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Monday
It had been awhile since you were last in Levincia, the lavish city you once called home greeting you with open arms as you stepped away from the docks. Every once in a while the Brave Olivine’s motors needed work from wear and tear, and ever since Iono first offered the dock, it’s become the spot Orla preferred to land in. You wondered briefly how Iono was doing, but the thought was shoved aside rather quickly– you had a plan for today.
Friede and you hit it off instantly the day you met, being paired for a project for the Exceed company. You both enjoyed pokemon, and had a passion for learning more. On top of that, you got along quite well, often getting together after work to discuss research or life in general. Even after Friede quit the job the two of you stayed in touch, and the day Friede invited you to explore the world with him, you said yes with no hesitation.
Over the last few months, your once friendly feelings towards Friede started to shift. You’d often find yourself trying to spend more time with him. Laughing a little harder at his jokes, and feeling your face heat up whenever he’d touch you– whether it was a friendly pat on the shoulder or a tug of an arm to keep you from getting hit by a stray watergun, it didn’t matter. At one point, after spending a good chunk of your morning staring at Friede like a lovesick fool , Mollie started teasing you for having a crush on him. One realization-induced crashout later, you accepted that she was totally right.
The original idea was to just. Wait it out . But after two days of scrolling through your Rotom phone pretending you weren’t looking at Friede during breakfast, you decided that you absolutely need to do something about this. And if you were going to do something about it, you need to do it right .
Valentine’s Day was right around the corner, and after stumbling upon a couple articles talking about a sweetheart tradition in Galar, you settled on a plan.
The once paved street gave way to grass under your feet as you passed through the gates of Levincia. Your partner, Jolteon, walked closeby. You weren’t going to spend your day in Levincia, no– you had all week to do that–instead you were going to track down a rather elusive pokemon found in the outskirts of East Province. Applin.
You pulled up the map on your Rotom phone.
“If we head in that direction,” You pointed to the west. “We should be in their territory.”
Jolteon let out a cry in response. The walk to the targeted area wasn’t too bad, a few pokemon jumped out here and there, but Jolteon was able to handle any obstacle with ease. A few inclines later, you made it to a patch of grass that was said to have frequent Applin sightings. All you had to do now was wait.
And wait.
Aaaaaand wait.
You sighed, your head dropping against the palm of your hand. You’ve long since sat down on the dirt, and while Jolteon had spent time jumping around at every bit of movement she spotted, she eventually curled her tired body up to yours. The daylight hours had long since passed. The sun was setting now, and you knew you needed to head back to Levincia before you weren’t able to see your own hand in front of you. You shivered. The thought of a ghost pokemon jumping out at you was enough to raise you to your feet. Jolteon yawned.
“Guess let's get going.” You took one last look at the grassy area, and just as you were about to turn around, you saw a flash of red.
Your eyes widened. Could it be? You crouched down, tapping Jolteon on the head and motioning for her to stay quiet. The red creature shuffled through the taller grass. A few moments later, it jumped out.
An Applin!
“Now, Jolteon! Quick Attack!”
Jolteon sprung into action, her yellow body giving off a soft, white glow as she sprinted towards Applin. The tiny pokemon had no time to react, and got knocked back a few feet. Jolteon jumped back in front of you, ready for your next command.
You dug into your coat pocket, fishing out a red pokeball. One more hit and it should be easy to catch. You called out the same move to Jolteon again, but as the pokemon was running forward, Applin seemed to be more prepared. Before Jolteon could make contact, Applin cried out, a purplish glow surrounding its body as it whacked Jolteon square in the face. While both Jolteon and you were momentarily stunned, the Applin booked it back into the tall grass.
“Wha– wait!” You held an arm out, running a few feet forward after it before slumping over in defeat. You groaned. Jolteon nuzzled her head against your leg.
“Let’s just… go back to the ship.”
Tuesday
The next day, you and Jolteon were sitting in Murdock’s kitchen. You were once again scrolling through your phone. Various different recipes flashed by the screen, but you passed by them all with a frown on your face.
“Okay,” Murdock set the bowl he was washing down, and leaned over the counter to get your attention. “Something is obviously wrong. Spill.”
You set your Rotom phone down. “I’m just… stuck , is all.”
“On?” Murdock nudged. He took a seat next to you, briefly looking at the screen of your Rotom phone before back at you.
“I spent all day yesterday looking for an Applin, and the moment I find one– it runs away!” You considered going back out into the field again today, but the experience from yesterday left too sour of a taste in your mouth. Murdock nodded along with your words.
“I’ve never had luck looking for them either, but,” Murdock’s eyebrows pinched together. “Why were you looking for one?”
You felt your face start to heat up, and before you could look away, it seemed to click in Murdock’s brain.
“Valentine’s Day!” He looked like he had stars in his eyes. “Now you have to tell me who it was for!”
Leave it to Murdock to be obsessed with the thought of your love life. He’s always wanted to know what was going on in your head, and you hung out enough times to become really good buddies since he joined the crew. It was natural he wanted to know what had you so turned around.
“Promise not to make fun of me?”
Murdock raised both his hands in front of him. “I promise- when have I ever made fun of you?”
You thought back to that one time you burnt a batch of cinnamon rolls, Murdock laughing his ass off and not letting up about it for weeks. You bit your tongue.
“It’s Friede.” You closed your eyes, not wanting to see Murdock’s immediate reaction. But when he said nothing, you opened them back up. Murdock’s mouth was hanging open.
“No. Way! You’re joking,”
“Why would I be joking!?” You tried to defend yourself, crossing your arms over your chest with a huff. “I told you not to make fun of me.”
Murdock waved his hands in a panic. “I’m not, I’m not! I’m just surprised– I would’ve never guessed.”
“Mollie knew it instantly,” you dragged a hand across your face. Still warm. You glanced back over at Murdock.
“You don’t think I’m weird, do you?”
“The more I think about it, the more I can totally see it– the way you two are always around each other, and the way you look at eachother– chef's kiss!” He did the motion with his hands. You chuckled. It soon faded back to a frown.
“Do you think I have a chance?”
“I can’t say I know for certain what Friede thinks of you, but,” Murdock picked up your abandoned Rotom phone, opening up one of the last recipes you scrolled through. He turned the phone towards you. It was a recipe for heart-shaped donuts.
“I think I can help you try and win him over.”
The plan was put into action, and soon you found yourself cutting a sheet of dough into different heart shapes. Murdock helped you prepare the dough, and took it upon himself to cook the treats to perfection. Once they were cooking, you and Alcremie put together various different pinks and reds for frostings. You dunked a donut in each color, and few got heart-shaped sprinkles on them. In the end you had a plate with nine different donuts. Grateful for Murdock’s help, you promised the next shopping spree was on you.
Murdock placed the plate in the middle of the island.
“I’ll head to the conference room so you can have some privacy.” Murdock winked. He patted you on the back before heading out the room.
You took a deep breath. All you had to do now was get Friede. Easy-peasy. It was likely he was in the Captain’s deck, so you and Jolteon made your way over, only bumping into Dot and making small conversation. Apparently they were looking for Liko and Roy. After confirming you hadn’t seen either kid in a while, the two of you split off and you continued on. You and Jolteon stopped in front of a large metal door.
“I got this.” You whispered. You could hear Friede’s voice on the other side of the door, likely talking to Cap, so you wasted no time raising your fist. But just before you were able to knock, you heard someone yelling your name.
You and Jolteon looked at each other, before immediately sprinting off into the direction of the shout.
You were back in the kitchen, and this time instead of just Murdock, he was accompanied by the three kids, two of which looked incredibly embarrassed. The plate, once filled with donuts, was left empty on the counter, crumbs being the only remaining evidence they were ever there.
“I forgot something in here after I left and was going to grab it before you got back. I was greeted with Roy and Liko eating the donuts we made.” Murdock explained. Roy had a guilty smile, frosting still on the corner of his lips, and Liko looked downright apologetic.
She bowed her head. “I am so sorry!”
Roy nodded along, also giving an apology. Their pokemon cried out in agreement, also having eaten a treat or two.
“There wasn’t anyone in here, so Roy and I thought they were just set out for whoever,”
“We didn’t know you had plans for them!”
You leaned down, putting a hand on each of the kids’ shoulders. They both looked up at you. You gave them a smile.
“It’s okay,” you reassured them. You could never be mad at the kids– they were young! And besides, it’s not like you labeled the donuts anyways. You looked over at Murdock.
“I guess I’ll have to come up with a different plan. Thank you for the help anyways, Murdock.”
Looking back down at the kids, you noticed Liko had a smirk on her face. You raised an eyebrow.
“So, Friede , huh?” She teased.
You felt your face heat up. “Murdock! Did you tell them!?”
Wednesday
You woke up the next morning with a knock at your door. You groggily got up, sliding your feet into slippers. Jolteon stayed on the bed. After making your way to the door, you opened it, greeted by the sight of Liko, Roy, and Dot. They each had a smile on their face.
“Goodmorning?”
Liko held up a blank card. You stared at it for a few moments, before frowning.
“I don’t get it.”
“We want to help you,” Liko started to explain, a determined look in her eyes. “Since we messed up your Valentine proposal yesterday.”
“We’re gonna help you make a card!” Roy butted in, grinning. You glanced over at Dot. They shrugged.
“I wanted to be included.”
“That’s really sweet of you three–” Roy grabbed ahold of your wrist, and started to tug you down the hall.
“Come on! Let’s get started already!”
With no room for objections, you let the kids take you along, barely having time to shut your bedroom door behind you.
It seemed that Liko, Roy, and Dot had been planning this activity all morning. The conference room table was littered in various different craft materials, from an unnecessary amount of scissors to several stacks of love-related stickers. Liko explained that it was a lot more fun to do crafts with friends, so the kids were also going to work on their own Valentine gifts. You couldn’t argue with that logic. It took a lot of trial and error to create a card design you liked enough to give to Friede– and you eventually settled on something Charmander themed as an homage to his beloved partner. After writing a cheesy pickup line and adding a heart sticker to the front of your card, you were ready.
The kids approved of the final design.
“It looks incredible!” Liko doted. She showed off her card in return. It was grassy themed, and had various stickers relating to her partner pokemon on it. She planned to give it to Floragato on Friday. Roy and Dot had similar cards, each decorated for their respective pokemon.
“You should totally go give it to Friede now!”
“Yeah?” You went to pick up the card, but was stopped when someone knocked. You looked over at the kids. They shrugged. Weren’t expecting anyone. You walked over to the door, opening it to reveal Mollie.
“Oh, Hi Mollie,”
Mollie smiled. “You haven’t seen Tatsugiri around, have you?”
You shook your head. “Not since yesterday, are they–”
“Wait!”
You and Mollie whipped your heads around. On the table were the three Tatsugiri that lived on the ship. Liko was reaching out to them with a panicked look, trying to grab the piece of paper they were tossing around. Upon a closer inspection, you realised it was your Valentine’s Day card.
You jumped forward and tried to grab the card mid throw, but missed by an inch. The Tatsugiri seemed to catch wind of how important the object was. In return, they knocked it further away from you. This went on for a few minutes. Almost grabbing the paper, then the Tatsugiri whacked it to the other side of the room. Mollie tried to help you, and eventually the pokemon hit it far to your left.
Right out the window.
You cursed, rushing over to the opened window and leaning out, Mollie coming up right next to you to do the same. The two of you watched as the card floated down. A plan started to formulate– if it just landed on the ground, it should be fine enough to grab and continue onward. It seemed too far away from the water to get soaked. Just– as if fate were making fun of you, the card landed square in Noctowl’s face. You winced. It’ll be fine, just –
You and Mollie watched in horror as the Noctowl panicked, its first reaction to the foreign object being rip it to shreds . You groaned.
“Why me?” You whispered, slumping against the window sill. Mollie patted you on the back.
Thursday
You found yourself sitting in Mollie’s infirmary, spinning around in one of her chairs. You told her about your failed declarations of love over the week, and she listened on like she worked. Mollie was pulled up to the exam table, a pair of tweezers up in Noctowl’s mouth. Due to yesterday's events, Noctowl needed a check up. Turns out Mollie missed a couple pieces of paper out of its mouth. You grimaced when she pulled out a heart sticker.
“Maybe that idea was too cheesy– but now I don’t know what to do!” You rolled your chair over to Noctowl and pet the pokemon’s back. It cooed in response.
Mollie set the tweezers down. She leaned back in her chair. “Have you tried just asking him?”
“What?”
“Just ask Friede out to dinner. You don’t have to be all fancy about it.”
“What if he thinks I’m being lazy?”
Mollie snorted. “I don’t think he would care, trust me. Plus– it’s not that hard to mess up words, is it?”
You frowned at her. “I don’t know…”
She placed a hand on your shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “Just give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll help you come up with a new idea.”
Eventually, you gave in. Mollie told you she last saw Friede in one of the buildings nearby. So you and Jolteon made your way off the ship. There were at least five different buildings on the dock, so you and Jolteon decided to go down the line.
You opened the doors for the first two, peering inside to see nothing but brown cargo boxes. There were a couple Ratata around, too. In the process of your search, you practiced what you’d say.
“Hey Friede, wanna catch dinner tomorrow– eugh, too nonchalant. Hi Friede, do you want to accompany me to dinner tomorrow night? No– that doesn’t even sound like me!”
Jolteon chirped in response. You rolled your eyes– she, of course, thought anything you tried saying was fine. You tried to push open another door, but that one was locked.
“Not here either– there’s one left.” This last building had a window, and light was pouring out of it. You and Jolteon stopped in front of the window. Peering inside, your face lit up when you saw Friede. He was leaning against one of the crates, Cap on his shoulder as usual. In his hands was a pokeball. You were about to try and open the door but stopped. Friede was clearly talking to someone in there. A few feet away, your eyes landed on Orla.
Jolteon made a noise, but you shushed her. Something told you not to walk in there just yet. You adjusted your position, just out of the way enough to not be seen but be able to watch the two. They seemed to be having a good conversation, both smiling as they spoke. It was a bummer you couldn’t hear them.
Friede clicked the pokeball, a flash of light revealing an Applin. The pokemon sat in his hand, blinking over at Orla before closing its eyes to sleep more. Orla’s hands slapped against her mouth, eyes wide. Friede rubbed the back of his neck. There was a blush forming on his face.
You stumbled back. Your breathing started to quicken, tears forming at the corners of your eyes. It couldn’t be.
Friede gave Orla an Applin .
You cursed. The two had always been close, way before you ever met Friede. They grew up together. Orla was the one who built his ship in the first place! You felt like a fool for even thinking you had a chance. Jolteon rubbed her head against your leg, trying to console you. You just stood there. Letting it all soak in. Glancing up at the window, you saw Friede and Orla start to walk towards the exit. In a split second decision, you sprinted back to the ship. Mollie saw you and tried asking how it went, but you brushed her off.
You skipped dinner that night, and never showed your face for breakfast the next morning.
Friday
Leaving Levincia this morning brought a different kind of feeling. Instead of the hopefulness you wore on Monday, you were utterly grouchy. You were originally going to spend the day wandering around the city, visiting shops and maybe going to say hello to Iono, but as the morning progressed, so did the decorations. The tech-y city had plenty of love-related ads playing. Couples roamed the streets, and most of the vendors started to put out Valentine’s products. You were fine with it at first. But by the time the afternoon rolled around, it was getting to be too much. A constant reminder of the failure that was your love life.
Jolteon ended up leading you out the city, and you decided the two of you could use some training before you took to the skies again tomorrow.
It didn’t take long for the two of you to find a spot– It was rather far from the city, but you kept an eye on the time to make sure you weren’t going to get back too late. At first you and Jolteon worked on her agility. Battling random pokemon here and there with her quick attack. Your mind flashed back to how you missed out on Applin. You just weren’t fast enough, and it slipped away from your grasp.
But that didn’t matter now, did it?
Next you worked on her electric type moves. Jolteon hadn’t always been the way she was– a few months prior she was still an Eevee. The two of you had been partners for a while, and it was surprising when she decided she wanted to evolve. You took the decision with open arms. So far she only knew thunderwave, and you wanted to work on channeling that into an actual attack.
“Jolteon!” You threw your hand forward. “Store the energy,”
Jolteon did just that, the spikes of her fur standing up as she focused.
“Just a bit more,” You threw your hand to your side. “Now!”
Jolteon let out a cry, a bout of electricity exiting her body. Instead of the opponent just paralysing, it was properly shocked. The wild pokemon fled soon after.
You cheered, dropping down to the dirt in exhaustion. Jolteon came up to you, and you gave her pets as she licked your face in glee.
“Amazing!”
You and Jolteon looked behind you. Standing there next to a large, familiar Charizard was Friede. Cap was on his shoulder. The Pikachu looked proud.
“She finally learned discharge,” You smiled.
“Just had to work on projecting the energy. Took all afternoon.” You explained. Friede held a hand out towards you, and you accepted it, letting him pull you up off the ground. He didn’t let go of your hand. Your smile faded into a frown, the events of yesterday flashing through your head. You pulled your hand out of his.
Friede didn’t comment on it. “So this is where you’ve been all day?”
“Yes.” Your reply was short. You weren’t trying to be rude, but you couldn’t stop yourself. Friede leaned closer to you.
“I’ve been trying to find you all morning.”
You backed up from him.
“Why? Shouldn’t you be spending your Valentine’s Day with Orla ?” You snapped.
Friede tilted his head. You bit your lip– okay, that was rude. You were about to apologize, but Friede cut you off.
“Orla? Why would I do that?” Friede dug through his jacket pocket and pulled out a pokeball. He clicked the button, the Applin from yesterday coming out. The pokemon looked at you and chirped. You glanced back up at Friede.
“I’ve been looking for this since we landed here– turns out they’re a lot harder to find now than when I did research on them a couple years ago.” Friede chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I wanted to give this to you this morning but you were gone. Mollie said you went out.”
Friede placed the pokeball in your hand. Applin jumped on your head, letting out another chirp. You didn't respond, instead you stared at Friede, lips parted. The sun was setting now, the orange glow lighting the two of you up from the side. Friede was blushing.
“I was going to wait until you got back, but it was getting really late. I was kinda worried something happened.” Friede swallowed. He took your other hand in his. “Glad to see you’re okay!” Silence.
“Please say something?”
You looked down at the pokeball in your hand. “It’s for… me?”
Friede smiled. He held the back of your hand up to his face, pressing a kiss to the skin. You felt your face heat up. Your name gently rolled off Friede’s tongue.
“I know the day is almost over, but, will you be my Valentine?”
Yellow eyes stared back at your own. Looking hopeful. This wasn’t at all what you planned to happen, and yet, this is how things turned out. Friede couldn't contain his grin when you said yes, the man pulling you into a warm hug that you graciously returned. As Friede pulled away, he pressed a tender kiss to your cheek.
“If we hurry, we might be able to get dinner. That’s if you want to, anyways.” You smirked, thinking back to the plan you and Mollie came up with yesterday.
“I’d love to.” Friede started to pull you along, but you paused. Applin jumped down into your arms. The pokemon snuggled against you.
“I saw you in a dock hut. Giving Applin to Orla.” Friede seemed to piece it together, a sheepish look on his face.
“Orla’s too invested in my love life.” He chuckled. He wrapped an arm around your shoulder. Comforting. “She just wanted to see the Applin. I told her Monday I was going to start looking for it, which was why I wasn’t going to be able to help her with maintenance.”
You nodded. That made sense– leave it to you to overcomplicate things. Thinking back on the moment, Friede never did give Orla the pokemon. Just showed it off. Applin chirped.
“Are you going to evolve it?” Friede questioned. Friede hopped on Charizard’s back, holding a hand out for you to join him. You returned your pokemon to their pokeballs and took a seat in front of Friede. You responded with a shrug.
“You know how well that went with Jolteon.” You leaned back, humming when Friede wrapped an arm around your waist. It wasn’t the first time you’ve ridden his pokemon with him, but this time gave you Butterfree.
“I’ll let Applin decide.”
Charizard rose up to the sky. The breeze felt great against your skin. “It was an absolute pain to get that thing.” Friede grumbled. You raised an eyebrow, glancing behind you.
“Yeah?”
“It kept running away! Then the first time I had it cornered, it used astonish– I forgot it could even do that!”
You snorted. “That’s what happened to us!”
Friede leaned his chin on your shoulder, smirking.
“You were trying to get an Applin?” You felt your face heat up.
“That’s not even half the story.”