Pokémon Yellow’s 2023 Drabble Bingo

[HelloYellow17]

This is my first attempt at Drabble Bingo, so here we go!
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Spoiler: Bingo Card

The Under​	Lullaby​	Phoenix​
Snag Machines​	Night in the Desert​	Hyperthermia​
Gateon Port​	Sandstorm​	Dust​

​

(Most, if not all, of these prompts will be set in the OSAS universe and storyline.)
​

---

Prompt #1: Lullaby

(CW: death and grief)​

She first hears it as a small child, from her mother’s lips.

She is frightened by the howling wind outside, her cheeks damp with tears. And as her mother begins to sing, the tears subside, the storm matters less, and gradually she drifts to sleep to the soft, lilting melody.

Call for Swablu song,
Let it put your fears to rest.
Listen as they sing along,
And guide your shadows from your chest.

Don’t be scared of the dark,
It cannot put out your own spark,
Don’t be scared of the wind,
Life always begins again

With the sound of Swablu song.

Now she sits in a cold and sterile hospital room, tears dampening her face once more as she softly caresses the dying Pokémon in front of her. She is powerless to ease the pain, helpless when searching for words to say, so instead, she sings.

Call for Swablu song,
I can see it in your eyes
Your soul’s been heavy for so long,
And you fear you’ll never fly.

The Pokémon’s breathing slows, her voice cracks and falters, but she carries on.

But don’t be scared of the dark,
It cannot conquer your own spark.
Don’t be scared of the end,
Life always begins again

With the sound of Swablu song…

With the sound of Swablu song.

The room is silent. The breathing has stopped. Now all that’s left is the sound of her quiet grief in the form of half-stifled sobs.

She longs for her childhood, in which storms were the only source of her fear. She longs for her mother, long gone and buried.

Above all, she longs for Swablu songs.

---

Spoiler: 100-word version

Call for Swablu song,
Let it put your fears to rest.
Listen, they sing along,
Guiding shadows from your chest.

Don’t be scared of the dark,
It cannot dampen your own spark,
Don’t be scared of the wind,
Life always begins again

With the sound of Swablu song.

Call for Swablu song,
I can see it in your eyes
Your soul’s been heavy for so long,
And you fear you’ll never fly.

Don’t be scared of the dark,
It cannot conquer your own spark.
Don’t be scared of the end,
Life always begins again

With the sound of Swablu song…

[The melody and inspiration for this lullaby is pulled from this song.]​

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Aww that's heartbreaking I love it

 

[MintyMimix]

This was heart-wrenching; fitting that it's a rainy day where I live right now. Excellent stuff Yellow.

 

[Railgun]

Wow, this was very poetic and depressing. I haven't read much of your work yet but I enjoyed this piece. Looking forward to see how your bingo goes!

 

[HelloYellow17]

Prompt #2: Night in the Desert​

“It’ll get cold.”

“I have a jacket.”

“No, I mean really cold. That frilly little thing you call a jacket won’t cut it.”

“It’s a perfectly suitable jacket, thank you very much. And it’s not like I’m asking to sleep outside. I just want to see them—five minutes, tops. Please, Wes?”

“…Fine.”

Hours after sunset, Rui hopped off the bike once it puttered to a stop. Wes had been right—her jacket felt as though it had frozen to her skin on the ride over, but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

She’d been keeping her head down along the way to shield her eyes from the wind and sand, but now, at long last…she could finally look up.

She gasped.

The sky was sprayed with layers upon layers of stars, as if a great hand had crushed a massive diamond and blown the shimmering dust across a backdrop of black velvet. So many! She thought in wonder.

Rui wasn’t even aware that her mouth was gaping open until she heard Wes snort. She turned to him, and—

He was smiling at her.

“Amazing, right?” he said.

In all their time together, she’d never seen him smile quite like that—maybe a smirk, or the faintest hint of amusement, but nothing more. Rui took note of several things all at once: the way his smile brightened his eyes, the fact that there wasn’t even a trace of a scowl on his face, and that he had a dimple on one side.

Suddenly, she wasn’t cold anymore, and the stars were no longer the most beautiful thing calling for her attention. She slowly smiled back at him.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “Amazing.”

Spoiler: 100-word version

She gasped.

The sky was sprayed with layers upon layers of stars, as if a great hand had crushed a massive diamond and blown the shimmering dust across a backdrop of black velvet. So many! She thought in wonder.

Rui wasn’t aware that her mouth was gaping open until she heard Wes snort. She turned to him, and—

He was smiling at her.

“Amazing, right?” he said.

Suddenly, she wasn’t cold anymore, and the stars were no longer the most beautiful thing calling for her attention. She slowly smiled back at him.

“Yeah,” she said with a soft smile. “Amazing.”

 

[Flyg0n]

AWWWWW

Break my heart and then repair it, why don't you??

I absolutely loved how you mixed tidbits of story into the lullaby, and how you touched on the sensation of grief so well... And once I listened to it with music... Well I didn't really need my heart, did I? Just crush it.

And then the second one is just cute and sweet and adorable all around. I love all the little details of the way their relationship shines through - Wes being concerned for her, and the way she notices Wes and they're just lovely together honestly.

 

[Seren]

She longs for her childhood, in which storms were the only source of her fear. She longs for her mother, long gone and buried.

First of all, WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT- :( :( :(

The sky was sprayed with layers upon layers of stars, as if a great hand had crushed a massive diamond and blown the shimmering dust across a backdrop of black velvet. So many! She thought in wonder.

The imagery here is exquisite! Also YES MORE FLUFF! It's a short scene, but Rui's sudden shift of attention here is spot on. Doesn't feel forced or anything. I imagine you could really have drawn this scene out a lot if you'd wanted!

Roller coaster of emotions so far, excited to see your third!

 

[Railgun]

Awww the latest prompt was so cute! I haven’t gotten far in your fic yet but such a sweet moment between Wes and Rui! Stargazing is absolutely amazing and I love it so much. I’m glad the two got to experience it together. It can be romantic too, I’ll admit. The fact that Wes was even smiling says it all. Time with Rui means the world to him.

Beautiful piece!

 

[HelloYellow17]

Prompt 3: Sandstorm

CW: Grief​

The wind whirled and howled in time with the rippling sands carried within it. She stood in the center of the vortex, fueling the gale with her mighty wings and snarling through tears at the man across from her. The Flygon did not need words to convey her message.

Stay away from me.

He didn’t come closer, but he didn’t leave, either. Instead, he met her gaze, his weary, grief-stricken face matching hers.

“I’m sorry.”

She bellowed and whipped her tail, spraying a fresh gust of sand in the air. She didn’t need an apology. She needed solace. She needed things to go back to how they used to be.

“You have every right to be angry. To hate me. It’s my fault.”

It is your fault, and I do hate you. I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU—

She saw red. Red and flying sand. She blinked, and suddenly she was towering over him, pinning him to the ground with one paw raised and ready to strike—no, ready to strike again, she realized, as her claws were dripping with scarlet to match the red gash now in his arm.

His expression had not changed. Instead, he met her gaze, his eyes as hollow as she felt.

“Go ahead. I won’t blame you.”

She wanted to. Oh, she wanted to. Wanted to shred him, make him bleed, make him hurt like she was, make him writhe and scream like she wanted to from the inside out—

The winds slowed. Her wings drooped. The sands settled.

She lowered her claws, but not to strike. Instead, she stepped back and slumped to the ground, defeated. Broken. Alone.Her eyes filled with tears.

A hand tested on her side. She snarled, but did not move. Slowly, he leaned against her.

They cried together in the sand.

Spoiler: 100-word version

Winds howled. She fueled the gale with her wings, snarling at the man across from her, her message clear.

Stay away from me.

“I’m sorry.”

She bellowed, enraged. Apologies were useless.

“You’re right to be angry. It’s my fault.”

It is, and I HATE YOU.

She saw red. She pinned him to the ground, her claws dripping scarlet from the gash in his arm.

His expression remained unchanged. “Go ahead.”

She couldn’t.

Wind and sand settled. Her wings drooped.

She lowered her claws, but not to strike.
His hand rested on her side.

And they cried together in the sand.

 

[Starlight Aurate]

All right, it's Drabble review time! I haven't read OSAS, but I've heard great things about it, and I know the storyline behind Colosseum/XD (mostly), so let's take a crack at it!

Lullaby

Okay, after listening to the song you provided, the joyful melody makes the sorrow hit so much harder. I also think it's pretty real--when I'm processing sorrow and grief from people close to me who have passed away, whether they're siblings or friends, I find the soft, lullaby-like songs to be the ones that hit me and pull at my heartstrings the most. I guess I would have needed to read OSAS to know who the characters are here, but I can tell it's very well done!


Night in the Desert

Hours after sunset, Rui hopped off the bike once it puttered to a stop. Wes had been right—her jacket felt as though it had frozen to her skin on the ride over, but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

Ha, relatable.

The sky was sprayed with layers upon layers of stars, as if a great hand had crushed a massive diamond and blown the shimmering dust across a backdrop of black velvet. So many! She thought in wonder.

I smiled when I read the first line. Stars are so beautiful! And seeing skies full of them is a real treat.

Suddenly, she wasn’t cold anymore, and the stars were no longer the most beautiful thing calling for her attention. She slowly smiled back at him.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “Amazing.”

I'm not one at all for romance, but this was tastefully done! I could never let a boy take my eyes off the stars, tho

Sandstorm

I think this one does a good job of showing how rage is part of the mourning process. It hurts so bad, and all you can see is red. The line about wanting to make him hurt the way she had been hurt was very real. And the exhaustion that you feel afterwards--and you realize you aren't actually angry, but that it's just sorrow and so much pain that's coming out. Well done! These were all a treat, and definitely played to (some of) your writing strengths. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Chibi Pika]

Lullaby

Short and sweet, with a lot of painful emotions. The parallels between the narrator-as-listener, now the singer in the present day, makes me wonder if the dying Pokemon isn't themselves very young. There's a bitter helplessness to seeing them pass that feels all the more appropriate if it feels like it shouldn't be their time yet, combined with the addition of the line 'And you fear you’ll never fly.' I can't help but imagine them as a Bagon.

Night in the Desert

Lots of cute, characterful details in this one like Rui refusing a thicker jacket only to regret it, and of course, the rare Wes smile! I get the feeling that his smile is less to do with his own enjoyment of the sight, but rather, actually getting to gift something precious to someone else. It's the sort of feeling I bet he hasn't gotten to experience very many times in his life, what with him and his vees just trying to make it to the next day half the time.

Sandstorm

The third one is really interesting to read because it's much more concerned with the mood, the vibe, the raw *emotion* of what's going on, moreso than the 'what' or the 'why.' And thus I find myself puzzling out the nature of the encounter as I read. The human hurt Flygon in some way, but it feels distant, long-passed. He somberly agrees--does he regret it? The fact that Flygon's anger is so explosive and smothering--is she only just now processing how much it hurt, did she just now learn the full consequences of what he did, or is this the first time these two have crossed paths in so long?

The emphasis on alone makes me wonder if she'd intended to return to a family, only to find them gone. Maybe the human even brought her there, and that's why he was near during the moment when the anger spilled over. I have no idea if any of this is what you intended, but it's neat how painting the emotions of a scene around the events can lead the reader to filling in the context in the negative space. It's one of the things that makes drabbles so interesting as a medium, imo! Thanks for sharing.

 

[K_S]

Chapter 1 - 3
Blitz review

Nice so we are establishing our point of view character pretty young here. Its a sweet scene with the kiddo getting being scared and the classic lulliby to sooth away the fears...

Swablu are probably the gentlest looking birds in canon so it seems fitting they'd be the focal point of a song meant to ease a kid past thier fear and be uplifting in such a gentle manner.

And we go fill circle. From comforted to comferter as out point of view charater tries to ease the pain of a dying mon. Bits of the song have different verses, even if the ending is from the same song/theme.

And in that aspect adulthood and the letting go that it demands can royally sick as the point of view character is learning. I wonder what happened to her mother (long buried makes me think the protag might be middle aged if lifes been gentle) so long ago... But perhaps further drabbles will elaborate.

Xxx

So second part in we got a duo of sorts. Bouncing off of each other about the weather and how cold a desert can really get.

So Wes is mr. Experiwnce and concerned and our perspective is named... Rui? Noted. Wonder who was dealing with thier loss last time...

So it looks like rei is totally not used to a night sky without light pollution. A diamond crushed and scattered feels very apt and works very well for the scene honesetly.

And its a nice way to show wes is experienced rather than jaded. He still can appreciate the view too. Wonder if he's noticing her less than platonic reactions and attentions after the fact though. I mean each detail and lingering affection on it is as obvious as a klaxon but male protags tend to not notoce these things. Especially male pokemon protagonists.

By identifying with wings and being the source of the sandstorm i suspect the last part of this tour is going to be a mon perspective. Called it it being a flygon.

No knowing the incident that triggered this. Or wes' guilt "i deserve it" i m left wondering how justified this scene is. But flygon is furious and its spelled out in every line and action very well.

While i get and respect the vengence fantasy i dont think she can do worse than what hes doing to hinself at this point.

And i think as the flygon starts to move into the pain part of the grief cycle shes starting to realize it as shes not ripping Wes down to the bones for grieving with her.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, felt like popping in for a shorter review tonight in between a couple bigger ones, I figured a drabble bingo was as good a choice as any for that, though… drabbles from OSASverse, huh? Not fully sure what that’s going to look like, but I suppose there’s only one way to know for sure:

Lullaby

Spoiler

She first hears it as a small child, from her mother’s lips.

She is frightened by the howling wind outside, her cheeks damp with tears. And as her mother begins to sing, the tears subside, the storm matters less, and gradually she drifts to sleep to the soft, lilting melody.

Wait, is this Rui’s perspective that we’re seeing here? Since I distinctly see that ‘she’ there, so…

Call for Swablu song,
Let it put your fears to rest.
Listen as they sing along,
And guide your shadows from your chest.

Don’t be scared of the dark,
It cannot put out your own spark,
Don’t be scared of the wind,
Life always begins again

With the sound of Swablu song.[/I]

Just as a fast FYI, but your Spotify link to the song you linked to kinda doesn’t work for those who don’t have an account. You might want to consider YouTube as a source for a more accessible alternate link.

Also, if the song here just straight-up reuses the melody to the point where one can sing along with it, you might want to consider dropping in hovertexted timestamps on the first word of each block or something like that. @elyvorg used a solution like that for her Kieran songfic, which worked really well for helping to gauge how the lyrics flowed relative to the melody.

Now she sits in a cold and sterile hospital room, tears dampening her face once more as she softly caresses the dying Pokémon in front of her. She is powerless to ease the pain, helpless when searching for words to say, so instead, she sings.

Oh. Right. There was a massive plague that killed most of Orre’s human and Pokémon life in OSAS’ backstory, huh? I’m guessing that that’s the backdrop of what’s going on here.

Call for Swablu song,
I can see it in your eyes
Your soul’s been heavy for so long,
And you fear you’ll never fly.

The Pokémon’s breathing slows, her voice cracks and falters, but she carries on.

I… think that I just have something in my eyes right now.

But don’t be scared of the dark,
It cannot conquer your own spark.
Don’t be scared of the end,
Life always begins again

With the sound of Swablu song…

With the sound of Swablu song.

The room is silent. The breathing has stopped. Now all that’s left is the sound of her quiet grief in the form of half-stifled sobs.

Damn, that got really depressing in short order.

She longs for her childhood, in which storms were the only source of her fear. She longs for her mother, long gone and buried.

Above all, she longs for Swablu songs.

Oh, so Rui just straight-up had a Swablu as her Pokémon that she lost back in the day, huh? Since I think that’s the implication from that final line.

Night in the Desert

Spoiler

“It’ll get cold.”

“I have a jacket.”

“No, I mean really cold. That frilly little thing you call a jacket won’t cut it.”

“It’s a perfectly suitable jacket, thank you very much. And it’s not like I’m asking to sleep outside. I just want to see them—five minutes, tops. Please, Wes?”

“…Fine.”

What are you two going off to see anyways? Stars?

Hours after sunset, Rui hopped off the bike once it puttered to a stop. Wes had been right—her jacket felt as though it had frozen to her skin on the ride over, but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

She’d been keeping her head down along the way to shield her eyes from the wind and sand, but now, at long last…she could finally look up.

She gasped.

Oh, this is the Wes and Rui-themed followup to him going out to see the stars at night in Starfrost, isn’t it?

The sky was sprayed with layers upon layers of stars, as if a great hand had crushed a massive diamond and blown the shimmering dust across a backdrop of black velvet. So many! She thought in wonder.

Such is life without light pollution to drown those stars out, Rui.

Rui wasn’t even aware that her mouth was gaping open until she heard Wes snort. She turned to him, and—

He was smiling at her.

“Amazing, right?” he said.

Yeah, this really does feel like the present-day echo to Starfrost, since I swear that there was a moment similar to this in it with Child!Wes in that story.

In all their time together, she’d never seen him smile quite like that—maybe a smirk, or the faintest hint of amusement, but nothing more. Rui took note of several things all at once: the way his smile brightened his eyes, the fact that there wasn’t even a trace of a scowl on his face, and that he had a dimple on one side.

Suddenly, she wasn’t cold anymore, and the stars were no longer the most beautiful thing calling for her attention. She slowly smiled back at him.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “Amazing.”

Whelp, I take it that that’s confirmation that you’re going to be shipping these two in OSAS, since I can see the end of that second paragraph there.

Sandstorm

Spoiler

The wind whirled and howled in time with the rippling sands carried within it. She stood in the center of the vortex, fueling the gale with her mighty wings and snarling through tears at the man across from her. The Flygon did not need words to convey her message.

Wait, snarling through tears? That… doesn’t bode well for what’s going on right now.

Stay away from me.

He didn’t come closer, but he didn’t leave, either. Instead, he met her gaze, his weary, grief-stricken face matching hers.

“I’m sorry.”

Wait, who is this facing this Flygon down? Wes?

She bellowed and whipped her tail, spraying a fresh gust of sand in the air. She didn’t need an apology. She needed solace. She needed things to go back to how they used to be.

Dali? Is that you after your present trainer inevitably gets arrested? /s

“You have every right to be angry. To hate me. It’s my fault.”

It is your fault, and I do hate you. I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU—

Yeah, this dude staring down this Flygon is totally Wes. I can already tell since… yeah, I can imagine that any Pokémon that got shadowed after being snagged by Wes during his pre-game day job would have some choice words for him post-purification.

She saw red. Red and flying sand. She blinked, and suddenly she was towering over him, pinning him to the ground with one paw raised and ready to strike—no, ready to strike again, she realized, as her claws were dripping with scarlet to match the red gash now in his arm.

His expression had not changed. Instead, he met her gaze, his eyes as hollow as she felt.

“Go ahead. I won’t blame you.”

Maybe this isn’t Wes after all. Can’t tell, really.

She wanted to. Oh, she wanted to. Wanted to shred him, make him bleed, make him hurt like she was, make him writhe and scream like she wanted to from the inside out—

The winds slowed. Her wings drooped. The sands settled.

She lowered her claws, but not to strike. Instead, she stepped back and slumped to the ground, defeated. Broken. Alone. Her eyes filled with tears.

I suppose that there was a reason why you sandwiched the cute and uplifting drabble in between these two, since… yeah.

A hand tested on her side. She snarled, but did not move. Slowly, he leaned against her.

They cried together in the sand.

There, there, let it all out.

Alright, made it to the end. All-in-all, I thought that these were a pretty neat spread of little vignettes showing glimpses of life in Orre. It’s got a bit of a bittersweet vibe to things, probably because two of them are tearjerkers while the middle one is more or less straight dopamine fuel, but they do a good job at telling complete scenarios for each of them.

I only have two real criticisms for these drabbles, the first being that it’s not totally smooth to get the song for Lullaby teed up with your present link. The second is that it’s a bit hard to get a read on who the human from Sandstorm is supposed to be. Like if it’s not Wes, it’d be accomplishable with a very brief summary of something about the human’s appearance to rule it out.

Though even as-is, I thought that these were nice little breathers @HelloYellow17 . Well, in between the parts where I was getting desert sand out of my eyes. They’re nice glimpses into your main story’s world, and I suppose it’s as good a reminder as any to pick up where I left off in OSAS sometime soon.