Valentine's Day at Big Kev's Bakery

By FatalCalamityz

The soft and smooth melody of a love song resonated throughout Big Kev's Bakery, accompanied by lyrics that told the heartfelt story of a young boy professing his feelings for a girl whom he had always been infatuated with, the two mon ending up as a couple by the song's conclusion. Such beautiful music set an appropriate ambiance within the establishment to celebrate the most romantic holiday of the year.

It was February 14 - Valentine's Day, and the dining area was packed to the brim with couples tonight. Not a table went to waste, each one occupied by a pair of loving pokemon who sat across from one another as they exchanged tender words of affection and merry laughter over hot coffee and delicious baked goods. All had gathered here for the sole purpose of being able to spend time with the pokemon whom they loved the most. And what better place than the most popular bakery in all of the Mirai region?

And standing behind several display cases of tasty-looking treats was the eponymous owner of the bakery himself: a highly corpulent male typhlosion. This girthy gentleman was Kevin O'Hara, better known by his self-appointed moniker, "Big Kev," and aptly so, given how ridiculously overweight he was for one of his kind. With an exorbitant amount of adipose tissue present on every part of his hefty frame - predominantly within his enormous abdomen, but his limbs were significantly chubby, as well - combined with how his fur was colored, he honestly looked more like a snorlax than an actual typhlosion.

Similarly, his attire was just as sizable. He wore a giant, red, short-sleeved shirt; and over that, a much larger white apron - a traditional baker's garment - which looked like it had to have been fashioned out of an old sheet with how huge it was. Wrapped around his thick, flabby neck was his sole accessory: a light-blue kerchief with a white polka dot design.

He stood with his hands gently clasped together in front of him, slightly sinking into his soft body as they lay atop his ample chest. A pair of affable eyes and a welcoming smile projected an aura of confidence and courtesy from the fat fire-type.

At the moment, Kev was observing his patrons, watching with glee as they happily dug into his homemade creations. He and his team of fellow talented bakers and assistants had been diligent the previous week to commemorate the annual occasion. Pretty decorations were adorned along the walls and counter, a custom playlist was created filled with uplifting music - all licensed, obviously! - and plenty of Valentine's Day-themed baked goods had been prepared: heart-shaped cookies, red velvet cupcakes, and donuts decorated with pink frosting and white sprinkles were among the treats presented tonight. Kev even dedicated a few days to training himself on how to knead pizza dough into the shape of a heart. As the owner of the most famous bakery in the Mirai region, he felt it was expected of such a sought-after eatery to do something to commemorate the annual occasion, and he did not want to disappoint the townsfolk. Viewing the looks of satisfaction on his customers' faces upon consuming his food, he felt the typical feeling of happiness he always felt, along with great relief; he and his friends' efforts hadn't been for naught.
At a nearby table, he watched as a rhydon inserted a fork holding a small morsel of red velvet cake into their mouth. The second the utensil left their mouth, the rhydon immediately found themselves enthralled within a world of flavor. The moist texture and sweet taste of the cake, contrasted by the piquancy of the cream cheese icing made for a heavenly combination. The drill pokemon couldn't help but smile as they dug further into the slice of cake. The tubby typhlosion's passion for baking was evident in every bite. His food was known to have that nigh euphoric effect on all who consumed it, one of the many factors that contributed to the success of his bakery.

He sighed blissfully. This was what he loved the most about his job, what motivated him to face every day with optimism, what he viewed as his purpose in life. Because if there was anything that surpassed his excessive love of food, it was the unrivaled passion he showcased toward baking the same food from scratch - and that was only superseded by the joyous feeling he felt upon sharing that food with other mon. The latter was his main inspiration to open his bakery in the first place. He was thankful to the heavens for blessing him with such a fortunate life, abundant with opportunity and wonder; he knew that few mon were not as lucky as him to have such an auspicious existence, so he was very grateful for everything he had achieved while remaining humble about it.

Another song had begun to play on the radio, Kev noticed; one with a more upbeat, poppy instrumental that contrasted the slow and soulful rhythm of the previous song. He stood still, allowing the catchy melody to fill his head, and began humming along to the lyrics. He let himself become completely absorbed in the beautiful music.

"Umm, excuse me, uh... B-Big Kev, sir?"

Suddenly, a voice manifested from somewhere, snapping him out of his harmony and bringing his attention back to the world around him. It sounded feminine, with a puerile pitch to it, befitting of a young child, with a noticeable shy tone. Peering over the counter, he saw a young electrike girl wearing a cute pink hoodie looking up at him - another customer.

"Oh, hi!" Kev said in his typical genial tone, "Welcome to Big Kev's Bakery!" He rested his heavy arms on the counter to make himself look as approachable as possible. "What can I getcha, lass?"

The electrike girl gave a slight smile, but was visibly nervous, internally awestruck by how gigantic Big Kev really was. She had heard of him before, and she already knew that he was a huge typhlosion through pictures of him uploaded onto the Internet. This encounter marked her first real interaction with him, and now that he stood in front of her in the flesh, the full magnitude of his great size became apparent. He absolutely towered over two-feet-tall her, and Arceus knows how much hundreds of pounds heavier. Staring up at that large, imposing frame of his, the electrike girl felt... a little intimidated, honestly - most mon were upon meeting a pokemon as abnormally massive as him for the first time. Kev dismissed her anxious behavior; it was a reaction he had become accustomed to over the years.

But her anxiety was understandable: there was a reputation among heftily-built pokemon like aggron, tyranitar, and machamp to be rather aggressive and/or arrogant in nature, and very strong, too. When face to face with a mon like that, you would most likely feel uncomfortably vulnerable. But Big Kev's behavior displayed anything but. The warm look in his eyes, joined by his signature jovial smile, had a calming quality to them; that charming rustic accent that hung on his every word; the soft tone he spoke in, which admittedly sounded dissonant for a hefty pokemon like him, successively gave him a kid-friendly feel; and the fact that his chubby body gave him the appearance of a giant, walking, talking, stuffed plush doll also helped. He fit the archetypal 'gentle giant' figure perfectly - a big guy with a big heart. Now knowing that she had nothing to worry about and her initial anxiety was gone, she concentrated on answering his question.

She glanced at one of the many display cases, then looked back up at Big Kev. "Uh, t-two of those cookies, please - t-the cupcake ones, please?"

"Good," he nodded, "Anythin' else?" The electrike girl momentarily shifted her gaze away from him, debating whether or not to add any additional treats, but she shook her head from side to side - a nonverbal 'No.' "And is this order for here or to go, lass?" Again, she shook her head, this time instantly after he finished speaking, showing more confidence in her answer... yet her response did not exactly answer his question. "Umm... no? As in, to go?" Big Kev guessed, hoping to elicit a less vague answer from her.

With a gasp, she realized her blunder. "O-Oh! Uhh... I-I mean... h-here. Here!." 'Oh, boy... I acted before thinking again... Dang it!' she thought.

But Kev didn't look offended. "Nah, y'needn't apologize, lass." He chuckled heartily, "I'll be right back."

Kev directed his focus away from the electrike girl and turned it toward the display case she had specified. After taking a deep breath, he slowly lugged himself over with methodical steps. His heavy body swayed from side to side with a gait reminiscent to that of an empoleon's, and his gargantuan gut just barely brushed against the ground with each thunderous footstep he took, which in turn created small tremors that shook the ground and caused the abundance of loose flab on his body to shake and jiggle about - as expected from a creature as large and weighty as him. The whole process seemed to require a superfluous amount of effort on his part.
Once finally there, he slipped on a pair of plastic gloves from a box on top of the case, then removed the sliding glass door, allowing access to the contents inside. Numerous plates filled the interior of the cabinet, each one carrying a different kind of cookie, but the one Big Kev was focused on contained cookies cut into the shape of a cupcake. Their bottom halves were coated with light-blue icing and adorned with lines of black, more smooth icing, decorated to look like a cupcake liner; and the top halves were frosted with either white or pink frosting, and decorated with rainbow sprinkles. Inscribed onto the surface with thin lines of red icing were short romantic phrases, such as "I love you," "You are beautiful," and "Will you be mine?"

Big Kev picked two cookies off the plate and placed them inside a paper bag. Then he returned back to the counter, where the electrike girl was patiently waiting. "That'll be P100, please," he told her. She nodded understandably, and she started digging in her front pockets until she found her wallet. She used her front paws to prop herself against the counter as she let Big Kev accept her wallet, which she held gently in her mouth. He spread the bills and coins found inside onto the counter and tallied up her money to make change. Once he had collected the necessary amount to pay for her purchase, he sorted the extraneous coins back into the wallet and handed it back to her.

However, he noticed that the electrike girl was no longer looking at him. Instead, her face was turned away from him, and her attention seemed to be focused on something else. It might have just been his imagination, but was there a hint of a coy smile on her face, too? Whatever it was she was looking at, it was having some kind of positive effect on her. Curious, Kev leaned over the counter - well, as far as his big, bulbous belly allowed him to - and looked in her direction. Then he saw what - or rather, whom - had caught her eye: over in the bakery's Childrens' Area was a young shinx boy, around the same as the electrike girl, captivated by the cute and colorful pictures in a book that lay open in front of him. His eyes were absolutely glued to the book; he was oblivious to the electrike girl looking at him from afar.
An electrike girl... and a shinx boy. It didn't take long for Kev to put two and two together: this electrike girl totally had a guilty little crush on the shinx boy, didn't she? 'Aww, how adorable,' Kev cheerily thought to himself. He couldn't help but imagine that the two juvenile electric-type mon would make a cute pair.

Suddenly, an idea began to devise itself within his head, and a mischievous grin crept upon his chubby face.

"Hey," Kev whispered, causing the electrike girl to abruptly return her look back to him. "Just outta curiosity: d'you like that li'l shinx boy over there in the Childrens' Area?" The question caught her off-guard. She was visibly shocked. Had her admiration really been that obvious? Nevertheless, she begrudgingly nodded, asserting his question.

So he was right - she did like him. Still keeping his voice barely below a whisper so that just the typhlosion and the electrike could hear each other, he continued. "And am I right to presume that these cookies here ain't for you, but for the two o' y'all?" Again, she nodded, surprised. She had heard of the alleged impressive intuition Big Kev possessed, and how he could accurately predict what somemon was thinking just by reading their body language, a talent that made him appear to be dual psychic-type to compliment his fire typing. Was this what they meant?

Kev continued, "Well, tell ya what, lass: you can have your money back; this'll be on the house. How's that sound?"

Confusion was evident on the electrike girl's face. On the house? What did he mean by that? She had never heard that phrase before... and Big Kev must have deduced that, too, because he subsequently asked, "D'you know what 'On the house' means, lass?" Once again, he appeared to have read her mind. She slowly shook her head in response. Then Kev gently placed the bag on the counter and backed away. "Well, It means y'ain't gonna hafta pay anythin' for these cookies," he explained, "They're free!"

All of a sudden, a giant wave of astonishment hit her. Her eyes went wide in awe and her mouth fell open agape. She started stammering out of a mixed emotion of surprise, anxiety, and excitement. "A-Are you... Are you s-ser-serious?"

Big Kev chuckled merrily, "'Course I'm serious! Every single pound o' me is serious!"

The electrike girl stood in stunned silence. 'So I don't have to pay?' she thought, 'Is that even okay? Is that legal?' She needed to know, so she asked why.

But Big Kev was still smiling. "Oh, I'm feelin' a li'l generous, that's all. Hey, anythin' if it's for love, lass - it is Valentine's Day, after all." He finished his sentence with a friendly wink as he extended the bag and wallet toward her; there was no changing his mind.

The electrike girl began to relax a little. 'I… I guess if he's the owner of the bakery, then… his business, his rules.' So she hoisted herself up to the counter's height once more, and she grabbed her wallet in her mouth and placed it back into her pockets, before returning to claim her cookies. "Th-Thank you!" she said as she turned away from the counter, her face filled with joy as she trotted toward the Childrens' Area. Kev gave a lighthearted chuckle. He mentally wished her well; the shinx boy seemed like a nice kid, and he hoped that the two would get along. Another blissful sigh escaped him. Watching young love blossom was such a wonderful spectacle to bear witness to, especially on the most romantic holiday of the year.

Of course, it was not just the two kids - the dining area, compact with pokemon, was populated by all kinds of diverse forms of love this Valentine's Day. A majority of the couples present were more younger pokemon, some of whom looked to still be in high school. Kev presumed that for some mon, tonight marked their first date.
Adult couples filled out a good chunk of the remaining tables, some accompanied by their kids. Their children were either playing in the Childrens' Area and mingling with other young mon, or sitting with their parents, sitting patiently as they waited for their parents to finish their conversation. A few noticeably looked uninterested in whatever their parents were talking about, and sat in awkward silence on their devices. A bit rude, but Kev wasn't too judgmental; if he was in their predicament, then he'd probably feel bored, too.

A few elderly couples were also present, a sight Kev found very endearing. They might be significantly older than some of these younger couples, but the chemistry they obviously shared was almost synonymous to theirs, if not more so from the longevity of their marriage. He wondered how long it had been since these older lovers had first met - possibly before he was even born, maybe decades before that!

Analyzing the crowd further, Kev gawked at the pairing of a male druddigon and a female flygon, sitting across from one another. Their actions displayed clear affection toward one another, which he found adorable; yet, the sight was strange indeed. Weren't the two pokemon in different egg groups? So wouldn't breeding be impossible in that case? Kev chuckled heartily. Perhaps not even being in the same egg group was enough of an obstacle to the two of them; all that mattered was that he loved her, and she loved him.

More amusingly, a furret and growlithe pairing caught Kev's attention as they walked through the doors, due to the peculiar height difference between the two pokemon. There had to be at least two feet between the furret and his growlithe partner. To emphasize how great of a height difference it was, the furret sat in a chair while the growlithe had to stand on her hind legs with her front paws resting on the table just to meet eye level with-

Wait, hold on; that was against the rules. Quadrupedal pokemon were not supposed to place their paws on top of the table. He turned to search for the closest employee present, a female scyther cutting a tray of brownies with her blades. "Hey, Kim?" he said, causing the scyther to divert her attention from her work and toward her boss. "I know you're busy, but could you kindly go tell that growlithe that she ain't supposed to have her paws on the table, please?"

"Sure thing, big guy," she said before exiting from behind the counter through a door that specifically read 'Employees only,' and walked toward the table the furret and growlithe were sitting to deliver a polite admonishment. Their actions were cute; regardless, rules were rules.

Bringing his observant eyes back to the rest of the dining area, he spotted a same-sex couple - a lucario and medicham, both clearly female - sitting together in a corner table, feeding each other some donuts by hand. 'Now that there's somethin' ya don't see everyday now, ain't it?' Hey, he didn't judge. Who was he to criticize the clear feelings two pokemon expressed toward one another, regardless of age, type, egg group, size, or even gender?

Love was limitless.

Mixed in among the many couples were his typical, everyday customers. They sat all by themselves among the many couples, choosing to eat their food in peace. Kev didn't mind. Individual pokemon patronized his bakery every day - today just so happened to be the most romantic holiday of the year. He didn't find the presence of single pokemon in his bakery on Valentine's Day weird or worthy of shame; they just wanted to eat here. There was nothing wrong with that.

Yet the sight of them sitting alone among the crowd of customers sitting with their significant others only served to remind him that he had no such figure in his own life, either.

Outside of work, he lived a solitary lifestyle. His house was located a good mile away from his bakery, and he was its sole occupant. Given how commodious it was, it wouldn't be a bad inference for any onlookers to make that a whole family lived there. It was only as big as it was because it needed to accommodate a pokemon of Big Kev's size. Call it laidback, but he greatly enjoyed living by himself, and the tranquility that came with it. He had absolute free reign over how he lived, and he could do whatever he wanted.

But he was not without normal company. Every now and then, he would invite one of the mon from his seemingly infinite list of friends to visit his house and hang out. They would engage in friendly conversation about their lives while munching on whatever snacks Kev prepared in advance. They would usually kill time together watching and commentating over episodes of their favorite game shows, making music, or exerting some energy through an activity or game. While each activity had their own unique appeal that made them fun, they were even more enjoyable with somemon else to share such positive spirits with. Seldom would Kev plan an itinerary around the Mirai region, such as taking his friends to a new restaurant he had heard nice things about, or seeing if there was anything worth paying money to view at the movie theater. Group trips to Moon Beach were also frequent, where Kev and his friends would have fun strolling along the hot shoreline, then wading in the cool water.

He greatly enjoyed the presence of those mon he could confidently call his friends; however, they did not live with him, their respective domiciles located far away from where he lived.

The only other pokemon he would see regularly were his caregivers, who visited his house everyday - one in the morning, and one in the evening. These were the mon he entrusted to lend him a helping hand whenever he experienced any difficulty in completing his everyday routine. Being as obese as he was, actions that were simple for any average pokemon suddenly became much more of a challenge for a mon as big as him. Getting out of bed, for example, proved needlessly difficult for him due to his immense bulk. Dressing and grooming himself were also just as, if not, more strenuous. So it was the responsibility of these caregivers, who were clearly more fit than him, to offer him their assistance when needed.

He saw his caregivers more often than his friends, and he greatly appreciated their willingness to devote a good portion of their days to helping him; but they were not permanent residents of his home.

Henceforth, the spot in his love life remained vacant for now.

It wasn't his fault, he always thought. The thought of starting a relationship just never bothered him too much in the past. He never felt like it was necessary; but with the realization that he was seeing out his early thirties, he began to wonder if he should pursue that endeavor more seriously. Finding a girlfriend couldn't be that hard, right?

But now was not the time to dwell on such a personal topic; he had a responsibility to maintain a welcoming atmosphere within the establishment. He simply could not concentrate on the question right now. So he decided it was best to put it aside for now, keeping it in the back of his mind as he went about the rest of his day.

Pokemon belongs to Nintendo

All pokemon species featured belong to The Pokemon Company

All characters and settings featured in story belong to FatalCalamityz (ME!)