That Summer | Raihan x Piers [Pokémon]

Chapter 15 ❀ Past And Present Intertwined

Six years later, I saw Raihan at the station.

Every year, an opening ceremony is held in Motostoke for the Pokémon Trainers from Galar and the ones who have travelled from all around the world. It was the formality that marked said Trainers' first step to take on the Gym Challenge, and each and every year, all Gym Leaders would come to attend it from their respective cities. All Gym Leaders but one — Piers.

Nobody truly knew why the dark-type specialist liked to miss out on such a great event. Not even the Chairman himself could retrace his motives. Some thought that the reason was because Piers lived in Spikemuth, a place generally known to be the home of thugs and the like, while others suspected it was because he couldn't bring himself to show his face due to the fact that he was the only Gym Leader who didn't use the power of Dynamax.

Some of the people who thought the latter were partially right — Piers really didn't want to show his mug, especially on an occasion where all Gym Leaders would be present. Though it wasn't all of them he didn't want to see, it was merely one person he was avoiding and had been for many years now — Raihan.

Despite that, this year's opening ceremony was something Piers couldn't afford to miss. His precious little sister Marnie was going to be present because it was finally time for her to start her own Gym Challenge. And so, in spite of not having formally shown himself to either the chairman or his fellow Gym Leaders, Piers had sneaked into the event undercover, observing everything that unfolded from the spectator areas.

The people who were accompanying him to the occasion were none other than his own Gym Trainers — or Team Yell, if seen through the eyes of the public. They and especially Piers were all proud to see the raven-haired girl confidently wearing the number 960 on her back as she lined up with all of the other Gym Challengers.

During Chairman Rose's speech, Piers' eyes couldn't help but unconsciously find their way to the dragon-type Gym Leader as soon as said man led his fellow equals onto the pitch. Sure, he would sometimes secretly see some of his posts on social media, but this was the first time in a long time since he had seen the caramel-skinned male in person, albeit from a considerable distance.

He made sure not to dwell on the past by staring too much at Raihan by directing his gaze back to his little sister from time to time. The ceremony dragged on starting then, and the pale young man had to admit that he was relieved when the event finally came to an end. He didn't know how much longer he would have held out in that crowd, hoping for no one to recognize him.

Piers was careful when it came to avoiding the other Gym Leaders on his way to meeting up with Marnie outside the stadium and he succeeded. He exchanged a few words with her, the Team Yell Grunts throwing in their own loud encouragements as the small group made their way to the most western part of Motostoke.

There, Piers hugged his sibling goodbye and wished her fun and luck on her journey before the girl parted ways with him, waving as she headed for Route 3. "I can't believe how much the lil' Miss has grown, boss! We sent her off on her Gym Challenge!" One of the male grunts said, somewhat overly emotional which caused the taller young man to chuckle. He was right, time really had flown.

"Let's get goin'. Wouldn't wanna miss the last train, right?" The Gym Leader said, nodding his head in the direction where the train station was located. Spikemuth was already difficult to get to directly due to the lack of public transport, so the last thing the bunch needed was to be stuck here and be forced to book a hotel room.

It was to be expected due to the ceremony having been held today, but there really were an uncountable amount of people roaming around the city, a big majority also heading to the train station and areas where they could catch themselves Flying Taxis. There happened to be random passersby who actually recognized Piers, but apart from a few whispers, nothing was truly done at the realization of his presence.