#and fuck shit up this badly without Pokemon around

[peachlolitasevillacourtstuff]

Sibling fight in the background.@ask-the-spheros-brothers and @autumn2art

⚠Warning, verbal and physical violence content.⚠

(Before we start, I'll give a little context. Cedrick got into a fight with another kid who was bullying him and ended up hurt and punished. Therefore Stratos fights with his brother since it was Betrayus who incited his nephew.)

"Riiiiiiing!"

The phone in the round house rang. The butler answered.

Buttler "Hello?… Oh.." Buttler walked to Stratos' office and handed him the phone, buttler trembled a little but walked away so as not to see Mr. Stratos' reaction.

Stratos "OH, hello Madam Director. My son did what?" Stratos became distressed and at the same time upset. He couldn't believe what he heard.

Bodyguard "Should I get the car ready?" he asked worriedly.

Stratos turned his gaze shaking his head up and down outside. After a few hours they arrived at the round house. Cedrick had arrived with bruises and tears in his eyes. Stratos gave a long sigh and shouted.

"BETRAYUS GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" He called out to him.

Betrayus "Now what?" He asked coming down the stairs from his room, wanting to know about the situation.

Stratos looked at him with disappointment and anger. "Why are you teaching my son about violence!?" He complained.

Betrayus "Now what happened!?" He said surprised without understanding much about the subject.

Stratos "A few hours ago they called me from his school, he got into a fight with another kid. And he was so badly injured that Cedrick was suspended for a week. Now the father of that other kid is very angry with me and I don't know how to explain it to him. I know you have something to do with it!" He explained angrily, while showing him Cedrick's report.

Betrayus "NOW IT'S MY FAULT!?"

Stratos "YES"

Betrayus "THE CHILD WAS JUST DEFENDING HIMSELF FROM THAT BULLY! IN ADDITION, THEY'VE BEEN BULLYING HIM AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO HIM!" He answers raising his voice.

Stratos "I could have solved it peacefully!"

Betrayus "It wouldn't have been of any use!" He answers turning his back and crossing his arms.

Stratos "YOU WERE THE SAME WHEN YOU WERE 12 AND 14! YOU RECEIVED A LOT OF REPORTS FOR BAD CONDUCT, AND NOW YOU GIVE BAD ADVICE TO MY SON FOR YOUR IDIOTIC THINGS!" He scolds with a red face.

Betrayus "IT WAS BECAUSE I WAS DEFENDING MYSELF FROM THOSE FUCKING MORONS!" He answers with an angry voice.

Stratos "BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR MOUTHWORD! THE BOY IS NEARBY!" He points.

Betrayus "AT LEAST YOU KNOW WHAT THEY WERE CALLING POOR CEDRICK!" He turns around still upset.

Stratos "YES, HE TOLD ME THE WORD FREAK!" He answers raising his index finger.

Betaryus "DON'T EVER SAY THAT IN FRONT OF ME!" He yells at his brother.

Stratos "THIS IS DIFFERENT WITH YOU AND HIM!" He responds again furiously.

Betrayus "EVERY TIME THEY SAY THAT MY BLOOD BOILS!" With a half-broken voice. Quickly the bracelet did its job with betrayus and gave him a shock after detecting a sign of impulse of violence, he let out a moan. "Shit…" Wanting to endure the pain.

Stratos "Did you complain of pain?" he asked looking at the bracelet.

Betrayus "Just… just leave me alone…" He answers rubbing his wrist.

Stratos "Fine. But don't give Cedrick that advice again, I've already had a very stressful day." He calmed down but was still upset with his brother.

"Togepi?..." The pokemon petted his trainer because he was hurt. Cedrick didn't want to say anything, and forget everything that happened that day. All he did was pick up Togepi and go to his room but "Freak's" words still rang in his mind.

[lolotheparagon]

One of the dumbest things I think you've ever said was that cartoon fans hate children because they don't like how certain child characters are written or because they think a reboot of a kids show is badly written. Like, you do understand there's a difference, right? Yeah, I totally want children dead or something because I children's entertainment can be better than those soulless, ugly nursery rhyme compilation videos that children are addicted to. Logic.

Cartoon fans always have a warped idea how children actually are. Because they forget WE WERE kids. Whenever they see a little kid character who is slightly overbearing and overenergetic, yknow what a little kid IS, the fandom calls the character "annoying", "brat" etc. And god forbid if a teenage character was their point of contention

I remember watching Transformers Prime and I thought Miko was my fave out of the human teens the Autobots looked after. Yet Ive seen so many fans complaining she was a rude, impulsive, bratty bitch and found her excitable attitude around the Autobots "annoying" because how DARE a 14 year old acts stupid and is excited to hang out with giant robots.

And this stems to how cartoon fans view children who are fans as well. I was in the brony fandom and I noticed whenever the show introduced more characters or spin offs for the sake of toys, a lot of bronies groaned how its so "girly" and "not what the show is" aka anything remotely marketable and feminine whatsoever. And they got mad when kids loved it cos it reminded them they're watching a girl's show. They outright pilloried G3 fans for liking such a baby's show when Friendship is Magic is literally no different than g3 outside of more consistent characters and its funnier. Heck, even when G5 came along and there was a poll of who their fave main character was and Pipp, the most feminine of the group who was a social media savant, had the least votes. Whereas Izzy, the g5 Pinkie Pie, was at no. 1. (which goes to show how cartoon fanbases are extremely biased to wacky comic relief characters with quasi-neurodivergent traits) Also I was exposed to a lot of fucked up shit, the porn of this fandom was unfiltered and incredibly easy to access on youtube and google. (this was before youtube kids was a thing) This is the same fandom that brought us Cupcakes and Fallout Equestria and Rarity's New Designs. All from a show thats about horse puppies being friends. And as for the little kids who were surrounded by this content, no wonder they grew up traumatised. Cos bronies didnt give a single pissing shit about the children. Look up brony horror stories. You'll see why.

Cartoon fandoms have this preconceived notion to muscle children out of the picture as possible so they can feel more secure watching kids shows without their parents judging them. They hate being reminded that the stuff they watch IS FOR KIDS IN THE FIRST PLACE. But the problem is 75% of media out there is made for children in mind. Star Wars, Disney, Pixar movies, Dreamworks movies, Batman, Spiderman, Marvel, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Transformers etc.

As for the bad reboot angle, I always firmly believed the phrase "This X REBOOT RUINED MY CHILDHOOD" is always a defensive way of saying: "THIS CHILDRENS PROPERTY IS NOT IMMEDIATELY CATERING TO ME >:(" Like they treat a reboot like its an act of betrayal when its just a piece of media changing and evolving with the generations to appeal to the newer ones. If you want the same show you watched as a kid, just watch the original thing on youtube or collect dvds and merch of it. But if you want to watch this reboot, you've got to realise change is what reboots do and if you get mad at the small/big changes a reboot makes...

You're literally Patchy in this scene

As long as a show doesnt push racist/sexist/bigoted or any problematic themes in their faces, its fine. If the kids love it, the reboots done its job.

And as for the quality of children's entertainment, I dont really give a shit what soulless nursery rhyme collection or sanitised fluff kids watch. We all had our mindless fluff we watched as kids and we didnt get scarred for life because of it.

Just...leave the kids alone. Just act like adults and manage your shit carefully. Let the kids enjoy what they enjoy and for the love of god DONT GET SO FUCKING DEFENSIVE OVER LIKING A CARTOON AIMED AT BABIES. ITS ONLY WEIRD WHEN YOU MAKE IT WEIRD.

[foxchandelier-blog]

Lysandre is actually a really scary villain if you think deeply into the premise of his character.

I’ve done a little bit of research on him already and have analyzed some theories + “evidence” that crosses between the games, the manga, the specials and the anime and, honestly, Lysandre is actually fucking terrifying if we assume his true personality is an amalgamation of all his counterparts.

I mean, for one, he’s really good at manipulating people. You can see this in a lot of ways but the most noticeable one is convincing rich people to buy into his weird-ass genocidal organization. Just thinking about that alone boggles the mind a little because he’s managed to get people to spend millions alone on just getting just a fancy suit and a “promised place in utopia”. 

For two, Lysandre has a lot of control over the Kalos region, more control than anyone should be allowed. Literally let me exist the examples of how much control he has:

1.) Lysandre has control Lysandre Labs - a company that literally doles out all of Kalos’s most advanced technology (a la Pokemon Generations episode 16) - and has made it so that many people likely depend on his services. And, as mentioned in the manga (though I don’t know if this is a games-related factor but I would assume so) Lysandre is a brilliant engineer who’s come up with a lot of this amazing technology, putting him in a place of power through his skills alone.

2.) Lysandre is friends with the Kalos region CHAMPION and REGIONAL PROFESSOR. He literally has them both admiring him and respecting him - a feat usually only reserved for the player character. And yet, all the while, Lysandre is using and abusing Sycamore’s and Diantha’s trust in him to do terrible things. So much so that Sycamore even admits in the games of how he was aware of Lysandre’s wrong-doings but was unable to stop him. 

3.) Lysandre has control over the news media. This is pointed out in the games, in the manga, in the anime, and in the Pokemon Generations anime. And, the consistency is really appreciated because this is fucking scary. Lysandre has the ability to control how people see him through the news outlets. By using Malva - who broadcasts news to most of Kalos’s people - as a biased outlet meant to make him look good, Lysandre can easily spread lies and deceit to get people to respect him. 

4.) I don’t really think this has to be said but Lysandre is very charismatic and a convincing actor. Even if you pinpoint him as the villain early on thanks to his garish design, it’s hard not to notice how everyone is in awe of him or how no one questions his motives. Lysandre is good at being liked, strangely so, and even if you feel an urge to hate him as the player character it’s hard not to notice the way many people in-verse treat him as someone to respect and be inspired from.

For third, let’s discuss the anime. 

The third reason that Lysandre’s so scary is due to his relationship with Alan in the animated version of XY/XYZ/TSME.

Throughout the duration of the show, Lysandre is very much a puppet master moving all his pieces into place. One such puppet is young Alan, a trainer who he’s manipulated and set into place like a toy on a string.

The first time Lysandre meets Alan, it’s actually kind of terrifying to think about. He meets Alan in the midst of ruins, battles him, defeats him, and then coaxes Alan into becoming his minion. Not only that but he uses Alan’s lone role model against him - using Alan’s love for Professor Sycamore to drive him away from the man and into Lysandre’s care only.

Lysandre abuses Alan’s trust in him as an authority figure and makes use of that trust in his favor. He uses Alan as his assistant in his plot, letting Alan think that he is doing good without telling a single lie to the boy. The man uses Alan without remorse, depending on his skills and prowess while also treating him as disposable if he becomes “weak” (as mentioned in TSME episode 4 when Lysandre notes “I don’t need weaklings”).

Furthermore, when Lysandre recognizes Alan’s fondness and guilt over Manon and her Chespin’s condition, he uses that as a tool to get Alan to continue collecting energy. While Alan is hurting over how his actions have caused his closest companions pain, Lysandre weaponizes Alan’s feelings by feeding him tales of “how he can save Chespie” if he just “collects Mega Evolution energy”. 

It’s terrible and it’s downright horrifying. Even as Alan’s obviously breaking down, Lysandre’s first thoughts are not to help the boy but to use Alan’s feelings for his own personal plans. He cares little for how Alan or Manon actually feel and, instead, chooses to use their unfortunate situation in a way that only truly benefits him.

It’s cruel and malicious, selfish and yet cold-hearted. Lysandre’s relationship with Alan is honestly really toxic. He controls Alan, cuts off his closest connections, and weaponizes said connections to put the boy under his control. 

For the fourth reason for why this man is scary it’s because Lysandre thinks he’s in the right and doesn’t think himself wrong. Lysandre’s goals, though seemingly flimsy in design and terrible in the game’s execution, get established in the anime as something almost...sympathetic. In the anime, though it’s only brief, Lysandre explains a little bit of his reasoning for his actions: a reasoning that I will paraphrase here to make sense for the context of his overall character.

His explanation is that he wanted to help people who were suffering, lending them his time, money, and charity in order to help them. At first, he was thanked and appreciated and everyone loved him for it. This was something that Lysandre arguably considered “beautiful”. 

Over time, however, he noticed something changed in the people he helped. They became greedy, wanting more and more of whatever he could provide. He was treated horribly because he could not provide what the people wanted. This, in turn, opened his eyes to the “ugliness” of humanity. He grew bitter, grew spiteful of the people he helped because they saw him as something akin to a tool rather than as a hero. 

This doesn’t explain how he developed genocidal tendencies, of course, but it does give a realistic background story that I can believe and yet somehow sympathize with. Lysandre wanted to help people. But, in doing so, he made them greedy. They wanted more from him, wanted him to do more things for them because of their “rights”, and this greed ultimately makes Lysandre start to snap.

Moving on, I think a lot of the inspiration for Lysandre’s deeply off-the-rockers  and genocidal maniac transformation lies in the real fictional story of “The Picture of Dorian Gray”.

In said story, the main character - Dorian Gray - comes to be inspired by the views of a man known as Lord Henry Wotton. Lord Henry believes fully in beauty as the only thing being worthy of being pursued in life. Taking up this view, Dorian Gray wishes that a painting of himself would age in his place so that he can pursue nothing but beauty and sensual fulfillment.

Taking this (very short hand) explanation of the plot in association to Lysandre, I think there’s a connection here. Dorian Gray, upon becoming smitten with the idea of endless beauty, seeks to keep himself beautiful forever. And Lysandre, who’s views of the world have warped into ugliness, seeks to pursue that beauty, wanting to rid the world of “ugliness” (human greed, “unworthy people”) so that he can keep the "beautiful” all around him (the “chosen ones”).

This ties back into the story’s themes of life and destruction. 

Lysandre seeks life to keep himself and the “chosen ones” beautiful, to keep Kalos looking as pretty as he feels it should. 

But, Lysandre also seeks destruction (or, if you’re like me, death) and wants to rid Kalos of its impurities (people who are “consumed by their greed” and “unchosen” just like members of Team Flare or people who fail to realize what beauty means). 

And, while pursuing the beauty of Kalos, he’s created such a mindset that only HE is in the right. He is the only person who realizes that Kalos is losing its beauty and, therefore, it’s up to him to make the world beautiful.

This is further pronounced in the XY manga. There, the ugliness of humanity is further brought up in the way the Kalos region reacts to tragedies. When a whole town is destroyed and left in shambles, those who did not experience the tragedy “shake it off” and “remain smiling in their day to day lives”. 

There’s a certain kind of ugliness present in this scenario. The people of Kalos who weren’t involved in Vanivelle’s destruction live on happily. They smile and carry on their day-to-day lives while ignoring the suffering of others. This shows humanity’s weakness: humans do not care for things that don’t concern them personally. It’s a gut punch kind of message because it’s honestly kind of true. Until something impacts a person personally, they won’t care for the misery of others and, instead, choose to go about their merry way while another person suffers the consequences of things like poverty, famine, war, etc.

And, in a way, it kind of makes you think Lysandre is right to want to retain beauty and to destroy anything that messes with that ideal. If someone isn’t beautiful - if they’re greedy or selfish or unsympathetic to the pain of others - than you kind of understand why Lysandre would want to get rid of those kinds of people. 

This is what makes Lysandre scary: you can sympathize with and even understand his thought process on a deeper level. He’s a genocidal maniac who’s too obsessed with beauty, yes, but there’s an underlying understanding of why he likely ended up the way that he did.

In conclusion, Lysandre is actually legitimately a terrifying villain and if he was a real person we’d all be really scared of him. He’s charismatic and manipulative and holds a lot of power in his hands. He can influence people and has control over how a lot of people as a result. His obsession with beauty, with correcting the path of humanity for its greed and impurities, not only reeks of real-life historical implications but also of realism too. 

Lysandre’s the kind of villain you would expect to see in real life, someone who, if stripped of his Pokemon-verse significance, would easily exist as a person in the real world. He’s cunning and knows how to take control. Not to mention that he’s rich and the kind of person who could easily hide under the kind facade of charity. Lysandre is a dangerous man, far dangerous than any first glimpse of him might suggest, but he wields power like a sword and has the ability to determine between life and death at a moment’s notice.

[windsweptlassie]

On Love

So as you know I made this uquiz with an open-ended question at the end, tell me something about love, and I’ve gotten the most wonderful responses! They range from descriptions of wonderful partners: 

Lauren: oh, how long I went without being myself until I met him and he showed me who I truly was and that my worth was higher than I ever thought was possible

Levi: I love who we are with each other. I love who I am with you. In your company I am me. In your company I am the best of me. The best with the best, I've told you. I wouldn't give you up for anything

Daniel: i fell in love for the first time when i was 17... at the time, i didn’t realize it was the first time, i thought i’d been in love before, a couple times actually, but falling in love at 17 was such a fulfilling experience, it felt so forceful yet so right. it’s when i first truly understood what love was. never before had i felt so understood and so cared for as i did when i was in love with her, and she was in love with me. it’s been nearly 4 years since then, and nearly 3 years since we broke up and stopped talking, and still, i think about her almost every day. i’ve never known anyone like her; to me, she was love itself.

El: oh i’m in love with everyone that i know op!!! especially my girlfriend, of course ,but also my friends and my family and random people on the street and uh

Grace: i’ve met my soulmate and we plan on getting an apartment and marrying after college

A: I’m going to ask the woman I love to marry me and I just wanted to tell someone because I am so excited

Jeremy: you ever have that feeling where basically after years of denying that someone couldnt understand you in a way or love you and then the next thing you know you happen to find that person and its just great from then on out? idk how to explain it anyways I love my boyfriend so much he means the world to me

Lucy: i am so happy i have found the one i love

to descriptions of best friends and favorite people:

Nightbyrd: Love is a hug from an alzheimer's patient who hasn't the foggiest idea who you are, but they know you're worth hugging.

H: I have been doing so much yoga with my roommate recently!! It's a great way to center my mind for an hour

Riv: [platonic] i’ve literally never met anyone who understands me in the way that my best friends do. they’re literally the best people in the whole world and i genuinely don’t know what i’d do without them. i love them with my whole heart

Cillian: when i talk about how much i love my best friend i get so teary eyed because i cant believe that such a genuinely wonderful person wants to speak to me every day - i care for her more than anyone else on this planet

O: my two besties are my sources of happiness and they’re so pretty i would die for them :D

to beautiful quotes:

Kai: "you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on." DARCYYYY PLS MY HEART CANT HANDLW THIS PAIN

Dorian: When the plane went down in San Francisco, I thought of my friend M. He’s obsessed with plane crashes. He memorizes the wrecked metal details, ____the clear cool skies cut by black scars of smoke. Once, while driving, he told me about all the crashes: The one in blue Kentucky, in yellow Iowa. How people go on, and how people don’t. It was almost a year before I learned that his brother was a pilot. I can’t help it, I love the way men love. (accident report in the tall, tall weeds- ada limon, bright dead things)

Adam: every day I think about lemony snicket I will love you if I never see you again I will love you if I see you every Tuesday or however it goes. and it KILLS ME. love only fits in small things

Hero: “Your heart beats in my ribs and mine in yours, and both in God’s… The divine magnet is in you, and my magnet responds.” - Herman Melville to Nathaniel Hawthorne

Mary: "Love is watching someone die."

Alex: "meet me at blue diner, i'll take coffee and talk about nothing baby"

Sparrow: "How dare you love me like you've never known fear?" and "For you, the world," and "Darling, I was born to press my head between your shoulder blades," and "Will you start where I end?"

V: " You want to die for love. You always have. " and "someone will remember us, I say, even in another time" are living rent free in my mind 24/7 and I'm shaking. When will I finally be not the only one falling ?

Sahar K: To love another person is to see the face of god!!!

Miriam: all the love in the world is useless when there is total lack of understanding- kafka

Juls: Don’t you think they are maybe the same? Love and attention

to practices of love:

Leo; i love feeling happy bc somebody that i love is happy and comfortable....like its not about me i just love seeing you smile. we are safe together...idk i just feel it bro

A: I like to think love is leaning on each other during the light or dark days. Its a personal mission of mine to find out who I am and what I want. Yet I never seem to find my place in this world and as I look and look , I realise the only place I can be myself even with or without the efforts to find myself was done on that day or not, I am always tired so shall I lean on you? And you can lean on me as well. I shall be your fig tree and you shall be my favourite willow tree.

L: It's too late at night to be soul searching, but it's a journey we all seem to find ourselves on these days.

Anthi: feeling safe and at home, I guess (also I love frogs)

Julia: ive found that loving someone is like becoming your own thesaurus. you have to find or come up with infinite ways to say, you’re beautiful, or, i love you. it’s a gift

Galexies: ive been writing letters to the person i'd love one day since i was 14. i write them in a little journal usually, but i've been digitizing them into emails and sending them to one account that i'll give to them someday. i'd like to put pictures, but i haven't been outside much recently so theres that. i wonder if they'd like the sunsets i have on file, or if they'd find my cat cute in a bowtie.

Caeles: Love is sharing fruit slices and making someone tea at random

Dundy: Love is sending your friends cursed shit and watching them react in horror

to crushes and potential loves: 

Jess: I have a crush on my roommate. It sucks, but it's also wonderful. I get to be around him all the time when we're at school. we share a life together; it's rather domestic. I think a lot about marrying him and being domestic with him forever. It won't happen, and I'll move on eventually, but I'll be happy with him for as long as I can. I hope you feel loved tonight, because you are. Sleep well.

Aki: I so desperately want to believe that love is fake because I’ve seen what happens when loved ones leave but whenever I start to convince myself that I’ll never love anyone my best friend messages me telling me she loves me. She’s the only person I’ve ever pictured having a future with but love scares me and I don’t really know what to do but I think as long as she’s with me in some way, I’ll be fine

Hi: her her i keep thinking abt her.... gonna see her in 8 days or so i really miss her. its ok if shes never gonna love me like i want her to really being her friend spending time with her makes me the happiest girl on earth.... outsold antidepressants

Kit: this guy i have a crush on has hypnotically dark brown eyes and he's wonderful and shows me kindness like no one else

Juno: my crush has all the stars in his eyes

Mads: When I have the courage to meet my eyes with hers, the world stands still

Be Nice To Me: Look bro I never do these but I am yearning to hold them SO badly right now and someone needs to know it besides me

to the trials of love: 

Pppppp: I just wanna love like from the movies and what I read about.. but everyone tells me that that’s fictional and rare to find in the real world and it sucks bc it seems like all the guys I’ve met are terrible and the norms of society are all about not respecting women and uthdjdjdk

Manny: I have been in love before and I will be again but I’m not now and I miss it

Ok: I don't think I've ever been in love, though I love many people. I am waiting for the day I look at someone and can say, YES. IT'S YOU.

Chloe: idk rn i'm like okay with my love and i'm happy so we'll see i'm just a little cautious rn bc my last partner told me i didn't know how to love

L: love is so fucking complicated I don't even know where to start

Corrin: He’s not real and it worried me that I will never allow myself to live or be loved because I will always be waiting for him

Sean: Good luck it dont exist

Serena: i want 2 b in love :(( </3

13: I don’t know anymore

M: I just really don’t like dealing with it lol

to beloved characters: 

Janaya: I’m madly in love with my comfort and kin character and I hope maybe in the afterlife I can relive a life with him in some sort of dimension

Jhgjdf: when i was a kid i had a crush on ash ketchum from pokemon and id always daydream about being a female pkmn trainer and meeting him and we fall in love

to advice and prose: 

Mikolai: Love is earth, gentle and soft at first flight but upon being broken, drowns you in the dry choking wastes of its consequences...

Thex: Your hands will not go cold without someone to hold them. I am here. I will be here.

Kat: it is the nearest proof to god that i find myself surrounded by people who love in a way that complements so wonderfully the way i love

H: believe in love out of spite believe in love to prove everyone wrong believe in love because you were told not to and we will not do what we’re told anymore believe in love because it’s the strongest act of teenage rebellion we have left believe in love because it’s easier not to and when is easy worth doing? believe in love because everything says otherwise but you are untouchable, you are your own, you are not made by their design believe in love because, perhaps, you are love

Ali: I used to want a kind of love that feels like coming home and now I want nothing more than to be away from home on many different adventures

Em: you dont need to love yourself to accept it from others

to the small, the simple, and the sweet:

Ireal: Poems

O: Flowers

Fay: ah im sorry that i’m feeling unmotivated but you are very kind.

Ad: we love LOVE

A: <3

Isak: small things

H: intense

Hey: Listening to a clock ticking away

S: her

E: <3

Hania: Amorous, I adore that word ^^

Catboy: wholesome

J: i love love so much it hurts

Emmy: hi i love the song darkest of discos!! try and give it a listen!! <3

Nora: Love is painful, but most of the time love is great

Ariel: i like the comfort it can bring

M: i love love

to food!

Cool Whip: Matzoh ball soup!!

Woop: I love sausages.... I hope that's ok with you?

and animals too <3

Nee: hmm i have pet geckos and i love them very much!

96: raccoons ????

DJ Big Penis: cats

:3: I Love frogs,,, love is stored in the frog,,,

I hope that this serves as a sweet compilation of what love means! Love to all of you, it warms my heart so much to hear about your people and your geckos and your characters and soup and all the songs and quotes you love. <3 Strength to all of you who are figuring out to do about your feelings for your crush, and congratulations to you who are proposing or moving in with your person! Your words are a source of light to me, truly.

[spideychelleforever]

Peter was there, MJ’s phone alerted her. He was finally dropping off the bag of... something. He’d refused to tell her, insisting it was a surprise. But he was here, and she jumped up to put some sweats on. She’d been surfing the web in her shortest sleeping shorts, protected from the December cold by her apartment’s good heating. But going outside even for a quick pick-up necessitated some good clothes.

Betty didn’t agree.

“No-just go!” Betty urged her, taking MJ’s sweatpants from her. “Go!”

“What do you mean, go?!” MJ hissed, “it’s cold, give those back-“

“Trust me!” Betty smirked. “You’re only going outside for a second, we need to try to limit any spread, y’know!”

MJ huffed. “Fine!” And stomped to the door, though by the end her footsteps grew less ferocious as her mood quickly improved, as she remembered who she was about to see.

Her good mood ever so briefly dissipated when the wind cut at her thighs and legs, as if they were a creature with a soft underbelly being flipped on its back. Her short shorts did their job of being comfy sleeping clothes and nothing else in this moment.

Well, almost nothing else.

She greeted Peter happily, and expressed delighted shock at the large gift bag he had for her. Peter seemed... off guard. More than usual. She didn’t know why her secret crush seemed to get nervous and excitable around her.

It... couldn’t be because her legs were exposed, was it?

No. Of course not, the back of her mind assured her. He doesn’t find you attractive.

But, then again, Peter seemed to keep glancing down a bit... and usually his eye contact was strong as hell (which she SO loved because his eyes tho).

No, no, focus, she thought.

“No, no, focus” is also what Peter was thinking.

Because frankly, the sight of MJ’s gorgeous, curvy, loooooooong legs so bare was a sight he was NOT prepared for but now he couldn’t get enough of.

He had always known MJ was attractive even when he wasn’t interested in her yet. But he’d never seen any of her in so little. He’d only ever seen her in casual clothes, jeans, nothing revealing or super flattering. Even her dresses at school dances weren’t super high profile, and swim attire was always just a t-shirt and shorts. Nothing Peter had ever seen MJ wear screamed “look at me” quite like having these short shorts on did.

Not that Peter would ever assume MJ would try to fish for attention since it seemed kinda shallow in a way? Or maybe not. There was nothing wrong with showing off and exuding confidence in your appearance. But MJ was so blunt and casual that it wasn’t something he’d expect from her.

But, whatever the reason, Peter felt like those gorgeous legs of MJ’s were already wrapped around his neck squeezing him-

“Whatcha got in the bag?” MJ interrupted, clearly intrigued by his lack of reaction to her.

Peter snapped to attention, smiling behind his mask. He was grateful she couldn’t see how his mouth fell open behind his mask. But he hastily answered “stuff.” And he left it for her to pick up, and backed up several feet.

MJ took the bag back to her porch with her and pulled each gift out. Her favorite candy. Her favorite Pokemon as a plush. Several gifts, all tailored exactly to what MJ liked. She didn’t even remember telling him her favorite candy, how had he picked up on it?

Material gifts from boys were something she expected herself to scoff at. But from Peter? Oh so worth it.

“I would hug the shit out of you,” MJ admitted.

“I know,” Peter grimaced behind his mask, wanting so badly to hug her too.

“Air hug?” MJ suggested, to which Peter nodded.

They did it, so desperately wanting to close the distance, but both knew that this alone already poised enough of a risk. Both of them consequently made themselves remember what it felt like to hug each other. Peter remembered how good it felt to be enveloped by MJ’s long, thin arms and how warm her hugs were despite her having little to no insulation, her gentle but alluring curves; MJ remembered how good it felt to have her thin but not toned body on his chiseled form, to feel his huge, hunky arms around her, his rock solid chest...

The door to MJ’s apartment opened a bit, and Peter saw Betty step out a little. She smirked at him, an eyebrow raised, after she took in the sight of the two of them air-hugging.

“Hi!” Peter nervously greeted her, waving one of his hands, curious at Betty’s smirk.

Eventually the two stopped their air-hug, and MJ asked Peter to drive safe and thanked him again for the stuff. And she turned back to return into her apartment, and Peter couldn’t help himself. He was mesmerized by the sight of MJ’s gorgeous, curvy, long, bare legs as she walked away and up the stairway to her door.

The way her legs curved. The cellulite he could see from her thighs and upper legs. The muscles popping out of her lower legs. The jiggle from each step. It was... amazing. She was so beautiful.

And Betty was still smirking at him OH FUCK

He waved again and made to leave, beating himself up for checking out MJ like he did.

Inside, MJ swore as she cursed how cold it was and how her legs felt like they were dipped into an ice bath without warning. But Betty just kept smirking.

It was working, she told herself.

This is for @spiderman-homecomeme ! I’m so sorry I couldn’t regularly participate in Promptmas but here’s something nonetheless!

[pokemontrashfics]

can we please get some hcs how the gym leaders are with kids?

Milo: 

Amazing with children 

He’s very patient and willing to put up with constant questions about the world ‘why is the sky blue?’ ‘why are wooloo so fluffy?’ etc.

He’s also really good at getting really little kids to take their naps. He has a very soothing voice. 

With older kids, he’s good at knowing how much space to give them without giving too much. That can be a very fine line with older kids and young teenagers, but he’s good at knowing where it is.

Nessa:

She’s alright with kids, she prefers to take care of younger kids though. 

Younger kids will stop crying if you kiss them on the forehead and give them a cookie 

But that’s not going to help much with a 13 year old who just went through their first breakup and feels like their whole world is falling apart.

It’s also not going to help with the 17 year old who is crying into a pile of scholarship applications. 

So she can cope better with caring for younger children, and has a hard time looking after older kids. 

Kabu: 

Kind of the opposite of Nessa. 

Younger kids stress him out. With babies for example, he doesn’t like diapers, and he doesn’t know how to bottle feed. 

And elementary school aged kids, he’s a little better, but he has a hard time connecting with them and understanding what they’re saying. 

Kids have a way of saying so many words with so little content behind them, and that confuses Kabu a lot. 

He does better with older kids though, he can help with their homework and gives them some old man advice. He knows they won’t listen to his old man advice but he gives it anyway. 

Bea: 

Bea is about 16 or 17?

But she does get along well with younger kids

She’s young enough that elementary and middle school are still fresh in her mind so she can connect with them in a way adults sometimes can’t 

Little kids, like ages 5 and under, are some of the only people who get to see her smile often 

Part of that is because she doesn’t want to scare them, the other part is because they’re so cute!

Allister: 

He’s still a kid himself, he’s maybe 13 or so? 

So he’s right in the middle of his Middle School Angst Time (™) 

He does get along pretty well with most kids. As long as they’re not incessantly trying to get his mask off

Quiet, introverted kids like him because he doesn’t mind a comfortable silence. 

Wild, extroverted kids like him because sometimes he’ll join in on their wild adventures. 

He and his pokemon are good at making sure no one goes to the hospital. Gengar is a surprisingly good cushion for someone who is falling from a tree. 

Opal: 

GRANDMA! 

She loves kids, and kids love her. 

All ages too, she gives old lady advice to the older ones, and talks them through their Sad Adolescent Problems (™) 

The younger ones love her because she gives them those grandma candies and bakes them cookies 

Younger kids also like her because she has a really big house that’s really really old. So it’s good for exploring. 

Gordie: 

He’s not great with kids tbh

The younger ones take up so much time and energy to take care of, it’s exhausting. 

The older ones are a little easier because they take up less time, but are still not easy because their brains are still not fully developed. They make risky, poorly thought out choices and often refuse to listen. 

It makes Gordie feel bad for his mom having to put up with all his shit as a kid. 

If things really go wild, he might call his mom and ask for some help, 

Let’s assume he’s babysitting for someone this is the kind of call Melony would get  “Ma, I don’t know what to do, the six year old is on top of the fridge, the eleven year old somehow got their hands on a box of hair dye, and the sixteen year old escaped I don’t know where they went!”

Melony: 

An experienced mother, she’s seen it all from infant to young adult 

Starting with an infant, she can change a diaper half asleep. She still knows what each baby cry means (apparently, different cries mean ‘i’m hungry’ or ‘change me’ etc.) 

With elementary school aged children, she’s excellent at communicating with them. She’s good at understanding what they’re saying, and she’s usually (though not always) able to calm them down when they get upset. 

With teenagers, it kind of depends. She understands that teenagers are in the process of becoming adults, and she’s good at giving them the space they need to do that. 

But, at the same time, she’s still in ‘mom mode’ which some teenagers react badly to. 

Like, she won’t let them stay out past 9 on a school night, or she’ll make them put on a jacket when it’s too cold. Some kids don’t react well to that, some do, so it depends on the individual. 

Piers: 

Another person with experience. He pretty much raised Marnie. 

He learned how to care for babies out of necessity, but he was only seven when Marnie was born so he had a lot of help from team Yell. 

As an adult, he could manage to care for a baby, but he would be very scared and anxious the whole time. 

He’s good at taking care of elementary school aged children. He’s patient when helping with homework and asking questions. He’s also good at supervising kids when they’re playing, he knows when to step in and stop them from doing something. 

He’s good with older kids too, he’s good at talking them through their problems and he can help them with some of their homework - don’t ask him for help with math - 

If it’s an older older kid (like going off to college) he’s good at bullshitting his way through essays so he’s very willing to proof read any application essays. 

Raihan: 

When it comes to babies, he’s at a complete loss. The infant is screaming in his arms while he frantically googles ‘how to change a diaper’ and tries to calm the baby down. 

It a fucking nightmare and Leon thinks it’s hilarious especially since he helped take care of Hop when he was a baby. 

With elementary school aged kids, he has a little bit of an easier time. He has plenty of energy, so he loves to run around with them. He’ll do things like look under rocks for bug pokemon and climb trees with them, he’s a good babysitter for the younger kids he can tire them out. 

When it comes to teenagers, he’s okay at it. He’s young enough to remember all the experiences he had as a teenager, so he’s able to connect with them and build rapport. 

[imjeralee]

Wallflower: Chapter 7 - The One with the Dreepy (NSFW)

Raihan x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Note: This is my first Pokemon fanfic. I hope you enjoy it :) Originally posted on Archive of Our Own.

Summary: You’re an unassuming Pokemon breeder who works at the nursery in the Wild Area and he’s Raihan, the fearsome gym leader of Hammerlocke who has more than a million followers. You don’t want anything to do with him but he’s…persistent.

Rating: Mature/Explicit

Warnings: Lemon, smut, violence, language

Extra note: This is one of my favourite chapters :)

THE ONE WITH THE DREEPY

(AKA MISSING YOU) ... ...

You don’t remember falling asleep but you woke up and it was one in the afternoon.

You don’t bother checking Rotom or tell him to inform you of any messages so you don’t know if a certain doofus has tried to message or call you, and you don’t bother with feeding yourself or getting dressed properly for all that mattered - instead, you take a long hot shower and change into your pyjamas before trudging over to your sofa with a tub of ice cream and your laptop, along with a copy of the critically acclaimed video game,The Patrats.

It's a role-play, life simulation game where you can create cities and Patrats, and you can customise your very own Patrat in every way possible from its personality to the tips of its claws. Once you've created yours, your Patrat has a few pokedollars so you move it into a reasonably good neighbourhood, buy a cheap home, some cheap furniture and make it get a job after settling in and meeting the neighbours. A few hours in and your Patrat is happily married and an expectant mother of ten.

You close the game after you realise your patrat has become far more successful than you are in every way possible - deciding you’ve had enough, you go through Snomflix on your smart TV but none of the movies and programmes available tickle your fancy - not even The Killer Sableye, the detective drama you had wanted to watch so badly. Maybe you should go out and train with Tyranitar to boost his confidence? Unfortunately that thought goes to pot when you realise you can't even find the energy to leave your couch let alone reach for the remote control that you left on the armrest furthest away from you.

This is unhealthy, you think to yourself, and it’s then you recall that Looker's given you the DVD and it's still in your bag - which is conveniently on your couch, in the exact same spot where you left it. Therefore, you find yourself recalling all your pokemon into their pokeballs, lowering all the blinds in your house, ensuring all doors are locked before you slip your hand into the bag and bring out the DVD. You're lucky you even still have a DVD player in the first place - and you pop the disc in and stare morosely as it starts playing and that eerie Unown spelling appears on the screen.

Oh shit, this is making you very uncomfortable now...

You force yourself to watch and when it starts, you use the remote control to fast forward the parts you've watched and stop once you see yourself on top of Raihan, riding him - yep, it was here where you stopped - oh my Shaymin, it was only five minutes in.

You sit on the sofa wordlessly and unmoving, eating your ice cream as you watch yourself and the dragon tamer onscreen.

Releasing the headboard, you clutch onto Raihan, fingers digging into his shoulders as his large hands squeezes and plays with your breasts before he firmly grabs your ass, guiding you to move with him at a harsh pace.

You're so wet for him that his cock slips in with ease and stretches your walls thoroughly as he goes in all the way to the hilt, his tip hitting you in the right spot and forcing a mewl of pleasure from the back of your throat. 

He withdraws, rubbing against your clit deliciously before he pushes himself in again, filling you up. You moan loudly in response as he strokes your ass and squeezes your flesh, causing your legs to tremble thoroughly whilst you rotate your hips, enjoying the feel of his erection penetrating you again and again. 

You're so close, the unimaginable pleasure building and building up in your lower regions with each thrust and you moan even louder.

Moving his arms to wrap around your waist, Raihan suddenly flips you over, your back hitting the soft mattress as he climbs on top of you, pinning you down to the bed and drawing your legs to wrap around his waist but they only end up dangling limply in the air over his shoulders.

Without losing the momentum, he works himself inside you, fucking you into the bed as you move from clutching his shoulder to grabbing a fistful of his hair, squeezing your eyes shut and biting down on your lower lip. His grip on you is strong; you're helpless as he pounds into you, shoving his cock in and out as deeply as possible and fucking you thoroughly. 

The bed begins to groan in protest from the movements and your weak and soft cries are music to his ears. You moan out breathlessly, struggling to form words as your brows furrow with pleasure.

His aggressiveness pushes you over the edge and you're first to reach your peak, gasping heavily as your walls contract and quiver around his shaft and you briefly stop moving against him, enjoying the wave of ecstasy that washes over you. 

Raihan continues sliding back and forth against your sensitive and abused clit, his lips claiming the side of your neck and the sharp tips of his teeth nip against your skin, sending numerous tingles down your spine.

When he comes, you emit a sigh of content as he spills inside you and you clamp your fingers around the back of his neck whilst rubbing your face against him affectionately, your cheeks flushed from sex.

You both settle into a comfortable silence and he raises himself off you slightly, the warmth from his chest vanishing in an instant. You snuggle into him immediately to preserve what little distance you have left and he chuckles, planting his hand on your cheek. Whilst you bury your face into the warmth of his palm, you sense him watching you for a few moments before he brushes some damp hair from your face and brings you into a kiss, lips pressing against yours gently. With a moan, you melt against his lips at once, eagerly kissing him in return.

When you part your mouth slightly for air, his tongue slips in and you let out a muffled noise of surprise as he explores your mouth heatedly before pulling away. Your mouths continue to press together fervently, his lips on you wet and needy; you drape your arms around his neck to bring him closer whilst he encircles his arms around your waist, lifting you off the mattress and into his embrace once more.

You smile against him, angling your faces and pressing your lips roughly against each other. Your breathing becomes ragged, your heart pounds loudly against your ribs and his grip on you increases before he promptly lifts himself off the bed to sit up; he pulls you along with him and off the bed and into his lap, bundling you up into his arms so tightly you have no choice but to hold onto him as your breasts press firmly against his chest.

You break apart, gasping as he releases you to grab you by the ass again and he begins to pump inside, pushing your hips forwards against his to meet him thrust for thrust and the pleasure begins to slowly pile up once again. You're in for a long night, you think, as you wrap your legs around his waist once more and clutch onto his shoulders.

Renewing his grip on you, he bucks his hips rhythmically and pulls you up against him with each deep and intense thrust, trailing hot kisses down the side of your face and to your neck before he finds your breasts, kissing and biting on your flesh before he brings your nipples into his mouth and sucks. You're left moaning and cradling his head whilst he laps at your nipples, teasing your buds playfully with his expert tongue.

On the verge of achieving another climax, you cry out louder and louder as he continues slamming into you and lapping and sucking your breasts; you’re sure there’ll be bruises in the morning but right now he feels so good inside you, thrusting inside so deeply and making your toes curl. You untangle your legs, your knees bent on either side of his hips as he drives in and out of you.

Throwing your head back, you squeeze your eyes shut as you reach that peak again and Raihan watches as he continues teasing your breasts; you tremble and quiver, your walls contracting uncontrollably and clamping tightly around him. Groaning with satisfaction, he slows his thrusts, returning to kiss you on the mouth as you weakly re-open your eyes, wrapping your arms around him again.

"That was...that was amazing." You breathe out.

"We're not finished." He murmurs, smirking.

You smack him on shoulder playfully. "You're insatiable."

He chuckles as he leans over and kisses your cheek.

"Okay, one more, then we'll call it a night." 

Wriggling out of his embrace, you lift yourself up and he slips out; you carefully inch yourself around but he stops you until you can fully leave his lap.

Instead, he keeps you perched over his knees with your back against his chest and although you look at him questioningly, he grabs his cock and guides himself to your entrance, slipping the glistening tip between your folds and pushing inside. 

He goes in all the way to the hilt and there's a delightful squishing noise from all the slick juices of your bodies joining once again. You close your eyes, letting out a moan of content at the penetration before you begin rolling your hips back and forth instinctively and he does the same, and you're both moving together in unison. His hand is wet and he feeds his fingers into your mouth, prompting you to lick the juice and cum off his fingers which you do so.

Resting your head on his shoulder, you let him take the reins on this occasion so he keeps you propped up, clamping one hand over your breasts and the other dips between your legs, fingers teasing your very wet and sensitive, engorged clit. You groan helplessly, legs twitching as the constant, frantic thrusting of his cock, along with his fingers stroking and rubbing you, forces you to rut against him shamelessly and you spread your legs even further.

You hear him grunting, almost growling, against your ear as he presses his lips over the side of your face, over your jaw and all the way to your temple until he reaches the shell of your ear. 

You hold him there with a hand around him, your fingers slipping into his hair again. He abandons your clit to grab your chest, your breasts bouncing from the savage movements and into his palms; he massages your chest thoroughly, fondling and squeezing your tits and pinching and rolling your nipples with his fingers until they’re stiff. You sigh and groan with pleasure, squeezing your eyes shut as you arch your back against him.

Moaning heavily, he  slams upwards into you a few times before he cums and you gasp weakly as he thrusts his cock hard and deep inside, filling you up with his hot seed. You both gradually stop; you swallow down heavily, your mouth dry and throat sore from all that moaning. He loosens his grip on you and finally, you flop over the mattress and he follows suit.

...Whoa, that was.... well, that was truly something.

You watch with widened eyes, your hand feebly clutching your spoon of uneaten, melted ice cream that is now dripping into the tub.

Is it over?

You fast forward the video; it shows you and Raihan lying on the bed for a brief while and you guess you’re sleeping until you appear to toss and turn and finally, you sit up, holding your face in your hands.

This must be it - you let the video play and it resumes normally. Raihan rolls over and notices you're awake. He sits up beside you and quickly pulls you into his lap. You cling onto him automatically, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and burying your face into his nape. He chuckles before grabbing your legs and tucking them in properly so you're resting comfortably on either side of his hips. He asks you what's wrong and you tell him you've had a bad dream. As the video plays, you listen to yourself as you tell him everything. You tell him about your foster family, your time in foster care, that rat bastard Graham along with your miserable time in high school...You're surprised that he listens.

You don't need to watch anymore; you switch the DVD off and your house grows still.

That was pretty intense... and long.

Swallowing down, you brush a hand through your hair; what you told Raihan doesn't bother you as much as you thought it would. What bothers you the most is - bloody hell, you and Raihan were at it for hours...and you did it in so many positions.... no wonder you were practically in pain the next morning.

The temperature in your house appears to have increased all of a sudden and you fan yourself. Even your panties have become really wet and you have a need for release. You have a need for Raihan, specifically.

If you wanted to, you could call him. You could tell him you’ve watched the DVD.... You know, as an update... if he’s still interested.

Inhaling a deep breath, you close your eyes, and the first thing that pops up in your mind is his strong, broad body pressed against yours, and how good he felt inside you.

You miss him, and you miss him a lot.

...

"Phantump, Driffie, where are you?"

You look around your house, but you cannot find your two ghosties anywhere. Espeon and Poliwag help out; Espie grows quiet and you think she's using Calm Mind whilst Poliwag sticks his head into your laundry basket and bounces around the kitchen, checking out the washing machine and kitchen cupboards. They both return, unsuccessful. You put your hands on your hips, sighing, then throw your glance to your front yard where you see your missing pokemon sitting on a tree stump gazing off to the woods. Huh? You're sure you didn't see them there earlier. Never mind... You breathe a sigh of relief.

It's Monday and as you leave your cottage, you see the Ballonlea gym leader outside, slowly making her way down the path. She's in her signature pink and blue dress, purple shawl and matching hat. You know this elderly woman's name is Opal and you haven't had the opportunity to speak to her before. However, she looks very fragile and weak, inching slowly over the path in her slippers and her umbrella.

"Good morning, dear." She greets you once she spots you.

"Ah, good morning, Ms Opal."

"Are you going to work?"

"Yeah." You lock the door and hop down the steps of your house towards her.

She moves so s-l-o-w-l-y a part of you is worried she could keel over at any moment if she isn't careful. "Would you mind escorting me to the woods? If you're not in a hurry, that is."

"Sure." You reply; you take her gently by the elbow and you both begin to slowly make your way to the woods.

"Your name is..." She trails off slightly, before she accurately recalls your name. "You moved here not too long ago, correct?"

"Yep.”

”I’ve seen your brother - what a lively chap.” She says, and you chuckle, "Where do you work?"

"The Pokemon Nursery in the Wild Area."

"I see." She mutters to herself as she subjects you to a long, sweeping look. "Do you have a boyfriend, dear?"

Your cheeks go red. "Oh, uh. I-I don't know." You splutter out, before you mentally scold yourself. I don’t know????

However, Opal chuckles whilst you cringe. "I was going to say that I know a very handsome young man around your age who is also single. I could set you up."

"That won't be necessary, Ms Opal, thank you though..."

”But he’s the champion of Galar, dear.”

Your eyes bulge. Leon!!!!!!? It’s then you think of your childhood friend and you wonder... “I know someone who’s single. She would love to go on a date with the champion.”

”Very good, do let me know.”

You give Ms Opal the details of your friend and you mentally remind yourself to let your friend know what you’ve just done later. You continue chatting with the gym leader and she informs you that she’s looking for someone to replace her as gym leader and is holding auditions - she would ideally like to have someone as hardworking and dedicated to Pokemon as you are, but shame that you’re already in employment so she’s crossed you out. You’re not sure how to react to that exactly but you do wish her luck in finding the right candidate soon. Once you arrive at the Glimwood Tangle, you can hear various Pokemon cries emitting from within and that baffles you, considering the woods are usually so quiet. You let go of her arm and she slowly makes her way on her own. "Thank you for helping me, dear."

"Is everything alright?" You ask, concerned.

"The wild pokemon in the Glimwood Tangle are restless. I'm here to investigate." She replies, smiling. "Don't worry, my dear. I'll be fine; you should head to work now, I've used up much of your time."

You can’t help but worry. "Are you sure?"

She nods.

“I’ll give you my phone number; call me if anything happens.” You quickly pull out a piece of scrap paper from your bag along with a pen and hastily scribble your number down, which you promptly hand to her.

"Thank you, my dear. That’s very thoughtful of you." She says, with a withered old smile. Without another word, she pockets your number and makes her way into the woods.

....

Work is uneventful.

You wonder if you really should’ve left Opal on her own. After all, she’s a frail old granny. However, nearer the end of the day, you receive a message from the gym leader and she tells you she’s had to cut her investigation short due to some unscheduled gym challenger battles and she’s returned to the gym, safe and sound. She’s also asked if you can help check out the woods when you are free.

“Thank goodness she’s okay.” You mutter to yourself as you continue to finish up at the egg nursery.

You’ve been thinking about Raihan all day; you can’t help it. Images from the video keeps replaying in your mind over and over again and suddenly you feel really needy for him. The way he held you, the way he kissed you...you miss him so much... urgh, you got it bad.

You try not to think of him any longer and from the corner of your eye, you suddenly notice the egg you got from the nursery worker prior the weekend - ie, the pea green egg with the red stripe - is beginning to jiggle. Holy Combee, it's hatching!

You hastily put down the thermostat, jog over and watch behind the glass as the egg twitches and shakes and a crack appears in the middle before the pokemon within thrashes, trying to break free.

Eyes wide, you gawk as the egg cracks completely and the newly hatched pokemon inside struggles to move slightly under the thin, gooey membrane that's encased it entirely. It finally breaks free after a few seconds, blinks at you before glancing around it's surroundings and begins pawing at the glass. It's a Dreepy, and it looks scared and confused so you quickly press the button that releases the glass and scoop it into your arms, cradling it as it begins crying. You quickly wipe away the remainder of the pink goo using a clean cloth.

"Ohh, shh shhh, it's okay." You rock it gently and it stops crying, blinking up at you; you smile and begin tickling it's belly with your fingers, causing it to gurgle happily. "I bet you're hungry."

With the Dreepy in your arms, you reach for a moo moo milk bottle and begin feeding the small pokemon. Once it's finished chugging the contents down, you hold the Dreepy to sprawl over your shoulder and pat its back soothingly. Once it emits a croak, it nestles over your shoulder, curling its tail around your neck and closes its eyes. Even though it's a baby, it's fairly strong as the tail closing around your throat makes you choke. You have to pull it away from your windpipe as carefully as you can and let it rest peacefully, grabbing the egg report to go over the instructions from the owner; it says once the egg is hatched, please deliver to the following residential address in Hammerlocke. You look up the address on your Rotom phone and he tells you it will only take fifteen minutes from your current location.

Checking the clock on the wall, your shift is about to end anyway so you gently pluck the sleeping Dreepy off your shoulder which wakes it up and it starts crying again. "Oh no, I'm sorry!" You exclaim as the Dreepy automatically clings onto you, curling around your shoulders.

You let it stay perched there and quickly head to the shelf that's packed to the brim with supplies where you keep the essentials - apologies, eggsentials. All newly hatched babies will need a pokeball, a few berries for nutrients, some pokemon food, milk - and once you're finished packing the 'Eggsciting Guide to Pokemon Eggs' kit for whoever the owner of this Dreepy is, you head to the kitchen where you see your boss drying some dishes at the sink; you enter the storeroom to take off your apron, hang it up and open your locker, grabbing your belongings, pulling off your slippers and reaching for your boots.

"Alright, hen? Are you finished for the day?" Your boss pokes her head through the doorway with a clean towel and bowl in hand.

"Yep, I'm heading to Hammerlocke now."

"Oh! What a cute Dreepy." Your boss coos, and Dreepy chirps at her as she strokes its head. "He hatched from that green egg, right? Haven't you always wanted one?"

"Yeah, I have, but I gotta drop this little guy off."

"Eggscellent." She says, winking at you. You've heard your fair share of egg related puns and jokes and you force out a laugh.

"Ha ha ha. So, if you'll eggscuse me, I'll head out now." You reply, and she snorts with laughter.

"Have a safe trip! Do you have any plans for the evening?"

"Not really. Oh wait, the Ballonlea gym leader asked me to check out the Glimwood Tangle when I get the chance. I dunno, if it’s all good I might hit the gym later. And I mean the one that's for humans, not the...not the one that's for battling, you know, for Pokemon."

She chuckles again. "Fab! It's great to get some eggsercise." Winking at you, you give her an awkward grin.

"Ha ha ha. Yeah, okay, I'm going now."

"Okay, bye hen."

"Bye."

"Bye!"

"Yep, okay, bye." You hastily leave the nursery, closing the door behind you. If you hear one more egg pun you might crack. WHOA! That was totally not intended.

You're all packed and ready to go, so you adjust the straps of your bag and turn to Dreepy. He chirps at you and rubs his head against the side of your cheek. You smile and stroke him affectionately. "Right, let's get you home."

He chirps happily again and you make your way into Hammerlocke. It's past six o'clock now and the sun's beginning to set. As Dreepy continues slinking around your shoulders and rubbing against your cheek, you wonder who his owner is. You don't get requests to look after eggs until they've hatched because once the egg hatches, usually the baby pokemon imprints on the first person it sees which is why you deliver eggs as soon as you get them.

Once you enter Hammerlocke, you follow Rotom's directions and pass through the Main Street, turning a few corners until you reach a residential area far away from the main stadium and pokemon centre. It's quiet and all the houses look the same.

"Bbzzt, we're here!" Rotom exclaims, "Number two hundred and forty one!"

”Thanks, Rotom.”

”By the way, you have received zzeveral mezzzagezz and mizzzed callzzz from Doofuzz.”

”...Really?”

”Yep, want to check?”

”Let me drop Dreepy off first.”

”Okay ~ “

Rotom leaves you be and you walk up the steps of the house, arrive at the door and press the doorbell. You hear the buzzer going off inside and you wait patiently, turning to Dreepy and stroking him using the back of your finger; you hear footsteps approaching and the door opens. A familiar figure appears at the doorway and your jaw hits the floor.

"Raihan?!"

"Hey." He says, grinning at you. He's missing his headband and shirt and he has a white towel draped over his shoulders.

"You live here?!" You squawk, before your eyes trail down his body - he's only wearing a pair of black shorts - did he just come out of a shower? He must have been working out or something... and you swallow down. You can’t help but stare at his lean body, at his lithe figure. There’s water dripping down his chest and dipping into the lines of his muscles and over his flat stomach. You think about the video, the DVD....and you bite down on your lip.

"Bzzt, it is houzzze number two hundred and forty one." Rotom says, as Raihan wipes at his forehead with the towel. The moment he lifts his arm and you see his muscles flexing. You continue to stare, eyes glued onto his biceps, and Rotom adds, "That'zz the Great Raihan's league number!!"

"Oh, yeah, of course." You croak, as Raihan shifts to cross his arms, leaning against the doorframe and you find your cheeks reddening, “Raihan, I...”

”I’ve been trying to reach you all weekend.”

”Sorry, I - “ Before you can finish, Dreepy chirps, and you both glance at him. ”U-um, the egg - it hatched - it was a Dreepy. The instructions - well, here you go." You can't help your stuttering as you gesture to Dreepy who looks between you and Raihan.

"He's yours." Raihan replies, grinning widely now.

Your eyes grow wide. "Huh??"

"You've always wanted a Dreepy."

"But...." You splutter, until Dreepy chirps and clings onto you, crawling over the side of your face, his tail tickling your nose before he decides to stick his tail up one of your nostrils. You gently pull Dreepy away and he chirps mischeviously at you; he seems very attached to you now.

"I said I'd get you whatever pokemon you wanted."

"Well, yeah, but this is - I mean..." You didn't have to say it; you didn't know he would keep true to his word like this. It's...flattering.

"Keep him, he's yours."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Your cheeks redden thoroughly. "...Thanks.....thank you so much."

"Don't sweat it."

It grows silent as you look at each other. He’s looking at you rather intensely before he subjects you to a sweeping gaze from head to toe; it’s as though he’s eye fucking you right now. You were only supposed to deliver the egg once it was hatched, right?

"I should go." You mutter under your breath.

Raihan raises a brow, then leans off the doorframe and holds his front door wide open for you and you can see the interior of his living room. "Do you wanna come in?" He murmurs, nudging his head towards his lounge.

"No, thank you, I'm...I'm going home now."

The corner of his lips tug upwards into a smirk. "Alright."

You turn away from him after muttering an awkward goodbye so quietly that even a Zubat's supersonic won't pick it up, and you fish out the empty pokeball which you packed in the kit and return Dreepy inside, slipping the capsule into your bag safely. You hop down the steps of Raihan's house, your legs resembling jelly and your heart beating so hard and fast that you're finding it hard to breathe.

You contemplate what had just happened.... You received an egg with special instructions.... you were to deliver it to the owner once it hatched, and when it did, there was a Dreepy inside... it turned out to be Raihan's - he probably dropped off a Dragapult or any of its pre-evolutions and he probably had orchestrated the entire damn thing - he knows you would look after it...He did all this for you. He's given you a Dreepy.

You stop abruptly in your step.

He did all this for me.

You turn round, head back up the steps and Raihan's still at the door - before he can respond, you pull him down to your level by grabbing his shoulders and you go on tiptoe as you crush your lips against his, closing your eyes.

Your heart's pounding furiously, wondering how he'll respond, but Raihan immediately wraps his arms around you and lifts you off the ground, his hands slipping under your ass.

You slink your arms around the back of his neck and wrap your legs around his hips as he kisses you deeply in response. You missed this. You’ve gotten used to him without even realising and now it's hard to imagine not being around him.

As usual, his lips are so soft and warm as he presses his mouth against yours, and you thoroughly melt against him. He nibbles on your bottom lip and your arms tighten around his neck, bringing him even closer.

He kisses you hungrily and roughly and you have to pull away for some much needed air but he bites down on your bottom lip playfully, grinning.  

“I’m sorry about Friday.” You mutter, and he smirks.

He pulls your body firmly against his and you hug him tightly in response. "It's okay." Raihan murmurs, and he leans forwards and captures your lips with his once more, carrying you into the house and slamming the door shut.

...

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #331

my head hurts way too badly to think up some intro lyrics, so just g’night.

Have you ever become good friends with someone you never met in person? Oh yeah, I've had best friends over the Internet. Hell, I'm closer to many online friends than I am most irl ones. They know "the real me" more. What do you consider your default mood to be? Stressed, probably. Discontent. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve ever kept a goldfish alive for? Not long. Proper goldfish husbandry is a very neglected topic, and I sure as hell never knew how to set up its tank adequately. Have you ever been paintballing? No, don't plan to. It looks like it hurts like a bitch. Do you want a large wedding? No. Did you ever collect any sort of cards? I had a very small collection of Pokemon cards. I didn't collect them avidly. What’re the best and worst books you ever had to read for a class? The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton was the best. The worst was some book we had to read in the 6th grade about a kid during some war that moved around a lot... I don't remember the name or who wrote it, but it sucked. What’s the best meal you had at an amusement park, or If you haven’t been to one, how about a good meal at another place like a zoo, aquarium or museum? I don't know. I haven't been to many. Who, whether a person or company, emails you the most? My PHP therapist emails me a check-in sheet and Zoom link every day there's a therapy session. What kind of sound or noise freaks you out the most and why do you think it scares you? Let's seeeee... I don't know if there's a sound that actually freaks me out. There are some I don't like, but none that like, frighten me. At least that I can think of. What’s the strangest art piece you’ve come across? Biiiitch there's a painting in Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs I'm not gonna go into, but shit fuckin wild. What’s the most clever or unique name you’ve come across for a business? I've definitely heard some cool ones, but I don't know about one that really stands out to answer this. If you had to name one of your hypothetical future children after a song, which song would you pick? Maybe like... okay, I'm blanking. Good thing I'm not having kids to name then, right? What’s the last song you heard? "Down in the Park" by Marilyn Manson is on atm. What is your favorite line from a TV show? *shrug* Any current family issues? No. How many hours do you spend online a day? How do you feel about that? I'm doing something on the computer pretty much... always. I hate it, and I hate it a lot. I don't want my life to be tied solely to the digital plane. I want to do more than bounce back and forth from website to website. Do you think that people have the power to make their own lives better? Absolutely, but there are some things they simply cannot change. It's about perspective and how you play the deck you're dealt. What is the biggest problem in your life right now? Right now, the most limiting thing is my physical health, probably. Just walking being torture affects my ability to exercise, and my body is a major reason - if not the biggest, at this current time - for my depression. This also plays a massive role in jobs I can handle. Not to sound like my emo self writing middle school poetry, but my body feels like a prison. Do you feel that you are loved? I know I am by some people, though I have a hard time understanding why a lot. What is the one thing you want most from life? Life satisfaction. Pride in what I've accomplished. A regular state of being content. Birthplace? I'm just gonna say in eastern NC. Do you believe in love at first sight? No, merely infatuation. Love is much too deep for that. Do you think dreams eventually come true? Some can, but usually only if you put effort into making that so. Favorite fictional character? like ummmmmmmm have you heard of this sassy bastard called Darkiplier- Go to the movies or rent? Before Covid, I loved going to the theater. It was something to do, plus a giant screen is nice. McDonalds or Burger King? McD's. I'm not a big BK fan. I only really went there during my vegetarian phase for the veggie burger. Current annoyance? This motherfucking headache. Last thing you ate? I have a meal replacement shake with me right now, if you consider that "eating." I didn't have a proper dinner. The last solid food I had though was some cookies and cream Greek yogurt. Last thing you bought? With my own money, I think I bought Mom and I some cheap McDonald's order semi-recently? Or maybe paying my $100 deposit for my tattoo was most recent, idk. Soonest thing you are looking forward to? For Mom to get her CT scan and find out what's going on in there. What did you do today? It was a pretty average day. I woke up way too early, though. The only thing even semi-unique about today was I played World of Warcraft for a few hours again; I've been quite unattached to it lately, but I went through an episode today of actually having fun playing. Oh, and I've been battling a migraine. It's more of a severe headache now, at least, but it still sucks big time. Do you like to see it snowing outside? Oh yes, absolutely! When you were in high school did you ever have bomb threats? I believe once we did from a very volatile student that honestly caused quite a lot of trouble. He's dead now. Who knows ALL of your secrets? Nobody. Did you have a job before you were in college? No. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to have a baby right now? That's a terrifying thought, no. Are you on birth control? Yeah, but just because it tames my menstrual cramps. Without it, they could be debilitating some days. Who is your last sent text to? My best fren. Have you ever eaten at Chipotle before? Possibly? Idr. Do you swear often? Excessively. I had a dirty mouth prior, but my swearing got really bad when I started staying at Jason's house a lot. He and especially his mother swear like mad. Do you own any shirts with a peace symbol on it? No. Do you have your national flag hanging up anywhere outside your house? Not at this house, no. Would you ever go to Japan? Oh, yes. I would love to. It's... very morbid, but I would really like to walk the (public) paths of Aokigahara Forest, nicknamed "Suicide Forest" for the horrible amount of, well, suicides that happen there via hanging. Like, you might just casually run into a dead body. I want to just... feel it there, walk in silence and empathize with people who didn't know what else to do and hope so deeply that those departed know they were never alone in their pain. I know with absolute certainty I'd probably be teary-eyed the whole time and cry a whoooole lot, but it's just an experience I want to have. What was the last thing you went to Walmart for? Some basic groceries. What should you be doing right now? Sleeping, given this headache... I just don't want to yet. Are you afraid of getting your heart broken? I'm fucking terrified of that ever happening again, far more than words can properly express. Have you ever been in a choir? Yes, actually; when I was a Catholic kid, my sisters and I were in the church choir for a year or so, idr. Do you have a Twitter? Yes, but only to like Mark's tweets, haha. Oh, and very rarely enter giveaways I'm interested in. Describe your retainers to me, if you have them, that is. I have a permanent metal one behind my front row of bottom teeth to keep those straight. My upper teeth had one of those normal retainers you take in and out, but I didn't wear it enough, so now it doesn't even fit. Would you like for someone to call you right now? No. I'm tired, my head hurts, and I'm enjoying the song I'm bingeing. It's so weird, I rarely ever go on music hunting trips (no real reason, I just... don't), but I've found great shit lately. Do you like to brush your teeth? No; it's a chore. I only do it because I don't want my teeth decaying, falling out, or getting too yellow, and the taste in your mouth and gritty texture on your teeth isn't exactly great when you don't brush. Have you ever had a surgery? Two. Give out your phone number over the internet? I have over private messages. Do you look older or younger than you actually are? Given my wardrobe (like graphic tees and band shirts), I probably look younger in the eyes of especially older people. I personally say I look my age, though. When is the next time you’ll be up on stage? I never plan to be again. What is the last show that you watched a full episode of? Some cooking show with Mom. Nailed It!, I think? Do you know anyone who lives in Utah? No. I love Utah, though; it's actually a place I'd be willing to live in with just how pretty it is and not super populated. Do you get your feelings hurt easily? VERY. I'm probably one of the most sensitive people you can meet. Do you still talk to the person you last made out with? Yeah. Have you ever seen your best friend cry? Ugh, yes. What kind of vitamins did you take as a kid? First we took those nasty, chalky Flintstones kinds, but as time passed, Mom moved onto giving us gummy bear vitamins that were perfectly fine. Did you get any compliments today? No. Are you friends with your neighbors? Not "friends," no. What towns have you lived in? Three different ones. That's all you're getting. Have you ever thrown up from drinking? No. Done any illegal drugs? No. I mean I've had some alcohol underage, but I've never done anything remotely hardcore. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve been on an airplane without changing flights? Idk. Who have you texted today? My mom and best friend. What time did you wake up this morning? Ugh, like five in the fucking morning. I couldn't go back to sleep. What is your favorite condiment to go with french fries? Ketchup. What do you have a habit of doing when engaging in a conversation with someone? Making shitty eye contact, and I'm one of those people who "talks with [their] hands." I also lose my train of thought a whoooole lot. Have you ever layed in a hammock? Yeah; we had one growing up. Have you ever lost a pet in a tragic way? How did you cope? Well yeah, I've had lots of pets, so thus lost some in particularly painful ways. The most scarring loss of a pet though is as follows: Teddy, my dog, picked up one of our cat's very young, wandering kittens in his jaws in a manner that looked as if he was trying to carry it like Aphrodite (the mother cat) does when she would bring them back behind the couch, where she gave birth/had her little "nest." I absolutely freaked and had to pry the kitten from his mouth, and it slowly died in my hands. I think Teddy accidentally crushed its ribs. I. Was. A. Mess. Then, there was Aphrodite herself. I've told the story before of our former neighbors calling animal control because our cats would wander through their yard, and all of our cats were taken away while I was unaware at school. Came home, and they were all gone. Aphrodite was my baby, so I was devastated. Screaming, sobbing, cursing on the porch for like 20 minutes... It was awful. What type of curtains do you like? I don't... know? I don't know the actual names of any types... What type of quality is a must-have in a friend? I absolutely cannot be friends with someone who thinks they're above everyone else. Are you any good at reading someone's body language? I think I am. What goes good with a nice cold glass of milk? Cookies! Especially Oreos. Dip it in there for around five seconds, and it's perfection. What fruit is too sweet to you? Grapefruit came to mind first. How did you feel after your first kiss? I had butterflies galore and was so giddy and smiley. After the first, I just wanted to kiss him a billion more times. What’s your favorite constellation and why? I don't have one. Shower curtain or door? Curtain. The glass doors are too revealing. Have you ever thought to yourself that you’re the luckiest person in the world? Most deeeeefinitely not. What time of day do you most enjoy looking at the sky? Sunset if there are clouds present, but sunrise if the sky is pretty clear.

[vagrantblvrd]

fahc fishing jamboree, or battle buddies if they had pokemon? Hope your block dwindles away soon and your internet behaves decently!

Oh my God, okay, I love the Battle Buddies pokemon thing so much? (Because Pixelmon 2: Electric Boogaloo or whatever those dorks are doing in Minecraft these days? XD)

Like.

Just.

Some AU that’s a mix of Battle Buddies world and pokemon world (games/anime/Detective Pikachu and so on?) where pokemon are very much A Thing but it’s not weird if some people don’t pokemon.

Before Ryan gets partnered with Jeremy he’s on this mission somewhere and there’s this tiny little houndour he finds, right?

Doesn’t know much about pokemon other than some people go crazy about them, which okay, fair.

Okay, no. He knows the basics because sometimes he has to deal people using pokemon as guard animals/pokemon and therefore how to neutralize them as threats – type advantages and so on and he’s got specialized pokeballs not available to the general public? Like. Ones that will allow him to capture these guard animals/pokemon even if they do belong to someone to get them out of the way so they won’t be forced to otherwise hurt/kill them?

(Said pokemon either get left with the proper authorities later or handed over to the agency to be assessed to see if they can be integrated into his agency’s own pool of pokemon partners for various agents/security or their allies or quietly adopted out elsewhere because no sad end for them in this AU.)

Maybe he gets a few odd looks from his co-workers for not having pokemon of his own, but there were were always reasons he never got into pokemon like some people he’s met.

Maybe his family moved around too much as a kid for him to get to know the other kids where they were at the time.

It was just easier to stick to himself  and read his books and play his games – no real opportunity to get a pet pokemon or look into training his own because “they’re a big responsibility” and “when we get a place with a big yard” and all these reasons that add up to him never getting his own, y’know? Stopped thinking it might happen because hey, some people just don’t pokemon and it’s fine, okay.

But then he ends up working for the agency and sure other agents have pokemon partners they go into the field with but Ryan’s not one of them.

Could probably get one if he wanted, but it’s better if he didn’t? (Ignores the worried looks he gets because it would be nice to know he’s not on his  own out there sometimes, but Ryan insists he works better alone and so on and so forth.)

And then!

One mission that gets a little out of hand on him he finds this tiny little houndour huddling under a rusted out car or in an alley somewhere when he’s running from some baddies. Dead-end and this general air of oh, shit knowing he’s about to get caught when he hears this noise and sees something dart away from wherever he is.Through this gap in a fence or something he didn’t notice at first glance and while it’s probably not the safest idea to go chasing after it, he figures it’s better than getting caught by the baddies. (Whatever just ran away from him can’t be worse than what the baddies would do if they caught up to him, so he slips through that gap in the fence.)

Finds himself following these paw prints through mud or whatever on the other side, angry voices behind and ends up in an unused subway tunnel or some such after he loses the baddies, because of course. (Plot Reasons! :D)

Still following the paw prints – mix of curiosity and vague gratitude because whatever ran from him didn’t set out to help him or anything but it did anyway. (And also, safer to stay out of sight for a while, just in case so why not find out what led him here?)

Terrible weather outside anyway, rain coming down hard or just turning to mixed rain/snow and something, something reasons.

He sees a pair of eyes watching him from a hidey spot that’s a tangle of rusted out car parts and other stuff tossed away and forgotten and has this huh moment of not knowing what to do now?

Because, look.

Ryan may not pokemon like just about everyone else ever he’s not heartless, and whatever is hiding in that pile of junk helped saved his life just now, so.

Coaxes the little thing out from hiding with a bit of food – military rations so not the best? But the poor thing is starving and better than whatever scraps it’s been living off until Ryan came along, so yes.

Hard to ell what it is at first, it’s all covered in mud and the whatnot and nearly skin and bones.

But then it sneezes and shakes some of the excess water/mud from its fur and he realizes it’s a houndour. Little on the small side of things, and clearly wary of him but after he talks to it for a bit and feeds it the rest of what good he has on him it lets him pet it.

He doesn’t want to leave it behind, but isn’t sure it’ll follow him, but when he gets up to leave – it’s late and should be safe to head back to wherever he’s staying. (Still has a mission to finish, figure out where he went wrong and how to fix that so he can deal with his target.)

To his surprise the houndour follows him out of there. Wary, leery, but it follows him all the same.

(Ducks into shadows and hidey spots at first when he glances back to see if it’s still there like it thinks he’s going to turn on it, and he muffles a laugh because it’s pretty damn good at stealth, you know? Dumb little jokes to himself about it being a better operative than he is, because dork.)

He makes it back to the cheap little motel he’s staying at and is kind of ??? at what to do with the houndour now?

Sure it’s out of the weather and somewhere warm, seems a little less wary of him now but they’re not BFFs, you know?

Still.

There’s a couple of menus on the dresser for places that deliver and he’s pretty hungry himself, and he calls one of them up and places his order. Something for him and stuff that should be safe enough for the houndour to eat for the time being.

Spends the time waiting for the delivery person to get there watching the houndour explore the motel room, getting brave enough to come up to him. (Tries not to smile when it just looks at him like it doesn’t know what to make of him, either, other than being a goddamned weird human.)

When the food gets there he sets the houndour’s share on the ground and fills the ice bucket up with water for it and eats his own food as he boots up his laptop and other techy gadgets he’s been using.

Tries to figure out what the hell happened that things went so badly sideways on him and gets so caught up in that he startles when there’s this little whine at his side and he sees the houndour looking at him with its head cocked.

Doesn’t know why at first, and then laughs when he realizes he hasn’t finished his own food – too caught up in his work and all – and he splits the last of it between them.

Sits back to watch the houndour scarf it all down and lick its lips like it’s hoping for more, but not starving about it.

It’s still dirty, mud and muck dried in its fur and such and Ryan figures a bath wouldn’t hurt. (He’s not thinking long-term decisions about the houndour yet. Maybe has the vague idea he’ll being it back to the agency once things are done with here if it’ll let him, see if the agency can’t use a good houndour or if someone will want to adopt it as a pet if not a working pokemon.)

He’s a little surprised when the houndour lets him give it a bath.

Has it trotting along behind him as he goes to fill the tub, all curious and adorable as hell until it realizes what he’s got planned for it. There’s this moment he can see where it’s debating whether or not to let this strange human give it a bath – not harmless after all – but there’s a sort of trust between them and it’s been scratching a bit too, so it lets Ryan give it a bath.

Little motel shampoo sample bottles or whatever that smell vaguely of flowers or something else that tickles its nose, has it sneezing and splashing water on Ryan.

Little barks and yips at the  bubbles and whatnot. Some confused growling, but it’s not aggressive and Ryan is kind of charmed by this adorable puppy pokemon, okay? (Not that he realizes it yet.)

Gets it all nice and squeaky clean and dried off and watches it wander around the motel room exploring everything again before he could do with a shower himself.

When he comes out the houndour’s settled down some, curled up under the table his laptops set up and lightly snoozing.

Ryan goes back to work on his laptop and sees there are some messages waiting for him. Hints the agency was fed bad intel, possible mole in their midst or whatever and watch his back and blah, blah, blah.

Ryan is like, well, obviously, because things haven’t gotten this fucked up in a while? (Or ever, really.)

SO.

He finds a way to untangle things for his current mission and falls asleep at some point. (Wakes up to the houndour hopping off the foot of the bed and this spot by his feet it was clearly sleeping before then, but whatever, right? If the houndour wants to go back to be all Aloof or whatever it’s been doing while he’s awake that’s fine.)

He grabs some food – sticks to rations in his stuff and gives most of it to the houndour before going out to finish his mission.

Not the easiest one now the target and his people are on alert, but he manages without getting seriously injured/killed and that’s always nice.

Surprised when he gets back to the motel room and the houndour’s still there – he left a window open or some other way for it to leave while he was gone if it wanted – but nah. It’s dozing under the table again and cocks its head when it sees him limp inside. (Maybe fucked his leg up a bit, but nothing a few stitches and some bandages won’t fix.)

He’s just there to check on the houndour – not a great idea to stick around after the hornet’s (beedrill’s nest?) he just kicked up – and get the hell out of town before he gets caught.

No real idea what he’s doing (when does he ever?) but he grabs his stuff and shakes his head in amusement when the houndour jumps up and follows him when he leaves.

Sneaky sekrit agent/operative getting out of the city and somewhere safe to report back to whoever he trusts back at the agency. (Potential mole/breach back there but there are a few people he still trusts and  they find a way for him to get back home.)

He looks at the houndour who seems intent on going with him and finds a way to get it back too. (Still in denial that it’s his now, whatever that entails, but let him have this one.)

There are some shenanigans getting back – bribery to get the houndour past customs and whatever is going on at the agency trying to kill him? But the bribes work a treat and the houndour helps save his life – in more direct ways this time as it attacks a few baddies to save him and Ryan is like, well, okay, guess I’m pokemoning too now, huh? when the dust settles.

Gets back to the agency and helps clear up the last of the mess (that they know of at the time) and his superiors are all laughing at him when they see this feisty little houndour defending Ryan against potential threats. (He’s been so adamant all this time he works better alone/doesn’t need a partner human or pokemon and so on and so on, and here he is with this houndour, so yeah.)

After that Ryan sekrit agents/operatives his way around the globe with his houndour partner. Trains with her before he takes new missions first to make sure she’s suitable for it – would rather not take her out if she doesn’t have the right temperament, you know? (Let someone else adopt her as a pet than force her into being a working pokemon if it’s going to make her miserable, but she takes to the training/job like nothing else and his superiors are not so secretly relieved there’s someone watching his back on missions now.)

Thing is, though.

Now that Ryan’s got his houndour at his side he ends up picking up all kinds of pokemon while he’s out and about. (Away on a mission for the agency or back home for a change and a quick run to the grocery store.)

Finds all stray and abandoned pokemon that he can’t just leave behind – not with his houndour giving him this sad little look and soft whine and he’s a soft touch more than ever before when it comes to pokemon now.

Most of them go to the closest pokemon center where trainers or people looking for companion pokemon will adopt them into a forever home. (All kinds and most not suited for agency work one reason or another and really, really, he’s not suited for more pokemon at the moment with his work and time away from home and so forth.)

A few end up at the agency after they’ve passed the usual checks and whatnot to make sure it’s a good fit for them, but yeah.

It turns into this running joke about Ryan coming back from a mission with a few extra friends, you know? (And yeah, okay. Some of the one that end up with the agency don’t all go into the field, some just end up office pokemon keeping desk-bound agents/operatives other staff company during work hours and such.)

Things go on like that for a while and eventually Jeremy ends up at the agency, this kid fresh out of some academy or other with a different agency who got snapped up by Ryan’s.

Bounced around a bit in the beginning because there’s a reshuffling going on at the time – still rooting out whoever was behind the botched mission attempted coup back when Ryan met his houndour and pockets bubble up from time to time.

Eventually Ryan’s superiors stick Jeremy with Ryan and his houndour, right?

One of the few they can trust to keep Jeremy under watch/keep him safe. (They like him, he’s got all this potential and such but the timing of him coming into the agency while they’re dealing with this ugly mess is a bit suspect, so yes.)

By this time Ryan’s taken to incorporating his houndour’s little skull/bones aesthetic as his own? Like. Not blatant about it or anything, but the guy’s got all that theater kid to him and he’s dork enough to be unironic about it.

Jeremy notices of course, the times they go out on missions where Ryan pulls out the face paint and the  pattern on his own face matches his houndour (which he’s gone and named something ridiculous like Crossbones or something ~cool, idk.)

He and Jeremy get along well and at first Ryan thinks Jeremy’s like he used to be because he’s never seen him with pokemon of his own? (Sure, Jeremy loves pokemon, spoils Crossbones when she lets him and so on and the office pokemon adore the hell out of him, but yeah. Doesn’t seem to have any of his own.)

But then there’s a mission that goes south on them – nothing suspicious about it, just bad luck on their part – and just when things look dire for them Jeremy whips out a pokeball and this voltorb.

Gives Ryan this reckless grin, all battered and bloody and backs to the wall as he sends his voltorb out and sweet Jesus, Jeremy, what the hell -

Jeremy’s voltorb packs a hell of a punch, like his trainer/partner and they manage to get out of that little pickle (more or less) in one piece.

Get back home where Jeremy is all :DDDD as he tells Ryan about his voltorb that he’s had for years now. Jokes about it being a secret weapon no one ever expects and so on and Ryan is just well, obviously, because lunatics and voltorbs and it makes so much sense voltorb is Jeremy’s favorite now.

Anyhow, anyhow.

Shenanigans galore with the two (four of them?) out sekrit agenting/operativing all over the place.

At some point they either manage to rip out the baddies infiltrating their agency by the roots and put an end to that nonsense for good and stay on with the agency for forever? (OR until they decide to retire from fieldwork, train the next generation of agents/operatives or just retire completely.)

OR they have to go fake their deaths and go into hiding somewhere and end up in the FAHC where Ryan decides to call himself the Vagabond and everyone assumes Crossbones or whatever he calls her was a deliberate choice because reasons?

AND.

Or course Crossbones evolves into a houndoom at some point. Some critical moment on a mission that ends up saving Ryan’s and Jeremy’s lives and is Super Dramatic?

Fierce little hound evolving into a vicious houndoom and oh Jesus Christ, the baddies are in for it now.

And you know, Ryan getting his hands on houndoominite at some point?

A gift from Jeremy for his birthday or something because they’re not mutually pining idiots over here or anything. Ryan giving Jeremy a heart attack on a mission where he almost dies and Jeremy figures giving Ryan something like that might keep him little bit safer? (God knows Crossbones would never let someone hurt Ryan if she can help it, has proved it time and again in the past, so this can only be a good thing?)

Whichever route things go, Jeremy thinks it’s hilarious as hell that Ryan is forever picking up all these random pokemon wherever he goes?

If they end up sticking with the agency and training up future agents/operatives the rookies/newbies are like !!! when instructor Haywood plops a pokemon in their arms and tells them to look after it for him for a bit?

Either Ryan thinking the two would be a good fit – as partners in the field or just adopting the pokemon as a pet, whichever – or he’s just fucking with them for the lulz?

Some rambunctious pokemon that’s proven a good way to root out unsuitable agents/operatives before they can become a liability in the field or whatever.

OR.

The spooky Vagabond picking up stray pokemon all over Los Santos, right.

Hanging out at the penthouse with bby!pokemon (omg, pichus) climbing all over him and looking one of the others dead in the eye daring them to say something about it when he’s new to the crew and they don’t know what a doofus he is yet.

Jeremy coming in later and being like >:DDDDDDDD when he sees Ryan with tiny pidoves on his shoulder at some meeting spot or other. Itty bitty igglybuffs hopping around his feet somewhere with their tiny little arms held up asking to be picked up.

AND.

Ryan showing up at his and Jeremy’s place one rainy day in either scenario.

Crossbones shaking water off the moment she gets inside. Ryan opening his jacket up when Jeremy notices it moving and what do you know, it’s a Toxel. (Amped form, because Spyro.)

Jeremy’s wanted to get one for himself ever since Gavin told him about them, but for whatever reason hasn’t done it yet? So of course Ryan decided to get one for him or had the luck to stumble on one and was like !!! JEREMY.

So, you know.

Yes.

[ceruleanskies]

castelia’s champions (l.dh)- chapter 2

details: pokemon trainer!au, champion!haechan, champion!reader, suggestive 

warnings: a little bit of violence, mentions of anxiety, team plasma being dicks

pairing: NCT’s Haechan X fem!reader (ft. Jeno)

a/n: alternative title for this chapter is ‘it’s been six fucking months this shit better be good, kai’. i’m so sorry for the wait :((

His flinching at your question was the only answer you needed from him.

“Team Plasma stole them, didn’t they?” He nods slowly and you sit down next to him, pulling him into a hug. Your hand moves to the back of his neck and he buries his face into your shoulder. His shoulders begin to shake, and for a little while you thought he was laughing. It was only when feel a warm liquid drip onto your shoulder that you realised he was crying. It was heartbreaking to witness and you wanted nothing more than to help him.  

It was so strange to see him in this state. Lee Donghyuck, the infamous Champion of Castelia City’s underground Battle Arena, the playboy who could melt any girls’ heart, the boy who obliterated his opponents’ Pokémon without so much as batting an eyelid, crying his eyes out. He was vulnerable, upset, distraught. You felt a pain in your chest at the sound of his sobs, and you wanted nothing more to take his pain away. All of the competitiveness you felt against him dissipated as he cried, and those feelings were replaced with nothing but pure care and affection.  

You knew he was inconsolable, especially in this state. It pained you more than anything to see him like this, and you just let him cry onto you. You didn’t say anything as he cried onto you. It was quiet, small sobs that shook his shoulders. Only after he calmed down a little while later did you try and ask him what happened.  

“Who did they take, Donghyuck?” You ask him softly and he sniffles. His head moves from your shoulder and you get a good look at his face. His eyes are red and puffy from crying, his lips a pink colour. His nose was also tinted red and he kept on sniffling.  

“Dragalge, Aegislash, Aerodactyl and Sceptile.” Your brows furrow.  

“Where’s Blaziken?” He produces a Pokéball and presses the button in the centre. You gasp at the sight of Blaziken before you, and even Mimikyu expresses her shock by rushing into your room and bringing you a Full Restore. Blaziken was badly poisoned and appeared confused, too. Evident burns left the once proud red feathers that covered his body patchy and sparse. He kept faltering, losing its footing, looking like he was on the verge of collapsing. You grab the Full Restore that Mimikyu retrieved for you and use it on Blaziken. Thankfully, it does its job and the wounds on his body heal themselves. Donghyuck watches on and tackles his companion into a hug when he knows Blaziken’s alright.  

What Donghyuck wasn’t expecting was for his partner to throw him off, an action that shocks your rival. He crashes into the sofa, a groan escaping him when his back hits the sofa. Blaziken turns on you, and you stand your ground, despite being absolutely terrified in the presence of the taller Pokémon. Your fear causes the Master Ball on the table to rattle furiously.  

“Y/N! Look out!” Donghyuck calls out and you turn to see Blaziken lunge towards you. Everything happens in slow-motion after that. You see a flash of light as Mewtwo bursts out of its Pokéball to come to your aid. It stands in front of you protectively, concealing you from the intense gaze of Blaziken. Mewtwo had a height advantage over Blaziken and stared him down ferociously, to the point where Blaziken was no longer driven by fury. He let his head hang in submission, and you place a hand on Mewtwo’s shoulder. You could feel Mewtwo’s overwhelming power, something that makes you take a couple of steps back. Mewtwo carries on its stare-down with Blaziken until Donghyuck’s companion snaps out of his daze. When his eyes fall on his Trainer, he recoils another step.  

“Ken?” Blaziken lets out a cry. You look from Blaziken to Mewtwo. Your Pokémon had no expression on its face, simply wearing that same mask of neutrality it always does. Blaziken’s cry hung in the air, carried by the deafening silence that followed it. Mewtwo carried on staring at him, making the smaller Pokémon quiver in fear.  

“Mewtwo.” Your voice was commanding and firm. Your Pokémon turned to look at you and instantly its eyes softened. It came closer to you and moved behind you. You look back at Donghyuck and he once again launches himself at Blaziken, but this time he wasn’t thrown off.  

“Thank you, Y/N.” You cup your elbow awkwardly, simply acknowledging his gratitude with a nod of your head.  

“Least I could do. Besides, you’ve got to thank Mewtwo.” He chuckles nervously and scratches the back of his head.

“Could you do that? I-uh… Mewtwo kind of scares the shit out of me.” You find yourself chuckling at that. But a part of you was still confused as to why Blaziken acted out the way he did. You turn to face Mewtwo and it stretches its paw out. You take it and feel yourself being transported to a vision.

Instantly, you recognise the area that you’re in. A small alleyway not so far from your house. It was dimly lit by a flickering lamppost at the mouth of the alley. The early morning sun was blocked out by the concrete high-rise buildings. Your eyes travelled down to the end of the lane, heart seizing when you see Donghyuck and Blaziken cornered by a Volcarona, Seviper, Scolipede and their Trainers. The first one, Seviper’s owner, steps forward.  

“You’re no match for us. Give us your Pokémon and we’ll let you go.” Donghyuck’s eyes darken. Anger was an unfamiliar accessory on his face, and the expression he wore made you tremble. The first of them chuckles, a sound that sends shivers down your spine. You tried to break out of Mewtwo’s grasp as you watched on, but you were kept still by the bond you two shared. You wriggled in its grip to no avail. You wanted to help Donghyuck, but all you could do was watch on helplessly like a deer in headlights.  

“You’re just a kid. Give up already, you’re weak.” Donghyuck flinched, his cold exterior broken instantly by those two words. For as long as you'd known him, that was the one thing that hit a nerve whenever someone insulted him. Especially because he’d trained so damn hard to become one of the best trainers there ever was. The other two grunts frisked him and took four of his Pokéballs. Then, they took turns beating him up. They landed blow after blow, kicks and punches until he coughed up blood.  

“Volcarona, use Flamethrower!”  

You cried out, a sob that had been building in your throat escaping you. Hot tears etched their way into your skin. Blaziken stepped in the way of the fire, protecting his partner from the intense heat emanating from that alleyway. When the fire dies down, you see Blaziken in that same dazed state that he was in at your house. The three grunts leave, and the odour of singed feathers filled the air. Blaziken lost its footing and fell against the wall, breathing heavy and laboured. Donghyuck returns him to a Pokéball, eyes brimming with tears. You watch on as he tried to stand, falling again and again, clutching his stomach. He wiped the tears that fell from his eyes on the cuff of his jacket and leaned against the wall, mouth open in a silent scream.  

Your eyes open, where you’re met with Mewtwo’s intense gaze. You break eye-contact and look over at Donghyuck, who is nursing his Blaziken. He looks over at you, a confused expression on his face at the tears brimming in your eyes.  

“You were making these weird noises. It sounded like you were crying. What did Mewtwo show you?” He asks, curiosity evident in his voice. You were dumbfounded. Donghyuck had four of his most prized Pokémon ripped from him by Team Plasma and he was sat opposite you, wandering what Mewtwo had showed you. Before you could register what you were doing, you walked over to Donghyuck and pulled him into a tight hug. He stills, confused.  

“Donghyuck, I’m so sorry.” Your eyes filled with tears, and you felt his arms wrap around your waist. He hisses lightly when your fingers brush against a cut on his cheekbone and you draw away immediately. He looks up at you, eyes filled with vulnerability. You tear your gaze away from him and pick up the first aid kit. You round the table and unzip the pouch, feeling Donghyuck’s eyes on you as you do so. You turn back to him with an alcohol wipe and carefully dab at his cheekbone. He hisses sharply and you mutter a quiet apology. You dab a little more this time and Donghyuck grabs your wrist. You immediately draw away from him, apologising over and over again. You didn’t want to hurt him, yet here you were. When you drew away, he softened and let go of your wrist.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N. I didn’t mean to. It just happened on impulse; I’m not used to people doing this for me.” You nod and go back to fussing over him, unwrapping plasters and carefully placing them over the cuts on his face. You dab at his lip to get rid of the blood there and only notice how close your faces are when you look up into his eyes. His gaze was calm, yet there was still something hidden underneath it.  

“Hyuck…” You’re left breathless by him. His distinctive scent of vanilla and fabric softener wafted up your nostrils. It was intoxicating, left you craving more. You move your face so that your eyes are level with his and his eyes scan your face, taking in every detail. You feel your cheeks warm as his hand moves to cup your cheek. He moves in closer and closer, until his lips brush against yours. He’s about to completely close the distance between you, but you’re rudely interrupted by the siren-like ringing of your PokéGear. You spring away from him and run into your room to retrieve the device.  

“Hello?” You walk back out of your room and Donghyuck looks over at you, expression now guarded. You couldn’t help but let a pang of guilt flood through you, wondering what could have happened if your PokéGear hadn’t gone off.  

“Y/N? It’s Jeno,” The voice on the other line says. “Are you with Donghyuck right now?” Your brows furrow.  

“Yeah, why? Is there something wrong?” You ask him.  

“You know his Pokémon were taken today, right?” You bite your lip.  

“Yeah, he came to mine and Renjun’s place looking pretty worse for wear. How did you know?” You ask him.

“His Pokémon are in such high demand, Y/N. The grunts that stole them must be incredibly proud of themselves. I know my father will be proud of them.” He spits out the last sentence, a bitter tone enveloping his voice. You glance over at Donghyuck, who simply keeps staring at you.  

“Do you know what they’re doing with them?” You ask Jeno.

“They want to liberate all Pokémon from their trainers. By showing the world that they’ve re-captured higher demand Pokémon it means that more people give theirs up willingly.” Your fist clenches.  

“What do you think are the chances of success if I snuck in and took them back?” Donghyuck’s expression morphs into one of surprise.  

“By yourself? Next to none. With me? Pretty high. I can slip you and Donghyuck in, without much of a problem. You’ll just need to dress up as members of Team Plasma in order for me to be able to get you in. I’ll bring you and him some uniforms tonight and we can go through how we can get his Pokémon back. Sound like a plan?” You meet eyes with Donghyuck and feel a stone drop in the pit of your stomach at his expression. There was something missing from his eyes, something that you couldn’t quite place. His hair fell in his face, partially blocking his eyes from you.  

“Y/N, are you still there?” Jeno’s voice cuts through your thoughts.  

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Sorry. Are you gonna come over tonight?” You ask him and he simply gives a grunt.

“I’ll see you tonight, gorgeous.” The line cuts and you take the PokéGear away from your ear.  

“That was Jeno. He said he’ll be able to sneak us into Team Plasma’s HQ to get your Pokémon back.” You move to sit next to him on the sofa and take his hand in yours. He avoids your gaze and you sigh. You pick up the cotton swab and dip it back in the alcohol. You carefully press it to the cut on his cheekbone and he hisses again. You mutter another ‘sorry’ as you carry on cleaning the wound. Donghyuck’s grip on the sofa’s armrest tightens. You take the rubbing alcohol away from his wound and carefully place butterfly stitches on the cut.  

“I’m so sorry that it hurt so much, Donghyuck.” He simply nods.  

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For taking me in. You could have just rejected me then and there, but you didn’t. And I have to thank you for that.” He carefully approaches you again and wraps his arms around your frame. You breathe in his scent and you’re instantly reminded of Littleroot. The vanilla scent of his skin sent memories of his house flickering in your mind and, for the first time since you both left Hoenn, you felt safe. You felt like you belonged together. Haechan pats your hair and his hand moves down your back, travelling further and further south until he reaches the small of it, just above the band of your shorts.

“Hyuck…” You draw your face away from his shoulder and he brings his lips to yours. It’s rougher than the first kiss, you can feel everything he feels for you in that kiss. His lips move against yours in sync, and all at once you feel both starved and full of air. You were hit with waves of passion, all directed at the boy you were kissing. Your hands weaved through his hair, and you feel his tongue pressing against your lips, asking for entrance. Lips still connected, you swing a leg over his hip and straddle him, arms draped over his shoulders.  

Kissing Donghyuck was everything you wanted it to be and more. It was intoxicating. He was intoxicating. Every movement of your lips against his had you craving more and more.

“Y/N, I-oh fuck!” The sound of Renjun’s voice echoing through the apartment- as well as his Altaria’s ear-piercing screech- makes you and Donghyuck pull away from one another, and you feel your face burn. You carefully shift off of his lap and begin to clear away the bandages’ wrapping, avoiding Renjun’s questioning stare. You glance momentarily at Donghyuck before taking the rest of the rubbish and putting it in the bin in the kitchen. Without making eye contact with neither Renjun nor Donghyuck, you clear your throat a little and focus your gaze on the plant-pot that sits on the coffee table, ignoring the soreness of your lips as a result of Donghyuck’s kisses.  

“Jeno’s coming over in a little while to help us plan how to get Hyuck’s Pokémon back.” You look up at Renjun, who still wears the same shell-shocked expression on his face.

“Renjun?” He opens and closes his mouth a couple of times, as if trying to formulate a sentence, but he just couldn’t. He looks from you to Donghyuck, back to you, hoping that you’d catch onto what he was trying to insinuate. You feel your cheeks heat up and you look at your bare feet, as if you’d been scolded by a teacher.

“So…” Donghyuck tails off, his words turning stale in the air. Seconds pass. Then minutes. Renjun clears his throat.

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to see the two of you playing tonsil tennis on our sofa.” Donghyuck takes his bottom lip between his teeth and stands up. He holds out his hand to Renjun for the elder of the two to shake. Renjun takes his hand hesitantly, shaking it with the same hesitation.  

“I’m Donghyuck.”

“I know,” Your flatmate replies curtly, evidently still shell-shocked at walking in on you and him.

“You are…?” Donghyuck trails off.

“Y/N’s roommate. Renjun.” The two of them part and the same awkward air descends on the three of you. Donghyuck scratches the back of his head and bites the inside of his cheek.

“Who’s Jeno, then?” Donghyuck asks, attempting to diffuse the tension that hung between the three of you. You look over at him.

“He’s the son of the head of team Plasma.” Donghyuck’s head whips up to face you and the look on his face tells you that he’s anything but enthralled about meeting Jeno, someone who belongs to the organisation that stole his beloved Pokémon. You walk over to him and place a hand on his. He looks down at your hands and then searches your face with a gaze that screams vulnerability. You interlink his fingers with yours and feel a warmth spread through your chest.  

“Jeno hates the organisation that his father created as much as you, Hyuck. He’ll do anything to put a stop to what they’re doing and by helping you, he’s one step closer to doing just that.” The look on Donghyuck’s face told you he wasn’t exactly convinced. You squeeze his hand reassuringly and he looks down at your interlinked fingers.  

“You can trust him. I promise you that, Hyuck.”  

When the sun had set beneath the horizon and the lights from the buildings illuminated the city, your heart began to pound in excitement. You never thought that you’d break into Team Plasma’s building with the help of the creator’s son, and you were beyond excited to carry it out. There was, of course, a huge part of you that was terrified for your life and the safety of your prized Pokémon, especially Mewtwo. It had taken months for you to prove yourself worthy to the Pokémon and you weren’t going to give it up without fighting tooth and nail. You were practically bouncing off the walls by the time Jeno knocked on your door and Renjun opened it.  

It had been a while since you had seen the son of Team Plasma’s head, and you were sure of one thing. That time had been immensely kind to him. Jeno’s once black hair was now bleach-blond and slicked back from his face. His facial structure had become more prominent, cheekbones sharp enough to cut yourself on. His lips were plush and pink, and you could feel your knees go weak when he looked you up and down, a smirk on his face.  

“Well, if it isn’t the new Champion of the Castelia City Battle Arena.”

“There’s gotta be a shorter name for that, doesn’t there?” Renjun interjects, eliciting a small chuckle from the drop-dead gorgeous blond boy stood at your door. You move out of the way and Jeno strides in, taking you by the hand and pressing a soft, feather-like kiss to your knuckle. You had to admit, Jeno knew how to make a girl swoon. You turn to face Donghyuck and Renjun, taken aback by the irate expression on Donghyuck’s face. Jealousy marred his features, and he was staring at Jeno like he wanted to punch him in the face.  

Jeno appeared to be oblivious to Donghyuck’s death stare as he smiled sweetly at the silver-haired boy, eyes forming half-crescents as he smiles. He sticks out his hand for Donghyuck to shake, the smile on his face still genuine.  

“Don’t take it personally, ex-Champ. If anyone was going to be able to dethrone you, my money would have been on Y/N.” You can’t help but let your heart flutter at his compliment. Jeno wasn’t wrong. You had been training for a long, long time. Taking on each and every trainer you came across. You built up a reputation of being unbeatable, and that was what spurred you on to carry on being the strongest trainer there was.

“Anyway, I digress. You both want to break into Team Plasma’s headquarters. Am I right or am I right?” Donghyuck nods at Jeno and you could have sworn you heard Renjun’s jaw hit the floor.

“That’s a suicide mission. Y/N, your Pokémon will get taken too-”

“Renjun, I’ll be careful. If it means getting Hyuck his Pokémon back, it’s worth the risk.” You turn back to Jeno and he pulls out his phone. Up pops a hologram of the Team Plasma headquarters- a feat of technology that originated from the depths of Team Plasma’s lab.

“Before I came to yours I made sure to find out where Donghyuck’s Pokémon are being kept. Because they’re notably valuable they’ll be guarded by stronger Grunts in the basement of the castle. Y/N, I’ll come with you to retrieve Donghyuck’s Pokémon. Donghyuck, you and Renjun will be keeping watch for us in case-”

“What makes you think I’m coming?” Renjun cuts in. His Altaria emulates his tone of incredulity with its cry. You and Jeno simply exchange a glance.

“Renjun, you’re always complaining about how I never invite you on thrill-seeking adventures. You didn’t stop whining about the time I went into the Distortion World to catch Giratina. I hadn’t even met you then! Geez, for someone who complains so much about things like this, you sure as hell don't want to come along-”

“Alright!” He cuts you off. You smirk confidently and turn back to Jeno, for him to carry on talking.

“You went to the Distortion World?” He asks you and you roll your eyes.

“Giratina’s with my mum back in Littleroot. Is this really relevant?” The image of your mother taking care of one of the most feared Pokémon in the known world made Donghyuck chuckle a little. Jeno clears his throat and points to a room on the hologram.  

“Y/N and I will go in here. The guards that supervise this room tend to be pretty strict with who they let in and out. You’ll find a Plasma Lieutenant’s uniform in the bag I brought. Our cover will be that you’ve been recruited with me as your superior and I’m giving you the tour of the facility. When we’re in, we’ll grab Donghyuck’s Pokémon and get the hell out of there.”

In theory, the plan seemed fairly simple. You gathered up the bag and walked into your room to change into the uniform Jeno had brought. When you’ve put it on and look at yourself in the mirror, it takes you all of your self control to not step out of the room and set Blacephalon onto Jeno for making you wear the ridiculous outfit. A grey spandex bodysuit and a gilet that reminded you of a life vest was what you had on your body.  

When you walk back out, the visual of Jeno’s and Donghyuck’s jaws going slack wasn’t the one you had in mind. You were expecting them to laugh in your face, instead they were both staring at you with a primitive look in their eyes.  

“We should go.” Neither Jeno nor Donghyuck moved an inch, and Renjun’s Altaria had to use Pluck to get the both of them to stop staring at you. The ride to Team Plasma’ headquarters was deafeningly silent, everyone was running through their own individual role in the plan. You had to admit, you were surprised when Donghyuck was so complacent with not being directly involved in getting his Pokémon back. It made everything easier, but you weren’t expecting him to stop you just as the four of you were about to enter the headquarters.

“Y/N. A word?” You turn back to Jeno and Renjun.  

“We’ll wait inside,” Your best friend takes Jeno’s arm and leads him inside, leaving you alone with Donghyuck in the still night air. The silence that hung between you was tense as both you and he remembered the passionate kiss you two had shared.  

“Y/N, I wanted to thank you for doing this.” You snap out of your thoughts. Donghyuck was scratching the back of his neck and looking at the floor. It was the first time in a while that you’d seen him nervous.  

“You need to be careful around Jeno. I know Renjun told you that before, but I agree with him. He’s Team Plasma’s boss’ son. I don’t know how far we can trust him.” You interlink your fingers with Donghyuck’s and kiss his knuckles.

“We can trust him. I promise you.” You kiss his cheek.

“How about… after all this… we leave Castelia? Go and explore the world beyond Unova. I heard that Galar’s pretty nice. We don’t even have to worry about money, either. You and I both know we’re well supported until we’re ancient.” A small smile forms on his lips and he pulls you into a hug.  

“We’ll get through this. And when we do, you’ll be telling me all about how in the world you managed to get into the Distortion World.” You laugh against his chest and look into his chocolate eyes. You press a quick kiss to his lips and pull him inside with Jeno and Renjun, giving his hand one last squeeze before you and Jeno disappear down a corridor.  

so tumblr doesn’t let me link my askbox, but it really only takes you a few seconds to leave a comment about what you thought either in my inbox or directly in the notes. i read every single one and persevere to reply to each and every single one of them. it really does mean the world to us writers when you comment on our works, it can be make-or-break for a lot of us.

[imasoftieuwu]

"It's all gonna be alright, I'm here"

YangYang X Reader

Genre: Zombie Apocalypse AU, Fluff, Angst?

Warnings: Blood, Gore, Swearing, Mentions of abuse

"Shit" you yelled as body came in contact with the ground results from the force of the bomb exploding. "They are really ready to roast this city huh." you thought, the government doesn't seem to mind the fact that people still exist in the city alongside with the zombies. Which are the product of a so called experiment to modify human genes, just to satisfy scientists' curiosity. The thirst that lead to soon destruction of not just hummanity but this whole earth, they only ever asked if they could do it but never stopped to think if they should and that leads to this. A zom freaking bie apocalypse, yes you heard that right what was once harmless fiction is now a nightmare people have to face on a daily basis.

"Oh lord! Y/N what the fuck just happened jesus" Kun ran to you hurriedly, his face contorted with worries. "Really, can't you tell? I just survived another bomb attack from our almighty government." Kun eyes traveled to your right leg where the flesh was ripped opened deep enough to show your bone. "What the hell happened to your leg?" Kun winced, and you flashed him a shit eating grin saying "Oh come on, you've seen my bones enough times to not be shock." Kun shaked his head disappointingly pulling out his first aid kid from his backpack. After bandaging your messed up leg and leading you back to an abandoned house, which is going to be your shed for some times, a day that is. You can't just stop, you have to be constantly moving from place to place picking up food and supplies on your way. Kun layed you down onto a couch and made sure that you were in a comfortable position before heading out. You drifted to sleep under the moonlight illuminating through the crevices of the boarded-up windows, wishing this is just a nightmare and you will wake up to the normal world before all of this resuming your carefree life. Your eyes fluttered shut as memories played in your mind like a movie.

"YangYang you scared me!" You gasped dramatically placing a hand on your chest as you twisted the door knob to close the front door. YangYang pulled you into a tight hug, you can't help but notice all the bruises and cuts littered all over his face and arms. "Did they hurt you again?" You asked, brows knitting you already know the answer and have seen him like this countless of times before but it still hurts you to see him battered up by his own family, people who are supposed to protect him not hurt him. "Well, that's why I'm here." He grinned scratching the back of his head nervously. "But it's ok, I'm fine. We're here now so do you wanna go?" He raised an eyebrow. You nodded firmly taking his outstretched hand, everytime you were with him it's as if time had stopped and all the worries faded away because in that moment in your own world it's only you and YangYang holding each other, drowning in love.

You picked up your pace as the rain is starting to fall, drops after drops of rain fell relentlessly onto your skin. The prickling sting of each drops of rain, the way the cold pierced through your skin, the way dampened clothes stick onto your skin is so vivid. It was freezing but you felt so warm as long as your hand is still in his, his grinning face as he turns around holding you tight running down the empty street etched into your mind.

YangYang pulled you into a playground, you crouched inside the small playhouse still soaking wet from the heavy rain. You sat there for a while, hands still intertwined staring out at the pouring rain. As time passed, the rain starts to calm little by little until it reduced to nothing. "The rain stopped!" You said smiling at YangYang, the rain had stopped but the wind grew larger and larger causing you to shivered as the cold intensified. YangYang pulled you into a tight warm embrace "But it's still cold, we should stay in here for a while." You nodded softly burrying your face into the crook of his neck.

The wind have dried your drenched self and its starting to get warmer, you took a deep breathe taking in his scent "I wish we can stay like this forever." he whispered. You whispered back a "Me too." before pulling away, he looks so ethereal under the moonlight you can't help but cup his face in your hands. "You look unreal." the words left your lips before you can even process what's happening, your cheeks turned bright red at the relisation of what you just said as his matches the shade of yours. His eyes widened as he whispers a small thanks, he quickly composed himself and pulled you out of the playhouse.

You adored the moon shining above, swinging your legs while sitting on a tree branch beside YangYang who was still holding your hand. You squeezed his hand turning to face him and said "It's all gonna be alright, I'm here" giving him a reassuring smile before resuming your gaze back onto the moon. He picked a flower from the tree and tucked it under your left ear, "You look prettier than the flower and even more with the flower!" YangYang exclaimed smilling widely at you. Your heart swelled up at his words and a smile stretched across your face, you gave him a tiny punch to his chest "Your such a sweet talker." you pouted. You sat and laughed on the tree fingers never leaving each other's reminiscing the nights where you would sneak out just like this and watch the sunrise. This night was like any others but little did you know it would be the last before the outbreak. As the sun slowly started to rise from the horizon, "Y/N." YangYang called you softly and looked at you with adoring eyes before he spoke again "Y/N, I love..." His voice faded away before he could complete the sentence, YangYang endearing smile is replaced by a scowling Kun.

Kun was restlessly pancing back and forth, contemplating on whether to wake you up or not. You were badly injured yesterday and needed to rest but the zombies won't rest. You opened your eyes to Kun face hovering over yours, his knitting brows relaxed. "We gotta get moving Y/N, the zombies were bombed yesterday but more is coming." Kun sighed, handing you your bag filled with water and canned food he had scavenged last night. You lifted up your shotgun to check if it's loaded, of course it is Kun is the most cautious person you've ever known, he probably checked the guns at least 3 times.

You swinged the bag over your shoulder as you stood up completely forgetting about your right leg. "Ouch!" you yelped as the pain from your leg shoots up to your head. Kun rushed over to your side settling you back down to the couch. The force from standing up abruptly must have opened up the wound as your leg is bleeding through the bandage. "The bandage needed to be change either ways." Kun said wrapping up your leg with new bandage, "Done!" he exclaimed, you replied with a "Thank you." and Kun waved it off with a smile.

"How are we going to run out of this city with this?" you gestured to your injured leg, "Ah, about that no worries. YangYang will pick us up." your heart skipped a beat at the mention of his name, the image of his warm smile and outstretched hand flowed into your mind. "YangYang?" you questioned, you haven't seen each other for months since your team splitted up to scavenge for supplies since it was running low and YangYang group ended up getting trapped in Minnesota. "They got out of Minnesota somehow, Xiaojun called me yesterday." Kun explained, "But how, didn't they closed the border?" you asked confused, "They probably blew up the border or something." he half joked, "That's a very YangYang and Hendery thing to do." you laughed.

The all too familiar growl and banging on the front door replaced the smile on your face with a serious expression. "Shit they must have smelt the blood" Kun clicked his toungue, but something is off. The zombies shouldn't be here right now, there is no way they could travelled such distance in just one night. Yesterday's explosion was large enough to cook all of the zombies in this city and possibly the one next to it. Based on the look on Kun's face you figured he must have known that this is not just those normal zombies that you are going to deal with, and normal zombies were enough to sends shivers down your spine. All the hairs on your body stood up, just the thought of evolved zombies knocked the air out of your lungs. "When did these little shits became pokemons?" you joked, cracking a smile from Kun, "Pokemons or not we still need to kick those little shits' asses don't we."

A swarm of mutant zombies barged in at the moment Kun twisted the doorknob, he stood behind the door and started to fire at the creatures with his riffle. They were much faster, more brutal and harder to kill that's for sure, confirming your earlier thoughts. It took not only one but double or triple shot right in the head to make the horrid creature crumble into a goey, bloody mess under Kun's feet. He was able to took down most of the zombies before they dashed to you at an inhuman pace, you aimed your shotgun right in front of the zombie's head before pulling the trigger and blasting it's head open. Kun reloaded his riffle and continued to shoot at the zombies at a relentless pace, a zombie managed to grab a hold of your right arm. You swiftly pulled out a knife from your pocket and stabbed right through it's skull as Kun blew up the last zombie's head that were heading towards you.

"Well, that was a workout." Kun huffed wiping the sweats on his forehead smearing the blood from his hand onto his head without even noticing. "You got something on your face Kun." you bursted out laughing, Kun's confused face didn't help as you were laughing so hard tears escaped your eyes. "Oh!" he gasped before pulling out a pack of wet tissue and wiped the blood of his face, hands and gun. He handed you the pack of wet tissues, you stifled out a "Thank you." still laughing and clutching your stomachache. "Oh come on, Y/N." Kun groaned, "I'm sorry." you huffed trying to stop the laugh but it's almost impossible.

Lucas poked his head out from the opened door, "Long time no see man!" he squealed running to you and Kun almost tripping on a zombie's blown-up brain. "That was close!" he yelped, staring wide-eyed at the pile of zombies, their guts and skull scattering everywhere on the floor. The scene earned a gag from Ten standing right behind Lucas, "Jesus you two did that? Alone?" Ten praised still gagging, Ten is ruthless in the battlefield and is one of the most skilled shooter in the State, chances of him dying from gagging at zombies corspes are even higher than being eaten by one. Lucas pouted shooting you a thumbs up with a big grin across his face, "Good job man!" he gave Kun and you each a pat on the back. "Um... are we going?" WinWin called from the van, "Yep!" Kun shouted and gestured to Lucas to lend him a hand. Kun and Lucas carried you into the van and settled you down into the back row. "Thank you!" you gave them a shining smile, "No problem." Lucas smiled back.

Your eyes lit up, your lips curled up into a smile as you threw your arms around YangYang's neck, his eyes crinkled into a crescent and the image of the outstretched grin on his face that is always on your mind now is staring right at you. YangYang gave a peck on your cheek, and pulled you into a suffocating hug "Ugh, get a room wouldn't you." Xiaojun shot you a disgusting look and dramatically gagged. "Are you jealous?" WinWin looked at Xiaojun suspiciously. YangYang reluctantly pulled away from the hug to let you breathe, the laughter grew louder and louder as everyone was making fun of Xiaojun's lonely status. Xiaojun would always say he just doesn't want to and if he did he would have 5 girlfriends at a time, no one believed in such a blatant lie of course. Sometimes you do feel bad for him, he's always known as the lonely nerd and girls wouldn't spare him a glance but it's always fun to tease Xiaojun.

YangYang snaked his arm through your back and pulled you to close the tiny distance between your bodies, smiling sweetly at you and tapped his shoulder instructing you to lean your head on his broad shoulder. You swear you could get diabetes someday because of his smile, you plugged in your earphone handing him to the other piece and played your favorite song. The song that you and YangYang would hum together sitting by the river with your feet dipped into the cool water and hands intertwined. The tune that the little boy with disheveled hair, bruised body, and the brightest smile would sing softly in a field of cattails by the flowing stream. The tune that led you to the little boy that is now holding you close and humming that same tune into your ear, patting your head softly and running his long fingers through your lushes locks. He intertwined his hand that was wrapped around your waist with yours, leaning onto your head and whispered "I love you" three words the left your heart hammered in your chest and joy to rush throughout your body. You closed your eyes and whispered an "I love you too." to YangYang, you can feel his smile with your eyes closed, he squeezed your hand reassuringly "It's gonna be alright, I'm here." were the last words you heard before drifting off into a deep slumber.

[malachi-d-nasseri]

I’m writing this here so I can come back to it later. Some shit is going on and I felt like I need this point of reference. If you don’t like it, you’re the one on my fucking whatever this is.

I saw somewhere that if your intentions are to become well known, you should leave a letter to yourself to see how much you’ve changed. Conveniently, other people will get to see it as well.

#1

Hey there heretic. Or InkStain. Or Blue Hat. Or whatever name you haven’t yet decided on. It’s Thursday 3rd September when making this, 23:38.

You’re depressed right now. Remember that? The last like 5 thing you’ve drawn have all been characters depressed, a sad cry for help on your Instagram that you ironically haven’t even posted. I don’t know whether to put a ‘yet’ there. We currently like laughing, drawing, watching YouTube/anime, usually teenage shit. Those job rejection letters have been piling on. But hey; when you read this you’ve either achieved everything you’ve wanted, or you’ve died. Whether or not it was by choice remains to be seen.

Right now, you want to be an artist and a comedian. More than anything in this world. You want to be successful, but not for yourself. You want daughters, 3 of them, none of them biologically yours. Around two days ago you decided where you would like to adopt them from; China, Mexico, and Scotland. Why these specifically? Collectin girls like they’re Pokemon? Well you’ve always wanted to adopt a girl from China ever since you was 12, a bit young to make that decision but who’s judging? As stereotypical as it is, and I hope you feel as bad in 15+ years as I do now for saying this; you’ve yet to see a more dedicated and hard worker than a Mexican girl. Scotland because of ties to your own pathetic history; a history you refuse to let these girls have.

Grew up without a father. Or, more accurately, grew up with what you thought was multiple fathers. It stung badly when none of them wanted you. It stings now. I wonder if it will still hurt when you’re reading this? I refuse to let these children who are orphans suffer through that. Hopefully I’ve remained strong enough in the oncoming years that you still have that. That or we’ve died.

Beginnings are humble. You came from the basic muddy depths of London city, mother working hard enough so you could have the privilege of being poor around white kids. Surrounded by mainly aunties to raise you, I’d be amazed if at some point in your life you lost your cup of respect woman juice.

You were always funny, always accidentally. It was never the stuff you did but the stuff you said. One way to put it is simply; you were always a comedian, never a clown.

You’ve had an almost perfect memory of some stuff, horrible memory of others. You’re earliest confirmed memory is at the age of 9 months, your mom is holding you and showing you your room. I hope you remember that. You 20 something year old fuck.

I’ll sign the first instalment with a little something something, a reference stamp if you will to a time when you felt this way, and hopefully you’re not feeling anymore;

You are 17, unhopeful for the future, unmotivated, and the thing you want to do most right now is die. Change something.

This will probably be edited to be much longer. But in a weird way, this was therapeutic.

[chloefraazer]

to the end of the decade

I started this decade out…not great. And straight. I’m ending this decade maybe not perfect but accepting that I need to get better and working on it through therapy and drugs. And bi. So I’d say that’s at least something of a step up despite that I’ve had bad depressive episodes this year alone.

I also started this decade being a shadow in fandom, a lurker with nothing to say and not making friends. I’m ending it on a completely different note having actually begun creating and writing and having people on this site I’m more grateful for than anything. (and I’ll put my thanks to specific people under the cut cause I am nothing is not a weak, soft bitch at heart)

To all mutuals, thank you really for sticking around. I know I’m not the easiest to get along with and I hope to talk to some of you more at some point. I’m just so bad at it but <33333

@lembeau, I know things have been weird this year and that’s on me but at the end of the day you are always my forever girl and original otp. I don’t know how I would have gotten through some of the years without you, you’ve been my (salt)rock and best friend and everything in between. I hope things go well for you in the coming decade and know that I’ll always have your back and be immensely proud of what you’ve accomplished. I love you more than Eliza loves Goliath and in every universe the Middleman could ever give us.

@xsarahx, you were the very first person I started talking to and befriended on this site, even pre-musketeers days which is more of a throwback. We’ve come a long way from the Andrew Lee Potter days and I am always glad to talk to you about anything, including, of course, how comics have fucked up so badly these days. I’m with you till the end of the line, babe.

@sidewaystime, okay this one time I’m not gonna go with the red vs blue joke with your name I promise. Even if in my head I definitely am. Thank you for standing by all these years and I disastered my way through a career in computers, I’ll always appreciate someone knowing my absolute pain when it comes to users. Beyond that you’ve always got the best ideas for fandom aus and I love to hear them, especially if they’re old 90s fandoms. (and Canadian)

@sweetlyfez, remember back in the day when I was figuring out I was bi and it was all Constance’s fault? Well thank you for standing beside me as I figured that all out. And then laughing about it later because okay let’s be real, it is amusing in hindsight. You encouraged (and sometimes goaded) me on to writing femslash and I’ll never forget that.

@fonapola, we’ve come a long way from the musketeer-ing days. Who’d have thought our love our rare pairs would take us here but I’m glad we got there. Thank you for always letting me ramble on about those ideas and your own amazing ideas and fics and vids and everything when it came to that. You let a small thing grow large and kept the excitement going. Maybe one day we really will write our own thing together and have a shared world of sci fi and magic and someone clearly ready to be played by Howard Charles…Here’s hoping there’s more games I can drag you into it because I cannot wait.

@biportamis, oh Hannah I’d say I’m sorry for the million and one spams this year but that’s a lie and I’m not and if you’re gonna make me have musketeers feelings in 2019 then I’m gonna make you cry over Hawke. It’s equality. Jokes aside though I’m glad we always have those and holy shit you wrote a book!! Remember that?? That’s wild and I’m so proud of you for it, I can’t wait to see what you do this next decade.

@vulpyx, I am eternally grateful we got to talking and sharing fandom things, you’ve always been fun to talk to and I look forward to every pokemon game so we can make jokes about it and just be excited over it. And books! We need more good books, I hope that next Kyoshi one is gonna be good. I’m also really thankful that you’ve understood my anxiety and I wish I could help you with your own but know that I’m always here if you want to talk or need a distraction. <3

@waverly-earp, we have been through a lot of fandom madness together. Starting with AoS way back in the day and it just kept going. You’ve been a wonder through it all and an inspiration to make better gifs that look half as good as your beautiful edits. I love everything you create and wish this site wasn’t so terribly broken that it missed out on a good chunk of that stuff, but I hope you don’t stop because they always look so good. See you in the next decade with probably a dozen other fandom things to complain about (sorry not sorry)

@amandatapping, wild how quickly we bonded when it came to star trek but I’ll never regret that, the crazy things and injokes we ended up coming up with still make me laugh and you are the only person (aside from those femslash events) I’ll make ENT gifs for. Sorry I don’t love it like you do but I’m always willing to hear about how much you love it because it’s important to you and you’re important to me. #legged, baby!

@girlonthelasttrain, has it really only been two years since we started talking because it feels like we’ve been sharing memes forever. I’d say I’m sorry for spamming you with them but let’s be real, I’m not and it’s what Tidus would want. Truly a millennial icon. But really thank you so much for being around these past few years, I appreciate it every time you let me go on about my latest worries and panics and hyperfixations. I hope we get to share even more terrible memes over the next decade and I love you more than 13x7.

@alluringcliche, it’s been a while since the AoS days which really feels like it was already a decade ago but regardless I’m glad those days made us friends. Thank you for supporting me when I needed it and being there, I hope I could do the same when you needed it. I’m always down to talk about whedon shows even if joss has disappointed us terribly and this is our city now. All the best for the new year/decade and I hope to keep up more.

@dragoncharming, I was gonna call you my fandom backup but then that doesn’t feel like the right term but I also can’t think of the term to use when you’re always the person I count on to know if I’d love/hate something. You’re my guiding star for fandom, knowing where to steer me and what to steer me away from and I love you for it. I hope we get to play dnd together soon because that would be so exciting and thank you for everything.

@boydetective, oof I need to get better at texting more because I feel like I fell off the map this year and I’m sorry. I love getting to talk to you about small fandom-y things and sharing the wildness of KH and BNHA (aaaand I need to catch up again) and thank you for just rolling with it as I appear and disappear and I’m sorry about that. I’ll try to do better next decade.

@vulpixelates, thank you so much for letting me join a dnd group, it’s been a lot of fun and I am looking forward to meeting more of your characters in one shots and later on. And thanks for letting me ramble on about a million things and have Bi Panic about fifty times a year because that’s very real and I am very bad with it.

@adhd-athena, you know how next decade is starting with the KH DLC and it’s like…finally…some answers…. Well I bet we spend the next decade with just more questions and by the end of it we’ll finally have KH4. And even more questions. Regardless I’m looking forward to speculating all about that and DSC and other things with you, sorry for all the spams about those in advance I’m sure. Thank you for always listening <3

@malarkiness, I’m tempted to stick a picture of troi in here because that’s usually what I send to you and I have no regrets. Okay that’s a lie, I send you other things and I’m grateful I can always send you the most random things or rambling things and you just roll with it and amazingly haven’t blocked me yet. I hope we get to talk more about KH and FF and holy shit the remake is so close but it’s only like ¼ of it and Nomura what are you doing. (no one knows, not even him) All my love for you and the next decade of SquareEnix confusion.

@twilightacespect, it’s funny to think that I didn’t know you on this site until only about three years ago because it feels like we’ve always had this friendship. And by this friendship I mean you sending me cowboy things and me being haunted by them. Thanks beks. Okay okay, I love you a lot despite the cowboys. We’ve shared a lot of stuff and you’ve let me go on about a lot of fandom things and I’m sorry for the million and one spams over it when I hyperfixate on something we share. Except I’m not and suffer with me.

@organasoloskywalker, this year has been hard and I’ve said it a dozen times before but I wish I could be there with you. I’m always here for you though and I love you so much. Thanks for always being around to watch things with me and dragging into PGSM hell (“it’s a musical, you like those!” LIES LEXI, IT WAS PAIN) and a dozen other things. I hope we get to see each other sometime in the future and do a TAZ show or something but I’ll always be the voice on the other end of the line texting you pictures of my cat and loving Wedge Antilles. (and you) Also you know see you tonight for Fantasy High watching. <3

[dashielldeveron]

hi! what are some of your favorite fanfics?

HELLO. I adore how vague this is, so I’m going to give you more than you asked for. Also, I don’t know which fandom you’re on my blog for, so I’ll give you a mix of things.

Also, I feel called out for how much of this became a “let’s list what i’m attracted to” compilation. 

RLM: Everything @redlettermistress does, but especially In His Kiss and Milwaukee: A Place Both Wonderful and Strange. Though, if you’re not Deep In the Lore of these wonderful men, the fics may not make a whole lot of sense. If you’re not into RLM, I highly suggest reading them simply for the stellar dialogue, loving relationships, and fucking astonishing smut. She has a parking pass to the haunted house in my heart.

Also, Snow Globe, because it’s possibly the most romantic fic in fucking existence. I don’t even ship Mike/Jay due to personal reasons of wanting to marry Mike, but this is a perfect work.

Marvel: Sheena Stalwart’s Spider-Man Soulmate series.

@astronomyparkers‘s Silence (vigilante!Tom Holland AU), because it hits different, you know? It’s nice plot and character work.

Back when Liars and Legends was an unnamed Loki fic on deviantart, it changed my fucking life. This is the fic that started everything for me. It started my writing fic and was early in my introduction to readerfic (about 2012). It’s very “The Avengers was just released in theatres, and the Avengers all live in Stark Tower together,” but this fic consumed my brain for all of high school and affects to this day how I write and approach storytelling in general. Anything tiatodd does is ingenuitive, intriguing, and well-told, even though some of her kinks I do not share. I’ll devour anything she fucking posts. Be sure to check out both her pseuds.

Hades, God of Death is part of a series, but this one is my favourite and hurts my heart. It’s an AU in which Benedict Cumberbatch is Hades, and you’re his side chick when Persephone’s in the overworld. Read it if you want to feel depressed for a few hours.

Embarrassing Undertale Section: A Puzzle Just for Me, an ongoing, super in-depth character study/mystery/smutfest mob au Sans/Reader. Fucking incredible. I’ve never seen character work quite like this. It’s really something. It swops between your POV and Sans’s, both with deep psychological problems and deductions. Not to mention her worldbuilding. Would that I could write like this. 

i thought you were weird but turns out you're just caught in a time loop. Sans/reader. Combines the lore of Undertale and Deltarune, and it feeds my timeline-loving, slow burn, motherfucking soul. 

Broken Promises and Timelines. Sans/reader. Time for consequences of your own actions. It’s fab and sad, and even though there’s a fair amount of smut, I’m already there for the plot alone. It jumps through all of the fucking AUs for Undertale, of which there are too fucking many. 

Winter in Your Bones. Sans/reader. Takes place in Alaska. You can read this without knowing Undertale, so long as you know that Sans is a skeleton. 

Even Worse: A Pokemon Section: I know. I know. But it’s where I am in life, yeah?

Anyway, Roommates is a Spark/Reader (Spark is the Team Instinct leader in Pokemon Go) that is Super Healthy and Developed in their relationship (to the best of my recollection. It’s been a while, and it’s a long-ass fic). 

Shut Up and Dance is my current favourite continuing fic. It’s a Guzma/Reader (Guzma’s a villain in Sun/Moon, which I have not played) and a Dirty Dancing AU. It’s nice, okay? It’s really comforting and well done. It makes me feel a lot.

Not Readerfic: This is the best Harry Potter fic I’ve come across in years. It’s a time-travel mishap done right. Post-series Harry gets sent back in time to his first year at Hogwarts. He’s still mentally in his twenties, but his body is eleven again. This time around, Harry has all of the information and is going to be a little shit about it. Like, when it was described to me, I was sold purely on the fact that Harry convinces everyone he’s not the heir of Slytherin because he hasn’t tried to make a profit off of it. Golden.

Finally, There’s a Place is the fic hidden in my heart. It’s McLennon, which is Paul McCartney/John Lennon. Trust me, they were in love IRL. Message me if you want to know EVERYTHING. This fic is the culmination of their love, I think. There’s a certain line that a friend just has to quote to me, and I get all upset, because it’s so fucking romantic. I want to believe it’s real so badly.

So, these are the fics that linger in my head because of how new and wonderful their ideas are. I’ve honestly been thinking about these fics for a long time. Good writing affects your standards for love and living, you know?

Thank you very much for your ask! I hope your day is excellent! xx.

[pkmnsdarkqueen]

Drabble-So calls my heart to bad decisions. (Sinnoh)

Based on this , cause I can’t get it out of my head and I think it’d be funny to give mini versions of the crack ideas I said. Cut cause of length.

“You know as architecturally fascinating as this place is I think I like the Eterna base better.” “Wait seriously? All of the fun planning stuff that you love is here though. I mean we just read through notes in a lab about the lake guardians. That is your exact cup of tea.” “Yeah I knoooow but it was so much more dilapidated. How is this place still so clean?” “The various roombas might have something to do with it.”

Will chimed in as he stepped to the side to let another one slide by. When they talked to Cynthia she had mentioned the leader having an affinity for robots and machines which is why both Karen and Will hadn’t batted an eye at seeing a roomba in every room puttering around. 

Still Karen had expected it to be a bit more chaotic. I mean at least some wall paper starting to peel, a nick in a wall here and there, but no the place was just uncannily spotless. It made her wonder if anyone was still living there. They had encountered said issue before which had thankfully resolved itself. This time though she wasn’t so sure since as far as she knew they hadn’t met many Galactic members. 

Continuing in their exploits they both looked around the giant hall they’d entered. There wasn’t anything in the room except of course another roomba, guess they all were active this time of night, and a large podium area built into the room. As soon as they saw this Karen already knew what Will was about to say. 

“I want to get up there.” “Ok well let’s keep looking around and see if we can find stairs or another door, or-” “No way that’s lame, and these trips are for fun remember!”

Will cut her off running towards the wall starting to jump. The woman shook her head watching him miss the ledge by a long shot. Oh she already knew this wasn’t going to end well. 

“And how are you going to get up there from this room? That ledge is a whole you taller, and if you hadn’t noticed this place is stupidly minimalistic.”

She countered leaning against one of the walls to watch the show. He had moved from trying to jump it to knocking along the walls of the room. Personally she hoped he had taken her advice and was looking for a hidden stair case or something. Sure enough at one point there was a hollow thud causing both of them to perk up. Will grinned from ear to ear starting to see what objects he could manipulate. A hinge, a lock, some part of a door, and sure enough he was able to locate the spot to press on the wall. The panel cracked open with a small pop, and Will flung the door wide revealing chairs. Again practically spotless organized room with many stacks of chairs. 

“This is how.” “Oh this is going to be a bad idea.” “It is not ye of little faith! Watch me dazzle you with my genius.” “I’m going to tell Lance those were your final words before you broke your neck.”

Karen told him watching him use the dolly to position a stack by the wall. He could possibly reach now but looking at the chairs she wasn’t sure how steady taht tower would be. Sure they were your regular auditorium like chairs which was better than folding chairs, but as he said she was ye of little faith. 

“I’ll be fine, just be sure to catch me if I fall.” “No way, if I do that you’ll probably take both of us down. If you fall I’m going to say karma, and then laugh in your face.” “At least one of us will be able to laugh at my pain because I’m betting on a few broken ribs if I fail.” “How reassuring.”

Despite the shaking tower and general poor decision this was He was making progress. He always had the better sense of balance and so she watched silently as he grunted and huffed his way to the top of the stack. By the time he reached the top he had gotten the right height too, and was able to reach over to grab the lip of the wall. A few more scrambled moments and he had managed to crawl his way on to the other side giving a final kick to the chair pile which started to tip. HIs victorious pose of with two fisted hands in the air was met with the crashing applause of many chairs crashing to the floor. So much for this place being kept practically spotless. 

“You know I admire the grit that took, but question. You could of floated there Mr. Hi yeah so I’m psychic.” “I know but I want to save it in case we run into something or someone dangerous. Like what if this Cyrus guy has befriended Girintina right after getting sucked up in that world between worlds and he’s watching us right now with the weird science over there, gets mad we’re wrecking his stuff and BOOM!”

He emphasized smashing his fist on the short wall.

“Girintina and him burst through and attack us!” “I think that marathon of all the Godzilla movies followed by season one of Stargate SG1 was a bad idea.” “You’re just like killing my imagination.”

Will pouted having found a few pieces of paper to ball up one of which he threw at her. Easily it was caught by the woman who, out of curiosity started to unfold it. Huh, well this was interesting. 

“Hey Will the paper you tossed down looks like an old speech. Damn you know some of the phrases in here look familiar,’this is of upmost importance, you know the price of failure.’” “Secrecy is key, keeps your senses sharp, oooh I found the one I used to hear all the time! Don’t disappoint me.”

The elite mocked using an older deeper man voice to pull  a chuckle from Karen.

“Oh but you sure did disappoint, but not as badly as Sham and Carl did some days. We really outclassed them so soon after joining, you know they had every right to be mad at us for that.”

The woman chimed in remembering well the day they basically became the right hand men and pushing those two out of their place. Despite being both younger, and not around as long they were quite the trained soldiers. In retro-spect that was not a good thing, but in some weird way Karen still felt pride in that. 

“I’m sorry I think you mean Coral and Shoe which I remember him calling them once because he forgot their names. I fully agree that they had every right to be  mad at us. We were nothing but some dorks that showed up, I came already born with powers, you are just well, you’re yourself.” “You know normally you say that as an insult.” “And this time I mean it as a compliment because compared to those two you came in Black Widow even without training yet. Then next thing you know we’re top dogs, we manage to connect with legendary pokemon, and are given control to command them, we get trusted to guard the main plan in the end, and are openly the favorite. I don’t blame them for hating our guts as kids. To be fair we deserved that hate, and all the other hate we’ve gotten. It’s a good thing like came and kicked us in the nuts when it did because if it hadn’t I’m telling you right now we would of likely ran that branch of Rocket after Pryce up and zipped off!”

The psychic started to rant. It was always fun when he started this. It was like watching a comedy special done by a very well dressed individual, with the accompanying hand gestures and pacing. All it took was a little audience participation and he’d go on a roll. What better place for him to give a speech than here.

“Oh us run the joint, huh? Now this I want to hear.”

Karen encouraged seeing her friend grin as he straightened up. 

“Let me tell you then! Now we both know if we knew the real reason that garbage human being wanted our help, reunite a lapras with it’s family, we would of revolted!” “Revolted?” “I fucking said it! Viva la revolution, and everything because we both knew all the shit we’d gone through wasn’t worth THAT! So if you’d listened to me and backed off of Blue when ya did we would of had not one, not two, but three legendary birds, and Ho-oh and Lugia cause there is no way we’d give them back after finding out his big plan. SO we’d take those birds, we’d rally up some of the other Rocket members in the other districts who’d follow us cause we ACTUALLY would manage to have control over real legendary pokemon and played our cards right till we and our group were strong enough to take down the league.”

He stressed grabbing the edge of the concrete wall to lean in. 

“Cause when you put Karen and Will together we are such goddamn unstoppable forces not even Arceus can stop you and I.”

Karen was grinning watching him give his little motivational speech and clapped her hands shouting encore a few times to boost the dramatics of his little speech. He of course did not take this in a humble stride giving dramatic bows as if they had a large audience to entertain complete with blowing a kiss and pretending to weep. All dramatic exaggerations until one sweep of his hand and misstep seemed to be a bit too grand. Unaware there was more paper scattered on the ground his foot started to slip. HIs latest ‘thank you’ was cut short as he felt his weight go over the edge. Even grabbing it was no good as he started to tip. Karen stopped her applause once she saw this breaking into a run as she raced over to catch him. Although she too took a tumble after not seeing a chair by her feet. 

There was a crash as the chairs collided with each other again now with an added person. The one to land after skidding against the floor was Karen. Will floated above her giving a hiss knowing that had to hurt. 

“....well, now who forgot I could float.”

He muttered feeling her hand grab his ankle and yank him down. With concentration broken he fell the last half a foot. Ok maybe he deserved that.

“You know funnily enough I was about to swing the conservation to talking about how it’s a good thing we ended up where we are. Life has a way of kicking folks like us down a peg.....or in this case pride comes before fall.”

There was a long pause as Karen simply stared at him dead pan before shaking her head starting to laugh. Sure she was still bruised and so was he, but hey they might as well enjoy this laugh even if it was a stupid one. 

[forgxtmxnot]

Study case: iron island

Part 2 of a discord thread with @auraguardians !

Part 1 | Part 3

Description: 20 years prior to Platinum’s events, Rowan still is a lab assistent who comes to Iron island in order to make progress on his research in the local’s species. But he ends up getting a lot more than he anticipated. 

As expected, the next morning would be accompanied by hangover- a headaches that felt like his head had been smashed into the wall repeatedly. Luckily- or somehow, Rowan was capable to wake up early in order to try and do some progress on his research- at least s much as he could without leaving the house.

The storm was as strong as ever- no way he is leaving the warmth and safety of the home. By the time Richard shows up- Rowan could be found next to his pokemon focused on whatever he is writing on the journal, as well as examining the pictures he got out of the camera.

The next morning, Richard (also suffering a mild hangover) wasn't sure what he should do - but, ultimately, rather than avoid the researcher, he figured he should just go talk to him and pretend like nothing happened. At all.

Richard would, however, grab the hangover medicine before going to meet with Rowan.

"Thought this might help you," he said - a little sheepish. "I... really shouldn't have cracked out the second bottle. I forgot not everyone has my tolerance... I'm sorry."

Rowan looked away from the journal, and found himself face to face with Rick. He remembered everything, and very clearly as well- much to his dismay. He nodded at the other's words, while reaching out for the medicine to himself.

The lab assistent still had the same stern stare at Rick. It may be impossible to tell- just by its looks what really was running in his mind.

"Thank you, I should have been more careful about it."

He says, before resuming his writing. Without looking back at the other man, he adds- in the same calm demeanor.

"...I remember it all clearly, everything you said...I couldn't reply, because...Well you saw how I was..."

Finally he looked at Rick's face.

"You're fine...No need to feel any embarrassment about it around me mr.Richard..."

You really aren't the only one.

I remember it all clearly. Richard paled a bit at that, then blushed quite vividly when Rowan glanced up at his face. Just what was the man saying...?

"I'm not - I mean. As I said, I'm quite content. I'm... simply sorry if I made you uncomfortable in any way. It's not as though I wish to jump every man on the planet."

Only the handsome ones with nice eyes.

"What I mean is... I did not intend to make things awkward between us. I enjoy your company, Rowan. I hope you can still enjoy mine."

"You're flustered up Richard."

Rowan adds- still staring deeply into the other's eyes.

"Maybe I wasn't ler enough, was I?...You're fine, there is nothing to be concerned of... Nothing is leaving my lips, you can trust on me."

He reassures Rick, before returning his gaze at his work- yet he can still feel the other's eyes on him. And there still was that cursed sensation- burning in the back of his mind, - as well as the image of how close they had got to each other.

No, focus on your work...Yes just work- nothing else.

"Huh there are many...Many other entrances to the caves in the north coast of the island, you mentioned this entire land is connected by the underground tunnels, right? Of course this might sound redundant to you, but something tells me- this might be the perfect place for your Luci's supposed mate to build their nest."

He commented, circling the area on one of the top views pictures of the island, then handed it to Richard.

Perhaps he had not been imagining things the previous night - the look in Rowan's eyes certainly still sparked something inside Rick, and... the researcher was not upset with him.

What a relief.

But as the subject was quickly changed, Rick was just as quick to take in the new information. "Ah - yes, of course... that would be the most sheltered part of the tunnels, but still easy enough to get to... I've been there myself, once. The floor, too - it would prevent the puppies from wandering off... Yes, this must be it."

The winds howling made Rick look up from the map, an idea dawning on him. "The storm... Rowan, if you are right, this is where he would be, right now. Perfecting the nest, where he's safe from the winds."

He's quiet for a moment, letting the idea take form.

"It's not far... if we bundled up... we could - we could go see for ourselves. But I am sure - Rowan, this is brilliant."

"Of course it is mr.Richard. Let's not waste anymore time, I suggest you to bring all of your Pokemon. We don't know what we may be running into."

The lab assistant replied in a brighter tone, as he stood up straight- gathering the attention of his Pokemon.

"...After I take this medicine of course."

-----------------------------------------

"This must be the tunnel leading towards it..."

Rowan remarked, as he pointed his flashlight towards the extremely dark pathway- it barely was of any help. As such he pulled out his Ampharos' pokeball, releasing the electric type.

"Clearly we will need some help on this one here. Ampharos, use flash!"

Just like that, his bright red beads started to intensely shine- he almost resembled a lighthouse.

"Phiii!"

"Are you alright there mr. Richard?"

By the time they were only halfway up the mountain, Richard was already regretting this choice. The winds were fierce, and cold, but... in the name of research he would persevere.

When Ampharos lit up like a beacon, Rick glanced up - and, well, it would be easier to admire how beautiful and brilliant Rowan looked with that lighting if he wasn't freezing his ass off and trying not to slip.

"Ah - fine, yes. It's just - so fucking slick out here - watch your step."

He, of course, probably jinxed it. One more step himself and he was yelling and tumbling right into Rowan, which in turn had them both tumbling back into the tunnels.

...At least it wasn't one that dropped.

"Ah - shit, sorry. Are you ok?"

"Phiiii!!"

The Ampharos cried out startled by their sudden fall, while waddling up to them. Rowan who was on the floor, would try to bring himself to sit up- by gently push Rick off him. Maybe bringing someone who wasn't as experienced to this type of venture, was indeed a bad idea. Then again, he was the one who opened his mouth about it to begin with, didn't he?

"Hmph- I'm fine."

That was a close one.

"From here on now...Things will only get even more slippier. Torterra's rock climb won't be of any help for us."

The lab assitant added as he stood up- and offered a hand for the other to take.

"It's evident this area has had next to no human intereference..."

His Ampharos looked incredibly anxious- did he catch wind of the presence of something? Or was that the near freezing temperature?

How embarrassing. Rick groaned as he let Rowan help him stand, his cheeks now flushed from more than just the cold temperatures.

"I am... usually more graceful than this... damn weather."

He sighed, then went quiet as the Ampharos shifted anxiously. That's right, they might be in the prescience of the wild Lucario now. Hopefully he wasn't territorial.

Rick barely had time to think that before he heard the distinct sound of growling deeper in the caves, and a faint blue glow around the corner.

"Oh, shit," Rick said, voice low, even as he unconsciously moved to stand in front of Rowan. "Is it...? He...?"

It wasn't just one.

Rowan could tell- it had to be a Lucario, but they most certainly weren't on their own. In anticipation, he retreated his Ampharos- bringing back the cavern's darkness in hopes that could hide them from the pack.

Which he knows it will not do much- after all they have smelled their scent.

"Get ready, I can't tell whether they will be friendly or not- chances are they won't"

He added, drawing another pokeball from his pocket- his Infernape's one to be more precise.

Cursing under his breath, Richard stayed between Rowan and the rest of the cave. "I know you deal with wild pokemon all the time, Rowan, but... these are my family's islands. I will deal with this."

The growling was only getting louder, though, and as one very fluffy wild Lucario dashed around the corner, eyes fixed on Richard, he felt a surge of panic.

Fuck, I'm going to die.

"SPARKLES! HELP!"

A sudden crackle of electricity surged through the air, making sparks light up the ends of Rick's hair briefly - and, of course, the same was true of the Pokemon's fur.

"LUUUUX!!"

"Alright, my friend!" He turned to face Rowan with a confident grin. "We'll be fine! Send out any of yours, but... try not to injure them too badly!"

For almost a brief moment there- Rowan had forgotten about the Lucarios, almost.

He can tell Rick is showing himself his skills off to him, he would have told him to focus on the wild creatures- but he can't deny how amusing that looked in his eyes. Although technically speaking Infernape and Torterra clearly would have a clear advantage over the Lucarios, however since he had learned both metal claw and brine  awhile ago- it meant the pokemon was close to reaching its final evolution.

As such- Infernape's pokeball is tucked away- and he calls out his Prinplup.

"We will only fight what is necessary, now stand ready!"

"Luuup!"

The penguin shouted, as he stood in a fighting stance- by aimming its sharp wings at the wild Lucarios.

As they backed up, with their duo out in front of them, Richard counted a total of three Lucario. Amazing. Had Luci attracted them all here? Or was only one of them vying for her affection?

In any case, it wouldn't matter at all if the trainers didn't make it back to the house.

"Sparkles, dazzle them! Thunder Wave, quick!" That made short work of a couple of the Pokemon, slowing them down a bit, but the first one that had appeared shook it off and glared at the Luxray.

"CAAARIO!!"

"Oh shit, this might be our wild boy, Rowan! Sparkles is like a brother to Luci, oh - the drama!"

Was he reading too much into it? Maybe. Maybe not. Sparkles definitely was glaring right back and growling, sparks flying out from the ends of his mane.

"Now now, dear - don't hurt our darling's beau... Just rough him up a bit."

While Rick seemed to be lost in his own vision of the situation, all that Rowan was seeing- was a real threat to both trainer and pokemon.

If this truly is the same Lucario, responsible for those scars left on the Steelix's body- then the Luxray won't stand a chance against it.

He noted to himself, as his  Prinplup quickly ran towards the only standing Lucario.

"Prinplup, trap him in a Whirlpool so he won't escape!"

The pokemon immediately started charging its move, before unleashing the whirpool at the wild. That may have been a bad move- probably Rowan overlooked something there.

The whirlpool did trap the Lucario, but Rick had to shout in surprise at how much water was suddenly... sloshing about the cave entrance.

"Rowan! Careful, it's..." Very slick.

Sparkles gave a concerned yelp and skid along the floor, whining slightly as he tried not to get his feet wet. Meanwhile, the Lucario was writhing and howling in disdain.

What a lot of noise. Richard put a hand to his ears, grimacing. "Ngh, bad idea..."

Bad idea indeed- Rowan looked down, and immediately could tell- he underestimated the amount of water that attack would unleash. And now something seemed to be wrong with Rick, things weren't looking good- he can't get caught up by the heat of the moment.

His Prinplup however didn't seem to mind it at all- this was basically the ideal setting for his kind.

"Prinplup! Go for Drill peck!"

The pokemon proceeded to flop on the floor, before hurling itself towards his target.

Meanwhile the lab assistent carefully made his way towards the other man, daring to place a hand over his shoulder.

"Are you okay mr.Richard?"

Sparkles continued to work in tandem with Prinplup, all while  Richard gave a little sigh and nodded at Rowan. "Fine - just... gah. That was a bit loud - for my head."

It would get worse again as Prinplup's attack landed, the Lucario keening loudly and even setting the others off. And then one joined in from behind them. "Luuuu!!"

Richard didn't have to turn around to know - but he did glance anyway, in time to see Luci dart past Sparkles and Prinplup toward the other Lucario.

"CAAARIO!!"

As soon as Luci stood in front of the other- Rowan's Prinplup stopped right there, his fighting stance had been replaced by a confused demeanor as the pokemon found himself at a loss hoping to hear any order from his trainer.

"Priiin...!"

Clearly he found himself in a disadvantage there- this fifth was unlike all the others, was he supposed to attack Rick's partner?

Rowan looked away from Rick, in order to take a look at the whole scene- this is the one they were looking for. He could tell that by the way Luci stood.

"This is it! Richard! Look at them!"

He pointed out.

"I am looking..." Richard said - soon giving a little sigh as he watched Luci and Sparkles share a look before she went back to protecting the other Lucario. Sparkles slunk back over to Rick, and he reached out to pat his head.

"We should go, Rowan. She's found... what she wanted."

He brought out his pokeball to return Sparkles to it, before turning to leave the cave - only to find a patch of slick ice and cry out as he slid without warning, toward one of the dangerous cliffs.

"Aah! Fuck!"

Rowan nodded in agreement- before Rick slipped up. Thankfully he was capable to react to it on time, he managed to get ahold of the other's hand- however he too slipped up and fell down, there was nothing he could hold onto.

Rowan's Prinplup yelped, as he quickly held onto his trainer's arm- if only he had something that he could hold them with. Just when he was about to lose the grip of- his body started to shine intensely.

In a matter of seconds, Prinplup had evolved into an Empoleon.

Now he had talons in his wings, that he could count with. However- the slippery floor was even proving itself to be a challenge for the newly evolved Pokemon, as he was giving signs of almost being dragged by the weight of both humans.

"Pooo....Leon...!"

What a ridiculous situation this was proving to be. Rick held tight to Rowan's hand, but he could tell they were still sliding - and as he felt his own feet getting battered by the winds from outside again, he gave a little frightened shudder.

Is this how it ends? How silly...

But then Luci dashed back over to them and braced Rowan's form even as she threw an arm around Richard, and all he could do was hold tight to both of them.

"Aah, you - !"

She glanced at the cave with a whine... and far more to Rick's surprise, the wild boy also was cautiously approaching, and threw up a little aura barrier that would help stop the wind's forces from throwing everyone more off balance.

But that seemed to be the extent of the help he would offer, as he was still keeping a distance from the humans. Luci, though, would give Rick another little tug in the direction of the path - except he stopped to kneel so he could hug her tight instead. "Non... dear, you... you should stay."

It all happened in a matter of seconds- they were at the verge of imminent threat, only to be saved by Richard's Lucario all while being assisted by the wild one. Rowan chooses to remain in silence- he shouldn't interefere in this moment, his attention and gaze was full on the other man and his Lucario.

It is a prime example of a trainer's bond with their pokemon. As sad as it were, he knew this is just the birth of a new start for both of them.

And so- he and his Empoleon simply stand there as they witness the whole thing.

It would be a few minutes before Rick managed to shoo Luci away - and even then, she still lingered closer to the edge of the cave as Richard made his way over to Rowan and Empoleon.

"Let's go."

The trip back was, unfortunately, just as miserable as the trip out in terms of weather - the storm was still in full force and really this had been a terrible idea.

Rick's hat had gotten lost at some point, and as such he had to keep trying to contain his hair - though really, that was just another excuse to hide the fact that he was wiping off his face every so often.

"Stupid... freezing... rain..."

Their way back was extremely different from when they set out, in times like this Rowan usually seemed to always have something to say- however it didn't seem to be the case for this situation.

He didn't want to make things anyway harsher than they already were being for Richard. Thankfully- there wasn't any mishaps on their way down, as they made it back to his place before the night's arrival.

The lab assistant would dust the fine layer of ice that had formed on his clothes- before removing the outercoat. His gaze fixated on Richard, once they were in as he seemed to have finally mustered up to find words to try and comfort the other.

"...It wasn't easy...You handled it all exceptionally well mr.Richard..."

He doesn't try to feign happiness in his voice, it wouldn't be helpful in a time like this.

"Very few would be able to even attempt to go through this...To begin with...It is a new start..."

"Yes, well... I just..." Richard found himself at a loss for words, suddenly. He went silent, choking back a sob, and simply hung his coat to dry before disappearing into the bathroom for a bit.

When he came back out, his face was still red - but he'd dried off and had clearly brushed his hair. But as he sat down, he was only staring at the brush still in his hand.

"She is my spoiled princess, Rowan... I know she will be fine, but... she doesn't even have a brush out there..."

He turned away, giving a long sigh. "I need a drink."

Everyone has their own ways to deal with loss- and Rowan won't deny Rick's request for something to drown his sorrows with.

"...Of course, should I get us the same thing as last night?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This time he will make sure NOT to exaggerate on his consumption- that is exactly what he had told himself when he poured their glasses with the liquor. However, as things started to roll- the way they did...Rowan had once again found himself in an intoxicated state, with those problematic thoughts rising up once more in his mind.

He was once again staring at this man’s lips, his face cheeks were burning- and he didn’t like where his mind was taking him to.

A desire- a lust, that had overshadowed any kind of reminder about his family at the mainland.

Lord help him- this man standing in front of him truly looked handsome in  his eyes.

There was certainly less tension in the air on Richard's part this time - he kept the topic away from his Lucario as a rule, but did talk at length about other topics such as art and contests - including how he'd had to keep them secret for so long, until very recently.

"Of course, I still use the stage name... since it is what I am known as, and... well. After so many years keeping something like this secret, it becomes a habit - you know?"

It would not take a scientist to know he didn't only mean the contests. Rick gave a little sigh, tucking one of his wavy hairlocks back behind his ear, and then took another sip of his drink.

"It's not like my... hobbies have any bearing on my business sense. I'm better with people than my father ever was. Tch."

A quick glance to Rowan, though, made his heart start to race again. Such an intense gaze.

It was taking his best efforts to avoid thinking about just how strong Rowan's hold had felt earlier that day, and how his breath had felt against his neck the previous night...

Richard closed his eyes and gave a little sigh. This was bad. Rowan was a married man. But here Rick was, wanting him anyway. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

It was a stupid- a God awful idea, one that will definitely give a reason for karma to catch him later.

Yet- Rowan couldn't grasp the idea of consequences, his wife and daughter had long been forgotten about him. As he keeps intently staring at Rick- he has never looked at anyone like this. No lady has ever instigated such desire, or need like he is doing to him.

He had given up saying much- or using any words, due to his drunk state. Instead- he wouldn't restrain his body. His eyes closed for a moment, as he dared to lean forward slightly- taking a whiff out of Richard's hair.

There was- that wonderful scent. All while making sure, to breath onto the other's skin- things could either go awfully bad or excellent for both of them. Hopefully, he didn't interpret Richard's signs wrongly.

He was getting far too close for comfort again. As Rowan took deep breaths of his hair, though... this time, Rick allowed it. He wants me, at least when he is drunk. Or am I mistaken...?

Only one way to find out for sure -

Rick groaned and tilted his head to allow Rowan better access to him, all while also pulling him closer - so their bodies were flush against one another.

"Rowan... are you trying to...?"

This was the closest he has ever been to another man- My God it felt so natural to him.

His atttraction- desire was driving him to try things, in the same way he would have had with his past partners. Rowan is incredibly slow with his movements- he moved away from the other's hair, in order to brush his beard against the neck just to soon press his lips against Richard's skin.

He finds himself unable to respond to the other's question- but hopefully, his actions will do the talking for him. And also make the other- feel better.

A quiet moan left Richard's lips as he felt Rowan's beard against his neck, so quickly followed by his lips. He knew he should shove the other man off, pull away... but the weight of him felt so nice, and...

Rowan was the one that started this.

Rick brought a hand up to stroke Rowan's hair gently, encouraging him for a few moments before he'd give a little tug to pull him off just enough for Rick to turn his head and kiss him.

There should certainly be no more confusion there.

A thrill never experienced before- rushed through his body, thanks to that deep- heated kiss.

In response to it- Rowan would press his weight even more onto Rick, even if it were somewhat dangerous- they could fall off their chairs after all. But at the same time- he felt the need to get even closer to the other, this was so different from touching any other lady.

Eventually he broke away the kiss, in order to recover his breath- but still maintaining that closeness between their bodies as he stared deeply into Richard's eyes.

On one hand he should apologize- but at the same time, he didn't want to- he needed more of the other man.

Despite that- Rowan found himself at a loss, he wasn't sure how to proceed with things.

Oh, that was nice. The chair's little noises of protest were the only thing stopping Rick from asking Rowan for more of that, but once the kiss was broken, he could tell he was going to have to take the lead for a bit - at least. "Ah... Rowan..." Rick sighed.

"If this is what you want... I would love to continue this, Rowan, but... it would be easier... in a bed."