Chapter Text
“Quickly dodge Florgato, then use hone claw!” Nemona called out, jumping in time with her pokemon, effectively dodging out of the way of Juliana’s crocalor. The two stood at opposite ends of Cortando’s battle court, her rival having surprised her as she had entered to register for her third gym challenge to challenge her to a battle.
Juliana had been holding her own pretty well. Despite her Clodsire still being tired from taking on Iono the day before she had managed to take out both her Pawmi and Rockruff, but was swiftly taken out by her rivals Florgato, as well as her own Rockruff. The duo were each down to just their starters now, and while that should have given Juliana the advantage, she had… other things on her mind. Like how pretty her rival was.
Ok in all honesty Juliana probably should have noticed her crush on Nemona a lot sooner, especially considering she had been on the verge of a lesbianism attack the first time she so much as laid eyes on the girl, but emotions had never exactly been her forte. She wasn’t sure why she realized now of all times, but she couldn’t get it out of her head. Nemona was just so amazing. She was so strong, incredibly smart, super pretty, and-
“Florgato close in quick and use bite!” Her crush commanded, snapping Juliana out of her gay panic. Before she had a chance to react, the cat closed in and sunk his teeth into Crocalor, knocking the pokemon out. She had been so distracted she had just let her entire team wiped out by Nemona's starter. She couldn’t even give Nemona a good battle like this…
“That was AMAZING!” Nemona called out, rushing across the court before Juliana could even recall her pokemon, placing her hands on her shoulder. “That battle was the closest I’ve had in a long time, it was down to the wire!”
“You… really think so?” Juliana asked when Nemona finally let her go, anxiously beginning to run her fingers through her hair. “I felt like I was kinda… lagging behind.” She wasn’t sure how else to phrase it without outright saying she had fallen hard for her.
“THAT was you lagging behind? Sounds like I need to train a bit more then.” Nemona teased, gently punching Juliana’s shoulder with her good arm. Juliana tried to force a smile, but the look on Nemona’s face made it clear it wasn’t believable. “Is something up?” She asked, taking a step closer and causing Juliana’s face to heat up.
“I-I’m fine! I’m just…” She quickly blurted out, desperately trying to think up some excuse. “I-I’m just tired, that’s all. Ran into a tough terra raid on my way here and it kinda… wiped me out.” It wasn’t a total lie, she rationalized in her head. She had been helping a friend look into weird raids that had been popping up, and she was tired from that and the trek from Mesagoza. She just… wasn’t ready to tell Nemona everything.
“Oh shoot, sorry! I should have checked to make sure you were ok before challenging you.” Nemona apologized, remorse spreading across her face. Juliana felt more butterfree in her stomach, but she wasn’t sure if they were nerves from her crush or regret for making said crush feel bad.
“N-No it’s ok! I had fun! Battling with you is always fun!” She almost immediately blurted out, feeling her face heat up a lot as she unconsciously took a step closer to Nemona. Their faces were now just a few centimeters away from each other, and Juliana could make out every detail. Her brilliant amber eyes that she could stare at for hours, the freckles that dotted her nose that Juliana just wanted to run her fingers over, her flawless complexion that Juliana still wasn’t sure how she kept while on the road, the few strand\s of green hair that- oh Arceusshe was staring again.
She made a move to step back, but was surprised to be pulled closer instead as Nemona latched onto her for a hug. “You… don’t know how much that means to me.” Nemona whispered into her ear, hugging her with all her might. Despite the blush on her face (and the feeling of her ribs being crushed by Nemona’s strength) Juliana did her best to return the hug.
The two stood like that for what felt like hours (even if Juliana knew it was likely only a few minutes max)… until she remembered they were in the middle of town and had dozens of eyes on them. She (reluctantly) pulled away, Nemona doing the same, but luckily she looked much happier. “Feeling any better?” She double checked, unconsciously still holding Nemona’s hand.
“Yah, sorry about that! No more sad Nemona, promise!” Nemona assured her, squeezing her hand… and making her realize they were holding hands. She wasn’t sure she wasn’t particularly sure about that response, but she decided not to prod further. Partially because she was busy blushing. “It is getting late though, you should probably wait until tomorrow for your gym challenge.”
Juliana nodded before looking out over the town. “Do you know if there's a hotel or something in town we can go to for the night? Or are we stuck camping again?” She inquired, but honestly she would have been fine either way. As long as she was with Nemona, she felt like she could handle anything. Nemona just gave her a confused look though. “What?” She asked, unsure what she had done.
“You know all the towns with gyms have motels that are free to students right? At least while the treasure hunt is going on.” Nemona stated, her free hand resting on her hip as she began to grin over at her. Juliana just stared at her for a moment, honestly half thinking she was just messing with her. But after a few moments of her not saying anything else…
“Y-Yah, I definitely knew that! I-I just… thought you might want to camp!” She lied through her teeth, looking away as she felt her cheeks heat up more. She wasn’t sure what was making her more embarrassed, holding Nemona’s hand or the fact that she somehow hadn’t figured that out. It wasn’t like it was her first Gym, she had already taken on both Artazon AND Lavincia, and had ended up camping out after both.
Nemona finally seemed to clock onto her embarrassment and began to laugh, quite a lot she might add. Juliana knew she didn’t mean any harm by it… but it still stung a bit. “It’s not that funny…” She quietly mumbled, letting go of her hand and anxiously began to scratch at her own arm. Nemona didn’t seem to clock her anxiousness though (something she wasn’t sure if she was happy about), instead continuing to laugh a moment longer.
“I’m sorry, I just-” Nemona started, before interrupting herself with a small snort. “I just swear I told you that after your fight with Brassius.” She… had? Juliana didn’t remember her ever saying that… but then again she was usually pretty distracted when it was just the two of them. She felt her stomach begin to twist into a knot, she had been ignoring Nemona, accidentally maybe, but that did little to make her feel better.
Her anxiety was back in full force. “You… probably did. I just don’t have a great memory.” She lied, mentally beating herself up. She couldn’t even be honest with her about it. Just when it looked like Nemona was about to clock on to what was happening, Juliana turned towards the stairs down from the court. “We should head to the motel before it gets too late.” She spoke, doing her best to hide the anxiety and sorrow in her voice, before walking towards the stairs.
Nemona followed not too long after, which Juliana was incredibly grateful for. While she could probably track down the motel herself eventually, right now all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. Luckily Nemona didn’t seem to notice her anxiety, or if she did she didn’t mention it, which she was grateful for. There was a bit of small talk as they made their way across town, but after a few attempts from Nemona it was clear Juliana wasn’t feeling up to it.
“Heya! Two rooms for the night please!” Nemona requested as the two entered the office of the motel, addressing the clerk behind the counter. Juliana stood a bit behind her, not wanting to take part in the conversation but wanting to that she was with Nemona and not just skulking around.
“We’re a bit close to capacity due to the harvest festival I’m afraid, I’ll need to check if we have any available.” The clerk replied, typing something into her laptop as she pet a Dunsparce that was sprawled across her lap. “You are an Uva academy student though, yes? We have one room remaining specifically reserved for students if you would like it.”
Nemona paused for a moment before turning to Juliana. “You can go ahead and take the room if you want, I’ve still got a bit of energy so I can probably make it back to Mesagoza.” Nemona offered, putting on a smile that Juliana was almost certain was fake. “Worse comes to worst, I can always just camp out in the fields! It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Juliana refused to let that happen, she had already hurt Nemona enough today. “No, you take it. I’ve been camping out the last few weeks, what's one more night?” She insisted, returning Nemona’s fake smile with one of her own. “Please, I insist.”
“Are you sure…? You said you were really tired.” Nemona asked, a concerned look beginning to cross her face. “I promise I really don’t mind. Mesagoza isn’t too far away, I can make it in under an hour if I run.”
“If I may make a suggestion?” The Clerk interjected, having been silently observing the conversation thus far. When neither Nemona or Juliana objected she took it as a go ahead. “Our beds here are relatively large, assuming neither of you are restless sleepers you should be able to share it without much issue.”
There was silence in the lobby for a moment before Nemona turned to look back at Juliana once again. “Would you be ok with that?” She nonchalantly asked, causing Juliana’s face to heat up quite a bit. Would she like to share a bed with Nemona? Yes, definitely, absolutely. Did she think she’d ACTUALLY be able to sleep? Probably not. Not to mention… she had already inconvenienced Nemona enough… but she knew if she refused, the girl would actually try to run back to Mesagoza.
“I-If you’re comfortable with it, I don’t mind.” She answered, feeling her face flush an even deeper red as the words left her mouth. A small smile crept onto Nemona’s face, one she couldn’t tell if it was genuine or not, before turning back to the clerk with an affirmative nod.
“Wonderful! Now all I need to do is scan your students ID’s so…” The clerk continued talking, but Juliana wasn’t able to focus on listening. Her brain began moving a mile a minute, thinking about what she had just agreed to. She couldn’t even be close to Nemona without her heart pounding, how was she going to share not only a room with her, but a bed?
Her brain barely registered Nemona receiving the key and leading her to the room, only really being brought out of her autopilot when Nemona told her she was going to the bathroom to change. Her heart was pounding. She was facing a double dose of anxiety, her feeling that she had hurt Nemona clashing against her want to be close to the object of her affection… and it was tearing her apart.
She let out a small yelp as the bathroom door swung open and Nemona stepped out, her hair let free as she stood clad in Pawmi emblazoned pajama bottoms, accompanied by a baggy shirt with Smoliv colors. Juliana had to avert her eyes to avoid her face turning pure red. Nemona was just too pretty… but she deserved so much better than Juliana. “You ok?” Nemona asked, snapping her out of her mental break, concern lacing her words… concern that only made her feel worse.
“Y-yah I’m fine, promise. Just tired.” She reassured, almost immediately standing up and walking over where she had sat her bag and digging out her pajamas. “M’gonna go change, you can go ahead and head to bed if you want…” She explained, not meeting Nemona’s gaze as she walked into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her.
She had barely gotten her pajamas on though before she locked eyes with her reflection… and began to cry. She collapsed to the floor, forcing herself against the wall as she hugged her knees against her chest. If that wasn’t bad enough, she wasn’t even sure why specifically she was crying. Was it because of Nemona? Was she upset at her friend for laughing at her like that? Or more upset at herself for doing something worth being laughed at? There was the chance it wasn’t even anything to do with Nemona though, an idea that made her feel even worse. There was a chance she had just triggered her dysphoria upon seeing her own reflection. Whatever the reason, whether it was one of them or all of them together, she couldn’t stop the tears from running down her face.
Juliana spent longer than she was willing to admit bawling her eyes out in the bathroom, by the time she came out Nemona was already fast asleep, a pile of pillows set up in the middle of the bed to separate where the two would be sleeping. She tried not to think about how Nemona was practically about to fall off the bed with how far she was from the middle… she really didn’t want to be here. It took everything she had not to leave the room all together, but she knew the creak of the door would wake her up…
She decided to just curl up on the floor, it was the next best thing. She didn’t deserve to be close to Nemona, not physically and not emotionally. She debated letting out one of her pokemon to at least keep her company, but she didn’t want to put any of them through that. Their pokeballs were probably much more comfortable than the hardwood floor, they deserved a good rest after the day they had had.
“Hey Juliana?” Nemona whispered, her voice still deafening as it pierced the silence. “You awake?” Juliana debated not answering, a part of her not wanting to risk upsetting her further, but…
“Yah, I’m awake.” She eventually answered, turning over slightly so her voice at least traveled in the right direction. “Sorry, did I wake you?’
“No, I wasn’t asleep. Just… thinking. Um…” Nemona started, clearly struggling to find the right words. Oh Arceus, here it comes… Juliana was about to lose her best friend. “I… I’m sorry about earlier. For laughing. That wasn’t nice and I really shouldn’t have done it.” … huh? Why was she apologizing? It was all Julianas fault. “I… I understand if you don’t wanna be rivals anymore.”
That finally sprung her out of her funk. “I would never not want to be rivals, you’re an amazing friend Nemona! I would be lost without you!” Juliana almost shouted, shooting up to her feet before wincing slightly at her volume, but she continued. “I’m sorry I made you feel like I didn’t, I just… was worried I upset you. I thought you didn’t want to be rivals anymore.”
“You’re the best rival I’ve ever had! Noone else has been able to hold their own against me and make me think on my feet like you have, not even La Primera!” Nemona retorted, causing the standing girl to blush slightly, though it was luckily hidden by the darkness of the room.
She could barely make it out as Nemona crawled over the line of pillows onto what was supposed to be Juliana’s side of the bed, patting the empty space beside her. Juliana’s face flushed even deeper, but she eagerly crawled into the bed, where she was instantly pulled into a hug. “How about this… from now on, anytime either of us thinks the other feels some way about the other, we ask. You’re my best friend Juliana, I don’t want to lose you. Especially not to a misunderstanding.” Nemona proposed, gently rubbing the back of Juliana’s head.
Juliana’s heart was pounding again, and she was absolutely sure Nemona could feel it… but for the first time, she didn’t care. “I would like that…” She murmured, nuzzling into Nemona despite the increasing blush on her face. “I… like being around you, Nemona.” She hummed, not even her exhaustion being enough to get past her anxiety. Despite that, she could have sworn she heard Nemona muttering something in Paldean, something about… joya? But she couldn’t translate right now… probably not important.
The two stayed like that for the rest of the night, entwined in each others arms. At some point she asked if Nemona wanted to go back to her side of the bed, to which Nemona said she probably should… but neither made any move to follow the thought. And in all honesty, Juliana was happy they didn’t. Sure it was entirely platonic, but she had to admit it was nice to cuddle with something that wasn’t her plushies, if just for one night. Even if she knew she’d be a blushing mess for at least a week afterward.