Love Story (Part 1)

(You have no idea how nervous I am to post this story. I'm worried nobody's going to like this.)

Hello!

This is technically a love story. But this ship is straight, so I’m sorry if I dissappointed most of you.

This is a ship I’ve only written about once before. And it was in a vent, so does it even really count?

I wanted to post a story about them a long time ago, but the reason I didn’t was because I was afraid of what people would think about it.

Actually, this story itself was a story I wanted to post in June. But that was during Pride Month, where everyone wanted LGBT+ stuff only. There was no way I was going to post a story about an already controversial straight ship during Pride Month! That's just asking for criticism!

The reason I've always been scared of posting about them is because of the 2 people involved. Both of them are often viewed as gay for literally no reason, and putting them together is just… unthinkable to most. Fanart of them does exist, so it's not unheard of. But it's definitely rare.

I've written tons of stories about JoltikShipping (yes, that's what I'm calling them), mostly short stories in my Notes. But never have I ever actually posted one. I'm really nervous to do this, but there have been way worse ships, imo.

This (besides the vent) is the first full story I’m posting about them. I also teased that I ship them in the Writer’s Makeup entry I did. There’s also another story that’s not technically about them… but it has 2 kids that are supposed to be exactly like them. It’s not actually one of my better ones, tbh.

So, this is the first time I’m actually posting a serious story about them. It uses lots of canon elements, but also has headcanons, as well.

I'm not expecting people to like this ship, which is why the comments are disabled. But if enough people like this, I'll post more about them. If not, I'll delete this story and part 2, and I won't post about them anymore. You can leave in PM's, if you really want to say something.

All I can say is that it’s a rare pair, and I really like it, but if you don’t, I apologize. Comments are disabled to avoid criticism, but I might turn them on later. But listen - someone shipped Leon and Volo, okay? I think my ship is just fine compared to that madness.

#PAPCReviews

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It was a summer evening.

It wasn’t too hot outside, however. There was a lovely breeze to cool you down, making it basically a perfect day.

But the Unova Gym Leaders weren’t outside right now, anyway. They were all about to leave after listening to a very boring meeting about gym stuff.

One of the gym leaders, the insect artist, went to a balcony on the building they were at. He looked out at the horizon and ired the sunset. Sunsets were some of his favorite things in the world. They were gourgeous. But, being an artist, he was a sucker for that sort of thing.

In this moment, he felt like there was nothing more beautiful than this sunset.

Until he was proven wrong.

“Oh, there you are,” Somebody behind him said.

So he turned around, and there was the shining beauty, looking beautiful as ever.

He was expecting to see her adorable smile, but she wasn’t smiling. Instead, she looked upset. And her diamond blue eyes were very red, which meant she had been crying.

“Oh…” he said in shock. “Is something wrong, Elesa?”

She looked at the floor and shrugged. “I guess I just need someone to talk to,” was her response. She added, “I want to vent to somebody who won’t give me advice. I just want somebody to listen.”

“Well, I’ll listen to you,” he told her, and he brought her to the end of the balcony, where the sunset was.

“Thank you,” she told him.

“Of course, Elesa,” he replied. Then he asked, “Why don’t you talk to Skyla? I think she’d be a lot more help than I would.”

“No, she’d just tell me I’m being ridiculous, and she’d give me advice, which as I said, I don’t want.”

He just nodded in response, knowing that was probably true. And he waited for her to start venting.

She sighed. “Um, first of all, I just wanted to thank you for helping me with my breakup last week. I would’ve just called Skyla, but she was still angry with me. So I felt really alone at first, but it’s a good thing I was dumped in Castelia City, because you were right there to lift me up when I felt down. I’m… I’m thankful for that, I want you to know.”

He just gave a soft smile and replied with, “Elesa, it was the least I could do. I believe no one should ever have to feel alone.” Then he said, “Oh, I get it. You’re still upset about it, aren’t you?”

After that, he cursed himself for forgetting he wasn’t supposed to say anything - he was only supposed to be listening.

But she didn’t seem to mind. All she said was, “No, it’s not that. …Well, I guess technically it is. But, well, it’s complicated.”

“I’m all ears, Elesa,” the artist said, and he vowed not to say anything else.

She sighed, and began with a question.

“Tell me the truth,” she ordered him. “Am I just a pretty face?”

And he just stared at her like she had asked if Cryogonal was a Poison-type.

“Beacause that’s all I feel like,” she continued. “Men take one look at me and assume they know everything about me. And it’s not just men, either. It’s women, too. But then they actually hang out with me, and they find out that I’m not like how they expected. They always think I’m not as great as I seem. That’s why they leave me.”

She sighed again. “Last week, once again I was dumb enough to think a man liked me for who I actually was. But no. They all only care about how rich or famous or pretty I am. But it’s not like I’m all that great, anyway. I’ve lost a lot of really great friends because of my short-temper. It feels like all I do is yell at people for things that aren’t that big a deal… and most people just can’t deal with that.”

That’s when the artist saw tears welling up in the shining beauty’s blue eyes.

“Oh, Burgh, you’d assume being beautiful is amazing…” she muttered as she looked away from him so he couldn’t tell she was crying. “...But it’s not. It’s really not.”

He could tell she was crying, even though she tried to hide it. There was so much he wanted to say, but he knew he couldn’t.

A sob escaped her, and she continued. “Somedays it just feels like nobody likes me. M-Maybe Skyla is right. Maybe I should just take a break from dating…”

“Elesa, I don’t-” the artist almost blurted, but he quickly covered his mouth, ing he was only supposed to be listening.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said quickly. “Continue.”

The shining beauty didn’t look angry at all when he spoke. In fact, she looked back at him, and it almost looked like she gave a little grin.

But then she frowned again within moments. She had wiped all of the tears away from her face before turning to look at him, but her eyes were still full of them.

She sighed pitifully. “Whenever I think it might finally be the one… either they do something toxic, or I ruin it by being me. Skyla tried to tell me it’s just how men are, that men are just toxic and think they’re the ‘dominant gender’ or whatever. They like hurting us beacause they think we’re weaker. But you, Burgh, you’d never hurt anybody on purpose, and neither would any of our other male gym leaders, as far as I know. So I’m pretty sure it’s just me.

And that’s why I’m pretty sure I don’t have any redeeming qualities except for my body and my face. This isn’t just about dating anymore. It’s about everybody assuming they know everything about me just by looking at me.”

At this point, she was crying again, but she didn’t try to hide it this time. There were tears streaming down her face. Her voice broke as she stuttered, “I-I just… Why was I cursed with being so gorgeous? Why can’t I be as amazing as I look?”

And she didn’t keep going. All of a sudden, another sob escaped the shining beauty, and she buried her face into her hands while she wept.

But suddenly, she turned to the artist and put herself into his arms. He was surprised for a moment, but then he realized that meant she wanted a hug. So, he put her arms around her and embraced her while she sobbed.

“Wh-What’s wrong with me..?” She sobbed as he felt her tears seeping into his shirt.

He wanted to answer: Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all.

Suddenly, it felt like he was being taken back in time. Not very far; only a few months, actually. But still. He was reminded of the day he fell in love with this woman.

It was a fairly rainy day. The gym leaders had to go to a meeting. And when he showed up, he was already in a pretty bad mood. But did anyone seem to care? It didn’t feel like it. He hadn’t even been there for 10 minutes before the artist was being yelled at by Drayden (basically the boss of them).

He didn’t why. He was hardly even listening. The insect artist was a very sensitive person who hated to be yelled at, and he was already in a foul mood before, so it was a miracle he didn’t start crying (yet). He really just didn’t want to seem weak in front of his boss.

And not even 2 minutes later, when he’s trying to calm down, he sees the pilot gym leader, who, instead of trying to figure out what was wrong, she just starts yelling at him, too. And unlike with Drayden, he finally broke, as he’s unable to keep from crying.

You’d assume this would make her calm down and apologize, right? Nope. She just yells at him even more and calls him an “overdramatic crybaby.” Naturally, this just made him cry more.

And while he was crying alone, that’s when the shining beauty came in and noticed him. She said she had been looking for him because she was worried. Then she asked him why he was crying, but thinking she would make fun of him too, he didn’t tell her why.

But she didn’t mind. She only hugged him and told him that it would be okay. And she stayed with him until he was done crying.

It was such a sweet moment that most would forget about in a day. But for him, it repeated all the time in his head, every day after that. Ever since that moment, he’s felt something different about her.

He ed how nice it felt to be close to her… her gentle, soft touch… her calm, soothing voice, telling him there was nothing to worry about…

And now, it felt like he was finally returning the favor. Now *she* was the one crying in *his* arms. But it still felt just as nice.

She figured out what was wrong anyway, without him telling her. Because that same day, she told him it was okay to be sensitive. People shouldn’t yell at him for no reason anyway (and how she was guilty of that, too). People should recognize and accept that, not take advantage of it.

Just a pretty face. Why would she ever think that about herself? After that event, he’s realized how much more to her there really is. How fun and amazing she actually is. She has a very kind heart and cares for everybody around her. She dosen’t let anybody mess with her family or her friends. She even protects people she’s never met, which is a duty as a gym leader, but Elesa seemed to be better at it than most.

Elesa, the artist thought, you wiped my tears away that day. And I want to do the same for you. Whenever you cry, I want to be there for you to make you smile again, no matter what.

“Burgh? Are you alright?”

“Huh?” He responded. “Oh, um…” he muttered, looking down at the model, her face still stained with tears. Instead of finishing the sentence, he only nodded, cursing himself for getting so zoned out.

“Oh,” she said. “You seemed kind of zoned out. You were probably thinking of something serious.”

He didn’t respond to that statement, because if he were to tell her no, he would be lying. But if he said yes, she would ask him what it was he was thinking about, and he would have to tell her. So he just shrugged.

She knew this meant he didn’t want to tell her. So, she took a deep breath in, and then let it out, to try and calm down. And then she started wiping her tears away.

“Oops,” she muttered when she realized she accidentally grabbed some of the artist’s scarf and used it to wipe some tears away. She quickly dropped it, realizing it wasn’t hers.

But the artist only gave a laugh. And he took his shirt sleeve and helped the shining beauty wipe tears away.

She looked up at him with her gorgeous blue eyes. And he gave her a soft smile. Involuntarily - it was just because of how cute she was.

And the artist could’ve sworn he saw the shining beauty blush a little. But he couldn’t tell, because she smiled back and quickly looked away from him. He forced himself to believe it was only his imagination.

When her face was no longer stained with tears, she finally spoke.

“Thank you for listening,” she told him. “I feel a little better now. And I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to waste your time-”

“No, Elesa, I’m glad you told me all of that!” He itted. “Please talk to me whenever you need, okay?”

She looked at him and nodded. “I will,” she promised.

And then, before leaving, she gave him one last hug. And he hugged her back.

“Thank you,” she muttered. “You have no idea how much it means to me that you stayed and listened.”

He didn’t say anything back. They just stood there and hugged for a bit.

None of them really wanted to let go. But eventually, they realized they couldn’t stand there all night, and they slowly but surely let go of eachother.

And with that, the shining beauty walked away, while the artist watched her.

(And while she had her back turned, he accidentally looked where he shouldn’t have, and felt a little ashamed afterwards.)

The artist looked back at the sunset, realizing that the sun was almost gone now. While he did, he put his hand where her tears had stained his shirt. And at that moment, he got flashbacks of that event, all over again.

Also at that moment, he realized he needed to do something about this problem of hers.

If he were to just tell her how he felt, which is what he wanted to do, she probably wouldn’t believe him. She’d probably assume he liked her only for looks, which obviously wasn’t true. So he needed to tell her in a way that would really get through to her.

Which meant he needed to tell her through the way the artist expressed himself best.

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Part 2 here!