Atop the Mountain

Chapter 13: Giant God Dragon

One of the biggest blights on Hammerlock was the local population of Thievul. The crafty fox Pokemon were infamous for ravaging crops and slaughtering livestock- leaving only bloody clumps of fur and wool in their wake. Because of this, for as long as Raihan could remember, it had been legal in Hammerlock to kill any Thievul that wandered into the town on sight. Thievul meat was gamey and sort of bitter, so it was usually used to feed other Pokemon. Life went on.

Leon never left well enough alone. It was something that Raihan had initially hated about him, and something that he'd come to love beyond reason. Perhaps it was the academic in him, perhaps he was just a reasonable person, but Raihan found it healthy to be a bit skeptical of his own beliefs, and Leon was never afraid to challenge him.

The two of them were sixteen- a week or so after Leon had recovered from that nasty flu he'd caught shortly after his birthday. Raihan was sure now that he was in love- he'd even told his dads so, and they'd hugged him tight and told him they couldn't wait for Leon to be part of the family.

Which was going a bit quick, but he appreciated the support, even if they were, undoubtably, extremely fucking embarassing.

They stood in a field, maybe a mile east of Hammerlock proper- somewhere that very few people ever wandered, though Raihan heard that it was a somewhat popular spot for the more daring among them to head for dates- a fact which Raihan is rather set on not telling Leon about, thank you very much. Despite the confidence of those around him that they would make a perfect couple, Raihan worries. It's not that he doesn't think Leon likes him- he's actually pretty sure he does. The problem is that, every once in a while, Leon will start to talk about England and how much he wants to go back there, and Raihan starts to doubt everything. How could he date someone who might just up and leave at any point?

But the field was beautiful- filled with tall, golden flowers- and they matched Leon perfectly, so he decided to not think about it for now.

The sunflowers, as Aspen has called them once, were astoundingly tall, and lived up to their name in the way they look like little suns- or at least an artistic interpretation of a sun. They came up to Leon's waist, falling a little below that on Raihan, who'd had yet another growth spurt recently. The color of their petals was beautiful as they surrounded Leon, as the sun bounced off them and cast golden hues on Leon's bronze skin. With his purple hair, alongside his golden eyes and the equally gold flowers surrounding him, Leon looked like he could be royalty.

He wasn't even looking at Raihan, which was good, because Raihan was definitely staring and definitely looked like a lovesick Lillipup. He was focused on something that Raihan couldn't see, head swiveling around, nose wrinkled, eyes squinting ahead as he took slow, hesitant steps. Raihan, taking a break from fawning over his friend, stepped forward, "What're we looking for, champ?" he asked, evoking a new nickname he was trying out.

Leon, Champion of Pokemon.

Leon, Champion of my heart .

God, that was corny. Raihan thought that every day he became more and more like his dads in that way.

"Listen," Leon whispered, tapping his ear before going back to looking around. Raihan tilted his head slightly, trying to find what Leon was looking for. After a minute, he heard it. A faint, almost inaudible whimper from somewhere among the sunflowers. Leon pressed forward, delicately pushing the long, thick stems aside, "It sounds like a baby Nickit." Raihan genuinely had no idea how Leon could discern that, but he also had no reason to doubt him.