A Mess of Pink [BedexReader]

Chapter One

Bede was an infamous name amongst the trainers, the Chairman's leg in the race of this year's gym challenge.

It wasn't that every competitor loathed his very existence, but it came pretty damn close. If you went by his utterly inflated self image, he was a god amongst men even though a decently leveled Joltik with Skittersmack could wipe him into a flurry of insisting that you won out of luck and not the bare minimum of competence.

Y/N was the only one out of her friend group to not have an encounter with the character, and was stuck floating amongst the complaints of her friend group.

"The little shithead has the utter and absolute audacity to proclaim his greatness after I whooped him into the Kalos region." Gloria belted, the small girl scoffing as she sighed, "Stow-On-Side was pretty easy, though." She asserted. They were crowded in a Hammerlocke Pokė Center, Hop sitting at a table, Marnie across from him with Victor hovering next to the Champion's brother. Gloria and Y/N stood in front of them all, sharing their walkthrough of the gyms. The center was oddly clinically in presentation, despite no actual medicine was needed to heal the digital partners of civilization, but was somehow comforting with it's bright colors and inviting nature.

Y/N huffed, "Ballonlea wasn't too hard....what was hard was leaving." She had gone ahead after the Fighting Gym, her comrades caught up in Sonia's mess of discovery. "Next is Circhester.....then Spikemuth, gonna be a tad weird to fight your big bro, ay?" She glanced at the Dark Gym Leader in training.

Marnie beamed, a modest smile touching her lips as she swung her legs back and forth, Morepeko in her lap. "I'm gonna crush 'em."

Gloria let out a loud laugh, patting her friend on the back, "I can't wait til we all get to the top.."

Victor looked up, shyly pointing out what the top was, "There's only one Champion."

Gloria gave a challenging smirk to her sibling, "And may the best take his place."
Hop piped up for the first time, "Well, hate to say the race was decided before it even started but...it's in my blood." Everyone scoffed, laughing lightly, Hop pouting, "What?" He raised an eyebrow, Victor's hand falling to pat his shoulder in a comforting gesture. Hop had a quiet streak as of late, his pride bruised by a slim encounter with the white-haired mass his friends all mocked as easy. He wanted to carry the torch, his standards for himself far outweighing his abilities, not help by being his number one critic.

Y/N hummed, "Nothingggg..." She answered for the others, looking at her Rotom Phone for the time. They had been friends from a small age, spending their former years traversing the Wild Area that laid just beyond the head marking a stairway to the dignified city. 

Pokėmon was the one thing that they all had in common, other than the ambition it takes to do the gym challenge. 

Y/N shifted, "We should get going, it's a long, cold walk to Circhester for me." She stuck out her tongue, teasing her progress before bidding her adieu and making her way out, her friends shouting their goodbyes before gathering their things.

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Bede ran from Hammerlocke, well, he walked meekly from the town's center. He tried to hold himself together, his heart in his throat as his lip trembled. It all felt heavy, an emotional storm on the otherwise sunny day. He felt utterly mocked by everything, the world seemingly out to make his life a lonely road of abandonment.

His head was down, his eyes blurring the even motion of his feet. His body contracted as he tried to hold in his sorrow, his fists balled as his tears threatened to slip on the crowded street.He was pathetic. So small and fragile, no wonder he was so easily tossed out the moment he outlived his use.

Y/N was walking toward the snowy tourist spot, ironically a hotspot for luxury hotels and businesses. The street was emptying, everyone dispersed into the various buildings lining the medieval castle style cityscape, the dark navy brick complementing the foreboding mass that housed the dragon gym. It was perfect, almost made for the looming presence of the final gym.Many structures in Galar had been there for some time, albeit modernized for present use.She was the only one to notice the sad form curled deep in an alleyway further down the road, unable to patch the cracks of his emotional flood gate. She approached, the dark fold of the city well lit by afternoon light.

Bede noticed her instantly, leaning against the wall as he let his tears fall freely onto the chipped cobbles. He sniffed, his sleeve coming to his face to wipe it before his body straightened out, face shaping into a vicious scowl. "Leave me alone! Go away." He tried to yell but his voice fell soft near the tail end of the statement, his heart dropping at the very idea of a crowd witnessing it.

It could've been shame, hyper aware of his behavior in his utterly vulnerable state. He felt naked, the figure staring at him with sheer concern on her features, soft eyes staring at him on full display, his weaknesses open to read.

"Are you deaf? Leave..me alone." His voice cracked, "Fucking go away." He rasped, careful not to inch above a speaking tone.

Y/N didn't quite know what to do, staring at the fellow challenger. He was a red-faced mess but not ceasing his onslaught of insults that didn't quite make her upset-nearly the opposite. She walked closer, her journey on pause. Bede gritted his teeth, jerking back in a violent motion as he spat out all matter of swears.

"Are you okay?" She asked, the answer so obvious, the question so cliche, but it sent him into a blank stare. She walked closer, offering a tissue from her tent pack, only for him to stomp past her.

"No!" With both a rejection of the kindness and an answer to the pointless question, Bede moved violently past her, marching toward an unknown destination.

"My name's Y/N, by the way!" She shouted, emerging from the alley behind him, an instinct of wanting to know more of him.

"Don't care!" He hollered back, rubbing his face clean of his shame.

Y/N pouted slightly, her heart skipping a beat as he spat back another insult. Massive overkill on the boy's part but she didn't quite mind it, it wasn't entirely the insults. Those iris colored eyes that ripped into hers, overriding her thoughts and consuming her heart like a soft blanket after a rough travel.

He glanced back, a glare, her eyes still threatening to meet his.
"So fucking weird."