Chapter Text
"Stupid Sil," Sebek snivels before a choked sob rips from his throat, tears cascading uncontrollably down his cheeks, "it's not fair..."
"Sil!" Sebek tugs on Silver's shirt incessantly, stretching the poor fabric before his tiny grubby hands.
It was a well known fact that the little bratty 9 year old was rather attached to Silver, who was but a mere year older, following him everywhere like a duckling, always demanding his attention. Always.
"Sil, play with me!"
"Ah but I promised Blu I would train with him..."
The swablu perched upon his head chirps in delight, flapping their cotton wings in agreement, and Silver reaches up to pet the pokemon he lovingly named 'Blu.'
Sebek tugs at Silver's shirt further, "Can I join?"
The sheepish smile Silver gives him is an answer enough but Sebek still pouts.
"You don't have a pokemon yet… I don't think your mom would like it if you joined me…"
"Please?"
Silver ruffles his hair, just the way he always hated it, and he's off on his way, his swablu nestled neatly on the crown of his head. Sebek stares after his figure wanting so desperately to join but Silver really would scold him if he ran after him...
He's tried once already and when he was met with Silver's harsh words, face terribly scrunched up, he couldn't help but burst into tears.
"...stupid…" Sebek mumbles as he buries his face further into his knees, hiding his sorrow but the wrecked sobs that rip out of his body are a dead giveaway.
Chime.
He just wanted to play with Sil, what was so hard to understand about that? Tears begin to block his vision once more and it's hard to keep his hiccups at bay.
Chime. Chime.
But he's so busy with Blu… he never has time for him anymore… it's always Blu, Blu, Blu… he's sick of it...
Chime.
His breathing slows down, and all that's left is a few sniffles, his eyes hurt from all his crying and he wipes away his tears.
He swivels his head to and fro, trying to discern where he is, only conifers of many kinds surround and greet him. In his fit of sadness he's managed to run into a forest, too preoccupied with trying to flee from his hometown in search of a quiet sanctuary to weep in.
He sees a blur of yellow from the corner of his eyes, and he curiously looks to find that a small yellow pokemon has nestled beside him, beautiful red and white braided rope entwined at the top of their bell-like helm. It continues to let out melodious rings… it sounds sad...
Sebek rubs at his eyes once more only to find the pokemon still there and it doesn't seem to have noticed him either, letting all and everything hear their solemn cries.
"Why…" his own hiccup interrupts him, "why are you crying?"
Black eyes stare back at him, the only surrounding noise being the wind that rustles past tree branches.
Chime!
They chirp back at him after a moment, they seem to have been thinking long and hard about their answer. Perhaps it's his childish mind that interprets the nonsensical bell chimes into something more but he could've sworn he heard… because you were crying! It made me so sad I started crying too!
He reaches out and shivers when he feels the cold bronze underneath his fingertips, the smooth metal warms up with his touch as he begins petting the creature back and forth in soothing circles. Their somber timbre softening into pleased little jingles that they purr out, all the while nuzzling furthing into his hand.
And for the first time that whole day, Sebek smiles. He giggles and rises to his feet, only to be thrown off when the little pokemon hops into his chest and he has no other option but to cradle them in his arms.
"You want to come with me?"
Chime!!
His footsteps crunch against the ground, he doesn't know exactly where he's going but anytime he goes north, the little bell pokemon begins to heavily rattle in distress.
He comforts them by lightly stroking them as he heads in the opposite direction than he intended and that's enough to calm the pokemon down into letting out pleased jingles.
He has no basis for trusting a strange pokemon he only just met…
But he just does.
Call it his intuition but they don't seem like the type of pokemon to lead him astray. As well as the fact he has nothing else to guide him, it only seems natural to place his faith in the little bell.
What was once a sparse forest Sebek found himself lost in slowly began to disperse until he sees the many colourful tiled roofs of different houses.
Sebek recognizes a bell tower clearly in the distance and he smiles as he rushes forward to the familiar dirt paths he's so accustomed to treading on, dashing past the wooden sign that welcomes all visitors to the ever quaint Pinecrest Town.
He sighs in relief as he spots a woman with long light green hair just in front of his house and he can't help the skip in his step as he approaches her. The loud scuffing of his shoes against the dirt instantly captures the woman's attention and she smiles gently at him. Her eyebrows do rise up in contained shock as she sees what he has in his hands, though she composes herself very quickly.
"I see you have a little Chingling with you," his mother giggles. She leans down and pets the pokemon that Sebek has in his arms, "You're a rather sweet one aren't you, Chingling?"
"Chi."
His mother tilts her head in confusion.
"Their name is Chi."
He doesn't know why he suddenly came up with the name but it slips out of his mouth before he knows it. 'Chi' turns to look at him in wonder, mouth slightly agape before they ring in agreement, hopping in excitement in his hold.
Chi! Yes, my name is Chi!
She smiles once more, so he's already named his pokemon, and she quickly wipes the tears beginning to form in her eyes, it wouldn't do for her to cry over something so small but...
"Ma, why are you crying now?"
"Me? Did someone else cry?"
Sebek raises his arms that still hold onto his pokemon, "Chi said they were sad and cried too. But they stopped when I touched them."
His mother looks baffled at him, Chingling is known for emitting high frequency cries, indiscernible to the human ear and if they do let out noises it's akin to a bell chime… so for this Chingling to be able to communicate with him it must be...
"Sebek," she shifts onto her knees, cradling her son so closely to her, masking the tears that cloud her vision, "you're very kind, I want you to know that."
Sebek blinks at the sudden affection but he snuggles further into his mother's embrace, Chi cuddled in between them.
Hearing the voices of your pokemon...
It's a rather special bonding moment for trainer and pokemon alike and for Sebek to be able to achieve this with a Chingling he just met…? It must be fate that they met.
Yes.
Fate.
It's fate when he marches up to Silver the next day demanding a pokemon battle. It's fate when Chi mirrors the same determination Sebek has in his eyes, both fiercely glaring at the pair who are taken aback by the intensity they spew.
Silver has no reason to push him aside now, he has a pokemon now and they can train together! He won't have to be left behind again…
"So that's the Chingling I've been hearing all about.." Silver hums out, his swablu bobbing their head back and forth to the sound of his voice, perched on his head like it's their personal nest.
"Hey Blu, are you up for a battle?"
Blu chirps enthusiastically to the notion, hops and flutters their wings and Silver has to gently stroke their beak to calm them down.
Silver turns and starts leading Sebek to a proper place where they can engage in a battle, away from private property they could possibly destroy if they were too careless. Low and behold they manage to find a quaint dirt field, neatly lined with chalk, marking the battlefield boundaries and they go to stand at their respective ends.
Sebek holds Chi closer to his chest and he regulates his breathing, the faint rings that Chi lets out relaxes him and he allows the chingling to hop out of his arms.
"Chi, are you ready?"
For a small bell pokemon Chi has such a cut-throat expression, ready to heed his words, their rope standing at attention on top of their helm.
Chime!!!
Silver patiently waits for the duo to settle themselves, his swablu already on the dirt ground in front of him and preening their clouded wings leisurely.
Sebek intently nods at him, and Silver digs a coin out of his pocket.
"Heads or tails?"
"Tails."
He watches with baited breath as Silver throws the coin into the air, catching and flipping it over onto his head to reveal…
"It's tails."
And Sebek sighs in relief, he can tell from just looking at Blu that he's a lot swifter than Chi and he'll take any opportunity he can to at least temporarily stunt that.
With permission from Silver, he throws his hand as a command readily slips out of his lips.
"Chi use wrap!"
The tiny chingling rushes forward, catching the swablu off guard with their speed. Blu begins to flutter their wings in massive panic, chirping and screeching out, only to get silenced when Chi wraps their rope appendages around their body, effectively swaddling the poor thing in their tendrils, and swablu struggles fruitlessly as their bindings tighten.
"Blu peck at chingling, make sure you aim for the center of their head!"
Sebek is confused when he starts to hear loud incessant tolls, all varying in pitch and sound and he has to cover his ears from the awful noise. It's too tenor and brassy for his liking, and looks over to see Silver mirroring his movement, gritting his teeth in pain.
He hears an anguished rattle, and he looks up to see that Blu has broken free from Chi's grasp, hopping clumsily until they take to the skies with wide outstretched wings. Meanwhile Chi is left writhing on the ground, with a noticeable dent on their forehead as the ropes on the top of their head soothingly pat the mark.
He clenches his fist. He can see how much--
No. He can feel how much it hurts to take a peck from swablu at point-blank.
"Disable!"
A bright light blinds Blu and they falter, almost crashing into the ground before they flap their wings feverishly and right themselves, returning to the skies in a fluster.
Blu won't be able to use peck anymore and Sebek has one less thing to worry about, all he needs to do is get some well aimed wraps and--
"Blu! Astonish!"
His stomach drops.
A sharp screech shocks Chi so much they shiver in place as Blu soars down, catapulting their body into theirs
Clang!
Akin to the bells that toll during the evening, the force in which Blu struck Chi with sends the poor bell hurtling towards Sebek with a resounding clank.
Chi eyes swirl in a daze, so disoriented they can't even rise to their feet and Sebek brings Chi into his arms as he soothes the feinted pokemon with mumbled reassurances.
The battle is over as quickly as it started.
Silver has won.
Blu finds their perch upon Silver's head once more and the boy ambles his way over to Sebek who has his head cast down.
"That was a good battle."
"I lost."
It's hard for Sebek to keep his tears at bay, but they slip out and streak across his cheeks.
Silver smiles gently at him, not even bothering to point out the obvious downfallen expression on Sebek's face.
"You did."
It's straightforward and Sebek recoils from how blunt Silver's words are... like it was an irrefutable fact that he would've lost, that Silver knew the outcome of this battle and merely toyed around wit--
"But Chi really held their own, even Blu was worried there for a good portion."
Sebek is brought out of his self pity to see Blu squawking in indignation, their antennae twitching every which way as Silver huffs.
"Oh shush I saw the way you fluttered around like a headless chicken, don't deny it."
Once Silver is done scolding his rather hasty companion he turns to Sebek, a grin blossoming on his cheeks.
"But I'm really impressed. I can't wait for our next battle!"
And Sebek finds himself nodding along to the promise of future battles, and his hold on Chi becomes a little tighter.