"Pass me the potato salad!" An eccentric voice exclaimed, gloved hands reaching for the ceramic bowl that held the desired food without a moment's hesitation. Gold, the source, with a smile plastered onto his face, proceeded to shovel down a good majority of the potato salad as the horrified gasps of Sapphire, Green, Emerald, and Ruby filled the air around him.
Today, the Dexholders had decided to hold a picnic without any particular occasion behind it other than Red's reasoning to 'get to know everyone better' while simultaneously basking in the presence of the other groups that (mostly) weren't of Kantonian descent. Despite what many had thought about this group of teens, they didn't know each other very well. While the Johto trio had tried to branch out, mostly everyone had an unspoken deal to stay semi-close to their regional group, or so they had tried to.
Today, though, Red had decided that he wanted to shake things up a bit and change things between the groups. After all, they were supposed to be a team, regional diversity or not, right? He hadn't planned this alone, of course. Green and Yellow were mostly in charge of cooking (as Red was not allowed near the kitchen, for his safety and for everyone else's), Blue was in charge of planning, the Johto kids were told to bring utensils, and the Hoenn trio were to bring things for fun activities. Red didn't help much during preparation, but he'd brought along a small camera to take photos to savor today.
The area they had decided on was in a lush forest, near a lake that was quite populated with Water-types, the surrounding area surrounded by beautiful forest flowers with brightly-colored petals. The grass was bright green, softened by the morning dew and cut into a low height, likely by the forest's very own Pokemon, as some grass blades were cut shorter or kept higher than the blades nearby. Bug-types hid inside the tops of trees, the soft cooing of Caterpie and Weedle audible as the Dexholders had walked by to prepare for the day's festivities.
Now, as a third of the group watched Gold inhale the remainder of the potato salad, the remainder sat in a circle, passing a little violet ball to each other, calling off a fact about themselves as they continued the routine. The exercise had been suggested by Crystal, who had actively avoided catching the ball for some ungodly reason.
"Crys, you have to at least participate if you're going to suggest something like this," Red finally protested, tossing the ball toward her, "at least give us one!"
"I don't have to do anything, but if you insist.. I volunteer at the Trainer's School in Violet City sometime's to help teach beginning Trainers the basics." Crystal offered with a slightly frustrated 'hmph', gently handing the ball over to Silver, who sat beside her as he looked off in the distance to the lake that resided maybe thirty meters away.
"Don't hand it to me, I'm bailing." Silver handed the ball back with a gentle hand, walking a ways away as he sat down at the lakeside, removing the glove from his right hand as he dipped it into the lake, sloshing the water to and fro in a calming pattern. He wasn't necessarily great at social situations, and everyone was very respecting of this.
Except Gold, who had noticed the redhead by the lakeside as he walked over to sit beside him, their voices a lot more soft-spoken than everyone else's.
After a moment, Red stood up, clearing his throat. "Okay, okay! Can I have everyone's attention for a moment?" The other Dexholders turned to him, the majority having a puzzled expression. "I'd like a group picture, if that's alright! I want this to be a day to remember."
Various cheers of agreement met the senior's request, a small gathering forming behind him as mostly everyone began to join together; everyone but Gold and Silver, who still sat and talked. Not exactly aware of this, Red began a countdown from 10, his back turned to everyone with no monitor visible to see everyone's status.
"Ten.. Nine.. Eight-"
Ruby began to push and shove against the crowd, wanting to find his 'best angle'. Sapphire, opposed to this, grabbed Ruby and began to hold him in a tight headlock, his face pressed against hers as she gave the camera the widest smile she could muster.
"Seven.. Six.. Five-"
Behind him, Gold and Silver stood up, realizing that something was happening with the group. Noticing the camera in his senior's hands, Gold's lips burst into a wide smile as he grabbed Silver, pressing his lips to the redhead's in a playful manner. Taken off-guard by this, Silver's eyes widened as he shoved Gold backwards, causing him to stumble and begin to fall backwards. In a brilliant moment of panic, Gold grabbed onto Silver's wrist and pulled him down as well,
"Four.. Three.. Two.."
Hearing Gold's shout for help behind them, Yellow turned to the duo and began to run over to offer their assistance. Blue, who stood beside them, turned his head to face the scene, his mouth agape as his arm outstretched as if that could save them from falling into the lake.
"One!"
With a bright flash, the photo was taken, whatever moment it had captured now printed forever onto the large white slip. Shaking it a bit, Red turned around to see the hell that had managed to unfold within those ten seconds.
"Guys, what the fuck..."
--
Printed onto the slip was a sight of that something none of the Dexholders could forget. Red, who had stood with his arms outstretched to capture it all, had both of his eyes closed, his tongue stuck out in a mocking fashion. Behind him, Crystal had made a small peace sign, a smile on her face. Next to her, Green stood dabbing beside a horrified Blue, who faced a yellow blur that ran towards two larger blurs in the distance, a large splash of water already formed around them in the lake below. Sapphire and Ruby were having a fight, her expressions full of the most playful anger while his was overtaken by irritation that she had quite possibly ruined a good photograph, the tips of Emerald's hair stuck upwards behind their taller figures.
From that day forward, the Dexholders definitely seemed to be a bit closer to one another, despite how wild the picnic itself was.
