The Average Life of a Pokédex Holder

Keeping a Head Above Water

Ruby drifted serenely through the pool water.

He was simply upside-down, deep underneath the surface and watching everyone swim around. It was a strange way of seeing things – it made everything look topsy-turvy, as if the people were sticking out of the air feet-first instead of head out of the water.

Letting his body float back upright, Ruby glanced around the bottom of the pool. It was funny, but he could always hold his breath a lot longer than most people. It was already half a minute of being underwater and his lungs weren't ready to burst yet.

The sight of blue fabric and tanned skin entered his vision from above. He waved at Sapphire.

Sapphire waved back.

Hmm. He noticed that there was a strange grin on her face. Usually, she only looked like that when she was planning –

Ruby recoiled a second too late as Sapphire kicked towards him in a lunge. If this was the average swimmer, he might've managed to escape, but instead he had a savage wild-child going after him. Before he fully knew it, she tore the swimming cap right off his head.

Immediately, she swam for the surface. Ruby shot up after her, desperate to get that cap back.

"– a waterproof camera!" he heard as he broke the surface. Sapphire was shouting at everyone, waving his cap in the air. His. Cap. "We gotta get a photo of him without his cap on!"

He cursed and sucked in a deep breath before going back under. Hopefully no one had spotted him in that brief moment. Ruby had kept that scar hidden since he was a kid; there was no way he was letting Sapphire get ahold of potential blackmail like that. Memories faded and became unreliable, but photographic evidence was forever.

Ruby graciously ignored the real reason why and the fact that there was literally no incentive for him to prevent it.

He needed to get that cap back before someone arrived with a waterproof camera. Unfortunately, the odds were not on his side. It was Sapphire. There was virtually no chance of successfully fighting her for the cap, especially since this was a pool and his pokémon were on a bench somewhere in their balls.

And also, Blue was here. She'd probably brought a freaking collapsible camera tripod in her duffel bag.

To capture all those special moments, Ruby mocked in his thoughts.

Which, of course, distracted him so that once he blinked again, he realized that literally every 'Dex Holder that had come was now underwater and looking at him. Sapphire was gesturing at them, pointing at him.

Specifically, at his forehead.

A deluge of bubbles exploded from his mouth as he yelped in surprise. It took another second for Ruby to realize that Blue was actually absent from the group, and another few seconds as he backpedal-swam in a jerk to spot a pillar of white erupting from the surface.

Oh frick briskets, he thought frantically.

The white foam floated back up to reveal Blue a few yards away in her green and white bikini, bearing a camera in her hands. She was grinning.

Ruby fainted underwater.

. . .

He was first aware of the fact that his throat felt raw.

I need water. Ruby fumbled around with a hand blindly. His fingers immediately jabbed into something hard and unfamiliar. Wasn't he in his bedroom? What happened to his table?

"Ow," he said; or at least, he tried to. It mostly came out as a hoarse whisper.

Ruby finally blinked open his eyes. It was like his lids were coated in sand.