The last chapter of There's A Reason They're Called A Jynx! I can't believe it's done so quickly (for me, at least)… I'm actually kind of sad. I realize that it did take a while to get this final chapter out, but writing the last half was difficult.
I'd like to give a quick shout out to Pairadice, who encouraged this fic from the start, and who helped me come up with the idea in the first place. Thank you! The dream at the beginning of this chapter is dedicated to her; she knows why.
I don't own Pokémon or Gravitation.
Shuichi was dreaming. He lowered his hands from his eyes and looked again.
Yup, he was definitely dreaming. There was no other way that such a thing could be happening.
The man he'd been chasing, the man with the gorgeous, buttery eyes, the man who'd called him a bad trainer, was standing in front of him…
…dressed in blue short-shorts held up with red suspenders and a belly-baring pale yellow tank top. And, to top it all off, he had a blonde pony-tail sticking out of the side of his head.
"Oh, my god," Shuichi choked out, not sure if he was disturbed… or turned-on. Maybe both?
The sound alerted the dream man to Shuichi's presence.
The stranger looked at Shuichi, and a sweet, caring grin spread over his face as he twirled a strand of blond hair around his finger, completely baffling the pinkette. Hadn't this been the man who'd hated him?
Hadn't he been dressed in a bit more manly clothes? Not that Shuichi would mind if the answer to either of those questions was 'no', but…
The dream-stranger opened his mouth and said, with a loving smile still on his face, "Oh, Christ. Not you again."
"What's the brat's problem?" the stranger asked Hiro.
They'd moved to the side of the road, dragging an unconscious Shuichi, then the motorcycle over onto the strip of grass.
"He's not a brat," Hiro answered, worried for his friend. It had been a little longer than the customary few minutes a faint usually took, and Hiro was beginning to wonder if Shuichi had hit his head in the tumble from the motorcycle. "Hey, Shuichi?"
"That's his name? 'Shuichi?'" the stranger scoffed.
"Yeah, it is." Hiro was starting to wonder what possibly could have enchanted Shuichi so thoroughly with this man. "I don't suppose you have a name?"
"Yuki works just fine," was the somewhat brusque answer.
Hiro turned away from his position kneeling beside Shuichi to extend his hand to Yuki. "Yuki, understood. My name would be Hiro."
After a moment of pause, Yuki took the proffered hand, vaguely surprised at the sudden show of manners. "Hiro," he acknowledged. Just as abruptly, Hiro pulled his hand back and readdressed his attention to Shuichi.
"Shuichi? Can you hear me? Wake up, buddy." He gave his friend several rapid, light slaps to the cheek. "Shuuiiiiichiiiiiii."
Shuichi began groaning, trying to get away from the disturbing tapping. "Mnnaah!" he protested.
"Wake up, Shuichi." Hiro would not be content with some mere groaning. "Come on, get up!"
"Yes, do get up," Yuki encouraged, sarcasm edging his statement.
Shuichi stilled, then, his giant lavender eyes flashed open, immediately fastening themselves to Yuki. He blinked confusedly several times before turning his eyes to Hiro.
"Hey, you okay, man?" Hiro asked patting the top of his friend's head, discreetly checking for any bumps or bruises.
"Yeah, but I had a nightmare, I think…Or, maybe it was a good dream…" Shuichi mumbled, thinking back on it. After all, only the last part had really been all that traumatizing.
'Not you again.'
"Uh, Shuichi? Are you sure you're okay?" Hiro asked uncertainly. How could you not know a nightmare from a good dream? "We've been wondering if you'd perhaps hit your head when we fell off."
Shuichi glared at him. "You mean 'flew off'? I told you not to run him over," Shuichi snapped, jerking his thumb at the blonde in their midst, who, to Shuichi's disappointment, was most definitely not dressed in a halter-top and short-shorts.
Hiro glared back. "Excuse me for trying to get you to your beloved stranger in a timely manner, Shuichi. Excuse me for trying at all!"
"You were looking for me?" Yuki asked, eyes narrowed. 'Beloved?'
Shuichi's attention was drawn back to the golden-eyed stranger, actually focusing on him rather than the dream-stranger this time.
"Um…" He was speechless.
Slowly bringing himself up to a sitting position, under the careful, if still slightly spiteful, watch of Hiro, Shuichi just stared at the man for a moment…
Suddenly, Shuichi launched himself at the man. He was wrapped around Yuki's legs, as tightly as Yuki's Victreebel around Shuichi's Jynx, before Yuki even had the chance to take a step back, and if he tried now, he'd end up toppling over backwards, still with Shuichi attached to him.
"I found you!" Shuichi shrieked from the ground, almost bursting Yuki's eardrums.
"What are you talking about, runt?" Yuki asked, trying to kick the pinkette off, but only succeeding in almost tripping himself up.
"Shuichi, get off of him!" Hiro commanded, shocked by his friend's behavior, not that he really should have been. It was pathetically in-character of him. Still, he was a bit worried. How would he know if Shuichi had hit his head?
Suddenly, a pair of headlights shown on the road, blinding the three.
"Not more of you people," Yuki groaned.
"What's wrong with 'us people'?" Shuichi whined, rubbing his cheek against Yuki's legs.
"Case in point," Yuki stated, glaring distastefully down at the pink, fangirling thing clinging to his knees.
"Huh?"
"Just shut up Shuichi, and look who it is," Hiro commanded, not having taken his gaze away from the approaching vehicle for a moment.
Shuichi looked and suddenly his grip slackened, allowing Yuki to struggling break free of the parasitic pinkette. Even with the light making it hard to see, the silhouette of the person in the driver's seat was obvious.
K.
Shuichi gulped. "We are so dead," he squeaked out, not realizing his prey had escaped his grasping clutches.
"Yeah," Hiro responded. He'd been committed to doing this the whole time, and he knew that he wouldn't be penalized... at least, not by K directly. K's Blastoise, though, was pretty liberal with its punishments. Damn water-Pokémon.
The car came to a halt a few yards from Shuichi, who had been dragged to the road by Yuki's legs as the blonde had retreated.
K stopped the car, and, leaving the lights on, got out. Suguru did the same on the passenger's side, but only to lean against the car, holding back, while K began to make his way forward.
"Hi, boys!" K called cheerfully, giving them a giant wave.
Shuichi and Hiro looked at each other, wide-eyed and confused. Maybe K had hit his head, too.
"How are you? Just go for a night's ride before bedtime?"
This horrible agreeableness was putting Hiro, Shuichi, and even Suguru, who wasn't even in trouble, on edge.
"Uh, yeah. How'd you find us?" Shuichi asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, not looking K in the eyes.
"Well, after waking from an especially terrifying dream involving someone's monstrosity of a Jynx," Shuichi blushed bright red and continued to avoid K's eyes, "I decided to take a walk, to try to clear my mind of those horrible images. And, you know what I found…hm…? Come on, take a guess."
Shuichi and Hiro just stood there quietly.
K snapped, slamming a fist down on the hood of the car behind him.
"My two best trainers disappeared, beds empty, nothing to tell me where they'd gone off to! Guess what I did? I panicked! You made me panic! How dare you do such a thing? To me? You're lucky I don't kill you! Especially when I expressly forbid you to go!"
"You didn't "expressly forbid" us to do anything, K," Hiro called him out. "Don't try to guilt us into anything when Shuichi may have hit his head."
"…You hit your head!" K shouted in outrage, thinking he might enjoy hitting Shuichi over the head himself.
"It's not like I meant to!" Shuichi shouted. Seriously, how on earth could he be suspected of purposely hitting himself on the head?
"How did you hit it?" K demanded to know.
"By almost running me over," Yuki said, stepping forward, interrupting the angry discourse.
"And, you are?" K turned on the new target, ready to kill anything that moved.
"The "beloved stranger.""
Shuichi died…Or, at least, he wished he did. It would have spared K from having to do the job himself.
"Oh. So, you're the one who's caused all this trouble for me." K glared at the man, rage still smoldering beneath the surface.
"Yes. As I told Hiro, my name is Yuki. But, frankly I can't see how any of this is my problem. It's that's," Yuki pointed at Shuichi, "problem. All the way from the beginning."
"Hey!" Shuichi protested, pouting and glum. Didn't he deserve some sort of recognition for coming all the way out here in the middle of the night to find this man, this Yuki.
"Quiet, Shuichi," K commanded. "Well, Yuki, if you don't mind, I'm going to be taking away my distractible, shiny things-loving trainer."
"Be my guest," Yuki replied, seemingly invitingly if not for the partially bared teeth.
"No, wait!" Shuichi shrieked, fully gaining everyone's attention. "I came out here to see you," Shuichi pointed a dramatic finger directly at Yuki, "and, damn it, to hell if I'm not getting something for my efforts!"
"And my efforts," Hiro added in.
Ignoring Hiro and continuing to point at Yuki, Shuichi yelled, "I demand that you and I have a pokébattle!"
After a moment, Yuki snorted, but he didn't grin.
"Are you serious? You want me to battle you? Considering what I've seen of your abilities as a trainer, I think not. Goodbye." Yuki began to walk away.
"Just one round!" Shuichi called out. "Just one, and, if you win, I'll never ever bother you again."
Yuki stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Ever?"
"Ever. Never, ever. Never, ever, ever, ever… But, if I win, you have to go on a date with me," Shuichi quickly tacked on.
"Oh, gods, just drop it, Shuichi," Hiro said, tired and exasperated.
"Did you really just say you wanted to go on a date with me?" Yuki asked, a stunned expression on his face.
"Yes, I did, now will you battle me or not?" Shuichi was blushing to his roots, but this was what he wanted.
"…Fine." Yuki turned around to fully face his challenger.
"No, no, I forbid this!" K declared, making an 'X' with his arms in front of him. "First of all, Shuichi, battling this guy would gain nothing for anyone. Second, when you win, you wouldn't be able to go on a date with this guy anyway; we have an appointment to make, remember?"
"What do you mean 'when he wins'?" Yuki asked suddenly, brow furrowing.
"Shuichi isn't near as bad as you might think he is," Hiro answered.
"Really, he's not," Suguru backed him up, as if there was no possible way anyone could take Shuichi seriously without multiple people vouching for him.
"How good is he?" Yuki questioned, looking at Hiro, having picked him out as the most coherent.
"Better than his Jynx would suggest," Hiro answered wryly.
"Wrong, no. No, no, no, no!" K interrupted. "It's the prime example of Shuichi's work as a trainer. You don't want to battle him; it'll be a waste of what I am sure is your valuable time," he blathered.
"Shut up, K!" Shuichi yelped.
"What's your problem, anyway?" Suguru asked, K's behavior having become a little too odd and adamant for him.
"He's distractible enough as it is already!" K shouted, using his whole arm to point at Shuichi. "If, for any absurd reason, he and blondie over there—"
"Look who's talking!" Shuichi screeched, being completely ignored.
"—got together, do you realize the full implications of how completely unmanageable he would become? And, I'm the manager!"
"Are we going to battle or not?" Yuki spoke up again, becoming impatient.
"Yes!" Shuichi called out, walking forward.
"Then, I call out my Nidoking," Yuki declared offhandedly. Reaching into his back pocket, Yuki pulled out a pokéball and tossed it into the air, releasing the Pokémon.
As the spiky giant rodent took form, Shuichi's eyes began to glaze over.
"…Well?" Yuki prompted when Shuichi made no move to call his own creature to the field. "This single round is going to end up taking longer than the regular three."
…
"Uh, Shuichi?" Hiro queried.
"Oh, this is just so perfect!" Shuichi squealed out of the blue, causing everyone to jump. "I am so using my Nidoqueen in this battle!"
Suguru face-palmed himself and Hiro and K both rolled their eyes as Shuichi tore his backpack from his shoulders and rammed his hand beneath the flap, searching for the pokéball he wanted. But, Shuichi never found the pokéball he wanted. Instead, a different pokéball was shifted out of the backpack, opening when it fell to the ground.
And, oh, the horrors it unleashed.
"No, Jynx! Get back in your pokéball!" Shuichi commanded to no affect as the opera singer Pokémon burst forth.
"Oh, God!" K shrieked.
"Jynx," the Pokémon loudly droned, suddenly catching sight of her beloved. "Jynx!"
The Pokémon began to run headlong at K, ready to give him a big smooch. K screamed and dived beneath the car as Shuichi repeatedly and uselessly commanded 'no.'
"Nidoking, tackle!"
Almost immediately, the Jynx was brought down beneath the weight of the Nidoking, knocked out easily due to its lack of battle experience.
"Nidoking," the Pokémon grumbled, annoyed at how quickly the fight was over.
"That will be all, Nidoking," Yuki said, retracting the Pokémon back into its pokéball.
"Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man, oh, man," Shuichi whimpered to himself, already having covered his face with his hands. How could this have happened? Of all times, how could this have happened now? In front of the gorgeous stranger with golden eyes? Hooowww?
Shuichi felt like crying, especially as Yuki came over to him and was the one to return Shuichi's Jynx to its pokéball.
Everything was quiet for several moments as Yuki stood in front of Shuichi, who was still using his hands to block the world out.
Finally, Shuichi heard Yuki heave a great sigh.
"Okay. I'll go on a date with you."
…
Shuichi slowly pulled his hands away from his face, his purple eyes blinking owlishly. "I'm dreaming again, aren't I?" Shuichi turned to look at Hiro. "I'm dreaming, right?"
Hiro didn't answer him; he just stood staring with his jaw dropped. A similar look was on the faces of K and Suguru.
"Considering all the crap you put yourself and your teammates through, I suppose you deserve some sort of reward for being so damn stubborn," Yuki muttered, trying to sound nonchalant as he pulled out and lit a cigarette. "Plus, that manager of yours is ticking me off, and he deserves what's to come."
Shuichi cackled before throwing his arms around the unsuspecting Yuki in a gleeful embrace.
As Yuki struggled to free himself, Suguru made his way toward Hiro and away from the cowering K.
"Poor guy. Didn't know what he was getting into, did he?" Suguru muttered to Hiro upon reaching him.
"Nope," Hiro answered, shaking his head and chuckling somewhat evilly to himself. "But, he's stuck now."
"I love you, Yuki!"
The End
The first chapter-fic I've ever completed! That's a really fulfilling feeling… Of course, now I'm going to have to start thinking about the sequel (in which a lot of the things left unanswered in this fic will be answered), so I guess it's really not over ^-^.
