"Hoo boy," I said, sinking down into the shallow tide as it washed up against my feet, the white foam running up the beach before getting pulled back out to the sea. The water, warmed by the early afternoon sun, soaked comfortably into my fur, and my ears twitched instinctively as I heard a sigh of relaxation from behind me. "It's good to have a break, eh?"

"No kidding." The Vulpix agreed with a nod of her head, a couple tawny locks of headfur bouncing as they dangled in front of her face. She blew them away from her warm brown eyes before walking over to me, and as she rested her head on my lap, I pinched the fur between my pawpads and pulled it back up between her ears. "Working with Team Charm was fun, but the battle with Regigigas was really exhausting..."

"Regigigas was the easy part," I replied with a cheeky grin. "Need I remind you about the stones that looked like letters?"

"Don't even remind me," Rose groaned, her six tails uncurling to their full length as they dipped into the surf. "Whoever thought that a spelling puzzle would be enough to keep intruders out was a maniac."

"At least we know the maniac was literate," I joked, smiling as the fire type barked out a short laugh. "And had no concept of busywork, either."

"Let's not go back to Aegis Cave for another lifetime, okay?" Rose said lightly, a cheerful smile betraying her happiness as she stretched out her legs, feeling them crick as they eased out the night's disuse. I affectionately stroked her back as she looked at me for an answer. "No treasure is worth doing something that tedious twice."

"I guess if that's what you thought, then the maniac was pretty smart after all." I teasingly poked the fox's nose, and she rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Mmhm." My partner turned to look out at the calm, open ocean, and I looked around as we settled into a comfortable silence. Walls of red rock rose up from the beach, their tops decorated with strips of dying seaweed carried in by countless storms and rough weather. The smell of salt hung heavily in the air as gentle waves crashed to pieces against the shore, and a clump of fluffy white clouds drifted across the sky, covering the beach in shade as they passed over the sun. I furrowed my brow as I noticed a lump of wet sand that sat forlornly a few paces away, and the sight of a large, dirty scallop made me smile. "Looks like someone was here earlier."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, and her eyes lit up as I pointed over at the lonely little sand castle. "Ooh! I didn't even see that!"

"I guess we're not the only ones who spent their day goofing off, huh?" I winked at my partner as she hopped to her feet, and I uncrossed my legs, pushing hard against the sand as I stood up. "I don't think they'd mind if we took a quick peek."

We casually ambled across the beach, feeling the saltwater run back and forth across our toes as the wind sailed the sea up against the shoreline, and Rose stepped around the structure, studying it with a keen eye. I reached over and picked up the shell, brushing off some grains of sand that stuck to the pearly surface.

"What a cute little sand castle..." Rose peered over the edge of the parapet, giggling to herself as she did so. "And it looks like it's got a king, too!"

I stood up, holding the scallop shovel down at my side as I leaned forward, and a smirk wormed its way onto my face as I saw the Krabby that sat inside of the crudely-built tower, its pincers idly clicking together. It wore a blank expression on its face, seemingly oblivious to the fact that someone had apparently crowned it as royalty, complete with a circle of fairly large black objects on its head as a literal crown.

"I wonder who must have made this..." My partner thought aloud, and I folded my arms, squatting down. "Must have been early in the morning... and someone who brought something with them, if those weird... things are any indication."

"What are those, anyway?" I began to gently press the scallop into the walls of the sand castle, leaving ridges along the battlement. The shiny teardrops gleamed brightly, even without the sun to shine on them. "You have any idea, Rose?"

"I think they're..." The fox gingerly brought her nose as close to the crab, hesitating for a moment before poking the things around. They slid across the Krabby's head and nearly fell off into the sand. "They're apple seeds!"

"Apple seeds?" I stifled a chuckle, nearly sending the shell straight through the wall of sand. "But they're huge!"

"I know, it's ridiculous... but," She stopped mid-sentence, looking out to sea as her mind raced. "Wait, you don't think they could be from a... Perfect Apple?"

I paused, forming an image in my mind's eye. Guildmaster Wigglytuff, picking up the scallop I currently held in my paw and digging away at the wet sand, packing it together around a Krabby. His stubby pink arms constructed the castle and dug small pieces out of the top of the wall, and he hummed to himself as Chatot supervised him, barely keeping a straight face with thinning dignity. I scrunched up my face, trying hard not to laugh, and glanced over at Rose. She had a similar look on her face, her cheeks puffed out as she sputtered.

We both burst into peals of uninhibited laughter, flopping onto our backs and flailing around in sheer mirth. I pounded my fists against the damp shore, kicking up sea spray as the waves washed over us. The Krabby sat in silence, its makeshift crown of Perfect Apple seeds sent askew.

"Oh... oh, that's rich!" I cackled, bringing a paw to my forehead as I rubbed wearily between my eyes. My laughter slowed down, and I nearly started coughing. "Ohoho... Arceus' sake..."

"I cahahan't belieheeheeve..." Rose cut herself off, her tails unconsciously curling and uncurling as she broke into another round of giggles. It was a good few seconds before we both ended up going from laughter to deep breaths, trying our best to calm ourselves down. As I settled myself into the sand, I opened my eyes, looking at the sheet of white clouds above, with just a small patch of blue sky carved out of it, the sun hanging right in the middle.

Something fell into my eye, and I winced in pain, jerking my arms upward and smacking them into my two aura tassels. "Ow!"

"Huh?" My partner looked down her belly at me and cocked her head in confusion. Her headfur fell in front of her eyes again. "What's wrong?"

"Jeez..." I grumbled, sitting up and wiping the sand off of my paws before rubbing at my eyes. "I think it was-"

Another something fell on my head, then my shoulder and my ear. The Krabby abruptly dug a circle in the dirt, startling both Rose and I, and it sank into it, vanishing from sight,. The Vulpix rolled back onto her feet and stuck her head over the castle tower, peering deep into the tunnel. A little sand ran off of the top, the grains tumbling down into the crab's hidey-hole, and a few tiny drops of water landed on the castle, turning the dark sand even darker. I shrugged, looking out towards the sea. "Huh. Delayed reaction?"

Without further ado, the heavens seemed to open the floodgates as a storm started to pelt down onto the beach, making tiny splashes against the surface of the shore as droplets pitter-pattered against the sand. Rose's ears stood straight up as she shot to attention, feeling the rain on her fur. "It's raining?"

"Rain? But it's nice out today!" I gestured towards the sun, only to be doused by more rain in return. "Agh, c'mon, Rose! We can wait it out underneath the palm trees!"

The two of us made a mad dash for the higher land of the beach, ducking under a huge palm front just as the storm began to intensify, and we watched as water began to billow down onto the beach, and Treasure Town off in the distance. The ocean began to grow wilder as the wind picked up, and the waves that came to the shore started to get bigger, hitting a little bit harder against the sand castle's... sturdy defenses. The red stone began to gleam brightly as both rainwater and seawater began to coat it in wash. Despite the sudden shift in the weather, the sun was still out, the clouds were as white as snow, and everything was as bright and pleasant as it was before.

Well, except for the rain. But that was probably already obvious.

"It's a sun shower!" Rose stated the obvious and shimmied about, sending stray droplets flying off her fur as she dried herself off. I blocked my face with my paws, keeping anything else from getting near my face. "I guess we lucked out being so close to shelter, huh?"

"Maybe you did," I replied, hissing as my eye smarted in pain, and I rubbed at it again. Rain continued to plonk onto us despite the leafy cover, and the sturdy tree swayed in the breeze. "I wasn't so lucky."

"Hey, lemme see now," Rose trotted over and hopped up onto her hind legs, pressing her front paws on my cheeks, and I lowered my arms to let her carefully inspect my eyes. She stared deeply at me, thinking quietly to herself as the sun shower blustered across the cove, and I put a paw at my hip, waiting patiently for her to finish. She nodded and stepped forward a little, bopping her nose against mine, and my eyes widened. "There we go, much better! Hmm."

"H-hey..." I felt my face heat up in a blush, and I reached out and gently grasped the sides of the Vulpix's belly, eliciting a gasp from her in the process. She leaned heavily against me as her balance started to tip, her hind legs shaking weakly, and before I could help her stay upright we tumbled over, a layer of sand and soil cushioning our fall. "Oop!"

I splayed my arms and legs out wildly, gritting my teeth as the sudden jolt of soreness subsided, and I felt Rose snuggle into me, resting her tails on my knees as she continued to look at my eyes. She smiled sweetly, her paws seemingly stuck to my cheeks, and I reached up, putting my paws on top of hers. "Rose?"

She pressed her nose against mine once more, stopping for a moment to blow some strands headfur out of her face. "Yeah, Bill?"

I rolled my eyes at her dreamy expression. "How is my eye doing?"

She only giggled in response, shuffling forward a bit and getting close to my eyes, and I instinctively shut them, feeling her lips press against my eyelid. She held the kiss for a good while, taking a deep breath through her nose as a few droplets slid off her muzzle and down my nose. I rested against the tree trunk, embracing the fox with my freed arms as the sound of the rainfall came from all around us. "Feel any better now?"

"How sappy of you," I grinned cheekily, and with a deft flick of my wrists I flipped my partner over. She yelped in surprise as she rolled onto her back, and before she could retaliate I wrangled her in, nestling my head in between her ears and embracing her again. "But yeah, I guess I do."

"Pff..." Rose chuckled, playfully fidgeting around as we cuddled, and she looked outside at the beach, gasping again. "Oh, Bill, look at that!"

I did so, staring at the view of the open ocean, and I felt as my heart skipped a beat. The storm had slowed to a tranquil sprinkling, the clouds beginning to disperse as the sun shined brighter and brighter, making the water sparkling in the brilliant light. Hundreds of tiny ripples, created by the gentle rain, made their way across the surface of the sea, and I let out a low whistle as a large wave roared into the shoreline, completely engulfing the poor sand castle. All that was left of it, once the tide pulled back, was the scallop shell.

"Springtime showers," I remarked, jokingly turning my head away as I stared up at the palm tree. I drummed my paw against Rose's belly. "And I guess you're the pretty flower, huh?"

"And he thinks I'm the sappy one," The Vulpix replied, loudly whispering so that I could hear, and I affectionately squeezed her a little, watching as her six tails curled up tight. She lay her arms over my paws, the warmth of her fur against the cold metal on my paws sending a shiver down my spine. "Aren't Riolu supposed to pick up on things like that?"

"Oh no, I know we're both sappy," I reassured her. "I just like pointing it out."

A couple raindrops slid off of the palm leaves above, making a loud plop as they landed on my head, and Rose laughed happily, her voice carrying on the wind.

AN: This was a fun one, even if it was spur of the moment. It's nice to take a step back every once in a while and write something set before evolution.