A/N: Hey! Haven't written pokespe in a while. I don't usually write these kinds of things but ! This was for Specord's Gifts of Love event. I hope you enjoy!

Valentine's Day, to be frank, was a pain in his ass.

From the few years he had managed to spend with the rest of the dexholders, Emerald had managed to figure out everyone's schedules so he could sneak away before the calls started to roll in.

(Once, he and Silver had somehow picked the same place to hide. They had both nodded at each other wordlessly, for they, out of almost all the other dexholders, knew what it was like to want to be left the hell alone).

But nothing could be as bad as the last Valentine's Day he was roped into — the day Ruby and Sapphire nearly tore the region apart in one of their quarrels while he and Wally had to fix their mess. They even destroyed his Yeezys! Like, come on. They could've destroyed anything else but no. They had to destroy his Yeezys.

The thought of that day tired him out. Not to mention that he and Wally were also yelled at after everything settled down. That was bullshit, but considering that their region was also nearly destroyed because of some Capitalism vs. Draconid conflict, Emerald shouldn't have expected them to be morally correct. At least that day was kinda funny to joke about with Wally.

…Lovestruck idiots aside, Valentine's Day was rough. Especially this year because it happened on a Monday — the start of a new research week.

So seeing Gold and Silver here the day before Valentine's Day with pained looks on their faces, Emerald knew what they wanted.

…He should've picked a better hiding spot.

"Please, be a bro and do this for us," Gold begged, nearly on his knees. Emerald KNEW it was going to be about Valentine's day and Crystal. It was almost comical yet sad, the way Gold was begging him for assistance. Emerald might've smugly grinned at him and said hell no if Silver wasn't there and if the last gift Gold gave Crystal for Valentine's Day was disappearing for days with Red on Mt. Silver.

…but he had some sort of respect for Silver and Crystal, and he didn't want to have to search for Red and Gold again, so...

"Fine, I will. But you owe me." Emerald sighed, feeling far too tired.

"Thanks, man!" Gold cheered, punching his shoulder. Silver nodded a little, and Emerald figured that was all he was gonna get from the redhead, so he just waved it off.

…He hated (loved) his friends.

And that's how he found himself at the door to Crystal's house. At 9 pm on a Sunday.

Emerald hated Sundays. There was so much that had to be completed that day and somehow someone (Gold) always messed up their work, causing them to restart a whole week's worth of work by midnight, and… yeah, it was a pain.

So, being here at 9 pm on a Sunday was not his normal routine.

Part of him just wanted to get this whole thing over with, because hanging out with Crystal only the account of Gold's idiocy was just… Unfair to someone as cool as her.

(But honestly? Part of him kinda missed her. Being dexholders meant that they had to dish out shares of ass-kicking, and, due to that, they didn't talk as much as they used to).

He just… didn't want to bother her with something so stupid. Especially on GOLD'S request just because he didn't know what Crystal wanted for Valentine's Day.

…Emerald didn't really care for romance, but seriously? Gold had NO idea? None at all? Nada? Zilch? ZERO??

Crystal deserved a lot, so Emerald was mad about that.

..But he had already told her that he was coming over, and she didn't mind him coming over in the past, so…

Emerald knocked on her door, shifting nervously as he waited for her to answer.

Footsteps sounded from behind the door. Soon enough Crystal's bright eyes were blinking down at him.

"Hey, Emerald, come on in," she greeted, beckoning him in with a wave.

So, with a sigh and a slightly strained smile, Emerald entered Crystal's house.

Crystal's room had a lot more pokemon plushies than he remembered. They littered her desk, her chair, and her bed. There were mainly ones of cute pink pokemon, but he couldn't miss the sheer number of Azumarill plushies that were around too. Their beady eyes and their pained smiles haunted him. He wasn't one to judge her, but that was a little weird. Like Ruby and Sapphire's secret base weird. Crystal immediately blanched when she realized what he was looking at.

"…Those are from my mom," she sighed, looking tired as she cleared up some space on her bed for both of them, "she insisted that my room needed a little 'sprucing up' and, believe me, I've tried to give them all away, but she always finds a way to bring back more."

"It's fine, Crys, really," Emerald reassured her, plopping down on the bed. After a moment's contemplation, he grabbed a Jigglypuff plush and hugged it to his chest, leaning his chin against the top of its head like he always did with the plushies in Ruby and Sapphire's secret base.

Crystal smiled when she saw he didn't mind the plushies. So she plopped down next to him, causing a small poliwag plush to nearly fall off the bed.

"She got you poliwag plush too?" Emerald asked, watching as Crystal quickly straightened the small plushie. She didn't look at it with the same amount of distance as the other plushies, so that piqued Emerald's interest, "not just Azumarills and pink pokemon?"

"Gold got it for me," Crystal said, rolling her eyes (though Emerald didn't miss the hint of a DONT smile on her face), "he said it was a nod to Polibo, or something. It was sweet."

Emerald rolled his eyes too, because of course Gold would do something like that — give a token of himself instead of something they might actually enjoy or find useful.

(…Well, Crystal did like that kind of thing, so Emerald couldn't really complain).

Emerald was content to just hang out for a little bit. He noticed that she was already in her pajamas, so he figured that he should probably get changed too. Pushing the jigglypuff plushie aside a little bit, he grabbed his bag and started rummaging through it. This was a sleepover, after all.

After a while, they were both changed and hanging out.

"Star PJs, huh?" Emerald asked, leaning back against the plushies. As much as Crystal liked patterned things, she was usually a minimalist in terms of fancy clothes, so seeing her with star-patterned PJs was new.

"Silver got them for me," she said shyly, tracing the stars on the hem of her shirt. Emerald raised an eyebrow.

First Blue, now Crys. That dude really had a thing for getting his loved ones clothes. Well, Emerald shouldn't say anything about that, especially considering that one of his best friends was literally Ruby.

(..it was kinda sweet).

"You still have Politoed pajamas?" She asked him in return, and Emerald blanched.

He had worn politoed pajamas when in the orphanage. He hated it because all the other staff kept saying he looked cute in them. But he didn't want to look cute. He wanted power.

"..Ruby thought that matching pajama sets would be a 'fashionable' thing to have," Emerald rolled his eyes, remembering how determined Ruby had been about that, "and, well... Ruby and Sapph got one set, and Wally and I got the other."

..Not that he was complaining. They were comfortable. He wasn't going to pass up free clothes — especially when the same idiot was the reason why his favourite Yeezys were burnt to bits.

Crystal smiled knowingly at the mention of the mint-haired boy, and Emerald looked away, coughing into his fist awkwardly.

His head tugged awkwardly with the movement, and he frowned when he realized that his hair had gotten caught on a Jigglypuff plushie.

"Ugh, that happens to me too," Crystal sighed, immediately reaching over and gently removing his hair from the plushie's beady eyes, "I hate these things."

She leaned over and tried to separate more of his hair from her plushies. The Jigglypuff plush really had it out for him because it wouldn't budge. At all. Why was it holding on so tight? What did he do?

"Putting your hair up is the only solution to that," Crystal sighed, freeing Emerald's hair from the plushie.

They locked eyes when they had the same realization, and Emerald couldn't stop a small smile from forming on his face.

"…Hair night?" He asked, remembering all the times they used to do this when he was younger.

"Hair night," Crystal confirmed, already getting one of her hair ties off of her wrist.

She patted the spot in front of her, and he plopped down, making sure his hair was accessible to her. When he was little, she had to force him to sit still for this kind of thing. But now he's older, and he knew her, so he sat patiently, waiting for her like he always would.

Her fingers weaved through his hair and Emerald allowed himself to relax a little bit. He constantly felt the need to seem bigger than he was, but with Crystal, it was never like that. Even when he wasn't trying to be bigger than he was, he knew that she saw him — that she cared, that she actually listened to him and that she'd be there in a heartbeat.

"It's nice to do this again after so long," Crystal said, parting his hair so she could braid it.

"Can't you do it to your own hair?" Emerald asked, shrugging, before remembering to stay still when she was doing his hair, "it'd probably be a little more fulfilling than doing someone else's hair every so often."

Crystal's hands stilled, and Emerald could imagine that she was smiling sadly at his comment.

(He knew that doing things for others was fulfilling to her, but still, she could stand to do something for herself. He knew she worried about him sometimes. Some things never changed, he supposed, because he felt the same way about wanting her to be happy).

"It's impractical," she sighed, absentmindedly playing with strands of his hair, "my hair is long as is, and it'll probably get in the way of my capturing work if it gets any longer."

For a moment, she seemed sad about it. For those not acquainted with Crystal, they wouldn't recognize that. But… he understood. His hair got in the way of him moving around sometimes, but it also was something he took pride in.

Despite Ruby's pleas to do his hair (which were always met with "absolutely fucking not."), only three people were the ones who he could, dare I say, let his hair down around.

One was Latias, who, though she wasn't technically a human, always found human hair fascinating for some reason. Emerald thought it was a little endearing so he never felt the need to push her away when she wanted to play with his hair. And… The next person was Crystal, which was pretty self-explanatory. She used to do it a lot when Emerald was still in the orphanage. Long hair and young children don't mix well, after all. Besides, she was basically his sister.

But, he hadn't really seen Crystal with her hair down or in any other style besides a ponytail or pigtails — the more "practical" hairstyles for someone of her profession. But she was clearly kinda regretful over the fact that she couldn't usually wear her hair in an "impractical" way (which he didn't get, considering his hair was always huge, but then again, he wasn't a capturer). It upset him because she should be able to do the things she wanted to do.

Crystal had spent most of her life doing things for others, looking out for them when they couldn't look out for themselves. And though something like this was small, it was the least he could do to try and return the favour.

"Well, uh," He said shyly, running his fingers along the braid, "…I could try? I mean, doing your hair, at least."

"Are you sure?" Crystal asked, tying his braid in place. It was a simple hairstyle, but the fact that she was the one who did it made it special.

"Of course!" Emerald nodded. He wasn't the worst at doing hair since he had to do his croissant hair every morning. The only difference now was that he had less hair gel to work with.

As he got to work on her hair, he began to think about the other person who he let touch his hair — the boy with mint green hair whose smile was as blinding as the sun.

…Yeah, Wally was great.

Emerald shook his head, trying to distract himself. Crystal noticed the sudden movement.

"Is something wrong?" Crystal asked. Her back was to him, but Emerald knew she'd stop everything for him just to listen.

".. Valentine's Day is tomorrow," he said hesitantly, trying to focus more on her hair than his embarrassment, "on a Monday.."

"On a Monday," Crystal repeated, nodding sagely. Emerald grinned at the fact that she also shared his 'Valentine's Day on a Monday is stupid' mindset.

"But yeah, I'm just worried about it a little, I guess," he said, feeling the weight of his mission and his feelings pushing down on his back, "I don't usually get involved in those kinda things, but for once I want to? It's strange. I'm not sure if I like it or not."

"…Is this about Wally?" Crystal asked because she just always knew. It was honestly kind of endearingly annoying.

"…Yeah." He was glad she couldn't see his face because it was red with embarrassment. He tried to focus on her hair and pinned a shooting star clip down.

"Do you guys have any plans?" Crystal asked, sounding interested. Emerald's cheeks flushed.

He and Wally were gonna hang out. Nothing crazy — nothing that would end up with Emerald's Yeezys burnt to a crisp and nothing that would get them yelled at by Hoenn's corrupt higher-ups.

…As long as it wasn't a repeat of last year, Emerald could say he was looking forward to it.

..He still couldn't believe he was saying this about VALENTINE'S DAY of all things. Valentine's Day: the day he always dreaded because of what it stood for.

(This time, he couldn't wait).

"Yeah, gonna show him around Olivine," he admitted, smiling at the thought. "It'll be fun, I think."

"I'm sure it will be," Crystal said softly, her back still toward him, but Emerald could imagine the knowing look in her eyes.

He continued to do her hair, clipping pins in with no set pattern, but whatever. It looked cool. He liked it when things were flashy because it made them stand out more.

Crystal was silent, not chatty like she had been moments earlier. He knew that the thought of spending time with loved ones for Valentine's Day meant a lot to her, and, as he secured another butterfly clip in her hair, he decided to break the silence.

"Is something wrong?" He asked cheekily, parroting her earlier statement. Crystal nudged him softly, and he saw her small smile.

"Not really, that just made me think about what I'm doing for Valentine's Day." She mused, and Emerald noticed how she hunched over a little.

"You better not be working tomorrow," he challenged, securing another butterfly clip in her hair.

"You sound like Green," Crystal chuckled, "but I won't be if I have a reason not to be."

…He wasn't dumb. He knew what she meant and he didn't like it. They were approaching that lovey-dovey territory that he oh- so -hated. But this time it was worse because it was hurting someone who he cared about.

He sighed. Not externally, because then Crystal would ask what was wrong and he didn't like lying to her, so he internally sighed. A deep, gut-wrenching sigh. A sigh for the history books, if only it was external.

...Time to do what he was sent here to do.

"…Do you and Gold and Silver have Valentine's Day plans?" He breathed, as if exhaling his internal sigh. If that was even a thing.

From in front of him, Crystal tensed up a little bit. She didn't respond right away, so he continued.

"I mean, Valentine's Day is tomorrow," Emerald shrugged, "you don't seem to be finishing up any reports or anything, so it shouldn't be a busy Monday for you like it usually is."

He'd seen her frazzled before, especially on Sundays. Honestly, that was part of the reason why he hated them. They just caused so much trouble for everyone — especially Crystal.

"We have plans, but I can't help but worry," she said with a sigh, "I love them both but they're so reckless. It's hard to tell whether or not they care."

He was silent for a moment, brushing his fingers through her hair. He couldn't tell Crystal that Gold and Silver were the ones who sent him. She'd be crushed to know that he was their secret Valentine's Day agent.

…But he knew that they cared. If they didn't, they wouldn't have begged him to do this. If he didn't care, he wouldn't enjoy hanging out with her — which wasn't the case at ALL.

"…Don't worry, they care more than they let show," Emerald reassured her, "They don't know how to go about it sometimes, but they do try. The Mt. Silver thing from last year was to find some flowers for you, you know."

She hummed thoughtfully at his words but still seemed to be overthinking. So he sighed and continued.

"Really, they'd move the sun for you if they could, Crys. Don't tell them I said that because they probably would try to. And I've dealt with enough space stuff the past year."

Crystal chuckled at his comment before turning to look at him. The star clips in his hair were reflected in her eyes, and Emerald thought that for a girl who loved that kinda thing, it was fitting.

"Really," he spoke again, wanting her to understand just how much people cared about her, "you deserve the world, Crys. And I know that those two would do anything to give it to you."

"That means so much," Crystal said softly, after a moment, running a hand through her hair, "Thank you, Emerald, really."

"Don't mention it," he responded, a little overwhelmed by this conversation. He was more accepting of lovey stuff nowadays, but he was still a little put off by it. Besides, he had something else to finish anyway. "Now come on, let me do the other side of your hair."

The morning came fast, and soon enough, Emerald found himself standing outside Crystal's house at nine in the morning. Nine in the morning on a Monday was almost as bad as 9pm on a Sunday. But once again, he had no choice.

"Mission successful, 'Rald!" Gold cheered, a tired-looking Silver in tow. They both looked tired. No doubt they were trying to figure something out for Crystal's gift the whole night. Emerald rolled his eyes.

"You should've just asked her yourself," Emerald said with a yawn, "either way, did you get the goods?"

Silver held up a star-patterned package in his hands, and Emerald smiled. Star clips probably were something small to give someone, but he knew that it'd mean a lot to Crystal.

"Thanks, buddy," Gold said, patting him on the back. The raven-haired boy looked relieved... That was probably because he wouldn't be subjected to Crystal's anger like he had been after the Mt. Silver thing last year.

Just like before, Emerald waved him off, "No problem. Just don't mess this up or I'll make you regret it."

"Regret it?" Gold asked, a semi-condescending smirk on his face, "what're you gonna do?"

"Well…" He was tired, irritated, and knew many ways that he could ruin Gold's day, so he smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know, golden boy?"

Emerald only had a moment to revel in Gold's confused look before his phone buzzed. He smiled when he saw who texted him, and gave a thumbs-up to Silver who dragged Gold away the second the other boy tried to snoop in on his texts.

Wally: The boat should be getting in at 11. I'll be there soon! I'll see you there :)

Emerald smiled and typed a response that totally didn't involve any sort of smiley face or heart emoji. That wasn't his brand. No way.

(...He totally did)

He heard the door open behind him. He turned to Crystal, who smiled at him as she closed the door. Emerald noticed that kept her hair in last night's style, star clips and all.

"Your idiots are here," Emerald said, nodding over to Silver and Gold. He watched as Crystal turned to them, a soft smile on her face, as she waved at them. They waved back, probably a little too enthusiastically.

"Did Wally's ship arrive okay?" Crystal asked, turning her attention back to Emerald. Emerald could've sworn he heard Gold's indignant shout at Crystal's lack of attention, but he didn't really pay enough attention to care..

"Yeah, he just got to Olivine," Emerald smiled giddily at the mention of Wally, "I'm gonna head out soon, but I have one more thing to do before I go."

He held out a little star-adorned envelope to her, and Crystal looked at it in surprise.

"Emerald, you didn't have to—"

"I wanted to. Valentine's Day is about treating the people you care about, right?" Emerald looked down, trying to stifle his embarrassment. He still wasn't used to this kinda thing, but he was trying.

Crystal smiled and opened the envelope. For his out-of-this-world big sister, tickets to the Mossdeep Space Center were fitting. Or so he hoped.

Seeing the smile on her face, Emerald knew he had made the right choice.

"Thanks, Emerald," Crystal said, leaning down to hug him. As always, Emerald hugged back.

"Always, Crys. Happy Valentine's Day."

"Hey, Crys!" At the moment, Gold called out once again, one hand cupped around his mouth, and his other around Silver's shoulders,

"Are you really gonna make us wait on Valentine's Day?"

She shot Gold a look that screamed "Just be patient for once in your life", and sighed.

"I should probably get going then," She said, nodding towards Gold and Silver with an exasperated look on her face, but Emerald didn't miss the happiness and relief in her eyes.

"Yeah, same here," Emerald looked down at his phone, seeing a few missed texts from Wally, "..But I told you they'd be here."

Crystal smiled, "Yeah, you did."

Emerald smiled as he watched Crystal wave over to the two. Not wanting to intrude on their moment, he released his Mantine so he could head to Olivine.

Before he could get on it, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look back at Crystal.

"Emerald," Crystal spoke, looking into his eyes. Emerald looked back, because he always would for his big sister, and was met with Crystal's soft smile, "Go enjoy your Valentine's Day."

For once, when thinking of Valentine's Day, Emerald smiled.

"Thanks, Crys. I know I will."