Abby was hit by a rush of fresh air as she stepped inside Celadon's Pokémon Centre. The air smelled of lemon and was cool enough to give her skin a slight chill. Dratini muttered as the air rushed them and ducked beneath Abby's hair. For the most part, the Pokémon Centre was empty. A few men in black suits lounged in the booths along the walls, working on laptops while sipping coffee. While a small group of young girls in yellow kimonos huddled about the front desk. They stood on their toes and craned their necks to peek over the top. Behind the desk they watched a man in white nurse garbs move pokéballs from a large healing machine onto a tray. He approached the desk and placed the tray down before the girls, to their delighted chatter. One by one, he handed them their pokéballs.
"Wow, you have to tell me what you're doing with your Pokémon, girls. I swear they get stronger every day. You'll be grass masters in no time!" The Nurse said.
The girls giggled and ran off with their pokéballs, chattering amongst themselves. Abby jumped to the side as they barrelled towards her. They rushed past without so much as a glance her way.
"Sorry about them," The Nurse chuckled.
"Nah it's fine," Abby laughed back.
She approached the desk and the nurse gave her a pleasant smile. On the front of his white garbs, Abby noticed a name tag.
"Joel," It read.
Abby cocked her head at him.
"Is your name… Joel Joy?" She asked.
"Yeah, what gave it away?" Joel smirked, "the name tag or the hair?"
"Joel Joy!" Abby covered her mouth, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Yeah yeah, I know, hilarious."
"Just a little," Abby giggled.
Joel chuckled and shook his head.
"Is your name any better?"
"It's pretty boring. Just Abby," Abby answered.
"Abby what?"
Abby hesitated.
"Abby…" Her mind raced for a surname, "Isamu," She blurted out.
"Isamu?" Joel's eyebrows raised, "Like Red? That Isamu?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm his uh, cousin," Her face flushed.
Joel laughed.
"Cool, well your name is definitely a lot better than mine."
Abby pursed her lips and nodded. She studied his face, trying to figure out if he believed her. While she didn't find her answer in his expression, his face did reconfirm her suspicions. Despite being a guy, his face was near identical to his sisters'. Round, with a small nose, pale skin and a set of pink eyes that matched his hair. He was even short like most Joy's are, standing roughly the same height as herself. If it weren't for the thin, pink stubble it would have been easy to mistake him for a girl.
"Tini," Dratini yawned as he poked out of Abby's hair.
He gazed at Joel with sleepy eyes while Joel's widened.
"No way, you have a Dratini?" He gasped.
He gawked at Dratini. Dratini's drooped eyes sprung wide as Joel's face rushed to meet his. He rose up off Abby's shoulder, standing up on his tail as he stared back at Joel. Abby felt her heart leap in her chest.
"Yeah, he was a gift from uh, Red," She answered quickly, glancing around the centre. No one was so much as looking at them but still, it didn't put her at ease.
Dratini looked up at her with a confused look.
"You must have had him for a while then huh?" Joel said, he offered his finger out to Dratini for a pat.
Dratini considered the finger, then Joel, before beaming and pressing his head against the finger. Joel scratched behind his ear and raised his eyes back up to meet Abby's.
"So, what can I help you with? Does he need healing?"
"Oh, no. I actually need to book a room," Abby said.
Joel stood up and grabbed a clipboard off the desk.
"Easy, we've got plenty available. Is it just you, or are you travelling with someone else?"
"Nah, I'm not alone." For whatever reason Abby felt the need to make that clear.
Joel began flipping through the clipboard.
"Are they a boyfriend? A friend? A group maybe?" Joel asked.
The question made Abby's face flush again.
"No, not a boyfriend. I'm travelling with my-" Abby almost said friend, "cousin, Green." Dratini shot her another look.
"Ah, so Celadon's been blessed with two Isamus then?" Joel stopped flipping the pages and placed the clipboard before her, "How's this room?"
Abby gave the paper a brief glance. She saw the words, "one double bed," and pursed her lips.
"Looks good."
"Great," Joel bean scribbling on the paper with a pen, "So what brings you two to Celadon anyway?"
Abby let herself relax slightly.
"Green's here for her Gym Challenge, I'm just tagging along," The truth, or at least not a lie, felt refreshing.
"You're not a trainer?" Joel asked and glanced at Dratini.
"I am, I just don't really do battles."
Joel finished writing and grabbed a key out of a draw.
"Do you do contests then?" Joel handed her the key.
"No, I'm trying to become a Dragon Tamer," She answered with a proud grin as she accepted the key.
Although she had what she'd come for, Abby couldn't help but stay. Joel whistled.
"A Dragon Tamer? Ambitious," He shot her a smirk, "there are like, trials for that right?"
"Yup, five. They're called the Five Pillars. I need to present five, specific Pokémon to the guild in Johto," Abby held up her hand and counted down on her fingers, "Dragonite, Gyarados, Kingdra, Charizard and Aerodactyl."
It wasn't until she had finished listing off the Pokémon, did Abby notice the warm smile spread across Joel's face. A kind of smile that Abby had only ever seen a few times. Her chest tightened. Joel gestured to her necklace.
"You really love Dragons, huh?"
Abby looked down at the Haxorus claw and grinned.
"I do!" She exclaimed.
Joel laughed and leaned forward ever so slightly.
"So, what are you doing later?" He asked, his voice becoming just a tad deeper.
Abby felt her eyes widen and her heart flutter. Dratini snickered. She found herself frozen in a state of panic, but only for a moment. She chuckled and leaned in to match him.
"Training my Pokémon, wanna come with?"
"You're in luck, my shift is just about to end," Joel said.
"Ooo, lucky me," Abby giggled.
Joel laughed and stepped back from the desk.
"You mind waiting a few minutes? I gotta get changed out of these," Joel gestured to his garbs.
"Probably a good call, it doesn't look quite as cute as your sisters' uniforms," Abby said.
"Oh?" Joel grinned, "So it looks cute then?"
Abby blushed.
"Well, uh, yeah," She answered in a small voice.
"Glad you think so."
Joe moved out from behind the desk. He disappeared through a door to the side. Dratini snickered and shot Abby a mocking look. Abby clutched the back of her head.
"Cut me some slack," She laughed, "I haven't flirted properly in ages."
"Tini," Dratini tittered with a shake of his head.
While she waited for Joel to return, Abby fumbled with her Flygon bracelet, letting the little metal Flygons roll over her fingers. A frown flickered across her face and she glanced up, looking at the sky through the Pokémon Centre's glass doors. Over the top of the surrounding multi-coloured buildings and the peaks of the trees the enveloped Celadon, were the tiny, far off ice-capped summits of the Northern Kanto Mountains. Abby pictured Pete's Pidgeot, a speck amongst giants, soaring over the summit and disappearing to cross the Kanto-Hoenn sea.
"Tini…" Dratini spoke, interrupting her thought.
He gazed up at her with big eyes of flickering purple and nuzzled her cheek. Abby smiled and scratched the back of his head with a finger.
"I'm okay," She whispered.
Suddenly, Dratini's ears pricked up and he turned his head backwards. Abby turned too and as soon as she did, the door Joel had disappeared through opened and he re-emerged. His white garbs had been replaced by a dark black, long sleeve shirt tucked into a pair of jeans. A belt held up the jeans around his waist with a single, rainbow badge pinned to it. As well as six pokéball canisters, only one of which was filled. Perhaps that would have held Abby's attention if it weren't for the fact that Joel's hips were strangely wide, even wider than her own. Abby stared for a moment before shrugging it off.
"I guess even Joy men are curvy." She thought.
Abby rushed forward to meet him and pointed at his belt. She froze as terror, clear as day, spread across Joel's face. Only when he looked down and saw she was pointing to his badge, did he relax again.
"Uh- You beat Erika?" Abby said, trying to act like she hadn't just seen his face.
"Oh, y-yeah I did. Not too impressive though, it was just a rookie battle," Joel fumbled the badge as he looked down at his feet.
He took a deep breath and looked up at Abby with a grin.
"Between you and me, I'm pretty sure she let me win," He whispered with a laugh.
"I think all leaders let rookies win to some extent," Abby said and gave him a smile.
"Maybe," Joel shrugged.
Abby grabbed his hand.
"Come on! Let's go, there's a lot of training to do!" She exclaimed and began pulling him along as she broke out into a run.
"Whoa! Okay okay, slow down!" Joel laughed and ran after her. He gripped her hand tight.
Abby pushed the face he'd made away out of her mind. She figured he's probably just insecure about having wide hips.
"I mean, what guy wouldn't be?" She thought.
Abby and Joel ran across Celadon Square together, dodging between the chaotic flow of people around them. Eventually, they turned down a smaller less populated street and Joel gave Abby's hand a tug. They stopped and Joel gestured to an alley.
"This way, there's a path that leads to the forest. There's this beautiful clearing you can train in."
"Okay!" Abby giggled and ran off down the alley, dragging Joel with her.
He ran after her, doing his best to keep up with her breakneck pace while keeping hold of her hand. Dratini peered back at him as they ran and snickered. The alley twisted and turned, snaking sharply between the multi-coloured buildings. Groups of Oddish and Bellsprout scattered out of their way and Abby nearly tripped over a napping Gloom, the evolved version of Oddish. She skidded to a halt just inches away from it. Gloom looked up at her with narrowed eyes and a drooling mouth.
"Gloom…" It complained.
"Sorry!" Abby said and hopped around it before rushing off again.
Sometimes, Abby would take a wrong turn and Joel would have to tug on her arm to bring to her a stop. Usually, more than once. They'd have a good laugh then continue on with their breakneck speed. By now, Joel was running beside her rather than behind her. Together they skidded around corners, hopped over crates and pipes, and egged the other on to take more daring leaps. Eventually, the alley ended at the entrance to a forest path. Abby stopped and looked up at the trees gleefully. Joel stopped beside her and gave her hand a squeeze.
"Cool isn't it?" He said.
"So cool!" Abby agreed.
The trees towered above them, just like in Cerulean. The trunks were thick but not so thick that you couldn't walk between them. The light was able to reach the forest floor through the canopy, creating a blanket of lush moss and shrubs that caught the sunlight in such a way that the forest seemed to pulse green. Without a second thought, Abby was running down the forest path.
"You don't know where you're going!" Joel laughed as he ran beside her.
"I'm good! I'll find my way," Abby said.
"Well, find your way that way," Joel pointed to the left path in a fork up ahead.
Down the left path, was another fork then another and another until Abby had been directed down so many she lost count. Each time she split off left or right, the path got thinner and less stable until eventually Joel and herself were running across nothing more than a barren forest floor. They approached a dead end, a thick wall of brambly bushes. Abby began to slow but Joel kept going and pulled her along. She braced to hit the bushes but Joel pulled her down and together they ducked through a small, unseen gap. Abby tripped for the first time in a long time and fell forward. She collided with Joel and they sprawled out on the other side, laughing and wriggling to free themselves from the tangle of their bodies. The forest floor, thick with lush vegetation was gone, replaced instead by silt and clumped grass. Abby pushed herself up off the ground to find herself in a huge clearing dominated by a lake. Trees encircled the border of the lake, leaving a relatively narrow shore for her and Joel to stand on. Joel stood up beside her.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"It's perfect!"
Abby flung her backpack off her shoulders and pulled out her three pokéballs. She considered them for a moment, glanced at Dratini and nodded her head.
"Let's start with you," She said and picked up Horsea's pokéball.
Abby rushed onto the Lake's shore and released Horsea into the water.
"A Horsea," Joel said and crouched down at the water's edge.
He reached out a finger and Horsea disappeared below the water.
"Hey, it's okay I'm not gonna-"
Horsea shot back up and sprayed water from his tube-like snout into Joel's face. Joel gasped and fell backwards onto the sand.
"Horse-Horse Sea!" Horsea laughed. He dove down into the water and waggled his curled tail above the surface.
"You okay?" Abby giggled and offered Joel her hand.
"Nope, I'm mortally wounded," Joel clutched his chest and made a face.
"Damn, killed by a Horsea. That's just sad," Abby sat down beside him.
Joel sat back up.
"Could be worse, could've been a Magikarp," Joel said with a shrug.
Abby smirked.
"Not all Magikarp are weak."
"I'll believe that when I see it!" Joel laughed.
Suddenly, Dratini shot off of Abby's shoulder and joined Horsea in the water. Horsea lifted his head and snickered at him.
"Horsea," He taunted and splashed water at Dratini.
"Tini!" Dratini cried.
At once both Pokémon sprung into action and began a chase. Dratini pursued while Horsea evaded.
"So, what's the plan for Horsea?" Joel asked.
"For Horsea to evolve he needs to have an advanced control over water. So I'm gonna teach him Aqua Sphere!" Abby explained with a grin.
"Why start there? Shouldn't he learn some water attacks first?" Joel asked.
"I want Horsea to be able to move freely, I won't always have a lake like this."
"Makes sense," Joel nodded.
Abby waved to Horsea.
"Horsea! Come back!" She called out.
Horsea didn't respond, instead, he continued playing with Dratini. Abby got up on her feet, stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. Both Horsea and Dratini turned with alarmed expressions.
"You can play later, it's time to train!"
Dratini and Horsea raced back. They splashed water at each other along the way, trying to slow the other down. Dratini arrived first, but only barely.
"Tini!" He boasted before splashing Horsea and escaping back onto the shore.
"Horsea!" Horsea went to chase after him but Abby stopped him with her hand.
"Can you show me your bubble attack?" She asked.
Horsea nodded and dove under the water. He blew a jet of glowing, blue bubbles from his snout. Each one popped and caused the surface of the water to ripple violently. Horsea resurfaced, looking quite pleased with himself.
"That's great, but can you do it above the water?" Abby said.
"Sea?" He asked.
"Go on, give it a try."
Horsea gave her a wary look as he turned away. He drew in a breath through his snout and blew. Rather than bubbles, Horsea made only a sputtering sound.
"Try filling your mouth with water first," Abby giggled.
Horsea put his snout in the water.
"No, make your own," Abby said.
Horsea pulled his snout from the water.
"Horsea?" He asked, cocking his head.
"Show him," Abby said to Dratini.
Dratini moved to the water's edge with a smug grin. He opened his mouth with a dark blue glow. Glowing water filled his mouth and he blew it out in a thin, powerful stream that arced over Horsea.
"Like that, use that energy that makes the bubbles to create your own water," Abby said.
"Horsea…" He nodded slowly and looked down at his snout cross-eyed.
He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. Small blue sparks spat from his snout. He strained harder and the few sparks became many. Then, water began to dribble from his snout.
"Yes, great work buddy!" Abby clapped, "Now, fill it all the way and try to make a bubble."
Horsea cocked his head back, stopping the dribbling. His snout began to fill with pulsing, dark blue water. The snout drew back and widened at the base. It squeezed tight again and a bubble dripping blue water flew from his snout. The bubble hovered in the air for a moment before exploding with a burst of dark-blue energy.
"Nice! Keep it up, do another!" Abby said.
"I thought you were gonna teach him Aqua Sphere?" Joel asked.
"I am, I just wanted to see what he could do first," Abby said.
"Ah, so he's new then?"
"Yeah, I only caught him a few days ago," Abby explained.
While Horsea practised his bubbles, Abby sat back down beside Joel and pointed to his belt.
"So, who's that Pokémon?" She asked.
"He's a Granbull," Joel said
"Fuck, that's so cool!" Abby gawked at the pokéball, "Get him out!"
Joel laughed and unclipped the ball from its holster.
"Most people find him scary," He warned.
"Get him out!" Abby insisted.
She got up on her knees with an ecstatic grin. Joel pointed the ball in front of them and released Granbull just a few inches from the water's edge. His smooth, pink body caught the midday sun and glistened. He stood on two feet, supported by short legs bulging with muscle. His whole body was tight with muscle, especially his neck. It was as thick as his torso and rightly so, considering the huge head and jaws it was supporting. From Granbull's huge lower jaw, two enormous fangs shot up past his snout. The tips were level with and on either side of his eyes. His eyes, sharp and furrowed, honed in on Abby.
"Bull," He spoke with a deep, hoarse voice.
"Wow!" Abby shot to her feet and rushed Granbull.
"Bull!" He cried and took a few steps back into the water.
"Careful, he gets scared easy!" Joel warned and joined Abby at her side.
"Really? He looks so tough."
"You'd think so but Granbulls are actually pretty timid."
Joel stepped into the water and offered his hand to Granbull.
"She's not gonna hurt you, promise," Joel said gently.
Granbull hurried over to Joel and hid behind him. He peaked around his shoulder and considered Abby warily. Abby slowly approached.
"I always figured Granbulls were vicious," Abby said with a shrug.
"Only when they're mad," Joel laughed.
He stepped away from Granbull and sat back down.
"He'll come say hi when he's ready," Joel offered his hand to Abby.
Abby took it and joined Joel on the ground. Her face suddenly felt warm.
"Male Granbulls are rare, aren't they? Where'd you find him?" Abby asked.
"Yeah, they are. I found him as a Snubbull when I was a kid. He'd gotten himself stuck in our bins so I freed him and took him inside. My dad was not happy!" Joel answered.
For some strange reason, Abby felt a twang of anger. She pushed it to the side and smiled at Joel.
"How'd you become partners then? Did you have to sneak him around?"
"Nah, just a bath and a whole lot of begging," Joel said.
"Oh, does your dad, not like Pokémon or something?" Abby asked.
"What? No, my dad's a trainer. It's the whole reason he let me keep him. He was probably hoping I'd become one too seeing as my sisters were all obsessed with medicine," Joel shrugged.
"So why didn't you?" Abby asked.
"I'm no good at it. Nope, I had a talent for medicine just like my mother and sisters. I train as a hobby though."
Joel pointed to Dratini.
"How about you? What got you into training?" He asked.
"I just really love Dragons! It's been my dream since forever to train my own," Abby's hands moved wildly as she spoke.
"Yeah, I can tell," Joel laughed, "but why do you like them so much? What makes them so special?"
Abby hesitated before she answered. No one had ever asked her before and she struggled to find the exact right words.
"Well… They just feel different to other Pokémon. Dragon energy isn't elemental, it isn't an aura and it's not spiritual. Something about that, it just makes me want to root for them you know? I like how they don't neatly fit into any category," She eventually answered.
A silence followed. Joel looked up at the sky as he visibly contemplated her answer. Abby's face flushed and she hopped to her feet. She rushed up to Horsea, startling him and causing him to lose the bubble he was making.
"Wow, cool, amazing Horsea! Say wanna try creating a sphere of water around yourself?" The words came barraging out of her so fast her tongue tripped over them.
Horsea gave her a baffled look but nodded.
"Sea!" He exclaimed and began channelling.
Abby heard Joel chuckling behind her but didn't dare turn to face him. As blue sparks spat off of Horsea's body little spurts of glowing water formed. They arced off him, hovered in the air before losing their glow and falling with a splash. Abby knelt down before Horsea in the water.
"Form the shell first, then fill it in. Concentrate on holding the frame together," She said softly.
Glowing water spurted from Horsea's head and froze in the air above him, making an umbrella shape. Horsea grunted and it moved, slowly fanning out and curving to form the top of a sphere. Other spurts followed suit and soon the sphere began to take shape.
"That's it! Almost there!" Abby clenched her fists.
One final spurt shot out and spread to complete the spherical shell. The sphere pulsed a deep blue and a sound like a low bell sound chimed. It shimmered and abruptly filled with dark-blue water. Horsea hovered in the centre of the sphere.
"Horsea!" He trumpeted, his voice was muffled by the water.
"Amazing work buddy! Now try moving up."
The sphere pulsed and lifted off the water's surface. Horsea furrowed his brow and waggled back and forth as if trying to balance. For a moment, he seemed fine but in the next, the sphere suddenly collapsed and Horsea fell back into the lake. Dratini snickered from the shore.
"Sea!" Horsea cried and spat a spurt of water at him.
Dratini smirked, opened his mouth and shot a powerful blast of water back, sending Horsea flying back a few feet.
"Hey! Play nice," Abby scolded.
Dratini gave her a sheepish grin. When Horsea had swam back to her, she offered him his pokéball.
"You did good, keep up the practice inside okay?" She said before returning him.
"You're not gonna let him practice out here?" Joel asked.
"I prefer to work on one Pokémon at a time," Abby shrugged.
"Fair enough," Joel followed her as she made her way back to her bag, "So, where'd you learn to train Pokémon?"
"Nowhere, I taught myself," Abby answered, crouched down before her pokéballs.
Joel paused and didn't speak up again until Abby had chosen her next pokéball.
"Really? So you taught yourself to train water pokémon?" He asked.
"Water Pokémon?" Abby turned to face him with a baffling experience.
"Well yeah, you seem like you really get how the type works," Joel said.
"No, not really. I'm pretty much winging it," Abby admitted with a giggle.
Joel crossed his arms and looked her up and down with tenuous awe.
"Damn," Is all he said.
Abby blushed and rushed past him.
"Come on, onto the next Pokémon," She blurted.
Before Joel could answer, Abby released Charmander onto the silty sand. Charmander looked up at her with large, round eyes and cried out.
"Char!" He squealed delightfully and began waddling towards her with arms outstretched.
"Aww, so cute!" Joel said and crouched down before him.
"Char…" Charmander pulled back warily. He considered Joel.
Joel reached out a hand and smiled at him.
"Mander!" Charmander squealed and rushed forward. He gripped Joel's finger with both his stubby hands.
Joel laughed and looked up at Abby.
"He's so small," Joel said.
"Yeah, just a baby," Abby said.
She frowned as she joined Joel in crouching on the ground. Charmander let go of Joel's finger and waddled towards her, his tail whipping back and forth with each step, making the flame on the end dance.
"Charmander," Abby spoke slowly, "Can you make an ember?"
Charmander stared at her blankly with an open-mouthed smile. From behind Abby, Dratini slithered up and peered at him from between Abby's knees. Charmander directed his gaze to him and waddled forward.
"Char," He greeted.
"No," Abby snapped and grabbed him.
She plopped him back down before her.
"Make an ember."
Tears welled in Charmander's eyes and he began to wail. Abby sighed and reached for his pokéball.
"It's useless," She muttered.
"Hold on," Joel said and grabbed her wrist before she could raise the pokéball, "He's just a baby, you gotta be more gentle than that."
Tenderly, Joel picked up Charmander in cupped hands. Charmander stopped crying immediately. He sniffled and sat down on Joel's palms.
"Charmander, can you make an ember?" Joel asked in a voice that was little more than a whisper.
Charmander stared up at him for a moment without reaction. Then, he spat and a tiny glowing ember shot from his mouth. It flew through the air and singed Joel's shirt, leaving a tiny black dot. The flame on the end of Charmander's tail flared. Abby stared at him dumbfounded.
"How did you…" She began.
"All Pokémon have potential, some just take more time than others to bloom," Joel said to her in a whisper of a voice.
He offered Charmander to her, who was gazing up at her with a pleased grin. Abby took him into her hands. They trembled slightly. She swallowed as she steadied herself.
"Charmander, make an ember," She said softly, each word felt heavy coming from her throat.
"Char!" Charmander squeaked and spat another ember that singed Abby's shirt.
An enormous grin spread across Abby's face.
"Another!" She exclaimed.
"Char!" Charmander cried and spat another larger ember from his mouth.
This one arced lower, missing Abby's shirt. It missed her denim shorts too and singed the bare skin of her lower thigh. Abby didn't so much as flinch, instead, her grin widened further and her eyes lit up. She hopped to her feet and raised Charmander up.
"Again! More powerful!" She cried, starting to laugh as she spoke.
The flame on the end of Charmander's tail flared and a red light glowed through his cheeks. Charmander threw back his head and shouted as loud as his tiny, squeaky voice could let him.
"Chaaaaaar!"
He spat a shower of red, glowing embers from his mouth that scattered in the air above Abby and Joel like a blanket of red stars. The eruption of embers rained down, littering the ground with tiny black dots and singing both Abby and Joel's hair. Joel took a few, hasty steps back and covered his head but Abby just marvelled at Charmander. Even as the embers took to her hair and sparked a kindling fire. Dratini shot up her body and blasted her blazing hair with a jet of water. The sudden cold blast made her gasp and she almost dropped Charmander as she staggered to the side. Charmander cried out as the blast of water splashed up near him and began struggling in Abby's hands. With a thud, Abby fell back onto the ground and began laughing hysterically.
"You did it! You did it!" She repeated again and again, showing no concern for the ropes of drenched hair hanging over her face.
She placed Charmander down on the ground and he scurried back a few steps, eyeing the water dripping from her hair. Joel knelt down beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder with a gentle, light touch.
"You good?" He asked.
Abby turned to him with a wild grin and threw herself at him. She hugged him and pressed her face into his chest.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She exclaimed.
Joel gasped and fell back, pulling Abby on top of him as a result. Abby looked up and saw his face of terror return.
"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to-" Abby stopped as a sudden, sharp pick against her cheek cut her off.
She put her face against her hand and found no blood. Curiously, she reached out and placed her hand against Joel's chest. Beneath his shirt, on the bottom of his chest, Abby felt a row of sharp prickly things. Immediately, Joel pulled back away from her. He stared at her, utterly mortified, his face a bright shade of red. Abby slowly sat up, her mind racing to try and fit the pieces together.
"Are those… stitches?" She asked and shuffled towards Joel.
Joel shuffled back, eyes wide and breath trembling.
"Uh, they, these…" He stammered.
Abby furrowed her brow and cocked her head slightly.
"Did you, hurt yourself or something?" She asked.
Now, Joel's head cocked and he let out a shaky laugh.
"You don't know what these are?" He asked. Strangely, he sounded as if Abby was missing something obvious.
"No?" Abby answered warily, "Why would I? I don't know what injuries you've had, we only just met."
All the tension in Joel's face disappeared as he began laughing uncontrollably.
"A-Abby," He laughed, "They're stitches on my chest," he gestured to himself, "Look at me!"
Abby shook the hair out of her eyes and leaned in to stare at him.
"Look at you? Look at-" She paused as the pieces suddenly come together in her mind.
"Oh," She said in a quiet, wary voice. Then her eyes widened, "Oh!"
"I get it if that's like a problem or anything," Joel averted her gaze as he began to rise.
Abby reached out and clutched his wrist.
"So you're telling me that you got to choose your name and you CHOSE to be called Joel Joy?" She asked with a huge grin.
Joel shot her a confused look.
"Yeah?…" He answered.
Abby buckled over and began to laugh.
"Joel Joy!" She hollered.
"Hey! I like the name Joel," He said with a snort of a laugh.
"Joel isn't the problem, it's the combination!" Abby laughed.
She leaned forward and pressed her head back against his chest as she laughed. They laughed together for a few moments, slowly winding down from their hysterical joy.
"So, it's not a problem then?" Joel asked.
"A problem? Why would it be a problem?" Abby lifted her head to match their eye levels.
"Well cause you thought I was a cis-guy and…" Joel looked down between his legs, "and I'm not."
Abby shrugged and reached for Charmander's pokéball. As she returned him, she gave Joel a warm smile.
"You're still a guy, a pretty cute guy at that," Abby said.
Joel's hands flew up and grasped Abby's arms. His hands squeezed as his eyes became wet.
"Really?" He asked in a small voice.
"Yeah," Abby giggled.
She didn't have to think at that moment. Her body knew what it had to do and her mind made no objection. She leaned in and pressed her lips against Joel's. His mouth met hers and together their eyes both closed as they fell into each other's embrace. They kissed again and again and again, before falling into the sand below and getting lost in each other's bodies.