THAT SYLVEON
It's time. Let's do this. I've kinda lost count of the number of chapters, but that's simply because I'm a nincompoop. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Savour it, drink it in. Delectable.
LuanOTP owns nothing.
…
You jogged into school with nothing but a slice of bread in your mouth and the slice of bread thrown at you during breakfast. Somehow, you managed to make it to school on time; the buses had been favourable that sunny Friday morning. The hallways were filled to the corners of other Pokemon that proved to be nothing but a mere obstacle compared to your agile form.
Whizzing through the marble floored halls, you failed to a complete halt before smacking head first into something akin to a brick wall. Actually, no. This brick wall was a thing. It was Barry, and he looked at you as if you had betrayed him in front of his family.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, staggering forwards due to your skull crushing momentum. Like you had known, though. A pair of Chatot flew around your blurred vision as you were forced backwards onto your ass. "There are nicer ways of saying hello, Raidon!"
You apologised as you came to. The boulder you collided with seemed to be talking to another person. Manu, the Zeraora, who you had slowly grown fond of. While you weren't too keen on his funny Johto mannerisms, something about his smile was contagious. He looked at you with that same grin and opened his mouth to cheer at your arrival.
"'Ey, Donnie! Good to see you goin', man!" he chirped, clasping his paws to beckon for you to let him help you to your feet.
"Hi, Manu." you uttered in return, before you asked them what business they had in the hallway so close to registration time.
Manu smirked as he glanced at Barry. "Weell, we were jus' talkin' about the best battlers in the school, 'n' all."
Your ears stood stiff - a conversation you'd typically find interesting presented itself. You nodded your head from side to side to get the Zeraora to continue.
"I mean, I'm sayin' Barry's the best in the school. Y'know, bein' a Bursyamo 'n' all. But, this guy says it's…?"
Your gaze shifted to the taller Blaziken, who, with folded arms, confidently stated:
"Lola. Without a doubt."
You cocked your head in surprise. You had a few thoughts in mind as to who it could be - Barry would definitely be a contestant; that uppercut you ate a month or two ago still tells tales to your chin. Maybe even Alexander Evergreen, the school owner's child. Although, he was a senior, and didn't have much time left in the school. However, the Lopunny you loosely associated with didn't once come to mind. You approached Barry inquisitively, begging for some sort of reasoning.
The Blaziken smiled, almost proudly. "Well, I know I haven't really told you guys much about this, but in the past week or so, Lola and I have been doing a lot of training - now she's gotten really good at hand-to-hand. She's really quick too. Way better than me, that's for sure."
For some reason, you just couldn't bring your imagination to perceive it. By the look on his face, neither could Manu.
"Ya see, Raidon? It just don't make no sense!" the electric type Pokemon wailed. "As I told you before, Barry, I gotta see it for myself."
Silky sinking his shoulders, the blaze Pokemon nodded at the doors to the gymnasium. "She's in the gym training because she wants to make the starting six. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to catch her in a match, but I'm telling you guys - she's got some serious potential."
The confident talk coming from Barry was way too convincing for it to be a ruse. Plus, it was Barry we were talking about here. Resultantly, you didn't have much reason to be doubtful. But Lola, of all Pokemon? And there were a lot of Pokemon in this school for it to be her. You just had to see it. Excitement gripped you toward the gym doors like a leash to a Poochyena.
You felt a push from behind you. You asked Manu what he thought he was doing as he had his paws firmly attached to your butt.
"C'mon, Raidon! Teachers don't care 'bout registration on Fridays. Plus, we got gym next four periods anyway."
You had no choice but to give in and allow the Zeraora to manhandle you all the way to the gymnasium, where there was a surprisingly fair amount of students populating the large room.
Scanning the gym promptly, Barry pointed your little trio over to a mat surrounded by about a dozen Pokemon. However, the focus was on the pair of Pokemon that stood on the mat. Namely, a Gurdurr, and stood fiercely across from it, a familiar faced Lopunny.
"...No way…" muttered Manu, as he gravitated toward the action. Not wanting to be left behind, you and Barry picked up the pace to witness the battle.
Budging up between a couple bystanders, you got into a good position to watch Lola stand up to the Gurdurr. With slightly bent knees, She had her weak hand stretched out beyond a dominant fist, that was kept close to her shoulder.
At a crowd's count of three, the Gurdurr burst forward, wildly swinging a fist toward Lola, who, without hesitation, avoided the attack by combining a sidestep into a handspring.
Realising the Lopunny was behind them, the Gurdurr spun and threw a punch aimed at her head. Before it could meet its target, the fist was met with an equally matched forearm. The Gurdurr blinked in surprise once they realised that their play had been so easily parried, and in their wait was a fist flying toward their face.
The crowd roared with the resounding collision of Lola's fist meeting it's target. While the Gurdurr was stunned from the pain, the Lopunny ducked down, aimed her foot at the ceiling, and shot a kick skyward. Once her foot slammed into her opponent's chin, the Gurdurr flew out of the ring, performing an involuntary somersault on their way out.
Lola punched a fist into the air, before promptly checking if the Gurdurr was alright (which they most definitely were not). Meanwhile, you hadn't realised how long your mouth had been open during the course of that match. It was an incredible sight to behold. Her simple movements were fluid like poetry. Yet, her strikes were precise, powerful and with purpose. Weirdly, it brought a blush to your face.
"So what do you guys think?" asked Barry, as if the answer wasn't already obvious.
"Okay, you got me. I'm sold. Since when was she a… a battling queen!?" Manu cried in disbelief.
The Blaziken shrugged his shoulders once again, keeping you and fuming Zeraora in the dark. "Dunno, we were sparring one day, then I realised that she was actually getting really, really good."
The cogs turned in your head as you realised that Barry's words had quickly become a reality. The Lopunny in question approached your group, wiping away a few beads of sweat as she came into conversation distance.
"Heya, you guys!" she called restlessly, hopping on the spot as she stretched one of her legs. "I hope you guys were watching that game."
"Yeah we were!" shouted Manu, clearly still in denial of the way the feat made him feel. "Am I missin' somethin'? I didn't know you got legs like that, y'know?"
Even though it wasn't quite how you'd put it, you nodded eagerly. What you had just sat through definitely wasn't an everyday feat.
Lola rolled her eyes at the comment as she put an arm to rest on Barry's shoulder. You met with her hazelnut pearls. "I gotta say, I've been working out a ton recently," she dropped her arm from Barry's shoulder to wrap it around his waist, pulling him in closer. "And Barry has been a huge help for me to improve."
Well she really showed you. But what is the resulting benefit for you? Challenge. The anticipation began to get to you, and you felt your forelegs tingle in excitement. You just had to ask. The battler in you was begging to be released. Just as you were about to ask, Lola looked over and leered deep into your eyes, smiling as she did so.
"Hey Raidon? Wanna have a battle?"
…
...
...
It didn't take long for you to occupy a mat alongside the Lopunny. Although you stood before her much taller figure, you weren't afraid or anything - bigger battles meant a bigger opportunity to relish.
You shook your legs about to get the nerves out. Barry, Manu, and few other Pokemon stood around the mat, keen to see you and Lola duke it out for what you recalled to be the first time ever in the history of your personal experience.
The students clamoured around to synchronise a countdown. Lola was certainly a force to be reckoned with. However, you knew that you were a seasoned, experienced battler. Just remember your fundamentals. Be light on your feet. Plan your attacks ahead of dodges. Most importantly, keep a cool head.
"Three, two, one, battle!" the students cheered, allowing the match to officially start. You made a dash lunging at the normal type acquaintance, raring to charge her with a volt tackle.
...
...
Blackness.
After what felt like a minute of nothing but the very darkness of the voids of your eyelids, you woke up to a very lopsided gymnasium.
Once you had sat up and took in your surroundings, your memory began to come back to you. Feeling the softness of the mat, you confusedly glance up at a Lopunny sat down at your side.
"Oh phew, thank Arceus you're awake." she sighed, as Barry and Manu came into view to accompany you. "How're you feeling?"
"...What just happened?"
Without saying much else, Manu took it upon himself to show you the scenes unfold once more through the perspective of his phone camera. The events started off the same you remembered, with the crowd counting down the commencement of the battle, and you immediately breaking into a tackle. However, what you couldn't recall is you completely missing your target, and instead coming into contact with Lola's spinning elbow. To be fair, that explained the throbbing pain in your forehead. Today was not a good day for you to not bring a helmet to school.
Your lifeless body dropped to the ground, as the camera shook in overwhelming praise from the audience. Without context, this could make for a very morbid video. On the other hand, you just had to come to admire how calm and collected Lola looked while removing your conscience from your body.
"Man, you really showed me, Lola." you admitted shyly.
Giggling, Lola bowed her head in respect, clasping her paws together. "Thanks a lot! I had no damn clue how far training could get you."
Without a doubt, it was clear how far you needed to catch up to Lola. It was already enough on your plate trying to keep up with Barry, but the Lopunny made an immediate impact to your rival list.
"I gotta say, man." Manu spoke up, placing his paws on your shoulders. "You got schooled out there."
Rubbing your forehead, you nodded timidly. It didn't take a mastermind to figure that out. However, you felt inspired by the fight, and now saw Lola in a new light. Admiring the Lopunny, you asked her how often she trains, and if you could get in on that action.
"Well, I dunno 'bout Barry, but I'm here every afternoon. Usually there are a bunch of Pokemon here after hours, so I catch games with 'em." she explained, placing her hand on her hip suggestively. "But if you wanna spar, I'll always make time for you, Raidon."
Somehow, you felt warm on the inside. Something about Lola inviting you to get your lights punched out made you feel a little loved.
The main doors shot open, directing your attention over to a huffing Sylveon, who gazed deep into your gleaming eyes. They stormed over to your troupe of Pokemon, but specifically getting up into your face, staring at you in a mix of worry and frustration.
"What the H, Raidon! Why weren't you in form? Are you okay? You've got a bump on your forehead!" Anais panicked, before she glared daggers at the bystanding Blaziken. "Who did this? Tell me."
Before you could even get a word out, let alone greeting the fairy, Lola stepped forward, chest out. "Anais, chill - we just had a battle. Didn't know I'd floor your boyfriend, though."
You blushed as your girlfriend came to your defence. "WHAT?" she yelled in denial, looking at you with widened eyes. "No way you didn't, Lola."
The Lopunny merely looked away. "Well, I'm not gonna say anything else if you ain't gonna believe me, Ann."
"Yeah, I don't think I will." simply remarked the Sylveon, helping you to your feet, as she stared at you intently. "Anyways, Raidon, I wanna talk to you about something."
You gestured for her to continue, but she gave a disparaging glare to the Pokemon standing about you, who were just ensuing in casual conversation amongst themselves.
"I wanna talk to you alone, dork."
"Oh."
Anais led you to a section of the bleachers where there were scarce amounts of Pokemon within earshot. You were certain that you heard your name within the whispers of Barry, Lola and Manu, who were left behind. However, that elbow still had your brain rattling the inside of your skull, so maybe you could just be hearing things.
She leaned in a bit closer to your face, and glared at your person authoritatively.
You questioned if everything was alright with her. She shook her head and pressed one of her paws into the furriest part of your chest.
"No, actually. Raidon, I feel like you haven't been telling me something."
You paled a little bit, as you found the immediate truth from your girlfriend's words. She looked deep into your unsure gaze.
"What makes you feel that way?" you questioned hesitantly, watching Anais' expression very closely.
She sighed and pouted, placing her paw just above your own before looking at the background of the gymnasium.
"Well, it just feels like you've been running away from me." she began, groaning almost, "Like, when I had asked you out a couple days back, and you said that you had to go somewhere. You hadn't even explained where you were going."
Your memory served you a dish of that day. You had indeed told the Sylveon you were "busy", before scampering off to see that person whom you held dearly. The fuming fairy that sat in front of you didn't seem to know that though. She stared at you as if awaiting an answer, although you were slightly speechless.
"C'mon, Raidon, say something!" pleaded Anais, nabbing you by your shoulders and shaking you a little.
"Hey, I'm sorry!" you exclaimed, getting the fairy type to stop shaking your already bruised body. "I just had a lot going on, and so did you. I didn't want to make your life any harder, so…"
You had explained your hardships to the best of your abilities. However, your Sylveon girlfriend hadn't looked any more convinced. If anything, the shocked expression on her profile prepared you for another shakedown.
She held you by your shoulders again, and shook you about. "Raaaaiiidon! I'm your girlfriend! Don't you know what that means?"
You thought carefully. Did you really know what that means? To have a girlfriend? To be in a relationship?
Just to be safe, you slowly shook your head, much to Anais' frustration.
"It means, if you've got any issues, anything you wanna talk about, or even if you just want to bust your chops, you can speak to me!"
"...Anything?" you mused, tilting your head to the side. "I dunno, Anais. It kinda sounds annoying if I told you everything about me, or spoke to you every single time something happened-"
Anais closed your mouth by placing a finger over your lips.
"Well you know what, Raidon? Maybe I do wanna hear it."
Surprising. Washing over you was what felt like a cocktail of relief and shock. She huffed defeatedly, and used her paw to caress your cheek. You blushed red as you felt the softness of her hands hold the side of your face.
"Raidon, can you be honest with me?" Anais asked, although it sounded almost like she was pleading with you. Begrudgingly, you wagged your head, and she continued, saying, "If you have like… y'know… issues. Who do you talk to?"
You heeded the question from your girlfriend, and began thinking about it. No names came to mind. Then, you really started thinking about it. Sheepishly, you lifted your shoulders, not able to conjure up a name to mind.
"What? Not even your parents?"
That was a definite no.
"No, I don't. My mom hates it when I talk about my problems, bec-"
"WHAT!?" bellowed Anais, becoming the cause for a few Pokemon, including Manu who was awhile away, to flinch in astonishment. "You don't talk to your mom?"
To the Sylveon, this seemed to be a very big deal. You weren't really sure what the issue was, but it was enough for Anais to get the attention of Coach Easel, the Weavile sat about thirty feet away from you, who looked at the both of you with daggers.
"Atos! Breon-Solian! Shouldn't you two be training?" she yelled, shaking the entire gymnasium.
Cringing, you hopped down from the bleachers in a hurry. Anais whispered to you once you got to the bottom of the set of bleachers.
"We have to finish this conversation today, Raidon. Meet me after school, and we're gonna talk, m'kay?"
It would seem that you hadn't much of a choice now. You agreed, feeling like you had done something wrong when you really hadn't. Once that was settled, the duo of you headed back to the main group of Barry, Manu and Lola, who had attracted a large group of Pokemon around a mat that had the latter Lopunny contesting an eager Meowstic.
As you and Anais blended into the crowd of spectators, you got to watch Lola commence her fight. The Meowstic did a good job of walling the normal type out with what looked like psychic waves, but it didn't seem to be effective for too long.
You peered at the gym's comically massive wall clock that hung on the wall proudly above the main exit. It was only the first period, and there was still a day chock full of academic events. Fortunately for you, you had the power of time skips on your side.
…
...
Your eyelids felt as heavy as one ton weights. The last four periods had been nothing but gym, and the effects of physical education really started to take it's toll on your young teenage body. You could practically feel the lactic acid flowing through your limbs. Not only that - the throbbing from when Lola's elbow had last met your forehead hadn't ceased either. Hopefully it wouldn't bruise.
It was only maths, though, and trigonometry was hardly an issue. Especially when you sat next to Barry. All it took was one glance to the left, and maybe you could understand what's meant by a tangent functio-
"Hey, Raidon? Are you copying my work?"
You shot up without warning, snapping to look at the front chalkboard, before sheepishly turning to the Blaziken beside you as if you hadn't even bat an eye his way.
"Huh, what?" you sputtered, trying to look innocent. "Oh, nah, I uhh…" You scanned around the room, searching for something that you could base an excuse off, before you settled on the classroom door. "I was just looking at um… Anais?"
Barry turned his attention to the door, and suddenly understood what you were talking about.
"Ohh… What's she waiting outside Maths for?"
You explained that the pesky Sylveon had plans for you after school, to which the Blaziken inched his eyebrows upwards in interest. "Oh yeah! I kinda forgot you two were a thing!"
Your ears drooped in embarrassment at the backhanded comment. "Um… thanks?"
Barry placed his pen down, and turned to you a bit more attentively. "So, how has it been with you two…? Together?"
You scratched the underside of your paw. Now that you think about it, since you had begun dating the maverick of a fairy type, you hadn't really had the chance to talk about it to anyone.
"Umm… I think it's been quite nice. We haven't had much time to talk to each other or hang out or whatever… But overall, yeah, it's been nice!"
The Blaziken smiled, and nodded his head approvingly. "That's awesome. I'm actually pretty happy that you two of all Pokemon got together. She was always different when she was around you."
This came to you as a surprise. You cocked your head to a tilt, but the fire type continued nodding his head.
"Don't you remember when she had kissed you during the battle you had? I um… I don't know how long ago that was…"
Nonetheless, you do remember what he's talking about, right? It was on the mat sometime ago, quickly followed up by a ball of something pink and very explosive. You hadn't thought much of it, let alone imagining it as a compliment. A small, coy smile crept onto your maw as you began to replay it back in your head.
"I guess you got a point," you laughed red-facedly. "You know, thinkin' about that moment, I-"
You were rudely cut off by the alarm of the school bell, startling the Cinderace teacher, who hadn't even the opportunity to finish sketching their sinusoidal graph on the chalkboard.
"Well, I suppose you're dismissed now." mumbled the hunched over Cinderace, clearly disappointed.
You shrugged at Barry with uncertainty, before you stood up from your desk.
"Well, I guess I'm gonna see where Anais wants to take me." you chuckled, collecting your things.
Barry saluted you off, as he took his time packing his stuff together. "I'll see you later, then - I wanna ask Mr. Gusteau a question."
You bid your farewell to your feathery friend, before you promptly excited Maths class. With the other mass of Pokemon, you took a right once you left the classroom, not long before you were pounced on by a pink blur.
Forced to lie on your four paws, you fought gravity as you tried to stand.
"Umm… Anais? Could you -ah, could you get off?" you groaned, not used to carrying such an extra load on your back.
Feminine chuckling came from above you, as the weight was soon relieved, much to your pleasure.
"Heyyy, Raidon!" sang the Sylveon, wrapping her paws around your shoulders. "Your Maths class must last centuries - it's already quarter-to four."
You sighed, but agreed with your girlfriend. "Yeah, it always goes for longer than it needs to."
You both began walking to the exit once Anais decided to release her embrace on you. While you were side by side, travelling down the hallway, you took a gander to your starboard. The Sylveon seemed to have been already gazing deeply into your eyes, but you were still able to admire her irises that sparkled like sapphire.
"So, where are we gonna go, huh?" you asked, almost teasingly.
The fairy grinned, smugly. "Well, that's up to me if I wanna tell you or not."
You shook your head, but allowed yourself to play along with Anais' little game. At least, you smiled, admiring Anais' giddy behaviour.
Soon, you were outside under the beaming heat of the sun above. You were quite surprised when you found the fairy leading you in the opposite direction of the school buses, and toward a gate to a thin pathway, guarded by tall trees.
Growing more and more curious, you eyed the toothy Sylveon inquisitively.
"Okay, Anais. Where are you takin' me?"
The Sylveon laughed cheerfully, pulling you by your paw.
"C'mon, Raidon! We're almost there, you'll see!"
Succumbing to Anais's mystery, she dragged you through the long, dimly lit pathway that seemed to get darker the further you walked through it. Thankfully, there were a few divergent rays of light that speared through the branches of the surrounding trees, allowing you to travel to the exit that it yielded so elusively. It led the both of you to an expansive, jade field, that almost had a neon glow about it from being under the beating sun.
To your gleaming pair of orbs, it was a beautiful sight, seeing the emerald grass blend with the sparkling cerulean sky at the world's horizon. Now, you had seen why the fairy had kept it a secret from you.
"Geez Louise, this place… this place is nuts!" you said aloud, looking up at the sky as you entered the tall grass. How comes I haven't seen this place before!"
Anais playfully skipped past you, tapping the side of her nose as she said, "Well, the main entrance to this park is on the other side of town. This is just a shortcut."
And it all made sense to you. The park simply was too vast for you to have seen the main entrance. Regardless, the sun was strong, and felt nice on your jacketed skin.
Accelerating ahead, Anais aimed for a spot close to the foot of a pond with a ceramic water fountain in the middle. You took off to try to catch up with her, and just like that, the both of you were sprinting through the grassy field.
To be fair, she had a head start. You were only just able to catch up with her once she had come to a stop in front of the pond. Breathless, the both of you lied down on nature's carpet, not too far apart.
The both of you giggled to yourselves, before both of your gazes fell upon each other. Now face to face, you realised how close Anais had come to you. You could almost see a lapis blue reflection of yourself in her eyes.
It had seemed like she was inching herself closer. It had clicked in your head, that this was indeed a familiar situation. Keeping your cool, you began to close your eyes. Patiently, you awaited contact, before letting time tell you what happens next.
"..."
"..."
"Raidon?"
That didn't sound like Anais. You turned around frantically, looking around for the source of the sound.
A little further up the hill, a Zoroark with a familiar hourglass figure stood tall with their arms crossed uninterestedly. Your blood crawled away from your face as you recognised who had called you by your name. In your peripheral vision, Anais seemed to have the same expression.
The Zoroark looked at the both of you with a paw on her hip, seeming like she was trying to work something out.
"..."
"...Anais?"
"..."
"...Did I interrupt something going on here?"
...
That'll bring us to the end! I'm sorry that the wait was so long. No matter how busy I become with life, I have made it a mission to finish this fic, so don't feel like this is the end lol.
I hope your Easter is swell! Take care everyone, and thank you for reading!
-LuanOTP