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Sitting in a plane is most likely, if not, one of the worst experiences Blue decides he can go through. It’s not that he throws a tantrum about it–No. It’s just. So slow.
He and Red arrived early, more on Blue’s demand than anything, and even managed to get first seats on the plane. Nonetheless, an announcement chimes in for a late arrival. How considerate.
Blue leans his head back and exasperates, “come on,” he drawled out, “we have to be there by four, not four years…”
The trip to Galar was very exciting to Blue and Red; from a late letter sent by Champion Leon inviting them to a tour of the region, the two had to accept. He’s been to Kalos, Alola, and now Galar! more off the bucket list– he’s thrilled to say the least. Red, on the other hand, nervously thumped his leg up and down against the plane flooring–his eyes inspecting the other passengers.
“Hey, I'm sure we’ll make it on time, and if not, they’ll understand, ya know?” Blue cocks his head to the side with a considerate grin.
That didn’t seem to help. At all.
Red’s hands started to twitch, as if wanting to pet something.
Ah.
“Oh! Do you want me to ask a flight attendant for Pikachu?” He had never seen Red turn his head so fast, he swore he saw him get whiplash. He gave a determined nod.
Blue couldn’t help but give a chuckled, “well, planes normally can’t have Pokémon out, ya know. Weight distribution, or whatever. But I'm sure I'll sweet talk someone,” he added a wink for dramatic effect, getting up in the process.
It is a grace the plane hasn't started flying yet, if Blue has learned one thing out of anything from his trips– they suck.
“Excuse me, sir? Do you need something?” A kind voice beckoned from behind him.
...
To be honest, It was a fucking trip to get the ugly rat back for Red. Something about having a license for therapeutic Pokémon and IDs for them? Blue, frankly, did not have the time. So he pulled the ‘Kanto Champion’ card. He brought out his old official gym leader certificate and everything— just for this damn rat. You know what? And his Eevee too. Might as well.
He knew how planes were and he knows damn well he’s making this trip to Galar at least decent. Alola’s plane was… A disaster.
So here he was, pissed off, and the plane hasn’t even been set into flight yet. Both Pikachu and Eevee nuzzled against the sides of his face, very content to be outside their pokeball. The flight attendant rechecking his ticket let out an audible ‘awe’ , and chuckled; letting him back on the plane. Blue couldn’t help but relish a long sigh. Finally, time to settle down. He spots his empty spot… and Red’s? Where the hell did Red go? He shuffles forward, avoiding the children running up and down: plus the busy flight attendants. Eventually reaching his seat, he sees Red.
Lying down on all three seats.
“What.” He couldn’t help but question out loud. Somehow Pikachu knew this was normal and hopped off his shoulder with glee; landing on Red’s stomach with an ‘oof !’
Red sat up immediately, his eyes shining with happiness. Pikachu feels the same—chirping excitedly, rubbing his cheeks against his trainer. The static clearly raises his hat off his hair. It was honestly impressive.
“Yes, yes, thank me for all my hard work,” Blue joked as he bowed, Eevee mimicking him.
The other trainer looked up at him with an earnest look, a small smile formed on his face. He was nothing but genuinely thankful.
Blue laughed, “it’s no big deal, now come on, move over. I need to practice some Galar before we land. I don’t think much of my knowledge from Alola and some Unovian is going to help.”
_
The moment the plane lands, Blue swears he hears Red cry a “thank fucking god,” and he couldn’t agree more. That plane ride, even with the comfort of their Pokémon , was truly the longest ride of their lives. Blue managed to read both books of Galarian culture and language he bought, and he understood none of it. This trip is going to be great. He just wants to sleep a good thirty two hours, but with a good look at the clock, they only have two hours to meet Champion Leon.
“Alright Red. You ready to get lost in Galar trying to look for this address?”
Red looked at him with pure horror.
“Fantastic, let’s grab our bags and go. I read that we can use their transport system for free. I think it’s called a Corviknight? It’s like a taxi. But in the air.”
Red glared at him again, daring him to suggest more flying as an option.
“Hey, it’s a Pokémon . Here, look, I think it looks pretty cool.” Blue brought his pokédex out, catching the others' attention. Red sighed, no, pouted as he grabbed his bags from the carrier.
“I take that as a you don’t mind?”
Red gave him no answer, but he did smirk as he handed Blue his respective bag.
“Alright, let’s just please , get out of this hellscape first.”
It took them a good forty five minutes to even find a Corviknight taxi reserve; and an extra ten minutes to try and communicate through broken Galarian to their destination. The whole time, Red was just in awe of the bird type Pokémon , Pikachu and Eevee included. Blue was in shambles.
The ride itself was rather relaxing, the driver's poor attempts to ask where they are from and why they are here— in return was just silence. Blue was thoroughly embarrassed of himself and Red was just Red.
“Alright, we are heading down there now, it should be another minute.” The driver announced, his voice dull in the wind.
Eevee answered for her trainer with a very loud shout, even startling the knightly bird.
“Ah, thank you!” Blue says after, holding the energetic animal in his arms; her attempts of trying to jump out of the taxi were stressing him out way too much.
Red nudged Blue in the side, gaining his attention, “hm what’s up?” Blue replied.
Red simply pointed down to a rather large household below, a questioning look on his face.
“You think that’s their house? Looks about it.”
“Alright we are here. Thank you for using Corviknight services! Hope to see you again!” The driver pledges with genuine kindness in his voice.
Both Red and Blue walk off with a smile, their Pokémon even hopping on top of the Corviknight and nuzzling it goodbye.
The driver waves and eventually the trainer and Pokémon fly back at their reserve. Blue and Red stop and stare at their surroundings. “So… this is where the address on the letter said. I guess I should knock on the door?”
Red nodded in agreement, walking up to the door confidently, already giving it a hard knock.
“Dude-“
A shout is heard behind wood, a second later, the door opens ajar. A young teen stands awhile, yellow eyes shining brightly with a concerned emotion adorning the face. A Pokémon echoed behind him.
“Hello? How may I help you?” He flew a hand to the back of his hair, as if trying to seem nonchalant.
Blue stiffened up.
Shit. he wasn’t ready to speak more Galarian.
“Ah- Hello, we were invited by Champion Dande…Um… I am Blue and this is Red. Very nice to meet you.” Blue knows damn well he stuttered throughout that whole sentence, but he maintained his posture and smile. ‘Keep it casual’ was his motto. Eevee mewled around his ankle, as if chanting it as well.
The teens’ face morphed into confusion, bewilderment, shock, then excitement. “Oh… Oh! Oh my gosh! You mean Leon, my big bro, right?”
Red answered for him with a strict nod; Pikachu mimicked him.
The younger laughed, “Yes! Red and Blue! Come on in! Lee told me all about you guys. Come on, come on!” He pushed the door open to the house, beckoning the two to enter.
Blue felt his face fluster, did he get something wrong? What the hell did he call Leon? Oh Arceus he’s going to think about this for weeks. “Thank you very much,” he managed to struggle out, stepping into the home.
Eevee entered the home with all do no respect, bounding in all shouting and excitement–running into a strange Pokémon in the process. The strong wool of the small sheep stopped the small fox, sending her flying backwards. a tiny ‘ vi-!’ escaped the Pokémon; her body was set to a stop by her trainer's ankle. Pikachu eventually climbed down from Red's shoulder to investigate this new regional Pokémon, his tail twitching high in the air.
Both Red and Blue also had their interest piqued, more Red than the other as he bent down to let the unknown Pokémon sniff his hand.
The teen noticed this interaction and commented, “oh right! you guys have probably never met a Wooloo!” He bent down alongside Red, “they look like Mareep, don’t they?”
Blue smiled, “Yes, they do,” he turned his head to the other, “sorry, I don’t think we know your name…?”
“Oh! Gosh, I'm all messed up in the head today. Names’ Hop! Nice to meet ya, mate!” Hop said, standing up to reach the height of Blue–His hand out to shake his.
“Mate?” Blue asked, returning the gesture.
Hop ignored him, “you came here to see Lee right? Well I won’t hold ya. He’s in the back watching Victor and Gloria train.”
The Wooloo whined as Red retracted a hand from its head, head butting his knees in retaliation. Pikachu and Eevee lept on top of the lamb and started bouncing on the wool. The boys watched in amusement.
… For maybe a bit too long.
“Hop? Are you okay? You’ve been getting water for like… fifteen minutes?” Leon shouted from afar.
“Huh? Oh! Lee come here!” Hop dazed in from his thoughts, his voice loud in the room.
“What– everything alright?”
“Yeah, Yeah– Just come here!”
Hop turned his body around, facing the two again. Each Pokémon respectfully in their trainers arms. (Wooloo more on the ground than anything.)
Rustling around the corner caught Blue’s attention, a royal cape drafted in the wind as long purple hair followed suit. A tight, clearly champion titled, t-shirt wrapped around the body of the strong trainer. The black cap rested on his head perfectly in contrast to his white pants and shorts duo.
Huh. Flashy.
A deep growl boomed behind the champion: a Charizard huh? Blue glanced over to his travel partner and-
Red was ecstatic.
Blue didn’t know if Red was gushing over the champion or the Pokémon, but either way it was very intriguing.
“What’s wrong Hop? Is everything-“ Leon paused, drifting his attention to the strangers in the home. As soon as his eyes matched Red, his whole demeanor shifted; from protective brother to…fan mode? “Red!...Blue! You made it! Oh how great! I didn’t think you would actually arrive… Wow!” His smile widened, even his Charizard mimicked happiness.
Blue couldn’t think of a word to describe Leon at the moment, even his own little brother was confused.
“Lee… are you good?” He asked, poking his brother in the side, as if to mock him.
The older coughed, “heh- sorry! just really big fans!” Leon looks at Red, completely ignoring Blue: “I’ve really been inspired by your career, it’s such a soul driven journey. I can tell Pokémon mean everything to you.”
Red’s eyes darted under the attention, and unsure what to do, he simply gave a short bow of the head. Pikachu only shouted in encouragement.
“Now come on! Before I give you all a tour, let’s eat! I'm sure that plane ride made you guys hungry!” Leon laughed, looking at his Charizard with a smile.
“Oh yeah! Mum made some good food, come on! It’ll be your first time having Galar food!” Exclaimed Hop, rushing to the backyard–his partner running behind.
Blue, about to walk forward, was stopped with a small pressure to his arm, he looked to see both Red and Pikachus' concerned expression. Even Eevee mewled again, wanting to be picked up.
“Huh? What’s wrong? Do you not want to eat here?” Blue asked.
Red audibly sighed, though kept the concern.
“…Did I do something wrong?” Blue continued. He wasn’t going to boast about how good he was at guessing Reds words; normally he was ten out of ten accurate- but now? He was blind as a Woobat.
Red shook his head aggressively.
Ok so… It’s not something he did… So something he didn’t do?
Fuck it. Just bullshit it.
“Listen, I'm fine! Let's just eat? Alright?”
That seemed to soothe everyone as they finally moved to the back door.
As soon as the back door was swung open, the smell of cooked steak swamped the noses of both Red and Blue. It wasn’t bad per-se but holy shit Blue had to do a double take to make sure his Acranine didn’t burn down an entire field of Miltank. Eevee was loving it however, her ‘zoomies’, as Daisy calls them, activated and she sprinted down the lawn to the source of the smell.
“Yo! Blue, Red!” Hop shouted, waving his hand in the air as if they were lands apart.
“They can see you, Hop. They’re not blind,” a teen girl said, though with adoration.
“Ah- well it’s just reflex you know?”
“It’s okay,” Blue commented, he really didn’t know what else to say.
“You must be Red and Blue, it’s very nice to meet you. My name is Gloria!” Her accent is thick, but her voice seeps with kindness. “I see your Eevee is also a fan of his mothers cooking, i’ll have to tell ya-“ she paused to pick up said Pokémon, “you’ll have to battle me for it.” Her grin grew as Eevee squealed affectionately.
“Oh come on, there’s enough for everyone!” Hop said, his arms widened for comedic effect.
Red seemed to distance himself from the conversation a while ago, following his gaze; he notices a battle in the distance. “What is happening over there?” Blue says, pointing to the direction of Red’s interest.
“Oh! Victor is just having our Pokémon train. You wanna watch? You’ll get to meet some Galar Pokémon!” Hop answered.
Red nodded enthusiastically: Pikachu already bouncing off to see the battle itself.
“Victor!” Gloria shouted, catching the attention of the other male.
Victor seemed to command the Pokémon to stop their training as he began to walk towards the group as well; “Hey, something wrong?”
“Nope!” Hop sang-song enthusiastically, “our guest here just wanted to meet some Galar Pokémon. Hope that’s alright?”
“Of course,” Victor’s smile was scarily similar to Gloria. Were they twins? He was too afraid to ask.
Speaking of Gloria, “I have Scorbunny, the fire type Pokémon. But Victor has both Grookey and Sobble.”
“Technically Grookey belongs to me but he really likes to train with Sobble,” Hop says with a betrayed tone.
Grookey sang a ‘chirp !’ as he crawled up his rightful trainer's arm, as if to comfort him.
Blue smiled at the scene, and looked over to Red again- uh oh.
“Oh? Do you want to battle? I would be honored!” Victor says happily.
Red, holding out his arm with Pikachu on the end, had the most determined face that screamed “I want to battle. Right now.”
“Oh! Can it be a triple battle! That’d be so fun!” Gloria comments, her pokeball with assumingly Scorbunny inside, in her palm.
Eevee at Blue’s side ‘yips’ with excitement.
“Yes! That would be great!” A voice boomed, Leon’s voice to be exact. “I would love to see Red and his Pikachu’s bond in real life!”
“Three against one? That seems unfair…” Hop comments.
“Hop. It's Red. I’m sure we are going to be obliterated by one thunder move,” Gloria half whispers, half shouts.
Reds motivation seems to falter for some reason. Strange.
Blue walks up to Red and flicks his hat down to his eyes, “you got this! You're not afraid of them, are you?” He jokes in his native tongue. Red seems to really appreciate it as his mood was lifted tenfold, Pikachu as well.
Not even thirty seconds into battle and Pikachu absolutely destroyed the Galar starters. Red felt so bad he paid them instead.
...
Soon to learn, Leon would not be taking them touring the region. Blue brought this up to Hop and the little brother started to cry laugh for so long Blue thought he killed him.
“Did I… say something incorrect?”
“No! No,” Hop gathers himself, “It’s just, Lee is horrible,” he drags out letters, “with directions. It’s so bad one time we thought he was dead for three weeks. In reality he was just lost in Sinnoh.”
Blue couldn’t help but laugh as well, he looked over to the culprit of the conversation. He’s talking to Red himself and it looks like it’s going well, or at least on Leon’s end.
“Plus it’s sundown anyway. No point in giving a tour this late. Lee was probably so excited that you all accepted he couldn’t think,” Hop thought aloud.
“What do you mean?”
“Huh? About the Lee part? Oh like he said, he's a huge fan. I think more of a Red fan… Sorry.”
“No need to apologize,” Blue says earnestly, “though, I did not expect the Champion to be a fan.”
“Are you serious? You guys are like. Legends.” Hop looks at him with sparkles in his eyes, almost literally.
“I wouldn’t say that… At the end of the day, we are just people.”
“Hm… True. But it’s nice to admire people. Right? I mean. I’m more of a star fan.”
“A… star fan? I’ve never heard of them.”
“Oh no, I mean the stars,” Hop points to the ceiling. “Sitting on my Wooloo and just falling asleep outside watching the stars… That’s the best thing. You have to try it out before you leave.”
Blue laughs, “alright.”
Hop and Blue took this chance to separate the conversation. Hop joined in to help his mother with dishes and Blue just. Standing there.
Eevee was long asleep in her pokeball, Gloria and Victor were watching TV, Red and Leon were engaged in a conversation. What should he do?
He turned around to the back door. The sun has already gone down, the stars rising a bit.
Well. He doesn’t have a Wooloo but he can watch the stars.
Opening the door and closing it behind him— he gives a heavy sigh. It’s a really nice backyard, he has to admit.
Now. Where to lie down-
Wait. What is that on the stone near the bushes? Isn’t this where they had the battle earlier? He moves closer to discover a cowering Pokémon. A familiar one too.
This was Victor’s, right? He remembered the blue one from earlier— it was the one who was hesitant on the battle in the first place. But why was it sitting outside alone? It sounded like it sniffled a sob.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Is everything alright?” Blue knew he should’ve spoken Galarian, but he just wants to comfort this thing damn it.
The lizard turned around with a startled noise, it shrunk back a little.
“Hey, hey I won’t hurt you! I promise!” He brought his hands up, pleading guilty. “You’re Sobble, correct? It’s very nice to meet you. My name is Blue.”
Sobble didn’t move, which could be counted as a good thing.
“Why are you out here? Why don’t you want to be inside?”
Sobble buried its head in its hands, covering their eyes. Did it even understand him?
“I’m not mad, I swear. I just want to make sure you’re okay-“ Blue took this chance to move the arm holding Sobble’s head, which was a terrible idea.
Sobble started sobbing .
It cried, an ear bleeding, cry.
“Oh my- I’m sorry! I’m sorry- let me just-“ Blue was panicking. His hands frantically waving around the crying starter; what the fuck did he just do? Did he break every fucking bone in this little lizards body? Did he accidentally traumatize a Pokémon? (again?)
He felt a pinch behind eyes, almost like he was cutting onions and rubbing his arm against his face. He felt hot tears fall down his cheeks.
“What the…?”
God it fucking burned.
Was this a side effect of being an absolute idiot and not having a civilized conversation like a normal person? You start crying in the middle of the night in a stranger's backyard?
Blue scrubs his face furiously, even falling on his ass in the process. Blinking an eye open, he doesn’t see Sobble anymore. Instead, he hears the familiar slide of a back door opening. Heavy steps walk behind him.
“Since no one said anything,” Blue continued to rub his eyes aggressively, “I'm assuming it’s you, Red?” He turns around, ass still on the ground, facing the others legs.
Red stands, now in front of him, the yellow rat lacking on his shoulders. Red gives a nod— not that Blue could see.
“Heh, so funny story-“ Blue was cut off but the sound of Red kneeling, feeling warm hands caressing the side of his face.
“… Red?” Blue struggles an eye open again, a fat tear slips down.
Red’s face was nothing but concern. Fear. Dread.
He was worried?
“What’s wrong?” Blue asked after what felt like hours. His face grew hotter by the minute. (He’s praying that both his tears and Red’s hands are covering that fact.)
Red’s mouth curved into a frown, yet his hands remained on Blue’s face. Red used his thumbs to wipe away the tears falling down, even his index finger was brushing away Blue’s hair from his eyes.
“Did I-“
“Are you… okay?” Red’s voice mumbled; so quiet Blue had to strain his ears to hear him.
“What?”
“Are you-“
“No, I heard you,” Blue interrupted. He didn’t mean to be rude, but he was genuinely confused. “But what do you mean? I’m fine.”
Blue absolutely would’ve cackled at Red’s reaction, but at his current position he feels like Red would strangle him.
“You are not fine. All day…” Red stopped for a second to gather his thoughts, “all day has not been okay.”
This time Blue actually laughed. Shit. “Huh? What do you mean? Today was great! We got to meet so many new Pokémon, even the Champion. We got to eat some new food, I mean… I don’t know about you but I had fun.” He smiled to prove his point, but the remaining tears counterpointed that.
“But you are crying.” Red took his hands away. Blue’s face was cold.
“Well that's ‘cause-“
“And you’ve been having to go through hell to try and speak Galarian just because I have trouble with…” Red did a weird motion with his hand; like he was emphasizing talking with a puppet. “People kept laughing at you all day because of that! You don’t deserve that, you were amazing!”
“O-oh well, thank you I-“
“You even went out of your way to get Pikachu for me. I know being on planes gets you annoyed but that meant a lot.”
“That’s just the bare minimum dude-“
“You were ignored all day because of me.”
That shut Blue up.
“I know this happens a lot and it shouldn’t. You are an intelligent trainer and I just wished people saw what I saw. You are beyond amazing Blue.” Red was heaving from all the talking. Even his face was flushed.
Holy fuck.
Blue was speechless.
Ok. Thoughts. Gather around.
He didn’t even process what happened today, he was just having fun with Red— obviously that stuff would be noticed by younger him but now? He just doesn’t pay attention. But the fact Red does?
“Red… I…” Blue started.
‘Sob…?’
“-You!” Blue ignored Red’s hopeful expression and gets up, “there you are!” The Sobble rested up near the tree above Red’s head. Beaming down above the two trainers.
A small ‘huh?’ gasped out of Red. Seems he’s out of words for the next three months.
Blue scrubs his face for good measure once more, “Red, I'm okay. Really. I didn’t start crying because of what happened today, I swear.”
Red looked at him with uncertainty.
“I didn’t even notice that stuff today,” Red’s eyes widened, “I came out here to see the stars honestly. Then I noticed Victor’s Sobble. I don’t know what happened but next thing I know, I’m crying!” Blue laughs to make the mood lighter. (And possibly not make both Sobble and Red feel bad.)
Red takes a minute, but after, apparently knows what magic made Blue cried, and starts smiling. Like. A full, teeth showing, happy smile.
Red gets up next to Blue, “I’m glad you had fun today.”
Blue looked to Red, “and you didn’t? Huh… Well tomorrow, let’s make sure we have a great time together. Alright?”
Maybe just a little bit, the stars shined a bit brighter.
Arceus ew, that was too cheesy.