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shatteredvioletnuzlocke · 5 months ago

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Chapter 13: Rekindling (Tamarind)

The cool morning transitioned into a warmer afternoon. Following a painstaking battle, Patch, Tamarind, and the rest of the team were rewarded with a free meal at the gym leader’s restaurant. With Sage and his team tagging along everyone feasted upon desserts and confectionaries under umbrella shade.

Although Tamarind was offered a sugary olive treat, he offered it to Kombucha. The fire croc didn’t take to nauseous sweet flavors that would make his stomach churn. He preferred the meaty fillet of a fish or a berry’s zesty pulp.

Tamarind was still getting used to his newly evolved body. He never expected to become a Crocalor so soon, it had barely been even a week since he was chosen by Patch.

Suddenly all eyes were on him and his recent victory.

“What was it like?” Dahlia licked her lips after lapping some milk, “Fighting a bug type?”

“It wasn’t so bad,�� Tamarind answered as best as he could, “I didn’t think they could be so limber. I don’t think I could fight a bug like that ever again!”

The Sprigatito giggled, “At least you had a type advantage. It’s going to be harder for me!”

“I wouldn’t say so, you’re really-”

“Is it true you became all sparkly?” Arturo curiously interrupted.

“Well yes,” he responded, “I’ve never done that before.”

There where so many new experiences to keep track of and so little time to process all of them.

“It’s called Terastallizing,” Kombucha snorted, clearing the crumbs off his face, “How come you’ve never heard of it before!?” he asked the Shroodle, “Haven’t you ever seen a crystal den?”

Crystal den? Tamarind thought. Must be a wild thing.

“See,” Kombucha began a ramble, “There’s some kind of energy beneath the land that’s so powerful it turns your body into diamond and changes your typing.”

“So if I get the energy I could breathe fire too?” Arturo wondered in awe.

“That’s the hard part,” the Lechonk explained, “You can only get that energy if you live in a crystal den out in the wild. They are highly sought after, and other Pokemon would kill each other just to get that power. My own Pa’ nearly got one if it wasn’t for a damn Mankey!”

Kombucha seemed rather angered by his story. There must’ve been alot of competitive hardships in the wild, more so compared to when you have a trainer that keeps you fed.

“The humans must’ve figured out a way to channel the energy if it only happens in the wild,” Tamarind added, “I didn’t need a den to terastallize.”

Kombucha grunted, “Guess that’s the upside of being a human pet…”

“I think Zia lived in one of those dens in her family before we met her! Maybe she could tell us more about it?” Dahlia suggested.

“She’s over there with the Mareep and the weird dragon,” Scorch pointed with his wing, “I’d go overthere myself, but I don’t wanna get shocked!”

Tamarind glanced over at the three sitting on the farend off the board walk. Flumpfy was keeping himself rather isolated from everyone else since that argument with Arturo.

He remembered the Mareep’s defensive disposition clearly, “But I didn’t do it on purpose! I’m telling you was an accident!”

Poor Flumpfy he must’ve really been telling the truth… and I didn’t believe him then.

“Don’t worry,” Tamarind volunteered, “I’ll get her.”

He got up on his new feet, awkwardly trying to walk and keep his tail from swatting anyone else in the face. All the while the three electric types where speaking to each other in static.

“She really doesn’t know static?” Zia mewed, “Where did she even come from?”

“She lived with another human, as far as I’ve been told,” Flumpfy said, “She’ll tell me more about it in her own-!”

“Excuse me,” Tamarind cut in politely, “Zia, the others want to hear about crystal dens.”

“Pfft, okay,” Zia purred, “You coming, Flumpfy?”

“Arrg?” Kapheria growled.

He shut back into an aloof shell, “No thanks, I’m fine with Kapheria right here.”

“You go ahead,” Tamarind offered, “We’ll catch up.”

Flumpfy shrunk back into his black fleece, his face stuck in a pout. Still sour from the night before.

“Congratulations on evolving..” he baaed with low energy.

“Thanks… so you doing okay?” Tamarind asked.

The Mareep sat away from him and didn’t respond.

“It’s just… when we spoke last you were mad…” the Crocalor went on.

The sheep glanced back at him with furious golden eyes, “Don’t tell me I’m wrong for attacking Arturo because I didn’t! It was an accident!”

“And I believe you now!” Tamarind reasoned, “You just seem to take it rather personally.”

“Well isn’t obvious?” Flumpfy furrowed his brow.

What was obvious? Did he have a strong grudge against children? Or was he missing something else?

“I have so much electricity stored in my wool it turned unnaturally black!” The mareep’s wool crackled with frustration, “Since I was born I had to discharge more than a Mareep should to keep myself from shocking somebody! My entire flock thought I couldn’t control my own powers! They thought there was something wrong with me!”

Tamarind felt a cloud pass over the sun as the wooden floor turned cold. He never releazed Mareeps had to look a certain way. No wonder Flumpfy had described his flock as “unwelcoming”.

“I think you misunderstood,” Tamarind spoke softly, “We don’t think that there’s anything wrong with you. Just look at Kapheria, she doesn’t seem so bothered.”

“Of course she isn’t bothered she’s an electric type too,” Flumpfy mumbled into the ruff of his fleece.

How? How was Tamarind possibly going to convince this gloomy sheep that he wasn’t in his miserable flock anymore? That he didn’t need to put up such a gruff front?

He only feels comfortable around other electric types, he analyzed. I know!

While Flumpfy still had his back turned, the Crocalor took the opportunity to lightly press his hand into his wool. It was a pleasantly downy wool that was so thick his hand began to sink into the fleece. Then he felt the tiny snaps of static tickle his claws.

“HEY!” Flumpfy jolted, his surprise amplified the static.

“Hehehe,” Tamarind giggled.

“What’s wrong with you?!” Flumpfy demanded, “What part of I have HIGH VOLTAGE WOOL did you not get?”

Tamarind took a moment to realize that his laughter could be taken as scrutiny toward the sensitive mareep.

Once he collected himself he presented his scaly hand, “I’m fine. There are no scars, see?”

“What?” The Mareep raised his head.

“You’re electricity can’t hurt me, you have nothing to worry about” Tamarind replied, “Electricity’s hot, just like fire. You don’t have to worry about shocking me. I can take it.”

A little wary Flumpfy sniffed his claw, then turned to look at his eyes. “But you have fire burning on your head, aren’t you worried about burning someone too?”

“Oh I’m not worried,” the Crocalor shook his head, “My mom had fire leaking out of her too, she would only burn things unless she wanted too.”

Tamarind noticed Flumpfy seemed to retreat upon hearing the word “mom”. Oh no, Flumpfy. You have been alone.

He leveraged the subject, “Besides I kind of need my fire if I want to keep my egg warm.”

Flumpfy’s eyes widened, “Your egg?!”

The Fire Croc took a moment to realize how awkward it sounded, “Oh not like that!” He reassured, “I’m not hatching another Fuecoco, it’s going to be my soul ward.”

“Soul ward?” The sheep repeated with curiosity.

His mom was right about their species barely being in the wild.

“Well it goes like this,” he explained, “As my species evolves we become half ghost types. And the fire burning out of us attaches to our souls and a sliver of it takes on a mind of its own.”

“Your ward?” Flumpfy clarified.

Tamarind nodded, “They act as a helper. They clean your teeth, fend off enemies, look after your young. I knew one named Flower.”

“That’s so interesting,” Flumpfy’s eyes grew, “Will it hatch soon?”

The Crocalor shook his head, it would take even longer for him to become a Skeledirge. He had plenty of time to think of a name to call them and enjoy being a Crocalor.

“What will it be like when you evolve?” Tamarind asked.

“I’ll be a little less wooly,” The Mareep smiled, “The sooner I lose this fleece the better!”

“Oh I Iike your wool,” Tamarind complimented, “it must keep you nice and warm.”

“One of the reasons why I hate it.”

“Well I think it’s pretty,” He said wanting nothing more than the sheep to stop self loathing.

Flumpfy’s golden eyes beamed like suns, he had a purplish blush on his blue face that only grew. That might’ve been the first compliment he ever received for his wool.

Laughter seemed to roar from the other pokemon on the other side.

“Why don’t we join the others?” Tamarind stood up, “You can sit beside me!”

“Okay…” he trotted beside the Crocalor.

Kapheria followed the too. He admires that Flumpfy and Kapheria where joined together at the hip, in a way they were like brother and sister.

“Hey Tamarind…” Kombucha said, “When I said there was an upside to being a human pet… I wasn’t taking a jab at you,” he apologized, “Being a pet has been an…adjustment…”

“I can understand that,” he warbled, “I’d feel the same way if I was living in the wild.”

“You wouldn’t last a day, Softy!” Kombucha laughed.

Everything felt right, a team had kindled a bright flame to lead them on their journey.

<- Chapter 12

#pokemon #nuzlocke #pokemon violet #pokemon fanfiction #paldea #fanfic #miradon #lechonk #shroodle #crocalor #mareep #sprigatito #shinx #fletchling #patch #tamarind #flumpfy #kapheria

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ladala99 · 2 years ago

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Pokemon Scarlet - Days 19-38

(This contains blatant details of the end of the game)

Day 19

Pearl appeared in my dream again last night. No Yellow - she said Yellow was busy. I’m not going to transcribe today because honestly, the whole conversation confused me and I don’t want to think about it more than I have to.

Gist of it is - she was surprised about what my Pokemon had to say, that the people and Pokémon in my world were real but clones or something, and that Mint seemed to be connected to Blaziken. Because apparently, Blaziken hadn’t actually been connecting with the newer arrivals like me like that.

And then she tried to speak with Blaziken and it didn’t work but Pearl’s Darkrai (??? How does she have that?) found a memory of Ruby and Blaziken arguing about Blaziken going somewhere and risking something and overall I’m just completely and utterly confused.

Oh, and the fact that I got a Charmander, which isn’t in Paldea’s Pokedex, came up at some point. Pearl found that very interesting.

And that’s that. What am I being dragged into?

———

I decided to still take a break day today and explored the outer island ring around the lake more thoroughly. I found a couple of stakes there and another of those glowing lids. This one only had one chain connected to it - I bet those stakes I’ve been pulling out have something to do with those chains.

The other day, I learned about the four treasures that brought ruin to the ancient kingdom. They were Pokemon, and they were subsequently sealed away. I’d bet that’s exactly what those stakes and lids are. I’ve found two - there are two more out there somewhere. I’ll have to search for those.

I’m a little nervous to unleash them, but I feel somehow like I’m supposed to. Like they’ll help solve at least one of the various mysteries I’ve gotten caught up in.

I also climbed around a lot and realized that I got to the top of the Great Crater. Whoops. I’m not allowed there! I went back down the way I’d come. I feel like I’d have more to answer to going in there than unleashing the ruinous Pokemon. Which is probably a silly idea but you know, no one told me not to pull out mysterious stakes in the ground.

Day 20-21 Whoops, forgot to write again!

Yesterday, I took on the Ice-type Gym. The Gym Test involved sliding down a slick snowy slope slaloming slipperily. The actual task was easier than writing that alliteration. And the Gym fight was trivial as well, given my levels and the fact that I have three solid team members that are particularly good against Ice-types.

Afterwards, the Art teacher showed up and reminded me to take classes. I checked the school and there were no additional classes to take. So I don’t know what his deal was.

I did notice Nemona’s absence. No rematch this time, I suppose.

Today I set out to fight the Fairy-type Team Star Base. This leader was a bit of a spoiled rich kid, and I found some interesting things out.

I’d heard before from a random trainer that there had recently been a full staff turnover for unknown reasons. I’d also found a book that had the names of past students, but many of the pages had been ripped out.

Turns out that when Team Star chased off the original bullies, all the bullies stopped going to school. In embarrassment, the teachers mass-resigned or something, including the old Director. That old Director still tutors the Fairy-type Team Star leader.

Also, rather than punishing Team Star, one person took the fall, and their “punishment” was studying abroad. Not much of a punishment, but it was supposed to be a learning experience. Was that person the big boss? Cassiopeia? Both?

Cassiopeia again referred to Team Star like they were part of it. They always act really sad when I defeat a leader. Just overall strange.

Day 22-23 And another day skipped. Whoops! I guess less and less is new as I go along, anyway.

Since yesterday I just did some exploring, particularly around the area with the Fairy Team Star base. I also poked around some other areas looking for more lids and stakes, and while I found a couple of stakes, I did not find any additional lids.

Today was a much busier day. I started the day by heading to the Electric Gym’s town. It’s a neat place, with skyscrapers galore and big advertisements. I headed into the Gym and Nemona was there. She challenged me to a battle, which while I was still way above her team’s levels, she was way above the Gym’s levels, so she put up marginally more of a fight.

The Gym Test was pretty fun. The Gym Leader, Iona, is a streamer, and I got to be the special guest on her stream. My task was to find Director Clavell in various scenes, as well as to defeat some trainers that my Garchomp barely had to look at for the battle to be over. Iona herself also fell once the test was over.

Afterwards, I met yet another member of the Elite Four, a small child. She must be a prodigy for sure to be in the Elite Four at her age!

The rest of my classes opened up as well, so I took those and the final exams. The History teacher finally told me what she was being so mysterious about: the ruinous Pokemon are in the region, behind the lids. Which I assumed. She wants me to unleash them, and she gave me the locations of all the lids. That part was helpful. She offered little assistance in finding the stakes, though, and when I checked the two lids I hadn’t already found, neither was close to opening.

As for the other teachers, the Language teacher gave me a Meowth from a different region, and I got a couple of actual tasks from a couple of the other teachers: the Biology teacher wants me to complete the Pokedex now, and the Home Ec teacher wants me to find Sweet Herba Mystica.

The Art teacher decided to keep teaching despite his family wanting him to take over the clan, and the Math teacher opened up about how she’s sad she’s no longer a Gym Leader, but being a teacher is more fulfilling.

After all that, I went to explore some more!

Just three badges left, all the final tasks of each path. If I have the opportunity tomorrow, the Fire-type Team Star base will be first.

Day 24-38

Ah, after a rapid-fire week, I stopped writing. I have some I wrote around that time, so I’ll leave it, but after day 24, the timeline gets iffy.

On day 24, I headed to the final Team Star base. Really not much to say about what I had to do to take it down - it was the same as always, and incredibly easy with how high-level my Pokemon were. She was the hot-headed all-arounder for the team.

What was more exciting was what happened afterwards. Cassiopeia, unsurprisingly, admitted to being the big boss. They told me to meet them after dark in the schoolyard.

Clyde, who admitted to being the Director (which I knew but let him have his moment), challenged me at the school’s gates. He claimed that he was Cassiopeia, but once I defeated him, he admitted he only said that to protect me, as he intended to fight Cassiopeia himself if it turned out I couldn’t defeat him.

So to the school courtyard we went, and it turned out that Cassiopeia was Penny all along! I didn’t mention Penny in my notes previous as far as the Operation Starfall thing went, since she really didn’t seem all that relevant. She just gave me my reward afterwards and maybe was embarrassed by Koraidon. But yeah, she was the big boss, and had a team of Eeveelutions that wasn’t that difficult to beat.

But that wasn’t the end of things. Clavell said that Team Star was cleared of guilt and wouldn’t be expelled, and he in fact liked their way of training and wanted to make those bases official training centers. Team Star wasn’t disbanded after all, and the other leaders who had come to say something heartfelt to Penny, got to resume their positions. Really, it was a good thing Clavell was there with me, since he actually had the power to make things right. If it were just me, Team Star would be gone and that would be that.

Day 25 or 26, I joined Arven for the final Titan in that rocky area right next to the school. It went down trivially and we got the final Herba Mythica, which I don’t remember the flavor (Salty?), but it make Koraidon gain the ability to go really fast. After the rest gradually increased Koraidon’s ability to maneuver, I was kind of expecting free-flight, but maybe it did correspond to the flavor of the Herba Mythica it ate rather than the number of Herba Mythica it had eaten.

But regardless of its effect on Koraidon, it had the desired effect on Arven’s Mabosstiff - it was completely cured! I. . . didn’t really believe it at first, but Arven had faith, which I saw in a bit. Professor Sada called and finally spoke to Arven, her son, and asked him to get into the lab in the lighthouse where Arven and I first met. Arven wasn’t too pleased with her suddenly asking something of him when she’d given him the cold shoulder for too long, but we went over and got that book anyway.

Arven told me about his rocky relationship with his mom as we entered the lab. She never left Area Zero, leaving him alone with Mabosstiff and Koraidon. She didn’t even seem to care about him, and he had a lot of resentment about that. But she contacted me again once we got the book and asked that I gather a skilled team and take it to the center of Area Zero. Arven and Penny were great candidates, and Nemona as well, but Arven and I both knew Nemona wasn’t going to come along until I defeated the Elite Four and achieved Champion Rank.

So Day 27, Wednesday, I finished the final Gym in Artazon. The Gym Leader was an artist whom I had seen as a guest in one of the Art lessons. He used Grass-types, and as an early-area Gym Leader, was no match for me. The Gym Test was fun - going around the city and finding 10 Sunflora to follow me around and reach a certain area. I had a blast with an army of Sunflora following me everywhere I went!

The Gym defeated, the Elite Four opened up for me. Unlike the Gyms, the Elite Four was open whenever anyone reached 8 badges, so I headed over there the next day: Day 28. I had to take a test to get in, asking me to remember things such as my starter and what the toughest Gym I fought was and who was the leader (it was Medali with Larry as the leader). I passed first try, and Rika said that I was the first to do so since Nemona. Honestly, Nemona and I have a lot in common, I believe. I can’t recall the exact details of the Elite Four, other than being surprised to see Larry there, since the rest were only Elite Four members. It wasn’t too easy of a challenge, but it wasn’t very difficult, either. Larry really was the most difficult hurdle in my entire journey. I even beat Geeta with ease and achieved Champion Rank.

Nemona wanted to battle afterwards, as a full-on battle in the middle of the school city. I accepted, we fought, and I won. She was so battle-obsessed she wanted to fight again right away, but that didn’t happen. We had something important to do after all.

Day 28. Area Zero. Nemona and I met up with Penny and Arven at the entrance, but the only way in was for us all to ride Koraidon into the crater. We were lucky to get in there unscathed, but Koraidon went into its ball and would not go out once we had landed. We were on our own.

That place is freaky. It’s bright as day despite the fog covering the sky, and strong Pokemon are roaming everywhere. Penny, Arven, Nemona and I talked a lot about ourselves as we went deeper. Our task was to go to each way station and deactivate the lock that it connected to in the deepest part. There were journals in each station, cataloguing research, and each station Professor Sada congratulated us for getting down that far.

We also saw, on the way, a couple of very strange Pokemon - first a Jigglypuff with a tail coming from its head, called Scream Tail, and then another Donphan-like Great Tusk, which Arven and I had fought as a Titan.

At the final way station, it was clear something horrible had happened. Crystals were growing everywhere, glass was broken, and after disengaging the lock, Professor Sada seemed to be. . . bugging? I wondered at that point if Professor Sada’s messages weren’t prerecorded, and if she, in fact, hadn’t been sent to the past or something. But as we got to the deepest part, we saw the truth.

Another Koraidon was down there - something Professor Sada had mentioned. This one was mean and territorial - it was what had scared my Koraidon so badly. It entered the lab, though, while a bunch of those strange Pokemon came out. We all fought some, and the others held them off so that I could enter the lab after the second Koraidon.

I was ready to fight it, but as I got there, Professor Sada. . . verbally exited Sleep Mode and returned Koraidon to a MASTER BALL. She admitted that she wasn’t the real Professor Sada - the real one had died protecting my Koraidon from the second one. She was an AI built to look and act like Professor Sada, she knew exactly what the Professor’s will was, but she was powered by the energy in Area Zero and couldn’t leave it. That was why she was never there for Arven. Also the fact that she wasn’t the real Professor Sada.

The real Professor Sada had created a time machine to the distant past. If someone were to go through, it’d be one-way, but pokeballs could go through and catch Pokemon on the other side and return just fine. The time machine was automatically doing so continuously, sending out all sorts of ancient Pokemon. The AI professor wanted it shut down, because while she had thus far been successful in keeping the ancient Pokemon in Area Zero, if they ever got out they’d wreak havoc on the ecosystem. She said the real professor wouldn’t care, but she believed it was best for everyone if it got shut down and she couldn’t do it herself.

In order to shut it down, I needed to place the Scarlet book on a pedestal. Upon doing so, the AI professor would be taken over by the time machine’s defense mechanism and would fight me with Pokemon from the distant past. I agreed to help.

Sure enough, that was exactly what happened. She used ones I had seen before, including the Jigglypuff from earlier, as well as the Misdreavus (Flutter Mane) and Amoongus (Brute Bonnet) who had come out of the lab. She also had an absolutely adorable Volcarona (Slither Wing), a Magneton (Sandy Shocks), and a Mega-Salamence-like one (Roaring Moon)! They went down one by one, though they did put up a bit of a fight.

And yet that wasn’t the end of it. Even the AI professor was shocked when there was a second phase and they were taken over once again, this time shutting down every Pokeball not registered to Professor Sada. Penny, Arven, and Nemona came in, but they could do nothing. It looked like it was the end as she sent out the mean Koraidon. . .

. . .but then I realized that my Koraidon was actually not registered to me. It had been registered to the professor all along. I sent it out and it entered battle form, defending me from the other one. Despite all hope seeming lost, it won, taking the other Koraidon down and deactivating the time machine once again.

The AI professor realized during this fight that as long as she was around, the time machine would keep reactivating. She made the decision to go through to the other side, entering the past, though I’m not sure the conditions would have been right for her to remain on back then. The was probably the plan, though. Before she left, however, she explained the situation to Arven, apologizing to him, and saying that his mother loved him very much. I wasn’t even directly involved in this and I felt vicariously devastated for him. I can’t imagine what he went through, hearing that, and seeing the AI professor go through the portal.

The world was saved, but man, it wasn’t easy. We four left for the school, tired, but trying to keep our spirits up. Or at least Nemona and Penny were trying to keep our spirits up. Arven was having a hard time after all that.

Day 29, we were called to the Director’s office. He thanked us for saving the world and said that made up for us disobeying school rules by going to Area Zero. We were heroes. And now we could do whatever we wanted.

And that’s where I am right now. It’s been a few days but WOW. I’ve been looking for those Ruinous stakes but that’s been the most exciting thing.

Geeta did tell me to go fight the Gym Leaders again and there’d be some tournament in the school once I’ve done so. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow.

I haven’t heard from Pearl again or anything, either. I. . . I don’t know what to expect there. I don’t know whether I’ll continue to log my journey here or not.

#pokemon scarlet and violet #before's scarlet adventure

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daegudrama · 5 months ago

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Title: Route 613

Pairing: Reader/Namjoon, Reader/Yoongi, Reader/Vmin

Summary: Reader wants to be the very best Pokémon trainer there ever was. Her first stop in that journey is Paldea University home to a myriad of higher education. Still working to get over her ex boyfriend, Yoongi, reader forms new connections while making a few questionable decisions along the way. Each battle bringing her closer to the glory she's always dreamed of. Will she succeed in becoming champion or will outside forces stop her from achieving her goal?

Word Count: 9k

Disclaimer: Real life ages mean nothing in this fic. Refer here for ages and my shitty graphics

cross posted to ao3 here

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Chapter 7

“What do you mean your father did this to you?”

Your mind races trying and failing to come up with any possibility that makes sense. Nothing you can think of makes sense. Sure, Yoongi’s dad has been away a lot in the last ten years or so but you never imagined he’d be capable of hurting his son. What is he really doing if he’s not researching ground types in Kanto?

“You can’t tell anyone what I’m about to say. I had to leave because if I stayed it would have put you, and everyone around us, in danger. My father is the Viridian City gym leader, but he’s also the leader of Team Rocket.” You pull further away from him to look into his eyes. There is no hint of a joke, not that you would expect him to joke about something like this. You can’t imagine Yoongi’s father, who you’ve looked up to for so many years, doing the horrible and immoral things Team Rocket does. “He has been running Team Rocket since we were eight. My father was never on the research trips he claimed to be on. He was waiting for me to turn eighteen to reveal the truth to me. The moment I found out I broke up with you because I knew my father would try to use you to make me do what he wants. Obviously, I want nothing to do with his business but I was forced to spend the spring and summer there.”

You don’t respond waiting for him to continue. Any question you have can wait until he’s finished. Even if there are hundreds eating at your insides.

“I tried to escape, but I couldn’t. There is a vast maze of underground tunnels beneath my father’s gym and he trapped me there. Every time I tried to escape he would punish me with one of his feral pokemon. When I came back for graduation, it was the first time I’d seen the sun since I left Paldea. He forbade me from speaking to anyone about where I had been or what I had been doing. After graduation my father trusted me more because I was following his instructions. I did a lot of things I’m not proud of because I didn’t want him to hurt me. He sent me out to recruit people and to catch pokemon to experiment on. That’s why I know this area.”

“Why did he let you come to school?” You ask, not letting your eyes leave his face.

“He thinks if I can become champion it’ll make it easier for him to infiltrate Paldea. I want to do the opposite. If I can help it, I'm never going back to that place.” He rubs his hands across his face then sighs. “My father also thinks Professor Oak has some kind of insider information that will help me. He thinks I’m going to report back to him but so far I’ve avoided it. But it hasn’t been easy. My father keeps sending people to check on me.”

Without thinking you rub his back. The feel of your fingers running across his back is comforting. If he closes his eyes he can almost pretend none of the bad things have happened and the two of you are cuddling in his childhood room. Everything would be so much easier if he never left. But now you understand he was just doing what he had to.

“I’m going to get stronger and destroy him.” Yoongi doesn’t back down when you give him a wary look. He’s scared of his father but he won’t admit it, especially not to you. “YN don’t look at me like that. You don’t understand the things he made me do and I don’t want you to. He made me a bad person. I need you to stay as far away from him and his goons as possible. He knows that I still care for you and he will use that to his advantage.”

“You know I can’t do that.” You say and hear a chuckle leave his mouth. Of course, he knows you want to help and he knows that telling you not to do something will just make you want to do it more. He really hopes things don’t come to a point where he needs your help. “Don’t be a hero. If there is anything I can do to help, let me.”

He nods before he lies down and you follow suit. With your back to him you try to get some sleep but that proves impossible when so much information is swirling through your mind. Everything you thought you knew about Yoongi’s father is wrong. He is dangerous and isn’t above hurting you if you get in the way. It’s hard to accept when he used to push you on the swingset in his backyard and was always there when you needed another trusted adult. You take a deep breath and work to clear your mind.

Despite the blankets it’s still quite cold and you can’t control your shivering. You hope Yoongi has already fallen asleep because this is embarrassing.

“Come here.” Yoongi whispers, and you look over your shoulder to see his arms opened. “I can’t sleep with your teeth chattering.”

Maybe you should argue but you don’t see another option. There is no way you’ll be able to sleep when you are shivering like this. You cuddle into Yoongi’s chest just like you have so many times before. His arms tighten around you, a protective barrier against what is to come. Your heart skips a beat, flooded with the emotions you’ve been suppressing for so many months. It’s harder to forget how happy he once made you when his arms are wrapped around you just as comforting as they were before he left.

“Thank you for finally telling me.” You whisper against his chest breathing in the comforting scent of his skin.

“Thank you for believing me.” He says back, nuzzling his cheek against the top of your head. Relaxing into his arms when he does this is easy. So much easier than the hate you’ve been harboring for months. “I’m really sorry for the way I’ve acted lately. You deserve better.”

You don’t respond, letting yourself drift off to sleep. There’s nothing more for you to say at this moment. Sometimes the best thing you can do is accept your situation and hope things aren’t weird in the morning. You hope this doesn’t give Yoongi too much hope that the two of you will be able to rekindle your relationship. Even if he did what he did because there was no other choice, that doesn’t mean you weren’t hurt by his actions. It doesn’t mean that you can fully trust him again with the same level of vulnerability you once had.

Just as you are about to be fully asleep you feel the soft press of Yoongi’s warm lips against your forehead. A bloom of warmth shoots to your chest and you curse yourself for letting him still hold a piece of your heart.

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In the morning full power is restored to the building. Yoongi accompanies you to see your pokemon who are fully recovered from their battles yesterday. You pull a treat from Lea’s bakery out of your bag. The Sneasel you caught yesterday deserves something sweet. When she approaches you, your face breaks into a smile. It feels natural to name her Shiver as she takes the treat from your hand.

“Shiver, I think we’re going to be great friends.” You say softly watching the pokemon devour the treat. Shiver gives no reaction to her name, but it feels right. Sure, it’s very on the nose but your opinion is the only one that matters at the end of the day.

Yoongi feeds his pokemon glancing over at you occasionally to see how the Sneasel is reacting to you. Even if she’s being nice now training one is a different thing entirely. If anyone can get through that it’s you, Yoongi thinks. Lately, he is having his own struggles with his newer pokemon.

“The snow has melted down a good amount.” Woosung says as he enters the room with his boyfriend right on his heels. “Time to explore Mount Mortar!”

That’s exactly what you do. For the remainder of the trip you explore every corner of Mount Mortar you can. Yoongi is acting friendlier. If you forget about what happened last year it's almost like things are back to normal. He used to be your first choice for an adventure like this, but now you wish Hiyyih was here. She would love this and there wouldn’t be a lingering awkward feeling. You wouldn’t be thinking about the warm feeling Yoongi’s lips pressed against your head as you were almost asleep gave you. You would be far more focused on what really matters, becoming a better trainer. You should be focused on the winter tournament that is going to decide how quickly you get to live your dream. In your mind it’s not a matter of if but when.

In Mount Mortar you catch the pokemon to complete your team. Madam Macaroni and Cheese, or Mac for short, is a beautiful Machop. She popped out from behind a rock when you were looking for wild pokemon to challenge Bones. Mac fought hard against being caught but in the end you were victorious. It’s funny Mac fought so hard against being caught because she loves you already. Everyone says they’ve never seen a Machop hug a trainer so fast.

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Namjoon is acting strange when you return. Almost cold, which is so unlike him when he’s around you. Something else must be bothering him. What could you have done to upset him when you've been away from him for days?

As soon as you settle into your hotel room someone knocks on the door. When you swing the door open Jimin is leaning against the doorframe with a sultry look on his face. Your eyes widen in shock because he did say you shouldn’t do that again. This prompts him to double over laughing until his eyes are practically closed.

“So, you shared a room with Yoongi on the trip?” He questions before you can even invite him in.

You sigh allowing him to enter your room because you need to know who told him that. Jimin takes a seat at the table while you think of how to respond. He has a very polite look of waiting on his face.

“For one night, because it was a small pokemon center with only two rooms. The three of them wouldn’t have fit in one room.” You take a seat on the edge of your bed. Fiddling with the edge of your hoodie you continue. “It was snowing really hard. The power went out and we had no other choice.”

“Did you manage to get any information out of him at least?” Jimin asks.

Almost taken aback by his question you furrow your brows. You truly thought his next question was going to be if you fucked. That would be on brand for Jimin.

“Actually, I did. Honestly, I see why he didn’t tell me. It’s something I can’t talk to anyone else about.” You sigh before answering the other question you are sure he has. “Nothing else happened. Well kind of. We cuddled for warmth.”

“For warmth? Sure, that’s so believable.” Jimin gives you the side eye. “He wanted you to think that.”

“Jimin, my teeth were legitimately chattering.” You counter trying to remain expressionless and failing, quite miserably.

“That’s a good move. I’ll have to use that the next time I’m somewhere cold.”

“It was not a move!” You whine covering your face with your hands. After a moment you remove your hands from your face and speak again with guilt creeping into your tone. “I may have told him that I’d think about being his girlfriend again if he told me why he left.”

“Have you thought about it?” Jimin asks, somehow keeping his face blank of whatever thoughts are flying through his mind.

“Not really. What he told me doesn’t change that fact that he didn’t tell me in the first place or for the last four months since school started. I think I could be his friend again in the future, but I’m not sure I could ever let him take another piece of my heart the way he has. At the same time it was…comfortable.”

“You don’t have to decide anything now, YN.” Jimin says walking over to the bed. He sits beside you and lays a comforting hand on your shoulder. “I don’t think anyone would fault you for entertaining the idea of getting back together with someone who has been so important in your life. I would understand.”

“I’m just going to let whatever happens happen.” You stay silent for a moment after speaking, debating whether or not to ask Jimin something. He leans back on his hands looking at the ceiling. “Do you know why Namjoon won’t talk to me?”

Jimin stands stretching his arms above his head. He looks back at you with a coy smile. The next several minutes are spent trying to pry the information from Jimin’s plush lips. You pin him down on the bed while sitting on him. Every part of you is sure he is letting you restrain him, but you don’t care. Eventually, he concedes.

“Woosung texted him that you and Yoongi shared a room.” Jimin sighs when you don’t make a move to get off of him. “Namjoon might have made some assumptions that Woosung did not attempt to deter.”

You swing your leg off of him and sit with that thought for a moment. Why would Namjoon care about that? Is he that concerned about your feelings? Sleeping with an ex could definitely make you feel like shit, but if you did that’s your own problem. Is he feeling the same kind of jealousy you felt when you found out he dated Woosung? Why is your head a mess?

“I did not sleep with Yoongi but if I had, it’s none of yours or Namjoon’s or anyone else’s business.”

“I know.” He says, sitting up and quickly covering his lap with the edge of the blanket closest to him. That’s not suspicious at all. You give him a disapproving look. “I’m just a man. Anyway, let’s all go get dinner. I’m sure he’ll come to his senses soon.”

Jimin takes the lead asking the group chat that Yoongi is included in if they want to get dinner. Several minutes later Namjoon and Yoongi are standing at your door. Namjoon smiles this time, but before he can say anything Yoongi begins telling Jimin about your trip.

You enthusiastically join the conversation. Namjoon and Jimin are listening intently to each story you and Yoongi share about the many pokemon you battled and the few you caught. What they were doing while you were gone might be boring to other people but you are fascinated to hear the research they are assisting on.

Namjoon and Jimin sit across from you while Yoongi sits beside you. Even yesterday you might have protested to this, but he’s not hurting anyone. Not really anyways. Sure, he’s given you a lot to think about but he’s being warmer than he has been in months. Part of you is enjoying his company.

Dinner is surprisingly pleasant and the four of you take a walk afterwards. Namjoon isn’t speaking to you directly very often and that’s fine. You aren’t feeling any type of way about. Why would you? It’s not like he owes you anything because you have confusing thoughts running through your mind. That’s on you.

Eventually, the four of you call it an early night knowing there’s more training waiting in the morning. Tomorrow you face your first gym leader. The start of the challenge you have been looking forward to for years is finally just over the horizon.

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“We aren’t done yet, YN!” Matthew yells across the battle court. He flexes his biceps before throwing out his last pokemon. You’ve taken down five of his pokemon in less than twenty minutes. The cocky part of you is starting to wonder how he became a gym leader. The sane side of you knows that he also took out three of your pokemon, but not the one that is causing the most damage. He is not employing strategy relying on the strength of his pokemon to fill the gaps. Typical, rock type trainer. Perhaps, it makes sense he’s the first gym leader trainers take on in Kanto.

“Mac, let’s finish this!” You encourage your newest pokemon ignoring the words of the man across the way. Your Machop perks up looking back at you before settling into a fighting stance. She is ready for whatever Matthew is about to throw at her.

Matthew’s Geodude manages to get the first hit in but it is not very effective. Mac barely reacts instead hyping herself up for the next move. She uses close combat effectively startling the other pokemon. The Pewter City gym leader’s pokemon is already showing signs of weakness. Your eyes flick to the side where Yoongi is standing next to Woosung with his arms crossed over his chest. Woosung’s eyebrows are knitted together as he watches his boyfriend getting taken down by a rookie trainer. Yoongi has a proud smile playing on his lips that reminds you of the old days. It’s his ‘that’s my best friend/girlfriend’ smile.

“Look alive!” Matthew yells to his pokemon.

You command Mac to use low kick and are shocked when the Geodude across from you faints. Matthew looks confused like he didn’t see this as a possibility. Yoongi rushes forward patting you on the back as he praises you.

“Good match!” You say to Matthew who now looks more embarrassed than confused.

“I guess we are teaching you real well.” He says, eyes flicking to note Yoongi standing beside you with a wide smile on his face.

After a brief break where you talk over the match with the other gym leaders, Yoongi takes the battle court. For the rest of the day the two of you switch taking on gym leaders. Of course, you don’t win every match but neither does Yoongi. Both of you battle better than you ever would have expected to at this point. You can’t wait to tell Hiyyih about this when you get back to the hotel. She is going to be excited to hear every little detail.

Sitting on the floor of the gym at the end of the day Yoongi approaches you. It’s just the two you left in the room. The rest of the gym leaders left a few minutes ago. This kind of training is intense even for their pokemon. But they are truly just as excited as you to be learning through battle.

“Do you want to get dinner?” He asks, holding out a hand to help you off the floor.

You take his warm hand heaving yourself off the ground before dropping it. Holding on for a second longer than necessary isn’t smart. A meal doesn’t mean anything serious.

“Sushi?” You question and he nods leading you towards the door.

You pull your jacket tighter around you as you step into the cool outside air. Yoongi is close by your side looking down at his phone for directions. He takes a deep breath before sneaking a glance at you.

“I’m really proud of you.” Yoongi speaks. He looks straight ahead as he continues, “You just keep getting better. I think I really might be in trouble.”

Your heart skips a beat. It still means so much to hear those words from him. It’s refreshing to not have to spend so much effort disliking him. You chuckle at the notion that you might be trouble. That is all you want to be. Getting in his way and becoming champion first has always been the goal.

“You’re not doing so bad yourself.”

He scoffs but it’s followed by a melodic laugh. A laugh you didn’t realize you missed so much until hearing it sends a pang to your chest. He changes the subject and you are left thinking about far too many things while he tells you more moments in Holly’s life you missed.

Inside the sushi restaurant you take charge in ordering for the both of you. Yoongi’s taste hasn’t changed much but you have branched out since the two of you broke up. Going to new restaurants was a big part of whatever partial healing process you went through when he left.

You swallow the lump forming in your throat. The walls you’ve worked so hard to build are starting to crack. Letting him back into your life in this way is not a decision you think should be made lightly. Sure, he told you where he was and some of what he was doing, but what is going to happen when he can no longer dodge his father.

The food arrives, a colorful array of sushi momentarily distracts you from the emotions weighing on you. Diving in, you savor the familiar flavors and the comfort they bring. Yoongi is studying the spread of food with curious eyes. The food in front of you is something you probably would not have ordered when the two of you were still together.

As you eat, Yoongi’s eyes drift towards you with a mix of amusement and affection. “You always were so serious about your food,” he teases, and you can’t help but laugh.

“Some things never change.” you reply, popping a piece of nigiri into your mouth. The familiar taste grounds you, reminding you of simpler times.

After a while, the conversation shifts to light topics. You talk about music, battles and the latest trends in the trainer industry. It’s easy, comfortable, like slipping into a pair of old well loved shoes. Underneath that comfort there is discomfort creeping its way to the forefront. Eventually, you are going to have to talk about feelings. The feelings you don’t have for him no matter how nice sitting across from at this table is. You don’t have the courage to say that even with the help of the delicious sake in front of you.

Yoongi leans back, looking at you with a serious expression.

“You know,” he begins slowly, “I’ve been thinking a lot about the past. About us.”

Your whole body freezes, and you drop the piece of sushi you had halfway to your mouth already.

“What about us?” You ask cautiously, thinking you know what he is about to say without him even saying it.

He takes a deep breath then downs the rest of his sake glass before he continues. “I don’t regret anything we had. I do regret how I left even if it was out of my control. What we had was intense, passionate, and it made me believe in things I thought were bullshit before. I was stupid to let you go.”

The air between you feels charged, electeric. You put down your chopsticks meeting his gaze. Nothing is coming to mind. You don’t know what to say to him. The Yoongi you knew would not have said this in such a public setting. Something about his honesty makes you want to hear him out. “Yoongi, I…”

He holds up a hand letting you know you don’t need to say anything. “You don’t have to say anything right now. I just want you to know what’s on my mind. I want to be honest because I’m tired of lying to you.” He continues softly, “Whatever you can give me, I’m here.”

He places his hand over the top of yours on the table. The sincerity in his eyes leave you breathless. For a moment, you feel as if the area around you fades away and it's just the two of you tangled in emotions and memories. Your heart pounds in your chest as you let yourself consider a reality where you let him back into your life. One where you pick up right where you left off. It's a huge risk, but the craziest part of your brain is convinced that it could work.

“Let’s get another bottle of sake.” You say letting a wicked grin spread across your face.

Two hours later both of you are nicely buzzed leaning against each other as you make the way up to your floor. Yoongi’s balance is a lot better than yours, so he’s pulling most of the weight. You squeeze his cheek as you stop in front of your hotel room. He looks even hotter than before he left. It’s almost unfair how he is so effortlessly beautiful.

“Come in!” You say, enthusiastically tugging his wrist.

“Are you sure, beautiful?”

It’s taking everything in you not to kiss him right now. You quickly open the door and pull him inside with you. As soon as the door closes behind his back you pin him against the entrance. You lean in close and hungrily kiss your ex boyfriend. He gasps before relaxing into your touch. Yoongi’s hands find your waist with a firm grip pulling you closer like you could slip away at any second. His lips are just as soft, warm and skillful as you remember.

“I’ve been thinking about doing that for an hour.” You say when you finally pull away from his soft familiar lips.

“Have you been thinking about doing anything else?”

The beating of your heart stammers and you think oh god you’re so fucked.

“There’s a few things.” You muse and Yoongi takes this opportunity to flip you against the door.

He knows your body just as well as he did all those months ago. Yoongi teases the exposed skin of your midriff with his cold index finger. Your skin tingles along the path he traces. You hardly wait a second to kiss him again because you are so overwhelmed with need.

Yoongi gasps when your hands creep under his shirt letting your cold fingertips play against his skin. Tired of waiting, you break the kiss and pull his shirt over his head. Your eyes sweep up and down his form impressed with how muscular he’s become. He didn’t have visible abs last time you saw him like this.

His hand guides yours to his stomach before he pulls you in for another kiss. You push against his stomach and he steps back pulling you along with him until you reach the bed. Yoongi sits at the end of the bed with a noticeable erection. Kneeling in front of him you unbutton his pants and help him slide them off. His cock is straining against the thin fabric of his boxer leaving almost nothing to the imagination. Not that you need to use your imagination. You've seen him like this many times before.

“Are you sure?” He says brushing a strand of hair away from your face as your lips brush over his clothed length.

“I missed this.” The alcohol fueled words tumble out of your mouth before you can think better of them.

“I missed this too, beautiful.”

You look into his eyes, that are much softer than what you’ve seen lately, while your hand squeezes his hard cock. Yoongi reaches around to your back and pulls your shirt over your head. He throws the shirt to the side exposing your lacy black bra.

“Has anyone else been able to please you like me, Yoongi?”

Yoongi helps you pull down his boxers revealing his cock that is just as you remember it. Thick, tall with pretty veins running up the length and a pink tip so nice you can’t help but want to kiss it. You do exactly that, letting your tongue snake out and lap around. He breathes in sharply like this might be the first time he’s been touched in quite some time. You wonder if that’s the truth.

“No.” He finally answers while you continue to make out with his cock. “There’s no one like you.”

A pleased smile works its way onto your face before you suckle his pretty tip. Yoongi moans, scraping your hair into a ponytail to keep it out of your face. Your head sinks further down, taking more of him into your mouth. He doesn’t push, letting you set the pace. For a few seconds you take it slow but eventually your intoxicated brain wants more. His tip hits the back of your throat three times before he pulls your head away. Is he close from just that?

“Let me touch you.” He says, lifting you off the ground and onto the bed.

He sits in front of you studying your form for a moment before he reaches to unhook your bra. His cock twitches when he finally sees your breasts. You make a show of pulling your panties off making sure he can see how wet your pussy is just from sucking him off.

You straddle his legs holding his shoulders for balance. His hands immediately cup your breasts, lightly squeezing. He reaches his right hand between the two of you. His finger wanders through your folds collecting your lust. With his index finger he draws lazy circles as you pull his lips back to yours. A faint whimper leaves his lips when your hand strokes his saliva covered cock.

Yoongi slips his fingers inside your tight walls and your head falls to his shoulder. He keeps his hand still, not doing what you so desperately want. You take matters into your own hands moving yourself on his fingers.

“That’s right, beautiful.” Yoongi murmurs in your ear holding your waist with the hand that isn’t inside of you. “Fuck yourself on my fingers.”

Your breath catches in your throat as his words send a shiver down your spine. Determined to take control, you rock your hips, feeling the sweet friction of his finger inside you. You curse letting a moan slip past your lips. He still remembers exactly how to drive you crazy. Your lips press against Yoongi’s shoulder. A gesture that may be too tender for this situation of backsliding. Yoongi attaches his lips to your nipple, sliding his tongue over the bud with precision.

“Just like that,” he praises, his voice low and gravelly. “Show me how much you want it.”

His name passes your lips as you continue to fuck yourself on his skilled fingers. You feel his dick twitch and lift your head grabbing his wrist pulling his fingers out of you. You quickly grab his cock sinking yourself down until his cock is fully enveloped by your warm pussy.

Yoongi moans your name in a way that almost sounds pleading. His cock feels so right inside of you. You’ve missed the way he feels inside of you, almost more than you missed him. His hands grip your hips guiding you. All you want is to ride his cock until he can’t remember his name, but for now you let him lead. He slides his hands to your ass and squeezes as he lifts you up and down.

The sensation of him filling you completely is intoxicating, and you can’t help but moan in response. Yoongi’s eyes lock with yours and you can feel that nothing has changed for him since the last time you were in this position. He feels the same way.

His grip on your hips tightens, and you can feel the urgency in his movements as he lifts you and guides you back down onto his cock. Each movement fills you with delicious pleasure you didn’t know you missed until you finally had it again.

There’s only a moment of this before Yoongi quickly maneuvers you onto your back without slipping out of you. As soon as you’re on your back he drills his cock into you. Embarrassingly loud moans ring through the air. Tendrils of pleasure are mapping their way through your body.

Yoongi slows his thrusts and kisses your neck while stroking his thumb over your cheek. His hips grind into you lazily as he sucks a mark onto your neck. Sober you wouldn’t let that happen but right now it feels far too good to tell him to stop.

“Yoongi, more!” You demand and he completely halts the movement of his hips, sitting up.

You try moving on your own but he pins you in place. He’s obviously not pleased with your demand. Or perhaps it was how you said it.

“Do I need to fuck some manners into you?”

Your eyes widen at his words. A mixture of pleasure and anticipation rolls from your chest to your pussy hoping he’s not bluffing. He knows how to make you drive you insane. Yoongi has known you most of your life and spent careful time getting to know you on every level. There was a time he would’ve done anything to please you. His eyes blaze with intensity as he holds you in place, his grip is firm but not painful.

“Please,” You emphasize the first word dramatically, still squirming against his hold, “show me how much you’ve missed me.”

“Gladly, beautiful.” He winks at you after he speaks before driving his cock deep inside you.

He hooks his hands under your thighs and pushes them to your shoulders. You hold your legs as he strongly pushes inside finding your g-spot as easily as the last time you were together this way. Yoongi leans down to kiss you deeply, his lips moving against your with a possessive hunger.

Yoongi is smirking when he pulls back, eyes still dark as he listens to the moans and pleads escaping your mouth. He knows what you want, but he wants to hear you say it. Without faltering his steady thrusts Yoongi draws circles around your clit with his slender fingers.

He grunts beads of sweat dripping on his face from the effort. You rest your legs on his shoulders as he swoops down to kiss you once again. He holds your legs as he straightens up watching your breasts bounce as he fucks into you.

“Yoongi,” you moan, your body arching beneath him. “Please, I need you.”

He chuckles softly, the sound vibrating through your body. “I know, YN. I know.”

His hips snap into you with more force as his pace quickens. The room is filled with the sound of your ragged breaths and the wet, erotic sounds of your bodies moving together. It’s almost like it hasn’t been so long. It’s just as easy as it was last spring.

Yoongi’s thrusts become more sloppy as he nears his high. Your fingernails dig into the skin of his biceps holding you to reality as he brings you closer to coming all over his thick cock.

Quite suddenly he pulls out and quickly strokes himself until spurts of hot, white cum coat your vulva. His mouth falls open letting delicious moans fill the room. He ducks his head down and your back arches off the mattress as soon as his tongue makes contact with your sensitive clit. Yoongi licks up his own lust while bringing you closer to coming with every flick of his pretty tongue.

“That’s it,” he groans, his voice rough with desire. He looks into your eyes. “Let me take care of you, beautiful.”

Your body responds to his words, the coil of tension tightening within you. The name that caused you so much distress earlier this week now heightens your pleasure. The orgasm is building, every nerve alight with sensation. Yoongi resumes what he has called his favorite pastime too many times to count.

He pushes two fingers inside of you as he sucks your clit into his mouth. A long high pitched moan is drawn from your lips as he continues this until you are shaking.

“Yoongi, I’m gonna—” you start to say, but the words are lost as the orgasm crashes over you, your body convulsing with the force.

Your whole body tingles with pleasure and Yoongi doesn’t stop licking strips up and down your folds. You grab a fistful of his hair and pull his mouth off of you. He has a shit eating grin on his face and you pull him up for a kiss. Yoongi kisses your forehead and takes you into his arms.

For a moment you lie together in drunken bliss. Eventually Yoongi retrieves a cloth from the bathroom to help you clean up. There’s a shift as soon as he leaves your side. Have you made a mistake? Was this a bad idea? It felt nice but it wasn’t quite the same as it once was.

You cuddle right back into his arms after putting on your underwear despite your worries. Cuddling him is nice after all. The two of you talk about so many things, reminiscing on the past and on the things you missed in each other's lives. Naturally, the conversation turns towards why he had to leave and Yoongi’s attitude changes.

“I need you to stay as far away from him and his goons as possible. He knows that I still love you and he will use that to his advantage.”

Your heart sinks and you freeze shocked by his words. You suppose he hasn’t said anything to make you think his feelings have changed. In fact he’s just tried to find ways to win you back. Still you didn’t think he would say it so clearly.

“You still love me?” You say after a few seconds your voice barely above a whisper.

“Of course, I still love you. I’ve loved you since we were fourteen.” A humorless laugh leaves his lips as he runs a hand through his hair. “I think I’ll always love you even if you move on.”

Yoongi reaches for your hand and you don’t have the heart to reject him. He plays with your fingers waiting for a response from you that is never going to come because you don’t love him anymore. He’ll always have a piece of your heart but the rest belongs to only you.

“I can be whatever you want me to be.” He says calmly as if the words aren’t tearing him apart inside.

Silence hangs in the air as you turn over and pretend to sleep with thoughts reeling. It's several minutes before Yoongi begins speaking again. His voice is low, but calm. He has had all the time in the world to think about this. Yoongi knows what he wants, but he will settle for whatever you’ll give him.

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to say it back, but I didn’t think you would say nothing at all.”

You turn back towards him, seeing unmistakable hurt creeping onto his face. A deep breath enters your lungs as you try to think of anything to say that won’t hurt him more. How do you politely tell someone they pleasured your body but the emotional connection you once felt for each other is not there? Or at the very least you don’t feel it as strongly as you once did.

“How am I supposed to respond to you telling me you still love me?”

Yoongi sits up and you lie on your back staring at the ceiling. How did you end up here? A few glasses of sake and suddenly you let your hormones take over. When did you become this person?

“With the truth, YN. That’s all I ever want from you.”

“You want the truth?” You question rolling your head to the side just enough to see him nod. He watches you with an apprehensive look, waiting for you to continue. “Being with you feels amazing, but I don’t want to be your girlfriend. My head is a gigantic mix of emotions but I’m sure about that. We can’t just pick up where we left off.”

“Okay, then do you want to do this again?”

You consider what he is offering for a moment. Sleeping with him again wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t know he’s still in love with you. Yoongi knows your body better than anyone else. He can pull pleasures from the deepest parts of you, but that doesn’t mean you should take advantage of him. Being selfish doesn’t help anyone here.

“I can’t hurt you like this.” you reply.

“Let me worry about that.” he counters a little too quickly.

You wonder how many times he has thought about being in this situation. Is he really willing to cause himself emotional damage in order to spend time with you? He wants to have sex with you when he knows you don’t love him the same way you used to. Why doesn’t he want to protect himself?

“Yoongi…” You pause choosing your next words carefully. In the end you decide it’s better to say nothing at all. “I think you should go back to the boys room.”

“YN…” He starts but trails off when you shake your head. He repeats what he said earlier. “I can be whatever you want me to be.”

He gets dressed and exits your hotel room without another word. You are trying to make sense of all the thoughts swimming around in your head when Hiyyih sends you a meme. Barely looking at what she sent you ask if you can call her.

“I think I fucked up.” You start and you hear Hiyyih moving around on the other end. Maybe she’s getting comfortable because she knows this is going to be a long one.

“Wow YN, that’s…a lot,” Hiyyih says after you’ve finished telling her what just happened. “I think you did the right thing. This is a super tough situation and leading him on for sex would just hurt both of you in the long run.”

“I know, but I still feel awful,” you say, your voice breaking. “I told him to go back to the boys’ room and he looked so defeated.”

“You can’t control how he feels.” Hiyyih says with a deep sigh. “Get some sleep, you have more training in a few hours.”

You say bye and hang up the phone planning to do exactly what she said. Sleep would do you some good. Instead you hear a loud bang outside your door followed by a deep voice cursing. Curious, you quickly stand making sure you are decent before opening the door to see Namjoon scrambling to his feet. In front of your door sits the same basket the two of you have been passing back and forth for months now.

“Oh, hi.” Namjoon says, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. His face is red with embarrassment. “I didn’t want to bother you. Jimin was creating a really weird vibe once Yoongi came back so I decided to get out.”

“Give me five minutes then show me your favorite boba place.”

He nods, a smile breaking across his face while he waits outside. You bring the basket inside your room and run around trying to make yourself more presentable. In less than five minutes you are standing in front of Namjoon again. A shy smile creeps onto his face as he leads you out of the hotel.

He leads you to a small, cozy boba place just a few blocks away, the kind of spot you would never find if someone didn’t show it to you. The warmth of the shop and the inviting smell of sweet tea starts to calm the chaos in your mind.

Namjoon holds the door open for you, and you both step inside. The barista greets you then a look of recognition lights her face. Namjoon must've come here many times before. He smiles in acknowledgment before ordering his usual.

“What do you recommend?” you ask, scanning the menu with far too many options.

“I think you would like the matcha,” he says, a small smiling tugging at the corners of his mouth. He glances at you “It’s one of my favorites, actually.”

You nod and place your order, finding a small table in the corner while you wait. Namjoon sits across from you, fiddling with a sugar packet, his eyes flicking up to meet yours occasionally. What happened in the room that made him want to leave so quickly? Was Jimin trying to get Namjoon to leave so he could talk to Yoongi in private? Is Yoongi going to tell him about what the two of you did?

As the barista calls out your order, Namjoon quickly stands to grab your drinks. He hands you the matcha with boba, his fingers brushing yours briefly. You take a sip, letting the creamy, slightly sweet taste soothe you further. Namjoon’s right, this is really good.

“Did you used to come here a lot?” you ask, trying to break the silence.

Anything to get your mind away from Yoongi.

“Yeah,” Namjoon replies, stirring his drink. “It’s quiet here and it’s pretty far from my parent’s house. It gave me a place to think.”

You nod, taking another sip. “Thanks for bringing me here. I needed to get out of my head.”

Namjoon looks at you with soft eyes. “Rough night?”

You let out a small, humorless, laugh. “Actually it was really great until just a little while ago. Yoongi said something that leaves me with a lot to think about.”

“I figured something happened when Jimin started acting weird,” Namjoon says, leaning back in his chair. “They’ve gotten closer since we got here.”

“Really?” You raise an eyebrow surprised that Jimin hasn’t said anything about it. Though he would be right in assuming you don’t want to hear about your ex all the time. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t said anything.

Namjoon sighs. “Yeah. They’ve been talking nearly constantly when we are in our room. Which is odd because I used to rarely hear him say anything that wasn’t about you or pokemon. I think Jimin is trying to help him move on from you.”

He takes a sip of his drink while you process what he just said. That would be a very Jimin thing to do, but Yoongi doesn’t need his help. Jimin isn’t going to be able to help him.

“Help him move on from me.” you repeat, the words weighing on your tongue. “It’s not working.”

“Jimin knows it’s not working but that man loves a challenge.” Namjoon says, and you admire how calm he always is. “Whatever happens it’ll be okay, YN. I’m always here for you.”

Your chest flutters at his words. It’s nice to know you have someone on your side who you don’t have a complicated past with.

“It’s complicated and messy.”

“Isn’t everything?” Namjoon responds with a wry smile.

A genuine laugh passes your lips easing your remaining tension. “I guess so.”

Namjoon quickly distracts you by dumping his remaining boba onto a napkin and showing you how to make a ‘boba tower.’ It works and soon the two of you are back to your comfortable vibe. You’ve missed this simple kind of hangout where you don’t need to overthink too hard.

“I’m really sorry about the way I’ve been acting lately.” Namjoon says as the two of you are walking around the same park you’ve been to several times this trip. “Seeing Woosung and letting him get into my head about things that are none of my business really messed with me. You didn’t deserve the cold shoulder I was giving you.”

As you walk side by side in the park, the late night moon shining brightly down on you, Namjoon’s apology lingers in the air. You appreciate his honesty and vulnerability. It seems like he never thinks twice about sharing his struggles with you, but you haven’t given the same trust to him. It means a lot that he trusts you.

“I understand, Namjoon,” you reply softly, glancing at him. “Thank you for telling me.”

You continue walking, falling into a more casual conversation for some time before Namjoon chuckles.

“What?” You ask looking over at him again. His dimples are visible and you wonder if he knows just how stunning he looks even when he isn’t trying.

“I just remembered something Woosung did right before you went on the excursion.” You watch him carefully waiting for him to continue. “He and Matthew came to my room when they were obviously a little tipsy and Woosung asked me for a threesome.”

Shock overtakes your face at the same moment you gasp. That is the last thing you thought you would be hearing about tonight. Where did Woosung even get the idea that this was something he should ask to his ex boyfriend?

“What did you say?” You ask quietly, as if you don’t actually want to know the answer.

“Of course, I told them no!” Namjoon quickly says, rubbing the back of his neck as he speaks again. “It’s been awhile but I’m not that desperate.”

You let out a nervous laugh, relieved by Namjoon’s response but also feeling a bit awkward about the topic. The two of you have talked about a lot of deeply personal things, but never about your sex lives. “Yeah, that’s…definitely an unexpected request.”

Namjoon nods, his expression turning more serious. “It caught me off, to say the least. But it made me think of something Jimin let slip the last time we got drunk together.”

The two of you lock eyes and your face flames with embarrassment. Just looking into his eyes tells you all you need to know, but you ask anyway.

“He told you about Halloween didn’t he?”

Namjoon nods, and your heart skips a beat. How much did Jimin tell him? And how graphically? You are going to kill him the next time you see him. How could he let that slip out when he’s drunk?

“He didn’t give me many details. Just that the three of you hooked up and he can never do it again because he might get addicted.” You cover your face and groan into your hands. Namjoon stops you, pulling your hands away from your face. “It’s okay, YN. Honestly, I’m impressed by your adventurous nature.”

“I’m going back to your hotel room to strangle him.” You attempt to start walking back towards the hotel but Namjoon catches your wrist and leads you to the nearest bench. “Fine.”

“Let me make you feel better. When I say it’s been awhile I mean it. The last time I hooked up with someone was the first week of my first year. He was in one of my core classes but after we hooked up I never saw him again.” He pauses watching for your reaction, but you barely have one because it’s more sad than anything. How could someone give up someone as great as Namjoon without a second thought? “Were Jimin and Taehyung your last…?”

He trails off like he doesn’t think he should be asking this, but he already did. If it was someone else maybe you wouldn’t tell them. Maybe if you weren’t almost sure Yoongi is telling Jimin right now you wouldn’t say anything, but you trust Namjoon.

“No,” You start not looking into his eyes. “Yoongi and I did share a bed out of necessity, but nothing happened while we were away. Well nothing like that. He finally told me why he had to leave and even if things can never be the same his reasoning is solid. I’m less angry and resentful towards him. We went out for dinner and drank a little too much sake and I willingly brought him back to my hotel.”

Now you look at his expression. His reaction is guarded, his features tightening slightly as he processes your words. You notice the flicker of something in his eyes, a mixture of understanding and caution.

“I see,” he murmurs after a moment. “Are you okay?”

You nod quickly, wanting to reassure him. “I’m okay, Namjoon. I don’t really know what I’m feeling but Yoongi is so familiar I guess I just…”

You trail off not knowing what else to say. Namjoon looks away for a moment trying to process your words again. What he says next is not what you were expecting at all, but it makes your heart sing.

“I just worry about you. Yoongi is your ex, and…I don’t want you to get hurt.”

You feel a warmth in your chest at Namjoon’s concern. His eyes, filled with genuine worry, meet yours again. It’s nice having someone worried for you even if there’s no reason to be.

“I know, Namjoon. It’s complicated. I don’t even know what I want from him or if he really wants just what he says he does. It’s like we’re stuck in a loop.”

Namjoon takes your hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You need to figure out what you want first. Yoongi might be familiar, but familiarity doesn’t always mean it’s right. Especially after how he made you feel when he left. Sometimes, we hold on to the past because it’s easier than trying something new.”

His words resonate with you, as they always do and you nod, feeling a bit of clarity starting to break through the cyclone in your head. “You’re right. I need to think about what’s best for me, not what’s easy.”

Namjoon smiles no doubt, cooking up another incredibly insightful thing to say to you.

“Exactly.” He says, continuing to hold your hand. “And remember, you deserve someone who makes you feel safe, happy and appreciated. Whether that’s Yoongi or someone else, it’s important to keep your well being at the forefront.”

You stretch pulling your hand away from Namjoon’s grasp. You feel a bit lighter as you take a deep breath.

“Thanks, Joon. I really needed to hear that.”

“Anytime, YN. I’m always here for you.”

With that you head back to the hotel preparing yourself mentally to face Woosung tomorrow.

#route 613 #route 613 chapter 7 #namjoon x reader #yoongi x reader #namjoon x you #yoongi x you #yoongi smut #smut #bts smut #bts fanfiction #kim namjoon #min yoongi

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the-travelling-witch · 8 months ago

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holly, if you were a pokemon gym leader or an elite four member (basically a trainer specialised on one type) what type would it be?

ooh i love this question!! basically, there are lots of pokemon au thoughts on my mind but that’s beside the point rn ^^;

i generally love ghost/ psychic/ dark / dragon types and speedy special attackers of any types really but if i had to choose one type, i think i’d want to be a ghost-type trainer ^^ not only do i love a lot of ghosts but i also love the vibes heheh

i think i’d want to be an elite four member, not only bc i’d be higher in the hierarchy -for lack of a better word-, but i’d also get to isolate in my little room and fight trainers occasionally /j; i’d also get to use final evolutions and more mons overall (and we know i already don’t do well with choosing hshsh)

(i wouldn’t mind having my own badge though)

i would, however, be one of those assholes who uses mons not of their respective type (i’m looking at you lance) since i want to have a zoroark heheh

my team would probably just be my favourite ghost types though lol and would probably look sth like this

chandelure*

zoroark*

aegislash

gengar

froslass

trevenant / sableye / banette / mimikyu

- * chandelure and zoroark would be my signature mons, though neither of them would probably be the last slot on my team; zoroark for obvious reasons and chandelure bc i’d probably want zoroark to take gengar’s appearance to bait out any psychic users (though zoroark as chandelure would also work since i’m pretty sure zoroark can learn flamethrower too) my gameplay knowledge is a bit hazy since i haven’t played in a while

- aegislash is just plain cool. period.

- gengar is just plain cool— (and a potential mega evolution)

- froslass with snow cloak would be an absolute nightmare if i could set up hail but idk if i’d waste a turn on it (unfortunately sableye only learns rain dance and sunny day)

- the last slot is still open; trevenant is very very cool but another mon that’s weak to fire ㅠㅠ (though a chandelure with flash fire could be switched into any fire attack i guess) prankster sableye could set up some annoying things like will-o-wisp or stall with recover but otherwise doesn’t bring a lot of offence (mega sableye would also be an option but i reckon an elite four member doesn’t usually need to reflect toxic spikes etc)

- mimikyu is a little gimmicky i guess but would also be another ground weakness; banette is just here bc it is interesting and another mega option; i would also be open to using a more practical choice but i’m obviously biased (also i guess most elite fours have 5 mons only but i want to use all my options hshsh)

- ceruledge, spectrier and dragapult also look cool and dragapult would bring a new type into play but i haven’t used any of them yet since i didn’t want to give gamefreak money for the new games (+ ceruledge would match chandelure’s typing)

#┊✩彡 divine correspondence ♡#┊✩彡 unsigned letter ♡#sorry i went on a rant there hshsh #but i’m happy it was mono type centred tbh #having to find my 6 overall faves would be hard ^^;#though you could expect ninetales and gardevoir to make an appearance #or espeon #also you’d think i’d have a mismagius but honestly it’s not as far up my list as you might expect #the concept is cool but it’s missing sth i guess #it’s hard to narrow down a type i favour since all of them have cool mons #but i think ghost is really up there #honestly i don’t have that many psychic faves #but i still like the type a lot #same goes for dark i guess #i mean ofc i love a lot of water fire grass electric etc types as well #… now i’m overthinking my earlier statement again #see what i mean #but i’d still wanna be a ghost type trainer #that much is a solid statement hehe #holly talks about pokemon

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runemyth0 · 1 year ago

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Fire Red Z, Part 8: Volcano & Earth

Alright, you know the drill. Last time! On! Fire Red! Z! We trained real hard, did some soul searching, then won the Soul Badge from Koga. After that, we headed south and west, towards Cinnabar Island and the seventh gym badge.

And it actually went really well!

After surfing through the choppy waters of Route 19, we caught Seagrass the Tentacool on Route 20. After that, it was a quick jaunt through the Seafoam Islands (with about a half dozen cans of repel), then across the rest of Route 20. I did spot a big blue bird in the depths of the caves, but that might have been an ice sculpture... I’ll have to go back and check.

Cinnabar Island! The island of fire, some call it. Also known as the island of NOT HAVING THEIR DANG GYM OPEN.

While we waited for them to open back up, we stopped in at the research lab and got ourselves Calamites the Kabuto! After checking and finding the gym still not open, we went fishing, catching Sargassum the Shellder.

After checking one more time and finding the gym locked up tight, I decided to go invade the only other freestanding structure on the island for a key. If Blaine wasn’t willing to face me, then I’d just break in and steal myself a badge.

Unfortunately, looks like a bunch of other folks had the same idea and were looting the pokemon mansion for all its goods. Though, some of them seemed in a hurry to carry off a bunch of research papers.

I mean, I read the journals scattered throughout the house, but it wasn’t like they had any useful information. They just talked about some rare pokemon called Mew and another named Mewtwo. They also mentioned some place called “South America” where Mew was supposedly discovered; I don’t think I’ve ever seen that region on a map, so who knows what they were talking about.

Whatever. I found the key, then headed back to the gym. Waterlily Surfed through most of the gym trainers, netting a good number of levels in the process. Naturally, we made a quick stop at the pokemon center before we faced Blaine.

Blaine was ridiculously easy. While Waterlily did take a Fire Blast to the face (as did Ginger), Surf and Earthquake made quick work of his team. Volcano Badge acquired!

After I left, Bill showed up and dragged me off to the Sevii Islands to check out his friend’s computer set up. I got distracted while they were working on it and ended up fighting a biker gang and saving a little girl from a Hypno. I caught Palm the Exeggcute and Horsetail the Psyduck on Three and Two Island, respectively. I also heard about some big, scary pokemon living up on the volcano, so definitely going to check that out soon.

Once we got back to Cinnabar, Bill headed home and so did I, up through Route 21. I tried to catch a Tangela, but as it turns out, Wheat is just too strong, even an ineffective Razor Leaf tore through the poor pokemon.

Regardless, we stayed the night at home (Mom was glad to see us, for sure), then headed out to Vermillion City in the morning, after hearing a news report about their gym leader returning. I may have forgotten my pokeballs and had to rush back to grab them...

Regardless, we headed in to the gym, facing all the ground type trainers and making our way to the mysterious leader of the gym–oh who am I kidding, it was Giovanni. Who else loves ground types this much? I might have had a few concerns about facing him, not least of which being my entire team being fairly underleveled, just barely hitting his lowest levels.

But we were riding high off our last gym! Thus the battle began, even as memories of Cerulean flashed through my head.

Wheat took down his Ryhorns in one hit each, in part thanks to the secret technique learned on Two Island. Foxglove failed to OHKO Nidoqueen and tanked an Earthquake like a champ. She managed to drop Nidoqueen’s Sp. Def, though, and the next Psychic was a one shot. Rather than risk Foxglove against Nidoking, Waterlily subbed in and one shot him with Surf.

Earth Badge acquired! And apparently Team Rocket defeated forever? Cool, I guess.

Anyways, all I have left to do is make my way through Route 23 and Victory Road. But first, I think I should head back out and do some training. Not to mention I need to start thinking about the team that will face the Elite Four. And investigating those strange pokemon around the region...

Looks like I’ve got a lot to do!

#lyle plays #fire red nuzlocke #pokemon #pokemon fire red #pokemon nuzlocke

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kittypokemuses · 1 year ago

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Doting on Daisies: Part 1/?

Ahh, a perfectly pleasant Pastoria City day… The sun was shining brightly in the sky after days of rain, casting a soft warmth over the town and reflecting in a faint rainbow. It was truly beautiful, something she loved above this town. Sure, all the rain could be dreary at times, but it revitalized the lush plant life and encouraged water Pokemon to venture across the land. It also made the sunny days all the more wonderful. While not uncommon, she still felt such a day was important to enjoy. Abigail soon found herself standing on the porch of her well tended house and taking in a deep breath of the fresh air. This was certainly the perfect day to enjoy a nice long walk with her overly tall daughter who was always kind enough to keep her strides short. ...Shame she wasn’t home… The deep breath was let out in a defeated sigh. Shaking her head, the mother found herself thinking aloud. “Oh, Audrey, I miss you already.” While she couldn’t be more happy and proud of her daughter, living on the college campus meant sparse visits. “You’d better have a good time there,” she chuckled to herself and stepped down from the porch onto the path. As per usual, the visiting Pokemon, two cute little Starly and a glimmering Kricketune this time, fled from her presence and back towards the treeline. The wild Pokemon may adore the berry trees her family grew, but didn’t care much for the family themselves. The redhead couldn’t much blame them, given it was a gym town and there was no way the Pokemon could tell the difference between a simple observer, a trainer wishing to strengthen their team in a battle, or even a gym challenger needing a grass type for their water type gym leader. Still. She wished she could view the wild Pokemon closer than their windows or, on occasion, the porch. The empty nest made her yearn for a Pokemon that much more. Shame the hubby didn’t want one. Oh well… Perhaps she’d spot a trainer with their Pokemon out and about on her walk. Double checking that she had her purse and umbrella (you never knew in this town) Abigail made her way onto the main path. Much to her delight, it only took ten minutes to stumble across a young trainer and his companion Pokemon. “Oh my goodness! Is that a Turtwig? We don’t see those every day! Are you a new trainer?” The boy turned to face the woman, signaling for his Pokemon to stop his tackle practice against the tree. “Oh, yeah!” he smiled, revealing his missing tooth. “I got him from Professor Rowan! I’m taking on the Gym Challenge!” “That’s lovely,” Abigail smiled softly. “Your Turtwig will certainly have an advantage over the water types Crasher Wake uses. “Sure will!” the child beamed. “Say, I could use a little training before I challenge the gym. You wanna battle?!” “Oh, I would,” the woman assured, “but I don’t have any Pokemon. Say, maybe you can train along Route 213, just east of here? There are lots of water Pokemon there I’m sure are itching for a tough battle!” “That’s a good idea! Thanks, lady!” “No problem,” she chuckled. “Say, before you get back to training, does your Turtwig like to be petted?” “Oh, yeah, he does,” he knelt down and patted the Pokemon’s head. “You wanna pet him?” “I’d love to!” Abigail practically cheered in response, kneeling down and holding her hand out to the Turtwig. She’d never interacted with a Turtwig before, but her brother-in-law’s Arcanine was also a Pokemon and he liked to sniff people first. The Turtwig smiled and approached, cocking his head before giving her hand a few sniffs. Satisfied, he examined her further, lightly taking her hand in his mouth and grazing his beak like mouth against it. “Oh, don’t worry!” the boy laughed. “He’s not biting! That’s how he learns about things! Professor Rowan taught me that. Since Turtwig doesn’t have any hands, he uses his mouth to feel things.” “Ohhh, that’s really interesting!” the redhead encouraged, genuinely interested in hearing what the boy had been learning. She did love kids, after all. “What else did he tell you?” “Oh, lotsa stuff! He’s a domsti- domscate- dom-…” “Domesticated?” “Yeah, that! So he understands some people words!” “Ohh. I hope he can understand when I say he’s a handsome one,” Abigail cooed as she withdrew her hand to pet the Pokemon’s cheek. Happy with the attention and petting, the Turtwig let out a contented snore like noise. The Pokemon’s cheeks were smooth and a bit hard to the touch, but had some give when she rubbed them. Upon moving towards the top of his head, she noticed a vast difference in texture, feeling akin to a mix of Magikarp scales and tree leaves. Neat! “You can tell if a Turtwig is healthy by their shells! When they feel good, it feels wet!” “Oh?” Curious, Abigail moved to pat the Pokemon’s shell. Just as he said, damp! It felt like hardened soil, but didn’t come off on her hand. She’d pet the dirt, but no dirty hands! “He must be a healthy boy then!” “Uh-huh! I take good care of Twiggy!” the boy declared proudly. “Twiggy, such a great nickname for a great Pokemon!” Abigail chirped, giving the Turtwig a final few hearty pats. “Well, I should probably get out of your hair and leaves,” she giggled, reaching into her purse. “Before we part ways though, here’s a special lemonade for you. It can restore your Pokemon’s health after a battle! Use it well on your journey and good luck on your Gym Challenge!” “Thanks, lady! Maybe we can battle someday when you have your own Pokemon too!” “Maybe!” Abigail chuckled and waved the two goodbye. Leaving the interaction with a smile, the redhead resumed her walk. She’d have to tell her sisters about it during her visit later. The rest of her walk was relatively uneventful, simply spotting a few Magikarp leaping out of the river and Starly flying overhead. Maybe she’d see a Staraptor leading a flock one of these days. Hopefully not a Gyarados though. She heard they can be quite violent. As she approached her home once more, Abigail let out a sigh. While she was content with her interaction today, it was still a shame to return to an empty house. As expected, the Pokemon scattered upon her arrival, but it was less disappointing after having pet the Turtwig earlier. Walking up the path, the woman spotted something in her potted daisies. She was fairly sure that eight inch tall bud wasn’t there earlier. She certainly hadn’t planted it herself, nor had she placed it in a way to crush the flowers. “Oh, you shouldn’t be there,” Abigail spoke softly as she knelt down near the Pokemon. The grass Pokemon shivered and met the woman’s gaze, seemingly too petrified to move. “Oh, you poor thing. I won’t hurt you. Here,” she dug through her purse and pulled out a Poffin, holding it close to where she suspected the Pokemon’s nostrils to be. “I was planning to give this to a certain Arcanine, but I can get him another one.” The Pokemon looked at her with wide eyes before tentatively taking a bite. “Budew!” the little bud exclaimed, pleased with this new treat she had never tasted before. When the little Budew leaned forward for another bite, Abigail moved it just a little out of range, guiding the Pokemon to exit the pot of daisies. “There we go,” Abigail cooed, setting the poffin on the ground for the Pokemon to eat freely as she tended to her flowers. The Budew nibbled at the poffin contentedly, getting full halfway through. She was quite small and had been eating berries earlier, after all. Turning her attention over towards the seemingly friendly human, she toddled over and observed what she was doing, trying to upright the downed daisies. Oh. She hadn’t meant to harm the human’s flowers. She had simply tried to hide. “Bu,” she called to the human as she placed the tip of her bud to the potted soil, proceeding to glow a soothing green and sending the aura through the soil. In mere seconds, the fallen daisies lifted from the soil, standing once again in their former glory. “Oh!” Abigail gasped. “Thank you, little one!” While the Budew didn’t know what the human was saying, she sounded happy, leading the Pokemon to reply with a pleased trill. “I should have known a grass type like you could help flowers!” she chuckled, reaching out to pet the Pokemon without really thinking. While she initially flinched, the Budew did not flee, instead looking at the woman in confusion. “Sorry,” she retracted her hand. “Is that okay for me to do?” The Budew said nothing, simply looking at the human inquisitively. Taking a chance, Abigail slowly reached her hand out once more, waiting a moment before giving the Pokemon a few more pats. Deciding she liked the sensation, the Budew let out another pleased trill. “That’s a good flower,” the redhead spoke softly and reached for the poffin on the ground, setting it atop the Budew. “It’s probably best you head back to your family now.” She pointed towards the Roselia in the distance, waiting for her baby to return. Grasping the poffin in her little buds, the Budew seemed to understand, offering one last pleased trill before she toddled back towards the forest. “Bye-bye!” she waved, receiving a similar, “Bu-bu!” in response. Aw, how cute!

#Pokemon #fiction #fanfic #writing #Budew #original character #Abigail Davis

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morathor · 2 years ago

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Pokemon: Lancer Theory

That title sounds way too self-important but it is the phrase that stuck in my head.

I’m actually not sure why this concept is so stuck in my head, maybe it's what I've seen of Scarlet/Violet and gym leaders terastalizing their ace pokemon. But I need to babble it out, so here we are. I wanna talk about type-themed trainers like gym leaders, elite four members, etc having off-type Pokemon.

It seems like they try not to do this anymore, and I get that, because people complain about it whenever they do. Which I also get, I guess. But I dunno, I think it's kind of cool when even a themed trainer has a somewhat diverse team. The central type should still be visible as a theme, of course, but I don't think it's inherently a bad thing if they have an off-type here or there. It makes the battles more interesting, it makes the characters more interesting by introducing a little more nuance. It also plays to the idea of these trainers being talented, which they are supposed to be--I think every pokemon game I’ve ever played has some NPC to tell you that using varied types is the best strategy (even though I recognize a lot of people just bulldoze the game with an overleveled starter). But when gym leaders and even the elites ignore that beginner advice, it makes them feel a little less competent, a little less threatening.

That said, I think this is more effective if it is applied consistently. So in the same way that every major trainer needs their "ace" pokemon, I would love to see every major trainer have a "lancer." Just one off-type pokemon (and the team would need to be a minimum of three so that it's not an even split), probably their second to last/second strongest. They might fit the aesthetic of the type without being of that type--like how Lance classically has pokemon like Gyarados or Charizard (although I'd want him to pick just one). Or they might be more focused on the aesthetic of the trainer. Bonus points if they're a type that helps cover the weaknesses of the main type, but that can be reserved for the higher ranks.

So because I am, one, bored, and two, Like That, here's what incorporating this lancer idea might look like in kanto games/remakes. Just because they feel like the characters people are most likely to be familiar with. (And also some other changes because why not.)

Brock's Team

Kabuto--I'm really on the fence about this, but there are other NPCs with fossil pokemon, and Brock uses Kabutops and Omastar both when he shows up in later games. Besides, type diversity isn't just for the lancer. And even though you can't catch Kabuto in Mt Moon, you can at least get the fossil there, so we're kind of still showcasing a local pokemon? Ish?

Cubone--Not a rock type, but not straying far from the mold for this early lancer. I thought about a Zubat to showcase a local pokemon (plus he has one in the anime) but it's too far outside his tanky preferences. Actually, if we wanted anime influence, a Vulpix would be a great call, although haven't Bulbasaur players suffered enough? Anyway, Cubone is neat because it's sturdy and looks ominous, fits the aesthetic, but when you find out more about its Inherent Tragedy it maybe makes Brock look a little more gentle in retrospect. I think that's neat.

Onix--Ace unchanged, no notes.

Misty's Team

Poliwag--I actually prefer not to have multiple members of the same evolutionary line in one trainer's roster. I won't always have a good alternative, but there are so many water types. Also, when possible, I do want to have one mono-type pokemon on the team. (Not possible for Brock, there are no mono-type rock types in the Kanto dex.)

Dratini--I'll be honest, I'm stupidly proud of this lancer. Dratini is aquatic without being a water type, and aesthetically fits very well. In Gen 1, I think Misty is the first trainer to get "good AI", which really isn't all that good but it still shows they wanted her to represent a step up in terms of tactics. So giving her a lancer that specifically resists the weaknesses of her main type is very cool.

Starmie--Ace unchanged, no notes.

Surge's Team

Magnemite--Not a lot of type diversity for electric types. But if this hypothetical game is a later generation remake, at least this throws in a steel type.

Mankey--A fighting type seems like a good companion for a military man, and as Surge likes his pokemon fast and hard-hitting, Mankey seemed a better choice than some of the other options.

Raichu--Really considered Electabuzz instead; the stats are incredibly similar, and I feel like it fits Surge's aesthetic slightly better. But only slightly, not enough to change out such an iconic ace.

Erika's Team

Tangela--Don't know if I have much to say, other than please make sure this has grass moves. Thank you.

Butterfree--A butterfly pairs real well with all these flowers. Additionally Butterfree's access to powder moves and its special attacks make it fit Erika's strategy even though its not a grass type.

Vileplume--Really torn between this and Victreebel, since I'd rather not have two grass/poisons if I can help it. I often here Victreebel presented as more of a threat, since it's more aggressive, especially in Gen 1. But Vileplume is tankier, so it might hold out a little longer, and I think that gives it more of a presence.

Koga's Team

Tentacruel--Koga is spoiled for choice on poison types, and something menacing that lurks in the water fits his ninja theme pretty well.

Golbat--It was this or Beedrill, but Golbat's access to confusion moves makes it fit Koga's tactics better.

Magmar-- Originally I was thinking Scyther; as a fast blade-wielder, it's more of a ninja than anything else on Koga's team. But for Koga, that theme is all about debilitating foes with smoke and poisons, so a pokemon that packs the poisonous fumes of a volcano is a good fit.

Weezing--I could easily have dropped Weezing and elevated Muk to the role of ace, but I don't feel strongly enough about either to drop his classic. Plus, and maybe this is just me watching too many solo runs, the looming threat of self-destruct carries more menace than anything Muk has ever packed.

Sabrina's Team

Mr Mime-- There are so many psychic types in these games, I don't want a Kadabra and an Alakazam. Honestly I don't even need two mono-psychic types, I could have gone with something that adds more type diversity, but strangely I do like Mr Mime for Sabrina. Plus in later gens, leading with a screen setter might be a pain for the opponent.

Slowpoke-- There's that type diversity. I considered a Starmie for that fast, hard-hitting feel that Sabrina tends to go for, but let's not step on Misty's toes.

Venomoth-- I thought about giving her a Haunter, but nah. Venomoth is a non-psychic type that can pack psychic moves, and I can kind of see a connection to Sabrina's sort of aloof, otherworldly vibes. Moths are creatures of the night, dancing on the edge of the light... it kinda works.

Alakazam-- Ace unchanged, no notes.

Blaine's Team

Vulpix--Thought about a Ninetails and an Arcanine, but I kinda feel like that diminishes Arcanine as the ace even if its higher level. Still, replacing Blake's leading Growlithe with a Vulpix gives him a little more diversity in his team.

Rapidash--Speaking of diversity, I really thought about Charizard. I did. It and Moltres are the only Kanto fire types with a second typing. And while there are other NPCs who have starter pokemon, I feel like giving one to a gym leader felt a little off. So it's gonna have to be all mono-fire types except for the lancer.

Exeggcute--Eggs equals bald? I dunno, Blaine doesn't have strong theming to me, but what he does have is a role as the second-to-last gym leader, one the game expects you to treat as a major threat. Honestly we're here more for a move than a pokemon--solar beam, which both fits a fire theme and covers fire's weaknesses. And Exeggcute is like the only Kanto mon to learn it at a level Blaine is likely to pack.

Arcanine--Ace unchanged, no notes.

Giovanni's Team

Dugtrio--Moving this to the lead, who needs Rhyhorn AND Rhydon?

Sandslash--I really thought about keeping both Nidoking and Nidoqueen, they're not quite the same evolutionary line. But they're close enough, and I have... other plans, for her majesty.

Nidoking--I love how over the course of the game, this ground theme gradually crystallizes, without Giovanni dropping too many pokemon. This started out as just a poison type, which most Team Rocket members lean towards, and only for this final fight is it evolved into a ground type.

Kangaskhan--You could go with Persian here if you wanted to emulate the anime, but in most of the games Giovanni uses a Kangaskhan prior to this point. Whichever one you have him use for the rest of the game, I'd want him to keep it till the end, but now it's reframed as not even his final form--I mean, strongest Pokemon.

Rhydon--The fact that rock/ground doubles down on so many type weaknesses almost wants me to let Giovanni keep his old Rhyhorn and elevate Dugtrio (or maybe Sandslash?) to ace. But neither of those match Rhydon's raw power, so I don't think we need to change this.

Now, as for the elite four...

Lorelei

Dewgong--Not a lot of ice types in this game, and Lorelei already has all of them (except the legendary). So there's not much room for me to improve on anything but the lancer.

Cloyster--No notes, move along.

Jynx--Originally Jynx was the only break from the water types, and her psychic type could be a good counter to any fighting types giving you trouble. Problem with that is, Lorelei's Jynx doesn't typically have psychic moves. I know in Gen I the learnset was bad, but suck it up and give her psychic or something.

Nidoqueen--A surprise I'm sure, but hear me out. As I just noted, three of Lorelei's ice types are also water types, and adding in Slowbro made it four out of five. That meant that, one, she was just as much a water type trainer as an ice type, and two, water was her more exploitable weakness. Grass types might have struggled, but electric types could sweep her pretty easily (Jynx isn't weak to electric, but she's a glass cannon and not too much of a threat). Adding in a bulky ground type that can learn ice moves and fits Lorelei's color scheme seemed like a good call. And yes, this is part of the reason Giovanni doesn't get to have the queen.

Lapras--Ace unchanged, no notes

Bruno

Hitmonlee--I'd have Bruno lead with Hitmonlee just because it's one of the more straightforward fighting types. Hits hard, but doesn't have a varied move pool.

Hitmonchan--Obviously we can't separate Hitmonchan from Hitmonlee, so here we are.

Poliwrath--Doing what we can to get some type diversity into this roster. Plus Poliwrath's access to hypnosis and halfway decent special stats (sorry Hitmonchan) represents a pretty sizeable tactical shift.

Pinsir--This one does not represent a tactical shift. Big and bulky, well known for moves like seismic toss and submission, Pinsir feels like an honorary fighting type. A bit of a straightforward lancer, but Bruno's a bit of a straightforward trainer.

Machamp--Ace unchanged, no notes

Agatha

Gastly--Okay, this one's a problem. Ghost and dragon are supposed to be rare, mysterious types, each represented by only one evolutionary line. I don't mind that in theory, and I also don't mind showcasing the rare mysterious types within the elite four. But boy does it make it hard to have a varied team. Gastly's move set should focus mainly on spreading status more than inflicting damage--hypnosis, confuse ray, maybe toxic or in later gens will o wisp.

Haunter--Same evolutionary line, but now focus a little more on damage, and maybe coverage. You can keep hypnosis and maybe confuse ray, but moves like night shade are keepers, and maybe throw in a TM move like psychic.

Haunter--Now we have two of the same exact pokemon and I hate it. At the very least give this a different moveset. Maybe mega/giga drain, dream eater, and hypnosis as its core? Let its focus on life drain set it apart from the tactics of the first haunter.

Hypno--Finally a break from the same evolutionary line. This team already has more poison types that Koga, so I didn't want to double down with Golbat or Arbok. Hypno's emphasis on status moves and dream eater fits well into Agatha's theme, while providing a good wall against psychic types that may have been giving you trouble.

Gengar--In gen 1 at least, Agatha's final Gengar didn't have hypnosis, which kind of meant a sigh of relief when you reached it. And while I do want the ace to be threatening, I kind of like the idea that you've gotten past the worst of the debilitating effects and are ready to square off in a more head-to-head battle. Nightshade, thunderbolt, maybe keep dream eater even if you can't put things to sleep yourself.

Lance

Dratini: Yep, same problem as Agatha. I have similar ideas for solutions, just trying to keep the movesets distinct. Dratini's a little bulkier than Gastly, but doesn't hit very hard. Dragon rage doesn't depend on stats, so that's a good attack. Then throw around thunder wave, maybe set up a reflect.

Dragonair: I think Yellow had more or less the right idea for the Dragonairs. This one can focus on electric moves, but make sure not to entirely give up on dragon moves.

Dragonair: And for this one we'll focus on water and ice moves, though again try to keep at least one dragon move. We want to show off the diverse move pool of these mighty dragons.

Gyarados: There are so many pseudo-dragons to choose for the lancer. No Charizard for the same reason I didn't give Blaine one. Aerodactyl is really neat, I think it's something no other NPC in the game has, but it also really doubles down on the ice weakness, and if we're talking about a Gen I version it doesn't even have rock moves. Gyarados offers good bulk and is at least neutral to ice, so a player just spamming ice beam or whatever will have to be a little more tactical for a bit.

Dragonite: We had one dragonair focused on electric and one focused on water/ice. For the ace, pairing fire moves with dragon gives it solid coverage and a strong turnaround on ice types (though many of them are also water, but still a neutral fire blast from a powerful pokemon can be scary).

That's it for Kanto. I uh. My brain is already buzzing with Johto. So that might be a thing.

#pokemon #long post #i'm not really sure what else to tag this but i'm open to suggestions #game design maybe?

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