"we can always reschedule." noah murmurs, rubbing his head against the other as if searching for sleep. "but it's cute that you wanna follow it, man."

as noah nestles in closer, his hair tickles the other's skin. one ear remains open toward the door. it seeks the sounds of home. slowing car wheels, the jangling of keys. nothing yet, and for now, the peace can be protected.

"we have to say hi to the family first and then we can kick it outta here." noah says. his legs batter the others as he shifts. "you're taking up all the space, man."

kyle lopez / vacation mission

noah relinquishes the handshake with a fiery grin. as the pokemon are sent to their stations, the gym's lights brighten. spotlights douse the ring with gold. diamonds of light twinkle in the corners of the cage ring's fencing.

noah jogs over to his side of the ring. as valerio's pokemon prepare, the gym leader does not hesitate.

"don't give them one breath!" noah shouts.

despite its stocky build, noah's hariyama rushes across the canvas. a wide WHIRLWIND swirls violently between its large mitt-hands before being launched through the TAILWIND in hopes of blowing valerio's pokemon to the fence.

noah's medicham passes his hariyama, hoping to rush in close. purple discs of PSYCHO CUTS fly toward the DRAGAPULT as the medicham weaves in. the REFLECT softens the blows— should they connect.

"let's go, jonathan!"

[attr="class","pkspr"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon hariyama"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon medicham"]

Valerio Dachev

noah's bottom lip curls out. as he imagines his family's unceremonious greeting of the barricade left by the entryway, the hoenn gym leader discards the thought with a sigh.

"yeah, probably not."

he's beckoned and noah allows his fatigue to lure him in. noah squeezes in beside kyle. the familiar feel of his old blankets and the nostalgic corners of his room subdue him further.

"lazy ass." like a carvanha, he bites kyle's shoulder. "must be nice to be all like, out of hoenn, yeah? no one to stop you for a photo. no challenges." he hums and wraps one of his arms across the grappled pillow.

"maybe we can ask for an extension for this vacation."

kyle lopez / vacation mission

"sorry! sorry!" noah bursts into the gym behind valerio. on a leash, a small electrike trods in before him. as its paws strike the cold floor, one can hear its nails clack against it before the electric dog shakes its fur. "walk took a little longer than expected. go ahead, glen."

he unleashes the electrike and as soon as it is freed, the dog scampers to the back. the sounds of a tongue lapping up water can be heard as noah moves to greet his challenger.

rubbing the back of his head, he takes the time to remember his schedule.

"noah." he extends his hand for a shake, while his other detaches two pokeballs from the holsters on his shorts. "remind me. what's your name again, man?"

he tosses them toward the cage, the red bolts sparking through the cage ring's fencing and onto the canvas. there, a medicham and hariyama await.

"so! close quarters combat. if you can demonstrate you know how to keep calm when the pressure's all up in your face? win or lose, you'll get the badge. got it?"

[attr="class","pkspr"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon hariyama"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon medicham"]

Valerio Dachev

"i know what i'm doing!" he shouts back dishonestly.

only sometimes is noah a master of improvisation. as his shoes straddle the stinger jutting out from a curling grape-abdomen, he sees june's inteleon take aim.

upon june's command, he lets go. soles slide away from the inhuman injector before the PSYCHIC allows him to descend safely. his turtonator has already caught up. from its snout, a DRAGON PULSE fires. it strikes the distracted naganadel that was once noah's ride to help down it once and more fall.

"so!" noah says, hitting the sands running. "how's your end?!"

[attr="class","pkspr"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon turtonator"]

June Fair

noah scoffs. "this my home turf, dude."

from the floor, he greets kyle's outstretched arms with his own. a small grunt peeks from his lips as he lifts him back to his feet.

looking around, noah realizes little has changed. posters of his previous careers hang on the walls. a study desk, meticulously clean (though by no way of his own organizational skill) as if it had never been touched stands stiffly by the corner. old, worn-down weights are tucked by its side.

when noah hoists kyle up, he tosses him onto the dark navy bed cover. nearby, a little machamp action figure holds vigilant watch on the nearby nightstand, all four arms movable and posed.

"we should really get the luggage downstairs you know." noah scratches his head, peering down at kyle from the foot of the bed.

kyle lopez / vacation mission

when kyle stirs, noah's grin grows. however, his smile's life is cut short with a tragic palm to the face. his head is tilted back- but his jaw remains stubbornly still.

"good question." noah speaks through fingers, should they remain spread over his face.

he peers over at the tall bed beside them. but there's no need for a mattress. like a descending plane, noah flattens himself on top of kyle and rests his head on the carpet so that it is beside the elite four's face.

"i think we're napping. night!" noah feigns a yawn- which swiftly converts into a real one before he closes his eyes.

he lets his body lay heavily on the other, like the statues of noctowl outside.

kyle lopez / vacation mission

noah gazes downward at the fallen. he wonders if there's a bump growing underneath the other's chestnut hair. quickly, he falls to the carpet too. wedging himself between kyle's legs, he grabs the other's shirt and shakes him.

"stop joking around, dude." noah says. "wake uuuup. we got shit to do. c'mon," noah rustles him some more as he becomes more concerned with every passing second. "kyle?"

noah resorts to tickling. fingers shoot underneath the other's shirt to tickle ribs.

kyle lopez / vacation mission

"you're... heavier than the luggage, man." noah grumbles. "surprised the airline didn't charge extra for you."

while veins rise on his neck, he heaves him bit by bit down the narrow hallway. a small bellsprout pot peeks at his sisyphean task by another tall window. however, noah complains in jest. he's strong enough to make it to the door, all the while keeping kyle close. in this awkward embrace, they march—

before noah uses kyle's head against the door like a battering ram.

"woops," noah says as the wooden door swings open, "thick head too." he hoists kyle up, so that he is upright and parallel to him. a quick snap of the heel kicks the door close.

he grins, peering up at his lover. fatigue lining his eyes before he yawns.

kyle lopez / vacation mission

the EXTRASENSORY hinders hariyama's focus. as the sumo wrestler attempts to recover, his medicham leaps to the cage's roofing as the EXPANDING FORCE pulses towards the ends of the ring. the medicham moves across ceiling as if on monkey bars, grey digits clutching the chainlinks as they rattle.

his hariyama does not flinch; however, it does take the EXPANDING FORCE. however, his hariyama does not retreat from the range. instead, it lunges toward the wave. taking incredible damage, the wrestler sends large a WHIRLWIND before slumping to one knee— having suffered much.

as the cyclone threatens to pin ruby's pokemon toward the other cage wall, his medicham releases from the ceiling with a leap. as it descends, PSYCHO CUTS are released from its feet as it flips in the air before landing close to her pokemon.

while the battle continues, noah wonders too. does this gym have drains?

noah quickly coos at the kubfu, allowing some time to compliment its owner: "looks like your kubfu's full of personality. you're taking care of her real good, ruby!"

Ruby Walker

noah laughs as their mad dash brings them to the second floor. each step is a silly hurdle, and like a bucking bronco, noah holds on for dear life. but the amusement ends. energy spent from travel lands on the second floor like an airplane crashing as a splash of confetti.

"dude, that's a reset." noah says of the speedrun. he scrambles to his feet to make up for lost time. "guess i gotta carry you."

in all senses of the word.

noah hooks his arms under kyle and with a grunt, he hoists him up shakily. he takes a few steps before exclaiming, "okay. bro, you're too heavy." the door at the end of the hall is their destination- and it seems so far. "i can't do this."

kyle lopez / vacation mission

"if we fall, we fall. and then maybe die because everything in here is old and with sharp edges, man."

each step courts death. and although the fantasized melodrama is more banter than truth, the home's ecruteak architecture is confined, steep and compact. he's caught against kyle. as they rest like this, noah rolls his head back against the wall.

"you're crazy, man." noah pushes away from the wall, gut tight to provide him with the strength for his hands are still on kyle's head.

his legs slip off as he lands on his feet. wordlessly, noah leans in. his forehead finds the other's as their lips join for a kiss. he stays like this for a long while. in their warm union, his arms wrap around kyle to secure him too.

"we're continuing this."

kyle lopez / vacation mission

upon noelle's knocking, she would be able to hear a horde of paws scrambling against flooring. barking and panting surge toward the door. a chorus of doggy voices rise and slam against the barricade like lilycove's seas, and as the frame is cracked open, noah appears, hands on two wet mightyena snouts to push them back in.

"noelle! are you looking for kyle? he's working right now," he quickly says, "you wanna— wait."

he grabs a mightyena by the sides as one slides through his legs. the dogs seem happy to see her, but noah takes precautions while their original owner isn't here.

"you wanna come in?" noah says, body hunched over to corral another dog as collar tags jingle.

with the war's end, time seems quiet. every moment, every hue, seems slowed by the quagmire of some silent suffering.

Noelle Lane