Intro post - Winding up in Ultern

[red_berry]

[STARDUST BEACH]

It's a windy day in Ohritori Island. Not stormy, but the waves are high. And on Stardust Beach, a man is standing alone, watching the waves. He's tall and thin as a beanpole, wearing an oversized plain white T-shirt that makes him look even thinner, like the wind could make him fall over any moment now. But he stands there without falling, motionless. It's a bit of an eerie sight.

If you approach him, he looks at you, hair blowing in his face and covering most of it.

"...Not Alola," is how he greets you.

[POKEMON CENTER]

Later, you can find Red sitting at the cafe in the Pokemon Center, hair still a complete mess from the wind, typing on his phone and ignoring a cooling cup of tea front of him. There's a slightly grumpy Pikachu, also with wind-frazzled fur, sitting on his table and nibbling on a rainbow Pokebean.

But if you're not at the Pokemon Center, you might instead see a post on Pippi, the Ulternian version of Twitter.

[ONLINE]

Red Sr. (@)scarlet_ellipsis posted:
[Image of a Pikachu standing in heavy wind with his face scrunched up. The caption over it says "it fucken WIMDY"]
he hates this weather!! [several laughing emojis]

(ooc: This is Gold's player, bringing in a different character from the same AU! Come say hi to Red, either in person or online! He's a lot easier to talk to online though XD)

Comments

[gold_drum]

"Hmm, I dunno. I think this is cuter," Gold says, unable to resist teasing Trip a little. He doesn't even know what a Vanillite is. He hugs the plushie absentmindedly as he talks.

"Oh, I haven't mentioned Silver before?" Gold's actually surprised. He's so close to Trip by now that he could've sworn he'd talked about him, but... Maybe he really hadn't. Huh. "He's my best friend from back home! He's not here, but I'm hoping he'll show up. I was... on my way to save him when I ended up here so I'm pretty worried about how he's doing."

Gold spent his first few weeks in Ultern constantly worrying about Silver, and some of his worries return now that he's thinking about him... But seeing a present addressed to Silver kind of makes him feel better. Like it's an inevitability that Silver will arrive at some point to receive this gift.

1/2

[serperiority]

Gold hugging it doesn’t go unnoticed either. Trip won’t point out how it really did seem like something a much younger child would do… but he had to ask a question. Gold wasn’t remotely cutesy, the gesture felt genuine, so he could only think to ask, “Did you ever have something like that before? Back home?”

Either this was a nostalgic comfort, or… Gold never had plushies like this in the first place and this was his very first. He had a sentimental nature himself and could easily understand the first possibility, but he truly hoped it wasn’t the second… that would’ve been too sad.

“Not by name, I think,” Trip said, although it could very well be that Gold had mentioned him in passing… without a photograph, it might be harder for Trip to recall.

2/2; sorry for the delay!

[serperiority]

Best friend…

He felt something like loneliness hearing that, but it made sense, logically speaking, Gold had to have had other friends of his own.

Other people didn’t live such solitary lives.
He wondered briefly if Silver’s arrival would pull Gold away from him… but it’s alright. He can’t just cling to him, like a child, or avoid him or Silver, like Gold did the Professor and Elio...

He hadn’t seen Shamus in a long time… but he still had Ash at least.

“I hope you find him… and that he’s alright.”

[gold_drum]

"Huh? No, never," Gold says, a bit surprised by the question. Why would he have toys back home? Hm, but a lot of kids did have these things. Maybe that's normal.

"I guess I never mentioned his name then. Well, now you know!" Gold grins.

His smile softens when he notices Trip's expression. He doesn't realize why Trip feels upset, though. It has to be because he's worried about Silver too, of course! That's how Gold is feeling too, and he's kind of touched that Trip is sympathising with him.

"Thanks. I hope so too."

He hugs the plushie one more time before putting it back in the bag.

"I should put these in the back for now! Can't have it getting in the way here," he says with a more upbeat tone.

[serperiority]

So it was for the reason he hoped wasn’t true…
It hurt to hear and he couldn’t help a pained look, but he didn’t want to look pityingly at his friend. It’s insulting, he felt.
The life he had lived was largely sheltered and safe, privileged to the degree he hadn’t often considered how others might be living very differently from him.
Even if he might not be as close a friend in Gold’s eyes as Silver, he could sense the warmth behind his look and couldn’t doubt his affection.
Maybe reuniting with Silver might steal him away, maybe Trip was destined to be forgotten, but for now…

“Yeah.”

That was all he could say in response, but he thought of what he could do for Gold, both to allow him to enjoy what he hadn’t had the chance to growing up and, perhaps more selfishly, in the hopes of securing Gold’s love in the way he knew how to: material gifts.

[gold_drum]

If Gold knew how Trip was feeling, he might be feeling some complicated emotions right now. He might realize he was in the same position as Banyan was between himself and Elio, and he'd feel really shitty about it, because... He honestly couldn't say he'd choose Trip over Silver. He'd have to face some things about himself and how he thinks.

But Gold doesn't realize it, so he just brings the plastic bag into the back, storing it safey away while humming cheerfully.

"Alright, back to work!" he says, rolling his sleeves up.

He'll totally welcome any attempts to win him over through material gifts though.

[serperiority]

That's alright, Trip doesn't expect anyone to choose him, especially if the best he can give is something as superficial as all that. He's already lost his wealth too, so what did he have to set himself apart? Amateur photography and sub-par battling skills, despite being a prodigy? He wasn't exactly all that fun to be around, either, and a very lacking conversation partner.

Well, for now, he knew he had the advantage of actually being raised with such comforts.

Maybe Trip could be overcome his pride and need to bottle things up, like he believed an adult should, to actually talk about this someday, but for now... for now, he stews in his feelings and works.

Far be it from us to believe Gold would ever not take advantage of opportunities for free stuff!