The sun was setting down over Stow-On-Side, as the day finally came to an end. While the merchants were clearing their stands, a young trainer watched them. He wore a grey shirt with the number "12" being engraved on it in a shiny green, which fit well to the green stripes of his black training trousers. His short hair with three ahoges was as brown as his dirty shoes and as off-putting, as his overall appearance. Next to him, his Butterfree was levitating on the spot and just watched the citizens of the small village clearing the area, as the moon started to appear behind the mountains. Nicky, the name of the teen, mused a bit, took another bite from his chocolate bar and then turned to his partner pokemon.

"That was a tough day Butterfree. Fighting that dynamaxed Galvantula sure took a lot out of us, but in the end we pulled through."

The bug pokemon chirped happily, which caused Nicky to chuckle as he chewed on his candy, waiting for his girlfriend to come home. About two months ago, the trainer met her in the wild area when they were both fighting wild pokemon. Nicky mistook a Machamp for a wild one and attacked it with Butterfree, only to realize that it belonged to a trainer. She was mad at him and even threw Nicky on the ground. But how was he supposed to know that the pokemon already belonged to somebody? After a while, she eventually calmed down and the two started to get along a bit better, as they started to train with their pokemon together. Eventually, the trainer started to fall for her and although it took a long time for the other one, she eventually admitted her feelings for him as well. The two have been together ever since.

Eventually, the dark sky was filled with shiny stars. The moon was now towering over the city like a watchful guardian and yet, there was no sign of the girl. Nicky was a bit confused, as she hasn't arrived yet. Normally, she would be back after 2 hours from going to the Score City Stadium. Normally she'd have one of her matches and this time Nicky couldn't come, because he had to do a lot today, like shopping, collecting items via dyna raids and so on . However, it has been 4 hours already. Should he call her on the phone? The trainer glanced at his Butterfree with concern, who also seemed to be quite puzzled as to why the grey haired trainer hasn't returned yet. Then, all of a sudden, the pokemon chirped again. Nicky turned around confused and saw an athletic, tanned grey haired girl walking up towards the building barefoot. She wore the official fighting type gym uniform of Galar and a large Tepig like black and orange hair band was crowning her hair. It made her look really cute in Nicky's eyes. With a relieved smile, he climbed down the ladder in order to greet his girlfriend.

"Ah hey Bea! I was starting to get worried! How was the battle?"

The fighting type trainer didn't answer and just opened the door to her parents house. They were both away on a journey to Johto, in order to meet with some karate master for whatever reason. The trainer felt responsible for the safety of his girlfriend, mentally and physically speaking. Granted, the Stow-On-Side Gym leader could probably take care of herself in the physical category, but Nicky knew from experience that on the mental side of things, Bea needed some sort of guidance. So he slowly followed the martial artist inside, with Butterfree following him.

Meanwhile, Bea was practicing her punching moves by hitting the punching bag with much force. Her fists hit the fabric hard and her knuckles started to hurt after a while, but she didn't stop at all. A punch followed after a punch, until the trainer ended her practice with a strong kick. Sweat was rolling all over her white gym leader uniform and her shoulders sank and rose from the heavy breathing, as Bea punched her fist once more.

"Something wrong karate kid?"

The martial artist turned around, with a fake stoic expression on her face as Nicky was standing in the doorframe of her training room, located in the cellar. Bea quickly shook her head.

"It's no concern Nicky. I am feeling just fine.", she replied calmly, though it was obvious to the two parties that this wasn't the truth. The brunette walked up to her and looked at her straight in the eyes. Silence filled the room, as the couple stared at each other. The only sounds that were heard were the Maractus outside and the calm breeze of the nightwind. She a looked down, hiding her expression from her boyfriend, while his concern over the gym leader resurfaced again.

"Is everything really ok Bea? You can tell me what's wrong.", he asked and put a hand on her shoulder. Still hiding her face, the girl finally answered the trainer

"I lost."

Nicky's eyebrows went up, surprised that she actually answered him. He remembered very well the past times, she felt bad. On how hard it was for the girl to actually tell him, what was bothering her. Normally, it would have taken at least a few days, but now, it only took him a few minutes. She must have started to really trust him. Their relationship was developing very well. He wanted to smile, but Nicky didn't want another slap from the fighting type trainer, so he recomposed himself and stared puzzled at his love.

"You lost?", he replied confused.

"That's what I said.", she said, with some tone of annoyance and frustration in her voice. Then she finally looked up to him, her face clearly showing anger. Her fists were shaking with rage and Nicky took a few steps back.

"My pokemon did not stand a single chance against the trainer's Togekiss! It tore my team apart with Air Slash without breaking in a sweat! Because of my bad abilities as a trainer, I lost!", she shouted and some tears were forming from her eyes. Butterfree meanwhile entered the room, but seeing the frustrated gym leader it quickly decided to leave the couple alone. The other trainer held up his hands for defense and approached his girlfriend slowly.

"Hey, calm down Bea. No need to get worked up over a loss, so-

"OH YEAH?!"

This time, Nicky yelped in surprise as the girl punched him in the belly, sending him flying towards the doorway. He landed on his back and groaned in pain. Bea's look then immediately shifted from anger to worry, after she realized what she had done. The gym leader immediately ran to her boyfriend and kneeled to him worryingly.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know what came over me!", she exclaimed, her face full of regret. She was crying now, as warm tears were falling down her cheek. The kantonian trainer groaned in pain and shook his head.

"Hey don't worry. I'm not mad at you or anything.", he replied with a small smile and Bea wasted no time at all to help him up. Nicky then patted the dust of his clothing before turning to the gym leader. His face shifted into concern again, as she looked away guiltily.

"My apologies for losing my cool….This rarely happens to me…"

She gave out a frustrated sigh, before staring at the ceiling.

"It's just...this has been the third loss to me in a row...First I lose to Nessa, then to Gordie and now to that one trainer with his Togekiss...One loss wouldn't bother me...but three in a row?"

Nicky placed a hand on her cheek, which caused Bea to look at him confused. The touch made her more calm, as her heartbeat slowed down.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it. You can't win all the time.", he replied softly. Bea just stared at him, still not convinced by the other trainer.

"You can say that easily. You never lost that often.", she said frustrated. But to her surprise, Nicky shook his head.

"Wrong. Back when I was in Kanto, it took us over 10 tries at least to defeat Brock all on our own. Butterfree did his hardest and we only won at the last second with luck.", he replied and then looked away. The trainer let out a sigh, as he continued.

"I felt really guilty seeing Butterfree getting hurt. Its cries of pain and my lackluster decisions….it hurt to see my partner suffer from my bad choices."

Bea stared at her boyfriend in surprise. She didn't hear that one before, but then again, both of them didn't share much about one's past. It took the girl a bit more to open up to him, though Nicky also had problems with opening up to her. So hearing him talk about his struggles in the past, was a bit surprising to her, given how he was less hesitant, than when they met. After a while of silence, she finally answered.

"Wow that's….I didn't know that.", she replied hesitantly. Nicky just shook his head in response.

"Eh, it ain't something I like to talk about. But hey, in the end we got better and reached top 20 of the Pokemon League. Well, we improved and all. Losing makes you stronger, since ya get to learn from your mistakes. That's what I think at least.", he said and then smiled slightly. Bea slowly nodded as a response.

"I guess you're right….", she responded slowly. A smile started to form on her lips and she slowly pulled the brunette into a hug and planted a kiss on the trainer's cheek.

"Thank you Nicky. I'm feeling much better now.", she whispered into his ears. He started to blush very hard, with his cheeks turning as red as a Centiskorch.

"Yo...you wel...come.", he replied with a stutter and wrapped his arms around her as well. Bea chuckled amused. He was so cute in her eyes, with his cheeky smile.

They stayed in this position for some time, until the gym leader let go of him. At that point, Nicky had recomposed himself and put up his classic easy going smirk.

"Anyways, wanna eat some chocolate in the kitchen? I bought a new one at the market." Bea's eyes lit up by the mention of chocolate. In spite of her strict diet, the martial artist had a big sweet tooth that somehow everyone knew about. But that didn't matter right now, as she quickly composed herself again.

"Of course.", she replied calmly with a smile, trying her hardest to lose her composure. But that one slipped, when she immediately rushed out of the room, while Nicky smiled and followed her.

The two were later on eating both each half of a giant chocolate bar. It tasted like cinnamon and Bea shoved a big part of her half, causing the edges of her mouth being covered in brown. Nicky couldn't help, but chuckle at the sight of it. Because of that, the girl stopped eating and glared at the other trainer.

"May I ask, what's so amusing to you?", she asked annoyed.

"Your mouth is full of chocolate.", he replied and continued to chuckle. As he went on laughing, Bea rolled her eyes exasperated, yet with a smile.

"Yes, yes. I need to clean my mouth."

Shen then stood up from her chair, wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips on her boyfriend's. This time, the brunette didn't act surprised and instead returned the kiss. Her lifts felt soft and her hands rough, but he didn't mind at all. However, all of a sudden Bea pulled away and started to laugh.

"Now you also have chocolate on your mouth!", she said and smirked. Indeed, his entire mouth was now as brown as his girlfriend. But he didn't mind. He rolled his eyes playfully and then laughed as well. The two continued to laugh the rest of the evening, while also enjoying each other's presence and their strong bond. Eventually, they stopped and watched some cartoons, before falling asleep in each other's arms on the couch, with a bright future awaiting them as they dreamt of life's long seemingly endless river.

AN: And that's a wrap! I hope Bea didn't act so OOC in this one, since it was basically some sort of comfort fic. Well anyways, I hope you liked it anyways! Stay tuned!