#days since we had to ban a Pokemon
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A continuation of the previous battle subway ban list comic <3
#submas#ingo#emmet#pokemon#battle subway#gear station#subway boss ingo#subway boss emmet#hopefully I got emmets speach patterns right#they need a sign that says#days since we had to ban a Pokemon#no joltiks we’re harmed in the making of this comic#uncoloured cause it would take way longer#forgive#art#my art#fan art#procreate art#comic
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i choose you! ˚ᘒ ˖˚𓈒 n.rk
SUMMARY ! at last, your journey begins on route 1 with your first pokemon by your side.. and your pesky neighbor who somehow angers a flock of pidgeys enough to chase the both of you back to where you started. but don’t worry, riki will be there to protect you.. probably!
PAIRING ! pokemontrainer!niki x gn!reader
WC ! 3.7k
GENRE ! pokemon au (dont need to know that much to understand) frenemies to lovers, fluff <3
WARNINGS ! riki’s nickname for you is dummy, mentions of scraped knews/elbows, bandaged wounds, blood, being attacked by birds
a/n: this has been in my drafts since january cuz i only wrote it for the pokemon nostalgia and im kinda iffy abt it.. i tried to clean it up tho so hope u all enjoy!
ding dong! ding dong! dingdongdingdongdingdongdingdo—
you practically yank your front door off the wall in vexation, the ringing in your ears dissipating the moment your annoying neighbour comes into view. he has a cheeky grin plastered across his pale face as his finger drops from your doorbell, shoving into his short’s pockets mischievously.
he tilts his head, and his black wavy hair bounces along animatedly. “ready to go, dummy?”
you’ve had the misfortune (or fortune) of being glued to nishimura riki’s side since birth.
you were the same age, yet it felt more like you were babysitting than hanging out with a friend during most of the time spent with him. your neighbor was the definition of a dork; an impulsive idiot with no sense of limits or rules that you’d constantly have to take control of before he did something stupid (though, there was no harm in letting it happen and relishing in the entertainment every so often). in fact, you could dare him to lick the sidewalk in exchange for a single oran berry, and he’d do it without hesitation.
reckless or not, you couldn’t deny your vast soft spot for the raven haired boy, considering he’s grown up with you and all.
but today, riki’s grin and visible excitement shockingly held a valid reason.
“hell yeah,” you reply with a smirk, gripping your backpack tighter once you descend down the front porch.
riki’s arm finds its way around your shoulder, smile growing as he stares down at you. “can you believe it, y/n? today’s really the day.”
you chuckle and nod. “yup, all those years at the academy will finally pay off.”
at least, it would for you; it was a miracle riki even graduated, noting that he still didn’t even know what would beat a dark type pokemon if one were to jump in front of him now.
“wonder what type of pokemon our starters will be,” he ponders. “i hope mine’s a dragon!”
“eh.. i think a bug type suits you better.”
in reply, he violently pinches your arm. “ay, ‘bet you’ll get a poison type with that attitude.”
while the bantering continues, the sliding door to your town’s lab eventually parts for the both of you. the high ceiling building was filled with all sorts of strange machines and metal tubes, and it was rather quiet besides the occasional sounds of pokemon chirping and playing in the distance. you vageuly remember being here once before on a field trip, as well as the memory of riki almost releasing a wild pokemon from it’s enclosure and getting your whole academy banned.
ah, good times.
as you trail inside, you feel something enclosed around your hand and carefully lace through your fingers. you glance down to investigate, brows furrowing at the sight of riki’s hand clasping yours tightly.
“..what are you doing?” you mutter with warm cheeks.
he shrugs. “this is a big moment, so i felt like holding your hand.” riki didn’t seem phased nor flustered at all, swinging your intertwined hands back and forth. it wasn’t too surprising for him to initiate physical touch, yet for whatever reason something as simple as hand holding was making a strange feeling erupt in your stomach.
though before you could question him further, a feeble voice echoed blaringly through the laboratory. “my my, what do we have here?”
and in walks who you remember as professor bonsai, icy white lab coat nearly touching the ground as her frail fingers reach up to adjust her green glasses. you recall the old woman visiting the academy once or twice, and it was easy to tell she knew a whole lot more about pokemon than any of your teachers or trainers just by how she spoke of them.
to his disappointment, you quickly rip your hand from your neighbour’s, bowing politely. “professor bonsai, it’s an honor!” you exclaim with enthusiasm. riki quickly bows too, following you closely.
the woman’s lips raise, scanning you up and down. “ah, i remember you. y/n, correct?” you quickly nod, smiling. when the professor looks over to riki, her welcoming expression drops, wrinkles deepening unpleasantly. “and you..”
riki’s eyes widened, scratching his neck nervously. he seems to have made a bad first impression with the woman in the past, and you couldn’t say you were surprised in the slightest. “uh, hi again.. professor.”
“lord arceus.. ” she mumbles disapprovingly before clearing her throat. “alright then, both of you this way.”
with that, the old lady turns, walking away and leaving you and riki to exchange worried glances.
“she definitely hates me,” riki whispers as you follow her through the lab.
you raise a judging brow, pinching his side. “probably for good reason. i bet you played some stupid prank on her at the academy or something.”
comically, his eyes widen. “how’d you know?”
as you open your mouth to reply with ‘because you’re riki’, the professor stops, gesturing to a small table under a bright light behind her.
“here we are, i assume you’ve already had the lecture of what it means to have your first pokemon?”
you nod, while riki watches dumbly. “yes professor.”
“then, you may pick one,” she states.
instantly, you freeze up.
there lay three shining red pokeballs, each in their own little capsules on display to the two of you.
that’s when it hit you that this was fully happening. the moment you’ve been waiting for since your first day at the academy; the day you’d get your first pokemon — your partner for life.
you glance over at riki.
when it came to your childhood friend, it felt like you already had a partner for life, as cheesy as it sounded.
you shake your head, riki would tease the hell out of me if i said that out loud.
while you were in deep thought, riki had already walked closer to the three mystery pokeballs, ever so carefully grabbing the middle one.
he glances over to the professor, who’s studying his actions sternly. “do i just- can i..?”
“go ahead,” she deadpans.
you watch in awe as riki throws the pokeball in front of him, red light flowing out of it before a small, turtle like creature with a single sapling coming out of its head plops onto the ground. it was mostly a pale green with a hint of yellow on it’s chin and feet, and a small brown shell adorned it’s smooth back.
“oh my god, it’s so cute,” you squeak in awe, rushing over to pet the pokemon’s shell. riki grins, quickly kneeling next to you to do the same. you fail to notice how every so often, his gaze bounces over to thoroughly take in your beaming expression rather than the little creature before him.
“that one is turtwig,” professor bonsai informs. “he’s a grass type, and the shell on his back is made from soil, which hardens when he drinks water.”
when riki scratches under turtwig’s neck, the creature chirps in delight, leaning into his touch more than yours. “guess i’ll have to buy lots of water,” riki declares, “i’ll choose him.”
without another moment of hesitation, he picks up the small pokemon, holding it in his arms happily. turtwig wiggles around, licking riki’s fingers and making the boy giggle cutely.
you gaze at them in desire, impatience rushing through you. riki observes as you pace over to the remaining two pokeballs, hesitantly taking the left one. the ball feels stable in your grasp, so shiny that you could make out your reflection reflecting onto the red lid. “pick a good one, dummy,” he cheers you on cheekily.
you roll your eyes in fake annoyance, still smirking as you gently throw the ball before you. rather unceremoniously, a small blue penguin flops out of the ball, face planting right onto the hard floor with an ugly chirp.
professor bonsai sighs, and riki bursts into a mean cackle. meanwhile you gasp, rushing over to help the pokemon up and into your embrace. “poor thing, are you okay? i’m sorry, i must’ve thrown it too hard.”
in response, the penguin puffs out its chest stubbornly, yet its expression screams that it’s embarrassed. the creature’s tiny yellow beak was slightly in a pout, and it took everything in you to not boop it fondly.
professor bonsai rubs her forehead. “that’s piplup, her species is rather clumsy yet very prideful. she has a hard time accepting food from humans and bonding with trainers that try to get close to her — and as you can see, she puffs out her chest whenever she falls down, which is quite often due to her poor walking abilities.”
contrary to the woman’s words, piplup seemed to enjoy your presence, peering up at you in satisfaction as you rubbed her tummy. however, when riki walks over to pet her as well, there was nothing to prepare him for when she decides to rudely peck his hand.
riki jumps back, nearly dropping turtwig. “ow!” he whines, and you swear you see the professor snicker proudly in the background.
“that’s what you get for laughing at her,” you declare, sticking your tongue out teasingly. piplup, who was now completely relaxed in your hold, sticks her small tongue out as well, making you burst into laughter. “if it’s okay, i’ll gladly take her, professor.”
she nods, nudging her glasses up with the tip of her finger. “very well then. do you both know where to go from here?”
“yeah,” “no,” you and riki blurt in sync.
unsurprised, you roll your eyes. “don’t worry, i have him under control.” with piplup sitting carefully on your shoulder, you grab riki’s forearm, quickly leading him out. “thank you professor, we’ll be sure to repay you!”
———
“i wanna be the very best, that no one ever was! dun dun du-dun, to catch them is my real test, to train th—ow!” riki pauses his serenading, cradling the arm that you’d pinched rudely.
“shut up, i’m trying to read this useless piece of shit,” you bark. “seriously who drew this thing? even you could make a better map than this!”
it’s quiet for a moment as the four of you continue wandering to who knows where, piplup fast asleep on your shoulder while riki and turtwig searched around cluelessly. there were freakishly large trees surrounding every mile of land, and lots of patches with wild grass that you both made sure to steer clear of; the last thing you needed was to fight wild pokemon before you could even buy pokeballs at the next town.
originally, you suspected that going from the lab to route one would be a piece of cake, but clearly not everything could go perfect in a day. unless you were reading it wrong (which you probably were), your map sent you in repetitive circles — and of course, the boy next to you didn’t provide much support.
abruptly, turtwig lets out a small chirp of his name minutes later, gesturing backwards with a prompt nod. riki follows his pokemon’s guide, eyes widening a fraction. “hey dummy, we’re looking for route one.. right?” he suddenly inquires, tapping your shoulder.
you roll your eyes, “yes, i told you that like an hour ago—“ you finally look up from your map and follow the boy’s gaze, jaw hanging off your face when you see a giant, obnoxious white sign reading ‘route 1’ on it.
you feel your eye twitch in annoyance. you were supposed to be on map duty while he kept an eye out for the destinations you read off. “you’ve got to be kidding me! riki, you were supposed to be looking for that humongous thing right in the middle of the forest for the past hour, are you blind?”
“i don’t know, turtwig didn’t see it either! i was just.. excited,” he defends.
how on earth am i supposed to survive with this idiot? you huff, folding up the map and throwing it into your backpack’s side pocket. next to you, riki has a small, discouraged pout on his lips, walking with his head slightly down.
his posture makes your eyes soften, guilt rushing through you as you reach up to pat his shoulder gently. “it’s okay, ki. sorry for yelling,” you apologise quietly.
riki kicks a rock into the air out of impulse, and you watch as it rockets all the way into a near patch of grass with no mercy. “nah, i deserved it anyway.”
then, an angry squak rips from the grass in front of you, right where riki had booted that stone.
you grip his shoulder in concentration, patting piplup awake with your other hand. “riki..”
“no y/n, seriously,” he insists, “i really do need to start focusing. we’ve only just left and..”
while he blabbers, you’re busy witnessing a raging flock of pidgeys fly up from the tall grass, furiously glaring down at the two of you.
“riki!” you holler, yanking him by his backpack. piplup is chirping frantically, holding on tightly as you grab riki’s hand and pull him behind while you sprint for your life.
the wavy haired boy has barely processed anything; nearly tripping on his own sneakers. when he looks back and realises the situation, riki’s eyes double in size comically. one pidgey hurls a small whirlwind right at him, and he narrowly dodges out of the way milliseconds prior with the help of turtwig’s warning chirp. “holy shit! what the hell do those ugly pigeons want!?”
“that rock you kicked must’ve hit one of them!” you scream your reply, anxiously feeling the birds getting closer. they were all scowling aggressively, clearly not up to discuss or show mercy.
just as you prepare to speed up even more, you feel the warmth of your neighbour’s hand get pulled away as a strong, angry gust yanks you away and down to the ground, piplup rolling off your back in the process and leaving riki screeching to a halt. your elbows and knees burn from scraping against the dirt, and the spinning in your head emits a groan from your lips.
nonetheless, you turn yourself onto your back in determination, sitting up on your palms again achingly. “get out of here!” you order riki, “me and piplup can deal with it.” the blue penguin chirps in agreement as she gets up herself, stretching her tiny arms and puffing up her chest again in an attempt of intimidation.
the pidgeys have almost caught up to the both of you, yet riki refrained from standing down; instead rushing to stand in front of you defensively. “no y/n, i have to do something helpful today,” he snaps. “turtwig, use razor leaf!”
riki spoke confidently as if he’s done this a million times before, yet it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that this encounter was both of your first ever real battles.
your eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets at his command. “what— but— riki no! grass types are unaffective against flying types, we learned this in—“
it was too late — turtwig had already jumped in front of you in obedience to his owner, throwing an attack at the brown creatures with an angry howl.
but just as you’d explained, the normally sharp leaves had barely any effect on the pidgeys, only infuriating them further as they grouped together to summon another giant whirlwind at you.
right as the tornado spins towards you, you feel riki rush over and wrap his body around you protectively, shielding you for whatever’s to come. his arms felt surprisingly sturdy and warm, opposing the powerful body of wind firing your way.
at the same time, a new voice breaks the silence of your accepted defeat. “watch out, you two!”
you feel riki squeeze you tighter just before everything turns black.
———
it takes you a couple tries until your eyes fully open. the peaceful silence keeps you calm as you slowly but surely wake up, taking in the white hospital room accompanied with a quiet beep of a monitor next to you.
at your awakening, piplup coos in greeting from the pillow beside you. “hey cutie,” you greet with a smile, patting your pokemon’s head affectionately.
“oh, thought you were talking to me.”
you quickly turn over to your other side to see a dishevelled riki in a bed of his own, raven hair sticking up in all directions and a blue hospital gown adorning his figure. he has a couple bandages wrapped around his arms, and your chest tightens when you see slight hints of blood seeping through then.
at his words, you sigh. it amazed you how your neighbour managed to joke around even in a situation like this. “how’re you feeling?” you ask with worry.
riki looks away, staring up at the white ceiling emotionlessly. “useless, stupid, a failure.” you frown further. “besides that, just peachy.”
“it was just a mistake—“
“i’ve made enough of those, don’t you think?” he snaps, now completely turned on his other side to avoid eye contact. “and that time it wasn’t just another fuck up, y/n. you could’ve got hurt.”
your brows furrow, mind flashing back to how hard riki tried to protect you throughout the entire attack, no matter if he was endangered in the process. “and what about you, ki? sure, you messed up, but instead of running away like some people would, you tried your hardest to fix it and take responsibility.” the boy remains motionless, breathing slowly against his white pillow. “even when those pidgey’s nearly swept us off into a damn tornado, you still tried to protect me instead of yourself for some stupid reason.”
he scoffs. “c’mon y/n, you know damn well what that reason is.”
“what? no i d—“
“i care about you, like, a lot. i fucking like you, dummy.” at last, riki sits back up to face you, casually smoothing his hair down as if he’d just commented on the weather or what he had for breakfast. the boy scoffs as you freeze, rendered speechless with your lips parted dumbly. “geez, you’re acting like this is new information,” he deadpans.
in his head, you’d always known of his little-not-so-little crush, but just decided to stay quiet in hopes of not breaking his heart — which he secretly appreciated, even if it was the complete wrong approach to take.
meanwhile, you were spiralling. riki, as in nishimura riki — your idiotic neighbour, lifelong childhood friend, the boy who didn’t know that grass pokemon are useless against flying ones — liked you?
suddenly, you feel a demanding peck on your arm, which happens to be piplup sending you a ‘stop sitting there uselessly before something flies into your mouth’ glare.
you gulp, making hesitant eye contact with him. “i- i really didn’t know, how- when?” you exclaim desperately.
before your answers could be retrieved, the hospital room’s door is pulled open, revealing a handsome young male with jet black hair and sunglasses. a varsity jacket covers his built figure, along with a navy backpack thrown over his left shoulder. his features and demeanour were all extremely sharp and intimidating, which you suppose matches the charmeleon that follows close behind him.
the boy removes his eyewear, surveying you up and down before doing the same to riki and releasing an amused chuckle. “finally. you newbies were out all night.”
riki grunts. “who are you?”
“call me jay, the one who saved your asses.” he explains, leaning up against the wall with crossed arms. “which reminds me, you little dorks owe me big time. took me and my buddy here lot’s of energy turning those pidgeys into dinner.” his tone was too difficult to read to assume he was kidding around, no matter how aggressively charmeleon growled in agreement.
you and riki shared a disbelieving look while jay lets out a yawn, completely unaffected by your lack of response. “y’know, i wouldn’t mind a cash reward too.”
“sorry for the trouble, and thank you,” you gulp. “i had some in my bag i think, you can—“
another round of laughter cuts you off. “i’m playing with you guys, it’s all good. how about you repay me by accepting the poor guy’s confession? i heard there’s a great first date spot up in sandgem town.” riki’s eyes widen at that, an embarrassing tint of red reaching his ears at the idea of the older male listening in on the past few minutes.
relievingly, a doctor shows up moments later. “sir, i’m sorry to interrupt, but we need to check on these patients in a minute.”
before his fortunate departure, jay sends one more glance between the both of you, winking at riki and leaving a teasing salute behind.
it was awkwardly silent once he was gone.
until once again, piplup delivers a gentle but demanding peck to your arm, snapping you out of your daze. you swallow in determination, attempting to build your confidence as you sit further up in bed. “riki, i—“
“it’s okay,” the male swiftly intervenes, “you don’t have to say anything, i already know you don’t—“
“riki!”
he flinches slightly at your raise in volume, sending you a bewildered glare. “what?!”
“geez, i like you too, idiot.” you get a blank stare in response for a good minute, which only comes to an end once a proud, approving chirp from piplup snaps him out of it. riki swallows, clearly not prepared for such an outcome judging by his hands that fidget with each other endearingly.
“oh,” he replies uselessly, ignoring the headbutt turtwig punishes him with moments after.
of course that was all he had to say.
you roll your eyes, hopping off your bed to begin searching through your backpack. it’d be better to simply change the subject if he’s going to react like this, isn’t it?
“jay mentioned something about sandgem being the next town, and that only means one thing. we’re all the way back in twinleaf. so i guess we’ll have to—“ when you look up from the map, you freeze at the view of riki standing in front of you, holding a look in his eye that differs from any one that he’s given you previously. he reaches for the map and places it gently on the bed, taking another step closer to your figure.
your breath immediately hitches. despite the messiest bed-head imaginable, bloody bandages, and his outfit being nothing but an unappealing hospital gown, your best friend never failed to look good, and it was about time you pointed it out. “y/n, do you mean it?”
you didn’t need to ask to understand what he meant. “yeah.. do you?”
before you knew it, your jaw was being cupped ever so softly by his palm, and when you didn’t reject his touch, riki leaned down to connect his lips with yours. it wasn’t rushed or frantic — no, your reckless best friend managed to kiss you so gently, you think he’s imagining you poof-ing into the thin air if he moved any rougher. his other hand attempts to bring you closer by the waist, but the action only results in a pained hiss due to the bandage-clad injuries decorating his skin.
pulling away reluctantly, you reach up to squeeze his shoulder while desperately attempting to hide your giddy smile. “y’know, i always imagined you’d be a messy kisser.”
riki smirks. “i can be if you want me to, dummy.”
at the sound of his nickname that you’ve annoyingly got accustomed to, you pout. “you’re really still gonna call me that?”
his lips press against yours once more, effectively shooing your pout away. “of course, you think being your boyfriend would make me change or something?”
huffing, you reach down to put the map back into your backpack, accepting defeat. “whatever, we should get out of here before the doctors come.”
“okay.. wait,” riki’s eyes brighten mischievously, immediately sending a worried expression to your face. “so.. you’ve imagined kissing me?”
shit.
“…piplup, use water gun.”
if you enjoyed, reblogs + feedback are always appreciated n’ motivating!
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▽ Subway to Stardew - Adoptable Joltik ⚡️
This would play after Emmet's 8 heart event and getting Joltik up to 8 hearts as well.
I released a separate mod specifically for adopting Joltik, so you only need to get them up to 8 hearts to adopt them! You can do it right now!
Adoptable Joltik Mod Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/21002
And of course... Commentary under the read-more.
Joltik's adoption event sat in the drafts for quite a while. It took me whole a day to implement and I didn't let myself sleep until I finished everything. (It's 1 PM now...)
The event ended up wildly different because of how extra custom pets are implemented. You would think that they would be added in the same way as you get your cat/dog that you select during character creation. No. You have to buy a license. Only Marnie is authorized to sell them.
Here's the original script for Joltik's adoption event:
[Joltik Adoption Event]
Emmet: @! Joltik likes you verrrrry much. They want to stay with you. I'm letting you adopt them. Yup. I filled out all the paperwork. The Joltiks are legally documented now.
I never gave ours a name... Galvantula wouldn't let me. She is verrrry picky about it. But that's okay. Joltik is yours. You should name them. She came along for approval. So. What name should I put on the adoption form?
[Name input box like Marnie's adoption thing...]
[Galvantula pauses for a moment to think and then offhandedly agrees.]
Emmet: Galvantula didn't shock me for that. That name is okay. Yup. I will file that with the Ferngill Republic. Don't worry about it. Make sure you take verrrry good care of our little Joltik!
[Joltik jumps and heart emotes]
◇──◆──◇──◆
The whole naming portion was a source of much more frustration than it should have been. In events, the name input box is brought up by the "catQuestion" command (which applies to dogs chosen at the start, too...
If you refuse, then Marnie also shows up no matter what you do. Farmhouse positions are also tricky and made even harder to find reference for after 1.6 added the farmhouse being moveable. Joltik kept spawning where Emmet was supposed to be so I had to use a move command just to get them to spawn one tile to the side. Galvantula was fine. I didn't get to updating her vanilla portraits yet so she's staying quiet.
The catQuestion command also only adds the pet you pick during character creation. There's no fields to target the usage. You have to buy a license. It's the only way to get another pet. I didn't want Joltik to replace a cat either since in-story you would have to earn the trust of both Emmet and Galvantula... There's no way you can do that by the first 25 days of spring. It's immersion breaking and you lose a cat.
I did find the license aspect funny though. It was oddly fitting for the mod's lore of Pokemon being pretty much banned from the region. Emmet is a threat to Stardew Valley's ecosystem. Not the best guy for the task of combating anti-Pokemon xenophobia.
Pet sizes are apparently hardcoded so I had to make a new spritesheet for Joltik as if they even need a 32 x 32 pixel area per frame. I did end up making new sprites for them while I was at it. I tried to base it off of the cat's behaviors so I have less animation fields to edit (I was tired). The cat loafs a lot. Trying to convey that in a tiny spider posed quite the challenge.
After everything was done, I figured that the whole adoption portion of the mod could easilly be taken apart to be its own mod as a demo of sorts for the expansion. So I went and made a content pack to post.
Bringing up your starter pet's friendship level takes quite some time, so it would be awkward if I let the event play with no preconditions. Because of that, I ended up including Joltik as an NPC and locking their adoption behind their heart level.
We actually only had two lines per day of the week (not including season) for daily dialogue. That shot up to six lines per day of the week for a full 0-2-4-6-8-10 in spring because I was determined to publish a mod. (I've been modding for nearly a year nonstop and I don't have anything playable... humiliating...)
Anyways! I hope you're all having fun with 1.6! It certainly brought new challenges and opportunities to the modding scene!
▷ Station Steward Thylak
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Duke Thomas hcs
- he has literally no idea what he wants to do when hes older, part of him wants to be a social worker like his mum, or a paleontologist, or a film director, but he kinda flips between possible careers every month or so. (rn its poet)
- he goes to see local bands all the time, around one a week, most of the time with the other we are robin kids (or the robin-squad as they’ve been lovingly nicknamed), Riko, Izzy, Dax and Dre. And he always tries to make Dax’s bands shows when ever they get gigs
- hes actually in a poly relationship with the rest of the robin-squad. It started with Duke and Izzy then Riko joined and Dax and Dre who were already in a relationship joining once Dre had stopped being emotionally constipated
- Duke, Steph and Babs have been banned from being on trivia teams together because they always win by a landslide.
- Dax has always been weird about Duke being fostered by Bruce and avoids going to the manor at all costs, Duke knows why but hes not going to mention it until Dax feels comfortable.
- of all his partners he had the worst relationship with Dre, after the constant fighting while in the we are robin movement together they tried to avoid each other and at least be civil while in their relationship. Eventually their other partners caught on and started trying to get them together. It took a while but one day Duke came over with a rocky dvd and said ‘you like boxing, I like films, d’ya wanna just see if we can go the whole movie without fighting??’.
- The next day all of their partners phone wallpapers were changed to a photo of Duke leaning against Dre's shoulder, both asleep with the rocky credits playing in the background.
- Duke has a list in his notes app labeled ‘shit list’ number one is Izzy's brother, two is joker, three gnomon and for a brief period of time number four was Dick but they have since made up (via a pokemon cards game)
- Cass was the first person Duke introduced his partners to in the family. shes probably the person hes closest too of all the bats and the first one he considered family.
- after a really annoying case or a busy week Duke and Cass will meet on the tallest building in Gotham and just sit together, talking, watching the sunset, sharing the blackmail on their siblings, or just hanging out on a tall building with some pastries (Duke usually gets a danish while Cass gets a chocolate croissant)
#anyone got ideas on the Duke x Riko x Izzy x Dax x Dre shipname?#idk why but i decided they would be cute together and i want to write all the fics but i dont like writing lol#duke thomas#we are robin#batman#cassandra cain#riko sheridan#izzy ortiz#dax chill#dre cipriani#i refuse to believe that the robin-squad arent friends anymore#they are in love your honor#duke and dick play pokemon together and you can pry this hc out of my cold dead hands#i hope this was all in character#if anything wasnt please tell me#polywar
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Title: Volatile Status Condition
Ship: Nemona x Juliana
Rating: T
Summary:
“We, uh-- well. There was . . . an accident. Involving a new pokemon potion that’s apparently a love potion?”
Miriam squinted at you.
“Could you be a little more specific, please?”
You pointed to Nemona and her pink-stained shirt, trying again,
“I accidently drenched her with a whole bottle of pokemon love potion and it’s, she– w-well, she–”
“I have the Infatuation status condition,” Nemona supplied helpfully. Gratefully, you finished,
“Yeah, exactly. That.”
Wordcount: ~17k
Notes: This is rated T and is relatively tame, but it's still a bit spicier than my usual stories, so keep that in mind. Also up on a03
It had started out so innocently.
You were just getting a little shopping done with Nemona before heading out for a fun day: you'd planned a hike, a pokemon battle and a picnic afterwards. Nemona needed some pokeballs, so you'd dropped by the local Delibird Gifts.
The store was a lot busier than usual, which seemed strange since it was still pretty early. As you pushed through the throngs of people, though, you seemed to find the reason why. There was a booth set up near the back of the store, decorated with red and pink balloons and big, sparkly, eye-catching banners, some kind of promotion for a new product, it seemed. People were crowded around and gawking, as the man behind the booth was talking to customers with a big, cheesy smile and a loud voice.
“Step right up, folks, for the revolutionary new product that is going to transform the entire meta of pokemon battling as we know it!”
Naturally, such a claim caught Nemona’s attention. She squinted at the big signs, which read in flashy cursive,
Pokemon Love Potions!
100% Accurate & Effective
Invoke the Infatuation Status Condition On Command!
“What the heck? I gotta see this.”
You rushed to follow after Nemona, who quickly pushed to the front of the crowds.
“Nemona–”
You were about to suggest to her that it seemed like possibly a scam, but the man at the booth saw Nemona’s approach. Something in his eye sparked, as if catching sight of a perfect target for his sales pitch.
“Hello there, young miss! Would you like to be among the first to try Slyveon’s Pokemon Love Potions? It’s an incredible new product that’s premiering here, only at Delibird Gifts–”
Nemona wasn’t interested in listening to his pitch, though. She came forward and took one of the potion bottles from the booth, looking at it and cutting him off,
“But how’s it work? Wouldn’t using this on your pokemon just inflict them with infatuation?”
The salesman grinned and replied,
“Indeed! And that is why these potions are designed for a trainer to use on the opponent’s pokemon! You will notice, unlike other potion sprays, the nozzle on these bottles is far, far more powerful, allowing for simple, accurate aiming and long-distance spraying! It’s quick and effective, even a child could use it!”
Arriving to stand beside Nemona, you leaned in to inspect the bottle she had. It was bright pink and squat and looked very similar to the standard potion and super potion bottles, although the nozzle did look a bit different, as the salesman had noted; it looked like it was probably pressurized, like a can of bug spray or an air duster.
You frowned, commenting,
“Isn’t that against the battle rules or something? I’ve never heard of an item you can use on your opponents’ pokemon.”
Nemona set the little potion down and pulled out her phone.
“Let me double check. It does sound kinda fishy. I know that trainers giving hold items to their opponent’s pokemon is explicitly banned, because someone tried to do that once, but . . . hm . . .”
She trailed off as she pulled up the massive document that was the official rulebook for pokemon battling. It didn’t surprise you how quickly she had pulled it up; she probably had the whole .pdf practically memorized. While she was searching, you asked the salesman,
“How exactly was this potion made? As far as I knew, only Attract or Cute Charm can cause pokemon to fall in love. And destiny knot, of course.”
“And G-Max Cuddle from a Gigantimaxed Eevee,” Nemona chirped from beside you (while still scrolling). You chuckled,
“And G-Max Cuddle, yeah.”
The salesman looked pleased at the opportunity to brag about his product and answered,
“Our formula is an innovative concoction developed from Dream Mist obtained from the exotic Unovian species Musharna as well as Sylveon’s magical and psychic influences. It’s like purified, refined charm and adorableness in a bottle! We cannot reveal our exact refinery process, of course, as that’s a trade secret.”
You hummed skeptically, reading the bottle’s label. It was true that you’d heard of Dream Mist (you came from the ‘exotic’ land of Unova, after all), which was pretty powerful stuff. But the stuff in the bottle could just be sparkly food-colored water, for all you knew.
“So, technically, it’s not against any of the rules,” Nemona suddenly announced, finished with her search.
“Trainers directly giving hold items to an opponent is banned– there’s a reason Trick and Switcheroo are moves, after all– but no such ban exists for using general consumable items on an opponent’s pokemon. There is a ban on feeding berries to your opponent’s pokemon directly, but the way it’s worded is specific to berries, not all consumables.”
“Huh,” you said. She tucked the phone back into her pocket and added,
“But I think that’s only because nobody’s ever had a reason to try before. I’d say the legality of it’s still kinda in a gray area.”
“Worry not, my young friends. Slyveon’s Pokemon Love Potions are technically classed as a type of medicine, and thus there is no rule against using them on your opponent,” the salesman said, smiling. You didn’t like his smile, it was kinda creepy.
“A medicine? But it inflicts a volatile status condition!” Nemona argued.
The smarmy salesman answered,
“This potion inflicts feelings of love and adoration; it fills a pokemon’s heart with joy! Slyveon’s Love Potions are beneficial, technically speaking. Who wouldn’t want to experience love, after all?”
“Hmmm,” Nemona said, looking thoughtful. She eyed the bottles of potions.
“I guess that’s true . . .”
You crossed your arms. In a wary tone, you said,
“Nemona . . .”
She looked to you, smiling bright.
“Well, c’mon, you can’t tell me you’re not curious too, right? Trainer-inflicted status conditions could be kinda interesting, mix things up a little!”
You sighed. You answered,
“Yeah, okay. I do admit I’m a little curious too.”
The salesman enthused at you two,
“Wonderful! You young trainers are going to love it. Sylveon’s Love Potions are even better than a Pokemon’s moves or abilities, after all. They are the wave of the future for the infatuation condition.”
You raised a brow.
“Better? Better how?”
He tapped a case of his products and said proudly,
“No more discrimination! Pokemon of the same gender as their opponent or genderless pokemon can fall in love as well, guaranteed! Truly, love wins.”
Nemona’s eyes widened.
“Oh my gosh, really? Holy Tauros, now we have to get it, Jules!”
You frowned, watching the suspicious salesman. That was a pretty big claim. And why didn’t he lead with it?
Still, Nemona was so excited. You might as well try it. Maybe it really was as amazing as the guy said.
“Okay, okay, we’ll give it a shot,” you said. Nemona had already eagerly grabbed a few bottles. Her excitement didn’t fade even when the salesman told you the exorbitant price, and soon you both finished your shopping trip and left the place with a couple of shopping bags in tow. You sent your Koraidon out from his ball and hopped onboard, heading out to the South Province. It was a nice place for a hike, full of pretty canyons and trees. The sun was shining bright and it was a beautiful day, and you had a lot of fun ambling along the trail with your best friend.
Once you’d finished hiking, Nemona was eager to try out the new items with a pokemon battle. It was just a casual, low-stakes fight, so you didn’t feel too pressured or anything. You enjoyed your very serious battles with her too, of course– you loved that you could battle her with such fierce intensity. But some days, it was fun to just fool around, too.
After you cleared out her Goodra with your Cetitan, she sent out her Pawmot, which tended to be an absolute menace for your team. Neither one of you had used the fancy new item yet that you’d purchased, but you decided now was the perfect time to try. If you could infatuate the darn thing and give Cetitan a chance to use its Play Rough, you’d be golden. Smiling, you snuck the little potion bottle out of your bag.
Then you whipped it out, aiming it at Nemona’s Pawmot and squeezing the trigger. The liquid shot out of the bottle in a powerful jet stream, right on target.
Except, there was a bit of problem. That problem was Nemona’s Pawmot had very good reflexes. Probably far superior to human reflexes. And the moment you shot a squirt bottle full of potion its way, it panicked and leapt out of the way. Which, normally, wouldn’t be too big a deal, other than totally wasting a ton of money on the bottle of potion. The real issue was that Nemona was standing directly behind her pokemon.
So when Pawmot bounded aside, Nemona caught the dose of Slyveon’s Pokemon Love Potion full on in the face. You absolutely drenched her, the bottle emptying its entire load in one go. You both froze in mutual shock, utterly caught offguard.
The bright pink liquid dripped down Nemona’s face and chest, her wet ponytail stuck to her neck, her crisp white uniform shirt ruined. You stared, your mouth agape.
“Uh . . . crap. I’m so sorry, Nemona–”
But then the full implications hit you like a train. This might be more than just a mild inconvenience. You stammered,
“W-wait, does this stuff affect humans?”
You thought back and realized that was a question you never asked the salesman. Then you thought about regular pokemon potions, and how they did help with human’s injuries, just like vitamins did and other items which affected humans too, and–
“Oh, my god,” Nemona intoned, her eyes growing wide in alarm. Okay, yeah, there was a very good chance this stuff affected humans too. In a panic, you yelled,
“Crap, crap, crap! Are you okay?! Oh my god, what do I do? Uh, can you get it off?!”
Nemona started to frantically swipe at her face and shirt, shouting,
“I don’t know, I don’t know!”
You ran up to her and started helping her wipe the potion off, but Nemona waved you away, yelling,
“Jules, don’t touch it!! It could affect you too, you silly Zangoose!”
“Oh, god, I’m sorry, I just– what can we do, we need to wash it off or something!”
You turned and blurted,
“Water, we need water, hold on!”
Digging through your bag, you quickly located a water bottle and rushed back up to her, twisting the little cap off. Then you upended the bottle over her head, dumping it over her.
Nemona gasped as the cold water drenched her, the water making a glug glug glug noise as emptied out onto her, soaking her even more thoroughly than the potion already had.
She stood there, frozen in shock again and staring at you with wide eyes, water dripping from her nose and chin, her shirt completely plastered against her skin, the rest of the water running down her legs and sopping her shoes.
You suddenly felt like the worst person in the world. Nemona began to ask incredulously,
“D-did you really just–”
“Oh my god I’m so sorry I was just trying to help, I’m so sorry!”
You buried your face in your hands, apologizing profusely. You heard Nemona laugh, which to be perfectly frank was absurd, given the circumstances.
“Juliana, it’s okay, I’m not mad– Jules, c’mon, it’s okay, I was just mad for like one second, but I know you were trying to help–”
You dropped your hands away and dared to look at her again, though you still felt like such a massive jerk. Anxiously, you asked,
“Did it at least help at all?!”
Your soggy friend seemed to think for a moment. For what it was worth, the water did seem to wash a lot of the potion off, although her shirt and some of her skin were still stained pink– your hands were stained pink too from trying to wipe it off. What the heck did they put in this crap that stained so well?
“Y’know what, I don’t think we need to worry. Either your quick thinking saved the day, or this stuff doesn’t affect humans to begin with.”
You looked at her hopefully.
“Yeah? You think so?”
She paused for a moment and then nodded, saying,
“Yeah, I feel fine!”
You stared at each other for a beat. You said awkwardly,
“Well, that was certainly . . . uh . . . something.”
Nemona broke out into giggles and you laughed along with her, relieved everything was fine.
“I know I said it a ton already but I’m so sorry–”
“Jules, seriously, it’s okay. It was an accident! Totally understandable.”
“I know, but I still feel bad. You’re drenched. You wanna go back and change?”
Nemona thought for a moment, then shrugged.
“Eh. I’m fine. Let’s finish the battle!”
Your eyes widened.
“Seriously? You wanna finishing battling??”
She grinned at you.
“Of course! I’m not gonna let a little thing like this stop me! Although I think it would be best if I held off on using my own potion for this match.”
With an amused smile, you said,
“Agreed. Well, okay, if you’re really fine with it, then we can keep going, I guess.”
It really shouldn’t have surprised you– of course she’d want to finish the match. You were pretty sure Nemona could break a leg mid-battle and she’d still want to finish the fight. You both returned to your pokemon battle. In the end, Nemona even beat you.
After the battle, Nemona had her Flamigo sort of blow-dry her with one of its moves, which seemed to work surprisingly well, so you didn’t even have to return home. Instead, you could lay down your picnic blanket and have lunch like you’d both planned. Before long, the little potion accident was all but forgotten. You enjoyed your sandwiches and snacks and ended up in a meandering, lazy conversation afterwards, just laying in the shade of the trees and enjoying the lovely sound of Nemona’s laughter at your antics.
“Look, I’m telling you, it’s true. Everyone eventually looks like their ace. Or at least one of the pokemon on their team, usually their lead. It’s inevitable. Here, see? The moment I saw Arven I was like, ‘Ah, yes, Skwovet Boy.’”
Looking at the picture on your phone, Nemona snorted.
“Did he like that name?”
“No, no he did not.”
“Okay, I’ll give you Arven, and I guess Penny, but there’s no way the rule holds true for everyone.”
“I’ll prove it! Just name somebody.”
“Okay, uh . . . how ‘bout Director Clavell?”
You took a moment to scroll through your Pokedex and pick out an entry. Then you showed her your phone. Nemona giggled and said,
“What?! Oh my god Juliana, that’s kinda mean.”
“No it’s not!! It’s just true!”
“I dunno–”
“Look, look, I’ll show you!”
You pulled up a photo of Clavell and placed it side-by-side with Oranguru.
“See? Look at their faces, their expressions. Identical! And the hair? Can barely even tell them apart! Plus the move ‘Instruct’? It’s a dead-ringer.”
Still laughing, she admitted,
“Oh, jeez, I do kinda see what you mean…”
Confidently, you told her,
“Okay, pick someone else.”
Humming, she said,
“Mmm . . . Prof Raifort?”
You searched up another image and showed it to her,
“Zoroark, see the hair, the ‘lil eyebrows, the sneaky smile?”
“Pfffttt! All right, how about Mr. Jaqc?”
“Oh, he looks like Arcanine for sure.”
“What? But Arcanine is like, bright orange and Jacq’s hair is purple. I’d guess him to be a poison type.”
“Nah, you can’t just look at color. Jacq looks all fluffy like Arcanine and he’s also super friendly and goofy too, but very loyal and knows his stuff!”
Nemona studied your phone, scrutinizing it seriously.
“Hm . . . that is a compelling argument. Maybe you really are onto something.”
She turned to you, smirking.
“Who do I look like, then?”
You crossed your arms, answering,
“Hah, that’s easy! You look like your Pawmot. Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, super energetic and friendly, plus super adorable.”
Nemona broke out into giggles and shoved your shoulder a little.
“Stopit, you just like making me blush.”
“It’s true! You’re like, super smart too. And brave, and powerful, and pretty.”
“Jules,” she whined, covering her face. You laughed, unable to resist teasing her. She was just unbearably cute when she was bashful.
Suddenly turning to you, she shot back,
“Yeah well, you– you’re like– uh . . .”
She paused, gazing at you for a few moments. You raised your brows.
“. . . Like?”
You waited. Her expression softened as she looked at you, her smile gradually shifting into something very warm. In a gentle, almost reverent voice, she finally said,
“Vivillon.”
You blinked, a warm flutter stirring in your chest.
“O-oh?”
She leaned forward and continued softly,
“You are so sweet, and incredibly kind, and graceful . . . and you came into my life, dancing on the breeze as light as air, and made everything so much better.”
“O-oh,” you repeated, feeling your face warm. She leaned even closer to you, her eyes bright. Her voice dropped down even quieter, and she half-whispered to you,
“. . . but you’re also fierce and wild and way, way more powerful than people realize, and I think that excites me most of all.”
You could hear your heart hammering in your ears as Nemona smiled at you and touched your arm lightly, her fingertips tracing along your skin, causing a sensation like little electric sparks. You desperately tried to say something, but it came out as a little squeak.
Then Nemona paused. She blinked, as if coming to some realization.
“Uh,” she said, pulling back from you just a little.
“Jules, I feel . . . ummm . . . I feel pretty funny.”
You were entirely unable to give an intelligent reply and grunted,
“Funny ha-ha or funny weird?”
She glanced away, a crimson blush overtaking her pretty face.
“Oh, man. Umm, funny weird, I guess. I-I think . . . that love potion is . . . hitting me really hard all of a sudden.”
Oh. Oh, crap.
That explained it.
“Oh. Uh, uhmm. W-what should I do? How can I help?”
Nemona looked like she was considering your question seriously. Still not looking at you, she answered in a calm voice that only wavered a little:
“W-well, you definitely shouldn’t start kissing me, because I would kiss you back. Hard. And probably not stop.”
Your face flushed hot and you sputtered,
“Wh-whuh, wh-why would I suddenly start kissing you now?!”
Sounding half-panicked herself, she shouted back,
“I dunno, you asked!!”
You sucked in a breath and tried to settle down all the thoughts screaming in your brain. Okay okay, think, think. You pushed yourself up and climbed to your feet, shakily.
“R-right, okay, okay. So, uh. W-we should get you to a nurse! Right?”
Nemona answered,
“I-I guess! Yeah.”
“Okay, okay. Give me just a sec.”
You quickly gathered your things to repack the picnic basket, then turned to her.
“Okay, do you think you can walk?”
She paused a moment.
“. . . I’m not sure,” she admitted,
“I feel a little dizzy.”
You nodded.
“Okay, I’ll help you up.”
She looked so anxious, and you were starting to get really worried about her. You hoped this stupid potion didn’t have any dangerous side-effects. It was made for pokemon, so there was no knowing how a human’s biology might react to it.
You reached down and carefully helped pull Nemona to her feet. She swayed for a moment, so you kept your hands on her shoulders. Nemona’s warning that you she would kiss you back, hard, and not stop, was still looping in your mind, but you had to be the calm one here and look out for her safety, so you shoved the thoughts back down and focused. You studied her and asked,
“How are you feeling? Is your breathing okay? Are you still dizzy?”
Your friend shook her head, not meeting your eyes.
“I-I’m okay, I think.”
You didn’t like how uncertain she sounded. You tried to remember how to take someone’s pulse.
“Give me your wrist, I wanna try to take your pulse.”
She reluctantly held her non-gloved hand out to you. You tried to find her pulse, but you were never any good at this.
“Jeez, okay, hold on. Let me try the other pulse point, it’s easier.”
You reached up and set your fingers gently to the side of her neck, just under her chin. She stiffened at your touch, startled, and her eyes snapped up to yours; you realize belatedly you should have warned her.
“U-uh, sorry.”
You could feel her pulse and focused on counting it; it was bouncing along like a hyperactive hamster on crack.
“Christ, Nemona. Okay, I don’t think you’re in imminent threat of a heart attack, but it’s pretty damn high.”
Nemona’s eyes didn’t look quite right; her pupils were blown wide and she was gazing at you with an intensity you’d never seen before. When she spoke, it was with a forced calm, drawling out slowly;
“Well, that might have to do with the incredibly pretty girl who’s currently touching me.”
“Uh,” you grunted, moving to pull your hand away from her. She caught your wrist before you could.
“N-Nemona–”
“I should check your pulse too, shouldn’t I?” she asked, voice soft and husky. Turning your hand in hers, she exposed your wrist; but instead of holding her fingers to your wrist, she lowered her head down, her lips brushing against your pulse point. You jerked, your entire body immediately swimming in icy-hot goosebumps, straight up your back and neck and all the way to your scalp.
"W-W-WAIT, N-NEMONA–”
Your startled shout seemed to only encourage her, and you felt heat searing against you, her breath tickling as she pressed her lips to your delicate skin, followed by the sensation of the tip of her tongue swiping against you–
You made a noise at the back of your throat you didn't even recognize, and it took every ounce of your willpower to pull your hand away from her and back off. She froze when you pulled away, looking shocked for a moment. You quickly came to realize she wasn’t shocked at you, but rather, at herself. She blushed deeper and held a hand to her mouth in embarrassment. She mumbled into it,
“Oh my god, Jules . . . I’m so sorry.”
You stood there rigidly, forcing out,
“I-it’s okay! It’s fine. Look, we know you’re not yourself, i-it’s fine. We just gotta, um . . . get you back to the nurse!”
“Right,” she muttered quietly, not looking up. She repeated, “Nurse.” She seemed to be trying to wrap her brain around it. You repeated, somewhat shrilly,
“We can do this! It’s not far.”
You were saying it just as much for your sake as for hers. You were talking so loud, but that was because you were busy trying to drown out the thoughts screaming in your brain about your friend’s tongue on your skin and, oh, god–
Nemona repeated, a little louder,
“Okay. Okay. We can do this.”
She started to walk, hesitantly, and you were relieved she was finally moving, because you guys really needed to get out of there. You picked the picnic basket back up and lurched forward, but you’re a goddamn idiot, your lovesick brain still addled over ‘Nemona, tongue, skin’ and you tripped over your own stupid feet.
Nemona’s reflexes were good even when she was doped up on a huge dose of love potion, it seemed, and she caught you before you could eat a face full of dirt. Her amber eyes were wide in surprise, and you both stared at each other a brief moment as Nemona held you firmly in her arms.
Then she quickly let go of you and spun away, bemoaning,
“Unnghh, Jules, you’re killing me here!”
Feeling like such an ass, you quickly shouted,
“Sorry, sorry, sorry! I’m not trying to, I swear!”
Nemona flung her hands up, turning to you and snapping a frustrated reply;
“You don't have to try! You never have! You've been incredible from the very first moment I've met you! Your passion, your heart, your brío! Y-you-- you have no idea how badly I've wanted to, t-to–”
"--Nemona I am begging you to not finish that sentence, I don't think it's in either of our best interests, you're indisposed right now, remember!"
She halted and stared at you. You could literally see the wildness behind her eyes and her struggles to rein it in; her breathing had become so heavy that she was practically panting.
“Y-yeah. Okay. Yeah. You’re probably right.”
Your face was so, so damn hot, you started to wonder if you might be at risk of fainting. You were an awful, horrible person because seeing Nemona in this state should have made you worried about her, worried about her wellbeing, but in the moment it was just so thrilling, seeing her so completely undone over the thought of you--
You didn’t even have the stupid potion dumped on you, for god’s sake, you needed to get a grip! Swallowing a suddenly very dry throat, you forced out,
“Let's just go. Go to the nurse. It's not far, we can make it. Let’s just– wait! We could order a taxi!"
Wow, if your brain was functioning properly, you would have thought of it sooner. But as you grabbed your cell phone to find the number, Nemona protested.
“W-wait, wait, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
You paused.
“Why?”
She was turned away from you, probably so she could focus better. She said in an unsteady tone,
"There’s hardly any room in those things, you know? I don't think I can be that close to you for any period of time, I can barely stand being this close already without-- without--"
“O-okay, okay, I got you, we'll-- we'll walk. Or– what about riding Koraidon, could we do that?”
She paused.
“Kind of the same problem, we can’t ride together like that.”
You cursed.
“Yeah, true. Although. I mean. I could send just you but, I really don’t want to do that, I don’t want to leave you alone like this.”
There really was no good solution. It seemed like walking was still best. You repeated,
“It's okay, we can walk, it's not that far. We can make it. We’ve done this walk out here before plenty of times, probably like a hundred times by now."
It was true, the walk wasn’t long. Probably just fifteen minutes at most to reach Mesagoza. That wasn't so bad, that was easy.
You steeled yourself, muttering once again,
"We can do this."
<3<3<3<3
Of course, in your current situation, the time felt like an eternity. You both walked in tense silence, not particularly close to one another but you didn’t dare stray too far, worried that Nemona might get another dizzy spell. The weather was still very lovely, at least, a soft, spring breeze and the cheery sound of Fletchling chittering. You tried to focus on that during your walk back, occasionally asking Nemona if she was still doing okay.
Unfortunately, you both ran into a problem before you could return to Mesagoza. It seemed to be a twist of awful luck, during a day you were already having such rotten luck. The issue was that you both met a trainer passing by along the same path, and they were keen for a battle. What’s more, it seemed they recognized Nemona.
“Oh, hey! Look at that! It’s Naranja’s little Golden Child. Nemona, wasn’t it? Wow, what luck. I’ve heard a lot about you, you know. They say you’re always up for a pokemon battle, no matter what! You wanna go?”
The young man was dressed in the same uniform as you both had, obviously a fellow student. But you immediately took offense to the way he was talking to Nemona, and his greasy little smirk. Nemona looked at him and answered warily,
“Um, actually, now isn’t exactly the best time for me, I’m really sorry. My friend and I need to get back to Mesagoza. If you give me your number I could battle you later, though?”
The boy’s smirk dropped into a scowl.
“What? You’re seriously trying to weasel out of it? What’s wrong, are you scared of having a little match right here, right now? They said you’d fight anyone, why am I exempt from that?”
Nemona glanced away, muttering,
“I’m really sorry–”
Normally, you weren't really the confrontational sort, but your blood was boiling immediately. Lurching forward in front of Nemona, you snapped,
“What's the matter with you? She said now isn’t a good time. Respect her boundaries and get out of her face, she doesn’t owe you anything!”
The boy looked you up and down, sneering.
“And who’re you, her pet Rockruff? I’m not interested in wasting my time on freshmen.”
Then he shoved you, pushing you back. You were so taken aback at first, you didn’t even know how to react. Was this guy for real? What the hell?
Unfortunately, when you were stunned into silence, this gave Nemona the chance to react in your stead. And she was . . . well, she was pissed.Far more so than you’d ever seen her before. In fact, she looked about ready to bite down on the man’s jugular. Stalking forward, directly into the student’s personal space, she snarled at him,
“Oh, so you want a battle so bad that you think it’s okay to shove around my best friend? FINE THEN, LET’S GO.”
There was a certain delight in seeing Nemona capitalize on her height, because she towered over the toxic trainer who’d been harassing you; you could see genuine fear glinting in the student’s eyes. He did not want to admit to it, though, and answered,
“U-uh, ok then, fine!”
He backed off and fumbled for his belt and released his lead pokemon, the purple-finned Veluza. Nemona threw out her usual lead, her Lycanroc appearing.
“Veluza, use Liqui–”
“Stone Edge,” Nemona barked, fists balled, eyes still locked in a withering glare on the trainer. Her Lycanroc cast her a sideways glance, sensing something was very different from normal; noting how tense she was, the dog turned and charged, snarling savagely, like a pokemon that was determined to remove what was deemed a very dangerous threat.
The rock that erupted from the ground KO’d the fish immediately. Lycanroc stood and growled at the trainer, and the boy nervously sent out a Tauros.
“Okay Tauros, use Raging Bull!”
Nemona held out her pokeball and wordlessly recalled Lycanroc. She threw another ball.
“Ceruledge. Flare Blitz.”
As the Tauros’ fighting move passed through the ghost type harmlessly and it was instead struck with a Flare Blitz, the student stammered,
“Wha–aa-uh? Ceruledge, I didn’t– uhh, Tauros, Zen Head–”
“Bitter Blade.”
The flaming pokemon’s spinning blades quickly felled the Tauros.
“Nobody told me you had a Ceruledge–”
“Flare Blitz,” Nemona said. The boy almost tripped and fell in his haste to send out his next pokemon.
“Wh– Tyranatar!”
The Flare Blitz crashed into his Tyranatar, blades smoking and spinning. The trainer cried,
“Tyranatar, use Stone Edge, quick!!”
The foe’s Tyranatar turned to comply, but it was frazzled by its trainer’s panic, and it missed the Stone Edge.
“Godamn it–”
“Close Combat.”
Ceruledge smashed straight through Tyranatar, toppling it over. Half his team was already down, in under three minutes.
“G-garchomop, go!” the trainer yelled, sending out the large dragon. Honestly, his team wasn’t too bad. But none of that really mattered, not when he was a crummy trainer and he was up against one of the best of all of Paldea. Especially when she was not in the mood to play around.
The trainer ordered his Garchomp to Earthquake, and Nemona recalled her Ceruledge so she could send out her Meowscarada. Garchomp quickly fell to Play Rough, and the trainer sent out a Talonflame to counter. Nemona swapped her Lycanroc back in and destroyed the fire bird immediately.
The boy sent out his final pokemon, a Cryogonal. He looked miserable as Nemona’s Lycanroc stared down at them, drooling, waiting for Nemona’s signal to finish things off.
“What’s the matter?” Nemona called to him, speaking something other than terse pokemon orders for the first time in a while.
“Don’t like losing 6-to-1? Here, let me give you a chance to take one of mine out, even the score just a little, huh? Which one of my team do you want me to send out?”
The trainer blinked, looking startled and annoyed. He asked,
“What? Are you . . . are you toyingwith me?”
“Which one do you want,” Nemona repeated, icily. The trainer jerked and stammered,
“U-uh, uh, Meowscarada?”
Nemona recalled her Lycanroc, smiling. The smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Okay! Here goes!”
She flung a ball, her Pawmot materializing.
“Oops, wrong one. Silly me.”
Nemona took an orb from her pack and flung it. Pawmot exploded into crystals, terastializing.
“Oops again! I’m so clumsy.”
The trainer looked angry, incredibly frustrated, and frankly a little freaked out, but he still called to his pokemon,
“Cryogonal, use Ice Beam!”
Lazily, Nemona instructed,
“Okay Pawmot, let’s . . . ehhh, let’s use a Thunder Wave, why not?”
Pawmot was struck by the incoming Ice Beam, grunting in pain, but not fainting to the move. It charged up and sent a shockwave rolling over to its opponent.
“Just finish the battle off already!” the trainer yelled in disgust. Nemona crossed her arms and stared at him.
“Oh? You want this to stop now?”
He hissed through his teeth, muttering curses under his breath.
“Yes,” he finally said, staring miserably at the ground.
“Fine,” Nemona said sharply,
“Apologize to Juliana, and then we can finish the battle.”
“What–” his head whipping up, he seemed about to protest, but he shut up the moment he saw Nemona’s eyes, deadly serious. Face red, he reluctantly turned to you.
“I’m . . . I’m sorry,” he muttered.
Nemona nodded in satisfaction.
“Good.”
Then she turned to her Pawmot.
“Okay, Pawmot, Close Combat.”
Her pokemon rushed headlong into the massive snowflake, shattering to bits. The young man recalled the pokemon back to its ball, defeated and humbled.
And then, Nemona’s voice ordered calmly:
“Pawmot, use Charge.”
The pokemon rubbed its little paws on its cheek pouches, charging up energy, building and building in its sparkly, crystallized body. It shone brighter and brighter, until it was almost painful to look at. The trainer looked up, his eyes growing wide. He stuttered,
“I-I-I’m out of pokemon! That was six! Wh-what are you– I’m all out!”
Her arms still crossed, Nemona regarded him calmly. After a moment, she answered slowly,
“Hmm. Well . . .”
She glanced to her Pawmot.
“Then I guess you better find some more . . .”
Her gaze returned to the trainer. Her eyes took on a hard edge. She intoned quietly,
“Or you better run.”
The trainer looked as though he was about ready to wet his pants, falling over himself to grab up his pokeballs and turn tail, scrambling down the path as fast as he could, like the little coward he was. For a while you could do absolutely nothing but stare as he ran away, simply trying to absorb the past ten minutes that had played out before you.
Eventually, Nemona returned Pawmot to his ball. Then she heaved a groan and turned away from you, looking . . . embarrassed, to your surprise.
“U-ugh. Juliana, I . . . I’m really sorry about all that. Cielo santo, I can’t believe I just did that . . .”
You raised a brow, confused.
“Sorry about what?”
She seemed too ashamed to even face you. She gestured vaguely, crying out,
“That! All that! I was so freaking mean, I obliterated that guy. Ay, it was like I couldn’t even stop myself, I just . . . I got so mad when he pushed you, and the way he was talking about you, like you were beneath contempt or something and– gahh! I couldn’t stand it.”
Her eyes were still lit in anger just thinking about it. You told her calmly,
“Nemona, don’t worry about it. Your reaction was perfectly understandable, that guy was being a massive jerk!”
“Yeah, but that’s no excuse!” Nemona protested, shaking her head.
“I know I’m bigger then that, I can’t stoop to, like . . . tormenting someone during a battle like that. Dios, I even threatened him with Pawmot . . .”
She cringed, mumbling,
“You must think I’m a terrible person after that.”
You bit down on your lower lip as you thought back to watching Nemona absolutely dominating that douchebag of a trainer.
Don’t tell her she looked hot while she kicked his ass, oh god, don’t say it
“U-uh, no, not really." You paused, mumbling, "Quite the opposite, actually.”
Nemona glanced up at you, asking,
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Don’t say it don’t say it don’t say it
“Uh . . .”
You rubbed your face, frustrated with how difficult it had become to think clearly. What was wrong with you today? If you didn’t know any better you would have thought you’d been the one dosed with the stupid . . .
Your train of thought stalled as you gazed at your hand, still stained pink from when you were trying to help Nemona wipe the potion off.
“Oh. Crap.”
“What is it?” Nemona asked, looking concerned. You shook your head, trying not to worry her too much.
“N-nothing. It’s just, u-uh, I think . . . I might have absorbed some of that potion earlier.”
“Oh.” She paused, then added,
“Crap.”
“Yeah.”
A few moments passed. Then you shook your head and reassured her,
“Look, it’s fine. Nemona, you have nothing to worry about, that guy wanted a battle and you gave him one, so fair’s fair! No one got hurt and maybe next time he’ll think twice about acting like a horrible little bottomfeeder. Besides, you know you’re under the influence of weird pokemon potions right now. So let’s just stop worrying and try to get back to the nurse before we both end up ff– uhhh– let’s just get back, okay!?”
“Okay, okay!”
You both returned to walking the path leading up to Mesagoza. Fortunately, you were able to complete the journey this time without any other . . . incidents. The only real concerning thing left at that point was your old nemesis, The Stairs. While normally you’d hop on Koraidon to skip them, that wasn’t an option this time, so you and Nemona begrudgingly scaled them together.
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By the time you’d reached the top of the stairs, sweating and panting, you were very ready for this tense journey to be finished. You both rushed to the nurse’s office on the bottom floor of the central building, finding Nurse Miriam sitting at her desk, tending to paperwork.
When you burst in, you startled her a little, and she quickly stood and asked what the emergency was. It was only then you realized you hadn’t really planned on what you were going to say to her. Awkwardly, you exchanged a look with Nemona and then answered,
“We, uh– well. There was . . . an accident. Involving a new pokemon potion that’s apparently a love potion?”
Miriam squinted at you.
“Could you be a little more specific, please?”
You pointed to Nemona and her pink-stained shirt, trying again,
“I accidently drenched her with a whole bottle of pokemon love potion and it’s, she– w-well, she–”
“I have the Infatuation status condition,” Nemona supplied helpfully. Gratefully, you finished,
“Yeah, exactly. That.”
The nurse came over, indicating to Nemona to sit at the patient table, and she grabbed her stethoscope.
“Could you tell me more about this ‘love potion’? This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.”
As the nurse checked Nemona’s breathing and heart, you tried to fill her in.
“Well, this morning we were in Delibird Presents and there was this sort of promotion for a new item? You’re supposed to hit your opponent’s pokemon with it. So we bought some to give it a try. Except when I went to use it, Nemona’s pokemon dodged and she got the full dose instead. At first we thought it didn’t really affect her, I washed it off with water, but . . .”
Miriam stuck a thermometer in Nemona’s mouth and scowled.
“Sounds like a flagrant disregard for the National Pokemon Drug and Food Administration, there’s no way they signed off on a product like that. Do you happen to still have the bottle with you? It would help to know the ingredients.”
You thought a moment.
“We ditched the bottle already . . .”
“I schill hash my bobble in my bag!” Nemona said excitedly, around her thermometer.
“Oh, right, yeah!”
When she pulled it out and handed it to Miriam, the nurse quickly checked the bottle over. She didn’t look happy.
“This is ridiculous! There isn’t even a list of ingredients! All I can find is ‘Formulated from Dream Mist and Sylveon Magic.’”
You answered,
“I think he said the exact ingredients were a trade secret or whatever . . ."
In a tone of disgust, she muttered,
“This smells like a lawsuit to me.”
Then she turned and took Nemona’s thermometer, asking brightly,
“How are you feeling, Nemona? Can you describe your symptoms for me, after you came into contact with the potion?”
Nemona blinked up at her, looking a little uncertain.
“Well . . . at first I didn’t feel any different. I think it was around an hour later when I started feeling funny. Kinda . . . really happy, and my thoughts all felt sort of fuzzy and warm. Like I could actually feel them swirling around in my brain, you know? And my heart was goin’ kinda fast. But I didn’t really notice too much until– uh. . . well, Juliana and I were talking and I, w-well I . . . I-I . . .”
She trailed off, glancing away and blushing. The nurse, taking mercy on her, said,
“It’s all right, sweetie, I think I get the picture. How are you feeling now? Is it just as strong or has it started to wear off at all?”
Nemona paused for a moment, considering the question. Shyly, she glanced over at you and held your gaze. It was just eye contact, but you felt heat coiling in your belly as those amber eyes remained locked with yours, as if she could read your thoughts.
“Y-yep it’s still there!” Nemona quickly answered, turning away and clearing her throat.
Nurse Miriam nodded, sighing.
“Very well. Sit tight for a little bit, you two. I’m going to try and call the number on this potion bottle and see if I can get any answers.”
She moved over to sit at her desk and make the phone call, while you stood there awkwardly beside the patient table Nemona was seated on. You pondered the mystery of what to say to your best friend while giving her emotional support for being hit with a love potion. Which had made her become infatuated with you.
What could possibly be helpful in this situation?
Eventually you settled on saying,
“I’m sure we’ll get this all sorted out soon. And then it’ll be just a funny story we can look back on, right? Haha . . .”
“Mmm,” she answered, gazing at the wall.
Fortunately, Miriam wasn’t away for long. She soon finished up her phone call and returned, her expression inscrutable.
“If you’re about to tell me the potion was nothing but water and food coloring and this whole thing was just the placebo effect I’m gonna flip a table,” Nemona grumbled.
Nurse Miriam chuckled.
“Oh, no, I’m reasonably confidant you have been exposed to some kind of drug. Unfortunately, the man on the phone was utterly no help, so I can’t say for certain what it was. At this point, all we can do is monitor you closely and treat any possible harmful side-effects if they arise. I’ll have to hold you for observation.”
Nemona frowned, looking as though she really didn’t like this answer.
“For observation? For how long?”
The nurse scribbled some notes down on a clipboard.
“Oh, for several hours, at least, to be on the safe side.”
You watched as the anxiety quickly materialized in Nemona’s expression. Her voice taut, she asked,
“Hours? Is it, um, is it completely necessary? I-I . . .”
Miriam tried to answer kindly but firmly when she trailed off.
“Well, yes, I do think it’s important for you to be monitored.”
Your heart wrenched at the sight of Nemona struggling to fend off a full-blown panic. The signs were subtle, but you knew her well enough by now to recognize them clear as day. Quickly, you butted in,
“What if she went back to her dorm and I monitored her? Would that be okay?”
Miriam glanced to you, answering warily,
“Hmm . . . well, I’d prefer it if she stayed here, but . . .”
With pleading eyes, you said,
“I’ll watch her real close, I promise.”
Miriam hesitated for a bit. You stared at her until she sighed.
“. . . all right. If you take her vitals every 30 minutes and call me at the first sign of trouble, then I suppose that would be all right . . .”
Yes.
“I’ll take really good care of her!”
Looking relieved but still a little troubled, Nemona gestured to your hands, stained pink, and asked,
“But Jules, what about you? You told me that you were–”
You quickly tucked your hands behind your back and cut her off,
“–ahaha, I’m fine, Nemona! Yeah, I was a bit tired from our hike, but I feel great now!”
Miriam frowned, glancing between you both. You beamed at her with a big, fake grin, and Nemona decided to remain silent. You prayed she wouldn’t notice anything odd.
“. . . very well.”
You sighed in relief, but it was apparently premature.
“However . . .”
Nurse Miriam fixed you with a serious look.
“I do have one concern. Forgive me if this feels like prying, but . . . Nemona seemed to imply that you were, ah . . . her . . . object of affection? In that case, wouldn’t that make being her caretaker a bit difficult?”
You blinked, then glanced awkwardly to Nemona. Desperate to convince her, you stammered,
“I-I’ll, I’ll manage it. I know I can do it!”
From the patient table, Nemona added,
“It’ll be okay. It’s not so bad when I’m focused on something.”
The nurse didn’t seem entirely comfortable with the arrangement, but she acquiesced anyway.
“All right, if those really are your wishes. Then, Juliana, give me a moment and I’ll set you up with a few things to borrow while you monitor Nemona.”
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Before long, you both were out of the nurse’s office and had made it safely back to Nemona’s dorm room. When you’d entered and Nemona clicked the door closed, she sagged against the door and sighed in relief.
“Dios mío, I am so glad to be back here.”
She looked so drained. Gently, you told her,
“You should rest, tesoro.”
She glanced up to you, concern etched on her face.
“Yeah, I know. But first, are you sure you’re okay with doing this, Juliana? I know you’re partially affected too.”
You nodded, telling her firmly,
“It’s okay. The dose I got was barely anything compared to yours, and I think it’s worn off by now anyway. I just didn’t want the nurse to know, because she would have made a fuss and might not have let us back here, you know?”
Nemona nodded slowly.
“Yeah . . . I still feel kinda bad, though, making you take care of me. . .”
You laughed.
“What? You’re not making me do anything, I wanted to! I could see how much you hated the idea of staying in the infirmary, I wasn’t gonna let you stay there!”
Nemona sighed again.
“Yeah . . . I just, ugh. I can’t be cooped up there right now, I think I’d feel like a caged Incineroar or something.”
“And that’s fine,” you reassure her, going into her kitchenette to fetch her a glass of water. When you returned to her side, you told her,
“Of course you’d want to come back to your dorm so you can actually relax. We can just chill now, so no worries!”
She took the glass from you and downed the water in one go. Then she answered,
“. . . okay. As long as you’re sure you’re okay with being stuck watching me.”
You grinned, reassuring her,
“Of course I’m okay with it, you silly Zangoose. You know I’m always down for hanging out in Zona Nemona. So don’t give it another thought and just relax, all right? Doctor’s orders.”
She gave a dry laugh.
“All right, all right.”
Nemona decided she wanted to change her clothes since her outfit still felt a little sticky from the potion, so while she was in the bathroom you kicked off your shoes and opened Nemona’s cupboard in the kitchenette. You found a muffin and inhaled it in just a few bites and then wandered into the bedroom area. You had been in Nemona’s dorm so often that sometimes you suspected you’d seen more of it than your own room.
Suddenly realizing how weary you felt, you plopped down on Nemona’s bed and groaned, splaying out over the comforter. It had been a long, weird day. At least you were back now. The worst of it was probably over by now, right? You just had to keep an eye on Nemona and wait for the stuff to wear off. You sighed, closing your eyes, your thoughts drifting aimlessly for a bit as you rested.
You heard the click of the bathroom door opening and Nemona emerging, saying,
“So d’you wanna watch anything, Jules, or . . .”
You blinked your eyes open and answered lazily,
“Mmm?”
Nemona appeared at the foot of the bed, gazing down at you. She remained silent, as if she’d abandoned her sentence entirely. You blinked sleepy eyes at her and said,
“Hi. Sorry, what were you saying?"
You watched as the blood rushed to her face, her eyes wide, cheeks reddening incredibly fast. Oh, crap, what– what did you do? You were just sitting there.
“Um,” Nemona mumbled, struggling for words.
“Y-you . . . uh . . .”
She seemed to tear her eyes away with some effort, looking towards the wall. She swallowed, her throat bobbing. Quietly, she stammered,
“M-maybe . . . maybe it would be best if you didn’t . . .”
Her voice went even quieter, until it eked out of her, so very small:
“. . . lay on my bed like that . . .?”
You blinked, not getting it at first. You had to actually run it through your head again to understand.
“Oh. OH.”
You hadn’t given it a second thought, because you had laid on Nemona’s bed before, normally. But thinking about it now, sprawled out across her bed like that, there was definitely the potential for some, uh, less-than-innocent thoughts?
You jerked, sitting upright.
“I-I– sorry! I didn’t–I wasn’t really thinking!”
Nemona looked intensely embarrassed at having to confess the problem to you. Talking more at the wall than you, she said,
“It’s not your fault, it’s just, I-I, I was a little worried about us being here in my room alone together, a-and then I came out and you were just . . . hnnnff . . .”
You quickly exited the bed and shimmied away from her, feeling a blush of your own. You had to remind yourself this was just the potion talking. This was just the potion. Nemona wasn’t normally plagued with intense longing for you that she could only barely keep in check.
Right?
You laughed nervously, saying,
“Okay, no sitting on the bed for me, check! I’m just gonna . . . go sit at your desk. Maybe get some homework done. Haha . . .”
“O-okay,” she agreed, sitting on her bed, looking a little lost.
Things after that were . . . well . . . the best word for it was probably ‘tense.’ You got your biology textbook out and did some homework while Nemona hopped online and watched some pokemon tournament videos. You had hoped this was the perfect chance for you both to finally relax and recuperate from the strange drama of the day. But you could sense how restless Nemona was. You recognized the videos she was watching– they were some of her favorite matches. She liked to re-watch them over and over, and normally she was jazzed to see them. But not today. She kept fidgeting and sighing. You asked her if she needed anything, but she said she was fine. So you just kept highlighting bits in your textbook and trying to focus on your work.
The only thing that broke up the monotony was when the alarm went off on your phone and you had to check Nemona’s vitals. You didn’t make the same mistakes as last time, though. You just handed her the little pulse-checking device you’d borrowed from Miriam and the thermometer. It was awkward, but at least it didn’t take long. Her vitals all looked normal, so there was no reason to call the nurse or anything. You then went back to studying, and Nemona returned to her bed with her tablet.
You felt like the situation was deteriorating, though. Your friend only grew more and more restless. You tried to suggest ideas on stuff she could watch or do; watch more episodes of that anime Penny had gotten her into, or maybe play some of that adorable farming sim you’d discovered last week. To Nemona’s credit, she tried your suggestions, and tried very hard to get into it. But it seemed her ability to focus was just gone. As you watched her from the corner of your eye, concerned, you felt as though you were getting as tense as Nemona was feeling, just from worrying about her.
Eventually, Nemona gave up, tossing her tablet aside. She hopped up from her bed with a disgusted grunt and began to pace. You looked up to her.
“You okay?” you asked her gently, knowing she wasn’t.
“I feel so antsy,” she said, running a hand through her hair, where her ponytail was slowly coming undone.
You sighed,
“I’m sorry. I wish I could help. Is there anything I can do?”
She grumbled,
“I dunno, I dunno, I–”
Suddenly she stopped and turned, looking at you with intense eyes, saying,
“I wanna pokemon battle!”
You hesitated a moment and said,
“W-well, we can’t indoors . . .”
Her expression fell and she cursed under her breath something in Spanish you couldn’t make out. With a bit of a desperate edge, she said,
“We could go to the schoolyard!”
You frowned. Slowly, you answered,
“I . . . don’t think it’s a good idea, honestly. You’re probably not gonna want to be out and about when you’re . . . like this. Don’t you think?”
Nemona made another pained noise and ran her hand through her hair again, her hair band dislodging even further in her messy ponytail.
“I know you’re right and I hate it,” she groaned, turning back to pacing. Your heart felt like it was being slowly squashed in a vise, watching her suffering like this.
“I’m so sorry, Nemona, I wish I could make it better. Do you want me to call the nurse? Maybe she could give you something to help . . .”
Nemona shook her head adamantly, looking anxious at the suggestion.
“No, no, I don’t. . . I don’t. . .”
“Okay, that’s fine. We don’t need to.”
Nemona had stopped pacing and was staring dully at the wall. You stood from your seat, approaching her slowly. You weren’t sure if you could make things better, but you were determined to try.
“Don’t worry, we’re gonna think of something to do, okay? I’ll brainstorm for the both of us. I’m sure I can think of something.”
She looked so wound up and stressed, and you just wanted to make it go away for her. You found yourself automatically reaching out for the hair band that was all crooked and uncomfortable-looking in her hair, and gently tugged it loose for her, her dark, long strands slipping free.
Softly, you told her,
“It’s gonna be okay, girasol. I’ll think of something. In the meantime, is there anything else I can do?”
Nemona turned, slowly. She looked at you with those pretty amber eyes of hers, the ones that could look so fierce and fiery mid-battle, but that could also look so soft and warm and honeyed when she was smiling at you; in the moment, you couldn’t tell which they were. It almost seemed as though it was a mixture of both.
“W-well . . . every time you call me by such sweet names it . . . makes it harder for me to . . .”
She trailed off. Her entire body looked tensed up, drawn as tight as a bow string. She glanced away from you, wetting her lips, before finishing softly,
“. . . hold back.”
The heat returned to your face again, and you suddenly became very keenly aware of your proximity.
“Nhhh,” you commented, with your usual amount of eloquence. Her eyes returned to yours and suddenly the warning bells were going off in your head like klaxons, because the longer she gazed at you, the faster you felt your own self-control buckle.
You had to stop this. You had to. You promised you’d look after her, she trusted you to not take advantage–
“W-wait,” you mumbled, forcing yourself to back away a few steps.
“I-I have an idea! I know what we can do to pass the time.”
Those stunning eyes of hers never left yours, although now she looked amused. You watched as she quirked a brow and commented, smooth as silk,
“Yeah, I had a couple ideas myself.”
It took you a moment to process that, and then your eyes widened and you yelped,
“N-nemona! C’mon!”
She had the audacity to smirk at you. It looked way too good on her, especially when coupled with the rare treat of seeing her with her hair down. You bit down on your cheek and told yourself to focus.
“W-we can watch Ghost & Glitch Hunters! The first few seasons are up on RotomTube, we can marathon them! It’ll easily take us through the night.”
Nemona’s brow furrowed in confusion. Hesitantly, she answered,
“I . . . I guess we could? But Jules, you know I kinda hate that show, right? We’ve talked about it before, don’t you remember?”
You nodded.
“Yeah! Of course I remember. That’s why I’m suggesting it. It’s the perfect distraction! You’ll be too scared from the show, so you won’t be able to think about . . . about other stuff.”
Your were worried she’d hate the idea; quite honestly, you wouldn’t blame her. But it was the only thing that had jumped into your head, so you had to latch onto it.
To your surprise, though, she seemed receptive to the idea once you explained it.
“Hm . . . that does make some sense, actually. It might actually work.”
You were incredibly relieved, because you had no clue what you were gonna do if she said no.
“G-great! I’ll grab my laptop and fire things up! And we can make it a whole big thing, we can make popcorn and stuff, if you want. Ooh, and turn all the lights off!”
Nemona looked immediately regretful.
“Ughhh. Do we have to turn the lights off?”
Already headed over to grab your laptop, you answered with a cheeky grin,
“Well if you’re scared enough with the lights on then we don’t!”
“Ughhh.”
<3<3<3<3
It was actually getting pretty late in the day, so after checking Nemona’s vitals again, you both have a light dinner before setting up the spooky marathon watch. (Dinner consisted of zapped TV dinners, because neither of you were particularly good at cooking, nor did you have the mental capacity for anything else today) Then you popped some popcorn and set the laptop up on the foot of Nemona’s bed for her. The student dorms weren’t exactly super well-furnished, so it was kind of the only place you could put it. You moved her desk chair a bit closer to her bed, close enough you could mostly see the video but not close enough to . . . well. Be within reach of her. It was probably best to maintain a safe distance for now.
Then you hit start on the playlist and began with the first episode. Ghost & Glitch Hunters was a very cheesy, melodramatic program that followed a team of self-proclaimed ‘experts’ on paranormal phenomenon, who travelled to places to try and document said phenomenon. If you asked any pokemon professor, of course, they’d be the first to tell you that Ghost-type pokemon are just as natural and explainable as any other pokemon type; the fact that their bodies were largely made of gas and that they could control their density at will, manipulate dreams, etc etc, was honestly no stranger than the myriad other qualities and abilities that other pokemon types had at their disposal. However, superstitions about Ghost Types had been popular for ages, and these spooky stories still persisted about them. Another thing that was very popular, especially in particular regions, were urban legends about so-called ‘glitch’ pokemon. Supposedly these ‘glitch’ pokemon came from bizarre, distorted dimensions and were associated with terrifying ‘glitch phenomena,’ which happened when the laws of nature somehow became warped or broken.
You were a little obsessed with glitch pokemon stories, ever since you were a little kiddo in Unova, eating up the stories that came mostly from Kanto and Johto, with the occasional reports from Hoenn thrown in, too. Now that you’re older, you know in all likelihood the stories are complete bogus, but it was still fun to imagine the possibilities anyway; and the creepy stories made you a bit nostalgic, to be honest. Nemona, on the other hand, did not share your affection for the tall tales– she found the stories unnerving.
It was actually pretty adorable. Nemona was an incredibly smart, brave young woman, possibly the bravest and smartest person you knew; you’d seen her face down angry, Tereastalized wild pokemon twenty, thirty, forty levels higher than her team; you’d battled side-by-side with her to save the region from the Paradox Pokemon; and you’d seen her face down a semester carrying a full load of classes, active membership in several school clubs, Student Council duties and Champion duties back-to-back and still come out of it smiling with top grades. You admired her more than you could possibly say. And yet, she freaked out over the silly ghost stories from your cheesy TV show. You kinda loved that about her.
. . . okay, you kinda loved everything about her. But that was beside the point.
The first few episodes weren’t too bad. They focused on Ghost types and investigating rumors about some ghosts that the Silph Scope failed to decipher in some small town in Kanto. Nemona spent some time nitpicking the rumors and complaining that they didn’t make much sense. The blurry pictures they captured and the dramatic music and crackpot theorizing was pretty tame, relatively speaking. But things amped up a little as you worked your way further into season one. The investigators travelled to Cinnabar Island, to pursue the popular rumors of a glitch named Missingno. You perked up at this episode, because it was one of your favorites. Nemona, apparently, did not feel the same.
“Oh, no, can we skip this one?”
“What?? It just started, what do you mean?”
“Yeah, I know, but I don’t really like Missingno stuff,” Nemona grumped, making a face.
“Why?”
“Because! It’s. I dunno, it’s weird.”
On screen, the investigation team was outfitting a glorified dinghy boat with their equipment, in preparation for their trip. The boat was woefully inadequate for the choppy water, which the investigators blithely ignored.
“But you told me you like weird. You said I was weird.”
Nemona quickly corrected,
“I do! But you’re good weird. Missingno is creepy weird.”
“Maybe Missingno is just misunderstood. Maybe they just wanna be loved,” you teased. She groaned.
“You’re just exploiting my good nature to keep me watching.”
You shrugged, grinning.
“Maybe.”
The show cut to night, when the crew embarked on their journey. They were sailing along the island’s coast, aiming a bright spotlight into the crashing waves. Rumors held that Missingno hid deep in the ocean by day and surfaced at night just a few miles offshore, perhaps to feed or to cause some other kind of mischief. You watched as the crew became excited over strange readings on their sonar, and they raced to catch up to whatever was causing the odd readings.
“Their boat is way too tiny! They’re gonna capsize just from sailing out in that storm,” Nemona complained anxiously.
“Pssh, yeah, I know, it’s kinda ridiculous. I think that’s the only thing their budget could afford.”
The waves kept bouncing them around as they struggled to aim their spotlight and keep the cameras steady.
“Why don’t they just–”
Suddenly, there was a deep, guttural noise that echoed out across the ocean, and the crew froze on the spot, shocked. As the boat bobbed up and down in the water, the noise repeated, louder, shuddering and twisted, sounding a bit like a human voice crying out in pain.
Nemona’s eyes were wide and she shrank back a little in her bed.
“What the heck was that?!”
You grinned, munching on popcorn.
“It’s weird, yeah?”
“It sounded almost human,” she said, eyes glued to the screen. The camera cut to an image on sonar, showing the sea below. It was incredibly fuzzy, but there was a cluster of shapes slowly moving along, lurking among the deep. As the crew’s boat rushed along and they drew closer, it became easier to make out; there were distinct, sharp lines, and what looked to be a head with a long snout. There was something strange about it, though; where there should have been eyes, there was only empty space. The show displayed an artists’ rendition of Missingno beside the sonar image, using red pen to outline the shape in the water.
“What?! They think it’s just a- a skeleton?”
You excitedly answer,
“Yeah! It’s like, the tortured remains of a long-extinct species, according to some people.”
“But that doesn’t . . . maybe it’s just wearing the skull, like Cubone or something?”
You shook your head.
“Nah, there’s nothing inside the skull. It’s empty, it’s just a reanimated skeleton goin’ around.”
Nemona made a skeptical noise, but then the boat seemed to be struck with something large and heavy, rattling and shuddering from the impact. The crew scrambled to assess the damage.
“Oh my god, what was that? They’re gonna sink their dinky boat!”
The ship rumbled with another strike, and then another, something thumping against the hull. It became clear they didn’t simply hit a rock, and that whatever was hitting them was doing so intentionally.
“Aaaaaaa, Jules!” Nemona whined, reaching out and grabbing her nearby Goodra plushie to hide behind. It was far too adorable. You laughed,
“What? It’s fine, they’re just getting a little smacked around.”
She pleaded,
“Come sit with me at least, this is way too creepy alone!”
You hesitated a moment, ready to ask her if she was sure that was a good idea, but then you realized she was probably way too freaked out for it to matter. So, you obligingly got up and sat down beside her, the bed dipping a little as you slid into place. Nemona looked to you and seemed to be a little relieved at your presence.
“I don’t know how you stand watching this stuff.”
You chuckled,
“This is just season one, it gets way creepier from here on out.”
On the laptop, the crew were desperately trying to navigate away from whatever was attacking them. Despite the damage to the hull, they seemed to be making some progress in escaping. However, a minute later, from the depths of the sea, there was an anguished, distorted cry– a blood-curdling sort of shriek– and the boat was struck again violently, throwing several people off their feet. Nemona squeaked and instinctively grabbed you, apparently deciding you were better protection than her Goodra plushie. Urgently, she demanded,
“You’ve seen this before, tell me what happens!”
You giggled and answered,
“Aw, but spoilers–”
“Jules!”
She was so unbearably cute, it was hard not to tease her. You continued,
“Okay, okay, it’s almost over, I promise–”
Blasts of water shot onto the deck of the ship, which seemed to be intentionally directed at the crew, as though some pokemon was using a water move against them; at the same time, something under water began to glow a bright white, and the winds picked up speed, a whirlwind starting to form over the boat. The crew began to panic, everyone shouting at once.
Nemona buried her face into the crook of your neck and complained in a high-pitched tone,
“It’s not over–”
You laughed, trying to reassure her as the video footage went blurry and chaotic, accompanied by awful screeching and thumping noises, before the footage suddenly cut out and the screen went to black.
“There, see! It’s done. It’s over now, you can look now!”
The show fell quiet, displaying somber white text on a black background, explaining the events that had transcribed after they lost the footage. Nemona was still attached to you and grumbled into your neck,
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s safe now! I promise.”
Warily, Nemona turned to look back to the laptop. The episode had a narrator doing a wrap-up of events, which seemed mild enough for Nemona to eventually release you from her panicked grip. She sighed, then mumbled,
“Sheeeesh. That was awful.”
You felt a bit of guilt as you looked to her, since she really did seem to sincerely hate watching this show. As the episode ended, you told her,
"Hey. I'm sorry, I don't wanna torture you or anything. I didn't realize you hated the show that much."
She sort of just shrugged, murmuring,
"Eh, I'll survive."
Not happy with that, you tried to think of what other shows you might try instead.
"Yeah, but, maybe we could--"
Nemona suddenly yelped in fear and grabbed you again, burying her face into your shirt and whimpering. You quickly looked to the laptop and stared at it, confused.
"Wh-what's wrong, Nemona-- Nemona, nothing's happening! It's just the end credits rolling!"
Did the end credits flash a creepy photo or something? You rubbed her back in comfort, trying to reassure her,
"It's okay, it's over with now, I promise!"
After several lingering moments, Nemona reluctantly pulled her head back a little to peek at you, but something seemed off. Instead of fear, her eyes had a strange sort of twinkle to them. Then an impish smile reached her lips. She confessed,
"Yeeeeah, I know, but I didn't really get the chance to enjoy doing this the first time round, so . . ."
As she trailed off, you balked, squawking,
"Nemona!"
She giggled as you pushed away from her, desperate to put some space between you. You nearly fell off her bed in your haste, although corrected yourself before actually falling. Indignant, you said,
"This show was supposed to distract you!"
"It did! For a while. Most of that was real fear, just maybe not the end bit!"
While that was probably true, it was still very distressing how easily she fooled you. You huffed,
"I thought you said you were a terrible liar."
You weren't actually angry at her-- if anything, you were mad at yourself for being caught off-guard like that. Despite that, Nemona's gaze lowered and she murmured,
"Sorry."
Oh, god, no, not the sad eyes. You felt instantaneous guilt.
"Nemona, you have nothing to apologize for. You're wonky on a love potion, it's my job to keep a clear head. Not your fault, it's mine."
Her head drooped and she rubbed her face, mumbling,
"Yeah but maybe if I was better at fighting the stupid thoughts racing around in my head right now . . ."
You shook your head, then realized she couldn't see you.
"Nemona, no. It's literally a drug in your system, you can't expect yourself to just 'fight it off.' C'mon, don't worry about it."
You glanced to the laptop and continued,
"Look, why don't we keep watching something? It doesn't have to be the ghost and glitch show, we can watch anything you want."
She looked back up at you.
"Nah, we can keep going with this. I think you were right about it. The stupid ghosts and stuff do make it hard to think about anything else."
Uncertain, you asked,
"Are you sure? I don't want to make you miserable, that is definitely not my goal."
She nodded.
"I'm sure. It kinda sucks, yeah, but it's not too bad. It's way better then being so restless that I feel like crawling outta my skin, you know?"
You didn't really like that answer. You wanted her to feel comfortable, in the very least, but maybe that wasn't realistic at this point. And in the absence of a better plan, you didn't really know what else to do.
Sighing, you begrudgingly agreed.
"All right. But if it ever gets to be too much, you just give me the word and we'll stop immediately. Okay?"
She nodded.
"Okay. Sounds good."
You went over to your laptop and picked through the playlist, trying to choose an episode that wasn't too intense. After settling on an episode you both decided to pop some more popcorn, on the theory that food was a great distraction too.
For a while, you had real hope that your plan was working. You managed to get through several full episodes, and to Nemona's credit, she took them really well. She clearly still found them very creepy, but it seemed like she was starting to get used to them. In fact, after a while, it seemed a lot of her initial fear had given away to curiosity, and you talked for a bit about various Missingno theories. It was perhaps not inaccurate to even claim she was starting to enjoy herself a little.
But as the hours ticked by, Nemona seemed to turn restless again. It was possible that her decreasing fear was in fact the problem; the more she grew accustomed to the show, the less of a distraction it became to her. It grew increasingly difficult to convince her to continue the marathon. To be honest, you had been hoping that as it got later, she'd get tired, but she still seemed as wired as ever. Which was very unfortunate, because you were starting to feel exhausted.
"C'mon Jules, it's super late now, nobody is gonna be out in the courtyard anymore. Come battle with meeeee," Nemona whined, looking up at you with pleading eyes. You laughed gently and answered her,
"Nah girl, sorry, I don't think it's a good idea."
After what happened the last time you both ran into a trainer, you really didn't want to chance anyone running into you two along the way. It was just safer in here.
"Ughhhhhhh, it's so boring in here," she carried on, rolling dramatically on her bed. You smiled patiently and tried to placate her.
"The next episode is an extra spooky one, I think you'll really like it? It even freaks me out a little."
"I don't wanna watch anything, I wanna get out of here."
Sighing, you answer,
"I know it sucks, Nemona, but we gotta stay put."
She grumbled,
"I can't. I can't anymore."
Her eyes were defiant. You answered her,
"Nemona, c'mon, don’t make me tie you down or something, ‘cos I’ll do it if I have to.”
You were just joking, of course, but she responded as if your comment was serious.
“Pfft, like you could. Jules, I love you, but there’s no way you could tie me up, you’d have to pin me down first and that ain’t happening.”
You actually felt a little slighted at how confidant she sounded.
“Hey, you don’t know that. I could take you . . ."
She chuckled,
“I’d like to see you try it.”
You rolled your eyes. When you looked back to her, she was gazing at you steadily. She said,
“I meant it literally, I actually want to see you try.”
You swallowed and then laughed nervously.
“Maybe some other day, I don’t-–”
She suddenly rose from her bed and approached you, grinning,
“Aw, c’mon, you chickening out now?”
Oh god, she really was serious. You hopped from your chair, your heart immediately hammering in your chest, realizing how risky the situation was.
“Wait wait Nemona this isn’t, this isn’t a good activity right now--"
"You don't want a pokemon battle, so why not? You don't wanna see who's stronger?" she asked with a giggle, advancing towards you. You backed away from her, your thoughts screaming.
"Nemona, we can't--"
Your back suddenly met with the wall, causing the rest of your sentence to die in your throat. You wondered how you managed to lose control of the situation so fast. Nemona was already close enough to you that you could see the flecks of gold in her amber eyes and feel the tickle of her breath.
She was gazing at you like a hungry Lycanroc, her eyes roaming you up and down. Your muscles were tensed up so tightly you felt yourself begin to shake. Youhad to do something, you had to stop this, you knew you did . . .
The trouble was you didn't want to.
And as Nemona closed the space between you, instead of fighting it, you closed your eyes and waited.
The jingle of your Rotom phone was nothing more than mere background noise you paid no attention to.
Unfortunately, you still had your phone set to 'auto answer,' so the Rotom that inhabited your phone flew out of your pocket and floated beside you, switching the call on. Suddenly, the voice of Nurse Miriam was blaring in your ears.
"Hello? Juliana? Hello, are you there?"
Gasping in surprise, you both jerked away from each other. (Or, at least, you attempted to, but you were still backed against a wall, so in reality it was just Nemona who jerked away a little.)
Your heart was still pounding and you didn't really trust your voice at the moment, but you had no choice. You rasped out,
"Y-yeah? Hello, yeah, I'm here."
There was a sigh of relief from the other side of the line.
"Oh, thank goodness. I was concerned when you didn't respond to any of my texts requesting a status update. I'd thought that maybe . . . well, never mind that. Is everything all right with Nemona?"
Your eyes moved helplessly back to Nemona's. She returned the gaze. She was holding back for the moment, but her pupils were blown wide again and you could still see something terribly wild and hungry in those eyes.
You swallowed, throat dry.
"U-uhm, umm, w-well . . ."
To your exasperation, Nemona nodded and gave you a thumbs-up and a cheesy smile, as if trying to indicate that you should say all was well. The situation felt absurd.
"Yes, Juliana? Are there any problems?"
"U-uuum . . . I-I guess not . . ."
What were you doing? That clearly wasn't an accurate answer, but you weren't sure you wanted to give an accurate answer. That would have been terribly awkward.
Nurse Miriam pushed,
"Are you sure? You sound uncertain."
You cleared your throat and straightened up a little against the wall, smiling nervously.
"Yeeeep, everything's . . . peachy keen. I've been, uh, taking her vitals every 30 minutes like you said, and all's good. Sorry I missed your texts, we were just watching a show, I guess it was kinda loud."
There was a pause. Nemona looked very satisfied with your answer.
Maybe a little too satisfied. She was starting to inch back towards you again.
Miriam replied,
"I see. And what about any other symptoms or behaviors? Are you having any difficulty looking after her and keeping her out of trouble?"
Nemona's brows bounced upwards when Miriam said the word "trouble." The devious look that she gave you made you shiver.
"NOPE WE'RE GOOD," you squeaked, your voice unintentionally rising an octave higher. Miriam seemed to pick up on it.
"You're certain? I'd be happy to drop by if you need me to, Juliana."
You opened your mouth to reply and hesitated. She was giving you a way out of this, you really should seriously consider it. As reluctant as you were to involve Nurse Miriam, if things carried on like this for any longer you were pretty sure you were going to crack. Hell, if she hadn't called exactly when she did, you probably would have let Nemona just . . . uh. Do whatever it was she had planned on doing.
From the look she was giving you, was still planning on doing, in fact.
"Well, um, m-maybe . . ." you stammered. Nemona's expression shifted to one of alarm. Miriam continued,
"I could come over as soon as I finish locking up here at my office."
Nemona snatched the Rotom phone from the air.
"Ahahaha, Nurse Miriam, heyyyy! How are you? Ummm, you don't gotta do that, we'd hate to bother you and make you come all the way over to the dorms like that. I feel fine!"
You crossed your arms and raised a skeptical brow at Nemona.
"Nemona, it's good to hear you. As I was telling Juliana, it would be no trouble at all for me. I'm accustomed to making house calls when necessary on campus."
Nemona answered quickly,
"Of course, but I'm just saying it isn't necessary! Juliana told you my vitals and everything are good, right? Nothing to worry about!"
The line was quiet a moment before Miriam answered,
"Be that as it may, your friend does sound a little strained with the task of watching you. That was my primary concern, since your symptoms otherwise have not been too unusual."
Nemona's eyes flicked to you, and she seemed to finally sober to the fact that she was acting weird. She winced, considering things for a moment before saying,
"Okay . . . yeah, I admit I've been a little rowdy tonight, but I swear we don't need a chaperone. I'll, um, I'll behave from now on, I promise!"
You could hear Nurse Miriam sighing again on the other side of the line. Patiently, she said,
"I'd prefer to have the final say from Juliana, if you don't mind. She's the one who's responsible for your safety at the moment."
Nemona turned to you, then awkwardly handed you the phone. Then she folded her hands together as if in prayer, gazing at you beseechingly, but careful not to speak anything outloud.
You frowned, giving her an unamused look. She really thought her sad Rockruff eyes were gonna work on you now--
"Juliana, are you there?"
Nemona's amber eyes widened even more, and she mouthed an exaggerated 'pleeeeeease' at you, and goddamnit, she was so ridiculous, why was this working--
"Hello?"
You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed, before saying,
"Yeah, I'm here, sorry ma'am. Um, yeah, I'm a bit tired but otherwise I'm doing all right. I don't think you need to come over, it's getting late anyway. I'll be sure to update you first thing in the morning."
The nurse seemed to finally accept this answer.
"Very well, Juliana. Thank you for the update. I'll speak with you later. You both have a good night."
"Yeah. Thanks. 'Night."
Once you hung up, Nemona sighed in relief,
"Thank you, Jules, I was so worried she was gonna take me back to her office--"
You pointed at her, cutting in,
"I know, but you gotta promise to behave, all right? I don't want to deal with Nurse Miriam anymore than you do, so don't give me a reason to."
Nemona looked at you with a serious expression and nodded,
"Right. Yes, of course. I will. I'll be good. I'll--" Her serious expression almost immediately gave way to a little smile that made you feel uneasy, and then she purred lewdly at you,
"I'll be a good girl--"
"Nemona!"
"What?"
This was it, this was how you were gonna die. You buried your face in your hands, hiding your blush. When you dared to look back up again Nemona seemed to be genuinely struggling with keeping herself in check. She muttered,
"Okay, I just heard it outloud, and yeah, um. S-sorry."
You were in the middle of figuring out your reply before Nemona suddenly announced,
"I'm just gonna. Take a shower. It's getting late anyway, like you said. Is that cool?"
You paused, then nodded.
"Yeah. T-that's . . . a good idea."
As soon as she'd gotten a change of pajamas and vanished into the bathroom, you released a shaky sigh, thunking down on the bed, nerves completely shot. This had to be the longest day you have ever lived in your life. You deserved a metal or something if you made it through.
You looked to the clock on the wall, realizing something terrifying. The potion was still affecting Nemona and it was nearly midnight. You were gonna have to stay over so you could continue looking after her. You glanced around the room, which had little more than a desk, a desk chair, and a bed for furniture.
Okay. Okay. Hold on. You didn't come this far to be defeated by some stupid 'there was only one bed' trope. You were smarter then that, you still had your sleeping bag from when you were backpacking across Paldea with Arven. You glanced to the bathroom, wondering if Nemona would be safe to leave on her own for a bit. It wouldn't take you long, it should be fine.
You rushed back to your dorm, grabbing your sleeping bag and pillow as well as a toothbrush and your phone charger. You got back to Nemona's room and found there was plenty of time still to set things up and have a midnight snack (another muffin) and then just try to rest a little. You were scrolling through social media on your phone when Nemona finally immerged from the bathroom. She'd been in there a pretty long time, but hey, as long as she was staying out of trouble, that's all that mattered.
"Hi," you said as she padded out in her fuzzy Pawmot slippers. Her PJs were orange too and matched the slippers, with little pokeballs as buttons on the top and pants. It was adorable, but you kept that to yourself.
"Hi," she answered in a relaxed tone, her damp hair fluttering about her. She looked over the sleeping bag you were sitting on, then asked,
"Slumber party?"
You chuckled.
"Yeah, I guess. I figured it might be smarter for me to sleep down here tonight."
She nodded, then asked,
"You okay with that? I'm sure you're exhausted by now, I want you to be able to sleep."
You waved it off,
"It's fine. I slept in this a ton while backpacking, I'm pretty used to it by now. It's kinda cozy in its own way, y'know?"
To your surprise, she didn't try to fight you on it, just accepted it at face value.
"Okay, sounds good."
She then flopped onto her bed and sighed. You asked,
"Sounds like the shower helped calm you down?"
"Mmmhmm," she answered, almost dreamily. You felt a tension melt in your chest. Thank Arceus. You were beginning to fear that she would never wind down.
It was around then you realized just how damn tired you were yourself. You already knew you were exhausted, of course, but it was really starting to hit you, now that you knew you could relax a little. Your limbs and head felt heavy, like lead.
"Oof. You know, I think I'll take a quick shower too."
"Okay."
When you stood, though, you cursed.
"Aw crap, I forgot my pajamas."
Nemona waved lazily in the direction of her dresser.
"It's fine, just borrow some of mine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah? You know you can borrow anything of mine, you can borrow my toothbrush if you want, Jules."
You laughed, answering,
"Okay, okay. I brought my toothbrush though, so I won't need to."
You shuffled over and grabbed something that you thought would fit, then headed into the bathroom, which was still foggy from condensation. You had hoped that the shower would help you relax too, but your thoughts very unhelpfully kept cycling through the events of the day, and all the things Nemona had said and done. You weren't nearly naive enough to think any of this stuff had to do with how Nemona really felt about you. But your mind seemed to keep ending back up on the picnic you had with her earlier today. The moment she looked at you and told you that you reminded her of Vivillon, and all the reasons why. She'd said it with such tenderness, but also with this spark of repressed excitement in her eyes, and it was right before she told you she'd started feeling funny-- so part of you hoped at least that moment had been real. Maybe? Possibly.
Certainly it was foolish to hope anything else had been really from her heart. Especially as the night wore on and she'd been increasingly, um, focused on you.
Such as when she decided she was going to try and pin you down.
Suddenly feeling far too warm, you dipped your head under the spray and cranked the temperature down to cold, grumbling.
When you immerged from the bathroom, you still felt far tenser then you'd have liked, but maybe it didn't matter; you were close to passing out regardless. When you returned to your sleeping bag, Nemona glanced up at you and grinned sleepily.
"Aw, you chose the purple ones. You look cute."
You muttered a "Thanks," looking down at the pajamas. They were a little too long on you, but they were fuzzy and warm. From the bed, Nemona continued to mumble,
"I like it . . . seeing you in my clothes. Makes me feel . . . good. Mi pequeña mariposa . . ."
She really sounded out of it. You sat down and wriggled into your sleeping bag, trying very hard to ignore the thrill inside from the adorable new nickname she'd used.
Instead, you asked her,
"You, um, about ready to shut the lights out for the night?"
She gave you an airy,
"Yep!"
She reached over and switched the lamp off, the room dipping into darkness. You felt so grateful. You were pretty sure you fell asleep before your head even hit the pillow.
<3<3<3<3
Your sleep was a little broken throughout the night, despite your exhaustion, so it wasn't the most restful night. Still, it was far better than some nights you'd had.
When you woke, you felt very groggy. It took you time to even remember why you were on the floor in a sleeping bag, and then the events of yesterday came rushing back to you.
"Ugnnhhh," you mumbled, reaching for your phone to check the time. 10:00. You'd better get moving. Glancing around, you suddenly realized Nemona wasn't in her bed; she must have woken before you. You typed out a quick text message, letting her know you were awake. Her reply came a few minutes later, saying she was just finishing up in the cafeteria and she'd be right back.
You're finished changing by the time she returns, carrying a little bocadillo de heuvos and a cup of coffee.
"I brought you some breakfast!"
The smell of coffee made you want to sob in joy and you had to fight the urge to jokingly ask her to marry you right then and there. Probably too soon to be joking about that stuff. Instead you just thanked her repeatedly and sat at her desk to eat. You inhaled the sandwich in three bites.
"So how are you feeling?" you asked her, the question feeling heavy, since you were worried about the answer. Nemona turned and smiled at you, and it's the usual, dazzling smile you'd come to know her for.
"A hundred percent better. It feels like the weird blanket on my brain is finally gone and I can think again."
You sighed in relief.
"Thank Arceus."
She nodded and laughed, glancing away.
"Yeah . . . that whole thing was . . . a lot."
You sipped the coffee, which was only just barely not-scorching, and hummed.
"Yeah, I'll say. But you're better now. That's what matters."
"I guess."
She looked back to you, her gaze serious.
"But I wanted to thank you for looking after me. I know how crazy and exhausting it must have been dealing with all of that. And I also wanted to apologize. For, um, everything, really."
You shook your head.
"There's no need to apologize, Nemona."
"There is, though. I was so . . . ughh," she buried her face in her hands, and you felt a pang of empathy, knowing that looking back on yesterday fully sober had to be pretty rough.
You sipped your coffee and answered calmly,
"You had an entire bottle of some weird potion dumped on you with unknown ingredients, it's fine. I'm not holding anyone accountable for something like that. Heck, it was technically all my fault, since I did it."
"Yeah, I know all that, but, ugh. I still want to apologize, Juliana. For everything I said and . . . urg, did. I realize how hard it must have been for you. And I wasn't exactly making your job easy. Plus, I know how horrible it would have been if . . . well, if I'd ended up, y'know . . ." She fidgeted nervously with her tie and looked at the floor, continuing weakly, "Ended up kissing you or whatever, ha . . ."
You frowned, your stomach souring. You timidly echoed,
"Horrible?"
She looked to you nervously.
"Well, y-yeah, it would have made it super awkward and uncomfortable between us, right? I'm just glad it didn't happen, I would hate it if I had caused that! Unintentionally or not. I never wanna be the cause of you feeling uncomfortable."
You gazed down into your cup of coffee, deciding it was still too early to be having this kind of discussion. All of your self-doubts and worries were swimming around your brain and you couldn't tell if Nemona was repulsed at the mere thought of any sort of romance with you and was just wording it very kindly, or you were just really overthinking it.
"I wouldn't have chosen the word horrible," you muttered into your coffee, before you could stop yourself. It had apparently been too quiet, since Nemona asked,
"What?"
You swallowed.
"I, uh. I just don't think I would have used the word 'horrible' to describe it if we had . . . kissed or something."
She gazed at you intently.
"What word would you have used?"
You blinked, plenty of words coming to mind, none of them particularly useful in the present moment.
Amazing. Fantastic. Incredible. Thrilling. Exhilarating, a dream come true--
"I-I dunno," you mumbled, taking another sip of coffee to avoid speaking further.
Nemona glanced away from you. Her voice was tense and strained as she answered quietly,
"It's okay, Jules. I think I get it."
You felt panic rising in your throat.
"I don't think you do, though!"
Those pretty amber eyes were on you again. Oh, god, were you gonna do this? Confess? Confess to her now? Right now, still only half-awake and in your gross wrinkled clothes from yesterday, on the heels of the weirdest day ever? This wasn't how you'd wanted to do it, you weren't even sure if you ever were going to do it!
You must have taken too long to decide, because Nemona was telling you gently,
"It's fine, Juliana. I get that it was awkward. We can just forget about the whole thing, the entire day. Pretend it never happened, never speak of it again, ok?"
You were such a coward, because that was tempting to you. It was so tempting to just stuff your feelings down and move on with the semester, never let Nemona know the truth. Never have to face the likelihood of rejection, never have to risk damaging your friendship, never have to explain yourself, never have to try.
You stammered,
"I-I . . ."
And as you hesitated, you felt the window rapidly closing on your opportunity. Your heart began to hammer in your chest, and despite all your fear-- terror, even-- something was suddenly so plain and clear to you.
You spoke your revelation aloud.
"I'm sorry, Nemona, but I can't. I can't just leave it at that. After yesterday, I think it would kill me if I didn't finally say something. I . . . god." You rubbed your face.
"I have to tell you the truth."
Your friend looked increasingly concerned. She asked,
"The truth?"
You pulled in a breath.
"Yeah . . . and, uh, before I say anything further, just so you know, this isn't something I realized recently or decided hastily, I-I mean, this, um, this has been going on for months now."
"What has?" Nemona pressed, voice rising a little in her alarm.
You pulled in another big breath to brace yourself.
"That . . . oh, man . . ."
You wanted to do this looking her dead in the eye, but apparently that wasn't gonna happen, so you stared down into your stupid coffee instead.
"God this sucks, I'm so crap at this. Okay, um. So. I-I . . ."
It felt like trying to wade through mud, getting any of the words out.
"W-what I wanted to say was that I, I, for a while now I've been having . . ."
Your eyes screwed shut, and you forced out,
"--feelings. About you. That um . . ."
Your cheeks began to heat up a little, which annoyed you, you wanted to play this cool, damnit.
"Feelings that are, that are, not just best-friends feelings?"
Oh my god that was the stupidest way to put it in the history of confessions. The shame of your awful confession gave you the strength to force yourself to look back up at her.
"I really like you," you clarified, and realized it was getting easier, so you continued,
"A lot. And I realize yesterday you had a love potion dumped on you so don't worry, I don't expect you to feel the same, I realize that all that stuff yesterday wasn't real. I just had to tell you, I had to get it off my chest. Before we moved on and never spoke of this stuff again. I dunno why exactly, I just had to tell you. So. Yeah."
You watched her like a hawk for a reaction, feeling your heart balanced on a razor blade.
Nemona's expression seemed to be almost entirely blank, as if her mind had just blue-screened with this information. This was terribly frustrating since it told you nothing. You watched and waited, trying to be patient, but every second felt like eons.
Finally, her expression seemed to settle into one of . . . mild exasperation?
"Y'know that would have made things yesterday a heck of a lot easier if I'd known this a little sooner."
Befuddled, you asked,
"What?"
She looked to you and stated in a plain tone,
"Yeah, I've been completely and utterly infatuated with you since pretty much our first day together."
All the breath exited your lungs at once and your eyes boggled. Shrilly, you gasped,
"W-what?!"
She seemed almost amused with your reaction.
"Is it really so hard to believe? I thought you already knew. Or suspected it anyway, I was really bad at hiding it! Especially yesterday, hah . . ."
"You were drugged! On a love potion!" you said, gesturing dramatically at her.
This time she did laugh a little, and it distressed you how calmly she seemed to be taking all of this. Bluntly, she responded,
"Yeah, but all that really did was make it harder for me to keep my mouth shut about the stuff that's been running through my head every day about you."
Then her eyes widened and she cringed, as if realizing how much of a confession her statement had been. Nervously, she added,
"Uh. Um . . . shoot. Sorry. If that freaks you out."
You felt your face getting very hot, because that was a lot to process. All of this was a lot to process.
"It, uh . . . wow."
Nemona fidgeted with her tie.
"Wow . . . wow-bad or wow-good orrrrr . . ."
You answered quickly,
"I mean, wow good, it's just I've been spending a seriously long time telling myself that it was all just wishful thinking, so it's gonna take me a hot minute to, uh. Wrap my head around it."
She was quiet a moment, pondering things. Then she began to speak in a thoughtful tone.
"I guess I could say the same. I . . . I was so sure it was just me. At first I thought I was just ecstatic with finally finding a real friend, and it would wear off or whatever, but it just kept going and. Well then I made some other good friends but it still felt really intense with you, so for a while I told myself it was just because you and I were best friends and rivals for life, that's just how it feels! But no matter how I kept trying to talk myself out of it, it never really worked and I eventually realized that it was more than that and . . . and I'm rambling. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
You smiled a little, quickly assuring her,
"It's fine."
"Anyway, even after I realized all that I was still so sure you didn't feel like that, and I didn't want to put that on you. When I find something I like, I tend to go at it a thousand percent, heh, as you kinda already know. And . . ."
She glanced away.
"And I know most people find me a bit . . . much."
You immediately got to your feet, stepping closer to her and answering urgently,
"And I love that about you, I wouldn't have it any other way."
She flicked her gaze back to you briefly, eyes wide. Then she turned and started to pace a little, saying,
"Hold on a moment, I'm gonna need a moment. Ooh."
You were a little confused but you remained quiet, watching her pace and fuss with her tie, fidgeting with nervous energy, until finally she asked,
"You're really serious, aren't you?"
She sounded so . . . shocked.
"Yes. I would never-- I'd never joke about this!"
She waved her hands,
"I didn't think you were joking, but, I wasn't . . . I don't know, it's just hard for me to believe, I guess?"
Staring at her, you grappled with a feeling of profound frustration. You'd spent hours upon hours thinking about all the ways in which you admired and adored your dear friend, but suddenly faced with the task of putting them all into words at once, in this moment, felt . . . entirely impossible. It all just jammed together in an incredibly powerful knot of feelings.
You stammered,
"H-how? Why? You're so, you're so amazing, I don't even know how to . . . I still find it hard to believe that you really like me that much!"
You heard yourself outloud and suddenly found yourself snickering over how ridiculous this conversation sounded. Nemona smiled and chuckled, mostly out of tension it seemed, and asked,
"What is it?"
You shook your head,
"It's just silly, we're apparently madly in love and we don't even believe each other."
Nemona's smile increased and her eyes grew warm with mirth, as she seemed to appreciate your point. After a few beats, she said,
"Well, if you need further convincing, I have a pretty strong argument I've been wanting to make for a while now."
You nodded.
"Yeah, absolutely, go for it."
She hesitated.
"You sure?"
You said,
"Of course!"
For some reason, she remained unconvinced. She glanced away, gnawing a little at her bottom lip. You weren't sure what the problem was, but it seemed whatever she was considering had her very worried.
You stepped closer to her.
"Nemona," you said gently. When she looked at you, you could see such vulnerability in those golden-orange eyes. You felt like it was a look you'd seen before, in your more serious conversations with her. Usually when she was describing her past attempts at making friends, and how she'd apparently scared them all away with her intensity.
You reached out, tenderly brushing aside the dark green strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes. You told her softly,
"Hey, it's okay. You're not going to freak me out. All that stuff that happened yesterday and I'm still here, right?"
A smile curved at your lips at the end of your sentence and she laughed a little. You could see the confidence building in her eyes. Her voice was a little firmer when she repeated,
"You're sure?"
You nodded. She seemed to be studying your gaze, so you let her see all of the certainty that you felt.
Quietly, hardly more than a murmur, you told her;
"It's okay, Nemona. No more holding back."
And as she looked at you, those incredibly expressive, beautiful eyes seemed to sparkle, like the rising sun. A joyful grin spread on her face, one that you'd helped put there, and god, you felt giddy with the knowledge.
You loved this girl. She was radiant.
"Okay, good," she said,
"Because I've been wanting to do this for god knows how long, and I'm not waiting any longer."
She slid her hands over your waist and pulled you close, kissing you with a hunger that was all-encompassing, a roaring inferno that made you shiver as you surrendered yourself into the moment. Kissing her felt like eating flame, or drowning at sea, or being pulled into a hurricane.
Wild. Unfettered. Untarnished passion.
When you eventually pulled apart, she was grinning like an idiot, and you realized you were, too. Giggling, you said,
"Wow. That was, um. That was worth the wait."
She pressed her forehead to yours, sighing.
"Yeah. It really was."
#julinemo#terajules#juliana x nemona#nemona#julinemo fanfic#second person POV#juliana POV#love potion trope#flirting#hijinks
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We really did go through a lot to find pokemon in gen 3, didn't we? Especially since this was the days before consistent internet access, reliable guides, and solid coverage.
You want Milotic? ok, so there are 6 random unmarked tiles in this entire river which have a 50% spawn rate, and it re-randomizes if you talk to an NPC on the other side of the map. You find it? Cool, go to the contests and raise its beauty stat to max with pokeblocks, remembering that if you don't raise it to max within a small number of pokeblocks it will just refuse to eat more. How many pokeblocks? depends. Anyway, Congrats!
Oh, you want the regi's? ok, in the middle of a swirling maze of sea tiles that shove you, off in the middle of nowhere, find a small Diving spot and go to wall. There's a message in braille for you there saying to dive again, hope you know what braille is. Inside are many more braille tablets. go to the back wall, use dig, which I hope you have, and also I hope you have a waillord in the last slot of your party and relicanth (5% spawn in underwater grass on 2 routes) in the first. Do that, and 3 random rocks in the middle of nowhere all over the map will open, your hint to this is "a door opened somewhere far away." Find those obscure caves for more obscure braille hints like "wait twice" (don't move for 2 minutes). Congrats! careful not to knock them out though, only one chance.
Oh, look the TV's flashing, but it's not the name rater show like it has been the whole game, it's a news report! It's somewhere, and it's red! What is it, and where? Red! Unknown to you, it's a different somewhere every time you enter a door, but good luck! Especially since it immediately runs and keeps the same HP between encounters, make sure not to knock it out :)
Wynaut? Well this random tiny town has an old man saying whether he can see an island today. In the 1/10923 to 1/65536 chance that he can (depends on how many pokemon you have with you), go in the direction of that window and you'll find a new island with them.
Bagon? previously unreachable section in a midgame cave, very back room, chance to spawn. Hope you aren't wearing repels!
Beldam? Yeah it's in the champ's house in a corner of the map, a building and city you've otherwise looted already.
Spheal, Snorunt? Yeah there's a cave whose tide changes throughout the day, go there at different times and there's different parts available. solve puzzles at both times and you can get a shell bell!
And remember, this was 2003. Parents were either very controlling of your internet or outright banning it in fear of you getting kidnapped or getting their info hacked. Internet safety was taught in schools because it was a wild west where you could easily stumble onto anything, less corporate sanitization than a run down subway system. So running to it wasn't most people's first thought, and there was a good chance nobody would have what you were looking for, if you even knew how to find the right people.
There's something wonderful to be said for those days. If you DID manage to get the regi's, you were likely the only kid at school to, and you felt like an ADVENTURER! You found old ruins in hidden untouched corners, with a language you may have never heard of before! You deciphered it and solved thier riddles to find something ancient and unlike anything you'd seen! And all by yourself, or the forum you stumbled on to figure it out with other explorers! It felt amazing!
That said, they were right to dial it back in the future. Gen 4 probably had the best overall balance on these. Still, every time people get upset over a Malamar or Runerigus, I can't help but smile. That was part of the appeal, once upon a time. It always feels like they're saying "this one's for you, thanks for sticking around."
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Question since some people seem to have started acting out on their own: is there any sort of game plan for countering amity park? Like planned protests or sending their account pokemon pictures? Either people didn't see the "do no harm" bit of your post or they decided to go rogue, because I noticed their account is being sent a lot of hate and threats. I think it's only fair for people to get angry and frustrated, but it seems the longer we go without a cohesive goal, the more this'll escalate out of control.
Also frankly it doesn't seem like you ever expected this to blow up this much so please know I'm not like. Blaming you or anything? If you're in over your head then what would you need from us to help with that?
(sending anonymously because I'm not sure about how smart it'd be to publicly call myself an official supporter)
Honestly? Yeah, you summed it up pretty well. I'd like to start with peaceful protests now that we've got some momentum going, and hopefully channel that in a positive way.
So! Let's start with something personal. How about people share stories of their pokemon who aren't allowed in, under the tag "this is banned from amity park"? I want to hear the voices of the people, and try to put a positive spin on this and get the word out there.
I'll start: I've had my feebas since he was just an egg, and I was too. I felt out of place in my own skin, back then, but he and I would always go to the local pond and he'd splash around and make rainbows in the water, trying to cheer me up. That was back in the old days, ha. That pond isn't really accessible anymore, but I still remember what he did for me. Feebas look the way they do in order to deter predators! It's not ugly, it's ingenious! And it's sort of like what I did back in my dysphoria hoodie days, hiding myself.
Feebas is banned from amity park for apparently having an "ugly" appearance, but it's a fighter and a survivor. The beautiful-looking feebas don't last long in the wild, after all.
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talk about gary the gadget guy i am listening very intently
ninoo and gary documentary
"a flabbergasting and beautiful story about a kid who learned nerd exists" 8/10, -igm
"my favorite fanfiction, wait, it's a documentary? even better!!!" 10/10 - club penguin times
gary is like so special just look at him he's so tiny idk, he's a friend!!! i wish i was able to get gary stuff when i was younger but i never found club penguin stuff in stores (even if it was pretty popular in france) he really did something to my brain when i was playing club penguin everyday back then (at least when i was at my mom's place/work because for some reasons (child of divorce) i became chronically online around 8). i would just do on loop the psa missions because i loved him, and my dad put the club penguin epf ds game on my r4 and yeah, obsessed.
since i'm (breaking my silence) i'm a nerd i think i related to him + he has glasses + he's creative, i just had a huge kin moment i think. I stopped playing club penguin after operation blackout, and then i came back a few years later with a few friends because we were going on every old kid mmo to have fun (we were roleplaying/trolling in a nice way, like we were just like "we're about to hack the epf silly penguins.... and steal all your pokemons" (because pokemon go was popular and we loved it a lot) and i saw him again. and i was remembering how much i love that guy. i would love to find my old drawings of him but i moved a lot sooo a lot of drawing are lost-
i remember when they announced island i didn't understand club penguin would shut down. and I didn't saw the website closed, I learned it maybe a week after the terrible event and I was devastated. my friends from this era didn't care a lot about it because they never played to club penguin when they were kids, i cried about club penguin shut down and not being able to see my silly penguin again (Nella02, a cyan penguin who never got the membership because my parents were broken af if I remember well when i was a kid), but also, not being able to play the legit version of club penguin and knowing I'll never get new EPF events, no more gary content.
the void
but hey!! we can find some!!! tweets!!! from my new twitter acc because the old one is gone (got banned for lying about my age)
after this event gary just came back in my head sometimes and i would be crazy for like. a week maybe.
"love"
but this time it's getting very long, i really want to focus on other characters like Cadence and Rookie because i loved them too as a kid (I wanted to cut my hair very short but my parents were pretty much against it because they were like "you need to keep girly long hair" 💀 and seeing Cadence as a kid made me happy I think) but gary is too strong idk
in 2020 i thought about rookie and gary at the same time it's crazy
"clearly the best huh"
"i really want to play to club penguin but i'm at work" (heartbreaking)
also i think it's because of him that all my favs are blue pathetic nerds that never sleep (tsumugi aoba from ensemble stars my dearest wife)
"gary from club penguin i think about him evry day of my life amen hes just the type of person i love sorry blue nice pathetic nerd who wants to be useful to others"
"its the saem character"
sorry i needed to talk about my relation with club penguin and i think in a few years i'll just. i'll just look like my gary gijinka. my hair are blue and i really want a lab coat BECAUSE OF THEM ALL
have a nice and beautiful day
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Woe
9, 14, 27
uouoauhg... explodes of Quemstions(tm)
9- tell a story about your childhood
this one is . really funny actually bc i thought abt several stories and Most of them revolve around pokemon in one way or another .. there Have been several different times i was directly responsible for a boom in pkmn card popularity in my school, subsequently causing them to get banned. one of those times, there was a kid who just. he just fucking sucked man.
id bring stacks of my cards in my backpack bc i loved sharing and trading them, and he just. apparently snuck in and stole like half of them? at some point? and i Knew, because my favorite card was one of em, and it had been out of print for Years at that point, and when i confronted him, he said he 'got it at walmart.' which was obviously fucking bullshit but i was too much of a pansy to confront him about it. iwas still solidly in the Polite School Kid thing, yknow?
and at some point one of my friends from a lower grade went 'hey. check this out.' and pulls out a fucking wad of cards he stole back from the guy??? INCLUDING all of my missing favorites. im honestly still kinda baffled to this day about it, but it doesnt matter bc my beloved is safe at home with me even to this day and i wouldnt trade her for the world. <33 (if youre curious. 2006 salamence ex delta species. her name is sally :])
14- what’s something you’ve always wanted to do but maybe been to scared to do?
roleplay. i used to spend hours and hours and Hours rping literally everywhere at any chance i got, and for some reason i just... stopped? ive tried again a few times, but its never really managed t pick itself back up again... ''> > im. unfortunately Very picky about my own writing, and even more picky than that about the way im perceived, which doesnt really mix well...
and then theres the active rping communities which are so alien and... weirdly strict? i always end up pushing myself too hard and exploding about it. metaphorically. outwardly its more like i just fucken disappear off th face of the earth KJNGKJD;; itried picking up an old forum acc i had about two or three weeks ago, and um. well... bbbbad timing on my part iguess... = =
storytelling is still one of my biggest loves though, and i know im still deeply passionate about it, its just. ouhhhhh the struggles.
oh and also cosplaying in public. id love to do that too one day, if i manage to find some friends willing within a country's radius maybe. i used to Love videos of people hanging out semi-incharacter in cosplay and just being dorks... idont really see those too often lately though :< sad..
27- any nicknames?
a couple! most of them are variants of my normal name, like pika or piko or pikkles or smthn. nobodys called me those in a long time though.. my names already short n shrimple, so there hasnt rly been much need for it isuppose.
a personal favorite of mine is 19, though. i used t be in a discord server w a loooot of people, and we started a joke of a 'number cult,' in which we would all call each other by numbers and kept a list of who claimed what. mine was 19 :] (since 9 was taken already.) that... lasted well over a year actually, im still 19 to a lot of people out there ithink. kind of a comforting thought.
#i dont think im 19 anymore; but theyre still very close to me. if that makes sense.#icant claim the name like i used to; but i still carry th banner. yknow.#ithink someone in my friends list still has their number in their disc user. 34 if ur out there........ o7#anyway this got Ridiculously wordy hai KJSNFKJDNG#piktalk#ask game#um um. th nicknames one also isnt including any aliases iwent by for awhile... i used to go by 'lulu' and 'john' in afew places.#something something if you know you know or whatever. those r too important for me to not mention also tho.
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Updates on my randomized pokemon crystal game from the last couple days
Turns out sprout tower is actually a training ground for food preparation, not a place for monks to hone their skills
I had a trend of "isles" names going (giles the meowth named for my cat, miles the spinarak named after miles morales, and then riles the ratata who i named riles cause i thought itd be funny to make "isles" sounding names a thing on my team). So, i wanted to buck the trend and thought about naming hoothoot after a restaurant to make a silly on hooters. So i named him "chill-eeze", like the restaurant and the pepper. Then i realized that can also be pronounced in the "isles" sound. Lol oops
Meanwhile, named a togepi after a mario monster since it's the spike ball pokemon and that made me think of mario. Shellder was named alphie cause i caught it at alph ruins. Clefairy was called full moon cause... it's associated with space
Then i fished a Cleffa out of slowpoke well, and called it popstar cause it was another space pun. And little pink ball thing reminds me of kirby and planet popstar
Finally, i discovered that team rocket is not gangsters in this world. They're doctors. And as we all know, when the boss doctor disappears, all the other doctors in the world become roving bans who do shit like cut off animal tails and selling them at exorbitant prices
So yeah for now my team consists of an egg, popstar the cleffa, miles the spinarak, giles the meowth, draco the dratini, and alphie the shellder. Next challenge is the azalea gym
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Second Chance
Chapter 7
It was a complicated trip. Ash, Misty, and Brock looked like the living dead as they walked along Route 4. The previous day was very exhausting and stressful for them.
After getting as far away from Mount Moon as possible, they found a clearing near the road where they set up camp and spent the night. Unfortunately, the apprehension and anxiety resulting from what had happened to them made sleeping a wink almost impossible. The result was the disturbing sight of three children trying to walk without falling on their faces or falling asleep standing up - with varying results.
When Brock almost fell along with Misty and Ash after grabbing them to keep from crashing into the ground, they decided to cut their losses, find a place to camp, and get a few hours of proper rest. Which turned out more difficult when they were all so exhausted that even the friendliest among them was easily irritated.
After finding an acceptable spot, they set up camp and made lunch for all of them. Well, Misty and Ash did. Brock was banned from any heavy work since he had a sprained wrist, much to his chagrin. They managed to compromise on Brock dictating the recipe for that day while Misty cut the food and Ash cooked.
That would become a bonding activity between the three, and not even the distance would change.
----
"Since we're traveling together, why not share our goals as trainers? It should make trip planning easier, at least," suggested Misty while Aisha and Brock were around a map after dinner.
"I thought your goal as a trainer was to demand payment for your bike," Ash joked as she looked at the map.
"Ha-ha. Hilarious, Ketchum. But seriously, we'll be traveling together, we might as well get to know each other better. At least the silence on the trip will not be weird."
"Sounds good to me. Ash?" Once Ash nodded to Brock, they started folding the map.
Misty helped pack their things, and before long, they had their luggage packed and were sitting around the fire on top of their sleeping bags. Despite their previous enthusiasm, they now seemed undecided about what to start talking about.
Ash hated tense or nervous silences. They seemed reminiscent of when she lived with her mother after they disputed. She was always the first to break the silence back then, and Aisha still had the habit, but at least she now knew that no one was testing her.
"I've always wanted to visit Alamos Town in Sinnoh. The photographs of the Space-Time Towers are breathtaking, and the city is stunning." Ash started grooming Espeon. "It also has a fascinating story, so it's a win-win for me."
"I never heard of this city, but I heard that Sinnoh is an incredible Region, albeit cold. There are also many stories about how the Region came to be, as well as a festival in Chocovine Town, where they say that a Phione migrates there every year." Misty looked dreamy as she talked about this festival." I'm longing to go to this festival. It's a golden opportunity to find such a rare Pokemon. And it's a water type on top of that."
"You seem to really like water types," Brock commented.
"My dream is to be a Water Type Pokemon Master. There's just something about them. I really love water types. They have versatility and flexibility with their movements. They're unique." Misty had a childish smile on her face that made her look her age. "And you, Brock? What are your goals?"
"I always wanted to be a Pokemon Breeder. Choosing the right food for them, knowing the peculiarities of each species and even each Pokemon. It is an engaging and quite passionate work. It requires lots of practical work and knowledge about Pokemon, food, and berries. Even about grooming products. It brings us closer to Pokemon and helps us get to know them better." He shrugged. "Maybe not what people expect from the Pewter Gym Leader, but this has always been my passion."
"If we started caring about everything people expect from us, I probably would never have met you." Upon seeing the questioning look of the two, Ash explained. "My mom wanted me to be a Pokemon researcher. And I probably would have been able to since she had studied with Professor Oak for a while. I love reading about the new discoveries about Pokemon, new species, or even typings. But I want to be a Pokemon Master."
"Do you have a guy in mind, or are you still figuring it out?"
"Actually, Brock, I don’t have a specific type. They all have distinctive characteristics: some are faster, others have outstanding firepower, and some can withstand frightening amounts of damage. I want to learn to work with every type, extract the best in each, and work around their weaknesses. I want to know how many ways I can use a move. I can’t choose one when they’re all unique."
"Wow…” Misty looked amazed at Ash. That was the most passionate speech I ever heard. You really like Pokemon. It's more than winning something; you love them."
"It wouldn't be easy to achieve that. You will need a lot of effort and dedication to be a Pokemon Master." Brock was impressed, even if he didn't express it as loudly as Misty.
"Nothing worth having is easy. If something is easy to obtain, we end up not appreciating it in the future. I prefer to fall and get back up again and enjoy the friendships and victories I acquire along the way than to achieve it the easy way and end up devaluing it.”
Brock kept silent but smiled and tilted his head toward Aisha. She would go far, maybe not that day or that year, but she would achieve her dreams, and along the way, she would inspire others to do the same.
The rest of the trip was, fortunately, calmer. Budew grew by leaps and bounds, having managed to create an Energy Ball, even though he still needed to learn to control the power used in it so as not to exhaust himself. She mastered Shadow Ball and Mega Drain; the last one was very similar to Absorb, only requiring more power behind it. Ash also began to tease the possibility of Venoshock, but it was just the theory of what that move would be. She didn't want to burden Budew.
Pikachu and Espeon had a satisfactory amount of movement at the moment. Still, Ash had Pikachu learn Thunderbolt, and Espeon learn Morning Sun. Like Budew, their species wasn't known for taking many physical hits, so more long-range and damage/recovery moves were a welcome addition. After talking to Brock, Ash organized several exercises to improve their defense. It was a work in progress.
The battles with the trainers along the road also helped them gain some experience, aside from the reward money when they won. Brock also became a frequent battle partner for Ash, and the new adversary meant that she had to be even more creative with her techniques.
“Honestly, you're a natural at battles,” Brock commented as they took a break from training. Ash had lost this time, but neither Budew nor she seemed too upset.
“Do you think so?”
"I am sure. You're still a little green on certain things but don't overthink while you're in battle. That's good, it makes you not hesitate. When you don't hesitate, your Pokemon trusts you, and they won't hesitate either.” He stopped to drink some more water before continuing. “One point where you need to improve is your relationship with your Pokemon.”
Ash was confused. Both Brock and Misty had already said that she had a closeness and trust with her team that many young trainers could only dream of until months with them. Brock noticed the confused expression on her face and explained calmly.
“Don’t get me wrong. You and your team are very close, but except for Espeon, you've only met each other recently. Pikachu and Budew aren't used to all your quirks.”
"What do you mean?"
“In a battle, whether it's between trainers or Pokemon in the wild, it often feels like an exchange of moves. Attack moves to attack, defense moves to defend, and so on. When you battle, you don't follow those 'rules'. An attack can be a defense, and a defense can be an attack.” Brock explained. “What is not wrong is simply unorthodox. But most of your Pokemon aren't used to that.”
“How do I improve this?” Ash asked. She knew she was impulsive. Her two suspensions after breaking the noses of the kids hurting some unlucky Pokemon that got into the schoolyard were proof of that.
“Battle with them. I don't mean when you are fighting other trainers. But between you. If you do the same thing during training, they will get used to your battle style.”
“Makes sense..."
Aisha would take time to accept how unusual her battle style was. Many people would say that she was wrong. It was impossible to reach that much without following the “rules”. But she would learn to ignore these comments and embrace her ability to change strategy like the sea changes the tide. Her conversation with Brock would often come to her mind.
Misty was loud. Everyone who knew her knew that.
The sky was blue, the grass was green, and Misty was loud. It was one of the truths of the universe, and despite how difficult dealing with that was, it wasn't something Ash wouldn't change about the redhead. She didn't give up once she started arguing about something.
Therefore, when Misty began to become increasingly silent, it caught the attention of Aisha and Brock. They tried to get her to open up, but other than a few jokes about how wonderful Celadon was at that time of year, she didn't open. They discovered the reason two days before arriving at the crossroads of Route 4. It previously was a direct route to Cerulean. Eventually, they built a new road leading to Celadon, creating an alternative destination.
The group was having dinner when Misty brought up the topic. The sun was setting, so the atmosphere had a cozy feeling as the late-day breeze rushed through the leaves of the trees.
“So, Cerulean is our next stop?”
“That’s the plan.” Agreed Ash as she ate. “If we don't have any problems, the direct travel plan is to follow the order of Gyms recommended by the Pokemon League for those starting the journey from Pallet. At least the first ones.”
“Cerulean's gym isn't easy, but it offers a challenge fit for trainers.”
“Any tips, Brock?” Ash joked.
“I'm sorry, but as a Gym Leader, I can't tell you what challenges you may or may not face in other Gyms. Out of courtesy,” he explained.
“Why not the Celadon Gym?” Misty looked slightly panicked. “I mean, Cerulean is good and all, but Celadon can give you more of a challenge. And you are already much more advanced than other trainers.”
“While it is tempting, gyms only offer challenges suited to the number of badges you already have. Fighting on Celadon or Cerulean would offer the same level of challenge,” she shrugged. “Besides, they specialize in grass types. The only one with the slightest advantage would be Espeon, but they certainly have some contingency against psychic types.”
“You could catch a flying type to face the Gym!!! There is no shortage of Pidgey and Spearow in the Region. I'm sure you would have them ready to face the Gym.”
“Okay, first of all, if I ever had a Spearow close to me again, would be too early. Second, we don't have enough supplies for the trip to Celadon. And Cerulean is two days away; if we head towards Celadon, it will take us at least another week.”
"But…!"
“Uh, Misty? Is there any reason you don’t want to go to Cerulean?” Brock asked worriedly. “I honestly thought you would be excited to visit the city. Especially with Cerulean Gym being a Water Type.”
“I CAN’T GO BACK!!!” She shouted. Brock and Ash were wide-eyed while Misty stared at them with heavy breathing. She closed her eyes and repeated in a broken voice. “I can't go back. At least not yet.”
Misty went on to explain how, after the death of her parents, the four of them were supposed to take care of the Gym. As Misty was still very young, Daisy, Violet, and Lily became the Gym leaders, even though they were already busy with water ballet shows and school. Despite this, they continued to accept challengers, care for the Aquarium, and perform water ballet.
When she got older, Misty tried to escape from school to help out at the Gym and with the Pokemon at the Aquarium. But her sisters would eventually take her back to school and insist that she focus on studying or taking the League exams to be a Pokemon trainer.
“I don't think they believe I can be a gym leader or a Water-type Pokemon Master. They are the Sensational Sisters, and I am the runt who got into trouble at school and skipped classes. Eventually, I took the coaching exam, and after putting my Gym Leader license on standby, I ran away with Starmie and Staryu. I haven’t returned since.”
“They supported being a trainer but not a Gym Leader?” Aisha asked.
“Ironic, isn’t it?”
“I think they didn’t want you to worry so soon.” Both Ash and Misty looked at Brock, offended. The older boy raised his hands in defense before explaining his point of view.
“I'm not saying you shouldn't feel hurt by them. I'm sure their words and actions must have hurt you. But think from their point of view. Your parents died about five years ago. How old was the oldest?”
“Daisy was twelve. We had an aunt around for a while, but she fell off the map when I was seven.”
“She was a little older than you, Misty. The Sensational Sisters have been around longer than that, but before, they had time to have fun between training and shows and do silly things. Therefore, they had to focus on you, the Gym, the Aquarium, and their careers. Alone.” Brock took a deep breath before continuing.
“After my parents left, I had to look after my younger siblings. Billy and Tilly were only a few months old at the time. I was on my Pokemon journey when I arrived in Vermilion, and Officer Jenny told me what happened. When I returned home, I took charge of everything: Gym, provider, housewife, nanny, everything. Even with the help of the social worker, things were not easy, and Forest also wanted to help. He was seven then, so I convinced him to wait a bit before training with him to be the next gym leader.”
Everyone knew about Pewter's sudden Gym Leader change, but no one knew the details. Only that Flint Slate had passed leadership to his eldest son. Professor Oak seemed concerned then and often went to Pewter at the League's request but never told Ash what happened.
“My point in telling this, Misty, is: When that happened, I had to grow up fast. There was no time for the normal things of my age, like Pokemon journeys, friends, dating, school, or playing. I tried my best so that my younger brothers could enjoy these experiences. Most likely, your sisters tried the same with you.”
“They could have told me that.”
“They could,” Brock agreed. “But the thing we least want to tell our brothers, when they depend on us, is that we are struggling to keep things afloat. They may not be perfect, but I'm sure they're proud of you, troublesome little sister or not.”
Misty let out a suspiciously wet laugh. When Brock opened his arms, she accepted his hug, and everyone pretended she wasn't crying. Aisha joined in the hug, as did all the Pokemon with them. Ash offered for them to go straight through Cerulean; she could face another Gym outside the League circuit.
“No need,” assured Misty as she wiped away her tears. “Ready or not, they deserve an explanation. I kinda left without warning.”
The trio was on a hill watching the horizon. The midday sun shone brightly in the sky, making them squint their eyes to see. Cerulean buildings dotted the shore, and the smell of the sea breeze made the redhead take a deep breath with a smile.
“Ready?” The raven girl asked. “The offer to pass straight still stands.”
“Eh, that won’t be necessary,” she starts running and shouts. “LAST TO ARRIVE IS A ROTTEN EGG!!”
“MISTY!!”
“PIKACHU PI!!!”
Ao3
Index
<- Previous Chapter
Next Chapter ->
Fic Dividers Used Here
#Second Chance#Ash Ketchum#Fem Ash Ketchum#Pokemon Delia isn't a good mother#Gary Oak#Pokemon#Pokemon Anime#Pokemon Anime Fic#cannon divergence#alternative universe#ao3#pokemon characters#Chapter Seven#Misty#Brock#Teen Up Audiences#pokemon fic#Ash Ketchum fic#Fem Ash Ketchum fic
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Don't Bet on It - Emmet/Grimsley
It has been a hot minute since we've written any fanfiction so forgive us for our rustiness, but we've been lowkey obsessed w/ this pairing for a couple of months now.
Anyway, this fic is basically long-form acquaintances to enemies to rivals to friends to lovers arc lol.
Read it on AO3 as well (All Aboard!)
Chapter 1: Sharpedo I
“It pursues its prey at speeds of 75 mph and finishes them off with fangs that can crush iron. It is known as the bully of the sea.”
-Pokédex Entry #265 Pkmn Sun
The Alolan air was more than a bit stifling to the twin Subway Bosses of Unova as they saluted Elesa farewell outside her agency’s office.
She had warned them that they needed to pack lighter, but the twins had assured her that they would be fine. After all, on their Battle Subway, they had plenty of close calls with opposing fire pokemon and their flamethrowers, flame bursts, flame wheels, flare blitzes, fire blasts, blast burns, lava plumes, overheats—
But the subway cars were air-conditioned and the battles quickly decided.
Alola was not like their precious subway.
Alola was beautiful… but it was hot.
Even without their official work uniforms, it became apparent to both that they had severely underestimated the heat index… and now were sweltering with their poor choices in apparel.
Rolling up his sleeves, Ingo glanced over to Emmet, who was still trying (and failing) to keep up a pleasant smile even with the merciless sun beating down their necks.
“Emmet, I am afraid we may be at risk for sunstroke if we continue down this track. Shall we make an early detour for appropriate apparel? I know we scheduled shopping for later this week, but—”
“Yes! Let us depart right away!” Emmet could not wait for Ingo to finish, already quickly beginning to flag down a taxi.
Alola was entirely different from Unova, despite being a close neighbor to their home region. They had challengers from there, of course, and the regional Pokémon they brought with them were always intriguing. Emmet could still clearly recall seeing the most interesting-looking Muk cross his Doubles Train. How exciting!
They knew they had to visit at least once.
So, when Elesa invited them to stay with her in Alola while she was doing her summer modeling there, they took the offer.
It’s not like they could go to work when they were temporarily banned from Gear Station anyway.
To say Ingo and Emmet loved their job would be an understatement. It was the best of both of their interests. Even the stacks of paperwork and occasional unruly passengers couldn’t deter them from their career enjoyment.
But, while they might take the odd holiday off here and there, the Nimbasa City audit system had admonished them for not taking any substantial vacation days during their years working at Gear Station.
And so they were here in Alola on forced PTO leave. For a month.
They would need sunscreen. And lots of it.
As they stepped into the frigid air of the shop, the twins let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. Besides trains, surely air conditioning was mankind’s greatest invention.
The clerk at the front of the store welcomed them with a chipper Alola, unable to hold back a small giggle at the display.
They greeted her back, before digging through the racks.
Six pairs of tropical shirts and khaki shorts, 10 bottles of SPF 100, and two pairs of sunglasses later, the twins decided they were sufficiently stocked for the moment.
Tucking his sunglasses into his collar, Emmet turned to Ingo who was busy smoothing down his new red floral-patterned shirt free of wrinkles.
He let out a chuckle under his breath. With the sunglasses now on Ingo’s face alongside his signature frown, he would be even harder for strangers to read.
“Shall we start making our way to the Pokémon League? The clerk said our other purchases would be sent ahead to the hotel. No more detours required.”
Emmet was positively shaking in excitement from the thought. He had wanted to visit Alola primarily for the interesting combinations their Pokémon were sure to face in battle.
“Ah… I had actually planned on visiting the observatory on Mount Hokulani today. I’m sorry, Emmet.”
Emmet blinked.
Ingo… wanted to visit an observatory? He could not recall that being one of Ingo’s interests before. Because they shared the same interests and it certainly wasn’t one of Emmet’s interests.
“An observatory? Where is that?”
“It is on the same island as the League— Ula’ula— but on a different mountaintop. It should be quite fun.”
Emmet’s smile twitched, “Your idea of fun seems verrrrry boring… If we are visiting the same island together, we should also visit the same places on the island together. You are sure you do not want to visit the League instead?”
Ingo tilted his head, “I am quite sure. But, I would be more than happy to visit the League with you at a later date.”
Emmet was at a loss for words and with those stupid sunglasses blocking his brother’s eyes he could not even look for the joke he wanted to see clearly reflected in them.
He was supposed to know Ingo. They were the Subway Bosses.
“But… we are supposed to go together… ”
The sentiment was barely a whisper, but Ingo managed to catch it and the unspoken sentiment behind those few words. He pushed his sunglasses to rest on his forehead, his gaze soft and speech deliberate as he placed a reassuring hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“We are a perfect two-car train, Emmet. Our combination couldn’t be better. But we cannot always travel the same tracks. It is okay if we become uncoupled to try new things. And we can share and learn from those different experiences once we reach our final destination for the day—we share the same home station after all.”
Ingo squeezes his shoulder, the edges of his lips turning up in his best attempt at a smile.
Emmet pouts for a few long moments but acquiesces under his brother’s amusing grimace of a smile. His brother was always trying his best and he would too.
“I will go check out the League instead. You can enjoy the observatory. I will see you at the hotel once we are both finished.”
Emmet said that but still insisted on trekking up the mountain to the observatory with Ingo before parting ways.
Even when he had built himself up to saluting his brother goodbye, it was still difficult to not sync up with his brother as he entered the building and even harder not to dash in after him. The about-face turn was grueling on his nerves along with the first hundred steps back down the mountain.
“I am Emmet. I just need a fun few battles to get my mind off things. We are still Ingo and Emmet. We are still Subway Bosses. And I am Emmet. He is going to his Singles Line and I am going to my Doubles Line. We will meet up after. I am Emmet. I can do this.”
Psyching himself up was easier when put into those familiar terms.
He had done this before, hadn’t he?
He was just running a station with his brother instead of being on vacation. But the formula was the same. He was going to battle separately from Ingo and then he would meet up with him later. A version of the same. And then they would battle together later.
And seeing a local trainer on the upcoming slope proved the perfect distraction from any wayward thoughts to that analogy.
He was Emmet. He was a Subway Boss.
His eyes met the other trainer and they both reached for their first Pokéballs.
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Twelve matches down the mountain later, and somewhere along the way Emmet had gotten recognized by a trainer or two…
And now he somehow has a crowd of twenty asking for his autograph and a selfie with him. And many many mannnnny questions about the Battle Subway— easy to answer— and himself— …much less easy to answer.
Emmet enjoyed his privacy as much as the next person and although he was used to the small celebrity status being a Subway Boss brought, he still did not talk to the press about himself and his personal life. He was a Subway Boss! He was famous because of his job so they should just ask about that. But—
“Are you here with your brother, Ingo? Where is he? Can I get a selfie with him too?”
“Why’d you come to Alola? Do you visit often? How long are you staying?”
“You should try the malasadas! Ooh, you should totally let me show you around!”
Emmet was starting to feel… uncomfortably overwhelmed.
He enjoyed talking with fans, really! But usually, there were not so many surrounding him all at once and he had Ingo there with him and—
“Ingo and I are on vacation!”
The onslaught of questions came to an abrupt stop from Emmet’s work voice. And while his didn’t have the same decibel range as his brother’s, it still carried sharp authority.
In a quieter tone, he continued, “We are taking time off work. I am going to visit the Pokémon League today. Ingo is busy visiting other tourist attractions. Because we are tourists. On holiday.”
Some of the trainers looked a bit chagrin at the reminder that Emmet was off the clock, though others still looked like they wanted to continue their impromptu inquisition.
Still, Emmet pressed onwards.
“It was great to meet you all, but I must press onwards towards my current destination. Thank you for understanding.”
Sharply moving into his point and call pose, he called out his signature “All Abooooooaaard!” to further appease the small crowd of fans, before swiftly making his way down the rest of the mountain.
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Emmet’s brow twitched as he looked down at his Xtransiever. He really did not get good signal here in Alola.
He had been trying to pull up the map of the island to see how close the League was, but his GPS seemed confused as to where he was. Emmet was confused as to where he was too.
Sighing softly, he tucked around towards a small alcove beach to think. There had been a Pokémon Center close by, hadn’t there? Maybe he could…
His thought was interrupted by the sound of a sharp whistle and a crash of a wave.
Or Emmet thought it had been a wave. Instead, it had been a Mantine trying to beach itself… and a slim passenger stepping off onto the land before bidding the Pokémon goodbye.
Huh… his hair looked oddly familiar. The slicked back sides reminded him of a pair of Liepard whiskers and— no. Couldn’t be. Right?
But as the man finally turned away from the retreating Mantine, Emmet was sure of it.
“Grimsley? ”
Grimsley turns slowly towards him, taking him in leisurely before his poker face is broken only by a look of honest surprise in his eyes.
“Subway Boss Emmet.”
Grimsley strides towards him purposefully, lips curled into a small smirk, “I hardly recognized you without your uniform. What brings you to Alola?”
Emmet chuckled, smile both easy and relaxed from a familiar face, “I could say the same for you. Your kimono compliments you nicely though. Maybe Ingo and I should have gone for the same.”
Grimsley gives him an appraising look, eyes twinkling mischievously, “I’m not sure. I think the tourist look suits you.”
Emmet grins wider, “Well, that is why we are in Alola– mandatory vacation from the Nimbasa City Council. Ingo and I had too many working hours. They made a strong case of it being a safety hazard.”
That pulls a chuckle out of Grimsley as well, “Somehow I can imagine that being the only argument that would work on you two.”
Emmet nods, eyes crinkled in amusement.
Grimsley lets out a hum, looking to either side of Emmet briefly, “That is another point… it was harder to recognize you alone. Where is your brother, Ingo?”
Emmet’s smile froze and he twitched slightly, silent for a few moments, “He is… at the observatory. He was interested in it. I am on my way to the League.”
Grimsley nodded with another nostalgic chuckle, “You always were the more competitive of you two.”
Emmet’s smile grew tighter, “Mhm… ”
Quickly searching for any change of subject away from his departure from his brother, he latched onto the closest topic, “And you are no longer part of the Unova League, right?”
Grimsley blinked, his smile dropping subtly, eyes quickly narrowing guardingly at Emmet.
“I remember hearing about your resignation, but I did not think you would have retired here,” Emmet continued, oblivious to Grimsley’s withdrawal, “I would have thought you would prefer moving to a bigger city. Like Nimbasa… or even Castelia.”
Grimsley hummed, monotonous in tone, “I’m sure a younger me might have preferred it… But Alola is a nice place to get away from it all.”
Emmet nodded enthusiastically, “Away from the press and prying eyes, yup!”
Grimsley, crossed his arms, “Yes, exactly…” He looked away from Emmet briefly, a crueler echo of a smirk stretching across his face.
“I did resign from the League… it was only a couple of years ago, but it’s been a nice change of pace,” he gestured to the sea where he had bid the Mantine farewell, “I’ve taken up the local sport of Mantine surfing.”
“Mantine surfing?” Emmet chatot-ed back.
Grimsley raised an eyebrow, “Racing on the back of Mantines while avoiding the rough waves. It’s quite popular… and quite fun. People can get quite competitive with it–including me.”
He shot Emmet a dazzling smile to sell his pitch.
Emmet’s eyes sparkled with the idea of a challenge– and a competitive one at that.
Hook, Line, and Sinker.
“It might be fun for you to try. Ingo too. There’s nothing quite like it,” Grimsley’s eyes twinkled with mischief, and Emmet couldn’t help but be captivated by such a novel idea.
“…Feeling the salty splash of the ocean on your face—” he gestured to his own face, smiling wide with open glee.
“…The sun’s rays on your back—,” he gestured this time to Emmet who could not help but match Grimsley’s smile himself.
“…The wind blowing through your… hair.”
Grimsley’s smile stayed in place, though his eyes reflected a more cruel joke. An amusement reflected in them as they drifted conspicuously towards Emmet’s hairline before meeting his eyes again with an easy grin.
Emmet’s smile faltered at the obvious joke.
“You are making fun of me.”
“Making fun of you? Whatever do you mean?” Grimsley faked a look of innocence, “Surely you don’t think I could be so cruel.”
Ah… so it was going to be like that, was it? So be it. A battle of wits is still a battle to be won. And Emmet loved winning more than anything else.
Emmet’s eyes drifted to take in more of the ex-Elite Four member, head tilting to truly consider him. His evaluation and plan of attack had to be perfect.
“No… I think you are enjoying your well-deserved vacation. You are retired after all. You just wanted to suggest a fun activity while I am also on vacation. It was verrrrry thoughtful of you and I am sorry that I mistook your words. Perhaps I am simply still too overworked and on edge because of it.”
Emmet’s smile softened in fake apology as Grimsley considered him.
“No need to apologize… there was no harm done.”
“I am glad to hear that. Perhaps this means I should also seek to relax myself. Your outfit looks very comfortable… and…” Emmet let his eyes pretend to scan the garment with consideration, letting his eyes then drop further down towards his target.
“…You are wearing shoes with it?”
Grimsley raised an eyebrow, head tilting slightly to the side as if to say ‘What of it? ’
“I am.”
Emmet’s eyes met Grimsley’s, piercing blue meeting steely grey as Emmet picked his next words carefully.
“You wear them often at the beach?”
Grimsley’s eyes sparked with curiosity.
“I do.”
“You haven’t considered sandals instead?”
“I have.”
“And you do not wear them? Surely it would be more comfortable. You are already wearing such loose garments.”
A feint. Hopefully, it would not be an obvious one.
Luckily for Emmet, Grimsley fell for it, the gambler’s eyes closing shut as he sighed and shook his head, “Alas, the sand here in Alola gets too hot for a foreigner, even one who has been retired here as long as I have. Sandals just don’t cut it,” he opened his eyes with a smirk, “Though I apologize if the sight ruins your personal preferences.”
Emmet’s smile twitched with barely concealed mirth.
“That is unfortunate. But it makes sense. Ah well…” Emmet could not fight the growing grin on his face as he stared Grimsley down, “At least Marlon will be ecstatic that someone else finally matches his tan line.”
The look of dawning horror was so sweet that Emmet had to take a moment to savor it. The blanch that Grimsley was fighting to keep off of his face was worth any amount of balding jokes. Emmet had won and it was a verrrrrry satisfying victory.
“Well! I should continue my tour of the island before it gets too dark. It was nice to see you again after so long. I may take you up on your offer to Mantine surf at a later date.”
With that, Emmet gave a short and smug salute as he turned to march off triumphantly to his next destination—
“Likewise, Subway Boss Emmet.”
Hm? He was still standing after that crushing blow? Well, he would not outsmart Emmet with his tricks. He stopped in acknowledgment, though he did not turn around to face Grimsley. He looked forward only towards the future battles ahead (and not towards the sore loser behind him.)
“It has been a long time since I’ve seen anyone from Unova, so it was a nice surprise to run into someone from my home region… Oh! And a word of advice—” Emmet’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, “—it’s best to learn how to Mantine surf during low tide. The high tide here in Alola can be very unforgiving and rough for even the most experienced surfers. I’ve had more than my fair share of wipeouts even when riding Sharpedo during them. There are plenty of lifeguards around to help in case of accidents, but I can’t imagine you’d want to be sat up in bed recovering for the main duration of your stay.”
Oh. Maybe he was actually just giving some proper advice this time after all.
Face softening somewhat, Emmet began to turn to face him, mouth opening to express his polite acknowledgment of gratitude—
“—No, it’s best if beginners such as yourself start learning once the water line has fully… receded.”
Fuck you.
Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.
Emmet’s mouth clicked shut into a tight smile before he gave a terse nod and final salute to Grimsley before stomping off to explore the rest of Ula’ula Island. He would get the last laugh. He would, he would, he would. He loved winning more than anything else. He would not lose to Grimsley.
#pokemon#submas#pokemon emmet#grimsley#pokemon grimsley#my fanfic#fanfic#frighttrainshipping#alter brian
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Remember when Ash kissed May
Episode 357 “Under the mistletoe”
It wasn’t real and the famous kiss screenshot/vid was fake
youtube
So even I was a victim of this but there was an infamous lie that was treated as a leak/rumor of a mysterious hidden/removed episode that had Ash and May kiss
But in the early days of the internet, it was hard to prove or disprove this kind of stuff
“It was banned therefore we can never see it therefore it can be true”
Plus at this point, Ash got kissed by Bianca/Latias and kissed on the cheek multiple times so it wasn't like kissing didn't exist in Pokemon
Various links prove it was a thing and that it was talked about as far back as 2008
But this is one of those things where unless you were already skeptical people didn't realize it wasn’t real until later
I’m sure people that dropped the anime back then and never learned the truth might still think it’s real
So until Serena in XY, May was the girl Ash kissed at least in the mind of some fans
It did boost Advanceshipping so there’s that lol
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As someone who was a victim of this, it affected my viewpoint of advanceshipping as in the process of searching for the truth I've found plenty of fanfiction, fanart, deeper looks at their interactions, etc
It was #1 my ship for a long time until I just didn't care anymore since Ash was never going to end up with anyone XD
Like this photo by Suzu is still one of my favorite Pokemon fanarts even if I don't really ship anyone anymore
One day I might go more into the AshxMay ship since I'm feeling a lot of nostalgia since Ash is leaving the anime (at least as the lead)
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Wye Junction - Ch 3
Emmet goes about his business as Electrode's Warden. Ingo refuses to give up on his missing caboose.
Word Count: ~1400
“So, anything else come to you yet?”
Emmet recalled his last Pokemon, fighting off the sudden wave of disappointment he felt. He had lost. For the first time since arriving in Hisui, he had lost.
“Hmm.” Nope! Not really. He relayed this to Rei, who watched him with interest.
“Aww man, I was really hoping it would help. Maybe next time I can bring other Pokemon and see if they help! You said you remembered having a long electric type right? Maybe I can find it! And I can battle you with it!”
Electric, weak to ground type, invest in a ground-type or a Pokemon with Lightning Rod ability - wait abilities are not things that exist, why-
“Perhaps! I hope you ride the Subway again!” Emmet pointed at the boy in the way he often did, making him smile.
“Do you know what that even means?” Rei asked him.
“Nnnope! Not a clue!” Emmet grinned broadly.
Rei laughed. “We should do this again sometime. Do you have stuff to do?”
Emmet nodded, letting Crobat back out and beginning to work on healing it with potions. “Yes. I must check in with my Lord and ensure the lights are on in Wayward Cave. Adaman wished to discuss the state of the Highlands with me.”
Rei mirrored what Emmet was doing with his Typhlosion, offering it pats and a berry as he gently took its paw and applied a poultice to it. “Ok! I’m nearly finished with the Pokedex now and Volo seems interested in showing me something so I might drop off the map for a day or two. I’ll be around though just to have a battle!”
Emmet grinned brilliantly. “I am Emmet. I like winning more than anything else. I will not hold back.”
“Good.” Rei finished up and stood from his crouched position. “It was cool to see you again! I feel like I remembered a little bit from that battle, but its hard to tell at this point. We need to battle again! I gotta go, but I’ll see you around!”
Emmet waved goodbye as the boy took off, calling Lord Braviary to pick him up and fly him out over the Highlands, back to Jubilife. Emmet focused his attention back on his team, allowing his hands to fiddle idly with the healing materials as he fell into the simple routine of healing.
It had been two weeks since Lord Electrode had been quelled. That was the event that stuck out the most in Emmet’s mind, though the sky cracking and turning red and Rei having to fight multiple deities single handedly was also a rather big one, too, Emmet supposed. His Lord had been sticking close to Emmet since his quelling, which Emmet was more than happy about. The first several days, he did not want to let Electrode out of his sight, worried that somehow he would get quelled again or fall under some other danger that Emmet could not foresee. It was not until Adaman had come and almost physically pried him away that he’d stopped being such a mother Ursaring over his Lord. (Not that his Lord had minded. He had seemed to enjoy the attention, in fact.)
Between the quelling of Electrode, the quelling of Lord Avalugg soon after, and then getting banned from the town of Jubilife and having to fix the entire world, Emmet had not been able to see the boy much. He rather liked him! He really did! The boy reminded him of… someone, though he could not say who. He had great skill in battle and with Pokemon and he was always so positive and excitable. It made Emmet long for something, though he could never be sure of what. And he seemed intent on helping Emmet remember his past. Which was a bonus. No one else had ever been this dedicated to helping Emmet.
He would do something nice for the boy, Emmet decided. Had he mentioned needing some Pokemon for his compilation? Emmet strained to remember. Unfortunately, he could not think of anything. So maybe that was out. Perhaps he could get some healing items! Though the boy seemed rather adept at making his own things… did he need ingredients? His bag had been close to bursting with things… hmmm…
Ah, yes! Emmet would train his team to become even stronger. Perhaps he could change some members around so that he could provide some surprise to him! That would work! Perfect!
Emmet grinned as he went about his duties, now with a goal in mind. He had a couple days to prepare for the next time he ran into Rei. He would finish here and then find some new Pokemon! Yes, it was perfect! It would give Emmet something to do!
—----------------
“That’s…” Ingo felt his chest tighten. “That’s his handwriting. He’s… that’s him. I had no doubts, but…” Ingo looked critically at the worn leather book in his hands. It was yellowed with age, practically ancient, stained and torn.
But the words, written in an odd ink that Ingo could not readily identify, likely harvested from some ancient Octillery or perhaps some plant, spelled out words that Ingo would recognize if he were dead.
I am Emmet.
This only worked to further prove to Ingo that Emmet was, in fact, in the past, somehow. Ingo’s mind reeled. How had he gotten there? Cynthia had offered no explanation for that, other than how some history books were changing even as they sat and looked over them, almost before their very eyes.
“I must find him.” Ingo lifted his eyes from the book, gently placing it back down. “I must bring him home, by any means necessary. He does not belong in the past.”
Cynthia, a blonde woman wearing all black (something he could appreciate), sat across from his and Elesa at the table they occupied, showing them the artifacts that her people had just uncovered recently. “I agree, though I do not yet know how to get there. You see, Sinnoh’s Champion, Lucas, also disappeared a couple months ago. We were not sure where he went… until I saw this.” She slid another piece of paper across the table to him. It was a photograph.
In it was a boy, maybe the age of fourteen or fifteen, with dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a colored cap and a bright scarf and odd clothing, grinning as he posed with a peace sign on his fingers in front of a very odd-looking Typhlosion. It had long ears and a dopey grin and odd, ghostly flames emerging from the back of it.
“That’s him. Lucas. He…” she trailed off. “I do not want to alter history too much, but they seem to be doing it as we speak. I do not know if it would be detrimental to the timeline or not if we were to go get them somehow-”
Ingo stopped listening. Truthfully, he didn’t give a single Rattata’s ass about the timeline. The timeline was already messed up because his twin brother was in the wrong part of it. And he was going to get him back. One way or another.
“I see.” Ingo realized he had interrupted, but oddly enough found that he did not care. “I will devise a new schedule. I will return with my other car in tow. I will not remain uncoupled from him. In the process, I can bring you your Champion back.”
“Ingo-” Elesa started, but his booming voice interrupted her.
“I will not be delayed. I am part of a two-car train, and it cannot run on the tracks without its partner. I will find my brother. I will bring him home. Any way I can.” Elesa stopped talking, looking at him with wide eyes. He rarely used this version of his voice, with a razor’s edge seeping into the tone he used, ready to cut not only the silence, but any opposition he faced. He knew his eyes were empty. He knew he looked too severe, too cold, too gone.
He was done. He wanted to feel again, and to do that, he needed Emmet.
Nothing else was said as he stood and left the room, Chandelure emerging from her ball and following him, sensing his distress. If he was not going to have help, so be it. He was getting Emmet back with or without aid. He was a Subway Boss. He was capable of tracking trains, he did it for a living.
He had his brother in his sights. He just had to jump tracks…
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taglist: @ruyi-years
#subway boss emmet#submas#subway boss ingo#pokemon legends arceus#subway bosses#pokemon arceus#my writing#warden emmet
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My sister woke up acting insane again today, i mean literally waking up and complaining we were wasting too many garbage bags and using that as an excuse to eacalate a fight, even texting us after we left after demanding we hurry and leave OUR OWN APARTMENT, rushes us back when we were just sitting at a park playing Pokemon and getting food, and one of the worst things?
she's been holding us hostage over THE HEAT. Something medically is wrong with her (not saying that as an insult, it's a fact, shes had a concussion before and maybe it damaged her ability to regulate her body temperature, or its her medicine, or something else) and we are both freezing and she says she's sweating and now she just insults us and says we're getting hot because we're high and fat and it's like. GIRL WE LITERALLY HAVE THERMOSTATS FOR OUR REPTILES CONFIRMING HOW COLD IT IS IN HERE
My poor crested gecko is having to live at his NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURE 24/7 because my physically aggressive sister is literally turning the heat off every single time we try and turn it on??? We arent allowed to control the heat in our own apartment and she doesnt even pay bills here???? Our floors are ICE COLD and she can't even feel it and says we're just imagining it??? AND insulting us???
Mom asks her to turn the heat own, the dial for which is under mom's desk, and my sister says for my mom to do it, while currently sitting at said desk, not moving
Just every day, she deliberately seeks out conflict? She starts getting better and then she starts talking to her, who even knows if he's her ex or what, and starts acting crazy
Yesterday she started an argument over the tiktok ban and said we were pro government censorship and all this other dumb bs and her and I went at it and what did she say? Turns to our mom, "someday you're gonna wake up and she's gonna have a knife in her throat"
Yeah well. While I was out with my mom today I suddenly realized she had an entire childhood of violent shit and spent a good chunk of time reminding mom what some of those things were. She's been wild for so many years we both have literally forgotten so much and when we sit down and talk about it we get depressed because she's. Literally still the same. And worse now.
Literally since we got home, we haven't even talked to her, been around her, she waits until we get home and suddenly, she's on the phone with a shelter, suddenly she "feels unsafe" despite the fact I've never physically threatened her and she's attacked me physically several times
And she's also just. I post on this blog but I'm anonymous and she'll literally share things about our family on her public Facebook because she's such an attention seeker she doesn't mind having her full name attached to her like.... starting high school level drama with the girlfriends of boys she used to date. Even our mom told me today she's been fucking embarrassed that her coworkers are gonna see all the embarrassing childish stuff my sister posts
All this girl can do is drink, do drugs, eat hot chip and lie 💀 please stay at the shelter, PLEASE
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Just wanted to share this both because it’s interesting and to warn the masses (or just anyone stumbling across this post): my Pokemon HOME account has essentially been banned from Wonder Trade due to owning hacked “genned” critters.
As you can see in the capture above, whenever I try to initiate a Wonder Trade, I get sent to a Japanese language screen where I can’t select any of my Pokemon. Trying to open a Box leads to a slow-moving animation of unselectable boxes to appear, which disappear when I try to scroll through them (it freaked me out at first, it’s total creepypasta shit).
It was confusing at first. I kept thinking that maybe it’s a glitch from the Scarlet/Violet update, but I realized that’s not the case after looking up a page from the official Pokemon support website. It reads:
“We have discovered that when Pokémon with altered data have been deposited in the mobile device version of Pokémon HOME, users may experience freezing or display issues when trying to view details of any Pokémon in their Boxes or when attempting to use the GTS or Wonder Trade features.
“We do not provide support on issues arising as a result of Pokémon with altered data. Thank you for your understanding.”
Basically this is customer support jargon for “GET FUCKED, CHEATER.”
Now this isn’t to say that this will happen to those who, say, unintentionally get a hacked Poke from a surprise trade and put it into HOME (TPC stated somewhere that won’t be the case). My HOME account had genned Pokes transferred to it a long time ago; it was one of those things where I paid a guy on Facebook like $5 to transfer a complete shiny Living Dex from his 3DS Pokemon Bank account to me, most of which are still chilling out on my HOME account to this very day. So I’m not exactly innocent here, and Officer Jenny finally caught on to me.
I can still deposit and withdraw Pokemon to all my games, so HOME still works how I want it to. It’s just that I’ve been penalized from doing random trades with innocent folks who don’t know any better, which is completely fair. I’ll admit that actually buying fake critters with real money is totally stupid, especially since you can essentially make your own competitive Pokémon easily nowadays, with things like Hyper Training being a thing. I just got lazy. Kinda makes me wonder if I should still be playing these games if I’m just gonna resort to shortcuts like this anyway…
At any rate, don’t hack Pokémon. In fact, don’t BUY hacked Pokémon, especially with real money. I know I’m stupid, but you don’t have to be.
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