Loving Him Is Pink -- Bede x Avery (A Pride Month Pokemon Short Story)

Caved In 2 -- Bede

"Hello? Hello-o?" Groaning, I sat up in a flash, almost colliding heads with a certain blonde gym leader. "Good morning," he said, his condescending voice practically flooded with sarcasm. "Enjoy your beauty sleep? Did you get your nine hours? Maybe we could order some room service if you like."

"I dreamed a boulder crushed you before I woke up. I was immensely disappointed," I grunted before getting onto my feet. I examined the pickle we were in, and, oh boy, it was bad. We were trapped inside a cavern barely the size of a king-sized bed, and our only way out was through a mountain of boulders in quantities I could only imagine.

"Well, this is quite a predicament," I murmured, examining the tower of rocks. "Can't you use your powers to just lift these out of the way and let us out?"
"Don't you think I've tried?" he asked exasperatedly. "There's a lot more here than it looks; the boulder mound is at least seven feet thick. If I can't move one boulder, what are the chances I can move an army of them?!"

"With the help of Pokemon, of course," I replied before releasing my Gardevoir and Hatterene. Immediately upon seeing Avery, Hatterene went and tried to strangle him. "Hatterene, easy," I said, reluctantly pulling her back. "I want to choke him to death as much as the next person; believe me, I've considered doing it many times in his sleep. But right now, we need to get out of here, and we need his psychic power to do it. That goes for you too, Gardevoir."

"You sound like Miss Honey," Avery scoffed, before releasing over half of his team. "All of them know the move Psychic?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yes," he smirked in response. "After all, I try to train my Pokemon so their moves come in handy in any situation imaginable." Rolling my eyes, I turned back to face the boulder wall. "Okay! Pokemon, Avery, lift the boulders using Psychic!"

All at once, everyone's eyes lit up with psychic power and the boulders started to rise. They shuddered and rumbled, but lifted clean off the ground after some struggle. While Avery and the others were busy, I hurried to check how deep they went. "I can see the exit!" I shouted, seeing a clear shot through to the rest of the cave.

I would be lying if I said I didn't contemplate leaving. I did, for a split second; wondered whether or not I could dash out of the cave before the rocks came crashing down. Then, I was flooded with guilt at the thought of leaving Hatterene and Gardevoir behind for my own selfish gain. And it was in that split second that Avery lost control of the boulders and collapsed.

In the blink of an eye, his Rapidash was there, and it yanked me back and right into Avery, who was barely staying upright on his knees. Stumbling and toppling onto him, he tried to dodge my falling form (and failed), and ended up pressing me against the ground by accident. "Please. Get. Off. Of. Me," I hissed, hoping to Zacian and Zamazenta that the furious blush of embarrassment rising in my face looked like a red of anger.

Scoffing, he complied, and left me to rise by myself. "You know, if you don't like people trying to be nice to you, you could just say so," I grumbled, brushing the dust off my uniform. Slowly walking over to the furthest wall away from Avery, I slumped down and pulled my knees to my chest. A few moments later, footsteps followed.

"Go away," I groaned, burying my face in my knees.
"You know, it's really hard to be nice to you when you don't look at me," he said, mimicking me ever so slightly. I continued to ignore him. "I can't believe I'm going to die like this," I whispered in disbelief. "Trapped, in a cave, in the dark, alone." Avery finally shut up after that, and I let the reality sink in.

We were trapped in a cave with no way out. We had limited supplies and rations. And, if no one came for us within a few days, we were going to die.

Sensing my negative emotions, Hatterene asked to return to her capsule. I complied, and as soon as she was gone my Rapidash burst out of his great ball and lit up his horn, his mane glimmering along with him. "Thanks," I laughed at his show of affection. Curling up with his head in my lap, I stroked him thoughtfully, running the glimmering strands of his mane through my fingers.

Avery was silent, as if debating whether or not to say something. After a while, he sat next to me, not doing or saying anything. Just sitting. Somehow, I found that more comforting than words. Then, after what felt like hours had passed of just sitting in the dark, he slowly put an arm around my shoulders.

Why is he touching me? WHY IS HE TOUCHING ME?! My brain screamed at me. Freezing in place, I gave him a look that he reciprocated with his classic smirk. "What? I'm being nice," he said, and I suddenly had the urge to giggle at his attempt to get closer. Sweet Arceus, what is wrong with me?! "I won't tell," I sighed, and we ended up just sitting there until we eventually dozed off.