I'm back! Thanks for all the reviews, and I apologise for my absense. On the bright side though, it's been over a year since I began writing this, so yay!
Team Light: Chasing Away the Darkness
Chapter 13
Chupi barely choked out another inaudible sob before she came crashing into the water. It wasn't so bad this time as it was about a month ago. She hadn't fallen from as great a height and the water was warm and inviting unlike the frigidness of the open sea during a storm. It still stung her back when she hit the water, but she's been through worse. The pain was only physical. Something that would go away with time, but nothing compared to pain she was feeling inside. She actually welcomed the stinging ache; it momentarily took her mind off of her partner.
Another splash brought her back to reality and she looked over to see that it was Blaze that landed next to her in the lake. She quickly grabbed his arm to keep him afloat and started tugging him towards the bank. It was hard though. She was exhausted from fighting in the dungeon and being carried down a river, and the warm lake they were in was deep and she couldn't feel the bottom. Trying to move Blaze and keep his head above water without drowning herself was proving difficult.
Suddenly half of Blaze's weight was lifted from her shoulders and glanced to her left to see that Erick was helping her tug his other arm. She mumbled a quick thanks and he nodded his head in return. She could see other pokemon around her, but ignored them. A couple of mankeys though grabbed Blaze's legs to help and assisted her in getting his body on land. A crowd soon formed around them as she got on her knees next to her partner.
"Blaze…" Chupi murmured, although her voice was hoarse, and softly touched Blaze's cheek. "Please wake up. Please?" Her voice got high and squeaky at the end. She was glad that her hair was dripping water into her face so that she could hide her tears.
"Does anyone know CPR?" Erick glanced around at the other pokemon, but no one spoke up. "I'm sure he's fine Chupi. Other than his head wound he seems to be fine." The sandslash rested a hand on her shoulder.
"But don't you see his tail?!" Chupi quickly wheeled on him. "He's…He's…" She couldn't finish her sentence and threw her head down onto Blaze to cry.
Apparently that one blow to his diaphragm was enough to make the charmander start sputtering out water and shoot his eyes open. Chupi jolted off him to see that he was coffing into his sleeve and very much alive.
"Uugh…Chupi, where are we? My head hurts." Blaze groaned, rubbing his temple with one hand and propping himself on his elbow. Upon seeing that the stranger pokemon was alright, the crowd around them dispersed and went back to what they were doing.
"Blaze…? Blaze. Blaze!" Chupi madly grinned and tackled the poor guy so he was flat on his back again and knocking his breath away from the impact. "You're alive, you're alive, you're alive!" She repeated like a prayer and wrapped her arms tighter around his neck.
"Why wouldn't I be? I think I hit my head, but it doesn't feel like anything serious." He bent up into a sitting position, bring her with him. Erick watched with interested eyes.
"But…But your tail. It went out. Actually it's still out! You…Shouldn't you be dead? I thought Charmanders die when their fire goes out." She got off him and gave him a confused look.
Blaze had to quickly cover his mouth with his palm to stifle his laughter, but Erick was already on the floor holding his stomach and roaring.
"W-What?!" Erick said through giggles. Some of the nearby pokemon that heard them were snickering quietly to themselves. "You-hahaha-thought what?!"
"They don't? But everyone always said…" Chupi looked down in embarrassment. Even Blaze couldn't hold it in anymore and was rolling next to Erick, their disdain for each other temporarily forgotten as they patted each other's shoulders to help each other catch their breath. Geez, it wasn't that funny.
"Those myths were made up by ten year old brat trainers! O-only humans believe t-that crap!" Erick roared even harder. "S-stop it! All this laughing h-hurts!"
"Well, excuse me." Chupi puffed up her cheeks in annoyance and crossed her arms angrily. She is only human. Sometimes it's hard to remember that a pikachu isn't her true form.
"Sorry for laughing Chupi." Blaze said apologetically and rubbed his hand on her head, his fingers getting caught on many tangles. He knew her mistake was just an innocent blunder. She didn't know any better.
She couldn't stay too mad for long as she was still in a state of slight euphoria from Blaze being alive. But any other situation she might ignore him for the rest of the day in an angered huff. She let out the air she was holding and her shoulders drooped in release. Her hands fell to her lap.
"While it's true that when I die my tail will go out, I won't die because my tail went out. Although, it does hurt a bit, so I prefer to keep it dry."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense."
Erick was still laughing and Chupi sent him a quick glare. But before she could knock some sense into the sandslash she was interrupted by a very old and very naked torkoal approaching them. Chupi immediately averted her eyes but everywhere she looked was more nude pokemon!
Why does no one have clothes on?
Oh mew, that primape should really keep his shirt on. Chupi mentally gagged.
How did she not notice this before? She guessed she was so preoccupied with her partner that it didn't register.
Her hands shot up to shield her eyes and she turned her head so that she could only see the grass. But wait, shouldn't she just look him in the eye and keep her gaze above the horizon? Too late now. If she tried looking up she might get an eyeful of something she'd rather not have scar her for the rest of her life.
(a/n just so you know, in my pokemon universe I imagine most pokemon being completely comfortable with nudity between genders. They would only get embarrassed under certain situations. i.e., romantically. Chupi is a human so she's somewhat prudish in comparison.)
"Welcome, welcome newcomers! I am Mr. Torkoal and this is the Torkoal Hot Springs that I run." He gestured to the warm waters with a wrinkly arm.
"What?! Torkoal Hot Springs?!" Blaze began digging into Chupi's backpack and got out a crumpled map. Quickly unfolding it, Blaze pointed his finger to the waterfall they were at before. Chupi carefully let her eyes go to the paper. "We started here." He dragged his finger across a long trail and stopped when he reached a lake. "And now we're here. That flood must have carried us all the way down here!"
"Damn." Erick let out a low whistle in appreciation.
"That's quite the journey there." Mr. Torkoal glanced over to see the map, coming much too close for Chupi's comfort. She almost blanched at the thought of what was just over her shoulder. "But you folks are welcome to stay and rest your weary bones if you'd like. My hot springs are open for anyone." He gave weathered smile before leaving them.
"Oh, I d-don't know. Erick, is your wrist okay? And Blaze, we should get that head wound looked at." Chupi did not want to stay.
"Chupi, I'm fine!" Blaze stood to prove his point. "Besides, a little R&R will be good for us."
"But, Erick needs medical attention, don't you?" The pikachu looked at him with pleading eyes. He was her last chance.
"I'm pretty sure my wrist is just sprained and warm water will help it feel better. Although, I should put ice on it first. But, I think that lady Slugma is calling me." He nodded his head to a particularly curvy fire-type pokemon who was taking a dip. "It'd be rude of me to keep a lady waiting." And with that he headed off, stripping his clothes along the way.
Chupi ducked her head down in disappointment. There went her last hope to get out of here. She was quickly taken out her thoughts when she heard a zipper being undone behind her. She slowly turned her head.
"So, I guess it's just you and me now." There stood Blaze, orange jacket on the ground and yellow undershirt in the process of getting over his head, leaving him half naked.
"Nahuhblena- stop it!" Chupi violent shook her head in protest, frantically waving her hands in front of her to block the view. Not that she didn't appreciate what he had to offer, if you know what I mean. She felt dizzy from the blood that quickly rushed to her face. This was all too much for her.
"Huh? What?" Blaze stopped in his tracks; one thumb inside the waistband of his pants and the other reaching for his belt.
"Please. Please stop stripping." Chupi muttered embarrassed.
"…Okay?" Blaze was confused. This was normal for him. Why was she all finicky about getting undressed? Most pokemon only get like that if they like each other. Does she…?
He suddenly felt himself get hot with embarrassment himself.
"Um, I think this in another human thing. We don't normally, um, bathe together or take off our clothes…especially with other genders."
"Ah, okay. I guess we can swim with our clothes on." Blaze felt oddly conflicted by this. He was relieved but…disappointed? This isn't like him. Why should he be disappointed?
"Thank you. Is there any place that doesn't have others? A secluded place? I'm too afraid to look." Chupi was still covering her eyes.
"Let's see…" Blaze took a moment to look around for a spot before his eyes rested on a little area behind some rocks and away from the crowd. "Over there looks good. C'mon Chupi, I'll take you there."
He plucked his jacket off the ground and plopped it on her head so she wouldn't see anything as he lead her behind the rocks.
"Okay, here we are. All safe." Blaze took back his jacket and started hanging his wet clothes on a tree branch. He quickly slipped out of his pants and hung those as well. "Um, you don't mind do you? Wet jeans are a nightmare to be in."
"Yeah it's okay. Your underwear looks enough like shorts anyway." Chupi still kept her eyes on the ground but snuck little peaks every now and then. "I have a swimsuit in my backpack so I'll go change in the bushes okay?"
"Sure. I'll keep guard."
'And make sure that Erick stays far away.' Blaze mentally added.
Slipping into the tree line, Chupi took out her swimsuit and began to get changed. It was the same simple red one piece that Sunflora had lent to her last night in the bathes. She giggled when thinking about receiving the gift.
"You can keep it Chupi." Sunflora pressed the suit back into Chupi's hands as they were heading back to their bedrooms after their bath.
"Are you sure? I'd really appreciate it, but I'm starting to feel like I'm stealing all your clothes."
"Don't sweat it! I have more than one and I've been meaning to go shopping. I heard that Loudred's favorite color is blue, so I was going to buy a blue swim suit to seduce him!" Sunflora giggled at her own genius.
"When would he see you in a swimsuit?"
"Oh, I'd make sure he'd see it. I'll put it on, march straight to his room, and ask how I look in it. If I'm lucky maybe his friends would be there and he'll get jealous! Or maybe it'd be better if he's alone so I can put on a private show…"
"Sunflora! Too much information!" Chupi blushed and swatted her friend's arm.
Chupi thought Sunflora was a little daring, but she was proud to know that Sunflora was brave enough to try her best and put herself out there for the one she loved. Chupi on the other hand…
It's not that she didn't feel brave. She could kick any dungeon's butt any day of the week! She just felt self-conscious of herself all the time. She was technically a human. She has weird visions. She has no memories. She was a freak. She would make mistakes all the time because she wasn't a real pokemon, like when she didn't know about charmander tails. She also probably acted really strange to other pokemon. Erick just hopped into the hot springs while she had to find a corner away from everybody else like some prepubescent child who wasn't mature enough to handle a few naked pokemon. And even then she was still changing into a swimsuit to cover herself.
She looked down at the suit as she pulled up the straps. She wasn't entirely fond of the piece but it was a gift from her friend so she couldn't turn a free outfit. The bright red color called unwanted attention to her. Even if she did like the color, she didn't want to be covered in it. The front dipped too low for her liking and the back was merely strips of material that were spaced widely enough to make her wonder what their purpose was, because it was clearly not for covering her up. Sunflora said it was for style, but Chupi was more of a practical girl. At least it was a one piece and not some skimpy bikini that would fly off as soon as she got in the water.
After making some small adjustments Chupi sighed and tossed her bag over her shoulder.
"Blaze! It's safe!" Chupi called as she began emerging from the bushes.
"Oh good, I was starting to get worried…" Blaze stopped talking once he got a better view of her. Was she always this pretty? He found himself staring more when she set her bag on the ground and bent over to get her wet clothes out to hang on the tree branch next to his.
"Okay! All ready." Chupi turned around to face him and he quickly averted his eyes to the water behind him.
"Y-Yeah. Let's go."
"You okay? What's wrong?" Chupi padded over quickly to her partner, who was striding purposefully towards the hot spring.
"Nothing, just…"
'Just that I'm starting to regret seeing you like this. I can't even look you in the eyes!' Blaze started wondering if it'd be any better if she hadn't stopped him before and was naked.
Well, that made his blush about ten times worse.
But she was his friend! His partner! He shouldn't be all embarrassed over seeing her in a swimsuit. He used to go to Torkoal Hot Springs when he was little and he's seen a lot worse than just a swim suit. That calmed him down a little.
"Just…?" Chupi repeated.
"Just…you look good." He reached behind him without looking at her and patted her head.
"Huh? Oh, thanks." Chupi mumbled bashfully. They silently slipped into the warm water after the exchange and sat on a natural rock seat by the edge. Chupi began to try and detangle her hair as Blaze washed the blood from his face. They soaked in the warmth and tranquil atmosphere as they relaxed and took a moment just to enjoy each other's company.
"So, um." Chupi interrupted the silence. "Sorry you have to babysit me."
"What do you mean?"
"Well you know." Chupi curled up in a ball. "You could have hung out with the other pokemon but because I'm such a weirdo you had to look after me."
"What are you talking about? I'd rather be with you than some total strangers. And you're not weird."
Chupi gave him a disbelieving look.
"Okay, you're a little weird. But, a lot of pokemon don't bathe naked with others. It's mostly a local thing or a family thing."
"Did you?" Chupi thought back to when he was taking off his clothes to get with them.
"Well, yeah. I used to go here when I was little." Blaze looked down into the water. "With my mom."
"Your mom? You've never mentioned her. You haven't really mentioned much of your past at all really." Chupi knew she was trenching into dangerous waters, but she couldn't help her curiosity.
"Yeah, my dad was an explorer in another region, but he was killed on duty and my mom and I moved here. It's one of the reasons I wanted to be an explorer. My dad was one of the greatest guys I knew."
Chupi scooted closer to link arms with him and lean her head on his shoulder. It was probably hard for him to talk about this, the least she could do was show that she cared and was there for him.
"I grew up in Treasure Town, but since my mom wasn't in a guild and she didn't own a shop we were pretty much outcast. Treasure Town's entire community revolves around the guild. It was just me and mom until she passed away. Then I was on my own."
"Where did you go?" Chupi asked. She never knew the town could be so harsh. She had never really had an opportunity to look around since Blaze and her usually went straight to the gym, dropped by the bank and went back to the guild. But, she didn't really like the sound of this place. Would she have been shunned too if she hadn't joined Blaze?
"Maybe another time." And with that Blaze dropped the subject. But Chupi was pleased that she had learned at least this much about her partner. If she thought about it she didn't know much about him at all!
"Well Blaze. Can you at least tell me your favorite food?"
"Easy. Anything with cheri berries! Especially cheri cookies." Ah, that explains why he always wolfs them down by the handful.
"Uh, if you were-"
"Nuhuh! Since we're asking questions, I get to ask some." Blaze interrupted her next question." What's your favorite food?"
"I guess I like mago berries. Sweets really. As long as it's not bitter I'll eat it. Now it's my turn! If you were a different pokemon, what would you be?"
"Hmmm…a charizard!" Blaze answered enthusiastically.
"That's your evolved form though."
"There's no rule against it. What about you? What pokemon would you be?"
"A ditto!" Chupi replied without hesitation. "So I can be all the pokemon!"
"That's a total cop out!"
"If you can be a charizard, then I can be a ditto."
"Deal. What's your favorite color?"
"You skipped my turn! But…" She looked up into his eyes. The same color as the cloudless sky above them. She always loved that color. "Blue. Sky blue."
"I really like red. A bright fiery red!"
"R-Red huh?" She looked nervously down at her own swimsuit.
"Don't sweat it! I have more than one and I've been meaning to go shopping. I heard that Loudred's favorite color is blue, so I was going to buy a blue swim suit to seduce him!" Sunflora giggled at her own genius.
Why should she care? It's not like she's trying to seduce Blaze or something. But it did make her feel a little tingly to know she was wearing his color.
"Yep, just like your hair ribbon and your face right now." Blaze teased and poked her in the cheek.
"S-Shut up." Chupi mumbled and moved away from him.
They decided to let the awkward die down a bit before they tried to start conversation again.
"…Hey Chupi, I've been wondering. Before the flood, what was the vision you had?" Blaze asked.
"I saw a shadow, the same shadow that jumped through the waterfall from the other vision, press down on the ruby before being swept away by a flood. That was it. That's why I was trying to push you down the steps before we all got caught in the water. Not that it worked. Sorry Blaze. Does your head still hurt?"
"Not at all. It was just a scrape. Head wounds always bleed a lot so it looked worse than what it was."
"That's good. But something keeps bothering me." Chupi leaned back to look at the sky. "That shadow figure seems so familiar. Like I know him."
"Maybe it's someone from your past?!"
"No." Chupi said dejectedly. "It's someone I know now. I can feel it."
She ran a list of people through her head. Sunflora? No. Corphish? No. Chatot? No…Then it hit her.
"Wigglytuff!"
"Wigglytuff?"
"Yeah! It matches perfectly! Not everyone has those bunny ears, and imagine who'd be weird enough to try to jump through a waterfall, discover a cave and then forget to tell anyone about it. It has to be Wigglytuff! But Blaze you know what this means don't you?"
"Arrgh, we weren't the first ones to discover the cave. Well, there goes my fortune and fame." Blaze groaned. "But it'd be wrong for us to take credit where it isn't due so I guess we'll have to tell the truth."
Chupi was rather proud that he was honest, even when he could gain more if he lied.
"How do we explain how we know? I don't think Chatot would believe us if we told him everything about my visions." Chupi pondered.
"I'm sure we can fake our way out of it when the time comes." Blaze crossed his arms to think.
"Ick, speaking of Chatot; how do you think he'll react to us bring Erick?"
"I was hoping you'd forget about him and we leave him here to be with his new girlfriend." Blaze grumbled.
"Blaze! You know we have to take him back. He hurt his wrist." Chupi argued.
"I know. I was only hoping."
"I think we've spent long enough here. Do you want to get dressed and grab Erick?"
"Sure."
The duo climbed out and grabbed their considerably drier clothes from off the branch and began getting dressed.
"I'll just go in the bushes again." Chupi stepped into the tree line to change.
"Okay." Blaze waited until she was gone to address his own clothing situation. He looked down at his wet underwear in dismay until he came up with an idea. He suddenly increased his body temperature until the cloth was dry. It's times like these he was very thankful to be a fire type. He just repeated the process on the rest of his clothes where they were still wet to dry them.
"I'm done!" Chupi called and came out of the bushes. "This is kind of gross, they're still wet." Chupi tried patting dry some of the wetter spots but nothing really worked.
"Come here." Blaze had his typical childish grin on his face and Chupi did as she was told.
"What are you-"She didn't finish that question since Blaze had wrapped her up in a hug. He had her almost completely flush against him, which was far beyond what their usual friendly hugs were. And to make matters worse he was warm, incredibly, incredibly warm. She could feel her face becoming red and she hoped it was because of the heat he was radiating. "Mew, you're really warm. Is this normal?"
He was so hot, almost uncomfortably so. She didn't know whether to melt into it or try to get free, so she began to wiggle around in his grip.
"Not till I'm done!" Blaze squeezed her tighter until she was fully pressed into him.
'It's embarrassing enough without you rubbing against me.' Blaze ducked his head down onto her shoulder to hide his face.
The extra squeeze definitely made her stop moving. She let out a little squeak that was muffled by his jacket and began counting the seconds as he held her.
…23, 24, 25…
…37, 38, 39…
How long was this hug going to last?
"Okay. That side's good." Blaze finally released her and spun her around. Chupi sighed in relief as fresh air hit her hot face, even the steam from the hot springs felt cold compared to Blaze. Chupi was thankful to finally be free only to have him grab her again with her back to him.
"W-What are you doing Blaze?" Chupi finally managed to ask now that her face wasn't squished into his jacket.
"Drying your clothes."
"Oh…OH!" Chupi felt stupid. It seemed so obvious now. He wasn't normally this warm, so he must be using his fire to increase his body heat and dry her off. Why didn't he just say so in the first place?
"Wait. What did you think I was doing?" Blaze leaned down to try to look at her.
"I don't know! You could just be acting like your weird self!" Chupi cried indignantly. "How was I supposed to know what you're doing when you just grab me?"
"Weird? I thought we agreed that you were the weird one!"
"That's irrelevant." Chupi huffed.
"Well, I think you're mostly dry now." Blaze let her go and she shivered from the loss of warmth. "Here, take my jacket."
Before she could protest he had already forced her arms into the holes, zipped it up, and pulled the hood over her head.
"But Blaze, this is yours."
"This way the hood will block the view and you won't see anything you don't want to. Besides, it's a perfect fit!" Blaze gave a thumbs up.
"…Hardly." The sleeves were far too long and the jacket ended below her shorts. At least the large size of the hood guaranteed that half her face would be covered and limit her view of naked pokemon.
"I'll be right back with Erick. Stay put okay?" Blaze turned to walk towards the main bathing area.
"Yes mother." Chupi stood there waiting for her partner and Erick to come back, so in the mean time she fiddled with the sleeves and experimented trying to roll them up. They would just slide back down as soon as she moved her arm. She sighed and gave up when she heard a loud noise coming towards her.
"RUN CHUPI!" Blaze called and grabbed her arm to start sprinting. Erick was next to them with his head tilted back in laughter. They were currently running away from a herd of angry naked girls trying to throw whatever they could get their hands on at the sandslash.
"What did you do Erick?" Chupi screamed. She was really happy for all those hours at the gym on the treadmill right now.
"I guess a couple of them got jealous." Erick snickered to himself.
"Get back here Erick!" The pretty slugma girl from before screeched at him and threw a rock "How dare you hit on me and then make out with my sister, Jessica!"
"Jessica? He kissed me!" a mankey shouted.
"What? You too?!" another slugma, presumably Jessica, asked. "Let's kill him!"
"Do you flirt with everything that has boobs?!" Blaze looked like he was about to hit him.
"Only the pretty ones." Erick retorted, astounded that Blaze would accuse him of such a thing. "I have taste, thank you very much."
Finally though, after entering the jungle area they were able to lose the girls but still kept running back to guild in case some of them hadn't given up yet. Soon enough they were standing and panting in front of the Wigglytent.
Haha, you guys actually thought I'd kill off Blaze? You're so silly.
I imagine Chupi and Blaze being pretty awkward in their relationship seeing as neither of them are used to having friends let alone someone to be romantically involved with.
I think I need a beta reader