Applin of my Eye
Rating: General
Ship: Leon/Reader
Warnings: None
Tags: Applin Confession, Oblivious Leon, Misunderstanding.
Summary: Since coming to terms with your feelings for Leon, you've tried to confess, but it hasn't gone so well. Now that Valentine's Day is just around the corner a second wave of motivation has hit you, and you think you have the perfect, FOOLPROOF, way of getting the point across. If only it were that simple.
Valentine's Day always made you feel a little bad, at least since you were thirteen or so. Before that, it was just a fun day where you shared cards with your classmates, had a little class party, and got gifts from your parents. Usually consisting of candy, a card, and some sorta stuffie. Now it was just a brutal reminder that you were alone.
Usually, you wouldn’t really care, and if you did you’d try not to let it sting too badly. But recently things had changed, for about a year and a half now you’d slowly been falling in love with one of your best friends, none other than Galar’s reigning champion Leon. Your feelings had come to a head back in October, up until then you’d done well to ignore and suppress them, but throughout the month it just kept getting harder and harder. Then, the party happened. It was a costume party held by Nessa on Halloween night, Leon was going to be there, but you didn’t know what he was going to be. When you finally saw his costume it left you unable to deny your feelings for him any longer. The costume itself did a lot for you, but the fact it was on Leon? The way it hugged his form, and sparked your imagination with fantasies and scenarios? Well, that was just the icing on the cake.
You agonized over your feelings for a bit, having finally admitted to yourself that you were absolutely head over heels for the man, unsure of how to proceed. At first, you were convinced that he wouldn’t return your affection, how could he? In your eyes, he was a god amongst men, and you were a lowly mortal. But, after a short bout of self-deprecation, you were finally able to come to the conclusion that you just needed to tell him how you felt, no matter the cost.
Easier said than done.
You’d tired, really you had. But something always got in the way, whether it be your nerves winning out in the end, someone interrupting you just as you were about to confess, or something happening to pull either of your attention away from the conversation. Eventually, the holiday season rolled around as well, leaving both you and Leon busy. By the time things calmed down you’d honestly lost all the courage you’d once had, and once again your mind raced with negative what-ifs. Your main concern being that if you did confess and he didn’t reciprocate, then your friendship would be ruined. All though, it had also occurred to you that if he didn’t feel the same then you weren’t sure if you would even want to be friends anymore.
Your feelings were all over the place, the thought of not having Leon in your life, whether romantically or platonically, physically pained you. But so did the idea of all the embarrassment and awkwardness that would come in the aftermath of professing your love for Leon just for him to hit you with “I think we should just be friends.” Despite it being unideal, you found a sort of sad comfort in the sort of Schrodinger's Delcatty situation you were in. If you didn’t tell him how you felt, Leon couldn’t reject you nor could he reciprocate, either way, you kept him in your life and things didn’t change. Even if that change could be for the better.
Except, as Valentine’s Day drew nearer, you grew more restless. TV ads, shop displays, and the general talk of the holiday you heard wherever you went were starting to get to you. The thought of happy couples spending the day together hugging and kissing and just being in love? It made you jealous, but more so, self-conscious. So, for the first time in a while, you’d started thinking about confessing again.
And goddamnit, you almost did it. You had gotten so close to just spitting it out, but that Arceus-forsaken lump in your throat reared its ugly fucking head again. And when you were alone in the comfort of your own home, you cried, and it was ugly.
That was yesterday, the 12th, this morning you woke up to a text from Leon asking if you’d want to spend Valentine's Day with him and some others who were without dates this year. Truth be told the idea of spending Valentine’s Day with him platonically hurt a lot more than the idea of spending it alone, but you could never turn down an offer to hang out with him.
‘Sure, what are we doing?’
He responded a moment later saying that you were all going to be hanging at Gordie’s for the day, watching TV/Movies, playing games, and whatever else might be suggested. It sounded nice, and you quite enjoyed hanging out at Gordie’s, he had a bunch of cool stuff. Sometimes the thought had crossed your mind that if you weren’t madly in love with Leon, you could just seduce Gordie to have permanent access to his things. But that was just a joke, mostly.
After confirming a few more details with Leon you readied yourself for the day and headed out. You tried not to think about your love problems too much, desperately attempting to distract yourself with battling and various other tasks. Yet the thought nagged at you in the back of your mind. By three o’clock your stomach started to growl rather prominently and you realized you hadn’t eaten anything in a while. Making your way to one of your favorite restaurants you took a seat at one of the patio tables and waited for the waiter to take your order. As you waited, you happened to tune into the conversation from the next table over. A pair of boys, who you’d assume were somewhere in their late teens, were discussing Valentine’s Day.
“So, you’re planning on asking out Derrick?”
“Yeah, I figure doing it tomorrow would be romantic, right?”
“Definitely, but how are you gonna do it? Any big plans?”
“I’m gonna give him an Applin, you know what they say about giving someone an Applin, right?”
“OH! That’s a great idea man. He’ll say yes for sure.”
You froze for a moment. An Applin, why hadn’t you thought of that? It would be easier to give Leon an Applin than it would to sputter out some nervous confession. You smiled, plan in mind, as soon as you were done eating you’d head straight over to route 5 to catch the perfect little declaration of love. Love, Loveballs? LOVEBALLS! You nearly jumped out of your seat as the thought raced to mind, you had a whole mess of Loveballs back home. Honestly, you had a whole box full of random Pokeballs shoved in your closet, ones you had acquired through various means over time that you saw no real need for, until now. Course, to use a Loveball you’d need to battle with your own Applin, but that was no problem for you and your precious little À la mode. A Loveball would be perfect for this, maybe a bit extra, but it would certainly get the point across. Something that could come in handy with Leon, you loved the man to bits, but he could be kinda dense at times.
Finishing up at the restaurant you hurried home to retrieve your Loveballs, stopped at the nearest Pokecenter to add À la mode to your team, and finally made your way to route 5. Taking a deep breath to steady your nerves, you stepped into the tall grass and began your hunt for an Applin.
It took a bit to find one, and even longer to find a female one. Yes, you knew that you could still catch a male one with the Loveball, hell you didn’t even technically need À la mode himself for the task, it just made the catch rate higher. And seeing as Applin on route 5 were usually between Lvl. 16 and 18 it wouldn’t be too hard to catch with the regular catch rate of a Pokeball. But if it hadn’t already been proven to both yourself and countless others, then this whole situation would be proof enough that your natural instinct in life is to make things way more complicated than they have to be, even if it was just for show or better yet, pride.
After about 2 hours you finally had a brand new Applin in a Loveball, you grinned ear to ear as you made your way home, excitement building in your chest. Yet, by the time you passed through your front door, that excitement had turned to anxiety. Sitting at your dining table you stared at the Loveball in front of you, your heart beat a bit faster than usual and your stomach was tied in knots. Were you really gonna do this? Were you actually gonna confess your feelings to Leon on Valentine’s Day? This could end badly, just oh so badly, there was still time to back out. You could release the Applin and pretend the whole dramatic idea had never crossed your mind.
No.
You were gonna stand your ground, you wouldn’t let your nerves get the better of you again. Not this time. Nodding to yourself you placed the Loveball on the small table next to your front door, ready for you when you left the next day. The rest of the night consisted of you deciding on an outfit for tomorrow, cooking dinner, and relaxing the best you could until you went to bed.
Surprisingly you slept well, at least in the sense that you actually slept, normally your nerves would have kept you up all night. But they did manifest in your dreams, one after another depicting various ways your love confession could go sour. Finally rousing from your own mental torture you rubbed the sleep from your eyes and set to work getting ready. When the time finally rolled around to head off for Gordies you halted a moment at the door, staring down at the Loveball you’d nestled amongst the fake decorative fruit you kept in a bowl. Why you kept decorative fruit was a mystery even to yourself. Groaning faintly you grabbed the Loveball and stuffed it in your bag, finally heading out for the day.
Hanging out with everyone at Gordie's was a blast, though throughout the day you kept trying to figure out when would be a good time to give Leon the Applin, you wanted it to be just the two of you, but couldn’t devise a good enough excuse to get him alone. As the day was winding down, and talk of ending the “party” was brought up Leon commented that he needed to be heading out soon anyway, apparently, he was gonna be spending time with his family tomorrow and had planned on staying the night back home in Postwick. You had a wonderful idea.
“Leon?”
You approached him near the door, where he was getting his shoes and jacket on.
“Yeah?”
He smiled at you, straightening up from slipping on his sneakers.
“I was wondering if you would be willing to join me on the train ride home, it’s on the way to Postwick and I’d love to spend some time together, just you and I.” You flashed him a grin.
“Of course, anything for my biggest fan.”
Leon laughed as he slung his arm around your shoulders, you just groaned. He’d started calling you that a while back as a joke, it had since grown a bit old for your tastes, but it made him smile, and you liked it when he smiled.
Gathering your things you headed out with Leon to the train station. It was a relaxing ride, and for a moment you’d forgotten about the Loveball Applin rolling around in your bag. That is until you’d reached your stop. It was a little after 11:30, and you still had a bit of a walk to your place, as Leon strolled alongside you, your deadline of confessing on Valentine's Day was soon to pass. It was now or never. Fortuitously, the quickest way to your place was a shortcut through a rather beautiful park, the perfect place for a love confession. In the middle of the park was a gazebo, and the city had lit it up with pretty pink and red lights, as well as decorating it with fresh arrangements of roses. Stepping into the gazebo you turned to look at Leon.
“Beautiful isn’t it?”
“Gorgeous.” The lights reflected in his eyes as he looked up at the ones hanging from the beams.
“It looks like it could be the setting for a confession scene in some cheesy romance movie.” You gripped your bag tightly.
“Haha, yeah. I can just imagine it.” Leon smiled, Arceus, that smile could make your heart flutter every time.
Checking your phone it read 11:56, four minutes, it was REALLY now or never. Swallowing the infamous lump in your throat you opened your bag.
“I actually have something for you. I didn’t want to make a big deal back at Gordie’s but now that it’s just us, I want to give it to you.”
“Oh?”
Finding the Loveball you quickly grabbed it and presented it to Leon, holding your breath.
“A Loveball?” Leon blinked a few times before taking it from your hand.
“T-there’s a Pokemon inside. You should, um, let it out.”
11:58
“Oh! Of course.”
The Loveball opened and a small burst of light shot out, fading away to reveal the Applin. Time seemed to freeze as you waited for Leon’s response. He grinned, an excited laugh escaping his lips.
“Ah sweet, you caught me an Applin? I’ve wanted one for a while now.” Reaching down he scooped the Pokemon into his arms. “How’d you know?”
Dense, the man was fucking dense.
“Lucky guess I suppose.”
“Haha, well it paid off, I love her. Now I just got to decide what to evolve her into. You have an Applin too right? Any suggestion?”
“Uh, I’m partial to Appletun, but it’s up to you.”
“True, maybe I should talk to Raihan about it. He is a dragon trainer of course, or maybe Milo? He’d have input on the grass typing.” Leon started to ramble a bit.
Looking down at your phone it now read 12:02.
“Fucking hell.” You mumbled.
“Did you say something?”
Leon cocked his head, shaking your own you stuffed your phone in your pocket.
“Just talking to myself, it’s past midnight though, so we should probably get going. You still need to head for Postwick.”
“Oh right, I nearly forgot.”
Leon returned the Applin to its ball and motioned for you to lead the way. The rest of the walk home was filled with Leon telling you about the plans he had with Hop and the rest of his family later that day. Despite the failure of a confession, it still warmed your heart to hear him talk so lovingly about them.
Making it to your place you stopped out front.
“Thanks for walking me home Leon.”
“It’s no problem, I love spending time with you. Thanks for the Applin again, I’ll make sure to take great care of her.”
“I know you will Lee.”
Smiling, Leon placed his hand on your shoulder.
“You’re an amazing friend, I’m really lucky to have you in my life.”
Schrodingers fucking Delcatty.
“Back at ya.”
Waving goodbye Leon headed off for the train station, in the completely wrong direction. After you quickly reminded him where it was he set off on his second attempt, fading away in the dark of the night.
“Back at ya?” You groaned, heading inside. “Fucking stupid.”
Hop woke up to the smell of coffee wafting upstairs from the kitchen, seeing as his parents were more avid tea drinkers it could only mean one thing.
“Leon!” Hop jumped out of bed, not bothering to change out of his sleepwear.
Hurrying downstairs Hop practically drifted into the kitchen, Leon stood at the counter fixing himself a cup of coffee.
“When did you get home? I waited a long time for you, but you never showed.” Hop mildly scolded as he made his way over to Leon.
Leon chuckled apologetically, giving Hop a wave.
“Morning, I got back kinda late, well past midnight. I was hanging out with friends yesterday, then I ended up accompanying [Y/N] home last night.”
Hop sighed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
“Well, you’re here now, I guess that’s what really matters.”
“Of course, glad you understand.” Leon patted Hop on the shoulder
“I’d understand a lot more if you made me pancakes.” He grinned mischievously.
“Why didn’t I see that coming?” Leon sighed turning around to gather the needed ingredients and such.
Hop laughed, heading for the kitchen table, huffing as he saw Leon’s backpack lying on it.
“How many times do you need to be told to hang your bag up in the entryway?”
Hop reached for the bag, pulling it from the table, as he did so the pink Loveball rolled out from the open top.
“What the?”
Hop was certain he’d seen all of Leon’s Pokemon, and he was even more certain that none of them were in Loveballs.
“What’s the matter?”
Leon turned to him, a bowl cradled in his arm as he whisked a batch of batter.
“Since when do you use Loveballs?” Hop asked, holding up the pink ball.
“Oh, [Y/N] gave it to me last night, it’s an Applin. I guess they noticed I’d wanted one and got it for me.”
Hop blinked.
“What?” Leon stopped whisking.
“[Y/N] gave you an Applin in a Loveball, on Valentine’s Day?”
“Yeah, why?”
Hop knew his brother could be a little oblivious at times, but this was a level of stupidity that he’d never seen Leon reach before, and he prayed to Arceus he’d never reach again.
“Lee, I’m gonna need you to think about that statement very carefully, and focus on what all those aspects could mean together.”
Leon scrunched his face up in confusion, setting the bowl of batter down he crossed his arms in thought. Hop could almost see the wheels turning in Leon’s head as he thought hard. And as if he were the human lead in that silly little kids show from both their childhoods, with that funny little shiny Rockruff, and her perfectly placed blue pawprint clues, Leon connected the pieces of the mystery together masterfully. A look of realization, and a bit of horror, took over his face as he finally came to the conclusion.
“Was [Y/N] trying to confess their feelings to me!?” He hollered.
“Keep your voice down, Mom and Dad are still asleep.” Hop hushed. “And I don’t know for sure, but I’d assume they were.”
“That would make so much sense, especially with the Gazebo.” Leon gripped the edge of the counter tightly, staring down into the bowl of batter without actually looking at it.
“Gazebo?” Hop questioned lightly.
“Doesn’t matter.” Leon shook his head lightly, pushing himself back from the counter. “I gotta go talk to [Y/N]”
Leon rushed for the entryway, grabbing his jacket and starting to put his shoes on.
“Woah there, slow down Lee. What are you doing?”
Hop followed behind, placing himself between Leon and the front door.
“I have to clear things up with [Y/N].”
Hop sighed, shaking his head.
“Lee, we have plans today, besides, you’re still in your pajamas.”
Leon looked down, noting that he was, in fact, still wearing his ratty old tank top and loose sleep pants.
“You have a point there, but I feel terrible, they did something so romantic and I went and ruined it by letting it all soar right over my head.”
Leon rubbed at his face, hiding behind his hands.
“Lee, it’s gonna be fine.” Hop placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. “You’ll clear things up with them later, after you’ve gotten dressed and we spend the day together, besides, it’ll give you time to think about what exactly you’ll say right?”
Leon lowered his hands, giving Hop a tired smile.
“Yeah, you’re right. Maybe I can ask Mom and Dad for some advice.”
“That’s the spirit. Now, can you finish making my pancakes?”
Leon huffed, breaking out into a grin, ruffling Hop’s hair he slung his arm around his shoulder and dragged him back into the kitchen.
“Is that all you care about?”
It had been about two days since ‘The Incident’, you hadn’t tried talking to Leon yet and he hadn’t messaged you either, which had you feeling conflicted. On the one hand, you weren’t particularly ready to talk to him, on the other, the thought kept running through you’re mind that he’d finally realized what the loveball Applin meant and was now actively ignoring/avoiding you. It was definitely paranoia, you understood that, but understanding it didn’t make it go away. Regardless, you laid back on the couch, looking through the videos YouTube suggested for you, you desperately scanned over the thumbnails looking for something to distract yourself with, unfortunately, nothing caught your eye. Suddenly your phone buzzed.
‘Are you home?’
It was from Leon, your blood ran cold.
‘Yeah, why?’
You felt you knew why but needed some confirmation.
‘Can I come over? I need to talk to you, it’s important.’
You felt your stomach tie into knots. You, REALLY, didn’t want to see Leon right now. You weren’t mad of course, but after the other night's failed confession? You were feeling less than stellar. You hadn’t even left your apartment since then.
‘Are you sure? It’s getting kinda late, isn’t it?’
It wasn't that terribly late, but it was worth a shot.
‘That doesn’t matter, we need to talk, and it can’t be done over text. Please?’
You wanted to say no, Arceus you wanted to say no, yet despite everything that had happened Leon was still your number one weakness.
‘Okay, you can come over.’
Leon thanked you, saying he’d be over in a few. Taking a deep breath, you calmed your growing nerves and waited.
Leon must have been nearby already, seeing as it only took about ten minutes for him to knock on your door.
"Hey, Leon."
Opening the door you greeted him with the happiest and calmest tone you could muster.
"Hey, thanks for letting me come over." He smiled nervously as he stepped inside.
“Well, you did say it was important.”
You gave a forced chuckle, your heart pounding in your chest as you shut the door. Leon nodded without a word, though his eyes spoke plenty enough for him. You could tell he was just as anxious as you, yet it didn’t make you feel any better. You stood in silence a moment, the two of you just staring, you’d expected him to say something.
“Sooo, what did you want to talk about?” You finally decided to break the silence.
Leon swallowed heavily, blinking a few times before seemingly mustering up the nerve to speak.
“It, uh, has to do with the Applin you gave me.” Slinging his bag off from his shoulders Leon rummaged in it a moment before pulling out a loveball. “I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but it took Hop pointing out the significance of everything for me to realize what you were trying to say. Or, at least, what I think you were trying to say.”
Leon stared down at the ball in his hand, running his thumb back and forth across it.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get it at first, I certainly feel like an idiot, it’s so obvious in hindsight.” He gave a soft nervous laugh.
Clearing his throat he looked up at you.
“Regardless, I um, I keep finding it hard to, uh, find my words. So, here.” He held out the loveball.
Your heart skipped a beat and your breath caught in your throat, was he returning the Applin? Tears welled in your eyes, threatening to spill over as you slowly reached out to take the loveball from him. You felt weak and shaky, half expecting your legs to give out on you at any moment. Holding the loveball in your hand just made it worse, quickly, you moved past Leon to set it on the counter separating your kitchen from your living room.
“T-thanks.”
Wiping the tears from your eyes you wondered why thanking him was your immediate response, though to be honest, you weren’t sure how one would normally respond to a situation like this.
“Oh, uh.” Leon seemed confused, looking back and forth between you and the loveball. “Aren’t you gonna let it out?”
Oh, that felt like adding an insult to injury.
“No.” The word came out a bit angrier than you’d intended, you adjusted your tone going forward. “I get it, Leon, you don’t feel the same way about me as I do you so you’re returning the Applin. I don’t need to see it.”
You’d taken to squeezing your hands, your gaze drifting away from Leon. If you were looking at him though, you would have seen his eyes widen and his complexion pale a bit. Suddenly he was waving his hands.
“NO! No no no, you misunderstand, that’s my fault, I’m sorry. I should have been clearer.”
You looked back in time to see Leon grab the ball off the counter and place it in your hand, his one hand holding your wrist his other keeping the Loveball in your palm.
“Just open it, I promise. Trust me.”
You blinked a few times in shock, but seeing Leon's soft hopeful smile filled you with comfort. You nodded your head and went to send out whatever was in the ball.
“Wait, wait.” Leon stopped you suddenly.
Looking around, Leon proceeded to move your dining table and chairs over to the side, as well as push some other furniture and stuff around. Once he seemed pleased with the space he’d made he came back over to your side.
“Okay, you can continue now.”
Giving a small laugh you smiled and called out the Pokemon.
A flash of light shot out from the loveball, and even before the Pokemon had fully appeared you could tell it was bigger than an Applin. Once it was fully present it took you a second to register what you were looking at, but once you had, you gasped.
“A Ponyta?”
You grinned and squealed in joy as you approached the adorable little pastel Pokemon. It whinnied and danced around a moment before coming over to where you’d settled on your knees near it. You ran your hands through its mane and over its coat of fur.
“I know how much you’ve wanted one, and how unlucky you’ve been with finding one for yourself. So, I spent the majority of today and last evening looking for this little guy. I actually got lost in Glimwood Tangle for a bit, Madame Opal had to help me find my way back to the main path. I’m not sure how she knew I was lost but thank Arceus she did.”
You laughed along with Leon, combing your fingers through the Ponyta’s mane some more. Giving it a final scratch behind its ear you returned it to the loveball and stood up. Holding the ball with both hands you smiled looking down at the heart on the front of it.
“You didn’t have to do all that.” You said softly.
Leon stepped closer, gently taking hold of your wrists.
“I wanted to.”
Looking up at him you smiled, moving your right hand up to cup his cheek.
“Oh, Lee.”
Moving your hand to the back of his head you pulled him towards you as you leaned in closer, connecting your lips. Leon wrapped an arm around your waist, the other coming up to cradle the back of your head as well. The two of you stayed like that for a moment, enjoying your first kiss, after breaking away Leon spoke.
“I’m sorry I caused you so much stress.”
“Well, if I’d been able to gather enough courage to confess properly in the first place there wouldn’t have been any confusion.”
Leon laughed a bit.
“Why don’t we say we’re both at fault and call it even?”
“Deal.”
