Chapter Text
Dianne is in the middle of speaking with the guildmaster when it happens. She’s not surprised by the event, but the timing was the only thing she couldn’t quite calculate.
It’s the middle of the night and they just returned from a mission, one that took much longer than they first planned, but things still went well. Her partner, Lulu, has been on pins and needles the entire day, and she was going to break eventually. It’s only Dianne, Lulu, the guildmaster Hermes, and the lone jolteon guild member, Rai here.
“I’M TIRED OF THIS!” Lulu screams suddenly, causing everyone to look at her.
“I’m sorry?” Hermes takes a step forward, and Dianne could tell he’s immediately on the defensive. He can sense it now.
“I’M TIRED OF EVERYTHING!” Lulu’s eyes are looking at them and yet past them, glaring intensely and her teeth bared. “DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD I’VE WORKED? HOW MUCH I’VE DONE IN ORDER TO GET THIS FAR?”
“What are you talking about?” Hermes questions further.
“You,” Lulu points in Dianne’s direction, anger seeping from her entire being. But the jangmo-o simply stares back at her blankly. “I had everything planned out! Everyone was supposed to love me!” The buneary stomps her foot down once. “Everyone was supposed to adore me!” Twice. “Everyone was supposed to end up answering to me!” Three times. “And I thought you coming along would’ve made that even easier for me! I thought you being a human before would’ve helped me in my plan!”
Dianne could tell now both Hermes and Rai looked at her in confusion. But she didn’t look at them and stayed silent.
“But instead you coming along ruined everything for me!” Lulu continued, her body visibly shaking. “Everyone loves you! Everyone admires you! But you’re nothing! You’re not nice, you never smile, you don’t even go outside that often! You’ve only been here for what, a couple months? And yet everyone loves you! You’re cold, you’re heartless, you don’t care about what you say to anyone, you never look happy! Then why does everyone love you?”
The buneary began to pant and silence filled the room. Dianne glanced over at the guildmaster, and his face looked troubled and confused. She looked over at the jolteon, who also looked confused but was glaring towards her partner.
…..Partner, huh?
Dianne sighed and the sound made Lulu flinch and look up at her. “I always had a feeling that something was off about you. Thanks for proving me right.”
Lulu’s eyes widened in shock, and then they quickly shifted back to anger. Dianne barely had time to blink before the buneary was right on her, spinning around to deliver a kick to the side of her head. The jangmo-o fell over and skidded a couple feet before stopping, wincing as her jaw was burning from the impact.
She heard the other two pokemon shout something, and Dianne opened one eye to look over and see Lulu coming towards her again. Now more prepared for an actual fight, Dianne sprang back up onto her feet, shifting until she was facing her partner and lowered her head. Lulu was too angry and chaotic for any real strategy, a yell coming from her as she raised up one paw. Dianne took advantage of it, holding herself steady for a moment before launching her body forward, her head coming into contact with Lulu’s stomach.
Lulu grunted, the hit sending her backwards. She landed on her feet but leaned forward and put one paw on the ground, coughing and panting. Dianne thought for a moment it was enough to make her stop, but she was wrong.
The buneary recovered quickly, and charged at her again. The jangmo-o stepped to the side, neatly dodging the attempted punch. Lulu spun on her feet and tried again, and Dianne took a few steps back. Her partner was clearly getting more and more frustrated, and was simply lashing out without any thought to what she was doing.
Lulu continued to try to punch and kick her, and while she landed a couple blows, Dianne managed to avoid the rest. The buneary turned around once more and Dianne expected another punch, but something was different. Lulu took a stance and sprang forward, uncurling both her ears towards the shiny and hitting her square in the face.
Dianne was thrown backwards and her back hit a wall. She groaned and her vision went blurry, her ears ringing. She heard a couple pokemon shouting, but couldn’t tell what they were saying.
A shadow loomed into her vision and she blinked a few times, her head slowly clearing enough. Lulu stood over her, glaring down at her. She was panting and her limbs were shaking, but there was nothing but anger in her eyes.
Dianne stared up at her for a moment, her mind going back to all of her time in the pokemon world. She realized now what it was that she needed to do. She closed her eyes and lowered her head.
“I told you that you’re nothing, you-”
Dianne’s eyes shot open and she quickly got on her feet, springing herself forward and headbutting Lulu. The buneary fell back with a yell, and Dianne moved quickly to step over and put her front paws on Lulu’s chest, pinning her to the ground.
For a couple long minutes, nothing happened. They were both tired out, panting and sore. Lulu glared up at her, but Dianne just stared back in silence. Then after catching her breath enough, Dianne shifted her body and laid down on top of her partner, her front arms embracing her in a hug.
Lulu flinched and tensed up at the movement and gesture and at first did and said nothing. Then Dianne felt it; the buneary’s whole body began to shake, and she started to sob. Her arms moved up to return the hug, and she buried her face against Dianne.
They stayed like that for a while, Dianne allowing her partner to simply cry it out. She heard hushed voices nearby and looked over to see Hermes standing by the door, talking to someone she couldn’t see. Probably his partner. Rai was still standing nearby, his attention going back and forth from the guildmaster and the two of them.
The shiny felt her partner push against her, and allowed it, lowering her front limbs and stepping back. Lulu sat up, her eyes still wet and her body shaking, but she was better now. All the hatred and anger drained from her and what was left was a tired pokemon, physically and mentally.
“I’m sorry I ruined those plans of yours,” Dianne muttered. “But they wouldn’t have worked anyway, not with your strategy.”
Lulu looked up at her, but was silent.
“You were…..too happy and chipper all the time. That gets tiring, for everyone involved. And if it was fake the entire time, that’s even more tiring. Being fake doesn’t get you anywhere, or at least it doesn’t get you far for long. That’s why i prefer being honest, with myself and others. Even if i say something that seems mean or if i don’t sugarcoat things. I don’t see the point in doing that. Spare their feelings? Sure, but you’re being dishonest when you do that. And your actions say a lot about you. I like to help others because….because it feels nice.” Dianne rolled her eyes. “As corny as that sounds, it’s the truth. Seeing others unhappy in any way doesn’t make me feel good at all. Seeing others happy and knowing i helped that happen does make me feel good. I did that. I like working here because I get the chance to do that every day. And that’s amazing to me. Maybe….maybe you should start being more open and honest. With yourself and others. Holding things in isn’t healthy.”
For a moment, Lulu glared at her, but it quickly faded. She lowered her gaze to the ground and sighed heavily. “You hit hard, and not just in a fight,” she mumbled.
Dianne gently nudged her with her head. “You did help train me when I first arrived, that’s partly your fault.”
Lulu glared at her again, but there was no real hatred in it.
Dianne continued, gazing down at the ground. “I don’t see anyone as a friend. I never saw the point of having actual friends. But being here like this in this world, and you forcing yourself into my life, I’m starting to get it now. A little bit. I might not know a whole lot about how to be friends with other pokemon, but I do know that someone like you needs a friend. An actual friend, not these fake friendships you’ve been building. You need to care about others, acting all cute isn’t going to get you anywhere in the long run.”
Lulu was quiet, clearly pondering over her words. Then she slowly stood up, wincing. Now that Dianne thought about it, she was pretty sore as well. Her head hurt all over, along with the couple spots on her body that got hit.
“Is…everything ok now?”
The shiny looked over to see the guildmaster standing by them, looking at them curiously. Rai was also there, more keeping an eye on Lulu.
“Yes, I think so,” Dianne glanced at her partner, who was now looking down in shame.
“Well, that was quite the outburst,” the sceptile muttered, shaking his head. “Team Flare, you two are now on leave. Go home and rest and stay there for now, no more work until I say it’s ok. There’s…more I wish to talk about, but it’s already late. We’ll talk more in the morning. Is all of this clear?”
“Yes, guildmaster.” The two of them said simultaneously, Lulu’s voice much lower.
“Good, now go home.”