Chapter Text
"... you're weird, you know that, ritchi?"
it was all koga could say really, after that Breakfast Surprise and the request to watch his gym battle. all ritsu had been was weird the entire time.
"you could say that, i guess," ritsu mused, not seeming insulted at all. "or maybe i'm just doing my best to make sure something interesting happens today, and that i get to see it..."
koga squinted at him suspiciously as they continued their little trek to the gym. he didn't exactly know the direction of it from the bakery as he hasn't researched the particular route before his arrival in the town, but he supposed it shouldn't be far. this secluded forest didn't have too much to it, after all.
"and you know that's still weird, right? just latching onto a stranger to get what you want? do you do this with all of the challengers that come by?" koga barked in response, mind spinning with the sheer amount of weirdness he was picking up from his impromptu companion. it was too much to comprehend.
"maybe i just do it to the ones that wake me up from a nap. which was only ever been you," ritsu answered. "or maybe i just stick to trainers that have a few normal type pokemon on hand. good idea for the ghost town, though i doubt your collection of dogs was created for the sole purpose of defeating my brother..."
"fuck are you talking about? which one is it?" koga grumbled, surveying his companion for any trace of a hint.
all he got was mischief radiating off the guy as he chuckled to himself. which made koga realize...
what a roundabout way of answering-- acting like it's one or the other when it could very well be a mixture of both answers, framed like they were separate.
koga plunged deeper into the mind maze with his own answer. "maybe it was? or maybe i just really like dogs."
the last part had a sarcastic bite to it-- not that ritsu cared. he simply hummed, turning over the admission in his head like it was another berry he'd found on the ground. it seemed he caught on to the fact that koga was unraveling the tangled threads of this little game.
the gym leader's little menace brother smiled, a quizzical glance in his eyes. "don't tell me that defeating my brother is a special goal of yours, and you just... happened to collect a few normal type dogs along the way because you like them? and these dogs help with this little goal of yours by coincidence?"
"the first part, sure," koga admitted, partially revealing his little secret. defeating rei sakuma has been a dream of his. he didn't particularly feel like telling the gym leader's little brother why that was... maybe it would come up after the battle, if brought up at all.
ritsu giggled. "you sound like my kind of guy, then. maybe we were destined to meet, when you woke me up from that nap... i can hardly bring myself to be cross with you, now. but this had better mean you're destined to win today, too."
it almost sounded like a semi-celebrity was gushing over a lone wolf nobody...
koga brushed off the feeling, addressing the second part. "i don't collect pokemon as just means to an end... i can't think of anyone even sees it that way. my little pack is my family, and they're all i need, type of pokemon they are be damned. we'll make it work where we need to, but it's just lucky that we have a bit of an advantage at this gym. not even all of the dogs have that resistance to ghost attacks, like leon here, and arca..."
ritsu paused. "arca? would that be the name of that little fireball of yours, arcanine?"
koga froze. "well yeah, but why?"
"it seems a bit... uncreative, don't you think? just taking off the nine from the name..."
koga growled. "hey! i named him after someone, so mind your own business! you're not even a trainer, so what do you know?!"
"oh? and who would be named arca? isn't that one a bit fantastical sounding?"
koga huffed at the implied accusation. "i'm not lyin' ya know. he's just..." he trailed off, suddenly feeling sheepish. "he's just named after a video game character. arca ladonna..."
"oho~ from the game vampire survivors, is he not? how humourous..."
koga grunted. it was like he could never win. "you judgin' my taste?"
"no, not at all. just thinking... i think you came here ready to survive the vampires, no? with little arca ladonna in your pack?"
mind games. mind games about video games. bad puns. what a fucking mess.
"if you meant i'm going to defeat your brother, who you hinted at being a vampire then yeah, sure, bring it on!"
ritsu sighed in contentment, clearly enjoying himself. "ah, corgi... you're so fun to mess with..."
"...so particular about the names of my pokemon, just to call me the wrong name every time..."
"what was that, corgi?"
"ugh, nothin'!"
"say, corgi," ritsu started. "introduce me to the rest of your pack, after the battle. i want to know the names of the cuties that are going to pack a punch in that gym today~"
koga exhaled deeply, the traces of frustration leaving his mind. it was a nice request, and he wouldn't mind more time to talk about those he loved the most in the world...
"sure, sure, whatever. let's just get to that gym already."
ritsu hummed his agreement. "it shouldn't be too far, now."
they walked in silence for a bit, two sets of footsteps louder than the little pitter-patter of leon's paw pads against the cobbled stone path. it meant they were closer to the heart of town, now. any minute now...
"you know, about what you said earlier...i actually do give the stray ghosts nicknames. when i feed them berries in the night..." ritsu spoke up after a bit. "countless ghosts, that on rare occasions reappear... the rest seem to just stray about in the deeper part of the woods, the part that is disconnected from our little town, stretching on and on outside the reaches of society..."
he didn't know where ritsu was going with this. koga just stayed quiet and listened.
"i don't think i can even remember them all. i've been doing it since i was a child. pokemon... they're awfully cute, don't you think? it makes me wonder, why they don't want to stick around. i do so love their company in the dark and lonely nights, i've loved them ever since they took care of me in my brother's absence..."
rei sakuma's absence? was he referring to the initial journey trainers make, when they leave home, build their team, train, and challenge gyms all over the world?
"it makes me think that maybe i'd like pokemon of their own. but there was never a point of really keeping any, if this whole forest is full of nightly visitors. but i think... i think i'd like a little pack of my own someday. you've helped me realize that."
this was all so profound and so personal to ritsu, that koga really couldn't say anything too helpful. "you'd like... a pack of dogs? you don't seem the type."
ritsu groaned. "no, you fur-brained corgi! i want to build my own team! and maybe go on little adventures like you do, and fight gym leaders... like my brother, who i could defeat with an army of little friends and with my own merit!"
was his voice wavering?
"but i was so angry with him after he abandoned me here that i wanted nothing to do with him at all. i didn't want to be a trainer like him, just living in my brother's shadow... i wanted to be something different! but i realize now that i'm still in his shadow, just rei's little brother who runs the bakery in town... i think i realized that i... i want more than i've allowed myself to have. maybe that's why, despite the weirdness of it all, i've clung onto you like some form of hope. isn't it just strange?"
koga took a moment to let this all settle in his brain. first it was little tricks and jokes, and now it was blunt, emotional honesty...
"... that's about the first damn thing i've heard you say that is normal, ritchi."
ritsu smiled as if the sun was rising on a day of new opportunities, full of hope. "you... think so?"
koga barked out a laugh, smiling wide enough to show off his sharp canines. "of course, you idiot! bein' a trainer is one of the best things you can do for yourself! makes sense that you'd want a taste of that life. and i may not know much about you and your brother, but i guess it makes sense that you want to... do it on your own, i guess. to do it not because of who he is, but because of who you are. i've got to ask, though..."
ritsu turned his attention to the trainer. "yes?"
"is the problem that you've been thinking about training ghost pokemon the whole time? because they're like, everywhere around here? is that what gave you your, uh, complex, about being similar to uh, yknow..."
red eyes widened as koga watched their depths closely. "i'd never actually thought about it like that before. i never considered that my journey didn't have to just start here, in knightshade town...say, corgi?"
"yeah?"
"can i ask an absolutely insane question?"
"it's not like you've never done that in the what, not even full day i've known you for?"
"touché. and i guess me not knowing you very well is the reason why this is insane, but... where are you going, after knightshade town?"
he hadn't really thought about it, to be honest. he was more hooked on the question of if he could or couldn't reach his dream in this little town. his thoughts hadn't expanded beyond this place ever since he'd left the previous town.
"i actually don't know yet. maybe ask me after the battle, yeah?"
was that really the insane question? that couldn't be right...
ritsu grinned like he was up to something again. "alright. i'll hit you with it afterwards. but for now, feast your eyes."
ritsu had stopped on the path, koga somehow accidentally in sync with him. he'd been too focused on the conversation, not noticing the way his feet were moving and where they where right now.
before them, in all its terrifying glory, was the gym of knightshade town.