Split ends and New friends || Friede x reader

8 - A rescue mission to remember

As I hung up the phone, I turned to see Dot behind me. "AAHk- W-when did you get here?!" Dot tilted her head slightly. "Friede shared his location with the whole ship so I came to see what was going on." I sighed. Friede was so airheaded sometimes but also extremely smart too. I still can't believe he's a professor. I tried to picture him in a white lab coat, but I ended up flustering myself. Dot shook a hand in front of my face. "(y/n)? (y/n)! Did you hear what I said?" I completely forgot to pay attention. "No- sorry- could you said that again?" I put my complete focus into what Dot was saying.

"I overheard your plan and I thought I might be able to help.." Dot sounded a bit hesitant, but I just assumed that it was because she was a bit shy. "I'd absolutely love your help- To be honest.. I don't even know how this ship works." I laughed nervously. Dot looked shocked. "You don't?! I only know how the tech stuff works!!" I started to panic a bit. How were we gonna fly the ship if neither of us know how to!! "Well- um- I-" Just then the door slid open. Dot and I both whipped around to see Ludlow standing there! I hadn't seen him since we met during my first day on the ship. He walked past both of us and took the wheel without saying a word. Guess that's settled..

As Ludlow steered the ship, Dot watched Friede's location closely, calling out direction changes when necessary. I was on lookout and after about an hour of closely following Friede's location, we made it to a point where we could cut them off. I ran out to the battle field with Ponyta just as Friede and Orla were nearing the ship with the kidnappers. My job was to try and force the poke-nappers to land. As I looked down at the wild pokemon beside me, I quickly remembered that I forgot to check it's typing or move set! I panicked a bit and decided to just say some moves based on it's appearance. Well.. it looked like a fairy type.. so lets try that!

"Ponyta use fairy wind..?" Ponyta jumped up and pink sparks flew from it's mouth and straight at the kidnappers. "Nice one Ponyta!" The kidnappers started to falter and dropped the stolen pokemon. Crap, I completely forgot! Ampharos, Delcatty, and Fuecoco were in even more trouble now, and it's all my fault. I rushed to the edge of the battle field but then an orange blur swooped down and I was blown backwards. As I stood up and regained my balance, I saw as Friede and Charizard had successfully saved the falling pokemon. The kidnappers steadied themselves in the sky and the one on the Corviknight glared down at me. He looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place where I had seen him before.

The kidnappers flew off and Orla and Friede landed on the battlefield. Liko, Dot, and Roy rushed over to us as they dismounted their pokemon. At the sight of his trainer, Fuecoco leaped out of Friede's arms and over to Roy. I smiled as Ampharos ran over and hugged my leg. I patted it on the head. "Are you okay buddy?" He looked up at me and nodded, clearly glad to be back on solid ground. I scanned the ground but realized that Delcatty was nowhere to be seen. I looked over at Friede anxiously to see Delcatty asleep and purring in his arms. Friede looked a little uncomfortable and I ran to check if Delcatty was alright. Sure enough, she was just fine.

Friede looked down at me, still uncomfortable and a bit stiff. "Something wrong, Friede?" Friede nodded and looked down at Delcatty. That's when I remembered how Delcatty treated Friede when we were younger and she was just a Skitty. Skitty absolutely HATED Friede, taking every chance she could to scratch an hiss at him. If he ever tried to pet her, she would bat his hand away and let out an angry mew.

But this was completely different! Delcatty now seemed to really enjoy Friede's presence and honestly, so did I. "Looks like she likes you." I beamed up at Friede who was still trying his best not to wake Delcatty from it's slumber. I put a hand on Delcatty's head which caused her to jump out of Friede's arms and into mine. Friede let out a long exhale, which lead me to beleive that he had even been holding his breath in order to not wake Delcatty.

I noticed that Friede's jacket and shirt were coated in Delcatty's fur. I giggled and put Delcatty down before moving my hand up towards his shirt to try and brush some of the fur off. "Sorry about tha-" As my hand moved over his shirt I felt just how good of a shape he was in, which caused me to hesitate and blush. When I looked up at Friede he seemed to be avoiding eye contact. I quickly removed my hand from his chest. "Crap- I am so so sorry. I didn't mea- I should have asked first.."

--- Friede's POV ---

Delcatty jumped out of my arms and into (y/n)'s as she caught the feline pokemon and cuddled it closely. I breathed out, feeling as if I was holding in my breath for ages. As my breathing steadied I looked down at (y/n) as she affectionately held her partner pokemon in her arms, she was really cute when she smiled. Actually, she was really cute no matter how she was feeling- but especially when she was happy. I continued to admire (y/n), her soft hair, and her sparkling eyes. I felt like I could barely breath again. I was still lost in thought when I felt a hand on my chest. I looked down to see (y/n) brushing the fur off of my shirt. "Sorry about tha-" Her hand brushed over my abs and I saw her face change instantly.

Now, I'm not super buff or anything like that- but she definitely noticed. She removed her hand from my chest as if she had just placed her hand on a hot stove. "Crap- I am so so sorry. I didn't mea- I should have asked first.." Her face was bright red and she was clearly embarrassed by what had happened. "It's fine! Really I... I didn't mind.." I reassured her, kind of wishing she had kept her hand there for longer. But her face only seemed to get even more red. "O-okay!" And with that she ran back inside, Ampharos and Ponyta following her closely. Delcatty looked towards (y/n) and then back at me before rubbing against my leg. (Y/n) has been acting pretty strange recently...

— (Y/n)'s Pov —

As I reached the door to my room I quickly opened it and flung myself on the bed. I buried my face in my pillow and screamed. 'That was so embarrassing!!' I sat up, still clutching my pillow and blushing furiously. 'I didn't expect him to be in such good shape- ugh! What are you talking about (y/n), Of course he's in good shape! He goes on adventures and stuff for a living!' As I continued to sit and fawn over Friede, replaying the interaction over and over in my mind, I had a sudden realization. 'Wait... what did he mean when he said he 'didn't mind'?! Does he want me to touch his chest?! No no no- he probably meant that he didn't mind me helping him get delcatty fur off of his jacket and stuff- Or maybe-' The Pokémon door swung open and delcatty waltzed in. She hopped up onto the bed and licked her paw. I picked her up and held her in front of me.

"Delcatty what do I do?!" Delcatty tilted its head in confusion and I put her down before sinking back into bed. "Things are so awkward between us- maybe because we haven't seen each other in years.. but also because of how much he's grown up! He's so attractive and successful and he seems to actually know what he wants to do with his life. And I don't even know if I want to be a hair stylist anymore!" Ponyta rubbed up against my leg in order to comfort me and I pet it's fluffy mane. I sighed. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that- he's changed so much since we were kids- and I feel like I haven't changed at all.." I stood up and looked in the full length mirror in my room. "Do you think that... he sees me as more than he did when we were younger?"

I studied myself in the mirror. "He's so different now- do you think that.. he'll like me back even though I haven't changed at all..?" I turned back to my Pokémon. Delcatty had fallen asleep on my bed and Apharos was looking out the window, clearly not paying attention. I sighed again and knelt next to Ponyta. "What do you think Ponyta..?" Ponyta let out a happy cry before nuzzling my hand affectionately. "I hope you're right.." I heard a knock at my door and turned to answer it.

I wonder who it could be?