#pre-pokemon swsh

[yeehawbvby]

My First Kiss (Went a Little Like This) | Piers x OC Maxine

Rating: Teen+ (Explicit Language, Suggestive Themes)

Summary: "In the most cliché, teenage rom-com fashion imaginable, Piers and Max came to an agreement.

If neither of them had their first kiss by the time they were both 21, they’d have it with each other.

It was corny, and they denied it would even come down to that… But here they were. "

Author's Note: I've been completely brainrotted by the friends -> lovers these two have going on lately and HAD to write about it >:3 This all takes place in the past and pre-SWSH.

In case anyone is curious to learn more about Max, her tag on my page is “oc maxine”!!

I hope y'all enjoy this, I had a lot of fun writing it! x

Check it out on ao3!

This is part of a series of one-shots! Please see my SWSH Masterlist for the recommended reading order.

The walls of Max, Piers, and Marnie’s shared apartment were paper thin. It was to be expected. Spikemuth’s never been known for luxury. That said, Max was laying on her bed, her Rotom phone hovering over her face, when she heard a baritone “Oi” from just outside her door as opposed to a knock. 

She checked to make sure her sleep shirt was long enough to not flash her panties at anyone. Had to scoot it down a little bit. Once in the clear, she answered, “What’s up?” 

When Max didn’t hear a verbal response, but rather her dingy doorknob turning and the dragging of socks against the wooden floorboards, she looked to the source. Piers, still in his dark ripped jeans and loose blue muscle tank from the day, offered a lazy grin which Max reciprocated.

She grabbed her Rotom and closed the manga app she had been browsing. Then, she sat up and let the device float over to her bedside table before leaning back onto her palms. Her absurdly long hair, not tied back into its usual low pigtails, got a bit wrapped up around her arms in the process; and as Piers sat down beside her, he helped detangle it.

“Everything alright?” she asked, eyes focused on her friend’s pale fingers. 

Piers grunted in place of an answer. After finishing his work on her hair, he playfully insulted her, “How’s it feel to be an old hag?” 

Snorting, Max lightly tapped his right side with her right knee. She met his eyes, squinting her own. “Not even an hour after my birthday and you’re already bullying me?” 

“You did the same thing last month.”

“Yeah,” she explained, “you were an old fart last month.”

“And now you’ve caught up t’me.”

“And I’m as young as can be,” Max wistfully retorted. Piers rolled his eyes, his grin betraying the action. “You come in here just to harass me, or what?” she asked.

“Quite the opposite, actually.”

Max tilted her head to the side. Some stray hairs fell into her face, which she quickly tucked away behind her ear. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Piers sighed, looking down. He almost looked a bit shy. “You remember that little pact we made a few years back?”

Max scrunched her nose. “We’ve made plenty of those.”

“Well, yeah, but… jus’ think about it.” 

Max looked up, trying to recall which one he was talking about specifically.

There was that one where Piers promised to hire her as gym and concert staff if she couldn’t find a steady gig (that wasn’t illegal), but they were past that point by now. She’d been at his venue for a few months.

Another where she told him that, since he took her in, she’d do the same for him and Marnie if it ever came down to that and she was able. But they were up to date on bills, so she doubted that was the case this time.

Hmm… 

Oh. 

It was just over two years ago. Her and Piers were sitting in her tent — her home at the time. Snacking, listening to music, chatting while they watched the denizens of the city go on about their nights. 

Marnie was at a friend’s sleepover play-date a few blocks over, Max’s Misdreavus was curled up and sleeping on her crappy blow up mattress, and all of Piers’ Pokémon were tucked away in their balls for the night. Piers’ 19th birthday was coming to an end, and Max’s would arrive exactly one month later.

They had both been lamenting the fact that they’d gone so long without dating anyone, let alone having their first kisses yet. How pathetic they were, how much it sucked, how they felt like they were so far behind other trainers of their age because of it.

They acknowledged that it made sense — sure, Piers was an up-and-coming rockstar and queued to be the new Dark-type gym leader after the current competitive season ended, so he had far more chances at romance than the average person... But he was an introvert, through and through. So was Max. She’d never really put herself out there, so she didn’t stand a chance.

In the most cliché, teenage rom-com fashion imaginable, they came to an agreement. If neither of them had their first kiss by the time they were both 21, they’d have it with each other. They found each other attractive and felt comfortable enough in their friendship that they didn’t think it would be weird at all, so it kind of just made sense.

It was corny, and they denied it would even come down to that…

But here they were. 

There was a short silence as the memory hit Max like a freight train, her cheeks gradually growing rosier. “Oh,” she chirped, still zoned out with her gaze off of Piers.

He laughed, bringing Max’s attention back. “There ya go,” he teased. “Knew it would come to ya.”

She looked down at her lap, smiling and playing with a piece of her hair as she batted his side with her knee again. “So, like… now, huh?”

“Only if you still want to,” Piers reassured her. “I’d be wounded by the rejection, but I reckon I’ll live.” 

Max appreciated the lightheartedness of his approach. She took a deep breath, then looked up at his face. His was a little pink too. Well, what she could see of it, at least.

Piers’ hair, now longer than she’d ever seen it, draped down to the middle of his back, with side bangs reaching just below his right cheek. It was styled half-up today. He’d been experimenting with how to maintain it, wanting to grow it out for his ~brand~ but struggling to figure out a good style with how thick it was.

It looked… really, really good like this.

He cleared his throat. Max blinked, realizing she’d been staring. 

Oh god.

Why was her heart beating so fast?

“Alright there?” he grinned.

“Yeah, sorry,” she answered, shutting her eyes. Took another deep breath. “Um… yeah,” she nodded, a breathy laugh escaping her. “Let’s do this.”

“Cool,” her friend responded, still grinning.

“Cool.” Max smiled sheepishly. She was growing more excited about this than she cared to admit. “So, how do you wanna go about this?”

“Well, I figured we could just mash our faces together and see what happens.”

Max got up onto her knees and rotated a little, shimmying herself closer to Piers. She sarcastically remarked with a laugh, “Oooh, you’re so smart!” while lifting her hair out of the way of her legs. 

She sat down onto her calves and dropped her brown and pink tresses while Piers angled his body more towards her’s, only slightly adjusting from his previous position as he quipped, “S’about time you noticed.”

As Piers lowered his right hand to the mattress, he gnawed at his lower lip. Swallowed hard. Max watched the bob of his Adam’s apple and wondered if he knew that he looked as antsy as she felt. She wondered if she looked as antsy as she felt, too. The thought made her more nervous, so she began fidgeting with the bottom of her oversized tee.

“Ready?” Piers breathed, his gaze flickering to Max’s lips for a moment.

All Max could manage to do was nod. Her grip on her shirt tightened when Piers leaned in a smidge. His eyes lowered to her lips again, and stayed there, which made her tummy tingle.

Max looked at his lips too. Has Piers always had such nice lips? They looked so smooth… and served as a subtle reminder for her to wet her own. She didn’t want Piers’ first kiss to be with sandpaper.

He smirked at the action, and for some reason, that made her breath hitch. Piers leaned in a little more. So did Max. She could feel his breath on her face now. She felt like she was going to die. Why was this so nerve-wracking?

A little further… and their noses were touching oh my god it was really happening! 

Max chanced one last glimpse up at Piers’ eyes just as he decided to do the same. His pupils were huge. Was that normal? She had read about eyes doing that when you look at someone you think is pretty, but she didn’t think it was real.

Were her pupils that big too? 

She slowly looked back down, and felt an amused huff against her lips.

Piers angled his head a little to the right, and Max mirrored him, parting her mouth slightly and letting her eyes flutter shut. Their lips touched, and lingered there for a moment, before Max and Piers simultaneously locked them together.

After a few short seconds, they separated. Neither of them spoke as they hovered just in front of each other. Max was unsure of what Piers was doing, but she was still staring at his lips, as if in a trance. She could see both of their chests heaving slightly in her periphery. To her surprise and delight, Piers dipped back down. 

He kissed her with a little more confidence this time. It felt nice. Max smiled against him as she reciprocated, hoping it wouldn’t ruin anything. Her worries were quelled when Piers did the same. The solidarity made her smile more toothily, and he followed suit.

They tried to kiss through it anyway. Their teeth bashed together a little, and they both laughed quietly about it before resuming. Rather than pulling away again when they unlocked this time, they simply repositioned, testing the waters of how it would feel if they’d both leaned to their respective lefts.

…Yep, still good.

But not as good. They silently agreed to go back the other way.

Max felt the bed shift a little, followed by the warmth of a large hand against her cheek.

Oh, she really liked that.

She parted her lips again and kissed Piers deeper, removing her left hand from her lap and placing it on the bed in front of her knee; giving herself some leverage to lean in closer. His hand slid a little further back, his thumb remaining on Max’s cheek while his fingers brushed her neck and tangled through her hair. He matched her energy, kissing her harder, and Max sighed dreamily through her nose as he began gently nudging her backward.

She took it in stride, leaning back on her right hand for support while repositioning her legs in front of her. To assure him that she had no intentions to break their kiss as she moved, Max used her left hand to brush Piers’ hair away from his right eye, keeping it between her middle- and forefinger while placing the rest of her hand against his cheek.

Max’s mattress dipped around her as Piers finished lowering her down to her pillow. He kept his body to her right side still, but his right hand was now caging her beneath him. His other hadn’t left her head. Now that she was fully prone, Max got a little cozier, keeping her right leg flat but bending her left knee. She also brought her now-free hand to Piers’ other cheek. She subconsciously brushed soft strokes against his skin with her thumb, which he absolutely loved . 

Considering this was both of their first kisses, Piers wondered how it was going so perfectly. For now he would chalk it up to the fact that he was kissing his best friend. Because obviously the person who knew him best would know how to kiss him well… right?

Piers decided to savor the moment now, question it later.

Besides, his thoughts were broken by a blissful, almost heady sigh from Max.

He pulled away a bit, reveling in how Max craned her neck up a little in an effort to chase his lips. When he opened his eyes fully, looking down at the scene he’d caused, he was caught off guard.

Max’s mane was splayed around her, looking soft as ever. Her eyes sparkled with a glint he hadn’t seen in them before, and likewise, her pupils were blown wider than he could’ve ever expected. Her lips were red and swollen, still parted as she softly breathed out through them before closing them together. Cheeks were redder than they had been earlier, too. 

Max was just as starstruck by the view above her. Piers’ cheeks had more color than she’d ever seen in them, given how ghostly his skin was. His hooded eyes had a certain look about them that she couldn’t pinpoint. He looked… enamored by her.

That wasn’t right, was it?

She ignored it, favoring how almost ravenous Piers looked as well. God. 

Just like her own lips, his were swollen from all the use. She kept her hands on his warm cheeks. Played with the hair between her left fingers a little as she watched him watch her.

His lips twitched, and she perked up in anticipation. 

“Can I try something?” Piers asked, his voice quiet and slightly hoarse.

Curious, Max nodded. “Okay.” 

Piers lowered himself down again, but as he did so, he repositioned his hand lower on her face. His pointer remained against her jawline while most of his other fingertips laid on her neck. His thumb rested against her chin, though. Max didn’t close her eyes just yet, curious about what her friend had in mind.

Piers chastely kissed her again. She kissed back, like the gentlewoman she was. Then, he added pressure to her chin, gently using his thumb to tug Max’s mouth open. Her eyes widened as she felt his tongue slip past her teeth and against her own. She shut her eyes again, but the noise that came from her throat as Piers experimented was downright embarrassing.

He sealed the kiss in favor of laughing quietly.

Shit.

“You like that?” he whispered, his gaze hungrily flickering between Max’s eyes and lips.

Oh.

Oh.

Why did he have to say that like… like that?!

Max’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she settled on simply nodding again, humming “Mhm” for some extra confirmation. 

“Good,” he murmured before repeating the action.

Max was a little more responsive this time, now that she was more prepared. She did her best to swirl her tongue around his without overdoing it. A strong sigh left Piers and she figured she was doing something right. Her hands traveled further, both her fists tangling into his hair. Tugging a little as they all but sucked each other’s faces off. 

Satisfied with their new rhythm, Piers tested the waters some more. Tentatively, he brushed his hand down Max’s throat and onto her collarbone, then down her side. Repositioned himself so that his right leg was between both of hers. He shuddered as she lightly sucked his tongue, then felt her shudder as he cheekily tugged her bottom lip between his teeth.

He squeezed her hip, and thought he was going to fucking faint when she – subconsciously, he assumed – rutted against his thigh a little.

It was then that he noticed their breaths were getting heavier and louder, and their hair messier. He also realized that, at some point, Piers lifted Max’s huge shirt to her tummy; that he was squeezing her bare hip, only slightly clothed by some soft cotton panties. He didn’t even mean to do that. Either she didn’t mind, or she was too lost in his lips to notice.

At this rate, Piers thought, things might go too far if I don’t calm the hell down.

Reluctantly, Piers pulled back. Unable to resist, he left one more lingering kiss against Max’s lips before actually breaking off. His palm was still against her hip, now rubbing soft circles against her skin.

Max sighed, slowly opening her eyes. Looking into Piers’ through her lashes. Seems like they had the same idea, as they noticed each other trying to settle down a bit. Piers pressed his forehead to hers, and they both shut their eyes again.

“We should probably stop for now,” Piers suggested. His voice was barely there, and Max took note of how somber his words had come out. 

“Yeah,” she whispered, opening her eyelids again.

Piers sat back onto his knees, and Max leaned up, her position similar to how it had been when he entered her room. Just much more disheveled this time. Shamelessly, Piers scanned Max’s body. He’d seen her stomach plenty, given her taste in clothing, but… this was…

Oh god. He had to leave.

Max, watching as Piers checked her out, felt frozen. She wanted to cover her face, but opted to keep staring right back at him. Her throat felt dry.

“Um…” She got back on her knees, sitting in the same position Piers was in. “That was… that was cool.” She giggled a little, fully aware of how dumb she sounded.

Piers couldn’t help but laugh too. “Yeah?” Max nodded. “Yeah,” he finally agreed, “it was.” 

“Yeah…” Max looked down at her lap – now covered by her shirt again – and resumed her earlier fidget, playing with her hair. “Not too shabby for our first.” She looked up, a playful glint in her eyes as she held a fist in front of her.

Piers snorted and bumped it with his own. “Nerd,” he commented.

Max switched it up, now flipping Piers off. He did it back. They often greeted one another this way.

Slowly, Piers got back on his feet, still facing Max as he backed away from the bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” 

Max nodded. Again. He’d never seen her this shy, at least since back when they were barely acquainted. 

It was cute.

“Yeah.” Max had a super dopey grin on her face.

It made Piers happy.

He had no idea that he was sporting the same look on his own features, nor did he know how happy that made Max as well.

Piers turned to approach the door, but looked back over his shoulder after opening it. “G’Night, Max.”

“Night, Piers.”

Once alone, Max flopped back on the bed. Her hands covered her face and she rolled onto her tummy, freeing her hands only to squeak her feelings into her pillow.

[b4kuch1n]

see, dearest, loving me did not save you. you scraped by just fine without. but it doesn’t hurt, does it?

[lucabyte]

what would your ocs be as pokemon? or if you've already done that what would they be as bugsnax??

Oh I have never been asked this publicly before (for I have not been asked... anything publicly before this week LOL) but I don't know if you're prepared for how much I have thought about my ocs as pokemon or how much effort I am currently putting in to... Well. You'll see.

So. I have Thoughts.

Here are my thoughts (names quickly added for this to be understandable by anyone but me. But I've had this image made for quite some time)

(I love that regular wingull appears on here twice. It was kind of the only choice for both of them LOL.)

(also I like how this shows you who my brain considers In A Group with each other... hee hee)

So this is like.. The whole cast of MYMK lmao. Even down to background characters. These are like... PMD style pokemon assignments. I tried to balance "literally looks like them" with "has the right vibes, thematically". So you can see a couple thematic pairs of pokemon like the cherrims, meowstics and such. Then other fun picks like Charizard for Hainu, since he's a, well, hypebeast more than he is a person. Then, Markus and MacGuffin get Silvally and Type: Null for (wink) reasons.... And Miao is Marowak because don't even worry about it. Lupus is Lycanroc-Dusk because funny doggy shounen protagonist :)

Also there are ABSOLUTELY pokemon that fit Tabitha better than Persian does but I've been saying hes one of those since 2015 and I'm attatched to it now.....

The reason I went ahead and planned these out and finalised these recently though.... Is because I also assigned them all ideal ribbons/marks/pokeballs and am going to hunt them all! Right now I'm prioritising getting ones where the ribbons/balls necessitate getting them from gens 4-7, but they're all nearly done and are sitting in ultramoon while I grab the royal master ribbon for a few!

(Obviously I've named pokemon after OCs before but these will be The Definitive Guys... Until next gen inevitably introduces the perfect guy for someone lol. C'est la vie!)

I've got a couple more already in swsh and scvi (recently I caught Lazulite in swsh! Go Raid RNG!) but this is the big first step. As for how many other steps there are....

Don't.

Don't even worry about it.

Anyway! Most of the main characters have fully assigned "if they were a pokemon trainer" Rosters too with some lore. (Chrome does contests, All of Tabitha's pokemon have been gifted to him, Lupus has insane shiny luck, Ali Will Summon Giratina....)

Also! The Alighieri triplets map perfectly onto the shiny meowths! They were the first three I went out of my way to hunt back when I saw shiny G-Meowth and realised!!! Pink Yellow Blue!!! My little guys!!

And lastly the thing you almost certainly weren't asking was "what would your OCs look like if they were fakemon, but I also have that for, you guessed it, Chrome, Tabitha and Ali.

Now... As for bugsnax. I have not played bugsnax but I DO have a resident bugsnax fan... So I asked him out of curiosity and they Extremely Delivered. So, Courtesy of @thebrightesteyes....

(me, going on the wiki for the first time: WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE 112 BUGSNAX I THOUGHT THERE WERE LIKE. 20)

these things are cute i should play this game. i hear there's divorce.

Anyway I've been trying to rotate a PMD AU in my brain for some time now (purrgatorio lends itself well to it, obviously...) I wonder what I'd make the antagonist...

Also, of note. Ali (and their siblings) does actually have a canon favourite pokemon and opinion on pokemon because they're from a real-world setting. Thing is they are like, not a gamer. So...

Ali likes Dusknoir and Seviper because they saw them on trading cards as a kid and likes Hoopa Unbound because Ari showed them on pokemon go knowing they'd like the design. If they gamed though they'd LOVE Giratina but Hoopa would probably stay top spot.

Ari likes Raichu, Lurantis and Toucannon. (Gamer)

Avi likes Clefairy, Meloetta and Brionne. (The kind of person to seek out fanart and gifsets online to reblog)

[charmcoin]

and of course all my opinions r based on nostalgia. it's a game series marketed towards children the best pokemon game will always be the one you played as a kid which is why diamond is my favorite even though platinum is objectively a better game. but i'm endlessly interested by gsc

[iruludavare]

↗ The face of a pokemon who will stall your team into oblivion if she and/or Serena chooses to be that petty.

[magical-regical]

You know I've always had a strange love for the gen 8 Pokémon games (sword and shield).

Now I shall go on a rant about all the things I love about it under the cut:

Is it a perfect game? No. Admittedly the main story about Rosé and the darkest day was 100% a miss. They wanted to say the big corporate leader was actually a bad guy but didn't want to commit to actually making him a bad guy. And yea it's a really easy game but honestly I don't mind too much because I'm a lil weenie.

Still, it makes me kinda sad whenever I hear people bash it on twitter (though maybe reading twitter comments was my first mistake)

Like come on guys SwSh gave us some great designs including but not limited to:

Wooloo, corviknight, polteageist, applin, FALINKS, regieleki, etc.

And the game itself also looks amazing. I never understood why people like to tear into its graphics. Maybe I just really vibe with the art style and how colorful and vibrant everything is (esp compared to ScarVi's graphics tbh, though I do acknowledge how ScarVi had a much larger mountain to climb in that department since it's open world).

But after thinking and thinking about it, another big contributor to my love for gen 8 is probably the fact that you can cook curry in it. I fucking love curry.

(can I put another read more here? I'm just gonna gush about how much I love japanese curry and how much I love the variety of curry SwSh has)

Are y'all still here? Alright, suit yourself.

Ok as I've mentioned before, I LOVE japanese curry. It's easy to make with the curry cubes, you can pretty much add anything you want into it, and the spice levels range from "why is it sweet" to "not spicy" to "my mouth is fucking melting" it's up to you. You can do anything as long as you're ready to deal with the consequences of your hubris.

And I feel like gen 8 really captures that. I mean have you seen all the toppings available for curry making?

(this curry guide was made by @/tunnaa-unnaa btw)

I want to try ALL OF THEM even the weird ones like bloody tropical curry or whipped cream curry. And by try I mean cook. (Except maybe the wasabi one because my spice tolerance isn't that high...)

So far I've made mushroom curry, potato curry, toast curry (I put curry on toast), and salad curry. I've also made katsu curry before, does that count as 'fried food curry'? I mean it's fried but it's not exactly fish and chips.

Anyway, I think this has gone on long enough. Bottom line, I love curry and the fact that it's one of the main mini games and features of Pokémon SwSh makes me love the game more than I probably would if it was any other kind of cooking.

Here's a picture of the salad curry I made because it's the only one I remembered to take a picture of before digging in.

Maybe I should start a curry diary or something...

[kotaka-kun]

okay but nemona/juliana meeting leon/raihan... neighboring region's champions (or closest to it) and they're also a queer couple?? idk i think itd be fun dkfbsmdbskd

[fluffybunnybadass]

well

guess I might be ready to start my new swsh file. I don't know how many months its been since i've gotten my new switch, but my itch to play swsh and run around galar again (namely, the dlc content) is starting to override my hurt from losing my previous file.

and I have a fair amount of pokes in Home, even though none of them are the ones I spent so much time and energy raising. like, over 425 hours! Gone. Memories that are hard to recall, lest I see the single Pokemon that brought them forth. the ability to go anywhere, when I need to travel the entire region for a bit of writing reference

...honestly, I'm still glad I never transferred my Pokemon from gen 3 and up to the switch file, but.

maybe i can start making some new steps today.

[a-tale-of-legends]

While there's still a part of me that feels bad for breaking up Leon and Alexis after all the shit they went through in swsh, I will forever love the mental image of Leon talking about Alexis post break up and in the background there's just a faded image of a chibi Alexis holding out a peace sign. Truly captures the mood of their break up: honestly pretty chill.

[zozo720]

Okay okay okay, memes aside... I'm so happy right now!! Love them or hate them, X/Y and Kalos in general is the most underdeveloped Pokemon region/generation to date, and the ONLY one that never got any sort of follow-up. Everything pre-Unova has had at least one remake (Kanto got two), and every other game either got a definitive re-release, a full-on sequel, or a hefty chunk of DLC content. But Kalos got nothing. We only ever got one adventure through Kalos, and it was held back by being the first 3DS entries, and having a lot of things cut for time (From Team Flare, to aliens, to an entire sequel game we never got). The closest we ever got to closure was ORAS expanding Mega Stone lore, and Zygarde's final form being thrown into Sun/Moon (which at least delivered on the alien idea with Ultra Beasts) Pokemon Z has been a meme in the community for a literal decade, and while I always had hope we'd revisit Kalos eventually, I was prepared to wait. So to get news that a real revisit to Kalos is on the horizon, AND the Legends series isn't a one-hit wonder, all at once... It's honestly like a dream, it doesn't feel real. I can't wait to see what the game's actually like, and what it takes from Legends Arceus and Scar/Vio. I can only hope that the release date of 2025 means they learned something from S/V's launch. As for my hopes for this game... - Regional forms of Galar/Paldea Pokemon - New Mega Evolutions for Gen 6/7/8/9 Pokemon - MEGA FLYGON, DO IT, DO IT NOW - The Legends Arceus gameplay is intact but in a modern setting - Shauna - SwSh-tier Trainer Customization. It's Kalos, the trainer customisation HAS to be good - We finally get the last few Pokemon with no Switch game to go to

And most of all... can we PLEASE not have another Ingo situation? I don't care how cool it sounds to throw someone into Future Kalos or whatever, or have Emmet show up for a chapter just to say "I am Emmet! My brother went missing forever! Oh well! :3" because I don't trust the post-PLA Submas fandom to be reasonable about the train men anymore. Either conclude their arc or don't bother starting this with another character.

[yeehawbvby]

One More? | Piers x OC Maxine

Rating: Mature/Explicit (No sex, but things get frisky)

Summary: It's been months since Piers and Max kissed for the first time, but neither of them can stop thinking about it. They both want one more.

So they take more.

And more.

And more, until they can't.

Check it out on ao3!

This work is part of a one-shot series! Please see my SWSH Masterlist for the recommended reading order. -> This fic is a direct sequel to this one!

Piers laid in bed, a guitar draped across him while he zoned out on the ceiling and strummed aimlessly. His recently washed, still damp hair was conditioned and detangled, and his coziest sweatpants and t-shirt were on. He was just about ready to turn in for the night (or was it morning, at this point?) until his thoughts kept him awake long enough to give up trying.

The whole point of kissing Max was to get that milestone out of the way and move on with their lives. Things were a little weird for, like, one day before it all went back to normal. And that was months ago. He was happy, and as far as he could tell so was Max.

So why was he still so hung up on that night?

How was it that, if he really concentrated, he could still taste the minty toothpaste that lingered on her tongue, feel the softness of her lips, and smell faint hints of the strawberry-vanilla perfume she wore that day?

He’d reluctantly accepted ages ago that he had feelings for her. Big ones. They came before they even made that stupid deal to be each other’s first kisses in the first place… but he’d always been able to push those feelings aside. At least until his birthday, just a month before they kissed. Probably because that’s when he realized it was actually going to happen. 

…And when it did happen, it felt like a dream he never wanted to wake from. A song he never wanted to stop singing. A deep, rich cup of coffee he never wanted to drain.

He stopped playing. As he recounted that night for what felt like the billionth time, he dragged his hands down his face and groaned out a curse. He was so fucked.

—

Max and Piers shared bedroom walls, and completely by coincidence, had arranged their tiny spaces so that their beds were against said wall. So on nights like this where Piers would utilize an ampless guitar to ease his mind, Max had a backstage pass.

She was laying in her own bed, listening on while dealing with her own troubles – the same inner turmoil of really liking her best friend but not feeling able to do anything about it – when the melody of one of her favorite songs quietly echoed into her room from Piers’. Go figure.

She sighed, shutting her eyes. Trying to let her friend’s music and her sleeping Misdreavus’ soft, almost gaseous hair between her fingers lull her to sleep. 

It wouldn’t come easily, though. She wanted to kiss him again. She didn’t like to admit it to herself — she almost felt guilty about it, for whatever reason —  but she’d never craved anything more in her life. Nothing compared to the bliss she felt with his smile pressed against her own.

Sleepy and a little delirious, she wondered if the universe was giving her a nudge. If Piers playing this song specifically was her sign to go in there and kiss him again. To smooch him silly. 

She curled up on her right side, abandoning Misdreavus in favor of grabbing and snuggling her Frosmoth plushie from beside her pillow. A plushie Piers had gotten her a year or two ago, after she lamented having a hard time catching a real one of her own just a day prior to that.

Arc’s sake, that was so sweet of him. And now it was her favorite plushie, because it was one of her favorite pokemon, and because it was so soft, and because it was from him, and because of the toothy grin on his face when he handed it to her, and– 

Shit.

Max knew that going to Piers’ room while she felt this deep in her feelings was stupid, but she figured, maybe the best person to distract her from thinking about Piers was the man himself. Reverse psychology or something. Yeah. Sure. Whatever.

Piers stopped playing, and Max heard him grunt a seemingly irritated “fuck” just after. 

Was he okay?

…Was this her in? Her excuse to head over?

Fuck it.

She got out of bed and quietly made her way to Piers’ door before softly rapping on it a few times. Piers knew it was Max visiting since Marnie usually just yelled through the barrier.

Speak of the devil…

“Yeah?”

The doorknob clanked around a bit as it turned, Max poking her face through the small opening. She didn’t want to be too invasive, feeling self-conscious now that she was here and seeing him. Didn’t want to wake Marnie from her own room nearby by having a whole conversation from Piers’ door either, though.

Piers huffed out a laugh at how silly Max looked – her deep blue eyes curiously staring into his goddamn soul through the crack she allowed herself – as he waved her over. He stood up to place his guitar back on its stand before flopping down in the same spot he’d been laying in a moment before. He solidified his view on the ceiling while Max unceremoniously plopped down next to him, landing on her belly and resting a cheek to her folded forearms.

“Y’sounded grumpy. Everything okay?”

Piers sighed and shut his eyes. He wanted to tell her what was going on, but how could he? Opening his weary lids and turning his face towards Max’s, he said, “Yeah. Just thinkin’ too much.”

“About what?”

You. “Y’know… stuff.” He tacked on for the comedic value, “Things, even.”

That earned him a chuckle from Max. Couldn’t help his own grin from creeping up in response.

“So poetic,” she played along, letting his obvious diversion slide. If he didn’t wanna talk about it, she wouldn’t make him.

“I’ll be one of the greats in literature textbooks someday,” he wagged his finger at her, “you just wait for it.”

“We’ll be dead before either of us know if it’s true.”

“Think we could reincarnate as ghost-types to find out?”

“Wouldn’t reincarnation mean we don’t remember our past lives, though? Wouldn’t we have to just… sorta evolve into them?”

Piers answered Max’s questions with his own. “Do y’think dead people ever evolve into ghost-type pokémon?”

“Only one way to find out,” Max muttered, putting a finger-gun up to Piers’ temple.

He laughed, smacking it away. A short silence passed and he asked, “Are you alright, love?”

Max’s heart stuttered, as it always did when she got called “love,” no matter who was saying it.

…It was just super effective when it came from him.

She swallowed that thought back. 

“Yeah, why?”

Piers shrugged and turned onto his side as he observed, “Seems like you’ve got stuff on your mind too.”

“Wizardry…” she tried to deflect.

“Oi,” he glared, “Y’know you can talk to me about anything, yeah?” He was using the same logic that Max did. Reverse-psychology his way into feeling better through exposure, or something…

Was this literal exposure therapy he was putting himself through?

Max sighed, her eyes studying his face. His full face, with gravity keeping his fringe out of his eye. “Yeah, thanks. Just don’t wanna.”

“You sure?”

She nodded. Blinked a few times. Her brows knitted, and then she caved. “No.” 

She chewed the inside of her cheek a bit as she lowered her eyes from Piers’ face, looking more through his shoulder than at him at all. Regretted tying her hair up into a high ponytail-bun- thing just an hour or so prior, because all she had to stim with now was her hoodie’s sleeves, and it just wasn’t scratching the same itch.

Piers’ own brows lowered and he watched Max patiently while she found her words.

She took a deep breath in. How to phrase this without being too obvious…

“I just feel kinda lonely, I suppose.” Piers’ brows raised while he waited for Max to elaborate. “Like… physically, I guess?” Oh no. “Wait, no—” 

God, that sounded like it had a much more scandalous implication to it than what she meant. She couldn’t help a scrunch of her face while she cringed at her wording, oblivious to Piers’ eyes practically popping out of his skull. He continued to wait, hoping this wasn’t about to be a talk about someone Max wanted to have sex with or something. Wasn’t sure if he could handle that right now.

“I mean, like,” Max struggled, before squeaking out her exasperation and burying her face in her arms. Nothing was working. She sighed again and popped back up a new person, her expression full of determination and cheeks coated with blush as she just went for it. “I wanna kiss.”

Piers’ eyes bugged again.

She saw it this time. Max’s eyes immediately followed.

“Sorry,” she quickly chirped. “I-I didn’t mean—“ She cut herself off from finishing her own sentence. Yeah, she did mean what she said. And she was a damn bad liar. “Nevermind…” she mumbled, retreating face-down again in defeat. 

Piers blinked, his stomach going berserk as he watched his friend frustratedly nuzzle her face into her arms.

…She said she was lonely. Physically lonely. She probably just wanted someone to kiss, right?

Was she scared to talk about it because she didn’t want to give him the wrong idea? Was she even asking him for one, or was she just saying it as, like, a general thing? 

Piers tried not to think too much into it. Didn’t want to get his hopes up… but he didn’t want to pass on the chance to kiss her again either.

This was a bad idea. He knew it. Didn’t care. His brain turned off. Heart was taking charge.

A beat passed before he calmly responded, “Alright.” 

Max peered at him from one eye. 

Neither of them said anything for a few seconds before she quietly asked what he meant. 

“Kiss me.”

Her eyes widened and her heart skipped. She could feel how rosy her face was getting too. Piers could see it darkening right up. He thought it was cute. He had fun flustering her. Opted to pretend she doesn’t get so easily flushed, at least at that moment; he knew it happened literally all the time, but it was more fun to lie, telling himself she only blushed like that in his presence.

“What?” she practically yelped against her sleeve, “Why?”

Piers shrugged it off. “Why not?” He tried to hide his nervous excitement behind a jovial tone as he continued, “It was fun, and we’re both lonely bastards so...” He leaned in a little closer to Max. “Might as well, yeah?” he asked in a low, comforting tone that made her melt a little.

Their faces were mere centimeters apart. Max took note of the pink on Piers’ cheeks but managed somehow to convince herself that he was just feeling warm as she slunk into her arms a little more in a poor attempt to hide. 

…She knew this might be a bad idea too. Much like Piers, though, she let her heart think for her. “You’re sure?” she asked, giving him an out. Just in case.

“Are you sure?” 

After rolling onto her side to face him, she gulped down her nerves and nodded. 

And after scanning over Max’s complexion to decide if he believed her, Piers pulled her closer by the waist without a word and pressed his lips to hers. Rather than settling in, Max let out a surprised squeak, putting her top palm against Piers’ shoulder in succession. She turned her head towards the pillow below them, barking out a nervous laugh.

Piers would’ve been worried this was all just some cruel joke if it weren’t for the fact that Max barely had a mean bone in her body. 

“What?!” he smiled. 

“You- you immediately went for it,” Max exclaimed, muffled by the pillow. She continued as she came up for air, nose crinkled with a fit of laughter that she struggled to keep quiet, “It caught me off guard!” 

While his own chest shook with laughter, Piers brought his hand from Max’s lower back to her warm cheek. “No shit, what else should I have done?!” 

Max tried to ignore how nice it felt to have Piers’ palm on her face again. Her giggles died down. “I don’t know!” 

“Fuckin’ dork.” Eager to kiss more and curious to see if he would pry more laughter from his friend, Piers dove back in as he spoke, punctuating the sentence with a comically harsh kiss; the kind that puts pressure on the side of your nose, and squishes the inside of your lips against your teeth.

Smiles still ghosted both their mouths, but Max managed to reciprocate this time, letting out one last amused huff through her nose while she gently moved her own palm to Piers’ face. The one closer to the bed fidgeted with one of the strings on her hoodie, while Piers’ respective arm was hidden beneath his pillow.

Although Piers’ second advance was firm, the way he and Max settled in was anything but. It was more composed than the last time they’d kissed, now that they actually knew how to kiss a person, with each movement patiently calculated.

As time stretched on, they grew closer. Silently agreed to make as much contact as they could possibly manage. They pressed their torsos together atop Piers’ dark, silky sheets, and comfortably allowed their legs to intertwine; and their hands roamed each other’s faces, hair, backs and hips, learning each other's curves and edges with a calm curiosity rather than rushed desperation. It was cozy, save for the awkward angles they needed to maneuver their heads in. 

They had no idea how much time had passed since they began, both of them perfectly content to just keep going until the cramping in their necks got to be too much. Acknowledging their discomfort at the same time, though, they pulled back. The tips of their noses touched as they laid their cheeks flat to the pillow.

Piers mourned the loss of Max’s hand on his skin as she lifted it to the side of her neck, giving it a little massage. Max felt the same when Piers mimed her.

Her intense focus on the lower half of Piers’ face flustered him…

It shouldn’t have. She just wanted someone to kiss. That’s all. That’s what he kept telling himself, at least.

She broke the silence, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes raised to his, “This would be easier if our damn noses weren’t here.” Gave his nose a nudge with her own for emphasis.

Piers nudged back. “You have a Bisharp.”

“I do...”

“We could ask it to chop ‘em off.”

Max snorted a little. “Sounds excessive.”

“Desperate times, or whatever.”

“So dramatic!”

“Arc forbid I wanna keep my neck in tact,” he grumbled.

“Arc forbid we just change positions.”

Theatrically rolling his eyes and sighing, Piers flopped over on his back, letting his arms slap down next to him. 

“You look like a… a really grumpy fish,” Max concluded as she leaned up onto her palm. She pivoted a little too, allowing herself to hover over Piers without caging him in. 

Flashing his sharp canines with a playful grin, Piers asked, “What, like a Gyarados?”

Max checked Piers out. Her eyes roamed him while she tilted her head and squinted, part of her ogling and the other pretending like this was part of the bit. She diagnosed him as “A disgruntled Majikarp.”

“Ha! Piss off.” Piers leaned up, nudging her shoulder as they both laughed. 

“Kicking me out already?” Max half-joked, eyes flickering to the door for a moment as she gestured her head in its direction. “I’m hurt!”

“‘Course not.” Piers hooked a finger into the collar of Max’s hoodie and tugged her closer to him. “C’mere.” The playful banter and some post-kiss clarity, whatever the fuck that is, gave Piers some of the confidence he needed to try to keep going. 

Wobbling off-balance, Max had to scramble to find somewhere to re-situate her hands as her face steamed. Wound up accidentally pushing Piers down, with one hand on his chest, and the other between his arm and his torso. Max’s eyes were wide as her forehead nearly smashed into Piers’ chin, but his hands on her shoulders saved her.

He was feeling a smidge bashful, having just been pushed down onto his bed by a pretty lady, but the fact that he caused it himself made it more humorous than suggestive. Max was flustered to all hell, but she couldn’t stop herself from chuckling along with him. 

While their giggles died down, Max repositioned her face just above Piers’. Their noses were touching again.

…Fuck it.

Piers’ hands both traveled to cup the sides of Max’s neck, his thumbs finding refuge on her cheeks while she wordlessly tilted in for another kiss. There was more oomph to it this time.

Max’s fingers curled against the fabric of Piers’ tee, and he could feel her fidgeting with it. It was completely subconscious, but Piers didn’t know that; he wanted to make sure she was alright to keep going, that she didn’t feel coerced into kissing more. That she wasn’t looking for an out when she suggested exiting before.

He came to the conclusion that she was probably fine and he was overthinking again and he was dumb and of course she wanted to stay, she said she wanted to kiss someone, but it couldn’t hurt to make sure, and—

Before Piers could double check, he felt Max’s tongue shyly swipe his bottom lip. 

Oh. Alright then.

She had been blissfully unaware of Piers’ anxious thoughts, too busy crawling through her own. Asking herself if he even wanted any of this. If he was doing this out of pity, rather than because he wanted to. If she would freak him out by trying to make out. 

She was elated when she decided to give it a whirl and was met with enthusiasm. He hummed quietly while inviting her in with an air of desperation that made her heart feel palpable in her chest.

His left hand shifted up to the back of her head, pressing her face closer to him, as if he’d never dare to let her go. In turn, Max flattened her palm against his chest, allowing more weight onto it while she lifted her supporting hand to do the same to Piers; her fingers wove their way into his damp mane, cradling his head in place of the pillow.

Just like with their first kiss, this one was steadily growing messier. Heavier. Needier.

Piers decided this still wasn’t enough contact. Muddled beneath Max’s touch, he barely registered that what he was about to do was risky. His hands moved to the brunette’s waist, and without letting his lips leave hers, he lifted her tiny frame onto his. 

Max broke off, letting out a startled yelp. She looked down at her legs as if she needed to see herself straddling Piers to confirm that it was happening. Her baggy athletic shorts were riding up a bit too, now that her thighs were spread, rendering them barely visible with how low this hoodie reached on her. Looked scandalous. She and Piers both felt their faces heating up just as quickly as the spaces between their legs. 

Piers prayed to Arceus that he could keep himself from getting hard. Or, like, fully hard at least, since that ship had sailed. Being that he was rapidly failing, he also prayed that Max would stay where she was against the upper part of his groin, so that if he did grow fully erect, she maybe probably hopefully wouldn’t feel it. 

Neither of them said a word as both chests heaved with each breath of each other’s air. All Max could manage at the moment was to clutch onto Piers’ shirt and stare at what little space there was between them while her forehead pressed to his.

They sat paralyzed for a short few seconds until Max trailed her gaze slowly up to Piers’. They remained in each other’s hungry stares until Max let her vision lower to Piers’ lips instead. 

Something in them both snapped. As Max leaned down, Piers craned his neck upward. His hands dragged up from Max’s hips and molded into the curve of her back, while her fist that wasn’t on Piers’ chest had a goddamn death grip on the pillow next to his head.

This kiss was nothing but needy. Their breaths were audible each time they parted for air. Their tongues barely left each other’s mouths. Max could swear at one point she felt a spit string drag between her lips and his, and nearly died at the realization that she found that sexy. 

The small, self-soothing, and accidentally tantalizing movements she’d been making with her legs and hips in an attempt to stop herself from giving up all restraint and grinding into Piers were enough to test his will to not buck himself up against her. 

There came a point where they failed, together. As their cores made the barest hint of contact, they both gasped. It was almost like a whimper from Max and a groan from Piers. Hearing those noises from each other drove them insane.

Their lips were still touching as they’d paused, trying to decide what was going to happen next. For a short moment their darkened eyes met, but they both abandoned that in favor of more kissing. Decided to just see what would happen if they kept this up. 

Feeling bold, Max pressed a little more pressure against Piers, relocating the hand on his pillow onto his cheek. His hands glided over to her hips again, and this time he squeezed them hard, making Max’s closed eyelids flutter.

He gave her a small push. Nonverbally asking her to move back. He gave up trying to hide his arousal. Wanted her to feel what she’d done to him. And she let him move her without a second thought, in turn allowing his sex to rest beneath hers.

Timid in her approach, Max raised herself up so as to be less directly connected to Piers, but still managed to rock against him, each of them taking heady breaths from each other’s opened mouths as she very lightly slid her slit against his length.

Piers pushed back. Wanted more. His lips muffled a whine that Max accidentally let slip while the underside of his dick rubbed against her and he hated himself for not pulling away to hear her. 

It was taking every fiber of Max’s being to not beg for him. All she needed to do, really, was shift her shorts over, and he just had to slide his pants down a bit, and then they could have the time of their fucking lives. 

Easy as that!

Meanwhile, Piers was just a few heartbeats away from asking her to do exactly that. Even if Max didn’t grant him full access, he just wanted to make her feel good; to learn her body, to study her expressions while she lost herself atop him, to hear her pleasure and taste her moans.

God, they wanted to fuck. Neither of them knew if it was their 21-year-old-virgin hormones, or genuine yearning from the opposite party, but they were both silently debating with their own selves whether or not this was worth the risk…

Until,

“Bro?” a groggy, tiny voice called from the other side of Piers’ bedroom door.

Both sets of eyes shot open. Piers lended Max a hand in practically launching herself off of him. She landed flat on her back and rested her palms over her burning hot face while Piers scrambled himself under the covers to hide his excitement.

“You alright?” he breathed. 

Max tilted her head towards him and nodded, lowering her hands, now cozily curled into her sleeves like mittens, to rest against her chest. “You?”

He sighed. “Yeah.” He took a deep, shaky breath, still trying to calm himself. Then, raising his voice to a normal volume, he called out, “What’s up, Marn?”

The young girl, just barely over 9 years old, let herself in. Her old, stained and misshapen plushie of a Morpeko was tucked closely against her chest with one arm while her opposite hand wiped at wet eyes.

“Had another nightmare. Can I sleep here?”

“‘Course,” Piers replied. 

Marnie crawled into bed, but instead of curling up to Piers’ side like she usually did on nights like these, she sat herself down with crossed legs right between him and Max.

“Why’re you in here?”

“Weee were…” Max’s eyes flickered between Piers’ and Marnie’s before she settled, “just hanging out.”

“Oh.” A beat passed. “Why’re you breathing so heavy?” 

Piers barked out a laugh that he quickly hid behind an exaggerated cough while Max’s heart raced. As she sat up and leaned into her palms, her own lips curled up. She bit her bottom one to try to contain it.

How the hell was she supposed to explain this?

”She had a nightmare too,” Piers covered for her, a smile in his tone.

While Marnie’s attention was turned to her brother, Max shot him a thankful smile, remnants of silent laughter lingering in her breaths. 

Swiveling her view back again, Marnie asked Max, “You get bad dreams too?” 

“Yeah. All the time, actually,” Max answered truthfully. “And I was just telling him all about it,” she fibbed, nodding in Piers’ direction before continuing with something she truly believed as a little girl: “Did you know that talking to someone about your bad dreams chases them away?”

“Really?!”

“Yeah! All those scary monsters and bad guys are actually very shy,” she claimed matter-of-factly. Marnie broke into a fit of incredulous giggles. “Crazy, right?”

Piers looked on with nothing but admiration as Max treated his little sister as if she was her own. It was something she had always done that Piers would never entirely get used to, after being alone in caring for Marnie for so long. 

He was of course happy to see his sister’s spirits being raised, but his heart swelled beyond comprehension as Max told her silly little story to comfort the kid. 

“And that,” she looked up at Piers, breaking him from his stupor, “is why you should tell your brother all about your dream.” She gave him a shit-eating grin. Her cheeks were still a little pink from earlier, making the smile look a little extra silly.

This was payback for laughing at her a moment ago. He knew it. 

Ignoring his mild annoyance in favor of seeing the stupid, mischievous, adorable look on Max’s face, he played along. 

“That’s right,” he shifted his view to his sister, his face soft, “tell me all about those creepy little buggers you’re dealin’ with, will ya?” He lifted his arm to invite her in, and Marnie rolled into place, scrambling underneath the blankets with him.

Max smiled at the view. They’re so darn cute… she thought, I should give them some space.

“I’m gonna go back to my room,” she announced as she stood up and padded across the room. Her hand hovering near the light switch, she asked, “You want the light on?”

Piers looked to Marnie, who looked up at him. There was a hint of fear still lurking in her big, teal eyes. 

“Yeah, thanks,” Piers answered. 

Max nodded. “Sleep tight, you two,” she grinned. 

Marnie responded with a curt nod, snuggling her plushie closer to her face and shuffling closer to Piers. Max looked at them both, but her eyes lingered on Piers’ a wee bit longer. Just enough for him to notice, his cheeks growing a little warm as he reciprocated. “‘Night, love.”

Rather than going back to her room immediately, Max headed to the bathroom to splash her face with cold water. She sure as hell needed it. After drying her skin, she stared at herself in the mirror, wondering what the actual fuck just happened. What would have happened, if Marnie hadn’t interrupted. What was going to happen next.

…If she was seriously planning on tucking herself under her covers and sneakily getting off on what had just happened.

Damn it.

After having a pee, she went back to bed, sent Misdreavus to its ball, and did just that. 

—

Later in the day, when she eventually woke up, Max went on with her usual routine:

Brushed her teeth. Showered. Swapped her big cozy bathrobe for actual clothes. Spent an absurd amount of time trying to brush out her thigh-length hair while Misdreavus kept trying to chew it, thus ruining her progress. Eventually got to the point where she could comfortably tie it into low pigtails on each side of her nape, a style she was cozy with.

While this was going on, Piers had already done most of the same. He helped Marnie get ready for the day too, walked her over to a friend’s house, politely dodged that friend’s single mother’s insistence to get to know him better, and headed home, only stopping to grab some cigarettes from a Pokémart along the way.

The whole walk back, his Obstagoon kept him company. Nudged him to make sure he was alright when it sensed things were weird with its trainer. Piers easily distracted it with some scratches on its scruffy neck.

When they got home, Piers sent Obstagoon to its ball and headed straight for Max’s room, unsure of what he was even planning to do when he saw her. He just knew that either they needed to talk, or that he needed her, or something.

Just as he was about to approach her door, it opened — Max was simply leaving to grab some coffee to keep herself energized until her shift at the gym.

The two blinked at one another, Max’s face quickly coating itself in blush. This stare-off lasted a few seconds before Piers spoke up.

“We should...” he trailed off.

Max nodded. “Yeah...” They both sighed. Neither of them moved for a moment. “…You want coffee?” she added.

“Yeah, I can do coffee.”

Piers had already brewed a pitcher earlier with the warming setting flicked on, so there was no awkward waiting around. Max poured Piers a cup and handed it over, knowing he liked it black, then poured her own with the addition of some flavored creamer. 

They walked side by side to the sofa. Sat down facing each other on opposite ends, letting their feet bump in the center. Piers stayed upright while Max cuddled against the back cushion at her side.

There was a short silence while they sipped from their mugs and tried to think of what to say.

Max was first to speak, her words softly spoken, “We… probably shouldn’t make a habit of that.” 

Looking at his drink, Piers nodded, before seeking out Max’s eyes. Her view remained on her lap, but she saw his nod in her periphery. 

She continued, “I know it’s probably hypocritical coming from me since I initiated, but I…” I think I love you. She sighed, rerouting her thoughts. “You’re the most important person to me, like, ever, and I don’t want to lose you just because” I think I want you with every fiber of my being “we’re lonely and…” She paused, then huffed out a laugh in her next words, “quite frankly depraved, y’know?” Then, Max tacked on in a murmur, “I don’t want things to be different.”

Nervously, she made eye contact with Piers, who nodded in agreement. She didn’t know what else to say, and he needed to think about what to say. What he could say that wouldn’t make this harder. 

As Max sipped her coffee, Piers spoke up almost shyly, his heart speeding up a bit as he sought out a compromise. “Who said things have t’be different?”

She tilted her head. “Hm?”

Piers chewed his lip for a moment before clarifying, running a hand back through his loose hair, “It’s not like we have to start a whole relationship, or anythin’ serious like that, obviously.” He swallowed hard. He wanted to, to be honest, but Max was right. Things were nice the way they were. He took a deep breath. “We don’t need to stop whatever this is either, though.” He quickly added on, “Unless you want to.”

Max’s eyes were wide as she stared down at her cup. “…Okay.” Unable to help her grin, she looked up, proposing, “We should, like, set some rules though. Or something.”

Piers dove right in, sitting up a little straighter in his victory. “Right. First one, nobody can know. Too much of a racket’ll be made if word gets out.”

“Especially if Marnie finds out”

“Especially if Marnie finds out,” he echoed.

“Second,” Max offered, “I… we… God damn it, words,” she muttered the last bit to herself under her breath. Piers chuckled, watching on fondly as she got herself together. “I-I don't think we should do anything more than kiss.” She felt presumptuous in saying that, but justified, given what almost happened just 10 hours or so prior.

He wanted her, badly, but she was right again. 

He teased, “Damn. No pact to fuck at, like, 30 years, then?” 

Max laughed, knocking her knee against his. “Shut up!”

Piers took another sip, then held up a finger, “Alright, one more.”

“What’s that?”

“Should limit how often we do this. Lowers our chances of getting caught or getting romantic or whatever.” As if they weren’t already.

Max nodded solemnly. “Yeah…”

More silence passed. It was comfortable, though, each of them lost in their own thoughts as they worked through their coffees. 

Max setting her mug onto the end table behind her brought Piers back. He followed suit, then observed Max as she curled back up, her gaze staying near her knees. 

She chewed her lip. Piers watched as the pink skin sprung free from her teeth as if he was in a trance.

Barely thinking, he muttered, “I really wanna kiss you again, Max.”

Max’s eyes stayed glued in their spot as her lids instantaneously widened. 

They both managed to get through their conversation without talking about their actual feelings for one another, rendering each other oblivious to what the other actually felt. But in that sentence alone, Max thought it sounded an awful lot like Piers wanted her specifically. Like he was admitting something. 

She pushed that hope back. He was just lonely. 

She met him in the middle as her face softened, “Me too.” She peered up at him and added, “Not yet though.” Gave him a clearly exaggeratedly stern look while she said that, trying to lighten the mood. 

That wasn’t helping Piers’ pining at all – he was a sucker for silliness – but he didn’t mind, nor did he say anything about it. He jested back, “So, you wanna schedule meetings for this, then?”

“Quarterly reviews, perhaps.” 

“Didn’t know you were a businesswoman.”

Their usual silly banter continued on. How quickly they changed from a somewhat-serious talk to goofing off made it both easier and harder to move on from this, with both of them wanting more, but valuing their close friendship first.

They wouldn’t give moments like this up for anything. 

[nialumin]

I'm opening pre-orders for the YGO Maid Charms and Stickers!! along with some Pokemon SwSh charms I'm trying to get rid of lol I'll be closing pre-orders on June 5th! Shares appreciated!

Shop link: https://nialumin.bigcartel.com/

[shingetsu-online]

Bede plush?

YES!!!! it was part of the swsh dlc pokemon center japan pre-order exclusives, thankfully someone was offering the full set of 5 plushies [marnie, bede, allister, bea, and nessa] on ebay and for a decent price too, so i got them as a present for christmas 2022 :DDD

[cosmic-cd]

i still need to sit down and actually write a lot of things for trainer!hazel but

one thing i'm really eager to write is her Kalos arc- which is post-SWSH. hazel and leon take a trip to kalos together with hop & sonia- sonia is researching similar energy sources to the dynamax phenomenon, beginning with mega evolution, as mega evolution and gigantamaxed pokemon share characteristics

leon wants to go to spend time training and traveling outside of galar, and specifically wants to look into mega evolution for himself, as it takes a lot of dedication and greater focus to pull off! and then they encounter red, green/leaf and blue and leon IMMEDIATELY has a new rival KJLSFGJKL

(i also wanna give leon and red opposing mega charizard forms, and i want excuses to sit down and design leon's charizard and red's charizard- i like the thought of the forms theyve taken the most affecting their normal appearances, so leon's charizard's picked up g-max charizard's markings a little bit for instance)

hazel also considers giving mega evolution a try, but her only pokemon who can mega evolve is Samwell, and. well. the poor guy is Very Anxious... but... he is a little special. and if he decides he wants to go ahead and try it, something cool might happen........

but since i decided hazel does Not go to kalos during the events of XY, i now need to sit here and figure out how to incorporate some of those story elements in post......

additionally, i'm now considering the rainbow rocket stuff from USUM as something happening a few years after hazel's alola arc, and also after SWSH (because leon will be there.)

but i'm tempted to frame it like i am with hazel in kalos and paldea, in that sonia is also visiting alola for research, and then hazel & leon get swept up into the events of episode RR (in which hazel and guzma have to reconcile. and hazel gets to hit ghetsis with the Steel Chair if nobody's holding her back)

i think though as a hypothetical so far the timeline is

Alola -> Galar -> Kalos -> Alola (modified episode RR) -> Paldea

not counting pre-alola, but i don't have a firm timeline of events after hazel has her first adventure in unova. also hisui is in there but i haven't decided when hazel and leon get eebied yet so.

[pokenimagines]

Hello, this is the anon that sent a request about SWSH characters interacting with a reader that came from past Hisui, I reread your pinned post and I wanted to apologize for not reading it more carefully the first time. I would like to specify that I wanted the mini fic to be about Raihan and that I would want the post to be SFW please. I again apologize for not reading more carefully the first time and I hope it didn’t bother you or annoy you in any way. If you want even more specific details than could Rahian be the one who finds the reader when they fall through the ultra wormhole into Galar and he eventually ends up taking them around Galar showing them new things like rotom phones, trains, or new Pokémon? Raihan and the reader can become friends or s/o, I don’t mind whatever you chose

Have a good day! :]

Original request was asking for a reader basically being reverse Hisui'd. Coming to Galar from the past with a team of past pokemon and Raihan finding them and helping. Reader is basically amazed with all the new pokemon that weren't present before, things like trains, etc. For this canon let's say Reader had amnesia when they were transported to Hisui and then they get yeeted back and all their memories are of Hisui. Still the main mc of PLA.

I also wanted to make them a gremlin because things from Hisuian times wouldn't fly now and days. Like scaling a mountain, yeeting handmade pokeballs while stalking pokemon, and free flying with no safety equipment basically.

Sorry for the long introduction. This piece was actually so much fun to write you don't even know. Wish I could make it longer but with all the other requests I got I just don't have time to spend hours on a single fic.

Discord (16+) - Request Information 

SFW Raihan: Reverse Hisui'd Reader

You thought the weirdest thing you'd have to do was personally dance with Arceus, trying not to die with just you against a god. No...that was just the beginning of the weirdness. You had lost all memory when you came to Hisui, much like Ingo, but you did know that pokemon battling basically ran in your blood. You knew too much unconsciously about the creatures to say it's coincidence.

It's why you were the one who tamed all the beasts and saved the world. You were chosen by literal god to do this task, and in return he snatched all your memories. The only thing you had to recall it was the Arc Phone you held dear to you, and the strange clothes you came in.

After your battle with Arceus, things had gone black. You were honestly concerned you might have somehow died. No. You didn't. Instead you woke up in a field with a biome you weren't used to with giant buildings off in the distance. Something even grander than what the Galaxy team could've ever roped together, that much you were sure about.

Then you met a trainer in equally strange garb who towered over you. He was taller than the commander, that was for sure, and you had to crane your neck to look up at him.

"Yo...you look lost. You okay?" His way of speaking was equally as strange. He was kind enough to begin taking you to the town when you suddenly stopped, grabbing his arm and pointing.

"What is that?" You said, eyes bulging open as the little pokemon ran off in the distance. It reminded you of a growlithe, but there was no way. You had an Arcanine on your team and the pre-evolution looked nothing like that.

"The growlithe?" Raihan asked, putting his hands in his pockets and giving you a curious look. You nodded your head, confused as you just stared at the creature.

"Is it sickly? Why does it look like that?" You asked, feeling the need to grab your giant research book to pull out and make some notes. Perhaps it was born disfigured.

"It looks healthy to me...and it's parent is right over there anyway." Raihan said, pointing to the Not-Arcanine. Your jaw dropped as you looked between him and the Not-Arcanine.

"That's not...here!" You said, fiddling with your satchel and grabbing the one you had etched a little symbol into so you knew who was inside the ball. Raihan was about to ask about your ancient looking pokeball when you tossed out your actual Arcanine. The way it's supposed to look.

Your team was full of Alpha's so you knew they'd be bigger than the other Arcanine, but the appearance. It was night and day. Raihan actually stumbled back a few paces, looking at the giant pokemon. The Arcanine was almost two feet taller than him and instead of the signature white and orange fur, it was black and red. It even visually looked different. He had never seen an Arcanine that size when it wasn't gigantamaxed.

"That's an Arcanine...an alpha one but an Arcanine nonetheless." You said, walking up to said pokemon. The giant beast lowered its head so you could pet the fluffy fur and Raihan was certain he was in a coma of some kind.

"We should...this isn't normal. We need to head back to town." Raihan said, running his hand through his dreads. You hummed and turned to him, deciding that the best way to get around would be to just ride Arcanine. You were certain your flute wouldn't summon Wyredeer, and it wasn't like you had never ridden Arcanine before. Just about any pokemon big enough could be a ride pokemon in your opinion.

Arcanine lowered itself and you climbed in top, offering a hand to the strange man you met, "Need a hand, this will be faster." You offered. Raihan noticed a distinct lack of any sort of saddle. You were really just going to hope for the best. He heard people in Alola used 'Ride Pokemon' but from what he knew, they always had saddles or safety equipment of some kind.

"I'll be good...but you might want to put Arcanine away once we reach town. We don't need anyone freaking out."

Well that was your first clue that you were no longer in Hisui. That and the technology. You were astonished when Raihan pulled out a device that looked almost like your Arc Phone but distinctly different.

You had no idea where you were...but your life was about to take a dramatic turn.