Heart of Gold

 Three more weeks until juice sales will start to increase. While it would be more efficient to grow their own trees, it would take years for them to flourish. Plus geographically speaking they would need to pick an area that had rich fertile soil. Was there any farmland that was good enough quality and up for sale? Silver began to looking up the information on his PokeGear while responding to Gold after he stocked their product.

         “I’d need to look in property values, deeds and taxes along with farm lands that are good for growing apricorns. As for moving our business elsewhere, that would require more real estate hassle that I don’t have time for at the moment. Plus here is the most accessible place outside from selling our stuff outside the PokeAthalon.” 

     He was NOT looking to pay for using those grounds for business. He looked up at Gold briefly before looking around at their current customers.

        “Plus you have to keep in mind this isn’t the only stuff I’m selling after all. My treasure business would suffer since my time would be doing research and licenses and certifications. Speaking off, do you still plan on doing treasure hunting at the end of the month or will you be training for the next season?”

Of course Silver had something to say about his suggestion. Gold didn’t seem to mind. The points Silver brought up were all true after all. It wasn’t that simple to pick up and move their business, and even if they could it would have a negative impact on their sales. 

“New Bark has plenty of farmland.” Gold said as he stepped into his spot to assist Silver in serving their customers. Silver was faster at handling the money, so Gold helped by getting together the items requested.

“You’re right though. It’s too far away from the stadium. Plus, New Bark isn’t a place people go to for shoppin’. Everythin’ has to be shipped out. Even the big farmer’s market is here in Goldenrod...” The truth of the matter saddened him a little. He didn’t have time to dwell on it as Silver asked him his other question.

@goldenboyofheart

It had been a few days since the whole incident, and Nate had finally gotten back from his mandatory trek. What had he been doing? Well, as punishment for making a tactically stupid decision, Nate had to carry Dratini up and down Victory Road, starting at five and increasing by one each day until the week was over. Currently, he was at seven. Well, at only about 7 pounds per pokemon, they shouldn’t be much of a hassle, especially for someone who was pretty good at using Aura to enhance his physical strength. Yet it seems that his ego had gotten to him, as he never considered how much these little wigglers he had to wrangle as they wriggled all over his body. At this point, he was exhausted after his second ten-mile trek of the week, and it wasn’t too long after he passed through the League’s doors that he fell to the ground, letting the Dratini slither away now that their free ride had gone kaput.

Unfortunately, Nate had promised his pokemon that he’d get to some training today, meaning that he had to get his ass off the ground… as soon as he could move again. He didn’t have any pokemon either, since he asked Lucario to hold onto his pokeballs, figuring Lance’s Dratini were good enough to ward away most of the pokemon in Victory Road. Thankfully, Nate might actually have help getting up this time! All he had to do was just get his attention and it would work out, right?

“Hey… hey! Gold! Could you uh…. gimme a hand here? I’m havin trouble getting up right now…”

It had been an interesting series of events that caused them to cross paths. Gold had not anticipated learning so much so quickly about the Unovan that he often saw visiting Lance at the Indigo Plateau.

---

One evening while Gold was dragged along for one of Silver’s vigilante escapades they encountered a snag. A trainer on a Dragonite got in the way of Silver and his target, forcing the boys to stand down and stop for the night. Later that trainer, Nate or Black as he called himself, approached Gold to get into contact with Silver in order to learn a technique that he had seen the other trainer do. Unable to lie or cover up the fact it was them, Gold felt he had no choice but to arrange the meeting. Silver reluctantly agreed and one night at midnight they all met at the roof of the Goldenrod Department Store. Silver tried to be sneaky about concealing themselves but after their plan fell through and Nate revealed that he was part of the International Police they had to simply negotiate their terms more openly. Silver (or Kamon as he had called himself) would teach Nate (or Black as he had called himself) how to use a ghost pokemon to create a pocket out of his shadow, in exchange for Interpol technology that Nate could offer. At least that had been the terms until Lance himself broke up their little meeting (he had watched the whole thing) and confiscated the tech. Nate was going to have to pay Silver with money instead. And Gold was going to have to be the one to play middleman to arranging these lessons...

---

It was odd that a foreigner would be all the way in Kanto regularly simply to visit Lance. Even if that Nate guy was a celebrity in Unova and Lance was a celebrity himself. After learning the fact they were BOTH part of the International Police it made a lot more sense to Gold. Not only was Lance a mentor to Gold for Champion, he was a mentor to Nate as a member of Interpol’s G-man squad. That also explained why Lance had rank over Nate to take back the tech he tried to offer to Silver, and dish out punishment on Nate for it too.

Currently Gold was working the front lobby of the Indigo Plateau. That job entailed sitting by the front doors as a greeter and to offer assistance to visitors that needed directions to facilities. Depending on traffic it could have been a busy or boring job. Today was on the slow and boring side. That is until Nate collapsed through the doors with an armful of Dratini.

Gold didn’t have to worry about the dragon pokemon, they knew where to go from here. That allowed Gold to focus on Nate and help the other young man up.

“Geez, how many times are you goin’ to have to do that?” He asked as he pulled Nate back up onto his feet. Gold didn’t let go yet just in case Nate wobbled.

Ho-Oh would give Gold a sympathetic look as he spoke. To be honest, he really wasn’t well versed in politics or anything similar either. Centuries ago, yes, but a lot had changed since then. 

“I wouldn’t go as far as saying that. You’ll get it eventually; learning new things like this takes time.” He’d say. “Others just need to understand that. Truth be told, I don’t know much about current politics or economic affairs either. If you’d asked me a long time ago, I would have, but things are a bit more complicated now. I’m sure there’s information out there on the subject, hopefully in a more brief and concise manner than a book.” He’d come to learn books were a bit long winded and crammed with almost too much information. 

Ho-Oh’s brows knit together for a brief second. “I don’t think that’s true.” He’d look over at Gold. “Do you ever talk about anything besides politics and economics at League meetings?” He asked. “I hope that’s not the sole focus of every gathering.”

“I guess...” Gold had taken to watching videos on subjects he had problems with. Not every video helped him, but sometimes he came across one that explained the subject in a way he was able to understand. It took a lot of time to find them and he didn’t always have that time, so it was a slow process.

Gold’s restlessness and tiredness was making him fidgety. He rolled onto his back once more and gazed up at Ho-Oh as if he had sensed the other looking at him. There was a particular look in Gold’s amber colored eyes; the source of his nickname. They conveyed a message similar to that of a child looking up at a parent with the desire of wanting to be picked up and comforted. Though he made no motion towards Ho-Oh.

When Gold was younger during the time of his journey, and first meeting Ho-Oh, he was freer about hugging and other forms of friendly physical contact. However as he grew older he was forced out of the habit. Not because he wanted to be that way. Gold was the kind of person who responded better to verbal reassurance when it was accompanied by physical reassurance. 

Syph nodded and knew how it was with Team Rocket lurking about, having known how they took over the Radio tower in Goldenrod City. Her hometown, and it terrified her to no end. If only she would of gone to help rescue those people..

But her mind went back to the Gyarados who, was now in front of them and was nicknamed Gobo, that smile of hers returning to her face.

“Hey there big guy, such a good boy.” She chuckled, wanting to reach out to pet the Gyarados. She wasn’t even afraid of the giant water type. Though she turned her attention back towards Gold and soon, Pixie hopped up onto her shoulder, making her glance at her partner and scratch under her chin.

“Pixie? She’s actually the very first Pokemon I took in when I was little. While I was playing outside my Grandparents’ daycare, I found her in the tall grass. Poor thing was only just a baby and injured badly. I took her in and nursed her back to health.” Pixie chimed in with a trill and purr, swishing her tails happily.

“I didn’t realize she was different from other Vulpix till I was told. We’ve been together since.”

Gold waved in for the water type to join them. The red Gyarados obliged and leaned in his head closer to the edge of the pier where they stood. This allowed Gold to reach up and touch one of the pokemon’s face fins. Which he then started to run his fingers over, feeling the skin of the fins for any parasites. He looked over at Syph and nodded an okay for her to touch the pokemon as well if she wanted to. 

“Wow, that’s really lucky that your first pokemon was a shiny!” Gold said after he listened to her story. “Lucky for Pixie too that she found you to take care of her.”

“Gobo was pretty banged up from fightin’ the other Gyarados that evolved at the lake. I guess being red turned him into a livin’ target. It’s amazin’ that he managed to fight them off and still put up a fight against my pokemon when we got to him.”

BASICS NAME: Amatsu PRONOUNS: She/her SEXUALITY: Aro/Ace ZODIAC SIGN: Capricorn AGE: 29

EXPERIENCE HOW LONG (MONTHS/YEARS?): Since 2000 on AOL/AIM. Started Tumblr in 2011.

PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: AOL chatrooms, AIM, MSN, DeviantArt chatrooms, Skype, Tumblr, Discord.

BEST EXPERIENCE: My first group on Tumblr (Bebe’s PC) was a great time. Very busy with lots of people having fun. A good mix of canon and original characters. The Team Rocket side had people who were great at creating storylines. I’ll never forget the thread I did that was a 5-way battle thread against Kyurem that I ran like a DnD fight to help things run smoothly and to completion. Lots of good stories with my OCs. RPing Proton was a ton of fun. I got started RPing Ariana there. Good times.

WRITING  PREFERENCES FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT: Preference is for stories with purpose above anything else. Fluff for a reason. Angst for a reason. I don’t write smut at all, but if I did it would only be on my blog if it served a purpose for the story.

PLOTS OR MEMES: I prefer plots 100%. You see starter meme posts from me? It’s a trick. I will turn it into a plot. Headcanon ask memes are useful too though to get me thinking about my muses.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: A flexible medium. When I hear short I think of one-line posts which I’m not into unless it’s crack or commentary. When I hear long I imagine forum level essay long monstrosities that make me exhausted just looking at them. For me post length is variable and depends on what is the point I’m trying to make in a post. Setting up a scene will be very, very long for me because I like going into detail of the “stage” a scene is set. Compare that to dialog and those can be much shorter, unless there is important information that needs to be shared through the narrative.  tdlr: It depends. I write what’s appropriate with the goal of advancing the scene.

Gold was at the Indigo League that day finishing up the last of his duties. With the paperwork he was tasked with left on Lance’s desk Gold was on his way to his locker to pick up his things before leaving. That was when he heard the sound of something hitting the floor of the hallway. Gold turned and looked over to see a black bracelet on the floor, and the Champion Steven Stone walking away from it unaware that it had slipped from him.

“Champion Steven!” He called out to get the man’s attention while he scooped up the Mega Ring. It wasn’t too uncommon to see the Hoenn Champion visiting the Indigo Plateau.

(Full disclosure that I, the Mun, am aro-ace myself and have chosen to share this trait with my muse as a means of expressing myself through fiction. Under a readmore since by nature of the subject this post will touch on sexual, heteronormative, and aphobic content.)

Send me a symbol for my muse to give your muse an item!

I’ll be specific about the order given and choose something I think your muse might like (i.e. a green tea frappuccino from Starbucks, a bag of nacho cheese Doritos from the gas station, an order of buttered pecan pancakes from a restaurant, a chocolate iced donut, etc.). WARNING: some prompts are NSFW!

Pixie sat herself down and waited for the trainer to kneel down. Only then, did she sniff his hand, moving her head a bit to let him pet her. Yes, all the pets! “Vulpix!” Syph chuckled with how happy the little fox was, mismatched eyes lifting up to focus on him.

“Nice to meet you, Gold. I’m Syphoria, but folks call me Syph for short.” She introduced herself, looking down towards the Vulpix. “And this is Pixie.” “Vul vulpix!” The Vulpix chimed in, hopping onto the railing to look down below.

The woman soon joined alongside her Pokemon to gaze out, only for her eyes to catch the glistening, red hue of the Gyarados. Her eyes widened with seeing it as she recognized it from the news long ago. Did the water type belong to Gold? “Is that your Gyarados? I remember hearing about it in the news a while back.” She paused a moment before her smile returned, seeing just how happy the Pokemon was.

“He looks a lot happier.”

Gold waved at the Gyarados to get the large Water-type’s attention and let him know where he was. The pokemon responded by swimming over to the pier and gazing up at them.

“Yep. That’s him all right.” He replied. “Mr. Lake-of-Rage himself. I call him Gobo now.”

There was a momentary look of surprise on Gold’s face when Syphoria commented on the pokemon’s demeanor. He blushed slightly, not expecting the compliment, but was all smiles.

“Aw, thanks! It was a lot of work to get him to calm down. He was pretty mad with Team Rocket buzzin’ the waters, ya know? That was a long time ago. It’s probably a distant memory for him now.”

A distant memory, but one that was not forgotten. Gold learned not to have the Gyarados on his party if he needed to go to Mahogany Town or the Lake of Rage. Just being in the area agitated the pokemon and made him harder to handle. Gold didn’t blame Gobo, what Team Rocket had done to it was traumatic.

Questions about the muse!

💙  = Who does your muse have a deep and loyal love for?

His friends and his family. Gold deeply cares about the people that are close to him. 

Questions about the muse!

🍕 = What is your muse’s usual pizza order? Do they order any drinks, sides, or desserts to go with it?

That depends on when he’s eating pizza. On weekends he usually won’t eat pizza. Vegan pizza places are not common.

His preference is for vegetarian pizza. However he will eat any pizza: cheese only, classic pepperoni, meat lovers, Hawaiian, spicy deluxe. All pizza is good pizza to him (unless it’s a bad pizza place but that’s a quality issue).

Questions about the muse!

🌶️ = Can your muse handle spicy food? What is the spiciest food that they can handle?

Yes, Gold can handle spicy food! More than your typical Kanto/Johto palette that’s for sure. If you’d ever watched the Hot Ones series, Gold would get to the middle of the line up comfortably. It’s when the spiciness gets painful that he won’t eat it by choice. But if he was challenged? He’d force himself through to the last bottle and make it through.

🔋 = Who or what drains your muse the most? Who or what helps to revitalize that energy?

Gold can handle the physical strain he puts himself through when training no problem. Some food and rest and he’s back on his feet. It’s psychological strain that’s harder for him to recover from. For example, if someone were to berate him verbally he’d be down in a slump for a while. After something like that he needs love and attention to help him feel better again. Hugs and cuddles from his Pokemon are a good start and are often enough. Other times he really needs comfort from another human, usually his mom, but if it’s from a friend he appreciates it even more. 

🎸 = Can your muse play an instrument? If yes, which one(s)? If no, do they want to learn how to play? Can they write lyrics or sing?