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Shielding his eyes the best he can from the sandstorm, Eijirou calls out to his Rockruff, “Come on, buddy!”
His companion sprints towards him with a rock in his mouth. Eijirou leads him down the stairs into some old ruins. He walks carefully through the corridor, searching for a safe spot to rest until the storm breaks.
Rockruff nudges his leg and whines. Eijirou crouches down, worried he got hurt running around. As he reaches his hand out, his buddy drops the rock on the ground, then stands straighter, proud of the gift. Eijirou picks up the rock and gags at the drool. He wipes it the best he can against the ground. When he flips it over to clean the other side, Eijirou pauses. The other side holds a fossilized spiral seashell. Eijirou gasps then grins widely. He pets Rockruff and gives him a poffin as a reward.
“You did such a great job finding this!” Eijirou looks down at his find, smiling at the fossilized shell. “Most fossil Pokémon are rock types, so they should fit on my team just fine. I can train them up for my gym team, once I become a gym leader, anyway.”
He needs to take the fossil to the museum to reverse it and see what Pokémon it is. Maybe it’ll be a grass-rock Pokémon like Lileep. That would be an excellent counter to water types. It could be an Omanyte, too, which would be helpful against ground. He thinks the shell looks more like that fossil Pokémon, but it could be an entirely new one.
“Don’t you mean your Elite Four team,” a gruff voice interrupts his musings.
Eijirou looks behind him, surprised that someone snuck up on him, and relaxes when he sees that it’s just Bakugou and not a Team Rocket member. Although, based on what he said, Eijirou should have known it was Bakugou. After the first time they battled, he told Eijirou that he has a pretty solid team if he trained them up a bit more. Eventually, after a few more meetings and challenges, Bakugou claimed that Eijirou could easily be Elite 4 material if he kept on. Eijirou knows that Bakugou aims to become the Champion, so it is high praise coming from him, especially since Eijirou knows Bakugou rarely compliments anyone.
His Rockruff runs off towards Bakugou’s Quilava, tackling the other into the ground. They play wrestle together, kicking up sand.
Eijirou smiles at the cute sight and at Bakugou, “I know, I know. But, we haven’t even gotten half the gym badges needed to face the Elite Four yet.”
Bakugou scoffs and glares down at him. “It doesn’t mean you just give up and settle without giving your all. That’s not very manly of you.”
“Of course not!” Eijirou protests, “I’m not going to give up! But a lot could happen between then.”
Bakugou rolls his eyes and walks to the entrance. His Quilava follows him, flames helping light up the ruins.
“Wait! There’s a sandstorm right now!” Eijirou warns him.
Bakugou stops and slowly walks back, cursing under his breath. His Quilava runs back to his Rockruff. He looks around before sitting down by Eijirou. Bakugou notices the fossil and pulls it out of his hands, staring down at it.
“Where did you get this?”
Eijirou fully sits down, leaning back against the wall, and gestures to his Rockruff. “He picked it up outside.” A thought occurred to him. “Do you think somebody dropped it? That kind of fossil wouldn’t normally be in a place like this, right?”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Bakugou replies, handing it back, “This desert was an ocean at some point. It’d make sense for there to be oceanic fossils here. Which is why your Rockruff found an Omanyte.”
Eijirou traces the spiral. So, it is an Omanyte. That’s good. He tucks it away into his bag. For a while, they both sit and watch their Pokémon play together. Eventually, Bakugou yawns and Eijirou responds in kind. He slumps further against the wall, finally realizing how exhausted he is from travelling all day.
Bakugou pulls out some berries for himself, his Quilava, and his other Pokémon that he lets out. Eijirou yawns again and rummages through his bag for dinner. He grimaces at the low amount of food. It’s taken longer than he expected to cross this arid area. An elbow nudges his arm, and he turns. Bakugou is holding out a handful more berries. Eijirou takes them with a befuddled expression.
“You and your team need plenty of fucking energy when you battle me again,” Bakugou explains.
“Right now?” Eijirou asks, eating a few berries and watching all his Pokémon stuff themselves with the leftovers.
Bakugou rolls his eyes and lays down, his bag acting as a pillow. “No. Not here, idiot. After the storm. And after we leave this dry hellscape.”
Eijirou lays down beside him, facing him. “Together?”
Bakugou cracks open an eye and grumbles, “Can’t battle anymore if you end up dying on the way.”
He flips over, ignoring Eijirou. Eijirou smiles softly at his back, warmth in his chest and a sweet taste lingering. He shuts his eyes, determined to fall asleep soon and rise early to leave the desert with Bakugou. Maybe they’ll stick together for a while longer. Eijirou drifts off to that thought, that nice dream of exploring the region together. He can always hope.