#look who came back to gif pokémon again

[sougu]

"With new companions, Ash and Pikachu's journey grows even more livelier."

~ Welcome back, Misty! ☆

[yuu-extended-yuuniverse]

Pokémon AU! (Yuu & Riddle)

Trainer looking at Grim: What kind of Pokémon is THAT???

Grim, offended: I'm not a Pokémon! I'm a TRAINER. Just you wait! I'll be the greatest Elite Four Champion ever! Myahahahaha!

Yuu: Does that make me the Pokémon in this relationship?

~*~

Riddle Rosehearts was the youngest trainer to ever become a gym leader in Twisted Wonderland, and remains one of the most ruthless.

Gym leader Riddle specializes in primarily fire type Pokémon! Which is why so many new challengers who come prepared with a full team of Water-types are so caught off guard when Riddle's partner Pokémon, Roserade, comes out! Who finishes them off with her signature move "Off With Your Head!"

Losers are enlisted to paint the hedge maze roses of the Heartslabyul gym to appear like Poké balls.

More headcanons and enlarged photos below:

Riddle

Heartslabyul is the first gym most new trainers encounter

It is situated in the same city as the trainer school, where Riddle enjoys tutoring on his days off

His partner Pokémon, Roserade, was gifted to him by a childhood friend (Trey) back when it was still a weak little Budew

Mrs. Rosehearts belongs to the ranks of Nurse Joys and originally wanted Riddle to study medicine. To everyone's shock, obedient young Rosehearts went on to become a formidable trainer and eventually declared, much to his mother's chagrin, his intention to become a gym leader and help new trainers

Riddle is still the youngest gym leader, at 18 years old

Despite his harsh exterior, many trainers still attribute much of their success to Leader Rosehearts' insistence on practicing the basics.

If you are strong and fortunate enough to ever challenge Riddle again, his fully trained 6 team includes Roserade, Ninetails, Flareon, Rapidash, Alolan Rapidash, and Shaymin.

When pressed, Riddle refuses to answer where he met a member of the elusive Shaymin Pokémon.

Riddle can often be found racing or playing polo at the Equestrian club, riding either of his Rapidashs.

Despite all the good he does, Riddle can often be too much of a stickler to the rules and unable to see outside-the-box

He first meets Yuu when he is kicking Ace and Deuce, two new trainers, out of his gym for trying to cheat their way through his hedge maze puzzle and disparaging the idea of going to trainer school, refusing to let them challenge him and effectively ending their dreams of challenging the elite four.

It is only after Yuu challenges him for Ace and Deuce's right to re-enter the gym, and uses both lessons Riddle preaches and unusual outside-the-box thinking to defeat him, that Riddle reconsiders his black and white view of the world.

He gives Ace and Deuce a second chance, on the expectation that they first go to trainer school for a week, and asks if Yuu would consider sharing their unique battling style with the students at the school (despite these techniques not being taught in any books)

In the end, all three, Ace, Deuce, and Yuu, earn their Heartslabyul badges, and Riddle wishes them luck at the next gym.

Yuu

No one quite knows where this trainer came from.

All anyone knows is that they showed up out of nowhere with a talking feline Pokémon no Pokédex recognizes, named Grim.

For whatever reason, Team STYX keeps trying to capture Grim for some nefarious purpose.

But despite Yuu's unimposing figure and having just recently started their journey, they are actually a very formidable trainer and have managed to battle off every one of Team STYX's attempts.

Yuu meets Ace and Deuce while the two of them are being kicked out of Heartslabyul gym and a fast friendship is formed.

Ace declares that they are all rivals now, but they still travel together from city to city.

To Ace and Deuce's horror, Yuu seems to enjoy sleeping over in abandoned and haunted houses on their journey

Ghost Pokémon seem to particularly like Yuu

Yuu sometimes runs into an interesting person during their travels, a man they have nicknamed Tsunotaro

Tsunotaro seems to always show up whenever Team STYX is getting up to no good, and helps Yuu battle them off and clear out various Team STYX bases of operation throughout Twisted Wonderland.

Ace and Deuce have never met this mysterious Tsunotaro, but if they did they would be shocked to discover that he is actually Malleus Draconia, Twisted Wonderland's infamous and terrifying Elite Four Champion

But to Yuu he's just Tsunotaro, a weird but nice guy who seems to think fighting off a crime syndicate together counts as a date

[d3adbr3inc3lls]

Hi!! Could you maybe write performer reader x amethio?

Amethio x Preformer!Reader | HCs & Drabbles

Note-- some of this is written at unholy hours of the morning(/lh) so some parts may not make sense, but I edited this in the morning again, so hopefully that balances it out.

Amethio was usually too focused on his work to look at work to watch anything really,

Conia was the one who showed him the pokémon performers, and you instantly stood out to him.

No matter what pokémon you had with you, you always brought out their full potential,

For crying out loud, you could be using Giratina and you'd be able to make the deity look graceful and like it doesn't have some twisted backstory

You were able to ace most, if not all, challenges that came your way.

Sure you may have struggled with some, but you kept going. You never backed down and that's what he loved about you.

The two of you probably met through Conia, she was a close friend of yours who was always there to support you, and even though you hesitated slightly at meeting Amethio, her superior, who wouldn't? You expected him to be a serious adult and not someone your own age, but she later convinced you that it was a good idea.

When you two finally met, you were in Sinnoh to relax and train your 'mons, and Conia, alongside Zir and Amethio were there because they heard of Kleavor and wanted to get to it before the RVT did.

You two meeting was a complete coincidence and it was unplanned, (Conia originally planned on having the two of you meeting up after their current mission which was to track down Kleavor), so it was a suprise when you heard your best friend yelling your name.

Hearing your name being yelled you quickly spun around to meet a familiar greyish-blue haired woman running over to you.

The two of you have been friends since highschool, and thinking back on it, she was like an older sister to you, always helping you get to class and was the main reason you passed calculus.

Crashing into your arms she gave you a tight hug, clearly missing someone who she views as a younger sibling. Your beloved partner pokémon quickly glances up at the two of you before letting out a happy cry and glancing at Conia, waiting for her to release her Psyduck.

You could see a taller man -who you assumed is Zir- somewhat behind her covering with a shorter man as they approached the two of you rather slowly.

"Your last performance was great, even Amethio and Zir watched you,"

A smile of pride paints Conia's face before she releases her Psyduck -now Golduck- to play with your 'mons.

"Really,?"

You would've never believed it yourself if it weren't for Zir nodding behind her, you wouldn't have believed her. Zir was never interested in anything related to performances, and as far as you've heard, Amethio would probably find it not worthy of his time as he's often training to get better.

But you were suprised to see that you were so wrong with assuming Amethio wouldn't watch you perform,

He enjoyed every moment of your performance, even the challenges that happened before.

The 'challenge' that happened before you had a performance against the Kalos Queen, Serena, involved a pokémon battle.

Not just any regular battle- well, it was a regular battle but it had a spin- you had to show off your partner's moves, and the way they phrased it was a bit off, but it was like a performance whilst battling,

If the two of you ever began to date, expect him to be at every performance. He loves watching you and your pokémon preform, even if you don't win and get to compete in the next rounds, he still is proud of you, knowing how hard it must be to perform not only infront of hundreds of people in person but probably thousands if you concider those watching online.

With that being said, if you ever struggle oe need help, he's the last person you should ask.

Amethio only knows pokémon moves in a literal battling sense, not a performance sense, so he won't be able to help you.

He barely even understands how you manage to turn any move into one for show instead of damage.

But expect him to be there for every performance (he will try his best to go to them, even if it means sneaking out and doing dumb teenager things, he doesn't mind it as much),

Quickly scanning the area, you look for the familiar ravenhead, he's always there to greet you after your performances, -but he did say that he might not be able to meet you because of something to do with summoning a legandary pokémon or something similar that you didn't understand-

You've changed into your regular clothes after the performance for comfort and possible safety issues as you've heard many rumours and horror stories of performers -especially female performers- being harassed by crazed fans.

Feeling a tap on your shoulder, you quickly spin around, anxious to see who may have recognised you, until you heard the familiar voice that put your mind at ease.

"I apologise, I had to get something, that's why I'm late," the familiar ravenhead told you as he handed over a bouquet of flowers, he had always bought you something after your performances without fail, and it truly makes you appreciate him more than you currently do if that's even possible.

In all honesty, you probably wouldn't be aware of Amethio's occupation and role with the Explorers, he doesn't want you to talk to the other admins as he doesn't want either of you to be targets of their comments.

If he does see any of them when the two of you are out, he'd try and avoid them,

If he can't avoid them, he'd definitely deal with them, excusing himself politely, saying that he sees one of colleagues and it is in your best intrest to not interact with them.

Amethio's worst nightmare would be Sango or Spinel finding out you're dating him.

Sango would make her usual Sango remarks whilst Spinel would tell him how shallow he is, spoiler alert- he isn't, he genuinely cares for you, and how it's a typical teenager relationship that probably won't last long

Jokes on him, Amethio never planned for the relationship to be short and genuinely wants it to work out, but if you ever want to leave, he won't stop you.

[vante1920pm]

More ideas incoming

A headcanon that Grusha's Pokemon literally sees you as their another parent, same could be said to your Pokemon

The image of Altaria swooping you on top of her back and flew towards Glaseado with the face that translates "dad is sad again, he needs you" won't leave my head

──;; 𝐆𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐊É𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ★☆

★ 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲: Ohh, that sounds so cute !!

◎ | pokémon masterlist

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

☆ 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: grusha/reader

☆ 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: ooc, not proof read, gn!reader

It was already late in the evening when Grushas Altaria suddenly landed in front of you. You were confused at first, but telling from the look on her face, something bad happened.

You got your (flying/pokemon) out and followed Altaria to Glaseado. ( Idk if Altaria is big enough to carry a person )

When you landed, you rushed to his small house and knocked on the door.

You had to wait two minutes but then Grusha opened the door, with a frown on his face. When his eyes landed on you, his face seemed to relax.

He asked you why you were here, to which you replied, that his Altaria came to you and that you thought something might have happen.

He seemed confused but then saw his Pokémon right behind you. He sighed and opened the door a little bit more, so you could enter.

You couldn't even make five steps without his other Pokémon running you over.

Grusha knew how much his Pokémon loved you, so he didn't mind helping you up. But he wouldn't have done it either way.

You laughed at the excitement on their cute, little faces but then stood up and turned to Grusha, who was watching the whole time.

He seemed to be lost in thought. He just sat on his couch, staring at you.

You asked him what he was thinking about but he didn't answer at first.

After a while he came back to himself and told you, that he was kinda in a bad mood, but that it was nothing to be worried about. Just some personal stuff he has to figure out.

You didn't want to push him or something, so you just nodded with a quiet "I see".

You started to play with his Pokémon again, not noticing that he put on a movie and got a blanket.

When he told you he wanted to watch a movie with you, what surprised you a little bit, because it wasn't really a question, more like a demand, you plumped right next to him.

You didn't thought that you would spend you evening like that but didn't complain about it.

I mean, it could be worse than to spend time with the guy you like and his Pokémon all cuddled up against you two.

© 2023, vante1920pm | do not copy or translate any of my works without my permission. likes, comments and reblogs are highly appreciated

[naviaknell777]

Hello again!

I loved how you wrote my request of raph x reader.

May i request rottmnt little sister!reader & all of her 4 brothers headcanons? (Reader is about 11)

Type of request: funny/comedy, wholesome, platonic.

Plot: so this happen if reader was the only one sibling attending school.

Reader come home with a basket full of different types of chocolate (probably 15 piece?), at first the siblings thought that reader would give them chocolate because it was meant for them or she would give chocolate to somebody, turned out they were "given " to her... By " boys ".

That when their brother instincts kick in, their little, innocent - probably naive - sister is getting chocolate... From multiple boys... On Valentine's day... That cannot be good for their hearts.

I’m so glad you liked the last one! Thanks for sending in your requests, they’re fun to write! Remember everyone that my requests are open!

“Valentine’s Day”

Rise!Turtles x Sister!Reader

Code: Y/N = your name, [f/f] = favorite flavor

———————

- So, one day when Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and Raph were walking around at night when they came across a mystic cloaking broach

- They collectively decided that their little sister, Y/N should use it to go to school

- They just wanted a better life for their only sister (aww, they’re very loving brothers!)

- Eventually, Y/N started to go to school, wearing her cloaking broach to look human. It was definately a new experience for her, but her brothers helped her with the huge adjustment!

- She was placed in the fifth grade (as she is 11 years old)

- The school year was going pretty well for her (she even made a friend!)

- However, one very specific day in February came rolling around, and Y/N had school that day

- It was Valentines Day!

- Y/N didn’t really get Valentine’s Day, or didn’t really understand it, because she randomly got a bunch of chocolates from a few people in her class

- At the end of the day, she came home with her lunch box full of chocolates she didn’t eat yet

- So at around 3:30, she made it back home, took off her cloaking broach, and opened her lunchbox, and inside was a ton of chocolates!

- She dumped all of it on the kitchen counter, with Leo and Mikey nearby, and they heard her dump the chocolates on the counter.

- “Aw, did little sis get us all chocolates?” Leo asked, smiling and jumping towards the counter with stars in his eyes

- Raph and Donnie soon entered the room and then plus Mikey also made their way to the counter, asking about the chocolate

- “You can have some, but they’re my chocolates too!” Y/N said

- She opened one of the heart shaped boxes and stuffed a piece of chocolate with [f/f] inside

- “Where’d ya get them?” Mikey asked, taking some chocolate

- “Some of the kids in my class gave ‘em to me!” Y/N responded

- “Aw, well that was nice of them!” Raph said, eating some strawberry flavor filled chocolate.

- Donnie looked at the boxes, and after a moment, he was able to remeber that today was Valentine’s Day

- He looked worried for a second (he hoped though that his theory was wrong, that no boy in her class gave her these chocolates)

- Meanwhile his brothers and sister ate the chocolates happily

- “Say, who gave you these chocolates, my dear sister? Some of your girl friends?” Donnie asked

- Y/N looked at him for a moment and swallowed her chocolate “yeah, my best friend gave me a small one that I ate during lunch” she started

- “But Landon gave me this one” she held up a small square box with plain chocolates.

- “Gabriel gave me this one, I like that it’s my favorite color” she held up a slightly bigger box with flavored chocolates.

- “And Noah gave me this one, I like that it has Pokémon on it!” She held up the biggest heart-shaped box of chocolates she received, with mixed chocolates inside.

- “But the rest I found in my cubby so I don’t know who gave ‘em to me” Y/N smiled, eating more chocolate.

- Meanwhile her brothers…

- They all spat out their chocolate *immediately*

- “Who?!” Raph asked, taking her by the shoulders.

- “Who are those guys?!” Leo shouted, wiping some chocolate that he spit out off his face.

- Meanwhile Mikey was just screaming his head off

- And Donnie just leaned against the counter, shaking his head

- “Do… do you know if any of these boys like you, Y/N?” Raph asked, letting off a bit of an angry and anxiety stench

- The other three brothers also were staring at her, impatiently waiting her response

- Y/N just laughed, responding, “of course they do! We’re all friends!”

—————

Thanks for reading!

All Rights Reserved ©️NaviaKnell777 2023

[rhodesrider]

Getting Along

Y/N x Bloodline & Nicole (OC) x Judgement Day

Warnings: Fluff here and there, affirmation names, affirmation praise, poly relationships, sights of stimming and regression

Words: I stopped count I’m sorry-

~

“I HAVE TO WHAT?!” Y/N yelled in the lounge giving evil eyes at Paul as he explained the issue going on tonight. “P-please miss it’s only for the time being, our tribal chief-“ “Yea I have a few words for my tribal chief.” She said in a mocking tone and grabbed her phone FaceTiming Roman immediately. Paul wipes the sweat off his head and the twins just sat there annoyed along with solo who rubbed his temples.

Roman answered knowing it was Y/N. “My decision is final princess. Just be on the playing field for now.” “But daddy I don’t wanna work with the has been goths…” she pouted and shed a tear seeing if that could work. “And Nicole is weird!” She added in. “Baby, we have an issue we need to solve. Be nice and play along, if not I’ll have a word with you about your manners again.” He said in a strict tone. She groaned and looked at the camera nodding. “Good girl. Play nice and let’s just just finish this little issue.” He gave her a small air kiss and hung up. As soon as she was outta Roman’s sight she screamed in anger. She walked back in the lounge room heated but knowing she was gonna have to just deal with it.

~

They were walking up to the stage, and Y/N was given instructions to stay in the back with Nicole. Nicole was being coddled by Rhea fixing her hair some as she was playing on her Nintendo switch. As Y/N watched, Nicole didn’t look up from her screen, she received a kiss from everyone in the group, but she hugged Dominik. “Your charger is in the bag munchkin!” Rhea called out and waited by the ramp entrance with the others. Y/N was on the other side trying to avoid talking to her. They both have the same roles, but Y/N sees her as a lap dog. Nicole doesn’t wrestle or isn’t in any events, unlike Y/N who won titles and opportunities. Y/N is more than what Nicole is, that’s why she knows they won’t get along. The bloodline walked up and Y/N kissed all three men and gave a mocking middle finger to Paul. “Baby.” Jey shot a look. “I’m sorry I’m sorry.” She smirked. As they went to the ring, Y/N directed her attention to the tv. Nicole was still on her switch, chewing on a Oreo teething necklace. “…Can you chew quieter please?” Y/N said a bit annoyed at the squeaks from the biting toy. Nicole looked up and nodded, she just stopped chewing all together and just played her game in silence.

Nicole looked up at Y/N, a bit shy but she doesn’t really have many friends but JD. And they really don’t count she’s their girlfriend. She was in Y/N’s shoes, in a poly relationship with four people that just want her. There’s times were it gets overwhelming but it has its perks a lot. “So…um…you do anything fun around here?” Nicole asked low, Y/N looked at her and just looked back at the screen. “Ok…um do you like video games?” Y/N said nothing. Nicole’s was about to give up hope until she heard a small yes. “…I have a switch lite…” Y/N really didn’t wanna talk to her but when it’s video gaming she’s a sucker for it. She plays online with Roman and the guys all the time. “…And a Ps5…” She smirked looking at her. “I just have my Switch, I like Nintendo games.” Y/N sighed going over and sitting by Nicole and keeping distance. But soon talking about Pokémon and Animal Crossing. Y/N learned a lot about Nicole, games and music, learning they have some social issues. “So when it gets too loud, you cover your ears with your headphones?” She nodded and put them over her head. “They muffle a lot of noise, Finny got em for me.” She blushed talking about on for her boyfriends. Y/N was hesitant but showed her anxiety ring. Telling her Jimmy got it for her to help her chill on her skin scratching.

After the promo and match, the guys came back tired. “Munchkin!” Rhea called. Nicole looked back telling them she’s on the way seeing them head to their lounge. “Since we might see each other more, here!” Nicole reached in her bag and gave Y/N a indi game she recommended. Y/N smiled and took the offer trading her a game as well. Her Pokémon game. “Since you skipped Arceus.” She smirked. Nicole smiled and hugged her which made JD gasp a little. Hearing a slight faint Dominik “She never hugs anyone else…” that was in shock. Y/N waved bye to her new friend and Nicole waved back getting hoisted by Damien and getting a piggy back ride giggling. The twins watched the whole scene and was so happy for Y/N making a new friend. “Hey so you made friends with the lap dog-“ Jey teased but soon felt a sharp punch to his arm. “She’s not a lap dog! Don’t call her that!” She growled and Jey apologized quick. “I’m just happy you getting more friends then just us.” Jimmy smirked hugging her. Y/N looked down at the Indi game “Cult of the Lamb” and smiled. “Yea…I’m happy too.”

~

Rhea and the crew were getting their stuff in the van to head to the hotel room. “Munchkin, I’m guessing you made a new friend?” Rhea didn’t hear anything but heard pokemon sounds coming from in the van. “I’m gonna take that as a yes mami.” Dominik smirked and got in the back too, watching her play. Rhea smiled warmly happy she was being more verbal now, but there’s still more work to be done. She’s just glad there’s progress.

[lightofunova]

Tornadus sat with the woman until the feelings had passed, allowing her emotions to seep into the dirt below them. She had been through quite the ordeal.

He gave her a squeeze as he sighed, breaking the embrace. Would things have been the same if her servants were different? How could he bring her back to the task at hand? More importantly was the looming threat of his brothers discovering the situation. Gods above he didn’t want to think about that.

“Lio?” His attention turned down to the litwick. It seemed throughly upset as did Reshi. He reached up with a waxy arm to try and steal her attention.

A choked laugh came between tears. “I’m sorry friend, I didn’t mean to scare you.” She held the candle pokémon in place while it hugged her.

“Lio Li lit litti!!”

“I’d like to see you try. Maybe if you evolved.” a wry tone came from Reshi.

“Lo.”

“Yeah. You don’t seem like you wanna.”

The trio stayed upon the ground for a moment longer before they began to continue their journey.

————————————————————————

Making their way into Iccirus, the legends resumed their disguises seamlessly. Reshi’s heart twisted as she did so, it was still uncomfortable for her.

Their approach was halted by a familiar man from before. His frosted blue hair was pulled into a tight updo and he wore a bright mask over his eyes. A loose set of icy robes hung off his toned body.

Tornadus stiffened a bit, wheras Reshi herself took a moment before proceeding. If she recalled correctly, his name was ‘Brycen’.

“Who are you to come from the tower? There have been odd occurrences happening there in the past few days!” His voice was firm and cold, yet confident. Reshi’s eyes searched quickly for Tornadus, knowing fully well her tounge was tied.

“Ah! We are simply trainers in the area. Pardon us good sir.” Tornadus took the lead seamlessly. Reshi sucked in a breath, holding it in hopes it could get her through the conversation.

“Truly?” A loaded question. “We have only seen Team Plasma members around that tower as of late.” The man’s eyebrow raised. “What with their attack on the tower a week ago…and the strange lights coming from the tower. I find it hard to believe your simple story!”

“Well-“

“Team Plasma attacked the tower?” Reshi asked, cutting off Tornadus before he could speak another work. Vivid blue hues bore down upon the trainer as he turned his attention towards her. A tilt of his head, a brow lowered. He took a moment before speaking. “Yes, they did. It was their aim to resurrect one of the Unovan Gods of old.” He started. “That bridge ruined the entrance of the tower, in older days only those worthy could pass through the waters and enter those hallowed halls. I have no doubt the destruction in there was caused by those damn scoundrels.” Reshi thought back to the Team Plasma member they had met but a few nights ago. Something about the organization striked her as odd when someone had so blatantly lied to her face. To learn now that he has been possibly involved in the destruction of her home?

“Who are you?” The man asked her again, cutting her from her thoughts. Looking back up towards him, she looked for something to say. “We are simply passing through for now, we will be leaving shortly and cause no harm.” Came her reply. “I do need to ask you however, is there anyone we can talk to more about the region’s history? Or about Team Plasma for that matter.” The human seemed taken aback, a strange look overcoming his face.

“The lady is quite intrigued in Unovan history! That’s why we came here. She met her partner at the tower to the south you know.” Tornadus added. Brycen looked between the duo, then at the litwick once more. He crossed his arms. “Sure. Opelucid is home to a man and his granddaughter who know much about the old legends. I would start there, I saw that organization headed that way across the bridge.” A gentle smile spread across the albino’s face. “Thank you, We appreciate it.” With a bow of her head, the small group quickly brushed past him, a pair of eyes lingering on his form a bit longer as they did so.

Brycen was left perplexed as he watched them go forward. Something was off. Turning away once more, the gym leader fiddled with something upon his wrist. The face of an older man popped up but a few moments later.

“I know you are busy with matches today but this is urgent. There are a couple of strangers headed your direction.”

“Hmph. You couldn’t handle them Brycen?”

“I think you would find them more interesting than I do. They wish to talk about Team Plasma.”

“I don’t care to talk about those imbeciles-“

“And the Unovan legends.”

“…I’ll be ready. Thank you for the notice.”

[minzxv]

Home is where I'm at

I haven't played Legends Arceus I apologize omg... But I tried my best!!

Warning : Male reader Females dni! Also barely romance in it I couldn't picture that fitting well with what I was thinking of

Amethio was so clueless when he left the town and fucking came back to this boy walking around dressed up in attire that was like 5 centuries ago yelling "DO YOU GUYS REMEMBER ME" with a zoroark that looks like it dyed its hair and failed.

He honestly had a judgeful stare, until people started syaing stuff like "Oh my gosh It's _!" the last time Amethio heard of that name it was people talking about him being missing for like 2 years.

While you were walking around with your hisuian Zoroark your poor Zoroark gets hit with some random purple flame. Immediately you went serious mode and helped your Zoroark "Who's there! Don't underestimate me I know more than you do!"

You yelled, Amethio walked infront of you like a boss with his Ceruledge and formally introduced himself. "You are _ Correct."

You couldn't even say anything "Uh, yeah." Amethio looked at your Zoroark "What happened to your Zoroark in these past years."

You said all the information you had, and even showed the poke dex of all the Pokémon in the Hisui region "I completed the dex" You said smugly and Amethio boldly said

"Looks cheaper than a Pokedoll" "EXCUSE YOU?!?"

Amethio still stared at you dull like no emotion, it felt like a full on staring contest until he finally spoke again. "If it is possible other than this 'hisuian' Zoroark show me other Pokémon if you have."

That made you geek out into a fanboy friendsy you started showing all the pokemon that you had on you sharing all its facts and that. Amethio could not catch up with how fast you spoke it was like you were speaking 500 words per second.

He found it silly and after your like 12th Pokémon when you looked at him you didn't see him anywhere. "HE WASTED MY TIME!!!" You yelled

While on his end he was walking with Ceruledge, "If he ever said that to anyone else they would think he was crazy even with all of the proof. There is more to this world than what meets the eye." Amethio's Ceruledge made a sound of agreement and they continue walking.

[notstinky]

TIMING: Current FEATURING: Van (@vanoincidence) & Thea (@notstinky) LOCATION: A quiet neighborhood SUMMARY: Van gives Thea a longboarding lesson like a good friend would.

Van thought that maybe when Thea arrived, Polly would be on her arm. Polly would be on Thea’s arm, and then Van would have to give her skateboarding lessons, too. Van would have to hold onto Polly’s arm, or maybe her shoulders, and Polly would look behind them at Thea and exclaim: look, I’m doing it! It would be like Van was watching her life from some outside view, except it would be Polly and not her holding onto Thea’s hand once Thea decided to give it a try herself. Why she hadn’t started it off, Van wasn’t sure, but the version of Thea that Van had created in her head wasn’t as kind as the one she knew. It wasn’t fair to Thea and she knew it, so the moment that her (totally cute) friend came into view, Van raised a hand in greeting. 

It was easier to be upset about Polly than it was to be upset about Nora disappearing (again), or the fact that her house had been destroyed. It was easier to think about Thea paying attention to a girl in the way that she wanted to be paid attention to than to focus on the fact that Jade went out killing people just because they were undead. Van still couldn’t wrap her mind around it, couldn’t fathom the intricacies of it, but it warped her view of the world, leaving her feeling bitter. 

The bitterness dissipated as soon as she took in Thea’s smile. Polly was nowhere to be found, and Van was grateful. She tapped on the tail of her longboard lightly, leaning down to grab the axel as she tucked her fingers around the metal. It was easier to be in Thea’s presence than it was to be out of it, and though she hadn’t yet gone back to Regan’s apartment (out of fear, loneliness, and bitterness), it still felt lonely, not having her bald (and totally cute) friend around her. “You’re like, five minutes early.” She checked the time on her pokémon watch with the bright red plastic facing before jutting out her wrist to show Thea. “That’s five more minutes of skating lessons, you know that, right?” Would Thea even need lessons? Did Thea secretly know how to skate? Had their conversation on the drive home after Van had picked up Thea off of the side of the road been a lie? The oil painting (now verified as blood) had been one, but would Thea lie about something like skating? Maybe. 

She’d been an hour early, not that Van would know, because she’d had to walk around in circles down the block just to keep herself from being the weirdo that showed up an hour early and overly excited for longboarding lessons. All of it because an idea was lodged in Thea’s head: if she was early, she got to spend more time with Van. It wasn’t a conscious choice, not like the one to wear a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and padded gloves, but something she’d been thinking about. And thinking about. And thinking about. And then she showed up an hour early and had to walk around in circles. There was no way Van still thought she was cool—Thea’s general un-coolness had thoroughly dismantled that idea—but she knew that Van did like her, for whatever nebulous reason. But that must have been tenuous because it was always tenuous; she was always one stupid sentence away from ruining everything. If only she could be more normal, hold on to some semblance of coolness, then her and Van could… could… Could what? 

“Yep! Definitely five minutes early and not any more minutes than that.” Thea squinted at the pokémon watch. She straightened up and adjusted her pink helmet. “I think I might need all the extra time you have, Van. I was watching videos and it seems really intense.” Most things were too intense for Thea. The girl who was a bit more daring was stuck in Toronto. Would Van like Cynthia more? Probably. Cynthia was cooler (by comparison to Thea, who could make a fire look cool); sometimes, she didn’t wear her helmet when she biked. Cynthia wouldn’t have moved out and then Cynthia wouldn’t have been missing Van and Cynthia wouldn’t have showed up an hour early just to squeeze more Van-time into her day and then be too afraid to actually capitalize on her earliness. Van would’ve liked Cynthia more. 

Thea shook her head; it was definitely one of the stranger spirals her brain took her down. Why was she jealous of herself? Why was she inventing people to be jealous of? (Jealous of what?) “This isn’t one of those things where you start with theory first and then application right? Like longboarding theory? I’m really good with theory.” In theory she was. Things were always great in the realm of the theoretical: theoretically, she didn’t eat people; theoretically, she was normal; theoretically, she had more hair; theoretically, she could tell Van how she felt about... Just about! That was definitely where that sentence was meant to end. “Will there be a test after?” 

“There’s a few seconds there, too.” Van smiled at Thea, and she realized that for the first time in a while, it felt easy. She didn’t want to be all doom and gloom, no– she wanted to be present. It felt like a lifetime ago, being able to smile like this. She was smiling so wide that it was starting to hurt her cheeks. She needed to tone it down. “Intense?” Van snorted before looking down at the board that had an array of different stickers ranging from she-ra to red bull on the bottom. “You don’t need to worry about it being like, super intense or anything. We can um, take it easy. Slow. Whatever you need.” 

At Thea’s question, Van shook her head. “I don’t know what longboarding theory would even be… maybe don’t fall, or something?” She let the board fall back down onto the ground, tapping her shoe against the backend to keep it from rolling away from her. It had been awhile since she’d found the time to go boarding, too. The street they were on was quiet, and there were hardly any cars that would drive past since they were at the end of the roundabout. It was a good place to practice. She liked it here, and not just because she was here with Thea. 

“What do you want the test to look like?” She crouched down next to her board and motioned for Thea to come stand next to her. “This is where you want your back foot to go, and then your front foot.” That was simple enough, she thought. Thea should totally retain that. Van got to her feet and planted her feet down onto the board, showcasing the instructions she had just given her (totally cute) friend. “Maybe the test can be you going all the way to that mailbox and then coming back here without falling or losing the board.” She dropped her hand after pointing to which mailbox she had meant, and stepped off the board. The confidence Van wore now was only amplified by the fact that she knew what she was doing, but she knew that once Thea took her (now) outstretched hand, it might be lost. 

“Will I be able to do a kickflip after this?” Thea pulled up her sleeve, revealing a list of longboarding trick names she’d looked up in the morning. “Tail Manual? Nose Manual? Hippie Jump? Early grab?” Thea dropped her sleeve again, looking back at Van with a smile that crinkled the corner of her eyes. “I hope I get to Apple Sauce at least; that one sounds tasty.” Spending time with Van always filled her with a strange suspicion; something that spun her insides like a washing machine (but not her heart, sorry Mitski, because it was too busy sprinting), while simultaneously turning everything into an ASMR beach meditation video. Peaceful was not a state of being that Thea understood.

“Really, that’s it?” Why was it so easy to talk to Van? “I just thought it would be harder.” Why did it feel so natural? “I thought there would be a lot of stuff I would have to learn.” Why did she like it so much? “I thought I’d get a big safety lesson first.” Thought she would or felt like she needed one, Thea wasn’t sure. She wanted a lot of things to come with a set rules, a list to follow. She crouched beside Van; she smelled really good today (she always did). She watched her put her foot on the board; she looked so cool today (she always did). Thea took Van’s hand and stepped up on to the board, as her cool, cute teacher friend had just demonstrated.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m totally going to the mailbox now.” She didn’t move. “I’m going to let go of your hand and go to the mailbox now.” She didn’t do that. “I’m definitely doing it.” Thea hadn’t moved an inch, other than the wobbling back and forth on the longboard. She glanced at their clasped hands. “C-could you just…maybe just hold it? All the way there? Maybe if… God, this is really scary. I feel like I’m really high up. Am I high up? I feel like the wheels are really big on your board and I’m super high off the ground right now and I don’t know what to do.”

“On this?” Van stared down at the board. She had done it plenty of times— on a different board. That one was smaller. This one was more beginner friendly. Had more room for error. “Probably not this one, but um, we can have another lesson! You could try it on the other board. That one is smaller, made for tricks.” She smiled at Thea, delighted by her eagerness. She recalled the promise of this lesson months ago, back when Debbie’s death had stained itself on their hands. Then again, no matter how hard she scrubbed, the remnants of what happened were still there. But now wasn’t the time to think about Debbie, even if that was how she met Thea. Thea was separate from Debbie. Had to be separate from her. Thea was here in front of her, learning how to longboard, and Van had to hold onto that. Nothing else. 

“That’s it,” Van reassured, her own smile tightening the corners of her lips, making it hard to drop it. It was as if a permanent fixture. Van snorted at Thea’s comment about a safety demonstration. “I didn’t get one when I started. I sorta just hopped on, you know? Sometimes it’s just like that. But um… don’t fall…?” That was a good lesson to learn, right? “If you do fall, don’t land on your hands. You might break your wrist that way. Try and to do like a little—“ She acted out a slight turn with her arms tucked to her chest, “tuck and roll situation, like you’re trying to put out a…” She didn’t want to finish that sentence, “rug burn or something.” Van cleared her throat and looked towards the mail box that she had instructed Thea to skate to. It wasn’t that far away, and if Thea succeeded, then she’d take her up the hill a bit. 

She kept Thea’s hand in hers, willing her to kick off the ground and get moving. A gentle squeeze, then silence. Then, Thea was talking to herself— or maybe she was talking to the both of them? Van giggled (she was an anti-giggler, hated giggling, thought it made her look small), and it caught her so off guard that instead of encouraging Thea forward, she simply obliged. “You’re not high up, but it might feel that way. I get it.” She squeezed Thea’s hand tightly, pulling on it gently to get her some momentum forward. “If you fall, I’ll catch you— cause our weights will cancel each other out or something. A doctor told me that wasn’t true, but I think she was lying.” She thought of Regan in that moment, and of Nora and Wynne— of how she was standing on a street with a pretty girl while they all dealt with the consequences of what happened in Ireland. But that wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t her fault she was with Thea, hands joined, the wheels of her longboard clicking each time they rolled across asphalt. Van didn’t want to feel guilty for enjoying her time. Not with Thea, not right now. 

“So it’s like that, you just um— you gain momentum, you know?” Van was walking backwards, her hand still in Thea’s as she looked into her friend’s eyes. Something fluttered in her chest, and she eagerly pushed it down. While she didn’t want to feel guilt, she wasn’t certain she was allowed to feel whatever that was. “Do you think you want to let go?” 

Tuck and roll. No hands. She wasn’t high up, it just felt that way. Thea tried to commit it all to memory. All she had to do was let go, take herself to the mailbox, turn around, go back. “That’s not really how physics works, Van. There’s like, um, conservation of momentum.” In theory though, maybe Van was strong enough to absorb the falling force of Thea and catch her. Thea pulled her eyes away from their hands and looked at her friend, her very cute friend. Her very cute friend who was giggling. Her very cute friend who was…. What was she thinking about again? Right, her imminent demise because she was totally like, ten feet off the ground on a wild, untamed, inanimate object. Why did she think this was a good idea? This wasn’t safe. Humans were not designed to be on boards with wheels. Thea couldn’t even ride a roller coaster on a good day; something about them made her body feel like it was constantly falling. The first, and last, time she’d rode one (the Leviathan at Canada’s Wonderland) she didn’t sleep at all; constantly jerking upright to prevent phantom falls. Why did she think she could do this? 

Thea wasn’t the sort of person that took risks: she was calculated, cautious, cowardly. She couldn’t longboard, she couldn’t tell Van that she…. What? What were those words caught in the back of her throat? She couldn’t do this; she shouldn’t have bothered. “I’m going to try,” Thea said, flaring with an odd rebellion. She wanted to be the sort of person that could fly down the street on a longboard, who wouldn’t even care that there was this strange burning thing in her mind—this bizarre twisting sensation—every time she thought about Van. The new, cool Thea, who was definitely going to skate to that mailbox, would figure it out instead of stopping herself from trying. It would be nothing. She’d go down the street and the words would come to her and maybe she’d even Apple Sauce. “I don’t want to let go,” she admitted, “but I’m going to.” And then she kicked off and sailed down the sidewalk. 

The wind kissed her red face and with each thump of the wheels over the sidewalk tiles, Thea felt a surge of more confidence. She really wasn’t all that high up and unlike during a certain rollercoaster, she didn’t feel like she was dying at every spike and fall. She even felt like she could take on the Leviathan again, maybe even the Behemoth, or The Bat. “I’m doing it, Van!” This was the birth of a new Thea, a cool Thea, and Thea who definitely didn’t know how to stop on the board and didn’t realize until she was sailing directly at Van. Suddenly, she remembered that when she’d gotten to the mailbox, instinct took over and she grabbed it, using its sturdy, stationary frame to stop herself. She adjusted the board with a wide smile, and without thinking, and kicked back off towards Van, still not thinking. Cool Thea, regular, cautious Thea realized, was kinda an idiot. 

Her eyes widened. “I don’t know how to stop, Van!” Thea called out, holding out her hands. She should’ve felt more panic but, looking at Van, all she really felt was pleased; at herself, at her friend. With all the confidence of someone who’d gone just a few feet to a mailbox in a completely safe neighborhood under the watchful gaze of a friend and had been experiencing no real danger at all, she smiled. Oh well, wasn’t Van saying something about their weights canceling out? Which was obviously false, but she’d gone to the mailbox, anything was possible now, including completely rewritten laws of physics. Including— Including—

Van looked up at Thea, memorizing the way her face took shape; the low dip of her lips, the slight tremble of them— and the feeling of Thea’s hands in hers. She squeezed them again, hopeful that the eagerness and confidence she felt in Thea would somehow transfer over, mutating through sweat glands, or possibly something else— her thumbprint, planted on the back of Thea’s left hand as she squeezed gently, letting go only to watch her friend sail towards the mailbox that she had instructed her to go to. “You can go, I believe in you!” It was too late, Thea was already going.  

The temptation to chase after her, to make sure that should she fall she would be there to catch her like she had promised bit at her heels, but roots planted through the soles of her feet as she watched Thea near the mailbox. She knew that from where Thea stood, it would feel like she was going a lot faster than she actually was. Van thought about her first moments on a board and how her mom had been adamant about not letting her on one again after she scraped her knee. Van had been fearless then— a tiny terror, always built for what was to come, always pushing ahead. It had been so long since she’d been that girl, but being with Thea, it felt like something allowed her to be. Like she wouldn’t be looked down upon for finding excitement in the things she used to before it all fell apart. 

“You’re doing like, so good!” Van cupped her hands around her mouth, hopping in place as she shouted at Thea who was still heading towards the mailbox. And just like that, she had done what she was told, arms gathering the mailbox like an old friend. Van clapped her hands above her head and nodded, encouraging Thea to come back to her. She hadn’t anticipated the force at which she would do so. 

“Put your foot down!” Why hadn’t she taught Thea how to stop? That was like, one of the most important things to teach in long boarding! It wasn’t like they had stoppers, or whatever the hell those things were called like on skates! “You need to put your foot down! Put it down with the back, then—“ Now, Van felt the speed at which Thea possibly felt like she was traveling. Thea was smiling, though, and Van couldn’t help but smile back. She met Thea’s outstretched hands with her own, the velocity (or momentum— how did physics work?) knocked her to the ground as the board continued on without its rider. 

Van fell to the ground, Thea on top of her, limbs tangled. The air left her lungs as she hit the asphalt, and she could already tell that her elbows were skinned. Maybe she was the one who needed all of the protective gear! Maybe it’d been wrong to assume she could do this for Thea! But as she opened her eyes, she noticed that Thea was so close. Too close. Van could smell citrus on her breath— had all she eaten was an orange before showing up—? Van blinked, doing everything in her power not to look into her eyes. She knew little to nothing about the vast amounts of space and what colors were cast across the sky, but she knew that if she were to look into Thea’s eyes, she’d be sucked into them as if some kind of void. That the milky way would bleed of its textbook visage and look a little more like the reflection in Thea’s eyes as she stared up. “Are you— are you—“

It wasn’t right, the way she tried to get up. It was sloppy. Instead of properly getting to her feet, Van knocked her face against Thea’s, flustered by the proximity. 

Including a kiss. Maybe it wasn’t one, maybe it didn’t matter much either way because for a few short moments, Thea’s world burst open. Van moved her head up just as Thea tried to move hers and the resulting awkward motion produced a feather-light caress of Van’s lips to hers. In the realm of kisses it was more a graze, like two strangers arms brushing on a busy street, than Nicholas-Sparks-rain-soaked-passion. Thea knew this, the logical part of her brain was quick to rationalize—it was nothing, it was forgettable, awkward touches like that happened all the time with friends—and yet, a terrifying certainty claimed her. They weren’t strangers and this street was surprisingly empty and maybe it wasn’t raining, maybe this wasn’t The Notebook but did everything always have to be one thing or another? 

About fourteen billion years ago, everything that ever was, or would be, was infinitesimally tiny, hot and dense. Alone, Thea liked to imagine what the universe must have been like pre-Big Bang; just how tiny, how small. Taking the smallest things she could think of and mentally slicing them up and dividing and dividing and still, nothing compared to what the universe was, once, billions of years ago. There was an inevitability about things so small, so compact, so hot and dense and full of everything: they expand. And thus, the Big Bang, an expansion of the universe, eternally growing. How many billions of stars were created from one small thing? How much of this one feeling inside of her could she hold until it needed to grow? She’d been asking herself that since Van had found her blood-covered walking home, and she’d sunk into the worn seats of Van’s car, idly—innocently—thinking she was cute. The thought itself wasn’t new; how many hundreds of fleeting curiosities had she made up over every passing pretty girl? How innocuous it’d been: just one dense thought, buried in her head, infinitesimal. 

She should’ve known better: they always expand. 

Thea blinked at Van underneath her; a little red, a little sweaty, no less herself. It wasn’t an alluring portrait of Van, not according to Thea’s own tastes, which were officially (fine, she was admitting it) compromised, but in the objective cosmos. This wasn’t the picture of Van that’d make the back of a book or the top of a dating profile: hair askew, clothes ruffled. And yet— Thea touched her bottom lip, which burned twofold with having been grazed and wanting more. And yet, two atoms of thought brushed together and formed a new thought and then two more and more and the universe was expanding. And yet, she was certain that if there was one vision of Van to have for the rest of her life, it’d be this and then, with just as much certainty, she knew it couldn’t be just this. Something about inevitable expansions and impossible realities was telling her otherwise. 

The universe-feeling—expanding, growing, making stars and planets—didn’t need to be named. Rather, Thea didn’t want to name it. In the way that things were obvious, she didn’t think anyone ever thought to point out oxygen when they breathed it in. Maybe eventually, but not now. Now, she imagined herself as completely smooth—not like a bald head, in the suave pick-up artist sense. But not skeevy! Totally respectful and feminist. Like sometimes, when she saw a  character flirt in a movie, and fought back the desire to take notes. Maybe she should have taken notes. Maybe she should have stood up instead of staying on top of Van, staring into her eyes. All she needed was something cool to say. For example— “That was just like Naruto and Sasuke,” Thea said, and instantly, as the untamed thought flew out, she slapped her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean to—why did I say that,” Thea said from between her fingers. It was okay, she told herself. She could recover if she said something else that was cool. For example— “I don’t even like Naruto,” Thea continued. “I mean, I watched it, but was I really enjoying it? Oh my god, my breath smells like oranges.” Thea dropped her hand, trying to speak with minimal lip movement. “Do youb hab a mint? I wannab kib youb proberbly.” 

Van didn’t think she’d ever been kissed before, now that she thought about it. Had she ever kissed Diana? Had that happened? Her memory flickered, something locked behind a wall she couldn’t scramble around. Instead, she was brought back to the here and now, Thea overtop of her. Thea’s lips grazing haphazardly against hers. The buzzing in her head, in her fingertips— it overtook her. She was practically vibrating with the proximity. Her skin was bound to peel itself back and run off without her, leaving a pile of bones in its wake. Regan would probably like that. No, she shouldn’t be thinking about Regan, or about how she wanted to tell Jade what had just happened. She wasn’t even talking to Jade. Jade wouldn’t ever know about this, probably. Van was a little sad at the thought, but her attention was brought back to Thea, cheeks turning something just short of crimson. She stared upward, waiting for the moment where Thea would tell her a joke, probably something about her being bald, but it didn’t come. Instead, Thea stared down at her in a way that she wished she could live in forever. 

Though, maybe without the skinned elbows. Maybe without the fear that this was something she had wanted for a long time, ever since she let Thea into her car. Back then, she’d been seated next to a cute girl who was covered in blood. It wasn’t romantic, but neither was their first meeting (also ending in them covered in blood). Would this one end that way, too? She could feel something wet at her elbow. Was it blood, or was she crying, and her tears somehow traveled all the way down to her arms? She wasn’t sure. She couldn’t stop looking at Thea, couldn’t put down the thought of her lips, of how they were still close, how Thea was still close. 

Then it shattered, but not in some terrifying way. No, it was the opposite. Van felt it all at once. One, that she wanted more. That this wasn’t a kiss, that she wanted something real, something longer. She wanted Thea’s hand in hers. Two, that she liked Thea. More than she thought she did, at least. She thought about the hurt that had come with her departure from the apartment, but brushed it off. Now wasn’t the time. Three, that her elbows really hurt, but she didn’t even care, because if she did care, then Thea would move, and this would be over, and then Van would be left with the anxiety of what she could have done better. How did anyone even prepare for accidentally being kissed? Was there a way to do that? She searched for the answer in Thea’s expression, tried to piece it together like she was connecting dots with the freckles that were dusted across the bridge of Thea’s nose. Had she always had this many? Had her eyes always been this honey-golden? She could get lost in them. She wanted to dive into them. No, that was weird— that was Regan talking. 

Thea spoke, and Van hiccuped, then laughed. It bubbled upward, fell apart at the seams. It couldn’t stop, she wouldn’t stop laughing, because it was funny. Thea was funny. So fucking funny, and it was then that Van realized she wanted to go on to hear Thea’s jokes for as long as she’d tell them, even if she didn’t mean for them to be jokes. But she was drawn back to reality, that she was beneath Thea, that they had accidentally kissed, and that something had unraveled between them. It wasn’t some dark and decrepit thing. It was full of wonderment and joy, and Van felt her heart in her throat, and god, Thea was still so close. 

“Nausuke and Saruto, yeah— I— I mean, um—“ Now that she was talking, it was hard to find the words, it was hard to think of the things she wanted to say now that she had opened her mouth. Hadn’t she just been thinking about diving into the pool of honey that were Thea’s eyes? Why couldn’t she say that? Why couldn’t she talk about the freckles across Thea’s nose and how one looked like Orion’s belt, and how she only knew that because she had studied it time and time again after Thea had pointed them out the one night they watched the stars after Thea had gotten back from a long shift. The rest of Orion wasn’t there, not the weapon, not the— 

“It’s okay,” Van whispered. Why was she whispering? That was weird. She cleared her throat, then spoke up, louder this time, maybe too loud. “I would have said the same thing!” Was she shouting? She swore she was shouting. Why was she being so loud? But her words came out at a normal volume as she continued on, “but you uh, you like, beat me to it. Sasuke and Naruto,” she corrected herself from earlier. “Totally.” She remembered the scene vividly, had seen it in a plethora of different AMVs dedicated to them. “You smell like oranges a lot, like all of the time. It’s okay! It’s not like, bad. I like it. I mean, I like oranges. I like you, and oranges, but you go together, you know, and—“ She swallowed thickly, pushed the words down, felt them spinning out of control like they were on a tech deck. Oh, god. Her board. Where was it? She looked towards where it had rolled off to, and she could see it. Okay, so it wasn’t lost. 

And then, Thea said something, and Van felt herself freeze frame. She swore that as she turned her head back to look up at Thea from where she’d spotted her board, her neck had made one of those silly door creaking sounds, that the silence that warped around them had drowned everything else out. “No mint, I have.” Was she Yoda? She didn’t even know Star Wars like that— she’d only seen memes. Van stared up at Thea. Her elbows were wet (with tears or blood, she still wasn’t sure), and Thea was there, and she wanted to kiss her again? Thea Liang, not known as Cynthia, because she wanted to go by Thea here, because she felt like she deserved that instead of what came in the before Wicked’s Rest, was telling her, Vanessa Zhou— human disaster (with magic!) that she wanted to kiss her again? Properly? 

Van’s heart was in her throat, in her ears— was it going to explode out of her chest? She couldn’t even hear anything properly, couldn’t even tell if that’s what Thea had actually said, or if she was imagining it. She wanted to kiss her, too. Wanted to recreate something good out of what had just happened, but Van was sure she’d remember that forever, even if it wasn’t necessarily… what wasn’t it? Comfortable? It was awkward, sure, but Van was awkward, and Thea was, too, in her own cute way. In a way that Van thought about constantly. Van leaned up. The episode of Spongebob where he forgot his name ran through her head. Did she even remember how to do this? Kiss? The way Thea had kissed her first, or grazed her lips, actually, made her think that she’d never been kissed at all, but she pushed down those thoughts, wouldn’t focus on them right now. She wanted to kiss Thea. For real. Wanted to give in, finally. To the act, to the feelings, to the desperation she felt. 

So she did. She kissed Thea after pulling the other girl’s hand away from her mouth, and it wasn’t as awkward before. Her elbows hurt, but they grew numb after a while, because all she could focus on was the feeling of Thea Liang’s lips on her own, and how her whole body buzzed with excitement. Of how she wanted this feeling to remain forever— how she’d section out a place specifically for this to remain so she could revisit it time and time again. 

Fourteen billion years ago (just about, and as far as current scientific understanding hypothesized anyway) the universe was born. Fourteen billion years ago (yeah, okay, and so on) the atoms scattered just so, the elements crashed this way and that, and today, Thea was kissing Van. Van was kissing Thea; chicken before the egg and so on. Everything, just right, just now, just today, just here, for them. Atoms bursting, stars exploding, universe growing (always), meteors crashing into planets birthing moons, solar winds flaring—everything in a kiss. Everything here, now, with them, against her lips—their lips. Did the universe conspire to have it be just so? Was it a miracle? Did it matter? The Cambrian burst of life made this. The Big Bang made this. Thea kissed Van. Van kissed her back. All of life, all of astrophysical understanding, was here. Did Herschel mark this in his hypothesis of invisible light? Did this fall on Newton’s head? Could Kepler have calculated this? If all the greatest scientists of the world—past, present and future—came together, Thea was certain they couldn’t have guessed: she was kissing Van. 

The universe inside her exploded making planets and stars and moons and wielding the elements just so to make life as she knew it and as she didn’t yet understand it. The kiss wasn’t perfect—not that Thea cared or noticed—too much lip, an awkward slip of tongue, the brush of finger trying to figure out where to put itself. Thea’s hands didn’t know where to go. Thea’s mouth wanted more than it could take. Thea’s lungs demanded air. And yet—and yet—fear evaporated like the millions of comets that fell into Earth’s atmosphere. Nothing was ever perfect; the dinosaur before the chicken before the egg and so on. Life evolved. Long ago, they thought the planets moved in perfect circles because what else was there for these beautiful, heavenly bodies? For these wondrous, inexplicable, magnificent things above what else could there be but the orbit of a perfect circle? Thea’s teeth brushed the bottom of Van’s lip; a strange hunger pulsed in waves. The planets moved in ellipses, they found; there was a tilt and a wobble. About fourteen billion years ago the universe was born, as far as the fallible knowledge of humans was concerned. She was kissing Van and when her hands struggled to find a place to land, they drew a wetness streaked into their palms instead. 

It was odd that reality could conspire like the swing of a conductor, pulling all the strings to one tune; that everything could be just right. Kissing Van, Thea wasn’t herself; not that silly, horrific, clumsy, nauseating thing. She turned cosmic. She turned nebulous. She made life. She birthed supernovas. She orbited Van. She was reminded of the first time she saw the world. She was impossibly tiny, and her parents drove her out of the city for a camping excursion and as the pollution of southern Ontario waned, the stars emerged like unwrapped candies. A few lights transformed into a handful and then into a dozen and then far beyond what she could count. Pausing from her argument in the front, her mother explained that stars could be wished on. And Thea wished. And stopping from his frustration at navigating, her father told her that stars were thousands of miles away. And she loved them. And eaten by mosquitoes, she named them all herself before she learned who those stars were. And back in polluted Toronto, she marked her dreams by the few stars she could see. 

Among them, the brightest was Vega, which she had mistaken for the north star. Vega, her savior, her anchor in the night sky, her first love, the introduction to the stories of stars (Vega herself, a lost lover waiting to be reunited with Altair in the summer). Vega, who taught her north. Vega, who she wished on over and over again. Vega: the brightest, the most brilliant, the girl under her lips. Vega who once was the north star thousands of years ago and would be again as Earth’s imperfect wobble found her, always. There were many things Thea thought she could say and thought she could compare this moment to (a certain Spongebob episode suddenly sprung to mind) and yet nothing felt as right as Vega and the Big Bang and an alignment so improbable that for this moment alone, physicists would never breech an answer. Every year, there was only one star she looked to. Every summer, there was only one meeting she hoped for. The summer triangle was a lackluster, common asterism by hobbyist astrological standards: anyone with good enough eyes could see Vega and Altair above. And yet, to Thea, it was the common that excited her. It was Vega. It was Van.

Fourteen billion years ago, did all that density and heat know they would be making a cute, warm, flushed girl? Did those atoms know they’d make Van? For all of humanity, gazing up at Vega—naming her, studying her, charting routes by her—did they understand? One day, another little girl would look up. One day, that girl would kiss her friend on the ground. Did they get it? The world was beautiful and vast and lustrous. The universe was wide and wild and mysterious. There was Vega, ever present and bright in the northern hemisphere. There was Van, warm under her lips. There was the Big Bang once, long ago, and then again, inside of Thea. Nothing had ever felt so entirely right to Thea. The precursor of everything was here. Listen. Look. Taste. 

And feel that warm wet against your palm. What was that? Thea dared to open her eyes—just a little bit, she reasoned with herself. She expected a constellation. Instead, she saw a bright red slash against her skin and instantly understood its composition. Nothing was ever perfect. What was it that laid in the center of the galaxy but a supermassive black hole? What happened to Thea other than the inevitable consumption of the people she loved? Vega was above—yes—but when had she stopped wishing on it? It must’ve been years ago. It must’ve been just a year when she’d eaten her friends. It was hard to assign a birth to Sagittarius A at all. She could do it again. She would do it again; the universe was inevitable. What was the function of a black hole? 

Thea’s chest pulsed, pulling away from Van’s lips with a sudden jump and a reflexive whimper, Thea jumped to her feet with Van’s blood in her palm. Inexplicably, she felt hungry as her heart pounded against her ribs. “You-You’re bleeding!” At some point her stupid pink helmet had fallen off (or had she unclipped it and thrown it aside during the kiss? It was hard to tell, she’d felt too much like someone who didn’t agonize over every action) and her short hair stood up in spikes. “I did I—Oh my god. We have to get you to the hospital or the—Oh my god.” An elbow scrape was unlikely to make anyone die and yet everything inside Thea told her that Van was dying and would die and that it was her fault; that she would do it. Thea heaved, red-faced, lips burning. 

She would do this. She would do much worse. She wanted to eat Van’s skin; take her into herself and twist into one knot of person. She could eat her; she wanted to eat her. She wanted her. Thea heaved; her stomach churned. Anxiety had a weird way of making her feel like she needed to take a shit immediately. “I don’t—” If she’d stayed, she’d eat Van. “I have to—” If she stayed, she’d kiss her friend again. “I’m so—” If she stayed, she’d have to name the universe spreading inside of her. “I have to go to work.” Forever and ever and ever and as long as something would take the something else that was difficult away from her. The universe was beautiful, she understood, and the humans were ugly. Despite what the moon told her, she was still human. 

All good things must come to an end. It was said to her more than once, but not by some man with white hair. Instead, it was Nelly Furtado. Her mom loved Nelly Furtado. She remembered on Sundays that were reserved for cleaning, Nelly would burst through the speakers. Nelly burst through her ear drums the moment Thea pulled away. Van’s eyes opened in surprise, lips still numb– mind still racing from what had come before. Of what Thea felt like against her mouth, of what it felt like to be in such close proximity. She felt as though she might float away in that moment. Her mind continued to blend all of the words Thea was saying together, as if her skull was some large space for it all to combine. The brain was missing. Her brain was definitely missing. Why couldn’t she focus on what Thea was saying? Her eyes lifted from Thea’s lips, then the world filtered in around her– yes, pay attention, listen to her speak. 

The blood. She was bleeding. So those weren’t tears. Van looked down at her arm. Pieces of asphalt were stuck to her arms, sticky with sweat and blood. “It’s just– I scraped my elbow! It’s fine, it’s fine!” Thea was spiraling, and Van was watching it happen. In the movies, somebody would kiss the other person (again) as they began to spiral, but wasn’t that like, the wrong thing to do? The idea of kissing somebody while they were panicking felt wrong. 

So Van watched Thea’s descent into panic, watched it take over her expression. Her fingers twitched against the ground from where she supported herself, palms pressed into the overturned earth. She watched as Thea scrambled, words strewn, hardly put together. But Van knew what this was– she was leaving. She didn’t want to think badly of this moment, because in reality all that her mind kept bringing her back to was the feeling of Thea’s lips on her own, of the way everything put itself together as if some kind of cheap puzzle you’d get at the Dollar Store. Van wanted so desperately to feel that way again that she didn’t argue, because arguing with Thea about how she had to leave could make things deteriorate, and that was the last thing that Van wanted to have happen. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words scrambled at the tip of her tongue. 

Van looked down at her elbow, saw the red against tanned skin. It meant nothing when she could still have Thea next to her. She didn’t think that Thea was afraid of blood, especially considering the amount of time she’d spent covered in it at work. But… 

“Okay.” It came out as more of a breath than anything else, airflow constricted due to the fact that she felt she couldn’t let herself breathe in a way that mattered. She blinked up at Thea, swallowing thickly. She wanted to kiss her again, kiss her goodbye or something of the like, but that felt wrong, too. To kiss somebody after kissing them the first time, even though Van’s mind ran rampant with the idea of kissing her for hours and hours– a silly thing, something she’d never done before. 

And then it clicked. 

She’d never done this before, despite having memories of it. 

She watched Thea leave, realization swelling in her– though blocked behind something else. 

But now wasn’t the time to think about that. Instead, Van reached for her lips with her blood streaked hand, a comical error plucking itself from every rom com as if to press the feeling of Thea’s lips somewhere else– the pads of her fingers, the space between them, something else. But her mind wandered to the place that this had been the first time, and now it was time to figure out why. 

[julieeeeette]

The one where Jin wants to quit but then you show up.

Pairing: Jin x you (gn)

Word Count: 730 (it's so long!)

Rating: PG-13

Jin walked into the office he'd dedicated his life to for the better part of a year completely content with the idea of giving his notice. 

He hadn't been happy and had found another job that paid a little less, but had better benefits and was closer to his home.

All he had to was give his notice and deal with the next two weeks.

It would be awkward, but his employer was a mature professional. It'd be fine.

It's gonna be fine.

He sat his briefcase on his desk and laid his suit jacket over the back of his chair and made his way to his boss' office with his notice.

It's gonna be fine.

Fine. Fine. Fine. It's all fine.

It's all gonna be….

He passed by a desk with a small plant in a Pokémon ball. That was new. Had they hired someone on? Well, if they had, they were going to be his replacement.

A twinge of guilt crept into his shoulders, making them tighten as he continued on. 

Yes, the company was trying to get the resources needed to handle the workload, but with the unemployment rates as they were, they could have found someone to bring on long before now.

His pace slowed.

Maybe they had recognized his dimmed personality and did what they could to keep him on.

He breathed in deeply and cleared his mind.

His new job was in the entertainment field, something he'd been interested in since childhood. It was the perfect timing to make the switch.

You don't owe this place any loyalty. They'd replace you in a heartbeat. Just…

"Ah, Jin!" His boss came from around a corner with a broad smile upon his face and clapped his hand on Jin’s shoulder. “Just get in? Wonderful! I have a few things to talk to you about.”

“Oh, actually, sir?” Jin fell into step with him as he followed him down another hallway towards the slew of meeting rooms.

“We just made a deal in Japan, so your workload is about to get a bit heavy, but so is your wallet!” His boss laughed and put a hand on his shoulder to steer him down another hallway, leading them towards the break room.

More money would be nice, but the extra work wouldn’t be. He’d already given so much….

You don’t owe him any loyalty. You have to look after yourself.

“Sir, I have something to tell you….”

“So, we brought on someone who can help take the more tedious tasks off your plate so you have the bandwidth to handle this account. It’s important that our new clients know we have the best person looking after them.”

Jin cursed under his breath. 

Stay strong…..

“Sir?” Jin felt his throat grow tight as the spot between his shoulders began to ache and a headache blossomed at the back of his head. “This is important!”

His boss ignored him. “You’ll be given a six week training period that will be split between training your new assistant and three weeks for you to learn all the products so you’re well prepared.”

A new assistant? Not a coworker?

“Ah! Found you!” His boss stopped in front of the desk with the potted plant and laughed when you stood and bowed your head respectfully.

Jin felt his shoulders drop with his jaw when he saw you hold your hands before you and allowed a small smile playing on your lips.

Wow….

If angels were real, he was certain he heard them singing.

"This is your assistant, Y/N. Y/N, this is Kim Seokjin. We all call him Jin.”

His boss’ voice faded as he stared into your eyes, not caring if he looked like a love sick puppy.

Maybe he could stay.

Just a little longer.

“What was it that you had to tell me, Jin?”

Jin blinked, coming back to reality and shook his head with a breathy laugh as his mind raced. “I had a breakthrough on the macro I’ve been working on.”

“Ah, wonderful! Schedule a meeting and please include Y/N.” 

Jin let his eyes fix on you again, excited about work again and smiled as he nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, sir.”

His boss smiled and turned to you as Jin walked towards his desk, loosening his tie slightly as he sank down into his chair and sighed.

Wow.

[gren-writes-stuff]

A Worthwhile Gift. ★

Tags/warnings: Platonic fluff, Greninja being the cute frog it is ig, reader is gender neutral and the trainer, Greninja's gender is not specified.

Fandom: Pokémon.

Character(s): Greninja/Gekkouga.

Word count: 2,317 words.

Mod Gren's note; this was stuck in my drafts for a while and l hadn't a clue on when l was gonna post it or not.

It's currently noon, Greninja hasn't come back yet. Ever since this morning arrived, Greninja has wondered off to the forest, you weren't able to get a response from Greninja on why they had to leave in the forest suddenly.

But you shrugged it off, it's pretty normal for one such Greninja to disappear in the forest, perhaps they're just gonna go and train? Then again, Greninjas are mysterious creatures, they're always onto something and it gets unpredictable most of the time.

To pass the time, you started cooking meals in the kitchen for the both of you, as you wait for Greninja to come back. Who knows when that ninja will come back? Greninja had always loved your cooking, so with that knowledge in mind; you began to make Greninja's favorite meal.

Time passes.. you're almost finished setting up the dinner table, it's almost nearing nighttime and Greninja has yet to make a return to the house. You start to wonder on where they went, and you began to worry a bit. It's not like Greninja to return this late, but they're always busy or caught up with something, so you decided to wait for them a little longer.

Time passes again.. you sat at the dinner table, the food is prepared, and you have yet to see Greninja. As you began to worry more, you heard a knock on your window. The sound of someone knocking on the window startles you a bit, you wonder on who it is that could be knocking this late?

You turned to the source of sound, and you looked through the clear glass; It's Greninja. And it seems to be holding something.

Relieved that they came back, even at this late hour, you approached the window and opened it. "Greninja, where have you been?" you asked the ninja in question.

"Gren!" The Greninja responded, as they hand you a small bouquet of flowers; they have a lovely aroma and they look very pretty.

"Ah, is that... For me? Wait-" the realization hits you. to confirm your suspicions, you asked the ninja. "...Is this why you suddenly ran to the forest at the morning? It is just to get me a.. gift?"

"Gre-nin." The Greninja responded as they nod, looks like your suspicions has been confirmed. You then took the small bouquet of flowers in your hand. "You didn't really need to do that today, right? You're always so kind." you said, as you gave the ninja a small boop on their nose, the ninja slightly blushes in response.

"Come inside, you goof. The food's gonna get cold.. and the includes your favorite meal." you reminded the Greninja. Upon mentioning Greninja's favorite meal, they slightly panicked and yet also excited, so they jumped through the opened window almost immediately, you then closed the window and locked it.

You two ate your dinner while having a joyous time at the dinner table.

[techno-woman]

EMBRACING A NEW FUTURE (The Teal Mask)

(The following story is told from the perspective of Ogerpon.)

We left our home burning in the flames of war. We had lost nearly everything but we had each other: me and my friend. I don’t remember if there were others like me or where they were. It didn’t really matter though, I was happy to just have my friend with me as we searched for a new home.

We traveled far and found a place to call home. My friend was very happy to see how peaceful it was and I shared that happiness too while we made our way to the village. But to our surprise the villagers were scared of us. Why though? My friend is a human like them, so why should they be scared? They said that we weren’t allowed to live in the village with them. I didn’t understand it at all but my friend told me that it was fine and that we would look elsewhere to live. He told me that some humans are wary of those that come from a different region and to not let it bother me since we still have each other.

Thankfully we found a cave in the mountain and started to live there. It wasn’t long until one of the villages who was a mask maker came to us with four masks for me and my friend. He said that there will be a festival coming up soon which will be a good opportunity to wear these masks to hide our faces and visit the village secretly. My friend and I were grateful to the mask maker and visited the village on the day of the festival. I was nervous about going back to the village but after they saw our masks I was happy how they love our masks so much. We visited the village for each festival and we were truly happy to find Kitakami as our new home.

Little did I know that happiness would soon come crashing down when I came back home from foraging food. The mess was nothing compared to my friend who was lying on the floor bruised and beaten. I walked closer to him and was shocked to see most of his skin was unnaturally purple. I believe he was attacked by a poison Pokémon but from the footprints I saw there was about three of them. Looking around I saw that three of our masks were gone from their storage area and the only one we had left was held onto by my friend. I tried to get him to wake up and ask him but he couldn’t get up. He would never wake up again.

Feeling sad and angry I put on my friend’s mask and followed the footprints. The trail led me to a trio of Pokémon who were gloating over the masks they stole from us. They didn’t even feel remorseful about what they did to my friend. They said that the masks they took would make a lot of money if sold to the highest bidder. These Pokémon stole from us out of greed. So I made them pay dearly for their crimes. Once it was done I felt relieved but that feeling was short lived when the villagers saw what I had done to the three Pokémon. They saw me as an evil monster and treated me like one. But they treated those Pokémon like heroes. I wanted to tell them that they were wrong but I was too hurt to say it and returned home to put my friend to rest. Years had passed and I would visit the village occasionally during the festival but out of sight. My friend is gone now but I wanted to keep my memories of him alive by wearing his mask and going to the festival. The three masks that the Pokémon stole were kept in the Kitakami hall but I didn’t have the heart to bring them back.

I spent a long time alone in the mountain without anyone to call friend. Then……you came along. You saw me for who I was and what I had been through. You even helped me get my masks back. And I thank you for that, my friend. Now I can embrace a new future with you wherever it takes us.

End.

[so-sures-blog]

Headcannons: Pokéguys with affection

I was in a Valentine's Day mood, alright? 💗

Ships: Poke, Contest, Ikari, Wish, Geekchic, Oldrival, Handyman, Fourthwheel hints

… and Brock

WARNING: LONG POST

Ash

— Ash is legitimately good at flirting — but the thing is, he doesn’t even know he’s flirting.

— He and Misty are walking through the Kanto snow all bundled up, and Ash notices Misty rubbing her hands together and shivering.

— “You cold, Mist?” Ash asks, and before she can respond he just. Takes her hand, locks their fingers together, and puts her hand in his pocket.

— Misty damn near has a heart attack, sputtering and turning bright red. Before she could say anything though, Ash continues on, holding her hand as they walk.

—He’ll also be complimenting her, saying “Wow, Misty, you look beautiful with your hair down!” or “Misty, you were incredible battling that Pokemon today!” 

— Misty feels like a little girl talking with her childhood crush (okay, maybe that comparison was a little too accurate …) so the only thing she can respond with are stuttering half-insults before fleeing in shame.

— Ash is a very physical person. Always has been, always will be. He’ll be slinging an arm around her shoulder, walking close so that their bodies bump, pull her into a side hug, even arm wrestling her. The touch is so casual, but it’s so often that Misty can’t help but psychoanalyze every interaction.

— Poor Pikachu has spent many nights with Misty’s face cuddled in his fur to hide her blush. He’s had his ear talked off with Misty’s ramblings of “—does he even know he’s flirting with me?! Is he even flirting?! He’s gotta know! Or am I just making it up all in my head again? Is this psychological warfare or something?!”

— Misty doesn’t know if Ash is flirting with her, if he even knows if he is, if he’s even aware of what he’s doing. Misty gets so flustered she becomes angry that she’s so flustered. She wants to beat him with her mallet for making her so embarrassed; another part doesn’t because she likes the Butterfree he puts in her stomach.

— Ash Ketchum is so impeccably smooth at flirting and pulling moves he isn’t even aware; he just thinks he’s being nice and friendly. He has a trail of hearts behind him after all his travels and he doesn’t even realize.

***

— Brock is a little ways behind them, watching with pure shock.

Drew

— Roses. It’s always roses with those two.

— When Drew would give roses to May ( *ahem* sorry, Beautifly) it was a mocking. The flowers were filled with taunts about how her Pokémon were carrying May to victory.

— Then as Drew starts noticing May, his roses become fleeting — everyone knows what red roses meant. How could Drew give out roses when he didn’t even know who he was really giving them to?

— Drew fell in love with May, and May fell in love with Drew, and there was a trail of roses between them like a timeline.

— When they date, they are the most lovey-dovey couple in the room. At first, all of their friends were happy that they got together, but soon they grow sick of the constant PDA

— Honestly, whenever Max walks into the room and see May and Drew in there, he just straight up walks right out. May gets so offended, but she quickly forgets her brother’s disgusted face when Drew pulls her in for a kiss

— May and Drew have started dating, and May finally drops the bomb about meeting her family. Drew instantly gets flashbacks of Max’s judgey looks, know-it-all expression, and suspicious eyes from Hoenn and almost regrets dating May.

— Apparently, May has been holding off the meeting for quite a while, but has finally conceded. Caroline is sweet and welcoming, swooning about May getting a boyfriend and gushing how handsome he is. Max is still as skeptical as ever, but has softened to the idea of Drew thanks to his traveling partner, Bonnie.

— And Norman … May left Drew and her dad in the same room for less than a minute, and when she came back Drew spent the rest of the time subtly hiding behind May

— When Drew asked May to marry him, he made it this big extravagant proposal. He led May on a scavenger hunt, each rose with a romantic letter on where to find him. When she finally found him, she had a dozen red roses and a ring on her finger on the beach of Slateport City.

***

��� Brock is a little ways behind them, watching with pure jealousy

Paul

— Reggie is the first one to notice the way his brother is always touching Dawn. It’s so subtle, Dawn doesn’t realize it; Reggie doubts that even Paul realizes he’s doing it. But for someone who has been raising his younger brother all his life, it’s so obvious.

— Paul is usually adverse to physical touch, so seeing Dawn and Paul interact is like a slap to the face. His hand is barely touching her hip as he guides her to where they’re going. When they sit together their shoulders brush. He leans down to Dawn’s level to lowly talk in her ear. Not to mention the way Paul looks at her —

— Reggie honestly can’t believe his eyes when he sees them together for the first time. He can’t help but tell Maylene, and of course he confronts Paul with some teasing.

— Whenever someone asks about Dawn and Paul’s relationship, Reggie cheekily replies, “They’re an affectionate couple.” Paul always scowls darkly.

— Dawn had no idea until Maylene lets it slip. At first, she just stares and laughs, because the words Paul and affectionate don’t even belong in the same sentence.

— But then Dawn suddenly realizes: she is always the first one to initiate contact — through a held hand, a hug, or a kiss on the lips ...

— But Paul was always the one to let it linger. He never pulled his hand away, he would let her hug him (sometimes he would even lean into it), and he would even kiss her in private.

— Dawn was always the one who pulled away first: becoming embarrassed if someone would walk in on them or pulling away to look at a cute store.

— She immediately sets out to do an experiment of her own: to see how long Paul could deal with physical affection.

— One day Paul is laying on his couch doing whatever, and Dawn sees the perfect opportunity. She strolls over, stands over him, and just … clambers on top of him, resting her head on his chest and fitting her body snugly between his legs.

— He was effectively pinned down. Paul went stiff with surprise, and Dawn honestly expects him to push her away and mutter complaints under his breath as he stalks away.

— After a moment, Paul sighs and drapes his arm around her waist, going back to whatever he was doing. Dawn’s heart leaps, and her belly does a dozen backflips. She honestly can’t believe she’s getting away with this.

— But this was only half of the challenge. Now, Dawn had to wait and see how long he would tolerate her. So she settles down, closes her eyes, and falls asleep to the feeling of Paul’s warmth and even breathing.

— When she wakes up, hours have passed. Paul’s hand is still on her waist, she has drooled a little bit in his shirt, and he was undoubtedly uncomfortable from sitting for so long.

— Still, it is a testament on how much he truly likes her when he says nothing about his discomfort when she wakes.

— For some reason, he distinctly feels like he’s passed a test when Dawn sees that he’s still there and kisses him

***

— Brock is a little ways behind them, watching with pure disbelief

Cilan

— Chilli and Cress absolutely adore Iris. She’s sassy and blunt and determined, and a perfect fit for Cilan. Chilli loves going back and forth with Iris trading sarcastic quips and Cress appreciates her blunt honesty

— She’s practically a part of the family, inviting herself over to the gym and spending weekends there. Half the stuff at their place is practically her’s, and she shows absolutely no shame in that fact.

— When all of their friends know they’re dating, they are simultaneously surprised and not in the process. It’s just that Cilan and Iris are so different, one a sophisticated civilian and another a animalistic wild child. But they just fit together, so well that none of their friends can ever imagine seeing them with another person.

— When Ash hears that they’re dating, he is beaming. Because while he’s happy that all his friends found their significant other, none of them have gotten together with their traveling partner (except for Serena and Clemont, but that comes later)

— Ash feels like a proud matchmaker because he says Iris and Cilan would not have gotten together if it weren’t for him. Iris calls him a little kid.

— Cilan shows his love through words of appreciation, which never fails to embarrass Iris.

— Whenever his Dragon Master wins a battle, he showers her with praise for her and her Pokémon. It’s like his evaluation times, filled with so much fervor and passion.

— Iris always gets so embarrassed, especially if her friends and rivals are there teasing her, but she secretly likes the attention and the praise she gets from Cilan (he is her boyfriend, and a World-Class Pokémon Connoisseur)

— Sometimes when she gets particularly embarrassed, she just marches over to Cilan in the middle of the battle, yanks him down to her height, and kisses him hard to shut him up.

— It always works (Cilan turns bright red and dazed, and to Iris’s satisfaction, he always, always shuts his mouth afterwards) but they don’t know that Iris’s kisses inadvertently fuel Cilan to go on his rants.

— So in actuality, does it really work?

***

— Brock is a little ways behind them, watching with pure awe

Clemont

— Clemont has always admired Serena ever since their traveling days, but he would always push aside his feelings when he saw the way Serena looked at Ash.

— Back then, he had low confidence and even lower social skills. There was no way he can compare to Ash. So he pushed aside his feelings and focused on being her friend instead, supporting her and working to improve himself.

— It took a long time for Clemont to work up the courage to ask Serena out. She was trying to get over her crush on Ash, and they were both too busy focusing on their dreams

— One day, Serena went with Bonnie to cheer Clemont on in a super important Pokémon match. Clemont won, of course, and right before his final move Serena is struck.

— Clemont’s face was bright with electricity and his eyes were clear with confidence. Serena is struck, because she just realized Clemont wasn’t that geeky kid with low self-esteem and inventions that blew up anymore. Clemont was grown, and Serena feels like she is seeing him for the first time.

— It wasn’t just how he looked (Serena was mature enough to admit that Clemont looked … well, amazing during the battle), it was his confidence.

— It wasn’t the Ash type of confidence — bold, brash, and brave. It was the Clemont type of confidence — intellectual and sharp, confident in knowing he would win because Clemont was a lot of things, and no one could ever say he wasn’t smart.

— When Clemont wins, he immediately turns to Serena and Bonnie with a bright smile. Bonnie is beaming and bouncing on her feet, and Serena finds herself blushing with her heart pounding faster than the time she kissed Ash.

— Ever since then, Serena can’t get the stupid feelings out of her head. Her crush on Ash feels childish and far away compared to Clemont.

— Clemont is shy and awkward, but he is sweet and charming. Serena has always known this, but now it’s in a whole new light. She can’t help but notice all these little details about him, like the way his hands move when he talks, or the way he pushes up his glasses and the way his eyes light up.

— Whenever Clemont is working on an invention, Serena finds herself genuinely trying to listen and help. Whenever she stays over, she offers to help Clemont with the cooking.

— They go out to see the lights on top of Prism Tower, Serena teaches Clemont to properly dance, and they spend late nights in the gym just enjoying their companionship.

— At first, Clemont is frustratingly oblivious, blinking innocently and awkwardly laughing whenever they seem to have a romantic atmosphere lingering around them. Serena wouldn’t label it as Ash-Level-Oblivious, (because, frankly, nobody can ever be denser than Ash) because back when she had a crush on him, she was actively trying to hide it.

— Clemont, however, for all his bright intelligence and love knowledge (mostly stemming from Bonnie) can’t figure out for the life of him that Serena was flirting with him. She didn’t know how much more obvious she could get!

— (Just last week, Clemont’s father, Meyer, wouldn’t stop smirking knowingly and last month, Misty had thrown her a half sympathetic-pitying-understanding look when she and Ash came over to visit.)

— Clemont hasn’t noticed Serena’s flirting, but he has noticed that she’s been acting strange. With him, specifically. It’s almost as if she’s flirting with him, but obviously she isn’t because they are just friends.

— Clemont’s heart already skips beats whenever Serena dresses up, and he sometimes gets tongue-tied when she smiles at him, and his face feels very warm whenever she hold his hand but — they are just. friends.

— Clemont doesn’t want to give himself false hope and he already feels like he’s betraying Serena’s friendship with his stupid infatuation he’s had since they were kids.  

— (But still … still …)

— Clemont can’t help but compare what Serena is like now to when she had a crush on Ash. He can’t help but notice the longer hours she spends at the Lumiose Gym, even when Bonnie’s not here. He can’t help but notice the way she smiles at him, holding him close as she teaches him how to dance. He can’t help but notice how her eyes sparkle when she looks at him, shining brighter than they ever did when she looked at Ash.

— Bonnie is totally oblivious to the growing tension whenever Serena is over at the Lumiose Gym, or to the stolen moments the two seem to have that she unassumingly walks in on. Serena’s always been close to the family, and she and Clemont are friends.

— It’s Max, Señor Skeptical, Mr. “I hate romance, why focus on love when you can focus on Pokemon” Maple, that has to tell her what’s going on (seriously, he thought she was the love expert) and she flips out.

— She then immediately plots to get them together (mentally planning their wedding in the process) and drags Max along in the mix despite his protests

— She does everything she can to create romantic atmospheres for Clemont and Serena (Max told her that proposing to Serena for Clemont would only scare her off).

— Clemont and Bonnie argue over her schemes and Max is standing behind her, mentally trying to communicate with Clemont his utter sympathies.

— Finally, after a long uphill battle, Bonnie triumphs by embarrassing Clemont enough to make him ask her out.

— Clemont is red and stuttering through his whole proposal, and Serena, having figured out what he was planning on asking her a while ago, just decided to put him out of his misery and kiss him, blushing pink.

— Clemont is breathless and dazed afterwards. It was so cute, Serena finds her gut clenching hotly and her biting her lip to hide the enormous smile growing on her face. It was definitely worth it, waiting this long.

***

— Max and Bonnie are little ways behind them, and Bonnie throws her arms around Max in celebration

Gary

— Gary Oak has known Leaf Green since childhood. She had grown up with him and Ash. They were the trio of Pallet town. Gary spent days at his Grandpa’s lab with her and Ash and nights at Delia’s house for dinner.

— Ash and Gary were rivals, but him and Leaf were something else. Ever since they were kids they were always arguing, going back and forth with each other. 

— They go separate ways as their journeys take them on separate paths. Gary becomes a successful Pokemon researcher and Leaf has traveled all over the regions. 

— Years have passed when he runs into Leaf again by complete chance.

— At first he can’t believe his eyes. How on earth was this gorgeous woman the bratty girl he grew up with? It’s the same for Leaf. Gary has always been a know-it-all as a kid, but when did he grow into this handsome researcher? She had always brushed him off as that guy who cared more about his hair and girls.

— They catch up and it’s like no time has passed. They still bicker and argue about every little thing under the sun, but now Gary is finally able to label the tension between them.

— They get kicked out of the place they’re in, and when he gets home, he has the biggest, goofiest smile on his face that — quote Misty — “makes him look like an idiot” and Leaf’s number in his pocket.

— Professor Oak knows right away that his grandson has met Leaf, and tells him to invite her over to Pallet Town. Oak has always had a soft spot for Leaf; ever since they were kids he could see that she’s the only one for Gary.

— Before Leaf is suppose to come over, everyone can tell that Gary is nervous. He does his best to not show it, obviously, but he was surrounded by the people who knew him best. Gary keeps running his hands through his hair and the Pokémon are particularly skittish (Pokemon reflect their trainers, after all). Ash, Tracey, and Misty tease him relentlessly while Delia and Oak look on in amusement

— When Misty meets Leaf she instantly likes her: Leaf is strong and stubborn and determined. She is striking and vivacious, and the perfect match for Gary. She’s honestly the only one who could put up with him.

— Misty and Leaf get along great, and when they meet up they constantly make fun of their boyfriends. They are both fierce battlers, and often challenge each other to battles whenever they see each other just like Gary and Ash in their younger days.

— Gary and Leaf spend time together, exchanging snarky flirty comments with each other. They both like to drive each other wild with their teasing and their friends are crazy with the thought “oh god, will those two ever get together?” They’re both hot, and they know it. 

— Sometimes Gary gets pulled away with work, so Leaf joins him whenever he’s on a research dig. She brings warm coffee and offers insight to what he’s missing and fights back a smile whenever Gary geeks out about his findings (she finds it cute how his eyes light up when he rambles — even though she has no idea what he’s saying).

— Leaf absolutely wears the pants in the relationship, because there’s no way she’s letting Gary dominate their relationship. Gary is not willing to admit he’s whipped for Leaf but he is. And everyone can see it. Gary would ruthlessly make fun of everyone for their girlfriends wearing the pants in the relationship, but it’s the exact same with Leaf. He’ll be stubborn, pout, whine, and complain, but will ultimately do her bidding. Everyone is amused.

— Leaf likes the fact that Gary is smart, and is able to hold an intelligent conversation. Back when they were kids, he would go on these spiels of Pokemon facts and would rub the knowledge in her face. It made him very punchable. Now, Leaf can’t help but be immensely attracted to Gary whenever he goes on rants of his research findings. 

— With Gary, he likes how Leaf can keep up with him. Gary can never really get bored with her like he does with other girls because Leaf keeps him on his toes. Their banter keep him up for days on end, and her flirting makes him wild. Her strength and perseverance makes his heart jump in admiration. She makes him want to be better.

***

— Brock is a little ways behind them, watching with pure annoyance

Tracey

— Tracey met Daisy through Misty when she invited him to the Cerulean Gym, and the first time he saw the eldest Waterflower sister his heart skipped a beat

— He had only heard of Misty’s sisters through her long rants over the phone, so he had a (less than appealing) idea of who they were — even though he had tried his best to remain neutral

— But the first time he saw her, his fingers itched with the urge to sketch as he shook her hand. They didn’t say anything beyond greetings before Misty came in and dragged him away, he found he couldn’t stop thinking about her the whole visit

— He had to go back to Pallet Town eventually, and he finds himself drawing distracted sketches of Daisy when he’s supposed to take notes.

— He can’t help it. Usually when he’s struck with inspiration, he sketches it down instantly. With Daisy he didn’t get the time to do that, so it made sense why he couldn’t get her out of his head

— That’s what he told Gary anyway, when he caught him drawing a sketch of Daisy’s face. Gary merely shakes his head, calls him and idiot, and sends him packing for Cerulean City before he can even blink

— Tracey’s heart is beating unusually fast when he asks Daisy if he can sketch her, and a flattered, surprised, beautiful grin crosses her face (he immediately starts drawing it down)

— They spend a lot of time together, and Tracey finds out he can’t get enough of Daisy. They end up talking about everything under the sun, sharing secrets and sketches with each other.

— Tracey is fascinating and unlike anyone Daisy has ever dated. Daisy is much more that she appears, and Tracey wants to peel back every layer to see her true beauty

— (picture Jack and Rose from the Titanic. They definitely do the draw-me-like-one-of-your-French-girls when they start dating. )

— Tracey feels denser than Ash when he realizes that the feelings he associated with sketching Daisy were actually for Daisy herself.

— Tracey stays around Cerulean City for a while, using the excuse of checking out the water Pokemon and helping with the plumbing so Misty doesn’t get suspicious

— Misty is definitely suspicious of the way Tracey turns red whenever Daisy makes a flirtatious comment, or the way her sister seemed to brighten whenever she heard he was around or coming over

— It took her a while to corner Tracey and demanded answers, but he finally admitted to it. Misty instantly accepts him, but she makes a show of threatening him if he hurts his sister

— (all of her sisters boyfriend’s have to pass the “Misty Test”. Misty refuses to be around douchebags (minus Gary) and to have to deal with her sisters crying after a failed date or broken heart. The Misty Test has scared off multiple suitors, but her older sisters are ultimately grateful despite their complaining of not as much boys around the house because of Misty’s Gyrados)

— Daisy ends up asking him out because Tracey was too much of a coward. She laces their hands together, kisses his cheek, and tells him to pick her up at 5.

— Tracey ends up staying the night

***

— Gary is infinitely smug, and Professor Oak merely shakes his head with amusement

Brock

— Brock has been a sad, sad boy watching all his friends grow up and fall in love — and yet Brock can’t seem to find his special lady! He is a successful Pokemon doctor, a great breeder, a good cook, and shoots the best one-liners, if he does say so himself.

— Brock becomes so desperate he actually goes to the guys for help … and it goes exactly as expected. Ash is clueless, Paul says nothing, Drew is unhelpful, Clemont was shy, Tracy was nervous, Gary was Gary, and Cilan was just overall confusing.

— Then he goes to the girls for advice, and while their insight was helpful to an extent … that was it. He went to Misty, May, and Dawn, listening to their offhanded remarks on who liked Brock back (it was a pathetically short list) while wearing face masks and nail polish.

— Brock was about to resign himself to a lonely, loveless life of a bachelor before he came across an offer.

— Bonnie, satisfied that her brother has found a suitable wife in Serena, offers her help in the matchmaking business — and drags Max along with her.

— Arceus, it pains Brock to take orders from Max’s smug little mouth, but he finds equal petty retaliation by pointing out how easily Bonnie bends Max to her bidding

— It takes a while for them to get in sync with each other — Brock was chasing after every other girl and Bonnie was eager to help by doing the exact same thing. Max was the one with the only brain cell when it came to girls

— The trio bond through terrible rom-com movies for “research” — Brock chose the movies, Bonnie got the snacks, and Max would rather die than admit that he actually liked the dramas

— Between Bonnie’s sweet blue eyes, Brock’s cheesy (but romantic) lines, and Max’s intellect, the trio soon have this matchmaking thing down in the bag

— They find him a perfect match and send Brock in (“— just be yourself, cheesy one-liners come later —”) and it’s a huge success. Brock has swept her off her feet and he can hear Bonnie cheering from outside the Pokemon Center’s window

— Brock is right where he’s meant to be, glowing with happiness.

***

— He isn’t done yet, though. He still has to get Max back for all the ear-pulling he did back in Hoenn.

[pop-goes-the-sneasel]

Regirock for Pokémon review please? *sickly Victorian schoolboy requests this….as a last request*

Regirock!!!! The Rock Peak Pokemon!

Regirock is a Rock-type Legendary pokemon, and alongside Regice and Registeel, is one of the original three members of the Legendary Titans. Or Legendary Giants. Or Legendary Golems, which is probably the most accurate term, but that name is never actually officially used – presumably to avoid confusion with the pokemon that’s literally named Golem. Just “the Regis” seem most common though. Each member of the Regis was constructed from a specific material, supposedly by Regigigas, who made the Regis in its own image. Regirock, being made of rocks and clay, is probably the most straightforward of the group – rock is a simple and readily available material that translates easily to creature designs.

As a group, the Regis are probably some of the most intriguing pokemon in existence. Although abiological organisms aren’t actually that uncommon amongst pokemon species, the Regis stand out because of their entirely inorganic appearance. They have no true “face”, instead each having an arrangement of seven “eyes” and few other identifiable features. In the case of Regirock, scientists analyzed its internal structure and discovered it has no organs of any kind, not even a heart or brain, and it can be presumed the same applies to the rest of the group. The rocks that make up its body can also be replaced, and most of them come from wildly different locations. And as with most Legendary pokemon, it’s unknown how or even if they reproduce.

Further emphasizing the peculiar nature of these Legendaries, the original trio was sealed away in three caves in Hoenn. However, before these caves could even be entered, you first needed to access a place called the Sealed Chamber, which could only be found through thorough underwater exploration. Inside, there were several mounds, each inscribed with letters of the alphabet and the corresponding letters in braille. If you were a kid during Gen III and couldn’t easily just look up a braille chart and didn’t think to save the little sheet that came in the game box, you would need to write down each of these letters, which you would then use to translate the braille elsewhere in the chamber. This would reveal a message telling you to place Relicanth at the front of your party and Wailord at the back, which would cause an earthquake and unlock the other three caves of Hoenn. Inside each of these caves would be more braille, revealing a puzzle unique to each Regi; Regirock’s required a specific walk sequence followed by the use of Strength in Ruby and Sapphire or Rock Smash in Emerald (both appropriate, due to the association with rocks). This would unseal the cave’s chamber, allowing you to finally face the Regi.

It goes without saying that this is all incredibly cool, even if a bit convoluted. It really makes the Regis feel legitimately legendary, far better than a bunch of spoken dialogue about how mySteRiOus and pOwerFuL they are would’ve done. The actual relationship between the Regis, Relicanth, Wailord, and braille is never really explained, with the only common thread being “having dots”, but that’s part of the beauty of it. These things are utterly inscrutable – sealed away by a fearful ancient civilization that we never learn anything more of. The Regis obviously got expanded upon in later gens, with Diamond and Pearl introducing Regigigas and Sword and Shield’s Crown Tundra DLC bringing with it two additional new Regis, but the magic of the original trio was never quite captured again.

As for Regirock itself? It’s pretty lovely, as all the Regis are, but it admittedly kinda underwhelms in comparison to the others. I’m not a big fan of rock monsters to begin with, and the straightforwardness makes it come across as a little less interesting compared to its more outlandish contemporaries. It’s also got a much more humanoid body plan, which while not necessarily bad, does feel a little blander for a rock monster. However, I can’t help but adore it nonetheless – I consider a rock golem to be pretty much legally obligated to exist in a group of elemental golems, and Regirock is quite solid in that role. There are certainly aspects I’d tweak if I could – a less-defined “head” would be nice, as would a cooler color scheme – but nothing earth-shattering. Thinking more, it’s probably one of my favorite Rock-types, even if it ranks low within the Regi group as a whole. It also looks absolutely impeccable in the right lighting, where its eyes and silhouette get emphasized.

Shiny Regirock does improve upon that color scheme I didn’t like, feeling a lot earthier with its deep, rich brown. The darker base color results in a design that looks a lot more slick and stylish, with the brighter orange now acting as a much nicer accent color. Most the other Regis get pretty mediocre shinies, so it’s nice that Regirock has such a pleasant one, if not the best of all of them.

Even if I perhaps don’t love Regirock quite as much as its contemporaries, it works perfectly in the context of its associated trio, and said trio is probably the best-executed legendary trio in the franchise. The original Regis are undeniably fantastic, and they wouldn’t be complete without Regirock providing such a strong, simple foundation for the concept.

Rock solid/10.

[lil-fairy-of-twst]

Faye's Preparation Team

If there's one thing Showcase and Contest can share, it's preparation.

Nana (Leavanny)

“Wow~! So pretty!"

Moves: String Shot, False Swipe, Safeguard, Light Screen

Ability: Swarm

Nana was actually Faye's dad's Pokémon until she was given to Faye around the age of 6. She was one of three Pokémon given to Faye by her dad.

Having been the one who sew the clothing
Faye's dad wore to modeling shoots, she does the same for Faye's costumes for both Contest and Showcase

She often frets over Faye a lot when she's out of her pokeball, whether that be for performances or daily life

Since she's one of the few older Pokémon Faye has, she is fairly protective of the young girl though not as much as Basile

Coffee (Minccino)

“Ah! Coffee, you’re dirty again!”

Moves: Echoed Voice, Sing, Charm, Iron Tail

Ability: Technician

This one was a gift egg by Faye’s mama when Faye and her papa came back from Sinnoh when she was 8

Needless to say she was excited at the prospect of taking care of another egg and just manages to not let out a scream when it hatched. She did squeal loudly though

Coffee is avid on cleaning around much like any Minccino, which is good for when there fabric scraps and other such things around the place!

Though he seems to be so adamant on cleaning the area that he tends to gets dirty himself and doesn’t realize it until it shows on his tail

Tango (Spritzee)

“Hmm? You doing a different hairstyle today, Tango?”

Moves: Sweet Scent, Disarming Voice, Aromatherapy, Flail

Ability: Aroma Veil

During the time 6 year old Faye was with her papa in Galar due to him having a modeling gig, he thought it would be a good time to introduce her to one of her mom’s sides of the family

There Faye met her cousins and the ranch they run, filled with Pokémon running about

While her papa was talking to her auntie, she went and wander around the ranch to play with some of the Pokémon

There she would meet one of the younger Spritzees there with him taking a real liking of messing and playing around with her hair and refusing to let anyone but the young child to take him out of her hair. Needless to say that the lil guy was very insistent on staying with the young girl no matter what (and the start of the many Pokémon Faye would get from her cousins’ ranch in Galar)

Pascal (Smergle)

“Those designs look amazing! Oh, you have more?”

Moves: Sketch

Ability: Moody

Another one of her papa’s Pokémon that was given to her!

Pascal is practically the definition of an eccentric artist, easily taken away with his own work and making a mess of paint and paper

Fashion Design is what Pascal is really passionate about from his original owner to now Faye, drawing up many outfit concepts

Faye is practically a muse for him ever since she was born, and this sentiment has only grew since he became her Pokémon

Slash (Scyther)

“Helping Nana out again I see.”

Moves: Quick Attack, Slash, Endure, Swords Dance

Ability: Steadfast

Slash is the third of the trio of Pokémon that was given to Faye by her papa!

She helps out with Nana with making clothes, cutting any fabrics needed while Nana is sewing pieces together

Slash actually is often with Nana whether that be helping out with task or just having a relaxing time to enjoy the quiet, they’re rarely seen apart

Despite her preferring to help making outfits, Slash is actually fairly strong and protective of Faye, she’s a close second to Basile in terms of protectiveness

Rascal (Zorua)

“Here’s you’re treat, Rascal!”

Moves: Scatch, Scary Face, Thief, Foul Play

Ability: Illusion

A little prankster of a Pokémon who’s arrival was surprisingly a lot more quiet than expected, but a welcome one during a trip to Unova

Faye’s papa wanted to show her around Castelia City before his modeling gig takes up a majority of his time, and wanted to try the Casteliacones! This was more of a thing Faye’s papa wanted to try with 9 year old Faye not really minding it

What they didn’t know was that a hungry little Zorua was eyeing the two when they got their cones and followed them, though more specifically following Faye due to the girl not really eating her cone compared to her Papa. Faye did eventually notice the fox and handed over her Casteliacone to him

This lead to him following her and eventually going to Kalos, with him now helping out with showing off potential outfits for future performances. He still has cheeky moments though and will mess around but pull out a treat and he’ll be on his best behavior (for now)!

[theangrypokemaniac]

Part One

In a sense, childhood never really stops.

Everything to come simply grows round and upon those foundations like the rings of tree, which means that all the thoughts and feelings you had then, even if no longer consciously 'there' on the surface, are all still inside, waiting.

And if you dig down far enough, they burst out like spirits from a haunted forest.

You'd best be sitting down for this one.

The thing to remember about Pokémon is that it was only supposed to last for one region, so its set up and early canon were written in the assumption of an imminent ending.

When that changed, it meant having to slowly prise apart the relationships already established, in order to give them more run time before a belated conclusion finally tied it all together.

If you look, there is a clear difference in tone between series one (which is, officially, from Pokémon — I Choose You! to The Breeding Centre Secret) and two (the rest of Kanto plus the Orange League).

Near enough all of the beloved and best-remembered Rocketshipping moments (Pokémon Shipwreck, Holy Matrimony! etc.) are confined to the first series, because that was intended to lead somewhere.

I actually can't think of any stand-out scenes from the latter half of Kanto. In fact, and perhaps tellingly, that's when the earliest Anti-Shipping elements crept in, as in Bad to the Bone, which is another rant in itself.

By series two, the writers knew Pokémon would last until at least Johto, and therefore tried to roll back the status of these romances to a more moderate level, so it felt less of a fait accompli done and dusted, and more of a work-in-progress with some way to go yet, i.e. still carrying enough mileage to get them over the finish line.

We know from Mewtwo Strikes Back and its deleted footage that characters were originally intended to age, move on with their lives and settle down, which is the right thing to do if you believe the grand finale is just around the corner.

And again, this was obviously how early Kanto saw the future unfolding, because it makes several references to the passage of time during Ash's travels.

(He tells Giselle, for example, that he's been a Trainer for 'about two months').

Even as late as The Battle of the Badge, Misty says it's been a year since they last visited Viridian City.

By the third film, suddenly now it's only a year since Ash and Pikachu met, but nevertheless, time was still ticking onwards, even if in a somewhat stretched condition.

Once we get to Hoenn, the idea of Pokémon as a product, dragged on and on forever, comes into play, where status quo is god and nothing can ever really progress, as doing so would push it closer to the end, thus leaving less room to manoeuvre in the following region.

Even if it does superficially 'develop' during the era, thereby giving the writers somewhere to go, it's simply cancelled out by re-booting it in the next generation, and thus they can do the same plots all over again.

I bet this is is why Kanto and Johto get lumped in together as 'the Original Series', even when Johto was specifically promoted as 'a whole new world', because that was the last point with any real semblance of continuity, when time actually mattered to the story.

Anyway, that's the prologue of why I hate this scene.

There is no 'Jessie episode' to the Indigo League.

We have one for James (Holy Matrimony!) and Meowth (Go West, Young Meowth), but I need to search round the era, picking out the fragments, in order to piece together the puzzle of her background.

And I will do that.

1. Met James at Pokémon Tech. Failed the entrance exam. (The School of Hard Knocks)

2. Got Ekans for her birthday. (Island of the Giant Pokémon)

3. Fears rollercoasters. (Island of the Giant Pokémon)

4. Despises women who sit around moping over a fella, 'cause she's got some bloody standards and don't take no nonsense from men. (The Ghost of Maiden's Peak)

You go, girl!

5. Spent years thinking Santa was a Jynx after one came down the chimney and stole her creepy Bruce Lee doll. (Holiday Hi-Jynx)

If that's a prized possession it doesn't say much for her childhood.

Or, rather, it says a lot.

6. Lived with her mother in a shack with no running water in the far north, and ate snow to survive. (Snow Way Out)

I know, I know it's not Ma Jess in the sub, but they chose to give her the exact same colour hair, when they could've picked any other shade, so it doesn't make sense otherwise, besides the rest.

7. Wants to be worshipped and waited upon 'like Cleopatra' by subservient pretty boys. (Pokémon Scent-sation)

8. Really has a thing for long-haired, effeminate lads, particularly with blue and purple hair. (The Punchy Pokémon)

9. Joined a bike gang with James and finally made friends there. (The Bridge Bike Gang)

10. Said bike gang came directly after running away with James from Pokémon Tech. (Holy Matrimony!)

11. Got nothing for Kids' Day, except 'baloney, and with one slice'. (The Purr-fect Hero)

I was never sure if 'baloney' meant cheap American meat (and meagre amounts of it at that) or was a deliberate play on words and actually indicated no filling at all.

12. Grew up poor and couldn't have Pokémon Dolls. (Princess Versus Princess)

13. Used to be friends with Cassidy. Hates her now because she's 'jealous'. (The Breeding Centre Secret)

James didn't recognise Cassidy here, which suggests Team Rocket separates boys and girls for training, where she and Jessie then met but fell out rapidly, so it can't have been that much of a friendship.

Then again, it takes very little for girls to resent one another.

14. Considers herself an actress for playing a worm in a school play. (Lights, Camera, Quack-tion!)

15. No friends before James. (Friend or Foe Alike)

This is before we even consider supplementary material about her mother, for all that it's never come up in the anime.

Picture the scene: Little T.A.P., having compiled this list, settles down to watch a new episode of the Orange League, and what happens?

...

Right, everyone dies now.

...

All the above, that I bothered to notice and value, because I'd invested in the programme, near enough every one of them is wiped out by this single bloody montage.

I paid attention, I listened to what they told me, I cared, and for what? To watch them set it alight once it's inconvenient?

They are, in effect, punishing the audience for loving what they want us to love in the first place.

One by one:

• Oh, so you did have friends as a kid then? (15 gone)

But only one foot.

• I bet you get a breeze something awful up them robes. (6 gone)

• Note the clear implication here that Jessie met this berk as a little girl and grew up with him, thus she had a stable, settled upbringing, so you can put all that stuff about her getting shunted about here, there and everywhere in various foster homes after Ma Jess snuffed it out of yer head right now. (CD gone)

You take yer filthy hands off her.

Mind you, I don't blame Jess keeping her eyes shut.

Gotta protect her soul from getting sucked into the black hole of oblivion in Darren's face.

Yeah, he looks like a Darren to me.

Fresh from smashing up the local offy before browsing the racks of Top Man for classy, clearly-not-chav clobber.

Q. What do you call Darren in a suit?

A. The defendant.

• That's some fancy gear yer got on there, Jess. I'll bet that cost a few bob. (11 and 12 gone)

• Not keen on pale, long-haired foppish youths devotedly waiting on you hand on foot, eh?

Oh no, she's always wanted 'em assertive, domineering, cropped, and Ronseal'd to the non-existent eyeballs. (7 and 8 gone)

• May I again state that this routine shows Jessie growing up with this tosser, from almost birth to her current age, with no indication they'd ever parted during that time, which neatly eliminates the history she had with James. (1, 9 and 10 gone)

Not only that, but since she's now apparently lived near Darren until the very minute she signed up for crime, having no reason to do so in this continuity, it's erased the Chansey school before it's even been bloody invented!

It can't be a case of mountain shack, went home, Jynx castle, went home, Chansey school, went home, Pokémon Tech., went home, bike gang, went home, Team Rocket, as what the hell was she going home to? Parents?

And why wouldn't James go with her?

DARREN!!!

Girls like her disgust me.

Always waiting around for her man as if she were his faithful pet.

She can't stand the thought of losing him.

She cries but I'd say: 'See ya later!'

There are plenty more fish in the sea. (4 gone)

That screenshot is this meme:

Out of the list of fifteen, there are five left, 'cause that scene just kept on whittling 'em down like Cassidy on a speed run.

And before anyone starts (because they always start), I'm gonna pre-empt the 'ackshully' treatment.

What they type:

Fufufufufu... Oh they don't say that in the sub, don't you know.

What they mean:

Well if you were a Deesunt Yoomun Been, like me, you'd pay no attention to that vulgar old dub.

Frightfully common.

Alright, alright, I'll take all the words out an' all. (2 and 14 gone) Happy now?

Since Pokémon is no longer set on Earth, that'll be no Christmas allowed either. (5 gone)

All I have left is that she hates Cassidy and rollercoasters, and I'm not even sure if that counts these days, considering how quickly she pushed James on to her supposed mortal enemy. (13 gone)

And there's bound to be an episode I've forgotten about cutting out the rollercoaster terror. (3 gone)

Probably in Kalos.

It's the sort of thing they'd do.

So that's it then. Jessie's past was already a mystery, but this one scene destroyed every important piece of information I'd gathered about her, and quite a few minor details to boot, which set the pattern to come.

Now this wasn't the first time Pokémon ticked me off. We are, after all, dealing with the Orange League.

Who's this twat? And where's Brock?

Bad to the Bone was a portent of doom, but I grudgingly put it aside because I enjoyed the full series.

At least Tracey joining only changed the present, and didn't piss all over the past, but here, when I already don't like the overall situation, watching something blatantly wrong is even more infuriating.

Oooooh, it's just one scene. Get over it.

Exactly. One bloody scene. A few needless seconds easily eaten up by any other content, but oh no, they simply HAD to rip up everything they'd already said, for nothing.

I almost think being a meaningless, throwaway scenario makes it worse, as it led to no plot point within the episode, no vital exchange building to a legendary story arc, nothing of any worth whatsoever, which might (MIGHT) justify the soiled beginnings; it exists only as filler for empty air, never hinted at before, and never referenced again.

It doesn't matter at all, but they did it anyway.

At times like this I realize the value of Zero Tolerance, because the moment you put up with any slight slip in standards, precisely because it is so slight, and you're told to 'be reasonable', you've already consented to a hundred other much worse things down the line, because it's always 'just a little bit more' and 'But you accepted that, so why not this?' dragging yer down the path of damnation.

They got rid of Brock, and replaced him with Tracey, but fans weren't 'avin it, and kicked off.

So Brock returned, and stayed for another three regions, writers waiting for two generations of fan to grow up and leave before they dared pension him off again, and Tracey's barely been seen since.

But this? No one ever said a word.

No one ever says anything, and that just handed 'em a licence to do whatever they wanted.

And what have we had since then?

(Training Daze)

What be this 'shared history' of which ye speak?

Why, all the very moral people know Jessie and James only met in Team Rocket, so it must be true.

Mmm-hmm.

Ever noticed how most of the Team Rocket episodes after this retcon are all about splitting 'em up?

Oh, I wonder why.

Yeah. It's as if there's no deep bond anymore.

How people got swindled into believing this was a prime Rocketshipping goldmine I'll never know.

You'll gladly trade away their entire youth spent side-by-side, all to have one bloody GIF of him falling on top of her?

Why is this a novelty? Weren't they always hugging and falling asleep beside one another before?

Why is it suddenly a big deal?

Oh yeah. The Darren Dilemma hints as much, but this is the one making it official:

Jessie and James didn't know each other from Adam before today.

God knows what they were up to since birth though, 'cause all the adventures explaining have been deleted.

You can't have The School of Hard Knocks, you can't have The Bridge Bike Gang, and best of all, you can't have Holy Matrimony!, as that references them both.

Bye-bye now!

So we've gone from them staying together from childhood, as a choice, irrelevant to joining the Mafia, to something founded on a business deal between work mates?

That's romantic, innit?

(Sweet Baby James)

Jessie, and ME?!

Together?!

A COUPLE??!!

Ewwwwww!!! Yer dirty bitch, Grandma. I'd rather DIE!!!

I wish the writers wouldn't keep sending us these cryptic messages.

Come on, say what you mean for a change.

Uh! She's so disgusting, kids! Don't ship him with her!

That's just cruel, that!

(Crossing Paths!)

Well whaddya know. Here's another vapid dickhead who totally ruined my life in an unspecified timeframe who I nevertheless forgot about til now.

Austin Allegro or whatever his name is.

Real tragic tho.

Not before or after Darren, apparently.

In-between.

Try and make both these Shameful Secret Pasts fit, and you end up with Jess taking a break from Darren mid-way to fanny about with a fellow gibbering non-entity, who inflicted Major Trauma Of Which We Do Not Speak by getting on a bus, but shrugging it off immediately and going back to Darren, who inflicted Major Trauma Of Which We Do Not Speak by donning Giant's flasher mac.

Ah. The classic triggers.

What's this, anyway? Nurse Joy: The Wonder Years?

No, no, no, no, no! It's Jessie! Jessie, Jessie, JESSIE!

Ooh, yes. I'd know that hair anywhere.

This was a Serious Moment, people!

Ah, you mean another Butterfree rip-off?

NO! It was a moth this time! That's a completely different animal!

(Noodles! Roamin' Off!)

Yeah, I'm gonna do this Contest schtick full-time, love.

No, you can't come with me.

I ain't even offering.

Look, just sod off back to Jessibelle will yer?

She'll have yer. Daft bitch.

Hey, it's Mondo!

NO! It's once more a never-before-mentioned Very Important Character!

Amazing how Chris made such a life-shattering impact on the pair but somehow never showed up in the episode covering their Team Rocket training.

Crazy.

(A Fork in the Road! A Parting of the Ways!)

I don't like yer. I never really liked yer.

There will never be anything between us, so yer can forget that.

I don't even respect yer as a friend, 'cause I am outta here at the first sniff of something better without so much as a goodbye.

Who's this creaking old duffer?

That's Jessie an' all.

????????

I will dump you for some beady-eyed pencil neck within five minutes of meeting him 'cause it's Very Definitely Troo Luv Bruh.

Yeah, I know. But I don't give a shit about all the years we spent together.

You were just the only crawling simp I could get at the time.

Come on, even our 'best bits' recap is crap. What does that tell yer?

I don't even care if all yer Pokémon get nicked and you end up alone. I ain't coming back.

...

Okay, I'm back now. He doesn't want me so I might as well.

But don't get too comfy, sunshine. I am NOT happy and I will chuck you at the next opportunity.

Genius continuity here where James has gone from vowing to die before he married Jessie to having a nervous breakdown when she legs it.

Ssh. The Next Opportunity is coming up.

(The Good, the Bad, and the Lucky!)

You'd be much better off with that bird I've loathed with all-consuming murderous hatred for the last two decades.

You know, after she's bullied, belittled and beaten us up relentlessly?

Aye, that's the one. Go on, lad, get stuck in.

I can't be taking you away from Paradise when you've bonded over that famous shared interest of yours.

Whittling.

End of Part One