“L-let me go!”

“Not unless you give it back.”

“I will if you- ack- you promise!” Grey struggled, attempting to slide his head out from the arm, but Glitchy’s strength prevented him from doing so.

The bootleg trainer regretted his decision the moment he was put into a headlock not too long ago. Glitchy was the one to give people a noogie like how a big brother would, and Grey was always his number one target.

Whenever he least expects it, Glitchy would sometimes pop out of nowhere and surprise him with a noogie—only when he wasn’t wearing his hat, of course. This annoyed him until he knew he had to get him back for it.

Despite being short on ideas, the first thing he could do was steal his hat whenever given the opportunity to, and keep it away from him till he makes the promise not to give him anymore noogies. Sounds simple enough, right?

…Not if there’s a risk of being put in a headlock.

“This can go on for as long as it can, kid.” Glitchy spoke, staring down at the bootleg trainer. “Giving up’s not that hard.”

“And at least saying sorry is n-not that hard either!” Grey exclaimed, trying to move his arm away whilst holding the hat in his other hand, but it wouldn’t even budge. It almost felt like he had the muscle of either a Machamp or its second evolution, but he’d doubt that a Machoke would be stronger than its final evolution.

…Then again, he did come from a bootleg game, so he was bound to not have that much knowledge of recent ‘Pocket Monsters’.

“I ain’t gonna say it again; give it back.” Glitchy reaches out for his held hat whilst keeping the bootleg trainer where he is. Despite his struggling, he manages to distance the hat away from him.

“N-never!” Grey declined.

“And also, d-didn’t you say you weren’t gonna say that again? Maybe you should… p-promise not to say it again as well..!” He joked with a grinned smirk.

Glitchy rolled his eyes before rubbing his knuckle on Grey’s head. “Yeah, sure.”

“H-hey!” He yelped. He should’ve seen this coming. But luckily, it lasted for a short second. “Gohod, you’re such a bully!”

“…What was that?”

His smile immediately faded away the moment he heard the tone in Glitchy’s voice. The bootleg trainer froze on the spot as he felt a sudden piercing glare.

“…N-nothing.”

“I don’t think that sounded like nothin’.” The glitched trainer’s face was almost completely obscured, leaving only his staring eye.

He wishes he could do something, but there were no other options—he was already stuck in a headlock, meaning he couldn’t escape the living room, and he was being too stubborn to give up.

So, he finally answers, hoping the results don’t go horribly wrong…

“…I-I said you were being such a… bully.”

“Well then,” Glitchy puts his hand on his side, “I’ll show you who’s a bully.”

Grey’s eyes widened, laughter suddenly rising in his chest as he felt fingers vibrating on his ribs. He began snickering, trying to hold it in.

“C’mon, Grey. You can’t keep that happiness of yours hidden forever.” He assured, smirking. Seeing the bootleg trainer now desperate to get out from under his arm, he made sure to keep his fingers on the ribs each time he squirmed.

Grey looks up at Glitchy, shaking his head as if he was begging him to stop. But he refuses and instead moves his hand to his stomach.

“NOHOHOHOHO-! Glihihitchy, staHAhahap!” Grey bursted with laughter as fingers skittered around his abdomen.

“Then give back what you stole.”

“*snort* Nuhuhuh-uhuhuh!”

“Eh, suit yourself.”

He moves his hand back to the ribs, this time tickling them with two vibrating fingers which made the bootleg trainer let out a stream of giggles.

“NAHAhahaha-! Glihihitchy! Plehehehease, meheHErcy!” He begged, nearly dropping the hat but somehow still hung onto it. Determined as usual, Grey wasn’t gonna give up that easily to the tickling, but he’d have to admit… this felt good—the feeling of serotonin along with tingly sensations that made him happy, it made him feel safe because this is more playful.

So as long as Glitchy doesn’t catch on, this could go on for whatever he pleases.

“If you really want me to stop, then why haven’t you dropped my hat yet, hm? You’re enjoyin’ this, ain’t ya, kid?”

…Nevermind.

When the glitched trainer had stopped tickling for a moment, Grey went silent. He refused to even turn around to show the blushing on his embarrassed face as he did not expect his friend to nearly find out that fast.

Glitchy’s face expression changes as he slowly removes his arm away from his neck. “…Grey?” He asks, a slight worried tone in his voice. Was it something he said? Did he go a little too far?

Out of nowhere, he feels something lightly brush against his other arm, flinching for a split-second before looking down to only see his red and white cap being offered to him by Grey still looking away.

Glitchy chuckles a bit before accepting it, tossing it onto the nearby couch afterwards. “Is this true?”

“…Is what true?”

“You know what I mean.”

The two stood in silence for about 13 seconds or so as Glitchy patiently waited for Grey to look at him while the bootleg trainer had his arms crossed.

Eventually, he finally does, turning his head to reveal his pink blushing face.

Glitchy wheezes, nearly falling into laughter at the immediate sight. “It’s not funny… I’m just gonna go get me somethin’ to eat.” Grey grumbled before departing to the kitchen, not bothering to hear anything else from the glitched trainer.

All of a sudden, a hand dragged him back without giving him enough time to react before he got pinned to the floor.

“You can do that after you’ve learned your lesson.” Glitchy moves the boy’s arms up for better access to his spot before shaping his hands into claws, nearing them towards the armpits.

“W-wait! G.R, waHAHAHAHAIT-!” Grey pleaded but began flailing about once those hands made contact.

“Wait for what? Speak up kid, because I can’t really understand ya.” Glitchy teased. As surprising as it looked, even the mischievous tickle monster couldn’t take what he dishes out. The bootleg trainer would’ve given up sooner when the tickling began, but nope, he wanted to experience it more and he secretly loved it.

“NAhaHAhaT THEHEheHEhere! Ihi’m- *snort* Ihi’m sohohor- GAAHAhaHAhaHAHA!” The glitched trainer moved underneath his Pokéball t-shirt before shaking his claw-posed hand on Grey’s stomach, interrupting his sentence.

“Your name is actually ‘Sorry’? Heheh, wonder who ran out of enough ideas to call you that.” He jokes.

“IHIHI’M TRYING TOhoHO SaY THA- *snort* THAHAT IHI APOHOLIGIZE FOHOR TAKING YOHOHOUR HAHAHAT!” He slammed his palm on the floor while attempting to hide his face with the other hand.

However, Glitchy chooses to be evil just for the sake of it and targets the exposed armpit, preventing him from doing anything else to flee. “You sure you actually apologize?”

“YEHEheHES! JUHUST FOHORGET ABOUT- BWAhaHAHAhaHA!” Grey was unable to say more at this point.

“Apology accepted.” The glitched trainer stops, allowing Grey to breathe for a minute.

“…Thahahank *pant, pant* you…” Rubbing his stomach to cease the phantom tickles, he carefully got up (with help from Glitchy).

“You’re still a bully, though.” Grey said before a hand was placed on his hair.

“I’m already aware, kid.”

~