between all the chaos

When a particularly intense storm hits, Hayate and his travel companions invite Kipper to spend the night in their room at the overbooked Pokémon Centre.

The only catch? He’ll have to share a bed with Hayate.

fandom: pokemon (anime) rating: g relationship(s): kipper hayden/hayate berlitz-williams word count: 3.7k series: lemon ‘verse 🍋 written for: augustrope read it here

The forecast says the rain won’t be stopping anytime soon.

It started as a drizzle, about an hour ago. Nothing Kipper hasn’t experienced before, and easy enough to deal with on the colder days by having his Tatsugiri take the droplets on to herself using her Storm Drain ability. Unfortunately, this method isn’t nearly as effective in heavier rainfall. During a downpour like this one, even Tatsugiri doesn’t want to be outside her Ball. From the time the heavens opened up to now, probably not even ten minutes later, as he approaches the nearest Pokémon Centre—fortuitously placed about midway between Saffron City and Vermillion City—he gets completely drenched. His shoes are squelching uncomfortably when he enters the Centre, but his hopes of getting a warm meal and changing clothes are quickly dashed as he sees just how many other people there are in the lobby.

Though a sense of dread settles in the pit of his stomach, he approaches Nurse Joy at the counter in spite of it to inquire about a room. Her smile is sympathetic, but her answer is exactly what he expected: “We’re completely full, I’m afraid… This storm really came out of nowhere, didn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Kipper murmurs. “That’s okay. Thanks anyway.”

“You’re welcome to try to wait it out in the lobby,” she says kindly. “But after this one rolls over, there’s supposed to be an even bigger one coming through the night… I don’t know if I would risk going on unless your destination is close.” She gestures behind him, to where some Trainers are setting up bedrolls on the lobby floor. “If you can find the space, make yourself comfortable.”

Sleeping on the floor next to dozens of strangers sounds like just about the last thing he wants to do, but it’s seeming more and more likely that he has no other choice. He concedes with a small nod and another mumbled thank you, then turns away from the desk to, at the very least, locate the washroom so he can change out of his soaked clothes.

He doesn’t make it very far before a familiar voice behind him has him freezing in place.

“Kip! Is that you?”

Breath catching in his throat, Kipper turns around to see Hayate, along with the two girls he’s been travelling with since they started their tour of Kanto: his old friend Morgan, and her younger sister Elaine. Elaine stands behind her sister, as shy as she’s been every time their paths have crossed these past few months. Kipper’s not sure he’s ever even heard her speak.

When Kipper’s eye meet Hayate’s at last, he breaks into a beaming smile.

“You’re totally drenched!” As he approaches, he laughs a bit, though he levels Kipper with a sympathetic look when he gets close enough to see just how wet he actually is. “You must be freezing, Kip.”

When an unseasonal winter storm rolls down from Evolution Mountain, Lemon and Lime end up at a local inn filled-to-bursting with other stranded Trainers and tourists. There's one room still available, but it's not exactly ideal for their situation.

fandom: pokemon (anime) rating: g relationship(s): lemon oak/lime hayden word count: 3.4k series: lemon ‘verse 🍋 written for: augustrope read it here

“What do you mean, there’s only one bed?”

The kindly old man behind the counter offers Lime a tremulous smile. “It’s a busy season, m’dear, and with this weather we’ve been having, it’s not such a great one for camping out!”

Well, sure. That’s how they’d ended up here in the first place, after Nurse Joy had had to turn them away from the Pokémon Centre for lack of sleeping space. This establishment wouldn’t have been on Lime’s list otherwise; it’s a little dingy, and the decorations in here are downright gaudy, too. The bobblehead Dewgong on the counter in front of her has been taunting her with its obnoxiously hypnotic pendulum for every painstaking minute she’s spent standing in front of it.

With a sigh, she glances over her shoulder at Lemon, who, for her part, has been completely sidetracked by the hideous décor. She seems to be admiring a medieval-style portrait of a Golduck hung over the pitifully small, sputtering fireplace. Maybe, if the owner of this establishment had made as much space for the fire as they had for the giant painting hung on the wall above it, it wouldn’t be so damn cold right now.

Turning back to the old man, she says, “Fine. If that’s really all you have, then I guess we’ll just have to take it, won’t we?”

“I’m sure the continental breakfast will sweeten the deal,” he assures her as he bends down to fish for the, apparently, last remaining room key.

Somehow, Lime doubts that, but she doesn’t say so, just grumbles a thank you and accepts the key he passes over the counter. It takes all her willpower to not knock the stupid Dewgong off of it as she pulls back, key in hand.

The man gives her a quick summary of the services—room down the hall to the left, breakfast starting at six in the morning, and, due to the poor weather, the pool out back is completely off limits—and then sends her away with a cheerful wave. She turns around to fetch Lemon, dragging her feet the whole way across the cramped lobby; but clearly Lemon does not notice, because she looks over at her with a huge smile as she approaches.

“Isn’t this place awesome?” she gushes. “It’s so cute!”

“Yeah,” Lime says dryly. “Super cute.”

“You don’t like it? I kinda want to ask where I can buy a painting like this! I think my dads would love it.”

Suddenly, Lemon’s terrible taste is starting to make a lot of sense.

Hayate stays firmly rooted in place, though his responding smile is open and warm. “Anything for you, Kip,” he says brightly.

Kipper’s cheeks flame, and he hurriedly turns away from him to go get changed. Hayate probably doesn’t even realize how romantic he sounds when he says things like that; in a way, it’s part of why Kipper loves him so much, but it doesn’t make it any easier to bear when it’s directed his way.

He takes as much time as he can changing into a dryer set of clothes without feeling like a jerk for taking too much time when the Pokémon Centre is as busy as it is tonight. Probably, a lot of the Trainers here now are in the same boat as Kipper and Hayate: stranded on their way to Vermilion City for the contest being held there in a couple days. He hadn’t known Hayate planned to enter this one, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise; Vermilion City is one of Kanto’s most picturesque. Kipper’s sister said she found it disappointing considering all the hype—she insisted Hoenn boasts much more beautiful port cities—but her girlfriend had adamantly disagreed, telling Kipper it’s well worth the visit. That it’s one of the most romantic cities in the world and he would totally love it. Lime grumbled that she was just biased because she has family there, which Kipper supposes is a reason Hayate might have wanted to come this way, too. His step-mother’s father runs some kind of research institute in Vermilion City; maybe the Vermilion Contest is just a pleasant excuse for him to go visit.

But as much as Lemon’s excessive enthusiasm for everything makes her claims, generally, dubiously over-the-top at best and outright misleading at worst, Kipper can’t deny his curiosity. Especially not now that he knows Hayate will be there at the same time he will be. Maybe after the storm passes, they could even travel there together. If they both planned to enter the same contest anyway, it would hardly hurt anything, would it?