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

Confessions -- Avery

"Okay...never have I ever traveled out of the Galar region," Bede smiled, bouncing stones across the cavern so my Rapidash could float them back. "Good Arceus, you're killing me at this game," I groaned, putting down the third finger I had left.

After we woke up (in a very awkward position we both agreed to never speak of again), and for lack of better things to do, I suggested Never Have I Ever. It usually was something my sister and I played whenever we hadn't talked for a while, to see what the other had been up to.

"Where'd you go?" Bede asked, patting Rapidash when he returned the stone to him. "Kalos," I smiled as he playfully nibbled at Bede's hair, and chuckled when he scowled and waved my partner off. "My family has a summer home there, so we go quite often."

"Nice," he said, letting the stone skip across the cavern again. "Your turn."
"Never have I ever, I don't know, stapled my tongue," I said, thinking of the most absurd thing I could think of. Smiling sheepishly, Bede put a finger down.

"What?!" I gaped. "Why on earth would you do that?!"
"I was two," he countered. "I was two, and the matron wasn't watching me well enough, so I tried to eat a stapler and accidentally pushed down on the top of it." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, flinging the rock away with a flick of his wrist. "It hurt like bloody hell, but I only have a tiny scar on my lip."

"Don't you mean your mother?"

Bede visibly stiffened at my comment. "No. I mean a matron," he said slowly, fingering the pebble he was holding. "I....bounced in and out of foster care and orphanages for years until Rose gave me Hatterene. Er, Hatenna, back then. My parents....."

He trailed off, and I waited for him to continue. "Well, let's just say they wouldn't win any 'Parent Of The Year' awards," he said abruptly, before flinging the stone across the cavern and leaning back. "They did some pretty bad stuff. I never knew the details."

"I suppose that's one thing we both can relate to," I sighed, leaning back as well. "My parents aren't exactly the world's greatest either." We both sat in silence for a little while, until Bede tired of it and started our game again. "Let's see. Never have I ever....eaten a malasada."
"You've never eaten a malasada?!"

"No. I haven't. It wasn't on my top priorities list. Should I put it on there?"
"I swear to Arceus, the moment we get out of this cave, we must Teleport to the Appl-tons of Sweets bakery in Wyndon. They have the best pastries in the entire region!"
"Sure, it's a date."

He said in a joking manner, but something about his tone made me flush pink, right down to my ears. After realizing what he'd said, he turned red as well. "Y-you know I...meant it as a joke, right?" he asked nervously.
"Of course I did," I plastered on a smile. "But, seriously; you need to try malasadas. They are the epiphany of the pastry world!"

We went back and forth for hours, with me continually losing rounds and Bede continually triumphing. "Okay..never have I ever snuck out somewhere," Bede laughed, wiping tears from his eyes after I told a quite embarrassing story about getting stuck in a tree for four hours when I grabbed my sister's hand just before she teleported somewhere else.

I froze at the mention of that question. Yes; I had snuck out somewhere before. That night that happened months ago, but still felt like yesterday. It was just after we'd gotten the news that we had officially become gym leaders.

"Avery, come on," Klara whined, bounding ahead of me and urging me to go faster than I already was. Hiking was definitely not my forte. Coupled with the fact that I had been holding this off for months, Klara was especially impatient tonight.