Hello everyone! This fic was made for me by the user PhoenixDay2207 over on AO3 as a request. and I am posting it here (with his permission) for your viewing pleasure! Hope you enjoy!


Florian wasn't the best person on the block, but he certainly was the easiest. Once, Penny had made a remark about how submissive he was, letting people walk all over, and he never denied it.

Now, where did it all begin?...

"Hey, runt!" a loud yell made his body freeze as he turned to see some surly characters walk up to him. He could already feel the pain that was about to come…

"You know what's up right?"

He took in a shaky breath. Right. It was either him or Penny, and he didn't want her hurt. As much as he dreaded coming to school nowadays, he had to, if he wanted his friends to be safe, even if only Nemona knew what was going on…

He gulped. "J-Just keep your end of the bargain…"

"Oh, we will, don't worry."

Watching his stuff be smashed to bits for the n-th time this month was truly painful, but it was all worth it. It's to protect my friends, he told himself. Someday, we'll all be free.


Why isn't Nemona trying to help me, then?

"No, she's busy… she's been making sure that no one knows about Area Zero and our involvement, especially with Terapagos…" he said aloud to himself, even when he felt the argument shatter mere minutes after leaving his lips.

He just hoped that his math test wasn't all that bad… He had actually studied hard for it. As much as it wasn't his best forte, with Amarys' coaching when he dropped by Blueberry Academy, surely it was enough right?

Stepping into the examination hall, the eyes on him made him tilt his hat downwards, feeling out of place yet again. He was still getting used to it, the Kitakami trip a well-received escape from the whispers of the new Champion-level trainer aside from Nemona, who managed to defeat her, of all things. The battle-crazed monster of Naranja Academy, people called her. (Did she ever love him? Was this all so she could battle him any time she wanted? Was she like the bullies, always with their ulterior motives?)

He shook his head while sitting down on his seat. No, focus on the exam. He had to do his best on this. He could consider things with Nemona afterwards!

Tyme soon walked into the classroom, and he gulped a bit. Math was not his best subject, so… "All right, everyone. It's time to begin our final exam. I'm sure the fun experiences you all had in my class will serve you well as you answer!"

He sincerely hoped so too… As the papers were passed, and the time began, he took one look at the questions, and his heart sank to the ground. This was not good. No, this was the WORST. Had he walked into the wrong exam? Why was this not the same as what he had learnt in class?

Still, he tried his best on the test, even when he felt panic bubbling onto his chest as he progressed through the paper. He had to double check on it later on, just in cas-

"All right, everyone. Time is up! Put your hands on your laps, now."

Florian's face went completely pale, his hands were shaking as he placed his hands onto his laps. No no no this was bad, this was horrible…! It felt like his entire life was being killed off when he saw her take his exam paper. This was the worst!

"The test was a culmination of all I taught you, and I'm sure you all did just fine. Do go and ask for your scores at the front desk and then take a nice break," Miss Tyme spoke once all the papers had been collected. Everyone jumped out of the classroom immediately, but Florian was slow, feeling horrified of the test results that were soon to come-

"Hey, Champ! I challenge you to a battle!" a loud voice suddenly yelled.

Great, NOW of all times? Florian really didn't want to do this, but maybe battling could help his nerves! Yeah, that should work!

Soon enough, the two were on the battlefield outside at Mesagoza, preparing to battle as they called out their first Pokémon. Florian tried to get his head into the game, commanding as naturally as water flowed in his veins as the battle began. He managed to breeze through half of their team, which really put a smile on his face. Alright, he was getting there!

But things got bad the moment his main member got taken out by a super effective CRITICAL hit. People could STILL hit those?! Okay, this was really, really bad…!

He took in a shaky breath, trying to make a comeback with each yell, but his opponent seemed to have a counter for every move, and each member continued to fall, fall, fall until he had no one left.

"His final Pokémon is unable to battle! The winner is-"

It felt like a blur as everyone began to whisper, all the words coming at him about how weak he had become, how much of an excuse of a champion he was, why did Nemona see him as a rival, as a lover?

His throat felt dry. His body was frozen as he tried to breathe, breathe, breathe-

"HEY! DESPIADADDO! Leave him alone!"

It just had to get worse.

He knew she was getting closer, but he couldn't help but flinch as tanned arms came into view. "Florian, are you-"

"L-Leave me alone!" he yelled, and the entire plaza went silent. Without thinking, he called upon his ride Pokémon, got on and whispered, "Get me home. P-Please."

He was so glad the first Paradox Pokémon understood what he meant as they roared and took to the skies, flying back to Cabo Poco. Even the wind couldn't stop the tears streaming down his cheeks.

She had seen all of that, wouldn't that mean that she… she wouldn't like him anymore? Surely that was a sign he wasn't up to her level anymore…

He knew, after all. Nemona only wanted a rival who could excite her. Once he began to fall behind, there was no reason for her to stick around.

Would this mean that she would leave him? He wouldn't be surprised! She was driven by that adrenaline and she lived for battling. She had gotten burnout from not having someone up to her level, so if he didn't live up to her expectations…

Returning home was a blur. He called back his ride Pokémon and ran in, uncaring of how his mom yelped at how wet he was, and he ran up to his room as soon as he could, curling up onto the floor as he sobbed.

Why him? He had only wanted a break from crazy things when moving here. Why did he have to go through so much, every single time?

Could he pull through this? He was starting to get tired. So, so tired and weary. It had been whittling down on his mental defenses for a very long time, but he had known that it would fall apart sooner or later.

Was today that day? Was today the day he would fall apart and never get back up? If so, he would count it as a reprieve. At least he wouldn't burden anyone else more than he already had…

"...he in?"

"Yes, he ran in wet and locked the door to the attic. Is Florian okay?"

"I don't know either, but I want to help him!"

"I hope you can do it, Nemona. He looked really sad when he ran in."

Wait, was that…? No, why was she here? To break up with him?

The sounds of footsteps could be heard, getting closer to his room as she climbed up the stairs. No no no, he wasn't sure if he could take it. Couldn't today be any nicer to him?

"Querida…" the footsteps were close now.

"D-Don't come closer…" he whimpered. "I-I know I'm no longer the rival you wanted. Y-You don't want me to be your boyfriend anymore right?"

"W-What? What are you talking about?" Nemona sounded… hurt. Oh no, he had done something, hadn't he?

"You just wanted to date me to… to have someone who could be your equal, right? In the end, it was never true love." It had to be. Why else would she want to date him? He was just a normal transfer student who somehow able to get stuck in various situations… He was a no body, and Nemona had only noticed him because they happened to be neighbours and she just needed someone to become her rival.

The moment he proved himself unable to live up to her standards… that was when she would-

Suddenly, his body was forced up, and brown met orange as Nemona whispered, "Did I give off that impression, all this time?"

"I…" He looked away. "I knew I wasn't anyone like you. You're an amazing trainer, and I…"

"No, you are JUST as amazing as I am, Florian, don't ever think otherwise," she cut him off. "Regardless of the mistakes you claim you make, I am human too, and I make mistakes. You… you were the first one to reach out to me. You didn't have to become my rival, b-but you did…"

"You just seemed like you needed a friend,..."

"That's why you're MY treasure, Florian!' she yelled, surprising him.

She took in a deep breath. Oh, her cheeks were growing wet. She couldn't stop the flow of sorrowful tears, of pain that SHE had caused Florian…

She looked him in the eye. "Mi amore, you are just as precious as everyone else in this world we live in. That gentleness about you… had you not been that way, would you have been able to reach out to Penny, to help Arven, to…"

Another deep breath, her eyes were tearing up much more. "T-To fill the void in my heart, m-make me whole again…"

His eyes widened. "N-Nemona…"

"I really am sorry, for not helping you all this time… but… you do not have to be perfect. We can do this together, Florian… so please…" She grabbed his hand, and pulled him into a hug. "Please… let it all out…"

And that?

That really broke the dam. Tears began falling from his cheeks as he hugged her back, sniffling and crying.

He… He had had the same kind of void… All his life, people had laughed at him, called him a doormat… He barely had friends, he barely had had ANYONE until he came to Paldea.

Just like how he had filled her heart, she had filled his…

"A… aishiteru…" he whispered into her ear. "Hontou ni… aishiteru yo…"

"Te amo… Florian…" was her reply, and even as the rain poured outside, they would brave the storm together. No matter what.