#B) Arceus changes his mind and lets them all stay | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

misskikuwrites · 5 years ago

Text

Unbroken Chains

Bede/Gloria (dressedinpinkshipping)

hurt/comfort/fluff

He never thought he'd see her again.

"You…" Bede's heart stopped. He stared at her, eyes wide and unseeing. "What are you doing here?"

A sliver of anger tightened his voice. He felt chains of fear coil around his throat, cold and biting and choking.

Oleana turned to face him, a flicker of recognition and surprise widening her eyes for a brief moment.

"Well. If it isn't Bede." Her voice was flat and disinterested. "I never thought I would run into you in the mines."

Heat blurred his vision. His hands clenched into fists at his sides as his whole body tensed beneath the memories conjured by her voice. Memories, regret and fear that he'd buried deep surfaced all at once like a geyser in his chest and he ground his teeth until his jaw ached.

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here." Bede repeated, louder than before. Louder and firmer as a torrent of bile and fury rose up to burn his throat. His gaze, although sharply fixed on Oleana, was distant and unfocused.

He felt her eyes on him. Felt her keen gaze size him up from head to toe and he felt small again, small and insignificant and frightened. Everything was going dark.

"I've been doing some voluntary community service on Mr Rose's behalf," she said.

He heard her words clearly as though she were towering over him and not at the end of the tunnel, not the safe distance away that she was. The name he wanted to forget tightened the chain around his throat. Tightened it until it bit into his flesh and he couldn't breathe.

"He used to work in a coal mine a long time ago," she continued. "That's why I'm actually happy to be doing this kind of work."

Everything blurred. He saw red as his hands began to shake and his knuckles burned white, clenched harder and tighter.

"Is that all you think about?"

He didn't recognise his own voice. It was cold.

Her expression remained unchanging. "Excuse me?"

A fire burned in his lungs, the air scorching his chest and throat as he breathed, as he hissed in a sharp breath.

"After all this time, everything he did… and he's still the only thing you care about?"

She was silent for a moment.

"Don't think we're so different, you and I."

His eyes snapped to her face, vision clearing with searing indignation that burned through his glare.

"After all," she continued, "you're wearing the watch he gave you even now."

It went dark. The weight on his wrist fixed him in place.

"I am nothing like you," he hissed, but the impact of her words thumped painfully in his chest. The truth behind the chains he couldn't drop.

"Perhaps. Although, we both wouldn't be where we are today without Mr Rose."

He wanted to laugh. This wasn't happening. This wasn't real.

"Do you not have a single shred of remorse for what you did?"

He found himself smiling. Smiling in disbelief, a slow trickle of dread working its way down his spine.

"Remorse? For what? We did what we had to. I will be forever thankful that the Champion stopped Eternatus, and Mr Rose feels the same way. He was just so worried about the future…"

Bede breathed a sharp beat of laughter. A huff that stole painfully from his chest.

"That's it? That's all you have to say?"

She looked down at him. "What more do you want?"

"Did either of you ever stop to think about me for one moment? Everything you made me do?"

The pounding of his heart almost drowned out Oleana's reply.

"You knew what you were doing. We never forced you to do anything; in fact, I recall you being grateful, enthusiastic even, to be able to help Mr Rose-"

"I was a child!"

Her eyes widened.

"You manipulated me. You and Rose. From the start, that's all I was to you. A tool, a means to an end, to be discarded when it no longer suited your interests."

"Why are you playing the victim now? You knew-"

"No." He cut her off with a cold glare, with words as cold as ice, as calculated and sharp as a blade. "You don't get to put this on me. Rose manipulated me from the start, gave me everything I wanted in order to turn me into the tool he needed for his warped mission. He used me - a child. And you helped him. Everything I knew, everything I thought I had, was all a lie. And you're pathetic enough to twist that and put it back on me, as if I knew exactly what I was doing?"

His hands shook as he stole a sharp breath. He felt numb.

"All I wanted was to be acknowledged, to be recognised and loved and I thought I'd found that in Rose-" his voice cracked. Broken and strangled and he sucked in a quiet breath. "I've finally found that. Finally found a place where I'm accepted and acknowledged for who I am and none of that was thanks to Rose, or you. That's what separates us. That's where we're different, you and me."

Bede no longer felt her eyes upon him.

"You haven't changed one bit." She sounded disinterested again. Bored and uncaring. "You never stopped making excuses for your failings, blaming things on other people. Like you blamed your lack of wishing stars on the Champion during your challenge, you blame the course of your life on Mr Rose and me."

He had nothing more to say. He looked at her one final time; the woman he'd cowered before, who's words kept him on a tight leash chained around his throat, who made him feel small and insignificant and pathetic under her gaze.

He felt nothing. Not even pity.

He turned away from her. "Goodbye, Oleana," he said. "I hope I never have the misfortune of running into you again."

She didn't reply and he didn't look back.

Ms Opal's firm hand on his shoulder brought Bede back to reality.

"Perhaps that's enough training for today," she offered, giving him a warm, gentle smile at the vacant and unseeing look in Bede's eyes.

The orders he'd snapped at the Gym Trainers hung in the air and ached in his throat. He'd pushed them hard. Harder than he'd even done before, harder and colder as memories kept flashing behind his eyes and he was back there again, burning with anger and pain and-

Bede sighed and everything faded. He turned from Ms Opal, dragging a hand down his face in regret.

"My apologies," he murmured to her before raising his head and looking each Gym Trainer in the eye. They watched him, concerned. Worried, but not frightened. It calmed his heart. "Forgive me. I have been too harsh on you all. Carry on as you were. I… need a moment to myself."

Ms Opal's smile was full of love, soft and sympathetic, as though she knew something of the pain lancing through his heart.

"Take as long as you need," she said to him. "I'll watch over their training until you return."

Bede nodded gratefully, holding back a deep, weary sigh. "Thank you."

He gathered his bag and left the Gym. The weight around his wrist was as heavy as his heart, and he no longer knew what to do. Or where to go, or how to settle the raging thoughts swirling in his mind.

Through it all, through the turmoil and pain and confusion whirling in his head, a clear, firm ache in his heart remained. A pull towards her that was always there. He felt it again now; a firm tug, a desire to see her, and decided followed it. It was the only thing he knew was real amidst the chaos. The calm in the eye of the storm.

Bede hailed a Sky Taxi. He had nothing left to lose.

And he wanted to see her.

Gloria was smiling. Bede's heart softened at the light in her eyes, the flash of her smile as bright and cheerful as he remembered. She hadn't noticed him yet, hadn't seen him standing in the doorway to Wyndon's stadium. She said something to one of the League Staff, who then motioned towards Bede, and she whirled, her smile blooming and dazzling as their eyes met.

"Bede!" she chimed and skipped over, ready to launch herself at him for a hug, before the dark shadow in his eyes registered to her and she stopped.

He looked away. He knew what she was seeing, knew he couldn't hide the depth of his pain from her, and accepted it. He accepted her hand on his arm, her understanding smile, her gentle nudge as she led him outside.

"I'll be back soon," she called over her shoulder to the staff, and slid her hand into Bede's before speaking to him softly. "Come on. Let's go for a walk."

Her hand was warm and her tender touch grounded him as he followed her out into the street. She gave his hand a soft squeeze as they walked. His heart squeezed in response and a lump wedged high in his throat in the silence. She said nothing, asked nothing of his sudden appearance nor the darkness in his gaze. That was enough for heat to wash over his eyes.

Gloria led him away from the busy streets, away from people and noise until they were alone by the waters edge. She gripped the railing with her free hand, staring out across water at the sunset sky. A cool wind brushed by, sweeping her brown hair off her shoulders in a gentle dance. Something crumbled inside Bede and he dropped her hand. Before she could turn around to face him, he fell against her back and embraced her. He dropped his head to her shoulder and she jumped as his arms snaked around her waist.

"B-Bede?!" she squeaked. "Wh-What are you- you- you're hugging me?!"

She was so warm. Her familiar scent enveloped his body and his lungs, filling him with waves of calm with every deep breath he took.

"Please, just…" It was hard to get the words out. To force them through the thick wedge in his throat. "Let me stay like this… for a while," he sighed his request against the side of her neck and she shivered in his arms.

He felt her stiffen.

"O-Okay… I… I mean, I don't mind it's just, it was really sudden and I'm not used to you doing something like- like this and um, that's completely fine with me- Arceus, I'm rambling now, sorry!" she cut herself off with a quick apology, clamping her mouth shut.

Slowly, she began to relax, and after a moment passed, she placed a hand over his. The quiet gesture made heat prickle behind his eyes. He squeezed them shut, fighting back the pain.

He didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know why he'd embraced her or why it felt so comforting and so right, as though to hold her like this was what he'd needed all along. The weight pulling him down, the choking fear around his neck, was all but forgotten. He felt her against him and felt calm. He could breathe when it was her he was breathing in. The warmth of her body against him warmed Bede to his core and he no longer felt numb.

Gloria curled her fingers over his hand and lent the side of her head against his. A shaky sigh stole from his lungs.

"I'm here," she said quietly.

When her kind words reached him, Bede could no longer fight back the tears. He held her tighter as they came, as they flooded his eyes and spilled through, spilled out and down his cheeks to wet her shoulder. He shuddered against her with broken, silent gasps. The pain bearing down on him was suffocating, bleeding through his veins, his bones, his body, and he sank against Gloria's back, burying his head firmer into her shoulder, and cried.

She stood there with him, in his tight embrace, and shouldered his tears. She stood firm beneath his broken gasps that made his chest heave and shudder and drained the strength from his legs. Her hand remained over his, an unspoken and understanding touch, and he gave in to her. He gave in, the final walls around his heart crumbling into dust beneath the weight of his pain and the knowledge that she could take it, that she was here. He let it all come; the tears, the pain, the sobs he no longer stifled and the gasps he no longer hid.

Her silent gesture spoke louder than words, her hand gently squeezing his once more. She stood firm, stood as a blazing light in the darkness engulfing his heart, and that was all he needed.

Perhaps he had known all along, when he had sought her out, what she could be for him. What she was to him. Like a breath stolen before plunging into the torrential depths of the sea, she gave him enough time, enough strength, to hold on and struggle to the surface. Enough air to breach that final distance, to weather the storm and chaos until he could breathe again.

He held her for as long as he needed, as the tears dried and his sobs quietened. She stood there with him as the pain eased and his erratic breathing, his heaving lungs, settled. He embraced her as the heavy ache in his chest faded beneath a wave of embarrassment at what he was doing, at how tightly he was holding her against his chest, at how firmly his arms were wrapped around her waist. The familiar scent filling his lungs, that scent that was recognisably Gloria, made his pulse skitter and flutter at how shamelessly he'd relished in it earlier. Mortification began to burn across his cheeks as the seconds ticked by and he realised he didn't know what to do now.

The gentle touch of her hand, the delicate sweep of her thumb over the back of his hand, brought him out of his panic and he relaxed his grip on her. He stepped back, drawing his arms from her waist and to his sides. The air felt remarkably colder without her warmth.

Gloria slowly turned to face him and he forcedly stared out over the water as he felt his cheeks flush darkly under her gaze. He could see the concern on her face in the corner of his eyes.

"Did… something happen?" she asked. "It's not… Ms Opal, is it?"

The worry in her voice drew his eyes to her, a kind smile lifting his lips. "Ms Opal is fine," he reassured her.

Her eyes widened in relief and she sighed. "Oh, thank goodness." Her gaze softened, beads of worry still in her eyes, her brow furrowed slightly. "Then… is everything okay? I mean, obviously not but…" She chewed her lip anxiously. "What happened?"

"I ran into Oleana."

The words came easily now, as though telling her what had happened was as simple, as easy, as exhaling a breath. It took no effort at all. Gloria's eyes widened fractionally, her lips parting in a silent gasp, before she caught herself and nodded slowly.

"That must've been a shock," she said quietly. "Did you two… talk?"

He looked across the water again as the memories resurfaced. He brushed them aside as though it was a speck of dust on his shoulder. The weight was no longer there.

"We did," Bede said after a moment. "Even now, all she thinks about is Rose. It shouldn't have come as a shock but… to see her again, to hear her voice…" His gaze hardened. A gentle touch brought him back, his eyes dropping to Gloria's hand on his arm. "I suppose she was right, in a sense. As much as I loathe to admit it, a part of me is still shackled by Rose. The fact that I continue to wear this watch is proof enough of that."

Bede gestured with his right hand, the heavy golden watch sliding over his wrist. Gloria snatched his hand out of the air and held it close to her heart.

"You're not shackled Bede," she said firmly. "You're hurting. And just because it still hurts doesn't mean he's still got a hold over you, because he doesn't. I know you, Bede. I know it still hurts, but you're so much more than your past. You're strong and kind and determined; you recognised what you did was wrong and have made a name for yourself outside of who you were under Rose."

Her smile softened and she touched his watch with her fingers, running them over the scratched metal.

"And this watch is just a watch. That's all. Oleana might think you're shackled to the past but I know you're not - because the Bede I knew back then wouldn't smile at me like this, he wouldn't have come to me when he was hurting or hugged me or let me hold his hand."

Bede watched her, listened to her, enraptured by her smile and her gentle words.

"So… what I'm trying to say is, um, you've come so far since then. It's not about moving on or forgetting the things that hurt you, it's about not letting what happened prevent you from becoming who you want to be."

She squeezed his hand.

"I don't think I'll ever forget what happened on the Darkest Day, or Eternatus," she admitted quietly. "It'll always be with me. That's not something I can just get over and move on from. But I'm still here. I'm still the Champion. And that doesn't change just because I freeze up or run away in interviews when it's brought up."

Gloria laughed sheepishly.

"Everyone has something they can't forget. So… it's okay if it still hurts. You have people who can bear that with you."

Bede stared at their hands for a long time, letting her words sink in.

"And screw Oleana. What does she know?"

Gloria's sudden outburst made Bede snort a laugh.

"What? It's true! She doesn't see you for what, almost two years, and thinks she knows you? As if!" Gloria scoffed.

A warm bubble of mirth filled Bede's chest and he couldn't help smiling. "All right, I get it. Thanks, Gloria."

She returned his smile. "No problem. I'm glad I could help, even if I was just a shoulder to cry on."

He slid his hand into hers, intertwining their fingers and making Gloria blink, stunned, at him. Her free hand, no longer holding his, dropped suddenly to her side.

"You were more than that," he said quietly.

She looked away hurriedly. Her eyes flicked from one thing to another when he gave her hand a squeeze. The dusting of pink on her cheeks was adorable, and made Bede want to tease her further.

"U-Um, do… do you want to do something?" Gloria stammered. She met his eyes forcefully and her bashful blush double in intensity.

Bede smothered the smirk that threatened to form on his face and raised an eyebrow instead. "Do something? You'll need to be more specific than that."

Her eyes shot to their hands for a split second, and Bede could tell it was distracting her so he deliberately squeezed her hand again. She stole a sharp breath that made his blood sing.

"If… if you're not busy, we could- could go to my house? And watch a movie? You know, to take your mind off everything…" She pursed her lips, looking away from him again. Her embarrassment fluttered Bede's heart. "My mum's working late tonight so otherwise it'd just be me, so… Do you want to?"

He swallowed. "It might be a good idea to take my mind off it for a while," he agreed, holding back the fact that his mind was already off the events of this morning and fixed on the girl blushing darkly in front of him.

She didn't need to know that.

"Great! I'll call us a Sky Taxi then." Gloria's smile brightened and everything felt right. The strength had returned to his bones and he could breathe again. He could relax when it was her beside him. Bede smiled to himself, knowing that she had no idea the effect she had on him, or just how deeply she'd helped him.

He would keep that to himself for now.

Gloria unlocked her front door, striding inside and wiping her shoes on the mat before kicking them off in the entrance.

"Here we are," she said happily. "Home sweet home!"

Bede quirked a faint smile at her and toed off his shoes, placing them neatly by the door as Gloria skipped into the kitchen.

"Make yourself at home," she said, opening the pantry and began to search through it. "You can leave your stuff wherever. Oh, and choose a movie for us! They're in the cupboard under the TV."

"Alright."

Bede headed into the lounge, greeted the sleepy munchlax with a wave and left his bag next to the couch. He couldn't help but look around the room, his curiosity getting the better of him. He'd been in Gloria's house a handful of times but had never had the opportunity to actually study the place or look around without someone else watching him. He could hear Gloria talking to herself in the kitchen, and took a moment to look at the pictures on the wall.

He could pick Gloria out instantly from the recognisable, bright grin on her face, even though the picture had to be over a decade old. Her wide, toothy grin was childish and innocent, streaks of dirt on her cheeks and a bundle of fruit in her arms. The boy beside her in the mud had to be Hop. Bede laughed to himself as he looked from one picture to the next, noting that Gloria had hardly changed at all. His heart softened at that thought. She was always smiling or pouting in the photos; Bede had to stifle a laugh at one particular picture where Gloria had her arm in a cast, a sour pout on her face, as Hop stood beside her and mirrored her pose with a grin.

It was then that he noticed that the pictures featured Gloria and her mother, and sometimes Hop, but that was it. There wasn't a single picture of her father on display. He wondered why that was, recalling that she'd mentioned her father wasn't around, although she hadn't said anything further on the subject and he hadn't brought it up again.

Bede shook that thought from his mind and walked over to the TV, kneeling down to open the drawer when he smelt something that made him pause.

"Is something burning?" Bede asked, heading into the kitchen.

"Ah!" Gloria gasped, tearing her head from a book and turning off the stove. "The popcorn!" She yanked the lid off the pot, a faint cloud of smoke puffing into the air. "Oh, no, no, no!"

She waved the pot lid in the air frantically, trying to disperse the smoke, and glanced worriedly at the smoke alarm in the hall.

"How did you manage to burn popcorn?" Bede sighed and inspected the pot.

The majority of the popcorn was fine, the kernels at the bottom blackened and charred.

"Oh, come on. Don't act like you've never burnt popcorn before!" Gloria huffed. She lowered the pot lid, satisfied that the smoke wasn't going to trip the alarm.

Bede let out a breath of laughter. "I honestly haven't. Are your skills in the kitchen that lacking that you can't manage something as simple as making popcorn?" he teased.

"I've made it before!" She pouted, blowing out a puff of air at him. "I just got distracted, that's all."

"Distracted by what?"

He stepped over to the cookbook open on the counter that she'd been reading.

"I wanted to make caramel popcorn, so I was looking up a recipe and didn't notice it was burning." She dug through the popcorn with a wooden spoon, grimacing at the burnt mess at the bottom. "Ugh. At least Munchlax will eat it."

"Why don't you leave the caramel to me?" he suggested. "I'll make it while you sift out all the burnt pieces."

She smiled sheepishly at him. "You don't mind? That'd actually help me a ton. I've never made caramel before and I know it gets really hot so it kinda freaks me out."

"Then why'd you choose to make it in the first place?"

Gloria twisted her lips in thought as she retrieved a bowl big enough for the popcorn and began scooping it out of the pot.

"Plain popcorn is fine and all but… I wanted to make something special, to help cheer you up," she said that last part quietly.

Bede's heart thrummed in his chest with warmth. He swallowed so his voice wouldn't crack when he spoke.

"I don't mind at all. I've made it before and it's better than having to risk you burning the house down."

"I'll have you know I've only had two things catch on fire before!" she said pointedly. "One was a chopping board I put too close to the flame and the other was a tea towel I also accidentally put too close to the flame."

Bede stared at her. "You realise that's not something to be proud of, right?"

"But it's only happened twice!"

"It shouldn't happen at all!" He shook his head, torn between laughing and sighing. "I'm surprised you're allowed in the kitchen at all after that."

Gloria grumbled to herself, picking out charred lumps that were once popcorn and tossing them to Munchlax.

"It was only twice…"

Bede hid his smile and worked on the caramel.

Soon enough, they settled on the couch, bowl of caramel popcorn between them, and started the movie. Gloria sat up excitedly, grabbing a handful of popcorn to pick at.

"This is one of my favourite movies," she said. "I can't believe you've never seen it before!"

Bede tossed some popcorn into his mouth, grateful that the caramel masked the faint taste of charcoal.

"This movie is over twenty years old. I'm surprised that you've seen it."

"It's a classic!"

"And yet I've never heard of it before."

"Well, you're about to be enlightened!"

Bede sat back, smiling to himself at her enjoyment as the movie commenced. She couldn't sit still for a moment, couldn't remain silent or contain her joy with every scene. She quoted her favourite lines, which was most of them, and tugged on Bede's sleeve when things were about to happen or to give unnecessary but amusing commentary.

Bede found that he didn't mind her interruptions, her squeals of excitement or giddy laughs. He didn't mind when she quoted entire scenes, word for word, along with the movie, with as much enthusiasm as the actors. He didn't mind when she'd shake his shoulder to announce that a favourite scene of hers was coming up. Her reactions were amusing and adorable, and he ended up watching her more than the movie.

When the credits rolled, Gloria sighed happily, plopping the remaining bits of popcorn into her mouth.

"See? I told you it was good!"

"Alright, I'll admit that I enjoyed it."

Well, the parts that he managed to pay attention to, at least.

"Good!" She sank back into the couch, smiling contentedly at him. "I'm glad. And… I'm glad that I can see you smile again."

His heart skipped at her words, at the tender look she was giving him. Curled up on the couch beside him, her head tilted sweetly to the side, he couldn't help but read too much into it. He wanted to hope that there was something more to the glimmer in her eyes. It would be so easy to tell her how he felt, a perfect moment of amicable silence falling between them, and his heart yearned to know if there was any chance she felt same, if the warmth in her eyes meant what he thought it did-

The door clicked open.

"I'm home!" Gloria's mother called from the entrance, her eyes sliding over to them. Gloria jolted upright, sitting up straight and slightly further away from Bede than she had been seconds ago.

"Hey, mum!" Her voice cracked slightly and Bede suddenly felt too warm. "We were just watching a movie."

"Good evening," Bede said, managing a polite smile at Gloria's mother.

"Mm, is that caramel I can smell?"

"It's caramel popcorn!" Gloria chimed happily. "Sorry, but we ate it all!"

"That's a shame." Gloria's mother smiled knowingly at them. "Would you like to stay for dinner, Bede?"

He straightened. "I really should be going. I left the Gym quite abruptly earlier, so I should head back before it gets any later and Ms Opal begins to worry."

Gloria stood and brushed fragments of popcorn off her front. Bede stood as well and collected his bag before following her to the door. He gave a brief smile and a nod to her mother, saying a polite goodbye before he left. Gloria stepped outside with him, shutting the door behind her.

"Are you… feeling any better now?" she asked quietly.

Bede breathed in the cool, evening air and nodded. "I am, thanks to you."

He allowed himself to admit that to her. His heart had softened and he wanted her to know that, to know what she'd done to him.

Gloria blushed sweetly, twirling a lock of hair around her finger absently as her eyes darted away from his and back again.

"O-Oh! That's- that's good."

The hitch in her voice set a fire in Bede's blood and he drew closer. He stepped up to her, illuminated in the dim porch light, and saw the way her eyes landed on his and widened, saw the blazing red darken on her cheeks. She glanced away.

"I'll… I'll see you later, then…" she said quietly, managing a bashful smile at him beneath her nerves. She stepped towards him for a parting hug, and Bede welcomed it, welcomed her warmth and the familiarity of her embrace. It was calming. A brief hug, a brief moment that never lasted longer enough, and Bede stepped back when he felt her pull away.

"Thank you, Gloria," he said, letting his hands linger at her side for a second longer.

The nervous lilt in her voice vanished as her smile warmed. "Anytime."

That smile of hers remained with him for the rest of the night.

#bede #gloria #bederia #dressedinpinkshipping #btyu

76 notes · View notes

bard-of-worlds · 5 years ago

Text

Chapter 2 Beginning in Kalos

“Where is he? He should’ve gotten off that plane by now.” A teenage girl sighed as she leaned against a pillar in an airport in Lumiose City. She looked light she had just come from a Gothic rave, her dark hair was done in a twintale style that reached her butt, two purple streaks went down her hair facing her front. She was wearing a black tube top that had a small v that showed the sides of her large breasts and that exposed her midriff with a black open vest over it with a tight short skirt that ended at her upper thighs with a belt around her waist with six pokeballs, knee high black boots completed the outfit. Her face was heart shaped; her lips were a shiny black and her eyes had purple eye shadow that brought attention to her blue eyes, a pair of sunglass with black gems in the frame was around her neck on a chain. Next to her was a small bag, out of place for a traveler if not for some tech from home. She snorted as she saw some of the other women glare at her and the men around her stare at her in lust but not a single one had even an ounce of courage to approach her. A few of the younger girls were staring at her in wonder and a few might have talked to her if their mothers hadn’t been there but then again this wasn’t home so maybe she could cut them slack based on different culture.

So this is why everyone back home hate outside assignments so much. She thought to herself, this was why they preferred to stay in their home; at least there people could dress how they wanted without people talking about them, at most they commented about the fashion behind hands and doors, and if a man looked at her like some of them were he would have at least walked over to talk to her by now. Lady Camilla had grabbed her from that party her cousin had dragged her to and thrown her on that train to the airport so fast she had to have two of her Item Cubes with her full wardrobe and her Aura Equipment sent to the airport. And she only got it a half hour before she was told to board the plane, so when she got to the travelers hotel later tonight she could put her cloths and outfits for her mission in order, but she had to be carrying her ‘Party Clothes” Cube in her bag with her Cube Reader, ‘Founding Day is an excuse to dress differently at every party you go to’, she would never listen to her cousin about stuff like that again.

“Boss I really, really hope that old man was right about her and him; for your sake at least.” She muttered as she looked to the doors to the tarmac as they opened and she glazed upon the woman walking in with a Helioptile on her shoulder. For an instance seeing it brought a flash of rage to her face, but she forced herself down, the woman wasn’t one of those sexiest Inquisitors, those bastards had been slaughtered by Sir Mordred and a woman would never be one of the Knights!

“Hmm, good figure, clothes and makeup could do with some work but her muscles seem to hint that she’s someone who makes a living by traveling so she probably has some stamina, not the best but I’ve recruited worse. At least if it not really him…” She trailed off as she saw the figure follow her in. A blue short-sleeve jacket, a red hat on black hair, darker blue jeans, red shoes and a black shirt under the jacket and his face, it was like looking at a younger version of the boss. The Pikachu riding on his shoulder sealed the deal, this was her target and by the boss he was who they hoped he was.

“I will never ever bet against the longshot ever again.” She grinned as she reached down and grabbed her bag and started to watch her target walk with the woman over to a city map outside the airport. They talked for a minute before he ran off. The woman he had been with smiled good naturally as she watch him dash off, but this left Lilith with a dilemma.

“Hmm, I could try to catch up with the princeling… or I could chat up that cutie and get his destination from her directly, what should I do?” She smirked as she brought a black painted nail to her lips, a smirk on her face as she looked at Alexa.

Alexa smiled as she and her Helioptile shared a look with each other about their friend's exuberance. She did feel a little bad that her sister had to have gone on a journey without sending any word to her, but that was her sister for you. As she walked back toward the airport to her get her bag she collided with someone as she walked through the door.

"Ohmph." Alexa cried as she fell backwards, her Helioptile fell off her shoulder and she fell on her bottom.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going." A female voice said as a hand with black nail polish reached down to help her up. Alexia grabbed the hand and got to her feet checking that her pokemon was okay before turning to the person she bumped into.

"No problem. .." Alexa trailed off as she stared into blue eyes that seemed to take up her entire view. She felt herself drifting away, until all she could see was the color blue.

"Say, about that boy you were with, could you tell me where he was going?"

Alexa shock herself awake as her Pokémon started to shake her, looking up she realized she was inside the airport with her bag siting by the escalator.

"Helioptile, how'd we get inside and get my bag? I… it doesn't matter, let's make sure we didn't miss our bus and have to have Gogoat take us home once we get out of town." Alexa said as she and her Pokémon walked away, not noticing a female shadow with a grin on its face, a fang poking out of her mouth as she blew a kiss after Alexa.

"Thanks for everything Alexa dear, we'll meet again and we'll see what side you’ll be on when we're done."

“So the prince is headed for the cities gym, a fierce start worthy of his father.” Lilith mused as she walked toward the gym. All she had to do was watch the entrance, scan him and send a report back home. As she got insight of the tower she stopped dead when she saw Ash and his partner thrown out of the pokeball symbol on the building. She raised her hand began to cast a spell when she heard two voice much closer to her target

“I’ll try to catch that boy!”

“I’ll catch Pikachu!”

Lilith stopped her spell as she saw a blond boy in blue and yellow jumpsuit and black and white tennis shoes throw a backpack under the prince that released a crash pillow while a blond little girl wearing a dark brown blouse with a black ribbon on the chest, white skirt, black shorts, and pink Mary Jane flats grab the prince’s Pokémon. She breathed a sigh of relief as the blond girl was shocked by the Pikachu.

“Quick thinking you two now let me cast a quick scan while I can.” Lilith muttered as she put her sunglasses on.

“Tool to see, Sight beyond, Show me that which hides from All.” She chanted as her glasses glowed pitch black.

“So the two of them are brother and sister hu, the boy’s aura shows that he has quite a mind and the girl is someone who wants her brother to have someone in his life, something about their father and mother? Looks like I could teach her a few things, but let’s take a look at the prince.…how in Arceus’s name is he able to walk let alone think with those seals on him?” She asked herself in horror at what she over a hundred seals on his Aura. She reached with a shaking hand to touch one of the gems in her glasses and started to chant.

“Sights Seen, Sights Unseen, capture them for All to See.” She popped the gem out and ducked into a nearby alley to and grabbed one of her pokeballs.

“Fly high, Murkrow.” She called as the ball opened in midair and released a black flying type with a crooked yellow beak.

“Murkrow, Murkrow.” The Flying type chanted as it appeared and landed on an out stretched arm. Lilith slipped the gem into a necklace around its neck, reached into her bag and pulled out two blue colored pieces of hollowed metal shaped like her wings which were met with a look of worry from the Flying type.

“Girl, I know these make it so you can’t fight with your wings, but you need the Wing Sheaths to make it back even sooner than with the Wind Road alone, this report has to get to Lord Magnus sooner then you could normally, it’s that important.” Lilith said as her Flying type looked her in the eye before raising its wings straight up to make equipping the Wing Sheaths that much easier. After a quick fastening she was ready, Lilith had a look of pride on her face as she gave out her orders.

“Thanks girl, now go, as fast as you can, but stay safe. The boss has to find out what the state of his son is so the prince can be helped as soon as possible.” Lilith said as she scowled at what had been done to Ash. If his mother had anything like that done to her, the boss was going to find the people responsible for this affront of Aura itself and impale them alive, and they would deserve it. As her Murkrow shot off into the open sky, climbing higher as she flew away from the alley, Lilith looked down at her cloths and remembered the airport and gave a short sigh.

“Better hide behind an illusion for a while. To Walk Unknown Upon the Land, Change my Form to What I Command.” Lilith chanted as a black flash covered her body.

As the flash faded away a completely new Lilith had completely changed her appearance! Where a gothic party girl was, there was now a teenage honor student stood in her place. She wore a white dress; grey heels with only a hint of makeup on her face, red hair flowing down her back and a modest figure with B-Cup breasts.

"So not my style; but beggars don't slip by the hungry Snorlax." She muttered as looked for her target, but was unable to spot him.

"The seals must have shocked me more than I thought to lose track of him so.... Mandibuzz, take flight! Fly around and find me a trainer with a Pikachu with two blonds!" She cried as she released her other Flying type. Her Pokémon had a Searcher Gem in a tiara on her head, so she could identify types from above, and she was trained to identify targets in groups. She would soon know where he was, and with a chant she would see what her Pokémon saw.

"Sight Of All, Sights Beyond, Share with me What the Searcher Saw." She chanted as she closed her eyes, and saw through the vision of her Pokémon augmented by the Searcher's Gem, a rainbow of colors representing the Pokémon and humans within the city.

After spotting an electric with three normal auras next to one of the town's Pokémon arena, she ended her spell and ran toward the battlefield, mentally going over how she would interact with the prince, as a Trainer or a Coordinator? She did have a flare for glamor and showmanship from her time on the circuit, but she had a few powerhouses with her, maybe bring out her whip and say her family lives in one of the Old Regions that still followed the Treaty of Defense?

“Wobbuffet, time to Shine.”

“What is this?” Lilith muttered as she hid behind a tree. She saw two people in white with red R’s on their cloths behind a Meowth and a Wobbuffet face down the blonds and the prince, she recognized the uniform from tactical information about Kanto.

“Team Rocket of Kanto, after the prince; are we?” She snarled as she started to release a purple aura as she watch the prince’s Pikachu be hit with its own attack by the Wobbuffet.

“ We’d better retreat. Using Mirror Coat reflects special attacks with double the power!” we can’t stand up to that kind of strength.” Blondie boy said he looked at Ash

“Gotta give Blondie points for tactical ability; but minus points from turning away from the threat to talk to someone. But this might give me an opening.” Lilith mused as she grabbed one of her pokeballs.

“We’ve always stood up to them before and we always will! As long as Pikachu is okay, as long as Pikachu doesn’t give up I’ll be right here, battling to the end!” Ash cried as he stood back up and unfelt by all but Lilith, he released a spike of aura energy before the seals sapped it back.

“Boss, if I doubted he was your boy, its’ so gone now.” Lilith said in a tiny bit of awe in her voice over the feeling Ash’s speech had invoked in her had echoes of his some of his father’s speeches.

“All you’ll get is reruns.” The Female Rocket cried in response to Ash’s words.

“Now, Pikachu, Electro Ball” Ash commanded.

“Pik! Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika!” Pikachu cried jumped up and generated the attack its trainer ordered.

“We’ll help you out, too! Bunnelby, use Mud Shot!” Blondie cried.

“You’re on, Wobbuffet!” Female Rocket cried out.

“Wob! Buff! Buff! Buff!” Wobbuffet cried as it jumped up, dodging the Mud Shot while activacting Mirror Coat, bouncing the Electro Ball back toward Pikachu.

“Pikachu!” Pikachu cried out as its mouth dropped open before a small blue pokemon jumped between the attack and the electric type.

“Froakie!” It cried before the attack hit and exploded.

The blue pokemon land after the attack with Pikachu in its arms, electric sparks crawling over its blue skin.

Ash gritted his teeth; Pikachu was fine but only because a small blue pokemon had intercepted an electric attack sent back by Wobbufett, a rookie mistake! The pokemon in question was a small one that had light blue skin, white hands, and a dark blue stripe from the center of its oval head to its nose, its eyes were closed. By its skin tone he had to guess it was a water type, but it had a mane of…clouds around its neck that he was made him wonder if it was a dual type.

“It’s a Froakie!” Clemont cried as he and Bonnie ran over to Ash. At the look Ash sent him he went on.

“It’s a water-type that new trainers can get in Kalos. So that Electro Ball must have done lots of damage.” Clemont continued as he looked back as Froakie tensed as electricity ran over its skin.

“So where is its Trainer?” Ash asked with a worried look in his eyes as he, Clemont and Bonnie looked around as Froakie hoped toward Team Rocket.

“Where’s Froakie going?” Bonnie asked in confusion.

“Froakie Froak!” it cried out.

“What’s with the yapping?” Jessie wondered.

“I think that Froakie wants to help us.” Ash said as he stood back up.

“Fro!” Froakie cried as it opened its yellow eyes and glared at Team Rocket

“Froakie’s saying bad guys rub it the wrong way!” Mewoth cried as its mouth dropped open

“You can’t take them on if you’ve been hurt! Stop!” Ash cried as he raced to Froakie as it inflated the back of its mane and jumped toward Team Rocket.

“Froakie!” Ash cried as he looked on in concern.

In midair it grabbed the inflated part of its mane with its hand and threw toward the Rocket operatives.

“Wow, Froakie just used its Frubbles!” Bonnie cried out as her and her brothers mouths dropped open in shock.

“Big whoop! We’ll just send that right back at you!” Jessie sneered as Wobbuffet jumped and activated its Mirror Coat, only for the move to have no effect as the Frubbles hit Wobbuffet, forcing it backwards as the remaining Frubbles hit Jessie, James and Meowth.

“What’s this?”

“I Can’t get this gunk off!” Jessie and Meowth cried as Team Rocket struggled against the sticky frubbles.

“How come it didn’t bounce back?” Ash wondered in confussion.

“Of course! Froakie’s gummy Frubbles isn’t a move, so Wobbuffet’s Mirror Coat was completely ineffective!” Clemont exclaimed as he realized what had happened.

“Awesome, Froakie, way to go! Pikachu and I can take it from here!”Ash cried as he and Pikachu advanced to stand by Froakie as the frog like Pokémon looked at Ash.

“We’ll lend a hand, too”

“Bunnelby!” Clemont and his pokemon proclaimed as they stood next to Ash.

“You guys better not forget about me!” Bonnie declared as she ran next to Ash on his other side and puffed her cheeks.

“Now, Bunnelby, us Dig!”

“Bunnel-brree!” Clemont command as his Pokémon jumped and used its ears to tunnel into the earth, coming up under Team Rocket, sending them skyward.

“Yeah! Way to go!”

“Nice work, Bunnelby!” Bonnie and Clemont cried as they saw Team Rocket fly into the air.

“Let’s wrap this up! Pikachu, Thunderbolt, go!” Ash cried as Pikachu and Froakie both jumped into the air, Pikachu fireing a Thunderbolt and Froakie throwing a water bubble that merged and hit Team Rocket together.

“We’re blasting off again!”

“Wobbuffet!” Team Rocket cried as they disappeared into the sky.

“Wow! Awesome power!” Bonnie declared as both Pikachu and Bunnelby ran to their trainers.

Froakie groaned as it collapsed to the ground.

“Froakie! Something’s wrong!” Ash cried as he ran to the water type and took it into his arms as the others gathered around them.

“Froakie needs help right away.” Clemont said as he looked at the water type, seeing the injuries he had sustained in their defense.

“Is there a Pokémon Center?” Ash demanded as he stood up with the water type in his arms.

“Well from here, I’m trying to think…” Clemont trailed off as he looked around, trying to remember where the Pokémon Center was.

“I think it would be a lot quicker if we brought Froakie to the Professors lab instead!” Bonnie declared as the others looked at her.

“The Professor?

“Yeah, Professor Sycamore’s Research Lab! There’s no doubt he’ll know how to help Froakie!” Clemont answered Ash as he turned to his Pokémon hold out its Pokeball.

“Bunnelby, return Thanks a lot! You really helped out!” Clemont said with a smile.

“Come on Ash, this way!”

“I’m coming Bonnie!” Ash ran after the younger girl with the water type in his arms, Pikachu on his shoulder, Clemont grabbed their bags before hurrying after his sister and his new friend.

If he’s this strong with only one Pokémon, I can’t wait to see what he’s like with a full team! Lilith thought with a smirk on her face. She signaled her Mandibuzz to follow their target, while she trailed the elder blond. After a while she saw him go into a building behind a steel gate, this must be the Professor Sycamore’s lab. Seeing her searcher in a tree along the road, she then moved into a nearby ally, quickly checking to make sure that no one was looking or could overhear her, she chanted a spell.

“Send my Voice, Unheard to Others, To my One Amongst them all. Girl, I’m heading to the hotel. Stay here, head over once and perch across from where my room is supposed to be so I can recall you when you get there.”

Seeing her Pokémon nod, she move deeper down the alley, dropping her illusion around herself, time to rest from all the traveling she had been doing. Slipping back onto the main roads, she headed toward where her hotel was. Her target had finished with the only excitement he was going to have today, so time to finish her planning. As she walked her mind went to the older and started to walk with a swing to her hips. She didn’t know why, but there was something about him….

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The flying type had flown through the Wind Road with the aid of the Wing Sheaths, dodging flocks of migrating flying types as she flew toward her destination. For the last few minutes she had felt something, was she being hunted, on the Wind Road, the neutral territory for all flyers? She hugged her wings to her body and dropped 50 feet, dodging a silver blast of energy by seconds. Pumping her wings she risked a glance backwards, spotting a trio of Skarmory in arrow formation pointed at her. Hearing the other flying types react to the attack she increased her knowing they were after her she flew faster she tried to think why they had committed such a taboo, what could she do? Angling down she flew out of the Wind Road, she would need every advantage to escape. Barreling to the right as she her instincts screamed out at her, she saw one the Skarmorys fly by with a white glow about it, as it flew past she realized with horror, that they were trained! They had to have been looking for something, did their trainer know about her mission, her trainer’s mission, what she was carrying?!! Looking ahead she spotted a group sea-stacks ahead of her, she was nearly home, and she could use this, she had to gamble on her movability to escape she just had to bait them.

Flying slow with while trying to act like her wing was hurt she flew between the pillars as the three Steel-Types followed her. The three Skarmorys flew faster as they moved in for the kill; their master will receive a prize soon. Dodging blasts of silver energy from her pursuers she flew between the rocks hoping to escape them. After a while she looked back and saw a single Skarmory chasing her before…. She was blindsided by one of the other two, it had come at her from above, tackling her onto one of the sea stacks

She moved her body up from where she had crashed and saw the three Skarmory land around her and slowly walk toward her. She prepared herself to fight to her end when six energy rays hit the three Armor Bird Pokémon. Around her landed three Pidgeotto while two more hovered with a Pidgeot, each had a look of anger on their faces for the actions that the three had performed on the Wind Road, it was neutral territory for all who used it. The three Skarmory didn’t even reacted as 5 more of them landed on surrounding rock pillars as one of the three in formation gestured with a wing at her and convoyed the command to leave her and go. As the Bird Pokémon braced themselves for battle a blast of fire hit two of the Skarmoys on the pillars behind the standoff before energy blasts hit the other three.

“I didn’t want to believe what my boys told me, but it seems they had seen the situation clearly.” A gruff voice said as a shadow covered the pokemon. Raising her head, the Dark Flying type saw an Aerodactyl, one of the Elites was here, she and her rescuers were safe, with that realization she let herself stop fighting, and passed out.

She awoke to the smiling face of one of the Pidgeotto in a room with medical supplies all around it, she was in one the Homelands Care Centers, she was home.

“That one wouldn’t leave until you woke up, I guess what they say about Pokémon loyalty is not to be questioned.” A melodies voice said from the doorway. Walking into the room was a pale woman with red hair in a bun wearing a nurse’s outfit under a lab coat with a smile on her face that turned to a frown as the nurse saw the effort her patient was making to rise and leave the bed the Flying type was in.

“You were only out for about two hours, so if your message is time sensitive you should make it on time. You can go as soon I slip this note for your trainer around one of your legs.” The Nurse said as she moved toward the bed, did what she said and opened the window. With a bow to the healer the Murkrow took flight.

Joy sighed as she saw the Murkrow leave with the Pidgeotto flying into the sky, it was to early for this. In all the years she had be in residence here at Castle Town, Pokémon on missions for their Trainers always gave her such problems, they always pushed themselves for ‘time sensitive missions’, really, drama queens 9 times out of ten the lot of them. Not to mention the problems Founding Day always brought to her Care Centers.

“Headmistress Joy? Headmistress where are you?” A female voice called worriedly from outside.

Back to the grindstone, at least the patents from Founding Day parties are all almost gone. Joy thought as she walked out to see a black haired woman in a business suite running toward her.

“Yes Sara, what problems have come up now?”

“The Skarmorys that were brought in their all dead! No, they were dead BEFORE the General and his team killed them, they had machines inside!” Sara stammered as Joy lost what little color she had, what her assistant described was one thing only, a thing that her King had tried to destroy down to the roots of knowledge.

“Frakenmon.” Joy whispered in horror before her eyes hardened and she walked down the hall.

“Have the most intact of the corpses brought to Operating Theater 1, contact Lady Camilla with what findings we have. I want a full security team ready to transfer whatever I can carve out for a full diagnostics wherever it’s decided to send them, contact all off duty morticians report to theaters not in use to carve up the rest of them.” Joy ordered as she pounded her way to her Theater, time to find some answers about where the bastard who made these things might be hiding.

As the Pidgeotto followed after her she heard it call out a traditional parting she returned as angled upwards before she saw the castle above the town. There was her target. She flew as fast as she could and when she reached the window she started to peck when it opened to let her in.

The room was full of occult books and tapestries, model of the solar system hovered near the ceiling without wires, near the door rested a staff.

“I believe you have a scan of my Nephew for me to look over little friend?” A cultured male voice said as the Murkrow proudly landed on a desk and puffed out its chest, the gem it had protected had reached its destination and the person who would help the Prince. After a rest and some food she would return to her trainer with her mission completed.

“I think this is the Flying type me and my team rescued a few hours back my friend. Good thing I decided to bring the patrol a few miles out after all.” The gruff voice from the Aerodactyl said as the gem left the necklace and a hologram of Ash with seals running all over his body appeared over the desk.

“I don’t think the Master will like what has been done to these two comrades.” A voice sighed the three shadows converged at the desk.

Item Cube: Arcane Science device that turns inorganic items into digital data through the power of users Aura

Cube Reader: Arcane Science device that reads Item Cubes’, must have code for Cube to recall items

Aura Equipment: Catch all term for items which increase or give abilities to humans or Pokémon depending on item; items must be tailored for species that uses said item

Wing Sheaths: Aura Equipment; Pokémon Armor Type. Appearance; Hollow blue metal shaped like wings that fit over the wings of the Pokémon using them Increase flight speed of Pokémon with wings, denies moves that use Wings as mediums

Searcher Gem: Aura Equipment; General Gem Type. Bestows Aura Sight on user

Wind Road: Bands of wind in upper atmosphere that Flight enabled Pokémon use to migrate around the world.

Treaty of Defense: In time of old after a war that covered the known world, a treaty was signed, this treaty granted the right of self-defense with a weapon to all travelers. In the centuries that followed and new lands were settled, countries that still followed this ancient treaty became known as the Old Worlds, and those places that paid it no mind became the New Worlds

Frakenmon: Pokémon reanimated by Arcane-Science. Forbidden practice punishable by death or enslavement.

#Pokemon AU #Pokemon Fanfiction #Beginning in Kalos #Ash-Harem #Dhampire Ash #World Building

3 notes · View notes

nelvana · 6 years ago

Text

In which the gardevoir speaks to the human once more

First: In which the human is transformed Next: In which the tower of the sky is explored Previous: In which the god of land is fought

“Team Galaxy is back! And they brought back Team A.C.T. with them!”

Pokemon Square celebrated the return of the two teams, and the downfall of Groudon. A crowd quickly gathered at the announcement of their return, and many shared their thanks and congratulations to both teams, although more so Team Galaxy, which appeared to irk Charizard, at the very least. They announced the next step to fixing the balance of the world, to complete the teleport gem and send a team up to face Rayquaza. Team Galaxy was voted up to be this team by the enthusiastic townsfolk before they even had the chance to volunteer, making it an unanimous decision from the start of who would be the heroes of this quest. Team A.C.T. departed soon after the announcement, to rest up, leaving Team Galaxy to accept all the fame around town for their courageous acts. Pidgeotto and Peaky stopped by to interview them, which was promised to be put in the next newspaper to spread the word about these missions, and many other pokemon stopped them to ask questions, or to give compliments or gifts, which none of them were the best at refusing.

Once again, Nelvana glimpsed Gengar hiding and watching most of this go down, and this time so did the rest of her team before he disappeared. They all agreed to just let him go this time.

The knowledge that all they had to wait on now was for the teleport gem to be completed was both a comfort and a stressor. While this told them that they were fine to relax, and fine to celebrate with the town, and the other teammates when they visited Pokemon Square in the evening… it also told them that for now, this issue was out of their reach, and there was nothing they could do to help Xatu or Alakazam speed along the process aside from staying out of the way. However, distractions were plentiful, and they were all able to push past any of this stress to enjoy the rest of the day.

They decided to turn in early, to give themselves more resting time for the mission that awaited them the next day. All their teammates in the B Squadron, Rayden, Pearl, Hiram, Bobo, and Baguette, chatted together at the doorway as the full team, and they, the B Squadron, promised to being waiting for the others, if they couldn’t help go on the actual mission themselves, of course.

Now, finally in the peace and quiet of their own home, the quartet fixed themselves up a supper while chatting to one another quietly and enjoying these moments together before they’d have to complete the mission that meant everything. It was harder to ignore the stress now, but at the very least they could acknowledge it honestly to each other and express any doubts, to just let them all out and take that weight of holding it in away.

However, something else was evidently bugging Alex, so when he asked to speak to Nelvana alone, no one was terribly surprised, he wasn’t the best at playing off his stressed now that they had seen him like this more than once. With no objection from anyone, Nelvana and Alex walked outside into the young night. The roof had always been a good spot to watch the stars and to talk, so the pair silently clambered up the lowest part of the roof and settled themselves down.

“The stars are very pretty tonight,” Alex commented.

Nelvana laughed, “is that how you’re going to start every conversation when you sit on the roof at night?”

“What? It’s a good conversation starter,” Alex snickered, leaning back. “Besides, they are very pretty. Never won’t be.”

“Mm, yeah, they are. I’m glad to be able to see them every night now,” Nelvana hummed, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them with a content smile. “So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about, without anyone else?”

Alex exhaled, closing his eyes as he prepared himself mentally to go on, “Nel, do you remember exactly what will happen when we change the future? What will happen to us, as we’re a part of that?”

“…no, I don’t. I admit I’ve been wondering about that recently, but I assumed it had already been sorted out since you hadn’t brought it up,” Nelvana murmured, tilting her head to meet Alex’s gaze. “I’m… I’m guessing that isn’t the case though, is it?”

Alex shook his head, “no… I’m afraid not. When we change the future in such a drastic way such as this, everything from the future will cease to exist… including us.”

Nelvana blinked in disbelief, lifting her head back up, her mouth slightly agape. A feeling of dread had instantly set into her stomach. Cease to exist…?

“Yeah,” Alex replied, and Nelvana realized she hadn’t just asked that question in her mind. “When the meteor is destroyed, there should be a few minutes for time to right itself, and erase the other timeline. After this, anyone from the future will disappear… but I suppose saying that we cease to exist would be a lie, we’d still be remembered, and… our spirits will still be somewhere, I just don’t know where. Ceebee told us about it, I guess I still haven’t told you much about her yet, have I? Hopefully she’ll turn up again soon…”

He shook his head again. “Anyway… back when we were first told this, we both agreed to still go through with it. We only had each other at the time, after all, so it wasn’t like there would be… anyone to miss us… Plus we believed the sacrifice would be worth it. I still believe it’ll be worth it, to make sure everyone else can have a bright future,” he explained, “I’m sorry for not reminding you about this sooner. I guess… No, I was scared that you would change your mind and not want to do this. But that was foolish of me. You never changed, except physically I suppose. And you deserved to know about what will happen. I’m sorry for hiding this from you for so long.”

“I…” Nelvana sighed, “I still do want to complete this mission. I’m not backing out now, no matter what your doubts told you. But…”

“But Keahi,” Alex finished, giving her a weak smile. “And Team Galaxy, and everyone at Pokemon Square… yes, they’d miss us terribly wouldn’t they? I…”

“Arceus…” Nelvana gasped, burying her head in her hands. “There… There has to be a way to work around this, right? I-I mean, at the very least we’ll have saved the world, maybe there’s a legendary that could bring us back! Is that selfish to want? To want to stay here with our team?”

“No, that definitely isn’t selfish,” Alex assured her, “in fact, if someone didn’t feel that way, to want to stay with those who cared for them, I’d be surprised. I, well, actually I can think of a ‘mon who might do that, but that’s just him and it’s beside the point,” he said, “but… how do you expect to get that sort of message out? I’m afraid we’re cutting things pretty close now.”

Nelvana furrowed her brows in thought, trying to ignore the dull emotional pain that had ebbed into her throat in stomach at the thought of leaving her friends here forever, how they would feel… Keahi, Tsuki, Rayden and the others on their team, Peaky and those at Pokemon Square…

“Gardevoir!” Nelvana sat up again, and her tail thumped against the roof, startling Alex. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly at the grovyle’s surprise. “But Gardevoir can help us! She told me that she’s a spirit guide, and can enter people’s dreams! Surely, she can visit a legendary and ask for their help, and after what we’ll have done tomorrow to save the world when they wouldn’t lift a finger, they’ll have to be willing to bring us back, right? And Gardevoir still haven’t delivered her message to me yet, and since this will be the last night to speak with me and she probably knows it, I’ll definitely get the chance to tell her about this tonight!” she exclaimed, “…it’s at least something, we have to try to stick around, for Team Galaxy.”

Alex chuckled softly, “yeah, for Team Galaxy,” he responded, and then sighed, biting back tears. “Dammit, this had better work. It’s our only shot if we want to not be erased from this world.”

Nelvana nodded slowly, “should… should we tell the others now…?”

“I was thinking of saving that for morning, especially if we can be saved, since that will change the message slightly. Besides… I don’t want them to stress on that and be kept awake tonight. I only told you now because you deserve to know now, it affects you directly, and the knowledge could affect your decisions, like we just saw here,” Alex answered.

“Ah, fair enough,” Nelvana murmured, “…thank you for telling me Alex.”

“No problem,” Alex replied, “should we head in now?”

Nelvana paused, and then shook her head, “nah, I kind of want to stay out here a bit longer, with the stars,” she responded, “we could invite the others out here, the stars are pretty tonight, after all.”

“Yeah, they really are,” Alex agreed quietly, with a knowing gaze.

Team Galaxy spent the rest of their night before turning in out together looking up at the stars. Keahi excitedly recited the stories behind as many constellations as she could recall, and everyone silently listened with interest, even if some of them had heard the stories before.

Nelvana couldn’t help but look at her teammates differently after what Alex had told her. Could these really be her last moments with them? The last time they would all look up at the stars together, and just enjoy life and the simple joys it brought? She shook her head. Even if that was the case, she wouldn’t let that distract her from enjoying herself. She didn’t want to ruin the moment. And glancing over at Alex told her that he felt the same way.

They finally headed back indoors and straight upstairs to their bedroom after staying outdoors for about an hour. Everyone curled up in their separate resting places, laying quietly for a few moments.

“I’ll be sleeping tonight,” Tsuki announced, “that expedition and dungeon wore me out more than I had predicted, and I wish to be in optimum health tomorrow for the fight against Rayquaza.”

“Oh, okay! Good to know!” Keahi chirped, “good night then!”

“Good night everyone,” Nelvana murmured, pulling off her scarf for the night, as she had almost forgotten to do it before settling into her nest.

“G’night,” Alex added, stretching out into his hammock.

Nelvana watched her teammates tiredly as they all adjusted their positions and closed their eyes. Tsuki lay atop the mat, on her belly, with her paws outstretched in front and behind her, reaching further than the mat was long, like she was a pool of liquid spilled out on the floor. Alex lay on his back on the hammock, so if his golden eyes were open, they would be staring up at the blank ceiling. Deep down, Nelvana knew why he did this, refusing to let his back be sitting up, the scars littered there could answer that without even needing to have met him before. She looked over at Keahi, surprised to see the torchic still awake with her eyes open as well.

“Oh, hey,” Nelvana whispered, rolling over so she wouldn’t have to crane her neck to look at her partner.

“Hey.” Keahi smiled. “Sorry, just a bit stressed for tomorrow. I’ll go to sleep soon,” she assured.

Nelvana let out a soft hum of agreement, and reached out to gently pet Keahi’s feathers.

“You too?” Keahi guessed, and Nelvana nodded. “Yeah, I guess I should’ve expected everyone to be stressed… this is pretty important,” she muttered, “but… as stressed as I am, I really think we can do this. We’ve done great things, and we can do them again. We’re a good team!”

“Yeah… yeah, we are,” Nelvana murmured, giving Keahi a smile but holding back the tightness in her throat that urged her to cry.

“Yup!” Keahi hummed, “I guess we should actually sleep now, I think I’ll be fine. Thanks for listening to me there. Will you be able to sleep now?”

“…yeah, I’ll be able to sleep,” Nelvana replied.

“That’s good. Night then!”

“Wait, Keahi?”

“Hm?”

“…you’re my best friend, you know that?”

“Aw, thanks! You’re my best friend too, Nel!”

“Thanks… goodnight.”

Gengar, not that he would know, arrived at the Team Galaxy base only a few hours after they had all fallen asleep. He took in a deep breath, and then exhaled and tightened the scarf tied around his right arm, his mobile scarf. Sure, it was embarrassing to have to use such an item as a ghost-type, but he had never gotten the hang of consciously sneaking through walls on his own. Besides, this scarf was too rare to just sell. Might as well put it to use.

Approaching the front door of the house, he took another deep breath to try steeling his nerves. Team Galaxy had already spotted him twice in Pokemon Square and let him get away. If they caught him in their home, their new home they had built after he and the others had ruined the old one, he doubted that he would be so lucky for the third time…

Was he really about to do this? Yes, he was.

Pushing the last of his doubts aside, Gengar took another step forward, the scarf tingling through his body as he stepped through the wall with ease, entering a large room darkened by the night. Fortunately, his species possessed good low light vision, so he could make out a large island table in the center of the room, with some counterspace on the wall behind it. Ahead and slightly to the right, was a spiral staircase that lead to the next floor. Judging by the fact that no one was here and he hadn’t been attacked or yelled at immediately, he deduced that everyone had to be upstairs.

Gengar couldn’t decide whether this was a blessing or a curse, and simply let out a quiet groan as he approached the stairs. He had no clue what condition these were in, if they were sturdy and silent or would creak at every step. Gritting his teeth, he knew that he couldn’t take the risk, nor could he just try blindly teleporting onto the second floor. He’d have to take a different route, one he liked possibly less than walking through walls.

Tensing up and closing his eyes, Gengar sank into the shadows of the floorboards. A chill swept through his entire body, and for a moment he had to ground himself, feeling all the shadows in the house at once, all the options to swim through. Focusing himself on the task once more, he slid his way up to the second floor of the base, where his assumption was proven correct immediately. All four members of Team Galaxy, at least, what he considered as the main Team Galaxy, were up here sleeping. The thought of him being a creeper for watching them sleep, even for just a moment, entered his mind, and he almost laughed at himself. After everything he had done, this was where his mind drew the line?

Gengar made his way over to the wall closest to Nelvana before stepping out of the shadows, pausing as his head spun from the experience. Once the dizziness faded, he took another look around the room to make sure no one had woken up from his entrance yet. The absol was stretched out on the floor, no, there was a mat. She whimpered in her sleep, pawing at her head, but didn’t give any signs to have awoken. For that, he was thankful. He could still remember the look she had given him back at that confrontation back at Pokemon Square, and he’d hate to meet her wrath without the eyes of society holding her back. The grovyle was in the hammock hanging off the back wall; Gengar had almost missed even spotting the grass-type back there. Now that he had spotted the team member, he also saw them stir, and he froze in place. Grovyle, fast and clever, was another he didn’t want to cross paths with. He already knew that the ‘mon viewed poorly of him as well, after all, he had accused their partner, Nelvana, of being…

Golden eyes suddenly snapped open, peering in Gengar’s direction. Gengar barely had enough time to slink back into the shadows before the grovyle sat up, and then hopped out of, the hammock, approaching the wall. Fear sliced through him as Grovyle peered at the wall, searching for any signs of an intruder. Stepping forward, the grass-type placed a clawed hand on the wall, just a foot away from where Gengar was hiding. He’s looking for a cold spot! Gengar realized with horror as Grovyle slid his hand over the shadows across the wall. Without thinking, Gengar activated the mobile scarf again, flipping himself to the outside wall, suspended in place only with the darkness. His stomach, if he even had one as a ghost-type, lurched, threatening to have him vomit out the apple he had found for supper.

Gengar waited there, waiting for a sign that Grovyle had given up the search, until finally he couldn’t bear being in the shadows any longer, and flipped himself back indoors and out of the shadows, the world spinning around him as he did so. Fortunately for him, the grass-type was back in his hammock, his eyes shut and his breathing slow. Of course, falling asleep so fast would be nearly impossible, but at the very least, he seemed to have decided that there was no one around and had settled back into his hammock.

Taking one last search around the room, the absol hadn’t changed much, still somewhat tense in her sleep. A bad dream, perhaps? He had already looked at the grovyle when he first returned to the room, but paranoid, he had to check again, his nerves settling down slightly at the sight that they hadn’t moved again. Keahi was sleeping peacefully, he didn’t find them that concerning anyway.

Finally looking down at Nelvana, he saw the cubone shiver and bury herself deeper in her blankets, but otherwise she made no movement. Gengar almost let out a sigh of relief, she had been the one he had been expecting to wake up the most, but here she was in a nice, deep sleep. Despite being thankful for this, he couldn’t help but think of it as odd. He could recall, when it was just Nelvana and Keahi, Keahi worriedly talking to their partner about her being a light sleeper, and with restless nightmares. He also found himself surprised by the fact that she was still wearing her skull, even though she was sleeping. Could it really be comfortable enough to wear while sleeping? Deep down, part of him had been hoping to see a cubone without their headgear, to solve what had been a mystery for humans of his time for so long.

Gengar shook his head, he couldn’t let himself get distracted, not here, not now. He held out his hands above the cubone, narrowing his eyes as he concentrated. After a moment, a pink cloud floated out from his hands and down to Nelvana, resting around her head. Now she stirred, but she still didn’t awake, only curling up more and tensing slightly in discomfort.

Closing his eyes now, focusing on the dreams, only to get stopped by a mental barrier, blocking him from entering her thoughts. He cursed silently, of course the psychic shield would stop him, how could he have forgotten? Xatu had mentioned it, back when he had followed them to the Hill of the Ancients, and yet the thought hadn’t crossed his mind when he was planning this break-in to get information of the other human.

Yet, he refused to leave without something. He had gone through all this work to learn something about Nelvana to use against her, but now he would just take anything after everything he went through to get here. Gengar gritted his teeth, and focused harder. He had to find something, there had to be something he could grab outside of the psychic shield, or even a weak spot in the barrier.

Focus! Focus… there! There’s something! See what it is, before you lose it!

What is it?

Wait… it can’t be…

No… No!

Gengar recoiled in shock, lifting a hand to his mouth. He choked back a noise, whether a cry or a gasp, he didn’t know and he didn’t care. He stumbled back more, and in his panic, forgot that he already had his back against the wall…

…and was now falling through it.

The mobile scarf’s tingling from having activated still ran through Gengar’s body as he hit the ground, and he couldn’t help this time but to let out a cough. Fear seized him just as fast as the noise escaped his mouth, and he forced himself to sink into the shadows again to conceal himself. Mere seconds later, he could see those golden eyes peering out the window. He didn’t want to wait for them to leave, but he forced himself to stay put, his mind whirling at his discovery, and what it meant for him.

Finally, the eyes disappeared from the window. Gengar wasted no time pushing himself out of the shadows again, and running. Light-headedness took hold of him swiftly, and he tripped over his own tail, falling back onto the ground. He tried standing back up to run again, but his scarf, his pesky mobile scarf, got caught on something in the grass. There was no time to check what the scarf had caught on, or to get it out properly. He pushed himself back onto his feet, ripping himself free from the fabric, and he ran again, ignoring the tears streaming down his face.

Alex approached the window again, heart still pounding and senses alert. He knew he heard something, one time is a coincidence, once it gets more than that, it becomes a pattern. Peering out of the window once more, he saw some bushes rustle as someone ran through them. Then, there was nothing. He let out a sigh, whoever it was, they were gone now, and hopefully they would stay away.

Stepping back, Alex glanced around the room. Tsuki was calmer than she had been before, perhaps she too, had sensed the intruder. Keahi was unchanged, and undisturbed by all this, despite being right beside the grovyle now. He let his eyes land on Nelvana now, who was still asleep like the others.

“Nel…?” he whispered, but didn’t receive a response. “Ah, like before then… psychic messaging through dreams really does put you in a deep sleep, doesn’t it?” he continued quietly, “…I really hope Gardevoir can help us. Sleep well now, see you tomorrow.”

Alex turned away and walked back to his hammock, climbing in for the last time that night and finally getting some sleep.

Nelvana had woken up in the green void, as she had predicted and hoped. Silence greeted her for a few seconds, until she could finally see the familiar figure of Gardevoir fade into view. She couldn’t help but notice the psychic-type’s unusually somber expression, their mouth a thin line and their eyes carrying an uncertain gleam.

“Hello Nelvana,” Gardevoir greeted, managing a soft smile. “Tomorrow is a big day, isn’t it? Off to Sky Tower…”

Nelvana nodded, “yeah, to fight Rayquaza,” she replied, “how much did you hear about it?” she asked, tempted to ask if Gardevoir was okay instead, but deciding to stick to the topic at hand for the time being.

“Just the general details about it. Nothing more than what you’ve told to the pubic, I assume,” Gardevoir answered courtly, “but now… I should be delivering that message,” she continued quietly.

Nelvana smiled patiently, nodding for Gardevoir to continue. Gardevoir opened her mouth, and the closed it, unable to form any words. She finally exhaled, tears beginning to prick at the edges of her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Gardevoir murmured, “the truth is, nothing has been stopping me from just telling you this this entire time. I… I was being selfish,” she admitted, “Nelvana, I turned you into a pokemon. A-And, I think I gave you amnesia too.” Her eyes were now brimming with tears. “I’m so sorry!”

Nelvana blinked, “wha… How?”

“I… I knew something was going to happen, something terrible. I just didn’t know what. B-But I knew, I knew a human would be needed to fix this. Of course… as you know, there aren’t any humans here anymore… so I asked some legendaries for help. N-Not many of them, some are harder to reach than others… but they all refused! They refused to summon a human, t-they didn’t believe me that we would need help!” Gardevoir explained, “so… I went to see Ninetales. She offered me the power to turn a human into a pokemon, a one time use ability. But I still couldn’t summon a human, and had to wait… and then you just… fell out of the sky, practically into my lap. B-But you were hurt! I… I entered the world, like I did back in the Frosty Forest, and caught you with telekinesis. T-Then I healed you, and used the gift. I wanted to wait for you to wake up, so I could ask you if you were okay with this, but I didn’t know how long my form, and power, would last and didn’t want to r-risk anything… I was desperate. It was going fine, but then…” she continued, “I don’t know w-what went wrong! M-Maybe it was a side effect that I didn’t know about, or I was just never supposed to carry that power, but the energy b-backfired, or s-something, and I barely got to turn you into a cubone before I was sent back here. I… I think I gave you amnesia! I’m s-so sorry! I never wanted that to happen to you, and I should’ve told you before but I didn’t b-because you’re s-so nice, and I didn’t want to lose you as a friend and I thought you’d be… you’d be angry with me! I was so selfish! I’m sorry!” she sobbed, dropping down to her knees and covering her wet eyes with her hands.

Nelvana stepped back, mouth parted open slightly as she took in all this information. Gardevoir being the cause of her transformation made sense, and all the pieces were now putting themselves together in her mind, and yet she couldn’t help but be surprised. The thought of the mysterious psychic-type messenger being behind this, had never crossed her mind in all the time she had spent wondering about how it happened. She had pinned it on being some side effect of the time portal not functioning properly, like Alex had told her, and had mostly moved on from the issue since then.

“Gardevoir…” Nelvana approached her, crouching down. “It’s okay, I’m not mad at you.”

Gardevoir lifted up her head to meet the cubone’s calm gaze, “you… you aren’t?”

Nelvana shook her head, her smile slowly returning, “of course not, you did the best you could, and you didn’t mean to give me amnesia. It was a mistake, and that’s alright,” she assured her, “if you had had the chance to ask me beforehand, I probably would have agreed to being transformed, since it helps me blend in around here more. If the amnesia thing really was just a side effect, then first of all, that would make it Ninetales’ fault, but we would’ve just ended up here anyway,” she added with a shrug. “Besides, what’s done is done, and I’ve already worked past that issue. Would I prefer to have my memories? Of course, but that isn’t happening, at least not any time soon. And I accepted that awhile ago. So, it’s okay, I’m not going to get mad at you and suddenly hate you for doing the best you could with what you had.”

Gardevoir blinked in surprise, but then broke into a smile, more tears falling down her cheeks, but she wiped them away with a shaky laugh, the tension melting away from her form. She reached out, pulling Nelvana into a hug, which surprised the cubone.

“T-Thank you…” Gardevoir whispered, “you’re… you’re a good friend.”

“Ah…” Nelvana fell quiet, unsure of how to respond, and just let herself relax into the hug.

Finally pulling away, Gardevoir sat back, wiping away the last of the tears before standing up again, brushing off her dress despite there not being any dirt or dust to possibly need to brush away. Nelvana stood up as well, clasping her hands in front of her.

“Thank you, again,” Gardevoir said, “now then, this would be where I’d tell you about your role here as a pokemon, to save the world, but…” she chuckled, “I guess you figured that out on your own, didn’t you?”

“Oh, yeah… I guess so,” Nelvana chuckled as well.

There was a pause, and in that moment, the void darkened slightly and Nelvana winced. Gardevoir glanced around worriedly.

“Dream eater…” Gardevoir muttered.

“What?” Nelvana questioned, tensing as a headache began growing and a chill swept across the dream space.

“Dream eater. Someone is trying to either cause you nightmares, or read your mind,” Gardevoir responded, “but don’t worry, it seems your psychic shield is still holding up well, they won’t find anything, and one of your friends should wake up to scare off the intruder.”

“Oh…” Nelvana mumbled, worry stabbing into her at this answer, but she trusted her friend that things would turn out alright and this would pass.

“Does it hurt?” Gardevoir asked, “I… I’m afraid there isn’t anything I can do to help right away.”

“I’ll be fine,” Nelvana assured her, “you sure that whoever it is won’t be able to do anything?”

Gardevoir nodded, “yes, I am certain of that. The only reason it’s affecting this dream space is because it is not protected by the shield, since this is something of my making. They might notice that I’m here, but that is all,” she told her, “and this void won’t falter either. I’ve regained all my energy at this point, and will be able to keep this up for a bit longer.”

With that, the darkness lifted away, as did the chill. Gardevoir had been correct, whoever had been there was gone now. Nelvana exhaled in relief, and relaxed. She gave Gardevoir a small smile, shaking herself off and looking up at the psychic-type.

“There we go,” Gardevoir hummed, “that’s better now, isn’t it? Hopefully whoever that was won’t bother you again.”

Nelvana nodded, “yeah… wait, you said that they couldn’t get through the shield. How can you?”

“I… I’m not entirely sure, to be honest,” Gardevoir admitted, “I suppose either whoever is keeping this up knows I can be trusted, you are allowing me through because you trust me, or this is just… another side effect from me turning you into a pokemon.”

“Ah,” Nelvana muttered.

“So, with that out of the way… the next thing I should bring up… Nel, I don’t actually know where you came from, or how you got here. Do… do you want to go back?” Gardevoir asked.

“Go back?” Nelvana repeated, “go… No. No, I don’t want to go back. Honestly, there isn’t anything to go back to. But… but, I still will have to leave,” she murmured.

Gardevoir blinked in surprise, a small frown replacing her soft smile, “you… have to leave, but you don’t have anywhere to go to…?” she questioned.

Nelvana sighed, “I… I guess you never got to know before, but… Alex and I, we’re actually from the future. We went back in time to stop the meteor, but when we do that, we’ll alter the future dramatically… and be erased from it,” she explained.

“Erased?” Gardevoir repeated.

“Well… not erased, I guess. Just… I don’t know where we’ll go, maybe we’ll go here,” Nelvana responded, “but… I don’t want to have to leave, and neither does he. Do… Do you know a way to let us stay? To stay alive, with our team?” she asked, “you said you can speak to legendaries, right? Could to try convincing one of them to keep us here? Please…?” she was pleading now, as much as she didn’t want to sound desperate, she couldn’t help it.

“Of course I’ll help you, Nel,” Gardevoir replied, “of course,” she repeated, “I can’t promise much though; they wouldn’t help me last time. But maybe now… maybe they’ll listen this time. I have to try at least. I’ll do whatever I can to keep you, and Alex, together with your friends. You all deserve that,” she said.

Relief flowed through Nelvana’s frame. They had a chance, even if it was small, they had a chance to be able to stay with their friends. Emotion bubbled up within her, and now she felt her own tears pricking the edges of her eyes.

“Thank you,” Nelvana replied, “thank you so much. I… I’ve always been willing to risk this, to make sure everyone else can have a brighter future, but… but I still don’t want to leave my friends behind. If there’s any chance that I…”

Gardevoir smiled, “of course. Your friends care about you so much, you know that? I’d hate to let that be taken away, especially when I can do something to help.”

“Thank you,” Nelvana repeated, it felt like the only thing she could say anymore, to just thank her friend for their continued help.

There was silence for a moment between the pair, as all the messages planned to have been said, were said, and yet the dream space lingered. Gardevoir lifted up her arms again, opening them up for another hug, and Nelvana accepted, rushing back over and wrapping her own arms around the thin psychic-type’s frame.

“Hey… actually, Gardevoir?” Nelvana said, “there’s something else I should tell you.”

“What is it?” Gardevoir asked.

“Shinobi is-“

Nelvana woke up suddenly in her nest, the early dawn light shining in through the window. She could hear her teammates downstairs, talking to one another. Otherwise, there was nothing out of the ordinary that would have woken her up, aside from herself.

Her words to Gardevoir still hung at the tip of her tongue.

First: In which the human is transformed Next: In which the tower of the sky is explored Previous: In which the god of land is fought

12 notes · View notes

pokehxme · 6 years ago

Text

Uneasy Reunion (Drabble)

Guilt. Retrospection. Loss. Regret. They’re back. Just as she’d cut them from her mind, they return without mercy. Longing. Sorrow. Fear. Detachment.

She’s feeling... like she’s missing something.

She has to go see them.

(fair warning, this got long as hell.)

“One visit,” she tells herself. “Just one little peek... to make sure they’re okay. Then I’ll be fine.” Her hurried footsteps thump quietly in the grass as she runs. She’d seen signs of a camp being put up nearby. Maybe they’re here. Maybe she can just... take one quick look, then be on her way.

Another corner. Another hill. Another jump over some rock or a fallen log. It’s difficult to tell. She hasn’t moved this quickly in quite a while. Finally, it’s in sight--a dim fire. A campfire. She’s so close! She’ll just duck into the bushes and quietly--

Ting--SHOOMP!!

Something breaks beneath her feet, and in the blink of an eye... she’s left letting out a yelp and hanging from a tree branch, bound by her ankle thanks to some kind of... dark, swirling energy. She recognizes this... Spirit Shackle. But it’s never been used like this before, to her knowledge. Well, regardless... she’s stuck here until whomever had laid this sinister trap comes to release her... or kill her.

This is so unfair! She was so close... and now she’s just going to be stuck here, more than likely until sunrise... if she even lives to see it. With a resigned sigh, a tear falls from her eye and drops to the ground beneath her... and that’s when she hears it.

Voices. Quiet rustling in the underbrush. Someone’s coming--whomever had set the trap, more than likely, come to claim their prize. The sounds are quiet, but in time, grow louder as the presence draws nearer, leaving Innes bracing herself as finally, out steps...

“...Inaina?”

Cynthia. It’s Cynthia! Thank Arceus, a... semi-friendly face. Innes felt safer knowing it was the Decidueye discovering her here like this and not someone else on the team. They’d been good friends. She can work her way out of this relatively easy... right? There doesn’t need to be any trouble here...

...But wait. Why was this trap here? Had Cynthia known the Salazzle was coming? No... There’d be no way. She’s likely just protecting the camp in case of trouble in the night... Innes certainly feels stupid now. No matter. She can probably convince the Decidueye to let her go...

“Cynthia! Oh, thank goodness it’s you, sugar. I thought I was in deep trouble here... B-Be a dear and let me down, won’t you?”

“Inaina... What are you doing here? You realize if our trainer sees you... You know what they’ll do, right?”

Silence. That question creates plenty of dead air between the two of them. She’s not wrong... If their trainer were to catch Innes out here, she’d likely be in for... well... a lot. She can’t say what exactly, but... it’s more than likely going to be a lot.

The Salazzle sighs, closing her eyes and giving her shoulders a weak shrug. The blood is really starting to rush to her head now... but at the moment, she doesn’t care.

“...I don’t know, Cynthia. I-I guess I was just feeling... a little nostalgic. I wanted to come see you all... for just a second. I don’t want any trouble, I promise. Can you please get me down from here now, doll?”

“And why should I do that?”

Uh-oh.

“Do you have any idea how much it hurt to see you go, Inaina? You were my best friend! I had trouble sleeping for weeks--no--months because I didn’t even know if you were still alive! It took me so long to finally start shutting you out of my mind, and you’re... You... Y-You’re just gonna come waltzing right back! I’m glad you’re okay and all, but... But...

...You really shouldn’t have come here.

We don’t want to see you.”

Again, Innes is left staring in silence at the Decidueye on the ground, unable to find any words to justify her thoughts and actions. With a grunt, she struggles against the binding on her ankle, attempting to hoist herself upright... to little avail. Her natural flexibility allows her to bend herself upwards, but her core is already so strained from hanging like this that she can’t hold that position for long, only alleviating the excess blood in her skull for a few moments.

She really had been selfish back then, hadn’t she? Disregarding everyone but herself and their trainer, standing in the way and causing nothing but trouble for those around her... to think she’d acted in such a loathsome manner. It makes her sick to even consider she could’ve been so heinous back then.

The Salazzle sighs.

“Look, Cynthia, sugar... I’m sorry. I really, truly am, okay? I was... just different all those years ago. I can’t explain it. Perhaps I was simply headstrong, caught up in the glory... I suppose I just lost sight of myself... but I know that doesn’t justify what I’ve done.”

“You’re damn right it doesn’t. And I should be angrier, but... I just... can’t be. Not at you. Don’t think that means I accept your apology, because I... I don’t.”

“...That’s understandable.”

Silence overtakes the pair. The air feels heavy. In time, Cynthia turns away, while Innes remains helpless and hanging, grunting quietly in another attempt to pull her body upwards before she passes out. Seconds turn into minutes. Neither of them are going anywhere.

Finally, the silence is broken again.

“...Can I please come down now, hon? If I stay like this much longer I’m going to black out.”

“...Yeah.”

Upon Cynthia’s word, the trap dissipates, leaving Innes to drop from the tree and be sent plummeting towards the ground. Thankfully, she manages to spin herself just before landing, narrowly avoiding coming down on her head in favor of colliding with the ground on her stomach instead. With a groan, the Salazzle slowly picks herself up, arms shaking as consciousness and the feeling in her legs slowly returns.

The moment she can stand, Innes is quick to slip past Cynthia and settle into the brush... where she at last spies what she’d been after. A camp. There they are. She breathes a sigh of relief, finally finding a little bit of closure in knowing... they’re doing just fine without her. Yuki, Viola, Kronos... hold on, there’s a new face... and where’s Alder?

...Oh, right.

The Salazzle’s attention quickly returns to the Decidueye behind her, turning about on her heels and fiddling with her fingers in front of her chest.

“...I’ve never seen you use Spirit Shackle like that, sugar. What gave you the idea?”

“...Mm? Oh, uh...”

The huntress gives a weak shrug.

“I just like setting traps. Figured I’d give it a shot. Glad to know it was effective.”

Innes looks back over her shoulder at the others.

“...Looks like you all are doing just fine. I’m... relieved to see that. If you don’t mind me asking, though, sugar... Who’s the Floatzel? And... Where’s Alder?”

By the time she turns again, Cynthia is already standing beside her, sharing that look over her slumbering teammates.

“Him? Uh... That’s Wake. He filled your spot after you left. Kind of an asshole if you ask me... Really full of himself and flirts with me, like... constantly. I don’t even know if he really means it because I just don’t pay attention most of the time.

Alder? He’s, uh...”

“...He’s out looking for you.”

“He’s... what, now? Looking for me? I’m... confused. He seemed like he wanted me gone the most. Why the change of heart?”

“It wasn’t his idea.”

Cynthia exhales lowly, her breath quivering somewhat.

“Our trainer has it in their head all of a sudden that they want to try to convince you to come back. That’s why we’re here instead of in Hoenn before the next circuit starts--to find you. They sent Alder out because they knew he’d bring you back as soon as he found you, whether you wanted to come or not.”

“...Oh.”

Well, that... certainly made this entire situation much more interesting.

“...I’m not gonna lie, sugar... I do miss it sometimes. I really do. Traveling the world, kicking ass, taking names, wowing audiences the world over... but... I’m happier now living here in the wild, I think. I don’t need all that. Sure, keeping myself sustained is a bit of a struggle sometimes, but... Things are simple. I’m content.”

“...I guess I get that. I’ve kinda wondered what it’s like myself sometimes... You seem like you’re doing well. At least... surviving.

...Our trainer’s not gonna be happy about that. You not wanting to come back, I mean.”

“Your trainer. Not my problem anymore, sugar.”

“Yeah. Right. Not yours anymore.”

A defeated and dismayed sigh leaves the huntress. Even after all this time, it seems she’s still not quite ready to let go. Innes, all the same... isn’t quite sure either. Seeing these familiar faces, this new one... Memories are coming back to her. Training and napping with Viola, chatting with Yuki, sightseeing with Kronos, even sparring with Cynthia, and Alder.

Thinking about all of this... is a little painful, admittedly. But she came here to get away from that.

“...I should probably be going.”

The Salazzle doesn’t waste any time. She doesn’t know if Cynthia will protest, and she’s not too keen on finding out. She’s already turned and taken a couple steps... yet despite herself, stops as her friend speaks up.

“...Y-Yeah. I’m not gonna stop you. Go. Live your free life, or whatever.”

Innes’ mind is already ringing all sorts of alarm bells. She knows what this is. “No, no, no, don’t do this. Just walk away. Just walk away.”

...But she can’t. In an instant, she’s turning again, darting back over to the Decidueye and pulling her into one last, tight hug, which is all too quickly reciprocated by the avian.

“I’m... g-gonna miss you.”

“. . .

I’m gonna miss you, too, sugar. But be strong for the team, okay? Don’t lose your footing worrying about me. I’m fine, I promise. It’s gonna be okay.”

The hug remains. It’s maintained for what feels like hours... until finally, Innes withdraws, leaving Cynthia to stand with her wings falling slowly back to her sides. The two share once last glance... and Innes gives her friend a confident nod before turning away again.

“...I-Inaina.

If Alder finds you...

...Give him hell for me, okay?”

“...Heh.

Anything for you, sugar~.”

With that, at last, the Salazzle makes her exit, hurrying off and quickly disappearing into the brush...

quite possibly never to be seen again.

#Love Bites {so does she} (INNES)#The Keen Huntress (CYNTHIA)#Open Minds (DRABBLES)#//hi so yeah//#//have this thing that's been stewing in my mind for a bit//#//it's probably the longest thing i've written in... idk how long//#//i don't really know how good it is either but//#//i spent the better part of two days working on it so//#//here it is//

8 notes · View notes

misskikuwrites · 5 years ago

Text

Pretty in Pink (1/3)

Bede/Gloria (dressedinpinkshipping)

A shift of pink out of the corner of Bede's eyes made him glance towards the entrance of the Glimwood Tangle. A vivid pink that he was sure hadn't been there a moment ago. The second he looked, however, there was no one there.

Certainly not the Champion who wears that very same pink.

Bede shook his head and continued on his way to the Gym. Somehow, even here in Ballonlea, the Champion managed to worm her way into his life. Into his thoughts.

It was worse now that Bede had recognised his feelings towards Gloria. After those feelings and the realisation of what they were had hit him like a Double Edge from a Dubwool he'd been seeing her everywhere.

Posters of the new Champion that he would've usually ignored on the walls of Pokemon Centres now stood out to him like white against black. Champion merchandise popped up everywhere. The cry of a Corviknight that turned out to be a simple sky taxi always made him look twice.

And that pink. He could no longer see that colour without thinking of her, without his head turning instinctively to see who - or sometimes what - it was.

It was driving him insane.

What made it worse was the annoying habit the Champion had of just dropping in. Randomly. Without prior warning, without giving Bede any chance to prepare his heart for the way she would smile at him, the way his name sounded on her lips.

If he hadn't considered her a friend as well as a rival, he might've found her random visits utterly reprehensible. That is, if he wasn't also maddeningly in love with her.

She was the Champion, for Arceus' sake!

She always had a legitimate reason for coming. That was why Bede made a habit of not letting it get to his head. He put up with her exhibition matches, her offers to join in the Champions cup.

Well, he made it seem as though he was merely putting up with it. With her. He wasn't about to act like a lovesick fool in front of her. Wouldn't let her know how eagerly he awaited their next match. The only one who could really challenge him.

As if that was all she was to him.

No, he would do everything in his power to hide the way his heart leapt at the sight of her. The way her smile made his stomach flutter as if he'd swallowed a hoard of Butterfree. The way she said his name, so sweet and light and full of joy to see him that it made his face burn as if he'd been struck by her Cinderace's Pyro Ball.

He couldn't let her know how he felt. Not when there was a chance she had feelings for someone else. For a childhood friend that she hugged so easily, whether it was for a greeting or a goodbye. Bede's stomach churned at the thought.

He was still wearing a scowl on his face when he entered the Gym.

The next day, Bede saw that pink again and couldn't stop the way his head turned to follow it.

And there she was. Heading into the Glimwood Tangle with her Cinderace by her side. Bede blinked as she disappeared into the woods, his stomach flopping uncomfortably. It really was her.

Bede almost made to follow her, one foot lifting off the ground in her direction, when he caught himself. He had Gym battles to attend to.

And she hadn't come here for him.

A strange weight settled in Bede's gut with that thought. It stayed with him the rest of the day, Bede not noticing how he battled without remorse and wiped the floor of every challenger who came by.

He didn't see her the next morning and so Bede decided to push the sights of Gloria out of his mind and focus.

That plan went south when he saw her that evening, heading to the Pokemon Centre as he left the Gym. Even from a distance he could see the speckling of dirt on her cheeks, the stray leaves in her long brown hair. It would be so simple to go over to her, to thumb that streak of dirt off her cheek. To card his fingers through her soft hair to pick out the leaves.

Her soft hair?

A rush of heat burst through him, shooting like a thunderbolt to the tips of his fingers. Without another thought, Bede stalked away before anyone saw him staring longing at the Champion with a scorching blush on his face.

The next day, Bede headed to the Gym without looking towards the Glimwood Tangle. He didn't search for that striking pink. He kept his eyes forward, kept his mind clear. He didn't have the luxury of distractions. Not when he still had to prove himself as the new Fairy type Gym Leader.

Bede had changed into his uniform, prepared to meet new or repeat challengers in the lobby, when he heard the commotion outside. People were shouting. Confused. Bede turned to the entrance, ready to stalk out there and fix whatever was causing the fuss, when a Cinderace dashed through the doors. It glanced around, ears pulled back, before it set its sights on Bede.

The Cinderace cried and bolted over to Bede, hopping anxiously on its toes. It made a series of noises that made no sense to Bede or any of the onlookers.

What did make sense, what Bede knew instantly, was that this was Gloria's Cinderace.

"Is it Gloria?" Bede asked and the Cinderace nodded frantically. His heart dropped into the pits of his stomach. "Show me!"

The Cinderace bounded through the entrance and Bede followed, calling over his shoulder, "the Gym's closed today!"

He followed the Cinderace into the Glimwood Tangle, running to keep up with the speedy Pokemon. The Cinderace cleverly kicked stones into the glowing mushrooms as they ran, illuminating their path deeper into the woods. There wasn't time for Bede to think, to process what was happening. What it meant that he was following Gloria's Cinderace. Why the Pokemon looked so distraught.

What state Gloria was in.

Bede followed the Cinderace deeper and deeper into the Tangle, climbing over fallen logs, leaping over thick roots and dodging wild Pokemon. His heart raced. Pulse rocketed. Mind whirled as he powdered ahead until the Cinderace jumped down an embankment and rounded a tree.

Gloria sat slumped on the ground, leaning against the trunk of a tree, head tipped forward.

"Gloria!"

Her head shot up at his voice. Tears glistened on her cheeks, trailing muddy lines down her face. Bede's breath left his lungs. She was worse than when he saw her yesterday. Leaves, twigs and dirt caked her hair. Grime smudged across her cheeks. Her knees scabbed and bleeding, her pink dress stained in patches.

"What happened?" Bede gaped.

"B-Bede…!" Gloria sobbed and more tears spilled from her eyes. Her chest shuddered with broken gasps as she tried to speak.

"Hey, I'm here," Bede said, steadying his voice and kneeling next to her. "It's okay."

Now wasn't the time for him to freak out, not with her trembling like this. He took one of her shaking hands in his. Her fingers were like ice. She sniffled and nodded, chest heaving with every breath. Her bottom lip wobbled.

Bede had never seen her like this before. Terrified and broken. Falling to pieces in front of him. It shattered his heart. He held her hand tight, reached out with his other and touched her arm lightly. Gloria collapsed into him. Bede's breath was sucked from his lungs as her head dropped to his chest, her hand winding tight into his shirt. She howled. Cry breaking the silence, breaking Bede's heart and his willpower and he held her close, slipping his arm around her back.

He felt every shudder of her body. Every sob. Her Cinderace trilled sadly nearby and Bede rubbed her back slowly, gently, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. He clamped his eyes shut at his own incompetence and held her close. It was all he could do.

Bede held Gloria until her wails turned to sobs and then into shaky breaths. Until her shuddering stopped and she sank limp against him. He waited until she peeled herself off his chest and sat up, her face flushed from crying, before he dropped his arm from her back.

"What happened?" Bede asked, softer this time.

Gloria sniffled and rubbed her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I… fell down there…" she pointed to a ledge not far from where she sat, the top of the mossy cliff almost two metres high. "I didn't see the drop until it was too late. Rolled down it."

Bede winced. "Do you have a first-aid kit in your bag?" He wished he'd taken more than a split second before following her Cinderace. Wished he'd thought ahead and taken something of use with him instead of just his Pokemon.

Gloria nodded and moved to shuffle the straps of her bag off her shoulders. He was still holding her hand. He released it as if she had suddenly burnt him.

"Let me," Bede said, easing Gloria's bag off her shoulders to distract himself from the heat rising on his cheeks. He placed it in front of her so she could dig out the first-aid kit, saving him from having to look through her belongings. She pulled out the small, simple red kit and handed it to Bede.

Bede opened the kit and glanced over Gloria's injuries. Her knees were raw, legs streaked in coagulated blood and dirt. She had numerous small cuts and scrapes down the bare skin of her legs, only a few of which would need a proper clean and a bandage.

"Where are you hurt? Other than the obvious." Bede pulled out a handful of tissues and her water bottle. Dampening a few tissues, he handed them to her. "Here. For your face."

"Thanks," she said quietly and began to wipe the muck from her cheeks. "I think… I might've rolled my ankle."

Bede looked to her black boots. "Which one?"

"The right."

Bede shifted her bag towards her feet. "I'm going to elevate it, alright? Then I'll need to take your boot off in order to wrap it."

He saw Gloria swallow tightly, jaw clenching. It was going to hurt. She nodded, bracing herself with a steely look in her eyes. Despite falling apart earlier, Gloria had guts. She knew what needed to be done and did it. Bede turned back to her foot, taking it gently in both hands and lifting it just enough to slide her bag underneath.

Gloria breathed a hiss of pain through her teeth.

"Sorry," Bede apologised automatically.

"N-No, it's okay." She gave him a stiff smile. "I'm the one who should be apologising, making you leave your Gym and come all the way here because of a stupid fall. I just… I didn't know who else to get, who else would recognise my Cinderace and know to follow him?"

Bede felt his cheeks warm. "It was fairly obvious your Cinderace was in distress. Anyone could see that. And it's just one day - anyone serious about the Champion's Cup will come back tomorrow."

He was comforting her. She nodded, her smile relaxing. "Thanks, Bede."

His cheeks felt unbearably warm now. He nodded, focusing intently on her now-elevated foot. "I'll need to take your boot off."

"Okay."

Slowly, carefully, Bede undid the laces of her black boot. He eased it open, glanced at Gloria. She caught his eyes and nodded. Trying as gently as he could, Bede eased the boot off her foot as Gloria bit back a grunt of pain. He then did the same with her sock, revealing an obviously swollen ankle. It was already puffing out.

Bede quickly grabbed the compress bandages from the first-aid kit and wrapped her ankle neatly.

"Where'd you learn to do that so well?" Gloria asked, blinking through tears of pain. She relaxed slightly when Bede finished with her ankle.

"All Gym leader's need to have up-to-date first-aid training."

"That's handy. Wish it was the same for the Champion. Pretty useless having a first-aid kit and not knowing what to do with it," Gloria laughed in self-deprication. "So useless I didn't even remember that I had it until you asked."

"You were in shock."

"Still. Pathetic Champion I am, breaking down over a fall like that."

Bede huffed. "You're not pathetic - you're covered in wounds! I'd be more worried if you didn't show that kind of emotion in a situation like this."

Gloria nodded slowly, dabbing absently at her cheek with the damp tissues.

"Let's get you back to Ballonlea. We'll deal with the rest of this there." Bede packed the first-aid kit into her bag and closed it, slipping it over his shoulders.

"Good idea."

"Do you think you can walk?"

"I… I'm not sure. I haven't tried."

Bede stood, brushed the dirt off his knees and offered Gloria a hand. "Let's get you on your feet first."

Gloria took his hand and with a swift tug, Bede pulled her to her feet. And almost flush against him. He tried not to stiffen, letting Gloria hold onto his hand for balance.

"Here, put your arm over my shoulder," Bede directed her, trying to ignore how tight his voice sounded. He could only hope Gloria was too preoccupied with finding her balance to notice the blush blooming across his cheekbones. She grit her teeth, rested her arm over his shoulder, and stared straight ahead. Concentrating on what was to come.

Bede curled his arm around her lower back as casually as he could.

They'd only taken a single step forward and Gloria hissed in pain, sucking in a sharp breath. Her Cinderace cried sadly.

"I'm… I'm okay. We can do this," she said through clenched teeth, jaw set tight.

"No." Bede dropped his arm from her back. He handed her bag to her Cinderace who looked on with a confused tilt of his head.

"What?"

He held onto her arm to help her balance as he knelt in front of her, his back to her. "Get on."

"What? No, Bede, you don't have to carry me! I can walk!"

"Not an option. I'm not letting you hobble all that way in pain. Now get on or I'm leaving you here."

"You wouldn't!"

Bede raised an eyebrow. "You're right, but would you rather I scoop you up in my arms or carry you on my back?"

Gloria flushed in frustration. "Fine but… are you sure?"

"I wouldn't have said so if I wasn't."

"Right…" She sounded reluctant but climbed onto Bede's back anyway, allowing him to hook his hands under her knees and stand. Gloria swayed forward with the motion, resting her hands on his shoulders.

"Is that alright?" Bede asked. Gloria nodded before realising he couldn't see it.

"Yes, it's fine. Thanks." Her cheeks coloured as she glanced down at her legs. "But… um…" How could she say it?

"What?" Bede glanced over his shoulder. Her thighs were distractingly warm against his hands. He tried to frown the rising heat off his face but it was a losing battle.

The nervous lilt in her voice set Bede's blood on fire in his veins. "It's… well, it's my dress. It's kind of… riding up…"

Bede choked on a gasp. "Th-Then tug it down!" Now his face was fully aflame. All he could feel was the weight of her body against his back, his skin burning, burning, burning where they touched.

"I-I can't like this!"

"Then what do you want me to do?!" Arceus, he was burning up.

"I don't know!"

"Then why'd you tell me?!"

Gloria squawked indignantly. "B-Because I don't want anyone to see!"

"There's no one here," Bede huffed. No one here except him, though he couldn't see anything like this. Thankfully.

Bede squeezed his eyes shut. Don't think about that.

"B-But in Ballonlea…"

"We'll deal with that when we get there."

"Mm… okay…"

With a rough sigh, Bede started off towards Ballonlea, following Gloria's Cinderace as it lit the glowing mushrooms in their path.

"Tell me if it begins to hurt again and I'll put you down," Bede said.

"Okay."

Arceus, her voice was right in his ear. He focused on the path ahead of him, the trip hazard of roots and branches and loose stones. They trudged along slowly, carefully, until they reached the outskirts of the Tangle, the lights of Ballonlea in sight. Instead of taking the main path, Bede skirted the edge of the town, circling around until they could see his place. When Bede was sure there was no one else around, they emerged from the woods and walked straight to the front door.

"I'm letting you down now," Bede cautioned, slowly lowering Gloria until her feet touched the ground.

"Is this…?"

"Ms Opal's house." Bede fished out a key from his pockets and unlocked the door. "She's letting me stay until I can get my own place." He swung the door open, letting her Cinderace inside before turning back to Gloria. She balanced unsteadily on one foot.

"I can hop inside- hey!" she yelped when Bede scooped her into his arms, carrying her bridal-style with one hand around her back, the other under her thighs. "B-Bede!"

He ignored her protests and stalked inside, kicking the door closed behind him. He took a few quick steps to the couch before gently depositing her onto it. He grabbed one of the cushions and slipped it under her ankle.

"There. I wasn't going to have you hobble and whine the whole time. I'm not a sadist." He brushed the dirt from his hands that her thighs had left on him. Then he reached back and found more dirt across his back. Of course. He huffed in disgust.

"Sorry," Gloria apologised shamefully. "Your Gym uniform is all dirty because of me."

Bede tore the grimace off his face. "It's fine - it'll come off when I wash it." He felt like an idiot, fussing over some dirt on his clothes when she was caked in it head to toe, covered in bruises and scratches.

"You should take a bath," Bede offered. "It'll be the quickest way to get you clean and we can deal with the rest of your cuts after that."

"Oh, a bath sounds heavenly right now," Gloria sighed. "I think I've got a change of clothes in my bag…" Her Cinderace brought her bag over, trilling happily. She thanked it and returned it to its Pokeball before digging around in her bag. Bede left her to that as he gathered a fresh towel for her to use.

He forced down any thoughts that threatened to arise with a scowl. He brought her a towel and a washcloth, handing them over when he noticed that she didn't have her spare clothes in hand. Her face looked unusually pale.

"What is it?"

"Well… it, uh, seems that I don't actually have any spare clothes. I… must've forgotten to pack them last night."

Bede blinked at her.

"Could I borrow some of yours…?"

Bede's heart ground to a halt in his chest. "F-Fine," he said quickly, stalking to his room before his cheeks coloured a bright crimson in front of her. It just kept going from bad to worse. His composure was crumbling. Chipping away, little by little, threatening to expose his longing for her. His damn crush was getting harder to ignore when things like this kept happening.

How was he supposed to suppress and hide his feelings for her when his face was a beacon of embarrassment, burning so brightly, so easily. Right to the very tips of his ears.

He took a few deep gulps of air to calm himself and gathered a plain T-shirt and a pair of shorts that had a drawstring and would hopefully fit her. Bede ignored how his fingers tingled when they brushed hers as he handed the clothes over. He ignored the way she squawked that she could hobble to the bathroom on her own, ignored the fluttering in his chest when she disappeared into the bathroom and left him alone with his thoughts.

Bede soon wished he could shut out the sound of water running in the bath and the images it was conjuring in his mind.

Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it.

Bede shut himself in his room and took his time to change out of his dirtied Gym gear. He chose a pair of dark pants and a light grey long sleeved t-shirt. He rolled up the sleeves absently as he dug around in his medicine cabinet, grabbing more compression bandages, bandaids and some antiseptic with a few cotton buds. Maybe it was overkill but Bede didn't care. He needed the distraction.

He'd finished gathering the first-aid stuff and sorting it on the counter when the bathroom door opened again and Gloria hobbled out. Bede took a long moment composing himself before he looked at her.

And then quickly wished he hadn't.

The shirt was too big for her yet it looked adorable hanging off her smaller frame. The shorts hug loosely to her waist. Her cheeks were rosy from the warm bath, her damp hair tied in a loose bun atop her head.

She was too cute.

"Sit down," Bede ordered with an unnecessary bark in his tone.

"Roger that," Gloria replied. She was in a better mood now after her bath, her dirty clothes bundled in her arms. She hobbled over to the couch and fell onto it dramatically, hefting her swollen ankle onto a cushion.

"Give me your clothes, I'll wash them with mine." Bede held out his hand, motioning to her.

"Is that alright?" She looked up at him, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. "I could do it at home…"

"I'm putting mine through anyway. It's fine."

With that sorted, she handed over her clothes and he put on the washing machine before coming back with the compression bandages in hand. Somehow she'd managed to soak the bandage he'd wrapped her ankle in earlier so he applied a new one before grabbing her an ice pack.

"Thanks Bede," she said, shifting the ice pack slightly on her ankle. "I don't know what I would've done without you."

Bede didn't respond to that. No words would form and even if they did he doubted he'd be able to say them without fumbling. How did she always know exactly what to say to send his heart soaring?

"Where else are you hurt?" Bede grabbed the antiseptic cream, the bandages and a couple of bandaids.

"Mostly my legs," Gloria noted, touching the scrapes on her knees. "I think I've just got bruises on my arms."

"That makes it easy." Bede pulled a chair over to the couch and unscrewed the lid of the antiseptic cream. She didn't protest at all as he applied the cream to the numerous scrapes and cuts on her legs. She didn't even mention the fact that she could've done it herself and let him work, watching silently.

She thanked him again when he was done and he managed to mumble a thanks and something about how it was no big deal before escaping to put everything away.

"Why were you in the Glimwood Tangle anyway?" Bede asked when he returned.

"Oh, you know… Champion stuff."

Bede raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Surely you don't think I'm that gullible. If you do, then I'm sorry to say that you've got a horribly incorrect impression about me."

Gloria grumbled. "It's… a bit embarrassing, actually." She looked away for a moment before her eyes widened. "That's it! You can help me!"

Bede frowned. "Help you with what?"

What was she trying to rope him into now?

"Well…" she looked at him with an imploring smile, sounding out her words carefully. "I was wondering… can I borrow your Rapidash?"

"Why? And what does that have to do with you heading into the Tangle almost every day so far this week?"

Gloria sighed. "You saw that?"

"You're a bit hard to miss with all that pink."

"Oh."

"So, are you going to explain yourself or not?"

"Fine, fine!" she huffed. "I was looking for a Ponyta."

"... that's it?"

"Yes!" Gloria sighed again. "I was looking for a Ponyta all this week and I didnt find a single one. I'm the Champion of Galar and can't even manage that."

"Why do you want one so badly?"

"I've loved Galarian Ponyta and Rapidash ever since I was little. I didn't find one when I was doing the Champions Cup so I thought I could find myself one now. Guess it's not that easy."

"...And you thought I'd just give you mine?" Bede gave her an incredulous look.

"No, I didn't want you to give it to me. I just need to borrow it. For a while." Her smile became nervous, she glanced away from him.

"What for? Having my Rapidash with you isn't going to make finding one any easier."

"I…" Her cheeks coloured pink. "I wanted to breed it."

Bede blinked at her. Stunned. "And how were you going to do that with a single Rapidash?"

"I have a Ditto! It's just a matter of seeing if they get along and then leaving them alone for a while and…" she trailed off, her gaze leaving his again.

"You want to pimp out my Rapidash."

"D-Don't say it like that!" Gloria blushed darkly. Almost the colour of her usual dress.

The colour suited her, Bede realised. He studied her for a moment.

"You want one that badly?"

Gloria sighed. "Yes…"

Bede's heart fluttered. "If they do get along then I guess I don't mind, but that will leave me one Pokemon short for my Gym battles," he found himself saying. "I'll have to find a replacement."

"Does that mean…? You'll let me borrow your Rapidash?" Her eyes widened excitedly, making Bede's heart skip a beat.

The way she was smiling at him made it difficult to speak. "Only if they get along and only if I can get a replacement Fairy type Pokemon in the meantime."

"Then you can borrow my Mimikyu!" She clasped her hands together at the idea. "Can we try it now? See if they get along?"

Bede hadn't expected things to fall in place this quickly. "Now? Here?"

"Yeah! Unless you want to make me hobble somewhere else…?" she teased, waiting for his reply with an eager sparkle in her eyes.

Bede huffed. It was too difficult to say no to her. "Fine, fine. But this is Ms Opal's place. If they break anything…"

The warning in his voice was clear.

"Don't worry, I'll keep my Pokeball on hand and return them if it seems like it's going downhill."

She was so confident Bede found himself going along with it and pulled out his Rapidash's Pokeball as she readied her Box Link and retrieved her Ditto.

Bede sent out his Rapidash first. It stood alert and ready until it realised that it wasn't in the middle of a battle and relaxed. Gloria beamed at the Rapidash and sent out her Ditto. Without needing the command, her Ditto transformed into the nearest Pokemon, taking the form of a Rapidash. The two Fairy Pokemon looked at each other for a long, trepid moment. Gloria kept her hand tight around her Pokeball.

Bede's Rapidash approached Gloria's Ditto with slow, cautious steps. They circled each other for a moment. Studying one another. Nostrils flaring as they identified each other's scent.

The suspension was palpable. Gloria held her breath whenever the Pokemon moved, whenever they drew closer. She caught Bede's wrist when his Rapidash nuzzled its nose against her Ditto's.

Bede jolted. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist right above his hand. All he had to do was shift his hand slightly and he could curl his fingers around hers. A quick movement and he could hold her hand. His fingers twitched.

"Bede, look!" She tugged at his wrist, gaze thankfully locked on the two Pokemon so she didn't see the crimson on his cheeks. He swallowed and followed her line of sight to where the Rapidash were nuzzling against one another.

Well. That was fast.

Soon enough they returned their Rapidash into their respective Pokeballs, Gloria beaming an elated smile. It wasn't even levelled at him yet it made his heart thrum in his chest.

Arceus, she was adorable.

With her Ditto and Bede's Rapidash in hand, Gloria lent him her Mimikyu. "Oh, this is so exciting! I've never bred Pokemon before!"

"You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Yeah, I know the people who run the Pokemon daycare in the Wild Area. They'll be the ones actually looking after the whole process. But they'll give me a call when they find an egg!"

Sounded simple enough. At least his Rapidash was going to be looked after properly.

With that softed, Gloria rang up a sky taxi, deciding it would be easier for her to rest at home and let Bede return to his Gym Leader duties.

"Make sure you come back and get your dress," Bede reminded her. "I don't want to think what will happen if Ms Opal finds it…"

Gloria chuckled. "Now, that would be interesting."

The sky taxi landed just outside Ms Opal's house, and Bede loaded her bag into it for her as she hobbled the few steps over from the door.

"Thank you, Bede. For everything," she said, lingering by the door of the sky taxi. "I owe you one. Well, more than one."

Bede found it difficult to hold her gaze. "Yeah, you do."

Gloria laughed and Bede's heart sang. She leaned forward so quickly he didn't have time to react or even process what she was doing when she planted a soft kiss to his cheek.

"Thanks," she said again, quieter this time, and climbed into the taxi. It had taken off, disappearing as a speck in the distance, when Bede realised what on earth had just happened. His face flushed a dark crimson. Blood surging to his head.

She'd kissed his cheek.

Gloria had kissed him.

A strangled noise escaped Bede's throat as he stormed inside, covering his burning cheeks with his hands despite there being no one around to see.

Arceus.

Oh, Arceus.

She was going to be the death of him.

#bede #bederia #gloria #dressedinpinkshipping #pokemon swsh #pokemon

78 notes · View notes