So, this is a fic that I came up with months ago but have only recently dug out of the recesses of my writing documents. It's a bit rushed and largely unedited, with gratuitous use of italics and a couple lame attempts at humor that, while seemed funny when I was writing them at the time, may not actually be that funny at all... -_-'
Anyways, it's three chapters, completed, and I'll be uploading the next two chapters after this over the course of the next few days or so. Please feel free to critique, let me know what was good and what wasn't, send my a PM, or leave a review. I really do cherish each and every bit of feedback I get, so please don't be shy! And enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Pokémon franchise. If I did, Fairy-type wouldn't exist.
Aquaticus: Latin, meaning "found near water"
Gold wasn't sure why, but he was somewhat surprised that Silver was actually a better swimmer than him. He was the one who had grown up next to an ocean, after all. And Silver had been raised in...
Wait. Actually, he didn't know. Silver had never said anything about it; so for all he knew the redhead really had lived on the coast.
"Hey, Silver," he called out as the pale teen surfaced, breaking the water with a small splash. "Did you ever live near the sea?"
Silver didn't answer right away, instead seeming to growl in annoyance to himself as he pushed thick strands of red hair out of his face. Water dripped out in clear streams, running down his face as his locks hung down in tangled wet clumps. Behind him, his feraligatr huffed out something in pokéspeak, sounding amused.
"Yes, I know I have to cut my hair," Silver muttered irritably. "I'll get it done at the next town." Then his attention switched to Gold's question, as he glanced up to look at the other teen. "Yeah, I did."
"Really? When?" Gold asked curiously, watching as Silver waded out of the water and onto the shore. He stumped over to his bag, leaving a dark trail of water in the sand, and rummaged inside for a moment. After a second, he pulled out a hairband, and promptly used it to tie back his hair.
"Sometime," Silver answered evasively.
Crouched in the shade beneath a tree, Sneasel let out a sort of barking laugh. "Snea, sneasel," he snickered.
Silver rolled his eyes as he headed back into the water. "You, hush."
Typhlosion, who was sitting as far away from the tides as he could, made a questioning sound. Sneasel replied, and the two pokémon had a brief conversation.
"Aw, look. They're making friends," Gold teased. He didn't push more about the question, knowing that Silver had a tendency to clam up if he pried too much.
Silver didn't reply, instead disappearing under the waves in a flash of pale skin and red hair. Feraligatr followed, surprisingly graceful for such a large and bulky pokémon.
Gold watched them for a moment, and marveled at how natural his friend looked in the water. He was moving with an easy grace that made him look not unlike an aquatic pokémon himself. It was similar to the natural grace he possessed on land, as well, but... smoother, somehow.
Interesting.
Then all other thoughts flew from his head as something unidentifiable lifted him up into the air- the world spun, tilting crazily in a blur of blue sky and even bluer surf and then-
SPLASH!
Gold sputtered, wiping seawater from his face as Ambipom hooted with laughter on the shore. Then he grinned, throwing his head back in wild guffaws as the hooting became a startled screech. Typhlosion snorted, having tossed Ambipom into the ocean after the primate's trainer, then crossed his arms and looked on with a satisfied look as the two-tailed monkey got smacked in the face by a cresting wave.
Silver's head broke the water with a quiet ripple. He then swam up beside Gold, saw the ensuing play fight that was rapidly breaking out on the beach, and laughed.
For some reason, Gold thought that it sounded like a song.
"So, you play an instrument? You?" Gold asked, one eyebrow quirked and skepticism evident in his tone. "Huh."
Silver rolled his eyes, hands in his pockets as he walked along. "Yes. Me. Is it really so hard to believe?" he asked, in a voice as dry as the sun-baked sands they'd just left behind.
Gold shrugged. "Nah, it's not that, it's just- well, okay, sort of. I mean, you just don't seem like a musical type of person. What do you play, even?"
Silver didn't answer for a moment, seemingly debating over what to say. At length, he seemed to come to a decision, and replied, "Ocarina."
Gold blinked. "Sorry, oca- what now?"
"Ocarina," the redhead replied somewhat testily. "It's a wind instrument. You probably haven't heard of it; they're fairly uncommon."
"Oh," the gold-eyed teen said dumbly. "I see."
He didn't, and they both knew it, but Silver only huffed and kept walking.
After another minute or so, Gold queried, "What does an ocarina look like? Is it like a pokéflute?"
"No. Different shape."
"How?"
"More oval. Shorter."
"...Ah. Can I see?"
At that, Silver threw him his patented 'are-you-stupid' look that he seemed to keep reserved specially for Gold and idiotic rookies who thought they could take him on. "It's a delicate instrument made of wood and coral. I regularly find myself in situations where such a thing would get smashed, cracked, or scratched. Do you honestly think I'd carry something like that with me?"
Gold thought it over, then realized his error. "Oh, yeah. Right."
Silver rolled his eyes again. Then, almost too quiet for the other teen to hear (and Gold suspected he hadn't been meant to hear it at all), the teen muttered, "Besides. It was a gift from my mother."
At that point, Gold realized that it would probably be best to drop the subject.
Two weeks later, Gold was forced to drag Silver inside from a raging storm. It was a real tempest, with the winds howling, thunder booming, rain pounding, and all.
"You idiot!" Gold had all but hollered as he saw his friend outside the window, standing on the lawn with his back to the house and face tipped up at the sky. Lightning flashed, throwing Silver in sharp relief as his shadow stretched long over the rain-slick grass. "What are you doing out there?!"
Gold's mother poked her head out of the kitchen at her son's shout, expression puzzled. "Gold?" she asked. "What are you doing?"
The teen looked up from where he'd been pulling on his shoes, hat sliding haphazardly sideways on his head. "Going out. What does it look like?" he grunted, pulling on his shoe with one final tug. "My idiot of a best friend is standing out there in the rain like he's a freaking vaporeon with Water Absorb or something, so I need to go get him before he catches cold."
Gold's mother chuckled, leaning back into the kitchen. "Okay," she called over her shoulder, "just make sure you don't catch cold yourself."
"Okay, Mom," Gold threw back quickly in response as he pulled open the door and ran out. "Stupid Silver," he muttered to himself. "I swear, it's like he's trying to drown out there or something!"
Squinting against the driving rain, Gold held himself back from dashing too quickly across the lawn. It would look pretty stupid if he slipped and fell, after all.
Not that Silver would notice, he thought with exasperation as he grabbed his hat so it wouldn't fly away. He's in his own little world out there.
Sure enough, there he was, hands in his pockets as he stared at the dark, rumbling clouds. His red hair whipped around his face like he was some sort of dramatic movie hero, and his mercurial eyes seemed to gaze out into the distance.
"Hey, Silver!" Gold barked as he drew nearer, mud squelching unpleasantly beneath his sneakers as the wetness quickly soaked through to his socks. "What are you doing?!"
For a moment, Silver didn't respond. Then he jolted, turning around with eyes wide in surprise as he appeared to only just notice the other teen. "What?"
"I said, what are you doing?!" Gold repeated loudly as a particularly hard gust of wind blew by, almost making him overbalance and slip as it all but knocked him over. Raising his voice so as to be heard over the storm, Gold yelled, "It's crazy out here! You're crazy! Get inside before you drown or something!"
For some reason, Silver appeared to find his words amusing, lips quirking up an a half-smirk as he stuck his hands in his pockets and began to amble towards the house. "Heh. I won't drown," he stated confidently. "I'd sooner die of thirst."
Cryptic words given, the redhead brushed past Gold, leaving his friend to hurry after him in confusion.
Meanwhile, the storm roared on.
Three days. It had been raining for three. Frikin'. Days.
Gold was bored. Gold was very, very, bored.
Silver was not. Silver was, in fact, taking advantage of the peace and relative quiet to relax, take a break, and let his guard down (somewhat) in a place where he knew for sure he wasn't going to get stabbed in the back for it. Plus, it helped that he knew he could always use Alakazam's Teleport to escape if it really came down to it.
Gold's mother had wandered in a few times, offering cookies and hot chocolate, but for the most part, the teens were alone in the small house's living room. Well, except for the various pokémon spread out across the furniture and carpet, that was.
Typhlosion, curled up in a giant furry mass on the carpet, napped alongside the great heap of blue scales that was Feraligatr. The Fire-type's flames were practically nonexistent, dimmed to just the barest glimmer of gently pulsing red and heat. The Water-type's tail was twitching slightly, and his ridges brushed against the side of the chair Silver was sitting in. Both fully-evolved starters were snoring loudly.
Sneasel, on the other hand, had elected to settle down at Silver's feet, and was sharpening his claws on a medium-sized rock. Crobat perched on the back of Silver's chair, while Magneton hovered by the window. Next to the mechanical pokémon was Alakazam, meditating quietly with spoons crossed. Last was Gengar, who hovered in the darkest corner of the room as he dozed lightly.
Gold's pokémon were similarly arranged about the area, sleeping or relaxing in various locations. Near Feraligatr was Ambipom, leaning against the wall as he napped. Togekiss perched on one arm of the couch, chest rising and falling gently as he rested. Politoed sat on the couch itself, curled up on the cushions- right next to Sudowoodo, who sat still as a statue while he slept. Finally there was Sunflora, who had rooted herself into a large pot of dirt alongside some daisies by the window, hoping for any little splash of sunlight that might possibly escape from the grey clouds and rain.
"Silver," Gold complained as he set down his book, "I'm bored."
Silver grunted in reply, but otherwise offered no comment.
Gold frowned and tried again. "Silver. I'm bored."
The other teen looked up from his book, a flash of irritation passing through his eyes. "And?" he drawled, one eyebrow raised. "How is that my problem?"
Gold blinked. "Um..."
Silver let out a snort and turned back to his book.
The black-haired trainer drooped. "Silverrr..."
On the carpet, Typhlosion made a groggy whuff sound and turned over on his side. Feraligatr rumbled, mirroring the movement in the opposite direction. Togekiss churred sleepily, as Crobat's wings rustled and twitched before settling.
"If you're bored," the redhead stated blandly, "then read a book."
Gold's eyes ran over the nearby bookshelves in a cursory glance. "I've read them all already," he whined. "Even the super boring one on Johto's history."
"Hm." Silver flipped another page.
The New Bark trainer paused, then, eyes landing on the book his friend was still reading. "Except..." he said slowly, "that one."
"Mm?" The silver-eyed teen made a vaguely questioning noise.
Golden orbs skimmed the cover, boldly entitled Myths and Legends of the Whirlpools in elegantly flowing letters. A picture of Lugia rising from the sea was embossed on the front, outlined in midnight blues and starlight silvers that shimmered when they caught the light. Deciding that it looked interesting enough, Gold felt a grin break over his face as he leaned forwards.
Silver looked up sharply as the other male got up and walked over. "Hey, what are you-"
Gold darted towards him, and Silver let out an indignant squawk as he yanked his book out of Gold's reach. Gold lunged again, a laugh breaking free from his throat as he finally found the diversion he'd been looking for.
Silver had always been notoriously possessive of his stuff, after all.
A dry breeze swirled across the field, making the sun-baked golden grasses bend and ripple in undulating waves. It didn't do much to cool things down, however- instead, all it really did was push more hot air around. It was the height of summer, after all, and right at noontime as well. For all intents and purposes, the normally fair-weathered dirt road had turned into a parched, unforgiving desert.
Silver hated it with a passion. Taking another sip from his water bottle, he cursed what little loyalty to Gold the bonds of friendship had instilled in him. Why, why hadn't he just insisted on having Alakazam use Teleport to bring them both to the city in an instant? Why had he allowed the other teen to talk him into walking the entire way there, "Just for old time's sake"?
"You know we never really traveled together, so what's the point?" he grumbled, flicking a persistent strand of russet-red hair out of his eyes. "There were never any 'old times' for this to be the sake of."
Gold laughed. "Ah, cheer up, Silver! C'mon, if not for that, then for the memories! Isn't it just the tiniest bit nostalgic to be walking along this path? We were just adorable little kids the first time, but now-"
"You're still a little kid, just without the adorable," the redhead muttered before drinking a bit more water.
The black-haired trainer chuckled, sticking his hands in his pockets as Typhlosion and Feraligatr conversed in low tones behind them. Then he noticed something, and asked, "Hey, isn't that, like, your second big water bottle since this morning?"
Pausing as he prepared to twist open the cap of another bottle, Silver scowled. "I dehydrate easily," he informed Gold in a flat tone.
Gold watched, one eyebrow raised as he saw his friend down another couple gulps. Now that he thought about it, Silver did that a lot- drank water, he meant. It seemed like Silver always had at least one water bottle on him, sometimes even two or three. And he was unusually persistent in making sure they stayed filled, too.
Sure, most trainers did carry more supplies on them than other travelers, but that was because they had to care for their pokémon as well, not just themselves. Silver carried around all those water bottles for himself, separate from the ones for his pokémon. Why was that? Yes, he'd just said that he dehydrated easily, but wasn't that just a tad bit extreme?
When Gold voiced his thoughts, though, Silver refused to say anything more than what he'd already admitted.
Odd.