Wheedle (ch 6, final)

⚠️⚠️Content warning! Please read first!⚠️⚠️

This story involves mpreg (tmpreg, unmentioned.) and vomit mentions, but also dark subject matter, such as mental abuse and more. I don’t want to give away spoilers but I also don’t want anyone to come across content that may be triggering for them, so if there is any chance any dark topics at all might be hard for you, please skip over this story.

This is a bit of a long story, a lot of which has been written when I needed to vent. So please expect a fair amount of angsty and self indulgent dialogue.

Last chapter of the story! If you’ve gotten here….. thank you, and I’m so sorry. Please don’t be too rough on me. 

———

Anyone else would have been better. Leon nearly felt his heart quit beating in his chest as his competition stepped out onto the field.

It was Hop.

Hop looked a bit sheepish coming out into the center of the battlefield, raising his shoulders up to his ears when Leon’s face twisted looking at him.

“H-hey, Lee,” he mumbled quietly, hoping to surpass the microphone on the ever close roto-drone. Leon tapped the sensor on the side of it as it passed, quietly asking it to give them privacy. It obliged, zooming off towards the crowd to make his and his baby brother’s conversation between them only.

“Hop… what are you doing here?” Leon asked, feeling his face grow hot with shame and guilt. “I thought… I thought you were working for Professor Magnolia.”

“Oh, I am. But since I was in the championships four years ago, I was allowed to bypass the gym leaders to get straight to you. I was supposed to be your last battle later tonight,” Hop explained quickly, his face changing to look frighteningly serious.

“I’m getting you out of here.”

Leon felt his heart drop into his stomach, his face welling up with tears.

“You can’t, Hop. I can’t let you do that. I will never let you work for Rose. Never in a million years. You have too much going for you- you’re on your way to being a professor alongside Sonia!” Leon’s voice cracked as he spoke, becoming slightly more frantic than he meant to. “I can’t let you throw your life away like I did.”

Hop reached forward to pull Leon into a hug. Arceus- he was getting tall. Was he that tall last time Leon saw him? When was the last time Leon had seen his little brother in person? He sniveled, wrapping his arms around Hop in return, burying his face in his hair as he attempted to keep himself from bursting.

“I’m not asking you to let me win,” Hop mumbled, equally buried in Leon’s mess of hair. “I’m just asking you to take it easy. Please.”

Leon tightened his grip before pulling back, wanting to say more, but the announcer had already started the countdown to begin. He already knew it in his mind; this was going to be the most difficult battle of them all. Hop was incredibly strong, it was all of Leon’s ability to beat him last time. But with four years of training under his belt? If Leon’s fiery will to prevent his brother from signing his existence off to Rose wasn't overpowering his entire mind and body, Hop would probably wipe him off the map.

When the announcer called it, the two brothers went at it. Leon did his best to clear his head, calling out orders to his Pokémon as they fought. When Hop sent out his Rillaboom, Leon realized full well that Hop didn’t intend on Gigantamaxing. He knew the dangers of the Galar Particles on pregnancy, but Leon couldn’t take that same route. After downing Rillaboom, leaving Hop with only his trusty Dubwool, who took out Leon’s Dragapult with a single hit, Leon finally activated his Dynamax band to send out Charizard. He could see Hop’s face drop from the other end of the field, before steeling himself and shouting words of encouragement to Dubwool.

The crowd seemed a bit curious at Hop’s lack of Dynamaxing, but he held strong. Very strong. As much as Leon would have loved to match him in fairness, he probably would have even cheated his win if that meant preventing Hop’s.

As soon as Charizard’s gigantamax form fully developed, Leon felt his eyes blur. He had already experienced that earlier, and was able to ignore it enough to battle. But as soon as Leon blinked, he felt a full force wave of everything going wrong.

It started with a sharp pain in his head when he blinked, then a stabbing pain that coursed through his stomach, forcing him to yell in pain as he doubled over. That contraction doubled in intensity, slowing briefly before hitting him again immediately- that time even stronger. He wanted to ignore it like the last time he felt the false contractions. They were normal during pregnancy. But his body refused, pushing him down onto his knees as the pain persisted. Hop had left his designated spot, dodging past a referee hoping to stop him from crossing Charizard’s dangerous path to hurry to Leon’s side.

“Lee! Lee, what’s wrong? What are you feeling?!” He asked quickly, sliding to a halt onto his knees to level himself with his older brother, wrapping his arm over his back both to steady and reassure him.

“I-“ Leon choked out, but was cut off as his hand flew to his mouth, and his stomach forced its way up his throat. He threw up hard onto the ground in front of them, but there wasn’t much to push up, so it only made the squeezing in his stomach tighten more. Another heave, and something else started to come up- and Hop gasped, before turning and screaming for help.

He threw up what looked to be coffee grounds. Blood. His eyes blurred so much that all he could focus on was the color red staining the highly saturated green color of the stadium flooring. Every time he thought he was going to fall unconscious, the twisting contraction in his stomach shot him back to attention. He felt confused, embarrassed, and much too dizzy all of a sudden.

Oleana was the first one out on the field, having kicked her heels off to sprint across the floor without having to watch her balance, making it over to Leon even before the paramedics did. He felt guilty as they hoisted him carefully up onto a stretcher, watching his anxious Charizard be halted from leaving so they could exhaust its moves to return it to normal.

Leon held tightly onto Hop’s hand the entirety of the way to the hospital, never having needed his presence more in his entire life. Everything hurt and he was so scared and Hop was so strong. Just thinking about what an amazing person Hop was growing up to be made Leon start crying all over again, even past the rest of his issues. Once positioned in the hospital, waiting for Leon’s pain to die down just enough with the use of medicine in an IV drip for the doctors to take an ultrasound, Leon’s phone started to chime with his Mother’s ringtone. He handed the phone to Hop to answer, and she sat on the line with them as she hurried to a train station to make her way to Wyndon.

Oleana was visible through the door window, pacing back and forth through the hallway. It was obvious that the string holding her Macro Cosmos based personality together had snapped when Rose lost himself, and suddenly she was like a different person. Leon would have to tell her that he appreciated her helping him the past few days.

As soon as Leon could unfold himself enough to lay on his back, he was given an ultrasound to check on the baby, as well as check for internal bleeding. There was no internal bleeding, but the doctor's face still fell.

“I’m… afraid I have some hard to deliver news,” she said, turning to Leon and taking his hand in her own. “There is no heartbeat besides your own. Your baby has passed.”

Leon immediately felt Hop’s hand tighten as the teen began to cry, but Leon couldn’t form thoughts. No- no, that wasn’t possible. They had just been playing his ribs like a xylophone that morning. There was no way.

“Check again,” he begged, his voice accidentally coming out in barely a whisper. “They were fine earlier- kicking up a storm… there has to be a mistake.”

The doctor returned the probe to his skin, moving it high up his stomach to the base of his sternum. A deep, slow heartbeat was heard through the monitor's speakers.

“This is your heartbeat,” she said, then trailed the device back down his stomach, pressing it against different locations, proving there to be nothing. “And… this is where the baby’s heartbeat should be heard. I’m sorry, Leon.”

Leon felt his chest seize up, and his face twisted so hard with grief that he could hardly breath. Hop leaned over to press his forehead against the top of Leon’s head, their mother’s sobs audible through the phone that wasn’t even on speaker.

“It would be safest to induce your labor now,” she started, and Hop’s head shot up.

“He still has to have the baby?!” He gasped, and the doctor frowned to him.

“At 28 weeks, it’s all we can do,” she said solemnly. “Are you okay with that, Leon?”

It took him a moment to be able to answer her, before nodding his permission. He was moved to another room- one prepared for someone to give birth in. It felt wrong being there. He wasn’t even supposed to be giving birth yet. The doctor gave him a pill to swallow, meant to induce labor, then gave him the fair warning that it could happen quickly or within a few hours, and it would be much more painful than a natural birth. But Leon was already in pain, so he was mentally prepared for more.

He had known months earlier that his baby was a biggie- but he didn’t think much of that until his water had suddenly broken, and the contractions he had felt earlier were suddenly dwarfed by the new ones. Pushing out a massive baby on such short notice didn’t sound too pleasant, but that wasn’t even the beginning of it. It took three different angles of pushing to make any headway; laying on his back, sitting up with a bar and towel, and finally, laying back down on his side. He screamed along with each roll of pain as his body tried to urge the baby along, and Hop continued to let Leon bear down onto his hands with all of his might. He just kept close, tucking his head by Leon’s, murmuring words of encouragement whenever there was a break in pushing. It helped.

The woman who retrieved the baby was the one to cut the cord, and the room was abysmally quiet as she cleaned and swaddled the stillborn.

“It’s a girl,” she said gently, and Leon closed his eyes in grief, laying his head against Hop’s downturned shoulder. “Would you like to hold her?”

Leon wasn’t sure he wanted to- until Hop turned to look towards the baby, and let out a pent up breath.

“Lee, she’s beautiful…”

And Leon couldn’t help but follow his brother’s eyes. And she was. Without thinking, he reached his hands out for her, and held her close to him for as long as he could. It felt right to hold her, while wrong at the same time. She should have been moving, crying, breathing. Not silent and still.

Seeing Raihan afterwards was the hardest part. He’d seen everything on television and had headed straight for the hospital in Wyndon, where they kept him in the waiting room- obviously- unaware that he was the partner. Raihan held strong, but he still sobbed. He was upset for their daughter, then even more upset that he hadn’t been there for Leon when he needed him. Raihan held Hop in a tight embrace for a while.

The hospital had determined that the cause of death had been the radiation. Rose’s white lie for publicity had caused much more damage than he obviously had anticipated, and while they couldn’t save the baby, Leon had to undergo multiple blood transfusions to flush out any excess radiation that might have gotten to him as well. Raihan was urged out by the doctors, as he wasn’t listed on Leon’s medical records, but he kept in constant contact while Hop and their mother spent the next few days with him.

Surprisingly, yet somewhat expected, Rose was outside of the hospital when Leon was released. He was talking to a newscaster, seemingly unaware that Leon had exited, until the camera pointed slightly towards him past Rose.

“Ah, yes, Leon,” Rose greeted, slinging his arm carelessly around his shoulders as he pulled him closer to the camera. “A great show, yes? And what a mighty fine actor our champion is.”

“Actor?” The words barely left his mouth audibly in question, and Rose patted his bicep with a laugh.

“Of course! This was all for a year-in-the-making Safety Video on the dangers of participating in Dynamax and Gigantamax battles while expecting!” Rose spoke happily to the camera, and Leon froze, feeling the tension rising from his mother and brother behind him. “No one has to worry, Leon was never pregnant in the first place!”

Leon jerked to the side, shoving Rose’s arm aggressively off of his shoulder. “Never pregnant?” He growled, his voice low and raspy. “I just lost my daughter because of you, and you have the nerve to tell the world that my time pregnant wasn’t real? That you had planned everything?”

“Well of course, Leon. You don’t have to act anymo-“

“Acting! The only thing I had acted was being okay when I had to walk out on the field battle after battle at your demand!” Leon yelled, and Rose’s eyes glowered at him past his smile. “I miscarried, Rose. I gave birth to my daughter after she was dead. And you're going to tell me this was faked?”

At his words, Leon lifted his shirt, showing the residual swelling from the pregnancy. He was still round and taught, and his belly button had remained flush with the rest of his stomach. Rose attempted to turn the camera, but the cameraman stepped back, keeping the shot directly on the two of them.

“You had me working for you from the crack of dawn to the middle of the night nearly every day, had me fighting battles to the best of my ability because I detested the idea of another child signing your life stealing contract before they’re even legally allowed to drive! I was ten years old when you ruined my life, and I can’t even quit! I couldn’t even retire from your company to start a family with my partner without being threatened. But I won’t do it anymore, Rose. I don’t care about the contract, I don’t care about the punishments for breaking it. I would rather do anything than to have to see your-… your despicable face ever again!”

Leon didn’t realize that he was crying and gasping for breath until he had finished his rampage, and he clasped both hands over his mouth to stifle his whimpers as his legs jellified underneath him. Hop was down on the ground next to him in an instant once again, kneeling protectively between him and Rose.

The sound of oncoming footsteps and assertive voices prompted Leon to look back up, seeing Oleana leading a group of authorities towards them.

“What’s this?” Rose asked, turning to face them, but immediately being forced back around and handcuffed. “Macro Cosmos funds the police department in Wyndon! And I own Macro Cosmos! You can’t arrest me for this!”

“We certainly can, Mr. Rose,” the officer stated simply. “In fact, we have many reasons to do so. Abuse over a minor, for when Leon was young. Reckless endangerment, for forcing Leon to battle while pregnant under the guise that tests had been run on the effects of Galar Particles to prove them safe. And, lastly, we’re charging you with homicide.”

“Homicide?!” Rose protested loudly, tugging his arms in the officer’s grasp. “For what!”

“For ultimately being the cause that killed Leon Nilson’s unborn child.”

As Rose attempted to fight his way out of a life sentence, Oleana gently moved the camera crew off of Leon and his family.

“I will be taking over Macro Cosmos. Things will be run much differently. But first of all, your contract will be ripped. You are no longer the face of Macro Cosmos,” she said with a smile, and, after Leon had picked himself back up off of his knees, he shared his first hug with Oleana. And she returned it.

“I spoke with Raihan in the hallway about what he plans to do. He wants to retire as well, but he’ll maintain the rights to the Hammerlocke gym and its property, and will have Sebastian take over as Gym Leader for him. You two are free to do as you please, and Macro Cosmos will make sure that you are financially covered for life.”

Leon thanked her profusely, and she assured him that it was the least she could do after years of aggression towards him. All she asked was that he keep in touch every so often. Of course he obliged. It would be a weight off of his shoulders to watch Oleana evolve into a wonderful chairwoman as she changed Galar for the better.

Recovery was hard, and Leon spent the next year living with Hop and his Mother as he broke through the following depression that was fully expected to hit him like a train. Raihan bought a small townhouse at the end of their road in Postwick, where Sonia often stayed to be as much help as she possibly could, and where Leon moved after he had felt strong enough to do so. They had joked for years about running away to Freezington, but Leon found he was happiest back where he had grown up.