Rage of the Sea

Continued: [link]

Meet Kyosuke "Kyo" Baas and Gerald "Gau" Conte, everyone~! They belong to a story I may write in a world where Pokemon have been extinct for thousands of years, set far, far into a distant, alternate future of the main Pokemon Universe. Long ago, an unnatural race of beings known as Falses appeared and went to war with the Legendaries, intending to devour them and gain their power. Since the Legendary Pokemon are living embodiments of the very things that make up the world-- space, time, land, ocean, wishes, antimatter, dreams both good and bad, and more--, their destruction would mean the world's death as well. The Falses were defeated, but caused a Cataclysm... The Legendaries (except Arceus and the Unown) sacrificed their lives to prevent the world's destruction. The damage was still so great that it completely reset society back to an earlier age, though. So much time has passed since that the technology now is slightly more advanced in some ways than that of the canon Pokemon world. The Legendaries lived on in myth and lore, and in another way as well... As humans. The Falses were defeated, not destroyed. They knew the abominations would one far-away day return. They weren't able to stand up to the Falses properly because they couldn't unite. Humans, however, have always shown the ability to unite in the face of danger and to overcome their differences... The dormant power of the Legendary Pokemon passed down through families until the present day, when true "Legend Children" have been born: those bearing the power and, in varying amounts and levels of clarity, the ancestral memories of their Legends, which are usually experienced in dreams. In this world, the bond between Duos and Trios is very strong as well.

These two, Gau and Kyo, are Groudon and Kyogre's Legend Bearers (as is evident by the POed Kyo's transformation of his arm with the aid of the Blue Orb) and grew up in towns originally descended from Team Aqua and Magma whose traditional garb managed to carry through the ages. They often act as if they absolutely can't stand each other, but it's really more friendly bickering than anything, as the two are actually very close and often act like "a married couple". Together with Rayquaza's Legend Bearer (his name is Raymond "Ray" Stratus), they make up the Tricolo 'Pirates', though their main occupation is exploring ruins and the like.

As for what's going on here... Gau, Kyo and Ray were separated after accidentally triggering a trap in a ruin that had the qualities of Teleport. Ray's location is currently unknown, but Gau ended up on the outskirts of a small town where he decided to stay the night before searching for his companions. Unfortunately, this town was composed of very superstitious people and, noticing his strange, 'unnaturally bright' red hair, piercing yellow eyes, and the tattoo-like markings on his skin (Gau, Kyo and Ray have tattoo-like markings on their body that match the ones on their Legendaries), they deemed him a monster and attacked him in his sleep, imprisoning him in a half-submerged cave that fills as the tide comes in.

Gau is cursed with a physical inability to swim. His body is ingrained with an unshakable fear of the water and his limbs will lock up after up to a minute of treading water, sending him sinking like a stone. It's... pretty much a unique sort of 'hypothermia', I guess. He also tends to pass out soon after being completely submerged and, due to what he is, the ocean 'doesn't like him'. He experiences chilling cold and can lapse into a coma, and if he is not roused (or doesn't snap out of it himself), runs the risk of having his psyche destroyed completely (meaning he'd never wake up). It also physically weakens him and can make him ill. Ironically, Gau loves hot springs and they seem to have the opposite effect, invigorating him.

Kyo saved Gau from drowning when they first met (and has been saving him ever since), even before he truly developed feelings for the redhead. Being Kyogre's Legend Bearer, Kyo has functioning gills and tends to dehydrate easily in dryer environments-- he does best health-wise living near water, and sleeps submerged in it roughly half the time. He gets terribly motion-sick in any non-aquatic vehicle, can't stand heights (neither can Gau), is absolutely terrified of lava (I have an idea in my head where he literally HIDES behind Gau when they meet Moltres, Entei or, most likely, Heatran's Legend Bearer), since, though it is turned to rock in the process, lava boils water away to 'nothing' on contact. Kyo usually wears gloves and socks at all times to cover his gills, using a special cover-up makeup on his neck. This helps with the dehydration and keeps the gills out of sight.

Anyway, Kyo heard Gau's weak calls for help through their link as a Trio and is very, VERY pissed. The rest of his body wasn't coming out well, so I just drew this part, which I like. Also, yes, I know Kyogre only has four of the white 'fingers' per flipper, but Kyo is still human, and humans have five fingers, so that's why he has five.

...Enough rambling from me... I should probably write the text here too, but I'm tired...

Pokemon doesn't belong to me, but these two foul-mouthed Tsunderes do... Please no stealing.