“ wrench , ” daiki grumbles around the dwindling cigarette tucked into the corner of his mouth. curled tail thumping, meowth swats the tool. the wrench scrapes against the concrete floor of the garage and daiki swipes at the handle before it slides under his bike. he’s fixing up the old fatboy, just some routine maintenance on the trusty matte-black machine — brake check, oil change, tighten the chain . . . replace that fancy headlight before it burns out completely. daiki wags the wrench, as if to say: thank you, meowth!, and barks teasingly over his shoulder. “ see, at least someone is helping . ” the aluminum trashcan in the corner of daiki’s garage rattles violently. pikachu — who has earned himself the nickname, scram, because that’s all he responds to, since that’s all daiki ever tells him to do — conducts a ritual, fast-paced investigation, bolting around and cramming his little triangle nose in every inch and corner of the garage. it’s quite counterproductive, but as long as the electric-rat bastard doesn’t knock over his coffee, daiki doesn’t mind so much. he just tunes it out.
daiki rolls his eyes and puffs on his cigarette. the radio on the cluttered shelf by the door drones on with incoherent static and out-dated rock music. he still hums along, meowth purring behind him and cleaning its paws.
an emergency signal vibrates from the radio; three long pulses that make daiki flinch. the cigarette falls from mouth, the wrench slipping as he cranks it. meowth’s ears perk up and the white hairs on its neck and back stand on end. pikachu darts to a different corner of the garage — breaking news! we’re coming to you live from saffron city where there is a state of emergency ! police are reporting that multiple burglaries have taken place and incidents of arson have been conducted by — a group of people in black clothing. t-team rocket? team rocket ! the city is under attack !
shit.
team rocket is back, and closer than daiki’s comfortable with. shit, he thinks again, with a sigh of sour acceptance. “ no skin off my fuck-ing back, i guess , ” daiki grumbles, picking up his cigarette and giving it one last puff before flicking the dead thing elsewhere. “ kanto, huh? back to square one, are they ? ” daiki readies his wrench again, scoffing and his braid sways as he shakes his head, “ suckers . ”
team rocket had tired itself out, and at this point, daiki can’t muster up any more fucks to give. the hiding place he found in goldenrod — for a pretty sweet deal, too — has finally been furnished into a home and there’s no trouble here, nothing to lock his doors about, but he still does. the ruffian antics of the bridge bike gang have nothing on the terror of the big, red R. threats from the short-tempered, jackboot bridge bikers are child’s play — besides, they run their mouths and fill his pockets with cash and vices and, well, those rocket admins really taught him how to please, how to keep himself in line. blood and once-fleeting sanity were a steep price to pay when considered it was all bartered for one big gotcha! moment. in your face, gi-o-van-ni! — nah. daiki’s watched team rocket lose so many times, it’s lost its appeal. their defeat will always remain in the cards, the winning hand.
not only does daiki need to collect a few parts from the cerulean city bike shop, but his inherent hunger for trouble gnaws at his stomach — what’s the saying? once a rocket, always a rocket! — a detour to saffron city is in order — i’ll make it quick! — just to check out the scene of the crime for himself; to find out if team rocket is really the culprit; to see if they have just as many screws loose as they did when he ditched them. new recruits don’t seem like anything to worry about; they’re just more cogs in giovanni’s grandiose machine. suckers, they are.
the rock music on the radio settles to a harsh hum in the background and meowth starts making warning-sounds in its throat. the sunlight casts a human-shaped shadow, looming over daiki, but he doesn’t — no, refuses — to look up. paranoia stiffens his body, knots his throat. his fingers ache around the handle of the wrench. staying on his toes is true instinct, for trust is a nasty bitch. strangers have never been kind to daiki; no good ever comes from them.
“ you’re on my prop-er-ty. spit it out, or scram . ”
his head is fogged --------- and he isn’t entirely sure if it’s the effect of the bristling sun sending a heat wave down on the outskirts of the city, or if it’s because of the girl standing beside him, a snug fit, so perfectly aligned with his that green has to take a moment and breathe it all in. there’s no other girl who could ever touch green like this and leave an imprint so hot that green is left reeling.
green licks his lips as he allows himself to land his palm on the small of her back. there’s a possessiveness that comes with it, rising with a hint of longing that green absolutely does not have the strength to tamper down. he intakes a heavy breath and leads them inside a restaurant. mostly, to get away from the heat, and well . . . he’s never taken leaf out on a date before. back then, he was far too stubborn to admit he had any real feelings towards the one girl who could potentially BREAK green’s heart.
as they catch up to the line, he turns towards her. he threads his fingers through her strands and carefully ties her hair into a ponytail, finding himself staring at the stray pieces of hair against the nape of her neck. ARCEUS, it’s taking all of his willpower not to lean down and kiss it.
❝ anything you want, babe ? my treat, ❞ green offers, paired with a wink. of course, despite getting the girl, he has this incredible urge to keep on charming her. but hey, doesn’t that make him a GOOD BOYFRIEND ?
“ She doesn’t seem to like any other kind of berry . . . ” Klara hated to sound like one of those trainers, but the whole situation seemed to be hindering her training, and she was running out of ideas. Berries just don’t grow where she lives, and it’s tough for her to keep Astrid’s focus when it’s all she wants to focus on. Retraining her train of thought was obviously going to take some time, so she supposed the best market place in Agron would be the best place for her to start.
The woman seemed to have quite a variety of berries, ripe and ready to be sold. But she was looking for Aspear Berries, and loads of them. “ How many have you got? ”
It wasn’t often that Misty took time off for herself. What with taking care of the Pokemon, watching over the Gym, and battling almost every single trainer that stepped foot into the building, her day was usually nonstop from morning all the way until bedtime. She’d count herself lucky if she found the time to stop and eat, but today would be different. Burn out was a condition that affected many trainers, and she was no exception. She’d pushed herself too far, and as days went by she found it harder and harder to even get out of bed.
In a desperate attempt to unwind, she moved all of her upcoming battles up and knocked them all out in one day. Honestly, not a great idea because at least 70% of the trainers that day walked out with a Cascade Badge, but she needed this and there was no way she would have cancelled on the poor kids. So, as soon as the last trainer left the Gym, she shut the doors and locked them from the inside. Letting out a breath, she turned and dove headfirst into her pool.
She had not only the rest of the afternoon free, but also the entire next day. The gym leader broke surface and swam to the edge of the pool where she had her things. She reached for her phone and shot a quick text.
The faint aroma of the sea danced across his nose as he entered the small town. He couldn’t remember the last time he was in Pallet Town helping the professor, let alone recall the last time he visited his mother -- who was probably dead worried about him. Maybe he should stop by his childhood house and say hi to her. Maybe. Something about being on the main continent made his skin crawl.
//Chu~!// The Pikachu perched on his shoulder cried out, reacting to what his trainer was thinking.
“It’s okay, Sparky.” Fire sighed. “We’ll say hi to mom later. First we have to see what Professor Oak wants.”
Walking down the streets towards the lab was almost like second nature to the trainer. The lab, much like the town, hadn’t really changed much. It was still in the southeast corner, and still had the old paint job of faded paint.
Fire gathered himself before entering the lab and came face to face with an old friend of his -- Leaf. She seemed just as surprised as he was.
“Oh..” He let out a small nervous laugh. “Hey Leaf.”
Lena read the sign with a scoff. “Free of worry my ass,” she mumbled to herself as she pulled her hood down further, very worried of being recognized. The weather was warm and yet the idol was wearing an oversized raincoat with a scarf. The combination of the two covered enough of her face to hide her, but if any of the locals saw her they would immediately realize who she was.
She knew coming to her hometown was risky. Lena always claimed she was born and raised in Jubilife, and her parents played along, but the people of Solaceon were proud to have such a large idol reign from their small farming town. Luckily, reporters never went to the town and her secret was still unknown. As long as she wasn’t seen today, she was fine.
Walking as quickly as she could without being suspicious, the idol went over to the place she came to visit: Solaceon Ruins. Her parents never allowed her to visit when she was younger for fear of her getting lost, but she had always been interested in the ruins. Apparently Unown lived there and rumor had it something strange would happen if multiple were together. Lena wanted to find out what.
Lena entered hesitantly. She always heard creepy rumors of the ruins as a child, but she was sure those were just wise tales told to keep the children out. However, now that she was older, she couldn’t help but notice the shivers that ran down her spine whenever she heard a noise. From the corner of her eye, she saw a small floating figure move into another room.
The idol let out a shakey breath. “Ok... I guess I’m following that... It’s crazy to follow something I probably didn’t even see, but it’s my only clue.” With a definitive nod, she took off her hood and walked in the direction of the shadow. She followed (hopefully) the same shadow through various rooms before reaching a dead end. “Ugh, you’ve got to be KIDDING ME.” She yelled into the room, turning around at the foot steps she swore she heard.
“Who’s there?” There was a note of fear and desperation in her voice. Her surprised expression immediately changed to confusion as a face she didn’t recognize emerged from the corner. It was someone she’d never seen before, so clearly the person didn’t live in town. No one ever moved to town. “Why are you here?”
