Perfect Boyfriend

Hop happened to overhear it one tournament.

After an evening of intense battling, ferocious chanting from the crowds, and unadulterated excitement the night was wrapped up and everyone was starting to file out of the stadium to return home.

Hop, having been a spectator this time around instead of a battler, had followed the crowds down into the lobby. Once he had given a check over to make sure Victor hadn't slipped out without his knowledge, he made his way down the corridor to the locker room to go pick up his friend.

As he walked he couldn't help but grin as he thought about what to say to Victor first; he should probably congratulate him on another victory, but he really wanted to enthuse about Raihan's battling strategy—after all, he was the nearest to beating his brother before Victor was, he couldn't help but find Raihan a good model to follow—or about how his dynamax battle with Bea almost ended up in tears, only for Victor to turn it around, or how Piers was really making his mark against dynamaxing by holding onto his own. There was just too much to talk about!

"Oh really?"

Hop jumped at the sound of a voice—which might have been a good thing as he had nearly walked into one of the potted plants during his daydreaming—and looked around, expecting to see someone address him, but he was surprised to see he wasn't the target of conversation.

Instead he sneaked closer to the corner and peeked around it.

Victor, Raihan and Gordie stood outside the changing rooms, huddled together in a secluded ring. Though they appeared to be having a private chat, the hallways were quiet and empty enough that their voices could echo back to Hop, who opted to listen in silently.

Gordie held a large grin "Are you sure you're not here to just gloat?" He teased "Taunting us with girl fans, you're becoming quite the player champion!"

"No," Victor replied with a hint of confusion "It's really bothersome".

"Don't let any girl catch you saying that," Raihan reprimanded lightly "I'm sure they don't mean to be annoying, they just wanna let you know how they feel".

Victor sighed "Yeah I guess..."

So Victor was talking about girls to Gordie and Raihan? It made sense to Hop. Gordie and Raihan were both pretty popular with the ladies in their own way, and with Victor shooting in popularity thanks to his champion title, it made sense that he'd seek advice from those two.

But judging from the tone in his voice, it sounded like Victor wasn't looking for positive advice.

Raihan sighed and rubbed the top of his head "Well, in all honesty, I don't think there's a way to make them stop liking you. Just like everyone else, you gotta get used to it".

"But being pulled aside is..." Victor didn't finish, but his scrunched up face was all he needed. Hop recalled a time when Victor had been called aside by an unknown girl before, and when he returned had told Hop she had confessed to him, he was a little miffed when Victor also added he turned her down. But had it been happening so frequently? It must've for Victor to look so perturbed by the idea of it "Are you sure you can't think of anything?"

Raihan just shrugged his shoulders. Gordie, however, gave a low chuckle and pushed his glasses up.

"Oh, I might have a way," He said mysteriously, capturing both of their attentions "If you want girls to stop asking you out, there's only one thing right? Get yourself a girlfriend!"

Victor frowned "I don't have one—"

"Not like that!" Gordie crossed his arms over his chest with a smile "I remember when I was younger one of my ex's would not leave me alone, it was annoying as hell, so I thought to myself 'what would drive her away?' and then it hit me; another girl would! I asked one of my friends if she could play pretend girlfriend with me for a while, and sure enough, when my ex saw her with me she backed off immediately. Worked like a charm!"