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When Flint’s alarm rang in the morning, he let the sound linger on for nearly a minute before finally slamming the phone.
Groaning into his pillow, Flint took his time getting out of bed, taking a few more minutes before finally sitting up. He heard Infernape in the living room already on his feet, springing around energetically as he pulled the curtains open, flooding the hotel room with sunlight.
Usually, Flint’s morning energy was on the same level as Infernape’s. But today marked one whole month since Flint had left Sinnoh to come to Pasio, and while Flint enjoyed every new experience, encounter, and friendship, each day was slowly growing… a bit monotonous.
Unable to resist looking any longer, Flint anxiously grabbed his phone from the bed stand to see if he had any new texts. There were texts, but not from the person he was hoping for.
As if on command, Infernape cartwheeled into Flint’s bedroom, bellowing at the top of his lungs, before Flint could start thinking about how it had now been three days since Volkner texted him.
“Ok, ok, I’m up,” Flint snapped, the slightest bit grumpy. It was time for their morning run, and the last thing Flint wanted to do now was rile up Infernape even more.
Minutes later in his running shorts, Flint peered at himself in the mirror, running a rushed hand through his curls, unsatisfied. He was generally the type of person to give his reflection a confident smile before leaving the house, but today, he made a face and turned away, running out of the room with Infernape.
Flint was having an off day, and he knew it just seconds into the run. He stared ahead as he jogged through the city streets, upset with himself. He never thought he’d be the kind of person upset over something as petty as texting, but considering he hadn’t seen Volkner since he’d left for Pasio, it was upsetting. Plus, they had confessed their feelings for each other the night before Flint left – great timing – so Flint had grown to really value each and every text and phone call while they were apart.
Maybe I’m too attached already, Flint thought, and felt his heart sink a little. Maybe he really is over it already.
Flint must have looked visibly upset enough for Blaine, just walking outside of the Pokemon Center, to call out to him, waving haphazardly. Flint heard his voice through his music and looked up, meeting the elder Fire trainer’s eyes. Not wanting to cause alarm, Flint flashed him a big grin and took his earphones out, slowing down. Infernape turned around, running over to join them on the sidewalk.
“Flint! What’s with that look on your face?” Blaine scolded, reaching out to squeeze Flint’s shoulder. He turned to see Infernape and grinned, extending a hand for a high-five, to which Infernape met ecstatically. “Infernape’s looking swell, I see!”
“What look?” Flint caught his breath, giving him a smile as he wiped sweat from his face with the back of his arm. “We’re feeling pretty fired up this morning!”
“You were frowning on your run!” Blaine said, wagging a finger in Flint’s face. “I don’t like seeing you upset, young man.”
Flint laughed, hoping it didn’t sound too fake. “Really, I’m great! Should’ve had more water before I left the hotel, I guess.”
“Speaking of the hotel, I’ve seen quite a number of new faces there. Trainers are coming from all over!” Blaine said, visibly excited. “I noticed a few of your Sinnoh colleagues coming by this week!”
“Ah, yeah,” Flint said, still forcing a smile, already knowing where the conversation was going.
“Where’s your companion?” Blaine asked, as if on cue. “The blonde one always moping at your side?”
Flint bit the inside of his cheek to keep from sighing. Ever since he got here, it was the same question worded differently.
“Where’s Volkner?”
“Kinda surprised why Volkner isn’t with you!”
“Aren’t you always with that blonde guy? You’re like the ketchup and mustard duo.”
“Where’s that guy you’re always hanging around? No offense. I have lots of gay friends.”
It hadn’t bothered him much in the beginning. In fact, he was visibly happy that the two of them were known as such a famous dynamic duo. But as the weeks went by, Flint couldn’t help but wonder if Volkner would ever visit him. Or if he was even missing him. On top of all of that, it was extra mortifying having to admit to people that he didn’t know what Volkner was doing the past three days.
“Oh, you know, just busy with things at Sunyshore,” Flint replied, the slightest bit dismissively. He wasn’t about to dump his personal dilemmas onto a man over three times his age. He popped one earbud back in and said, “Well, I should get goin’. Take it easy, Blaine!”
Before Blaine could even reply, Flint spun on his shoes, turned in the opposite direction and sped off, leaving Infernape to chase after him this time.
Flint stared at his reflection on his phone, looking at the clock as another minute ticked away. Annoyed with himself, he threw his phone forward, watching it fall into the tall grass.
Having set up a spot on the hill as far away from all the other trainers as possible, Flint was glad to have the alone time to openly mope, something he rarely did. Infernape looked at his trainer curiously as he pouted, running his hands nervously through his hair.
Flint noticed his Pokemon staring at him worriedly. He reached out, gently nudging Infernape’s arm. “Hey, I’m alright, lil’ man. Don’t worry about me.”
Infernape continued looking at his trainer, seemingly reading his emotions. Sighing, Flint looked in the other direction and relaxed his shoulders. He knew Infernape read right through bullshit. He made a small sound, prompting Flint.
There was a brief pause before Flint started venting. “Okay, I miss him. Alright? I miss him! Just like you do.”
Infernape nodded in agreement, sitting down beside Flint empathetically.
“To be honest, I don’t know why he didn’t respond to my last text, or the last meme I sent him. I really don’t think I did anything wrong,” Flint explained. “Everything was fine. I told him about that trainer who kind of reminded me of him – you know the one, the younger girl with the same kinda spark when she battles – and he was flattered. Or at least, I thought he was—”
“Who are you talking about?”
Flint immediately shut up, whipping his head around, only to scream at the sight of Barry and Candice standing behind him.
“Guys!” Flint shot up, backing away instinctively. He took a moment to exhale, blinking in surprise. “Shit, where did you guys even come from—”
“We were walking by when we saw a phone get thrown into the tall grass!” Barry replied, excited as ever. “Didn’t know it’d be yours!”
“Yeah, it’s nice to see ya!” Candice said, sitting beside Flint, fully unaware of his displeasure at being snuck up on. “You too, Infernape!”
Infernape scooted over as Barry joined them as well. Flint bit the inside of his cheek again, resisting the urge to set everything on fire. “Didn’t know it was a party!” Flint joked, half-serious.
“Yeah, great timing!” Barry said, criss-crossing his legs, Flint’s comment going completely over his head. “You guys having lunch?”
“We were just about to leave…” Flint trailed off as he witnessed Candice and Barry taking off their backpacks, pulling out sandwich bags and snacks. Barry cracked open a soda, dipping his head back as he loudly guzzled his fizzy drink.
“… Or not,” Flint muttered.
Candice took a happy bite into her sandwich before speaking. “It’s a great day to be training today. There’s so many cool Pokemon out.”
“Yeah! The competition here is turning out to be great.” Barry dug his hand into a loud bag of chips before offering Flint some. Flint shook his head as politely as he could.
“There’s so many different regions represented here,” Candice said, offering Infernape a piece of her sandwich. “To be honest, I’m still not sick of it here.”
“I like it here,” Flint agreed, and took a few seconds before speaking again, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, I do miss home a bit, but–”
“Speaking of home,” Barry interrupted, “Have you guys SEEN the hotel lately? Sinnoh’s taking over!”
Here it comes.
Flint stared ahead as Candice and Barry excitedly babbled on. In the midst of their conversation, Candice didn’t notice Infernape slyly grabbing the rest of her sandwich.
“I’m so happy Fantina is here!” Candice beamed. “We’re getting so much more Sinnoh representation!”
“Yeah! We have Cynthia, Thornton’s here, and Marley… Plus, Master Wake is really happy about all the Gym Leaders coming to visit!” Barry sprang up in excitement.
“It’s so awesome!” Candice jumped up, completely unaware of Flint and Infernape moving in the background. “Roark’s here, and Maylene, Gardenia, and now Fantina… wonder when Volkner’s finally gonna get here.”
“Yeah, I wonder, too.” Barry paused, about to turn around. “Hey Flint, do you know when Vo—”
Barry stopped mid-sentence, only for him and Candice to realize Flint and Infernape were gone.
As Flint sat on the beach, watching the waves lap forward into the sand, his eyes glazed over the horizon, watching the sun slowly slip away.
Flint leaned back against the palm tree he was resting against, listening to Infernape’s gentle snores. Wishing he could be as relaxed as his Pokemon was, he let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes, trying to focus on the sound of the water.
Today didn’t seem to be the luckiest day for Flint, as he heard sounds of scuffling in the distance, before beginning to recognize the sound of the steps.
Her voice beat him to the punch.
“Hello, Flint,” Cynthia said, being mindful of his space as she walked up to him. Flint raised his head, meeting her eyes. “May I sit next to you?”
Curious, Flint nodded, scooting over to leave space for her against the palm tree.
She looked over at him, smiling, squeezing his arm gently. “How are you doing? You look pensive.”
Flint knew lying to Cynthia would be futile. He faced her, letting himself take his guard down, unable to keep from frowning.
“I’ve been here for a month,” he said. He looked at the waves as he continued speaking. “I guess I just miss home.”
She studied his profile for a few silent moments before replying. “You do? I thought you liked it here.”
“I do—I really do. Don’t get me wrong,” he said, meeting her gaze again. “And I like that Sinnoh’s filling this place up. I like seeing my friends here.”
Flint looked down at the sand and took a moment to exhale. Leaning against the palm tree, his fingers pushing into the sand, he said, “I just still miss home.”
Cynthia was silent. She knew he had carefully chosen his words and she understood, nodding.
There was a beat of comfortable quietness, with only the sound of a wave crashing nearby. Moments later, an angry gaggle of Wingull cried in the distance before flying away.
Cynthia didn’t even have to speak again before Flint finally unraveled.
“You know what, Cyn? More people ask me where Volkner is instead of my own brother. My own brother! No one asks me what Buck is doing or where he is!”
“That’s because it’s Volkner,” Cynthia said, placing her hand on Flint’s shoulder, trying to comfort him. “You two are a duo. Everyone knows Flint and Volkner.”
“It’s still annoying,” Flint said, looking towards the water, frowning.
“I’m sure it is,” Cynthia said. “But ‘Flint of the Elite Four’ is usually a package deal.”
When Flint opened his mouth to protest, she raised her finger to stop him from interrupting. “And I’m sure he’s getting the same questions, too.”
Flint kept his mouth closed, looking at her curiously. “People back home are probably asking him where you are, too.”
Cynthia pulled her hand away, comforted as she saw the tiniest smile quirk across Flint’s lips. He scratched his mouth, trying to hide it, but Cynthia had already seen it. He looked away, pretending he was distracted by something in the horizon.
“It must be annoying,” she said, “but it must also be so wonderful, being so closely connected to someone.”
By this point, Flint’s face was starting to get red. How Cynthia always managed to figure out things, he would never know. “Okay, okay, Cyn,” Flint sat up, flustered, waving his hands. “I feel better. You happy?”
She smiled at him, squeezing his shoulder one last time before standing up, dusting the sand off her pants. “It’s going to get dark soon, you know. Hope you won’t stay out here for too long.”
Flint stood up with a bit more energy than he had exhibited all day, kicking sand off as Infernape slowly woke up behind him. “Thanks. I mean it,” he called out to her, as she waved and began walking away. Flint returned Infernape back into his PokeBall and slid his sandals back on, starting for home.
As the sunset dipped into night by the time Flint approached the town limits, he couldn’t help but admire the colors of the sky, a stellar blend of orange and light blue, with a small smattering of stars. He pulled out his phone, hoping to take a photo of the sky.
It was apparently the worst time to do so, considering most of the visiting trainers were all leaving the Training Area to come back to town for the evening. They were flooding in from nearly every direction. With each attempt at a shot, Flint grew more and more annoyed, and he stopped walking just to let them all pass.
Cursing under his breath, hyper-fixated on his newfound photography calling, he didn’t notice the sound of approaching footsteps. Suddenly, he felt a deep poke in his back.
“Ow!” Flint immediately straightened up, before turning on his heel to angrily face the direction of the poke.
Right in front of him, and closely so, was a pair of subtly amused, familiar blue eyes.
“What are you so pissed off for?”
Volkner couldn’t help but laugh at Flint as he stood there, frozen, his expressive round eyes wider than ever.
Flint stared at him, the look of shock on his face fading away to express a mix of annoyance, amusement, flirtatiousness, but most of all, childish, genuine excitement.
“What are you doing here?” Flint asked as an inevitable grin spread across his face.
Volkner narrowed his eyes at him, teasing. “To battle. Isn’t that why everyone’s here?”
“You…” Flint was overwhelmed with excitement, unable to finish his thought. Sunyshore City’s stubborn, nerdy, dry, and occasionally sassy gym leader was right in front of him, and he didn’t know what to do first.
Volkner looked over at him, noticing how overwhelmed he was, and started to smile, his eyes warm. It was one of his rare, genuine smiles, and they were Flint’s favorite.
Their moment was broken seconds later by an excited yell getting closer and closer. Flint, recognizing the voice, moved quickly to block Volkner from Barry’s impending arrival. Volkner stood several feet away from Flint and Barry, who had nearly collapsed into a pile.
“Volkner!” Barry yelled, completely unaware of Flint hopping on his foot in pain. “When did you get here?! Flint, Volkner’s here!”
“I see that,” Flint spoke through gritted teeth, his voice low and restrained.
Volkner took a successful moment to stop a laugh from erupting. In a steady voice, he replied, “Hey, Barry. I just got here.”
“Hey Volkner! Glad to see ya here!” Barry exclaimed, jumping in excitement. “You came right on time, too! Flint was so sad earlier when he was all alone, talking about how he missed you, and how you didn’t reply to his last meme—”
In a fell swoop, Flint leaned forward to roughly yank Barry’s collar, threatening him as quietly as he could. “Get out of here, kid. Scram. If you know what’s good for you.”
Barry couldn’t help but grin ear-to-ear, running as soon as Flint released his collar and pushed him away, speeding past Volkner who was covering his mouth, his face bright from holding in laughter.
Flint, red to the ears up, narrowed his eyes and silently looked forward as he and Volkner began walking quietly, side-by-side.
Volkner looked up at Flint’s profile, studying it. “Missed me?” Volkner quipped, his voice coy.
Flint stopped in his tracks, suddenly emotional as he glared in Volkner’s face. “You know what? Fine – I did miss you! I thought I said something wrong!”
At that, Volkner’s eyes widened. He paused, finding the words before he quietly said, “Flint... I’m sorry. I wanted to surprise you. I knew I wouldn’t have been able to keep it from you. Cynthia thought surprising you would be fun, too.”
Flint’s brows knit in confusion, perplexed. He dug his hands in his pants pockets and frowned at the ground. “Wait. Cynthia?”
It began making sense, the more Flint thought about it. Still, Volkner answered him. “She’s the one who helped get this set up for me. Sunyshore will still be functioning while I’m gone.”
Flint’s thoughts gathered as he absorbed the information, comparing it with Cynthia’s conversation earlier. Looking back, it actually explained a lot.
Slowly, he looked up at Volkner, who was already looking at him. When their eyes met, he couldn’t help but turn red.
Without saying a word, Flint leaned towards Volkner and grabbed his heavy backpack, throwing it around his own back instead. Then, he continued walking.
Volkner stared after Flint, watching him move forward before taking his time to catch up to him.
Most of the trainers had already gone ahead, and Flint stared forward as they made their way closer to the hotel. Volkner briefly looked over his shoulder, and, without hesitation, looped his arm through Flint’s free one, nestling his head comfortably against his shoulder.
Flint continued walking, straight-faced and ignoring his rapid heartbeat.
Volkner let go as Flint led the way into the hotel. He stood in the lobby alone, watching Flint as he spoke with the front desk on his behalf, still holding onto his backpack as it dangled behind his shoulder.
When they made it to Volkner’s room, Flint slumped down on the edge of the bed, dropping the bag behind him. He reached around to massage his shoulder, the slightest bit sore. “That strap hurts,” he remarked, and then laid back on the bed. He let out an exaggerated sigh while Volkner sat down next to him.
Slowly, Flint sat up, and the two sat in comfortable silence until he spoke.
“So,” Flint started quietly, “Do you still like me?”
Volkner immediately made a face, looking both offended and thoroughly puzzled. Flint took offense at that, his eyes widening apologetically.
Without saying anything at all, Volkner gripped Flint’s face in his hands and closed the distance between them, eagerly capturing his lips into a deep kiss.
Flint, shocked into stillness, slowly dropped his shoulders, and eventually warmed up, closing his eyes. As the minute passed, his head began spinning, and his face heated up. He was embarrassed at how much he had missed the feeling. Overwhelmed, he pulled away to press his forehead against Volkner’s, admiring his eyelashes.
Volkner slowly opened his eyes to meet Flint’s.
“Okay, so you do still like me,” Flint said.
“You could say that,” Volkner retorted, leaning in to kiss him some more.
After one more peck, Flint pressed his hand against Volkner’s chest and said, “Wait, I really have to tell you something crazy. It’s been on my mind since it happened, and I haven’t told anyone yet.”
Volkner frowned, annoyed to be interrupted from the kiss. “What?”
“Red talked to me yesterday,” Flint said, his eyes wide.
Volkner narrowed his eyes at him in disbelief.
“Champion Red? That guy? That quiet guy? He literally spoke to me,” Flint continued as Volkner resumed staring. “Red told me, ‘Words are unnecessary.’ Red! Can you believe it?”
At that point, Volkner pulled away, visibly annoyed. Wiping his lips with the back of his hand and beginning to get up, he snapped, “Okay, now you’re just making shit up.”
“Volkner, I’m not lying! Red talked to me! He talked!”