#pokedigibey

[ashxketchum]

Final day of November!

I wasn’t planning on posting this anywhere tbvh, but since I’m in London I thought, well this is a great way to end TyHil Month!

So this is the 2nd part of my PokeDigiBey TyHil focused Hogwarts AU. First part can be read on FFN as Chapter 28 of One Hundred Tales. This picks up exactly where that ends, so if you read that you would have no problem following the dynamics here.

I can’t be sure about the word count as I’m posting this from my phone, but this is unedited and sort of a dump of all my thoughts for this chapter so please excuse any bad writing.

TyHil Hogwarts AU Part 2 (Our Golden Days)

xxx

As the greenery surrounding the castle began to change colour and the gentle October chill greeted the students every morning, the first visit to Hogsmeade rolled around in the blink of an eye.

While running around from class to class and being buried under a pile of homework every day since the term began, Tyson's open invitation still managed to dance around Hilary's mind every time she lay in bed and closed her eyes for the night. She tried not to think too badly of herself for not being able to give him an answer yet. Despite the sometimes doubtful look that would cross Sora's eyes if his name ever came up in the conversation between them, or the slightly curious arching of Charlie's eyebrows if it was Hilary who brought him up in the conversation. No, there was no reason for her to feel guilty over being fickle minded, since Tyson had made it clear that he would wait. And besides, even if Hilary was able to figure out a response, the two of them barely had the time to sit down and talk about their feelings anymore.

Having opted for the most amount of subjects in their year, if Hilary was not dashing from one end of the castle to the other to make it to her next class on time, she would be glued to a corner in the library, frantically scribbling on parchments trying to finish all her assignments on time.

Tyson was kept equally busy by Kai taking every opportunity to squeeze in a Quidditch practice after classes. Rumours about the likeness of the Gryffindor team practicing at odd hours to Ghosts roaming around the castle aimlessly cropping up did nothing to deter Kai's dedication. The only one who did manage to influence the Captain in some capacity was Mimi, when she threw a tantrum in the Common Room about how she was not able to spend time with her friends anymore and Kai, unable to stand tall against her crocodile tears and shrill voice, caved into allowing the team to rest for a whole weekend. Not that it made much of a difference in the end, since the entire team, including Kai, spent their free time snoring away in their beds which only made Mimi more upset.

The only time Hilary could see Tyson lately was in the Great Hall during meals or in the few classes they shared, neither of which made for spaces where she could bring up the topic of his Hogsmeade invitation privately. Though what she would've said if they got the chance to talk was an entirely different matter. On days when she felt like she was on top of her schoolwork and managing her prefect duties marvelously, there was a skip in her feet as she turned every corner expecting to see Tyson so she could tell him that maybe taking up his offer didn't sound so bad after all. But then she would get back her graded homework for one of the classes and the feedback wouldn't be what she wanted to see, making her want to stay buried in her corner of the library, knowing that Tyson would never be able to find her there.

It probably wasn't a good sign that when she came across a book in the restricted section that talked about potions used for stabilizing moods, Hilary's first thought was to try that out for herself in the hopes so she could either be giddy or grumpy all the time, rather than swinging back and forth between the two like an out of control pendulum.

Not trusting herself around the book, she decided that it was time to head back to the Common Room and continue her studies cozied up against the fireplace with the soothing sound of her friends chatting in the background. As the portrait door swung open to allow her entry, Hilary was surprised to find that the room was emptier than usual considering how it was a Friday night. One quick sweep told her that the Quidditch team was missing, possibly still out practicing, she concluded with a sigh. She spotted Mimi with some third years and made her way towards the group. Settling her study material on a desk close to Mimi, she greeted the group of girls with a smile before picking up a book from her pile, An Advanced Outlook into Arithmancy, a bit ahead of where they were in the course right now but it wouldn't hurt to go through it once.

She almost put a tear in the page of the book on account of clutching onto it so hard when May got up to excuse herself, announcing that she wanted a good night's sleep before her first ever Hogsemeade visit.

The first Hogsmeade weekend was tomorrow.

And she still hadn't spoken to Tyson.

Hilary sunk into the chair, holding the book high in front of her face so Mimi or anyone else wouldn't be able to see the pained expression on her face. Regardless of her feelings, she didn't want Tyson to keep waiting for her to show up tomorrow. Technically, as Sora would say, she had already stood him up once this year and it just won't be right for her to do it again.

She hoped that her guess about the Quidditch players still out practicing was true because she knew that heading up to the Boys dormitory to ask Tyson to step out for a few minutes would embarrass her into oblivion.

Forcing her eyes to concentrate on the book in her hand, Hilary made up her mind to wait out here for Tyson to show up.

What she would say to him when he did, was something she'd decide after looking at his face, which itself made it seem like she was fighting a losing battle. Though, as her fellow housemates began to trickle back up to their rooms slowly, there still was no sign of any of the players returning.

Mimi stayed to talk about some trouble she had been facing with her Muggle Studies classes lately, but it wasn't long before her eyes began to droop and Hilary suggested that they pick up the topic later over the weekend. Nodding agreeably Mimi rested her head against Hilary's knees, sleepy eyes staring at the entrance of the common room in wait of possibly Misty or Sora.

The candles lighting up the room had long since dimmed, making Hilary wonder just how long Kai was planning to have their friends slave it out tonight. It was only when the clock kept ticking and she felt Mimi's soft rhythmic breathing against her leg as she dozed off, did her wonder turn into worry. She had kept her book away a while ago but her hands were itching to do something as she waited, so she began to stroke Mimi's hair, the softness of which instilled some calm into her now tensed body.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the portrait door swung open to let Ash and Misty in, the pair of them looking extremely frustrated yet relieved at the same time, if that were even possible. Mimi woke up at the sound of their arrival, rushing to Misty's side so she could share all the things that had been planned for their Hogsmeade visit tomorrow in her friend's absence. The two walked up the staircase with looped arms, Misty looking livelier by the minute as Mimi kept on talking about Hogsmeade. Ash watched them leave with a pout on his face, when neither of the girls bothered to turn around, he glanced at Hilary and mumbled a good night before dashing up the stairs of the Boy's dormitory.

Hilary wanted to call out to him, ask him if everything was okay with the team but he was out of her sight before she could form the question in her mind. It didn't take long however, for another handful of members to show up. Her face almost perked up at the sight of Sora stepping through the portrait, but when the door closed behind Charlie and Tai, it was hard for Hilary to fight off the disappointment and worry in her voice. All three of them wore similar expressions as Ash and Misty, with the only difference being Charlie looking extremely furious as she stomped off towards their room without bothering to meet Hilary's eyes. Sora was kind enough to indulge her though, even before she asked.

"Were you waiting up for us? Sorry for the delay." Sora smiled tiredly.

"That's okay, I had company." Hilary nodded towards the pile of books and parchment still scattered on the table. She then glanced expectantly towards the door, hoping to see Kai and Tyson walk through it any minute. But after a long pause where neither Sora nor Tai offered any further comment, she frowned at the two of them and folded her arms across her chest, "Why aren't Kai and Tyson back yet?"

Sora's eyes met Tai's without missing a beat and a silent understanding passed between them, one that Hilary knew meant that she would not be finding out anything from either of them tonight, which made her throw up her hands in frustration.

"I'm sorry Hils, but they'll be back soon and I will explain everything tomorrow. We're really tired and we just want to crash," Sora said, her voice on the verge of cracking as she fixed Hilary with a pleading look that may have put a puppy to shame.

"Fine, go on then."

Hilary shook her head exasperatedly, gesturing towards the staircases. Tai and Sora seemed unsure whether she would change her mind so they leapt at the chance to escape, not even bothering to respond to her good night wishes.

She ought to feel upset about being left alone in the Common Room once again, Hilary thought, but since her anxiety over what had happened with the Quidditch team tonight had almost taken the form of a boggart ready to torment her by showing the worst possible outcomes, she found it hard to assume the room was empty.

Kai staggered in almost half an hour later, and by then Hilary had almost befriended her imaginary, anxiety bridled boggart. She had sunk quite low in her chair so when he entered the common room, Kai didn't notice her. Hilary herself had fixed her attention on the door, wondering if Tyson was going to step through it next. When that didn't happen, she turned her attention towards Kai, who’d already covered the distance of the room to reach the stairs that led to the boys dormitory. He had his back to her and she was surprised to see that his Quidditch robes were covered in mud, as if he'd spent the evening rolling around in it.

"Kai, is Tyson okay? Why isn't he back yet?" She called out, and Kai almost jumped in his spot as he turned around to face her, covering his face with an arm which only made her more anxious.

"He'll be back later. We will talk tomorrow, Hilary. Good night."

The lighting in the room was too dim for her to figure out exactly what it was Kai wanted to hide from her, but his usual stern voice felt strained, like speaking itself was painful for him. She didn't want to push him if he was hurt, but his response was too vague to calm her nerves. It didn’t help that only after another 30 minutes, which felt like 30 hours, did Tyson finally appeared through the portrait door.

"Tyson are you okay?" Hilary sprung to her with a renewed energy, her shrill voice making Tyson jumped as he noticed her in the dark and empty common room.

"Why are you still up?" He was headed straight towards the dormitory stairs but halted midway to frown at her.

"I-" She started to speak but when her mind registered the meaning of the words on the tip of tongue, Hilary cleared her throat and tucked a few strands behind her hair to hide her embarrassment as she muttered quietly, "I was worried about you."

"You were worried about me?"

Tyson’s jaw dropped down as he stared at her, deciding that he could sacrifice rest a little further, he turned away from the stairs and walked up to her. Hilary instinctively took a few steps back, making sure that there was an appropriate amount of distance between them, yet it wasn’t of much use because she could already feel the warm, inviting magnetic pull that Tyson always carried around him, tugging at her to come closer.

"Are you okay? You look-" Hilary managed to face him with a little difficulty, controlling her expressions by talking.

"You should see the other guy."

Tyson grinned at her, while his robes were not as badly drenched with mud as Kai’s, it was still not a pretty sight. She already dreaded the worst as she let out a sigh and asked the big question.

"What happened?"

"Kai and I got into a fight,” Tyson said in a very matter of fact voice, like this was just another normal school night activity for them.

"What?"

"Which isn't new.” He shrugged at the look of shock on Hilary’s face, continuing with his carefree explanation while scratching the back of his head, “But uh, things escalated this time. Unfortunately, Madam Skyla happened to be passing by the pitch and saw us fighting so…"

"So?"

"So I got detention."

"Kai too?"

"Nah, he probably only had to write a letter of apology. He is the Captain and well…" Tyson stopped to roll his eyes as he explained, though when Hilary expected him to pass out a smug smile, he instead let his shoulders droop and let out a defeated sigh, "I threw the first punch."

If she’d been her younger self, she would’ve taken this moment to berate Tyson for lacking patience or relying on violence for solutions. But now that she knew him better, and because she could see the guilt that darkened his humorous face, Hilary decided to gently ask him more about the problem instead.

"Why did you two fight?"

"He's acting like if we don't spend every minute we're alive and breathing on the pitch, we'll end up losing everything!” Tyson immediately responded, his voice more animated yet laced with a lot of frustration.

"He was going to make Ash and Misty ditch their first Hogsmeade visit to come to practice tomorrow." He added, scrunching up his nose in a look of utter annoyance, "I get that he wants to win since this is his last year, but I could not let him take that away from those two." Just for a moment, at the thought of Ash and Misty perhaps, his face changed to its usual softness and Hilary felt the corner of her mouth tug itself towards a smile as she watched him.

"Obviously the pipsqueaks were too afraid to say anything, so I brought it up…” Tyson paused to avert his gaze, his cheeks turning pink as he added, “Not so nicely and that kind of turned into a full fledged fight. Then Skyla came along, broke it up, gave me detention for the weekend and cancelled all the reservations Kai had made for the pitch until Thursday."

"That's a relief." Hilary couldn’t help but feel relaxed over the conclusion, though when she met Tyson’s questioning stare, she shook her head and quickly explained, "I mean, not the detention part obviously, but with the pitch unavailable now all of you will get a chance to rest. Even Kai."

"Yeah, we desperately need that."

"Skyla didn't deduct any points, did she?" Once again, her anxiety jumped the gun and she found herself blurting out this question knowing full well that Tyson’s reaction to this would not be helpful.

"Nothing you can't make up easily in class on Monday." He snickered at her, as expected. He peered over her shoulder, taking one step closer towards her to get a good look, “Let's see- is this the Arithmancy assignment, due after Christmas holidays?"

"I wanted a head start.” She mumbled, feeling the colour rise in her cheeks.

"Two months seem about right then," he said, his snickering now turning into a full fledged laugh.

She was glad to see him return to his usual mood, making fun of her study habits had that effect on him the fastest perhaps. A moment of silence passed between, and Hilary, assuming that this would be the end of their conversation, began to wrap up her study material. She'd half expected Tyson to head back up to the dormitory, but it seemed that she wasn't the only one who had been mulling relentlessly over his invitation this past few weeks.

"So about tomorrow…" Tyson cleared his throat, waiting for her to meet his eye before he continued, "I'm gonna have to take a rain check on-" he paused, and Hilary swore that she could feel the passing of every second in her veins as he searched for the right word to use. "Our- uh my plan." Bringing up a finger to scratch the tip of his nose, Tyson turned his gaze towards the floor.

It was rare to see him look embarrassed, and Hilary would've enjoyed the sight had she herself was not feeling the weight of the tension buzzing between them pulling her down towards the ground, her knees wobbling in an effort to make sure she didn't fall down.

"I doubt I'll get out of mowing the entire pitch, cleaning the goal posts and then help Brock in feeding the magical creatures before night time."

"That's okay!" Hilary quickly spoke up, trying her best to smile at him through her burning cheeks, "You did the right thing, standing up for Ash and Misty like that."

Tyson shrugged off her praise, though he could not hide the smug smile taking over his lips.

"I still remember our first visit."

"I'm sure you and I have very different recollections of that day considering you switched my chocolate frogs splurge with very real and very slimy frogs."

"That was the first time I actually saw you cry." "I'm sorry by the way, for that prank. It seemed like a very funny idea in my head at that time."

"Water under the bridge." "It's getting late, you should get a good rest considering the day you're gonna have tomorrow."

"Yeah, I can't believe I was the one who asked you and now I'm the one who can't make it."

"Don't worry too much about that, we'll just go next weekend. After you guys win the first match, of course. And besides, Matt will need my help keeping an eye on the Third Years-"

"What did you just say?"

"Matt will need my help-"

"Before that."

"W-we'll go next weekend."

"Just the two of us?"

"Yes."

"So it'll be a date? You will consider it a date?"

"Yes."

[ashxketchum]

Note: I’ve been focusing more on making edits this year so only got around to finish writing this today. This is my entry for both Dawn and Morning themes. I know I always say I have a million AUs for TyHil in my head, and well half of them are about how they get married. So I already wrote a proposal oneshot last year (?), and this doesn’t exactly feature a proposal, but everything that follows afterwards. It’s set in the AU where all my other favourite characters from Digimon and Pokemon are present too, along with my OC. In this verse Tyson and Taichi (Digimon) are fraternal twins.

You might get a vibe of a certain world famous sitcom from this, but that’s because I’ve been rewatching it on repeat since September or so. I hope you enjoy reading this!

READ ON FANFICTION.NET

post dividers by @/cafekitsune

~bright smiles and bubbling champagne~

He only caught a glimpse of the first streak of purple seeping through the dark sky before his attention was snapped back to the scene in front of him. Tyson realised that dawn was almost upon them and a sunrise signalling the start of a new day would follow soon. He should have been exhausted by now, groaning about not getting enough sleep, but when his eyes fell on the now twinkling stone resting on Hilary’s finger a rush of excitement took over and every bit of tiredness left his body.

Who would’ve thought that just a few hours ago they’d been having the worst date of their lives and now they were engaged?

If he was being honest with himself, however, Tyson had never meant to propose to Hilary tonight.

No, that was something he still hadn’t planned at all and yet tonight something clicked. Maybe it was how she had smiled reassuringly when the restaurant claimed that they’d not registered any reservation under his name tonight. Or perhaps it happened when she sat next to him in the cramped and dinghy ramen shop, tucking her hair back diligently before slurping loudly as she gulped down a bowlful of ramen without hesitation. It could have been when she agreed to have ice cream for dessert despite the chill in the air and only laughed loudly when through some miracle snow began to fall on a crisp November night. It definitely had something to do with how she didn’t complain when his car broke down in the middle of an empty road and the towing service told him they’d only pick it up in the morning after the snow subsided. As they walked back home hand in hand, she hummed a happy tune as if the night had turned out exactly how she had expected it to.

That’s when Tyson knew, that he’d made the right choice by carrying the ring around with him ever since he bought it.

Him getting down on one knee two blocks away from their apartment was probably the only thing Hilary hadn’t expected to happen tonight, yet, she couldn’t even wait for him to finish asking the question before she shouted yes and jumped into his arms.

And that’s how he ended up awake at 4 AM, squished on the couch between his twin and his fiance, as their friends gathered around to get a closer look at the ring and to hear the story about how it happened.

“I still can’t believe it, oh my god you guys!” Sora’s voice almost cracked as she took Hilary’s hand in hers to inspect the ring with awe.

Another flurry of congratulations and we’re so happy for you mixed in with exclamations over the diamond ring rang through the living room. Hilary gently pulled her hand out of Sora’s grasp and leaned back into the couch, her face was beaming with happiness at being the centre of attention and she could barely suppress the wide grin for more than a second as she gazed at her hand contently. Tyson tried his best to not laugh at how cute she looked fawning over the ring and basking in the praises that the two of them were being showered with.

“And it’s such a beautiful ring too,” Mimi said wistfully, her caramel eyes shined as she shifted her gaze upwards to smile at Hilary.

“Of course it is, I helped pick it after all!” As proud as Charlie looked with herself, her statement was not met with the enthusiasm she may have expected.

Tyson wasn’t surprised by the sudden silence that followed, however, he’d known from the moment he’d asked Charlie to accompany him to the jewellery store a few months ago that when everyone else found out they were excluded from the plan, they wouldn’t take it lightly. The first one to react was Taichi, having the advantage of sitting next to him, his brother punched his arm.

“You took Charlie with you and not me?” While Taichi’s voice was tinged with a hint of hurt, the laidback smile on his face told Tyson that he didn’t hold the supposed betrayal against him.

“I needed to make sure that Hils wouldn’t find out,” Tyson said, draping an arm around Hilary’s shoulders as he inched closer towards her, in case his brother decided to change his mind and punch him for real.

“I’m great at keeping secrets!” Taichi responded with a pout.

“Yes, if keeping a secret means telling Sora something 10 seconds after you hear it.” Yamato piped up from across the couch. The room observed a collective nod of agreement with some light chuckles as Taichi narrowed his eyes at the blond.

“I don’t mind keeping a secret.”

It was odd to see Kai chime into a conversation without being asked to, which left everyone else silent as they considered his words. It was no surprise, however, when Mimi was the one to break the silence with a zing, laughing loudly without reading the room.

“But your taste in jewellery is terrible!”

“That’s not true!” Kai shot back immediately, taken aback by the accusation as if he’d never considered this possibility, “Charlie’s never complained about any of my gifts-” He looked at his girlfriend for support but she turned her face away from him quickly and jumped up from her seat with exaggerated enthusiasm.

“What matters now is that you guys are engaged!” Charlie squealed, meeting Hilary’s gaze as she completely ignored Kai’s attempt to catch her eye. “I feel like we should be celebrating!” She threw the question at the room and it was difficult for anyone to disagree. From the corner of his eyes, Tyson noticed Charlie shoot a warning look in Mimi’s direction when Kai wasn’t looking and he shook his head at the sight, making a mental note to accompany his best friend the next time he decided to go gift shopping.

“Should we go out for drinks?” Taichi asked excitedly, turning to look at him and Hilary for their approval.

“At-” Yamato began to respond with annoyance before pausing to look at the time on his wristwatch, possibly for dramatic effect, “4 AM? Don’t we all have jobs to get to in about 5 hours?”

“Okay, so how about you go home and get ready for work while the rest of us go out and celebrate the engagement?” Taichi scoffed, rolling his eyes at his friend’s reaction.

“There’s a bottle of champagne in my car downstairs,” Kai stated loudly stopping both Taichi and Yamato’s half-uttered insults, ensuring that the mood doesn’t get swept away by an argument between the two.

The decision was made in an instant, glasses and snacks were pulled out of the cupboard as the champagne arrived and the gang gathered around in a circle with Tyson and Hilary in the centre. Tyson gently pushed the cork off the bottle, the popping sound was drowned out by the cheers and clapping of his friends. He picked up the glass to pour the first drink for Hilary, leaning down to kiss her cheek quickly and whispering I love you in her ear as he handed the drink to her. He watched with a smile as her cheeks turned a bright shade of red as the cheers were replaced by hooting but she still managed to say it back to him. After another flurry of emotional well-wishes and congratulations filled the air everyone grabbed a glass full of champagne for themselves before settling back in their places around the living room. The silence as all of them sipped on their drinks was oddly relaxing, Tyson almost wanted to down his entire glass in one go and call it a night then and there but his friends had other plans.

“Well, you know what it is they say about a perfect wedding.” Mimi interrupted the silence by setting down her now half-empty glass on the coffee table in front of her, an excited gleam overtaking her eyes as she looked directly at Hilary.

“What do they say about a perfect wedding?” Yamato’s low yet sarcastic whisper did not go unheard by anyone in the room.

Tyson had to stifle a laugh as the brunette still managed to ignore the statement and instead pulled up the large tote bag she had carried with her tonight from the floor and gently set it down on the table. He had been slightly curious when Mimi arrived lugging this bag on her shoulder an hour ago, considering how no one else had bothered to bring anything with them at such short notice. Now the mystery was finally solved as she pulled out a hefty looking white and pink coloured binder that had something written on it with silver glitter which Tyson couldn’t see from where he was sitting. Yamato however, got a perfect look at the title since he was settled on the floor next to Mimi, and almost doubled over from trying to keep himself from laughing.

“It’s never too late to start planning,” Mimi said, patting the binder with determination and completely ignoring Yamato's reaction as she picked it up and leaned over on her knees to hand it to Hilary.

When Hilary rested the binder in her lap and Tyson finally got to see the title, he understood Yamato’s reaction but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to feel the same way as his fiance started to flip through the carefully compiled pages. He caught a glimpse of something about a horse carriage entrance and how much it costs which reminded him of the number of zeroes in his bank account, rather the lack thereof. He swallowed a nervous gulp when he glanced at Hilary and found her looking over the details with concentration. Tyson had known that eventually the two of them would need to sit down and have a conversation about things like their finances and budget, but he had hoped that tonight, he would just get to enjoy the feeling of being engaged to Hilary.

“This binder has everything you need to know about how to organise a wedding,” Mimi spoke up proudly puffing out her chest as almost everyone in the room came forward to get a look at her hard work. “I’ve been working on it since I was in sixth grade or something.”

“Yet your parents were surprised that you didn’t want to go to medical school,” Yamato muttered dryly, earning a few laughs and snickers from the room.

“Venues, dresses, catering, décor, it has details on everything, categorised by theme.” Mimi continued unfazed by the blond’s words she kept her gaze fixed on Hilary, “Of course, I made sure to update the prices as per the latest market rate.”

“And you still found time to colour your hair pink?” Yamato feigned surprise which led to Taichi and Charlie laughing out loud and this Mimi could not ignore. She turned to glare at Yamato, who to no one’s surprise quickly inched away from her.

“This is amazing Mimi chan!” Hilary finally looked up from the handmade catalogue, much to Tyson’s relief. She might have heard the sigh that escaped his lips because she quickly set the binder on the table face down so the glittery title, ‘The Perfect Wedding for The Perfect Girl’, was hidden from sight, “Thank you so much for sharing this with me, it means a lot.” Hilary smiled brightly at Mimi, saving Yamato from her murderous gaze just in time.

“You’re welcome! I hope this helps you make the right choice, by the way,” Mimi said sweetly, returning the smile, that somehow seemed to convey a heavier meaning that Tyson couldn’t catch.

“What do you mean? What choice?” Hilary looked as confused as him as she furrowed her brows and leaned forward.

“Why your Maid of Honour pick of course! Which one of us will it be?” Mimi announced her question happily but the effect of her words made the air in the room go cold.

Suddenly three pairs of eyes locked down on Hilary like a hawk, waiting with bated breath to hear her answer. Tyson who, unfortunately, was sitting next to his fiance and thus subjected to the unblinking stares found himself sinking lower into the couch to avoid being in the line of sight. Hilary let out a nervous chuckle and reached for his hand for support, grasping onto it tightly before she carefully picked out her response.

“I think it’s a little too soon to discuss this, no? We haven’t even decided on a date yet.”

“You’re absolutely right, Hils. I don’t want you to feel pressured by this so soon, anyway,” Charlie said, sending a smirk in Mimi’s direction.

“And this really isn’t that difficult a choice to make.” Sora laughed, gulping down the last of her champagne with ease.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Charlie, who was sprawled across the armrest of the couch Sora was sitting on, straightened up as she leaned forward to scowl at the auburn haired girl.

“Who do you think Tyson is going to pick as his Best Man?” Sora scoffed, rolling her eyes upwards as if this wasn’t something she thought she would need to explain to anyone.

“He could pick Kai! Kai is his best friend-”

“Taichi is his brother.”

“Oh, so you think that you have the upper hand as the brother’s girlfriend?”

“Might I remind both of you,” Mimi interrupted the argument in a loud voice, “that I’ve already proven what a great job I would do if I was picked.” She pointed towards the binder of nightmares lying at the table with a smug smile on her face.

“Oh yeah, sure your elementary school scrapbooking puts you above me picking out the actual engagement ring.” Charlie folded her arms across her chest and shot Mimi a challenging glare.

“Why don’t you just do a contest?”

Kai surprised them all by speaking out of turn for the second time that night. The room’s attention turned towards him and he met Hilary’s curious gaze with his usual deadpan expression.

“A contest?” Hilary asked, her voice a little quiet as she was probably trying to avoid coming back into the focus as technically she hadn’t answered Mimi’s question yet.

“Yeah, just give them a few tasks to do related to the wedding and see who performs the best. Everyone wins fair and square,” Kai said, completely unaware of the three pairs of angry glares directed at him as he spoke.

Charlie and Sora looked the most upset by his statement, Tyson assumed that the two thought they were closest to Hilary and wouldn’t really need to do anything extra to be appointed as her Maid of Honour, but now thanks to Kai’s suggestion, which Hilary was understandingly nodding along to, the two girls were at risk of losing against not just each other but Mimi, and if Hilary decided to be her kind self, Misty and Hikari as well.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Hilary responded, perking up slightly. One glance at the sulking faces of her girlfriends told her however, that it was time to change the topic so the happy moment wouldn’t slip away from them so soon, “But let’s go out and celebrate first, we’ll have plenty of time to discuss these things later.” She waved a dismissing hand in the air and quickly turned to Tyson and Taichi for support. They understood her pleading queue and instantly sat up with enthusiasm, garnering the attention of everyone with their over excited reactions.

“I found a place that’s open!” Sora almost shrieked a minute later, tapping away at her phone as she continued to speak fast, “Breakfast buffet with an open bar, entry starts at 6 AM.” She looked up at Hilary for approval, and when the latter nodded, she went back to scrolling on her phone, a frown settling on her face as she scanned the text on the screen, “Oh, it’s in Roppongi which isn’t far but it says formal wear only.”

“Well, it makes sense to dress up to celebrate something this big, right?”

Hilary’s question was not met with any resistance, everyone started to finish their drinks and finalise the little details like where they should all meet after getting ready and who should carpool with whom, Sora called the restaurant and made a reservation smugly as both Charlie and Mimi looked on with disappointment, apparently the contest had already started among the girls. It was a bit amusing to watch how they were all deep in thought over what they could do next to win Hilary’s favour. If Tyson had the chance to be in his fiance’s shoes, he would have had so much fun manipulating the guys into doing all his chores and errands throughout the months leading up to the wedding. But he could tell that Hilary on the other hand, was dreading the decision that now loomed over her head in the form of three very determined women.

“Just so you know Hils, I texted Misty and she’s going to Ash’s dorm to check if he’s awake. They’ll try to make it there by 6:30 AM,” Mimi said, turning up her nose slightly in Sora and Charlie’s direction.

“I was just thinking about calling her, ugh!” Charlie groaned as she got up from her seat and slung her tiny bag across her shoulder. Heading for the door, she stopped midway to pinch Kai’s arm who let out a squeaky yelp at the sudden move, “This is all your fault, you know! Why don’t you do a contest-” She mimicked Kai’s stoic voice perfectly which earned her a laugh from both Taichi and Yamato. “I’m going to go get ready as quickly as possible, wouldn’t want to show up late after all,” she announced to the room before dashing out of the door. Her exit made Sora and Mimi get on their feet too as they quickly packed up their things and followed the blonde out after saying their rushed goodbyes.

Next to him, Hilary let out a relieved sigh, dropping her head on his chest after the door shut behind Mimi. Tyson chuckled at her reaction and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. The guys seemed much more relaxed about getting ready on time and hung around for a little while longer, making sure that the champagne bottle they’d opened was emptied before they headed out.

“So are we going to wait until Hilary decides what the contest will be or are we placing the bets right now?” Kai asked with a smirk playing on his lips as he took the last sip of the bubbly from his glass.

“I’m going to tell Charlie you said that,” Hilary finally lifted her head from Tyson’s chest and turned to wink at Kai, “unless you buy us another bottle of that expensive champagne.”

“I’ll buy you five,” Kai responded with a panicked look on his face, rubbing the spot on his arm where Charlie had pinched him earlier.

“Besides there is no competition,” Yamato said, standing up from his position on the floor with his coat tucked under his hand. “Look at that,” he pointed with vigour towards the thick, glittery binder still lying on their coffee table, “Mimi’s got this in the bag.”

“Now, wait here just a second!” Taichi gulped down the last of his champagne and fixed Yamato with a challenging glare, “Sora can easily leave a binder in the dust.”

“I’m not sure if you two are familiar but,” Kai butted in before Yamato could respond, “Charlie’s settlement ratio as a lawyer is formidable, I’m sure she’ll just convince Sora and Mimi to drop out before the contest even begins.”

“Okay, get out all of you,” Tyson finally spoke up, rolling his eyes at the sight of his friends continuing the argument on their girlfriends’ behalf. “Go and get dressed!”

He nudged Taichi in the shoulder lightly, hoping to get his brother off the couch and on his feet so Kai too would feel inclined to leave. His trick worked and soon enough all three boys were out of their apartment and Hilary shut the door behind them, drowning out the voices of Taichi and Yamato still arguing in the hallway about who would perform better as a Maid of Honour between Sora and Mimi as they waited for the lift to arrive.

Hilary leaned against the door with her hands behind her back and met Tyson’s eyes. For a moment they were both quiet and then they burst out laughing in sync. She moved towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his chest once again with a wistful sigh escaping her lips.

“This is going to be a nightmare isn’t it?”

“A bloodbath for sure,” Tyson chuckled softly as he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

“Oh, the girls are going to crucify me!” Hilary groaned before resting her chin on his chest and peeking up at him with mischief brewing in her doe-like eyes, “Can’t you pick my Maid of Honour, pretty please?”

“Hils, they haven’t invented words for me to be able to express how much I truly love you,” Tyson said with a grin. He leaned his head down to rub his nose against hers before laughing out loud, “But I will not be the judge of your Maid of Honour Squid Game, that’s on you completely.”

“I’m just going to write all their names on little pieces of paper and draw one randomly, leave it all to luck.”

“I’d pay to watch their reaction to that.”

Hilary shook her head as she laughed at his words, looking up at him again from under her lashes, her face seemed to soften the longer she kept his gaze.

“I suppose I should just be grateful for how much all three of them care about me,” she said, sighing lightly.

“You know, you make it kind of hard to not love you.”

She giggled at his words and he raised one hand to brush a few loose strands of hair away from her face. Ever since their friends had rushed into the apartment after hearing the news, Tyson realised he hadn’t really gotten a chance to look at Hilary, to really look at her. Now with the first rays of morning light pouring into their living room, the comfortable silence of being alone with her and the sensation of her heartbeat picking up pace against his chest, he was reminded of just why he had chosen tonight to pop the question.

In fact, he almost felt like reprimanding himself for even waiting this long. There was nothing in his life that he wanted more than being able to spend every minute of it next to Hilary.

But for now, they were on a schedule as Hilary curtly reminded him.

“We should start getting ready too,” she said, untangling her arms from around him.

However, Tyson was not ready to let go just yet.

He held her in place by tightening his grip around her waist, earning him a look of confused surprise from Hilary. He rested his forehead against hers and smirked when she sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes falling to his lips for a brief moment. Given all that happened tonight, the two should’ve been tired enough to fall on their faces and sleep, but instead, he felt a buzzing excitement race through their bodies the longer they stared at each other.

“We’re allowed to be a little late, don’t you think?” Tyson whispered against Hilary’s cheek and felt her body shudder under his grasp.

“It shouldn't be a problem,” Hilary mumbled, her lips quivering as he inched closer towards them.

“Good to know, because I had a few ideas about what we could do before we get ready.”

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New Couple's Picrew and it's Beach Themed???

Sign me tf up!

Group date to the beach! 🤭

As is the tradition in all my TyHil beach picrews, Tyson got that flower for Hilary so that it'd match his shirt 🥰

They're not the only ones who coordinated the outfits though, this is Mimi we're talking about, Yamato gets no say whatsoever 🤣 Not that it matters because he looks good in every colour 🤗

I LOVE it when Picrews let you do the dual toned hair thingy, makes it so much easier to make Kai! There was a Hawaiian shirt picked out for Kai as well but nobody could out-stubborn him into wearing it 😢

Misty packed her full swim gear because she wanted to challenge Tyson to a race which almost brought Ash to tears because he was looking forward to seeing her in a swimsuit. For Ash's sake, Tyson pretended to have a cramp in his leg and called off the race right from the start so Misty had no choice but to change into her bikini.

Taiora took a break because I'm annoyed with them currently

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Rule of thumb is that when you find a nice picrew you must leave everything else to recreate your otps!

Here's a very nice medieval themed doll maker picrew I found, and the results ⬇️

First up is TyHil (as always). I'm not sure what Hilary is supposed to be here, I just really liked how that outfit looked on her lol, but maybe she's like a historian on the run from the kingdom (like Nico Robin!) and Tyson is the knight who was sent to capture her but fell in love with her instead!

No 2 is always Mimato! This picrew lacks eye colour options (which it makes up for in skin colour and hair colours) so Mimi's eyes are more olive than caramel here. She's a princess who recently awakened her magical powers and Yamato is a wizard her parents hired to tutor her into being able to control said powers.

Next, no surprises here, is obviously Pokeshipping! Again no brown eye colour made it difficult to get Ash completely accurate. So these two are aeronauts who travel the realm together and occasionally lend their airship to people who need them (like transporting fugitives *hint Hilary hint*) .

Then next up is KaixOC, where I really have no clue how to fit them into the story cuz I kinda just gave them matching goth looks cuz that's their vibe. BUT I suppose Kai can be the king of a secluded kingdom, that's way more progressive and developed than the rest of the mainland and keeps their technology hidden from the rest of the realm, making them mysteriously powerful. And my OC, Charlie, can be a witch who helps in keeping the kingdom guarded from intrusions through her powers.

And finally, the otp that must not be named 🤣 Sora turned out pretty accurate but Taichi feels like a wasted effort because this was the best I could do and he still looks nothing like himself. They're part of the team that's led by Tyson to capture Hilary, Sora is a medic but also a witch with healing powers which is a secret known only to her parents and Taichi is a mercenary/bounty hunter aiming to snag the hefty bounty the kingdom has put on Hilary's head.

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🎃 HAPPY HALLOWEEN 🎃

✨Hilary's Princess-core Party✨ The princesses have gathered with their protectors, and the best dressed couple is...?

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IKUZE 3, 2, 1 MAKE SOME NOISE (ᗒᗩᗕ)

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HOLIDAY VACATION WITH THE FAM (•̀ᴗ•́ )و

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By now you already know what happens when I find A SUPER FUN PICREW!!!

Let's start with TyHil, because always and forever. A cute beach date and if you don't think Tyson would pick a flower that matches his outfit to put in Hilary's hair then you don't know Tyson at all.

Then we have Pokeshipping, Ash and Misty are on a picnic date along with stray kitten who couldn't help but snuggle up to Ash. Gave Misty some freckles for fun, and since couldn't get Ash's trademark Z on his face, added the Pikachu cheeks instead!

Next up is Mimato, Yamato and Mimi are on a stargazing date. Mimi set the dress code for the night as stripes and Yamato followed her instructions to the T.

Then there is Kai with my OC, Charlie, they're having a coz Netflix and Chill date at home. Kai wanted to watch a documentary about the Pyramids and Charlie wanted to watch Legally Blonde, so they played Rock Paper Scissors and he lost.

And finally there's Taiora, Taichi and Sora are on a summer festival date. They both won each other matching stuffed animals from playing shooting games.

And that's about it on my weekly pokedigibey shitposting.

PS: The picrew doesn't allow you to merge two images, that I did separately 😇

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Hadn't posted these wacky polls in a hot minute so let's goooo

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a very, very random self focused question for you all because why not

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Okay since Ash got a landslide victory in last week's poll, this week I'm back with another crazy question

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I know these days I come online on weekends and throw random polls at you all, but finally my favourite topic!

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Okay, let me talk about PokeDigiBey high school shenanigans because why not?

Kai is the oldest, so he's one year above the core gang, while Ash and Misty are one year below. Depending on the flow of the story I'm imagining, I shuffle Mimi being in the same year as the core gang or Ash and Misty, but most of the time she ends up with the former. Core gang includes Tyson, Hilary, Yamato, Taichi, Sora and Charlie (OC).

Tyson and Ash are in the baseball club together, though Tyson is not the Captain (even though he should have been but since Hiro is the Coach there's a lot of drama involved.) Taichi is obviously the Captain of the Soccer Club and Sora is their Coach (there's a whole story here), Kai is the Student Council President in his final year, after he graduates Hilary becomes the President. Mimi is the Captain of the Cheerleading Club, which includes Misty and many other Pokegirls (and her Vice Captain is ofc Dawn who also idolises Mimi). Misty is also a part of the Swim Club, and the regional Freestyle Champion.

A recurring plot line in most of my high school au scenarios is that when Kai moves out of town, he and Charlie decide to take a break in their relationship. Actually, Kai decides that and when he talks to Charlie about it, she wants to hide her vulnerability and doesn't want to come off as being too needy, so she agrees to the split even though deep down she believes that the two could pull off long distance (which isn't exactly long distance since Kai does mostly come home on weekends) if they tried. This was inspired by the song Why by Avril Lavigne. ( Fair warning but every single thing about my OC is inspired by Avril Lavigne's discography.)

With Tyson and Hilary, there are of course a billion scenarios, but two of the most common plot lines I follow are:

A) they're secretly sleeping with each other with a no strings kind of set up - Hilary is somewhat the poster girl for honour student, she's always under the spotlight which doesn't make it easy for her to date since most of the time it's difficult for her to gauge whether the person asking her out is interested in her, or the attention that comes with dating her. Tyson plays baseball under the tutelage of Hiro (who because of an injury couldn't progress his own career) but also practices kendo & shogi on the side because Ryu is afraid that their family traditions will die out. So he's too busy pleasing all his family members and their ambitions to even breathe, let alone date. Which is why the only sex, no feelings set up works very well for Tyson and Hilary UNTIL OF COURSE THEY CATCH INTENSE FEELINGS haha and then don't know how to backtrack to the beginning of their relationship and date each other properly which just leads to misunderstandings + unresolved feelings + angsty arguments.

B) Both are waiting for the other person to make a move - with their friend circles interacting so closely, it's impossible for them to avoid each other, so they both know that the spark exists between them. But when Hilary works up the courage and low-key confesses to Tyson in middle school, he isn't ready yet to accept how he feels and freaks out, turning her down by calling her "high maintenance". After which Hilary tries to stay as far away from him as possible, deciding that until Tyson doesn't flat out ask her out, she's not going to give him any attention. Meanwhile, Tyson thinks that since he hurt Hilary's feelings in the past, she doesn't want anything to do with him and tries his best to keep his distance from her (which Hilary thinks is him being completely disinterested towards her). So they kind of drift apart during high school, and only get a chance to interact again when they coincidentally sign up for the same elective class in college where they are - you guessed it - made partners for an assignment.

And originally this post was supposed to have snippets about each of the ships, but as you can see my TyHil heart doesn't know how to put a full stop when I start talking about them, so for now this is it 🥸

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Okay so after re-reading all my favourite bits, I settled with sharing the epilogue scene because it's kinda low stakes and you don't need to know much about the actual plot of the story to enjoy this!

Of course, I edited it slightly, but the whole thing is true to its essence from when it was posted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I had nothing to do with this."

Ash repeated the words to his reflection in the mirror for the hundredth time that day. He was standing in his bathroom and practising his speech for when Kai found out what they had done. And by they, Ash meant Tyson and Taichi, only Tyson and Taichi.

Not him, because he had nothing to do with this after all.

Sure he was present when the two carried out the crime, but it's not like he took part in it, and sure he could've pleaded with them to stop but they didn't even listen to Yamato, what were the chances of them listening to the pipsqueak?

To back up a little, things had been going just fine between the five of them until Kai decided that he needed to get back at Tyson for the punch. It had been a harmless prank where Kai easily replaced Tyson's books and notebooks with some questionable magazines and then politely reminded Hilary that she should go help him with the homework. Naturally, she didn't talk to Tyson for a whole week and naturally, Taichi and Yamato couldn't stop laughing at him. Now they could've easily forgotten about this and moved on with their lives, but no.

Taichi declared war.

Of course they didn't turn against each other, they'd just gang up, pick a target and make him pay.

Ash's favourite one had been when Tyson and Kai convinced Yamato that they'd arranged a gig for him at one of the best bars in town. They handed him an address, wished him luck and shuffled him off towards the best night of his life. And Ash had to agree, it was the best night of his life, if not Yamato's.

Tyson and Kai hadn't been lying when they'd said that they'd booked a gig for him, nor had they been lying when they'd said it was one of the best bars in town. They only failed to mention that the gig had nothing to do with Yamato's musical abilities and that the best bar in town just happened to be a male stripper bar.

Oh, the look on Yamato's face had been priceless.

And the worst one had to be when the other four somehow convinced Misty to tell his mom that she was pregnant. Ash almost got kicked out of the house and that's when Yamato had smugly informed him that the look on his face had been priceless.

Ash took another deep breath and repeated once again, "I had nothing to do with this."

He decided it was best to hang out at the café before the apocalypse started and when he went down, he saw that the two spawns of Satan were there too, happily enjoying lunch with Hilary. Deciding to join them, Ash took the empty seat next to Taichi but one look at his pale face made Hilary put down her fork, turning to look at Tyson pointedly.

"Are you gonna eat that?" Tyson asked, gesturing towards her half-eaten plate of white sauce pasta and completely ignoring the look she had fixed him under.

Hilary narrowed her ruby eyes in response, "What did you do?"

It was at this precise moment when Taichi tried to steal some pasta from her plate and had his hand harshly slapped away.

"Nothing," Tyson replied casually, scaring Ash with how aloof he was of the impending doom.

She turned to look at Taichi who just clicked his tongue, "That's very mean of you Hils, judging us like that."

She scoffed at him and picked up her fork again, looking at Ash she said, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

That's because, at that exact moment, he had.

There he was standing a few feet away from their table, his face filled with nothing but rage holding the, the thing. Hilary's eyes followed Ash's stare and she let out a small gasp.

"I had nothing to do with this!" shouted Ash as he quickly dove under the table, taking shelter from the wrath that would soon be unleashed upon them. Tyson and Taichi abandoned their food without a second thought, for the first time in their lives, and sprinted towards the café doors.

And Kai, who could only be described as fucking angry, followed them out.

That thing flowing freely behind him.

When Ash finally decided to surface from under the table, he was met with Hilary's questioning look, "What the hell was Kai holding?"

Ash gulped, "His scarf."

Hilary's eyes widened in surprise, "Oh no they didn't," she whispered.

Ash just nodded meekly in reply.

Kai's trademark white scarf was no longer white.

It was now a rainbow scarf.

Ash had no idea how Tyson and Taichi had managed to pull that off, but Taichi had assured him several times that the dye was not permanent and it'll wash off after two or three tries. He wondered if Kai would listen to that reason and shivered as he realised that Kai would do no such thing and Tyson and Taichi were as good as dead.

"When will this end?" Hilary muttered to herself.

Before Ash could mirror her thoughts, Yamato joined them, taking the seat Taichi had vacated a few minutes back. With a mischievous glint in his blue eyes and a smirk playing on his lips, he said, "It'll take a while."

The look on Yamato's face could only mean one thing.

Another prank was around the corner.

Ash couldn't help but groan.

-x-

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Have you ever considered writing Frobin in a drabble or a story?

I have not written One Piece fanfiction in years now, so not recently no.

They did make an appearance in my crossover fanfic from a decade ago, and I'm pretty sure the ZoSan drabble collection I started back then would have eventually led to some Frobin scenes in the background.

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I’m starting to think if rewriting Animania from start to finish with a better plot, better characterisation and a better writing style might be the best way for me to get the hang of things once again.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVE MY CROSSOVER POSTS A NOTE

Lol, jk jk. I’ve been re-reading it recently and Idk why I so truly enjoy that story despite the hot mess it is (it barely has ANY Mimato in it, can’t believe I wrote it, there’s literally more Kai x Yamato bromance in it than Mimato interactions 🤣) . It’s just the way Ash ties everyone together , the way he becomes the glue that makes the group stick is what gets to me and I want to be able to experience that again.

I dunno maybe I’ll rewrite certain scenes and post snippets here (because where else would I drop by with this crazy) and see how it goes. I definitely need to rework the plot however, because I can’t imagine myself writing Yamato without Mimi now so yeah. But also I just love the opening scene of that fic so so so much, maybe I’ll post it here tonight 👀🫣

Anyway random incoherent PokeDigiBey rant over!! Just in case you don’t want to see the crossover content, you can blacklist: #pokedigibey posting