Opal & Topaz

S1 Ep3: Brewing Storms

"Dude, that was so cool!" Oh right, him. Hank turned as this 'Deimos' character came jogging up to him. "How did you teach it to do that?!"

Hank stared blankly, "I didn't, he learned it himself."

Deimos looked at Sparks in awe, as Hank felt a gentle rumbling from his hand. A quiet growl from Sparks.

"You should go to town and find a poke-centre. I'm sure Flint would thank you." Hank said coolly, hoping he got the hint before either him or Sparks lost their patience. So far though, it was most likely to be Sparks, as he could see them tensing up in the corner of his eye.

"Well he's safe in the ball, isn't he?" Deimos gestured to one of the balls on his belt, clearly not getting what Hank meant. "Besides, how often do you find a trainer this cool!"

Hank just rolled his eyes. No wonder that Charmeleon was so high and mighty, it probably thought everyone was an idiot like it's trainer.

"I'm not his trainer." Hank narrowed his eyes, "And your Pokémon should come above someone you think is 'cool'."

"But it's your Pokémon isn't it?" Deimos asked, gesturing between the both of them. The meaning of the gesture, Hank had no clue.

"Yes, he's my Pokémon." Hank gave in to the wording, seeing as they probably wouldn't understand it if he said it differently. "But that doesn't mean I train him."

"How did it even learn any of that?" Deimos's eyes lit up as he looked at Hank, "Can you show me how to teach Flint that?!"

"For the last time, I'm not interested." Hank said firmly, pushing against Sparks's head a bit to keep him at bay. Deimos's Face dropped a little after being told that.

"Oh... We'll can I at least pat it?" Deimos began inching closer already, despite not being given an answer.

"Sure, whatever." Hank figured he deserved whatever was coming at this point. Deimos walked right up to Sparks, and Hank was impressed seeing Sparks keeping his cool this long. But like every other time, Sparks lost his patience and curled his lips back to reveal his teeth, a deep snarl escaping his throat as his fur stood on end.

Deimos stumbled back a bit, clearly not expecting that sort of reaction. After a second, louder snarl, he looked over at Hank with a nervous smile. "You know, I think I'll go to the pokecenter now."

He slowly backed away, only turning away from Sparks once he finished his growling, however he kept his teeth bared as a warning.

"Let's go." He motioned for Sparks to follow him, otherwise if he waited for Sparks to be done they'd be there all day. Thankfully, they listened the first time and stuck by his side.

After walking a while, the usual sounds of the forest returned, as the Pokémon were no longer scared off by the squabble that happened about a mile off. It brought a familiarity about the place; it let him know that everything was more or less fine now.

Turning down the usual trail to his home, there was a stutter in the noises as he passed by, before they continued a second later. Hank walked up the steps, stopping as Sparks passed by and let himself in. He took out a few pokepuffs and placed them on the wooden railing of his porch before Sparks came back out with a rubber ball.

Hank sat on the steps, holding out his hand so Sparks could drop him the ball. Already, it felt slimy, but he shrugged it off. He didn't do this with them yesterday, so he'd consider it payback. Hank threw it into the tree line, where it quickly disappeared among the shrubbery. Sparks bolted after it, disappearing, though not unheard as he crashed through the woods, until remerging with the purple ball.