Requested by LeeStar14
Tabitha x Male Reader
"Tabi! Wait up!" You called out, following after the young boy. "C'mon [Name]! Keep up!" He called back with a large smile. Older people in town smiled watching the two 6 year old boys running around their hometown.
See, you grew up with Tabitha in Lavaridge town,and you two were inseparable. You both had a love for fire pokémon of course. Tabitha caught his Numel with the help of his grandfather a year ago. While your parents had gifted you a Slugma earlier that year.
You were both racing to see who could get to the hot springs first, when you tripped over...we'll, nothing. You tumbled to the ground harshly. The pokéball you always had with you slipped out of your pocket, releasing your Slugma. The lava slug came a little closer, concerned for its trainer.
Your knees hurt, and you could feel tears stinging at your eyes, but you tried to hold them back. "Don't cry stupid..." You scolded yourself. "Hey! What happened!?" Tabitha yelled from his spot a few feet away from you. You couldn't look up and meet his gaze. It was too embarrassing. You didn't quite know why yet.
The next thing you knew, Tabitha was right beside you. One hand on your lower back, and the other holding your hand. His hand was soft and warm, and he smelled like woodfire smoke. It was comforting.
"Up you go, you ok?" He asked, eyes filled with concern. You just nodded. You knew your face was red with pain and embarrassment. You half expected Tabitha to chide you for being clumsy.
Instead, his hand landed softly on your head, stroking your hair. "Pain, pain, go away." He said softly. Your eyes widened, forgetting about the pain in your knees.
"Better?" He asked, smiling. "Y-yea, how'd you do that!?" Tabitha laughed, "Magic! But be careful from now on! Tell me when something hurts, ok? Don't try to grit and bear it!"
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The alarm clock next to you started blaring, and you groggily opened your eyes. You hadn't dreamed of Tabitha in so long. That dream was a long forgotten memory from 15 years ago.
The last time you had seen him was when you were both 10, and his grandfather passed. Tabi was never the same after that. You had tried to comfort him awkwardly, but it didn't work. A few days later, he disappeared without a trace.
His disappearance hit you hard. You missed your best friend. Not only that, you missed your boyhood crush. For a long time, you told yourself that boys didn't have those kinds of feelings for other boys. At some point in your teen adolescence, you accepted it, and your family didn't mind. You were pretty lucky in that aspect. But your heart could never forget Tabitha.
You had tried to date, but...they weren't him.
Years had passed, and you now worked as a scientist at the Weather Institute of Hoenn. But you lived in Fortree City, usually flying over to your job on your Altaria.
Your Magcargo made its way over and stared at you from the bed. "Yea yea I'm coming." You told it, getting up and stretching out your body before starting your morning routine.
Unfortunately, piles of very boring paperwork awaited you as you stepped into the institute, which meant you wouldn't have much to distract from the dream of your first love. You sighed and relinquished yourself to the boredom, picking up a pen as your Magcargo found its way under your desk to keep you warm.
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A few hours in, you heard commotion outside your office doors. It sounded like yelling. But just as you stood up to go investigate, one of your fellow researchers ran in, shutting and locking the door.
"What's going on!?" You asked, coming out from behind the desk. Your curious partner pokémon coming out from its spot. Your co-worker looked at you with sheer panic. "T-team magma! They're trying to take over the institute!"
"What!? We need to go help!" You argued, trying to push past him. "[Name] these guys are scary! Their #1 administration is here!"
You heard someone yell behind the door, "Camerupt use earth power!" That voice was familiar. But before you could place it, the floor beneath you shuddered violently. You tried to catch yourself, but you fell forward, landing on your arm at an awkward angle. You screamed in pain as the floor stilled again.
"There's more people! I just heard someone scream!" Someone yelled. "Check everywhere!" That familiar voice yelled again.
Someone was banging on your door. "G-get behind me.." You said through gritted teeth to your coworker. They nodded and went to hide behind your desk. You knew he wasn't a great battler. He wouldn't be very helpful right now.
Another big bang, and your door fell open. A man in a Team Magma uniform stepped through with a Mightyena. Your Magcargo moved in front of you. "Found 'em boss!" He yelled back.
You held your arm close to your body and stood up, trying to ignore the pain. "Magcargo, flame burst!" Magcargo reared its head back and shot a large ball of fire toward the Mightyena. It hit the Mightyena head on, but it stayed standing. "You son of a -" "DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Someone yelled out.
The magma grunt stopped and looked back. You looked too and gasped. "T-Tabi...?" You asked no one in particular.
You recognized the man with dark hair and round face. Your first and only love, Tabitha.
You couldn't read the look in his eyes. "You're the admin of Team Magma...?" You asked quietly. Tabitha glared at the grunt. "I will take care of things here. That kid is here again. Go take care of her." The grunt nodded and turned with the Mightyena.
Tabitha walked over to you slowly. The shock of seeing him again made your legs weak as you sunk to the ground. You couldn't hurt him. You couldn't. Magcargo was probably just as surprised because Tabitha walked right past it and closer to you. You squeezed your eyes shut. You wanted to wake up in your bed again, hoping this was just a bad dream.
A big, warm hand landed on your head, stroking your hair. "You ok?" You opened your eyes and looked up at Tabitha. He was kneeling in front of you now. He was much taller and bigger than he was when you were young, but his face was the same.
"Pain, pain, go away." He said softly. Your face felt like it would burst into flames at any moment. "Tabi..." "I told you to tell me when something hurts." Tabitha chided, but he still chuckled at your state. "My arm..." you said.
Tabitha looked at the arm you were cradling and nodded. "Stay in here, ok?" Don't come out until it's quite down. You couldn't help but nod. Tabitha smiled and kissed the top of your head softly, making your face burn more. "Take care of him." He said to your Magcargo before walking out.
"What was that!?" Your coworker asked loudly, coming out of his hiding spot. But you didn't answer. You were still thinking about how soft his lips felt on your head.
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About another passed, but you didn't see Tabitha after that. You hadn't seen him at all since that day at the Weather Institute. Every time you thought about it and the small kiss he gave you, you thought your heart would beat out of your chest. Luckily, your coworker forgot all about it when he saw your arm and became more concerned with getting you taken care of. Even now, your arm was still in a cast. It turns out it was broken.
Work got busier after that, on top of construction being done to fix the damage caused by Team Magma. And then there was that heat wave that seemed to affect all of Hoenn. Before any of you had a chance to do some research, it disappeared.
Because of everything that happened, your boss wanted you to take a vacation. For the most part, you stayed home with your pokémon and relaxed. But that didn't keep your thoughts from wandering to Tabitha. You just hoped he was ok..
There was a knock at your door. Without thinking about what you were wearing, you got up and opened the door.
Tabitha stood in your doorway, no longer wearing his Team Magma clothes, or at least they didn't have the Magma emblem on them. "Tabi! What are you doing here!?" You asked, trying to hold back a smile.
"Was in the neighborhood...can I come in?" He asked shyly. You nodded and stepped aside for him to enter.
"Did you just wake up?" He asked, gesturing to you. "No?" You answered, but then you realized. You were only wearing your boxers and pajama pants. You avoided wearing shirts at home if you could thanks to your cast. "A-ah sorry! Cast makes it hard to get a shirt on and off." You blushed.
"Then you're fine...does it hurt?" Tabitha asked. You shook your head, "It did at first, but it's more like a dull ache now? I should be getting the cast off soon." You explained. Tabitha just nodded.
"Tabi...where did you go?" You asked, sitting at the kitchen table. Tabitha took a seat too and sighed. Your Magcargo immediately went by your feet and laid down. The sight made Tabitha smile.
He went on to tell you how he felt lost without his grandfather and needed to get away from everything. He met Maxie a few years later and admired him, allying himself to Team Magma. Infiltrating the Devin Corporation in hopes of getting what they needed to bring back Groudon, which all backfired. Luckily this kid trainer helped them out.
"So that was what that heat wave was about.." You drummed your fingers on the table. Tabitha nodded, "I wanted to reach out to you...but the thought of it made you nervous and scared..." He didn't meet your eyes.
"Why?" You asked. "I was scared you'd be mad at me. Never want to see me again..." He said this so quietly, you almost didn't hear him. You quietly placed your hand on top of his. Tabitha's head shot up and looked from your hands to you. "I could never hate you Tabi...I wanted to know why you left, but I was never mad at you. Just worried." You squeezed his hand and smiled.
You swore you saw a light blush on his cheeks. "Is that also why you were nervous?" You asked.
Tabitha was quiet for a moment, "No...I was nervous..because...." "Because?" You prompted, urging him to continue. Tabitha took a deep breath, "Because I've been in love with you for years [Name]...."
You stared at him, shock written all over your face. You pulled your hand back, and Tabitha looked at you panicked. "If you don't-!" You pinched yourself and winced at the pain. "Guess I'm not dreaming." You said plainly.
"Huh?" Tabitha asked. You reached out again and held Tabitha's hand, bring his hand up to your lips to kiss it gently. A blush covered both or your cheeks now. "I've always loved you too Tabi, all this time." You smiled at him.
Tabitha smiled back, a real, wide, genuine smile. "Team Magma sorta disbanded, and the champion pardoned us...can I stay with you [Name]? We can be together?" He asked, as if this wasn't really happening.
You stood up, and so did he. You leaned over the table with him, lips finally meeting in a soft and gentle kiss. The smell of woodfire permeated your nose. "Of course Tabi..."