That Summer | Raihan x Piers [Pokémon]

Chapter 1 ❀ Restroom Rescue

Six years ago...

Today was the day many Trainers had been waiting for. They had prepared for years, trained their Pokémon hard, so that they could confidently set out on their adventure. Young Raihan also belonged to the group of people that couldn't stay put, knowing that in the next few moments the opening ceremony in honor of the beginning of this year's Gym Challenge would begin.

The caramel-skinned boy had travelled through the Wild Area from his hometown Hammerlocke along with his faithful partner Trapinch. They had squeezed in every last second for training on their way to Motostoke, and had even welcomed a new Pokémon to their team. Neither of them had been expecting to run into a Goomy in a habitat where it shouldn't have been wandering around, so after the additional time that had been spent on catching it, Raihan had slightly started to panic that he and his two critters wouldn't make it in time for the main event.

The boy's worries had been proven unnecessary as soon as he arrived at Motostoke Stadium though, given that there was plenty of time left until Chairman Rose would commence his speech. Raihan slowly caught his breath — after all, he had sprinted half of the way here — and walked towards the reception desk where a man wearing a black and white tracksuit stood. His eyes were covered by orange shades, his appearance still friendly. "Welcome, young Trainer!"

"I'll need to see your endorsement, please." The man said, and before he had even spoken the last word, Raihan was already rummaging in his bag. He took a hold of the mentioned letter and slid it over to the worker who, as soon as he confirmed the authenticity of the endorsement, did what was necessary to sign up the young male. "There! You have been successfully registered as a Gym Challenger."

"You can now choose your preferred number for your uniform, if you'd be so kind?" The man wearing a cap continued, causing a wide grin to spread on Raihan's face. This was probably the boy's favorite part — save for designing his League Card together with Trapinch. He and his Pokémon had been gathering all sorts of combinations on their way to Motostoke, and he was more than ready to blurt out the one he liked most. "That'd be 241, please!"

The necessary adjustments had been made before Raihan was handed his very own uniform, the number 241 printed proudly on the back of it. "And here. Please wear this Challenge Band at all times to identify yourself as a Gym Challenger." Along with his clothes, Raihan had been given said Challenger Band which he slipped on without thinking twice about it.

Now that the formalities had been taken care of, all that was left to do was to wait for another thirty minutes or so, until the ceremony would finally begin. Raihan took the chance to look around a tad, after all, he had stormed into the hall and rushed directly to the desk. He knew these places were big, but the spaciousness this room held only made him wonder how huge the actual stadium would be.

He was aware that there were countless people already filling all possible spaces on the bleachers outside, and the thought of it made him even more impatient. And speaking of people, the entry hall was quite stuffed with Gym Challengers as well. As his turquoise eyes travelled across the room, there weren't many individuals that caught his attention in particular.

Though there was this boy that for his age seemed way too muscly, and he easily attracted a lot of attention with the beige sun hat that rested on his head. Raihan also recognized a friend of his, Leon, who stood there, chatting away with an orange-haired girl who was holding a Yamper in her arms. Another girl with a skin tone similar to his own also stood out to Raihan — rather, it was the bright blue strands of her hair that did. They reminded him of those situations where bleaching one's hair had gone wrong.

Needless to say, there were a lot of Trainers, and despite Raihan liking to boast about himself and his Pokémon, this big day was getting the best of him and making him nervous despite his usual confidence. With all the chatter in the background, he was certain that his Trapinch was sensing the tension and decided to retreat him into his Ultra Ball in order to lessen the burden on him.