whoops my hand slipped

also I know I'm on hiatus mostly, but I wrote this before the hiatus and the Fanfiction staff just got the characters up for it today. Thanks to the staff!

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm working…"

"I can see that, but why are you working here?"

Mallow picked up another black and pink Pyukumuku and launched it into the sea. "I need money," she responded. Kiawe looked at her weirdly.

"Since when?"

"Since… recently. Don't ask why, please?" she pleaded. Kiawe stared at her, but nodded. "Whatever." "Thanks," Mallow said.

Kiawe shrugged, raising the Sea Cucumber Pokemon high above his head and sending it catapulting into the deep blue. He grabbed another one, but halted when he heard a familiar giggle. Turning, he saw that Mallow had picked up a small Pyukumuku, and it was now nuzzling into her palm.

"It's so cute!" she cooed, stroking the top of the Pokemon with her finger. "We're not allowed to keep these, right?"

"Nope," Kiawe said curtly, scooping up the Pokemon from her hand and throwing it into the water. It let out a small squeak as it sank. Mallow stared at the ripples in the water sadly.

"Aww…" she pouted, "but it liked me…" She shrugged, and the smile returned to her face. "Oh well, I'm sure there will be plenty of Pyukumuku!"

…

"I brought lunch, do you want some?"

Break time had come for the workers on the beach, and Kiawe and Mallow had retreated to a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean. Mallow was currently digging through her pink bag she had brought with her that day.

When she got no response, she pulled out a box filled with rice, meat, and vegetables and a fork and set it down on a napkin she also grabbed. Mallow grinned as she saw Kiawe's eyes widen slightly at the food.

"Are you sure you don't want some?" she asked, pulling out another fork and waving it in front of his face. Grudgingly he held out his palm, and she happily handed him the fork. He peered into the box, and shoveled out a bite before putting it in his mouth.

He chewed for a bit, before he choked and started to splutter. "…Spicy…" was all he coughed out.

"The fire captain is afraid of a little heat?" she teased. She winked. "Don't worry, I gotcha." Another lunchbox emerged from the bag. Mallow passed it to Kiawe and smiled. "Don't worry, no spice is going to hurt you this time."

Kiawe said nothing and dug in. They ate in comfortable silence, Kiawe sitting cross-legged, and Mallow dangling her legs off the edge.

"So…" Mallow said, "how's it going? I mean, the saving up money for dance school thing." Kiawe shrugged.

"It was going pretty well, I mean, I lost quite a bit of money when that trainer came along." He popped a bit of meat into his mouth. "They had an Amulet Coin," he said, "How is that fair?"

"Lose a little, gain a little?"

"Eh."

"You're really working hard for that school, aren't you," Mallow mused, mindlessly stirring her rice around. Kiawe nodded. "I'm going to miss you when you leave," she said, before blushing. "I mean, we all are! Everyone's going to miss you if you go. The Pokemon School won't be the same without you, and who's going to do deliveries if you go, an-"

"I got this," he interrupted. "It's only going to be for a year or two at max. Deliveries, someone else can do the job, and as for everyone missing me-," he cut off, staring into the distance, "It's not the end of the world."

Mallow's face drooped for a second, before she perked right back up. "Then I'm going to help you!"

"What?"

"You'll see."

…

Kiawe dug his hands deep into the sand, searching out yet another Pyukumuku. After doing this for several weeks, he was starting to get sick of them. Mallow was doing the same, but her eyes saw something, and she straightened up immediately.

"Hey!" she yelled, waving at someone behind him. He turned and his eyes found the short blue-haired girl.

"Lana," he greeted, before going right back to launching Pyukumuku. The water captain set down her ever-present fishing pole and eagerly watched the Pokemon as they soared overhead. "Wow," she commented, "they look so majestic! I wonder if you could bait a Kyogre with them…"

Kiawe stared at her. "I don't think that's possibl-" "She's joking," Mallow cut in. "Or do you want to test it?" Kiawe considered his options, before throwing another Pyukumuku. Lana watched with interest, but paused when she heard a pained squeak.

Her eyes flashed dangerously as her head swiveled slowly to face the direction the sound came from. There, a Pyukumuku lay on the ground, and a group of teens towered over it. One of them lightly stepped on the Pokemon's spikes, causing it to shriek and bury under the ground.

However, another of the teens grabbed the Pokemon and brought it to the surface, making sure to jab at its spikes and mouth in the process. The group laughed and took turns stepping on the creature.

A growl rose up in the back of Lana's throat as she stormed over. "Put down that Pyukumuku," she warned, "or else." The first teen snorted. "What're you going to do, short stuff?"

"What am I going to do?" she repeated, "Popplio! You know what to do." The Sea Lion Pokemon inhaled, before exhaling a large bubble that swept up the gang and drifted them away toward the market, leaving Lana to pick up the Pyukumuku and tenderly brush off excess dirt.

"You wanna go back?" she asked it. It didn't respond, so she took that as a yes, tucked it under her arm, and dove under the water. Mallow watched amusedly as the girl returned, soaking wet but with a big smile on her face.

"You seem to be enjoying this," Kiawe said dryly. Lana nodded enthusiastically. "Sure I am!" "Then here," he said, handing her the Pyukumuku that he was about to throw. "Help us out."

…

They sat at the lookout point again, sitting in positions similar to when they had first sat there a couple months ago. Mallow toyed with the Pokemon Dollars inside her bag containing all her funds from her Pyukumuku job so far, picking them up and letting them slip through the cracks in her fingers. Kiawe, meanwhile, had the coins set out in neat piles in front of him as he counted them out.

"Almost there," he muttered. Crash. Coins skittered and rolled around the grassy slope, (luckily none fell off), as a bag hit the ground in front of him. He looked up at the attacker, who stood above him, an unreadable expression on her face.

"For you," she clarified. He stared at the money, dumbfounded. "It should be enough for you to go to that school, right?"

"U-uh, yeah?" he said. "I can't accept this though." Mallow defiantly crossed her arms.

"Whaddya' mean, you can't accept this? Don't try to be all noble! I did not work my butt off for 2 months just for you to not accept this money!" She nudged the bag further towards him with her toe.

Eyes wide, he stared at the gleaming coins peeking out through the opening. "T-that's more than enough," he said breathlessly. "I can go now! I can go to the dance school!" He let out a whoop, tossing a nearby stick into the air like a baton.

Uncharacteristically, he stood up and threw his arms around Mallow, albeit only for a short time. That encounter was enough to leave Mallow flustered, though, as she watched his back retreat into the distance, shouting and cheering and swinging the coin-filled bag around.

Mallow felt a grin spread across her face. Bathed in the fading sunlight, the thought came back to her that she liked him. The question was, how much?

are you kidding me right now i take months on requests and I write this in a day because I love this pairing agh

Also, this ship, I am really hyped about it and its potential. (At least in the anime… hopefully?)

Thanks for reading, everybody.

…

Smile, Sparkle, and Stay Strong! ~ CleoKat