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roxannarambles · 1 year

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Title: Volatile Status Condition

Ship: Nemona x Juliana

Rating: T

Summary:

“We, uh-- well. There was . . . an accident. Involving a new pokemon potion that’s apparently a love potion?”

Miriam squinted at you.

“Could you be a little more specific, please?”

You pointed to Nemona and her pink-stained shirt, trying again,

“I accidently drenched her with a whole bottle of pokemon love potion and it’s, she– w-well, she–”

“I have the Infatuation status condition,” Nemona supplied helpfully. Gratefully, you finished,

“Yeah, exactly. That.”

Wordcount: ~17k

Notes: This is rated T and is relatively tame, but it's still a bit spicier than my usual stories, so keep that in mind. Also up on a03

It had started out so innocently.

You were just getting a little shopping done with Nemona before heading out for a fun day: you'd planned a hike, a pokemon battle and a picnic afterwards. Nemona needed some pokeballs, so you'd dropped by the local Delibird Gifts.

The store was a lot busier than usual, which seemed strange since it was still pretty early. As you pushed through the throngs of people, though, you seemed to find the reason why. There was a booth set up near the back of the store, decorated with red and pink balloons and big, sparkly, eye-catching banners, some kind of promotion for a new product, it seemed. People were crowded around and gawking, as the man behind the booth was talking to customers with a big, cheesy smile and a loud voice.

“Step right up, folks, for the revolutionary new product that is going to transform the entire meta of pokemon battling as we know it!”

Naturally, such a claim caught Nemona’s attention. She squinted at the big signs, which read in flashy cursive,

Pokemon Love Potions!

100% Accurate & Effective

Invoke the Infatuation Status Condition On Command!

“What the heck? I gotta see this.”

You rushed to follow after Nemona, who quickly pushed to the front of the crowds.

“Nemona–”

You were about to suggest to her that it seemed like possibly a scam, but the man at the booth saw Nemona’s approach. Something in his eye sparked, as if catching sight of a perfect target for his sales pitch.

“Hello there, young miss! Would you like to be among the first to try Slyveon’s Pokemon Love Potions? It’s an incredible new product that’s premiering here, only at Delibird Gifts–”

Nemona wasn’t interested in listening to his pitch, though. She came forward and took one of the potion bottles from the booth, looking at it and cutting him off,

“But how’s it work? Wouldn’t using this on your pokemon just inflict them with infatuation?”

The salesman grinned and replied,

“Indeed! And that is why these potions are designed for a trainer to use on the opponent’s pokemon! You will notice, unlike other potion sprays, the nozzle on these bottles is far, far more powerful, allowing for simple, accurate aiming and long-distance spraying! It’s quick and effective, even a child could use it!”

Arriving to stand beside Nemona, you leaned in to inspect the bottle she had. It was bright pink and squat and looked very similar to the standard potion and super potion bottles, although the nozzle did look a bit different, as the salesman had noted; it looked like it was probably pressurized, like a can of bug spray or an air duster.

You frowned, commenting,

“Isn’t that against the battle rules or something? I’ve never heard of an item you can use on your opponents’ pokemon.”

Nemona set the little potion down and pulled out her phone.

“Let me double check. It does sound kinda fishy. I know that trainers giving hold items to their opponent’s pokemon is explicitly banned, because someone tried to do that once, but . . . hm . . .”

She trailed off as she pulled up the massive document that was the official rulebook for pokemon battling. It didn’t surprise you how quickly she had pulled it up; she probably had the whole .pdf practically memorized. While she was searching, you asked the salesman,

“How exactly was this potion made? As far as I knew, only Attract or Cute Charm can cause pokemon to fall in love. And destiny knot, of course.”

“And G-Max Cuddle from a Gigantimaxed Eevee,” Nemona chirped from beside you (while still scrolling). You chuckled,

“And G-Max Cuddle, yeah.”

The salesman looked pleased at the opportunity to brag about his product and answered,

“Our formula is an innovative concoction developed from Dream Mist obtained from the exotic Unovian species Musharna as well as Sylveon’s magical and psychic influences. It’s like purified, refined charm and adorableness in a bottle! We cannot reveal our exact refinery process, of course, as that’s a trade secret.”

You hummed skeptically, reading the bottle’s label. It was true that you’d heard of Dream Mist (you came from the ‘exotic’ land of Unova, after all), which was pretty powerful stuff. But the stuff in the bottle could just be sparkly food-colored water, for all you knew.

“So, technically, it’s not against any of the rules,” Nemona suddenly announced, finished with her search.

“Trainers directly giving hold items to an opponent is banned– there’s a reason Trick and Switcheroo are moves, after all– but no such ban exists for using general consumable items on an opponent’s pokemon. There is a ban on feeding berries to your opponent’s pokemon directly, but the way it’s worded is specific to berries, not all consumables.”

“Huh,” you said. She tucked the phone back into her pocket and added,

“But I think that’s only because nobody’s ever had a reason to try before. I’d say the legality of it’s still kinda in a gray area.”

“Worry not, my young friends. Slyveon’s Pokemon Love Potions are technically classed as a type of medicine, and thus there is no rule against using them on your opponent,” the salesman said, smiling. You didn’t like his smile, it was kinda creepy.

“A medicine? But it inflicts a volatile status condition!” Nemona argued.

The smarmy salesman answered,

“This potion inflicts feelings of love and adoration; it fills a pokemon’s heart with joy! Slyveon’s Love Potions are beneficial, technically speaking. Who wouldn’t want to experience love, after all?”

“Hmmm,” Nemona said, looking thoughtful. She eyed the bottles of potions.

“I guess that’s true . . .”

You crossed your arms. In a wary tone, you said,

“Nemona . . .”

She looked to you, smiling bright.

“Well, c’mon, you can’t tell me you’re not curious too, right? Trainer-inflicted status conditions could be kinda interesting, mix things up a little!”

You sighed. You answered,

“Yeah, okay. I do admit I’m a little curious too.”

The salesman enthused at you two,

“Wonderful! You young trainers are going to love it. Sylveon’s Love Potions are even better than a Pokemon’s moves or abilities, after all. They are the wave of the future for the infatuation condition.”

You raised a brow.

“Better? Better how?”

He tapped a case of his products and said proudly,

“No more discrimination! Pokemon of the same gender as their opponent or genderless pokemon can fall in love as well, guaranteed! Truly, love wins.”

Nemona’s eyes widened.

“Oh my gosh, really? Holy Tauros, now we have to get it, Jules!”

You frowned, watching the suspicious salesman. That was a pretty big claim. And why didn’t he lead with it?

Still, Nemona was so excited. You might as well try it. Maybe it really was as amazing as the guy said.

“Okay, okay, we’ll give it a shot,” you said. Nemona had already eagerly grabbed a few bottles. Her excitement didn’t fade even when the salesman told you the exorbitant price, and soon you both finished your shopping trip and left the place with a couple of shopping bags in tow. You sent your Koraidon out from his ball and hopped onboard, heading out to the South Province. It was a nice place for a hike, full of pretty canyons and trees. The sun was shining bright and it was a beautiful day, and you had a lot of fun ambling along the trail with your best friend.

Once you’d finished hiking, Nemona was eager to try out the new items with a pokemon battle. It was just a casual, low-stakes fight, so you didn’t feel too pressured or anything. You enjoyed your very serious battles with her too, of course– you loved that you could battle her with such fierce intensity. But some days, it was fun to just fool around, too.

After you cleared out her Goodra with your Cetitan, she sent out her Pawmot, which tended to be an absolute menace for your team. Neither one of you had used the fancy new item yet that you’d purchased, but you decided now was the perfect time to try. If you could infatuate the darn thing and give Cetitan a chance to use its Play Rough, you’d be golden. Smiling, you snuck the little potion bottle out of your bag.

Then you whipped it out, aiming it at Nemona’s Pawmot and squeezing the trigger. The liquid shot out of the bottle in a powerful jet stream, right on target.

Except, there was a bit of problem. That problem was Nemona’s Pawmot had very good reflexes. Probably far superior to human reflexes. And the moment you shot a squirt bottle full of potion its way, it panicked and leapt out of the way. Which, normally, wouldn’t be too big a deal, other than totally wasting a ton of money on the bottle of potion. The real issue was that Nemona was standing directly behind her pokemon.

So when Pawmot bounded aside, Nemona caught the dose of Slyveon’s Pokemon Love Potion full on in the face. You absolutely drenched her, the bottle emptying its entire load in one go. You both froze in mutual shock, utterly caught offguard.

The bright pink liquid dripped down Nemona’s face and chest, her wet ponytail stuck to her neck, her crisp white uniform shirt ruined. You stared, your mouth agape.

“Uh . . . crap. I’m so sorry, Nemona–”

But then the full implications hit you like a train. This might be more than just a mild inconvenience. You stammered,

“W-wait, does this stuff affect humans?”

You thought back and realized that was a question you never asked the salesman. Then you thought about regular pokemon potions, and how they did help with human’s injuries, just like vitamins did and other items which affected humans too, and–

“Oh, my god,” Nemona intoned, her eyes growing wide in alarm. Okay, yeah, there was a very good chance this stuff affected humans too. In a panic, you yelled,

“Crap, crap, crap! Are you okay?! Oh my god, what do I do? Uh, can you get it off?!”

Nemona started to frantically swipe at her face and shirt, shouting,

“I don’t know, I don’t know!”

You ran up to her and started helping her wipe the potion off, but Nemona waved you away, yelling,

“Jules, don’t touch it!! It could affect you too, you silly Zangoose!”

“Oh, god, I’m sorry, I just– what can we do, we need to wash it off or something!”

You turned and blurted,

“Water, we need water, hold on!”

Digging through your bag, you quickly located a water bottle and rushed back up to her, twisting the little cap off. Then you upended the bottle over her head, dumping it over her.

Nemona gasped as the cold water drenched her, the water making a glug glug glug noise as emptied out onto her, soaking her even more thoroughly than the potion already had.

She stood there, frozen in shock again and staring at you with wide eyes, water dripping from her nose and chin, her shirt completely plastered against her skin, the rest of the water running down her legs and sopping her shoes.

You suddenly felt like the worst person in the world. Nemona began to ask incredulously,

“D-did you really just–”

“Oh my god I’m so sorry I was just trying to help, I’m so sorry!”

You buried your face in your hands, apologizing profusely. You heard Nemona laugh, which to be perfectly frank was absurd, given the circumstances.

“Juliana, it’s okay, I’m not mad– Jules, c’mon, it’s okay, I was just mad for like one second, but I know you were trying to help–”

You dropped your hands away and dared to look at her again, though you still felt like such a massive jerk. Anxiously, you asked,

“Did it at least help at all?!”

Your soggy friend seemed to think for a moment. For what it was worth, the water did seem to wash a lot of the potion off, although her shirt and some of her skin were still stained pink– your hands were stained pink too from trying to wipe it off. What the heck did they put in this crap that stained so well?

“Y’know what, I don’t think we need to worry. Either your quick thinking saved the day, or this stuff doesn’t affect humans to begin with.”

You looked at her hopefully.

“Yeah? You think so?”

She paused for a moment and then nodded, saying,

“Yeah, I feel fine!”

You stared at each other for a beat. You said awkwardly,

“Well, that was certainly . . . uh . . . something.”

Nemona broke out into giggles and you laughed along with her, relieved everything was fine.

“I know I said it a ton already but I’m so sorry–”

“Jules, seriously, it’s okay. It was an accident! Totally understandable.”

“I know, but I still feel bad. You’re drenched. You wanna go back and change?”

Nemona thought for a moment, then shrugged.

“Eh. I’m fine. Let’s finish the battle!”

Your eyes widened.

“Seriously? You wanna finishing battling??”

She grinned at you.

“Of course! I’m not gonna let a little thing like this stop me! Although I think it would be best if I held off on using my own potion for this match.”

With an amused smile, you said,

“Agreed. Well, okay, if you’re really fine with it, then we can keep going, I guess.”

It really shouldn’t have surprised you– of course she’d want to finish the match. You were pretty sure Nemona could break a leg mid-battle and she’d still want to finish the fight. You both returned to your pokemon battle. In the end, Nemona even beat you.

After the battle, Nemona had her Flamigo sort of blow-dry her with one of its moves, which seemed to work surprisingly well, so you didn’t even have to return home. Instead, you could lay down your picnic blanket and have lunch like you’d both planned. Before long, the little potion accident was all but forgotten. You enjoyed your sandwiches and snacks and ended up in a meandering, lazy conversation afterwards, just laying in the shade of the trees and enjoying the lovely sound of Nemona’s laughter at your antics.

“Look, I’m telling you, it’s true. Everyone eventually looks like their ace. Or at least one of the pokemon on their team, usually their lead. It’s inevitable. Here, see? The moment I saw Arven I was like, ‘Ah, yes, Skwovet Boy.’”

Looking at the picture on your phone, Nemona snorted.

“Did he like that name?”

“No, no he did not.”

“Okay, I’ll give you Arven, and I guess Penny, but there’s no way the rule holds true for everyone.”

“I’ll prove it! Just name somebody.”

“Okay, uh . . . how ‘bout Director Clavell?”

You took a moment to scroll through your Pokedex and pick out an entry. Then you showed her your phone. Nemona giggled and said,

“What?! Oh my god Juliana, that’s kinda mean.”

“No it’s not!! It’s just true!”

“I dunno–” “Look, look, I’ll show you!”

You pulled up a photo of Clavell and placed it side-by-side with Oranguru.

“See? Look at their faces, their expressions. Identical! And the hair? Can barely even tell them apart! Plus the move ‘Instruct’? It’s a dead-ringer.”

Still laughing, she admitted,

“Oh, jeez, I do kinda see what you mean…”

Confidently, you told her,

“Okay, pick someone else.”

Humming, she said,

“Mmm . . . Prof Raifort?”

You searched up another image and showed it to her,

“Zoroark, see the hair, the ‘lil eyebrows, the sneaky smile?”

“Pfffttt! All right, how about Mr. Jaqc?”

“Oh, he looks like Arcanine for sure.”

“What? But Arcanine is like, bright orange and Jacq’s hair is purple. I’d guess him to be a poison type.”

“Nah, you can’t just look at color. Jacq looks all fluffy like Arcanine and he’s also super friendly and goofy too, but very loyal and knows his stuff!”

Nemona studied your phone, scrutinizing it seriously.

“Hm . . . that is a compelling argument. Maybe you really are onto something.”

She turned to you, smirking.

“Who do I look like, then?”

You crossed your arms, answering,

“Hah, that’s easy! You look like your Pawmot. Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, super energetic and friendly, plus super adorable.”

Nemona broke out into giggles and shoved your shoulder a little.

“Stopit, you just like making me blush.”

“It’s true! You’re like, super smart too. And brave, and powerful, and pretty.”

“Jules,” she whined, covering her face. You laughed, unable to resist teasing her. She was just unbearably cute when she was bashful.

Suddenly turning to you, she shot back,

“Yeah well, you– you’re like– uh . . .”

She paused, gazing at you for a few moments. You raised your brows.

“. . . Like?”

You waited. Her expression softened as she looked at you, her smile gradually shifting into something very warm. In a gentle, almost reverent voice, she finally said,

“Vivillon.”

You blinked, a warm flutter stirring in your chest.

“O-oh?”

She leaned forward and continued softly,

“You are so sweet, and incredibly kind, and graceful . . . and you came into my life, dancing on the breeze as light as air, and made everything so much better.”

“O-oh,” you repeated, feeling your face warm. She leaned even closer to you, her eyes bright. Her voice dropped down even quieter, and she half-whispered to you,

“. . . but you’re also fierce and wild and way, way more powerful than people realize, and I think that excites me most of all.”

You could hear your heart hammering in your ears as Nemona smiled at you and touched your arm lightly, her fingertips tracing along your skin, causing a sensation like little electric sparks. You desperately tried to say something, but it came out as a little squeak.

Then Nemona paused. She blinked, as if coming to some realization.

“Uh,” she said, pulling back from you just a little.

“Jules, I feel . . . ummm . . . I feel pretty funny.”

You were entirely unable to give an intelligent reply and grunted,

“Funny ha-ha or funny weird?”

She glanced away, a crimson blush overtaking her pretty face.

“Oh, man. Umm, funny weird, I guess. I-I think . . . that love potion is . . . hitting me really hard all of a sudden.”

Oh. Oh, crap.

That explained it.

“Oh. Uh, uhmm. W-what should I do? How can I help?”

Nemona looked like she was considering your question seriously. Still not looking at you, she answered in a calm voice that only wavered a little:

“W-well, you definitely shouldn’t start kissing me, because I would kiss you back. Hard. And probably not stop.”

Your face flushed hot and you sputtered,

“Wh-whuh, wh-why would I suddenly start kissing you now?!”

Sounding half-panicked herself, she shouted back,

“I dunno, you asked!!”

You sucked in a breath and tried to settle down all the thoughts screaming in your brain. Okay okay, think, think. You pushed yourself up and climbed to your feet, shakily.

“R-right, okay, okay. So, uh. W-we should get you to a nurse! Right?”

Nemona answered,

“I-I guess! Yeah.”

“Okay, okay. Give me just a sec.”

You quickly gathered your things to repack the picnic basket, then turned to her.

“Okay, do you think you can walk?”

She paused a moment.

“. . . I’m not sure,” she admitted,

“I feel a little dizzy.”

You nodded.

“Okay, I’ll help you up.”

She looked so anxious, and you were starting to get really worried about her. You hoped this stupid potion didn’t have any dangerous side-effects. It was made for pokemon, so there was no knowing how a human’s biology might react to it.

You reached down and carefully helped pull Nemona to her feet. She swayed for a moment, so you kept your hands on her shoulders. Nemona’s warning that you she would kiss you back, hard, and not stop, was still looping in your mind, but you had to be the calm one here and look out for her safety, so you shoved the thoughts back down and focused. You studied her and asked,

“How are you feeling? Is your breathing okay? Are you still dizzy?”

Your friend shook her head, not meeting your eyes.

“I-I’m okay, I think.”

You didn’t like how uncertain she sounded. You tried to remember how to take someone’s pulse.

“Give me your wrist, I wanna try to take your pulse.”

She reluctantly held her non-gloved hand out to you. You tried to find her pulse, but you were never any good at this.

“Jeez, okay, hold on. Let me try the other pulse point, it’s easier.”

You reached up and set your fingers gently to the side of her neck, just under her chin. She stiffened at your touch, startled, and her eyes snapped up to yours; you realize belatedly you should have warned her.

“U-uh, sorry.”

You could feel her pulse and focused on counting it; it was bouncing along like a hyperactive hamster on crack.

“Christ, Nemona. Okay, I don’t think you’re in imminent threat of a heart attack, but it’s pretty damn high.”

Nemona’s eyes didn’t look quite right; her pupils were blown wide and she was gazing at you with an intensity you’d never seen before. When she spoke, it was with a forced calm, drawling out slowly;

“Well, that might have to do with the incredibly pretty girl who’s currently touching me.”

“Uh,” you grunted, moving to pull your hand away from her. She caught your wrist before you could.

“N-Nemona–”

“I should check your pulse too, shouldn’t I?” she asked, voice soft and husky. Turning your hand in hers, she exposed your wrist; but instead of holding her fingers to your wrist, she lowered her head down, her lips brushing against your pulse point. You jerked, your entire body immediately swimming in icy-hot goosebumps, straight up your back and neck and all the way to your scalp.

"W-W-WAIT, N-NEMONA–”

Your startled shout seemed to only encourage her, and you felt heat searing against you, her breath tickling as she pressed her lips to your delicate skin, followed by the sensation of the tip of her tongue swiping against you–

You made a noise at the back of your throat you didn't even recognize, and it took every ounce of your willpower to pull your hand away from her and back off. She froze when you pulled away, looking shocked for a moment. You quickly came to realize she wasn’t shocked at you, but rather, at herself. She blushed deeper and held a hand to her mouth in embarrassment. She mumbled into it,

“Oh my god, Jules . . . I’m so sorry.”

You stood there rigidly, forcing out,

“I-it’s okay! It’s fine. Look, we know you’re not yourself, i-it’s fine. We just gotta, um . . . get you back to the nurse!”

“Right,” she muttered quietly, not looking up. She repeated, “Nurse.” She seemed to be trying to wrap her brain around it. You repeated, somewhat shrilly,

“We can do this! It’s not far.”

You were saying it just as much for your sake as for hers. You were talking so loud, but that was because you were busy trying to drown out the thoughts screaming in your brain about your friend’s tongue on your skin and, oh, god–

Nemona repeated, a little louder,

“Okay. Okay. We can do this.” She started to walk, hesitantly, and you were relieved she was finally moving, because you guys really needed to get out of there. You picked the picnic basket back up and lurched forward, but you’re a goddamn idiot, your lovesick brain still addled over ‘Nemona, tongue, skin’ and you tripped over your own stupid feet.

Nemona’s reflexes were good even when she was doped up on a huge dose of love potion, it seemed, and she caught you before you could eat a face full of dirt. Her amber eyes were wide in surprise, and you both stared at each other a brief moment as Nemona held you firmly in her arms.

Then she quickly let go of you and spun away, bemoaning,

“Unnghh, Jules, you’re killing me here!”

Feeling like such an ass, you quickly shouted,

“Sorry, sorry, sorry! I’m not trying to, I swear!”

Nemona flung her hands up, turning to you and snapping a frustrated reply;

“You don't have to try! You never have! You've been incredible from the very first moment I've met you! Your passion, your heart, your brío! Y-you-- you have no idea how badly I've wanted to, t-to–”

"--Nemona I am begging you to not finish that sentence, I don't think it's in either of our best interests, you're indisposed right now, remember!"

She halted and stared at you. You could literally see the wildness behind her eyes and her struggles to rein it in; her breathing had become so heavy that she was practically panting.

“Y-yeah. Okay. Yeah. You’re probably right.”

Your face was so, so damn hot, you started to wonder if you might be at risk of fainting. You were an awful, horrible person because seeing Nemona in this state should have made you worried about her, worried about her wellbeing, but in the moment it was just so thrilling, seeing her so completely undone over the thought of you--

You didn’t even have the stupid potion dumped on you, for god’s sake, you needed to get a grip! Swallowing a suddenly very dry throat, you forced out,

“Let's just go. Go to the nurse. It's not far, we can make it. Let’s just– wait! We could order a taxi!"

Wow, if your brain was functioning properly, you would have thought of it sooner. But as you grabbed your cell phone to find the number, Nemona protested.

“W-wait, wait, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

You paused.

“Why?”

She was turned away from you, probably so she could focus better. She said in an unsteady tone,

"There’s hardly any room in those things, you know? I don't think I can be that close to you for any period of time, I can barely stand being this close already without-- without--"

“O-okay, okay, I got you, we'll-- we'll walk. Or– what about riding Koraidon, could we do that?”

She paused.

“Kind of the same problem, we can’t ride together like that.”

You cursed.

“Yeah, true. Although. I mean. I could send just you but, I really don’t want to do that, I don’t want to leave you alone like this.”

There really was no good solution. It seemed like walking was still best. You repeated,

“It's okay, we can walk, it's not that far. We can make it. We��ve done this walk out here before plenty of times, probably like a hundred times by now."

It was true, the walk wasn’t long. Probably just fifteen minutes at most to reach Mesagoza. That wasn't so bad, that was easy.

You steeled yourself, muttering once again,

"We can do this."

<3<3<3<3

Of course, in your current situation, the time felt like an eternity. You both walked in tense silence, not particularly close to one another but you didn’t dare stray too far, worried that Nemona might get another dizzy spell. The weather was still very lovely, at least, a soft, spring breeze and the cheery sound of Fletchling chittering. You tried to focus on that during your walk back, occasionally asking Nemona if she was still doing okay.

Unfortunately, you both ran into a problem before you could return to Mesagoza. It seemed to be a twist of awful luck, during a day you were already having such rotten luck. The issue was that you both met a trainer passing by along the same path, and they were keen for a battle. What’s more, it seemed they recognized Nemona.

“Oh, hey! Look at that! It’s Naranja’s little Golden Child. Nemona, wasn’t it? Wow, what luck. I’ve heard a lot about you, you know. They say you’re always up for a pokemon battle, no matter what! You wanna go?”

The young man was dressed in the same uniform as you both had, obviously a fellow student. But you immediately took offense to the way he was talking to Nemona, and his greasy little smirk. Nemona looked at him and answered warily,

“Um, actually, now isn’t exactly the best time for me, I’m really sorry. My friend and I need to get back to Mesagoza. If you give me your number I could battle you later, though?”

The boy’s smirk dropped into a scowl.

“What? You’re seriously trying to weasel out of it? What’s wrong, are you scared of having a little match right here, right now? They said you’d fight anyone, why am I exempt from that?”

Nemona glanced away, muttering,

“I’m really sorry–”

Normally, you weren't really the confrontational sort, but your blood was boiling immediately. Lurching forward in front of Nemona, you snapped,

“What's the matter with you? She said now isn’t a good time. Respect her boundaries and get out of her face, she doesn’t owe you anything!”

The boy looked you up and down, sneering.

“And who’re you, her pet Rockruff? I’m not interested in wasting my time on freshmen.”

Then he shoved you, pushing you back. You were so taken aback at first, you didn’t even know how to react. Was this guy for real? What the hell?

Unfortunately, when you were stunned into silence, this gave Nemona the chance to react in your stead. And she was . . . well, she was pissed.Far more so than you’d ever seen her before. In fact, she looked about ready to bite down on the man’s jugular. Stalking forward, directly into the student’s personal space, she snarled at him,

“Oh, so you want a battle so bad that you think it’s okay to shove around my best friend? FINE THEN, LET’S GO.”

There was a certain delight in seeing Nemona capitalize on her height, because she towered over the toxic trainer who’d been harassing you; you could see genuine fear glinting in the student’s eyes. He did not want to admit to it, though, and answered,

“U-uh, ok then, fine!”

He backed off and fumbled for his belt and released his lead pokemon, the purple-finned Veluza. Nemona threw out her usual lead, her Lycanroc appearing.

“Veluza, use Liqui–”

“Stone Edge,” Nemona barked, fists balled, eyes still locked in a withering glare on the trainer. Her Lycanroc cast her a sideways glance, sensing something was very different from normal; noting how tense she was, the dog turned and charged, snarling savagely, like a pokemon that was determined to remove what was deemed a very dangerous threat.

The rock that erupted from the ground KO’d the fish immediately. Lycanroc stood and growled at the trainer, and the boy nervously sent out a Tauros.

“Okay Tauros, use Raging Bull!”

Nemona held out her pokeball and wordlessly recalled Lycanroc. She threw another ball.

“Ceruledge. Flare Blitz.”

As the Tauros’ fighting move passed through the ghost type harmlessly and it was instead struck with a Flare Blitz, the student stammered,

“Wha–aa-uh? Ceruledge, I didn’t– uhh, Tauros, Zen Head–”

“Bitter Blade.”

The flaming pokemon’s spinning blades quickly felled the Tauros.

“Nobody told me you had a Ceruledge–”

“Flare Blitz,” Nemona said. The boy almost tripped and fell in his haste to send out his next pokemon.

“Wh– Tyranatar!”

The Flare Blitz crashed into his Tyranatar, blades smoking and spinning. The trainer cried,

“Tyranatar, use Stone Edge, quick!!”

The foe’s Tyranatar turned to comply, but it was frazzled by its trainer’s panic, and it missed the Stone Edge.

“Godamn it–”

“Close Combat.”

Ceruledge smashed straight through Tyranatar, toppling it over. Half his team was already down, in under three minutes.

“G-garchomop, go!” the trainer yelled, sending out the large dragon. Honestly, his team wasn’t too bad. But none of that really mattered, not when he was a crummy trainer and he was up against one of the best of all of Paldea. Especially when she was not in the mood to play around.

The trainer ordered his Garchomp to Earthquake, and Nemona recalled her Ceruledge so she could send out her Meowscarada. Garchomp quickly fell to Play Rough, and the trainer sent out a Talonflame to counter. Nemona swapped her Lycanroc back in and destroyed the fire bird immediately.

The boy sent out his final pokemon, a Cryogonal. He looked miserable as Nemona’s Lycanroc stared down at them, drooling, waiting for Nemona’s signal to finish things off.

“What’s the matter?” Nemona called to him, speaking something other than terse pokemon orders for the first time in a while.

“Don’t like losing 6-to-1? Here, let me give you a chance to take one of mine out, even the score just a little, huh? Which one of my team do you want me to send out?”

The trainer blinked, looking startled and annoyed. He asked,

“What? Are you . . . are you toyingwith me?”

“Which one do you want,” Nemona repeated, icily. The trainer jerked and stammered,

“U-uh, uh, Meowscarada?”

Nemona recalled her Lycanroc, smiling. The smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“Okay! Here goes!”

She flung a ball, her Pawmot materializing.

“Oops, wrong one. Silly me.”

Nemona took an orb from her pack and flung it. Pawmot exploded into crystals, terastializing.

“Oops again! I’m so clumsy.”

The trainer looked angry, incredibly frustrated, and frankly a little freaked out, but he still called to his pokemon,

“Cryogonal, use Ice Beam!”

Lazily, Nemona instructed,

“Okay Pawmot, let’s . . . ehhh, let’s use a Thunder Wave, why not?”

Pawmot was struck by the incoming Ice Beam, grunting in pain, but not fainting to the move. It charged up and sent a shockwave rolling over to its opponent.

“Just finish the battle off already!” the trainer yelled in disgust. Nemona crossed her arms and stared at him.

“Oh? You want this to stop now?”

He hissed through his teeth, muttering curses under his breath.

“Yes,” he finally said, staring miserably at the ground.

“Fine,” Nemona said sharply,

“Apologize to Juliana, and then we can finish the battle.”

“What–” his head whipping up, he seemed about to protest, but he shut up the moment he saw Nemona’s eyes, deadly serious. Face red, he reluctantly turned to you.

“I’m . . . I’m sorry,” he muttered.

Nemona nodded in satisfaction.

“Good.”

Then she turned to her Pawmot.

“Okay, Pawmot, Close Combat.”

Her pokemon rushed headlong into the massive snowflake, shattering to bits. The young man recalled the pokemon back to its ball, defeated and humbled.

And then, Nemona’s voice ordered calmly:

“Pawmot, use Charge.”

The pokemon rubbed its little paws on its cheek pouches, charging up energy, building and building in its sparkly, crystallized body. It shone brighter and brighter, until it was almost painful to look at. The trainer looked up, his eyes growing wide. He stuttered,

“I-I-I’m out of pokemon! That was six! Wh-what are you– I’m all out!”

Her arms still crossed, Nemona regarded him calmly. After a moment, she answered slowly,

“Hmm. Well . . .”

She glanced to her Pawmot.

“Then I guess you better find some more . . .”

Her gaze returned to the trainer. Her eyes took on a hard edge. She intoned quietly,

“Or you better run.”

The trainer looked as though he was about ready to wet his pants, falling over himself to grab up his pokeballs and turn tail, scrambling down the path as fast as he could, like the little coward he was. For a while you could do absolutely nothing but stare as he ran away, simply trying to absorb the past ten minutes that had played out before you.

Eventually, Nemona returned Pawmot to his ball. Then she heaved a groan and turned away from you, looking . . . embarrassed, to your surprise.

“U-ugh. Juliana, I . . . I’m really sorry about all that. Cielo santo, I can’t believe I just did that . . .”

You raised a brow, confused.

“Sorry about what?”

She seemed too ashamed to even face you. She gestured vaguely, crying out,

“That! All that! I was so freaking mean, I obliterated that guy. Ay, it was like I couldn’t even stop myself, I just . . . I got so mad when he pushed you, and the way he was talking about you, like you were beneath contempt or something and– gahh! I couldn’t stand it.”

Her eyes were still lit in anger just thinking about it. You told her calmly,

“Nemona, don’t worry about it. Your reaction was perfectly understandable, that guy was being a massive jerk!”

“Yeah, but that’s no excuse!” Nemona protested, shaking her head.

“I know I’m bigger then that, I can’t stoop to, like . . . tormenting someone during a battle like that. Dios, I even threatened him with Pawmot . . .”

She cringed, mumbling,

“You must think I’m a terrible person after that.”

You bit down on your lower lip as you thought back to watching Nemona absolutely dominating that douchebag of a trainer.

Don’t tell her she looked hot while she kicked his ass, oh god, don’t say it

“U-uh, no, not really." You paused, mumbling, "Quite the opposite, actually.”

Nemona glanced up at you, asking,

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Don’t say it don’t say it don’t say it

“Uh . . .”

You rubbed your face, frustrated with how difficult it had become to think clearly. What was wrong with you today? If you didn’t know any better you would have thought you’d been the one dosed with the stupid . . .

Your train of thought stalled as you gazed at your hand, still stained pink from when you were trying to help Nemona wipe the potion off.

“Oh. Crap.”

“What is it?” Nemona asked, looking concerned. You shook your head, trying not to worry her too much.

“N-nothing. It’s just, u-uh, I think . . . I might have absorbed some of that potion earlier.”

“Oh.” She paused, then added,

“Crap.”

“Yeah.”

A few moments passed. Then you shook your head and reassured her,

“Look, it’s fine. Nemona, you have nothing to worry about, that guy wanted a battle and you gave him one, so fair’s fair! No one got hurt and maybe next time he’ll think twice about acting like a horrible little bottomfeeder. Besides, you know you’re under the influence of weird pokemon potions right now. So let’s just stop worrying and try to get back to the nurse before we both end up ff– uhhh– let’s just get back, okay!?”

“Okay, okay!”

You both returned to walking the path leading up to Mesagoza. Fortunately, you were able to complete the journey this time without any other . . . incidents. The only real concerning thing left at that point was your old nemesis, The Stairs. While normally you’d hop on Koraidon to skip them, that wasn’t an option this time, so you and Nemona begrudgingly scaled them together.

<3<3<3<3

By the time you’d reached the top of the stairs, sweating and panting, you were very ready for this tense journey to be finished. You both rushed to the nurse’s office on the bottom floor of the central building, finding Nurse Miriam sitting at her desk, tending to paperwork.

When you burst in, you startled her a little, and she quickly stood and asked what the emergency was. It was only then you realized you hadn’t really planned on what you were going to say to her. Awkwardly, you exchanged a look with Nemona and then answered,

“We, uh– well. There was . . . an accident. Involving a new pokemon potion that’s apparently a love potion?”

Miriam squinted at you.

“Could you be a little more specific, please?”

You pointed to Nemona and her pink-stained shirt, trying again,

“I accidently drenched her with a whole bottle of pokemon love potion and it’s, she– w-well, she–”

“I have the Infatuation status condition,” Nemona supplied helpfully. Gratefully, you finished,

“Yeah, exactly. That.”

The nurse came over, indicating to Nemona to sit at the patient table, and she grabbed her stethoscope.

“Could you tell me more about this ‘love potion’? This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.”

As the nurse checked Nemona’s breathing and heart, you tried to fill her in.

“Well, this morning we were in Delibird Presents and there was this sort of promotion for a new item? You’re supposed to hit your opponent’s pokemon with it. So we bought some to give it a try. Except when I went to use it, Nemona’s pokemon dodged and she got the full dose instead. At first we thought it didn’t really affect her, I washed it off with water, but . . .”

Miriam stuck a thermometer in Nemona’s mouth and scowled.

“Sounds like a flagrant disregard for the National Pokemon Drug and Food Administration, there’s no way they signed off on a product like that. Do you happen to still have the bottle with you? It would help to know the ingredients.”

You thought a moment.

“We ditched the bottle already . . .”

“I schill hash my bobble in my bag!” Nemona said excitedly, around her thermometer.

“Oh, right, yeah!”

When she pulled it out and handed it to Miriam, the nurse quickly checked the bottle over. She didn’t look happy.

“This is ridiculous! There isn’t even a list of ingredients! All I can find is ‘Formulated from Dream Mist and Sylveon Magic.’”

You answered,

“I think he said the exact ingredients were a trade secret or whatever . . ."

In a tone of disgust, she muttered,

“This smells like a lawsuit to me.”

Then she turned and took Nemona’s thermometer, asking brightly,

“How are you feeling, Nemona? Can you describe your symptoms for me, after you came into contact with the potion?”

Nemona blinked up at her, looking a little uncertain.

“Well . . . at first I didn’t feel any different. I think it was around an hour later when I started feeling funny. Kinda . . . really happy, and my thoughts all felt sort of fuzzy and warm. Like I could actually feel them swirling around in my brain, you know? And my heart was goin’ kinda fast. But I didn’t really notice too much until– uh. . . well, Juliana and I were talking and I, w-well I . . . I-I . . .”

She trailed off, glancing away and blushing. The nurse, taking mercy on her, said,

“It’s all right, sweetie, I think I get the picture. How are you feeling now? Is it just as strong or has it started to wear off at all?”

Nemona paused for a moment, considering the question. Shyly, she glanced over at you and held your gaze. It was just eye contact, but you felt heat coiling in your belly as those amber eyes remained locked with yours, as if she could read your thoughts.

“Y-yep it’s still there!” Nemona quickly answered, turning away and clearing her throat.

Nurse Miriam nodded, sighing.

“Very well. Sit tight for a little bit, you two. I’m going to try and call the number on this potion bottle and see if I can get any answers.”

She moved over to sit at her desk and make the phone call, while you stood there awkwardly beside the patient table Nemona was seated on. You pondered the mystery of what to say to your best friend while giving her emotional support for being hit with a love potion. Which had made her become infatuated with you.

What could possibly be helpful in this situation?

Eventually you settled on saying,

“I’m sure we’ll get this all sorted out soon. And then it’ll be just a funny story we can look back on, right? Haha . . .”

“Mmm,” she answered, gazing at the wall.

Fortunately, Miriam wasn’t away for long. She soon finished up her phone call and returned, her expression inscrutable.

“If you’re about to tell me the potion was nothing but water and food coloring and this whole thing was just the placebo effect I’m gonna flip a table,” Nemona grumbled.

Nurse Miriam chuckled.

“Oh, no, I’m reasonably confidant you have been exposed to some kind of drug. Unfortunately, the man on the phone was utterly no help, so I can’t say for certain what it was. At this point, all we can do is monitor you closely and treat any possible harmful side-effects if they arise. I’ll have to hold you for observation.”

Nemona frowned, looking as though she really didn’t like this answer.

“For observation? For how long?”

The nurse scribbled some notes down on a clipboard.

“Oh, for several hours, at least, to be on the safe side.”

You watched as the anxiety quickly materialized in Nemona’s expression. Her voice taut, she asked,

“Hours? Is it, um, is it completely necessary? I-I . . .”

Miriam tried to answer kindly but firmly when she trailed off.

“Well, yes, I do think it’s important for you to be monitored.”

Your heart wrenched at the sight of Nemona struggling to fend off a full-blown panic. The signs were subtle, but you knew her well enough by now to recognize them clear as day. Quickly, you butted in,

“What if she went back to her dorm and I monitored her? Would that be okay?”

Miriam glanced to you, answering warily,

“Hmm . . . well, I’d prefer it if she stayed here, but . . .”

With pleading eyes, you said,

“I’ll watch her real close, I promise.”

Miriam hesitated for a bit. You stared at her until she sighed.

“. . . all right. If you take her vitals every 30 minutes and call me at the first sign of trouble, then I suppose that would be all right . . .”

Yes.

“I’ll take really good care of her!”

Looking relieved but still a little troubled, Nemona gestured to your hands, stained pink, and asked,

“But Jules, what about you? You told me that you were–”

You quickly tucked your hands behind your back and cut her off,

“–ahaha, I’m fine, Nemona! Yeah, I was a bit tired from our hike, but I feel great now!”

Miriam frowned, glancing between you both. You beamed at her with a big, fake grin, and Nemona decided to remain silent. You prayed she wouldn’t notice anything odd.

“. . . very well.”

You sighed in relief, but it was apparently premature.

“However . . .”

Nurse Miriam fixed you with a serious look.

“I do have one concern. Forgive me if this feels like prying, but . . . Nemona seemed to imply that you were, ah . . . her . . . object of affection? In that case, wouldn’t that make being her caretaker a bit difficult?”

You blinked, then glanced awkwardly to Nemona. Desperate to convince her, you stammered,

“I-I’ll, I’ll manage it. I know I can do it!”

From the patient table, Nemona added,

“It’ll be okay. It’s not so bad when I’m focused on something.”

The nurse didn’t seem entirely comfortable with the arrangement, but she acquiesced anyway.

“All right, if those really are your wishes. Then, Juliana, give me a moment and I’ll set you up with a few things to borrow while you monitor Nemona.”

<3<3<3<3

Before long, you both were out of the nurse’s office and had made it safely back to Nemona’s dorm room. When you’d entered and Nemona clicked the door closed, she sagged against the door and sighed in relief.

“Dios mío, I am so glad to be back here.”

She looked so drained. Gently, you told her,

“You should rest, tesoro.”

She glanced up to you, concern etched on her face.

“Yeah, I know. But first, are you sure you’re okay with doing this, Juliana? I know you’re partially affected too.”

You nodded, telling her firmly,

“It’s okay. The dose I got was barely anything compared to yours, and I think it’s worn off by now anyway. I just didn’t want the nurse to know, because she would have made a fuss and might not have let us back here, you know?”

Nemona nodded slowly.

“Yeah . . . I still feel kinda bad, though, making you take care of me. . .”

You laughed.

“What? You’re not making me do anything, I wanted to! I could see how much you hated the idea of staying in the infirmary, I wasn’t gonna let you stay there!”

Nemona sighed again.

“Yeah . . . I just, ugh. I can’t be cooped up there right now, I think I’d feel like a caged Incineroar or something.”

“And that’s fine,” you reassure her, going into her kitchenette to fetch her a glass of water. When you returned to her side, you told her,

“Of course you’d want to come back to your dorm so you can actually relax. We can just chill now, so no worries!”

She took the glass from you and downed the water in one go. Then she answered,

“. . . okay. As long as you’re sure you’re okay with being stuck watching me.” You grinned, reassuring her,

“Of course I’m okay with it, you silly Zangoose. You know I’m always down for hanging out in Zona Nemona. So don’t give it another thought and just relax, all right? Doctor’s orders.”

She gave a dry laugh.

“All right, all right.”

Nemona decided she wanted to change her clothes since her outfit still felt a little sticky from the potion, so while she was in the bathroom you kicked off your shoes and opened Nemona’s cupboard in the kitchenette. You found a muffin and inhaled it in just a few bites and then wandered into the bedroom area. You had been in Nemona’s dorm so often that sometimes you suspected you’d seen more of it than your own room.

Suddenly realizing how weary you felt, you plopped down on Nemona’s bed and groaned, splaying out over the comforter. It had been a long, weird day. At least you were back now. The worst of it was probably over by now, right? You just had to keep an eye on Nemona and wait for the stuff to wear off. You sighed, closing your eyes, your thoughts drifting aimlessly for a bit as you rested.

You heard the click of the bathroom door opening and Nemona emerging, saying,

“So d’you wanna watch anything, Jules, or . . .”

You blinked your eyes open and answered lazily,

“Mmm?”

Nemona appeared at the foot of the bed, gazing down at you. She remained silent, as if she’d abandoned her sentence entirely. You blinked sleepy eyes at her and said,

“Hi. Sorry, what were you saying?"

You watched as the blood rushed to her face, her eyes wide, cheeks reddening incredibly fast. Oh, crap, what– what did you do? You were just sitting there.

“Um,” Nemona mumbled, struggling for words.

“Y-you . . . uh . . .”

She seemed to tear her eyes away with some effort, looking towards the wall. She swallowed, her throat bobbing. Quietly, she stammered,

“M-maybe . . . maybe it would be best if you didn’t . . .”

Her voice went even quieter, until it eked out of her, so very small:

“. . . lay on my bed like that . . .?”

You blinked, not getting it at first. You had to actually run it through your head again to understand.

“Oh. OH.”

You hadn’t given it a second thought, because you had laid on Nemona’s bed before, normally. But thinking about it now, sprawled out across her bed like that, there was definitely the potential for some, uh, less-than-innocent thoughts?

You jerked, sitting upright.

“I-I– sorry! I didn’t–I wasn’t really thinking!”

Nemona looked intensely embarrassed at having to confess the problem to you. Talking more at the wall than you, she said,

“It’s not your fault, it’s just, I-I, I was a little worried about us being here in my room alone together, a-and then I came out and you were just . . . hnnnff . . .”

You quickly exited the bed and shimmied away from her, feeling a blush of your own. You had to remind yourself this was just the potion talking. This was just the potion. Nemona wasn’t normally plagued with intense longing for you that she could only barely keep in check.

Right?

You laughed nervously, saying,

“Okay, no sitting on the bed for me, check! I’m just gonna . . . go sit at your desk. Maybe get some homework done. Haha . . .”

“O-okay,” she agreed, sitting on her bed, looking a little lost.

Things after that were . . . well . . . the best word for it was probably ‘tense.’ You got your biology textbook out and did some homework while Nemona hopped online and watched some pokemon tournament videos. You had hoped this was the perfect chance for you both to finally relax and recuperate from the strange drama of the day. But you could sense how restless Nemona was. You recognized the videos she was watching– they were some of her favorite matches. She liked to re-watch them over and over, and normally she was jazzed to see them. But not today. She kept fidgeting and sighing. You asked her if she needed anything, but she said she was fine. So you just kept highlighting bits in your textbook and trying to focus on your work.

The only thing that broke up the monotony was when the alarm went off on your phone and you had to check Nemona’s vitals. You didn’t make the same mistakes as last time, though. You just handed her the little pulse-checking device you’d borrowed from Miriam and the thermometer. It was awkward, but at least it didn’t take long. Her vitals all looked normal, so there was no reason to call the nurse or anything. You then went back to studying, and Nemona returned to her bed with her tablet.

You felt like the situation was deteriorating, though. Your friend only grew more and more restless. You tried to suggest ideas on stuff she could watch or do; watch more episodes of that anime Penny had gotten her into, or maybe play some of that adorable farming sim you’d discovered last week. To Nemona’s credit, she tried your suggestions, and tried very hard to get into it. But it seemed her ability to focus was just gone. As you watched her from the corner of your eye, concerned, you felt as though you were getting as tense as Nemona was feeling, just from worrying about her.

Eventually, Nemona gave up, tossing her tablet aside. She hopped up from her bed with a disgusted grunt and began to pace. You looked up to her.

“You okay?” you asked her gently, knowing she wasn’t.

“I feel so antsy,” she said, running a hand through her hair, where her ponytail was slowly coming undone.

You sighed,

“I’m sorry. I wish I could help. Is there anything I can do?”

She grumbled,

“I dunno, I dunno, I–”

Suddenly she stopped and turned, looking at you with intense eyes, saying,

“I wanna pokemon battle!”

You hesitated a moment and said,

“W-well, we can’t indoors . . .”

Her expression fell and she cursed under her breath something in Spanish you couldn’t make out. With a bit of a desperate edge, she said,

“We could go to the schoolyard!”

You frowned. Slowly, you answered,

“I . . . don’t think it’s a good idea, honestly. You’re probably not gonna want to be out and about when you’re . . . like this. Don’t you think?”

Nemona made another pained noise and ran her hand through her hair again, her hair band dislodging even further in her messy ponytail.

“I know you’re right and I hate it,” she groaned, turning back to pacing. Your heart felt like it was being slowly squashed in a vise, watching her suffering like this.

“I’m so sorry, Nemona, I wish I could make it better. Do you want me to call the nurse? Maybe she could give you something to help . . .”

Nemona shook her head adamantly, looking anxious at the suggestion.

“No, no, I don’t. . . I don’t. . .”

“Okay, that’s fine. We don’t need to.”

Nemona had stopped pacing and was staring dully at the wall. You stood from your seat, approaching her slowly. You weren’t sure if you could make things better, but you were determined to try.

“Don’t worry, we’re gonna think of something to do, okay? I’ll brainstorm for the both of us. I’m sure I can think of something.”

She looked so wound up and stressed, and you just wanted to make it go away for her. You found yourself automatically reaching out for the hair band that was all crooked and uncomfortable-looking in her hair, and gently tugged it loose for her, her dark, long strands slipping free.

Softly, you told her,

“It’s gonna be okay, girasol. I’ll think of something. In the meantime, is there anything else I can do?”

Nemona turned, slowly. She looked at you with those pretty amber eyes of hers, the ones that could look so fierce and fiery mid-battle, but that could also look so soft and warm and honeyed when she was smiling at you; in the moment, you couldn’t tell which they were. It almost seemed as though it was a mixture of both.

“W-well . . . every time you call me by such sweet names it . . . makes it harder for me to . . .”

She trailed off. Her entire body looked tensed up, drawn as tight as a bow string. She glanced away from you, wetting her lips, before finishing softly,

“. . . hold back.”

The heat returned to your face again, and you suddenly became very keenly aware of your proximity.

“Nhhh,” you commented, with your usual amount of eloquence. Her eyes returned to yours and suddenly the warning bells were going off in your head like klaxons, because the longer she gazed at you, the faster you felt your own self-control buckle.

You had to stop this. You had to. You promised you’d look after her, she trusted you to not take advantage–

“W-wait,” you mumbled, forcing yourself to back away a few steps.

“I-I have an idea! I know what we can do to pass the time.”

Those stunning eyes of hers never left yours, although now she looked amused. You watched as she quirked a brow and commented, smooth as silk,

“Yeah, I had a couple ideas myself.”

It took you a moment to process that, and then your eyes widened and you yelped,

“N-nemona! C’mon!”

She had the audacity to smirk at you. It looked way too good on her, especially when coupled with the rare treat of seeing her with her hair down. You bit down on your cheek and told yourself to focus.

“W-we can watch Ghost & Glitch Hunters! The first few seasons are up on RotomTube, we can marathon them! It’ll easily take us through the night.”

Nemona’s brow furrowed in confusion. Hesitantly, she answered,

“I . . . I guess we could? But Jules, you know I kinda hate that show, right? We’ve talked about it before, don’t you remember?”

You nodded.

“Yeah! Of course I remember. That’s why I’m suggesting it. It’s the perfect distraction! You’ll be too scared from the show, so you won’t be able to think about . . . about other stuff.”

Your were worried she’d hate the idea; quite honestly, you wouldn’t blame her. But it was the only thing that had jumped into your head, so you had to latch onto it.

To your surprise, though, she seemed receptive to the idea once you explained it.

“Hm . . . that does make some sense, actually. It might actually work.”

You were incredibly relieved, because you had no clue what you were gonna do if she said no.

“G-great! I’ll grab my laptop and fire things up! And we can make it a whole big thing, we can make popcorn and stuff, if you want. Ooh, and turn all the lights off!”

Nemona looked immediately regretful.

“Ughhh. Do we have to turn the lights off?”

Already headed over to grab your laptop, you answered with a cheeky grin,

“Well if you’re scared enough with the lights on then we don’t!”

“Ughhh.”

<3<3<3<3

It was actually getting pretty late in the day, so after checking Nemona’s vitals again, you both have a light dinner before setting up the spooky marathon watch. (Dinner consisted of zapped TV dinners, because neither of you were particularly good at cooking, nor did you have the mental capacity for anything else today) Then you popped some popcorn and set the laptop up on the foot of Nemona’s bed for her. The student dorms weren’t exactly super well-furnished, so it was kind of the only place you could put it. You moved her desk chair a bit closer to her bed, close enough you could mostly see the video but not close enough to . . . well. Be within reach of her. It was probably best to maintain a safe distance for now.

Then you hit start on the playlist and began with the first episode. Ghost & Glitch Hunters was a very cheesy, melodramatic program that followed a team of self-proclaimed ‘experts’ on paranormal phenomenon, who travelled to places to try and document said phenomenon. If you asked any pokemon professor, of course, they’d be the first to tell you that Ghost-type pokemon are just as natural and explainable as any other pokemon type; the fact that their bodies were largely made of gas and that they could control their density at will, manipulate dreams, etc etc, was honestly no stranger than the myriad other qualities and abilities that other pokemon types had at their disposal. However, superstitions about Ghost Types had been popular for ages, and these spooky stories still persisted about them. Another thing that was very popular, especially in particular regions, were urban legends about so-called ‘glitch’ pokemon. Supposedly these ‘glitch’ pokemon came from bizarre, distorted dimensions and were associated with terrifying ‘glitch phenomena,’ which happened when the laws of nature somehow became warped or broken.

You were a little obsessed with glitch pokemon stories, ever since you were a little kiddo in Unova, eating up the stories that came mostly from Kanto and Johto, with the occasional reports from Hoenn thrown in, too. Now that you’re older, you know in all likelihood the stories are complete bogus, but it was still fun to imagine the possibilities anyway; and the creepy stories made you a bit nostalgic, to be honest. Nemona, on the other hand, did not share your affection for the tall tales– she found the stories unnerving.

It was actually pretty adorable. Nemona was an incredibly smart, brave young woman, possibly the bravest and smartest person you knew; you’d seen her face down angry, Tereastalized wild pokemon twenty, thirty, forty levels higher than her team; you’d battled side-by-side with her to save the region from the Paradox Pokemon; and you’d seen her face down a semester carrying a full load of classes, active membership in several school clubs, Student Council duties and Champion duties back-to-back and still come out of it smiling with top grades. You admired her more than you could possibly say. And yet, she freaked out over the silly ghost stories from your cheesy TV show. You kinda loved that about her.

. . . okay, you kinda loved everything about her. But that was beside the point.

The first few episodes weren’t too bad. They focused on Ghost types and investigating rumors about some ghosts that the Silph Scope failed to decipher in some small town in Kanto. Nemona spent some time nitpicking the rumors and complaining that they didn’t make much sense. The blurry pictures they captured and the dramatic music and crackpot theorizing was pretty tame, relatively speaking. But things amped up a little as you worked your way further into season one. The investigators travelled to Cinnabar Island, to pursue the popular rumors of a glitch named Missingno. You perked up at this episode, because it was one of your favorites. Nemona, apparently, did not feel the same.

“Oh, no, can we skip this one?” “What?? It just started, what do you mean?”

“Yeah, I know, but I don’t really like Missingno stuff,” Nemona grumped, making a face.

“Why?”

“Because! It’s. I dunno, it’s weird.”

On screen, the investigation team was outfitting a glorified dinghy boat with their equipment, in preparation for their trip. The boat was woefully inadequate for the choppy water, which the investigators blithely ignored.

“But you told me you like weird. You said I was weird.”

Nemona quickly corrected,

“I do! But you’re good weird. Missingno is creepy weird.”

“Maybe Missingno is just misunderstood. Maybe they just wanna be loved,” you teased. She groaned.

“You’re just exploiting my good nature to keep me watching.”

You shrugged, grinning.

“Maybe.”

The show cut to night, when the crew embarked on their journey. They were sailing along the island’s coast, aiming a bright spotlight into the crashing waves. Rumors held that Missingno hid deep in the ocean by day and surfaced at night just a few miles offshore, perhaps to feed or to cause some other kind of mischief. You watched as the crew became excited over strange readings on their sonar, and they raced to catch up to whatever was causing the odd readings.

“Their boat is way too tiny! They’re gonna capsize just from sailing out in that storm,” Nemona complained anxiously.

“Pssh, yeah, I know, it’s kinda ridiculous. I think that’s the only thing their budget could afford.”

The waves kept bouncing them around as they struggled to aim their spotlight and keep the cameras steady.

“Why don’t they just–”

Suddenly, there was a deep, guttural noise that echoed out across the ocean, and the crew froze on the spot, shocked. As the boat bobbed up and down in the water, the noise repeated, louder, shuddering and twisted, sounding a bit like a human voice crying out in pain.

Nemona’s eyes were wide and she shrank back a little in her bed.

“What the heck was that?!”

You grinned, munching on popcorn.

“It’s weird, yeah?”

“It sounded almost human,” she said, eyes glued to the screen. The camera cut to an image on sonar, showing the sea below. It was incredibly fuzzy, but there was a cluster of shapes slowly moving along, lurking among the deep. As the crew’s boat rushed along and they drew closer, it became easier to make out; there were distinct, sharp lines, and what looked to be a head with a long snout. There was something strange about it, though; where there should have been eyes, there was only empty space. The show displayed an artists’ rendition of Missingno beside the sonar image, using red pen to outline the shape in the water.

“What?! They think it’s just a- a skeleton?”

You excitedly answer,

“Yeah! It’s like, the tortured remains of a long-extinct species, according to some people.”

“But that doesn’t . . . maybe it’s just wearing the skull, like Cubone or something?”

You shook your head.

“Nah, there’s nothing inside the skull. It’s empty, it’s just a reanimated skeleton goin’ around.”

Nemona made a skeptical noise, but then the boat seemed to be struck with something large and heavy, rattling and shuddering from the impact. The crew scrambled to assess the damage.

“Oh my god, what was that? They’re gonna sink their dinky boat!”

The ship rumbled with another strike, and then another, something thumping against the hull. It became clear they didn’t simply hit a rock, and that whatever was hitting them was doing so intentionally.

“Aaaaaaa, Jules!” Nemona whined, reaching out and grabbing her nearby Goodra plushie to hide behind. It was far too adorable. You laughed,

“What? It’s fine, they’re just getting a little smacked around.”

She pleaded,

“Come sit with me at least, this is way too creepy alone!”

You hesitated a moment, ready to ask her if she was sure that was a good idea, but then you realized she was probably way too freaked out for it to matter. So, you obligingly got up and sat down beside her, the bed dipping a little as you slid into place. Nemona looked to you and seemed to be a little relieved at your presence.

“I don’t know how you stand watching this stuff.”

You chuckled,

“This is just season one, it gets way creepier from here on out.”

On the laptop, the crew were desperately trying to navigate away from whatever was attacking them. Despite the damage to the hull, they seemed to be making some progress in escaping. However, a minute later, from the depths of the sea, there was an anguished, distorted cry– a blood-curdling sort of shriek– and the boat was struck again violently, throwing several people off their feet. Nemona squeaked and instinctively grabbed you, apparently deciding you were better protection than her Goodra plushie. Urgently, she demanded,

“You’ve seen this before, tell me what happens!”

You giggled and answered,

“Aw, but spoilers–”

“Jules!”

She was so unbearably cute, it was hard not to tease her. You continued,

“Okay, okay, it’s almost over, I promise–”

Blasts of water shot onto the deck of the ship, which seemed to be intentionally directed at the crew, as though some pokemon was using a water move against them; at the same time, something under water began to glow a bright white, and the winds picked up speed, a whirlwind starting to form over the boat. The crew began to panic, everyone shouting at once.

Nemona buried her face into the crook of your neck and complained in a high-pitched tone,

“It’s not over–”

You laughed, trying to reassure her as the video footage went blurry and chaotic, accompanied by awful screeching and thumping noises, before the footage suddenly cut out and the screen went to black.

“There, see! It’s done. It’s over now, you can look now!”

The show fell quiet, displaying somber white text on a black background, explaining the events that had transcribed after they lost the footage. Nemona was still attached to you and grumbled into your neck,

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’s safe now! I promise.”

Warily, Nemona turned to look back to the laptop. The episode had a narrator doing a wrap-up of events, which seemed mild enough for Nemona to eventually release you from her panicked grip. She sighed, then mumbled,

“Sheeeesh. That was awful.”

You felt a bit of guilt as you looked to her, since she really did seem to sincerely hate watching this show. As the episode ended, you told her,

"Hey. I'm sorry, I don't wanna torture you or anything. I didn't realize you hated the show that much."

She sort of just shrugged, murmuring,

"Eh, I'll survive."

Not happy with that, you tried to think of what other shows you might try instead.

"Yeah, but, maybe we could--"

Nemona suddenly yelped in fear and grabbed you again, burying her face into your shirt and whimpering. You quickly looked to the laptop and stared at it, confused.

"Wh-what's wrong, Nemona-- Nemona, nothing's happening! It's just the end credits rolling!"

Did the end credits flash a creepy photo or something? You rubbed her back in comfort, trying to reassure her,

"It's okay, it's over with now, I promise!"

After several lingering moments, Nemona reluctantly pulled her head back a little to peek at you, but something seemed off. Instead of fear, her eyes had a strange sort of twinkle to them. Then an impish smile reached her lips. She confessed,

"Yeeeeah, I know, but I didn't really get the chance to enjoy doing this the first time round, so . . ."

As she trailed off, you balked, squawking,

"Nemona!"

She giggled as you pushed away from her, desperate to put some space between you. You nearly fell off her bed in your haste, although corrected yourself before actually falling. Indignant, you said,

"This show was supposed to distract you!"

"It did! For a while. Most of that was real fear, just maybe not the end bit!"

While that was probably true, it was still very distressing how easily she fooled you. You huffed,

"I thought you said you were a terrible liar."

You weren't actually angry at her-- if anything, you were mad at yourself for being caught off-guard like that. Despite that, Nemona's gaze lowered and she murmured,

"Sorry."

Oh, god, no, not the sad eyes. You felt instantaneous guilt.

"Nemona, you have nothing to apologize for. You're wonky on a love potion, it's my job to keep a clear head. Not your fault, it's mine."

Her head drooped and she rubbed her face, mumbling,

"Yeah but maybe if I was better at fighting the stupid thoughts racing around in my head right now . . ."

You shook your head, then realized she couldn't see you.

"Nemona, no. It's literally a drug in your system, you can't expect yourself to just 'fight it off.' C'mon, don't worry about it."

You glanced to the laptop and continued,

"Look, why don't we keep watching something? It doesn't have to be the ghost and glitch show, we can watch anything you want."

She looked back up at you.

"Nah, we can keep going with this. I think you were right about it. The stupid ghosts and stuff do make it hard to think about anything else."

Uncertain, you asked,

"Are you sure? I don't want to make you miserable, that is definitely not my goal."

She nodded.

"I'm sure. It kinda sucks, yeah, but it's not too bad. It's way better then being so restless that I feel like crawling outta my skin, you know?"

You didn't really like that answer. You wanted her to feel comfortable, in the very least, but maybe that wasn't realistic at this point. And in the absence of a better plan, you didn't really know what else to do.

Sighing, you begrudgingly agreed.

"All right. But if it ever gets to be too much, you just give me the word and we'll stop immediately. Okay?"

She nodded.

"Okay. Sounds good."

You went over to your laptop and picked through the playlist, trying to choose an episode that wasn't too intense. After settling on an episode you both decided to pop some more popcorn, on the theory that food was a great distraction too.

For a while, you had real hope that your plan was working. You managed to get through several full episodes, and to Nemona's credit, she took them really well. She clearly still found them very creepy, but it seemed like she was starting to get used to them. In fact, after a while, it seemed a lot of her initial fear had given away to curiosity, and you talked for a bit about various Missingno theories. It was perhaps not inaccurate to even claim she was starting to enjoy herself a little.

But as the hours ticked by, Nemona seemed to turn restless again. It was possible that her decreasing fear was in fact the problem; the more she grew accustomed to the show, the less of a distraction it became to her. It grew increasingly difficult to convince her to continue the marathon. To be honest, you had been hoping that as it got later, she'd get tired, but she still seemed as wired as ever. Which was very unfortunate, because you were starting to feel exhausted.

"C'mon Jules, it's super late now, nobody is gonna be out in the courtyard anymore. Come battle with meeeee," Nemona whined, looking up at you with pleading eyes. You laughed gently and answered her,

"Nah girl, sorry, I don't think it's a good idea."

After what happened the last time you both ran into a trainer, you really didn't want to chance anyone running into you two along the way. It was just safer in here.

"Ughhhhhhh, it's so boring in here," she carried on, rolling dramatically on her bed. You smiled patiently and tried to placate her.

"The next episode is an extra spooky one, I think you'll really like it? It even freaks me out a little."

"I don't wanna watch anything, I wanna get out of here."

Sighing, you answer,

"I know it sucks, Nemona, but we gotta stay put."

She grumbled,

"I can't. I can't anymore."

Her eyes were defiant. You answered her,

"Nemona, c'mon, don’t make me tie you down or something, ‘cos I’ll do it if I have to.”

You were just joking, of course, but she responded as if your comment was serious.

“Pfft, like you could. Jules, I love you, but there’s no way you could tie me up, you’d have to pin me down first and that ain’t happening.”

You actually felt a little slighted at how confidant she sounded.

“Hey, you don’t know that. I could take you . . ."

She chuckled,

“I’d like to see you try it.”

You rolled your eyes. When you looked back to her, she was gazing at you steadily. She said,

“I meant it literally, I actually want to see you try.”

You swallowed and then laughed nervously.

“Maybe some other day, I don’t-–”

She suddenly rose from her bed and approached you, grinning,

“Aw, c’mon, you chickening out now?”

Oh god, she really was serious. You hopped from your chair, your heart immediately hammering in your chest, realizing how risky the situation was.

“Wait wait Nemona this isn’t, this isn’t a good activity right now--"

"You don't want a pokemon battle, so why not? You don't wanna see who's stronger?" she asked with a giggle, advancing towards you. You backed away from her, your thoughts screaming.

"Nemona, we can't--"

Your back suddenly met with the wall, causing the rest of your sentence to die in your throat. You wondered how you managed to lose control of the situation so fast. Nemona was already close enough to you that you could see the flecks of gold in her amber eyes and feel the tickle of her breath.

She was gazing at you like a hungry Lycanroc, her eyes roaming you up and down. Your muscles were tensed up so tightly you felt yourself begin to shake. Youhad to do something, you had to stop this, you knew you did . . .

The trouble was you didn't want to.

And as Nemona closed the space between you, instead of fighting it, you closed your eyes and waited.

The jingle of your Rotom phone was nothing more than mere background noise you paid no attention to.

Unfortunately, you still had your phone set to 'auto answer,' so the Rotom that inhabited your phone flew out of your pocket and floated beside you, switching the call on. Suddenly, the voice of Nurse Miriam was blaring in your ears.

"Hello? Juliana? Hello, are you there?"

Gasping in surprise, you both jerked away from each other. (Or, at least, you attempted to, but you were still backed against a wall, so in reality it was just Nemona who jerked away a little.)

Your heart was still pounding and you didn't really trust your voice at the moment, but you had no choice. You rasped out,

"Y-yeah? Hello, yeah, I'm here."

There was a sigh of relief from the other side of the line.

"Oh, thank goodness. I was concerned when you didn't respond to any of my texts requesting a status update. I'd thought that maybe . . . well, never mind that. Is everything all right with Nemona?"

Your eyes moved helplessly back to Nemona's. She returned the gaze. She was holding back for the moment, but her pupils were blown wide again and you could still see something terribly wild and hungry in those eyes.

You swallowed, throat dry.

"U-uhm, umm, w-well . . ."

To your exasperation, Nemona nodded and gave you a thumbs-up and a cheesy smile, as if trying to indicate that you should say all was well. The situation felt absurd.

"Yes, Juliana? Are there any problems?"

"U-uuum . . . I-I guess not . . ."

What were you doing? That clearly wasn't an accurate answer, but you weren't sure you wanted to give an accurate answer. That would have been terribly awkward.

Nurse Miriam pushed,

"Are you sure? You sound uncertain."

You cleared your throat and straightened up a little against the wall, smiling nervously.

"Yeeeep, everything's . . . peachy keen. I've been, uh, taking her vitals every 30 minutes like you said, and all's good. Sorry I missed your texts, we were just watching a show, I guess it was kinda loud."

There was a pause. Nemona looked very satisfied with your answer.

Maybe a little too satisfied. She was starting to inch back towards you again.

Miriam replied,

"I see. And what about any other symptoms or behaviors? Are you having any difficulty looking after her and keeping her out of trouble?"

Nemona's brows bounced upwards when Miriam said the word "trouble." The devious look that she gave you made you shiver.

"NOPE WE'RE GOOD," you squeaked, your voice unintentionally rising an octave higher. Miriam seemed to pick up on it.

"You're certain? I'd be happy to drop by if you need me to, Juliana."

You opened your mouth to reply and hesitated. She was giving you a way out of this, you really should seriously consider it. As reluctant as you were to involve Nurse Miriam, if things carried on like this for any longer you were pretty sure you were going to crack. Hell, if she hadn't called exactly when she did, you probably would have let Nemona just . . . uh. Do whatever it was she had planned on doing.

From the look she was giving you, was still planning on doing, in fact.

"Well, um, m-maybe . . ." you stammered. Nemona's expression shifted to one of alarm. Miriam continued,

"I could come over as soon as I finish locking up here at my office."

Nemona snatched the Rotom phone from the air.

"Ahahaha, Nurse Miriam, heyyyy! How are you? Ummm, you don't gotta do that, we'd hate to bother you and make you come all the way over to the dorms like that. I feel fine!"

You crossed your arms and raised a skeptical brow at Nemona.

"Nemona, it's good to hear you. As I was telling Juliana, it would be no trouble at all for me. I'm accustomed to making house calls when necessary on campus."

Nemona answered quickly,

"Of course, but I'm just saying it isn't necessary! Juliana told you my vitals and everything are good, right? Nothing to worry about!"

The line was quiet a moment before Miriam answered,

"Be that as it may, your friend does sound a little strained with the task of watching you. That was my primary concern, since your symptoms otherwise have not been too unusual."

Nemona's eyes flicked to you, and she seemed to finally sober to the fact that she was acting weird. She winced, considering things for a moment before saying,

"Okay . . . yeah, I admit I've been a little rowdy tonight, but I swear we don't need a chaperone. I'll, um, I'll behave from now on, I promise!"

You could hear Nurse Miriam sighing again on the other side of the line. Patiently, she said,

"I'd prefer to have the final say from Juliana, if you don't mind. She's the one who's responsible for your safety at the moment."

Nemona turned to you, then awkwardly handed you the phone. Then she folded her hands together as if in prayer, gazing at you beseechingly, but careful not to speak anything outloud.

You frowned, giving her an unamused look. She really thought her sad Rockruff eyes were gonna work on you now--

"Juliana, are you there?"

Nemona's amber eyes widened even more, and she mouthed an exaggerated 'pleeeeeease' at you, and goddamnit, she was so ridiculous, why was this working--

"Hello?"

You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed, before saying,

"Yeah, I'm here, sorry ma'am. Um, yeah, I'm a bit tired but otherwise I'm doing all right. I don't think you need to come over, it's getting late anyway. I'll be sure to update you first thing in the morning."

The nurse seemed to finally accept this answer.

"Very well, Juliana. Thank you for the update. I'll speak with you later. You both have a good night."

"Yeah. Thanks. 'Night."

Once you hung up, Nemona sighed in relief,

"Thank you, Jules, I was so worried she was gonna take me back to her office--"

You pointed at her, cutting in,

"I know, but you gotta promise to behave, all right? I don't want to deal with Nurse Miriam anymore than you do, so don't give me a reason to."

Nemona looked at you with a serious expression and nodded,

"Right. Yes, of course. I will. I'll be good. I'll--" Her serious expression almost immediately gave way to a little smile that made you feel uneasy, and then she purred lewdly at you,

"I'll be a good girl--"

"Nemona!"

"What?"

This was it, this was how you were gonna die. You buried your face in your hands, hiding your blush. When you dared to look back up again Nemona seemed to be genuinely struggling with keeping herself in check. She muttered,

"Okay, I just heard it outloud, and yeah, um. S-sorry."

You were in the middle of figuring out your reply before Nemona suddenly announced,

"I'm just gonna. Take a shower. It's getting late anyway, like you said. Is that cool?"

You paused, then nodded.

"Yeah. T-that's . . . a good idea."

As soon as she'd gotten a change of pajamas and vanished into the bathroom, you released a shaky sigh, thunking down on the bed, nerves completely shot. This had to be the longest day you have ever lived in your life. You deserved a metal or something if you made it through.

You looked to the clock on the wall, realizing something terrifying. The potion was still affecting Nemona and it was nearly midnight. You were gonna have to stay over so you could continue looking after her. You glanced around the room, which had little more than a desk, a desk chair, and a bed for furniture.

Okay. Okay. Hold on. You didn't come this far to be defeated by some stupid 'there was only one bed' trope. You were smarter then that, you still had your sleeping bag from when you were backpacking across Paldea with Arven. You glanced to the bathroom, wondering if Nemona would be safe to leave on her own for a bit. It wouldn't take you long, it should be fine.

You rushed back to your dorm, grabbing your sleeping bag and pillow as well as a toothbrush and your phone charger. You got back to Nemona's room and found there was plenty of time still to set things up and have a midnight snack (another muffin) and then just try to rest a little. You were scrolling through social media on your phone when Nemona finally immerged from the bathroom. She'd been in there a pretty long time, but hey, as long as she was staying out of trouble, that's all that mattered.

"Hi," you said as she padded out in her fuzzy Pawmot slippers. Her PJs were orange too and matched the slippers, with little pokeballs as buttons on the top and pants. It was adorable, but you kept that to yourself.

"Hi," she answered in a relaxed tone, her damp hair fluttering about her. She looked over the sleeping bag you were sitting on, then asked,

"Slumber party?"

You chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess. I figured it might be smarter for me to sleep down here tonight."

She nodded, then asked,

"You okay with that? I'm sure you're exhausted by now, I want you to be able to sleep."

You waved it off,

"It's fine. I slept in this a ton while backpacking, I'm pretty used to it by now. It's kinda cozy in its own way, y'know?"

To your surprise, she didn't try to fight you on it, just accepted it at face value.

"Okay, sounds good."

She then flopped onto her bed and sighed. You asked,

"Sounds like the shower helped calm you down?"

"Mmmhmm," she answered, almost dreamily. You felt a tension melt in your chest. Thank Arceus. You were beginning to fear that she would never wind down.

It was around then you realized just how damn tired you were yourself. You already knew you were exhausted, of course, but it was really starting to hit you, now that you knew you could relax a little. Your limbs and head felt heavy, like lead.

"Oof. You know, I think I'll take a quick shower too."

"Okay."

When you stood, though, you cursed.

"Aw crap, I forgot my pajamas."

Nemona waved lazily in the direction of her dresser.

"It's fine, just borrow some of mine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah? You know you can borrow anything of mine, you can borrow my toothbrush if you want, Jules."

You laughed, answering,

"Okay, okay. I brought my toothbrush though, so I won't need to."

You shuffled over and grabbed something that you thought would fit, then headed into the bathroom, which was still foggy from condensation. You had hoped that the shower would help you relax too, but your thoughts very unhelpfully kept cycling through the events of the day, and all the things Nemona had said and done. You weren't nearly naive enough to think any of this stuff had to do with how Nemona really felt about you. But your mind seemed to keep ending back up on the picnic you had with her earlier today. The moment she looked at you and told you that you reminded her of Vivillon, and all the reasons why. She'd said it with such tenderness, but also with this spark of repressed excitement in her eyes, and it was right before she told you she'd started feeling funny-- so part of you hoped at least that moment had been real. Maybe? Possibly.

Certainly it was foolish to hope anything else had been really from her heart. Especially as the night wore on and she'd been increasingly, um, focused on you.

Such as when she decided she was going to try and pin you down.

Suddenly feeling far too warm, you dipped your head under the spray and cranked the temperature down to cold, grumbling.

When you immerged from the bathroom, you still felt far tenser then you'd have liked, but maybe it didn't matter; you were close to passing out regardless. When you returned to your sleeping bag, Nemona glanced up at you and grinned sleepily.

"Aw, you chose the purple ones. You look cute."

You muttered a "Thanks," looking down at the pajamas. They were a little too long on you, but they were fuzzy and warm. From the bed, Nemona continued to mumble,

"I like it . . . seeing you in my clothes. Makes me feel . . . good. Mi pequeña mariposa . . ."

She really sounded out of it. You sat down and wriggled into your sleeping bag, trying very hard to ignore the thrill inside from the adorable new nickname she'd used.

Instead, you asked her,

"You, um, about ready to shut the lights out for the night?"

She gave you an airy,

"Yep!"

She reached over and switched the lamp off, the room dipping into darkness. You felt so grateful. You were pretty sure you fell asleep before your head even hit the pillow.

<3<3<3<3

Your sleep was a little broken throughout the night, despite your exhaustion, so it wasn't the most restful night. Still, it was far better than some nights you'd had.

When you woke, you felt very groggy. It took you time to even remember why you were on the floor in a sleeping bag, and then the events of yesterday came rushing back to you.

"Ugnnhhh," you mumbled, reaching for your phone to check the time. 10:00. You'd better get moving. Glancing around, you suddenly realized Nemona wasn't in her bed; she must have woken before you. You typed out a quick text message, letting her know you were awake. Her reply came a few minutes later, saying she was just finishing up in the cafeteria and she'd be right back.

You're finished changing by the time she returns, carrying a little bocadillo de heuvos and a cup of coffee.

"I brought you some breakfast!"

The smell of coffee made you want to sob in joy and you had to fight the urge to jokingly ask her to marry you right then and there. Probably too soon to be joking about that stuff. Instead you just thanked her repeatedly and sat at her desk to eat. You inhaled the sandwich in three bites.

"So how are you feeling?" you asked her, the question feeling heavy, since you were worried about the answer. Nemona turned and smiled at you, and it's the usual, dazzling smile you'd come to know her for.

"A hundred percent better. It feels like the weird blanket on my brain is finally gone and I can think again."

You sighed in relief.

"Thank Arceus."

She nodded and laughed, glancing away.

"Yeah . . . that whole thing was . . . a lot."

You sipped the coffee, which was only just barely not-scorching, and hummed.

"Yeah, I'll say. But you're better now. That's what matters."

"I guess."

She looked back to you, her gaze serious.

"But I wanted to thank you for looking after me. I know how crazy and exhausting it must have been dealing with all of that. And I also wanted to apologize. For, um, everything, really."

You shook your head.

"There's no need to apologize, Nemona."

"There is, though. I was so . . . ughh," she buried her face in her hands, and you felt a pang of empathy, knowing that looking back on yesterday fully sober had to be pretty rough.

You sipped your coffee and answered calmly,

"You had an entire bottle of some weird potion dumped on you with unknown ingredients, it's fine. I'm not holding anyone accountable for something like that. Heck, it was technically all my fault, since I did it."

"Yeah, I know all that, but, ugh. I still want to apologize, Juliana. For everything I said and . . . urg, did. I realize how hard it must have been for you. And I wasn't exactly making your job easy. Plus, I know how horrible it would have been if . . . well, if I'd ended up, y'know . . ." She fidgeted nervously with her tie and looked at the floor, continuing weakly, "Ended up kissing you or whatever, ha . . ."

You frowned, your stomach souring. You timidly echoed,

"Horrible?"

She looked to you nervously.

"Well, y-yeah, it would have made it super awkward and uncomfortable between us, right? I'm just glad it didn't happen, I would hate it if I had caused that! Unintentionally or not. I never wanna be the cause of you feeling uncomfortable."

You gazed down into your cup of coffee, deciding it was still too early to be having this kind of discussion. All of your self-doubts and worries were swimming around your brain and you couldn't tell if Nemona was repulsed at the mere thought of any sort of romance with you and was just wording it very kindly, or you were just really overthinking it.

"I wouldn't have chosen the word horrible," you muttered into your coffee, before you could stop yourself. It had apparently been too quiet, since Nemona asked,

"What?"

You swallowed.

"I, uh. I just don't think I would have used the word 'horrible' to describe it if we had . . . kissed or something."

She gazed at you intently.

"What word would you have used?"

You blinked, plenty of words coming to mind, none of them particularly useful in the present moment.

Amazing. Fantastic. Incredible. Thrilling. Exhilarating, a dream come true--

"I-I dunno," you mumbled, taking another sip of coffee to avoid speaking further.

Nemona glanced away from you. Her voice was tense and strained as she answered quietly,

"It's okay, Jules. I think I get it."

You felt panic rising in your throat.

"I don't think you do, though!"

Those pretty amber eyes were on you again. Oh, god, were you gonna do this? Confess? Confess to her now? Right now, still only half-awake and in your gross wrinkled clothes from yesterday, on the heels of the weirdest day ever? This wasn't how you'd wanted to do it, you weren't even sure if you ever were going to do it!

You must have taken too long to decide, because Nemona was telling you gently,

"It's fine, Juliana. I get that it was awkward. We can just forget about the whole thing, the entire day. Pretend it never happened, never speak of it again, ok?"

You were such a coward, because that was tempting to you. It was so tempting to just stuff your feelings down and move on with the semester, never let Nemona know the truth. Never have to face the likelihood of rejection, never have to risk damaging your friendship, never have to explain yourself, never have to try.

You stammered,

"I-I . . ."

And as you hesitated, you felt the window rapidly closing on your opportunity. Your heart began to hammer in your chest, and despite all your fear-- terror, even-- something was suddenly so plain and clear to you.

You spoke your revelation aloud.

"I'm sorry, Nemona, but I can't. I can't just leave it at that. After yesterday, I think it would kill me if I didn't finally say something. I . . . god." You rubbed your face.

"I have to tell you the truth."

Your friend looked increasingly concerned. She asked,

"The truth?"

You pulled in a breath.

"Yeah . . . and, uh, before I say anything further, just so you know, this isn't something I realized recently or decided hastily, I-I mean, this, um, this has been going on for months now."

"What has?" Nemona pressed, voice rising a little in her alarm.

You pulled in another big breath to brace yourself.

"That . . . oh, man . . ."

You wanted to do this looking her dead in the eye, but apparently that wasn't gonna happen, so you stared down into your stupid coffee instead.

"God this sucks, I'm so crap at this. Okay, um. So. I-I . . ."

It felt like trying to wade through mud, getting any of the words out.

"W-what I wanted to say was that I, I, for a while now I've been having . . ."

Your eyes screwed shut, and you forced out,

"--feelings. About you. That um . . ."

Your cheeks began to heat up a little, which annoyed you, you wanted to play this cool, damnit.

"Feelings that are, that are, not just best-friends feelings?"

Oh my god that was the stupidest way to put it in the history of confessions. The shame of your awful confession gave you the strength to force yourself to look back up at her.

"I really like you," you clarified, and realized it was getting easier, so you continued,

"A lot. And I realize yesterday you had a love potion dumped on you so don't worry, I don't expect you to feel the same, I realize that all that stuff yesterday wasn't real. I just had to tell you, I had to get it off my chest. Before we moved on and never spoke of this stuff again. I dunno why exactly, I just had to tell you. So. Yeah."

You watched her like a hawk for a reaction, feeling your heart balanced on a razor blade.

Nemona's expression seemed to be almost entirely blank, as if her mind had just blue-screened with this information. This was terribly frustrating since it told you nothing. You watched and waited, trying to be patient, but every second felt like eons.

Finally, her expression seemed to settle into one of . . . mild exasperation?

"Y'know that would have made things yesterday a heck of a lot easier if I'd known this a little sooner."

Befuddled, you asked,

"What?"

She looked to you and stated in a plain tone,

"Yeah, I've been completely and utterly infatuated with you since pretty much our first day together."

All the breath exited your lungs at once and your eyes boggled. Shrilly, you gasped,

"W-what?!"

She seemed almost amused with your reaction.

"Is it really so hard to believe? I thought you already knew. Or suspected it anyway, I was really bad at hiding it! Especially yesterday, hah . . ."

"You were drugged! On a love potion!" you said, gesturing dramatically at her.

This time she did laugh a little, and it distressed you how calmly she seemed to be taking all of this. Bluntly, she responded,

"Yeah, but all that really did was make it harder for me to keep my mouth shut about the stuff that's been running through my head every day about you."

Then her eyes widened and she cringed, as if realizing how much of a confession her statement had been. Nervously, she added,

"Uh. Um . . . shoot. Sorry. If that freaks you out."

You felt your face getting very hot, because that was a lot to process. All of this was a lot to process.

"It, uh . . . wow."

Nemona fidgeted with her tie.

"Wow . . . wow-bad or wow-good orrrrr . . ."

You answered quickly,

"I mean, wow good, it's just I've been spending a seriously long time telling myself that it was all just wishful thinking, so it's gonna take me a hot minute to, uh. Wrap my head around it."

She was quiet a moment, pondering things. Then she began to speak in a thoughtful tone.

"I guess I could say the same. I . . . I was so sure it was just me. At first I thought I was just ecstatic with finally finding a real friend, and it would wear off or whatever, but it just kept going and. Well then I made some other good friends but it still felt really intense with you, so for a while I told myself it was just because you and I were best friends and rivals for life, that's just how it feels! But no matter how I kept trying to talk myself out of it, it never really worked and I eventually realized that it was more than that and . . . and I'm rambling. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

You smiled a little, quickly assuring her,

"It's fine."

"Anyway, even after I realized all that I was still so sure you didn't feel like that, and I didn't want to put that on you. When I find something I like, I tend to go at it a thousand percent, heh, as you kinda already know. And . . ."

She glanced away.

"And I know most people find me a bit . . . much."

You immediately got to your feet, stepping closer to her and answering urgently,

"And I love that about you, I wouldn't have it any other way."

She flicked her gaze back to you briefly, eyes wide. Then she turned and started to pace a little, saying,

"Hold on a moment, I'm gonna need a moment. Ooh."

You were a little confused but you remained quiet, watching her pace and fuss with her tie, fidgeting with nervous energy, until finally she asked,

"You're really serious, aren't you?"

She sounded so . . . shocked.

"Yes. I would never-- I'd never joke about this!"

She waved her hands,

"I didn't think you were joking, but, I wasn't . . . I don't know, it's just hard for me to believe, I guess?"

Staring at her, you grappled with a feeling of profound frustration. You'd spent hours upon hours thinking about all the ways in which you admired and adored your dear friend, but suddenly faced with the task of putting them all into words at once, in this moment, felt . . . entirely impossible. It all just jammed together in an incredibly powerful knot of feelings.

You stammered,

"H-how? Why? You're so, you're so amazing, I don't even know how to . . . I still find it hard to believe that you really like me that much!"

You heard yourself outloud and suddenly found yourself snickering over how ridiculous this conversation sounded. Nemona smiled and chuckled, mostly out of tension it seemed, and asked,

"What is it?"

You shook your head,

"It's just silly, we're apparently madly in love and we don't even believe each other."

Nemona's smile increased and her eyes grew warm with mirth, as she seemed to appreciate your point. After a few beats, she said,

"Well, if you need further convincing, I have a pretty strong argument I've been wanting to make for a while now."

You nodded.

"Yeah, absolutely, go for it."

She hesitated.

"You sure?"

You said,

"Of course!"

For some reason, she remained unconvinced. She glanced away, gnawing a little at her bottom lip. You weren't sure what the problem was, but it seemed whatever she was considering had her very worried.

You stepped closer to her.

"Nemona," you said gently. When she looked at you, you could see such vulnerability in those golden-orange eyes. You felt like it was a look you'd seen before, in your more serious conversations with her. Usually when she was describing her past attempts at making friends, and how she'd apparently scared them all away with her intensity.

You reached out, tenderly brushing aside the dark green strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes. You told her softly,

"Hey, it's okay. You're not going to freak me out. All that stuff that happened yesterday and I'm still here, right?"

A smile curved at your lips at the end of your sentence and she laughed a little. You could see the confidence building in her eyes. Her voice was a little firmer when she repeated,

"You're sure?"

You nodded. She seemed to be studying your gaze, so you let her see all of the certainty that you felt.

Quietly, hardly more than a murmur, you told her;

"It's okay, Nemona. No more holding back."

And as she looked at you, those incredibly expressive, beautiful eyes seemed to sparkle, like the rising sun. A joyful grin spread on her face, one that you'd helped put there, and god, you felt giddy with the knowledge.

You loved this girl. She was radiant.

"Okay, good," she said,

"Because I've been wanting to do this for god knows how long, and I'm not waiting any longer."

She slid her hands over your waist and pulled you close, kissing you with a hunger that was all-encompassing, a roaring inferno that made you shiver as you surrendered yourself into the moment. Kissing her felt like eating flame, or drowning at sea, or being pulled into a hurricane.

Wild. Unfettered. Untarnished passion.

When you eventually pulled apart, she was grinning like an idiot, and you realized you were, too. Giggling, you said,

"Wow. That was, um. That was worth the wait."

She pressed her forehead to yours, sighing.

"Yeah. It really was."

#julinemo #terajules #juliana x nemona #nemona #julinemo fanfic #second person POV #juliana POV #love potion trope #flirting #hijinks

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