"This isn't so bad..." Sebastiano said without conviction, having secluded himself in a faraway cave where all that could be seen were the faint outlines of stalactites and all that could be heard was the distant chirping of Zubat. "I can sing here in peace, and no one will tell me I'm bad..."
His tears had tried, and his bawling expression had recovered enough to allow a soft smile back onto his face. He parted his lips anew and continued the song that the judge had stopped.
"POKÉMON! GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL!"
The darkness that consumed him rumbled like an upset stomach. Stones crumbled off the walls and skipped to the cavern floor, but Seb was too lost in his own world to notice. He closed his eyes and eliminated visual distractions, letting the sound of his voice guide him as he danced through the tunnel.
"IT'S YOU AND ME!"
The colony of Zubat he passed dropped dead. The Geodude slammed their stone fists against their heads in irritation. Stalactites snapped off the ceiling, and the murky chamber shook once more, its roof dangerously close to collapsing.
"I KNOW IT'S MY-"
"Seb, stop! It's me, Gabe! I'm here for you!" his Gardevoir called.
"-destiny..."
Before the Psychic-type could place his hands on his trainer's shoulders, the stone canopy overhead caved and buried the both of them. Gabriel tackled the human and bore the rock slide's full force, safeguarding the boy yet effectively crippling himself. When they next opened their eyes, they found themselves staring up at a grave of boulders that denied the thinnest beam of light.
"Y-you idiot, why would you... why would you put yourself in danger like this?!" the Gardevoir scolded through the pain.
"Gabe... it's okay. You didn't need to save me. I couldn't fulfill my dreams, so I have nothing left to live for," Seb lamented. "I'm sorry you had to get hurt..."
"Dumbass..." the Pokémon croaked. "Wherever you go, I follow. So if you're dying, I'm dying with you."
Sebastiano didn't feel like arguing, answering Gabe with a simple smirk that he returned. However they'd bickered in the past, the two were glad to know that their journeys would end on a note of understanding. As the suffocating tomb joined their hands and hastened their last breaths, they, in death, connected more than they ever had before. Gabe was so convinced this was their fate that when his eyes settled on a faint glow tucked behind a fallen boulder, he interpreted it as a guiding light into the afterlife. He reached for it weakly and closed his fingers around it, pulling the orb toward him and examining it more carefully.
"What's this... some kind of jewel?"
The boy and his Gardevoir had drawn a blank, but something in that inky blackness did react—the Key Stone on the former's wrist. A second glow stirred the darkness like a throbbing bullet wound, radiating with the force of the pair's bond.
"Hey... do you feel a surge of power right now? I know it's a weird question, since we could hardly move a second ago..." Seb asked.
"No... you're right. I do feel something…" the Pokémon confirmed. "It makes me... want to live. To get out of here. To keep going..."
Gabe followed the trail of thoughts in his empty mind like an undulating thread of light that led to some conclusion. Energy was building from within the burial, dislodging outer stones and poking white rays through.
"To stay by your side... and protect you always."
When he finally seized this truth that lay at the string's end, the stone heap burst open and freed the two. The Gardevoir looked different, far more feminine and swollen below the waist. He didn't stop and bristle at his appearance, for his skin already crawled with newfound vitality. He was the same Gabriel nonetheless, and when he picked Sebastiano off the dirt, he clasped the boy's shoulders as tightly as he'd meant to before.
"Listen, Seb. I'll stay by your side and follow you wherever I go, like I said earlier. But I won't let us die," he promised. "You can't give up either. You may not have realized your dreams today, but like this abandoned cave whose hidden gems people overlooked, I know there's a beautiful voice somewhere deep inside you."
The trainer had been too discouraged to stand, so he was stunned at Gabe's sudden domination and intense eyes. Seeing in them the strength of their friendship, Seb rippled with emotion right then, which bubbled to the surface of his face, reddened his cheeks, and made him lust.
"Is it... as beautiful as your new dress?~" he cooed to his Mega-Evolved partner.
"Shut it."
His tears had tried, and his bawling expression had recovered enough to allow a soft smile back onto his face. He parted his lips anew and continued the song that the judge had stopped.
"POKÉMON! GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL!"
The darkness that consumed him rumbled like an upset stomach. Stones crumbled off the walls and skipped to the cavern floor, but Seb was too lost in his own world to notice. He closed his eyes and eliminated visual distractions, letting the sound of his voice guide him as he danced through the tunnel.
"IT'S YOU AND ME!"
The colony of Zubat he passed dropped dead. The Geodude slammed their stone fists against their heads in irritation. Stalactites snapped off the ceiling, and the murky chamber shook once more, its roof dangerously close to collapsing.
"I KNOW IT'S MY-"
"Seb, stop! It's me, Gabe! I'm here for you!" his Gardevoir called.
"-destiny..."
Before the Psychic-type could place his hands on his trainer's shoulders, the stone canopy overhead caved and buried the both of them. Gabriel tackled the human and bore the rock slide's full force, safeguarding the boy yet effectively crippling himself. When they next opened their eyes, they found themselves staring up at a grave of boulders that denied the thinnest beam of light.
"Y-you idiot, why would you... why would you put yourself in danger like this?!" the Gardevoir scolded through the pain.
"Gabe... it's okay. You didn't need to save me. I couldn't fulfill my dreams, so I have nothing left to live for," Seb lamented. "I'm sorry you had to get hurt..."
"Dumbass..." the Pokémon croaked. "Wherever you go, I follow. So if you're dying, I'm dying with you."
Sebastiano didn't feel like arguing, answering Gabe with a simple smirk that he returned. However they'd bickered in the past, the two were glad to know that their journeys would end on a note of understanding. As the suffocating tomb joined their hands and hastened their last breaths, they, in death, connected more than they ever had before. Gabe was so convinced this was their fate that when his eyes settled on a faint glow tucked behind a fallen boulder, he interpreted it as a guiding light into the afterlife. He reached for it weakly and closed his fingers around it, pulling the orb toward him and examining it more carefully.
"What's this... some kind of jewel?"
The boy and his Gardevoir had drawn a blank, but something in that inky blackness did react—the Key Stone on the former's wrist. A second glow stirred the darkness like a throbbing bullet wound, radiating with the force of the pair's bond.
"Hey... do you feel a surge of power right now? I know it's a weird question, since we could hardly move a second ago..." Seb asked.
"No... you're right. I do feel something…" the Pokémon confirmed. "It makes me... want to live. To get out of here. To keep going..."
Gabe followed the trail of thoughts in his empty mind like an undulating thread of light that led to some conclusion. Energy was building from within the burial, dislodging outer stones and poking white rays through.
"To stay by your side... and protect you always."
When he finally seized this truth that lay at the string's end, the stone heap burst open and freed the two. The Gardevoir looked different, far more feminine and swollen below the waist. He didn't stop and bristle at his appearance, for his skin already crawled with newfound vitality. He was the same Gabriel nonetheless, and when he picked Sebastiano off the dirt, he clasped the boy's shoulders as tightly as he'd meant to before.
"Listen, Seb. I'll stay by your side and follow you wherever I go, like I said earlier. But I won't let us die," he promised. "You can't give up either. You may not have realized your dreams today, but like this abandoned cave whose hidden gems people overlooked, I know there's a beautiful voice somewhere deep inside you."
The trainer had been too discouraged to stand, so he was stunned at Gabe's sudden domination and intense eyes. Seeing in them the strength of their friendship, Seb rippled with emotion right then, which bubbled to the surface of his face, reddened his cheeks, and made him lust.
"Is it... as beautiful as your new dress?~" he cooed to his Mega-Evolved partner.
"Shut it."
