life was a willow and it bent right to your wind

» ethan "gold" simhyang / hc, hg/ss based / follows from @leforetilex / he/him / minor «

[folklorereigning]

pastsideals​:

Alright, time to see how fast he could do the laps this time! All he has to do is go for a faster time then last time!  Jacket off, black and green swim trunks were on and snug! Now to stretch, making sure he wasn’t going to cramp up in the water before he tried to surpass his limit last time he gave himself a chance! Making it there and back he did it in about a minute and thirty. He bet if he exerted himself a bit more, he’d crush it! 

“YUSH!!!” He yelled out, going in as he stands to the edge. Jumping off and crashing in, he begins to full on beat forward with his legs kicking like crazy to propel himself forward across his lane. He was making good time, making the other side of the pool before hitting the thirty five second mark! “Second back!!” He says, kicking off as he goes swimming ahead with all he could muster this late at night. With gusto, a hand made the other side as he pants in and out emerging from the water. “A minute and eleven seconds~ Hell yeah!” 

…..though floating there, he noticed he wasn’t alone. Wait, who other whack job would go about and swim at a pool this late at night?! 

“Who are ya? Is this your regular thing? You got insomnia?” 

Ethan touched the pool wall, flipping back to an upright position in the water and checking his stopwatch. « Damnit... a minute and for- »

Until a voice rang from across the pool.

« ...ty-five? » he finished, ending with an upwards inflection in his voice. The other seemed quite... hyper. Not to say that was a bad thing... but it was, what. He checked his watch again- 1:30 AM. Who’s that hyper at 1:30-

Ethan sighed. It wasn’t his place to judge, anyway.

« ...Not quite, but. Big factor, yeah. I also had boba earlier that I didn’t know had caffiene in it. Need to work it out, » he responded, a smile on his face. He sure hoped this was a random fan or just a bystander and that they weren’t... creepy.

He took a deep breath, his hand detaching from the pool wall as he treaded in the water. He added, « You realize if you warm up, you’ll be much faster, y’know? » Ethan laughed; he needed some human interaction anyways.

[folklorereigning]

starter || mainverse || @trainerkrystal​

« Nnh... well that was a weird dream... » Ethan muttered, slowly rising from the bed as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. It was clear he didn’t want to be awake right now- though what wasn’t clear was why he woke up on his own volition. « Where’s my Pokégear... seriously, I need to install windows in here, » he groaned, stretching as he opened his eyes and stretched his arms.

Wait.

Where *is* my Pokégear?

Ethan tried to remember if he’d put it anywhere else. It wasn’t likely, given he’d always kept it in one place to try and minimize the effort of opening Find My Pokégear on some random League PC and searching through five ornately decorated rooms and a large lobby for the pinging sound. Nope- he hadn’t, or at least he hadn’t remembered if he had.

The champion looked up, raising an eyebrow. « Wh- » he muttered again, confused at his surroundings. Sure, it was still the champion’s room- long nights of paperwork did not warrant flying back to Goldenrod- but it just seemed different. Things out of place everywhere- did someone break in? It couldn’t be.

He looked down at his sheets. They were blue. He’d just bought new black ones last week! Ethan took a shaky breath, looking around once more.

« This has to be a fever dream or something... »

[redlegend-a]

"Have you ever been to Panera Bread?" -fleetingverse ethan

ASK RED STUFF but he just says yes or no. || send more.

He shakes his head ‘no’. 

‘Is it a bakery of some kind?’

[folklorereigning]

« Y O U ‘ V E  W H A T ? ? ? ? » « Red oh my Arceus I am flying over to Kanto or Alola or wherever in the world you are and dragging you back here with me to try Panera Bread. They have the best fucking soup and they also have this soup mac and cheese combo- did I mention bacon mac and cheese? That doesn’t taste like shit? Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyways, there’s also the delicious-as-the-Distortion-World passion papaya green tea....... »

[folklorereigning]

mainverse || starter || @pastsideals​

So, there he was. Dripping wet, just having finished another two laps around his lane, barely hanging onto the pool grate with his elbow. The water constrained his breathing a little bit, now that he noticed- but it wasn’t like he hadn’t been through this before.

He checked his watch, opened to a stopwatch app and frozen to the point he stopped. “1 minute and 2 seconds for a 100 fly,” Ethan thought to himself, smiling as he immersed the watch back into the water. It was a personal record for him- sure, by a literal second, but who gave a shit, right?

Ethan chuckled. No matter how much champion work Lance gave him or how many times he would cry over things past... swimming was always there for him. Even since the beginning... now that he thought about it, it didn’t judge. It didn’t stare or yell at you. It comforted and encouraged you. Almost like a therapist- not exactly, true, but he’d had to have gotten by somewhere.

« Alright, now... time to practice back... ‘tis a bitch... » he muttered to himself, grasping the metal bars above the water level and hoisting himself up, looking behind him as he readied himself once again- until he released, splashing back into the water. There was... another person?

Ethan checked his watch again. 1:27 AM. Who else was at the pool this early in the morning? Ethan only went because it was the only time he got to have any rest.

The champion shrugged it off, hoisting himself off and tapping the timer to start, counting three seconds before almost jumping off the pool wall and arcing into the water- something he’d done millions of times before, yet something that still felt novel and exciting.

[folklorereigning]

redlegend​:

The barista returns with one coffee and late foam for him drawn on in a poliwag pattern. He rubs at his beat to hell knuckles and bows his head for a ‘thank you’. He looks like a delinquent but he didn’t have to have the attitude of one. His brow pinched up though and didn’t release the tension in it until he sipped some of the foam off his coffee.

‘You did a good job up there. Not many people live the climb or the descent. Maybe if we both talk to Lance about what’s up there we could…’

It’s been a while since he felt hopeful enough to think about that. The statement ends though, because he’s right. There’s nobody like the people with the strength to climb the mountain.

Ethan’s the only person to honorably beat him in a battle in years. Only person who had the balls to crawl up Mt. Silver in the first place that’s for sure. It had been six years before Ethan, at least. The kid deserved commendations and coffee… and a rematch without all the pressure of the mountain, at the very least.

‘It’s okay. Charizard beat him, yeah. Swept the team. He’s a cool guy. Told me a lot about the region and helped me with working Charizard’s agility. He’s having trouble because he’s so big in the Gym spaces.’

He makes a clipping movement with his hands. Charizard’s literally hitting the walls of the buildings when he flies. It’s lead to re-specializing and training him in more fighting type moves and styles.

“I went through Whitney. Super excited to see me. Seems super excitable in general, so it was a good match. I retrained Pikachu in Saffron before coming here. He was ready to fight on the ground again.’

Red puts his fists up and mock punches the air in front of him. 

He’s been almost everywhere in Kanto except home. 

‘I’m not interested in your spot, though I’d love to battle sometime.’

He tapped the ink on the newspaper and fished in his Pocket for his old Pokegear. He twisted the gadget to the phone interface. He offers it to Ethan with the New Contact flashing on the screen.

Put your number in. No promises.

‘I’m not staying in Kanto, or Johto when I’m done.’

Ethan raised an eyebrow at the other’s pokégear, flashing his eyes from Red to the device for a second. He chuckled a bit, taking the device and flipping it over, clabbering away at its keys for a few seconds before returning it to Red. « Not exactly sure what “no promises” entails, but here you go, » he laughs, his eyes returning to the other’s face. He adjusted his position on his chair, his right leg folding and going under his left leg’s knee.

« Well, I’m glad to see you’re absolutely rushing all the gyms and at least that mind of yours is fine, » Ethan chuckled again, continuing, « ...and that you’re not interested in my position, heh. Though it’s my self-proclaimed duty to say that you should stay in the Indigo states, haha, I wouldn’t blame you for exploring around the world. I’ve heard that they’re starting a new tournament thing in Unova. It’s being hosted in... Mistralton this year, I believe. »

A short pause entailed as Ethan sipped some of his coffee, the cup now, incredibly, half empty at that point. « Yeah, Falkner and Whit- Falkner especially... let’s just say I wouldn’t be here without him, haha. Huge sucky story about influence and encouragement attached, but I won’t get into that. » He sipped some more of his coffee, his relaxed look fading into more of a serious one- not exactly cold, but just down-to-business. « About earlier... maybe we should talk to Lance about it sometime. I doubt he’ll believe us but... if I could run up there on a whim, we need to stop other people from doing that too. Especially when the both of us are off the mountain. »

[folklorereigning]

starter || mainverse || @multiplelivesinline​​

Well, here he was. Kalos. Both Red and Green continually insisted that he visit if he had any free time- and indeed, like they said, it was an extremely beautiful place. Even on the descent down into Lumiose, Kalos’ capital, the view was lined with ornate clouds, clear skies, and the ground dotted with small farmhouses, dirt and barely paved roads (and the occasional highway), and rows and rows of farm plants, of what he guessed were grapes, wheat, and other commodities. He swore the weather was so nice he could see the coast of Galar in the horizon- and he would love to roam, maybe even battle in his free time.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t here just for fun. The champion’s job left him with a lot to do- both internally and externally.

Ethan sighed, making sure the zipper on the cape around his neck was fully secure. The Indigo League was interested in having a grand league or tournament of some sort in partnership with other regions- the prime minister of Kanto had begged him to do this as tourism rates were falling as more people flocked to new regions for their travels. (Legend had it, in the Lental region, not only were there a diverse set of Pokémon, some of them glowed like a lightbulb.)

But he didn’t have time for that. He was here to do his job- apparently not as a strong trainer, but as a diplomatic figure. (He thought there were people for this, but he didn’t question it.) He was here to see Serena, the region’s champion. He’d practiced a bit of Kalosian beforehand- Bonjour! Enchantée, je m’appelle Ethan, un champion du ligue Indigo. He would probably crash and burn trying to pronounce everything, but he at least had to make an effort.

The car rolled to a stop in front of the ornate Pokémon League- Arceus, now that he’d thought about it, it looked like a mansion- no, castle. So much better than what Johto had to offer, he chuckled. Part of him wished he could compete here.

Ethan raised an eyebrow, stepping out of the car and closing the car door, prompting it to drive away. « ...Bone... johw? Anyone here? »

[folklorereigning]

raysofpokemuse​:

ETHAN: Ethan goes for the scare. “Lance, I thought it quite obvious which one I’d go for.”

Two for the price of one! He’s just silent now with the addition of his brow twitching. He knows better to be on edge for another scare now, but it looks like today’s going to be a long day regardless.

« What? » he teases, chuckling. « Did you want to be killed? »

[leforetilex]

starter || @redlegend​

« Thank you so much, » Ethan smiled, handing over 500 poké to the barista and getting a warm caramel macchiato in return. Somehow, coffee had made its way into the champion’s daily routine- he never really thought about it until now. Ever since he had to pull his first all-nighter, training to beat Morty, back when he was 14. It warmed his heart, truly, and he now couldn’t imagine living without it.

Some had even called it his liquid gold.

He chuckled, taking his first sip. He was out in casual clothes, just a black hoodie and some blue jeans. Surprisingly, he seemed to blend in just fine in these- partially because his champion’s attire was so striking and recognizable that, he figured, it was hard to imagine him in anything else.

Ethan sighed, looking back up as he put the coffee stopper in the lid of his coffee cup. Wait… huh. Right in the middle of his line of sight. That… they, rather, looked familiar. Black hair, red cap…

« ..Red? » It couldn’t be. Chances are, he probably bothered a random stranger. How stupid of him..