Everlasting Memories (Pokémon Hugh X Rosa)

Memories of the Inappropriate Touching

"So you two know Professor Juniper?" says Nate. "And Bianca, too? That's great! Because I know Professor Juniper! And Bianca, too! They live in my hometown. Nuvema Town. We're practically neighbors. Professor Juniper gave me and my sibling our first Pokémon too. And Bianca used to come around to our house all the time. Have you ever been to Nuvema Town?"

Even though Nate and Hugh have won around ten battles now, Hugh pauses the battle. With all eyes on him, he deliberately and slowly begins to rummage into his backpack.

"What are you doing?" says Nate curiously.

"Looking for some string," says Hugh curtly.

"Why?" asks Nate. Everyone, including the Pokémon, continues to watch them.

"So that I can tie your lips together," says Hugh grimly. "And never have to hear you speak again."

Nate laughs. Their opponents snort and resume the battle.

"Silly Hugh," he says cheerfully. "If you wanted some string, you could've just asked me! I've got tons of it in my bag!"

Hugh facepalms.

"Anyway, back to the story," says Nate. "I think the promise you and Rosa made to each other is pretty sweet."

"Of course you would think that," replies Hugh, exasperated. They move on to the next car. "You're like the male version of the Pokémon Idol Nancy."

Hugh notices Nate stiffen. His fists clench hard. "What?" asks Hugh, frowning.

Nate shakes his head. "Nothing," he says. He forces a smile. "So you and Rosa started traveling after that. That sounds like fun."

"Not always," says Hugh, as they prepare for their next battle.

"What do you mean?" grills Nate.

Hugh begins talking about his next memory with Rosa.

Nine months ago

"Hugh? Where are you?" whimpered Rosa, Poké Ball clutched tight in her hand. Hugh could hear the fear in her voice.

"I'm right here," he replied, tugging on her sleeve. He was a bit annoyed that despite everything they'd been through so far, his best friend was afraid of the dark.

In the past three months, they had accomplished more than they had in their seventeen (eighteen, in Hugh's case) years in Aspertia City. They both had two gym badges, they had defeated a bunch of Team Plasma thugs three times, and they had even caught some new Pokémon. Rosa had also acted in a couple of movies in Pokéstar Studios. Not that Hugh cared about that.

After causing trouble in Virbank City, Team Plasma had fled to Castelia City, and Hugh and Rosa had promptly followed them. Their search led them to the Castelia Sewers, where a trainer named Iris had deduced that Team Plasma was probably hiding.

Hugh had directly charged into the sewers like a raging bull, Rosa in tow. However, it became clear that this wasn't the best idea.

He groaned in frustration.

"It's okay, Rosa," he said, trying to sound sympathetic. He even patted her shoulder in an attempt to sound comforting, but stopped because it felt weird. "We'll find Team Plasma, destroy them, and get out of here as soon as we can."

"But . . . it's so dark," she whined.

"I know, I know," said Hugh impatiently. He ran his fingers through his spiky hair, trying to think of something. "It's too bright to use Flash either, so we're just going to have to plough through. You're not going to stay outside like a coward now, are you?"

Rosa shook her head. "No." she replied in a small voice. "Stay close to me?"

"Sure." He grabbed hold of her wrist, hoping she wasn't going to slow him down. It was amazing to think that this was the same girl who had beaten him every single time they battled.

They walked through the sewers, a foul smell lingering in the air. A couple of Rattata and Zubat got in their way, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle.

"Eeep!" yelped Rosa, clutching Hugh hard. A Zubat had flown in her face and she was trembling with fear.

"Rosa, geez," Hugh muttered a very bad word under his breath. He could not believe his luck.

He turned his attention to her. Rosa' long brown hair had come loose from her buns, and some of the strands were tangled in the zipper of his jacket. Her blue eyes were wide and terrified and she bit her lip as she gazed at the ceiling fearfully. Her fingers threatened to cut off the circulation to his arm.

Hugh had never noticed it before, but his best friend was really, really pretty. And despite the putrid smell around, she had the scent of freshly plucked Gracidea.

"I- I'm sorry I dragged you into this," he whispered. He dropped her wrist and slowly interlocked his fingers with hers. "Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen to you while I'm here. Remember our promise before we left? I've got your back." He gave her hand a small squeeze.

Rosa took a deep breath. "Okay," she said finally. "Thank you, Hugh. I'll try my best to be strong for you."

It was only after walking around for another five minutes that he realized that he was still holding her hand; he immediately released it and grabbed her wrist. He hoped she wouldn't notice his face turn red from embarrassment, but she didn't even react.

As they got closer to the brick wall, Hugh heard whispers.

"I think-"began Rosa, but she was immediately cut off by Hugh, who slammed her into the wall before him, urging her to be quiet. He caught snippets of a conversation between two people: something about "liberation", "traitor" and "Colress". Suddenly he became vaguely aware of something soft and squishy in his hand. And for the second time that evening, Hugh was severely embarrassed. He had been holding Rosa's breast.

"Gah!" His face was scarlet, and Rosa was glaring at him. "I'm sorry! I-" He tried to think of something to say, but when he had nothing, compensated by jumping in front of the two people near the wall, yelling "Hey!"

Needless to say, there were no major hiccups after that. Hugh and Rosa defeated the other two trainers, who turned out to be Team Plasma grunts, and met up with Castelia City's Gym Leader, Burgh. Hugh gave Rosa the HM for Strength, hoping she'd forget everything that happened. His face heated, he left the sewers, vowing not to think about those mammaries for a long, long time.