It was at two in the morning when I stood up from my chair in front of the laptop given to me by Orchid, stretching my back as I stood up for what must have been the first time in hours.
I was busy working on a section of Cave Story and seeing as it was almost done, I decided to push through and finish it tonight.
Evidently, I did it, but now I'm hungry and tired and it's past midnight.
"I'm going to grab something to eat, I'll be back shortly," I whisper to my sleeping Partner Salandit as I grab my phone and put on a pair of second-hand slippers before kissing Fanny gently on the head and quietly exiting the room.
Time for a post-midnight snack.
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On the other side of the hallway connecting the rooms for the Battle Hotel staff, a certain psychic-type specialist was having a blast.
Both in the case of her having fun, but also in how she was drinking straight from a bottle of Pecha Berry Soda.
Tulip was sitting on the floor of her room, her back leaning against the bed frame as she sat in her undergarments, sipping soda and munching from a bowl of popcorn as she watched the television in front of her.
Most of her team were already asleep, save for her wonderful Florges of a partner, and seeing as they chose to sleep in their balls and the rooms were soundproofed, she was allowed to be as loud as she wanted.
"NOO! TAKASHI DON'T DO IT!" She yelled whilst shoving handfuls of popcorn into her mouth, "DON'T GO WITH CHIKA! KOKOMI IS OBVIOUSLY BEST GIRL!!!" Yelling at a character from a Kantonian cartoon.
"Florges," Her partner added her opinion, which caused the psychic-type makeup artist to turn around wildly to look at her, spilling the popcorn bowl all over the floor.
"No! Kokomi is sweet and obviously wants the best for him, she is the perfect waifu! The only reason Chika is winning this Tauros-shit is that the author of the manga opened a poll asking readers to vote for who Takashi will end up with." Tulip told her Fairy-type partner, "It was obviously botted, anyway I'm going to grab more Popcorn, clean this up before I'm back," Tulip said before taking a large swig from her soda bottle and leaving the room.
"... Flor..."
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Tulip was walking down the corridors of the Battle Hotel intent on reaching the kitchen, her body swaying as she walked from how tired she was, but she kept going, fueled almost entirely by the sugar and caffeine from the soda, and a closet-nerd's need to watch a show they loved.
She passed by her Parent's room, the room kept for the Pokemon staff, and even Dendra's unused room. She took a pause as she looked at the new room with "Dishon" written on the door, but decided that whoever they were, were probably asleep by now and weren't a problem for her reputation.
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She was Tulip, daughter of the Psychic-gym leader and the owner of the Alfronda Battle Hotel, she was also a successful makeup artist who already worked on several Paldean celebrities, She was an Elite 4 ranked trainer as well.
All that to say, While Tulip might be a nerd, she also had a very important image of herself that she had to keep.
Taking another chug from her large soda bottle, she waddled her way in the direction of the kitchen before stopping as she heard a voice.
"The Salandits have a carnivorous diet, comprised mostly of bug pokemon that they lure by emanating a poisonous gas similar to the move Sweet-scent. Here we can see this adolescent Male leaving the nest to go on his first hunt-" It was the sound of a documentary about Salandits.
Tulip slowly crept towards the kitchen and the source of the sound, before she stopped right outside the doorway. A few more steps and she would see whoever is making the sounds.
"Unfortunately, this young male has spotted himself a Spinda, a more mature specimen would choose to leave and find a different hunting ground, but this young Salandit hasn't yet learned why the Spinda are considered the natural enemy of Salandit," The Documentary in the kitchen continued, Tulip could also faintly hear the sounds of food being cut on a chopping board and footsteps on the floor.
She took another swig of her soda, enough to empty the bottle, and turned the corner to confront the person who was awake.
Hearing her entering the Kitchen, the young man paused the documentary he was listening to and put down the knife he was using to cut fruit, and turned to look at her.
His face grew as red as a Tamato berry as he quickly turned his head to look away from her.
"Who are you and what are you doing here," Tulip asked as she took a number of steps towards the man, seeing as he didn't have any Pokeballs on him, she grabbed him by the collar and pushed him up against the wall, hoping to threaten him.
"I- I'm Dishon, The new computer person here, I- I just wanted to grab something to eat before I returned to my room," He stammered out, keeping his gaze glued to the ceiling of the kitchen and away from Tulip.
"Why aren't you looking at me? You have something to hide?" Tulip rattled his collar, forcing him to look her in the eyes, she could see his blue-grey eyes clearly contrast with his short light brown hair, the short stubble on his face clearly showing he only shaves once a week instead of daily.
and most importantly? Tulip could see herself reflected in his eyes, and suddenly she understood why he was looking away from her.
She was still mostly naked, wearing only a bra and panties to keep some semblance of modesty.
Tulip blushed as red as his face at that moment, if not redder.
"I- I *Cough* I'm sorry for assaulting you..." She quickly let go of his collar, her eyes darting around the kitchen before she spotted what she was looking for.
She threw the empty plastic bottle into the garbage bin, quickly opened the fridge and took a new bottle of soda, grabbed a small pile of snacks in her arms, and ran out of the kitchen, back to her room.
Leaving Dishon confused and bewildered at what just happened, before he too resumed his documentary on Salandit and made another serving of his fruit salad.
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A few hours later, Tulip, now dressed in her usual attire, entered the Kitchen and opened the fridge to grab something to eat for a late breakfast.
Her mind was fuzzy and she could swear something embarrassing happened that night previously, but she was too tired to remember.
Looking inside the fridge, she spotted a bowl of fruit salad and whipped cream under a plastic container with a small note attached to it.
"To Purple, sorry about yesterday," it read.
Tulip blinked slowly before the events of the night prior suddenly resurfaced in her mind, causing her to blush heavily.
At least she had a fruit salad for breakfast that day.