kira-kira | ✔

a/n: this fic uses Japanese names:
Gou - Goh
Satoshi - Ash
Koharu - Chloe
Rabifoot - Raboot
Messon - Sobble
Fushigisou - Ivysaur
10,000 Volts - Thunderbolt
Kuchiba - Vermilion
Hiwada Town - Azalea Town
Barrierd - Mr. Mime
Professor Sakuragi - Professor Cerise
Yoshino - Talia
Sōta - Parker
Wanpachi - Yamper
Hanada City - Cerulean City
Korni - Korrina
Kaki - Kiawe
Suiren - Lana
Mao - Mallow
Maamane - Sophocles
Meteno - Minior
Dande - Leon
Amajo - Tsareena
Enecocoa - Tapu Cocoa
Kasumi - Misty
Pippi - Clefairy
Py - Cleffa

***

[kira-kira (kee ra kee ra): glittering; shining]

The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason and so are people's eyes.

—Cynthia Kadohata, Kira-Kira

***

Gou likes star-shaped carrot slices. He likes them almost as much as he likes Satoshi.

Star-shaped carrot slices mean home. They mean the warmth of the stew sitting in his throat and stomach, gentle steam caressing his face as he sits at a brightly lit round table. They mean love—love as rare and amazing as his family: his grandmother, his mother, his father. Love as precious as his bond with Rabifoot and Messon and all of his Pokémon at the Sakuragi Park; his friendship with Koharu (he'll always appreciate how she never gave up on him no matter how much she said otherwise) and Tokio (he never gave up on him, either, even after three years). But most of all, love as beautiful as his adoration for Satoshi.

He doesn't know when it all started. He thought he did—he thought it started that day when they were following the line of Fushigisou up, up and up towards the heavens, and their skins grazed as they lifted each other up the tower. He thought it started when Satoshi stepped in front of him and all of the Fushigisou, arms outstretched, his silhouette glowing gold in the bold clash of the setting sun and Pikachu's dazzling 10,000 Volts, standing gallant, brave, strong—and Gou just stood there and stared, heart in his throat.

He thought it started that day, but it was only when he was standing at the edge of Kuchiba Port that he realised it'd started the day before, the very moment he locked eyes with the strange boy clambering onto Lugia at the same time as he was. It'd started ever since the beginning, and he's been hooked ever since.

If there's one thing Satoshi and star-shaped carrot slices have in common, it's kira-kira. Shimmering, beautiful. He remembers the stars draped across Hiwada Town's sky, where he watched them shift into a glimmering tapestry of Starmie, Py, Pippi and Rayquaza under the warm lull of Tokio's voice. He remembers thinking it was utterly beautiful. And Satoshi makes him feel the same way. Satoshi is kira-kira, the stars under Hiwada's night sky, the shimmering blue of Mew as it transforms into Pokémon after Pokémon. But Satoshi is so much more than that. Satoshi is Satoshi, and unlike the stars in the sky and unlike Mew, he's not out of reach. He's right by Gou's side, as tangible as star-shaped carrot slices and stew, and Gou doesn't want to ever let go.

***

Koharu is visibly exasperated. But then again, when isn't she?

"Bari-bari!" Barried exclaims, sandwiched between the two of them. The three of them are gathered before the kitchen island in Koharu's house, donning matching aprons speckled with flour. In the living room, Professor Sakuragi and Aunt Yoshino sit at the dining table with steaming cups of coffee, watching them with small smiles. Wanpachi yaps at Koharu's legs, wagging its tail furiously, tongue hanging out in heavy huffs. Rabifoot leans languidly in a corner, its eyes closed and arms crossed.