Atop the Mountain

Chapter 5: Icarus

Several times throughout the years, Raihan would go to Milo and complain about his farm's Herdier crying in the night. Deep down, Raihan knows- has always known, that the sounds he hears at night, or during the daytime when no one is around, aren't the little dog Pokemon.

He's known of the heroes who climb Eternatus mountain since he was old enough to hear such tales. His fathers have always dismissed them as foolish, a death trap.

Raihan doesn't want to hear the howling, but he does.

Louder and louder, every year.

"I never hear my Herdier you know, Rai," Milo says, leaning against the side of the barn. "Are you sure you aren't just getting night terrors? You know, my ma' has a lovely home remedy--"

Raihan flushes and dips his head, "No- it's fine. It's probably just wild ones, in the woods."

Milo says nothing, but a frown tugs at the corners of his mouth. They both know that isn't true.

Everyone knows when Leon is back in town and, inexplicably, everyone also seems to think Raihan should be the first to know. He's expressed countless times that no, he absolutely doesn't care, the fluttering in his chest be damned. He doesn't. He cares about helping his father run the library and museum. That's what he has to focus on right now.

Delicately, Raihan wipes dust off a marble bust of a muscular, bearded man. Basil had been sure that it was modeled after a Galarian king, from before the rise of Eternatus. There's an electric buzzing sounds next to Raihan's ear, and he waves his hand around near his head, "Shoo, Rotom," he whispers, though there's no force behind his words.

The Pokemon- a small orange ball of electricity, zips incessantly in front of his face, waving its little lightning-bolt arms.

Leon found Pokemon. He went into the woods and sought out friendly, lost or injured monsters, and he took him in. Raihan never went looking, but Duraludon, Rotom, and, as of last week, Trapinch, always managed to find him. The Rotom, in particular, had been hiding in some old electrical equipment that he and Aspen had been trying to repurpose. The thing had shot out of the tangle of wires, damn near knocking Raihan on his ass.

And then it just kind of never left.

"What is it?" he hisses, trying again to edge around the pokemon. Soon enough, the answer to his query comes in the form of his father's chipper voice.

"Leon! Lovely to see you, my boy."

Raihan can't help it. He turns, brushing a stray loc out of his face. Leon is staring right back at him, golden eyes wide, holding the same question they've held for the past three years. A request for forgiveness. For things to go back to how they were.

They can't, of course. Regardless, Raihan's traitorous heart pounds in his chest as Leon tears his gaze away, facing Aspen as he hands over his binder, "I tore it," Raihan barely hears him whisper.

Rotom zips over to Leon, buzzing happily and waving its arms. It's always liked Leon- all his Pokemon do. Everyone does. Raihan drags his feet over, avoiding those burning golden eyes at all cost.

"Now how did you do this?" Aspen sighs, flipping the garment inside out.

"Er," Leon's eyes manage to find Raihan's once again, "removing it... in haste."

Raihan looks away, trying to hide the lump settling in his throat at Leon's words. He knows that Leon's dabbled in romance and... other things. Aspen says that he's hiding from his feelings, that he can tell by the way Leon looks at Raihan that he still cares for him most of all, but Raihan thinks, more and more, that those might just be the words of a father trying to make his son feel better about his ceaseless infatuation.