As he's recalling his butterfree and ariados she's just finished sweeping the floor with, it hits Bugsy that Whitney's gym title, which he'd blinked at and vaguely thought of as corny, gives little indication or warning of how terrifyingly competent in battle this incredibly pretty girl truly is.
He manages a small smile, watching Whitney cheer and reward her miltank with a berry; he's new at this, and a few losses don't amount to much. So what if his bugs lost thrice today – the first two losses to a pair of beginning trainers, and now to a teenage girl with a pink cow for an ace? Bug pokémon have enough of a bad rep as is; if he lets every minor roadblock get to him, he'd have never become a gym leader.
Bugsy walks up towards her end of the arena, and stretches a hand for her to shake. Whitney's grip is strong, despite the smallness and warmth of her hand, and it surprises him for a second. "Congratulations! You won fair and square," he says, glad for how calm he sounds. "I guess I'm still not up to par… But I'll study harder and learn from my defeat today. Thanks for the good battle."
The next second the girl is all up in his face, blinking down on him with a puzzled expression. "You're not upset?"
He shrugs, laughs a little; looks away to avoid confronting does she even realize how close her face is right now? She has pretty eyes, and the color reminds him of the bright, blooming clusters of flowers his hometown is named after. He wonders how many people's looked at her eyes and her bubbly voice and energetic gestures and expected her gym battle to be a walk in the park. (Probably about as much as people's seen him and his precariousness and short stature and fixation on bugs and laughed him off as a kid, someone who could never become a trainer, let alone pass the gym leader admission test.)
He scratches the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "Losing isn't fun, that's for sure. But it just means I've still got a lot to learn. For instance, I never expected your miltank would have a rock-type move in its arsenal – I sure learned it the hard way when my butterfree got knocked out in one hit, though..." He feels his smile broaden involuntarily, despite the sting of remembering how even his scyther was downed in two fell swoops, having run out of strength before he could attempt to salvage the battle and command it to roost away the damage. "It's smart of you. I lost because I didn't prepare enough, that's all."
After a moment of silence, Whitney rolls her eyes. "You sound so serious for a kid. But I'm a little jealous. I used to cry every time I lost a battle, you know? I'd throw a tantrum and cause problems for everyone. So looking at you take your loss so gracefully… it embarrasses me a little." Her cheeks turn pink; she giggles, probably trying to shake off an embarrassing memory, and Bugsy realizes too late that he's gone back to staring at her. Then she pouts, one hand placed on her hip: "Hey, you're not laughing at me, are you?"
"N-No! Of course not." He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, wondering how he's going to explain that it's not his fault she lives up to her title to a tee. Better not to talk at all, then.
"Aw, I was teasing," she says, her voice swinging back to lighthearted cheerfulness in a surprising instant. She pats the top of his head and he has to fight the urge to devolve into embarrassed spluttering. "You're so cute, Bugsy. I like my normal-types most of all, but thanks to you, I might like those icky bugs a little bit more."
"Bug-type pokémon are great," Bugsy huffs, despite himself. "That's the reason I became a gym leader. Researching them isn't enough – I wanted to prove to everyone that they could hold their own in battle, too."
"Okay, I get it. Sorry for making fun of them… I really didn't mean to, honest!" Whitney laughs jovially. "Tell you what – I'll give you a chance to even the odds! Let's have another battle at my place next week. If you win, I'll treat you to some ice cream from that store down the street. It'll be kind of a date! Sound good?"
"Deal," Bugsy replies, nodding enthusiastically, and the prospect of going out for ice cream with the girl in front of him is enticing enough that it doesn't occur to him to feel offended that she sees him as the kind of kid childish enough to be won over by a promise of sweets, of all things.
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a/n: plainhive is one of those ships I've never considered much before, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try and write it. I hope you liked, and please comment if you do!