Work Text:
There was something strangely magical about the early hours of the morning, for those who woke up early enough to greet them, or for those who stayed up late enough. One day blurred into the next, and consciousness flirted with the comfort of dreams. One's eyes would twinkle with anticipation, spotting the first slivers of golden sunlight spilling over the horizon. The drive to stay awake just a bit longer would roar like a furnace, before it would fizzle into embers.
Ash smiled, as he watched the sun peek out, basking in a fine mist washing over him. His fingers planted into the soft white down of Latias's shoulders, and his legs hung over either side of her. The rumbling of gently churning waters was a constant in his ears, as they coasted over the seas. Latias was his fastest, most reliable form of transportation at long distances. She was quite proud of that distinction. Hopping from region-to-region was but an inconvenience with her.
Unfortunately, this morning, it was truly an inconvenience. Ash noticed her flight becoming slightly unsteady, and his fingers dug into her feathers for dear life. "Uh, Latias…? Babe?"
"Huh!?" Latias's head jerked up, and she wobbled in flight. It was the kind of full-body shiver that came and went when the clutches of slumber were delicately, and quietly, pulling you into their grasp, and you just managed to wriggle free. She looked over her shoulder, even as she flew, blinking her eyes repeatedly. It wasn't a closed-eye blink that humans were used to, but a barely visible membrane crossing them, with her eyes still wide open. That was a bird Pokémon thing, Ash recalled, as Brock had explained long ago. It helped them maintain sight during flight.
Latias was a Dragon-type, but… bird-like? Pokémon were weird. Ash dismissed the thought.
"Wha-huh…? What is it?" She asked, doing her best to look alert. Her eyes were red.
"You're falling asleep on me, hot-stuff." Ash smiled, raising a brow. "Keep that up, and we'll be going for a swim soon."
"I am not," she huffed. "I was… daydreaming."
"At night," Ash snorted. "That's just regular dreaming.
"It's technically twilight, so it's day."
"Uh-huh." Ash conceded, but in the way that clearly said 'I don't believe you.'
Latias puffed out her cheek, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I couldn't be more energetic. I was just… testing your awareness."
There was really no point in lying when they had a telepathic bond. But, Latias had her pride.
Ash let her have it, leaning back and sitting up atop her. He inhaled, and started to sing.
"Walking down this endless highway~
Nothing but my friends beside me."
Latias raised a brow.
"We'll never give in, we'll never rest.
Advanced battle is the ultimate test!
From the earth and the endless sea and sky,
They can never win, but they sure can try!"
Ash leaned back and inhaled.
"Oooooh, I'm unbeatable~!"
"What are you doing?" Latias interrupted.
"I'm singing! Duh."
"Now?"
"Well, since you don't have a built-in radio, I'm filling in the silence myself," Ash justified.
She looked back up at him for a long moment. Then, she smacked her wing against the sea beneath her, splashing and dousing Ash directly in the face with the salty seawater.
"I'm sorry I can't be Miss Toyota, or Miss Mitsubishi for you," Latias said in a huff.
Ash coughed and spat, wringing his drenched shirt by its ends. "Alright, you can be jealous of cars, or you can be jealous of planes. You can't be jealous of both."
"I can be jealous of whatever I want," Latias huffed.
"You're not even jealous of other women!" Ash countered.
"Of course not," she replied. "They're not your primary mode of transportation. That's my gig."
Ash bemusedly rolled his eyes. "The couple of times I was on long car rides as a kid, I'd always start dozing off. But Professor Oak would have the radio on, and the music kept me awake. You were two seconds from nodding off there. So, I thought a lil' music would help you out."
"...Oh." Latias dipped her head in shame, nursing a blush that matched her scarlet wings.
She never saw it coming when Ash used both of his hands to dunk her head in the water.
"Ack!" She coughed, surfacing and bristling afterwards. Her ears pinned back in annoyance. She looked back at him, finding Ash with his cheekiest, toothiest grin imaginable, which only made her huff and pout more. "What was that for!?"
"You were feeling guilty." Ash's smile softened from that grin to a gentler one. That warm, knowing look he wore, when he read you like a book. It made Latias's heart flutter, however much it annoyed her that he could unravel her so easily. "Now we're even for that first splash."
"...Would you like to sing again? I can't say I'm familiar with your musical touch."
"Why don't we sing together?" Ash suggested. "It'll be twice as fun!"
Latias continued to coast, thinking to herself. "How will I know what to sing?"
"Uh, duh. Telepathy?"
Latias's face burned through her feathers, again. "I'm losing my credibility as a Psychic-type."
"Naah. Don't be so hard on yourself." Ash ruffled the top of her head. "It's not your fault all your brainpower's being hogged by my dashing good looks."
Latias responded by suddenly lurching forward, like a bucking bronco.
Ash screamed, nearly faceplanting into the moving waters beneath him. At the speeds she was moving, he could barely make out a smear of his reflection in the glistening waves. He would be torn up by the current, if he submerged at that speed! Luckily, Latias yanked him back upright.
Ash exhaled, tightening his legs around her sides like a vice. "What the hell was that!?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she sing-songed. "I was simply giving you a good look at your reflection. If one of us has to be transfixed by your beauty, then the other does, too."
"I'm not that bigheaded," Ash defended himself.
"Pick a song," she said. "I'll poke around in your head to sing along."
"Alright!" Ash agreed. "I'll pick one of my own."
"You have your own songs?" She looked up at him, wide-eyed.
"Latias…" Ash leaned back on her, puffing out his chest and running a hand through his short, but messy hair, as if he were a dreamy rockstar. With his rippling muscles that tested the integrity of his top, his charmingly not-so-put-together appeal, jet-black hair, and apparent musical talent, Latias mused to herself that he'd earned the right to conduct himself as such.
"...you missed a lot while I was away."
Latias was intrigued. But, she would poke another time. She smiled eagerly. "Then, show me."
Ash inhaled a deep breath, before belting out:
"Pokémon! I choose you!"
The sound of an electric guitar strumming in Ash's mind echoed into Latias's mindscape.
"In the fire, in the water, in grass and in the forests, and underneath the dirt…!" Ash started.
Latias followed his lead, reciting the words as he thought them:
"Even deep inside caves, and high above the clouds, and even under that girl's ski— WHAT?"
Latias looked back at him, balking. "Under that girl's SKIRT!?"
"That's the line," Ash rebuked casually. To her befuddlement, the instrumental Ash recalled continued to play in their mindscape, and he continued.
"It's very very very,
very very tough, like a mountain, grand and tall…
But, I know I'm gonna getcha!
Pokémon! Gotta catch 'em all—alllll~!"
The sound of a record scratch reverberated in his mind, bringing his musical stylings to a halt. He'd have to ask Latias where she learned to do that, later. "What's the problem?"
"I'm not letting you off the hook." Latias narrowed her eyes at him. Given that her eyes didn't use their translucent membrane to fight off sleep, he was sure she was intentionally showing suspicion, and not drifting into a slumber. "You said you wrote this?"
"I co-wrote it," Ash answered, as if that helped. He shrugged. "It rhymed."
"And that was the only rhyme you could think of."
Ash responded by continuing the song, echoing the instrumental in their minds.
"Farewell, Pallet Town, sayonara bye-bye!
My journey starts with my new best buddy!"
We're racking up a win streak, with moves learned far and wide!
New friends are at our tail, as we head to the next city!"
"I think your mind was just in the gutter," Latias cut in.
"It was NOT. It's a song about adventure."
"Oh, it's adventurous, alright."
"Ignoring you," Ash said, before continuing.
"We're pushing through our challenges with all our grit and glee!
But I know our success is never guaranteed…"
"Is this your way of telling me I should wear a skirt?" Latias asked. "Were you dropping hints?"
"But, forever and always, I'll fight honestly and true!
'Cause my friends are here with meeeeee~!"
"That doesn't sound very aerodynamic…"
"Are you going to sing with me, or not?" Ash snapped.
Latias held a claw thoughtfully to her lip. "Mmm… okay."
"Okay, next line's yours!"
The song carried on, and on. The verses repeated with some familiarity, but with words and phrases changed here and there. It was easy for Ash and Latias to switch off, belting the words at the top of their lungs over the roaring winds and churning seas!
"Ooooh, watch me here and now~!" Latias cooed.
"A Pokémon Master whose heart is bold and true!" Ash sang.
"I wanna be one… I have to be one…"
"I know that's what I'm gonna dooooo~!"
At the lyrics' end, the music echoed in their minds, strumming with their beating hearts. Ash leaned back atop Latias, holding up his hands and strumming them to play air guitar.
Latias followed home without question, leaning back and flexing her claws in tandem!
The final strum brought the song to a close. But, that didn't change the fact that their adrenaline had peaked, their voices were borderline hoarse, and sweat flicked from Ash's brow, hanging in the air in their absence, and glimmering under the rising sun. He and Latias's hearts pounded, and they both erupted into loud, raucous laughter. Ash clutched Latias's sides for dear life, and she held her own belly. Her trainer draped himself over her shoulders, leaning into her neck.
Latias's paw cupped Ash's jawline, cradling his coarse beard with her fine claws. Without warning, she pulled him in to mash her mouth against his in an enduring, passionate kiss.
Their lips lingered, and their eyes fluttered, with the ocean just beneath them splashing them with a cool, gentle mist. They reluctantly parted for breath, and Ash stared at Latias with confusion written all over his features. She giggled. "That was for being you."
She knew his question before he even asked it. It wasn't their telepathy, really. She just knew Ash that well. "That was… a lot of fun. I didn't realize that I liked singing! Talk about catharsis."
"Yeah, I could tell!" Ash laughed. "You're a lot more sassy when you're cranky."
Latias blushed again, feeling extremely called out.
Ash couldn't help smiling. She was too cute. "...Wanna sing one more?"
Latias's golden eyes shone, returning to reality. "I think we have time for just one more, before we reach the mainland. Sure. Get us started again, o' Rock Star."
"I kinda like the sound of that." Ash grinned, before propping himself upright again. "Okay!"
This next song started with the gentle strum of a guitar, and a melancholy beat, before shifting into something far more fast-paced and festive.
"La-la-la-la~! I kinda like this song!
La-la-la-la-la! Why don't you sing along!
"I sing la-la-la, I sing la-la-la, for the girls~!"
"FOR! THE! GIRLS! YEAH!"
Latias sang, and then burst into laughter. "This is your choice?" She sing-songed, looking over his shoulder with a look of mischief. Her body tilted, and her wing dipped just into the sea below, as she took a sharp turn towards the approaching mainland, coasting almost vertically. A roaring wave of water dwarfed Ash and Latias, nearly drowning out their voices as they moved further and further away. Their laughter was mostly masked by the harsh waters, only for their voices to break through the commotion, one last time, touched with playful, flirtatious glee.
"Are you suuuure you're not trying to get me in a skirt~?"
"Shut UP!"