Y/n's POV 🍒

The determination to achieve the goals I said, also disappeared as well.

I clutched my chest a little, already noticing the pounding feeling from my heart had stopped and settled down too.

"What was that? Everything that I emotionally had in me a few seconds ago, just suddenly disappeared..." I thought to myself, as I turned around to look at the gym doors for a moment.

When I did, the feelings I had earlier after my battle suddenly came back.

It was almost like I was a human detector of my own emotions that I've never had before.

Turning away, I was about to leave until Roark suddenly hurried out of the gym for a moment, nearly scaring and startling me half to death when he accidentally collided into me.

Shrieking a little, I nearly fell forward to the ground if Roark hadn't caught me to stop my fall.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" He says, immediately feeling worried before helping me up to my feet. "Are you okay?!"

I could only nod in response to that, still a little shaken up from what just happened.

"Y-Yeah...I-I'm fine. What about you?" I replied before asking, feeling concerned and worried about him too.

"I'm alright." Roark answered as he looked at me before adjusting his glasses a little.

"What's with the sudden rush? Usually, it's Barry that's mostly doing the rushing and accidentally bumping into others thing." I questioned before brushing off some small pebbles that was on Roark's clothes.

"You accidentally dropped your pokédex when you were leaving the gym. And I was in a rush because I thought you might've left already." He answered before showing it to me.

"Oh! Thanks! I didn't even notice that my bag was still open." I said before taking the pokédex, putting it back with my belongings, and zipping my bag up so it doesn't fall out again.

"You're welcome. Again, sorry I came out of the gym so suddenly and bumped into you." Roark replied as he sweat dropped a little.

"It's okay. Even though it was only an accident, at least none of us got hurt..." I went before giving him a light pat on the shoulder.

Through out the entire time I was interacting with him, the confidence, courage, and the determination I had in me, was really strong at this point.

"Wait. Those emotions suddenly came back just now when I was really close to Roark...
Didn't they?

Then they just unexpectedly disappeared when I left him and the gym." I thought to myself for a moment.

That's when I suddenly realized that the emotions I had before are connected to whenever or not I'm nearby him.

"Y/n? Are you okay? Your face is a little red..." I heard him ask, which immediately snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Y-Yeah! I'm fine!" I responded, as my face turned redder in embarrassment.

"You sure? You're not running a fever or anything, are you?" Roark questioned before resting his hand on my forehead, obviously still concerned about me.

I squeaked a little in surprise at that, before falling backwards to the ground and fainting out of nowhere, making him more worried.

"Y/n?! Y/n!!!" I heard him say while he shook my shoulder a little, before everything fell silent to my ears.

-  -  -

When I gained consciousness, I noticed that I was lying in bed and in someone's house.

It definitely wasn't my house, but...Whose?

As I sat up, a wet cloth fell in front of my face and landed on my lap, making me aware that it was resting on my forehead the entire time I was passed out for a while.

Looking over, I noticed Roark was sitting at the floor and on both of his knees, asleep at the foot of the bed, as he was using his arms for a pillow.

His mining hat, glasses, and gloves were taken off, but he had a peaceful look on his face as he slept.

"I'm a little surprised that he's not snoring. Either that, or he's probably just one of those silent sleepers." I thought before smiling in adore over this.

"He looks adorable when he's asleep though..."

Then I snuck a picture of him for no reason before putting my phone away.

Reaching over, I tapped his shoulder lightly, in which is what he woke up to.

"I'm awake, mom! I'm awake!" He says tiredly but in an alert manner, as he jolted up.

The moment I heard him say that, I started laughing, finding his reaction hilarious.

"Roark, what the hell? I'm not your mother!" I said between laughs, as Roark looked over at me in confusion for a moment.

"Hunh? Oh, Y/n...How are you feeling?" He went as he yawned before rubbing his eyes a little and putting his glasses back on.

"I'm alright." I answered simply before ruffling his hair, not expecting it to feel nice and soft.

Giving me his usual handsome smile in return, Roark sighed in relief before hugging me a little.

"I'm glad. You scared me a little for a moment there when you fainted." He said, making me feel a little surprised.

I hugged him back in return before parting the hug and holding his hand, not expecting him or his hands to feel warm, big, and strong.

He felt soft too, but, not too soft.

'Just right' sounds about it.

"Sorry about that. I really didn't mean to scare or faint in front of you, both unintentionally." I replied while I sweat dropped a little.

"You're fine." Roark says. "I'm just glad you're okay."

For a bit, the two of us were looking at each other in the eyes again, before I suddenly remembered something that I was meaning to ask him.

"Where am I?" I asked him.

"You're in my house and in my bedroom." He answered. "I brought you here after you fainted."

"Oh..." I went.

"I suppose I should get going then...I'm pretty sure the other gym leaders aren't gonna be waiting all day for me."

Before I could get out of the bed, Roark lightly pushed me back in the bed as his response to that.

"No, I recommend staying here for the night so you'd recover more. The other gym leaders can wait...Trust me on that." He says after I gave him a small, surprised look.