Night Viewing

[Thorton / Volkner]

(This is open for whoever wants to join in. /Volkner)

The night sky was as brilliant as it ever was. The glistening stars were shining brightly, contrasted by the dark background. Volkner gazes into the sky, white clouds of breath escaping him. He was sitting at the edge of the gym roof, smoking a cigarette. It was a lonesome night, despite the many folk walking around on this chill night. He puffed a cloud of smoke, looking down at the city in which he grew up in.

"Tonight's pretty lonesome," the blonde Gym Leader said, blowing out smoke as he spoke. "I sort of wish that idiot was here." He laughed, shaking his head. "Hell, I'd want any loser here. Beats being alone."

[Flint]

Flint sighed, his hands in his jacket pockets as he walked through the city. Work was extremely tiring today, and his Flareon trailed by his ankles drowsily. He oftentimes didn't feel very comfortable at work at all, knowing that in the back of his mind Volkner was upset. He couldn't imagine not being happy at work, as tiring as it was, and to hear Volkner go on over how depressed and lifeless he had gotten worried him.

With that in mind, he decided to quickly visit Volkner before heading home. Hopefully he was doing better than when he had last seen him. In a few minutes he approached the gym, knocking on the doors of the building. There was no response. He looked up and around, until he saw a pair of dangling feet high above on the roof of the gym.

"Volk?" he called out, half-amused that his friend was sitting in such a peculiar place all alone. "What are you doing?"

[Thorton / Volkner]

A familiar voice rang through the quiet night. Volkner looked down, seeing the trademark hairstyle of his dearest friend, Flint. Slightly ecstatic, Volkner stood up slowly, towering over his friend. He then jumped over the ledge, screaming "Hey, Flint! Catch me!"

[Flint]

Flint's face contorted in confusion and slight horror. Volkner wanted him to catch him?! A 150 pound man?! What if they died?

"Uh… Okay?!" Flint's Flareon backed away, ducking behind a few bushes. Flint ran onto the soft grass and extended his arms, shutting his eyes tightly. Luckily he caught Volkner, but he was now face-down into the grass.

"O… Ow… Get off…"

[Thorton / Volkner]

Falling completely on top of Flint, Volkner was slightly paralyzed from the fall. Unable to move, he could't do as Flint wanted to do. He wasn't even able to move his hand to send out his Jolteon, to help push himself off of Flint.

"S-sorry, bro.." Volkner grunted, in complete pain from the fall. "Would've thought you'd catch me properly.." Soon enough, Volkner was barely able roll over Flint, exercising pain as he laid next to him.

[Flint]

"I'm sorry. Maybe we can practice and I can get better at it sometime," he said sarcastically, trying to keep his grin from forming, but it did anyways. He looked at Volkner out of the corner of his eyes and examined his facial expression.

"You look…" He hesitated. "…A lot happier than when I last saw you. What happened?" Not saying that it was bad seeing him like this, but it was just such a sudden change. He was completely carefree.

[Thorton / Volkner]

"Oh.." Volkner started, slightly surprised. "I guess I'm finally the one on top of things." He stood up, dusting off his shoulders, shrugging. "You know how much I like dominating."

He takes out a Pokeball, sending out his Jolteon. With a blinding light, a yellow, four legged Pokemon appeared, its spikes as sharp as tacks. The Jolteon jolted over to its friend, playing around with its friend. Volkner then extends his arm out to Flint, looking down with his usual blank, emotionless stare.

[Flint]

Flint rolled his eyes and slowly sat up, grabbing Volkner's hand to pull him back up to his feet. He stood beside him and watched how his Flareon and Volkner's Jolteon played around, rolling in the grass and playfully attacking each other. Flint smiled - the sight reminded him of when he and Volkner were younger.

"It's a nice night, bro," Flint said, looking up at the stars. A shooting star just fell through the sky. "Why were you watching it alone?"

[Thorton / Volkner]

Volkner watched with Flint, as they're Pokemon playfully messed around with each other. It was a memorable sight -- as though it were Flint and Volkner all over again.

As Flint started speaking, a shooting star had fallen through the night. "Because, Flint, none of today's challengers weren't even worth shit." He said, taking a hit off of his cigarette. "I've been thinking lately.. about if I should challenge the Elite Four. Being the best Gym Leader in Sinnoh is boring. All these trainers are just pathetic. I didn't become a Gym Leader to fight losers, you know?"

[Flint]

Flint's eyes widened, and he looked at Volkner in surprise. "You want to leave your position as gym leader? Just because you're not getting enough challengers?" Flint turned away and frowned. "No one gets great challengers all the time, Volk. I know some battles are really boring but you have to know that they're trying the best they can, too."

Flint lifted his head and smiled breezily. "You'll get a really great challenger soon. I can almost sense it. And if you want to challenge the Elite Four, how do you think you can get past Bertha with your Electric-type team?" He grinned teasingly.

[Thorton / Volkner]

He sighed heavily, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Flint," he started, revealing his blue eyes. "There's just not enough challenge as a Gym Leader. Sure, maybe one or two every few years, but that's it."

Looking up at Flint's smile, he almost smirked. He wanted to deny that he enjoyed Flint's company. "Oh, my Octillery will just make Bertha really wet, I can just feel it."

[Flint]

"… I'm gonna pretend you didn't mean that in a dirty way," Flint said, his eye twitching. He put his hands in his pants' pockets and looked down at the ground absentmindedly. Volkner had been so happy when he'd first started out as Gym leader - what happened? If Volkner hadn't become gym leader, Flint would've definitely fought for the spot. He needed to appreciate his status more often.

He was going to try really hard to fuel his passion for battling again. He just had to find some incredibly strong, awesome trainer to lift his spirits. Maybe some challenger who got defeated by Bertha--

Wait. How was the Elite Four even getting challenges if all of the trainers had been losing to Volkner? Was he…

Flint suddenly turned to look at Volkner, glaring. It was an unusual sight. "Volkner, have you been giving away badges?"

[Thorton / Volkner]

Again, he sighed, feeling the disappoint from Flint's tone. "They aren't worth my time. They would never get the badge, anyway, so I might as well give them away. It's a sad sight to see when someone tries their best to beat you, but in the end, could never achieve it." Volkner shrugged, trying to avoid Flint's beaming. As much as Volkner loved battling, he couldn't stand complete losers. Sure, there are close battles, but he cannot stand battling weak trainers.

[Flint]

Flint took a few steps away from Volkner without noticing. For once, his face was solemn. Too solemn, in fact, that he couldn't even control his disappointment. His fists were rolled at his sides and his eyes were closed.

Slowly, he opened them, and he spoke calmly and sternly. "You know... if we weren't so close, I could get you fired for doing that." His anger was building up, and he was trying to keep it away. He didn't like it when people saw him angry. Especially him.

[Thorton / Volkner]

"Look, Flint. I didn't become the highest ranked Gym Leader in Sinnoh so I could fight some weak punks. Being a Gym Leader means you'll be challenged by the strongest of the non-elite."

Between his two fingers were the blazing cigarette, the white ends of it outlining a ruby red, as Volkner started to suck the air around the cigarette. He held the smoke, looking downwards, still avoiding his best friend's piercing eyes.