Work Text:
"Hello?"
For such an edgy Pokemon, Eternatus seemed like it also had a sense of cuteness. Why wouldn't it have one if it helped cause Eevee's Gigantamax form?
"Earth to Penny?"
And she did seriously think that as much as she considered her uncle cringe for causing Eternatus to go on a rampage. And again, she felt that an insane excuse for a Paldean Pokemon Professor roping her in alongside Florian, Nemona, and Arven was fair payback for her behaving like her cringe uncle...
"Of course you're watching Eevee videos. Who doesn't like watching Eevee videos?"
"Could you watch your space, you mug? I've half a mind to pour my soda on your overslicked hair."
But why did she have to deal with this nosy slacker named Drayton while waiting for her boyfriend to show up? Did the distance between her in a corner of the Blueberry League Club Room and him on the central table of the same room not clue his top Elite Four member brain in? Wait, maybe it did, but he just refused to care. Maybe she should've asked for tickets for her five Squad Leaders, then...Ortega might even love to whup this Dragon specialist's arse.
"Finally, I got your attention," Drayton grinned, and she dearly hoped that he wasn't going for some enemies-to-lovers thing with her like she heard about him apparently trying and even succeeding on poor Lacey.
"Well, if you haven't gotten the hint, then I'll tell you that I'm a painfully introverted girl severely lacking in agency," Penny replied with the same level of rage she'd fire at one of Team Star's archenemies pressing her enough. "Oh, and I'm a foreigner, though I suppose being a Galarian, although Paldea-based, is not too foreign compared to being an Unovan?"
Finally, that got the mug backing off, hands raised and palms out. But he was still grinning.
"What a time for Amarys to not be around," he continued. "But that's beside the point. Because the point is closer to what you were watching on your phone there, too."
"And what does a Dragon-type Trainer who outranks a Fairy-type Trainer have to talk about with this also Sylveon-having Trainer who is more about cuteness over meta?" she continued her verbose bombardment.
"You, Eeveelutions, and Florian."
The moment Penny heard Florian's name, her stomach pinballed.
Not that Florian wasn't strong, no. He wouldn't have become an exchange student to Blueberry Academy otherwise. No, this avatar of chaos was about to meddle in her romantic life, and although she had already begun dating Florian thanks to her beating him to the punch in confessing out of fear over another Area Zero Incident happening to them, Penny very much preferred her romances with all parties active rather than passive. No, it was definitely not because she did not want to expose how much of a squeeing dork she would be about Florian being such a wife guy for her.
And Penny had gone through enough romance stories, both fictional and nonfictional, especially online, for her to understand that she was dealing with Very Bad Manners here.
"You know, Florian always had at least one Eeveelution for every fight he had against the Elite Four and the Champion he faced here," this high-level boss of Blueberry Academy's student body continued. "Decided to ask him about it recently, learned that he has a girlfriend who's into Eevees. Honestly, I should've asked before that, because I assumed he was more like Lacey, and lazy – heh – I might be, but I'm kinda possessive like some people wrongly think Dragon-type Pokemon tend to be. That aside, he was like a dedicated husband even though he tells stories like a kid and battles like a champ. And did I say that he was really eager to beat us BB Elite Four with Eeveelutions in his parties, too? He takes losses like a champ, too! Even brought us the beauty that is Kieran apologizing to him so much after he cleaned up his act..."
The literal corner that Penny was in didn't feel so positive now.
"As for the Eeveelutions, we got a Vaporeon for Crispin, a Flareon for Amarys, an Espeon for Lacey, and a Sylveon and a Glaceon for me and Kieran. And seeing you and your Eevee fangirling now..."
"Stop. Please."
Penny could already see her face having the pink that her older sister liked to add to her own blonde hair. The bespectacled Galarian's blushes and pales were violating common sense at this point with how much embarrassment she was feeling about this revelation that may just be leading her on, because why would that idiot Florian take pages from her non-meta party and use them in this elite Trainer school? Besides, she was also a shut-in mastermind who fought bullies like a bully worse than her infamous uncle.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot about this, but he's also a menace with having what he calls his little Vee-Vees use Baby-Doll Eyes. He likes doing his own attempt at that move with one Eeveelution's use of that move, and he calls it 'Four-Eyed Baby-Doll Eyes.' Seeing how you look, I think he makes that name work through his youthful eagerness especially."
Ah.
She couldn't deny the very likely idea to herself anymore.
Florian just might be a wife guy for her.
Might even be built for being one to whichever girl who would have him, and she was lucky to have him as much as he was lucky to have her.
It also got Penny thinking of Florian as Cassiopeia's Top Lackey with capitalized first letters. Not a Team Star Squad Leader. Team Star's Top Lackey. It sounded crude, but she liked the rush of power the idea gave her. Though she wouldn't mind him turning the tables on her and then putting her on the ta –
"Ultra Space to Penny?"
"CARAMBA!"
And Team Star's leader was dragged out of her possessive fantasy with a call and a clap right in front of her face. Also, her chair was standing on two legs and backed by a room corner. And her glasses were askew. And her phone was still in her grip, half-watched Eevee video already done.
"Feeling motivated to get your probably fellow Galarian lost in Paldea and Unova now, Penny?" her fellow mastermind asked. "Did you even hear me mention how he's stuck in his dorm room with his Eeveelutions right now?"
She answered those questions by wordlessly leaving the room.
"Ow!"
Not without giving a kick to Drayton's shin, though. The mug really made a tease fest out of telling her that her boyfriend was held up by his own little Vee-Vees!
"Oh, Penny, I'm sorry, was Drayton bothering you?"
Still, there was something that Penny wanted to admit with Lacey. So, putting her hands on the Fairy-type specialist's shoulders, she gave her a resigned look and said...
"We're such insane boss ladies, having the cute boyfriends we have."
Lacey gave her a confused look, but Penny walked past anyway.
"Hey, girl, easy on the touch there!"
If Penny didn't know better, she'd have thought that Florian was not only evil but also smart enough to cheat on her. Still, for the sake of distracting his detainers, she had her Vee-Vees out of their Poke Balls, with her Umbreon and Sylveon having come out as soon as she sighted the door to Florian's room.
And because she wanted to be silly and maybe cool about it, she didn't even bother being gentle when she opened the door, pushing it with a stomp as soon as she unlatched it.
"What? Oh hey, Pen!"
"Vee!"
"Dirge."
Right in front of Penny was Florian, who was sitting on the floor with his Skeledirge as a backrest, all while five Eeveelutions surrounded him. A Flareon was on his Skeledirge, the latter's firechick snuggling on the fur of the former, which was kneading Florian's exposed hair. A Vaporeon was on his left in her sight, napping away, while on the right was a Glaceon pushing its head and meeting evasion and resistance from its Trainer. As for Florian's Sylveon and Espeon, they were already hitting it off with her Sylveon and Umbreon, judging from their approaching and communicating in between their Trainers! Penny's other four Vee-Vees soon recognized the safety of this zone, moving on to communicate with their counterparts from Florian's party.
"Vee! Vee!"
Definitely a reassuring chorus there, so much that Florian finally managed to get up from his spot as their other Eeveelutions joined their groups' introductory gathering to each other!
And indeed, Florian's embrace was warmer than usual! And colder! And wetter!
"Let's hope idiots really don't catch colds, Florian, because while I love Vee-Vees, I still hate getting sick," Penny tried to tease with anime-influenced snark.
"Awesome to have ya here in Blueberry Academy, Pen-Pen!" Florian replied with another one of his frequent chuckles.
Pulling away and adjusting her glasses, Penny further took in the scenery that felt like something meant to spoil her rotten. "Since when were you such an Eevee enthusiast, Flor?"
"Ever since we first fought each other, actually!" Flor declared as he gave Penny that blinding beam again. "The way you sync your own Baby-Doll Eyes with your Vee-Vees is deadly, real – ow, ow, ow!"
"You muddy Mudbray, you can't just be some bedazzling boy telling a gloomy girl that sort of thing because she'd be trusting too much!" Penny huffed and puffed as she buffeted her boyfriend. "And before you say it again, you were holding back for me back there! I just still can't believe that you lo...like me of all people that way..."
"Durruh..."
And then there was Florian's Skeledirge humming a somehow soothing tune, its firechick harmonizing with higher notes. Penny wanted to complain as she took off her glasses to cry again, but she couldn't let the complaint out, especially not when Flor held her hands and wiped her tears to have her look at him.
"If I'm an idiot for liking you, then you're an idiot for liking this idiot back, Pen," he told her with a smile she could more easily handle. "Makes ya even better to me, then. Now, how about you meet my newer friends you got me making? After you let your tears out enough, of course."
Penny nodded and sniffled and smiled to that.
Basically, when it came to battle tactics as an Eevee enthusiast, Penny learned from Florian that she should also have Mud-Slap in her arsenal.
Florian losing a lot because of insisting on cuteness over meta was not surprising to Penny, especially not when he attempted that in a Trainer school as elite as Blueberry Academy. What was surprising, though, was how her dear dummy of a boyfriend got put through the wringer again by Carmine, Kieran, and Miss Briar! Heck, they even brought him back to Area freaking Zero! Miss Geeta and Miss Rika being involved in the granting of permission did not help Penny's feelings about all this, too! Even though things were all better now, Penny still wanted to throw sand and mud in all their eyes, because they were all saner than that Turo or that AI Turo or whatever, but they still put her dear Flor in that much danger again!
"Penny?"
But most of all, Penny wanted to pummel herself for not being there for Florian! Maybe she should've hacked her way into the Blueberry Academy system, show them how Cassiopeia –
"Pen-Pen!"
"WHAT?"
Heavily breathing, Penny saw looks of concern coming from her boyfriend, his Skeledirge, and their Eeveelutions.
"You look angry, Pen," he replied. "It's not me being boring, is it?"
"No, I just..." And then Penny let out a heavy sigh. "I lost focus on your mostly lucky and kinda brainy battle tactics once I realized how much negligence you've been getting from these supposed elites among elites, what with the whole Kieran thing that began in Kitakami and even got you into Area freaking Zero again."
"Negligent?" Florian parroted with shockingly genuine confusion, but only for a few moments, fortunately. "Oh, yeah, maybe you're right...and Ogerpon over in Kitakami even reminded me of you..."
"And you and Kieran fixing that whole Pecharunt mess added to how I forgot my Paldean-grade beef against him too," Penny said as she squeezed his hands some more, her Jolteon coming in to further emphasize via tickling his side with his spikes again. "I'm feeling like Ogerpon whenever she has to be around Pecharunt and the Lousy Three, actually. And Arceus, that stupid Carmine's still growing on me..."
"I'm sorry, Pen."
Arceus.
What were those?
What were those round eyes?
Were those half of those four eyes that Drayton mentioned?
"Could you not look at me like that, Flor?" Penny turned away with another blush. How had she not been hit with that before? And how had she not realized how powerful her own Baby-Doll Eyes were to him long before?
"Could you forgive me for being your idiot, Pen-Pen?"
Oh, Arceus save her, for he bloody knew what he was bloody doing.
"Why is your Glaceon joining in?" she wondered in curiosity, also. "Shouldn't it be your Sylveon and your Espeon?"
"Well, I noticed ever since defeating Drayton that she's really clingy to me, though that also took Drayton telling me about it..."
"Of course Drayton would be meddling like that..."
"...but nicely and surprisingly, I guess she likes you that much, too, Pen!" And then Florian and his Glaceon went from blinding beams to a human-Pokemon combination of Baby-Doll Eyes. "So could you please forgive us for being your idiots, Pen-Pen?"
Alright, seven more can play at that game.
"Could you please forgive us for being clingy like your Glaceon, Flor?"
The way he and his Glaceon whined after that got Penny laughing out loud.
"Don't laugh like that, Penny! You're too good at that look, too!"
Penny took that as a reason to laugh even louder.
"'Four-Eyed Baby-Doll Eyes,' huh, Florian?"
"Okay, now I realize how bad that can sound."
Penny struggled to breathe as a result of the further laughter she had there.
"Your care about our Trainer is cute, Cassiopeia."
For a while, Penny was in distressed surprise until the sight of Florian's Espeon looking up at her from her feet caused her a more confused surprise.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" she asked as they paused at the very rear of Florian's convoy to the Blueberry Academy Cafeteria. "The way you say 'cute' and call me by that codename has me confused, you see."
"Yes, it is a compliment. I declare it as the cutest among the idiotic yet heroic Florian's Pokemon. And bear your hero name with pride, my fellow lady in heroics."
"Wow, so you aren't the only, uh...strongly forward Eeveelution among Florian's," Penny commented with further surprise, and then she smiled and bowed. "Anyway, thank you, Espeon. It is an honor to be approached by cuteness like yours."
"You certainly are complementary to him, indeed, Cassiopeia. Now let us hurry on to that modern yet fancy cuisine."
Penny had to hold back a giggle at how theatrical this new friend of hers was.
"Oh, also, your Umbreon should learn how to appreciate the spotlight better. Even if he is meant to be rarely underneath it, etiquette still goes a long way."
"I guess so, Espeon. I can't go telepathic with him like you're doing with me, though."
"Oh, no, you certainly can't – Wait, you can actually hear my telepathic projections, Penny?"
"I shouldn't?" Penny fired back with widened eyes and a dropped jaw at this purple Eeveelution with a glowing red orb and a twitching forked tail.
"Oh, there you are, Pen and Espeon!" Florian came back, having noticed their absence up ahead. "Seems like you two girls are hitting it off!"
"Did you know that your Espeon is a very intelligent and theatrical girl, Flor?" Penny asked with a thumb pointed at her. "I can tell you what she's saying if you want."
"Yes, tell him how cute I am!"
"She's the cutest among your Pokemon, also," Penny said, but then she narrowed her eyes to express mischief. "Can't outcute my Vee-Vees, though."
"Oh, you scamp!"
"I've seen cuter, though?" Florian scratched his head like the idiot he is again. "She is cool, though! Especially if she can really do telepathy with you!"
"Why must this breakthrough be further humiliation as well...? Cuteness and justice shall prevail..."
"Why do you look so sad, Espeon?" Florian asked with even more confusion as his concern increased. "You hungry? I'll get ya a slice of your favorite Academy Pizza, girl!"
Penny didn't even bother to hide her laughter as Espeon was carried away by Florian to the Blueberry Academy Cafeteria.
And when they feasted on the Academy Pizza, Penny had to keep herself from choking at the sight of Florian's Espeon gorging on her pizza slice in between dainty bites.
And as they chilled out with a picnic setup in the Savanna Biome, Skeledirge singing around while the couple's Eeveelutions frolicked, Penny finally learned more about the contributions of Florian's Eeveelutions in his BB League Challenge. His Vaporeon also had Muddy Water rather than Mud-Slap, and Acid Armor and Water Absorb helped the slippery water boy's luck against the hot-headed cook Crispin. As for Florian's own Flareon, this particular fiery fluffball boy relied on Flash Fire, Flame Charge, and Lava Plume as well, outpacing the time-treasuring Amarys by a split second.
Espeon, meanwhile? Florian wondered if he could fit in an Eeveelution until he noticed that she wanted to be in the team very much. He didn't know that it was because of the cuteness loving Psychic girl's strong desire to prove herself to the cuteness-loving Lacey in battle as well back then, but still. And speaking of which, Penny began loving Flor's Espeon even more because of how she practically taught him the more conventional strategy that defeated Lacey even though she barely contributed much to the winning battle proper. There, Penny also learned that Espeon and Glaceon, the two girls among Florian's Eeveelutions, made sure to put good distance between him and Lacey, which Penny still felt relieved by even though Florian's idiocy added to the assurance of his loyalty to her and even though Lacey's sense of propriety seemed to be more in tune with Drayton's sense of rebellion.
As for Florian's Sylveon and Glaceon, the bloodthirstier pink boy was also armed with Pixilated Body Slam and the classic debuffing Fairy powerhouse Play Rough, while the sugary cool protector girl had Icy Wind and Freeze-Dry and managed to back them up with Snow Cloak. Drayton was the bigger challenge to them, though, while Kieran was a victory lap to them, and they were ready to kick Kieran's butt again even at Penny's orders if they thought that he was being mean enough again, especially to Florian.
And learning about how much Florian's Eeveelutions went through with him in such a relatively short time got Penny wanting to treasure her Vee-Vees more. Having had hers since childhood thanks to her mom, they were easier to take for granted, and even more so with how she did not have a Vee-Vee as special as Florian's Espeon.
Thus, Penny shared some Vee-Vee stories to her boyfriend.
"So, as a kid, I used to be afraid of the dark and even Dark-types, my Umbreon included, until my family got me better remembering that dark isn't always evil," she said as she tried to reenact the hug her childhood self used to have on her Umbreon and the Eevee he was before. "And then I realized how cool my Umbreon's glowy parts were, especially like the moon. He's a boy, though, but still..."
"He reminded you of those magical girls, Pen?"
"You watch those too?"
"Yeah, I do! They're cute and smart and badass! Like you, come to think of it!"
Another buffet, and then another story.
"It seems that I was wrong about your Umbreon, then, Penny!," Florian's Espeon added in between the buffet and the story, and Penny had to hold herself back from laughing at the Espeon being so tsundere for her also cute Umbreon.
"My Jolteon and my Flareon, these boys were supposed to be each other's forms," Penny continued, pointing at them as they passed a ball between them and Miraidon. "Like, swapped. I think it was because I wanted the smoother Eevee to be Flareon and the rougher Eevee to be Jolteon. But then I accidentally got them evolving how they did, and the smooth times and rough times I had they gave me made my worries feel pointless to me. That, and they both go hot and rough anyway. Mom scolded me the most intensely and the best there."
"By the way, why do those two boys of yours use Flare Blitz and Thunder?" Florian asked. "Especially Flare Blitz."
Penny's and her Flareon's answer to that was her own take on Four-Eyed Baby-Doll Eyes, and yes, she did remove her glasses for this one.
"Alright, next tale, then!" Florian declared after a choke that suppressed a whine.
For the next Vee-Vee story, Penny presented her Vaporeon.
"Never insult my Vaporeon, especially online, because he'll probably be willing to sneak into your computer to fry it if he knows you do. I mean, I think he once understood when I ranted to him about that one nasty meme about his kind, and he sneakily flicked a concerning amount of water to someone I heard spreading that meme without me actually asking him to do it."
"Don't worry, I hate that one meme, too, Pen," Florian assured with a wrinkle of disgust on his face.
With that out of the way, Penny moved on to her Leafeon.
"So my grassy girl here was evolved in Sinnoh, actually. Galarian Leaf Stones have enough power to evolve Eevees into Leafeons, but I read about how treasured Leafeons and Glaceons were alongside Moss Rocks and Ice Rocks in Sinnoh, so I told my parents that if we were to go on a Sinnoh trip, I'd bring the Eevee I wanna turn into Leafeon there. I thought it the most natural Leafeon evolution method, you know? Mum agrees with me when it comes to her Glaceon, too."
"Your mum has a Glaceon, too?"
"And you evolved yours with an Ice Stone?"
"From and in Paldea, yeah. Sorry..."
Penny pinched Florian's cheek there. "It's alright, she's not a meanie. Mum will see how kind you are anyway. Besides, she loves Paldea a lot. She's even fascinated by how Area Zero influences nature here, dangerous kind of strange it still is."
"Awesome. And what about your Sylveon?" Florian asked Penny as she softened her latest grip on him. Said Pokemon had just decided to jump and settle on Penny's lap, too.
"She was the last to evolve even though she was my first Eevee," Penny said as she moved a hand through her Sylveon's fur. "She took how I reacted to Umbreon, Flareon, and Jolteon quite seriously, and she wanted to be some nostalgia trip I could go on whenever I was sad, which I didn't mind. But then I got so angry at her being weak as an Eevee during my darkest days in Paldea – No pun intended – that she decided to evolve and then deprive me of her strength."
"Isn't that strange for a Sylveon to do, though, considering how having a close bond with an Eevee is an essential to that evolution?"
"I know, right? But she definitely knew tough love so well, she even managed to teach me that. She never even gave her full strength until our first fight against each other back when we were finishing up Operation Starfall. Lucky, though, I guess, because every other Vee-Vee of mine was willing to fight with full strength for me. Still, it really hurt to know that I hurt my closest Vee-Vee that much, you know?"
"Good job, then, Pen," Flor praised as he joined Penny in petting the pink Eeveelution. "And good job to you too, Sylveon, you tough wise girl."
And then feeling this Sylveon's feelers intertwining the couple's hands even further, Penny exchanged nods with Florian, taking that as a chance for them to close in on each other's faces and...
"Hey, can I have a sand – Whoa!"
"Agias."
...share another kiss out in the open, with no one around to distract or be distracted by too much.
"Drayton, that Cyclizar certainly served you right."
Penny and Florian then shared a laugh at the scene caused by Drayton, Miraidon, and Lacey right behind them.
"So, I just remembered that you caused trouble for my boyfriend."
"Okay, I'll admit that I've done that a lot, so which one are we talking about here, Penny? And do you really have to have your Eeveelutions crowding my room?"
"Better I get this out now rather than later, Carmine. And I just remembered that you're another example of an insensitive older sister."
"Wait, you have one, too? Small world, hahaha..."
"I'll get to patching things up with my own older sister, don't worry. Or do you want me to beef with Kieran more than with you?"
"Okay, okay, beef with me more, then, Penny, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"Alright, that's all I need to know for me to sleep comfortably in this room for tonight! Don't worry, I got a sleeping bag here, and I shall be leaving tomorrow! Now, Vee-Vees!"
"Vee!"
And then Carmine was graced by the sight of six Eeveelutions snuggling up to their Galarian Trainer in an orderly fashion. It all went more smoothly than she thought, but still...
"Does she have a gang or something over at Uva Academy...?" Carmine couldn't help whispering to herself. "Her aura's way more than that of a loner nerd's..."
Author's Note: I'm clearly no competitive Pokemon player, and even electronic sports is something I need more effort to process myself, but that stuff doesn't stop me from finding fun in it, especially in its social aspects, which VTubing and fighting gaming mainly helped me with! And as for having at least one Eeveelution in the parties I fought with in my BB League journey, it was very much motivated by Penny, who fully solidified my liking for the Eevee line thanks to how her complexity as a character inside and out built on how fascinating that line of Pokemon has been to me so far!
So yes, this fanfiction piece is a shipping piece with the help of Eeveelutions, and I'm glad about how spontaneity carried me here, especially when it came to discussing Penny's worry about Florian around the deeper conflicts of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, to working up my headcanons about Penny's Eeveelutions and Florian's Eeveelutions (And yes, I did enjoy making Florian's Espeon like that), to turning this piece into another established relationship piece, to making the supporting characters have solid enough presences by my standards (I would like to call the Drayton x Lacey presence here a shout-out to ILikeShorts, by the way, who sparked my appreciation for this ship when I thought I wouldn't be able to), and to adding so much chillness to this story. I must note, though, that the third and fourth points there happened during revision of the full draft, with the fifth happening during revision too. Also, I originally wrote this piece with Florian and Penny not dating yet, and I had already forgotten about that while completing the full draft, and then I remembered that while I revised the full draft.
And while I didn't really find much worth in bringing it up much more than I have in this piece, one thing I learned while making this is that the SV MC has a bit of likelihood of being from Galar thanks to how their mom talks, and while I feel like the SV MC is likelier to have been born and raised somewhere else, I like the idea of both the SV MC and Penny over being Galarian travelers' kids living in Paldea. Also, as shown in this piece, I enjoyed learning about how the Japanese name for Baby-Doll Eyes is Tsubura na Hitomi, with "Tsubura" being especially used to refer to eyes being round in a cute way.
And speaking of cute, I ended up finding chilled-out Penny such more than just Penny deliberately doing stuff like Four-Eyed Baby-Doll Eyes here. Penny being a badass is precious to me, but even more so if it comes with her being able to chill out enough. I guess that's something I should aim for in my future fanfics starring Penny, then, huh?
With that said, hasta la vistar~