Familiar

• Rating: Gen
• Fandom: Pokémon
• Status: Completed
• Relationships:

  • Green | Blue Oak/Red
• Characters:

  • Green | Blue Oak
  • Red
• Tags:

  • Fluff
  • Fireworks
  • Festivals
  • Mute Red
• Chapter(s): 1

Summary: “This is kinda nostalgic, huh,” Green mused aloud, glancing at the colorful lanterns strung up around them.

Red stared at him in silence, but the small smile adorning his face told Green that he knew what his partner had been thinking about.

_

Red and Green, and familiar sights in unfamiliar places.

Familiar

Posted: 01/03/2023

Status: Completed

Life in Alola was somewhat different than in Kanto. While the weather back home was temperate and humid, here it was warm all year long, and dry outside the rainy season. Likewise, the meals they enjoyed every day had taken some getting used to before they could fully appreciate them, yet their dinner table now was a lively mix of colorful spices and imported rice—an unusual yet delicious union between Alola and Kanto, just like their house and the clothes they wore.

Traditions, too, were different, although some were just similar enough to Kanto’s to make them feel right at home. As it turned out, summer festivals weren’t only a Kanto thing. Here, they were smaller, and there weren’t as many activities aside from an impressive communal feast, but the delicious food and high-energy conversations were just as valuable. They felt more cozy, and the end of the night would be punctuated by a colorful fireworks show.

Atop a hill, one small house was quiet, as it often was. Not because of a lack of occupants (as a matter of fact, there were currently four, fourteen if you counted the ones peacefully resting in their Poké Balls), nor because of any “relationship issues” as some gossip magazines liked to imply (they got along just fine, thank you very much, and sure, they sometimes bickered, but they were childhood friends turned partners. They’d known each other for way too long not to bicker). It was a comfortable quiet, enhanced by the calming sound of the waves in the distance. The bedroom was quiet too, save for the whisper of clothes shuffling around.

Green tied the sash of his yukata with care. It’d been a while since he’d worn one, preferring to wear casual clothes as long as it was socially acceptable. He and Red had planned to go in their usual attire, but the young champion of Alola and her brother had wanted to go to the feast wearing yukata, as a reminder of the country they’d left behind before coming to Alola. Two pairs of sparkling puppy eyes later, and they’d managed to guilt-trip Green (and, by extension, Red) into wearing theirs as well. Damn those scheming twins.

(And yet he loved them to bits, the little brats.)

Green looked at his reflection in the full-length mirror of their wardrobe. The Alolan Exeggutor motif (chosen by the twins, of course) was a bit dorky in his opinion, but still discreet enough that he wouldn’t be too embarrassed to be seen wearing it. At least it wasn’t small, cartoonish patterns of Pikachu faces like Red’s.

…Speaking of Red.

“You doing okay there, buddy?” Green asked, looking over his shoulder.

Red was struggling with his sash, which kept slipping down over his hips. It probably didn’t help that Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder, making his already awkward movements even more stilted.

(Of course, Red would never even think to force the little demon off his shoulder, and so his current knot-making handicap stayed.)

Red let out a defeated huff and turned to Green with a flat “you-do-it” stare, his knot already unfurling itself. Green grinned in amusement and took the sash, properly rewrapping it above Red’s hips. As he focused on tying the cloth so it wouldn’t cause any wardrobe malfunctions during the night, he could hear Red’s slow breathing, and feel his warmth through the thin fabric.

These quiet moments alone, away from the excitement of the Battle Tower and the friendly but sometimes overwhelming enthusiasm of the locals, were something both Red and Green treasured.

“There ya go, big guy.” Green finally broke the silence. “Don’t poke at it while we’re out. As much as I enjoy seeing your chiseled abs, I’d rather not have you arrested on account of public indecency.”

Red huffed with a smile and batted Green’s lingering hands away, and they went on their way to the festival, Pikachu and Eevee in tow, both wearing adorable little ribbons around their necks. Eevee, in all her tiny-but-mighty glory, had insisted on dressing up after seeing Red and Green wearing their yukatas. Pikachu, not wanting to be one-upped by her, had begged to wear one as well, and now, there they were.

(Meanwhile, Red, as expected, had kept the cap on. It might as well have fused with his head at this point, Green thought, amused.)

As they went to meet the twins and enjoy the festivities, Green couldn’t help but think back to their childhood, back in Kanto. As young children, Red and Green had been joined at the hip and went to every Pallet Town festival together, full of childish innocence and glee. This habit had been destroyed once they started their journeys, their relationship becoming strained thanks to their insecurities manifesting in Green lashing out and Red withdrawing. Then Mount Silver happened, and while they had made amends, it didn’t make going together to local festivals (or anywhere, really) any easier then.

(Not to mention that, like that damn death mountain, their relationship was also quite chilly at the time.)

Green smiled at Red, who was currently stuffing his face with festival food and not-so-discreetly sneaking some of it to the yellow demon occupying his lap. If anything, Green was glad they could do this again, even if in a different place. Alola was wonderful in its own right, and had become a second home for them; in a way, it was the perfect place to rekindle their companionship. A new start, in a new place, surrounded by new people. Everything was so different, and yet so familiar at the same time.

“This is kinda nostalgic, huh,” Green mused aloud, glancing at the colorful lanterns strung up around them.

Red stared at him in silence, but the small smile adorning his face told Green that he knew what his partner had been thinking about. After all, Green was renowned as the “Red-whisperer” who could guess the Pokémon Legend’s thoughts and feelings with just a glance, but that connection worked both ways.

As they finished eating, they heard a likely-inebriated Professor Kukui announce the incoming fireworks with a shout, and the answering cheer of the crowd as they picked comfortable places to observe from.

Green felt his hand being taken in a gentle, but firm grip. He raised an eyebrow at Red, but didn’t protest when he was led away from the boisterous party and down towards the beach.

Upon arriving, their geta sank into the white sand. Pikachu left his post on Red’s shoulder to roll around in the sand—somewhat ironic, considering he was an Electric type, and Eevee quickly joined him in fooling around. Green chuckled at their pokémon, though grimaced a bit when he realized he was going to have to remove all that sand from Eevee’s fluffy fur.

Then, light erupted in the sky.

He realized why Red had brought them here as he gaped at the sight. Purple. Green. Blue. Yellow. With each colorful flower that bloomed into the sky, a rippling mirror image was reflected in the calm sea below, the water shimmering with bright colors.

It was beautiful. It was mesmerizing.

There, with their hands perfectly slotted together like puzzle pieces and surrounded by the sound of the fireworks and waves, it felt like nothing could ever tear them apart. Like they were young children again, hypnotized by the myriad of colors in the sky—yet somehow not at all. Their history had been tumultuous, and they both had regrets of their own, yet it had brought them here. In a place so foreign, doing something so familiar and nostalgic.

And that, they didn’t regret one bit.