Hello friends! I'm going to keep the into short and sweet-more author notes under the cut
In short, this is an AU set in HeartGold/SoulSilver verse, and it's something I've been thinking about doing for a while
I love Pokemon, and I love mermaids, so I just had to tie two of my favorite things together. I hope you enjoy~
Once I sat upon a promontory
And heard a mermaid on a dolphon's back
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
That the rude sea grew civil at her song
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres
To hear the sea-maid's music
- William Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
He's fishing on the banks of Olivine when he first sees her. At first he assumes she's a swimmer and pays her no mind, though he does wonder what she's doing huddled (hiding, almost) among the rocks. But she's not doing anything worth noting at first, and doesn't stay at the front of his mind for long. Instead he's focusing on fishing for a Pokemon he can use to surf to Cianwood-he'd asked Silver to loan out his Feraligator, but the redhead had refused ('selfish prick', he thinks bitterly as he casts his line again).
It's only after ten minutes have passed that Ethan realizes the girl's still there, and she's very obviously staring at him. And she doesn't stop, not even when he makes it clear he knows she's looking at him. He pulls exaggerated faces to try and get the point across; first surprised, then creeped out and annoyed, and finally angry, but she seems not to notice. He's verging on being actually irritated with her, but then his fishing rod jerks in his hands, and instantly everything else on his mind vanishes.
He doesn't notice how she perks with interest and edges closer as he struggles with the line.
Whatever's at the end of his hook is putting up quite a fight, and he throws all his strength into his arms to wrestle with the Pokemon. The line is completely taught and it's slow going reeling the Pokemon in, but soon enough there's ripples and splashes and a dark shape under the water that lets Ethan know he's almost got it.
There's a splash to his left, and he glances over but doesn't see anything but small ripples in the water. Not even the girl; she must have swam off, he figures, but doesn't pay it any mind.
A second later and his mind's back on his fishing. The Pokemon continues struggling, and for a moment he's afraid he'll lose the line until the struggling stops. There's a quick, sharp tug on the line, and then it goes slack.
For a moment Ethan thinks he's won, but his triumphant smile is soon replaced by one of bitter disappointment. The line's broken, and he curses loudly as he reels it in. Upon inspection, he notices the line's been cut, not broken; the end is clean cut, not frayed. As if something bit it or sliced through it with a knife or sharp bit of shell, he thinks.
He's mourning the loss of his line and catch when there's another splash, to his right this time. For a moment he hopes that by some miracle the Pokemon he lost has come back, but it's brown hair that floats to the surface, followed by the head and shoulders of the girl from before. She's closer to him now than she was, and he can finally make out her features. Her hair glistens with seawater and hangs down her back and over her shoulders, the ends trailing in the water and floating around her. Her eyes are big and brown, and even though they're pretty there's something wild in them, something unnatural.
"Uh…hi," Ethan says slowly, and she cocks her head to the side curiously. She doesn't say anything, just stares at him with those big eyes of hers. She's cute, really cute, but weird, and he doesn't know why she's just staring at him like that.
After a moment her eyes light up as if she's realized something, and she smiles at him. She has a nice smile too, but her canines are a little too long, a little too sharp.
"Do you want something?" he asks, but she still doesn't speak.
He's definitely weirded out, and even though he could leave he isn't. He's not sure why, but it might have something to do with the fact that he can't tell if she's wearing a swimsuit or not, and he'd like to figure that out.
She's still not saying anything, and curiosity is getting the better of him. So he reaches out towards her, gingerly. She stares at his hand as though she's never seen one before, but after a moment extends her hand as well, and holds his with hers. Her hand is wet and cold, and he almost lets go, but she's holding on tightly.
Her mouth opens then, and she finally speaks. But it's not in a language he understands; it's smooth and melodic and reminds him of waves gently lapping at the shore. She smiles brightly when she finishes, and he just stares. Her smile fades slightly, and she releases his hand and starts to turn away.
"Wait!" he exclaims, and she turns back, and there's more ripples in the water behind her.
Something else breaches the surface, and Ethan's jaw drops to the ground.
Water falls in droplets from a shiny white tail. It's flecked with gold and orange, with the same patterns and appearance of a Goldeen's. At first Ethan assumes it belongs to a Pokemon, but after a moment it's clear that the tail is hers.
She's biting her lip and staring at him worriedly, but he can't stop looking at that tail of hers. She asks him something in that bizarre language of hers, and he tries to reply but all that comes out is a series of garbled noises.
He'd heard about mermaids before, believed in them when he was a kid.
But he never thought he'd ever actually meet one.
He might be hallucinating, he thinks, but the girl-no-mermaid, is right there in front of him. She looks worried, and she's swimming closer, resting her arms and chin on the rock he's sitting on. She's still chattering away, a hint of concern in her voice (at least, he thinks there is), and staring up at him with her big brown eyes.
The fins of her tail are still poking above water, waving lazily in the breeze, and he finally accepts what's in front of him. And as soon as he does, his confusion and trepidation is replaced with excitement. A mermaid, and a cute one at that. He's gotten lucky, really lucky, and he doesn't know what to do. Should he try and talk with her? Swim with her? But he suddenly remembers stories, not just of mermaid but sirens who lure sailors to their deaths, and he decides that's not a good idea just yet. Still, she looks innocent, and he can't just do nothing about this.
He wants to show someone, he realizes. To prove to someone else that she exists.
"Wait there," he says hurriedly, starting to get up. She looks up at him, confused, and he smiles down reassuringly. "Here. Wait, uh, wait here. Can you understand me?" There's no indication in her face that she understands him though, and when he starts to move she flinches back.
"Ah, no!" He waves his arms and she stops moving, to his relief. He spends the next minute speaking slowly and gesturing wildly, and he thinks that by the end she understands what he's trying to say.
At least, he hopes so. But he keeps looking back as he dashes off to find Silver, and before she's out of sight he can tell that her head is still bobbing above the waves.
Of course Silver doesn't believe him. And he's annoyed at being dragged off in the middle of training, but Ethan is persistent. Part of him wants to show off his find, and part wants to reassure himself that he's not crazy, that he didn't imagine this girl. Silver has a good time mocking him as they head to the shore, but Ethan doesn't let it get to him.
At least, he doesn't show it if it does.
He's worried that she'll be gone as they near the shore, and part of him wants to turn and head back, play the whole thing off as a joke. But he knows he'll never hear the end of it from Silver if he does, and his friend is already making enough snarky remarks at his expense.
They near the rocks and his stomach drops when he doesn't see her right away. The white and orange tail is nowhere in sight, and out of the corner of his eye he can see Silver rolling his eyes.
His face goes red out of embarrassment, and he's about to leave and try to put the whole thing behind him when she finally surfaces. Relief floods him, and he gives Silver a quick look of 'I told you so' before getting to his knees so he's at the mermaid's level. He beams at her, but he's surprised when she doesn't smile back. Instead she looks scared, swimming back far beyond his reach.
It takes him a moment to realize that the cause of her fear is Silver, who's staring down at her with a shocked expression that could be easily be mistaken for angry.
"It's okay, it's okay," Ethan reassures her, grabbing Silver's arm and dragging the redhead down next to him. She's wide-eyed and biting her lip, and even Silver has to admit that she's adorable.
"He's a friend," Ethan continues. "Friend." She obviously doesn't understand, and he tries repeating himself with all different kinds of inflection to no avail.
"He's not going to hurt you," he continues, and glances over at Silver. He looks irritated, and he nudges him with his knee. "Smile," he whispers, "You're scaring her, idiot." Silver cringes but does his best impression of a smile, and she slowly offers a small smile of her own.
"See! He's nice!" Ethan throws an arm around Silver in a half-hug, and though Silver wants to pull away he decides to put up with it. Her eyes light up in understanding, and she chirps something unintelligible at the both of them. Silver raises an eyebrow, and Ethan shoves him before he can say anything.
She swims closer to them, and her tail finally rises above the water. "Holy shit," Silver mutters, and Ethan shoves him again.
She doesn't understand and cocks her head, blinking at the pair of them curiously. It appears as though she's mulling something over, her tail swishing back and forth in the water. Silver and Ethan are staring down at her curiously (Ethan's still trying to decide if she's wearing a shirt, and Silver simply can't process what he's seeing) when she nods to herself, as if resolved.
Before Silver can blink she hoists herself up onto the rock and takes his face in her hands. Her brown eyes stare right into his silver ones, and he tries to keep his fixed on hers (but she isn't wearing anything, and it's hard to keep his eyes front). This is weird, and he's about to move away when she leans in and kisses him.
Silver's face goes crimson and Ethan's jaw drops, and it doesn't close even when the girl slips back into the water. He stares at Silver, who's still in shock, and feels an unexplained pang of jealousy.
"I called dibs," he grumbles, and Silver snaps out of it briefly to side-eye Ethan.
"When?"
"In my head. I saw her first." He sounds petty and bitter, and Silver rolls his eyes. The color still hasn't faded from his cheeks but he's getting over his initial surprise, albeit slowly.
She's staring up at him still, smiling innocently. His face is getting steadily hotter as he looks at her; she's damn cute and topless to boot, and she just kissed him out of nowhere.
She looks curious again, and rests her arms on the rock as she clears her throat.
"Why is your face red?"
First of all, thanks for reading!
Second, I should add the disclaimer that I don't own nor am affiliated with the Pokemon franchise
This chapter is slightly rushed, but I wanted to get basic exposition out of the way so I can get to the good plot
So far I have one short arc planned, but I'm hoping for this to be a long standing fic. I hope to be able to delve into different aspects of mermaid/siren lore and tie it into the world of Pokemon, as well as explore all different kinds of relationships (old and new, friendships and romances, etc). If the story goes on as long as I hope there will be characters from other games as well, some making cameos and some with permanent roles.
Anyways, critiques and comments are highly appreciated, and I'd love to hear what you guys think of this AU! Thank you!