Real Person Fic - CW: Arm in Arm, We'll Win the Fight [Part 1/3]
PART ONE
Like most kids his age, Jared left home at 18, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, determined to become a Pokémon master. Unlike most kids his age, five years later Jared has neither given up and returned home defeated nor hit it big and conquered the Pokémon League. Plans change. He gave up on his gym badge collection long ago, but that didn't mean his adventure was over. There's better work to be done than getting his name enshrined in the Indigo Plateau.
Today is business as usual.
Well, business as usual plus a sprained foot.
"You are such an idiot," Gen tells him, again, as she wraps his ankle. "For so many reasons, but for this especially."
"I wasn't expecting it to be a freaking master ball when I stepped on it," Jared defends. A regular poké ball would have snapped easily under his foot. This one nearly took his leg off, and he still had to keep kicking at it to break it enough to sever the link between the Rocket and the innocent Pokémon he'd been trying to use to kill Jared. "Where'd Team Rocket even get one of those? And why would they waste it on a Ninetales? You can catch a Ninetales in a great ball. Maybe even a regular ass poké ball if you're really careful."
Gen shakes her head and a few strands of hair fall from the careful up-do she'd tucked under her nurse hat this morning. "Not this one," she says, moving back toward the bed the Ninetales Jared just brought in is resting on. "According to the machinery, your friend here is level 180."
If Jared had taken a sip from the cup of water he's got clenched in his hand, he would have just covered Gen in it. "Did you say level 180?"
Gen nods. "You heard me. Level 180."
"Damn. I've never seen a Pokémon above level 73." He laughs, looking at the yellow fur, matted with blood, of the Pokémon struggling just to keep breathing. "I feel like I should ask for her autograph."
"She is also a he," Genevieve clarifies.
"I've never seen a male Ninetales before, either. I guess he's a pretty special Pokémon."
"I'll say." Gen frowns, stroking a hand between the Ninetales' ears. He whimpers and lifts his head just a bit, tongue coming out to lick her wrist affectionately. "Poor thing," she says, shaking her head again. "They really did a number on him."
Jared nods, looking down at the cup in his hand. "Is he gonna make it?"
"I think so," she answers, ever careful to keep Jared from getting his hopes too high. "He's a tough cookie, Jared. He should be fine."
"I guess that level explains why they were so desperate to keep me from freeing him," Jared says, hoping to distract himself. He licks his lips, not sure if he should really tell Gen the whole story. She worries too much. "They tried to get him to attack me."
He hears Genevieve drop something when he says that and braces himself for what's coming. "They did what?" she yells.
He drinks the water in his cup and sets it aside, struggling to his feet. "Calm down, he didn't do it."
He almost did. And when Jared finally got the poké ball shattered, the Ninetales had turned on that Rocket who'd been abusing him and Jared had shut his eyes tightly, turning his face away. He'd thought he would open them to find the Pokémon had torn out his former master's throat, and while Jared really wouldn't have blamed the Ninetales, it scared him, too. He'd never seen a Pokémon with that kind of fierce intelligence, with actual hatred in its eyes.
He's definitely not going to tell Genevieve about that part.
"I've never heard of someone trying to attack a human with a Pokémon before, Jared. That's-that's really sick. We have to tell someone-"
"Who, the police? They're all on the payroll." Jared limps across the Pokécenter, around the counter where he's technically not supposed to go, and stands next to Gen, looking down at the wounded animal on the bed. "What do you expect from Team Rocket?"
"Fuck, I knew it was bad but that's…"
"They're getting bolder. More powerful." Jared shakes his head and looks away. "And I'm just one person. I can't make a difference."
"Hey," Gen says as she takes Jared's hand and puts it over the Ninetales' side. Jared can feel the faint beat of its heart. "Tell that to this guy. He'd be dead or worse if it weren't for you."
Jared rolls his eyes.
Gen isn't having any of it. "I'm serious. Look, the fact that they were willing to do-that-just shows that you are getting to them. They're scared of you."
"If they've got level 180 Pokémon, I'm damn well scared of them."
It's a horrifying thought. The things the Rockets could do with a Pokémon that powerful are unimaginable, and Jared feels a flush of shame touch his cheeks. He can't help thinking of all the things he could do with a Pokémon that powerful. He could probably catch the Ninetales now, and then it would be an easy trip from gym-to-gym and straight to the Pokémon League Hall of Fame. He'd be the youngest to ever make it.
Jared shakes his head, hoping to distill the dreams that had driven him from home years ago, the ones he likes to think he abandoned shortly after. He liked being a trainer just fine, but the system is corrupt. Nearly all the gym leaders in Kanto grease their hands with Rocket money, and there's no way to play without becoming a part of all the ugly things they do.
"Makes you wonder how he got that powerful with the way they were treating him."
Jared's eyebrows draw together. "No, there's no way. They must have caught him after he'd hit 180. He wasn't obeying all of the master's orders, so we know the Rocket wasn't good enough to fully control him. And it just doesn't make sense."
"Well, he didn't get to 180 fighting Ratatas in the wild," Gen points out. "So what are we thinking? Stolen? From some big trainer?"
"Maybe," Jared says, biting his bottom lip. Somehow that doesn't add up, either. Someone that powerful losing a Pokémon they've invested 180 levels worth of work in would have been all over the news by now. "I don't know."
"Should we look for the rightful owner?"
"Rightful owner," Jared huffs. "What does that even mean?"
"Oh, here we go," Gen says, rolling her eyes and leaving the Ninetales to check on the Squirtle sleeping in the next bed over.
Jared isn't going to have this fight. Gen is one of his very few allies. Danneel and probably even Adrianne, nurses from the Pokécenters in Cerulean and Saffron city respectively, haven't called the cops on Jared yet only thanks to Gen's intervention. Not that he blames them for thinking he's some kind of sadistic Pokémon abuser with the number of severely mistreated Pokémon he brings in for care, but still. He grew up with Gen, back before she moved to Viridian and became a nurse, and she's the only person he really knows that he can talk to honestly about what he does. So he tries not to get in fights over whether owning Pokémon is wrong or not, especially not when her Chansey Ruby is waddling merrily along at her heels.
"I'm setting him free," Jared says in a tone that brooks no argument.
"Fine, fine," Gen replies waving her hand dismissively. "You're setting him free. That's great. No problem. Someone who really misses him might be distraught right now, and he may be missing them too, but okay. Let's send him out into the world for more Rockets to find him."
"He's a level 180 Pokémon. He doesn't exactly need protection."
Gen stands up straight and levels Jared with a heated look. "Then why is he here," she points to the bed to illustrate her point, "like this?"
"Look, I told you, I don't know how they caught him. But I'm not about to shove him back into a poké ball."
Gen sets her lips in a hard line. For a moment it looks like she's gonna keep up the fight, but finally her shoulders slump and the breath all leaves her, along with any remaining desire to push the issue. "You need a place to shack up tonight?"
Jared smiles, appreciating both the offer and the subject change. "I was thinking of heading home, actually. Say hi to the parents, play with Sadie."
Gen nods. "You sure? That's a pretty long walk through the forest. My shift's almost over. You can sleep off your foot injury and swing by in the morning when I come in again to see if this guy's ready to be released."
"That'd be great," Jared tells her after a short period of consideration. His misses his Growlithe, but going home always means his parents drilling him about when he's going to give up on this nonsense he does and get a real job. "I'll make you dinner."
"Mmm," she says, patting the Ninetales one last time and beginning to untie her apron when she sees Sandy, the night nurse, walk into the center. "Got any plans for where you're heading next?"
Jared shrugs. "I was thinking I'd try and finally see Cinnibar Island."
Under his hand, the Ninetales makes a whimpering sound and attempts to lift his head.
"Aww," Gen says. "He's sad you're leaving."
Jared gives the Pokémon one last gentle pat between the ears and starts limping back to his rightful place across the counter. Sandy gives him a look that's a cross between scolding and fond as she carries her Chansey to her work station. They both know he shouldn't have been back here, but this is not the first time she catches him breaking that rule and it probably won't be the last, either.
"How're you gonna get there? Planning to rent a surfing Pokémon and go the easy way from home, or be stubborn and try to swim there?" Gen finishes clocking out and joins Jared by the door.
He sends one last worried glance to the Ninetales on the second bed and then looks at his friend. "Actually, I hear the S.S. Anne is adding a stop in the islands. I was thinking of catching it in Vermillion."
"That'll be expensive."
Jared shrugs as he holds the door open for her. "It's a long way to Vermillion on foot. I figure I'll be able to save up enough for one ticket by then."
Gen just shakes her head, reaching up to pinch Jared's cheeks. "You are one wacky and weird individual."
By the next morning, both the Ninetales and Jared are back in working order. Jared feels a surge of hope, rare considering the kinds of things he fights on a day-to-day basis, when he comes into the center and finds the wounded Pokémon trotting around the recovery room with an almost smug air about him.
"He's got personality," Gen says as they watch him strut from wall to wall. "I'll give him that."
"He certainly does," Jared replies with a grin.
Now that he's not bleeding or crying or on the verge of death, Jared can see how truly gorgeous the Pokémon he rescued is. His muscles are strong and powerful, which is to be expected from a Pokémon as advanced as this one, but he's also got bright green eyes instead of the red ones Jared is used to seeing on this type of fire Pokémon and a smattering of brown dots disrupting the yellow fur on the bridge of his nose, almost like freckles.
He's tall, too, closer to four foot than the average three, but that part isn't news to Jared. He had carried the big ass Pokémon all the way here from Viridian Forest on his twisted ankle, and all those tails had doubled the weight if not more.
It's worth the struggle that was to see him so healthy and happy today.
"When are you gonna discharge him?" Jared asks.
Gen shrugs. "I'll run a few more tests once I clock in, then he should be ready to go."
"Mind if I stick around 'til then?"
"Nah," says Gen. "Be my guest."
About an hour later, Jared has had a breakfast of a few protein bars and the Ninetales is officially being released.
"You sure you don't want to rest that foot a few days longer?" Gen offers as she walks him and his temporary charge to the door. "I'd be happy to have you."
"My foot feels as good as he does," he says, inclining his head down at the Pokémon circling around their legs impatiently. "It's not even swollen anymore. You are a miracle worker. For Pokémon and humans alike."
Gen grins. "You know it," she says. "Now get the hell out of my Pokécenter."
Jared does as he's told. He sets off on his journey back toward the forest after some debate about whether to swing by Pallet Town, the Ninetales following at his side loyally. It keeps on at Jared's pace, and Jared thinks at first that he's just waiting until they reach tall, Pokémon-infested grass to exercise his new found right to stray, but the Ninetales sticks with him even through the forest.
Halfway to Pewter City, Jared stops walking and looks down at the Pokémon. "You planning to follow me all day?"
The Ninetales only tilts his head to one side like the question confuses him, which makes sense because it's not like a Pokémon is gonna understand what the fuck Jared is saying.
Jared tries another method, shooing at it with his hands. "Go on, get out of here," he says. "You're free now."
With a great air of annoyance, the Ninetales sits right where he is as if saying I'm not going anywhere.
Jared frowns, wondering if the poor animal thinks this is some kind of a test. He's never freed a hurt Pokémon and had it hesitate more than a second before running far and fast, but then, this one is exceptional on several levels, including just how badly he had been treated. "I'm not gonna hurt you like the Rockets did," he promises, sinking down to one knee and burying his fingers in the Pokémon's furry neck. "You don't have to be scared now. You can go wherever you want."
The Pokémon blinks twice, very slowly, and Jared can't help feeling like it's calling him an idiot. That's…probably just his imagination, though. Right?
"Are you calling me an idiot?" Jared asks. "Like, in your head?"
If that's not a nod the Ninetales gives him, Jared doesn't know what the hell to think. He stands back up. "Hey, man, I'm not the one hanging out instead of running off free."
Jared starts walking then and to his great chagrin, so does the Pokémon. He stops; it stops. He looks down at it; it looks up at him. He sighs; it huffs out a stubborn breath.
"Okay," he says, looking back up at the road ahead. "I'm just going to ignore you until you go away."
This works about as well as actively trying to get rid of the Pokémon had done, which is to say not at all. By the time the sun is beginning to set and Jared is considering setting up camp along Route 3, the Ninetales is still walking with him.
"That's a gorgeous Pokémon," a Lass tells him as he's beginning to pitch his tent. "Would you like to trade? I have a great Jigglypuff."
"Oh, no, he's not mine," Jared says, casting his eye over his shoulder. He'd forgotten the damn thing was there, or maybe he'd hoped just a little that one day of tailing (hah, tailing) him would have been enough and the Ninetales had gotten it out of his system and run off by now.
She raises an eyebrow pointedly. "He sure is very obedient for a wild Pokémon."
"Yeah right," Jared mutters under his breath.
The Ninetales growls softly, as if it heard him.
"Well, you're not," Jared tells it.
She smiles brightly. "So you don't mind if I try to catch it, then?"
Jared laughs. "Look, no offence, but this thing is going to tear your poor Jigglypuff to shreds if you try it. You're better off sticking to the truly wild Pokémon around here."
"I'm really good," she insists.
He smiles to himself, remembering that feeling. She must be just a few weeks from leaving home with one badge under her belt and fewer losses than victories. There's no way she's ready to take on a level 180 Ninetales and, even if there were, Jared would feel pretty guilty if he'd led the damn thing right back into captivity. "He doesn't like fighting."
The Lass makes an annoyed sound and tosses her hair. "I get that you don't want to trade your Pokémon, buddy, but you could have just said that from the jump instead of wasting my time."
She stomps off then, and Jared would feel worse if he didn't have such a sour taste in his mouth when it came to anyone willing to trade their supposedly cherished pet away as soon as something newer and more impressive looking comes along.
"I don't make very many friends, do I?" Jared jokes, looking to the Ninetales for an answer.
To his surprise, the Pokémon marches a few steps closer and nudges his head against Jared's hand gingerly. Almost like it's telling him he made at least one friend, and as much as that confuses him, Jared can't help feeling a little lighter for the company. It's a pretty lonely life Jared leads when he's on the road. Not that it isn't worth it. But, well, maybe he's kind of glad the Pokémon is still here after all.
He finishes setting up his tent and makes a pit for a bonfire, pulling a log he finds in some tall grass not far from his camp site to use as a chair. By the time he's retrieved it and brought it back, there's already a steady fire going in the pit. That usually takes Jared the better part of an hour to accomplish, and he's tired enough from the day's long walk to be thankful for it.
"You do come in handy, don't you?" he asks the fire Pokémon as he begins to cook his dinner.
It lifts its head from its paws and watches Jared closely for a few seconds before lying back down. No shit, Jared interprets from the gesture, which is fair enough.
"You hungry?" he asks, tossing the Pokémon a piece of meat from his own meal.
The Ninetales chews it gleefully, and Jared sits by the fire for another hour or so, thinking over the day, with his new friend dozing in and out. He likes the quiet companionship, he thinks, and he grudgingly admits he's going to miss the Pokémon in the morning.
Or not.
"You're still here, huh?"
The Ninetales winds around his feet with way too much enthusiasm considering the time of day and gives a cheerful bark. Dammit, it makes Jared's chest ache in a good way, but he knows he shouldn't get attached.
"Alright, alright," Jared says, laughing as he tries to keep track of the Pokémon's excited movements. "Calm down there, man. I'm still half asleep."
To his unending shock, the Pokémon actually listens, ceasing his onslaught on Jared's legs and running a few feet away. He gives another excited bark, and Jared can't help thinking it wants him to follow and see something.
So Jared does, contemplating what he's going to make for breakfast as he walks until he reaches the Ninetales and sees a Pidgey at its feet.
Well, what do you know? He's got himself a hunting Pokémon.
"That makes things easier," Jared says, picking up the bird-type. He's relieved to see the job was done cleanly. The Ninetales didn’t play with his food. Hunting is not Jared's favorite thing about being on the road, but it's a necessary evil, and Jared's just glad his new companion was humane about it. Or, you know, whatever the word for humane is when it's a Pokémon that does it.
"C'mon, let's get another fire going and I'll make us breakfast."
The Ninetales shakes his head, cheerfully indicating the remains of another Pidgey.
Once they've both eaten, Jared packs his things into his backpack and gives the Ninetales a friendly pat on the head to let him know he'll be on the move again. "You don't have to come with me," he explains. "I'm going through Mount Moon, which is a pain in the ass at best and literally impossible if no one has flashed the cave. I don't have a flashing Pokémon, obviously, so I usually just wait until…"
He realizes he's explaining this to a Pokémon and makes a note to stop in a bar once he reaches Cerulean and get some actual human conversation in before he snaps.
"Anyway," he says, kneeling down. "I'm gonna miss you, but I think you're gonna be okay out here."
The Pokémon licks his hand and makes a sad sound when Jared starts walking away. Jared looks back and sees it sitting right where he left it, watching him with big, green eyes. It looks…it looks kind of like he hurt its feelings.
"I didn't mean you can't come if you want to?" he tries, even though it's a damn Pokémon and he knows it's not going to understand-
The Ninetales sprints to his side, its tails all swaying in the wind as it runs. When it stops next to Jared, looking up as if it's just waiting for direction, Jared passes a hand over his face.
"My life is weird," he says.
A head butts into his legs, urging him to get moving already, and Jared snorts as he starts walking.
Mount Moon is pitch black when they step inside, and Jared's heart sinks, anticipating a long wait until a trainer with flash comes along to help him. Then a bright light breaks out at his side, and Jared realizes that his-no, not his, just the-Ninetales did it.
Jared's pretty sure that's not even a move it's possible for a Ninetales to do. This one is just full of surprises. He thinks of all the Zubats he won't accidentally walk into (okay, so sue him, Zubats creep Jared right the fuck out) and can't help wondering how he got on so long without a Pokémon to help him. "You're a joy to be around," he tells the Ninetales.
The Pokémon makes a face like he could not agree more.
"I guess if you're going to be hanging around, I should think of a name for you, huh?" Jared is sitting by yet another wonderful fire, camping out about halfway through Mount Moon. Current unwanted Zubat interaction count: 0. Today has been a good day. "I can't just keep calling you 'that damn Ninetales that won't leave me alone.'"
In a matter of seconds, the fire is snuffed out by one big orange-tipped tail and the light that had been leading Jared through this long system of caves gets pulled back into the Ninetales it had been emitting from. Jared can just feel the Zubats drawing in.
"I was kidding!" he says. "I was kidding!"
The Ninetales lets him think about what he's done a few seconds longer before the light shines out again and he begins a carefully controlled ember to get the fire back.
"How about Wishbone?" Jared offers.
The Ninetales gives him a flat look. See how fast I turn the lights back off, asshole, it seems to say.
"Okay, that's a no then." Jared thinks a little longer. "Brady? Priestly?"
It's not hard to tell just how unimpressed the Pokémon is by Jared's attempts. "I notoriously suck at naming Pokémon," Jared explains. "I grew up with a Growlithe named Sadie, dude. Sadie is not a Growlithe name. You gotta cut me a break here."
The Ninetales shakes his head. Vain little bastard that he is, he's not going to let Jared off the hook.
"I could just give you a number," Jared muses. He pulls a few random letters and numbers out of his ass. "How about I call you X5-495?"
Head tilted to the left, Ninetales makes a great point.
"Yeah," Jared agrees. "I'm never going to remember that."
The Pokémon huffs as if laughing, little clouds of smoke curling from his nostrils as he does so.
"How about Dean?" Jared tries.
The Ninetales gives Jared a subtle eye roll as if to say if you must and then settles at Jared's feet for a nap.
They make it through Mount Moon and out into the open air around noon the next day, which is a record for Jared. He's usually stuck in that hell maze for days on days-one time he was lost for a week, but he doesn't like to talk about that. It's the reason Mount Moon is pretty much Jared's least favorite place in Kanto, but it was almost pleasant with Dean at his side.
The Ninetales is now responding to his name, so Jared thinks that makes it all pretty official.
Route 4 to Cerulean is a quick trip, but Jared's tired from a day climbing up and down through the cave, so he decides to take it easy. He'll walk to town at a leisurely pace with plenty of breaks and then maybe find a bar and hotel to eat, drink, and be merry. Cerulean is a nice city-not the biggest in Kanto, but that doesn't bother Jared. He's a small town boy at heart, and Celadon City's overabundant size and population has always made him nervous, even before it was crawling with Rockets.
"Wanna take a break here?" Jared offers, turning to Dean. They've reached a nice spot along the route, shady trees and a lake with a cool breeze rolling off it.
To his surprise, Dean runs off immediately. Jared tries not to wonder if the Pokémon will come back, just takes a deep breath and leans against the wooden fence in front of him, looking out on the lake. Probably, Dean just needs to pee or stretch his legs a little. Anyway, it's none of Jared's business whether he stays or goes.
The lake is still enough to reflect the sky perfectly, and Jared watches the gorgeous pink and oranges of the sunset beginning to move over the surface. He closes his eyes, leaning into the refreshing wind brushing by him, so it catches him completely off guard when someone standing just to his right says, "Nice night, huh?"
Jared opens his eyes and looks over, surprised that someone else happened to wander into the same clearing as Jared at the same time. Then he has to do a double take and turn his whole body to better see the stranger, because standing next to him is basically the hottest guy he's ever seen in his life.
"What? I…yeah."
The man smirks a little, like he knows exactly why Jared's so hard-up for clever conversation starters, and something about that smug look, the smart edge in his deep green eyes, and the light brown freckles on his cheeks feels weirdly familiar.
But Jared would remember meeting this guy, definitely.
"Do I know you?" he asks anyway.
The guy laughs softly and pulls a box of cigarettes out of his pocket. "That the best you could come up with?" he asks as he tucks one between his lips and lights it. He holds the box out, offering Jared a smoke, but Jared shakes his head.
"No thanks," he says. "I don't smoke. And, I, uh, wasn't hitting on you. I mean, I would gladly hit on you if you would like that. But you really do look familiar."
The man smiles as he blows out a small cloud of smoke. It doesn't smell like a cigarette, more like something charred. Like barbecue, or the fires Dean's been making for Jared the last couple of days.
Dean, right. Jared looks around anxiously for the Pokémon, but then he gets distracted by the guy next to him putting a hand on his wrist. The touch is warm and sends a rush through Jared like the man just breathed a flame right under Jared's skin. "We haven't met," the stranger says. "I'm Jensen."
"Jensen," Jared says, looking from the hand up to the man's intense gaze and then back down again. "I'm Jared."
"Yes, Jared," he says, like he already knew that. "It's nice to meet you, Jared."
"You, uh, you too," Jared replies stupidly, still a little struck by the mysterious stranger and his sudden appearance. "What brings you out here?"
The man, Jensen, licks his lips and looks away. "It's a long story," he says. "You?"
"My Ninetales, Dean, and I are-well, he's not really my Ninetales. He's just my friend, I guess? Well, anyway, we're trying to get to Vermillion to catch the S.S. Anne. Or…I'm doing that and he's kind of just following me until whenever."
Jared's rambling. He shuts his mouth as soon as he realizes he's rambling and wants to kick himself for being so bad at this right now. Hottest man in the world walks up to him and he's ranting about his travel plans.
Jensen doesn't seem too bothered by Jared's verbal diarrhea, though. "I hate to break it to you, buddy, but I don't see any Ninetales, and your poké ball belt is empty. I think you may have lost it."
Jared shakes his head. "No, he's just doing his own stuff." Jared feels his cheeks growing hot. "I don't have a poké ball for him or anything like that."
He leaves it there, determined not to get into a fight about Pokémon rights with someone who looks like Jensen standing in front of him. That mouth would be wasted on fighting.
Oh, fuck. Jared swallows hard and rips his eyes away from Jensen's mouth, hoping against hope that his staring wasn't too obvious.
"That's very trusting of you," Jensen says before taking another drag from his cigarette.
Jared shrugs. "Where are you headed?"
"Cerulean," Jensen says, sounding bored. "Then who knows where?" He flashes Jared a smile that even Jared can tell is flirtatious. "Do you wanna keep exchanging small talk, or can I suck you off?"
Jared's eyes widen, and he's about to ask if he misheard that, but then Jensen drops his cigarette and stomps it out, and before Jared can really process what's going on, Jensen is on his knees in front of him, shoving Jared back so that his ass presses against the wooden fence as he works at the buttons of Jared's jeans. Jared is getting hard before Jensen even takes his dick out and starts to stroke it.
What follows is probably the most glorious blowjob of Jared's life, no exaggeration, and Jared's had some pretty glorious blowjobs. Jensen's mouth is clever and practiced and basically sculpted for the express purpose of having a cock between his lips, and Jared comes so fast it's a downright shame. That was not a blowjob Jared wanted to waste. That was a blowjob Jared wanted to happen all the time or maybe even more often than that.
Jensen stands up with a self-satisfied look on his face, his hands tucking Jared back into his pants as he leans in for a kiss. Jared can taste himself on Jensen's tongue, and it makes his legs tremble.
"I've wanted to do that since the first time I saw you," Jensen whispers, which is a pretty weird thing to hear from a guy he just met half an hour ago.
Jared doesn't point it out. Jensen could proclaim crazy old Professor Kripke president of Kanto right now, and Jared would be inclined to agree with him. He just draws Jensen in for a deeper kiss, wanting to taste more of what Jensen just pulled out of him.
He breaks the kiss to suck at Jensen's jaw, letting his nose trail down and rub into Jensen's neck. "Can I return the favor?" Jared asks, hands moving down, one slipping up Jensen's shirt to feel his chest and the other attempting to grope his cock.
To his disappointment, Jensen catches him by the wrist and pushes his hand away. He smiles apologetically when Jared pulls back to give him a puzzled look and almost sounds sad when he says, "No, no need. I just wanted you."
"That was…" Jared licks his lips and looks down, trying to contain his smile. "Thanks, I guess?"
Jensen laughs. "I have a gift. Might as well share it."
"You certainly do," Jared agrees. "Are you-do you want to get dinner in the city? Maybe grab a few drinks?" He wonders just how presumptive he can get away with being, and then he remembers that Jensen basically walked up to him and sucked his dick. "I was planning to get a room tonight. We could split it."
Jensen shakes his head. "Places to be, you know. It was nice to, uh," Jensen scratches the back of his neck and smiles out of one side of his mouth, "nice to talk to you, though."
Jared nods, trying not to let the rejection sting. "Yeah, you too."
Jensen begins to walk toward the path, so Jared calls him back. "Jensen, wait."
Jensen pauses, then turns slowly. "What?"
"If we cross paths again, can I buy you a drink?"
Jensen's smile seems to brighten everything around them, like a Pokémon somewhere nearby just flashed and even the darkening blue of the early night sky can't fight it. "Definitely."
"Wanna give me any hints where I can find you? Are you a trainer, heading to the gyms maybe?"
"Nope," Jensen says quietly. "Not a trainer. I don't believe in catching Pokémon."
Jared's mouth drops open, and he blinks a few times, too dazed by this entire weird encounter and by that last comment especially. No one has ever come to that conclusion without Jared having to state his argument before, and between that, the improbable good looks, and the skill that went into that blowjob, Jared has to wonder if he hallucinated Jensen altogether.
"Figures," Jared mutters staring at the winding road of Route 4 where Jensen is no longer even a black dot in the distance. "I meet the perfect man and he's gone before I can think of something to say."
Jared feels something wet on his fingers and looks down to see Dean is licking at them. He smiles and gives the Ninetales the attention he's so desperately begging for, rubbing the fur between his ears. At least he doesn't have to question whether Dean wants him around.
"I hope you just met a hot lady Ninetales and had as good a break as I did," Jared tells Dean.
Dean almost looks like he shrugs before he starts walking back to the path.
When Jared and Dean reach Cerulean, it's later than Jared had been planning on, and, since what slowed them down was a pretty great blowjob from a stranger along the way, he decides to skip the bar portion of the night and just get a room and some food.
The motel he ends up in only has doubles, so Jared laughs as he opens the door. "Well, Dean, looks like you get your own bed tonight."
Annoyingly rebellious as ever, Dean sits on the extra bed until Jared slides under the covers of his own, turning off the light and wishing the Pokémon a goodnight. Then he feels something big jump up onto his mattress, and before he knows what's up, the ends of three long tails are in his face.
Jared pushes them away. "No, boy," he says. "Down. Go sleep on your bed."
Dean just lifts his head from Jared's feet where he'd been resting it and sticks his tongue out before settling back down.
"It's a twin bed," Jared tells the Ninetales, damn near pleading, "and you're huge."
The Pokémon narrows his eyes.
"Okay," Jared says, lifting his hands in a pacifying gesture. "We're both huge. But that's why we each get our own bed."
Then Dean moves his body a little, just enough that Jared can relax and be mostly comfortable. Dean gives him a pleading look, and Jared sighs, completely defeated. "You're not nearly as cute as you think you are," he lies.
Dean is already asleep.
ON TO PART TWO
or
BACK TO MASTERPOST
Like most kids his age, Jared left home at 18, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, determined to become a Pokémon master. Unlike most kids his age, five years later Jared has neither given up and returned home defeated nor hit it big and conquered the Pokémon League. Plans change. He gave up on his gym badge collection long ago, but that didn't mean his adventure was over. There's better work to be done than getting his name enshrined in the Indigo Plateau.
Today is business as usual.
Well, business as usual plus a sprained foot.
"You are such an idiot," Gen tells him, again, as she wraps his ankle. "For so many reasons, but for this especially."
"I wasn't expecting it to be a freaking master ball when I stepped on it," Jared defends. A regular poké ball would have snapped easily under his foot. This one nearly took his leg off, and he still had to keep kicking at it to break it enough to sever the link between the Rocket and the innocent Pokémon he'd been trying to use to kill Jared. "Where'd Team Rocket even get one of those? And why would they waste it on a Ninetales? You can catch a Ninetales in a great ball. Maybe even a regular ass poké ball if you're really careful."
Gen shakes her head and a few strands of hair fall from the careful up-do she'd tucked under her nurse hat this morning. "Not this one," she says, moving back toward the bed the Ninetales Jared just brought in is resting on. "According to the machinery, your friend here is level 180."
If Jared had taken a sip from the cup of water he's got clenched in his hand, he would have just covered Gen in it. "Did you say level 180?"
Gen nods. "You heard me. Level 180."
"Damn. I've never seen a Pokémon above level 73." He laughs, looking at the yellow fur, matted with blood, of the Pokémon struggling just to keep breathing. "I feel like I should ask for her autograph."
"She is also a he," Genevieve clarifies.
"I've never seen a male Ninetales before, either. I guess he's a pretty special Pokémon."
"I'll say." Gen frowns, stroking a hand between the Ninetales' ears. He whimpers and lifts his head just a bit, tongue coming out to lick her wrist affectionately. "Poor thing," she says, shaking her head again. "They really did a number on him."
Jared nods, looking down at the cup in his hand. "Is he gonna make it?"
"I think so," she answers, ever careful to keep Jared from getting his hopes too high. "He's a tough cookie, Jared. He should be fine."
"I guess that level explains why they were so desperate to keep me from freeing him," Jared says, hoping to distract himself. He licks his lips, not sure if he should really tell Gen the whole story. She worries too much. "They tried to get him to attack me."
He hears Genevieve drop something when he says that and braces himself for what's coming. "They did what?" she yells.
He drinks the water in his cup and sets it aside, struggling to his feet. "Calm down, he didn't do it."
He almost did. And when Jared finally got the poké ball shattered, the Ninetales had turned on that Rocket who'd been abusing him and Jared had shut his eyes tightly, turning his face away. He'd thought he would open them to find the Pokémon had torn out his former master's throat, and while Jared really wouldn't have blamed the Ninetales, it scared him, too. He'd never seen a Pokémon with that kind of fierce intelligence, with actual hatred in its eyes.
He's definitely not going to tell Genevieve about that part.
"I've never heard of someone trying to attack a human with a Pokémon before, Jared. That's-that's really sick. We have to tell someone-"
"Who, the police? They're all on the payroll." Jared limps across the Pokécenter, around the counter where he's technically not supposed to go, and stands next to Gen, looking down at the wounded animal on the bed. "What do you expect from Team Rocket?"
"Fuck, I knew it was bad but that's…"
"They're getting bolder. More powerful." Jared shakes his head and looks away. "And I'm just one person. I can't make a difference."
"Hey," Gen says as she takes Jared's hand and puts it over the Ninetales' side. Jared can feel the faint beat of its heart. "Tell that to this guy. He'd be dead or worse if it weren't for you."
Jared rolls his eyes.
Gen isn't having any of it. "I'm serious. Look, the fact that they were willing to do-that-just shows that you are getting to them. They're scared of you."
"If they've got level 180 Pokémon, I'm damn well scared of them."
It's a horrifying thought. The things the Rockets could do with a Pokémon that powerful are unimaginable, and Jared feels a flush of shame touch his cheeks. He can't help thinking of all the things he could do with a Pokémon that powerful. He could probably catch the Ninetales now, and then it would be an easy trip from gym-to-gym and straight to the Pokémon League Hall of Fame. He'd be the youngest to ever make it.
Jared shakes his head, hoping to distill the dreams that had driven him from home years ago, the ones he likes to think he abandoned shortly after. He liked being a trainer just fine, but the system is corrupt. Nearly all the gym leaders in Kanto grease their hands with Rocket money, and there's no way to play without becoming a part of all the ugly things they do.
"Makes you wonder how he got that powerful with the way they were treating him."
Jared's eyebrows draw together. "No, there's no way. They must have caught him after he'd hit 180. He wasn't obeying all of the master's orders, so we know the Rocket wasn't good enough to fully control him. And it just doesn't make sense."
"Well, he didn't get to 180 fighting Ratatas in the wild," Gen points out. "So what are we thinking? Stolen? From some big trainer?"
"Maybe," Jared says, biting his bottom lip. Somehow that doesn't add up, either. Someone that powerful losing a Pokémon they've invested 180 levels worth of work in would have been all over the news by now. "I don't know."
"Should we look for the rightful owner?"
"Rightful owner," Jared huffs. "What does that even mean?"
"Oh, here we go," Gen says, rolling her eyes and leaving the Ninetales to check on the Squirtle sleeping in the next bed over.
Jared isn't going to have this fight. Gen is one of his very few allies. Danneel and probably even Adrianne, nurses from the Pokécenters in Cerulean and Saffron city respectively, haven't called the cops on Jared yet only thanks to Gen's intervention. Not that he blames them for thinking he's some kind of sadistic Pokémon abuser with the number of severely mistreated Pokémon he brings in for care, but still. He grew up with Gen, back before she moved to Viridian and became a nurse, and she's the only person he really knows that he can talk to honestly about what he does. So he tries not to get in fights over whether owning Pokémon is wrong or not, especially not when her Chansey Ruby is waddling merrily along at her heels.
"I'm setting him free," Jared says in a tone that brooks no argument.
"Fine, fine," Gen replies waving her hand dismissively. "You're setting him free. That's great. No problem. Someone who really misses him might be distraught right now, and he may be missing them too, but okay. Let's send him out into the world for more Rockets to find him."
"He's a level 180 Pokémon. He doesn't exactly need protection."
Gen stands up straight and levels Jared with a heated look. "Then why is he here," she points to the bed to illustrate her point, "like this?"
"Look, I told you, I don't know how they caught him. But I'm not about to shove him back into a poké ball."
Gen sets her lips in a hard line. For a moment it looks like she's gonna keep up the fight, but finally her shoulders slump and the breath all leaves her, along with any remaining desire to push the issue. "You need a place to shack up tonight?"
Jared smiles, appreciating both the offer and the subject change. "I was thinking of heading home, actually. Say hi to the parents, play with Sadie."
Gen nods. "You sure? That's a pretty long walk through the forest. My shift's almost over. You can sleep off your foot injury and swing by in the morning when I come in again to see if this guy's ready to be released."
"That'd be great," Jared tells her after a short period of consideration. His misses his Growlithe, but going home always means his parents drilling him about when he's going to give up on this nonsense he does and get a real job. "I'll make you dinner."
"Mmm," she says, patting the Ninetales one last time and beginning to untie her apron when she sees Sandy, the night nurse, walk into the center. "Got any plans for where you're heading next?"
Jared shrugs. "I was thinking I'd try and finally see Cinnibar Island."
Under his hand, the Ninetales makes a whimpering sound and attempts to lift his head.
"Aww," Gen says. "He's sad you're leaving."
Jared gives the Pokémon one last gentle pat between the ears and starts limping back to his rightful place across the counter. Sandy gives him a look that's a cross between scolding and fond as she carries her Chansey to her work station. They both know he shouldn't have been back here, but this is not the first time she catches him breaking that rule and it probably won't be the last, either.
"How're you gonna get there? Planning to rent a surfing Pokémon and go the easy way from home, or be stubborn and try to swim there?" Gen finishes clocking out and joins Jared by the door.
He sends one last worried glance to the Ninetales on the second bed and then looks at his friend. "Actually, I hear the S.S. Anne is adding a stop in the islands. I was thinking of catching it in Vermillion."
"That'll be expensive."
Jared shrugs as he holds the door open for her. "It's a long way to Vermillion on foot. I figure I'll be able to save up enough for one ticket by then."
Gen just shakes her head, reaching up to pinch Jared's cheeks. "You are one wacky and weird individual."
By the next morning, both the Ninetales and Jared are back in working order. Jared feels a surge of hope, rare considering the kinds of things he fights on a day-to-day basis, when he comes into the center and finds the wounded Pokémon trotting around the recovery room with an almost smug air about him.
"He's got personality," Gen says as they watch him strut from wall to wall. "I'll give him that."
"He certainly does," Jared replies with a grin.
Now that he's not bleeding or crying or on the verge of death, Jared can see how truly gorgeous the Pokémon he rescued is. His muscles are strong and powerful, which is to be expected from a Pokémon as advanced as this one, but he's also got bright green eyes instead of the red ones Jared is used to seeing on this type of fire Pokémon and a smattering of brown dots disrupting the yellow fur on the bridge of his nose, almost like freckles.
He's tall, too, closer to four foot than the average three, but that part isn't news to Jared. He had carried the big ass Pokémon all the way here from Viridian Forest on his twisted ankle, and all those tails had doubled the weight if not more.
It's worth the struggle that was to see him so healthy and happy today.
"When are you gonna discharge him?" Jared asks.
Gen shrugs. "I'll run a few more tests once I clock in, then he should be ready to go."
"Mind if I stick around 'til then?"
"Nah," says Gen. "Be my guest."
About an hour later, Jared has had a breakfast of a few protein bars and the Ninetales is officially being released.
"You sure you don't want to rest that foot a few days longer?" Gen offers as she walks him and his temporary charge to the door. "I'd be happy to have you."
"My foot feels as good as he does," he says, inclining his head down at the Pokémon circling around their legs impatiently. "It's not even swollen anymore. You are a miracle worker. For Pokémon and humans alike."
Gen grins. "You know it," she says. "Now get the hell out of my Pokécenter."
Jared does as he's told. He sets off on his journey back toward the forest after some debate about whether to swing by Pallet Town, the Ninetales following at his side loyally. It keeps on at Jared's pace, and Jared thinks at first that he's just waiting until they reach tall, Pokémon-infested grass to exercise his new found right to stray, but the Ninetales sticks with him even through the forest.
Halfway to Pewter City, Jared stops walking and looks down at the Pokémon. "You planning to follow me all day?"
The Ninetales only tilts his head to one side like the question confuses him, which makes sense because it's not like a Pokémon is gonna understand what the fuck Jared is saying.
Jared tries another method, shooing at it with his hands. "Go on, get out of here," he says. "You're free now."
With a great air of annoyance, the Ninetales sits right where he is as if saying I'm not going anywhere.
Jared frowns, wondering if the poor animal thinks this is some kind of a test. He's never freed a hurt Pokémon and had it hesitate more than a second before running far and fast, but then, this one is exceptional on several levels, including just how badly he had been treated. "I'm not gonna hurt you like the Rockets did," he promises, sinking down to one knee and burying his fingers in the Pokémon's furry neck. "You don't have to be scared now. You can go wherever you want."
The Pokémon blinks twice, very slowly, and Jared can't help feeling like it's calling him an idiot. That's…probably just his imagination, though. Right?
"Are you calling me an idiot?" Jared asks. "Like, in your head?"
If that's not a nod the Ninetales gives him, Jared doesn't know what the hell to think. He stands back up. "Hey, man, I'm not the one hanging out instead of running off free."
Jared starts walking then and to his great chagrin, so does the Pokémon. He stops; it stops. He looks down at it; it looks up at him. He sighs; it huffs out a stubborn breath.
"Okay," he says, looking back up at the road ahead. "I'm just going to ignore you until you go away."
This works about as well as actively trying to get rid of the Pokémon had done, which is to say not at all. By the time the sun is beginning to set and Jared is considering setting up camp along Route 3, the Ninetales is still walking with him.
"That's a gorgeous Pokémon," a Lass tells him as he's beginning to pitch his tent. "Would you like to trade? I have a great Jigglypuff."
"Oh, no, he's not mine," Jared says, casting his eye over his shoulder. He'd forgotten the damn thing was there, or maybe he'd hoped just a little that one day of tailing (hah, tailing) him would have been enough and the Ninetales had gotten it out of his system and run off by now.
She raises an eyebrow pointedly. "He sure is very obedient for a wild Pokémon."
"Yeah right," Jared mutters under his breath.
The Ninetales growls softly, as if it heard him.
"Well, you're not," Jared tells it.
She smiles brightly. "So you don't mind if I try to catch it, then?"
Jared laughs. "Look, no offence, but this thing is going to tear your poor Jigglypuff to shreds if you try it. You're better off sticking to the truly wild Pokémon around here."
"I'm really good," she insists.
He smiles to himself, remembering that feeling. She must be just a few weeks from leaving home with one badge under her belt and fewer losses than victories. There's no way she's ready to take on a level 180 Ninetales and, even if there were, Jared would feel pretty guilty if he'd led the damn thing right back into captivity. "He doesn't like fighting."
The Lass makes an annoyed sound and tosses her hair. "I get that you don't want to trade your Pokémon, buddy, but you could have just said that from the jump instead of wasting my time."
She stomps off then, and Jared would feel worse if he didn't have such a sour taste in his mouth when it came to anyone willing to trade their supposedly cherished pet away as soon as something newer and more impressive looking comes along.
"I don't make very many friends, do I?" Jared jokes, looking to the Ninetales for an answer.
To his surprise, the Pokémon marches a few steps closer and nudges his head against Jared's hand gingerly. Almost like it's telling him he made at least one friend, and as much as that confuses him, Jared can't help feeling a little lighter for the company. It's a pretty lonely life Jared leads when he's on the road. Not that it isn't worth it. But, well, maybe he's kind of glad the Pokémon is still here after all.
He finishes setting up his tent and makes a pit for a bonfire, pulling a log he finds in some tall grass not far from his camp site to use as a chair. By the time he's retrieved it and brought it back, there's already a steady fire going in the pit. That usually takes Jared the better part of an hour to accomplish, and he's tired enough from the day's long walk to be thankful for it.
"You do come in handy, don't you?" he asks the fire Pokémon as he begins to cook his dinner.
It lifts its head from its paws and watches Jared closely for a few seconds before lying back down. No shit, Jared interprets from the gesture, which is fair enough.
"You hungry?" he asks, tossing the Pokémon a piece of meat from his own meal.
The Ninetales chews it gleefully, and Jared sits by the fire for another hour or so, thinking over the day, with his new friend dozing in and out. He likes the quiet companionship, he thinks, and he grudgingly admits he's going to miss the Pokémon in the morning.
Or not.
"You're still here, huh?"
The Ninetales winds around his feet with way too much enthusiasm considering the time of day and gives a cheerful bark. Dammit, it makes Jared's chest ache in a good way, but he knows he shouldn't get attached.
"Alright, alright," Jared says, laughing as he tries to keep track of the Pokémon's excited movements. "Calm down there, man. I'm still half asleep."
To his unending shock, the Pokémon actually listens, ceasing his onslaught on Jared's legs and running a few feet away. He gives another excited bark, and Jared can't help thinking it wants him to follow and see something.
So Jared does, contemplating what he's going to make for breakfast as he walks until he reaches the Ninetales and sees a Pidgey at its feet.
Well, what do you know? He's got himself a hunting Pokémon.
"That makes things easier," Jared says, picking up the bird-type. He's relieved to see the job was done cleanly. The Ninetales didn’t play with his food. Hunting is not Jared's favorite thing about being on the road, but it's a necessary evil, and Jared's just glad his new companion was humane about it. Or, you know, whatever the word for humane is when it's a Pokémon that does it.
"C'mon, let's get another fire going and I'll make us breakfast."
The Ninetales shakes his head, cheerfully indicating the remains of another Pidgey.
Once they've both eaten, Jared packs his things into his backpack and gives the Ninetales a friendly pat on the head to let him know he'll be on the move again. "You don't have to come with me," he explains. "I'm going through Mount Moon, which is a pain in the ass at best and literally impossible if no one has flashed the cave. I don't have a flashing Pokémon, obviously, so I usually just wait until…"
He realizes he's explaining this to a Pokémon and makes a note to stop in a bar once he reaches Cerulean and get some actual human conversation in before he snaps.
"Anyway," he says, kneeling down. "I'm gonna miss you, but I think you're gonna be okay out here."
The Pokémon licks his hand and makes a sad sound when Jared starts walking away. Jared looks back and sees it sitting right where he left it, watching him with big, green eyes. It looks…it looks kind of like he hurt its feelings.
"I didn't mean you can't come if you want to?" he tries, even though it's a damn Pokémon and he knows it's not going to understand-
The Ninetales sprints to his side, its tails all swaying in the wind as it runs. When it stops next to Jared, looking up as if it's just waiting for direction, Jared passes a hand over his face.
"My life is weird," he says.
A head butts into his legs, urging him to get moving already, and Jared snorts as he starts walking.
Mount Moon is pitch black when they step inside, and Jared's heart sinks, anticipating a long wait until a trainer with flash comes along to help him. Then a bright light breaks out at his side, and Jared realizes that his-no, not his, just the-Ninetales did it.
Jared's pretty sure that's not even a move it's possible for a Ninetales to do. This one is just full of surprises. He thinks of all the Zubats he won't accidentally walk into (okay, so sue him, Zubats creep Jared right the fuck out) and can't help wondering how he got on so long without a Pokémon to help him. "You're a joy to be around," he tells the Ninetales.
The Pokémon makes a face like he could not agree more.
"I guess if you're going to be hanging around, I should think of a name for you, huh?" Jared is sitting by yet another wonderful fire, camping out about halfway through Mount Moon. Current unwanted Zubat interaction count: 0. Today has been a good day. "I can't just keep calling you 'that damn Ninetales that won't leave me alone.'"
In a matter of seconds, the fire is snuffed out by one big orange-tipped tail and the light that had been leading Jared through this long system of caves gets pulled back into the Ninetales it had been emitting from. Jared can just feel the Zubats drawing in.
"I was kidding!" he says. "I was kidding!"
The Ninetales lets him think about what he's done a few seconds longer before the light shines out again and he begins a carefully controlled ember to get the fire back.
"How about Wishbone?" Jared offers.
The Ninetales gives him a flat look. See how fast I turn the lights back off, asshole, it seems to say.
"Okay, that's a no then." Jared thinks a little longer. "Brady? Priestly?"
It's not hard to tell just how unimpressed the Pokémon is by Jared's attempts. "I notoriously suck at naming Pokémon," Jared explains. "I grew up with a Growlithe named Sadie, dude. Sadie is not a Growlithe name. You gotta cut me a break here."
The Ninetales shakes his head. Vain little bastard that he is, he's not going to let Jared off the hook.
"I could just give you a number," Jared muses. He pulls a few random letters and numbers out of his ass. "How about I call you X5-495?"
Head tilted to the left, Ninetales makes a great point.
"Yeah," Jared agrees. "I'm never going to remember that."
The Pokémon huffs as if laughing, little clouds of smoke curling from his nostrils as he does so.
"How about Dean?" Jared tries.
The Ninetales gives Jared a subtle eye roll as if to say if you must and then settles at Jared's feet for a nap.
They make it through Mount Moon and out into the open air around noon the next day, which is a record for Jared. He's usually stuck in that hell maze for days on days-one time he was lost for a week, but he doesn't like to talk about that. It's the reason Mount Moon is pretty much Jared's least favorite place in Kanto, but it was almost pleasant with Dean at his side.
The Ninetales is now responding to his name, so Jared thinks that makes it all pretty official.
Route 4 to Cerulean is a quick trip, but Jared's tired from a day climbing up and down through the cave, so he decides to take it easy. He'll walk to town at a leisurely pace with plenty of breaks and then maybe find a bar and hotel to eat, drink, and be merry. Cerulean is a nice city-not the biggest in Kanto, but that doesn't bother Jared. He's a small town boy at heart, and Celadon City's overabundant size and population has always made him nervous, even before it was crawling with Rockets.
"Wanna take a break here?" Jared offers, turning to Dean. They've reached a nice spot along the route, shady trees and a lake with a cool breeze rolling off it.
To his surprise, Dean runs off immediately. Jared tries not to wonder if the Pokémon will come back, just takes a deep breath and leans against the wooden fence in front of him, looking out on the lake. Probably, Dean just needs to pee or stretch his legs a little. Anyway, it's none of Jared's business whether he stays or goes.
The lake is still enough to reflect the sky perfectly, and Jared watches the gorgeous pink and oranges of the sunset beginning to move over the surface. He closes his eyes, leaning into the refreshing wind brushing by him, so it catches him completely off guard when someone standing just to his right says, "Nice night, huh?"
Jared opens his eyes and looks over, surprised that someone else happened to wander into the same clearing as Jared at the same time. Then he has to do a double take and turn his whole body to better see the stranger, because standing next to him is basically the hottest guy he's ever seen in his life.
"What? I…yeah."
The man smirks a little, like he knows exactly why Jared's so hard-up for clever conversation starters, and something about that smug look, the smart edge in his deep green eyes, and the light brown freckles on his cheeks feels weirdly familiar.
But Jared would remember meeting this guy, definitely.
"Do I know you?" he asks anyway.
The guy laughs softly and pulls a box of cigarettes out of his pocket. "That the best you could come up with?" he asks as he tucks one between his lips and lights it. He holds the box out, offering Jared a smoke, but Jared shakes his head.
"No thanks," he says. "I don't smoke. And, I, uh, wasn't hitting on you. I mean, I would gladly hit on you if you would like that. But you really do look familiar."
The man smiles as he blows out a small cloud of smoke. It doesn't smell like a cigarette, more like something charred. Like barbecue, or the fires Dean's been making for Jared the last couple of days.
Dean, right. Jared looks around anxiously for the Pokémon, but then he gets distracted by the guy next to him putting a hand on his wrist. The touch is warm and sends a rush through Jared like the man just breathed a flame right under Jared's skin. "We haven't met," the stranger says. "I'm Jensen."
"Jensen," Jared says, looking from the hand up to the man's intense gaze and then back down again. "I'm Jared."
"Yes, Jared," he says, like he already knew that. "It's nice to meet you, Jared."
"You, uh, you too," Jared replies stupidly, still a little struck by the mysterious stranger and his sudden appearance. "What brings you out here?"
The man, Jensen, licks his lips and looks away. "It's a long story," he says. "You?"
"My Ninetales, Dean, and I are-well, he's not really my Ninetales. He's just my friend, I guess? Well, anyway, we're trying to get to Vermillion to catch the S.S. Anne. Or…I'm doing that and he's kind of just following me until whenever."
Jared's rambling. He shuts his mouth as soon as he realizes he's rambling and wants to kick himself for being so bad at this right now. Hottest man in the world walks up to him and he's ranting about his travel plans.
Jensen doesn't seem too bothered by Jared's verbal diarrhea, though. "I hate to break it to you, buddy, but I don't see any Ninetales, and your poké ball belt is empty. I think you may have lost it."
Jared shakes his head. "No, he's just doing his own stuff." Jared feels his cheeks growing hot. "I don't have a poké ball for him or anything like that."
He leaves it there, determined not to get into a fight about Pokémon rights with someone who looks like Jensen standing in front of him. That mouth would be wasted on fighting.
Oh, fuck. Jared swallows hard and rips his eyes away from Jensen's mouth, hoping against hope that his staring wasn't too obvious.
"That's very trusting of you," Jensen says before taking another drag from his cigarette.
Jared shrugs. "Where are you headed?"
"Cerulean," Jensen says, sounding bored. "Then who knows where?" He flashes Jared a smile that even Jared can tell is flirtatious. "Do you wanna keep exchanging small talk, or can I suck you off?"
Jared's eyes widen, and he's about to ask if he misheard that, but then Jensen drops his cigarette and stomps it out, and before Jared can really process what's going on, Jensen is on his knees in front of him, shoving Jared back so that his ass presses against the wooden fence as he works at the buttons of Jared's jeans. Jared is getting hard before Jensen even takes his dick out and starts to stroke it.
What follows is probably the most glorious blowjob of Jared's life, no exaggeration, and Jared's had some pretty glorious blowjobs. Jensen's mouth is clever and practiced and basically sculpted for the express purpose of having a cock between his lips, and Jared comes so fast it's a downright shame. That was not a blowjob Jared wanted to waste. That was a blowjob Jared wanted to happen all the time or maybe even more often than that.
Jensen stands up with a self-satisfied look on his face, his hands tucking Jared back into his pants as he leans in for a kiss. Jared can taste himself on Jensen's tongue, and it makes his legs tremble.
"I've wanted to do that since the first time I saw you," Jensen whispers, which is a pretty weird thing to hear from a guy he just met half an hour ago.
Jared doesn't point it out. Jensen could proclaim crazy old Professor Kripke president of Kanto right now, and Jared would be inclined to agree with him. He just draws Jensen in for a deeper kiss, wanting to taste more of what Jensen just pulled out of him.
He breaks the kiss to suck at Jensen's jaw, letting his nose trail down and rub into Jensen's neck. "Can I return the favor?" Jared asks, hands moving down, one slipping up Jensen's shirt to feel his chest and the other attempting to grope his cock.
To his disappointment, Jensen catches him by the wrist and pushes his hand away. He smiles apologetically when Jared pulls back to give him a puzzled look and almost sounds sad when he says, "No, no need. I just wanted you."
"That was…" Jared licks his lips and looks down, trying to contain his smile. "Thanks, I guess?"
Jensen laughs. "I have a gift. Might as well share it."
"You certainly do," Jared agrees. "Are you-do you want to get dinner in the city? Maybe grab a few drinks?" He wonders just how presumptive he can get away with being, and then he remembers that Jensen basically walked up to him and sucked his dick. "I was planning to get a room tonight. We could split it."
Jensen shakes his head. "Places to be, you know. It was nice to, uh," Jensen scratches the back of his neck and smiles out of one side of his mouth, "nice to talk to you, though."
Jared nods, trying not to let the rejection sting. "Yeah, you too."
Jensen begins to walk toward the path, so Jared calls him back. "Jensen, wait."
Jensen pauses, then turns slowly. "What?"
"If we cross paths again, can I buy you a drink?"
Jensen's smile seems to brighten everything around them, like a Pokémon somewhere nearby just flashed and even the darkening blue of the early night sky can't fight it. "Definitely."
"Wanna give me any hints where I can find you? Are you a trainer, heading to the gyms maybe?"
"Nope," Jensen says quietly. "Not a trainer. I don't believe in catching Pokémon."
Jared's mouth drops open, and he blinks a few times, too dazed by this entire weird encounter and by that last comment especially. No one has ever come to that conclusion without Jared having to state his argument before, and between that, the improbable good looks, and the skill that went into that blowjob, Jared has to wonder if he hallucinated Jensen altogether.
"Figures," Jared mutters staring at the winding road of Route 4 where Jensen is no longer even a black dot in the distance. "I meet the perfect man and he's gone before I can think of something to say."
Jared feels something wet on his fingers and looks down to see Dean is licking at them. He smiles and gives the Ninetales the attention he's so desperately begging for, rubbing the fur between his ears. At least he doesn't have to question whether Dean wants him around.
"I hope you just met a hot lady Ninetales and had as good a break as I did," Jared tells Dean.
Dean almost looks like he shrugs before he starts walking back to the path.
When Jared and Dean reach Cerulean, it's later than Jared had been planning on, and, since what slowed them down was a pretty great blowjob from a stranger along the way, he decides to skip the bar portion of the night and just get a room and some food.
The motel he ends up in only has doubles, so Jared laughs as he opens the door. "Well, Dean, looks like you get your own bed tonight."
Annoyingly rebellious as ever, Dean sits on the extra bed until Jared slides under the covers of his own, turning off the light and wishing the Pokémon a goodnight. Then he feels something big jump up onto his mattress, and before he knows what's up, the ends of three long tails are in his face.
Jared pushes them away. "No, boy," he says. "Down. Go sleep on your bed."
Dean just lifts his head from Jared's feet where he'd been resting it and sticks his tongue out before settling back down.
"It's a twin bed," Jared tells the Ninetales, damn near pleading, "and you're huge."
The Pokémon narrows his eyes.
"Okay," Jared says, lifting his hands in a pacifying gesture. "We're both huge. But that's why we each get our own bed."
Then Dean moves his body a little, just enough that Jared can relax and be mostly comfortable. Dean gives him a pleading look, and Jared sighs, completely defeated. "You're not nearly as cute as you think you are," he lies.
Dean is already asleep.
ON TO PART TWO
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