Captured

Partners at the PokeCenter

Green~

"You can barter at the PokeMart?" Gold asked, clearly upset he hadn't thought of the idea earlier. He glared at the logo on the glass doors as if it had personally swindled him.

"Obviously not legally. But when you look as cute as me, most cashiers are willing to throw in a little discount," I winked. Luckily no one in the store or walking by on the street was within earshot. Otherwise, we clearly would not be having this conversation.

"In that case, I've got this in the bag. I'm way cuter than you," he smirked, striking a pose that was probably supposed to prove his point. 

I rolled my eyes. "No, you're really not, but whatever helps you sleep at night." 

"Watch and learn." He strutted towards the doors, took one look at the old man at the register, and abruptly turned around and walked back.

"Never mind. This one's all yours."

I laughed at his cowardice. "There's more than one kind of cute, you know. Older folks are suckers for sweet, sad little kids who got lost on their way to find mommy and daddy. You might be able to sell it better, since you look younger than me."

"I do not!"

"Right, your height and outfit definitely don't scream 'I'm a pre-pubescent little twerp!' Not to mention you talk like you're fresh out of middle school- which makes sense, because you are." 

I couldn't stop myself from insulting him. It was just so easy- even if it probably wasn't the best course of action for what I was trying to do.

"Hey! My outfit is very cool!" His voice rose about two octaves in his outrage, further proving my point. I giggled.

"You're right, it would be, if you were ten."

Before he could respond to that, I decided to change tactics. "It doesn't even matter, because you're probably not a good enough actor, anyway. I'm pretty sure I could sell my 'damsel in distress' act better than you could ever pretend to be a hopeless, lost little kid."

Just as I had intended, the challenge in my words incited a different kind of anger- the kind that wouldn't turn down any dare, for the sake of pride. 

"Watch me!" 

I smirked. "Okay. Here's the list of supplies- see how cheap you can get that cashier to go."

I held the list out to him and he snatched it like he was taking up the gauntlet.

"Now give me those pokemon you need me to fix up, and I'll head over to the PokeCenter."

He handed me five out of his six pokemon, somewhat reluctantly- I could tell he didn't fully trust me to give them back (which was absurd, because I they weren't even worth much- what would be the point in taking them?) 

I shook my head as I placed each pokeball into my purse, which could barely hold them all. 

"How in the world do you get into so much trouble in such a short amount of time?" 

Leave him alone for five minutes and he's already in a deadly situation. Traveling with him was a lot more than I had bargained for.

He grinned. "It's not 'getting into trouble', it's 'doing what everyone else is just too chicken to try'."

"I think the word you meant to use there was smart," I corrected.

"Only if being smart means wussing out on every possible occasion," he sniffed.