Castelia City was one of the largest - if not the largest - city in the Unova Region. Huge skyscrapers towered over paved streets and sidewalks Said streets and sidewalks were always crowded - people, cars, bicycles of all shapes and sizes crowded every corner. Human beings and sometimes their Pokemon companions would walk the streets. Cars and bicycles clogged the streets, leading to often crowded and monotonous traffic.
It was days like this, when the traffic was brutal, and the drivers, men and woman, young and old, were all swearing like sailors, that made Elesa glad she had Zebstrika.
"Zeb! Strika!"
With a mighty leap, the black and white zebra-like Pokemon bounded over cramped intersection with a powerful leap, landing on the other side. With a whinny and a snort, the Electric-type trotted off with a clip-clop-clip, carrying her trainer towards her destination: Castelia City Pokemon Gym.
Elesa Koil, Gorgeous Model/Electric-type Gym Leader of Nimbasa City, held onto her Pokemon's neck as the powerful beast carried her through the city faster than any car or limo could take her. The wind blew into her Zebstrika as it carried her across the streets, ruffling the Pokemon's white mane as they shot across the pavement. The wind blew into Elesa's face as well, nearly blowing the hood of her sweater off. She swiftly grabbed the hood and pulled it firmly over her head: she could not have anyone see her here, unless she wanted to be swarmed by fans, or worse - the press. Elesa hated the press. Hate, hate, hated it.
They would have so much fun if they knew she was there, in Castelia, seeing her boyfriend - the boyfriend that nobody, save for very few, knew that she had.
Zebstrika dug her hooves into the pavement as she came to a halt. "Zeb!" she whinnied, as she came to a complete stop.
"Thank you, Zebstrika," Elesa said, gratefully. She pulled out her precious Pokemon's Pokeball and opened it. "Return," she said, as Zebstrika was struck by the energy and sucked into the Pokeball, shrunken down and safe inside the capture device, leaving Elesa alone in front of the gym.
Elese looked up to the green colored symbol of the Pokemon League on the top of the building. Adjusting her black hood again, she walked into the large Gym/Art Studio, the automatic doors sliding open for her.
She walked inside, and looked up. Elesa was not easily impressed, but this was really something. "Wow..."
Burgh had gone nuts - again.
The Artists love of Bug Pokemon was a constant use of inspiration for his artwork. Last time she had been here, the Gym was filled with honey - copious amounts of honey. Honey on the walls, honey on the floors - it was a nightmare on Elesa's laundry bill, not to mention difficult to explain to the laundromat. That had been pretty crazy.
This was lunacy, though.
"How the heck do you make an elevator with silk?" Elesa asked, looking up at the impressive sight. Burgh had actually done it - the tall Gym had a huge series of elevators and platforms inside, made from the silk of Bug-type Pokemon. Evidently, Burgh had spent quite a bit of time on this little project.
It was going to be a nightmare getting up there...
"Leavan!"
"Swad..."
"Whirl!"
A trio of Bug-types walked/waddled/rolled over to her, one smiling, one indifferent, and one... well, you couldn't really see his expression. Elesa gave a small smile as she waved. "Hello, Leavanny, Swadloon, Whirlipede. Is Burgh in?"
"Leavan!" Leavanny said with a nod, gesturing to the silk elevator.
Elesa sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that..."
"Leavan? Leavanny!" Leavanny said, turning to Swadloon. "Leavan!"
"Swadd..." the eternally unimpressed Bug-type said, rolling his eyes. "Swa..."
"Leavan!" Leavanny insisted.
Swadloon sighed. "Swaaad," he muttered to Elesa, hopping off towards the elevator.
"Levan!" Leavanny said, pointing after her younger brother. Evidently, Swadloon was going to take Elesa to Burgh.
Elesa smiled gratefully. "Thank you," she said, reaching into her black and yellow purse and pulling out two Pokeballs. "Zebstrika, Emolga, playtime!" she announced, releasing her two Pokemon.
Zebstrika and Emolga appeared in an instant, happy to see Burgh's Pokemon, who were equally enthused. It didn't take long for Whirlipede and Zebstrika to have one of their famous races, and for Leavanny to begin knitting Emolga yet another beanie (Emolga had a fondness for hats). Eelsa smiled; part of her wanted to watch her Pokemon enjoy themselves, but she knew she had a commitment to meet.
"Swaddd..." Swadloon grumbled impatiently.
"I'm coming," Elesa said. "Don't be impatient."
She made her way to the silken elevator and poked her head inside, looking up into the shaft. "So... How does this thing work?"
Swadloon rolled his eyes, before headbutting Elesa's rear end and knocking the surprised super-model into the elevator. A powerful burst of air sucked her up the elevator, a surprised scream trailing behind her as she tore through the shaft, twisting and turning as she was carried through twists and turns before finally being dumped unceremoniously onto her face, belly-flopping on the next platform.
Thank God the press wasn't there. This would be a great magazine cover.
Another rush of air shot through the silk tunnel and Swadloon leaped out, bouncing off of the still face-down on the floor Elesa's head before walking off to the next elevator.
Elesa finally managed to pry her face off of the ground, glaring at the Swadloon's back. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"
Swadloon turned and gave a small, barely visible, smirk, before he hopped into the next elevator.
Elesa pulled herself off of the ground, rubbing her sore body. "Little brat..." she murmured, rubbing her rear as she made her way to the second elevator.
It took about ten minutes to reach the top - not because it was honestly that tall, but because Swadloon hadn't waited up for her to guide her. The little runt had made his way to the top without waiting for her, so she had to find the way on her own.
Eventually, she made it through. She shot from the final elevator and landed on the ground with a grunt, feeling exhausted yet triumphant as she landed as gracefully as a Swanna.
Burgh was there, naturally. His back was turned on the elevator as he worked away at something, hammering and chiseling away at a piece of stone. Judging by the white dust that scattered everywhere with every swing of the hammer, Elesa reasoned that it was probably marble.
Swadloon was there, sitting on paint-stained ground with a bored expression on his face as he huddled in his leafy cloak. He barely even glanced at Elesa as she entered. Elesa just managed to resist the temptation to pull off one of her shoes and chuck it at the Bug/Grass-type.
Another Pokemon was there, too. One of Burgh's many, many Bug-types, known as Dwebble, a Bug/Rock-type. A small orange little bugger with big black eyes and a rocky shell on his back. He sat by Burgh as he chiseled at the marble, occasionally join in to help chip something.
For whatever reason, Elesa found herself watch in silence. He was kind of cute when he worked - and remained clueless to everything around him.
She decided to ruin the moment. "Burgh."
Burgh nearly leaped out of his skin, whirling to face her. "Oh, Elesa!" he said, smiling. "How nice to see you!" He stood up and began to wipe his dusty hands on his paint-stained sweater. "Come in, dear, come in."
"I already did," Elesa said. "Swadloon was nice enough to let me in." She gave Swadloon a hard glare. The Bug/Grass-type decided that it might be a good idea to nap somewhere else and waddled off cautiously. "What are you working on?" she asked Burgh, trying to look over his shoulder.
Burgh shook his head and pulled a piece of red cloth from his pants, swiftly tossing it over the small statue he had made. "It's a surprise for you," he said, smiling. "I was going to give it to you on our date tonight. But..."
"But what?"
"Well, you're here early," Burgh said, "so I can just give it to your early!" He turned around and picked up the still covered statue. "Here it is!" he announced, holding it proudly in the air. "A statue I made just for you!"
Elesa looked at the cloth curiously. "A statue?" the model asked. "Of what?"
"Of your bust!" Burgh proudly exclaimed.
It was a good thing Elesa hadn't been eating anything - she'd have choked. She stared at her boyfriend for a few seconds before managing to say "E-excuse me?"
Burgh threw the cloth off of the statue revealing, thank goodness, a bust of Elesa. The kind of bust you don't need to censor. It was a sculpture of Elesa from the lower neck up, carved after hours of painstaking work and several failed attempts. Every detail was perfect, from the hair, to the eyes, to her petite nose, all of captured in hard, clean marble.
"Burgh..." Elesa said, not sure what to say. She settled for, "It's beautiful."
"A beautiful bust for a beautiful woman!" Burgh said, grinning boyishly as he handed the statue to Elesa. "You could put it in your gym, if you want."
Elesa smiled. "Thank you," she said, gratefully. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Burgh turned bright red. "Oh, well..." he stuttered, running a hand bashfully through his auburn hair. "I couldn't have done it without Dwebble..."
"Dweeb!" Dweeble agreed, raising an orange claw in agreement.
"Yeah, well, I can't kiss him," Elesa pointed out.
Thankfully, Dwebble didn't take it to heart - she wasn't attractive either. From his standards at least. I mean... look at those eyes! They're stuck in her skull - and what is it with humans and having skulls? It's gross...
Elesa smiled as she held the bust close to her... eh... heart. "Well," she said, "let's go and get some dinner. My treat."
"Oh, no," Burgh said, shaking his head. "I should pay - I'm the guy, after all."
"But I'm the one with the unfairly large paycheck," Elesa said with a smirk. "Besides, you deserve a treat after all the hard work you did."
Burgh's face only grew redder. "Oh..." he said, bashfully.
"Seriously, though," Elesa said, hefting the bust in her hands. "This is really amazing. You should make one for the other Gym Leaders."
Burgh laughed. "Maybe I should... I bet Skyla and Lenora's busts would look good. Ooh, I'll have to order more marble from my supplier when I get home!"
"You should do that," Elesa agreed as they reached the silk elevator. "I'll bet they'll look fantastic."
"They will, won't they?" Burgh asked, happily. "Maybe I should do Iris and Roxie, too..."
"Oh... Those two don't have much of a bust," Elesa said, wondering when he'd get the innuendo.
Burgh remained blissfully ignorant. "Well, that's not very nice... I think they'll both look wonderful... Ooh, and one for Brycen and one for Clay, and one for the Striaton Brothers... Oh, I'm feeling artistic! I'll have to order lots of marble!"
Elesa sighed. "Burgh... you know the word 'bust' has a double meaning, right?" she asked.
"Really? What's the other meaning?"
Elesa told him, and Burgh's face was red for the rest of the evening.
Author's Note:
Well, that was a little raunchier than what I'd normally write, but I liked it. I'm sick of seeing Elesa in femslash, and Burgh is my favorite Unova Gym Leader, so I wanted to do a Juxtapose Shipping fanfic. I hope you liked it!
Reviews please! And you write Juxtapose Shipping fics, too! I command you!
Please?