Heartcatch! Prompt Writings

When Astren was young, they were friends with a Wooper. They were friends with many pokemon, mind you, Astren was a very popular poochyena, and lots of pokemon wanted to be friends with them. However, Astren's best friend was this Wooper going by the name of Marsh. Marsh was always the kind of pokemon to make a mess of things, physically at least, tracking cold mud and water throughout any building they went through. Astren was cleanly, and didn't like any semblance of something that could leave a stain. And yet, these two ended up clicking together like two pieces of a puzzle. A strange friendship, but a sweet one. 

One day, Marsh had asked Astren to go out to the shore with him, so that he could show them something that he learned from his mother, and hopefully even teach it to his best friend. Astren would have come along with him even if there was no reason, but being offered something to learn certainly helped Astren rationalize the trip to their own parents, especially since Marsh was very insistent that they needed to be there at the first moments of sunrise. Much like a lot of strange things in their friendship, it just kind of... worked out. 

The salty sea air was unfamiliar to Astren, but nothing that they couldn't handle. The sand was the real thing that made him look ever so slightly uncomfortable, getting stuck in his fur. Marsh however seemed confident, a bright smile across his face as he looked to the poochyena next to him.  "So, are you ready to find out the cool move I learned?" Astren looked back at him, and tried desperately to fix their expression to be more of a smile. "Of course I am, Marsh. If we had to go all the way out here for it, It must be pretty good." Astren said, allowing their tail to wag slightly to show his excitement for the event despite the physical discomfort. Thankfully though, they wouldn't be subjected to the sand for much longer. "Okay, awesome! I promise this move's going to be super cool and totally worth it! Though we probably shouldn't be on ground like this..." Marsh paused, looking around before perking up and beginning to run over to another part of the shore. "There! That rock, it'll hold both of us just fine- come on!" Astren couldn't help but give out a bit of a laugh, though they quickly walked on over to stand with their friend on the rocks, kicking some sand out of their paws once they got onto the gray platform.

"Alright! Now we just need to do the move! It's really easy, all you need to do, is put one paw here, and then your other paw there, and then you jump once. After that, you spin around, and then-" Marsh went on like that for a bit, moving along with his own body while trying his best to translate the moves verbally in a way that would work for a pokemon with four legs. Eventually though, Astren got the idea- comprehending that the other was pretty much just trying to explain the basics of how to dance. To be fair, Astren wasn't exactly the dancing type, but that didn't mean that they didn't know how to dance in some capacity. Eventually, Marsh stopped talking, and instead Astren simply followed the other visually, paws tapping on the stone beneath them and finding a rhythm despite there being so music around. Eventually, both parties began to struggle ever so slightly against the rock now somewhat slippery with rain.

Wait a minute, when did it start raining?

Astren looked up, flinching slightly as they felt the rain on their face, only to look back down to see Marsh laughing in complete joy. "Yeah! We're doing it, Astren!" The laugh was contagious, Astren allowing themself to chuckle in response before asking the question that... somehow hadn't been answered the entire time they were on the shore. "What are we even doing, Marsh?" The wooper does a little spin, splashing water towards Astren's face, causing more laughter to spark between the two. "We're using Rain Dance! It's raining, we're making it rain!" And so they were, and they continued to dance, making the rain continue on until both of them agreed that the sun should be allowed to rise without the clouds they were kicking about with their dance.

That had been so long ago... now Astren was a mightyena, had discovered themself and moved away from their parents' home. More than that, Astren had a trainer now, a team to be a part of, arguably even an adoptive child to take care of. Astren was preparing for the rest of their life, and unfortunately Marsh wasn't part of that journey, no matter how much Astren wished for him to be. No doubt Marsh was a Quagsire now, and that he was doing his own thing. They always had been different, but kids have a magical way of keeping connected despite that... maybe it was school that kept them together, or maybe it was because kids are all figuring themselves out. Either way, Astren still looked out to the shore sometimes, takes time to dance on rocks like they did when they were young, and sometimes, they hope that their dance will bring Marsh to them, just like the clouds and the rain. 

Their claws tap on the stone, and their jewelry jingles in a light melody as they move, the rain that arrives creating a beat for them to follow. Over time, Astren has added more to the dance. New moves, trinkets to wear to create music to follow, even lyrics to sing as they move their paws to the sounds around them. It's a strange sight to some, a pure dark type using a water move, a mightyena using a move that wasn't meant for it, but Astren doesn't mind. It reminds them of Marsh... reminds them of the time where everything just seemed to work out.