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Sprigatito had a hard time accepting Dot as a part of Liko’s life.
It’s not that she disliked the girl, per se. However, she could tell she was trouble from the moment they met face-to-face. The Grass Cat Pokémon thought that she was her Trainer’s favorite; after all, why wouldn’t she be? She’s lovely! But when Liko’s eyes settled on Dot’s face that day, they gained a deep softness that even her partner Pokémon had never seen before.
That just couldn’t be suffered to last!
She had tried everything, from trying to pry the blue-haired girl’s attention away from her crush, to being standoffish towards the former shut-in, but no matter what she did, nothing seemed to work. So, disappointed, she would usually just surrender and lie down next to Liko, hoping to at least get a distracted pet or two from her.
It’s not that she was neglectful, of course; she still got her fair share of love. But that share is not fair, now is it!? As a feline Pokémon, Sprigatito knows what she’s worth: unending affection and attention… until she gets tired of it, at least. She shouldn’t be left wanting like this! It didn’t help that none of the Pokémon on the ship seemed to understand. Dot’s Quaxly seemed happy to fan the flames of romance, “accidentally” pushing his Trainer into Liko. Roy’s Fuecoco, ever the airhead, barely understood what the big deal was. Hell, she even saw Mollie’s Chansey being buddy-buddy with her Trainer’s girlfriend! Was Sprigatito the only sane one here!?
And so, Sprigatito yet again sat in front of Dot’s room with Liko, as she seemed to do every day, waiting for her rival to finally open up so she could steal her best friend away for hours at a time. But this time, the Grass Cat Pokémon had a plan.
“U-Um, good morning, Dot!”
“Oh, Liko! Hold on, I’m coming.”
So far, so good. Sprigatito could hear Dot’s key rustling in the door as she unlocked it. She ignored the two humans’ awkward attempts at flirting, and sat down on top of the small wooden box Dot usually stored her key in.
“...of course it is!”
“W-Well, if you say so… first time anyone’s called my hairstyle “cute”...” The influencer stammered, locking the door behind the both of them, as she’s used to doing. “Huh?”
“O-Oh, do you want me to tell Sprigatito to move…?”
Step two: weaponize Dot’s social awkwardness to ensure the key stays out of its usual resting place.
“Nah, it’s no big deal. I’ll just set it down on my desk for now–”
Step three: grab that key, and escape through the flap on the door!
“Wha–”
“Sprigatito, what are you doing!?”
“Quax!” Springing into action, Dot’s Quaxly, who was resting on her bed until all this happened, followed closely behind, determined to retrieve the key. However, he didn’t expect Sprigatito to be waiting for him on the other side.
“Quax! (Hand over the key! Why are you trapping our Trainers!?)” Quaxly said, concerned.
“Meeow. (Relax. For once, our goals are the same.)”
“Quaxly…? (What do you mean…?)”
Demonstrating what she meant, Liko’s first partner started kneading her paws in front of the door, releasing her relaxing scent under it and directly into the two girls’ noses. “Meow. Meeowow. Meeheeow… (I’m tired of their will-they-won’t-they. It keeps getting in the way of my quality Liko time. Maybe once they’re used to each other, she’ll make more time for me again… hehe.)”
“Qua… Quaxlyqua. Quax? (You… I don’t like your methods, but alright. What should I do?)”
Step four: “convince Quaxly to help” went smoothly, so Sprigatito left step five to him: take advantage of the relaxing scent putting them in a more romantic mood, and put them in romantic situations .
Quaxly went back through the flap, and saw the two were already much less alarmed than when he left. Both girls were sitting on Dot’s bed, barely looking concerned at all.
“O-Oh, Quaxly… you’re back. Did you get the key…?” Dot asked languidly.
“Quax.” Quaxly refuted.
“Dangit… maybe I should call Murdock–”
“I-It’s okay, Dot…” Liko interrupted, taking her hand in hers to stop her from reaching for her phone. “I’m sure Sprigatito will come back eventually. Let’s just… relax, and hang out… okay…?” A small blush painted her expression in a beautiful light.
“L-L-Liko…!” Dot’s mind experienced a widespread system crash at their hands touching. “U-Um, okay…”
“Qua-quax…” The matchmaker sighed. At this rate, he wouldn’t have to do anything for the two to finally get together. But still, he had to do his part. Quaxly hopped up onto his Trainer’s desk, and tapped away as best he could with his wings, finding the folder where Dot keeps the background music for her videos. Ever the organized worker (you have to be if you’re a video editor, after all), Dot had sorted all of her music by theme, so it didn’t take much for Quaxly to find the “Calm” folder and put it all in a playlist. The Duckling Pokémon, satisfied with this part of his work, then headed over to the window, closing the blinds in order to dim the light coming into the room.
“Quaxly, what are you doing…?” Dot’s concern, muffled by Sprigatito’s aroma, did not sound convincing whatsoever.
“Dot…” Liko, despite being more used to her Pokémon’s ability, was somehow even more affected by it, and could barely hold herself together. She reached for her friend’s face, and started stroking her cheek with her thumb. “You’re… really, really pretty…”
“Wh– Liko…!” Dot, panicking, had just enough willpower left to push away, breaking free from her crush’s advances. However, Quaxly had seen this coming. Standing on the frame of the bed, he gave Dot’s back a gentle kick, and made her lose her balance, falling directly into her arms. “I-I-I…!”
“Dot…! I really really like you…!”
“Ah– but–” Finally, Dot’s feelings surpassed her reason. “Oh, who cares… I like you too, Liko…” The streamer surrendered, burying her face in her new girlfriend’s neck.
Sprigatito, satisfied with her plan coming to fruition, stopped releasing her aroma, and re-entered the room, setting the key back on the desk. Even the jealous Pokémon had to admit, however, that seeing the two Trainers in an embrace like this, drinking in their love for each other, was a beautiful sight.
So, Sprigatito and Quaxly allowed them this moment, and exited the room, looking at each other with pride in a plan well executed.
“...eh? What just happened!?”
“You confessed to me, you dork.”
“I-I did!? Oh, gosh, I did, didn’t I…?”
“Yup. I think our Pokémon had something to do with it.”
“Hehe… they know us better than we know ourselves, don’t they…?”
“They really do…”