Fandom Can You Pay For Overtime? (w/ crowjira)

[The_Dracos_45]

Wonderful little Nuvema Town.

It was a quaint little town, overlooking the sea to the south and surrounded by trees. It wasn't entirely small: some may want you to believe there was only three houses and Professor Juniper's lab, but that wouldn't be much of a town then, would it? It was actually much bigger than that, home to at least a dozen different families. One of them being the Kygurn family.
Harris was the youngest in his family, but that didn't slow him down any. He was a stubborn kid, and usually ended up in some kind of trouble. Either it be pranking the neighbors or trying to chase wild Pokémon, he was always doing something. And now his 11th birthday was approaching soon: the day he would go to the professor and receive his first Pokémon. He was ecstatic for it, and he couldn't wait to start his journey to become a Trainer.
On this particular morning, it was the day before he turned 11, and a few days before his friend reached of age, too. Harris ran out of his house, his long black hair pulled into a ponytail and trailing behind him like a Ghost type. He darted down the small dirt roads and ran by neighbors before he reached his destination. Hurriedly he knocked on the door, bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement.

"Vicente! Come on, come outside! Our big days are coming soon, let's make the most of what we can before we leave!" The boy said excitedly. The spring wind blew past him, playing with his ponytail.

 

[crowjira]

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” Vicente yelled, scrambling to throw some clothes on. He barely glanced at himself in the mirror before throwing on his white cowboy hat and hastily tying a faded red bandana around his neck. Snatching his bag from the ground and dashing through the living room, he said a quick goodbye to his mother who just waved from her spot at the kitchen table.
She smiled softly at the sight of her son in such goofy clothes. He always was obsessed with the Wild West and cowboy culture, and she thought it was adorable. He’d grow out of it at some point, but for now, it was painfully cute to see him dressed as a “bona fide cowboy” (in his words).

After tugging on his sneakers, he burst out the door and almost crashed directly into Harris. He skidded to the side and closed the door after him with a thud. He was ecstatic to play with his closest friend and hopefully see some cool Pokémon before the start of their journeys tomorrow.

“Harris! Howdy! I’m here!” He said, adjusting his hat and giving the other boy his biggest grin. “Where are we gonna explore today?”

 

[The_Dracos_45]

"Woah-!" Harris took a few stumble steps back to narrowly avoid crashing into Vicente, laughing happily now that his friend was outside. His clothing was...interesting, to say the least, but it was no surprise to Harris. Being friends with Vicente meant you had to be used to his obsession: hell, for as long as Harris knew him he was always interested in the Wild West.

He grinned when his friend was situated in front of him, and he held his arms out excitedly. "I was thinking we could try following the edge of the woods to get to a beach I overheard my dad talking about! We're right on the water anyways, so it has to exist!" Harris said, almost bouncing on the spot again at the thought of it. The boy was always moving, he could never stay still. His father joked that he was going to end up being a dancer or something when he grew up, but he knew it was just his hyperactive son being, well, his hyperactive son. "We could see some Water Pokémooooonnnn." He said sweetly, trying to convince Vicente to come, even though he was probably already as interested as Harris was.

 

[crowjira]

Vicente nodded vigorously. “I’m pretty sure there has to be like, a million water Pokémon out there! And we can make sand castles!” He grinned crookedly just at the thought of being to play in the sand. He always had a fondness for the earth and soil; his parents have caught him digging holes in the backyard more than once “searching for fossils”. He was absolutely positive there had to be some dinosaurs underneath their house. Now that he’s going to be on a journey, there’ll be much more opportunities for finding fossils!
Snapping back into the present, he started heading off in the direction of the forest without even waiting for Harris’s approval. The sooner they could find this place, the more time they could play. Now that they had a mission, he was beyond antsy. His mother always joked about how he has a one track mind; as of now, it’s honed in on their quest for exploration. Nothing can stand in their way!
Even though Harris was just as excited as he was, and probably even more energetic, Vicente urged him to hurry up. “Come on, Harris, maybe we can find some treasure!” They were almost under the shade of the trees now. He turned to face the other boy a little, and then quickly snatched his hand to tug him along.

 

[The_Dracos_45]

"Hey, wait up!" Harris turned himself around as Vicente started to walk away, jogging after him. That happy grin was still stuck on his face, the anticipation of today and the next filling him with energy and excitement. If they found the cove today, then that would be a great ending of their lives stuck in town, and the beginning of their new lives of being able to travel on their own with their new Pokémon. He almost couldn't wait for it all!
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" He laughed as Vicente grabbed his hand to pull him along, walking faster so that he was in the lead and pulling his friend behind him. In the area directly surrounding Nuvema, the ground under the trees was well trodden and used from years and years of kids exploring close to home and Pokémon who would walk here at night. Once you got further in, the trees became bigger and the ground was uneven. Harris led the way, going south east (or as he could understand it, "down toward the water and to the side") where the rumored cove was supposed to be. As they got closer, more rocks and tree roots appeared, showing just how little people used it. There were trails, yes, but they were obviously made by Pokémon and many of them lead into bushes and other undergrowth. Harris stopped at a pile of rocks and let go of Vicente's hand, looking up at it with excitement. "Come on, it's got to be just past this!" He shouted excitedly, a few bird Pokémon chattering in the trees at his outburst. The boy started to climb it, going a bit faster than what would be deemed safe. He was confident in himself, a flaw as much as it was a strength, but he got to the top just fine. He sat there, looking down at Vicente. "You can do it, Vic!" He shouted his encouragement down to his friend, his ponytail falling over his shoulder now as he leaned over to get a view of Vicente.

 

[crowjira]

Vicente huffed in frustration, staring up at Harris from the ground. “Aw, man, Harris, you know I’m awful at climbing.” He groaned, but was motivated by the other’s words. They were so close! He took longer than Harris did to scurry up the rocks, making sure he wouldn’t slip or his hat wouldn’t fall off. Once he got to the top, he shot the other boy a brilliant smile. Right beyond the rock barrier, there was a small, quiet cove.
“Your dad was right!” He gasped, stumbling down and almost tripping to get down to the beach. “This is awesome!” He took a moment to take in his surroundings, in awe at the rock formations dotting the edges of the area.
He turned back to face Harris. “What do you want to do fi-“ He shouted, but was cut off by the rock he was resting his foot on suddenly moving. It shot up from the ground, causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards onto the warm sand. After the initial shock and regaining his breath, he stared wide-eyed at what was most certainly a Dwebble.
“Oh..!” He murmured, trying to scoot back to not provoke it further. He was so mesmerized by the small crab Pokémon, he didn’t even notice that his hat had blown away towards where he last saw Harris.

 

[The_Dracos_45]

Harris remained sitting up on the rocks, surveying the cove in awe. It wasn't beach sized like the almost 11 year old imagined it would be, but it was big enough for both boys plus some change. It was shielded, and the water stretched out past the horizon, for as far as the eye could see. "Woah..." He mumbled to himself, eyes wide as he saw what appeared to be splashing for off in the distance. A Pokémon, no doubt.
He opened is mouth to speak to Vicente, but at that same moment the other boy was cut off and fell over. "Vic!" He yelled down to him, barely hanging on as he leaned down over the rocks. "Are you okay-" Harris cut off when he saw Vicente's hat fly up and then away from him, and that caught his attention instead. Quickly Harris stood up, jumping forwards and reaching out to grab the cowboy hat. He just barely got it, but the result was him tumbling down back to the ground and rolling into the sand in a fetal position with the hat held tightly against his chest.
Harris sat up, a little unsteady at first, but after a moment he started laughing. He was almost covered in the sand, and the white grains stood out in comparison to the brown tone of his skin. He shook his head violently, shaking the sand out that was in his hair before he slowly uncrossed his arms that held the hat to him. He held it out and shook out any of the sand on it, then held it out in Vicente's direction with a grin. "Be careful with that! Don't want to lose it." He laughed. He seemed to be perfectly okay after that tumble, and he didn't even seem to notice the minor scrapes that were on his knees now. Didn't matter to him: it happened a bunch, and there was actually a scar on his one knee from an accident when he was 8.

 

[crowjira]

Vicente forgot about the Dwebble as soon as he saw Harris take a tumble. “Harris!” He shouted, voice cracking just a little bit. “Th-thank you. Are you okay?” He sloppily put his hat back on his head, for once concerned with something more important (very few things were more important than his hat). He scooted over to his friend and helped clear off some of the sand that was clinging to his face. “Harris! Your knees are bleeding!” He said, eyes widening at the scrapes. “Hang on.”
He dug around in his bag and brought out a disinfectant wipe. He quickly and gently wiped off the other boy’s knees before he could protest and smiled softly up at him. “Did you see that Dwebble? I think it ran off by now. But it really surprised me! Do you think there’s any other stuff hidden in the sand?”
Without truly waiting for an answer, he dusted himself off a little bit before surveying the surroundings. Nothing too interesting was in their immediate area… but soon, his eyes caught onto something small. Near the shoreline, there were a few pointed things that he could barely see against the pale sand. Sending a backwards glance, he made his way over to the mystery objects and crouched over to inspect them. Just as he had thought, they were Sharpedo teeth. He raised his head to look at his friend, and had to shove his dark, wavy hair away from falling in his eyes. “Harris! C’mere! I found something!”

 

[The_Dracos_45]

"Vic, I'm alright-" Harris tried to say, but his friend was already cleaning his knees. He huffed as he waited for Vicente to finish, and when he did Harris stood up with a small stumble. "Yeah! I did see it. Try not to step on any more of them." He joked before he looked around again. The view was different down here, and there was scuffling in the trees that edged the cove. He wandered over there curiously, putting his hand on a tree as he tried to see into the woods. There was something out there, something that wasn't your usual bird Pokémon. Harris did his best to stay still, not wanting to disturb whatever was out there. After a moment, he could see a shadow, and then light coming through the tree leaves caught on the beautiful spring foliage of a Sawsbuck walking through the trees, a Deerling walking besides it. Harris watched it in awe. He had seen Deerling before, when they would pass through the trees closer to town, but he had never seen a Sawsbuck. "Vic, hey-!" He started to call for his friend softly, but when he turned his head to look at him he noticed that Vicente was over by the shore and looking at him.
"Harris! C'mere!"
As softly as he could Harris stepped away from the treeline, and when his feet were on pure sand he started to run towards Vicente. "What? What is it?" He asked as he crouched next to his friend. His question was answered when his eyes caught the Sharpedo teeth, and his jaw dropped slightly. "Woah! Are these real?" He asked, reaching out to poke the one closest to him. He pushed back the strands of hair that had escaped his ponytail with the other hand as he leaned closer, curiosity starting to get the best of him.

 

[crowjira]

“What’d you see over there?” Vicente asked, before turning back to the teeth. “Yeah, they’ve gotta be. Look at how they’re ridged; they could cut you up in a split second! I didn’t know Sharpedo even lived around here.” He dusted off the two largest teeth and presented one to Harris. “They’re supposed to be good luck. At least, for sailors. But I think it’ll give us good luck, too!”
He rummaged back in his bag for a moment and brought out some old string. He held the tooth in his hand carefully, glancing up at Harris. He looped some of the string around the other boy’s neck and made sure it was the right length, then used the tooth to cut it. He wove the string around the edges of the tooth and tugged it tight. He grinned and leaned forward to tie the newly made Sharpedo tooth necklace around his friend’s neck. “Voila! Good luck forever!” He cheered, then quickly tied together his own in the same fashion.
Vicente adjusted his hat and shoved his bandana in his bag so he could fasten his necklace. Brushing his shirt off again, he put on his best ‘Heroic Look’ and gazed dramatically off in the distance. His dark brown eyes almost looked like they were glowing in the early morning sunlight, but the effect was ruined by the messy hair getting in his eyes. He blew his bangs away with a huff.
“Do you think I look ‘ruggedly handsome‘?” He said, turning to face Harris, wearing his best approximation of an expression a handsome cowboy would make. It lasted for about a second before he burst out laughing, unable to take himself seriously.

 

[The_Dracos_45]

"A Sawsbuck, but never mind that now! These got to be old." Harris stated, examining the tooth closer when Vicente held it up. "Maybe the ocean washed it up from far away?" He shrugged, then he watched as his friend pulled out some string from his bag. Excitement appeared on his face as he drew a conclusion of what Vic was thinking, and it was confirmed by the string being measured around his own neck. He put his weight on and off the heels of his feet as waited for Vicente to finish, and when the necklace was finally tied around his neck a grin grew across his face. He stood up, leaning over the water to catch a faint reflection of himself, and he punched the air with happiness. "Sweet! I like some good luck!" He exclaimed happily as he stood up straight again.
He looked at Vicente at his question, and he stifled a snort before joining in on his friend's burst of laughter. "Do I like 'dashing'?" He joked back, putting his fists on his hips and tilting his chin up in a mimic of how 'tough guys' would look. Harris went back to his laughing, putting a hand to his face.
Once the two of them had died down on their laughter, Harris looked at Vicente with a smile. "I'll never take this off, I'll always keep my good luck on me!" He exclaimed, reaching up to rub the smooth sides of the Sharpedo tooth with his fingers.

 

[crowjira]

“Me neither! We’ll be bros forever, right?” Vicente said, feeling an odd twinge in his heart. He spoke up again, this time much softer,”We should… make a promise. Like, a promise promise.” His face turned pink but he couldn’t figure out why; did he get a sunburn?
He decided to direct his attention to the water nearly lapping at his feet. Without a second thought, he yanked off his shoes and stepped in. It was just a little colder than he thought it would be and sent a shiver down his spine. He shifted his feet to kick up some sand to see if he could find any Pokémon or more treasure. He couldn’t really find anything that interesting, but he did see a few Basculin far in the distance. After just a short bit of doing this, he turned back to his friend.
“I never wanna stop being your friend, Harris. I love you, man.” He said shyly, not making eye contact. “Like a brother I mean! Of course!” He corrected frantically, waving his heads in a panic. A blush spread across his face, and this time, he knew why.

 

[The_Dracos_45]

"Right!" Harris agreed with a sharp nod, looking over at his friend with a smile. At seeing Vicente step into the water, Harris followed suit, kicking off his own sneakers and walking into the water. He made a sort of squeak sound when he felt the cold, and he quickly waded in deeper until the water lapped at his knees so he could get used to the temperature. It felt nice on the scrapes, even if it was salt water.
He looked back over to Vicente when he started talking, and Harris grinned at him with a laugh. "I never want to stop being your friend too, Vicente! You know I love you too!" He waded over so he stood next to his friend and he gave him a friendly punch in the arm. Then he noticed the blush on Vicente's face, so he leaned closer curiously. "I think you're getting sunburned, Vic. You're too pale for the sun." He added on in a joke and reached up to pull Vicente's hat down so it was snug on his head. It was a small reach, since Harris's friend stood taller than him, but he could still do it none the less. He smiled up at Vic. "Use your hat, cowboy."

 

[crowjira]

“Aw, shaddup.” Vicente groaned, adjusting his hat so he could see again. “I’m darker than you are! Maybe you need to wear it!” He laughed and slapped his hat onto Harris’s head. He yanked it down sharply so it really covered his eyes and snorted. He looked at his friend fondly for a moment and wondered how their journey would change them. He always heard about how you ‘became a new person’ after going on a Pokémon journey. He found he didn’t quite want Harris to change at all.

———

“HARRIS! WAKE UP! C’MON! TODAY IS THE DAY!” Vicente shouted, banging on the Kygurns’ door. He felt a little bad about being so loud, but he was too hyper to truly care. The sun was just barely starting to come up above the horizon, so the sky was still dark. It was way too early for Vicente normally to even think about being awake, but he was so excited, he had barely slept anyways. His mind was racing with the possibilities of what starter he was gonna get and when they would set off and if he would finally have enough money to buy a bike. He wondered if his starter would be friendly off the bat, or whether he was going to have to forge a bond with it despite its initial distrust like Red and his Pikachu did. He really hoped it liked exploring and treasure hunting as much as he did.
“HURRY UUPPP, HARRIS!”

 

[The_Dracos_45]

"You are not! I could hide against a tree and you'd never see me!" Harris gloated, then laughed as the cowboy hat was slapped onto his own head. Then he shouted a "Hey-!!" when Vicente pulled the hat over his eyes. "I'll get you for that!" He laughed, quickly fixing the hat and splashing water up at his friend. He silently hoped to himself that they would always stay like this, that during their journey together they would remain friends and fight together, not against each other. The next day couldn't come soon enough.

----------

It came with a loud bang, literally.
Neighbors had been expecting this since the boys had met those several years ago, but they never expected it to play out like this. If anything, they thought Harris would be the one banging on doors, so it was a very pleasant surprise for Mr. Kygurn to wake up to his son's best friend knocking on his front door, very loudly. That was the first thing the door opened up to, Harris's father standing before Vicente. He looked down at the boy with a yawn, putting one hand on his hip. "He'll be down in a second, Vicente."
Almost as soon as he said that Harris ran past him outside, just barely swerving around Vicente to avoid hitting him. The boy had a huge grin on his face, quite literally bouncing on the spot. "I'm here I'm here, let's go!!" He said excitedly before grabbing his friend's hand and dragging him off towards the Pokémon lab.
His father called after the two boys. "Come back after you get your Pokémon, Harris!! You still need your bag and stuff!" He silently hoped that his son had heard him, and didn't try to go running off the moment he had a Pokémon.

 

[crowjira]

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Vicente cheered, keeping pace with Harris on their mad dash to the lab. “We’re gonna get such rad Pokémon!” He squeezed his friend’s hand tight, bringing it closer to his side as they reached the lab door. After giving him a reassuring smile, he pushed open the door and stepped inside, Harris in tow.
The first thing that struck him was the lack of Pokémon; were they late? There were only two pokeballs there, and there were normally at least three. He knew there were a couple other kids that were getting their starters today, but he didn’t believe they’d get there earlier than him and Harris. He shook off the initial dread, and grinned brightly at the Professor. He pushed the other boy just a little bit in front of him.
“You pick first!” He said, a bit too loudly. He was set on being a gentleman like his mother had always taught him to be, even if it meant he wouldn’t get to pick his starter. Plus, it was Harris, and he would do anything for him. So it wasn’t really a big deal, he told himself.
A feeling settled in his chest that he couldn’t put a name to - and wasn’t sure if it was positive or negative. His thoughts wandered as he only half-listened to the Professor give them the “Pokémon are cool, fill out this Pokedex” spiel. His brain kept going back to that weird feeling. With a considerable amount of effort, he shoved those thoughts to the side and instead focused on watching his friend like a hawk to see what Pokémon he chose.

 

[The_Dracos_45]

At seeing only the two pokéballs, Harris was a bit confused as well: it was quite literally the buttcrack of dawn and the boys were the first two awake. Maybe some other kids came the previous day while the boys were adventuring, which would make at least some sense. Hell, that's probably what exactly happened, given the boys reputation for chaos and speed. They wanted to get their Pokémon before the storm that was Vic and Harris came to the lab. But, as a downside, that left only two for the boys to pick from. Not much of a variety.
He was more than happy to go first, excited for which Pokémon he was going to get. The moment Professor Juniper finished her speech, Harris ran forwards to the pokéballs and looked them over. One had a leaf symbol on it while the other had something akin to a rock symbol on it. That one confused Harris a bit, since he had no memory of a Ground or Rock type starter, so he just assumed it was the symbol for the Fire starter, Tepig. He excitedly grabbed the first ball, holding it in his hand as he looked at Vicente. "Grab yours, so we can do it together!" He urged. This was a great moment in any Trainer's life, and he wanted to share that moment with his friend.

Once Vicente had picked up his pokéball, Harris exchanged a nod with him, and at the same time as Vic he threw his ball to release his new Pokémon.
There was the usual flash of light, and then a Snivy appeared before him, looking up at its new Trainer. Harris made an extremely happy noise, crouching down before it. "Hi there!! I'm Harris, your new Trainer." He looked over at Vicente, looking to see what his friend got.

 

[crowjira]

Vicente nodded before throwing his pokeball, revealing his very first Pokémon: a very sleepy looking Drilbur. Drilbur? His head shot up in confusion at Professor Juniper. He opened his mouth to speak, but the Professor was already cutting in.
“I’m very sorry, Mr. Ramirez, but you won’t be getting a standard starter. I know this is a very strange situation, so I hope you don’t mind and please don’t take it out on your new partner. Our other starters were either already claimed, or they had become ill and couldn’t be offered at this time. If it helps, this Drilbur has a very rare ability and a couple of rare moves passed down her bloodline! She’s a real cutie and I think you’ll really like her!”
Vicente stared in silence at the small mole in front of him. His brain was tuning out whatever Juniper was saying and he couldn’t help but wonder ‘why do I get an old boring Pokémon while Harris gets a starter?’
Before he knew it, his eyes were getting watery and tears were dangerously close to spilling down his face. He shook his head as if to clear away those bad thoughts, then took a deep breath. He crouched down to get on the drilbur’s level.
She was adorable; basically just a ball of fuzz with a bright pink nose. He was surprised to find that she seemed to have picked up on his bad mood and seemed like she was apologetic about it. Vicente couldn’t stand to see that heartbreaking expression on the drilbur’s face, so he scooped her up in his arms and pressed his face into her soft fur.
“We’re gonna be partners for forever! I love you, Drilbur! I think I’m gonna call you, uhhh...hmm…. Bitty. Does that sound good?” He said, muffled by her fur. Bitty made a half-squeak half-bark noise and cuddled into his arms. “Bitty it is!”
He laughed a little, and hastily wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve before bringing his face back up so he could see what Harris thought of his new Snivy.

 

[The_Dracos_45]

Unfortunately, Harris didn't notice the tears, because he had been looking at the professor as she explained the situation. He did have a feeling that something was...off, but he assumed it was just because of the new situation they were in. Little did he know, a small crack had appeared in their friendship.
He thought Vicente's Drilbur was so cool! It had a nice ability, and even a special move set: anyone would have killed for that. Honestly, he was a little jealous, but it's not like he'd say that out loud. With his new Pokédex he could see that his starter only knew the two moves, Tackle and Leer, but that was okay with him: he'd be leveling his Snivy up as quickly as he could, since his goal was to be a great and awesome Trainer. And his Pokémon would be strong too!
Harris turned his attention back to his Snivy, looking at it curiously. He tilted his head, and so did the Pokémon. It mimicked him for a short while before giving a sort of cry that sounded like a laugh, which made Harris laugh too. "You're adorable! I'm gonna call you...Mint!" He said happily, and Mint's little leaf tail seemed to wag happily at it. Harris grinned and picked him up, cuddling the little Grass Snake Pokémon. "Oh, we're going to be great friends!" He looked back up to Vicente with a smile before standing up. He let Mint onto his shoulder before glancing back at Professor Juniper. "Thank you so much, Professor! Come on, Vic, let's get our stuff from home so we can go!" He urged.
He ran towards the door without grabbing Vic's hand, since he didn't want to disturb his hold on his new Drilbur. He did, however, wait at the door for once in his life. Mint ran around his shoulders, showing to be just as energetic as his Trainer. "You can show your mom Bitty, and I can show my dad Mint!" He said excitedly. Once again he was bouncing on his feet, anxiously waiting for Vicente to follow him back outside.

 

[crowjira]

Vicente’s chest filled with warmth seeing his best friend and his starter bond so quickly. He forgot his jealousy for the moment and caught up with Harris, hefting Bitty into a one armed hold so he could grab the other’s hand. His eyes were still just a bit watery and he sniffled a little, but he was sure he was being discreet about it. He nodded, squeezing his friend’s hand and avoiding eye contact.
“Yeah! I already have everything packed! I can’t believe we already have pokeballs. What do you think you’re gonna catch first?” He said, smiling brightly, although his voice was just a little wobbly at times. “I really wanna see if I can find a Blitzle, and eventually a Roggenrola!”
He listened intently to the other boy talk while they made their way to their houses. He had mixed feelings about this, but he sincerely hoped it wouldn’t all be this skewed.

——

Eventually, Vicente asked Harris to go on without him. It hurt, but he felt like he was only holding him back. He wanted to see his friend succeed more than anything, even if it meant he had to suffer. Harris was the better trainer, anyway; he was the one who got an actual starter and who has been catching the most Pokémon. The thought of the other boy was enough to make Vicente feel sticky with dread and apprehension. Something about them had already changed - their dynamic, mostly - and it wasn’t a good change.
He told himself it would be fine, and acted strong during his farewell to make Harris think that he wasn’t upset. After he had split off and was a safe distance away, he burst out crying and had to lean against a tree while covering his face with his hands. Everything was wrong. He wanted to go home. But he couldn’t. He was a strong young man, and he would finish his Pokémon journey. He wasn’t a quitter. He could do this! Just ...maybe not while he’s around Harris.

——

Striaton Gym was easier than he thought it would be. The trivia based challenge was incredibly easy, considering how much time he spent constantly studying Pokémon. Since he didn’t have a regular Fire, Grass, or Water type starter, they set him against Cress, who had the least amount of matches scheduled for that day. Using Bitty was out of the question, so he relied more on his other new partners. In particular, a Blitzle that was a little rambunctious and a little hard to control. He didn’t mind it, though, because he felt that he was the same way. He named the zebra Pokémon ‘Friday’, and they became close friends from the very start. Friday had wiped out the Gym with ease, and was more than a little smug about it. Vicente scoffed and chided him about having too much of an ego, but deep down, he was truly proud of him.
Even though he didn’t use them in battle, he trained up the two other freshly caught Pokémon before the gym. A very stubborn Roggenrola named ‘Hoss’, and a very prissy Venipede named ‘Bo Peep’. His whole team had reached around level 15 already, and he couldn’t be prouder of them.
After a rest at the Pokecenter and a supply run at the Pokemart, they were ready to head out to Route 3. As he was checking up with each of his partners, though, something felt… off. His lips tugged in a frown and he brought his head up to glance around him. A spike of fear shot through him as he recognized a very familiar figure standing not too far away; Harris. Oh, god. He bit his lip and started planning escape routes before he noticed that his friend was already walking towards him. Great.

 

[The_Dracos_45]

The feeling of something being off was still there, but once again Harris assume it was because of the new situation. When Vicente squeezed his had he squeezed back out of instinct, smiling happily. "I wanna catch a Ponyta! They're sooo cool, oh! Oh! And a Lillipup, they grow up to be super strong!" Harris said excitedly, bouncing from step to step.
He continued on his rambling rant about all the Pokémon he wanted to catch (a few of them being extremely rare, just a dream) and what he wanted to do with them. He went on about wanting to be Champion, or even a Gym Leader at the very least. He wanted to be the best! His still childlike view of the world clouded his eyes, leaving him blind to the changes between him and Vicente, and his friend's changing view of him.

-------

The news hurt Harris just as much as it hurt Vicente. If anything, his was more of a confused hurt, as never in his mind did he see this coming. He pleaded with Vicente, reminding them of their dream, their promise to remain together, their goals of becoming great together. But, Vicente's mind was set, and the two parted ways. Harris had walked in a sort of daze, alone now, by himself. When he finally came too, some bad emotion filled his body, and he slammed his fist into a tree. He continued this, and as his punches got harder, tears began to stream down his cheeks. They weren't from any physical pain: it was an emotional pain. Part of him was...mad at Vicente. Mad at the world. Mad at everything. The emotion was short lived, and through the blur of his tears Harris could see his knuckles were scratched up and bleeding. He fell to the ground with his back against the tree, holding his head between his knees as he sobbed, not knowing at the time he was feeling something akin to heartbreak.
After that, he always kept Mint out of his pokéball.

-------

Harris had cleared Striaton Gym before Vicente, and it was more of a longer battle than a hard battle. He had no Water types on his team, so it was more of a battle of will against Chile. He had finally won with a decisive Double Kick from his Ponyta, whom he had dubbed 'Flare'. One of the perks with this specific Ponyta was his Ability: Flash Fire. This Ability meant that whenever Flare was hit by a Fire-type move, it would deal no damage. Instead, it would power up his own Fiire-type moves. Flare was a bit of a hot-head, literally and figuratively, and always ready to battle. With every victory the Ponyta would rear up in triumph, very pleased with himself. Harris was extremely proud of him every time he won, and he knew that Flare would become a strong Pokémon one day.
After he had healed his team and restocked his bag at the Pokémart, Harris continued onto Route 3. Mint rested peacefully on his shoulders as the boy looked around for a Pokémon to battle. He wanted to level up the rest of his team that hadn't been involved with the Gym battle: 'Eve', a rowdy Lillipup; 'Moon', a curious Munna; and his most recent addition: 'Blizzard', a shy Riolu who Harris just happened across at the beginning of this Route. Right now Blizzard was the baby of the team, only at level 9, but the rest of his Pokémon were around the level 15 mark.
At the current time Harris was in a little area off the main part of the Route, having Blizzard socialize with the rest of his team. Suddenly Mint lifted his head high, his tail standing still as he seemed to hear something. Harris watched him curiously and then shouted when Mint suddenly sprinted away. He whistled for the rest of his team to follow as he ran after his Snivy.
The Grass-type broke out into a clearing, crying out a happy "Sni!!!" at whatever he saw. Harris came out behind him, looking for what Mint was going on about, and then his whole body froze when he saw a familiar figure a few feet away.
Vicente.
An odd feeling came across Harris, a mixture of anger, relief, regret, and excitement. Without even thinking his feet pulled him in the direction of his best-
His friend. Something in him told him that they weren't best friends anymore. Either way, he was walking towards him, Mint climbing up Harris's back excitedly. The rest of his team followed behind, curious. Flare and Eve remembered Vicente, but Moon and Blizzard had no idea who he was. They were caught after the split up.
When Harris finally approached Vicente, he didn't have a clue what to say first. You left me. How are you doing? Why did you leave. Are you well?
What did I do wrong?
Instead, the words that came out of Harris's mouth was: "Uh, hi."

 

[crowjira]

Vicente winced a little bit at the awkward greeting. Has it really gotten this bad, already? He shook his head a little to clear away the thoughts clouding his mind and smiled warmly at Harris. They’d both grown older, just a little. Vicente’s hair had grown just a little shaggier and he had gotten some new bandanas. Harris, on the other hand, was … not wearing any shoes.
“Where are your shoes?!” Vic said in alarm, failing to bite back a giggle. “Did you seriously challenge the Gym with no shoes on?!” He sighed fondly, adjusting his hat so he could see Harris a little better.
He had caught some more Pokémon, it seemed. A Munna and a Riolu! Vicente was instantly on his knees in front of them, looking at them in awe. “Oh, what pretty Pokémon! I’ve seen Munna before, but .. is this .. a Riolu? Wow… they’re gorgeous, Harris. When did you catch them?” He spoke softly, trying not to spook the Pokémon. He beamed at them. No matter how tense a situation may be, Pokémon will always be His Thing. He found himself having a genuinely good time studying these Pokémon.

Bitty suddenly leapt from her place in Vic’s arms to the ground to sniff Mint. She was a little shy … but still very playful and very excited to see her closest friend! She didn’t pay any mind to whatever was going on around her.
Vicente’s pokemon came out of their pokeballs to meet Harris’. Hoss was first. She was only a foot and a half tall, but weighed in around 45 pounds due to her body being pure rock. Then Friday popped out, making quite an entrance as he let out a trill and lit up his mane and tail with electric flickers. He huffed and pawed at the ground before looking around at the other Pokémon. Sizing them up, most likely. Lastly, Bo Peep released herself from her ball and scuttled closer to Vic, hissing quietly at all the other Pokémon.

“I’m guessing you… wanna battle?” Vicente said, still smiling from earlier. “You have gotta show me how your team does in single battles! I bet I can whoop you!”

 

[The_Dracos_45]

It almost seemed no time had passed. Almost. Harris grinned when Vicente pointed out his lack of shoes, and he held up a foot in demonstration. "I sort of lost them in a river. A Swanna stole them, and I didn't have a replacement, so I thought, what the heck?" He shrugged. Small calluses were starting to form at the front of his feet, but not as much on his heels yet. He was always a front stepper. "And, uh, yeah, it was before the Gym. Chile was confused and also fascinated." He laughed. The only other thing that had changed about him was his hair was still growing and kept long like he usually had it, tied into a low ponytail.
At Vic coming closer, Blizzard let out a squeak and hid behind his Trainer's leg, not knowing who this stranger was. Moon, on the other hand, was highly curious about this guy, and so she floated closer to look at him with wide eyes. She titled her whole body to the side as she examined him back, eventually making a happy noise. Harris smiled at seeing Vic looking at his Pokémon, happy that he could see him again and that he was interested in his new partners. "The Munna is Moon, and the Riolu is Blizzard. I just caught him, right after I finished the Gym and came on this Route, so he's pretty much the baby of the group. He's shy, so don't take it too personally."

Mint let out another happy "Sni!!" at seeing his friend once again, running around Bitty with his leaf of a tail wagging happily. He stopped to run into her, tackling the Drilbur over and nuzzling into her with such excitement. It had been too long!
When Friday emerged Flame lifted his head high, seeing the other Horse Pokémon show off. He gave a puff in response, pawing the ground as well. He wasn't trying to challenge the Blitzle, no, he was just trying to show that this team had a strong Horse too, thank you very much. Flare shook out his fire of a mane, lowering his head down to Blizzard's level to make sure the Riolu was safe. The smaller Pokémon instead hid behind the Ponyta's leg, a bit more safer now in his mind.
Eve gave an excited yip at seeing Hoss, running towards the Rock-type and immediately starting to run circles around it. She was a rowdy sort of pup, so at some point she stopped and pawed at the Roggenrola with playful growls. Harris laughed and walked towards the Lillipup to pick her up, giving her a small scolding. "Not all Pokémon want to play with you, Eve, be careful!"

When Vicente addressed him he looked back over to his friend and gave a confident smirk. "You think you can whoop me? You're on!" Harris put Lillipup down and whistled to Mint, who reluctantly stopped his playing with Bitty to run back over and climb up Harris to get back to his shoulders.

 

[crowjira]

“Yeah, we’ll see about that, won’t we?” Vicente smirked, returning all of his team except for Bitty. “I’ll get ya, Mr. Champion-in-the-Making, just you wait!”
He laughed and then dashed to a nearby makeshift Pokémon battle arena, Bitty in tow. She clenched her claws and scraped them on the ground, making a harsh metallic sound. He could tell she was just as excited as he was. He already had a plan; Bitty vs Mint would be first, because he already knew they would be dying to test out their skills on one another. He ruffled his partner’s head fur and gave her an encouraging smile. He adjusted her faded red neckerchief to make sure it wouldn’t fall off in battle, which earned him a delighted bark.
“Bitty wants to go against Mint first. Is that alright?” Vic said, louder than usual so Harris could hear him. He shifted from foot to foot, surveying the field. It was bordered by trees, so they didn’t run the risk of anyone intruding on them, and it had enough shade for any Pokémon that had to be taken out of battle to cool down. The ground was dry and sturdy, so there was little chance of any Pokémon slipping or hurting themselves. The sun was blindingly bright overhead, so he used a hand to block it out as he waited for a response.