vacation? [ open ]

[RED]

The water undulated under the large Transport Pokémon, who whined restlessly as he floated. Vacationing wasn't something of the norm for the Lapras, nor for the boy strewn across his back. <Eeeh? Red ye' lazy bastard! Get up!> A third party member was sprawled out lazily between the Lapras's ears, tiny jolts of electricity dancing over his fur. The human laying between the spikes that protruded from the blue Pokémon's hard shell didn't respond. Shift. No response. Inhale. No words. <You make us sit on a giant ice block for ages and suddenly I'm bein' hauled out of that snow hell on tha' big fat lizard ye own! What'ye? Bipolar? I was just gettin' used to havin' icicle whiskers!> The Electric Mouse scowled and scuttled down the curve of the Transport Pokémon's neck, eyeballing the unresponsive trainer with beady eyes. One of Pikachu's invisible eyebrows rose when his trainer didn't even look at him. What was this?! <Hey, blubber boy, tell this dunce what I just said. Apparently he doesn't understand.> The Lapras's curved neck twisted so his black eyes could glance over the scene.

<What got your panties in a knot, Pikachu? I love swimming!> The Lapras chuffed, fins slapping against the top of the water, causing the Mouse to tumble around across the gray shell and grab at the knobs for support. The Pikachu's cheeks began to crackle with bitter electricity, tail skimming against the water's exterior. Panic flooded his features for a grim second, but as he opened his tiny mouth to roar and curse, a quiet voice filled the tense air. "Lapras." Both Pokémon seemed to freeze at the sound of the voice. The dark-haired boy was sitting up, right hand rubbing at his tired eyes, "Swim north, uh?" His voice sounded a bit hoarse, but it was probably because his Pokémon just seemed to know what to do, so he rarely had to make orders. Happily, the youngest team member's fins sloshed through the water as he ferried the duo northward. Foamy, white waves rippled out from under the Transport Pokémon as he careened smoothly through the crystal waters.

"Pikachu, relax." The boy said, reaching out to lay a palm on top of the rat's head. Static tickled the calloused, pale fingers that fished through the yellow fur, but he was used to the tingling sensation by now. The Mouse gazed at his trainer expectantly, as if he was waiting for Red to say more, but the trainer only withdrew back into his distant thoughts, removing his hand from the Pikachu's head. <Eh? I hate vacations! I wanna be up in th'mount'in trainin'. ARCEUS.> But secretly, he didn't really despise being out here with just Red and that wonky looking sea turtle. Honestly, at least there was sun out on the Hoenn region, instead of that constant gloom of roiling gray clouds and hail. The first time they had struggled their way up, oh Arceus it was terrible. It was just Red and himself, clinging desperately to the icy sheets of rock, trying to cope with the ice claws raking at clothing and fur. It seemed like their connection had blossomed to this old married couple scene because of that. Because of what they had survived. They could have just rode the dumb lizard up there, but no. It wouldn't 'prove anything' he says.

The Pikachu's ears twitched as his beady eyes stole a glance at his trainer. Oh the scraggly thing, laying once more among the blunted obstructions on the Lapras's cold shell. Little, yellow paws plodding against the gray, the Pikachu smacked the nape of the Transport Pokémon's neck with his tail. <Pull over.> The Lapras snorted indignately in reply and with a surge of energy, reeled forth despite the Pikachu's order. The Electric Mouse was seized with anger at the whale's defiance and was about to unleash a Thunder attack on the braindead creature when he saw the sandbar that was inevitably in their path. The Transport Pokémon bellowed as he beached himself in the shallows, head bending downward to allow the Pikachu to dart along the precise curve and onto the sand. <Red better get up.> The Pikachu scowled, folding his paws against his chest.

<We've been swimming around in circles all day. He's been training hard for years, let 'im sleep.> The sea creature fumed, kicking up lobs of wet sand as he went about trying to un-beach himself. The Pikachu lifted one eyebrow in a 'where the heck are you going' look, and the sea creature rumbled, <He wanted me to keep going north, so I'm taking him northward. If you want to stay here, that's fine with me.> The Lapras pulled out into the surf, the little Electric-type making a leap of faith jump to one of the dinosaur's large fins. <Whatever you say, blubber boy.> The Pikachu grumbled, scuttling over to the sleeping Red.

word count: 813
tag: anyone & everyone
notes: sleeping red is sleeping... in hoenn. STALKERS. FEEL FREE TO STALK.

[LEAF]

It was a beautiful day, no doubt about that; the sky was clear, there was nary a cloud in the sky, and the water was a nice shade of blue. The water was totally clear, spotless, except for the tiny dot in the distance, so small it was barely noticeable. What was it? Oh, just a Blastoise. Yes, a Blastoise. One didn't generally find these powerful pokemon swimming all alone. Hell, one couldn't generally find them at all! But here was one, and he was a big one to boot. He would have been the perfect catch for any trainer, an amazing promise to a good battle, but, unfortunately, he was already caught. And his trainer, a young girl on the brink of adulthood, was perched on his back, staring up at the sky, and not giving a damn about where she and her pokemon were going.

Leaf blinked her eyes as she continued to stare up at the blue sky. She generally didn't like water trips too much; there was nothing really to do while traveling via the Blastoise S.S., as she jokingly called it whenever she and her first pokemon ever went on a water trip together. Leaf was a girl who liked to move around, the kind that could barely sit still for five minutes. Ah well; swimming sure beat flying; the girl gave a little shudder. She didn't like flying all that much, no, but she could deal with it. However, the alternative, swimming, was much better.

There wasn't really a reason for her and her Blastoise to be swimming. Leaf didn't have any set destination in her mind. Quite frankly, this morning she had been bored. So she had released her Blastoise, hopped on to his back, and ordered him in her own impetuous way to go wherever there was something fun to do.

They had been swimming all day. So far, no luck.

With a frustrated sigh, Leaf quickly came to a decision, one of those split-second ones that she was good at making. Tilting her body to one side, she rolled off Blastoise and in to the refreshing blue water. The Blastoise didn't even notice that she wasn't on his back anymore until Leaf swam right in front of him. From the expression on his face, it was clear he was used to this kind of behaviour. With a little shake, he kept right on swimming, glancing back from time to time to make sure Leaf was keeping up. She was, somewhat. Even this hyperactive girl couldn't keep up with an experienced swimmer.

Eventually, Blastoise turned his head back and gave it a little shake. "Hm?" Leaf asked him. "What is it?" The big water pokemon nodded his head up ahead. Treading water and shading her eyes against the sun, Leaf looked. There, up ahead, was land! Perhaps there would be something more interesting to do there. So far, nothing that interesting had happened here. But then, something caught her eye; A moving shape on the water. "Hey, Blastoise, can we go over there? I wanna find out what that is," The Blastoise was just as curious as his trainer; with a heave he turned himself around and started making his way towards the unknown shape. "Hey!" Leaf screeched. "Wait up!" she knew he wouldn't, though; he was too much like her. Quickly, she started swimming as fast as she could in the Blastoise's wake, and as she did, the shape in the distance became clearer. Squinting, she could just make out the shape of a boy on the thing's back. He looked oddly enough like- "Well, I'll be." Leaf whistled, her indignation at being left behind forgotten. It couldn't possible be one of the boys who had grown up in her hometown, could it? Well, only one way to find out. She quickly resumed her tiring pace.

Words: 645
Notes: THE STALKER IS HERE.

[RED]

Of course, the only kind of life that could be led was the kind where isolation was obsolete. Take Red's life for example. The distant, feminine screams only tickled his eardrums, but he was already swallowed with unimaginable panic. He leaned up into a sitting position, no longer filled with fatigue. Another challenger, was it? His crimson eyes searched the stretch of sky overhead, rolling back and forth as if he was calculating something right behind them. Arceus, he didn't want to engage in a battle while he was on break. Sleep seemed like a far off element, like he hadn't been dozing away before. His slender fingers touched the brim of his hat. "Pika," Before he could even finish his partner's name, the mouse bolted towards him, beady eyes glittering excitedly, "...chu, do you see that?" His head nodded towards the far off shape of a Blastoise. The Electric Mouse's tiny head jerked in the said direction, tail twitching with amusement.

<Lookin' like th'bonehead you own, eh?> The Electric-type scuttled to the edge of the bony shell, eying their next victim with slitted eyes. Red, who was still frozen in his alert, up right position, slowly got up, towering over the mouse. He was eying the Blastoise too, gnashing his teeth together with a quiet striking noise, His big toe nudged the closest knob that jutted out of the sea serpent back, causing the giant, blue boat to stop moving and turn to look at the far off sea turtle as well. <I'll blast 'em out of the blues!> To counteract the Pikachu's aggression, his trainer mutely pulled his foot back and booted the Electric-type off the Lapras.

Yes, he kicked the mouse off his ship.

The flailing, cursing ball was none of his concern after that point. The Champion wandered aimlessly towards the front of his Transport Pokémon, laying one warm hand on the curve of the beast's neck. Focus. The dark-haired boy ordered himself, withdrawing his hand back to his side, only glancing backwards when he heard the defined struggle of a certain mouthy Pokémon crawling water-logged and pissed back onto the Transport Pokémon. Wordlessly, the drowned rat scuttled up Red's pant leg, darted past his torso and found a comfortable spot on his shoulder, droplets of water accumulating a giant wet spot on the boy's shirt. <My God... a woman pirate is approachin'.> The rat gawked from his throne, static crackling from his cheeks.

Red took minimal interest in the feminine form that trailed after the approaching Water-type. The expression on her face explained the situation. Lapras moved anxiously as the Blastoise neared, watching as nervous as a spooked Ponyta as the girl whistled. 'Well I'll be'? She seemed familiar, but it was hard to tell much with her half hidden in the water. One eyebrow rose as she came into full view, she sorta looked like a childhood friend...? "Le..."

<Let her on the ship before a Sharpedo comes and eats her!> The Mouse roared, leaping from his post onto one of the many knobs the Lapras's shell owned. The boy nodded very slightly, passing off the interruption like it was nothing. He moved towards the edge of his Transport Pokémon, one hand outstretched to help her onto the Lapras. His pale fingers wiggled, a gesture to grab hold. A half-smile played on his lips, trying to appear friendly. <What a beauty. I'd let that pirate board my ship any day.>

Another kick to the rear and the Pikachu was flailing around and cursing Red to hell. The Champion appeared amused by the mouse's antics before turning his attention back to the girl who had somehow wound up on the same water route as he. "Leaf," He began quietly, his voice barely heard over the Pikachu's incoherent bellowing, "It has been a while." Somehow, for some odd reason, he remembered the girl who had lived in the same town as him. It was curious enough that he could recall her name, let alone remember her face. However, if she began spouting old memories, he probably wouldn't remember.

word count: 676
tag: leaf/open
notes: ... lul.

[LEAF]

It was! It was him! Her memory hadn't failed her at all. One closer look at his face and she was sure. Okay, so maybe he was more mature-looking than the last time she had seen him, which admittedly, had been a very long time ago, but the basic features were still there. Of course, she had changed a lot too, but hey, as aforementioned, it had been a while. She had heard the occasional word about Red; if gossip was true, then he was the Kanto Champion now, or something. Leaf's eyes glinted for a moment. What she wouldn't give to battle him. It would be a real challenge, and an interesting fight, seeing as how Red was (in her own mind at least) her rival. She had strived to be as good as- no better than both of the two boys who had been born in the same town as she had. And she had become strong. The question was, how strong?

Well, now wasn't a time to find out. It would be a horribly awkward time to challenge him to a battle, them having just re-met and all. So Leaf didn't. But she stored the idea away in her brain, pinning a mental note to it to make sure she didn't forget. Instead, she grinned up at the boy on the back of the big shelled pokemon she now recognized as a Lapras. Shame on herself for not realizing it much sooner. There was also a small yellow pokemon near Red, a Pikachu if she wasn't mistaken, and a tough looking one at that.

Leaf watched as Red booted his Pikachu with his foot before grabbing on to the offered hand and heaving herself up. "You're not going to kick me off, are you?" she asked jokingly. Well, hopefully he wouldn't, though Leaf knew that people tended to get a bit fed up with her hyper-ness sometimes. Well, if he did, she could always swim, and her Blastoise was always there. Even now, he had swum closer so that he was right beside the Lapras, He sized up the Pokemon and the boy, before grunting. A pokemon of few words he was. Actually, most of the time he was quite vocal. Perhaps today he just felt like trying out the strong silent type to attempt to intimidate the others. He glared at the flailing foul-mouthed Pikachu. <Watch it, that's my trainer you're talking about,> before turning his head to the Lapras. <Is he always like this?> he asked.

Unaware of her pokemon's conversation, Leaf settled herself down on to the Lapras' back, not before giving him a pat though. She had always thought Lapras were adorable. Reaching a hand back to her back, she wrung out her long wet hair, before turning back to Red. "You're right, it has been a long time," she nodded, her eyes sparking. "But I see you've been busy. I've heard things too," she grinned again, before nodding in the direction of his Lapras and Pikachu. "These guys look awesome, especially you," she pointed at the Pikachu.

Words: 515
Notes: Nope

[RED]

Her fingers curled around his wrist when he offered her a hand. They were wet and cold from the sea, but that was obvious enough. He forced a lungful of salty air into his body and pulled backwards, hoping that he was being helpful. The Lapras shifted uncomfortably as the girl pulled herself out of the ocean and onto his knobby shell. He wasn't used to hitchhiking passengers boarding, only Red and Pikachu. His curved neck twisted so he could view the newest member of Red's pirate crew, eying her warily and then her Blastoise. His black eyes swam as they moved towards Red, but the trainer just dismissed his worry. The boy turned his attention back to Leaf when she jokingly asked if he was going to kick her off the Transport Pokémon too.

Ah, was he coming off too aggressive? The boy didn't have that great of social skills anyways. "N-no!" He replied hastily with a chuckle, "I don't kick ladies off, only perverted mice." The Pikachu scowled from where he was wading around, trying to position himself to jump back onto the Lapras. The mouse swam around and hopped onto one of the Pokémon's fins, scuttling up onto the gray shell and keeling over in exhaustion. Static crackled from his cheeks as he glared at his chuckling trainer. Despite how tired he was, he still had the energy to come decently close to Leaf, who was patting the armored creature before sitting down. Again, the Lapras appeared apprehensive, but less bitter towards her arrival than before.

The blue turtle swimming alongside Red's boat Pokémon uttered a few words towards the mouse, who only got to enjoy a few moments next to the lovely lady before he had to leap to his yellow back paws and defend his pride. <Wanna say that tuh my face, ye obese turtle?! I'll knock ye into next Monday!> Testosterone filled and tiny heart pumping, his cheeks crackled with electricity. Hell, if he used that, they'd all be fried. Which was why he took some deep, soothing breathes-- he didn't want to roast his new affection, the soaking wet Leaf. He returned his collected air and sat next to the other trainer while the Transport Pokémon fixed his beady eyes on the Blastoise and said, <If it's a woman involved, then yes. Always.>

Red sat down opposite of Leaf, fixing his crimson eyes on hers. There was a bit of silence between them while she wrung out her hair, but the Pokémon seemed to be enveloped in deep conversation. She nodded in response to his 'it's been a while', agreeing to the statement. He nodded back, unable to find something to say. She went on to say stuff about how there were rumors about him and how busy he looked. Furthermore, she went on to talk about how cool Lapras and Pikachu looked-- especially Pikachu. The beady eyes of the mouse began to sparkle and he looked nearly ready to explode. "I miss it," The Champion began, looking down at his hands, "I miss when it was just you, me and Blue-- when everything was simple and easy."

word count; 522
ooc; its about time i posted, huh?

[/justify][/size]

[LEAF]

Normally, Leaf would have been more worried about all the water that was dripping off of her and on to the Lapras. She didn't mind the water herself, but others might have. However, in this partucular situation, she figured that since they were already in the middle of a large body of water, what harm could more dampness do? So she just sat there dripping a small puddle of water around her while she smiled. The dark haired girl had every reason to smile. She had just found a long-lost old friend? Who wouldn't be happy? Okay, so maybe Red hadn't exactly been lost, but it sounded more impressive when she phrased it like that. All in all, however, it was a pretty momentous event. What were the odds, and in the middle of an ocean no less? Very slight. Today must be her lucky day.

Inwardly, she laughed when Red awkwardly explained that he wasn't going to kick her off the Lapras. He had never been to good at socializing, if memory served right. Leaf must have been such a contrast compared to him, with her laughing, and chattering. Now, however, she drew herself up in mock indignation. "Oh, so now I'm a lady?" she demanded, crossing her arms before uncrossing them to gesture with her hands. "If memory serves, that wasn't how it was like when we were kids!" it was true. Leaf had always been tumbling about as a child and getting in to all sorts of scrapes, none of them which could have been deemed 'lady-like'. Her parents had tried to make her more genteel, but had eventually given up around the time Leaf had 'found' her Blasty. Both of their heads had gone grey before their time, and Leaf proudly claimed responsibilty whenever she got the chance.

She turned her head down to look at the electric mouse with dark eyes framed by eyelashes. "You're not perverted, are ya?" she asked the mouse, reaching a hand out to attempt to pet him for a moment before drawing it back. A wet hand and an electric mouse; never a good combo. She'd probably end up fried or something. "Yeah, you probably are," she answered her own question with a shrug. At least this was Red's problem and not hers. Luckily, none of Leaf's pokemon were overly flirty, but if any of them had been, she wouldn't have minded so much. She supposed she was a bit of a flirt herself (major understatement of the year, that) However, the Pikachu was an adorable specimen of pokemon, so in her books, that made everything okay.

Leaf's head finally turned to her Blastoise when she heard him grunt an angry sound. <Stupid mouse,> he growled at the Pikachu. <Get away from my trainer.> Though Leaf didn't speak pokemon, she understood the general gist of her pokemon's message, from his angry glare at Pikachu. "Blasty, be nicer. Pikachu's fine," she told her Blastoise, only the slightest hint of a reprimand in her voice. She could control him very well, and knew him better than she knew herself. It had been a long time that they had been together now, too long to count. It was really thanks to Red and Blue that her and Blasty were together; she had been so jealous as a child of their pokemon that she had went and gotten her own.

Her gaze switched back to Red when he began to talk, and nodded after he had finished. Another smile worked it's way on to her face, a different one than from before. This one was more gentle and understanding, less ecstatic. "I miss it too," she confessed with a shrug. "Things were amazing back then, and as you said- they were simpler. But we're better now, right?" she didn't exactly know what kind of better she was talking about. Probably just in general.

Words: 649
Notes: Eh, take your time. It's summer! ^_^
Pokemon: Blastoise

[RED]

Water pooled around her and he felt guilty for not having a towel or something for her. He looked away, trying to focus on something else. He did have Charizard if she was cold. The lizard had a flame on his tail and he was generally a giant, warm teddy bear (a leather teddy bear, at that), that could warm her up. Arceus, he was an awful friend! Suddenly, she was exclaiming indignantly about her womanhood. He lifted his arms defensively at her cries, "Ah, but we aren't kids anymore, Leaf!"

[/b] She never lost her endearing charm that she had as a child and he admired that. As far back as he could remember, she had been different from other girls, willing to get down in the mud with the boys and let her hair down for once unlike every other girl who would rather weep about cooties than play tag with Blue and himself. Maybe that was what he liked about her. The way she was so different. Or maybe it was because Red and Leaf were polar opposites and it only seemed right for Red to have one extremely loud and obnoxious friend to be able to go to when he was down. Ah well.'

Pikachu watched in delight as Leaf turned her attention on him. His tiny rat heart began to pound as she spoke. Pervert? Him? Never! She obviously couldn't understand what he said, so he didn't speak at all, shaking his head with an innocent expression on his furry face. Her hand moved towards his head and he began to quiver with excitement. But she pulled away and all the excitement drained from him like a dead battery, his ears drooping with a sad whimper. 'Yeah, you probably are' she said. <The pretty ones are always so judgemental!>[/b] He grumbled, folding his paws. However, that Blastoise fucktard was really pissing him off. 'Stupid mouse'? Was that all he had? The Pikachu whipped around to glare at the turtle, <I warned you!>[/b] The Pikachu rumbled, obviously not caring much for the scene with Leaf scolding 'Blasty'. Static crackled from his cheeks. Hell, that stupid turtle was going down.

Red lurched forward from his position, curling his fingers around the Pikachu's sides and hoisting him into the air. The boy staggered to his feet as what felt like a trillion volts ran through his body. It lasted only a few seconds but it felt like an eternity had gone by. His hearing was shot for a few seconds as he sank to his knees and tossed the mouse into the ocean, smiling sheepishly at the girl. "It wasn't my best idea to bring an electric-type out to sea."[/b] His brain felt fried and he just wanted to rest at that point. His eyes were hooded as they tuned back in on what Leaf had said. So, she missed it to? But she kept talking about how things had to have been better for the both of them. He smiled weakly. "Y-Yeah, I guess so. ... Not really."[/b]

"It isn't that fun to be chased down by people wanting to fight. Most of them lose miserably because they didn't train their Pokémon properly. I-I haven't been home in years-- everyone thinks I'm dead. I... can't help but recall our little adventures as kids and miss it. Arceus I'm pathetic."[/b] And it was the most Red had ever spewed out at once. He felt better.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify][/size]

------------------------------------
& I'LL BE THE FIRST ONE TO LOSE MY HEAD

[/font][/center]

[LEAF]

xx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The water really wasn't that bad. It had been Leaf's decision in the first place to jump off her Blastoise in the middle of the ocean. Well, roll off, to be precise, but that didn't matter. The fact was, she had chosen to get wet, and right now, she was loving it. Even though there was a breeze coming from somewhere, the sun was beating down it's rays in a particular warm manner today, which was drying Leaf gradually up. What the world would do without the sun, Leaf didn't know. Well, actually, she did know. Everyone would die, and blah blah blah, yada yada yada. Her point was, the sun was a nice necessity to life, and that everyone would be screwed without it. But she digressed.

Leaf sat bolt upright when Red told her that they weren't children anymore, hands on her hips and an indignant expression on her face. "But Red!" she protested. "I'm still a child at heart, you hear?" to emphasise her words, she pounded a fist over the place on her chest where her heart was, before her expression melted away as suddenly as it had come, this time transforming in to a goofy, yet somehow wistful grin. She wished they were still children, just like Red did. Sure, they were better and more impressive now, but like he had said; things had been simpler back then. Much, much simpler. Sure, there were some parts in her childhood she wished that she could skip through, but hey, who's life was perfect? Not hers! Though some parts had been utter bliss, that was for sure.

Her thoughts were stirred from their fond reminiscing by the Pikachu's angry growls, apparently directed at her Blastoise (she guessed at least; unfortunately, she didn't speak pokemon) Oh, for the love of Arceus. Leaf briefly winced and shook her head. Stupid Blasty. He should know better than to piss off an electric-type pokemon. She supposed it was typical behaviour. The Blastoise didn't make exceptions for anybody, even if they had the advantage. What did surprise her, however, was Red's sudden movement to scoop up the mouse pokemon. Her eyes grew wide in the next moment as she watched the tiny pokemon pour out a bucket-load of electricty in to Red. Woah. Did this happen often? If so, it all made sense why he was so glad to see her, because all that frying had obviously made his brain lose a few too many cells. But joking aside, it was impressive that he could handle that much voltage. The girl wasn't sure she could.

She couldn't help but give one small, tiny, tiny little laugh on the inside as the poor pokemon trainer tossed his pokemon overboard like he was some doll. She didn't want to leave him there, but didn't want to dive off and get him either, not when Red looked so tired that she thought he was going to tumble overboard himself. And it was out of the question to send her Blastoise to go get the Pikachu. Quickly, she reached in a deft hand to her bag and plucked out a pokeball, before tossing it in the air to reveal her Dragonair."Get the drowning mouse please," she politely asked. The Dragonair nodded before floating off to look at the mouse. Whether she would actually do anything or not was a mystery.

"See Red," Leaf continued in response to his chasing-trainers comment, trying to hide her concern for him. "That's where you went wrong. Me? I lay low. I keep their expectations low, and this way, no one disturbs my peace." It had always been the boys who had gotten attention for their pokemon skills. Leaf had been insanely jealous of it, until she had gotten her own. And even then, her parents had still been dissaproving of it. "Everyone thinks you're dead?...wow.....I wish my parents thought the same about me. You remember how they were, right?" she couldn't help but let the uncharacteristicly bitter note slip in to her voice before reverting back to her normal tone. "You're not pathetic," she told him quietly. "Or if you are, then I'm just as. I miss them too," finally, she admitted it. But right now, she was more worried about Red than her confessions. He didn't look so good. She supposed several volts of electricity could do that to a person.

Words: 732
Notes: I decided to put some icons in here! Now everything looks nicer. Yay! More angst!
Pokemon: Blastoise and Dragonair

[RED]

She looked pretty indignant at what he said. But they weren't kids and they had to mature eventually. She cried her protest and he shook his head with a warm smile, "Alright, alright. You win."

[/b] He mumbled weakly, but only because he didn't want to argue. He lifted his hands defensively (again) with a nervous chuckle escaping between his coral lips. She pounded her fist over her heart in some cheesy melodramatic way and he couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm for everything. Her attention moved to the Pikachu who turned circles in the water by the Lapras and Red's head began to ache with the very fresh memories of getting electrocuted. Sadly, she felt some sympathy for the rat and released another Pokemon to help him. A Dragonite. Holy shit. "Wow, Leaf. A Dragonite? You must really be training hard."[/b] Of course she was. She had always sort of been out of the circle of popularity and fame unlike Red and Blue. He couldn't blame her for craving the same of attention that he owned and disdained.

He watched the Dragonite create ripples in the water with each wing beat. Pikachu's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates at first, releasing a streamline of loud swears in horror, thinking the Dragonite would eat him. But then the Dragonite didn't eat him, so he assumed it was the pretty lady's Pokemon and did a twisting leap at the low flying dragon, clambering up it's side and onto it's back. Red's eyes moved back to Leaf, who began talking about a low-profile lifestyle. He smiled weakly again, adjusting his cap. "Too late to lay low for me."[/b] More half-hearted laughter. She admitted that she wished her parents thought she was dead and the laughter drew into a serious, tense silence. He swallowed, his adam's apple quivering as he stared at her evenly, but said nothing on the topic. Instead, he let her continue on to tell him that she missed it too.

The boy pressed his palms against the cool, damp shell, the gray surface looked odd in his blurry vision. His brain was completely fried, but he still was competent enough to mutely move towards her, kneeling in front of his childhood friend. "It's..."[/b] He felt ready to collapse and his heartbeat was brisk at the thought of her totally rejecting him, "okay. We're okay."[/b] Mutely, Red pulled the girl into an embrace, his arms wrapped around her and his gaze distant. Perhaps he was just waiting for her to push him away. Oh well.

<GETTIN' LAID!>[/b] The electric mouse crowed from his perch on the Dragonite, waving his tail.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify][/size]

------------------------------------
& I'LL BE THE FIRST ONE TO LOSE MY HEAD

[/font][/center]

[LEAF]

xx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good, so she got to win the argument. That made Leaf happy. But then again, it wasn't really her best victory. Red hadn't even put up a fight. It was a half-assed victory, at best. Then again, she supposed that people generally weren't at their best debating skills when they had just been electrocuted. Her loss. It would just be cruel and stupid to pursue the matter any further. Besides, even though Leaf would like to deny it, she was practically grown-up now, and while that had it's advantages, it still wasn't all she had hyped it up to be when she was a child. Now her mind was more mature and knowing, and no one could tell her to do things. Not that she had ever listened in the first place....but that was beside the point. Leaf supposed she had changed a bit since her childhood, but at least she still retained her hyper-ness. That would never change. Hopefully this girl would never lose her eternal internal fuel source, because then she wouldn't be able to keep up with the world, at the rate it was going. Though it would be nice to get that fitful night of sleep that she could never achieve......

Eh. This way was better. This way she could keep up with everyone, and do anything, anytime. Leaf never stopped to think for a moment that maybe people would appreciate it more if she went a little slower from time to time. They could only take so much before collapsing and cursing her name to high hell.

Leaf smiled in delight at Red's surprise and praise. It actually meant a lot to her to get his opinion. After all, he was supposed to be one of the world's strongest trainers, and he had always been one of the smartest kids when it came to pokemon. He was fair qualified to give praise, in Leaf's candid opinion. Also, he had always been brutally honest, so she could trust his opinion. If she couldn't, what was the world coming to? "Thanks Red," she practically crowed in pleasure, before attempting to sound a bit more cool. "Of course I'm training hard. I'm not going to be weak," for a moment, her eyes took on a determined gleam, the look they always had when she was talking about training. It was subtle, barely noticeable, but there. Leaf might be playful and happy, but she just used those traits to help her in battles. Hardly anyone expected her to be strong, because of her bubbly personality. Heh heh heh.

Poor Red, he was right; it was too late to lay low for him. Poor bastard had screwed it up and gone and made himself famous. At least she didn't have trainers crawling all over her, pestering for battles. Thankfully, that was Red's problem, for though Leaf did crave attention, that was the one part that she wouldn't like.

When he hugged her, of course Leaf hugged him back; there was no other option. She wasn't going to push him away, for pity's sake! That would just be undeniably, unbelievably cruel. She would never do that. So she wrapped her arms around him and just sat there for a moment, just enjoying the knowledge that she had found her friend again. After a few moments, she drew back to put her hands on his shoulders. "Of course we're okay." she told him, her eyes warm, her voice matter of fact. "We're friends. We'll always be friends,", She took one hand off of his shoulder to shake it in front of him threateningly. "Not even you can escape me that easily," she joked through narrowed eyes.

When the Pikachu shouted his comment, the Blastoise groaned and shut his eyes. This critter was really trying his nerves. The Dragonair, however, fairly shook with little ripples of laughter, having a lighter personality when it came to Leaf that the Blastoise did. <Bring that thing down her,> he growled out. Airy (Leaf's affectionate nickname for the dragon pokemon), vehemently shook her head before flitting around a bit more. <He's fun to fool with,> she confided to the Pikachu, before making her way back to the Lapras (on the other side though, so the Blastoise wouldn't get hurt by the Pikachu, or vice versa) Hm? What pokemon was that? She curved around to take a look at the strange shelled pokemon, before hovering beside it with a curious look on her face. <What pokemon are you?> she asked, genuinely interested.

Words: 754
Notes: Angst angst angst angst ANGST~
Pokemon: Blastoise and Dragonair

[RED]

Leaf was a nice edition to Red and Blue's little group. She was like... like... a little ray of sunshine. A constant source of light, even when Red and Blue became cold, bitter rivals for a period of time. She was always able to cheer him up as a child, so why would he ever doubt it now? Even as her teen years drew to a close, she was still as hyper as he remembered. Ah, the old days were great. He remembered first getting his Bulbasaur. It was always happy and easily excited-- kinda like Leaf. Which was pretty ironic seeing as... nevermind. Except his childhood could've gone without Blue being a total ass during his early years as a trainer. One minute they were best buddies and the next stupid Blue Oak had to run around shutting Red down.

Arceus. After trailing behind the shithead for years, it was almost relieving to butt heads with him for the Championship. Whopping his ass in the fight seemed to cool Blue's jets enough for Red to get his friend back. Or atleast he thought so, Blue kinda just stormed off after he claimed the title as his own. The look on his face when his final Pokémon crumpled at his feet? Priceless. "Thanks Red," The pleased voice sliced through his Blue tirade and his red eyes lifted to look at her face (omgwtfbbq where else was he looking?). Oh... right. He had complimented her Dragonite, who hovered over the ocean, the Pikachu still onboard. His attention shifted from Leaf to her dragon-type, every downward stroke of the creature's wingbeats created strong ripples in the water below. In turn, the small waves bumped against the Lapras, who looked on contentedly.

He nodded in response to her crowing, "You're welcome."

[/b] Then she went for the cool approach. "Of course I'm training hard. I'm not going to be weak," Red chuckled at the sudden suave tone she wore, as if she was trying to counteract her overly-happy reaction to his praise. "You've always been a force to be reckoned with in my eyes, Leaf. Maybe you will be the person to relieve me of my title."[/b] He smiled genuinely, although it was small and barely made the corners of his mouth rise.

When he moved in to embrace her, she hugged him back. For a few moments, he just held her in his arms. It felt... he didn't know the word to describe it. Comforting? Yeah, that was it. Then there was that half second of mutual understanding that it was time to let go. She leaned backwards and he withdrew himself, untangling his limbs out from under hers. He rested his hands quietly in his lap, unable to figure out another position to put them in as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "Of course we're okay. We're friends. We'll always be friends." He nodded ever so slightly, unable to find words to respond to her deep 'friends forever' lecture. She released one of his shoulders and shook it in front of his nose. "Not even you can escape me that easily," He laughed, "Leaf," Red began, his eyes glittering with amusement, "You haven't changed one bit."[/b]

Pikachu looked down at the large sea turtle who groaned in response to his words, <What got ye tail in a knot? They're obviously gon' kiss, stupi' lizard.>[/b] The turtle had his eyes screwed shut, but commanded the dragon to bring the rat down to his level anyhow. A wimpy growl wasn't going to curb the Pikachu's personality or intimidate the strongest electric-type in the world. Hah! Weak! One Volt Tackle and that Blastoise would happily ferry the mouse around! The dragon shook her head in reply to the command and confided to the rat that the Blastoise was fun to mess with. <Ye tellin' me, uh?>[/b] The Dragonite dipped and glided, the Pikachu's stomach dropping with each movement. The rat pressed himself between the dragon's shoulder blades, eyeballing the ocean below as the creature swooped over near the Lapras's head. The Transport Pokémon eyed the Dragonite apprehensively until Leaf's partner spoke. <Me?>[/b] The duel type asked in surprise, blinking his dark eyes at the dragon, <I'm a Lapras, of course!>[/b] Pikachu leaped off the Dragonite, putting his faith into his hop as he flew through the air and landed on the Lapras's head. <Aye, thanks for tha' lift!>[/b][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify][/size]

------------------------------------
& I LOST MYSELF SO LONG AGO

[/font][/center]

[LEAF]

xx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pleased with her words and with her break-through to Red, the girl sat back. That had been rather deep of her. Hm. She should probably enjoy this moment, because it would most likely be the last time that she did something profound. But that was okay, because nonsense was much more fun than being all wise and intense. Red made her think things though- totally through, not just the quick scans that she usually did to make sure that things would come out in her favour. He made her think ahead, really ahead, not just two minutes. Speaking about thinking things ahead........ Leaf wondered if Red had any goals for the future. His goal, when they were little, had been to become the best pokemon trainer in the world, and he had achieved that goal. So now what was it?

The Blastoise shook his head scornfully at the Pikachu. <Idiot,> he said. <They're not going to kiss. They're friends. If you're so desperate for action, why don't you go find a girl for yourself?> he finished off with a disdainful sniff and shoved his nose in to the air. Very classy. Preferably, the yellow mouse, or rat, as Blasty preferred to think of him as, would jump in to the bottom of the ocean to find that girl. And then, hopefully, she would slap him and lock him away in a cave forever. Alas, some dreams could never come true. For some reason, the Blastoise knew that sadly, this one would not. The only thing he could do in the meantime was wish that a giant Sharpedo would jump up and swallow the yellow menace.

The Dragonair was still fascinated with the Lapras. <Anytime,> she replied to Pikachu, before quickly circling around Lapras once again. <What type of pokemon are you? Where do Lapras live? How do they behave?> she inquired in rapid succesion, shooting her questions out one by one. She couldn't help it; she was of the curious sort. Or nosy, depended on who you asked. But she did have enough time to turn to Blasty and tell him off for being so rude, adding that Leaf had kissed plenty of people, including that guy from Fuschia, and the other random dude from Canalave. The Blastoise just sighed again and waved her off. Did Blastoise get headaches? Because he thought he was getting one now.

But back to Leaf. When Red suggested that she might relieve him of his title, she began to shake her head, and then patted Red on the shoulder. "Sorry buddy, but that's the other thing that you're stuck with. I don't want trainers chasing after me! Unless they're cute. In which case, bring them on!" her eyes had achieved the flirty shimmer that they got whenever she was talking about handsome boys. She quickly shook it off though. Another time. "Plus, I'd be too scared of having my ass handed to me on a platter," she added. There was always that.

She hadn't changed? That was a good thing, she supposed. At least this way there would be no surprises. "Good," Leaf declared. "Then you shall have to keep me by close at hand because of nostalgia. That, and I'm adorable," she joked. She supposed she could be cute, but what was really adorable was Pikachu, who had finally made his way back with the help of Airy. Leaf wasted no time before scooping the Pikachu back up once again in to her arms and cuddling him. Even though he was dangerous, at least he was soft.

<Oh for Arceus' sake!> Blasty grumbled.

Words: 601
Notes: Nuh uh.
Pokemon: Blastoise, Dragonair