he knows, as sam releases his own pokemon to consort with the water-types by the shore, that one other remains hidden on his person. knox isn't a fool and it's this unbearable clarity that rests on his shoulders and in his mind now that he thinks of such things. 

glancing up from the ball in his palm, he almost thinks about saying something. but he hasn't seen the ball of ice since that night. reality is still at arms-length for him; he's closed himself in a neat little protective box with sam's help. 

(it will be a shame when it breaks. because it always does. he swears it won't, but it bows and buckles and if he doesn't escape, it'll smother him first.)

"mirror," he says, pointing the the dewgong that bays gleefully at sam's keldeo, "because when she shines her scales, you can almost see your face reflected on her. she's playing with luster." his milotic. also aptly named. 

"juniper's after the cakes she loves, the ones i used to befriend her. duchess is, obviously, royalty." the dewott goes about finding a decent rock for herself and basking in the sunlight. 

knox's ears tinge pink as he looks down at the carracosta that sits beside him. it shuffles to the shore and dips its reptilian toes in, tottering briefly before submerging into the water. "and uh, that's haddock. named him after a ship captain from a comic i loved as a kid."

the bag of pokeballs thumps into the sand. knox lays out a towel and then tugs his shirt over his head. he sits, stretches his limbs, and then tosses a few more pokeballs out. he rattles through their names and then shoos them off to go play. 

emperor, his empoleon, stays by his side for a moment. it regards sam and then gives a terse bow. then it turns away, waddling off after caspian, his greninja, who also looks oddly at sam. knox's brows furrow, but then he says, "ah."

he side-eyes sam. "they remember you, i think, from when you showed up at moro's." 

he holds out the unopened dive ball to sam. "the memories are a bit hazy, but . . . i think summer and i may have fought a gyarados? when we stole that yacht?"

samuel carter

☉

no results found for: impressive. did you mean sheer dumb luck? he rolls the ball over in his hands. the night is spotty. he remembers summer telling him he wants to kill him, and then this thing bursting from the sea, and everything was lost in translation. 

if he hadn't had rai on him, he could very well not be standing here. but no, he hasn't dared open the ball since rai electrocuted the shit out of it in the water. he has a feeling the beast isn't all too happy that, while defending its territory, it manages to get captured by two drugged up, incompetent assholes.

"i don't think so." he could always release it. run away from the problem. but no, no, you have to face your fucking consequences. 

in a bit, at least. he closes his fingers over it again and then plops down on the towel with a sigh. 

"c'mere," he says and swings up an arm. "savor this moment. 'cause once i'm in the water, i'm not comin' out for a while. summer used to say i was part fish."

samuel carter

☉

"you tried to surf?" his eyes light up at the image of sam out on the beach trying to do that? and with who? whatever could have possibly compelled the boy to get out of his comfort zone like that must have been a good one. he snorts, but doesn't probe further. 

there's a rental place where they could have grabbed a couple boards or kayaks or whatever else they could have possibly wanted. he'd eyed one of the skimboards on the way in, but considering his being out of commission, he's not exactly liquid right now. and he feels bad asking sam to pay for everything. 

he still has the money in a sack under the bed, but it's hard to look at. hard to touch. it's a reminder of the real world, the one that exists just on the fringes of this beach.

"i've rigged up a tie to mirror and luster before. gone wakeboarding with 'em. mirror thinks it's funny to dump me every once in a while. and has abandoned me in the middle of the ocean before. for laughs."

samuel carter

☉

michi, his marill, still young despite her evolutionary stage, comes rolling through the sand to bump against knox's knees. he scoops her up into his lap and the nestles, rolling about to free her springy tail and get comfortable. knox tugs on one of her ears playfully and she spits water in his face. 

"guess i deserved that," he says as he wipes his face, slicking the water into his hair. "i've done just about everything there is to do on the water so just say the word. june doesn't mind if you surf on her." the feraligatr is currently body-surfing through the waves as they speak, tail swishing like a rudder as she careens into the shore. 

his scratches on michi's belly move to his knee, to his leg, without his realizing it. and when he does, he flexes his fingers, shoves his hand into the sand, and draws sam closer with the arm wrapped around him. hangs his head, nose touching nose, cheek gracing cheek, he says, "mm, you wanna go in? or should we get sand all over ourselves first?" 

samuel carter

☉

it goes over sam's head. which, in actuality, doesn't really surprise him. and he's less morose over rolling around in the sand with him when sam goes to kiss his lips and comments on the 'marill spit.' 

so he flashes a glittering smile instead and he takes sam's hand. they start with a walk, and then knox pulls him into a jog, and then finally a sprint. the water rushes to meet them. it's still warm from late summer, still untouched by the chill of the fall air, and so he releases sam's hand to dive headfirst into a wave. 

he slips under like a silver fish. the rest of his water-types crow as he enters the water. they flock to him. mirror slides under his waiting arms and then breaches the surface. he comes up laughing and then looks for sam, where sam's swampert holds him aloft.

samuel carter

☉

he looks at sam and he laughs. and then he breathes in deeply, eyes half-closing. mirror, recognizing that knox is attempting to bask in the salt spray and the gentle waves, opts to roll over. his face hits the water hard, but he clings to the dewgong as she barrel rolls through the water. and then when he comes up, several feet away from where he was, it's with a shaking head and more laughter. 

mirror bucks and knox clings, cuffs her on the back of her blubby head. and then she darts forward like a harpoon. knox draws his legs in, finds his balance, and then gets to one knee. and then to his feet. 

she shakes under him and he has to crouch low as she cuts through the wake. but the sea draws itself in, yawning as another wave readies itself. 

knox's stomach does a flip, but it's a welcome one. a nostalgic one. mirror banks, tail swishing as she sends them up the wave. she twists at the last moment, at the wave's peak, and launches knox into the air. 

he lets out a whoop and for a moment, he's reliving what it feels to fly. and he thinks i miss this. i never want this to end, and then he falls, comes down just as quickly as he'd gone up. 

juniper ends up scooping him and paddling him back over to sam. 

"did you see that?" he says, giddy like a little kid.

samuel carter

☉