Chapter Text
Cerulean City! The seaside city of the Kanto region.
Asami strolled through the city while flashing her charming smile at the people she passed by. Her Ampharos trailed behind her, distracted by one of the local kids who ran over to touch the red orb on his tail.
Ampharos let out a cry and Asami giggled at the sight of the kid quickly scurrying away, “Come on Amphy, we’re going to miss the sunset.”
“Ampharos.” said Ampharos while returning to Asami’s side.
Two weeks ago, Asami arrived in Pallet Town from the Kalos region with her father, Hiroshi. Hiroshi had recently become the Gym Leader of Viridian City. A role he happily accepted despite leaving behind the opulent lifestyle in Lumiose City. He turned the Sato estate back in Lumiose City into a museum for the public to visit – and charging a small entrance fee. Asami thought the move from the opulence they had at the estate to the quiet three bedroom house in Pallet Town was somewhat drastic. But she thought with her father getting older and her growing up and not being around most of the time, that he probably had no use for all that space.
Asami was 16 years old when she travelled around Kalos with Mareep by her side. It was a long and winding journey but she managed to defeat the gym leaders, the elite four, and then the champion with her sheer determination and the Pokémon that she trained and cared for feverishly. Four years later, she was ready for another journey. Ready to conquer another Pokémon League. This time, she set her sights on the Indigo League.
Her father’s words echoed in her head. “You’ve proven your strength Asami. Your mother would be proud. I know we’ll eventually meet again in battle. Until then, meet new Pokémon and people. Make new best friends. Maybe even fall in love. It’s important to keep getting stronger but it’s also important to treasure the time you spend together with others.”
Her first stop was Pewter City where she faced the high-spirited but tough Gym Leader Bolin. It was a brutal match compared to the curb-stomping she gave the amateur trainers on the way to Bolin’s gym. His Rhydon was the most dangerous. It took Asami’s Greninja then Lucario for her to become the proud owner of the Boulder Badge.
She had been surprised when afterwards Bolin bashfully asked if he could come along on her adventure. He wanted to finally step out and see the rest of the world as he, in his words, had been living under a rock or a Golem for so long. The two were still strangers to each other but Asami welcomed the company of him and his Furret named Pabu.
Back to the present, Asami had finally reached the steps that led to Cerulean Cape. Bolin was eager to watch the sunset from there and also stay there to gaze at the stars. He was quite a romantic she had learned from their short time adventuring together. But he was good company. He told Asami to go on ahead while he shopped for supplies and food for them to eat at the cape.
Asami sighed happily. She took off her pink felt hat and climbed up the stairs. She heard Ampharos follow behind her. She gazed at the setting sun when she finally reached the top stair but her green eyes teared away when she spotted something big and blue a few feet away.
No, not the big and blue of the ocean that the cape overlooks. The big and blue of the canine-like creature in front of her with the thick purple mane that seemed to ruffle dramatically even in the slight breeze. It’s so pretty, Asami thinks, as she stared at it in awe. The creature turned around to face her. So graceful and majestic but the last thing she felt was a hard sphere like object connecting with her face before everything went black. This was not the kind of seeing stars that Bolin intended.
When Asami woke up, she saw the same pretty blue that she saw on the creature. Except it was a pair of pretty blue eyes staring at her. The most pretty blue eyes that she had ever seen. They belonged to the dark skin girl with short brown hair crouching over her.
“Are you okay?” The girl asked.
“Hmmm… pretty…” Asami mumbled and blinked a few times. She stared at those pretty blue eyes for a few more seconds. There was an air of silence besides the sound of the ocean. Asami felt the girl’s hand on her own hand. The girl smiled at her and asked again if Asami was okay.
Asami nodded. The girl let out a sigh of relief before saying, “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry. I was trying to catch that Pokémon. And every time I go to catch it, it runs away. This time when I threw the Pokéball at it, it fled so fast and the ball hit you in the face accidentally. I didn’t realise you were standing there. And I knocked you out. I’m so sorry…”
“Asami!”
“Bolin?” Said the girl.
“Korra?”
“Ampharos.”
“Furret.”
“Arcanine.”
“Pidgey.” Said the flock of Pidgey that flew by.
Asami finally registered that her Ampharos was beside her with its stubby arms on her other hand as Bolin came rushing over to Asami. She sat up slowly. The girl named Korra was still holding her hand as she helped her up and only let go when Asami was steady on her feet again. She dusted the dirt off of her red skirt and black thigh high socks. She could tell she wasn’t out for too long as the sun was still on the horizon.
“What happened?” Bolin asked. He was carrying a picnic basket while Pabu was resting on his shoulder as always. Korra began to explain what happened. Ampharos started affectionately nuzzling Asami’s chest while she absentmindedly looked Korra up and down. She was wearing what looked like a one piece bathing suit under her light blue jumper. Her outfit left a lot of her legs exposed.
“I apologise profusely.” Korra looked sheepishly to Asami.
“No, no. It’s fine.” Asami quickly shot her gaze to the upper part of Korra’s body, “Ah, what was that thing?”
“Suicune. It’s a legendary Pokémon. It’s so weird, I think that thing is following me. That’s the fifth time I’ve run into it.... I’m Korra by the way. And you’re Asami? Are you travelling with Bolin?” She looked at the picnic basket Bolin was carrying before giving him a sly look. “Are you two on a date? Watching the sunset at Cerulean Cape? Ah, I had high hopes for this place.”
“No!” Bolin and Asami were both quick to deny Korra’s allegations.
Bolin laughed, “We’ve been travelling through caves the past week. I thought enjoying the open air would be nice before Asami challenges Gym Leader Tonraq tomorrow. And it’s Asami’s first time in Cerulean City and you know what the view is like here.”
“Speaking of the view.” Asami stared in awe again for the third time in possibly the last ten minutes. Bolin and Korra followed suit and looked out at the horizon. The view of the sunset reflecting on the ocean was breathtaking. Asami had watched plenty of sunsets before. Although she was basically watching the same occurrence, it was still a sight to behold each time. She even had a top two list of sunset viewing moments. The top of Prism Tower with Clemont. The top of Glitter Lighthouse with Jasmine. Korra turned around to give Asami a rather sweet lopsided smile which immediately had Asami revising her top two list of sunset viewing moments.
Asami returned Korra’s smile while her father’s words echoed in her head, “…meet new Pokémon and people. Make new best friends. Maybe even fall in love.”
I want to best friend her, she thought to herself.