Catching Your Love | KirBede

Route 5 and Hulbury

Kireina woke up to the sound of pounding on her bedroom door. "Kiri! Wake up!" Hop yelled through the door. "Yeah, yeah, I'm up! Be quiet." She grumbled, rolling out of bed. "Hurry up and get ready! You're gonna have to fight Nessa today!" "Hop, calm down! It won't take me that long to get ready." "Just hurry up!" She groaned, quickly showering and getting dressed. "Finally." Hop said as she pulled her bag over her shoulders. "It was only ten minutes. And it won't take that long to get to Hulbury. All we have to do is call a taxi to Turffield and walk from there." Hop begrudgingly called a taxi. The taxi ride was short, but felt like an eternity. Her phone went off, and she had just barely glanced at it before Hop spoke up. "Who's that, your fifth partner of the week?" "Hop, I don't know what's gotten into you, but you need to calm down." Kireina said, tossing her phone into her bag. "Yeah, ok." It went silent again, and soon enough, the taxi landed in Turffield.

"C'mon Kiri. Our matches are soon!" Hop smiled, acting as if the cab ride hadn't happened. He took off down Route 5. Kireina followed, occasionally dodging trainers and fighting wild Pokemon. "Good job Budew!" She smiled, petting it. The same bright light that shone around Becheep when it evolved covered Budew, and just as quickly, it was gone. "Aw!" She picked Roselia up, and it smiled. "You'll be perfect for Nessa's gym!" It frowned. "You're a good Pokemon too, don't worry." She recalled it, continuing down Route 5. A daycare worker waved as she passed, and she smiled back.

"Oi! Just hand over that bike already! We need it to cross the bridge!" A voice rang out as Kireina approached the bridge."We're gonna use that bike to chase around Gym Challengers! It'll be a scream!" The second Team Yell member laughed. "Even if I gave you the bike, it wouldn't work. You don't have a Rotom with you." A man dressed in scrubs turned around, seeing Kireina. "Hey, could you help me, Gym Challenger? I'd be in your debt if you help me!" "Uh, alright." The man backed away, and the Team Yell members turned to Kireina. "Oi, we're not tryin' to steal the bike! Only borrow it! We're gonna use it to chase after the Gym Challengers and make 'em all tired. But I'm thinkin' you deserve a special shout-out. I'm gonna crush you in a battle!" The battle didn't last long. "Why you... Don't hurt my friend like that! We want that bike, and I won't let you get in my way!" The second battle didn't last long either. "You're too strong! If you stay in the Gym Challenge, you're gonna cause problems for our lady!" They took off down the bridge, cursing under their breath.

"My word, you're quite the Trainer! And I see you have a Pokedex, too! That means you have a Rotom with you! Fantastic! I think I'll give this bike to you then. Better you have it than Team Yell!"  Kireina nodded, not really paying attention. "...So that got me thinking, if I attached a motor to a bicycle, then maybe I could get a Rotom to pop into that as well!" "Right..." "Come now, give it a shot! Enjoy cycling together with Rotom to the fullest! Come on now! You and Rotom ride that bicycle together!" "I'll read the manual for you." She didn't pay attention, knowing that she probably wouldn't use it that much. "Well, bye Gym Challenger!" The man turned around, walking towards Turffield. Kireina half walked, half jogged down the bridge. She glanced to the left, seeing Hammerlocke in the distance. "Wonder if I'll make it there... maybe." "Hey Kiri!" Hop called from down the bridge. "Let's have a battle, you and I!" Kireina sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get out of it, no matter what she did.

"You've gotten stronger Kiri! Seems I've got to train even harder from now on!" Hop smiled, even though he was easily defeated. "Next up is Nessa, the leader of the Water Gym!" Without giving Kireina the chance to respond, he dashed off down the rest of Route 5. "Guess I should hurry up too." She sighed, reluctantly following him. An Eldegoss gently drifted over her as she neared the end of the bridge, and she couldn't help but smile. A Wobbuffet caught sight of her, but tripped over itself before it could chase after her. Kireina sped up, laughing to herself.

A small crowd had gathered in the middle of the walkway, Kireina glanced over at the small crow, and saw Chairman Rose, Oleana, and... "Damnit!" She cursed under her breath, avoiding eye contact with Bede. She turned to the Pokemon Center, her hand on the door, when Rose spotted her. "Hey, Challenger Kireina!" Rose called, and she reluctantly walked over to the group. "Good job on beating Milo yesterday! It was an amazing match to watch, you did wonderful." Rose complimented. "Thank you." Kireina was trying to focus on anything but Bede staring at her from behind Rose, his trademark smirk on his face. Rose continued to babble on about the Gym Challenge, but Kirenia couldn't pay attention with Bede staring at her. "Anyway, good luck on Nessa's challenge!" He walked off, Oleana turning towards her. "Hurry up and go win, the Chairman would like to have a word with you at this restaurant," Oleana gestured behind her, "after your match. I expect you to show up quickly." Kireina nodded. "Ah, here. The Chairman's league card, how could I forget." Oleana handed her his card before trailing after him.

Kiriena glanced at the card, making a face and haphazardly threw it into her bag. "Hello again, Kireina." An arm slid around her shoulder, and Kireina's face burned pink as she realized it was Bede. "I didn't expect you to make it this far. Maybe you aren't as pathetic as I thought you were." Kireina could barely focus on his words. He's so warm... I could get used to this... She thought. "Hey, Kiri! The gym match..." Hop's voice trailed off as he saw Bede practically wrapped around her. His eyes flickered between the both of them, and Kireina saw something in Hop's eyes, but she couldn't tell if it was anger, jealousy, or some unholy mixture of the two. "Match is soon." He mumbled, turning on his heels and storming towards the stadium. "Your friend seems upset." "He's not usually like that." "Oh well. His problem, not mine." Bede glanced over at her, a half smile on his face. "Good luck on your match Kireina. I'll be watching." He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, making her face explode with red. Bede waved as he walked towards the stadium, his usual smirk back in place.

Kireina stumbled to the Pokemon Center, her mind a jumbled mess. "Are you alright ma'am?" Nurse Joy asked, waving a hand in front of her face. "Oh! Yeah... yeah I'm fine. Just nervous for my match is all." "Ah, you're a Gym Challenger! Good luck with fighting Nessa, she's a bit of a challenge." Kireina walked back out of the Pokemon Center, a small smile on her face. Hop was nowhere to be seen, but Kireina didn't care. A gym trainer stood in front of the stadium. "Sorry, if you're a challenger, Nessa's not here at the moment. If you want to challenge her, she's probably down at the lighthouse." Kireina glanced around, seeing a lighthouse just past the dock.

"You must be one of the Gym Challengers, right?" Nessa turned around at the sound of her footsteps. Kireina didn't know if it was because she was already flustered from Bede, but she turned an even deeper red from Nessa. "Y-yeah." "You're one of the ones endorsed by Leon, right?" Nessa asked, smiling. "You've become something of a hot topic among the Gym Leaders. Here you go, Ms. Famous. I already heard about you, so you should learn about me, too." Nessa handed Kireina her league card. "Let's head to the stadium. I love fishing, but I love Pokemon battles even more, and I'm itching for a battle with you!" Nessa flashed one last smile at Kireina before walking back to the stadium.

[I'm sorry that this took so long to come out! A looooot of stuff happened all at once and it slaughtered my motivation, but I finally finished this, and I'm sorry if it's bad. I'll try to write the next chapter soon. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one, and I'll hopefully see you soon - G💘]