~Ruby~

"Come on slowpoke!" I howled to Wally, who was trying his hardest to keep up with me.

Water was spraying us in the face, creating waves that lapped at the shoreline like hungry pokemon wanting food. Sun was pouring down on, making the moss green lake shimmer and dance. Not a cloud in the sky could ruin this perfection. Wild flowers blew on the shore, sending a wafting of pollen and dandelion petals all around. Everything seemed to be flowing, growing, aloof with life and spontaneous as I felt. It was like, for a small part of my life, I was living a fairy tale.

Wally seemed to be having trouble with the air so high up, and not to mention my pokemon was getting a little worn out, so I decided now would be a good time to call it a day. Though the day really hadn't gotten that old, and the sun was only at its peak, it seemed the thing to do. I couldn't pass up the chance to forget all my worries with my favorite electric type, and surprisingly, my new accompaniment.

The quiet and sensual Lanturn I had made my own after a summer of nights talking to her out in the ocean about my life was flying beneath me while I gripped the single antenna like horn out of her head. It was throwing sparks of excitement and making my fingers twitch, but it wasn't enough to hurt. A tingling sensation that I actually quite liked. We rode like the wind, having perfected this game over the last three years.

I called this lovable and docile pokemon Coral, because of her love to bring that stuff to the surface where it could potentially hurt something. I remember one time she thought she was bringing me a gift and it had ended up a Corsala with a nasty attitude. That thing had stuck me with its rough body, only to be electric shocked by my pokemon not a second later. Coral had been—or wanted to be—my protector ever since.

She was one to forget her large size and the fact that her sensitive electric abilities could kill someone like me in the water, so it took a long time before she was fully trained to let me ride with her like this. Tugging on her electric supply and everything, she was perfectly happy, though occasionally taking a sharp turn or dunking me under purposefully.

She did that now, braced herself on the waves and changed course just to throw me off. I had to drop to my knees and hang tight so that I wouldn't be picked up by the massive whirlpool she kicked up with her back fins. Laughing I wrapped my arm around her antenna tightly, my other hand clinging to the sopping wet hat on my head that kept going into my eyes.

"You're crazy!" We slowed enough then so that Wally could catch up. He drifted inward into our break carefully, perched on the back of his fat Azumarill. The pokemon looked to be having fun, but it had the same clumsiness that Wally had himself, which was a bad combination in the water.

"Live a little!" I yelled to him, shaking water from my eyes and pushing my hat back up. "You were the one that wanted to get out of that small town!"

"That's not what I meant." He glared at me halfheartedly, raising his hand and touching beneath his nose to check for leakage. A little while before I managed to drag him into the lake he had gotten a terrible nose bleed, and tried to use it as an excuse. So I splashed water at him and accidentally made him swallow some the wrong way. He was furious but laughing, and now paranoid.

"What do you mean then?" I let my feet slide out from behind me so that I was sprawling on the back of my pokemon, letting the choppy waves lap at my sides and feet. I had to shove my hat up again.

"I am living, I just said you're crazy." He kneeled on his pokemon carefully, but relaxing his hands a little. "By the way I was wondering…"

"Hmm?"

"How come you never take that stupid hat off?"

I blinked in shock and got to my knees on Coral, reaching for my handle and glaring at him. A flash of hurt went through me, but then just anger. "It's not stupid." I defended, pulling on the wet sack. This hat meant a lot to me, considering it was given to me from a time in my life when I was very fragile myself.

When I was only four years old my father decided he was going to hate me or my mother or himself, and somehow it came down to just hating life. He wasn't happy, he was very violent, and being a former gym trainer, he had more strength in one hand than a herd Tauros. I remembered very clearly the day he snapped, after so long of wondering why he was the way he was.

My father had taken whatever built up anger he had in him and channeled it through six of my mother's favorite ceramic plates-one of which had my hand print in it from my first year of school. I remember not how it felt, when he chucked those plates at me and sent glass sliding across our kitchen floor, but the absolute fury of being an innocent child. I was smart—even back then—I knew that it was not my fault. Whatever my father had against me was his problem not mine; I took sanity in knowing that.

He split the corner of my forehead open that day, and I wound up in the hospital for the first—and last—time of my life. I wasn't a self destructive child because my mother had me on a short leash, but even if I was I can guarantee I wouldn't have ever gone back.

Ten stitches and a huge scar later I found myself taking comfort in this sack of a hat. My mother's family friend had given it to me saying something along the lines of "use it to your advantage", meaning my show life. It was this woman—whose name I can't even remember—that got me started in all those pokemon contest and shows. She was my manager, she was like an aunt to me, or a much older cousin.

And then she died from some cancerous tumor and left my single mother in a rut. Her husband went berserk, her kid wasn't what she wanted him to be, and to top it all off her best friend had died. I felt the effects of this sadness myself, but was too young to fully comprehend what that hat she gave meant to me.

To me it was something to cover up my scars and stop people from asking about them. I hated explaining what happened more than anything. To my mother it was all she had left of her best friend. And to the world, it was some ugly sack that got in the way more than it did any good.

I wanted to tell Wally all of this, I really did, but it came out in a disgruntled snort instead.

"You don't ever take it off do you?" He challenged when I didn't answer.

"It's my signature." I shook my head, though I did take it off rarely when I was alone or taking a shower.

"For what? Your fame?" Wally looked snide—probably getting back at me for this whole surfing thing— "I thought you wanted to run away from all that?"

I glared at him. He was right when he said that, most people did recognize me by my ridicules hat, but it was still my hat and I still appreciated it. He would too if he knew its background.

"Sorry." He shook his head, perhaps noticing that I really didn't look to happy. "It just looks like more of a pain to deal with than is worth. I don't see why you don at least take it off in the water."

"Alright fine." I pushed upwards and stood on my pokemon again. "I'll tell you what; I'll take it off if you can catch us!"

Whirling with great speed Coral squealing in delight, playfully raising her tail and letting it swoosh back down, drenching Wally in a four foot wave before we sped off into the middle of the lake where we could gather speed without reeds to get in the way. The wakes plowed up from behind us and created a single path for the Azumarill to fallow. Wally was clutching tight, but far too slow to reach us.

I laughed to myself. "Too slow! Let's go Coral!"

Gripping the antenna and bracing myself the small whale-like pokemon dove, beneath the surface with me holding my breath and grasping my hat. I couldn't see beneath the murky water of course, but her underwater vision was perfection. I felt her turn and swerve, perhaps heading back the way we came to tease Wally, and just when I thought I would have to let go she broke surface again allowing me to breathe.

I felt like I was riding some type of seadoo with one handle and no way to adjust the speed, which was probably one of the most exhilarating things I had ever felt. Coral was a jet boat, gliding through the water with more skill and grace than a milotic. We made Wally and his Azumarill look like dead magikarp.

We skipped twice like a rock and came to a skidding stop in the water, spraying another burst of mist in the air and swirling around Wally daunting him with flicks of droplets. His pokemon was aggravated now, snorting and swiveling its long ears in frustration. Coral laughed a squealing sound, echoing me and my hooting.

"Stop it!" Wally growled as we circled around him and sent a whirlpool to suck and gab at his sides.

"You gotta catch us!" I yelled.

He groaned. "Azumarill bubble!"

"What?"

In the blink of an eye a large beam of sizzling bubbles shot out at us, popping with loud snaps and making me flinch. It stung slightly, like the effect of sanitizer in a fresh wound. I narrowly avoided falling into the lake from the blow, and had to catch and steady myself.

"Hey!" I yelled at Wally, glaring, but before I had the chance to see where exactly he had gone Coral jolted out from under me. I gasped in shock, about to fall backwards only to be knocked completely forwards instead.

We hit the water flailing away from out pokemon and fighting with the bottomless water. Bubbles pushed my hat off my head and I just barely managed to snatch it before the thick material could sink. Water shot up my nose and went down my throat, sending me into a flurry of gasping and coughing and trying not to laugh or snarl while fighting with the water.

Just before I thought I would lose the battle with myself I was pulled to the surface, slender hands yanking upwards around my middle. Hat in hand I broke the surface and was met with my own raven hair soaked to my forehead. I rasped and blew out water from my nose before turning to look at Wally.

"Asshole." I fought back the stinging in my sinuses. "That was cheap."

I was expecting some kind of triumphant laughter from Wally, but it didn't come as he threw his arms over the floating body of his Azumarill. He took a few deep breaths before looking me in the eyes and running a hand through his mop of hair.

"You ok?" I kicked my legs and half-growlithe paddled over to Coral.

He nodded but his voice was tight. "Yeah. Fine." He coughed once. "You—you wear that hat to cover that scar don't you?" he pointed at me.

I rolled my eyes. Of course. No one could ever just NOT notice that jagged discolored patch of white across my head.

"Yeah. So what?"

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I like my head to look somewhat normal."

"It looks fine."

"Yeah ok." I rolled my eyes and pushed my hair back to reveal the full length of the scar. As long as my finger and unpleasant. I expected Wally to flinch away from its ugliness in understanding. He would want to cover up a scar like that too.

"It's not so horrible." He dismissed without even asking—I expected that too. No one had ever let something like that go before. Everyone seemed to want to jump to conclusions and assume it was some clumsy-kid-running-with-scissors-accident. But not Wally. He really just looked unfazed, as if I hadn't shown him at all. As if it wasn't even there.

I just shook my head again and held up my hat. It was too sopping wet now to even put on. It wasn't worth the extra three pounds of water. I slapped the thing over my shoulder and swung my leg up over my pokemon. She blew bubbles pleasantly as I stroked her forehead.

"Right… Come on Coral. Let's get to shore." I said looking at Wally, who was trying not to cling to his pokemon. The poor thing looked almost exhausted as Wally did.

Without thinking I plucked a pokeball from my waist and released my second water type—my very first pokemon—who was the badass of the team. Having only two male pokemon there must have been some competition or something, because he surely took the dominant factor. He was my daunting secret, a prize that won me more battles than I could have hoped for. He was massive with a head as wide as my shoulders and a gaping mouth studded with nubby teeth. He was my Heartbreak, and he surely would scare the hell out of Wally.

"Here." I let the ball open to reveal a large white mass. It transformed into a large wading shape that bellowed. Heartbreak hadn't been out in a while, so of course he was pissy.

"T—two water types?" Wally looked small next to the beast, especially as it glided over to me and sent a wave over his head. Heartbreak was oblivious of Wally. Perhaps because his eyes were too wide to see him and the Azumarill off to my side.

"Yeah. Yours looks a little worn." I commented and beckoned my pokemon over. Coral squealed a hello and was rewarded with a deep grumble. Heartbreak often reminded me of a mean old man that liked to yell at people to get off his lawn. Even so, I loved the pokemon just the same, and had no problem stepping from the back of Coral onto it. He made a gentle snoring sound at me and I patted the top of his hard head.

"You can take Coral back to shore." I suggested.

He released Azumarill quickly and shifted onto my pokemon.

"She won't go too fast." I smirked and wacked Heartbreak on the neck. "Let's go buddy."

He submerged like a serpent of some sort—preferring to swim under the water- and left me to crouch knee deep in the water with the wind blowing my hair back. I looked back at Wally, who seemed to be trying to reason with Coral not to go fast at all. I chuckled under my breath, knowing she would tease him.

And it was strange… I had this horrible desire to torment poor Wally, because I knew just how nervous he was about being out in the real world, and yet I had no clue what I was doing out here myself. I blinked and turned my eyes up to the sky, where the sun was starting to break and head west to set. It was hard to believe that I was becoming close to someone like him at all, let alone becoming good friends. He was a hazard to his own health and pretty awkward at everything, and yet it was impressive just the same.

Wally had things to say that I had never heard before. Just like this morning when he suggested that people changed all the time. I hadn't given much thought about it then, but he was right. People were always changing, which included me. If I wasn't changing I wouldn't have agreed to letting Wally come with me, I wouldn't have saved his life in the first place, I would never have even been in that town. I changed when I stood up to my mother and left; it was the biggest accomplishment I had ever done.

And even today, taking my hat off in front of him—or more so being ok with him knocking it off. A couple weeks ago I would have beat the shit out of a wimp like him… but now I was happy he was there.

"It feels good to have my hat off." I said to myself, holding the beloved item in my hands for once. "I'm not hiding behind it."

A distant wail caught my attention from the wading pace I was moving with my Swampert. I turned, looking back towards the middle of the lake to see Coral taking Wally for the ride of his life—perhaps more thrilling than even flying on Salamence. I shook my head and sighed.

Boy was I changing.