Author: I don't have time anymore for anything D:
Dear Feelings
Dawn raced through Route 201, legs rustling against the wild grass and lungs burning with each intake of air. She held a bundle, carefully wrapped with motherly care, in her left hand, and the pokeball containing Piplup in her right, fully prepared to counter any wild pokemon that dared to cross her in her rage.
Stupid Barry.
How many more times is he going run off without giving the least bit of concern for consequences? How many more times will Dawn be forced to play catch up and sweep up the mess he left behind? And worst of all, she was looking forward to traveling with Barry. Isn't that what best friends do?
He better hope he got a good head start, Dawn thought bitterly, because I'm going to beat the daylights out of him once I catch up.
A wounded Starly disappeared in a flash of red, captured securely inside a pokeball with barely a sign of struggle. An ecstatic blonde dashed to the site of capture and picked the pokeball up with triumph.
"We caught it! We caught our first pokemon!"
Barry knelt down and placed a hand on Turtwig in approval. Turtwig was a good pokemon, hard working and well mannered, and the signs of diligent training were evident…but the person responsible for that would be Lucas. Barry frowned as his mind drifted back to Lucas again. There was something about that boy that made Barry's breathe hitch and heart race, and his primary instinct was to flee as quickly as possible in order to escape that desperate suffocation. He wished that wasn't the case though. Lucas was a passionate trainer, a decent person, and no doubt a good friend to have. And Barry wanted to beat himself for feeling so bizarre.
Turtwig gazed up at his trainer in concern, and Barry immediately shook himself out of his trance. "You must be tired," he said, perking up again, "Let's go back to the pokemon center."
As they prepared head back to Sandgem town, to Barry's surprise, he saw Lucas and Dawn slowly making their way up the route.
"Oh, God!" Barry cried out in mortification.
Turtwig, on the other hand, was eagerly willing to greet his former trainer, until Barry grabbed him by his shell.
"Please, please, please," Barry begged frantically, bowing his head and clasping his hands together, "I know he's your formal trainer and all. But I just can't!"
Turtwig looked at Barry skeptically, but eventually gave in to his pleading sunset hued eyes.
"Alright!" Barry leaped up and looked around, holding Turtwig under his arm. "What to do. What to do."
They couldn't return to Sandgem with Lucas and Dawn advancing from that way, and Barry didn't want to risk a battle with looming trainers blocking the path to Jubilife City, especially when Turtwig wasn't in perfect health.
"Okay!" Barry pointed upwards. "Let's go up that tree!"
As Barry hastily scrambled up the trunk of a nearby tree, Turtwig sighed. Being a pokemon sure can be difficult. Once safely hidden among the leaves, Barry and Turtwig peered down at the two trainers below.
"I'll show you how to catch a pokemon, so just watch okay?" Lucas said to Dawn as he released Chimchar from his pokeball.
"You're going to catch that pokemon?" Dawn pointed to a dozy Bidoof, completely unaware that he had fallen prey to a young, eager trainer.
"Okay." Lucas rubbed the back of his head. "It might not be a battling pokemon—"
"Or a contest pokemon," Dawn interjected.
"Right. I'm sure my sister will like it." Lucas stood before the Bidoof intrepidly. "Now! Go Chimchar!"
In the meantime, Barry observed the pair from atop of the tree. He was relieved that he moved swiftly enough to avoid their notice, but silently pouted at the fact that Lucas never offered to teach him how to catch a pokemon.
That's because you ran away, stupid.
Barry sighed and returned his attention to the pair. They seemed so perfectly compatible—Lucas and Dawn—like figurines from the same mold, with their identical shade of black-blue hair, same dark eyes, and even the same red scarf for goodness sakes. If they weren't siblings, Barry frowned, they must be soul mates…
Just then, a Kricketot descended from the branches above, hovering only inches from Barry's face. And consequently, Barry panicked, flailing his arms and desperately trying to hold back a scream. Without hesitation, Turtwig bravely jumped in front of his trainer, tackling the Kricketot and knocking the wild pokemon back. The Kricketot shriveled into a ball and began to redden and steam.
"Oh! Oh God!" Barry cried out in horror. "It's using bide! W-we have too—"
Before long, the Kricketot began to glow, emitting explosive energy. Barry grabbed Turtwig before leaping impulsively from the branch. They narrowly evaded the blast, landing in a dusty heap under the tree. The commotion was enough to capture Lucas and Dawn's attention, as they rushed to the site of the ruckus.
"Barry! What happened? Are you okay?" Dawn cried out upon recognizing her best friend's immobile form from the settling dust.
"Yeah…" Barry said weakly as he sat up. "Fell from the tree…"
"What were you doing up in the tree?" Lucas stared at him with dark perplexed eyes, and Barry felt all of his blood rushing to his cheeks for some unfathomable reason.
"Y-You see—well—" Barry stuttered as he scrambled his brain for an explanation. He couldn't admit that he was hiding and then spying. He would murder himself before he did. "M-My…Turtwig was stuck in the tree!"
Turtwig looked up as his trained peevishly as Barry continued to turn into darker shades of red.
"I-I didn't know Turtwig could climb…" Lucas blinked a few times, while Dawn narrowed her eyes, obviously unfooled. By now, she had a pretty good idea why Barry had been acting so strangely.
"D-Doesn't matter! I have to go to the pokemon center!"
As Barry staggered to get up, a shooting pain from his left ankle caused him to topple, and both Dawn and Lucas rushed to support him. Barry flinched away from Lucas on contact and wrapped himself around Dawn, almost causing both of them to fall over.
"My ankle hurts…" Barry nervously explained himself to a rather irritated Dawn.
"I'll help you," Lucas said as he attempted to pry the fidgety blond away.
"No! Wait—What? W-Why?" Barry flabbergasted, tightening his grip.
"Dawn's a girl." Lucas smiled in a charmingly mischievous way that made Barry's throat clog up. "Girl's should get the lighter load after all."
Dawn's eye twitched; it seemed that everyone was out to aggravate her today. As Lucas lifted a rather stiff Barry onto his back, Dawn offered to carry Turtwig back to Sandgem. Barry, refusing to wrap his arms around Lucas' neck, placed his hands on Lucas' shoulders, avoiding as much contact as possible. However, with each step Lucas took, his back would rub a little against the inside of Barry's thighs. Oh, have mercy!
And the rest of their short journey remained awkward and silent, with the exception of Barry's frantic heartbeat.
Author: I hope to update weekly, but these little chapters are taking too long ;A;
And I want to draw too…