Work Text:
Take a Buckaroo Break!
BRRRING, BRRRING! BRRRING, BRRRING! BRRRRING―
The office could have been a call center that morning. Phones were ringing off the hook. Well, the many BW Agency cell phones were, anyway. Black wasn’t sure how White juggled three different work phones, but she never failed to manage it with professionalism.
“Good morning, Mr. Director! Yes, yes, I have accounted for the expenses of our VIP guests already in the invoices. This includes their hotel stay, the meals we will be providing them outside of the dinner parties, and― ah!” White caught the second phone ringing as she spoke, furrowing her brow. She glanced up at Black and mouthed a silent ‘ help, please?’
Black sighed and gave his boss― no, girlfriend― a small smile as he took the second phone from her to answer it.
“Hello, this is the BW Agency, Black speaking. How may I help you?” He rattled off the rehearsed line without a second thought, even straightening his posture subconsciously.
The responding voice was that of what seemed to be a rather jolly old man. “‘Ello! This is the mayor of Floccesy Town, calling little Miss White to see if she’d do her hometown a favor.”
Black blinked in surprise. Right, Floccesy Town is White’s hometown… he hadn’t yet visited due to how busy she was with her business and running the many events in the big cities of Unova, despite the two having had a couple of quiet dates at Nuvema Town. This made him very interested in the call.
“A favor? What for?”
“We’d like to hold some sort of an event to attract tourists like the big cities do… or something akin to it,” the old man replied. “D’you think we could speak to her about it?”
“Well sir, let me see if she is available. Hold, please,” he clicked hold and gave White some exaggerated facial expressions to follow suit.
“...Yes, yes, if you would be so kind Mr. Director, could I please put you on hold for one minute? Thank you.” White paused her current call with a concerned look. “Hm? Who called? Is it urgent?”
“Floccesy mayor called. Said he’d like to ask you for a favor.”
Her brow furrowed further. He hated when her brows furrowed this much.
“Ngh… I hope it’s nothing too much, since this Film Festival is becoming very convoluted in the planning stages right now…”
Black paused, stealing a glance with Brav who was roosting beside him. Black twisted his mouth a bit at his feathered companion before responding.
“Uh… nothing you’ve gotta worry about! I should be able to handle it!” Black saluted and skittered off to resume the call in the hallway.
“Okay! Just return the phone when you’re done!” White called after him before returning to her work.
Brav flapped out the door after Black, his trainer hastily getting information on who he needed to meet for his solo mission.
Three months later…
White’s film festival had finally wrapped up, and she was now at the end of the week-long break that Black had insisted that she take.
“You need to relax once in a while, White! Take the week off, and come by Floccesy Town on Saturday… I’ve got a surprise date for you! Be sure to dress comfortably, too!”
She was ordered not to go near the town until then, so she begrudgingly settled with spending time with her Pokémon and sneaking into PokéStar Studios to help with minor things before getting caught by the staff (Black told them all that she was supposed to be relaxing) and getting shooed away.
Black had apologized that he couldn’t personally pick her up for the date, but promised to meet White at the ranch entrance at 9am. She tried to dress comfortably for the ranch, but still a bit cute as this was still supposed to be a date… A cotton, sleeveless button-down with a tied front, flexible skinny jeans, and her trusty old boots from when she would help out on the ranch… well, a new pair similar to her old ones since it had been years since she’d been there. Her usual ponytail was braided for the finishing touch, and she got Barbara’s approval before they flew to their destination. She tried not to let herself think too much about the effort she put into thinking out the outfit as her heart fluttered with anticipation.
Above the trees, White gasped as she could see a bustling fairground where her quiet hometown was supposed to be. It seemed as though the main entrance did lay at the entrance of the ranch, so she asked Barbara to have them land there. A figure leaning against the fence post entrance in a cowboy hat greeted her… who happened to be quite familiar.
“ Black ?!” The young woman was startled to see her dear friend and partner dressed like a stereotypical cowboy, fit with rugged worn boots, dusty jeans, a gingham button-down topped with a sturdy vest and― oh, that was too cute― a large belt with a Light Stone buckle on it.
The Ikemen Cowboy in front of her tipped his hat politely with a cheeky grin.
“Howdy, ma’am. I’ve been waiting for your lovely self to arrive at this here Rodeo.”
White frantically wondered if they could start making Westerns at PokeStar Studios so her handsome boyfriend could be a background character, but her brain stopped working altogether when he took her hand to finally help her off of Barbara, who she hadn’t realized she was still sitting on.
“Um, hi! Aha!” White stumbled with her words as Black brought her close, and gave her hand a kiss. She felt her non-functioning brain short-circuit. His grin widened, though he still swiped his finger under his nose to hide his own embarrassment at his boldness.
“There’s a lot to see today, and I’m excited to show you around after working on this for three months… C’mon, let’s go by the food trucks on Route 20 first!” Black guided her, still holding hands.
White gasped. “So you really did it…? You managed to set up a Rodeo in this little town?” Her eyes widened, falling into step with him.
He became a bit sheepish. “Haha, yeah, though I definitely got a lot more people involved than you realize… That detailed event planning list you subtly sent me helped a lot, too! …oh, this smells good…” It was early in the morning, but the smell of freshly made funnel cake called out to him. “Wanna split a snack? The main events don’t start until an hour from now.”
Some of the food trucks had been called in from the southern regions, and the two took the opportunity to try a bag of what seemed to be candied Nutpea berries called “Nutpea Pralines”. The confection paired with their funnel cake was a sugary bliss, and Black made sure to have White save the leftover pralines for later.
They passed many people curiously investigating the unfamiliar food trucks, even some familiar-looking Johtoians arguing over why pizza would ever be sold on a stick. Eventually, they came to the many game and activity stalls.
“Black, is this how a Rodeo is supposed to go? I’ve heard a bit about them, but this feels a lot like a state fair or a carnival…” White eyed the Tepig plushies hanging as prizes for a target shooting stall.
Black followed her gaze, grinning as he caught sight of the nostalgic figures.
“This is not the main event, actually! This is just alongside the actual festivities. Rodeos were first done as sporting events for cowboys and ranchers down south.” He gave her a knowing grin. “Shall we go see the finished setups?”
As soon as White nodded, Black tucked the praline bag in his vest and happily raced with her over to the newly made corrals and reinforced fencing around the ranch. The main fencing that White had formerly known was turned into the main stadium for the rodeo, with bleachers to sit and watch the many sides of the ring.
In the main arena itself, many Mareep alongside their trainers had gathered in a line with what seemed to be a few judges whispering to the side.
“Ohh, we made it in time for the Mareep Wool Conductivity event! Perfect,” Black said, tugging White along behind him to grab seats.
“This event is held first, because the judges begin their official examinations before the Mareep are sheared, and then the various competing wool is brought to a back room for them to discreetly judge the initial voltage and then the final voltage left over at the end of the day.” He excitedly explained the contest as he squeezed White’s hand. He knew the local Mareep meant a lot to her, so he was happy to see how proud she looked at the local participants as they waited for evaluation.
Movement outside the ring caught their eyes, and they turned to see a different all-day event doing prepwork led by their old friends.
“Oh, and that’s the Stoutland Treasure Hunt fixing to begin! Cheren and Lenora are leading it. It’s a three hour competition that isn’t really something you can watch in person, but we set up a spot to watch the competitors since we put cameras on the different Stoutlands! You can watch this or attend the upcoming Bouffalant riding, Barrel Racing, and Mutton-Busting events in the main ring.”
Seeing how much work and research Black put into the event and watching him explain it all so passionately captivated White so much, that neither of them noticed two younger people walk up to them timidly.
A young blonde girl nudged her dark-haired friend to speak up, and the young man stuttered with a French-to-English dictionary in hand.
“Euh… where iz ze Course of Rhinocorne…?”
Black tried to take charge, not wanting White to revert to work mode during their date.
“The… course of the Cornn? Sorry buddy, Cornn berries are pretty hard to find here.”
The young Kalosian tourist frowned, obviously frustrated. “No… where is Grass ?”
“On the ground, last I checked.”
The kid gripped his dictionary tightly and was holding back a pout.
As much as Black was trying to help, White tapped his shoulder and swapped in.
“ Vous cherchez Grâce, la cavalière de Rhinocorne, n’est-ce-pas? ” White asked with a slight Unovan accent.
The two Kalosians beamed.
“ Oui, c’est ma mère! Où-est elle? ” The young blonde asked, taking over for her nervous friend.
White looked over to Black. “Where is the Rhyhorn Racing supposed to take place?”
He finally made the connection. “Ohh, Grace the Rhyhorn Rider! She’s competing soon, she’ll be at the secondary ring past the ranch house! They needed a proper space for the course.” Black pointed to a fenced area past the main arena, where a line of Rhyhorns were now gathering.
The two strangers looked relieved. “Thank you so much, sir and madam!” They called out as they ran off to the races.
Black whistled. “Man, I never fail to be impressed by your many skills with people…” he mumbled and hid his eyes under his hat.
White smiled warmly. “You’ve done all of this and feel outdone just from a language barrier? It’s okay…!” She reassured him.
The young man took a deep breath and shouted, which White was and yet was not prepared for:
“ I REFUSE TO BE OUTDONE BY MY AMAZING GIRLFRIEND!!!” He shouted to the skies, turning many heads as White tried to hide her face in her hands.
But she was unable to stay that way for long, as Black had grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the announcer’s booth by the main arena, where Bianca was helping set up for the next event as the races went on.
“I’ll be back later!!!” Black yelled, leaving White with his childhood friend in the dust.
Flabbergasted and incredibly flustered, White looked to her bespeckled friend for help. Bianca giggled at the scene.
“Aw, aren’t you two cute? Don’t worry about him, he’s preparing for the next event since he’s in it, anyway.” The assistant professor patted the seat beside her for White to join her. “Here, help me organize the results so far. It’ll calm you down.”
White sighed and obliged, grateful for the distraction to ease her burning blush.
...
...
The stadium lights blared on the arena, illuminating the star events. The crowds had really gathered for these main events, and everyone hung onto every word of the lead announcer, Alder.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! Thank you all for coming out today to our fair Floccesy Town and Ranch for our first annual Rodeo!”
The crowd hooted and hollered, applauding as they thoroughly enjoyed their time spent thus far.
“Our last big event for today’s festivities will be the Steer Wrestling Competition. A trainer and their rideable Pokémon within competitive limits will be tasked with roping a wild and rowdy Sawsbuck or Zebstrika, working together with their steed to secure the Pokémon without a pokéball.
“To open up the competition, we have none other than the mastermind behind our entire festivities today: the Unovan Dex Holder Black, riding his faithful Galvantula, Tula! Take it away, pard’ner! ”
Saddled onto his large arachnid friend, Black entered the ring, waving as Tula scuttled in bashfully. He glanced in White’s direction and gave her a wink before positioning Tula with his reins to face the loading dock, where an unknown Pokémon thrashed around.
“NYEEEEHEHEHEH!!” Lightning flashed, and the galloping quickly resulted in a thunderous sound reverberating as a large Zebstrika entered the ring.
Black gripped the reins of Tula as the Zebstrika locked eyes with him, pawing at the ground with its hooves.
“BEGIN!” Alder barely got to shout as two electric-charged blurs darted about the arena. A wave of static hit the audience, and whoever had hair found that it frizzed up immediately from the shock.
At his trainer’s command, Tula danced around the edge of the arena opposite to the raging Zebstrika. His movements were drilled from plenty of practice to understand Black’s commands purely through the slight tugs of the reins.
The electric-types moved at speeds barely distinguishable by the human eye, but Black had the benefit of being in the centripetal pull himself, enabling him to see his opponent and naught much else. The Zebstrika could feel the strength of Tula’s towering levels, and wasted no time darting around to size up its opponent’s weak spots without allowing a moment for an attack.
BOOM! BOOM!
Zebstrika whinnied before taking two daring gallops closer to Black and Tula. Eyes glinting at the opening, Black flicked his silk-woven rope at Zebstrika's feet as it darted past. The electric spark boosted the zebra Pokémon’s speed, but the stickiness of the rope and low aim made the large creature stumble as it zoomed off, though it recovered quickly. The large cloud of dust resulting from the exchange was a sign to the audience that something had happened, and the crowd cheered in excitement.
The opponents circled around again, the Zebstrika now a bit faster and a bit more agitated from being tripped in its gallop.
BOOM!
Zebstrika did look a little shaken from the exchange, but its speed had still increased thanks to the electrically charged rope. It haughtily reared up before the next exchange. Confident and gutsy from the boost, it looked to be finishing things off with a charged up Wild Charge.
White fiddled with her shirt’s tied ends. Was Black really going to be able to take a Wild Charge head on unscathed…?
Black and Tula were unwavering in their stance, and once more rushed at their speedy opponent. Aiming his rope yet again, Black finally called out a move.
“ Speed Swap! ”
Tula barely shot the beam out before the Zebstrika had crashed into them, but the sudden speed boost was all that he needed. Tula launched itself skyward before the charge could land, and the Zebstrika stumbled to the ground from the sudden deceleration coupled with Wild Charge’s recoil. This gave Black the opportunity he needed, and he had Tula fling him to the Zebstrika, landing on its back and quickly roping its feet together with the silk rope.
The crowd took a beat to process the ending of the match before erupting with cheers.
The staff in the announcer’s booth all jumped the fence, White included, and approached the young, triumphant trainer with something in their hands.
“Regardless of the outcome of today’s event, we wanted to give you an official thanks for everything you’ve done to make today possible, Black. And after that incredible performance, we simply couldn’t put it off!” Alder announced, and gestured for White to step forward. She held a large, beautiful bouquet of local flowers and a card addressed to Black.
“On behalf of the staff here and the Agency you represent, we would like to sincerely thank you for your efforts.” She beamed so brightly, that Black felt his heart leap as he took the bouquet from her.
“Every day, you show me how special it is to give your all to support other people and see them flourish… And, well, as much as I love doing that as well, my favorite person to support will always be you, White. Let’s spend the rest of the day enjoying the Rodeo together!”
The crowd cheered, and they cleared out of the arena to prepare for the next competitor before spending the rest of the evening practically inseparable.