You Teach Me, and I'll Teach You

The two buizel, Xeno and Bui, had come from Pecha Forest and were now arriving in the Small Pond area. Bui had been here many, many times before—if he were to pick a favourite place, this would be a candidate.

"I don't know if you've ever been around here before, but it's a nice, calm place. Pokemon tend to come here to swim or have picnics and whatnot." Bui examined the area, looking for a nice place for the two to set up camp.

If Xeno doesn't want to go near towns, then this place will make a fine alternative. I just hope the night doesn't get too cold—I'm not very confident in my fire-making skills; I'm a water-type, after all.


Bui spotted a decent-sized tree close to the shore of the lake. "That looks like a nice spot," Bui said as he pointed the location out to his companion. He began to make his way over, expecting Xeno to follow.

Wordlessly following Bui, Xeno gazed around at the pond. Don't think we've ever been here? It's just been nonstop moving for us, hasn't it? "I-It's great..." Although Xeno was used to it being cold, he wasn't quite sure about Bui. "A-Are you going to be alright out here?" Xeno asked.

Xeno was used to the cold, what with the time he's spent outside by himself. No not by myself, I've had you. And now Bui is here also.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I've had times where I had to camp outside before. In bad weather, too. And I'm not just going to leave you here, anyhow."

Bui sat down and leaned against the tree and admired the reflection of the setting sun on the surface. "I think, we relax here, and when we get tired, sleep through the night. Tomorrow, we can start our work. How do you want to do this?" Bui looked over towards Xeno as he asked the question. "How much time per day do you want to dedicate to your training, and teaching me to read? And since we're on the topic, how are you going to go about teaching me without books?" Bui assumed books would be an important part of learning to read—it is what they're for, after all.

Xeno stared blankly at Bui, "W-Well, I could always just write stuff out and teach you from that. W-We can get into books when, um, it's safe for me to back to town." Xeno dropped his gaze after an awkward pause. "I=Is it bad if we do more fighting than reading? I-I kind of need the support"

For a while, Xeno has been passive when it's come to fights and his parents. Even though they'd always attack him, he didn't dare do anything about it. Xeno shuddered greatly at the thought.

"Not bad at all—necessary, if you ask me. Knowing how to fight is far more important than knowing how to read, if you ask me." Bui nodded, agreeing with himself. "I'm also pretty sure I won't need a whole lot of time to pick up reading—it can't be that hard to make sense of those little symbols."

Bui stood up and moved the short distance to the shore of the lake. He proceeded to test the temperture of the water with his foot, and—finding it acceptable—made his way deeper in to the water. However, he remained close to the shore so that he could still talk to Xeno easily, if Xeno wasn't up for swimming.

"The water is fine, if you're interested." Bui leaned back and floated in the calm water. "Ah, yes, I'll take a pond over a town any day."

Xeno gave a small smirk. "I'd rather be underwater," he said, before walking down into the water. He kept on walking until the water was about up to his buoy. Catching himself smiling, he immediately put his face back to a neutral position. "I-I kinda enjoy this"
This couldn't be too bad, just me and Bui. Plus we get to learn something interesting.
"S-So, you're sure it's safe here? Just for us?" Xeno had to be just a bit worried however. If there was anything he learned from wandering around, if it seems peaceful, it's usually not.

"Short of some civilized Pokemon coming along to swim or picnic, not much happens around here. And those people shouldn't bother us." Bui was not at all surprised that Xeno joined him. If there was anything that would get a water-type like Xeno to participate in an activity, it had to be swimming.

"I've been around this place since I was a little kid—nothin' real exciting ever seems to happen around here—cept' the couple of times I've stolen from someone's picnic and got chased around the pond. . ." Bui smirked at the memories. "Heh, good times. Well, until I got caught. . ."

Bui swam in circles around Xeno. "What does your friend think about this place? You don't mind me asking about him, do you?"

"I-I mean, I don't mind. He certainly doesn't mind either, but it's a bit awkward for me and him," giving the matter some thought, Xeno decided that it would probably be best to at least try some sort of conversation between his imaginary friend and Bui.

Well what do you think of this place?

"W-Well, he said that he can't believe there's a place out here, right outside of the town that we can stay. H-Honestly, I find it a bit hard to believe also, b-but we'll take your word for it" Xeno had to suppress a smile though, today was getting more and more interesting.

There's still a lot more to learn, you know?

"... thanks for taking me here and sticking with me..."

"Don't mention it. And hey—if anyone comes around here looking for you, with any intention of taking you when you don't want to go, or trying to hurt you, they'll have to go through me first." Bui gave Xeno a serious look. Bui could tell that Xeno really was worried about someone being after him, the least he could do was ease some of the worry off his new friend—make things a little easier on him.

It's so easy for me to get along with Xeno—Is it because we're similar in so many ways? Both buizel, both have trouble with friends, and both have some kind of trouble about us. And they say opposites attract—I'm pretty outgoing, he's. . . not. I'm a fighter, he's a thinker. Yeah, that might really have something to do with it.

Giving a loud sigh, Xeno sank underwater and started swimming.

It's so much more peaceful down here. Just us and our thoughts. Who'd have thought that today I'd find someone that doesn't try to murder me on first sight. Strange, but then again, now that I think about it, our situations are kinda the same. Well, I still don't have a home, but I don't think that matters right now.

Lazily drifting along the bottom, Xeno had to admit, this was the most calm he's felt in days. It was almost too good to be true.

Bui sank lower in to the water, until only his nose up was above the surface. He watched as the sun began to set, dimly shining golden rays through the trees on the far edge of the area; the sky turning shades of pink and purple.

It's always peaceful here, Bui thought, as he turned his attention to Xeno, who had completely submerged himself. He finally seems to be truly enjoying himself, at last. In the morning, I can start training him. We'll do a mock battle, I'll show him what to do, what not to do; I'll make sure that if he ever runs in to whatever he's so scared of, he'll be ready for it.

I'm starting to get pretty tired. I think we should probably go to sleep. I wanna try something to get to a good spot.

Xeno propelled himself rather quickly through the water to get some momentum before jetting out of the water. Aiming for a spot in the trees, where he usually slept, Xeno tried to land gracefully. However, he miscalculated the distance and hit the branch above it straight on with his head. He then stumbling down onto the branch right below it.

Ow

Bui jumped back—or rather performed the aquatic equivilent—when Xeno suddenly went from water to tree. Then upon registering what had just happened, had to stiffle a laugh. "Ha-he, uh, erm, a-are you okay, there, Xeno?" Bui swam to the shore and stepped out of the water.

"I'll admit, that was some impressive air you got their, but maybe try practicing the landing a bit more," Bui gave Xeno a friendly smile—which held behind it contained laughter. Schadenfreude was working it's effect upon Bui.

"Alright, I guess it's gotten pretty late at this point," Bui looked at where the sun had been—it was set now. "I'll take this spot here," Bui said as he leaned against the tree, facing the pond again.

Tommorow is going to go well, I'm sure of it.

It was day time. As the sun seeped through the leaves in the tree Xeno was sleeping in, he woke up slowly. Not remembering that the branch he accidentally fell on wasn't all that big, Xeno turned in his spot, effectively jostling the branch enough for Xeno to fall a good distance onto the ground.

What kind of start to a day is that!

Looking around slowly while rubbing his head, Xeno remembered the events of the previous day. Scanning his surroundings, he found Bui sleeping behind one of the trees.

Good thing Bui knows this place. I can't believe it wasn't all a dream, but I guess you can't really complain. Though, I'm pretty sure I have a pretty bad headache now!

Bui heard something heavy hit the ground nearby. Blinking slowly, he roused himself from his sleep. Bui stretched in his place and yawned. The ground here actually made a decent bed. I wonder how Xeno slept. . .


Bui stood up and turned to see Xeno lying on the ground. "Morning, Xeno, sleep well?" Bui noted that Xeno looked a bit disoriented. Maybe it's just from waking up in a new place. 

"Also, what do you want to start the day with? I'm going to guess training takes priority for you, whcih I'm fine with."