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"Ah, Champion, we meet again," Swordward said with a chesire grin, standing behind the booth of Turffield Stadium.
"Oh, dear brother, it seems I've lost my train of thought," Shieldbert said, a pompous chuckle only to follow behind it. "Why they hang around such plebeians eludes even I."
"Wouldn't you rather be in the presence of royalty?" Swordward offered, his lewd eyes scanning you up and down.
"A true celebrity deserves to be on the arm of another," Shieldbert continued on, his own eyes raking in every inch of you.
"Or two," Swordward added in, before guffawing with his brother. As they both began to catch their breaths, Swordward continued. "For such radiance, the two of us would be willing to share you."
You were left speechless, blushing in utter embarrassment as the two conniving men's banter. Why not Hop, Piers, or even Milo had shut these men's gobs was beyond you, and yet they had you crawling in your skin. Swallowing hard, you spat acidically, "I'm not a trophy for egregious behavior."
This was the first time that Piers felt a rise deep in him, fists unconsciously beginning to clench. Gritting his teeth, his mind raced while his blue eyes glared at the men. From where Piers stood, this was the first mistake that the two men made, not only trying to rudely court you, but to do so where he could see.
While the lot of you moved from Stadium to Stadium, work came far before play, Piers only allowed to marinate in these feelings. As time passed forward, it seemed as if everyone was trying to make a pass at you. Each time Piers heard words of praise slip from someone's parted lips, he felt his distaste growing.
You were truly humble despite every word of praise, though. In Piers's eyes, you may have even been a tad naive to some of the more forward calling cards. Raihan, for example, was forward enough to say that you could contact him for anything, business or otherwise. The toothy smirk he sent your direction should have made you shiver away, and yet you were so kind to him.
Piers wondered for a bit if it was simply the fact that you had taken on the responsibility of champion. There was room to tell of the two weirdos, but the others...maybe not as much. More than a few times, he wondered why he cared so much what you actually thought of all of these advances.
More than a few times, he wondered what you would think if he were to advance. He wondered what it would be like to get you alone, maybe after everything was all over with. Stress finally leaving the two of you, maybe he could actually show you what built up over years of burying.
As the three of you were nearing your final gym, Hop was the one to engage you in conversation. Though the boy was a few years younger than the two of you, merely at 18 than yours and Piers's 24, it still managed to get under his skin. The way that he smiled at you, and how you smiled back so kindly to one of the many that considered you a rival finally made Piers snap.
"If you two are going to keep chatting, I can fetch ya a nice cuppa," he spat out, irritation clear in his tone. Though, if you were to ask than merely bite your lip, he would have simply said there was more work to do. How the blue eyed man could not manage to just convey how he felt was an enigma even to him, but his jealousy was almost as clear as his irritation.
"Thanks for getting us back on task," you said, your gentle tone with a hint of shame. Your y/e/c eyes glimpsed over to him, though they would not meet his eyes. Almost immediately after his words, you began showing your merry band to the next flying taxi.
Piers's facial expression betrayed him for a second, his hand almost reaching fully out to you before falling short. His lips down turned to a frown, pouted lips slightly agape. The deep blue eyes of his simply stared for a moment as you walked away from the two.
"Instead of using your smug mug to tease, you may just want to tell them, Mate," Hop said, his own lips in a frown as he glanced over Piers, you just out of earshot. "Y/N may be champion of Galar, but they're still the same old Y/N."
Piers merely let out a huff, a grimace placed upon his face as he glanced back to Hop. Though the young man wasn't wrong, it was still buzzing to hear from him. Motioning with his slender hand to go follow you before your suspicion was raised, the two of them made their way out to the flying taxi.
You had your elbows leaned against the edge of the basket of the flying taxi, simply staring out at Galar with your y/e/c eyes as you thought about Piers and his behavior. Though you had known Piers since the three of you were kids, you had never seen him lash out on you without viable reasoning. Marinating in your own thoughts, you were silent to the two other occupants of the taxi.
Piers, on the other hand, stood on the other side of the flying taxi simply staring over at you. No matter what beautiful view the three of you were passing over, the true radiance he saw was you. He could not simply say it, allow the words to slip from his mouth, and yet he thought about it the entire ride.
"You're gonna miss your chance, mate," Hop said absently, him staring out at the other side of the view of Galar as he stood next to Piers.
This caused Piers's attention to veer from you to the younger man, his blue eyes questioning before the words even slipped out of his mouth. "How do you figure?" He asked. After all, while Piers was running the gym, Marnie and Hop had been the main company that Y/N had. Those two would, unfortunately for Piers, know the true you.
Hop let out a soft chuckle. "You're not the only one, mate," he said, almost as if he was testing the taller man. His eyes broke from the scenery to meet Piers's expectant expression. "They've met plenty who would be chuffed just for a nice cuppa with them."
"You?" Piers asked, his eyebrow unconsciously raising as he questioned him.
Hop shook his head quickly, small chuckling quickly turning into laughter at the insinuation. "Not quite," he said after calming. "My brother maybe. I'm sure you've noticed others."
Piers may have simply shrugged, the flying taxi meeting its destination as the two were talking, but he was shamed to know Hop wasn't wrong. The champion of Galar had more than just fans, and this excursion alone had proven it. Though this was the case, he had to find a way to talk to you before it was too late.
At the power plant, Shieldbert had made that idea practically impossible, bringing his own group to distract Piers and Hop while you dealt specifically with one of the only two with no shame of being forward. Shieldbert had been openly forward, even as the two of you were battling your pokemon. Often the words of celebrity slipped off of Shieldbert's tongue in a most foul tone, offering more than once to rule with his brother.
You tried to ignore the advances for the most part, dealing with the task at hand. Even on your journey, you had matured to the point that being champion of Galar was an honor, not simply a goal. Your abilities knew no bounds, from simply trouncing the weirdo, all the way down to you facing off against a legendary pokemon.
Zacian was the first that you battled, your pokemon not even wavering at the sheer power of the beast in front of you. Though it snarled at your y/f/p, they held their ground with ease. It did not take more than moments for Piers to be staring at you once again, in true awe of your ability.
"It's no wonder you're Champion," he complimented as Zacian lost the battle.
You simply took a glance back to Piers, your eyes softening for a moment as a smile pulled itself across your face. A faint tint of blush rose in your cheeks, though your battle was not over yet. Zamezenta was waiting for you, and with a calmed expression, you glanced back at the legendary beast with a calmed expression. The pokemon stared back, directly into your eyes, and you knew what you had to do.
Reaching into your pack, you pulled out a simple luxury ball. There was no reason to battle the pokemon that gave you such a calmed expression, especially as it simply nodded to the ball. You held it out to the pokemon as it simply used its snout to activate the ball, accepting your offer generously. Whispering a soft, "Thank you, Zamezenta," you tucked the pokemon into your pack, before turning to view the shocked expressions.
"That was a marvelous display," Swordward said, glancing back towards you. "We have been speaking of royalty like fools." The man turned to Piers before speaking more. "Spike head, we would like to turn ourselves in, if you would escort us to the proper channels."
Piers's lips tightened for a moment, before he nodded. Under his breath, he said, "It's too much to expect the two would have learned manners." Taking a soft glance back at you, he went to escort the two away. Though he was disappointed in losing his chance once again, he still had not formulated exactly how he would confess to you, nor if he would be satisfied with the answer.
Meeting you later in the Slumering Weald was a different story entirely. He walked in with Leon to see the triumph in your eyes, and you truly gazed at him fondly. The man wondered if maybe his chance was coming, though he still needed to escort Swordward and Shieldbert to their proper place.
"There's no one I'd rather see hold the champion succession," Leon said warmly to you.
Piers could not help feeling an unsettling feeling in his stomach as he watched Leon wrap his strong arms around you in a hug, your face littered with blush from his words. He knew he just had to say something, otherwise he could very easily lose you. Hop's words echoed in his mind as he swallowed hard, walking over to you himself.
"You've truly done Spikemuth proud," he said, before mentally slapping himself. Though his words were not wrong, they lacked the luster that his music could convey so easily. If he were to confess to you on stage, just maybe he could force it out of his mouth.
Your lips did not falter a millimeter as you smiled up at him, your y/e/c eyes glancing up at him. "Truly chuffing coming from you, Piers," you said fondly, your cheeks still holding that bit of blush that Piers was not sure if he caused or if it residually stayed against your cheeks. Though you were not sure if he would even hug you back, you pulled him into a fond embrace, relishing in his gentle warmth.
Piers could feel his heartbeat quicken at your action, before hesitantly wrapping his arms around your own frame. The hug was brief, but as you separated from him, you allowed your lips to brush against his cheek faintly. This sensation caused his cheeks to heat with deep crimson, confirming the theory you had been musing at for quite some time.
After Swordward and Shieldbert were dealt with, sent off to where they had initially hailed from, Piers returned to Spikemuth empty handed. No longer a gym leader, and yet, he still had that weighing thought about the champion of Galar. Making his way back to the stage to perform, he never expected to be face to face with the champion of Galar, sitting with two of your pokemon on stage. By the look of the scene, you had been sitting waiting for the man for hours.
"You know, you could have called to see when I'd be back," he said in his typical snarky tone, though deep down he didn't mind seeing that type of dedication. "I'd expect the champion would have better things to do than hang around Spikemuth."
"Well, with everything wrapped up, I may have wanted to visit for a non end of the world matter," you joked in return, though your smile radiated every crevice of Spikemuth. You pushed yourself to your feet, walking over to the blue eyed male with that same radiating smile. "After all, Spikemuth still is my home."
Piers chuckled in reply. "Though you're not wrong, I'm sure you've grown past this small city," he countered. "No matter how proud I am of Spikemuth, I'm sure your journey opened your eyes to everything out there."
You rolled your eyes at the man, before reaching up to remove a stray strand of hair from his face. "No matter how many places I see, I prefer the view right here," you said, almost in a teasing tone. Your eyes were confident as you stared at the black and white haired male. "I just wonder your musings on the matter."
At that moment, your breath almost hot against Piers as you spoke, he wouldn't have cared if all of Team Yell was cheering. All that had been building, marinating, and buzzing around his head was placed into one swift motion of capturing your lips with his own. The kiss was forceful, full of passion, and even as it slowed, the sheer ferocity still stayed. Every feeling that Piers was musing on throughout your mission led to the two of you melting into one another's arms, and though he still had yet to properly convey with words how he was feeling, you both got the general idea.