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yersina · 1 year

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[part 2]

When Eddie walks into the new Pokemon Nursery in his hometown and is confronted with the view of Steve Harrington, former member of the Elite Four, behind the counter, he immediately turns on his heel and walks back out so he can duck behind the brick wall of the exterior and hyperventilate for a little bit.

Right.

He’d forgotten: Steve (former member of the Elite goddamn Four) hails from Hawkins too.

When Steve had fought his way onto the Elite Four, he’d been the talk of the town. Even Wayne had brought it up when Eddie had finally stopped at a Pokemon Center to accept his call. The Harrington boy’s in the Four, didja hear? he’d said. Eddie sure had—from every single person who’d seen his hometown written on his Trainer License that week. His Rotom Phone had proudly displayed every article written about the guy, each with the same photo in its thumbnail: Steve, backlit by the bright gym lights, Pokeball in hand and Growlithe at his side.

It made for a pretty picture, sure, but Eddie still has memories of the Harrington manor on the outskirts of Hawkins, like Harrington Senior and Lady Harrington couldn’t bear to set foot in the town proper. When he’d run into them at the PokeMart once, they’d sneered at him and his dirty shoes and tugged away a young Steve with rough motions. He can’t imagine that Steve himself would be any different, growing up in a family like that.

(None of this stops him from caving and watching the recording of the fateful gym battle on his Rotom Phone, screen bright in the darkness of his room in the Pokemon Center and breath caught in his throat. Steve, oddly, had a rough way of battling—intuitive and smart but not elegant. Not like it’d be if he had battling tutors or proper training. At the end of the battle, he runs out onto the field, heedless of the craters and cracks in the ground, and smothers his Empoleon in a hug while Growlithe barks up a storm behind him.

Eddie wonders why they didn’t take a picture of that.)

But here Steve Harrington is, back in Eddie’s hometown and standing between him and getting his Chingling looked at. Great.

He briefly wonders if he could wait and come back another day, or preferably find his way to another town far from here where there’s no threat of having his Pokemon seen to by Steve Harrington (formerly of the Elite Four) but he’s already promised Wayne that he’s staying for dinner at the very least, and also that’s Steve Harrington pushing open the door and looking over at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Hey,” Steve greets. Eddie stares. “You. Uh. You okay over there? I noticed you come in for a moment earlier.”

“Yeeep,” Eddie squeaks miserably. Out of the limelight, Steve still looks unfairly pretty. Eddie can no longer say that it’s the magic of makeup and adrenaline that makes his cheeks rosy red and it’s not sweat that makes his skin glow. That’s unfair, right? Some people just get dealt all the luckiest cards in life. “I’m doing just peachy. I’ll head in in a sec, just… decided I needed some more air.”

Steve gives him a look that says he buys absolutely none of Eddie’s bullshit. “…right. Well, we’ll be here when you’re ready.”

And just like that, he’s gone.

Eddie groans and knocks his head back against the brick wall. What is his life.

He allows himself ten seconds of self-pity before sucking in a breath and then ten more seconds of self-questioning before he lets the breath out and then he has a final ten seconds of pep talk before finally pushing open the door—for real this time.

“Hi,” Steve greets again, and oh, that’s not fair, he’s got his arms wrapped around a wriggling Tinkatink, looking completely nonchalant and distressingly competent while she wails. “Sorry, this one grew up kind of isolated, we’re still getting her socialized to humans—hey, calm down, it’s okay, remember? We talked about this. I’m here, I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe with me.” He says all of this in a low, soothing tone, stroking the sides of the Tinkatink until she finally seems to cry herself out, blinking watery eyes up at Steve. “Can you stay out here while I help this nice gentleman?” Her mouth wobbles concerning for a moment before she nods hesitantly. “You’re doing so great, Tinkatink. Proud of you.” He gives her one last head pat before looking up at Eddie. “Sorry, again. How can I help you?”

Eddie hesitantly inches towards the counter, not wanting to provoke the Pokemon into a crying fit again. “Hey, it’s cool. Can’t say I’ve had anyone call me ‘nice’ or a ‘gentleman’ before though.”

Steve huffs a laugh. Great, now Eddie knows the corners of his eyes crinkle when he’s amused. “Thanks for the warning, I think.”

He waits expectantly until it finally, embarrassingly, clicks for Eddie, and he scrambles to bring out Chingling’s Pokeball from his bag. “My Chingling hatched recently, but she’s been making this weird garbled noise? I’ve been keeping her in a Pokeball ever since, just in case, but I’m not sure what to do.” It had been terrifying, frankly, when Chingling had started making sounds that were awfully reminiscent of choking. Putting her in a Pokeball was as much for her own protection as it was for Eddie’s sanity. “I’ve used a heal on her and taken her to a PokeCenter already, but neither of those changed anything.”

Steve hums. “Tinkatink,” he says to the pink Pokemon now huddled half-behind Steve on the counter, “can you step to the side for a little bit? I’m going to look at this nice gentleman’s Chingling.”

Tinkatink, to her credit, looks like she thinks about it very hard before shaking her head in a firm no. Steve sighs. “Will Chingling be bothered by another Pokemon? I don’t think I can get her away at this point unless I return her to her Pokeball.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Chingling loves socializing.” Eddie doesn’t actually know, since his Chingling’s been stuck in a Pokeball most of the time since she’s been hatched, but it’s an educated guess. Probably.

He taps on the Pokeball and lets Chingling out onto the same counter. “Hey, sweetheart,” he greets softly. He winces when Chingling’s returning chime is the equivalent of a human wheeze. “Yeah, there it is.”

“Well, her breathing sounds fine, thankfully,” Steve evaluates swiftly, which is already a weight off Eddie’s shoulders. “She seems to be doing alright other than when she talks, so—”

And then, to Eddie’s horror, he clamps one hand down on each side of Chingling’s head, pushes her mouth open, and sticks a hand inside. “Uh,” Eddie says weakly. “Excuse me?”

“This isn’t as awful as it looks, I promise,” Steve mutters distractedly, fishing around in there for something. Chingling doesn’t look particularly bothered, at least, even with her mouth propped open on Steve’s arm. Eddie’s still not sure how to take any of this. “Faster than looking for my flashlight—ah.” He pulls his hand out from Chingling’s mouth, fingers wrapped around something. “There we go.”

And… it’s a rock.

“It’s a rock,” Eddie observes astutely.

“Yeah. Not uncommon for Chinglings, actually.” He pats Chingling on the head, and she jingles merrily at him.

“Oh, you’re back to normal!” Eddie cries. He scoops Chingling up in his arms and attempts to cuddle her within an inch of her life. “Never scare me like that again.” He gets a muffled chime in return.

Steve watches the whole show with a faint smile. “Just be careful of what Chingling eats from now on. They make sound through, uh, what’s basically their own rock, so if anything else gets stuck down there, it messes up the sound. Not really harmful, but it’s worth keeping an eye on her, especially if she’s the curious sort.” He reaches over and tickles her side until she sticks her head out curiously from the circle of Eddie’s arms. “Be careful, okay? If you keep out of trouble, you’ll grow to be a big and strong Chimecho in no time.” She jingles at him cheerily. “No biggie,” he says, turning back to Eddie. “Just a quick fix.”

“Seriously, thank you so much.” Eddie shifts Chingling to one arm and goes digging for his wallet. “How much do I owe you?”

“Don’t worry about it.” When he meets Steve’s eyes, agape, Steve gives him a wink and a smile. Eddie refuses—refuses—to think of the smile as shy. Or bashful. Or flirtatious. Or anything that might be Eddie’s own wishful interpretation. Steve is just smiling. Just smiling. “It took, like, two seconds. Chill. We’ll call it a free consultation.”

“I mean, yeah, I guess, but.” Eddie flounders awkwardly like a Magikarp out of water. “Are you sure?”

Steve rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.” At Eddie’s continued hesitation, he sighs. “Seriously, don’t think too hard about it. If you really want to thank me, come back again.”

As much as he wants to protest, Eddie hadn’t been raised to turn down what is the equivalent of free money. “Alright, if you say so.” He shifts Chingling to a more comfortable hold, cradling her in his hands. “And it’s Eddie by the way. Still wouldn’t say that I’m a ‘nice gentleman’.”

Steve laughs. “Sure, sure. Nice to meet you, Eddie. I’m Steve.” Eddie swallows down his I know. “Have a good day,” he says in a very clear dismissal. “Hope to see you back here soon.”

“‘Bye, Steve,’” Eddie squeaks in a falsetto, waving one of Chingling’s arms. Steve, gamely, waves back. “See you around, man.”

And just like that, he steps back out of Steve Harrington’s life, but now with the knowledge that the guy is so, so gentle with Pokemon, has a beautiful smile, and is generous enough to let Eddie get away with what was definitely not a free consultation.

Fuck, he’s gonna have to come back, isn’t he?

Goddammit.

#sina writes #fanfiction #stranger things #steddie #tho I guess this is more pre-steddie #pokemon au #why did Eddie choose to take chingling to a nursery instead of a Pokemon center you ask?#good question! my excuse is that Hawkins is too small for their own Pokemon center so they don’t actually have one #you’d have to go to a bigger town further away to get your Pokemon checked out so the nursery’s more convenient

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