AN: Pokemon GO has been out for what, a month now? I haven't been able to play it as much as I want to, but I'm still in love with it and play it whenever I have the chance. And that playing has inspired this silly little thing. I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Xena or Pokemon GO!
It was Iolaus who convinced her to download the stupid app.
For days he had been complaining about his friend's lack of interest, bemoaning the fact that he was the only one who played. It was almost as bad as his complaining when the servers crashed, though at least then they all had a series of rebuttles to make him shut up about that- it wasn't supposed to be released worldwide yet and they were scrambling to get bigger servers; it's good this many people are showing interest so they'll keep working on the game and adding more; it just means that much more money for the company. Within a day of the game being released, they all had half a dozen responses that shut him up about the stupid thing, at least temporarily.
Combined with him constantly interrupting their morning runs ("Wait, Xena, there's something nearby! I need to get this.") so he could visit the stops and catch the things, Xena had been two seconds away from wrestling his phone away from him and throwing it into the river when he convinced her to give it a try herself.
"Come on, Xena," he said with that pout of his- not that it did him any good. It had done nothing for him when they had been dating, and certainly did nothing now that they were just friends. "It's addicting, and who knows? You might even like it. Come on, just for one day."
So, to shut him up and get him out of her hair about the stupid thing, Xena, when she got home from their run, opened Google Play and downloaded Pokémon Go.
It was interesting, to say the least. She had been big into Pokémon when she had been younger, though in part because of Lyceus- he had been obsessed, and it was hard not to be into it when every morning, the first cartoon of the day while they ate their breakfasts before school featured Pikachu. She had played the games, collected the cards, did everything else kids back then had done, and she had enjoyed it.
Until Lyceus had passed. Then she had hung up her trainer's hat and moved on, completely uncaring of the newest developments that happened within the world.
She hadn't been planning on playing for long- get through the tutorial, maybe catch two or three Pokémon and go to a couple of stops, and then delete the stupid thing off her phone. Just so she could say she had tried it, to get Iolaus off her back.
It was almost a week later, and she had to admit, it really was kind of cute. And addicting.
She had, of course, started with Charmander, the same starter she had chosen all those years ago, when she had been a child. After reaching level five, she had joined Iolaus in Team Valor- becoming as strong as possible had appealed to her. They passed multiple stops along the route they took for their morning run, and now that she was involved, the multiple stops to collect the pokeballs and catch the occasional Pokémon that crossed their path were amusing instead of annoying (if still a bit too frequent for her tastes. They were supposed to be working out, not stopping every three minutes to get the supplies).
Even better yet, a gym- one they passed daily, but was too far out of the way for most people- was also along their path. The moment they had joined their team, the two had taken it over, reaping the rewards of the daily bonus without fear of losing it.
Until the day they did.
It was a group of Instincts, the three of them suddenly showing up as the owners of their gym. Iolaus had been pissed- it was their gym, literally on their terf, and who did these people think they were, taking it from them? Xena hadn't minded, not really. It was a game, for Zeus' sake, and the group that had taken it over from them were better. Plus, they were probably a one time annoyance- no one other than them went out that far, so it was probably a group of by passers who wouldn't even miss the gym when they took it back. Which they did, the two of them standing there, looking like idiots on their phones, quickly reclaiming their gym and replacing the original, weak Pokémon they had set up there with some of their strongest. With Iolaus happy with their conquest, the two had continued on their run, sure in their ownership of the gym.
Except, the very next day, the gym was yellow once again.
For days it went on like this- every morning they would take back the gym, only for this mysterious group to come back and claim it sometime later in the day. Their Pokémon were never that strong- Xena and Iolaus, whenever they took back the gym, always did so easily, their Pokémon taking out the weaker competition quickly and easily. But they had numbers on their side. Three against two meant more attacks, more man power to take them out, and it didn't surprise Xena that they kept on winning.
It pissed off Iolaus, though, and finally he snapped.
"We're going on a stake out," he practically growled, holding up a bag full of water bottles and snacks. "Neither of us has work, and I want to see who it is who keeps taking our gym."
"Iolaus, you're acting insane," Xena groaned, leaning against her door, tightening her robe around herself. She had been awake, enjoying the easy comfort that came from a Saturday morning lying in bed, reading the news on her phone, and this interruption over something as stupid as a game was unwelcome. "It's just a gym."
"It's our gym," he huffed. "And I'm going whether you come with me or not."
Xena, rolling her eyes, had just shaken her head and closed the door in his face, only to come out ten minutes later fully dressed and ready to go. "You're a grown man and you're being ridiculous," Xena informed him. "Let's go."
It didn't take them long to get to the gym- an old, historical farm, they passed it early on in their run, meaning for the last week they had been starting their day with the battles for the gym. Settling in under one of the large trees that faced the road, Iolaus had immediately gone into surveillance mode, aggressively eyeing any car that came too close to their spot, just waiting for someone to stop and begin the fight. All while Xena pulled open her e-mail and began to sort through the spam she had received that week.
It was a nice day for this, at least, the sun shining but not too hot, a nice breeze blowing through to keep them cool. The snacks he had even packed were decent enough, though they had nothing on the breakfast she had been planning on making. All in all, not too bad of a morning, even if she did have to tune out his constant angry muttering.
By the time two o'clock rolled around, Xena was this close to dragging Iolaus back to his apartment so she could go home when a car rolled up and stopped, three people exiting the vehicle and staring at their phones.
The driver, a gangly man, cursed as he examined the gym, rolling his eyes as he looked at their status. "These two again," he said, loud enough for them to hear, though it didn't seem as if he knew they were there. "When are they going to give up? We're clearly the superior trainers- they should just leave this gym to us, and go to one of the other hundred gyms Valor's taken."
"If they're so good, Joxer," the second one, a brunette, petite woman, asked, "then why do they keep taking it back? And why is this one so important to you? Do we really have to drive all the way out here just for some rickety old barn?"
"Lila," Joxer said, his voice condescending, "you really don't understand. This farm…"
Xena tuned out the speech as the third Instinct trainer walked around the car, her eyes wide as she looked up from her phone to examine the scene around her.
She was cute. Really cute, almost like the human personification of a red-headed Eevee or Pidgy, and that was all Xena could focus on. At least until Iolaus pushed himself to his feet and stormed over, his face a mask of rage as he went to confront the other trainers.
"Your friend is really angry." Xena jumped slightly as the voice spoke up beside her, turning just in time to watch the woman she had been watching before Iolaus distracted her flop onto the ground next to her, still staring at her phone. Glancing up, the woman smiled brightly before holding out her hand. "I'm Gabrielle."
"Xena," she replied, taking the offered appendage, giving it a firm shake and a nod. "And he's a bit…passionate about this game," she said with a sigh, shaking her head. "Which one are you?"
"The four-thirty Venusaur," Gabrielle replied with a nod. "Though he's only my second strongest. My Eevee's five-fifty, and I'm hoping to get her up into the six-hundreds before I evolve her. And let me guess," she said with a small grin, tapping her chin. "You're the eight-seventeen Pidgeot?"
"Guilty as charged," Xena chuckled, shaking her head and relaxing more against the tree. It was nice, just talking to this girl about the game, without the overwhelming competitiveness that Iolaus often brought into it. "Why are you all so far out here," Xena asked, filling the comfortable silence they had fallen into. "It seems pretty far out of your way, from the way the other woman was acting."
"My friend Joxer's family used to own this farm," Gabrielle said with a shrug, looking over to where Joxer and Iolaus were arguing and rolling her eyes. "He says it's a pride thing, owning it as a gym, so he keeps making my sister and I come out here to take control."
"So I'll have to thank him for the chance to meet you." Xena almost took herself by surprise- she thought the other woman was cute, yes, but the flirting even caught her off guard, though she hid her feelings when Gabrielle blushed and laughed softly to herself, her gaze glancing down to the grass around them.
"I guess you will," she replied, giving a small, shy grin back, her cheeks keeping their flaming hue. "I'll have to do the same."
"Would it be inappropriate to ask for your number," Xena finally said, nodding down at the phone Gabrielle still held in her hands. "Maybe we can go Pokémon hunting together one day."
"Or maybe to a little coffee shop down the street from me for lunch," Gabrielle offered instead, her smile bright even as the flush on her cheeks deepened. "If you wanted to get out of the game for a bit."
"A coffee shop sounds great."
Exchanging numbers, Xena was about to suggest they leave the others to their argument when Joxer stormed over, his face dark as he held out the keys to Gabrielle.
"Let's go, Gabs," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder to glare at a smug looking Iolaus. "We'll have to come back later." Dropping the keys into her lap, he returned to the side of the car, where Lila tried to calm him.
"I better get them out of here, before he decides to take it physical," Gabrielle said, rolling her eyes as she pushed herself to her feet. "I'm sure your friend would win- Joxer's kind of a wimp, and I don't feel like driving him to the hospital. See you around?"
"Maybe tomorrow, at your coffee shop," Xena ventured, watching Gabrielle's face carefully to see if the offer would be accepted or politely turned down. "Say, noon?"
"Noon sounds great." Biting her lip, Gabrielle hesitated for a moment before bending over, placing a quick kiss against Xena's cheek before fleeing, scurrying back to the car and hoping into the driver's seat before Xena could respond.
Iolaus, unaware of the wide grin covering Xena's face, was crowing about his victory over the other man as he returned to her side. Walking along besides her as they finally went home, he remained oblivious for the entire walk, not even noticing when Xena tuned him out to instead focus on the text she had just received.
"I forgot to tell you, I really like your trainer name. 'WarriorPrincess' suits you.'
'BattlingBard' suits you as well, Xena texted back, smiling at her phone. You'll have to tell me how you came up with it.
Tomorrow. ;)
Xena was never quite so glad that Iolaus had convinced her to download the stupid little app, nor was she quite so happy to have been taken in by the game.