Title: What Are Friends For?
Rated: K+
Writing Time: 09/01-09/03/2012
Pairing(s): Kurt/Sam
Warnings: Mentioned verbal bullying, nerd!Sam, hero!Sam, little kid Kurt and Sam, major Pokémon retcon and just a little concerning the Gleeverse (I'm putting the story around the summer of 2000 even though the Glee kids were a little younger than twelve at the time), copious amounts of teeth-decaying cuteness, some sadness (early canon poor!Sam) and patented Hevans!friendship (not relationship [yet I could always write a sequel ;)] but friendship.) You don't like, don't read. You have been warned.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Pokémon. If I did, Chris Colfer/Kurt would get much more screen time, the show would be better written (or I'd at least try), Quam, Samtana, Klaine and Samcedes would've NEVER happened and Chord Overstreet/Sam would've never left the show after the end of season two! That and Chord would never leave my bedroom but that's another story for another time (and one I'd be too selfish to share ;) So without further ado, on with the smoochies ^^ Notice (despite difference of peoples' opinion) I've nothing bad to say about Pokémon? That should tell RIB something…
Summary: On a beautiful but typically lonely day, Kurt Hummel meets and forms a bond with a strange boy who loves all the things people hate about him; Glee/Pokémon crossover.
Author's Note: Okay, so I recently started playing Pokémon Yellow again after not touching the game for years and while thumbing through my Pokémon manga (because I'm a nerd and that's just how I roll yo! ;) this little idea popped into my head and refused to leave until I wrote it out. To anyone who's ever read The Electric Tale of Pikachu!, you'll know where some of this stuff came from. Everyone else: don't worry, you don't have to be fluent in the cards, manga, show, movies and toys (hopefully! ;) to understand what's going on in this little one-shot. Betaed by me; if you happen to spot some (if any) mistakes, please don't hesitate to point them out via review or PM. Thank You!
Dedication: ElevenLollipops and KrazyLikeKum: I don't know if it's the PM system going twonky and not sending my messages or you're both are just sick to death of me but I really hope it's the former because I miss you two a lot! :/ I really hope you two especially like this ^^ And Taylors sister: for your kind words and unyielding support. Thank You!
The summer skies were the palest shade of baby blue most people had ever seen; the sun a big, bright ball of energy in the sky, warming the world and its inhabitants below. Schools of Pidgey and Spearow flew overhead, mostly unnoticed by the older people occupying McKinley Park. Kurt Hummel's twelve-year-old heart soared at the sight of the Normal/Flying Pokémon up in the sky as he sat grounded at a park bench and kicked his feet back and forth; how he longed to just be like them. How liberating it must feel for them to just stand tall, take a stance and flap their wings until the ground beneath their feet disappeared. Most kids his age dreamed (sometimes he did too) of becoming Pokémon trainers; he just wanted to be a Pokémon so he could turn his back, fly away and never return.
Once again his father decided that Kurt spending his summers indoors at their auto shop was a bad idea so he sent Kurt off to the park. Why Burt Hummel never listened to him was beyond Kurt; kids in this town hated him and weren't shy about admitting it. They hated how 'girly' and 'gay' he was, they hated how he dressed differently from everyone else and they hated how 'girly' his Pokémon were even though they shouldn't talk. Sure, his Pokémon were pink and girly and purple and 'feminine' but they were his and only his. How many twelve-year-olds in Lima Town could say they had Pokémon of their very own? Not many!
Kurt's eyes followed a Growlithe that was being chased by a group of rowdy boys his age and it just made his heart ache. Even though he didn't care much for running around in his clothes and getting them all sweaty or those boys playing with the Fire Pokémon, it would be nice if they'd at least ask him to join in. It looked like so much fun for both those boys and the Pokémon; it made his envious for only a second that he didn't have a Pokémon like that before he shook his head, ashamed of himself for thinking that. There was nothing wrong with the Pokémon he had!
"Hey," a cracked voice said, making Kurt look up from momentarily glaring at his shoes in sadness to whoever was now standing in front of his sun.
Glasz eyes peered into warm green ones and watched the wind playing with the boy's cornflower hair. "Can I help you?" Kurt asked in a polite voice and winced internally at how high it sounded in his ears.
The blonde boy smiled and sat down on the bench beside him. "Hi, I'm Sam."
He extended his hand and Kurt accepted it, smiling back at the strange boy. "I'm Kurt, Kurt Elizabeth Hummel."
Sam grinned at that as he retracted his hand. "Elizabeth? Where did that come from?"
Kurt sat taken aback. No teasing, name-calling or general ridicule; Sam's voice, although beginning to crack around the last spoken words, was laced with sincerity in his questioning.
"It's my mother's name," he answered softly, hoping his words didn't scare this Sam off like it did all the other boys.
"It's nice," Sam replied, "really goes with the name Kurt; I like it."
"Thanks," Kurt smiled, too stunned to feel anything else. "Where'd you come from? I haven't seen you around."
Sam raised a hand and pointed into the distance; Kurt could just make out two small blonde children playing with something… pink?
"Those are my little brother and sister," Sam explained, noticing how Kurt's eyes were squinted in concentration. "They're playing with my mom's Jigglypuff."
"You have a Jigglypuff?" Kurt asked astounded.
"Yeah!" Sam nodded enthusiastically. "It's great for getting them to fall asleep at night. It helps me too as a matter of fact."
Kurt giggled freely and caught Sam's cheerful smile from the corner of his eye. "So what brought you over here? Shouldn't you be playing with your brother and sister?"
Sam pushed a little cornflower-colored hair out of his eyes and Kurt was captivated by Sam's never-ending smile. "I saw you over here all alone and wanted to know why. Shouldn't you be playing with them or something?" he motioned over to the group of boys playing with someone's Growlithe.
"No," Kurt shook his head ruefully. "We're not friends."
"Why's that?" Sam tilted his head in confusion, making Kurt think of an adorable Oddish for some reason. "I don't think you're mean so it can't be that. Why don't they wanna play with you?"
Kurt scuffed the tip of his shoe in the ground and looked down at it, halfway refusing to look up into Sam's green eyes. "They're mean to me."
The small boy chanced a look up at Sam's face and was met with nothing but sadness— for him. "Why are they mean to you?"
His tiny shoulders went up and then slumped down. He didn't want to lie to this kind boy but also didn't want to let him know all the cruel and hurtful things he's been called by some of the boys in that group playing in the field.
"There must be some reason," Sam insisted, resting a hand on Kurt's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze in the hopes that Kurt will turn and face him. Relief sculpted his features when Kurt's eyes met his.
"They just don't like me," Kurt snapped a little harshly, not meaning to take his frustrations out on Sam.
Sam was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "Do they beat you up? Or make their Pokémon try to hurt you?"
Kurt looked at Sam and shook his head. "No, they just call me names." Well, he thought, so much for not telling Sam about the bullies.
The cornflower blonde took another moment before Kurt felt himself sliding across the bench's short distance and was held up against Sam's side. Kurt tried pulling out of Sam's embrace but the blonde wasn't having it; if anything, his grip around Kurt became stronger. Giving in, Kurt tentatively wrapped his own arms around Sam and noticed how nice it felt being held by someone else. When Sam gently pushed him up, Kurt realized it was his first hug with somebody outside his family.
"What was that for?" Kurt asked, cursing himself internally for asking but needing to know.
"Don't friends hug?" Sam countered.
"We're friends?" Kurt was shocked.
Sam nodded, taking Kurt by the hand and pulling him off the bench. "We're best friends now," Sam said, walking him and the brunette down the path over to where his brother and sister were playing.
Kurt let that sink in and suppressed his lingering doubt that it was a mean joke. "If we're friends now, tell me about you."
The blonde smiled. "I turned thirteen back in May, I go to North Lima Middle School, and when I turn fourteen, I'm starting my Pokémon journey. You?"*
"I'm twelve until July and I go to school in East Lima. I'm not sure if I want to start a Pokémon journey or finish school first."
"Do your parents have Pokémon?" Sam asked, slowing down his pace so he and Kurt were walking slowly side by side.
"My dad does. He owns a garage here in town and uses his Pokémon to help. My mom died when I was eight; she left me her Pokémon."
"I'm sorry," Sam quietly said after a moment, giving Kurt's hand a gentle squeeze. "At least you have something to remember her by."
Kurt smiled brightly at Sam; the blonde was right. He did have something to remember his mother by, five Pokémon he cared for and cherished as his mother before him had.
"What Pokémon did she leave you?"
"A Jigglypuff (Sam smiled, thinking it was the first thing they had in common even though the Pokémon playing with his brother and sister belonged to their mom, not him), a Starmie, an Eevee, Meowth and a Clefairy."
Sam stopped walking and Kurt was sure any moment now Sam would start ridiculing him and tell him they're no longer best friends. Imagine Kurt's surprise when Sam's eyes widened in shock and his mouth broke into a grin.
"What?" Kurt asked, a little scared of how… exuberant Sam appeared.
"You own a Clefairy? You actually have one?!"
The smaller boy nodded, closing his eyes and beginning to brace himself for the verbal berating that was sure to come.
"Dude… that's so COOL!"
Kurt's eyes snapped open and took in Sam's awestruck expression. "It… is?"
Sam looked at him in utter disbelief. "Dude, you actually own a Clefairy! I've never seen one outside of pictures in Pokémon textbooks. Don't you know how rare they are?"
"I guess…" Kurt said sheepishly. "I— I never really… thought about it. Everyone just makes fun of me for having one."
"Well they should shut their mouths," Sam snapped, lacing his fingers with Kurt and pulling him along the path once more. "Clefairy's a rare Pokémon and has that badass (Kurt gasped because Sam swore!) Metronome attack," he recited, ignoring Kurt's little exclaim. "Did your mom catch it at Mt. Moon?"
Kurt nodded and when he realized Sam didn't see after the blonde was silent for a moment, he said it.
"What did she die of?"
"She had cancer," Kurt swallowed around the lump in his throat. "She's been gone four years now."
His hand was squeezed and Sam looked at Kurt with a sad smile, running his thumb against the back of his hand. "You said you had a Jigglypuff too?"
"I did," Kurt said with another nod that was invisible to Sam.
"Does it help you sleep at night?"
"Yeah," Kurt remembered Sam saying it helped his and his siblings when they couldn't sleep. "Yeah, on the nights where I can't fall asleep naturally I have it Sing to me and I'm out like a light."
"So see? They can just shut up and leave you and your Pokémon alone. And your Eevee? How cool is a Pokémon that can become a million different Pokémon?" he exaggerated excitedly.
Kurt giggled at how silly Sam both looked and sounded but didn't say anything because of how eye-opening he was being; never before had Kurt thought of his Pokémon in the way Sam had.
"Does your Meowth know Pay Day?" Sam asked in a quiet voice as they neared the two little blonde kids Sam labeled his brother and sister.
"Yeah it does. Why do you sound so shy about it?"
Sam's cheeks turned pink and Kurt giggled. "Why so shy?" he asked again.
"We used to have a Meowth," Sam explained, turning his eyes down and walking even slower than they were before. "You know how I said I go to school in North Lima?"
"Yeah," Kurt said, desperately trying to keep the warmth that Sam sparked in his chest from extinguishing.
The blonde boy sucked in a breath. "I— My family and I… we live in Lima Heights."
Kurt wasn't sure where Sam was going with that so he just pulled the boy by the hand to another park bench and sat them down, this time giving Sam's hand a squeeze.
"We used to live in North Lima," he continued, darting his eyes to Kurt's never-changing face every few seconds. "My parents invested a lot of money in those dot-com businesses but when those tanked we lost everything. Even before that happened, it was a little hairy every couple months but we had our Meowth use Pay Day for the times when we needed extra help."
"So you guys lost your house and stuff?" Kurt asked gently, putting some of the pieces to Sam's story together.
Sam nodded, not feeling as sad about it with Kurt's hand in his. "They lost their jobs and our money and when we moved, our Meowth escaped one night and was hit by a car. Now my parents work crap jobs to pay rent on a crap apartment in the crap part of Lima."
This time Kurt pulled Sam in for a hug and the blonde didn't hesitate to wrap his arm around the small boy who was offering him comfort.
"I don't know why I even told you any of that," Sam admitted softly after a quiet minute passed between the two.
Kurt smiled this time and gently pushed Sam up to face him. "Because we're best friends now silly. My mom used to tell me best friends share everything."
With that, Kurt reached under his shirt and Sam heard something click and Kurt was holding something golf ball-sized in his hand. A Poké Ball, Sam realized, feeling stupid for not recognizing it. What else that size was red and white? Kurt pushed the button separating the red and white portions and it grew to the size of a baseball, Sam keeping the hope in his chest from bubbling in case he was left with unmet expectations. Kurt tossed it in front of them and it opened, an explosion of white light taking the shape of… Sam's excitement exploded in his heart as he traced the shape hungrily with his green eyes. A Meowth!
"Meow," the Pokémon said once it took solid shape, bringing a paw up to its mouth and licking it.
"Meow-Meow," Kurt said, crooking his finger at himself and attracting the Pokémon forward.
"You named it Meow-Meow?" Sam asked with a goofy grin, finding it extremely hard to maintain his joy of seeing another Meowth after what happened to his.
"My mom did," Kurt replied as the Meowth leapt into his lap and curled itself into a ball, beginning to purr. "Do you wanna hold it?"
Sam smiled broadly as he gently wrapped his hands around Meowth's belly, the Normal Pokémon opening sleep-filled blue eyes up at the blonde boy before closing them once more.
"It's still purring," Sam whispered in awe as he held the Pokémon against his chest, cradling it like one would a baby.
"Yeah," Kurt smiled at the sight of his new best friend showing such care for his Pokémon. "Meow-Meow really likes its sleep. You know it can use Pay Day?"
The blonde's eyes flashed with something and Kurt's heart skipped a beat at the sight of unshed tears. "If you wanted to get some ice cream or something; maybe your brother and sister would want some," he said as he noticed the two small blondes and Jigglypuff walking over to them.
Sam turned his attention from Kurt and the purring creature he held against his chest to see his brother and sister looking at what was in his arms with a curious expression. The little girl had a few tears running down her cheeks when she saw what her brother was holding; the blonde boy looked like he was trying his best not to cry.
"This is Meow-Meow," Sam said in a soft voice when the two little blondes reached out hesitant hands to pet its fur. "It's my best friend's Kurt Hummel's."
Kurt smiled at the two blondes who smiled back at him. "I'm Stevie," the little boy whispered, turning his attention momentarily from Meowth to Kurt.
"Hi Stevie," Kurt smiled.
"I'm Stacy," the little girl said, stroking Meowth under the chin.
"It really likes that," Kurt stated, following Stacy's hand as she continued what she was doing.
He watched the girl smile when Meowth lifted its head up in its sleep so she could run his finger up and down the entire expanse of its throat.
"Can we hold it?" Stevie asked around gently scratching behind Meowth's ears.
"Sure you can," Kurt exclaimed quietly, turning to Sam.
The Evans' Jigglypuff hopped into Kurt's lap as Sam gently pulled Meowth away from him and set him in Stevie's arms. Kurt winced momentarily as Stevie and Stacy sat down on the ground but pushed it aside once he saw how happy the two looked. Sam quietly scooted closer to Kurt and petted Jigglypuff's head for a moment as the two watched the smaller blondes pet and coddle Kurt's Meowth.
"Do you still want that ice cream?" Kurt asked with a shy grin on his face as he watched his best friend's siblings play with his Pokémon.
Sam reached a hand over for Kurt's and laced their fingers together. "It can wait." Boldly, Sam brought Kurt's hand up to his lips and bestowed a little kiss to the brunette's knuckles. "Thank you for this."
Kurt smiled at the cornflower blonde, heart light with happiness. "What are friends for?"
Author's Note: Well, this is it ^^ Like I said, just a little plot bunny that hatched in my head and demanded to be written. I don't really have a lot more to say about it so please feel free to favorite and review; you liked it, loved it or hated it, please let me know.
Fun Fact: The original title of this story was called The Power of Pink and Purple Pokémon (because I was gonna go into more detail about Kurt's Pokémon but the story direction changed) but I decided to rename it on September 3rd.
This little fic is dedicated to the original Yellow Power Ranger Thùy Trang (14 December 1973 - 3 September 2001), who left us eleven years ago today. I'm dedicating What Are Friends For? to her because episodes of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers have been keeping me company all day :)
*Yes, I'm aware the age Pokémon trainers are licensed is ten but think about it: would you let a ten-year-old Kurt Hummel go off into the world with very little means of protecting himself? I didn't think so.
Chris Colfer's a love; Chord Overstreet is sex on legs. I'll stick with the love… for now! Please review and show me some ^^