Shouldn't Have Caught Them All
Title: Shouldn't Have Caught Them All
Pairing: Woohyun-centric(?), Sunggyu/Woohyun(?), Hoya/Sungjong(?), Myungsoo/Sungyeol(?)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,612
Summary: Pokemon!AU. Woohyun wants to be the very best that no one ever was. (Pokemon!Infinite)
A/N: I don't even know what I'm writing anymore. At first I was like "hey okay let's make this a woogyu Pokemon fic" but shit happens and plans get screwed up so it turned out like this. And I also apologise to avid pokemon fans for any possible inaccuracies.
When Woohyun woke up one morning and had a sudden revelation of being a Pokémon trainer, he hadn't expected this to happen. He would never have imagined himself back home with five new Pokémons, one of them being a particularly snappy Pikachu he (sort of) caught.
The Pikachu is named Sunggyu, by the way, and he's a total ass.
He decides that no Pokémon can faze him after dealing with a Doduo that wouldn’t shut up for 20 years - one that, without fail, croaks relentlessly loud every morning at 6.12am sharp. Each time, he would groggily slide his window open, throw three food pellets down, all the while shouting, “Shut up, Sungyeol!”
Back at home, he also has Myungsoo, his pet Growlithe. Myungsoo is an affectionate canine that would roll around his bed all day long and demand for cuddles and petting every now and then. If Woohyun oh-so-accidentally forgets about Myungsoo's midday cuddle, Myungsoo would be sure to remind him of it, and that includes burning a hole in his favourite sweatshirt and subsequently causing a tiny fire in his room. When reprimanded in the toughest tone Woohyun can muster, Myungsoo looks up with his sparkly eyes, perfectly groomed fur of orange and white, and his pink tongue slightly dangling- Woohyun heaves a sigh and Myungsoo gets his cuddle anyways.
The only time Myungsoo doesn't get his hugs and kisses was when he jumped on Woohyun while sleeping, and in an overly excited spur of a moment, breathed fire on his hair and caused an involuntary undercut at the right of Woohyun's head. Woohyun did not look good with a bald patch and Myungsoo at least the decency to look slightly guilty.
So Woohyun think he has lots of experience when dealing with Pokémon.
And so he hadn't anticipated the quest to become the best Pokémon trainer to be one hell of a road.
It starts when Woohyun receives his first Pokémon (courtesy of Professor Oak) to start off his journey. Professor Oak gives him a Gloom, which isn't half bad for a starter Pokémon.
Wrong.
"Come on, you can do it, Dongwoo."
They're a few roads away from Pallet Town heading towards Viridian City. God must adore Woohyun because in the grass patch along the rocky path, he spots a Ninetales. It's a once in a blue moon opportunity, really, because what are the chances of finding a Ninetales gracefully resting under a pine tree?
But Dongwoo here, is a kind-hearted Gloom that refuses to hurt any other Pokémon.
"Gloom gloom!" Dongwoo whimpers, fervently shaking his head and effectively spreading his natural mushroom-stench in the air. Woohyun holds back gagging so as to not hurt Dongwoo's feelings.
Woohyun crouches down and pets his reddish mushroom cap. "You won't hurt him, it's just a tiny bit of stun spore so I can throw- I mean, gently release my pokeball at him."
The Gloom hesitates before exhausting a small puff of yellow fume at the foxlike Pokémon. The Pokémon seems unaffected as it lets out a small sneeze before nesting its head between folded paws.
"Good try, Dongwoo," Woohyun coos hypocritically, "Now try a little bit more and I'll promise to make Myungsoo play games with you when we’re home."
Dongwoo perks up as that and simultaneously ejects a ginormous cloud of yellowish-gold smoke and glittery powder.
Woohyun catches the fox and decides to call it Sungjong.
Sungjong is a brat that grooms himself way too often and does nothing but sit there and look pretty (he is gorgeous, actually). Sungjong also scratches Woohyun when he tries to command him. Sungjong especially hates it when Woohyun does aegyo and Woohyun knows this because the last time he does it, he's awarded with a series of fury swipes from a livid fox.
Sungjong, however, become fast friends with Dongwoo.
-
He's at the outskirts of Cerulean City, three towns away from home and has approximately done nothing eventful when spots the most beautiful thing he's ever laid eyes on.
By the artificial pond built beside rows of berry trees lies a Pikachu indulgently munching on a chesto berry. The magnificent creature has a slightly bulging tummy but that's okay, because it's a Pikachu, the legendary Pikachu before his very eyes.
"Oh my god, look, it's a Pikachu."
A look of excitement flashes across Dongwoo face as he squeals gloom! which Woohyun casually translates as "A NEW FRIEND!" It probably is the accurate interpretation anyway. Meanwhile, Sungjong does not look like he gives two hoots about what's going on as he preens himself into perfection.
The yellow creature from the rodent ancestry finishes an apple to the core and disposes it in a random direction.
"We have to be quiet," Woohyun whispers, slowly edging his way across the field. "Pikachu are highly sensitive and agile creatures."
Woohyun is now a few meters away from the wild Pikachu with Dongwoo closely following behind. Sungjong apparently chooses to stay on his spot as he gives his owner a look and his right ear flaps down, which Woohyun supposes means the human equivalent of raising a brow in disapproval and disdain.
The only time Sungjong had proven to be a helpful, non-judgmental Pokémon was that one night where Woohyun ran into a wild Rattata and the nine-tail fox had burned the poor rat into crisps with his fire spin. Turns out, he only did that because it was time for his beauty sleep and they hadn't found a Pokémon guest inn yet. To think Woohyun almost shed a tear.
He ignores his bratty Pokémon in favour of the Pikachu in front of him- the Pikachu that's going to be his to control. At that very moment, the Pikachu ungraciously falls to the floor like a broken doll or a jar of raspberry cookies, the grass cushioning its landing with a light poof.
And it stays like that.
A minute has passed and the Pikachu is still in the same position, unmoving and it doesn't even look like it's breathing. Shocked, Woohyun runs over to the Pokémon.
"Is it dead?" Woohyun briefly wonders if it had choked on an apple seed and asphyxiated or something.
He carefully peers at the Pikachu who has its eyes closed and its short, tiny arms spread out on the blades of grass. Carefully, he reaches out and touches the Pikachu’s cheek, slightly off of where the red electric point is.
Wrong move.
The Pokémon’s eyes shoot open and upon seeing Woohyun's face, it narrows into angry slits. Next thing he knows, he's flying three feet in the air from jolts of electric currents pulsating in his system.
He can hear Dongwoo shrieking 'shroom shroom shroom!' and he thinks he also hears Sungjong snorting in the background. Can Pokémons snort?
He lands on his nose, the remaining electricity causing slight involuntary spasms. His iPhone falls out from his jeans pocket and begins playing a Nell song from his music library.
The Pikachu’s ears perk up as it circles around the electronic device and finally sits beside the phone and appreciatively slides his ears on top of it. It fucking purrs a delighted pika-pika at the sound of Kim Jongwan’s voice.
If Woohyun thought Sungjong was bad, Sunggyu the Pikachu is a horror.
Woohyun feels like his whole life had been nothing but a lie. When he was young, he would see documentaries of Pikachu on Discovery Channel where they are portrayed as resilient creatures with speed like lightning, swift in attack and agile in movements. But then he turns and sees Sunggyu, the supposedly magnificent Pokémon on the floor sleeping for the past seven hours with no signs of waking, he cries to himself a little.
Sunggyu also happens to be very lazy. He doesn’t like to be kept in a Pokeball but he doesn’t like walking either, so he settles himself on top of Woohyun’s head splayed out comfortably. Sunggyu isn’t exactly the lightest of all Pokémons and him attaching himself on Woohyun’s head isn’t helping Woohyun’s problem of being vertically challenged. Sometimes Woohyun forgets about the Pikachu above and tilts his head, causing Sunggyu to fall to the ground. His apology is silenced midway when Sunggyu launches an Electro Ball at him. He has been electrocuted so many times that he thinks his nervous system has developed immunity to electricity. He could possibility be the new generation of Super Humans.
Besides completely doing nothing, Sunggyu also makes it a point not to listen to Woohyun. Four days after he acquired the Pokémon, Woohyun accidentally walks into the territory of a Nidoran clan. The herd of wild beasts don’t hesitate to charge at Woohyun at full force, displacing formidable gusts of sand and dirt as they do.
“Sunggyu, thunderbolt! Sunggyu, Sunggyu!” Woohyun screams, shaking awake the Pikachu nesting on his cap.
Sunggyu evidently takes none of that and instead grumbles out an annoyed ‘Pika Pikachu’ and goes back to sleep. There is no time to be appalled or to reprimand Sunggyu as the Nidoran constantly come closer towards Woohyun. Woohyun fishes out a pokeball and yells, “Dongwoo, Dongwoo Dongwoo. Help!”
Dongwoo looks as frightened as Woohyun is at the herd of ferocious purple creatures rapidly nearing them and therefore does nothing to resolve the situation.
This is it, Woohyun thinks, as he dramatically closes his eyes and prays.
His prayer must be answered because the smell of fear Dongwoo emits is so strong that it deters the Nidoran. In close contact with the mushroom shaped Pokémon, they immediately halt to a stop and changes direction.
He spends the next hour cajoling the Pokémon, no, you don’t smell bad, Dongwoo, it’s okay.
-
Woohyun must be out of his mind (most likely drunk) when he enters the Cerulean Gym, an arena designed like a swimming complex and meets the Gym Leader, Misty.
“I want to battle!” Woohyun slurs, alcohol invading his body systems as he stands precariously on the diving board built at each end of the pool.
Sungjong sees the water around the place and yelps, zapping back into his pokeball.
Misty smirks and sends out Starmie, a purple starfish coated in a metallic shine.
Woohyun squints at the Pokémon in pseudo examination before shouting, “Go, Sunggyu! Win that bitch!” Even through the bleariness, Woohyun can see Sunggyu’s expression translate to a ‘fuck you’.
“Let’s make a bet.”
The Gym leader flicks her orange hair, “If you win, I give you your badge.”
Woohyun furrows his brows and Sunggyu’s ears straighten a bit more.
“And if I win,” she continues, staring at Woohyun, “You stay with me.”
Woohyun guffaws, almost falling off the shaking board, “What?”
“It’s kind of lonely being here all by myself. And it’s not everyday a cute boy walks into my gym half-drunk.”
In his semi-conscious mind, Woohyun thinks he can hear Sungjong snorting in his pokeball.
“You’re on,” he says, twisting his cap around in determination. Woohyun reaches behind and grabs a pokeball, “Dongwoo-”
Sunggyu leaps onto the floating platform in the middle of the pool, yellow tail lengthening and growls. This is the first time Woohyun has possibly seen Sunggyu making such a big movement.
He must be hallucinating now because there is no way Sunggyu just volunteered to battle. It is definitely not the same Pikachu that spent two days slouching in the hostel’s entertainment room watching TV.
“Sunggyu, are you sure?”
“Pika.”
It sounds like an affirmative so Woohyun replies with an okay and doesn’t say anything else because he sees a fire of determination rising in Sunggyu’s tail.
“Starmie, water gun!”
The purple star’s jewelled centre glows ruby-red. It sprays a steady stream of rapid water from its tip at full blast. Sunggyu evades the attack but days of lazing around have gotten to him and the water hits his stomach squarely, the impact pushing him to the edge of the platform.
Sunggyu is pissed. If the way he growls doesn’t indicate it, the angry glow at his tail that shines increasingly neon-yellow definitely does. Woohyun doesn’t say anything; even if he did Sunggyu wouldn’t listen anyways. Sunggyu uses ‘slam’, whipping his tail at the starfish in a clean swipe. Starmie flies across the pool like a Frisbee and crashes into a wall at the opposite end, a light indentation at where it landed.
“Rapid spin!”
The jewel encrusted on Starmie lights up and the Pokémon is once again spinning across the room at hypersonic speed, a blur of purple slicing the air and right at Sunggyu. The Pikachu backs away, but is thrown off the platform by the painful collision. It screeches and drops into the water with a loud splash, sinking to the bottom before resurfacing.
The Starmie follows Sunggyu into the water, and is heatedly coming towards the floating Pokémon.
“Sunggyu,” Woohyun shouts, panic apparent as his voice cracks, “Discharge, now!”
For the first time, Sunggyu surprisingly listens. A flare of electricity radiates from the Pikachu, proliferates the swimming pool, short-circuiting the hanging lights and erupts a massive explosion in the water.
The gym is muted in darkness for a few seconds before the emergency lights flicker on. Starmie floats limply in the water, its centrepiece shattered and cracked into red fragments. Sunggyu on the other hand, climbs out of the pool and grins at the damage caused to the entire area. Can Pokémons grin?
Woohyun runs forward and catches Sunggyu in all his wet yellow fur glory. He pulls back and his eyes crinkle, “Aw, you do love me!”
Woohyun receives a wet slap on his face.
-
Sadly, that was the only time Sunggyu was ever useful in a Pokémon battle. Sunggyu displayed lousy qualities of a Pokémon that one time they encountered a Hitmonchan on Route 37 Sand Road. Hitmonchan is a fighting Pokémon equipped with red boxing gloves and a white skirt. The Hitmonchan they met was male and Sunggyu doubled over in laughter upon seeing the Pokémon in his cheerleader-lookalike-skirt.
(And if you’re wondering, his laughter sounded really weird because it goes like ‘pika ka ka ka ka’)
His laughter successfully drew the Hitmonchan’s attention and Woohyun had spent the next one minute ducking incoming punches from the infuriated Pokémon because Sunggyu is too much of an ass to help or at least stop chortling. The Hitmonchan stopped, however, when one of his pokeballs fell out and released Sungjong the ever-enchanting Ninetale. It fell in love with Sungjong instantaneously, and Woohyun can literally see the red hearts popping around his head.
Sungjong flicks his cream-white tail and smugly side-eyes Woohyun.
He names the Hitmonchan Hoya.
-
Woohyun gives up on becoming a Pokémon trainer and returns home for many reasons. One being that ever since Cerulean City, he has never won another badge; another is realising that his Pokémons are probably not destined for battles. Not now, not ever.
Apparently during his time away from home, Myungsoo had made friends with the Duodo in his backyard and have become inseparable ever since. It’s kind of awkward to see the Growlithe cling onto the hind legs of a Duodo but Woohyun is desensitized because nothing can actually be weirder than seeing your Hitmonchan comb the tail of your Ninetale.
Woohyun sighs to Sunggyu, who looks as disinterested as always, “Maybe I should open a bakery.”
“Pikachu,” Sunggyu gives him two mechanical pats on his knee before lying back down on the couch and resuming his daily TV watching for ten hours.
“Woohyun, Dongwoo won’t let go off my apron until I play his game!”
Woohyun hears his mother shouting from the kitchen, “Get it off me right now!”
“Shroom shroom!” Dongwoo defensively says.
Woohyun exhales loudly and he can clearly hear Sungjong snorting this time.
“Shut up,” he tells the white fox, and in defence, Hoya throws his boxing gloves at him. He barely ducks it as the gloves hit the wall behind of him.
Yeah, he really regrets catching them all.