Primary: Diamond & Platinum.
Gone Fishin':
Lake Verity, Sinnoh…
Platinum sat quietly on a little boat, watching her fishing rod intently. It was her first time fishing, and she was excited to catch something. Diamond was sitting beside her, with a fishing rod of his own. He wasn't really paying attention to his rod, however. Platinum looked over at him and noticed that he was staring in her direction.
"Diamond, is there something wrong?" the heiress asked. "You seem preoccupied."
Diamond snapped out of his thought. "Huh? Oh… nothing." He quickly looked away and hoped that Platinum would not notice that he was staring at her. 'All alone with the Lady…' he turned to look at the other boat in Lake Verity at the moment. 'Well… all alone except for them…'
The other boat, floating quite far away from them, had Red and Yellow on board. They were fishing as well, and enjoying the silence the tranquil lake offered. Red was asleep with his hat covering his face, and Yellow sat beside him, simply staring at him. The two Kanto Dex Holders would not be disturbing anyone.
But unfortunately for Diamond, Platinum seemed way too interested in her first experience at fishing to notice that she was completely alone with him. Suddenly, the heiress's fishing rod moved slightly.
"Oh, oh! I think I have something!" Platinum said excitedly. She tugged at her fishing rod, but unfortunately, whatever was on the hook let go. The heiress almost fell off the boat from pulling too hard, but Diamond caught her.
"Are you okay, Lady?" he asked.
"Yes, I am fine," the heiress replied. But her voice was filled with disappointment. "I almost had it…"
"It's okay. You'll have more chances," Diamond said. "But please be careful…"
Platinum nodded and resumed her attempts at fishing. Diamond looked at the boat which had his seniors. Red had woken up and he was helping Yellow as she struggled to pull up her catch. Seeing how Red was basically embracing her while helping, Diamond got an idea. For the time being, he'll need to wait until something bites.
"So… Lady, what made you want to try fishing?"
Platinum suddenly looked embarrassed. "I… um… saw an advertisement for a fishing rod, and… I became curious."
"Then why did you ask me to come with you?" Diamond asked.
The heiress looked away to hide a forming blush. "I thought that you would be better company for this than Pearl." She suddenly looked at him with a worried expression. "Why do you ask? Do you not like being here?"
"No, no, I like it," Diamond said hastily. 'A lot…' "I was just curious. That's all."
Both Platinum and Diamond looked away and quietly sighed. The Sinnoh boy glanced at the heiress and wished he had the courage to say what he wanted to say.
4 hours later…
Platinum snapped into focus when her fishing rod started to shake violently. She had spent the last four hours talking to Diamond, discussing various things (such as what he was doing nowadays, and what he thought of his seniors), and as such, wasn't ready. She almost lost her fishing rod, but caught it just before it fell into the water. But she didn't have a good grip as a result.
"Diamond, help!" she yelled.
The Sinnoh boy jumped up and tried to assist. Because Platinum wasn't as small compared to him (unlike Yellow, who was significantly smaller than Red), Diamond was unable to 'embrace' the heiress while assisting. Instead, he grabbed the rod and stood beside her.
But unfortunately, the heiress seemed to have caught something huge. Diamond helping didn't do anything. Even as the words "Lady, let go of the rod!" were making their way from his brain to his mouth, whatever Platinum had hooked dragged her into the water. On instinct, he let go of the rod before he fell in as well.
"Diamond!" Platinum screamed before she hit the water.
'No, no, no!' "Lady! I'm coming!" Diamond yelled. He dived into the water after taking a deep breath. Only after a few seconds did he regret his decision to dive without looking inside Platinum's bag, which contained the Pokéball for her Empoleon.
Underwater, Diamond could see Platinum with her hands over her mouth, trying to kick away from her catch… which happened to be a Gyarados… of all things. Her catch seemed to be satisfied with its catch.
The Gyarados swam towards Platinum at an alarmingly fast rate, with its mouth wide open. The heiress shut her eyes and braced herself, but Diamond managed to pull her away before she was bitten in half.
Platinum opened her eyes and looked at him. He noticed that she looked absolutely terrified… and she seemed to be suffocating from lack of air. Diamond looked at the Gyarados. It was swimming above the humans so it could block any attempts of them escaping. As a result, Diamond did the only thing he could think of to help Platinum breathe. He placed his lips onto the girl's and breathed into her lungs. He hoped that whatever air (and hopefully not the CO2) was left in his mouth would help the heiress for a little longer.
Platinum looked shocked. Diamond ignored her and focused on the Gyarados; a little too late, however, as he had barely enough time to push the heiress out of the way of an Aqua Tail. Platinum tried to swim towards the surface, but the Gyarados wouldn't let her. It tried to eat her again just as Diamond swam to catch up with her. Platinum desperately tried to swim away while the Gyarados was about to swallow her whole…
Meanwhile, on the surface, Red and Yellow looked where their juniors were a short while ago. Realizing what happened, Red sent out his Poliwrath to find and save the two Sinnoh Dex Holders.
Platinum opened her eyes, surprised that she was still alive. She turned around and saw that Diamond was holding the Gyarados's mouth open.
'Come on, Lady… get out of there!' Diamond thought, struggling to keep the Pokémon's mouth from closing.
After a few seconds of shock, Platinum snapped out of her trance and quickly swam out of the Gyarados's mouth. Thankfully, before Diamond lost strength, Red's Poliwrath smashed its fist into the Gyarados's face, forcing it to back off. The Poliwrath grabbed both Sinnoh Dex Holders and began to swim.
The Gyarados, pissed off, started to swim in a circle really fast, forming a whirlpool (either the move Whirlpool, or Twister. It doesn't really matter underwater). The Poliwrath lost its grip on the two Sinnoh Dex Holders in the vortex, and was forced to swim away to avoid being sucked in.
Platinum kept her hands over her mouth and tried to swim away while she was sucked into the vortex. Realizing that it was hopeless, she shut her eyes and hoped that at least Diamond would make it out alive. She was knocked out when something big hit her in the chest.
Diamond could see that Platinum had collided into him in the vortex. Afraid that he would lose her, he embraced her tight and shut his eyes. He knew he was going to die… he wanted Platinum to survive, but it seemed that she was going to drown with him… There was no way that Red's Poliwrath would be able to find the two Sinnoh Dex Holders in the vortex.
But then, something odd happened. Diamond noticed that he couldn't move or feel the vortex. He could still feel Platinum in his embrace, but couldn't feel the water around him at all. It was as if something had grabbed onto him with psychic powers… Diamond realized that something was pulling him away from the vortex and towards what appeared to be an underwater cave. And it turned out that the underwater cave was a part of the island in the center of Lake Verity…
The Sinnoh boy pulled himself out of the water while carrying Platinum's motionless body on his back. He concluded that it was Mesprit that helped him with its psychic powers. He sincerely thanked it (he was sure that it could hear him) and gently set Platinum onto the cave floor. He then sat beside her and looked up. He could see the sky through big gaps in the cave ceiling, and more than enough light filtered through the gaps to illuminate the entire area. There weren't any paths or exits… The only way out was back into the water.
The Sinnoh boy looked at the heiress who was still lying motionless. He quickly took off her hat and tried to see if she had been injured. As far as he could tell, Platinum didn't have any cuts or injuries on the head, so he put her hat back on. He then checked her arms and legs and was relieved to find no cuts or bruises.
Diamond carefully checked Platinum's pulse. To his relief, the heiress was alive. She wasn't breathing, but her pulse was strong. He sighed in relief and leaned against the cave wall. He gently pulled Platinum towards him and moved her so that the heiress would rest her head on his lap. Diamond then took off his vest and put it on Platinum. He gently brushed the few strands of hair away from the heiress's face and carefully kissed her on the cheek. He hoped that she would wake up soon, and closed his eyes.
Platinum woke up a few hours later and began to cough up the water she swallowed. She groaned and turned to her side so she could spit the water in her mouth. She noticed that she was no longer in water and opened her eyes. She was rather surprised that she was alive…
'What happened?' she thought to herself. 'Why am I in a cave?' She noticed that there was something warm covering her. It took her a second to realize that it was Diamond's vest… She gasped in shock. 'Diamond!'
Platinum quickly sat up and noticed that Diamond was leaning against the cave wall. The Sinnoh boy appeared to be asleep… Relieved that he was unharmed and was asleep, she looked as the boy slept peacefully. The heiress then realized that she had been resting her head on Diamond's lap all this time… She blushed in embarrassment but couldn't help but admit that it was rather comfortable. With a smile, she lay down again and rested her head on his lap once more. She pulled Diamond's vest closer to her heart and tried to sleep.
…
"Lady? Lady, wake up."
Platinum slowly opened her eyes. She could see Diamond looking at her with a worried expression.
"Hello, Diamond," the heiress said with a smile.
"Oh, I was so worried… Lady, are you okay?" Diamond asked.
Platinum slowly sat up and smiled again. "Yes, I am perfectly fine, thanks to you. Thank you for protecting me." She returned Diamond's vest back to its owner. "Again, thank you. But Diamond, where are we?"
"I'm not quite sure," Diamond replied as he put his vest back on. "I think Mesprit brought us here from the whirlpool."
The heiress took a look around. "How do we get out?"
Diamond pointed at the water. "We'll have to go underwater and resurface outside. Don't worry Lady, I'll make sure that the Gyarados isn't still out there." He suddenly looked worried. "You're not hurt, are you?"
Platinum shook her head. "I am unscathed."
"Good. Now, if you're ready, let's get out of here."
Diamond rose to his feet and extended a hand to Platinum. The heiress was about to accept it when she noticed something strange. She could see some blood on the cave wall where Diamond had been leaning on. Platinum looked surprised. She rose to her feet and slowly walked behind Diamond. The Sinnoh boy lowered his hand and sighed. He got caught…
"Diamond…" Platinum started. She could see a hole in the Sinnoh boy's vest and could see that the area around the hole had been dyed crimson. "Are… are you injured?"
"No, no… it's just a scratch!" Diamond said as he turned so Platinum could not look at his injury. But unfortunately, the amount of blood the heiress saw said otherwise.
"Diamond, please remove your vest," Platinum ordered. Diamond did as told and the heiress moved behind him to examine the injury. She gasped in shock. The injury was definitely not a scratch, but more like a stab wound. "When… when did this happen?"
"I don't know," Diamond lied.
But Platinum seemed to have figured it out anyways. "The Gyarados… When you tried to save me from its mouth…"
Much to Diamond's shock, Platinum started to cry. "Lady, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"I – I am so sorry, Diamond… Because of me…" she sobbed out. "I – I never should have asked you to c – come with me on this fishing trip!"
"Lady, it's not your fault. And don't worry, this is nothing serious. So please stop crying…"
Platinum calmed down slightly. She was still sniffling and it made Diamond feel miserable. The heiress gently bit her lower lip as she wondered what she should do. But soon, a thought occurred.
"Diamond, please hold up your shirt."
"Huh? Why?" the Sinnoh boy asked.
"I am going to try to stop the bleeding," the heiress replied.
"How?" Diamond asked. He glanced back and noticed that Platinum had taken her hat off. "No, no, no, not your hat, Lady," he said as he quickly turned around.
"It is very similar to cotton, Diamond," the heiress said as she squeezed the water out of her hat. "It would be highly effective in preventing blood loss."
"Use my hat! Yours is expensive…"
"No. I cannot let you ruin your hat too. Diamond, please turn around."
"But Lady… my hat's not worth anything…"
Platinum calmly looked into Diamond's eyes. "You have saved my life today. This is the least I can do in return. So please turn around."
The Sinnoh boy gave up and turned around. "Thank you…" he muttered as he lifted his shirt enough to expose the wound.
Platinum folded her hat twice and looked at the wound. "I apologize, but this may hurt. Please forgive me…" She then firmly placed her hat directly on the wound on Diamond's lower back.
"Ow…"
"I am so sorry… Please keep the hat in place for a short while."
Diamond did as told. "But how are you going to keep the hat in…" he trailed off when he felt something soft wrap around him. He looked down and saw Platinum's scarf acting as a roll of bandage. "Lady, not your scarf too…"
"It is all done, Diamond," Platinum said from behind a few seconds later. "You may now lower your shirt and put on your vest."
Diamond did as told again and turned to look at her. He noticed that the heiress was missing her hair clips… He moved his hand to his lower back and could feel the 3 hair clips pinning the scarf in place.
"Not your hair clips too…"
Diamond noticed that Platinum's hair was a lot longer than he thought. She sure looked cute without the clips… He shook away the thought.
"Well then… should we escape now?"
The heiress nodded. Diamond extended a hand to her and she grabbed it without hesitation. The two Sinnoh Dex Holders approached the water and after taking a deep breath, dived. Underwater, they could see a Poliwrath, Omastar, and a Gyarados swimming around. The Gyarados wasn't the one who attacked the two Dex Holders however.
The two Sinnoh Dex Holders recognized the three Pokémon as their seniors' and quickly swam towards them. With the three Pokémon protecting them, the two Dex Holders swam to the surface where Red and Yellow were waiting.
"Dia, Platinum! There you are!" Red yelled as he rowed his boat towards them.
"I am terribly sorry for worrying you, seniors," the heiress said as she received assistance in climbing onto the boat. "I am perfectly fine." She quickly helped Diamond get on the boat and looked at her seniors. "But I am afraid that Diamond is hurt. He needs to go to the hospital immediately."
Red and Yellow sent out their aerial transport Pokémon. Red's Aerodactyl carried Diamond while Yellow's Butterfree carried Platinum. The two Sinnoh Dex Holders headed towards the nearest hospital while the two Kanto Dex Holders stayed behind to pack up (equipment, boats, etc).
Luckily, it was determined that Diamond's injury wasn't serious and that he'd recover quickly and without worries. Platinum still felt horrible as she believed that it was her fault that he got hurt. She just had to ask Diamond to join her in her fishing trip, she just had to hook a Gyarados, and she just had to be in its mouth… As a result, she chose to stay away from Diamond for a while. She didn't want to cause any more problems for him.
5 days later, Viridian Forest…
Platinum wandered through the forest, looking at the lush trees and relaxing in the calm atmosphere. She could hear the stream nearby and headed towards it under the thought of cooling down. When she got close, she could see Yellow lying on the ground beside the stream.
The heiress quickly approached her senior, worried that something bad happened. But as she came close, Yellow turned to look at her. The Kanto Dex Holder sat up and gave her a warm smile as she waved.
"Hi, Platinum," she said cheerfully.
Realizing that she had been worried for no reason, the heiress smiled and bowed in response. "Hello, senior Yellow." She sat beside her senior. "May I ask what you were doing?"
"Well, um… I was just relaxing, that's all," Yellow replied. She pointed at her fishing rod in the water. "And I'm waiting for a response." She looked at Platinum and gave her a warm smile. "Hey, do you want to try? You didn't really catch anything last time."
The heiress thought for a second. Seeing how she was now near a small stream of water and thus had no chance of catching something as big as a Gyarados, she nodded. Yellow gave her another fishing rod and the heiress excitedly put the hook into the water. Yellow tapped her junior on the shoulder.
"Don't get too excited," she said. "Sometimes, fishing can take hours. So… relax."
The Kanto Dex Holder tilted her hat to cover her eyes from the sunlight and lay down. Platinum looked at her for a second before taking a look around. No one was watching, so the heiress carefully lay down on the grass. Normally, she wouldn't lie down on the ground at all, but… Platinum noticed that it was strangely comfortable. She looked at the clouds high above and took a deep breath. She felt so relaxed…
An hour later…
Platinum opened her eyes and yawned. It seemed that she fell asleep in the calm forest. She carefully sat up and looked around. Yellow was still asleep a meter away and… nothing seems to have changed. The heiress stretched and looked at her fishing rod. She was surprised to see it shaking…
"Oh, oh! I have something!" she yelled out excitedly. She took her fishing rod and pulled. But whatever she hooked was quite heavy. But the water wasn't deep enough for a big Pokémon…
Yellow woke up from the heiress's excited yell and tried to help her junior. The two girls pulled with all their strength, and soon they managed to successfully pull up whatever the heiress had caught. They were shocked to see that it was…
"… Diamond?" Platinum muttered.
"Hi, Lady…" the Sinnoh boy said with a wave as he held on to the fishing line. It seemed that he had removed the hook for safety reasons.
"What are you doing here?" the heiress asked as she let go of the fishing rod. Diamond let go as well and climbed out of the water. "And why were you in the water?"
"Well… I just wanted to see you again, Lady," Diamond said sheepishly. "I heard from Red that you were here in Kanto and… I came to surprise you."
"Oh, Diamond, you did not have to do that," Platinum said with an extremely happy smile. Her smile faded and appeared a little worried. "How is your back?" she asked.
"I'm perfectly fine, Lady. The injury's been completely healed."
Platinum hugged Diamond. "I am relieved then… And I missed you too, Diamond. Thank you for coming." She noticed that the Sinnoh boy was quite cold and pulled back. "How long were you in the water?"
"Half an hour," Diamond replied. "I came here and you were asleep, so you weren't going to notice me. So I got in the water so I could surprise you. I thought you'd wake up when I entered the water, but… you… didn't wake up, so…"
"That wasn't a well thought-out plan, was it?" Yellow asked with a smile.
Diamond rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh… no, I guess not."
Platinum rose to her feet. "Well then, come, Diamond. We should find you some dry clothes. Then afterwards… would you like to go to the cape in Route 25 with me?"
"Sure, I'd love to," Diamond replied. "I came all this way just to see you, after all."
As always, the ending has been rushed.
Next up: Black & White. I haven't decided on what the moment will be about though.