[Pokémon Masters] Trick Room

[javert]

Title: Trick Room
Fandom: Pokémon Masters EX
Pairing: Lear/Bettie
Rating: G
Summary: The winter festivities had always filled Lear with a sort of melancholy he didn't like to think about.
Notes: My yuletide fic for this year.
AO3 Link: Here.

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The winter festivities had always filled Lear with a sort of melancholy he didn't like to think about. Sure, it all culminated into a day of celebration where you got gifts from everybody and got to spend quality time with the people who loved you, but... It always left him feeling a little lonely.

At the time, he'd been too proud to admit it, throwing himself fully into the preparations and boasting about hosting the best parties ever. That wasn't really him anymore, these days – except maybe the boasting. He was very much still into boasting, and for good reasons! He had a lot to boast about, after all.

His loneliness was more of a thing of the past, anyway, yet there was always a tinge of apprehension when that time came around once more. He'd make lists and arrangements for Rachel and Sawyer to follow, and the memories of his childhood spent away from his peers only to be appeased with gifts that came with too many responsibilities would grab him by the throat, if only for a moment. He willed himself to get over it, ignoring Hoopa as he hovered next to him, its expression oddly focused.

"Are you up to something?" Lear asked, as soon as Rachel had left with a long list of errands. They couldn't decently use the same decorations for the party that they'd set up the year before.

Hoopa giggled and did a little twirl, which was as good of an answer as any. As far as Lear was concerned, Hoopa was always up to something.

What he didn't expect was for Sawyer and Rachel to come to see him on the last day of their preparations, to let him know that there had been last-minute complications, and they needed him to take care of it. To which he opened his mouth to ask why they couldn't take care of it, and promptly closed it when the door to the huge party room opened to let Bettie in.

She looked as puzzled as he was to see him. Rachel, meanwhile, greeted her excitedly. A little too excitedly, in Lear's opinion. He forced himself to be magnanimous, if only for the sake of the holidays.

"Here you aaare!" Rachel said. Bettie walked up to them, her expression unsure under the rim of her cap. "You two can take care of the last of the cleaning up."

"What?" Lear tried not to shout, he did, but his voice came out louder than was probably appropriate. "Why do I– I mean..." He gestured to Bettie and him vaguely. "Why do we have to clean, exactly?"

He was pretty sure he'd arranged for that way ahead of time. In fact, the room looked almost pristine to his well-trained eyes. Maybe there was some stray dust from them walking around.

Rachel pursed her lips. Her gaze flicked to Sawyer, whose impeccably sculpted eyebrows shot up just barely, and then back to Lear. "We thought you'd want to make sure everything was, like, perfect, you know?"

Well. That made more sense, at least. Lear readjusted his glasses on his nose.

"You could have started with that! We'll get to it, then. Don't forget about the catering! The buffet has to be ready in time!"

"On it," Sawyer said, straightening his back. With that, the two of them left, leaving Lear alone with Bettie.

Why her of all people, he couldn't say. He didn't mind her, far from it, or, well, maybe that was more than he'd meant to think. She was... alright. He'd moved past his reservations about her a long time ago. Magnanimous. As previously stated.

"So, cleaning, huh," Lear said. Bettie smiled at him with about as much confidence as he felt he had. "We should mop. No, wait, we should sweep first, right?"

Bettie's pikachu, who'd entered after her and had been busy sniffing the ground, looked up at him. One of his ears twitched.

"I think I saw a broom in the corner," Bettie said. Her voice was steady despite the awkwardness of the situation. Lear nodded as she added, "It looks pretty clean to me, but..."

"It has to be perfect!" Lear agreed.

He went to grab the broom in question and held it in his hands for a few seconds before realizing he had no idea how to use it. He'd seen people use them, however, and it didn't seem very difficult. Bringing it to Bettie for her to use didn't seem very gentlemanly, not to mention it would have been admitting he didn't know what to do with it.

With what he hoped was enough flourish to hide his uncertainty, Lear brandished the broom and began to rub it against the floor. He successfully managed to displace some stray dust, which had to mean he was on the right track. As if his initiative had cut through some of the strange atmosphere, Bettie sprung into motion, moving to take the other broom, and followed his example.

There really wasn't much left to clean at all. Lear sneaked glances toward Bettie, to study her form and the way she was sweeping. She didn't seem to be that much better at it, which brought him a small measure of comfort. By her side, her pikachu was copying her, using his tail to scrub the floor.

"Pikachu!" she called out once she noticed. "Don't do that, you're making a mess!"

He kind of was, but it was also kind of cute. Lear opened his mouth to say that he could keep making a little bit of a mess as long as he was having fun when his Rotomphone rang.

"Master Leaaar!" Rachel greeted him. She sounded out of breath. "I totally forgot! We need you two to set up the tables, too!"

Lear straightened himself, keeping the broom firmly planted on the ground. "What? Where's Sawyer?"

"He's, like, totally super busy! He said you should get your pokémons to help!" Before Lear could protest, she quickly went on, "Ah, I gotta go, sorry! Last minute preparations are crazyyy!"

Then she hung up.

Lear stared down at his Rotomphone in absolute disbelief. Bettie, who'd picked up her pikachu and got him to settle over her shoulders, stood next to him, holding her broom with both hands.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Of course!" Lear said, putting his Rotomphone back in his pocket. "Turns out we have more on our plate! We have to set up the tables for the reception!"

Bettie tilted her head. Her confusion was obvious, but she refrained from putting it into words. "Okay," she said instead. "I'll get Cobalion to help."

In truth, with their pokémons, moving furniture was a piece of cake. His donphan and Bettie's cobalion made quick work of getting every table in the right spot, and all they had to do was set up the chairs. Even the long buffet table only took a few minutes for the large pokémons to push against the back wall.

They gave the floor another sweep afterward. Pikachu had become the official dustpan holder, something he was clearly very excited about, carefully moving his tail to get all the dust and dirt inside before bringing it to the trash can Sawyer had brought for the cleaning service.

Lear took the opportunity to watch Bettie as they both cleaned and instructed their pokémons on what to do next. Her cheerful confidence used to irritate him not so long ago, but now it intrigued him. She was a good trainer, undeniably one of the best on Pasio, and she achieved it with the sort of patience and kindness he'd spend so long looking down on.

He was glad to have met her. This seemed like the best time to get to know her better, in fact, stuck as they were getting things ready in that giant room. Yet, as he tried to muster the words to ask her about herself, he felt... intimidated by the prospect.

She'd never given him the impression that she held their initial rapport against him, though he wouldn't have blamed her if she did. Again and again, she'd been good to him, helping and sometimes even saving him from dangers he was too self-absorbed to notice. He couldn't take it back. He'd done his best to make it right, but...

"Were you looking forward to the party?" he asked once they'd recalled both of their big pokémons, after thanking and petting them profusely for their trouble.

Bettie took on a thoughtful expression, her pikachu now perched on her head. "I think so! I like getting to see everyone having fun." She paused to give him a smile. "And you're very talented at organizing parties."

The compliment caught Lear by surprise. He scoffed to distract himself from the warm sensation gaining on his cheeks.

"Well," he said, "clearly not as talented as I thought I was if we have to do all of this at the last minute!"

As if on cue, the door opened again, this time to let Sawyer enter. He was carrying three big boxes of what looked to be decorations for the party. He put them down at his feet and waved at Bettie and Lear, his smile too large to be trusted.

Lear raised his eyebrows. "What's all that?"

"As expected of Master Lear, I can see you've got everything under control," Sawyer said. "We need you to decorate the room. Oh, and there's something else Rachel will have to bring in a moment..."

Before Lear could interject, Bettie spoke up.

"Is there a reason as to why you can't decorate? I don't mind helping, of course, but I'm confused as to why it needs to be done by us."

"Everyone is very busy," Sawyer said. He looked so serious that it tempered Lear's suspicions momentarily. "Too many moving pieces to compromise on anything. We thought it would be to Master Lear's preference."

Bettie glanced at him. Lear shrugged, aiming for nonchalance. Not for the first or last time, he was grateful that his glasses obscured some of the minutiae of his expressions.

"Sure, whatever. We'll take care of it." He crossed his arms. "But the final result better be phenomenal!"

Sawyer's face relaxed just enough to allow for his smile to seem more sincere. "Of course, Master Lear. If you'll excuse me."

With that, he left them with the decorations. Pikachu jumped off his trainer to look through them as soon as the door had shut, so eager it made Lear a little excited, too. At least decorating was a fun activity compared to cleaning or setting up tables and chairs.

There were all sorts of banners and ornaments in the boxes. Some were shaped like pokémons, others were more generic: bells, candy canes, pine trees. They came in the color scheme they'd decided in advance, shades of icy blue and white with a few purple accents that had made Rachel very happy. The banners had winter scenes printed on them featuring delibirds, stantlers, and eiscues among other Ice-type pokémons. Bettie took out one that had a scene with an abomasnow allowing a couple of snovers to decorate its body, and let out a soft little laugh.

"These are surprisingly cute," she said. "Come on, Pikachu, let's get them up on the wall!"

Lear tried to pretend he didn't keep glancing at her while he untangled the string lights. She was laughing and smiling at Pikachu as they worked, clearly enjoying herself, and her growing enthusiasm and desire to do well was even becoming communicative.

"You look like you're having fun," Lear said after she helped him stick some of the lights over the banners she'd just finished hanging.

Bettie chuckled. Her lightly flushed face, illuminated in slow patterns of blue, white, and purple, was mesmerizing for reasons that Lear couldn't even begin to explain. Probably the lighting.

"I am having fun," she said, like the idea that she could not be was absurd. "Thinking about where to put things, how it's going to look, knowing that everyone will get to enjoy this tonight... It's nice. It reminds me of the Trainer Lodge, in a way."

The Trainer Lodge... Lear frowned. He turned one of the small light bulbs around so it wouldn't touch the nearest one. She did spend a lot of time making sure it was cozy and up to everyone's tastes. When they hung out there together, Lear always felt at ease, though he often came out a bit frustrated.

It wasn't that he didn't like their conversations, or the decor. He'd grown to appreciate Bettie's company more and more. It was... something else.

He shook his head. They were almost done with the lights, and Pikachu was carefully placing trinkets, tinsel, and candles on every table and windowsill. He spared a thought for his past self, who'd foolishly believed teamwork was worthless, and smiled to himself.

"Well, you and Pikachu have certainly got a knack for this! I'm sure everyone will have a great time, as they should."

Bettie grinned at him, so pleased that Lear could only grin back. "I'm glad I was able to help," she said.

They walked side by side to the boxes, Pikachu not very far behind, to check if there was anything left they wanted to use. There was a purple ribbon at the very bottom of one. Pikachu picked it up and held it for Bettie to see with one sharp little cry of, "Pi!"

"Aw, do you want a bowtie?" Bettie crouched down to his level. "Come here."

The pokémon's tail wagged gently as he waited for his trainer to wrap the ribbon around his neck. The color contrast with his yellow fur was very striking, but Lear was too busy following the precise movements of Bettie's hands to really pay attention to anything else.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when the door opened again. This time, Rachel came in with Serena and Dawn, the three of them carrying multiple trays covered in what appeared to be freshly baked cookies. Lear readjusted his glasses and cleared his throat.

"What is it now?" he asked. The girls didn't respond, walking past him and Bettie to put the trays down on the large buffet table. "Are we on cookie duty, is that it?"

Serena grinned at him. She looked like she was fighting back the urge to laugh.

"Precisely! Rachel thought you might want to supervise the last step, but..."

"Serena said you'd better just do it yourself," Dawn cut her off. They exchanged a glance, Serena's eyes narrowing. "What? You were right. If you want a thing done well..."

Lear held up his hands. "Whatever! We'll do it. Can't be that hard, right Bettie?"

He turned toward her, Pikachu now perched on her shoulder. She shrugged with the other one.

Thirty minutes later, it had turned out to in fact be that hard. After three failed attempts that Bettie had very patiently fixed for him, Lear was beginning to think the cookies had it out for him personally. The ones shaped like trees, especially. They taunted him with their angular branches.

Bettie, in contrast, seemed to be having the time of her life. Every time she put the last touch of icing on a cookie, she'd hold it up for Pikachu to admire, and he'd applaud with a "Pikachu!" of delight. It was starting to get a bit vexing.

"I don't get it," Lear said. He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. "When you do it, it looks so simple..."

"It's because you're rushing," Bettie said. Her tone was kind, but he still bristled reflexively. Her cheeks flushed pink. "Serena showed me once. You have to be patient and focus on the motion as you trace the lines... Like drawing on paper."

Lear sighed. "I can't draw."

"Me neither, but if you keep to very simple shapes, it's easier. Here, come look."

She picked one of the treacherous pine tree biscuits and the bag of green icing. Bent over the table, the tip of her pink tongue peeking through her lips, she traced the edges of the shape in slow, precise gestures. So slow, in fact, that Lear soon stopped watching what she was doing to instead watch her, the way her eyebrows kept twitching as she frowned in concentration, her eyes narrowed until all that was left were thin slits, the slight flush that remained on her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose. It reminded him of how she looked when she was thinking about her next strategy, except instead of lasting for only a few seconds, it stretched, her focus unbroken up until she was satisfied with her outline.

It was... Well, it wasn't perfect, but it was far beyond any of Lear's attempts. She glanced at him, maybe to check if he was still paying attention, and began to fill the inside, mindful not to go over the line.

"See?" she said, triumphant. "You have to give yourself the time to really concentrate on the result."

"That's boring, though," Lear protested.

He'd said it without thinking, but far from being upset at his bluntness, Bettie laughed. There was a faint smudge of green icing on the tip of her nose.

"Not everything can be all about quick thinking and excitement," she said, checking the various boxes of sprinkles as she spoke. "Don't you ever want to just take the time to relax and enjoy things?"

Lear pursed his lips. One might have even said he was pouting, though he absolutely wasn't. He leaned forward, his arms still crossed, to watch Bettie meticulously deposit the tiny, shiny balls and cylinders on top of the icing to decorate her tree.

"I guess," he relented.

To humor her – and because he didn't want to have to admit he couldn't even ice one cookie properly – he tried to take it slow on his next attempt. He selected a round one and decided to follow Bettie's inspiration and make it into a pokéball.

It was kind of meditative, once you got into it. Some of the colors smeared together a bit – maybe he'd sped up as he got excited – but, in the end, it was recognizable as a pokéball, which was more than he could say about his previous forays into decorating. He even earned some applause from Pikachu which he responded to with a quick bow.

"I knew you could do it!" Bettie said. "Keep it up!"

He grinned at her. His gaze kept coming back to the little bit of icing on her face. Without really thinking, he held up his hand and wiped it off.

Bettie's eyes widened at the same time as a deep blush spread across her face. Lear only realized what he'd done when he went to lick his thumb. His own cheeks grew hot so fast he could hear his heart beating inside his ears.

"Your, huh," he mumbled, his thumb still pressed against his lips. "You had– You had icing. On your nose. Just a little bit." He took a step back and straightened himself as if his face wasn't the color of a shiny crustle. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Bettie said. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears. "Thanks."

They went back to what they were doing like nothing had happened. Lear grabbed the nearest cookie and only narrowly avoided crushing it in his fist.

At least having to stay focused on the task meant that he couldn't allow himself to think about anything else, like how mortified he felt, or how much he liked seeing Bettie like this. How much he liked spending time with her, even if it was to do tasks that could have – should have! – been done by other people.

The rest of their decorating was done in a silence that was only interrupted occasionally by Pikachu. Their determination to avoid acknowledging the tension in the air did make them very productive, which was definitely not a bad thing. They had a lot of cookies to decorate.

Bettie was finishing up the last one when the door opened again. This time, both Sawyer and Rachel were at the door. Lear opened his arms wide to welcome them.

"All done!" he exclaimed. "And there better not be anything else you need us to do, because this is getting old."

His two subordinates exchanged a look. He wasn't entirely sure what kind of look it was, but it was undeniably A Look. He deflated slightly, letting his arms fall back down.

"Everything is ready," Sawyer said. "There is one last thing. If you'll follow me, Master Lear."

"And you'll have to come with me, Bettie!" Rachel singsonged.

"We'll have Serena and Dawn come get the cookies for the final touches," Sawyer added, as Lear still hadn't moved. "Master Lear?"

He turned to Bettie, who'd picked up her pikachu and was going with the flow, as usual. Lear rolled his eyes. Whatever Sawyer and Rachel were planning, he was just glad to no longer be given tasks to fulfill. He wanted to host his party and have fun with everyone else.

"Alright, alright," he said with the appropriate amount of dramatics. "If this is a trick to get me to do more chores, I'll have Hoopa send you guys to the volcano!"

Rachel giggled, though Sawyer's smile did seem barely tense. It wasn't a real threat, of course. Well, maybe he could send them near the volcano, so they'd have to walk all the way back on foot...

He shook his head and followed Sawyer. They entered another room, adjacent to the big one, where Lear was pleasantly surprised to find a gorgeous outfit on a mannequin stand. All of his complaints suddenly discarded, he made his way to it so he could inspect it.

The long coat was in the same purple tones they'd picked for the party, complimented beautifully by its light blue fur lining and the white, slightly glittery snowflakes that had been sewn into the fabric. Beneath it, Lear could see a matching purple vest, a white shirt, white pants, and shoes and a tie that matched the fur. Most curiously, there was also a purple hat, shaped like a bell. He held it up to see it at various angles, contemplating how it would look on him.

"We hoped it would be to your liking," Sawyer said. "Miss Valerie has been hard at work designing it."

"Why the secrecy?" Lear asked. He put the hat on his head and marched to the mirror on the opposite wall, adjusting the piece of clothing to try to make it sit how he wanted over his hair. "And the hat?"

Sawyer held himself very straight and kept his expression neutral, even as Lear squinted at him suspiciously. "We thought you might enjoy a present."

"That explains keeping it secret, I suppose." Lear began taking off his clothes so he could change. "It doesn't explain the hat."

"Do you dislike the hat?"

Lear shrugged.

"The hat's fine."

The hat was more than fine, actually, once he'd gotten everything on. It took some extra finesse and lots of staring into the mirror, but by the end of it, Lear thought he pulled it off nicely. He'd never thought himself the sort to wear hats, and this was proving him very wrong. He made a mental note to explore that option more thoroughly in the future.

"It was Rachel's idea," Sawyer said. Standing behind him, Lear could catch his smile in the reflection. "She'll be very happy to see you decided to wear it." He paused, watching Lear watch himself, before finally adding, "Shall we get the party started?"

Lear shot him a grin. "You bet!"

Making his way back to the party room, Lear felt extremely satisfied with the way everything had gone, all things considered. Sure, he'd had to do some of it himself – though Bettie had helped...

That thought stuck in his mind for a few seconds. His enthusiasm over his new outfit had made him forget that Bettie, too, had been told to go... Somewhere, with Rachel. What was up with that?

He was about to turn and ask while Sawyer pushed the door open, but the words caught in his throat as his eyes scanned the room.

Bettie was standing next to Rachel, talking to her about something, smiling and gesturing with her hands. The first thing that struck him was that she was wearing a hat clearly meant to pair with his; the second was that, in her long-sleeved, strapless purple dress and cape, with snowflake-shaped earrings that shone in the light whenever she moved, she was so beautiful his chest was hurting.

He didn't even know that could happen. He froze, staring at her like an idiot, taking in all the little details he'd enjoyed about his own outfit: the snowflakes, the light blue fur, the tailored color scheme. The hat!

As soon as he regained some control over his body, he snapped his head toward Sawyer, who'd stopped alongside him and was making a very poor attempt at appearing innocent and unaware. Meanwhile, he could see at the corner of his eye that Bettie, who'd noticed his arrival, was being pushed in his direction by an enthusiastic Rachel.

"Was this–" Lear started, only to be nearly instantly cut off by the signature laugh of his habitual companion.

Hoopa flew in through the open door, giggling all the while, until he was hovering above Lear and Bettie, now close together. Lear couldn't bear to look at her, his cheeks burning up, so he instead tilted his face up to stare at the mythical pokémon.

It did a twirl, winked at its partner, and took out something from behind its back. Lear blinked rapidly upon realizing it was a branch of mistletoe.

His gaze slid back down to meet Bettie's. She was blushing again, her expression unsure, but not... uninterested.

Before his nerves got the best of him, Lear leaned in to deposit a short kiss on her cheek. He moved to pull away, and Bettie caught his arm so he'd stay there and she could kiss him, too.

Lear's heart felt like it was going to explode. They smiled at each other afterward, a little unsure, yet content.

Maybe there was something good to be found in the winter festivities, after all.