The whir of machinery came loudly at first, but softened as his ears grew accustomed to the sound. Cold steel bars and mechanisms were placed imperialistically throughout the first floor of the building, and his own presence caused static in the air that surrounded him. For the life of him, he could not figure out what any of it was for.
"Such a waste," Riley said softly, hands resting coolly in his pockets.
"If only you knew."
Riley spun around to see a blonde figure decked in classic military dress, leaning back in a thronelike chair. A Pokeball spun lazily between his fingers. Riley touched the tip of his hat in a dry manner, smirking.
"Volkner."
The young man sighed, and made to stand in response. "It's been a while since I've seen you, Riley. What made you decide to come back? A bit sudden, don't you think?"
"It seems as though neither of us will ever change."
Their feet slid across the smooth floor, leading them to face one another near the door where Riley stood. Their shoes were black, and shone against the bright artificial light that mirrored across the room from a single lamp.
"I've come for something."
Volkner's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Is that right? I didn't know I had anything that would be of interest to you." He swiveled on his heel and walked toward the center of the room, arms spread and eyes facing the steep ceiling. "Whatever it is, I wish you the best of luck in finding it. All of this right here -- all that you see -- is perhaps the most complex array of technical equipment in a single place that you have ever witnessed."
"How fun it must be to live inside a lightbulb," Riley remarked.
"The funny thing about electricity," Volkner continued. "...is that no matter how often people complain about how it's being wasted..." He swiftly stepped over rows of magnets. "...or how they don't get enough of it, it still remains one of the world's most readily renewable resources."
Riley ran his fingers over the buttons of his slim coat. "Wouldn't that be an easy claim, for the man whose house is comprised entirely of such a thing? Surely it won't go extinct, but water is a precious commodity for the Poliwag whose pond is occupied by the Snorlax."
"You've seen the solar panels paving the streets outside," Volkner responded. "It was me who had them installed. If it weren't for my presence and for my gym, Sunyshore would lack the esteem of a region's most technologically advanced city."
"Perhaps a greater acknowledgment should be granted to your own boredom."
Volkner chuckled, still facing away. He fondled his chin with his fingers gently, the cold feel of metal rings leaving a smooth sensation on his skin.
"Whatever turns the wheel."
Riley's black hair fell over his brow, the strands playing against his field of vision. The Pokeball at his side was ominously silent; immobile. His eyes moved pensively across the room, less indulged in observation than in personal thoughts, when Volkner added suddenly, "Been traveling much, Ry?"
It was the visitor's turn to sigh. "Is my hat too dirty? Are my shoes worn?"
"It suits you."
"Canalave City's been full of filth. Funny I'd think that going for a hike would clean me up."
"Hell of a hike, I'd say."
Their eyes stopped wandering, and locked. Their breath shifted from each other's lungs soundlessly.
"I'd say so, too."
"Well, you didn't--" Volkner stopped, a hand placed on his hip as he turned to the side and grinned. "--Oh, no. You're not...you're not here for a badge, are you?"
Riley remained motionless, his face cracking into an amused smile. "Oh how fun that would be for you! I have to say now I'm disappointed in myself, for not coming solely to humor you with a gym badge."
A strange look swept across Volkner's face, twitching to mask a feeling of mild disappointment. He crossed his arms, fingers twirling into one of his long sideburns. "Humor me, huh?" he grumbled. "You don't know how lucky you are, being able to roam freely in and out of your cave as you choose. All freedom and no responsibility..." He began to saunter back to his chair, his boots clacking dully against the cold tile floor. "It's so draining to have to fill the position of a solitary Gym Leader in one of the busiest cities in the region, as well being the highest on the trainer's tier. Don't get me wrong," he added, nestling himself between the arms of his seat. "It's a fun thing to add on to dinner conversation, that's to be sure. But do you have any idea how lonely it is in here?"
Riley raised an eyebrow.
"My only visitors are useless...statistic trainers who believe they can stand a chance in the real world of competitive battling. To think that they can become the next Ash Ketchum by collecting a spare badge or two in the time between their morning cartoons."
Riley's fingers brushed correctively against his pointed cap. His footsteps slowly followed his host's.
"It's sad," Volkner concluded, his eyes narrowed toward his own fingers as his picked at them.
"So what will you do about it?"
The electric blonde looked up.
"Or, perhaps, that's all there is to it? You'll just give up?" Riley's hands fell back into his pockets as he stopped in front of the chair, pole-like, gazing down at Volkner. "That's a damn shame. Sitting on the high seat in a friendly town...the kids just love you here, I can tell."
"I'll take them on guided tours; the lighthouse needs polishing," Volkner growled.
"Tell them about Cyrus, too. He was born down the street."
A chuckle.
"You had every opportunity to change your path, Volkner. Every chance. I did too, and I chose differently. That's why my time is spent sitting in goddamn pubs. That's why I have scuffs on my shoes." His hand had been hovering over a Pokeball on his belt; swiftly, he grasped it and tossed it up in the air, catching it on its way down. "A companion is a companion. And Lucario and I have seen many things...people and Pokemon alike, there is a gloomy side to every spectacle. An immoral side to every story. An unlit cave to every city." He paused, observing the ball cupped in his hand. "A gym leader's role is interaction with his community, not avoidance. And as boring as we are, and as useless as we may seem to you..."
Their faces were close.
"...We're just about all you got."
Riley snapped away, pivoting on his heel and wandering back across the room.
"So clean up your mess. Find a protégé. Challenge the Elite Four, like you've threatened to do for years. Hop on the train to Hoenn, or Kanto." Riley tapped a metal box with his toe. "Do something for somebody else."
"Like for you," Volkner said quietly.
Riley stopped. He faced Volkner once more, watching his stance transfer from his seat to his feet, and back toward another end of the magnetic sprawl. For a moment, they were silent, the only sounds a continuous drone of spinning mechanisms and directed waves of electricity that scattered across the room. "And yet, your reason for coming here today isn't just for my opinion on my own decisions, or even for my company. You want something, too." Volkner's eyelids flitted, as he stepped before a door hidden in the nook of a steel locker. The lock loosened, and slid open automatically.
"Well, come on. This isn't a lobby you know."
The room was astonishingly stark in difference from the rest of the building: plush, deep, and detailed with the sense of royalty that broke Volkner apart into decipherable components. Riley felt the door slide shut behind him.
"So not even a battle?" Volkner questioned, his coattails gliding through the air behind him. "Luxray's getting a little out of shape." He turned to lean against a corner of his four-poster bed. "And, now that I think about it, I guess I am too."
Riley smirked, gliding across the tile floor. "For you, I'd say that would be a pretty silly idea. A match with me wouldn't be practice for either of us..."
They were zapped lightly by static as their torsos met.
"And for conductivity reasons..."
Their noses ticked from body heat.
"...we all know that steel dominates electricity."
Their cheeks rubbed against one another, their light stubble scraping therapeutically, as Riley's lips softly moved to Volkner's neck.
Heart pounding, the blonde moved his hand to the back of the warlock's head. His blue hat fell to the ground as his hair was ruffled; gently at first, but as their lips moved closer their hands curled more tightly around patches of light flesh. Volkner's back arched as his face rose toward the ceiling. He fell backwards onto the bed, the weight from Riley's body stretched across his own as their hands met, stretching into the velvet feel of the comforter draped across the canvas. Volkner's cheeks were blushed warmly, and he reached his hand down to his own pelvis, fingers sensing and exploring their surroundings in the darkness of his own closed eyes.
The dimly-lit room floated around the two, all else still, as they rolled slowly further into the pillows. Riley's turtleneck covered nothing. The buttons sewn on each others' suits clacked as they became undone, their stomachs sweating, the light hair on their chests rubbing smoothly against the nails on their fingers. Their thoughts fluttered to the incredulity of their activities; they wondered when and why it had started, and less importantly, where it was going to end. Their necks swayed. It didn't matter. The windowless room distorted their sense of time and in it they became lost, dazed, their legs tangled, shoes still halfway on, and pants sinking lower and lower down their thighs. Riley clamped his teeth, sending waves through Volkner's nerves, and as their lungs expanded heavily their faces couldn't help but twist into the curves illustrating the raw emotions accompanying the long-sought feelings they had finally been granted.
As Riley's palm swept across the breadth of tender stomach muscles, Volkner's body jolted and he shuddered. As the two opened their eyes once more to gaze at one another, Volkner grinned sheepishly.
"Well," he began, voice crackling. "Aside from giving me a nice tickle, what else did you come here for? You said you wanted something."
Riley's half-smile spread further across his cheeks as he moved his face down across the expanse of Volkner's body, forehead resting in the defined grooves of his chest.
"Don't worry," he finally said, his breath warm against Volkner's pale, bare pelvis. His fingers closed firmly.
"I already got it."