the group. His eyes looked to Haru. "Haru. What's your Lucario's best point in battle? What's Mirukon the best at: stat-wise?"

Readjusting his glasses to rid it of some dirt, Haru blinked. "Huh? Well uh...his attack. Do you need me to tell you his moves?"

As Shinrin hopped up onto his shoulders and looked at them curiously, he shook his head. "Fuck nah. Get rid of that Hyper Beam. You're going to be as much a sitting duck as Nessa is with her weakness on Milo's side right? Fucking play it safe instead of banking on your luck. You got as far as you did being a Champion by using the variety of Pokemon, so you gotta be smart."

A bead of sweat formed on Haru's forehead and looked over his bag of TRs to teach Mirukon other movesets. Kneeling down, he looked up. "Okay genius, so what do you suggest I do?"

The fighting enthusiast clenched one free hand. "You're gonna be representing Steel. Give him a 'fuck off' physical attack like Meteor Mash or Poison Jab. If you're really lucky, Mirukon will either get stronger, or poison the enemy. If it were I, I'd try to knock out Milo as soon as possible."

Nessa tapped on her chin then snapped her fingers. "He's got a point, Haru. Let's try again in a few minutes by ridding Mirukon's knowledge of Hyper Beam and Aura Sphere."

"You sure?" Haru asked once again for clarity, which got Sevan to grumble.

"You doubt me? 'Course I'm fucking sure! Look: anything to bust Milo's face in harder is something you should aim for by all accounts."

As Haru snickered, Nessa and Syra pumped their fists near instantaneously in unity hearing Sevan's statement. "Hell yes! Exactly!" shouted Nessa, who looked excited.

Standing in during the training was something that Sevan only did out of a courtesy for Haru, but it did pain him a little to see battles and not take part in them himself. Going back to lean against the walls of the stadium, while Shinrin hopped down to look up at him, he eyed her and gave a pained smiled. "Don't give me that look, Shin. You know that I can't bring myself to put you through the ringer anymore."

- - - - Later that evening - - - -

The training continued, and on the way out, Nessa and Haru would make their way to close up the Gym as Syra waited outside with Sevan. As both of them leaned against the railing overlooking the Hulbury Seas, a wind picked up causing her to clutch to her jacket she wore. "So, are you doing anything tomorrow now that you've caught up to the land of the living? Hopefully nothing shady, right?" Syra casually asked before quietly emanating a scary aura of intimidation in Sevan's direction.

He didn't make eye contact and only continued to converse after ignoring her prod for information. "Of course you would fucking ask me that, but no. Shinrin gets upset if I act too recklessly for too long. But it's like I said to you last time: that wasn't the worst I've been through."

Syra only shrugged hearing that, and winced while her upper lip stiffened. "Still. I don't wanna wake up one morning and see you screwed up in a hospital cuz you got into a really bad fight with some bad characters. Have you decided on maybe joining up into the Gym Challenge? I could find some Pokemon for you to start that aren't yours."

Sevan rubbed his right hand's knuckles as if to nurse an ache he was having. "I don't think it's quite that simple. Watching Haru and Nessa talk so much about battling, and getting to know you as you are has been getting me to think about this upcoming Gym Challenge a lot more than I anticipated. "

"Yeah?! What about it?!" The shift from a brooding, protective sister-like persona to that of an excited Yamper was such a violent whiplash of mood it made Sevan twitch. Her vibrant magenta eyes widened with wonder as Sevan took a long breath.

Shinrin was seen near his feet on her belly relaxing with the low gusts of wind that picked up, and looked to her Master who spoke. "I don't think I would personally ever have it in me to do this annual 'Gym Challenge' you guys run in Galar, but I'm not saying I haven't thought of it. But as it stands now, there's still no real reason for me to bother. I don't want to harm my family that I still have with me." Grinning back at the Leafeon who was enjoying her sunlight in the near evening hours.

Syra squints. "What do you mean 'no real reason'? You have a Pidgeot, a Ninetales, and a Leafeon at the very least right? You can't tell me the blood of a trainer isn't in you anymore. Give it a shot: I can have Haru vouch for you so you can compete."

His eyes closed and painful memories came flooding back, yet kept a strong face. "Syra, it won't matter. None of it will."

The girl leaned on the railing with her elbow as she looked up closer up. "Hey." she gestured a hand to point to herself. "What is it exactly you're afraid of?"

He only exhaled. "I don't expect you nor anyone else to understand okay? It's complicated. You already found out enough of me from that one day, so maybe sometime I'll tell you the rest. Maybe I won't."

She stood up straight and her cheeks puffed up. "Fuck, you're as thick as a Stonjourner sometimes."

"Huh?" His eyes winced in confusion at her.

Syra threw her hands down and made them into fists. "NOTHING! UGH! Well, fine! But I'm at the very least introducing you to some more friends around here so you're not all mopey and get into a bloody pulp like the last time I saw you!"

The notion that she could train him to be better made him laugh. "Need I remind you I was doing fine. And what, you going to train me or something? That'll be the day! Last I recall, we were basically even."

Her confidence didn't wane as she wagged a finger back and forth. "Nuh-uh. You're gonna be my partner when I need to get some kicks in, but I'm no teacher for combat. Pokemon? Yes. But I got someone who's far stronger and more adept than I am at Galarian Karate, and she can kick your ass."

Internally, he figured there was no harm in entertaining such a request, and shrugged. "Pffft. Fuck it. Not like I got anything else going on. If it's as good as you say then sure, I suppose."

"Great! Let me message her now!" Syra said excitedly, whipping out her phone.

[Syra: Hey Bea, are you available tomorrow morning? Need to bring an extra partner to train. I know that soon you have to prepare for the Gym Challenge but...is it okay for me to have a 'Plus One'?]

[Bea: Sure, I'm game.]

Syra gave a teethy grin as she looked up to her phone to notice the blondy and his Leafeon looking back in curiosity. "Ha! You're really gonna feel the burn this time!"

"Pft. So you say."

They were interrupted as Haru and Nessa exited the Hulbury stadium. After some light chatter, they all parted ways, but on the way home to Circhester, Syra was filling in Bea on anything she could that would give an advantage. Bea stared curiously at her phone and hummed reading over his information. "...a boxer, huh..."

- - - - - Elsewhere... - - - - -

A few nurses stood over a bed, monitoring the vitals as a machine beeped to the rhythmic cadance of a heartbeat.

"Do you know if she'll be okay?"

"Hard to say. She was barely awake by the time we brought her in, but now she's in a medically induced coma. We're trying to find out as much as we can. But it is a little hard to go by, since the uniform she wore isn't like one I've recognized..."

Nearby, the doctor who was in charge of the patient came in, frowned when seeing the patient and sighed. She stood a little taller than the other nurses, who looked in shock. "Wh-...you're-!"

The other nurse put up a hand and shushed his fellow man. "Mm-mm." As the other nurse came into the light, she studied the heart monitor as her feet clacked against the floor and tilted back her red glasses after looking over the vitals for a moment. Quietly she looked over the girl's body and the machine that connected. She inhaled sharply in shock. /No mark...?/

She turned to the nurses. "She seems stable, so that's a good thing. Administer her some Doxycycline through the IV drip and make sure she stays hydrated. Her pain levels can cause a seizure if she's not kept leveled." Snapping her fingers, the other nurses walked out as her eyes narrowed back to the patient.

/This is the worst I've ever seen her before. Arceus forgive me for being personal in a job that demands one to not be personal for one's patients...but please look over her./

Upon exiting out of the room and heading out to the hallway, another staffer raised their hand to get her attention. "Ma'am! You have a phone call from Galar: already on the line in your office."

"Galar? What would anyone from Galar want from this region..." the female doctor said, going to her office with a heightened sense of urgency. Turning the lock key on the inside of the door and sitting down she crossed her legs and answered. "This is Grace."

"Hello Doctor."

Her round eyes widened hearing the response on the other end of the phone. "Oleana..?"

"Yes. It's good to hear from you again. I'd like to say I hope I find you in good spirits, but the matter of why I've called is a bit of a selfish one."

The doctor readjusted her glasses and pursed her lips in annoyance. "...go on."

"I'm under the impression that you can help me find someone that could assist me in a project that Galar is in progress currently for: our first Sanctuary. Right now we're short-staffed in specialists due to the current state of affairs for at least now until our next Gym Challenge is upon us. There's several staff positions that are being filled, and its head is doing his part, but one could say it's in 'pre-production' phases and I like to be very orderly when I manage all important matters of Galar."

Combing a hand through her light blue hair, the doctor sighed. "I have a feeling we both are thinking of the same person, but as of now, THAT Union is involved to make sure everything here goes as planned."

"...! The Ranger Union is involved?! It's that bad?"

"Yes. I won't say that I'm angry your alliance with other Champions and your own got to Team Rocket when they did because that's arrogance, and I'm anything but. However, if they got to Rocket sooner, then maybe I'd be less worried about whether she'll wake up again. It's bad enough that with this patient I just got they may not wake again, but her Pokemon she bonded with are understandably very upset. There's a Vaporeon causing a ruckus near a Pokemon Center near our hospital: using Hydro Pump and shouting at anyone who he thinks is guilty of his master's injuries."

"Arceus. Okay then. Let me know when she wakes up. Once the time arrives, I'd like to come visit her personally."

"Don't you have an Olympic Tournament to finish arranging to think about a visit to someone so far away from you?" the doctor asked with a rising inflection.

"I can make an exception for her: you can say that research has been done."

"Look again, then. There's a lot that is hidden between the pages, ma'am."

The doctor's face grew tense and her eyes wandered in anxiety. "To be honest, Miss Chairman, I'm...not exactly sure if such visitation be possible for awhile. Look into those records of Rocket. What they did to her, Oleana, no Pokemon Ranger or human being should have ever had to deal with it." Her eyes spot the analog clock on the wall and sighed. "But I need to sign off for now: I'm to update Hastings on this. Apologies for my cutting off the phone call when I did."

"I understand. Keep me posted."

*click*

Leaning back into her chair, her ample bosom heaved with a long sigh before taking off her glasses and massaging her temple near her eyes. /If only the ability to grant life was nearly as easy as the threats of taking it all away.../

- - - - - Later that evening. . . - - - - -

- - - - - Haru and Nessa's Home, Hulbury - - - - -

The couple had just gotten back home and off from the Air Taxi when the Water Gym Leader looked behind her as Haru stopped in his tracks to turn his head behind his shoulder. "Haru?". She could see both his eyes widen in a slight pause of confusion and excitement.

"Oh...?!" Haru says as his voice gradually went from a lower to a higher pitch. The time seemed to have come for the Egg that Masako laid to hatch, as it was beginning to wiggle while being carried back home. The backpack wiggled again, and both of them picked up the pace to hurry inside their home. As Nessa opened the door, Haru calls out. "GUYS! WE'RE HOME! GET TOWELS!"

In seconds, Nora runs past him to the bathroom and, albeit unkept and unfolded, grabs one with her mouth and comes back carrying it. He tosses his PokeBalls outwards once he's sat as Mirukon, Masako, and Leafa appear. "Mirukon, Masako, be ready but your kid is coming." This sudden announcement causes the Lucario to blush intensely and semi-panic. It was happening in just a few seconds, and there was no time left to mentally prepare!

Nessa and her Drednaw come back from getting some gloves for Haru to wear as the egg starts to crack. More lines form slowly, and then a small finger is seen poking out. Inside a small Pokemon quivers as it's using what little strength it can to break out. The couple that was the Lucario and Gardevoir stare in awe while Haru keeps the egg upright with the towel at the ready. He has to hold back from yelping upon seeing the small Ralts popping its head out and crying for its parents instinctively because of the one quality that made it stand out: a pastel blue hue. The Pokemon makes one final attempt to crawl out of the thin shell and is wet, plopping onto Haru's arms as Nora leans over his arms from the side to drape the towel around it. "My first baby Pokemon that I have on my own..and it's a shiny. Well..." His face looks up to the Lucario and Gardevoir staring at the baby Ralts as Mirukon was clutching one of her hands into his own paw. Just like a mother would be at that moment, tears were starting to bud up at the corners of her eyes.

With help from the Glaceon, Nora and Haru gently wrap the baby Pokemon and then he walks over to its parents and hands it to Masako. Nessa is quiet and mostly there for support, but she can see how Haru radiates an aura like he was built for doing this as part of his caretaker role he'd be at his future Pokemon sanctuary. "Masako? Mirukon?" The name just 'came' to him after identifying that it was a girl. "I want you both to meet your adorable daughter: Ruby."

The Gardevoir cradles the wrapped babe gently and starts kissing the top of its small head as Mirukon hugs her from the side. It's so obvious that he's overjoyed, as he's now starts laying kisses on her openly: no longer holding back such affection while in the presence of the master as Haru just chuckles. Walking over to the adjacent kitchen and running his hands through warm water, he began to wash himself from the fluids that the new Pokemon oozed over him from the hatched egg. Goji would volunteer to do his part by cleaning up the cracked egg shells and disposing of it, as Leafa, Yuri, and Luna join in to look at the tiny new family member.

Nessa joins him in the kitchen and hugs him from behind with her arms wrapped around his waistline. "I'm glad we got home when we did. Look how happy they both are, Haru."

He chuckled, clicking his tongue in thought before drying his hands via the paper towel rack. "Tch. Now that he's a bonafied father I gotta try to not get him knocked out during the upcoming tournament. He's going to need as much energy as possible to take care of that little starlet." The man grinned. At the couch, he saw that Mirukon was slowly handed the baby Ralts by his lover and appeared to take in fully what new responsibilities he had passed onto him. Both of the little one's eyes were shut, and would be for awhile but one small hand was holding onto one of Mirukon's paws and squeezed. The tears finally came: fatherly pride was instated.

The rest of the evening no longer involved more training for the upcoming Milo exhibition match, but it was probably for the best. A simple social media post by Haru was a photo from his Rotom Phone of the two parent Pokemon sitting on his couch as the newly birthed Pokemon was now asleep in her dad's arms.

"You know, I don't think I want to raise that Pokemon as a fighter." Haru said later in the evening while rearranging some movies on shelving in the living room with Nessa's help to clean the same space. She was using a feather-duster and a cleaning solution to polish up the furniture and a mask to not gag on the overpowering scent.

The comment surprised her as one of her eyebrows raised. "Oh? What made you make that decision?"

"I don't know. Something in me is telling me to just let it make a decision when it matures enough to decide for itself. If she wants to be like her mom and dad: two amazing fighters that helped me become a Champion, then it'll be her decision." He turned to her and smirked while holding up an older picture of himself and Hiro. "I want to give her a chance to grow up and have fun while she can, and if it involves possibly giving either of her parents headaches or living freely either way then so be it."

"Okay. I think if it were a boy you would have named it 'Hiro' huh?" Nessa joked, to which Haru replied without missing a beat.

"Nah, that's if I had my own son." The response came so quickly that it had both him and Nessa blush in response as he then stammered as she looked at him.

"H-Haru...?" both her hands went to her cheeks.

Haru could barely look at Nessa without the red spreading from his cheeks down to his neck. "H-hey! Look, I think the name is n-nice you know? It's not something either of us should try to aim for so soon but...y-y'know in the future! He'd like that, and I could tell the son of how cool his uncle was in the end."

The way he often got over such subject matters around her made Nessa laugh. "Okay then, what about if we ever had a girl together?"

A thumb went to his mouth as he lightly bit on the nail. It let go as he pointed back to her. "That, I don't know. I think a name would have to 'come' to me, and it mean something special that you and I could relate to on something. But I know it's gotta be a beautiful name."

"I'm sure whatever it'll be, it'll be perfect." /Hehe...so now he's pondered of children names of kids we may have, hmm?/

As Haru and Nessa did their best to make the new home of baby Ruby as comfortable as possible, they put on the television to a low volume. As they cleaned, news stories played out and occasionally drew Nessa's attention to it. Commentary from the contestants that would be competing in the Galarian Olympic Tournament began to play, with new sponsorship commercials squeezed in between. Diantha was looking forward to coming to Galar to see some old friends of hers, Red only confirmed his appearance with a thumbs up on video, Cynthia gave a passionate speech on how her Garchomp and her are going to rock Wyndon Stadium, and Iris had talked off the ear of the interviewer at the time to the point they cut her portion short.

Her eyebrow raised however when the interviewer was speaking to a man named Calem, who commented that while he's excited to attend, he won't be sure if he's competing until a week before. "It's hard to say, because there's the one in Galar happening soon, and one in Pasio I'm really interested in!"

The name drop got Haru to look over his shoulder to the television. "Pasio?"

Nessa, who was taking a minor break on the couch, looked up to him. "Home of the Pokemon Masters League. It's supposedly a really big thing there. I've considered going there one of these days."

"Pokemon Masters, huh..." Haru hummed to himself.

- - - - - The morning after, Stow-In-Side - - - - -

- - - - - Fighting/Ghost Gym - - - - -

"I have too much of a migraine right now to deal with your bullshit this early, Syra. It's a miracle I even got out of bed." Sevan complained as he was walking a few paces behind her to the Stow-In-Side Gym wearing sunglasses and a hat. As per usual, his best friend Shinrin stayed by his side while Syra turned back to look at him with a smug look.

"Eh. you'll be fine. Remember that we mutually agreed to this, and if I didn't come to pick you up you'd probably find another way to end up hurting yourself or passing out in front of your house in the cold." She shrugged.

He cursed quietly for a second then looked back. "What the fuck- Haru told you about that?"

"So anyways~ if I get you to be a little more sociable with some people around here maybe you can not emanate so much brooding energy huh? You need a lil' Syra ab-flash to substitute a caffeine fix?" She teased, before stopping in front of the steps to the Gym and squinting her eyes.

He grumbled as one of his eyes was seen twitching at her. "Syra for fuck sake I've just had my coffee not that long ago but I'm not awake enough to deal with your shit." /Not to mention she really knows how to push my buttons./

The girl put it behind herself, laughing and sticking her tongue out as the two walked inside. After passing through the security desk and down the halls after going one floor down, Sevan, no longer wearing his sunglasses indoors, perked up a little. It appeared the migraine was only slightly receding from the indoor lighting: hallways illuminated with fluorescent bulbs, photographs from previous competitions, and Gym Leaders of yesteryear. Sevan humms a little in thought, seeing the trophies, medals, and faux certificates where charity events were held there, too. His ears pick up some steps that came from in front that were neither Syra or the occasional janitor that passed by them. He spotted a familiar figure who was walking that wore a mask and some dark long sleeve uniform of purple and black and the number 291 written on the shorts. "S-Sevan!"

"Yo, Allister, hey! I didn't wager you would be here this early!" Some energy coming to him as the kid hopped over to him to meet in a mutual high-five. Syra blinked: she never once saw Allister so positive or receptive to anyone, not even other Gym Leaders.

"Wow: you two know each other?" She asked, stepping to the side to look at the two boys.

"Yeah. I met Allister when Haru invited me to the Isle of Armor trip with him. Shit. It's really good to see you here, man. This is also your Gym too, right?" He asked, as Allister nodded a few times.

"Mmhmm! Y-yes. This is where S-Shield Gym Challengers f-f-face me if they complete the obstacle course. Well, not -here- here, but this stadium! I share it with the Fighting Gym Leader as well, Bea." The boy seemed to nearly forget his mask, as it almost slipped before he caught it with both hands. "What brings you here, by the way?"

Sevan sighed as he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. Syra balanced on the balls of her feet and chuckled. "He's been a bit of a dumpy boy lately and I wanted to help him get off his ass by introducing him to Bea."

Putting his glasses back on, but around his neck he groaned in her direction. "Yeah, what she said. Syra insisted upon herself on 'taking care of me' for the day, but I can take care of myself, thank ya very fucking much, Syra."

"Either way, I-I'm glad you're here! Le-let me show you around!" The usually shy boy said with a bit of a low energy hop, then looked to Syra. "I-if that's okay with you."

She moved her arms behind herself to clasp her hands. "No, go ahead Allister. It probably would turn out to be a bit better than how I would since I've only been here a handful of times."

"R-right, then!" The boy then turned away to give them a tour.

Looking to Syra, Sevan raised an eyebrow and whispered the words "Aren't we expected soon?" to which she replied, "It's okay. A few minutes won't hurt. Plus, look how happy he looks. It's adorable."

Sevan's energy would rarely go above that of a person who, at most, had a cream cheese bagel and a few slices of bacon, but the enthusiasm of Allister was too infectious to not make him smile. Shinrin wags her leafy tail with excitement in seeing her master put forth the effort to keep up with the boy, though anything to take his mind off of what plagued him before was a plus. He still spoke quietly and would walk at a pace of a few meters per minute since him and Sevan would update each other on how things had been, but Allister was having fun. Nobody there would be able to tell by the expressionless face mask but they could sense all the same he was smiling. Syra would, on the occasion, wave to other staff members that recognized her from her previous battles, or had seen her exploits elsewhere.

Inside one of the smaller hallways, Allister shows Sevan one of his favorite spots he enjoys going to, though the sign in front of the door took him by surprise. "Your office?"

Making sure his mask wasn't to fall off, he looks to Syra and Sevan before twisting the knob and pushing it open. "Mmmhmm! I..it's not very big, but..." the Gym Leader who was a prodigy user of Ghost Pokemon showed them to a more isolated space than they figured. In here he would micro manage his parts of the Gym when it came to paperwork, but since he was a skittish child it only made sense that his own quarters would reflect his inner self. Alongside the walls were several bookshelves of things relating to Ghost Pokemon around the world, tales of urban myths via anecdotal accounts from trainers that traveled, and a luxurious single wooden arm chair draped in a green velvet cover with a stool in front where he could prop his feet up. "When I need a space to relax in between battles, or if I need to get away from people since the cemetery is too far off, I come h-here..." Allister explained, looking back up at Sevan curiously.

Him and Syra slowly peeked around and took in how much the walls and floor buffered most sound from the outside. It was like the two had walked into a miniature library, and Syra grinned. "Dang Allister, I didn't know you liked to read. I should have brought you something from my home."

"No-no! I..it's okay. I'm..still reading a lot of these, b-but I haven't had enough time to finish it." He walked over to one shelf and pulled out a book titled 'Galarian Ghost Stories: Myths Around Galar", showing it to the two. "B-but I really am enjoying this one..!"

The usually shy boy kept on talking off the ears of both trainers, but moreso Sevan than Syra. She found it adorable. It was as if he was able to find solace in someone else like an older brother figure to him, but as Sevan exited, Allister tugged on Syra's blue coat. She looked to him. "What's up?" Allister leans up to whisper to her.

"Y-you just came here with him right? Nobody e-else?"

Her eyes widened, then saw Sevan turn to look at them as they were half still in the doorway. Syra gestures with her hand for him to keep going as she'd see him in a second. "Yes, why?"

"I see someone else w-with him. Two adults..." Allister whispered again.

Syra stood up and couldn't give him an answer, but it did give her more questions to think. Perhaps even at this point Sevan wasn't being completely honest about his background, and Allister knew now this was the second time he had seen such a sight. The subject went nowhere for the time being, but the Ghost Gym Leader started to wonder if he would be out of line for asking about him being 'followed' at all.

The group was about to meet Bea, indicated by the sound of someone shouting 'HAAH!' whilst shadow boxing in their room. A sign had an arrow pointing that said 'Fighting Gym Dojo', and Sevan looks to Allister. "So that must be her I hear huh? Well Syra? We're here finally so I guess you should introduce-" His eyes blinked as Syra had completely disappeared. Somehow in the past few minutes when they were still getting the tour and had gone from the Ghost Gym to the Fighting Gym section, she had disappeared. Unbeknownst to both Sevan and Allister, she was caught up in conversation with Gym Staff that wanted some autographs and to talk her up.

"...me? Okay well I guess then it's up to me to try and make a first impression, then. What say you, man?" Sevan asks, looking down to Allister, who now was likened by Shinrin at this point that she was walking by his side the whole time.

They walk in and Sevan notices how neatly kept the dojo was and how it exuded an aura of discipline and mastery of the martial arts. Every wall having at least one scroll showcasing some form of teaching that Bea herself practiced, and spotting the side of her silver haired head. She was seemingly taking a break from her shadow boxing to have a period of cool down through stretching. As she sat on the floor, doing a biceps stretch and moving slow to keep it up.

"Hello, my name is Sev-" He couldn't think, he couldn't speak, and he was pretty certain that several words just came jumbled out of his lips in a very weak attempt to introduce himself. As Bea turned around to look up at him, it was as if the rest of the room completely disappeared from view. In front of him was a glistening display of perfection of the human female form: coppertone skin, silver eyes and short hair neatly tied back by a hairbow, lean muscles and a piercing aura that made him feel weak on first glance. She showed only a muted expression to him with the means to greet him there, but was welcoming all the same, and something in him 'clicked' that had her turn him into mush.

These would all be enough to slay any man to their feet as it were, but her striking image of the rock hard ab muscles that were punctuated with her bodysuit only made his inability to speak proper a might more tenuous at best. All of this came to perfection: a near dream-like state as her silver-grey hair turned as she looked back at him. /A...ABS. Holy shit.../ Sevan's face turned stark red and sweat began to form on his forehead. Bea doesn't take long before realizing she was being looked at and her eyes lock onto Sevan. She blinks, and he lightly jumps as Syra comes behind him. "Hey man-"

"AHFUCKSORRYHI-!" The word came out as he stammered, seeing Syra show up behind him and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, where were you just now by the way?"

"Sorry for the wait. I had to sign some autographs and the Gym Staff just sorta talked my ear off for a bit." Syra grinned and walked over to Bea, who got up from the floor and hugged tightly for a brief second. "Sevan, meet the Fighting Gym Leader, Bea. Though, I guess you now have already met her: non-busted equipment littering the room aside."

"Hey, that was one time only!" Bea exclaimed, looking to Syra. The comment left Sevan a little confused.

"Sorry, busted equipment? What, is the Fighting Gym underfunded?" He asked.

"What? Oh gods, no...but Bea recently was training here and got so into her 'Zen' mode she absolutely pulverized a punching bag. It had a large hole from the impact and she can't train with it until the new one arrives!" /Oh...what's this I see?/ Syra pursed her lips together and saw that Sevan was extending a hand shakily and looking to the side.

"A-a-a-anyway...p-pleased to meet you." Trying for a handshake, Sevan's face went red as he realized something with that story. Bea was the very same person he saw destroy said punching bag and had made his heart palpitate with anticipation. At that moment, however, those same feelings came back in a different light.

Syra began to snicker, but then hit his shoulder. "C'mon, make eye contact man!"

He tried to make eye contact again as his hand stayed shaky but looked at her. /ABS...! Gods what in the fuck is up with these Galarian chicks? Why am I being assaulted twice in one morning?/

Bea extended her hand and, slightly amused, shook it. "Nice to have you here, Sevan. Syra tells me you needed a training partner, though I'm curious if you're fit for the job! I don't hold back on my partners, you know!"

The opportunity was too golden for her not to attack, so as her face grew more smug by the second, Syra replied. "Oh Bea, you'll have to forgive my red faced pal here: it's only the fault of my own that we're both attacking him with his foremost weakness." her magenta eyes locked back onto Sevan who looked back with his left eye twitching.

"Syra I fucking swear..."

Bea was confused all the moreso by her wording and looked up to her friend. "His weakness? But we have yet to trade blows!"

Syra responded by then lightly tapping on her sweaty abs as they were outlined and seen in the bodysuit. "Rock hard, buddy. Moreso than my own, too. They're practically Golems compared to my own!" she teased, as Sevan stood there as his nose began to bleed. Before Bea could ask if he was okay, he covered up his face and looked away. Shinrin ran to Sevan's side as Allister and the Pokemon looked up at him; Shin tilting her head to the side.

"S-Sevan, your nose..." the boy says meekly, pointing at his face as it was being hidden with both hands.

/Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit okay calm./ He tried breathing deep and slow, but it seemed to barely help him any. "AH, uh, Bea right? I'm sorry, this just sorta happened."

The Ghost Gym Leader was too innocent to have any clue on what was happening, though as he stood there puzzled, Bea looked back to him, then Syra, and then back to him. Shinrin tried pawing at his foot.

"Oh...is this the one you mentioned about having a thing for stomach muscles like mine?" Bea asked slowly.

She didn't miss a beat as Syra chuckled and nodded. "The very same."

Bea's mouth went agape. She didn't quite understand the implications about it at all: after all her form was very defined and was proud of her peak of physical health. But meeting someone and having them get flustered within a minute? Logic would be the first thing her mind went to, and tried to think if he was simply malnourished or sickly. Perhaps he pushed himself too hard having the tour and meeting her with a lack of food, or low muscle density. Such things like physical attraction made no sense to her currently. "Sh...should we do something?"

"Nah, give him a little bit. He just got overdosed from two hot ladies being in his eyesight." She elbowed Bea lightly and winked at the silver haired Galarian Karate expert.

"...uhm...okay." Bea said, sounding a little more confused but ultimately nonplussed about the situation.

- - - - After the training, Stow-In-Side Gym - - - -

- - - - Outside - - - -

Sevan, Shinrin, and Syra stood outside waving to Allister and Bea. He was able to get a good idea of the type of martial arts she practices and met a few of her Pokemon. It was surprising to Sevan to see that Farfetch'd had a specific evolution that appeared to be exclusive to the Galar region, and very impressive to see her train firsthand. Though Bea went against the idea of training him after such a violent fall in her dojo, she had no problems showing what her training regiment accounted for, and as such his eyes never left her visage.

The two would split afterwards, with Sevan claiming he had to do something after this with Haru, and Syra saying she was to prepare for the Gym Challenge coming up soon by applying for a new endorsement.

"Endorsement?" Sevan asked: confused as Shinrin was relaxing with him on a bench and sitting in his lap.

"Yeah. All of those who seek to be a competitor in our Gym Challenge need a letter of endorsement from either a league staff, the chairman, or the Champion, or someone else just as much of a rank holder." She explained, pulling out her phone to text her mom that she would be on her way back home soon.

/So if I wanted to see more of Bea, or compete, even, I would need a letter of endorsement.../ He thought. Syra could see the look on his face and smiled quietly as the wind picked up a little, as she turned. "Anyways, I'll see you later in the week, bud. Don't forget we're both helping Haru again soon in him and Nessa's training for the Olympian Tournament, which is a few weeks away."

Syra waved to him, and him back to her. "You change your mind on competing?"

The girl looked back at him and blinked, she remembered her own promise and blushed. "I uh...have something to do that day, so I can't compete. But I'll be there in spirit. Anyways, later! Take care Shin, and take care of Sev!"

He went quiet in thought as she ran off. Looking to Shinrin, she could tell something in him changed. She got up on her legs and turned to face him while in his lap as her leafy tail began to wag in anticipation while Sevan slowly pet her. "I know what I said: don't give me that look in that tone of voice."

The Eeveelution gave a pout to him as she was heard huffing. "Still...maybe I've been plaguing myself with this shitty mindset for too long."

Shinrin cried out to him "Leaf~" she says, almost irritated and nipped him on the shoulder. Sevan held onto the part she nipped and laughed weakly. "You're right, the connection we share is one I've taken for granted. I haven't considered if you wanted to battle again since you've been seeing me hurt myself constantly."

The Leafeon grumbled and then headbutted him in the chest before looking back up at him with the same pout. He clicked his tongue and smirked. "Yeah. Okay, okay. I can't promise I'll stop sulking but maybe I can do something about it. After all, we both know the person who can help us on this end."

- - - - - Haru & Nessa's Home, Hulbury - - - - -

A few loud knocks were heard and Haru nervously went to the front door to check. He looks through the peephole and sees it's Sevan. With no doubt that Shinrin would be by his side, he opened it up. "Oh hey Sevan what's u-"

"THE GYM CHALLENGE HARU HOW DO I SIGN UP!?" Sevan says as Haru is seen backing away and a bead of sweat forms on his head. Nora, his Glaceon, comes running as she heard the newcomer in the house shouting in a semi-panicked manner.

"The Gym Chall-...wait why do you wanna suddenly do it? I thought you didn't care about it?" Haru's eyes widened as Sevan walked past him with his left fist clenched tightly.

He turned to Haru and was waving both arms. "I just need to know, is it easy to enter? How do I go to compete and meet the Gym Leaders? Syra told me I need a letter of endorsement. Can you write me one? How long will it take? Do you guys have an Elite Four and Champion's Road, or is it a tournament like in Alola or-"

Nora and Haru looked at each other before looking back to Sevan. "Holy fucking shit, Sev. Calm down. Let me start with a question that I asked: what the fuck happened to even get you interested in the Gym Challenge suddenly? I thought you didn't care about competing or putting your Pokemon in harm's way?"

He stammered. The mental image of Bea flexing came back as his face went red. "I...uh..I don't know. I don't have to fucking answer that! I just need to know is it easy?! Things change, and so do people you know or is it so hard for you to accept I'm trying out something new?"

/Yo what the fuck, who gave him Rare Candy in his cereal this morning?/ Haru thought, eyes darting back and forth before straightening out his glasses. "Yeah it's easy, just give me a day or two to get your information and I can write one up for you. You then have to go to Motostoke on the opening ceremony day, and are pretty much told what you'll have to do from there! I can even help you get a starter Pokemon for your journey."

There was an awkward period of silence before Sevan cleared his throat and straightened himself. "R-right. Cool. Thanks man."

Haru blinked. /Did something happen with Syra when she hung out with him earlier to do this? Makes a man wonder if she somehow convinced him/ "...you know you could've called me right?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...so do you want tickets to see me and Nessa compete in the exhibition match of the Galarian Olympic Tournament?" Haru asked, breaking the silence.

"If it's to shut Milo's stupid fucking mouth, then you didn't even need to ask. I'll be there one way or another." Putting his hands in his pockets, Sevan grinned mischievously.

In short order after his visit, Sevan was given a promise that he'd have a letter of endorsement officially from Haru, and that was the last Haru would hear about his excitement for competing in the Gym Challenge until the eventual next Gym Challenge. Once he was home, Sevan could only lay sleeplessly in his home staring at the ceiling wondering what could have spiked his interests to change so suddenly.

His thoughts went back to Syra on how fun it was being around her and how their conversations had been evolving since they met. She was a very open person with an air of chaos at any moment, and seemed to play a good role as his 'heel'. Today however, he was hit with a new sensation as he saw a goddess with silver hair, black hair band, and clad in a bodysuit of orange, black, and grey. Her perfect form knowing exactly how to push herself to the limit and making her combat technique look effortlessly executed.

"Bea, huh..." he said to himself with a lack of internal monologue as his cheeks grew red. The way his heart beat was different thinking on her than Syra, but it wasn't one he was familiar with throughout the entirety of his life.

- - - - - A few weeks later, The Galarian Olympic Tournament - - - - -

The sounds of the crowds heading to Galar were in numbers much more voluminous than even the anticipated defending Championship match in the Pokemon League. Through the exploits of not just Haru, but of Syra within the league and the public knowledge from Operation Critical Hit, many more people were excited to come see this uniting of the flames of multiple regions. As the bustling attendees had their tickets were stamped, the announcements came of the competitors making their entrance. Each one was greeted with the amount of expected fanfare that equaled their reputation, and would all arrive in the center field as Oleana took to the small miniature stage that had set everything up.

Much like the ceremony in Hammerlocke, where Gym Leaders of Galar all walked out at once, many of the competitors would walk together: Leon at the front as the current Champion holding a flag of Galar's symbol on it. Behind him were the competitors of both the exhibition matches and each important match. In the first line behind him were Blue and Red: both silently waving to the crowds. "hehehe, this gives me chills coming here. Kanto and Johto are one thing, but this is its own whole level isn't it?"

Red chuckled looking to his rival and fellow trainer, readjusting his cap. Behind him were a few others from Johto. Silver, Clair, Lance, and Whitney had come to compete. It was almost expected that Lance would have showed up, and if it were a competition his cousin wasn't going to let him get away without a fight. The crowds grew loud seeing the fellow Dragon trainers walk side by side and were unaware of the brewing tension between them. "Just wait, Lance, I'll make you see how much better I've gotten since last time!" she said with her left hand clenching into a fist.

He snickered and paid little mind to the threat but knew not to openly disrespect her on sacred battle grounds. "I expect nothing less of you Clair, so when our match arrives, go all out."

Silver looked around, silently musing to himself as the mix of indescribable noise of cheers, theme music, and whistles all mixed at once. /Wonder if I will see Syra compete once again. When I last saw her, we were fighting all alongside each other.../

- Elsewhere, Top Floor of Stadium: Security Staff Section -

Syra reached into her pocket and dug out her walkie talkie. "Lucario, come in." She hears her Lucario respond back into the device. She looked around to make sure nobody else was coming near while whispering into it, and spoke in her walkie talkie to multiple Pokemon. They were all her own that she trusted to assist in this 'favor' that Nessa had asked of Haru, and was in the midst of arranging things to go off smoothly.

"West Stand, East Stand, North and South Stand. You guys have your entrances that you have to block off, correct? I need to remind you that Step 2 is imperative once I start up Step 1, you got it?"

They all are heard agreeing. "Lucario, are the Beheeyems ready?"

He responds back and she nods, putting her disguise back on and lets out a slow exhale. "Good. Standby for instructions everyone, and get the Beheeyems in place." She stepped out into the hallway zipping up the jacket as a man comes out and gestures to her with a wave. "Hey new girl! Come on, the starting ceremony is about to start!"

Syra nodded and followed him with several other men as they ran in a syncronized line of black, white, and red colored uniforms. "Ri-right! Sorry, just had a phone call with my mom is all!" /Getting this uniform for those in the Battle Tower and stadium staff was one thing, but I'm still nervous. I just gotta play along to the very end and nobody will be the wiser for it. They'll just think I'm an ordinary staffer who's having her first big event be this Olympian Tournament!/

As the representatives from Hoenn showed up, the expected double appearance of the Champions of Steven and Wallace got the crowd excited. The surprise that catches those off guard, but still intrigued, was a girl who wore a brown tattered poncho, shorts, a black sleeveless top with short black hair, and a fiery personality in her strut alone. She looks down to her waistband in confidence. /Rayquaza, today I'll be asking for your help one more time but for such a selfish endeavor. I hope you don't mind: it's just for fun!/ The girl is introduced on the jumbotron as 'Zinnia' and she waves to the moderate applause she's given with a bright smile.

Steven and Wallace seemed to have their own micro section of the crowd dedicated to having fans with their names written on shirts, and were blowing horns when the pair came out. The former Steel Champion grinned, nudging his friend as they walked out. "Do you think it's wise we got Zinnia to come with us here?" Wallace asked. Steven shrugged it off and played to the interest of his past experiences. "At one point weren't we all wondering if Syra coming along was a good idea?"

"That's a good point, but you seem distracted."

"Heard from Haru on if he's coming? He's now a Steel Gym Leader, so I'm interested to see how his match goes as he's the opening act."

It was easy to dismiss the concern at first, but Wallace remembered their time in Kanto during the Team Rocket HQ raid. "He'll be here, I'm sure. I didn't see him further back in the line, but I'm told he likes to make his entrances special."

Striking a pose with Wallace, Steven mumbled to himself in monologue. "Suppose we'll see, won't we?"

Cynthia, Diantha, and Iris all arrived together in one formation with some new trainers behind them that hadn't been seen in awhile.

- Meanwhile -

In the stadium's VIP section, Sevan came in and sat down. The private room was for a seating of less than 10, and he found upon arrival only a few others were there with him. Piers, Marnie, Melony, Gordie, and himself were the only ones taking up space there. The comfort of being isolated from the loud sounds of being amongst the outside stands was such a nice change of pace that Sevan almost forgot all his woes he had been battling for a bit. He explained that Haru was the one who got him the seating, and wouldn't miss it for anything.

"I'm only here for one thing: to see Milo get beat." Piers said dryly, with his sister and the others nodding.

Unbeknownst to him, a Pokemon was monitoring the room with another posing as a staff member. A Ditto had transformed into the appearance of a human staff member, and walked in with its partner-in-crime: a Beheeyem. Nobody in the room paid attention to it, chalking it up to just extra security being added.

As more competitors were seen walking out onto the grounds, Sevan tilts his head back to take in the local brewed Pecha Berry Ale that was selling in the concession stand...at least until his eyes caught wind of something in the jumbotron that made him nearly cough up his entire drink. It spilled a little onto his own shirt as Shinrin hopped up onto his lap in shock, and Gordie went over to pat him on the back.

"Hey dude you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine..." But he was not fine, and only felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead looking at a familiar girl wave to the crowd.

A pair of brunettes entered the field to another boosted jubilation from the crown; one was notably bubbly and walking alongside her Serperior, as the other lightly gripped her cap as the high ponytail swayed in the breeze. Her Emboar let out a brief flash of fire upwards as if to ignite his own pyrotechnics, and she laughs at the audience's reception. "You know Rosa, Galar's quite the scene compared to Unova, huh? I think we're about to blow this whole place sky-high."

Her partner smirked back and nodded. "No doubt about it, Hilda! Of everything we've seen in our travels I can't help but get the feeling this will be the most intense set of matches ever to occur!"

Oleana stood perched on a small stage as she saw that everyone had arrived with exception to one distinct pair. All were accounted for except Nessa and Haru: though it was confusing since Milo and Kabu swore to the staffers inquiring that 'they were right behind us' a moment ago. As they all met in the middle Oleana inhaled as if to flag down staff to locate the missing trainers. A staffer comes by, running as she snapped her fingers.

"Ma'am?"

"So help me if those two remaining aren't ready in the next 5 minutes then..!"

Before she could continue the main lights surrounding the stadium shut off, then two spotlights pointed to one of the trainer tunnels. Oleana sighed. "...right, how could I forget?" She was a little annoyed in forgetting that Haru still wanted his own custom entrance: music and all.

Nessa gripped Haru's hand and squeezed it as she was helping him straighten out the hat as his ends of his curls flared outwards. "This isn't a tournament match for me but I'm kinda nervous you know?" He showed her he was excited and flashed a smile.

The dark skinned beauty looked down at her boyfriend with a smile before squeezing his hand again and giving a peck on the lips. "You're right that it's not a tournament match, but this is for the both of us no matter how you look at it."

He nods and takes a deep breath as the build up of music began and he snickered "I can almost hear Oleana cursing that I had to have an entrance like this...but now you get to come out with me." Haru briefly turns to look and catches a glimpse of how many thousands of people are out in the stands: he had heard every single seat was bought.

The looming presentation of this was so familiar to those who had been at the Pokemon Tournament of the previous year, and were already getting hyped up as some familiar metal chords started strumming through the airwaves via the large speakers. The commentator came onto the microphone once again after introducing everyone else. "NOW everyone put your hands together for our final set of trainers! One of them is the alluring, multi-talented model and Gym Leader who has paired herself up with Galar's new Steel Gym Leader. Folks from Kanto to Alola, it's my pleasure to welcome to the field the Galar ex-Champion and Raging Wave: let the whole globe hear you folks! NESSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ANDDDD HARUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuu!"

As the commentator read the copy of the script for the entrance, Nessa and Haru are seen walking out onto the field, hand-in-hand, as he waves. He was decked out fully in his Steel Gym uniform, wearing the scarf he had during his Pokemon Tournament, and had a silver and neon green hat to complete his look. This would be the first time since that day he would fully present himself to the globe.

"It's the master of Water Types, the Raging Wave: Nessa from Hulbury!" the commentator said once again. Nessa looked out at the stands before blowing a kiss as the couple walked out to the center pitch of the field. Every movement she made had a graceful purpose to it as blue eyes speckled with gold scanned the field and faces of the people she knew.

"Presenting the Expert of Steel, it's Haru from Motostoke!"

As the two walked down, hand-in-hand, he raises her arm so they were both making a visual statement on who he was, and that he now presented himself to the entire globe as Galar's newest Gym Leader. It was an adrenaline high unlike anything else he felt in his life, gym completion notwithstanding.

The motion of their arms raising up had made the smile on her reddish lips widen as the woman turned to peck the redhead's cheek while bring up her free hand to trace his jaw with slender fingers. She gave a look that only women who were madly in love would recognize. At this state, The Raging Wave was no longer raging, she was now a Tsunami rushing forward to take her revenge.

They met with the LARGE number of others that were there as Haru just snickered. He was welcomed in arms by Blue, who was standing with Red, Zinnia, Silver, Steven, Diantha, Cynthia, and the others who looked at him from a far. Milo had said nothing but had to admit, he put on a good intro. "Hehe...sorry it took me a bit, but I had to make one final entrance to the beat of my own tune you know?"

Blue just chuckled and looked to Nessa "I have to admit I'm honored to meet you finally, too. I heard a lot about you from him." He gave her an honest thumbs up of approval

Oleana stood by and sighed. She was glad that this show could finally start. /Thank goodness. Ratings would start going down if they made me wait longer.../

Nessa tilted her head and looked to Haru before putting a hand on her hip, grinning at Blue. "Oh? All good things I hope." Nessa replied with a wink and soft giggle before offering Blue a hug. "Thank you for looking out for him before, and for being a friend. You should come by our place some time for a good visit after this tourney."

"I'll consider it." he said with a nod.

Oleana saw them mingling and then raised her arms to initiate the opening ceremony. "Everyone! Welcome! It is my pleasure to welcome everyone here in Galar who has come far or near! Those of you from Kanto, or Johto, or Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and Alola! Welcome! You are our neighbors: brothers and sisters. Allow me to officially declare to you your competitors of the very first Galarian Pokemon Olympian Tournament: the competition where the brightest flames from the best of the best will ignite the stands and burn bright!"

The audience cheers and she then blinks, putting her left hand up to her ear "...hmm?"

Haru's left eyebrow raises as he notices her losing focus for a brief moment. /...did she get a message?/

Oleana's eyes narrow. /I see. I'll have to make this quick./

"Competitors are all here to see who among the regions here are the best of the best, but make no mistake! This is a union: a celebration of all of us showing our love and respect of Pokemon and allowing them to express themselves through the art of battle! In just a short bit, our exhibition match will begin and show you just the kind of talents to expect should you compete in the Galarian Pokemon League! I invite anyone looking to challenge our Champion Leon to get a taste of what's to come with this first match! These are only a few of the Gym Leaders that we are proud to call our own..." She looked to Haru and smirked, walking to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "...as well as welcome our newest Steel Gym Leader. We hope that you enjoy the show!"

The pyrotechnics go off and she looks to Haru and Nessa with a silent nod before heading out. Nessa wondered why Oleana seemed to be in a hurry and turned to look at Haru with a raised brow. "Was it just me or did she seem...concerned?"

Zinnia came up hearing them and looked at the two as she pulled part of her hair aside. "From what I've heard, she's a very orderly person and runs a tight ship. Is this not how she usually is?"

Haru began to raise a finger and then held back. "You're Zinnia from Hoenn right?" The girl nods.

"Yes. Sorry. I'm tend to be knowledgeable about a lot of things and study up on a lot, but I had to ask since she is a little tough to find a lot of solid information pertaining to herself. Just like you two." She looked to him and Nessa: knowing full well they keep a tight lid on their relationship in the press.

Crossing his arms, Haru looked to where Oleana had already disappeared. "I uh...I'm not sure, actually. Either way, I'll have to see you guys in a bit. Nessa and I are going to get our teams ready."

"Yes and No, she just seemed out of it." Nessa replied before looking at Haru when he mentioned their teams. "Talk later okay Zinnia?" she turned to Haru as he looked at Blue.

"Hey Red!" Haru calls out, as the red capped trainer of legend from Kanto silently looked towards him as he was in earshot. Haru nodded to him "I know I'm not competing officially today past my match, but I hope you'll consider fighting me later today!"

Red just gave a smirk and looked as if he was considering it, with Blue tapping on his shoulder. "Already thinking of the next match after the tournament? Some things never change with you, huh?"

She laughs in bemusement. "You're kidding right? Haru is always thinking ten steps ahead and never stops."

"Well then I guess the match after today will be one to remember won't it?" Blue says with a sound of confidence in his tone before the two looked at Milo. Haru silently just nods to Milo before he disappears with Nessa into the tunnel. His 'game face' was on and recalled the reason they were there in the first place.

/There's no way her plan will fail!/ he thinks to himself.

Sam was with Oleana as security while she walked down the hallway towards a private landing pad on the top floor. "So we have to head out now then?"

"Yes. It's imperative." Oleana said, pulling some hair to the side as the two were welcomed onto an Air Taxi by its pilot. She had already tapped into her phone to alert her staff that the chairman and a 'plus one' would be arriving for takeoff soon via private jet. As the two boarded and the doors shut, Sam looks out at his side of the cab.

"It's a bit of a shame I won't be able to see Haru and Nessa battle live, but I'm certain they'll win. Nessa has something I gave her as a key Pokemon she wanted me to find, so it should be okay. But I do have to ask, what's so urgent that we have to head out now, and to where?" he asked.

Oleana would take a quiet reprieve to bring up an image on her phone. Holding it up she looked at him. "Do you recognize this location?"

"...no."

"It's a special hospital and is currently housing some very special people that may prove to be a good force for Galar. Don't let Haru, Leon, or anyone else know this, but ever since the operation I believe we need some more varied forces to defend our shores from international threats of the magnitude we dealt with for our future. Rose was only thinking about things from the economical standpoint on what he could do to make sure Galar could be protected, but it's become obvious that I need to strengthen our region further."

Sam folded his arms and leaned into the seat. "Do we need to recruit other trainers from other regions?"

The blonde woman shook her head and looked back at him. "Not trainers, my love."

Her eyes narrow upon seeing a landing strip in the distance where her private jet was located at, and let out a quiet exhale. "The future of Galar requires a class of Pokemon expert that is much more fit for emergency/disaster class situations."

She turned back to her lover as his eyes widened, thinking he got the picture.

Oleana would react in amusement, and nodded. "The 'Union' has been very...open to the idea. You'll see, love."

- - - - - Wyndon Stadium - - - - -

- - - - - Production Control Room - - - - -

"Good job, Chloe!" Syra smirked, high fiving a Gengar that she brought with her. The purple Pokemon laughed as it floats around, having successfully put to sleep the entire staff within and locked the doors from the inside. "I wasn't sure if the Hypnosis was strong enough to take out all of them, but good!" The Gengar grumbles and then 'yells' at her as Syra winces, holding up an arm defensively. "Well hey don't get mad at me! This is my first time doing any sort of takeover like this..."

/...at least since Team Rocket's HQ in Kanto. The main difference here is, nobody will know about what occurred today except myself, Haru, Nessa, and Milo./ She wiped the sweat that was budding from her brow and pulled off a few PokeBalls from her belt. There wasn't much time to lose, as she had to be ready for the victory that Nessa and Haru were aiming for, and if she was unable to hold up her end of the bargain, it could then mean their end afterwards.

"Okay guys chime in. I'm in the Production Control Room and I'm looking at all of the TV signals of which I'll be taking a very careful hand to. Is everybody in place?" she asked, placing a walkie talkie on a large control panel and switching a view of multiple cameras to look through many different areas of the stadium; both interior and exterior. Each showed a row of multiple Beheeyem, the Cerebral Pokemon. Along the ends of each row was one of her own Pokemon that she caught that knew the sound of her voice, wearing a small headset to hear her voice.

Each Pokemon replied.

They were ready.

Nodding her head in understanding, she popped out the PokeBalls that were laying on the Control Panel as a Rotom appeared from every single one. She smirked. "Okay you guys. I need you all to hack into this and stand by. When I give the signal of 'Now', disrupt the broadcast. Got it?"

The circular Plasma Pokemon let out cheeky laughs among themselves and nodded. Syra ran through the course of action in her head multiple times and made sure to consider all options. /Disrupt. Disable. Rewrite. Exit. In that order./ Her eyes narrowed when the live broadcast camera showed Haru and Nessa walking onto the field to meet Kabu and Milo.

/Nessa, I hope you know what you're doing. Forget the match: this will be the riskiest thing you've ever done in your entire life!/

- - - - - Wyndon Stadium - - - - -

- - - - - Battleground - - - - -

The commentator came to enthusiastically announce the exhibition match. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Nonbinary people all around stuck to their televisions or planted in their seats: ARE YOU READY TO HAVE A GREAT TIME TODAY?!" The crowd shouts loudly as all 4 trainers walk to meet each other and wave to their respective fans. "The rules will be simple! These 2 pairs of trainers will battle it out in what is referred to as a Double Battle! Both trainers bring in 3 Pokemon with a team total of 6. Once the battle starts, it shall not end until all 6 on either team are knocked out! We hope that you enjoy this taste of Galar! Nessa! Haru! ARE. YOU. READY?!"

Haru looked to Milo and narrowed his eyes hard. This was the moment he was saving up for, and Milo lent out a hand for a handshake. It was slow, deliberate, and possibly either a genuine motion of good sportsmanship, or an act he would be putting on. Nessa looked to Haru as he reached his hand back and shook it: gripping firmly. Nothing was said as the couple turned away.

"You know Haru..." Milo began to say, causing Haru to look back. "It was fun for awhile as it lasted, you know? Not having to worry about what 'this' all was with each other."

Nessa looked to Haru once again as his face hardened. "Babe, don't respond. He's trying to get in your head pre-battle." Clenching his fist, Haru took her advice and chose not to respond before holding up a 'thumbs up' towards the commentator to signal him and Nessa were ready.

The Farmer Gym Leader grinned, looking to Kabu. "Milo that was actually a good motion of you to do: one I only wished you had done sooner." The Fire Gym Leader from Hoenn looked to Milo with his usually muted expression. "Don't take this the wrong way. What you did back then is still something I personally cannot forgive you for currently, but let's have our actions speak for us here in battle, rather than fists."

The commentator came over the speakers again. "MILO! KABU! ARE. YOU. READY?!"

Giving a 'thumbs up' gesture of his own, Kabu nodded towards where the speakers were, as well as the crowd, and walked to the space his team needed to be.

As the four trainers stood there, all with hands readying to their Pokemon belts, Haru felt a rise of anxiety hit him. He had full faith in Nessa's strategy, but the chance of a 'what if?' was breeding in his consciousness. He had to think back to his pre-Gym-Challenge jitters when he was going to compete in the final match against Leon.

/Haru looked at Leon as the two stood across from each other in Wyndon Stadium. Leon smiled wide and glanced at the audiences around him. "My matches are always sold out, but this... I've never seen a crowd this wild!"

The redhead trainer who got this far couldn't think up of much to say, so he just stayed quiet. His focus was strained.

"Everyone knows what you did for us this week, Haru... They know you're the one who caught Eternatus and saved the future of the Galar region."

It was a lot to take in, but Leon was right. Haru took another glance to the packed stadiums around him. In the VIP area he spotted the other Gym Leaders looking onwards and spots Nessa, who gives him a thumbs up, alongside Piers, Gordie, and Raihan who are all cheering.

Leon chuckled, continuing. "A real hero, who battled alongside the Legendary Pokémon, Zacian and Zamazenta..." He gave Haru a battle hardened glare. "I couldn't have dreamed of a better challenger to help increase my winning streak!"

"!" Once again, Haru found himself muted. Was this going to be the moment where he became Champion, or would he fail right at this point?

Continuing, Leon felt the strong aura that would emanate from battling Raihan coming from Haru. Finally, after all this time, a worthy rival had come to possibly take his crown. "Now that I've seen just what kind of strength you possess as the greatest of challengers...crushing you into the dirt will show everyone just how strong their Champion truly is! Come on, Haru! Let's make this a final match that'll go down in Galar's history! No! A match that'll change Galar forever!"

He threw out his iconic pose. "We're gonna have an absolutely champion time!"/

It was poetic to remember such a time, but Haru felt a charge come over him on how he was more eager to win this than prior battles. As the jumbotron displayed every trainer and then began to play the battle music of Gym Leaders from the Galar region, both sets of trainers through out their Pokemon. The battle was on.

"GYRADOS!"

"MIRUKON"

"CENTISKORCH!"

"ELDEGOSS!"

The Pokemon landed across from each other and Haru nodded to Nessa in understanding. "Mirukon, aim for a Poison Jab to Milo's Eldegoss!"

Milo blinks, trying to call for his Pokemon to dodge or tank the hit.

Nessa looked to the red Gyrados she was gifted and threw her hand out. "Dragon Dance, Gyrados!" The proud looking Pokemon roars loudly as a burst of energy sends a shockwave on the battleground near itself.

Yelling out triumphantly, Haru's Lucario would lock eyes to the Eldegoss from Milo's side and gave chase. A loud impact on the ground from a near miss causes some dust to fly as purple afterimages of poison fly from its fists. It was too fast to try dodging the full attack, and the Pokemon takes the hit afterwards. It cries out "Goss...!" weakly before collapsing. Milo and Kabu's team is down one Pokemon.

Kabu isn't phased as while Nessa has taken the moment to buff her Pokemon's moves, he considers going for the one offensive guaranteed takedown that he can accomplish. "Fire Leash, Centiskorch!"

It was too quick, and unfortunately too hard of a hit for even Mirukon to deal with in the heat of battle. A blazing glory of fire from the bug/fire Pokemon sweeps towards Mirukon and he stumbles back. Onscreen, the jumbotron shows that his health sharply declines from the full bar to absolutely nothing. Haru's righthand Pokemon that he relied on to carry him at least for a little while in the battle was already taken out.

The score count showed that both teams were down one, and Haru shamefully retrieved Mirukon into his ball. "You did okay, Miru. I'm sorry you couldn't do much else." /Shit..! Okay, which plan now do we go on.../

Nessa looks over to Haru and sees he's a little shaken up but gestures to him to get back in the moment and call out his next partner. "Babe, you got this, remember?!" She's distracted when Milo calls out to her, and her eyes meet his.

"Hey Nessa! I hope this won't detract you any, but be sure to not let up okay? Don't want to disappoint your fans on both sides, right?" Milo calls out, hiding behind the friendly face he showed before crossing his arms. Deep down inside, it felt good to be on a side that took down Haru in any form.

There are only a few things that would cause Nessa to switch from one mode to another. Hearing Milo's words echo in her mind reminded her what she was there for: the ultimate goal of the day. /I. Will not. LOSE!/ "...and this is why you're still single, Farm-Boy! Haru! Let's show these chumps what we came up with together! Steel Waves, right?!" she shouts, her eyes alit with flame-like passion.

It was arousing but a little scary to see Nessa so fired up suddenly, but she was right. He had to keep his focus on the 'now' and sent out his next partner.

"Polnareff!"

"Cherrim!"

An Aegislash appeared on the field, much to the crowd's delight as Haru grinned. Nessa shouts to her Gyrados. "Hydro Pump to Kabu's Centiskortch, Gyrados!" Roaring loudly and building up to a violent blast of water, Haru grins at Milo. Both of them shout near simultaneously.

"Centiskortch, dodge that attack, and hit her with Crunch!" Kabu shouts.

"Cherrim, Petal Blizzard the whole team!" Milo yells, as Haru prepares for it with a smirk to his new Steel-based partner.

"King's Shield, Polnareff!" The Aegislash turned to Haru in understanding and switched its formation and created a barrier.

The Gyrados manages to howl loudly and shot a torrent of water, washing away the Bug/Fire Pokemon, planting it against one of the stadium walls as it's knocked out, only to get hit by the Petal Blizzard attack from Milo's Cherrim. It's fruitless to the Aegislash, however, who shrugs it off entirely whilst in its King's Shield state.

Nessa smirked, feeling her Gyrados get a received boost of power via 'Moxie'. /Shit, that was a little close. Gyrados may not be able to tank another hit if Milo has a strong attack like that again./ She looks to Haru, quietly nodding.

At this moment the score-count updated again. Kabu and Milo are down 2, and Haru and Nessa still only down 1. The battle was early but the crowd was chanting in unison to the music, hoping to hype up the trainers.

Kabu smiles to the others for a moment and clenched both fists. "You two are picking it up a little I see! Allow me to raise the heat! Chandelure!" His next Pokemon appears out on the field. Their opponents respond in kind.

/I was hoping that he would bring out his Chandelure, but it does kind of feel like bullying. Still...this isn't personal to you, Kabu, but Sam helped make sure for me she would have a good overall moveset!/ Nessa thought before shouting. "Crunch that Chandelure, Gyardos!"

"Dodge it and hit it with Overheat!"

Haru smirks to the Grass Gym Leader across from him. "Feeling the cold steel of the truth on your loss yet, Milo?"

"Not on your life!" Milo replied.

"That's what I like! Polnareff, Air Slash to Milo's Cherrim!" Haru calls out. At that time, the sound of Chandelure crying out and falling to the ground is heard. The Gyrados on the field roars out victoriously gaining another boost via its 'Moxie' ability, as the crowd roars wildly with it. The Air Slash hits the Cherrim that's Milo's, but it's not enough, as he turns his sights on the Gyrados.

"Giga Drain the Gyrados, Cherrim!" he shouts.

"Gyrados, watch out!" Nessa calls out, feeling some sweat as the Atrocious Pokemon, Gyrados, cries out and falls. It's knocked out, and she retrieves it with her ball.

In the VIP Room, Sevan had stood up from his chair to view the battle a little closer, if even by a few meters. Things had already changed slightly from all the training matches Haru did with Syra and himself sitting in on them, but a gut feeling told him something. /I may not understand a lot of the things here in the battle culture of Galar, but there's no way you'll let this slide right?/ His left fist clenched and he yelled. "FUCK EM UP DAMN IT!"

- - - Meanwhile, in the Production Control Room - - -

"OH FUCK YOU MILO! That was a cheap move! Shit!" Syra shouts at the screens watching the battle go out as she clenched one of her fists. /Both of them are as in-sync as they were during the training, but I hope they can hold out for it. Nessa still has her trump card left.../

"Bip bip bipp" Syra's attention is brought to a corner on one of the screens as she spots the Rotoms that she released earlier. All of them had successfully burrowed into the electronics and were on 'standby'.

"Good job you guys! Again, wait for my signal...this battle can go in any direction..!"

Sighing quietly, Nessa looks down to her belt. She would decide on whether or not to use her 'trump card' earlier than anticipated and was calculating. The commentator and crowd grew more loud, trying to predict where Haru and her team would go next, and as she closed her eyes, a voice spoke to her. Her mind cleared and her hand whipped towards her beltline and threw a Dive Ball onto the field. "MILOTIC! GO!"

"Salazzle, Go!" Kabu shouts, hoping to keep his group afloat a little longer with the burning fire in his heart behind his team. Both groups stared down, and in a flash they attacked once again after only a brief pause to consider the attacks.

Kabu points to Haru and looks to his Salazzle. "Salazzle, Overheat Haru's Aegislash and melt it down to the core!"

Milo took the defensive option and tried to think ahead, putting his trust in Cherrim. "Morning Sun, Cherrim! Let's strengthen our resolve!"

Nessa puts her hands up to shield herself from the blazing heat as Salazzle charged Haru's side where the Aegislash was at, shouting. "Haru look out!"

"Polnareff!"

The hit echoed across the stadium as his sword-and-shield Pokemon collides with the flames of the opponent, and his health bar goes to 0. The scorechart updates to show that Haru is down to only one final Pokemon, and Nessa feels the adrenaline guide her hand. The inner waves of her mind come forth, and she shouts: "SCALD that Salazzle, Milotic!"

As beautiful as the Pokemon it came from, and in an almost poetic way, the Salazzle is hit by a power wash torrent of water hotter than its own flames. The grass turns to mud as the lizard is sent skidding across the battleground and dirt sprays outwards before Kabu retrieves the Pokemon.

All 3 of Kabu's Pokemon are knocked out and he chuckled. He would save his commentary for later, but was impressed. /It's almost crazy but something tells me that Nessa, despite her odds, may actually pull this off. What an amazing turn of events!/ he thinks to himself.

"Milo you may have started this match all confident because of the type differences we have, and you may have a lot of things that I don't have: I can't deny any of them! But what you're failing to realize is that I've changed since we first fought and when I became Champion!" Haru said, stepping forward and his left fist clenching.

"THIS is the accumulation of both of our efforts, Milo!" Nessa's right hand clenched.

As both trainers spoke, the audience became enamored with this seeming new age of strength Nessa was executing, as both her and Haru spoke at the same time. "This is the strength behind a Wave that's as strong as Steel itself! We're both going to show you what lay beyond type differences!"

Haru reached down to his belt and pulled out a Heavy Ball, tossing it onto the field. "JEANNE! COME OUT!"

A loud thump and roar echoes as a Duraludon lands in front of Haru on his side. The offense was 2 against 1, and Milo was outnumbered. Still, he was thinking on how to turn things back to his favor. /The way she speaks today is completely unlike all the other times. But there's no way that things could reverse so quickly, can it? What am I missing?/

"Stone Edge that Cherrim right there, Jeanne!" Haru commands, as the Steel/Dragon Pokemon leaned forward and summoned several pillars of ground to come upwards underneath the Cherrim. The Grass Pokemon hops away, as Haru's eyes widened. "It missed..?!"

"C'mon Haru, you have to think more clearly than to bank on a what-if move!" Milo says, throwing his hand out, looking to Nessa.

She clicks her tongue and looks back at him. "Ice Beam, Gyrados! Freeze it right in its tracks!" Parts of the stand feel a cold chill as a light blue beam shoots from the Gyrados towards the Cherrim and it hits. Crowds gasp as it's not enough to knock it out, and Milo grins.

"Giga Drain, Cherrim! Let's get some health back!" He shouts.

In a back-and-forth the likes that had everyone gritting their teeth, both Pokemon only nearly knock each other out but not entirely; scoreboard showing their healths in the 'orange' territory. Milo felt a wave of confidence shoot back into him until he looked at Haru and blinked. The short ex-Champion was laughing to himself. "What's funny, man?"

"Nothing, Milo. I just gotta remember how it was actually appropriate that I missed that first shot...because THIS one won't miss!" The Steel Gym leader extended his hand and points to the Cherrim. "JEANNE, Stomping Tantrum!"

The Grass Gym Leader holds his arms up defensively as the Duraludon stomped over to the Cherrim and knocked it cleanly to nill health points after stamping the grounds. "What?!"

The scoreboard updated once again. Milo was down to his last Pokemon and the crowd never got louder than it was right at the moment. He couldn't help but notice in this second that Nessa had a confident stance that mirrored her photos as a model; as equal to the intense strength shown on her League Card. There was only one Pokemon left, but he had to try and put the battle in his favor, or he would have to say goodbye to Galar after the next Gym Challenge was over.

"Appletun, uproot Haru and Nessa! It's time to Dynamax!" He says, looking to the last PokeBall he has, and enlarging it. Nessa looks to her Milotic, who looks back in understanding. This Pokemon had a connection with her unlike the others that she came to know, and felt in her heart he knew what to do.

/You want to Dynamax as well.../ she thinks, and then retrieves the Milotic in her ball, enlarging it as both Gym Leaders toss their Dynamax balls behind them. The stadium of Wyndon is greeted to a giant Milotic and Appletun staring down at each other with the ground shaking violently. A shockwave from the sounds of both of their cries is heard with Haru briefly holding his ears shut.

Her lover and Steel-based partner turns to her. "Nessa! We've made it this far! I trust you completely: with all of my heart! I always have!"

The comment made her heart well up as she bit her lip, looking to Milo, who only needed to attack to make it out as a winner. Her eyes closed and she had hoped her brief calculation would come back true. Nessa thought back to the many many charts she tried to memorize on that day and the days thereafter about Pokemon statistics. Special Defense, Speed, Abilities, etc. If her heart and mind aligned properly, then the victory would be hers. /Milo may have the advantage here, and it'll be over, maybe.../

She opens her eyes and shouts. "...but Milotic is faster than Appletun on just its base speed alone, and I've trained this Milotic to be the best there is and ever will be! Milotic! Freeze Milo and his Appletun in its tracks, use Max Avalanche!"

"Appletun, don't take it from them and use Max Overgrowth! Do it before you're hit!"

All of the stands of those watching leaned close in their seats as the near decades-long rivalry was out for those to see everywhere both locally and globally: Nessa vs Milo. The universally agreed upon point was that Grass trumps Water, and no matter how skilled she was, she would always lose to him.

Not today.

Her statistical studying and preparation came in handy, and in her mind she was right. The large icicles pierced through the attack of the large Appletun, and the Grass Pokemon cried out as it explosively reeled back in defeat. All of Galar and the world would read as the jumbotron results mirrored what had transpired:

[VICTOR: TEAM HARU AND NESSA]

Sevan leaped while pumping his right fist into the air, and the others in the VIP seating area cheered with him. He may have missed out on the Gym Challenge League Finals, but seeing his friend succeed in the limelight put a smile on his face.

At the same time, however, the Beheeyem's bulbous-like hands began to change colors...

It was preparing...

Syra could only chuckle confidently, tilting her disguise glasses downwards. "I knew he could do it...tch."

It was near deafening to hear the crowd cry in jubilation and cheer for the pair, but Nessa found herself almost shaking. She finally did it: she defeated Milo fair and square with the help of her beloved. "...I...I did it..."

"Babe! You did it!" Haru is heard laughing as he ran to her side and embraced her in a hug. She was shaken out of her moment of being distracted by the fact alone and teared up.

"Yes...yes Haru I did it! We did it!" the sunny smile on her face illuminated the building, and before the broadcast announced it would be going to commercial, announced it would be taking a small break to get things cleaned up and then ready for the official start of the tournament.

Milo stood there in disbelief as he held his hand out to look at his PokeBalls, and Kabu put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Milo. We did good."

Of course, the Fire Gym Leader had not been informed yet of the oncoming changes that would be happening very soon, but even in defeat, Milo smiled. The personality he had shown that was very ugly to his fellow Gym Leaders and Haru wasn't currently there, but one of a man that felt he at least gave this display 'his all'. The cheeky farmer couldn't help but agree. "You're right, we did. Look how happy she is...you can tell she definitely wanted this."

"Yes, I can. Now the world will be able to see her as a much stronger person than before." Kabu said, grinning. He was only a tertiary observer of the struggles Nessa went through, but even he wasn't stupid. The man was aware of how much getting this victory meant to her, and as she waved happily to the crowd, Haru hung to her side and made sure to glamorize her as much as possible.

"This was all her! Not me!" he said, laughing as Nessa pinched him.

"C'mon that's a lie!" she turned to him as he shook his head, looking up to her and placing a hand under her chin.

"No, Nessa. I told you long ago that you were much more talented than you took yourself for, and I meant it. THIS is the 'you' that I saw. The one that's always been there and was capable of being stronger than anyone else despite the odds. Now? The whole freaking world sees it." He leaned closer and kissed her with a peck on the lips; the crowd of course cheering on that as Kabu went, with Milo, to congratulate the two.

The stadium made note to everyone that those watching would be receiving a short break, and as such Nessa was able to spot them: the large numbers of Beheeyems stationed around and the Pokemon that Syra said she would bring with her to help with this 'favor'. Kabu tapped on Milo's shoulder, shook Haru's hand and grinned. The group talked about how he should hook up with them after this for a 'Gym Leader celebration' dinner since not only did he make his first impression of a Gym Leader a good one, he won it with Nessa.

Kabu would then look to Milo before heading off, leaving the Grass Gym Leader alone with the other 2 on the field. Nessa's eyes quietly scan the field and spotted no security standing out, and looked up towards a window near the top floors. A triple flash of bright blue lights from within a window. /Good. Syra's done it. The platform is all ours, and ours alone./

Rubbing the back of his head, Milo chuckled weakly and looked to the group, paying no mind to the new expression Nessa bore on her face. "Well, you two did it. Honestly after all that talk I wasn't sure if it was actually going to happen, but you did it." He looked to Nessa. "As we agreed on it, Nessa, I'll leave the Gym Challenge once it's over, and the Gym will be open to someone else to take over."

Her eyes raise, smirking devilishly. "Oh? Then do you remember the other part of our agreement?"

Folding his burly arms together, the farmer couldn't pinpoint what she was referring to per se. "Remind me."

She grinned a teethy grin to Haru, who blushed. "You have to stay here while Haru and I celebrate our win. That was the agreement, yes?"

The heart within Haru's chest began to beat a little fast. Were they really going to go through with this? /...oh fuck. I almost forgot about this.../ he thinks to himself.

Milo wouldn't know what she meant, but went with it and laughed a little. "O-oh, right. What, do you want me to make some sort of speech about how great you are? Well allright then, in that case I hope you don't mind me coming up with something offhand since I wasn't prepared for this at all."

Nessa licked her lips slowly and looked to Haru, then side-eyed Milo. "That's okay Milo. Nobody here is prepared for this either." she spoke in a low tone before grabbing Haru's shorts and then began her performance by stripping Haru right in front of the crowd.

- - - / In the past, after the big-day-out /

- - - / Haru & Nessa's Home, Hulbury, 12PM /

The day of rest was done, but the time to continue preparing for the Galarian Olympic Tournament was near. Haru had to go to Circhester to see how his Steel Gym was coming along in its progress and to meet up with Monika and his other upcoming Steel Gym Trainers. In the meantime during that same moment, Nessa looked at a Glaceon who was peeking its head around her.

Hopping onto the woman's shoulders, Nora was watching her make some snacks for a guest to come over. Her nose twitching and sniffing. "Hehe. Do you want a bite Nora? Here. It's what I can spare since we have company coming over." The Eeveelution happily gobbled up the small morsel she's given, hopping down to the floor. Humming to herself as she carried the tray into the living room and placing it down on the coffee table, she had to get ready for what would be called the 'Final Phase' of her 'Anti-Milo' plan. Everything that had occurred before in her early years was a simple rivalry that had grown more and more intense over time. Her ability to be professional around him when the cameras were on was something she told herself was due to her experience either on-screen or on-print presence as a model. The emotions that she held however reached beyond a boiling point hearing what Milo said about herself and Haru, and seeing him come home bloodied and bruised.

The Water Gym Leader figured that it wasn't going to be enough to simply push his face into the dirt when they beat him. A further step would be required to make sure he could never recover back from the events, and only had to start planning for it as well as the battle.

Nora went to her side as Nessa had laid the tray down to show her enjoyment of the treats: lemon creme biscuits with some iced herbal tea. Her eyes blink as she hears a set of knocks. "That's probably her." The ice Pokemon followed Nessa to answer the door as the visage of a tall woman with straight black hair and magenta eyes grinned back.

"Yo. The upcoming Champ has arrived." said Syra in a very calm, cool manner as Nessa hugged her.

"Thank you for coming Syra. Even though you had plans today...I really needed to talk to you about a little something I need your help for, so please sit." The dark skinned woman spoke softly. Going with Syra to the table where the tea and biscuits were at, Nessa tilted a glass back.

Syra put her bag down, kicked her shoes off and waved to the four legged Eeveelution that was calling to her. It felt nice to be welcomed in Haru's home with someone who she felt she could be legitimate friends with for the foreseeable future. Ever since the model shoot, she had grown a lot closer to the Gym Leader and was down to come visit at any beck and call from Nessa "You did hint vaguely about that, yes..."

She takes one of the drinks, thanking Nessa for it and tilts it back to sip. "Aaaahhhh okay this is really tasty. Thank you for this!" The girl exhaled from the flavor.

"So you're aware of the Olympic Tournament right? Haru and myself are in the exhibition match to start things off before the others from other regions combat each other. The fight with Milo is...getting ever so close and so Haru and I have decided on a way to not just piss Milo off but also show just how serious we are about our relationship." Nessa's expression became serious as she looked at the magenta eyed woman in front of her.

Syra looked on in confusion while her drink was halfway to her lips and spoke into the glass. "...yeah? Must be a really big move then."

Nessa took a deep breath, looked to the side as her cheeks reddened and then straightened herself up. The next line she spoke would be delivered in the most serious way she could muster, as if announcing herself like she were declaring victory at a Gym Battle. "Haru and I are going to fuck hard like wild beasts on the field when we win."

Syra took the drink and then ends up coughing after the 14th word, REALLY unsure she actually heard this correctly. The tea briefly spills out from her lips over her jacket top and coughs as the back of her hand wipes her lips. "I'm sorry...you're going to WHAT?!"

"You heard me." Even as Nessa replied to Syra's question, her hands shook a little with anxiety. That it was through such conviction told Syra everything about how serious it was, but that such an act was the absolute most insane thing she could hear with her own two ears.

"I'm sorry, do you realize what you're risking by doing this? Do you honestly hear yourself? Is this some sort of kin-" The velvet haired girl was hushed by Nessa raising a hand, as the girl crossed her arms after setting the drink down. /Holy fucking shit, what the heck have Haru and Nessa been doing when I wasn't paying attention to bring them both to this level?/

"I'm not finished. We need you to do two things for us for this to actually succeed. One, disrupt the broadcast so systems fail and nothing is being broadcasted. A high powered Rotom can accomplish this, but if you need more than one, then I can help with this just as easily. Two, find a Pokemon that can alter memories and disable electronics: "Disable" should be enough to do that to the Rotom Phones and other tablets people in Galar carry. We don't want people walking out of there with video proof and memory of what we did." The eyes of the Water Gym Leader narrowed as if a predator finding its prey and she spoke coldly: never losing her focus. "The only exception is Milo, I want that prick to remember every last damn detail."

Nora, easily in earshot of all of this, only looked at Nessa with an equal amount of shock. She too, would have many questions. The girl across from Nessa coughs, as if trying to understand the words just uttered to her. "So uh...you both decided this huh?"

"We are going to fuck hard and rough in multiple positions." Nessa replied with a straight face as she leans back, cross a leg over the other and taking a bite of a biscuit.

She saw that Syra's face went to a dark shade of red thinking about it. "Ahem...well uh..." She coughs, looking to the side /Holy fucking shit, I never figured that Nessa would be that type of person. Hoo boy. Uhm...wow./ "Was this...a bet or something or...I mean..I never knew you two were uh...exhibitionist type and...like...at a beach or...at an alleyway are one thing but..." The conception of the ideas alone cause the usually strong outer shell of Syra to crack, leaving behind a girl that was acting shy on the mere topic of sex. "...I mean you're talking thousands of people seeing you at the exact same time."

A hand slaps on the table to get her friend to realize the conviction in her voice as Nessa stares. "Syra, are you willing to help or not?!" She asked while sipping the tea and looking up at Syra with a fierce look.

"!" /She's so intense...what the hell?/ "Uhm...wi...uh..." She shook her head and then took a deep breath /I may regret this./ "Y-yes. I think I know of a Pokemon but it's going to take some coordination to get enough to cover enough people in a stadium. I'd have to bring some Dittos to copycat the staff so nobody gets wiser prior to setting it up. Taking down Team Rocket's HQ was one thing since I wanted to knock them out, but here? I don't want people getting hurt. Beheeyem are known to be able to rewrite memories if I remember my Pokedex entries properly. I can start with assembling a lot of both of these."

Nessa handwaved with a smirk. "Oh dont worry, Haru plans to get you whatever you need." She purred then hummed. "We also plan to pay you well for this favour and allow for us to owe you in the future." She points to a brown folder on the table that was face down up until this point. "All details you need to know are in that...plus numbers for people who will help coordinate everything. The only thing they know is that you'll be contacting them and nothing else."

The two women couldn't help but be pushed into another awkward silence as Syra looked shyly at the floor. "So uhm...this is the 'ultimate' get-back to Milo, huh?"

Without missing a beat Nessa stood up from her chair and clenched her left hand into a fist. "Fuck yes it is! I am going to make him regret everything he has said and did for the last year!" The glass nearly breaks when she placed it on the table a little to hard. "When this is over, he'll be on his knees begging for forgiveness!"

/Here I was thinking what I did was going to be enough to label me the 'freaky girl' but...wow. Once again, Nessa is on another level compared to me./ The girl lamented to herself before looking back up to the dark beauty. "Does it help make you feel better if I told you that after Haru told me the situation from the night before, and what led to it, that I punched Milo hard the next time I saw him?" She crossed one leg over the other

A twinkle in Nessa's blue eyes was seen as she leaned forward with a grin on her lips. "You punched Milo? Tell me the details."

/- - - The evening of Haru snapping - - -/

/The same evening that Syra talked to Haru after his PTSD he began experiencing from going insane, as well as his built up emotions up to that point, she was about to go to an Air Taxi to head back to Circhester to her home. Milo was spotted, and Syra retracted her hand after initially wanting to call the Pilot to her location.

"Miss?" He asked, tilting his head.

Syra looked back to the man and handwaved him. "Just give me a moment, please! I'll be back okay?"

"Okay if you say so...but if another customer comes I'll have to head off okay?" He calls out to her, as Syra waved back. "This won't take but a few seconds!" The second she was done briefly telling the pilot to wait, her eyes glowed while locking onto the back of Milo's head. She'd never forgive him for what she found out he did, and anger ran through her bloodstream. Haru may have held back or been afraid to take or give punches. It was the one reason why he probably got messed up, Syra told herself internally. Sevan she knew could handle his own, and was thankful Haru had such a good friend to his side.

But after the recent events in her life, Syra felt a new change overtake: a wish to be more like a person he can depend on through thick and thin.

Milo was seen in the middle of talking to someone on the phone. Less than 5 meters away, Milo spots her from his peripheral vision and is none the wiser for her walking in his direction at a hastened pace. "Oh hey, Syra! Fancy meeting you out here!"

She power walked to his spot, crossing from the other side of the outdoor court to him, reeled back and SLAMMED her right fist across his chin until he fell backwards on his ass.

THUD!

Several people in nearby gasp loudly in horror seeing Milo get flattened out in a single punch by Syra, who they all could tell from just a simple glance.

He instinctively goes to grab his chin. "Wha the heck is your probl-?!"

She wasn't having any of his shit and pointed to him as she grit her teeth. "That was for Haru you son of a bitch! Don't you ever fucking touch him again, do you hear me!? I ought to just use the Shiny Scorbunny I'm receiving from Hestia to torch your entire gods damned Gym until it's merely soot, but then again I wouldn't wanna be a bad person and remove that honor from Haru or anyone else to do it FOR me. So I won't. If I ever hear you having an 'out' with Haru again, I'm going to use my feet next time! Sevan may have held back against you, but I fucking won't."

The sounds of digital cameras snapping photos causes Syra to look to her side, but her angry face didn't waver. It meant more to stand up for Haru that she was willing to punch a Gym Leader. She glared back "WHAT?! This ain't a peep show. Beat it!"

They run away and she dusted her arms as Milo was dizzied and got back up...slowly.

Heading back to the Air Taxi cab, the pilot was shaking in anxiousness. "Y-ye-e-yes miss? Wh-where to?"

As if nothing in the past few minutes happened at all, Syra smiled wide and replied in an innocent tone of voice. "Circhester, please!"/

Syra crossed her legs and arms. "...and that's what I did."

Nessa just started laughing like someone who had lost their mind but quickly composed herself as she sat up straight. "Good, saved me the time then. Thank you for doing that Syra."

Syra flexed her right fist and looked at it "His chin's made of glass..."

"I figured. That being said...I look forward to your help~" The dark woman brought her glass of tea and clinked the glass with Syra as the pair shared a mutual toast.

The girl was still stuck on the idea that someone like Nessa was willing to put herself out there completely out for many to see. "You realize doing this is the literal apex of such a kink right? It's the top. Fuck, forget kinks: you're endangering yourself and your career by doing this if I fuck up. You literally can't go higher than being known infamously as someone who did it in a stadium! You're talking thousands upon thousands of eyes watching you do such a thing! If this goes wrong-"

Nessa didn't even consider that this would go wrong because the failure of such a thing wasn't in her mind. "So? Once you find that someone and you just love them and want people to see how serious you are with them...you'll understand our choice. Even if they won't remember afterwards, it'll be enough to see how they react to our union laid bare."

"'Our' huh? Right. Haru agreed to this already..." The girl looked down for a second and bit her lip. While she had already pushed aside the one-sided crush she grew for Haru awhile back, knowing he would be up for such a dangerous exhibitionist act made him seem that more bold.

Leaning forward, Syra let her forehead touch the table and mumbled. "Fuck." She took a deep breath before putting her hands on her cheeks and shaking her head. For a brief moment, she thought about the possibility of all those eyes on HER if she were in ever such a situation "When I saw you at the modeling shoot I already started to see and understand how much of a woman you really are, but now I see our gap is even greater than I previously thought...!"

Nessa clicked her tongue and handwaved. "There is no gap Syra, that's all in your head!" Before the girl knew it, Nessa was up and at her side in the blink of an eye. She slapped the poor woman's cheeks hard while making the magenta eyed beauty stare at the ocean blue eyed beauty. "Lift your head up Syra and see just how beautiful and powerful you are. See how fierce and deadly you are compared to Raihan's baby dragons."

It was such a serious moment, but it only made Syra snicker. "Why specifically Raihan?"

"Do you REALLY want me to start on him?"

She blinked, looked to the side while Nessa's hands were still on her own cheeks "...uh, sure?"

Nessa stared before getting up and sighing. "Look, Rai LIKES to think he is strong but the dude is just...how do I put this nicely? He needs to get laid. Like just rough enough to really make him a true 'dragon master' if you get me."

Syra starts laughing. "Okay yes, I do see that. He's a good guy, but a bit too full of himself and needs someone to 'relax' him. I'm glad you said it since you've known him longer."

"Everyone is allowed to say it but they're too much a Torchic to say anything." She shrugs. "Well not Kabu...he has told Rai every year that he needs to get a wild fairy or a dragon trainer and have a nice long fuck."

Syra laughs again a bit harder "In those words?"

"Maybe not in those words, no. Kabu's classy. That was moreso my interpretation of the two of them. Ahem." Nessa admits, with Syra grinning back.

"And you? You being a model all this time I can only imagine people were trying to be a suitor to you huh?"

"So many tried to play matchmaker and it never went well. All people cared about was the money I made, or people I knew...and the status they may get dating me. It...was too much." Nessa sighed as she nibbled on a biscuit. "Haru was different. Well, he still is: ever able to calm the storm within me and bring peace and warmth." She started off the whole conversation on such a fierce tone but was now only gushing over her boyfriend.

"I'd act surprised about you saying all this, but I studied him pretty deeply. I know firsthand how it may have started..." Syra took a guess while leaning with her elbow on the table before pointing to Nessa. "...it was...probably when I heard he spoke to you after the Pokemon Championship when he was still a Gym Challenger and actually tried to see you as a person. I recall you had a tendency to cut yourself down a lot for losing to Milo...and he just wouldn't have it but was bad with words. Right?"

"Yeah...something like that..."

"Well then, Nessa. Cheers to your absolutely Zubat-fucking crazy plan!" Syra shouts before downing the rest of her glass while the girls shared some more small banter. She left that day no more shocked that such a plan was to be initiated...but began to formulate ideas on how to obtain so many Beheeyems.

/Damn...even if I do respect the two, I can't help but feel jealous to see someone like him go through with something crazy like that with her./ Syra thought to herself, getting on her Rotom Bike and putting her helmet on. /...I say all that, but I already made up my mind./ Pushing one foot forward in front of the other, she began to bike towards the Wild Area and try to meet up with some trainers she knew.

/

- - - - - A hospital in Sinnoh...- - - - -

- - - - - That very second...- - - - -

The lady sat upright and stared at the monitor in her room. She lay awake. Conscious, drained, but awake. The surroundings around her were still blurred, and she had a slight ringing in her ears but she laid comfortably with a half smile. The TV had switched briefly from its live broadcast of the Galarian Olympic Tournament with a message saying it will 'Be Right Back' with updates for the start of the tournament.

"...oh. I guess...they're having issues...?" she said weakly to herself. Her eyes look to her side to see a familiar shiny Altaria wrapping its cloudlike wingspan around her and a shiny Growlithe napping near her foot.

Two knocks are heard at the door. Usually, the staff would have walked in after the knock but the physicians were aware she had awoken. As the door creaked open, a Vaporeon had hopped out of its small kiddie pool that was near the foot of the bed and was growling loudly, raising its back and spewing a small burst of water towards the door. "ACK! Hey! It's me, you dick!" The doctor said, annoyed behind the door. He stared hard at the pair of ladies peeking past the creak of the door, then hopped up to where the girl laid in bed, turning back to them and continuing to hiss angrily until the girl put a hand calmly on top of his head. The Vaporeon looks back.

"It's okay, Vespa." she says weakly, patting the Eeveelution across the forehead slowly. His fin-like tail lowered and he sat but did not move from her side and never moving his eyes away from the two guests that came in. Sighing, the girl looks to the two adults. "Come in..." the girl says weakly. A tall female doctor comes in, bearing aqua blue hair and red glasses with a small smile, with another woman coming in that was almost as tall with long blonde hair, a similar white coat jacket and red top. The doctor walks to the girl's side and gently puts a hand on her wrists.

"How are you feeling?"

The girl looks pained, but tries to put on a strong facade. "I'm...alive. Somehow, that's a bit more shocking than I thought, but here I am. Who is this...?"

Looking back, the doctor motioned to her guest, who bowed with a small smile spreading. "My name is Oleana. At first, I didn't want to believe it, but it's actually true isn't it?"

The girl's eyes opened up finally to show a hardened stare that had seen things nobody else could understand, and that this 'Oleana' was able to find her. "It's you. You're the Ranger that saved Arceus, aren't you?"

- - - - - Production Control Room, Wyndon Stadium - - - - -

- - - - - That same moment... - - - - -

Syra stood there at the control room as her arms crossed. Her face was blushing hard, but the Pokemon that were at her command initiated two steps of the plan as it were: disable all broadcast signal by using Rotoms to hack into the computers, and use all the Beheeyems to Disable all Rotom Phones and other electronic equipment from recording the current events. Meanwhile, she had secured her spot and bought Haru and Nessa some time for their 'event'.

Pacing a little back and forth and tapping her foot, she grumbled as her cheeks reddened. /Here I had fantasized about seeing something like this involving him, but to think I would help set it up. Tch. You two better keep your end of the bargain, damn it!/

As Syra stood there in the Broadcast Control Room, Nessa and Haru went at it like a pair of Pokemon in heat. To only the knowledge of Syra, Haru and Nessa, the group had set it up so that as they were going at it, the whole stadium could see. What mattered was their immediate approval or overall reaction to them, but in the end would have their memories wiped away; rewritten by Beheeyems planted all around the stadium's interior. Of anything Haru did in his life, it was possibly the grandest but also riskiest move he had ever accomplished in his life.

But it came to a climactic finish in multiple ways as the audience's cheers and shouts got louder right as their passions exploded, and as he did to her: a full view of it shown. Though they would have to make haste afterwards, much to Milo's shock of having to watch 2 people go at it like love birds in front of him, it was still under control.

What exactly could Milo say in this situation to have stopped both of them or get them in trouble? If they were able to do such an incredibly stupid and dangerous act right in the middle of the field of Wyndon Stadium, either there was collusion or there was someone in on it. He had to find out, but for the moment all he could do was stand there with both fists clenched.

The couple only laid there naked with Nessa's top rolled up and bare boobs squished against Haru's chest as they made out intensely. Slowly, Haru would withdraw from her and then spread Nessa's legs wide to show everyone.

Syra got a notification from her group that was working alongside the couple to accomplish this dangerous task: they were running low, and the Hypnosis may be running out soon. She taps on her left ear onto the blu tooth for the signal that only she shared with Nessa on a one-way radio. "Hey Nessa! You two done yet? I'm almost about to finish up here but I gotta get to performing the last step and then mosey on out pronto! I suggest you two do the same if you don't want any blowback from this getting out!"

She was hurriedly putting on her disguise again as a Wyndon Stadium staffer with her glasses being pushed onto her nose and looked at the Gengar. The two nod in understanding, and she taps into the computer. "Okay guys, keep the signal looping old footage of archives from other Champions, and in 9 minutes, we will be clear okay?"

Her hand goes back to her walkie talkie and speaks. "All channels: Beheeyems! Rewrite!"

- - - - - Moments later... - - - - -

Milo had to take a moment to collect himself: did he really see what he thought he did? What was going to happen next, if anything? How could anyone follow up what was going to happen?

It would not be long before he got himself an answer, though it may not be delivered in the way he had hoped.

A voice came over the speakers, calling for the first two combatants of the tournament to make their way to the field; the announcement echoing alongside the walls.

In the main Locker Room, Haru and Nessa are cleaning themselves up and making sure they are both dried off and 'stink' free when a staffer came walking in. The pair look at the girl before she removed her glasses and grinned. It was Syra, who flashed a thumbs up. "Okay. It's all done, fellas. Now nobody will remember a damn thing! People will only recall you two having a joyful hug and embrace after the victory before walking back into the stadium, and there being a break before the first match started!"

Nessa runs over to Syra and gives her a big hug. Squeezing gently, the two women embrace before the dark beauty looked at her. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much it means to me."

Syra looked over to Haru and locked eyes, with Haru blushing a little. "..w...what?"

She shrugged, then looked to Nessa. "Gotta say, you definitely ARE lucky, Nessa. No wonder you like to stay flexible." she winked, elbowing lightly before turning to walk off.

"Y-yeah, hehe.." was all Nessa could say.

As she arrived to the door and began to open it, Syra spotted Milo down the hallway and grinned back inside to the two. "You guys have a visitor coming, you-know-who. Anyways, I need to make sure to get all the you-know-whats to their rightful place okay? Hit me up later: let's go drinking!" Syra tilted the glasses back down to her face to re-disguise herself and walked off as Milo headed in afterwards.

"Nessa"

She sighed in an annoyed tone and looked to Haru, who was still drying his hair after washing the sweat off from their 'performance'. "Babe, do you hear something?"

Haru took the sign of Nessa and improvised on the spot. "Oh, do you?"

"Answer me this you two! No more games. I get that I was a shitty person to you, and I get that after all this time we had a rabid rivalry that became so infamous that-"

Nessa was awfully, dreadfully, painfully tired of hearing Milo whine. Her face turned cold and distant as her face looked towards him. "What kind of business does the grass have with a wave that floods it, hmm?" her eyes narrow. Haru stayed quiet as the two rivals faced each other, and the Gym Leaders glared in a three-way standoff.

"Nessa, what you did out there was career suicide." Milo points out, gesturing to the hallway of whence he came. "Right now, I heard that there are a bunch of reporters of many regions wanting to have an interview with you right now because they have 'questions'. Now, you can come clean on who or what allowed you to do such thing, or you can let the whole of Galar find out why you felt it right to blackmail and shame me there!"

It wasn't his place to say anything, honestly, but Haru had begun to grow tired of Milo complaining. "You know what's interesting, Milo, about steel? It can withstand even the worse of conditions of nature. Much like your incessant whining, this isn't about whether it was 'right' or not to do such things: but the idea was mutually both of ours. Not that it matters, nothing will happen to either of us."

"...what do you mean?"

At that second, the door burst open and a slew of reporters and media pundits came running in, throwing in questions as they saw the Gym Leaders talking amongst themselves but went straight to Nessa. Several microphones were pushed towards her face as she blinked in shock.

"Nessa, now that you did that amazing victory in Double Battle against Milo, what's next for you?"

"Will you no longer be adopting the Raging Wave as your nickname?"

"How did you and Haru construct such a strategy?"

"Is there a possibility of future co-operative Double Battles between you two against other trainers?"

The questions didn't stop, but not a single one mentioned even an inkling of the sexy showcase that both of them did. As Haru began to answer a few questions with Nessa by his side, she threw one last smug look towards Milo. His face went pale, but in the end, he had to admit he was bested. It was okay to finally let the rivalry set, and from then onward he would. Taking one final look before leaving the room, he gave a thumbs up. It may not have meant much coming from him, but it was his way of accepting his fate where things led up to.

Nessa, of course, would spend ample time with Haru answering as many questions as she could and grew happier by the minute. Already people were seeing her in a slightly different light, and she could walk, even just a little, away from parts of her past.

The rest of the tournament went without a hitch. Nobody brought up the performance they did on the field because nobody remembered it. Sevan would get a chance to hit up Haru and Nessa when they showed up in the VIP lounge; congratulating the on the win and saying he only wished he could have seen Milo's smug face in person right there. Many favorites would go on to battle each other, and even as Syra had to make a hasty exit out of the stadium, she took one last glance at the structure while taking on an Air Taxi ride.

/One day, I'll be there competing just like they are right now, and I'll become Galar's next Champion.../

- - - - - The Day After. . . - - - - -

- - - - - Wyndon, Airport - - - - -

All things come to an end, and Syra felt a certain pain in her chest as her mother and herself were standing in the lobby together with Gabe. He had a pass on a one way trip to Kanto, and gazed upon the screens showing arriving and departing flights. Hugging tightly, a tear goes down her face. "Gabe, I'm sorry I wasn't a better big sister to you, but if you ever need help you call me okay?"

"I know, sis. Thank you for everything." He waited and just held onto her. "I know it wasn't your fault; what happened with da-er, Ritsu. I'm glad things got better enough for me to have my Mom again."

Amiri knelt down next to Syra to join in on the family hugging. As her own guilt had built up over not being able, for one reason or another, to re-join with them until recently, her son did his best to not have any bad thoughts as he would leave. "It's okay Mom. I'm going to become one of the best Pokemon Trainers on the planet. Just you wait, and when I'm done, I'll challenge you, sis."

"I know we talked long about this, and I prepared you but it still feels surreal seeing you go..." Amiri sniffled.

The family meeting was put to a brief hold as the trio heard a pair of feet coming behind them.

"Oh thank goodness we didn't miss you..." Haru says, having arrived after jogging to get to where they were at, and his mother behind him.

Amiri's eyes widened, as it had been the first time in a long time she saw her friend. It was bittersweet, but given that they spoke to each other not that long ago, the pain wasn't as pronounced. Lana sighed as she caught up to Haru, seeing Amiri and walked up to her. "I'm sorry that I ever stopped communicating with you."

"I'm sorry for being mad at you, if even briefly, for what you said to me long ago, only to then not talk more after that." The two ladies embraced each other and held the hug for a bit.

Syra looked up to Haru, as she was still kneeling down to Gabe's level in an embrace as the two young men made eye contact. "I came to see you off with your sister considering our history is linked by the thread of fate. She told me you're heading off to Kanto?"

Nodding slowly, Gabe put on a strong face towards Haru. "Yes. I want to gather the badges from every region, explore other regions that don't have Leagues, and see what I can accomplish on this Earth. I feel like if I go out there and do the same things others have before me, I can come out of it a much stronger person. Plus, I want to make a difference."

"Well you can't leave without this, then..." Haru held his hand out and gave Gabe a PokeBall.

"What's this?" The boy asked.

"Toss it and see." Haru grinned.

Looking to the side, Gabe threw the ball and out popped a Yamper. His eyes lit up. Haru would explain as the electric puppy ran up and started licking his face. "This is a special Yamper that was bred by my friend Hestia, who is an expert at not only being patient with Pokemon Breeding, but knows much more than I do on how traits are passed down. I want to make up for an apologize in the only way I know I could for what trauma such lackadaisical actions caused you."

Next to him, Syra had her eyes watering up with tears. That Haru would be willing to coordinate on such a thing touched her heart, because seeing her little brother with that excitement jump back to his eyes in such a flash was the best thing she saw in a long time. "Haru, you...!"

Haru turned to Syra and gave a thumbs up. "He's a perfect 6 IV trainer Yamper. While Yampers may not be the best Electric type, he'll be your best friend from here until the end of your Pokemon journey, and beyond, Gabe, so take care of him okay?"

The boy was snuggling the energetic dog who constantly licked at his face and turned to Haru, stepping forward and hugging him. This catches both parties off guard, with Haru only being able to return it with a half smile. "T-thank you H-Haru...I'll do my best and make him an amazing Pokemon!"

He stepped back and looked at his mother, sister, and Haru's mother too. Giving another big hug to his family members, and exchanging 'I love you's before walking off to the security checkpoint, he waved. "I'm going to be the best like nobody ever was, just you wait and see!" he shouts before disappearing past the security checkpoint guard.

The group quietly watched as the plane with the word 'MYSTIC FLIGHTS' on the side started to head down the long runway. In a moment it would circle around and get clearance before taking off. As it lifted up and into the air, Syra placed one of her palms on the glass and stared back at the steel bird that transported her brother to Kanto. "See you next time, lil' bro. Be safe...love you."

- - - - - The same evening, Route 09 - - - - -

- - - - - Sevan's Home - - - - -

There came a knocking on the door, and Sevan moved from his in-home gym to the front door. As he removes one of his boxing gloves, he takes a glance through the peephole and exhales through his nose. "Heh...figured." His hand reaches, opens the door and greets his visitor. "Hey Syra, wasn't expecting you until later, but it's good to see you."

"Yeah...sorry. I found time to come by and got bored. Wanted to get things off my chest sooner than later." she explained, one hand holding onto the other by its wrist behind herself. Shinrin comes up to the door, perking her ears upwards and the girl waves. "Hello Shin. Good to see you."

"Well come in then, no point in having you stand outside." Sevan says, letting her in and keeping his distance as she walked past him. "So what was it that brought you here?"

"Just needed someone to talk to about the stuff that's been going on because I think I'll be able to finally move forward in a way that you deserve to know. Even if I haven't known you as long, there's some stuff I have to say and it's best to get it out of my system now rather than later." Her tone was more on the no-nonsense side, with little room for else.

Sevan joined her in sitting across from Syra, folding his hands together. "Feeling bad about not competing in that Galarian Olympic whatsits?"

She shook her head. "Nah, but it is related to the whole...competitive...aspect. Fuck, I'm stumbling over my wording. Part of this will sound very much like it's word salad so I apologize if this won't make sense entirely. Okay so..." Syra took one deep breath and exhaled while Sevan looked onward. "My little brother has left the house on a one-way trip to Kanto with a simple goal: travel the world and pursue his goal of becoming a Pokemon master. It's fulfilling to me as his older sister to see him pursue something he once wrote off. I know that Haru has his goal fulfilled where his Gym is about to be completed...and I need to focus on becoming Galar's best Champion ever to have walked the lands. At first it was something I chose to do as a 'gotcha', a 'revenge' against him, but now I believe I really want to pursue it for real this time.

A smirk crept on Sevan's visage. "Haru has a way of influencing people like that. Makes sense to me. I'm already re-thinking some things myself."

"The thing is...becoming Champion this time will require me to be a better sport about it. No cheating. No stealing Pokemon. No 'fast track' method to try and get a quick level-up without understanding better what my teammates can accomplish. In order to see that through without worrying, I have to put aside things that are more...'personal'." Her eyes met his again and she bit her lip, sighing. "What I'm saying is, I can't lead you on anymore."

"...'scuse me?" He was worried where she was headed on this, and straightened his back while sitting.

Hanging her head, Syra looked to the floor for a moment before continuing. "I have been teasing and being a very poor, obvious flirt with you, and to be honest, doing that without even pulling the trigger is just shitty. I...don't know how to socialize very well without overguessing my actions a thousand times per second. When you heard me say 'it's nothing to get too riled up over', I meant it. So it's not fair to you for me to just string you along like that. For a good bit I've been too much a skive to really go the full monty on...committing to any one person. Crushed on you. Crushed on Bea. Tch. Even crushed on Haru, too." There was a sound of defeat in her voice.

She saw that Sevan's eyes squint, looking from side to side before his hands gestured in confusion. "You know it's possible to have crushes on multiple people right? It's going further than that with multiple people that's shitty."

Syra huffed as if she was about to get to that point. "Exactly: there was no telling if I was going to do that to you all, and to Haru it's the most unfair because I know he's already loyal to the one woman he's with: Nessa. Look, Sevan, I'm not very good at being able to read my own actual feelings towards people, and Haru's my first real friend I've made outside of my brother. You're the first guy outside of him that I started to like, but it's not fair for me to say that or act on it when I don't even know how to handle myself properly." She raised her head and had to squint her eyes to force no tears to come out, looking Sevan straight onward. "This doesn't mean I won't tease you from time to time, because it's funny as fuck to me, but it's not fair for me to lead you on thinking I want to go further. To be honest.."

Her eyes gazed aimlessly around his living room and she leaned back onto the chair. "Before when I wanted to become Champion, like I said, it was as an act of revenge against Haru's ideals; what he stood for as a person. Now? I see a region that can blossom into an even better home for those that deserve it, and I think I can do a lot of good for it all. Whether or not you can come to a decision like that about whatever past you have is up to you" Her eyes then locked back to his as if a predator found prey."...which, by the way, I still don't buy that you've told me everything you've wanted to about yourself."

"...well fuck, you got me, but you're right." Sevan had to admit defeat, laughing weakly.

"But that's okay. You'll figure it out in one way or the other, and it'll be with the one person you want to see your true self." Syra said softly, clasping her hands together on a knee. "So, in the end, I just wanted to apologize to you for how shitty I acted before."

The blonde streaked man just handwaved it. "Pfft. Nah. Don't worry about it, seriously. There's worse things that I've dealt with that don't come even close, but thanks for telling me anyways."

"Okay tough guy! Now that I got that shit off my chest, you wanna help me form some ideas?" She said, balling up her hands into fists.

"...for what?" he asks.

"Milo. He's the first Gym in the Gym Challenge. I gotta be prepared for it, so I want to know your thoughts on what I should do!" She laughed, and the two would talk 'shop' on that. Sevan wouldn't know a lot yet about Galar's Gyms at all, but even as they shared mutual conversations on the idea of battling, her mind reviewed his wording. /'Worse things I dealt with' huh...? I sure hope not. What little I know is already pretty bad as it is. If he doesn't want to tell me even now, that's fine, but I won't push him about it anymore. Maybe one day he'll tell me. If Haru doesn't even know, then it must be something he's held tight to his heart./

- - - - - Slumbering Weald - - - - -

- - - - - Next morning - - - - -

The star that was Earth's sun pierced through the trees illuminating the usually thickened-with-fog marshlands named the 'Slumbering Weald'. Sounds of Pokemon waking up and getting their own breakfast, shuffling for food, as well as loud caws from bird Pokemon seeking mates filled the air. It was a lot more pleasant to walk through this time than his first venture through it as Hop walked up to the lone tombstone at the end of a familiar pathway. Shuffling his hands into his white lab coat, he grabbed onto the ball within, tossed it, and out popped Zacian, the legendary sword-carrying Pokemon of Galar; one of two legendary heroes that saved Galar from the Darkest Day.

"It's been awhile since you and I were here, old friend. Brings back memories doesn't it?" he asks. The canine Pokemon walked to his side and huffed through its muzzle before nuzzling one of his hands. As his hand petted the sleak mane, he frowned. "I should have treated you better rather than letting you sit idly by while I eventually became a 'bookworm'. Heh. Marnie says I get distracted easily looking up into the discoveries of the world we live in, and perhaps that's true. Maybe I found my true pathway, and I want you to be able to go live to your full potential."

They heard footsteps. Hop turned his head to look behind him as the four legged Pokemon followed her master's glance. "Oh, thank goodness you're here then: right on time!"

Syra yawned and stretched while wearing a blue sweater, having her hair up in a ponytail and some boots. "Mornin' Hop. Morning Zacian, you look dazzling today!"

The legendary Pokemon replied with a happy woof, and Hop laughed.

"So...what was this about? You didn't tell me anything last night when I got home. Is there something you want me to run by you? Love advice for Marnie?" she teased, and it catches Hop so off guard he steps back with his right arm guarding his face.

"Wha-...how did you...?!" His face turns red. "It's not about my feelings for Marnie or an-anything like that!"

Syra couldn't help herself but laugh at his reaction. /Him and Haru really are brothers separated at birth.../

Hop readjusted his top while coughing to get himself back into a serious mindset. "I called you here because I wanted to talk about the future."

"...very vague and foreboding coming from a man with his nose stuck in books. But okay...what about the future?" She asked.

He looks to his right. "What do you see around you Syra?"

It was a confusing first step to one of their few conversations the two of them had together, but she replied seriously. "...we're in the Slumbering Weald: originally the resting place for Zacian and Zamazenta until they were summoned back into the world to defeat Eternatus, who is now owned by Haru."

"Precisely. But think about what sort of discoveries this could mean for other people who don't know about these things; what they want to do with that knowledge is up to them. It can help them guide others to a better journey and understanding of the heroes that protected Galar not just once, but twice. After all, I was there myself!" Hop said excitedly, and Syra nods.

"That you were, man. I saw the archived news reports about it, and some imagery of you two when you had settled things both in Hammerlocke and elsewhere. It was impressive back then and still is right now. Zacian, you're a strong Pokemon: you should feel honored you had a great trainer like Hop to align your heart with!" she said, complimenting the trainer as the dog Pokemon lifted her chin up proudly.

Hop's expression turned to that of pain. "But the thing is, with that knowledge, I've taken a different course. I want to study and help Sonia lead new trainers to their own discoveries. Yet here I am, a trainer to a legendary Pokemon." He looks to Zacian, who looks back, knowing in his heart what he wants to say. "...but a legendary Pokemon like this isn't meant to sit in a box, or behind a bookshelf. A gorgeous, strong creature like Zacian should be with someone who wants to actively go out of their way to protect and make Galar a better place for others. I've done all I can with her by my side..." Hop sighed before looking back to Syra. "...so I want you to take Zacian."

Syra would have spat out a drink if she brought a bottle of water with her but could only stammer in shock as her cheeks went red. "W-whwh-WHAT?! What the hell? You're...but that's Zacian!"

The professor-in-training nodded solemnly and kept his expression muted. "Yes. The Hero of Many Battles. Zacian is a strong, gorgeous powerful Pokemon, but you want to try again to become Galar's Champion, yes?"

"...!" She was shocked that Hop reached to such a conclusion. Her heart started to race. Was it right to accept such an offer? Would it be worse to refuse it? "Yes. I want to become the next Champion in Leon's place. Galar deserves a Champion that loves it and wants to see it grow into a better place. I can feel in my heart that Leon wants to go all out much like he did with Haru before losing to him, so I want to give him the same 'Champion of a time' as Haru did...and take that title!"

"..then why not take Zacian?" Hop asked again.

She bit her lip and looked away, almost in shame. "I...I don't know..." Syra looked to Zacian, who took a few steps forward. "Do..do I even deserve to be your trainer?"

"This is something I have thought long and hard about, but ultimately in the end, I also want Zacian to make the decision." Hop knelt down to the legendary Pokemon as she turned to him. "Well Zacian, what do you want to do?"

A small wind had blown through parts of the open space they stood in. Zacian looked to Hop as if wanting to tell him her feelings, but knew that in his heart, Hop had already given her to Syra. As if to say 'I won't forget you, and we'll always be friends', she leaned her muzzled forward and pushed her forhead to him. He wrapped his arms around her neck in a hug, and Zacian then turned to Syra. The girl froze stiff as the legendary Pokemon looked up silently. Two females, one human, one Pokemon, stood locked together in eye contact. Zacian let out a brief howl, and took a few more steps forward. All Syra could do was stand speechless as the Pokemon walked past her, then turned around back to her side to face Hop. It had chosen Syra as her new trainer.

Tears began to fill Syra's eyes, and Hop threw her a brand new created Master Ball. She caught it and looks at Hop. "You'll need this."

As lines of tears flowed freely from her cheeks, Syra looked down at Zacian. "I...I don't know if I truly deserve you, but if you'll allow me, I..."

Syra had to mentally force herself to say it, and could only get there as Zacian 'woof'd again to get her attention. To break her out of it. Zacian wanted her to understand she could see into the heart of Syra, and that whatever 'evil' or impurity that she felt she had, wasn't there, and that she was chosen. "...if you'll allow me Zacian, I'll be your partner." She held the ball out forward, and the Pokemon poked its nose against the button, ergo having the ball open and snap shut. The ball jiggled briefly in her palm and then the red light on its button disappeared.

'click'

Hop smiled brightly and wide. "You've captured Zacian!"

Syra knelt to the ground with one knee up to her chest and held the ball close, crying quietly. "T...thank you...thank you Zacian for...believing in me..." teardrops hitting the soft dirt. It was brief, and perhaps indicative of a greater change, but Syra finally felt she could start running from her past and had taken a giant leap to a brighter future.

- - - - - Haru & Nessa's Home - - - - -

- - - - - Mid-day, Noon - - - - -

It was a long time coming. With Gabriel having left Galar to pursue his dream after finding his passion again in Pokemon, Haru had one last loose end that he wanted to complete and make up for his wrongdoings. Holly's involvement back in the day of the royal twins messing with Dynamax Pokemon in Galar, as well as her involvement in Team Rocket was a chain reaction of events that Haru was, in one way or another, responsible for in small or large parts. He asked her to come over to see him and gave her his address.

As the woman arrived fully ready to explain in more detail why she did what she did even after everything, Haru had leaned forward in a bow. "Wha..?"

"Holly, I'm sorry. I know you only recently finished up with what you had done on your end for the whole Team Rocket thing, and I never got back to you on the stuff that happened...but this is about my foiling the plans you were involved in, and that it led to your being blacklisted. I should have pursued you and asked if you needed help. Since you apologized to Sonia after I defeated the twins and saved Galar again, it was stupid that I just never followed up."

"...w..wait...Haru, please stand up straight. Look..." she walked forward and Haru met her gaze with his own as the dark blue haired woman sighed. "Listen, my mistakes were of my own, and I should own up to them. Since the whole 'Operation Critical Hit' was it...? Since then I've been able to make somewhat of a living. It hasn't been the best, but having my name cleared helps. Although..."

Haru's left eyebrow raised. "...although?"

"It still feels like I haven't paid enough debt to society. A lot of Pokemon died, and people were experimented on! While I wasn't in the department responsible for a lot of those test subjects, I still was in charge of overseeing a lot! But...that's enough of that: was there a reason you called me over?" she asked, pursing her lips.

Smiling as she brought it back to the topic of her visit, Haru crossed his arms. "I want to hire you, Holly. I'm studying to be able to be legally allowed to run my own sanctuary. Ever since I announced it publicly, I've been studying hard and will soon be going in for a certification test. If I pass, it will prove I can help Pokemon rehabilitate by giving them a safe haven of a home to live in. If they choose to go to homes for trainers or families, then so be it: but I want to be in charge of the place they can seek shelter. Free of violence, free of capture, free of human conflict. But I wouldn't be so eager to pursue this either if I didn't want to extend a hand to you." His hand stretches out to her.

She blinks twice at him. "...pardon?"

His hand gestures into a handshake, hoping she'll take it. "Holly, I want you to work for me when my sanctuary is completed. You'll be in charge of your own field by helping me keep Pokemon healthy, seeing to their wounds, giving them physical therapy: the whole thing. You won't be doing it alone either: you'll have staff, and you'll have me. Alongside with my Gym, this is something I really feel a blazing passion for, and to make up for my past actions, I want you to be there with me...to see to the future of Galar and its relationship with Pokemon."

She gasped. It was an unexpected turn of events, but her face went sour. "If I do this, then I'll run a tight ship, you realize."

"Run the tightest ship you want! I don't mind! We can both make sure those under you don't stray from the path and so neither of us see the horrors that you dealt with ever again. Deal?" His hand flexed open and her opposite hand stretched forth, grabbing it and shaking it twice.

"Yes!"

Holly smiled, with Nessa stepping out from the kitchen for a moment and peering around the corner, humming to herself with a smile on her face. /...he is starting to believe in his vision./

A week later, Haru went to visit Wyndon and walked into one of the many hall rooms inside one of the bigger buildings that held an assortment of purposes within them. As he entered one of the rooms, he saw there were 19 other men and women sitting at desks waiting for a test sheet to be handed out. Even as the anxiety crept up from the pits of his stomach, Haru found his chair and sat quietly before bringing his pen out.

The test would last for nearly 2 hours and consist of multiple choice, essay, and true/false questions. Results would be tabulated within the day, which would cause Haru to return home pacing about.

As Nessa and him were helping to feed the new shiny Ralts that hatched recently out of Masako's egg, Haru hears the fax machine in his office go off and begin printing. "Mirukon? Masako? Be right back! Keep her head level okay?" He says to the Lucario and Gardevoir, before getting to his feet and power walking to his office. The machine stopped and he takes the paper out and looks at the results. Nessa appears in the doorway behind him seconds afterwards and sees he's quietly looking at the paper. "...well?"

A few teardrops hit the floor of the room, and she gasps. "Wait...babe? What's wrong?"

Haru turns to Nessa and shows his results paper. He had only gotten 1 question wrong and was crying happy tears. "I DID IT! I'M GOING TO BECOME LICENSED AND HAVE A SANCTUARY!" he exclaimed, much to Nessa's delight as she embraced him fully with open arms. Nessa holds onto Haru as he nearly buckles to the floor. All those hours and days spent studying innumerable pages of text and diagrams paid off. He would be able to accomplish his dream: it was now only a matter of time before it happened.

Pressing her own forehead to his own, Nessa cries happy tears with him. "I knew you could do it, Haru! Not once did I stop believing in you!"

"Y..yeah..! Thank you so much..." he replied, half laughing, half crying as his hands went to her shoulders, and hers around his face caressing it gently. The rest of the evening was spent in jubilation, spreading the news to their close friends. Haru was finally going to pursue his dream career.

- - - - - END CHAPTER 22 - - - - -