Author's Note: Ahaha, you guys probably hate me for never updating my story. Fear not! I've had some rough times recently suffering with various things in life, but I intend to rebound my writing activities as soon and as often as possible. In apology for leaving you with an unfinished story, I give you a pairing that I've actually made up myself. I call it Eonshipping, and it is a Clair/Sabrina ship from Pokémon. If you don't like it, don't read it. I can't tell you my thought process for inventing such a pairing, but I find that it actually works from my headcanon perspective of the characters' personalities. Anyway, give it a shot if you like. I intend to update my story fairly soon, or at least bombard you with tons of oneshots filled with shipping goodness to make up for my absence. I have lots of good ideas from various pairings that I enjoy. So, here you are friends, happy reading!
It was a cold, snowy afternoon in Blackthorn City. Tiny snowflakes fell to the ground, creating a plush white blanket that glimmered in the afternoon sun. Most sensible people stayed indoors, as it tended to get extremely cold in the mountainous regions. Of course, Clair's family wasn't a very sensible one.
The Dragon-type gym leader grumbled and pulled her cloak tighter around herself. She wore her usual attire, except for the addition of wooly gray sweatpants and a thick blue sweater. Clair had been relaxing at home only minutes ago, drinking hot coffee in front of the fireplace and generally avoiding the cold. Of course, her grandfather just had to ruin her day off by calling her out into the Dragon's Den for meditation. Clair would have refused, but she had missed last week's session due to a late battle (which she won flawlessly, needless to say), and she did not need her grandfather to give her a lecture on responsibility, and the importance of spending time with family. Her cousin, the Kanto Champion, Lance, was supposed to be there today as well, but would probably find an excuse to stay home and not freeze to death. Lance almost always had an excuse, but Grandfather never scolded him, being the busy little Champion he is. Clair honestly doubted that so many trainers even made it to Lance's room, but their granddad was too busy being proud of his Champion grandson to care.
A cold gust of wind blew in suddenly, and Clair shivered. The stubborn Dragon Tamer rubbed the steadily dropping snowflakes out of her eyelashes as she reached the pool of water guarding the entrance to the Dragon's Den. Surprisingly, it had not yet frozen over. Clair plucked a Pokéball from her belt and released the Pokémon inside into the water.
He certainly doesn't look happy, Clair thought as her Kingdra thrashed grumpily in the water. Ice was, after all, a dragon's only weakness. Well, ice and other dragons. Unfortunately, Clair needed a way to get across the water, and she certainly wasn't swimming. She patted the Pokémon's head comfortingly and climbed onto its back. Almost immediately, Kingdra darted to the other side. Clair hopped off onto the snow-covered ground and quickly returned her Pokémon. She sighed, the hot air from her breath curling upwards towards the sky. Right now, she wished she had a nice, warm Pokéball she could retreat into. Although the Dragon Tamer didn't fear the cold like a dragon would, it was certainly not pleasant. She just couldn't comprehend how Pryce and all the other Ice-type Leaders could feel so homely in such conditions.
A few steps into ankle-deep snow later and Clair was at the mouth of the cave. However, it didn't feel as if it would be any warmer inside. She silently cursed her grandfather and cousin as she descended the ladder into the heart of the cave. Her boots clicked on the hard floor as she reached the bottom. Clair put her hands on her hips and looked for signs of other living humans.
To the general public, the Dragon's Den was nothing special. It's simply a vast cave filled mostly with water, with a broken bridge and an oddly-shaped building floating amidst shipwrecks and large rocks. However, to Clair and her family, it was their home. She and Lance had lived together with their grandfather in that very building since they were small. Granddad had trained the pair in the Ways of the Dragon, and he gave them each a Dratini as their first Pokémon. Lance was always the more privileged child, and Clair knew it, but that never stopped her from overexerting herself in order to push ahead of her cousin. Her grandfather told her that she couldn't change her destiny, but she never listened to him. Perhaps that was why he decided to punish her with winter meditation sessions today.
Clair let out an exasperated sigh, watching as the condensed air curled upwards and disappeared. She saw no sign of her grandfather or Lance. There were no lights visible in the small shrine that creaked softly from its perch in the middle of the water. Usually, one of her family members would meet her at the ladder, but there was no one there. Clair snorted. This wasn't the first time she had been stood up by her own family, but her ears certainly weren't freezing off the last time it happened.
Determined still to get the upper hand on her over-eccentric grandfather and her dopey cousin, she trotted deeper into the cave towards their usual meditation spot. She considered releasing her Dragonite to keep her company, but decided it would be more of a punishment to her Pokémon than it would be a comfort to her. Besides, what had she to fear in this silly old cave anyhow?
Clair jumped a mile when a shadowy figure whizzed past her in the near darkness.
"What the hell?" She cried, stumbling backwards. She tottered on the edge of the pool of water within the cave, and the slick mud beneath her feet gave way. Clair screamed as she fell swiftly towards the chilling murk of the cave pool.
Suddenly, the girl's feet caught in near midair. She stopped falling and rocked precariously between the wet and the dry. Almost as if gravity had been delayed, Clair had been suspended at an impossible angle. The air around her tugged her gently back to her feet, and her boots sunk once more into solid ground. The Dragon Tamer blinked once, twice, before shaking her head with angry resolve. She was about to curse her grandfather for her near-tragedy when she caught a figure out of the corner of her eye, set upon the cliff above. Someone was sitting up there, looking down at her, with a small smile on her face. Demurred, Clair fetched a Pokéball from her belt, too impatient to run to the stairs. She summoned her Dragonite in a flash of white light and they glided to the top of the small bluff, with Clair jumping down first as her Pokémon landed gracefully behind her.
"Hey!" She called out to the back of a purplish-blue head. It was a girl she was talking too, seated cross-legged on a deep violet blanket with an odd design printed in green. She was poised in the traditional meditation pose, and Clair almost felt sorry for breaking her out of her trance, until she turned around. The girl had short violet hair, delicate facial features, and the most stunning red eyes the Dragon Tamer had ever seen. Lance had a similar shade of eye color, but Clair had never exactly dwelled on how attractive they may have been. The girl's mouth curled into a shy smile, and Clair realized she had been staring. She cleared her throat, a little too loudly.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, her tone a notch more icy than she had intended. "I mean, it's really cold out. There aren't usually a lot of people in here in the winter, or anytime else really." She couldn't help but smile at the airy laugh that came out of the girl, who was still sitting down.
"Oh, I come here all the time." Her voice was somewhat gravelly, but in an endearing way. She unfolded her legs and began to stand up. She was wearing a purple sleeveless top that stopped just above her midriff and white pants with a black belt. There were two large black bands on either of her wrists, each with a ring of pulsating green light around the center. Her hair was cut short just so that it accented her facial features quite well. Just as Clair began to realize that she was once again staring at her new companion, a dark shadow began to materialize behind her. Clair bit back a scream.
"Hey, look behind you!" The girl turned around just as a face appeared in the darkness. Clair reached out to grab her but her Dragonite held her back. The cave was quickly filled with synonymous laughter from both the girl and the figure, which Clair now recognized as the shape of a Pokémon.
"Gengar." Clair mentally kicked herself for thinking that there were any truly dangerous shadow things lurking in her cave. She had only lived here her entire life. Dragonite smirked from behind her and urged her closer to the smaller girl. The Dragon Tamer turned around to give her Pokémon a dirty look, earning only an innocent shrug in return. She flushed again when she realized the close proximity of the two, and how the other was smiling expectantly up at her.
"What's your name?" She asked gently. Clair blinked. What was her name?
"Oh. I'm Clair. I run the gym here in Blackthorn City." She held her head up proudly. Her Dragonite struck a dramatic pose beside her, making the girl chuckle.
"Interesting. I'm Sabrina, and this is Gethin." She gestured toward her Pokémon. "I'm from Saffron Gym in Kanto." Clair was intrigued almost instantly. A Kanto gym leader? Here? It wasn't unheard of for leaders to visit other regions, but why Sabrina would be in the Dragon's Den of all places was a mystery to her.
"What kind of gym do you run? Ghost?" Clair hadn't meant for that to be as blunt as it sounded. She was making an honest attempt to be friendly, but her naturally gruff nature combined with the knot in her stomach at the girl's presence was making it extremely hard. Nevertheless, Sabrina was undeterred by the bite in her tone.
"No. I use psychic types." Clair had to clench every muscle in her body in order to restrain herself from letting out a groan. Those damn psychics! The Dragon Tamer had never been friendly with those types of people. She fiercely believed that only Pokémon could have psychic abilities, and any human who tried to prove otherwise was a big joke to her. Still, there was a chance Sabrina could be a psychic trainer without actually believing she was psychic herself, because that would be pure nonsense. Clair began to ask exactly what was on her mind when Sabrina interrupted her.
"You're a Dragon Tamer, I'm guessing?" Gethin had moved closer to Dragonite and the two began to converse in their own silly Pokémon language.
"Of course. Arceus knows it's the only reason I would ever hang around in a place like this." Even if Sabrina did believe she was a psychic, calling her a Dragon Tamer was far from proving herself correct. She had a dragon Pokémon with her, and she was in the Dragon's Den. Sabrina could have just as easily passed by the gym earlier and guessed what type she trained from the inside layout. It was all too easy.
"Not necessarily," Sabrina said in response. To Clair's verbal answer, of course, not to her inner mantra. "This is a great place for meditation. It's quiet and peaceful. The temperature and atmosphere are just right. Any psychic could hone their skills to perfection in a place like this." Aha! So Sabrina DID think she was psychic! Well, of course it wasn't true. The girl was crazy to think so. Still, Clair couldn't help but think she was a cute, crazy girl. Gethin chortled from behind the Dragon Tamer, startling her out of her roaming thoughts. And eyes.
Damn you, granddad.
"Why bother coming all the way up here to meditate?" Clair asked, hands on her hips.
"Besides the reason I just told you? I come here to visit Gethin." At the sound of his name, the Pokémon disappeared and materialized next to Sabrina, nuzzling her cheek. At the look of confusion on the taller woman's face, the gym leader continued. "Gethin is my Pokémon, technically. He was given to me as a Haunter by a young trainer long ago. He helped me through a time when I was… not myself. I was very young then, and he's been with me for all these years. Eventually, my life as a gym leader became so busy that I couldn't spend as much time with him. I gave him to a friend, Morty, and through trade he evolved. You know Morty, don't you? He's the Gym Leader in Ecruteak City. Gethin is one of the Pokémon he uses in battle. He and Morty have become great partners, but Gethin has been with me for so long, we'll always share a bond with each other. I come visit him as often as I can, and Morty doesn't mind it." Clair detected a hint of sadness in Sabrina's voice as she told her story. The Dragon Tamer guessed that the gym leader had been through a whole lot in her life, and visiting her childhood friend made her both happy and sad. Clair understood; she had been with her Dragonite for most of her life as well, and they were dedicated partners. She had always maintained the soft side of her for her Pokémon. Now, though, this girl was breaking a whole new barrier in her heart though one chance meeting, and it made Clair both sick and sickeningly elated.
"Do you want to come home with me?" The words were out of her mouth before she even had time to register them. Sabrina scrunched up her nose in thoughtful consideration; an action that Clair grudgingly admitted to herself was pretty adorable. Finally she smiled.
"I'd love to." She reached out and took Clair's gloved hand into her own, blushing lightly. Clair grumbled to herself and pulled the smaller girl closer to her side. Sabrina laughed and nudged her arm, and they were off, their amused Pokémon trailing close behind.
Once outside the cave, their fingers still intertwined, Sabrina looked up to her new companion. Clair hadn't noticed the girl was staring up at her until she spoke.
"You don't believe in psychics, do you?" The question caught the Dragon Tamer by surprise. Still, she managed to collect herself and shake her head. She must have noticed her obvious disapproval of the word. Obviously.
"That's too bad." Sabrina stopped walking and caused Clair to stop as well, as they were still holding hands. She sighed and paused in her movements. It was already dark and the moon was raised high. Small flurries of snow fell from the glittering sky, but the Dragon Tamer didn't notice. She just wanted to go home and get some hot coffee. Standing out in the cold would do nothing to make her believe in psychics. Clair tugged on the hand she was still holding.
"C'mon, let's go." Sabrina held firm. She had to be freezing in that shirt, despite the jacket and scarf she had over her, but she still wouldn't budge. Clair was just about to let go when her companion spoke.
"You know what I think?"
"What?" The Dragon Tamer was thinking that she wanted to go home. She wanted to take back her offer on bringing the crazy psychic home on the off chance that they may become good friends. Or more. She didn't want to pay attention to the way her eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight, or the way her hair fell around her face just so, or the way her lips looked so warm and inviting in the cold weather. That's what she was thinking.
"I think you want to kiss me. Right now."
Clair didn't care what Sabrina was thinking. She kissed her anyway.
Sabrina pulled back first, leaving a dejected Clair with her hands still curled at the smaller girl's waist. The psychic laughed and took those hands into her own.
"Did I get that right?" She teased, her eyes flashing from red to pink and the green bands on her wrists glowing brighter than before.
"Whatever."
By the end of the night, Clair decided she might believe in psychics after all.
EARLIER
The Dragon Master ended the call he had put through and handed the phone back to his grandson. Lance looked at the old man skeptically.
"Are you sure this was a good idea? Clair's going to kill us both when she realizes we were never going to meet her."
"Nonsense, Lance." The man's grandfather hobbled over to a chair in the Champion's kitchen and sat down. "The Dragon Elders told me in the dream that Clair must go today to the Dragon's Den. She will not kill us, but be glad that we have urged her onto a new path of her destiny. Have you no faith in the Dragon Elders?" Lance sighed.
"Of course I do, but…. what if it was just a normal dream? What if you were wrong about it being prophetic?" The old man thought for a moment, then leaned heavily on his cane.
"Then Arceus help us both."