“Oh, Mr. Lopez.” Navy says in a playful voice when he picks up after a single ring. “Slateport’s finest detective can’t find a needle in a beachhouse stack? I’ll be right there. Damn, you missed Baki, too.” He’s wanted to introduce Kyle to Tsubaki for some time. Only seems right a guy he goes way back with should meet the new kid he’s taken into his home. Kyle’s a good influence, maybe he’d get her to chill out.[break][break]
It takes time for Navy to get there. Precious minutes. Minutes where the vilest beast on all the earth catch a whiff of Kyle’s scent. They emerge seemingly out of nowhere. The first example, a girl with her long hair dyed four shades, down to her knee, with an eevee backpack and thick rimmed glasses she obviously didn’t need. Next is a lanky college age kid in some trendy video game t-shirt. Following them, a man who has no business growing a beard.[break][break]
Hoenn’s erstwhile Champion is introduced to a species introduced by the changing times into this town’s ecosystem: hipsters. Hipsters in droves. College kids enjoying their summer, their new trends contrasting with the sleepy old ways of the town. Realizing who Kyle is, they’re bombarding him with questions and statements.[break][break]
“Woah. You’re like, the Top Champion.”[break]
“Is it true the Sheriff and you are an item?!”[break]
“Hey dudester, hahaha, I’m sure you get asked this a lot but I gotta add my name to the pile. Why Poochyena?”[break][break]
The Catcher in the Rye himself rolls up beside the Pokemon Center, his truck lifted and plastered with a star. ‘DEWFORD COUNTY SHERIFF’ is written in big bold letters. Navy rolls down his window, seeing his oldest friend surrounded by a ravenous mob of carnivores.[break][break]
“Come with me if you want to live.”

[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“What can I say, Lopez? I’m a fan of the classics.” The hipster swarm is left behind in a puff of smoke as he revs the truck, taking off down the highway. Voyager, Navy’s Arcanine, barks at them by way of goodbye to the hipsters.[break][break]
“It’s a good movie. Been thinking about buying the local theater and refurbishing. Someone’s gotta show these kids and the rest of Hoenn good cinema.’ They speed down the road past contrasting old and new. Gas stations still list prices with old-fashioned signs that were old when these two were young. There’s a café right next to it themed after a video game that came out half a decade ago.[break][break]
“League treats their gym leaders right, I’ll say that. They set Baki n’ me up on a beach house right in front of some killer waves.” Navy pulls up to the little place, right down the road from the town and all its noise pollution. It’s more space than he ever thought he’d have. It’s like he’s woke up in a new life, down by the seaside.[break][break]
“…they rent Mantine around here, just for your information.” He says with a glint in his eyes.

[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Oh, here’s the punch-line. A nice little bit of info I got told by the council.” Navy smiles like a shark that’s scented blood. Whatever knowledge they gave him won’t be lost on a man who smiles like that.[break][break]
“I could opt to get paid by the match rather than salary. Mwah ha ha ha.” Kyle hit the nail on the head, last time they hung out. This creature is a workaholic, and the League deigned to give him an outlet for his incessant need to do rather than talk.[break][break]
Voyager is a mirror of his trainer’s excitement. As Kyle pets him, the big dog, still convinced he’s a puppy, almost tackles him over. He was Gabe’s before he was Navy’s, and his former owner’s affection remains. He’s like this with everyone, but the scent of a dozen other dogs lingering beneath human scents marks Kyle as a friend friend friend. A high honor in a dumb dog’s world.[break][break]
“Who needs training? How hard can it be?” Navy rolls his shoulders as he jumps out of the vehicle.

[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

By the time they’re down at the beach, there’s a crowd waiting on them. When a microcelebrity and the Champion are out and about, people start talking. Words are passed around. Soon enough, there’s a whole party going on the stretch of beach where the Mantine are waiting on them.[break][break]
“Areceus, these kids are better at gathering intel than I am.” Navy grumbles, running a hand across his forehead in exasperation. He’s like a parent with a whole town of eager children now expecting him to look after them.[break][break]
“Listen up, guys. Lopez n’ me are riding the waves. Party all you like, but stay out of our way.”[break][break]
There are many ways the kids could interpret these words. They could rebel, they could get angry, they could run to tell their parents…[break][break]
“Wow, the Sheriff is so cool.”[break]
“Ohmygosh is he really gonna surf with Kyle Lopez?!”[break]
“Man why can’t he be friends with any chicks?]”[break][break]
They love him with innocence that only the young can muster. He’s young enough to be seen as one of them, old enough to wear the cool older brother look like a badge of honor. These hipsters and college kids obey his wishes. They leave him space as Navy mounts his Mantine. A wave’s off in the distance.[break][break]
“How hard can it be?” Navy paddles to help his Mantine, already finding this to be a far different beast than Kohryu.

[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The wave is coming for them. Such is a message Navy oft repeats to himself and anyone who will listen. It is a wave that will sweep them all up, as is inevitable. Today, with a literal tidal wave racing towards him, Navy turns towards it, falls into a surfer’s stance. He doesn’t know the mantine beneath him from mew, but the creature recognizes his determination.[break][break]
“And you know what I have to say to that, Lopez?” Navy loves his rhetorical question. Keeping his balance is easy at first. Then, the Mantine starts moving. While it holds its fins steady to stabilize him, his legs wobble. Mantine surfing is a skill that takes a lifetime to master. Even the Alolan masters that take up space on TV still mess up from time to time.[break][break]
“Fuck it, we ball.” Mantine climbs. He twirls, spins, almost bucks Navy off. It builds up forward momentum and launches itself high above the wave. Kyle was onto something. This reminds him of Kohyu – if only a little. Knowing everyone on the beach is watching, he tries beyond hope to do the impossible.

sQgEu|Ez

[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]