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Chapter Text

Yuuri had a plan to meet Victor Nikiforov, Sinnoh Champion, 5-time Master Rank Super Contest winner, and Yuuri’s idol for the past decade. The plan was that Yuuri would become the champion of his home region, Hoenn. Then, he would be able to meet Victor as an equal. Yuuri would compliment Victor’s shiny Alolan Ninetales, Makkachin, and then he would send out his own shiny Ninetales, Vicchan. Yuuri would mention how his parents found Vicchan’s egg abandoned in their hot spring resort in Lavaridge Town (it’s a very lucky place, see), and then Yuuri would casually invite Victor to come visit.

It would have been perfect, except Yuuri had never been able to get past the Elite Four (curse Drake and his Earthquake-ing, Rock Slide-ing Flygon), let alone beat the champion. After suffering a humiliating defeat, Yuuri had returned to Lavaridge in shame.

Then, well, one thing led to another, and somehow Yuuri ended up taking over as the town’s gym leader. It’s not that Yuuri minds being the region’s fire type gym leader (his beloved Vicchan is a fire type, after all), but it doesn’t allow him the freedom to travel like he used to, and he spends more time training the gym pokémon than his actual team, and…

And he’s never going to meet Victor like this.

He tries not to feel too disappointed. At least his job as a gym leader gives him the time and money to watch all of Victor’s competitions on TV and buy all the magazines with Victor’s face on them. Even now, Victor is still so inspiring to him.

But the point is that Yuuri had completely given up hope of actually meeting Victor in person. Which is why he’s absolutely unprepared to run into Sinnoh’s champion in the middle of Alola! In fact, Yuuri is absolutely unprepared to be in Alola, but he just couldn’t say no when the administrators of the Battle Tree asked him to come and accept challengers this season (though why they wanted him, of all people, Yuuri has no idea).

But Yuuri doesn’t get to have a professional first meeting with Victor at the Battle Tree. That, at least, might have allowed Yuuri some dignity. But no, Yuuri meets Victor at the Battle Buffet, and it’s a disaster.

Look, the Battle Buffet just brings out a nasty side of Yuuri, okay? You can eat as much as you want, but only if you can get to the food without somebody fighting you for it. And while Yuuri is genuinely going for the food, most of the customers are really only there for a fight.

Yuuri just wants to eat some Miltank Cheese Pizza in peace!

But today is not his day, because by the time Yuuri manages to defeat the cook who challenges him (and nearly knocks out Vicchan with his Golduck…) not only is all the pizza gone, but most of the other dishes have been depleted, too!

Disgruntled, Yuuri shuffles over to scrape up the last of the Rindo Salad. Next to it is a few lone strands of Tamato Pasta, and Yuuri, determined to come away with at least one non-salad item, reaches out for the tongs…

“Hey, can I have that?” someone asks, snatching the tongs up before Yuuri can get a word in.

And Yuuri, who’s as frustrated as he is hungry, snaps.

“Actually, that’s mine,” he insists, whirling around to glare at the interloper. “And if you want it you can fight me like every…” Yuuri chokes. “Every... one… e-else.”

Someone ought to take him to a Pokémon Center, because he feels like he’s just been knocked out.

There, right in front of him, is Victor Nikiforov. Holding tongs. Grinning.

You know what? No. Forget the Pokémon Center. Just leave Yuuri to die.

“A battle? Sure!” Victor chirps.

“No! I-I mean, you can have it! I didn’t mean to be so… so…”

Victor’s eyes are so blue. Yuuri can’t think straight.

“Too late!” Victor says cheerfully. “Our eyes met! Now we have to battle!”

Yuuri clutches nervously at Vicchan’s pokéball. He’d given his precious partner a full restore as soon as they’d finished their last battle, so Vicchan should be ready to fight again.

But… Can Yuuri actually battle Victor? In the middle of the mall? Over a few strands of pasta?

Yuuri’s next action could better described as dropping the pokéball than throwing it, but Vicchan comes out at Yuuri’s call, anyway.

“Wow! A shiny Ninetales!” Victor says delightedly. All nine of Vicchan’s silvery tails thump hard against the ground at Victor’s words, and in an instant, he’s bounding over to his namesake.

“A-Ah, Vicchan! Stop!” Yuuri calls.

Vicchan halts obediently just as he reaches Victor’s side, but he shoots Yuuri an incredulous look, as if to say “why aren’t you running over here?”

Yuuri flushes at his pokémon’s gaze. Vicchan is as big a fan of Victor as Yuuri is, but unlike Yuuri, Vicchan has never been shy.

“Beautiful one,” Victor says fondly, extending his fingers out towards Vicchan. “My partner and I would love to test our strength against you.”

Vicchan presses his head into Victor’s hand and lets out a trill. Victor chuckles as he brushes through Vicchan’s thick fur. Vicchan stretches a paw upwards, his tongue beginning to loll, and…

“Vicchan!” Yuuri calls before his pokémon can cuddle Victor to death. “Come here, please. We… We need to start the battle…”

Vicchan yips his assent, nuzzling Victor one last time before running back to Yuuri.

For a moment, Victor merely stands there, blinking. But then he shakes his head slightly and pulls out his own pokéball.

“We’re at a disadvantage, but that won’t matter, will it, Makkachin?” Victor coos. “Let’s do our best!”

With a flash of glitter, the shiny Alolan Ninetales enters the field. Immediately, the air around the combattants turns cold. Something hard hits Yuuri on the head, and he looks up to see crystals of ice collecting on the ceiling.

“Stupid weather effects,” a server mutters behind Yuuri as he rushes to cover the nearby dishes with a lid. Louder, to Victor, he adds “You know we charge an extra fee for weather-changing moves.”

“It’s Makka’s ability! She can’t help it!” Victor protests. “You didn’t mention anything about an ability fee!”

The server sighs heavily and mumbles something to himself. But Yuuri doesn’t have time to worry about him anymore, because it seems Victor has already turned his attention to the battle.

“Makkachin, set up Aurora Veil!” Victor orders.

Immediately, a veil of rainbow light surrounds the field. Yuuri’s seen Makkachin use this move on TV before, but it’s even more breathtaking in person. Yuuri’s so awestruck that it takes Vicchan crying out to bring his focus back.

“How cute! Your pokémon called out to catch your attention,” Victor laughs. “Isn’t it normally the other way around, though?”

The criticism burns Yuuri more than any Will-O-Wisp ever could.

“Ah… Uh… Use Flamethrower?” Yuuri directs his pokémon. It’s more of a question than an order, but Vicchan doesn’t hesitate.

A stream of flames hits Makkachin in the side, causing thick smoke to billow up. But when the smoke clears, Makkachin just shakes her fur out, looking unconcerned.

“I hope you weren’t counting on the type advantage to help you,” Victor says. “Because Aurora Veil halves the damage Makkachin takes—”

“Super effective moves will basically deal normal damage; I know! I know!” Yuuri cries out, raising his hands to cover his face. He shouldn’t have used Flamethrower, but he wasn’t thinking! He’d just called out the first move he could think of!

Vicchan yelps as a piece of hail strikes his nose.

This battle is not off to a good start.

“As long as you know what you’re dealing with,” Victor says, shrugging. “Makkachin, Extrasensory.”

Makkachin’s magenta eyes glow with psychic power, and Vicchan presses himself to the ground in order to bear the mental onslaught.

Yuuri knows that if he doesn’t do something quick, Victor’s going to wipe the floor with him. But his brain’s not working! In an attempt to buy himself some time, he begins digging through his bag. Pokéballs (useless)... Oran Berries (not helpful enough)... X Sp. Atk. (wait…)

“Vicchan, come here,” Yuuri calls out. Carefully, he gives his pokemon the stat-boosting item.

Vicchan trills and licks Yuuri’s hand appreciatively.

Yuuri feels more than a little guilty. Vicchan trusts him to come up with a plan, but here he is, just stalling...

Wait, wait, wait! What is he thinking? That is his strategy!

Yuuri facepalms.

“Vicchan, use Toxic!” he orders.

“Ice Beam,” Victor orders his own pokémon. Makkachin, the faster of the two, lands her attack first. It doesn’t do much damage, but on top of all the hail and extrasensory damage, Vicchan is starting to become visibly tired. Still, the Toxic hits its mark, and Makkachin whimpers as she’s struck with the poison attack.

Victor raises a finger to the side of his lips, humming.

“The damage won’t rack up quickly enough, you know,” he says. “Unless you’re planning on using an item to heal Vicchan. I won’t stop you.”

Yuuri grits his teeth.

“That’s not the plan,” he says, looking down. “Vicchan, Hex.”

“Double Team,” Victor orders.

Even though Makkachin executes her move first, Vicchan just strikes at all of the doubles. When his move hits the real Makkachin, she’s sent flying back by the strength of it.

Strangely, Victor smiles.

“Try another Extrasensory, Makkachin,” he orders.

Makkachin winces as she’s affected by Toxic, but she still begins to glow with energy.

“Just… Just use Hex again,” Yuuri orders Vicchan.

The two pokémon’s moves land at practically the same time, and they wince synchronously.

Again, the two pokemon wince in time, Vicchan from the hail, Makkachin from the poison.

Vicchan will probably faint in one more hit, but then, Makkachin will probably faint in two. Makkachin is faster, but…

“Vicchan, Protect!” Yuuri orders.

“Double Team!” Victor orders.

The Double Team doesn’t stop Makkachin from being hurt by the poison, and she looks about ready to faint. It’s a gamble for Vicchan to use Protect again, but there’s a 50-50 chance that it will work.

Yuuri is so caught up in his plan for next turn that he almost misses what happens on the field.

But oh, he sees what happens, alright. He just can’t believe it.

Vicchan cries out as a large hailstone strikes his pelt. With a pant, he collapses to the ground, closing his eyes exhaustedly.

“Wh-What?” Yuuri stammers ineloquently. He holds up his fingers to count the turns. First turn, stupid Flamethrower. Second turn, X Sp. Atk. Third turn, Toxic. Fourth turn, Hex. Fifth turn, another Hex. This was the sixth turn. The hail should have faded. Why hadn’t it faded???

“If you’re wondering what happened,” Victor says cheerfully as he sprays his pokémon with a Full Restore, “Makka’s holding an Icy Rock.”

Well, that makes sense. In fact, it’s the only explanation that makes sense. But Yuuri had never considered it, because in every battle Yuuri’s seen, Victor always, always gives Makkachin Light Clay to extend the duration of Aurora Veil. He never extends the hail. There was no way Yuuri could have possibly known…

“May I?” Victor asks, raising up a Max Revive as he approaches Vicchan’s unconscious form.

Yuuri can’t remember how to form words. His head trembles a little, which Victor seems to take as a nod, because he kneels down on the floor and gently places the Max Revive inside Vicchan’s mouth.

Slowly, Vicchan’s eyes open. As soon as he’s awake enough to see Victor, he jolts up excitedly, licking the champion on the cheek.

Victor smiles, clearly amused. Yuuri wants to die.

“Vicchan,” Yuuri whispers. Vicchan’s ears perk up at the sound of his trainer’s voice, and he immediately rushes to Yuuri’s side.

Yuuri sinks to his knees, wrapping his arms around his pokémon.

“I’m sorry, Vicchan,” Yuuri mumbles into silver fur. “You were so good. But I just wasn’t paying attention. I never get it right, do I?”

Vicchan lets out a whine, and Yuuri tries his best to fight back tears. He doesn’t want Victor to see him like this. It’s bad enough that he made a fool of himself in battle.

“You know, I won, but I’ve really got too much food to eat by myself. Maybe you could join me,” Victor says. Yuuri can’t see his expression because his face is buried in Vicchan’s fur, but he’s sure it must be an awful look of pity. Yuuri is glad he can’t see it.

“I can’t. I have to go,” Yuuri says, closing his eyes as he stands up. If he doesn’t look at Victor, maybe he won’t cry. He can just leave and spend the rest of his life in hiding.

“But you didn’t even eat your salad—” Victor starts.

“You can have it,” Yuuri says quickly. “Sorry, but I forgot I have to do something else right now.”

“But—” Victor starts, but Yuuri is already halfway to the door. Vicchan lets out a sad cry, but Yuuri can hear his pokémon’s footsteps following him, so he doesn’t bother looking back.

He holds up until he makes it back to his room at the Pokémon Center, where he cries into the Roserade Tea he’d ordered at the Center’s café (it had come with a free Lava Cookie, which only made Yuuri regret leaving Lavaridge Town even more).

“Why…” Yuuri sobs. “Why did it have to go like this, Vicchan? It’s not like I ever had a chance of winning anyway, but… I lost for such a stupid reason…”

Vicchan trills at him.

“I know he was nice,” Yuuri groans. “He’s so nice, Vicchan. I would never have named you after a jerk, but… I don’t want him to feel bad for me! I want to be his equal! I want to… beat him… someday…”

Vicchan presses closer, lapping at the the tears falling down Yuuri’s face.

It’s a very long night.

Chapter Text

Unfortunately, Yuuri isn’t in Alola on vacation, so even though he does not in any way feel better when he wakes up the next morning, he still forces himself to fly over to Poni Island for the Battle Tree. He hates having to rely on a Poké Ride Charizard, and he’d feel much better riding on his Altaria, but Alola, for some reason, doesn’t authorize trainers to fly on their own pokémon (without getting them a work license, at least), so he’s not left with a choice.

“Thank you so much for coming!” the receptionist tells him as soon as he arrives. “You know how the Battle Tree works, right? Challengers will come and battle our trainers. The more battles they win, the more points they’ll get, which will let them buy great prizes!”

Yuuri nods. It’s just like the Battle Tower in Hoenn. Yuuri’s been on both sides of the Battle Tower before, so it’s not like he’s new to the concept or anything. He has to admit that he likes the Battle Tree’s aesthetic a lot more, though.

“Great! We’re so excited to work with you, Yuuri. We think your presence will really draw people in!”

Yuuri doesn’t quite get it. Does having an easy gym leader at the Battle Tree encourage less confident trainers to try their luck or something? But Yuuri isn’t using his gym team… He fidgets with Vicchan’s pokéball nervously.

But at least he’s getting paid the same rate per battle no matter how it turns out. For once, Yuuri can actually try out some new strategies without having to worry about the cost of losing too much.

It all goes fine for about a week, and Yuuri’s even starting to enjoy himself a bit. It’s been a while since he’s been able to go all-out with his main team like this.

But then, two challengers come in wanting to do multi battles. And that’s when things take a turn for the anxiety-inducing.

“We need our trainers to pair up for this challenge,” the receptionist tells him. “We’re trying to match people up with others who have similar win/loss ratios. Um, your partner’s ratio is just slightly higher than yours, but he asked to team up with you specifically, so…”

Yuuri is confused for the two minutes it takes him to hike up to the floor where his partner is waiting. Then, he’s immediately horrified.

“Hi, Yuuri!” Victor Nikiforov greets as if they were friends. “Isn’t it great that we’re both here? I was wondering what the Lavaridge gym leader was doing in Alola, but once I found out I wasn’t the only one invited to the Battle Tree, it all started to make sense!”

“Y-You… You know who I am?” Yuuri chokes out. So much for his hopes of Victor not recognizing his random bespectacled Battle Buffet challenger. And so much for his hopes of not embarrassing himself in front of Victor anymore…

“Of course,” Victor says, sounding slightly offended. “I know I haven’t been to Hoenn in ages, but I at least pay attention to the official League newsletters! You took over so Flannery could move to Unova, right?”

“Yeah…” Yuuri agrees, sighing. He can practically feel his soul leaving his body as he speaks.

“I’ve been thinking I should challenge the Hoenn league,” VIctor says. “I’ve been taking challengers at the Sinnoh Pokémon League for so long that I’m itching to have another adventure. What do you think?”

“Huh?” Yuuri asks, unprepared for Victor to be asking for his opinion about anything. “Uh, yeah… Yeah, Hoenn’s nice! You should come! That would be hot!”

Wait.

That didn’t come out right.

Victor’s eyes sparkle a little too brightly, and Yuuri has half a mind to jump off the Battle Tree right now. Licensing restrictions be damned, nobody could stop him from flying on Altaria from here. Maybe Yuuri can go home and fling himself into Mt. Chimney. That’ll be hot, alright.

“I meant that it would be nice if you came, but Hoenn is hot!” Yuuri shouts. “Because there’s a volcano! And a desert, and… Uh, Fallarbor Town’s not that bad, because it gets cooled by all the ash, and, uh, you can find a few ice types up north in Shoal Cave, but I mean—”

“So what you’re saying is that I can get away with wearing little clothing?” Victor asks.

“Uh… technically, that’s true…” Yuuri says, picturing some of the outfits he’s seen swimmers walking around in (all the world’s a beach, apparently) But then he starts picturing Victor in those outfits, and that really, really, doesn’t help him right now.

But Yuuri is saved from further awkward conversation by the arrival of the two challengers.

Of course, all that means is that he now has to awkwardly battle with a teammate he’s never practiced with before. Great.

And it’s obvious that the two challengers they’re facing are very good friends. Perhaps even romantic partners. They exchange wordless glances before sending out their pokémon, their strategy probably having been planned out long before.

Yuuri glances awkwardly at Victor. They have no strategy. Yuuri doesn’t even know which two pokémon Victor brought for this.

But then, Victor’s probably good enough to handle one-on-two. Yuuri’s main goal right now is to not screw Victor up.

“You look like you have strong bonds with each other, but how about with your pokémon?” Victor asks the challengers as he steps forward. “Are they strong enough to carry you to victory?”

Yuuri steps forward as well. Part of his job is to say some sort of line before battle… But gosh, it was a lot easier for the solo battles, where he didn’t have to worry about what Victor had said!

“Please… show me how you fight together,” Yuuri ends up saying. “I want to appreciate your teamwork.”

It’s… really not anywhere near as good as Victor’s line. But Yuuri doesn’t have time to dwell on his inadequacies, because he has about 15 seconds to send out his pokémon before he’ll be forced to send out whoever happens to be in his hands.

It’s a tough decision. The challengers have sent out an Alolan Dugtrio and a Skarmory. Yuuri guesses they were hoping to fight VIctor, because those steel types are going to counter Victor’s fairies, hard. If Yuuri sends out Vicchan, he’ll have no problem taking out the Skarmory immediately, or even the Alolan Dugtrio in a couple hits, but if the Alolan Dugtrio gets in an Earthquake, it’ll be all over. Altaria, on the other hand, would be immune to Earthquake, but she doesn’t have any offensive moves that could take the opponents down.

Sighing, Yuuri goes for the first option. He’ll at least be able to take out the Skarmory and give Victor a better chance.

Victor takes one glance at Vicchan before he apparently makes up his mind. With a flourish, he sends out his Togekiss. Clouds of red, white, and blue confetti burst out of the pokéball as it opens.

An interesting choice. Togekiss, at least, won’t have to worry about Earthquake.

“Yuuri, do you trust me?” Victor asks quietly, stepping closer to Yuuri and covering his mouth from the challengers’ view.

“Uh…”

What kind of question is that? Of course Yuuri trusts the champion of Sinnoh to know how to battle, but what kind of terrifying stunt is he planning if he has to ask?

“Yes…” Yuuri murmurs.

“Can you take out the Dugtrio within three turns?” Victor asks.

“Two, probably,” Yuuri says.

“Even better. Do it.” Victor says.

“Hey, stop chit-chatting!” the first challenger demands. “If you won’t start this, then I will! Skarmory, use Stealth Rock!”

“F-Flamethrower on the Dugtrio, Vicchan!” Yuuri says quickly.

“What, you think your firefox is fast?” the second challenger asks, smirking. “Just wait until we lower your speed. Dugtrio, Bulldoze!”

“Terribly sorry, but I just can’t let you get mud on such a well-groomed pokémon,” Victor says. “Togekiss, use Follow Me!”

Togekiss makes a “come at me” gesture with her wings. Although it doesn’t even phase the Skarmory, it completely infuriates the the Dugtrio. Even though Vicchan’s flamethrower hits the Dugtrio right in the center of its faces, its eyes lock on Togekiss, and it begins to chatter angrily.

“Don’t go that way!” its trainer yells, but to no avail. It rushes towards Togekiss with all its might, but at the last second, Togekiss flies upward, leaving the Dugtrio to slam into the boundary of the arena.

Yuuri turns to look at Victor with the same sense of wonder he’s always felt for the older trainer.

“That’s a surprising new move,” Yuuri tells him. “What did you replace? Extremespeed?”

A second later, Yuuri’s bubble of awe bursts, and he flushes in embarrassment. Sure, Yuuri, tell him how you’ve memorized his entire team’s movesets, even the reserves’. Next you can tell him how you know all of his pokémon’s IV and EV spreads. While you’re at it, why not just ask him to autograph Vicchan’s pokéball? None of that will creep him out!

“I replaced Fly, actually,” Victor says, sounding completely normal and not at all like he wants Yuuri to stay at least one region away from him at all times (phew). “Temporarily, anyway. I don’t need it here, do I?”

“I guess that’s to be expected from a champion and a gym leader,” the first challenger says, startling Yuuri back into looking at her. “But that’s not going to set us back or anything. Skarmory, Spikes!”

“I may have a steel type, but I’m not inflexible!” the second challenger says. “Let’s see if you’re so keen on eating up a Rock Tomb!”

“We are, actually,” Victor says, nodding at his Togekiss, who ruffles her feathers challengingly.

“Vicchan,” Yuuri says, closing his eyes. “Vicchan, I need you to use a really, really powerful Flamethrower. Remember that time Takeshi stepped on one of your tails? I need you to channel that spirit. Think your fieriest thoughts.”

And Vicchan does, indeed, release a powerful Flamethrower that Yuuri is sure that the Dugtrio must be knocked out. But when the smoke clears… there’s the Dugtrio, clinging to life.

“A… A focus band?” Yuuri asks incredulously. “People still use those?”

“Oh my god!” the second challenger gasps, laughing. “This is the greatest thing ever!”

Yuuri turns miserably toward Victor. Victor just pats him on the shoulder.

“There, there,” he says. Yuuri wonders if he knows that he sounds way too happy for his words to come across as comforting. “You and Vicchan got the job done! Just wait about 30 seconds!”

Yuuri isn’t sure how that’s supposed to help, but he watches as the Dugtrio’s Rock Tomb attack is pulled towards Togekiss. The super effective move slams into her body… but it doesn’t do as much damage as Yuuri expects.

The challengers look surprised, too. But a second later, Yuuri understands.

“Vicchan, you’re the best!” he cheers as the opposing Dugtrio is knocked out by its burn.

Vicchan turns his head back to give Yuuri an adoring look.

“A ten percent chance to survive a knockout using the Focus Band. A ten percent chance for Flamethrower to burn,” Victor chuckles. “I think your luck cancels out.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the second challenger mutters, returning his fainted pokémon to its pokéball. “Whatever. Skarmory got to set up, and I got to hit your bird. It was worth it.”

The next pokémon he sends out is a Volcarona.

Yuuri’s not exactly afraid of a fire bug. Vicchan and Togekiss’s combined efforts take it down in a single turn.

But as it turns out, he should have been afraid of the Skarmory.

“Whirlwind!” The first challenger orders.

Vicchan gets pushed back into his pokéball by the strong wind, and Yuuri has no choice but to send out Altaria…

...Who gets hit by stealth rock. Well, there’s a quarter of health that she didn’t need to lose!

Togekiss gets in a Wish before the Skarmory sends her flying. Yuuri switches back into Vicchan, but unfortunately, he takes damage from both Stealth Rock and Spikes. Makkachin, too, takes damage from both.

But at least Makkachin gets partially healed from Wish! Vicchan pulls off a flamethrower, but it’s not quite enough to finish off the Skarmory before it finishes Vicchan off with an Aerial Ace.

Altaria’s not looking so good after getting another round of Stealth Rock damage, but at least Makkachin is able to take the Skarmory down before it can force Togekiss back in.

And then the first challenger sends in an Incineroar.

Now, this isn’t particularly good for Makkachin, who doesn’t have many offensive moves to hurt a fire/dark type. But it’s great for Altaria, who, once Mega-Evolved, can certainly take a few hits from either of those types.

… But first, everyone but Makkachin takes hail damage. Yuuri glances at Victor, who grins unapologetically.

Victor can probably see Makkachin’s imminent knockout, but he orders her to use Aurora Veil in a last-ditch effort to help. It won’t be as effective as it would be in a single battle, but hey, any damage reduction they can get is good.

Altaria Mega-Evolves and immediately goes for a Dragon Pulse, but the Incineroar is left with more than enough health to knock Makkachin out with a Flare Blitz and still survive the recoil damage.

Poor Togekiss is on the verge of fainting once the Stealth Rock stones dig into her. Her Extremespeed causes minimal damage to the Incineroar, but fortunately, the Incineroar falls to Altaria’s next Dragon Pulse.

“”Dang it!” the first challenger groans as she recalls her fainted pokémon. “We almost had you!”

And, just like that, Yuuri and Victor have won.

Yuuri can’t help but smile when he turns towards VIctor. To not only battle at Victor’s side, but to win? Yuuri will never forget this moment for the rest of his life!

Victor is beaming, too. And then, suddenly, Victor is hugging him.

“Yuuri!” Victor says breathlessly. “That was… fun!”

“Yeah,” Yuuri agrees. His smile is probably ridiculously sappy right now, but he can’t bring himself to care too much. “I… I don’t know how to describe it, but I’m just...”

His heart feels like it’s about to beat out of his chest, but it’s not a bad feeling at all.

“I’m happy!” Yuuri admits.

(“Oh my god,” the second challenger says. “You’d think they had never won a battle before.”

“Shh, let them have their moment,” the first challenger says, grabbing her companion by the arm. “We have to go record our streak, anyway.”)

“We… We can do this again, right?” Yuuri continues. “I-I mean, there will be more multi challengers eventually…”

“”That’s the plan,” Victor says as he pulls himself back. “I’m very serious about being your partner, Yuuri.”

“Partner?” That’s what Yuuri usually calls his pokémon, his most precious friends who’ve always fought at his side. Is it even possible to become that close to another human?

Maybe not.

But, if there’s one human in the world that Yuuri wants to fight alongside, it’s Victor.

Going back to single battles the next day almost feels… wrong.

Over the next few months, though, multi battles seem to pick up in popularity, and Yuuri finds himself battling with Victor more often than he battles alone. The two of them get shoved up to higher and higher floors, the administrators apparently deciding that they win too often at the lower levels.

The result is that Yuuri and Victor get fewer challengers. There are many days where they talk more than they battle.

“It sure is taking them a long time to get up here,” Victor says one evening as he stretches out on the ground in relaxation. His head rests at Yuuri’s side (all but in Yuuri’s lap, really…), and Yuuri’s fingers play with the tips of his hair (because that’s apparently a Thing now. Yuuri was mortified the first time he accidentally reached for Victor instead of Vicchan, but it turns out that Victor is surprisingly cuddly). “I thought they’d be a little faster. I heard one of them has an Entei. I’m sure they’re good enough to get to us.”

“A legendary pokémon?” Yuuri gasps. “I… Oh… I didn’t know we could bring them… I don’t actually have any, though…”

“Which one would you want, if you did?” Victor asks, his eyes glittering curiously. “A fire type like Moltres? Hmm, but I think a Shaymin would suit you better…”

“Hah, really?” Yuuri chuckles. Maybe the “Gratitude Pokémon” would be fitting for him. If he had a Shaymin, he could give its flowers to VIctor to show his thanks. But in that case… Shouldn’t he just give the whole pokémon to Victor? “Shaymin are really cute, but…” Yuuri continues, flushing lightly. “I always thought it would be nice to have a Jirachi.”

“So it would grant your wishes?” Victor asks.

“Why else?” Yuuri agrees. He still remembers exploring Meteor Falls when he was younger, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he might meet a pokémon that could make his dreams come true in the blink of an eye.

It had never happened, of course. And yet… Yuuri’s biggest wish was always to be on the same field as Victor… Isn’t that exactly where he is now?

Yuuri’s wish would be a little different, now.

“What about you, Victor?” he asks, shifting the focus away from himself. There’s only so much he could say about his hopes and dreams before it would start getting embarrassing. “Which legendary would you want?”

Victor hums in thought.

“Well, if you asked me which one I most want to meet,” he starts out slowly, “that would be Ho-Oh. Even just a glimpse would be enough…” he says, sighing. “But the one I most want to have on my team is Diancie, without a doubt.”

“You have a good shot at a Diancie,” Yuuri says. “They’re just mutated Carbink, right?”

“Yes, but it’s a rare mutation,” Victor says. “You’d sooner find five shinies than a single Diancie.”

“I guess they wouldn’t be legendary if there were swarms of them,” Yuuri says, chuckling.

“Imagine a Diancie horde battle.” Victor chuckles as well.

There are no Diancie battles, but at the end of the day, the legendary opponent they do face defeats them.

(As far as Yuuri knows, that team ends up clearing the entire challenge. Unsurprisingly. They have an Entei.)

Chapter Text

“What do you mean I can’t come back until tomorrow?” Yuuri exclaims one morning when the receptionist informs him that the Battle Tree is closed for repairs (a Clefable’s Metronome had turned into Spacial Rend and caused massive damage, apparently).

“Why don’t you enjoy some of the other things Poni Island has to offer?” the receptionist suggests, sounding awfully relaxed for someone whose place of employment just got shoved into and back out of another dimension.

The main problem with the receptionist’s suggestion, though, is that what Poni Island has to offer is… a lot of rocks.

Yuuri does make a stop in Seafolk Village, where he goes for a bowl of the village’s famous Z-noodles… which takes him all of about 45 minutes.

Maybe he should just go train? He has a couple of Medicham that he’s been meaning to level up, though he doesn’t think he can get them Battle Tree-ready before the season ends.

He intends to go to the Pokémon center to visit the PC, but he barely gets two steps inside before he’s being knocked to the floor.

“Oh, sorry, I— Yuuri! You’re still on the island?” Victor exclaims.

The fall didn’t really hurt—Yuuri’s had worse injuries from Zigzagoon—but he doesn’t complain when Victor helps him up, his hands brushing down Yuuri’s side as if to smooth out Yuuri’s (perfectly unharmed) clothing.

“Where else would I be?” Yuuri asks.

“Some of the other Battle Tree trainers were organizing a surfing competition,” Victor says. “Did they not invite you?”

“Uh…”

Now that Yuuri thinks about it, he’d seen a large group of trainers congregating at the entrance to the Poni Gauntlet when he was leaving… but he hadn’t really known any of them, so he merely waved when they called out to him and continued on his way.

“I must have missed them,” Yuuri says, letting out an awkward chuckle. “You didn’t go with them, either?”

“No, I thought…” Victor frowns as he trails off, but then he shakes his head. “I thought it wouldn’t be very enjoyable,” he admits. “Besides, I didn’t bring clothes suitable for surfing!” he adds with a laugh.

Victor, in his trademark heavy coat, doesn’t look like he brought clothes suitable for anything in Alola. He’s lucky he has Makkachin to keep him from getting overheated.

“I tried visiting Mina,” Victor continues, “She’s supposed to be the trial captain of this island, but she isn’t around. She’s probably out painting somewhere.”

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Yuuri says sympathetically. “Did you want to battle her? I know she uses fairy types, too.”

Victor shakes his head.

“I wouldn’t have said no to a battle, but I really only wanted to talk,” he says. “Compare notes, maybe, if she’d let me.” Victor sighs. “Obviously that plan will no longer work.”

There’s a beat of silence before they both speak at once.

“Yuuri, are you busy today, because I was thinking— “
“If you don’t have anything else to do, maybe we should— “

They break off at the same time, too. Yuuri would be much more embarrassed about it if Victor wasn’t looking at him so hopefully.

“Maybe we should?” Victor echoes.

“Maybe we should, uh, do something together,” Yuuri finishes. “We could go to Festival Plaza? I hear it’s a lot like going to a fair.”

“Oh, I’ve heard people talking about it, too,” Victor says, smiling. “It’s a popular place for couples to go on dates.”

Yuuri’s heart beats a little quicker.

“That’s right…” he says. He hadn’t exactly intended to ask Victor on a date, but now that the idea’s in his head, he can’t get it out.

But what if it doesn’t go right? Victor has always inspired him, but now that Yuuri knows what Victor is like in person… Now that Yuuri knows what it’s like to be together with Victor… If he messes up, he’d be losing a lot more than an idol!

“It doesn’t have to be a date if you don’t like it,” Yuuri says quickly. “All I want is to spend time with you. It doesn’t have to be… anything at all.”

Yuuri looks down, but before he can say more, Victor grabs his hands.

“You’re second-guessing yourself for no reason,” Victor says. “I’ve spent these past months hoping that you felt the same way I do.”

“The same as…?” Yuuri’s eyes snap upwards to meet Victor’s. Victor flushes as he inhales a bit too sharply, and Yuuri thinks (for what must be the billionth time since he was 12) that Victor has surely got to be the most beautiful person in the universe.

And with Victor looking directly at him like that… Yuuri’s heart melts faster than a Casteliacone in the hot springs.

“Come on this date with me, then,” Yuuri says, “and let me show you how I feel.”

It was a bold thing to say, and Yuuri’s not sure how he’s going to back it up. How can Yuuri show Victor how he feels when Yuuri himself isn’t even sure how to put it.

It’s… love, but not like anything he’s felt before. It’s not like what he feels for his pokémon, or his family, or his hometown. What can Yuuri possibly do to convey the entirely new emotion that Victor makes him feel?

The pokéballs and soft drinks sold at the stalls in Festival Plaza certainly aren’t going to cut it as gifts.

But as they pass one of the haunted house attractions. A little girl and her Butterfree come out with a sparkling heart scale between them, and Yuuri suddenly remembers the little addition to his pokédex he’d once caught in Ever Grande City.

“Victor!” Yuuri exclaims, halting abruptly at the side of the street. “Please wait here!”

As soon as Yuuri returns from accessing his PC, he places a pokéball into Victor’s hands. Victor holds it up to inspect it in the light of the sun for a moment before tossing the ball elegantly into the air.

“What a lovely Luvdisc,” Victor coos. The little pink pokémon gives a happy chirp as he wiggles into Victor’s arms.

“I-I didn’t know what else to give you,” Yuuri says, a little embarrassed.

There used to be a custom in Hoenn a long, long time ago of giving a Luvdisc as a gift to express one’s feelings of love. It was a deeply meaningful tradition back when Luvdisc were rare, but over time, their population grew, and, well, these days, it’s the most cliche pokémon you could possibly give to anyone you care about… Yuuri cringes internally a little when he thinks about how tacky it must seem.

But… at least Victor and Luvdisc are getting along? Victor is now sitting on the ground, petting Luvdisc with one hand while feeding him poké beans with the other. Victor’s grin is exactly the same shape as the Luvdisc in his lap.

It makes such a heartwarming sight that Yuuri can’t even regret his choice of gift.

Nevertheless… it’s possible that Victor may appreciate his new pokémon a little too much…

“W-Why did you bring Luvdisc to the Battle Tree?” Yuuri practically shrieks the next day when Victor sends out the small, weak water type out to face the challengers.

“He wanted to fight with us today,” Victor says cheerfully.

The poor challengers, a pair of ace trainers, look just as flabbergasted as Yuuri does, though their expressions quickly morph into one of smug confidence.

“I can’t believe I’m going to beat the Sinnoh Champion this easily!” the female ace trainer exclaims. Her male ace trainer partner nods seriously.

“Is that what you think?” Victor says, looking entirely too innocent. “Hmm, but you seem to be forgetting that I’m not alone here.”

That’s right. Victor is Yuuri’s partner. Literally, his battle partner, but…

Surely Victor brought Luvdisc for a reason.

“Victor and I have spent months training together,” Yuuri says. “He’s taught me so much about battling. Things that nobody else in the world could ever show me. No matter how the battle turns out, you always become closer to your teammates.”

And that goes for both pokémon and human teammates. Yuuri’s eyes shift toward Victor in his periphery, but he quickly focuses back on the challengers.

“And in that way, you can never really lose,” Yuuri continues. “Every time you battle, you always gain something. That’s what I’ve learned. So even if you manage to knock out our pokémon, we’ll still win… with the power of love!”

For a moment, everyone is silent.

Yuuri’s face grows red. He hadn’t exactly meant to speak his entire heart like that… See, this is why the Battle Tree should have just given him a fixed speech! He’s no good at ad libbing!

“G-Go, Altaria!” Yuuri chokes out.

Something hardens in the challengers’ eyes, and they quickly send out their own pokémon.

Victor gives a command to Luvdisc, but he never turns away from Yuuri. Yuuri doesn’t know what to say. Should he apologize? Should he take back what he said? He had only spoken his true feelings, but…

“You always surprise me,” Victor murmurs.

Yuuri gives a slight chuckle. It’s strange to hear someone say that to him. Usually, that’s what he’s thinking about Victor!

And when they emerge victorious from the battle (no thanks to Luvdisc—although the poor little guy tried his best, he’d really be better suited to being a Contest Pokémon), Victor surprises him yet again.

By kissing him. Passionately. The second the battle is over.

(“How come my boyfriend doesn’t kiss me when I win?” the female ace trainer asks with a pout.

“Maybe because you don’t win,” the male ace trainer mutters. When his partner glares at him, he raises his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, but what was I supposed to say? I only met you two hours ago!”)

“Did I surprise you, too, Yuuri?” Victor asks quietly from his position on the ground, where he’d landed when Yuuri had accidentally fallen backwards from the force of Victor’s tackle-embrace.

“Yeah,” Yuuri says, smiling. It might be the biggest understatement of his life.

“Good. It was the only thing I could think of that might surprise you as much as you’ve surprised me,” Victor says, his smile mirroring Yuuri’s own.

“Well, it worked.” Yuuri says. He doesn’t know what else to say.

And he doesn’t need to. Neither of them need to say anything. Instead, they stand up together, hand-in-hand.

“Wow! That was some stunning victory!” the receptionist congratulates them as they head out. “Both of those trainers saved that fight as their battle video, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets posted on the internet soon!” she says cheerfully.

“Soon,” as it turns out, means “about 10 minutes,” and boy, does this thing go viral. The fact that the battle video captured the kiss as well probably helped with that.

“I hear the facility’s rakin’ in so much cash that they’re gonna give us all a bonus,” one of the other Battle Tree trainers tells Yuuri. “‘Folks are flockin’ in ‘cause you big-shot trainers got your fanclubs and stuff flyin’ over to see ya! Man, I wish I had a fanclub!”

Gee, that’s not intimidating or anything! The last thing he needs is people trying to challenge him all the time! Besides, it’s not like he’s even that good! Sure, he’s winning a lot of battles, but that’s because he has Victor supporting him. Surely anyone in the world would be able to win if they had Victor pushing them forward.

The thought of failing now is horrifying. It had hurt to fail at the Elite Four. It had hurt every time he’d ever lost a battle… and Yuuri suspects it will continue to hurt, because that’s his personal weakness… but now… if someone were to challenge him to a serious battle, and he couldn’t win… it would look terrible on Victor!

And yet, beneath the apprehension, there’s a spark in him that he’s never felt before.

Yuuri hadn’t realized it until recently, but other people have asked to partner with Victor in the Battle Tree. Many other people have asked. Often. But Victor has turned them down every time in order to battle next to Yuuri.

And when they fight together, Victor’s eyes always shine with a thousand emotions. He fights like he used to in his youth, long before he became champion.

“It’s because of you,” Victor tells Yuuri when he points it out. “You make every battle exciting. For so long, all I could think of was how to keep pulling off win after win. It wasn’t until I met you that I realized I was missing something… vital.”

“What was it?” Yuuri asks.

“Love, of course.”

And that’s why part of Yuuri is glad at the idea of more challengers. Out of all the people in the world, Victor wants him. Victor loves him. And Yuuri would do anything to show how much Victor means to him.

Let the challengers come. Yuuri is more than ready to show his love to the whole world.

Chapter Text

Yuuri and VIctor spend the next several months claiming victory after victory. In multi battles, they eventually get pushed all the way up to the top level. The challengers have to beat every other team before they can face off against them. This leads to fewer battles, but ultimately to more intense ones as well. Yuuri definitely enjoys it, and his pokémon seem to enjoy it as well.

In single and double battles, Yuuri hangs around the upper levels, but he never quite makes it to the top floor.

(Well, of course he doesn’t. The top floor is always for Victor. Although lately, he’s been hangng around on whatever level Yuuri’s on, and only goes back up if Yuuri loses. Technically, there’s no rule against it, and it’s not like Yuuri’s going to complain. Victor’s great at analyzing battles, and he always seems to know exactly what Yuuri needs to work on most.)

The time Yuuri gets to spend with Victor is the happiest he’s ever been.

But everything has to come to an end eventually.

“I can’t wait to go home next week!” one of the other trainers tells him. “I never thought battling would be as hard as studying! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I can’t wait for class to start again!”

“Uh, yeah,” Yuuri says awkwardly. He’d always much preferred battling to studying, and he’s very happy that he already completed a university degree. At least he doesn’t have to worry about classes starting anymore!

He still has plenty of reasons to feel dejected, though. Of course, they all center around one thing.

Victor.

It’s not like Victor can just drop his champion duties to run off to Lavaridge with Yuuri.

But Yuuri, on the other hand, is just a gym leader. And it’s not like it would be difficult to find a replacement. Kenjirou Minami has been running the gym just fine for the past several months.

Is it worth it to leave behind the highest position he’s ever achieved?

It isn’t even a question. Victor is more important to him than being a gym leader is. Yuuri had never even asked for the job.

Yuuri feels okay about this decision. He’s dismayed to find that Victor does not.

“You can’t!” Victor insists when Yuuri tells him his plans.

“W-Why not?” Yuuri asks. Did he misread the situation? Does Victor want more space or something? “I… I would come on my own… I’m not asking you to… to take care of me or anything. So if you’re worried I’ll get in your way…”

“It’s not that,” Victor interrupts firmly. “Yuuri, please, don’t say that… like I don’t want you with me…”

His hard expression looks like it’s about to crumble. Yuuri’s heart crumbles with it.

“Sorry…” Yuuri says.

Victor sighs.

“I guess I had to tell you eventually. I… am not going back to Sinnoh when this battling season ends. I knew from the beginning that I would not,” Victor says.

“What?” Yuuri gasps, eyes widening. “But you’re the champion!”

“Not for long,” Victor says gravely. “I already have the paperwork ready. I just… thought it would be easier to mail it in from another region.”

“You really did plan this…” Yuuri murmurs. “Why?

“Battling became like a chore,” Victor says. “It was unbearable. I… told you about it.”

It’s true. Victor did open up to Yuuri, just as Yuuri had opened up to Victor.

That’s why Yuuri can’t accept it.

“You changed your mind, though,” Yuuri says. “You love battling. I can see that you do. You shouldn’t walk away from what you love… not if you don’t have to.”

“I’m not,” Victor says, smiling slightly. “Yuuri, you’re the one who showed me the meaning of love. I’m going wherever you’re going.”

“Oh…” Yuuri can’t help the slight upturn of his lips. Victor’s plan was the same as Yuuri’s, then.

“But wait, what were you going to do before you met me?” Yuuri asks.

“Oh!” Victor laughs suddenly. “I was going to go meet you! In Lavaridge, I mean. You did invite me, even if it was quite a while ago..”

Wait. What?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it couldn’t have been me who invited you,” Yuuri says. “Victor, I met you for the first time here in Alola!”

“What?” Victor exclaims. He’s lucky he wasn’t drinking anything, or it would have sprayed everywhere. “Yuuri, you don’t remember? I met you on Victory Road in Hoenn. It was just after that Cao Bin guy beat the champion, and you, ah….”

Oh… Yuuri remembers the day Cao Bin beat the champion, because it was the same day Yuuri lost miserably to Drake and decided to give up. There had been a party celebrating Cao Bin’s victory, and there had been champagne, and… Oh, no.

“I must have been horribly drunk,” Yuuri groans.

“That does explain why you were out dancing with your pokémon in one of the most dangerous places in the region,” Victor says, nodding. “But I’m glad you were. When I saw you having fun with your team, I realized that it had been… a long time since I felt like that. You were like a Thunder Shock to my system,” he says. “I knew ever since then that I had to do something different with my life. I just didn’t know what exactly I wanted… until I got to meet you again.”

“Victor…” Yuuri murmurs. “I…”

He clasps their hands together.

“I’ve known what I want since the moment I saw you for the first time. I’ve always wanted to stand by your side, as an equal. And that’s why I have to ask you… Please! Stay the Sinnoh champion for just a little while longer!” Yuuri exclaims. “I want to go to Sinnoh! I want to challenge the League, and when I finally face you…” Yuuri gazes intently into Victor’s eyes. “I won’t hold back, Victor. I’ll take the title from you myself. So, please…”

Victor squeezes Yuuri’s hands. For a moment, he stays quiet, and then…

“Okay,” he says.

“R-Really?” Yuuri asks hopefully.

“With the way you battle, it’s completely ridiculous that you aren’t a champion already,” Victor says. “If we both go all-out, I don’t know if I’ll win. I can’t tell you how exciting that is, Yuuri,” he says. “So I’ll stay the champion just long enough to see you defeat me. Don’t keep me waiting, alright?”

Yuuri can’t fight the grin spreading over his face. He nods determinedly.

“I promise.”

(One year and eight Sinnohan badges later, Yuuri keeps his word.)