Chapter Text
Arthur tumbled out the door to the Cafe, his boltund, Coby, dragging him along. The sun was beginning to set and his shift was long over, he had been held up with an angry customer after Alfred had spilt all the drinks. Remaking them took twice as long as usual since he joined the man in telling Alfred off.
He sighed in relief, the fresh air hitting his face after being held up in a stuffy room all day was blissful. Unfortunately, Coby did not share the same feeling, pulling Arthur out of his reminiscing and half way down the road.
Giving into the pokemons demands, they just about jogged down to the park to hopefully waste the dog's energy. He has work again tomorrow and would end up throttling someone (Alfred) if he was tired from being kept up.
By the time the pair had reached the park's gate Arthur was sweating, the cool air doing nothing to help his lack of fitness. Standing around all day making coffee was about all the exercise he was used too. Coby was spinning around him excitedly, wrapping the lead around his legs causing him to almost trip. He chuckled slightly at the dog's antics before untangling the two of them.
After guiding the over excited boltund further into the park he knelt down to Coby, the pokemon's tail was wagging so much he was worried it might detach. He pet behind Coby’s ears before reaching down to his collar and taking the lead off. Coby was off running laps before he even stood up. His knees groaned in protest as he finally stabled himself and watched his boltund enjoy himself.
He makes a mental note to bring his other pokemon down here next time, he had left them at home to recover from a particularly fierce Daily Battle in the coffee shop he works at. Some kid waltz in with a team of 6 and bullied his poor children and then walked off like it was nothing. He’s glad he had managed to keep his mouth shut for once or he's sure he’d be jobless right about now.
He sighed, pulling himself out of his reminiscing and focusing back on the dog running about. The sun was beginning to set and he knew that they ought to get going back. Just the thought of stumbling into a ghost type pokemon scared him more than he'd like to admit. All the fairytales he had grown up on had fueled this fear.
He called out to Coby, the dog stopped in its tracks and stared at him with his tongue sticking out and a dopey look on his face. That wasn't a good sign, Arthur thought, Coby's face was just full of mischief. He was about to call out once more before the stupid pokemon dashed off into some tall grass.
Arthur was stunned. He was sure his boltund knew to avoid the tall grass?! Never once has he acted up like this. Cursing under his breath, he ran off in pursuit of the pokemon. He prayed he wouldn't be in too much pain after this.
Night had finally fallen and the tall grass loomed higher than he thought up close. The trees blocked even the moon from seeing into the area. Still, despite it all he ran after Coby. If the dog was even injured slightly he'd feel guilty forever. Arthur could've sworn he could feel the gaze of wild pokemon staring at him. He may have been a trainer as a kid but he never really did get over his fear of the wilderness, preferring to adopt pokemon or trade others.
Finally, after what felt like hours of running, he arrived in a clearing. Coby barked excitedly at his owner's appearance, doing laps around him once again.
“You stupid dog!! What do you think you're doing, Coby?” Arthur hissed quietly at the muddy pokemon.
“Is that how you really speak to your poor pokemon?” A voice came from the darkness. Boltund stopped in its spinning and woofed excitedly and Arthur definitely did not yelp and fall to the ground. Who on earth was in the woods at this time of night? What kind of freak jumpscares innocent passerbys and lures their dogs into the tall grass? Will he have to finally put his fighting skills to use?
Arthur glared into the darkness, “Who is that? Where are you! You wanker! How dare you lure my pokemon into the tallgrass, psychopath!”
“Wow now, is that any way to speak to a stranger? How about a bonjour? Je m’appelle?” The mysterious voice finally walked out the shadows. A man with long blonde hair and a.. Comfey on his head? Was the person who owned the voice. Arthur couldn't help but look in shock at the Frenchman, some freak who uses a pokemon as a fashion item and hung about in dark forests was just screaming red flags. Yet all Arthur felt was annoyed that he was so intimidated by him before.
The man continued, “If you stay sitting on the floor any longer you're sure to be as muddy as your boltund here.”
Arthur felt his face flush, “Right. Of course,” as quick as his aching body would let him, he managed to stand again. The Frenchman started again and Arthur could feel himself getting even more irritated,
“I was not trying to lure any pokemon here I'll have you know, I simply heard the cries of another one and came rushing! Clearly your boltund did the same,” the man dramatically clutched his chest as if being accused of such a thing has caused him physical harm. What did he know about his boltund? He could feel his face souring at the man's obnoxious voice.
Arthur sighed, “Okay. My apologies then,” he brushed his hair back, sticky from the sweat of running here, "That'd make sense then, Coby’s never done anything like this before.”
As if right on cue, Coby barked into the darkness again. An eerie creaking sound followed, as if responding.
Arthur got goosebumps again but refused to let that show in front of the annoying man. Was this the noise they were talking about? Who on earth would chase that willingly?
The Frenchman barely hesitated before following the source of the noise. He turned to Coby who ignored Arthur's silent plea and followed the stranger. Clutching his head, he sighed yet again before regaining his composure and trailing after them into the darkness. If he passes now he hopes someone will look after his pets he had left at home.. Also that his boltund learns a lesson about following strangers!
A light appeared in front of them, the blonde man had pulled out his phone flashlight. Arthur glared at the back of the man's head, how did he not realise he could have done that earlier? It would've made his chase with Coby much easier and prevented his embarrassing fall earlier. Today was quickly becoming one of the worst days he has had in years and he had yet to go home and shower this filth off himself and Coby. His bed sounded heavenly right about now.
He heard a gasp and then a soft woof following it. What on earth happened now? Stumbling over mud and roots he manages to catch up to the pair and glance over the Frenchman's shoulder.
It was.. A teacup?
Bloody hell. He really was losing it. Why are they so shocked about some crappy teacup filled with rainwater? He holds back a groan at this situation, is this seriously what they've been chasing?
Boltund leans forwards and nudges the object with his nose. The Frenchman (he needs to learn this idiot's name soon or he's going to be driven more insane than he already is) leans forward in anticipation. What is he expecting from some random cup in the middle of a park?
Arthur is getting ready to pull the lead back out and say farewell to the stranger when suddenly the cup begins to levitate. He's too stunned to move. Is this some big prank? Is this Alfred's fault? The moonlight glistens off the delicate markings in the teacup as it gets higher and higher. Maybe he is as insane as his coworkers claim, is it too late to book some kind of psychiatrist?
After a few moments too long for Arthurs liking, the cup spins dramatically, revealing a face carved into the side. God, this reminded him a little too much of the Frenchman beside him. Still he couldn't help but jump slightly at the sudden movement. Luckily, it appears the stranger seemed to jolt too so he wasn't alone on this one.
It was quite a cute expression carved into it to be fair. Arthur considers it a little… No! No, this is creepy and haunted and whatever pokemon this is he wants nothing to do with it! He pulls a face somehow worse than the one he was wearing before. He's begging whatever god there is to let him return home.
“A sinistea,” The stranger breaks the silence, shocking Arthur, “I wonder if someone owns it already?”
Arthur looks again at the pokemon floating near them. It reminds him of his workplace and his love for tea. Strange. The name feels familiar, he's sure he has heard of it before somewhere.
He draws in a breath, “I work at the Battle Cafe, I could keep it there until we find its owner?” He doesn't know why he had suggested such a thing, the words were out his mouth before he could stop them. His eye twitches in regret, if it was up to him he’d like to go straight to bed and pretend it was all a dream. Maybe he’s the one who's possessed.
The man hums in agreement, considering the proposal, “I think that's a fabulous idea…” He pauses for a moment, clearly meaning to have continued his sentence with something else, “Ah, it appears I don't know your name.”
Finally, Arthur thinks, he was getting sick of calling him ‘The Frenchman.’
“I’m Arthur, what about you?” He looks the man in the face properly for the first time since the two have met, just to be polite. The first thing he notices is how vibrantly blue his eyes are, even in the moonlight they somehow glowed. It pisses him off immensely.
The stranger smiled, “Thank you, Arthur,” He took Arthur's hands, holding them to his chest and stepped closer, “I’m Francis.”
What. The. Fuck does he think he's doing? Arthur yanks his hands away and puts them back at his sides, “French and called Francis?” He’s sick and tired of pretending to be nice, he just wants to go home, “What kind of joke are you playing, did your parents dislike you that much?”
“You can’t be insulting me with eyebrows like that,” Francis kept his smug smile but irritation was leaking through. Arthur didn't think he could hate someone more than Alfred but here he was, his worst enemy.
“Just take a look at yourself first, what freak uses a pokemon as a fashion accessory?” He crosses his arms and glares. The comfey on Francis’ head twirls in response.
“Come on now, it is far too late for us to bicker like this. We have a sinistea to take care of.” Francis’ eye twitched at his comment, Arthur couldn't help but be a little proud of the damage he had dealt. Hopefully he never sees the man again after this.
“Of course, you are right, I suppose. Is there a pokeball or anything for it?”
Francis blanks for a minute as if forgetting that pokemon need pokeballs, especially ones you just met that are not gonna follow you. “Ah, oui, yes. Hold on.” He begins to fiddle around with the keychain attached to his waist. Arthur hadn't noticed it at the beginning. Quickly, Francis unhooks a pokeball from there. You can have pokeball keychains? Weird, Arthur had never seen anything like it.
Francis reaches out to the sinistea with the pokeball in hand. The teacup floats down to the man to inspect the ball. They all, even boltund, stay still. No one wants to scare off the pokemon. After far too long, the sinistea was happy with its observation. It gives a twirl before touching the object and being transported inside. Arthur lets out a breath. He had forgotten how suspenseful pokemon catching can be, he’s not sure his heart can take it anymore.
“I can take that back to the Battle Cafe with me now, thank you.” Arthur reaches out for the pokeball in the man's hand.
Francis pulls his arm away, holding it far from Arthur and shaking his head, “no need to be so hasty now! How do I know you’re not going to just throw the poor pokemon away the first moment you can, Arthur?”
He grits his teeth, “How do I know you won't? I can't trust you after leading me into this forest at this hour!”
“I did no such thing! That was your Coby! I have manners unlike you, I know how to care for an animal.”
It took everything in Arthur not to tackle the man. How dare he insinuate such a thing? He has plenty of experience with pokemon and he has much more love for them than people, “You twat! I care for my pokemon much better than you do clearly. Now let me just take it and let us go our separate ways.”
Francis considers for a moment, “You work at the Battle Cafe, oui?” Arthur nods, fed up with it all, “How about I leave this in your hands and tomorrow I visit the place and check you've done as you promised?” He smiles, happy with his idea. Arthur groans internally, if he has to see this man again he seriously thinks those jokes about throttling won't be jokes any longer.
What other option does he have though? If the pokemon were in his care he'd know for sure that it'd be alright. Gritting his teeth, he sighs.
“Okay. Deal. Whatever. The sinistea will be there at the counter tomorrow morning, Ludwig may be the one who greets you at the till.” Arthur is glad he isn't allowed to interact with customers because they deem his attitude too ‘rude.’
“Then it is a deal then,” Francis grabs Arthur's hand again and places the pokeball in it, “Take care of it, I'll be there.” He gazes with a smile at Arthur before turning and getting swallowed by the shadows again. The touch of his soft hands lingered on his and Arthur felt his face heating up. Out of anger. Nothing else. Does that stupid frog think he can keep grabbing his hands? Does he not know of personal space?
Arthur continues to curse the man out in his mind until Coby finally barks again, spinning around him. Right. He needs to get home and bathe Coby. He’s already wishing to wake up from this nightmare again. Not before lecturing Coby on stranger danger though, if that dog doesn't learn he thinks he might turn grey early.