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This isn't exactly how Silver expected his afternoon to go.
It had only been a few days since he arrived on Pasio, wandering the artificial island with his team. He had yet to get a sync partner- he didn't want to train up a new, weak pokémon. Even if he had all the time in the world, with team rocket vanishing thanks to Gold.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair as Feraligatr walked beside him. He wasn't sure why he was invited to some "Trainers Lodge"- he doubted it was as exciting as that boy Scottie made it sound. But it was better safe than sorry to check it out .. maybe there were some strong trainers in it.
"Some" was an understatement. He was almost overwhelmed by the amount of people gathered inside at once- wincing at the cacophony of voices and pokémon noises. He subtly blocked his ear by pressing his head against his shoulder with a sigh.
Silver jolted when his free shoulder was touched, stepping back and tugging his jacket a little closer. "Who the hell do you think you are? You can't just touch .. people .." He looked up with a stunned blink, shoulders untensing slightly. "Champi .. er- Red? You're Red, right? Super strong guy? Gold told me about you." He gave him a small grin of excitement. This guy was tough. He'd kill to battle this guy. "Battle me. I won't take no for an answer- I have to get stronger."
Red stared down at him silently, shaking his head and pointing to the exit. It seemed he wasn't actually in the lodge, instead just accompanying Blue. He was just leaving.
"What? C'mon! You can't come here expecting people to not want to battle you!" Silver huffed out, pointing at him. "One battle, that's all I want."
Red thought for a moment, before pointing to his belt, then making an X with his arms.
".. what?" He looked down at the Pokéballs, attached firmly to his belt. "Oh." He rolled his eyes. "Right. I have too many, or whatever .. I'll just choose .." What was Red's choice pokémon? He should choose something that'll easily rival it.
He thought he'd have Pikachu by his side, a classic and obvious choice. Charizard .. well, that would've been his second choice. Totally. He hissed in dismay as Weavile took a nasty flamethrower to the face. He raised his arm, shouting to her. "Get up!" He barked, fist clenching. "Don't let him beat you! I can't lose to this guy .. !"
Red frowned. Without conveying anything, he returned Charizard to his ball. He shook his head at Silver in disapproval.
Silver frowned- no, scowled- back. "What the fuck?" He moved closer, jabbing a finger in Reds chest. "We aren't done! Get him back out. She can still fight." He gestured behind him to Weavile, who was clearly low on health. Red shook his head, pointing at the ice-type demandingly.
Silver relented his glare, glancing back at her. His eyes softened, scowl falling into a disappointment frown. Okay, maybe she wasn't in the best condition, but .. he sighed, taking a potion from his bag and spraying her down with a muted apology. He returned her to her ball just in time to see Red leaving the arena, hopping up and following.
"Hey!" He called after, brows knitted together. "Just because I went a little too hard doesn't mean you can just flake out! This is a loss on your part, you know. Because you gave up." He tried to goad the older teen, smirking up at him. "Y'really want that loss on your record? "Champion of Kanto loses by forfeit"?"
Red gave him a shrug, toying with the zipper on his vest while they walked. It went on like this for a good while, before Red stopped and sat by the shore. The island may have been fake- but the water itself was as refreshing as ever to Red. It was times like these when he wished he could use his full team, letting Lapras out to ride on her shell over the waves.
Silver huffed as he joined Red by the water, crossing his arms over his chest. ".. what, you come to sulk by the shore?" He rolled his arms, standing next to the senior trainer. ".. this is dumb."
Red patted the sand next to him, staring off into the horizon. Silver slowly sat, and arms length of space between the two. This was even dumber.
He glanced over at Red, pulling his legs to his chest. ".. why the hell did you forfeit? Weavile would've been fine. She's strong."
Red took a moment to form a way to reply, shaking his head at Silver with disappointment lacing his eyes. He wasn't sure if the boy knew KSL or USL- but he might as well try. He brought his hands up, carefully laying out his words. "You pushed her too far. That's bad."
Silver squinted at his eyes, lips pursing. He learned USL when he was younger .. and Lance had begun teaching him KSL. But he was rusty- only catching the gist of it. "Ha! That wasn't even close to our training regimen."
Red seemed to bristle at that, and Silver knew he messed up with his wording. "I-I mean– we take breaks, too! On Friday and weekends. I don't always train .. Lance won't let me, the old fart .."
Red settled down hearing that, but only a little. He took out a metal box from his backpack, popping the tin open to reveal many different colored treats. Poffins, Pokébeans, rare candies, malasadas .. sweets from all over the world. Silver's stomach aches just looking at them. He never had enough cash on hand to buy more than the necessities .. treats weren't something he deserved. Unless Red meant ..
".. you want me to give Weavile some of these?" He asked, hesitating. Red nodded, pushing the tin into Silver's gloves hands. He fumbled with it for a moment, staring down at them. Surely they had different flavors- what would Weavile even like .. ? Do ice-types have a preference, or does it depend on the nature? The personality of his pokemon? His mind swam with questions, heavy on his tongue. He wanted to ask Red, but .. that would make him look stupid. Like an incompetent trainer, who didn't take care of his pokemon properly.
Silver wasn't like that anymore. He rolled her ball into the sand, letting it pop open to reveal the ice-type. "Hey, Weavile." Red wanted to question why she didn't even have a nickname. "I, uh .. y'want one?" His eyes flickered over to Reds. "Or .. two?' He shrugged, lowering the tin for her to look.
Weavile sniffed slowly at the treats, poking at them with her claw. Without much time to actually choose, she swiped a sour malasada and began to dig into it. Silver sat back and watched, his heart blooming with a foreign feeling. No- not completely foreign. He's felt this before.
He's seen it, time and time again. With Gold, with Crystal- even that girl, Lyra. All their pokémon, jumping around, following them outside of their pokéballs. They seemed content .. happy, even, to be out and about with their trainers. With their friends.
His gaze softened beneath his bangs, hiding his expression with his arms atop his knees. "..." He didn't look at Red when he kneaded his shoulder comfortingly, hiding away further in his jacket. ".. I suck, huh?" He mumbled, giving a soft half-laugh.
Red shook his head, even if he couldn't see it. He drew letters into Silver's shoulder. "Just young."
Just young, huh?
He hopes that when he's an adult, he'll be better. He let his hand wander in the air before landing on Weaviles head, scratching affectionately behind her crest of feathers.
He looked up and smiled at her, barely catching the shimmer of rainbow feathers off in the distance.
Silver stares at the pokemon, heart mending back together with stubborn determination. "I think I know what I want my sync partner to be."