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"After" by Chocolateowls for Fluffybun
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fluffybun
Title: After
Author:chocolateowls
Rating: PG
Verse: Pokémon Special | DPPt
Characters/Pairings: Pearl/Platinum
Summary: Growing up means losing your way, but it also means finding it again. Pearl's first step is challenging Sinnoh's gyms.
Notes: There were so many prompts, I hope I chose a good one! Happy holidays! ♥
-
Roark is a breeze; Rampardos doesn't last long enough to prepare Double Team and Pearl's command is halfway out his mouth when Onix falls.
Roark congratulates him as he would any other challenger but doesn't act surprised.
---
"Guess who's on his way to beating the gym leaders?" Pearl says. His Pokétch crackles with Platinum's disdain.
"Hello to you too, Pearl."
"That’s right: me!"
The line is silent, long enough that he wonders if it's the connection, but then her voice returns, softer. "You don't have to do this, you know."
Pearl catches sight of the next signpost: Welcome to Floaroma. "Hey, so I'm almost at Eterna. Talk to you later!"
"Pearl-!"
---
Gardenia gives the impression she's been expecting him.
"You can bet we've heard about you taking on the challenge!" she says. He supposes it isn't strange. "And you can bet we've prepared, too!"
Cherrim and Roserade are both expected; Pearl leads with Chahiko and Chimhiko. He has a fleeting thought of Platinum, of her wide eyes and cataloguing mind, and wonders if it matters. Memories of Prinplup and Ponyta's battle spring to mind, so when Roserade widens her stance and sends a vine slithering underground, Pearl instructs Chahiko to swoop down, and Chimhiko swings off his ally to become airborne.
What Pearl hasn't accounted for is Roserade's second vine, one that cuts through the air and catches Chimhiko by the leg.
Chahiko is just shy of a catch. Chimhiko hits the ground hard, Roserade's vines fastening around him from above and below ground, seeping poison on Gardenia's command. With Chimhiko immobile Cherrim invokes sunlight and transforms, petals blooming and bursting with light as Pearl orders an Aerial Ace.
"Cherrim, Solarbeam!"
Evasion is impossible; the attack hits dead on, a burst of heat and sparkling energy, forcing Pearl to shield his eyes. A moment passes, then two and three, and Pearl's heart drops. This can't be over already.
Flying shakily and favoring his right side, Chahiko breaks through the fading light and strikes a critical blow at Cherrim. Roserade's vines still holding firm on Chimhiko provide the opening Chahiko needs to win the match.
The Forest Badge doesn't shine as brightly.
---
Hearing that the second battle didn't go as smoothly seems to perk Platinum's interest.
"You won, though," she says, trailing off as though she wants to say more. She doesn't.
"It shouldn't have been a problem at all!"
"Don't be a child."
Pearl doesn't want to hear it. "It was the second gym. You won when you had no idea what you were doing!"
Platinum tuts. "Higher level gym battles are sure to be more difficult."
"You're impossible!"
"Good luck."
She hangs up.
---
Battling isn't an instinct; Pearl's skills lie in humor and quick thinking and the sheer stupidity in never backing down. He's trained hard for his false aptitude, though, and had himself nearly convinced of being a pretty decent trainer, except his self-image is trapped in limbo, his last serious battle before the gym challenge already over a year old.
He shouldn't be so ornery over the fact that one battle took a little more effort than planned, but knowing it doesn't change it, so he enters his third battle with gritted teeth.
"You ready?" Maylene asks. She looks as fierce as ever. Pearl's fingers tighten around his pokéball.
"As I'll ever be."
(It's a lie.)
Rayhiko is raring to fight but Medicham is still as stone, even as Pearl calls out a Discharge. Rayhiko keeps to the offensive, crackling across the battlefield, but Pearl keeps his eyes on Maylene—whose eyes are fixed on Medicham. Sparks flicker through the air and finally, finally Maylene perks up. Pearl sees the attack before she names it.
"Rayhiko, move!" he shouts, but Medicham is fast, and the Reversal lands.
Pearl snatches Zelhiko's pokéball and hurls it, jerking his shoulder. The pain is dull but he clutches the area anyway, something Zelhiko hones in on; the pokémon bristles with fury. Maylene seems to feed off it but Medicham is doubled over, unmoving, and it only takes one more attack to win.
Lucario's Aura Sphere spirals through the air before he's fully out of his pokéball, Zelhiko barely dodging it on a sharp blast of water. Lucario doesn't pull punches, aiming blow after blow, cracking the ground as they miss. Agility after Agility leaves Zelhiko's breathing harsh but Pearl tells himself just a bit more...
When a punch finally lands, sending Zelhiko skidding, Pearl shouts, "One-eighty, Hydro Pump!" Zelhiko darts past Lucario and sends a torrent of water behind him, flooding the cracks, and in a single breath it freezes. The ground widens and splits. Off balance, Lucario isn't able to dodge the final blow.
It's bittersweet.
---
"That was clever of you," says Platinum. He imagines pride in her voice, though he can hardly hear her above the ring-a-ding-ding of the Game Corner, anyway.
Pearl flicks the handle again and the slots spin. He stares past the swirling bars, unfocused. Platinum makes a strangled sound.
"Am I hearing slots?"
"No," he says. He smiles at that; her scowl is guaranteed.
"You hate that place," she says. It's worse than a scolding. He doesn't respond, just flicks the handle again, so she continues. "You haven't battled seriously in over a year, it's perfectly natural-"
"It isn't natural, that's the problem."
"It'll come back." She sounds so sure, how can she sound so sure? "But you don't have to do this, you know."
Pearl glances back to the machine. A line of Galactic symbols stare back.
"Yeah, I do."
---
He means to go forward to Pastoria. Instead he doubles back to Hearthome. Fantina is happy to see him and begins chatting, but Pearl politely requests that they begin the battle and she doesn't protest.
Pearl tries to not let it lure him into a false sense of security but Drifblim is no match for Rayhiko's Crunch, and a Quick Claw ensures Mismagius goes down before she can pull any tricks. The surprise is when Fantina sends out Dusknoir.
Trouble is inevitable once Dusknoir retracts his arm. The ensuing flame burns and weakens Rayhiko; the following Hex envelops him and hits hard. Chahiko takes the field and Fantina smiles and Pearl feels stupid, stupid, stupid when Dusknoir lifts his hands and the room turns heavy. The thump of Chahiko churns Pearl's gut. His knees finally give in to their weight. Tauhiko takes over and immediately takes the brunt of an especially powerful Ice Punch; to Pearl's surprise, Tauhiko seems stronger because of it. Pearl wants to cry with realization but doesn't quite feel alive yet, instead using the last of his energy to command a Pursuit.
It's almost enough.
---
Pearl's Pokétch is a weight on his wrist he pointedly ignores as he leaves the gym in languid steps. The moment the sun hits his face, it rings.
He answers, bewildered. "Yeah?"
"Are you all right?"
Pearl looks at the device as if it's betrayed him. "Do you have spies somewhere?"
"Pearl."
Pearl huffs and slumps down between the Pokémon Center and the neighboring building. He kicks the wall with the flat of his sneaker. "It's sort of a relief."
"How so?"
"I was afraid of losing. Now it's done and over with." Pearl counts his breathing, one two three. "Tauhiko's ability kicked in. It was close. I-"
I should've won, he wants to say. Don't be a child, Platinum says.
"Is this it then?" she asks.
Pearl laughs.
---
The second battle against Fantina goes much smoother.
---
Pearl appreciates Platinum's sense of timing when, as he comes to a stop outside the Trainer's School in Jubilife, she says, "Stop calling me in the middle of class, I can only make so many excuses!"
Pearl is smiling. "Halfway there."
That riles her up further. "It isn't even necessary! Just go to the Pokémon Association"—Pearl frowns—"and they'll set up the proper battle for-"
"Then what? Daddy's boy made the Battle Frontier, what a surprise-"
"Don't be ridiculous, you helped save the world-"
"This is something concrete!" Pearl snaps. A group of kids side-eye him. He scowls back.
Platinum's sigh is too loud, too forced. "You're just punishing yourself."
Pearl hangs up as he walks away, bleeding into the busy streets of Jubilife.
---
Canalave smells of salt and sweat and the sea is so unbearably blue Pearl can't stand to see it. Despite the weight hanging over the city the breeze is warm and the faces friendly and Chimhiko ends up having to drag Pearl to the gym, after all.
"Been looking forward to this!" Byron says, shadowed by an enormous bastiodon, grinning wildly.
Despite the weight hanging over him, Pearl enjoys battling for the first time in a long while.
---
"Keep calling me like this and I'll start thinking you like me."
"Shut up," Pearl stammers, teeth clacking in the cold. His skin burns though his scarf is wrapped up to his chin. "Did it get colder up here? I didn't freeze half to death last time!"
Platinum scoffs. "Oh don't whine. I didn't even wear pants and I was fine."
Pearl is going to kill her.
"So," she says. He sucks in a breath. "You'll be fine once you have eight badges?"
"Oh for the love of—it isn't hurting anything."
"You've put too much stock into this! You were fine not battling for a year while you and Dia were doing manzai-"
Pearl knits his brows. "Stop."
"Him wanting to pursue other interests is perfectly valid! You're supposed to be his friend-"
"Stop."
"He didn't abandon you! The world doesn't revolve around you!"
"Platinum."
She stops.
"I know."
A pause.
"Okay."
---
Night falls by the time Pearl reaches Snowpoint Gym. The lights are on but Pearl can't feel his ears anymore and figures he'll drop face-first into the snow before he can reach the door. His conviction falters when Candice spots him and hands over a mug of hot cocoa.
Wrapped in a wool blanket and clutching a second mug, the urge to battle returns and Pearl takes his place across Candice. Her first pokémon is a snover and can't even be considered a challenge; even Abomasnow is weakened by the time she knocks out Tauhiko. Pearl returns his fallen pokémon and stashes it in his bag, then wraps his blanket higher and waits.
Candice squints at him. "Well?"
Pearl glances down at his cocoa, blowing then sipping.
"Hey!" she yells. "Send out your next pokémon!"
His lip quirks around the mug before he finally lifts his head. "Already did."
Dighiko burrows through to the surface, launching waves of sludge that drench Abomasnow before Candice can react. Her expression contorts as her pokémon faints.
"All right," she says, raising her final pokéball. "I've been saving this one."
She tosses the ball and Sneasel forms in the arena. Though his shoulders drop, Pearl frowns and keeps an eye on Sneasel, watching her movements. Candice is quick to instruct a blast of Icy Wind through Dighiko's tunnels to take out Pearl's pokémon; though the loss is expected, the glowing aura surrounding Sneasel is not.
"What-?" Pearl collects himself, sending out Zelhiko before he loses ground. He realizes too late what Candice planned.
Weavile stands proud.
Zelhiko snarls and sprints forward without direction; Pearl narrows his gaze but says nothing. Weavile spins as Zelhiko swoops in a curve, a sharp wind grazing Weavile before dissipating. Candice cackles, unaware.
"Surprised?"
"If you think that'll win this battle, you're wrong!"
"We'll see!" she sing-songs. A nod to Weavile has her pokémon on the move, emitting a pulse of dark energy. Zelhiko dodges and though the tail end of the burst connects, he shrugs it off.
Zelhiko doesn't retaliate and Pearl doesn't issue a command. Candice falters. Weavile changes stance, then pauses and whirls around. It's a close guess.
The Razor Wind slams into her from above instead.
Candice looks dumbfounded as she hands over the Icicle Badge. "A two-turn attack."
Zelhiko grumbles when Pearl pats his head.
---
"You should've seen it!"
"Sounds like you're having fun." Platinum's smiling, he knows it. "One more, right?"
"Uh, well. Two."
"But Volkner is-"
"I skipped around a bit." Silence, again. Pearl hates not speaking to her in person.
"All right."
"What, that's it?"
Platinum huffs and his Pokétch crackles with it. "You don't need to treat me like I'm difficult."
He shouldn't, but Pearl laughs, and she calls him a few decidedly unladylike names.
--
He sees Sunyshore far before he reaches it. The temperature change leaves Pearl feeling dizzy but it's nice, even though his hair is heavy and his clothes cling to his skin. Chimhiko basks in it.
Pearl curses as he pulls on the gym doors: locked. He should have known it wouldn't be so easy to find Volkner. Then again, there's no rush.
When he turns to head back, he freezes. Platinum waits at the bottom of the steps.
"Hello."
She's beautiful; Pearl wonders how long it's been since he's seen her. A thousand times he's envisioned running to her, picking her up and swinging her around like a fool. Now, though, it's as if his feet were made of lead.
"Hey." He shuts his eyes for a moment, pretends they're just talking through the Pokétch. "What are you doing here?"
"Well-"
A chorus of "Miss Berlitz!" chimes from the left, a group of kids stampeding toward Platinum, all talking over each other. Platinum almost looks embarrassed.
"Field trip," she says, before placing a finger over her lips and shushing the kids. Pearl's chest aches.
Shaking himself loose, Pearl takes a slow breath and steps toward her, swerving around two kids that dart past him. "I didn't think they liked to take them out," he says.
A smug smile crosses Platinum's lips; it reminds him of long, long ago. "They need experience."
He wonders how so few words from her can make him feel so whole. "You caused trouble, didn't you?" he asks, grinning slyly. She folds her arms across her chest playfully.
"I was very respectful in my demands."
(He really, really missed her.)
Miss Berlitz is a blessing because it turns out that not even Volkner can ignore a group of restless children banging on the gym doors, chanting open up! open up! Platinum doesn't stick around for the battle, having promised the kids a trip to the lighthouse, but she does send the group ahead and hovers around Pearl a few seconds too long, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. Pearl stares dumbly at her and are you okay? is halfway out his mouth when she leans forward and pecks him on the cheek.
"Good luck," she says, looking past him, then running off to catch up with the kids.
Pearl doesn't hesitate in pressing her number, watching her as she answers.
"You just kissed me, didn't you?" he says. He ducks his head to conceal his chuckle at the way her shoulders tense. She doesn't turn around.
"No I didn't."
"I think you did."
"I most certainly did not."
He hangs up for her.
---
Pearl doesn't lose a single pokémon to Volkner.
---
"Are you still in Sunyshore?" Pearl asks as he leaves the Pokémon Center, glancing around the city until he gets his bearings, then starting his journey toward Pastoria.
Platinum's answer comes not through the phone, but behind him. "Yes."
Pearl turns around, smiling stupidly and unable to make it stop. Traitor face. "Where are you headed?"
From the flock of kids trailing Platinum, one steps forward. "We're gonna go to Pastoria, Mr. Pearl!"
Pearl raises an eyebrow at Platinum. She does not look at him.
"Yes, Pastoria," Platinum says, ruffling the kid's hair until he protests and smacks her hand away. The kid pouts. Pearl is smug. Platinum continues speaking as if it never happened. "The Great Marsh is an excellent place to-"
"We're gonna watch you battle!" pipes up another kid. Pearl doesn't miss the twinge of Platinum's hand.
"Are you now?" Pearl says, but he doesn't take his eyes off Platinum. "I thought spectators were frowned upon."
Her teeth glint. "Mr. Wake has already agreed as a personal favor."
Pearl's stomach drops. Even after all his master had taught him, he feels like such a fool.
It must show on his face; Platinum drapes her arms around him, tucking her head in the crook of his neck. Pearl tenses, fingers stiff by his sides. He can't bring himself to raise his arms.
---
Seeing Wake in person blows all of Pearl's worries out of the water. Although Wake is thrilled to see his old friends he wastes no time greeting the kids, showing off the city and imparting lessons they won't understand until they're older.
Pearl heads to the gym, Platinum following in silence. Once inside they stop at the boat that will ferry Platinum and the kids over to watch the battle, knowing it will be a while until Wake and the kids turn up. Platinum sits down at the edge and Pearl copies her, resting his arm over his bent knee. She dips her fingers in the water and begins tracing shapes.
Pearl breaks the silence, gesturing toward the door. "Shouldn't you be watching them?"
"They'll be fine."
Pearl frowns.
Conversation failing, he watches her, studying the shapes she creates. His foot taps on the tiles. He only gets as far as most of a triangle.
"I should heal up before the battle-"
"You healed your pokémon not even ten minutes ago."
Pearl frowns again.
She slips her hand out of the water. Pearl's leg bounces restlessly.
"Maybe I'll-"
"Sitting still for a few minutes won't kill you."
"It might."
Platinum laughs, just barely, but it's as if she's sung him the highest of praises. He watches her, watches as her face lights up and he waits for it to dim, but she doesn't hide this time. Unguarded. Pearl thinks he could spend the rest of his life making her laugh.
Oh.
Pearl stands abruptly, opens his mouth to say something, anything, but settles on rushing out the door instead.
---
Wake barges inside the gym with the kids trailing behind, Pearl following. Platinum is waiting patiently by the boat, looking off into the gym, though she turns when the kids walk up and she helps them board. Pearl wasn't anxious before but now there's a churning in his stomach he isn't sure can be attributed to the upcoming match. He passes by the boat without a glance but before he can step further into the gym, Platinum grabs his arm. He looks down to find her smiling, as forced as it seems.
She grazes her fingers down his arm and Pearl forces his body still. She clasps his hands in her own, entwining their fingers awkwardly, and presses something into his hand. Before he can ask she looks him dead in the eye and says, "The penalty for losing is one million dollars."
Pearl’s laugh is hollow. "Got it," he says. He expects her to let go.
She leans up and presses her lips against the corner of his mouth.
He stares after her, wide-eyed, not even registering her leaving for the boat, but when he glances down and sees what she's given him, he smiles.
---
At the start of the match they agree to a battle on water.
Wake promptly sends out Gyarados and asks, "How about that spitfire of yours?" Zelhiko stirs in his pokéball but Pearl is already preparing another.
Empoleon is bigger than he remembers.
Wake isn't expecting it and Pearl doesn't think Empoleon was either, but she nods and stands tall, waiting on Pearl's command.
Gyarados dives underwater but he's too large to hide. Pearl calls out the opponent's Dragon Dance—Empoleon interrupts it with an Aqua Jet—then calls out the subsequent Twister. The kids are cheering, shouting out words of praise and awe; one of them shouts that "Mr. Pearl must be a psychic type!" Pearl gives a thumbs up and a cheeky grin. He catches Platinum stifling a laugh behind her hand.
Okay, he's showing off a little.
Wake laughs, long and hearty, and Pearl remembers what it's like to feel free.
Pearl has Empoleon drive out Gyarados with spiral Aqua Jets, kicking off a makeshift whirlpool Pearl knows Wake won't be trapped by. When Gyarados surfaces, Empoleon's Blizzard knocks it out.
Floatzel is the next opponent, one Pearl saw coming from a mile away. Wake shoots a knowing glance at Pearl but Pearl doesn't need the hint; the match-up was inevitable before he even set foot in the gym. Empoleon fights returning to her pokéball early but gives in to Platinum's warning stare, and Zelhiko takes the field.
"Look how it's grown!" Wake is beaming with pride. "Never doubted you for a second, Pearl!"
Pearl wishes he could say the same.
Zelhiko launches off the platform, impatient; Floatzel meets him halfway and they trade blows before crashing into the water, racing circles in the pool. It quickly becomes clear that their speeds are matched and though Pearl doesn't give any commands, he does call out each of Floatzel's attacks—something Pearl notices is frustrating Wake.
Wake sends Floatzel on the offensive, waves of stars cornering Zelhiko at the edge of the pool, where he sidesteps and lands next to Pearl. Wake pumps his fist in the air.
"Gotcha! Floatzel, Mud-Slap!"
A second too late and the blast drenches Pearl, thick and awful. Wake continues to order attacks as Pearl tries in vain to wipe his eyes clear. The splash of Zelhiko hitting the water is reassuring, but the attack on him is still confusing.
"Can't predict what you can't see!" Wake says, as if he can sense Pearl's confusion.
Pearl can only make out patches of the gym, but he wipes a stripe of mud from his mouth and grins.
"I can't," Pearl says. "But Zelhiko can."
Floatzel's startled cry signals his win.
---
"So," says Platinum, waiting at the edge of the platform when Pearl emerges from the pool soaked but clean. Pearl faintly registers Wake's fading outrage in the background.
"So."
The gym door shuts, Wake escorting the kids back out into the city, leaving a silence filled by the lapping of the pool against the platform’s edge.
"You trained your pokémon to assess moves as well. Very clever," she says, watching her own fingers as she lifts the hem of his shirt to reveal the eight badges pinned to his belt. Her thumb traces over the Fen Badge. Pearl counts his breathing, one two three.
Platinum falters, hand hovering awkwardly in the air. There’s nothing to say, so when she starts to pull back Pearl curls his arm around her waist, pulls her close and kisses her soundly.
It feels like relief.
fluffybunTitle: After
Author:
chocolateowlsRating: PG
Verse: Pokémon Special | DPPt
Characters/Pairings: Pearl/Platinum
Summary: Growing up means losing your way, but it also means finding it again. Pearl's first step is challenging Sinnoh's gyms.
Notes: There were so many prompts, I hope I chose a good one! Happy holidays! ♥
-
Roark is a breeze; Rampardos doesn't last long enough to prepare Double Team and Pearl's command is halfway out his mouth when Onix falls.
Roark congratulates him as he would any other challenger but doesn't act surprised.
---
"Guess who's on his way to beating the gym leaders?" Pearl says. His Pokétch crackles with Platinum's disdain.
"Hello to you too, Pearl."
"That’s right: me!"
The line is silent, long enough that he wonders if it's the connection, but then her voice returns, softer. "You don't have to do this, you know."
Pearl catches sight of the next signpost: Welcome to Floaroma. "Hey, so I'm almost at Eterna. Talk to you later!"
"Pearl-!"
---
Gardenia gives the impression she's been expecting him.
"You can bet we've heard about you taking on the challenge!" she says. He supposes it isn't strange. "And you can bet we've prepared, too!"
Cherrim and Roserade are both expected; Pearl leads with Chahiko and Chimhiko. He has a fleeting thought of Platinum, of her wide eyes and cataloguing mind, and wonders if it matters. Memories of Prinplup and Ponyta's battle spring to mind, so when Roserade widens her stance and sends a vine slithering underground, Pearl instructs Chahiko to swoop down, and Chimhiko swings off his ally to become airborne.
What Pearl hasn't accounted for is Roserade's second vine, one that cuts through the air and catches Chimhiko by the leg.
Chahiko is just shy of a catch. Chimhiko hits the ground hard, Roserade's vines fastening around him from above and below ground, seeping poison on Gardenia's command. With Chimhiko immobile Cherrim invokes sunlight and transforms, petals blooming and bursting with light as Pearl orders an Aerial Ace.
"Cherrim, Solarbeam!"
Evasion is impossible; the attack hits dead on, a burst of heat and sparkling energy, forcing Pearl to shield his eyes. A moment passes, then two and three, and Pearl's heart drops. This can't be over already.
Flying shakily and favoring his right side, Chahiko breaks through the fading light and strikes a critical blow at Cherrim. Roserade's vines still holding firm on Chimhiko provide the opening Chahiko needs to win the match.
The Forest Badge doesn't shine as brightly.
---
Hearing that the second battle didn't go as smoothly seems to perk Platinum's interest.
"You won, though," she says, trailing off as though she wants to say more. She doesn't.
"It shouldn't have been a problem at all!"
"Don't be a child."
Pearl doesn't want to hear it. "It was the second gym. You won when you had no idea what you were doing!"
Platinum tuts. "Higher level gym battles are sure to be more difficult."
"You're impossible!"
"Good luck."
She hangs up.
---
Battling isn't an instinct; Pearl's skills lie in humor and quick thinking and the sheer stupidity in never backing down. He's trained hard for his false aptitude, though, and had himself nearly convinced of being a pretty decent trainer, except his self-image is trapped in limbo, his last serious battle before the gym challenge already over a year old.
He shouldn't be so ornery over the fact that one battle took a little more effort than planned, but knowing it doesn't change it, so he enters his third battle with gritted teeth.
"You ready?" Maylene asks. She looks as fierce as ever. Pearl's fingers tighten around his pokéball.
"As I'll ever be."
(It's a lie.)
Rayhiko is raring to fight but Medicham is still as stone, even as Pearl calls out a Discharge. Rayhiko keeps to the offensive, crackling across the battlefield, but Pearl keeps his eyes on Maylene—whose eyes are fixed on Medicham. Sparks flicker through the air and finally, finally Maylene perks up. Pearl sees the attack before she names it.
"Rayhiko, move!" he shouts, but Medicham is fast, and the Reversal lands.
Pearl snatches Zelhiko's pokéball and hurls it, jerking his shoulder. The pain is dull but he clutches the area anyway, something Zelhiko hones in on; the pokémon bristles with fury. Maylene seems to feed off it but Medicham is doubled over, unmoving, and it only takes one more attack to win.
Lucario's Aura Sphere spirals through the air before he's fully out of his pokéball, Zelhiko barely dodging it on a sharp blast of water. Lucario doesn't pull punches, aiming blow after blow, cracking the ground as they miss. Agility after Agility leaves Zelhiko's breathing harsh but Pearl tells himself just a bit more...
When a punch finally lands, sending Zelhiko skidding, Pearl shouts, "One-eighty, Hydro Pump!" Zelhiko darts past Lucario and sends a torrent of water behind him, flooding the cracks, and in a single breath it freezes. The ground widens and splits. Off balance, Lucario isn't able to dodge the final blow.
It's bittersweet.
---
"That was clever of you," says Platinum. He imagines pride in her voice, though he can hardly hear her above the ring-a-ding-ding of the Game Corner, anyway.
Pearl flicks the handle again and the slots spin. He stares past the swirling bars, unfocused. Platinum makes a strangled sound.
"Am I hearing slots?"
"No," he says. He smiles at that; her scowl is guaranteed.
"You hate that place," she says. It's worse than a scolding. He doesn't respond, just flicks the handle again, so she continues. "You haven't battled seriously in over a year, it's perfectly natural-"
"It isn't natural, that's the problem."
"It'll come back." She sounds so sure, how can she sound so sure? "But you don't have to do this, you know."
Pearl glances back to the machine. A line of Galactic symbols stare back.
"Yeah, I do."
---
He means to go forward to Pastoria. Instead he doubles back to Hearthome. Fantina is happy to see him and begins chatting, but Pearl politely requests that they begin the battle and she doesn't protest.
Pearl tries to not let it lure him into a false sense of security but Drifblim is no match for Rayhiko's Crunch, and a Quick Claw ensures Mismagius goes down before she can pull any tricks. The surprise is when Fantina sends out Dusknoir.
Trouble is inevitable once Dusknoir retracts his arm. The ensuing flame burns and weakens Rayhiko; the following Hex envelops him and hits hard. Chahiko takes the field and Fantina smiles and Pearl feels stupid, stupid, stupid when Dusknoir lifts his hands and the room turns heavy. The thump of Chahiko churns Pearl's gut. His knees finally give in to their weight. Tauhiko takes over and immediately takes the brunt of an especially powerful Ice Punch; to Pearl's surprise, Tauhiko seems stronger because of it. Pearl wants to cry with realization but doesn't quite feel alive yet, instead using the last of his energy to command a Pursuit.
It's almost enough.
---
Pearl's Pokétch is a weight on his wrist he pointedly ignores as he leaves the gym in languid steps. The moment the sun hits his face, it rings.
He answers, bewildered. "Yeah?"
"Are you all right?"
Pearl looks at the device as if it's betrayed him. "Do you have spies somewhere?"
"Pearl."
Pearl huffs and slumps down between the Pokémon Center and the neighboring building. He kicks the wall with the flat of his sneaker. "It's sort of a relief."
"How so?"
"I was afraid of losing. Now it's done and over with." Pearl counts his breathing, one two three. "Tauhiko's ability kicked in. It was close. I-"
I should've won, he wants to say. Don't be a child, Platinum says.
"Is this it then?" she asks.
Pearl laughs.
---
The second battle against Fantina goes much smoother.
---
Pearl appreciates Platinum's sense of timing when, as he comes to a stop outside the Trainer's School in Jubilife, she says, "Stop calling me in the middle of class, I can only make so many excuses!"
Pearl is smiling. "Halfway there."
That riles her up further. "It isn't even necessary! Just go to the Pokémon Association"—Pearl frowns—"and they'll set up the proper battle for-"
"Then what? Daddy's boy made the Battle Frontier, what a surprise-"
"Don't be ridiculous, you helped save the world-"
"This is something concrete!" Pearl snaps. A group of kids side-eye him. He scowls back.
Platinum's sigh is too loud, too forced. "You're just punishing yourself."
Pearl hangs up as he walks away, bleeding into the busy streets of Jubilife.
---
Canalave smells of salt and sweat and the sea is so unbearably blue Pearl can't stand to see it. Despite the weight hanging over the city the breeze is warm and the faces friendly and Chimhiko ends up having to drag Pearl to the gym, after all.
"Been looking forward to this!" Byron says, shadowed by an enormous bastiodon, grinning wildly.
Despite the weight hanging over him, Pearl enjoys battling for the first time in a long while.
---
"Keep calling me like this and I'll start thinking you like me."
"Shut up," Pearl stammers, teeth clacking in the cold. His skin burns though his scarf is wrapped up to his chin. "Did it get colder up here? I didn't freeze half to death last time!"
Platinum scoffs. "Oh don't whine. I didn't even wear pants and I was fine."
Pearl is going to kill her.
"So," she says. He sucks in a breath. "You'll be fine once you have eight badges?"
"Oh for the love of—it isn't hurting anything."
"You've put too much stock into this! You were fine not battling for a year while you and Dia were doing manzai-"
Pearl knits his brows. "Stop."
"Him wanting to pursue other interests is perfectly valid! You're supposed to be his friend-"
"Stop."
"He didn't abandon you! The world doesn't revolve around you!"
"Platinum."
She stops.
"I know."
A pause.
"Okay."
---
Night falls by the time Pearl reaches Snowpoint Gym. The lights are on but Pearl can't feel his ears anymore and figures he'll drop face-first into the snow before he can reach the door. His conviction falters when Candice spots him and hands over a mug of hot cocoa.
Wrapped in a wool blanket and clutching a second mug, the urge to battle returns and Pearl takes his place across Candice. Her first pokémon is a snover and can't even be considered a challenge; even Abomasnow is weakened by the time she knocks out Tauhiko. Pearl returns his fallen pokémon and stashes it in his bag, then wraps his blanket higher and waits.
Candice squints at him. "Well?"
Pearl glances down at his cocoa, blowing then sipping.
"Hey!" she yells. "Send out your next pokémon!"
His lip quirks around the mug before he finally lifts his head. "Already did."
Dighiko burrows through to the surface, launching waves of sludge that drench Abomasnow before Candice can react. Her expression contorts as her pokémon faints.
"All right," she says, raising her final pokéball. "I've been saving this one."
She tosses the ball and Sneasel forms in the arena. Though his shoulders drop, Pearl frowns and keeps an eye on Sneasel, watching her movements. Candice is quick to instruct a blast of Icy Wind through Dighiko's tunnels to take out Pearl's pokémon; though the loss is expected, the glowing aura surrounding Sneasel is not.
"What-?" Pearl collects himself, sending out Zelhiko before he loses ground. He realizes too late what Candice planned.
Weavile stands proud.
Zelhiko snarls and sprints forward without direction; Pearl narrows his gaze but says nothing. Weavile spins as Zelhiko swoops in a curve, a sharp wind grazing Weavile before dissipating. Candice cackles, unaware.
"Surprised?"
"If you think that'll win this battle, you're wrong!"
"We'll see!" she sing-songs. A nod to Weavile has her pokémon on the move, emitting a pulse of dark energy. Zelhiko dodges and though the tail end of the burst connects, he shrugs it off.
Zelhiko doesn't retaliate and Pearl doesn't issue a command. Candice falters. Weavile changes stance, then pauses and whirls around. It's a close guess.
The Razor Wind slams into her from above instead.
Candice looks dumbfounded as she hands over the Icicle Badge. "A two-turn attack."
Zelhiko grumbles when Pearl pats his head.
---
"You should've seen it!"
"Sounds like you're having fun." Platinum's smiling, he knows it. "One more, right?"
"Uh, well. Two."
"But Volkner is-"
"I skipped around a bit." Silence, again. Pearl hates not speaking to her in person.
"All right."
"What, that's it?"
Platinum huffs and his Pokétch crackles with it. "You don't need to treat me like I'm difficult."
He shouldn't, but Pearl laughs, and she calls him a few decidedly unladylike names.
--
He sees Sunyshore far before he reaches it. The temperature change leaves Pearl feeling dizzy but it's nice, even though his hair is heavy and his clothes cling to his skin. Chimhiko basks in it.
Pearl curses as he pulls on the gym doors: locked. He should have known it wouldn't be so easy to find Volkner. Then again, there's no rush.
When he turns to head back, he freezes. Platinum waits at the bottom of the steps.
"Hello."
She's beautiful; Pearl wonders how long it's been since he's seen her. A thousand times he's envisioned running to her, picking her up and swinging her around like a fool. Now, though, it's as if his feet were made of lead.
"Hey." He shuts his eyes for a moment, pretends they're just talking through the Pokétch. "What are you doing here?"
"Well-"
A chorus of "Miss Berlitz!" chimes from the left, a group of kids stampeding toward Platinum, all talking over each other. Platinum almost looks embarrassed.
"Field trip," she says, before placing a finger over her lips and shushing the kids. Pearl's chest aches.
Shaking himself loose, Pearl takes a slow breath and steps toward her, swerving around two kids that dart past him. "I didn't think they liked to take them out," he says.
A smug smile crosses Platinum's lips; it reminds him of long, long ago. "They need experience."
He wonders how so few words from her can make him feel so whole. "You caused trouble, didn't you?" he asks, grinning slyly. She folds her arms across her chest playfully.
"I was very respectful in my demands."
(He really, really missed her.)
Miss Berlitz is a blessing because it turns out that not even Volkner can ignore a group of restless children banging on the gym doors, chanting open up! open up! Platinum doesn't stick around for the battle, having promised the kids a trip to the lighthouse, but she does send the group ahead and hovers around Pearl a few seconds too long, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. Pearl stares dumbly at her and are you okay? is halfway out his mouth when she leans forward and pecks him on the cheek.
"Good luck," she says, looking past him, then running off to catch up with the kids.
Pearl doesn't hesitate in pressing her number, watching her as she answers.
"You just kissed me, didn't you?" he says. He ducks his head to conceal his chuckle at the way her shoulders tense. She doesn't turn around.
"No I didn't."
"I think you did."
"I most certainly did not."
He hangs up for her.
---
Pearl doesn't lose a single pokémon to Volkner.
---
"Are you still in Sunyshore?" Pearl asks as he leaves the Pokémon Center, glancing around the city until he gets his bearings, then starting his journey toward Pastoria.
Platinum's answer comes not through the phone, but behind him. "Yes."
Pearl turns around, smiling stupidly and unable to make it stop. Traitor face. "Where are you headed?"
From the flock of kids trailing Platinum, one steps forward. "We're gonna go to Pastoria, Mr. Pearl!"
Pearl raises an eyebrow at Platinum. She does not look at him.
"Yes, Pastoria," Platinum says, ruffling the kid's hair until he protests and smacks her hand away. The kid pouts. Pearl is smug. Platinum continues speaking as if it never happened. "The Great Marsh is an excellent place to-"
"We're gonna watch you battle!" pipes up another kid. Pearl doesn't miss the twinge of Platinum's hand.
"Are you now?" Pearl says, but he doesn't take his eyes off Platinum. "I thought spectators were frowned upon."
Her teeth glint. "Mr. Wake has already agreed as a personal favor."
Pearl's stomach drops. Even after all his master had taught him, he feels like such a fool.
It must show on his face; Platinum drapes her arms around him, tucking her head in the crook of his neck. Pearl tenses, fingers stiff by his sides. He can't bring himself to raise his arms.
---
Seeing Wake in person blows all of Pearl's worries out of the water. Although Wake is thrilled to see his old friends he wastes no time greeting the kids, showing off the city and imparting lessons they won't understand until they're older.
Pearl heads to the gym, Platinum following in silence. Once inside they stop at the boat that will ferry Platinum and the kids over to watch the battle, knowing it will be a while until Wake and the kids turn up. Platinum sits down at the edge and Pearl copies her, resting his arm over his bent knee. She dips her fingers in the water and begins tracing shapes.
Pearl breaks the silence, gesturing toward the door. "Shouldn't you be watching them?"
"They'll be fine."
Pearl frowns.
Conversation failing, he watches her, studying the shapes she creates. His foot taps on the tiles. He only gets as far as most of a triangle.
"I should heal up before the battle-"
"You healed your pokémon not even ten minutes ago."
Pearl frowns again.
She slips her hand out of the water. Pearl's leg bounces restlessly.
"Maybe I'll-"
"Sitting still for a few minutes won't kill you."
"It might."
Platinum laughs, just barely, but it's as if she's sung him the highest of praises. He watches her, watches as her face lights up and he waits for it to dim, but she doesn't hide this time. Unguarded. Pearl thinks he could spend the rest of his life making her laugh.
Oh.
Pearl stands abruptly, opens his mouth to say something, anything, but settles on rushing out the door instead.
---
Wake barges inside the gym with the kids trailing behind, Pearl following. Platinum is waiting patiently by the boat, looking off into the gym, though she turns when the kids walk up and she helps them board. Pearl wasn't anxious before but now there's a churning in his stomach he isn't sure can be attributed to the upcoming match. He passes by the boat without a glance but before he can step further into the gym, Platinum grabs his arm. He looks down to find her smiling, as forced as it seems.
She grazes her fingers down his arm and Pearl forces his body still. She clasps his hands in her own, entwining their fingers awkwardly, and presses something into his hand. Before he can ask she looks him dead in the eye and says, "The penalty for losing is one million dollars."
Pearl’s laugh is hollow. "Got it," he says. He expects her to let go.
She leans up and presses her lips against the corner of his mouth.
He stares after her, wide-eyed, not even registering her leaving for the boat, but when he glances down and sees what she's given him, he smiles.
---
At the start of the match they agree to a battle on water.
Wake promptly sends out Gyarados and asks, "How about that spitfire of yours?" Zelhiko stirs in his pokéball but Pearl is already preparing another.
Empoleon is bigger than he remembers.
Wake isn't expecting it and Pearl doesn't think Empoleon was either, but she nods and stands tall, waiting on Pearl's command.
Gyarados dives underwater but he's too large to hide. Pearl calls out the opponent's Dragon Dance—Empoleon interrupts it with an Aqua Jet—then calls out the subsequent Twister. The kids are cheering, shouting out words of praise and awe; one of them shouts that "Mr. Pearl must be a psychic type!" Pearl gives a thumbs up and a cheeky grin. He catches Platinum stifling a laugh behind her hand.
Okay, he's showing off a little.
Wake laughs, long and hearty, and Pearl remembers what it's like to feel free.
Pearl has Empoleon drive out Gyarados with spiral Aqua Jets, kicking off a makeshift whirlpool Pearl knows Wake won't be trapped by. When Gyarados surfaces, Empoleon's Blizzard knocks it out.
Floatzel is the next opponent, one Pearl saw coming from a mile away. Wake shoots a knowing glance at Pearl but Pearl doesn't need the hint; the match-up was inevitable before he even set foot in the gym. Empoleon fights returning to her pokéball early but gives in to Platinum's warning stare, and Zelhiko takes the field.
"Look how it's grown!" Wake is beaming with pride. "Never doubted you for a second, Pearl!"
Pearl wishes he could say the same.
Zelhiko launches off the platform, impatient; Floatzel meets him halfway and they trade blows before crashing into the water, racing circles in the pool. It quickly becomes clear that their speeds are matched and though Pearl doesn't give any commands, he does call out each of Floatzel's attacks—something Pearl notices is frustrating Wake.
Wake sends Floatzel on the offensive, waves of stars cornering Zelhiko at the edge of the pool, where he sidesteps and lands next to Pearl. Wake pumps his fist in the air.
"Gotcha! Floatzel, Mud-Slap!"
A second too late and the blast drenches Pearl, thick and awful. Wake continues to order attacks as Pearl tries in vain to wipe his eyes clear. The splash of Zelhiko hitting the water is reassuring, but the attack on him is still confusing.
"Can't predict what you can't see!" Wake says, as if he can sense Pearl's confusion.
Pearl can only make out patches of the gym, but he wipes a stripe of mud from his mouth and grins.
"I can't," Pearl says. "But Zelhiko can."
Floatzel's startled cry signals his win.
---
"So," says Platinum, waiting at the edge of the platform when Pearl emerges from the pool soaked but clean. Pearl faintly registers Wake's fading outrage in the background.
"So."
The gym door shuts, Wake escorting the kids back out into the city, leaving a silence filled by the lapping of the pool against the platform’s edge.
"You trained your pokémon to assess moves as well. Very clever," she says, watching her own fingers as she lifts the hem of his shirt to reveal the eight badges pinned to his belt. Her thumb traces over the Fen Badge. Pearl counts his breathing, one two three.
Platinum falters, hand hovering awkwardly in the air. There’s nothing to say, so when she starts to pull back Pearl curls his arm around her waist, pulls her close and kisses her soundly.
It feels like relief.