#bede is a very soft boy

[rockstar-roxie]

Pelipper mail! Two packages appear! One is wrapped in a thick pink ribbon and has a tag reading "To: Roxie" in neat, angular handwriting. The second is smaller and sports wrapping paper patterned with Galarian Weezings and a tag reading "Roxie" in light, flowing handwriting.

The first box contains multiple objects. The first is a choker in dark purple and yellow, studded with paler purple spikes like the bumps around a Toxtricity's wrists. The next is a small plush toy Toxel, the electricity on its head being made of a shiny material the crinkles when rubbed and the rest being deceptively soft to the touch for its looks. The box also contains a mixed bundle of fresh berries- multiple Shuca berries, Pecha berries, and Cherri berries tied together with their own pink ribbon. At the very bottom of the box is a plastic sleeve containing what seems to be a piece of cardboard. Removing it from the protective sleeve reveals a fairly convincing mock league card- it uses a picture of Roxie onstage at her tour's Ballonlea performance, lit up by spotlights and belting lyrics. It sports the Galar league's poison type style border, a large number "157" in the corner, and an iridescent foil finish. On the back of the card are small graphics portraying the team of pokemon she listed to Bede earlier- Amoonguss, Garbodor, Seviper, Drapion, Crobat, and Scolipede- as well as a large picture of a Toxic Badge. At the top is a small blurb: "Roxie, esteemed Gym Leader of Virbank City Gym in Unova. A poison type trainer, fierce battler, and interregionally renowned musician." It seems Bede hasn't exactly gotten the hang of the flowery and sensationalized descriptions on official league cards. On top of the box is a card, sporting Bede's signature. The lines are straight and neat, although it looks like they've been erased and redone multiple times in an attempt to make them perfect. The card reads "I seem to remember you expressing a desire for a 'cool custom card' in the past. I expect this will suffice, but if not, I've no doubt that you'll find the other gifts suitable in their own right~"

the second box is much smaller, and only contains one item: A pair of large earrings. they depict two Koffings made out of polymer clay dangling from silver chains. The earrings come with a note in flowy cursive: "Ms. Roxie, I was delighted to hear that Bede had decided to invite you over for our Delibird Day festivities. I meant to bring up the idea to him myself, you know, but he set his mind on it before I even had the chance to. I do appreciate you offering that boy your friendship... I like to think you've got him slipping out of his Torkoal shell more and more by the day. Enclosed you'll find some of my old earrings. now, I hope you don't mind getting some old woman's hand-me-downs, but I think they've about run their course with me, and they just cried out to me that they'd like to be with you. I do hope that they'll serve you well, and that you'll continue being so refreshingly, unapologetically 'you' in the new year to come. The world needs more trainers like you... and not just poison type trainers made my job so much more interesting, hm-hm! Best regards, Ms. Opal"

@ballonleastadiumofficial

(*A wide grin adorns Roxie's face as they accept the two packages and excitedly plop onto the floor to open them, much like a kid on Delibird Day morning. She chooses to open the package wrapped in a pink ribbon first, undoing the mentioned ribbon, and practically tearing off the lid.*)

(*Roxie's grin widens even further, if that's even possible, eyes lighting up as he picks up the first item. She admires the Toxtricity inspired choker for several heartbeats before immediately clasping it around her neck, continuing on with the gift-opening seconds after.*)

(*They grab the Toxel plush, giving it an experimental squeeze. Once deemed soft and squishy enough, Roxie sets it on their lap to observe her going for the bundle of berries still inside the box. Although she'll likely give the rest to her Pokémon, she can't help but take one for herself and shove it in her mouth.*)

(*While chewing the sweet Pecha berry, Roxie almost misses the last item sitting on the bottom of the gift box. With a quick wipe of their hands on her pants, she gently picks up the protected cardboard. Their brow furrows slightly in confusion, only for them to immediately raise in surprise as soon as the mock league card is revealed. An excited gasp leaves his lips, bringing it closer to their face to admire it. Roxie's fingernail, painted with chipped purple, traces the front of the card as she takes in every detail. Once done, she flips it around to reveal even more. Assuming the small paragraph to be written by Bede himself, Roxie feels her chest swell with warmth.*)

(*Blue eyes drift back to the discarded lid, discovering that there's a card attached to it that she should probably read. An affectionate chuckle leaves their lips, setting the card down a bit nicer than before.*)

(*Now time for the second, smaller box. Roxie doesn't waste much time opening it of course, revealing a pair of Koffing shaped earrings... In true Roxie fashion, he's taking the earrings he already had in out of her ears and putting in her new pair. After admiring themself in the nearest reflective surface, they turn their attention to the note that had come with the earrings.*)

(*Whilst reading the flowy writing, Roxie's wide smile fades into something softer... Her fingers grip the note a little tighter as they feel their face getting hot with flattery and appreciation. And if her eyes got a bit misty, well that's something she'll keep to herself. With only a few breaths to let the nice words of both Bede and Opal sink in, she launches themself from the floor to begin writing thank you notes.*)

[rougepancake]

The Summoning (ch. 5)

FT. Leon x Gym Leader!Reader

series m.list

SUMMARY: Guys I wrote this while listening to Sexy Bitch by David Guetta and Akon. Did the song inspire any parts of this chapter? Uh… not even close 😭.

Also slightly ooc Bede because I wasn’t really sure how to write him. I did my best but DAMN. Writing is hard I can’t lie.

Wyndon looked incredibly devoid of life at night. The only people that wandered the sidewalks then were drunkards that didn’t know where to go. However, you didn’t see any on your walk. It was cold, so maybe they were all inside getting warm and cozy. Maybe they were with their families, or maybe they weren’t. You looked up at the sky with a frown. It was gloomy, of course.

You sat on a bench outside of Wyndon Station. Going to Ballonlea seemed tempting, but you knew it wasn’t worth the travel. You missed your town. Even if you were returning tomorrow, you felt like you hadn’t been there in ages. You wondered how Allister was fairing since you had left him alone. He hadn’t called you yet, so that was good.

Sudden movement in your peripheral caught your attention. A child no older than fourteen had left the station, his hands shoved in his pockets as he tried to fight the cold. His cheeks were rosy and his eyes were puffy. The poor kid looked rough. He didn’t move, however. He simply stood there.

After watching him for a minute, you decided to speak up. “Are you lost?” You spoke with a gentle tone, rising from your seat on the bench to look at him. The boy jumped upon hearing your voice, and his eyes got wide when he looked at you. It seemed he recognized you. He said nothing. He just stared at you with his puffy purple eyes. “Let’s get you to some place warm…” you approached him slowly, placing a soft hand onto his shoulder before leading him in the direction of the police station. However, he moved away from you when he realized where you were taking him.

“Don’t make me go back…” he mumbled angrily, turning away from you with a shaky sigh. You couldn’t help but be confused. What did he mean by that?

“Where else am I supposed to take you? I’m sure your parents are looking for you—“

He shot you a glare over his shoulder. “I don’t have parents.” Oh. So he was orphaned.

“Can I at least take you back to the orphanage then? The headmistress there must be worried sick—“ he interrupted you once again.

“I’m cold,” he hung his head, his voice wavering. You felt your heart break a little as you watched him.

“Alright alright, follow after me, okay? I’m gonna get you to a nice warm place,” you ushered him to the flying taxi that sat by the Station. He clearly didn’t want to be in Wyndon, despite taking the train there, so you figured you’d take him out to Ballonlea. You needed to be there anyways for your exhibition matches, which meant that you were doing no harm by simply being early. Plus— you knew Allister would be happy to see you.

The cab took off as soon as you sat down, leaving you little to no time to prepare yourself. The boy looked out the window, giving you the impression that he wasn’t very chatty.

“My name is y/n,” you broke the silence, “what’s yours?”

“Bede.”

“Bede? I quite like that name. It suits you,” you looked at him, noticing his Pokéballs. “Are you a gym challenger?”

“I was.”

“I see… how far did you get into the challenge?” You were honestly enjoying the conversation. However, his name seemed slightly familiar to you. In fact, you had felt like you had seen him before.

He hesitated to speak, his head resting on the glass as he watched the region fly by. “… I made it to Stow-on-Side before I was ultimately disqualified… the… person who endorsed me didn’t see me fit enough to continue in the challenge.”

“Oh… that’s… unfortunate…” you frowned, turning to look out your own window. The two of you were almost there. Just a few more minutes. “We’re nearly there.”

Bede had an aura about him that reminded you of someone you’ve met before. You figured you’d ask him more questions when you got to your place. For whatever reason, you had a feeling that you weren’t going to be getting rid of him any time soon.

The cab landed right in front of the fencing that surrounded your house. Bede stepped out of the cab and ignored the cabbie, taking in the sights of Ballonlea with slightly wide eyes. You graciously tipped the cabbie and followed after the child. His expression made you smile. It was true that the sights of the glowing greenery and fungi were mesmerizing at first. You remembered being the same way when you came here for the gym challenge when you were young.

“If this your first time in Ballonlea?” You asked and he huffed in response.

He crossed his arms and turned his head away from you. “Of course not. I’ve been here several times!” It was a blatant lie, but you could tell he was committed to the act.

“Right… I think I’ve heard the gym leader talk about you before,” you smirked, leading him to your house. You opened the door for him, the light from the inside illuminating your face. Bede was now able to get a decent look at your features. He felt his heart drop slightly upon recognizing you, but kept a straight face.

“You’re the Ghost Type gym leader…?” The question left his lips slowly. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he sounded slightly afraid. Had the sight of your face frightened him so? A chuckle left your lips and Bede hung his head. Reluctantly, he took a step inside, shivering at the sudden warmth that washed over his body. He struggled to adjust to it as he walked further into the entryway.

“Follow me, child,” you shrugged off your coat and hung it, leading him to the kitchen and getting him seated at the table. He folded his hands awkwardly on the furniture, his eyes focused on the seat in front of him. As he adjusted to the new setting, you began preparing him a simple meal. Nothing better than Scorebunny shaped macaroni and cheese. You placed a bowl in front of him and then began to take care of the dishes you used. “So tell me the truth, Bede. What brought you to Wyndon in the middle of the night?”

“…” he frowned, staring down at the bowl in front of him. This was all so foreign to him. Someone he had just met had taken him simply because he didn’t want to go home… not to mention how kind you were being to him. Making him something to eat at one in the morning? Not even the people who would wait on him would do such a thing. “I… I ran away… and I was going to go back…”

“So why didn’t you?” Your tone was gentle, yet serious. The sound of dishes clinking echoed in the room for a brief moment, amplified by the silence that filled the air. You knew there was more to it than that. There’s no way there wasn’t. “Bede?” You turned to look at him. Hearing your voice made him jump, seemingly pulling him away from his thoughts and back to the situation at hand.

“Um…” he swallowed, setting down his fork and staring at the food once again. “The person that endorsed me so I could enter the gym challenge was my adoptive father… he pulled his endorsement yesterday and I was to return back home in Wyndon…”

“But you didn’t,” you murmured, your eyes focused on his body language. He seemed timid, almost, which seemed odd given how cocky he came across earlier. Slowly, you walked over to the table and pulled out a seat. You looked at him closely. His eyes were red and puffy, and his cheeks were still quite rosy.

“I didn’t,” he affirmed, refusing to lift his head and meet your stare. “I… I don’t want to go back…” he mumbled.

You sighed softly, pinching the bridge of your nose in thought. “Unfortunately, I have to know the name of your father so I can get in contact with him and let him know you’re alright.” Bede tensed, looking up at you with betrayal in his eyes. “If I don’t at least let him know, then that’s going to fall back on me. I’m too young to be charged with kidnapping,” you said semi seriously, leaning back in your chair to give him some space.

“But he won’t even care,” Bede argued, his eyes searching yours desperately. “Oleana probably already told him anyways. He won’t come looking for me.” The name he mentioned rung a bell within your head, and you perked up at the mention of it.

“Oleana…” your brows furrowed. “Bede you mean to tell me that the man that adopted you is the Chairman?” You let out a scoff of disbelief. “I knew I had seen you before!” You rose from your seat, but the child grabbed your arm, clinging to you.

“Please don’t tell him,” he begged. The look he gave you broke your heart, but you had to at least let someone know where he was.

“Listen…” you crouched down to his level, looking him right in the eyes. “In terms of Galar’s laws, you’re free to travel and do as you please once you set out on your journey to become a trainer.” You didn’t have it in you to actually follow through with telling Rose. “If you want to stay with me until you find somewhere else to go, then that’s your choice. But, as long as you’re under my roof, you’ll be training at my Gym. Is that a deal?”

Bede nodded slowly. He was so incredibly thankful that you had changed your mind. At this point he was willing to do anything just to make it up to you.

“There’s a guest room upstairs to the left. Go ahead and get some rest,” you took his bowl and headed back over to the sink. “Make sure to be quiet. I’ve got an adopted son of my own who sleeps in the room at the end of the hallway.” Bede nodded and left the kitchen. Once you heard the door to the guest room close, you quickly pulled out your phone, calling the first person you could think of.

Leon? No.

Piers.

Now you weren’t one hundred percent sure he’d pick up the phone, especially since he had upcoming exhibition matches later in the day. Then again, you didn’t really know that much about Piers. He might be a night owl. That would make a lot of sense actually, especially since he always seemed to have incredibly dark circles around his eyes.

“Hullo?” The sound of his tired voice met your ears and you let out a sigh of relief.

“Uh… hey..! I didn’t wake you, did I?” You stammered. You wanted to kick yourself for being anxious.

“Nah, I jus’ got done with a show.” Oh yeah. You had totally forgotten about his musical career. “Is everythin’ alright?”

You paused, thinking about how to phrase your next sentence. “Has Marnie told you about the kid that’s been endorsed by the Chairman?

Piers grunted, recalling what his sister had told him about the kid. “Yeah, she told me he was a little jerk. She said he got disqualified from tha gym challenge for destroyin’ somethin’ in Stow-on-Side for Rose’s name.” You frowned upon hearing that, looking down at the floor as you leaned against the counter.

“Well… I’ve been staying in Wyndon the past few days, and while on a walk I stumbled across a kid who had just gotten off the train. Listen— the whole reason I’m bringing this up is because the kid I found is Marnie’s age and happens to be the kid endorsed by Rose,” you began to pace as you spoke, anxiously thrumming your fingers against the backside of your phone. “According to Galarian laws, I can take him in so long as I’m training him, right?”

“Yeah that’s the law,” he paused. You heard him take a deep breath, exhaling in a slow whistle. “Are ya still in Wyndon?”

“No, I’m not. I took him back to Ballonlea so he could get proper rest in a warm bed. Listen Piers, he really doesn’t want to go back. I’m torn. This is the Rose’s son, after all. I—“ you were cut off by the sound of rustling clothes. “What are you doing? Are you going back out?” You spoke fast, something that you didn’t usually do. Though, to be fair, this whole situation had you a little on edge.

“Piers doesn’t do encores.” You looked over and checked the time. Two thirty in the morning. “Ballonlea, right? I’m headin’ out. Meet me by th’ Pokécenter.” He hung up abruptly, leaving you alone with your thoughts. Hastily, you rushed to freshen yourself up, to look somewhat decent for a man that couldn’t care less about appearances. You ran a comb through your hair and threw on your coat.

That was when the rain started. Pouring, unrelenting rain. Hail followed shortly after, giant chunks of ice falling from the sky. Of course. Umbrella in hand, you pushed through the harsh weather. You wound up reaching the Pokécenter right as Piers’ cab was landing. The cabbie gave you both a nod and left. You now stood in front of Piers, a man you were considering to be dating material no less than five hours ago. In short, you felt very awkward standing there with him. Maybe you should’ve just woken Leon up.

After standing there for a minute, Piers spoke up, looking out at the horrid weather. “So how are we gonna make it to your place?” You felt your heart jump, startled by the sudden sound of his voice. With a sigh, you followed his gaze. The hail seemed to get bigger with each passing second.

“I suppose we’ll just have to run,” you mused, your grip on your umbrella tightening. Looking at Piers, you noticed that you had a hood and he didn’t. So, naturally, you passed off your umbrella to him and threw on your hood. He gave you a confused look, but upon seeing your determination, he kept the umbrella. You grabbed ahold of his wrist and dragged him out into the harsh weather. Wind immediately began to whip against your face, nearly pushing your hood off of your head.

Hail hit your body as you walked, the rain drenching you entirely. You could hardly see the ground in front of you, each step you took growing less and less confident. The outline of your house came into sight and you let out a relived sigh. You began to walk faster, dragging Piers behind you through the rain. As soon as the two of you were protected by your front porch you turned to look at him. Surprisingly enough, he wasn’t drenched. He so lucked out.

You opened the door for him, leaving your shoes outside before joining him. Arceus you were practically soaked.

“Just make yourself at home,” you said with a shiver. Piers nodded and found his way to the living room. Coincidentally enough, he went and he sat a seat away from Leon usually sat. “I’m going to go get changed real quick,” you explained before speed walking up the stairs. Your room was the one on the far right, but you chose to make a detour at the guest room to check in Bede.

Despite being sopping wet and cold, you felt a need to make sure he was okay. Thankfully, he was asleep, resting peacefully in his new bed. You smiled at the sight. It made you feel better to know that he felt comfortable here. You closed the door and went to Allister’s room. He and Mimikyu were out cold. His mask sat on the nightstand beside his bed, right next to a Pokéball. You tilted your head at the sight. So far Allister only had Mimikyu in his party. Had he caught another Pokémon while you were away?

You grinned. Bit by bit he was coming out of his shell. Oh you were so proud of him.

You closed the door and went to your room to change. Each piece of clothing you pealed off left you feeling much colder than before. When you were fully undressed, you snatched up a towel and dried yourself off. You threw on something simple and headed back downstairs to talk things out with Piers.

“Feelin’ warmer?” He looked up from his phone to see you. Tired eyes briefly met your own, causing you to stutter. You didn’t know why, but Piers just seemed to make you anxious. Not like bad anxious. But more like the type of anxiety that only a small crush can cause. A teeny tiny, itty bitty, totally not a big deal, crush.

“I could ask you the same thing,” you responded after clearing your throat. You sat down on the sofa across from him, leaning into the plushness with a sigh. “So why did you choose to come out here?” You asked after a minute or two. His decision to fly all the way out to Ballonlea from Spikemuth confused you.

“You sounded like you were freakin’ out on th’ phone,” he leaned forward to study you. “I thought it might help t’ have someone that isn’t a child here.” His words made your heart swell. How considerate of him. Would Leon have done the same thing? A shiver pulled you from your thoughts. Now was not the time to be asking those questions. “Oh, an’ before you freak out again, I’m not gonna rat you out.”

“I—“ you let out a relieved chuckle. A smile made its way to your face and you hung your head. “Thank you, Piers. I really owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me nothin’. You’ve given more to Spikemuth than I could ever dream of.” He was so sweet when he had no right to be. “It’s me that owes you, an’ I’m makin’ it up by helpin’ you out.” Slowly, you raised your head, meeting his gaze with hesitation. Just looking at him made you feel embarrassed. But why? He hadn’t done anything but be nice. Was that it? Was it his kindness that was throwing you off?

“Are you sure? This is a really big thing we’re talking about here,” you sighed. Piers gave you a look of reassurance before getting up and sitting next to you. Naturally, you tensed at his closeness. You watched him hesitate to place a hand on your shoulder. Was he just as nervous as you were..?

“It’ll be fine. You’re followin’ th’ rules. That should be enough.” You could feel the coldness of his glove through your shirt. Your head turned and you looked at him, taking in his features while you could. The rain continued to pour outside, which meant that Piers wouldn’t be going home any time soon.

“You have exhibition matches tomorrow…” you mumbled, unable to tear your eyes from his. A light shade of pink dusted his cheeks, his eyes widening ever so slightly.

“You’re right…” he trailed of as you had, finding himself to be lost in your eyes. He had always found you to be rather attractive, but seeing you as he was only made him more aware of your beauty. His heart throbbed in his chest as he removed his hand from your shoulder. “Um… it’s late…” he looked away awkwardly, now staring at the clock above the fireplace. You followed his gaze and frowned.

“Yeah…” you cringed at your response. Yeah? Who the hell says that? Your eye twitched and you frowned. “You’ll have to leave early to get to Spikemuth on time.”

“Huh? I was just gonna go now—“ Piers froze, finally acknowledging the rain. He stared blankly at the floor in thought. Your words began registering in his head. Leave early? Did you want him to spend the night? He looked up at you, noticing the embarrassed smile you wore. “Is it cool if I crash here?”

“Of course—!” You chuckled nervously and stood up. “Uh… let me show you to my room.”

“Your room?” His face reddened at the thought.

“Y-Yeah? I’ll stay out here and you can rest up there—“

“I’m not gonna steal your bed!” He suddenly stood upright, his eyes focused on yours. He was stiff, his shoulders scrunched up awkwardly as he stared you down. “I… I mean…” he looked away, pursing his lips, “I’ll take th’ couch. You can have your bed back.”

A nervous chuckle escaped you. “Are you sure? I think I’ve got an inflatable mattress somewhere in the attic—“ the look on his face caused you to trail off. He looked so embarrassed, despite only being slightly flushed. You were beginning to feel bad that you had made him so flustered. Though you weren’t sure why. “I’ll go and get a few heavy blankets for you then,” you backed away slowly. The tension in the air was so horribly thick that you could’ve reached out and grabbed it. Plus, you needed a breather.

You opened the door to the closet underneath the staircase. It didn’t take you long to grab a few blankets that you thought would be warm enough. With the blankets in hand, you peered into the living room, giving Piers a sheepish smile.

“Will these be enough?” You walked towards him slowly.

“Yeah,” he reached out and took the blankets from you before turning away from you. He brought a hand up to his neck to rub it as he stood there. “Uhh, g’night.” You noticed that his ears were turning a bright shade of red. Piers was no stranger to the eyes of others, especially since he recently became one of the top artists in the world. Though, you couldn’t help but wonder what it was about you that made him act so out of character. You gave him an awkward wave before leaving and heading back upstairs.

You knew that if you went to sleep that Eternatus would visit you. You weren’t quite ready for that just yet, so you sat down on the edge of your bed and opened up your phone. It turned out that you had a few missed calls from none other than… wait a second. How in the world had this person gotten your number? And why were they calling you?

“So you must be Oleana,” you said rather smoothly. At first, nothing but the sound of static came from the other side. You really thought you were getting pranked.

“We have important matters to discuss, y/n.”

꧁ ༺ ─── ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ ─── ༻ ꧂

Morning arose, the bright sunlight shining through the dark clouds that hung over the region. Piers had left your place a little early to ensure he’d be back in Spikemuth on time, but he made sure to write you a note and leave it on the counter. He was tired, as usual, and a little unenthusiastic for the day’s matches. Going based off of everything that Marnie had told him, these kids were going to be a challenge for him.

He stepped out of his shower, using the closest towel to dry off his long, and rather messy, hair. In front of him stood the sink, and above it was the mirror. He took a second to simply stare at himself. Oh how tired he looked. He frowned and looked down at his body. For a moment, he wondered what made him think he was good enough for someone like you. He shook his head and wrapped the towel loosely around his waist.

All he could think about was how concerned you had been for that kid. Then he remembered how quickly you had spoken up in Allister’s defense at the meeting a few days ago. Days. Over the span of just a few days he had fallen so hard for an idea that seemed to be so incredibly out of his reach. He pulled his uniform top over his head. Watching you speak out against Rose like you had made him admire you more than he already did. Of course he had always found your donations to Spikemuth to be so generous, but watching you defend the one thing that you cared about just made him wonder.

Everything you had said in that argument had been true, and mostly rooted in genuine concern for the region. But your connection to Allister… it reminded him of how much he loved Marnie. He recalled the glint in your eyes when you slammed your hands onto the table. He had related to you. Many times had he gotten into fights for the sake of protecting his sister, and to watch one of the most distinguished trainers in the region do the same made him feel like he wasn’t really alone.

The ache in his heart was one of pure longing. He couldn’t really explain why he had fallen for you, despite having tried through song. He didn’t like the pain it caused him. Recently he had begun to lose more sleep, simply because he didn’t want to close his eyes and see you standing there. Each time, he’d see you standing right in front of him, your back facing him. Each time, you’d be just out of reach. And he’d try. He’d try each and every time to simply reach out to you. He wanted desperately to know that he wasn’t alone. He craved connection with you so much that he had begun to feel like he was losing his mind.

How come the one thing he wanted the most was so far out of reach?

Piers slid on his boots with a heavy sigh. He’d forever regret coming over to calm you down. Not because he didn’t want to help you, but because it only intensified his feelings. Thunder rolled in the distance. He had forgotten all about the rain. The clock on his nightstand read nine o’clock in the morning. Thankfully he was almost done getting ready.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and frowned. He had yet to see any spectators getting ready for the upcoming challengers. He stood up and pulled back a black curtain, pressing his face against the window to see the entrance to Spikemuth closed. All he could do was look at it. Maybe that was a sign. He had been thinking of retiring after Marnie finished the gym challenge.

The curtain was released from his grip, falling back into place against his window. He envied it. For each time it was disturbed by an outside force, it would fall back into its original position. He wished he could do the same.

With a heavy heart, he left his apartment and headed to the stage. He’d deal with his feelings later if he ever got around to going on that date with you. He was hoping he’d be able to stump the upcoming challengers so he’d be able to see you, but he knew he was in over his head. At least one of them would beat him. There was always one that was much stronger than the rest.

He subconsciously fiddled with his choker as he walked down the street. He heard a few Team Yell members say something about Marnie leading a friend inside, which made him frown deeper. He took his place on the stage and waited. The mic stand before him was gripped with shaky hands. Never had he been so nervous. Were you the one to blame? Or was it Marnie…

Marnie entered the area, and another young girl joined her not too long after. They spoke some before the girl stepped up.

“So you’re finally here, huh?” He eyed the girl. This one. This one was the outlier. “Now then…” he stepped down off the stage and onto the court. Of course, he took the mic stand with him. It added to his charm as a gym leader. “This song’s for you, foolish trainer!”

꧁ ༺ ─── ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ ─── ༻ ꧂

Leon sat upright in his temporary bed. Dreams had eluded him, but he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was amiss. He swung his legs over the side and stretched. Curiously, he peered over to look between the two doors that connected him to your room. He had yet to hear anything from you, which he found to be odd. You would’ve been ready by now.

He grabbed his phone and looked at it. No messages or anything. Had you just gone back to Ballonlea for your matches? The longer he stared at your contact the more he felt alone. Why hadn’t you said anything to him? He sighed and got up. He’d have to push you out of his thoughts for now. In fact, he was due for a meeting with the Chairman.

He carelessly threw off his shirt on the way to the bathroom. If you weren’t here, then he didn’t need to worry about you seeing him shirtless. Again. He set his phone on the counter in hopes that you would message him soon. You had him worried. Hell, you had him panicked. Why had you left without a word? Had he done something to upset you?

The water was warm as it rushed down his back. He could practically feel it soak into him. Slowly, he washed his hair, eyeing his phone through the glass door. Maybe you’d message him. Hopefully you’d message him. His heart sank. If he didn’t end up hearing from you soon, he’d have to resort to going all the way out to Ballonlea. Curse his inability to read maps.

He shut off the water and wrapped the towel around his waist. The screen of his phone lit up and he nearly slipped while trying to get to it. However, the sight of the contact made his expression fall. The Chairman sent him a message. Hesitantly, he opened it up, reading its contents slowly.

Rose had questions. And Leon had answers.

Things were only going to go downhill.

Leon got dressed as quickly as he could before heading out of the hotel. Fans immediately swarmed him, their voices giving him a headache. He smiled at each one of them, passing out league cards and such to hold them off. Once he got to the monorail, he set off for Rose Tower. The gloomy weather only added to his growing feeling of dread. The monorail came to a halt, leaving him standing in front of a building that he had always been wary of.

Slowly, he began to walk towards it. The doors automatically opened, yet there was no sign of the Chairman. In fact, he didn’t see anyone at all.

A door at the end of the corridor opened, the light from it illuminating that end of the room. A voice called out to him.

“I would appreciate it if you joined me for some tea, Leon.” It was the voice of a woman. She sounded sinister, and it unnerved him. He frowned, taking tiny steps towards the door.

“What do you want, Oleana?” He asked as she shut the door behind him.

“To ask questions, of course.”

꧁ ༺ ─── ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ ─── ༻ ꧂

Bede came down the stairs to see you talking seriously with Allister. He had yet to meet Allister, but the thought made him cringe. He wasn’t too fond of children other than himself. Hesitantly, he cleared his throat, which caused both you and the other boy to look at him. You waved him over and he frowned. Allister had always been painted as a weird kid, most likely due to his love for ghost type Pokémon and the mask he wore. Bede didn’t really want to sit down and have a ‘family discussion’ despite his current situation being the closest thing he’d ever get to having a family.

“Allister, this is the other child that will be training under me,” you said gently. You had a hand on his shoulder, your expression kind. Bede softened at the sight. Was that how he was going to be treated? Would you love him too?

“H-Hello…” the child mumbled, his head hung. Bede nodded awkwardly, giving you a look before taking a deep breath and opening his mouth.

“I don’t know how much she has told you, but I will in fact be staying here for a while,” he tapped his fingers against his thighs underneath the table. “Um…” he looked at you for reassurance. He had never really been good at talking to kids his age. “Yeah…” he trailed off and looked away.

You stood up and nodded, clasping your hands together before going off and grabbing a few dishes. “I’ve made breakfast for you both. If you need anything, I’ll be at the Gym. I may or may not have exhibition matches today, so I’ll let you know if anything changes. Bede, my number is pinned on the fridge if you need anything. If you have any questions, then don’t be afraid to ask Allister.” You stretched your arms over your head and walked over to the door. You slid on your shoes and left.

Bede found your behavior to be strange. You were acting like everything was normal, even though your life had just been turned upside down. He turned to look at Allister, who had pushed up his mask so he could eat. It felt strange. He felt strange. To go from almost returning to a home that didn’t love him to one that took him in with open arms, it was all too much for him to handle. He sighed and began to eat, and, surprisingly, he found the food you prepared to be rather delicious.

“So what do you do while she’s out?” Bede asked after a while. He could see Allister jump at the sound of his voice. He frowned.

“U-um… I just… train ‘n stuff…” he spoke between bites. When he finished his meal, he got up and put his dishes in the sink. Mimikyu followed him, hopping around excitedly.

“Will she let me into the gym?” Bede stood up and followed after Allister. He wanted to get a taste for your battle style. He wanted to challenge you and win. He wanted—

“Yeah… she lets anyone in,” the younger boy mumbled as he picked up Mimikyu. He then left the room, and Bede was left alone with his curious mind.

He took care of his own dishes before pulling out his Hatenna. It looked up at him expectantly, cooing when he picked it up and placed it on his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he left the house and began walking toward the gym. For some reason, it felt great to have free will. It felt even greater to be able to head out without his duties looming over him. He finally got to experience what it was like to be a child. A smile made its way onto his face as he stood at the entrance to the gym. That was the first time he had ever smiled so sincerely. It felt weird. He got rid of it and opened the doors, stopping when he saw you standing in the lobby.

“You know, I thought you’d come here,” you chuckled, walking towards him. “Are you willing to begin your training?” You seemed to have a different aura now that you were in the gym, and it threw him off. You seemed… confident. Bede nodded in response, watching as you eyed his Hatenna. You nodded and led him out onto the field.

A few spectators sat in the stands, but other than that it was empty. No announcers, no nothing. It felt odd to be in a gym without the rush the audience provided. You stopped walking when you reached the center of the field. You pulled out a Pokéball and dropped it. Chandelure appeared, crying out into the air as it stretched. It floated above the ground, spinning mesmerizingly. It was beautiful.

“Use your Pokémon to defeat Chandelure,” you said simply, walking off to the sidelines.

“That’s it? That’s my training?” He set down Hatenna and pulled out Gothita. “That’s too easy. Psychic type moves are super effective on Ghost types.” Gothita gave Chandelure a nervous look, turning around to look back at Bede.

“If you say so,” you smirked. Wait, why weren’t you standing on your side of the field? Was Chandelure just going to sit there? No… that was too simple. “Good luck!” You called, grabbing the lawn chair Gengar had just brought you and sitting down. You were curious to see how Bede handled battle. Especially against your strongest Pokémon.

While Bede was battling, you decided to check your phone. You had a few messages from Piers and a missed call from Leon. Your heart sank.

“Leon? Is everything alright?” You called him back, glad that he picked up. “I’m sorry that I didn’t message you sooner, but something came up and I’ve been dealing with it all day.”

“I’m just glad you’re alright,” he paused, “Oleana called me in to Rose Tower. She wanted to ask about our studies. I told her that we didn’t really get anywhere, but she didn’t buy it,” he sighed.

“She called me this morning,” you said slowly. You found it odd that she had reached out to him too. “But she didn’t ask me about that stuff.”

“Really? That’s odd.”

“Just wait, it gets weirder. She knew about my dreams of Eternatus. Leon she knows more than she’s letting on, I know it. If she knows, then Rose knows. What will they do when they figure everything out?” You sighed, frowning slightly. “Listen,” you lowered your voice, “Eternatus is connected to Ballonlea in some way. That statue? Each generation of Opal’s family has taken care of it since the age of the two kings. But because Opal never had children, I’m guessing those duties were passed on to me,” you paused to allow him to process everything. “It’s all connected to our situation at hand— I just don’t know how…”

Bede let out a groan of frustration as Chandelure rendered Gothita unconscious. He wasted no time sending out Solosis.

“Your connection to this thing is very interesting,” Leon said after a while. “You know, Sonia is actually looking into the tale of the two kings, I’m sure she’d like to hear your story.”

“Let’s save that for after we deal with Eternatus.”

“You’re right. What are you doing right now?”

“I’m watching my latest pupil train—“ you cut yourself off, feeling your phone buzz. Piers sent you another message. “Scratch that, I’m getting ready for exhibition matches. I suppose your brother and his buddies made it past Piers after all.” You stood up from your chair and looked out at the field.

“Of course he did. He’s a force to be reckoned with, that one,” he chuckled loudly on the other end. “Is it okay if I come to the gym to watch them? I’d love to see the progress he’s made.”

“Yeah I don’t mind. Piers said he’d be there too, since he wants to watch Marnie complete the gym challenge.” You gestured for Bede to take a break. “Just don’t get lost.” Leon simply laughed and hung up. You wandered over to Bede, who looked confused. “Go get Allister and tell him I’ve got upcoming matches. He’ll show you where to sit, so don’t worry about that,” you paused, smiling softly at the child before you. “You did very well today. I’ll make sure to give you some pointers next time.”

Bede froze, his eyes widening slightly. He couldn’t believe you thought he did good. He couldn’t believe that you, the third strongest trainer in the region, thought that he did good. He stared at you for a second before walking off the field. Your words had rendered him speechless.

Once he was off the field, you began to take over. Staff members began appearing and spectators started to filter in. Wow. The word gets around fast in Galar.

You left the field and headed for the lobby. It was much more hectic than you imagined. Tons of people were in line to buy tickets, causing your jaw to drop in shock. It had been quite a long time since one of your matches had been completely sold out. You weren’t even sure if you had enough seating room for some of these people. With a smile, you snuck into the locker room and waited patiently for your first challenger.

Sure enough, the first one of the bunch was Hop. He entered the maze eagerly. His attitude remained the same even as he continued to make collisions with dead ends. His smile looked just like his brother’s. It was contagious too, since you found yourself smiling while watching the footage.

Eventually, he made it out to the field, where you joined him. He stared at you in awe, letting out a gasp as his eyes followed your movements.

“Challenger Hop, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” you held yourself upright as you spoke, making you tower over the kid. He grinned. “I’ve heard many good things about you and your friends.”

“I’m so excited to be here!” He shouted, and the crowd chuckled. “I’ve been waiting so long to challenge your gym!” He was practically jumping for joy, which made you smile.

“That feeling will change when you lose, don’t worry,” you taunted, taking a step back so you could appropriately summon your first Pokémon. You decided to start with Gengar for this battle, since it seemed eager to fight. Hop brought out a Dubwool, his eyes shining with determination. You smirked, looking up at the stands before beginning the battle.

Gengar easily took out Dubwool. It was at an advantage since Normal type moves aren’t effective against Ghost types. He then pulled out Snorlax. Seriously? Had he not learned from the last one? You raised a brow, confused by his thought process. You ordered Gengar to take it out, but right as it moved, Snorlax did too. It took your Gengar out with it, leaving both Pokémon unconscious on the field. You were bewildered. Never had you encountered a Pokémon strong enough to take Gengar out with just one move.

“What an interesting move. However, I’m ahead,” you spoke as you brought out Trevenant. Hop’s eyes widened at the sight. Your Trevenant was larger than the standard height for its species, which meant that it towered over most Pokémon. Cinderace met it on the field, which made you sigh. After this you’d have one last Pokémon to drag out. Hop may’ve been at a type advantage now, but you’d still win.

After all, you never lost. It simply just wasn’t in your nature.

In the blink of an eye, Trevenant took down Cinderace. Hop’s smile faltered a little. He was surprised by the raw strength of your Pokémon. Hesitantly, he called out the last Pokémon in his party, Corviknight.

The crowd cheered both of you on, chanting excitedly as they watched. Your opponent was getting a bit emotional, seeing as he threw his arms around with each bad move he made. Oh yeah. He was just like his brother.

The battle came to a conclusion and you saw him off. You told him to come back when you finished up with his friends. He went off to sit in the stands, unaware that his older brother had seen the whole thing. You stepped off the field to heal your Pokémon, and a brief intermission followed while the next challenger entered your trial. It was Marnie.

Your battle against Marnie went rougher than Hop’s. She had a type advantage throughout the whole thing, but you managed to gain the upper hand and throw her off with your Chandelure. If not for your dynamaxing Chandelure, you might’ve lost that battle. You shuddered. These trainers really were a force to be reckoned with. You wondered if Raihan was going to be able to hold them off as well as you were.

The final challenger set foot into the trial, and you instantly knew that this was the one. This was Gloria. Sweet and innocent looking, yet this kid knew her shit. She had powered through all of the gyms prior, and seemed to be much stronger than she looked. You grinned. Challenging her was going to be a wonderful challenge.

But you’d win, as per usual.

“Well hello there, Challenger Gloria,” you smiled as you spoke. You unintentionally came across as intimidating, causing her to nervously chuckle. She said nothing as she shook your hand, taking her place on the field in silence. Unusual. Whatever, you were going to rock her shit.

Unfortunately, you were wrong. You lost the battle, but just barely. The battle was intense and stress inducing, but you got the chance to Gigantamax Gengar, so there was that. You had wiped out all but one of her Pokémon rather quickly, only seeming to struggle when she pulled out her partner Pokémon. Things went downhill when she took out your Runerigus.

You stood before her on the field, shaking her hand as you handed her your badge and uniform. She looked at you with gleaming eyes. She still said nothing, her eyes on yours. There was something about her that put you off. Her strength astonished you. How did she manage to get so strong in such a short amount of time.

“Raihan is waiting for you in Hammerlocke,” you told her, “make sure to beat his ass on my behalf.” She giggled and stepped off the field.

Hop stepped up for his rematch. You let him win (just barely), and handed off your badge to him. Marnie followed, looking much more confident than before. You heard Piers cheer her name loudly, causing you to laugh. Marnie won fair and square, though just barely. You gave her your badge and sent her on her way.

A long sigh escaped you as you returned to the locker rooms. You felt exhausted. Those kids were much stronger than you let on. In fact, your Chandelure was having a hard time keeping up with them. Especially with Marnie. Curse type matchups.

You stared down at your hands in silence, thinking over everything that had happened to you over the past few days. It all seemed to be moving so fast. First you have that meeting, then you begin history hunting with the Champion, and now you have a date with Piers—

“Oh my Arceus,” you mumbled, rubbing a hand across your face. You had forgotten all about your date with Piers! Well, it wasn’t necessarily a date, but still. You stood up and stretched. You were going to have to get ready fast if you wanted to be done by the time he left Ballonlea.

Weather sirens howled. Your phone began to blow up. You could feel your heart drop as you picked it up and scrolled through the several notifications you received.

Groups of well trained trainers were heading out into the wild area to help take down the dynamaxing Pokémon. You hadn’t realized that it had gotten so out of hand.

Just then, you heard several screams coming from the field. Without wasting any time, you rushed out, gasping at the sight before you. Several people were paralyzed by fear, stuck in one place despite the danger they faced. You looked up into the stands and saw that Leon and Piers were still there. Bede and Allister stood next to them.

“Evacuate the gym!” You shouted, ushering them to act hastily. “Don’t worry about me! I’ll handle this!” You reassured as you brought out Chandelure’s Pokéball. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You were going to deal with this.

You held the ball and turned to face the dynamaxed Kommo-o. How it had gotten into the gym, you had no idea. It did worry you, though. This Pokémon was known for being aggressive and territorial. If it chose to put up a fight, you didn’t know what you’d do.

Taking a deep breath, you sent Chandelure out onto the field. You needed to wait to dynamax it, lest you throw away your opportunity to weaken it. Chandelure fought, each move in sync with yours. It moved left, you did too. This was a battling style that was rare among trainers, seeing as many simply don’t have a good enough relationship with their Pokémon. It was said that the longer you could keep up, the stronger Chandelure would get. Some Pokémon have even changed appearances due to the bond they have with their trainer.

“Wait—!” You screamed as Kommo-o swung, knocking your partner to the side like a bug. You watched in horror, looking over to the stands and seeing Bede standing next to Allister. What the hell were they still doing there? Did they not realize it was dangerous? You closed your eyes, taking a brief moment to collect yourself. Chandelure was okay, you could feel it. When you opened your eyes, you realized that you had perfectly synced with it. You were able to see everything it saw, and feel everything that it felt.

Now. Now was the time to dynamax.

Chandelure grew in size, changing in appearance to take on a much more sinister form of itself. It looked terrifying. The move it made was even more so. In one swift turn, it began draining the life force from the Kommo-o. The creature cried out before stumbling backwards into the stands. Thankfully that side had already been cleared out. Your partner weakened it with ease, nearly killing it in the process. Once you deemed it safe, you attempted to catch it. You were going to turn this one in to Rose.

“Y/n saved us!” A voice shouted in awe, pulling you from the trance you were in. You lost your sync with Chandelure and it returned to its original form, size and all. You turned to see who had called out, noticing that they had a phone in their hand. Had they recorded the incident? Surely not.

“The stadium was supposed to be empty!” You frowned, looking at your Pokémon. “Let’s go. You’re looking awfully rough,” you put it back into its Pokéball and left the field.

In the locker rooms, you found yourself being bombarded by texts and calls from various people you knew. Apparently your battle with the dangerous Pokémon had gone viral, and people were commending you for your bravery. They were calling your bond with Chandelure an amazing phenomena. According to the messages you received, no such thing had been recorded in Galar’s battle history.

“Are you alright?” Leon’s voice met your ears. Next to him stood Piers and the boys. Poor children. They looked horribly worried.

“Yeah, I’m good,” you looked down at the floor, “but Chandelure… and the stadium…” you sighed and shook your head.

“Hey don’t worry about that right now. You saved all of those people, that’s what matters,” he stepped forward and placed a hand on your shoulder. You nodded slowly in agreement.

“You’re right…” you lifted your head and looked at Allister, opening your arms for a hug. He ran towards you, holding onto you tightly. “I’m so glad you boys are safe,” you whispered, motioning Bede over. Reluctantly, he joined you.

“How did that thing even get in there?” Piers asked, leaning against the wall. He was trying to play off his jealousy of Leon, but he couldn’t stop looking at him.

Leon stepped back and scratched his head in thought. “It might’ve belonged to a trainer in the stands. If so, then that means…” he turned slowly to look at you, his expression fallen.

“It’s not just wild Pokémon that can dynamax at random.”

꧁ ༺ ─── ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ ─── ༻ ꧂

Rose sat at the table, staring blankly at the tea in front of him. Eternatus would wake up any day now, at any given time. Dread filled his heart. Was he really making the best possible decision for the region? He felt he was in the right, but the more he continued to think about it, the more he wondered. Was this dangerous?

His phone buzzed on the table, the screen illuminating as notifications covered the lock screen. Everything he saw was in reference to your battle with a dynamaxed Kommo-o that tore apart your gym’s stadium. There was a video he saw, but he didn’t watch it. Though, one article in particular caught his attention. The image above the headline was one of you looking over your shoulder, your Chandelure behind you, its eyes glowing the same color as yours. The headline read ‘Gym Leader Y/n defends crowd by showing Galar why she’s ranked top three in the region.’

He noticed that both you and your Pokémon had changed appearance to resemble each other in the moment. Cases of such things happening had only been reported in Kalos, and even then these occurrences were incredibly rare. He stared at the picture, reading the headline over and over just so he could make sense of it.

Plenty of times Rose has witnessed you fight, assessing you to get a gauge on just how strong you and your team are. He’d done that with the other gym leaders, creating fail proof systems to take them down if need be. Because of this, he thought he knew each and every one of your tricks.

This news only made him wonder if you were secretly stronger than he thought. If that was the case, then that meant Raihan and Leon were on the same level.

He felt reassured, to a degree. He had planned that Leon would be the one to catch Eternatus and save the region. If you were that strong, and, hypothetically, Leon surpassed you, then that meant Galar was in good hands.

Rose put away his phone, redirecting his gaze to the tea before him. He grabbed the small cup and took a sip, turning his head to look out of the large window beside him. He recalled seeing Bede in the background of one of your photos, which made his heart hurt. Of course he had found you. Of course. He took another sip of the tea. Now Bede would have you and Allister. That was more of a family than he could’ve provided anyhow. Yet, it still caused him pain to think about.

Family. He envied you and your growing family. You had many people to care about you, and you cared about many people, which was a stark contrast to Rose’s life. Rose had himself to care about. All of his family had either cut him off or passed away, which meant that he was eternally alone. Of course, Oleana was always there, but Rose didn’t like Oleana. He found her to be selfish and annoying, which wasn’t something that he wanted to be surrounded by forever.

He sighed. Macro Cosmos had already begun preparations for Eternatus’ awakening. Despite being in charge of it all, he wasn’t quite sure what they were doing. Apparently they were in the process of designing a Pokéball that would be able to withstand Eternatus’ abilities. He found the idea laughable. That creature wasn’t going to go down without a fight once it awoke, so why bother? If he was making Leon take care of it, then his group really didn’t have anything to worry about.

Hammerlocke, however, was going to need to be on high alert. He didn’t wish to tell them though, as it would spare him the long explanation of why he was doing what he was. He frowned as he thought of Raihan. Despite his strength as a Pokémon trainer, Raihan didn’t stand a chance against the raw strength of Eternatus. To be fair, you didn’t either. He scoffed. He didn’t even know if Leon was capable enough to handle it, he just knew that if he pushed it onto him, that the man would step up.

Rose took another sip of the tea. It was cold. He frowned.

He missed his brother.

[darkmatter-nebula]

"Ghostboy in Hisui" AU drabble ahead, my dear fellas. It's about the storyline where Allister is an exchange student at the Blueberry Academy. Basically, his big brother figures Bede and Raihan visit him. Here I go! 😃

Drabble: A Friendly Visit

It was a sunny in Unova. Allister, who was an exchange student at the Blueberry Academy, was visited by his big brother figures Raihan and Bede. The Fairy Type Gym Leader demanded to come along. Allister's big sister Bea couldn't help but smile.

She knew how much Bede and Raihan loved her little brother. She couldn't blame them. She adored her precious baby brother as well, of course. Speaking of Allister, the shy and kindhearted little boy was very happy to see Bede and Raihan.

"We missed you so much, Alli!" Raihan said as he was giving Allister a Ursaring hug. Bede was the next one to hug the eight years old Ghost Type Gym Leader. "I missed you two too." Allister said softly, his purple eyes were filled with endless love and warmth.

Zoey, who was standing next to Allister, felt her heart swell as her beloved Trainer received love and affection. The female Hisuian Zoroark had a gentle expression on her face. Bede removed Allister's mask and placed a brotherly kiss on his cheek.

"Awwwwww! You softie!" Raihan chimed in. "Shut up, Raihan." Bede glared at the Dragon Type Gym Leader. "Don't fight, please." Allister spoke up. The small boy didn't want his big brother figures to fight. "Don't worry, we won't!" Bede and Raihan said in unison.

Bea couldn't hold back a few soft chuckles. "You two are hilarious!" The Fighting Type Gym Leader said, clearly amused. Allister was smiling. The small boy still was cuddled by Bede.

The End

[andromedarune]

Bede x Hop Request:“Just Desserts” (p2)

REQUEST ~ “I have one, it’s a hop x bede where bede feels bad for being mean to hop, but is too scared of apologizing to him in fear of rejection. Due to his past at the orphanage and his overall fear of being left alone again. So he decides to send homemade desserts to hop with secret messages ,anonymously . Hop Figures it out when the desserts stop coming after bede gets sick badly ( maybe a bad fever from exhaustion, anything that stops him from baking will do). You can include opal or the other gym leaders teasing hop on who could be sending the treats. I hope this is okay.”

A/N: Alright, here’s the conclusion to my mini-fic requested to me earlier in the week! I definitely got carried away with the prompt, but I really wanted to nail the emotions being presented here (because there are A LOT). Not sure if I accomplished that, or much else, tbh... Oh well! Give it a read anyway and hopefully it’s decent? Thank you!

It’s hard to really say that his work could possibly follow a routine. There were the basic things that always remained the same, of course; he’d wake up a seven in the morning every day, feed Dubwool before he started eating his bedsheets, do whatever morning chores his mother had waiting for him, head to the lab, basically become free slave labor for Sonia for the next eight or so hours, come home to a few more chores, then pass out on the couch while working on some papers before magically waking up the next morning in his bedroom. That was probably the closest thing to a routine he’s ever had, all things considered. But Hop never really minded the idea of a routine or the lack thereof; so long as he got to have some fun at some point, he didn’t mind. And it was safe to say that being the new professor’s assistant was far from what he would consider a boring life.

But he wasn’t sure how he felt about getting comfortable with someone constantly leaving lovely gifts for him every single week.

The first one came in, leaving the assistant incredibly puzzled. It wasn’t anybody’s birthday, here, so that idea was dashed. Maybe Leon brought it for Sonia? Hop shook his head; he wasn’t so quick to assume something like that, especially since Leon had never mentioned anything about giving Sonia presents beforehand. Nevertheless, the youth brought his findings to his boss, who was equally as perplexed as him. So the two opened up the box as well as the letter. A beautiful cake, and an eloquent letter apparently dedicated to Hop. Now that was a plot-twist.

“Someone’s got a secret admirer~,” Sonia nudged his shoulder, still giggling at the way he was completely frozen in a state of perpetual embarrassment. Maybe he should have investigated on his own before bringing it to Sonia.

“D-definitely not!” Hop finally found his words, wincing at his voice crack. He thought he had enough of that when his voice started changing. Apparently it wasn’t done with him.

“Oh yeah? What did that letter say? Something about the ‘brilliant radiance of determination reflecting like the sun in your eyes’?”

“Sonia, please,” Hop slapped his hands over his face.

She laughed some more, giving him a good pat on the back.

“Relax - there’s nothing wrong with having a secret admirer. It’s actually really sweet and adorable.” She picked up the letter, flipping it around a few times in her hands. “Though, they didn’t seem to leave a name. Any ideas on who it might be?”

“No clue. I honestly didn’t think that anybody’d actually think of me like that…”

“What? Of course they do! You’re a total catch, Hop - not for me though, ‘cause that’s gross.”

“Yeah, gross,” Hop finally laughed, lowering his hands to inspect the cake a bit. It really did look good. Chocolate cake was always delicious. “So, should we eat this now or…?”

“Who, me? No way - this is your secret admirer. You eat it.”

Before Hop could argue, Sonia sashayed out of the room, snatching up some of the documents she had brought into the room. Once she was gone, the boy simply sighed, glancing back down at the cake. Well, best not let it go to waste. He sat himself down, skimming over the letter a few more times. Who in the world could it be?

A week went by, and he had forgotten about the letter and cake. But they, apparently, did now forget about him.

“Another?” he blushed down at the box on the ground. He didn’t even need to look inside to know what it was. Hop looked around, hoping to find a sign of somebody around the entrance to the lab. Nothing but Rookidees. He sighed, kneeling down to pick up the gift. I don’t even know if Lee gets stuff like this, he thought to himself, pulling the simple envelope up to investigate. Maybe they left a clue this time…

But, just like before, there was no discernable way to figure out the identity of the mysterious benefactor. He opted to hide from Sonia’s teasing, hiding himself up in one of the numerous study rooms that the main laboratory had to offer. The letter was similar to before; beautifully crafted words of admiration, noting the many qualities of the assistant that he hardly noticed himself. He could note, though, a strange familiarity in the writing. ‘I had never known shame until I saw myself in your teary eyes.’ So obviously they knew each other - unless this was all metaphorical. Hop was never good at metaphorical writing. But Hop didn’t exactly interact with a lot of people, these days. He’d occasionally get to hang out with Gloria if she had time off; maybe it was her? He shook his head at that. The girl wouldn’t know bashful if it hit her in the face. A shy confession like this definitely wasn’t her style. Maybe Marnie. He hoped not. They never really spoke to each other, even during the gym challenge, but that was mainly because Hop wasn’t sure if he was more scared of her or her brother. But fancy homemade cakes didn’t really fit her style, either, so that was out. Who else did he know?

Not really anybody else. He sighed, skimming through the letter a few times more before resigning to just eat the cake and return to work. It was, unfortunately, amazingly delicious. Better than even the fancy cakes up in Wyndon. Whoever this person was, they really knew how to bake; Hop just wished he could finally figure it out so he could thank them or something. Do you even thank secret admirers? How does all this stuff work out? Definitely too much for him to figure out.

Four weeks later, and it became an unfortunate addition to his routine. Friday would roll around, and Hop would eagerly rush through his work without even noticing. Sometimes Sonia would comment, other times, she’d just wink and saunter off. Hop tried not to think about it too much - anticipation really did get annoying, even for him - so he sought to busy his mind with work until the time came upon him.

The clock ticked on, and so did the day. Before he knew it, the sun was setting, the whistle of the tea kettle from the kitchen signalling the end of his shift. Sonia called him over to join her for some tea, usually her way of saying thanks for all his hard work. He had barely walked into the room when Sonia leaned onto the kitchen table, curious eyes searching for some juicy gossip from his own golden irises.

“So, I noticed that we didn’t get any… special deliveries today.”

Hop blinked.

“Huh, so that’s what felt off today,” he tried to say, hoping that he could save face just a little bit.

“So? Does that mean that you’ve figured out who they are?”

The teenage boy grimaced, running a hand across the nape of his neck. It was a little sore today; maybe he slept wrong?

“Uh, well, uh… not really.”

“Huh?” Sonia slapped the table. Oh no, it’s happening - she’s getting worked up over something that doesn’t involve her again. “You’re serious?! Your secret lover didn’t send you a gift today and you don’t know why?!”

“W-well, th-they’re, uh, not really, um - we’re not -”

“Hop this is serious!” she lunged for him, grabbing his shoulders. “This person has faithfully been leaving you sweet gifts every Friday for over a month, now, and just magically stops doing it out of nowhere?!”

“Maybe… they forgot?”

“TRUE LOVE DOESN’T FORGET, HOP!”

This lady really needs to lay off the chick-flicks. But Hop had learned the hard way never to point out stuff like that when Sonia was in one of her manic moods.

“S-sure it doesn’t…” he tried not to sound creeped out.

Sonia sighed, putting her hands on her hips as she sent him a sassy pout.

“I’ve seen this in a show once - the person with unrequited feelings reaches out in their own way to their crush, but then something bad happens to them, so the crush has to be the one to help them.”

“I don’t think that’s what happens in real life -” Sonia shot him another look and he promptly shut up.

“Yes, of course!” she smiled, ignoring Hop’s previous comment entirely. “You have to find out who your secret admirer is quickly or else something terrible might happen to them - if it already hasn’t! Maybe they’ve been hit by a car! Or were kidnapped! Or are terminally ill and only your love can save them!”

“How are you a nationally-acclaimed pokemon professor?” he muttered under his breath.

“It’s settled then - here’s your mission, Assistant Hop! Figure out who can bake a cake like that, and you’ll find your true love! Easy, right?”

Hop nodded, not really understanding what she was saying, but was desperate enough to just lie to escape her nonsense. She was probably just overexaggerating like always, but he also didn’t want this mysterious person to be hurt. Maybe something did happen to interrupt the once steady flow of kind words and delicious foods? And thus began his search.

As terrible as it felt, the first person Hop went to was Leon. His big brother no doubt had handled situations like this before, so Hop swallowed his pride and approached his brother on the subject. Once he finally got Leon to stop laughing, he explained the whole situation from start to finish.

“Well,” Leon stroked his chin, at least pretending to seem semi-serious, “I don’t think I personally know any high-caliber bakers. But if I’m remembering things correctly, I think Opal is said to have legendary baking skills that practically nobody can compare to.”

Hop grimaced, but Leon quickly waved his hands before his brother full-on threw up everywhere at the thought of Opal being his secret admirer.

“No, no, no! I’m not saying she’s the one sending them - I’m just wondering if she taught the person who’s sending them.”

Hop leaned back a bit, trying to think. He didn’t really know too much about Ms. Opal (other than that she was an eccentric rich lady at an unknown age who seems to enjoy dressing people in bright shades of pink). But if there was a chance that she knew the identity of his mysterious benefactor, then he was willing to investigate a bit further. He opened his mouth to thank his brother, but a dark scowl suddenly flashed over his features. Leon blinked.

“Uh… everything alright there?”

“I just remembered,” Hop growled, “that if I want to even get close to Opal, then I’ll have to see that jerk again.”

“Who, Bede? Like I’ve said a thousand times, don’t worry too much about him. I hear he’s really mellowed out these days. Maybe all that pink finally seeped into his brain.”

Hop scoffed, but otherwise kept all his venomous comments at bay. He thanked his brother for the help and hurried out the door, making his way towards Ballonlea.

Ballonlea was always a difficult place to get to. A big contributor to that issue was due to Glimtangle Forest, which was basically a mystical maze that had posed as a major threat to countless gym challengers as well as general travellers for years. This is why most people opt for a flying taxi whenever they need to get to the city, but even then, some mystical fairy nonsense occasionally will cause a detour for whatever poor soul happened to be flying over the forest. Thankfully for Hop, this wasn’t the case, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t nervously twiddling his thumbs at the apprehension of having to navigate that nonsensical forest when in such a hurry.

He jumped out of the taxi, offering a berry to the Corviknight before making his normal dash for one of the most ornate buildings in the quaint town. It wasn’t hard to find Ms. Opal’s house when it was so amazingly decorated - it was borderline gaudy with the amount of pinks and purples passionately strewn about the house’s complex design. He wasted no time, bounding up the fancy front steps, grabbing the old-fashioned door knocker, and knocked. A few breaths passed him by as he shoved his sweaty hands into his pockets. What was he even nervous for?

After a couple of moments, the door opened, revealing the ever intimidating Ms. Opal, the now retired fairy-type gym leader of Ballonlea.

“Well, if this isn’t a… pleasant surprise,” she smirked, seeming almost deviously pleased in the teen’s awkwardness. “Running errands for the professor today, hm?”

“A-actually, I, um….” Hop took a deep breath and gathered his resolve. “I’m actually here to ask you something.”

She nodded, tapping the ground a couple times with her cane.

“Of course you are. Come inside, then.”

Before the assistant could protest, the elderly woman was already shuffling away deeper into the depths of the house. Hop could only sigh as he followed behind her. It was painfully frustrating; she took tiny steps and dragged her feet along the somehow pristine wooden floors, so Hop had to take the world’s slowest pace at the constant protest of his long legs. But over the course of a year, he’d managed to attain some semblance of calm, deciding that it would be best if he didn’t complain too much around the person he was seeking assistance from. Once he got the information he wanted, he could run around to his little heart’s content.

Eventually, Ms. Opal halted just before a beautiful white staircase, spiraling all the way up into the rather tall ceiling above.

“So, tell me,” she mused through sharp, invasive eyes, “what was it you were hoping to ask of me?”

“I… was curious to know if, um… Well, uh… if you happened to have any knowledge in baking. L-like, y’know, a cake, or something…”

Opal’s eyebrows twitched upwards just a centimeter. She brought a hand to her chin in dramatic thought.

“In my earlier days, I was quite proficient at it. But I don’t bake nearly as much as I used to.”

“Then… is there, um, a chance that you might have taught someone how to bake like you?”

She paused, staring intently at the boy with an amused expression. Hop was beginning to wonder if he really wanted the answer to this question. Before he could make up his mind to flee, she let out a small chuckle.

“Ah, but of course. My protege has been trained in everything I know how to teach. Head up these stairs and you’ll find your secret admirer.”

A stone of dread sank into the depths of his gut. Maybe Ms. Opal had more apprentices? It definitely couldn’t be the person he was thinking it was, right? No, that would be silly - impossible, even. But there seemed to be no turning back now. Hop swallowed his fears and slowly began his way up the stairs, trying to ignore the apprehensions racing through his fingertips.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Bede rolled onto his other side, desperate to find a position that made existence a little less agonizing. A dreadful fever had overtaken his body, unrelenting in its rage for the past four days, leaving the normally active youth bedridden the entire time. Hatterene was on nursing duty, constantly checking her trainer’s temperature and switching out his face towel in an attempt to ease the fever. Sylveon was stubbornly nestled under the covers, desperate to get as close to his body as physically possible. Not like Bede could really scold it even if he wanted to; he didn’t want to waste his energy on pointless yelling. So, he reluctantly stayed in bed, allowing his devoted pokemon to care for him while he waited for his body to recover. But a knock on the door earned a frustrated grown from him.

“What?” he hissed, trying to speak through a throat chalked full of phlegm. Hatterene nudged his shoulder, reminding him to watch his emotions. She was a sensitive thing, that Hatterene. Bede sat up, watching the door open and fully expecting to get an earful from that old woman again. So it’s safe to say that his heart entirely stopped when he saw Hop sheepishly shuffle in, wringing his hands nervously before his chest.

This… this couldn’t really be happening, right? No - he must be dreaming. Yes, that’s it. This was just a fever-induced nightmare. Bede would wake up in a moment’s notice and be in his bed once more, alone with only the company of his pokemon to rely on, just like always. Just like always. Just like always.

“Um…” Hop kept his eyes on the ground, brows knitted tightly together. Bede wasn’t sure if the boy was frustrated, sad, or confused. It all just looked like a blur of emotions constantly shifting across the assistant’s tan face. “... It’s… been a while.”

Bede opened his mouth with full intent to say words, but none dared to come to fruition. So he closed his mouth, pushing his aching body up to his elbows. How pathetic he felt right now, sick in bed with this person who confused him so annoying bad being unable to look at him. Maybe it would be best if Hop just left. At least then Bede would be familiar with the feelings in his chest. He didn’t know what he was feeling right now.

“So…” Hop cleared his throat, attempting to meet Bede’s eyes, but quickly looked off to the side. “I… I just wanted to ask if… if you’re… um…”

The light-haired boy felt a bead of sweat tumble down his brow. Surely it was from the heat of the fever, right? No way was he this nervous. No, no, Bede always kept his cool. Especially when beign confronted by the person he sort of kinda maybe almost possibly liked. Not that he did, anyway. Because that would be stupid. And Bede definitely wasn’t stupid. Right?

Hop sucked in a sharp breath of air, balling his hands into fists as he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Are you the person who’s been sending me those gifts?” he threw the words out, trying to ignore his own flurry of conflicting emotions going through him at the moment. He didn’t know how to feel about either possible answer. Could he be happy with either one?

The intensity in the air rose a few degrees, making every breath laborious. Bede glanced towards Hatterene for some sort of support - he didn’t really know why he did. She smiled back at him, cooing a few unintelligible sounds.

Well, by the gym leader’s logic, if Hop was destined to abandon him like everybody else, then it really didn’t matter if he knew the truth, then, right? It didn’t matter of Hop found out this terribly dreadful secret Bede’s been carrying with him for over a year. According to the assistant, Bede was still Bede. Cold. Egotistical. Conniving. After everything that had happened, it was ridiculous to hope that Hop could ever forgive Bede, and nobody could blame him. And even if he could, it wouldn’t last. No, Bede would surely find some way to screw things up, or wouldn’t be enough to make Hop happy in any condition. Hop would leave, and eventually Ms. Opal will leave, just like the chairman and his foster parents and his parents that never came back and

“So what if I am?” the words hissed past his lips, far more venomous than he meant. Oh well. It didn’t matter. The outcome would be the same, anyways.

Hop flinched back a bit at the sharpness of the other boy’s words, but his conflicted expression remained stable. Once he collected himself, he took another deep breath. Slower, this time, as if to savor the taste of oxygen flowing through his lungs.

“Why?”

A painfully simple question. Remarkably, it was also one Bede hadn’t really expected. He really should have thought this through.

Why did he bake those cakes? Why did he write those letters? Why did he send them to Hop? Why did he feel this way? Why, why, why?

It eventually became obvious that Hop wasn’t going to hear a response. Bede had opted to glaring holes into his duvet, fingers tangling themselves within the fluffy pink fabric. Ah, pink, the color of so many things: sweetness, innocent attraction, adoration, and - evidently - embarrassment. There was no way to hide such a shade from the plush of his cheeks. How bothersome.

“... Did you really mean what you said in those letters?”

Bede looked back over at Hop for the briefest of moments, and immediately wished that he hadn’t. Much confliction remained, but there was something else there, now, amid the tempest of clashing feelings depicted on the teen’s face. Perhaps Bede really was having a fever dream. No way there was actually a bit of hopefulness in Hop’s eyes.

Maybe that’s what pulled out a strange sentence from Bede’s mouth.

“Every word.”

Hop shied his gaze away, seeming a bit more bashful as he rubbed the nape of his neck. Now Bede was really confident that he was the color of embarrassment. Maybe a bit too red though. The assistant stuttered an awkward laugh, trying to ease the thickness of the air while Bede shifted a bit more upright. Sylveon didn’t appreciate that motion, evidently, and crawled onto it’s trainer’s lap. Instinctively, Bede ran his fingers through the creature’s fur, desperate to distract himself from his non-fever related warmth. He looked back over to Hop, who seemed to still be processing the gravity of those words, and another sentence slipped out without Bede’s permission.

“Are you going to leave?”

Hop met his gaze, surprised.

“What?”

Bede took a small breath, losing just the smallest smidge of confidence in his words as he took the initiative to repeat them.

“... I said, are you going to leave?”

“Do you want me to?”

Here it was. The moment he had been unknowingly dreading. If he says yes, then Hop will no doubt walk away forever, and Bede would be back in his element of loneliness. Or, he says no, and takes a risk he never expected to take willingly. He would be clueless, a Magicarp out of water, left with nothing to keep himself steady but the hope that Hop would guide him through the confusion. Could he really take that chance?

“... No.”

Bede couldn’t keep his eyes on Hop. This was it, the deepest layer of his person; everything he was had been revealed in only a handful of words, leaving nothing but a fearful child afraid of being left behind by the people he loved. And now Hop could see the truth behind Bede’s every action and every word. This was blind faith in its simplest form, the gym leader unsure of what exactly he was hoping for.

“Okay.”

His eyes shot back up, genuine surprise (and a tinge of fear) written all over his flustered face. Hop stared back at him, hands shoved deep in his pockets with a curious expression on his face. What could that guy be thinking when he stared at Bede so intently?

“O-okay? Okay… what?” Bede’s voice died down syllable by syllable, reduced to nothing but a faint whisper by the end of it. Hop gave a timid smile. Perhaps a bit afraid, but a little hopeful, still. Such a strange expression on such a tender face.

“I’ll stay.”

[moonandsunwoo]

txt and their way of holding your hand

# — pairing: txt x gn!reader

# — genre: fluff <3

# — warnings: noneee

I’ve been feeling very soft lately and also I’m procrastinating cleaning. Hope u enjoy, stay safe xoxo

edit: tumblr keeps deleting Beomgyus name after cut, I’m sorry

ღ ⏤ CHOI SOOBIN

likes to just place them on top of yours before letting you slip your hand in his fully

It’s just something he likes doing

Protective soob-mode.com

Likes to hold your hand for houuurs

Confused noises when you suddenly let go

Plz don’t </3

Once you hold, you hold.

It’s a committed relationship

ღ ⏤ CHOI YEONJUN

Fingers always intertwined

The type to caress your knuckles with his thumb

Would probably end up kissing it every two minutes

If you let go, he’d just grab again without thinking

Doesn’t even consider you were trying to get away

Must’ve been an accident, right

So clingy

But no lonely hands for you!

+ other members are bellow the cut! +

ღ ⏤ CHOI BEOMGYU

Tight.

Tight.

Tight grip out of two reasons

One: because he doesn’t want you to go anywhere

Two: because he swings it around like a madman

Your hand/arm is basically an adaption to his

Yank-y Story that one

But he’s gentle with it, don’t get me wrong

Presses small kisses to it sometimes

Just picture him beding back with his cute loud laugh and pulling your hand to his chest out of reflex

#i cri

ღ ⏤ KANG TAEHYUN

Type to take your hand and then puts it in his jacket or his hoodie

The softest boy.

It just makes him so happy

Grabs your hand at every given opportunity

Loves to go on walks with you bc of that

Trust me, you will never have cold hands around Kang Taehyun

Chapter Freeze is canceled for today

ღ ⏤ HUENING KAI

The best kind of awkward shuffling before you finally settle for a comfortable hold

Would give the intertwined hands little glances from time to time

„Oh my god this feels so good“

Would never say that out loud tho

Likes to hold hands whenever but preferably not in public spaces

He gets too shy, alright

Don’t be mad he’s just one tall panicked boi

⌕ m.list

© written by moonandsunwoo on tumblr. plz do not copy or re-upload:)

[alexburnssas]

Overheard in Galar pt two

Alistair, softly whispering: Soft reminder that I'm thankful for you every day.

Alex: LOUD REMINDER THAT I WOULD HANG THE FUCKING STARS FOR YOU!

Alistair:

Alex: I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

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Sonia: When I was younger I had a crush on a boy in my class and didn’t know how to deal with it so I wrote him a letter that just said, “Get out of my school”.

Lee: THAT WAS YOU?!

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Oleana: You're not a very nice young lady...

Alex: And you're not a very nice old one.

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Alistair: Hop, how do I get revenge?

Hop: The best revenge is living well and moving on!

Alistair: 

Alistair: Marnie, how do I-

Marnie: Knife.

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Alex: Bede yelled at me. Apparently I’m “immature” and “rude” and “Alex”

Alex: That last one was just my name but you should have heard the way he said it.

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Hop (in the Slumbering Weld): Maybe we should hold hands...

Alex: For safety.

Hop, grabbing her hand: Yeah of course for safety!

Alex: To be safer.

Hop: To a safer way of going through this wood!

Alex, hugging Hop’s arm: Safety is important. 

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Hop: We have facts, morality, and reason on our side. All Swordward and Shieldbert have are fear-mongering and lies!

Piers: ...They’re gonna win.

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Leon: Is it just me, or do all of your plans involve some horrible web of lies?

Chairman Rose: It's just you.

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Hop: I just realized the five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance spell out DABDA and I feel like this is important information.

Hop: Sometimes you just need to DAB DA grief away!

Bede: Never fucking speak to me again.

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Leon: You say "please" and "thank you" in front of your younger siblings all the time and they never repeat it.

Leon: But when you say "fuck" ONCE—

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Hop: It’s such a beautiful evening.

Alex, whispering: Take that you fucking lake

[piershoesz]

Platonic Relationship Headcanons → Hop, Marnie, Bede, Klara, and Avery!

A/N: So... I did romantic relationship HCs with the SWSH rivals way back in December, and wanted to do some platonic ones as well!

𝗛𝗼𝗽

- Hop is the definition of a loyal friend. He’d be at your side in a heartbeat... and would always support your goals and celebrate your achievements along with you.

- Definitely shares his deepest secrets and/or fears with you. He sees you as his closest companion, and he also views you as very trustworthy. He feels safe when he shares everything with you... and you’d be the same telling him!

- I find it easy to see Hop as the boy who would stay up super late all the time yet still have a ton of energy in the mornings. So, if you just so happen to wake up at 3AM and are craving junk food, call him up and you two will go on an epic quest to the local Pokemart.

- You both are very open about expressing your friendship through physical touches! Nothing sexual! Just soft touches of your hands... sweet forehead kisses and lots and lots of hugs!

- You two often take naps together late int the afternoon, you curled up next to him with your head laying on his chest as the golden sunlight pours through his curtains. His mom had probably stumbled upon you two on accident several times, and just closes the door behind her with a smile.

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗲

- Not super talkative or open about being friendly towards others, but with you she opens up and shows a lot more of her true self to you.

- Marnie hasn’t had the easiest life... and doesn’t have many friends... so your friendship really does mean so much to her, and she would be devastated if anything were to happen between you two that would sever that relationship... but as long as you reassure her, she’ll be okay!

- Confides in you a lot when she’s unsure of her emotions. She’s not one for showing them... so she goes to you and asks how she should feel or what she should do. You of course give her the best advice you can... and she lets you know she’ll be there to support you when you need her help too!

- You both spend a lot of time around each other... so you’ve both grown to know each other’s families. Piers treats you like his 2nd sibling at this point, and it makes you happy to know you’ll always have a place with them!

- Like Hop, lots of gentle soft touches as well. Her favorite things to do would be lean her head on your shoulder and wrap her arms around your waist and rest her head in your lap. She feels so comfortable around you when she can press herself to you and rest.

𝗕𝗲𝗱𝗲

- Your friendship together is very... chaotic. Both of you enjoy poking fun at each other often... though even though what you say would normally be considered rude or mean, you both know there’s no venom with your words!

- You two didn’t have the easiest start, given Bede’s past, he probably acted very cold and distant toward you when you first met. But... he slowly opened up to you... and now you two are thicker than thieves!

- You’re the one to wake up at some ungodly time in the morning and text him or call him about the most random of things, meanwhile Bede is over there practically begging you to go to sleep.

- Will always be there whenever you need him. He may certainly not look like a compassionate person, but if its you, he will be there for you!

- Will only ever hug you if its in complete privacy. He just gets super embarrassed in public, so you two resort to affection when its just you two! And its soft touches of course! 

𝗞𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮

- Oh boy... you two are quite the dynamic duo! Klara is totally the type of friend to rant to you for hours on end about daily drama... though she has her moments where she asks how you’re doing or if you wanna talk!

- Despite her sass and attitude, Klara genuinely cares about you! She’ll be there to support you and defend you... and will let you know that she’s more than happy to hear you out when you need to rant!

- You both probably get into a lot of mischief together. Though most of the time its unintentional... you’ve ended up running away from angry prank victims multiple times before... always hand in hand! 

- You two exchange bracelets! You’ll intertwine hands and then slide the jewelry onto each others wrists and its so cute! You notice every time that you trade her a new bracelet... Klara won’t be able to take it off for the next few weeks cause she would feel bad!

- If you’re ever in doubt or are unsure about something, Klara will sling an arm around you or hold your hand and reassure you. There’s just something so comforting when she does that... it helps you relax instantly, and her words really help you make up your mind!

𝗔𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆

- Like Bede... you two are quite the odd match! Nobody expected you two to become friends... but you did! And you’re as close as close can get!

- He can be very stuck-up and selfish at times... but you know at the end of the day, he’ll always go out of his way to make sure the ones he loves are safe and happy, you included!

- You know his family situation wasn’t and still isn’t the easiest, so you make it a point to take him in on rough nights. You two end up having a lot of sleepovers because of this, though you know they help him feel a lot better.

- Both of you toy around with his ability to levitate items! As children, he was able to use his skills to snag you both a couple of snacks in secret... and his powers still prove to be useful as adults!

- Not afraid of PDA... but prefers when its just you two together. Though if somebody flirts with you in public... he still stride up behind you, sling an arm around your shoulder and glare at them until they go away. He’s super protective of you!

[bedeion-legion]

alright gays, its headcanon time

Gladion (note, im going off of anime gladion and not game gladion) - Asexual/Homoromantic - Trans FTM, who tf names their kid “Gladion”. im a trans guy, i can spot a trans name for miles - that red bit on his hoodie? its his red chest binder, ofc - His bangs are so whack because he had to cut his own hair, the more shaved bits of his hair are because he messed up and shaved off too much on the side and decided to just roll with it - He’s probably around 15 years old from my calculations - *slaps back of head* this bad boy can fit so many mental health problems and trauma (def has anxiety, depression, and insomnia at the very least) - absolutely helps Lillie braid her hair - he gave Lillie all his girly clothes, including the hat that Lillie wears all the time - He doesn’t usually show it around other people, but he has a strong love for pokemon and cares for them a lot. If he was by himself and a snom happily wriggled up to him, he would probably sob profusely while holding it - While he can be scary as hell and could absolutely beat the shit out of you, he’s secretly a lot softer than he likes to admit. He cares a lot for the people he’s comfortable around and would absolutely pick a fight for them - He really doesn’t like taking his hoodie off, even in the hot and humid Alola air. How he hasn’t died of heat stroke is a wonder - He’s incredibly smart and can quickly learn things, but guys, he hasn’t been in school for like an entire year. He’ll be able to debate complicated philosophical and social problems but ask him how to calculate the area of a sector and his brain completely breaks Bede - Asexual/Panromantic - Trans FTM but i think we all knew that one lmao, bro out here wearing the trans flag - Opal helped him feel more confident in his gender identity - He’s definitely way more thankful for Opal taking him in than he says. He may complain about her but he can’t help but thank her for actually being a good parental figure in his life IM LOOKING AT YOU, ROSE- - Gender norms are dead, Bede killed them - Hes probably a twitch streamer tbh - He has a snom that he doesn’t use in battle and instead just lets roam around the house. Its name is Snowcone (Whenever Gladion visits Bede, he usually steals Snowcone by placing it on his head. He’ll just keep it there until Bede walks into his room looking for Snowcone) - His hair is EXTREMELY soft, like a wooloo. Gladion likes to use Bede’s head as a pillow and Bede just has to deal with it - Every Saturday, all the teen Galarian gym leaders get together to go get boba and spill tea. Bede will occasionally drag Gladion along if Gladion is visiting Galar - He definitely says he’s a lot smarter than he actually is, but he’s still very smart. He’s pretty good at assessing situations and problem solving, which ironically he uses to piss people off Bedeion (Bede x Gladion) - Everyone thought that their competitive and rude exteriors would clash way too much between each other for them to get along, but plot twist! Because their trauma and personalities are so similar, they actually understand each other a LOT on an emotional level and get along really well. It still takes a while for them to gain trust in each other, of course, but they never have trouble getting along. Hell, I’d think it would be incredibly rare for them to fight about anything, even less anything serious - Bede was absolutely the first one to say that he had a crush on the other. Gladion would be internally panicking WAY too much to be able to say anything first - INDEPENDENCY IN RELATIONSHIPS ARE IMPORTANT AND WE SUPPORT THIS IN THIS HOUSEHOLD. while these two absolutely would be affectionate to each other after they gain trust in each other, they’re both different people!!!! with different lives!!!! they’re able to still do their own thing while loving and supporting each other!!!! - if they ever battled against each other in the Galar gym challenge, you better believe that it’ll be the most intense pokemon battle Galar has ever seen and property damage is inevitable. They cheer for each other when the other matches go down but as soon as they’re put against each other, their competitiveness activates and they can and will murder each other (affectionate) - Whenever they’re not visiting each other, they try and video-chat each other very often, usually at the end of the day

[zobstazoon]

i had this thought in the shower so if it's inaccurate ummmm 🙌 but basically what ur fave pokemon swsh character says about you (to me)

milo: you probably like cottagecore or smth and/or youre just really nice and understanding. you want him to pick you up and launch you into the sun like the dynamax pokeball (and then hug you)

-

nessa: youre very chill but competitive and know a Hot Lady when you see one. possibly wlw?? also you will brutally murder whoever even attempts to whitewash her and any other poc characters (myself included)

-

kabu: HELLO DILF_LOVER69. Fr though you're cool and probably give good advice (when its genuine not encouraging your friends to rob the local gas station) you probably think hes hotter now then he was when he was younger but theyre both hot to you

-

allister: he is your cute little onglydoople and you will protect him with your life. you probably have anxiety and either rarely cry or cry over the one scene in cast away (looking at you @/zoochi)

-

bea: spicy chip lover. idk why you just have the vibe and you probably dress more edgy then you actually are (still kinda intimidating but you're very nice)

-

opal: this is a tough one umm. i get 'will listen to someone go off about something you didn't even know about and respond with "oh dear" vibes. also uses emojis like "🤣" unironically frequently (either that or you just enjoy pastels/fairy types idk LOL)

-

melony: MILF_LOVER69. as a wise friend said: world cold and hard, titty soft and warm. you're very sweet but will go fucking apeshit (affectionate) and probably really like cats idk (especially fluffy ones)

-

gordie: gonna be honest i have no idea bc ive only played shield but youre probably a little bit of a cryptid as in you'll disappear for like a week online only to reemerge by just sending shit like "calling among us imposter iphone at 3am (he answered!)" at 8 pm. no one really questions it though bc you're cool

-

piers: either very horny or very ace no in-between. you also really like tired twinks (@zoochi you again x) and/or punks. fr though i think you're very cool and passionate. even if your fav is considered "basic" hes popular for a reason babey

-

raihan: (definitely not describing me for this one LOL /s) you enjoy himbo jocks with no brain cells and are definitely gay. you would like him to kick and/or kiss you because he is 6'8" (and soooo hot ok sorry)

-

leon: another dumbass enjoyer just a different breed and perhaps slightly less bonkers. you also are an admirer of his massive grade a chest

-

hop: golden retriever boy!! fr but are you ok champ things will be ok i promise

-

bede: how's the mommy/daddy issues bestie 😿 you also probably did not like him at first but he grew on you like a tumor #characterdevelopment

[thestalkerbunny]

What is your overall opinion of the sword and shield characters? Gym leaders, the professors, the villains, the rivals, etc. Any that you seen worth mentioning.

Prof. Magnolia, we didn't see enough of her, she didn't pop in as much and I kinda forgot that she EXISTED. But I do always love female older proffessor.

Sonia was more consistent. I like her style, I like the idea that she is basically the new professor in training and she ended up writing a book by the end of the game. She's very cute and stylish and I love her boots.

Okay time for Gym leaders-over all I like the idea that the fucking pokemon league is a competitive sponsored event like NASCAR or soccer. It gives more of a competitive sense to it and the end game where you just battle tree with all the other gym leaders gives a stronger sense that these are the reigning top trainers of this country and they compete among themselves yearly to try and knock each other off the champion pedestal. I liked it a lot, it was a new fun take.

Milo, I didn't much care for. A know a lot of people went bananas for him but something about his fucking TODDLER FACE on his MAN BODY kept throwing me off.

I thought Nessa's design was cute and fun. We don't usually see a whole lot of black characters in Pokemon so she was a refreshing cool design to have.

Kabu is just a dilf. He's a Dilf. Look at that tired old man, he's ready to retire. Fucking hang that shit up on the WALL, my man.

Allister was the ENTIRE reason I got Sheild instead of Sword cause I love GHOST types. And I love his design, I love how his dialogue makes it sound like he has a little cockney accent, he is my SON, he is my BOY, I would do ANYTHING for Allister.

Opal is another character who I liked a lot? I liked the whole thing where she's like this aging theater star, an old Opera Queen. Her design also reminds me of the Triplettes from Bellville. She was just so fun and zany and out there for an old lady. Love a crazy kooky old woman. I also like how she just fucking Abducted/adopted Bede mid game against his will.

Melony was a DREAM. She looks so warm and soft like she gives good warm hugs. I also like how she's the MOM of another gym leader (Gordie)

Okay Ya'll known my stance on Piers. He is the BFB, the 6ft tall musician who I would wear PLATFORM BOOTS to get a kiss from. I would sit thru a HEAVY METAL SHOW for him and I don't LIKE loud live music. His overall character is interesting as a sort of individual who is a gym leader out of duty and not because he likes it, the shit he does is to try to keep his dying small home town alive and afloat and he just wants to be a musician.

That being said; I didn't much care for Team Yell. Low tier team, I wasn't impressed by them. I mean. Maybe it's different over in England with your Soccer fans but just. I didn't feel like they had a GOOD motivation as a 'villainous' team even if they're more of a red herring team. Team Skull was a better villainous team than Yell. I would completely tear down the team and revamp it design wise and goal wise. Their goal is to make sure Marnie wins, the goal should more along the lines be 'make sure people know where SPIKEMUTH is' I would honestly love to see a team made completely up of punks whose actual goal is to try and save their home town

....instead of.....whatever this was.

And Raihan was just okay. TBH He's cute, and all but everyone is just ALL over him, I feel the market is oversaturated.

[jinnyu]

regarding romance!

╒══════════════════╕

Used artwork credits

Hop

Bede

Leon

Raihan

╘══════════════════╛

———☆️

Hop🍀

It started as the cliché love story about falling in love with your very own bestfriend

Which, actually turned out great??

His Zacian/Zamazenta loves you as much as it's trainer does, and is willing to protect you from anything

Probably because it observed Hop being protective over you, and proceeding to do the same

Sure it might took a toll on him when you defeated him on the championship semi-finals, but he wanted you to be happy more than anything

He's such a sweetheart even if he doesn't show it much

The type to appreciate small little things, especially when it comes from you

"Let's camp together!!"

You camped together

He got chased by a wild steelix whilst trying to gather data for his research later

His Zamazenta/Zacian was busy playing with your own legendary

*from the distance* "GAH! HELP!"

You ran after him and calmed down the wild steelix

Then you walked to him and checked if he got any wounds or scratches, which leads you to cupping his face gently with a worried look on your face

Hop's blushing

He's freaking out inside

You didn't notice the tint of blush dusting his cheeks,which gradually reddens with each second that passes

"im okay, dont worry" he tried his best reassuring you

Even though he's blushing, he proceeded to press his forehead gently against yours, closing his eyes and smiling

oh no he's cute

You're blushing

haha blushy reader

You let him do his thing, its somewhat calming

He's warmm

His hands are calloused, different from yours; you just remembered this when he placed his hand on top of yours while you were checking for his wounds from before

This just shows how much he's been working off to reach the champion title

And yet he's completely alright with you taking the spotlight

After all, you're his shining star

And he wouldn't have it in any other way

You let him borrow your champion cape

And he lets you borrow his labcoat

It fits just right with you! And it got his scent, which calms you down whenever you're feeling anxious

When you wear his labcoat, you're 1000000000% irresistible to his eyes

"Don't be so adorableee" he said as he pulled you into a hug and burying his face in your neck

You only laughed softly at his reaction. He was blushing too,,,

You often waited for him to finish his lab work, even if it's until late hours

He's a really hard worker, no wonder he stayed until late

"Im sorry for making you wait"

He looks exhausted, but tried his best to pull a bright smile, not wanting to worry you

You only gave him a warm hug, which surprised him at first before he hugs you back and proceed to walk you to your house

💓💓💓 < your heart

Comfort time

There's usually some jerks who'd tease you for being the champion, or flirt with you in an impolite way

If Hop caught on to this, he would politely ask them to leave

If they still dont understand, his legendary comes out of his pokeball and growl at them

He'd ask them one more time to stop bothering you, but this time, with a menacing smile that says "stay here any longer and you wont get to see another daylight"

Then he'd check up on you, asking if you're alright, if they did anything to you or whatnot

Hed wrap his arms around your waist and drape his labcoat over you, because he knows his labcoat always manages to calm you down

"It's okay, you're okay, everything is alright now, c'mere"

You let him hug you as you feel safe around him, and you two stayed in that position until you feel alright again

💕💕

———☆️

Bede🍰

He's not the best at showing affection but at least he tries

You help him come out with quizzes for his gym challenge

And sometimes joke about the poses he makes when practicing

Sometimes, he gets reminded that you're the champion of Galar and he's way out of your trainer level

Which actually motivates him to become the strongest gym leader there is by pushing past his limits

"I'll show you how strong fairy types can be"

He said to himself as he was thinking about you

People kept misunderstanding fairy types after all, and thats a big mistake

You appreciate his efforts in maxing out his strength, and you show it by coming to his fairy stadium whenever he battles a challenger

You texted him "good luck, I'll be cheering 4 u!❤️❤️👍" before his matches start

And you looked at his direction after sending the message

He has just gotten your message, and opened it

Which leads to him blushing furiously as he covers his face with one of his hands

He took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure, only to fail miserably when he saw you looking at his direction with pure ambition and determined eyes as you grinned happily

All that i could say is, he's red as a beet

He wont lose this match, not when you're watching him.

He puts extra effort when you're watching his match, and made sure not to slip up. It'd be embarrassing if he did.

Opal notices this and only smiled seeing her successor acting out of his place whenever you're around

Opal knows something that you dont, and that's Bede's feelings for you

After his match ended, his Hatterene walked towards your direction, pulling you into a tight hug

You were surprised, but apparently Hatterene has grown to like you ever since she first met you

And when you look at Bede's direction, he was looking away with his arms crossed infront of his chest, visibly drowning in embarassment

,,,you wondered, is Bede projecting on his Hatterene or what,

Yes, yes he is

So you asked him if he also wants a hug, which of course he answered with "Why would i want a hug from someone like you? That'd be an insult to me"

You let go of Hatterene and hugged him anyways

He flinched when you hugged him, not knowing where to put his hands and just let them stay still in a defensive pose

Hatterene watched with a smile from behind you, seeing her master in such a flustered state was truly something new for the Pokemon

Not long after, Bede finally let his arms wrap around your waist, giving in to his subconscious and just hug you

he wanted to hug you anyways so thats a win win situation

You were actually surprised when he hugged you back

He smells nice!! Like perfume?? Cologne?? Floral scent

His Hatterene decided to join in and wrapped her arm around you both, making you all hug even more tightly

Bede cant handle this well.

No, not at all.

His face was really red and its hot— in all honesty, its cute, but he was burning

"Why do you have to embarrass me like this?"

You buried your face in his neck, which startled him as he couldn't think at all

"Y-you!!"

He feels nice and soft, so you're not planning to let go any sooner, likewise with Hatterene.

Bede's mind: ASDFGHJKL????—GODDAMMI—

OKAY NOW COMFORT TIME

His true nature would come out when you're not feeling yourself or when people would makw you feel like shit

"Hey.."

His face shows concern, but it still his usual look of coldness— however, his actions are warm despite his cold features

He'd let you wear his coat as he battles anyone who dared to hurt you

"Are you alright now..?"

He cupped your face and made you look at his face, swiping off the tears that stained your face with his thumbs delicately

He hated seeing you cry, and he'll try better next time to make sure you didn't cry

———☆️

Leon🌟

He's kind at all but sometimes he's just... "???????"

Training!! Dates!!

More like battle tower dates because he really admires your strength as a champion

Occasionally, he'd visit your house and check up on you, wondering if you're free for the day for "quality time"

At first, he was surprised to see one of the legendaries answering the door for you

And he couldn't resist to ruffle it's hair

your legendary on the other hand was kind of irritated by it

So it let out a displeased howl

Which leads you to come down stairs and see who is it

"L—leon?"

He looked up and greet you with a goofy grin as your legendary returned to your side, walking with you

He treats you like a gentleman, and sometimes is very strict with your training regimen

In which you usually whine about because you're the current champion and you have no business listening to him

But he'd swoon you with lovely words

And you would easily fall for it

you hate this

You hate him

No you dont

You love him, you could never hate a goofball like him anyways

Hey did i ever mention Leon's sense of direction is shitty

You went on a date in Wyndon a couple of times and he still gets lost everytime

"Ah!! Hey—....."

"Im lost again aren't i?"

He tried to find his way back to you but got surrounded by paparazzis

Even if he's not the current champion

You saved his butt since he couldn't say no to the people and his fans

He said thank you and hugged you, lifting you up to the air before pulling you close to him

This only made you laugh softly as you hugged him back, letting your fingers comb his thick lavender like hair

His body is warm and comforting, you really like his cuddles and hugs

He came into your house one time when you didn't answer his calls or messages, only to find you drown in your anxiety and self loathing

He pulled you in his arms and let you cry on his shoulder until you're all done and alright again

He'd draw circles over your back and tell you reassuring words— tell you that you're more than enough and he's grateful to have you here, alive and well

Your Zacian/Zamazenta got out of it's pokeball and helped you in calming you down too by giving you small licks on your knee

It'd whine whenever you're sad and climb onto your bed, nudging your arm afterwards as if it's asking what's wrong

You're lucky to have them both whenever you need them the most, and they're lucky to have you

———☆️

Raihan 🐲

It's finally the Character y'all been waitin for, dragon boi coming through

Okay serious talk here— Raihan is TALL

His hoodies makes you look smaller than you already are

You tried copying his "Gaooo~" pose a couple of times while wearing his hoodie

Its cutest thing he has ever seen his entire life

It makes him melt everytime

Okay aside from that, he's gentle and laid back, even if his personality is quite the opposite when he's on battle

He's cLINGY ASF

Don't forget his fangs, never forget his fangs

You're actually curious about his fangs since the first day you saw him

And he lets you touch it whenever you like

Youre still curious, because what the hell, its so cool

The first day you saw him after defeating him in a match and gain your gym badge, he immediately took an interest in you and your strength

"Hey Challenger!"

He called you before you tried to take your leave, gaining your attention

He then asked you if you want to practice with him next time, and have a rematch when you've become the champion

You agreed and exchanged numbers

What can i say, he spams you like?????? A lot

And casually sends you pictures of him and his duraludon

You love his dragons, especially flygon

Flygon loves you too, and one time it wanted to come with you

Raihan lets you keep his Flygon and you send him pictures of you with it

He sends emotes of duraludon crying, wanting to join you and your fun trip with Flygon to grab the Champion title

After you took the Champion title, Raihan greeted you with a big hug

And you hug him back with no hesitation

"Congratulations, may i have a selfie with the new Champion?"

He asked in a teasing manner, letting you down on your feet as you nodded

You took a selfie selfwith him numerous times before he posted it to his social media

He captioned 'First person to get a selfie with the new Champion'

He took pride in that, and some of his fans were jealous that you managed to get a selfie with him

From that day onwards, he'd have casual selfies with you, sometimes hilarious one and sometimes its just for showing off

You didn't mind it really, he's a celebrity anyways, so you understand why he does that

"Hey.. do stars have feelings"

It was three am what the fuck Raihan

You squinted at your screen seeing his message

"Why in the Galar would you be awake, dear Dragon tamer?"

You answered him

And immediately he answered "oh? The Champion is awake?"

You guys didn't sleep afterwards and was sending streaks of blurry selfies

It was fun and helped you cheer up

You got some of his blurry pics that he captioned "party rock in the house" when clearly its just him and his pokemons

What a goofball pt.2

You love him anyways shut up

Haha smol reader pt.2

[misskikuwrites]

Paper Thin

Bede/Gloria (dressedinpinkshipping)

Bederia Week 2021: Day 6 - First Sleepover

Tags: Fluff, angst, grief/mourning

Words: 6,869

-

Bede took in the mix of Gym Leaders and League Staff with a sigh. The tension that had coiled tight in his stomach all day finally loosened and left him deflated. He’d worked himself up for nothing. Gloria, the Champion of Galar, the very reason why his nerves had been alight and dancing uneasily in his chest for hours, wasn't even here.

“It’s just like her to skip out on something like this,” Bede muttered beneath his breath. She never did well in crowds, especially when the media was involved. In the late afternoon light filtering in from outside, Bede could see the reporters clambering to get closer to the windows, the doors, of Motostoke’s Gym like a flock of hungry Wingull ready to swoop on an unsuspecting victim’s lunch. The frenzy of reporters was enough to put him off, so he could hardly blame Gloria for not wanting to show up.

However…

“But missing the opening ceremony rehearsal?” Another sigh. Even for Gloria, that was a new one. “She’s the Champion, for Arceus’ sake. What sort of reputation does she think this is going to give her?”

Bede tsked. Nervous energy that had pestered him until this moment turned to frustration. At himself, for getting so worked up over seeing Gloria in the first place, and at Gloria herself for skipping the rehearsal. The air between them had been constantly shifting, leaving him confused and hopeful and wanting, yet unable to tell what, exactly, they were to each other. He’d hoped to catch her here and at least have a brief conversation with her. Even an amicable greeting would’ve sufficed. He needed something to ground himself back to reality. To remind himself that they were friends.

Merely friends. Nothing more.

Friends who’d kissed three times-

No, no, no, no, no. He was not going to think about that again.

Bede flicked a hand through his hair with a huff. Sparks crackled through his chest, making his heart flutter and his cheeks begin to burn. Enough of that, he chastised himself. Now wasn’t the time to be recalling how soft and warm her lips had felt against his, how adorable she looked when she’d accidentally kissed him when he saw her last, her eyes widening and her faint gasp piercing his heart like a blazing arrow.

And oh, how she’d melted under his touch when he’d kissed her, when she’d let him kiss her, on that bench beside the lake. How it was everything he’d wanted and more, and how she’d wanted it too-

Bede tore out of his memories with a sharp shake of his head. He had to stop doing that. Gloria had made it clear that the kiss they’d shared hadn’t meant anything, hadn’t changed anything between them, and despite the steady thrum of longing in his heart, he’d said the same.

He’d sealed his fate.

Not only that, but he vividly recalled the look on her face when he’d tried to press her as to why she’d kissed him at the Gala, when she’d explicitly told him she’d never kiss anyone she wasn’t dating. Absolute terror had flashed behind her eyes. Her voice had broken. She had broken, and pleaded with him not to ask her that. Bede had never seen her like that before. As if a single word from him would have shattered her into pieces. He’d swallowed his question, let it drop, and knew he had to tread carefully from then on. He’d pushed her too far. Taken that first kiss, and the ones that had followed - accidental or not - as a sign that the cage around Gloria’s heart was beginning to crack.

But that cage, the walls that Gloria constructed around her heart, weren’t ready to fall just yet. If they came down too soon, then so would she.

And Bede would never forgive himself for doing that to her.

No, he needed to keep himself, and his feelings for Gloria, in check. She didn’t love him. If she realised how he felt towards her, he didn’t know how she would react, but that it would certainly drive a wedge between them. Would she grow to fear him, as she feared love?

There wasn’t any point to thinking about that now, not when he needed to focus on the task at hand. The rehearsal, from the order they were to walk out, to their positions on the pitch worked out to the nearest inch, and the expected interviews following. Bede sent a sardonic glance out the window.

“They’re in for a world of disappointment when they find out their Champion decided not to show up,” He said, a part of him relishing that moment.

“They already know.”

Bede turned to Marnie with a slight frown. He hadn’t noticed she was in earshot, and for the briefest second of panic, he wondered how much of his internal struggle she had seen. Marnie’s expression was unreadable, her teal-green eyes watching him.

“Gloria never attends the rehearsal,” she said. “Wasn’t here last year either.”

Bede hadn’t noticed. At this time last year, Gloria was nothing more than the Champion, a rival to beat, an inconsequential Trainer who had the title he longed for. Her non-appearance wouldn’t have phased him in the slightest.

“I see.” Bede folded his arms and skipped his gaze elsewhere. “I wasn’t aware of that.”

Marnie’s brows knit together. “She didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

There was a hint of something in Marnie’s tone. Surprise, confusion, disbelief, he couldn’t place it. Whatever it was, it made something twist in his gut, and that only worsened when Marnie didn’t respond immediately. As if it was something she couldn’t say.

“What is it?”

“Not sure if I should say,” Marnie eventually said, “I only heard about it ‘cause of Hop, ‘n’ even then he weren’t that keen on tellin’ me.”

She looked away, her words hanging uneasily in the air. Bede’s head spun.

“What happened? Is she okay?” He took a step towards Marnie, into her line of sight, and met the worry in her gaze. “Where’s Gloria?”

Marnie looked conflicted. “Can’t say. She’s not… well enough to be here,” she offered non-committedly, and folded her arms. “The rest you’ll hafta ask her yourself. If she’s able to talk to ya, that is.”

Bede’s heart plummeted into his stomach. Questions jumbled into knots on his tongue, his mind reeling, and before he could form a coherent sentence to try and coax more out of Marnie, a League Staff called her away, leaving him to deal with the implications of what she’d told him.

The conclusions his mind came to made him feel ill. He swallowed thickly, mouth going dry, and dug out his phone. There was only one way to put his mind at ease, only one person who could give him the answers, and reassurance, he needed. He dialed Gloria’s number and pressed the phone to his ear to drown out the thundering of his heart. Each ring seemed to ripple through his body. Seconds passed. Bede held his breath, vision going out of focus, the world blurring into a haze of colours.

A click.

“The number you have dialed is not available, please-”

Bede whirled on his heels, shoved his phone into his pocket, and made for the doors. He didn’t think, didn’t stop to respond to the calls following him as he stormed out of the Gym and hailed the nearest Sky Taxi. Reporters, League Staff, the rapidfire of cameras clicking, it was all background noise.

He shrugged everything off, slammed the Sky Taxi door shut, and told the driver to head to Postwick. He didn’t care what he looked like, fleeing the Gym part-way through rehearsal, the blood having drained from his face. He didn’t care what rumours would start, nor about the pictures that would surely circulate across the internet in a flash. He didn’t care what damage, if any, this would do to his reputation as an upstanding, conscientious Gym Leader.

Right now, it didn’t matter. Nothing did. Not until he knew Gloria was safe, until he knew she was okay and confirmed that with his own eyes. The rest he would deal with later.

-

The sun had begun to set by the time Bede was met with silence at Gloria’s house. He tried her number again, receiving the same automatic message that told him her phone was off. His heart sank deeper and deeper into his churning gut and, despite knocking on the door a half-dozen times already, he rapped his knuckles firmly to the wood again, before checking the windows. All was still behind the glass. No one was home.

Where is she?

He didn’t want to think about what that meant, or to entertain any thoughts as to where else she could be. Bede marched down the path and made for Hop’s house. If she wasn’t there- He quickened his pace, leaving that thought behind. Images, memories, flooded his mind as a familiar fear gnawed away at his heart.

Peering through frosted glass, hands gripping the windowsill. Unbalanced on his toes, craning and teetering for a glimpse of the outside world. A small flame of hope flickering in his chest. Faint, growing smaller every day. The same thought playing again and again in his mind.

Where is she?

Laughter piercing the silence. His name, followed by taunts, jeers, insults. Shame washing over him, shame and something more, something darker and colder and dousing that final flicker of hope. Hands released the wood. Clenched into fists, clenched tight, nails biting into flesh. The cold burn of rage.

The words his mother left him with faded into silence.

“Be a good boy and wait for me, alright?"

He snuffed out that flame himself. The first crack of his fist against a jaw sent a ripple of agony down his arm. Then another. And another. Faster, faster, faster, a roar tearing from his throat. The pain was worth it, even when returned onto him three-fold, even when his vision swam and he tasted blood, and when that blood mingled with tears and he saw stars, he knew that this was it. This was reality.

And she was never coming back.

Bede clenched his jaw, forced the past from his mind. Cold dread filled the hollow of his chest as he recalled the fear he’d felt, how it had frozen him in place, when Gloria had left him in the Wild Area as she ran into a wildfire. The smile she’d given him, evoking memories of a face he could no longer recall. That same look. That same acceptance, forlorn yet warm.

No.

A burst of indignation flooded Bede’s veins as he rounded the stone wall by Hop’s house.

It’s not happening again.

He thumped his fist on the front door, heart in his throat.

I won’t let it happen again.

Movement inside. Bede swallowed thickly, his tongue twisting in his mouth, and couldn’t stop himself the second the door opened.

“Gloria-” her name fell from his lips as a gasp “-is Gloria here?”

Hop’s mother blinked for a moment, before recognition filled her eyes and she nodded, albeit confused.

“You’re Bede, right?” she said, pursing her lips. “One of Gloria’s friends?”

Bede straightened. Desperation had gotten the better of him, his mild a jumble of memories and fear, and he quickly collected himself so as to not repeat that mistake.

“Yes, I am,” he said, and cleared his throat. “I apologise for turning up unannounced. I’m looking for Glora.”

Hop’s mother shifted uneasily. “She’s here, but…” She looked away, glancing towards the stairs, and Bede’s stomach dropped. “Well, I suppose it’s better if you see for yourself. She’s upstairs with Hop.”

She stepped aside to let Bede in, and he nodded stiffly.

“Thank you,” he said, and made for the stairs. He took them two at a time, and when he’d reached the landing, voices met his ears. He turned towards them and threw the door open. The scene before him stole the air from his lungs.

Whatever he’d been expecting to find, it wasn’t this.

-

Gloria jolted her head up as the door to Hop’s room abruptly swung open. Bede, staring at her from the doorway with wide eyes, let out a heavy sigh. She stiffened in shock. Gloria quickly blinked to make sure no tears were left, though her red, puffy eyes were evidence enough that she’d been crying on and off all day, and managed a smile to mask her panic.

“Bede, what- what are you doing here?” she asked. Her heart clenched as tightly as her hands on her lap, threatening further tears. The breath she took shuddered. With Bede’s eyes on her, she felt vulnerable. Paper thin- no, even worse than that. As if a simple breeze, a simple word from Bede, would topple her over.

For it to be Bede who found her today, of all people, was the worst.

Bede studied her for a second, though it felt like a lifetime. As if he could see everything she was desperately trying to hide.

“You weren’t at the rehearsal,” Bede said quietly. His expression, having been one of surprise and then relief, dropped. He knew. He could see she’d been crying.

Gloria forced a sheepish laugh. Panic continued to rise like a creeping vine around her throat, and she couldn’t swallow it down. Not like this, not with him here.

“I didn’t think that’d be an issue,” she said quickly, shooting a glance at Hop. “I called ahead to let them know I wouldn’t be there.”

Hop noticed her silent cry for help, their eyes meeting briefly before he stood. “Come on, mate, there’s no reason for you to-”

“I thought-” Bede’s voice caught. Hop paused, about to usher Bede from the room. “I tried to call you,” he said, slower this time, and the unspoken hurt in his voice rippled through Gloria.

She’d worried him.

All because she was too weak to face the world.

“I… turned my phone off,” she admitted, staring into her lap. Her heart thrummed painfully. With guilt, for not saying anything to Bede, and with fear. With every second, she felt it build in her chest, pulsing like a deadly poison through her veins.

Why is he here? Why now?

Why Bede, of all people…?

Why today, of all days?

Her heart couldn’t bear it. As much as she longed to see him, as much as her heart betrayed her, grief overwhelmed it. Swallowed it. Crushed everything into dust, into pain, into fear.

“I thought something had happened to you,” Bede said. He wasn’t looking at her. “Marnie said… that you weren’t well.”

Gloria couldn’t stop herself from flinching with guilt. “I…” The words wouldn’t form. She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t explain. She met Hop’s gaze again.

“Look, we appreciate you coming to check up on her,” Hop began, “but as you can see, Gloria’s fine, so…” He gestured to the door.

“I see,” Bede said flatly. He glanced from Hop to Gloria, eyes landing on her for an infinitesimal moment, not even a second, and it sent an ache through her heart. He turned his back to her, and she broke.

“Wait-”

Tears blurred her vision. Her throat burned with everything she couldn’t say. She was crumbling. Above the fear, the panic, the shame and grief, she didn’t want him to leave.

“It’s alright,” Bede said. “I understand.”

No- her heart ached. You don’t.

He moved to go.

“Hop, please-” the hitch of her voice making Bede snap his head towards her, finally seeing her tears for the first time. “Tell him,” she said. “Please.”

“Are you sure?” Hop’s question was gentle. She palmed away her tears, pressing her hands to her eyes, and tried in vain to swallow her sniffle. All she could do was nod. “Alright.”

Hop gestured towards the door again, stopping Bede mid-step from moving any closer to Gloria. Bede paused, before allowing himself to be directed from the room. The door clicked shut, leaving Gloria in silence, and when she finally let out the breath she’d been holding, her whole body shuddered with it.

-

Bede whirled to face Hop as the door shut behind them.

“What happened?” he asked point-blank, the sight of Gloria failing to fight back tears all too fresh in his mind.

Hop folded his arms uncomfortably. “Nothing happened. Not today, at least. Gloria’s fine.”

“She didn’t look fine.”

Hop took a breath and sighed. “Yeah, I know.” He ran a hand through his hair restlessly before sending a glance back to his room. “This time of year is always difficult for her.”

“Why?” Bede had a feeling he knew, but asked anyway. He dreaded the confirmation of Hop’s answer when it came.

“Today’s the anniversary of her dad’s death.”

Every fibre in Bede’s body stiffened at once. He was painfully aware of what the expression on Glora’s face meant now, when he’d burst into Hop’s room. Anything he could say fled his mind. How could he respond to that? Gloria had experienced a loss he’d never had the chance of going through himself. He knew grief, but not like that. Not in such a tangible manner.

“She can’t really be around people at the moment,” Hop continued. “Sometimes she’ll be fine, but the next second it’ll hit her again and she’ll break down. The rehearsal’s always held on this date, so…”

Bede nodded slowly as Hop’s words fell into place. It made sense. Damnable, chilling sense. And all the while, at the rehearsal, he’d been frustrated and complaining about her nonappearance, and she’d been grieving the death of her father. A heavy wave of shame crashed over him.

“She’s alright, mate,” Hop said, nudging Bede with his elbow. “This is just how she gets through it. I distract her for as long as possible, and let her cry it out when she needs to. She’ll be alright.”

“I know.”

Except he didn’t. He didn’t know what she was going through, the level of pain and grief she was feeling, something he’d never understand.

“Um…”

Bede blinked at Gloria, as she poked her head through the doorway. Their eyes met, a stab of pain needling Bede’s heart, and Gloria quickly looked away.

“Hop and I were going to head to my house to watch some movies,” she said. She opened the door fully, and stepped out into the hall. “Since you’re already here, I was wondering if you wanted to join us?”

It took a moment for Bede to gather his thoughts enough to answer. “Are you sure?”

Gloria nodded, managing a slight smile, and met his eyes again. Her tears were long gone, but a ghost of them remained in the weariness of her face and the shadows beneath her eyes. “Of course. I was… going to ask Marnie to come as well, since the rehearsal’s finished.”

Bede stiffened sheepishly. “It’s not actually over yet.”

“What?” Gloria gaped. “But you…? How come you’re here then?”

Hop struggled to cover up his smirk, muffling his laugh into a cough. “Dude, seriously?”

Bede crossed his arms as a slash of heat burned across his cheeks, having been caught out by his own honesty. He fought back a scowl as Gloria stared at him.

“I… may have left early,” Bede managed to say without his voice cracking.

“What? Why? Was that- because of me?” Realisation hit Gloria all of a sudden, making her straighten. She stole a breath and Bede could have turned to cinders on the spot.

“We’d already gone through everything once,” he said quickly. “There was no point in me sticking around any longer.”

For a split second, Bede could have sworn Gloria’s expression fell. Then she laughed, and he wondered if he’d been mistaken.

“Yeah, those things tend to drag on endlessly, don’t they?” She nodded and dug out her phone. “I’ll see if Marnie wants to ditch too. Are you… going to join us?” Gloria tilted her head at Bede. “If you don’t have anything else on, that is?”

Bede swallowed. The way she cocked her head to the side made his heart swell, and he tore his eyes from her lest he begin to blush any harder than he already was. Any more blood rushing to his face and he’d surely get dizzy.

“I may as well,” he said, shrugging. As if his mind hadn’t latched onto joining them the second she’d asked. “Since I’m already here.”

“Great!”

Gloria lit up as he used the same phrase she had, and Bede coughed to clear his throat, keenly aware of the amused expression on Hop’s face as he watched this unfold. The way Gloria was acting, upbeat and smiling, if Bede hadn’t witnessed her tears moments earlier, he wouldn’t have suspected anything. Now, however, he could see how hard she was trying to hide her pain. It was there behind her eyes, in the second her laughter faded and her smile dropped. As they headed for Gloria’s house, he spotted the moments when her attention drifted. When memories played in her mind, her eyes glazed over. She quietened. Then, as if on cue, Hop would say something, make a joke or wisecrack, throw his arm over her shoulder, and she’d snap back to reality. Her smile would return.

Her smile, her laughter, was genuine and yet forced at the same time. Her enjoyment was real, and yet overdone. When Marnie arrived, Gloria embraced her for longer than usual, her smile brighter, her voice too upbeat. All signs of the grief Gloria wanted to forget.

Marnie met Hop’s eyes, and Bede witnessed a moment of understanding pass between them, and so Marnie acted as if nothing was up. As if Gloria was always this excitable, always this bubbly. She even let Gloria drag her by her hand into the lounge to dig through their movie collection, leaving Hop and Bede to get the snacks ready.

“If I’m in charge of snacks, they’ll all be gone before the movie stars,” Gloria said with a laugh.

“I think you mean you’ll burn the house down instead,” Hop threw back. “Remember what happens when you try to make popcorn?”

Gloria’s scoff was heard loud and clear from the lounge. “That was one time!”

“And it was spectacular!”

Bede raised an eyebrow as he set the pot of popcorn kernels onto the stove, deciding not to comment on that himself.

-

It wasn’t long before they were all crammed together on the couch, crisp packets open, popcorn in hand, passing a bag of sweets between them. Gloria curled her legs beneath her, wishing she could focus on the movie and not the press of Bede’s arm against hers. The contact between them dug a cold knife into her chest, spreading ice through her veins until she went numb, an acute and burning reminder of why she wanted to stamp out her growing feelings for him. She didn’t want to feel this pain ever again.

Gloria bit back tears, biting hard on her bottom lip as she refused to let herself cry. Not now, not here, not with Bede next to her. But, as always, the memories that flashed in her mind were all too clear, all too real.

Waiting, wondering, confused, as the afternoon turned into night and her father hadn’t returned. A knock at the door. Running excitedly to answer it, finding a stranger in her father’s place. The crack of her mother’s voice. Hearing, but not understanding, what the officer was saying.

And the sound that tore from her mother’s throat. The sound of a heart breaking.

The movie turned into a blur of colours behind tears, and Gloria hurriedly blinked them away again. When the credits ran, they ordered food in, and she took that opportunity to flee to her room for a moment of silence. A moment alone. She leant against the door, hands clenched into fists, and took a shuddering breath. She would get through this. She would. Bede’s presence here hadn’t changed anything, she tried to remind herself. It was just Bede. Just a friend, just a movie, just another, ordinary day.

Except it wasn’t.

And the heavy, gnawing ache in her heart reminded her that Bede was no longer just a friend. Not to her.

Gloria sucked in a deep breath and steeled herself. She wasn’t going to give in. These feelings were hers, and she would control them. She had to. It was just another challenge for her to overcome. Another battle to win. Like any Pokemon battle, she had to calculate every move, had to size up her opponent and not back down. If she lost, she’d try again. Harder, faster, until she finally came out on top. Avoiding Bede didn’t work - she’d already tried that, and it only made the longing in her heart worse. She had to find a different strategy. She had to adapt.

Failure wasn’t an option here.

Gloria risked a glance at the alarm clock beside her bed and winced. It was that time again. Another detail she couldn’t forget, sewn into her mind, her memories, from the day her world changed. As much as she wanted it, nothing could distract her from this. From reliving it again and again every year that passed. Tears came quickly. Her legs buckled, and she sank against the door as wave after wave of grief crashed over her and left her breathless. Through clenched teeth, she sobbed. Tears escaped around the palms of her hands that she pressed firmly to her eyes, blocking the world out. Grief and pain burned in her lungs. Holding her breath, forcing it down, to silence her wails. To stifle her cries.

And she crumbled into a heap on the floor.

It hadn’t worked. The company of her friends, a great movie, all the snacks she could want, and it hadn’t worked. It never did. Grief came after her like a vice, striking the second she let her guard down. Striking through her defences. It left her weak. Vulnerable. No matter how many years had passed, it always came for her.

A gentle knock on her bedroom door made Gloria stiffen.

“Gloria? Hun?” her mother’s soft voice filtered through the door. “Can I come in? I’ve brought your food.”

Gloria couldn’t respond beneath the crush of grief.

There was silence for a few seconds, before Gloria’s mother said quietly, “It’s that time, isn’t it?”

A sob escaped. Gloria curled into herself further. Doubling over. Pain reared up the hollow of her throat, but made no sound.

“Can I come in?” her mother asked again. “You don’t have to handle this by yourself. I’m here too.”

Somehow, Gloria managed to draw an affirmative noise from her throat, and shifted enough away from the door so her mother could come inside. She held a container of take-away Kantonian food, and carefully knelt beside her daughter, placing the food to the side. Gloria’s lips wobbled, her face caked in tears, and fell into her mother’s arms with a wail. All the grief she’d been holding in, the agony she’d buried, came forth at once in a torrent of heartache. She couldn’t stop it. Even knowing her cries could be heard throughout the house, she could no longer keep it in. In the arms of her mother, she let it all out.

The pain, the grief, her fear and her weakness, how it felt like it was tearing her in two, as though her world was crumbling once again, she let it all out.

She clung to her mother and cried until she had no tears left to shed and her food went cold.

-

When Gloria emerged from her room with her mother, she hurried over to the microwave with her cold Kantonian take-away meal, and sheepishly focused on that instead of the overwhelming feeling of being watched. She knew Hop, Bede and Marnie were waiting for her, that they’d heard her cries. She cleared her throat awkwardly. It was too quiet, and the gentle humming of the microwave made the silence coming from the lounge even more obvious.

“Is everyone staying the night?” Gloria’s mother asked.

“I… I haven’t asked yet.” Gloria tried to ignore the fluttering of her heart at the idea of Bede staying the night. Usually, after she and Hop binged a few movies, they’d fall asleep on the couch or on mattresses on the floor, having talked late into the night or early morning.

“Would you two like to stay the night as well?” Gloria’s mother called to the lounge, making Gloria flush. “We have more than enough mattresses, and we’d love to have you stay.”

“Mum!”

Her mother shrugged, grinning. “It’s easier for me to just ask them now, right?”

“That’s not the point!” Gloria hissed.

“I’ll hafta check with my brother, but I’m keen,” Marnie said from the lounge.

Gloria swallowed, waiting. Her heart thumped harder in her chest, and she yanked her food from the microwave with more force than necessary.

“Of course Bede’s going to say yes,” Hop called, vaulting over the back of the couch before Bede could protest. “I’ll grab the mattresses!”

“Looks like my decision has been made for me,” Bede said and rolled his eyes, “but… as long as I’m not imposing on you, then I'll take you up on that offer.”

Gloria’s mother smiled pointedly at her. “Of course you’re not imposing on us. You’re very welcome to stay the night!”

Gloria shot a dark look at her mother, and at Hop as he passed her with two rolled up mattresses in his arms. Hop stuck his tongue out at her in return. Soon enough, the mattresses were spread out on the floor, a bundle of blankets and pillows strewn across them, and the movie-binging resumed. No one mentioned Gloria’s prior absence. Everything carried on as if nothing had happened, and she silently thanked her friends for that. The heavy ache in her heart settled into its place once again, like a raging beast having exhausted itself, and finally calmed. It remained inside her, tempered for now. A pain she doubted she’d ever be free from. At least, at this moment, she felt at ease. She felt safe.

Grief remained in her memories, slowly retreating from the marrow of her bones, and as she curled up on the couch again, her friends by her side, Gloria smiled. As the night wore on, conversation took over the movies. The TV continued playing without an audience. Even as hours passed and they had to stifle their yawns, no one suggested going to sleep. Topics jumped from one to another, from Hop’s research to the upcoming League Challenge, and how they’d have less time to catch up once it began. At some point, Marnie moved to one of the mattresses on the floor. Hop sprawled across the now-free space, and was the first to fall asleep. Gloria clicked the TV off, plunging them into darkness.

“Oh, wow, that’s dark,” Gloria laughed. Their only source of light had been the TV once Gloria’s mother went to bed and switched off the lights in the rest of the house. “Do you guys want me to turn a light on?”

“Nah, ‘m good,” came from Marnie, somewhere on the floor. She sounded muffled, as if speaking through a pillow, and Gloria wondered if she was close to falling asleep.

“I haven’t stayed up this late in ages,” Gloria said. She toned her voice down to a near-whisper. “It always makes me feel like a kid again. There’s something special about staying up past midnight.”

“It’s not something I do regularly, I’ll admit.” Bede’s voice sounded louder and closer than Gloria had expected, and she stopped herself from jumping in shock. In the darkness, she couldn’t tell where he was. It made her heart skip, her pulse scattering.

She laughed, trying to hide her nerves. “Hop and I used to stay up late all the time when we were younger,” she said quickly, keenly aware of the warmth of Bede’s arm against hers, trying to keep the conversation flowing to distract herself. He hadn’t moved, but somehow, he felt closer. “Sometimes, we’d sneak out at night and find a paddock to stargaze in. We learnt very quickly to bring a blanket or two, the first night we almost froze to death!”

“That definitely sounds like something you would do,” Bede said.

She heard the smile in his voice, and was suddenly glad that he couldn’t see her as she flushed. Affronted by her own reaction to the sound of Bede’s voice, she curled up tighter on the couch in defiance. Her insides bubbled and crawled at the same time. Enjoying yet despising the feeling. The contrasting emotions swirling within her fought against each other for dominance in her mind, and it left her drained and sapped of energy. She didn’t know whether to relish or fear the way Bede managed to tug on her heart.

“Have you ever stayed up all night?” Gloria asked. She needed to fill the silence, to stop her mind, and heart, from wandering. All was quiet from the mattress on the floor, and she couldn’t tell if Marnie had fallen asleep, or was just listening.

“A few times,” Bede admitted. “Mostly after I’d just taken over the Fairy Gym. I’d work late into the night and before I’d realised it, the sun was rising.”

Gloria snorted. “You workaholic.”

“That’s rich, coming from a slugabed.” Amusement softened his voice.

“Says you! At least I don’t have grey hair!”

“It’s platinum-blond.”

Gloria suppressed a laugh. “Sure it is. That’s why you fit right in at the Fairy Gym.”

“I’m wise beyond my years, something you could learn from.”

“And go grey before my twenties? No thanks!”

“Who’s fault would that be, I wonder?” Bede said, his tone light. “I believe the greatest stressor in my life would be you at the moment. Haen’t you already taken the blame for that?”

“You’ll go grey and no one would even notice!” Gloria snickered. “How sad!”

“I’d rather overwork than put a Snorlax to shame. Or was it a rock?”

Gloria gave him a shove with her elbow. “A girl needs her beauty sleep!”

“Then I’m not sure you’re sleeping enough for that-”

“Hey!” Gloria scoffed.

Bede’s stifled laugh set her heart skittering away in her chest. “I had to, that was too good to pass up.”

Gloria pouted even though Bede couldn’t see her in the dark, her cheeks flushed hard enough to burn. His teasing always had this effect on her, stirring her blood and stealing the air from her lungs, leaving her mind blank.

“If I had one of those pillows, I’d throw it at you,” Gloria huffed.

“That sounds like a threat.”

“You’d better believe it’s a threat!”

“Wow, Gloria,” Bede feigned disbelief, mirth coating his words, “I never knew you could be so violent.”

“Just you wait until I get my hands on a pillow.”

“I’m not stopping you.”

Gloria narrowed her eyes towards Bede’s voice.

“Unless you’re too scared to lose…”

The insinuation, the challenge, in his words made Gloria bristle. “Oh, that’s it!” Instead of fumbling in the dark for a pillow, she yanked the couch cushion out from behind her and thwacked Bede with it. She got a satisfying, and muffled, gasp of shock from him, right before the cushion was snatched from her hands.

“Hey-”

A cushion to her face cut Gloria off. She swallowed her grumble, and wrenched out the cushion from behind Hop, using it as a shield before swinging it blindly at Bede. Hop made an incoherent noise that was lost under Gloria’s squawk as she struggled to keep her cushion out of Bede’s hands.

“That��s cheating!”

“There are no rules in pillow fights,” Bede said, before a loud thump followed, and his grip on Gloria’s cushion slackened. She tugged it back, barely making out a second figure in the dark.

“Marnie?!”

“I got your back!”

“Now that’s-” Bede was cut off by another thump “-definitely cheating!”

Gloria bit back her laugh. “There are no rules in pillow fights!” She lifted her cushion to swing again, and it was snatched from her. “What-?”

“Ha! Sneak attack!” Hop cried, smacking Gloria in the back with her cushion.

“It’s not a sneak attack if you announce it!” Gloria huffed at him. “Now give that back!”

“Never!”

Gloria raised her arms in time to block Hop’s blow, but the impact shoved her backwards enough for her to topple onto Bede. A split second later, a pillow whacked her in the face. Her cry was muffled by the pillow, and another blow came before she could right herself or pull herself off of Bede. He stiffened against her, a sharp gasp escaping him in the midst of the chaos.

“Wait-” A cushion thumped into her as she scrambled to protest. “Let me get up-!”

In the dark, she couldn’t tell how, exactly, she was positioned on top of Bede, except that his legs were definitely beneath her back. She tried and failed to push herself up in between blows, her hands fumbling to find purchase on something that wasn’t Bede’s thighs.

“Hop!” Gloria hissed. She tried to swat away his next blow and ended up hitting Bede’s face instead. “Sorry!”

With nothing left to lose, and receiving blows from multiple directions, Gloria struck out with her foot. Hop groaned, and she took her chance. Pushing up off Bede, she snatched back her cushion from Hop, and smacked him in the face with it.

“Low blow!” Hop wheezed. “Against the rules!”

“There are no rules in pillow fights!” Gloria, Marnie and Bede echoed each other.

“Alright, alright, alright!” he said hurriedly. “Truce! I’m calling a truce!”

A light clicked on, blinding them all and making Gloria wince.

“I was wondering what was going on in here,” Gloria’s mother said, staring at them by the lightswitch, dressed in pyjamas. “This looks like an unsanctioned pillow fight to me.”

“Oops.” Gloria grinned sheepishly, slowly lowering her cushion.

“Gloria started it!” Hop said quickly.

“Hey!”

Gloria’s mother shook her head, though a smile remained on her face. “I’m glad you’re all having fun, but you do realise what the time is, don’t you? I thought you’d at least try to get a few good hours of sleep.”

“I apologise for disturbing your sleep,” Bede said. Any amusement that might’ve been present on his face drained away and he slid the cushion in his arms back into place on the couch. “I wasn’t aware of how loud we were being.”

Marnie shrunk, holding her pillow to her chest.

“Oh, it’s no big deal,” Gloria’s mother said. “With Gloria and Hop, I’m well and truly used to disturbances like these.”

“Sorry, mum!” Gloria chimed. Despite taking multiple blows from cushions and pillows alike, she felt lighter. As if a weight had eased off her chest. When they settled into the darkness once more, cushions back in place on the couch, the slow pull of fatigue descended over Gloria, and the weight returned. All too quickly, the moment of laughter they’d had vanished from her mind.

Silence, and darkness, took hold. The night wasn’t over just yet. Not willing to give in to grief so easily, Gloria tried to fight it again. She led the conversation, keeping everyone talking until Hop’s steady breathing came from her left, and soon Marnie stopped replying. Gloria’s heart sank, threatening to drag her back into memories, into pain. She shifted to keep her mind occupied, and accidentally bumped the side of her head against Bede’s shoulder.

“Oh! Sorry,” Gloria said, shuffling away from him. She curled up into a more comfortable position with her back to Hop, and nestled into the couch cushions. Her eyes drifted shut as she tried to block out the hollow ache building in her chest.

Bede’s voice gently floated out of the darkness. “How are you feeling?”

She didn’t know how to answer that.

“You don’t need to say anything,” he continued. “Just… know that we’re here for you. I’m sure Marnie would agree with me when I say that you can rely on us too. If, for whatever reason, you can’t lean on Hop, you can always come to us.”

Gloria pressed her lips together to stop them trembling. Her throat tightened. Heat washed over her eyes. She wished to say something, to reply to Bede with more than just silence, but nothing came out. Instead, she reached for him. Fumbled in the dark for his arm, giving it the slightest squeeze, and without thinking, Gloria leant towards him and pressed her brow to his shoulder. Her heart clenched as Bede rested his hand over hers. She began to shake, to buckle, to break. Warmth enveloped her, an arm looped around her back to hold her close. In the silence, no words were needed. As Gloria shook, as her tears came without a sound, as she held Bede’s hand so tightly she feared hurting him, they remained together.

And finally, after what seemed like endless tears, endless hours, the night gave way to dawn.

It was over.

[darkmatter-nebula]

It’s Pokemon Day Today! Can you make something with Allister?

Hello! Thank you for the request!

This takes place shortly before Allister became an exchange student at the Blueberry Academy. Allister spends time with his big brother figures Raihan and Bede.

Drabble: We'll Miss You!

"You're going to Unova for quite some time, Allister? WE'LL MISS YOU SO MUCH WHEN YOU'RE GONE!" Raihan was sobbing as he wrapped his arms around the shy and kindhearted little boy. Allister gave his back a soft pat.

"Don't be such a crybaby. We can visit him." Bede chimed in. He didn't want to admit it, but the thought of Allister being away for a long time was very painful for the Fairy Type Gym Leader. Bede loved the eight years old Ghost Type Gym Leader dearly.

Raihan loved Allister just as dearly as Bede did. He was their precious little brother figure. As soon as Raihan let go of Allister, Bede pulled him into a tight yet soft embrace. The small boy loved both of them just as much as they loved him.

"You two are part of my family. Always, and forever." Allister had a gentle expression on his maskless face. His purple eyes were filled to the brim with so much love and kindness. Zoey felt her heart swell as she witnessed this strong brotherly love.

The End

[tera-starstorm]

As a person with a new chosen trainer, how would Yasuta interact with Makoto? Makoto is a timid and shy boi though he can be very blunt and or rude on accident due to his snide comments. He has sorta that matt miller personality. (Noticed you were a SR fan)

yasuta's pretty shy and is overall an introvert himself, but i can imagine at least a first interaction (whatever that may be) would be pretty friendly and cordial! he's very soft spoken and polite and has a knack for reading people that's kind of second nature to him, so i think he'd be able to sense makoto's timid nature and seek to ease any tension a little. he gets it because as stated He Himself is also like that.

he's also almost infinitely patient so the occasional out of pocket snide comment won't particularly bother him unless they (perhaps accidentally) hit some very specific sore spots with him. he can, at the very least, tell it's likely unintentional, adding to the fact that it doesn't really get to him personally. however, he doesn't tolerate his friends being spoken to like that, but isn't hostile about it right off the bat. he prefers to avoid conflict and will kind of just give a quick "hey ease up" and hope it ends there, but if not he will get more stern. it's worth mentioning that he managed to mend things with bede so the occasional comment is nothing compared to how the whole bede situation went.

he might also seek the reason why makoto is how he is with the combination of timidity and bluntness. he'll never push the issue or ask any questions unless prompted with good reason — it's more of a case of him picking up on context clues, so to speak. it's probably not even something he does intentionally and is once again something that's just second nature to him. he doesn't do it for any selfish reason or out of morbid curiousity, just out of worry for the other person. it's a combination of the older brother instinct in him (even if makoto's older, yasuta is just... Like That really) and having to grow up relying on his ability to read people.

[literallyneurodivergentandaminor]

Pokémon smell HCs

another one of these sweet babies done with @bubblesbinxs

gen 4:

Barry: this energetic boy here smells like a sweaty christmas; sweetness clashing with the smell of pines and a whole load of sweat on top because he just wont stop running

gen 5:

N harmonia: he smells like a whole zoo, but post b/w he cares a little more about his smell, now having a soft flowery smell but the zoo smell persists

Grimsley: cigarettes and expensive drinks, maybe even a hint of copper

Caitlin: lavender and baby shampoo

Shauntal: candles and old books

gen 8:

Hop: a strong smell of deodorant combined with a less strong scent of sheep. At some point he tried using leons perfume and cologne

Bede: a combination of expensive cologne, a sweet flowery and fruity perfume, expensive laundry detergent and glitter. After being taken in by opal he also smells of those sweet berry jam filled biscuits

Opal: that very distinct smell every old woman has..... and baked goods 

Leon: perfume, cologne and sweat. Also a little bit burnt thanks to charizard

Raihan: he uses a lot of deodorant, you can smell it from miles away. He also smells a little like rain due to his goodra

Piers: VERY sweaty with a hint of shaving cream and the dog-like smell of obstagoon saliva

Allister: a light smell of old houses (and if you were to sniff his mask, it smells like tears and sweat)

Bea: although she tries to use perfume to smell nice, she mostly smells liks sweat and rocks

Milo: simply sheep and grass

Kabu: smoke and sweat

Nessa: an expensive perfume and ocean salt

Rose: expensive cologne, hair gel and rose water

Oleana: expensive perfume(the same brand as roses cologne), hair spray and rose water

[rbbalmung]

Pokemon SwSh GPL AU: Character Analysis P2

Hey all! I was going to call this “Gym Leader Analysis”, but I really wanted to talk about Leon and Sonia too. We’re just keeping this series going! Keep an eye out for P3 (It’ll probably be posted in the same night).

LEON:

AGE: 26

ETHNICITY: Half Hispanic, Half Black

GENERAL HEADCANNONS:

Leon is definitely cool uncle friend. I know he is a hot mess and can barely look after himself, but I just feel like he is so good at taking care of other people. 

Leon is a man of many faces. He can pump up a crowd one moment and rid his face of emotion the next. It is definitely jarring when someone first gets to know him. 

Leon is pansexual. He pretty much flirts with anyone (within his age range, of course). That being said, he isn’t out to the public yet. He isn’t ashamed of it at all; he just doesn’t want his sexuality to be the only thing he’s known for. 

Speaking of flirting, there is nobody he flirts harder with than Raihan ;) 

Leon was 12 when his dad died, and it hit him really hard. Since the rest of his family took it even harder than he did, he internalised a lot of his pain and focused on trying to help raise Hop. He doesn’t really feel like he ever got the closure he needed. 

Oh boy, is Leon protective over Hop. There is a 10 year age difference between them, so he will always feel like Hop is his “Baby Brother”. 

(Fun fact: He develops a similar relationship to Gloria when he becomes her Champion Mentor). 

Leon is a bit of an adrenaline junkie. He doesn’t really process the fact that some of the things he deals with are incredibly dangerous, which is a bit concerning to his friends. On a more lighthearted note, this means that he will ride any roller coaster without breaking a sweat. 

Cannot cook to save his life. 

Leon, like Hop, has ADD. That’s why he’s always getting lost/seems to have trouble keeping focus. 

SONIA:

AGE: 26

ETHNICITY: White

GENERAL HEADCANNONS:

Sonia is the smartest out of our gaggle of characters and she knows it. 

She and Leon entered the GPL together, but she dropped out before going to Hammerlock. Sonia originally joined the league thinking it was something she wanted to do because she was good at pokemon battles, but she quickly learned that the rigorous lifestyle trainers live wasn’t for her. 

Sonia had an uncertain period of her life where her best friends had all become gym leaders and she was stuck in Wedgehurst helping her grandmother. She definitely had imposter syndrome when hanging around them, so for a few years, she kept her distance. Attending University really helped her start to find her footing, though she wasn’t sure what branch of pokemon studies she wanted to focus on (until the game starts). 

She has a strong pokemon team, but she doesn’t fight with them anymore. She mostly keeps them around for company and they help her with her research! 

Sonia is super close with Hop. After becoming champion, Leon asked her to keep an eye on him. They very much have a sibling relationship (though neither will admit it). 

She is the friend that is overly invested in everyone’s love lives. Sonia is constantly trying to set everyone up together because she “just loves love”. 

RAIHAN:

AGE: 25

ETHNICITY: Black

GENERAL HEADCANNONS:

Tall boy! Raihan is freaking huge, and being around everyone else in the League only heightens this fact. He jokes that the one thing he will always hold over Leon is their height difference. 

You would think Sonia is the biggest gossip, but we all know that Raihan is. You can trust him if it’s something serious, but you have to preface that. If you don’t, you may as well kiss your secrets goodbye. 

Raihan is the best person to go to when you need help. He has big Gryffindor energy and will literally do anything you need him to. If he doesn’t, you just have to call him out for “being a coward”. His pride will definitely be the death of him. 

Raihan has the biggest social media presence despite not being champion. He is really good to his fans and will try to interact with them as much as possible. Will always sign autographs or stop to take a picture. 

He met Sonia, Leon, and Nessa through the GPL (they were all in the same season). He beat out Nessa but lost to Leon in the finals. Raihan took the defeat pretty hard and made it his goal to dethrone Leon, so he fought Hammerlocke’s previous gym leader and the rest is history. 

He really wants to impress Leon ;)

Bede once challenged his for his throne, but lost. Raihan always brings this up to him now that they’re both gym leaders just to piss Bede off. 

He really likes egging on his friends. Raihan never crosses the line, but he’ll say just the right thing to make you challenge him to a pokemon battle. 

Puts on a brave face, but definitely lets negative comments get to him.

The chaotic one in the friend group. 

PIERS:

AGE: 22

ETHNICITY: White

GENERAL HEADCANNONS:

Such a pure, soft boy. Literally the nicest, chillest person. He just scares people off with his edgy demeanour. 

He cares a lot about the people in his town. Since Spikemuth is small, it definitely feels like everyone there is a family. It was the main reason he refused to move the Dark Type Gym to a different location to obtain a Dynamax hotspot. (That, and he hates Dynamaxing). 

Speaking of, he is fairly new as a gym leader! Leon nominated him to participate in the GPL after noticing his raw talent in the GJPL (Galarian Junior Pokemon League). Piers didn’t expect to make it as far as he did, but he was truly the dark horse of his season. He made it all the way to finals and wiped the floor with the gym leaders he went up against. He did end up losing, but he used the newfound fame he received from participating to kickstart his band.

Two years later, Leon approached him again and asked if he was still interested in becoming a new gym leader. It started as a small, non league Gym, but his notoriety quickly gained Spikemuth new attention. He joined the League only one year after debuting. 

Despite being crazy talented at being a pokemon trainer, Piers really isn’t interested in it anymore. He likes the freedom that comes with pursuing his music career. (It definitely helped that his little sister shaped up to be an astounding pokemon trainer herself). 

Coolest big brother ever. Marnie chastises him for pampering her, but they are definitely best friends. They’re the type of siblings that, if one of them goes to the grocery store, the other will just tag along. 

Dad Friend. 100% a Dad Friend. Literally adopts Marnie’s friends the second he sees them. (Who are these twerps? Ok, I guess they’re my children now). Would never admit to this fact. 

Vegan. 

Piers and Marnie grew up in an artsy family with three other brothers (he is the exact middle child). They weren’t rich, but they are all super close and supportive of each other. 

NESSA:

AGE: 25

ETHNICITY: Black

GENERAL HEADCANNONS:

Looks are definitely deceiving with this one. Nessa is good at keeping a serene face, but if she loses, she is definitely seething underneath. 

So pretty, oh my god. She was scouted by a modelling agent during her GPL season. Nessa only signed after she lost the Finals Tournament. Her career started as something to keep food on the table now that she couldn’t become champion, but she has grown to respect her craft. She likes to use it to promote small businesses and make political statements. 

Nessa was trained by the previous gym leader of Hulbury (another water type trainer), so it was no surprise to anybody when she tried to hand their title off to her. Nessa refused to take it without winning a pokemon battle, fair and square. 

She is super athletic! Nessa was on the swimming team throughout school and won several region championships! Sometimes during the off season, she’ll help teach swim classes to younger kids. 

Best friends to lovers with Sonia! They met during their GPL but didn’t start to get romantic feelings towards each other until 6 years later. Everyone knows that Nessa has a girlfriend, but she keeps the fact that it is Sonia private because she doesn’t want the crazy fanboys to target her. 

Nessa takes on a big-sister-role to all of the new female gym leaders (Gloria, Marnie, and Bea). She and Melody will literally strike down anyone who even looks at their girls funny. 

Her relationship with Milo is hilarious to anyone who isn’t them. Nessa is convinced that they are rivals and must constantly train against each other in order to get stronger. Milo sees her as his best friend and will bake her treats for when they meet up. (Also, Kabu is their dad. I’m just stating facts).