A Soul Of Steel

by CeroAjax

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

33. Chapter 33

Chapter 32: More Room On the Dance Floor

- - - - - Underground Bunker, beneath Five Isle Meadow, Hoenn - - - - -

- - - Office of Executives - - -

Sounds of foot traffic and quiet murmurs follow a small secular group of people as the dim lighting encases a room with a sickly pale yellow that is only matched by the growing tensions of the people that march into it. One by one, a group of white and black uniformed-wearing men and women with a red 'R' printed on the front. As they all went to their allotted seats, one of them remarked that they hope for good news.

A single clap causes a quadrant of lights to illuminate the administrators at one end of the table. "Good morning everyone. It's so relieving to know that despite everything...Team Rocket still is around." spoke a gentleman wearing a more regalia-class of uniform and blue hair. A nametag of 'Archer' is on his breastpocket. He glanced to the others and was smiling at all the filled seats. To his sides were fellow administrators named Petrel, Proton, and Ariana. Filling the rest of the seats were other notable agents for the gang.

"Huh." A gruff man wearing a TR issued cap and thick muscles had his arms crossed. "You don't have to act strong on our account, Archer. You can be honest with how poorly things are going."

Archer appeared amused. "Cliff of our GO Rocket initiative. That you are able to cut right to business is just...so 'you'. But you're not wrong. Things are grim right now."

A gentleman to his side bearing a garish looking set of goggles and ponytail handwaved his comrade's commentary while grimacing. "We of Go Rocket were too busy fighting off these punks who have been showing up to our operations to comment, but remind me why it's taken YOU LOT SO LONG TO DO A DAMN THING!"

"Arlo. You'd know best to shut your arrogant mouth when your seniors are talking." Ariana said, snapping back to him.

Arlo shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Oh, and NOW the woman who wishes she was Giovanni is going to try and hold some authority!"

A purple hair man with a Meowth and his long redhead female companion raised his hand to try and intervene. "Sir, if it's worth anything-"

"IT ISN'T!" Almost everyone said right back to them.

A pair of paws slapped on the table. "Honestly, we get beat by a group of Pokemon trainers one time at your headquarters, evacuate who we can, get more than half of ourselves arrested, and after spending all this time licking our wounds, only now we're bothering to figure out what to do?" shouted the surprisingly eloquent Meowth.

"Who invited you guys anyway? Do you honestly think we'll get anywhere listening to you?" Said a blonde who had her feet and arms crossed in annoyance. As she eyed the trio from across the table, the Meowth just hissed.

"Look, Domino, Jessie and James and I get clocked all the time, and you don't see us moping about it!" He shouted.

"Wobuffet!" their Wobuffet who wanted to pipe in exclaimed, as if to finish Meowth's statement.

"Meowth is right! Have you guys no shame?!" shouted Jessie, pumped up by her comrade Pokemon's words.

Petrel stood up, but winced when Archer extended an arm and fanned his hand downward. "Listen. It's true. Operation Critical Hit, as it was called, was very devastating to us. So many talented former and current Champions and Champion-level trainers blindsided us. If not for a last minute evacuation to move some staff and prisoners we were holding at the time, we'd be in a less than ideal spot. Sure, we may have lost one of our more valued 'experiments' because the Ranger Union caught wind of that before those in 'OCH' showed up to rescue them, but not all is lost."

Another female admin, one who sat parallel to Arlo and Cliff, leaned forward with her particularly colorful fullbody suit and folded both hands together. "Let me guess, despite us losing the Dynamax-powered Pokemon, we got a backup plan?"

"'Backup plan' is such an unelevated term." came a voice of a female entering the room. As she stepped into the light, a masked woman appeared holding her hands behind her back with them clasping onto each other. Everyone turned, with Ariana squinting to Archer, whispering 'Did you call her?'.

She walked right up to the front of the table and stared emotionless to Archer before handing him a small stack of papers. She swiveled on her feet before looking over to Sierra and walked over like an automoton. As the GO Rocket Executive looked on apprehensively, the woman leaned forward. "I prefer to refer to it as 'Phase One'."

Having briefly looked at the papers that were handed to him, Archer set them down and then straightened. He exclaimed "Rocket Executive 82019, Chief of R&D and Mechanized Weaponry, Ohsumi. Glad to have you finally join us."

Turning her head back to Archer and acknowledging her position, she smirked under the mask as others gasped. Remarking to themselves such lines as

'Executive? When did that happen?'

'I've never seen this one before.'

'They just make them younger these days it appears...'

Taking her seat, Ohsumi spoke clearly. "Thank you for having me. Personally if it were up to me, we'd be convening right now. Instead, it appears we're licking our wounds while I sit pretty. The Meowth that spoke up has a point." She turned to the seemingly juvenile group of fellow Rocket members.

Her fellow executives didn't seem to care for her already. "What do you mean they 'have a point'?" Arlo questioned.

"Consider the following: a room full of Rocket Executives coming together to no doubt discuss what our next plan of action should be. In order to do this by our own code, we involve every branch of our company...even the questionable kinds." She continued, glancing over to the Go Rocket executives. Ohsumi noted that it went quiet, and didn't wait for anyone to tell her otherwise before upping the tension intentionally.

"Oh, what? Did you honestly think just doing the same shit that happened before is going to be enough this time? We invade a space, we steal it for our own, we go back to robbing Pokemon from people and bring in new naïve hires before being beaten by a fucking child?" She stared at them all.

A gentleman at the head of the table, Proton, stood up. "Ohsumi, that's enough! You should know more than anyone how without Giovanni, our vision to rocket to the stars with him-"

"Oh blah blah blah." Ohsumi said, crossing her arms. Her masked face would look back and forth to those staring back. She leaned into her seat. "Do you hear yourself when you speak, Proton, or does that stupid beret cut off circulation to your brain so that your inner ear can't even register the vibrations of what audible muck comes out of it?"

"I like this one..." Petrel giggled to himself.

"When the 'gold age' of Rocket was active, we were defeated by the one infamously named Red. Giovanni left and you tried to rescue him on your own. In my personal opinion, you barely put up a fight and lost to Gold!" Behind the mask, Ohsumi smirked. "There's a rumor that we have yet to confirm, but even when someone from Alola faced a version of our very team equipped with all of the other evil organizations, they still lost."

"Bullshit!" Exclaimed Arlo in disbelief.

Ohsumi fired back immediately and stared through the mask she wore. "Please, Arlo. You're hardly one to speak. You and the rest of your GO Rocket group are the most moronic of us all. Barely changing your teams, assembling only 3 at a time to use, and then leaving one Pokemon behind when you lose a battle. Which, may I remind you, only equips the opposition with more Pokemon to use against us. I may not do battle traditionally like you guys, but I don't have a tail to tuck in between my legs like you do."

It went quiet.

"Oh. Don't appreciate that, hmm? Let's fast forward to current times, then; how did that go again? Right. When Rocket actually gained some bit of genius, we STILL LOSE..." she crossed one leg and then all-too-smugly had both hands fold onto each other. "...to one eager Galarian who somehow rounded up every single notable trainer in the Pokemon League history."

The tension was so thick that Ohsumi was all too pleased on it. She had been holding back telling off her superiors for some time.

"Oh my, I think I heard a pin drop. You guys don't like being told how much you suck, and how it was thanks to me that we even had a fighting chance." She raised her head a little and put a palm outwards on one side of her masked face. "Sorry. Being in a lab all day as the person who refined that Dynamax energy to what it is kind of puts me in a unique position where I know I'm better than everyone in the room."

A loud crash is heard as Cliff stood up after punching the table and creating a dent in it. He stood up and yelled. "Bitch! Put up or shut up, let's have a battle right now if you think you're so good!"

Not caring to even look in his direction, Ohsumi coldly replied. "I don't need to battle you to prove myself. Knowing your team composition? I could close my eyes and select a trio of Pokemon, let THEM fight for me and still defeat you." She mockingly glanced to her gloved right hand as if to look at the nails beneath it.

Cliff let out a disgruntled huff and stared at her with a hand reaching to grab a PokeBall.

Ohsumi let out one 'Ha!' by itself. "Hmm? Nothing to say? brain is like a shiny Voltorb, Cliff: threatening to explode when it's under pressure but can't even muster smoke when it's scared."

Feeling one of his blood vessels in his forehead throb, Cliff saw Ohsumi stand up and stare back. He froze. Seeing a glance of the face beneath the mask, Cliff was shot by a slice of the depths of cold Ohsumi was hiding. "You may wear the colors of a Rocket, but I've seen better through the glass of a hobby shop."

"That's enough out of both of you. Ohsumi. With what you just brought to me, are you telling me that we're ready to begin the next step, and that -this-..." Archer gestured holding the stack of paper in his hand. "...is what you're suggesting?"

"It's what is necessary. As I've come to learn, Dynamax energy is volatile, limiting in battle, and too many of our Grunts got punch drunk trying to figure out how to use them in battle. Recovering from that would be possible but take too much time. We need to focus on power in lower numbers...MUCH lower. Singular. If you get me THAT which is on that file, and get me a full team as I requested repeatedly by now, then Galar's fall will be the dawn our team deserves." Ohsumi said before bowing her head slightly in respect to her fellow higher-ups.

Proton, Ariana, and Petrel were seen discussing it amongst themselves for a few moments before reconvening. "So be it." He took a breather, and the others near him braced themselves for a reaction. "Ohsumi. You shall be our leading figure for this next operation: Rocket Swarm. Everyone!" a light shone on Ohsumi as everyone else in the room saluted in her direction. They recited in unison, "Steal Pokémon for profit. Exploit Pokémon for profit. All Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket! Glory to Team Rocket!" pumping their fists.

Behind the mask, a smile slowly spread across Ohsumi's face as she let out a chuckle.

- - - - - Galactic Power Company HQ, Sinnoh - - - - -

- - - - - President Mars' Office - - - - -

Mars exhaled as she stacked several folders full of research documents on top of each other and took a long glance at the name 'Hachiro' that was penned in old ink in the center. The file was thicker than a novel. True to her word to Syra, she had been spending a long time gathering all of the data of someone named 'Hachiro' and was beginning to gather it all together for a shipment to Galar. That was until she got an extra file handed to her.

"Madame President, this, too, needs to be included." Said the fellow researcher who was assisting her getting everything together.

Blinking at the extra, yet small folder, Mars opened it up and gasped. She closed it immediately. "I need to make a call."

"Understood, madame."

After they left, Mars leaned into her desk and picked her phone up. "Yes. Chairman's office, it's President Mars of Sinnoh." There would be a pause before she got a reply. "Gone, you say? In that case, can you pass a message to her that I'll be coming by soon to deliver a parcel to her top defender, previous hero, Haru? You can? Thank you."

She hung up and scratched her chin. "...trip to Paldea, Miss Oleana? Wonder what caused her to go there."

It was early morning in Wyndon, and the preparations for the next annual league season was about to start once more. It was habit more than anything by now that Haru was up so early. Be it the Wild Area, Hulbury, Sevan's own home gym or Stow-In-Side, Haru's familiarity with waking up early reprogrammed his internal clock to the exercise routines from Nessa and Sevan's tutelage. As such, the couple were the only ones at the private conference room where they and the other Gym Leaders would meet for a morning assembly.

Looking left and right, Haru just glanced around and tapped a little on the table. "Not used to being here before the others. Wonder if they got held up?"

"Mmmm." Nessa said with indifference. "They'll be here in half an hour, tops."

He gave a fake cough and cleared his throat. "So is that why you're doing what you're doing to me?"

"...and what of it?" Nessa grinned confidently, looking over to her fiancé while he squirmed in his seat. Underneath the table, one of her hands had slipped into his shorts and was stroking his member. With her free arm, she leaned on an elbow and giggled while his expression changed.

Haru fought his way to talking as calmly as possible, but with where her hand was, it was more than a little difficult. "Wh-what if someone comes in early? Is this really the right place?"

"Mmmm...indeed. What if someone arrives early, huh? What a conundrum." Nessa replied in a teasing, dominant nature. "Sorry, but you're just adorable when you're buckling under my touch and trying to fight back."

Underneath the table, she had then freed his member and only went more aggressive yet delicate in servicing his shaft. "Don't tell me after what you and I did that in the stadium that the thought of someone walking in on us doesn't excite you. I know you~."

Being reminded of the incident in which only they, Milo, and Syra were allowed to remember made Haru extra flustered. Exhaling through his nose, he felt his whole back shiver from the lower spine and eventually crawl its way up to the nape of his neck. "N-Nessa, that's not fair...c-c'mon..."

She gave a faux pout and kept going, having her eyes glance back and forth to the lone door in the room. "Yeah, it's not. But then again, I live for moments like this."

"H-hey...!" the Steel Gym Leader white-knuckled the table as his nails dragged on the top.

As if sensing something, Nessa would then disappear entirely under the desk, and an already pushed-to-the-edge Haru went wide-eyed, gasped, then bit onto his own collar. The whole room was quiet sans the sound of Haru himself holding onto his own breath, then exhaling. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh..." Flustered, he took his hat off and leaned back into his chair.

'k-chk'

"!" The door opened and Haru twitched with a sharp inhale through his teeth. Leaning forward to cover up the possibility of being seen with his fly open as Raihan walked in, Haru did his best to appear unassuming. "Yo, Haru. Morning to you, dude!" the Dragon Gym Leader said, waving.

Through the gritting of his own teeth, Haru waved to him. "H-hey man. Good morning to you too..." /Nessa, we're gonna get found out..!/ He thought to himself, biting back any sensitivity that would cause him to moan out loud.

He walked over to the other side of the table and scanned the room. "Hey, where's your other half?"

Nessa's head popped up above the table and made up a white lie to cover herself. "Here. Morning Raihan. Was picking up something from my purse I dropped." She said, flashing the small bag that was previously on her hip. It was the one excuse she could throw at him that wouldn't get her questioned, and when he wasn't looking, Nessa tilted her head back and gulped. "Mornin'! Let's hope today goes well and we aren't gonna be stuck here for 3 hours like last time, hahaha..."

Barely able to speak normally, Haru just nodded in place. "Imagine that, huh." He replied before looking at Nessa whose eyes locked onto him. Her only response was to see her blush, smile, and mouth the words 'worth it' before she snuck stuffing her fiance's third leg back into hiding.

"Yo Haru, you good? Your face is red, mate." Raihan said, pointing it out. Near immediately, Haru waved his hands in place to save face while Nessa spoke before he could.

"Him and I sprinted here to the office to make up for not having any time to do our usual exercises...for awhile." She would say confidently while slowly having her gaze go back to Haru while batting her eyes slowly.

The look had such an impact on him that he could only nod in agreement to hold up the mirage that what Nessa said was true. "Makes sense to me" Raihan said, taking her at her word without question. Haru simply pretended to clear his throat and found himself feeling vulnerable next to Nessa. /Finding new ways to make me get Butterfrees in my stomach...what a woman./

His thoughts would push those feelings to the back of his mind as soon his fellow Gym Leaders arrived.

Around the center of the table the Gym Leaders brought with them folders full of ideas, logistics for their gyms, and a general assortment of topics that needed to be discussed throughout the meet. While they commonly agreed that the initial topics were boring-but-necessary, the most effective work during the meeting was done when the floor was opened to suggestions, criticisms of past seasons, and upcoming events. Klara was the one most addressed on her initial season as she was replacing the former first Gym Leader, Milo. While Poison Typing was not traditionally seen as a good way to start off trainers, it turns out her line up used both for her own team and her fellow Gym Trainers, alongside her Gym Challenge, left good impressions all across the board.

Coming from the computer screen at the front center of the conference room, a live video feed of Oleana smiled. "I will be honest with you Klara. I had no true idea where I would see you after the starting season. To say I was concerned with the staying power you would possess would be putting it lightly. However after seeing everything I have...it appears those were merely just that: concerns. Your popularity, your presence in the battle court and in the public eye have pleased your fans, your sponsors, and myself. Thank you for proving me wrong." She said with a light twirl of a pen in hand.

Oleana was off on a little known trip off in a far away land with her newly wedded husband, Sam, in Paldea. A region of heat, humidity, a strange phenomenon known as Terastilization, and an entirely different viewpoint of Pokemon training with its citizens.

Trying her best to hide her blushed cheeks and failing, Klara gave a tearful smile. "Th-thank you madam! I'll totally make sure to do even better this next season!"

Smiling due to her infectious enthusiasm, Oleana nodded and scanned the rest of the Gym Leaders. "Haru, Nessa. Your wedding will be soon, correct? How has the planning been going, and will we need to do anything to facilitate on timing?" She would ask the couple.

Nessa spoke up and shook her head. "Everything has been going swell, but slow. We ran into a bit of an issue in the past week, but we're basically done. We can relax for the most part! The only thing I want to make sure of is that the press is held off from ever finding out. Our own personal security is already hired but they can only do so much."

Raihan looked over and raised an eyebrow. "You all got that shit settled already?"

Haru looked at him across the type with a squint. "Raihan...I proposed to her before my own Gym even opened. What do you mean 'already'?"

The silence amongst the other Gym Leaders was broken by the sound of Marnie snorting whilst trying to hold back a chuckle. Raihan played it off and just cleared his throat as Haru looked to Oleana and shook his head. "We should both be fine. But...I did want to ask you something." Haru said, raising a finger then reaching into his coat pocket only to pull out a small bag where within it was a multicolored, semi-large gemstone. "Do you happen to know anyone that could help me figure out what this kind of gemstone is? It's a gift from Syra when she came back from Sinnoh. She didn't have an answer for me, and neither Lucas nor Professor Rowan have any clue about it."

Haru passed it around the table, with Gordie taking some extra interest into it. Oleana crossed her arms and hummed studiously. "There aren't many experts I have on hand that could get back to you on this. There is one particular person who could lead you to an answer. I've brought her through her employers at Devon Corp, so she's a Hoenn native. Soon I'm having her collaborate with Peony in the Crown Tundra for some excavation as an archaeologist-in-training. If anyone can assist, it'll be her."

Gordie passed it around as Bede winced at it, and gawked at the heft the gemstone had to it. "That a fact, huh? Well anything's better than nothing. This doesn't look like an evolution stone, mega keystone, the stones those people in Ferrum use for their tournament scene, or even those Z-stones from Alola."

Nessa pointed out whilst squinting, "Its size and cut aren't even small enough to fit on wristbands or anything like what you mentioned, either. I don't know how you'd even use it without awkwardly holding onto it with your whole hand."

It was cycled back to Haru as he held it in the palm of his hand and gripped it. "I ask because I swear to you that despite it being none of these things, there's some sort of...'connection'. Like buried within there's some strange bond of a Pokemon or a 'power' that's calling out to me. But for one reason or another, I'm just unable to figure out anything on this bauble." He shook his head in confusion.

"A new stone with a confusing, possibly unearthed origin that has no ties to it will be of interest to one 'Quen'. You'll know it's the one I mention if a Flareon is within mere meters. She lives in an assigned flat that I put her in the nearby Wyndon towers. I'll forward you her address right now. Just be sure to mention that I sent you. Though..." Oleana frowned and looked off to the side. "...if she's unable to point you in any meaningful direction, then I fail to see who could be of more assistance."

Putting the rock away, Haru's lips pursed. "'Quen'. Gotcha. Well since they aren't native here, I ought to show up with something other than wide eyes and questions."

Klara would intervene by raising a hand then tapping on the table like she was a little excitable. Blinking in surprise at Klara's enthusiasm, Oleana called on her. "You had something to ask, Klara?"

"Right, so I actually wanted to ask about stuff relating to...y'know." Klara gestured to Haru and Nessa and made both hands clench closed. "Relations...type stuff. You two here are known and supported by many people, and outside of stupid tabloid rumors based on no-balls-reporters, you didn't really have any 'issues' hooking up." She looked to the other Gym Leaders. "Haru was our Champion and she's a Gym Leader. Now they're BOTH Gym Leaders together. But uh...Miss Chairman is there anything saying that we can't uhm..." Klara started thumbing her hands a little nervously.

"Go ahead, it's okay." Oleana insisted.

"You're unusually chipper.." Bede said with his eyes going half lidded at her.

Her eyes didn't lock on or meet anyone in particular, and Klara's cheeks went pink while looking at an empty spot on the table. "Is it a faux-pox to entertain that same notion but with someone you met elsewhere who isn't a staffer?"

"Like romantically speaking?" Melony asked with some intrigue.

Raihan found himself exhaling and going "Hoo boy...".

"Y'know. Maybe they're a fan, maybe they're not. I just...I looked through every regulation, protocol and rule book I should study and know about as a Gym Leader, and there's nothing in it about it being forbidden. But I just..." Klara threw both fists down lightly. "Look, I just got this position after you guys had an issue with Milo and the last thing I want to do is fuck it up by drawing attention with another set of tabloids based around a lovelife. The last thing anybody wants is more sets of papers being written about how one of us isn't focused, or playing favorites or some other trash they get off in writing."

A part of Oleana understood where Klara was coming from, but she herself was already preparing for the possible storm that may be flooding her when her own announcement comes out. She gave a patient smile, took a sip of a cocktail that was next to her, and looked to the group. "I appreciate your concern, but there isn't any reason I would have a problem. Very soon yours truly may garner attention for her own recent set of decisions."

Haru felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead suddenly.

"Miss Chairman, how do you mean?" Bede asked with his arms folded.

Almost too smug to reply to him, Oleana held up her left hand to the camera and flashed the wedding band that was on it. Everyone in the room gasped. "That's 'Misses Chairman' to you, Bede." She'd say with a bright smile.

Raihan blinked and stood up from his chair. "Hey what the fuck?"

The Chairman readjusted herself in her seat and smiled. "I'll end today's morning conference with you all by saying yours truly is looking forward to what you lot will be bringing to the trainers who work for you as well as every challenger who is heading your way. I have to get back to enjoying myself. Klara, you're fine to do whichever you feel is right. Haru, you have your recommendation from me. Do let me know if you find out anything." The screen blipped after she waved with the atmosphere getting awkward at the sudden silence.

Oleana smirked after tapping out of the video call and readjusted her top. Out in Paldea, the weather was nice, humid, and relatively fair. Around her were multiple empty beach chairs as she took in the still air of the Paldean outdoors and waves crashing on the nearby shoreline. Putting her hair up into a ponytail the newly wed chairman gave a smug chuckle. "You alive there...dearest husband?"

His face popped out of the pool of the resort they were staying at while shifting the swimming goggles to his forehead. "Just trying not to burn out here." He glanced at his arms briefly. "Jury's still out on that: you finish already?"

"OOhhhhh~ careful with the wordplay there, deary. We still have the rest of the evening to still work on that giving-me-a-child 'thing'." She chuckled as Sam would splash her from his spot in the pool, red in his cheeks.

He gave a short defense for his line of thinking. "C'mon! You know what I mean! I'm so used to your meetings taking awhile, but this one felt really short."

She shook her head confidently before dipping her toes into the poolside then slipping in; gasping at the temperature change. Her eyes look past Sam for a moment, thinking she spots a Pokemon in the nearby hotel's potted plants. /Must be a trick of the eye. Hmm/ "Well it's not like I have a professor to meet here in Paldea. She's someone I was interested in seeing in person but being turned away was a little awkward. You and I have more time to ourselves, and as far as that meeting is concerned? Not much was needed to go over that wasn't discussed recently, and the only thing of concern is a strange stone Haru mentioned being given. Not one of any origin anyone of us could figure out."

"Huh."

She shrugged. "Mmmm. But I know an expert-in-training, so it's fine, really."

"You all heard that, yeah?" Haru asked the group, glancing around while holding onto the weird stone he was inquiring over.

" '-you're fine to do whichever you feel is right', huh? I don't think I've ever heard Oleana speak so casual during an official meeting." Nessa said with her eyes a little wide from shock.

"It's weird, innit?" Raihan asked.

Klara stood up after slamming both hands on the table. "Welllllllllll I don't know about you guys but I just got the A-OK for the thing I was going to ask about, and shall now see you after my date!" Her hands clasped and then waved to the others before turning 180' and halfway skipping on her way out.

"Date?" several Gym Leaders suddenly said, with Bea not responding, which caught the attention of Nessa.

"Bea...? Bea." Nessa said, trying to catch her attention. Bea had been glancing at an empty spot of the wall and twitched when her brain caught up to Nessa grabbing for her attention.

"Ah...! Sorry. I just realized something." She looked irritable. "I forgot to ask about something concerning that one guy who works for me."

Marnie raised an eyebrow. "Haru's friend, Sev? But you told us before the meeting that you already asked her about him. Other than digging through his file, I don't think you'll get a straight answer out of anyone here."

Haru leaned into his chair, taking his grey cap off and twirling it on one hand. "Only other person who could give us any insight is the Champ, Syra, and she's got a busy day with some new opportunities that sprang up on her."

Bede gave a slightly annoyed glance over to Haru's direction. "She's the Champion. Like you were once, she's always got opportunities coming her way, mate."

Shaking his head, Haru persisted. "Not like this, Bede. She's got something special going on." He looked to the other Gym Leaders, sans Klara. "Consider this off record, but she told me another league is interested in having her train with them. Not compete. 'Train'. They didn't mention anything about an apprenticeship, internship, or having her teach classes or anything of the sort. So what the fuck could they want with her?"

Marnie hadn't heard anything on this, but felt bad she hadn't checked in with Syra in awhile. "Anything else?"

"...that she's got a meeting later with someone for a job opportunity." He looked to Nessa. Without saying anything between them, Nessa felt she understood, and gasped.

"...oh!" Nessa would exclaim in surprise.

Outside, Klara had half skipped down the conference hallway and exited from the wing before bringing out her Rotom Phone and dialing a number on it. "Goooooood morning Morgie~, please tell me you aren't going to be too busy today~..."

- - - - Motostoke, later that morning - - - -

- - - - Purple Octillery Studio - - - -

"Are you getting cold feet?"

Syra sighed and looked back at the woman she considered a longtime friend, Holly, and shook both of her hands to shake off the nerves. "I mean...it's a drawing. On my skin. It's no biggie, right?"

Tapping Syra lightly on the back, Holly leaned forward, twisted the knob and opened it for her friend. "Ey-ey. Not JUST a drawing. Whatever you choose here is going to be a mark that says what kind of woman you are: your statement to the world."

Syra hopped in place and exhaled before taking one step forward. Stepping into a small office, Syra lowered her head from the doorframe and was greeted by a Toxtricity wearing a black graphic t-shirt. On it, the words 'Purple Octillery Studio' on it, as it waved to her and Holly then hopped off its stool to go fetch its master. Looking around, Syra was inundated by a prismatic collection of artwork from the trio of artists working in the studio, and a latent smell of leftover Paldean food that was heated up from a microwave. "Zaaa!" the Toxtricity was heard talking to a girl past a cubicle munching on a burrito. Popping her head above the cubicle. "Oh! Good morning!" she was heard saying, standing up from the corner and walking out: decorated in multiple tattoos on her right arm, having pierced ears, side fade dark red hair, and also sporting a similar shirt of her Toxtricity. "W-..wait! Champion Syra...! And someone else with her!"

Giving a sheepish smile, Syra gave a small wave. "Hello there, nice to meet you. This is my friend Holly, and I suppose you already know me, eh? Pleasure to meet you." shaking the hand of the artist who came out, who stood attentively.

"So what brings you both here?" The artist asked, pointing to herself. "My name is Poppy. I'm the only one here today so if you have something complex in mind, I hope you don't mind sticking around!"

Scouting the artwork hung up on the wall, Syra pursed her lips and took a deep breath. Walking around, many thoughts came to her mind. Should she go for something general but vague that the public would see almost all the time, or something more personal that contained a message within? Her eyes closed and she let her heart waft through the choices. Holly would speak up as she gestured to her friend. "The Champion told me she wants to get something to help her 'free' herself. I suggested this as one such way she could express such a wish."

Syra exhaled slowly and nodded in agreement. "See...I have some thoughts. This is something I've been thinking about for awhile, but I don't want it to feel half hearted." She paused and lowered her head after finding one portrait of some legendary Pokemon intertwining together like beasts: drawn in an art style akin to ancient Hisuian woodwork.

"What Holly says is true: I want something that makes me feel 'free'. That I have...my own agency. Something that tells people the strength within in spite of my past." She turned to Poppy. "There's things I want to do, and taking new steps to move on is one of those things."

The artist shook her head. "If it's too personal, I don't need to know." She held her hands together. "I only want to know the meaningfulness of the art you wish to have on you. Pokemon, like tattoos, are bonds we carry for our whole lives. So it's important you choose your 'expression' carefully. When you think of the connection of the art to the bond and its meaning you impose on it when you share it with other people, I can more effectively bring it out."

Hearing that made Syra blush and gave a sigh of relief. "That's a very good way of viewing it. Well...how about...this?" She found one design on the wall. A snake-like Pokemon of grandeur stature and power looked like a mafia-style coloring. Encased in what appeared to be blue flames, Syra lightly gestured herself 'tapping' towards it. "But instead of this coloring and marking...I was hoping you could use this..." she'd say before bringing out her Pokedex function from her Rotom Phone and showing the Pokemon to be referenced. The artist gasped.

Syra turned, pointing to her backside. "On my back from below the neck."

The Toxtricity saw what she was referring to, and both it and Holly nodded in unison, with the latter commenting, "I had a funny feeling you'd gravitate towards that."

"Hmmm..." Poppy studied the Pokemon before attributing it mentally to Syra's own body as her canvas. "We'll be here for awhile. Do you have anything important to do today?"

The Champion shook her head. "Only to answer a phone call later from a scout."

Syra laid down with her back exposed completely, laying on her stomach. Breathing in slow and deep as the artist now wore protective gloves, a mask, and had her Toxtricity on standby for anything the artist would need. The buzzing of the needlegun started up as Poppy looked over before applying the rubbing alcohol. "First is the stenciling. The coloring comes after, okay? Because this is your first tattoo, I'll be extra careful in gauging your pain tolerance. If it gets too much to you, tell me to stop okay?"

Realizing that she was too far in, Syra grit her teeth. Hearing the needle-gun made her realize this was going to happen one way or another. "I've been through worse pains in my life. This will be nothing, and I am choosing it of my own free will." She took a deep breath. "To be honest Poppy, I'm scared, but I'm excited, if that makes any sense."

Poppy nodded. "Plenty of sense."

The Champ took a series of deep breaths before finding a comfortable position to let her head rest. "Okay. I can do this..." One more long exhale, then Syra closed her eyes. "Okay, work your magic on me."

Syra felt the artist put her hands on Syra's back. After an agonizing half minute, the needle went in, and Syra's brain felt the near immediate twinge of pain, causing her to tense up and grit her teeth.

- - - - Hammerlocke, Golemshaven Flats - - - -

- - - - 8th floor - - - -

In an apartment where the walls are supplanted with a map of Galar was one Quen marking a circle in red marker over an area south of it and writing 'Crown Tundra - ?/? - Soon'. She made the note that her employment was going to soon be sending her to the Crown Tundra of Galar but was waiting for a confirmation from her employer, Devon Corp, before going anywhere else. Next to it was a pair of papers pinned that showed her findings in Oblivia, a far off region: a showcase and reminder of what laid before coming here.

Setting the marker down and picking up a small stack of papers, she flipped through it while glancing at the map and other important findings that were pinned to the wall. "Wait...where's...?" she glanced around, noticing both something that was amiss. Turning quickly and almost knocking her passport over, she started hurriedly digging through one pile of printouts. Then another.

"Enya, can you come help?"

Silence.

"Ennnnyyaaaaaaa." Her pink haired, small face popped up above a computer desk and looked around while holding some dishes in one hand. Squinting through her glasses and readjusting, Quen pouted. "That lil' floofy bitch not responding to me immediately..." Quen mumbled quietly to herself as she pushed her wheeled chair away, and ignored the mountain of unfinished paperwork. On the nearby wall, some certifications of her schooling hung next to one photo of herself with a friend on it.

A few papers would slide off onto the floor and land near some recent receipts of delivery orders to her apartment. Walking from the living room to the kitchen to turn on the lone lamp on the ceiling fan, she glanced once again to the state of her place before running the dishwasher. The pitter patter of feet were heard shortly after the sound of dishes were heard cluttering. Looking down to her ankles, Quen was met with her Flareon who was looking back up at her. "Oh, so you're back, huh? Do you really think I'm just gonna feed you cuz you give me that look?"

The Flareon seemed to pout like a child would, but then raised her tail when a few knocks came from her front door.

Quen gave a double take to the knocking before glancing at her phone to look at the time. "Couldn't be the Chairman, could it?" walking over from the kitchen and leaning into the doorframe. "Who is it?"

From the other side of the door, she heard a masculine voice unfamiliar to her speak up. "Hello, Quen? Do you perchance have a free moment? I was recommended by Oleana to see you for something you may be able to help me on. My name's Haru. I'm the Steel Gym Leader here in Galar."

"!" /Oh hey, this is Sev's friend he's mentioned from time to time./

Haru hears the rustling of the door unlocking and as the door swings open, Haru's greeted by Quen and a nosey Flareon who's peering right at him. "Hey there. We have a mutual friend in Sevan. He's talked about you a few times. Nice to meet you in person!" She said, firmly shaking Haru's hand in greeting before letting it hang. "So what is it you've come to ask about?"

Reaching into his jacket, Haru brought out the same stone he had carried with him to the Gym Leader meeting. "I was hoping you could come up with something about this stone's origins, or anything at all about it." He extended his arm to Quen, who looked at it while cocking her head sideways. Readjusting her glasses to look at it, she then looked at him again and pursed her lips inquisitively.

"Hmm...I don't know how much help I'll be, but come in. It's awkward if I have you standing by the doorframe the whole time." She gestured to the Flareon. "This is Enya. She's my best friend slash comfort Pokemon...who sometimes decides she's too good for my company."

After they walk in, Haru does his best to not startle the Flareon, but hands Quen a bag unrelated to the stone. "Here, please take this as a gift for taking up your time. I hope you can enjoy it, or find someone to enjoy with it."

She turned back to him and saw the bag, put down the rock he handed her and glanced in the gift bag. It was a locally made Galarian wine. "Oh, thanks! I'll have some of this tonight over dinner!"

While he walked into the apartment, Haru could see that Quen gave the air of 'organized chaos' with how much stuff that appeared related to her work was plastered everywhere. He saw more in just her space of living than the first hallway of Galar's museums. His attention was snapped back to her when Quen, curious stone in hand, had wheeled to one of her desks and pointed a lamp directly at it to get better lighting. Her 'mode' had changed to focus and work-oriented. "So, can you tell me anything about the whereabouts of this stone? Who gave it to you?"

He shrugged and stood at a short distance away to give her workspace a 'bubble'. "My friend went on a trip to Sinnoh for about a week and got this from her time in the underground mines. It's apparently very popular to go underground and look for unusual Pokemon, and, according to her, if you have special permissions, you can exchange certain gemstones for a chance encounter with an extremely rare Pokemon. That, however, wasn't like the others at all."

Quen nodded slowly. "Mmmmm. Of course it wouldn't be." She flipped its side and shone a light to get a better look at the patterns within the jagged edges. "Well...I can confirm to you that it's not a mega keystone, nor is it an evolution stone or Z-Stone. There's not a lot I can cross-reference this with..." She turned behind herself and eyed one of her bookshelves hanging off the wall. Zooming past Haru to yank one of the reference books out of it, she wheeled back and kept looking at the stone whilst idly using one hand to turn pages.

"So..."

"Hmmm?" Haru hummed while Quen kept looking.

"This is a long time coming since Sevan has been mentioning you from time to time, but thank you for being there for him." A tone of sadness was slightly hinted in her voice amidst the studying she was doing on this new bauble Haru brought to her. "He hides a lot behind the smarminess; the humor and language he talks in is his shield from pain. I haven't always been able to help him when I wanted to, so I know he appreciates you. I do too."

Hearing that made Haru feel a weight lift off of him he didn't know he had. Smiling a little wider, he put his hands in his pockets. "Sevan is a really nice guy with a tough edge to him, but he's a really good friend of mine, and I'm thankful for him. He's my physical trainer, too, so I think I've managed to crack him just a lil'."

The comment from Haru being trained by Sevan made Quen snort a little under her breath, but she stayed the course while studying the stone. It would be several long, agonizing minutes of Quen grabbing a magnifying glass and using her wrist to turn the stone over and over again. He heard her click her tongue before sitting up straight and staring at it like it had just insulted her cooking. "So...here's what I'm thinking, and this isn't necessarily a professional opinion, but it's what I'm coming to so far."

Haru braced himself.

"I've been looking through this book that goes over stones that Pokemon like holding onto in and out of battle. I've even flipped through pages detailing items used in locations that aren't stones that Pokemon use for powers. We're still trying to fully understand Pokemon's abilities, but we may never fully understand them. Which is okay for people like me, but probably awful for folks like you wanting answers. So..." She stopped on a page and then tapped on the stone with a pointer finger. "Have you ever heard of a stone called a 'Burst Heart'?"

Haru's eyes went wide past the glasses in confusion but intrigue. "Holy shit, the name of whatever that is, is pretty raw. What the shit is a 'Burst Heart'?"

Pointing to the open page in her book, Quen quoted it, saying " 'The Burst Heart is a small, pocket sized jewel that actually holds a Pokémon inside of it, sealed so that its power can be used by anyone wishing to fuse with it. The Burst Heart can be compared to a Poké Ball in that it holds a Pokémon inside, but is also different due to the fact that it doesn't store a Pokémon to be released for later use. If a Burst Heart is broken, the Pokémon inside will be freed. It is not known how a Burst Heart is made, but Artificial Burst Hearts have been created by 'Great Gavel'.'" She looked to Haru. "'Great Gavel' was this evil organization that existed at some point."

She would show a page from the book that showed what happened when a person utilized the 'Burst Heart'. Within was a picture of a person who had become perfectly fused to a Pokemon. Not a 'half Pokemon, half human' like being, but something of an awakening of the persona of said Pokemon within. Still, seeing the form made Haru feel slightly uneasy.

Almost like he was frozen, Haru just nodded along to what she was reciting and showing him, as Quen continued. " 'Once Burst is activated, the user will have their physical traits increased greatly. Whatever abilities the user will get depends on the type of Pokémon used to combine; for example, a Ground-type Pokémon will make the user immune to Electric attacks. It is stated that in order to use Burst, one must go through rigorous training or else their life will be in danger if they attempt it. It is shown that a person can actually be sent inside of their Burst Heart in order to better connect with the Pokémon inside.' So!" She shut the page. "I say all of that because it only looks similar, but it isn't. The shape of this is completely different, and according to this book I have here, Pokemon contained within them get stronger the more battles they're in with their users."

"So your guess is that what was found was some...offshoot Burst Heart?" Haru guessed.

Leaning back into her wheeled office chair, Quen looked at him hoping he could catch up. "I don't know. There's no Pokemon inside of it, the shine on that stone is different, the size doesn't match, and there's nothing in me that says this is a 'Burst Heart' yet something in my gut tells me that it may have a connection." Quen pointed with confidence. "...if it's calling to you, it could be similar to it, or it could be a cursed object. It could also not be cursed. I don't have enough information. But whatever you do, don't try to 'use' it."

Quen nodded, certain of herself. "That stone, Haru? Its luster, the lines, the shape, it's nothing like the random stuff I've brought from the ground before and studied. When you're holding it, do you feel a connection, or some sort of ethereal string of fate that's nagging at you from a source you can't pinpoint?"

He thought about it for a moment and folded his arms.

"There was one moment where, when I had it by my bed one night I had a weird dream about being some sort of knight with an oversized shield. It honestly just sounds like a weird amalgamation of this story we were taught here in Galar for a long time about the 'heroes' that saved our region from a calamity over 3,000 years ago. I don't think this stone influenced me like a Lunar Wing does." He looked at it, but then suddenly found himself doubting even his own confession. "...at least I don't think so, anyway."

Haru mulled over his last statement for a moment. "The other times I've held it, I swear there's a part of me that's calling to it."

"I wish I could help more. If this thing is in the family of 'Burst Heart' kind of stones, then it's going to be important that you understand the risks coming with it." She said, going to her desk, turning off the lamp then handing him the stone again.

Blinking at her, Haru asked, "What do you mean, risks?"

She sounded annoyed but held back trying to bark back rudely. "Keep up, Haru, please. It's important for you to recall one of the first things about a 'Burst Heart' is that it's imperative the person using it is in peak physical health and has had training to endure the process. Otherwise they're risking their life." She pointed to the stone after handing it back to him. "If this thing has similar properties, but is linked to, say, a legendary Pokemon? What if it's not linked to a Pokemon, but a type? What if you found an evolutionary stone we haven't studied enough of yet? What if it contains raw energy and you're shot by whatever is honing it inside?" She leaned in, intending to make her point as blatant as possible. "What happens if you can't handle it? Your body would reject it and then Galar is left without a Steel Gym Leader."

She folded her arms together as Enya yipped in response.

He looked to the floor in dread. "...and Nessa would be heartbroken."

"!" /Oh, right. Sevan mentioned that too.../ Quen gave a half smile of understanding. "As long as you understand the gravity of it, don't use it under any circumstances. If you figure anything else, let me know. I can't exactly say I'll be able to 'get back' to you on this, and soon I'll be sent to you guys' Crown Tundra. Soon." She sounded deflated suddenly. "Hopefully."

Putting the stone back into his pocket, Haru gave a sigh. "Well...at least it's something. I may be able to have answers sooner than later. I appreciate what you were able to tell me, Quen." He extended a hand into a handshake, with her returning the gesture. "Come by to one of our league games if you find time. I'm the 8th one for the Shield division, and my fiancé' is the 2nd of both. But I do sometimes visit Sevan at his lil' job he has at Stow-in-Side's Gym, which houses the 4th challenge for both divisions."

Quen knelt down and picked up the Flareon, who looked at Haru with slightly less guard than she had before. "Heh. Well shit, okay. If I find time, I'll drop on by. Thanks for the wine, again, Haru."

He gave a wave farewell and smiled. /A stone that could help me or kill me if I'm not up to task?/ Walking down the hallway of the apartment complex, he felt a bead of sweat form down his cheeks. /Just what kind of crazy relic did Syra unearth from Sinnoh?/

As the newcomer made his exit, Quen put down Enya and made her way back to one of her desks. She took a quick glance to remind herself of her appointments she had, and after spotting the note on her hanging calendar, she started gathering some folders together. "Right, right. I'll have to get these to Oleana by the end of the day...or at the very least her office."

Huddled up and buried in her work again, the archaeologist prepared herself for her important meet-up while others pondered over her findings.

Outside, Haru reached into his pocket and pulled out his balls that held Eternatus and Zamazenta, tossing them out as they greeted him. "Hey you two, I was curious. Do either of you have a clue about what sort of stone this is?" He'd reach out and bring the weird stone that he asked of Quen. Eternatus, within its ancient but undecipherable gaze, just let out a low growl and sniffed it before backing away. The large wolf hero, Zamazenta, stared at it intensely as if it were some food Haru was holding.

"Ay. Zamazenta, you good?" Haru asked, lifting and lowering his hand holding the gemstone to see if the wolf Pokemon was still staring at it. He saw as the legendary gave it what he could suspect was a side-eye dismissive glance before turning away with a low huff.

The Soul of Steel sighed before putting the rock back. "Hmmm. Man, so I guess neither of you do then." He started walking with both legendaries matching his pace and put his hands in his pockets. "I just met with an expert-in-training who was able to give me some sort of clue to its origins, but I figure if anyone would know, it would be a pair of 3,000 plus year old Pokemon like you guys. But that was honestly rude of me to assume. Sorry, you two."

Eternatus whipped its head around and gave what sounded like a 'correcting' roar at Haru, while Zamazenta just bumped its side into his gait. The redhead rubbed his head. "Okay, okay. I'm glad you two forgive me. Heh. Well then..." He lifted up his left arm sleeve to look at his watch. "You two wanna head to the Battle Tower and visit Leon? We can get some training in, ask how he and Sonia are doing, and then all's better today y'know? What say you ol' chaps?"

Both of them roared, but Zamazenta seemed to take offense. "Okay, got it. Calling you two 'old' is too far." He'd walk past them and then smugly turned back to them with a grin. "...geezers." then took off running as the pair of legendary Pokemon chased him to the Battle Tower entrance.

- - - - - Battle Tower, Elite Trainer Private Quarters - - - - -

Haru stared in disbelief with his jaw hanging open. "You split up?!"

Leon watched past Haru as his Charizard was chatting with Haru's Zamazenta, and sipped his hot chocolate slowly. "What, are you really that surprised about it?" He'd say with a low, unenergetic tone, leaning against a bookshelf. It was completely unbecoming of Leon to remark to anyone, much less Haru, in such a low energy manner.

"Well yeah I am! You two are-...sorry. You two WERE an item! Whenever I saw you two I thought you guys were inseparable!" Haru said, feeling like shit that he wasn't around more for him. "You guys were basically what I was trying to follow."

The fellow ex-Champion shrugged and looked to Haru with a dismissing handwave. He had a thousand-yard stare. "Man, look. Sometimes people are better together as friends than they are as lovers, okay? We were together for quite some time, but eventually we both started realizing that it felt like we were trying to keep things real rather than it simply 'being real."

Looking to the floor in uncertainty then to his friend, Haru's shoulders fell. "Are you going to be okay? Do you want to talk about it?"

Chuckling, Leon looked to the side and sighed. "I don't know if I'll be okay, but I can talk as much as you want, Haru." He set his drink down and folded his arms. "Look, neither of us were, or are at fault. It just happened' one day. I can look ahead because Sonia is the kind of person that if she tells you something, there isn't an ulterior motive to it. I don't have it in me to challenge someone who is like that, either. She is who she is, and I am who I am. Sometimes the stars can align and things can be rosy, but if that specific 'connection' isn't there, then no amount of trying can keep a pair together."

An air of silence between the men went on unchallenged. Leon and Haru just stared off as their Pokemon made small talk with each other. Haru felt it would be premature if he spoke up, and felt that perhaps whatever he says may not work for Leon as a soon-to-be-married man.

"I should have seen it coming. Bit by bit, we were more openly friendly but the romance dipped. I may have...shit." Leon shook his head. "Did I play it up too much, or not enough? Is there a way to tell if one simply couldn't hack it? Did I just not do something proper? It's so confusing, Haru. I want to move on and simply go back to being friends and pretend the time spent otherwise was just a hallucination."

"Were it so easy." Haru replied, frowning.

"You had these thoughts before?" Leon asked quietly.

Haru's eyes squinted, thinking back to before Nessa. How Mela took his heart and scrambled it. "There was no way of knowing if I'd ever come back, so at that time it made it easy for me to hold people at arm's length. Sure, I gained a crush on Nessa, but it took a lot of reflection to even think I was allowed to have that pleasure." He blushed, looking at the floor. "Then again, once my heart opened up, I started to earnestly pine for her as a woman. The rest is history."

Haru looked back to Leon and spotted a lack of shine in his eyes in the side profile. Before the silence ate him up, Leon looked over to Haru and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll tell you now so you don't walk out of here confused and uncertain: what I had didn't even come close to you and Nessa. What you guys share has no equal. Someday I hope I find my own 'Nessa', but for now, I'll be okay simply being 'Leon'."

Haru looked back and frowned, seeing the pain hidden behind Leon's eyes. "Hey...man it's not a contest, Leon." He hung his head a little. "I...I didn't mean to make myself feel like you had to 'compete'. I felt honored enough to know you as a friend and big brother to Hop, and for the opportunity to challenge you as a Pokemon trainer."

Silence.

"Leon! Man...! We don't have to compete in love, too, bro! It's okay!" Haru bit his lip. "On top of that, you don't have to hide the pain around me, man. If it hurts, it hurts."

Leon had his smile turn into a frown ever so slowly as he withdrew his hand and clenched it into a fist. Haru continued. "Of course...I understand if you don't feel like you can let anything else out of your system."

"I really loved her, man..." Leon said quietly.

Bingo. It was brief, but Haru caught a glimpse of the real Leon behind his words and put an arm around him. "I know."

A long, extended piece of silence went on again before Leon said through gritted teeth. "I really tried, Haru." before his voice got shaky. Haru then gave the tall man a hug as Leon eventually broke. With his Charizard walking over and letting off a small huff of flames, Leon, for the first time, allowed himself to be seen vulnerable by a fellow friend. It was the most that Leon ever let Haru see of a 'real' side to him, and it came from the worst possible reason.

- - - Later... - - -

The visit at the Battle Tower extended from what would be a small trip to an extended stay. Seeing Sonia with Leon was something that everyone within their circle of friends expected would happen, but perhaps never the opposite. He didn't ask how many knew, but was told by Leon that they were keeping the number of folks who were let in on it low. Nessa was told the other day, and now Haru.

He sighed with his hands in his pockets. Looking to his side as Zamazenta walked up, Haru frowned. "I guess no matter how much you plan for it...not everything is meant to stay. Sometimes you can get a glimpse of how good something is, but you just never hit that 'peak'." Zamazenta looked confused, and let out a small wolf-like huff. He continued walking along Haru as he glanced briefly to the the ferris wheel from the nearby amusement park. "Heh. One thing that people would comment on in the media, that I never paid high mind to, was whether or not Nessa and I were actually romantically involved as much as we say we were, or if it was a 'fling'. Some even guessed that, much like her fiery battle persona, that maybe it was something that flared up too quickly."

Finding an advertisement flash on the electronic billboards of a perfume, Nessa herself was seen wearing a dress; the brand name plastered in golden emboldened text. The timing was almost too perfect. Standing there, Haru smirked, admiring how well she looked in the modeling shot. "There's been times where I actually did question that, but it has mostly been on a 'I can't believe a dipstick like myself, crass as I am, managed to date a supermodel' or 'Do I really deserve to be happy like this'."

Looking to the fellow legendary next to him, Haru gave a warm smile. "Which I've realized...of fucking course I do. Hiro would want me to be as happy as I can be, whether or not he was here. He'd be angry if I stopped myself from being happy, and he'd also be checking up on me to make sure I took care of myself, her, and that I wouldn't forget him or Hop, either." His eyes widened, gasping. "Hop!"

Bringing out the Rotom phone from his pocket, Haru dialed him up and did not care whether or not he was 'busy', he was going to talk to him at least for a little bit.

The dialtone rang.

"Hey Haru, nice to hear from ya!"

"Top of the morning to you too, Hop. Listen...I know this is not how I start conversations with you but after having been absent for awhile, I gotta know something. You and Marnie. Please tell me you two have actually done something past just simply hanging out at Sonia's lab."

"What, you wanna know if we're dating? Sure."

"..."

"..." Haru squinted at the silence.

"...is that all?"

Barking back at the phone, Haru yelled, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'is that all'?! Have you two at least KISSED each other?!"

Hop just chuckled, shaking his head while Sonia looked over to him, briefly wondering why she hears Haru yelling out of his cell phone. "It is what it is, man. Why are you so pressed about this when the last time we were talking you were wondering if we were going out at all?"

"BECAUSE she kept giving you the looks, man! And you just weren't reciprocating those glances from her for awhile! Shit! It was infuriating watching, and now I learn when I wasn't even keeping track you two are together? But haven't kissed? How long?"

"Three months."

"And?"

"...I mean, we hold hands."

From that alone, Haru squatted with the phone in hand to his ear and Zamazenta letting out a confused woof. "Fucking Arceus, Hop, you're such a scout."

Hop squinted at his phone. "Huh?"

Pressing a thumb and forefinger to his temple, Haru just grunted. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." He stood up slowly and let out a small laugh. "I'll put aside the random nagging to congratulate you two...but if I can give a word of advice? Treasure every single day you have, and don't have with her."

Hop gave a double take to his phone. "Haru are you okay? Is everything good with you and Nessa?"

The tone in his voice changed, lowering it so he wouldn't attract a crowd. "I'm serious, Hop. If you're dating Marnie, you have a target on your back the size of Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn combined. Not just because of her fans within Team Yell, but because of who her brother is, and how that may silently affect her sometimes. Or not. With her being a Gym Leader nowadays, things are a little different but just stay cautious."

He glanced to see the advertisement marquee switch to one advertising the Dark Gym from Spikemuth. It had a banner where both Piers and Marnie were on it, reminding everyone of its legacy and where it came from before. "Hop, you hear me?"

"Mmm-hmm. Yeah. Sorry, I'm just not used to hearing you be so serious with me. Kind of reminds me when we're talking about Hiro." Hop would reply, handing Sonia a stack of documents.

Hearing that made Haru smile. "Just...look: I can't tell you why I'm feeling particularly defensive of something I don't control like your love life, but I just want you to realize the position you're in, and to not take it for granted, okay? Please, Hop." /It's best I don't tell Hop about Leon./ "We'll chat later okay bud? For now just be there for Marnie. Be the absolute best to her."

*click*

Haru hung up the phone, took off his cap and ruffled his hair a little to get his nerves down. /I shouldn't overstep my boundaries, so for now I'll just hope Hop and Marnie continue doing well for each other./

Tossing out the ball that had Eternatus, Haru looked to it and Zamazenta. "I'm feeling a lil' peckish. You two think we should hit up some place to eat?"

- - - - - Stow-in-Side Gym, Dojo - - - - -

The sounds of punches wailing on a punching bag reverberated through the dojo as Sevan struck it in repetition. As he stood squinting through sweat and his Pokemon acted as always, Bea walked by as she saw him rotating his shoulders before punching it more. "Hey Sev. Do you need more hours or anything?" She asked, standing by the doorway.

He looked over briefly to check that it was Bea, then looked back to focus on the bag. "You offering me cuz someone left?"

Shaking her head, Bea pursed her lips. "You've been doing really good for awhile and I didn't know if you'd want to have more hours. Heck, you're just as fit as the other trainers. It's too early to give you a review and possible promotion but I have noticed how consistent you are with what you do here." She said this as he kept on with his training.

"I appreciate it." As he was beginning to give it some thought, Bea had interrupted him with a pre-rebuttal.

"Okay if you must know, the reason I ask is actually more selfish. I don't think I like getting prepped in the mornings without your fixings." She hung her head and tapped on the toe of her shoe to the ground.

"Heh. I'm used to hearing that, but coming from you is thoroughly rewarding." Sevan said, chortling a little through punches.

He wasn't surprised that she took to the coffee and other things she saw him cook in the morning. For some odd reason his friends had made it a point to point that out to him. What surprised Sevan instead was what Bea said next. "I uh...have a bit of a sweet tooth. It's not something I directly publicize but it is something I struggle with in secret. If I don't have my morning drink the way you do it, I get noticeably terse with the others, and I'm not in my 'A Game'." Bea looked off to the side. "I end up getting flustered and ask if someone can get me a frappacino from the nearby coffee place. At that point I just feel silly."

She glanced to him. "You probably think that's...weird, right?"

His punching stopped and he just smirked, then pointed to himself with a thumb. "Nope, not one bit. For me, it's spiciness."

"Like...the spicy curry we make here?" Bea asked, eyes widened due to him sharing a tip about himself.

Sevan confidently shook his head. "Not just that. Anything that's spicy. You give me something made with Duskull Reaper Peppers, and I'm downing all of that eagerly. Matter of fact, I'd say in terms of hottest foods, you're the-uh, Kabu's food's some of the hottest! Not quite #1, but still great."

Bea looked at him as Sevan froze for a moment hoping she didn't pick up his slip up. She sighed with relief. "Well...looks like we both have our own quirks huh? Anyways I suppose I'll leave you to your workout."

Frozen in place from Bea not responding to his slip-up, Sevan's shoulders relaxed. /Thank fuck she didn't catch that...or she did and she's only pretending not to notice./

Before making her way out, Bea tapped on the doorframe. "Hey."

Feeling the instinct to look, Sevan turned his head.

"Thanks for the chat. See you tomorrow bright and early, allright?" She said, waving.

As if both of his ears had steam coming out of them, Sevan shivered in place as she made her exit. /Was that a smile I just caught a glance at...? For me?/

Shinrin yipped once at him, hoping to break him out of his stupor.

It did not work.

- - - - Wyndon, Lakeside Boardwalk - - - -

- - - - An hour later - - - -

/Right. So...what the lady at the desk said that the best way for me to get to the offices is to take the monorail. Which is on the other side of the next couple of blocks opposite of the amusement park/ Quen thought to herself while scanning the area around her with a thick folder under one of her arms. "It's going to be awhile before I fully remember this place."

Enya, her Flareon, was looking up at her as if to ask her mistress something. "I suppose if I get lost, at least I have you to keep me centered. But either way, it's not like this stuff is 'timed', exactly. Research like this will be timeless once it's in the right hands."

She quickly took to making her way through a somewhat crowded boardwalk. There was quite the crowd there that day, and with that, she tried her best to power walk through. /So many people.../ With a grit of her teeth, Quen was making it her mission to spend the least amount of time possible there. Her concentration leaves her briefly as her PokeNav vibrated. Bringing out the tool from Hoenn, she saw Sevan's name show up and answered. "I'm actually happy you called for once."

On the other end, Sevan just squinted at her. "Bitch? What do you mean 'actually'?"

"Bitch? Who you callin' bitch?" Quen said back in a smarmy tone.

"I don't see anyone else here." Sevan responded smugly.

She just grinned, and with that, Enya spoke up as if trying to tell Sevan she was also there. "Damn. Must suck being blind. Anyways yeah, uh...Galar's still intimidating to walk around and I'm in the midst of heading to a meet for Devon Corporation." She glanced around herself, trying not to be too close to any stranger.

"You'll learn to enjoy it soon." her friend tried to reassure her.

"You're only saying that cuz where you live it's simple. And very cold." Quen insisted, replying to him. "Oh, and I met your friend Haru earlier. He brought me some wine as a gift while asking me about some stone he was given."

Confidently Sevan replied, "Sounds like it's right up your alley, then."

Quen took a moment to stop and lean against the railing, looking towards the ferris wheel in the distance. "Well, I don't quite know if I was able to help him, but he seemed happy with my answer."

"Something even you don't know about, huh?" Sevan would say, but he wouldn't get a reply for the call had suddenly sent him a picture in his messages and the call would abruptly end.

It appeared as if the phone-like tool was in mid-fall, showing a blurry photo of Enya on the opposite side of some railing, looking very surprised. Quen was focused on the conversation for just one second too long before being seemingly shoved off-balance by a group of fangirls who were crowding around someone. The group had appeared out of thin air, and she was pushed from behind by something skyscraper-like, toppling over and yelping before hitting the cold waters of the lake nearby.

The crowd quickly quieted down, having heard someone or something fall into the water. "Aye, what's going o- is everyone here? Who fell?" came a voice of a really tall man wearing a familiar dragon-themed uniform and putting down his Rotom phone to glance at the boardwalk. He saw a Flareon hopping in place and frantically yapping towards a girl who was spattering and flailing in the water. "Oh shit, did I knock someone over? Hey! Hold on!"

Ker-splash! He lept in after Quen. Within a minute, Quen would latch onto some tall skyscraper of a man who went to her rescue. As she held on instinctively and coughed up water, the man would swim back with one arm until both were back on land. Enya would run up to Quen as she tried to catch her breath. A hand pats her on the back lightly, trying to care for her as a small crowd had formed.

The fangirls from earlier cried out. "Raihan! You're so thoughtful, jumping in to save someone like that without a second thought!"

She now had a name to the one who caught her, as Quen's eyes looked up back at him. Her clothes; soaking wet. The PokeNav she was holding? Now broken from the age of it and the hard cement of which it hit. But worst of all, as the true horror of her situation came to be, all of the files she had gathered in her folder were now mere floating petals of paper in the Wyndon Lakeside Boardwalk.

Hurriedly and in panic, she tried reaching back down into the water where she spotted some paper floating to no avail. "Hey hey, wait! You'll fall back in!" Raihan called out while Quen flailed her hands in the water. A solo piece of paper she grabbed flopped in between her fingers then tore apart due to the water weight. The rest had already floated away down a sewage drain or outright dissentigrated before reaching it. She stared silently at the water as the crowd had briefly backed away due to Raihan trying to give Quen some space.

Raihan tried again to reach her. "Aye, miss?"

"All those...gone...I can't..." she takes a moment to look at what very little of her notes were left. "I...that was months...over a year, even. Fuck." Both of her hands ball up into fists. One slams into the pavement. "Fuck! I should have listened to Sevan and upgraded...no even then a computer would be fucked if it fell into water."

A few beads of sweat formed on Raihan's forehead underneath that thick cap he wore with the discovery this girl was NOT okay in the least. "I'm terribly sorry...Is there anything I can do...? I feel bad."

Quen's gaze did not move from the water. Her face still showed the horrified realization of the discovery. It was slowly changing to that of a mix of panic and anxiety. She glances to the now broken PokeNav. "Of all days to not bring my water protective case..." She visibly shrinks as the anxiety hit her. Her pupils shrank. "Fucking hell. I can't replicate anything! What am I going to do?!"

Her left eye twitched. Then her body twitched and turned herself to glare at the gentleman who was standing near her. To her, he was the reason she may be facing an ending career or expulsion from the project. An unforeseen boiling of rage started to bubble to the surface.

"You..." she spoke with growing venom in her voice.

Raihan twitched. "Me?"

She stood up and took a step towards him. Quen couldn't even bring herself to say anything concrete. She simply shrieked at Raihan in rage as she attempted to tackle him by leaping at him in fury. Enya yapped away at her, trying to get her to both calm down and stick close, but was difficult when half the crowd from earlier gasped at Raihan being attacked. Her arms made wide circles flinging clenched fists at him as he lay semi-defenseless. Despite her rage, he wouldn't try to hit back at all. Elsewhere, some people had their attention diverted by the volume of yelling as Raihan easily shielded himself from any punches as the girl only let her fists do the talking.

She was quickly reprimanded and calmed down when some officers came and took her away. The whole scene left Raihan getting up slowly and looking on as the girl was almost carried away. Taking note of how the life simply left her legs when she was being dragged off, he thought /Holy shit, I must have really fucked her day up. But who was she?/

- - - 1 Hour later - - -

- - - Wyndon Police Department, Holding Cells - - -

"Hey, new girl! You're free." An officer said as he walked over to the holding cell and unlocked it. Inside, Quen was cuddling onto Enya and silently looked up. She saw that the officer who brought her in was joined by Sevan, who paid for her bail. "Turns out not only is Raihan NOT charging you, but this one here came to your rescue."

She said nothing but tried putting on a stronger face while walking out of the cell to her friend. Holding onto the fluffy Flareon, Sevan just tapped the back of her shoulder and then walked out with her. As they exited, the officer commented to his fellow cop. "That makes two who start something with a Gym Leader completely unprompted that come from Hoenn."

"Yeah? Damn. Not even Kabu was like this, as far as I'm aware." the other one chimed in.

"You'd be right..."

Sevan looked over to Quen as they exited to a quieter Wyndon than usual. "So what's the full details of what happened? I only caught a glimpse of it on the Air Taxi ride here."

Quen, still hugging onto Enya as the Eeveelution's hind paws were almost touching the ground, just mumbled sadly. "I lost everything. All of the research papers I had are gone. As I was talking to you, someone from a big group of fans of some guy named 'Raihan' pushed me into the lake."

Her friend hissed in mental pain at that and rubbed the back of his head. "...knowing you, that was the only stack of your research you had, with no copies to account for, right?"

"Right. By now, Devon Corp will have noted my absence, and alerted Oleana. By tomorrow I'll probably be put off the project or worse."

"Just because you didn't show up and you lost what you had? Seems a bit harsh for them to do that, wouldn't it?" Sevan asked, folding his arms.

She shook her head and insisted. "This wasn't just any meeting though, Sev. It was supposed to be me talking to my superiors and presenting everything I had up until now before we move onto the next step...which WOULD have been here: Galar. Now? I got nothing. It'd be like trying to make a presentation or have a conversation where I actively fill in the blanks as I am talking. With my research I was going to be that much closer to becoming 'official' and would be able to lead with a group for what's being asked of me here."

Sevan frowned, feeling for his friend. "Sorry, Quen. If anything, I know how serious you have been about this, so I'm sorry I can't do much for you other than bail ya and replace your PokeNav."

She looked at the ground. "I don't know what to do..." Her reaction was delayed but she ended up gasping. "Wait, 'replace'? With what money?"

He raised an eyebrow and dismissively handwaved her comment. "Working for Bea has been a good thing for me for my time here. Don't worry about it."

Her eyebrows furrowed and she pouted. "Sev, I swear if you're gonna be using Pokedollars on me that could have gone to supplies..."

He retorted flatly. "No excuses now bitch. We're getting you an upgrade."

Enya looked up at her mistress upwards, then did its best to headbutt her chin while being held. Quen just chortled. Exhaling through the nose, she gave up trying to fight back. "Well...whatever it is, it'd better come in purple."

"That...we'll have to see." Sevan waited before asking her one more question as they walked along. "...so about Raihan. He come by before me?"

"OH HIM? HAH! Whatever he was doing after I really gave it to 'im, I don't care! It's thanks to that bastard that I lost everything! Fuck him! I hope he steps on a rock at a very inconvenient time, and then trips because of it!" She growled, then huffed as Enya yipped along with her as if she too was complaining about him.

Sevan whistled at her response. "You know tomorrow someone's gonna comment on that, most likely." remembering what happened when he tried to fight Bea at her gym. " 'Tiny girl tackles Dragon Gym Leader Raihan in a fit of rage'."

"I will bite your fucking ankles." Quen said back, before dropping the talk and trying her best to calm down. The mere visual of Raihan in her mind brought her to a 'berserk button' level of rage she had never felt before, and would try her best to redirect that energy elsewhere for that evening.

- - - - Wyndon Stadium, Conference Room 2B - - - -

- - - - At that same time - - - -

The day marched on continuously with nary any issues for the final preparations of his wedding; Haru's happiness was equal to that of what he'd most likely feel on the day he weds Nessa. As he got off a call with his fiancé, he was notified of someone coming to meet up with him at Wyndon Stadium. As Zamazenta looked at the message on his Rotom Phone, then back to Haru, the Soul of Steel rubbed the back of his head. "'Zenta, I hope this is just someone coming for a casual meet-up. I don't think I wanna deal with another 'Peony' situation on my hands."

The wolf legendary just huffed then 'awoo'd' a little as they walk down the hallway. He casually waved to a few people. "Yeah I know. You weren't part of that fight, but thankfully I didn't need you. Maybe one day you'll meet him when there will be a reason to go to the Crown Tundra." He made his way to the door marked 'Conference Room 2B', knocked twice, then entered.

"...ohhhhh...kay, new people." Haru accidentally said without any care of an inner monologue. As one of the staffers came up to Haru, she gestured to several people that were in the room with them. " , sir!"

Haru would hold up a hand pre-emptively. "Just 'Haru' is fine."

The staffer bowed, then gestured to the people who all stood up and made their way over. One of the gentlemen in the room was wearing a white lab coat, while the others wore uniforms Haru didn't recognize. One bore a red/white uniform, another a blue/white long coat, and the third a black/yellow jacket. "Haru, it's an honor to finally meet you. We've come a long way to finally meet up with you, though frankly we're here as added security to our professor here." the short haired, dark woman said gesturing to the person behind them. "Professor Willow."

She gestured to herself. "I'm Candela. The one in blue is Blanche, and the remainder is Spark."

His eyes narrowed in curiosity and shook their hands one by one. Spark spoke up. "We're assistants to the professor while also individual team leaders to the 'Team Go' initiative. I lead Team Instinct."

"Team Mystic." Blanche said dryly, with a smile.

"...and I lead Team Valor. Each one of us views the bonds of Pokemon and their importance to human cohabitation differently, and we have recently noted how your own love and dedication to that has led to saving Galar singlehandedly."

Haru blinked at them and had his face turn red, briefly returning to a period in time when he was more showboat-y. He laughed nervously. "I-I mean...it wasn't ENTIRELY a solo venture but...shit, thanks!" He shook it off, looking to the professor. "My main goal nowadays is to try and give Galar its first sanctuary. It's being built right now, and should be open for tours within a year! You guys should come when it's finished!"

"All of that is admirable, Haru, but we are here for a few reasons that aren't quite as selfless. While I am thankful I've ran into you, my original purpose of showing up here in Galar was to speak to your chairman. I have instead learned Oleana is amiss." The professor said, crossing his arms.

Nodding once, Haru replied, "Our respectable Chairman is out on a trip somewhere, but she will be returning at some point soon. However if you have safety concerns about the region, then as this region's previous Champion I am legally able to take whatever concern you're bringing and address it."

The group looked to each other, with Willow giving Candela a slow nod, as she stepped forward. "Take what we say with a grain of salt, but we wanted to come to you first as one of the members of Operation Critical Hit. To be frank, we all regret we were unable to help you at the time it occurred."

When that operation was brought up, Haru felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead. "What is this? I just got a twist in my gut telling me to brace myself."

"We need to go over on our end and confirm but...Rocket may be coming back."

Haru took a step back, accidentally moving a chair that he didn't see and tensed up. "Y...you're fucking with me."

The group looked back at him with terse face expressions and were silent.

"Yo...you're not fucking with me...?"

"We don't exactly have anything for you outside of that, and considering we've been wrong before, I wouldn't think much of this right now. The intelligence comes from several of our Gyms that are micromanaged by us in Instinct, but the group does tend to overextend at times, which may make the validity shaky. We'll keep a watchful eye on it. But if anyone needed to know this, it should be you, since our attempt to contact Sam and Syra were unsuccessful." Spark said.

"Y-yeah." Haru nodded slowly, feeling more sweatdrops form. One of his hands grips onto his collar as his eyes wandered. For a small moment, Haru recalled that one moment when he, Holly, Syra were in the headquarters and suddenly became cornered by a gun brandishing Giovanni. His heart started racing, thinking back to when they were all holding their hands up.

/"Short-term vision for long-term goals."/

The sound of the gunshot simultaneously hit his memory as Professor Willow put a hand on Haru's shoulder. "Haru?"

The Soul of Steel twitched and jumped a little. "Ah?! AH...oh. Sorry. I just..." He shook his head. "Sorry."

"We don't have much else for you other than that, but I didn't come here empty-handed. I wanted to bring you a gift of my thanks for joining the effort in taking them down in the first place. Here." the Professor brought out a PokeBall that was shaped differently than most, and was red all over.

"What's this?" Haru asked, taking it slowly.

"This is a special Pokemon that we all believe fits your personality and typing. We don't yet know where this little guy is from, but perhaps you should grow a bond with it and make Galar its home?"

The Professor tapped on the release button of the PokeBall as a tiny Pokemon with a shiny silver, goo-like body and hexagonal nut sat in Haru's hand. The one black dot that acted as an eye looked curiously around and looked back up at Haru, before making a cute, shy noise. "This is Meltan. It is a Steel-based Pokemon whose body can corrode metal, which it does to absorb the metal. It can generate electricity using the metal it absorbs, and then fire it from its eye."

"Oh my gods you are the cutest little guy! Hello there Meltan, I'm Haru!" Haru was enamored instantly, and was letting Meltan get used to its new trainer as Professor Willow continued.

"When provoked, it will spin its head, creating a sound that calls others of its own kind. This head-spinning can also be used as a sign of affection, too. Oh! Haru, it is normally seen in groups of other fellow Meltan, so at your convenience, try to have it socialize with your other Pokemon."

"Professor Willow this may not completely erase the harrowing news you guys gave me...but Meltan is catching my heart already!" Haru exclaimed while the tiny Steel Pokemon wiggled in place and gave an impression of a smile with its eye. "I'll make this guy one of the strongest there is here!"

- - Outside, Wyndon Stadium Staff Entrance - -

The Meltan on Haru's shoulder glanced around nervously, with Haru trying his best to be an accommodating trainer. "Well Meltan, welcome to Galar. We're in the city of Wyndon right now, where expert trainers come every year to challenge each other for the right to challenge our Champion."

The hexagonal nut for a 'face' twirled in place as it made a little squeak as a reply.

"They must first obtain 8 badges fighting our experts of Pokemon types, and succeed in defeating them in order to get one of these!" Haru said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out the Shield-type Medallion. Meltan's eye locked onto it, with Haru chuckling at its cuteness. "It doesn't show here because I became a Gym Leader later, but I'm the Steel Gym Leader!"

He put the medal back and saw as Meltan's curiosity kept it actively looking everywhere. "I don't know a lot about you Meltan...and that's surprising since I had to study about so many before becoming certified to operating a sanctuary!" He extended his arm to let Meltan walk around on it and let the Pokemon tell him what he wanted to take a closer look at with its body language. "I hope in due time I'll be able to understand you like my other Pokemon and maybe use you in battle for my Gym!"

The chrome goo-like body of Meltan wiggled, as it seemingly raised a pair of tiny hands going 'yippee', then looked from side to side. It pointed to someone that caught its eye. It must have been the bright colors, because Haru followed its pointing 'limb' to see Klara with a guy he didn't recognize. His mind flashes back to earlier in the day at the meeting with Oleana. /Ahhhh...so that must be the person that Klara was talking about!/

"So Morg~, I have to wonder. Sure, all this time you've been pretty cheeky but are you really NOT going to go for another round in the league? C'mon! You may not have to beat me twice but you can still attend some games...right?" Klara asked, hands to her hips while the male next to her had his face flushed with blush. "C'mon, at least think about it! Spending more time with me wouldn't be so bad, right?"

Wearing a Poison-type jumper, league shirt and pants, this dark brown haired trainer rubbed the back of his head. Seemingly having trouble keeping eye contact, he laughed nervously. "Aye I-I mean...maybe you're right? I'll uh...have to s-see."

She pouted. "Awww why are you being so shy on answerin' me directly? C'mon! I can vouch for you and get you a comfy, close seat if that's what you want!"

"C...cuz I...I dunno. Sometimes you make a glance and it's...hard to look you in the eye." Morg admitted, blushing. "Not that there's anything wrong with you! You're just too powerful for me!"

"Hey, Klara, you breaking hearts again?" Haru teased, walking up to the group and handwaving to them. Meltan skittered closer to Haru's neck and halfway hid itself, with the sole eye looking at them with a squint.

Klara gave a fake pout of contention. "Haru! C'mon! You know I take my role as Gym Leader seriously! Let me introduce you to Morg! Morgie~, say hello to Haru!" She said, having her hands up to each other in her usual cutesy manner.

"Hello, ...I've heard stories about ya. I should say it's really cool to meet you in person." The pair shook hands, with Morg looking over to Klara. His face was red. "B-being able to see Klara again today has been the highlight of my own league career!" the trainer said with a smile as Haru shook his hand firmly.

"Just 'Haru' is fine. How'd you end up being able to nab Klara? I thought she'd be playing 'hard to get'. After all, Klara's a special kinda woman that ya gotta treat well." He asked, causing Morg to nearly trip over himself while standing still.

"WHAT?! What do you meaannn?!" The trainer's face went stark red. "I...n-nab...?!"

Klara spoke up. "Geez! If you must know, Morg here has been sending me a lot of fan mail and even battled me for a Poison Badge. He's one of my biggest! Even after our dual, he comes visits! It's sweet, really~." She folded her arms and smiled confidently. "As far as today is concerned, he wrote asking if it would be possible to 'hang out', and since we were already in contact, I don't get many letters asking about something like that, I thought the idea was great. He's been a standout gentleman, and has a cute Whimsicott to boot!"

Joining the group was a Whimsicott who stood by Morg's side. It spotted the Meltan that was on Haru and waved to it, causing the Meltan to stare quietly back. Shyly. The partner Pokemon to Morg gave a cute wave to him.

He waved back and smiled, but couldn't help but notice Morg. Klara was only giggling at his reactions but he could barely speak. "M-my Whimsicott is basically one of my best friends! I bring him everywhere with me."

Haru glanced over to Morg, who appeared as if he was vibrating in place. "Oy, Morg. It's cool, mate. I was just messing around. Besides...anyone who manages to make themselves stand out on a legion of fans is worth it, you know?"

Looking back at Haru, Klara appeared to appreciate the effort to reel the teasing back. She gave a patient look of thanks to him, as he looked back and nodded. "I agree!"

"Thanks, and I'm glad Whimsicott likes you too." Morg began to comment. "He is a pretty good judge of character. He tells me whether or not someone is worth being around, or if I should be wary of them."

Glancing between the two, Haru caught a glint in Klara's eye while she looked at Morg, then exhaled with a smile. /Ah, I see.../ "Well hey, I think Whimsicott is a lovely Pokemon. It looks like you have a good bond with him. Have you considered taking that and using it to help others? I'm looking for guys like you to join my sanctuary."

"Oh? Uhm...maybe? I've considered redoing the league, but I dunno just yet." Morg looked over to Klara and just gave a wider smile. "But should I just...write to you or...?"

Handwaving it, Haru shook his head. "Showing up to my Gym also works. Anyways, I'll let you two be." He walked a few steps then gestured for Klara to come with him for a moment. "You seemed awfully happy to see him earlier in the office. Tell me you were being genuine and you're only just teasing him now. Poor boy is MELTING just being around you." he whispered.

Huffing, Klara puffed her cheeks. "I was! I just...y'know. Look, I'm not used to having someone fawn over me, and he is VERY cute; he's my 'type'! Fan or not, I should at least hang with him, y'know?" She got exasperated trying to explain her point of view. "You go from nobody caring about your existence nor caring about your albums, to being loved? I dunno..." She poked her fingers together. "Maybe I'm being too parasocial.."

"Hey." Haru put a hand on her shoulder, causing Klara to make eye contact with a raised brow. "Don't worry about it Klara. You're now our first Gym Leader. People now look up to you because you're the starting point; our initial face of the league! If you want to hang with a fan over whoever else, who am I to judge?" He pointed with his thumb to Morg briefly. "I'm a guy who was like him, and pretty soon, I'm going to marry a supermodel who is my best friend. Don't worry about what I or anyone says okay? If you feel like doing this, who is anyone else to stop you?"

That gave Klara the energy to run back to Morg, grab one of his arms and held onto it. "Kay! Then I'm going to make sure we have the best rest of the day!"

Once again he went back to stammering and red-faced as Haru watched the Poison Gym leader make her fan swoon. If only for a brief second, Haru saw a flashback of himself. In Morg, he remembered being unable to deal with Nessa in a beautiful dress for one of their earlier dates. /A 'hang out' or not, I hope whatever those guys do, that they have a fun time./

He looked to his new partner Pokemon. "I uh...realize I may have skimped over all that details about the league and you may not have an idea of what that's like." The Meltan just blinked at him, then let out a sigh. "Right, that's about what I thought. Well, let's head back to my home so you can meet the other Pokemon, and I can elaborate? Plus, you'll get to see more of my home!"

The Meltan wiggled in place cheerfully and stayed in place while Haru made his way back home.

- - - In another timezone, Levincia, Paldea - - -

- - - Near Seafood Fresco, 8:20 PM - - -

Oleana would motion for Sam to wait before the newleyweds would sit for their dinner. Getting a few pressing messages on her phone for 'small but urgent' updates distracted her enough to the point she had to make a call about it back to her office in Galar. Once the call connected, Oleana was brought up to speed on a few incidents. One, that Haru passed along the information he learned from Professor Willow and his assistants from Team Valor, Instinct, and Mystic. She was not going to let the footprint of a rumor ruin her mood or make her tense: overreacting to the possibility of dangers was something ex-Chairman Rose would be doing, not her. The other matter was a call from Devon Corporation needing to have an updated conference call due to Quen's inability to show up with findings. This tied into the information being brought to her that she got into a tussle with Raihan, the Dragon Gym leader, for the supposed part he played with Quen.

"...and he didn't press charges. Aye. Well thank goodness. We don't need a big misunderstanding stemming from a conflict with a Gym Leader happening again." she replied whilst folding her arms.

"Are you referring to the-!?" She's briefly distracted, seeing something blue staring back at her from behind one of the shopping carts, only for it to hide itself immediately.

"Ma'am?"

Her eyes squint and she shook her head. "Tell Peony and that I will reconvene with them in the coming week. As long as they don't throw Quen off the project, then I won't press for it myself. I'm certain there's somehow more to the story I'm not hearing." She glanced back to Sam, and smiled gently. "Anything else?"

She paused to hear the other notable event, and blinked. "President Mars, huh? I'll contact Syra and have her be my stand-in ambassador to Galar as my own trip won't be done for some time. Thank you."

Hanging up, Oleana's gaze drifted back to where she spotted the mysterious set of eyes looking from afar before. /There's someone or something following us. Hopefully it's not trouble./ She thought to herself, joining back up with Sam as he took her by the arm and the couple went to their romantic high class dinner.

- - - - Purple Octillery Studio - - - -

- - - - Late that evening - - - -

The entire day had gone by. Syra eventually felt her tolerance to the pain of getting a tattoo level out. It had lowered to what one could ascribe as 'just an annoying itch' all over her back. While not exactly enjoyable, she was eventually able to relax and do the rest of her business through the several calls she needed to do throughout the day.

Hanging up after one such call, Holly eyed Syra in disbelief. "Are you sure that was the right call?"

The Champion had her bare back with the intricate design almost thoroughly filled in as the artist who was doing it was quiet and in her 'zone'. "Nessa told me once that I may be 'cut out' for that sort of thing...and now that a scout has actually managed to call me with the interest of making me a model? Why the fuck not? Mom will iron out the details later, and you know what? Debuting as Galar's Champion and supermodel seems like a great first 'act' for me."

The artist spoke up after rolling her shoulders forward. "What else are you planning?"

Syra already had it memorized and confidently replied. "After this badass tattoo is finished, I have a visit to the hospital so I can meet the sick fans there."

Just as those words left her lips, her phone rang again. Whining almost like she were a teenager in her angtsy phase, Syra groaned while reaching for it. "WhaaaaAAaAAaaaaaT? Who's calling n-...oh!" Answering, she put up her professional voice. "Miss Chairman! I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

"..."

"..."

"...huh? Okay then, sure. I can easily do that after my current appointment is over. What? Don't worry about it."

"..."

"..."

"Okay, got it. Oh! By the way, going to run by some things with you when you come back. Just enjoy your trip. Yeah. Bye." Syra hung up, and Holly jumped in with a smirk.

"You changed your tone real quick. What was that all about?" her friend asked her.

"President Mars from Sinnoh is coming, so once I'm done here I'm going to be meeting up with her." Her eyes narrowed and then proceeded to pout. "...for some reason I'm getting a sense of deja vu and my stomach tightened up."

Poppy, applying a color slowly on Syra's back, looked over to the Champ she was illustrating on. "Is this someone you're uneasy around?"

Syra heard Mars' words repeat in her mind.

/"He was with someone at the time, so it was accidental, and a bit foreward on my part, but he left a taste of Pecha Berries that I still think about occasionally."/

Syra grumbled and puffed her cheeks. "No..."

~Bzzzzztttt~

The needle went back down as Syra's eyes closed.

"Well it sounds like you'll be quite busy...though you'll be doing all this with an itchy back. Hope nobody gives you a hug for awhile." Poppy said with a smirk. "You think it's annoying now? Wait until all of this is colored in."

Syra groaned. "Yeah. I have a feeling it's not gonna be great. But this is going to be worth it when it's over."

"No, no, I mean that we have a lot left to color because I've only now just started." Poppy said, correcting Syra, who felt her face go pale.

"Wait, what?! But we've been here for so long already!"

"Yep, and you paid for this particular design, so..." she glances back to the Champion and smirks. "Thanks for the patronage!"

Groaning in faux agony, Syra just let her head thump back down on the cushion she was getting worked on as the artwork continued being inked.

- - Hours later... - -

- - Wyndon Airport, 1:20 AM - -

"Miss Syra, how wonderful it is to see you this late in the evening!" Mars said, extending a hand to Syra and shaking it. The Galarian Champion stood nearly stiff as a board while she appeared to sweat just on the greeting alone. "Did I arrive at a bad time?"

Syra just winced, shaking her head and dismissing her comment. "N-no. You just caught me at a time when my back is on fire." She gave a weak chuckle. "I uh...got my first tattoo. Colored and inked." She twitched while attempting to look to her side, giving the impression of looking behind herself. "I'd be willing to show you but it hurts to move so I'll be walking a little stiff, if you don't mind."

"Vee~" Tsukiyomi said, yipping happily as he was greeting her.

The redhead president of GPC waved to the Eevee. "Understandable. I know this is of short notice for my own visit, but I assure you that it'll be worth it."

The pair walked out together from the long arrival hallways and down to luggage. There, Mars would find a quiet area to hastily dig into her own luggage and brought out a beige colored folder that was several inches thick. Syra's eyes widened with surprise. "No way! Is that the thing we talked about previously?"

Mars nods then puts it back before zipping up the wheeled luggage case. "Haru will be pleased, no doubt."

"You coming with that is pretty timely for him. His wedding preparations are basically finished, so now what's left is for him and Nessa's friends to finalize the bachelorette and bachelor parties." Syra grinned, folding her arms. "...in which case, Sonia asked me to help her with the party for Nessa, and I think it'll be a fantastic showing!"

Exhaling through the nose and giving a small chuckle, Mars took a step out into Galarian air for the first time as she glanced around the city of Wyndon before her. The airport itself was on raised lands and gave a good view of a sizable chunk of the utopian sector of Galar. A small glance of it already showed Mars the stadium on the horizon, the amusement park, several big notable hotel chains, and scrolling marquee advertisements on giant screens. Above her head, she caught wind of a Corviknight flapping its wings carrying a small carriage in its claws. She pointed. "Wait, what's that about?"

"Sky Taxis? It's one of our methods of travel here. Pretty self explanatory, and they're one of the safest!" Syra smiled proudly. "For us trainers, Gym Leaders, ex-Champions, and Champions, it's free. People like Oleana also ride for free as well."

Mars sat in awe at the clear night skies while the Sky Taxi took them to her destination: a hotel in Circhester. As her eyes scanned the map of Galar and glanced out the window ever so occasionally. "So what else are you here for, Mars?"

"...I suppose hearing you talk about your hometown had me more intrigued than I let on." She turned to look back at Syra. "That, and your culture centered entirely around celebrating gym battles sounds like it runs counter to our own. Perhaps we could learn something if I attend at least one game"

Syra let out a weak chuckle. "Well...I guess it'd have to be under the table, then. You arrived when we're a few months from starting."

The redhead frowned. "Ah. How unfortunate timing for me, then."

"Hmmm...well...I suppose if it's not too much trouble we could probably just announce an exhibition round and hold it at one of the gyms. It's not like timely events like that are rare, after all." Syra said before grimacing. "Then again without Oleana here...nnnngh. Tomorrow I also have to make time to visit one of our hospitals. Maybe I can bug Haru to battle me for fun?" she said, eyes close in thought. Tsukiyomi was trying to mimic Syra's amusing posture himself.

"Vee." He nods.

"Well...we'll run into him probably tomorrow morning, so I can ask him then." Syra said.

Mars felt one of her eyebrows raise. "What makes you so sure?"

"Haru gets up earlier before anyone else, and with his wedding preparations done, he is most likely going to start checking on his stadium staff's preparations." Syra guessed.

- - - - That morning after, Stow-in-Side, 8:14 AM - - - - -

- - - - Stow-in-Side Gym, Weight Room - - - - -

"Hit!"

*w-pch*

"Hit!"

*w-pch*

"Hit!"

*w-pch*

"Dodge!"

Haru leaned away and then had to rebalance himself before Sevan threw another punch towards him. His mentor tapped him, with Haru clicking his tongue. "Mother fffff-fuck!" He shook his head and rolled his shoulders.

"Haru, easy. You're already improving a lot since we started. Besides i-" Sevan cut himself off to make sure Haru wasn't having his guard lowered. Successfully, Haru leaned away and had both hands up. "There you go, good."

"Sorry about that: habit."

Sevan pointed with his left gloved hand. "Haru, you're doing 'a Sam'. You say 'sorry' again I'm adding 5 pounds to your curls."

"Yes sir. That's something I don't need for now. Oh. Speaking of surprising me with shit, you guys narrowing down what we're doing for my bachelor party?" He asked, moving into the next exercise, which was him doing some deadlifts.

Ever nearby to make sure his friend is spotted, Sevan just laughed. "Gordie and Raihan are keeping the details away from me, but I made sure to remind them not to go the 'traditional' route."

Sevan saw Haru look up at him in confusion as he started lifting while laying flat on his back. " 'Traditional'?"

"Well maybe it's a stereotype, but some guys throw bachelor parties for the groom-to-be and invite a stripper or strippers. The enticing, 'last day as a single man' is usually what they go for on those." He shook his head.

Haru squinted and relaxed his arms for a second. "Huh? Doesn't that just mean people are more likely to cheat?"

"Basically."

The Steel Gym Leader visibly felt himself have several question marks appear over his head. "Why the fuck would anyone wanna do that? That's so...demented."

"6. Yeah, I'm still counting, bitch." Sevan chuckled.

"Can't get one by you, huh?" Haru laughed weakly through the sweat on his brow. "Knowing you are making sure I stay loyal to Nessa is something I'm thankful for, man. But man, you don't know, huh?"

"Raihan and Piers hinted they may have gotten something 'big', but what amounts to 'big' here, I don't know." He tapped on the equipment. "8. C'mon, let's hit that 15, dude."

Haru, through gritted teeth, just nodded and kept lifting albeit slowly. "N-no surprises, then."

"Good morning, guys." Bea said, surprising both of the gentlemen.

Sev's face flushed a little and he tried as much eye contact as he could muster. "Morning, Boss."

The silver haired expert in Galarian karate just sighed and handwaved while walking over to them. "Sevan, c'mon. Just call me 'Bea': that's enough as it is, okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry I haven't made your morning coffee yet, I'm making sure noodle-arms here is getting his due." Sevan pointed out, gesturing to Haru.

"I don't have noodle arms!" He persisted.

Sevan rolls his eyes a little. "You'll feel noodley after today at least. Give me 2 more reps then rest up, bud."

"Heh. So tell me, what exactly does one have to do to convince someone like Haru to take his physical state so seriously?" Bea asked, looking at Sevan with a bit of a smirk.

"How do you mean?" Sevan asked, not looking back directly since he could tell she was glancing at him which put him on 'alert'. /She's so damn close.../

Bea looked over to her friend and tapped on her cheek. "I've asked Haru a few times to join me in meditation and working out underneath the waterfalls...yet he wouldn't budge! Yet here I stand, and he's been your student for quite some time. What's your secret, hmm? What do you got that I don't?"

He exhaled as Haru slowly sat up straight, putting the dumbbell back in place. "I'm not really sure I have anything, really."

"Hmf! Fine, keep your secrets!" Bea said, pouting and folding her arms. "Either way, you keep proving yourself a perfect fit here!"

"Thanks, I appreciate-" Turning to see Bea giving the tiniest of a genuine smile in his direction made Sevan's mind bluescreen like a computer running into an error. "...-it." The flushed cheeks of his went more red.

"Good! But Haru's training is important, so don't feel rushed to make me my cup, okay?" Bea would say just as Haru let out a pained groan.

"...Sev?"

"Huh?" The blonde-streak mentor to Haru shook his head. "What?"

Haru gave a double-take. He didn't notice before just how badly Sevan's usually hard exterior cracked when Bea was nearby. "Bea was telling you-" but Haru would be interrupted by the biggest surprise of the week.

As the conversation had only just started, Syra had poked her head into the corner with a few knocks and greeted. "GooooOoOoooOod morning guys. Guess what I brought?"

Bea would look over to greet her friend Syra, waving and walking over to her. "Breakfast?"

"No, but the next best thing!" She stepped aside as Mars, wearing her official work clothing, had appeared by her side.

"Nice to meet you, Bea. I am Mars, of the Galacti-...c." Mars began to speak, seeing the silver haired Gym Leader making her way over but glanced only a little past her and felt her eyes lock square onto the man seen further into the room.

Time stood still. The musky smell of the Weight Room was replaced by the smell of tulips and daisies. Her vision went hazy. Mars felt her knees buckle and she dropped the things she was carrying on her way here as her body acted on its own. Walking by Bea, completely ignoring her suddenly, Mars stared back to the man who found himself looking back in shock.

"Sev~y" Mars said with her voice completely removed of all professionalism and instead higher pitched and filled with affection. Both of her arms wrapped around as she nearly tackled the man as he blinked and gave a kiss on his cheek.

"MARS?! You're here?!" Sevan semi-shouted in surprise.

"You know Mars?" Haru asked as his eyes darted back between Sev being smothered by a suddenly affectionate ex-villainess.

Syra stood by the door and merely clenched a fist. /R-right. I should have remembered that he's here earlier in the mornings for Haru's exercising. Fuck. Now what have I done...?/ "Hmm..?"

There was a confusing sensation coming just to the side of Syra that the woman had never felt before. She looked over and saw Bea giving a facial expression that the Gym Leader never once wore. Horror? Confusion? Indecisiveness? The girl found herself unable to say anything, but what was apparent was Bea was staring VERY hard at Sevan. Not blinking.

Looking at the room, as it appeared he was now the main subject, Sevan sighed. He regrettably and begrudgingly returned the hug to Mars, who appeared to nuzzle him. "A uh...few years ago I was in Sinnoh. One of the people I met and got to know while there was Mars here. Back then, she was still building up her company to what it is now but uh...I take it you've really missed me huh?" he asked while a bead of sweat formed on his forehead.

Nuzzling into his chest again, Mars held him around his neck. "Yes! So very very VERY much! But you cut your hair? Poo. Well...you still look great and you still smell nice, too."

"I'm flattered." Sevan would say as he felt a tension in the air from somewhere.

"Y-y'know Mars we came here for a reason, right?" Syra tried to redirect the conversation while having picked up the thick folder that fell to the floor.

"Hmm?" Mars looked back at Syra. She hadn't so much as budged or even loosened her embracing of Sevan and appeared as if she were another person entirely.

It was Syra's turn to feel exasperated. "N-nevermind. I'll tell Haru, I suppose."

"Something for me?" Haru asked, just as confused as ever at the situation he now found himself in.

The strange aura that was building up around Bea had only gotten stronger as her glare got noticeably colder and both of her hands had now clenched by her side. As if cloaked in a dark purple energy, Bea just spoke through grit teeth. "Well then. Sevan. If you need to take time off to accompany your guest please feel free. It's more than obvious she's invested in you. Go ahead and show her around. Just know that any time taken off will need to be made up." The voice Bea spoke with was so robotic and removed of any enthusiasm she had before that it took Syra by surprise.

/Oh? What's this now?/ the Champion thought to herself.

"Bea, no, it's fine. I can manage. There won't be a need to leave..." Sevan said, trying to remove himself from Mars but was to no avail. "Hey Mars, can you lighten up your grip a little?"

"Nnnnope!3" was Mars' simple response. "You're not gonna be able to get rid of me that easily now that I'm here!"

Sevan tried to argue; exasperated. "I have to train Haru."

"Haru is an adult and can choose to do whatever he wishes." Bea interrupted, staring back. "Furthermore, he doesn't work here, so he has no obligation unlike you. Isn't that correct, Haru?"

Bea never addressed him like this before, so, caught off-guard as he were, Haru nodded. "Y-yes ma'am! You are right!" /What the fuck?/

Her head turned to Sevan. "Have fun with you guest. If you all will excuse me, I'm going to start MY training for the day." She'd say before marching off with her thick aura of tension leaving with her.

As Bea left, Sevan couldn't help but feel a sense of dread from the way Bea's mannerisms completely changed. It wasn't what he was planning, nor was it something he felt equipped to deal with, but alas, Mars was here and it became everyone's problem now.

Watching Bea walk off, Syra stared at her backside. /Now isn't that something. I don't think I've ever seen her actually upset before. But she wouldn't be that upset unless...?/

"Haru, give me just a moment before I get back to you, okay?" Syra said, asking for his patience while she hastily speed ran to her friend.

"Hey."

Bea didn't answer. The girl only marched down the hallway and made a beeline towards the closest exit. There was a silent aggression in the way Bea yanked the door open and ignored that Syra called out to her.

"Hey! Bea! Don't ignore me when I'm calling to you." Syra ran in front of Bea and held her arms out.

Bea didn't make eye contact and looked to the side. "The nerve of him..."

"...!" Syra stood there but lowered her arms. She figured her friend was talking about Sevan.

"Calls me pretty one day, yet has a traditional beauty like her in his back pocket." Her fists clenched and her nose wrinkled in irritation. "I don't even know why that bothers me so much."

Syra frowned, not knowing Sevan said such a thing to her. "Bea..."

Looking up at Syra, then clicking her tongue, Bea pushed past her friend with her head lowered and eyebrows furrowed. "Whatever. Doesn't involve me. He can do whatever he wants to do. He's a grown man."

Watching her friend walk past her in such a sour mood put Syra in a bad mood as well. Tsukiyomi whimpered and pawed at his mistress's ankles while looking up to her. She knelt down to the Eevee and gave it some pets behind his ears. "I know, Tsuki. But I haven't seen Bea act like this, and now with Mars attaching herself to Sevan's hips, I'm confused what to do."

She only kept watching as Bea eventually walked down the staircase in front of Stow-in-Side's Gym and disappeared in the distance. Eventually she would run back inside and tell Haru she got him a pre-wedding gift, which was the thick folder that Mars was seen walking in and carrying. Syra would only tell him to wait until he was back home with Nessa to open it.

- - - - - Later in the day, Haru & Nessa's Home, Hulbury - - - - -

- - - - - Living Room - - - - -

Mirukon was with Masako in the living room and tending to his child, Ruby, when his master came home with a curious looking thick folder. It appeared to be bursting at the seams with a lot of papers of varying thickness. As Haru laid the folder on the table in front of him, Nessa read what the front of it said.

'Former Hisuian Survey Corps Elite Member

Hachiro

Dated ****'

"Syra told me that this was a present for me leading up to our wedding, and this comes from within special logs that Galactic Power Company had stowed away deep in the recesses of the building. I believe this was hidden away for one reason or another." Haru said, folding his arms and leaning back onto the couch.

"She didn't tell you anything else?" Nessa asked him, putting a hand on his knee.

"Other than that 'Hisui' is the ancient name for Sinnoh, and this relates to me, of course." He took a second to take that statement in and gasped. "Wait a minute..."

Opening up the first page and Haru was greeted by an old photograph. Depicted was a short man with wavy hair, caramel colored skin, dark round glasses, a flat hat, white lily fetsival top, pine trousers, pine geta sandals, and white patterened. The name 'Hachiro with Yukiko'. Next to him was a Glaceon sitting on its rear end happily looking at him.

"Haru." Nessa said with all of the seriousness she could muster. "You could be his twin..."

As she said that, Haru's eyes were already glazing over. He felt his heart pump with anticipation. "Did...Syra find something about my family tree?" He glanced at another photo which showed Hachiro with Yukiko and a gentleman sitting outside with him eating something.

The next page was a diary entry written by this 'Hachiro'. Haru and Nessa looked at it closely together.

'I have just been accepted into the Survey Corps in town! Starting today I'll be responsible with the dangerous task of scouting for Pokemon outside of Jubilife Village. Hironori told me to look out for my rear, but that won't be too much of an issue. I have my senior, Akari, making sure I'm not going at this alone. I can't disappoint my new senior commander, Komado, either!'

"Right. Back then, Pokemon were far more likely to be aggressive when meeting humans. It would be ages before we naturally could walk up to them without as much worry about our lives." Nessa commented.

"...yet at the same time this would be the age where they also married humans, right?" Haru asked, and flipped to another page. Another diary entry. Haru and Nessa would quietly read through several diary entries detailing Hachiro's thoughts as he would be tasked to help Jubilife Village in many ways. He turned out to be someone who only initially started out as a simple Survey Corps member but became a strong Pokemon trainer in his own right. A few confusing sections mentioned things such as 'space-time distortions', but Haru would pause when the diary entry appeared more dread-filled.

'Today I did something I don't know if anyone will believe, but I tell you is just as truthful as the fields of Pokemon I've caught and befriended. I met the Creator. One day I am pursuing the goodness of protecting Pokemon and seeing how we can better ourselves as humans through them. The next I am facing the Almighty Arceus in a test of fate. Still...I hope at least one day I can share such stories with someone who will find Pokemon as fascinating as I do.'

Another diary entry appears and was dated a few months later.

'Words cannot describe it, but I saw the most beautiful creature possible. These words are as literal as anything else I say: I was completely amiss being able to speak properly. Making eye contact was barely possible.'

Haru gave a double take. "Either it's a Pokemon, or it's a woman."

The next page had a simple diary entry that it was more of a note rather than him writing a diary. 'Her name is Kailani. Such a name is but a song to my ears. Her eyes are deeper than any ocean I've swam in, and the voice she speaks with freezes me faster than a Froslass. It has only been a day since I met her, but I am hoping to see if she would dine with me. It is uncertain whether or not this 'Alola' she mentioned has fine fish dining, but I shall try to introduce her to sushi. Even being able to drink would be more valuable than any money I earned in my time working for the Survey Corps.'

The next page made Haru gasped so loud and intensely his voice pitched higher than normal. There was another photo included that had both Hachiro and this woman named 'Kailani'. Dressed from head to toe in olde traditional Alolan robe, flower crown, and jewelry around her neck, wrists, and ears, Kailani looked like a proper kahuna. But what made the photo so captivating was her appearance otherwise. With long, flowing dark blue and light blue hair, she was a twin on her own.

For Nessa.

"G...great...grandpa? Grandma?"

The photo had the caption 'Hachiro with Kailani.'

"Syra...found you a document detailing your family tree! Haru, dear! This is the part of your family history you wanted to know more about...! On top of that, look!" She pointed at Kailani. "What does it mean knowing that her and I look nearly exactly the same? Am I overthinking this by saying that I worry we're related now?!"

Haru pushed aside the notion but just chuckled. He shook his head. "No. I think if she found this out, she would have told us first. Mars is in charge of Galactic Power Company, and after witholding this information for so long I don't think they'd investigate this so deeply for me just for that sort of revelation. Plus, aren't your parents directly born here?"

"Yeah."

"Then we've nothing to worry about my darling." He said, reassuring her.

Confidently, Haru held the photo up high and smirked at it. "Man. Great-Great-Great...however many times removed...Grandpa Hachiro and I have the exact same tastes in women." He leaned into the couch and stared at it. "Ha! I consider that one of the best things I've learned today."

He gave a gentle smile and turned to Nessa. "Mom told me at one point she was unsure where our Alolan blood came from since a part of us was also native to somewhere else. Whether it's for personal reasons or not, we just never investigated. I didn't realize discovery would mean part of me was also Sinnohian."

He flipped ahead for a brief moment and saw a photo of Hachiro and Kailani outside standing near some flowers on the ground. Her, having a bouquet, and him holding her hands. 'Hachiro marries Kailani in Alola'.

On the backside of the photo, Hachiro had written. 'I have left my home of Hisui for this goddess who came into my life, and I am now merely burdened with a grander purpose than any Survey Corps Mission: I will help Alola prosper like Hisui has through my love of Kailani, Pokemon, and our children yet to come.'

"I don't know how I feel yet in knowing I had a twin within your family tree...but I think I can get past that pretty easily." Nessa teased before leaning in with a cheek kiss. "Knowing Kailani and I made our men melt doing almost nothing is pretty humorous to me."

Haru folded it closed and put it back on the table but chose to leave out the photo of Hachiro with Kailani when they met. Seeing his ancestor look so happy with someone like that somehow gave Haru a boost of serotonin. It was so completely innocent and free of the world that would exist in the current times. It too also reminded him how important Nessa was to him. "I want to read more later. For now we should get ready for the concert." Haru said, getting up from the couch to the staircase.

Nessa glanced at the clock. "...but doesn't it not start until 4 hours from now?" she asked. She heard Haru go up the stairs, motioning for her before doing so.

"Yes, but it may take us a great deal of that time just to get admitted. Sure, we got amazing seat placement, but D.P. is one of the most phenomenal bands to exist in our time that who knows how many people are already there in line?!"

- - - - 1 hour later, Wyndon - - - -

- - - - Galar Grand Amphitheater - - - -

Nessa and Haru stood outside as the gigantic amphitheater outside loomed over and lay occupied by an incredibly dense crowd. Thousands of people from all walks of life and different regions appeared before them. A single person holding a sign saying 'Back of Line' stood, and Nessa looked at him, deadpanned. "You look at me like that, but this is why we're here early."

She sighed but stuck through it. A part of her felt some twisting in her stomach. Her conversation with Sonia about going to a concert came back, but it wasn't enough to offset the imposter syndrome that was creeping up fast on her. As she got her first official glance into what was Haru's 'world' according to DP, she saw just the type of fans that they attracted. Fans wearing outlandish clothing while carrying yet-activated glowsticks talking about DP. A few folks in their own circle dancing in a manner she never saw. All this, and the sheer lengths people would go to also cosplay as the titular band threw her for loop after loop.

"..."

She stuck to Haru's side but Haru had now taken notice of Nessa's mood. "Babe are you okay?"

"...I don't feel like I belong here. I almost feel under-dressed. Or like a poser." Exasperated, Nessa gestured to herself. Biting her lip, her eyes glazed over in worry to him. She had on a more racey, long-sleeve equivalent of her usual colors from her uniform but added fishnet leggings, boots, fishnet sleeves, and a pair of glowsticks on her collar.

Frowning, Haru was going to try to make sure this gift from Sonia to them wouldn't go to waste. Understanding her nervousness, Haru embraced her and held on. "You're not a poser...and you're not under-dressed either." He laid his head on her chest while they stood in line for a bit. "Besides, look at me! I'm just as much of a 'casual' here like you! Just like with Pokemon, people of all degrees are here."

"You're sure it was a good idea to bring me along here?" Nessa looked around, then looked at him worriedly. "What if I end up not liking the music? Won't that make it awkward for you?"

"Then that's okay!"

She gave a double-take and blushed. "It is?"

"Yeah! It's rare for a fan to like every single song someone makes, and you can't really tell you like something until you hear it. Concerts are also a way how you can just...'feel' the crowd. I can't explain it other than to compare it to our Gym Leader battles!"

He confidently looked up at her and gave a small kiss. "Think about how on-fire you get when you're facing a good opponent. How you know the trainer you're facing is giving you a tough time but because the crowd is on your side as well as theirs, that it fires you up! You got the nickname 'Raging Wave' because of the enthusiasm of you matching the crowd."

"Hmm..." It took her a short moment but Nessa could see where Haru was coming from and shook her head and hands to get the nerves out. "I think I was just thinking too hard on this because I love you and don't want to disappoint you."

"Tch." Haru was grinning from ear to ear and looked ahead near the front of the line. "You couldn't disappoint me if you tried. The only way that would have happened is if you stayed in the Sky Taxi that brought us here, and I know you're not the type to do that to me."

/He means well and all, but I still wonder if I'll be able to 'understand' what it is about this music that makes him so excited to be here? Was I just being a curmudgeon about it before because he played it often when I was doing housework?/ The woman thought to herself as she glanced to Haru, who was already bobbing in place in the line whilst humming one of DP's songs. A patient smile spreads on her lips. /Perhaps.../

- - - Showtime. Galar Grand Amphitheater, 9 PM - - -

The skies were dark, and the only thing illuminating anything were innumerable Rotom Phones hovering in mid-air and being held by concert attendees. Between the mixed stench of sweat, alcohol and vape pens, the air itself had begun growing tense with anticipation. The musical act that warmed everyone up for DP had wow'ed them as it was: the man named 'Naga' performing quickpaced EDM that wouldn't be out of place for the arena and its audiences. Yet the excitement grew to a booming, almost deafening degree as oft times the crowd would grow in volume at almost nothing.

The set was designed to give no lighting until the main act started playing, and all Nessa and Haru could make out was a giant pyramid shaped platform in the middle. It would be nigh impossible to hold a conversation with the volume raised to what it was, but Nessa knew if she had to shout while looking at him to say a comment, she could reach to him. A lack of music playing anytime soon however made her nervous. When was the concert going to officially start? Were the talents late? Is this already part of the act in of itself? How is it so many people are drunk before the pair of Kalosian talents got onstage at all?

Then it hit. The speakers bled through 2 words as a pair of lights shine down only one at a time.

'Ro

Bot.

Hu

Man'

Speaking over the crowd would be an accomplishment already but Haru leapt up with excitement, gripping both glowsticks he had in hand and gleefully shouted "NESSA! THEY'RE STARTING OFF WITH MY FAVORITE SONG!"

She couldn't piece together how he could tell already. All that was going on was just those same 2 words being repeated. Very, very, slowly. Then, not so slow. The speed crept up and with each passing mention of the words 'Robot...Human' in the seemingly robotic voice, more lights shone. It of itself was in-sync to the voices.

The tune, and as such, the mood itself, changed, when the pacing was nearly sing-songy. Then...the percussion started. Nessa heard the drumming create a rhythm not unlike what she had heard before...but the strobelighting that accompanied it, followed by the rise of audience's volume had her frozen. Onward she stared up at the pair of Kalos-native musicians who wore helmets and black leather onstage as somehow, someway, deep in the recesses of her body...a call to action arose. A call to 'vibe'. To dance.

Quickening in pace, she saw Haru jumping in place until the drumming and words of 'Robot, Human' were so fast that a beat dropped. The track was immediately familiar to her ears as she had heard Haru play this very song in the home.

Yet...

The atmosphere, the lighting, the excitement, the ever-present high that merely bounced off of her up until this point finally found its way to her. It was as if the veil had been pulled past her eyes and her vision had cleared up. The introductory part of the song melded away until something unusual happened. Her ears picked up the musicians mixing another song. /Is...this what I've been missing out on...?/ she thought to herself.

In short order, Nessa found herself entranced like an Arbok to a played flute, wiggling her hips to every single beat. It was minor at first. She could understand the need, the wish, the simple joy that this music brought people. More importantly, she could now understand Haru's affection to this more deeply. Once he took notice that she was wiggling her hips from side to side in rhythm to the band, he was elated.

/I get it now...!/ Nessa thought to herself as another track shortly introduced itself to her ears with a masterful mash-up, and Haru laughed gleefully. The two would share their dancing with everyone else in the thousands-plus crowd. Simple. Joyous. Even if the way her and Haru were moving was limited by the number of people, that she was doing it at all and feeling the air like so many others gave her the internal connection she thought she couldn't feel. It was just as simple as Haru explained earlier.

The concert being under 2 hours was criminal, but it felt like forever. For just those 87 minutes, Nessa, Haru, and those who stood in front of DP felt like they could touch the sky. Haru got to dance with Nessa in a whole new way that they hadn't done before, and Nessa got to express herself in a new way.

As the night went on, the couple happily vibed and danced with people they would never meet. People they would never talk to ever again even in passing would simply just file out of the amphitheater. Elated through alcohol, the music, or a mixture of it all, Galar showed love to the art of music. Nessa turned to Haru as they exited and she blushed heavily. The whole ordeal ended up like playtime to her, and just as her own positivity bounced off of Haru, he returned it.

"Haru...thank you. I was so worried I wouldn't get it that you..." She took a breath. "You made me feel so alive!"

His face went red. "You mean it?"

She nodded, and smiled at him. "Let's do this again...One More Time."