Can I have "they keep staring at me" with gold?
"They keep staring at me..."
Gold just remained silent and kept his head low. You frowned in worry and looked towards the nearby small group of Pokémon that he previously held his gaze towards. They seemed to be babies, looking terrified and confused at the limbless trainer floating beside you.
The Azurill trembled and a Togepi started crying in fear, hiding behind an Elekid who just glared at your boyfriend--as if he meant to scare them on purpose.
But in reality..he never wanted to scare anybody in his life.
Especially not the creatures who used to be his best companions. Even wild Pokémon all over Johto once looked up to him in admiration, hoping to become part of the champion's team one day. His team.
Now? They only saw him as a monster.
Bloody tears filled his own eyes, which only freaked them out more. You noticed it too, and put a hand on his back, trying your best to rationalize this situation. “It’s okay, sweetheart..they’re just-”
“Afraid.” He rasped in hurt, his frown deepening as he stared back at the group, feeling his anger rising. “Stop looking at me..like that. Do you think..I-I WANTED to look like this?!”
Most of them flinched, and the Elekid snapped back at him with a growl, before tiny electric bolts shot out of its hands.
Gold gasped and immediately jerked away, but it was too late as he felt a stinging sensation on his cheek. For a few moments, he hovered closer to the ground, groaning in pain and keeping his eyes shut.
But..it was his fault, wasn’t it? He scared them, and got attacked for it.
“Gold? Are you okay?” You reached out to him in worry. Even one of his Unowns emerged from its pokeball to defend him, but then he suddenly moved away from you, eventually flying off in a different direction off the forest’s path. “Hey wait!! Come back!!”
With an exasperated sigh, you watched the Unown he left behind float closer to your shoulder, before you turned around to look at the baby Pokémon.
You weren’t angry about their reaction to him, just disappointed in the Elekid specifically. “That’s quite rude. I know he looks scary, but that’s no reason to attack my boyfriend. I gotta go find him now..who knows where he could be..”
The baby electric-type pouted in response, and even the others seemed ashamed that they upset him. They didn't mean to, his appearance just caught them all off-guard.
“Ele..kid..” It took a few steps towards you, bowing its head in apology. “Kid, kid.”
‘At least it feels bad..’ You kneeled down to scoop it up into your arms, hugging it. “It’s okay, little one. Let’s have Unown lead us to him. I can prove to you he’s not all that bad. Whatdya say?”
Elekid hesitated for a moment, before agreeing to join you. With Unown taking the lead, you followed it through the dark forest. Fortunately, the spark between Elekid’s horns kept the way somewhat lit, so it wasn’t too bad at first.
Then the sound of Gold’s haunted wailing drew nearer, causing the poor thing to tremble in your arms. But you consoled it the best you could. “Shhh, I know..it’s okay. You’ve been a brave Elekid so far. I promise he won’t hurt you.”
“...hmph, Elekid..” Nodding, it put on a brave face as you eventually found your boyfriend near a quiet lake. You set Elekid down on a nearby rock, telling it to wait, before you approached him.
He was curled up against a tree, sobbing his eyes out up until he noticed you joining him on the ground. For a moment he seemed surprised that you found him, though when you opened your arms up he fell right into them, his cries becoming sniffles now that you were here.
And you held him closely, not minding the blood too much as he nuzzled his face into your chest. Comforting him mattered more than anything else.
It was definitely surprising to see him break down like this. Sure, he was sad a lot of the time, but he seemed completely numb to his situation, hardly showing any other emotion.
Though..it must’ve been devastating to know that most Pokémon will never look at him the same way again--and having that reality hit him hard when those baby Pokémon cried at the sight of him...
You hated seeing him in pain, but part of you was glad he could still express it.
A few minutes later, he managed to calm down as he sat up and sniffled, frowning at the blood he accidentally left on you. “I’m..s-sorry. I ruined it..y-your sweater..” He whimpered.
“It’s alright. I’m just glad I found you.” You reassured him with a gentle smile. Then you opened your bag up, taking out a burn heal before cupping his cheek so you could look at the burn mark on the opposite side. It was small, but noticeable. “Now sorry if this stings-”
“I’ll be fine..” He tried to decline, shaking his head. “I’ve suffered worse..”
For a moment you just stared at him, before chuckling softly. “I still wanna take care of my boyfriend. I don’t think you have a choice in that matter.”
Gold remained silent, knowing he couldn’t object to that, and allowed you to spray the potion onto the mark. After it disappeared, you leaned forward to kiss the spot, causing a light blush to dust his face. “There, all better.”
“Thank you. I-I’m..sorry for running off..” He muttered, looking down. “I don’t..want everyone to be scared of me. But...they can’t help it, can they?”
“Sadly no.” You reluctantly agreed. “But listen, Gold...um...”
At that moment, you noticed the Elekid was no longer on the rock, realizing that it might’ve been far too scared to stick around. But you couldn’t blame it; both of you could understand if it never wanted to see him again.
Even so, you hoped it would’ve believed you..
“I..forgot what I was gonna say but..that Elekid truly was-”
Hearing a collection of various Pokémon voices, you and Gold looked to see the little group from before coming over to visit you, with Elekid leading the way in a confident stride.
He was in utter shock, especially when the baby electric-type approached him first and frowned, apologizing for hurting him. It even did its best to hug him despite his lack of arms. A few other baby Pokémon joined in as well, feeling just as guilty for their previous reactions to him.
Gold’s smile was even bigger now as he teared up, overwhelmed with happiness this time. He mouthed the words “thank you”, still slightly insecure about frightening them with his voice, but relieved they showed up.
Then a few of his Unowns appeared, surprising the group, though they all simply laughed and took the Psychic-types down to the lake’s shore. There, they played around in the grass and sand as the sun slowly began to appear over the horizon.
It was such a sweet sight to behold.
You smiled warmly and leaned back against the tree, wrapping your arm around Gold. In turn, he cuddled against you, relaxing as he no longer felt sad about earlier.
For the first time in a long time..
