#//Yippee perfect time for me to get anxious about my writing </3/hj

[blueberry-gills]

🤝 :)

//Aw man here we go >:) Accidentally made this kinda big whoopsie-

//Uh basically since I wasn't really sure I decided to go with Gill hanging out with her sister! She's like...pretty important so uh yeah!! Hope I read that prompt correctly otherwise this'll be really embarrassing 👍👍

Gill knew the Canyon Biome like the back of his hand. He spent most of his free time out here, after all. He could run his hand along the horizon, up and down the cliffs and ravines, imagining the tunnels burrowing down through the granite and twisting around roots. If he could, he’d spend all his time exploring this area.

He breathed in the finely crafted breeze scented with pine needles and sap, staring out over the bridge in front of him. The wooden planks were still wet and slick from the morning’s rainfall, and the cables creaked as the wind rocked them back and forth. The chasm below was teeming with wild Pokémon dancing along the gravel shore and enjoying the sunny sky. You’d hardly believe this place was all artificial. Except for the gridlines in the sky and the platforms in the distance, of course.

Gill smiled and patted Spice’s back. The Flygon chirruped in reply with a grin, leaning into his touch. On Gill’s shoulder, Sizzle perked up and leaned forward with her jaw agape. Gill gave her a little pat on the head, too.

“…Why don’t we call it quits?”

“Hm?” Gill looked over at her sister, arms crossed and scowling. She scoffed and pulled her hair back.

“I’m saying, can’t we just have a picnic here?” Susanne swept out her arms to gesture to the landing around them.

“There’s barely any room, though,” Gill pointed out. “And packed dirt isn’t very comfortable to sit on.”

“But we have chairs.”

“Not for all our Pokémon.”

Susanne shook her head and sighed. “Alright, fair point. So why don’t we just call a taxi?”

“Do you just…not want to cross the bridge?” Gill frowned. “Susanne, it’s secure. It’s not going to break on you.”

“Yeah, but look at it! It’s slippery!” Susanne glared at him. “I don’t want to slip and fall. Not everyone's as reckless as you, you know!”

“I'm not reckless. That’s why I have Spice out!” Gill rubbed Spice’s head. “He can catch me if I trip.”

“…Tch. Well- he better catch me, too!” Susanne growled, but stalked off towards the bridge regardless.

The four of them meandered along, Spice hovering overhead to make sure none of them slipped. Sizzle dug her claws into Gill’s shoulder, making her wince just a bit. She wouldn’t say anything, though. Sizzle was probably just scared.

Speaking of. Despite being supposedly terrified just a moment before, Susanne had no problem picking up conversation.

“You never told me where you got a Salandit, by the way,” she piped up.

“Hm? I thought I did!” Gill replied. “I got her from someone on that site.”

“Yeah, I don’t buy that. Especially since you said she’s from…”

“An alternate dimension?”

“Yeah, that. No way that’s the truth.”

“I beg to differ,” Gill hummed. Sizzle made a noise that almost sounded like a laugh.

“Mhm. Sure. Did you travel back to Paldea to get her or something? Without me?”

“I haven’t left the campus since the start of the school year. I thought you knew that?”

“Tch…fine! Keep your secrets.”

“I’m not keeping anything from you, Susanne.”

“As if.”

Gill sighed and walked on. Sizzle dug her claws in deeper.

-=-

“Why’d you want to hang out with me, anyway?”

A little blunt, but it got the point across.

They had eventually gotten a picnic table set up in a small clearing (after braving some more steep inclines and blocky platforms, much to Susanne’s dismay). Their Pokémon were milling around, playing with toys and exploring their surroundings, while Gill and Susanne opted to stay by the table and prepare sandwiches. Susanne’s Whimsicott and Pepper eagerly leaned over their shoulders while they pulled out all their ingredients.

Susanne looked up from her half-finished sandwich, scowling. “What?” she snapped. “Am I not allowed to hang out with my brother?”

“Y-You are! It’s just…you don’t do it often.” Gill tugged at her jacket’s collar.

“Uh, yeah. I know that. That’s why I’m doing it now.” Susanne replied. “I don’t have an ulterior motive, Gillian.”

“Mm.” Gill doubted that. Susanne Monet wasn’t the type of person to do something that didn’t benefit her.

“Seriously, I’m not lying. I just wanted to check up on you.”

…Hm.

And how, exactly, did that benefit her?

Gill bit his lip and went back to sandwich making. Something to chew on, he guessed. Pepper snickered and tugged at the tablecloth.

“Why? ‘m doing fine.” He grabbed the bag of whipped cream and squeezed some onto his bread. “Just, uh, doing schoolwork…haha…”

“You’re still interested in the BB League, right? Made any progress on that?” Susanne propped her elbows up on the table.

“Nope. Not really…”

Gill neglected to mention that he did visit the clubroom last week. He poked his head inside and looked around. Ran away as soon as he spotted the Elite Four, but. Better than most attempts.

“Hm. What about just training in general?” Susanne looked Gill in the eye. “You’ve been keeping up with that?”

Oh. So that’s what this is. She’s just checking to see if Gill got any stronger. Probably hoping to challenge him to a match later. Well, she was about to be sorely disappointed.

“No…I’ve been really busy. With…uh, other classes. And stuff.” Gill rubbed her neck. “Um.”

“Oh.” Susanne clicked her tongue. She leaned back, stopping to stroke her Whimsicott’s head. “Hmph.”

Gill sighed and reached for the strawberries.

They spent a few minutes in silence as Gill arranged the fruit in neat rows. He gave a couple to Sugar when she meandered over.

“I don’t know why you bother with that club,” Susanne declared suddenly. “It’s not like it’s a real league or anything.”

“It looks good on resumes,” Gill offered. Susanne rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, and you know what else looks good? Good grades. You don’t need to join that play-pretend club just to boost your GPA. Yours is fine already.”

Gill ignored that last part. “It’s not just a ‘play-pretend’ thing. A lot of people there are plenty strong.” Like the Elite Four.

“Yeah, but everyone there who’s barely a challenge still uses Mono type teams like wannabe Gym Leaders. One Flip Turn from Palafin, and that’s it for that fire boy’s team.”

I don’t know if that’s the case. But Gill didn’t want to argue semantics with her, so she just shrugged.

“And that Kieran kid? Arc, don’t even get me started on him,” Susanne fed a bit of lettuce to Whimsicott, who eagerly gobbled it up. “The guy just typed in ‘best Pokémon to use in doubles’ in Sligoogle and took the first six that showed up. I bet I could take him, no problem.”

Gill didn’t know whether to chalk this up to Susanne’s ego talking, or if he actually believed she had a chance against the Champion.

“Why don’t you try?” he asked, putting the finishing touches on his sweet sandwich. He cursed as he knocked the plastic knife off the table.

“Because,” Susanne said as Gill bent down, “I don’t want to deal with all that! I’d either have to sign up for the Club or ‘formally request a match’-“ that bit was said with air-quotes, “-and it would take too long! Besides, I don’t need to fight him to know I could beat him.”

…Sounds to me you’re scared of losing, she remarked internally.

Gill stood back up, dusting off her pants. “Sounds like you have some opinions,” she remarked aloud instead.

“Sure. But if you want to join them, I won’t stop you,” Susanne said. “If that’s what you wanna do.”

Gill shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich.

Sweet.

...A little too sweet, if he was being honest.

Maybe cut back on the strawberries.

-=-

“Oh. Before I forget.”

They were in one of Blueberry's numerous, plain white hallways, painfully bland and empty. Gill looked over his shoulder.

Susanne reached into her bag, rummaging through it and cursing, before pulling out something wrapped in crumpled tissue paper.

“Here.” She held out the lump. “For you.”

“Er…” Gill gulped, delicately taking the thing and cradling it in his hands. “…What is it?”

“A gift! Saw it at the school store. Thought you’d like it,” Susanne replied with a grin. “Go on, unwrap it!”

Gill did so. She gently peeled back the tissue layer by layer, eventually revealing a pair of red-tinted goggles with green accents.

They were too small for her…and Susanne wasn’t the kind to give out accessories…so…

“…Safety Goggles?” he stammered.

“Uh, yeah.” Susanne nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Aren’t you messing around with Flygon using Sandstorm? Well, give those to your Alcremie! It won’t take chip damage now.”

“Oh. You’re. You’re right.” Gill held the goggles up to the light. “Thanks. I’ll use them for sure.”

Sugar’s holding an Air Balloon right now, but…I can make it work. Probably. Not like that Earthquake strategy is working out, anyway…

“Glad you like it!” Susanne laughed. She clapped a hand on Gill’s shoulder. “Now, I gotta go. Thanks for the picnic. See you in Tera Strats tomorrow!”

She waved, not looking behind her, and rounded a corner.

Gill was alone yet again.

…

He looked down at his gift.

Everything’s about battling with her. Down to the gifts she gives.

Gill sighed.

Of course.

Humming to himself, Gill spun the goggles around his finger and kept on walking.