inspired partly by this song: youtube . com/watch?v=bgpZXjh-1OE...this was supposed to be Shikimi/Phoebe but it's like 99% Shikimi/Caitlin. whoops.
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Shikimi remembered the exact moment like it was just yesterday. After years of training, all-nighters, blood sweat and tears, she'd finally qualified to be in the Pokemon league. Now all that was left were the preliminary battles between her and the other qualifiers to decide what order the Elite would be arranged in. She clapped shut her notebook full of battle strategies as the door to the arena rose and revealed...
... The most stunning young woman she'd ever seen. Blonde and slender and waif-like, Caitlin seemed to shine with an soft inner light that practically blinded the ghost trainer. Shikimi was quite sure her jaw fell open. She couldn't even give any semi-coherent orders to her pokemon, while her enemy gracefully yawned orders to her team, who carried them out with deadly accuracy. It didn't even matter that she had the type advantage: Shikimi fell easily, not only in the battle, but in love with her pale opponent.
Caitlin didn't even widen her sleepily (dreamily, Shikimi thought) half-lidded eyes when the announcer proclaimed her the victor. She just recalled her pokemon back into their balls. And then, as if Teleported by an abra, a man was immediately by her side, kneeling down in a manner not unlike a man making a proposal and cracking open an ornate velvet-lined box like it was a huge wedding ring container. The blonde girl only acknowledged him with a nod, placed her pokeballs into the elaborate container, and allowed him to snap it shut and follow her as she floated out of the arena. Her companion just gave Shikimi a curt look as he shut the door, but the ghost trainer thought she detected a hint of foreboding in his neutral stare.
Shikimi couldn't find it in herself to care much when she lost against the other runner-up Elite member, a classily-dressed young man with a penchant for Dark pokemon. She spent much more of her time collecting data on the object of her new hopeless crush. Caitlin's favorite tea was jasmine, the same as her butler's (Shikimi made a mental note to replenish her nonexistent stock of jasmine tea leaves). Caitlin slept an average of 15 hours a week, during which her butler guarded her bedroom with the zeal of a watchdog (n-not that Shikimi was sneaking peeks at Caitlin's bedroom door through her mansion windows or anything). Caitlin had an extensive collection of bath salts, which her butler added to every week (Shikimi would carefully avoid thinking of the mere possibility of ever taking a bath with the other girl... or at least try to keep a vibe handy when she did).
In any case, the man she'd seen in the arena that day was apparently her butler, and to say that he was close to his employer was a massive understatement. Mr. Darach was inseparable from his mistress; whenever she sneezed, he was there holding a handkerchief to her delicate nose. Whenever she approached a door, he was there within seconds to open it for her like a perfect gentleman, despite Shikimi's fierce attempts to get there before him. Whenever the weather took a chilly turn, he was there with a down-lined coat, or a fur scarf, or his jacket, even as Shikimi was in the middle of removing her own cape to offer the other Elite member.
But... it wasn't as if she could blame him. Because whenever she looked at his face and saw the stern lines in his face soften into a fond look, she was quite sure that, if she looked into the mirror, it would be the same expression she had whenever she glanced Caitlin's way. And, despite the fact that Caitlin rarely emoted... whenever she did, it was always the tiniest yet brightest of smiles towards her butler after a job particularly well-done, or a subtle leaning against his shoulder whenever she was feeling tired (which was often). It was obvious she needed him, and not only for his butlerly services.
Then again, what did she expect! It worked out picture-perfectly, it was the textbook definition of a noble romance. A lady and her butler, a love made up not only of physical need, but genuine care and wanting... Shikimi thought it was adorable. Well, that is, if it were any other couple and any other girl but Caitlin. She'd given up a long time ago and resigned herself to being just a co-worker and friend without ever revealing her feelings but, at the same time, it really was kind of a pity.
"It would be nice to be wanted like that, that's all I'm saying," she whined plaintively.
Now, though, her pout turned into a grin when she felt warm arms around her shoulders and a kiss pressed to her cheek from another, as the amused voice of Hoenn's ghost elite purred into her ear: "But, dear, you already are."