ＯＮＥ ＳＴＥＰ ＡＨＥＡＤ.

I AM INDESTRUCTIBLE. DETERMINATION THAT IS INCORRUPTIBLE. Blue Oak. Former Pokemon Champion. Viridian City Gym Leader. Grandson of Professor Oak. Better than the rest. Rivaled only by one. Written by Sora. ( Icons are not mine. Credit goes to guiltfreeicons. )

[waterbattled-blog]

RED:

head   perked   up   at   the   call   of   his   name   and       ⸻      silent   as   ever      ⸻      red   glanced   over   his   shoulder   back   toward   familiar…   …      yet   older   tone.

ah…   …      memories.         (      he’d   been   getting   a   lot   of   those   since   returning   from   mt.   silver.      )         the   last   time   he’d   seen   blue   the   newly   titled   champion   wasn’t   entirely   sure   where   their   relation   stood…   …      in   his   own   mind,      blue   would   always   be   one   of   his   closest   friends.      he’d   hoped   the   other   felt   the   same   no   matter   how   he   chose   to   express   it.

seemed   he   was   right.

turning   to   face   him   expression   gave   a   bit   of   a   start,      looking   a   little   sheepish   as   he   raised   his   hands   in   front   of   his   chest   in   lighthearted   defense.         ❛      …   !      ❜         it   had   been   a   while,      hadn’t   it   ?      he’d…   …      kind   of   lost   track   of   time.      for   six   or   so   years…   …      reaching   an   arm   back   he   scratched   at   his   neck,      lowering   his   head   slightly   in   silent   apology.

          SURE, A SOUR TASTE WAS LEFT after his defeat at the reigns as Champion----- but that happened YEARS AND YEARS back, long enough for Blue to grow and learn rather than sulk and fall deep into despair. NO WHERE CLOSE to the end for him. Not by a long shot.

          He MUST move forward. Even if he lost then, he wouldn’t let that loss define the rest of his life. Just as he defied Professor Oak’s shadow, he would defy the title of FORMER CHAMPION.

          A cant leads chocolate spikes sideways, bouncing as he tries to identify just what his mute buddy’s trying to get across. JUST AS SILENT AS EVER. What did he expect? Thankfully, he caught the gist of it, straightening up and letting a confident chortle loose.

          “Look, dude----- you don’t gotta explain anything to me,” Understanding seeps through each word, calm tones LACING into his cool-headed approach. BLUE WASN’T ANYWHERE NEAR STUPID. He knew exactly what Red was doing. What he was trying to accomplish up on that peak. “So, I bet your Pokemon are stronger than ever now, huh? I wouldn’t doubt it.”

          Maybe a BATTLE was in order. Not as League Champions, but as rivals. OLD FRIENDS, REKINDLING THEIR BOND.

[vg-mu]

Visit Original Link

Sonic Forces (2017) — Theme of Infinite

[waterbattled-blog]

LEAF:

     SHE TRIED VERY HARD NOT TO SMILE, but it didn’t quite work. it was so much nicer seeing him CONFIDENT than it was seeing him upset. sure, he could take it too far sometimes, but that didn’t change the fact that she preferred his conceit to his uncertainty. 

     “ fuchsia city’s! ”

     despite her proud announcement, it suddenly wasn’t much harder to pretend she wasn’t smiling. her hands moved AWKWARDLY to her chest, one wringing the wrist of the other as her gaze fell.

     “ at least, i hope. ”

     erika had been difficult enough. leaf had been stuck in celadon and the surrounding routes for days after she’d lost her first CHALLENGE to the gym leader. if the next gym was more difficult, did she even stand a chance? going to every gym and seeing red and blue’s names already written on the winner’s board every time wasn’t exactly helping her confidence.

     maybe she was doing something WRONG.

          FUSCHIA CITY, HUH? That’s where all those ninjas and stuff were, right? Of course, how could he have forgotten that? She must’ve been on her way there now. Thoughts ran at a million miles an hour, trying to tackle a battle plan...

          Digits clasp his chin in the midst of his STRATEGIC PLANNING, concocting some sort of angle for Leaf to use. FIRST OF ALL, it’d be nice to know what she had to work with.

          “KOGA, the leader of Fuschia Gym, specializes in Poison Pokemon,” Verbally did he start to list details, his tactical mind working with what he could at the moment. Leaf HAD to have something to combat that, right? “While SAUR--” Yeah, he lowkey remembered the little Bulbasaur’s name. “-- can deal with some of those poison abilities like they’re nothing, you MIGHT want an ace up your sleeve to take care of the rest.”

          So... what COULD be that Ace?

          “-- You didn’t happen to catch a SANDSHREW by any chance, did ya?” Chestnut view opens for the opposing trainer, thoughts leading toward a conclusion. If she DIDN’T, he still had a plan. Thankfully.

[waterbattled-blog]

          “YO, RED!” A simple call to the baseball cap he knew SO WELL, the one that always seemed to fall behind----- save for ONE OCCASION. The same one that they hadn’t seen each other in... who-knows-how-long since. How many years had passed? Too many, right?

          But he’d changed for the better since then. Wiser. Stronger. MORE CONFIDENT. Lost was the cockiness of invincible youth, and replacing that flaw was the STRENGTH OF WILL. Knowing to persevere, acknowledging the pain of loss. Yet he still would strive for the TOP. No matter what.

          ... But THAT could wait. For now, a reunion was in order. ALWAYS would they rival one another-- but above all, they would remain FRIENDS.

          “No calls, no talks, no visits,” Blue begins into a scolding of sorts, listing off MISDEEDS with that trademark smirk of his. Teasing was never too far behind his meetings with Red or Leaf. “But then again, I heard Leaf and your mom got the same treatment. SO-- I ain’t gonna grill you too bad.”

@flamebattled

[waterbattled-blog]

After losing to Red, Blue grows a bit more HUMBLE in a way. That confidence still bubbles inside him, but failure reminds him of the young trainer he used to be----- not just someone striving for the top spot as the League Champ.

Through this, Blue grows closer to his Pokemon than ever before. With this, he decides to name some of the ones that got him farther along the way. Ones that TRULY resonate with him.

Blastoise - Squirt Alakazam - Shazam Pidgeot - Pi-Pi

More to be announced with future headcanons...

[waterbattled-blog]

                                        WATCH ME RISE,                                                                  NEVER TO FALL AGAIN.

[waterbattled-blog]

LEAF:

     SHE’D THOUGHT IT WOULD FEEL GOOD TO TEASE GRIN WITH THE SAME INTENSITY HE MOCKED HER, but it didn’t. there was an uncomfortable weight that settled in the pit of her stomach at the way he STUTTERED, and leaf had to resist the urge to sigh.

     of course she’d feel GUILTY teasing blue even after he’d teased her.

     “ of course not. ” not that she didn’t value red’s opinion. but, the fact of the matter was that red wasn’t there. he couldn’t give her ADVICE if he was off in a completely different part of kanto.“ i was just messing around! ”

     the best thing to do for his EGO was to pretend that she hadn’t even noticed how upset the thought of her ignoring his input was–––– she’d learned that after many years of being his friend.

     “ i’d ask you both if i could! you’re both my best friends, so i’d want to hear both of your opinions. but…red’s not here, ” no matter how much she wished he was so the three of them could take their next step TOGETHER.“ so, i guess i’ll just have to trust your advice. ”

          HER BEST FRIENDS? THAT’S RIGHT----- they were a trio. Three Musketeers, taking on Gramps’ lifelong dream altogether in his stead. How long ago had he put that aside to become STRONGER-- to follow HIS OWN dream? Sights set on THE VERY TOP, to become the CHAMPION of Kanto.

          IN HIS MIND, maybe friends weren’t part of that equation. And maybe he would admit that ALOUD...

          ----- NEVER. No matter how condescending he became, part of him still held onto Leaf and Red. He couldn’t abandon them... well, not COMPLETELY. Though silent upon matters regarding that bond, it was still THEIR BOND. Nothing would break that. Not even that massive ego of his.

          “I knew you’d come around!” The confidence boosts back after her affirmation, grin slowly but surely returning all at once. Helping her, as much as it IRKED him on the inside, still felt... nice. Like not everything was lost to the arrogance.

                    “So-- What gym’s gonna feel your WRATH next?”

[butt-berry]

Blastoise and the boys

[waterbattled-blog]

DARK PIT:

⸻pipsqueak   ? !         ❛     hey,      i’m   no   kid   !      ❜         he   corrected   irritably,      charcoal   black   wings   flapping   every   so   often   to   keep   him   above   ground.      thankfully,      the   others   question   was   interesting   enough   to   quell   any   bad   temper   that   had   been   brewing.

❛     you   can’t   tell   ?      ❜         dark   pit   chaffed,         ❛     i’m   an   angel,      duh.      what   kind   of   stuff   do   they   teach   you   guys   these   days   ?      ❜

distantly   he   wondered   if   this   guy   had   more   food   on   him   than   just   dog   treats,      he   hadn’t   been   kidding   when   he’d   said   he   was   hungry.

          “AN ANGEL? No way that’s real,” The POCKET MONSTER trainer declares aloud, outright taken back by the statement. How was that concept so alien to him? Maybe it was more-so the association with angels and heaven, giving him more of a headache than answering existential questions. Never did he pay mind to any other possibilities.

          All that concerned him was THE PRESENT. RISING TO THE TOP. BECOMING KING.

          As he NOTICES the curious flaps of ebony wings, palm circles around a pocket just to the side, stitched into the mono-strapped backpack he sported. Didn’t he have some sorta human food in here? Grip finds its desire-- a singular GRANOLA BAR, taking it out and tossing it toward the dark seraphim. A small PEACE OFFERING for the earlier INSULT.

          “Sorry----- didn’t mean to put ya down,” Blue starts to REASON for once, sympathizing slightly with Dark. Where’d that come from? “So, if you’re an angel... that means there’s some sorta GOD out there that you serve, yeah? And some heaven that they dwell in?”

[waterbattled-blog]

her arms wrapped carefully around his waist, her head pressing softly against his back as her eyes fell shut. very quickly her breathing started to even, and her voice was quiet and soft. “ you're warm. ”

                    “—– LEAF? What’re you–?”

          TIME SEEMS TO STOP once she utters those words. Caught in that instant, he can’t particularly shake the feeling. What was it welling inside him? A finger couldn’t point to the source, still training on the NOW. There she was, nimble and soft, clinging to him.

          – Wait… Was it NOSTALGIA? Leaf hadn’t held him like this since they were kids. IT MADE SENSE, RIGHT? Who was he kidding—– none of it made sense. Wasn’t he the stand-offish one of the trio?

          So why did she choose HIM to embrace?

          HESITANTLY, a palm finds her wrists, finding the joint in which they connected across one another. Had she always been this tiny? So fragile– just brushing against her made him NERVOUS. Was he always oblivious to this? How could he look that over? “You’re… smooth,” The comment leaves him, not aware that it’s left before he continues. “Softer than I remember.”

[marluxiah]

[waterbattled-blog]

LEAF:

     SHE COULDN’T HIDE THE DISTASTE ON HER FACE AT THE NICKNAME, and it took every part of her not to stick out her tongue as if she’d tasted something AWFUL. he really couldn’t come up with anything better?

     “ that’s the worst nickname anyone’s ever given me. ” and her name was LEAF––––  she’d had some pretty bad nicknames.

     for a moment she was tempted to ask him for help. it would be nice to know what she was up against beforehand, and prepare a little before facing the gym. but, asking blue would only give him a SWELLED head, and that was the last thing he needed.

     “ no, thanks. ”

     her lips upturned, arms crossing again in a much more DELICATE manner. the idea she’d come up was sure to push a button or two, if she knew her childhood friend as well as she thought she did.

     “ i’ll just ask red. ”

          “Oh, it can’t be THAT ba-----” And that’s when she got his attention. Just that simple little stab in the back. How COULD she? If anyone knew how to twist and contort him into any shape or form available, Leaf was definitely the one to take that opportunity once it rose.

          “C-C’mon-- you’re not... actually gonna bail on me, yeah?” For RED, nonetheless? Just the thought made that inflated ego shiver, worrying that someone valued Red’s input over his own natural-born intellect. If his stuttering wasn’t enough indication, maybe the light sputters of shallow inhales were enough. “-- Right?”

          Did those words REALLY affect him that much?

          A SIGH ESCAPES as he tries his best to regain that confident composure. Can’t get all the way to the top if a girl’s got you tripping over your words. Maybe he COULD----- but a champion would probably feel like MUCH MORE if he conquered that simple roadblock. “Leaf... C’mon, I swear I’m not messin’ around.”

[waterbattled-blog]

LEAF:

     HIS STEP FORWARD MADE HER TAKE A STEP BACK. she tried to play it off, fishing through her bag as if she was CHECKING to ensure that she had collected everything from her trip to the pokémon center just a few minutes prior. “ i always knew how, you just didn’t say anything important enough for me to talk back to. ”

     she was getting GOOD at this.

     something about his comment really set her on EDGE, and leaf pulled her hand out of her bag to poke him right in the chest.  

     “ at least i caught a pikachu. what’s he gonna say when all he sees in your dex are rattata and weedle? ”

          “HAH----- Glad you give me at least a little credit,” Brunette strands cant to the left as he relaxes a bit more. Sure, she’d grown up a bit-- but she was still meek, compared to him and their ABSENT companion. So soft and calm, like blades of grass tilted by the passing breeze. At least there was some sorta CHARM to that.

          MOMENTS PASS BY before he speaks up once more, taking the time to analyze anything she might’ve had to say AFTER that comment about his Dex. “So, LEAFSTER, what Gym you tryin’ to pummel next?”

          At this rate, GENUINE INTEREST OF SORTS peaked within him. What, was that not unheard of? He wasn’t completely heartless-- ... keep a note on that completely. The whereabouts and objectives of his rivals still kept him on his toes, always tactical and READY for the next step.

          “Maybe I can give you some sorta hand with it, right~?”

[waterbattled-blog]

DARK PIT:

dark   had   been   watching   the   other   with   varying   degrees   of   interest   for   a   short   while   now,      mainly   because   he   was   bored   and   it   was   amusing   to   watch   him   talk   to   himself⸻      but   also   because   he’d   never   seen   creatures   like   the   ones   around   here   before.

he   slowed   a   little   as   the   human   apparently   mistook   him   for   one   of   those   things,      raising   an   eyebrow   as   he   was   offered   some   kind   of   food.        ❛     first   of   all,      i’m   not   a……      pokemon.      ❜         dark   pit   finally   spoke,      though   he   did   fly   a   little   closer   and   snatch   the   food   from   the   others   fingers,      lounging   back   in   the   air   as   he   tossed   it   into   his   mouth.        ❛     and   secondly,      yes.      ❜

          WOAH--! IT TALKED?! THAT’S... definitely something he should’ve expected. Why was he so taken aback? It LOOKED human, it SEEMED human----- the only exception were the wings. So, why exactly was Blue so caught off-guard? Consider him even MORE intrigued...

          “----- Alright, pipsqueak-- so you’re NOT a Pokemon,” Tone shifts back to calm and collected, dropping any hints of WONDER that shone through before. If it was just another GUY, this conversation would’ve ended. Obviously, though, the trainer was growing more and more CURIOUS. 

          THAT gave him just enough reason to prod. “Wanna tell me what you ACTUALLY are, then? Last time I checked, humans can’t just pop wings outta their tunics.”

[waterbattled-blog]

LEAF:

     THE FACT THAT HE WAS SO CALM EVEN WHILE SHE GLARED RIGHT AT HIM REALLY ANNOYED HER, but she was careful not to show that on her face. leaf was going to make him take her SERIOUSLY, one way or the other. 

     “ well one of us has to. ” and it was clear by the tone of her voice that she considered herself the one getting down to BUSINESS, not him. she took a step closer when he insulted her bulbasaur, ready to defend her starter.

     “ he’s better than your wimpy squirtle! ” she couldn’t help but feel bad for insulting the poor thing. it was’t his fault his trainer could be a JERK. 

     her head tilted back a bit further–––– had he been this TALL when they’d started? she didn’t think so, but it was hard to say. “ of course i have. professor oak was nice enough to give us these pokémon, the least we can do is fill in the dex for him. ”

          GETTING BRAVER AND BRAVER, HUH? Wow, she really had gotten a bit tougher. Was he proud? Annoyed? Impressed? Hmm... not really any of those... save for a smidge of the last. MAYBE she had more bark to her bite, but she was still just a little Rattata trying to tangle with a hungry Arbok.

          Cute---- but still OUT OF HER LEAGUE.

          “Since when did YOU learn how to talk back?” A STEP toward her, not menacing or imposing, but CALMLY places him a peg above her. In his book, at least. That’s the only book that mattered to the pompous brat. “You’ve caught MORE than the ones that’re cute, right?”

          Cue a soft SCOFF at the notion, giving her space as he leaned back into his previous posture. Who was he kidding? “What’s Gramps gonna think when he gets YOUR Pokedex and just finds Jigglypuff and Pikachu on there?”

[waterbattled-blog]

LEAF·:

     SHE TRIED NOT TO LOOK TOO SURPRISED, but it was impossible for her not to show that she wasn’t expecting to run into him there. she finished tucking her poké ballback into her bag, trying to turn the surprise on her face into some kind of GLARE.

     “ i’m not lost. ” her arms crossed, gaze focused somewhere beyond him–––– if he was acting like this then he didn’t DESERVE her attention.“ i’m here training–––– duh.”

     she was almost hesitant to CONTINUE, but she did.“ getting ready for my next badge! ”

          AWW, HOW CUTE. No matter how hard she tried, nothing could wipe away the memory of that surprised gaze. Oh, and THAT GLARE-- she’s been working on that. Nice to know she practiced something just for him. Almost made him feel special.

          “Look at you, gettin’ down to business,” His other palm retreats to the pocket clad to his thigh, resting there lazily as he observed. She sure did seem ready, and MUCH MORE CONFIDENT than at the start. Dumb, sorta... but cool.

          “Hope you’ve been whippin’ that puny Bulbasaur into shape. Gotten anything else along the way?”

[musubiki]

“ —not this time.”