#ionexfiore

Fiore was alone at the Yvonne household that warm spring afternoon. They were just relaxing in the penthouse kitchen, keeping an eye on the pokepuffs they were currently baking. Linonne was asleep at their feet, it was just a normal and relaxing day in Lumiose City. Or at least it was until the blissful silence was broken by a knock at the door. Linonne was now on high alert, she rushed straight to the front door, she could only run in a straight line after all. Lionne glared at the door while a slightly annoyed Fiore followed behind to see who was here. They looked out the peephole, it was hard to see but Fiore could tell the person standing there was one of their old traveling companions. When they opened the door just as they expected Ione was standing there, she was wearing loose-fitting clothing and had a suitcase behind her. Fiore was immediately a bit confused as Ione let herself in. “Fiore! Long time no see!” Ione said cheerfully as she sat herself down in the living room. Linonne was frantically pacing in front of Fiore, she was keeping her guard up against the unexpected visitor.

“It has been a while… you didn’t tell me you were coming to Kalos,” Fiore said as they moved to sit in a recliner across from Ione.

“I didn’t expect it either, this was my first stop on a connecting flight that got pushed back a few hours. I thought I’d stop for a chit chat! You are close to the Lumiose Airport after all,” Ione said, she sounded like she didn’t have a care in the world. 

“Where are you headed?” Fiore asked. 

Ione’s expression faltered for a moment, she had hoped Fiore wouldn’t notice this but they did. They knit their brows and shot Ione a concerned look.

“I’m going to Onishima,” Ione admitted after a brief awkward pause. 

“Are you going back to that place? To wait for Ja-”

“No. I’m actually going to compete in the league.” Ione bitterly cut her off.

The room fell silent. It wasn’t a tranquil silence however, the air was heavy between the two childhood friends and ex-travel companions. 

“I know it was stupid of me… to go back to the place Jamie promised to meet me almost 5 years ago. After last year I originally decided I never even wanted to return to Onishima again… but Lyn told me in a call awhile ago that Jamie was going to actually compete in the league this year.”

“Really!?” Fiore almost choked on their surprise. “Doing the league challenge was never a goal of Jamie’s…”

“You’re right… I don’t know why he has chosen to compete this year but I decided this will be my best chance at closure. I need to bring an end to this one-sided rivalry once and for all by beating him.”

“But what if you lose?” Fiore asked. That question seemed innocent enough but once the words escaped their mouth Fiore realized how loaded that question was. A longer and heavier silence fell over the pair. 

“Even if I lose… I need to face him in battle,” Ione let it out as a murmur, but Fiore made sure they didn’t miss her words. Another silence befell the pair. 

A few minutes into this silence a timer went on in the kitchen. Fiore shot up and quickly headed towards the oven to take out their pokepuffs. 

“I shouldn’t have dropped by so suddenly like this, you seem busy. I’ll get outta your hair now,” Ione stood up as she spoke and grabbed her suitcase. Fiore, after taking out the puffs and turning off the oven, ran over to the girl and put their arms out to stop her from leaving.

“Wait please don’t leave yet! I’m sorry I made things so awkward!” Ione apologized as they let their head drop down in shame. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you in person again, I want to speak with you some more if you don’t have to be back to the airport for a few hours…”

Fiore wiped their eyes before looking back up at Ione. “I’ve improved my baking skills thanks to Ms. Serena. Please at least stay for tea and some homemade pokepuffs.”

Ione who had seemed a little shaken before soon put a new smile on her face as she accepted Fiore’s offer. She practically threw herself back onto the couch as Fiore brought them Pokepuffs and milk tea.

Now that the uncomfortable conversation was the pair began to talk more naturally. They talked about all sorts of different things with delight in their tone. If you didn’t know these two and saw them conversing like this in a cafe you might not know they hadn’t seen each other in person in almost a year. In that moment it was almost if nothing had changed between the two. They were both two best friends on a journey like old times in Fiore’s mind.

Soon Ione’s phone alarm went off so she stood up with her suitcase in hand. She was ready to leave for real this time.

“Thank you for the food and company, but I must be going now,” Ione said.

“Oh but before I go, can I have a good luck kiss for the league?” Ione asked with a laugh. While this statement might seem weird to an outsider this was sort of an inside joke between the pair. Ione jokingly used to ask Fiore for good luck kisses before battles but instead, Fiore would place a kiss on the Pokemon that was about to head into battle instead. 

Ione expected Fiore to just jokingly scoff and roll their eyes but to both of their surprises Fiore found themselves walking straight up to Ione and leaving a soft peck on her lips. 

Ione and Fiore both turned red, Fiore looked more like a cheri berry than a person. Ione just plastered a big, cheesy grin on her face before stumbling her goodbyes and leaving. 

When Ione was finally gone Fiore put their fingers to their lips, after a few moments of thinking everything through Fiore smiled.