A/N: Wow I haven't uploaded something in a long time... Well, that's because I'm having laptop issues! But my brother's letting me use his, so I can edit and post my fics again, woo! And what better way to celebrate than posting a fic about siblings? I wrote this for the Pokanon Genfic Meme (it's pretty much dead now though, whoops) in 2014. Anyways, here you are and please enjoy~
He had gotten taller, hadn't he?
Fennel looked down into the busy streets of Striaton City from the second story window, watching her younger brother walking away from her house. Cheren had definitely grown taller since the last time she'd seen him. His hair was shorter too, maybe he'd had a haircut? She saw him push his glasses up the bridge of his nose and automatically did the same, suddenly recalling the time they went to Castelia together to get his first pair when he was six. He had insisted on getting frames that were similar to hers.
She watched as he walked down the street, followed by his two friends. What were their names again? Bianca and… Hilda? Yes, those were the girls' names, she remembered. He liked to talk about the two of them, when they'd had conversations lasting longer than a few minutes. They were his best friends, had been since he was a small child. It made her a little sad that she didn't know much about his friends, and he didn't know much about hers. If they had stayed a little longer, she might have teased him about having such pretty girls as his friends, but they had only stayed as long as it had taken her to speak about the dream mist.
He didn't glance up as he left, didn't even look back once. They'd never really been close like most siblings. She was over a decade older than him, and she hadn't really been around while he was growing up. When she was finishing her last year of high school, he was just barely finishing kindergarten. While she was away at college, he was attending to the trainer's school. They didn't get to see each other as often as often as other siblings did.
Of course, she always tried to come home whenever she could. She had never missed a single one of his birthdays and almost always came home for the holidays, but she was usually buried in her laptop, or taking calls from her colleagues, or otherwise had to cut the trips home short. Their parents always took it in a stride, knowing how important her research was, but Cheren… she never missed the look of disappointment that flashed across his eyes as they were saying their goodbyes.
She couldn't blame him for being so cold when he'd visited today. He wasn't in her house for more than five minutes before he decided that it was time for him and his friends to head out. Maybe it felt good to be the one who could leave, for once. She had asked him to visit again soon, but he didn't look very inclined to do so.
Maybe that was the way it was going to be between them. She sighed as she watched him disappear around a corner. She really should have tried harder to cultivate a good relationship between them. Taken more of an interest in his dreams. He was going on a Pokémon journey now, wasn't he? She had told him about Pokémon training as a child, smiled when he asked questions and answered them to the best of her ability. It had been easier finding time to spend with him back then, when they both lived under the same roof.
She glanced over at her Xtransceiver's lock screen, at the family photo she'd put as her screensaver. It had been taken a little after Cheren had turned two. She was sitting next to her mom with Cheren in her lap, and their dad was behind the three of them with his arms around them in a bear hug. All of them were smiling in the photo, but she and Cheren had the biggest ones.
It wasn't too late to get close to him, was it? Their resemblance didn't have to end in Dad's dark hair and Mom's poor vision. She picked up her Xtransciever and searched her contacts for his number. She could get involved with her little brother again.