The time was 3:30 PM. As soon as the school bell had rang (precisely thirty minutes ago), Bugsy had rushed home, backpack slung over his shoulders, pedaling his bike with all of the vigor he could muster. It took him a total of ten minutes to arrive at his front door, where he dropped his bicycle to the ground, leaving it in a heap of aluminum and rubber. He had swiftly thrust open the wooden door of his home and forgotten to shut it on his way in, causing his mother to reprimand him as he started to run up the front stairs. Groaning, he ran back down the first few steps and pushed it closed, only to turn back around after he had done the task, and to head to his bedroom.
Finally.
He sighed happily at being in this special place - the place where no one else belonged - his place. Small hiking boots padded across the hardwood floor towards an old desk. Above the floor was a slanted, triangular roof decorated with various anatomical posters of bug-type Pokemon and sticky, glow-in-the-dark stars. Bugsy’s desk also held several items of interest: a old microscope with a tray of lenses set to one side, a purple binder, several jars with samples he’d collected from the Ilex Forest (silk from a spinarak, part of a kakuna shell), and a stack of reference books.
Bugsy pulled his chair out to sit down and get to work. He’d collected more samples to take notes on, and, reaching down to unzip his backpack, pulled them out and placed them onto the desk. Most of the new items he’d discovered were fairly uninteresting or multiples of things he’d already found before, but there was one thing that…oh, it was simply amazing.
Within Bugsy’s hands were the large, delicate wing scales of what he thought to be a butterfree. But not just any butterfree, no. They definitely weren’t the same light blue of an average type, but rather a lovely shade of light rose, indicative of a shiny type. Excitement welled up within the violette’s chest and he opened the purple binder upon his desk, quickly writing down every last detail he could observe from the scales. Mid-furious scribbling, Bugsy had a sudden thought. These scale didn’t seem to have been lost very long ago…that butterfree had to still be out there somewhere. His eyes grew large at the realization, and he immediately knew what he had to do. The chair fell to the floor with a bang as Bugsy once again grabbed his backpack and a butterfree net, rushed down the stairs, and burst through the door, leaving it hanging open once again.
“BUGSY,” his mother called out loudly, running to the door and watching as her son sped off on his shiny bicycle, “where are you going??”
“Ilex, Ma!!” he called back. He heard a sigh and a shrill “Be back by dinner! And be careful!!”
The words were merely a fading echo in the bug-type trainer’s ears as he pedaled faster towards the forest. It was one of the only places his mother was actually okay with him going by himself, though a thought crossed his mind that it might be nice to have someone with him in case that shiny was hard to catch. As he rode along, he momentarily took his eyes off the path to press a button on his pokegear to call a friend who wasn’t so far away. After a few seconds, the ringing stopped as the call was answered, and Bugsy quickly relayed his plans to the pretty girl on the other end. As soon as he hung up, the boy was grinning from ear to eat - not only was he going to catch a rare pokemon today, but he was going to be with her.
Once at the edge of the dark woods, Bugsy tied his bike to a tree and fastened a lock around the front wheel. Necessary bug-type capturing items in tow, he stood quietly for a moment and listened for anything, eyes wide and observant. His heart pitter-pattered at the idea of seeing a flash of pink before him, and he kept that thought near the front of his mind for encouragement. Hopefully it wouldn’t take his fellow gym leader too long to get here - after all, Goldenrod wasn’t so far away from the forest. If Bugsy’s heart was beating quickly before, the idea of having a chance to impress the girl on her way here just increased the rate.
send me a ‘✉’ for five times my muse didn’t text yours, and one time they did.
Text: [N] It’s been a while since our last meeting. How are you? I hope you are doing well in your travels.
Text: [N] I saw this tree and it… strangely reminds me of you?
Text: [N] Sometimes I think about your philosophy on life and cannot help but see your point when I see how humans are to Pokemon sometimes. That does not mean I agree on it though.
Text: [N] I always found it fascinating that you changed your team every time we meet. Then again, as a traveler, you are bound to find many friends. It makes me jealous at times when staying at the Gym all day gets to me.
Text: [N] I’ve heard about the incident that happened in Unova on the news. I pray for your safety. Please text back to me if you are alright.
-
Text: [N] Whenever you swing by Johto always know that you can come by my place in Ecruteak if you need a place to stay. I’d be more than happy to help a friend out.
☤ – In truth, I slipped and fell arse-o’er-teakettle on me bathroom floor. But if anyone asks ya, tell ‘em I was roughin’ up another punk encroachin’ on me territory. And tell ‘em they should’ve seen the other guy.
Hugh does like the cold, but he isn’t usually well-suited or equipped very well for cold weather — so he likes staying indoors, cooped up close to a fire or a radiator. He does enjoy the privilege of hot chocolate and being warm when it’s cold out. Though when Nate or Rosa are with him, those two tend to indulge in snowball fights and somehow drag Hugh along with them.
whitney will sometimes beg for falkner to take her on rides on his flying pokemon uwu (these 2 haven't interacted yet but it's a start!)
“Fine Whitney fine, you can fly with me to Ecruteak City but I’m warning you. If you get scared again, do not grab my hair. I don’t care how scared you are!” The birdtamer rubbed the back of his head, he swore that the girl damaged some of his roots during her last mishap. She cheerfully agreed and threw a leg over Falkner’s beloved Pidgeotto who gave Falkner a knowing look before drooping it’s beak over his shoulder.
“Don’t worry boy, we’ll be fine...” Falkner sounded uncertain even to himself as he saddled on the bird. With a great gust of wind and a giant flap of wings, the blunette and the pinkette were whisked into the air.
"Woah, woah, hold up. Let me get this straight: you can have a thing with some rocket executive but I can't date Everett without you being suspicious? I hope Lance knows about this!"
“Did you not hear me Whitney?? I am not dating a Rocket Executive….and even if I was, I wouldn’t choose any of those *bad guys…and Lance doesn’t need to know..”
“Besides, I saw what I did wrong, so I’m sorry okay. I just don’t want him to hurt you.”
* ( Clair doesn’t think of Petrel himself as necessarily “bad”. Sort of like a teenage girl dating a delinquent and saying “I think I can change him.” Although she knows she can’t- at least it’s not Proton or the brains of the bunch, Archer. )
