xmenfirstkink | round 3 overflow post

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Round 3 Overflow Post

This post is for Round 3 fills only. We ask that when a round hits 8500 comments, fillers begin moving their fills to this post.

Format:
SUBJECT LINE -- Round #, short description of fic (ex: "Alex/Hank, lab partners")
--- Link to the prompt
--- Text of the prompt

--- Link to the fill
OR
--- Entire text of the fill

EXAMPLE:
Prompt: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/6437.html?thread=1038472#t2038174

Charles/Erik -- Charles is a bakery owner whose most frequent customer is Erik.

Fill: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/6437.html?thread=0139482#t4502942

Charles started off the morning the same way he always did...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From: (Anonymous)

Prompt: They way I see it the Xaviers could have a Pokémon Gym, Cain is the Gym Leader, Charles and Raven help with the Gym but Charles would rather become a Pokémon Professor like his hero Professor Oak -he even loves his bad pokemon poetry and writes his own- and Raven wants to be a Pokémon Trainer much against their Mom's wishes who wants her to follow on the Xavier women's tradition of becoming Pokémon Coordinators.

Enter Erik Lensherr, a Pokémon Trainer who's objective is to beat the Pokémon League Champion, Sebastian Shaw, and so is collecting badges to enter the Pokémon Tournament.

Charles and Raven are infautated by the lone trainer and decide to accompany him whether their family -and Erik himself even- aproves or not.

BONUS POINTS if
-Charles has an unevolved Eve as his main.
-Erik has a Magnemite or Magneton that later evolves to Magnezone as his main.
-Elite Four = Emma, Riptide, Azazel, Angel.
-Sean, Darwin, Alex, Hank join or meet the group later.
-Hank is a Póke Lab assistant.
-Charles is secretly friends with Mew.

DOUBLE SUPER BONUS POINTS if
Author Anon can squeeze in Mewtwo somehow, since well, Mewtwo is Mew's Magneto.

Fill: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/3278.html?thread=3469774#t3469774

From: (Anonymous)

EPISODE 02

(o)============================(o)
||                                                                    ||
||                   “A Legendary Game!”                  ||
||                                                                    ||
(o)============================(o)

In the previous episode:

Charles met Erik Lehnsherr, heir of the once famous Lehnsherr Pokémon Ranch in Magnus Village, at the Xavier Gym where he was later beaten by Cain, Charles' older brother and Gym Leader.

Erik agreed to accompany the two youngest Xavier siblings to Cerebra Village where Raven's very important baseball game will be taking place at midday so he could train with Charles and learn a way to defeat the Xavier Gym Leader.

While Raven gets ready for the game, Charles shows Erik to Cerebro, his joint project with the young lab assistant at Cerebra's Pokémon Lab.

"Meet Cerebro!" said Charles with a flourish.

The big machine was Hank's and Charles' pride. Hank had built it all himself, genius he was, but Charles had helped with some calculations and had gotten it to run properly after Hank's long months of frustration when it wouldn't work, rejecting user after user. Cerebro would bring a revolution to Pokémon Research, would pave the way for better Human-Pokémon relationships and Charles was sincerely hoping to show Erik the genius of it all.

But Erik wasn't looking very thrilled.

Charles gave his newest friend a shy smile. "I admit it is somewhat crude-looking, the whole thing is still in its beta phase, you see, but what it is capable of doing even just now is simply amazing."

Erik gave him a short nod, clearly unconvinced. He looked warily around the room, his face scrunched up with an apprehensive frown, and his eyes narrowed minutely when Eevee squealed loudly and happily having cleaned its plate of food.

"You liked that, didn't you?" asked Hank to the small Pokémon. It yipped, content, and ran up to Charles who petted it behind its ears.

Hank switched on Cerebro then and began the calibrations, the device chirped as its buttons lit in blues, reds, yellows and greens.

Truth be told, Charles had been hoping to impress Erik with his and Hank's work. The boy's frowning face and evident apprehension, however, told him well enough how little he had succeeded. Perhaps when the actual session began, Cerebro working its magic, Erik's mood would change.

Because, well, Charles liked Erik and wanted to show off. He was mysterious and Charles loved mysteries; here was a piece of the puzzle that was the downfall of the Lenhsherrs' Ranch, a beloved place for Brian Xavier that Charles never got to visit --oh, his father had promised to take him there, he had, but then the accident happened and Brian never came back home.

From: (Anonymous)

"It's ready, Charles," announced Hank and motioned to Charles' pockets, "Call your Wobbuffet, won't you?"

Charles nodded, called forth a pokéball and summoned Wobbuffet. It let out a loud 'Wobbu-Wobbu-ffet!' and saluted with more force than usual, excited, as eager to start the session as Charles. Eeevee yipped cheerily next to them.

Erik's unfaltering glare, however, hardened when Hank placed a Cerebro helmet on Wobbuffet's head. He opened his mouth, about to say something before his eyes widened almost comically at the sight of Charles putting on the bigger Cerebro helmet himself. His befuddlement was quite short lived, though, quickly morphing into what Charles would have thought to be silent simmering outrage.

"He's a test subject too?" he barked at Hank.

Hank gave him a look that said something like 'what else did you expect' --Hank could be a nervous wreck anywhere but his Lab-- and went to retrieve their research diary, a pencil and their notes from previous sessions as well.

"I have been from the start," replied Charles calmly. Contrary to Charles' hopes, Erik grew even more dubious and distrustful of the process.

"Cerebro won't run with anyone else." Decidedly oblivious of Erik's menacing frown, Hank explained further: "Cerebro's objective is to provide a temporary link between a human and a Pokémon's mind. Just as some very powerful psychic pokémon can project their thoughts into human minds, even read them on occasion, Cerebro is to aid a human to do the same. Alas, it cannot as of yet convert the human brainwaves' frequency to Pokémon's on its own, it needs the aid of a psychic pokémon to map a working synapses' core of transmissible brainwaves frequencies and to trigger the connection. Boosting the model Pokémon's own psychic powers allows for said Pokémon, the human and Cerebro to have a considerable range of action as well, say, miles of clear coverage. So you could say Cerebro is also an ability booster, only for psychic Pokémon and only for this task alone, though."

Many had trouble following the theory behind Cerebro but Erik seemed to be doing quite fine as Hank prattled on. Charles really, really liked Erik.

"Still, Cerebro has quite the trouble doing the necessary psionic wavelength conversion onto most humans since common psychic Pokémon lack the mind strength and fine tuning than more powerful Pokémon like Mew, for example, possesses. That's why only the most powerful psychic Pokémon can effectively wield telepathy."

"But Charles' brain is amazing." At this, Erik turned to Charles who might have or might have not blushed, mind you, and raised an eyebrow, his mouth quirked in a guarded smirk.

"Really," said Erik.

It was hard being the sole focus or Erik's piercing stare. Charles squirmed a bit, much to his own chagrin. Erik's smile grew wider.

"Yes! His brain offers no resistance to the process, unlike the others, it's amazingly cooperative. It's as if it was already accustomed to the whole of it and welcomed the experience." Hank said excitedly, his glasses slid down his nose with the movements of his wild gesturing. He quickly resettled them with a push of his forefinger.

"So let's begin."

This is where what little good humor Erik had scraped together in the last minutes drained away. He was all glares and scowls again. Oh, bother.

From: (Anonymous)

"I assure you, Erik, that Wobbuffet and I are perfectly alright with this. It's neither painful or harmful, actually, we look forward to our every Cerebro session, it's quite refreshing and thrilling," soothed Charles and Wobbuffet saluted happily just as Eevee squealed with anticipation.

"If you say so," replied Erik unconvinced but offered a tentative smile all the same. His hands were tight shaking fists.

Then Cerebro finished the brain mapping. It beeped and the outside world became a second worry for Charles as his mind expanded, Wobbuffet's consciousness sharing the ride with him.

Charles loved it. His world now was but bright spots in an endless clean mindscape, each spot with a distinct flavor, a distinct light, a distinct warmth. Each a unique Pokémon or man with a unique story, a unique life. He navigated with ease the sea of minds, a practiced skill, familiar and known from years of daily indulgence at home. Which reminded him, he knew this shining rosy dot near the stadium.

Charles touched it with a tendril of his mind. It bloomed in bright colors of wonder and delight. It greeted Charles with joy.

You followed us, my friend.

The light grew warmer, unabashedly giddy as it showed him images of the stadium grounds: Raven was discussing something with Irene while their Pokémon and the rest of the team ran laps, swung bats and generally prepared for the game.

Yes, I'm excited about it too.

The light shone a bright yellow and tasted of anticipation.

"Charles?"

Hank's voice yanked Charles' attention, and so he left the familiar consciousness to its own devices, hopefully none too troublesome.

"I'm here Hank," he replied.

Hank let out a relived sigh, out loud he said: "See? He's alright."

"Could've fooled me. He isn't moving at all." Erik's voice sounded clipped, sharp.

"He's connecting to nearby Pokémon minds. Maybe even human ones, Wobbuffet's readings are quite high today."

"Hush you two! I'm having fun," said Charles with a grin.

He found another well-known spot of light and poked at it in greeting.

Somewhere close by Eevee squealed and the light opened a little door welcoming Charles in. He saw then the laboratory though everything was bigger now; before him was Charles' body, deadly still but smiling. Erik was looking at him too, his right hand clutching a pokéball.

"I'm with Eevee now," announced Charles. Hank gave a quick glance to Cerebro's main screen and began scribbling in the project's journal.

"Good, good," he said. "So how are you feeling Eevee?" he then asked.

Eevee's response was a waggle of its tail and a little excited cry.

"I...am... fine. Food was good Hank, better than ever!" translated Charles slowly.

"Don't...tell Hank, Charlie, but I saved...some for you. Hid it away." And just as Charles finished talking, Eevee lowered its ears indignantly, giving him a hurt glare.

"Oh, Eevee, darling, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Charles apologized quickly. Hank, however, almost dropped the journal and puffed angrily.

"Gosh! Not again Eevee!" he said, "I told you to stop hiding food in my Lab! It's unhygienic, honestly!"

Erik's face betrayed then a smile. A tiny itty bitty smile but it was there. Charles smiled to himself as Hank began to search through the Lab for the hidden food, Eevee at its heels, barking warningly each time they approached one of the Pokémon's usual hiding places.

"It's Charlie's! Leave it alone, not giving it to you, you have plenty!" translated Charles once more, chuckling. "Eevee, I'm fine. I appreciate the sentiment, though. Thank you," he said.

Eevee's ears perked up. It looked at Charles expectantly.

"Of course you can eat it, go ahead."

Eevee ran. It bypassed an annoyed Hank kneeling under a desk and retrieved a few chunks of Pokémon food from behind an old broken computer tucked away in a corner.

Hank sighed, walked to stand next to Charles and began writing anew in their journal. He shoot admonishing looks at Eevee every now and then.

And, well, Charles couldn't see him, but he heard Erik snort loudly, disbelieving and contemptuous. It deflated Charles; he had hoped Erik would have lost his apprehensiveness by now, that the boy had gotten at least a bit more interested in his and Hank's work.

From: (Anonymous)

"It's a nice little show, but I'm not stupid. You can't seriously think anyone sane would really fall for this ridiculous charade," said Erik, he had crossed his arms over his chest.

"I assure you this isn't a trick," huffed Hank.

"Prove it," challenged Erik just as he summoned one of his Pokémon. A Magnemite.

"Read her."

A new spot lit up in Charles' mindscape map. It was dimly green with bright whites, it tasted of loyalty and longing. He gave it a friendly mental knock.

"Hello there," greeted Charles out loud. The Magnemite gave a spin in the air, it greeted him with a contented screech.

"You summoned Lorna. She's ah... yes, she's the youngest of your Magnemite but not the youngest of your party Pokémon."

"Easily to deduce. By her size and bolts, if you paid attention in our duel, you could easily tell her apart."

"He's got his eyes closed!" hissed Hank to which Erik only harrumphed.

"Alright, alright. Could you tell me something only you and Erik know, Lorna?" asked Charles sheepishly.

Lorna turned to its trainer, tilting down a little in the air, asking for permission.

Erik nodded. Hank was taking notes as fast as he could.

"Lorna tells me that once, when you were very young, you fell into the breeding pond at the back of the Ranch. You almost drowned but the Pokémon nearby were able to get you out."

As soon as Charles spoke, Erik's eyes widened and his mouth clenched tightly shut.

"Lorna's mother, oh, oh dear... oh dear, I'm so very sorry." Charles shook his head, "Lorna's mother drowned saving you. Lorna was only a few days old back then and you have taken care of her and her big brother and big sister ever since."

Charles kept silent after that, Erik too. The only sound for what felt like hours but were in reality merely a few seconds was Hank's pencil scratching on paper.

"Well," said Erik finally, "I'm impressed."

Somehow it didn't feel like a victory.

From: (Anonymous)

After Lorna's revelation -- Erik would not begrudge her the story, he had given his consent after all-- Hank and Charles had switched back to observe Eevee. They 'spoke' to other Pokémon in the vicinity too, including Charles' sister's Sneasel at the stadium. Quickly enough, the session was over.

They left Hank in the Lab to sort out the new data while Charles lead Erik towards the building's patio. It hadn't been too long a walk.

"Ta-da?" said Charles as both stepped outside the Poké Lab's premises, his arms outstretched, showing off the open area. Erik raised an eyebrow. The place was good, ideal even. There was a large clear patch of hard soil at the center, scarce thin grass here and there that only dared to thicken nearing the border. Further away, behind a steel mesh, berry shrubs and fruit trees could be seen growing well. They were nicely cared for, the Lab's garden, perhaps, and behind them was a dome that Erik suspected was an actual Green House.

When Erik looked back at Charles, the boy was deliberately staring away, hands clasped at his back, slowly rocking back and fort on his heels. Erik smirked.

"So. How should I kick your ass today, Charles?" he teased. Charles turned sharply to him, an indignant frown on his face.

"If by ass kicking you mean utter defeat at my hands, then, by any means my friend, I shall grant you the first step of our dance," Charles said haughtily, then grinned wide and bright.

They began the training.

Wobbuffet had been a little tired after Hank's machine's demonstration --Erik still felt grudgingly amazed by the fact that the awkward boy had built it all by himself-- so Charles had relied on Eevee for the most of their battling, Wobbuffet intervening only when he'd recovered some.

It was frustrating to Erik, just as it had been in their first encounter, the way Charles kept so carefully on the defensive. His strategy was reactive on the whole, his attacks lacked aggressiveness, their intent was more focused on subduing by pressure than hasty incapacitation. It grated on Erik's nerves.

"Stop holding back!" he shouted to Charles when he couldn't stand it anymore. "Fight like you really mean it! Dammit!"

"W-What?" Charles spluttered startled, his Eevee skipped a step in surprise and tripped down, Wanda zapped him. The battle was over.

Charles had been, admittedly, too absorbed in Erik's body movements--in a totally professional way, honestly; he was trying to understand him in relation to his Pokémon and their battle synchronization-- so he was quite taken aback by his abrupt outburst. Because, well, Charles wasn't holding back.

As a trainer, Erik was quite fascinating. His strategies were mostly power-based, lacking some finesse, and his pokémon responded well to his every command and yet, and yet, they weren't performing to their fullest. They had a deep connection, that much was obvious, yes, but their bond was left wanting at the end of the day. Charles had yet to pinpoint why. He had hoped that their training together would have provided some insight into the issue so, once fixed, Erik would defeat Cain.

But then, Erik thought Charles was holding back.

Holding back.

"I'm not holding back!"

"Yes you are," huffed Erik. "You are not trying to win at all, your moves are all defensive and when you finally decide to attack, you are too soft. Your Pokémon are completely repressing themselves for your sake, they feel your hesitance and act accordingly."

Charles opened his mouth to respond something, anything, but the truth was he didn't know what to say. Erik wasn't finished, though.

"And that Eevee," Erik pointed to Charles' Eevee and the little Pokémon's ears perked in attention. "Is well past his time to evolve."

"Eevee's not ready!"

"You mean you are not ready."

It wasn't that at all! Why rush it? Rushing only ever lead to bad decisions in Charles experience --Exhibit A: One Sharon Xavier's marriage to one Kurt Marko. Also, the sudden rush of power could be detrimental to Eevee's psyche if not carefully handled. Charles sighed. Yes, Erik was right on one account, he just grudgingly realized, Charles didn't feel ready to evolve Eevee.

From: (Anonymous)

"--veee?" Eevee asked confused. Charles patted its head. He had also just realized Erik's problem.

"Must everything be about winning and power to you? That's why you can't defeat Cain, you focus too much in your attacks and leave yourself vulnerable. Your Pokémon are so intent on coping with your blinding hunger for victory on the field, pouring every ounce of their power in each hit, that they are left either too tired or too distracted to defend themselves."

Erik and Charles glared at each other.

After a minute or so, Charles hunched his shoulders and shook his head. "Just another victim of Sebastian Shaw, I suppose," he said ruefully.

Erik's eyes sharpened, his mouth twisted dangerously. "Do you know him? Shaw?" He sneered. A shiver ran down Charles spine but he composed himself quickly and replied.

"Not personally, no. But he's a horrible trainer, you know? He's written dozens of books on Pokémon psychology and behavior as well as training handbooks. All of them terribly misguided, if you ask me, his research methods are inhumane, his facts completely wrong. A hack if I've ever read one yet he's adored by the masses, upstanding scientific minds even take his lies seriously! Gah!" Despite his best efforts, Charles grew angrier the more he talked about that despicable self-proclaimed Pokémon Behaviorist Genius. All bull, bull and ever more! He threw his arms in the air and continued with his tirade.

"People take his words at heart, they truly believe everything his crazy books spew and then you have trainers hurting their Pokémon, misunderstanding their very real, very fragile necessities! He's all 'Power', 'Supremacy', 'Victory', 'Survival of the fittest'." By this point Charles was making faces with every quote, mocking caricatures of Shaw's face, his voice was pitched at a ridiculous level in parody of Shaw's.

And Erik was smirking, guardedly amused.

As Charles rallied on about how he and Hank would debunk Shaw's ridiculous theories and expose him for the hack he was once Cerebro was fully functioning, Raven appeared through the steel door that had brought him and Erik to the patio.

"You got him started on Shaw?" she asked laughing once she joined them. Erik flinched slightly at the name but it was so fast that she didn't notice. He shrugged for lack of a better response.

Charles stopped mid-rant, sheepish and hurt. "Raven," he chided but said no more. Raven smiled.

"Listen Erik," she said seriously, although the uplifted corner of her mouth betrayed mischief, "If you are going to be Charles' boyfriend you've got to know about the 'Forbidden Conversation Topics' list. Any mention of any of those and Charles will go on a nerdrage," she winked.

If Erik were one to make such observations, he would describe Charles' blushing face as 'cute'. But since he wasn't that absurd a person, it was more humorous than anything to see him grow red as a beet. He felt his anger subside, much to his chagrin.

"Number one," Raven began, "Professor Oak's laaaaaaame poetry; second, Shaw the Hack; third, Tea versus Coffee; fourth--"

"Oh, dear sister, please. Stop embarrassing me, would you?" pleaded Charles as he tried rather unsuccessfully to shut Raven's mouth with a hand.

Batting her brother's hands away, Raven made to the Lab's door. "The Game is about to start, I just came to fetch you. Hank's already at the stadium so let's go." She motioned them to follow and left.

Erik and Charles walked side by side on their way to the stadium, Eevee and Wanda trailing behind.

At one time during their walk, Charles whispered to Erik: "I'm sorry about before. I thought you were one of Shaw's awful fans, you know? Didn't mean to explode like that."

"It's alright," replied Erik. "For the record, I hate the guy too." Charles smiled to him, a playful little smile. Erik averted his eyes quickly.

"So, 'Tea and Coffee'..." he teased instead.

"Oh, my friend, you don't really want to go there, believe me." Charles laugh was loud, vibrant and warm.

--(o)--

From: (Anonymous)

Charles wished his sister good luck and let her go to the field with a peck on the cheek. Today was Raven's big day and Charles wanted nothing but to see her triumphant and happy. He sat next to Hank in the first row of seats, Erik to his right, Eevee on his lap.

Hank was by now dressed just like Charles was, in the colors of the Legendary Ho-Oh's, looking flustered.

"So you are the cheerleaders?" joked Erik but at Charles' and Hank's withering looks, he sobered. "Oh God. You are." Erik looked around. "I think I'll go sit somewhere else."

"Too late," said Charles grabbing him by the arm, "You are already doomed. Seat and enjoy yourself."

The people around them roared as the competing teams appeared on the field.

"Today we have the game of games," announced a voice, "Will The Legendary Ho-Oh's be able to finally beat their oldest rivals The Wild Rhyhorns this year, or will they lose their place in the Championship at their hands once more?"

There were collective boos and whistling from the spectators in the stadium. Charles and Hank rose to shout Raven's team name and the game opened to the sound of blasting trumpets and heavy rock.

--(o)--