Pokémon Oneshots!

A loving rivalry (Raihan x Leon)

     Raihan, after loosing once again to Leon, was distraught. He'd managed to get so close to victory once again, only to have it torn away again by his lifelong rival. He couldn't understand what he was doing wrong. Was he not good enough? Not strong enough? Or was Leon just better than him? Every thought circling in his head was fuzzy, because of the loss of the battle and the drinking he was doing to numb the feeling of it. Loss, itself to him was a weird feeling. Especially to Leon. He was a gym leader, so he should be used to loss, and he was, to challengers. Every time he lost to Leon however, it was different. He was angry, but he could never stay angry. Sad, but he never stayed sad either. Loss was it's own feeling, it's own emotion.

     A body sitting down beside him snapped him out of his daze. He looked over with slight movement of his eyes, immediately noticing the purple haired man sitting next to him. "How'd you know I'd be here?" He sighed, looking forward again to the green pasture of Hammerlocke Hills. "I think I'd know you enough by now, Raihan. Ten years of knowing someone and not actually knowing anything about them would be pretty bad." Leon laughs in response, looking over at his best friend. He stares at him, noticing the sullen look in his face. "Raihan..." He starts softly, looking up at the Unfezant flying above them. "...I hope you didn't take that loss too hard. You did better then ever. Even got me worried for a while. I'm sure the audience agrees with me. That battle was amazi-" "That's the thing, Leon-" Raihan interrupted, causing the champion to look back at him quickly. "I was closer than anyone'd ever been to defeating you. Closer than I'd been any other time, but even at that, at trying my hardest, still I only increased your win streak." He tightened his grip on the bottle of rum in his hand, staring more intensely at a random patch of the field, as to avoid eye contact with the man he'd tried so hard to defeat. Leon only put an arm around his shoulder, holding him lightly. "I'm sorry.. I didn't know you thought of it that way." He sighed. "I've never entirely thought of our battles as a competition. I take them in a more fun way, but I should've known you took them more seriously..." He hesitantly moved his arm away from the taller man, putting both of his hands around his hands, which clasped the bottle. Raihan looked down at the man he considered his best friend. "Are you saying you'll let me win? I don't want a pity victory Leon." "No, nothing like that. I'll never let up on you, because I know that one day, you will beat me. You will have your spot in the limelight, and I'll be proud of you when you do." He pulled the bottle out of Raihan's hands and offered him a hand up. "Come on, mate. Let's head back into Hammerlocke, grab Sonia and grab some dinner, yeah?" He flashed a smile as the taller man took his hand to stand up. "Sounds great, Leon. Thank you." He smiled back, taking the smaller mans hat off as they walked back together into Hammerlocke.

     The sun began to set over Circhester as the group of three walked out of the restaurant. Raihan and Sonia made better of Raihan's mood by poking fun at Leon's flaws. The fact that he had no sense of direction, or fashion. Leon took all of it in good fun and joined in their laughter. "I'll make you lot eat those words. One day I'll pick out an outfit good enough for you." "Yeah, and then get lost on your way to show it to us-!" Sonia's laughter echoed though the small, open street as Raihan scrolled nonchalantly through different things on his phone, joining the group in laughter whenever a joke was told. He'd felt off throughout that whole dinner. Every time he glanced even the slightest bit at Leon, he could feel his face heating up and his heart skip a beat. Was he catching a cold? He doubted that, but it's what he decided on since the only other option was something he couldn't fathom. In love with Leon? Off the table. The trio walked along the routes before getting tired of walking and deciding to take a flying taxi back to wherever they'd be staying that night. Surprisingly, Leon asked to go back to Hammerlocke with Raihan, and when Raihan asked him why, he responded "I just want to make sure you're alright. So I'd like to come back with you, if that's alright-" He flashed a smile, and Raihan just nodded in response. The two flew off not long after on their flying taxi's.

     Once the two men had landed outside the pokemon center in the big, rustic city, Raihan looked back at Leon, who was walking toward Raihan's home. He admired his best friend. His long hair, his optimism and competitive attitude, his utterly ridiculous fashion sense that he'd just made fun of. Everything about him. The idea of loving him struck him again, and once again he tried to shake the thought. The shorter man stopped outside of the taller ones home after not too long, and he turned back to him. "Welcome home, mate." He joked, causing Raihan to laugh under his breath. "I'm surprised you remembered where it was." "Very funny." He punched his shoulder playfully, and got a punch back in the same playful manner as the home owner unlocked his door. "Well, goodnight Leon." He looked back at his friend, and his face flushed red once again. Leon stared up at him with a soft smirk and a glint in his eyes. He grabbed the front of his rivals hoodie, pulling him down to his level and kissing him softly, before letting go. "Goodnight Raihan. I promise, I'll never go easy on you."