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He hoped it didn’t have to come to this. The red numbers on his screen weren’t quite registering. Piers had just signed off his Macro Cosmos™ Insurance policy last month to pay for food. In hindsight, that was a bad move. He had just ran out of his T supply, with no way to replenish it. Legally, at least. He closed his banking app and slouched back down on his sofa. “ Fuck .”
After a few deep breaths, the man leaned forward again. Still defeated. Staring at the ground between his legs, mind blanking. “I cannot afford another missed shot.” He said to himself, brushing his fingers through his hair and scratching his head. In the room next over, the faint sound of a Pokéball opening could be heard. A few seconds later, his Scrafty was waddling its way over to its trainer.
Piers seemed to have ignored the sound. Scrafty soon saw why. Its trainer had his face buried in the palms of his hands. A few faint sobs could be heard. The pokémon carefully walked over, putting a hand on its trainer’s knee. “I’ll be okay, Scrafty, you don’t have to worry...” Scrafty wasn’t satisfied with the answer. However, before it could respond, the two of them were interrupted by the doorbell.
Scrafty tried to pull its trainer off the sofa, but it was no use. It decided to take matters into its own hands and walk towards the door to open it. The pokémon recognised the familiar face and hoodie. “Hi Scrafty!” It was Raihan, who made it to Spikemuth a lot faster than anticipated. “Are you hungry? I’ve got Pokémon snacks with me too.” Piers peeked into the hallway to see Raihan showering his pokémon with affection.
He dried his tears before walking into the hallway. “Hey, thanks for comin’, I appreciate it.” Piers tried to grab the charm of his choker, before realising he wasn’t wearing it. Almost naturally, his fingers were playing with the neck of his shirt instead. “That’s alright, babe.” Raihan smiled at his boyfriend after giving Scrafty a little snack. “You know I don’t mind.” He continued to smile. Piers finally started to look back at him. He was right, he did know Raihan would be there for him. Especially during times like these.
“So what’s the matter? You seemed rather down and had me worried.” The two of them were sitting on the sofa, with Scrafty sitting next to Piers on the floor. The air wasn’t as heavy with Raihan around. After Marnie left for her gym challenge, Piers had been feeling quite lonely. “Well, the lights ‘n’ stuff in Spikemuth have been fixed.” He relaxed a little, “I hear a ‘but’” Raihan interrupted. “But… now I am broke. Again.” Letting out a sigh, he started leaning on his boyfriend. “I can’t afford T now, and I am already late on my next shot...” His voice cracked on those last words. It was frustrating to admit that he didn’t plan this better. If only he had saved up for T, too. If only-
“It’s not your fault.”
The softness in his tone, the arm around his shoulder, the warmth of his hand. It was all too much. A few tears started flowing, before they could be stopped. Frustration and anger turned into tears. “No matter what I do, it’s never enough.” The man cried into his hands while his boyfriend patted his back, encouraging him to keep going. “It’s not just with battles, it’s with the city as well.” He started to lightly dig his nails into his skin, desperately trying to stabilise his breathing. “I just want this city to thrive, people to be happy… ” He released his face to look at his hands. “But we’ve been so deprived of funding, it’s like we’ve been left to lie down and rot, y’know?”
After a short silence, with Piers catching his breath and Raihan moving closer to embrace his boyfriend, “sorry you had to hear that.” Piers said, now sitting on Raihan’s lap. “No need to apologise,” He ran a hand through his boyfriend’s long hair, “you just want the best for your city.” Piers’ breath hitched at his words. Fuck, I don’t wanna cry again… he thought. “But sometimes, you have to put yourself first.” Raihan heard some team Yell members express their concern for Piers. “You don’t have to do everything by yourself either.”
“So… what do you want me to do, e-boy?” Raihan chuckled at the ‘endearment’. It was a sign he was loosening up again. “Well, it has been a while since we last saw each other in private~” Raihan’s playful tone was cute, but Piers wasn’t in the mood. “Sorry, mate, the dick is dead ‘til my next shot.” He teased back. “Awww,” Raihan whined, “that’s fine. How about we cuddle instead?” The Dragon tamer wasn’t done with Piers yet. “That’s fine, wanna move upstairs?”
The room was a bit of a mess, but that didn’t matter. Raihan held Piers close, who had his face buried in his chest. “Your Scrafty really likes you, huh?” He asked. “Yeah, he’s from Unova. Caught ‘m as a Scraggy after a gig I did there.” Piers’ tone was relaxed, almost dreamy as he reminisced. He would like to go back to Unova one day, even if just to see their Poison gym leader again. “It was a nice trip. I had just updated my international trainer card with my name ‘n’ gender.” He chuckled when he remembered the giddy feeling. “Everythin’ felt right for once.” He smiled some more when he felt his boyfriend run his fingers through his hair. He had been softly humming in response. It felt nice.
“Unova sounds like a nice place to visit.” Raihan liked to travel, though he rarely got an opportunity to after becoming a gym leader. “But I think I would prefer to go to Alola with you.” He thought about all the scenery pictures he could take for his social media, the food, but mainly… the time spent together with Piers. “Heh, the heat ‘n’ sun would absolutely kill me.” Raihan laughed at his predictable answer.
“How about Sinnoh then?”
“Too cold!”
“Kalos?”
“Too expensive...”
The two of them were laughing at this point. Despite the money issue, it sounded like they were making grand holiday plans. “Okay, okay,” Raihan started, “where to then?” Piers caught Raihan off guard by moving up to face him. The singer moved forward, closed the space between them to steal a kiss. “Right here, with you.”