Takes place post-Rising Again. Friede is working at Exceed with Yanga and Amethio is helping his father out. SFW with mentions of sex.

Yanga wasn't one for gossip. In general, he didn't care about what people around him got up to outside of work. It was none of his business, after all. This was especially the case for relationships.

However, his senpai Friede made it extremely difficult for Yanga sometimes by continuously talking about Amethio, the son of Exceed's boss, Crave. Yanga had no idea why Friede kept bringing up Amethio nor did he really want to know about a person who was on a completely different level to him.

From what Yanga could gather, Friede and Amethio spent a lot of time together when they weren't working. Friede claimed they were training together, but Yanga didn't entirely buy that. Surely you'd get bored of training with the same person over and over again once you understood their Pokemon's moves and weaknesses, right?

One particular day, after hearing about how Friede's Lizardon had defeated Amethio's Soublades for the two hundredth time (Friede was keeping track, apparently, for reasons Yanga could not fathom), Yanga decided he'd had enough.

"Senpai," Yanga said as he tried not to sound annoyed, "Are you really spending all your time training together? It sounds a bit odd to me."
"I mean, not every split second," Friede replied in his usual manner of being technically correct. "But most of the time, yeah. It's fun! You should join us for a session, Yanga!"
"NO WAY!" Yanga replied, raising his voice louder than he intended. "I'm nowhere near as good as you two at battling..." He glanced down at his Bachuru, who looked back happily. "Besides, you both have Fire Type Pokemon, right? Bachuru here would be obliterated immediately!"
"In that case, why not just watch us?" Friede suggested. "You might learn a thing or two!"
"Hmm... Alright, fine," Yanga sighed. "But I'm just watching!"

-----

After work that day, Yanga accompanied Friede to a nearby training ground. There were many scattered around the Exceed headquarters, but for some reason, Friede and Amethio preferred to battle outdoors, away from people. Yanga wondered if it was because Lizardon was so large, or because they didn't want to burn anything down with their Fire attacks.

Amethio was already waiting when they arrived.

"...What's he doing here?" Amethio frowned as Friede and Yanga approached him.
"Yanga wanted to watch!" Friede explained happily, as if it was obvious.
"Let me guess, you invited him, and he couldn't say no," Amethio said flatly. His icy gaze made Yanga feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome.
"U-Um... Yeah... That's, er, that's what happened!" Yanga spluttered.

He was worried that he might get in trouble for intruding -- after all, Amethio had the influence to get him demoted or, worse, fired.

Amethio sighed loudly. "Right. Well, since you're here, I'd recommend keeping a safe distance."
"S-Sure!" Yanga replied as he gave Friede a confused look.
"We tend to get a bit... wild," Friede laughed. "Don't worry, we'll try not to hurt you!"
"Try?!"

Yanga scurried off to what he figured was far enough away from the field. Friede gave him a signal to say that he was indeed safe, which made Yanga breathe a sigh of relief. He gave Bachuru a quick scratch.

"H-Hopefully it's not too chaotic," he said, partially to convince himself.
"Bachu?"
"Oh, here they go..."

Friede had sent out his Lizardon, and Amethio had summoned his Soublades. The two Pokemon stood opposing each other with a very threatening aura. Friede was grinning from ear to ear while Amethio looked a bit too serious for such a situation.

Instructor Starmie was, for some reason, the referee, and signalled the start of the match with a loud and authoritative "HA!"

Within moments of the battle, Yanga perfectly understood why he was asked to watch from a distance.

The two Pokemon were firing off attack after attack at the directions of their respective Trainers, with fireballs and wind flying in all directions. Friede and Amethio both knew exactly what they were doing, which attacks to use and when, and how to instruct their Pokemon with great efficiency.

Yanga was frozen with shock. He'd known for years that Friede was a great Trainer, but this was on a whole different level! And Amethio was just as good. In fact, it looked to him like the two of them were evenly matched in strength.

Bachuru scuttled into Yanga's pocket to hide after one of Lizardon's Flamethrowers shot past them a bit too close. Yanga wished he could do the same, but he also couldn't take his eyes off the battle.

After quite some time had passed, the battle ended... with Amethio and Soublades winning. Barely.

Yanga slowly walked up to the others, hoping that no more stray attacks would hit him and Bachuru. Both Friede and Amethio were catching their breath when he got back.

"Um... Wow," was all Yanga could think to say. "I, uh... You two are amazing!"
Friede grinned widely at him. "See? It's fun, isn't it? Being able to fight someone who's your equal!"
"I can see the appeal," Yanga replied. "But I-I could *never* do something like that! And I'm surprised you lost, Senpai! After two hundred victories."
Amethio snorted loudly, which made Yanga and Friede look over at him.

"I can guarantee you that this idiot is only ever telling you about the times that he's won," Amethio said as he rolled his eyes. "Go on, Friede, tell him the actual score."
"I-Is that true, Senpai?!" Yanga asked Friede, not really expecting a real response.
Friede clicked his tongue. "Okay, fine, fine, you got me," he said to Amethio. "I'm not lying about beating Amethio two hundred times," he explained, "But... he's beaten me two hundred times. Well, two hundred and one times as of this battle."
"Wait... you're *that* evenly matched?!" Yanga was very surprised.
"Sure are!" Friede smiled. "That's what makes it so fun. If I was just kicking his ass every time it'd have gotten boring after battle number five."
"Likewise," Amethio said with a nod in agreement. "Not knowing if I'm going to win, but having the possibility of victory, is a great motivator. Plus, Soublades and Lizardon both seem to enjoy learning from each other, too." He gave his Soublades a smile. Soublades grunted in reply, which Yanga assumed was in the affirmative.
"They definitely do," Friede commented. "It's the same for us. Right, Amethio?"
"Heh. As if I have anything to learn from you," Amethio smirked.
"Oh, come on! You've been copying some of my old battle techniques!" Friede pointed out. "Don't think I didn't notice!"
"...Yeah, well, *you've* been trying to be sneakier since we started doing this," Amethio said with a slight glare. "Turns out, stealth is sometimes necessary."
"So we're even, then, is what you're saying?" Friede laughed. It was clear he wasn't taking Amethio seriously at all.
"...I suppose," Amethio sighed. "In just about every single way, annoyingly."

Yanga couldn't help but smile as they bickered. It was a dynamic he couldn't quite figure out. They seemed to be on good terms with each other, despite them constantly insulting one another, which wasn't done maliciously.

"So... what are you two planning on doing after this?" Yanga decided to ask. "Just go home?"
"Nope!" Friede replied happily. "We're gonna grab a bite to eat, and since he won today, I'm spending the night at his place."
"...W-Why are you... going to his house? Director Crave gave you an apartment free of charge to use..." Yanga's mind was spinning again. This man made no sense!
"Well, because--"
"Friede. You haven't told him, have you?" Amethio snarled.

Yanga was suddenly overcome with a very bad feeling. Like he was about to hear some forbidden information.

"Oh. Did I not tell you?" Friede asked with an apologetic look.
"T-Tell me what?" Yanga didn't want to know, but he was aware he couldn't back out of the conversation.
"That Amethio and I are dating."
"You're WHAT?!" Yanga shouted as his face turned red. "Since when?!" He made sure to lower his voice.
"Since not too long after I started working here again," Friede replied. "Anyway, whenever we have one of these battles, the loser stays over at the winner's house."
"...Wouldn't you just let Amethio-sama win, in that case?" Yanga asked. "I mean, you live in an apartment, and he has an actual house..."
"Yanga," Friede said bluntly, "I'm way too competitive of a person for that to ever happen, even if it is the logical thing to do. Also, Hamber's usually there, sometimes his dad's home, and Zir and Conia are there too... An apartment with just the two of us can be better, depending."
"D-Depending on what?" Yanga had no idea why he kept pressing for more information that he didn't even want to know.
"Depending on how much time to ourselves we want," Friede replied. "And, y'know, sex."

Yanga could do nothing but stare at Friede blankly, unable to say anything in response or unable to retort.

"You didn't have to tell him that part, moron," Amethio said, annoyed.
"But he asked!" Friede pointed out. "What was I gonna do, lie to him? Besides, he's an adult, he'd figure it out sooner or later anyway."
"In that case you REALLY didn't need to tell him!" Amethio retorted. "Friede, nobody needs to know that! I've told you, I don't want this getting back to my father. He'd never let you stay in the house ever again if he found out."
"So you say," Friede said, "But c'mon, Amethio. Your dad was young once."
"...What do you mean?" Amethio frowned.
"I mean that he was probably up to the same sort of thing and trying to work out ways of spending time alone with your mother."
"D-Don't be ridiculous!" Yanga noticed that Amethio was blushing slightly. "T-They would never... Do something like that..."
"And how, exactly, do you think *you* came into existence, Amethio?" Friede asked, laughing. "I'm saying that he'd understand our goals."
"..........." Amethio remained silent. He seemed to be thinking over what Friede had said.

"Don't tell me you'd never worked out your own parents had sex," Friede chuckled.
"Why would that thought ever cross my mind?" Amethio looked somewhat flustered. "They're... They're my parents."
"Yeah. But still. I don't think Director Crave would care all that much," Friede said. "He knows me, after all."

Amethio thought some more before turning to Yanga, who tried not to let his panic show on his face.

"You're not to tell anybody about this," Amethio demanded. "Especially not my father. Understood?"
"Y-Yes sir!" Yanga nodded fervently. "I won't tell a single soul!"
"Good."

'I doubt anybody would believe me even if I did,' he thought to himself.

With that shocking revelation, Yanga left Friede and Amethio to themselves and went back to his own apartment, which was in the same building as the one Friede had been given.

He immediately slumped down on his sofa. Bachuru finally came out of his pocket and crawled up to Yanga's shoulder as usual.

"Bachuru," Yanga sighed as he gave Bachuru lots of pats, "I'm starting to think I'm not cut out for this job after all..."
"Churu?"
"My senpai is dating the boss's son!" Yanga cried, although not too loudly. "And I'm their secret keeper! This is way too much pressure for someone like me!"

Bachuru cocked its head to one side.

"Ugh... You know the worst thing, Bachuru? I swear I've read a boys' love story with this setup before, too."

----

The next day at work, Yanga decided not to ask Friede any questions about how his night with Amethio had gone. Friede seemed to pick up on that, as he didn't bring it up himself. However, a few days later, Friede was boasting about how he'd beaten Amethio in battle again.

"Senpai, let me remind you of something," Yanga said.
"Oh?" Friede raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
Yanga made sure nobody was in the room. "The walls of our apartment building are rather thin," he said in a hushed voice. "So... be careful to not disturb your neighbours, please."

Friede was quiet for a moment before he burst out laughing.

"Ahahaha! Thanks, Yanga!" he grinned. "I'll be sure to tell Amethio to keep it down!"
"I-I was meaning both of you!" Yanga said, his face red. "I can't imagine *you* being quiet!"
"You were imaging us?" Friede stopped laughing as he said that.
"NO!" Yanga shrieked. "I mean, well, based on how loud you are normally, and, uh... UH..."
Friede chuckled. "I'm joking," he said as he put a hand on Yanga's shoulder. "I do appreciate you looking out for us. But don't worry, we're already aware. I've won two hundred and one times before this, remember? We realised the walls were thin pretty quickly."
"Oh... R-Right..." Yanga wanted to die from embarrassment.

Neither of them got much more work done that day.

Yanga kept his mouth shut about Friede and Amethio as he promised. After all, he wasn't one for relationship gossip...

It didn't interest him at all. Nope...

'Would Senpai mind if I asked him what kind of dates they go on? Although, knowing them, they probably just spend their dates battling each other in different locations... Sigh...'