Thank you to my sweet friends ameriboo (for being the most supportive angel, please read her beautiful work) and crybaby-writes for being the sweetest and for her corrections! The title is from TWICE's song 'Likey', the story and some lines are inspired by it. Happy Valentine's Day!
Pokévision seemed determined to devalue its users more now than ever. The app had a personally vendetta against Serena herself, and she was sure of this fact as she glared at the likes of her most recent video upload.
About a week earlier, Pokévision introduced new features which allowed trainers to 'like' each other's videos, leave comments, and direct message one another. Despite complaints of how the app was copying Instagram's basic features, its most popular app users exploded with popularity, along with Serena included.
But, truth be told, she hated it.
At first, she appreciated the newfound attention. Her ego was stroked with the overflow of likes, sweet compliments, and unsoliciated DMs from men of things she'd rather not see ever again (she made sure to only receive DMs from trainers she followed from then on).
As soon as the app change launched, Serena made a mission of liking all of her favorite trainers' videos. She put forth more effort into Shauna as she commented her most recent video along with several pink heart emojis to let her know how appreciated her efforts were. But Shauna still hadn't replied, or even left a simple like on any of her posts. Come to think of it, Shauna hadn't messaged her at all since right before the app change launched.
The current Sinnoh Grand Festival season brought Serena and Shauna close, closer than they had ever been throughout their respective journeys. Out of all the friends Serena had made so far, Shauna was the only one who kept in consistent contact. She'd send funny memes, cute selfies (ones that she never uploaded elsewhere), and started conversations which kept Serena up late at night, not wanting to sleep so she wouldn't miss out on talking to somebody who was making her feel a way she hadn't felt in years.
It's an unfortunate quality, falling so hard for someone. She hadn't crushed on someone like this since she was probably ten. That crush went nowhere, especially after the inevitable rejection. A heartbreaking experience, but at the very least, she had since matured enough to realize when somebody actually felt the same way back. But that brought about a question.
If Shauna liked Serena, why wasn't she interacting with her pokévision account?
All sorts of self-deprecating thoughts swirled through her mind, making her dizzy with confusion and sadness that she wasn't appealing to Shauna. Were her videos boring? What if the colors in her outfits didn't compliment her enough? Maybe her clothes just weren't pretty enough? Was she not getting her angles?
Could she be asking for too much?
What if Serena read all of the signs wrong? What if Shauna sent memes to everyone? What if Shauna sent her cute selfies to all her friends and not just Serena? What if whenever Shauna would refer to Aria as "the beautiful woman in the world" and "my wife" and "if she were single, I'd totally marry her", she meant it jokingly? Straight girls did that sometimes, right?
No. Stop asking so many dumb questions, Serena chastised herself. Serena was pretty sure that Shauna liked girls. Just not her, apparently. Not that it was likely Shauna would like every girl she came across, but Serena was upset and felt petty. Overdramatizing her problems usually made her feel better.
All Serena wanted was a tap upon the little red heart. Nothing too extreme. And maybe for a DM from Shauna telling her that she was pretty. A confession would be nice too.
But she had to have limitations. Because, you know, reality.
With a frustrated groan, Serena gave up on thinking. She clicked her phone's screen off and tossed it across the bed. She felt a twinge of satisfaction in her chest. She'd (embarrassingly) done enough pining when she was younger, and she certainly shouldn't still be pining for somebody who didn't feel the same way, especially if the person wasn't bothering to leave her likes or comments.
Sylveon lifted her head up a little from where she laid on the foot of the bed and stared at Serena as if she was the most dramatic person ever.
Scowling, Serena tried to poke her toe into Sylveon's forehead to annoy her, but her foot didn't reach far enough. Sylveon snorted in amusement and Serena stuck her tongue out.
Some support system she had.
It's official. Never again would she use her phone, she decided. Except in an emergency. Well, that wasn't really possible. Or likely. She still had friends she would like to talk to. Her mother always appreciated the occasional check-in and Serena still kept in good contact with Bonnie.
So, she'd just have to do the mature thing and let go of this crush that was obviously going nowhere. No more crushes on anyone who didn't have the same feelings for her. Better yet, her phone would be moderately used from then on. No more caring about what social media thought of her. No more relying on the approval from pretty girls who knocked her heart around without a care. Perhaps the real problem what her reliance on her phone, so no more using her phone out of plain boredom.
She flopped dramatically against her pillow and huffed angrily into the air.
Her newfound resolution lasted a whole ten seconds.
Serena slammed an arm across the bed so she could grasp at her phone as carelessly as she could. She missed, and she fumbled around for it.
With as much of a frown as she could muster (even if she did look ridiculous. Mind your business, Sylveon), Serena clicked on her phone.
A text message from Shauna.
Oh, so now Shauna was texting? Right after Serena promised herself she'd get over this crush? Wow. Wooooow.
Completely disregarding her dignity and the promise she just made to herself, Serena sat up, and scrambled to unlock her phone to check the text message.
omg girl! I forgot the password to my pkvsn acc bc i broke my phone, said the message, crying emojis trailed after it.
Serena stared blankly at the text. Well, that explained a lot… How did Serena not notice that Shauna hadn't uploaded anything within a week? No wonder why Shauna didn't interact with any of her videos! She didn't really have much of a choice!
r u srs
Shauna's reply was swift. I know i'm soooo dumb! I asked ivysaur to take a pic of me and it dropped my phone and it broke! I had to wait until i got to a city so i can get a new one.
u got a new one? Did u get the memory replaced or sumn?
No why?
how do u still have my #
I remembered it! I always text you so i was like i should remember it just in case! It was a good thing i did bc i would've felt sooo bad if i couldnt talk to you until the next contest. I just saw all your new vids on pkvsn omg girl you are so cute! Once i get my password back im gonna spam you with comments on all your vids
Oh. Nothing about Shauna promising comments on Serena's videos registered into her mind, because holy shit, Shauna made an actual effort to memorize her number. Who memorized numbers?! That was nice to hear. The kissy face emoji accompanying the message was also nice.
A hot flush burned Serena's cheeks. She tried to shrink herself, as if she could escape whatever she was about to do because she knew it would either be wonderful or a mistake. She didn't want to hide anymore behind the comfort of her phone's screen.
are u gonna b at the snowpoint city contest next week
Yes! Are you!
yea
Fuck it, Serena thought. She was just gonna go for it. 'Shoot your shot', said the memes online. She was going to and she'd never regret it.
do u wanna go on a date after the contest
A minute passed.
And then another one.
Fear squeezed her chest taut. The 'Oh shit I fucked up big time ohshitohshitohshit' feeling swallowed her whole.
After a couple of more minutes of Serena agonizing, Shauna finally texted back, You mean a DATE date?
Nevermind. Here comes the regret. And the heartbreak. Tears stung at her eyes as the familiar feeling of rejection precipitated into a heavy weight in her throat. She about to type out a reply, a begging of forgiveness, or play it off like 'girl whaaaaaat i meant like friends lol!' but she couldn't word anything to her liking.
Sylveon must have sensed Serena's desperation as she crawled on the bed until she could comfortingly drape its head over Serena's lap. Serena fell forward, face-planting into Sylveon's fur and breathing deeply. The pecha berry and lavender shampoo was a good decision in hindsight. Comforting while she was hurting. A smooth feeler patted at her head.
"Thank you," she mumbled into Sylveon's fur. It was the encouragement she needed.
At last, after bracing herself, she texted back. Yes
Serena again found comfort in snuggling Sylveon. The arm with the phone dangled beyond Sylveon's head, wanting it far so that she wasn't forced to reread her message and to not give into the desire of blocking Shauna's number so they could both be saved of the dilemma. She was sniffling now into Sylveon's fur. She couldn't even smell the shampoo anymore because she couldn't inhale through her nose long enough as sobs threatened to choke her throat.
Confirmation was the best thing she could do for herself. She put her feelings out there. If Shauna doesn't feel the same way, so what? They were good enough friends, things wouldn't be so awkward between them. And if they were different, then Serena would know for sure that Shauna and her just didn't have that much of a strong bond. It'll all work out.
At least, that was how she tried to rationalize it. Knowing herself, she'd probably cry about it after Shauna texted back and eat her heartache away in the form of a million calories of pastries.
That's a problem for later, though.
"Veon," Sylveon crooned gently, a feeler tapped on Serena's shoulder for attention.
Serena lifted her head so that her eyesight wasn't full of fur. She wiped back her tears and realized that Sylveon was pointing its nose at the phone still in Serena's hand. With a sigh full of resignation, Serena brought the phone close enough to read.
I'd love to, Shauna replied, with a single red heart emoji.
"Oh my Arceus, Sylveon!" she cried as she sat up. Sylveon's tail wagged, knowing that whatever Serena just read was positive. "She said she'd go on a date with me!"
Pink and cream floof pounced and Serena was gifted sweet celebratory snuggles.
Relief awashed Serena. Warmth crawled up her chest, into her face. A pang of excitement rang in her collarbone. She dropped her phone and fell backwards, laughing as Sylveon let out giddy yips.
She reached for her phone again; her heart fluttered as she reread Shauna's text message.
The heart emoji wasn't the red heart Serena had hoped for. It wasn't a like on her videos, a comment, or the thirsty DM that she wanted.
The text message was overall better than anything Serena could've imagined or wished for, as it was a promise for something more, something beyond what any online interaction could provide for her… which reminded her...
Sylveon rested its head in the crook of Serena's elbow as she set about typing a response to Shauna, trying to come up with a less cheesy way to tell her to not worry about leaving likes on her posts, because Serena liked her more than what a simple like implicated.