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What was it about Florian that was so interesting?
Kieran thought to himself, while peering from behind his older sister Carmine. He laughed as she bombarded the Uva Academy student with questions about his Treasure Hunt.
The boy; similar in age to Kieran held his hands up and laughed as each question grew more personal. His brown hair, his green eyes, his olive-colored skin tone, and the freckles on his face were the more notable features that Kieran took interest in. But why? Why was he examining this boy from another region so intently? No one has ever sparked that much interest to the boy, most of the them any form of social interaction ended up making Kieran too scared to even look them in the eye, let alone talk to them.
“Kieran?” His sister’s voice snapped the black-haired boy back into reality, causing him to nearly stumble back in surprise as he locked eyes with Florian. Who showed a little concern.
“Huh? Yeah?” He stared at Carmine, trying to avoid the other boy’s gaze.
“You okay? You seem a lot more jumpy than usual.”
“Yeah, I’m fine…” His voice barely sounded audible as it was meek, quiet and a bit forced; as if he was trying to disappear into the crowd.
“Okay then, I was just saying that you could show Florian around!”
“What?? Me?” His yellow eyes widened at the sudden gesture. “Why?”
Carmine pulled her brother aside and rolled her eyes. “Florian here doesn’t seem to like me.”
“Gee, I wonder why.” Kieran teased while throwing a small chuckle.
“Anyway…I thought since you are both boys, Florian has an easier time adjusting to Kitakami!”
“Wow, Car, that’s surprisingly nice of you.”
Carmine smiled and clenched her fist. “Yeah, that way when he’s more open I can get more juicy details about what goes on in this supposed academy of thiers!”
Kieran sighed and shook his head. Yep just as he thought, she had an ulterior motive after all. He stared at Florian and looked back at his sister. “I don’t know…”
“Come on, it will be fine! Just be yourself!” She pushed him towards the other boy and waved as she ran off. “Have fun!”
“Carmine! Hey you can’t jus- OOF!” Kieran collided with something hard followed by a pair of soft arms touching him.
“You okay?” Kieran opened his eyes and came face to face with those familiar green eyes that were Florians.
Kieran caught a whiff of something sweet smelling from Florian’s body, was it apples and spices? His ears burned hotter than the summer’s heat, his heart raced faster than any speeding Pikachu. Kieran pushed Florian back, causing the other boy to fall flat on his back.
“Oww.” Florian sat up and rubbed his arms as Kieran stood before him.
“OH! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” Kieran waved his arms around erratically as he tried to grab Florian’s arm but hesitated as the other boy slowly stood up and dusted himself off.
“No, it’s okay, that was some push.” Florian let out a big smile, causing Kieran’s heart to skip a beat again. “I think we got on the wrong foot, I’m Florian by the way!”
“K…Kieran…” Kieran stared at the other boy’s shoes in defeat as he meekly held out his hand. “I’m K…Kieran.”
“That’s more like it! Nice to meet you.” Florian touched Kieran’s hand and shook it.
‘His hands are soft…’ Kieran thought to himself. He slowly moved his eyes to meet the Paldean’s gaze and sighed as the other boy’s eyes softened a bit.
Florian tilted his head and giggled. “It’s nice that you’re able to look at me a bit, has anyone ever told you, that you have pretty eyes?”
“P-p-pretty?” Kieran squeaked as Florian nodded.
“Yeah, is that weird to say?”
“Yes…I mean no…I’m not sure…no one has ever said anything like that to me.”
“Oh, sorry if I was being too direct.” Florian rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. “I am still getting used to being more outgoing.”
“You are?”
“Uh huh! Before I was quiet and kept to myself, but it wasn’t till I took part of the Treasure Hunt back in Uva Academy that I learned to open up more.”
“That’s cool…what was it like?”
“Well, it was mostly just everyone doing their own thing, some traveled the region, others took part in discovering new Pokemon and there were some who took on the Gym Leaders!”
“What did you do?”
“Me?” Florian crossed his arms and smiled, “I helped out my friend who’s a cook! He wanted to discover the secrets of the Herba Mystica to heal his partner! He and I battled these Titan Pokemon which were hugeeee!” He extended his arms as wide as he could causing Kieran to laugh. “It was a tough fight, but we managed to beat them all thanks to the help of our Pokemon!”
“Wow, Florian, you must be a strong trainer then.”
“Me…no I’m not.” Florian let out a little blush as he waved his hand.
“I mean compared to me at least…I don’t even have a partner Pokemon.”
“You don’t?” Florian tilted his head in astonishment.
“Yeah…my sister was going to help me today, but uh…” Kieran squeezed the bottom of his jacket and kicked the ground. “That idea went out the window.”
“Why not I help ya?”
“Really?” Kieran quickly perked his head up at the notion. “Is that okay?”
“Sure! I need to explore the area anyway, might as well go with a friend, right?”
“Friend?”
“Yeah, you’re my friend!” Florian let out a big smile, causing Kieran to blush again.
“Yeah…friend…wow…”
“Let’s go check out that forest up ahead.” Florian shouted as he ran on ahead.
“Wait up!” Kieran quickly ran toward Florian into the trees.
Florian and Kieran carefully navigated around the unknown forest, looking high and low for potential Pokemon for Kieran to catch. Florian’s eyes sparkled as he stared at the new area, looking back at Kieran, who followed a few paces behind him.
“Oh, we have those kinds of Sitrus Berries back at home! And look! Springy Mushrooms! Those taste great in a stew!” Florian quickly grabbed the nearby foodstuff and placed them into his bag.
“You know a lot about food, Florian.” Kieran giggled as Florian walked past him.
“Oh, yeah, hehe.” The capped boy blushed as he showed off some badges on his backpack. “I got these while learning under my friend! He taught me everything I know about cooking. But to be honest, I want to take on other chefs in the world too!”
“Really?”
“Yeah, there’s so much more I want to cook and learn…when I found out about this exchange program, I signed up as quickly as I could…a new region…new foods to try and make…I want to taste and create them all!”
“That’s amazing, Florian.”
“Thanks! What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Don’t you have a dream too?”
Kieran stopped his tracks and shook his head. He had a hard time thinking about how to continue a conversation, let alone the future; he just planned his day on a case by case basis.
“To be hones-” Kieran froze as he heard noises from behind Florian. “Wait, I hear something.”
“Oh!” Florian tip-toed to his friend and handed him a Pokeball. “Okay, you know what to do, yeah?”
“Yeah, I think so…” Kieran clasped the ball close to his body as he stared at the bushes. “But wouldn’t the Pokemon run away if I tried throwing it?”
“I’ll help you, don’t worry.” Florian touched Kieran’s fingers and smiled. “Trust me, okay?”
“I…uhh…Fffff…” Kieran tried to tell his friend that they were touching hands but all came out was inaudible noise.
“There it is.” Florian whispered, as he pointed to a tuff of blue hair that poked out from the bush. “Ohh a Shinx! That’s perfect.” Florian brought out a Pokeball and winked at Kieran. “Wait for my signal, okay?”
“Uh, okay.” Kieran watched as Florian ran towards the Shinx.
“Okay, Chili, let’s help out our new friend!” Florian tossed the Pokeball into the sky and out came a Red Croc-like Pokemon. It ran around Florian and faced the Shinx, who glared at the duo. “Chili, Ember!”
Chili opened his mouth and shot out a small burst of flame, causing the Shinx to jump back. It’s cheeks began to spark as it retaliated with a jolt of electricity.
“Chili dodge it and use, Disarming Voice!” Chili began to loudly sing, as pink notes flew out from his mouth. The notes collided with Shinx, causing it to stumble. “Nice shot, Chili!”
Kieran watched as Florian and his partner Pokemon were in sync. His eyes sparkled as he watched his friend intently. His heart thumping into his ear drums.
‘Florian is so cool…’ He thought.
“Okay, Kieran!” Florian shouted, “After this next attack, throw the Pokeball!”
“O-Okay!” Kieran wiped his palms and swallowed hard. His knees were shaking, his throat was dry but he was determined to impress his friend. He watched as Chili shot out another larger burst of flame that hit the Shinx, knocking it into the ground.
“Now!”
Kieran threw the pokeball and watched as the ball soared across the sky, tapping the Shinx in the head. The pair watched as the Shinx shrunk into the Pokeball and waited for it to shake. One time…two times…Suddenly the ball broke apart as the Shinx jumped out.
“Did it not work?” Kieran frowned as the Shinx glared at the two of them.
“Kieran, get behind me.” Florian stood inbetween the Pokemon and his friend as the Shinx snarled at them. “Shinx are known to be pack Pokemon.”
“Which means?”
“There’s bound to be more of them around…and worse.”
“Worse??” Kieran felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he looked around the bush. He froze as he spotted multiple glowing eyes. “Florian, what’s that?”
“More Shinx…a few Luxio and a Luxray…oh geez it’s a whole family.” Florian clicked his tongue as the pair were surrounded by the herd of electric Pokemon.
Kieran clung to Florian’s shirt and hugged him on instinct. “What do we do?”
“Cover your ears…I got a plan, but trust me okay?”
Kieran stared at Florian’s eyes and nodded as he did as he was told. Florian stared at Chili and nodded at his Pokemon. “Chili, Roar!” Chili took a deep breath and let out a loud scream that caused the herd to shiver in to their core. The Luxray gritted its teeth as it began to charge electricity.
“Come on, Kieran!” Florian grabbed his friend’s hand, quickly returned Chili to his pokeball and ran off as the herd of Pokemon were distracted. Kieran stumbled to keep pace with his friend, who dragged him along. He looked back at the herd and then back at Florian and stared at the ground.
A few minutes later, the duo stopped and took a few moments to catch their breaths. Floria slumped back on the tree and fanned himself with his hat while shaking his head. “Ah geez that was too close…I thought they had us-”
“I’M SORRY, FLORIAN!”
Florian looked over and spotted Kieran bowing to him. It was the first time he heard his friend shout.
“What?”
“I’m- sorry…” Kieran stood up straight and wiped his face. “I didn’t do it right when I threw the Pokeball and because of me, we almost got hurt by those Pokemon…I’m-”
“Hey-” Florian grabbed Kieran’s hands and shook his head. “Don’t be silly, we did everything right…sometimes things just go wrong and that’s okay.”
“Really? But I failed you.”
“Failed me? You think I’d expect someone to get things on their first try?” Florian laughed, “I mean I failed a bunch of times, too.”
“Oh…” Kieran felt the warmth of Florian’s hands ease his worries and smiled a little. “Still, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, you did your best, and that’s what matters, there’s always another time.” Florian let go of Kieran’s fingers and crossed his arms. “How about a snack break? I got some fruit bars that I made.”
“Sure…” Kieran nodded as Florian opened his bag and handed him a bar. He tore open the package and instantly smelled the familiar scent of apples and cinnamon. “This is-.”
“Ah yeah, it’s something I made recently actually…an apple and cinnamon fruit bar…my friend taught me how to make them! Go on, give it a try!” Florian took a bite of his own bar and smiled as Kieran carefully took a small bite.
Immediately the black-haired boy tasted the sweet taste of apples, combined with the spice of the cinnamon and smiled as the snack filled him with energy. “It’s- good.”
“Thanks!”
Kieran took a few more bites and stared at the ground. “Uh- Florian- remember when you asked me about what I wanted to do?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, I figured it out.”
“Really? What is it?” Florian watched as Kieran sat down on a nearby tree stump.
“I want to be a strong trainer! Someone who people can depend on…I’m shy, and can barely talk to anyone. You’re a cool person, friendly, and a good battler…I want to be like you one day.”
“Oh, shucks.” Florian blushed and looked away. “That’s…wow uh…that means a lot to me.”
“I- uh…that’s what I want and-” Kieran froze as he felt something heavy leaning against his leg. He looked down and spotted what looked like an apple with a pair of eyes. “Gah!”
“Oh, Kieran, it’s an Applin!”
“What does it want?” Kieran asked as the Apple Core Pokemon eyed his food.
“I think it wants some of your snack.”
“Oh…here you go, it’s very good.” Kieran smiled as he offered the last bit of his snack bar to the Pokemon. It sniffed the bar and took the bar in one bite. It smiled wide and hopped up and down causing the boys to laugh.
“Seems like, it likes it.”
“Yeah, seems like- Whoa!” Kieran jumped back as the Applin hopped into his lap.
“Aww, it likes you!”
“You do?” Kieran stared at the Applin who nodded back at him.
“Kieran!” Florian tossed a Pokeball to his friend and winked, “Go on.”
“Oh!” Kieran held the Pokeball in his hands and stared at the Applin. “Applin, do you want to be my p-p-partner?”
Without hesitation, the Applin touched the pokeball and shrunk into it. The ball shook three times in Kieran’s palm and stopped. Kieran’s eyes widened as he he held the Pokeball. “Florian…I did it-”
“You did it!” Florian rushed to his friend and hugged Kieran, “I knew you could do it-”
“Thanks, Florian, but uh-” Kieran blushed, causing Florian to release him.
“Oh, uh…sorry, got too excited there.” Florian scratched the bottom of his nose and cleared his throat. “Congrats on your first Pokemon capture!”
“Yeah…”
“Did you know that they have a special significance in Galar?”
“Galar?”
“Uh, yeah, my cousin lives there…he told me that Applin’s are used to signify that you care about someone to the point you want to be with them forever! I think it’s kind of cute.”
“Oh…I see-” Kieran held out the Pokeball in his palms toward his friend.
“What are you doing?”
“I-uh- well-”
Florian stared at Kieran and immediately turned a bright red. “Oh…no uh…it’s your Pokemon after all, I can’t-” Florian gently pushed the Pokeball back to Kieran, who held it tightly to his chest.
“Guess you were the one to give it to me then.”
“I…wow, uh is it hot in here?” Florian took off his hat and covered his face. “Kieran, don’t say things like that, it’s embarrassing.”
Kieran let out a laugh and stared at Florian’s flustered face.
‘Guess there are more things about him that are interesting…’