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Motostoke is loud. Big and loud and teeming with people. After a week of camping in the Wild Area, with only the sounds of wild Pokémon and occasional campers or League staff to trade watts with, the sudden change is jarring, and it takes Gloria a few minutes to adjust enough to locate the nearby Pokémon Center.
Surrounded by people again, she feels acutely aware of her general grubbiness. In the Wild Area, it hadn’t made a difference, but she gives herself a mostly-covert sniff as she heads up the high street, and winces. The saving grace of the whole thing is that she’s not the only one. There are others arriving to the city who also clearly came from the Wild Area; who are probably there for the same reason she is. And a good portion of them have dragged themselves through the city gates, caked in mud and exhausted, so Gloria counts herself reasonably lucky.
Sonia intercepts her just outside the Pokémon Center, and mercifully makes no indication that she’s noticed anything out of the ordinary.
Gloria’s team is in fairly good shape — she’d started out with a good quantity of potions thanks to the pocket money her mum had given her, and had returned to the meetup spot a few times to give them a more thorough pick-me-up — but she hands her Pokéballs over to the Nurse and watches as the images of her partners pop up on the screen. There are three more of them now than she’d left Wedgehurst with, and both she and her Pokémon feel a lot stronger.
Of course, she hasn’t actually battled another Trainer since her last match with Hop.
Hop gets up first, and goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth so Gloria can get changed. It’s a relief to get out of her boyshorts, which are … kind of gross, honestly. Dry, now, but … gross. She shoves them to the bottom of her bag and pulls on clean knickers, feeling a residual ache between her legs. It doesn’t hurt; it’s just there, proof that she hadn’t just had a vivid dream. She really did have sex with Leon last night. Only a few hours ago, really.
She hadn’t given any thought to how the morning would go, but now that the sun is shining in the window, she’s realizing that she’s somehow going to have to act as if absolutely nothing had happened.
Hop knocks on the door, interrupting her thoughts, and Gloria’s still standing in the middle of his bedroom in just her knickers.
“Sorry, just a second!” She calls out, registering Hop’s answering okay as she quickly pulls on the rest of her clothes.
Hop is leaning against the wall when she opens the door, but he doesn’t seem upset about the wait. Before they can fully swap places, Leon’s door opens at the end of the hall.
“Morning, Lee!” Hop perks up instantly at the sight of his brother. Gloria hesitates to look, but when she does, she sees that Leon has put on a worn-looking t-shirt in addition to a pair of boxers that are quite a bit less… Well. She can think it, right? Less sexy than the tight boxer-briefs he’d been wearing before. Of course, that particular pair of shorts were probably in even worse shape than hers.
“Morning,” Leon replies, though he’s less chipper than his little brother. He’s got that look that adults get, the one that’s usually accompanied by a request for someone to put the kettle on. “Morning, Gloria,” he adds. “Sleep well?”
For a moment she freezes like a startled Bunnelby, not sure how she’s even supposed to— but there’s a little twinkle in his eye, that’s just for her.
Cheeky!
“Very well, thanks,” she answers, after a pause that she hopes wasn’t too long. She smiles as she meets Leon’s eyes; it’s a new smile, unfamiliar on her face. A shared secret. Leon returns it. Hop doesn’t seem to notice.
“I’m gonna get dressed,” Hop says, and pulls his bedroom door shut for privacy.
“Share the sink?” Leon suggests, one eyebrow raised, and that’s what they do, brushing their teeth side-by-side. They work around each other with a surprising ease, considering the size of the space, trading off whose turn it is to spit. It feels so grown up, which seems like such a silly thought. They’d had sex a few hours ago, but brushing their teeth together is the thing that makes her feel like an adult? But there’s something about the domesticity of it that’s just… nice.
Leon offers her his mouthwash, and she takes him up on it. They catch each other’s eyes again, both of them Skwovet-cheeked as they swish, and neither of them can keep from laughing, shoulders shaking as they both struggle to keep from spitting mouthwash all over the bathroom. Leon breaks first, spitting into the sink and letting himself laugh, but Gloria’s only half a breath behind him.
Hop’s bedroom door opens with a bang — in a hurry as ever — and Hop pokes his head around the doorway, looking slightly puzzled at first to find them both laughing over the sink.
“How long does it take to brush your teeth? Hurry it up or I won’t leave any breakfast for either of you!” Hop grins at them, clearly joking, though Gloria has seen Hop eat and she doesn’t doubt that he could do it, if he really set his mind to it.
“We’ll be right down,” Leon assures him with a fond sort of exasperation. A moment later, Hop’s footsteps drum down the stairs, and they’re alone.
There’s a brief, pregnant pause; both of them waiting, Gloria thinks, to be sure that Hop isn’t going to come running right back. He doesn’t.
“Good morning, bright eyes,” Leon says, his voice like honey, and Gloria happily lets him draw her up into a very minty kiss.
There’s no time for anything else, of course, but it’s enough.
She doesn’t know if Hop notices, distracted by the disappointment of his loss in their battle and the subsequent excitement of the endorsement letters that Leon hands both of them.
Gloria notices, though.
Leon gives her a wink as he hands the letter over, his fingers brushing over hers.
The Wishing Stars fall, and Gloria becomes absolutely sure that Hop is never going to think back and realize that Leon had been ready to endorse both of them before they’d even reached Professor Magnolia’s house.
The Professor had been genuine, when she’d chided Leon about giving them his endorsement. So the only time he’d had to write those letters had been that morning, after Gloria went downstairs to breakfast and he’d gone back to his room to get dressed. (Gloria had, originally, assumed that it just took that long to manage the cape.)
Leon had known Hop was going to ask, and he’d known he was going to say yes. Gloria smiles to herself. Well. She supposes he hadn’t gotten to be the Champion — and stayed the Champion — without being able to anticipate his “opponent.”
Sonia makes dinner for the five of them, and Leon is proved entirely correct about her cooking: it’s possibly the most delicious curry Gloria’s ever eaten. For all that Sonia had yelled at Leon for focusing on her cooking when he’d introduced her, she looks pleased with the praise they heap on, and the fact that everyone except the Professor takes a second helping.
Professor Magnolia invites all of them to spend the night; her house is big and sprawling and has more than enough guest rooms. Gloria and Hop agree readily, and the Professor turns her attention to her final guest.
“Leon? Will you be joining us? It’s been years since you slept over.”
Leon laughs, rich and genuine. “It’s been a decade!”
Professor Magnolia clucks at him, her smile as fond as if he were her own grandchild. “I suppose you don’t fit into those Charizard pajamas anymore,” she allows, then gives Hop and Gloria an exaggerated wink. “I still have pictures, you know!”
“Oh no, don’t let her get the photo albums out,” Sonia moans, but she’s smiling too, and Gloria giggles.
“I’d love to stay,” Leon says. Gloria’s heart leaps into her throat — she doesn’t know this house like she knows Hop’s, but Leon clearly does. It would be risky, but they could—
“—But I have to catch the red-eye to Wyndon. League stuff in the morning,” he explains.
Gloria is absolutely certain that she looks more upset about his leaving than she strictly should be, but thankfully, nobody is looking at her.
“Aww, you have to leave already? But you just got here!” Hop pouts, and Leon reaches out to pull him into a one-armed hug, ruffling his hair.
“Sorry, Hoppip,” Leon says, with genuine regret, and Hop squawks in indignation. “You’ll just have to come steal my championship; then you can be the one running all over Galar, yeah?”
“Yeah!” There’s nothing that can cheer Hop up faster than his dream of being the next Champion.
Leon leaves with hugs for all of them. Professor Magnolia gets a kiss on the cheek as well, and returns it with an admonishment to visit more often; Leon promises to try. Sonia, for all that her relationship with Leon seems strained, somehow, still accepts the offered hug, with a genuine good to see you that gets her an extra squeeze and a you too.
Gloria’s next, because of course Hop is last. She lets out a surprised yelp that immediately turns into a giggle when he unexpectedly picks her entirely off her feet, playful enough that he gets away with holding her tight against him for a moment before putting her back down.
“Keep this one in line for me?” His smile has an edge of that secret smile to it, even as he reaches out and ruffles Hop’s hair again.
“Hey!” Hop complains, but he looks pleased at the attention anyway.
“I’ll do my best,” Gloria jokes, earning herself a mock glare from Hop in the moment before Leon pulls him in for a proper hug of his own.
“Take care of yourself, little brother,” he says. “I’ll see you in Motostoke, yeah?” Hop says something in return but it’s muffled against Leon’s chest and Gloria can’t make it out.
Hop’s mood is noticeably subdued after Leon leaves, until the Professor encourages them to let their Pokémon out while they watch a film with Sonia. Grookey and Scorbunny play chase around the room before curling up together to sleep, and the next time Gloria looks away from the telly, Hop is looking at them and smiling.
Sonia catches her again outside the Pokémon Center, once Gloria has retrieved her team, sold a bunch of the stuff she’d picked up in the Wild Area, and restocked on Potions and Pokéballs.
“You’ll need to register for the Gym Challenge up at the Stadium,” Sonia reminds her, and helpfully points out the correct direction. She’d mentioned that she had once been Leon’s rival, during their Gym Challenge; Gloria suspects that giving directions has become a habit.
Then Sonia takes her arm, and pulls her up the high street.
“But first! Shopping!”
Gloria wouldn’t have bothered, on her own, but she has to admit that Sonia is right — the shops in Motostoke have really cute clothes, and they also don’t bat an eyelash at her general grubbiness. They must be used to Trainers coming in out of the Wild Area, probably looking for a wardrobe refresh after days or weeks — or months, maybe! — of camping.
Sonia has good taste, too, and helps her pick out a few things, encouraging her to try on a short, pleated skirt that she ends up loving. It makes her legs look longer, and the hem is high enough on her thigh that it feels daring and adventurous. Gloria puts all of her purchases in her bag, for the time being; she sort of wants a shower before wearing brand-new clothes.
In the end, she still taps out before Sonia does, leaving the older girl to browse a few more shops while Gloria heads to the Stadium to get registered. It’s already late afternoon, and she actually has no idea if the registration closes, or when. The walk up the high street is straightforward, but it ends at a brick wall and a strange platform attached to some of the huge gears that Motostoke is known for, and she pauses to look the whole thing over, trying to figure out exactly what she’s supposed to do.
“Gloria!”
She turns around at the sound of her name; unexpected, since Sonia’s the only person she knows in Motostoke, and Sonia is currently searching for the perfect handbag.
It is, at least, incredibly easy for Gloria to figure out who was calling her. The pedestrians on the street move aside easily as Leon jogs up, though possibly they’re moving aside more for Charizard, who follows close behind his trainer. More than a few of them turn to watch him, some taking pictures with their phones and others whispering to each other, but none of them try to stop him.
“Looks like you made it in one piece,” he greets her, smiling as he looks her over. Charizard comes up behind him with a Gwar! that Gloria interprets as a hello.
“Hi, Charizard,” she greets him, earning her another soft gwaaar from the pleased Pokémon. Leon beams, giving Charizard’s horns a little scratch.
“Pretty much in one piece,” Gloria confirms, turning her attention from the Pokémon to the Trainer. “Camping was fun, but I’m looking forward to having a real bed tonight.”
She doesn’t catch her own implication until she sees the flare of heat in Leon’s expression, the way his smile curls in that secretive way. She blushes.
“I didn’t mean—” she starts, but Leon cuts her off.
“I know what you meant,” he laughs, “I spent nearly three weeks out there training before starting my Gym Challenge; it was a miracle I managed to make myself get out of bed in time for the opening ceremonies!” Charizard gives him a gentle headbutt, and Gloria suspects his partner had something to do with making sure he’d gotten there on time. Though, she imagines Charizard had been quite a bit smaller, at the time.
Leon steps in closer, then, lowering his voice so it won’t carry beyond the two of them. “But if you’re interested, in the other thing…?”
“Yes,” she agrees, without hesitation. “That too.”
He’s so close, the air between them charged. Leon takes a half-step back before either of them does something stupid, out in public with who knows how many phones pointed at them. Well, at him, but the distinction hardly matters.
“I’m glad I caught you,” he says, back to a normal volume. “I got you something.” He digs into his pocket, and pulls out a black lump. It looks almost like a piece of coal, but when she takes it from him, it’s surprisingly light.
“It’s Charcoal,” he explains, “It makes fire-type moves blazingly strong; just let your Pokémon hold onto it.”
The Charcoal smudges her fingertips black as she examines it. It’s so light, but the real weight of it isn’t physical; the magnitude of what he’s given her slowly sinks in.
She’s supposed to want flowers, probably. Or jewelry. That’s what all the films say a girl should want, after all. But if there’s one thing she knows about him, it’s that Leon loves Pokémon, loves battling, more than just about anything else. He’s said it himself, after all — that his dream is for every Trainer in Galar to be the strongest they can be.
He may as well have given her a diamond.
Gloria prefers the Charcoal.
“Lee,” she breathes, not quite knowing what to say. Thank you feels woefully insufficient.
“I’m glad you like it.” He smiles at her, almost shy, and Gloria realizes that he had been nervous about it.
She wonders, a quick flicker of thought, if there had been some other girl, a girl who wanted flowers. She thinks of Sonia, browsing for handbags, her Yamper at her heels. The Yamper she’s had since she and Leon had taken on the Gym Challenge together. The Yamper she’s never evolved.
Oh.
“I love it.”
It’s only when Charizard gives them a quizzical Gwarr? that she realizes they’ve just been standing there, staring at each other.
Leon takes another half-step back.
“I should go get registered.” She turns to look at the platform again.
“It’s a lift,” Leon explains, following her gaze. “It’s automatic; just stand on it and it’ll take you to the upper level. The Stadium’s right there.” He pauses. “I think.”
Gloria and Charizard both laugh at him, but he takes it with good humor.
The feeling of hot water pounding on her skin is absolute heaven. The Budew Drop Inn has good water pressure, and the water doesn’t go cold — heated, she’s sure, by the great steam engines of Motostoke. She scrubs herself clean, washes her hair. Shaves, very carefully. It’s been a week since she’s had the chance to do so, and the hair on her legs and under her arms has progressed well past stubble. She changes to a fresh razor blade before turning her attention to the hair between her legs, checking and double-checking with her fingers to make sure she hasn’t missed any spots.
By the time she’s done making sure everything is smooth, the combination of her own fingers and the thought of why she’s being so careful has sparked her arousal. The showerhead is one of the kind that you can take down and use as a handheld sprayer, and has a powerful, thumping massage setting that had felt amazing on her shoulders. It feels amazing everywhere, it turns out, and Gloria makes good use of the endless hot water.
When she finally emerges from the shower, she slips into the soft robe provided by the hotel, feeling like a glamorous movie star.
Gloria fills the tub with fresh, cold water and prepares her team’s food before she lets them out of their Pokéballs. She’s well prepared for the explosion of black-and-white stripes and crunching, grunting cacophony of eating noises that is, arguably, her Zigzagoon. The rest of her team takes to their dinners with, thankfully, slightly less enthusiasm.
While they eat, Gloria occupies herself reorganizing her bag, and gathering up her grubby clothes to stuff into the bag marked “Laundry.” The League paid well for the Gym Challengers’ rooms, including a room service meal — which she’d taken advantage of before her shower — and use of any and all of the Inn’s amenities. Including, apparently, the overnight laundry service, which promises that if she leaves the laundry bag in the hall before midnight, her clean clothes will be delivered back to her in the morning. It’s all so posh, and so very, very far away from Postwick.
Half the contents of her bag are still spread out over the bed when there’s a knock on the door. Gloria casts a despairing look over the mess, but it is what it is.
Leon stands in the hallway, and Gloria blinks in surprise, taking him in. He’s left the cape somewhere — his own hotel room, probably. He’s dressed in jeans and a white button-down shirt with widely-spaced pin stripes, both of which look expensive. Though he’s paired them with his usual trainers and ever-present ballcap, which somewhat diminishes the effect. It’s not quite a disguise, but it’s certainly less flashy than his usual uniform.
“Can I come in?” he asks after a moment, and Gloria nearly startles.
“Oh! Yeah, of course.” She stands aside, holding the door open. He glances both ways down the hall before stepping inside, and she closes the door behind him.
She realizes that she forgot to warn him, several seconds too late.
“Whoa!” Leon stumbles, his ankles under full assault, and Gloria groans.
“Zigzagoon,” she scolds, though it does little to stop the excitable Pokémon from jumping up at Leon’s legs, no longer content to simply run figure-8s around his feet. Rookidee adds her own scolding trill — equally ineffective — as she flaps from the floor lamp to Leon’s hat and perches there.
“Well, hello there!” Leon grins down at Zigzagoon, then drops to one knee so he can pet the tiny raccoon Pokémon, giving his neck ruff a ruffle with both hands before scratching him behind the ears. Zigzagoon’s tongue lolls out in evident bliss.
“Sorry, he’s kind of a handful,” Gloria sighs, but Leon shakes his head, then twists so he can look back over his shoulder and up at her. Rookidee ruffles her feathers in annoyance at the change in the angle of her perch.
“He’s brilliant.” There’s not a trace of annoyance on Leon’s face; if anything, he looks delighted. And, well. Gloria obviously agrees, though the few other people who’ve met her Zigzagoon have been somewhat… less than impressed.
Yamper, better-behaved in general but sensing the availability of scritches, barks and trots over, his tail wagging happily.
“And hello again to you!” Leon greets him, immediately devotes one hand to each Pokémon. Leon has seen her Yamper before — she’d caught him on the road to Professor Magnolia’s house, and brought him out for her battle with Hop — but they hadn’t properly met.
Gloria sits on the bed, quickly stuffing things back in her bag while Leon indulges her Pokémon with ear scritches. He glances up at her.
“Take your time; keeping your supplies organized is important,” he advises, and though she’s still a bit embarrassed by the mess, Gloria takes the advice. She’d be a fool not to.
While she finishes sorting and re-packing her bag, Leon moves on.
“Look at you!” He beams at Raboot, who chirps happily. “You’ve gotten so much stronger already! Have you been having fun with Gloria?”
Raboot nods, then pulls the piece of Charcoal partially out of the little pouch on his belly, just enough for Leon to see, and chirps again. He’s been less expressive since he evolved, but despite always having a bit of a case of resting bitch face, Gloria’s first partner is still his sweet, friendly self at heart.
“You’re very welcome,” Leon tells him, holding out his hand, palm facing outward. Raboot smacks it with his paw, letting out a happy little chirrup. Leon shoots her a grin, and Gloria’s heart skips a beat.
“I’m missing someone,” Leon muses, looking at the food bowls, coming up one Pokémon short.
“Two someones,” Gloria corrects him, turning her attention to removing tags and folding her new clothes properly. “Magikarp is in the tub,” she explains, “And Ralts is just shy; we’re still getting to know each other. I think she’s hiding behind the chair.”
She is, indeed, hiding behind the chair, though she pokes her head out at the sound of her name. Leon clearly sees her, but he carefully doesn’t pay her too much attention. Instead, he looks over the remaining mess on the bed. His eyes catch on Gloria’s bare legs, following the line of them up to where her robe opens high on her thigh, then flicking up to meet hers. His smile is absolutely wicked, and Gloria is tempted to let her robe fall open, to pull him down—
Zigzagoon leaps up onto the bed and headbutts her knee, begging for more pets and breaking the moment. It’s just as well; Gloria’s not entirely sure she’s ready to have sex in front of an audience.
Leon, for his part, picks up a Pokétoy — the wand-like one, with the feathers and jingle bell on the end.
“Do you mind?”
“Go for it,” she allows, and Leon turns around and sits down, his back against the side of the bed. Yamper immediately flops into Leon’s lap, unconcerned with the toy — he prefers playing fetch. Gloria does her part by distracting Zigzagoon with belly rubs; poor Ralts hasn’t entirely gotten used to him yet, and seems to get overwhelmed by the other Pokémon’s endless energy. They’ve only known each other for a couple of days, though; Gloria’s fairly confident that Zigzagoon will eventually calm down a bit, and that Ralts will come out her shell once she gets to know them all better.
Leon wiggles the toy in Ralts’ direction, though Gloria notices that he’s not looking in Ralts’ direction. He pretends that he’s just sort of absentmindedly playing with the toy, and very slowly, Ralts emerges from behind the chair, creeping closer and closer until, at last, the temptation of the toy overcomes her shyness. Leon lets her bat at it a few times before he looks directly at her, and by then the little Pokémon seems to have forgotten to be wary of the newcomer in their midst.
“That was a good one!” he praises her after a particularly strong hit, and Ralts puffs up with pride.
Raboot comes up on Leon’s other side and takes a swipe of his own, Ralts shrinking back, but Raboot chirps and Leon nods in agreement.
“You can both play; take turns,” he wiggles the toy at Ralts, who gives it a good smack, then angles it toward Raboot, then back again.
The belly rubs and a full tummy have done the trick, and Zigzagoon curls up in the middle of the bed for a nap, his nose hidden under his tail. Gloria finishes her packing, tucking most of her newly-purchased clothes into her bag and closing the flap. She eases off the bed and moves her bag to the corner of the room, then sets out her new skirt and her black top to wear tomorrow; the black makes the purple plaid of the skirt look even more vibrant.
“Sonia got to you, huh?” Leon asks, nodding at the skirt. He keeps shaking the wand for her Pokémon to attack, alternating between them.
“I met her outside the Pokémon Center when I got here,” Gloria says, “She was right about the shops here having a lot more than the boutique in Wedgehurst.”
She expects that to be the end of it; Hop rolls his eyes at the first mention of shopping. But he surprises her.
“Wait until you get to Wyndon for the Champion Cup tournament. I remember the first time I saw it.” His voice turns almost wistful. “Route 10’s up in the mountains, west of Circhester. Freezing cold, and you have to hike uphill in the snow. But then you get to the top of the last rise, and you can see the whole city spread out in front of you… I could hardly believe anywhere could be that big!” He laughs. Gloria can picture it perfectly; not the details of the city, but a much smaller Leon, awestruck at the sight of it.
“Anyway, Wyndon’s got the best shops in Galar; you’ll love it.”
“If I make it to the tournament,” Gloria points out, tucking her robe around her and settling herself on the floor next to Leon. Yamper immediately wiggles his way toward her, sprawling his body across both of their laps. Freed from the responsibility of giving ear scritches, Leon slips his arm around Gloria, tucking her up against him.
“You will,” he says confidently. The Pokétoy jingles as Raboot swipes it. “The Gym Challenge hasn’t even started yet, and you already have a full team. And they’re strong. Yamper always take a little longer, but the rest of these guys are pretty close to evolving, I think. That’s impressive.” Ralts takes her turn, batting the toy with a playful growling noise.
“All the Challengers have to be endorsed, but you’d be surprised how many of them show up to the opening ceremonies with only one or two partners. Not bothering to put any time into training in advance.” He sighs, like he’s personally disappointed by all of those Trainers. Gloria thinks that he probably is.
“It’s not impossible to make it to the Cup tournament with a start like that, of course. I think anyone can become a great trainer, if they’re really willing to put their all into it. But most of those ones go out early. They make it through a gym or two, but never check in at Hammerlocke for the second leg of the Challenge.” He pauses.
“Some of that is just Kabu’s fault, though. He doesn’t go easy on anyone.” He chuckles, and at Gloria’s quizzical look, explains, “The Fire-type gym leader, here in Motostoke. He’ll be at the opening ceremonies tomorrow. People who underestimate him tend to get burned.” Leon grins, and Gloria rolls her eyes at the awful pun.
“I know Hop sort of dragged you into all of this,” he says, giving her a squeeze, “But you’ve got natural talent as a Trainer. If you want it, you’ll be absolutely brilliant.”
“I hadn’t ever really thought about it,” Gloria admits. “And I still don’t really know what I’m doing.” Leon makes a scoffing noise, but doesn’t interrupt.
“I don’t think I would be here if not for Hop, but… I really love it. It’s—” She pauses, trying to find an adequate word. Something to encompass how it feels, to battle alongside her partners; the rush of adrenaline and the way everything narrows down to the next move, her partners depending on her strategy and her depending on their strength.
“Yeah,” Leon breathes after a moment, his eyes shining. “It is.”
Yamper grumbles about being displaced, and Ralts steals the entire wand out of Leon’s hand and drags it away with a jingle as Gloria climbs into his lap. Rookidee quickly relocates back to the top of the lampshade.
His hands sneak up under her robe as they kiss, caressing her bare skin from her hips up to her ribs and back again. When they separate to breathe, Leon kisses the side of her neck.
“I’m gonna make you scream,” he promises, his voice barely above a whisper, breath hot on her skin. Gloria shivers, turning her head to catch the corner of his mouth.
Zigzagoon pokes his head over the edge of the bed, snuffling at Gloria’s hair. She huffs out a laugh, dropping her forehead to Leon’s shoulder.
“I should get everyone settled for the night.”
“And we should probably get off the floor,” he adds, kissing her temple as he helps straighten her robe, both of them getting to their feet.
Gloria tidies up the food bowls and says goodnight to each of her Pokémon in turn, giving cuddles to those who want them before recalling them to their Pokéballs.
In the meantime, Leon busies himself with finally taking off his shoes and socks, lining them up beside Gloria’s boots, and putting his hat down on the desk. She takes his hand, once she has five Pokéballs lined up on the desk right next to his hat, and pulls him into the bathroom.
“Karp!” Magikarp burbles happily, splashing a small wave of water over the edge of the tub in his excitement. Gloria squats down by the tub to pet his scales.
“I know, it’s not as fun in here as when we were camping,” she says consolingly. After she caught him and added him to her team, Gloria had done her best to camp near the water as often as possible, so Magikarp could get plenty of exercise. The tub isn’t exactly a good replacement, but she felt so guilty when she thought about keeping him in his Pokéball all night while the others got to come out and play.
“This is my friend Leon,” she tells her Pokémon as Leon joins her beside the tub, the water on the floor soaking into his jeans.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” he says, holding a hand out over the water. Magikarp swims the few inches to Leon’s hand and bumps his head against it.
“Karp!”
Leon scratches his scales, and Magikarp splashes a wave of water at him in appreciation, completely soaking the front of his shirt. Leon blinks.
“Magikarp!” Gloria bursts out in giggles, which probably undermines her scolding, but luckily Leon seems more surprised, even amused, than upset.
“Okay, it’s definitely bedtime for you,” she tells Magikarp, giving him a pat to let him know she’s not really upset before returning him to his Pokéball. She pulls up the sleeve of her robe to reach into the water and pull the plug out of the drain, then turns to apologize to Leon for the unexpected bath.
The water has turned Leon’s white shirt nearly transparent. It sticks tight to his skin, showing off every defined muscle, and Gloria forgets what she was going to say.
He smirks when he notices her looking, running his palms down his torso from chest to hips. Excess water patters onto the floor.
“I should probably get out of these wet clothes.”
“Probably,” Gloria agrees. “You wouldn’t want to catch a cold.”
“No, wouldn’t want that.” Leon stands and starts unbuttoning his shirt, and as much as she wants to watch, Gloria’s conscious of the weight of Magikarp’s Pokéball in her hand.
“I’ll go put this away,” she says, though she’s happy to let Leon snag her arm and reel her back in for a quick kiss before sending her on her way.
It doesn’t take very long for Gloria to put Magikarp’s Pokéball with the rest of her team. Even so, Leon is stepping out of the bathroom when she turns around, completely and gloriously naked.
She’d seen him naked before, technically, but it’s a whole new experience with the lights on. All the details that had been blurred by the darkness are clear, and Leon is well fit. Honestly unfairly attractive, to the point that it’s almost bewildering that he’s interested in her. But interested he definitely is. He’s not completely hard, but his cock isn’t soft, either; it’s somewhere in between, and the sight of it excites her.
It’s only a few steps between them and they meet in the middle, crashing into each other, hands and mouths. Leon tears open the belt of her robe and Gloria lets it slip off her shoulders as he pulls her close, a hand on her arse encouraging her up on her toes for an even deeper snog. She wants to climb him, and makes a good effort at it, lifting one leg to wrap around him. Leon takes the hint, a big hand gripping the underside of her thigh as she uses his shoulders to pull herself up.
Gloria shrieks in surprised delight as he gives her a sudden hoist, tossing her onto the bed. She lands with a bounce, expecting his weight on top of her, but he doesn’t follow right away.
“Get the lamp,” he nods toward the lamp on the nightstand. It takes her a moment to catch on, but when he moves to toward the main light switch on the wall, she rolls over and crawls up to flip the lamp on. The light from the bedside lamp is softer, but she can still see with perfect clarity as Leon returns, prowling up from the foot of the bed on his hands and knees.
Gloria opens up for him, spreading her legs so he can kneel between them. He pins her underneath him, peppering kisses across her belly and breasts, biting gently at her neck. Not hard enough to bruise, but hard enough to make her spine arch. She holds onto him, arms around his ribs and her fingers digging into the lean muscle of his back as Leon devotes himself to tasting every bit of her. Even nuzzling into her armpit, which shouldn’t be sexy but somehow is anyway.
She’s been ready what feels like all day, or at least since Leon had intercepted her on the high street; wet and wanting, and still relaxed from the orgasm she’d given herself in the shower. Gloria opens her hips up even further when he urges her to, pulling her leg up around him as he guides his cock into her.
It’s different from the first time. There’s still a stretch, but not the buildup of pressure there had been. No pain, just a pleasant ache as he fills her up, shallow thrusts that get deeper and deeper until he’s all the way inside, hips against hers and his balls pressed up softly against her arse. His cock feels even better than she remembered it, molten hot inside her. Leon groans as she clenches down experimentally, kissing her so hard her lips feel almost bruised.
He doesn’t have to wait for her to adjust, and Gloria doesn’t want him to. She tightens her leg around him, hitching her hips up, and Leon does as he’s told, quickly working up to a rhythm that punches moans out of her with every thrust. She doesn’t have to be quiet — there’s no grandparents downstairs, no Hop down the hall. (He’s two floors away, in fact; they’d compared room numbers.)
Letting out all the noises that she’d had to keep caught in her throat before somehow makes it even better. Every ah! ah! ahh—! spurs Leon on, until their bodies are meeting with a wet plap on every snap of his hips, the slick, squelching sounds loud and dirty, unmistakable as anything other than fucking.
Leon comes first, groaning and pounding into her faster and harder for a few strokes before a nearly frantic movement as he remembers at the very last second to pull out. He’s already coming as he slips out of her, his cum smearing hot and wet on the folds of her pussy, striping her pubic hair and the crease of her thigh.
“Lee—!” Gloria arches up, chasing him, the sudden loss of sensation making her desperate. Leon doesn’t leave her hanging any longer than it takes him to catch his breath. He’s barely finished coming when he snogs her, wet and messy.
“I’ve got you, bright eyes. Still gonna make you scream,” Leon promises, backing down the bed and lifting her hips at the same time. He gets one of her legs over his shoulder, and then his mouth is on her, licking his own cum out of her cunt. Gloria gets loud again, moaning as he licks his way along her folds and sucks on her clit, flicks it with his tongue. He finds that sensitive place inside her, lighting her nerves on fire as he works three fingers in her pussy.
She does, in fact, scream as she comes; a howl that tears loose from her chest as she shakes. Leon keeps working her through it, his mouth on her until it feels like she’s been coming for hours. Gloria’s boneless when he finally eases her down from it, gently settling her hips back down on the bed.
Leon stretches out on his back next to her, and Gloria rolls to snuggle into his side, her head on his shoulder and her arm slung over his chest. He reaches up to skim his fingertips along the line of her forearm, up and down, before finally tangling his fingers with hers, their linked hands resting over his heart.
She lets her mind wander, floating in the contented afterglow from thought to thought, fleeting ideas coming and going again just as quickly.
“You’ll have to show me around,” she says, after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Leon hums questioningly at the non-sequitur. It probably says something, she’ll consider later, that she just expected him to have followed along with her thoughts somehow.
“Wyndon,” she clarifies. “You’ll have to show me around. When I get there.”
His arm around her tightens, and he kisses her hair.
“I’ve got a townhouse, near the stadium.” He sounds almost shy again. Gloria thinks of flowers, and Charcoal, and snuggles against him.
“Sounds perfect,” she says, and he squeezes her fingers.
“I don’t have to leave,” Leon says after another moment, and it’s her turn to be confused. “Tonight. As long as I get back to my room pretty early, I can stay. If you want.”
She squeezes his fingers in return.
“I want.”
A few minutes after that, Gloria throws her leg over him, guiding him inside her and learning how to ride him until Leon’s the one making noise.
When Leon slips out of bed before dawn, Gloria rouses just enough to remember it when she wakes up properly later. He gets his clothes from the bathroom and dresses quietly, then comes back, bending down to give her a kiss on her cheek. She turns her head into it, catching his lips with hers.
“See you at the Stadium,” he whispers, and Gloria murmurs her agreement before slipping back to sleep.
It’s a few hours later when Gloria wakes up for real, sprawling across the big bed like a Staryu and groaning contentedly as she stretches. She has aches in interesting places, but she feels … good. Relaxed, right down to her bones. She eventually pulls herself out of bed and takes another shower, washing the dried sweat and cum off her skin, then dresses in the outfit she’d picked out the previous night. Her new skirt flares out when she does a little spin in front of the mirror. She laughs at herself as she finishes her spin in Leon’s Charizard pose, feeling silly and happy and light.
A quick check of the hallway reveals her clean laundry, as promised, already folded neatly. Gloria’s bag is already organized and packed, so it’s just a matter of adding her newly-cleaned clothes, putting away her toothbrush, and gathering up her team’s Pokéballs and she’s ready to go.
She’s not entirely sure what to expect from the opening ceremonies, but she’s as ready as she can be.
Gloria doesn’t notice the sound of the door next to hers opening until she’s already committed to leaving her room. Even if she had, the thought that perhaps she doesn’t want to meet whoever had shared a wall with her — with them — last night doesn’t occur until a moment later, and by then it’s far too late to retreat back inside.
“Oh. That’s surprisin’.”
It’s the girl from the lobby the night before, the one with the rowdy fanclub.
“Um. Good morning. It’s Marnie, right?”
The girl nods, her pigtails swaying. She cocks her head as she looks at Gloria, studying her with a strange intensity.
“I wouldn’ ’a thought your boyfriend had it in ‘im,” she says after a moment, her eyebrow raised. Gloria blushes pink with embarrassment, but—
“Boyfriend? I don’t—” Well, maybe she does have a boyfriend? Sort of? She has a something, anyway, but how could Marnie possibly know—?
A confused wrinkle appears between Marnie’s eyebrows as she frowns.
“That boy you were with? I just assumed…” She trails off, and Gloria puts two and two together.
“Hop?!” She supposes that it wasn’t an entirely silly assumption for someone to make, but. “No, no no no. Hop’s my best friend,” Gloria clarifies, though she realizes, when Marnie’s confused frown only deepens, that she may have been better off letting the other girl assume it had been Hop in Gloria’s room last night.
Gloria stands there, bright red and with absolutely no idea what she’ll say when Marnie asks the inevitable question — If not Hop, then who?
But Marnie only studies her for another moment, and then her expression clears into a bemused smile.
“You’re an interestin’ one,” she declares, and walks off toward the lifts, her Morpeko at her heels.
Gloria waits for the next lift car, willing her blush away.
The opening ceremonies are a whirlwind. The feeling of stepping out onto the pitch in her uniform for the first time, the lights and the cheering crowd, the Rotom cameras zipping around— It’s electric, and if Gloria hadn’t already made up her mind to strive to be the very best, she thinks that moment alone would have convinced her.
The only unfortunate part is that there’s no privacy anywhere at all, and the only chance she gets to see Leon is after the ceremonies. It’s an honor, she supposes, for the Chairman of the League to want to meet her, though it certainly has more to do with Leon’s endorsement than anything Gloria herself has actually done. Hop is enthusiastic about it, at least.
Gloria heads off toward Turffield, but Leon’s encouraging smile lingers in her mind’s eye, and her thoughts race ahead to Wyndon.
Hop challenges her to a battle on the outskirts of Motostoke.
His team is the same as it was the last time they battled; just Wooloo and Rookidee and Grookey.
Grookey, who’s still Grookey.
Raboot and Yamper make short work of the battle. It’s very nearly easy, though Hop doesn’t seem to notice the imbalance in strength.
It’s not impossible to make it to the Cup tournament with a start like that, Gloria thinks, in Leon’s voice.
It’s not until after Hop has run off, still always in such a rush, that Gloria realizes his Grookey had been holding nothing but its little branch.