At first, she only had a slight fondness for Ryuuske. Because of her best friend Misty's introduction, she had a preconceived notion about him. After meeting him, she found that he was indeed the kind of man Misty had described—someone worthy of trust. Back then, she felt Ryuuske was someone she could entrust with her Eevee, but now, she thought he might be someone she could entrust with her entire life.
Hardworking, persevering, capable of enduring hardships beyond what ordinary people could bear, able to enjoy life yet choosing the most difficult path—in Erika's eyes, this made him very much like herself. Both shared an unyielding determination to achieve their goals, no matter the cost or the suffering they had to endure.
If at first, she had merely seen him as a worthy pursuit, now she felt an irresistible urge to claim him as her own.
Approaching him with fondness and spending two months in close proximity might have been the most right—and yet the most wrong—decision Erika had ever made in her life.
To truly understand someone, you must live with them. The simplest way to know a person is to embark on a journey together.
In such intimate contact and shared travels, every aspect of the other person is laid bare before you.
And then, Erika found herself falling—sinking helplessly.
In every way, he met her standards: disciplined, driven, and, perhaps most importantly, unlike other men, he wasn't overly eager to please her.
Both men and women are the same—the easier something is to obtain, the less it is cherished, while the harder it is to attain, the more one desires it.
Approaching him with fondness had already put Erika at a disadvantage in terms of first impressions. Yet Ryuuske's indifference to her beauty, treating her only as a special training partner, was precisely what captured her heart.
Girls are peculiar creatures like that. They can inexplicably fall for someone, just as they can inexplicably grow to dislike someone.
*'This can't be called love at first sight… because we've spent two whole months together.'*
But… what if she was rejected?
Erika's heart wavered with anxiety.
Being rejected after mustering the courage to cast aside all her shame as a girl—Erika couldn't bear to imagine the consequences. Perhaps her love would even turn to hatred.
Just as the girl was lost in her thoughts, torn between hope and fear, Ryuuske, who had been standing by the shore, suddenly stepped into the stream.
Erika's heartbeat quickened, and now, she felt hesitation and fear. She wanted to turn and flee, but the sound of the flowing water at her feet seemed to root her in place, rendering her immobile.
"You're wearing too little. The mountain night won't spare your body. Here, put this on first."
Ryuuske walked up to Erika, draped his jacket over her delicate frame, and rested his hands on her slender shoulders.
Erika was petite. Over the past seven or eight months, Ryuuske had been training in the wild, and his nutrition had kept up with his growth. In just a few months, he had grown noticeably taller. Standing before Erika now, he could look down at her completely.
Ryuuske gazed into Erika's beautiful eyes, then suddenly pulled her into an embrace.
Erika shuddered but soon melted into his arms. This was a scene she had imagined many times, but now that it was happening, the bashfulness of a girl still made her tense.
Holding the girl tightly, Ryuuske inhaled deeply, savoring the fragrance unique to her. If what made Sabrina unforgettable was her aura, and what made Green unforgettable was her personality, then Erika's most unforgettable trait was her one-of-a-kind scent.
There was likely no woman in the world whose fragrance was as intoxicating as hers.
Their embrace tightened. With so little clothing between them, their near skin-to-skin contact allowed them to feel each other's heartbeats.
Ryuuske could hold back no longer. His hands began to move slowly, inching closer until they finally brushed against the girl's flawless skin.
Feeling Erika's lack of resistance, his movements grew bolder.
"You've been under too much pressure, Erika…"
Ryuuske's whisper in her ear, coupled with the warmth of his breath, made Erika bite her lip harder, struggling to suppress the rising waves of desire within her.
Ryuuske knew that the reason Erika had abandoned her feminine reserve—even her pride—to take the initiative was largely because the immense pressure was crushing her.
"I don't know if I'll die…"
Erika's voice trembled with suppressed sobs—a vulnerability she had never shown to anyone before.
"This isn't just Pokémon battles anymore. It's not ordinary fights. It's real war, where people will die—where many will die. As the leader of the Kanto Alliance now, everyone else can retreat… but not me. I'm just a girl too. I'm scared. I don't want to die with regrets. Even if I die, I want to die with clarity."
Her words carried a suppressed desperation. Those in the know saw her as their last shield, expecting her to protect everyone. And this seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl, just as they hoped, shouldered the responsibility with her slender shoulders. But the price had to be paid by her alone.
She just wanted to vent.
Under different circumstances, Erika might have played a game of chase with Ryuuske—keeping him at arm's length, flirting ambiguously, letting their mutual attraction slowly draw them together over half a year, maybe even a year.
But now, the situation was different. Even a rational girl like Erika wanted to indulge herself just this once, to stop overthinking, even if it meant realizing later that she had misjudged him, that he might abandon her, that the ending might not be as beautiful as she imagined.
None of that mattered.
As long as here, now, in this moment when she needed comfort more than anything, she could find solace—that was enough.
Ryuuske didn't make her wait any longer. Some things, if hesitated over too much, would only seem pretentious. He didn't harbor any earth-shattering love for Erika, but after two months together, he couldn't bear to let go of this elegant, refined girl either.
Water splashed around them. The world fell silent, as if sound itself had vanished. Flames rose—flames that clouded reason, blurred vision, and let bodies move on instinct. Only the girl's soft murmurs echoed through the mountain forest.
On the shore, Bellossom and Vileplume flusteredly glanced around, while Eevee covered its eyes with its front paws and buried itself in the grass.
To be continued…
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