Chapter Text
Both Lance and his Vaporeon looked up hopefully when the Pokemon Center’s automatic door slid open, briefly letting in the howling winds and rain from the storm outside. He had been waiting for the girl from the Contest Hall to drop by all day, but once again he was disappointed as he saw that the person entering was distinctively male. Worse, Lance knew that stupid haircut, and he glared at the newcomer in annoyance.
“Oh, it’s you ,” he grunted, just loud enough to be heard from the entrance. The newcomer’s head whipped up, water flying from his dripping shaggy hair, and he groaned as well.
“Oh come on , I don’t need this today,” Keith muttered to himself, rubbing his face with his hand. His gloves were just as soaked from the storm as the rest of him, though, so all he ended up doing was smearing rainwater all over his cheeks. “As if this storm wasn’t bad enough.”
“What, can’t handle a little water, Keith?” Lance smirked up at him, Vaporeon mimicking him perfectly without even prompting.
“I don’t see you out in that mess,” Keith growled, stomping past Lance in squelching shoes and heading for the counter. His shoes squeaked comically against the tiled floor as he walked, and he almost slipped once or twice, making Lance snicker into his fist. Vaporeon let out a little snigger as well, crawling into Lance’s lap to watch Keith struggling to walk.
Lance had to admit, though, as he watched Keith speaking quietly to the nurse on duty and handing over his pokeballs, that even though Keith always managed to piss him off whenever they ran into each other, which was still happening way too often for some reason, he was kind of glad the trainer had shown up. Lance had been starting to get bored and depressed waiting for the Contest Hall girl to come when she clearly wasn’t planning to show up, and it was nice to have something else to focus on now. At least now he had some entertainment.
The nurse eventually took Keith’s pokeballs and vanished into the back room to heal them, leaving Keith standing at the counter. This late at night and with such a terrible storm raging outside, there weren’t many other people loitering in the Pokemon Center; just a couple of travelling trainers waiting for their own Pokemon to finish being healed and a young boy playing with an elderly looking Raticate in the corner. Pretty much all of the chairs in the waiting room were empty, so Lance was a little surprised when Keith walked back over and flopped down in the seat right next to Lance, nearly knocking his Vaporeon out of his lap.
“Hey!” Lance yelped, tightening his hold around Vaporeon’s middle. Vaporeon let out its own indignant yip as well, shooting Keith a nasty glare.
To Lance’s surprise, instead of making some sort of gruff comment, Keith immediately winced. “Sorry,” he mumbled sincerely, shifting over in his seat a little to give Vaporeon a bit more room.
Lance had been about to give Keith a piece of his mind, ready to get their usual banter going, but Keith’s subdued reaction caught him off guard. He paused for a moment to actually look at Keith, and he realized that Keith looked absolutely exhausted . In the bright overhead lights, the bags under his eyes were clearly visible, and his skin was alarmingly pale. It probably didn’t help that his clothes were absolutely soaked through. Immediately Lance’s desire to pick a fight dissolved like a Wheezing’s breath in a strong wind, and he couldn’t help but rest a comforting hand on Keith’s shoulder.
“Hey, man, are you okay?” he asked quietly, concerned. “You don’t look so good.”
Keith glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, as if searching for some kind of trick or trap. But when Lance didn’t pull his hand away and yell ‘syke!’ or do anything antagonistic, he slumped further into his seat with a tired sigh.
“I spent the last three weeks training in the woods for this Gym battle, and I still almost lost. The leader knocked out half my team before I could even take out one of theirs. It was a nightmare,” Keith said tiredly, rubbing at his face again. At least he’d had the forethought to take his gloves off by now, so this time he didn’t soak his face again. “I was so sure we were ready!”
“But you won?” Lance prompted, picking up on what he was pretty sure was the key point there. Keith wordlessly lifted the flap of his jacket, revealing a shiny new gym badge pinned to the inner lining, along with several others. It seemed that Keith had picked up a few badges since the last time Lance had seen him. It left Lance aching with this strange combination of jealousy and pride. He himself had only picked up a single ribbon since their last meeting, and even though Keith didn’t know that, Lance still felt like he was being mocked.
At the same time, Lance had heard rumors about the Gym Leader of this city while he was participating in the Contest Hall. He’d heard that it was a really tough gym, and that most trainers failed several times before finally earning a badge. That Keith had won his badge on his first try, even with extra training, was really remarkable. Lance couldn’t help but be just as impressed as he was annoyed.
“So yeah, you won,” Lance said flatly, biting on the inside of his cheek to avoid saying something mean. Keith was too tired; it wouldn’t be worth it to start a fight now, he told himself.
“I guess,” Keith agreed tiredly, not showing nearly enough enthusiasm for his win in Lance’s opinion. Lance himself usually threw himself an impromptu dance party every time he won a ribbon. But then again, Keith kind of looked like death warmed over right now. Maybe he’d be more excited once he’d had a chance to sleep.
With that in mind, Lance decided to be the bigger person for once, and took pity on Keith. The other trainer looked like he desperately needed a good night’s sleep, and Lance, out of the goodness of his own heart, was willing to lend a hand. “You got a place to stay tonight?” he asked casually, very carefully not making eye contact with Vaporeon. He knew his Pokemon would be squinting at him judgingly if he dared look, and he knew he’d lose his nerve if he saw it. “Because this Center has a couple of rooms for rent, and I managed to snag one. I’m pretty sure there’s a spare bed if you’re interested.”
“I…” Keith hesitated for a moment, clearly having an internal debate, and then his shoulders drooped. “Actually, yeah, that would be amazing. Beats camping out in that mess or sleeping on the benches here.”
“Oh my god, that was your plan for tonight? That’s pathetic, man.”
“Shut up,” Keith grumbled, struggling to his feet. Lance took the hint and stood as well, letting Vaporeon drop gracefully to the floor. Keith let Lance take the lead, and together they walked past the front desk and up a set of stairs to the second level of the Center. Lance led Keith down the hall to the second last door on the left, pulling out a key card and unlocking it with a quick swipe. The door creaked a little when Lance pushed it open, revealing a small room with barely enough space for the two twin beds shoved inside, but at least it was tidy and clean.
Keith let out a low moan of relief the moment he saw the beds, making Lance jump and blush. “Oh man, I haven’t slept on a real bed in almost a month,” Keith confessed, stumbling towards the far bed in an almost stupor. He dropped his backpack on the ground at the foot of the bed and immediately faceplanted on top of it, shoes and all.
“Hey! Don’t lie down in your wet clothes!” Lance snapped, rushing into the room to physically drag Keith off of the bed. “You’ll soak the mattress!”
Keith groaned in annoyance, but allowed himself to be pulled upright. Then, he immediately started shrugging out of his clothes, giving Lance a minor heart attack.
“What are you doing ?!” Lance hissed, scandalized.
“Taking off my wet clothes, what does it look like?” Keith snapped, shooting Lance an annoyed look. Lance squeaked and had to turn away as Keith started pulling his t-shirt up over his head, revealing lots of pale skin and flexing muscles.
“Yeah, but you should be getting changed in the bathroom ,” Lance argued to the wall, unable to look back at Keith. He felt his face heat up as he heard the jingle of a belt buckle being undone. Vaporeon gave him a flat look from where it was currently curled up on Lance’s bed, before tucking its muzzle under its tail as if to say ‘ I wash my paws of this mess’.
“Traitor,” Lance muttered to it under his breath.
“What was that?” Keith asked distractedly.
“Nothing!” Lance quickly said. Then, recovering a bit of his annoyance, he grumbled, “But seriously though. Go change in the bathroom down the hall, not here!”
“Change into what?” Keith asked with a huff. “My bag is soaked through, everything is wet. I’m going to have to lay everything out to dry tonight.”
“… everything?” Lance echoed in a weak voice. “You have no clothes ?”
“Nothing dry, anyway,” Keith clarified. Lance heard the sound of a backpack zipper, and then the rustle of Keith moving around the small room, presumably draping his wet clothes everywhere so that they could dry faster. He went stiff when he felt Keith stop right behind him. “Excuse me,” Keith said, his voice sounding oddly rough and deep to Lance’s ears for some reason.
“What?” Lance demanded. Or at least he tried to. His voice came out a bit too high to be considered forceful. He cleared his throat and tried again, his eyes still fixed firmly on the wall. “What do you want?”
“Uh, to hang my shirt on the doorknob, if that’s okay,” Keith told him slowly. Then, “Are you okay? Your voice sounds kind of funny, and you’re looking a bit flushed. Also, why won’t you look at me?”
“Because you’re naked ,” Lance grit out through clenched teeth.
He could practically feel Keith rolling his eyes at him. “I’m still wearing underwear,” he sighed. “Besides, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, right? I thought Coordinators were all used to seeing half-naked people because you have to do all those costume changes.”
And Lance had to admit that Keith had a point; he didn’t care about nudity – not usually anyways – or at least he didn’t care about nudity in general. It’s Keith’s nudity that had him all hot and bothered.
But there was no way in hell that he was going to admit that out loud, so grudgingly he slowly turned around. Keith was standing behind him, holding his soggy shirt out in one hand, with a confused frown on his face. Even though Lance tried his best to prepare himself, his mouth still went dry at the sight of Keith’s bare chest, his long legs covered by a thin pair of black boxer briefs, and his damp hair curling around his shoulders.
“Well?” Keith said expectantly, giving his shirt a little shake. “Do you mind?”
Lance couldn’t speak, so he just stepped aside, letting Keith reach forward to drape the collar of his shirt over the door handle. He couldn’t move back far enough though, with so much of the room taken up by beds, and he shuddered as Keith’s bare shoulder brushed against his chest.
Thankfully Keith didn’t seem to notice, the other trainer quickly striding back to the other side of the room once all of his clothes had been put out. The last thing he did was pick up his belt, revealing a single pokeball still attached to the holster. Lance blinked in surprise; he had thought Keith had given over all of his Pokemon to be healed for the night already. He hadn’t realized there was one left.
Keith caught his look and, correctly interpreting Lance’s confused expression, he shrugged. “It was a Water-type Gym,” he explained, tossing the pokeball into the air as he spoke. There was a burst of light as the pokeball opened, and then a fluffy Flareon landed on Keith’s bed with a soft cry. “So I obviously didn’t use Flareon in the battle,” he finished, even though Lance was sure that went without saying.
Lance’s jaw dropped open a little bit as Flareon stretched out after being cooped up in its Pokeball for too long.
Lance absolutely loved his Vaporeon with all of his heart – he’d been planning on evolving his Eevee into one from the moment he’d caught it, and his parents had surprised him with a gift of a Water Stone for his 15 th birthday – but he also really loved Eevees and Eevelutions in general, and he couldn’t help letting out a happy coo at the sight of such a beautiful Flareon. Without even thinking about it, he started reaching out towards the Flareon’s soft fur, itching to pet it. He only managed to stop himself when he heard Vaporeon let out a little indignant squeak.
“Whoops,” Lance quickly stepped back, letting his hand rest on Vaporeon’s head and scratching it behind the fins in apology. “Sorry buddy.” Vaporeon seemed to accept his apology, its eyes slipping shut in pleasure as Lance scratched a particularly good spot. Satisfied that Vaporeon wasn’t jealous anymore, Lance looked back at the Flareon in wonder.
“I didn’t know you had a Flareon.” Lance watched as the Flareon started inspecting the bedspread, sniffing at the pillows curiously. He thought he’d seen most of Keith’s Pokemon before, between their first disastrous meeting and the few times he’d stumbled on the team training when they crossed paths, but they were all gruff and strong like Keith. This Flareon was so graceful and beautiful, it was completely unexpected.
“I actually got it in a trade,” Keith confessed as he crawled into bed, completely unaware of how quickly Lance had been taken in by his Pokemon. “You remember my Primeape?”
“You traded away your Primeape ?” Lance goggled. He remembered the last time he’d seen it; it had just punched a tree in half. How could Keith want to give that up?
Keith answered his unspoken question almost immediately. “The woman I traded it to worked on a farm, and she needed a strong pair of hands to help her. Primeape was really tough, but I never got the feeling that it actually liked battling. When she offered to trade, I asked Primeape if this was what it wanted, and it told me yes. I think Flareon was bored on the farm, so it kind of worked out for the best for everyone.” Keith finished his story, reaching up and scratching Flareon under the chin. The fire-type practically purred at the attention.
“Wow…that’s pretty cool,” Lance had to admit. And then, because he just couldn’t help himself, “Its fur looks really soft.”
“It is,” Keith whispered conspiratorially with a grin. “Wanna feel?”
How could Lance resist? He stood and walked over, reaching out carefully. Flareon watched his approach with wary eyes, but its trainer was by its side, and it trusted him, so it let Lance get close without biting him or trying to throw fire at him. When Lance’s hands sunk into the fluffy ring of fur around its neck, its eyes slid closed and it let out a tiny huff of acceptance.
It was just as soft as Lance imagined, but it was also so warm . Vaporeon’s fur was short and slick to make it easier to swim, and it was a Water-type, so it always seemed a bit cool to the touch, but Flareon’s fur was like the softest sun-warmed cloud by comparison. “It’s beautiful,” Lance murmured, stroking the tufts between his fingers.
“Yeah?” Keith whispered in a soft voice, and Lance realized suddenly that instead of looking at his Flareon, Keith was watching Lance with hooded eyes. Lance made eye contact and froze, feeling for a second like a Rattata caught before an Arbok. He swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry.
“I, uh…” Lance pulled his hands away from Flareon as if he’d been burned, taking a careful step back until the backs of his knees hit his bed. “I better get ready for bed,” Lance squeaked out.
Keith studied him for a moment with that intense look, and then his face fell a little in disappointment. But then he almost immediately shrugged and rolled over, making Lance wonder if he’d read Keith’s expressions right at all. “Good idea,” Keith said, throwing his arms around Flareon and hugging it close like a personal space heater. “G’night.”
Lance stared at his back, feeling like he’d somehow screwed something up, though he had no idea how. But then he suddenly yawned so wide he felt his jaw crack, and he realized he really did need to get to bed. It had been a long day. He grabbed his PJs out of his bag and trekked down the hall to the semi-public washroom to get changed and to brush his teeth.
By the time he got back, Keith was clearly fast asleep, the sound of soft snoring drifting up from his side of the room. Flareon, however, was still awake, and seemed to be staring at Lance’s Vaporeon intently. He shut the door quietly behind him, the soft click breaking the two Pokemon’s staring contest, and Vaporeon let out a tired peep of happiness as he crawled into bed beside it. Immediately it draped itself all over his chest, crushing his ribs and sticking its cold nose directly into his ear. Lance, long used to this, just grunted and tried his best to get comfortable.
Still, as the four of them settled down for the night, Lance couldn’t help but glance over at the Flareon, watching it wistfully as he started to drift off. It really was so beautiful…just like Keith…
He fell asleep to dreams of soft fur, laughter, and the feeling of a warm hand in his own.
“Wigglytuff! Finish it off with Thunderbolt!” Shiro cried out, his voice echoing across the gym’s battlegrounds. Wigglytuff was leaning heavily on one leg, its long ears drooping, but it still heard Shiro’s command. It puffed up, a ball of crackling energy gathering in front of its open mouth, and then it blew out hard, sending a bold of lightning lancing across the field to slam into the side of the Qwilfish. The balloon Pokemon let out a wheeze as the attack arced across its body, and then it collapsed back into the pool, knocked out.
“Yes!” Shiro heard Pidge shouting with glee from the stands. Even though she was the only one watching the battle on his side of the field, she was cheering loudly enough that he still ducked his head in embarrassment.
“Good job, Wigglytuff,” Shiro congratulated his tired Pokemon as it waddled over. Wigglytuff was soaked through, and its fur was roughed up in patches where it had taken some tough hits, but it still gave him a pleased smile and a happy cheer. It was just as proud of itself as Shiro was. Shiro gave it a pat on the head before withdrawing it back into its pokeball to rest.
“That was one hell of a fight,” the gym leader said as they made their way around the battlefield. They grinned at Shiro as they held out a shiny blue badge shaped like a rolling wave. “And at least slightly longer than the fight against your friend’s Magnemite there. Serves me right for underestimating you both. Here. The Shore Badge is yours as well.”
Shiro gracefully accepted the badge, taking it from the leader and carefully placing it inside the badge case he’d been given at the Pokemon Center. His battle had taken longer than Pidge’s because he didn’t have type advantage, but he still thought that he and Wigglytuff had put on just as good a show.
“Congrats again,” the gym leader said, patting him on the shoulder, before turning back to the gym trainers that were watching in the stands. “I hope you were all taking notes on that match, because I’m definitely going to be using it as a practical example on your next test!” they shouted with a wild-looking grin. The trainers groaned, but Shiro could see that most of them were holding clipboards and dutifully writing away, so they were probably used to their leader’s antics.
Once Pidge arrived next to him, jumping down from the stands and landing next to Shiro with a thump, he led the way out of the gym, absently rubbing his thumb over Wigglytuff’s pokeball. They paused to collect their winnings from the front desk, Shiro barely containing a sigh of relief as their financial situation finally started to look a bit better, and then they stepped out into the bright sunlight outside the gym’s front doors.
“That was amazing, Shiro,” Pidge commented as they started to walk back towards the Pokemon Center. “Matt had said you were really good, but it’s something else to actually see you in action.”
Shiro scoffed, shaking his head. “Oh come on, I wasn’t that good. Your fight was way more impressive.”
“Shiro, I had a type advantage, the gym leader went easy on me because I’m so young, and I still would have lost if Magnemite’s thunderbolt had missed at the end there,” Pidge argued. “You only had Wigglytuff, who was at a type disadvantage , and you still managed to win! You’re really good.”
But Shiro just couldn’t believe it. “I’m sure they were just having an off day,” he said. “I got lucky, that’s all. And besides, Wigglytuff was a really good battler. It wasn’t all me in there.”
“But…ugh, fine whatever,” Pidge finally gave up, realizing that Shiro wasn’t going to be convinced. Shiro watched her fight the urge to cross her arms and pout out of the corner of his eye, and hid a grin by rubbing his hand over his face.
“So,” he started, changing the subject before Pidge could get too worked up. “After we heal up at the Pokemon Center, what do you want to do next? Go out for lunch to celebrate? Start looking for clues for Matt and your dad?”
Pidge stared ahead thoughtfully, weighing their options. “Actually…” she began slowly, turning to look through the rows of houses they were walking past to the edge of the tree line that was just visible beyond. “After watching your battle, I was thinking that maybe what we need to do is pick up some more Pokemon.”
“Oh?” Shiro said, surprised.
“Yeah. You’ve only got Wigglytuff and all I have is Magnemite. While they’re awesome, we probably need some more Pokemon on our team if we want to find my brother and my dad. What if the people who have them have a bunch of fire-types? We’d be in big trouble. We need to diversify a little.”
“I suppose,” Shiro agreed slowly, sensing the wisdom in her words. “What did you have in mind, though? Contacting another breeder?”
But Pidge just gave him a flat look. “Shiro,” she grunted. “We’re trainers . We’re supposed to catch new Pokemon.”
Her deliver was so deadpan that Shiro couldn’t help but crack up. “Okay, okay,” he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. “After we heal up at the center and grab a quick bite, we’ll head over to the PokeMart and pick up a few pokeballs. You’re right, it’s about time we started looking for more teammates.”
“Of course I’m right,” Pidge said smugly, strutting ahead and completely dismissing their earlier argument about Shiro’s ability as a trainer from her mind. Shiro trailed after her, still chuckling to himself, and trying to imagine what kinds of Pokemon they might find in the woods.
“Okay, Vee. We got this. We got this,” Lance repeated under his breath, trying very hard not to tug at his costume again . The last time he’d messed with it, he’d pulled the ribbons out of place and it had taken him nearly five minutes to get everything straightened out again. He was going out in less than a minute; he didn’t have time to fix it again. “We got this.”
“Vee!” his Vaporeon cooed in agreement, the only sign of its nerves the twitching of its tail.
Lance gave Vaporeon a weak grin, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. It was true, though, they did ‘got this’. He and Vaporeon had been working on this routine for close to three months, and he was so excited to finally show it off. But even though they had polished it to perfection, even though he’d checked four times to make sure that his costume was spotless and he had all of his props in place, even though Vaporeon was his best performer and never let him down before, he couldn’t shake the pre-show jitters. They got him every time.
But soon he’d be on stage and the bright lights and the rush of the performance would melt all of those nerves away. A few more seconds.
“And up next, we have Lance and his wonderful Vaporeon!” the announcer’s voice rang out, and that was Lance’s cue. His eyes snapped open, he breathed out, and then he and Vaporeon were stepping out into the blinding lights.
He couldn’t see the audience past the stage lights, but he bowed to their general direction, Vaporeon dipping its head majestically at the same time. And then he turned to Vaporeon, giving his Pokemon a big grin.
“Vaporeon, use bubble,” he said firmly. At the same time, he pulled out a bottle from the pouch at his side, uncapping it to reveal a bubble wand. As Vaporeon released a series of watery bubbles to float through the air, he added a few of his own to the mix. The two types of bubbles shimmered in the stage lighting, filling the air around them.
Then, just when it was getting hard to see the stage, Lance called out again. “Vaporeon, Ice Beam,” he ordered. Vaporeon, already knowing this part of the show exactly, opened its mouth, a ball of icy blue energy gathering just in front of its muzzle. Then, with a howl, Vaporeon released the Ice Beam in all directions, striking the bubbles in the air and making them freeze solid – but only the bubbles that Vaporeon had made. The frozen spheres hung in the air for a moment as if weightless, and then began to fall to the ground.
“Aurora beam!” Lance shouted. A second beam of light shot from Vaporeon’s mouth, glimmering in several different hues instead of the icy blue from before, and hit each of Lance’s bubbles, making each of them shimmer in a riot of colours before popping all at once at the exact same time that the frozen bubbles hit the stage and shattered. The result was like a rainbow of icy fireworks exploding all across the stage, momentarily hiding Lance and Vaporeon from view behind a blizzard of colour.
When the ice and snow finally settled, Lance and Vaporeon bowed, and the audience erupted into cheers.
“That was amazing!” Lance squealed to Vaporeon the moment they had left the stage. “That went even better than in practice! I’m so proud of you!” He couldn’t resist sweeping Vaporeon up into his arms, despite its bulk, and squeezing it around the middle.
Vaporeon, for its part, didn’t seem to mind the rough handling, licking every inch of Lance’s face that it could reach despite the glittery makeup he was still wearing.
“Wow, that was really, really cool,” a voice spoke up from behind them, and Lance turned to see a young man standing awkwardly to the side, watching them with an awe-struck look. He didn’t look like one of the contestants, wearing a normal yellow t-shirt, a green vest, and a pair of baggy cargo pants rather than an elaborate costume, but he was clearly not a stage hand either. Lance briefly wondered how he’d managed to sneak backstage, before deciding it didn’t matter. He was always happy to say hi to fans.
He let Vaporeon drop to the floor and held out a hand to shake. “You thought that was cool? Good, because that was the point,” he smirked, pleased with his own pun. Even better, instead of rolling his eyes and walking away, the young man actually snorted.
“Yeah, I kind of walked into that one, didn’t I?” he agreed, taking Lance’s hand and giving it a firm shake. “I’m Hunk, by the way. It’s really nice to meet you. I actually saw you perform once before, back in Arus Town a few months ago, and I’d been hoping to see you perform again ever since.”
“Really?” Lance squawked, unbelievably pleased. His performance in Arus had been one of the first Contests where he’d actually scored a ribbon, so it had definitely been a show to behold, but that had been ages ago. He was amazed that this guy still remembered him. Furthermore, Hunk didn’t exactly seem the type to watch Contests. Usually they were much more popular with young women, hence why Lance enjoyed them so much, and Hunk looked more like he’d been spending time in a Gym than a Contest Hall. But he also seemed so shy and wonderstruck in Lance’s presence, so who was he to judge?
“So you’re a fan of Contests, I take it?” he asked, just to be sure, withdrawing Vaporeon back into its pokeball at the same time.
“Yeah,” Hunk admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I try to watch them whenever I get a chance. I always love how Contestants can turn Pokemon attacks from something destructive to something beautiful. It’s like art. You can tell how much time and effort goes into choreographing and practicing those routines, you know?”
The more Hunk spoke, the more Lance wanted to just take him home with him. He didn’t sound anything like the usual Contest fans Lance had run into in the past, who were usually only there for a show. Hunk sounded like he actually understood the talent and artistry that went into each performance. Before Lance could stop himself, he found himself blurting out, “Do you do contests?”
Hunk immediately started spluttering. “Who, me?! Oh gosh, no, just, absolutely not, me? Nope, no way.”
“Why not?” Lance couldn’t help but ask. “You clearly enjoy it, why not try it yourself?”
“I-I couldn’t just…it wouldn’t be… me?” Hunk repeated again, still struggling to find words.
“Yeah, you,” Lance said. “You clearly have an eye for it.”
“Well, just look at me, first of all.” Hunk gestured to his body, hidden under his baggy clothes but still visibly bulky. “I don’t exactly look the type.”
Lance ignored the fact that he’d had a very similar thought earlier, shaking his head. “Doesn’t matter,” he insisted. “Sure, most coordinators are the slim, dainty types, but that’s because that’s what audiences expect,” he pointed out. “You could probably do a really good show by focusing on subverting expectations. For example, what Pokemon do you have?”
Hunk flushed, his hand instinctively going to the belt at his waist that contained two shiny red pokeballs and one cool blue Great Ball. “Um, well. I have, uh, a Rockruff?”
“See? That’s perfect!” Lance exclaimed, his mind already whirling with possibilities. “Rockruffs are adorable, and I bet you could do something with Rock Throw and playing fetch or something. Audiences would melt.”
“You really think so?” Hunk asked, sounding wistful and not nearly as convinced as Lance would like. Well, only one way to fix that.
“I know so,” he insisted. “In fact, come find me at the Pokemon Center after the Contest is over, and I’ll personally choreograph a routine for you and your Rockruff.”
For a moment, a complicated series of emotions crossed Hunk’s face. Lance thought he saw surprise, uncertainty, and then determination, but everything else passed too quickly for him to really catch. Then, Hunk gave him a firm nod. “Yeah, okay,” he agreed. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Awesome,” Lance grinned. He liked Hunk already, he couldn’t wait to spend more time with him. “I’ll see you then.”
Hunk waved, and then disappeared into the maze of hallways leading from the backstage while Lance turned and headed back to the greenroom. He had a few minutes to prepare for the battle portion of the Contest, and there was a plate of cheese sticks waiting there with his name on it.
Although Hunk had seemed pretty determined, Lance was still surprised when he actually did show up at the Pokemon Center later that evening. He’d changed out of his simple outfit from before, wearing something a little bit hardier for travelling, and he’d tied his hair back with an orange bandana. Altogether he looked more ready to become a trainer than a coordinator, but Lance was ready to work with what he had.
“Hey Hunk!” he greeted happily, waving the other man over as he walked into the Pokemon Center’s front door. “You ready for some Contest training?”
“Hey Lance,” Hunk returned, much more subdued. “I, uh. I guess I am?”
“That’s the spirit!” Lance cheered, even though Hunk had sounded anything but excited. “Let’s start by going out into the Center’s backyard. There should be lots of space there, and you can show me what you and Rockruff can do.”
“Okay,” Hunk agreed reluctantly, following along as Lance led them out through the back door.
Sure enough, the lawn behind the Pokemon Center was nice and open. A few other trainers were also taking advantage of the space; a young man was watching his Scyther and Absol trade blows while another trainer was coaching her Wingull through hitting targets with Water Gun, but neither of them was taking up too much room. Lance led them past the other two trainers towards the edge of the yard just the same.
“Here,” he said, stopping in place and gesturing around. “Why don’t we start here.”
Hunk nodded, and unclipped the Great Ball from his belt. He neatly tossed it into the air, and the ball opened with a burst of light, releasing the Pokemon inside. When the light cleared, a small dog-like Pokemon was standing in the middle of the grass, shaking out its brown fur and letting out a small yip.
“Hey, Rockruff,” Hunk knelt down next to his Pokemon, who immediately scurried over and started rubbing itself against Hunk’s side. Even though the point rocks around its neck must have hurt, Hunk didn’t even flinch. “We’re going to try something new today,” Hunk told Rockruff. “This is Lance.”
Lance waved at the little Pokemon when it looked up at him. “Hi, Rockruff,” he greeted.
Rockruff tilted its head quizzically, looking between Hunk and Lance, before letting out a happy bark and letting its tongue loll out of its mouth.
“Does it know Rock Throw?” Lance asked, plans already starting to form in his head as he looked between the Pokemon and its trainer.
“Yeah,” Hunk responded, sounding vaguely insulted that Lance had even needed to ask.
But Lance was not deterred, giving Hunk a sly look. “More importantly, can you juggle?” His smirk only grew as Hunk swallowed thickly, eyeing Lance nervously.
“I…no?” Hunk admitted cautiously, looking ready to bolt.
“Well you’re gonna learn,” Lance announced. “Rockruff? Would you be so kind as to provide us with some rocks to juggle?”
Rockruff barked cheerfully, and used Rock Throw.
It took nearly two hours, most of the time teaching Hunk how to juggle the rocks that Rockruff created, but as the sun started to set, Lance felt like Hunk and Rockruff had the decent beginnings of a very good routine. Just a bit more practice, a fancy costume, and Hunk would make a pretty good coordinator if Lance said so himself. As his watch beeped, telling him that dinner would be served at the Center soon, Lance reached out and patted Hunk on the shoulder.
“I think that’s enough practice for today,” he told the other man, offering him a towel from his bag so that Hunk could wipe the dirt and sweat from his face. “Let’s head in and get some dinner.”
Both Hunk and Rockruff immediately perked up at the mention of food, and Lance found himself being practically dragged back to the Pokemon Center by one very excited Hunk. He laughed, and even though he’d earned himself another ribbon earlier, somehow this still felt like the highlight of his day.