"Queens" for oceanred

[pokemod]

Title: Queens
Author: outstretched / skylark
Rating: G
Verse: Gameverse - Gen IV (HGSS)
Characters/Pairings: Lyra/Leaf
Summary: Lyra finds her at the shore's edge, chewing on a popsicle stick.
Notes: The prompt was "One character finds out another's secret." I played fast and loose with that idea, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I was excited to write femslash for you, so thank you for your request! I kept Leaf's FRLG role intentionally vague.



Lyra finds her at the shore's edge, chewing on a popsicle stick. Her toes skim the surface of the water as she swings her feet. Her hair, some in-between color between gray and brown, pools carelessly on the ground behind her. Six poké balls are attached to the strap of her messenger bag, and the sight makes Lyra tense.

The girl tilts her head to look over her shoulder. Her gaze is lively and intelligent, but their eyes don't lock. Not a battle, then.

"Are you lost?" the girl asks, not unkindly.

"I know you," Lyra says. "You're...one of Professor Oak's research aides, right?" She remembers seeing this girl, but always in glimpses: the flick of her long hair as she runs, one hand securing the hat on her head; or the fading echo of her laugh. She always seems to be rushing out of the Professor's lab just as Lyra is walking in.

The girl smiles. "Kind of," she says. "I'm just a trainer, but I help the professor with his PokéDex, too. How about you, Lyra?" Lyra blinks, surprised, before the girl clarifies: "You're the reigning Champion, aren't you?"

Lyra nods cautiously. She's still getting used to the idea of being famous. The girl nods back but doesn't say anything more.

"...Do you want to battle?" Lyra asks after a moment. It's all anybody seems to want these days.

The girl replies, "Not if I don't have to," but her eyes rake over Lyra like she's sizing her up for a fight. Lyra feels the back of her neck prickle, a sensation that only comes when she's facing the hardest, most skilled challengers. She's spent a month as Indigo Plateau's champion-in-residence and never felt it once.

"You never answered my question from before," the girl continues.

"What?" Lyra says, distracted. Six poké balls, her mind whispers.

"My question," the girl repeats. She doesn't sound irritated, just amused. Lyra's eyes track her as she rises to her feet, still barefoot, the fingers of one hand hooked into the backs of her sneakers. "Are you lost?"

"Oh, um, no."

She tilts her head towards Cerulean Cape. "Are you friends with Bill, then?"

"I am," Lyra says, "but I'm not here to see him today."

The other girl hums thoughtfully, and then sucks the last piece of the popsicle into her mouth. There's a beat of silence as she chews and swallows.

"There's not a lot else out here," she points out. When she speaks again, Lyra can see that her tongue has turned blue from the popsicle's food coloring.

"I guess not," Lyra agrees.

The girl is standing right where she was expecting to call out Feraligatr and surf up the river. Somehow, Lyra doubts that it's a coincidence. "You know about Cerulean Cave too, don't you."

The girl grins, pleased. "Yeah."

"So what about it? You don't want me to get there first?"

"I just think you should reconsider," she says with a shrug.

Lyra's eyes narrow. "I'm the Champion," she repeats. "I know it's dangerous, but my pokémon and I can handle it."

The other girl cocks her head, the amusement leaving her expression. "Do you know what's in Cerulean Cave?" she asks.

"I've read the files," Lyra says. She found them after idly digging through the League's database, bored from the lack of traveling and feeling trapped in the Champion's room. Her hands curl into fists. "I know there's a legendary in there. That's why the League keeps everyone away. And I—I know Team Rocket was involved. The files were corrupted, and I couldn't read all the details, but—" But that's all I had to know, she thinks. "I already told you, I know what I'm doing."

"You're not the only one who's fought Team Rocket," the girl says. Her voice has gone very soft.

Lyra has started to reach for her Feraligatr's poké ball, but pauses at that. The girl smiles again, but it's humorless.

"You're from Johto," the girl says. "How many Kanto badges do you have?"

"Two," Lyra says. "I've already battled Brock and Misty."

She nods. "Not bad, but you should look around Kanto a bit more, get the rest of the Kanto badges too. Talk to the gym leaders, if you're curious about Cerulean Cave. There's a person in the Seafoam Islands you should talk to, too."

"Why?" Lyra asks. The girl sighs.

"There's a reason the League keeps the Cave off-limits," she says. "There is a legendary in there, but you shouldn't go in without knowing what you're dealing with. The gym leaders will tell you, if you ask. Besides, it's a legendary, and I'm sure the files told you that it's not friendly. Your pokémon can use all the experience that they can get."

"You're trying to stop me from going in," Lyra says, just to clarify.

The girl shrugs. "I'm here to give you advice," she says. "I already said I don't want to fight you if I don't have to."

Lyra's back straightens. "But what if I wanted to battle you?"

The smile the girl gives her is razor-thin and just as sharp. "Then I'd win," she says. Her tone is so mild, so matter-of-fact, that it makes Lyra pause. "If you got all the Kanto badges first, though," the girl adds, "it might be a different story. I guess we'd have to see."

"There's more to a trainer than just how many badges they have," Lyra says.

"I know you're a good trainer," is the reply. "Anyone could see that. Your pokémon love you. That's why I'm telling you—not yet."

Lyra's finger taps against the smooth metal of Feraligatr's poké ball, pondering the girl in front of her. She can't remember ever meeting a trainer this poised, or with such dangerous confidence. She thinks about what she said, about also fighting Team Rocket. A girl like this probably could, she thinks.

"Did you ever—?" she starts to ask, and then shakes her head. "No, never mind. I guess there's no harm in leaving it a little longer. It's not causing anybody trouble, right?"

The girl's stance relaxes. "It never has, really," she says. "Mostly it just wants to be left alone."

Lyra nods at that. "So I guess it can wait," she says. Then she grins. "I've been meaning to do a little more traveling, anyway."

The girl grins at her. "You're never really done, are you?" she says. Her gaze has gone distant in a way that makes it clear the question is rhetorical. "Even though Johto and Kanto are so close to each other, they're pretty different regions. I think you'll like it here too, though."

"What's your name, anyway?"

"Oh?" The girl relaxes at that, scratching behind her ear. "I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? I'm Leaf."

"You're Leaf?" Lyra squeaks.

Leaf winces a bit, then laughs. "You're not the only famous trainer, you know," she says with a grin.

"Now I really want to battle you."

Leaf bursts out laughing. "I think we'd have a good match one day!" she says, pulling a phone out of her bag. "I'll give you my number. Call me sometime."

Lyra's typing the last digit into her pokégear when Leaf calls her name again. When she looks up, Leaf has called out an alakazam. Lyra's eyes widen, but Leaf just smiles. "I should get going," she says. "When you battle the Viridian City gym leader, tell him I said hi, all right? He's an old friend."

"You're leaving already?" Lyra says, dismayed. She has so many things she wants to ask that she doesn't know where to start.

Leaf shrugs, apologetic. "I've never been great at good-byes," she says. "I'll see you around, Lyra."

In a flash of light, Leaf's alakazam has teleported them both away.

For a moment, she stares at the spot where Leaf was standing. She could easily go to Cerulean Cave now, but she's found something more interesting.

She stares down at Leaf's entry in her contacts list, and then punches Call.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you so much for this. You took it in quite an interesting direction that I never would have expected from the prompt you used. I love your portrayal of Leaf and how it allows things to be left up to my own interpretation. I especially love how you made her seem experienced and confident without seeming abrasive. I'll definitely be checking out some of your other works.