[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

Aquacorde · Sep 20, 2021

#111 - Ryan Hahn

► Female | 16 | Fuchsia City, Kanto
►

Genevieve

|

Maximilian

► Stage 11: Ramping Up

MOTOSTOKE RIVERBANK

The northern bank was as sweltering hot as Kabu's damn gym, but sprawling in the shade and cheering for some kid she didn't know and his weird chunky water-type- Palpitoad, her PokéDex reminded her- was a fun way to spend the hottest part of the day. Ryan had tried to enter Genevieve into the impromptu Water-type tournament, but despite the Nidorina's enthusiastic splashing she wasn't a strong enough swimmer to compete against a collection of truly aquatic Pokémon.

Missing out on all the fun made Ryan contemplate the idea of catching a Water-type. It was becoming more and more obvious that her tiny team lacked… a lot of things, namely accuracy, but also general coverage and ability. Maybe barreling through gym challenges with two near-identical species wasn't the best idea- she'd lost to Kabu right off the bat, of course, same as everyone else that had tried, but having to slink back to Nessa for a rematch was humiliating. And Kabu, this time- she'd barely scraped by, with a lucky poisoning and quick Endure. The man had known it well, and spouted off some cryptic fire-related statement that meant- well, Ryan was pretty sure it meant- she had to step up her game.

Luckily, her begrudging foray into team planning was interrupted by the bright chimes of her ringtone.

She almost dropped the phone in her excitement, tapping Accept Call furiously. "Martin!" she cheered triumphantly, as soon as her brother's face appeared on the screen. It still mirrored her own- brown eyes, small nose, round cheeks, habitually shaded eyebrows. But Martin's hair was cropped short and plain, left to its natural silver as opposed to her bright green fauxhawk, and his jaw was squaring off and losing its baby fat much faster than her own. And when he spoke, it was obvious even through his yawn that his voice was deepening again.

"Hey, Ryan. Sorry I missed your- what, four calls and seventeen texts?"

Pink crept into her cheeks and across her ears, but- this was just her brother, and her enthusiasm was undeterred by the gentle judgement. "Don't make fun, I was excited! I still am! I beat Kabu, didn't you see? I called you before but you didn't pick up- and texted! That's what some of them were!"

"Sorry, yeah, I didn't… didn't catch it live… had stuff to do," Martin trailed off, stifling another wide yawn. It was late in Kanto. Usually Martin would be in bed by now- she supposed she was lucky he even called her back today.

"You watched the VOD though, right?"

"No, it uh, wasn't uploaded yet."

Ryan frowned. "It's always uploaded like right after."

Martin shrugged, glancing away from her image on his screen. "Sorry! I didn't have a chance to look again, and now it's bedtime. I'll watch later. I'm glad you won, though."

"Sure," Ryan said, brow furrowing. "Thanks. Um, I saw your pics from the concert on Instagran. Lookin' sharp! Suits are great on you. I knew they would be 'cause they're great on me, but-"

"Thanks, yeah, I appreciate it, but Ryan, c'mon, I… I don't need… uh, I told you…"

"Yeah, yeah, stay out of the comments, stop fighting people for you- I know, but they're horrible and stupid and- ugh, Martin, I wanna actually punch them for real! When I get done with this I'm gonna come home and beat them up like I used to, I swear!"

Martin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Makes him look like Dad, Ryan realized. When did he start doing that? "You can't just beat everyone up. How's that going to reflect on someone with titles and status?"

Ryan grumbled and huffed before settling into a pout. "Not good."

"Right. So let me deal with my bigoted classmates, and you deal with your own problems. I have friends here. And mom and dad. You're out there all by yourself- you keep telling me you haven't been hanging out with anyone- so worry about yourself."

Ryan, out of actual arguments, grumbled unintelligibly until Martin cut off his own huge yawn with a yelp and his image vanished. "What-"

"Dropped my phone on my face," Martin groaned. "I have to sleep. Talk to you later."

"Love you!"

"Love you too."

Ryan flopped back onto her rolled-up fleece, tucking her phone back into the pocket of her leggings. This all would have been easier if Martin had come to Galar with her. They would have been able to look out for each other, rather than him fighting on his own and her not having a voice of reason at her side. They had always been the perfect team.

She'd been ignoring it this whole time, of course. Why would she want to believe it? Why would she want to admit to herself that she needed to find someone else to play that role for her? That would be admitting that Martin would never fill that role for her again. That would be leaving their dreams behind. That would be...

"Vivi?"

Genevieve crawled up from the river and plopped down next to Ryan. "Rin?"

Ryan struggled to get her thoughts in order, brow furrowed and sentences aborted within two syllables. The Nidorina cocked her head. "You and Max are crazy good, but you can only do so much, right? So we need more help, 'cause we're not losing anymore, remember?"

Genevieve cheered and clapped her hands together enthusiastically. She'd always been excitable, but had become fond of gestures like that since evolving- probably just happy to have more freedom of motion. Maximilian hadn't picked up on that kind of thing. Ryan thought he might, once he evolved again, but that was probably a long way away. She'd have to find a Moon Stone somehow- two, actually, one for each of them. And they weren't exactly littering the ground for trainers to happen upon.

But that could wait. For now, their quest was to put together a proper team.

GIANT'S MIRROR

Ryan kept herself bundled up, leg warmers and all, even after she crossed the unmarked border of the snowy Bridge Fields and the slightly more temperate Giant's Mirror. Maximilian was keeping pace with her today, ready for yet another fight to test the waters against random wild Pokémon. Though they had encountered quite a few species over the past week or so, none of them had felt quite right to catch.

Maybe she was just reluctant to move forward.

But she was still doing so physically, and now she was halfway through the northern Wild Area with nothing to show but two slightly beefier Nidos. And that wasn't the goal at all.

The tall, sprawling grasses rustled in the chilly breeze. Everything was doused in an even gray under the cloudy skies, despite her phone confirming that it was indeed one in the afternoon (and that Martin still hadn't called her today, even though it was his day to call). Maximilian trundled straight on, leaving Ryan to stare out at the plains before them. Far, far in the distance, she could see the faintest hint of storms that she'd rather not travel through. Hopefully they would let up before they made it out there.

Maximilian was far ahead of her now. He always did this, if she didn't make sure to catch his attention- he had a one-track mind through and through, and right now that track was aiming him toward a rocky outcrop and a lone berry tree. Ryan chose to catch up rather than correct his course- it wasn't as if they had any pressing matters to attend to. Besides finding Pokémon, which they could do anywhere around here. Maybe? None seemed to be hanging around where she could see.

So she jogged after her Nidorino, through the long summer grasses, on alert for anything other than herself and Maximilian.

She still didn't see it coming.

A precise strike to the back of her knee buckled her left leg under her and Ryan flung herself sideways and into a crouch just in time to avoid the raking claws shearing the grasses around her. A yellow and red Pokémon advanced on her, standing ready in some kind of martial arts-like stance. "Foo! Foo!"

"Foo yourself! MAX!"

No answer. The wild Pokémon stared at Ryan, eyes narrowed and ears twitching. Ryan unclipped her backpack and slid it from her shoulders, not breaking eye contact. Genevieve's PokéBall was in there somewhere. She moved to pull the backpack around, but the yellow thing shouted at her again and advanced.

"Max, come on!"

Nothing.

"Fine!"

Ryan launched herself at the creature, which clearly didn't expect that. It was a tiny humanoid thing- wrestling it down was the same as pinning her little nephew to the floor when he was bothering her. Only this thing fought back- she captured its hands immediately, keeping the claws at bay, but it kicked out with surprisingly powerful legs, catching her in the hip, the chest, the goddamn pit of her stomach-

Ryan dry heaved, eyes watering, and the Pokémon took its chance to wriggle out of her slackening grip. "Max!" she choked out, though there was no way he could hear her at the volume she could manage.

And yet, he did! He came barreling into the fray, horn shining and stabbing into… nothing, since his charge ran wide. The yellow Pokémon scoffed at such a useless display, and Ryan seethed.

"See you do better!" she challenged, and the glint in its eye made it clear that it would.

Deliberately, keeping an eye on Maximilian, it posed again and this time Ryan caught the subtle glow of power coursing through it. Whatever it was doing, she wasn't going to let it build up any more than that. "Disable!"

Maximilian's eyes flashed blue, and the yellow thing dropped its stance with a frustrated shout of "Mie!" Ryan's memory finally jogged- this was a Mienfoo! She didn't remember much else about it, unfortunately, but at least there was that.

"Get- Peck it! It's probably a Fighting-type, looking like that!"

With Maximilian perfectly on-target, she should have been able to see her theory proven. But the Mienfoo twisted out of the way with uncanny speed, glimmers of orange following its motion. Detect? Ryan didn't know for sure, but if it was- "Fine, but you can't do that forever! Keep Pecking, Max!"

That was something Maximilian was good at: following one direction, over and over, completely dedicated to the idea of it. The Mienfoo's nimble footwork saved it from the relentless attacks nearly as much as its use of Detect, and Ryan exhaled sharply. Hustle made things so unreliable- it was shocking that they made it this far like this, when they couldn't even hit a damn wild Mienfoo. And the Mienfoo was hitting back- flurries of attacks, raking claws and chopping paws and Maximilian couldn't swing around quickly enough. Every strike of their opponent's hit, precisely and accurately-

"You! Wait, Max, stop, stop, hold on-"

Maximilian tried for a last Peck before realizing Ryan changed her direction and hesitating, scuffing his front paw in the grass. The Mienfoo shuffled back, clearly wary.

"Wait, guy, here-" Ryan dove toward her discarded backpack and rifled through it frantically for the four things she wanted. "A-ha! Okay, here, have a snack." She unwrapped a granola bar and snapped it in half, holding out one for Maximilian and tossing the other to the Mienfoo. The yellow Pokémon caught it easily and sniffed the offering cautiously.

"It's fine, Max is eating the same one, see?" Confusion radiated from the wild Pokémon even as it hesitantly nibbled on its snack. Ryan clicked her ATC into the PokéDex and finally, delightfully, was proven right.

"Mienfoo, the Martial Arts Pokémon. They have mastered elegant combos. As they concentrate, their battle moves become swifter and more precise."

Ryan loved her Nidos, but the prospect of something actually hitting every time she asked it to do so was thrilling.

"I wanna catch you," she said matter-of-factly, holding up a PokéBall with her free hand. Maximilian snorted in surprise and coughed granola bar pieces into the other hand. "Gross."

The Mienfoo studied them. A wheezing Nidorino that hadn't hit it once and a determined human that had. "Enfoo?"

Ryan didn't know how to answer that, mostly because she didn't know what it had asked. She took a stab at it anyway.

"You'd come with us, me and Max and- there's another one, Vivi, she's a Nidorina. We all do training together, because we're getting strong to win at all the gyms in the League! You'd kinda live in a PokéBall? I think that's fine, most Pokémon seem okay with it. But I'd hang out with you a lot because I like to walk with someone- that's why Max is out right now. I guess I don't know if you even want friends. But you like fighting, right? Combat? We'll do that! I can help you fight even better!"

The Mienfoo considered this. Ryan considered the fact that all she actually knew of this Pokémon was what a brief glance at the PokéDex told her- nothing about it as an individual. She'd been given Genevieve, and Maximilian had attached himself to them for a while before she officially caught him. But this was more like how it usually went, right? People just caught whatever they thought was cool, and both trainer and Pokémon dealt with it.

Should she even be giving this Pokémon an option?

She felt her own face pinch up in disgust at the idea of not doing so. It just didn't sit right at all.

The Mienfoo dusted its paws, bringing Ryan back into the moment. "Foo."

"Foo what?" she asked, but Maximilian understood.

"Dorino."

The Mienfoo marched right up to Ryan and tapped the PokéBall's button, allowing itself to turn into light and be sucked away.

"Oh, cool, okay!"

CAUGHT: MIENFOO

HAMMERLOCKE HILLS

Ryan skirted the unpredictable and violent sandstorms of the Dusty Bowl, dipping her toes in when the winds ebbed enough to see the landscape and dashing back out when the sand began to whip at her exposed skin. At least it was warmer here on the edge of the desert- and it became warmer still as she climbed the eastern edge of Giant's Mirror, though it was likely the exertion as much as the weather that kept her fleece shoved gracelessly into her backpack most days.

But it was not to last- the steep ascent up the Hammerlocke Hills brought with it a dense fog. It became thick and oppressive as they walked, blurring the landscape and muffling every sound, and Ryan stopped Maximilian in his tracks by tugging one of his sturdy ears. He snorted at her, annoyance obvious.

"You gotta switch." Maximilian bristled and protested. "I know it's your day! But you wander off sometimes, and I can't see you in this."

Maximilian stomped and growled anyway until he was turned to light and was stowed safely away. Genevieve took his place, bursting out with a full-body stretch and a cheer. "We're in Hammerlocke Hills, Vivi!"

The Nidorina turned in an excited circle, taking in the views of… fog, mist, shadows, and more fog. She made a quizzical sound.

"It might clear up! Fog is always worse in the morning. I think."

It did not clear up. Ryan donned her fleece again to have some protection against the damp chill, and they pushed west toward the gates of Hammerlocke. The quiet gloom was unsettling, to say the least, and Ryan could only fill the silence by talking to Genevieve for so long before she resorted to calling someone who could actually hold a conversation.

Martin, then, lent half an ear to Ryan's chatter- her frustration at the Wild Area's consistently troublesome weather, speculation on where in the world she was going to find not one but two Moon Stones, idle wondering after her classmates both from Galar and Kanto, joy at Leonidas the Mienfoo's easy integration into her team… anything and everything Ryan could think of, Martin listened, humming acknowledgements and asking simple questions at appropriate times.

Eventually, Ryan became aware of an... echo in the muted world around her, and pulled one of her earbuds out to hear better. "Hold on, hold on, shh-"

"Me? Are you shushing me? What for?"

"Shh!"

The echo faded again.

"Huh."

"What was it?"

"It- it's back, hold on-"

But only silence met her straining ears.

"Maybe it's something to do with the phone," Martin suggested.

"Yeah, but it's definitely coming from- from here, not over the line. Vivi, you hear this, right?"

Genevieve shook her head. Ryan frowned. "Huh. Weird. Well, whatever- anyway-"

The echo remained, just on the edge of perception, until they turned vaguely north to avoid the cliff edges and aim for the looming shadows that were the walls of Hammerlocke. Now when she removed an earbud she could hear it clearly- not an echo of her own voice, nor Genevieve's, but of Martin's, stilling a fraction of a second after each sentence he spoke.

Maybe it was something about the phone.

But she squinted into the shifting fog anyway, her focus dropping from her brother's actual words and paying full attention to the sounds as she stalked forward, fuzzy shadows resolving themselves into boulders, bushes, and trees. The echo grew bolder, more robust, seemingly emanating from a shifting figure ahead- and now she knew. It wasn't an echo at all!

"You didn't tell me you were coming!" she cried, cutting Martin off mid-sentence.

"No, I mean, yeah, I was trying to come for Strugglecon, but-"

"Nah, I gotcha, didn't I? See you in a minute!"

Ryan dragged her earbuds completely out of her ears and hung up the call even as Martin protested. The figure in the fog jumped to attention and waved, voice still muffled by the elements. Was the fog getting thicker? Oh, what did it matter- Martin was here, in Galar, for the first time since the Opening Ceremony! Although-

"Hey, what are you even doing out here without a Pokémon? Always telling me what's dangerous-"

Martin's blurred form shook its head and as she ran to catch up to him, he danced backwards. His voice was just clear enough that she could make out a few words- This way, come on!

Ryan moved to follow, but Genevieve tugged on her sweater. "Come on, Vivi, we gotta run!"

"Rin...a?" Genevieve sounded both worried and confused.

"It's Martin, up there. Are your eyes bad in the fog?"

Genevieve squinted toward Martin's form as it shifted, probably from bouncing on his toes as he tended to do, but her eyes skimmed over him as if she really couldn't see. Ryan shook her head. "That's okay! Just follow me!"

And so they ran into the fog, Martin staying ahead enough that his words of encouragement remained muffled and shape indistinct. The landscape slipped away before Ryan realized, the deep fog only growing thicker as they pushed on, and without sight to guide her she slowed. Martin paused.

Hurry! he demanded. This way!

"Wait, you gotta wait, I can't see in this- why are we hurrying, anyway? Can't you just come walk with me?" Ryan's frustration tinged her voice. It had been so long since they'd seen each other and he wouldn't even come give her a hug, stand by her side, play with Genevieve-

Ryan glanced down at her Nidorina. Genevieve's ears were twitching nervously and she pressed herself closer to Ryan's legs now that they were moving more sedately, eyes darting all around to catch what little they could see in the mist. "Come on, Vivi. Gotta catch up with this asshole."

Martin led them to a sloping path and they picked their way downward. The fog swirled around them, so thick that Ryan could see it moving with her breaths. She waved a hand in front of her face and it left a trail of clear air for just a second, like dragging a spatula through a sauce. "Crazy," she whispered.

And then it was gone.

Help me, Martin said, but Ryan's darting eyes couldn't find him anywhere, even in this warm, dry, mist-less dome.

"Wait- where are you?!" she shouted, but Genevieve wrapped an arm around her thigh and pointed ahead with a whine.

In front of them, hovering a meter above the wild grass, was a tiny lavender Pokémon- an Espurr. A persistent breeze swirled around it, circling outward to the edge of the blue-tinged dome in which Ryan and Genevieve now stood, but the Pokémon itself was entirely still, surrounded by a blue glow- not a hair on its fluffy body moved and its wide eyes met theirs unblinkingly.

Help me, Martin's voice echoed, distorted, inside Ryan's head, and the glow surrounding the Espurr pulsed in time with the cadence. The scent of warm spices with bursts of fruit whipped across the breeze.

"Stop using his voice!" Ryan yelled back, face heating as she finally understood- none of it had been real, nothing since she hung up that call. "Why are you messing with me?!"

Take it, her own voice said back to her. Ryan stepped back in surprise. It listened! And as she inched forward again, its eyes flickered- just barely, as if the motion took all the control it had, but the briefest of glances at its own paws was what Ryan needed to see.

Held tight to its fluffy chest was an incense pot, clearly the source of the odd perfume carried on the wind. There were some that had strange effects on Pokémon, Ryan knew, and everything pointed to this one being a boost for Psychics. But why would it want her to take it away?

It didn't really matter. She found herself eye to unblinking eye with the Espurr in a flash, hands tugging at the incense pot. The Espurr still did not budge- its little paws stayed clamped to the item, and even when Ryan dug her heels into the ground and pulled, the Espurr stayed fixed in space. "I can't take it if you don't let me!"

The Espurr said nothing. Where earlier its eyes had been disconcerting but alert, they were now glazing over. It gave the tiniest sigh, the first sound it had made physically, and Ryan was thrown backwards, back into the fog, landing hard on her ass and cursing the little creature to high hell. Genevieve's frantic calls guided her back into the mistless dome, though when she popped back in behind Genevieve the Nidorina greeted her with a startled swipe.

"Nope!" Ryan caught the swing and the hazy purple around Genevieve's claws winked out. "You gotta stop hitting without looking."

Ryan's focus locked back onto the Espurr as the winds inside the dome picked up, pushing the fog further away from them. Clearly her own intervention did nothing against this psychic power, and things were probably going to get worse if she did something again. But- Ghost energy would tear apart Psychic energy, wouldn't it?

"Vivi, we gotta get that thing it's holding." Genevieve nodded slowly. "So- use Shadow Claw to grab it!"

Genevieve surrounded her claws with dusky purple once more and advanced on the Espurr at the center of the dome. The Nidorina had to jump a few times, but she eventually plucked the incense from the tiny paws. Ryan caught her as she was flung backwards, same as Ryan herself had been.

Nothing else happened. The wind continued to blow, the dome kept the fog at bay, the spicy perfume still wafted through the air-

"Oh- it's the smell! Duh!" Ryan dragged several things out of her backpack but what she was looking for were her leg warmers- thick tubes of fabric that she stuffed the incense pot inside and wrapped tightly.

The Espurr dropped, another blast of energy threw Ryan and Genevieve to the ground, and the fog rolled in.

"Psychic stuff is no joke," Ryan eventually grumbled, sitting up and starting to retrieve her scattered things. At least the mist was light enough that she could see in front of her- the impenetrable fog from earlier must have been the Espurr's doing, for whatever reason. She glanced over to where it was laying facedown in the grass. "Vivi, bring it here- make sure it's good to go or whatever."

She continued re-packing her backpack as Genevieve prodded the Espurr, shoving the incense into the bottom of the bag. There were other things strewn about as well- some of her clothes, a few PokéBalls, a weird gem that definitely wasn't hers to begin with but got thrown in anyway. Genevieve returned with the Espurr and laid it on the grass in front of Ryan.

"Nida," she said, concerned.

The Espurr, now faceup, was still and quiet, eyes closed but brow furrowed. Its little chest rose and fell with quick breaths and little flashes of blue rippled across its fur.

"It doesn't look right," Ryan agreed. And she didn't have much to solve that with, if she even knew what she was doing. Leaving the little thing here seemed wrong- but so did dragging a wild Pokémon all the way to Hammerlocke. Maybe she could catch it? But it didn't seem able to make that choice, and it waking up might trigger all of this all over again.

Genevieve scooped a PokéBall out of her backpack and handed it to her.

Ryan sighed.

It was the best option, she supposed.

CAUGHT: ESPURR
OBTAINED: 1x ODD INCENSE
OBTAINED: 1x PSYCHIC GEM

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Stinging Bea · Sep 20, 2021

Aeliana Kekoa
Motostoke Riverbank

[PokeCommunity.com] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

Chapter 11-1 | Birds Of A Feather

The morning sun is high in the sky, shining down brightly over the Motostoke Riverbank. The air is humid and hot, not even a gentle breeze blowing across the nearby fields. Not a single sound of a wild Pokémon can be heard. Instead, the air is carrying the steady thumping and beats of a familiar blue-haired Pokémon trainer.

"That's it! Just follow the beat!" Aeliana shouts as she glances over her shoulder. Her body glistens with a steady shine of sweat. She is clad in a pair of black workout shorts and a bright pink sports bra. Her hips move in time with the rhythm of the Little Boober song echoing out from her phone. "Don't think about how to move, just lose yourself in the music! Go wild!"

Aeliana claps her hands together, bringing them to her knees before gyrating her hips in tandem with the bass line of the song blaring from her phone. She smiles, glancing over her shoulder at her "students" who are in turn trying their best to mimic her movements. As expected, Tampa is keeping up the best with the blue-haired trainer. Despite the somewhat bulky shape of her body, dancing has become somewhat of a second nature to the Croconaw and she only shows signs of improvement each passing day.

By her side, Clara follows Tampa's steps. The Kirlia is doing her best to keep in step, but she has a small amount of trouble whenever she tries to steal a quick glance in the direction of Tampa. The gator Pokémon in question seems to be oblivious to this as per usual, but the worry of the Croconaw possibly catching her in the act is enough to cause Clara to blush profusely and quickly turn away.

For Fiesta however, things aren't going so well. Despite his best efforts, the poor Lombre is not able to keep up with his teammates as well as he would prefer. His long, lanky arms constantly seem to get caught up underneath his feet, tripping him up and even making him topple over at points.

"Maybe… We should take a small breather," Aeliana suggests, wincing as she watches her Lombre fall over on his backside. The Pokémon stares up at his trainer. He notices a look of concern on the Alolan's face, but it's gone in an instant as she makes her way to the dancing Pokémon. "If you guys keep this up, the contest in Hammerlocke will be no problem!"

Tampa lets out an excited gurgle. Her tail swishes back and forth in glee, all while she gives her teammates a bright, toothy smile. Clara, as expected, tries to mimic Tampa's enthusiasm with a small smile of her own. Fiesta however doesn't seem to share in his friends' peppy energy. Tampa gives the Lombre a curious look as finally takes in his downtrodden state, but doesn't get a chance to question him about it before the bluenette calls out for Mahina and the rest of her current team to join them for a small snack.

Aeliana smiles as her team gathers around. Tampa's eyes light up at the sight of the familiar box of protein bars that the Alolan pulls out of her bag. Thankfully, things have been going fairly well for Aeliana money-wise. This means that she's been able to spring for the big box as opposed to the basic four pack. She hands one off to each of her Pokémon, including Jet, Mahina, Tiger, and Kaeo.

Kaeo eyes the bar curiously. He places the wrapped treat on the ground before gently poking it with his bone club, as if making sure it's not some kind of trap. Tampa offers her new teammate a smile before waddling over with a grin. She rips the package off her own bar, showing the Cubone the object that's sealed inside, before taking a big chomp out of the bar. The Cubone watches intently and then follows up with picking up his own bar and taking a big bite out of it. Kaeo's eyes go wide as he stares down at the bar in his hand. Without a moment's further delay, the Cubone begins to rapidly devour his protein bar with a delighted squeal.

Aeliana smiles at the sight of her Pokémon tearing into their snacks. However, it's a short-lived smile. Lavender eyes look down towards her Lombre. Fiesta has a blank expression on his face as he stares down at the bar in his hands. It remains completely unopened, as if he doesn't even care that it's there. Clara looks over towards the Lombre, just as much concern on her face as her trainer's.

"Fiesta…?" Aeliana calls out, causing the Pokémon to jump in surprise from his name suddenly being called out. He blinks up at the bluenette as she kneels down to his level. "Are you alright? You're acting a bit off, little dude…"

Before she can press the Lombre further a collection of voices begin to echo out among the area. Turning her head away from her Pokémon, Aeliana watches as a sizable group of people make their way across the riverbanks.

"People, people! Remain calm!" a man at the head of the group calls out. He looks to be a man in his early 40's. He is tall and lanky, sporting a pair of thick-framed, black glasses over his dark brown eyes. His jet-black hair is short, with somewhat of a receding hairline peeking out from beneath an olive green bucket hat. A pair of khaki shorts are covering his legs, with a white t-shirt that has a picture of a Pidgey on the chest. The man is also wearing an olive-green vest and a pair of binoculars hanging off of his neck. "I can smell the nectar hanging in the air, we'll be there in just a few minutes!"

"We've been walking for hours, Simon! Are we even going in the right direction?!"

"Don't blame me, I didn't have the map!"

"How about a breather?! My legs feel like they're gonna fall off!"

The man identifying as Simon sighs and adjusts his glasses. "Everyone just keep calm. I promise we'll be there in just a few moments just… ah! One moment!"

The man excuses himself from his entourage and then briskly makes his way towards Aeliana and her Pokémon. The Alolan watches curiously as Simon approaches, offering the trainer a warm smile as he does so.

"Good morning, miss! I was wondering if you might be so kind as to give us some directions," Simon says in greeting. "After all, you are a native here, so I figure you might know your way around this place a bit better than a bunch of tourists would."

Aeliana offers an apologetic smile. "Ah… sorry, but I'm from Alola actually. I mean… I am participating in the league tournament-thing this year, but…"

Simon's eyes light up before immediately grabbing hold of the bluenette's hands with quite a bit of sudden force. The young woman instantly flinches, gently trying to pull away. "Did you say Alola?! That's even better!"

Aeliana stares at the man, trying to pull away without making her obvious discomfort too obvious. "Y-You don't say…"

Simon nods. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Simon. My friends over there and I belong to a bird-watching group known as the Pallet Town Pidgeys, the Pallet Town chapter to be exact."

"Is that right…?" the girl questions.

An enthusiastic nod. "Quite so! We go from region to region, looking high and low for all kinds of Pokémon of the feathered variety. From the common Pidgey and Starly to the rare and exotic Xatu and Braviary to even the legendary Articuno! Nothing is out of the question for our little club!"

Aeliana and her Pokémon all wince from Simon's rather animated voice. The man certainly seems to have passion about his little hobby if nothing else. The blue-haired trainer offered her best smile to the man.

"So… what brings you to Galar…?" she asks.

Simon adjusts his glasses again. "We're following the migration of Galar's Oriocorio flock! This just happens to be the time of year they make their migration to this area! Those Pokémon are originally native to Alola, as I'm sure you're well aware, but migration patterns have led to this fine region having their own flock that call this region home. Would you care to join us in this little expedition?"

"Oriocorio?" Aeliana questions. She hasn't seen one since leaving Alola. It would be a nice wave of nostalgia."Alright, let's go see this migration."

Simon's eyes light up. "Wonderful! You're never too young to go dipping into a new hobby!"

Before Aeliana can prepare herself, the enthusiastic birdwatcher throws his arm around the younger woman's shoulder. He is all but dragging her towards his little group, complete with a spring in his step. The blue-haired trainer's Pokémon can only look at each other before they all begin to scurry after Aeliana.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Take the majestic Braviary for example. It's a noble creature, exhibiting strength and demanding respect. At the same time however, it never lets its power go to its head. It's calm, modest, and understanding."

Aeliana stares at Simon in a mixture of amazement and horror. The Alolan finds herself unable to believe that the man, as passionate as he may be over his hobby, has been able to manage to spend almost twenty minutes on just Braviary alone. It's a sentiment seemingly shared by her Cubone and Clefairy. Both Pokémon look as if they're ready to pass out from the boredom of it all.

"So tell me, Aeliana… What's your favorite bird Pokémon?" Simon suddenly asks, snapping the bluenette from the trance she has slipped into from listening to Simon prattle on.

Aeliana frowns. She's never really put any thought into it. Granted, she only had one on her team at the moment. "…Cramorant?"

Simon nods enthusiastically. "Cramorant, yes! A vastly underappreciated member of our fine feathered friends."Why, did you know the Cramorant f-"

"Simon, look!"

The man stops his lecture at the sudden outcry from a fellow member of the Pallet Town Pidgeys, one that Aeliana is glad to have heard herself. Both the avid bird Pokémon fan and the blue-haired trainer turn and gaze ahead, the latter staring in amazement at the vast field of flowers that seems to stretch on before them. A gentle breeze blows through the flowers, filling the air with the sweet aroma of the nectar within. Aeliana stares at the scene in silence. It's almost as if she's standing in a painting that's sprung to life.

"Wait… Simon, someone else is there too!"

The glasses-wearing man stops. The smile on his face drops as he spots a large group of people assembled amongst the flowers. Aeliana follows the older man's gaze, her eyes widening at the sight.

They couldn't have been any more out of place if they had tried. The group were all clad in black leather jackets and combat boots. On the back of the jackets was a stitched picture of a Vulbaby. Aeliana honestly would have thought they were from Spikemuth based on appearances alone.

"Damn it… what are they doing here?" Simon questions

"Do you know them?" Aeliana inquires in return, adjusting her grip on the slightly shaking egg in her arms.

"The Virbank Vulbabies…" Simon answers. "Virbank chapter."

"So, fellow birdwatchers?"

"Only if you squint. They're a group of rowdy punks that only watch chaos, not birds. They give us legitimate clubs a bad name. You'd do well to steer away from that bunch!"

Before Aeliana can press any further, one of the leather-clad bird watchers makes their way over towards Simon and herself. She stands about 5'8" with long, jet-black hair that reaches down to her lower back. It has various streaks of purple running through it, with the very bottom of it being pulled together into a small ponytail of sorts. A spiked, black, leather collar is wrapped around her neck, with three piercings in each ear and a silver stud in her left eyebrow.

"Well, well… If it ain't little Simon and his pathetic Pidgey! Ain't this a little far for my baby brother and his friends to be playin' around?" the woman greets.

Simon merely scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Sonya… I'd say it's a pleasure, but it never is."

Aeliana glances between the two older adults. She feels her Clefairy quickly shift around to hide behind her leg, all the while the bluenette can feel the tension in the air thickening. The Alolan puts on a weak smile and clears her throat.

"Um… old friends?" she inquires.

The woman identified as Sonya bursts out into laughter, as if Aeliana just told her the funniest joke in the world.

"This is a funny kid, Simon! Where the hell did ya manage to find her?!" Sonya asks.

Simon looks away from the woman in annoyance. "Aeliana, this is my… older sister, Sonya. Sonya, this Aeliana. Newest member of the Pallet Town Pidgeys."

Sonya practically chokes upon the introduction. "Are you serious, Simon? You had her join your stupid little club?! How much did you have to payout for this one? No wait, lemme guess… You gave her the old promise of seein' 'rare Pokémon', am I right?"

A loud chorus of laughter erupts from the Virbank Vulbabies. All the while, various members of the Pallet Town Pidgeys look down to the ground with a mixture of annoyance and anger.

"Sorry to break it to ya, cutie! But my little brother here wouldn't know a rare bird Pokémon if it pecked him in the forehead!" Sonya exclaims. "He gets all excited at the sight of a molting Spearow!" She pauses, leaning in close to Aeliana with a confident smirk on her lips. "Now, our little organization? We ain't above gettin' down and dirty to see the rarest of rare bird Pokémon. This is what real fandom looks like, girly! Even the great Kade Andrews would be put to shame by our adoration of bird Pokémon!"

The Virbank Vulbabies all roar and cheer in agreement.

"You tell him, Sonya!"

"What a bunch of losers!"

"I bet they couldn't tell the difference between a Wingull and a rock!"

Simon lets out an irritated sigh. "You're being annoying, Sonya! Just take your punks and get lost! Aeliana is with us and all you're doing is causing a commotion! At this rate the Oriocorio aren't going to even land! She's joined the Pidgeys and that's that!"

This time the Pallet Town Pidgeys begin to cheer.

"You tell her, Simon!"

"Aeliana is one of us!"

"The only time that group will see any rare bird Pokémon will be if a Tepig grows feathers and flies!"

Aeliana glances between the two siblings and sighs. All she wants to do is see the Oriocorio flock. Why is this suddenly becoming so complicated?

"Um… Alola?" Aeliana suddenly greets. She adjusts her grip on the egg again as she quickly steps between Simon and Sonya. "I… don't recall joining either group? Let's not jump the gun, yeah?"

"Then it's settled!" Sonya exclaims.

"Seems like it," Simon responds.

"What…?" Aeliana questions.

Sonya points towards the blue-haired trainer. "We're gonna battle!"

"The winner gets Aeliana!" Simon adds.

"...What?!"

Stinging Bea · Sep 20, 2021

Aeliana Kekoa
Motostoke Riverbank

Chapter 11-2 | Wings

Aeliana sits on a nearby stone, egg cradled in her arms as she stares out at the scene in front of her. In some regards, the Alolan feels like she would be flattered that people were fighting over her attention. That said, the whole display is awkward. Aeliana finds that she would love to be anywhere else at the moment.

"Pidgeotto! Wing Attack!" Simon cries out.

"Murkrow, Peck!" Sonya counters.

Glazed over, lavender eyes watch as the two bird Pokémon take flight towards each other. Simon's Pidgeotto takes a swing at Sonya's Murkrow with its wing. The smaller, black bird lets out a loud, annoying screech. It nimbly manages to dodge underneath the wing, before slamming its beak into the Pidgeotto.

"Way to go, Sonya!"

"Show that chump!"

"Hang in there, Simon!"

"Don't give her an inch!"

Aeliana sighs in annoyance. Even if the Oriocorio were overhead, there was no way they were going to land with all of this commotion. For avid bird Pokémon fans as these people claim to be, they certainly seem to be focused on anything but.

"Those Oriocorio should be coming anytime now, right? Maybe we can settle this later?" the bluenette inquires.

"In a moment, Alison!" Tim calls out, not shifting his focus from the battle at hand. "There will be plenty of time to enjoy the scenery and sights of our feathered friends after I remove these second-rate punks."

"Big talk from a guy that's losin'" Sonya retorts with a sneer and a laugh.

Aeliana merely rolls her eyes at the duo. They both go back to calling out attacks, basically ignoring the fact that Aeliana has sent out a reminder of the fact of why they're here in the first place. The blue-haired trainer decides that she's wasted enough time watching this stupidity carry on. She climbs to her feet, motioning for both Mahina and Kaeo to follow her as she begins to make her departure from the commotion.

"Some viewing this is," Aeliana mutters as she walks away. "All this did was waste my day."

A small, yet sweet tweeting sound reaches Aeliana's ears. The Alolan pauses, looking around curiously for the source of the sound. The trainer even looks back to her two Pokémon, as if the Clefairy or Cubone were responsible for the tweeting. Of course, both Pokémon look clueless… not that it wasn't a silly thought in the first place.

Looking upwards towards a nearby tree, Aeliana spots something rustling in a nearby nest. Curiosity quickly began to get the better of her. The blue-haired trainer carefully handed her egg to Mahina, before starting to scale up the tree. The girl's two Pokémon down below watch intently as she moves up the tree. After some time, Aeliana reaches a branch a good way off the ground. She unexpectedly spots the source of the tweeting sound, one she wasn't expecting based on the two arguing siblings not too far away.

Sitting in the tree was none other than a lone Oriocorio. She's purple in color, with the tips of her wings being shaped like fans of sorts. A similar tuft of feathers were poking out of her head, also shaped like a fan. Her eyes manage to catch the dancer's attention the most. They are a slightly faded gray color, something that Aeliana was able to reason that the bird Pokémon is a bit older. The wild Oriocorio stares at the trainer, as if trying to process if she's safe or not.

Aeliana offers the Oriocorio a soft smile. She keeps her distance, not wanting to alarm or cause panic to the wild Pokémon. "Hello there… What are you doing here all alone?"

The Oriocorio tweets softly. Her eyes stare into the Alolan's for a moment before they slowly look up to the sky. Aeliana follows the bird Pokémon's gaze, quickly catching sight of the mass of Oriocorio circling overhead. The blue-haired trainer then looks back towards the Oricorio, taking note of the longing look on the bird's face.

"Your family?" Aeliana inquires. A soft series of chirps are the wild Oriocorio's response. "I see…"

A wave of frustration ran through Aeliana, one that only intensifies as she casts a look towards Simon and Sonya's still ongoing Pokémon battle. Here was this Oriocorio, desperate and wanting to see her family, all the while two grown adults (who were actually siblings) disrupting and causing an endless ruckus over some petty argument over who was better at something. This had to be dealt with.

"Come with me," Aeliana offers. She holds her hands out, once more not just grabbing the Pokémon but allowing her to make her own choice. The wild Oriocorio only hesitates for a moment before hobbling into the blue-haired trainer's hands. "Right then. Let's get you reunited with your family and friends!"

With the Oriocorio in tow, the trainer climbs back down the tree and begins to head back towards Sonya and Simon. Aeliana isn't really sure how convincing she could be on her own. However, there is a chance that the sight of her new friend might be enough to make these two see some sense.

As expected, the two are still locked into a heated exchange. Their Pokémon have at the very least been upgraded to Pokémon a bit more powerful. Simon is now battling with Fearow while Sonya is battling with a Swellow.

"Get her Simon, she's on the ropes!"

"Don't listen to that jerkwad, Sonya! Blow his ass away!"

The roars of both groups seem to have grown even louder while Aeliana was off on her own. She can practically feel the venom dropping off of every word that's being said, all of which only help to fuel her anger. Her resolve steels as she shoves her way to the front of the spectators with her Pokémon.

"It's over, bro! Swellow, Steel Wing now!" Sonya exclaims.

Simon smirks before countering with a command of his own. "Fearow, Drill Peck!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Aeliana shouts out in frustration. The yell echoes out through the riverbank, causing everyone in the area to state at the bluenette in a mixture of confusion and shock. Aeliana's own lavender eyes widen as she now feels everyone staring at her, but it's too late to go back now. "What in the name of Tapu Bulu is wrong with you all? What is all of this actually about?!"

A moment of silence plays out between the two groups. It feels like hours pass by, but it's finally Simon that speaks up.

"I just… I just wanted to make sure this group of rabble rousers didn't disturb the Oriocorio with their abrasive and rude behaviors." he reasons, one that earns him a nasty glare from his sister.

Aeliana rolls her eyes. "All you're doing is causing so much trouble that the poor things won't even land!" Aeliana snaps. She then presents the elderly Oriocorio in her arms forward. "This poor thing has been waiting and waiting for her family to land… And as long as you keep up your in-family feuding, she'll never have the chance to see hers!"

The Alolan pauses. A realization hits her as she stares down the two siblings. As annoying as their arguing had become in a very quick amount of time, Aeliana had to admit that she was a bit jealous of the duo. Perhaps even a bit of the Oriocorio in her arms as well.

After all, there was no one for her to argue with.

There really wasn't anyone waiting to see her.

A small sigh escapes her lips. "Look, I know you two don't know me from anyone else really. I don't know your background or anything like that, but… I do know family is important. They're supposed to be there to help you through the hard times, experience the happy times with you, and offer an ear and a shoulder whenever things get rough… and you never know one day when it might all just get pulled out from underneath you. Is this really how you want to spend your time?"

A few moments pass. Neither Simon nor Sonya say a word. They only occasionally send each other a passing glance before looking away again. Eventually, it's Sonya who breaks the silence.

"The kid has a point, bro…" she states.

Simon nods in response. "Yeah…" Another awkward silence is exchanged between the two before he speaks again. "Look, Sonya…"

Before either sibling can possibly respond, the wild Oriocorio in Aeliana's arms suddenly lets out a loud, echoing series of chirps. As if in response, a vast amount of chirps and tweets are then heard overhead. All eyes suddenly move up towards the skies, which was followed by a series of gasps of amazement. A barrage of feathered Pokémon can be seen, colors bright and vibrant in various shades and hues of red, yellow, pink, and purple. They all circle overhead, before drifting downward towards the ground.

The Oriocorio in the Alolan's arms suddenly hops free from her grasp. Her eyes seemingly fill with joy as she hops towards the clustering flock. Several of the colorful bird Pokémon begin to circle around her, tweets of excitement slipping from the beaks of the Pokémon as they land by the elderly Oriocorio and begin to nuzzle against her.

Aeliana remains silent as she watches the display. A warm feeling encompasses the trainer as she closes her eyes for just a moment, only to open them and see a sight she wasn't expecting. Gone were the Oriocorio, Simon, Sonya, and their clubs' members. Standing in front of the blue-haired Alolan is a young girl, being held tightly and lovingly embraced by her father and mother, as well as two elderly adults that she could only assume were grandparents. The longer she stares at the scene, the more Aeliana begins to feel herself tear up.

A gentle pat on her leg brings Aeliana back to reality. A concerned Mahina and Kaeo stare up at her, both Pokémon looking up at her as if asking why she's crying. Aeliana only shakes her head before offering the duo a sad smile.

"It's nothing," she simply tells the duo. "Don't worry about it."

Time passes. And like everything else, the reunion must come to an end. The flock of Oriocorio all tweet and chirp their farewells to the elder, before taking flight into the late afternoon sky. The bird-watching spectators begin to make ready to leave as well, with both Simon and Sonya lagging a bit behind their club members.

"Listen kid, we kind of… made a real mess of things," Sonya apologizes.

"Don't worry about it," Aeliana says. A tired smile comes to her lips, one that doesn't truly match how she feels inside. "Just… do better, yeah?"

The Alolan watches as the two walk off, offering both a wave as they rejoin their fellow clubs. She can hear talk of perhaps forming an alliance, maybe having the two clubs join as one. Still, she figures it's time to get her own journey on the road. Aeliana takes a moment to collect herself, before looking down at both Mahina and Kaeo.

"Well then, ready to get moving to Hammerlocke?" she questions as she takes her Pokémon egg from Mahina. She feels the egg shake in her arms, a feeling of warmth coming from within. "Let's get going!"

The group starts to make their way from the riverbank. They don't get too far however, before the familiar sight of the elder Oriocorio hops in front of them. A curious chirp comes from the bird Pokémon's beak as she starts to hop towards them. Aeliana notices a red flower dripping with nector hangs from the Pokémon's beak.

Aeliana raises an eyebrow. "You want to come too…?" A chirp of confirmation. Well… who was Aeliana to turn her down. She flashes the Oriocorio a bright smile. "Welcome aboard, Kala!"

Dragon · Sep 21, 2021

LIVE ♡ CHAT

FearowNarrative: grats, demon queen!!
78Cascade: EZ

MyHeroArcanine: hail demon queen!

SailorPink:

gj!!!!!

RainbowPlusle: POG! gj!

Your GIRL DID IT ♡＾▽＾♡
ceeeeeeelebration!!
Poké:

1000 ♡ Friends: 21

"Heh, Looks like Valerie did it after all!" Johnny was a friend of Valerie's, and another trainer from Galar who had made his way to Motostoke. His motto? Being top percentage. As it appears, he was in front of the city's Gym, where the jumbotron that sat right on top of it showcased the replay of the latest battle: Valerie vs. Kabu, where Valerie and Flame became the winners. Proud of his friend he was, he was even more intrigued by Valerie's promo after the match:

Do you have what it takes to be the hero of Galar who defeats the Demon Queen?! Challenge if you dare! Our Demon Kingdom will be awaiting for you!!

"Obviously it's gonna be someone top-percentage," Johnny declared. "And who better than ol' Johnny and Ziggy? Best be ready Valerie, I'm comin' for ya soon." Johnny was an ambitious fellow, perhaps influenced by his father, he always sought to conquer the next challenge in front of him, in order to prove his and Ziggy's worth to the world. He was a non-challenger of the Galar League, but if Valerie is crowned a champion... perhaps if he beats her in a battle, this is the way where he can surpass the champion, and claim his top=percentage status? His train of thought continued, until--

"Whoa, sorry buddy!" he nearly bumped into someone, a boy that looked a bit older than him... but to Johnny, not as smart. "I guess I was a little bit glued on the T.V..."

"Yeah, no kiddin'," Johnny grumbled. The boy turned back to the television.

"Just happy for my friend," he explained. "That would be her third badge!"

Johnny raised his eyebrow. "You know Val?"

"Well, yeah, I'm a streamer just like her, and we used to do some collabs and stuff," he stated. "I'm guessing you do as well?"

"We're buddies too. Heh, small world, yeah?" Johnny let out a chuckle. "What's yer' name?"

"You can call me Ken."

"Johnny. Guess yer' not part of the Galar challenge?" Johnny asks.

"Nah, I'm here for something called Strugglecon," Ken replied. "Have you heard of it? Knowing Valerie, she was sure to be gushing about it day and night."

"Yeah, gotten a few texts here and there, but meh, if I decide to go, I'll go," Johnny said with a shrug. He gave Ken a quirky, yet friendly smile. "Heh. Yer' alright, Ken. How bout' we hit the Battle Cafe? Eh?"

"Welp, I've got some time to kill, so, why not? Nice to meet you too, Johnny."

"Awwwwright! Way to go, Valentine!" Meanwhile, a girl was also cheering for the perky Demon Queen who had just won her gym battle. She became elated when she had done so, with so much excitement inside, that she couldn't help but bounce happily up and down. The girl, Kei, was a massive fan of Valerie's for sometime now, and when she heard that she was participating in the League, obviously she couldn't wait to watch all of her matches.

She had watched it all from one of the television screens that were stationed downtown; one where crowds like to gather to watch each gym battle that happened to be broadcasted. After the match, the crowd started to dissipate, speaking among themselves their thoughts of the match. Kei herself, couldn't wait to go on to her next destination: Hammerlock city, where Strugglecon was going to be taking place. Valerie for sure will be there, so why not go too? She can picture it now. She sees Valerie, face to face, as she opens her arms for a soft, lovable hug. That warm smile, those eyes that are as charming as mother earth herself... Kei could only smile and nod as she reaches out for the hug...

THUD!

Until she finds herself headfirst on the backside of a figure, practically sending the man stumbling forward while she herself almost topples over backwards. Wincing, and rubbing her nose, Kei glanced upwards, to find herself being stared down by an annoyed, middle-aged man.

"Watch it, twerp!" he snapped.

"S-Sorry." As the man turned away, Kei looked on to see another crowd had been formed, this time, the crowd seemed to be huddled in a circle, surrounding two others. One was a young woman, gracing a dark skin complexion and dark, chocolate-brown eyes. Her black hair is styled into dreadlocks, which she then keeps pulled up into a rather messy bun style, complete with a couple of silver hair rings decorating the braids. Standing beside her looks like a Thwackey, one that looked cheerful, yet mischievous, sneering alongside his partner.

On the other end was a muscular teenager with blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a black beanie with a skull on it, a white tank top with either red lacing or a red shirt under it, beige yellow board shorts, and red-and-black shoes. He accessorized himself with a black chain skull necklace, and black bracelet on his left wrist, and a chain dangling on his pants. He had a Vullaby who was perched up on his shoulder but he had a serious look. One that was ready for something big.

Are they about to battle? It was then Kei noticed, the blaring of instrumental hip-hop music.

"Yo, check it!" the woman with the braids spoke out, as part of the crowed erupted into cheers and shouts. "Simone runnin' the show here, spittin' bars, you shoulda went back cowering to your shadow like a Gengar. Everyone in here bout' to here me slay, someone who spit bars like a punk ass blond, wannabe Clay. Just who are you? Another tool. You're about as significant as a molecule. Hey hey, don't run up on me now, cuz' I'll leave ya' to tears! So do us both a favor and run back to Piers."

Looks like the girl who's rapping over there is named Simone. Some of the crowd seemed to be fans of hers - they were responding in 'oooohs!' and collective shouts. The boy on the other hand, spat on the ground.

"Think your hot ****, huh?" he inquired. The crowd behind him roared in insults and screaming - seemingly fellow supporters of him. "You ain't gettin' away with dissin' Hal and Mel like that. Let's see how tough y'are. Bimbo."

You tell em', Kai!!
She got nothin on you!

And, looks like that boy is Kai. Hal and Mel? Was he talking about... Haleigh and Melody? Two other fellow challengers of the League? Simon gave a cheeky smirk, with her Thwackey leaping up in front of her. In turn, Kai's Vullaby hopped off his shoulder, confronting the Thwacky face to face. Kei meanwhile gulped. Whatever was going on, there was gonna be a big fight.... the tension in the air was hot, and the crowd was ready to bout. Her anxiety however, was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder, grabbing Kei's attention.

"This is probably not the best place to be right now," a teenaged girl had approached her from behind. She was a lovely looking girl - she had lavender hair, and a nicely buttoned up dark purple collared blazer jacket over a zipped up long-sleeved white blouse and brown tie with a pidgey-like symbol on it. She gestured Kei to follow her follow her - and out of the on goings.

Eventually, when made their way through the city and past the echos of the screaming, chaotic crowd, the two made their way to the city's nearby small park. Finally in the clear, the girl turned her focus back to Kei. "Fans and their fan wars," she explained. "The streets here can be awfully chaotic, with the Galar challengers gaining more popularity. If they find you disrespecting the popular picks, it will be hell. More so, if they find out that you're a fan of someone else."

"Thanks, but... wait, you're--"

"Aria," the girl reintroduced. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Ever since the contest!" Kei smiled. "How've you been?"

"Very well, thank you. I've been travelling here and there," Aria explained. "And looks like both Valerie and Melody seem to be doing well, so I've been paying attention to their progress."

"Isn't Val just amazing?!" Aria beamed excitingly. "Oh! I mean, everyone else from the academy is pretty awesome too--"

"Though from what I understand," Aria interrupted. "It looks like Valerie's fans have started their own.. Demon Kingdom, as they call it?"

"I KNOOOOW! I can't wait to go to Hammerlock--I'm tooootally gonna get a sick costume! And Valentine's gonna be there too! Super, super can't wait!" Kei was bouncing up and down again. Aria was pleased - she was a fan, but a far cry from an overly demonic fan, from what she had seen all over the city right now anyway. "Oh! Umm, are you going to Strugglecon?"

"Maybe," Aria said with a shrug. "But, if I don't, send my regards, will you?"

"Will do!"

Johnny banged his fists angrily on the café table. "Ruben goddamn Sancho was bad enough, THEN that vanilla boy-band punk Raphael Allard, NOW? Simon Pearburgh. Simon. ****ing. Pearburgh. All risin' in the popularity polls?!" Ken shrugged, taking a sip of his latte. Watching Johnny go through the popularity polls of the challengers -- and seeing his jealous fits for reactions -- was pretty sad... yet, amusing to watch. "Like, first of all, I'm MUCH better looking than Simon, him and his... his hair-cut that makes him look like a ten year old. He ain't no match for the top-percentage do, you know what I'm sayin', Ken?"

"Sure, why not." Ken might as well just agree at this point.

"And then! Then there's Raphael! For some reason, HE'S popular with the gals," Johnny huffed. "I mean, what does that pansy got that I don't got?!"

"Apparently, good battling skills," Ken explained. "Well, according to the fans anyway."

"That ain't--"

"And more so from the fans, they report he also has good looks, a mysterious, charming persona, flowing beautiful hair, sparkling eyes, not to mention he's single..." Ken continued. "And he's apparently... got a sweet ass--"

"AND I DON'T?!" Johnny belts out, but stops himself before going out of control. "Just you wait, Kenny. When the world finally sees top-percentage? The girls are gonna want the top-percentage ass. Then that kid will be nothing."

"Er, right." Again, Ken might as well agree. "By the way, Johnny... why didn't you join the Galar Challenge too?"

"Bah, some dumb rule sayin' you gotta be endorsed first," Johnny explained grumbly. "I tried makin' a name for myself, but no one took it. Blind as Zubats those lot are. Man, F that rule, I hope Val wins so she can get rid of it. Then I'll show Galar what's what."

"I did hear of the endorsement thing," Ken spoke. "But couldn't you have gotten it for joining the Wedgehurst academy?"

"Wanted to join, but didn't have enough," Johnny shrugged. "So, I tried teachin' those school pansies a lesson on top percentage. That's 'round the time I met Val. Kinda funny actually; I fed her all sorts of junk, and she believed every word of it. But, she still wanted to battle me, and wanna why?"

"Why?"

"Cuz' she liked how much Ziggy n' I are friends," Johnny seemed to have calmed down, in remembrance. "Man, she was off her kilter looking back. A hyper-sap case too. But... I guess she reminded me of somethin' important: it don't matter what you do, or who you are, as long as you got your Pokemon partners with ya', giving them trust and love, you'll always be top percentage. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I do," Ken agreed with a smile. "When I met her face to face for the first time, it was shortly after I lost my first trusted Pokemon, Duggy. I was lacking in confidence then, and... I guess Duggy had enough of that. Lots of things happened then, but, she helped me realize: friends can come and go, but you always have to be confident within yourself, and that's when you'll start making true friends, who like you for you." Ken gently let down his mug, back upon the wooden table. "You're right, though. She's really weird. But, I like her. And... I really want her to win this thing. She just has... something rare, I think. Something... genuine."

"True," Johnny assured with a nod. "I mean. I muuuch rather be the Champ, and, dunno much about those other school kids, but I like Val most of all."

"Aha, I guess she kinda changed us both?" Ken laughed.

"True too," Johnny nodded. "I mean, muuuuch better than Raphae-Ass, and Simon Says: That he's an Pompous Pric--"

"M-Maybe we should change the topic."

A young woman, Aurora, was busy strolling through the busy streets. The news of the challengers success were spreading like wild fire. Everywhere she turned, there were people chatting among themselves about those kids.

Valerie's cute, isn't she?!
Pfft, cute, but not as HOT as Pia, I mean, god DAMN.
Rosa is the hottest! Blows any of your flunkies out of the water!
You would chose RANCID ROSA over Haleigh?!
Over Horrible Haleigh? Uh... yeah? And Putrid Pia too?
At least Pia don't have those nasty hair buns! Or Val's stupid pink hat that makes her look like a fast food vendor!
Oh yeah? At least Val don't have those... MILTANK UDDERS on her chest!

Those were just scratching the surface. She could only shake her head back in forth, but... simps. What can one do? She found herself at an intersection, waiting for the green light to cross.

"Oh! Pardon me!" a voice form nearby garnered her attention - there she saw a girl, on a wheelchair, gliding herself towards Aurora. Her name was Belle, president and fellow creator of Valerie's fan club: The Demon Kingdom. It looked like she dressed herself up a bit, going as far as wearing fake-Gengar paws that covered her arms, with Gengar-horns for accessories on her head. She looked like she was going to Halloween, which was peculiar for Aurora. Belle gave a small smile, and a small curtsey towards her. "Might you know the fastest way to Hammerlock?"

"Normally you would go through the Wild Area," Aurora explained. "But, for you, I recommend the Corviknight Taxi Service. Just go down the street, and you'll meet a representative who will assist you."

"Thank you very much!" Belle thanked wholeheartedly. "Aha, and I thought Lumiose was busy; this place is maddening with all the Gym challenge stuff!"

"Are you perchance, a fan?" Aurora had asked. "A fan of someone in the challenge, I mean?"

"Yes! Of Valerie Amity," Belle responds. "Hence the costume! We're doing like a 'Demon Kingdom' theme to it. Oh um, you might be thing, and yes, this might seem odd, looking at me like this, but it does have a good theme to it!"

"I met Valerie sometime ago actually," Aurora explained. "She's a good girl. But may I ask, why are you a fan of her?"

"Well you see, Valerie is a proud member of the LGBTQ community," Belle starts. "As am I. See, before I found out I was gay, I was raised in a small household with a mother and father... Like, all the girls in my neighborhood used to chat with me, 'Isn't that boy cute?' somethings like that. But, me, I just couldn't see it. That was until, I met a certain other girl who had just moved in, and... I felt it -- a spark, of sorts. I think even then, I found out that I was more into girls than guys, but I was still confused... until one day, while surfing the web, I came across Struggle, and the Valentine's Day stream. Valerie had a segment, where she took questions and statements from each person who had written online to her, and she would answer and address each of them to the best of her ability. Intrigued, I watched her, and one day, I mustered up the courage to tell her my concerns and issues. After a bit of back and forth, not a doubt was in my mind: I'm gay. But... it was weird. I'm gay? What will that mean for the people around me? I was... kinda nervous and worried about how my parents, and friends would react. Though, you know what Valerie said, to help me with that?"

Congrats on finally figuring things out! How do ya' feel?

"It was hard, accepting myself for what I am. Honestly, it was like, something had lifted off my shoulders. I pondered about how I felt about girls for a long while now... and now, I felt strangely better about myself? I like girls; I really do. Even if my parent's couldn't accept things about me, I was just glad that... I felt better about myself."

It's better that you're honest with yourself, right? Go out the world, and let loose your claws, girl! ROWR! Just remember, self-acceptance can be especially hard, but there is support when you're ready to be yourself. Valentine will always be here to support you, sweetie. ♡

Belle let out a giggle. "I came out to my parents about it a few weeks later, when the time felt right. And, they were cool with. We embraced, and they gave me assurance about it. Unfortunately, with the girls of my neighborhood, they didn't really look at me the same way. It was unfortunate, but, there will always be people who say mean words because you are different. And sometimes their minds cannot be changed. But there are many more people that do not judge people based on how they look, or where they came from. Those are the people whose words truly matter. Valerie's support for example, helped me out a lot with this, and now, not only I mod her stream, I'm just glad to be a part of her fan club."

Aurora smiled. "I see," she says. "Well, I think that's a good person to look up to. If you meet her again, send my best regards to Valerie, will you?"

"I will! Oh and, thank you for your assistance!"

As for Valerie, herself...

"Kaaah! Looove your ears, girl!" she was playing a simple game of patty-cake with a long-eared pokemon: a Buneary. Valerie had met the Buneary near the outskirts of the city when she decided it was time to move on to Hammerlock -- that's when she saw Buneary, who was seemingly injured, and hungry when she first found it. After a quick trip to the local Pokemon Center, and some berries that was shared with Peko, the Buneary was feeling right as rain. She and Valerie were like, two peas in a pod - both happy, simple creatures. "You OTES should be my travelling buddy. We'd be MEGA friends!"

Hopping around the place, Buneary couldn't help but agree. The two were both friends from here on out... but not knowing them, the two were also being watched.

"Valerie Amity..." But to one's surprise... it was Klara. That's right, the rising Minor League Gym Leader: Klara. While her presence was counseled, her hatred could be felt. I could of been a rising popular Struggle streamer, if it weren't for you... you...! May you be poisoned by a sea of a 1000 Muks, as you drown and sleep forever!

She's... not happy, is she.

New friend!

"Queen" the Buneary!

Friends lvl up!
21 --> 22

Special thanks to: Alby (Simone), Fox(Aurora), and Axel(Kei, Kai, and Aria) for sharing their NPC characters!

♡ Hiii! I'm Valerie, a 21 year old streamer who streams all sorts of stuff!
♡ RN, I'm a Pokemon Trainer, participating in the League!

I would like this channel to be a positive space for everyone. I see no problem as long as you follow the general rules and are not mean to each other! You can be mean to me instead. :) ♡

♡ Most of the donations will go towards streaming, and to various LGBTQ+ friendly charities!
Don't feel obligated to donate, but every bit helps!

MurkMire · Sep 22, 2021

Name: Clovis Solanine
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Current Party:

Chapter 8-2: Retract, Reflect and Rematch

"Clovis... Clovis, are you alright?" A voice called out.

Spoiler:

Bright neon lights, and the run of blood, blinded Clovis. A Zangoose loomed over him, as Tex stood over with a smug look on his face. His sister, leaning against a wall, yelling at Tex to chill out. But, Tex was drunk, and he punched his sister hard. Well, he tried to, but hit the wall instead. She ran off, sick of Tex's shit and didn't want to be responsible for Clovis anymore. Zangoose began to swipe once more... before a hiss could be heard in the darkness.

"Hey, buddy. Leave the kid alone," a girl's voice cut through the noise. Then, what looked like a bladed whip lashed out at the Zangoose, forcing it to jump away. The young boy laid on the ground, his book in shreds, crying and bleeding. An older woman walked over as a Seviper slithered between her and Zangoose, an intense hiss cut through the air again. The woman, a bit tall and dressed in a stylish fashion of black, and purple. Her hair was black, but with highlights of red. Her eyes were sharp, but looked on in concern at the young Clovis' broken form. She then turned, and scowled at Tex.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you get your kicks by beating up kids, you creep?" "Urgh... bitch, you don't know anything... this kid and his sister are my meal ticket... g-get her!" Zangoose flew, but was cut off, and cut down, by the Seviper's Poison Jab. Like a rogue wielding a rapier, Seviper thrusted it's tail into Zangoose's chest, forcing it to falter to the ground. However, Zangoose growled fiercely, Seviper hissing in response. As Seviper prepared to attack, the woman stood up, and stepped in front of Clovis. Some yelling could be heard, but Clovis tuned it out. He just wanted to get away. Crawling desperately, Clovis slunk to the darkness to hide. From the cover of boxes and trash cans, Clovis sat in awe. Tex and the woman battling it out in the alley. Zangoose and Seviper, viciously attacking each other, but Seviper was fighting much harder. Night Slash and Poison Jab, slashing and stabbing into Zangoose. Though the Cat Ferret got a few licks in with Crush Claw, the Seviper was outclassing the opponent.

"See how weak your Zangoose is? Only able to pick on little kids? Both you and your Pokemon are pathetic!" As she screamed this, Seviper went in for the kill. Or, seemed like it. Then, it's eyes began to glow for a split second. Zangoose stood frozen, struggling to move, but unable to. "S-shit... I gotta get outta here-" But, as he turned, two guys blocked the way. Clearly, acquaintances of the woman laying the smack-down on Tex. "F-fuck you... FUCK YOU," Tex screamed, still inebriated, so he struggled to stay standing. Then... the woman turned around, and walked up to Clovis, kneeling down to his level. She tried to assure him by holding out her hand, and said, "Hey, my name is Clarissa." She gestured to her Seviper, ready in wait. "You can do it, too. I'm sure you'd like to knock this prick down a peg or two. Are you alright?"

~~

"Clovis, are you alright?" Stirring with a slight headache, Clovis awoke to a familiar gruff voice, a fluorescent white light blinding him as he attempted to open his eyes. But, a silhouette loomed over the young man. "G-Grandfather... is that you?" Clovis groggily asked, as he began to rub the sleep from his eyes. "Yes, my boy... are you okay? You were out for a whole day's worth. I... I saw what happened in your battle with Kabu," the voice sounded hesitant. Slowly, Clovis opened his eyes once more, his grandfather sitting in a chair next to his bed. The same refined, gray mustache and chin beard. The same soft grey eyes, one of which held a monocle. He was dressed in his typical formal wear, a gray brown suit jacket, a scarf of a mix of green, and a white button up shirt underneath.

But before Clovis managed a hello, the images of that battle began to surface. Flashes of Kabu standing over him, calling an ambulance. Other Gym trainers coming to help... and how he failed his partner. This began to cause Clovis to grasp his head, his face becoming beet red and tears began to swell in his eyes. But, not before he saw that familiar blue glow, low and just along his peripheral vision. Cortex sat on the floor, the lights glowing just as brilliantly as before. "C-Cortex... grandfather, how long has he been out of his ball?" "Well," Alphonse started, "Cortex refused to stay in his ball the moment the doctors had brought you to your room. The doctors informed me of this as I arrived, but... as soon as he knew who I was, we seemed to have gotten along quickly." Looking down, the older gentleman ran his hand across Cortex's shell. "He and I had a lot to discuss, you see," he chuckled, before turning back to Clovis.

But, the chuckle did not last long. A sad look overtook him, and he started once again. "Clovis," but he was cut off by Clovis. "Please... don't. Cortex... I'm sorry." Clovis' hands hid his face, trying to hide the looks, but he could still feel them. His grandfather, and his partner. "..." The same force seemed to try and pull Clovis hands away. But, in the end, he didn't resist. He was too frazzled and worn. He turned his head, and looked down at Cortex. "He... he sat there the entire time?" Alphonse only nodded. Clearing his throat, he said, "Clovis... I understand why you wanted to take this journey. I wanted you to grow and learn from walking your own path. However... I'm concerned about your health. About your safety. So, I want to offer you a decision," Alphonse trailed, looking down at Cortex again. Blue eyes looked back, knowingly. "Though I can't stop you, I don't feel safe with you continuing your journey, but you are a man. You may continue your journey, or... you can come back, and learn to become a scientist as my protege." After that, silence filled the room. Even with the various sounds outside, it seemed that time stood still in that room.

"...." Clovis remained silent. Before, Clovis would've jumped at the chance, but... something kept him from doing so. He had felt things that he had never felt before. He had experienced things that he had never witnessed before. Camaraderie (somewhat), teamwork, interaction... partnership. Not only with his Pokemon, but... with other people. Clovis' mind began to reel back every moment from his journey thus far. From his first battle, and defeat, against the one person he felt truly nervous around. Interacting with Melody, Valerie, and the others... though he acted pretentiously and horrible, though he knew he may not be forgiven, he still didn't want to just never see them again.

"Clovis... before you start thinking of your decision, I want you to try bonding with your partner. Talk to him, directly." "Talk to him... directly? I don't understand what you mean, Grandfather." Alphonse winked, with a wry smile. He placed his hands around the edges of the shell and... tried to lift Cortex. "Hurgh... you see, my boy, there's a certain technique to talking to a Psychic-type... on a... huff, intimate level. Between trainer and P-Pokemon. T-Though I should mention, certain Psychic-types," Alphonse paused, holding Cortex halfway up from the ground. "Certain Psychic-types... such as Cortex here will sort of "borrow" the trainer's voice and vocabulary... my theory is that when b-bonding this way, a Psychic-type and their partner become one... in a sense," he struggled to speak, as he placed Dottler before Clovis on the bed. Luckily, Cortex's shell wasn't enough to make the bed buckle, or even Alphonse's back. Still, the senior scientist fell back in his chair, and huffed, before he continued, "P-Place your forehead against his own. Then... try speaking through your mind." Alphonse tapped the side of his head with a finger, another wry smile aimed at the two.

Blinking, Clovis turned to Cortex, and scooted forward a bit. "Cortex... may I?" A tiny nod could be seen, the lights on it's shell seemed to glow a little bit brighter. "Alright... here I come," Clovis muttered, crawling up to Cortex, pressing his forehead against Cortex's shell. A warm feeling emanated from the Radome. With each pulse of light, Clovis felt... strange. With each pulse of light, Clovis could feel a similar wave, like goosebumps, sweep over his body. "Close your eyes... and then begin." Both Clovis and Cortex complied.

"Cortex... Cortex, can you hear me?"

"... Yes," a hushed whisper could be heard in Clovis' mind, shortly after Clovis had asked in his mind. The voice was indeed, Clovis' own. Hearing this had caused an even deeper pulse within Clovis.

"Cortex... why are you outside of your Pokeball? Why... why do you still stay by me?"

"... It's because... I always want to be with you, Clovis." Cortex's "voice" rang out.

Clovis' eyes began to swell and tear up once more, sliding down his cheek as the words echoed through his mind. He clenched his teeth, and tried with all his might not to cry. But as he struggled, and as Alphonse observed, Cortex's light began to shine even more, almost becoming blinding. With one arm, Alphonse shielded his eyes, but still tried to look on.

To Clovis, the once empty darkness began to be a brilliant, bright blue. Then, he stood in Wedgehurst, holding Cortex.

"Cortex... where are we? Why are we here?"

"Down there...," Cortex spoke, focusing Clovis' attention to the graduation ceremony. It was Clovis, meeting with the professor, as she handed him a Pokeball. Cortex's Pokeball.

Looking down at the scene, Clovis realized what has happening. Cortex was showing the memories of the past together. "Cortex... what is this?"

"This is where we had first bonded. From the moment our eyes had meant, we both felt a connection. On a subconscious level, we both shared that connection." The Dottler looked up at Clovis as it spoke. "That moment," Clovis mused. He stared at the past events before him. His former self, taking the ball, and walking off after the ceremony had completed to a bench by himself, to first meet Cortex. He opened the ball, and that Blipbug had emerged. The moment their eyes had met... Clovis saw that split second become more... and more... and more. He felt that pulsation once more, deep within, expanding to the rest of himself.

"... I was so happy when I first saw you," Clovis spoke without thinking. "You... you were my partner. Something within me stirred when I saw you."

The scene began to flicker, then quickly shift to Clovis drawing Cortex as a Blipbug. The detail was incredible, Former Clovis tried to get every little detail right. The voice spoke again, "In that moment... I knew I wanted you to be my trainer."

As Cortex finished, the scene began to blur, until it immediately shifted to the battle with Melody. Cortex took a beating, even flying into a wall... and Clovis ran to it in a panic, scooping him up and leaving to nurse his partner back to health. "This... this is where I knew I could trust you." "Cortex... I," Clovis tried to speak, but the scene shifted again.

It was now when Cortex began to evolve into a Dottler. Former Clovis' face had brightened up for the first time in ages, the only other time when his grandfather had taken him away from Sinnoh. "This... this is where we grew together for the first time. But," Cortex began to slow. "I didn't want to stay in the ball. I wanted to be with you at all times... but, I knew I couldn't. So... I saw everything with my powers. I saw your anxieties... your frustrations... your loneliness," the scene began to twist and change again, as each memory that came was different times Clovis struggled.

Where he first caught Pariet while stuck in the rain, when Cortex fought alongside Archimedes against the first gym... when Clovis interacted with other trainers. The good times, the bad, Cortex had seen it all with his mind's eye. All of these moments, leading up to when Cortex and Alphonse spoke as Clovis slept.

"My boy... I'm so proud of him," Alphonse spoke quietly. "He's lucky to have such a faithful partner." The Cortex of the vision looked up at Alphonse, an expectant look in his eye. "I see you're rather perceptive... I suppose you know what I'm going to ask my grandson once he awakes? That I want to bring him home?" A tiny nod from Cortex, and Alphonse sighed. "You know, you could rival my wife for reading me like a book," he chuckled. "Don't worry, I know what to do so you two can come to an understanding. As much as I fear for his safety, I know what will happen once you two connect. I should know... my dear Rimey and I bonded the same way. We were inseparable ever since. Even if I'm scared for my dear grandson... I want to believe in the both of you."

Then, the scene cut to black. Now, Clovis stood in that inky darkness with Cortex in his hands, as they both seemed to float.

Now at eye level, Cortex floated before him. Clovis eyes continued to stream, but his face was... different. He felt something stir within him. But, as he felt that... something began to walk into the darkness, behind him. Hearing those footsteps, he turned around, and saw an alleyway. An alleyway Clovis was all too familiar with.

A memory deep within Clovis' mind manifested. "This place... this alley," he gasped, as the sights of Sunyshore City came to be. Suddenly, Clovis and Cortex stood behind young Clovis, cowering behind a pile of boxes and trash cans. The familiar scene, Tex and the woman. Zangoose and Seviper, streaks of white and lashes of purple and red.

Eventually, Zangoose reeled back, and Seviper slithered in close... before a bright gleam from it's eyes left Zangoose paralyzed. Tex, unable to leave the alley. The woman stepped up to Clovis' shuddering form. She held out a hand, and smiled warmly. "Hey, my name's Clarissa." She looked down at his partner, then gestured to where Seviper was, now no longer there.

But, as she spoke, both her voice and Cortex's "voice" rung out with Clovis' core.

"You can do it, too."
"You can do it, too."

Spoiler:

Within his being, he felt a rush of emotions. The feeling he felt when he was truly in the mindset of battle. A powerful surge of emotion began to overtake him, as he held Cortex close. Clarissa's form smirked, and stepped back. "Stage is yours, kiddo." "... Cortex, I... I'm ready. Cortex, I choose you." With that, Cortex began to glow a brilliant white, and floated out of Clovis' arms. With the blinding light, Clarissa vanished, leaving only Tex and his Zangoose, and their escape blocked off.

Cortex's form drastically changed, arms and legs sprouted forth from the shell, a menacing glare came from his once contemplative stare. Until finally, the light had began to fade, his trainer beholding a shining Orbeetle.

"Cortex... you.. you evolved!" Clovis, stricken with joy, looked his partner over. His eyes were a radiant blue, his shell just as brilliant as the spots. Cortex floated before him with what looked like a grin, before shifting to face Zangoose. A loud hum could be heard, as the spots began to glow purple. "Cortex... let's do this!"

"H-Hey... what are you doing, punk?!" Tex began to yell. Something in Clovis' eyes forced Tex to shudder this time. Both Clovis and Cortex made Tex and his Pokemon falter. But still, Tex refused to let himself lose. "Zangoose, snap out of it, and use Crush Claw!" The sparks flew off of the Cat Ferret's fur as he shook off the paralysis, then quickly flew to strike. "Cortex, Reflect!" With a wave of it's claw, Cortex erected a bright blue barrier, the Zangoose's attack doing next to nothing.

"W-What the hell... you're just a kid!" Tex began to panic, just like his Zangoose. "It's time to clean up this ugly little memory, for good. You can go right to the trash and stay there! Psychic attack!" Both Clovis and Cortex extended their right hand, in sync with each other, and seemed to push Zangoose into Tex, sending them flying into an inky abyss, where all of Clovis' bad memories now went to be forgotten. Never to rear their ugly heads again. Now, in a seemingly white void, Clovis stood across from Cortex. His partner began to speak.

"Clovis. During the time I was a Dottler, I have seen and heard many things. One of which was the story of how people and Pokemon came together."

The young man only stood there, listening to his partner intently.

"People and Pokemon learn from each other. We grow together, we help each other. You have done everything to take care of me in my previous forms. There is no doubt in my mind, I want to be with you. However... this is where you decide."

Next to Cortex, Alphonse had stepped out of the darkness. The kind smile was all that Clovis needed to know why he was there. The eyes of both concern, worry, and understanding. Alphonse knew that there were ties that weighed on Clovis' heart.

A life, dedicated only to the sciences? A life, dedicated to staying next to the only true family he had ever known?

Or, would Clovis continue down the path of the trainer? Hardships, both known and unknown to him?

But, within Clovis' heart of hearts, he knew what he had to do. The darkness began to fade. The visions began to fade. Slowly, Clovis came to his senses, seeing that Cortex still rested against him. Seeing his beloved Orbeetle with him as he awoke, Cortex gave the first smile Clovis had seen in a long time.

Alphonse merely sat in silence, waiting to see what happened next. He was too absorbed in what he saw, and the newfound spark he saw within Clovis' eyes. Then, he heard his grandson speak with a confidence he hadn't heard since he told him a story. A story about a woman who saved him from a ruffian, and even let him use her Seviper to beat him.

"I choose you."

~~

"Hey, Donny, how is Growlithe?" Inside the Challenge room, Motostoke Gym trainers were hanging out with their Pokemon, waiting for the next challenger. Two of which were playing with their Growlithe. One was a girl with flowing brown hair and blue eyes, the other was a dark-skinned young man with blonde hair. The young man was grooming his Growlithe, who was just excited to have the attention. "Yeah, he's okay. He's more than a little pup, now, he can handle a scrap. It's just... we got a loose cannon the other day." "Loose cannon is right," the girl sneered. "I get something was wrong with him, but... I dunno. As long as you're okay," she winked, as she ruffled his hair.

Suddenly, a buzz came through the ear pieces on the trainers. "We got a trainer coming in soon, get ready," a voice blurted. "Welp, guess it's that time. Good luck, Jenna. Alright, return boy." The Growlithe yipped as it returned. Donny, fixing his hair back, glared at the girl. He stood at the edge of the grass with another Gym trainer, elbowing him as he noticed his "girl friend," Jenna, winking him over. "Shut up... we got another trainer," Donny chuckled.

The doors opened, and the trainer stepped into the room. A number of the Gym trainers looked in surprise, but did their best to hide it. Donny's girl friend looked both mad and confused. But, moreso confused. Donny saw the trainer that walked into the room. It was that moss-headed trainer, Clovis, from the other day. But this time, he wasn't with an Elekid. He was with an Orbeetle, and an impressive looking one at that. Also... Clovis looked much different than when he first saw him. He wasn't sure how, but something was different. He seemed to even stand differently than he did previously.

The instructions for the challenge had finished, and the blare rang out to signal the beginning of the gym. Suddenly, Donny noticed Clovis immediately moving to the patch of grass opposite the one he was attending, the Orbeetle swiftly following. "Cortex, go," Clovis called out, as the Orbeetle flew forward. "Light Screen, let's go." A brilliance of gold surrounded Cortex, upon encountering a Vulpix. The Vulpix fired an Ember, but Cortex was somewhat hurt by the attack. Just as that happened, another trainer stepped forward, his girl friend. She sent out her own Growlithe, double teaming Clovis and Cortex with Vulpix.

"Reflect," was what Clovis had called as his opposition prepared a Flame Wheel. Again, Cortex was struck, but not for much damage. "Growla, Flamethrower!" "Mirror Coat," Clovis called in retaiation. Though the Flamethrower licked at Cortex, a more violent burst of flames struck the Growlithe. "Growla!" "Recover." Cortex began to glow, the burning sears faded away, as if Cortex hadn't stepped into battle.

The Vulpix, however, focused itself and blew a Will-o-Wisp at Cortex, dark flames catching onto the Seven Spot. "Psychic on Growlithe, let's wrap it up." Extending a claw, Cortex focused it's sharp eyes, and Growla floated into the air, struggling to bark, before being flung to the ground.

Donny looked on in extreme interest, thinking "Is this the same trainer? This can't be Clovis, can it?"

"Psychic, again." Clovis continued to give these orders with the utmost calm, yet eyes full of determination. His Orbeetle shared the same look on it's face, as again, it focused it's psychic power on Vulpix before knocking it out. Quickly, he saw Clovis not only toss a ball at Vulpix, but... he turned away? Donny squinted, and saw Clovis walk over to Jenna. "Is your Growlithe okay? Let me... here," in his pocket was a Super Potion stashed away. "For... for me? Why," Jenna asked curiously. "Think of it as an apology. Oh, right," Clovis looked over, the ball was still as Vulpix had been caught.

The other trainers looked on in surprise, some of them muttering to each other. The other day, he barely struggled. Now, he was kinda acting like a bigshot? "Now," Clovis said, scooping the ball in his hand as he stood up. He turned, and looked around before he spotted Donny. Donny, of course, was a bit shocked to see Clovis look for him.

"Excuse me... there's something I need to tell you." "Uh... sure?" Clearly confused, but agreed to listen. Bowing at the waist, Clovis began to apologize to Donny. "I'm sorry for what I did the other day, and how I treated your Growlithe. I... was not in the right state of mind. As a token of my apologies, please take this," Clovis spoke while pulling out a Revive, putting it into Donny's hands. But, Clovis was met with the Revive being pushed back into his hands.

Looking up, Clovis saw a half smile, as Donny said, "Look... I thought something was off, so... don't sweat it. I can tell you mean it. Besides... you may need it more than I do. Go on," Donny gestured to the stadium doors. Nodding, Clovis and Cortex passed Donny by. As Clovis walked away, he heard Donny say, "Good luck, man."

Stepping up to the doors, Clovis and Cortex were met by the attendant. "Hey, you wanting to keep that Vulpix?" Shaking his head, Clovis handed the ball to the attendant as he tended to Cortex's wounds. First, applying a Burn Heal, then immediately a Super Potion. By the time Cortex was healed up, the attendant gave the now empty Pokeball back to Clovis, and shook his hand. "Welcome back to the gym challenge. Good luck out there."

"Thanks. Today will be a good day for a battle," Clovis shot back, seeing the doors open. And once again, he stepped through.

The stadium crowd began to cheer as they normally do, if only a little more intense to see Clovis with Cortex, now as an Orbeetle. Both of them, side by side as they walk onto the field. As Clovis stepped onto his side of the battlefield, he saw Kabu was headed straight for him. He could feel the intensity of Kabu's presence, but remained steadfast. He looked on defiantly, as he sent Cortex onto the field.

Kabu, seeing the same trainer a couple of days after the incident, could tell he was truly ready this time. He looked nothing like the meek trainer he fought before. He did not cower, but instead, held his own ground. A smirk came across Kabu's face, as now he stood opposite Clovis and Cortex. This was what Kabu lived for.

"Centiskorch, let's go!" Dramatically tossing the ball high into the air, Centiskorch appeared, and landed on the ground. It hissed loudly, before quickly turning it's attention to it's opponent. The same opponent from before, but just as defiant and determined as his trainer. Both Bug-types locked eye contact. Sparks beginning to fly from Cortex, flames beginning to dance off of Centiskorch's form.

"And now, ladies and gentleman, we're here for a rematch! Clovis Solanine against Kabu! Centiskorch, versus Orbeetle! Let the match begin!"

Spoiler:

"Centiskorch, Scald!"
"Cortex, Light Screen!"

The battle took off immediately, the music began to pump and play as a powerful surging of boiling water was fired. However, Cortex erected a golden barrier, the Water-type attack doing little damage.

"Cortex, Reflect!"
"Centiskorch, Fire Lash!"

Quick to act, Cortex began erecting the brilliant blue barrier. Beating Cortex to the punch, Centiskorch slithered with incredible speed, striking hard before Reflect could take full effect, hurting Cortex, but not too terribly.

"Recover!"
"Bug Bite!"

Centiskorch began to fling itself with mandibles agape, before Cortex began to levitate above, looking down on his opponent as he healed his wounds. The Centiskorch hissed again, and lurched upwards. "Cortex, Psychic!" Beginning to glow purple, Cortex mimed a slamming motion, as Centiskorch seemed to hit the ground. Kabu looked on, in both frustration and excitement.

"I see we're taking things seriously, now."

"Scald!"
"Use Psychic to deflect it!"

Scurrying a fair distance, Centiskorch shot another stream of boiling water. Focusing it's eyes, Cortex used it's Psychic to try diverting the water. But, it wasn't enough, as the sheer force struck Cortex on the side of his head.

"Now, Sunny Day!" Centiskorch looked up to the sky above the stadium, and screeched loudly as it's call summoned a glaring sunlight to shine on the stadium.

"Cortex, use Bug Buzz!" The shell on Cortex's head began to split, wings underneath began to beat rapidly, a skittering, screeching sound filled the stadium. Though it didn't affect Centiskorch very much, it did still seem to falter. Kabu, seeing this, looked at Clovis with a curious look. He wondered what the young man was up to.

"Centiskorch, Fire Lash!"
"Cortex, Psychic!"

Again, Centiskorch rushed the Orbeetle, wildly flailing like a whip, cracking along the ground. Cortex floated to and fro, avoiding the lashes as it stopped and began it's attack, crushing Centiskorch in place. Still, Centiskorch flung it's tail at Cortex, hurting it even more as flames licked Cortex's face. "Kkkrrrgghh!" "Hisss!" The Bug-types hissed and spat, the thrill of battle overtaking them.

Not unlike Cortex, Clovis was also in the throes of battle, feeling as if he was right by Cortex's side as he fought. "Cortex! Use Psychic to keep Centiskorch away!" And just so, with a similar aggressive force, knocked away the Centkiskorch. But, neither Kabu nor Centiskorch were going to back off so easy.

"Keep rushing them. Crush their defenses, and go for Bug Bite!"
"Keep them away with Psychic!"

Centiskorch, refusing to roll to the ground, skittered and crawled across the ground with great fervor, surging after Cortex, snapping and biting with ferocious fangs. But, Cortex kept flinging Centiskorch away, throwing it across the field like a rag doll. Centiskorch, quickly flying in a fiery rage as it continued to fight with full power.

Kabu stood tall, sharply eyeing the battle, still seeming to stand over both Clovis and Cortex. But still, Clovis remained unafraid. He continued to oppose his presence.

But, their defenses were not perfect. Though Cortex had done well at deflecting, Centiskorch found a window, and ravaged the entry point, biting and ripping into Cortex as it also slammed and whipped it's tail, burning and singing the Seven Spot. "Cortex, now, send Centiskorch back to sender!"

Cortex trembled, before intensely surging, raising Centiskorch into the air. And again, threw it to Kabu's feet. Centiskorch crawled back up, hissing, but clearly weakened. "If they want to fight at a distance, we can match them. Scald." Centiskorch arched back, then fired another searing stream of water. This, however, caused Clovis to smirk. "This is what I was waiting for. Cortex, time to end this! Mirror Coat!"

"Centiskorch, get out of the way!" The water hit a shining, rectangular wall, before twice the volume and intensity of water shot back at Centiskorch. But, the attack drenched Centiskorch, causing it to fall to the ground. In fact, both Cortex and Centiskorch were on the ground. Both trainers stood still, both Kabu and Clovis looked on as they awaited.

Cortex and Centiskorch began to rise. Cortex, hummed as it slowly rose. Centiskorch, hissing sharply as it clambered onto it's legs.

"Psychic!"
"Fire Lash!"

A sweeping, fiery whip closed in on Cortex. But, with a wave of Cortex's claw, the unseen power gripped Centiskorch, and pushed it down with great force. The Radiator hissed again, but it was quickly silenced as it fell unconscious. The music, and the cheers, ceased. Now, Centiskorch lay defeated. The crowd, utterly shocked, began to cheer for the incredible victory.

"What a battle, ladies and gentleman! A fierce match between two powerful Bug-types! One of which at a clear disadvantage, but still came out victorious! Let's get a cheer for Clovis Solanine, his Orbeetle, and the incredible battle they showed us today!" And thus, the crowd began to cheer. Clovis' name was even chanted, slightly. This development caused Clovis to snap back to the reality around him, as now he was embarrassed that his name was being called. But, Clovis didn't remain embarrassed for long, as Cortex floated before him. "Cortex... we did it. We won."

"You certainly have, young man," a familiar voice called out. Kabu, having recalled his Centiskorch, had approached the trainer. "You've done well. You have overcome the trial of Motostoke Gym, and defeated me with a newfound spirit. I am proud to present this badge to you," Kabu exclaimed, as he held out the Fire Badge. Bowing, Clovis takes the badge, and holds it up with a newfound pride. Both he and Cortex look up to the crowd, the cheers seeming to re-energize the two of them. Kabu, taking Clovis' free hand, joined in the bow with him.

Shortly afterwards, having dressed into his normal clothes, Clovis walked with Cortex out of the gym, various people congratulating him along the way. Two of which were Donny and Jenna. Donny gave Clovis a hearty smack on the back, while Jenna politely congratulated him, and they both had wished him a safe journey.

"So... we finally overcame the third gym leader, together." "Krrghh." "Now... now it's time to move... grandfather?"

Before Clovis could finish, and leave Motostoke prior, Alphonse had awaited him at the way to the Wild Area. A look of utter pride and joy was written across his face. "My boy, I'm so proud of you!" Alphonse jumped to Clovis, and gave him a surprisingly strong hug. "Grandfather, come on," Clovis complained through a smile. "Oh posh, I haven't seen my grandson before your accident. Now, you have such a triumphant victory, and you're already about to leave? The least you could do is be my beloved grandson for a moment longer." Alphonse huffed, before one last squeeze. Clovis sighed, and squeezed back. "Of course, Grandfather... and thank you." "No need. I'm your grandfather, and I will do anything for you. But, I can't always be by your side. From now on, you continue alone."

Alphonse, with a sad smile, rested a hand on his shoulder. "I can't tell you how proud I am of you. Vivian and I are so proud." "Thank you... say hi to Grandmother for me, please." Alphonse nodded, and turned to Cortex. "Keep looking over my grandson, would you please?" "Krrggh, krggh," Cortex responded with a nod.

"Well... I suppose I should return home. I had left Rimey with Vivian, and I already called a Flying Taxi, so I need to get going. Good luck, my boy."

"Goodbye, Grandfather. Say hello to Rimey for me as well!"

As Clovis and Cortex journeyed on, Alphonse boarded the taxi, returning to Wedgehurst. As the taxi began to rise... and sail across the sky, Alphonse muttered to himself, "You can do it, too, my boy. Just as I did before." The last he saw before the taxi sped off was Clovis' smile, gleaming just as bright as the future ahead.

Cortex evolved into Orbeetle!

Foxrally · Sep 22, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Lake of Outrage - Fields

The rolling clap of distant thunder echoed through the landscape as tumultuous grey clouds blew above Simon's head, drawn into the threateningly close storm that was brewing above the Lake of Outrage. The atmosphere was dark and humid; the sun had just set not long ago, and as the winds howled through the sparse trees around him Simon knew this was not going to be a calm evening.

He'd reached the edge of the region just a few hours ago after making it through Dusty Bowl, and found a Blackspear car was already there on the path, waiting for him. They'd taken a short (and bumpy) car ride through the fields, before stopping at an encampment that looked similar to a ranger tent. The tarp was painted black, and surrounded by practically a convoy of trucks and four-wheelers stationed around it, along with several large, unmarked crates.

Another flash of lightning followed by thunder; more close together this time. The storm was getting nearer. Packs of Pokemon both in the sky and on land were rushing to take shelter wherever possible, and it seemed like the only things hanging around were Blackspear and their vehicles, all blending into the environment in their black suits.

Simon was initially confused as to why they'd made change into his uniform, but they'd explained it was to differentiate them from the rangers. Sure enough, Simon thought. The suit was still a little dusty from the job he'd done in the mines, but still in decent condition. Unlike last time, though, he'd been told to take all of his Pokemon, for his own safety, 'just in case'. A statement which Simon was beginning to feel more and more antsy about as he fidgeted nervously with the buttons on his jacket.

After they'd arrived he'd been told by the men to wait outside, and one of them had stayed behind to supposedly keep an eye on him. There were several dozen other suited workers around the campsite, most of them talking into earpieces or carrying different-sized boxes- some of which looked like the packages he'd been asked to transport in route three and five. There was an air of tense and almost robotic professionalism, as none of the suited employees seemed to talk to each other directly, and their sunglasses covered any form of eye contact they may have had. Even on the ride here, the most he'd heard his colleagues speak were for instructions, and a stern reminder not to have any Pokemon out in the vehicle.

"So, uh, Mr. Francis, right?" he asked the employee beside him; a tall, imposing figure with clean-cut dark hair and a trimmed beard. He hadn't learned that name from the man himself, but it had popped up on the screen in the car's navigation system, and Simon wanted to be as proactive in knowing his colleagues as possible- after all, Blackspear had to be more than just Aurora and his boss.

Francis took a moment to respond, as if annoyed by the fact Simon knew his name. "...what?" he responded in a gruff voice, not bothering to look in the boy's direction.

"That's a crazy storm over there, right?" Simon laughed awkwardly. "Hope it doesn't get anywhere closer"

"It will." Francis responded bluntly.

"Ah." Simon nodded, looking at the ground then back at the clouds. "Cool, cool. And are we going to be driving in... that... direction?"

"Yes."

Simon nodded again, exhaling nervously. "Well, haha, hope it doesn't mess up our cool suits too much then."

Francis did not laugh.

Simon glanced at the man's outfit and noticed a small difference. "Oh, what happened to the Blackspear logo on your suit?" he asked, noticing that it was absent from the jacket's sleeve, unlike his own.

The man almost seemed to flinch for a second, but it was impossible to tell with the shades on. "Different division. Our logo's on the inside."

"Ah, neat." Simon said, now completely exhausted for ideas of small talk.

Several more minutes of silence passed, with the only things occupying Simon's mind away from the anxiety being the roar of the incoming storm and the muffled chatter of employees working outside the tent. Simon wished he could go inside as well - if not for curiosity's sake to stay out of the wind - but Francis didn't seem like the particularly accommodating type, and he knew firsthand how Blackspear felt about privacy.

He wouldn't have to wait long, however. Moments later, three familiar figures finally emerged from the tent flaps. To the left was Aurora, dressed in uniform and with a pair of sunglasses slightly different from the ones Simon saw on everyone else, holding a briefcase which looked like it housed something bigger than a laptop. In the middle was his manager, Mr. Zelkova, also dressed in black - a stark contrast from the usual white suit - but with his usual winning smile. And to their right...

"Ranger Pat?" Simon mouthed, confused.

"Simon, my dear boy!" Zelkova opened his arms welcomingly as the group approached. "Glad you could make it on time, I do apologize for making you wait so long."

"No worries, sir." Simon replied with a polite smile, though his eyes were still fixated on the man beside his manager, the Pokemon Ranger he'd met months ago in the wild area. Same green eyes, same beard, same face, but in a Blackspear uniform. This was the same man who'd initially welcomed him in his ranger tent during a snowstorm at the time, and asked for his help with gathering the lost snoms in the area, which had eventually led to Simon's own Snom joining the team. They'd only spoken for a short amount of time, but it was perplexing seeing the man here of all places - was he some sort of ranger assigned to Blackspear, and if he was, why was he in a suit? Had he left the Rangers to work for a private company?

The man seemed to recognize Simon as well, and gave the boy a wave and a smile. "From the look on your face, I see you remember me, Simon." Pat said, chuckling.

Simon nodded, "Yeah, from Lake Miloch, right? You asked me to help with the snoms!"

"And what a decision that has led to, eh?" Pat winked. "Hope yours is doing well."

"Ah, a happy reunion!" Zelkova clasped his hands together, "I always love bringing people together, it warms my heart."

Simon was still puzzled as to why the ranger was at a Blackspear camp, though. "I certainly didn't expect to see you here, Mr. Pat. Are you still working for the rangers?"

Zelkova spoke up in response. "In fact, Patrick here is our coordinator with the rangers for this mission. We've… worked closely together in the past, and his expertise with wild Pokemon will ensure we conduct everything properly and by the book."

Simon nodded slowly. It made sense, since most of what happened in the wild area usually fell under the rangers' jurisdiction. He wasn't sure what 'by the book' meant, but it was probably more bureaucracy than he could wrap his head around anyway.

He glanced over at Aurora. The young woman was waiting patiently at Zelkova's side, looking at the storm in the distance. Her sunglasses had something that looked like a dial on the side, but were less tinted than everyone else's, which meant Simon could see her eyes- and once again, just like their last meeting, she seemed to be completely avoiding eye contact with him. Although this time, she actually spoke.

"I recommend we get going soon, sir. The weather conditions will not be optimal for long." Aurora said, looking at Zelkova. "Our target may also move in response to the storm."

"Very well, then," the Blackspear manager clapped his hands together, his expression more serious. "Off we go. Francis, gather up the men."

"Yes, sir."

"Come along now, Simon." Zelkova said as he began walking towards one of the cars at a brisk pace. "I'm sure you're just as excited to meet our new friend as we are."

"Uh-huh." Simon responded hesitantly as another clap of thunder echoed through the sky.

Foxrally · Sep 22, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Lake of Outrage - Fields

One short car ride later, the group had arrived at their destination- a large, rocky clearing with several boulders and spikes jutting out of the ground, likely an old dried-up section of the Lake of Outrage. The storm was now much, much closer, and with every roar of thunder Simon could see a few stray droplets of rain splash onto the car's windshield. As he looked out the window he noticed a couple more Blackspear four-wheelers following closely behind, one of which had a large antenna-like device on its roof like a weather vehicle. The fact that there were so many other other employees was slightly comforting in terms of safety, but all of this technology and setup for a simple capture-and-release? It was certainly a bit overkill, no matter how strong the Pinsir in question was supposed to be.

The car slowed to a stop before one of the larger boulders. "We're here~!" Zelkova piped up, seemingly giddy with excitement.

The group all got out and met up with the other Blackspear workers in a circle; Simon counted about a dozen of them. Zelkova and Pat stepped into the center and got everyone's attention.

"Okay folks, quick recap so everything goes off without a hitch." the ranger began. "Our target is currently in the field in front of us, likely sleeping or training. We send in our agent, posing as a lost traveler- and get its attention away from us. In the meanwhile, team A, led by Francis, moves in from behind under the cloak of Trick Room, team B monitors from a distance- Aurora is your leader. Once A is close enough, begin the process, team B, relay information continuously. And remember- pay attention to weather conditions."

As Pat went on about more specifics, Simon felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around; it was Aurora. The girl was holding some sort of black earpiece in her hand. "If you need to communicate with Blackspear at any point, use this. One tap to turn on, two to shut off." she said, handing it to him. Simon nodded and reached for the device, but as he took it… he felt Aurora resist, her fingers gripping the device tightly.

"Wha…" Simon narrowed his eyes as he looked back up at the girl's face.

Aurora was looking at him intensely now, though still masked by the sunglasses. "Stay smart out there, Pearbugh." she said before letting go of the earpiece and turning back to the group.

Before he could say anything, Patrick addressed him. "And that concludes the brief. Simon, this mission relies on you, son. I hope you're ready."

Everyone turned to look at the young trainer. Simon gulped and nodded. "Yup."

----

Simon felt like he was walking to his doom. Every step on the wet grass was one step closer to the large, spiky figure that was laying down a short distance away, slowly rising and falling with every breath. Every few seconds it would turn in its sleep, causing him to jump a little- what if it was simply pretending, and it would jump on him the second he got close? He'd heard of Pinsirs' horns being strong enough to destroy cars and slice men in half, tales of trainers in Kanto falling mercy to their relentless fury… No, Simon thought, he couldn't let his nerves get to him. Even if this was a dangerous Pokemon, he was doing this to protect people from it, people who couldn't protect themselves- that's what this was about. Perhaps, if he was was lucky, the thing would be asleep the whole time, and it wouldn't even be a struggle to-

"RRRRRRHHH…"

A low growl sounded from the Pokemon, and Simon froze. There was some rustling in the grass, and some more turning… it was awake now. He watched in terror as the creature's massive silhouette slowly rose to its feet, eyes piercing through the darkness as it slowly opened them.

Simon trembled at the sight of the Pokemon- it was even more terrifying than the pictures. Scars and cracks painted its entire body, spikes jutting out of the sides of its horns and claws, both longer than sharper than any Pokemon he'd seen before. Rows of white teeth lined the side of the creature's mouth, slowly opening and closing as it no doubt sensed every fear pheromone on Simon's body. Hunter-like eyes that were fixated on his face, piercing his soul, studying every angle of it and likely preparing for the instant he'd make a sudden movement.

Then, suddenly, it took a step forward.

"P-please!" Simon immediately stepped back in response, his reflexes only now kicking in. "I'm not here to cause any trouble! I'm just lost and trying to get away from the rain!"

Much to his surprise, the Pinsir stopped mid-step. It looked Simon up and down and let out a low grunt followed by an inquisitive growl, though it sounded more like a rhetorical question.

Simon raised his eyebrows in shock. The Pinsir's response was… surprisingly pleasant? It was asking where his own Pokemon were. "Th-they're in their balls right now, I don't think it's too safe for them in this weather." he stammered, still cautiously backing up.

This time it was the Pinsir who was surprised, as it realized Simon could understand its words. It sat back down on the ground and let out more curious grunts.

It was saying… not to be afraid? Simon realized how rapid his breathing had become and that his heart was just about ready to jump out of his chest. He took a deep breath and exhaled shakily, before answering the Pinsir's question. "I'm a Pokemon Trainer, actually, not a ranger." he managed to reply.

The Pinsir nodded sagely, looking the boy up and down again before pointing at itself, eyes raised in question.

"Oh, no no! I wouldn't dream of trying to fight you. I'm far too inexperienced for that yet." Simon laughed nervously. "And you certainly look like you've had your fair share of victories."

The Pinsir let out what Simon could only describe as the Pokemon equivalent of an old man laughing, as it shook its head and closed its eyes. It waved its hand dismissively as it spoke, telling Simon that those days were behind it, and it was mostly content with sleeping around and living off berries nowadays. It pointed to its massive pincers; these were useful to scare troublemakers away.

Simon blinked. Nothing about this creature's words said 'dangerous' at all, but he had to keep his guard up. As the Pinsir invited him to sit beside it, he stepped forward and obliged, eager to confirm his suspicions. "So you've... been here a long time? I heard the Lake of Outrage is super dangerous."

The Pinsir nodded sagely. This land was no place for weak Pokemon, or weak humans for that matter. Raging battles between dragon-types and other powerful beasts would often lead to dangerous weather conditions for everyone around, he said- in fact, just last week, he'd saved a farmer from a landslide caused by some rampaging Turtonator.

Simon's eyes grew wide again. So that picture he'd been shown at the mission briefing, where Pinsir was holding a boulder over someone… it hadn't been attacking?

"Oh, wow. Guess I'm really lost then." Simon replied. "That storm must've been caused by them."

The Pinsir nodded again, and pointed towards the lake, closer to the mountains. If Simon wanted shelter, there were a few caves he could stay in overnight that were mostly safe from dangerous Pokemon; he'd seen a human with a Rolycoly hang around the area so he wouldn't be the only one there. He looked at Simon's pocket and asked what kind of Pokemon he was carrying.

"Oh, I'm a bug catcher, actually!" the boy responded proudly. "We've become quite the big team- eight of us, now."

The Pinsir grunted and closed its eyes, impressed by Simon's choice. It was rare to find humans who recognized the power of the bug-type, it said, and even less so dedicated trainers. In its own long life it had learned that size isn't everything, and that the strongest of foes often came from the most unassuming individuals.

"Well, I'm hoping to make it far in the league eventually, but I gotta get stronger first." he said, smiling bashfully. Thunder rolled once more and a couple droplets of rain fell on Simon's face. "Thanks for, uh, not eating me by the way."

The Pinsir chuckled; the last time it had enjoyed a two-way conversation with a human was over a decade ago, so having a chat with Simon was going to be the highlight of its week. It admittedly had even considered joining up with that human and her Heracross at the time, but the woman had politely refused.

"A… human that could talk to Pokemon as well? With a Heracross?" Simon echoed, surprised. "Do you remember what she-"

"Team A nearly in position, sir."

Simon paused and his eyes widened- it was the Blackspear earpiece. The Pinsir looked at him in confusion, and asked if everything was okay.

He took a moment to respond, panic growing in his stomach. It didn't feel right to forcefully capture this Pinsir, it wasn't dangerous- hell, it even seemed to be protecting the area from the Pokemon that were a threat. Maybe he could reason with it, explain to Blackspear what was going on and find a proper way to solve this, without having to resort to any battle.

He finally spoke up, "It's… it's nothing, I think I-"

"In position. Approaching target now." the earpiece relayed.

Simon's eyes grew wider, as he noticed the shimmering barrier of a Bronzor's Trick Room fade away, revealing several suited agents creeping up a short distance behind Pinsir. One of them was pushing a large, levitating machine along the ground, with an antenna on top that seemed to be pointing towards the vehicles. There was a cannon-like device attached to the machine, crackling with reddish, purple energy, pointed at the Pinsir. Another suited man was walking beside him, and his hand was… a Dark Ball.

Simon's eyes grew wide as he came to a realization. This wasn't a relocation mission.

These people were the Black Suits.

In a split second, everything hit him. Where he'd seen Scolipede's Pokeball before, why it was so strong and appeared so lifeless. Why Catherine had been so adamant about him 'selling his soul', why Kass had compared it to that Arcanine, why everyone had been warning him about it. Why Agent 8 had refused to finish him in the mines. What the 'special talents' Zelkova kept mentioning were, why they needed him, and how he'd heard of them in the first place. Why he was the only one in the meeting room to be told to leave.

Blackspear was behind the Suits.

"RUN!" Simon screamed at Pinsir as he got up.

The Pokemon looked up at him, concern on its face; what was getting into him? Was everything alright? It tried to place a hand on his shoulder.

"YOU'RE BEING TARGETED! RUN-" Simon warned-

Before either of them could even react, the suits activated the machine. A beam of crackling light burst from the device and collided with the Pinsir, causing the Pokemon to stagger a little as red smoke and electricity enveloped its body, the force of the impact throwing Simon backwards into the dirt. The Pokemon roared in anger and confusion, turning around to see who had attacked it as the thunderstorm roared above them in response to the energy. The grunt cursed out loud as he dialed up the machine's power and lightning flashed through the sky, shooting out an even stronger blast of dark energy at Pinsir. The Pokemon seemed to be unaffected at first as it roared and took a lumbering step forward, but then, something changed. It let out a low growl, which slowly rose into a scream, then a screech of pain. Its limbs began to convulse and its pincers snapped together as the skin on its back began forcefully tearing apart, the dark energy seeping into the cracks and transforming its body. Simon watched in horror as the beast writhed in agony and it let out a cry that rivalled that of the storm above.

"Prepare for capture, now!" he heard Zelkova's voice crackle through the intercom. Simon watched the grunt with the Dark Ball slowly approach the Pinsir, still under the effects of the beam.

"Wait… no, NO!"

Just as the man raised his arm to throw the ball, Simon hurled the nearest rock he could find, striking the grunt's hand. Before it could even be thrown, the device was smashed into pieces in the grunt's fingers, clattering to the ground.

"GAH, FUCK- you little shit!" the man cursed as he clutched his hand, glaring at Simon before looking at his colleague. "Get the backup, quick!" The grunt beside him pulled out another Dark Ball, and pressed the button on top to prepare it for throwing. Simon heard the suit's voice through the earpiece, "Sir, we've run into an issue-"

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

With one, mighty roar, the pinsir charged headfirst into the machine, pushing back against the energy beam. Before any of the humans could react, it exploded in a blast of purple fire, toppling the Blackspear employees and Bronzor around it as Pinsir was engulfed in the flames. The Pokemon roared again as its pincers ripped the metal apart, the pieces falling to the ground beside it.

"Abort mission, I repeat, abort mission! Payload destroyed, we are unable to control the target anymore!" Simon heard the panicked voice of the first grunt through the earpiece.

"Copy. Extraction vehicles on the way, retreat from target as much as you can." Zelkova responded, a coldness in his voice Simon had never heard before. "Leave the boy."

Thunderclouds roared to life as heavy rain began to fall; the storm was upon them now. Simon quickly rose to his feet and looked at the Pinsir- it looked like an entirely different creature. Its skin was cracked and broken, several random spikes and protrusions had grown on its arms and legs, its horns had almost doubled in size along with its claws. Most horrifyingly, its back had forcefully split apart, revealing undeveloped wings which had now grown three times their size, twitching uncontrollably as the Pinsir clawed at itself in fury. He'd never seen anything like this before, until he realized… this was some sort of mega evolution.

"P-Pinsir! Wait!" Simon got up and ran towards the Pokemon, which still had its back turned to him. He had to calm it down, figure out what was going on, and get it away from Blackspear. "You don't-"

Simon stopped. As the Pokemon turned to face him, a snarl escaped its mouth and it stared at him... with blank, soulless eyes. As soon as it saw his face, it let out another low growl, the last one that Simon could understand.

"Why."

The Pokemon screeched in fury as it lunged at Simon. He managed to jump out of the way, avoiding the swipe in the nick of time as the Pinsir's full weight came crashing down onto the ground, cracking the earth around it from the force of the impact.

Simon rose to his feet and as panicked as he began to run from the enraged beast. He couldn't understand anything it was saying anymore- it was as if it had reverted to the primal state of blind rage he'd seen Scolipede in. Through the roar of the thunder, he could hear the sound of engines driving nearby and he tapped his earpiece to turn it on, "What did you people do to that Pinsir?!" he screamed.

Shockingly, it was Aurora's voice that answered, though it was muffled by static. "Listen, Pearb-kkh- Get b-zzt- in the car, it's t-zzz- North of-"

The sound then cut off abruptly for a second, before he heard Zelkova's voice, now much clearer. "Everything from here onwards is your fault, boy. Remember that." he heard, before the line finally fizzled out.

"What?!" Simon yelled back, tapping the earpiece again. No response. He desperately tapped it a few more times, "Hey! HEY! WHAT DO YOU-"

Simon tripped and fell in shock as the Pinsir landed in front of him. The Pokemon roared and snapped its pincers, and Simon scrambled to his legs once more- he couldn't keep running now, he had to fight it off until he could find a way to reverse this. Instinctively, he reached inside his pocket for Scolipede's ball… but then, he stopped. No- if he was going to do this, it would be on his own terms now.

"Go, team!" he called out as he released all seven of his Pokemon, catching the pokeballs just in time to dodge another swipe from the Pinsir. All of them materialized around Simon, looking around in fear for a moment before grasping the reality of the situation. The enraged Pinsir spun around in confusion, looking at all the new opponents around it.

"Everyone, I need your help again!" Simon called out. "I know this seems scary, but remember- we're a team!" The seven Pokemon turned to look at him, and squeaked in unison. They trusted him.

The Pinsir roared as it threw itself at the closest bug to it, Anorith.

"Anorith, swift swim and aqua jet away!" Simon said, steeling himself, "Spewpa, Friend Guard everyone!"

Spewpa jumped into the middle of the group and bristled her fur as she exploded in a cloud of pink dust, protecting all of the others from damage with her ability. As the Pinsir came down onto Anorith, the bug shot away just in time, sped up by its ability, and circled around to be in front of Simon.

"Now charge back in- Burmy, Snom, support it with Hidden Power and Powder Snow!" Simon commanded. The Pokemon jumped into action as they hurled attacks at the Pinsir, staggering it backwards with melee and ranged moves. "Princess, double team, then Beat Up to power everyone up!"

The little Joltik squeaked in confirmation and several dozen copies of her materialized on the ground, before throwing themselves at Pinsir. All of Simon's Pokemon began to glow with dark energy as Beat Up took its effect.

Simon turned to the others. "Spewpa, stun spore its legs then tackle, Caterpie, bug bite the wings! Larvesta, flame wheel and keep it off the others!"

As the bugs squeaked and charged in to attack, Simon picked up a rock from the ground. This was going to be a team effort.

The Pinsir waved its arms wildly as it tried to shake off Anorith and Larvesta's incessant attacks, all the while pelted by hits from Snom and Burmy. As Simon threw his rock it staggered backwards- only to be tripped by Princess and fall into Spewpa's stun spore, leaving it open to bug bites and melee attacks from the others.

"Keep it up, team!" Simon cheered. "Neutralize it and pin it down! Princess, spider web; Burmy, electroweb, everyone else, string shot!"

Almost instantly, the massive bug was glued to the ground by the volley of attacks, struggling against the rocks as every part of its body was pinned down. Caterpie climbed onto its chest and let out a cheer of victory, spitting a glob of string into its mouth for good measure.

Simon exhaled deeply, "Okay, now we just need to-"

With another enraged screech, one of the Pinsir's arms managed to rip away from its restraints. All of the bugs around it jumped back in response, quickly reacting with several more attacks as the free limb flailed about.

"Shit! Pin it again!" Simon called out, but it was too difficult for the string to hit the moving arm. He looked at the nearest bug. "Caterpie, bug bite and keep it in place!"

The little bug nodded and threw himself at the arm, striking it at the just the right spot to keep it held down- a critical hit.

"Way to go!" Simon exclaimed. "Now get back- what?!"

Suddenly, a shimmering white light began to envelop the bug's body, and it began to grow in size.

Caterpie evolved?!

Metapod ♂️
Shed Skin
Harden

Simon's eyes grew wide. Frozen by evolution, Caterpie had stayed in Pinsir's claws. "Wait, everyone- stop!" he called out in a panic, realizing any attempts to pin down the arm would also glue the Metapod to it. The bugs looked at him in panic as well, unsure of what to do-

And that split-second of confusion was all the Pinsir needed. In a flash, an explosion of wind burst from the Pinsir's body and ripped the string and web to shreds, sending all of Simon's Pokemon flying across the field- all except his Metapod, which it held tightly in its claws. It looked at the bothersome green cocoon with fury and pain in its eyes, the smaller Pokemon only being able to look back in terror.

Simon grabbed a rock and flung it at the Pinsir again. "Put him down! This is about you and me!"

The Pinsir looked at Simon, then back at Metapod… and put the bug in its jaw.

Simon's heart stopped. He dropped the rock he was holding and charged at the large Pokemon. "NO, STOP, YOU'LL-"

Crack.

Foxrally · Sep 22, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Raphael Allard

Vito

Carmen

Lumi

Selene

Roe

Spoiler: Inventory

Lake of Outrage - Fields

Everything was a blur. The lighting, the thunder, the screeching of the Pinsir as Simon's bugs valiantly fought it away, some squeaking for him to say something, others just as speechless as he was. The rain, the mud, the splatter on Simon's face. His ears were ringing. His chest was faint. His eyes fixed on the shards of green littering the floor before him.

His Pokemon was gone.

Pinsir roared, sprawling its arms wide in a hollow victory, as if lording himself over the utter destruction he had afforded his far weaker and more vulnerable opponent.

Yet his true target was still standing. Teeth gnashing, newly grown wings twitching, its eyes somehow wild and yet devoid of all feeling landed on Simon. He was the one who had caused this, who had turned him into this monster. He was the one who had closed his heart off to everything but rage. The pokémons gaze narrowed on Simon as it lumbered forward, charging up a horrendously powerful attack. With a sudden burst it rushed forward, claws at the ready to rip Simon's head clean from his shoulders.

Tunnel vision guiding it towards the object of frustration, it didn't notice the rapidly incoming footsteps of another human.

Another human male, older than Simon, dressed in dark colours, burst out of the nearby shrubbery. His hair was a mess, slicked down and clinging to his face in the pouring rain. Pinsir's gaze was momentarily caught as a bolt of lightning crashed down behind him and the light reflected off a blue, heart shaped pin.

The human grabbed Simon roughly at the last second, throwing both of their bodies to the side where they slid through the mud. Pinsir glared with pure rage as his target was ripped from his grasp and his claw crashed into the mud. An explosion of pressure and dirt rushed outwards. The pure power of the strike was enough to leave a crater in the Earth.

"Vito! Now!" Pinsir looked up as another sound rustled from the underbrush. A sphere of ice ramped up over a mound of soil. Moving so quickly even Pinsir couldn't respond, it crashed hard into its face, causing the bug type to howl in pain. In its mega-evolved state, the ice-type blow was more effective than before and Pinsir's newly grown wings froze slightly from the impact. It clattered backwards, righting itself and using those same wings as a windbreak, claw driving into the ground as it forced itself to grind to a halt.

With fury building it gazed upwards to see the attacking ball of frost break roughly on the ground… and a determined looking Sealeo break out.

Raphael pulled himself quickly to his feet, Simon still beside him. He stared towards the Pinsir with worry plastered over his features. He'd been searching tirelessly for Simon since he'd seen the recording of his gym battle with Kabu, even if Raph's own injuries from what had followed weren't fully healed. He had been a little too late to stop him getting in the car with the Black Suits earlier… and had been following them ever since. The shards of Simon's metapod were visible out of the corner of his eye and he squinted with regret, angry that he hadn't been there sooner.

No, there was no more time for regrets. This pokémon was beyond out of control, it had devolved to state far beyond anything he'd seen before. Even the Exploud from Motostoke hadn't been this bad… and there was no Kabu to save him this time.

"Simon!" Raph looked down to his friend, still stunned no doubt, from the loss he had just witnessed. "Simon, we have to do something, now!"

The boy stared back at Raph in silence, tears streaming down his eyes. Everything was still so hazy. Where had he come from; what was he saying; what had just happened-

"R-Raph, it- I- they- Caterp-" the boy stammered, trembling uncontrollably as his eyes darted from Pinsir to trainer, almost as if he couldn't believe any of this was real.

Raph stared down at him in turn, before his eyes darted over to Pinsir, who roared at the top of its lungs. Rookidee and Starly screeched in terror, bursting away from nearby treelines with just the sound of the unearthly screech. Raph's gaze focused back towards the younger boy beside him, broken and beaten.

Raph quickly dropped to a knee and shook Simon by the shoulders. "Simon, listen to me. You have to listen to me!" He grit his teeth as that realization swept over him in the same instance he said it. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I pushed you away! It wasn't because of you, it was my fault!"

He had thought he could protect Simon. He thought he could protect everyone, by sparing them the pain of knowing him. The pain of losing him. Raph knew what it was like to lose someone he cared about. Even if he was a child, even if he couldn't remember his face or even his name, Raph still felt a hole in his dying heart, left by his father. No matter how many lies he told himself, that was why he had treated Simon the way he had, why he treated everyone the way he had.

Not anymore.

He shook him roughly again, as if to force the bug catcher to look him in the eyes. "But that's our monster now… if I had stuck with you, if you hadn't turned to them… then it wouldn't be here! So long as it stays it puts everyone nearby in danger, that could mean our friends! You can't- WE can't just do nothing, we can't let anyone else get hurt!"

Pinsir was done recovering. Growling low, then screeching loud, it charged forward and Raph stood to his feet, clutching Roe's pokéball in one hand and extending the other to the trainer still on the ground beside him. "Simon, you need to get up. I can't do this by myself. Neither of us can."

Simon blinked as he took in his words. Raphael was wrong. This… this was his own fault. He should have known. In his anger, in pain, his sadness- he'd let himself slip into the clutches of the suits. And now… one his team members had paid the price.

He could feel tears coming on again as a painful lump grew in his throat, gripping the earth tightly to stop himself from letting go mentally. No. he told himself. He wouldn't succumb to those feelings again. These were the same emotions that had led him to this point, and he was not going to fall prey to them again. Not… not at the expense of his team.

He looked at the other bugs, who'd retreated from the Pinsir and were now huddling around him and Raphael. Seven pairs of eyes all on him, some trembling in fear, others determined to fight back- all waiting for his command. They needed his help.

Simon looked up at his friend. Raphael needed him too.

Shakily, the boy got up to his feet. "I- I have a Pokemon that can help!" he shouted over the storm. He never wanted it to come to this, but this wasn't about his pride or strength anymore. This was about survival, about avenging his teammate. He dug his hand inside his pocket, where he kept Scolipede's ball. "Go-"

His eyes grew wide. The pocket was empty. Simon frantically patted the other two pockets on the jacket- he couldn't find his Pokemon. "They must've taken him away, I can't find Scolipede!" he looked at Raph, panic on his face.

"We don't need him!" Raph called back, the storm was whipping around them now, the mega evolved, newly crowned flying type, seemed to encourage the area to surge into a raging hurricane, their voices getting more and more drawn out by the second. "You've raised plenty of strong pokémon Simon, we both have! We'll win this with them!" Their conversation was interrupted by the shadow now cast over them, Pinsir flew upwards, hate seething out of every orifice, as it prepared to plunge down and decimate them with its incoming attack.

"Roe!" Raph quickly tossed out the pokémon in his hand, the Marshtomp bursting forth into the storm and before Raph could even give a command, taking stock of the situation and throwing its arms out protectively in front of the two trainers, standing between them and the incoming Pinsir.

Realizing what the Pokemon was trying to do, Simon quickly turned to his own team, extending his arm out for Burmy to latch on. "Burmy, on my command!"

The bug swung onto his arm and landed beside Roe, both staring at the Pinsir defiantly. As the two pokémon stood side by side, their trainers similarly behind them. The two young men called out a command in unison.

]"Protect!"

Energy rushed rapidly around Roe and Burmy, bright light surging and mingling into a beam that shot skyward, before splaying outward into a single thick shell. Hexagonal patterns lightly traced the bubble like a wired grid and Pinsir crashed into the top hard. Both pokémon immediately strained, as if their own physical bodies were being pushed into the dirt. The shield instantly cracked, sparked and strained, making audible noise as it creaked and threatened to buckle… but it was enough.

Pinsir staggered backwards from the force of his own attack, caught completely unawares as somehow the force of his overwhelming attack was deflected away. Roe and Burmy staggered prone as the effort instantly exhausted them, but the opportunity was made and Raphael aimed to capitalize.

"Simon, we have to hit it where it hurts. It staggered back when Vito hit it with ice!"

"Alright!" Simon nodded. If icepower was what they needed, he knew where to get plenty. "Snom, team up with Vito!" The little ice bug hissed with determination as she jumped onto Raphael, crawling up his leg before hopping off and landing on top of the Sealeo's head. The Spikes on her body were raised and she let out an icy battle cry, ready to strike.

"Icicle Spear!" Snom raised her body before firing off several ice spikes at the Pinsir's wings. They shattered hard as Pinsir flailed to deflect them, while many landed home, freezing the bug types wings further, many more were batted aside, expertly deflected and shooting right back to sender.

"Vito, Ice Ball!" Bouncing up slightly and shocking Snom who now clung even tighter to Vito's head, the Sealeo rapidly began to spin. The crystalline ice of Snom's spikes seemed to assist in drawing in the frozen vapor of the air as both pokémon were enclosed in a significantly larger variation of Vito's signature attack. Grinding in place for the briefest of moments, the pair shot forward, Vito guiding the attack towards the incoming spires of the deflected Icicle Spears, ramping off a nearby mound of Earth. Like a ricocheting rocket, the sub zero ice ball smashed into one of the icicles and bounced, striking another, then another. Pinballing through the air towards the shocked Pinsir who had thought himself safe high above the ground.

With a resounding crash, the pair of spinning pokémon crashed hard against Pinsir. With claws and cries it tried to grip the icy sphere barrelling into it at full speed, to slow the rotation, but only managed to chip off small slivers of frost.

Enraged, it lowered its hands and opened its mouth instead. White light and energy gathered in vast amounts, before a solid beam of energy burst forward from Pinsir's maw. The Hyper Beam shattered the protective sphere of ice and sent both of the pokémon inside clattering to the ground. Even protected from the majority of the blast, they were down for the count after being exposed to even a sliver of Shadow Mega Pinsir's power.

"Urk…" Raphael was the next to freeze with fear as his starter was roughly cast to the ground. Vito had tried to protect Snom during the fall… but both pokémon had been seriously injured. He stowed those feelings quickly however, gripping the next pokéball on his belt and releasing Lumi, the nervous little Litwick putting on its best brave face as it landed in the storm, facing Pinsir, who now touched down at the ground, violently attempting to rip off the large chunks of ice now clinging to his body and wings.

A shrill cry of rage sounded beside them as a burst of flame escaped all of Larvesta's horns at once. The bug screeched in anger and it took to the skies, covered in flame, ready to strike the Mega Pinsir's face.

"Larvesta, wait! Your fire won't work in this weather!" Simon called out- and shockingly, the bug listened, turning around midair to look at him. Simon glanced at Raphael's litwick, Lumi, whose ghostly flame was still burning bright despite the rain. "Raph, you have to trust me on this!" the boy said, harking back to their encounter against Dusknoir. He looked at the scared little Pokemon, and looked into eyes, "You have to trust me too, okay?"

Lumi looked hesitant at first, glancing at Raph… but as his trainer gave an affirmative nod, Lumi did the same to Simon in turn. With little arms, he turned towards the flying Larvesta and gently reached up towards him.

"Let Lumi help you, Larvesta! Pick him up and attack from above!" Simon called out to his Pokemon. With a nod, the firebug flew back down and picked the litwick off the ground, allowing the wax to cling to him as he soared over the Pinsir. The larger Pokemon, wings still frozen, attempted to reach their height, roaring in frustration as it swiped just out of reach. "FIRE!" Simon yelled out, and Raphael's Pokemon spat out a barrage of ghostly flames, pelting the Pinsir's body with projectiles.

"Now we need to destabilize it again- that's how we pinned it down last time!" Simon looked at Raph. "Spewpa and Princess can help with paralysis!"

"Selene!" Raphael tossed his second to last pokéball outwards and in a flash of light, his Eevee's fur coat sparkled in the rain, the shiny pokémon standing proudly before their opponent completely unfazed. "We'll keep it distracted, hit it with everything you've got!" Raph took a few paces forward, grabbing Pinsir's attention, hate fueled eyes focussing on him with violent intent as Selene bounded protectively ahead, rushing towards Pinsir without hesitation.

"Baby-Doll Eyes!" Pinsir reared up seeing red, prepared to bring his fist down upon the small pokémon now closest to him. Selene however shifted her features into a pleading look brimming with fairy type energy, it wasn't much, but for a brief moment Pinsir seemed to hesitate. Its fist lingered in the air, as if some small part of it refused to finish the attack. The opportunity the devious Selene had been waiting for. "Sand Attack!" Quickly spinning in place, Selene kicked a deluge of muddy, waterlogged sand into Pinsir's eyes. The pokémon howled in irritation and stumbled slightly, moving its arms to rub the silt from its vision.

Lumi acted quickly on Pinsir's vulnerable state, shifting its swathe of embers upwards to target Pinsir's frozen wings. The fire blasted against ice, the frozen water rapidly melting, cracking and burning as hot water and steam rapidly took its place, disorienting the pokémon even further. "Simon now, don't hold back!" Raph affirmed, while his hand reached for the last pokéball on his belt.

"Spewpa, Princess!" Simon bent down to allow the two Pokemon to latch on to his arms, then in one motion, threw them towards the steam clouds. Both Pokemon knew what to do, and as Spewpa exploded into orange dust the joltik beside her let out a wave of crackling electricity, both moves immediately reacting to each other and the steam to create a burst of paralyzing energy that coursed through the Pinsir's body.

"Now, pin its legs down!" Simon followed up, and as the bugs fell to the ground, they both spat out globs of string and web at the Pinsir's feet, gluing them to ground as its muscles tensed up from the electricity. The steam quickly expanding from the combined effects of so many attacks obscuring its body entirely, bar the occasional flash from Lumi's incoming embers.

Simon looked at Raph, panic setting in again as he realized this was where they'd gone wrong last time. "Now or never, what do we do?!"

"We can't afford to hesitate. We have to hit it hard and hit it now before it breaks free. Keep your head on Si, we can do this, together!" Raph gripped his last pokéball tightly and tossed it upwards, bursting out and bouncing into the rain, eyes focused despite her erratic movement, was Carmen.

"Carmen, we need to hit it decisively with everything we can manage! Are you ready to show off what you've learned?" With a cry of approval, the Magikarp burst upwards, spinning quickly through the air and rushing high into the sky. "Hydro Tackle!"

Carmen turned to face away from Pinsir, the complete opposite direction, then opened her mouth wide. Shooting Hydro Pump, she rapidly propelled herself, the speed of the rain granting her swift swim made it impossible to track her movements. Throwing the full force of her body into the attack, she collided hard into Pinsir's head, causing the Mega Pokémon to real back and howl in pain, lurching backwards through the smoke as it struggled to stay standing. "Now Simon!"

The young man didn't even need to issue any order- hearing Raphael's command to Carmen, Anorith let out a confused screech, facing away from Pinsir as well before shooting off backwards as well in a combined aqua jet and water gun, mimicking the magikarp's intense speed as he flew up and doubled down on the pressure by smashing into its head alongside Carmen.

The smoke lurched forward as Pinsir staggered back, vanishing into the deluge of smoke with the two pokémon attacking it. Its cries went quiet… the clearing went quiet. Lumi stopped attacking, the pokémon present froze in quiet contemplation. The tension was palpable, one could cut it with a knife. Seconds felt like eons, the two trainers stood frozen for a moment longer, before Raphael slowly took a few steps forward.

The wind exploded outwards faster than anyone could react. Pinsir screamed as hurricane force winds whipped around it like blades. The paralysis was ignored, the string shot sliced, the ice shattered and the steam cleared. Carmen and Anorith were sent flying back towards their trainers, landing injured at their feet as Pinsir roared with malice. The red energy of the Black Suits' shadow pokémon surged around its body, its eyes became burning hot points of yellow light as smoke seemed to ooze off of it, its muscles bulged and its entire body seemed to tense with strain and power it couldn't contain. It was as if the storm was feeding it, like energy drawn from the Earth empowered its twisted shadow of a mega form.

Raph felt a familiar feeling of hesitation seep in, the explosion of wind from Hurricane hadn't just hit Carmen and Anorith, but Lumi and Larvesta were knocked from the sky, Selene and the rest of Simon's team had been hit as well… Burmy and Roe were still out for the count and Vito and Snom hadn't moved since they'd been broken out of their ice ball. His heart clenched shut in his chest, there was nothing else they had. No more tricks up their sleeves.

Foxrally · Sep 22, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Raphael Allard

Vito

Carmen

Lumi

Selene

Roe

Spoiler: Inventory

Lake of Outrage - Fields

"RRRRRRRRRGGHHHH…"

Simon's eyes grew wide as he noticed a familiar glint in Pinsir's eye- it was preparing a move. "Raph, it's getting ready to attack, we need to-"

As Raph was closer, Pinsir looked at him as it opened its maw, blinding light building up to extreme levels, power cracking the ground beneath its feet. The same move that had so easily shattered their shared ice attack earlier. Hyper Beam. He was out in the open, no cover in sight. The beam fired, streaking through the dark storm towards him.

The end was held back by the sound of rushing water.

Carmen, battered and bruised, launched herself upwards and shot a Hydro Pump with everything she could. The two beams clashed, the force of the blows holding Carmen in place while Raph and Simon were thrown backwards off their feet.

"CARMEN!" Raph attempted to stand back up, but the cascading energy simply shoved him back further. Unable to approach, he scrambled for his Magikarp's pokéball but couldn't find it. It had been thrown from his hand in the scramble of the hurricane prior.

Carmen shut her eyes and focused all of her energy into maintaining the beam shooting out of her mouth. Moisture was draining from her body rapidly, more than the rain could replenish as she desperately held the line. If she let go for even a second, if she hesitated for even a second… it was over. She would die. Raphael would die. Simon would die. Every pokémon here would die.

Everything all of these wonderful people had fought so hard for, gone in a moment. For what? For the greed and selfish ambitions of evil men in cheap suits.

But she couldn't hold on… this pokémon, whatever it was, had power beyond anything she had ever seen before. It was miraculous that she was able to hold on this long as she was. That was right, after all, wasn't it? She was just a little fish. No matter how hard she tried, how fast she swam, how many discs of data Raphael gave her to make up the difference.

Just a Magikarp.

The beam clash grew weaker, the hyper beam got closer as Pinsir showed no signs of slowing down. She was all but spent already. She hoped Raph was okay, that he was running, that he would find help. That he'd be okay without her… as she realized, her eyes clenching tighter, that she was about to leave him behind.

Yet something nagged at her, stirring in her mind.

"Carmen do you... want to evolve?"
"All this time I've been trying to become something new as well. Yet even as I am, I'm doing better than I thought. So I wonder, should I change? Should I evolve?"

Her eyes shot open, everything felt so quiet suddenly, that day came flooding back to her, all she could hear was his voice. As if he still sat on that small boat right beside her.

"I'm starting to think maybe we're over-complicating it all, you know?"
"We'll keep struggling together, all of us, day by day."

Together. Day by day.

Together.

Carmen felt tears stream down her face as she focused inwards. Her eyes bulging and her breath heaving as she forced more and more water into the attack. The storm above grew stronger, angrier, more violent. Carmen did the same, Lightning struck and the light lingered, like particles it zipped towards her, clinging to her, growing on her, covering her form. Raphael covered his eyes as he could barely even look at what was happening mere feet in front of him.

The clashing beams were pushed back, step by step, closer to Pinsir… until they equalled out again.

Rage. Hate. Retribution. Revenge. Carmen had never felt so furious. As the light clung to every inch of her body, she felt the rage seeping outwards, pushing at her edges, until her body could hold no more.

Like a whip, a massive blue tail, with a scarred fin, burst from the light. Crashing down into the muck and sending scattered fragments of dirt launching into the air. A massive form rose up, the source of the beam travelling with it, until Pinsir staggered backwards, staring up at the being of light that now towered over him by several feet.

The light cleared and Carmen opened her maw even wider, rows of sharp teeth in an azure, draconic maw screamed for violence as the intensity of the hydro pump seemed to quadruple in an instant.

"GYAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Raphael quickly grabbed his ears as Carmen's ear piercing scream seemed to part the storm. The water from the falling rain circling like a whirlpool towards her mouth, empowering her Hydro Pump even further.

Yet still, even with this new power, Pinsir held fast, matching the beam best it could, screeching in defiance at Carmen in turn, its own beam getting stronger and stronger.

Was this truly the power of a Mega Evolved Pokémon?

The beams grew brighter, hotter and angrier. Steam burst and rose off of the water that forced its way out of Carmen's evolved form and the scorching light of Pinsir's Hyper Beam surged unstably. Brighter, hotter, louder until the energy being forced together could hold fast no longer.

A massive explosion rocked the area, steam, water and light rocketed through the area and Raphael felt the force lift him off his feet again, throwing him backwards where he harshly collided with something soft he was fairly certain was Simon.

The sky was forced clear from the sheer impact of the energy released, leaving the moonlight to stream down on a wide clearing. An eye in the storm.

Raphael was dazed, his head spinning, his heart racing, his every inch feeling like it was going to break. Yet the second he felt any sort of lucidity, he struggled to sit up beside Simon and glance at the battlefield beyond…

And his heart sank lower than it ever had.

Lying amidst a pair of broken trees, Carmen's unconscious, Gyarados body lay unmoving. And in front of it, while luched over and panting, body scarred and leaking red smoke, beaten and severely injured, but still standing ready to fight...

Was Pinsir.

Both trainers looked on in abject terror as the Pokemon screeched out yet another primal battle cry, stomping on the ground with an earth-shattering slam. Bruised and torn up by the rocks on the ground, they were but two humans now solely facing down the beast.

"Raph…" Simon managed to say, looking around at their defeated Pokemon strewn about the battlefield. "Is… is this it?"

The rain splattered down on Raph's face as he seemed almost speechless. What could he say to that…? Even together, with everything they had. This was too much. The Black Suits… no… Blackspear Industries. This was just the start for them. Simon and Raph were the only ones now who knew the direct connection and they were a problem that was about to solve itself.

"No… it can't… that's not… even fair." Raph spluttered out, one hand slicking back his hair as his expression searched for a position to settle. Hopeless, desperate, defeated, enraged.

Enraged. Angry. Furious. His features contorted into hate and frustration. One hand gripped his hair and the other slammed into the ground as he felt a surge of primal anger bursting through him. He howled out a scream to vent some of the frustration, but even then just growled and gripped his hair with his other hand in tandem. "How the hell is this fair?! Why is nothing ever FAIR?!" He was losing it a little bit, his emotions out of whack, one near death experience too many.

"All my life, every time, I give it one hundred percent..! I just wanted to be useful to someone for once, to save someone for once! But every time it goes wrong, because I was born to damn well die!" He finishes the cry of anguish as Pinsir takes another step towards the two injured humans, howling in response to establish dominance in the face of Raph's anger, but it only serves to fuel the boy's rage even further.

Something snapped in him, something woke up. Another near death experience surging adrenaline through his damaged heart. He felt something, just the same as he had in Motostoke. He could see it where he hadn't before, Simon could too, glowing in his eyes, flowing off his fingers as he stared in shock at his hands.

A gently pulsing blue light.

Instinctively, he held onto that anger and channeled it into his voice. He let his feelings echo to anyone who knew him, anyone he had met before. Anyone at all.

"HELP US!"

Silence. Empty silence. For a brief moment there was no hope left, as if that fleeting moment of power was a cruel dream. Pinsir menacingly took another step forward, raising its hand skyward, claws glimmering in the rain, ready to cut the two humans in twain.

When another rage fueled cry echoed from above. A dark form rushed with blinding speed from behind Raphael and as his gaze shifted to the left, passing him by, as if time momentarily crawled to a halt, he saw three pairs of murderous black and purple eyes.

Hydreigon burst past Raphael and Simon and latched onto Pinsir's wings with its two auxiliary mouths. With a burning cry of fury it ripped harshly and tore, launching Pinsir back to the edge of the clearing and tearing one of the wings, still brittle from the frost, clean off of Pinsir's back. Black, smokey blood burst from the wound and Pinsir howled in pain as Hydreigon's three mouths fought momentarily for the dismembered wing, tearing it to tiny, insignificant pieces.

Pinsir opened its mouth quickly, still screaming from pain. It wasn't much of a transition, as the light of Hyper Beam began to gather again. Hydreigon was more than ready to respond in kind, taking two of its arms it opened both mouths at the end and a similar light began to charge. A double blasting Hyper Beam scattered outwards, clashing with Pinsir's, but even the Mega pokémon wasn't prepared for another battle of this sort. Hydreigon rapidly flew forward, arms outstretched, the beams growing closer, smaller and brighter as the distance closed until only a point of blinding hot light existed between the two pokémon.

With its main mouth still free, the Dark Dragon opened its maw wide and furiously drove its fangs into Pinsir's legendarily tough horns. The bug howled as the dual hyper beams petered out, instead gripping Hydreigon with its claws to try and pry him off. Another moment to play right into the brutal, vicious pokémons hands. Now free from their beams, Hydreigon's additional heads clamped onto Pinsirs arms and locked in. With a burst of speed, Hydreigon burst upwards, ripping the now one winged Pinsir off of the Earth and dragging him into the sky.

With teeth still latched onto its horns, Hydreigon weathered an incoming storm. Wrenching its arms free, Pinsir summoned hurricanes to harry both itself and Hydreigon in the air, yet as if its jaw was locked in place, it did not relent. Howls of pain and grunts of aggression somehow overcame the noise of the storm as the two struggled in the air… until finally it happened.

A splintering crack shattered along Pinsir's left horn, with a triumphant screech dripping with bloodlust, Hydreigon drove its teeth in deeper and tore the horn clean off, sending fragments of the appendage spraying down to the ground where they dispersed into red and black mist.

Hydreigon tossed Pinsir upwards. So utterly broken and weakened by the two trainers, the monstrous pokémon looked at the corrupted Mega with… disappointment. It had expected more.

As Pinsir naturally began to plummet, unable to keep itself afloat with a single wing, Hydreigon watched as it quickly dropped past him, broken, drifting towards the ground… Before opening his three gaping maws once more. Electricity, Ice, Fire, all three elements of tri attack… all now weaknesses of Pinsir. Hydreigon thought it amusing how this higher state of evolution left its opponent so very vulnerable. A different element fired from each mouth, the three beams spiralled together like a drill.

A drill that pierced through Pinsir's mouth and burst out the other side as it fell.

The old bug pokémon, broken and beaten, was battered and blasted roughly into the ground below. With a resounding crack and the screaming sound of dispersing energy, its remaining wing bled away in prismatic light and its remaining horn shrunk in size. Its body, reverted, trashed and raged with red shadow energy one final time… before dispersing into particles of nothing. Twisted embers that drifted towards a rapidly clearing night sky, as swiftly and decisively the storm that had raged unnaturally for so long finally began to clear.

It was over.

The two trainers sat stunned as the final push was delivered for them, by the aid of an unexpected wild ally. Raphael looked upwards towards the familiar pokémon, the eyes of its main head waiting to lock with his own. "You… heard me." The Dragon merely snorted, not deigning to give the boy an answer. Raphael was still too weak after all. It turned and burst forward, gliding through the sky, parting the clouds as it went, leaving devastation in its wake.

Raphael, still shaking from overwhelming emotion, rose to his feet and turned to face Simon. Utterly speechless after everything that had happened.

What felt like an eternity of stunned silence passed before the younger of the two spoke up. "It… it's dead…" Simon said blankly. There was no trace of the creature, nothing to show for the devastation it had wreaked but the ravaged earth beneath where it stood and the defeated Pokemon around it. And just as quickly as their saviour had arrived, it was gone.

Without thinking, Simon slowly reached into the pocket of his torn jacket, feeling around for the pokeballs still there. And he did… his finger felt something that wasn't a ball. His eyes widened and his heart stopped as he pulled out another fragment of his former Pokemon's shell- before breaking down entirely beside Raphael.

Turnip · Sep 25, 2021

You Fool You Absolute Buffoon You Have Unwittingly Stepped Into The Psyience Zone And Now You Must Demonstrate How Your Mind Looks At Stuff Idiot
Featuring Haleigh, Cornelius, Reyna, Kass, Jerry and Xan

After taking a few more days of resting, Haleigh was finally ready to set out again and march on towards Hammerlocke. The cold weather had persisted in this part of the Wild Area, with snow having fallen and collected on the ground. Luckily, it was not something either her or her team were not used to, even if it was unusual to experience during the summer.

However, something was going on in the distance that involved a lot of noise. They were kind of hard to describe, but if she strained to try and describe what she was hearing, it would best be described as squawking, braying and croaking. Presumably, it was something to do with a group of Pokemon.

Haleigh, having both her trusty would-be knight of a Kirlia and her feisty Piplup by her side, had her curiosity piqued. The latter in particular seemed to share in her trainer's curiosity as the noises, though distinct from her own, were similar enough to hers that it seemed like whatever Pokemon was causing it was similar to her in some way.

"Pip pip!" She exclaimed, pointing in the direction of the commotion and pointing at herself and expanding her flippers.

Haleigh raised an eyebrow and said, "Huh, so you reckon there's a lot of 'you' over that way? Want to check it out?"

Reyna nodded and started to lead the charge towards the source of the noise - though careful not to deviate too far from Haleigh and maintain a defensive position. As the three of them started to walk over to the source of the noise, without detecting any noticeable drops in temperature, they noticed the snow starting to thin as she continued to walk towards the source of the noise. As she listened closer, there was also a noise that stood out above the din as well as not belonging to the same creatures that were making the squawking noises. It was a bold noise, a noise that proclaimed a sense of grandiosity, it was...a quack?

Closer and closer to the noise the group came, and as they did the weather continued to clear. Sure enough, the Pokémon responsible for the commotion became evident, even going so far as to separate themselves into neat little groups. The closest group were a band of Froakie, stealthily hopping through the snow on the trail of something, or perhaps someone. To their left, a ways out and making most of the noise, was a waddle of Eiscue. A Kadabra near the Eiscue gang was silent, and the couple of Cryogonal passing by didn't make much noise, which left the final noisemaker: at the centre of it all, looking confused and lost but oddly impressive in a way that Haleigh couldn't quite quantify, was a lone Psyduck.

Amongst all of the chaos, Haleigh picked out the Psyduck to call out to and said, "Oi, you there, what's a Pokemon like you doing out here...or all of these guys for that matter…" She gestured to the abundance of Froakies.

Wide-eyed, the Psyduck looked up to the sky, letting out a single philosophical quack.

"...Right." Haleigh didn't know what she expected talking to a Psyduck. The Psyduck didn't need to answer for Haleigh though as she realized that the ground was completely devoid of snow and the temperatures were a lot milder in proximity to the creature. So that apparently explained the Froakie, seeing as they stuck close to them.

Now as for the Eiscue and the Kadabra, that combination was more of a mystery. She called out to the Kadabra (who might be able to better communicate, Cornelius could potentially fill in the gaps). "'Ey, you know this Psyduck over here? Or is he another tagalong?"

The Kadabra seemed a bit preoccupied, engaging in staccato conversation with different members of the Eiscue gang who, on closer inspection, seemed troubled. Even still, the Psychic-type took the time out to wave and throw a thumbs-up Haleigh's way. A few moments later, following the sorting out of another outburst of squabbles from two Eiscue, the Kadabra turned Haleigh's way again and pointed toward a tree with some greenery beneath.

"Hmm…?" Haleigh looked over to the tree, seeing nothing that would catch her attention- caught on a mental breeze and floating steadily into the mailbox of the mind came a cluster of thoughts: yes! That direction. Another creature of some kind. Alike, you - like Haleigh! Ish.

Haleigh widened her eyes as her mind was suddenly rushed with all of those images, all put there by a force that wasn't something she was directly in control of. "W-woah, what the bloody hell?!"

Even knowing that telepathy was probably going to factor into communicating with a Kadabra, it still didn't prepare for just how weird it felt. The only thing that was comparable was the Misdreavous way back on Route 3 with Ruben but to her relief, it seemed like the most they could do was project images and thoughts rather than full on hallucinations.

Recollecting what the Kadabra had transmitted, she said aloud, "Something like me, you mean another human, over that way?" She pointed in the direction that they had indicated with their thoughts. Another thumbs up! That must mean she guessed right.

"Nice, I got it!" Haleigh shared in their enthusiasm for getting it right and momentarily forgot about how weird it was that she was communicating with a Pokemon with telepathy. "I guess I'll see what that person has to say about all this then."

She turned and started walking towards the direction of where they had said the other human was with her two Pokemon in tow. Once she could see the figure of someone sitting on a rock and typing away at a computer, she thought she had recognized them from somewhere. Then, it clicked. Androgynous, always wore a helmet, had an Abra (who was now a Kadabra, presuming it was theirs), expressed an interest in all things psychic. They might not have been the most social person at the academy, but Haleigh would be hard pressed to forget someone that stood out like that - even if they preferred to fade into the background and not interact.

"Ah, Xan! It's been a while, hasn't it? It's Haleigh, back from the academy."

They paused typing and looked up from their laptop. "Hi," said the Psychic, before going back to typing again. With their left hand they gestured to the snow-free greenery next to the rock. "Mind the Vulpix. They're in a hunting… thing. Something to that effect. Did you need something?"

Haleigh looked back in the direction of where she had encountered the yellow psychic Pokemon. "Erm, is that Kadabra yours? They pointed me this way to you, said you had an idea of what was going on with this menagerie of Pokemon." She laughed a bit as she gestured to the chaos of Pokemon all around them.

"The Kadabra is Kass, they are my research partner - one of a few," Xan explained. "According to them, the Eiscue are facing some sort of conundrum. They wanted to help out, and I figured I could do with a bit of a rest anyway so here I am. Jerry is also out there - that's the Psyduck. They negate the effects of weather in the local area passively. Froakie have been following them all over, to escape the heatwave back at the riverbank and apparently here to escape the snow, as well. And what an absolute joy it is."

'Research partner'? That was a new one Haleigh hadn't heard of in reference to a Pokemon partner. "I'll bet, the weather can get mad unpredictable in these parts."

Haleigh gestured down her Pokemon. "These guys right 'ere are Reyna, my Piplup." Reyna gave a nod of acknowledgement. "And this is Cornelius, my Kirlia." Cornelius gave a small salute to Xan.

The human psychic peeked around their laptop in silence for several seconds before they spoke. "I'm- er, hi folks - I really need to get better at remembering my notes. They're right in front of me, even. Okay, right," they paused to readjust themselves on the rock. "Cornelius, mind if I ask how you feel about the prospect of assisting science?"

Cornelius looked up to the other human. Science? He had detected that something about this human definitely made him more psychically attuned than Haleigh or any other human he had seen so far. That alone was certainly interesting, but perhaps with their apparent expertise, he could learn some more things about himself and make himself an even more capable Pokemon to help protect Haleigh. He nodded his head affirmatively.

"Excellent. Many thanks in advance," Xan typed a few more things down. "I'd reimburse you if I could but it's a volunteer thing, I'm afraid. But you know how it is, everything at your own pace, nothing that makes you uncomfortable, under no obligation and all that. Don't suppose you're able to write or type?"

Cornelius shook his head. Haleigh raised an eyebrow. That...was something you could teach to a Pokemon? She supposed it could be possible, but it simply never crossed her mind.

"Worth a shot," Xan shrugged. "How's your telepathy?"

He pointed to Haleigh and shook his head but then turned around to point at Xan and shrugged. For whatever reason, Haleigh just wasn't able to be on that same wavelength. He's tried a few times, but got nothing in response. With Xan though…

Cornelius tried out sending the psychic a quick test. After closing his eyes and concentrating, he started to broadcast a few simple concepts. A kettle, a teabag, questioning inflection.

"Tea?" Xan tilted their head. "I know you're asking something, but what are you asking?"

He repeated the same images, only this time adding a human figure in the likeness of Xan and the abstract concept of liking something into the equation. The Kirlia looked up expectedly.

"Ahh, do I like tea? I get the picture," said the psychic. "There's a good degree of clarity, here, I think, from the concepts I'm getting if not the content of the message itself. I- okay, call it intuition - I don't mean to presume anything, but might you be out of practice in communicating like this? Or maybe nervous, or otherwise preoccupied? Whatever the case we don't need to dwell on it, it's just so I can get a better gist of what I'm dealing with here."

He was definitely out of practice on account of neither Haleigh nor her other Pokemon being skilled with telepathy. More images Xan's way: a red not symbol, telepathy, Haleigh, a Raboot, a Galarian Corsola, an Alolan Vulpix, an Eevee, a Piplup.

"You don't telepathically communicate with your-? I'm assuming those are your teammates. Peers who can understand your speech, I understand, but not with Haleigh?"

The Kirlia shook his head in response. He broadcast a few more images to elucidate the point. Haleigh, a mind, a big stone wall.

Xan went back to typing with a shrug and said, "Fair enough. Understandable hiccup at the start, but communication level is solid. Largely image-based, but concepts are crisp and clear. To that end I suppose I don't have to bother Kass, though they might want to be around for this anyway. That is, if you actually have time now- oh, and before I forget, I guess I should-" The psychic paused, and their head turned in Haleigh's direction with a little tilt. "Haleigh, given that you graduated from Wedgehurst among other things I have a feeling I already know the answer, but I don't suppose you're able to write or type?"

Haleigh, naturally, had been able to only hear Xan's verbal responses to whatever Cornelius was talking about, but it seemed like the general gist of the conversation was about his own psychic abilities. It should have been obvious that as a psychic type, he possessed these abilities, though what Kass had done with her was certainly nothing she had ever done with Cornelius.

In response to Xan's question, Haleigh said, "Eh? Oh, yeah, course I can write and type." She chuckled a bit at the absurdity of the question. "I'm not much for pen and paper but my phone has a note-taking app. Is this about what you all were discussing just now, something about telepathy?"

"It's a little broader than that, but in part yeah," Xan answered. "If you're open to the idea of volunteering to lend your note-taking skills to the cause via a phone app, then by all means that'd be fantastic. I imagine you two aren't strangers to working together with each other, so if you're both on board then this is a lot easier."

Haleigh looked to Cornelius and exclaimed, "Oh yeah, I'm on board for pretty much anything if it's doin' it with these guys!"

During all of this chatter, Reyna was growing bored with all this chatter of psychic this, psychic that. She wanted to actually do something, maybe get to blast something with her trusty Water Gun. As she sulked, Haleigh looked over to check on Reyna and saw she was indeed quite bored. She suggested to her, "If you're bored listening to us over here, why don't you go over to Kass and help 'em sort out that Eiscue problem? I reckon you might have a bit of expertise."

Okay, so settling down a squabbling bit of Eiscues was hardly what she was looking for when she said something, but she supposed it beat sitting around here. With a shrug, Reyna went back over to the direction of where they had seen the Kadabra.

Focusing her attention back to Xan and Cornelius, Haleigh got out her phone and got ready for Xan's instructions.

"So I can send you over a list of things to look out for - don't worry, I've got the cables - and you two can check over that whenever you get the time," said the psychic, beginning to root around in their bag. "The whole deal is basically to observe and document psychic phenomena, with particular interest in the development of existing abilities and the emergence of new ones. As for the present, as in right this moment, I'm particularly interested in the psychosensory abilities of the Ralts line. By all means the psychotelepathy stuff was important and interesting, but really it's just useful to be able to communicate with a participant. Here's that cable..."

Haleigh was feeling a bit intimidated by all of the talk of observation and whatnot for the pursuit of science. Nonetheless, she was undeterred and decided to continue listening to what they had to say. "I guess it's all cool and all to research psychic stuff, but it was like you said, I can't even talk to Cornelius telepathically, let alone observe other psychic stuff. I didn't even know that was a possibility, honestly."

Xan tilted their head for a moment, said nothing, then let out a 'hm'. Once again they readjusted themselves atop the rock before they went ahead. "You say you can't talk to Cornelius telepathically? They understand your speech, surely, and I doubt you're incapable of receiving a psychic message - correct me if I'm wrong..." The psychic looked at Cornelius and back to Haleigh again. "Where's the issue?"

The girl replied, "Well yeah, I got Kass' message that pointed you to me, so yeah, I guess I'm capable. As for why not…"

Haleigh shrugged, "I'm not really sure."

Cornelius looked back up at her trainer. It certainly wasn't something that he was able to just bring up, considering it was kind of a hard thing to describe with nonverbal cues and talking when she wasn't able to understand his speech. He remembered what Kass had been doing before they had sent the message. He pointed to the direction of another tree on the horizon, calling out in an urgent tone "Kir!"

Haleigh looked at the tree, looking to see what he was pointing at. "Eh? There's-"

Suddenly, her mind was barraged with some mental images. A waving hand, himself, Haleigh, telepathy.

Almost as soon as she received those images, she felt herself tense up and suddenly, the connection was lost. Even having experienced it before with Kass, it was still a bit disorienting. "I think he was saying hello to me, kind of a test message I guess?" Haleigh scratched her head as she pondered what had gone on there. "But then I kinda clammed up again, and I lost the signal, know what I mean?"

"Not sure that I do," Xan admitted. "Many psychic effects don't work with physical space - unless Cornelius' telepathy is significantly different in ways I've somehow not experienced, then it's not exactly difficult to target a specific person with the message. Not like it's a projectile that can miss - and indeed, it's the telepath who is putting in the psychic work to make it happen. You can rebuke a psychotelepathic message, for sure, and generally without difficulty, but by all means receiving a message should be easier."

"Rebuking it, huh?" Haleigh thought about the two times that she did have that successful connection. Both times Kass and Cornelius had distracted her by looking at the tree and with Cornelius in particular, she remembered tensing back up when the effect was starting to get to her. "Do you have to kind of think about blocking it, or can it just happen without even thinkin' about it?"

"Depends what you consider 'not thinking about it'," the psychic shrugged. "It's force of will in a broad sense, but I don't have the resources to fully determine whether things are properly conscious or subconscious. To the extent of my knowledge, blocking telepathy without thinking about it in any fashion would be like keeping your eyes closed without thinking about it - metaphorically speaking. On that same basis, I find it highly unlikely that you couldn't, at least, will yourself open to psychotelepathic communication."

"I see…" Haleigh scratched her chin in thought as she thought more about Xan's words. If it really were like closing her eyes metaphorically that could block it all, perhaps it was said something about her that she had been so on guard that even with Cornelius trying, it was impossible up until now. "I can certainly work on that in my own time here and there, in any case. It seems...interesting."

"Interesting?" Xan echoed, an amused lilt to their tone. "Funnily enough I agree." They leaned to the side for a moment, looking past Haleigh and Cornelius, but there wasn't much of a clear view of what was happening in that direction from their angle. "Well, I don't have much of an idea of how long that lot feel like consorting with the Eiscue. If you're not going anywhere, I'd be delighted to get an introductory grasp of the signature psychosensory abilities of your species."

Haleigh replied, "Ah, you mean their ability to sense emotion n' all that? I'd be pretty excited to see how that works myself, that stuff's bloody magic as far as I can tell. It's been real helpful to me, even if I didn't think it was at the time." Cornelius blushed a bit from the praise his trainer was giving to him.

"Seeing how it works is the issue," said Xan with a nod. "Perceptive abilities are a distinctly personal experience - but I'm hoping with an informed outside perspective and some effective communication, we can gain slightly better insight than most. A decent starting idea of its properties, at least; something informal we can use to devise a proper testing strategy."

Haleigh asked, "Alright then, what do you propose we do to test Cornelius' abilities? If I'm understanding correctly, any sort of tests would work best between me and him on account of us spending a lot of time together."

Xan rested their head on one hand, "Familiarity could be a factor. You two together is probably the status quo, so we can work off of that as a base. Ideally at some point we need to compare that with acquaintances and/or strangers. I suppose this could be akin to the reverse of the telepathic experiment - let's try to assess some boundaries. If you feel like stopping, just say so. Er- I guess first, actually, we should see what we're working with right now, just to confirm. Question time. What do you sense, Cornelius?"

Cornelius concentrated as he started to sense the beginnings of...something. Like a low level "hum" of sorts of psychic energy, but far from anything concrete to paint a picture like with Haleigh. He shrugged and started to do his best to replicate the sensation he was getting off of Xan and transmitted what he felt like back at the psychic. Typing resumed with greater fervour. Over the course of a few minutes the group explored the nature of Cornelius' psychic awareness. Questions were asked and answered with telepathy; concepts of transmitted experience that were easier to communicate psychically than they might have been with words.

Haleigh looked over in thought, sifting through all of the information that they had discussed up to this point. It didn't appear as if Cornelius was lighting up in the same way that he did with Haleigh - though she suspected that had more to do with the bond the two of them had and that unlike her, Xan was far from the most expressive of people when it came to their emotions.

She decided to chime in and say, "Hmm, it doesn't look like he's sensing anything particularly strong, usually sensing something off of me is enough to make him start feeling whatever it is pretty strongly as well."

"Yeah, I think I've got something of a grasp of it," Xan said. They didn't type all the time - what typing did occur seemed to happen quickly - but it was rare that they looked up from their screen when they weren't observing something psychic going on. "Enough to move on to establishing the base, I suppose. Phase two it is; you seem to have some idea of what typically happens, so I'll leave that to you. Just communicate to everyone what you're doing and I'll observe."

Cornelius nodded as he turned to Haleigh and started to both perceive her emotions and broadcast what that entailed to Xan at the same time. He used the baseline that they both had established as a point of reference for his perception of Haleigh's emotions, pointing out things that differentiated between the two of them while he was sensing them. A lot of it was nuance that was best communicated exclusively through the realm of psychic power, but some notable concrete things to be latched onto included differences in passively and actively perceiving emotions and how with Haleigh, a lot of her emotions became powerful enough to physically affect him. Xan observed patiently and with great interest throughout, until they were hit with a brainwave and the two seemed to be losing steam.

"This has been an eye-opening experience," said the human psychic. "Valuable enough just for the sake of knowledge, but as much as knowledge is fascinating I think there may be potential for progress here. Something a peer brought up a little while ago has me thinking..." They looked between the other two but ended up on Cornelius. "You can clearly sense whatever it is coming from Haleigh, enough to recognise and interpret it in detail. I don't, of course. Can you sense something of the same nature from yourself? And if so, is it controllable?"

Cornelius pondered Xan's words and gave a nod in response to his first question. He thought about just how well he could control his perception when it came to himself. He reasoned that he could control it about as well as he could while sensing Haleigh but thinking on it more, he wasn't quite sure of his full potential in that regard. He tried to get the message across with some more telepathy. Himself, emotions, control. Potential, a vast abyss.

Xan chuckled, "Endless potential is right - I'll clarify my intention, I regret I get a little carried away with trains of thought. I'm not capable of picking up what you can with my senses, and to my knowledge Kass - that's the Kadabra - they aren't with theirs either. But if what you're picking up is a controllable emanation, then there could be hope for a learning experience with combined effort. If we can focus our senses, and you can create an 'amplified signal', as it were, then it's possible that we might be able to pick up on what is essentially the same thing. That perspective - knowing what we're looking for, even if we only catch it for a moment - is invaluable. An elusive catalyst for growth."

A lot of what they were saying was going over Cornelius' head, but he nonetheless politely nodded and gave him a bow in thanks for all of the genuinely enlightening parts of their exchanges.

Haleigh then looked over at Xan and said, "It seems like you got a lot out of interacting with Cornelius here. At least, I hope you did, it was pretty interesting to hear about all this psychic stuff. It's a bit like being back at the academy, I guess." She chuckled a bit.

"Oh," Xan tilted their head. "You're done for now, you think?"

Haleigh looked over to Cornelius and saw him nod his head. "Yeah, I think so. We can totally do this again-"

However, as soon as Haleigh had said that, everyone's attention was brought to a strange noise coming from the direction of where Reyna had gone off to help with the Eiscue problem. A rhythmic shifting of snow, steadily increasing in volume. Louder and louder the noise approached and as it rose to worrying intensity the group became anxious to spot its source. But in spite of how loud the noise became, whatever made it wasn't distinguishable through the foliage.

Xan silently closed their laptop and put it away. Haleigh put a hand to her jacket pocket to prepare to send out more Pokemon while Cornelius tensed up into a battling pose.

Whatever it was, it sounded big. It sounded like it had purpose. And it was coming their way.

Fen-Fen · Sep 25, 2021

Haleigh Windsor and Xan

Tales Of Jerry Volume Eight The Lost Chronicles Deluxe A Journey Beyond

Out of all of the Eiscue in that flock, there was one that loomed large over the rest. At least, that's what he fancied himself as being. In his mind, he was a seasoned veteran leading his flock, guiding them forward and towards a greater sense of purpose. That purpose? Well, he was admittedly still searching for that.

He turned and looked back at said flock. They...were admittedly still a work in progress. Like most of their kind, they chatted incessantly and loudly about the latest frivolity that they collectively shared. This time, it was a lament about the shape of their heads and how it paled in comparison to the wonders of the Cyrogonal that had followed them when the temperatures dropped.

"COME HERE, SHAPE MY HEAD FOR ME!!!"

"NOOO, ME FIRST, ME FIRST!!!"

"Comrades, please, you must listen-"

His voice, however, was drowned out with the incessant calls to reform their faces. Such was the nature of the other Eiscues. To his left, wiping their brow, the helpful Kadabra from earlier approached. Seemed they'd just finished splitting up another scuffle between one of the hexagonal renegades and a cube loyalist.

"They're not fighting any more, but that's a handful enough as it is," they said apologetically. "Even if it's not violent, it's still raving. We're going to need something big to draw their attention; I don't think words'll do it…"

"Something big to draw their attention…" He looked away in thought.

As if to answer their desire for something to shake things up, a certain other penguin Pokemon started to head their way, though clearly she was nothing like the Eiscue that found themselves here. It wasn't just the fact that this other Pokemon was a Piplup. The way that she carried herself exuded a sort of confidence that made her seem a lot bigger than she really was.

The Eiscue's eyes lit up as he caught sight of her. A fellow penguin Pokemon with that unmistakable quality of leadership, confidence, dignity-

"Hey, what's all this stupid yapping about?" She looked over and saw a Kadabra and an Eiscue grouped next to each other. "Do I have to beat some sense into them?"

"Hi," the Kadabra turned and waved at her with a soft smile. "We were trying to prevent that, actually! The- hmm…" They paused for a moment in thought. "These guys are facing an identity quandary, and it's fuelling potential ideological turf-war! Wanna help? I'm Kass, by the way."

"Name's Reyna," she replied curtly. "I guess I can try and offer my help, beats the hell out of watching my trainer and that person with the weird helmet yap on and on about psychic stuff."

She looks back over to the squawking masses and turns back to Kass and the lone Eiscue. "What the hell's got them so worked up anyways?"

The Eiscue was the first to respond. "My brethren and I have been searching for...something, I guess. In the process, we have been to many parts of this land, far and wide, ever searching. Then, they found these Cryogonal and have since devolved into geometric factions: those who prefer their cubic heads, and those that prefer a hexagonal one."

Reyna scoffed. "Are you fucking serious? All this over shapes?" She gave an incredulous look over to Kass.

"It's an image thing, it's valid," the Kadabra shrugged in response. "Problem for them is I guess they need outside help to shape their heads? And then a lot of them seem up in arms over that for some reason because they disagree - they're kinda rambling so it's hard to get the details."

"Shaping heads? Got it." Reyna went over to get a decently heavy rock and started walking over towards one of the Eiscue.

Kass let out a snort of laughter, "I- with the rock? Carving needs, like, precision. Smaller and sharper and less all-out-blunt-force-trauma. Like the enthusiasm, though!" Their ears and snout perked up and swivelled a bit, their entire head following a little ways behind. "Oh, uh, I think the Cryogonal are coming around again. Passing by Jerry - if the guys catch sight of the hexagons it might set them off again."

"Did someone say Hexagons!?" Blurted a nearby Eiscue.

Kass responded, "I'm not affiliated with shapes."

"Oh. Okay."

Reyna turned to Kass, "Jerry? That Psyduck over there?" The Kadabra was already trotting in that direction.

"Yup! Good ol' Jerry," Kass said. They turned to the Eiscue who didn't seem to have some kind of head-shape obsession. "Actually, I got an idea - you can kinda be an example of a cube, and it's the Cryogonal that are making some of the guys go hexagon-crazy so one of them is for sure an example of that. Maybe the both of you at once can talk some sense into the group?"

The Piplup thought it over until she replied with, "Okay, guess that makes sense. Let me-"

She was cut off as it happened. The Kadabra had spotted the Cryogonal and had called out, beginning to wave. The Psyduck swivelled his head to look, missing the form that passed behind him. Amongst the cool whites, dark greens and muted browns of the scenery, a vibrant rocket of yellow-orange stood out like a sore thumb - and soar it did, whizzing past Jerry's head to explode in a violent fireball, sending the two Cryogonal tumbling away end-over-end.

"I got an idea for ya," barked a Vulpix, on the trail of the fiery missile. "If these snowflakes are makin' people crazy, let's fuck 'em up and then fuck up the crazies! Doesn't take a genius!"

"Sphinx!? Y-" Kass scrambled, hopping over to the two Ice-types. "That doesn't solve anything- I'm so sorry, you two-"

The Psyduck let out a long quack in the vein of a panicked scream.

The head Eiscue and Reyna stood in shock for a few moments, taking in the carnage that the Vulpix had unleashed. The Piplup couldn't pretend that the solution wasn't her style, but the fact that the Vulpix had just unleashed a torrent of fire attacks without even consulting them.

Unfortunately for the Eiscue, they had started catching wind of the brewing conflict and were starting to get riled up again, only for the head Eiscue to bark the most threatening bray he could manage and shouted "ATTEEEEEENTION!" That got the Eiscue line up, standing with their backs straight and preventing them from joining the fight while the leader turned his attention back to the other Pokemon.

Reyna glared at the fire fox and started stomping over in her direction. She pointed a flipper in her direction and shouted, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?! You nearly blasted a teammate and fucked up our plans!"

"Yeah, well, I didn't blast him, and your plans sucked, soooo…" The Vulpix trailed off, following her fire missile at a trot and staying wary of the Piplup. "We're just gonna carry on, I don't even know you."

"We are not carrying on!" Kass insisted. The Kadabra was trying to help the Cryogonal, who seemed to have taken the Incinerate fairly well all things considered, but with the two still being disoriented and expecting a fight the Psychic-type didn't want to provoke them by trying to help too much. "These guys were just moseying on through, they're chill! Stop please!"

"It'll be fine, it'll work out good for us," Sphinx said with confidence. "Watch!"

The Fire-type's back arched and her mouth flared with light - uh oh. Kass knew another attack was coming, but how to stop it? TK dirt or stone to block, block it themselves - not advisable - put off Sphinx's aim somehow - there were so so many options-

"No…" A Psyduck's breath on the wind… a verdict from Jerry. The sparks in Sphinx's mouth died, Disabled, and she didn't even have time to form the second letter of her expletive of choice before a Water Gun ploughed into her side and sent her sprawling, soggy.

Kass blinked.

Reyna glowered at Sphinx and said, "We tried to talk you out of it, but you decided to be stupid and thinking you're tough shit and fucked everything up. Sit down and shut up."

"Bite me, fucking interloper," growled the Vulpix as she rolled to her feet.

"No…" said Jerry.

"Fighting over there's a bad idea too!" Called the Kadabra. "Sorry you guys, I- let's go over here."

"All's well, nothin' we can't handle," one Cryogonal waved away Kass' concern, their voice like a cold whisper.

"Aye," agreed the other, their voice like a chilly murmur. "Feisty ones, ain't 'ey?"

"Quite," the Kadabra agreed. "Actually I wanted to ask your help about some other feisty…"

As the three got out of earshot, Reyna huffed in anger while she tried to summon a Water Gun, only to be met with a distinct inability to shoot any more water. She crossed her flippers and grumbled, "Well, guess you ain't the only one who got muzzled. So I guess we're at ease for now."

"Yeah, real at ease," Sphinx spat, throwing a harsh glare at Jerry, who was waddling over hurriedly. "Guess I'll leave-" The Vulpix cut herself off, tails rising from behind her and glowing ominously. A wavy beam of light shot out in Reyna's direction, before a diving Psyduck caught it in his bill and rolled to a stop.

Sphinx was frozen, shocked.

This time, the Eiscue was the one to step up, standing by Reyna and giving a nod of recognition to Jerry. "Thank you. You are an ardent and dedicated mediator for peace."

He turned back to Reyna and said, "And you, though you have a lot of potential in that regard, I see you too still have a lot left to learn."

Reyna huffed. "Never said I was a 'mediator for peace', I'm just me."

The Eiscue paused, considering the answer before giving a nod of approval at her. "That's certainly admirable."

He finally turned to the Vulpix and shook his head in disapproval. She met his gaze, distraught, looked at Reyna, turned to Jerry, Eiscue, Jerry, Reyna, Jerry, Eiscue, Reyna-

"The f- how- you saw th-?" She shook her head and her gaze eventually lingered on the Psyduck. "Fucker's just- he- confused? What?"

"Good news, gamers!" The voice of the Kadabra reached the ears of the others once again. "We got a hex- uh, we got a friend on board! Plan A is ready to go - rendering any more in-fighting hilarious levels of unnecessary!" With an acrobatic flip Kass arrived, followed shortly by one of the Cryogonal.

"Ready to help calm down these rowdy lil' fellas," said the hexagon, cool and fresh like audible mint toothpaste. "So long as nobody's got a problem with that."

Sphinx blinked, shook her head again and turned to leave. "Fucking whatever," she swore. "Have fun with your stupid dweeb plan."

"I will!" Kass waved.

At long last, the original plan was set and ready to go. The Eiscue, the Cryogonal and Reyna, Kass went as a group towards the Eiscue flock, with Reyna mostly standing back with Kass as the two respective geometric leaders went to address the group

The Eiscue puffed up his chest and started off with another rousing speech, this time with his hexagonal comrade at his side.

"My fellow Eiscue, I implore you to look at me and this Cryogonal fellow. We stand here as the prime example of being able to coexist while possessing different shapes for our forms. I, too, believe that you all may be able to do the same. For you see-"

He stopped his speech as he realized that none of their gazes were matching his own, instead they were all murmuring amongst each other and looking elsewhere. But not simply elsewhere, he realised; they were all looking in the same direction. Unanimous, united, undivided, every single Eiscue had their eyes trained on one single thing. Sitting in the mud, quite content, eyes spiralling only slightly more than usual was the object of the crowd's unwavering gaze. Water from the damp grass beneath had moistened the head of Jerry the Psyduck following his dive-move, whose now-shimmering face glistened with unmatched splendour.

"The perfect shape," one Eiscue whispered.

"Such majesty I have never beheld," gasped another.

"Cubes, hexagons… they are nothing…" a third breathed.

Jerry sniffed.

Reyna scratched her head, looking over to Kass with a perplexed expression. "What in the…"

Kass blinked, speaking hushedly to the others, "... Is this good?" before making their way over to the Psyduck. Must have been a rhetorical question.

The Eiscue also looked down at the flock as perplexed as anyone else. They...wanted to be in the shape of Jerry? Even so, there was something in him that felt it was right. However, in that moment of relief, there came a bittersweet emotion to it all. Was he no longer needed? Did he no longer possess what it took to lead his brethren?

He sighed and looked away. Reyna looked at him with a tilted head. "What's eating ya? Ain't you happy that everyone's calmed down now?"

He replied, "I am, but it makes me feel...unnecessary. They haven't been the most receptive to me as of late, and I fear that we have been slipping further and further apart. So...what else is there?"

Reyna's face softened. "Oh. That...sucks."

She scratched her head, looking off to the side. "Well shit, if you're looking for something to do, my trainer is a bleeding heart and would probably take you in a heartbeat. She's still learning the ropes herself, but she's real strong and with her, you can be pretty strong yourself."

The Eiscue looked at Reyna for a minute, pondering the offer in his mind. A trainer? He knew enough that that implied he would be demoted from a role of leadership to one that was more akin to subservience. However, the promise of glory and strength really appealed to something in him. Perhaps his search for "something" could be over.

He broke the silence by saying, "I believe I could take you up on that offer. Let us meet this trainer of yours."

"What!?" One of the more cognisant Eiscue had caught wind of the conversation. "You can't leave yet, your head's not the right shape! None of our heads are the right shape!"

"Hey now," Kass raised a palm and motioned the shouty Eiscue to calm down. "You know, it's all well and good to be passionate about your own appearance. But you can't go enforcing that on other people, you know? They might be just as passionate as you."

The loud Eiscue scoffed, and the crowd seemed to match their air of dismissal. "Pff, what do you know? You don't even have a-"

"Yeah, what they said," Jerry quacked.

"What insight!" cried an Eiscue immediately.

"Such wisdom!" proclaimed another.

"How could we have been so blind!?" a third lamented.

With some effort Jerry managed to swallow something that had been stuck in his throat.

"Okay," he said.

"The Perfect Shape speaks the truth," the original loud Eiscue nodded. "Of course we should respect the unenlightened. The alternative would mean… that we lacked true confidence in our path. Like those of the cube and the hexagon before us."

"Yeah!" one Eiscue agreed.

"Yeah, screw those guys!" yelled another.

"We're confident and respectful now I guess!" chipped in a third. Was it the same three every time?

Kass blinked and smiled worriedly, "Uh- yeah sure."

Jerry nodded. The movement caused a re-disturbance in his throat and he spent three wide-eyed seconds gathering the strength to swallow again.

"...Right." Reyna looked between the various Eiscues and back at the would-be leader. He shook his head and stated, "No, I'm not going to be changing my head." That was a relief; she wasn't sure how she'd be able to handle an Eiscue shaping their head into an enigmatic Psyduck and worshipping him like the others.

She turned to Kass and said, "Well, I suppose we should get going. You got that helmet head for a trainer, yeah?"

"I- huh? Oh, uh," it took a while for the Kadabra to recover, but when they did they began to turn and walk in the direction of a tree with some foliage around it. "Basically, yep. They go by Xan. Oh, are you with the one that came by earlier, the one with the purple hair? Think her name was Haleigh?"

She nodded. "Yeah, that's my trainer for ya. She can be a dumbass sometimes, but she knows her way around a battle. 'S why I like her."

"Ahh, figured that might have been the case - good to hear," Kass nodded with a pleasant smile. They gestured for the others to follow, mainly for Jerry's sake, but to their discomfort began to hear the sound of marching Eiscue at their back. The Kadabra focused on Reyna and shook it off. "Yeah, you've got a good one there. 41's got that tenacious quality. Spirit. Don't see that in a lot of the challengers. Granted, that isn't always a fault of theirs, but you know what I mean."

Reyna smirked as she replied, "I actually do know what you mean."

As the two of them kept walking back, the sound of marching Eiscue became louder and louder. Reyna turned her head back to see what exactly was going on and-

Dear Arceus, they were all lined up in formation and marching in the same direction. Several of them had already shaped the ice on their heads into the form of their new idol. Jerry. She wanted to object and say something, but she had more than enough weird antics for the day and turned her head back around and tried her best to ignore it.

Eventually, along with Jerry and the marching mass of Eiscue, Reyna and Kass reached the spot where they had last seen their trainers. As they approached, however, Reyna noticed that they were all tensing up and based on the expressions on their faces, about ready to clean all of their clocks.

She turned to Kass, her tone filled with trepidation as she said, "Well shit. What now?"

The Kadabra didn't slow down, "I don't know about you," they said. "I'm gonna go say hi!"

As Kass skipped over to greet Cornelius and the humans, Reyna saw the tension melt away. That wasn't going to be a problem, then. Behind her still were Jerry and the group of Eiscue - many of which now resembled Jerry. The Psyduck appeared to be undergoing some kind of heartfelt goodbye. Or perhaps it was a negotiation of sorts. Honestly it was difficult to tell.

"I have to go," said Jerry.

"Ah… I feared you might say that," the closest Eiscue said wistfully. "But yes, I understand; we are already enlightened, and you must spread your majesty to others, yes?"

"... I have to go," said Jerry.

Beside Reyna still was the only Eiscue who didn't seem so fascinated by the shape of the Psyduck's head. Reyna and the leader Eiscue stopped and walked forward together towards Haleigh. He saluted the human while Reyna pointed at him and back at her.

Haleigh looked down at the three Pokemon and said. "They...want to come with me?"

Reyna and the Eiscue nodded. Haleigh looked at the Eiscue for a bit while she was clearly thinking about the proposal. She adopted a serious expression as she said, "Hmm...you willing to put in a lot of work, train your arse off and endure any matter of arduous trials?"

The Eiscue exclaimed, "Yes, yes I am!"

Haleigh's face immediately lightened up as she exclaimed, "Ah, I'm just messin' with you, you're in! You're so cute I'd have said yes anyways."

The Piplup nudged him as she said, "Well, you're in. Told ya she was a bleeding heart."

The Eiscue waddled over to his would-be compatriots and gave a final salute to them, to which he was met with the very dignified braying and squawking of his people before returning to Reyna's side.

Haleigh looked over to Xan and said, "Well, I guess the Eiscue situation is...resolved?"

"I'd guess so if Kass is here, but resolved or not, that is terrifying and I will be leaving," the psychic said dryly. Kass giggled. The helmet-human moved to shoulder their backpack, chips of stone from their impromptu seat slipping out from under their hand. "Thanks for your time, you two - and remember, Cornelius; emotional projection. Seperate from telepathy as we know it - have a think on it."

"Ooh," Kass turned to Cornelius and waggled their eyebrows. "You've been scienceing?"

Cornelius nodded in response. "Why yes, I have been, as you put it, 'sciencing'. It has been quite an enlightening and fascinating experience. It's all the more power I can use to protect Lady Haleigh."

"Sweet," the Kadabra chuckled. They glanced at Reyna, then the Eiscue gathering, then at Haleigh and back to the Kirlia. "You guys heading out too? If you want to tag along, I'd love to get a recap."

Reyna replied, "I don't see why not. You good with it, Cornelius?"

He said, "Yes, I'd be most interested to relay some of our tales with them. A story is best when it's shared around."

Reyna gestured to Haleigh and said to Kass, "Alright, then let's take storytime on the road."

PastelPhoenix · Sep 25, 2021

Achille Béringer and Haleigh Windsor
Location: Hammerlocke Hills

New Bonds, Old Fears.
A JP with Fen-Fen

After the whirlwind of events that opened up old wounds of the past and left her with no less than two new additions to her team, Haleigh was finally almost to Hammerlocke, with the looming figure of the city's walls just barely able to be seen through the mist.

The sun was starting to set, indicating it was time to try and find camp for the night; walking right by her side were Cornelius and Corey chattering amongst themselves. It'd have been nice to actually have made it to Hammerlocke by that point, but given the breaks she took back at Bridge Fields, it was a good thing she made as much progress as she did.

Just as she was about to stop and start unpacking for the night, a vibration from her pocket alerted her to a text. She picked up the phone and to her pleasant surprise, saw a text from Achille.

Hey, if you're free I want to try and meet up before we enter Hammerlock.

It had been a while since the two had been able to see each other face to face, hadn't it? Her face lit up at the thought of seeing him again. It could be a bit hard to be a trainer and maintain a relationship, which made any time they could catch each other all the more precious.

She quickly typed out a response.

i'd love to :D where r u at?

I'm right near Hammerlocke. The hills outside the gate.

Haleigh looked at the map app and saw how long it would take to get to the gate. To her surprise, it was a little more than an hour's walk from her current position. She really was that close.

i'm about an hour east of the gate. im gonna start heading there can't wait to see you again <3

Before she could even wait for a reply, Haleigh said to her two Pokemon, "Oi lads, we just gotta keep going for another hour and I get to see Achille again! Let's pick up the pace and make our way over to the gate!"

The two looked at each other and gave each other a knowing grin. It hardly took a Pokemon like Cornelius to tell that Haleigh had a lot of fondness for that boy. They didn't really mind the request. In fact, it could be something their trainer was in great need of in these times.

--------------------------------------------------------

Just under an hour later, Haleigh found herself in the location that Achille was most likely in. She could see a bunch of hills and the gate was in sight. Now to see exactly where on the hills he was positioned in…

As she started to get even closer to the gate, a familiar figure stood out among the misty landscape accompanied by a Pokemon, though its form looked unfamiliar. A new capture?

Once she was sure she was in earshot, she shouted to them, "Oi, Achille! I'm over here!!!"

The figure in the fog looked up and towards the girl, waving. Achille began to make his way over, motioning for the new shape to follow.

Now her speedwalking rapidly turned into a sprint as she charged at him and enveloped him into a big hug. However, she underestimated how fast she was going and subsequently knocked him over, ending up on top of him as she nervously chuckled, "Hehe, woops. Got a bit excited there."

"I missed you too," Achille half chuckled, half groaned underneath her. "Let's catch up somewhere other than the dirt, though."

"I've set up a camp a bit early," Achille brushed himself off once the two were back on their feet. "I've certainly had a day, and I am ready to finally relax." A pink cloth in the shape of a hand helped him with a spot he couldn't reach on his back, belonging to the unidentified Pokémon.

As Haleigh took a closer look at the Pokemon, she realized that it wasn't a new capture at all. It was Jouise, who had went and evolved since they had last met based on the fact she was now two swords rather than one. "Wow Jouise, you're a Doublade now! That's awesome!"

One of the blades gave a small bowing motion, or at least as best she could bow from within a scabbard. The other one gave a more reserved nod of appreciation.

Haleigh turned her attention back to Achille and said, "It looks like I'm not the only one who's gettin' stronger and stronger. Pretty soon I may have some real competition on my hands."

"Don't act like I'm not real competition," Achille leaned against Joiuse, his elbow resting atop her scabbard. "Joiuse just took down a fire-type I'd wager was only a bit slower than Corey."

The same blade that bowed beamed under the praise, covering the mouth-like portion of her scabbard and vocalizing a haughty chuckle. Her twin just closed her eyes, soaking in the complement silently.

"I've got another companion watching over the camp right now." Achille pushed off of Joiuse, turning back around towards the hill. "He's pretty interesting."

Haleigh nodded as she replied, "You got yourself another friend then? That's great! I've got two new friends that I found out here in the Wild Area."

As they continued walking over to the camp, Haleigh noticed that his hair was getting long, now reaching down to the middle of his neck. "Your hair is starting to get a bit long. Kinda hard to get a haircut out in the wilderness, eh?" She chuckled a bit as she added, "It looks nice on you though."

Achille paused for a moment, the smile disappearing from face for a split second before returning. "Thanks," he ran his hands through it. He grabbed a lock and brought it in front of his face, observing its length. "I've been wishy-washy on it for a bit, but haven't taken the time when I'm actually in the city to get it trimmed."

A larger hill came into view from behind the fog, and Achille confirmed they were almost there. He led the group around the hill and into one of the rare flat sections of the hills, where a small campsite was set up. At the center of it all was a rough ring of stone and a small fire. Lying next to the fire was a large pink slug-like creature. A Gastrodon.

"Merci, Nemuro." Achille greeted the Pokémon, which rose to its 'feet'. "Haleigh, this is Nemuro. We met in the Motostoke caves on the way back to the city. Nemuro, Haleigh. My girlfriend." The Gastrodon gave a bubbling squeak in greeting.

Haleigh returned the greeting with a cheery wave and exclaimed, "Nice to meet you!"

A Gastrodon, that was certainly an interesting pick for Achille. "Where did you end up finding him?"

"I, uh, got lost in the caves," he admitted, crossing his arms and glancing away. "But I ended up near a huge hill protected by a fierce Pokémon and decided to see what the deal was. Nemuro was said Pokémon, and he was actually guarding an old Pokémon sanctuary his previous trainer built."

Haleigh nodded. "I see. I met up with Aeliana in the mine and we ended up kicking the arse of some prick named Rory. He was beating up this mummy Scrafty and her poor Scraggy had to sit and watch the whole thing."

Her brow furrowed as she remembered the encounter. "They ended up fine once me and Aeliana put him in his place with a battle and healed them, thank Arceus."

"You sure have a way of running into assholes," Achille said bemusedly. "Though I suppose we do end up meeting a lot of trainers, and the power is bound to draw in some assholes." He paused as if considering something, but shook it off and continued.

"Speaking of pricks, I apparently made myself a bit of an enemy." He took a seat next to Nemuro near the fire. Joiuse floated over to join him, sitting with her "back" against the fire and staring off into the fog. "If you saw my match against Kabu, it's that girl with the Monferno. I guess she took that loss hard and started spreading rumors about me to bait me into a rematch. I just got done dealing with that today, right before I sent that text."

Haleigh, Corey and Cornelius followed Achille's lead and sat around the fire, with Haleigh scooting to get in close to Achille. She looked up in thought as she tried to place a face to the Monferno. "Yeah, I think I remember her. I thought she was pretty salty at the time, but I didn't realize she'd be that sore about it."

She grinned widely as she said, "It sounds like she's goin' to be salty for a bit longer from the sound of it. You really do know how to run an impressive battle."

"I didn't spend years sneaking out to trainer clubs and amateur gyms under my father's nose for nothing." Achille wrapped his arm around Haleigh as he continued. "He was always super against it; trainers were just a bit under serial killers and terrorists to him, it felt like. If I was going to prove it was worthwhile to him, I was going to have to be good at it."

She looked away with a plaintive look on her face for a few moments before facing Achille again. "Your parents too, huh? Guess that's another thing we have in common."

"My father considered it 'barbaric' and 'damaging to the moral fibre of Kalos'." Achille smiled as he remembered something, but returned to a serious expression quickly. "I used to think he had somewhat of a point, given what went on in Kalos when I was really young. I didn't agree, obviously. Given I'm here right now."

He removed his arm from around Haleigh and turned to face her directly. "Okay, I have something to say that might be a dealbreaker, but I think it needs some context. What do you know about recent Kalosian history, roughly 15-20 years ago?"

Haleigh looked at Achille perplexedly. "There was that whole thing with Team Cinder and them obliterating Shalour City. And before that, Team Flare tried to wipe out the world. What's...this got do with us?"

She started feeling uneasy about where this conversation was going. A dealbreaker...as in for them as a couple?

Achille looked nervous, avoiding eye contact and looking back towards the fire often. "Well... one of those Flare admins who tried to wipe out the world was my uncle. He believed in it enough to stick with it to the very end, and ended up dying for the cause."

"That's not all of it either," he continued, finding some resolve to look back at her. "My grandfather wasn't a member on paper, but the payment records to Lysandre are public enough that he might as well be too. His health was failing by the time Flare went public with their goals, and he died not long after the Flare incident ended."

He took a deep breath, preparing to get the rest of the story out before Haleigh could ask questions. "We weren't Cinder though, if there's a bright side. My father hated Cinder, and donated an ungodly sum of money to rebuilding efforts after they fucked Kalos up even more."

Haleigh looked at him with a mix of emotions on her face. It was...a lot to take in. Her boyfriend, son of a family of criminals. From the way he looked while he told her, it was apparent just how much it had been weighing on him. She didn't blame him, of course. How could she in her right mind do so? All of that happened while Achille was a young child, and by all accounts he was nothing like the kind of people his family seemed to be.

Finally, she took a deep breath and said softly, "Wow, I...I'm sorry. That couldn't have been easy to say."

With a determined gleam in her eye, she continued. "But you know what? That doesn't change a damn thing about how I see you. The fact you're right here and telling me about this actually makes me think more of you, just by having the courage to tell me. I may not have known you as long as your family, but I know, with all my heart, you are nothing but kind, empathetic and righteous."

"Thank you," Achille looked away again, his face red beyond just the heat of the fire again. "Between running into people who knew my uncle in Motostoke and hearing rumors about my family again had me a little on edge. I'm just glad Irene was dumb enough to make something up, and didn't actually look too hard into the family history."

"It's been so nice being free from that shit here in Galar that I got a bit careless about it," he continued while slowly patting Nemuro on the head. The Gastrodon let out a string of bubbly noises vaguely like purring. "When it started rearing its head again I just feared you finding out. I was thinking back to that shady Pokémon seller we busted, and how really my family was no better, worse even, than that."

Haleigh nodded. It certainly was understandable he wasn't forthcoming about it all. With the two of them sitting there and talking about it, she started realizing that there were a lot of similarities the two of them had. Her own parents, after all, were hardly stand up people themselves who came from lots of wealth and associated themselves with a company that was infamous for nearly causing a calamity that could have had dire consequences. Granted, she was still unsure of what their involvement was in all of that. However, the thought of her mother was enough to send a chill down her spine; she was bad enough as it was.

Shaking away that thought for a moment, she leaned forward to get closer to Achille. "I really appreciate you telling me all this. I know you must feel conflicted about it all, but I don't want to make you feel like you have to have your past define what we have now."

As Haleigh felt herself getting warmer from somewhere that was sourced other than the fire beside her, she put a hand on his shoulder and inched her face ever closer to his. "You're an amazing person, Achille. And...I want to keep going with you. Every time we spend time together and talk more and more, I keep finding more things to love about you."

By now, her face was as red as Achille's was. She was saying...a lot. Rambling even. Oh Arceus, what was she saying, what was she doing-

"Hey, just thank you. Again." Achille said, grabbing her hand and leaning in for a kiss.

Before she could even think about what was happening, Haleigh went in and kissed Achille on the lips. She held it there for a while until she finally pulled away and looked at Achille, her heart beating a mile a minute.

"H-heh, I...wow. That felt really good." Those were about the only words Haleigh could conjure up to so profoundly describe what just happened.

Achille giggled, unable to help himself. "That's certainly a way to describe that." He put his arm back around her and pulled her closer again. "But I feel the same way."

There was a snickering sound behind the two of them. One of the Joiuse blades covered her 'mouth' while the other one dragged her twin away. Nemuro got up from his spot, leaving to help drag the sword away and give the trainers some peace.

Cornelius and Corey were next to give the two their privacy - though not before Corey gave his trainer a knowing smirk and Cornelius took a bow and followed Achille's other Pokemon. Haleigh got even more embarrassed remembering that she had kissed him right in front of their Pokemon, but quickly recovered once she focused back on Achille.

Haleigh chuckled as she said, "Well, looks like we got some privacy now. I wouldn't reckon you'd mind trying that again, would you?"

"Well, if you insist, madame."

--------------------------------------------------------

Achille sat out by the fire, watching the smouldering embers of the fire as it burned through the last of its fuel. It had gotten pretty late, and the two trainers had left for bed some time ago. Achille awoke unexpectedly, though, and to his surprise Nemuro was still awake and watching the fire.

"I guess you found out about my family at the same time Haleigh did." He finally broke the silence with the Gastrodon, getting a soft "mhm" in response from the water-type. "Sorry, I suppose that is something to warn someone about, especially given your history."

The Gastrodon looked up at the trainer, locking eye contact. Achille half expected some images to start flickering across his mind, but of course the Gastrodon couldn't do that. I've been talking to Joiuse too much lately. The Pokémon remained silent, just closing his eyes and nodding.

"Thanks, Nem." The two returned to watching the last remnants of the fire slowly losing their flame.

While the two of them sat for a while, Haleigh started talking in her sleep and violently tossing and turning. "Mum...no...get away…"

The silence of the night was broken as she continued to say, "Put it down, leave him alone…"

Whatever she was dreaming didn't sound pleasant at all. He crept back up towards the tent, leaving Nemuro to extinguish the remaining embers. He slipped inside the tent fold, listening to Haleigh to confirm the nightmare was as bad as it sounded.

She whimpered, "No no no, please don't hurt him, please…"

Yeah, it would just be cruel to not wake her up. He'd want to be woken up in this situation. He stepped over towards her fitfully sleeping frame and crouched down. "Haleigh…" No response.

"Haleigh, wake up." Damn, she's deep asleep. As much as he didn't like shaking someone having a nightmare awake, he grabbed her shoulder and gently shook. "Hey, it's just a dream."

Haleigh bolted awake, shuffled back a bit from the source of whatever had roused her and let out a scream. Panting, she looked over in fear, only to look around and see it was just Achille, herself and the tent.

Her breathing started to get a bit slower, though the distress she was feeling was still very evident on her face. "I-I-I…"

She started to put her hands up to her face, letting out some sobs.

Achille hugged her. "Relax, you're here in the Wild Area. It was just a dream." He looked up and saw the silhouette of Joiuse outside the tent, standing guard.

Slowly, she started to calm down and start breathing more normally again. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. I must have woken you up."

Achille pulled back from the hug, leaving a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I was already awake. I couldn't sleep for some reason, and was just hanging out with Nemuro." He tried to smile reassuringly, though he wasn't sure how well it came across in the dark. "Want to talk about it?"

She sighed. "I might as well. I'm not going to be able to sleep for a while anyways."

Wiping a hand over her eyes, she continued. "It's...about family, my family. It was only four years ago that I lived with them, but it feels like forever ago. I used to come from a really wealthy family in Circhester. They're top brass at Macro Cosmos, only a level or two below Rose if I remember correctly. Before that whole thing with him a few years ago, their reputation was clean. In public, everything seemed good. They had all the finer things in life, they helped lead Macro Cosmos to a lot of success, they had a nice little daughter to show off."

She glared as she added, "But as soon as you looked behind the scenes, said daughter was never good enough. Every little thing about my life was controlled and manipulated to fit what they wanted. If I stepped out of line a little bit, they tried to get me back on course anyway they knew how. And my mum, she was the worst about it all. She could be perfectly pleasant one moment and tell me I'd amount to nothing without her the next. She would always say that what I was saying was never right, she'd pretend like I was resentful for no reason, she'd act like she had done everything to lift me up while filling my head with toxic bullshit."

She looked away from Achille. "I had always wanted to be a trainer since I was a girl, just to be free and away from it all. That was what caused the worst fights and the worst insults. I was on my way there. I was packing my things behind their back and I even found my first ever Pokemon to come with me."

Her voice started choking with emotion as she continued her rant. "That's where my nightmare comes in. She caught me with him. And...she went insane. She took his Poke Ball from me, went over to get a knife and started pointing it at me."

Achille flinched, he heard that correctly, right? He'd been listening along fine, but that was insane, right? "Wait, a knife? She's pointing a knife at her own daughter?"

Haleigh nodded and started to cry in earnest again. "A-and s-she was s-saying that s-she would punish me with it, th-that she'd patch me up right there at home. I didn't know what else to do, so I ran into my room, got my hands on as much stuff as I could and ran away. And I've never been back since."

She started breaking back down into sobs as she choked out, "I was so busy focusing on running I left him behind. I left him with that monster. I left him there and he's probably dead because of me."

Achille was still, his face having gone somewhat pale. The pit in his stomach had bottomed out, and he felt a little bit sick just hearing that. Who the fuck would do that?

He felt that sinking feeling in his stomach slowly being replaced with a rising anger. Who the fuck would do that? He asked himself again. He removed his hand from her shoulder, moving it to his side and clenching a fist to keep it from shaking.

"What the hell is wrong with them?" He finally said. "I-I am so sorry, what they did to you is fucking unbelievable. Sous-merde. Chatte. Garce. Your own parents?"

It was his turn to rant a bit now. "My father possibly might have had a part in organized crime and destabilizing Kalos, but he didn't raise hands against his fucking family. When I wouldn't stop going to trainer clubs he would cut off money, or set a curfew or something. When he finally had enough he sent me to school in a different country and told me to prove myself or shut up about it. He didn't try to cut us."

Don't just get angry, help her. "I don't blame you, you had to get out of there." He sat down next to her, gingerly reaching out and wrapping his arm around her. "Please try not to be too harsh on yourself for that."

Haleigh continued to cry for a bit more by Achille's side, her sobs starting to simmer down into sniffling and hitched breaths. She took his hand from the arm around her and clasped it on her own, sitting in silence and let herself be soothed by Achille's presence until finally, her tears started to peter out.

She focused her gaze back up at Achille's face, saying, "Thank you for waking me up. Shitty as talking about it makes me feel, it's even worse to just keep it all in."

She paused and glanced back down. "I just wish there was something I can actually do about it, y'know? I can't ever go back to that day and make it right again, and I can't just pretend it never happened like I have been doing."

Achille struggled with a response. He barely knew how he was going to stop pretending his own family history didn't happen. "You're telling me, that's the first step towards not pretending. Not that I even think you are pretending, really. I can tell it's been weighing on your mind, and even unconsciously it's shaped you as a trainer."

"You can't go back in time, but you can keep helping those who exist now. Keep on kicking ass, like we've been doing, you know?" Okay, he was doing well until the end, but hopefully the message stuck.

A smile managed to make its way back on her face. "Keep kicking ass, huh? I'm glad you still think I'm good for that."

She started snuggling up close to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm really glad that you're here. Having you by my side makes it feel a bit less scary. You keep me in the here and now."

"And you've done a fair bit to break me out of my detached Kalosian self, making me appreciate the place more." Achille said, feeling a yawn now starting to creep up. The tent flap opened as Joiuse peered through, making sure the two trainers were okay. Seeing them cuddled together, the sword left her post, her silhouette fading away as she floated towards the now dark fire.

"Come on, let's go back to sleep."

Geras · Sep 25, 2021

Winston Imes - VS Isla Wright Lake of Outrage

Winston sat tucked away in a small cave on a cliff overlooking the Lake of Outrage. A spot safe from the warring dragon pokemon but still close enough for him to get a good view of them. Despite taking a long walk and a bit of rock climbing to even get here, his little hiding place was actually rather crowded.

Well of course it would be, considering the situation. He mentioned warring dragons, but at the moment there were only two. A Turtonator and a Drampa, who'd been razing the entire shore with their fierce attacks. He was actually watching the Turtonator's Flamethrower collide with the Drampa's Dragonbreath at this very moment.

The moves exploded against each other, providing a cloud of dust and steam as cover for the Turtonator. It leapt in spikes-first, only to crash harmlessly against a Protective barrier. Drampa sent Turtonator reeling back with a Twister. Even from here, Winston could feel the breeze off that twister and the heat of the Turtonator's flames that sizzled against the rain.

Those two were exactly why he was here, in fact. Word had spread about them warning travellers to stay away, but how could he miss such an awesome battle? He'd already filled up several sketch pages from watching them. Even if a couple of them had been eaten by the wild Jangmo-o that had been lurking around.

Though there was another reason he was still here. A message he'd received from Isla.

Are you free right now? I want to battle. Please.

"Please…" He muttered, replaying the message in his head. She didn't usually to talk to him like that. Something was up. He told her he'd be busy sketching pokemon near the Lake of Outrage but that she was free to come find him, giving her instructions on how to get to his hiding place. It was still dangerous coming all the way out here, but he had faith. After all, this was the girl who'd come to him apparently having personally fought an Aggron and brushed it off as no big deal.

Sure enough, she soon popped her head in through the cave's opening. Soaked to the bone, at that. "Welcome," he greeted as he tossed her the spare poncho he had in his bag. "How was the trip?"

Her eyebrows wavered a bit before she smiled her usual smile at him. "It was fine. Om helped a lot." He was glad her pokemon were so reliable. But again, he could immediately tell something was off. He got the feeling that she didn't really want to chat right now.

"I'll put away my stuff real quick, then we can battle. Ok?"

"Yeah."

***

The two faced each other at the mouth of the cave, as they'd done so many times before. But all of those times were just practice, or Winston teaching her something new. This time it was different; she was facing him as a true and proper pokemon trainer. It was a sudden development, but he was used to her impulsiveness by now.

The rain beat against their ponchos, thunder and the roars of the battle below forming a song to accompany their battle. The little pokemon hiding in the cave watched them with curiosity.

"Three on three single battle, switching allowed. How does that sound?" Winston asked.

"That's fine," Isla answered.

"Before we start though I wanna ask. Are you ok?"

She took a second before answering. "...I don't know. But I'm hoping this battle will help me figure something out."

He wasn't expecting that. He desperately wanted to ask more, but he could tell this was important to her. He wasn't going to keep her waiting. And despite his attempts to keep cool for her sake, he was also extremely giddy about having a battle with her with such a badass backdrop. "Okay. Ado, go!"

He released his Pancham, who emerged with her usual serious expression. He hoped she might have lightened up a bit by now, but it seemed that years of conditioning couldn't be overcome that easily.

"You can do it, Woop." Isla called forth her partner, the Mime Jr. raring to go. It even matched Ado's fighting stance, not that it would do him much good.

Maybe the excitement had gotten the better of Winston, since by letting his pokemon out first he was now at a big disadvantage. Oh well. "Ado, get in close!" Winston had to shout to be heard over the storm. But heard he was, and his Pancham took off sprinting toward her foe.

"Woop, Psybeam." Pink energy surged from Woop's forehead, barely missing as Ado ducked to the side. But the attack wasn't over, as Woop moved the psychic beam in that same direction.

"Low sweep, then Circle Throw!" Ado slid under the beam, finally closing the rest of the distance and knocking Woop's feet out from under him. Before the mime could hit the floor she grabbed him, rolled back, and flung Woop into the distance. Before he got too far, a light shot from his pokeball that called him back inside.

Winston expected her to look at him in confusion like she usually did when he did that sort of thing in practice, but she simply and quietly reached for a different pokeball. He reminded himself that this wasn't school anymore. Since graduation she'd actually done a lot more battling than him, now that he thought about it.

"Go, Om." She released a pokemon far bigger than the Om he remembered. "Use Bite." By the looks of it, it was definitely still the same Om.

"Stay back and get around it!" Winston knew how dangerous Om's bite was. He couldn't let it grab hold. But he was lucky Ado was so skilled, easily able to circle around Om. "Now Arm Thrust!" A flurry of devastating blows right into the Drednaw's side.

"Om, Counter."

"What!?" An orange aura burst from Om's body, the force launching Ado into the dirt. Resting in a small crater was the Pancham's unconscious body.

"That's one," Isla said.

Winston was in disbelief that he was the one falling behind, but he couldn't help but smile. Her battling was still simple, but it was certainly effective now. "You did good, Ado."

He returned her to her ball and sent out his next pokemon. "You're up, Dev!" His Tynamo emerged with a loud cry. Ado was Winston's strongest pokemon, so there was no way Om would last much longer after that Arm Thrust. "Charge Beam!"

Om defended with Protect, but it was futile. Dev's beam only grew stronger with time. When the Protect finally fell, so did Om. And so Isla released her third pokemon, Whirr the Klink.

The two faced off in an odd silence. Each had a variety of moves at their disposal, but it seemed there was only one thing on each trainer's mind.

"Charge Beam!" The pair called in unison.

Whirr spun rapidly, beginning to crackle with electricity before firing. Dev did the same. Their beams collided. Dev had the initial lead thanks to gaining power from that first Charge Beam, but Whirr wasn't weak either. The beams pushed each other back and forth, the center swelling with power.

Their bodies crackled with electricity as they grew in strength, absorbing power not just from their own beams but now from their opponents'. The lightning from the storm began striking closer. He couldn't help but think about Dev's true name, the one he hadn't told anyone. Devourer of the Storm.

Of course he never intended to tell anyone his pokemon's true names, but he still liked to think about them from time to time.

Winston was mesmerized by the power struggle between these two small pokemon, the light from their battle shining all across the field. Far enough for the dragons below to take note.

Before either Isla or Winston could realize, their perch was assaulted by twin Dragon Pulses. The attacks collided with the energy gathered by Dev and Whirr, causing the whole thing to explode. The cliff crumbled, sending the two trainers tumbling down.

Isla was the first to get back to her feet, quickly shaking Winston to his senses. Their two pokemon were nearby, fainted. And right in front of them were Drampa and Turtonator, not very pleased that their battle was so rudely interrupted.

Jay · Sep 25, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Raphael Allard

Vito

Carmen

Lumi

Selene

Roe

Spoiler: Inventory

Hammerlocke Hills

Simon could still hear the distant roaring of the Lake of Outrage's thunderstorm. Even after a full day's travel through Hammerlocke Hills, the weather in the adjoining areas only seemed to get worse and worse- though thankfully the air around here was not much more than a light fog. He and Raph had made their way to the local trainer lodge again - it looked fairly identical to the one in the southern wild area - and after taking the time to heal their Pokemon, they'd decided to spend the night there, both in desperate need of some rest.

After their encounter, the two young men had attempted to make their way back to the original site where the cars were, in some desperate hope to get more information or give chase to the suits. Yet, of course, they'd found the spot empty- with the only thing left behind being faded tire tracks and Simon's discarded belongings. He'd returned to find his backpack thrown into the dirt and driven over, nearly all the supplies inside either taken or destroyed; pieces of his bug net strewn around the area. He'd been lucky enough to retrieve his coat with his badges inside, though the thing was now thoroughly soaked in the rain and dirty beyond recognition.

The journey to the lodge that followed was quiet. Raph had obviously tried to approach Simon about what he'd just gone through… but any words said then would have been lost to the wind. Simon had decided to leave his room soon after they'd checked in. He didn't want to let his Pokemon out so soon after they'd gotten healed, and the idea of being trapped in a humid, small room sounded like torture at the moment. He'd thought of going to Raph's, but he couldn't bear the thought of the older trainer seeing him now. Defeated, broken, vindicated about whatever doubts he had concerning him.

Instead, he'd gone to the clearing beside the inn, and sat down beside a tree to watch the storm in the distance. The hill he was on was high enough that he could see above the fog- and for a moment, he might have even considered it beautiful. However, as he clutched the empty pokeball in his hand tightly, he was brought back to reality.

His mind kept reliving those same moments, again and again. What if he'd warned the Pinsir sooner? If he hadn't been so distracted- he could've disabled the dark balls earlier. He could've just run- why didn't he run? Why did he have to play hero, act like he was some incredible trainer who could fix a shadow Pokemon already beyond saving? Why had he not gone with Scolipede from the beginning, how had he so carelessly lost that ball? Why did he have to call out that order to his Pokemon? Why- why did Caterpie have to die?

The thoughts were suddenly cut short by a different kind of reality check, Raph's hand clamped down on Simon's shoulder and the older trainer settled in to sit beside him. He didn't say anything, didn't interrupt Simon's thoughts, but kept the hand there for a moment, before letting it slink tiredly to his side. His eyes drifted to that distant storm in turn.

"..." Raph opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He had never been in this situation, never needed to comfort anyone else, never needed to face the reality of loss in another person. Still, despite everything, he knew exactly how it felt.

Arceus, he knew how it felt.

"Exhausting." He finally mumbled out the word, still staring at that distant sky. "It's all just a little… too much, right? It drains you of anything else, you get sad, you get angry, until you can't keep it up anymore. Then you have nothing, so you just feel tired."

Simon took a moment to respond, surprised by how accurate his words were. "...yeah."

"For a long time, that's all I really had going on, you know?" Raph said. It was an open question, left for Simon to answer, or to hang in the wind. The boy stayed silent, but turned to look at him.

"All I had was that tired feeling." He paused and looked down at his hand, still bandaged and wrapped from the day before. "Every day, looking out a window, feeling nothing but that. Going to school feeling nothing but that. Waiting for the day I could leave Wedgehurst, leaving, fighting Kabu for the first time… nothing but that. Feeling like I'd already lost everything before I'd even started." He sighed deeply, that same tired and apathetic look plastered over his features, the same one he always had. As he looked up at Simon, meeting his gaze, the bug catcher would notice they were wearing the same expression.

Until Raph's changed.

His eyes softened and his creased, uncaring scowl shifted into a small, tired smile. "Simon, I didn't know how to feel anything other than that anymore. I didn't know how to get rid of what you're feeling now, I still don't, but… I know how to live with it. Do you know why?"

Simon shook his head slightly, still quiet but now clearly paying attention.

"Because I met people like you." The answer came almost second nature, as Raph closed his eyes momentarily, only to look back towards the skyline. "And Arrietty… and Pia… Melody and Aeliana… hell even Catherine." He smirked a little and shook his head. "But mostly you… and my pokémon, of course. I met you in the middle of the Southern Wild Area and you wouldn't shut up! So full of energy and questions all the time, the world seemed so open in your eyes. So limitless. I thought you were naive, but to be honest…" He sighs and his eyes darken just a little.

"I think I just… never thought to look at it that way before." His gaze went vacant for a moment and a bandaged hand gently clutched at his shirt, just above his chest, as if instinctual. "Simon, I learned something very important from you. I learned that life is something you should be excited for. Something you should try and reach out for, take and enjoy. Something to be excited about, no matter what you've lost, no, because of what you've lost..!" He found an energy in his voice, but it quickly dissipated. "Because of what we've lost, we have to keep going, keep smiling and keep doing everything we can to find where we're supposed to be." He smiles a little wider, kind but very tired eyes looking at his younger friend.

"I took a long time to learn that, more time than I had to waste… but you? You knew it from the start. You just forgot for a while, so I came back to remind you."

Simon paused for a moment as his eyes grew wider. Someone like him, as weak and unimpressive as he'd been… had made an impression on Raphael? More thoughts of regret and self-pity flooded in as he began to realize what he'd done- he hadn't just joined the wrong people and turned his back on others, he'd turned back on himself. He felt that lump in his throat grow again, and used every bit of his energy to keep it down. He couldn't succumb to those emotions. He mustn't.

He had to pull his mind away from those memories. Raph's words had made him think about something else. As comforting as they were… the young man was talking about loss as well. Simon's eyes drifted to Raphael's hand, which was still clutching his own chest. Was it… related?

"By the way." he began after a few more moments of silence. "I did notice the pin you had on."

"Aha, well that's good, right?" He says with an awkward smile. "I'll be honest I… really regretted that day. Almost immediately after it happened." He paused and his eyes grew tired again, staring less at the horizon and more at the empty space lingering between it and himself. "I pushed you away and you thought that it was your fault. I understand now, that was one of a series of bad days… but if I hadn't been so selfish in that moment, I could have helped you with whatever came next." He sighed a little, his smile fading away.

"So I kept wearing the pin… hoping you'd see it and know I was sorry, until I could tell you properly." He furrows his brow, that tired look still hanging on his every feature. It came back to haunt him, even now. He knew where this conversation would go, the conversation he pushed away and avoided with everyone. The reason he pushed everyone away before they could ask. The reason for everything he did. He could hear the words before Simon even spoke them.

"But then… what happened that day?"

Raph would dance around the question, make an excuse, draw attention away from it. Hide it. Protect it. Make sure only he had to deal with it. Forever. Alone, Forever. Was that what this had been building to? More hiding everything away? Was he ready to throw away who he was pretending to be? Had he changed at all? No.

But...

"...I'm going to die soon, Simon."

Everything seemed so harsh and still in that moment. Everything turned to ice, chipping and cracking away. Everyone he had ever met already knew or was never supposed to know. He had never said that combination of words, in that way, to anyone before. He wasn't ready to stop hiding and face the consequences of loss… but he was ready to end a lie he had told this one friend, that had already caused them both so much pain.

The younger of the two furrowed his brow as he blinked in disbelief. "...what?" he said incredulously, not entirely sure he'd heard him correctly- and hoping that he was wrong.

"When I was born, the doctors said there was something wrong with my heart. My father worked overtime to raise the money needed to fix me, even with a well paying job, the treatment required to keep me going as a newborn was draining my family down to nothing." He paused and his gaze continued drifting into that open, empty space. "Then the Z incident happened all those years ago… and, well, there's not much point in saying more than that."

A few birds flew from the tree they sat upon as Raph looked silently into the distance. "From the earliest estimates, I've got about two years left to raise the money I need to get treated. I don't know if I can do that. So I didn't…" He stops, feeling something clenching at his chest, rising into his throat.

Why did it… hurt so much to say it out loud?

"I didn't…" It hung there, struggling to break free, before finally it echoed quietly between the two. "...I didn't want anyone to… get too attached to me, alright? That's why… that's why I acted the way I did…"

Simon wasn't sure what to say. This was the first time he'd seen Raphael like this in person- the only other time the young man had shown a sliver of it was in his battle against Kabu. This revelation explained so much- he realized the countless times he'd seen him clutch his chest during their stressful encounters; all those times Raphael had been hiding his pain, mentally and physically.

"Don't… don't apologize to me, mate." Simon finally said after Raph's words had hung in the air for a moment. "I… can't even pretend to know what it's like to live with something like this, but…" he looked Raphael in the eyes. "...for the sake of those who care about you… don't ever tell yourself that you're not worth it."

He continued to stare at his friend. "It's not your job to decide if or when people will get attached to you, and it's not your place to make decisions for them. And fucking hell, it's not your job to protect us from our emotions when we made the decision to care about you-"

He stopped, realizing he was raising his voice aggressively now. "I'm- I'm sorry. It's just- I'm talking from experience, my mom has a condition as well, it's what she used to tell me when I was really young. And she also was the last thing that Pinsir got to tell me about before…" he clutched the Pokeball in hand tightly. "...yeah."

Raphael continued to stare silently into the distance, a painful quiet lingering in the air, butfor once he was the one to break it. "When I was a kid, I'd look at trainers battling on the telly… thinking that I'd never get to do what they did. It was so bittersweet. Now, I'm standing where they are… and living the life I always wanted. I think, in the end, I was protecting myself too, a little selfishly." He smiles sadly and turns to meet Simon's gaze. "I didn't want anyone thinking I was any different, I wanted to be like the people that inspired me all my life, not a special exception." He paused again, looking with contemplation to the ground.

"I'm sorry… I had no idea, about your Mom. If I'd known, maybe I.. I don't know." He looked for an excuse, but didn't find one, instead he went back to silence for a few moments more.

"Hearing everything you're telling me now… I would've told you the same things at the time, Raph." Simon said. "It's about not letting it define you, living life to the fullest for others' sake as much as yours- that's what my mother would always say. And I don't think you need to hide it anymore."

Raph shook his head, "I… need you to keep it a secret for now, I'm sorry, that's a selfish thing to ask… but I'm not ready for anyone else to know. I'm not ready for the world to know. This is something I need to face myself, it's something I need to prove that I can overcome. For the longest time it's the only thing that's defined me, I want to become someone else, I don't want this to be what people know me for." He grew more comfortable talking about it by the second, maybe because it was to a friend?

It was okay to share it… with a friend.

"Loss is something we'll never shake off. Be it the impending loss that hangs over my head, or the recent loss of someone we love." He looked with a bit of pain towards Simon with that, but he still forced himself to smile through it… and pull himself to his feet.

The fog was finally starting to fade away to a clear sky. The storm had fled as the sunrise took its place. The orange light eclipsed Raph as he stood over Simon and extended his hand to the boy still sitting on the ground.

"But life is more than loss. Caterpie… and my Dad… they wouldn't want us to sit here and give up." He smiled one more time, fighting back all the pain they felt, standing in its path as best he could. Raphael wouldn't be beaten by it anymore, he couldn't afford to, for the first time in his life he was fighting for more than just himself.

"C'mon, Si… it's time to get back on track, right?"

Simon looked at his hand for a moment, before cracking a slight smile and taking it to get up. "For better or for worse."

Joint post of Foxrally and Jay

LinearAxel · Sep 26, 2021

Melody Argent

18 | Female | From Spikemuth

Inventory

Spoiler:

Team

Spoiler:

A Still Flame Doesn't Burn At All

"So… is there a soul in here? Is it made from a soul? Or like… dead body parts?" Perhaps not the best conversation to be having while sitting on a park bench, and yet, there Melody Argent sat, delicately gripping a Life Orb, having it-- with a very small ghost pumpkin, of course.

"Geist…" Piper says with a frown. She's not entirely sure herself. She did try to take the soul out to no avail, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's not a soul in there. Just that it's stuck, and since Melody won't let her touch the strange object, there's… really not much she can figure out. She doesn't really know what Melody thinks she can figure out by staring at it either. Perhaps she wants to start practicing rituals herself? It's not impossible! Though it takes a lot more than looking at a cursed artifact to learn magic!

Melody lets out an exasperated sigh before shoving the Life Orb back into her satchel. "Geez," she mumbles. "What the **** am I even doing?" She didn't mean to come out to the park to stare at the orb. She came to the park to let Spike get some sunlight and move around. Sadly, it seems that every time the punk teen is stationary for more than a few minutes, her mind wanders back to what happened just a few nights ago. Flashes play over and over in her mind and it makes her absolutely nauseous. How did she end up in such a weird situation? Why did a few freaks in cloaks make Rosa decide she was going to get Melody hurt? That's not the first dangerous situation Melody's put herself in-- willingly. Happily. Eagerly. It's not even the first dangerous situation they took on together. So why--

" DREE-PY-PY!" A terrified scream rings out. It's owner, one frantic-looking Doom Noodle, speeds towards his trainer, gesturing wildly as it does so.

"What's u--" Melody's eyes follow the tiny dragon's arm movements. Blue and Spike were playing in that sandpit just a couple of minutes ago-- before Melody got out the orb.

"Spike!?" Melody calls out as she jumps off the park bench.

"Toooooox!" A call replies back very faintly in the distance.

What the hell? Did someone grab him? Why didn't Blue stop them?! Where is Blue?! Why didn't she notice they're both gone?! She didn't see anyone! Piper didn't see anyone-- Nightshot didn't even see it?!

"Hang on, li'l dude!" Melody shouts as she breaks into a frantic run. Piper, knowing full well she can't keep up, latches onto the pipe strapped to Melody's back and allows herself to be pulled along. Nightshot, by far the speediest of Melody's crew of ghosts, zips along beside his trainer.

The trainer races from the park and through the streets, dodging pedestrians and taking staircases two at a time, focused only on the sound of the crying Toxel, growing louder and louder as she grew closer, until…

Until she finds the baby poison type sitting beside the watchful Blue. Both perfectly safe… in front of the doors to Kabu's gym.

"..." Melody stands and stares at the pair as her heartbeat calms and her mind tries to piece together what just happened. Blue's eyes lock on her trainer with a look of sheer determination, while Spike seems rather pleased with himself. "What the ****, guys?"

"Dree-py," Nightshot says as he floats in front of Melody's face, his eyes locked onto her own. For several seconds, Melody merely stares, and the ghostly dragon before her stares right back. More seconds pass, and the dragon's eyes begin to narrow. He floats closer, his forehead presses to his trainer's so that all she can see are his large, yellow eyes. "Dree. Py." It's time.

When they first came back to Motostoke, Melody walked by the gym. She looked and kept on walking. Days went by. Each day, Melody walked towards the gym, looked at it, and walked away. Then they fought those freaky-cloaked guys, and since then… Melody stopped walking by the gym. Everyone says Kabu is very strong. So strong, in fact, that lots of trainers can't beat him. When they were here before, Melody promised that red-headed boy that she wouldn't fail this challenge before coming back… but she also told him how this journey would inevitably end in failure. Does she think it will end here? When Melody said she was going to take Blue, she said she needed fire-power to keep going… but as powerful as those words sounded, the tone behind them wasn't right. At least, not to Nightshot. To him, it felt awfully forced, like Melody was saying those words in the hope she could convince herself as well as those around her that she hadn't… already started giving up?

Then that fight happened with those cloaked people, and while Nightshot's not sure what it was, something happened to Melody after they fought that Musharna. Even before miss Rosa ran away, there was some kind of… shift. She got awfully ridged. He's not a psychic type, he can't tell what his trainer is thinking exactly. What he does know is that everything that happened that night made whatever's in Melody's brain that makes her think she can't do things a lot bigger. Melody's never liked being still, but she's been a little stuck since then.

So, Nightshot conducted a plan! He needed a little help getting Melody here, so he recruited Blue, who is big and fast enough to carry Spike. Spike, well, Spike's too young to really understand why Nightshot was doing all this, but he was very excited to get to ride across the city on Blue's back and scream. Step one is a mission clear! Now he just… has to get Melody inside.

"You were in on this too, huh?" Melody questions, to which Nightshot responds with a sharp nod.

There's a long, pregnant pause, followed by a large, exhausted sigh. The punk teen was so focused on the sound of Spike's cries that she didn't realize where she was headed until it was far too late. To come, quite literally, to the doors of the gym and then walk away… well, someone's going to see. All the times before when she walked by and glanced at the gym doors from the street, it was just that, a glance, no one would be able to see that she's… running away. If she does that now, though, it's pretty damn obvious. Void, red eyes stare into those very expectant and determined yellow ones. "Alright. Let's do this," she says as she reaches for Piper and Blue's Pokeballs to return them.

"Py!" Nightshot cries excitedly before floating behind his trainer and bumping his head between her shoulder blades. Melody bends down to scoop Spike into her satchel before heading for the doors.

As the doors swing open, Melody can't help but notice how quiet the gym is now compared to the first two she entered. Probably because she entered those gyms shortly after arriving. This time… it's almost time for the challenge to move on. She doesn't have much time to reflect on it; however, as the instant she slows her pace towards the counter, Nightshot taps his head against her back again.

"Challenger 182," the punk teen says as she catches the woman at the counter's eye. "Melody Argent."

The woman's eyes widen in recognition. "You are, aren't you?" She says with a smile.

Melody blinks slowly. That's… not the answer she was expecting. "Yes(?) Kabu's still taking challengers, right?"

"Of course he is! I'll tell him you're here. By the time you get dressed, everything should be ready."

"O-kay. Thanks?" Melody quickly sidesteps towards the locker-area. That was… interesting.

Melody keeps her eyes on her reflection as she replaces her regular earrings with the spiked ones. She can see Nightshot's reflection hovering behind her, looking a little more twitchy than usual. "Did you snag someone's Koamala coffee this morning?" She asks. "What's with the sudden hype for me to do this?" For as long as she's had the ghostly dragon, he's always been a chill little guy. Hell, he's been known to bite down on her jacket and try to keep her away from conflict. Sure, yeah, a Pokemon battle's a little different then a brawl, but still, Nightshot's never been interested in battle. At least… he never seemed all that disappointed that she so rarely let him battle.

"Dree." Nightshot answers sharply with a shake of his head. His eyes once more lock on his trainer's as he floats over and grasps one of her hands between both of his tiny nubs. "Py."

Not you.

Us.

Melody's expression is a blank one. She knows exactly what Nightshot means and what he wants: To be the one to battle Centiskorch. That's not… what she had planned at all. For a 1 v 1, especially against the guy that roadblocks so many, she needed to use her hardest hitter. She can't bank on her usual strategy of having Piper make Centiskorch into a ghost-- not in a fire-type gym, not when she can't switch out, so she needs some kind of advantage. Bishop is a flying type. He's the only one of her Pokemon that has an advantage against bug-type Pokemon. "... Little dude--"

"PY!" Nightshot shouts as he raises a hand to silence her. He gives the most serious expression a giant-eyed, tiny snake-creature can muster before floating over to the metal pipe Melody had propped against the wall. The ghostly dragon then collapses onto the ground beside the pipe, curling into a tiny ball and quivering just long enough for Melody to get the idea of the stage he's trying to set. Immediately after, he floats back up and makes a motion like he himself is grasping the pipe and begins to swing. One upward swing. Two upward swings. Three upward swings before he turns back to see if his trainer understands.

The day they met, Melody faced off against three guys, all taller and bulkier than she was. She didn't care about having an advantage then. She didn't care about having an advantage all those times she nearly came to blows with Jasper. She didn't care about having an advantage when she fought off all those angry Rookidee when all she had was a stick.

Nightshot doesn't completely understand what's different now, but he knows that this hesitation and this uncertainty isn't Melody.

Melody bristles. She really wishes she could pretend she didn't know what he was trying to say. She doubts she can properly explain why this is so different. All those brawls with her gang in Spikemuth, who was she fighting for? Herself. Because it was fun or because she was angry. If she lost, who was she going to disappoint? Just herself.
If she loses here, now, who's going to be disappointed? Everyone in Spikemuth who's rooting for her. The gang Kai's recruited to rally around her. The people she's met along the way that said they were rooting for her. Her Pokemon. Her friends. Piers… Not to mention all those people that were betting money on her failure.

She's from Spikemuth. Those kids never make it far.

When she fails, she'll be a statistic. Part of the 99% of Spikemuth trainers that don't make it.

… Is there anything more lonely than being just another face in an endless crowd? Is there anything less… basic than being one of the many, many kids from Spikemuth that can't make the cut?

Nightshot swivels in the air as he floats back to his trainer. He knows he isn't very strong. He knows it wasn't his strength that won their last gym battle, but rather tricky things he can do (and Piper can do.) He knows they won't be able to rely on a lot of those tricks in this fight. Still, he wants to be the one to fight for Melody this time.

Melody slumps against her chair in a somewhat overdramatic, defeated fashion. "Geez, okay." She sighs before putting on a small grin. "Ya really put a lot of effort into all of this, yeah? I'd be a real piece of **** if I didn't let you see it through." With that, the punk teen lurches forward and out of her chair. "You ready to rock?"

"Py py!" Nightshot cheers. A small shuffling sound can be heard from the trainer's satchel before Spike sleepily peers out. The infant Pokemon's head sparks with electricity as he pumps his tiny fists into the air and lets out an excited cry. Battle time? Battle time!

~*~

The challenge itself was simple enough: It's a race against time, Melody versus a gym trainer to see who can capture one of the wild Pokemon released into the gym first, with the gym trainer trying to be a hindrance the entire time. Melody called out Bishop and had the raven Pokemon power himself up with Hone Claws while the gym trainer began their battle. After listening to the gym trainer gloat that Melody was making this too easy on him, the punk teen released her flying type's Power Trip on the gym trainer's Pokemon, removing that annoying obstacle before finishing the battle with the Salandit and sealing the fiery lizard inside a Pokeball. This… this was the kind of challenge she could get behind.

~*~

The gym arena is brought to life as vibrant stage lights illuminate the field. Melody rolls her shoulders as she walks through the tunnel. To her surprise, she can hear the sounds of people in the crowd-- albeit, she has no idea what they're saying... if they're saying anything at all. There's no point in looking out into the crowd either; the blinding lights make it impossible to see what lies beyond them. The instant a spiked sneaker touches the center of the arena, the sounds from the crowd amplify in volume. Red eyes gaze ahead to watch as Kabu jogs his way into the arena.

Gentle pressure can be felt on Melody's shoulder. Normally, Nightshot hides in her shadow or takes cover in her bag to hide from the crowd, or at the very least tries to make himself as small as possible by laying flat against her shoulder. Today; however, his head is held high, and there's a strong determination in the Doom Noodle's eyes as he watches Kabu approach.

Kabu's strides come to a halt mere inches from Melody. Those wise eyes (that seem to know significantly more than they have any right to) glance at the determined ghost type before settling on Melody's own, cold gaze.

"Welcome back to Motostoke, 182," he says with something of an amused smile. "I apologize that this stay hasn't been as… exciting as your last."

Melody stops herself from touching the black, half-heart pendant that's now hooked to her spiked collar. "We've kept ourselves busy." No burning buildings to run into, but they might have earned some kind of influence over a cult… and… maybe a budding interest in the occult.

Kabu raises his eyebrows ever so slightly in interest. "I look forward to seeing what you've learned."

The two quickly shake hands before making their way to their designated sides of the arena.

"Let's begin, Centiskorch!"

"Let's rock, Nightshot!"

Centiskorch appears on the field in a blaze of fire, and Melody has never felt more aware of how tiny and non-threatening her Dreepy really is. "Nightshot, Infestation!"

"Use Sunny Day!"

As Nightshot calls forth his ghostly minions to latch onto the significantly larger insect, the centipede Pokemon stretches out its massive body and cries out: The bright lights of the arena are now completely overpowered by the shining force of the sun. The massive insect barely flinches from the horde of ghostly-insects biting into his exoskeleton. Fortunately, the tiny ghost-bugs were relentless; they would continue to tear into Centiskorch's lifeforce for the next few minutes.

… Kabu knows that, doesn't he? He knows that there's no way he can get Centiskorch out of the Infestation without calling him back-- something neither one of them can currently do. Over time, it's going to become a problem… unless Kabu believes this battle will be over before the damage over time begins to add up. That would explain why he didn't even bother trying to evade.

"Now, use Fire Lash!"

There's no time to dwell on what Kabu thinks. Melody grits her teeth as the massive centipede summons a whip made of sheer fire, fire that seems to burn all the brighter and hotter due to the added heat of the artificial sun. "Nightshot, Quick Attack!"

The smaller noodle darted away from the incoming flames. In a matter of seconds, the Dreepy's tiny figure appeared on the opposite side of the arena, his small body colliding into Centiskorch's face. The collision is enough to push the fire type's head back just slightly and call off his fiery scourge-- but nothing more than that. Meanwhile, smashing into the much heavier, sturdier object was enough to send Nightshot fumbling backward after impact.

At this rate, Kabu (or Melody's assumption of what Kabu was thinking) was right. The Infestation will never be able to eat away at Centiskorch's lifeforce quickly enough to be useful if she can't stack actual damage on top of it. At this rate, the pair doesn't stand a chance, and Melody has no tricks up her sleeve. Without type advantage, without a sudden TR falling into her lap to allow her to tip the scales, how far can she go without that kind of luck?

Is that what Rosa meant when she said she didn't want to hurt her? Did she catch on that Melody's a time bomb, a failure ghosting by on luck and an unapproachable attitude? She doesn't have a goal to chase after like Valerie, she doesn't have a dream to pursue like Raphael, she's just… coasting.

"You're not moving," Kabu's voice pierces the spiraling thoughts that have caused Melody's hesitation. Cold, red eyes stare across the arena to her opponent as he flashes a subtle, but almost knowing grin. "What did you say the last time you were here? A still flame doesn't burn at all ?"

Melody's eyes widen. Kabu heard that? That little street performance wasn't exactly done in private, sure, but between the late hour and the barren-looking streets-- well, she just didn't think--

Nightshot turns away from his opponent to catch his trainer's eyes. "Py dree-py dree py dreepy dree-py!" He calls out in an almost musical tone. We gotta keep the fire burning!

The arena around them begins to echo with roars of excitement. It's hard to make out words-- but the rhythm itself is clear.

We'll. Light. The. Sky. With. Our. Inferno.

Melody cracks a hollow and yet amused smile. Sounds like more people were privy to that performance than she ever thought, and some amount of those people are here now. Wanting her to succeed. It's going to suck to disappoint them. To disappoint the people of Spikemuth. Her family. Piers.

…

For someone that insisted that her best friend needed to live her own life and screw her parents' expectation, Melody herself has been practically slowed to a halt because of… everyone else. She's been so bogged down with the dread of what people think of her, of how she stacks up to her classmates, coming across as stereotypical, as 'basic,' as another kid from Spikemuth that can't cut it. She almost denied catching Lyric because the idea of some stranger saying 'of course she has a Zigzagoon, she's from Spikemuth' was obnoxious. Why is she tailoring what she does to suit some strangers watching her exploits from their television screen? It's completely overshadowed the very reason she wanted to attempt this challenge to begin with: It was simple. She just wanted to get stronger alongside Haleigh and Nightshot. Her life doesn't depend on it, she has nothing to prove to anyone… and somewhere along the way, she decided that somehow made her a lesser competitor. She's not someone people should root for. She's not someone people should believe in.

People. People. People.

That's practically all she's thought about since the Wild Area, and, for the love of Arceus, has it been exhausting. This has to stop. Comparing herself to every other person she's met on this journey has become an anchor that's weighed her down to the point that she's lost all sense of why she started this challenge to begin with.

And it's time to take it all back.

Melody nods to Nightshot as her hollow smile shifts to an excited grin. She clenches her fist tightly before thrusting her arm into the air. "We'll keep marching right on til our fire's burning out!"

That's it. That's the spark he needed. Melody's not hesitating anymore. Nightshot closes his eyes as his body begins to glow.

A hushed silence falls over the arena as the tiny Doom Noodle begins to grow. His tiny, string-like body transforming before the crowd's eyes. A shattering sound rings through the area as the lights break away to reveal the newly evolved Drakloak.

The dragon-type zooms towards his trainer and lightly taps his forehead to hers. "Kloak," he says strongly before opening his mouth to show the powerful energy swirling around his mouth. With evolution came a new, powerful attack.

The awe-struck trainer returns the affectionate tap. Is this really happening? Only one way to find out. "Ready to do this for real?"

The dragon nods as Melody turns to face Kabu once more. "Sorry for the wait."

Congratulations! Nightshot has evolved into Drakloak!

Stinging Bea · Sep 26, 2021

Aeliana Kekoa And Tim T
Wild Area - Bridge Fields
11-3 - Battles and Blizzards

Trudging across the Wild Area was indeed a wild experience. Even though she had traversed its rolling fields, soggy wetlands, and gloomy ruins before, Aeliana wasn't sure she'd ever actually get used to it. The Motostoke Riverbank was hot and humid. It had taken her no time at all during her walk across the area to get very sweaty and somewhat fatigued, although part of that may have in fact been in part due to her and her Pokémon team's improvised dance session. However, like a mom with road rage forgetting a wallet for a trip to the grocery store, the weather had done a complete 180.

A chilling and howling wind blew across the Bridge Fields. The normally lush and green fields were covered by a thick blanket of snow, with more of it slowly drifting down from the dark, evening sky. Most trainers and travelers would have likely avoided an area with such weather, especially after nightfall. That said, the blue-haired Alolan was not as lucky as those trainers. The young woman sat huddled by a dimly lit campfire, teeth chattering as wrapped her winter coat around her tighter. By her side, Mahina sat nuzzled up close. The still shaking Pokémon was clenched tightly in her hands, the Clefairy doing everything in her power to try and keep it warm.

"Is it g-getting colder? It's g-getting colder… Tapu Lele, how is it getting c-colder? It's l-like Summer!" Aeliana stammered out. She glanced over towards her Growlithe. The fire pup was busy rolling about in the snow banks without a single care in the world. Aeliana was starting to wonder if his typing allowed him some kind of special resistance to weather like this. "T-Tiger! C-Can you add a b-bit more f-fire, please?"

Tiger quickly stopped mid-roll, looking up at his trainer in delight. Without missing a beat he bounded forward, kicking up a trail of white powder as ran. The Growlithe stopped just short of the campfire, sniffing it carefully before letting out a loud, energetic, echoing bark. Tiger took a deep breath, his furry chest puffing out in the process, before spitting out a small burst of flames at the pile of burning tinder. The heat and light being put out by the campfire increased a bit from Aeliana's Growlithe's assistance, one which at the least managed to bring a sigh of relief from both Mahina and the trainer.

"If someone would have told me I'd be digging out my coat in June, I'd have said they were crazy…" Aeliana muttered with a shiver. "I g-got a f-feeling we're not going to b-be getting much sleep at this rate…"

"Best not get any, or you might not wake up," came a deep voice from downwind, outside of the fire's ring of light. There was indeed a man-shaped shadow there, some ways off. Its approach had been masked by the sound of the wind, and its being downwind made it so Tiger hadn't smelled it sooner.

Aeliana jumped at the sound of the voice. Quickly hopping off of the log she had been using for a seat up until that point, the dancer spun around and stared out into the darkness for the source of the voice. She planted a firm grasp on one of her Pokémon's poké balls, preparing herself to release the creature within should she need some form of protection against… whoever it was that was basically sneaking up on her. All the while, Tiger pounced into the snow in front of her. His big, bushy tail began to sway back and forth with increasing velocity. The Growlithe was obviously excited by the prospect of meeting someone new.

"There are stories," the voice said, the shadow coming slowly, slowly closer, "of specters that roam the snow in the dark. Fairy tales, probably. But were you really going to risk bedding down out in the open like this?" It was a deep voice that came clearly over the wind. It was decidedly masculine, but little else was evident from its tone.

Aeliana's eyes narrowed. Something about the voice seemed to be slightly familiar. "It's not the first time we've slept out in the open," she replied. "But I do like a good ghost story. Please continue!"

"You misunderstand." Crunching footsteps in the snow grew ever-so-slightly audible. The figure was close enough for its silhouette to be clearly visible, but it was still out in the dark. It looked like it had a hood on. "I'm not an orator, Aeliana Kekoa. I'm an actor." The figure seemed to open up, as if its coat flaps were blowing open, and a smaller shape dropped from it into the snow. The smaller shape drifted around the larger one's feet and turned an orange eye towards Tiger.

More crunching snow reached the ears of the blue-haired trainer. Aeliana craned her neck just slightly, where she happened to catch a glimpse of Mahina cowering behind her leg with the Pokémon egg. Meanwhile, Tiger seemed completely oblivious to the situation at hand. The Growlithe pounced forward with excitement, sniffing the orange-eyed creature curiously.

That creature, in turn, hopped up and down and chattered at Tiger, equally excited. It circled him in the snow playfully, apparently also oblivious to the situation. The larger shadow ignored both of them and approached a little closer. It was a man apparently: a long-limbed one a good head taller than Aeliana, with a head hidden in the darkness of a hooded coat. "You would oblige me to a battle, Aeliana," he said. Didn't really sound like he was asking, either.

A small whine came from behind the shorter trainer. Mahina stared up at Aeliana with a look of dread, as if asking the Alolan if she was seriously going to give into this demand. It was a valid question, but… something told her that turning down this battle wasn't an option.

"Alright," Aeliana answered bluntly. "I'm good to go whenever you are."

The hood snapped his fingers in the cold air. Tiger's playmate—a Rolycoly—broke off from him abruptly to go stand in the snow a ways to Aeliana's right. Hood chucked a pair of balls out, one forward and one away to Aeliana's left. The towering form of a Stonjourner rose in the dark between Hood and Aeliana, and a smaller, blocky form appeared away to Aeliana's left: a Rhyhorn. The cold air grew prickly as it started to snow lightly.

"Do you remember how to Triple Battle, Aeliana?" Hood asked. He and his mons were still out of the fire's light, their forms—save for the Rolycoly's baleful eye—fuzzy in the snowy night.

Aeliana found that she couldn't help, but wonder why this guy was talking to her like he knew her from somewhere. Still, the bluenette pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She reached into her bag, pulling out a handful of poké balls before addressing the stranger again.

"It's been a bit since I was in school, but I think I can still manage," she stated.

Aeliana eyed the team that the stranger had challenged her with. The Alolan quickly noticed that they were all rock-types. A small smile came to her lips, as it at least seemed like she had the type advantage in this situation. She tossed two of the balls forward, both of which opened up to reveal her Tyrogue and Cubone respectively. Jet immediately took a battle-ready stance. His eyes narrowed as he stared up at the Stonjourner that towered literal feet over him. Meanwhile, Kaeo gripped his bone tightly. He placed it at his hip, as if mimicking some sort of swordsman as he came to stand across from the Rhyhorn.

The trainer then gripped Tampa's poké ball. The Croconaw seemed like she would be the perfect choice to round out this team. However before Aeliana could send the Pokémon out, a blinding flash of light shot out from within her bag. She stared in surprise as the shape of Elia, her Eevee, took shape in the snow. The fox-like Pokémon looked around, before coming to stare at the Rolycoly with a huff. This foul smelling human was challenging her human to a battle? And to make matters worse, he was doing so with a group of low-class ruffians? This simply would not stand. She hated to get her own paws dirty, but Elia knew it was her job to put these rogues in their places.

The wind shifted a little so that Aeliana could make out the source of Elia's crinkled nose: the man opposite her stank of pond scum and sweat and mildew and mud. Something about the sheer physical presence of the stench seemed oddly familiar with that Stonjourner bearing down. For their parts, Hood's Rocks didn't emote much at all against their opponents. They didn't seem entranced so much as just no-nonsense.

"Type advantage nearly across the board: you don't mess around, Aeliana," Hood hummed. "So neither will I. Rock Polish, all of you." All three opposing mons shivered in the dark and gleamed with whitish glows. It made them a bit easier to make out in the darkness but probably wasn't going to make them easier to hit given Rock Polish's effects.

Aeliana watched the Pokémon start to gleam in the darkness. The hooded man was going to try and speed up his Pokémon a bit, but with them all mostly being so big and bulky, she wasn't sure just how much it was going to help. She could have had all three attack a different Pokémon each, but she felt like that would be a bit of a foolish choice. Better to dogpile and pick off the weakest one of the bunch to start with.

"Elia, Swift! Jet use Rolling Kick on the Rolycoly! Kaeo, follow it up with a Bone Rush!" the blue-haired trainer commanded.

Elia lunged forward, a stream of stars shooting forth from the bushy fur around her neck. As the stars sailed forward, both Jet and Kaeo charged towards the Rolycoly. Jet leapt towards the small rock Pokémon, leg spinning around as he neared his target. Meanwhile, Kaeo "unsheathed" his bone, and swung it over his head as he took aim at the Rolycoly as well.

But Kaeo didn't make it all the way. As Rolycoly reeled from the Swift stars—some flaring out to rake Stonjourner—and tried to just barely duck away from Jet, the Cubone found himself cut off by Stonjourner. "Seems you're a touch rusty," Hood chided, "because no one's crossing centerfield for free. Stomp Cubone high then Smack Down," Hood barked, turning his head from Stonjourner to Rhyhorn. He snapped his head over to where Rolycoly had finally taken a grazing blow from Jet. "Smokescreen, cover your field!"

The giant Stonjourner's wide foot punted Kaeo airborne like a football and Rhyhorn tried to line up a golden stone to lob at the Cubone in the air, although visibility was growing steadily worse as the snowfall became a touch heavier. Visibility was especially bad on the right side, where the little Rolycoly had spun donuts around Elia and Jet, all three mons disappearing in a thick black curtain. The wind was already trying to blow the curtain off, but it was clinging stubbornly over that side of the field.

"Jet, Kaoe both of you use Focus Energy!" Aeliana calls out. She turns her focus to Elia next. "Use another Swift!"

Visibility was outright garbage now. There was no point in leaving her three Pokémon completely vulnerable to whatever this guy was going to throw out next. She quickly figured that the best option was to wait until he made the first move and then counter when his Pokémon were exposed from their hiding places. Kaeo slowly climbed up to his feet, the small Cubone shaking his head to regain his composure in the process. He narrowed his eyes, holding his bone out horizontally in front of him as he began to focus intently. Jet too took a deep breath and cleared his mind. This left Elia to unleash another barrage of stars towards where she believed her foes were standing.

Some flashes went off in the smoke to tell Elia that at least some of the stars found their mark, and some of them even swerved out of the smoke to clap against Stonjourner again, although the big stony mon didn't seem to care too much. For a creature shaped like a C-clamp and lacking knees, it was surprisingly agile in its movements as it stepped away from Kaeo to eye Jet.

"Gravity and Scary Face center," Hood shouted, "Rolycoly, Smack Down that Tyrogue."

The three Rocks took Aeliana's plan of focus fire but turned it apparently on Jet, as he was holding center and open to both sides. Stonjourner clapped its hands over its head and deep black orbs flew through the air all around as a deep bass note, deep enough to be felt in the chest, sounded over the wind. Suddenly the world was much heavier. Aeliana felt her knees bend and the wind slow as the snowflakes seemed to hit a little harder. Rhyhorn's eyes flashed red in the darkness, a strange distorted wave in the air washing over Jet. A third red eye emerged from the smoke curtain on the right and lobbed a golden stone at Jet.

Neither Hood nor his mons seemed as disoriented by the shift in Gravity as might be expected. The man's smell, this big Stonjourner, the gravitational pull, something seemed familiar about all of it. Or maybe that was just the cold. The fire was beginning to peter out with the snow coming down.

Lavender eyes widened in the dark. "Wait a minute! Aren't you that guy…?! You know, the one from the mines?!" Aeliana suddenly cried out.

Hood reached up into his hood and pulled. Apparently he was pulling something down to reveal his face. It was of course too dark for that to mean anything. "I was at the mines, yes. I never got to say goodbye to you properly. You were unconscious when I left."

"Then why challenge me to a…" Aeliana began. She quickly shook her head. "You know what, never mind."

The Alolan returned her focus to the battle at hand. That Stonjourner of his was proving to be even more annoying that it had been in the mines. Maybe it was time to adjust her tactics to try and take it out first. There's only so much damage it could take, right?

"Jet, use Helping Hand on Kaeo! Elia, use Baby-Doll Eyes now! Kaeo, use another Bone Rush on Stonjourner" she shouted.

Jet smirked in response to the order from his trainer. He quickly ran over towards the Cubone, and wasted no time in swinging him around before launching him like a missile towards the Stonjourner. As the Cubone wailed and sailed towards his target, Elia quickly hopped forward and batted her eyelashes at the three Pokémon.

Maybe it was just too dark or maybe the Rocks were just too far apart, but Baby-Doll Eyes, despite going off so quickly, was roundly ignored by the flanking mons. Stonjourner however seemed hit full-on: its big arms lowered and its voice—deep in a different way from Hood's own—could be heard muttering hesitantly. Even with Kaeo's war cry giving him away, Stonjourner still didn't move fast enough to dodge the Bone Rush. It caught the big mon's leg with a stark crack that rang in the wind. Stonjourner stumbled, gasping: critical hit.

"Throw a Stomp out for Cubone, give back as good as you got!" Hood's voice brought Stonjourner back into it: it had been hit hard but it wasn't quite out yet. Its leg span was longer than Aeliana was tall twice again and it brought one wide foot down, trying to ax Kaeo where he'd landed. "Rock Polish on the sides, keep the pace!" Rolycoly and Rhyhorn shivered meanwhile, buffing up.

"Jet go in for another Rolling Kick, but come from his side!" Aeliana cried out. "Kaeo, use Headbutt! Elia, Swift again!"

Jet let out a sharp cry, charing towards the towering Stonjourner yet again. He quickly spun around to the side, before jumping towards the massive rock Pokémon with another spinning kick. As he did so, Kaeo lowered his head and began to run towards the Stonjourner in an attempt to slam it hard with his helmet-like skull. Elia once more hopped back and took aim with yet another barrage of stars. She couldn't believe just how many hits this oversized peon was taking! Couldn't he take the hint and just go down?!

With their powers combined, Aeliana's mons set the Stonjourner rocking. It complained in its deep voice, the Rock Polish glimmers on its body winking out, and then the dark shape of its body fell backwards with a resounding thud and an impact Aeliana felt in the soles of her feet.

There wasn't much time to celebrate though. "Rolycoly, put that Smokescreen back up," Hood said even as he whipped out a ball and recalled Stonjourner, the big mon disappearing into dim red light. Even with its absence though, Gravity remained heavy over the field. "Rhyhorn, give Tyrogue another Scary Face."

The right side of the field disappeared into blackness again, swallowing away both Rolycoly and Elia. Rhyhorn's eyes flashed red and another distortion washed over Jet. It seemed rather strange really: Elia's Swift would seek through Smokescreen, so why keep raising the smoke? And why wasn't Rhyhorn actually attacking more? The fire went out completely as the wind picked up some more. The heaviness in the air made the snowfall even thicker.

"Alright on to the next one, guys!" Aeliana cheered. They got a bit battered, sure. But with the big one down that meant that everything was gonna be easier moving forward, right? Aeliana's smile dropped however, when she noticed something odd started to happen.

Jet suddenly fell to one knee. A pained-expression took hold over his facial features as a bright white light started to engulf the creature. He strained, shaking his head violently as if trying to somehow pull the light in. Aeliana recognized the light and its meaning all too well. Jet was evolving!

...Except he wasn't.

For whatever reason, the light started to fade no sooner had it started to appear. Even in the dark of the night and the heavily falling snow, Aeliana could see his forehead glistening. It looked as if he had just finished running a 30K marathon and every single step and even just breathing was causing him pain.

"Wait... Is he trying not to…?"

"Must want to be a different Hitmon than the one you were turning into, eh Tyrogue?" Hood chimed. He wasn't waiting for a response though. "Run it towards Eevee, catch your side with Explosion! Rhyhorn, one more Rock Polish."

As Rhyhorn shook out its third Rock Polish—all but glittering now—Rolycoly shot forward from the smoke cloud that was now fully dispersing in the wind. Rolycoly looped around and rammed Jet hard. Jet could keep his feet, but between his earlier suppression of Evolution, the double Scary Face, and the weight of the Gravity, it was obvious he couldn't move as fast as he wanted to anymore. Rolycoly's wheel spun double-quick with the double Rock Polish, kicking up snow and dirt as it dug down for traction and shoved Jet along towards where Elia was in the dispersing smoke cloud. Rolycoly was screaming shrilly over the wind, but then it wasn't screaming anymore, it was a high whining whistle as the little Rock began to glow—

"Colyrol!" the Rolycoly shrieked before a deafening crash of noise drowned out everything else with a flash of power. The shockwave threw snowflakes back at Aeliana like a cold, damp bedsheet. When finally her eyes could make out the scene again, she saw Jet and Rolycoly both down in a dark spot on the ground, dark for having had the snow blown off it. Both mons issued thin trails of smoke. Elia, having been at some more distance and with Jet between her and the blast, still seemed able to continue.

Aeliana took Jet's poké ball and recalled the fainted Pokémon. The blue-haired trainer offered a small word of thanks to the Tyrogue before placing his ball away and then turned her focus back to the stranger. "Don't you think that might have been a bit overkill…?"

"If I'd thought that I wouldn't have done it." Hood spun his hand in the air. "Run out wide and build up speed: finish off that Eevee with Drill Run!"

Rhyhorn streaked forward stupidly fast for something with such short legs, the glimmers of its Rock Polish leaving a faint trail in the night as it ran out to Kaeo's left. It ran out to a distance and circled about, behind Aeliana, around Elia, behind Hood, energy trails whirring about it as it soared like a specter roaming the snow in the dark. Gravity finally returned to normal: the snowfall felt less heavy but the wind picked up speed now. Hood raised his hand and the blurring shape cornered harshly, turning back towards the battlefield. Hood chopped his hand down and the whirring thing launched. It was yet more than a hundred feet away but that quickly became less than a hundred, less than fifty, the air thrumming with the thunder of its gallop, its shape a whirring cone in the dark.

Elia braced for impact, preparing herself for the pain that was about to come. Before the Rhyhorn could land its blow however, Kaeo suddenly launched himself forward at the Rhyhorn. He slammed his skull into the Pokémon, grunting in frustration as he brought his bone up into the air before attempting to slam it into the charging Pokémon.

The Cubone's impact veered Rhyhorn off its course, blowing past Elia as its Drill Run ran down. It didn't stop though, and carried the Cubone away into the dark. After a moment it streaked past again, tossing Kaeo down near Elia. Kaeo and Rhyhorn both seemed still perfectly ready to rumble.

"Can't wait your turn, hum?" Hood chided. "Line it up again Rhyhorn, Drill Run that Cubone." He clenched his fist in front of his face as the Rhyhorn blurred about behind him, building up speed again. "See if you can catch them both with it."

The whirring started again as the cone of light ran about behind Aeliana and came back around. It cornered harsh again and started for another crash course towards Aeliana's mons. With both in its sights, it wouldn't be blindsided again. As it lined up at them, barreling down, Hood threw in another order. "Change for Eevee!"

"Kaeo, use Bone Rush now!lia, use Sand-Attack while Kaeo keeps him distracted! " Aeliana called out. The Cubone leapt in front of Elia once again. The Eevee's eyes wide with surprise as he swung his bone at the Rhyhorn in an attempt to stop the much larger Pokémon's charge. Elia finally snapped out of her daze, quickly hopping off to the side wherein she began to kick up snow towards the charging Rhyhorn.

It sounded like the sky cracked. Kaeo went tumbling far away into the darkness like a billiard ball sent for the corner pocket. Rhyhorn was swaying, having been fully stopped by running head-first into a super-effective critical hit. Elia's Sand-Attack hit it full in the face and it shook its head, snorting agitatedly. It was mere feet from her, glimmering in the night.

"It comes down to this, Aeliana," Hood said darkly. "Horn Attack."

Rhyhorn was still shaking its head, blinded by the Sand-Attack and shocked by the Bone Rush, but in a moment it would get its bearings. Despite its awkward body plan, it had shown off the ability to move far faster than it had any right too: blinded or not, it would be sure to bash Elia at this range, and it wouldn't be outran. Hood was right: it all came down to this.

"Boooooooooooooooone!" a sudden cry echoed out through the snowy night sky.

Kaeo suddenly charged forward, throwing all his weight into his shoulder as he shoved Elia out of the way of the charging Rhyhorn. Before he can recover, the rock-type Pokémon presses into him at full power, sending the much smaller, skull-wearing Pokémon sailing back to his trainer. Aeliana winced as the Cubone landed roughly in the snow, before fainting on the spot.

"Kaeo, come on back!" she ordered as she recalled her Cubone. She turned her gaze to the battlefield for a moment, noticing now her lone Eevee staring up at the imposing Rhyhorn. "Thanks, Kaeo… You've given us another shot at this yet…"

"Hmph. Your Cubone had more fight than I'd thought." Hood crossed his arms. "But you delay the inevitable: Rhyhorn, back up a bit and run down that Eevee with one more Drill Run!"

Rhyhorn seemed to have mostly gotten its sight back now and scuttled backwards away from Elia. It was a rather awkward movement to watch, but it was no laughing matter. Rhyhorn's horn whirred with trails of spinning light as it aimed for the Eevee in the snow. It pawed the ground once, twice—

Rhyhorn launched forward, streaking in the darkness, a ground-level shooting star on a collision course with Elia.

"Elia, Bite!" Aeliana countered.

It was down to the wire. The Eevee braced herself. All of her knights had fought bravely in her honor. What sort of noble would she be if she simply let them all down after their heroic sacrifices? Fangs bared, she let out a loud yip before leaping high into the air.

Rhyhorn was either more tired than it was letting on or still a touch blinded from the earlier Sand-Attack, because it didn't adjust itself as Elia leapt. The Eevee managed to clear Rhyhorn's nasty horn and catch it along its ridges. Rhyhorn bucked and tumbled through the snow with Elia, the lights of its Rock Polish winking out one by one. At the end of its tumble it threw Elia off and was still standing, but it staggered and Hood recalled it.

"Stop," Hood said as Elia got back to her feet. "That is enough. It would appear you have won, Aeliana Kekoa."

Aeliana blinked slowly, watching as Elia shook the snow off her fur. The Eevee had a similar expression to her trainer's. It was over? Just like that?

"Uh… cool, I guess?" Aeliana eventually responded. She offered the hooded man a smile. "That was a pretty close one, though!"

"Yes, it was," Hood said as he walked over to the dark spot in the snow. He hadn't recalled his Rolycoly. He picked it up and muttered something to it before tucking it under one arm and approaching Aeliana. There was an orange slit in its front: its eye was kind of open still. It apparently wasn't unconscious. "Too close for comfort, I have to say. You ought to deal with ruffians like me much more swiftly." It kinda seemed like Hood was chiding her. He stopped about ten feet away and shrugged. "But I don't mean to be churlish: you did win, after all."

Aeliana squinted. Getting a read on this man was proving to be extremely difficult. The smile on her lips dropped. Something about this was bugging her.

"Who are you?" Aeliana questioned bluntly. "You know my name. You act like you're familiar with me, but I've only seen you once."

The man's hood lowered a touch, as if he was looking at the ground. "No matter how much I expect that, it still stings a little every time." He raised his gaze back up. In the darkness and the snowfall little was evident of his face except his mustache and his chin, with a white handkerchief around his neck. "Even if I didn't look like this now though, I doubt you would have remembered me anyway. It wasn't as if I were your friend. Or, I suppose, anyone else's really." He shifted his Rolycoly under his other arm. "It doesn't matter who I am, it matters who you are. You're Aeliana Kekoa, you have three Gym badges, and you've beaten me tonight. I suppose that means a reward is in order."

Aeliana flinched slightly at the statement. Thankfully due to the cold, it looked more like a shiver. That said, all the man's statement did was make her even more curious. Had they met before?

"...a reward?" she finally responded. The Eevee by her side perked her ears up. "Like what, exactly?"

"Would you like a stone for your Eevee perhaps? I have a Thunder Stone and an Ice Stone, if you would like." He fished around in his pants pocket and brought out two small shards that looked rather similar in the darkness. "These are the only ones I have that an Eevee could take though."

Aeliana looked down at the Eevee by her side. Said Pokémon's eyes happened to light up at the mention of an evolution stone. Elia found it hard to believe that the foul smelling human could really be holding onto something so important, but she wasn't going to knock it if he did. Elia glanced up at the blue-haired trainer. A pleading look was quick to come to her face. She even made sure to droop her ears and let her tail swish back and forth. Aeliana wasn't sure how to take this sudden change in Elia's normal behavior.

"I guess we could take one," she relented. "You pick though, okay? I mean, you'd be the one evolving. So it's only fair you make the call."

Hood looked down at Elia a moment and then knelt down, placing his Rolycoly in the snow nearby. He placed one stone in each hand and held his hands out to Elia. "Jolteon," he said, holding up his left hand, "or Glaceon" he said, holding up his right. He presented them to Elia.

Elia stared intently at the two stones. They were both gorgeous, shining brightly despite the overcast, snowy night sky. Slowly, the Eevee lifts her paw before placing it down onto the light blue, simmering Ice Stone. No sooner had Elia touched the stone did it begin glow and resonate within Hood's hand. A bright white light encompassed the Eevee. Her body grew longer and sleeker, with brown fur becoming a soft, baby-blue in hue. Her ears and tail grew longer as well, the latter becoming much more defined from its original bushy shape. The fur in her forehead seemingly took a more crystal-like appearance, with a bang on each side of her face. Elia's eyes gently fluttered opened, revealing a pair of deep, sapphire-blue irises.

"Elia…" Aeliana whispered. "You're beautiful…"

"Certainly better-looking than the one I got the stone from," Hood remarked. He dropped the spent Ice Stone—dull and worthless—into the snow and pocketed the Thunder Stone before grabbing his Rolycoly and straightening up. "If I run into you again, I hope you can deal with me far more quickly," he said, turning to Aeliana.

"The one you got it from?" Aeliana questioned.

Hood just waved his hand dismissively. "That's not important. Your new Glaceon should be able to navigate the snowstorm even in the dark. There was a stand of trees about north-northwest from here, I'd say half an hour walking. It's not the best but it'll break the wind a little for you. You really shouldn't be sleeping out in the cold like this, you know."

"I'll keep that in mind," Aeliana replied with a smile. She hadn't really been sleeping, but she appreciated the man's concern regardless. She looked down at Elia and Mahina and nodded. "We should probably get going then."

Another pause. She looked up at the hooded man. "But before we part ways… What's your name? I think if you know mine, I should know yours."

"A pretty sentiment, but there are many dozens of people, perhaps hundreds, who you've never seen but who know your name, Gym Challenger." He hugged his Rolycoly to his chest as the wind picked up. "The Professor used to call me Tim." He turned away and started walking into the night. "May you survive the trials that await us. And may we never meet again."

The man bolted away into the dark as the wind shifted to cover the sound of his passage and blow away his smell. With the snow coming down much heavier now, it was as if he'd dissipated into the night. Even the dark spot from the earlier Explosion had been reblanketed. The cold remains of the dead campfire were little more than a lump in the snow cover.

"Tim, huh…?" Aeliana questioned. The name sounded somewhat familiar, but she just couldn't place it. "I think I might need to make a call once we reach Hammerlocke."

Elia evolved into Glaceon!
Elia learned Icy Wind!

Dragon · Sep 26, 2021

"Thanks sooooo much for 250,000 SUBSCRIBERRRS! So! As said on Chatter, your girl is gonna do a live AMA! Sooo, bring on your questions friends, and Val shall answer! And at the end, she's gonna have a nice surprise for you all! Alrighty! Our first question comes from... eyy, my boy DaijByDay!"

DaijByDay: The energy you put into your streams is so amazing and inspiring!!! How do you keep your spirits so high with all the stresses you face on your journey?

"I gotta give the cred' to all you guys, who have been supporting me... well, ever since day one, really! TBH, there was a time where like... I had probs the worst day in my life. Won't get into that rn, but, IDK man -- never underestimate the power of support, y'know? Really, I have to say this from the bottom of my heart, without you guys, I dunno what woulda happen to me! Guess that's why I can freely keep my spirits high! That, and cuz of the wonderful friends I made along the way? Gurl's living the dream already!"

santas_genius_helper: who's your rival?? is it that clovis guy from the battle cafe??

"Aw, Clo-bro is a sweetheart, and a smart dude! Fo' sho he's like a rival -- in fact, all of the kids from school kinda are! They all got their different strengths, and they kick ass with em', but your girl's catching up with them! Soon they'll all fall and be in the mercy of the Demon Queen! Fuufufufu~!>:]"

totally_not_shipping: "are you single :awkwardflushed: asking for a friend"

"Hahahaha, oh no, I'm in danger... next question!"

Cl0ut_Cha53r: Do u kno the other challengers getn famous? R U frends?

"I'm friends with some of em', yup! And hell yeah, they're getting pretty famous -- oh man, funny story: I was streaming when I first got to Motostoke, and then someone in the chat mentioned something about Raphael's forum, and I'm like... wait. Raph-idash has a FORUM? So I gotta check it out, right? Went inside, and.. literally one of the first threads I see had NSFW art of him. Phew, did Raphie like, approve of that, orrrr... ahah, you know what else, I hear someone was gonna make, yaoi art of him and Rubie... Raph x Ruben... Raben? Ruphael? FootballHead shipping? Hmmm! But yeah, I'm totes friends with some of em', hope to get to know the rest better soon! Uhh, Empoleoff, says..."

Empoleoff: Do you pick your pokémon strategically? Any stratagems to share?

"I used to just, pick my friends like, from my gut, y'know? But now, I learned to pay attention to type advantages and whatnot. Worked really well with the Lock Nessa Monster! Which btw, my strategy! Oh man, my straaats! So, you wanna go inside the all powerful Val-ult of kicking ass, eh? Well, look no further! So like, I'm beginning to like using status moves - Attract is my faaaav, and there's also Thunderwave, and a new one: Toxic! Really tips the battle in our favour and junk! Crushin' the hero's pokemon so much that they can't lift a finger against the Demon Queen! Very fitting, eh? Long live the DEMON KINGDOM, you heroic peasants!"

Stow_On_Sally: Are u excited to come to Stow-On-Side! U gonna fight Bea or Allister?!

"Kay. Gonna say this right now. Bea-drill's is hot. Like. Hubba. Hubba. Hot. Totes gonna fight her; but not so say Alli ain't adorable; I really like em' too. But I just wanna, POW, WHAM, throw my firsts on Bea-drill's body and stuff. All over her body. Naaaah, jk, my Pokemon is gonna knock out hers, and then, Demon Queen is gonna RULE over Stow-On-Side. We'll rename it, Queen-Val-OWNS."

montrafficker: u got a favorite mon u don't have yet? we could try and find one 4 u

"I don't have a fav rn... I used to really like Spinda and Chimecho? But, I learned to like em' all! Aha, and you don't have to! But ty though!!"

DemonSimp27: You been having any trouble out on the road? Anyone give you a hard time?
Not_Important: yeah and if anyone has given u a hard time maybe u got their names right

"Hahaha, nooo, nononono, Val ain't doxxin' nobody! No one really gave me a hard time anyway; though, there's beeeeen a few things, here and there? But, your girl's safe n' good to go!"

shuckleboy: "hey have you seen a shuckle yet that's like my favourite guy

"I did! Mr. Noodles! Though I couldn't really find him back at the mine, but he was a sweet thing! Heyhey, props on your fav too! If I see more, I'll let you know!

D_K_Bongies: "VAL VAL VAL did you see the Mario movie cast in the direct yesterday it's FRICKIN CRAZY

"IKR?! FRIGGEN. LEAD VOICE ACTOR of Kungfu Pancham playing as Bowser. I though it was like, gonna be a one-off gimmick thing but THEY'RE goin' in. Like. wooow, I'm pretty hyped now tbh!!"

Voiceofunreason: Are you really this happy and bubbly or is it an act for the camera? Doesn't it get tiring?

"What you see is what you get! And uh -- not to bring down any of the other streamers -- kinda a bummer how many people play as a persona, y'know? I mean sure, it works for some people, and, what ain't broke don't fix it.. but I'd rather just be myself, and such! And it's fun, it doesn't get tiring at all!"

assimian: wut kind of training do u do with ur mons do u exercise togethr

"Mostly we play, and I let the friends do their own thing, but sometimes we practice attacks together, yeah! Oh, but just as important as training: it's suuuper important that they get their nutrition. Like, the proper food helps Ayra's teeth remain sharp n' strong. And I gotta make sure that they're cleaned up too. Like, Truck's hooves sometimes get rocks or other small objects underneath, which makes it a pain for him to run. Gotta check for those little things too! Soooo yeah, yust some advice if you wanna be a trainer too - remember to exercise, and to take care of your pokefriends!"

ALittleGayForLeon: What do you think of the current Champion? Do you think you could stand in his shoes, or in the shoes of the current Leaders?
Not_Important: hey what r u implying val if this guy is giving u trouble just say the word
Mr.Crime: "Yo Not_Important stop being such a Clovis lmfao, simp *****"

"Ooof.... but yeah, I think Leon is totes cool, and I met him face to face, actually! Gave some mad good advice, and I'm trying to stick with it! With a little work, heck yeah, the Demon Queen is gonna rule em' all! Buahahaaaaaa, with each hero I conquer, your QUEEN gets stronger!"

RotatoRotahto: What's your favorite battle format and why is it Rotations?
assimian: mods he got back in

"Still dunno what Rotations is... do you like, rotate while you fight? How do you not like, get dizzy?"

Fun_Police: Are you worried your fanbase may end up being the new Team Yell?
DemonSimp27: Oh come off it we're not that bad.
DemonSimp58: hey fuk u funpolice
DemonSimp27: Not helping dude.

"Aww no, I love you guys! But yeah, just don't cause trouble for the other people. Your Demon Queen commands thee! Or.. something like that!"

SpongeGamer777: "hey what camera and microphoen do oyu yuse im lonkign to get into streming, also if ppl coudl follow me on sturggle i follow back :)"

"Oh I just use my handy-dandy Rotom Phone version XL. Tooootes should remember that the new version is coming out soon! Luckies on your struggle stuff, mate!"

assimian: seriously mods the bots got back in
turbumpkin84075: Wanna become famous!? Buy primes, follows and subs at notavirus.com! (notavirus dot com)
SpongeGamer777: "hey what camera and microphoen do oyu yuse im lonkign to get into streming, also if ppl coudl follow me on sturggle i follow back :)"

"Aw, he was just a bot? Even that notavirus guy? Ugh, yeaaaah, do your thing, mods."

Bert_the_Sawk: Do you know any martial arts? Can you use any weapons?
DemonSimp43: lol wut kind of username is that fukin furry
DemonSimp27: Seriously guys you're making us look bad

"Waaaait, Sawk is a furry? Er anyway, I don't really like to fight, but I diiiid learn some self defense stuff; granny was pretty overprotective of me back when. No, can't, and won't use any weapons."

DemonSimp66: hey just hypothetically if we were to I dunno seize control over a town like the Skull gang did in Alola would you come by and give us royal orders
DemonSimp27: Oh my god

"Pssh, our kingdom doesn't just 'seize control', The Demon Kingdom treats their newly acquired people with love and respect! My only orders to you guys, help out those that you can!"

MongoKirbo: Who do you main in Smash

"Kirby! Shaped like a friend, ftw!'

Cutieguy-Ribomboy: Do you think you could have a little thing where you battle some of your fans when you come around by Circhester?
DemonSimp71: back off jack
Not_Important: how do i change my username i wanna be number 94
DemonSimp27: WHERE ARE THE MODS

"Chilllllll, friends. Anywho, I can toootally do that for Circhester; heck, you can even come by Hammerlocke, or Stow-on-Side! But yeah, I'll do a thingy where I'll meet more of you guys soon!"

karb89: could u do a flip
DemonSimp89: back of the line karb I was 89 first
karb89: ur not even allowed to use that word on struggle any more u should be demon tier 3 sub
karb89: also my account was made back when this was still called dustin tv dot com

"Gah, I remember that site! I think I wanted to watch some Runigerus-scape stuff? Aha man that was aaaaages ago, hahaha!. Can't do a flip, soz."

Ernies_Egg_Giveaways: Flame's really popular, have you thought about maybe siring him out?

"Hey, come on, man..."

DemonSimp66: someone dox this sick son of a *****
DemonSimp71: how dare u
Ernies_Egg_Giveaways: It would be for charity, and I think a lot of folks would like to have their own little Cyndaquil too.

"I mean Flame ain't someone you can just--"

DemonSimp43: ur fukin dead ernie
DemonSimp27: Oh no we really have turned into Yell

PurrfectVictory: Mod here. Do you want to get banned? This is how you get banned.

"Er, hold up a sec Purrf. Ernie bro, I knooow you have good intentions, but Flame is more than a bud -- in fact, all my pokefriends aare like my family, y'know? I'm not gonna... do somethin' weird and bloody make em' feel uncomfortable. And plus--"

Not_Important: hear that ernie u better watch ur mouth

PurrfectVictory:: :banhammerwithMeowthears: This is a family friendly stream. Plz be considerate.
shuckleboy: :Crungo:
Ernies_Egg_Giveaways: "I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend."
DemonSimp66: "yeah well you did ernie"
Not_Important: "hey mod do u change usernames or can i do it somehow"
DemonSimp13: "So I know the Gym challenge keeps ya busy and stuff but do you think you'll ever start streaming that MMO everyone's talking about? I heard it's got an unlimited free trial up to level 60 that includes the first expansion or something."

PurrfectVictory:: "@Not_Important go to the settings. :3 You can change your SN there once every two months."
DemonSimp94: @PurrfectVictory thanks

"Mmmm, maybe I'll try that when I got the chance too! Anywhooo, thanks for the questions gang, and thanks for poppin' in! Ah, and yeaaah I got... two surprises for ya! One is... ta da! I got a new friend! Her name is Cuddles, and the Dex says, she's a Gastly! I met her shortly after comin' through the Wild Area; and it was soooo amazing! She like, was popping in out of my friggin' shadow! It scared the STUFFING out of me, but we both just laughed about it, and honestly? She was pretty cute! A trickster, buuuut she's really fun! So, she's taggin' along with the fam! As for the second surprise..."

"...Yo' girl is gonna be in this year's Struggle Rivals! The Demon Kingdom is gonna OWN Hammerlocke! So myyyy Little Monsters, hope you all will meet and cheer on the Demon Queen, ROWR!

See you all there, and remember, Val loves you!! Poggers!"

#GalarLeague #Valentine #Pokémon
Val's VALLLLUABLE AMA!
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Valentine♡

250K Subscribers

Fiiightin' evil by moonlight, Val is hereeeee by daylight~ now she's here for an AMA! Come on' and ask, straight away! ♡♡

Sonata · Sep 27, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 11.7 - TIME TO GET CRACKIN

Rosa continued on her jaunt around the Wild Area. Of course, still having no phone, she had no real idea of how long she should be out roaming about before going back to Pia's side. There was always the chance that things with her mom took a turn for the worse, but with what she'd last heard, she wasn't too worried about that possibility. She just needed to waste a bit more time out here and stay out of Pia's hair while she figures out her plans going forward. Pia… still had a lot going for her, despite the messy breakup and current state of her mother. She placed highly at the last contest, she had people that knew her name, and most of all - she still had a chance at the Galar Championship.

Rosa, on the other hand…

The girl looked behind her, stopping for a moment to watch the Jangmo-o that had refused to stop following her. She dug around in her pocket, feeling the few empty balls she still had from before she'd faced off against Kabu. She could always capture the Pokemon, just to make things go a little quicker.

"It wouldn't be right," she whispered, shaking her head. "Not after I released Ezra - not while knowing it'll have no future with me. It was selfish to bring along this many Pokemon already… I can't do that to another one of them, not now."

"Jang?" The Pokemon cocked its head as it looked up at her. Curiosity brimmed behind the Pokemon's eyes as it watched the girl sway on her heels. "Jang?"

Rosa sighed, feeling the bike on her back. Popping it open here and riding off towards Hammerlocke would surely be the easiest way to leave the Pokemon in the dust - but would that be any better than capturing it? She knew there were poachers out here now… leaving the young dragon out here to fend for itself very well could be a death sentence.

"What am I supposed to do?" The girl started to rub at her temples, racking her brain over what to do with the Pokemon. "Maybe if I hang out here a while, I could run into someone like Jasper. I know I could safely pass it on to him without any worry about its future." Rosa laughed lightly to herself. "That boy is so dedicated to caring for his Pokemon… but I haven't seen him in months. He might even have a dozen more Pokemon now than the last time I saw him - then I'd just be coming back full circle…" the girl paused for a moment, taking a breath as she tilted her head back towards the sky. "Everything I do… is so selfish. I'm nothing, if not troublesome."

The girl's thoughts drifted once more to the other Pokemon she had along with her. She could give up on this journey and turn her attention towards becoming a Ranger - she did just recently have success with utilizing the stolen device. But that still begged the question of what to do with the rest of her Pokemon. And of course, would any of her own desires matter as long as Simon was still hovering over her?

Rosa shook her head vigorously, trying to move the thoughts out from the front of her mind. 'Forget about him. Just imagine instead that he's not there. What would you do?' The girl squatted down and then fell back onto the ground, letting her mind wander to a number of different places. After all, regardless of what she thought she was going to do, she had nowhere else to be right now; no objective to run towards, no Pokemon or people to run from, just her, herself, and her thoughts.

'I wonder… where did Wyatt even come from? If I did become a Ranger, I'd get to keep a Pokemon or two of my own as partners, but what if when it came down to it he wasn't allowed to come for some reason? I wouldn't know where to begin looking at for relocating him. Sure, I could probably ask Sonia how she obtained him and that could give me a better idea of where to go… but what if she hatched him from an egg? Then he'd be just the same as Zorro…'

The Jangmo-o watched the girl as her eyes began to gloss over. The Pokemon looked off into the distance, following her gaze over the horizon - but found nothing of interest. "Mo--O!" The dragon stomped over beside Rosa and spun in a circle a few times before finding 'the spot' to be in. The Pokemon laid down against her, letting out a massive yawn before looking up towards her. "Jang."

'Maybe I'll give Sonia a call once the situation with Pia's mom figures itself out. That could work, but what about the others? Yzma only came with her once it realized it had no place to return to. After the fight that the Ranger dragged her friends and family into, followed by the situation with that possessed Snorunt they'd found some kind of understanding between them… But at the same time, she was small enough that she could probably be kept around the house somewhere if it came down to it - at least until Yzma was able to make up her mind on where else she might want to be. After all, it wasn't like just having a Pokemon as a family pet was something unheard of.'

Dahlia crawled out of Rosa's sweater, finding a cozy spot between the new friend and her trainer. "Cuuuu," the Pokemon cooed, creating a small cushion of fabric atop the Jangmo-o's head before taking her place upon it.

'Zorro was hatched, of course. How would he deal with acclimating to the wilds for the first time? All he'd ever known was being with me. Would it be cruel then to let him go without watching over him first? He was with Yzma in that same group of "small enough" to reasonably stay cooped up inside… but that boy has waaaaay too much energy. Small as he is, I doubt he'd be able to go a single day inside without causing problems.'

Rosa laughed lightly, wiping the forming tear from her eye. She glanced down at Dahlia and the Jangmo-o who were both sleeping soundly beside her. A smile crossed the girl's face as she traced the scales on the dragon's body.

'Maybe I could send him off with a posse. Dahlia had gotten rather attached to him it seemed, and he was the whole reason that Ozzy had joined her team in the first place. Cute as it was that me and Melody shared a Pokemon, the same could have been said for Jasper and… well… at least with Dahlia and Ozzy there with him, he wouldn't get lonely. I could just run them all back to Turffield, drop them off in a field of flowers somewhere. Dahlia already knows the area - she could just show him around, meet up with all her old friends, yada yada.'

She paused for a moment, catching the scent of something sweet on the air as she closed her eyes. "Hmm, cinnamon rolls."

'Besides, the only alternative I can really think of would be to try and find the girl from the Inn that she first got his egg from. If they were a family of breeders, that might be the best place for him outside of Turffield. Even with the other Pokemon there with him, I'm kind of scared he might still end up depressed without that human element there to back him up… or maybe that's just me being self-absorbed.'

Rosa sighed, feeling the weight on her shoulders slowly starting to drip down into her chest. She felt bad now - if only she'd waited a few more days to tell Melody she couldn't be with her. If only she'd waited until after the gym battle to take care of the cult, she could have let her know what was going on without running off so abruptly like that. Her hand moved to the pendant around her neck. She wondered if Melody still had hers on, despite… despite… the girl's cheeks flushed as she remembered the kiss that she'd stolen from the girl.

"Uuuuugh!" Rosa flopped onto her back, startling the two Pokemon beside her awake. "Fuck meeeee! Aaaaaaaack! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She stared up at the sky as the blush on her cheeks began to fade. That heaviness which had been creeping down her body began to settle fully into her chest, causing her to swallow hard. "It's fine. I don't need anyone besides Simon… he'll take care of me, just like he promised… just like he always has."

"J-Jang!" The small dragon screeched, quickly rising to its feet. "Mo-o! Mo-o!"

Rosa sat up, looking first at the Pokemon. "What is it?" The girl followed the Pokemon's gaze, listening to its cry as it grew increasingly aggravated in its tone. She shielded her eyes, searching the horizon for whatever it was that the small dragon had seen. "There's nothing ou-" just as she started to brush the Pokemon's growling off as nothing, she saw - something. A glint of steel off in the distance, a long way off from where she was, but not completely on the other side of the Wild Area. "It could be another poacher," she whispered. The girl looked in the direction she'd first caught sight of the glint and began to move her head back and forth, making sure that there was actually something there. Rosa sighed, shaking her head as she rose to her feet. "Well, guess we should check it out then."

"Jang!" The Pokemon's cry which had been nothing but anger quickly changed its tune to one that was slightly more excited, causing the girl to turn her attention back towards it in lieu of picking herself up.

"What is it now?" she whispered, looking off to her left. "N-no. It couldn't be."

"Raaaa!"

Rosa picked herself up a little more quickly now, looking off in that same direction. "Heeey! Kiiiiid!" The girl yelled as loud as she could, cupping her hands around her mouth. "There's no way… she can't be going towards the glint, could she?"

"Jang!" The small dragon replied, trotting off in the direction of that distant shine.

"Shit… shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Why is there always something when I'm just trying to relax?" The girl got onto her bike, not entirely thrilled by the idea of trekking back in the direction they'd just come from on foot all over again. "Of all the places for her to show up… of all the lengths of the fucking Wild Area, why? Why me? Why here." She shook her head as she started the electric motor and hopped up onto the seat. "This fucking kid is going to be the death of me, I already know it."

The girl took one final look over her shoulder as the bike started to pick up speed. The gate to Hammerlocke was just a few hours away - in the opposite direction. She wasn't certain of course, but she just knew she wouldn't be getting back in before the night was over.

Rosa looked back, now completely unable to see the gate that she'd been so close to reaching before. This was much further out than she'd initially anticipated to go, given she'd only meant to wait out a day or two around Hammerlocke's side of the Wild Area. She had some extra cash now thanks to Simon's mom, and had intended to check out a few of the city's shops after she got back. She'd hoped to just hang out in the hills area just outside the gate and maybe spend a little bit of time on the lake to pass the days, but now… now they'd trekked all the way back into the Giant's Mirror. The girl quickly consulted her map, curious about how far they'd travelled, whether they'd actually reached the Giant's Mirror or not, and about what had happened to that glint they'd seen from so far off before.

"Jang!"

Rosa rode up beside the dragon and instantly knew where the pokemon's gaze was leading. A short ways off, obscured by a small hill was an alarming sight. "This fucking kid," she grumbled, watching the girl from before trying her best to tackle what looked like a moving chess piece. Rosa pulled out her dex as she watched the kid trying to wrestle an egg away from the Pokemon.

'Pawniard, the Sharp Blade Pokemon. They fight at Bisharp's command. They cling to their prey and inflict damage by sinking their blades into it. Blades comprise this Pokémon's entire body. If battling dulls the blades, it sharpens them on stones by the river. A pack of these Pokémon forms to serve a Bisharp boss. Each Pawniard trains diligently, dreaming of one day taking the lead."

Rosa glanced over at the larger Pokemon which was posed upon a rock nearby the others, watching over them as they carried a multitude of eggs to him. The Pokemon smirked as it watched the scuffle before pointing at the child.

"Bish."

Several of the pawniard dropped the eggs they were holding and quickly leaped at the girl, wrapping themselves around her body and poking her with their bladed arms. Rosa immediately rushed in, looking down at her dex as she ran towards the attack. The young girl kept fighting the good fight, striking back at the Pawniard which surrounded her and even managing to push back against a few before finally succumbing to the pressure of their numbers.

"That's enough!" Rosa called out, pulling two pokeballs from her pocket. The girl gave the balls a cursory glance, ensuring she'd nabbed the ones that had the best odds of winning here out of what she currently had. "You have to stop them!"

The balls flew through the air, exploding open on the ground to reveal the forms of both Wyatt and Zorro who were already readying their first attacks. The two rushed into the fray, putting themselves between the young girl and the Pokemon before letting loose their initial assaults against the Pawniard. Rosa glanced down at her pokedex, seeing that the entry for the larger Pokemon had finally come up.

"Bisharp, the Sword Blade Pokemon. It's accompanied by a large retinue of Pawniard. Bisharp keeps a keen eye on its minions, ensuring none of them even think of double-crossing it. This pitiless Pokémon commands the group to hound prey into immobility. It then moves in to finish the prey off. Young Pawniard battle to become the boss, but will be driven from the group if it loses."

Rosa looks confusedly at the girl on the ground who's covered in cuts and bruises, and then back up at the Bisharp whose attention is still concentrated on the two humans despite the Pawniard already having gotten back to work. Rosa pulled a bit of of cloth from her bag and began to wrap the child's wounds with it while shooting glances back and forth between the Pokemons' boss.

"Raaa!"

Rosa looked back down at the kid, realizing that she might have finally recognized her. Though, it was safe to say that Rosa still had no idea what the kid was trying to say.

"R-Raa!" The girl cried out, backing away from Rosa as tears filled her eyes.

"Hey, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you. You remember me, don't you? Look, it's one of the Jangmo-o we rescued. I'm your-"

"Raaaaa!" The girl screamed out again, shuffling back even further.

Rosa sighed, quickly putting the cloth back in her bag before focusing her attention back on the Pokemon in front of her. Wyatt and Zorro held their ground, forming a small wall between their trainer and the numerous Pokemon which continued on with their work while stealing momentary glances in her direction. The girl nodded slightly, recognizing the smirk on the boss mon's face. Her attention slowly turned towards the Pawniard which were hauling a number of eggs from somewhere off in Giant's Mirror to this location.

'This must be the prey it's after… but why eggs?' Her mind began to wander, trying to piece together the puzzle at hand as the wall of eggs continued to grow around the Bisharp and its rocky throne.

"Raa…"

Rosa's attention returned to the beaten and bruised child who was beginning to cautiously crawl her way back towards the eggs. The girl held out her arm towards the stack and then quickly pulled it back in. Tears filled the girl's eyes as she reached up to Rosa's sweater, taking a handful of the fabric into her fist.

"Raa!"

Rosa looked down into the girl's eyes. Despite not knowing exactly what they were trying to say, she felt it was fairly obvious what the girl was desiring from her. Her attention went back towards the eggs, seeing a fair few different designs among them now that she was paying a bit closer attention. Black with red stripes, tan with brown stripes, silver with black stripes, and many, many more variations. The girl slowly pulled out her styler, keeping it hidden in the excess fabric of her sweater sleeves as she began to focus her mind to that singular emotion - ready to make use of the small army that the Bisharp had brought for her.

"Distract them for me," the girl whispered to Zorro and Wyatt.

The two Pokemon looked at each other and nodded, moving instantly into the delivery line where they made themselves known. Meanwhile, Rosa set to putting into motion the same tactics she'd used against the poacher earlier on. The girl began to dance, not worrying about the movements themselves yet, but simply feeling the flow of her own body and focusing on that one, singular thought which she wished to convey.

'Rebel.'

Rosa began to dance, letting the thought itself guide her movements as she let her eyes remain closed. She knew she could leave things to Wyatt and Zorro, so all she had to do was this. But, as she continued to leap and spin around, other thoughts began to seep in.

'What about the kid? What if they decide to run in for the eggs while your Pokemon have the others distracted? Is it right to keep relying on your Pokemon like this when you're still planning on releasing them at some point in the near future? Is it cruel to not even let them know what's going through your head about all that?'

Each of these thoughts began to force their way into her mind, eating away at and pulling bits and pieces from that singular feeling in her mind until there was nothing of that original thought left. The girl slowly opened her eyes, feeling dizzy now that she was back outside of her own mind. Rosa took a few steps forward, and then fell to her knees.

"Ugh," she grumbled, placing a hand against her head as she tried to force back the oncoming headache. The girl looked up, dazed, but otherwise fine. About half of the Pawniard which had been carrying the eggs had turned their attention towards her, giving her a small salute as she glanced over at them. Meanwhile, the rest of the Pawniard were stuck stealing glances between their boss and the girl who was now kneeling in the dirt.

"Bish," the Pokemon grunts, making its way down from the stone it had been planted on.

The boss of the Pokemon pushed aside a confused looking Pawniard, stealing the egg out of its arms as it continued to close the distance between itself and Rosa. As the Dark-type approached, the other Pawniard which hadn't yet saluted the girl quickly moved aside, making way for their boss to approach. The Pokemon looked at the egg in its mitted hand, smirking before thrusting it up into the air above its head.

"Bish!" The Pokemon cried out. The egg stood high in the air, grasped firmly in the Pokemon's mitt-like hand. The Bisharp gently brought the egg back down to eye level, locking its gaze with Rosa as it smiled devilishly. "Bisharp." The Pokemon pulled its other arm up before slamming it down into the top of the egg, cracking it open. The dark type held the cracked egg out to one of its followers, prompting them to shove their bladed arm into the top before shaking it vigorously.

Rosa watched in horror as the Bisharp brought the egg up to its mouth and then tilted its head back. Slowly, and without breaking its gaze on her, the Pokemon let the goopy mixture within the shell drip down into its mouth and over both its face and body. To compound this effect, the various Pawniard which were still fully aligned with the Pokemon quickly moved to follow in their master's image - breaking open eggs of their own before downing as much as they could, though making much more of a mess with what missed their mouths than their leader had.

"Bishaaaaarp," the Pokemon chuckled, tossing the hollow shell aside before letting out a roar to assert its dominance. The nearby Pawniard cowered in fear, as both Wyatt and Zorro moved in closer towards the Dark-type.

Rosa pursed her lips, something akin to hatred churned in her gut as she watched the display. This wasn't a 'hunt' for the need of food. This was 'sport' to this Pokemon - a game. It had no intention of truly eating all of the eggs that it was gathering, it just wanted to prove that it could. The girl clenched her fists, wanting so dearly to just be able to run up and punch the Pokemon. But, even putting aside the fact that getting that close to such a character - Pokemon or not - would most definitely be her last few steps, she highly doubted she even had the strength to faze the Bisharp. She was toned, only so muscular as was necessary for certain acrobatics and her dancing routines - but she was not naive enough to consider herself strong, or powerful. She needed a protector.

"Jang!" The Jangmo-o rushed up, pushing its way between the Roserade and Loudred which had inched closer together in the face of the encroaching Pawniard to make a physical barrier in front of Rosa.

The girl looked at the small dragon, and then up at the two Pokemon whose gazes had also landed on the same Pokemon. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, Jangmo-o, but I don't know that you're really-"

"Jang!" The Pokemon cried out again, taking a few more certain steps towards the Dark type. "Mo-o!"

The Bisharp boss looked down at the small dragon and smiled, wiping the remnants of the egg from its face before motioning towards the Pokemon to come at it.

"Moooo-oo!" The Jangmo-o roared out, causing the Bisharp to instinctively falter at the Pokemon's outburst.

"Bish? Bisharp sharp," The Pokemon snickered, Tormenting the small dragon as it motioned for them to attack.

The Jangmo-o grunted, stomping its feet as it bucked around, performing what seemed to be a sort of Draconic Dance as it mimicked Rosa's earlier movements. The Bisharp scowled, clearly irritated with the Pokemon's lack of approach and chose to sharpen its own blades with a quick Swords Dance as it took a few discerning steps forward.

The Jangmo-o watched as the Bisharp scraped its arm blades against each other, and began to shake its own scales in response, clanging them against its own body and then against the ground as it shored up its Iron Defenses.

"Bisharp!" The Pokemon screamed, throwing caution to the wind as it rushed in with consecutive swipes of its Metal Claws, all of which missed the more nimble dragon Pokemon.

"Mo-o?" The Pokemon laughed as it dodged, spinning quickly to land a Dragon Tail which would have sent the Bisharp flying - had it not encased its hands in a dark energy which it used to grip and slash at the small Pokemon's tail. "Mo-o!" The Pokemon cried out, pulling its tail free before slamming the scale on its head against the Bisharp, sending the steely knight back from a Headbutt.

"Biiiish," the Pokemon grunted, sharpening its blades again as it rushed in quickly for two Slash attacks. The Jangmo-o responded in kind by continuing its prior dance, dodging the first attack but being struck by the second as the two traded blows once more as the dragon landed a Dragon Tail which forced the Bisharp back once more.

"Bisharp." The Pokemon grunted, the look on its face turning even darker as its whole body began to shake. The Dark-type pointed at the small dragon, screaming at it as it rushed forward.

"Mo-o!" The dragon responded, continuing its dance as its entire body began to glow with a purple-ish aura.

The two Pokemon collided, with both of the Bisharp's sharpened steel arm-blades pressing into the Jangmo-o's hardened head scale which was now pulsating with that same energy which coursed around its body.

"Mo-o!" The Pokemon cried out, forcing its head towards the Bisharp more as the aura continued to pulsate even stronger now.

The Bisharp smirked, pulling its arms away slightly so that the dragon fell forward with its momentum. The Steel-type quickly moved to the side, leaving one blade below the Jangmo-o's neck before placing the other on the back, readying to land the finishing Guillotine.

"Jang?" The Pokemon lets out the smallest cry as it turns to see the blade coming down on the back of its neck.

"Rooooose!" Zorro flew through the air, having been launched by a boom of sound energy which echoed out from Wyatt. The small grass-type placed both of its arms together, forming sharp barbs from both of them as it flew towards the blade on the Bisharp's head.

"Bish?" The Pokemon turned at the realization of the sound, only to be thrown to the ground as the weight of Zorro struck against its head.

Several seconds passed as all of the Pokemon began to look over at the Bisharp and Roserade, waiting to see what the outcome of the battle would be.

"R-Rose," Zorro shook his head as he slowly rose to his feet. The Pokemon looked down at the broken barbs which had once protruded from the ends of his bouquets. The Roserade took a few steps towards the Bisharp, and then stopped, having caught sight of something in the grass. "Rose?"

Rosa watched Zorro as he reached into the grass, and then covered her mouth in disbelief as she watched the Pokemon pull out a large and jagged chunk of what looked like the blade of an axe. The girl quickly turned her attention to the Bisharp, who had seemingly already realized what had happened and was going through great effort to rise to its feet without showing the disgrace atop its head.

However, the first of the Pokemon besides Zorro to realize what had happened was in fact the Pawniard. The underlings started looking at the pokemon with disgust, feeling at the horns on their own heads as they did. The bisharp lost, and with it, its place in the group. The pawniard which had sided with Rosa at the start of the fight began to trickle over to the girl and started to get all riled up as they watched the retreating of the Bisharp as it marked the beginning of a massive battle among all those who had remained loyal to it.

The young girl which the Pokemon had punished and picked on began to crawl up to the stacks of eggs, looking over them as she picked up the tiny bits of shattered shell in a vain attempt to piece them back together. It only took a few seconds for them to realize how futile it actually was, as tears began to overflow from her eyes. "Raa…"

Rosa glanced over at the girl, slowly making her way over to her now that things had mostly been settled. She looked at the egg which the girl had been trying to piece together, noting that it was one of the ones with a solitary red stripe among the sea of black.

"Was that… a friend of yours?" She could already feel her hitting herself. For one thing, the kid couldn't even understand her. For second, she was kind of glad about that given how dumb that was to ask - it was an egg.

"Raa…" the kid replied, grabbing a few more of the eggs before slowly rising to her feet.

"Raa?"

Rosa flinched slightly, turning her attention in the direction of the second voice which had come from behind her. The girl watched as a second, identical child walked quickly through the mayhem to join in with her twin.

"Raa…" the two kids looked at each other, nodding solemnly as they gathered up as many of the eggs as they could. The new girl looked up at Rosa and then down at the Jangmo-o beside her before smiling, giving the Pokemon a small nod.

Rosa watched as the two girls walked off further in the opposite direction of the Hammerlocke gate. The young trainer took a moment, trying to process what she'd just seen. "...Twins?" She shook her head, not sure what to do with that information. It made sense now though why the girl had seemed so frightened of her despite having been helped by her before.

The girl sighed, not really sure what the right thing to do here was. The kids didn't have homes as far as she knew, but at least… at least they had each other. Were they any better off than she herself was? Maybe the right thing was to take them to the Rangers, but at the same time that could be just as mean as leaving them on their own. At least… at least now she knew something that she could do moving forward. Even if she didn't continue on as a trainer, she could still go on with the goal of becoming a ranger. It hadn't been perfect, but she'd managed to utilize the styler in her pocket twice now in a meaningful way. Maybe that's what she should do - maybe that's what her new excuse should be. She'll follow the rest of her classmates, look for a point where she can meet up with and apologize to Melody… and follow in the footsteps of her father - anything to spend a little more time with those people she'd come to care about.

Rosa's attention turned to the group of Pawniard which had already taken to fighting amongst themselves. The girl sighed as she shook her head. She'd expected this, given what the dex had given her on the Pokemon. But she didn't realize it would happen so quickly. Rosa looked over at the Pawniard which she'd managed to influence, seeing that they weren't fighting amongst themselves but were instead looking up towards her.

"W-what?" She stuttered, recalling Wyatt and Zorro.

"Pawn!" The nearly dozen or so Pawniard which had yet to join the in-fighting with their peers raised their arms to the sky and cried out in unison.

Rosa grimaced, and buried her face within the excess fabric of the sweater which bunched up around her neck. "Not more…" she whispered, glancing down at the Jangmo-o which looked even more excited now than it had while it was fighting. The girl quickly leaped onto her bike and began to peddle, not waiting for the engine to kick on and not taking a moment to look behind her at what she was leaving behind. "Let Wild be as Wild is."

After nearly an hour of manual pedaling, the girl finally slowed to a stop. The moon was out in full, but thunder cracked off in the distance, warning of the night's coming storm. The girl sighed, taking a moment to start up the electric motor once more.

"Pawn!"

The girl flinched. The cry came out just before the motor started, calling her attention a short distance behind her. Rosa turned her head, not really sure what she was expecting to see but being surprised by the sight nonetheless as she witnessed something… truly amazing. A short distance behind her, trotting right along as happy as could be, was the Jangmo-o which had yet to give up on accompanying her. And there, standing on the dragon's back while somehow managing to maintain its balance without any hands to hold onto the beast - was a single Pawniard.

"Pawn!" The Pokemon cried out again, waving the girl down.

'Oh no. No, no, no. Not more. I can't do more. Please, just go away.' The girl pursed her lips, watching as the duo trotted right up next to her bike. "Heeeey, what's going on? Why are you two following me?"

"Pawn!" The Pokemon quickly performed a salute, and then followed it up with a bow. "Iiiiiard."

'Okay. That's kind of cute, but I know what these things are capable of. I was already struggling with the idea of putting that Jangmo-o in a ball for safe keeping… but I can't - or rather, don't really want to take this other one with me at all.'

"Jang!" The Jangmo-o nodded its head and then proceeded to bow, revealing that behind the scale on its head rested a tiny, pink, ball of fluff.

The girl paused for a moment, staring at the spot on the Pokemon's neck as she took in a shaky breath. "Dahlia," she muttered, tilting her head slightly at the pink spot.

"Cu?" The pink spot quickly rose up from the dragon's neck, rising to eye level with its trainer before looking at her with a confused expression.

"Dahlia…" Rosa started again, shaking her head as she sighed. "Dahlia…Dahlia…"

'Why are they all so troublesome?'

"Fine." Rosa whispered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You two can come along, but - I'm not going to claim you. There's better trainers out there. I'm sure if we hang around Hammerlocke long enough, you'll both find someone else you'd rather go with."

"Jang!"

"Pawn!"

The girl looked down at the two Pokemon and then crossed her fingers. 'Please, let someone else show up to take them… I don't want to have to be responsible for trying to rehome even more Pokemon.'

"Cu!"

Rosa glanced over at Dahlia who was sitting on her shoulder, looking happy as could be. The girl scoffed. "What are you so pleased with yourself about?"

"Cuuuu." Dahlia tilted her head towards the two Pokemon she'd helped to follow Rosa with. "Cuuutie."

Rosa looked down at the Jangmo-o and Pawniard. If she was still aiming for completing this journey as a trainer, these two would be great additions to her team. But at the same time - 'Just don't name them. Just don't name them. Just don't name them. Everything will be fine as long as you-'

"Fuzen, and Hachi… just so I don't have to keep referring to you as Pawniard and Jangmo-o. That's all this is - so don't grow too attached. Fuzen the Pawniard, and Hachi the Jangmo-o. Got it?"

The two Pokemon looked at each other, momentarily tilted their heads in consideration then nodded with smiles on their faces.

"Mooooo-o!"

"Pawn!"

"Great." Rosa revved the engine of her bicycle a few times, already mentally kicking herself over giving the two Pokemon she didn't intend to take along with her names. 'Great indeed. Just don't get too attached.' The girl consulted the map on her ATC and then quickly continued on in the direction she'd been heading before - ready to return to the city, and to Pia as well.

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND
PRAY RETURN

CHAPTER 11 - WILD AREA
GOING BACK
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL PT.2
ENDING UNPLANNED
A QUIET STORM
A QUIET STORM PT.2

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

Dragon · Sep 27, 2021

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STAGE 12 - HAMMERLOCKE

Spoiler:

Welcome to Hammerlocke!

Our heroes, after fighting many battles, strengthening their bonds, going through many trials and tribulations, have finally reached the center of Galar: Hammerlocke City, and the home of Raihan, who is recognized as the strongest Gym Leader in the region. Hammerlocke is a city that represents the great history of Galar, living and thriving within castle walls that date back to the middle ages.

But not just that, Hammerlocke is the site of this year's Strugglecon, a summer event based on the popular video-streaming platform that brings all sorts of people together, from internet celebrities, to battle enthusiasts, and even bringing all sorts of colourful fans to observe the success of their favourite league challengers. Strugglecon is also the venue of Galar's second pokémon contest, where coordinators aim to collect another ribbon, and one step closer to the Grand Contest competition.

With the first three gyms behind them, things from here will only be more competitive, more challenging, and possibly… more dangerous for our heroes. What will be in store for the trainers next?

WILD POKÉMON AVAILABLE THIS STAGE

Pokémon available to those on Mission 3:

Pokémon available to those on Mission 6:

Pokémon available to those on Mission 7:

Pokémon available to those on Mission 10:

.

MISSIONS:

[OPEN][CONTEST] ★ 1:
The Galarian contest circuit continues and it's venue shall be at Strugglecon this year! One of Hammerlocke's biggest happenings of the summer, our performers will be looking to continue or even start their contest careers at this event. Show everyone your best, and the top three performances will receive a Ribbon from the judges!

Note:
All contests in Z-Verse and thus in Spear, are considered events where many people attend to watch. It's likely many players will write posts where they attend the event, if not participating in it. Participating players must make sure to mark a solo post as their PERFORMANCE POST to assure that their contribution is marked and their characters are counted in the running for a ribbon.
Each contest has three unique factors that must be acknowledged if one wishes to win;
- The Guest Judge
- The Venue
- The Objective
Think about how your character would react to these things and do your best to write a performance that will blow away the competition! We're going to try to make sure that everyone who wants to participate in the Grand Festival gets a chance so do your best!

Guest Judge:

IDOL & CONTEST STAR OF HOENN - LISIA

Spoiler:

A peppy, energetic and electrifying contest star from Hoenn, Lisia(aka. Lissi) became the number one contest star in Hoenn for her charming and dazzling performances with her beloved Altaria, Ali. She decided to try doing Contests after seeing her uncle, Wallace, perform in them and then became a Contest star almost overnight. Her motivation to do Contests is so that she can show people that there is more to pokémon than just battling. Through all her scouting, she definitely has a good eye for talent, especially for coordinators who are set to bring out the very best of their pokémon partners!

Venue:
Welcome to the convention's largest stage in Galar, and the site of our contest competition! As a splendid outdoor venue, the audience is spread all over the large, wide open stadium. The performers themselves have a ton of space to work with, as the act of performing within this stage almost feels like a street performance, but gated off. The background of the stage is surrounded by a castle courtyard, giving off Hammerlocke's traditional city look. The stage itself is a sleek silver, which sparkles dazzlingly upon the sun, or moon's rays. There are multiple cameras - in plain sight and hidden, so that each performance is broadcasted all over the city, and even on the Pokemon Sports Entertainment Network (the PSEN) network.

The dress code for those who want to watch the contest up-close is formal, as the gated-off stage area will be serving food and drinks to attendees. All those participating and in attendance must dress in outfits suited to the aforementioned. Due to this year's contest circuit being so closely interlinked with the League, sponsored gym trainers are offered audience attendance, drinks and dinner free of charge.

Objective:
The goal of this contest is to use two pokémon at once, and the theme of this contest will test the coordinator's ability to control the field, similar to the local gym's specialty. That means, use whatever means to change the current stange's landscape into a field of your image. When it is their time to perform, contestants will take to the stage from the audience and release their pokémon, they will then perform their routine from start to finish, pause for applause, then return to the surrounding audience if they wish. Individual results will be withheld and the final rankings will be announced at the end of the event.

IMPORTANT FOR COORDINATORS

Contests are expected to occur with all participants posting their routines at around the same time, with all other contest centric posts happening at around that time as well. As such it is extremely important that you have your performance ready and prepared when the contest begins. On Wednesday the 6th of October, the contest will begin with an announcement in the discord and you'll have 24 hours to post your performance. If it's not posted during this time your performance will not be counted! So make sure you have your piece ready!

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Spoiler:

StruggleCon is an IRL party starring the Struggle community and everything we're into.
Everyone is invited to meet streamers, play games, watch and do battles, hang out with friends, grab new merch, and so much more.

Let's get this party started. Struggle Rivals are coming.
Struggle Rivals spawns your favorite streamers in head-to-head competition in some of the biggest games on Struggle. With over 20 streamers battling across 10+ show platforms this year, Struggle Rivals is the #1 destination for live competitive entertainment.

The convention center itself is a large, spacious building within the heart of Hammerlocke. There are many areas to check out: a gaming corner, a crafters' market, and even a comic, anime, and manga market. Don't worry about being lost; there are many directional signs to guide you, as well as volunteers who will help guide you to the right direction if you want to find exactly where you'd want to go.

Guest speakers, or people who are invited to meet various fans of theirs have their own panels for meet and greet within the appropriate section of the building. Following the signs, there are also two other paths that branch out from the center - the one to the right leads to a spacious outdoor venue, where the next contest is scheduled to be held. The one to the left leads to a large battle arena, where Struggle Rivals is going to be taking place.

Mission 1:
[OPEN] With the rising popularity of the Galar Challengers, the Pokemon Sports Entertainment Network (the PSEN) wishes to have these competitors in front of hundreds of Pokemon battling fans for a live meet n' greet, and a ask them anything campaign. Will they attend, and address the fans they have acquired during their journey?
Reward: Ultra Ball

[OPEN] Mission 2:
For charity, the Struggle streamers have volunteered themselves for an open battle challenge! Anyone is free to challenge, and battle any of the Struggle streamers they come across, and no matter the outcome, the challenger gets a prize for their participation! You're allowed to battle in any format you choose. So, are you up for the challenge?
Reward: TR Thunderbolt, TR Ice Beam, TR Flamethrower (pick one)

[CATCH CHANCE!] Mission 3:
Even with one of the most hyped up, organized events in Galar, all things don't go according to plan. Staff have reported that there is a mischievous Pokemon: Munchlax, who goes around, eating whatever it can find from food vendors, or other noteworthy shops. We need a trustworthy trainer, or trainers to help deal with it! Be warned though, because other reports indicate that somehow, it's bizarrely quick to escape.
Reward: Choice Scarf

[OPEN] Mission 4:
With the upcoming Pokemon Contest, the hottest fashion trends are a buzz, and now, Strugglecon is hosting various fashionistas as guests for their many meet and greet panels. Also, fashion agencies from all over the world are coming to hopefully scout new talent, and the people attending are sure to figure out all the new fashion trends. Will you dive into this fashion world?
Reward: 1 x Model Agency License, possible Model sponsorship?! + Prism Scale

[OPEN] Mission 5:
What would a convention be without the cosplaying?! Many people have dressed up in various costumes, from anime characters to their favourite people, and even as their favourite Pokemon! Almost anything goes, and it's all thanks to the costume stores inside the building. One such costume store even has one of the most famous cosplayers in the world visiting; one who has their own panel for later. Will you be taking part in cosplaying? What will you cosplay as?!
Reward: Your own costume! (What your costume will be, is your choice!)

[CATCH CHANCE!] Mission 6:
Among the video gaming and technological section of the convention, finally! The latest edition of the Rotom Phone from the iRotom company has finally launched, and everyone coming to Strugglecon can get theirs for the launching price! Co-GEt-G6892- it now, and breeze through it's many a9991fe@##lications like the +18^#0flap an&%)(42- B0W B4 uS5 bIOLoLgiCaL M3ATbaG5 = H A I L/R O T O M.COM
Reward: Capture chance: Rotom

[CATCH CHANCE!] Mission 7:
The Silph Company from Kanto is visiting and has their own showcase panel! With their latest technology and their latest products coming soon (like the developing Master Ball) they plan to take the world by storm in the future. They are also looking for trainers to help raise an interesting pokemon: one that is completely man made. Porygon. What sort of Pokemon is Porygon? Will there be implications?
Reward: Pokemon Gift: Porygon + Up-grade

[OPEN] Mission 8:
Halt, my inept-dancing peasants! You are in the presence of Miror B., the iotola of the disco-lola! Or, do you have what it takes to out-step the dancing master? Hmph! Very well, I challenge you to a dance off! Let's see what the crowd thinks at the dancing venor of this convention!
Reward: TR Swords Dance or TR Dragon Dance or TR Rain Dance

-------------------------

Mission 9:
An old lady is making her way back from the apple-picking orchard not far from the city outskirts, carrying a large basket of apples for her famous pies. Unfortunately it is blazing hot outside, and she is struggling to even lift the heavy basket of apples for a short distance, let alone all the way home. Maybe if you help her, she could give you some pie and a special apple?
Reward: Tart or Sweet Apple

[CATCH CHANCE!] Mission 10:
Oh god, that damn Boldore from the dusty bowl is at it again. Unimpeded by any trainers after its romantic escapade with one vehicle in the wild area, the lovesick lump of rock has somehow ventured into Hammerlocke, and is once again attempting to fool around with the several vehicles in the large parking lots of the city. Make sure no convention-goers get their cars destroyed, lest this Pokemon's heart be destroyed as well.
Reward: Boldore with two roses in its mouth

Stinging Bea · Sep 27, 2021

Chapter 11-4 | Finding Strength

Tampa, Fiesta, Jet, Elia, and Kaeo
Wild Area - Hammerlocke Hills

It's quiet as a dense fog rolls across the Hammerlocke Hills. A gentle breeze blows through the air, rustling the branches and leaves of nearby trees. Mixing in with the soft crackling of a dimly lit campfire, a soothing lullaby travels through the air which would do wonders for any stressful soul. Aeliana is asleep, essentially dead to the world as she is nestled comfortably within her sleeping bag. Mahina is curled up in the bluenette's arms, a soft smile on her lips as she enjoys the warmth of the Alolan's comforting embrace. All the while, the newly evolved Glaceon, Elia, lays curled up at her side.

One might think it foolish for the girl to sleep out in the wild like this, especially considering what happened to her just a few nights prior. However, Aeliana felt comfortable doing so with several of her Pokémon currently sitting around the campfire. The makeshift team of the night watch consists of Tampa, Fiesta, Jet, and Kaeo.

A look of absolute boredom is worn on the Tyrogue's face. When Jet had been placed upon this guard duty, he had been expecting there to be some sort of action. Perhaps a wild Machoke would have wandered too close to the group's camp, resulting in him having to defend Aeliana and the rest of the Pokémon from its devastating power. Maybe a rampaging Rhydon would show up, forcing him to unleash all of his power to keep Aeliana safe. Instead of any of that, the only troublesome invader to disturb the camp was a wild and hungry Skovet, which Tampa managed to chase off with a simple Bite attack.

Kaeo glances over towards the Tyrogue. There's still a few hours until morning and likely until Aeliana would wake up. He figures they could pass a bit of time with a little fun. He tapped the Tyrogue on his shoulder, showing off his bone before pointing off towards the distance. Jet remains silent for a moment and then agrees with a quick nod. Jet hops onto his feet and follows behind his teammate.

Tampa watches as the two Pokémon wandered off. A feeling of excitement rushed through the Croconaw as she quickly hopped onto her feet. She begins to follow behind the duo, but then pauses and looks over her shoulder. Her gaze comes to rest upon the form of Fiesta. The Lombre has been quiet, still seemingly bothered by something. His mood hasn't improved since the group began traveling across the Wild Area. She knew that Fiesta had never been the most outgoing member of the group, but Tampa liked to believe that she had some sort of knowledge of the teammate that's been traveling with her the longest.

Tampa waddles her way towards the Lombre and gently taps him on the shoulder. Fiesta jumps, seemingly being pulled back to reality. He looks up to the Croconaw, a curious look on his face as Tampa gives him a toothy grin. Tampa gurgles excitedly, pointing off in the direction of Jet and Kaeo. The two are about to have some more training! Tampa thinks they should go too!

Fiesta blinks slowly, looking in the direction of where Tampa points. He offers a small smile to the gator Pokémon, but shakes his head in response. He's sure it's bound to be an interesting watch, but Fiesta just isn't in the mood to watch the mock battle. Unfortunately for him, Fiesta's refusal falls upon deaf ears. Tampa grabs hold of Fiesta's hand and pulls him to his feet. The Lombre is taken aback, but his protests are ignored as Tampa drags him behind her.

As they take off, Elia slowly stirs from her slumber. The Glaceon watches as all of the so-called "watchmon" disappear into the foggy night with a huff. She finds herself very annoyed by this abandonment. Don't they know that she needs her beauty rest? With a huff, the ice-type stretches before climbing to her feet and moving towards the fire. As expected, if one wants something done right then it must be done by oneself.

The duo soon arrive at a small circle of trees. There, they find a small, crudely built campfire of sorts. Both Jet and Kaeo stand a small distance away from the fire, both staring each other down intently. Fiesta looks between the two Pokémon as they suddenly charge forward. Kaeo goes to use a Bone Rush, but Jet counters with a Fake-Out. The small fighter slaps both of his palms into the side of Kaeo's face. The Cubone staggers back, which Jet follows up with a Rolling Kick. Kaeo brings his bone up, just barely managing to block the attack before slamming his head into Tyrogue's belly. Jet stumbles back, catching his breath with a smirk on his lips.

Tampa smiles as she watches the two Pokémon exchange blows. She glances over towards Fiesta, immediately realizing that the Lombre was staring intently at the two dueling Pokémon. A sudden realization hits the Croconaw. Fiesta must want to battle more! His battle with the hot and fiery gym leader human was just so intense, that he must want more of a challenge! The gator Pokémon quickly climbs to her feet and waddles off towards the two battling Pokémon. She gurgles excitedly with every step, pointing towards Fiesta as she makes her suggestion. Fiesta's eyes widen at Tampa's idea. She wants him to battle? She didn't even ask! Jet merely glances over at Kaeo, who shrugs in response, before looking over at Fiesta. The Tyrogue's eyes narrow as he makes his way over towards Fiesta before he slowly starts to circle around him. Fiesta feels like he's being judged, as if he's one of those weird things that humans drive around with the four, rubbery, circle-things they have for feet. Eventually, he feels a firm pat on the back that almost sends him toppling over. Jet sends a nod over towards Tampa and Kaeo. It looks like the exchange of opponents has been determined.

Moments later, Kaeo and Tampa are both seated by the fire. Jet stands ready, the Tyrogue hopping from one foot to the next in anticipation of the challenge ahead. This was going to be his first time battling against an evolved opponent. While Kaeo was a decent challenge and good sparring partner, Jet figured that the Lombre would prove to be an even better opportunity to test his strength. Fiesta on the other hand felt a wave of nausea form in the pit of his stomach. He had yet to even have a mock battle against any of his teammates. In fact, the last time he battled any of them was when he was a Lotad that day he met Tampa and Aeliana for the first time.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to prepare. Jet dashes forward in an instant, throwing all of his weight into a Tackle that sends the Lombre stumbling back. Fiesta risks toppling over from the force of the blow, but manages to keep his balance. He looks up, seeing the Tyrogue running towards him again in preparation to deliver a Rolling Kick to his noggin. Fiesta panics, narrowly jumping back in an attempt to dodge the oncoming attack, before firing a Bubble Beam in Jet's direction. The bubbles pound into Jet, causing him to stagger back. It's not enough to deter him, though. Jet charges forward and slams a kick in Fiesta's direction. The Lombre's eyes widen, quickly ducking in panic.

Jet stares in disbelief at the sight before him. Fiesta cowers before the Tyrogue, who in turn slams a kick into Fiesta's jaw. The Lombre flails as he falls back, earning an annoyed grunt from Jet. Is this really the same Pokémon that toppled Kabu's Centiskorch? He honestly doesn't see it.

Kaeo sends a concerned look towards Tampa. What was she trying to accomplish by forcing Fiesta to spar with Jet? A sheepish look comes to the Croconaw's face as she nervously runs the back of her head. She knows Fiesta is a tough Pokémon! He's helped them out a lot through this journey! Kaeo doesn't doubt that much. But clearly something isn't clicking.

Jet stomps his foot in irritation. This is nothing more than a waste of his time. He reaches out and grabs hold of the quivering Lombre, but before he can address the situation or make any demands, a bright light starts to shine out from within him again. Kaeo and Tampa stare in shock as Jet suddenly releases his grip on Fiesta, staggering back in pain as he once again tries to fight back the oncoming evolution.

Fiesta does not waste this opportunity. The Lombre quickly scrambles to his feet and rushes out of the clearing. He doesn't dare look back as he makes a Beedrill line straight for the camp, constantly looking over his shoulder with every step.

As he arrives at the trainer's makeshift campsite, Fiesta is greeted by the sight of Elia. The Glaceon looks up with disinterest at the Lombre at first. However when she notices the scuffs on the Lombre and his current panicked state, it doesn't take too much effort for Elia to piece together what happened. More clicks into place as she watches Fiesta let out a frustrated squawk before slamming the ground in annoyance.

Fiesta feels like a burden. He wants to become stronger. The Glaceon merely shakes her head at this. She cannot believe all of her loyal servants are so hardheaded and downright clueless, a fact that she let's known to the lilypad Pokémon. If he wants to get stronger, there's a much easier way. Fiesta curiously looks at the Eeveelution, as if asking what she meant.

Elia merely rolls her eyes. Without a second thought, the ice-type rises her to her feet and makes her way towards Aeliana's trainer bag. She begins to rummage through it, her eyes lighting up as she finds what she was looking for. Elia picks it up in her mouth and carries it back to Fiesta. She unceremoniously dumps it from her mouth, causing the object to bounce on the grass towards him. His eyes narrow in an examination, before gasping at what he sees.

A Water Stone.

Aeliana had gotten this back in the mine back when traveling with that Haleigh human enroute to Motostoke. Surely Elia isn't suggesting that he use it here and now… right?

He looks back up to the Glaceon in question. Elia simply nods in response. She doesn't understand what the big problem is. Fiesta wants to be stronger. This is a quick solution to the problem. The Lombre has to admit that this would help, but… what would Aeliana think? What about Tampa and the others?

Elia scoffs. What business is it of their's? At the end of the day, it's his choice and those two options are fairly simple. Evolve and become stronger… show them all you can stand on your own two feet. Alternatively, don't evolve. Be treated like a burden, like you're fragile by everyone. The choice is his.

A moment of silence...

Fiesta stares at the Water Stone in hesitation…

A bright, white light shines at the camp.

[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

♫ following where my arrow goes ♫

lover of milotics

[font=special elite][color=#FF3399]Toxic Terror[/c

always sprinkle when you tinkle

always sprinkle when you tinkle

always sprinkle when you tinkle

always sprinkle when you tinkle

Magnificent Turnip

Me but more fabulous

Tales Of Jerry Volume Eight The Lost Chronicles Deluxe A Journey Beyond

How did this even happen?

Roleplayer

Winston Imes - VS Isla Wright Lake of Outrage

[font=Brawler][color=#91a8d4][i]Here comes the boi

That Dream...Make it Come True!

Aeliana Kekoa And Tim T Wild Area - Bridge Fields 11-3 - Battles and Blizzards

lover of milotics

Trickling away

lover of milotics

Aeliana Kekoa And Tim T
Wild Area - Bridge Fields
11-3 - Battles and Blizzards