~*Oh So Starry-Eyed*~
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres 'till they return. (Romeo and Juliet)
Special Note: For those unaware, "Chiramii" is the name of the Chinchilla Pokémon, which was revealed recently—or at least was at the time I wrote this. Since this is obviously a crack pairing and I'm only going off the assumption they could even be capable of being interested romantically in each other game-wise, I beg you not to take this seriously. Besides, it's a pointless cute story I wrote for fun.
Mount Silver's peak was hailing, as usual. It came down in great freezing chunks of ice that pounded mercilessly against Pikachu's back with the force of an irritated, low-level Pidgey. Normally it'd be entirely unintimidating, but he was already pretty tired from his training earlier and therefore wasn't thrilled by the continuous, rather unsought for pat-pat-pat of crashing, frozen precipitation.
Or maybe I'm just complaining pointlessly.
Pikachu, since he lacked a nickname and therefore was simply just that—his species' title—waggled his ears and peered up through the snow and falling debris at his Trainer's face. They had been together for years now, about four or five, perhaps longer (he had ever had a habit of losing track of time) and he trusted the human with more than just his life. His heart and soul would be more accurate.
To better describe their relationship: If anyone hurt or kidnapped Red and was stupid enough to leave Pikachu alive, the Electric Mouse would promptly proceed to slog through whatever obstacles stood between him and his master. The perpetrator of such a heinous crime would then receive a healthy dosage of lightning. To the face, preferably.
Humans make such hilarious expressions.
Red peeked down at him; his very eyelashes sprinkled with the white fluff his species called snow, russet eyes concerned. Kneeling down, he rubbed one miraculously unfrozen hand—He's wearing a short-sleeved shirt, for Arceus's sake—across his Pokémon's yellow furred head.
"Getting tired, buddy? I know. Sorry." He continued to absently stroke Pikachu as he gazed out towards the bottom of Mount Silver, their training spot, as of old and recent times. His face became pensive, obviously thinking hard. It was the same look that had generated the courage he had needed to face Giovanni.
What're you thinking so hard about now? Nothing interesting has happened since that one girl that challenged us earlier.
Pikachu's brow furrowed, annoyed with the pitiful lack of intelligence his Trainer's species had when it came to their language. After all, he and every other Pokémon had had to recognize their strange sounds so that the battles that were often orchestrated could go according to plan.
"How about a break?" Red said suddenly, taking his Pokémon into his arms and holding him close. Five other Pokéballs, besides Pikachu's own, glittered in the half-hidden light of the sun. His master's watch read 3:19 PM.
"Pika?" He twitched his nose, confused. As of late they had done nothing but battle-battle-battle train-train-train. Where had this come from?
"We've been up here too long. Let's go see Mom—after visiting the Center. Think Charizard is too tired to take us down?"
He better not be.
Squeaking in agreement, Pikachu twisted and poked the aforementioned Fire-type's Pokéball with one small paw. Red unclipped it and tossed it into the air. Upon landing, in a burst of crimson energy, the great dragon-like lizard emerged with a furious battle roar. His narrowed gaze and bared fangs vanished as he tossed his head from side to side, searching for an opponent that wasn't there.
"We're going to leave here for a bit. Mind flying us to the base?" Red gestured to the horrible, vertigo inducing, stomach-dropping cliffs on either side of them. Charizard irritably shook some hail off of his orange scales, and huffing; he knelt down and let Pokémon and Trainer clamber onto his broad shoulders and back.
That's what I like about Red—he doesn't order us, unless we're in a battle and that's what we expect and want. He asks us if we'll do something otherwise, and doesn't get mad if Blastoise or Venusaur or even I get all snippy about it. Then again, he never asks anything stupid. Well, not lately anyway.
With a cry that probably set off avalanches somewhere, Charizard waved his flaming tail and beat his vast wings down. The drafts caused snow to shoot upwards, blocking out more of the dim light, and the cold, harsh breeze coming from everywhere became even more intense as his gusts added to it. The Fire-type lifted off without any perceivable trouble, long used to the tumultuous mountaintop wind, angling himself towards the bottom. He was careful not to be at such an extreme slant that Red or Pikachu would slide from his back.
Which had happened the first time we went here. That would have been embarrassing for anyone to see! Pokémon Master Red and his famous team plummeting from the sky.
Charizard snorted, smoke coiling from his nostrils, and Pikachu snuggled down deeper into his Trainer's embrace. The last of the snow began to melt or else fall off as the temperature gradually warmed the farther they dropped—and it was a terrifying descent too.
As the ground loomed closer and closer, Charizard flared his wings and took the full shock of the air against the inner membranes, which seemed to puff out as pressure pushed against them. He landed with a clearly audible thump, leg muscles rippling as they absorbed the impact, and he let Red jump off of his back with nothing more than a triumphant growl.
They were now at the very base of Mount Silver, and with the humongous stone structure rearing above them, topped with frost and its peak almost indiscernible (on some days it wasn't possible to see at all) it was hard to believe that they had just been standing on the sacred summit as if they hadn't a care in the world.
Pikachu wasn't sure how long it had taken them to descend. Like mentioned previously, he was bad with time.
"Thank you, you've earn a long rest." Red caused Charizard to return to his Pokéball before striding towards the Pokémon Center, extending an arm as he walked along, one hand shoved in his pocket. Pikachu sprang up onto his offered limp and settled on his shoulder, blinking and staring suspiciously into the tough, half-dead grass that hid the likes of Ponyta, Teddiursa, and Donphans.
"It's okay, you don't have to stand guard," his master murmured in his quiet voice.
Pikachu's fur rose along his spine regardless. When they had been just starting out, Red had fallen victim to an attack from a Spearow until Pikachu, whom had been rushing ahead since he was eager to reach Pewter City, bolted back to his side and used Thundershock to chase the offending Flying-type away.
The Electric Mouse had hated Spearows ever since.
The rough trail gradually opened up, and as the tall stalks of grass cleared, the often unused Pokémon Center came into view. In truth, it was probably only there for the Pokémon Master of Kanto to recuperate his team, but occasionally a strong Trainer came by that preferred to train outside or even within Mount Silver.
But not the top, hardly ever the top. I think the humans are scared of Red, like he's some kind of crazily powerful Pokémon God. Pikachu's tail-tip twitched as a thought occurred to him. Are they frightened of Red or us, his Pokémon? A combination of both? I guess we do sit on a hailing mountain almost all year, and no sane person does that, strong or not.
Red stepped into the red-roofed Pokémon Center with the air of one familiar with such things. Every Center was essentially the same. A place for healing Pokémon. However some were really large and had rooms and food for both the Trainers and their animal-like companions, sort of like a hotel. Others had upper and lower sections for trading and battling. It depended on the location.
This one had everything, surprising considering the fact that only select Trainers could even enter the Route that connected to Mount Silver from the Indigo League. Then again, those that were permitted were the best of the best.
Like us.
And Pikachu smugly puffed his chest out, allowing himself a fleeting moment of satisfaction.
Red grinned at him before removing the mouse from his shoulder and depositing him on a gray tray to be healed. Pikachu was often stubborn when it came to his Pokéball so the boy opted to leave him out. As a smiling Nurse Joy placed him on top of the machine that ran a weird white light across his whole body, the blissful Pokémon was unaware of what was happening to Red until he was placed back on top of the Center's counter.
His black eyes nearly leapt from their sockets in shock. Pikachu growled and jumped down before the Nurse could call for Red to come get his Pokémon. Landing lightly on his delicate paws, he raced forward and crouched at his master's feet, hissing crossly at the person that was speaking.
She was skinny, but not in a bad way, with brown hair like Red's (though not as short, but not as long as an ally of theirs, Leaf's, either). She had a pale blue, steady gaze and a driven air about her. As if she wanted to do something and no one in the universe would succeed in stopping her. Unlike the Pokémon Master's simple blue jeans and scarlet t-shirt, this girl was clad in cutoff azure shorts with white frills, a black vest over an ivory blouse, and a cap (similar to Red's) with a design of a pink Pokéball, complete with a matching brim.
The newcomer had various other accessories, like armbands, boots, and a satchel, but it was clear that she wasn't from Kanto due to her accent. Instead of a Kanto-dweller's soft lilt, or even a Johto-dweller's smooth cadence, she had something more foreign sounding that even Pikachu couldn't place with his vocabulary of both human and Pokémon terms.
To give her some credit, she didn't even flinch as Pikachu continued to scowl at her. "Well heya there," she remarked in a friendly tone, breaking off her rather one-sided (they often were this way) conversation with Red. "I don't often see Pokémon like you. Must be one of those Pikachus I hear so much about."
"Yeah, he's usually better behaved than this." Judging by the girl's reaction, this must have been the Pokémon Master's first time speaking. "Pikachu, calm down. What's gotten into you?'
Well, I dunno. She doesn't smell like someone from any region I know, or even sound like one.
At Red's bidding, however, he settled down and pointedly turned his nose up.
She only chuckled, hands on her hips. "Anyway, as I was saying, my name is Adriana and I'm a Trainer and a reporter of sorts from Isshu. Probably haven't heard of me but I've heard of some legendary boy that did all sorts of stuff. Is that you?"
He nodded slowly, accepting her handshake.
"It's an honor to meet you, Red."
"Likewise."
As they exchanged pleasantries, Pikachu's ears shot straight up as he noticed movement near Adriana's legs. He learned forward, curious, trying to scent the air for something other than the overly-clean, burning stench of the Center that smelled of chemicals and…sort of like bleach, he supposed.
Yup, there it was again. A white tail that whipped around to hide behind its master's boots.
"Who's there?" Pikachu asked aloud in the universal Pokémon language. Red glanced down at him but didn't otherwise comment.
Nothing.
"I won't hurt you, promise. Sorry I've had bad experiences with strangers before." Just remembering Team Rocket made his Electric blood boil. Or Blue. "C'mon, I mean it!"
Two large ears unfolded from a creamy furred cranium as a Pokémon poked its head out from behind its impromptu shield, nose twitching. The rest of the creature soon followed, and Pikachu blinked several times in shock.
It was a girl; this much was obvious since Pokémon have the uncanny ability to sense such matters. She was roughly his exact height, with white fur and an untidy tuft of it sticking out between her big ears. She had small limbs, built similar to him, but her tail wasn't zigzag shaped. Instead, it was merely slender and reasonably long.
But the most noticeable trait was her eyes. She had two large, shiny, beautiful brown eyes that simply captivated him immediately.
Uh oh. Does she have Cute Charm or something?
The instantly suspicious Pikachu found that this was not the case; it was simply his own thinking that was freezing him to the spot. Of all things, she had a pink bow settled on top of her head and she shuffled forward shyly, not saying a word.
Drawing himself up with as much dignity as he could muster, Pikachu managed to cough out, "Isshu? Where's that? Is that where…Kyogre and Groudon are from? Or Dialga and Palkia?"
She fluttered her paws nervously, shaking her head.
"Well…where, then?"
"…Reshiram and Zekrom."
"Pardon?"
"Reshiram and Zekrom," she repeated so low that he barely heard. "Their land is where I'm from, where their legend dwells."
Before Pikachu could ask who they were—as always the names of Legendary Pokémon triggered a reaction in every subconscious, but he didn't know their exact origins—Adriana snickered.
"That's the first time Mina here has ever interacted with another Pokémon so willingly. She's shy, and of course not a battler."
Red queried, "What kind of Pokémon is she?"
"She's a Chiramii."
"What type?"
"Normal."
"Special Ability?"
"Cute Charm, naturally."
So she does have Cute Charm!
Gratefully accepting this turn of events, Pikachu pushed away his fluffy-cloud feeling that was rising in his stomach. He squared his shoulders instead and poked his nose back up into the air. "Can't you turn your 'Charm' off? We're not battling."
Mina the Chiramii tilted her head to the side. "Doesn't that only work if you touch me?"
Deflating a little, the Electric Mouse Pokémon's ears sagged as he worked that out. "Er—maybe?"
"What about your Pikachu?" Adriana continued above their collective heads.
"Electric-type. His special ability is Static."
"Right, cool. Must be your favorite I guess, could be wrong. Anyway…"
Giggling, Mina whisked around to hide behind Adriana again as her Trainer reached into her satchel and started writing down whatever Red was saying. "So," she began. "Why are you here at Mount Silver?"
"Training." Red was a young man of few words, and Pikachu didn't miss the faint crimson that began to color his cheeks. He was extremely shy when it came to news crews and paparazzi, one of the reasons he decided to seclude himself in a place where only the greatest Trainers dared to go.
"For what?" The pencil scratched quickly across the pad and the Electric-type mused about what she could be writing, since Red had only said a single word.
"To be the very best. I've lost my title before."
"To who?"
"A boy from Johto named Ethan and a girl from Sinnoh named Dawn."
Pikachu tugged on Red's jeans and mimicked the motions of a particularly fearful Swampert that had floored Red's Charizard.
"And an interesting gentleman called Brendan from Hoenn."
Adriana raised her eyebrows. "How many have challenged you in the last year?"
"Ten."
"How many have won?"
Red just lifted one shoulder before letting it fall. Pikachu swished his tail with a smug expression.
"None?" Adriana's eyes bugged out.
The Pokémon Master's customary silence settled in, as way of replying.
The Isshu-dweller started scribbling furiously. "Impressive, impressive…Mina," she said, dropping her bag onto the floor. "Can you get the pencil sharpener out of there and sharpen a pencil for me? We'll need it!" Hurriedly she glanced at Red. "I promise I'll take a half hour of your time, at worst, sir."
"…Sir?" Unused to titles of respect, he was rightfully perplexed.
"Mmhmm."
Mina dabbed a white paw into the satchel and proceeded to chisel the pencils to a fine tip. Pikachu inched forward cautiously, as if expecting a trap, before helping her.
"So…you don't battle?"
"Not much," the Chiramii answered absently.
"Not good at it…or…?"
Her actions froze for a heartbeat before moving on. "I don't see the point in repeatedly beating our fellow Pokémon up."
Pikachu's cheeks sparked, flummoxed. "Huh? You don't want to get stronger, or faster, or evolve?"
"I'll be fine. Contests are better than battling, in my opinion."
Red had ever been somewhat contemptuous of Contests, unless of course he was going to support Leaf. "But all you do is prance around trying to look prettier than the last."
Her large brown eyes rose and fixed themselves on Pikachu's own dark pair. "…All you do is cause the other to faint."
For a moment he realized that her meekness wasn't really a sham since she was indeed shy, but the Chiramii's bashfulness wouldn't get in the way of her opinion. She was stronger on the inside than she seemed.
Mina passed a pencil to her Trainer without looking and pointedly ignored Pikachu.
Red snuck a glance at his Pokémon when he thought he wasn't looking, shoulders slightly hunched, obviously not keen on getting interviewed anymore.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Adriana was sharper than she appeared, and she straightened up. "I can stop, if you want."
"No, no. It's okay. I have yet to eat anything, though…"
"I'm smart," she groaned sarcastically, slamming a hand onto her face. "What's the nearest city?"
"I'd prefer that you finish your questions first," Red replied coolly. The insinuation that he was tired and hungry and was so not in the mood for a half-hour interrogation was clear. He had little patience for reporters when he was at full health, let alone when he was weary.
Pikachu's stomach rumbled, and crawling away from the suddenly cold Mina, he coiled up with his back to the Isshu-dwellers, ears flat, feeling somewhat annoyed with himself for earning the scorn of the Chiramii.
Besides staring at the sneakered feet of Red, Pikachu wondered what he was even supposed to be doing whilst his Trainer was being interviewed. Breathing? Looking cute? Sleeping?
Adriana closed her pad. "I'm sorry; I'll just be going then." Her voice became curt and a little cold.
"No, I insist, please finish. But be brief, if you can. I've had a long day." Red disagreed with a sigh. "My apologies for that."
"You really mean it?"
"Of course."
"Okay then. What was your first Pokémon?"
"Pikachu."
"Bit of an unusual starter."
"Perhaps. Professor Oak…"
Pikachu stopped listening at that point because something brushed his back, trailing down it softly. He sprang a foot in the air; fur fluffed out, whipping around and preparing to shock whatever it was that had touched him.
Mina's eyes were wide as she beheld his reaction, but she stood her ground and lowered her tail, offering him a blue bag. "I heard your stomach…I thought you might want some berries."
He nudged it curiously with his nose, sniffing it. The earthy-sweet scent of the previously mentioned berries filled his nostrils, and his belly rumbled louder. At her insistence, he opened it, lifted an unfamiliar berry, and shoved it into his mouth whole.
An intense burst of sugariness caused his eyes to dilate and the startled Pikachu proceeded to collapse comically onto the ground in a sugar induced coma.
"Pikachu?" Red knelt down and shook him, clearly worried.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Adriana assured him.
"Urgh. That was disgustingly sweet." Shaking the concerned hands of his Trainer off, the Electric Mouse glared accusingly at the bag before directing his black stare onto Mina.
She was grooming her tail without looking at him, causing Pikachu to think she had done this intentionally.
"I hope you didn't plan that," he warned in a dire growl.
Mina rolled her eyes. "I assure you that I didn't."
"…Thank you." Realizing he was probably being a jerk, his tail hit the ground with a thump. Gingerly, Pikachu fished out another berry and nibbled another one, his sharp teeth piercing the soft flesh. Swallowing carefully, he found the taste was bearable in small portions.
Red's gaze moved on, and feeling a bit hot under the fur (embarrassment, of course) Pikachu padded up to Mina and plopped himself next to her, lounging on his side.
Time seemed to crawl by at an agonizingly slow pace, but at last Adriana dipped her head respectfully and said, "I'm truly grateful for all the exclusive info, Red. You have a great day now!"
"You too, and it was no problem. Feel free to stop by any time if you're interested in a battle, or a regular conversation." Relief was evident in the Trainer's voice, but his words were sincere.
"C'mon, Mina." Smiling, the girl turned and headed towards the door.
An odd pang hit Pikachu in his stomach, and scrambling to his feet, he intended to see the Chiramii off. He was shocked when Mina instead pushed her muzzle into his chest and nuzzled him.
"Good luck on your training."
Surprised, he was unable to move for a moment. He dipped his head and licked her between her large ears.
She even smells like buttercups.
"Mina!" Adriana called, pausing near the door, thankfully without looking back.
As the Chinchilla Pokémon hurriedly retreated and bounded off, Pikachu swiftly called, "Good luck on your performing!"
The Center's door slid closed with a whirr, and the Electric-type was mortified to find Red staring at him with his hands in his pockets, a knowing smile on his face.
Pikachu stuck his tongue out but Red merely chuckled.
"Come on. We'll try to get to Pallet Town today if we can, provided Charizard is up to it."
He better be. Red's mom has awesome cooking!
Turns out the great dragon-like creature was, and as Charizard took to the skies, obviously not tired in the slightest, Pikachu leaned over and spotted Mina prancing beside Adriana, who was thoughtfully twirling a strand of her hair around one finger.
They both looked up, and whilst Adriana smiled at Red (he waved in response) Pikachu's eyes locked with a big amber pair belonging to the Chiramii and her twice accursed Cute Charm before Charizard took them out of sight.
It's nothing. It's just her Special Ability, it'll wear off.
That's what he told himself, but later, that same night in Red's house, the battle-scarred Pikachu's dreams were filled with a creamy furred Chinchilla Pokémon offering him berries with a soft smile and a gentle gaze.
Adrianna and Red are not intended to be paired (unless you want them that way) but Mina and Pikachu are.
Adrianna is based off of the as of right now unnamed Black and White female Trainer. For those that might not know, "Leaf" is the female Trainer from FireRed and LeafGreen.
Reviews are greatly appreciated; I hope you at least somewhat enjoyed it.