Hi all! In celebration of Diodeshipping week this year I'm posting up some of the fics I wrote for NaNoWriMo last month. This one is a Pokémon GO AU because why not haha It's an AU where Pokémon exist only in the PokéGo app, much like our world. For the sake of XY canon, assume they have the Kalos 'dex update.

This AU has quickly become very close to my heart, and there will be sequels at some point, but for now, please enjoy!

Cross-posted on AO3 and tumblr.

Pokémon GO! We Meet At Last

Let's see, let's see…

Clemont spies an empty bench in the Prism Tower plaza and makes a beeline for it, luckily reaching it before anyone else in the busy plaza tries to claim it as their own. He collapses onto the bench with a groan, letting his bag of recently-purchased machine parts clink to the ground. He spares a moment of panic to check that nothing has been damaged – luckily, nothing has – and pulls out his phone, tapping open the Pokémon GO app.

He had been in such a rush earlier in the morning to make it to his lecture on time that he hadn't had the time to make his usual morning detour past Prism Tower and claim the Gym there as his own. Well, he had all the time he needed now – and it looks like he might need it too, because Prism Tower Gym is currently a level 5 Red gym. Team Valor… he thinks, biting his lip as he scrolls through the occupants and their Pokémon. I wonder if that mean's he's in there?

Ever since the app had been released and taken the world by storm, Clemont has been claiming Prism Tower for his team every day. He lives nearby – so the detour isn't too much hassle – and his university seems to virtually be overrun with different types of Pokémon, so Clemont has been able to jump both his level and his team's CP up fairly high already. He usually leaves Heliolisk in charge of the Gym; the dual type is strong and fast, and thus hard to beat.

Clemont's unbroken streak in the Gym had continued day after day... until about a month ago, when he had found himself kicked out, the yellow gym turned red. Intrigued by whoever had managed to finally beat Heliolisk, he'd found a Trainer called 'Ash314' and his Froakie had replaced him as Gym Leader.

Froakie had been an unexpected challenge in his attempt to regain the Gym; it had taken a lot of intense tapping on Clemont's part to finally take it down. He placed Heliolisk back in the Gym.

The next day, the Gym had turned red again. Ash314.

And so, their rivalry was born. Over the past month the gym has passed back and forth between them, with Clemont claiming it in the morning, only for Ash314 to take it back sometime in the afternoon.

Sure enough, Ash314's avatar stands triumphant in the Gym Leader space, along with his Hawlucha. Clemont grins, beginning the battle. Getting through the other four occupants of the Gym is fairly easy; as the fourth opponent Pokémon falls and disappears in a ball of light, he can't help the nervous excitement rushing through him.

Ash314's Hawlucha is fast and its attacks are strong, and two of his Pokémon go down in the blink of an eye. But he has speed and power too, in the form of his Heliolisk; it's a close battle, but eventually Hawlucha falls.

I don't go down that easily! Clemont thinks with satisfaction, claiming the Gym with his Bunnelby and healing the rest of his team. Your move, Ash314!

He might have already missed him for the day, however – normally the afternoons are his rival's domain, and since Ash314 was already in the Gym when he got here, he must have already passed through the plaza. Clemont sighs, regarding his phone with disappointment. This means they probably won't get to battle tomorrow. It's a shame, because Ash usually has pretty strong Pokémon guarding the gym and despite the AI that manages the Gym battles – Clemont would love to take a look at the programming behind it – he always finds himself looking forward to their battles.

I suppose I'll just have to wait, he sighs to himself. Guess I should be getting home though. With a couple of flicks of his thumb across the screen of his phone, he claims his coins for the day and his items from the nearby PokéStops, and stands up, stretching his legs.

Clemont is reaching for his bag of spare parts when a loud whoop echoes around the plaza, startling him so much that he jumps a couple of inches into the air. His head whips around, seeking out the source of the triumphant yell. It's not hard to find the owner of the voice, considering that a large number of the people in the crowd are now staring at a boy with short, messy black hair and tanned skin.

The boy doesn't seem to notice the scrutiny, staring down at his phone screen with the widest, brightest grin that Clemont has ever seen. The sight of it makes his heart skip a beat; he quickly glances down again to hide the blush starting to spread across his nose. In doing so, he catches sight of his phone and suffers a second major shock: his yellow gym is turning red again!

He snatches up his phone, tapping on the gym insistently.

It's Ash314.

Clemont's gaze snaps back to the boy with the bright smile and the messy, dark hair, who is still grinning at his phone. There's no way, he thinks in shock, his wide-eyed stare bouncing between his phone and the other boy. It couldn't be. Could it? Is he…?

His feet come to a stop in front of his perhaps finally-revealed-rival; Clemont feels just as surprised as the other boy looks at the sudden close proximity. Bemused brown eyes look at him expectantly, but nervous hysterics of why am I here?! have finally caught up to Clemont and he can't seem to form words. The other boy takes pity on him. "Uh, can I help you?" he asks patiently, smiling.

Get it together, Clemont! he tells himself sternly, even as his heart flip-flops at that bright smile once again. "Are – are you Ash314?" he asks in a rush.

The other boy blinks in surprise. Clemont starts to internally panic. Oh my god, what if he's not?! I just assumed he was playing Pokémon but what if it was just an exciting email or something and now he probably thinks I'm weird and –

"I – yeah, I am, how'd you know?" the other boy asks in surprised curiosity, cutting off Clemont's internal screeching.

Glee bubbles up in Clemont and he grins, holding up his phone for his rival – it's him! It's actually him! I can't believe it! – to see. "Because you just took over my Gym."

Brown eyes dart between the phone and Clemont, before dawning comprehension becomes an answering grin that breaks out on the other boy's face. "Oh!" 'Ash314' exclaims. "You're InventorLemon! The Instinct guy!"

Clemont blushes, scratching his cheek with a finger. "Yes, that's me…" He holds out his hand to the other boy. "Although, uh, my real name is Clemont."

"Pleased to meet you, Clemont!" the dark-haired boy says brightly, grasping his hand in a firm shake. Clemont's skin tingles under the touch. "My name's Ash." He releases Clemont's hand to rub the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm not the best with technology," he adds with a laugh.

"But you raise such strong Pokémon!" Clemont protests. "I find that hard to believe."

Ash grins. "Nah, technology's amazing, but Pokémon are just easier to understand, that's all. Besides, the game's pretty simple when you get down to it, really. Where did you find your Heliolisk? I never see them around, and yours is so strong!"

"Ah, thanks," Clemont replies. He smiles at his phone. "Actually, I hatched him as a Helioptile from my first 5k egg! I've been raising him ever since."

"Oh wow, that's so cool!" Ash says, eyes sparkling. "Me and Pikachu have been partners from the very beginning too, look – "

He holds out his phone, Pikachu's profile up on the screen. "A Pikachu!" Clemont says enviously, taking it. "I wish I could find one of those, I love electric Pokémon." His eyebrows raise in shock when he sees how high Ash's Pikachu's CP is. "He's amazing. How come I never see him in the Gym?"

Ash shrugs. "He goes with me wherever I go; I'd feel bad just leaving him stuck in a Gym all the time. Besides," he laughs, "I need his help to take down really strong Gyms like this one!"

Clemont flushes, handing Ash back his phone. "I'm so glad I finally get to meet you!" Ash beams. "Actually, this probably sounds a bit weird, but I was kinda worried when you weren't still in the Gym when I got here," the dark-haired boy confesses, sounding embarrassed. "You're always here, so I thought something might have happened…"

It might be a little weird to worry over a complete stranger like that, but Clemont can remember thinking something along the same lines a couple of weeks ago, when he'd arrived at his Gym the next morning to find himself still in possession of it. He'd spent the day fretting until his sister had managed to distract him with a project.

So rather than apprehension, Clemont is actually rather touched that Ash is apparently just as concerned for him. "No, I just overslept and was running late for my class," he reassures the other boy. "And then I had to buy some things from the tech shop – oh no!" He's suddenly, horribly aware of the lack of bags in his hands; clearly, he'd left it behind when he came over. "My bag!"

With a hurried apology to Ash thrown over his shoulder, Clemont dashes back to the bench he had secured earlier. Much to his eternal relief, his bag is still sitting next to the bench, untouched. He crouches down beside it to rifle quickly through everything inside, checking it over.

"What's that?" Ash's voice asks over his shoulder.

Clemont yelps in surprise, not expecting Ash to have followed him. Ash gives him a sheepish look as he moves to a less surprise-inducing place beside the blond, peering down curiously at the bag's contents.

"Ah, it's parts for a robot that I'm building at the moment," Clemont explains absently as he packs everything back into place.

"A robot?! That's awesome! Technology is so amazing!"

Clemont laughs, a faint blush staining his cheeks. "Yeah, I think so too. I study robotics at the university."

He makes the mistake of looking up at Ash's face when he finishes speaking; the look of excited awe on the other boy's face sends his blush into overdrive. "That's amazing, Clemont!" Ash enthuses. "That must be really fun! I wish I could see some of the stuff you work on, it sounds so cool…"

"Maybe I can show you sometime?" Clemont offers without thinking. When he registers what he's just said, he freezes, internally screeching.

It's worth any amount of internal screeching to see the way Ash lights up, though. "Really?" he asks, beaming. "Thanks, Clemont! That'd be great!" The other boy hesitates for a moment. "Hey, do you thi – Ack, that's my bus!" Ash yelps, looking towards the edge of the plaza. "I gotta go. It was great meeting you, Clemont!"

The dark-haired boy jogs off, leaving a very bemused Clemont behind. Wait! he realises suddenly, stomach sinking. I didn't ask for a way to contact him!

He opens his mouths to call after Ash – though he doesn't want Ash to miss his bus – but before he can make a noise Ash suddenly stops, spins around, and jogs back towards him. "Hey, gimme your hand for a sec," Ash says the second he's within hearing range. Clemont blinks and offers his hand cautiously as Ash rummages in his pockets. With a triumphant 'Aha!', Ash flourishes a pen, uncapping it with his teeth and grabbing Clemont's hand to scrawl a series of numbers on it. "There we go!" he says proudly when he's finished. "Now you've got my number if you wanna talk! Oh yeah, we should go on a Pokéwalk sometime this weekend! How about it?"

"Okay," Clemont replies, dazed. He can feel his skin tingling where Ash had grabbed it. That was not what he had been expecting. He stares at the number on his hand. I have his number…!

"Great! It's a date then!" Ash beams, clapping Clemont on the shoulder.

"Sure," Clemont agrees. Then a beat later: "Wait, what?!"

"Awesome! Ack, now I really gotta go!"

Ash darts off again. He's a few paces off when he spins around again, this time to wave. "See ya on the weekend then, Clemont! Text me when!" He turns around and dashes off, disappearing into the crowd of people in the plaza. Clemont is frozen stock-still, Ash's words on repeat as his face gets steadily redder.

Wait, does he actually mean a date?!

FIN

Thanks for reading!