24. old rivalry

[badass_tiger]

Prompt: any fandom / any pairing / “I'm sorry that I hurt you.” “I know most if it wasn’t intentional.” “doesn’t change the fact that I did.”
Word Count: 2k
Author/Team: badass_tiger
Title: old rivalry
Fandom/Original: Pokemon (Leon & Sonia)
Rating: Gen
Triggers: NA
Summary: The conversation between Leon and Sonia in Winter Sunlight. Leon apologises for forgetting their rivalry.
ConCrit: Y

'So what do you want to talk to me about?' Sonia said. She stared as Raihan got up and left. 'Where's he going? Didn't he just sit down?' She looked around at Leon, and was taken aback by the intensity of the expression he directed at her. 'Leon, what's this about? You're scaring me.'

'Nothing to be scared of,' Leon said, his serious expression turning sheepish. 'It's just something ... I wanted to apologise for.'

'Huh?' She leaned forward, giving him a stern look. 'What did you do this time? Did you steal one of my Pokemon after all? Come to think of it, I haven't seen Comfey all day.'

'No, I didn't! How do you think I'd smuggle a whole Pokemon out of your lab?'

'Comfey's only a few inches tall, so you could totally do it! I bet you could hide a whole Metagross on Raihan.'

'Raihan's all skin and bones. You couldn't hide a Butterfree behind him.'

'Really? Well, out with it then! If you didn't steal my Pokemon, what did you do?'

Leon glanced away into the fire for a moment. Charizard stretched out its neck to look him in the face. Perhaps it was giving him encouragement, or pushing him onwards.

'You remember,' Leon said, looking at her again, 'that day I brought Gloria to your lab for the first time?'

'Hard to forget the day I met the girl who would be champion,' Sonia said. 'It was a pretty important day for me too, you know. It wasn't long after that that I decided to make myself really useful as Gran's assistant and do some real research for once. I guess you could say that on the day Gloria set out on her Pokemon adventure, I set out on an adventure of my own too!'

'I'm glad.' Leon smiled. 'You're a really amazing professor. I've read your book cover-to-cover at least three times.'

'You have?' she said brightly, and then she laughed. 'Thanks! That means a lot, coming from you. Want me to sign your copy?'

'Sure! I'll bring it next time we meet, here or in Wyndon.'

'I should grab some of your merch and get you to sign them too. I bet I could make retirement money out of them in a few years.'

'You think so?' He gave her a doubtful look. 'Should I start signing all of my photos around the house for my family?'

'Probably. I guess they don't need the money though, with you taking care of them.'

He shrugged and looked away, strangely embarrassed, Sonia thought. She had never seen him anything less than flippant about his fame.

'I remember you scolding me that day for saying Yamper was a big help to me when I was on the Gym Challenge,' he said, his expression still uncomfortable. 'Since it wasn't just Yamper helping me. It was you, as well.'

'I was just kidding,' she tried to say lightly. The look on his face was starting to make her feel awkward too. 'I didn't do anything except to make sure you managed to make your way to each Gym without wandering off a cliff or a bridge.'

'You did way more than that!' Leon said with an unexpected heat, turning to look at her. 'We decided to go on the Gym Challenge together even before we were of age, and you taught me everything about Pokemon and camping and stuff like that until then.'

'Oh yeah? I guess I did.'

'You asked me if I'd forgotten that we were rivals back then. Actually, I - I kind of did.' Leon looked into the fire again, a furrow in his brow. 'That's what I wanted to apologise for. Gloria told me that you - you said you felt restless because we were rivals, but I became champion and left you behind.'

'No, no, I didn't say that,' Sonia said hastily, realising what it was that weighed so heavily on Leon's mind. 'You didn't leave me behind. You were still my friend - we're still friends now, right?'

'Well, yeah. But I really did forget we were rivals - I forgot until you reminded me that day. A rival is someone who makes you stronger, and I can't believe I forgot how much you helped me to grow stronger back then.'

'Don't worry about it!' She waved a hand and tried to laugh. 'You remember now, so it's alright.'

'Is it - is it true -' Leon swallowed, '- that you became a Pokemon Professor because of me?'

'Ugh, that Gloria.' The laugh that came out of her this time was slightly strangled. 'What did she have to go telling you everything for?'

'I think she was worried about you.'^{1. Gloria is a child and isn't worried about anything. She is simply a blabbermouth.}

'Well, there's nothing to worry about! I mean, I - I did decide to be a proper assistant that day because I saw you, and that Hop, so excited to go on his adventure and with his dreams of becoming champion - he was just like you were back then.' She turned to look at the fire too, finding it easier than looking at Leon. 'Gloria, too. They really reminded me of us when we were kids. I thought that if - well, you know, sometimes I hear the people in Wedgehurst talking about you, and sometimes they'll say something like, "And what about Sonia? She can't hold a candle to her old childhood friend."' She was silent for a moment, finding it impossible to continue. When she next spoke, it was in a much lower voice. 'I guess it did kind of start to get to me. So I tried to help Gran, but my heart wasn't really in it at first, so she was always giving out to me for messing up. So when Hop and Gloria came to the lab for the first time, I thought maybe it was time I really did something with my life.'

'But you know they were wrong, right?' Leon said. His voice was a whisper too, but it still held the same quiet fire. 'You don't have to do anything just because - I mean, I'm not better than you just because I was champion, and you don't have to do anything to prove yourself just because of me.'

Sonia said nothing for almost a minute. The only thing she could make herself say in the end was, 'Really?'

'Yes!' Leon leaned his weight on his hand on the grass between them and looked at her. She felt as if his gaze was burning a hole into her face, an intense warmth completely different from fire in front of them. 'Maybe it's easy for me to say that because I'm not in your position, but I really feel that way. Even before you became a Pokemon Professor, you were always helping me. I knew I could ask you for advice at any time, this whole time we've been friends. You're the most reliable person I know.'

Again, she didn't say anything for several seconds. She only realised that she was crying when she felt a tear fall off her face, and she hastily wiped her eyes. But no matter how much she wiped her eyes, she didn't seem able to make the tears stop. A cloth touched her hand, and she took the handkerchief Leon offered her. He always kept a handkerchief in his pocket - an old-fashioned affectation from his country upbringing.

'S-sorry,' she muttered, sniffing into the handkerchief.

'I think I'm the one who should say sorry for making you cry,' Leon said. He sounded guilty.

Charizard got up and sat next to her, leaning his large, warm body against her. Yamper burst out of the Pokeball in her pocket without her bidding, and jumped onto her lap, licking her face. Leon placed a tentative hand on her shoulder.

'Ugh, stop it you guys.' She took in a gulp of air and said, 'You're gonna set me off again.'

In response, Yamper licked her chin.

It was a few more moments before Sonia was able to calm down. She placed a hand on Yamper's back, and patted Charizard's neck with the other. Charizard had an incredible instinct for watching out for others. Perhaps it was no wonder. They say that people's partner Pokemon take after them, after all.

'Look at how big you are, Charizard!' she said. 'I still remember the day Gran gave you to Leon. You were the last one left after the kids had come to her for their first Pokemon that year. Leon was too young to get a big, tough Pokemon like a Charmander, but she knew he could handle it. I didn't believe her back then, but when we went on the Gym Challenge, you'd evolved into Charmeleon before we even got to the opening ceremony at Motostoke!'

Clearly pleased by her recollection of events, Charizard gave an appreciative snort. His hot breath washed over her face and it cheered her up immensely.

'I used to be kind of jealous of that, but actually -' She picked Yamper up and held him to eye level, pulling a kissy face at him. He barked and waved his little paws joyfully. 'You're the perfect size for a professor's assistant, aren't you? Yes, you are!' She kissed his nose and put him back down on her lap. To Leon, she turned and said, 'I'll wash your handkerchief and give it back to you tomorrow.'

'Don't worry about it.' He smiled, relieved that she had recovered. 'I - I'm really sorry that I made things hard for you.'

'You didn't, silly! It's not your fault.'

'I'm still sorry.'

'Fine, I forgive you.' She released a sigh, her breath still shaky from crying. 'I never thought I'd hear you say all that. It's not like I ever hated you or anything. Sure I started studying as a professor because of you, but I like it a lot now! I've seen so many interesting places and Pokemon, and met tons of interesting Trainers. I can't wait for the day some young Trainers come and ask me for their first Pokemon. You don't have to feel bad, Leon. You're an inspiration to me, just like you are to all the young Trainers around Galar.'

'Thanks. I know no Trainer will go wrong with you looking out for them. I mean, if you think about it -' He sat back on his hands, looking at her, '- I had you looking out for me on my Gym Challenge and became Champion, then you were looking out for Hop and Gloria on their Gym Challenge, and Gloria became Champion after me. That's two whole champions you've made.'

She burst into laughter. 'You know what, you're right! I'll put that on a sign outside the lab. "Wedgehurst Pokemon Lab: Where champions are born!"'

'That's perfect! Gloria will have all of the best challengers coming up to her thanks to you.'

'Right!' Sonia hugged Yamper to her chest and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath, then looked Leon directly in the eye. 'Thanks for all those nice things you said about me. You're really sweet. You know, I'm really proud of you, Leon! Whenever I see you on the telly, on a poster or a billboard, I think, "Look, that's my best friend!"'

'Aw, man. Now I'm gonna cry.' Leon laughed. She was sure that he was joking, but in the flickering firelight, it was impossible to tell. 'I feel the same way whenever I see your book in a shop, though. We're pretty even, after all.'

'You're right!' She put Yamper down and stood up. Leon stood up too, and she threw her arms around his neck. He hugged her back. She felt as if her heart would burst with gladness. 'Thanks, Leon. I feel really happy right now! You don't have to worry about a thing. I wouldn't trade being a professor for anything - not even for being a champion.'

'I'm really glad to hear you're happy,' he said.

Leon was a pillar of solidness, his smile as reassuring as the warmth of the fire. Was it any wonder that kids and Trainers around the region looked up to him so? They didn't even know the half of what made him so great - his love for the region, for Pokemon, other Trainers, down to his family and the people close to him. The public would never know, and still they adored him. Sonia felt her chest threatening to bubble over again in her pride in him, and she forced herself to move before she started crying again.

She stepped back and found her eyes wet again all the same. She blinked them away with an embarrassed giggle.

'Okay, enough getting all soppy! I'm going to go look for some hot chocolate. Want some?'

'Sure thing!'

'Alright, go and find your boyfriend and I'll bring some over for you guys.' As he turned to leave, she looked at Charizard and said, 'Thank you, too, Charizard. You keep watching out for Leon for me, right?'

Charizard nodded happily. He turned and went off after his Trainer, and Sonia ran into the house.