Hey guys, thanks for taking your time to have a look ay my fic! Before we start, though, I wanted to make two things clear: FIRSTLY. English is not my mother language, so if you see any horrible grammar mistakes here don't hesitate to inform me on the comments so I can fix them as quickly as possible. SECONDLY. This is actually my first fic ever, so please also leave comments on how I could improve my writing and this one-shot. Have fun!
When you're submerged upside down in freezing river water, with your legs tied to a plastic boat and unable to resurface you start rethinking your life choices.
Actually, in a matter of seconds, I went through thinking about earthly and vain matters (like how did I accept to ride a kayak on a rip tide when I wasn't even capable of properly balancing myself on a bike and why the hell my damn butt was itching during such a critical moment) and ascended to a higher level of thought to question humankind's existential reality and our fragility when faced with threat from earthly trivialities such as GETTING STUCK UNDER A STUPID KAYAK.
As I was having those constructive thoughts, the part of my brain that remained sane kept telling me desperately that I had already spent far too much time underwater and was probably going to black out at any time soon. I had lost my paddle at some point before and was now trying to turn upside with my arms' sheer force, which, although pretty strong, clearly weren't strong enough to do so. I then asked myself why I didn't bring my pokemon with me. This would be sooo much easier if I had Carracosta with me…
My lungs screamed for air as I noticed how my vision started to get blurry (even more so since I was underwater). "Shit" I angrily reprehended myself in thought for getting in such a stupid situation. When people asked what I wanted to do once I got older I always answered "To die on the bloody battlefield defending the honor of my family's name!" followed by a striking pose. Of course I was joking, but I half expected to die after living a long, happy life, not for something as idiotic as being stuck under a boat. And fifteen years was definitely not a long life. I was so upset with myself and the stupid plastic piece of dung my legs were stuck to that I wanted to punch something, but as I tried to do so, I was surprised to see that I wasn't even able to move my arms. My eyes started to close and my whole body ached as I used what remained of my strength to not breathe in water and, as I gave up hope and surrendered myself to death (how poetic), my whole body was jerked out of the water.
The sensation of cool air running through my lungs after what seemed like hours underwater was probably one of the best things to ever bless my body. I was shivering and panting violently as my body tried to compensate all this time without air, and I was so weak that I would probably have just fallen to the side and again into the water if whoever rescued me wasn't still holding tightly to my shoulders.
"Oh my God" I could distantly hear my savior, a slight crack on his voice by the end of the sentence.
I mustered some strength to open my eyes and saw the blurry image of a teenager about the same age as me, his kayak right next no mine and both his hands holding onto my shoulders. As I did so, I saw what I supposed was surprise and relief in his face (I wasn't really in condition of being sure of what his expression was), a smile breaking up from his lips. "Thank Arceus you're fine!" he said, and after breathing for a few moments, I could finally focus on his chocolate colored eyes and relatively delicate features.
I looked around as the current carried both our kayaks along the river, but if the boy noticed this he didn't demonstrate it since he was still staring at me as if he was expecting me to fall over and die at any moment. I looked away from him; a little bit embarrassed for having a boy looking at me so intensely. He noticed this, of course, and blushed violently as he looked away, but didn't let go of me. A long silence followed this exchange, and I noticed how tired I was. "I suppose being stuck underwater for several minutes can really make one sleepy…" I though, my eyes slowly closing and my limp head starting to tilt forward.
"Oh no, wait!" he suddenly said, shaking my shoulders slightly and forcing me to open my eyes again. "You can't sleep now, this could possibly lead to brain damage and even coma…" he then proceeded to talk about some medical mumbo jumbo that made my tired brain really sleepy. "What is this kid even going on about? I just want to sleep, why won't he shut up?" I though. Then, in a moment of exhausted brilliance, I used all my strength, slowly raised my arm and dropped it over his face, cutting whatever he was saying and making him release a "Bmmffffft" sound. He watched silently with wide eyes as my dropped hand deformed his face in a kinda funny way and slowly and groggily went from his nose to his mouth and chin as I said "Shhhh" like a tired mother to her hyperactive child.
When I finished doing whatever that was, I prepared to attempt sleeping once again and I didn't even care (or notice) that I was sitting on a kayak at the moment. He put a defeated face for a fraction of second only to then change it to a determined glint on his eyes.
"I know. I'm going to talk to you" he said, shaking me slightly "and you're going to listen". I looked puzzled at him, too tired to think properly, but he carried on anyways. "My name is Black, I'm almost fifteen years old and I really like chocolate. What about you?" he started talking. Not waiting for an answer, the boy (Black, I supposed) then started talking about his life, how he started not so long ago his pokemon journey, how he constantly trained his pokemon in Nimbasa's City Battle Subway and how he often liked to come up to route 10 to go around on his kayak. Strangely enough, for some reason, this life talk kept me awake as the current slowly led us to the river's shore. I listened as he told me how hard it was for him to train his pokemon, he said he lacked the talent and the experience, but loved so much his pokemon and the battles they went through that he didn't mind losing so much. I chuckled in thought, as I wondered how he would feel if I told him that I was actually Unova's League Champion. I listened when he told me about his family, about his caring mom and crazy little sister. I paid close attention to him as he explained how he liked going to Nimbasa's stadium to watch baseball games. Not that he was a fanatic; it's just that it made him remember the times when he and his school friends played catch during summer afternoons. By the time we reached the shore, I knew more about him that any other person of my age I knew (besides my childhood friends Cherem and Bianca).
Then he pulled over, got out of the kayak and then helped me, since I had no idea of how to get out of that demonic thing. I was surprised to notice that I wasn't really sleepy anymore, just tired. He helped to my feet, and I would have stumbled forward if Black had not held me. Black was a bit younger than me, and yet was taller. He slowly put my right arm over his shoulders to help me keep my balance, and he blushed slightly. I didn't mind, really. He was a really nice guy. A dork, yes, and he talked a lot too, but I found that really nice. He really did his best to help me when other people would have lost their patience, and he had just opened up to someone he had just met and didn't even know the name. Oh yes, that made me remember.
"W-white" I said hoarsely, barely producing any sound (my lungs weren't recovered quite yet). "Pardon me?" he asked, curious that I finally talked.
"White. My name is White" I repeated louder now, locking my gray eyes onto his brown ones, the eyes of the boy who had just saved my life. He smiled at me, flushing a little at the sudden eye contact. "Well White, I think it's high time we go back to Opelucid now."
Well, that was fun. I hope you enjoyed to read this as much as I did writing it. Don't forget to comment whatever you like and help me improve as a writer :)