Work Text:
Something that has become very apparent to Emu, Nene and Rui about their partner Tsukasa is that… he has a fear of bug types.
A very bad fear of bug types…
Now, this wouldn't really be an issue if they stayed in their hometown of Celadon City for the rest of their lives, but that isn't what they were doing. They were wannabe Pokémon coordinators, and they wanted to perform together as a troupe known as Wonder-rooms x Showtime, travelling all over the world to bring smiles to every region.
And as of right now, they were in the Hoenn region. More specifically, they had just stayed overnight at Petalburg City and were now heading through Route 102, on their way to Verdanturf Town to start off their Pokémon Contest circuit around the region. They still had a few days to go before they would be arriving there, especially since Nene struggles to keep up with the rest of the troupe's energy, but they had made a lot of progress since a week ago when they arrived in the region.
The fear of bug types had first came up two months ago, back when they had started training after making a breakthrough in entering the contest scene when they performed on the rooftop of the Celadon Department Store. They started travelling through many routes to train up their own pokémon in preparation for travelling to Hoenn, and in a lot of those routes, there was Caterpie and Weedle galore.
But, they were now in Wurmple and Surskit galore, and this was only becoming more and more of a problem for the troupe…
---
As they were heading through Route 102, Tsukasa decided to run around and take pictures and selfies on their yellow Rotom phone to send to their little sister Saki, who would soon be doing a gig with her band, Litleo/need, without him being there to support her. They had been doing this every day with each new route, town or city Wonder-rooms x Showtime came across, and she never got tired of it and always asked for even more.
But, as he was trying to take a selfie with a Poocheyana under a tree, a Weedle jumped down and landed on his head. The Weedle instantly understood the situation and tried to pose for the picture, but all Tsukasa could do was, well…
Scream.
And drop his Rotom phone, too.
“Tsukasa-kun!” Emu called as she jumped out of the tree she had just been climbing in right next to them, “What’s wrong?”
Tsukasa didn't really know how else to communicate his feelings of fear and panic, so he continued to scream whilst frantically pointing to his head. Emu then rapidly approached, getting on their tippy-toes to have a better look at the confused Weedle.
“Awww, it's a Wonderhoy Weedle!” She gushed, booping her small nose, making her giggle in her own Weedle-like way.
“DON’T SAW AWWW OR WONDERHOY OR BOOP IT’S NOSE!!!” He yelled, “GET IT OFF ME!!!”
“But she looks really happy there!” Emu protested, before humming in thought, “I know! I’ll call you Sting-chan, because you’ve got such a cool looking stinger!”
Sting-chan giggled once again, happy with her new name.
“Hehe! I think you would be good friends with my Jester-chan, and-” Emu was about to start daydreaming about this Weedle and their Mime Jr becoming best friends, but before they could say anymore-
“HOW DARE YOU INVALIDATE MY FEELINGS TO GIVE THIS STUPID WEEDLE A NICKNAME AND BEFRIEND IT!!!” Tsukasa growled with all of his fury being unleashed, unable to hold down his anger any further.
Sting-chan began to cry, so Emu cupped her hands to help her off of Tsukasa’s head before rocking her gently in her arms.
“Hey, what's going on?” Nene asked as they jogged over at a steady pace, not to tire themselves any further, “You’re scaring all the pokémon, and I’m sure we just missed a shin-”
“I couldn't care less about missing a shiny right now,” Tsukasa pouted, which was an odd thing for them to say as they absolutely adored shiny pokémon, “I’m just glad that nuisance isn't on my head now…”
“What was on your head…?” They questioned, rather confused by this whole situation they didn't know anything about.
Emu had been trying her hardest to hold herself together, but seeing the sad face of Sting-chan made her sad too, so a few tears ran down her cheeks as she held the poor pokémon close to her chest, sobbing with just enough volume that Nene could tell how she was feeling without even seeing her hidden face.
They wanted to comfort her, but before they could get the chance, Rui came sprinting over.
“You are all in luck! The shiny we lost was a Wurmple, and I was able to get a selfie-” Rui was about to announce, his purple Rotom phone in hand with the selfie ready to be shown to the rest of his troupe, but he was interrupted when Nene put a finger to his lips.
There was then a deafening silence. She turned to look into the puzzled but concerned eyes of her former childhood friend and presently fond partner, and she paused to evaluate the situation. Tsukasa was red in the face with frustration, and he had his arms crossed and was looking down to his left with some form of angry guilt in his eyes. Emu had her back turned away from all of them, muffled sobs escaping every few seconds and she appeared to be shaking slightly too.
There was only one conclusion one could make from the presented body language from his other two partners.
“Tsukasa-kun, what did you say to make Emu-kun upset?” Rui asked in his serious tone of voice, his eyebrows furrowing with concern.
“I didn't say anything directly to her, I said something to the parasite and now she is upset by it,” Tsukasa muttered to themselves in a grumbly tone.
“What ‘parasite’?” She asked.
“Sting-chan…” Emu sighed.
“Who is ‘Sting-chan’?” Nene asked.
“The Weedle that landed on my head and Emu suddenly befriended without considering my feelings,” Tsukasa explained.
“I was considering her feelings, though,” Emu cried, “She looked so confused by how much you were screaming, she was probably frightened too!”
“Is Sting-chan okay?” Rui asked.
Emu turned around and showed both of them the sad Weedle. Rui rubbed the head of the pokémon before trying to come up with a solution for all of this.
“I’ve come to a conclusion, and that is that Tsukasa should apologise to Emu for upsetting herself and Sting-chan-” She explained.
“I didn't do anything wrong!!!” Tsukasa interrupted to protest.
“-And that Tsukasa should undergo training to help him get more used to bug types,” Rui finished.
Tsukasa’s jaw dropped.
“WHAT?!?!?!”
---
After Tsukasa had taken some time out to process the challenge he was about to undertake, he came back to his partners to accept it. If this would help him come closer to being a ‘World Future Star’, then of course he would do it.
“That’s great, Tsukasa-kun!” Rui nodded with appoval, “Now, Nene, bring out your Masquerain!”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Nene asked in a whisper, “Masquerain gets easily frightened by loud noises, and I don't want her to get scared if Tsukasa starts randomly screaming again…”
“It will be okay,” She reassured them, “You know your pokémon best, so if you notice Masquerain looks to be in discomfort, just call her back and we can try out my other plan.”
“Okay,” They nodded.
“Are we going to get on with this or not?” Tsukasa asked in a rather impatient tone, “I’m in way too much suspense, and I hate it!”
Rui chuckled and Nene could only roll their eyes before bringing out their Masquerain.
Nene only started showing interest in Masquerain as a species after realising that the performance outfit that Mizuki had made for them resembled the patterns and colour scheme of a Masquerain. After that, as soon as the opportunity for them to catch a Surskit in Hoenn came along, they immediately took their chance and now have a great new member to the team.
They then looked over at their bug fearing partner, but only to find that they didn't seem to flinch at seeing Masquerain. If anything, they looked enamoured by her.
“Wh-why are you looking at my Masquerain like that…?” Nene asked, raising an eyeborw with concern.
“...Oh, sorry, It's just that, I don't mind bug types like Masquerain,” Tsukasa tried to explain, “I really like the patterns on their wings, and it doesn't make me so scared of them.”
Masquerain was rather flattered by the comment he made about her wings and flew closer to him. This was when he started to panic.
“Except, I STILL don't like it when they come near me!” Tsukasa added, taking a step away from the pokémon.
“Masquerain, return,” Nene said as they returned her back to her net ball.
“Masquerain was so pretty!” Emu gushed, “Do you plan on giving her a nickname?”
“I’m not very good with nicknames, but I wouldn't mind if you gave her one,” Nene replied, her cheeks glowing slightly pink.
“Hmmm…” Emu put a finger to their chin in thought, “I know! How about… Wing-chan!!!”
“...Do you have a better nickname than that?” They tried to say as polite as they could despite cringing at the name internally.
Rui then nudged Nene.
“What? I thought she would come up with a better nickname!” They tried to defend themselves.
“Now then, It's time for me to show off a bug type of my own!” Rui announced, changing the topic.
“Wait, you have a bug type too?!” Tsukasa exclaimed.
“Yes, my dear, meet my lovely Forretress!” Rui took a bow as Forretress appeared before the troupe.
There was then a silence as Tsukasa and Nene stared in complete shock.
“Wait… THAT'S A BUG TYPE POKÉMON?!?!” Tsukasa shrieked.
“Indeed he is!” Rui answered, “Isn’t he fabulous?!”
“But, he doesn't look like a bug type pokémon,” Nene pointed out.
“He may not look like one, but he is just as much of a bug type as Sting-chan or Wing-chan is!” Rui replied, “Now then, Tsukasa-kun, would you like to battle Forretress?”
“...Sure,” Tsukasa nodded.
They brought out their Rapidash, which had robotic wings that Rui had made attatched to him, and was called Pegasus, and prepared for battle.
“Don’t forget this is not just training you to overcome your fear, but it is also training for your pokémon!” Rui reminded them, “So, don't think I’ll go easy on you, Tsukasa-kun!”
“Oh I know you would never do that!” Tsukasa responded, his face glowing with determination.
“Let the battle begin!” Emu and Nene announced in unison.
“Pegasus, use Flame Charge!” Tsukasa commanded.
Pegasus began to charge towards Forretress, his body lighting up with fire as he galloped closer and closer to the pokémon.
“Forretress, use Protect!” Rui countered.
A barrier appeared before the Forretress, preventing the attack.
“Now, use Toxic Spikes!” He added.
Venomous spikes appeared underneath the Rapidash, causing him to be poisoned. He was unable to make a move, so Rui went in for Forretress to have three moves in a row.
“Now Forretress, use Bug Buzz!” Rui instructed.
The move made Rapidash take more of a hit than Tsukasa had expected him to. On top of that, the poor pokémon was still poisoned, but they didn't want to sit idle any longer and let her win the battle.
“Pegasus, try your best and use Flame Wheel!” Tsukasa commanded.
Despite being in a lot of pain, Rapidash still charged towards Forretress in a wheel of fire. But, he wasn't quick enough before the next move took place.
“Forretress, finish off with Self Destruct!” Rui said with a click of his fingers.
The pokémon then exploded, making both pokémon faint. The other three troupe members were in utter shock.
“...S-so, how does that conclude the battle?” Nene asked.
“The battle concludes with a tie, but I wouldn't have it any other way!” Rui answered as he walked up to his partner, shaking their hand, “Well played, Tsukasa-kun!”
“H-how did Forretress just… explode?!” Tsukasa was still taken aback, “Did you teach your pokémon an illegal move or something?!”
“I can assure you Self Destruct is in his move set, along with Explosion, which I’m also thinking about teaching him,” Rui informed.
“I think I know the answer to this, but Rui, why do you have this thinb on your team?” Nene questioned.
“Well, I really like Forretress because it's a bug type without really giving it away, which is a rather clever, genetic move!” She began to explain, “But also, I’ve started collecting up pokémon that can lean either Self Destruct or Explosion because I think it could add an exciting and unexpected element to our contests together! Just like in this battle, you never know what to expect!”
“That was so cool, Rui-kun!!!” Emu gushed, “I don't know if I should call your Forretress Bomb-kun or Explodey-Shell-kun!”
“Why are those actually good nicknames?...” Nene muttered to themselves.
“I’ll leave the choice up to you, Emu-kun!” Rui replied, “Now then, Tsukasa-kun, how do you feel?”
“I… honestly don't know,” Tsukasa shrugged their shoulders, “I honestly didn't expect that, and, I wasn't scared at all of your Forretress!...”
“Well, I am the most unpredictable person you’ll ever meet, after all!” Rui bowed to him, “I’m just glad that's all helped you in a way, and will help you come closer to being a World Future Star!”
“Yeah… thank you…!” Tsukasa tried his best to share his gratitude, despite how flustered he was, to the point he couldn't even find a way to be boastful in that moment.
Suddenly, there was a pause, and then a ‘sparkly’ sound was heard. The troupe immediately knew that meant a shiny was nearby, so they all got into a stealth position as they began to look around the route.
Then, it was Emu who found it.
“Guys, I found it! Come over here!” She called.
The rest of the troupe gathered around the tree where a sleeping shiny Silcoon was.
“Is that a Cascoon, or…-” Tsukasa was about to ask.
“No, dumbass, it's a Silcoon!” Nene interrupted, nudging him out of the way.
“That must be the evolved version of the shiny Wurmple I saw earlier,” Rui said.
“Is it, though?” Nene asked.
“It might not be, but it would be a nice though if it was, no?” She replied.
“I guess so…” They sighed.
“Shushy-shush! Sil-kun is evolving!” Emu interrupted their conversation.
A blue light enveloped the sleeping shiny pokémon. Beautiful wings spouted as his body began to transform, and soon enough, he evolved into a Beautifly!
“Wow…!” Tsukasa looked completely enchanted by the shiny, “Its wings look so pretty…!”
“Do you want to catch it…?” Nene asked, giving him a skeptical look.
“I’m… not sure if I want to,” Tsukasa shook his head sheepishly, “It wouldn't feel right for me to…”
“What are you talking about?!” Nene exclaimed in as hush a tone they could muster despite how angrily confused they were.
“Don’t worry, Nene, Tsukasa-kun has made up his mind,” Rui informed.
“We can't just leave behind a shiny, though!” They protested.
“Well, lucky for you, I’ve got a backup plan!” He explained himself, “If you catch this shiny Beautifly and keep hold of him, you can look after him in case Tsukasa-kun changes his mind!”
“Can’t argue with that!” Nene nodded in agreement and immediately threw an ultra ball at the sleeping Beautifly, landing a critical catch.
“Does that mean I get to keep Sting-chan too?” Emu asked.
“Of course you can, Emu-kun!” Rui chirped, reaching down to ruffle their hair.
“Yippee!!!” Emu cheered as she took a poké ball out of her pocket and let Sting-chan nuzzle it with her nose, catching the Weedle.
Wonder-rooms x Showtime then set off once more, back on the path to Oldale Town and eventually Verdanturf Town. Emu was beyond the realm of happiness, Nene was satisfied, Rui was chirpy and cheerful and Tsukasa felt like he was once step closer to reaching his dream, or, reaching their collective dream together…