Chapter Text
Carmine watched as Kippy made her way over to May, letting the Poochyena run away. She sighed and moved over to kneel in front of May. “Listen…” She started, trying to figure out what to say. “I shouldn’t have freaked out on you like that. What you did was nice, and… I’m sorry… or something like that.” She said, trailing off at the end. May immediately perked up and stood to face Carmine. “Yay! I’m so happy you aren’t mad!” She said, knowing that Carmine’s questionable apology was a way to save some pride. “So let’s catch you that- oh. It ran off already.” She said after turning to where the pokémon had previously been. Carmine patted her on the back and gave her a charming smile. “Not to worry, I’m sure I’ll be able to find a pokémon that can match my soon to be amazing team!” May watched Carmine with a sparkle in her eye, and realized a little too late that she was staring. “Uh, May? You good?” Carmine asked. “Uh, yeah! Sorry! You just looked so cute!” She said, realizing what slipped out, and soon both girls were blushing messes and turned away from each other. “L-Let’s move on! You still need some more pokémon for your team!” May said and Carmine quickly agreed.
After some time traveling and a few encounters, Carmine found herself with a new Poochyena and, much to May’s delight, a shiny Ralts. While May decided to put in some time training with her team, Carmine started to set up a picnic with her own team.
“Now remember, I want you to be on your best behavior when you’re on her team alright?” Carmine said to her newly caught Ralts. The pokémon looked up at her confused. “Look, it’s not that I don’t want you to be a part of my team. Because that would be so cool. A team of shinies. But I also think that May would be a great trainer for you, and I think she deserves something special.” Carmine said as she finished putting together the table. She raised her Ralts up so they were eye to eye. “So, promise me you’ll be good?” She asked, the Ralts finally understanding and giving a nod. “And besides, we’ll see each other all the time when May and I battle and hang out!” She said and the pokémon cheered.
“Hey! The food is ready.” Carmine shouted over to May who was finishing her training with Kippy. “Oh yay! We were getting hungry!” May said as the two approached. The girl sat down with Kippy and the two began to eat, both unaware of Carmine giving Ralts’ her own pokéball. The pokémon then walked over to May and poked her in the side. “Hmm?” May looked down at the Ralts, mid bite, trying to make sense of what was happening. The shiny pokémon held up a pokéball to her and nudged her with it. “Uhh… Carmine? I think your Ralts is confused.” She looked over to the taller girl and was met with a blushing, smiling face. “No, she’s not. She’s actually doing what I told her.” May, still confused, just raised an eyebrow. “I wanted to give you a pokémon. Since you tried to help me earlier, I wanted to repay the favor.” May stood up quickly and tried to reason with Carmine. “Nonono, you really don’t have to. Your Ralts is special, and I don’t want to take that away from you!” May said panicking, not wanting to take away Carmine’s special pokémon.
“May, trust me. I thought about this. I want to give you something special, and I think it’ll be even more special if it’s a gift from me to you.” Carmine said confidently, not expecting to feel a sudden force against her, almost causing her to fall on her back. She looked down to see May hugging her tightly, looking up at her with a shine in her eyes. “That’s so sweet of you! Thank you so much!” May said. She gently took the pokéball from Ralts. The two looked at the shiny pokémon as it waddled over to May and hugged her leg. The moment was interrupted by May’s Buzznav. “Aww man…” She said, saddened. “I’m sorry Carmine. I hate to do this to you, especially after you gifted me this special Ralts, but I have to go. I have a meeting I have to get to.” May looked down in frustration, but was met with understanding eyes when she dared to look back up.
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ve got this adventure covered until you come back! Besides, the next time we see each other, I’ll probably be so trained up you won’t recognize me!” Carmine said, flipping her hair and striking a pose. May giggled at the girl’s antics and hugged her once more before heading back in the direction of Littleroot. After May was gone, Carmine realized how lonely it seemed without her. Though not entirely understanding why their trainer was sad, Torchy and Poochyena nudged her legs, and quickly distracted her by playing around. The three had fun for a while before Carmine decided it was time to pack up, and by the end of everything, it was starting to reach nightfall. She traversed the short trip back to Oldale, and after a few encounters, she arrived at the pokécenter. She allowed Nurse Joy to care for her companions, but was caught in a situation. She remembered that she had no money, and that without May, she’d have to make her way back to her house and ask her parents for a place to stay.
After taking some time to decide, especially given the time, she decided that it would be best to traverse back to the Maple residence, she ended up running into Brendan. ‘Great’ she thought, ‘just the annoying twerp I needed’.
“Hey Carmine!” Brendan said, waving and walking up to her. “Have you caught anything yet?” He asked happily, either not noticing or not caring about Carmine’s distaste for him. “Yeah. Caught a Poochyena and a shiny Ralts.” She stated bluntly, growing even more annoyed at the fact that Brendan was apparently tagging along. “That’s awesome! Can I see them?” He said, the same excitement in his voice as May’s. Reminding her of May, she relented and released her Poochyena. Brendan seemed to make fast friends with the pokémon, the two play wrestling. “You got a little cutie here. And what about the Ralts?” He asked after standing back up. Carmine was about to start explaining what she did but stopped herself. She wasn’t sure how to tell him that she gifted such a special pokémon to May. “I uh… I kinda… sorta gifted it… to May.”
Brendan’s eyes widened and the blush that spread across Carmine’s face didn’t go unnoticed. “That’s super nice of you. I’m sure May was overjoyed.” Carmine tried to brush off his comment but he put a stop to it quickly. “Trust me, I’ve known May for pretty much my entire life. I guarantee that it meant a lot to her.” Carmine had to look away to hide her now completely red face. She recalled her Poochyena and she continued her trek to Littleroot. Brendan continued to tag alongside her, and while she wasn’t thrilled, it was nice to have someone by her side again. The feeling was short lived as Brendand asked a question that destroyed her composure. “Hey Carmine, do you have a crush on May?” The Kitakamite’s eyes went wide and she began stuttering, face reddening at a rapid pace. “What!? Why would you ask that?! Of course I don’t! I mean-Yes, but no… er… Yes! No?!”
Brendan laughed at the outburst and simply replied, “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”