Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoy. If you REALLY like it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 5 chapters ahead.
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Chocolate irises locked on their target unflinchingly, the predator frozen as the prey approached. It was only as it tickled the very edge of her fur that she struck like lightning, grabbing the offender with teeth and claws.
"Ouch."
Eevee froze her gnawing of my fingers at my deadpan tone, eyes darting up to my face as she slowly let go, looking absolutely flabbergasted to see the rest of me attached to my hand.
"Well, you're in a good mood, at least," I muttered as she lay back, embarrassed, stretching as she nestled in the tall grass. Taking it as permission, I went back to my inspection. Brushing the fur aside, I clicked my tongue at the razor-thin scar. It was still red and inflamed, yet already, it was nearly impossible to see beneath her thick coat. Sitting back up now that I was messing with her, Eevee frowned at the wound, nipping at it until I pulled her away. "Stop that. It'll be practically invisible in a month as long as you leave it alone." Taking the chance now that I had her, I leaned down and pressed a swift kiss to the top of her head. "Thank you. You probably saved my life back there."
She huffed again and got up for real, moving away to curl up some distance from the main group. Guess that was as much affection as she could handle for now.
That was fine. Our relationship was moving forward much, much faster than I'd expected.
And besides, I had others to check in on.
Looking over, I saw Sol wagging his tail furiously as he stood up on his hind legs to place his paws on Hercules' much broader shoulders and sniff at his face. The Electabuzz whirred uncomfortably with his new, deeper pitch and gently pushed the Growlithe off of him. Sol was still taller at the shoulder than Herc's new body, so there was no need for it, but I suspected he was trying to push him over, as he was wont to do with me. Sol hadn't been unfriendly to the Electric-Type, but he hadn't gone out of his way to bother him either.
It seemed he was finally big enough to be worth it.
Siren, meanwhile, was doing circles around the newly evolved Pokémon, inspecting him critically. I wasn't sure what her opinion was, but she didn't make a fuss, at least, and eventually floated off to join Betty and Gary's team, flashes of light illuminating up the clearing as the training they'd launched straight into intensified.
"Not bad!" I exclaimed when it was my turn to stroll around the Electabuzz. Herc straightened up at the attention, calling on his internal energy to make his short fur crackle with lightning. I took in the ease with which he did it, noting the strength of the thunder, and nodded appreciatively. It was too early to tell exactly how much stronger he was, but it was definitely an improvement. With any luck, he wouldn't be too far behind the average for his species with all the exercises I'd had him go through prior to evolution. Coming to a stop in front of him, I smirked and held out my fist for him, his much more proportional knuckles knocking against mine in a fist bump. "Not bad at all! You feel good?"
He whirred in agreement, a chuckle on my lips as he raised his arms and flexed his biceps. His body as a whole was much more proportionate and put together, though he was still quite wide across the shoulders and a little short. Still, seeing the muscles under the yellow pelt, I had no doubt that underestimating him based on height would end badly. "Yeah, I bet you do. Hell of a save you pulled off back there. Probably wouldn't have made it without you."
The response was a lot lower and calmer, Herc's arms falling to behind his back as he looked away, scuffing the ground with his foot. It had already been a thing as an Elekid, but it still surprised me how human he could act.
"Alright, enough sappiness. I know it's not really your thing. Let's beat up Gay's Pokémon and see what you can do, eh?"
That got him back on board, and I ended up being the one following him as he led the way over to the other end of the large clearing, where Gary was standing, eager himself to see what he could do.
Or just fight in general, I'd need a week or two to get used to the differences in body language.
Making it to the others, Herc barely waited for my consent before he headed out to join in on the training, leaving me to stand beside Gary. For a time, neither of us spoke, simply watching as he walked up next to Siren. The fish Pokémon was standing beside and opposite some of Gary's Pokémon, Growly, the Clefairy, whose nickname I didn't know, or if it even had one, and finally, a Pokémon I hadn't been introduced to.
Clutching a silver spoon tightly with both hands, the Kadabara's mustache-esque whiskers vibrated as a light purple barrier came into existence right in time to block a stream of billowing flames, the grass whittling under the heat. Sweat leaked through the thin yellow and brown fur as the Flamethrower kept going, yet the Psychic-Type managed to hold it off. Panting lightly, the Kadabara took a second to regain its breath before it was its turn to attack, and Growly had to defend.
Clefairy bounced around, waving cheerfully at Herc standing across from it. Barely waiting for a wave in return, the Fairy Pokémon lit up with electricity, a Thunderbolt launching through the air with a crack! I smiled as, even caught by surprise, Herc managed to raise a hand and block the incoming attack. Without having to direct the majority into the ground, the Electabuzz whirred and sent the attack screaming back to its sender, the small pink creature putting up a Protect at the last second.
Very nice. Still needed to compare to an actual Electric-Type, but it was definitely progress.
But the main attraction was the rest. I'd been surprised and a little nervous when Gary had asked to borrow Betty, but figured it was fine as long as I stayed relatively close.
Graveller curled into a ball and rolled backwards, a stubby arm glowing with Fighting-Type energy following closely behind. Despite being the Pokémon that recovered from its injuries the best, all traces of the vicious-looking crack in its rocky carapace were gone between the advanced medicine and the sturdiness of Rock-Types – it had clearly learnt something about being too close to my Pokémon when they used Brick Break.
Betty cried out in dismay at the near miss, a series of large water bubbles popping against the back of her head going ignored as she pursued Graveller. My eyes lingered on Squirty the Wartortle's shell as he was forced to follow after, gaze trailing the pale lines that turned the hexagonal pattern into a mosaic, crisscrossing all around the middle. While the spine wasn't fused to the shell the same way turtles back on Earth had been, it was still integral to survival, and I knew it had been somewhat touch-and-go putting him back together without permanent damage. He was fine now, but I doubted Squirty and Gary would forget it any time soon.
I pursed my lips as Squirty barely managed to get a Protect up, the green shield shattering like glass under Betty's Brick Break, and only just buying enough time for the turtle to get out of the way.
Good thing I got an assload of Potions. I had a feeling we were going to need them.
"Done?" Gary finally grunted, not taking his eyes off his Pokémon. Sol had apparently had enough of being left out of the fun and came running over with his tongue waving in the wind, utterly unconcerned with the competitive cry of rock crushing rock Graveller let out.
In response to the added combatant, Gary called out to Squirty that the Water-Type could use the previously banned Ice Beam. Within seconds, Betty's furious roars rang out as her domination suddenly came to an end.
"Yeah," I agreed, crossing my arms and taking note of Growly's Flamethrower. Hopefully, Sol would be able to pick up the basics, at least. "Looking them over, anyway. Still have to see what Herc can do now, but I figured kicking your ass would be a good start."
"Hmph." I winced at the rejection of my prodding. It felt deeply unnatural to see Gary refuse to engage like that. "And the weirdo Vulpix?"
I froze.
Right. That.
"Uhhhh, well, it's just, a lot is going on, you know-"
"Stop being a pussy and just do it. It's not worth putting off." There was a far-off look in his eyes as he said that.
"You-" I took a deep breath, stopping myself from snapping. The wisened-old-man vibe he was giving off was getting a little annoying, which was unfair. But come on, I'd literally been where he was, and more besides. The lecturing tone wasn't appreciated. "... yeah, I know."
Especially when he was right, that really sucked.
Sticking my hand deep in my pocket, I pulled out the Luxury Ball and looked it over, seeing my face reflected in the polished metal. I'd clipped it to my belt to start, but its presence distracted me all day, a constant weight dragging me down. Then I'd put it in my backpack, which only made me even more on edge, constantly thinking about it: was it okay? Had the Vulpix released itself? Had someone stolen it? Did the sink flood and wash it away somehow?
So, in the end, I just shoved it in my pocket and tried not to think about it.
"Fuck me," I mumbled before pressing the button in the center and tossing the ball at our feet.
Gary was right. It wasn't worth putting off just because I was being a baby about it.
The light solidified, gaining four legs and more tails, and it faded to reveal the icy-blue, ethereal fur of the Alolan Vulpix I'd won in the S.S. Anne tournament.
The fox cocked its head up at me, blue eyes glinting curiously as I took a deep breath. My heart was thundering and clenching at the same time, more emotions than I knew what to do with filling me, but at least I wasn't completely falling apart or becoming lost in a flashback.
"Hi," I mumbled dumbly. I knew Gary was still watching, but I put it out of my mind, wetting my lips with my tongue and trying to find some words. "Uhhhh…"
Fuck, Peri, say something.
As the silence went on and I fumbled around internally, Vulpix's ears, which had been standing up straight and alert, started drooping. The knees bent and tails curled around the legs as the Ice-Type shrank further and further into itself, a low keening noise leaving its throat as the eyes went wide and moist.
"Oh, oh shit, no no no no, hey, hey, hey," I tried to reassure, kneeling to get closer and feeling like an absolute piece of shit when the Vulpix flinched at my approach and squeezed its eyes shut. What the fuck? "It's okay, it's okay, I promise. I'm sorry, I…" Taking a deep breath, I mustered up some courage, feeling Gary behind me. Come on, Peri, be strong. "I'm sorry. It's not you, it's me. It-... I had a Vulpix once." It was nowhere near what I'd imagined our first meeting would go like, but if that was what it took to put Vulpix at ease after I'd done whatever I'd done. "He-uhh… He-I lost him a long time ago, and I haven't really thought about… you know, getting a different Vulpix, and I'm just not-I'm trying to figure out-WOAH!"!
While I'd been explaining, the glacial-blue eyes opened again and gazed up at me. Seeing me stutter my way through one of the worst retellings I'd ever done, I was too absorbed to notice before Vulpix had used its crouched position and leapt at me. I fumbled with the supernaturally light Pokémon before managing to catch it. Caught completely off guard, I was stunned to see big, fat tears leak from the regional variant's beautiful eyes, crystallizing as they rolled through the billowing fur as the Pokémon sniffled and rubbed its head against me comfortingly.
What the fuck was going on? I turned to Gary frantically for any kind of assistance, only to find that he'd moved away to focus on the training.
"I-uh, I'm fine, it's okay. I'm-... as I said, it was a long time ago." Lifting my hand, I ignored the trembling and how slowly the appandeage approached Vulpix, forcing myself not to react when it pushed up against my palm in search of affection. I didn't understand what was going on with the Alolan Pokémon, but I could still control myself. "There you go, let's all just calm down."
-Held in my arms, clutched to my chest, Ra hit the captain with his own best efforts as well-
Gritting my teeth, I forced the memory from my mind, focusing on the differences. The new Vulpix in my arms was lighter and a little smaller than Ra had been, and obviously colder, though not to an uncomfortable extent. The constantly lightly-swaying fur was incredibly soft and thin, almost like a liquid under my fingers.
"VUUUUIIIIIIIIIII!"
Oh, it was also fully bawling now, icicles hanging from under its eyes and snout as rivers of tears and snort poured out. I almost dropped it in panic when it began hiccupping, placing it on the ground as a wheezing sound emanated from the exotic Pokémon while it struggled to breathe.
"Breathe, buddy, you're alright. Watch me, okay?" I inhaled deeply and exhaled, leading the small fox through breathing exercises. Relief filled me as it slowly recovered, matching my pace, and despite the absolute panic and confusion of the last couple of moments, the vice grip on my innards loosened.
The personality couldn't be more different from Ra's.
"Let's get you scanned real quick," I was forced to scratch Vulpix behind the ears to keep it occupied while I got my PokéDex out and pointed it at the vulpine.
"Pokémon unknown." The mechanical voice crackled through the speaker, and I felt the urge to slap myself. What had I expected? "There are many Pokémon that remain undiscovered. Please return to the Lab to register this Pokémon at your earliest convenience." Glancing over at Gary, who was still stubbornly pretending not to be listening in, I imagined it might be a bit before I had the chance.
Sorry, Oak, but I doubted you'd blame me too much.
"Guess we're working blind then, uh…" Taking a quick peek, I confirmed my first fact about my newest Pokémon while, at the same time, Sol came lumbering over, apparently bored with the two-on-two. "... girl. That's fine, I suppose. We can start with the Kanto Vulpix move set and go from ther-WOAH, HEY!"
The second Sol's sniffing snout touched the fur on Vulpix's tails, she whipped around, a snarl twisting her face and eyes murderous. Throwing herself at the much, much larger Pokémon, she yipped and growled, claws flashing as she battered at the Growlithe's snout. Sol yelped and stumbled back as I grabbed the spitting fox, whining confusedly at the response.
"ENOUGH! STOP!" It took seconds before she was still, looking up at me with wide, sorrowful eyes. Holy fucking shit, what was wrong with her? "Sol, don't touch her tails, buddy. Vulpix, calm the fuck down. He's your teammate now and didn't know better."
Sniffling again, she twisted around and tried to burrow into my arms, forcing me to stroke her back softly, being very careful to avoid her tails.
"Clefairy's the same." Surprised, I looked over to see that Gary still hadn't turned his head, even if he'd given up pretending he couldn't hear me.
Wait, so it was a Fairy-Type thing, then, hyper-emotionality?
"How do you deal with it?"
He shrugged uncaringly.
"You get used to it." That wasn't very encouraging, but I didn't get the chance to ask him to elaborate before he plowed onwards. "We need to figure out what our goals are for the training."
Vowing to pry some tips about Fairy-Type care out of him later, I carefully removed Vulpix's claws out of my clothing – having to redo it several times as she whined and re-hooked herself, unwilling to let go – and put her down on the ground, pointing over to Eevee, who'd been watching from where she was lying down.
"Why don't you go introduce yourself?" With any hope, Eevee's somewhat standoffish behaviour and Vulpix's… everything would balance each other out.
Or they'd try to kill each other. I'd keep a hand on Vulpix's PokéBall, just in case.
"You're right," I finally said, petting Sol to console him as he gazed longingly over at the two small fox Pokémon, while overlooking the rest of our teams training alongside Gary. "Growly can help Sol and Betty learn Flamethrower, or at least the basics. One of the Fang moves would also be great, but I don't think you know those?" He shook his head. "Right, so let's put that to the side for now. Uh, Herc needs to get used to his body, so I don't think he'll learn anything new for now, other than getting Thunder Punch down properly. You still got those TMs?" He nodded that time, remaining silent. "Then Hidden Power for everybody, but especially Siren. Another ranged attack for Eevee, maybe, or just more training in general. No idea with Vulpix. You?"
"I want Brick Break in return for Flamethrower." There wasn't even a second of hesitation before he started talking. I hummed agreeingly, though I did throw in a warning that it might take longer than we had before Lavender. "Whatever, the same can be said for any of the moves. You'll teach both Growly and Graveller." I agreed once more. If things went well, I might add Hercules to that squad, despite what I said. It shouldn't be too hard for him to pick up the Fighting-Type move.
He continued. "Your fish and Squirty can work on their Water and Ice attacks. Kadabra needs to stop sucking. Also…"
He hesitated for a second before his face firmed up as he watched Squirty and Graveller slowly wear down Betty as their teamwork improved in real time, though they certainly weren't getting away unscathed. "Also, I need your help with Pidgeotto. Things were fine when he was a Pidgey, but ever since he evolved, he barely listens to me half of the time. If you can work with that monster of a Dragon-Type, I figured you'd know how to do the same with a bird."
"... fuck, I'll try, but I'll be honest, if it wasn't for having Betty since she was in the egg, I don't think it would've gone as smoothly as it has. She's also only a Bagon and hasn't evolved yet." It didn't feel good to admit, but I knew who my baby was. As cool as the mental image was, I sometimes lay awake at night over having to keep a Titan Salamence under control.
"Don't care." I really missed when Gary said that type of shit to be cool and not because he genuinely didn't care.
"Alright, then. Sounds like a plan." I thought that was it, when Gary added one last part.
"And anti-Ghost strats. I need those."
"... I feel like I should say something about that, and not hyper-focusing on it, but it's not a bad idea," I admitted. "Especially since we're going to Lavender. Hear the place is crawling with them. Okay, well, the Shadow Ball TM is a good start. Anything further, we'll probably need to start from scratch."
The prospect of what sounded like a very rough training session didn't deter Gary. If anything, a fire lit up behind his eyes, and he seemed alive for the first time in three days. "Then let's get started."
Trying one last time, I threw out a slight jab. "Bet you mine do better."
I almost had a heart attack when the smallest of smirks pulled at Gary's lips. It was gone in a second, but it was definitely there.
"Please. It's time to show you the difference in skill."
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SMACK!
"OW! FUCK!"
"Watch your feet."
"You slapped me in the face!"
"I slapped you because you didn't watch your feet."
"How am I supposed to watch my feet and your hands at the same time!?"
"Have you tried getting good?"
Growling at my answer, Gary threw a left hook again. Deflecting it to the side with a quick swipe at his wrist, I gave him a moment to pull back before going for another grab and toss. It wouldn't really be training if I just beat him up.
Never mind the bruises he'd already accumulated and the large patches of grass and dirt his clothing was covered in from rolling across the ground.
I needed to have some fun.
THUD!
"I didn't mean you'd need to actually look at your feet. I meant, like, mind your footwork."
"Then say that!"
"I really thought it was obvious that you shouldn't stare straight down at the ground while someone is trying to punch you."
Gary was seething as he got off the ground and faced me again, his stance barely worth being called such. He'd actually been doing pretty well the last couple of days, but as was often happening in the weird-ass funhouse mirror situation I found myself in, I felt a new sense of kinship with my own teacher, Oak's Champy. All the times I'd complained when he'd cut off training early suddenly seemed so immature if my anger had made me as sloppy as Gary.
"Let's take a break." I held up my hand before he could start. "From this, not totally. Might as well take another crack at Pidgeotto. Big bastard's close to cracking, I can feel it." He still didn't look happy with the decision. "Bro, you're not learning anything right now. Fuck, if anything, you're unlearning shit, throwing yourself at me like that. Once you've calmed down, we'll go again."
Grumbling, he finally accepted, walking over closer to the center of the clearing. I kept my snort to myself at the stiff, straight-kneed way he moved, grimacing with every step. The guy was not used to working out.
Honestly, he was in embarrassingly bad shape for a Trainer, the consequence of being driven around for the last month, rather than hiking.
On the plus side, he hadn't complained about it, even though I knew that he was in a serious amount of pain.
He was stubborn, if nothing else.
A trait shared by his team, I noted as I followed after the Oak, looking over to where our Pokémon were equally hard at work. It was a challenge to get them to stop long enough to eat. Gary's team wore themselves out with the same determination as their Trainer, and their efforts only spurred on my own maniacs.
A dark ball of Distortion gathered in front of Eevee as she concentrated, Kadabra mirroring her. The half-formed Shadow Ball wobbled unsteadily, but it was the Psychic-Type that messed up first, the following explosion fucking up Eevee as well.
A little away, a stream of fire blew through the air, two smaller and wispy columns of flames chasing it, Betty's shrill screech and stomping following.
At least she had stopped attacking Growly for outdoing her.
That hadn't been great for synergy.
Siren, Hercules, Graveller, and Squirty were off by themselves, but I trusted that group to not die the instant I took my eyes off them.
I kept Vulpix close for now when I wasn't training her and finding out her basics. Might be nice to have an Ice-Type on hand in case Pidgeotto got too aggressive.
It wasn't sustainable, the pace we were setting. The only time they got to rest was when we were walking towards Lavender, and that was only for three-ish hours a day. Every other moment, from before sunrise when I dragged Gary out of his tent, to sunset when the Growlithe began complaining, we were training.
It consumed so much time that it became increasingly likely we would take closer to 10 days to reach our destination than seven.
I wasn't complaining, though. We needed the training if the Game Corner Rocket base was our next target, and the more time Gary had to… stabilize, the better.
"Alright. Squirty has already gone, and while it helped, Pidgeotto is still being a bitch, so I figured we'd try again. Soooo, who do you wanna use?" I asked as he bounced the Flying-Type's PokéBall up and down. He took a couple of moments, looking out over his options, before making his choice.
"Graveller."
I nodded in agreement as he went to get the Rock/Ground-Type, coming back with the Pokémon folded into a ball. Not only did it have the Type advantage, but the boulder Pokémon also had great stamina. I'd been both shocked and impressed when it managed to keep up with Hercules, even if it had obviously taken more out of the four-armed rock than it had the Electabuzz. It was mainly Graveller's determination not to lose to Herc again that kept him going.
Still very, very good, though. Given the constant state of training and exhaustion, Graveller was definitely the freshest Pokémon Gary had available.
"PIIIIIIIII!" Pidgeotto shattered the red energy with a flex of his wings and an ear-ringing screech. Gazing around imperiously, the Alpha looked for its opponent to no avail, finding only the three of us arrayed before it. Puffing up its chest, the great bird narrowed its eyes-
-and turned around, sticking its torso-sized head under its wing and pretending we weren't there.
"HEY! Don't ignore me, you over-sized fuck!" I winced at Gary's words. While Pidgeotto was definitely a problem child, Gary wasn't exactly the easiest to get along with.
"Gary," I said, making him stop whatever else he was about to shout.
"Right. I'm… sorry." He forced out between gritted teeth, snorting like a Tauros when he got ignored. "In case your pea-sized brain has forgotten it, I'm trying to work with you here. I know we've both said and done things, but I would like it if we could… put that behind us and move forward. You're kinda strong, but you could be stronger, and my team proves it. None of them are Alphas, yet they're stronger than you."
That got a response, Pidgeotto spinning back around and extending his wings again, the massive 10-foot wingspan shadowing the sun as he clicked his beak at Gary aggressively. I tensed, but I was the only one. Apparently, despite not obeying or liking Gary, the bird had never attacked him either.
That gave me hope for the two of them.
"It's true!" Gary insisted. "Squirty kicked your fethery ass despite being half asleep yesterday, and all of them could do so again!"
Hopping forwards on talons large enough to crush our skulls, Pidgeotto cried out challengingly, flapping its wings and sending out a gust of wind that forced Gary to take a step back and ruffled my hair.
"Fine, you wanna go, you bird-brain fuck, let's fucking go! I'll kick your ass all the way to the PokéCenter and back, 'till you understand how much better we are than you!"
I sighed as the Flying-Type took to the air and Graveller squared up.
They deserved each other, they really did. It was almost scary, knowing that Trainer and Pokémon often started resembling each other the more time they spent together.
Gary might actually turn into a Pidgey, and how was I going to explain that to the Professor?
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"Wait your turn." I lightly scolded Vulpix as she again tried to move under my hand as I ran the brush through Sol's fur. The Ice-Type whined, pawing at my hand, but I didn't give in. Huffing, Vulpix spun around dramatically, slapping me in the face with her billowing tails and walking over to complain to Eevee about her deeply unfair treatment.
As I'd hoped, the two had hit it off pretty fast, but unlike my expectations, while it was good for Eevee to have someone on the team she could bond with, Vulpix was not getting any more emotionally stable.
It was definitely a Fairy-Type thing. Watching the fox and Clefairy interact was quite a sight, a dozen different emotions cycled through in a blink. It seemed like they were almost emotional sponges – or mirrors – taking what others were feeling and amplifying it. If I felt sad or dwelled on the past too much, Vulpix would cry. If I was happy or playing with the Pokémon, she would bounce off the walls like the air was made of cocaine.
But it was also her own emotions that were stuck on a 20 out of 10. Anger, sadness, pettiness, it was almost impossible to tell what mood she was in. As soon as I thought I had it, it did a 180 and changed completely.
It was honestly exhausting and was going to take a while to get used to.
Running the brush through the yellow and black coat, I felt Sol slowly unfreeze now that Vulpix had walked off. The Alpha was cautious of the Vulpix ever since she attacked him and did his best to stay away from her.
I kind of missed the first days of our journey, when it was just Siren, Betty, Sol, and me. Now that I had six, the intricacies of inter-team relations and dynamics became clear to me.
And it wasn't like I was done catching Pokémon, either.
Shaking it off, I looked over the other side of the crackling campfire between Gary and me that illuminated the riverside where we'd made camp. The brown-haired boy was scrolling through his PokéDex, the artificial light making his skin look ghostly and pale.
"What are you doing?"
"Battling Lance and the entire Elite Four at the same time. I'm winning." He deadpanned back, peeking at me over the screen. "The fuck does it look like I'm doing?"
"Haha," I answered. The return of the snarkiness was good, though there was still a long way to go before it felt good-natured again. "I meant, what are you looking at?"
"Just some Trainer forums." He said evasively, putting the device down, leaning back, and looking up at the stars. Squirty and Clefairy were by his side, Graveller sleeping over by Gary's monstrosity of a tent that was as big as some houses. In the trees over to the side, a pair of large eyes reflected the light. It was the first night Gary had allowed Pidgeotto to sleep outside of his ball, and I was a little proud of him for that. I wouldn't call them friends, by any means, and the Flying-Type was still prone to ignoring his Trainer, but at least they were at a point where they could work on it.
Just needed the bird to behave a bit, both of them to be less proud, and the boy to show some affection for his Pokémon.
Speaking of.
"Here." I threw a tub of paste that I'd used earlier on Siren at him. "It's Water-Type nutrition," I explained at his look. "Technically, it's for fish-esque Pokémon, but it can't hurt Squirty."
"Where the hell did you get this?" He asked as the turtle sat down in front of him, letting out a sigh of contentment as Gary rubbed the thick cream into his very fine scales. Growly lifted her head from where she'd been curled up with Sol – clearly hoping that she would get a turn under the brush – looking absolutely gobsmacked. Scrambling, she ran straight through the campfire to get to her Trainer, sitting down right in front of him, tail thumping the ground furiously.
"Cerulean. It pays off, not being an asshole to everyone around you." I answered his question, pretending to ignore his snort and mocking look.
"You, lecturing me on not being an asshole!? Fuck off, you hypercritical dick, you're as bad as I am!"
"Am not!" Okay, I could be a little rude, but Gary was a fucking master of shit flinging. The guy was literally famous for being a douche.
"Oh yeah!? What's this, then?" Much to Squirty's displeasure, Gary stopped massaging him for a moment and picked his PokéDex up again, throwing it to me.
Turning it on, I blinked in confusion at the sight of my own face looking back at me, glaring up from the screen with a snarl. Based on the background, it was from Vermillion Gym when I fought Surge. Looking at the bottom of the image, there was a black box with white text.
'It's Periwinkle! Say it again!'
"What the fu-I'm a meme!?"
"You sure fucking are." He was grinning at me, or baring his teeth anyway, as I frantically scrolled through the chat forum. As far as I could tell, it was about the S.S. Anne, and someone had brought up my fight with the Electric-Type Gym Leader.
"What the fuck do they mean by 'overprivileged psychopaths giving Trainers a bad name'! Who the fuck does 'PikaGirl284' think she is, huh! Fucking bitch, I'll tell you!" I seethed, fingers hammering the digital keyboard.
"Hey, you're on my profile, don't write anything!" He rushed around the fire and jumped at me, trying to get the PokéDex from me as I hurriedly tried to finish my message.
"Fuck this bitch! Her fucking profile picture is her in a Pichu costume, the fucking loser, and she's talking shit about me!? I'll track her down and show her what a real psycho looks like!"
"Give it, you fuck!"
"NO!" He had me in an amateur chokehold, and I made a mental note to show him how to do it properly.
Right after I made sure 'PikaGirl284' never typed my name again..
"Peri, I swear to fucking Mew, if you don't give it-!"
"You'll what, go crying to your grandpa?!" The instant I said it, I knew that I'd fucked up. His face fell, and he pushed off of me to sit up, looking away.
"Low blow." I grimaced at his tone and handed over the PokéDex without actually sending the DM. I wasn't fucking made for knowing where the line was and when I was crossing it, damnit. I needed him to hurry up and get to an okay-ish place so we could go back to being dicks to each other.
The quiet was oppressive, only interrupted by the sputtering and cracking of damp wood as it burned. For once, I was squirming, knowing I should say something.
"You wanna talk about it?" I finally broke.
"Nope."
"Okay."
Silence. Until it wasn't.
" … I just don't-... I know he means well," Gary started slowly, "and I appreciate it, I do, but… he can be so condescending. I get that I'm not as smart as him, or as strong as he was at my age, but I don't need him to treat me like a child right now."
"That's fair." I wasn't sure if it actually was, but Gary clearly needed someone in his corner, and if shitting on his grandfather made him feel better, then so be it. "The guy is fucking terrible with people. He might actually be worse than you."
"No 'almost' about it," he snorted, a glint in his eye as he leaned in. "Have I told you about the time he had to hold a lecture in Goldenrod?"
"No, you have not," I smirked and leaned closer myself. "Go on."
Even I didn't get up until the sun did the next morning, having stayed up talking most of the night. The following day of training was lethargic, constantly interrupted by yawns, and not as productive as it could've been.
Worth it.
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Bonding, bonding, and more bonding.
Question: How in-depth do you prefer the training scenes? My current plan is to alternate between this very surface-level description, where the real fruit of the hard work is revealed in actual battles, and then next time, diving deeper into it. But do you have a favorite?
Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed. If you REALLY liked it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 5 chapters ahead.