digital illustration. The canvas is in the shape of a tarot card, but the two figures shown are arranged like the face cards of a standard playing card deck: mirrored and inverted, so that when one is upright, the other is upside down. The canvas is divided diagonally by a substantial, thorny branch of a vining rose. Further thorny tendrils grow from it into both halves of the card. The likeness of a double gold foil stripe edges the card. Bede from Pokémon Sword and Shield is one of the two figures; he is upright here. He is shown as he is in his early pre-battle animations: spinning a great ball on the pointer finger of his right hand and looking down his nose, cocky and arrogant. The thorny vines have wrapped around him comprehensively, including two tendrils that cross over his smirking mouth. One of these also crosses his left eye, and a single red rose in full bloom fully covers this eye. The two vines encircle his head as well, tangled in his curls and reaching up off his head, still growing toward the sun. The second figure is Merritt Hargrave, my SWSH OC Trainer and main character of Always the Thorns. Clad in his black leather jacket, he looks back over his shoulder and up. His eyes are tired, with substantial dark circles. There is a hint of sadness in his expression. The thorny vines reach for him, but have not found purchase; one insinuates itself toward his bare wrist, exposed from where his hand is tucked into his jacket pocket, and another is approaching the back of his jacket collar. A fresh, young shoot before him displays a single young flower, beginning to open, but he isn’t looking at it. Mer’s sky is Hammerlocke blue; Bede’s is Stow-On-Side purple. Both are studded with clouds.

digital illustration. The canvas is in the shape of a tarot card, but the two figures shown are arranged like the face cards of a standard playing card deck: mirrored and inverted, so that when one is upright, the other is upside down. The canvas is divided diagonally by a substantial, thorny branch of a vining rose. Further thorny tendrils grow from it into both halves of the card. The likeness of a double gold foil stripe edges the card. Bede from Pokémon Sword and Shield is one of the two figures. He is shown as he is in his early pre-battle animations: spinning a great ball on the pointer finger of his right hand and looking down his nose, cocky and arrogant. The thorny vines have wrapped around him comprehensively, including two tendrils that cross over his smirking mouth. One of these also crosses his left eye, and a single red rose in full bloom fully covers this eye. The two vines encircle his head as well, tangled in his curls and reaching up off his head, still growing toward the sun. The second figure is Merritt Hargrave, my SWSH OC Trainer and main character of Always the Thorns; he is upright here. Clad in his black leather jacket, he looks back over his shoulder and up. His eyes are tired, with substantial dark circles. There is a hint of sadness in his expression. The thorny vines reach for him, but have not found purchase; one insinuates itself toward his bare wrist, exposed from where his hand is tucked into his jacket pocket, and another is approaching the back of his jacket collar. A fresh, young shoot before him displays a single young flower, beginning to open, but he isn’t looking at it. Mer’s sky is Hammerlocke blue; Bede’s is Stow-On-Side purple. Both are studded with clouds.

Always the Thorns

🧚🏻‍♂️🗡️🥀🛡️🎸

#pokemon #pokemonswsh #bedepokemon #MerrittHargrave #AlwaysTheThorns #OCsky #Bskyart #GlazedLikeADonut

hey #pokemonswsh nation, I just posted new entries in both my active #fanfic series: #AlwaysTheThorns and #Bede'sCurriculum!

Chapter 5 of Four Times Gone and Lesson: The Importance of Rest & Victuals may be on the short side (for me), but they're there!

I ran out of room so links below~

Digital sketch portraits of eight Spikemuth Punks. The only one styled to resemble the in-game model is Joshua, who is also the only named Spikemuth Gym Trainer in-game. Top row from left to right are Padraig (he/him, cis), Dafydd (he/him, cis), Joshua (he/him, trans), Liss (she/her, cis), and Ells (she/her, cis). Bottom row left to right are Thorne (they/he), Stella (she/her, trans), and Jax (he/him, cis). Stella and Jax have a label indicating that they are Besties.

Black and white digital sketch portraits of ten Team Yell members / Spikemuth gym punks. Top row, from left to right: Arik (he/him, cis); Juniper (he/him, cis); Caólan [pronounced "kee-len"] (he/him, trans); Rourke, "Roar" (he/him, cis); Peter (he/him, cis). An arrow labelled with a heart connects Caólan and Roar. Bottom row, from left to right: Magnolia, "Mags" (she/her, cis); Piper (she/her, cis); Shanti (she/her, cis); Willow, "Will" (he/she/they, intersex), [strikethrough: (just looks like me, oops)] "what's in yr pants?" "not you, clearly."; Bex (they/she, trans) "Drag is everyday." "...King or Queen?" "Yes."

Depictions of all eighteen Spikemuth punks made with various picrews. Punks with multiple dolls have a box drawn around everything depicting them. Padraig's box also includes two reference photos: a young Peter Murphy with his arms up over his head, and a pretty Pinterest lad reclining on an elbow.

What’s up #pokemonswsh nation

In preparing to write #MerrittHargrave ‘s return to Spikemuth, I realized the Grunts wouldn’t be nameless NPCs to him. They’re people he’s known for years. So now every #TeamYell member is an OC for #AlwaysTheThorns 😤
#pokemon #Bskyart #OCsky #fanfic #GlazedLikeADonut

Merritt “Mer” Hargrave leans down slightly to kiss Bede on the mouth. Both blush, and Bede’s vibrant purple eyes are just barely peeking open, as though he is in the midst of letting them slip shut. There are white stars and sparkle effects behind them in Bede’s colors (pink and teal) as well as some in the foreground, haloing them both, in gold.

20250703 💖 A Kiss, At Last

#pokemon #pokemonswsh #BedePokemon #MerrittHargrave #AlwaysTheThorns #bskyart #ocsky #GlazedLikeADonut 🍩✨

Digital art, Procreate. An Adult (~20) Bede poses provocatively wearing only a pink and blue pair of panties that lace closed at the hips. He looks back over his shoulder with a flirtatious smirk, as though at someone standing behind him, out of frame.

20240506

ADULT!Bede Pinup my beloved….
Face closeup and reference in thread 🤗

#pokemon #pokemonswsh #Bedepokemon #bskyart #pinup #AlwaysTheThorns

Height-accurate lineup of the cast of Pokemon Sword and Shield, including my Trainer OC, Merritt. This lineup has been adjusted for the rivals to be mid to late teen, as they are in Always the Thorns.

Height-accurate lineup of the cast of Pokemon Sword and Shield, including my Trainer OC, Merritt. This lineup has been adjusted for the rivals to be adults.

Height lineup for my #pokemonswsh #fanfic series #AlwaysTheThorns ~

Left is teen, right is adult.

All images except that of my OC #MerrittHargrave are the official art, sourced from Bulbapedia.

✨

#OCSky #pokemon #Bskyart #GlazedLikeADonut #HeightRef

Left side: Two bust portraits of Bede in a semirealistic style. In the upper, his bangs are heart-shaped rather than criss-crossing in the front. In the lower, his bangs criss-cross in the front to better approximate the shape of his hair in canon. In both, the lower shines in his eyes resemble hearts, as in his rare trainer card. Right side: My Pokémon SWSH OC, Merritt "Mer" Hargrave stands casually facing Bede. Dressed all in black and wearing black combat boots (improperly laced), he has long dark-auburn hair in a bun, a few strands escaping to frame his face. He has ultramarine eyes and multiple facial piercings. A bit taller than Bede, he smiles down at him, fond and unbothered. Bede, in contrast, glares up at Mer, lips pursed in a pout and his arms crossed over his chest. He wears only his white activewear and tabi-style sneakers, lacking his puffy magenta coat. Though Bede is clearly cross, he also has a light blush in his cheeks. This piece has been protected with Glaze.

So about this one being done… lmao

This is technically a bit of a reference to my fic with these two, “Otherworldly”.

archiveofourown.org/works/60520306

#OCsky #Bskyart #art #pokemon #pokemonswsh #AlwaystheThorns #MerrittHargrave #BedePokemon

So the problem is that I was trying to post #AlwaysTheThorns (PokéFic) in chronological order. Bc I Did Not Do That with FFXIVfic.

But I have written a 30.8k word long multi-chapter misunderstandings hurt/comfort confession fic that I am So proud of and it happens POSTGAME

I AM IN SPIKEMUTH RN

Left side: Two bust portraits of Bede in a semirealistic style. In the upper, his bangs are heart-shaped rather than criss-crossing in the front. In the lower, his bangs criss-cross in the front to better approximate the shape of his hair in canon. In both, the lower shines in his eyes resemble hearts, as in his rare trainer card. Right side: My Pokémon SWSH OC, Merritt “Mer” Hargrave stands casually facing Bede. Dressed all in black and wearing black combat boots (improperly laced), he has long dark-auburn hair in a bun, a few strands escaping to frame his face. He has ultramarine eyes and multiple facial piercings. A bit taller than Bede, he smiles down at him, fond and unbothered. Bede, in contrast, glares up at Mer, lips pursed in a pout and his arms crossed over his chest. He wears only his white activewear and tabi-style sneakers, lacking his puffy magenta coat. Though Bede is clearly cross, he also has a light blush in his cheeks. This piece has been protected with Glaze.

Finally calling this done at flats. I just. Ugh. I love them. I love them SO much.
This is technically a bit of a reference to my fic with these two, “Otherworldly”.

archiveofourown.org/works/60520306

#OCsky #Bskyart #art #pokemon #pokemonswsh #AlwaystheThorns #MerrittHargrave #BedePokemon

From Afar, Hedging Closer | The Hermit, Reversed; The Page of Cups by OGMadster 18 Feb 2025 Fandoms: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions Teen And Up Audiences
 No Archive Warnings Apply
 M/M
 Complete Work
 Relationships: Beet | Bede/Original Character(s) Characters: Beet | Bede, Merritt Hargrave (Pokemon SWSH OC) Other Tags: rivalshipping - Freeform, Enemies to Lovers, Rivals to Lovers, teen feelings, Pre-Relationship, Mutual Pining, Epistolary, modern epistolary, text logs Summary: A record of the texts sent between Mer and Bede while Mer traverses Route 8 and takes on the dual gyms of Circhester. -- (Yes I headcanon the protags of SWSH as teens. If you don't like that please move along and have a nice day) Series: Part 8 of Always the Thorns: A Pokémon Sword and Shield Fic Language: English Words: 905

Sooooo I wrote more Mer Bede #fanfic..... it's only 905 words~

#pokemon #pokemonswsh #AlwaysTheThorns #OCsky

The Squire and the Night by OGMadster [Restricted to logged-in users to protect from some AI scraping] Fandoms: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions Teen And Up Audiences No Archive Warnings Apply M/M Complete Work Relationships: Beet | Bede/Original Character(s), Hop & Original Pokemon Trainer(s), Hop/Masaru | Victor Characters: Beet | Bede, Merritt Hargrave (Pokemon SWSH OC), Hop (Pokemon), Yuuri | Gloria, Masaru | Victor, Mary | Marnie Other Tags: rivalshipping - Freeform, Enemies to Lovers, Rivals to Lovers, teen feelings, Pre-Relationship, Mutual Pining, Bede doesn't understand that he's pining but, oh lawd he pinin, for the Hop/Victor friends it is a background element but it IS establishing it's a Thing (tm), Epistolary, modern epistolary, (like texts articles video transcriptions etc etc) Summary: Bede, at last, is safe. Against all the odds and all the turmoil and upheaval and heartbreak, he's safe. Trying to relax in what is, in his opinion, an inexcusably opulent bathtub, his mind spins and reels over the events of the past days. He thinks of lots of things. Against his better judgement, he thinks of Merritt. -- (Yes I headcanon the protags of SWSH as teens. If you don't like that please move along and have a nice day) -- I JUST finished this moments ago I will inevitably return to spruce it up a bit but please take it anyway Series: Part 4 of Always the Thorns: A Pokémon Sword and Shield Fic Language: English Words: 6,125 Chapters: 1/1

Latest installment of my #PokemonSWSH #fanfic #AlwaysTheThorns is up ;;3;;

archiveofourown.org/works/61232491

Now with more modern #epistolary elements!!

If you like super super gay teen pining and OC player trainers, please consider giving this series a read <3

#Pokemon #OCsky