Behind the Screen (Rosa x Curtis)

Bond

I tickled Fluffy's foot.

"Wake up!" I sang, pulling back his blankets. 

He didn't even flinch. I huffed as I grabbed the pillow from the bottom of his head, pulling it away as fast as possible. Still no reaction. I smashed the pillow into his head with full force, causing him to blink, slowly waking up.

"It's time to get up!!" I yelled.

Fluffy blinked, then pulled his blanket back on his body, covering his face.

"AMPHAROS ROS AMPHA ROS!" He yelled, muffled from the blanket, give me one good reason to get up!

I smiled, pulling off his blankets and throwing them to the floor.

"It's the last day of filming." I whispered.

Fluffys eyes popped open, and he sprang up from his curled position, pumping his hands in the air and bouncing around.

"AMPHA! AMPHAROS ROS ROS AMPHA!" He yelled in joy, YES! I AM NEVER GOING TO WEAR HEELS AGAIN!

I laughed, and began to get ready for the last day that I would be doing this torturous filming. The past few days had been a bit different than I had pictured. Doing this whole movie business was tiring, but it had this spark I knew I was destined to be apart of. But as reluctant as I was to admit it, Hugo was right, it was hard.

I hadn't heard from Hugo at all. He was my best friend, and it was if he didn't care.

As I put my hair into my signature buns, I pulled out my xtransceiver, the screen lighting up with a notification about a text from Curtis. I smiled fondly. Even if Hugo didn't care, Curtis texted and called everyday, sometimes twice. He always said he was busy, so he wouldn't be able to call too often, but every time he did my heart soared. I didn't have time to read the message before a decline call button sprang up, Curtis calling me. I instantly dropped my hair, but luckily Fluffy sprang up from behind, and caught them. He sighed as he began to do my hair for me. Curtis's face filled the screen, a large grin plastered on his face.

"Hi Rosa!" He beamed excitedly.

"You're more excited than usual!" I exclaimed, cringing as Fluffy pulled on my hair. 

Curtis smiled, and put down his xtransceiver in front of laptop, the screen showing a list of Pokemon. 

"These are all of the Pokemon nearby." He said, pointing at the list.

I examined the list, mostly normal types like Eevees and Patrats, as well as many grass types like Roselia, Budew, and many others. 

"Whats about it?" I asked.

"It's my brothers birthday soon, and I was hoping to get him his first official Pokemon. I was wondering if you could help me choose." He asked, examining the list once again, the back of his head filling up part of the screen. 

His blonde hair glimmered in the light, and seemed to be illuminated in a soft angelic glow. I felt an odd feeling, I wanted to stretch into the screen and feel his hair, it looked so soft...

I shook my head, paying attention to the screen again. My eyes fell on the name of a Pokemon I really liked.

"What about an Azuril?" I asked, pointing at the adorable picture next to the name.

I soft look came across Curtis's face, as if remembering a fond memory.

"My dad's partner was an Azumarill. Yeah, that's a good idea, thanks Rosa!" He grinned.

I felt instantly bad. Had his father passed? Left? My thoughts left me as Fluffy tugged hard on my hair, my buns falling out of their neat piles and my long this hair falling onto my shoulders. I glared at Fluffy, who threw his hands up in the air.

"Ampharos ros ros, ros ampha ros!" He exclaimed, I might be amazing at everything, but I'm not a hairdresser!

I payed my attention back to Curtis who looked flustered and was covering his red face.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

"Ur...um...I'm fine, er thanks!" He yelled, clicking the end call button.

I glared at Fluffy, who muttered something about 'typical boys' and 'long hair' and 'why did I have to be bald?' before walking away. I carefully placed my xtransceiver on the table, and expertly put my hair back up, letting my mind power away in thought. I paused as I pondered, did my hair make him flustered? I puffed no way I thought, yelling at Fluffy to get ready to go.

******

I sat quietly at the makeup table, letting my makeup artist get me ready. I had grown quite close to him, his name was Erin. He was short, with a slim build and dark hair. His skin was a pale shade, and his eyes an odd hazel. He would talk for hours on end, and could out talk anyone. And by anyone, I mean he could out talk Fluffy. That was an achievement to be proud of. 

While Erin jabbered away, my focus turned to the TV next to me on a table. Workmen were eagerly sitting around it, waiting. Suddenly, the TV flicked to a girl, with darker skin, large purple hair...an overly puffy but beautiful dress... my mind clicked as I realized who she was. The woman who had bet Hugo all those years ago. The reigning champion. What amazed me even more was the blue haired boy opposing her on the battlefield. I leaped up, surprising Erin, and jogged over to the workmen.

"What's happening?" I asked, pushing their heads away so I could see.

One annoyingly replied "Some guy challenged the champion. Pretty dumb."

I felt ready to punch him, but I only paid attention to the TV.

The battle lasted for an hour, both fighting as hard as they could. But it was obvious who was wining, and it wasn't Hugo. His last Pokemon, his Serperior, fainted, falling to the ground in a hard thud. Hugo fell to his knees in dismay. The champion ran over to her Pokemon, cuddling it, and rewarding it, before walking over to Hugo, who defeated, returned his Pokemon to it's Pokeball.

"I lost." He whispered. "HOW?!" He yelled.

The champion, Iris, one of the workmen had cheered, looked down pitifully at him. 

"You are strong, I will admit that." She said. "But your bond is weak."

Hugo looked up mortified. While I hated to admit it, him and his Serperior were never close. Not like me and Fluffy. 

"One the battle field, you must work as one. You were two different beings, instead of one entity. When your bond is strong, your strength will only grow. Your Pokemon will have a meaning to getting stronger, a reason to fight." She said, her wisdom seeping out.

"If only Serperior..." Hugo muttered

"CAN'T YOU SEE THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?" She exclaimed. "You blame your Pokemon, not yourself. You believe it's never your fault. The only person to blame is you. You need to work for your Pokemon as hard as it will work for you." She began to walk away. "Good battle, I can't wait for next time."

A dark shadow fell across Hugo's face, and he rushed into the crowd. The cameraman looked as though he was getting up to pursuit chase, but Iris held up her hand.

"Let him be."

Hugo disappeared from sight. Fluffy came up next to me, a sad look on his face.

"But she was actually right. That's why she won, this time last time, why he hasn't won in so long, even against Curtis. Curtis's bond with his Pokemon was so strong he was able to achieve Mega Evolution." I realized, staring at the screen now showing a cooking show. 

Nancy strode up behind me, pulling along Christoph. I turned around, ready to deal with whatever she had to throw at me. For some reason though, whenever Christoph was with her, I felt like my heart was being torn out my chest. Did I like him? For some reason, I was unsure. But what unnerved me more was how uncomfortable he looked. Like it was forced. 

But I had more important things to worry about.

Like Hugo.