#60: “Can we just pretend like we’re normal for once?”
“Don’t think, strive!” Aidan flashed a grin and his signature two-fingered salute to his hovering Rotom Phone. “What’s up, trainers? Today, we’re going to be doing the Tamato Berry challenge—with a slight twist! Instead of doing the challenge solo, I thought it would be fun to invite Reid here to make it a competition!”
The Rotom Phone turned to Reid upon Aidan’s words, who was standing by the makeshift table they had set up that was currently hosting a basket of freshly-picked Tamato Berries. Reid offered his own grin to the camera, though his was awkward and stiff in comparison to Aidan’s.
When Aidan had approached him for a PokeTube video, Reid was both eager and wary—eager because the idea of Aidan seeking him out personally for a video caused his heart to flutter, but wary because there was no reason Aidan wouldn’t put him in said video without it being at his own expense.
Reid was going to say yes either way (which was definitely embarrassing), but hearing that Aidan would be joining in on the suffering made his wariness melt away to genuine excitement.
“The rules are pretty simple. We’re going to see who can eat more Tamato Berries first without reaching for a glass of Moo Moo Milk.” The Rotom Phone hovered around the table, zooming in on both the basket of berries and the two glasses of milk on either side of the table.
With a smirk, Aidan added, “But we already know who’s going to be the winner here.”
“In your dreams, maybe!” Reid piped up from behind the table. “There’s no way I’m going to lose to you.”
“Oh? Now that sounds personal,” Aidan egged, giving the camera a sly glance for the theatrics of it. Reid’s eyebrow twitched at such a nonchalant response. “I guess I really gotta give it my all then.”
“Now it just sounds like you’re stalling,” Reid remarked flatly, and Aidan’s smile faltered in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. The viewers wouldn’t notice it, but Reid certainly did.
“Okay, you asked for it,” Aidan said with a playful smile, but Reid could tell he was restraining himself from making some kind of snapping comment that his viewers would call him out for. It made Reid grin as Aidan took his place next to him behind the table.
“Bzzt. Are both participants ready?” The Rotom Phone asked, hovering back from the table to get a wide shot that fit both boys. Reid and Aidan gave each other a heated glance as they each picked up a Tamato Berry. “On my marks—go!”
On cue, both boys took a bite out of their respective berries. Reid immediately recoiled at the bitterness of the berry, the taste filling his mouth and sitting like dead weight against his tongue. He quickly swallowed so he wouldn’t spit it out in disgust.
In truth, Reid hated Tamato Berries. If a dish of his happened to have even a single small dice of a Tamato Berry, he would push away the entire plate and choose to go hungry for the night. It was something Calla would always scold him for, but she didn’t seem to mind too much when she got to eat his discarded food instead. Sometimes she would even push her own food over to him in a trade.
But this was different. This wasn’t about food—it was about Aidan. Specifically, beating Aidan on his own channel with his thousands of fans to witness it. Eating a few Tamato Berries was a small price to pay.
Or so he thought. Even after just one bite, Reid was gasping in air as he forced himself not to gag. The bitterness had given away to mind-numbing heat, and tears began to prickle at the edges of his eyes as he blinked rapidly through the pain.
Suddenly, the glass of milk in front of him was way more appealing than beating Aidan.
He almost reached for it, too, until he happened to glance over to see Aidan himself struggling with his own Tamato Berry. He looked a lot more put together than Reid did, but his flushed face and quickened breathing were dead giveaways that the berry was affecting him more than he let on.
“You okay over there?” Aidan asked, but it wasn’t out of concern—it was in teasing. Reid glared at him and stuffed the rest of his Tamato Berry out of pure spite.
Aidan’s eyes widened in surprise as he wordlessly watched Reid chew and swallow the berry in one go. Reid was determined to keep his gaze, but after a moment, he wheezed and crumpled in on himself as he held onto the table for dear life.
“Hot, hot, hot—!” Reid panted, crouching further to the ground, his orange hair the only thing peeking out from behind the table.
“Bzzt. Why don’t you finish the rest of your berry like that, too?” his Rotom Phone asked mischievously.
“H-huh?” Aidan asked, caught off-guard. He blinked and looked down at his unfinished Tamato Berry. He glanced at Reid again, who still hadn’t grabbed for his milk despite his obvious pain.
“Are you scared?” his Rotom Phone continued, and that was the final nail in the coffin.
“What? No!” Aidan exclaimed, and then to prove it, he repeated Reid’s actions in stuffing the entire berry into his mouth. Before he could even swallow, he coughed and spit out the berry, frantically grabbing for the milk and downing it.
“Bzzt. The winner is Reid!” The Rotom Phone declared, zooming in on Reid. The shot definitely wasn’t flattering—Reid was crouched down to the ground, his mouth bright red and swollen. But when hearing of his victory, the pain of the Tamato Berry was suddenly forgotten. Reid grinned, bright and genuine, and he shot up from the ground to fist pump the air.
“Yes! I totally beat you! I—” He was interrupted by a cough, and without any more fanfare, he reached for his milk.
“Can’t you guys ever just be normal?”
Reid quickly looked over to see Calla, who was watching them from a nearby tree. He blushed in embarrassment at his sister seeing him in such a sorry state. “C-Calla!”
Aidan looked equally embarrassed as he scrambled to fix his hair and compose himself. His mouth was still red, though. “Hey Calla,” he answered breezily. “How long were you watching?” It was obvious that he was hoping Calla hadn’t seen his spectacular loss.
Reid hoped she did.
“Long enough,” she answered, walking over to the table. The Rotom Phone followed her, still filming. She picked up a Tamato Berry and rolled it over in her hand. Then, without any warning, she took a large bite without so much as a flinch. After swallowing it, she licked her lips before eating the rest like it was nothing but an apple.
“Uh,” Aidan said. Reid couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment.
“Are you guys going to eat the rest of these?” she asked. Aiden just shook his head. With a big smile, she picked up the basket and held it to her chest. “Yay! I was just starting to get hungry from training. Thanks!”
And just like that, she was gone. The silence that followed was deafening—for once, not even Aidan could think of a smart remark.
The Rotom Phone snickered as it zoomed out for the final wide shot of the video.
