People can be cruel, sometimes. Milo isn't a stranger to that concept. He's a top trainer, after all. One of the eight gym leaders of the major division of the league, despite his general fun-only approach to battling. He's among the top of the top, and sometimes that still blows Milo's mind, because really – really and truly – Milo is just a farm boy from Turffield.

He knows how to handle more wooloo than a single person should ever have to wrangle. He knows the best time to harvest the orchards and he knows how to keep the earth healthy and productive to have another harvest the next year and the year after that. He knows how to fix any problem that comes up with his equipment from harvesters to augers. He even helps out his neighbors if he can. Milo usually doesn't think of himself as the smartest guy around, but he sure knows how to estimate yield and profits based on how the crops are doing and the market at the time. All the things he's got to do.

He's a farmer, really, and that's not anything special. Sometimes, when he heads out to Wyndon for the league, or the challenge brings by some truly special trainers to try for his badge, well, he can get just a little bit overwhelmed.

Milo knows he isn't the greatest trainer ever. He'd have to be really something special to be, with how much work he's got to do outside of training. It's not anything he'll ever complain about – he loves what he does, farming and gym work alike, but he knows he'll never be on the same level as the undefeated champion Leon. That's just not him. Leon lives for the spotlight. Milo doesn't doubt that he has fun in his battles, but Milo doesn't quite see the same fun in focusing on victory as much as Leon does. It doesn't much matter to Milo whether he wins or loses, so long as it's a fun battle, and he's at least smart enough to know that that's why he's considered the weakest gym leader.

But… as much as Milo doesn't care all that much about winning, it does hurt a little to be called weak. He doesn't have the best battle record – certainly not anything amazing like Leon's undefeated streak – but Milo thinks he's earned his place among Galar's major league gym leaders. Not everyone agrees with that, though. It's on his most recent trip to Circhester that Milo gets a little more fed up with it than he'd like to admit.

He finds some time, and he remembers that Ms. Melony is handing the Circhester gym off to her son, and Milo thinks maybe he can offer them some hands to ease the transition and get some good training against the ice types that live around there, too. So, of course, he calls up Ms. Melony to ask about it and she just about snatches him out of Turffield herself with how quick she is to accept.

It goes well, too. The people of Circhester are friendly as can be, Milo gets a rare chance to visit the Heroes Bath, and he pitches in more than a little with some heavy lifting for the gym remodeling – but he doesn't mind that one bit. No, that's exactly what he offers his help for. But then Ms. Melony is practically bursting at the seams for her son's first ever exhibition match as an official gym leader, and Milo is as good an opponent as any (Milo thinks Ms. Melony especially wanted Milo's type advantage over Gordie – she can be a bit mean like that when it comes to battles, even if she's sweet as can be outside of them) and Milo thinks that sounds like a grand idea. A fun battle before he flies back to Turffield is just what he needs.

But it turns out Gordie is one of those influencer types. Milo knows about this already, and he's battled other trainers like that, too – Raihan does the same thing – and it's not like gym matches, or even exhibition matches, are private affairs, so he doesn't pay any mind to the cameras.

But some combination of factors – Gordie being so green in the major division, the increased social media presence of the battle, Milo's type advantage – leads to more than a few comments wondering just why Milo is a gym leader at all, when he has so much advantage over Gordie but still loses a silly little exhibition match.

And it makes Milo mad. He doesn't like feeling mad, but he just can't help but be frustrated by it. He's so proud of Gordie for winning that match! He had a lot of fun in that match, and it looked like Gordie did, too! But all people are caring about is Milo not being competitive enough or strong enough or that he just doesn't care enough and how maybe he shouldn't be a gym leader at all if he can't take battles seriously.

Milo knows he should ignore it. Those people pop up at every match of his, and Milo knows even super popular leaders like Raihan have those people, too. But Milo sure does seem to have a lot of them. And he thinks maybe, if he really doesn't hold back, that would show these people what he's capable of. If he battles and really lets loose, even if he feels bad about it afterwards, maybe that would show the people that he knows what he's doing. That he deserves to be the leader that he is.

But he just can't. He's the first gym leader. Even if he wants to, he can't go all out against new trainers. And even in the tournament at the end of every season, Nessa and Kabu and Raihan all want that championship way more than Milo does. Milo would probably hate being champion. He's just a farm boy, and he gets more time away from the fields than most farm boys, thanks to his family, but he's still needed and as champion he wouldn't be working out of Turffield anymore. Even if he did beat Leon, he'd have to turn down the position, and Milo would really rather not take the spot in that finals battle from someone else who wants it so much more.

"Oh, ignore them, Milo." Ms. Melony coos, looking over his shoulder at his phone, where several nasty comments are displayed. "They don't know what they're talking about."

Milo grumbles a little in thought. "I don't know, Ms. Melony. I usually do ignore them, but…" He sighs. "I guess I just can't help but let it get me down a bit."

"Oh, poor dear." Milo smiles when Ms. Melony hugs him. She has the best hugs. Almost as comforting as Milo's own mother's. "If it really bothers you, you could always show them how wrong they are. I know you hold back in battle."

"Naw, I can't." Milo doesn't bother protesting that he gives every battle his all. It's never been a secret. It's part of why people judge him so harshly. "I always feel bad if I go too hard on them."

Ms. Melony just laughs. Clear and cool like ice, but with a warmth of a mother's fondness. "You don't have to go all out against a challenger, sweetie. You've got a lot of very strong friends. Any one of them could handle you at your best. Nessa practically begs for it, doesn't she?"

Milo fidgets with his bandanna, covering part of his face with it as he ducks his head. An uncomfortable feeling in his gut roils at the thought of pulling out all the stops against Nessa. She's named him her rival, but… "I can't." He insists. "Nessa has got a type disadvantage, and we work so close that I just want our battles to be fun. I try to push her, but I don't want to make a whole thing about it just because of some nasty comments."

Ms. Melony hums lightly. "Well, no offense to Nessa, of course, but if you really want to prove how strong you are, you want to aim for the top, anyway."

"The top, huh?" Milo stares down at the phone in his hands, wondering. Would a challenge like that even make a difference?

"Just something to consider." Ms. Melony winks and lets him go with one more hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Travel safe, now."

Milo smiles for her. "I will. Thank you for having me, Ms. Melony."

"Thank you for helping us with the gym! We would have never gotten all those boulders in just right without you, dear."

Aw, and that cuts to the heart. Milo feels his face warm and he hides behind his bandanna once more. "I didn't do much."

"Nonsense. Oh! And do say hello to Leah and Samuel for me, will you?"

"Of course, Ms. Melony." Milo grins and waves to her. "Goodbye!"

He clambers into the flying taxi and keeps waving until Ms. Melony is tiny, and then he turns his attention back to his phone. Aim for the top. He thinks, echoing Ms. Melony's words. There's surely some truth to them. If he can prove his strength against Galar's top trainers, then he can prove beyond a doubt that everything these people are saying about him is nothing but lies.

But who, if he does this? It has to be an exhibition match. With nothing on the line, Milo won't feel so bad if he wins, because the loser won't miss out on anything. But who? Leon? Milo would get his butt handed to him, which would only make the gossip worse, and he's not even sure Leon would accept an exhibition match against a farm boy from Turffield. It's not like Milo hasn't thought about how he would face Leon's team, but if he loses, he'd only end up worse than he already is, and if by some miracle he does win… well, that might be even worse in the entire other direction.

The next step down is Raihan, and Raihan does seem to like Milo well enough. He just might accept the challenge. Heck, if Milo shows how serious he is about giving it his all, Raihan would probably be more thrilled than the wooloo after a shear. He does love a good battle, after all. There's a specific look on Raihan's face that only comes out in battles like those. Wild and uncontained and bright like the sun. Milo's never quite given Raihan a battle to bring that out of him before, but he's sure if he applies himself, he can show Raihan the kind of time that Raihan loves. And to stand toe to toe with the gym leader that everyone says could be champion if anyone but Leon were on the throne would surely prove Milo deserves his place in the major division, right?

Raihan loves to post about his battles online, too, so it'd serve Milo's purpose of showing everyone how strong he can be, too. The only problem is that Milo would have to actually stand up to him in battle and not cave into going easy. But it's Raihan. Milo knows that if he wants any chance of beating Raihan he can't go easy on him. And Raihan gets the most fun out of the most intense battles, so… then maybe it all comes down to Milo's skill.

Maybe he just isn't strong enough to beat Raihan. Raihan has come so close to beating Leon, after all. He's just a hair behind the champion, and so if Milo doesn't have any hope against Leon, does he really have any hope against Raihan? Maybe he should aim lower. It's his battle with Gordie that spurred on these comments he's looking at; maybe beating Gordie will solve the issue.

"…but if you really want to prove how strong you are, you want to aim for the top."

With Ms. Melony's words rattling around his skill, Milo shuts off his phone. It's true. Losing to Gordie is a blow to Milo's reputation because he should have won. If he's supposed to win, then winning isn't going to do anything to change how people see him. He has to take on a challenge he's not supposed to. He has to aim for the top.

He has to beat Raihan.

Easier said than done. Still, if Milo spends the rest of his taxi ride watching old videos of Raihan's battles, then that's nobody's business but his own.

Nessa is angry with him. Milo should have seen this coming, but when she slams open the doors of his gym, he's totally surprised to see her. He can tell from the way she holds herself, tense, stern, practically vibrating with… probably rage. Her eyes hold so much power in them it's like being washed away by a tsunami when she glares at him.

Milo nervously fumbles with his bandanna, trying his best to hide despite knowing nothing is safe from her crashing wave. "H-hey, Ness!" He greets her as cheerily as he can. Leah and Samuel, his best trainers, somehow disappear, leaving him all alone to face her. Great. "I wasn't expecting you today!"

"What is this?!" Nessa hisses, shoving her phone into his face.

Milo gulps and grabs the phone to steady it. On the screen is Raihan's cheeky grin, in Hammerlocke's training stadium, and dragons running wild in the background. Nothing odd, or incriminating, but then Milo reads the caption. "So TurffieldGymOfficial just sent me an interesting challenge. Have to be at the top of my game with Milo coming for my throat!" And then about a million emojis, but Milo has to admit he doesn't actually know what Raihan's trying to say with those. There's another picture in the photoset, and Milo has a sinking suspicion, based on Nessa's seething, that he knows what it is.

With dread, he swipes to the next picture. And, yes, it's a screenshot of Milo's texts, issuing the challenge. And making it very clear that he wants to hold nothing back. Looking at it now, it actually seems pretty aggressive. Milo pales. He really should have expected that Nessa would be angry with him.

"I've been trying to get you to fight me for real for years!" Nessa yells. It's out of character for her to yell. She must really be out of sorts over this. Milo covers his face. Oh, no. I didn't want to upset Ness. "And now I find out that you just randomly sent a challenge to Raihan?! Seriously, Milo?!"

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Milo mutters, feeling like an absolute jerk.

Nessa sighs sharply, snatches her phone back, and crosses her arms. "I thought your only rival is yourself. Or, do you just not think I'm worth the title?"

"It's not that, Ness! Raihan isn't my rival, or anything like that."

Nessa groans and pinches the bridge of her nose. After a deep breath, she says, "What's going on with you?"

Milo ducks his head, unable to meet her gaze. "Nothing!" He says. "I just… want to prove I'm not weak."

There's a hiss, and a sigh, and Nessa says, "That's what this is about? Those dumb comments?"

Of course, she knows. It's not like the other leaders don't see the comments, and it's not like Milo hasn't ever told Nessa that they bother him, sometimes. Them and Kabu are thick as thieves, as far as the leaders go. Of course, he's told her. He's even used her advice on dealing with it. Being a model and a gym leader, Nessa has to deal with a lot more attention – positive and negative – than Milo does. Still, now that he's gotten himself into this and his exhibition match with Raihan is definitely going to happen, he can't help but feel a bit… silly about it. A bit ashamed that he let it get to him and escalated it to this.

"Fine." Nessa says finally. "If that's why, then I forgive you. But if you're challenging Raihan, you better beat him. Understand? If you're serious about going all out, then there's no way my rival can lose to him."

Milo hears the words under her words, and chuckles. "I don't know if I'll win, but don't worry. I don't plan on embarrassing you."

"Not good enough. It's that exact kind of mindset that holds you back, you know. You go in there, and you go in to win." Nessa pokes Milo's chest hard, but playfully. She's a bit competitive with Raihan, Milo knows. Nothing like she is with Milo himself, since he's her self-proclaimed rival, but all the jokes about Raihan and Nessa being siblings make both of them try their best to one-up each other when they can. Milo is… pretty sure they aren't actually related. But even they go with the joke a lot of the time, so he's not totally certain. "Let's train together." Nessa says. "I have to make sure you destroy him."

The doors to the gym open, then, and Milo turns to address his guest, expecting, at this time of day and year, a maintenance worker or a doctor or scientist wanting to take a look at the gym pokémon. Maybe a parent asking about enrolling their kid in classes. But when Milo catches sight of who walks into his gym, they're none of those things. Milo's jaw drops to the floor, because a surprise visit from Nessa is one thing – they mostly meet in Motostoke but they do visit each other all the time, especially in the off-season – but a visit from the champion? Milo can only guess what Leon wants in his little gym.

He walks in, cape billowing, Charizard trotting along behind him obediently. Then, he spies Milo and Nessa and grins and calls out to them and waves as he jogs over. "Milo! I was looking for you! Nice to see you, too, Nessa! Wasn't expecting to find you here."

Milo chuckles. "Oh, she just came to chew me out about that whole challenge with Raihan."

"Oh, really?" Leon arches his brow. "Funny, I came to talk to you about that, too!"

"Y-you did?" Milo has to fight the urge to hide. This is getting a whole lot bigger than I thought. I never expected Leon to take an interest in it!

"Of course, I did! Dude, do you have any idea how excited Raihan is for this? When he's not training for it, he's talking my ear off about how legendary it'll be! You're really getting him going, you know!"

Oh, that strikes to the heart. Raihan is that excited over a battle with Milo? Little old Milo? He's got to be exaggerating. Milo thinks. He's just a farm boy, after all. Nothing special. Raihan fights more impressive opponents daily. Sure, Milo wants to win, and he does think he can, but… he's really not worth that much hype. Milo does hide now, with that strange mix of embarrassment and warm flattery in his chest.

Honestly, Milo is lucky that Nessa is there, because he's a bit too flustered by Leon's implications to properly respond. "That sounds like Rai." Nessa says. "But why'd you come here? Shouldn't you be with your rival?"

"Are you kidding?" Leon gasps. "Milo's finally going to go all out! I came to offer to help him train! No one knows Raihan's strategies like I do." He hits his own chest proudly. "And I want to make sure this is the battle of the century! With Milo at his best, everyone's going to have a champion time!"

Nessa snorts, smirking wickedly all the while. "If you want to make sure it's a good battle, you should go help Raihan." Milo squeaks in protest but can't quite manage words yet. The last thing he needs is Leon helping Raihan. Milo's already taking on a herculean task just battling Raihan in the first place! "We wouldn't want Milo embarrassing your greatest rival, now, would we?"

Leon cackles. "Don't worry about my rival, Nessa. Besides, there's nothing I can tell him that he doesn't already know. I'm no more familiar with Milo's full strength than he is. That's something you should be talking to him about."

Nessa giggles wickedly, covering her mouth with a hand. Milo has a really bad feeling about that look in her eyes. "Now there's an idea."

Leon's golden eyes light up, and Milo feels like he's lost (or won? He's not sure) the lottery. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Rival boot camp." Nessa says, holding her hand out to Leon. "I'll prep your man; you prep mine."

Leon takes her hand and shakes it firmly. "This is going to be brilliant!" That's a deal with the devil if Milo's ever seen one. Though, he's admittedly not sure if Raihan or he just pulled the short straw. Leon's great, but… Milo, training with the champion? A farm boy working directly with Galar's undefeated champ? It's just too much!

It's not like they haven't ever worked together before. Milo knows Leon better than most, since he's a gym leader and all, but still! This is personal training they're talking about! How many trainers in Galar alone would kill for this? But for some reason Leon takes an interest in plain old Milo? Aw, geez.

Milo never intended for any of this! He just wants to prove to Galar that he's not as weak as he seems, not stir up a whole mess of excitement! He certainly never intended for Leon himself to come and train him!

"You're free for the next few days, right, Milo? Surely you set the time aside for training." Leon asks.

Milo doesn't take his hands from his face even as he nods. He is free, and he was planning to train, but it seems like things are still going to go quite a bit differently than expected.

"Great! Then come with me! We're going to get you ready for that battle, don't you worry! You'll blow Raihan away!"

I really just want to eke out a win. Milo thinks. All he manages to say, though, is, "I-if you say so." The next thing Milo knows, he's being dragged by the arm through Turffield all the way to the train station. "Wait, Leon, where are you taking me?"

Leon just looks back over his shoulder and flashes a smile. "Home, of course! We're going to train back in Postwick! That way, Raihan will never catch a whiff of what we're planning!"

"Postwick!" Milo squeaks. "Aw, geez. Okay, okay, uh…" Still being dragged along, he fishes his phone out of his pocket to text his trainers that he'll be out of town until after his match with Raihan. They can handle the gym for a few days, it's the off-season, after all, so it should be fine, but Milo can't help but worry with how sudden this all is.

By the time Milo sorts things at the gym out with Leah, he's already on the train, and then he's listening to Leon talk and talk about Raihan's style and watching videos of old matches and trying to take in strategies that Leon thinks will work and it's all just too much.

But Milo is used to a lot going on at once. Harvesting grain has a lot more to pay attention to than his trainers, a video, and the champion's commentary. Even if he's a bit surprised and a lot unsettled, it's nothing he can't handle. He listens carefully to all of Leon's wisdom, answers hushed questions about the team he plans on using, and the strategies he's preparing, and pays careful attention to strategies Raihan likes.

It goes on for forever, but it seems like no time at all before they're pulling into the station in Wedgehurst and Leon is dragging him off to sleepy little Postwick.

Milo has to admit, he's extremely nervous to train with Leon in Leon's own hometown. But all in all, Postwick is a lot like a smaller Turffield. They're both farming towns, and the fields and the wooloo go a long way to putting Milo at ease. He's already pretty stressed about what he's managed to get himself into, so he worried he won't be able to focus in such a different environment, but no. Postwick feels very much like home to a farm boy like Milo.

And when the first thing Leon does when they finally enter a gated property is cheerfully greet and roughhouse with the wooloo that clearly know him well, Milo realizes that maybe the undefeated champion Leon isn't all that different from a farm boy like him, after all. Milo doesn't pretend to know all that much about Leon. They're about the same age, but Leon is the champion, and Milo isn't anything special at all. They're friendly, of course, but Milo doesn't know Leon's personal life. He never suspected that Leon is a farmer, too.

That's… actually really inspiring. Maybe Milo really hasn't bitten off more than he can chew with this exhibition match. Maybe a farm boy really can beat the dragon master.

"Lee! You didn't say you were coming home!" A boy comes flying out of the wooloo to tackle Leon to the ground, and Milo laughs because his sisters do the same thing. He at least knows who this is. Leon's little brother, Hop. No one else he could be.

"Ahaha, I know, Hop, I know! Sorry I didn't call ahead. But unfortunately, this isn't a social call."

Hop looks over to Milo, then, as if just noticing him. Milo waves to the boy, eager to make a a good first impression. "Wow! You're Milo! Turffield's gym leader! This is so cool! You battle with Nessa in the last cup was out of this world!"

Ah, to be so young and so easily entertained. Truthfully, both Milo and Nessa were left feeling a bit unsatisfied by that particular match. Milo really didn't give it the effort he should have. He always has a hard time, especially in the championship cup, when facing Nessa. It's not that he doesn't trust her ability, he just doesn't want to risk his type advantage stealing away her chance to face Leon, is all, and since he doesn't really want the championship himself… well, Milo is at least glad that Hop enjoyed the match.

"Hey, did you see the news?" Leon asks eagerly.

Hop lights up even more, if that's possible. "Oh! About the exhibition match! With Raihan?! Is that why you brought Milo here?"

"It is! We're going to go start some secret training. If you can go let Mum know we're here for us, I'll let you watch!"

"I'll tell her right now!" Hop positively zooms off towards the nearby house, screaming, "Mum!" at the top of his lungs.

Leon laughs, watching Hop's back. "That's my little brother, Hop."

Milo giggles a little himself. Hop reminds him a lot of his own siblings. "He seems like a good kid."

"Oh, the best." Leon sighs, a little more wistful than Milo is used to hearing from him. "I wish I could spend more time at home with him."

Yeah. And that's why Milo doesn't want to be champion. At least where he is, Milo can go home after the work day. "He really looks up to you." Milo says.

Leon's eyes are far away, fondly considering the door of his home. "Yeah…" He shakes his head sharply. "Alright, come on. I already said he can watch, so we've got to show him a champion time, yeah?"

Milo lets out a hearty laugh. He really can't agree more. "You bet. I'm looking forward to learning from the undefeated champ!"

Milo isn't sure what he's expecting from boot camp with Leon, but this isn't it. Leon takes pokémon battles totally seriously, sort of the opposite of Milo, in that sense, even if they both have fun doing them. Training is the same way. Leon is hard on him. Accommodating, but hard. Only years of Milo's personal training make going so hard in such a peaceful little place possible for him (a peaceful field is pretty much the only place to train at in Turffield, at least until Milo took the position of gym leader and got access to the stadium's training field), but Leon doesn't hesitate to push Milo to his and his pokémon's limit.

One by one they go through Milo's team, working individually with each and going over what needs to be better, and even Leon is tuckered out by the time they finish for the day. Or, well, finish training, anyway. They aren't finished by a long shot. After all, they still need to do all the aftercare with the pokémon, make sure everyone's okay after such an intense training session. They've got to check on the wooloo, too. Hop did earlier, but it's been a while since then and Milo knows eight-year-olds aren't the most reliable shepherds, even if they've grown up doing it. (Leon insists Milo doesn't need to do farm work, but the sun is just about setting, and someone has to make sure the wooloo are all where they should be before nightfall, especially with the ruckus from their training. It wouldn't surprise Milo if a few got spooked and ran off. It's the kind of thing Milo does at home, and it puts his mind at ease even if this isn't his own flock.)

Then, of course, they need to take care of themselves. They got so into their training that they forgot to eat dinner! They better do that now while there's still time before they need to hit the hay. Then they should shower.

"So, do you always do so much, Milo?" Leon asks, unexpectedly.

Milo just blinks dumbly at the champion. "What do you mean? I'm not doing anything special."

Leon snorts. "Are you kidding? Training, the gym, working the farm, keeping up with Nessa and Kabu and all your siblings. I don't know how you do it. I'm just champion and I barely have time to come home."

"Aw, well," Milo blushes and ducks his head. "It helps that I work at home. If I was in Wyndon or travelling all the time, I'd have a difficult job of it making time for home, too."

Leon hums in agreement. "That makes sense. But you know you're not at home now, right? You're here to train, not work our farm for us."

"Aha, sorry, I suppose it's just habit. I just can't sleep right unless I know the wooloo are all safe."

Leon chuckles lightly. "I know the feeling." He sighs, and they're quiet for a long moment. "We should go to bed. Lots more training, tomorrow."

"Yes sir, champ." Milo chirps. The two settle down – Leon insists Milo have his bed while he pulls out a futon on the floor – and go to sleep.

The next day isn't all that different from the first. They spend the morning training together, with Hop watching and mimicking their motions off to the side, and then they rest and recover before a second go at it in the evening.

The third day, the last day left, Leon's mum lights up the barbecue. Milo doesn't notice until he's wiping the sweat off his brow and takes a deep breath and smells it. Leon seems excited by it, and it sure does smell like something else, so the two eagerly finish up their training and check over their pokémon before heading over to find plates already stacking up.

Milo has to help Leon's mum cook. He just can't accept not making himself useful, so he runs inside with Leon and takes a quick shower first and when he comes out the neighbors are already hanging out around the yard. Milo grins when he spots more people coming down the road. And as he works easily with Leon's mum, he even spies Sonia and Professor Magnolia rolling up to visit.

It all takes Milo a bit by surprise, but he's no stranger to community gatherings over good food. It's clear enough to him that these lovely people do this often. Leon's mum must have called them all up. It's only when a stranger, Leon's neighbor, wishes him luck on his battle tomorrow, that Milo realizes this is all for him.

He admits he tears up a bit at the thought. He's not even from here. But he's pretty familiar with that, too. Turffield is much the same way. It doesn't matter that he doesn't live here. He's Leon's friend, so he's family just like everyone else in Postwick and Wedgehurst.

And, well, with so many people rooting for him, with Leon putting so much effort into training him, he really can't lose tomorrow, can he? It's a lot of pressure, but for the first time since he issued the challenge, it's not so hard to carry.

"Wow…"

Everything is buzzing. The air is still agitated, blowing both trainers' hair this way and that, and both trainers are more than a little disheveled. Clothes askew, caked in mud, but breathless and grinning like children. Milo feels Raihan's hand in his own as they shake, and he swears he can feel Raihan's pulse, too. Or maybe it's his own. The shaking definitely isn't just from the formal gesture.

Milo has to admit, this isn't what he expected. After waking up with Leon is Postwick, the two were on the train all morning to get to Hammerlocke, and then the afternoon was pre-battle prep, with Leon as his own personal cheer section, and then Milo stepped onto the turf, and Raihan was there, across from him. It was all a bundle of nerves and excitement and more nerves but… after it all… Milo just shares this dumb look with Raihan and the only thing he can say is the very same thing Raihan says. "Wow…"

"That…" Raihan says softly, not letting go of Milo's hand. "Dude, that was a battle!"

Milo can only giggle and use the excuse of wiping down his face to hide for a moment from Raihan's wide-eyed expression. "That really was something else." Milo says, smiling. The air after a battle like this, it's… tingly. Milo thinks he likes it, actually. "Thanks for the battle, Raihan."

Raihan laughs, loudly, and grabs Milo, pulling him unexpectedly close. Milo can't help the heat that rises to his cheeks, though he isn't certain it wasn't already there from the battle – Raihan is certainly a bit flushed – when Raihan presses their burning cheeks together and holds his phone out. "Best defeat I've had in a long time." Raihan says, snapping the selfie. "I can't believe you had that kind of power hidden away." With the picture taken, Raihan backs off and playfully smacks Milo's arm like Nessa does sometimes.

"Oh, no." Milo ducks his head. "It's nothing special. Leon helped me out a lot."

"I could tell. But that wasn't a three-day boot camp, man. You were holding back a lot more than I thought, before!" Raihan laughs, a little breathlessly. "Aw, man, I can't believe I'm the first to battle Milo at full power. Nessa's got to be so jealous after this. I'd be jealous if I weren't me."

"Raihan!" Milo whines. He wants to protest, but he spies Nessa and Leon running onto the field, and he can see their expressions, and yeah, Nessa is super jealous of Raihan right now. And maybe Milo isn't quite ready to give her a battle like he gave him, since fighting a type specialist that resists Milo's own type means he doesn't have to worry about being too rough with the pokemon as much, but maybe eventually Nessa will have that battle she wants so much from her rival. There is certainly something special about it. Even if it is pretty overwhelming. Milo can see how people like Nessa and Raihan and Leon get addicted to it, but if he's honest Milo thinks he's more suited to it in small doses. It's… certainly a lot.

He's still trying to catch his breath.

"Milo!" Leon yells. "You did it! Haha, I knew you could!"

"When's my turn?" Nessa asks with a cheeky grin.

"Oh, you can battle me anytime, sis." Raihan says.

"Not you, dork." Nessa smacks Raihan's arm gently.

"Ouch, rude. Here I thought you liked our battles."

"I do, but Milo's just so much better than you. He did just beat you."

Raihan hisses. "That burns, sis. You really have to rub it in?"

"Do you really have to rub in that you're the only one who's battled Milo at full strength?"

"Uh, duh."

Nessa clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes. "Seriously, Milo, that was amazing. That's what I always see in you when I call you my rival, you know. And I want a battle!"

"Get in line, Nessa!" Leon says, nudging Milo with his shoulder. "I helped him train, so I get to battle him next!"

"No, you don't! I'm his rival!"

"He's always said his rival is himself."

"Oh, I wish I could have him to myself." Raihan says unexpectedly. Milo is only more embarrassed and confused by how wistful he sounds.

"Yeah, keep wishing, bro." Nessa shoots back.

"Not going to happen! I want to battle him, too!" Leon exclaims.

"Guys, guys!" Milo says, trying to placate the three. "I'm really flattered, but… honestly I think that's enough of that for me. For a while, anyway." Milo feels like his poor little heart will pound right out of his chest if he battles like this every day. Besides, he'll still feel bad if he goes too hard on someone who can't handle it like Raihan can. Leon surely could, as can Nessa, but… wow, Milo is wiped.

"Ha! He's mine!" Raihan immediately cheers. "Oh, I am going to milk this as long as I can."

Nessa rolls her eyes. "Shut up, Rai. You doing alright, Milo?"

Milo swallows thickly through his dry throat and nods. "Doing great. That was… a lot of fun. But, uh, a bit more than I'm used to."

Nessa nods. "I totally get it. We should probably get off the field. Go shower, go to bed. We can talk again in the morning, alright?"

"Sure thing, Ness." Milo says. With Raihan and Leon's approval as well, the four separate into the locker rooms and wash themselves off. It's always so satisfying to take a shower after getting dirty. Working the farm, it happens to Milo often, but Raihan's changing weather effects seem to do just as good a job of coating him in dirt.

Refreshed and clean, Milo feels a little better when he steps out of the shower. The battle took a lot of energy, and he's really tired, but the battle was no less satisfying than a hard day's work on the farm. Milo feels good. Great, even. And then he steps back into the locker room proper and Leon is still there, browsing his phone, and Leon grins at him and turns the screen around and there are the comments on the battle. More coming in every second.

Milo may just be a farm boy from Turffield, but watching those comments flash by, in the afterglow of the most intense battle of his life? He's beyond satisfied.