serperiority | [S1 Trip and younger Gold, closed to gold

The warm colours of autumnal leaves and the crisp, cool air of the changing season was similar, but not the same as it was in Unova, but even if it was, without him here, it simply wasn’t going be the same. The festival, too, for all the nostalgia it invoked in him, if it wasn’t going to lead him any closer to Alder or defeating him, it wasn’t something he should concern himself with now. He needed to train.
Things like eating sweets or enjoying the sights and sounds of a festival was for children and had no place on an adult’s world, Trip decided, and walked on.

… even with these thoughts, he still paused, briefly, here and there, to take photographs. The beauty of this season was ephemeral and while he no longer had any place here, he couldn’t ignore it or the way it made him feel, even as pursuing his goal overtook anything else…

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From:

serperiority

That’s good, it kept it from being too uncomfortable for Trip, so he didn’t mind Gold continuing to hold on. He wasn’t letting go entirely either, although his grip was a bit looser and he soon removed a hand to take out a pokeball.

“I could battle it and capture it for you.”

He assumed it would be necessary, but it might just choose to come along without a battle!

From:

gold_drum

"Okay. Um, I dunno how to do it myself," Gold says, still clinging to Trip. He feels like he needs to make some sort of an excuse to not do it on his own.

Gold isn't the type of kid who'd go out and befriend a Pokemon on his own, and it seems this Paraspor is a bit too skittish to approach too, now that there's another human involved. But it does come out from behind the rock, seeing that the small human seems to have found safety with a bigger human. How nice to see a parent-and-child show of affection, it thinks.

Seems like a battle might be necessary, since the Paraspor is too shy to invite itself along!

From:

serperiority

“Lampent and Tranquill both have the advantage here, so… come on out, Tranquill!”

Trip tossed the pokeball and, in a shower of sparkling light, Tranquill emerged, stretching its wings and crying out.

“Aerial Ace!”

Tranquill will dive down to strike, then quickly turn to fly back up, striking in the opposite direction, along the same path.

From:

gold_drum

Gold's never seen a Pokemon battle this close up, so he cranes his head to watch.

Paraspor is struck! It hits the ground and skids a little, letting out a pained noise, then releases a cloud of Stun Spore at Tranquill in retaliation.

From:

serperiority

"Tranquill, clear it away with Air Cutter and get out of there!"

With two powerful beats of its wings, the resulting sharpened winds scissoring through the spores and scattering them, Tranquill flew away.

Trip covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and pulled Gold's head closer, to block his mouth and nose with cloth, trying to make sure he doesn't inhale it either. He won't block his view.

"Don't breathe it in, it'll paralyze you."

From:

gold_drum

Gold nods, trying to hold his breath. On the bright side, an excuse for more hugging! This isn't so bad.

Paraspor can't reach Tranquill for a Scratch, so it just kind of ends up flailing about, releasing more Stun Spore. Somebody should probably put a stop to that before the cave ends up full of spores.

From:

serperiority

Cherish it, Gold, it's not likely to repeat, Trip just isn't a hugger.

This was getting bad, they should wrap this up quickly.

"Tranquill! Work Up and finish it with Air Cutter, aim for Paraspor itself this time! And don't get close!"

From:

gold_drum

Paraspor is Air Cuttered! And falls on its back, a bit stunned and unable to right itself.

Gold, meanwhile, is still holding his breath as instructed, even as it's starting to be a painful struggle. Trip's talking, so maybe it's okay to breathe, but he doesn't want to risk it. Being paralyzed sounds scary.

From:

serperiority

He didn't expect Gold to take it so literally! He won't notice until Gold starts to writhe or make sounds... he was too focused on the battle.

"Right! Return."

Trip tossed a pokeball to capture Paraspor and recalled Tranquill to its pokeball.

He coughed a little into his sleeve, but otherwise... it didn't look like they could clear this all away, so it was best to escape!

From:

gold_drum

Gold can't take it anymore, but he has an idea. He tugs at Trip's clothes, covering his face with cloth, and takes a gasping breath of air through it, figuring it'd probably filter enough. He coughs, then shuts his mouth, holding his breath again.

The Pokeball jiggles once, twice, thrice... and poof! Congratulations! Trip has caught a Paraspor! (Male, level 6, knows Scratch, Poisonpowder and Stun Spore.) Would you like to nickname it?

From:

serperiority

That. Is uncomfortable and bizarre, but he hadn’t expected Gold to take his advice not to breathe it in as to not breathe period.

He was impressed by the resourcefulness, though. It would make a fairly decent filter, especially for something as large as spores. Gold’s clever. Trip appreciates clever. He’s intelligent, well-read, and rational to a fault, which isn’t quite the same as being clever and resourceful!

“It’s caught, let’s get out of here.”

Trip quickly seized the pokeball and ran, half-carrying Gold (… if he’s as light as he looked, Trip could possibly carry him properly for the paces until they cleared the area).

Gold can name Paraspor later if he wanted to, most important thing now was to get out of here!

From:

gold_drum

"Bwah!" Gold is indeed light enough to be carried, but he's pretty surprised to suddenly get picked up and carried off. So, if they're running away from the spores, it's safe to breathe, right? Well, he'll catch his breath then, while holding onto Trip and letting himself be carried. He glances at the Pokeball in Trip's other hand. So that's his Pokemon now? Huh.

Once he's let down a safe distance away, he'll reluctantly let go of Trip and hold out his hands for the Pokeball.

From:

serperiority

Trip stopped to catch his breath then, too, but handed over the pokeball when Gold reached for it.
“It’s yours to take care of. Officially, I caught it, but it’s yours. It should keep you safe and someday, you can go on your own journey together.”

He paused, then smiled at Gold.
“You can call Paraspor out. This its hone, so it should know the place well. You can get to know each other, it’ll make it easier to command…”

Edited Date: 2022-12-06 08:04 pm (UTC)

From:

gold_drum

Gold accepts the Pokeball, then stares at it, blinking in surprise. This is a weird Pokeball, he thinks, turning it around in his hands. Isn't he supposed to be able to see the Pokemon inside? Trip's words take his mind off of that, though, and he looks awed.

"I can really go on a journey with it?" he asks. And it'll keep him safe... That sounds great. If he had this back in Johto, he could've left home and survived on his own. And now he can still do that, in case Trip abandons him.

That thought gives Gold a bit of a pause. Trip came back for him already, so maybe he won't abandon him at all? ...No, life can't be that convenient and easy. He'll definitely abandon Gold some day, once he's gotten tired of him. But Gold will keep Paraspor. No matter what happens.

Then Trip smiles, and Gold wonders if maybe life can be that convenient and easy. Maybe Trip is too nice to abandon Gold even if he's annoying. And maybe Gold will find a million in cash lying around. Yeah, right.

"Okay," he says, and tries to copy what he's seen Trip do. "Um, Paraspor, come out!"

And Paraspor appears, looks around in surprise, then at Gold. Well, this kid's looking better than before, he thinks, and waves a claw. Gold waves back, and crouches to look at him closer.

"What's your name?" he asks. Paraspor chitters, and Gold nods. "Uh-huh," he says, not understanding a word. "I'll call you Mycen!" The newly named Mycen the Paraspor raises his claws up with a loud, surprised-sounding chittering sound, but doesn't seem threatening. More like an exaggerated expression of surprise, and it makes Gold giggle a bit. "You're gonna be with me from now on, Mycen!"

From:

serperiority

“Sure,” Trip said simply and leaned back, still gathering his strength.

Might be time to get going soon, but for now… he watched Gold and Paraspor.

He liked to name Pokemon, Trip noted. But it wasn’t a simple, childish name…

“That’s unusual. What does it mean?”

From:

gold_drum

"Huh? I dunno," Gold says, surprised that Trip would even ask. "It's just his name. Right?" Gold reaches his hand to Mycen, who nods and sets his claw on it gently. They shake hands on it.

Gold doesn't consciously realize it, but he's got an innate sense of what Pokemon want to be called. To him, it was just the first word that came to mind when he looked at the Paraspor.

From:

serperiority

“It doesn’t sound like an ordinary name….”

Maybe it was just a coincidence? But it was going to bother Trip, so he had to look it up when he got to the city. Something about it reminded him vaguely of something…

He gave Gold and Mycen a few more minutes to become better accustomed to each other, before rising to his feet.
“Alright, you two, we keep moving. Shouldn’t be too long. We want to travel by daylight, after all.”

From:

gold_drum

"It's a Pokemon name," Gold says with a shrug, taking Mycen in his hands by the mushroom and standing up.

He then proceeds to have a one-sided conversation with Mycen, where Gold asks questions, Mycen responds in Pokemon language, and Gold nods, uncomprehending, then asks another question. This goes on until Trip tells them the keep moving.

"Oh! Okay, let's go," Gold says, and moves to follow Trip. He pauses, hesitant, before saying, timidly: "Umm, sorry I lost you before... I'll try not to do that again." So don't leave me behind, he doesn't say out loud.

From:

serperiority

“Why are you apologizing?” he asked in too sharp a tone, then, added more gently: “I should have been paying more attention. It’s all my fault, you didn’t do anything wrong… I’m not used to travelling with anyone else. I’ll try not to lose you again. If you can’t see me, call out. I’ll find you.”

He thought for a while, then, took out his camera.

“Gold. Can I take your picture? I need to remember this.”

From:

gold_drum

Gold flinches at the sudden sharp tone, hugging Mycen (who also got startled) closer to himself, but relaxes when Trip's voice softens.

"...It is my fault though," Gold mutters. "I shoulda been following you, but I fell asleep." Gold wonders why he's telling Trip this, when Trip seems so ready to let him off the hook. He just doesn't like Trip blaming himself.

"A picture?" Gold asks, surprised. "Why? I mean, sure, yeah." He's still clearly confused, even as he agrees.

From:

serperiority

Trip felt a pang of guilt at making them afraid, thinking again that he couldn’t actually protect anyone. He wasn’t the right person to take care of Gold. Gold needed a good family…

Trip quietly took a few pictures, zooming in for a closeup, then stated simply as he turned away.

“So I don’t forget how I failed to keep to keep you by my side… and so I don’t forget how I feel right now.”

After a moment’s hesitation, he wordlessly extended a hand for Gold to take.

((Fun fact: Trip taking a picture after a defeat so he won’t forget the frustration he felt then was the scene that made me pick Trip up as a character and stop ignoring him as just Paul 2.0))

From:

gold_drum

Gold doesn't really know how to pose for pictures, so he just kind of blankly stares at the camera. Mycen raises his claws for a bit of a pose, though, but whether he knows what a camera actually is is debatable.

"Oh..." Gold scrunches his face up a bit at that, not sure what to say. Something about that bugs him.

He takes Trip's hand, making sure to keep a good hold on Mycen. After they've walked a bit, Gold speaks up again.

"...Do you take pictures when you're happy too?"

((one of these days I'm going to end up watching the BW anime, or at least the episodes with Trip in them))

From:

serperiority

Trip went quiet a moment, wondering how he made such an impression. The camera isn’t solely to punish himself with, he used it ti record his journey; it helped him remember good times and bad.

“… yes, of course.”

Should he show them one? Right from the start of the gallery—

“Here, this is my Serperior when it was a Snivy, on the day I began my journey.”

((Not too difficult a task, Best Wishes! is fun and varied and has great seiyuu (Iris has the voice of Madoka and Victorique, etc., Dent/Cilan has Yagami Light from Death Note and Tamaki from Ouran High School Host Club’s VA… personality-wise, he’s dramatic, flowery, dorky, PG-rated host club Tamaki cranked up to eleven!) in the original.

~~It just has a weak league, but there’s a lot of fun tournament arcs throughout where you meet all the colourful rival characters again and again before it.~~

But if you want to see just Trip’s episodes, he’s only in like 17 episodes and an opening and ending animation. o/ He also recently made a silent cameo that shows him doing better (actually watching others’ battles, standing alongside the other rivals and his childhood hero, it’s really nice!).

He is… a very minor character, even if he’s framed as the main rival for that series, ffff.))

From:

gold_drum

"Huh..." Gold looks at the photo Trip shows him, and any others Trip might show him. It's interesting to see them, and all the different places Trip's taken photos of, but... Something bitter keeps crawling in Gold's thoughts.

Did Trip ever take photos of Gold in happy moments? Or was that photo just now the first one Trip had taken of him? Gold couldn't remember. He doesn't recall Trip asking to take a picture before, so maybe it was the first time something happened with Gold that Trip wanted to remember.

...In the future, would Gold only be a bad memory to Trip? ...Maybe that's all he is to everyone.

He doesn't want to say any of that out loud, though. If Trip only wants to remember bad things about Gold, it's better if Gold doesn't know that for sure. So he won't ask.

((tbh what's mostly keeping me from watching it is Team Rocket, I don't really want to see their boring and serious phase XD

17 episodes sounds watchable! I don't really have the time or patience to keep watching long shows these days, unless they really grab me, so I think I'll just watch the Trip episodes and any others that seem interesting enough!))

From:

serperiority

Trip wouldn’t want him to just be a bad memory, but perhaps he had other reasons for not taking his picture earlier. Like the fact that he looked worse for wear or that he was a thief and Trip assumed he wouldn’t want his picture taken.
Now… it might simply be that Trip was hoping Gold won’t be too permanent a presence in his life, as he couldn’t see himself as a good enough travelling companion or caretaker…

He mostly took pictures of places he’d been, Pokemon battles, and trainers he’d met. He seemed to take more pictures of Pokemon and scenery than people in general… he did seem to favour candid pictures, not posed ones, the only photographs where the subjects seemed aware, aside from some of his pictures of his own Pokemon, seemed to be pictures of a spiky-haired boy with a cap and a Pikachu on his shoulder, eagerly waving at the camera. Those pictures didn’t seem to fit Trip’s style and he would pass over them quickly to get to the ones he did want to share.

Interestingly, among the most recent pictures, there were pictures of the Glitterrace Town Pokemon Center, including the room they shared. That might be a start. But still, no other pictures of Gold, unless he had gone over them entirely.

“… Mycen’s not a Pokemon I’ve ever seen before. So, I’d like to take its picture too, if you wouldn’t mind,” Trip said. “Maybe once we’re outside, the lighting will be better.”

They should be nearing the exit!