[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

Sidequest Start!
The Shadow Looms - Part 1
Players: Valerie, Aeliana, Melody

Press START to begin!

Somewhere in the rustic port town of Hulbury, a small, finned Pokemon was swimming in the sea waters near Hulbury. It had lived here for quite some time, but now it was on a mission. No matter what, and no matter the danger, it was seeking one important figure. Her mother.

Meanwhile, a Meowth was on the hunt for her nighttime prey. She was on the verge of catching her prey - a Goldeen that had found itself shored up from the water. The Meowth's claws were out, and she was on all fours, ready to pounce at the right moment. She was ready - she was about to leap, ready to strike with her powerful, sharp jaw.

"Heeeeeey! Ayra!" But the sounds of a familiar human interrupted her moment, and because of the sudden shout, the Goldeen slipped away back into the sea. As she angrily gritted her teeth and after a quick, annoyed growl, she turned her head briefly towards the human who greeted her with a wave. It was Valerie. "There you are, girl!" she started happily. "You always go off on your own at night! Guess you're like a late Noctowl, huh? I think I'm more of an early Sunkern myself, I think?"

Ayra the Meowth was an aloof Pokemon of Valerie's. Even after Valerie adopted her from the shelter in Motostoke, her wild instincts and distrustful nature of humans remained in her heart. She turned away from Valerie to gaze quietly at the sea. Valerie sat beside her. "You and I haven't really gotten to hang out much lately, huh sis?" Valerie said to her. "Hmm, but you prefer to be alone mostly, right? I mean that's cool too, buuut I still wanna get to know you a bit better, y'know?"

Ayra showed no interest. Instead of a response, she curled up to lay down on the ground. But Valerie couldn't resist. She reached to give Ayra a pat on the head, only for her to be shooed away by Ayra, using her paws to swat her hand away. "Ah, my bad sis, forgot you're not big on the whole petting thing," Valerie said with a chuckle. But soon, Ayra's ears perked up. In response, she quickly lifted up her head, and hastily surveyed the area. "Hm? What's up, sis?" Something was not right. Without a peep, she lifted herself from the ground, leaping and running from Valerie. Curious, Valerie decided to chase after her.

---

"I read that water has a lot of negative ions, and bein' around negative ions helps you chill out." Melody says as she makes her way towards the docks. Her words are met with a very confused looking Doom Noodle, who tilts his head and gives her a questioning look.

"Py?" He asks. Where would Melody learn something like that?

"... It was on Chatter. I guess I follow some nerds." Melody explains with a shrug. She never used to have any trouble sleeping. Not until the night after the contest. That was probably just excitement, right? Then why does she still lie awake staring at the ceiling for hours on end? Thinking about contests, thinking about Rosa, thinking about the gym challenge, Raphael, Valerie, Haleigh, Spikemuth, the old gang.

A soft vibration against the sand gives Melody and her thoughts pause. She looks at the ground below her as she feels Nightshot's body tense against her shoulder, beginning to shudder.

"What's up, little dude?"

The ghostly dragon looks out towards the water and hisses loudly.

"Somethin' out…" Melody's words stop mid-sentence as a familiar scent wafts towards them; a scent that immediately brings memories flooding back and makes her heart pump loudly in her chest.

Smoke. Fire.

Her eyes narrow as she looks to the opposite side of the pier. There's a soft, orange glow in the distance that's taking over the darkness and stillness of the ocean. Is that a ship? On fire?

With her eyes locked on that orange glow, Melody sprints towards the opposite end of the docks.

---

Aeliana stares with wide eyes at the sight before her. Everything had been so peaceful and calm just a moment ago and now she was staring at a ship that had literally just burst into flames. Clara is still by her side. The Kirlia is just as shocked as her trainer as she clings to the sleeve of Aeliana's overshirt tightly. The blue-haired girl glances down at her Pokémon. She can already tell the thoughts going through the psychic-type's head. It's quite likely that she's picking up on the fear and panic that's now rushing through the area.

"I… We need to do something!" Aeliana finally speaks, her arms wrapping around her egg tightly. She suddenly finds herself wishing that she had left it snugly wrapped up back in her hotel room. She also suddenly wishes that she had stirred Tampa and brought the Croconaw with her as well. Of course, even if she wanted to help how would she? The only water Pokémon she has on her at the moment is Fiesta. She can already hear him freaking out at the sights and smells around them. "Okay, okay… stay calm and think Aeliana… Tapu Lele, I need an idea right now…"

---

Quite some time has passed since Valerie chased after her Meowth. Ayra wasn't the type to run away from her as she was always the type to stand her ground. As for Ayra, her ears were sensitive. Ever since that day where she lost her homes from those humans, she always picked up on the sense… of danger. Her senses were correct this time too. "Ayra!" Valerie called after, finally able to catch up. "Sis, what's up with y--" the immediate scent of smoke filled Valerie's nostrils. That wasn't all - Valerie witnessed something truly shocking. A large burning ship. "Whaaaaaaaaaa?!?!" Valerie was witnessing a terrible scene. Rangers, and a couple of trainers around were busy with water type Pokemon, spraying the area down, but most of them were busy trying to fend off a couple of vicious looking wild Pokemon.

One such trainer had a Quagsire who was battling a bunch of Krabby. The Krabby were numerous, and with their numbers they knocked the Quagsire down. Their sights were upon the defenseless trainer next, who tripped themselves to the ground out of panic. But they were saved, by a blast of ice from another direction that froze all the wild Krabby at once. "Are you alright? Here, give me your hand," it was a woman who had saved this trainer, who was wearing a dark coat with dark glasses and dark-looking hair. Her Pokemon was a Lapras, who blew out the fog coming from her mouth after her powerful Ice Beam. The trainer lifted themselves up, grabbing the hand from the woman. She then gave them a small item: a Super Potion. "Use that to treat your Pokemon's wounds," she said. "And be careful."

The trainer nodded and turned to their Quagsire. The woman wiped the sweat coming from her forehead. "These Pokemon are not even letting us get inside, huh?"

"Hey! Missy what happened?!" the woman quickly turned to the voice that was coming from the girl who had approached her. But she internally shrieked.

Valerie?! Uh oh!

"C'mon, c'mon!" Valerie said, clenching her fists in front of her body. "Ship! On Fire! Ships don't just do that!"

The woman cleared her throat. "Um, you see," for some reason though, the woman was trying to conceal her voice? "This ship crashed into rocks near the coast line, and unfortunately it has caught on fire. Now civilians are trapped inside, and to make matters worse, the ship is collapsing. It is a matter of time before the people inside suffer..."

"That's terrible!" Valerie shrieked. "We gotta get in there!"

"That's the thing," the woman replied. She directed Valerie's attention to the wild Pokemon that were swarming. "As much as we want to, these Pokemon are keeping us at bay. A few of us can manage to get inside but the savagery of these Pokemon combined with the hazardous wreckage just made things worse. The casualties are only going to keep increasing…"

"Right then," Valerie eaglery clenched her fists. "Leave it to me!"

"But Valerie, it's much to dangerous--"

"How do you know my name?" Valerie then questioned. The woman was left speechless, then mumbled a bunch of words trying to scrounge up an answer.

"Um, no, that is--" the woman tried to think of a reply. "Well, you were on television, were you not? And uhhh!"

"And btw, that accent…" Valerie was wondering about it. "It's Kalosian, right?"

The woman was sweating bullets. "Y-Yes?"

Valerie gave her a wide grin. "It's really sexy!"

"W-What?!" the woman could only reply. "Wh-What are you--"

"And you know what else?" Valerie started again with her arms cross. "Kay, this might sound totes weird, but you kiiiiinda… sound like someone I know!"

"B-But you see!" the woman tried to explain. "I have probably… er, sound like a lot of people around here for the gym challenges, and… um…" she then had an idea. "Listen, my name is Em… Em...ily. Emily, yes. I am from Kalos, true, but, I'm just… a stranger wanting to help out!"

Valerie had her arms crossed and pondered for a moment. "Well, alrighty Em-Em!" she finally replied happily with an internal sigh of relief from the woman. "Anywaaaaaay, no worries about me, Valerie! Me and my pokemon buddies are all kinds of tough! You'll see, we'll help save those people! C'mon, Ayra!"

"W-Wait!" Emily's cries out for Valerie fell on deaf ears. Valerie with Ayra, raced headfirst into the wrecked ship. But as much as she wanted to go after her, the blazing fire and smoke stopped in her trails. Then she was greeted by another swarm of Pokemon. She turned to her Lapras. "I hope Valerie knows what she is doing…" she said. "Well, come then Julia, our work is not done yet."

---

Melody rushes towards the ship and sees a number of other trainers, as well as Rangers, attempting to get close enough to the ship to extinguish the flames. They're having a hell of a time getting close; however, due to a number of water Pokemon that are rising from the water and climbing ashore. Most are charging forward to take on the trainers and rangers, while a small group of Wimpod skitter inland in hopes of escaping from a rather large and rather furious looking Crawdaunt.

The large crab Pokemon reaches out and clasps one of the smaller crustaceans in his massive claws, causing the Wimpod to cry out in horror.

Melody doesn't take the time to think. She darts forward and grasps a piece of driftwood that had washed onto the docks. "HEY!" She shouts as she lunges forward to swing the branch at the dark type's head while Nightshot Quick Attack's into his claw. Upon impact, the driftwood snaps in two and Nightshot bounces off Crawdaunt's claw with barely a flinch from the dark type.

The Crawdaunt stares down at Melody and the punk teen braces for impact.

"Veeeee!"

A sharp cry sounds out as something new bounds its way onto the scene. Something-- small and pink?

Crawdaunt's focus is taken away from the puny human and her punier ghost as the bounding pink force skids to a stop mere inches from the much larger Pokemon.

"Syyyyl-veon?" The Pokemon asks with a small tilt of its head and a wave of its ribbon. It then offers a small wink as it raises its paw in greeting.

"Craw...daunt…" The larger Pokemon fumbles on its feet as its intensity and anger seem to melt away, replaced with… well… it sort of looks… flustered? It turns away from Melody to face the Sylveon completely and begins to lower its claws, the Wimpod taking the opportunity to Emergency Exit the hell away from this place. Melody also takes the Crawdaunt's distraction as a chance to grab Nightshot and back away slowly.

"Veeeeee!" The Sylveon chimes in an adorable voice, before-- in the next instant, that adorable expression is replaced with one of the most sinister sneers Melody has ever seen. The fairy type's body begins to glow before he fires a powerful Moonblast point blank into the Crawdaunt's face, sending him flying back before his body crumbles and dissolves into that familiar red mist.

"Holy ****-- you are one brutal little dude!" Melody says as Nightshot attempts to hide himself from view in his trainer's hair. Not only is that thing a fairy… it's a murderous fairy!

"Syl~" The Sylveon says with a flattered (and adorable) smile.

A loud, cracking sound echoes across the docks as a large piece of the ship breaks off and crashes into the waters below. Horrified screams can be heard from inside the inferno, signaling that there are people trapped inside. Melody grasps Annabelle's Pokeball tightly. Ready for round two? She thinks to herself before darting towards the burning ship. "Thanks for making us a path!" She calls out to the fairy fox.

---

Aeliana and Clara continue to barrel their way across the docks. The entire area is in utter chaos, with Aeliana and her Kirlila bumping into several people along the way. In all the commotion, it's becoming more and more difficult for the duo to even see what direction they're heading in. Aeliana looks around, standing on her toes to try and see over the heads of the various rangers and other trainers in the area. It's at that point that something, or rather someone familiar catches the bluenette's eyes.

"Is that…?" The sudden tug from Clara is all the confirmation she needs. Her Kirlia looks at her, worry evident in her face as she points in the direction that the familiar punk is seen running. "Melody!"

Aeliana's call reaches deaf ears, however. It doesn't really surprise her too much. With all the commotion going on around her, the Alolan can barely hear her own voice. Throwing caution to the wind, the duo begin to charge after Melody. Unfortunately, a minor road block comes in the form of a panicking, wild Cramorant. Without warning, the blue bird plows right into Aeliana, sending her and it tumbling over in surprise.

"Damn…" Aeliana curses, wincing as she picks herself off of her backside. Kirlia nervously looks between the two, standing ready just in case the bird Pokémon should suddenly fly into a fit of rage. Surprisingly however, the Cramorant merely stares at the duo nervously itself. It's quite clear this thing had no intention of challenging anyone to a battle, not in this situation. Aeliana merely shakes her head in response to the wild Cramorant, offering a small smile in the process. "Go on, get out of here," she says, before resuming her chase after her friend. Kirlia quickly looks over her shoulder, before giving chase after her own trainer.

The wild Cramorant stares on in shock, watching as the duo charges into the fire-engulfed vessel. Are they crazy…?

---

Valerie and Ayra weaved their way through the carnage. "Hey, heeeeey! Valerie called out. Anyone, hearing me? Lemme hear your cute voice! Ack--!" Valerie tripped over when the ship started suddenly rocking about. It was coming apart so much that pools of water leaked from the ground, and in some areas, the sea was in sight.

Then, Ayra's instincts kicked in. She rushed over to one of the pools of the sea, and nabbed at something with her teeth. When Valerie looked over, she saw that Ayra was holding on to and biting on a small, yellowish water-like Pokemon with blue fins. The Pokemon flopped and struggled again and again trying to break free of Ayra's grasp. Valerie took out her Pokedex for a closer inspection. "Dexter says that's called... a Feebas?" Valerie acknowledged. "C'mon, Ayra, put her down!" Ayra eventually complied, setting the Feebas down on the floor. Perhaps Ayra wanted it for a quick dinner. Either way, Valerie knelt down to greet it. "Wassap?"

But with no hesitation, the Feebas flopped over to the water again to swim away. "Darn, potential friend lost…" Valerie said, saddened. Still, she pulled herself together. "Ack! Helloooooo, Val! Gotta look for more people! Right, on we go!" Continuing on, the flames were as bright and hot as always. Almost every corner Valerie turn was a hazard - as she eventually started to cover herself to avoid breathing in the flames. Ayra seemed to be doing well herself; she even used her claws to hack and slash any debris that came in their path.

Soon they heard the sounds of crying - crying that was in the nearby room. Ayra rushed in first with her good hearing, but inside, she saw flames that engulfed the area. She couldn't slash her way through the room without being burnt by the fire. That's when Valerie came along. "Wasn't the sound coming from in here?" she had asked. Ayra growled to the flames. "Okay, Val, what beats Fire again? Thinking… thinking… thinking… ah! I know! Water! And I know juuuust the friend to help out!" she got out a Pokeball - it was her Squirtle, Shelly. When she released him from the ball, he immediately hid in his shell from the intimidating presence of Ayra.

Valerie slumped over to lightly tap on his shell. "It's cool, Shelly-bro! This is Ayra, a buddy!" she introduced to him. Shelly briefly peeped out his head. After briefly gazing towards the Meowth, he crept his full body from his shell, and gave Ayra a somewhat friendly, yet still shaky greeting of a hello as he twiddled his fingers. Ayra, not having interest, turned away. "Shelly-bro, I want you to try and dose those flames, okay?" Valerie asked him. Shelly almost missed the large gulf of flames that lie before him. With a hesitant, yet agreed nod, he took a deep breath, releasing a gush of water from his mouth. His Water Gun was becoming handy in this scenario. After the fire died down, Ayra slashed away the burnt wood that remained. "Nice one! Aight, let's go, team!"

Turns out Valerie with her pokemon found their way into the cabin room - the place where people were sleeping in. As they moved their way through the area, they eventually heard the crying getting louder. Well, it wasn't that it was getting louder - they were closer to the source. And eventually, they found it. It was a young girl - a child - huddled in the corner in a ball. She was crying to herself - probably lonely and scared. Valerie knelt down toward her, to give another friendly greeting.

"Sweetie?" Valerie said softly to her. "Are you okay?" The girl stopped crying briefly, to look at the face who had seemingly come to save her. She gave Valerie an eventual nod for an answer. "Woo, good!" Valerie cheered. "What's your name?"

"M… Marin," the girl replied sobbingly. "I came here with my Daddy… he… I... I dunno where he is…"

Valerie gave a confident smile. "Well, let's go find em'!" she suggested. She gave the child a wide smile, and stuck out her hand in front of her. "It's okay, honey! I'll help you find him." Marin was hesitant.

"I'm scared…"

"No worries, honey," Valerie reassured, giving Marin a pat on her head. "Your girl Valerie's a tough trainer! With my pokemon friends, we can get through anything! We'll keep you safe, promise! A million percent Val-enteed promise!" Marin was still worried, but eventually gave Valerie another nod. She took Valerie's hand, and the two with Ayra and Shelly following behind, came out of the small cabin.

---

Melody swears under her breath when she arrives on the scene. This is not going to be as easy as her last time charging into a burning building. At least last time she had a decent idea of where she needed to go to get that girl, while here-- she has no idea where to start. "Scream if you can hear me!" She yells into the void, fully aware that between the crackling of the fire and the snapping sounds of the ship breaking apart, there's a good chance she won't be heard.

She's also (as far as she knows) alone, meaning there's no one here for Annabelle to copy a water move from-- not that fire is their only problem. They need to make it through this obstacle course without getting smashed by the debris that's breaking off in chunks.

"Celeste, we need your help." The punk teen says as she reaches for the psychic type's ball. The little Lolita Pokemon appears in a flourish before taking in her surroundings and glaring at her trainer. What is the meaning of this? She did not sign up to be thrown into dangerous situations! She agreed to travel with Melody to be adored by the masses! To perform on stages and stadiums! Has her trainer lost her little mind?!

The psychic type glares up at her trainer and holds out her tiny arms, gesturing to the area around them as if to demand to know what the meaning of this is.

"Look, I know this isn't your bag, but I can't do this without you."

Celeste narrows her eyes. Surely there are other ways Melody could get out of this, she has other Pokemon! And if not, well, she should have thought of that before running into such a situation!

Melody groans at her Pokemon's expression. "There's people trapped on this ship. You want the reward for rescuing them or not?"

… Now she's speaking the 'mon's language! Melody got that pretty necklace for battling at that jewelry store. Imagine what kind of things they'll get for saving someone's life!

"Ita!" She says with a dramatic spin. The black and white Pokemon's eyes begin to glow as she casts her confusion on a large chunk of flaming… something that had blocked their path to the upstairs. She then turns to her trainer with a proud expression and waves her little arms to the staircase. "Gothita." She says proudly.

"Melody!" a familiar voice calls out from the havoc. Aeliana steps into the ship carefully, eyes widening at the blazing inferno. It's almost as if she's just now realizing what she's walking into. She carefully walks up to the punk teen, her Kirlia following close behind as she watches around cautiously in the event that she needs to pull her trainer to safety. "I'm starting to think you just have a love for running into burning things…"

Melody turns at the familiar voice. There's a mixture of relief and terror that flash one after the other in her eyes. She's not alone, that will make this easier-- Aeliana's in danger though. "-- I'm not gonna say you're wrong." She admits. She certainly doesn't hate it-- actually, she can't even say she's scared to be here. That's… probably not normal. "There's someone trapped-- somewhere."

At her feet, Celeste stares at the Kirlia with a look of both shock and annoyance. Is that the Ralts from the contest? She evolved?! Oh, no, this is unacceptable! She will not be undone by this wallflower! "Ta!" She shouts as she tugs at Melody's pant leg. Well, come on! There's people to save!

"Tapu Bulu… this is a hell of a mess…" Aeliana mumbles. The bluenette sighs, running her hands through her hair in annoyance. "We need to find them, then! But… this boat isn't just some dingy… Where would we even start?"

"I don't know-- the screaming stopped." Melody admits. The plan was to follow the sound of the screams. Nightshot squeezes his trainer's shoulder and stares at the walls. He can phase through them to see if there's anyone there! Even still… there's a lot of rooms to look through, and they don't have much time…

Vision is poor with so much smoke and there's only so much time the duo can waste. They were already putting themselves at risk as it was. Suddenly, an idea races to the blue-haired trainer's mind. She knows that it's a long shot with all this fire and smoke, but it was better than just wandering around aimlessly. Aeliana reaches into her bag and pulls out a Luxury Ball. She quickly tosses it forward, unleashing the Eevee that rests inside.

Elia takes a look around, a shocked expression quickly coming to her face. Where in the world was she and why was she here?! The Eevee turns to face her trainer, obviously displeased about the situation that she's found herself in. Didn't this foolish human realize just how important someone of her noble blood was? This is a disgrace!

"Elia! I know this isn't a good situation, but… someone's trapped on this boat!" Aeliana exclaims to the Pokémon. Elia huffs in response. Of course someone's trapped on this boat. That someone is her! "I need you to see if you pick up their scent! We need to track them down and get off of here!"

The indignity of this human! Not only is she putting her life in danger, but she's demanding that she hunt down some other silly human? Elia can't believe her ears! Does she look like some common Lillipup or something?

"Elia, please!" Aeliana shouts.

The boat begins to creak and moan as the flames grow more intense. The prissy Eevee huffs, before slowly lowering her nose to the ground. It's not like she has much of a choice at this point.

Celeste and Elia should have high-tea together when this is all over. The impatient lolita has stopped tugging on her trainer's leg now that someone of use has arrived on the scene. This Eevee looks to be of quality breeding, and despite the smoke clogging the average nose, she should be able to hurry this along.

Elia begins to sniff along the floor of the ship. Her pointy ears twitch slowly as she looks up from the ground, her fluffy tail swishing back and forth all the while. After a few moments that feels like an eternity to the trainers standing in the inferno, the Eevee lets out a yip before bounding on ahead.

"Looks like she's onto something!" Aeliana confirms. "Let's go!"

Melody charges after the tiny fox with Celeste floating along at her feet and Nightshot clamped to her shoulder. The ghostly dragon's eyes glow as he uses Lock On to scan the area for signs of life. It's only a matter of minutes before he squeezes Melody's shoulder and begins to wiggle with excitement. "Py-py-py!" He shouts out.

Melody looks to her partner Pokemon in confusion. That set of sounds is how he identifies… "What do you mean 'Valerie'?!"

Aeliana nearly trips over her own feet. "Val's here?!" A look of panic washes over the normally calm Alolan's face as she takes a step closer towards Melody, before kneeling down to look Nightshot in the eyes. "Are you sure?!"

"Py!" Nightshot says with a determined nod before beginning to float off Melody's shoulder. He points into the distance with one of his nubbed arms and cries out again, "Py-py-py!" It's hard to make out through the flames and the smoke, but there does seem to be a figure-- maybe two figures…

Aeliana narrows her eyes. Someone is definitely there. That feeling of dread begins to resurface in her stomach, knotting it with dread as she begins to think about the streamer possibly being on this boat too.

In an act of either desperation, stupidity, or foolhardy heroism, Aeliana suddenly throws all caution to the wind. The blue-haired girl suddenly charges ahead. "Val!"

As Aeliana charged in ahead, the ship started to weave and tilt - as if something made a huge crash. Then, they appeared. Packs of Corphish and Krabby had appeared in front of the trainers through multiple cracks from the ship that showed the sea. As if things couldn't make things worse, even more popped from the sides of the open walls of the ship, and more poured in from behind. They were surrounded. The flames weren't dying off either, trapping any small venue of escape.

"Ael--" Melody shouts out as she begins to chase after her fellow trainer. She didn't make it far; however, as the ship began to rock the instant she stepped forward. The punk teen fumbles forward as multiple glowing, angry crustaceans fill the holes of the ship and begin filing in towards them.

"Fan-****ing-tastic." Melody glares at the growing number of water types. ****, ****, ****, there's so many of them. Where do they even start?

One of the Krabby lunges forward, claws ready to pinch at the blue-haired trainer with a Metal Claw. Aeliana stumbles back, the trainer landing on her backside as she did so. Elia quickly bounds forward, letting out a feral growl as she attempts to protect the trainer. Aeliana looks at the mass of crab-like Pokémon, quickly taking note of their eyes.

"Look at their eyes! They're… They're like the Pumpkaboo from Route 4!" she says to Melody, climbing to her feet slowly. "Where are these things coming from?!"

The vicious Pokémon all approached forward, ready to strike with their powerful pincers and water-attacks. But as they swarmed in closer and closer to their prey… some of them at the backline got swept away. Like cherry blossoms scattered through the wind.. An abundance of leaves were scattered through the hall of the ship. That's when she came along - a Roserade, with her trainer.

"Made it in time…" the Roserade's trainer was an older-looking woman than Aeliana and Melody; in fact, it was the same woman that Valerie had met before. She took off the glasses she was wearing to assess the situation. "Are you girls okay? We're here to help out!"

"We're good!" Melody calls back. As good as a small, teenage girl trapped on a burning ship about to be mauled by dozens of homicidal crabs could be, anyway. Melody takes a step away from the remaining army of encroaching crabs. The remaining Corphish, egged on by their comrade's being whisked away, lunge towards the significantly less-intimidating trainer.

"Ta!" Celeste cries out as her eyes glow with psychic power. She holds her arms out to cast her confusion on the water-types to hold them back, yet-- before she can activate her psychic power… something beats her to the punch; the crustacean militia all freeze, suspended in mid-air before being forcefully thrown back into the water.

"Nicely done." Comes the voice of a masked man standing beside the blonde-haired woman.

"Phox!" The Pokemon cries in response. Melody turns to the source of the psychic energy. A Delphox wielding a long sycamore branch.



That's… and that would make them…

Game Paused!

Sidequest Start!
The Shadow Looms - Part 2
Players: Valerie, Aeliana, Melody

Press START to begin!

"Do all Kalosians like to make an entrance?" Melody asks with a small smirk.

Aeliana blinked slowly, trying to process just what was going on around her. Thankfully, her Eevee comes and takes up a defensive position in front of her. Elia's fur stands on end as she lets out a feral growl, doing her best to seem intimidating to the crab Pokémon army. At the same time, Clara is already by the blue-haired trainer's side, Life Dew gently being applied to her just in case Aeliana got injured at all during that small exchange.

"Do… you know them?" Aeliana questions, stepping a bit closer to Melody as she asked.

The woman fiddled with her hair. "So much for my black wig… got totally messed up at that last scuffle," she grumbled with a sigh. She wasn't planning on making herself much known to this town, but things just don't always work out as intended.

Even more pokemon started to attack. Upon retaliation, the woman's Roserade blowing them back with her super-effective grass attacks one after another. The Roserade brought her arms together, then started to twirl. Her spin's rotation increased further and further, creating a miniature wind storm of leaves. Some of the water pokemon were caught in it, sending them around in a vicious cycle of leaves pelting and ripping them apart. For the finale, she gave a graceful bow.

"Well done, Vida!" Indeed, the woman was not Emily, but in fact, Emma, Professor of Kalos. As for the other...

"I preferred the blue one anyway." The mask-wearing man says in an incredibly fond tone. He didn't intend to make his presence known here. His wife wanted to lay low, and him being around would blow her cover in an instant. After all, Sebastian of Kalos was a name now known world wide. Things are escalating far more quickly than they anticipated, however.

"Remember when you told Aria that if we had a Team Cinder wanna-bes running around, someone would tell the Kalos champions?" Melody asks before motioning to the black-haired man standing beside the rose-wielder. That's one of them, isn't it? The purple kimono, the Delphox with the white staff.

Said Delphox's staff begins to glow as she effortlessly glides over to the Roserade. Once she's standing by her friend's side, she holds her branch out and releases a Solar Beam at the remaining water-types still attempting to storm the ship. A familiar sight to both Melody and Aeliana follows as the Pokemon dissolve into nothing but smoke.

Lavender eyes grow wide at the recognition. "You're right! That is one of them!" Aeliana had never actually seen him in person before, but the bluenette was sure that there weren't many people in the area that would go around matching that very specific style and description. As amazing as it is to see one of the Kalos champions in action, Aeliana quickly snaps back to reality. There was someone important to find and save on this ship, after all. "What about Val? We've gotta get to her still!"

"I'm sorry. I saw her go inside, but I couldn't stop or accompany her," the woman had explained curtly. She gave Aeliana a warm smile. "We will look for her with you."

Melody considers questioning why the Pokemon Professor couldn't stop the trainer from storming a burning ship alone-- though, she has spent enough time with Valerie to know that the girl is something of an unstoppable force. "Did you see where she went?"

Sebastian exchanges a glance with Selkie, the fire fox responding with a small nod before closing her eyes and twitching her ears. A split second later, her eyes shoot open. "Phox! Phox!" She calls before floating towards a set of stairs that leads to a basement. Her trainer gives another nod, purple eyes narrowing just slightly in concern as he soundlessly runs after his Pokemon.

"I don't like the sound of that 'phox.'" Melody says to Aeliana before giving chase to the champion.

---

"So you wanna be a trainer when you're older too?" Valerie meanwhile was carrying Marin on her back. She did her best to avoid and hop over the obstacles and creaking holes on the main hallway of the ship, with Ayra and Shelly slashing apart debris and dousing fire respectively. Meanwhile, Valerie thought it was a good idea to make some small, light conversation to keep their heads up high and away from the chaos.

"Daddy was a trainer one time too," Marin replied. "Making new friends with Pokemon looks so cool… I wanna make new friends too."

"Heck yeah! Making Pokemon friends is so rad"! Valerie replied. "That's why I became a Pokemon trainer too! This girl made like, 20 friends so far!"

"Really?!" said Marin, impressed. "That's so cool, miss!"

"Oh, boo, I forgot to tell you my name," Valerie remembered. "I'm Valerie, buuuut you can call me Val!"

"Okay Val," Marin seemed a bit more calmer. "I hope you'll make so much more!"

"Hah, you know it!" Valerie cheered with a nod. "Cause this girl is gonna make 100 friends, and someday, even make friends with Mew!"

"Mew?" Marin gave Valerie a puzzled look. It looks like 'Mew' wasn't a name she heard before.

"Yeah! Like, Mew is this super-special-awesome mega ultimate super Pokemon that can do anything!" Valerie explained, as well as only Valerie can. "It used to have loads of friends too, but lost them all." Valerie had her head slightly doward, having a softer, more calm look. "I thiiiink I can kinda relate. When I was younger, a lotta people, even my Mum and Dad didn't really like me, so I didn't really have any friends back then."

"Why didn't they like you?" Marin had asked.

"Hmmm, well," Valerie had to scramble herself for a response for Marin to even understand. She could use that berry example again, but... "I guess you can say, some people don't get that people can love whoever they want to love."

"Why not?" Marin only asked.

Valerie shook her head. "Dunno. I asked that myself," she said, heavy-hearted. "There's always gonna be people who are mean to you just because you're different. And even if you tell them why you're different, their minds can't be changed." But Valerie gave Marin a back glance with a collected grin. "But know what? That's why I wanna be there for people, who just want a friend to accept them! Val loves everyone after all, hehe!" Marin couldn't fully grasp Valerie's words, but she still gave Valerie a calming smile and a nod.

Eventually they made their way on a more open area of the ship; it looks like the main deck. Unfortunately, this looked like the most wrecked area of the ship - the wood was just barely holding together, only for the flames to burn the dead wood. Valerie looked around. "I don't see anyone…" she had said. Marin grew more worried. "Maybe there are more rooms in the ship we've missed--"

But as they started to turn back, the cracked wood in the deck started to crumble. Valerie and Mairn had found themselves stuck within the edges, as a big hole started to form. Below there were deeper floors - where if one would fall, they would drop into the ocean that was underneath. Valerie could then feel it - the ship had started to sink. Marin held onto Valerie more tightly, as the ship plunged itself backwards, but then stopped, as if there was something wedged in that kept it from toppling over completely.

"You okay?" Valerie softly asked Marin. A nod from Marin was her reply - but then Valerie saw as water started to gush out from the hole. Her feet eventually splashed the water that had formulated, and the giant hole became a deep, large pool of water. But the problems just kept increasing. Soon, they came. Carvanha who had swam from the sea nearby, up to the surface of the damaged, water-filled ship, and then there was a longer, taller Pokemon, who was at the center of them all. Valerie had recognized the Carvanha from doing the Wishiwashi show with Simon, but the larger Pokemon was an unknown. It was time for the Pokedex. "A Mi...lotic?" she tried to pronounce. "It's so pretty!"

But without warning, the Milotic started to strike with its tail. On reflection, Valerie held herself infront to protect Marin at the back, but she still collapsed upon the shallow water. "Val!" Marin hopped off of Valerie, but Valerie gave her a reassured smile, indicating she was okay. Ayra had leapt herself forward, growling at the beasts who had surrounded them.

At that same moment, Aeliana, Melody, Sebastian, and Emma arrive out into the now flooding ship. Aeliana stares at the sight before her in horror. Much like before in the ship, the blue-haired trainer throws all common sense and caution aside and starts to run towards her friend again.

"Valerie! Hold on, we're coming to help!" she cries out. Aeliana quickly skids to a halt in her path, however. One of the Carvanha suddenly lunges at her, jaws snapping viciously in an attempt to take a chomp out of the Alolan. Thankfully, a blinding light emerges from her bag at that same moment. Before the Carvanha can react, it's getting a foot to the face courtesy of one rather feisty and annoyed Tyrogue. "Jet… Good timing!"

"Aeli-sis?" Valerie had pondered, not expecting her dear friend here, upon a dangerous ship no less!

Celeste makes a sound that Melody can only assume is a Poke-curse when her Confusion fails to hold the fish Pokemon back. It must be a dark type. How annoying!

"Val!" Melody calls out as she reaches for another one of her Poke balls. "You good?" Taking a closer look, there doesn't seem to be as much as a scratch on the pink-clad trainer. Somehow… she isn't surprised.

"Heeeeey, Mel-Mel's here too!" Valerie turned cheerful and remained optimistic. Marin turned to Valerie. "Aeli and Mel-Mel! A sight for watery-eyes!"

"Val, who are they?" she had asked.

"Only some of the best buddies a Val could ask for!" Valerie responded with a lovingly wink. "They're trainers, just like me!"

Another loud cracking sound vibrates through the ship, causing it to shift to one side as water begins to pour in from a new hole created by the Carvahna. Sebastian exchanges another quick glance at Selkie, and the fire fox begins to glow with psychic power.

"Del… phox!" She calls out as the energy spreads across the ship, creating a barrier that seals the holes and the cracks.

"We don't have much time." He warns. Selkie can only keep an entire ship afloat for so long.

"AWAWAWAWAWA?! IS THAT--?!" Valerie screamed and squealed like a girl waiting for that all important kiss. Whatever that means. "The Charming Rose of Kalos!! Eeeeee! It's Sebastian!! OMG!"

"Be on guard, Valerie!" Emma came along afterwards with Vida right beside her. "Don't let those Pokemon come near you! They're dangerous - they will not hesitate to attack humans, children or no!"

"Whoaaaaaa, Emmie! You're here too!" Valerie happily grinned. That's it. She was starstrucked and she was all for it. "Ah! Yeah! Leave it to Val! But… heyyy…" Valerie had then noticed their eyes. "Y'know, I saw eyes like that before! I think it was at Route 4?"

"They really are spreading this far into Galar…" Emma grew more concerned and grim. The Carvhana started to attack. As quick as she could, Vida unleashed pale white balls of energy towards them to fend them off. Bit by bit, they disappeared like dust. Emma gritted her teeth. "But why…"

"Jet, here comes another one!" Aeliana calls out. The Tyrogue in question charges forward, delivering another Rolling Kick to one of the Carvanah. Just as expected, the fish Pokémon crumbles away. She turns her focus towards the professor for a moment. "What are these things? I've seen them several times now and they just… this isn't normal!"

"We've been calling them Shadow Pokemon. They're Pokemon who were forced to exchange their sanity for more power." Sebastian explains calmly before reaching for a Love ball hooked to his belt. Giving all of her focus to keeping the water out of the ship, Selkie was pretty defenseless against the myriad of water Pokemon. "Alois, don't let them get close."

The Sylveon appears with an excitable cry as he lunges in front of Selkie and begins firing a Moon Blast at a group of Carvahana. As the fish Pokemon dissolve into smoke, the fairy type's tail wiggles wildly.

"So we were right! Someone is making them." Melody says as she tosses Piper's Pokeball into the air. "Help Jet out with Bullet Seed!"

The pumpkin appears with a nervous expression. She shudders as the glowing-red eyes of the Shadow Pokemon land on her, and she squeezes her eyes shut before firing a collection of exploding seeds in their direction.

Jet ducks under the spray of seeds, watching as one of the Carvanah gets pelted by the attack. The Tyrogue can tell that there's something amiss with the Pumpkaboo. Her attack seems to lack any real strength, like she's holding back… or scared? This isn't the time for that kind of weakness!

Jet shoots an angry glare in the ghost-pumpkin's direction, crossing his arms in a huff. "Ty! Tyrogue! Rogue!"

"Ayra!" Valerie called out. The quick Meowth jumped in with a flurry of scratches against some of the Carvanha who had viciously flied towards her. With a combination of grace and precision, she defeated her foes one after another. "Pog! Suuuper cool, Ayra!" she graced.

"Ka-boo! Pump pump!" Piper shouts back defensively.

"Hey! You're not fighting each other!" Melody calls out to the duo who are glaring each other down.

An angry Corphish takes advantage of the discourse between the pair by lunging between them and attempting a Vice Grip on the pumpkin-- though it phases right through her. In retaliation, Piper merely squeezes her eyes shut once more and floats up higher to avoid another attack. These Pokemon… they're just like her friends! If they're defeated, they're going to disappear!

One of the Carvanah makes a mad swim towards the floating ghost Pokémon. It leaps high into the air, wide jaw snapping rapidly in a bid to take a chomp out of Piper. Thankfully, help comes in the form of Aeliana's Eevee. Elia quickly charges into the battle, slamming her body into the Shadow Pokémon with a Quick Attack.

"Melody, something's really bothering Piper!" Aeliana calls out. She watches as the Carvanah her Eevee hit recovers, only to be slammed with a Rolling Kick courtesy of Jet. "I know this isn't the best time for a therapy session, but she's gonna get hurt if she keeps this up!"

****. This is a problem. Piper's her only Pokemon with a real advantage in this situation (that isn't a literal infant.) Why is she so scared? This isn't their first big fight together. Piper took on Nessa's Lanturn, and before that, the raging Vespiquen and…

The other Pumpkaboo.

"Piper! You've got to fight back!" Melody calls out. The Corphish who launched itself at the ghostly pumpkin now fires a Bubblebeam. A move that easily could have been blown back by Bullet Seeds, yet Piper chooses to dart away instead.

"Pum… kaboo!" She shouts with a shake of her head. Celeste, taking cover behind Melody's leg, launches a psyshock at the water type. As expected, the Corphish's body begins to crack as the psychic darts hit their mark, and seconds later, it begins to vanish. A relief to the lolita, but a sheer horror to the tiny pumpkin.

"Boo…" the grass type squeaks out as the mist dissolves into nothing.

"Piper…" Melody grits her teeth. "I'm sorry, but we can't save them! They're… they're already gone."

Gone? What does she mean, gone?! They're right here! They're not gone until Melody and her friends fight them and make them gone!

Aeliana can see the confusion in Piper's eyes. She debates joining in, as she doesn't want to impose into the conversation the punk trainer is having with her Pokémon, but at the same time she feels a need to give Melody some assistance.

"Piper…" she begins, pausing both to think of her words carefully and to watch her Kirlia blast one of the Corphish with a Psybeam. "I… I know how this feels, I really do! But these Pokémon… they aren't normal Pokémon! They've been hurt and warped into these things and whatever they were before has been ripped out of them! If we leave them like this, they're suffering!"

Piper looks to the other trainer with a look of confusion. Aeliana is a very sweet trainer, and Piper is very fond of her. Her words confuse her; however. These Pokemon don't look like they're suffering-- not until they attack them and they start to dissolve anyway. Before that they just look angry. Were her friends the same way? Did they have to die because they were angry?

Melody is grateful for the backup. She can tell she alone isn't getting through to the confused ghost type. "Look at their eyes, Piper! There's nothing there!"

Piper does as requested and looks down at the eyes of one of the water types. It's hard to see anything through the glowing…

"Dreepy!" Nightshot cries out. As Piper helplessly looks at the scene below her, she is completely oblivious to the Carvahna leaping at her from behind. Nightshot lunges off of Melody's shoulder (despite knowing full well she didn't want him involved in a fight with so many dark types) and shoves the tiny Pumpkin away. As the grass type is shoved to safety, the Carvahna opens its mouth wide and bites down on the timid dragon.

Nightshot cries out in pain as Carvahna descends back to the ground with the ghostly dragon still clamped against his teeth. More Carvahna begin to swarm in an attempt to get their turn at tearing the Dreepy apart.

Piper squeezes her eyes shut in hopes that she can escape the scene that way, but her friend's pained cries as well as her trainer's frantic shouts can't be drowned out. Why are these Pokemon doing this? Nightshot hasn't even been fighting them! She understands being angry, she understands wanting to hurt the Pokemon and the humans that hurt you-- but… but Nightshot didn't! No Pokemon should go after another this viciously just because he's there!

No Pokemon… No Pokemon… are these not really Pokemon anymore? That's what Aeliana said… they look like Pokemon, they sound like Pokemon, but… but they're… they're just… weapons now. Those people that took her friends… they came all the way out here and took more Pokemon… and made them weapons… weapons that don't know anything but pain and want to make others feel that pain… and now… now more of her friends are in trouble!

"Kaboo!" Nightshot! Piper cries out. She has to fight! She's tiny and not very strong… not strong at all… but everyone on this ship is giving their all! For the sake of each other, and for the sake of the Pokemon that got hurt… she has to give it her all too! She can't keep hesitating, she can't be afraid! She has to… to…

Her small body lights up as she flies down into the fray. She can feel power surging through her tiny body as it begins to grow. Is this-- Evolution? "Kaaaaa-gheist!" She cries out as the vibrant glow breaks away. The newly evolved Gourgeist vanishes into the floorboard before reappearing in the midst of the Carvahna swarm, grabbing onto Nightshot with her newly acquired arms and sailing them both to safety.

"It looks as though your Pumpkinboo friend has evolved!" Emma explained happily. "Gourgeist is sure to be an even stronger ally for you. Congratulations!"

Piper quickly floats down to Melody and holds out the weakened Doom Noodle. There's a look of sorrow in her eyes. Nightshot had to get hurt because she wouldn't fight…

"Py…" The small dragon says as he pats the pumpkin's side. No hard feelings. This is what family does for one another!

Melody gently takes the fallen dragon from Piper's prehensile hair and tucks him into her satchel. "Let's make it up to him by getting out of here fast, okay?"

"Geist!" Piper says with an enthusiastic nod. Oh… her head moves now! Without her whole body moving! That's… weird!

The last of the Carvahna were quickly dealt with, all because of Ayra's fast strikes, and the help with Sebastian and Emma's powerful Pokemon. The main threat lied just before them: the Milotic. "Looks like this is all there is left!" Valerie proclaimed. "Ready, Ayra? Iiiiit's whoop-ass ti--" SPLASH. Valerie was pelt in the face, with water. After spitting out the water and rubbing her eyes a little, she found the culprit of the sudden sneak attack.

"Fee!" It was that Feebas she had encountered before. It looks as though she had crept up from the sea water as well, and made herself hidden until the Carvanha had all disappeared. Ayra approached it and growled, but the Feebas held its ground… or in this case, remained swimming.

Valerie squeezed her pink visor-cap to rid the water that soaked it. "Heeeey, what's up with you?! A sneak attack? You scoundrel!" she demanded. "Ohh, wait, aren't you the cute little Feebas from before?" The Feebas didn't look like it was a Shadow Pokemon, though, as evident from its eyes. But more than that, it flailed its fins around. It was almost as if... it was trying to tell Valerie to not attack it. "Eh? What's wrong?"

The Feebas turned back to the Milotic. She cried out to it for Milotic's attention - it was as if, the Feebas had known this Milotic once before. "Could it be?" Emma tried to piece the ongoings together. "That this Feebas and that Milotic are related somehow?"

"Wha?" Valerie asked the professor. "What do you mean, Emmie?"

"Milotic were once Feebas before they evolve," Emma explained. "Perhaps this Feebas is the child of this Milotic? Though, that's only my assumption." she then shook her head. "But whatever the case may be, it's far too late now."

"...Too late?" As if on cue, Valerie's question to Emma's comment was addressed the moment the Milotic lifted up its tail. The wails and cries of the Feebas continued, but were on deaf ears as the Milotic slammed her tail downward, causing the Feebas to be launched upwards from the body of water, slamming upon the crumbling rails of the ship's deck near where Valerie was. Marin let out a small gasp, and Valerie knelt down to examine the Feebas.



"You okay?" The Feebas, using the remainder of her strength, glanced back at Valerie. She then fully lied on the ground. After a while, however… her tears formed. After a mixture of pleading to the mother Milotic to stop her rampage, she unhesitantly retaliated against her own daughter. The Feebas tears were an indication that Milotic was not the mother she once loved. The Milotic treaded herself towards Valerie and the Feebas again. She had her eyes upon the Feebas - a mixture of violence and anger were read in her crimson eyes. She raised her tail, about ready to strike. As for Valerie… she gritted her teeth. She stood back up, with her fists clenched. She then raised her arms and palms outward, on an attempt to protect the little ones.

"Val!" Marin cried out for her, but Valerie didn't respond. Valerie was for once, quiet. The normal cheerful, happy grin on her face… was gone.

"You're… you're supposed to be her mum, right? What kind of..." Valerie had addressed the Milotic, but her words this time were shaky, but this wasn't out of fear. "What kind of Mum would… Mum's shouldn't harm their own children!"

"Valerie, it's no use!" Emma had warned the girl. "Once a Pokemon turns that way, they just turn violent, and destructive. It won't hesitate to strike the Feebas as well."

"I don't care about that!" Valerie shouted. Her pained face told the story. It reminded her… of her own mother. "Mum's shouldn't harm their own children!"

Emma had her head down. "I know. I am a mother myself, and I'd do anything to protect my children," she said. "But once a Pokemon turns into a Shadow, it won't even remember the past relationships it might have had. They'll think nothing more than to strike at everything. To destroy everything. To kill everything…" she then shook her head. "Our only option now is to defeat it, and make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else."

"But..." Valerie started with a more sad expression. "If we beat it, then it will--!" The Feebas tried to get back up, trying to plead with everyone. It didn't understand the meaning of 'Shadow Pokemon'. It just... wanted her mother back. Emma turned away, anguished. Ayra looked after, inside filled with hate. Once again, a Pokemon was made to suffer, because of humans. Unforgivable. Humans are truly irredeemable.

"Valerie…" Aeliana calls out. Her gaze darkens a bit. "You're right, Mum's shouldn't hurt their own children, but… What they did to her, whoever they are? She's not gonna be able to come back. We can't just leave her like this… We have to help her be able to rest."

"Why…?" Valerie could only question. "Who could do something like this? To… to tear a family apart!" Valerie glanced at Aeliana, then back to the Feebas, then back to the Milotic. She had a heavy heart, and while she didn't really get the whole Shadow Pokemon thing, it was still sadder than sad.

Finally, she rested one hand upon Marin. "Can you watch that Feebas for a while?" she asked her. With a nod, Marin came on over, and scooped up the fallen Feebas with her arms. Valerie slowly closed her eyes. It's gonna hurt a ton, fighting against a mother like this, but… Aeliana was right. She can't stay like this.

With a courageous look, she took off her jacket; she was wearing her league shirt underneath - the one with the flaming pokeball. "If it's the only way, then I guess we gotta do it. Sharpen those claws, sis!" Valerie had her fists clenched, then opened them up, and gestured them like claws. Ayra's claws. Ayra's claws, like on sync, were extracted, sharp and ready to pounce. Valerie's battle cry was not one for fun - it was going to be a serious, heavy bout.

As Ayra charged in, the Milotic released a torrent of water from its mouth. She easily evades it with her speed, and with a strong leap, she had herself leaping right in front of the Milotic. Valerie had one of her claw-shaped hands raised. "Give it Ayra sis's… SCRATCH ATTACK!" with her command, she swiped her hand diagonally downwards, with Ayra doing the same notion, scratching the Milotic right on its forehead. "Do it over and over!" Valerie and Ayra repeated the same swipes consecutively. The Milotic tried shaking it off - causing Ayra to run on its long body, to leap off.

"Jet, Focus Energy!" Aeliana calls out. Jet closes his eyes before taking a deep breath. He feels a rush of energy run through, suddenly feeling quite energized. "Now go in for a Rolling Kick!"

The Tyrogue bounds towards the Milotic, eyes narrowing as he approaches. The Milotic sweeps her tail in retaliation, attempting to flick the scrappy Pokémon back with a burst of water that comes rushing out from the attack. Jet manages to hop over the tail at just the right moment, however. He launches his foot into the Shadow Pokémon's belly, but this leaves the him wide open as she slams her tail into him from a much closer range. Jet is sent flying back, but manages to stay up and fighting just the same.
"Piper! Use Razor Leaf!"

The newly evolved ghost flies back into the fray and spreads her hair-- arms? Prehensile hair out wide as she summons multiple leaves to gather around her. The leaves shoot forward and slice into the water type one after the other. Once more, Piper gives a sorrowful look to the little Feebas. She now understands why they have to do this… even if it still hurts to have to do it in front of the baby Pokemon. That Feebas is going to lose her mom just like Piper lost her friends… all she can do is make it quick so that the suffering can stop as soon as possible.

I could help power through with Vida, but with the ship about to collapse at any moment, we also don't have much time… perhaps it will be wise to give everyone a boost overall, Emma thought to herself. She had her handbag out in front of her. It was a fairly large handbag… filled with a surprise. Or two. "Al, Cel." Then, they popped out from her bag. A Plusle, and a Minun. They both were surprised by the amount of water that was gushing out, but turned their attention back to Emma all the same. "Give those two a hand, will you?" The two nodded, and leaped from her keepsake. The Plusle, Cel, made her way to Ayra who had just landed, trying to deal another attack. The Minun, Al, made his way to Jet. The two Pokemon then raised their hands, which were now beaming with light. The light then surrounded the Meowth and Tyrouge respectively, giving them power.

"Right, time for Ayra-sis's PAY DAY attack!" Valerie and Ayra held out their hands in front of them, like if they were holding some sort of sphere. In Ayra's case, light fixtures started to form. They both then made motions of an arm throwing something; when Ayra threw her attack, it took the shape of -- brilliantly enough -- coins that showered and pelted the Milotic.

"Jet! Tackle into another Rolling Kick!" Aeliana shouts. Jet lets out an echoing battle cry as he charges towards the Milotic once more. He slams into her with as much force as he can muster, seemingly starting to make her stagger back, before spinning around slamming his foot right into the Milotic's abdomen.

The Milotic roared, with a mixture of anger, and anguish. A steady whirlpool formed from its underside, which turned into a miniature twister. Everyone held on for dear life - the twister was threatening to destroy everything, as multiple parts of the ship were destroyed, and all kinds of debris and water washed in. It seemed like in it's act of desperation, it was going to take everything out.

"What's it doing?!" Valerie shouted. She held onto the rails, and held on to Marin who was also holding on to the Feebas.

"It's using its Twister attack!" Emma warned. "If it succeeds, it's going to do more than destroy this entire ship… We're going to have to destroy that water cyclone before it causes more damage!" Emma pointed out. "Focus on one single point! Aim your attacks right at the center of it!"

"Let's give it a big finish," Melody says with a small grin to her newly evolved companion, "we don't have time for encores, okay?"

"Geist!" Piper trills as she flies into the air. She opens her mouth to prepare a Bullet Seed, but the attack that begins to form takes on a different appearance: When she evolved, the move was erased in order to make room for something stronger: A ball of vibrant, green energy. "Gooooooour-geist!" She cries as the energy collecting in front of her bursts away and flies towards the single point mentioned. Celeste, not to be outdone, follows suit with a psyshock.

"Clara, Psybeam!" Aeliana orders. The Kirlia steps forward with glowing eyes. A wave of light fires out from her eyes, blasting into the Milotic. As she recoils in pain, Jet dashes forward and slams his foot into the Shadow Pokémon, delivering a critical Rolling Kick.

The Feebas flailed around more. It was crying, begging for the fighting to stop… but Valerie knew what needed to be done. "We'll use one last Pay Day," Valerie and Ayra brought their hands together to hold an invisible ball. The Feebas cried even louder. Valerie, hearing her sad cries, clenched her teeth. If there was only another way… she wanted it so badly. This was.. All she could do. Finally, with all the strength she gathered, she thrusted her arms outward as hard and as fast as she could. "Ayra-sis's… PAY DAY! NOW!!" With the coins gathered up and thrown by Ayra, all the attacks were gathered together.

With the opening and power provided by Melody and Aeliana's Pokemon, and with the precision and constant strikes of Valerie's vortex the Milotic gathered dissipated. Now, the area was quiet. Finally, with a weakened and hurtful cry, the Milotic slumped over, crashing on the ship, upon the shallow water, creating a mighty splash. The Feebas broke free of Marin's grip, hopping its way to the fallen Milotic. It made a cry, and used its fins to try and provoke a response from the Milotic. The Milotic was unresponsive, however - even with its crimson red eyes upon the Feebas, it did nothing, and cried nothing. Eventually… it started to dissolve. The Feebas watched helplessly as its mother was reduced to ashes, and scattered through the wind.

The Feebas teared up, and wailed for her lost mother. Valerie soon after, scooped it up, and held it with her arms. All she could do for it now… was just let it cry.

All of a sudden, the ship started rocking. "We've got to leave this place," Emma warned. "It's going to collapse any moment now!"

"How do we get back?" Aeliana questions. "The floor gave away when we came in!"

"We need to get to the deck," Sebastian explains calmly. "We have friends waiting outside who can take us from there."

"So it's haul ass time?" Melody asks as she cuts her gaze towards the psychic fox who had been keeping the water at bay since their battle started. "Dunno how much longer your friend can keep us alive."

Aeliana takes hold of the balls belonging to her Pokémon and recalls them one by one. She places them in her bag, before casting a lingering glance towards Valerie. The blue-haired trainer makes her way towards Valerie's side and gently puts a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" she asks the streamer.

Valerie, holding the Feebas, had a stern look. She wasn't facing Aeliana directly, but was just…. Standing there. But soon, she managed to collect herself, and she held onto Marin with one of her free hands - Marin volunteered to hang on to the Feebas herself to give it comforting pats.

The ship crumbled and rocked even more. As if on instinct, Valerie held on to Aeliana's hand. Her face was more relaxed, and as a small delayed answer to Aeliana's worry, she replied with a small smile and a nod. "Let's go, Aeli."

"Everyone get up the stairs. We're right behind you." Sebastian calls. Melody returns both Piper and Celeste to their balls before high-tailing it up the staircase. Once everyone is making their way up, Sebastian calls Alois back and casts a warm smile towards his partner Pokemon. "Thank you." He whispers as he holds out the fire fox's ball and returns the exhausted Pokemon. The instant she vanishes from the scene, water frantically begins to flood from every hole and crevice. The shinobi quickly makes his way up the staircase to join his wife and the trio of trainers.

As the group reaches the deck they quickly discover two things: One, despite there not being a cloud in the sky when they began this adventure, it is now pouring down rain. Two, the ship (or what remains of it) is no longer burning.

"Swannaaaaaaa!" Comes a cry from the sky. The elegant swan Pokemon descends from the clouds at the sight of her trainer's wife, and with her comes a small army of Frillish, Wingul… and one Cramorant.

Aeliana looked up at the Cramorant in particular. It looked… extremely nervous to say the least, its eyes darting around before landing on the form of the blue-haired trainer. With a loud squawk, the bird fluttered down, wings flapping wildly as he descended to the deck of the ship… only to completely beef the landing and almost plow right into the group of trainers.

Aeliana looked down silently at the bird and then back at Sebastian. "Is… is this your Pokémon too?"

"Ah, no, only Ksenia is mine." Sebastian says as he tugs his mask from his face. There's something of a hesitant smile on his face as he tries to stifle a laugh at the poor bird's antics.

"Na." The Swanna chimes as she glides down to gracefully land beside her trainer. She proudly crooks her neck and spreads her wings as if gesturing to everything around them. Her eyes quickly look around at the young trainers before focusing in on Emma and Sebastian, intense eyes staring into their souls as if to say Where's my praise? I charmed all of these Pokemon into helping us! I made it rain and put out the fire. Aren't I the greatest?

"Thank you, Ksenia." Sebastian says as he gently strokes the swan's neck. "We would be lost without you."

"'Nother one for high tea." Melody mumbles under her breath as she watches the diva-swan.

Emma giggled. "As graceful as always," Emma complimented. "Thank you all. You all did very well. Alright, shall we go?"

The gang all finally made their way out of the ship deck. With some careful work arounds, they all finally made their way out, and finally back to the port. It looks as though the rangers and the other pokemon trainers had worked together to finish up their ends too - they rescued a fair amount of people, and had even defeated quite a number of Shadow Pokemon. Holding Valerie's hand still, Marin looked around outside. She had hoped that her father was alright…

"...Marin? Marin!" Luckily, a relieved looking man was right on time to greet her. Marin, filled with joyous tears rushed over, and the two embraced happily.

"Daddy, I… I was scared…" Marin cried. Her father kept a happy smile.

"I'm here now dear," he said calmly. "I'm so glad you're safe."

"A couple of people rescued me and helped me out!" Marin had explained. She then turned her attention to Valerie and the rest of them. "That girl over there saw me! Her name's Val, and she's a Pokemon Trainer! They all are trainers!"

"I see," Her father said with a relieved sigh. Then, holding Marin's hand, came to address them. "I can't thank you enough for saving my daughter; if anything were to happen to her, I…"

Valerie gave them a warm smile. Marin approached Valerie closer, and Valerie knelt down to meet her sight. "Val?" Marin started. "Can… can we be friends?"

"Yeah," Valerie said softly and warmly. "And when you become a Pokemon Trainer, we'll have a battle, right?"

"Right!" Marin agreed. "See you next time, then!" Marin with her father waved them all off goodbye, and proceeded out of the port, most likely back to their home. All around the port, the rangers and some nurses from the Pokemon Center, came to help tend any injuries the trainers and Pokemon might have had during the on going.

Aeliana glances over towards Sebastian. The blue-haired girl was honestly beginning to feel like she was missing something big here. She turns to focus on the champion completely and finally asks what was on her mind.

"...These incidents… I've dealt with this sort of thing three times now," Aeliana begins. "What's actually going on? I feel like you know something about this we don't."

Sebastian glances towards Aeliana and then to Emma. His eyes soften and his lips curve into something of a sad smile. There's a sickening feeling in the pit of his chest; this is all too familiar. What should have ended long ago has found a way to return. "I do have a theory." He says softly. As much as he wanted to keep these young trainers out of it, they were already involved. They have the right to know what they're sinking into. "Putting all of those Pokemon in a confined space that was set to burn away and take the evidence with it… I believe whoever is doing this wanted to test just how many Pokemon they could control at one time." He turns his gaze to the sea and the small remnants of the once proud ship. "I would say their experiment was a success, and I expect to see them putting a follow up plan into action sooner rather than later."

"So… we're gonna have to deal with this again," Melody mutters.

"I'm afraid it's a very real possibility," Sebastian answers.

This is a lot to take in. Aeliana closes her eyes, her mind racing with thoughts on what this is really going to mean for all of them. Things… suddenly seemed like they were getting very messy very quickly.

Valerie, meanwhile, patted Feebas's head. She seemed to have calmed down… perhaps luring itself to sleep as a mechanism to cope with the shock of what had happened. "Well, who was it?" Valerie had demanded. "Who could do such things, to innocent Pokemon?"

Without a response, Emma looked down, deep in thought, and in worry. She then reached for something - something in her coat pockets. Approaching Valerie, she laid out a small disc-like object in front of her. "Here, for now, take this," she said. "You know about TRs, right? Maybe this can help you out."

Valerie took the TR from her. Without averting their eyes, Valerie and Emma exchanged looks. "Emmie, Sebbie," Valerie started. "Pokemon are supposed to be our friends, right? So, why? How can someone just do this to them?"

"I wish I could tell you," Sebastian says softly. "Before I rush forward making such grand accusations; however, there are some things I would like to look into." He has a hunch, though it's not nearly enough to accuse anyone of such a heinous crime. There's questions to ask, documentation to reference… and a call he needs to make. "For now, I beg that the three of you go forth with a great amount of caution." He knows better than to ask them not to go forward until this is settled. That's simply something someone with a trainer's heart can't do.

"We'll look both ways before we cross the street." Melody says with a small smirk. That's about all she's willing to promise. 'Aeliana adds a nod to the punk's response.

"No matter what, I..." Valerie started, turning away, still with Feebas in her arms. She looked at the starry night sky. "No matter what, I'm not gonna forgive anyone who hurts our Pokemon friends. Never, ever, ever! Not in a million, billion years!"

Melody looks at the pink-clad trainer and hesitates for a brief second before reaching out and touching her shoulder. "Don't worry, you don't have to." She says while putting on a confident smirk. "We'll track 'em down… and open up a can of whoop-ass on 'em together, yeah?"

Valerie… Emma had pondered. ...And the rest of Professor Sonia's students, huh? Hmm, that reminds me, I do need to contact her soon.

***

Once the trio of trainers depart and the scene begins to clear, Sebastian looks down to the Xtransceiver on his wrist. "Excuse me one moment," he speaks softly before giving his wife's hand a gentle squeeze. He steps away from the hustle of rangers trying to clean up as much wreckage as possible in search of a somewhat quiet place before tapping the machine's little screen. Contacts. Recent contacts. Call.

"Ah, apologies for calling so late, old friend…" The shinobi's saddened smile quickly fades into a far more somber expression. "It's just as we feared."

Pia McGuire & Ruben Sancho & Rosa Valdés & Haleigh Windsor
Poké:

5550 ♦ Pokémon: 4

Pia McGuire & Ruben Sancho
Poké:

5550 ♦ Pokémon: 4

Poké:

5020 ♦ Pokemon: 6

Spelunking In The Mines​

[h2][/h2]The afternoon sun is high in the sky as Aeliana and her team siat at the small market located in Hulbury. The blue-haired trainer had all but collapsed from exhaustion by the time she finally made it back to her hotel room, and now they were enjoying a small bite to eat before they were to finally set off from the harbor town and head for the nearby mines. Aeliana watches with amusement at the sight before her. Elia, her Eevee, stares with a mix of confusion and regret at her new teammate, the very Cramorant that seemed to have a knack for plowing into Aeliana from the previous night. The bird Pokémon, whom Aeliana decided to dub "Scuttle" is currently gulping down as many fish Pokémon that he could cram down his blue gullet. Tampa is seated by his side, the Croconaw currently trying to keep up with his pace as she feeds herself. The eating contest seems to make her Eevee shudder in repulsion. She isn't sure why her human decided to add this… abomination to their traveling party, but the sooner he makes himself scarce, the better in her book.

"I guess we should get going," Aeliana muses. "We've got a good ways to go through this mine before we make it back to Motostoke…" That said, the trainer is a bit nervous to head back to the big city. It has been so long since the group had taken part in the opening ceremony and subsequently set out from the big city. In a sense, it's sort of like a grand homecoming. That said, she knew that when they made it back to Motostoke, it would be time to take on Kabu. The bluenette knows that Kabu was said to be the first, true obstacle for those partaking in the league challenges. Many of them end up dropping the whole thing all together once they battle him. "I wonder if my team has improved enough since then to handle him…?"

Aeliana glances at her Pokémon in question. When they first left Motostoke, she only had three of them, four if one was to count Mahina. Not only that, but they were all in their first forms as well. They have had their share of challenges along the way of course, several battles with wild Pokémon, shadow Pokémon, Nessa and Milo, and several trainers. Is that really enough, however?

Before Aeliana can think the matter over any further, the familiar ringing of her phone catches her off guard. She fishes the device out of her bag, recognizing the number on the screen almost instantly.

"Alola!" Aeliana answers.

"Kekoa, long time no talk," that familiar voice of her employer, one Boris Wells. "I've got another job for ya, one that's gonna pay you pretty well if I say so myself. You're still in Hulbury, right?"

Aeliana raises an eyebrow. It has been quite some time since she received a call from Blackspear Industries. She was starting to think they had just cut ties with her after the previous debacle with Rory back in the mineshaft on Route 3.

"Sure, I'm getting ready to head for the mines leading to Motostoke, though," Aeliana answers.

"Excellent! Your next gig is located in the mines. We're lookin' to harvest and sell some evolution stones. The demand for them is startin' to go through the roof and we're having trouble keepin' up with the supply," Boris explains. "That kid you teamed up with for the Zubat infestation, Rory, is already headin' down to help out with this. Partner up with him when you get there and collect as many as you can, got it?"

Aeliana shudders at the mention of the boy in question. She still had yet to get over her previous interactions with Rory. The last thing she really wants to do is be forced to work with him again. For just a moment, Aeliana contemplates turning down the job. However, the loud squawking of her new Cramorant quickly catches her attention. Lavender eyes shoot up in the direction of her Pokémon, wherein they quickly focus on Jet stomping his foot in irritation. It seems like Scuttle had ended up swiping some of his lunch, and was now on the run in a panic as the Tyrogue chased him in a circle. The Clefairy in her lap giggles at the sight, clapping her hands in amusement at her friends' antics.

"Kekoa? Are you still there?!"

Boris' voice snaps the girl back to reality. As much as she really wants to turn the call down, the number of mouths to feed on her team make her quickly realize that that's going to be impossible. Scuttle alone seems to be able to eat the amount of three Pokémon alone.

"Galar Mines, yeah… I'll head there right now," Aeliana relents.

---

After a month spent in Hulbury, it was time for Haleigh to move onwards in her journey. To say that her time in the port city had been tumultuous would have been an understatement, given all that had transpired just in that one fateful battle alone. All of that confidence she wore around herself so tightly to keep the doubts, insecurities and unpleasant feelings at bay was blasted to shreds in such a public fashion. However, with the help from Melody, Achille, Kai and even a disgruntled Catherine, Haleigh had rebuilt herself, stronger than ever and managing to give a performance that surprised even herself.

The purple haired trainer found herself walking out of Hulbury, heading up towards Galar Mine No. 2. Walking to the right of her was the prim and proper Cornelius, walking with a dignified gait that complimented his new form. On the other side of her, Orion was cheerfully scampering about and exploring his surroundings. There was a contentment on the girl's expression as she watched them, but there was something else gleaming behind it.

Cornelius, ever observant to the nuances of his trainer's emotional state, picked up on it from not only her face, but the sensation he got. If he were to describe it, it would be similar to a small tug at his chest. He slowed his walking speed a bit, looking up at her with an expectant gaze.

Haleigh noticed that her Kirlia was looking up at her. She let out a small sigh, remarking to him, "Yeah...just got a lot on my mind after all that happened, y'know?" The girl didn't want to just clam up and hold back on her team, but even so…

No, Cornelius deserved better than that. Haleigh's own words to Achille back during their meetup at the cafe in Hulbury played back in her mind. They all deserve the best version of me. The best version of herself...could she really say she had been at her best when she can't even trust her own Pokemon to share in her own struggles, when they fight with her side by side?

She relented, adding, "I mean, what else is there to say? I got the badge and all, and I feel like I've gotten better, everything should be happy ever after but...I don't know, I guess a part of me is still a bit shaken up by that first one. It's the sort of thing that sticks."

Cornelius gave a polite, dignified nod, still intently listening to her words. "Like, it kinda makes me think, what am I really doing out here."

Before the purple haired girl could further ponder the matter any further, there was another older girl that was walking with a Clefairy in her arms and a Cramorant waddling by her side. She was a fair bit taller than Haleigh, with bronzed skin and strikingly blue shoulder length hair. Had Haleigh seen this woman before? Upon getting a closer look at her face, Haleigh's own lit up in recognition as she recognized the figure.

Haleigh called out, "Oi, Aeliana! How's it goin' mate, I didn't recognize you at first 'cause of the hair!"

Aeliana turns at the sound of the girl's voice and call of her name. She smiles at the shorter girl coming towards her, quickly recognizing her as Haleigh. With that purple hair, it was hard to mistake her for anyone else, after all.

"Alola, Haleigh!" Aeliana greets as walks towards the younger girl. The Clefairy looks at the girl cautiously. Aeliana is smiling so that must mean she's a friend, right? Mahina gently waves in greeting as well, trying her best to mimic the blue-haired girl's smile. "I haven't seen you since the opening ceremony! What's up?"

"A looooot. I reckon I ought to write a book about some of the shit I've been up to!" She chuckled a bit, scratching her head. "But as of late, it's been a bit more lowkey, just focusing on the gym challenge."

The purple haired girl brings out the case that held her two badges, opening it up and taking out her Water Badge. "Got myself one of these. I tell you, Nessa does not make it easy, 'specially when you got a fire type to work with."

"I can imagine! I went up against her with two water types and still barely managed to etch out a win," Aeliana replies. She proudly pulls out her own badge case and shows off her own winnings. "Looks like we're dead-even for the time being. I wonder if we'll both manage to be so lucky when we go up against Kabu. I hear he's the big hurdle that a bunch of the challengers just quit against."

Haleigh looked away from the other girl's gaze for a second. "Yeah, I've heard as much as well…"

She looked back over to Aeliana, exclaiming, "But I got a 'Mon who'd gonna quench Kabu's fire. Hell, even my fire is a hundred times what he can put out! I've been gettin' real good these last few months, nothing like a good kick in the arse to do that to you."

"Yeah, you look like you've been putting in some work!" Aeliana responds in kind. Her gaze drifts down to the Kirlia by the smaller girl's side. An idea quickly pops into Aeliana's head. Going to meet Rory alone is not something she's really looking forward to. That said, maybe if she were to bring along another person with her. "But would that be the right thing to do? It's not like Haleigh needs to meet him either." Aeliana begins to wish that Melody was here. The punk in question had no problem in dealing with Rory before. In the end, Aeliana resigns. It's either this or go it alone. With any luck, Tapu Lele would forgive her later. "Say… Touchy subject, I know. But… how's your money situation these days? It seems like I'm always tight, even with battling trainers like Milo and Nessa."

Haleigh let out a nervous chuckle, "Eh, it could definitely be better, I'm always just barely gettin' by from battling people and I don't have any other real means for money. Why, you have somethin' in mind?"

Her smile grows. "As a matter of fact, yes! Back in Motostoke, Simon and me got side jobs for Blackspear Industries. It's nothing major, just things like delivering, pick-ups, and taking care of other little things like wild Pokémon issues. I know it's kinda spur of the moment and I doubt they could pay you for it, but I've gotta go meet this guy in the mines to help gather some evolution stones. Since we're both going the same direction anyway, why not tag along with me? I'll give you a cut of what they pay me."

Haleigh scratches her chin, mulling over the offer. Blackspear, they were the new guys in town after Macro Cosmos fell from grace for being associated with Rose. While she was all good for seeing them having bitten the dust to the new guys, that didn't suddenly make them trustworthy in Haleigh's eyes. However, given that Aeliana had been doing these sorts of jobs, it made her more inclined to trust them. From what she remembered of her from the academy, Aeliana had been an easygoing, friendly face; Haleigh couldn't see the other girl as trying to swindle her or doing anything extremely shady.

The purple haired girl exclaimed, "Sure! Like you said, we gotta go down there anyways, and I could go for some new clothes now that spring is here and all."

"Cool! Then let's get this show on the road!" Aeliana replies with excitement evident in her voice.

With the plan of action now decided, both girls begin to make their way towards the mine. As they walk, Aeliana and Haleigh exchange various bits and pieces about their journey up to this point, taking it as a chance to catch up and just make small-talk in general. While it isn't too far of a trek to the mines from where they met up, the blue-haired girl seems to thoroughly enjoy this small bit of conversation.

"So, after that the ghost girl just seemed to disappear. Next thing I knew, me, Val, Pia, and Rosa were all back outside on Route 3. Pretty crazy, right?" Aeliana recounts.

"Yeah! Ghost Pokemon can do some mad crazy stuff. I'd have loved to have been there, it sounded like a hell of a lot of fun! I got Coraline, so ghosts don't really bother me as much, the most she can do is steal sweets. She did tear up that bakery in Wedgehurst, you should have seen the chaos." Haleigh giggled as she remembered her first encounter with the coral Pokemon way back when her journey had started. "That feels like so long ago when we were still in school itching to get our way out there."

Aeliana looks up from the shorter girl, the fun conversations quickly coming to an end as she notices the mine entrance coming into view. Everything seems to look pretty peaceful and calm, something that quite frankly rubs the Alolan the wrong way. While she does prefer it this way, her fellow colleague has a way of just… making her uncomfortable by sight alone. That uncomfortableness is nowhere to be found, however… mainly on account of Rory not being anywhere in sight. Maybe he decided not to show up?

"Hmm… That's weird…" Aeliana muses as she reaches into her bag to pull out her pokégear. The trainer flips through her messages, spotting the one sent to her by Boris earlier that afternoon. Sure enough, the man's message said that Rory is supposed to be waiting outside of the mines. "He's supposed to be waiting out here for me… Maybe we got here early?"

Haleigh asked, "Who is the guy anyways, just some other trainer doing a job? Maybe he found a wild Pokemon or something and wanted to catch it. It sounds like something I'd do if I was getting bored of waiting."

Haleigh had a point. Aeliana wouldn't have put it past Rory to do something like that. That said, she was aware that the boy had a certain… taste in Pokémon. He had abandoned Jet and that Linoone back on Route 3, as well as the fact that he only bothered to catch that one Zubat because it was shiny…

Aeliana sighs. "Let's just say… He's headstrong and not… exactly the easiest to get along with. That said, you're probably right. I doubt he's one to wait around for too long. Let's head in and see if we can track him down."

"Alright! What's the guy look like?" Haleigh started walking deeper into the mine, looking for anyone else that would be there. She figured that he'd be one of only a few people down in there with them, but knowing what he looked like couldn't hurt.

"He's blonde, about my height… give him an inch or two. He wears his hair in a spiky mess and has dark blue eyes…" Aeliana recounts. She debates listing his personality to the girl, but quickly decides against it. "Last few times I saw him, he was wearing a blue jacket and dark-colored jeans, with a chain hanging out of the pocket."

Haleigh nodded in response. As the two of them kept going ever deeper in the mine, Haleigh's eye is caught by a source of shimmering light in the distance. The girl remarked, "That's quite a pretty sight there, all those glittering-"

She cut herself off, finding herself hearing a series of sounds off in the distance. From what she could make out, it sounded like there was some Pokemon in distress, along with very human sounding stomping around. Haleigh's started to furrow her brow, her face serious. "Oi, you hear that Aeliana?"

She does hear the noise the punk is hearing. And almost instantly, the blue-haired trainer can feel a knot form in the pit of her stomach. "Sounds… like something crying," Aeliana responds, her throat suddenly feeling very dry as she speaks. A small shift in her arms, grabs her attention. Mahina can clearly hear it as well. The Clefairy's grip is tightening as she looks up into Aeliana's eyes. "Come on, let's follow the noise."

Aeliana leads the way deeper into the mines. With every step she and Haeligh take, the crying sound gets louder, to the point where it's echoing out through the caves. It's a winding path, but eventually the duo and their Pokémon come to a small, grotto-like room within the winding mines. It seems unrefined compared to the rest of the mine, no sign of tracks or mine carts to be seen. There is a distinct sparkle in several spots along the way and while they are enticing to look at, neither trainer gets a chance to pay them much attention. Instead, their focus pulled away at the spectacle that lies before them. Aeliana clenches her fists at the sight she sees.

As she feared, it's none other than Rory Correl. A harsh glare rests upon his facial features as he stares on ahead. His hands are stuffed in his pockets, mouth resting in a bored frown. The boy in question is busy watching a Nuzleaf, who in turn is busy pummeling what looks to be a very weakened Scrafty. Battered and bruised, the weakened Pokémon stares up at her attackers silently, gritting her teeth as a sharp, swift chop is driven down into the creature's head. Not far away, cowering behind a jagged, twisting stalagmite, a lone Scraggy watches on in horror. Tears are streaming down the tiny Pokémon's face as he watches helplessly, his mother taking another Brick Break to the head.

"Is this really the best you could do? When I saw you down here, I was hoping you were gonna be a challenge to battle, maybe even being worth joining my team," Rory sneers. "You're just trash though, a waste of time. Kumadori, hurry up and finish this garbage excuse of a Pokémon off so we can get to gathering these stones."

Haleigh's blood ran cold at the horrendous sight she was witnessing. This was the teen that Aeliana had described to her. When the other girl had described him as disagreeable, she had pictured someone like a certain gray haired boy from the academy, but she knew that Jasper wouldn't be this cruel and callous - certainly not to Pokemon.

She clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white from how tightly she was clenching them. Cornelius could feel very viscerally how enraged Haleigh was with the sight in front of her; it was a deep disgust he shared at seeing such savage behavior. The fact that someone would pick on the innocent like that went against everything he knew.

Through gritted teeth, Haleigh commanded, "Cornelius, go over to that baby Scraggy, right now!" Though her words were spat with venom, it was clear to the Kirlia that it was righteous anger directed at the person in front of them. He gave Haleigh a hasty bow and dashed over to the young Pokemon.

Haleigh started barreling towards Rory, the only color she could see a deep, deep red. In an instant she was right in the teen's face, looking like she was a hair trigger away from knocking his lights out. "Oi prick! What the fuck is some scrawny pissant like you skulking about, beating up on those poor Pokemon?!"

Rory glances over his shoulder at the girl. He wasn't sure who this tiny girl was, but honestly he couldn't bring himself to care too much either. The blond imagined that in her world this may have been somewhat intimidating, but… he felt about as threatened as Machamp in a stuffed Teddiursa factory.

"...Who the hell are you?" he finally asks, turning to give the girl at least a passing bit of attention.

Haleigh narrowed her eyes at the nonchalant attitude he was displaying towards the whole thing. That was by far the worst part about it all: that sickening bored look on his face as he seems totally unremorseful about any of this. "Doesn't matter to you, not unless you want me to smack you upside your stupid gob!"

While Haleigh was busy confronting Rory, Cornelius focused his efforts on the young Pokemon. Though clearly very distraught, he was uninjured - and the Kirlia wanted to keep it that way. His stance was protective, holding out his arm as though he were brandishing a blade of some kind.

"Damn, you're annoying… Would you go piss off and bother someone else?" Rory questions. He reaches down to his belt, taking hold of a poké ball before holding it out in a threatening manner. "You're getting in over your head, runt."

Similarly unfazed, Haleigh spat back, "And what makes me think some fuckin' shithead like you scares me?" The punk girl reaches into her jacket pocket, brandishing her own Pokeball. "I got some mad powerful Pokemon that could knock your sorry arse back to your mummy crying, and I got the badges to prove it!"

Rory doesn't bother waiting. He presses the button in the center of the ball, causing it to snap open and reveal an Electabuzz that's been waiting inside. The electric Pokémon lets out a boisterous yell, flexing his arms in anger as a bright sparking forms around his left fist. Without warning, the Electabuzz immediately brings his fist down towards Haleigh, only to stop suddenly when a hand grabs hold of his own. Standing between the purple-haired trainer and the Electabuzz is none other than Tampa. The Croconaw winces as she's struggling to hold back the attack, the sparks of electricity clearly causing her pain. Despite this she manages to hold off Rory's Pokémon all the same.

The male trainer stares at the intrusion in silence, slowly peeling his eyes away from the Croconaw towards the figure of a blue-haired trainer. He narrows his eyes, clearly trying to put a face to a name, but he's soon able to deduce just who she is.

"Kekoa? What the hell are you doing?" Rory demands to know. "I've been waiting for you to show up. Hurry up and start gathering stones. Leave the trash duty to me and get your Croconaw out of the way."

Aeliana seems hesitant to respond. She looks to Rory and his Electabuzz, then to Haleigh and Tampa, and then to the boy's Nuzleaf and the Scrafty. Instantly, thoughts of their first encounter on Route 3 play in her mind. She's able to picture the sight of the boy outright kicking and cursing at Jet, who in turn simply took it in an attempt to try and win the boy's favor before being abandoned.

After what feels like hours, Aeliana finally responds in a shaky voice. "N-No…" The Clefairy in Aeliana's arms gasps, looking up at her trainer in surprise and horror. This boy is scary. Why are they still here? "No, I won't move."

Haleigh looked over, in shock at how close she had come to being struck herself had it not been for Aeliana's intervention. Quickly shaking it off at seeing Tampa struggle with the electric type Pokemon, Haleigh used the distraction to bring out her own Pokemon. "Corey! Get over to that Electabuzz and give him a solid kicking Flame Charge, on the double!"

Corey instinctively ran over to the other Pokemon, the basics of the situation barely registering in his mind as he lit up his body with flames and sped over to the Pokemon like a bullet, giving the Electabuzz a powerful flame kick to his torso.

The Electabuzz staggers back, catching his breath from the sudden attack. As soon as he catches his breath, he is joined by the Nuzleaf from before. Rory smirked as he looked at both of his Pokémon. "Fine. If you want a double battle… I'm happy to stomp you both into the dirt."

Haleigh looked over at the injured Scrafty. This was the one time she didn't want to delay things for the sake of a battle, but Rory was giving them little choice. Time was of the essence if she wanted to get Rory to get out of here and attend to the mother Pokemon's wounds. She was going to have to be at her best; there was no telling what dirty and sordid tricks he'd try and pull. "We're doing this for the Pokemon, not to give you your sick idea of 'fun.'"

She looked over to Aeliana, exclaiming, "You ready to pummel this wanker to the ground?"

A moment of hesitation passes. Aeliana could again feel the grip from her Clefairy tighten. Now images of the night she met Mahina were vividly playing through her head. She wasn't strong enough that night either, and as a result Mahina lost her family. Could she pull it off here? Had she gotten strong enough to defend another pair of creatures in the same situation. Lavender eyes drift over to the baby Scraggy, cowering behind the rock formation.

"Yeah… Yeah, let's do it," Aeliana answers. She doesn't have a choice. She has to give it everything she has now.

Haleigh wasted no more time getting into battle mode. All she could see in front of her was those battered Pokemon, that boy, her own Pokemon, the sights of them all jumbling together yet somehow forming one cohesive thread: take that motherfucker down.

The punk trainer commanded, "Corey, get in another Flame Charge against that Nuzleaf, give 'em a low sweeping blow!"

The Raboot went all in at his trainer's words, crouching low to the ground and sweeping the ground in arc with a flaming kick.

"Sucker Punch, Kumadori!" Rory shouts out. "Zeus, follow it up with a Thunder Punch!"

The Nuzleaf runs straight towards Corey, caution being thrown to the wind as the Raboot is sending a flaming kick straight to the grass Pokémon in question. The Nuzleaf manages to send the punch into Corey's gut, though as expected this leaves him wide open to the sweeping blow. Luckily for him, Rory's Electabuzz is right on his heels. The familiar, sparking fist comes slamming down towards Haleigh's Raboot, only for Tampa to interrupt as Aeliana calls for the Croconaw to use Aqua Jet. Tampa's body slams into Zeus with as much force as she can muster, water propelling her forward all the while.

Corey grunted as he took the punch dead on, the flames on his body dying down once his concentration was broken. It seemed that the blond boy was all about getting his hits in as hard and fast as possible, much like Haleigh was bound to do. However, the purple haired trainer wasn't going to let that bastard one up her on her own tactics.

"Corey, Double Kick the Electabuzz, aim for the torso!" The Raboot started dashing towards the Electabuzz, thinking he was going for another straightforward attack to get the yellow Pokemon further away from Aeliana's Croconaw.

The Electabuzz stood at the ready, his trainer shouting, "Don't just stand there, get another Thunder Punch ready! Kumadori, back him up with a Razor Leaf."

Haleigh watched as the electric type Pokemon started cranking his arm back to prepare the elemental punch. With a smirk on her lips, Haleigh exclaimed, "Dive right, Flame Charge the Nuzleaf!"

Corey was no match for either Pokemon in speed. The fire Pokemon feinted the Electabuzz, letting his electric attack hit thin air while the Nuzleaf took another head on Flame Charge.

"Zeus, use Discharge! Zap them both! Kumadori, Brick Break on that Croconaw!" Rory shouts.

"Tampa, Dragon Dance!" Aeliana counters.

The Croconaw in question begins to groove and shuffle about, using her dance moves to just narrowly dodge the oncoming chop from Rory's Nuzleaf. All the while, the Electabuzz let out an angry roar. Sparks began to fly about his head, before a wave of electrical energy flows out of his round, yellow body, zapping all three Pokémon within the vicinity. Tampa lets out a pain-filled growl, the blue gator wincing as her body was rocked by the attack.

"Another Thunder Punch, Zeus!"

"Ice Fang, Tampa!"

Rory's Electabuzz takes aim at Tampa. He charges forward, preparing to slam his static-filled fist right into the Croconaw's face. Tampa darts forward at that same moment. Frosty breath begins to exit out of the gator's mouth, her teeth quickly becoming coated with ice as she chomps right down onto Zeus' fist. The Electabuzz grunts in pain, arm shaking as he tries to pry his fist free of the glacial grip that Tampa has on him.

Haleigh quickly glanced over at the battered Pokemon. Cornelius was still guarding the baby Scraggy with a look of determination. The Scraggy stood looking so terrified, with his mother so close to him and yet so far from help while the two girls tried to get Rory to piss off. Seeing them like that gave her another roiling flash of rage. The gall to be entertaining this loathsome boy in a battle while those poor Pokemon were stuck waiting for help. She needed this battle to end now.

She pointed at the Nuzleaf, yelling to Corey, "Flick some Embers at 'im, he's bound to be on his last legs with all those Flame Charges."

Corey opened his mouth, starting up some flames to lob at the grass Pokemon. Haleigh looked over to Cornelius, shouting, "And you Cornelius, aim a Psybeam right to his head!"

The Kirlia complied, aiming a wave of psychic energy that rocketed straight towards the Nuzeleaf with no warning being able to be given in time by its trainer to dodge both the Embers and the Psybeam.

Rory is indeed speechless at the sudden tactic pulled by Haleigh. So much so, that he's left his Electabuzz completely wide open. Aeliana quickly follows the purple-haired trainer's lead, calling for her Croconaw to attack the vulnerable Electabuzz with a Bite attack. Tampa does so, releasing her grip on the electric Pokémon's fist before following up by taking a chomp onto Zeus' shoulder. The Electabuzz howls in pain, snapping Rory's focus back towards his other Pokémon. It's too late however, as both Pokémon topple over in defeat.

"You… What kind of shit was that?!" Rory snaps at the shorter of the two girls, his eyes narrowing into a frigid glare.

Despite the situation, Haleigh found herself with a smug smirk on her face, pleased with how he had stuck it to him. "I don't play fair with arseholes like you. You certainly weren't playing fair when you beat up those Pokemon, so why should I have done the same with you?"

With a more serious expression back on her face, she added, "Now how about you piss off with your tail between your legs, you weak little bitch."

Rory doesn't respond to the girl's taunt. He merely recalls both of his fallen Pokémon, muttering a curse under his breath as he begins to storm out of the cavern. He pauses, glaring towards Haleigh one last time, before shifting his gaze towards Aeliana. The blue-haired trainer can feel Mahina cowering under the hate-filled look. In truth, she can feel herself wanting to do the same. It's a very familiar look, one that makes the trainer want to hide away and just be somewhere, anywhere else in general.

"This isn't over…" Rory states bluntly, venom in his voice before he makes his exit and leaves the two girls and their Pokémon on their own.

Haleigh watched as the defeated trainer made his exit. With the threat gone now, she was free to tend to the stricken Pokemon and attend to some of her wounds. The girl turned to Aeliana, stating, "Let's take care of that Scrafty."

The punk trainer looked at Aeliana's face, seeing that she was still shaken up by the whole thing. "You alright mate?"

Aeliana snaps her attention back to Haleigh. Her eyes make her look like a Deerling caught in headlights, but the girl eventually returns the shorter girl's concern with her usual smile. "Everything's just fine, don't worry about a thing. We should check on Scraggy and his mom, right?" Aeliana quickly brushes past the girl, heading towards the Scrafty that's laying on the ground. "She's in rough shape… Why don't you see how our smaller friend is?"

Haleigh nodded and started walking over towards Cornelius, who had been dutifully guarding the young Pokemon for the duration of the battle. He appeared a bit less afraid now that the thoroughly unpleasant teen had been, but still looked very worried, constantly glancing over at his mother. Although he had been thoroughly shaken up, the Scraggy was uninjured.

The girl put out a hand tentatively to see if the young Pokemon would be receptive to a pat on the head. Though hesitant, the fact that it had been those two humans that saved him from the other bad one made him relent and allowed Haleigh to give him a pat. She called over to the other girl, "Little one's all fine, not a scratch on 'im. He's still pretty shaken up though, the poor lad."

Meanwhile, Aeliana is making herself busy by tending to Scrafty. The mother Pokémon isn't as lucky as her son was. Deep gashes and bruises cover her body, making Aeliana wonder if there was a chance that the older Pokémon had been forced to fight off both Rory's Electabuzz and Nuzleaf at the same time.

Mahina looks up towards the blue-haired trainer. There's a nervous look in her eyes, as if asking the human if the Scrafty was going to pull through. To be honest, the Alolan isn't sure. That said however, she intends to do everything she can to help her.

"She's going to be fine," Aeliana assures Mahina as she reaches into her bag. The trainer pulls out a Love Ball, quickly releasing the Kirlia that awaits inside. "Clara, I need you to use Life Dew on the Scrafty."

Clara's eyes widen at the sight of the Pokémon in question before her. With only a single nod, the Psychic type goes to work. A glowing aura radiates from her body, before she suddenly begins to splash a strange water around the wounded Scrafty.

As the purple-haired girl looked over to them, Haleigh realized that she too had a Pokemon who knew Life Dew. She wasn't exactly sure by how much it would help, but they certainly could use every little bit of help. "Join her Kirlia with a Life Dew as well, I'll keep the little one company."

The male Kirlia walked over hastily to the scene, joining his female counterpart and sprinkling more glowing water onto the stricken Scrafty.

Slowly, the joint effects of the Kirlia double team start to have some effect. The wild Scrafty begins to stir, some of her wounds fading away due to the effect of the Life Dews. The Clefairy in Aeliana's arms smiles in relief as the Scrafty slowly pulls herself up into a seating position. She seems slightly defensive at first, but this changes when she realizes that Rory and his Pokémon in particular are nowhere to be seen.

As soon as the Scrafty stirred, Haleigh walked over towards them with the Scraggy next to her. Haleigh let the baby Pokemon rush over to his mother, all of his worries melting away as he saw that she had woken up.

"Scraggy!" The smaller Pokemon had given the mother Pokemon a big hug, which was reciprocated with gusto. In that moment, any apprehension they were feeling about humans didn't seem to matter, with the two of them reunited and safe.

Haleigh cooed, "Aww, it warms the heart, doesn't it Aeliana?"

"Yeah… it really does," Aeliana replies with a smile. She really is happy that the two Pokémon managed to pull through and everything seems to have worked out. That said, the bluenette feels a small twinge of jealousy at watching the two together. Still she pushes that feeling aside. This isn't the time to ruin this little moment. She kneels down to the Scraggy, gently patting him on the head with the hand that wasn't holding onto Mahina. "I'm glad everything worked out for you two. You guys gonna be okay?"

The Scrafty looked down at her son, who was still holding onto her tightly. She smiled and nodded. As long as he was safe, that was all that mattered. Though the two had seen just how cruel humans could be, they were also seeing some of the good exemplified by the two humans right in front of them.

Haleigh looked over to Aeliana and said, "Well, it looks like we really saved the day there, eh mate? Seein' them all happy and safe is a great reward and all, but why don't we help ourselves to a stone or two on the way out? I think we really put in the work to earn some!"

Aeliana gives a nod in return. "Yeah, that's the main reason we came after all."

The duo make their way further into the cavern, Scrafty and Scraggy bidding the duo farewell shortly beforehand. Aeliana doesn't really blame them for not wanting to hang around. The cavern held an abundance of evolution stones, many of them lodged in the walls and various rock formations along the ground. It would have taken the two girls hours to extract them on their own. However, aid came in the form of their various Pokémon. Corey and Jet were able to break several of them loose with their strong kicks, while Tampa and Fiesta were able to use their water attacks and the former's claws to pry some free as well.

Aeliana picks up one of the Water Stones that had been pried from the wall and tucks it away safely into her bag. "Is there any you've got your eye on in particular, Haleigh?"

Haleigh looks at the multicolored stones all around her, searching until she found one that struck her fancy. "This one's pretty cool! I think it's an Ice Stone." Indeed, the stone she held in her hands was a teal color, almost seeming to emanate a bit of a chilly aura that reminded Haleigh of home - or rather, her original home.

"Alright then… I guess all that's left to do is get these other stones turned in," Aeliana says. She's been storing the stones she plans to turn into Blackspear Industries in a large pouch that's attached to trainer's bag. She really didn't have any other way to carry them, but it should be mostly okay. Turning face the purple-haired girl by her side, Aeliana comes up with an idea. "Wanna just tag along at least to Motostoke? I doubt you'll be able to come into their building with me since you're not an actual employee, but we could do a transfer later on for what I owe ya."

Haleigh replied, "Sure, why not? We're headed out there anyways and I reckon you'd be a fun traveling partner!"

With that, the two girls started heading away from the glittering cavern, their satchels full of stones and their heads filled from the dramatic events of their encounter with Rory. Though Haleigh was always raring to go for another adventure, Aeliana hoped that this would be the most eventful part of their journey into Motostoke.


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Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 6