Work Text:
It was a hot and sweltering humid day, the sun was beating down on everyone harshly and the smell of sunscreen was overwhelming. Kids were constantly running back and forth, jumping into the refreshing waters of the Lake of Rage to cool off, losing battles against their water type pokemon as they splashed their trainers back or out swam them in races.
Gold, now a grown man at 28, chuckled to himself at the sight of a kid coughing up water as his wartortle zoomed past her. With an ice cream bar in hand and under some shade, he reminisced over his childhood, his days as a young and eager pokemon trainer. Sitting under the shade of some tree, he thought fondly the time that red Gyarados caused a huge storm to stir, sweeping him and his friend Silver into what would've been their watery graves.
Snickering to himself, he looked over to Explotaro, the pokemon was balled up but he wasn't asleep,in fact he wasn't really enjoying the hot humid day either but he did what it could to make the most of the situation, even if every draft of wind made him shudder.
Raising the ice cream bar to his mouth, Gold tried to take a bite when the ice cream quickly slipped off the stick, falling on top of the poke egg that was sitting in his lap. His brows wrinkled in frustration.
"Aaaahhh it's supposed to be sweater season, it's September!" he groaned, flopping onto his back in defeat. "This heat would be more tolerable if it wasn't so humid huh buddy?" He patted the poke egg, feeling the little guy jump around inside, nearly ready to crack.
It was nothing new, Gold was used to watching over eggs until they hatched for Professor Elm's research. And yet, he couldn't help but feel something akin to empty nest syndrome every time they hatched; Feeling that pokemon kick and nudge only reminded him that it was soon due. He'd have another egg to watch over soon, but yet, he couldn't fight back against this bittersweet feeling.
With another deep breath, Gold looked up to the tree he was laying under to find his Aitaro contently picking fruits and berries off the stems, beaming with joy as it scurried along the branches. Through the patches of leaves where fragments of orange gray could be seen, he could see his Togetaro above, interacting with some other pokemon and doing flips in the skies.
And Politaro? The little green guy?
Last Gold saw, the little guy was living his best life, splashing and hopping around, making waves and enjoying himself out there. Moment he was gliding across the waters and in the next instant, Politaro was gone. The only sign of his whereabouts were the bubbles that emerged on the water's surface, only to be ruptured by the green frog himself as he propelled himself into the air.
The pokemon almost looked majestic in the way he was enveloped by the sun, his figure blackened against the celestial star. As Gold squinted his eyes to see Politaro's next move, the frog just rag dolled and allowed himself to free fall, spinning like a ninja star and plummeted back into the lake with an obnoxiously loud splash. The kid's hollering stopped abruply as the wave over took them.
Gold stared with his mouth agape, not because Politaro almost drowned some kids but because the pokemon almost landed on the large rock that protruded from the lake. When Politaro emerged nonchalantly, he climbed to the top of the rock, clearing its throat and began to sing.
His tune drew the attention of many, both pokemon and trainers. It was a simple song and yet Gold couldn't help but be caught in a trance; something about the melody soothed Gold and put him at ease, making him forget about his earlier frustration about the weather.
His eyes were growing heavier, he felt his muscles go limp and his worries melted away.
"Poliwag!! Where are you going!!?" another kid screeched, reaching and grasping for his dear Poliwag only for the critter to slip away.
Gold jolted up, startled by the kid's voice. He exhaled sharply and looked over to the kid and his friend a little irritated, his glance was unforgiving.
"Dude you don't have enough badges! That why your Poliwag ran away!! The girl chastised her friend.
"I do have enough badges! It's that pokemon's song, look!" He shouted, pointing at Politaro.
And to Gold's surprise, the kid had a point, Politaro was still singing his heart out but surrounding him were dozens of Poliwags and Poliwhirls, bobbing and singing along in the waters, listening intently to the pokemon.
"Since when could Politaro do that?" Looking over to Explotaro who looked just as perplexed.
"Hold on lemme see what dexter has to say." Leaned over to his back pack, rummaging through it to find his PokeDex. Pointing the antenna at Politaro, dexter's automated response rang:
[When it expands its throat to croak out a tune, nearby POLIWAG and POLIWHIRL gather immediately.]
"Ahhh" Gold chirped, his curiosity now satisfied, tapping his fingers along the egg.
Either by coincidence or by Politaro's song, the egg started to shake violently, cracking piece by piece to reveal a Poliwag!
Before Gold could even register what had happened, the newly hatched Poliwag bounced off Gold's stomach, knocking the wind out of the man, and waddled its way into the water to meet up with the rest of the Poliwags and Poliwhirls, swimming in unison and some chanting along.
Politaro continued singing, embellishing his melody, and reveling in the support of his fellow pokemon.
"You're kidding me" Gold chuckled to himself. All these years of having Politaro on his team and never once had he realized how good of a singer his own partner was.
He made a mental note of it, saving this for the next restless night he would have when counting Mareep wouldn't cut it.