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a-fluffer-nutter · 23 days ago

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An Elite (Found) Family

A/N - A bit late because this fic was much longer than any I have ever written before, here is Day 18 of Tickletober. The prompt was "tickle fight" and there is so much tickling in this, your teeth will rot from the fluff of it all.

Pokemon is my favorite fandom ever and Silver was my first game ever. I have always adored the Johto Elite Four and Lance, this this fic was decades in the making. Koga, being my first love, gets to be in the spotlight like he deserves. With the background being a mix of the games and the manga, along with my own headcanons mixed in, here is my favorite fic that I have ever written. Please enjoy and I'm going to go to bed.

Word Count: 8,038 (wtf)

The day had been quiet, with only one challenger arriving at the Indigo Plateau that morning and after a hard fought battle, they lost to Will. Having received the announcement over the intercom that the challenger had lost, the rest of the elite trainers let out sighs of disappointment.

Legs crossed and eyes closed, the ninja sat near the exit of his room, the rise and fall of his chest slight and even as he meditated. Phone buzzing in his back pocket, Koga opened his eyes and let out a sigh. Feeling relaxed after an hour of meditation, the notification on his phone from his daughter let him know that she was a few minutes away with his lunch.

“Be there in a few,” the text read, and Koga replied his standard, “see you soon,” in response. Janine never needed to bring him food, Koga always bringing food for himself, but Janine insisted that he was “as thin as a rail” and needed to eat more. Ignoring her concerns about his appearance, Koga never minded when Janine showed up with food, as it was a chance for him to see her. It wasn’t an everyday thing, but whenever there was a large break in challengers at the Fuchsia City Gym, she would swing by the local restaurant and pick up their favorite meals. Utilizing her Crobat’s speed, Janine was able to soar across the Kanto region in under half an hour.

Joints creaking as he stood, Koga rolled his shoulders to stretch out any knots that had formed during his hour of stillness. Walking through his forested arena, Ariados perked up from his sleep and slipped down one of the trees, using his web to land gracefully. The bug type followed his trainer as Koga arrived at the door. Placing a palm on the sensor, the door into Will’s room opened and he stepped inside.

“You’re evil!” a yell bounced off the walls and startled Koga as he walked further into the room, ducking around one of the levitating transparent cubes that circled Will’s arena. Interest piqued, Koga stopped at the edge of the battlefield, standing in crudely drawn box that Will would stand in at the start of a battle. The chalk around this edge of the arena was faded, needing to be gone back over after the battle Will had had that morning. Fiddling with his scarf, Koga’s eyes fell upon the psychic master sprawled out in the center of his battlefield, legs pinned by the woman on top of him.

“Hello Koga,” Karen looked up at the man, her Houndoom having let out a soft yip to notify her of his arrival.

“Koga! Help me!” Will squeaked as Karen continued to dance her fingers over his ribs, digging into the gaps between the bones as if she was a pirate hunting for treasure. Will’s laughter was reminiscent to that of a squeaky toy that one would buy for their Pokémon to play with. It fit Will’s playful demeanor well, a side of him few people outside the Elite 4 ever got to see.

“Whatever you did, you likely deserve this,” Koga flashed the younger man a soft smile, holding his hand up to give a short wave. “Be sure not to kill him, Karen. We wouldn’t be able to find a replacement fast enough if another challenger comes through that door.”

“We’ll see,” Karen teased, kneading into Will’s belly to elicit a shriek.

Turning away as fast as he could, Koga continued to the door. Gently patting Will’s Xatu that always kept watch at the entrance as he passed, Koga scanned his palm to exit into the lobby, hoping that neither of them had seen the blush rising to his cheeks.

“Salamence, use fly!” Karen lifted her arm up as the giant dragon took off into the air, just narrowly avoiding Umbreon’s Foul Play. Umbreon’s powerful tail slammed into the ground and bounced back onto her feet, looking up to gauge Salamence’s next move.

Koga sat on the steps leading to the Hall of Fame room, Will sitting in Lance’s golden throne behind him as Bruno sat a few feet away from Koga, running his fingers through Koga’s Skuntank’s fur. The three of them watched as Karen and Lance battled, the two of them having swapped Pokémon as a way to learn new skills and strategies. At that moment, they were evenly matched, each of them having three fainted Pokémon and two waiting to be sent out to battle.

“Go!” Karen called and the Salamence dove down, folding his wings in tightly to gain speed.

“Confuse Ray!” Lance yelled. Instantly, the yellow patterns on Umbreon’s silky black coat began to glow. Bracing herself, Umbreon’s crimson eyes focused on the dragon barreling toward her. Once Salamence was a few feet away, Umbreon let out a scream and a purple ray of light left her mouth, hitting Salamence. The Salamence struck Umbreon, and the smaller Pokémon was launched across the field. Panting heavily, Umbreon hopped to her feet, favoring her back right leg as Salamence stood up.

“You doing okay, bud?” Karen asked, provoking the Pokémon to turn around and face her. Eyes drifting and unfocused, the Confuse Ray was kicking in. “Okay, let’s give you a rest.”

Withdrawing the dragon type’s pokeball, Karen returned him back to her. Withdrawing a different pokeball with other hand, Karen tossed it into the air and unleashed Lance’s Altaria. With a majestic call, Altaria’s cloudy wings flapped gracefully as she stared down at Umbreon.

“Assurance,” Lance demanded, gesturing to his beautiful Pokémon that seemed eager to fight.

“Cotton Guard,” Karen beamed as the flying type poofed out her wings, the clouds growing dramatically to protect her slight body as Umbreon rammed into her, claws lashing out with a shadowy aura surrounding them.

“Hey,” Koga’s attention was drawn away from the battle before him as he heard Bruno chuckle. Turning his head to see what was going on, Koga watched as his Skuntank rubbed his muzzle into Bruno’s bare abdomen. Whiskers twitching, Skuntank shook his head playfully as Bruno squirmed away from the giant poison type, letting out a few chuckles as he gently pushes the Pokemon’s face away from his skin. “Watch it. It tickles.”

Cheeks growing warm, Koga snapped his head back around to try to focus on the battle in front of him. Having sensed a slight change in the ninja’s emotions, Will’s Slowbro bounded from his spot beside Will and sat down next to Koga, his eyes staring right through the man.

“I’m fine,” he muttered, reaching out to scratch between Slowbro’s ears. Content with this answer, Slowbro closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. Sighing, Koga resumed his observation of the battle, trying to take mental notes of how Altaria was able to maneuver so quickly in the air while it readied a powerful Dragon Claw.

“Good job,” Koga smiled with a bow. “Better luck next time. I am looking forward to our next battle.”

“Thanks, sir,” a boy around Janine’s age replied as he recalled his fainted Mandibuzz. The boy had mentioned that he was an immigrant to the Kanto region, having come from Unova. The battle was relatively easy, but Koga still admired the kid’s spirit and enjoyed having the chance to see Pokémon he would rarely ever see in his arena. Koga couldn’t remember the last time he battled a Cryogonal or a Zebstrika, but he had a bit of fun with it. While obviously preferring when a challenger had a poison type that wasn’t native to Kanto or Johto came through, he still liked to see the diversity of other trainer’s teams.

The PA announced that the challenger had lost and with a ring of a bell, the door between Koga’s and Will’s rooms opened for the trainer to exit.

The moment the boy was out of sight, Koga let out a deep sigh. Ariados chirped up at him, walking over from where he had landed his final Cross Poison that had secured Koga’s victory. A fond smile rising to his lips, Koga lead Ariados over to the trunk that sat by the door into Bruno’s room. Rooting around inside, Koga grabbed the Full Restore he needed and crouched down to spray the medication over Ariados’ wounds.

“You did a great job,” Koga praised his first ever Pokémon as he scratched the underside of Ariados’ chin. With his free hand, Koga reached for his phone to check his calendar. He had to go see Lance to discuss the champion’s plans on incorporating a Dragalge on his team for special battles with other top trainers from the other regions. This was a discussion Koga had actually been looking forward to having, as Lance’s type specialty rarely intermixed into Koga’s.

“Let’s go,” Koga said and waited for Ariados to climb up his back. Front two legs hooked around Koga’s neck, Koga stood back up and piggybacked Ariados into the next room.

Koga’s childhood had been an unpleasant one. An abusive father and a mother that didn’t dare stand up to her husband, Koga ran away from home as soon as he could. The little Spinarak that had helped him find his way out of the woods became his lifelong partner that he would do anything for. Spinarak’s fondness for being carried like a backpack stayed with him once he evolved, and thankfully as Koga got older, he was big enough and strong enough to carry the weight of seventy-four pound Pokémon on his back.

Heat washed over Koga’s figure, nipping at his skin as the door into Bruno’s room opened. Stepping inside, Ariados shifted uncomfortably as he eyed the lava that poured out of the walls. Patting Ariados’ legs with a comforting touch, Koga walked through the walkway and into the battle arena.

“How was the battle?” Bruno called once Koga’s outline emerged from the steam and smoke. Near the back of the room, Bruno was practicing his kicks alongside his Hitmontop and Hitmonlee. The punching bag swung behind him, the chains squealing out in hopes of being oiled.

“Saw a Gurdurr today. I figured you’d like that,” Koga said nonchalantly, as if he was discussing something as trivial as the weather. This sort of discussion was quite common, though it was usually Will that had the chance to see the foreign Pokémon, being the first Elite 4 member that trainers had to face. Will’s battle record had been quite high in the last few weeks, with only five or so trainers beating him compared to the fifty or so challengers he’s faced. This was a great thing for the league; however, it made everyone else’s lives boring, hence the daily battles between them all whenever no one was too busy with other matters.

“It wasn’t even a Conkeldurr? Was it holding an Eviolite?”

“Choice Band,” Koga replied quickly, shrugging as Bruno seemed taken aback. “Locked into Hammer Arm too. Made my life easy.”

“I need to have a word with this trainer. Need to teach them how to truly harness the power of a fighting type,” Bruno clenched his hands into fists, eyes fiery with passion and from the general ambiance of the room.

“He’s probably still in the lobby if you want to catch him,” Koga let out a quiet chuckle, always amused by Bruno’s readiness to teach a trainer a thing or two about fighting types.

“I think I will,” the buff man crossed his arms, then looked back at his Pokémon. Both nodded as he waved at Koga, heading toward the door into Koga’s room.

Biting back a fond smile, Koga headed in the opposite direction toward Karen’s room. Beads of sweat had begun to drip down the back of his neck beneath his scarf and he could feel Ariados’ discomfort as they had stayed in the room longer than he had planned. Jogging up the steps, Koga placed his palm against the sensor and stepped through the door.

“Hello, dear,” Karen purred, smiling up at the man as he let out a sigh of relief, thankful to be out of Bruno’s sauna of a room.

“How’re you doing Karen?” Koga asked politely as he approached.

The woman was seated in the center of her battlefield, a majority of her Pokémon surrounding her. Brush in hand, Karen ran the bristles through Absol’s fluffy white fur. Purring contently, Absol kneaded into the floor like a Skitty kitten, his nails scrapping along the packed down dirt.

“Wishing you’d lost your battle, so I had something to look forward to,” the woman teased. “These guys are getting antsy.”

As if confirming her statement, Karen’s Houndoom stood up from behind his trainer and propped his chin on Karen’s shoulder. Playfully growling, Houndoom nuzzled into Karen’s face and began to lick wherever he could access. Joyful giggles gushed from Karen’s lips as she scrunched up her shoulders, trying to protect herself from the onslaught of Houndoom’s love.

Ears heating up in a way that felt like he was still in Bruno’s room, Koga instantly looked down at the floor and sped up his pace, passing Karen without any further acknowledgement. Karen, finding this action odd, turned to watch the man leave.

Koga had always been a bit more closed off than the other Elite 4 members and he had reasons for that. While the five of them had villainous pasts, Koga had been part of Team Rocket as one of their leaders for quite some time. After the team was defeated by Red, Blue, and Green, the team disbanded, and Koga was left with no where to go but back to the gym. He, Lt. Surge, and Sabrina had to show that they could be redeemed, which proved to be true when the previous Elite 4 threatened to liberate all of Kanto’s Pokémon. Once Agatha and Lorelei were apprehended and Bruno and Lance had recovered from being under their influence, the duo invited Koga to join the Elite 4 after besting Lance in a battle at the Fuchsia City Gym. After the disbandment of Team Rocket, Koga had adopted his daughter, Janine, from an orphanage that had been directly impacted by Team Rocket. Initially rejecting their offer to be with Janine, Koga eventually accepted his position as an Elite 4 member to bring Karen and Will under his wing, them too having escaped the influences of Neo Team Rocket. By then, Janine was old enough to run the gym alone and had taken the role as the Gym Leader for quite some time at that point. While the Elite 4 had become a tightknit family over the years, Koga still didn’t share much about his life unless directly prompted.

Having noticed Koga’s behavior a few weeks before when he had walked into her tickling the daylights out of Will and how he was behaving the exact same way he was now, Karen’s interest was piqued, and she had a mystery she planned on solving.

“Let’s go!” Karen pumped her fist into the air as Lance’s Dragonite had landed a Hyper Beam, knocking out Koga’s Crobat.

Sitting off to the side, Will officiated the double battle that was taking place in Lance’s room. While the quintet took turns hosting battles in each of their rooms, Lance’s room was the favorite of them all. Not only was it well lit, compared to Karen’s and Koga’s rooms, and there was no environmental hazard to avoid, as there was in Will’s and Bruno’s room, but the battles that took place in Lance’s room felt more official. Besting Lance in his own room made it feel like they were about to be champion. While this would never be the case, it was still a delight to poke fun at Lance for losing in his own arena.

In the middle of the golden arena, Lance’s Dragonite landed beside Karen’s Weavile with a thud. Bruno’s Machamp panted, recovering from Weavile’s Ice Shard. Disappearing into his pokeball, Crobat was withdrawn by Koga, who placed the ball close to his mouth to whisper praises to his Pokémon. Placing Crobat’s pokeball back onto his belt, Koga’s hand ran over a few others, assessing his options. Making eye contact with Dragonite made a metaphorical lightbulb switch on in his head.

“You okay with playing defense?” Koga asked, clicking the top of the pokeball he selected to increase its size to standard.

“It looks like you have a plan,” Bruno wore a determined smile, “By all means.”

“Good,” Koga tossed out his pokeball, revealing his Toxicroak. A shrill shriek was emitted from the Pokémon’s throat as he crossed his arms, brandishing the brilliant red spikes on his knuckles.

“Ice Shard!”

Weavile leaped into the air and quickly began to shoot icicles down at Toxicroak.

“Protect,” Bruno yelled, his Machamp going into action immediately. Leaping in front of Toxicroak, Machamp took the attack head on, though the icicles landed uselessly onto the ground as a near transparent forcefield coated his four crossed arms.

“Toxic!”

Toxicroak hurdled over his partner and opened his mouth. As he was practically on top of Weavile, a sticky purple sludge poured from Toxicroak’s mouth, drenching the dark type completely. Sneering, Toxicroak wiped his lips off with his arm, the leftover sludge dripping onto the floor.

“Ready Dragonite?” Lance called, his Dragonite letting out a roar in response. Flying into the air, Dragonite was readying himself for another Hyper Beam.

Turning to Bruno, Koga lifted one finger in front of his face, then glanced up at the giant dragon. Nodding, Bruno held his arm out.

“Give him a boost, Machamp!”

“Ice Punch!” Koga shouted. As if reading his trainer’s mind, Toxicroak ran over to Machamp and leaped onto the top pair of arms. Once contact was made, Machamp threw Toxicroak into the air toward Dragonite. Arm now coated in ice, Toxicroak threw his limb back to gain momentum.

�� “Dragon,” Dragonite let out before Toxicroak’s balled fist and claw impacted his face.

“No,” Lance and Karen yelled simultaneously as Dragonite plummeted to the ground. With a loud thud, Dragonite landed on his face as Toxicroak landed easily, his limber legs meant for jumping and landing from great heights.

“Oh,” Bruno’s mouth went slack as the Dragonite struggled to stand up, wincing in pain as he pushed his large body up onto his hind legs.

“Wait,” Koga smirked, watching as the Dragonite managed to stand back up. With a victorious roar, Dragonite flexed his arms before letting out a squeal of pain. A purple hue coated his body and in an instant, Dragonite fell back to the floor; fainted.

“Poison Touch.” Bruno let out a huff of a laugh, “Good job.”

“Used an Ability Patch this morning,” Koga grinned, crossing his arms as Lance withdrew his fainted ace Pokémon. “On Crobat too, since someone here likes to use Safeguard.”

Both men looked over at Lance, a man notorious for setting up as many protective shields as he could on his Pokémon, especially Dragonite and Altaria.

“Sorry,” Lance looked over at Karen, wearing a frown. “I’ve let you down.”

“Why would you say that?” Karen crossed her arms, her Weavile mimicking her on the field. “You’ve still got Garchomp.”

“Who is also quad weak to Ice Punch,” Lance looked at the floor. The man didn’t exactly hate losing, but he hated dragging his team mates down in a double battle. “Your Weavile has been badly poisoned and your Absol is weak from Lucario’s Aura Sphere.”

“Where is your fighting spirit?” Karen rolled her eyes with a sly smile as Lance continued to drone on about the ways he could’ve handled his last few plays. The champion didn’t notice as Karen slipped behind him and hugged his waist.

“Karen? What are you – nohoho!” Lance squealed as Karen began to flutter her fingers into his belly, doubling over as he squirmed around in her arms. His loud belly laugh filled the room and the three Pokémon on the field let out gleeful cries.

“Remind me to never be upset around Karen,” Bruno let out a short laugh, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Watching Lance fall onto the floor with Karen following him, Bruno did not see Koga quickly turning his head around and staring at the floor. Lifting his scarf, Koga hid his blushing cheeks. “Help cheer him up, guys!”

With Bruno’s permission, the three Pokémon in the center of the field quickly made their way to Karen and Lance, who was now being pinned down by his arms so Karen could tickle all over his belly without any obstacles. Once the three Pokémon arrived and began to poke and prod all over Lance’s body, his laughter spiking as it all tickled too much, Karen looked up and saw Koga turned away. Body language completely closed off, Koga fully turned himself around and began to inject Revives into Crobat’s and Muk’s pokeballs.

“Hm,” Karen let out a pondering hum, before being distracted by Lance’s wild laughter becoming wheezy. “Okay guys, he’s had enough for now.”

Scarf covering his face to muffle his breathing, Koga hid in the branches of a tree in his room. Eyes closed; the ninja listened for any noise that could suggest one of his Pokémon were nearby.

With the room being filled with trees, Koga used the miniature forest as a way of training himself and his Pokémon. Since he was unable to use his own training dojo back in Fuchsia City, Koga opted to create his own in his room. While Bruno used his room to help him sweat more while he worked out, Koga used his to train his and his Pokémon’s stealth capabilities. A form of training that both he and his Pokémon all enjoyed was when he ran off to go hide amongst the brush and his Pokémon had to work together to find him. Right now, it was Ariados, Venomoth, and Muk that were training with him.

Travelling together, Venomoth lead the other two as he used his psychic abilities in the same way Crobat would use echolocation. By focusing his psychic energy, the waves bounced off each tree to show him the shape and sizing of each tree. As all the trees in Koga’s room had been planted at the same time and are of the same species, Venomoth was able to conclude the trees were all similar enough that if there was a difference in the shape of the branches in a specific tree, that his trainer had to be there.

As they walked, Ariados would climb a tree every few feet to create webs between them. Like fishing nets, these webs were meant to capture their trainer if he was on the move. By training with Koga over the years, Ariados’ webbing was nearly invisible, so while Koga knew what to look for, if he was too careless, he would get stuck. These webs also show the Pokémon where they have been, in the event of them getting lost. Becoming too focused in looking for Koga could result in them wandering in circles.

Muk was a wild card, not being the stealthiest of Koga’s Pokémon. While the other two were able to silently travel through the trees, Muk was stuck on the ground, slowly slithering his way forward. Muck did have a role to play. After numerous training sessions just like this one, Koga’s Pokémon adapted to being paired with each other, when they normally wouldn’t be. Muk had taken a role that Janine had nicknamed “the floor is lava.” This was when Koga was found, Muk would stretch his body out as much as possible, his goo spreading along the ground in a large circle. While Koga was adept at leaping through the trees, if Muk was paired with a Pokémon that could set up traps like Ariados or a Pokémon that could fly, like Crobat and Venomoth, Koga’s means for escape was severely limited.

Smacking against a tree that was only a few yards behind him, Koga heard Ariados’s web connect to the bark as he began to construct another trap. Venomoth’s flapping wings became louder as Koga could feel the psychic energy resonating through him, making his skin crawl. Muk let out a low rumble, Venomoth certainly having given the other two the signal that Koga was close. Thus, it was time for Koga to act.

Dropping a smoke ball to the ground beneath him, Koga leaped forward and began to dart through the trees. Withdrawing three shuriken, Koga tossed two behind him in different directions. Once the shuriken hit their targets, the base of two trees, the smoke balls that had been planted within them burst, three clouds of smoke rising in different directions.

Disorientated, the three Pokémon were at a crossroad. They all knew these clouds were meant to distract them, but he clearly had come from one of them and he definitely moved elsewhere. The question was, did he keep going so he was along the far wall, or had he used the cover to loop back and was now behind them. If they chose wrong, Koga could easily cross the arena, so he was hiding in the other section of trees.

Venomoth had a plan. Nodding to the other Pokémon, he flew up above the grove of trees, so he was nearly at the ceiling. Focusing all his energy, Venomoth began to wildly flap his wings. A high pitched noise emanated from his wings, the soundwaves flowing through the trees, shaking the branches and loosening the dark leaves of the canopy.

“Good job,” Koga muttered, praising his Pokémon for his quick thinking. Covering his ears, Koga tried his hardest not to sway too much on the branch. Venomoth’s Supersonic discombobulated his mind and made his eyes unfocused, his brain no longer able to keep all his muscles still and his breathing even. Managing to stay in place despite the soundwaves resonating through his body, the ringing in his ears and the fog in his mind lead Koga to slipping. Granted, Koga was able to catch himself almost instantaneously, the sound of his foot sliding against the branch caused all three of his Pokémon to whip around and look toward the source of the noise.

Wings beating fast, Venomoth descended toward Koga’s position. Hearing him coming from above, Koga knew he needed to act fast. Throwing the third shuriken, the star sliced through the smaller branches of a tree to his left, the shuriken having curled around the two trees immediately to his left to hit the third one. Hoping this new sound would divert their attention long enough that he could escape, Koga leaped into the tree behind him. Figuring he could get the jump on them and traverse the trees above his Pokémon, Koga retraced his steps so he could see the position of Ariados and Muk. After hopping through five trees, Koga figured he would have seen his Pokémon by then. Smirking to himself, Koga realized that they had gone to the tree he had thrown his shuriken into. Seeing the clearing through the branches, Koga just had a little further to go before running across the arena and being in a different section, away from his Pokémon so he could reposition himself and strategize his next move. In the clear, Koga silently dove into the tree diagonal to the one he was in, but before he had landed, something slapped against his back.

“No,” was all Koga could utter as Ariados’ webbing pulled him down, the bug Pokémon having spotted him and shot a web at the ninja, the webbing hitting Koga precisely and yanked him to the ground. Instead of landing on the hard grassy surface, Koga’s fall was cushioned by his Muk, who raised itself up to catch Koga in his arms.

“Good work,” Koga let out a playful huff and flashed a small smile at his Pokémon, Venomoth fluttering down beside him as Muk released him, allowing him to stand back up. Ariados let out a chirp of joy and blinked twice. Once his eyes were back open, Koga felt the sticky webbing draped across his back dissolve and evaporate into nothingness. Reaching into his pocket to withdraw his phone, Koga paused the stopwatch that had been ticking since Koga first darted off into the trees. “Just over ten minutes. Not too bad for a team that has never worked together before.”

Cheering, the three Pokémon let out enthusiastic cries. Muk clapped his hands, splattering violet goo around him as Ariados wiggled his thorax. Wiping off a bit of the sludge that Muk had sprayed onto him, Koga turned around on his heels to head toward the door to Will’s room. Next to the door was a small container that housed various berries and food for him and his Pokémon. Koga only managed to take a few steps until he was stopped, Muk grabbing onto his legs and yanking him to the floor.

“Hey,” Koga yelped as he gently landed on his back, Muk covering his legs up to the middle of his thighs, so the fall was controlled. Clicking his pincers, Ariados stepped forward, so he was only an inch away from Koga’s face, his blue eyes glittering excitedly. With a shake of his head, Ariados climbed onto Koga’s torso and stared down at him.

“Vee!” Venomoth let out a shriek, releasing a ray of psychic energy. Wrists tingling with an almost pleasant sensation, Koga watched in horror as Venomoth used his psychic powers to pin his trainer’s hands above his head. Eyes wide, realizing why Ariados was so excited, Koga uselessly tugged at his invisible restraints.

“Ariados. Don’t,” Koga warned, trying to remain as stoic as possible despite the fright in his eyes. “You won’t get your extra treats if you do this.”

“Rai-do. Rai-do,” Ariados raised his front legs into a shrug, then clicked his pincers again. As Koga opened his mouth to speak, Ariados pressed his front legs into the hollows of Koga’s arms and began to wiggle them around.

“No,” Koga squeaked, unable to hold back his laughter since he was immobilized. Turning his head, Koga hid his face into his arm, face warm as he laughed.

Muk, not wanting to miss out on the fun, localized sections of his slime that surrounded Koga’s knees. Focusing on these sections, Muk rumbled, sounding like he was purring. The vibrations, centered around Koga’s knees, had the man cackling in seconds.

“Muk!” Koga choked out, attempting to kick out and dislodge both Pokémon. Seeing how this new sensation had a maddening effect on his trainer, Ariados came up with a new plan to kick things up a notch.

Pushing himself backwards, Ariados flopped down onto Koga’s chest, with both sets of legs dangling over his trainer’s body. Once in a comfortable enough position, which took a minute to do as Koga kept bucking his hips thanks to Muk’s attack of his legs, Ariados used his back legs to wiggle around Koga’s belly, while his front legs went back to tormenting Koga’s under arms.

“Oh, Arceus,” Koga cried out between peals of laughter. With three spots being targeted at once, Koga’s laugh was loud and boisterous, a deep belly laugh that was laced with an occasional snort or hiccup. Enjoying the ability to not think of anything and just laugh, Koga didn’t try to hold it back. While he was struggling under his Pokémon, it wasn’t something he could help. He knew they just wanted to make him happy, to make him laugh, as it was Ariados’ main way to help Koga relax when they were both so much younger.

Over the sound of his laughter, Koga nor his Pokémon heard the door into his room open. Once through the doorway, the person froze at the sounds they were hearing. As quietly as they could, they crept over to the edge of the tree line and peered in.

“No way,” Karen smiled to herself as she inched closer, Koga and his Pokémon now in complete view. Lips almost stinging from how wide she was smiling, Karen soaked in the sound of Koga’s laugh, his real, unfiltered laugh. It was something she had never heard before, something she guaranteed the other trainers in the Indigo Plateau had never heard either. And after watching for a few minutes, Karen realized something crucial, something that solved the question that had been bugging her for months now.

Koga wasn’t telling them to stop. Koga never tried to get them to stop. Koga didn’t say a single thing as they tickled him mercilessly.

Koga was enjoying it.

Excited by this newfound knowledge, Karen retreated from the trees and as quickly and quietly as possible, made her way toward Will’s room. Karen and her best friend had some work to do.

“That movie was so boring,” Will let out a yawn, stretching his arms over his head in dramatic fashion. “Hey Lance, I am never letting Clair pick out a movie for us ever again.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Karen rolled her eyes, then reached out to poke Will’s exposed armpit. With a squeak, Will flinched away with a glare.

Once a week, the five trainers would get together in Karen’s room to watch a movie. With the natural darkness of her room and the wall space, a giant screen dropped down from the ceiling and a projector was brought in to show movies. When these weekly movies started happening, Will and Karen had gone shopping and bought a ton of pillows and blankets for them all to be comfortable.

“He had a Whiscash! He didn’t need to drown; he could’ve just used his Pokémon to swim him to safety!” Will countered, laying back down against the pile of pillows he had constructed before the film started.

“Jack wasn’t a very good protagonist,” Lance added as he leaned over the projector to turn it off. “Nothing he did was reasonable.”

“He thought with his dick,” Bruno stated flatly, which caused the three to erupt into laughter. Beside him, Koga was flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling, his back leaning against a pillow as he let out a short chuckle. Bruno always had the best comedic timing, whether he knew it or not.

“Exactly!” Will turned around and pointed at Bruno. “Thank you.”

“Just because Jack shouldn’t have died at the end, doesn’t mean the movie was bad,” Karen let out a huff.

“Um, yeah it does,” Will replied, words dripping with sass. In response, Karen threw a pillow into his face, earning her an, “Oof!”

“Ass,” Karen stuck out her tongue.

“You’re the one that like every romance ever.”

“Not true!”

“Your favorite movies ever are The Hoppip’s Notebook and Lumiose Hill!”

“They’re good movies.”

“They most certainly are not.”

“Rude.”

“Arceus, you too bicker like children,” Lance rolled his eyes as he plopped back down onto his throne of pillows. No one knew how Lance always ended up with over ten pillows each movie night, but the man was going to be as comfortable as possible no matter what.

“She started it,” Will said while crossing his arms and turning away.

“Did not,” Karen refuted with a frown, “But I’m gonna finish it.”

Karen launched from her fluffy blanket next and crashed into Will, her fingers instantly wiggling into his ribs and sides. Instantly falling into a fit of laughter, unable to help it as his ribs were his most ticklish spot, Will squirmed around and looked over at his colleagues for help.

“Bruno-ho-ho,” Will squeaked out, reaching his arm out to the larger man, but then quickly retracted it as Karen began to rake her nails gently along his newly exposed armpit.

“I will save you, little buddy,” Bruno teased before crawling forward and tracing his fingers along the back of Karen’s neck. With a loud squeak, Karen’s shoulders shot up to block his fingers. Using this well timed distraction, Will lurched forward to knock Karen onto her back, gently collapsing onto a stack of blankets. Kneading into her exposed belly, Will began to tease Karen about her shrill giggles.

“For someone with such a ticklish tummy, wearing a crop top is the worst idea,” Will scribbled his blunt nails along the tiny bit of fat just beneath her navel.

“For someone with such ticklish ribs, letting your guard down is the worst idea,” Karen managed to say through her sweet giggles.

“What?” was all Will managed to say before Lance snuck up behind him and began to run his fingers over the gaps between his ribs. Doubling over, Karen grabbed Will’s wrists and pulled him into her, hugging him tight enough that Lance was able to continue his onslaught. Wanting to join in on the fun, Bruno teased the back of Will’s neck, which brought out a muffled shriek.

“Hey, Koga,” Karen let out as she released Will, wriggling out from underneath him like a Magikarp on dry land. Lance had pinned Will down to continue his ticklish onslaught on the younger man’s ribs, until Bruno decided it was time for Lance to laugh.

Koga lingered behind them all, having rolled over to face the other way. Ears pink, Koga had subconsciously pulled his scarf over his face so just his eyes and above was visible.

“Guys,” Karen’s voice rose above Lance’s hysterical, booming laughter as Will and Bruno both tickled his belly, twenty fingers dancing all over his middle. Both pulling away, the three men turned to look over at Karen. “Did you guys know that Koga’s ticklish?”

Heart stopping, a cold shiver straightened Koga’s back as Karen’s words sunk in.

“I doubt it. He’s got all those ninja skills to block it out,” Will let out a laugh, then shot Karen a knowing grin.

“He’s too serious. I bet he doesn’t know how to laugh,” Lance teased, knowing that his words also applied to himself in most contexts outside of the four people in the room.

“How do you know he’s ticklish?” Bruno asked, staring at the man as he sat upright, then brought his knees up for his chin to rest on them. Hugging his legs tightly into his chest, Koga’s heart pounded as a swarm of Combee buzzed around his mind as Butterfree fluttered in his chest.

“I saw his Pokémon tickling him the other day,” Karen proudly stated, puffing out her chest like she was a reporter that had uncovered the scoop of the century. “He seemed pretty ticklish from what I saw.”

“Is that true?” Koga nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt Bruno’s hand on his shoulder. Flustered beyond belief, Koga didn’t notice Bruno shuffling across the floor to reach him. While overwhelmed, Bruno’s touch was a calming presence.

“Um…” Koga’s words sat on his tongue, not knowing how to answer.

“It’s okay if you are,” Bruno was an absolute saint, Koga was sure of it. “All of us are.”

“Yes, I am,” Koga felt like his face was going to melt off from how hot his cheeks were.

“Do you like it?” heart stopping, Koga froze at Will’s innocent words, “Oh, I didn’t…I meant, do you like enough for us to tickle you?”

“Yes,” Koga couldn’t believe what he was admitting to. Glancing up at Bruno, his gaze kind, Koga nodded without looking away. Turning to the other three, Koga pulled down his scarf so they could see the entirety of his face, “Yes you can.”

Eyes lighting up with excitement, the three clambered over the mess of pillows and blankets to get closer as Koga let Bruno guide him onto a stack of pillows, wanting him to be comfortable. Carefully propped up, Koga voluntarily slipped his hands beneath him, nestled between pillows, so he couldn’t block anyone. With a shaky nod, Koga gave Bruno the go ahead as the others circled the two of them like a pack of Mightyena, wanting to see everything.

A light laugh lit up the room as Bruno slowly tapped his fingers up and down Koga’s ribcage. Stay as still as possible, Koga turned his head to the side, his smile shy and his laugh quiet, not fully restrained, but not too dissimilar to the quiet laugh he would make when he found something funny.

“His Ariados got a good reaction out of him when it when for his belly,” Karen’s voice was quiet as she offered her advice, fondly recounting the moment she had stumbled upon in Koga’s room.

Curling his fingers so his hands resembled claws, Bruno slowly vibrated both of his hands into Koga’s belly.

“Shihi!” Koga’s laughter went up a notch, fully unrestrained now. Enthralled by this new reaction, Bruno began to vibrate his hands faster, then as fast as he could, which earned him a squeal, then loud, cackling belly laughter.

“Oh, I definitely want a turn,” Karen cooed, rubbing her hands together. Beckoning her forward with his head, Bruno pulled his hands back to let Koga breath as Karen shifted herself as she was by Koga’s head. “If I remember right, here is a good spot too.”

“Yehehes it ihihis!” Cackling laugh returning, Koga leaned his head back so Karen could fully view his bright smile and scrunched up nose, while she teased the hollows of his arms.

“I need to get in on this,” Will said with a sharp laugh, simply amazed by the scene unfolding in front of him. Ever since Koga had taken the younger man under his wing, Will had always seen Koga as a knowledgeable older brother, but rarely got to see Koga’s playful side. Sure, Koga would occasionally tease Will about something stupid he had done, when he deserved it, and Will always cracked jokes to see what would make Koga laugh, which wasn’t much, but he never figured Koga would allow him to rough house. Koga always had an air of seriousness or formality around him, so seeing him like this made Will happy.

“Will,” Koga said as the aforementioned man dug into his belly.

Letting out a loud bark of a laugh, Koga went limp as his laughter was as loud and boisterous as it was when his Pokémon were tickling him. The two most sensitive spots on his body were being attacked at once, leading Koga down a path of mirthful hysteria.

“Let’s not kill him,” Lance said, the voice of reason. Both Will and Karen nodded, Will withdrawing his hands and scooting backward, Karen moved her hands so her nails gingerly along his jawline and the little bit of neck that was exposed. Much to her surprise, Koga pulled out his hands and tugged at his scarf, loosening it enough that Karen could easily slip her fingers inside.

“So cute,” Karen whispered to herself as Koga broke out into pitchy giggles. Looking up at her, Karen could tell he was fully enjoying himself; the sensation of the tickling and the touch performed by his friend.

After a few more moments of lightly teasing his neck, Karen withdrew her hands, but not before ruffling her hand through his hair, something she wouldn’t have dared done only an hour ago. Recovering quickly, Koga sat up, rubbing his neck sheepishly, and to drive away the phantom touch that continued to make his skin tingle. Unable to wipe the smile from his face, Koga looked around at each of the four trainers in front of him: his friends.

“Do you like being tickled?” Karen’s tone was gentle and non-accusatory. “You never fought back or told us to stop.”

“I do,” Koga admitted, frowning slightly as the redness in his cheeks returned, “It’s not even just the tickling. I like being tickled, yes, but the touch. I’ve never had anything like that before.”

“I wish you could’ve told us sooner,” Will chimed in. “I-I know it’s hard to talk about, but I get it. I’m sure all of us do. None of us really had good upbrings, you know. Aside from Karen, I’ve never had friends before, not like this.”

“You guys are the only ones I’ve ever been close to,” Bruno admitted with a shrug.

“Same here,” Lance spoke for the first time in a while, “Aside from my Pokémon, you all are the only friends I have.”

“It’s okay to be open with us, Koga,” Karen cupped the man’s face, her soft touch causing him to shiver. “We’re here for you.”

“Thanks,” Koga muttered, turning away. “I’ve never had anyone before. Janine, I love her to death, but she’s just a kid. I don’t want to bother her with any of this. Ever since adopting her, I’ve always vowed to give her a good life, no matter what.”

“You have us now. You’re not the only one who needs and wants love,” Karen laughed, pointing at Will with her thumb.

“Rude,” Will stuck out his tongue, “but she’s not wrong. Touch-starved, that’s the term I use for it. All I want is to feel loved and touched and be able to talk to anyone about anything, no matter how stupid it is. That’s what all of us here want. We’re misfits, but we’ve got each other.”

“All of this. It means a lot,” Koga looked up and smiled. “I really appreciate it. All of you.”

“Is it time for a group hug?” Karen asked excitedly, and without waiting a second for a response, she draped herself around Koga and squeezed the man as tightly as she could.

“Yeah, no,” Lance rolled his eyes at how sappy Karen was being.

“I thought you said you liked us,” Koga let out a huff once Karen unpeeled herself from him. Without thinking, Koga leaned forward and squeezed Lance’s knee.

“Hey,” Lance halfheartedly slapped Koga’s hand away. Face flushing, Lance’s eyes widened once he saw Koga begin to inch toward him, eyes full of mischief. “We can talk about this.”

“We can talk later,” Koga scoffed before pouncing, his fingers dancing over all of Lance’s most ticklish spots as if he had been doing this for years.

“Help!” Lance called out, flailing beneath Koga’s feather light touch, his laughter booming.

“I’ve got you, Lance,” Bruno took heed, hooking his arms under Koga’s and pulling the ninja into his lap. Fingers descending into his belly, Bruno beamed as Koga slipped into hysterics, his legs kicking out uselessly.

“Will,” Koga locked eyes with the younger man. “Help!”

“I’m coming!” Will leaped and knocked Bruno off Koga, a flurry of fingers fluttering along Bruno’s neck as the larger man instantly began to cackle.

Turning around, Koga spotted Karen, who had Lance pinned to the floor, her nails scribbling all over his belly. Despite being his enemy less than a minute ago, Koga wrapped his arms around Karen’s waist and softly tossed her into a pile of pillows, saving Lance from her wrath. Once the champion recovered, both he and Koga began to tickle the woman wherever they could reach, until Will and Bruno snuck up behind them and smacked them with pillows, dislodging their fingers from Karen. Once disorientated, Bruno pinned both Lance and Koga to the floor and let Will have at both of them, Will’s fingers dancing over both of their bellies as the spot was devilishly ticklish for them both. The duo flailed and squealed, laughing hysterically until Karen launched herself on top of Bruno.

With no true alliances being made and there being no clear goal or way of winning, the tickle fight between the five of them went on for over an hour until they had worn themselves out. Resting on the comfortable pillows and blankets, the five ended up falling asleep, nestled close together like Rookidee chicks in their nest.

The five snoozed while the lady that manned the front desk came in looking for them, doing her last rounds before locking up for the night. Having not seen any of them leaving to go to their houses right nearby the Indigo Plateau, she had become concerned, until she walked in on them. Figuring they were comfortable; she exited the room and left them alone to sleep peacefully through the night, with none of them being tormented by their recurrent nightmares.

#tickle fic #tickletober #pokemon #rose writes #johto elite 4 #pokemon tickling

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normal-paldean-student · 9 months ago

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Cerise 101

Name: Cerise Akasaki (née Rene/Renée, mainly relevant for flashback stories as Cerise was adopted as a name very recently)

Gender: female (transgender)

Pronouns: she/her

Born: February 27, 1986

Age: 17 (approximately)

Notable abilities: psychic foresight (about five seconds)

Languages spoken: Japanese*, French*, Unovan, Paldean

Canon counterpart: Red

*Notably, she's referred to the languages she spoke as a child as Japanese and French rather than Kantonian and Kalosian, as well as mentioning that animals existed back home, suggesting that her original universe may have been much more similar to the real world than modern Pokémon canon is.

Cerise was raised by a single mother in Pallet Town, Kanto, with her father out of the picture earlier than her first memories. She had a close childhood friend, a boy named Green, and a takeover event during Muse Mixup Madness indicated there was a girl named Blue around as well. (Her own family name, Akasaki, means red.) Green was friendly as a young child, only taking on the less savory traits of his canon counterpart after an unspecified incident when he and Cerise were about six years old. Cerise has stated that she considers the incident to have been her fault.

When Cerise was ten years old, well... she's a Red. I'm sure I don't need to rehash the entire plot of Pokémon Red Version to you. Her starter Pokémon was a Charmander, which she named Charm, and the first Pokémon she caught was a Rattata named Whisker, which was in her party at least long enough to evolve into Raticate before being replaced.

As proper rivals along their respective journeys, Cerise and Green were able to begin healing their relationship, and they became proper friends again after she defeated him at the Indigo Plateau. Cerise's final team was Charm (a Charizard by that point), as well as a Raichu, a Tauros, a Slowbro, a Fearow, and a Primeape.

Well... friendship wasn't the only thing between them by the time everything was over. Both of them were around the age to start having their first crushes, and there was something mutual between them. However, it was the 90s, and as far as both of them knew, they were both boys. It's unknown how Green processed his feelings (though in a timeline where Cerise never left her home universe and Blue was the protagonist instead, he did end up marrying her at some point), but Cerise, well... between the spotlight she was getting as Champion and the growing realization that she might not be straight, she eventually decided that the best way to handle the situation was to disappear to Mt. Silver for a while while she tried to process everything.

End Act 1.

Cerise didn't end up staying on Mt. Silver for long. Definitely not long enough for a certain Johto protagonist to come by and challenge her. Unfortunately, though, that wasn't because she decided to return home. It was because was pulled through space directly out of her home universe and into... her home in Pallet Town? But it wasn't her home. It looked like it, but everything was off, and even the people weren't the same as the versions of them she knew.

Cerise hasn't elaborated much about what happened in that second universe. She especially hasn't talked about what happened to her mental state when she realized she had no way to get back to anything or anyone she knew, though it can be reasonably inferred that it was nothing good. There are, of course, some things that we do know happened, but I'm sure I don't need to rehash the plot of Pokémon Green Version to you.

End Act 2.

Again, Cerise woke up in "her home" in an alien Pallet Town. She hasn't said anything at all about what happened in this universe, though logically it must have been another blow to realize being pulled out of one universe and into another wasn't just a one-off event. Other than that, all we can know is that overall, events must have followed the plot of Pokémon Blue Version.

End Act 3.

There's an obvious pattern here, isn't there? Cerise hasn't said anything about it, but it can be reasonably inferred that this universe followed the plot of Pokémon Yellow Version.

End Act 4... actually, end the acts completely. There have been so many worlds, so many universes. It's hard to keep track of the numbers after a point.

Obviously, her first universe after Yellow clued her in that it wasn't always going to be variations of the same story. Then she got to Crystal, and finally decided she was going to be a girl. And so on and so forth, through universe after universe, living through the stories of every main series game and several side games as well—the Ranger and Mystery Dungeon games have been confirmed, but they're not the only ones. And always as the protagonist.

She's gotten several injuries along the way, ranging from minor nuisances to disabling ones that should have been permanent, only for her body to be back in pristine condition in the next universe without even a scar, as if none of what she'd just been through was real. She's not ungrateful for having a fully functional body, but the disconnect between her experiences and her physical reality causes a lot of distress at times.

At an unspecified point during one of her many journeys, she went back into the closet, pretending to be a boy from that world on and only coming out as a girl again in this most recent universe. She hasn't pursued more than social transition, though, as the physical reset isn't limited to unwanted injuries—any and all physical changes disappear in each new world, regardless of the type. She can't pierce her ears, for example, and the few times she managed to get HRT, the few months' effects she was able to get disappeared the next time the cycle advanced. Without being able to access the long term effects of anything, it doesn't feel worth going through all the effort it takes to get it.

Cerise isn't actually completely certain of her age. She knows her birthday, and the year she was born, but she's definitely not in her 30s. 17 (18 on February 27, 2024) is the age on this world's legal documents, so that's what she's going with. It's not wrong—she is an older teenager at this point—but the amount of time she's experienced feels like it's been longer than seven years.

After the events of The Way Home in this Violet universe, Cerise ended up staying in Paldea much longer than she expected to. She got involved with Pokédex research with Mr. Jacq—both filling out the complete Pokédex and some more in-depth work with Dudunsparce and the Pokémon in Area Zero—and also may or may not have done a few things with Ms. Raifort. Nothing can be proven on that second front.

She also became close friends with Ella @oh-shinx and Mare @aura-acolyte, though her relationship with Ella is more sisterly and her relationship with Mare is, well... after a long mutual pining period with both of them being silly about their feelings, they eventually had to talk about it after a heat-of-the-moment kiss happened between them between the events of The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disc. Cerise isn't comfortable dating when she knows she's going to disappear any day and lose her, but everything's out in the open now.

The most notable things about The Teal Mask were as follows: Cerise thought Carmine was pretty, Kieran had latent psychic abilities that resonated with Cerise's during his breakdown and caused her to lose her composure too, and after Cerise tracked down and caught the Loyal Three to prevent them from causing any more trouble, she temporarily got replaced by a younger version of herself who somehow managed to rehabilitate them through the power of friendship and the power of knowing absolutely nothing about the situation, much to the normal Cerise's confusion when she returned.

The events of The Indigo Disc more or less followed canon as well, though Cerise expressed a strong dislike of Unova before going to Blueberry. Carmine was particularly upset about Drayton referring to his cafeteria meeting with Cerise as a date, on top of her normal dislike of him. Cerise did not notice this, as she was too busy thinking both Drayton and Carmine were cute. Cerise was also able to recognize Kieran's psychic abilities during their Championship battle. She hasn't said anything about what happened in Area Zero during the DLC's events, besides saying that the group was successful in what they were trying to do and there were no major injuries.

Also this world's Arven is basically a were-Lycanroc and I couldn't find anywhere to fit that in properly.

On February 27, 2024, Cerise disappeared, pulled into her next universe. Nemona, Penny, Arven, Kieran, and Carmine took over maintaining the blog, though none of them made very many posts.

Almost a month later, on March 26, 2024, Cerise was discovered to have been pulled into Kalos when one of her friends from her new universe, Tierno @santalune-swords-dance, made a post about how she'd chosen to name a Luvdisc Mare. So far, this journey seems to roughly mirror the plot of Pokémon X/Y, though with the timeframe updated to be in 2024 and with some of the cities now having contest halls. Her other new friends are Trevor @pokedex-parfaite, Calem @friendly-neighborhood-calem, and Shauna @poke-mon-amie.

Caught in Paldea:

Cerise's current Pokémon are as follows.

Caught in Kalos:

???

Blossom (Meowscarada F) (with Hazel @grass-pokemon-appreciator)

Ribbon (Annihilape F) (with Nemona)

Tim (Dragapult M) (with Nemona)

Lady (Palafin F) (with Nemona)

Cheese (Espathra F) (with Nemona)

Chonk (Clodsire F) (with Nemona)

Chime of Eternity (Iron Valiant) (has not been seen since Cerise's disappearance)

Gluttonous Beast (Miraidon) (with Arven)