The two Trainers' journey carried on as fast as Raihan's recent posts on his media received likes and comments. Piers' and Raihan's Pokémon teams were as complete as they could be at that point in regards to numbers and even evolutions, given that their aces Obstagoon and Flygon had reached their final stages.

The two had gathered six Gym Badges and were not far away from receiving their next one, the Fairy Badge. Finding themselves on the interior of Ballonlea Stadium, they were revising last minute strategies before the match. Raihan had already beaten Opal — with difficulty, but he had — and soon it was Piers' turn.

Being an expert of fairy Pokémon, Opal clearly had the upper hand when it came to type matchups both over the Challenger that had succeeded in beating her and the one who was up against her next. Neither of the Trainers were too worried about it though, because Piers had caught himself a Toxel back on Route 7 which now was a fully grown Toxtricity. He knew he could count on its poison-type moves if he were to find himself in a pinch.

"I'll be watching from the front rows. Good luck! — not that you'll need it." Raihan said, flashing the shorter male a smirk before leaving the changing room. Piers would still blush occasionally at his friend's blunt remarks, but after so much time, he had gotten used to Raihan's dominating presence and not so subtle comments.

What had also happened on their adventure so far was Piers realizing something he had preferred remaining clueless about. He didn't know when it all had started — if it was when he first cut Raihan's hair for him or even back when they had met in the restroom — but at some point it became painstakingly clear to him. He could no longer view Raihan as either a friend or a rival. He meant so much more to him than that.

After all, Raihan was the person who befriended him without a hint of prejudice anywhere in his being, travelled around the Galar region together with him for months now, shared meals, tents, rooms and more. He was also the boy that brought him out of his shell. He liked every part of Raihan — from his playful jokes and advances to the way he would sulk after losing to Leon.

Sometimes it would get a bit hard for the shorter male, not knowing how to act properly or at times almost giving himself and his feelings away accidentally. But that same realization had also awoken a new motivation within himself: He would always try even harder than he had used to, hoping he could remain a person Raihan would be proud to call his friend. And with a feeling of such confidence, Piers stepped onto the pitch, ready to take on Opal.

* * *

His battle went even better than he had hoped it would, though he did resort to sending out his Toxtricity right after the first Pokémon, and he had kept it on the field since. His Malamar was more than a worthy opponent for the woman's Galarian Weezing, while his Punk Pokémon took out the rest of Opal's team.

Normally, one wouldn't be able to spot a certain person in the bleachers from the battlefield, but knowing beforehand where Raihan had reserved his seat, Piers had caught a glimpse of the young Trainer standing up and waving at him. Piers' cyan eyes followed his form until it disappeared entirely, indicating that Raihan was on his way to the changing room to congratulate his friend personally.

Loving that part almost more than the actual fight, Piers made sure not to waste time on the court and retreated as soon as he was handed the proof of having beaten the master of fantastic theatre. Raihan hadn't made it there yet — which was predictable due to the massive crowd outside, so the shorter boy decided to start changing out of his uniform for now.

He heard the door behind himself open the moment he was left in only his boxers, and when he turned around, hoping it'd be Raihan despite the light way he was clothed, it wasn't him but a group of unpleasant Trainers he was greeted by. "Well, if it isn't Pierser the loser."

The boy knew exactly who those three were. As much as he wanted to have them erased from his memories, as much as he didn't want to be reminded of them, he was still struck by reality. Piers pretended that he hadn't heard their snarky remark and turned around, letting his back face them as he rather blatantly ignored them. Of course, that didn't mean those bullies let him have his way.

"Still as scrawny as ever, huh? And you've still got the face of a girl." The leader of their little gang clicked his tongue, his friends snickering at his remark as the three closed in on Piers, cornering him between themselves and the lockers. His posture had already been stiff enough since the instant they had set foot in the room, but his nerves got even worse when one of them decided to press his hand against Piers' bare back.

The slim boy's brows furrowed, the uneasiness never leaving his cyan-colored orbs as he stared at the floor, not daring to either lift his gaze or, even worse, turn around. He obviously didn't want them to keep harassing him, but he knew all too well that he lacked the physique to take them on. "K-Knock it off..."

"What was that?" Another one groaned, placing his hand on the nape of Piers' neck as if to make it clear that he was the one calling the shots and not the pale boy. Piers trembled under their touch, praying for Raihan to finally join him in the changing room even if he knew that his thoughts were desperate and pathetic.

"What's this, you're wearing men's underwear? Shouldn't these be panties instead?" One of the petty Gym Challengers made sure Piers knew what he was talking about by grabbing the trim of his underwear, stretching it upwards and letting it slap back against his skin. The situation was mortifying and disgustingly unpleasant, but Piers wasn't going to cry. He had decided that since he couldn't stop them physically, he'd show them his resistance by not shedding a single tear — Raihan had taught him that they weren't worth his tears.

"Look at him, he's getting all red. Gross." One of them said, laughing again as he watched his companion repeat what he had done with Piers' boxers. By that time, the pale boy couldn't do much else other than cross his arms in front of his chest, trying to cover up as much bare skin as possible. He wanted to spit at them for stating the obvious, though his red face had only assumed its bright color because he was being humiliated to that extent. He wanted to so bad, but couldn't.

What neither the three young molesters nor Piers knew was that someone had frozen in their position at the entrance of the locker room, and that person was far from happy.

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My note to you:
This chapter turned out super short, but that's because this one and the next were supposed to be only one part. The only problem was that the word count exceeded 3000, making the chapter too long for my liking — so I decided to split it (a bit unevenly though) :s

Thank You for Reading!