Time to take a break from writing 10k+ words chapters so here's a short one-shot.
I don't usually write in 1st person so you might notice a different writing style than my usual.
Despite the title, it is not about angst. How so? Find out!
The exact age of the characters are unecessary but to give you an image of their lives, Gold is in the early 20s.
Also, this is my first non-AdvanceShipping fic. After writing a lot about my anime OTP, it's time to write about my manga OTP. Here's a MangaQuestShipping one-shot.
Enjoy!
"Shuppet, I'm so hungry!" I complained as I rubbed my growling stomach.
Route 37 was not traveler-friendly. There were no street vendors around and I couldn't see anyone... until I turned my head back. There she was, SSG riding her Megaree. The trace of smile on her face showed that she was enjoying the trip. I don't know why, the sight was boring. What was eyecatching about the route? Just loads of plain, old trees.
We were heading to her house in Violet City after that old man Oak made me follow her on a research trip. It lasted all day and neither of us had any meals, hence my hunger. I don't know why her stomach has yet to make a growling noise or why she wasn't complaining about her empty stomach.
Searching through my bag, I found a cake. It would be enough to sate my appetite until I'm home. I gobbled the entire cake in seconds. Furret, that was great! Then, I saw her without her bag, she must've left it at the geezer's lab. I searched my bag again and found that the cake I ate was the last one, but I do find a dried noodle.
"SSG! You're hungry right?" I yelled. Throwing the packet of noodles straight to her mouth, I continued yelling, "There's your dinner!"
"Mmm... mmm" No other sounds could be made as the large object in her mouth restricted its movements. She took the noodle out of her mouth and finally spoke, "It's uncooked, Gold! How do you expect me to eat it?"
I realised my mistake. How stupid could I be? "Hehe, silly me. Explotaro! You know what to do." In an instant, my ever loyal partner released a huge wave of flames in her direction from its mouth. She was then covered in soots.
Oops, my bad again. I looked for Poltaro's ball and when it was found, I immediately pressed the large white button.
"Poltaro!" I commanded. "Give her water!" My frog partner followed my orders without any hesitation. He shot her a jet of water.
She and her clothes were now soaked. I grinned after seeing the success of my work.
"Gold! You're so irresponsible!" she screamed angrily.
"Hahaha! This is how Gold from New Bark Town does things!"
She ordered Megaree to run faster and soon she caught up with me. I then received a beating from her.
"Oww! You too serious!"
"You're always like this! You inconsiderate jerk!"
"Not inconsiderate. I'd call it being fun."
"Fun? Fun?" She pulled me by the collar and yelled straight to my face. "How is that fun?"
"You should've seen yourself in the mirror. It's hilarious!"
"I fail to see the humour in it. You should treat girls better!"
"I do what I want!"
I hate her and her seriousness. I don't know why people go through great lengths to make sure that we were together. Do they know how annoying it is? I've had enough of it! I'll talk to that woman and see what should be done. If the Dexholders were a family, she would be the mother.
The next day, after I took a shower and brushed my teeth, I summoned Togetaro from his PokéBall and flew straight for her house. The trip took over 3 hours. I don't usually go on a trip that long, but it was worth it.
I was now at the front door of her house. A nice, simple, two-storied house. Nothing too extravagant. Well, it's to be expected. After all, that's where her husband lived for his entire life. That man, does he even know the word luxury?
Knocking at the front door, I was greeted by a little girl who was as tall as my waist. Long, straight, jet-black hair and azure eyes. She tugged my legs and asked merrily, "Uncle Gold! Why are you here?"
"Good Morning, Violet!" I replied while smiling. Arceus, she's so adorable. "Where's mummy & daddy?"
"Ah, I don't know what they're doing but mama is lying on top of papa in the living room and they are sucking each other's mouths. Gross!" She puckered to emphasise her disgust at her parent's actions.
"I see. Can I come in?"
"Sure!" She pulled my pants with incredible strength. Where she got that strength, I would never know. When she brought me to the living room, her parents were as she described.
I made a very loud cough to interrupt their actions and attract their attentions. "You two are really indecent, making out while your daughter was awake." While glaring and pointing my fingers at the woman, I raised my voice, "And you! Seducing him in front of your daughter. I know because he would never ever make the first move. To think everyone calls me indecent."
My voice came as a surprise to them. Both their body's jerked in response to it. The woman shrieked while the man was silent, but a not-so-faint blush was seen on his face.
"Gold!" she exclaimed. "Did you break into our house?"
"Who's our resident lockpicker?" I retorted. "Anyways, no. I knocked politely and Violet let me in. She saw what you were doing and was disgusted."
"She was watching us?" she inquired.
"Of course she was! When two people are making out, they made noises."
"Oops, my bad. So anyways, are you here to train with him?"
"Oh. No no no." I answered while waving my hand. "I'm here to talk with you, since you're the expert."
A smirk on her face appeared. "Hmm... what's the problem with Crys and you?"
I couldn't help but gasp at her accuracy. She was able to deduce it with such little information. It was as if she could read my mind. "How... how did you know?"
"Hohoho~" she laughed with a high pitch. "It's so obvious!"
I turned to the man and asked politely, "Hey you want to talk with us? It's not that private."
"Uhh..." he rubbed his head. "I'm not that good when it comes to relationships so I'm not sure if I can be much of a help. I'll just go outside with Violet. Besides, I promised her to go to Lime's house today."
"Okay, if you say so." I walked to Violet and kneeled such that my face was level with hers. "Violet, will you tell uncle about your day with Lime?"
"Of course! See you later, mama and uncle!" She left the house with the man, leaving both of us inside.
She gestured me to sit on the couch, which I accepted happily. "So Gold, what's the problem?"
The burning anger reignited inside my heart as I recalled the previous day. "I HATE her! I really, really hate her! That old hag! That demon!"
She placed both her hands on my shoulders. "Calm down! She must be on your mind often. Okay, you say you hate her. I and the Dexholders, well apart from Red because he's still as dense as ever, knew how to solve your problem."
"What?" I stood up and yelled. "And you didn't tell me! If you knew it all along, why didn't you tell me?"
"Sit down," she said calmly. "We all thought that you would be able to figure it out since you're not Red."
"So, how do you fix this problem I have with SSG?"
"First of all, the feelings you felt for her isn't hate."
Did she just said that? What I felt wasn't hate? That was impossible! This burning feeling from my heart, the ache that was so powerful that I needed to cup it with my hand to lessen the pain, how could it not be hate?
"Impossible!" I replied loudly and without hesitation. "What is it then?" I asked with a smug look on my face, I'm sure that she will stutter as she could not reply to my challenge.
"Well Gold, that feeling is-" she paused after that. Haha! I won! She paused because she didn't know what to say afterwards. The word that came afterwards shocked me. It was spoken in a very firm tone, it was unlike a word that was thought only recently, it sounded like she had known the answer from long ago. "Love."
There we go, another surprise. How was it possible that I was falling for her? That's Tauros-dung! The super fun me and the super serious her together? Hah, funny.
"That's nonsense. Me and her on the bed with me pressing my lips against her luscious, enchanting lips and wrestling our tongues? Not gonna happen!"
"The fact that you blurted out images of you and her making out in detail shows how much you love her."
"No! I... hate... her!"
I could hear her sigh. She said, "You know what? I couldn't convince you like this, so how about you write on a piece of paper why you hate her. That'll ought to show me your hatred for her. Tomorrow, we'll meet at the café and you hand me the piece of paper."
"You're on, girl! I'll show you why I hate that woman!" I shouted as I ran to the front door and left her house before I ordered Togetaro to bring me home.
When I finally reached my house, I rushed to my desk and took a sheet of paper and a pen from the drawer before starting to write. Yeah, I know. I should've taken things slowly. Taking my shoes off, neatly putting it inside the cupboard and walking casually to my room. It's not like I'm in a rush, I have all day to do it but I want to do it as soon as possible. There'll be the satisfaction in putting my hate for her on paper.
By the time I was done, the sky was pitch-black. I didn't realise that it took hours, they do say that time flies when you're having fun. Venting, expressing my hate, releasing all my pent-up stress, the feeling was ecstatic. I felt invigorated.
My stomach growled, telling me to have a meal soon. I forgot to have lunch and dinner as my mind was solely focused on the task. I'm not in the mood to spend much so I guess I'll settle for a boxed meal at the PokéMart.
The next day, I went to the café which she chose. I ordered a cup of warm coffee from the waitress and waited for that woman. The paper was safe inside a folder, which was on the table. I can't wait to shove the paper on her face and prove her that I truly hate Crys.
I will win! I poured all my heart into the paper. Anyone that reads it would understand how much I hate her. No hatred were as strong as this.
After an hour, I saw a long-haired brunette who was wearing a black dress approaching my table. She was finally here! Nowhere in this paper do I show any traces of love towards here. As soon as she sat, I handed her the folder, before she could even order anything.
"Here you go! Pages after pages explaining why I hate her."
She kept her cool. "Okay, drink your coffee while I read it."
Despite it being a long note, I could still somehow remember everything I had written. Maybe, it's my intense hatred for her that caused this. While taking a sip, I recalled what I wrote.
Why I Hate Crystal by Gold
Voice
"Gold, what are you doing?"
That annoying tone was simply too much for me. Her loud, obnoxious voice would linger inside my head. My ears were ringing, it felt like multiple stabs. Sharp vocal needles piercing through my precious and delicate ears. Covering my ears with both my hands, I hoped that the voice would fade. Did it work? No, it backfired horribly! It resonated instead, getting louder and louder as time passed. Oh, the agony! I wondered if my ears would bleed from the violent verbal assault.
Even when we were in a large crowd, her voice was always clear. I can always distinguish it from the others. For example, at the Dexholders' annual gathering, Blue and I would cause some riot and trouble. Everyone let out ear-splitting noises, well apart from Yellow because she was a very reserved girl. Sapphire was bickering with Ruby, as always, I could see from their bodies' movements, but I couldn't hear any of them, despite Sapphire being one of the loudest Dexholders.
From the rowdy mixture of voices, I could clearly point one; hers. She was yelling something about me being an idiot. The voices faded until I could no longer hear them. I thought that my brain was overworked with the overwhelming amount of information, which resulted in it shutting down partially to recover. I agreed, my ears would need some rest. But no, one voice would just not leave my head! To add salt to the wound, it's hers.
There were rare occasions where I'm free, she was nowhere to be found. Without her, I thought that I could be free from her voices. Wrong. My brain would just play it again and again. I shook my head rapidly and banged it against the wall or table forcefully. Ouch! Yeah, it hurts a lot but that's exactly what I aimed for. The intense pain would hopefully distract my mind from her. Hopefully. I yelled inappropriate words in pain but it did not distract my brain from her voice. I still could hear it perfectly clear.
I hate Crystal because her voice was loud and annoying.
Eyes
Did you really think that only her voice haunted my brain? As if it wasn't enough of a curse, her face would me on my mind 24/7. There was no way I could escape from her. I tried the same method to get her face off my mind. Of course, same methods yield same results.
One day, I woke up with a great smile on my face. I was invigorated, I feel like I could run for the entire day without any traces of exhaustion. Ah... the magic of a good night's sleep. What would the day have for me? I couldn't wait to see. Then, the entire day was ruined when out of the blue, my brain started to imagine her. Images of her continued to flow inside my mind, no matter what I was doing. Whether it'll be brushing my teeth, walking, or having a practice battle with Red. Oh, I so owe her one for my defeat to him. Granted, he was my mentor and the Kanto Champion but still, I lost in a very humiliating way. Exbo, my number one partner was defeated by his Vee with such ease, and he was not even Red's main Pokémon. The image of her face made me unable to think about anything else, she completely occupied my mind.
The image of her was sufficient to drive me mad, imagine what the real her could do? I would always accompany her on research trips. Not that I wanted to, that old geezer Oak insisted that I be her bodyguard. Seriously? Professor, why would she need a bodyguard? Her nasty kicks would be enough to scare the living daylights out of even the most terrifying legendaries. So anyways, that's why I get to see her so often.
On one of those trips, I stared at her and it's affecting my mind. Those alluring blue eyes were hypnotic. When I looked at her eyes, it commanded my eyes to continue staring at her and to not look elsewhere. For some strange reason, it complied with her. I can't move my head and eyes, they were locked. Hey eyes, you're mine! Why are you listening to her? Then, her eyes somehow told me to lessen the distance between our faces.
I wanted to refuse those orders, I wanted to resist but then I felt a sting in my head. I clutched it with both my hands, attempting to alleviate the pain, to no success. Something in my head urged me to comply with her eye's command. The pain was slowly crumbling my resistance until it reached the point where I no longer had the will to resist. My face was approaching until I saw that our lips were about to meet. Wait! Our lips? No!
I mustered all the strength that I have left to break away from the pull before our lips could touch each other. The struggle was exceedingly difficult. I could feel the agonising strain from the pull of both her eyes and my own free will. It was a tough battle but I would never lose. I am Gold! I have beaten the notorious Team Rocket... twice! My opponent now was only a girl. Defeat was never an option. After a long fight, I ran out of energy. I was about to let go off my pull and let myself be sucked into her lips.
At the last moment, I broke free of her eye's pull. The glory! It was great! At last, I was free from her control, her spell. Then, I looked at her and noticed a change in her eyes. It no longer had the bright tint it used to have. She looked... disappointed. I wondered why she would be disappointed until I mentally slapped myself for not realising it. Anyone who saw the scene would know that I was trying to kiss her. Such attitude from a friend was unacceptable. I could understand it. Everyone knew that I was a flirt. She would've trusted me to be decent enough to not kiss any girl and I've betrayed that trust by attempting it on her. Arceus-dammit! I wanted to tell her that it was her fault, it was her who put me under her spell. But who would believe me?
What magic did her eyes have? I had stared at many people's eyes and none of them ever had this effect on me. Never had their eyes took control of my body from its rightful owner.
I hate Crystal because her eyes could mess with my mind.
Discrimination
I was treated differently by her from others. Sapphire and her are similar when they were angry; the sheer volume and intensity of their yells could put an Exploud to shame. The difference between the two was that Sapphire could yell at anyone with her short temper, although it's strange that Ruby suffers her wrath the most, while she would yell at only me.
"I told you so!"
"This is what happens when you never listen!"
"You are such a reckless boy!"
Those scoldings were exclusive to me. I really don't understand why she would only yell at me. Blue sometimes do far worse things than me but she never received the kind of yell I received. Another well-known prankster was Emerald. That midget would do horrendous stuffs and when he was caught, she would only say things like, "Please don't do it again." Not only were her words less harsh, her voice was quieter than the voice she would use when scolding me.
She would criticise everything I do, saying that it's too dangerous or that I could severely injure myself. She is not my mother. Besides, everything I did was previously calculated. Did she really think that I was that much of an idiot? Of course, the only person to get that kind of treatment was me. Red was also as reckless as me, maybe more, but never even once did he get yelled by her. Not fair! Why only me?
Okay, so she's not the only one who worked for him. I too work for him, although as a side job. He would send me on some weird random mission, like that one time I have to go all the way to Snowpoint City to investigate thieveries. After some coercing, I agreed to do the work. Don't ask me why I agreed, because I don't even remember it. So at the day of the mission, I was in the living room with my equipments ready. At the sound of the grandfather clock, I dashed to the front door. I want to get this task done as quickly as possible.
As I opened the front door, I saw something I would never have expected. Dark blue hairs and blue eyes. What was she doing here? When I questioned her harshly, she replied in an equally harsh tone. She yelled into my ears that she was coming with me to Snowpoint City to make sure that I don't screw things up like I usually do. So reluctantly, I brought her with me. The trip was awful, she kept spurting nonsense about my safety. What am I? 5? I absolutely hate it when she acts like my mum. What's worse is that she only acts like that to me. Not Silvy, not Prissy-boy, not Wild-child, not Rald, just me!
I hate Crystal because she treats me differently from others.
Seriousness
Seriously? I've never known someone as serious as her! I don't think such a person even existed. Does she even know the meaning of having fun? She's all about work, work, work.
Professor Oak's assistant. That's what she's famous for. However she does more than that. She's also a volunteer at Mr. Earl's Orphanage, that's where you will probably find her should she not be on an errand for that geezer.
Weekends were supposed to be a time for unwinding from the work during the weekdays. Heh, you won't believe it but even I have a job; helping the old couple run the daycare centre. At weekends, you can find me at the game corner or Red's house in Pallet Town though sometimes I get my kicks by bothering Silvy. That's what I call fun! Now, what do you think she do? Well, her idea of weekend is serving and helping kids at the orphanage. I fail to see the logic here, how does one recuperate from work by doing more work
She was second on my to-disturb list after my buddy Rocket-boy. When he's unavailable, I would always be in Violet City visiting a certain girl's house. I would always see her panting and sighing at night. She was less attentive than usual; I could insult her while yelling and she would not hear me. Her walk was wobbly, she looked like she would stumble anytime. One would not be blamed for thinking that she was drunk, but she's not. Despite being well above the legal age, she had never ever taken a sip. The cause of her attitude was exhaustion. It's common sense, that's what happens to your body when you work over 80 hours a week.
Crys, you are too serious! Chill a little. Look at the mirror. You say you are fine. Well, I'd hate to see you being sick. Even in this condition, you make me very worried. Do you know the reason why I visited you almost everyday? When I say it's to bother you, I lied. The real reason is that to help you feel better. There's this unpleasant sensation in my heart when you're ill. Do you know how much trouble I had when taking care of you? Cooking, checking the temperature, locking you inside your own house so you don't worsen your condition by working. That's a lot of work! Imagine if you took rests. You would be much better, there would be no unpleasant feelings in my heart and I could visit you only to bother you. You need to have fun! Your body needs to relax.
I hate Crystal because her seriousness destroys her little by little.
She put the paper down and inserted it to the folder before returning it to me. I expected her to show a neutral face and understood my hate. What she showed me instead was a loud laugh.
"I was right after all! You said you'll show me how much you hate her but this paper told me otherwise. You have proved me how much you love her. Is this a love confession?"
How could it be? It was obviously hate? Love? Impossible!
"Explain to me how this paper showed you that I loved her!" I commanded her sternly.
"Geez," she muttered as she rubbed her head. "Of course I will. First, her voice never left your head because it wants to hear it. Your head wants to hear her voice because you subconsciously want to have her by your side constantly. Her voice had a different effect on you than others because that's how you see her. That shows how much you love her."
"Different? Of course, nowhere is my hatred towards anyone as strong as my hatred towards her."
"Hear me out before you comment. The reason that her eyes can control you is because you want to obey her. Don't they say that you'd do anything for the one you loved?"
"But-" I began to have no replies to her words. I couldn't counter her. Was she correct all along? No, there was no way I loved her. But then, what other explanations were there?
"She treated you differently from others. You claimed to hated it but the truth is you actually loved it. You loved being different in her eyes."
"You say that you hate her because she overworked herself until she's ill and so you were forced to be by her side. Also, the pain in your heart at the sight of a less-than-healthy her. Who wouldn't be hurt at the sight of a person they love being ill?"
She's right, why would the feeling be unpleasant? It was supposed to be pleasant since I hated her. But me loving that serious gal?
"You know that you can visit her every once in a while, so why do you stick with her? No one is forcing you. You were extremely concerned with her well-being, no one does that for a person they hate. In contrast, that's a normal attitude if you loved the other person."
Well, she has a point. Why would I be that concerned with a person I hate? It was not necessary for me to stay with her, but I felt like it's my duty. Maybe I am in love with her after all.
"That's all I can say, Gold. Think properly and I'm sure you'll come to terms with your love for her."
"Okay," I said faintly and with a low-voice. I was defeated.
"But don't worry about her not loving you. From your note, I could tell that she is madly in love with you."
"What? But the way she acts!"
"You misinterpreted it. Read your own note carefully and you'll see it."
I finished my cup of coffee and greeted her goodbye. Immediately, I went back to my house. I lied on my bed with my hands behind my head while gazing at the ceiling, thinking about my feelings for her. Hours were spent without moving a single inch, but it was a time well-spent as I had arrived at the answer.
I left my bed and went to my desk. I put a giant cross over each page of the note that I spent hours writing and pouring my heart on it, leaving only the title untouched. There were no regrets as I decided to scrap my old work. It was useless, I was terribly mistaken. At the very bottom of the paper, I wrote a new line neatly, as that was my final work. I was deeply satisfied with it. Why write pages of Tauros-dung when you can answer the question with only one sentence?
I hate Crystal because...
.
.
.
.
.
...she stole my heart.
I have deliberately ommited Gold's confession to Crystal as it would blur the main idea of this fic. How the confession would be like is up to you readers. You make your own scenario.
Just as the woman said, the note contains evidence of Crystal's love towards Gold. Can you find it?
Who was the woman that Gold met and who was her husband? They are not OCs although their child is one. I have left many clues for you to deduce their identity. The child is the key. Everything about her is a hint.
Just a side note, she didn't call Gold Uncle because he's blood-related to one of her parents. It's because he was very close to her parents.
Can you tell me your answers to the questions above by either PM or review? I will post the answers along with the explanations next week so stay tuned. Follow this story to get instant notification.
I have low experience in writing 1st person stories since I am most comfortable with 3rd person. I would greatly appreciate it if you would comment on it and suggest improvements.