[PKMN FULL] TRAINERS (IC)

Bruno Dillinger
May 27, Monday

Gwen Alanis ft. Arianne Chandler and Richard Wolstenholme

The Vermillion gym is very different from the one in Lavender. While that was very sleek and modern, this gym appears to be older by a few years. It's also very obviously a water gym, resembling an indoor pool. Gwen already knows who the gym leader is though, so she doesn't need to be reminded. With her classmates by her side, she triumphantly leads the way to the attendance desk, pumped up as she always is for a gym battle.

Gwen's march to the Gym attendant is stopped when she hears a very loud weeping from a short distance away. Unfortunately she's more than familiar with the individual causing a ruckus so her confident steps are turned into tip-toeing. Of course, that doesn't even seem to work as-

"Oh, Gwen! It was awful!" Flynn sits curled up, face buried in his hands to stop the flowing tears.

Gwen's eyebrows drop as she stares at the sad boy with disdain. "Yeah, I'm sure it was. Anyways come on guys, let's go-"

"It was a massacre back there I tell you! An absolute slaughter!"

"Going up against Hana Palm with a team of all water-types? Ah gee, who woulda thought!"

"Oof, that's gotta be rough… But, Come on… Uh… Flynn." Richard stutters as he visibly tries to remember the boy's name. "I'm sure this can be something you use as a lesson for the next gym, so cheer up would you? I'm sure next time will be better." Richard tries his best to craft the best words in his mind to cheer the poor guy.

"Yeah and maybe use more than just water Pokemon." Gwen sneers.

"Well, Water types are so many and so interesting, but… you may just need to find some more so that you have more answers to your opponent…" Arianne chimes in, trying to reassure Flynn. "Still, given who my starter is, that doesn't sound so nice… anything we shall look out for?"

"W-well, sh-she has this dreadful Crocon-"

"Weel, surprise tae see ye here, Gwendolyn!"

Gwen groans knowing her luck seems to be looking down today. From not too far off, Bethany Miller walks towards the gang of Cape Students with her frown plastered on her face. She looks less sour than she normally is at least. "That's just great. Not only do I have to come across Flynn, but of course I just have to run into… uh, shit, what was it?"

"It's Bethany, ye tube!"

"Whatever."

"Uhm… h-hello Bethany." Arianne timidly speaks up. "We were just about to challenge the gym, what about you?"

"As a ma'er ay fact, ah jist won, and ah'm in a good mood reit no! Ah'd be surprised if ye did th' same." Bethany says, facing Gwen as she finishes her sentence.

"Hey! I'll make you eat those words!"

"Ah'm serious. Hana is strang, naethin' loch Beaumont. She's nae quite up tae Galar's standards, but fur a Kanto leader, she puts up a challenge."

"I see… Well, gratz for the victory there, Beth. Guess we'll find out that for ourselves very soon. See you later!" Said Richard as he tries to end the conversation with her before Gwen and her butt heads again.

Bethany winces in disgust from hearing Richard's nickname. "Ah shoods indeed be oan mah way." She sticks her head up and walks right past the gang, grabbing Flynn by his arm on the way out. "Hana'll be a good endurance test fur any Uno'ian chavs fa ur somehow still oan their journey!" With her back facing the gang, she lets out a grating "OHOHOHO!" while Flynn reaches his hand out toward them, mouthing the words "Save me!" while his feet stubbornly drag against the floor.

Gwen grits her teeth. "Goddamnit, now I definitely need to win this battle! I'm gonna show, uh… fuck, how do I keep forgetting her name?"

"...It's Bethany, Gwen." Richard chimes in.

"Yeah, that. I'm gonna show Galar Girl who's boss!"

"Gwen… you'd better!" Arianne smiles after a bit. "We're all rooting for you."

---

Here Gwen is, face-to-face with none other than Hana Palm. Unlike Beaumont, this is a name she's actually heard before. As a kid, she dedicated too much time reading up on who the top trainers are, and Hana was among them. To be able to beat Hana is an honor to her.

"More Cape students, eh?" Hana says. "The last one I battled was significantly tougher than everyone else, so let's hope that trend continues. Now, what's your name kid?"

"I'm Gwen! Gwen Alanis, younger sister of Jennifer Alanis! Surely you've heard of her!"

"As a matter of fact, I have." Hana's response is enough to crank Gwen's excitement up to eleven. "But it doesn't really matter. I'm battling you, not your sister. But enough talk, we're here for battle!"

Why does everyone keep saying that? Oh well, it doesn't matter. I'm gonna win today!

When up against a water-type gym leader, most people's first thought would be to send out a grass or electric-type Pokemon. Gwen however, has viewed enough broadcasted gym battles to know how that goes: the rookie trainer confidently sends out an electric-type of their own only to be completely floored by a water and ground-type Pokemon, and she has little reason to assume Hana will be any different. She'll use Bead to scout Hana's team out.

"Bead, I choose you!" From above her shoulder, the small ghost Pokemon flies out to float over the rather narrow pool. On the other side of the battlefield, a Whishcash is sent out to battle- I called it!



"Begin!'

"Bead, Confuse Ray!" Gwen calls out right as the referee announces the start of the battle. Bead sends forward the mysterious orb that inflicts confusion, but the slow-moving attack gives Hana's Whischash plenty of time to dive below the surface. Panicked, Bead looks around to speculate where Whiscash could emerge from, only to be caught by surprise when the Whiskers Pokemon mashes the weight of her body, still covered in water, directly from behind. He's thrown backwards before he regains his balance, facing forward to prepare a Psywave only to notice that Whiscash is missing again. A pink light in the corner of his eye catches his attention before that light turns out to be a Zen Headbutt from Whiscash, which is quickly jammed into his side, sending him flying again.

"Damnit! What am I supposed to do…" Gwen swears before going deep into thought about what to do. Bead turns to his trainer to try to snap her out of it, distracting him from the fact that Whiscash has just leaped forward from the water. Bead flinches, but instead of attacking, Whiscash reaches her flippers out to lightly brush themselves against Bead, forcing him to laugh out loud against his own will before Whiscash plops back into the pool.

"Alanis!" Hana shouts at the top of her lungs to make sure Gwen can hear. "Your inattendance has left your Misdreavus open to have his attack and defense weakened! Take that as a lesson to keep your head in the game!"

Hana's cry was more than loud enough to snap Gwen out of her headspace. "Uh… r-right, sorry…" She knows full well Hana is right. Getting scolded by a gym leader never feels good, especially one on Hana's level.

"Sorry means nothing if you haven't learned your lesson! Whiscash, use Dive!" Whiscash disappears into the body of water, and if Gwen doesn't do something quick, this could be dangerous with Bead being more vulnerable to melee attacks than he was a second ago.

"Shit, what am I gonna do!" Gwen tries her absolute best to not get thrown into another state of panic, and that becomes more difficult as she spots Whiscash once again jumping out from the water, surely about to hit Bead head-on.

That is until Bead quickly faces the oncoming Pokemon and uses Astonish to figuratively shock her which causes her to flinch and fall into the water belly-up.

"Oh… Way to go Bead! Now use Psywave!"

Taking advantage of Whiscash's position, a colorful wave is shot into her chest which causes her to violently flop about before she takes refuge in the water. Bead anticipates another physical attack, which is why it comes as a surprise to see Whiscash riding a muddy wave that's conjured from the pool water. The wave crashes down too quickly for him to dodge in-time, and Bead is brought down to his opponent's level, floundering about in the now dirty pool water.

"Now Whiscash, finish him off with a Zen Headbutt!" The water-type Pokemon zooms forward while preparing her finishing move. Gwen, having learned from earlier this battle, slaps her face with both hands and does her best to be confident. "Counter with Confuse Ray!"

Mere seconds before impact, Bead shoots the status move at point-blank range into Whiscash's face, completely halting the attack. Hana smirks at the sight. "Not bad! But don't think that'll slow us down for a second! Now Whiscash, use Re-"

"Bead, use Hex!" Gwen interrupts, returning a smirk of her own as Bead summons three purple fiery orbs that circle the Whiskers Pokemon before engulfing her in a shadowy aura. Screams of terror are heard from the fish, and when the aura disappears Whiscash sinks to the bottom of the pool.

"Whiscash is unable to battle!"

Hana's face goes blank for a second before she starts cracking up. "Good to see you know your stuff Alanis! I'm not sure Rest could have saved my Pokemon from that- quite the opposite really. But don't think the rest of this battle will be so easy!" Whiscash is returned to her ball and is switched out for a Kingler that stands on the area surrounding the pool.

Weird. Why doesn't she take advantage of the pool?

"Piece of cake! Bead, start off with a Confuse Ray!" Bead's eyes flash red as Confuse Ray floats over to Kingler- or at least that's what Gwen expected, and not for it to completely miss. It's odd to her this would happen, but remembering what she's religiously read online about how the gunk in Muddy Water can temporarily impair the target's vision and therefore make their attacks less accurate, she figures that must be what's going on.

"Kingler, use Bubblebeam!" From Kingler's mouth floats a barrage of speedy bubbles. Bead dodges in-time with Gwen's command and he flies in close for an Astonish, but the attack is completely blocked by a forcefield Kingler pulls up from nowhere, almost reflecting the Astonish. The shock from seeing Protect negate the attack throws him off and leaves him open to Kingler using her big claw, now coated in steel, to crunch Bead. He stays in her grasp for a bit until Kingler releases him, dropping him to the solid floor.

"Misdreavus is unable to battle!"

Disappointing, but not defeating. She was hoping to rack up KOs with the Confuse Ray and Hex combo, but she knew better than to rely on that. With that no longer being an option, Gwen feels it's never a bad idea to resort to type-advantages.

"Custard, come on out!"

Her Pikachu pops out on the same side of the pool that Kingler stands. Custard charges up a small amount of static in her cheeks to get her head in the game but Kingler snapping her sharp pincers brings out Custard's usually cowardice Gwen is so used to.

"Don't let her get to you! Show 'er what we've been working on!"

Custard dashes in circles around Kingler and uses Double Team to create copies of herself to throw her foe off. Just as she's been practicing, Custard takes advantage of the illusion and zaps Kingler with a Thundershock… which is blocked by Protect. Once the field is dropped, Kingler reaches out with her big claw and either through skill or sheer luck, manages to grab Custard while she's right in front of her and use Metal Claw to crush the poor thing. She's not rendered completely useless- while in the grasp of the treacherous crab, Custard unleashes a Thundershock to zap Kingler at a close range. It's satisfying for Gwen to see super effective damage dealt to a Pokemon giving her trouble.

"I like that!" Hana remarks. "That means it's time to change up our strategy! Kingler, get in the pool!"

"What!?"

Kingler releases Custard onto the ground with a THUD before rather amusingly crab-walking over to the pool and dives straight-in.

Gwen stares completely dumbfounded. "Wh- that's so stupid! What is a Kingler gonna do from there?!"

"You'll just have to find out the hard way!" Hana playfully taunts. Gwen raises an eyebrow. What could she mean by that? The bubbles that float out from the pool and towards Custard give her an idea, but it doesn't seem like anything serious so Gwen laughs it off.

"Is that really the best you got?" She guffaws. "Like, seriously? bubbles!?"

"You'd be a fool to dismiss that so easily, Alanis." The bubbles drift towards Custard, who doesn't seem terribly concerned about them. Once they get close enough to make contact though, she wishes she was- when the bubbles burst, mud splatters everywhere and buries Custard.

Gwen's jaw drops to the floor. Okay, what the hell, that's so clever! Using bubbles to carry Mud Shot to her foe, why didn't I think of that! Arghh, I gotta focus! Come on Gwen, pay attention! "Custard, strike back with Thundershock!"

Custard charges up electricity in her cheeks and attempts to release the attack, but the mud covering her body prevents it from going far.

I get it! Ground-type attacks, like ground-type Pokemon, are immune to electricity! That's cool, but I should have thought of that! Damn you Hana for stealing my ideas before I came up with them!

"Alanis!" Hana shouts. "You're repeating your mistakes and you're paying the consequences!"

Another wave of bubbles popping against Custard's fur serves as a wake-up call to Gwen. "Get out of there with Quick Attack!" Despite her best efforts, her Pikachu doesn't budge- the mud prevents her from moving, and it's only made more difficult as the amount increases.

"And now for our finishing move! Kingler, Metal Claw!" A moment ago the sight of Hana's Kingler walking out from the pool would have been good news, but not so much now that Custard is immobile. No matter how hard she struggles, it's futile, and Kingler has no trouble simply walking up to her and crushing her with Metal Claw.

"Pikachu is unable to battle!"

Gwen grits her teeth after returning the electric-type. Not only is her only real advantage no longer an option, but she's up with one more against Hana's two remaining. On the bright side, Kingler took at least one electric-type attack, so maybe that was enough to weaken her-

"Kingler, return!"

Fuck. It's definitely not looking good for her now. Her last Pokemon will certainly be worn down after Hana's next… but she can't give up. Afterall, Jenny would never give up when presented with a challenge!

"I have one more and I'm not going down that easily!" Gwen screams. "Let's go, Jess!"

At the same time that Jess is sent out, Hana sends a Lanturn out as her final Pokemon. By force of habit, Jess hisses at Lanturn to intimidate him, and while successful, Gwen knows that Intimidate doesn't work on Lanturn's ranged attacks like it does physical attacks.

"Jess, get in the pool and use Bite!" Even though she's never swam as far as Gwen is aware, swimming seems to come naturally to Jess as she speedily slithers through the water to target Lanturn, baring her fangs. Before the attack can land though, Lanturn leaps up high into the air, leaving Jess unsure of what he has planned next before falling straight down onto Jess, dunking her in the water and making a splash so big that Gwen gets a little wet- not that she seems to mind.

"Lanturn, Whirlpool!" Lanturn swims in a circle through the pool, creating a large whirlpool- hence the name of the technique. When Jess' head resurfaces, she's caught in the vortex (weird how that happens twice), too shocked to respond to any panicked commands her trainer throws out. No matter how much she tries swimming against the current, it's too strong for her to not get sucked in towards the center. Eventually though her body gives out, and is drawn towards the middle where she's a clear target for a Thunder Wave before again being dunked into the pool.

"Jess!!!" No!!

"Lanturn, let's finish it off with Discharge!" From the orb dangling from his antenna, a wide surge of electricity is released and conducted by the pool water. While Gwen can't see what's happening to Jess since she's still underwater, she knows it's not pretty. From the little she remembers of her science classes at Cape, it's obvious that Jess had just been absolutely fried- and is proven right when her fainted body resurfaces. Lanturn doesn't have a scratch on him though. His ability, Volt Absorb, prevented him from taking damage from his own attack. In fact, it actually healed him up. Only a pro trainer could come up with these strategies.

"Arbok is unable to battle! This match goes to Leader Hana!"

Gwen faces the floor in shame, her eyes being covered by her bangs. She can feel herself shaking in frustration. She's utterly humiliated. All that talk about confidence to Ari and Richard and she failed to win the gym battle. As soon as she returns Jess, she turns around and runs out of the room, making sure to face nobody as she drowns out the concerned cries of her class-mates.

Ari and Richard must think she's a fool for losing after all her big talk, she's indirectly lost to Bethany, and she probably disappointed her sister with her embarrassing loss.

I guess Galar Girl wasn't fucking around about how tough she is. But if I can't beat her, there's no way I can be as good of a trainer as Jenny.

Arianne Chandler
Vermilion City
Monday, May 27^th
Written with the help of QueenNothing as Gwen and WizardOfOdd as Richard

"Gwen…!"

Arianne had to make a detour to the Gym lobby before challenging Hana herself, trying to lift up her friend's spirit. She was not quite sure she succeeded, but she did get the Saffron girl to watch her own battle alongside Richard, and that was better than nothing. If she'd lose too, maybe Gwen wouldn't feel so embarrassed. And if she won… which is certainly possible, Gwen would actually taste some revenge. Maybe.

---

If only! Nothing is going as planned, nothing is going as expected, nothing is going anywhere! Well, to be fair, Arianne's plan was quite simple and rudimental so to speak. Hit Hana with super-effective moves from her Electric and Grass Pokémon, and add Eric to the team because he's strong in general. She should've listened to Flynn though…

The battle started out with a surprising amount of switches on both sides. Mostly on Arianne's though. For at least one of Hana's Pokémon that hers worked well against, she had at least another that would completely shut down her strategy. And so, all she got out of the situation was her Pokémon taking a large amount of quick hits, splashes of water, and some status moves. Ice Shard, Brine, Muddy Water… Hana did not hold back on those, and her Pokémon were very fast to respond.

She also called out Arianne on her decision to switch often. Because," even if it's ok to use that strategy sometimes, in order to get the upper hand, it doesn't work all the time." And case in point...

---

The problems started when Lanturn hit Whirlpool before Arianne could call back her Wartortle, interrupting her series of switches. "Don't worry, I would've won anyways, but I wanted to finish the battle faster!" Is what Hana said at that point, or at least how Arianne interpreted it all. Made enough sense…

Eric had already fought against a Stunfisk and an Eelektross once, so at least he had that going for it, even if this battle was going to be very much uphill. And so, he still gave it his all. Rapid Spin to gain speed, going in and out of water to avoid Discharge or at least minimize the damage. Rain Dance to slowly recover some of his health with Rain Dish, and to make the following Water Pulses more powerful - while also hoping for a confusion that, in actuality, never came. But of course, all that Lanturn had to do was keep at it with Discharge. Eventually, it was able to paralyze Eric even without having to resort to Thunder Wave, and finish him off without needing Aqua Ring to heal. All while Arianne could not switch out, or at least gave up on the possibility to do so. Whirlpool wouldn't let her do that, for the most part.

---

With her strongest Pokémon out of the equation and a Lanturn on the field, Arianne sent out Lulu, this time determined to keep her in battle. Well… it was surely a better option compared to Blitzle, who was very enthusiastic to fight but not very experienced just yet. Hana had an answer for Lulu as well though… Bounce, of all things.

With Bounce and Whirlpool it was easy for Hana to turn this into a water battle as well. Arianne told Lulu to jump into the pool to avoid a Bounce, and since that moment, the Morelull never left the water. She tried some tricks like Sleep Powder (but the spores hardly worked in water) and Mega Drain, as she struggled to stay afloat, before eventually setting up her Ingrain.

That was a proud moment for Arianne: her tiny, luminous friend creating a whole pillar of mycelium to stand on, almost like a sentry turret. She was hit by Bounce, Discharge and a few other attacks, but was still able to heal up with Strength Sap and Mega Drain, extending her mycelium more and more over time, slowly but steadily. Surely not a strong structure, but Lanturn had no real way of cutting through it and was overwhelmed eventually, doing as much damage as he could before being knocked out.

Hana really didn't seem to mind it.

---

Next up was Lapras, who immediately took advantage of Lulu being stuck in the middle of the pool to drift around her and hitting her with Ice Shard from a distance, or going for Body Slam. Morelull couldn't be switched out because the mycelium she created interfered with the Pokéball itself, or so said the internet - a shame for Arianne, who didn't know what else to shout besides the usual "Strength Sap" or "Moonlight"... only to see Lapras dodge all of Lulu's attacks and bringing down her health just as fast as she was recovering. Not a nice sight, especially with Richard and Gwen watching from the side of the pool!

Arianne was basically looking at Hana like a starving Purrloin by now, hoping that she of all people would give her some help. Of course, the Cinnabar girl started to look up to Hana as soon as she got to know about her, being a Water-type Gym Leader and a very good one at that. Her battle style? Very interesting, and most importantly very effective. But what could she learn from her at this stage? What could she do?

Lulu was rooted to the walls of the pool by now, she couldn't move. Arianne had backed herself into a corner and it was late to go back now. Or maybe…

"Just keep going higher if you can, Lulu!"

Morelull was clearly struggling with expanding her Ingrain. She was working on it slowly while also trying to demolish some of her deeper roots, getting more and more wobbly on her pillar. As this process continued, Lapras kept hitting Lulu with Ice Shard, making the pillar more unstable… until it collapsed.

Lulu seemed on the edge of fainting. With so much of her energy still in the roots she made, cutting them like that made her lose all of that strength in no time. But, following Ari's directions, the Grass-type granted herself another chance to keep battling… and landed right onto Lapras.

---

A new Ingrain was set up on top of Hana's Pokémon, much like Arianne tried to do on Jarmie's Golett. Some strategies are worth picking up again… and so, on Lapras's long neck, the small roots kept growing, once again fueling the Cinnabar girl's enthusiasm, and with it, Gwen and Richard's too. Hana seemed to like Lulu's determination, too.

But in no time, she changed expression. Her Lapras sank into the Water, slamming his own neck against the pool walls with Body Slam… and with Lulu already hurt, it didn't take long for her to be taken out. When Lapras swam up once again, the mycelium on his neck dried up in no time and fell down like some shedding skin. Arianne called Lulu back, and so did Hana with her Ice type.

Whiscash came out, and Arianne knew she had no more chances. Her last Pokémon was the Blitzle she had just caught the day before, pitted against a Ground type. She still tried to hit some Quick Attacks and even Flame Charges, hoping that her Pokémon could at least land a hit with her hooves before jumping back on the other side of the pool, but it was just a matter of a few minutes before she called her back… there was no way for Arianne to win, and no reason to play one last swan's song.

What could Arianne learn from this battle? Well, Hana was the first to point it out. "You have some nice ideas, Arianne, and you're very enthusiastic about them, which I love! But… I don't think you were flexible enough in battle. Just look at how many things you can do with just one Pokémon type!" The Gym leader smiled, once she got closer to the Cinnabar girl. "Spend time with your Pokémon, find out all they're capable of, and don't always chase the perfect strategy or the perfect solution… because there often isn't one."

To Arianne's muffled questioning about losing against Beaumont too, Hana just replied... "You just have to keep at it and I'm sure you'll get where you want to be."

---

"Now…" She continues, after a pause. "Before this, you said you liked Water types and swimming, right? Well… did you know that here, we can let you swim alongside Pokémon, and even practice surfing on them? That sounds like something that will lighten up your mood, doesn't it?"

Hana's enthusiasm was nothing compared to the one flowing outwards from Arianne's sparkly eyes as she heard those words. She still hadn't received a badge, but this was arguably just as good… and all that was still separating her from this was getting a swimsuit and healing her Pokémon at the gym machine.

And of course she was going to drag Gwen and Richard into this.

TEAM:
Eric, lv. 33 • Espurr, lv. 17
Blitzle, lv. 18 • Mizar, lv. 19
Lulu, lv. 26 • Honedge, lv. 19

Arianne Chandler
Vermilion City
Monday, May 27^th, Morning
Written with QueenNothing as Gwen

"No time to waste! It's cold, we both lost, but this will surely cheer us up! I'm sure of it, Gwen!"

And so it's Arianne's turn to drag her friend along. The thought of having a proper swimming session makes her eyes sparkle just as much as the gym battle made Gwen's, and seeing the other girl at least looking better than before - when she lost to Hana, that is - is only adding fuel to the fire.

"Ok, so this is the way! Right around here and… it's over there!" The Cinnabar girl yelps, following Hana's directions towards the nearest shop that could sell swimsuits. "I've swam a couple times this last week but it was never like this… but finally I can swim for the fun of it!"

"I haven't gone swimming since…" Gwen's noticeably cheered up since the two left the gym. She isn't at her usual level of spunk- losing to Hana has definitely taken her down a peg- but she's far from being down in the dumps. That might have to do with Ari's suggestion to go swimming. "...wait, when was the last time I went swimming? It's been a long time, that's for sure."

"Oh but you know how it's done, right? It's fun and invigorating and…" Arianne smiles. "Yeah it's cool!"

"Would I have accepted your offer if I didn't?" Gwen chuckles.

"Well, that's true!" the other girl chuckles back. "But… isn't it better if we get to do it with swimsuits? Aww, look here!"

Arianne points towards the now very close shop window. It's not just for swimsuits actually, but more of a shop for all sports goods - still, the girls are there for a very specific reason and the Cinnabar girl has to keep that in mind. "Some of these are so cute! Not sure if I wanna go for them but maybe… you will like them even more than I do!" She cheers.

"Whatever gets the job done is all I'm looking for." Gwen shrugs.

"They all get the job done, haha! Just pick the one you like the most, right? Unless you're really into swimming like a professional, most of these are totally fine." And speaking of professionals… Arianne is not quite there yet, but is already debating whether she should get a cute swimsuit or a more functional one. Maybe seeing Gwen choose will help her with this dilemma as well.

The two girls head inside and when walking towards the section of the store that houses swimwear, Gwen's eyes widen when catching a glimpse of the women's aisle and she backs away almost as if she's scared. Her mouth opens as if she were about to scream, but she bites her lip to stop herself.

It takes a while for Arianne to notice Gwen's behavior - she's a bit too busy gushing at the different designs, or looking in every possible stand for a swimsuit that works with her specifications. "Uh… you haven't found anything you like yet? What about this one?" The girl inquires, grabbing a two piece with a very similar color to Gwen's current outfit. Hopefully, she appreciates…

"NO!!!" Gwen panickedly cries before double-taking and covering her mouth. She's completely silent for a moment before hesitantly speaking up. "I mean… uh, I… don't like two pieces… yeah actually, that's it! I don't like them, and I couldn't wear one! Not in a million bajillion years because I… I mean, I couldn't because I don't like them!" She trembles and looks like she's even sweating a bit but tries masking it with an awkward laugh that fools nobody.

Arianne retracts her arm quickly, visibly startled. "O-oh… I see. But even then most of this stuff is two piece swimwear… they're definitely the most popular. It's ok though!" She rummages through the stands again, this time looking for a one piece, and encourages the Saffron girl to do the same.

"Here we go!" Gwen gravitates towards a solid black one piece that she yanks off the rack and sighs with relief. "This'll do just fine." Relieved, she marches over to the nearest changing room.

"Oh, nice! I'll keep looking!" Arianne echoes, moving over the stand where Gwen's choice was. Maybe she would've had better luck there. "And please let me see how great it looks on you, alright?"

A casual "Yeah, sure thing," is heard from the occupied changing room that's accompanied by the usual sounds of clothes being changed. Everything sounds like it's going well, until…

"GAAAAHHH!!!" A shriek of terror comes from the changing room, even catching the attention of other patrons and employees.

"Gwen! You ok? What happened?" Arianne rushes over to the changing rooms, knocking over on the door where she thinks Gwen is. "Gwen?"

She can't really think of a reason why Gwen would act like that (unless there was something wrong in that changing room) and she's not bold enough to try and barge in - not like she can anyways, because Gwen has locked herself in, but she's worried nonetheless.

"I… definitely do not like this swimsuit!"

So that's why she shouted like that, causing other people to look worrily in her direction? Well… Arianne shrugs. "I thought you were… uhm… in danger, but if you say so… sure. Do you want me to look for more swimsuits, so you don't have to change every time?"

"N-no, it's fine, really. I just-" Very hasty changing sounds are heard from the other side of the door, and within a minute Gwen flings the door open, already back in her earlier attire- only real difference being that her tracksuit jacket isn't zipped up. She zips back over to the racks of clothes, this time meticulously eyeing every one piece that falls into her field of view.

"Uh… Gwen, may I suggest looking at some two pieces too? I know you said you didn't like them but… they're not all like that one I picked. Some can show less skin than the one I picked first while still being easier to wear… most of the one piece stuff in here, I suppose, is good if you're already a good swimmer, but given your reaction… is it really for you? Just… making sure." Arianne tries to explain, eating some of her words.

Gwen relaxes herself. "Oh, well that actually doesn't sound so bad, I guess. I think-" She reaches over to pull a crimson one piece with a frilly skirt on the bottom half. "I... might want to try something like this."

"Ooh, that looks cool! Go for it Gwen!" Arianne smiles, before going back to her rummaging. So far she's not had the best luck, mostly because many of the swimsuits she likes aren't quite the right size, but she's amassed three or four models to go and try. Just one more, and then she's good to go and wear all of them… consecutively, unlike Gwen. Maybe she should've told her about this strategy way sooner, oops…

After a while, she does try to check up on Gwen. "Looks good, right?" She cheers from outside the changing rooms.

"It's not bad, it's just… a little embarrassing…"

The door opens slowly, and out steps Gwen in a bathing suit that's as red as her face. Which is a little odd considering it isn't revealing in the slightest. It reaches from just below her neck to her thighs. Pretty standard stuff, really.

"Aw, looks good indeed!" Arianne smiles happily. "Gotta own that look!" She throws in a playful giggle too, for good measure.

"Thanks, I guess. It's not something I'd usually wear, but it's better than the alternatives." Gwen returns a giggle of her own, although unlike Arianne's it's obviously forced.

"That's understandable, but you gotta do what you gotta do if you wanna swim… it will be worth it!" Arianne tries to sound more reassuring. "Speaking of alternatives though… I got a few swimsuits to try as well! And I'd like to get your feedback as well if you don't mind…"

To be completely honest, Arianne's last find is already growing on her more than all the other swimsuits she's got a hold of, but she's also having fun just going on a shopping spree with Gwen! Sort of. If anything, it would be great if she could get her to be more engaged and have fun without looking worried about how she looks and things like that.

"Sure, just... let me change out of this first." Gwen slides back into the changing room, slamming the door behind her and again swiftly changes back into her normal clothes. "That's better." She sighs with relief.

Again, Arianne tries to look reassuring. She's usually not the best at doing that and often gives off more of a reckless vibe, but at least she's trying, right? "It's all good, no one can judge anyone here!" She declares, before hiding inside one of the changing rooms herself.

She shudders way too much as she finally starts to change - taking off her sweatshirt is already problematic - but she tries to soldier on, for Gwen if anything. After so much time without wearing a swimsuit like this, she feels very clumsy putting it on, and it takes her some time to get out of the changing room.

"Gwen, quick! I'm still cold…" She nervously smiles, wearing a light blue bikini. "I call this a Courtney swimsuit, by the way."

Gwen briefly glances over with a blank expression before just as quickly facing away from Arianne. There's an awkward silence from her before she simply blurts out "It's good."

The Cinnabar girl stretches her arms outwards and tries to take some steps around, but is soon hiding in the changing room again. "Maybe trying all of them at once wasn't a great idea with this cold… or is it just me? Still, thanks Gwen…"

It is a bit weird that she's turning away from her, but it's not out of this world. Well, sort of, but if Arianne's world is called Cinnabar Island and is a well known seaside resort where people go around in skimpy outfits way too often, then it should be normal to find people who are a bit more embarrassed about this whole thing in places other than home.

Arianne comes back again with another two piece swimsuit, this time covering more of her skin. "This one feels more comfortable I'll admit. But does it look as good as the other one?" She smiles towards Gwen, trying to stop shivering but clearly failing. The other girl shivers as well- despite how just this morning she insisted it wasn't very cold- facing halfway towards Ari. "That's good too…" is all she says.

Maybe Arianne is on the right path to make Gwen less embarrassed… maybe. But that (and the cold of course) gives her one more excuse to try out the one swimsuit she really cares about. One piece, white, with just some pink details, and just the right size for a tall girl like her. The colors might not be what she's used to but this feels like something she could swim circles around Cinnabar in!

"Finally…" The girl comes out for the third time. "The ones from before are usually for people who spend time on the beach, but this is for the real swimming!"

Gwen still doesn't fully face Arianne, but she's definitely made progress. "That's also good… but if that's your last one then let's just check out already." She snatches her swimsuit and dashes over to the cash register… at least, that's what she'd probably be doing if her knees weren't so wobbly. That slows down her advancement, but there's still urgency in the way she moves.

"B-But I saved that shocking pink one for last!" Arianne complains, before disappearing once again. And yet, she figures out she doesn't really need to try that one swimsuit, let alone show it to Gwen: it's more of a gimmick to her anyways, and it's too cold to waste time! So she quickly dresses up in her normal clothes, puts the various bikinis in their place, and follows Gwen towards the exit, with her white swimsuit in her hand. "I-I'm sorry, I did get carried away… let's go and enjoy our time swimming! Hana's trainers are waiting for us!"

TEAM:
Eric, lv. 33 • Espurr, lv. 17
Blitzle, lv. 18 • Mizar, lv. 19
Lulu, lv. 26 • Honedge, lv. 19

Gwen Alanis ft. Arianne Chandler and Richard Wolstenholme

"We're here Richard! Sorry for being late, but I got carried away!" Arianne announces her presence, dangling the bag containing her new swimsuit in front of the boy's eyes. "You still didn't battle Hana while we were away, did you?"

"I can clearly see that." Richard chuckles. "Of course I didn't, I would've told you two if I did. And even if I want to, I…" He hesitates before shaking his head.

"Never mind, it's nothing big. Shall we go now?" Richard flashes a bright smile towards the girls.

"I don't wanna wear this swimsuit but if I get to swim with my Pokemon I'm fine." Gwen smirks. Finding an adequate swimsuit was a nightmare for her. She's not the type who likes showing lots of skin, in fact she's quite the opposite. Fortunately, she managed to find a pretty modest one, although it has the downside of having a frilly skirt. She's not a fan, but it does everything she needs. There's also the fact that seeing Arianne try on different swimsuits gave Gwen some… thoughts that she didn't expect… but she refuses to give it anymore thought than that. She'll use this lesson to distract herself from that.

"Haha, sure thing then, let's go!" Arianne nods excitedly.



At that point, the two girls only have to get back the Pokémon they'd left there at the gym to heal, and choose which ones they would swim with. Gwen chooses King and Marshall while Arianne, of course, lets Eric come with her. Now inside the actual pool hall, the one where swimming and surfing practice is usually held, they reunite with Richard and are greeted by two Gym trainers - and not Hana, who according to them is now busy with more challengers. With them - or rather, below them, inside the water - are swimming their Pokémon, a Floatzel and Wailmer.

The gym trainer that approaches Gwen is a rather fit young man with a deep suntan. It's a little odd to Gwen that this hunky young man wears some kind of crop top/sports bra looking thing with his trunks, but like most things that don't immediately interest her, it doesn't stay on her mind very long.

"Hey there little dude- oh, uh, you're a girl, sorry, I call everyone that!" The gym trainer laughs it off and clears his throat. "Anyways, good to see you here little guy- err, I mean, girl! I'm Ryder, and I'm so stoked to be your coach today! What's your name?"

"G-Gwen…"

"Nice to meet you, G-Gwen." Ryder chuckles. "I always like teaching young trainers Pokemon surfing, it's hella fun! What Pokemon do you wanna practice with?"

"I wanna use Marshall and King!" Gwen goes from shy to full of life when she speaks, and her eyes light up.

"Marshall and King?" Ryder scratches his chin.

"Oh, uh, they're my Quagsire and Magikarp."

"Two Pokemon is gonna be a lot more time and effort than just using one. Are you sure about that?"

"Of course!" Gwen sternly nods her head. Arianne chuckles at that.

"I love the enthusiasm, little girl! Let's start with your Quagsire."

Ryder presents ride gear to Gwen, helping her put a saddle on Marshall while lecturing her in the process. Once everything is adjusted to fit the Quagsire, Gwen raises a concern.

"Uh hey, are you sure this is gonna work? Marshall is shorter than me, am I gonna fit on him?"

"No worries bro- uh, I mean… sis? I've worked with Quagsires before, and I don't think they even notice the extra weight they're carrying!" Gwen joins in with Ryder's chuckling. Knowing Marshall, it'll probably be the same with him.

It takes a bit for Gwen to get comfortable on Marshall's saddle, but once she does she feels on-top of the world.

"Radical!" Ryder cheers. "Now that you're geared up you call out the command. Say 'Marshall, use Surf!'"

Gwen smirks as she tightens her grip on Marshall's saddle as per Ryder's instructions. Once she shouts "Marshall, use Surf!" she braces herself, expecting to be shot across the pool at a breakneck speed like she's seen in movies…

...which is why it comes as a shock that Marshall is a lot slower than she'd like.

"What the- why are you so slow!"

"That's just how Quagsire is." Ryder calls out. "They're not very fast. Sorry!"

"Then what's the damn point!" Gwen complains.

"It's good for swimming across short-distances and slow relaxing rides." That makes sense. Afterall, Quagsires aren't known to be fast in battle, but in movies and TV she always sees Pokemon surfing being fast and a lot less restrictive than the regulations she has to abide by.

"Can confirm… slow and relaxing!" Arianne laughs towards Gwen as she passes by, with Eric simply swimming beside her or pushing her forward.

They practice a bit longer, Ryder teaches Gwen things like making turns or what to do in-case of an emergency, but at Marshall's speed it's quite boring to Gwen. After a while, Ryder makes it clear when they're almost done, but Gwen isn't really looking forward to practicing with King. There's no way a mesley Magikarp will be significantly faster than a fully evolved Pokemon.

---

"Getting the hang of it, Gwen?"

Gwen screams from the rush she's getting from being pulled around by King, who turns out to be much faster than expected. Magikarp may be useless on land, but in water they're pretty fast swimmers.

At first she wasn't even sure how she could teach King Surf. There's no way such a small fish can support the weight of a human, she thought. And as it turns out, that is true, which is why workarounds were figured out. Rather than riding directly on King, he was given gear to hold with his mouth that attaches to a leash and handle Gwen holds onto while she stays afloat with a wakeboard.

'AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" is all Gwen says in response to Ryder's question as her head is filled with adrenaline.

"That must be a good sign!" Ryder grins. He's not entirely wrong. It's fun while also being scary, even when instructed on how to keep her balance and other information she'll need. But after being pulled around enough, little by little it's gradually growing less frightening.

"Wow Gwen, you're doing great! It's a blast, isn't it? Better than I even expected!" Arianne yells, a wide proud smile on her face. Gwen tries smiling back, but it's a little hard to notice at her speed.

"Alright br- I mean, sis? Anyways, let's wrap it up. You've got one more lesson to learn!"

King pulls Gwen towards the tile floor. "Wait, one more? But I only have two water-types."

"Correct! But you're Magikarp isn't gonna stay a Magikarp forever. In-fact, they evolve pretty early. You catch my drift?"

"You don't mean…" Gwen's eyes light up when she realizes what he means.

"That's right little dudette!" A Pokeball with a sticker labeled "130" is pulled from his belt. He clicks the ball open to release a white light into the pool that forms into a large serpentine Pokemon whose face is uncomfortably close to the group. "You're gonna learn to ride a Gyarados!"

Admittedly after seeing Flynn's oversized Gyarados, an average-size Gyarados looks tiny to her, even if it is still cool. Also unlike Flynn's, Ryder's Gyarados doesn't unleash a ferocious roar but instead does the closest thing the serpentine Pokemon can do to smiling. "You don't need to worry about her, she's friendly!"

Ryder's Gyarados lowers her head, showing Gwen that there's a saddle right behind her head. Gwen enthusiastically hops on, immediately appreciating how much more space she has here than she did with Marshall. She doesn't have much time to focus on that though, as Gyrados raising her head gives her a thrill unlike anything she's experienced to that point. Ryder teaches her all the basics; keeping your balance, making turns, the works. She does as instructed, but Gwen is just barely listening to him, and Ryder doesn't even seem like he notices. She already knows the boring stuff, and she doesn't need to hear it a third time.

"I'm on top of the world!" She shouts, throwing her fists into the air. To think that this was the stuff of dreams not too long ago. Being a Pokemon trainer has its ups and downs, and those downs can include losing terribly to a gym leader (which she's still not totally over). But if it means being able to brag about mounting one of the most notorious water-type Pokemon known to man, it's all worth it in the end.

Casey cuddles Pepper as the Charmeleon waves a hesitant goodbye to Vera's stiff shoulders. He hadn't expected to run into her out of the blue, and he'd been thrilled to do so, but… now he's left feeling like he missed a step. What just happened? She's always been prickly, of course, but they'd been getting along during this journey. Is she angry? With him? When and why? She answered his texts yesterday no problem. But she said... something about Lavender. Something about that is still on her mind. The fact that… he didn't go with them to the graveyard? That he'd put some distance between them after she'd gone and caught a frickin' Ghost?

Casey presses his lips together. He's only ever done what was right for him. She shouldn't be mad at that. He has to take care of himself. Everybody has to take care of themselves.

Anyway. He's not going to let her being moody ruin his day. So he shakes the interaction out of his mind, and if it's weighing on Jordan- well, he doesn't say anything about it either. Moving on, moving forward, same as Casey always does!

A quick dash to the closest clothing store procures them each a pair of swim trunks. The options are limited, but Casey finds a pair of cute pink ones with Azurill print and Jordan manages to snag the last Wingull-patterned, navy blue ones in his size. Really, the hardest part of preparing for their pool adventure turns out to be scrubbing down Jordan's unruly Pokémon. It takes both of them and their new brushes to clean Sage to the standards of the receptionist, who sends them back twice before allowing them to join the Surf instructor they'd run into earlier.

"How's it goin', Greg?" Casey calls across the pool. The boy waves sluggishly.

"Good, good!" The instructor chirps. "Doing swimmingly, you might say. Think he's just about done for today. You guys here for your lessons?"

"Yup! Got our swimwear, and Sage can take a dip now, too, if she wants." Jordan responds, gesturing towards the newly-cleaned Skiddo with a flourish.

"Excellent," She gives them a thumbs up. "Just give us a few minutes here, will be right with ya."

Pepper refuses to be put back in his PokéBall, but also refuses to be anywhere near the water, so Casey finds him some equipment to nest in and watch proceedings. He circles back around to the pool stairs- he may as well get used to the water while they wait for Greg's lesson to be over. Sage and Parsley, Ginger atop the latter's back, trot along the edge of the pool curiously. The last stair deposits him in water that brushes his shoulders, and he grimaces, grip on the railing tightening. "It's only gonna get deeper, huh?"

Jordan jumps in a few feet ahead of him, fully submerging himself before resurfacing to face him. "Yup." He confirms, staying afloat.

Casey's confidence in this endeavor is rapidly draining away, and it's probably very clear on his face. He retreats a few stairs backwards so he can sit, water only up to his chest at that level, and places his scruffy chin in his hands. "Now what?"

His question is perfectly timed, as it appears Greg and the instructor have finally wrapped up their session. They watch the boy climb out of the pool and head for the changing rooms with a shaky smile on his face. The instructor walks along the edge of the pool and greets them. "Right, then! I suppose I should introduce myself first - my name is Janice, and I've been training here with Gym leader Hana for a couple years now! Aside from Pokemon training, I also like to teach young Trainers how to use Surf outside of battle. It's a pretty handy skill to have." She looks at them expectantly as she finishes her introduction.

"Oh! It's, uh, nice to meet you, Janice. I'm Jordan." The boy swims to the edge closest to where the instructor is standing and extends an arm.

Casey waves from where he's sat himself. He's not sure he'll get back in if he gets out of the pool to greet Janice, and he doesn't even want to scoot around the edge of the pool towards Jordan. "I'm Casey," he says, trying to look and sound far more nonchalant than he feels.

"Alrighty, Jordan and Casey," Janice repeats to herself. "Now, first thing's first, let's get you guys some Pokemon, huh? Approximately how much do you guys weigh?" She asks unabashedly, looking between them as if to gauge their weights for herself.

"Two-twenty," Casey replies promptly. As of two weeks ago, anyway. It's probably close enough. Jordan looks and sounds less prepared. "One...one-sixty, one-seventy-ish?" He stammers.

Janice nods at them. "Okay! Be right back." She strides purposefully towards one of the doors in the back, returning just a few minutes later with two Pokeballs. In a flash of light, two bright, blue Pokemon appeared in the pool. "Alright, so this is Swampert, and this is Lapras. You… look a little nervous up there, figured you'd appreciate a little extra support. Lapras is very sturdy and dependable!"

"Uh. Thanks," Casey says, flush creeping into his cheeks. Maybe he's not as sneaky as he thinks he is. "I'm, uh. I can't really swim. Or float, actually. I don't really want to drown? I don't want to do that today."

Ginger splashes into the pool next to him, dragging a round foam noodle with a net attached. She paddles on by, completely at ease even in water deeper than several times her height. "Hey, where'd you get that? Can I have one?"

Janice laughs. "There'll be no drowning on my watch! I can get you a life jacket, if that makes you feel better. The thing your Buneary found doesn't play well with mobility, and you're gonna need that."

"Yeah, uh. That would be great." He really should have asked earlier. Or thought this through at all. What would he have done if they had nothing like that on hand? He would have… just tried his best not to fall off, like he'd told Jordan he would. Because this was his idea, and surfing on a Pokémon seems like fun, and he'd gone back and bought shorts just for this. He wanted to do it! So he would have done it!

He likes to think so, anyway.

Janice is quick to retrieve a life jacket and Casey's legs feel less like jelly as soon as she helps him secure all the straps properly, kindly taking care with but not prying about the mess of bruises splotched across his ribs and back. Jordan seems a little too preoccupied with trying to get acquainted with the Swampert to pay attention to what Casey was up to. He tries to pet the Pokemon, but every time the Swampert moves suddenly, the boy quickly withdraws his hand. The Pokémon are much bigger than any they own, more powerful, a little intimidating. Jordan's nerves are justified.

Casey makes his way over, slowly, remembering techniques from every time he'd tried to learn to swim. Cups for hands, scoop the water, kick your legs… It's slow going, but he makes it to his friend and stares at the two large Pokémon they're meant to work with, floating sedately with his hands gripping the collar of the vest. It's reassuring, but he still doesn't fully feel at ease in the water. "I s'pose the first thing is… to get on them."

"Yes!" Janice exclaims, as she makes her way over to the two nervous boys. "Don't be afraid of them, they're big, but really quite gentle. Here, let me demonstrate first…"

She takes turns showing them each how to coax their respective Pokemon into letting them climb on and dismount them. While it is probably true the giant Lapras was a very sturdy Pokemon, it's also extremely tall. After a bit of splashing around and falling off, Jordan manages to get on the Swampert's back before Casey does.

Casey's not sure what's wrong with him.

Every time he gets a grip on the Lapras' shell, it almost feels like he's just climbing around somewhere, climbing one of the trees near campus or the cave walls of Rock Tunnel. But he lifts himself from the water, and remembers that he's in water, and his strength falters and he relies on the life jacket to catch him as he falls backwards with scrunched-up eyes and a splash.

He floats there again, tilts his head back, and frowns up at Jordan upon his borrowed Swampert. "How'd you do that?"

Jordan shrugs. "I did what Janice showed me," He looks up at the Lapras and back to his Swampert. "Oh, and I guess your Lapras doesn't have the gill things here to hold on to." He lightly pats the protruding orange gills on the Swampert's face until it growls at him, and he stops.

Casey sighs. It's some mental block, he knows it is. He can climb anything out of water! This should be easy, Lapras has built-in handholds! Built-in? Grown-in? Whatever. He just- he just has to do it. If he does it once, his brain will know it's fine. Just do it fast and don't think, just don't think…

He takes a breath and takes hold of the Lapras' shell once more. Don't think! And he pulls himself out of the water, feet braced on its forefin as he switches his handholds and scrambles up, draping himself between the spikes.

"Huh. Did it," Casey says, mostly to himself, and promptly falls off the other side when he tries to find a good way to sit on the bumpy shell. Ginger snickers at him as he bobs back up, heart pounding and mouth forming waterlogged curses, and he splashes at her as she paddles away, little kicks momentarily freezing the water in her wake.

"Alright, Casey?" Janice swims over, all grace and confidence, and he grumbles about that a bit under his breath.

"Yeah, yeah, lemme just-" He hoists himself back up, and he was right. Of course he was right, he knows his own brain. Do it once, and it's all okay. "How do you sit on this?"

"People who ride longer distances on Lapras usually bring a cushion or a blanket," Janice informs him, treading water between Swampert and Lapras. "You want to be closer to the neck, facing forward of course, so you can see ahead and your Pokémon can hear any directions you give it."

Casey figures out that the best position for him is to straddle the frontmost shell spike and drape his legs on either side of Lapras' neck. It's not comfortable, but it's secure, especially with being able to hold onto that spike, and that settles him a bit more. He glances over at Jordan. "Are you comfortable?"

Jordan scoots forward a little. The large fin on the back of the Swampert didn't look particularly comfortable to lean against. "Yeah, just gotta be careful with how far back I sit." He grimaces.

A splash interrupts them, and the boys turn around to see that Sage has jumped into the pool as well. She paddles around awkwardly, clearly not too familiar with the water, but seems to stay afloat alright. Parsley follows barely behind her, wiggling in a way that looks strange but is apparently effective propulsion.

"Huh," Casey says vaguely. "Did you know they could actually swim?"

"I did not," Jordan replies, watching the Skiddo clumsily play in the shallower end of the pool. Sage briefly looked like she was trying to reach her Trainer, but seems to have forgotten this when Parsley jumped in the water as well.

"Baby boy!" Casey calls, and Parsley angles toward him, racing Sage to the big Pokémon floating in the middle of the pool. Parsley paddles around the Lapras and snorts when he can't find a way to clamber up. Casey hums. It probably won't work to have a goat atop the Lapras as well, even if there's technically space. "Hi, baby. Good job swimming!" He leans over- with some difficulty, given the stiffness of the life jacket- to pat the Skiddo and manages not to fall off this time. Janice gives him a thumbs-up, but Parsley bleats at him softly. "Go play with Sage! We're gonna work. No moves in the pool, okay? Actually-" he twists around, and Ginger is already holding eye contact as she drifts on the gentle ripples. "You heard. Icy feet are fine, but keep that Thunder Punch down."

Ginger scoffs at him, but he doesn't think she'll be a problem.

Sage seems to have given up trying to get to Jordan. The Swampert's steely gaze is not particularly welcoming, and its tolerance for the Skiddo pawing at its sides is much lower than the Lapras'. "Go play," Jordan echoes, pointing to Parsley, then quickly putting his hand back down on the Swampert as he loses his balance.

The Skiddo splash their way back to the stairs, making a game of bounding in and out of the water, and Casey turns his attention back to Janice. "You've got the first step down!" she grins. "It's going to be a bit different between Pokémon, of course- not just between species, but between individuals as well. Some are more sensitive than others, you know? And there are some differences in size, and like, where the spikes are on Lapras… When you get your own Pokémon that you'll be surfing on, you'll be able to train them to your own preferences but you'll have to work with their individual quirks as well, right? Just keep that in mind- I'm teaching you what to think about, not exactly what to do. Okay?"

"Okay!" Casey echoes, before he realizes the inherent assumptions Janice is making. When he gets his own surfing Pokémon, he'll have to train it himself, without an instructor and without a life jacket and outside of a sheltered pool, probably in the big open ocean at Fuchsia that they're meant to cross under their own power-

He draws a shaky breath and relaxes his white-knuckled grip on Lapras's spike. Focus. Right now, he's got all the safety nets he could ask for. Lifeguards patrolling the pools, a qualified instructor, two experienced surfing Pokémon, a life jacket, and his best friend. Lips yet pressed tight together, he glances to Jordan, wordlessly seeking- he doesn't know. Reassurance?

He doesn't notice him right away, but Jordan gives him a shaky thumbs up as their eyes meet. "Doing better than I thought you would. You gonna wear a life jacket when we surf outside of this pool too, though?"

Casey's train of thought switches tracks. "Oh, I could buy one! For myself! And bring it with for when we go to Fuchsia and the ocean-!" That idea is so fully relieving that Casey doesn't think about what he's doing, instead just instinctively pats the Lapras and makes vague motions that it placidly interprets as circle the Swampert. "Jordan, you're the smartest and most clever and nicest and prettiest best friend in the world!" He tacks the last one on solely to deepen the flush creeping up Jordan's cheeks as Casey sing-songs praises at him, more focused on getting a rise out of Jordan than the gentle tilting of the Lapras as it turns in a wide circle. He pays for that in short order by falling off once more, coming up coughing due to his damned instinct of a surprised gasp not meshing well with a face full of water.

"Casey?" Janice appears in front of him, catching him by the straps of the life jacket as he coughs, not catching his breath right, gagging, water in his lungs- "Casey, take a breath. Deep breath. Through your nose, ignore the water, take a breath. Okay. Now you can cough." He does so, and it's better. "Drink some. Little sips." She pushes a bottle of water into his hands and he does as he's told, turning away to cough again, but his throat is no longer spasming and he can breathe again. "Good job!" He half expects to be given a sticker, from her tone. Janice takes the bottle from him.

"Sorry," he rasps, but she shakes her head.

"Stuff happens, right? You're learning. But you gotta pay attention. Timing is everything. If you're high up and falling, it's okay to grab a big breath before you do. But if there's no time, it's better to close off your airway. Got it?" Casey hums. "You ready to get back up there and try again?" He nods, but reaches up to link his index finger with Jordan's first. Reassurance.

Things go more smoothly after that. He and Jordan both get their nerves under control as Janice cheerfully instructs them to perform slow and simple maneuvers around the pool. It's more of a workout than he thought- it takes a lot of core strength to balance through the strange motions of an aquatic Pokémon. Casey wonders if riding Parsley will be a similar experience down the line. But he doesn't have much time to ponder- Janice is insistent on teaching them as much as possible in the short amount of time they have, and he has to pay attention.

Casey doesn't mind. He's actually having the kind of fun he envisioned from the outset. It just took some work to get there.

Arianne Chandler
Vermilion City
Monday, May 27^th, Morning
Written with the help of QueenNothing as Gwen and WizardOfOdd as Richard

Swimming with Eric is fun! He drags you along, he helps you get back up once you've dived under the surface, he splashes you with water just to play with you. It's a totally different atmosphere from swimming in the Rock Tunnel underground lake, with a horde of Bronzor and Bronzong about to pummel you… and yet, it's also different from swimming with friends along the shores of Cinnabar, with the occasional wild Pokémon tagging along.

This place… it actually feels off, that's the problem. Maybe it's the cold from outside that's slowly creeping in, maybe it's the roof on top of her head, maybe it's the smell of chlorine salts. But it's not the same as swimming in the sea, like in Cinnabar - something that Arianne will still have to wait for to experience again. Her thoughts are interrupted when Bridget, the second trainer, calls out her name. "Arianne, right?"

She nearly goes under the water with her head, getting slightly startled. She was just floating on his back, drifting away at the speed of a few inches an hour, keeping an eye on Gwen and Richard as they were having fun… and trying to slow it down a bit herself after swimming with both Eric and the gym's Floaztel, who was more than happy to take Arianne on his back.

"Everything alright? It looks like your enthusiasm burned bright but fast…" The trainer continues. "I brought a new friend though, maybe you'll like to play with him!"

"Yeah, I- Oh?" The Cinnabar girl raises an eyebrow, only to see a large Mantine materialize in front of her.

"You can stand on him and get the hang of surfing! Have you ever tried something like that before?"

"Oh… yes, but also no… not on a Pokémon!" Arianne's eyes widen, as she gets closer to the newly appeared Water type. He swims under her and lets the girl on his back, although she doesn't do much besides lay over the Pokémon and stand on all fours… surely an interesting sensation though, to feel the Mantine move under her and take her for a journey around the pool.

The instructor keeps an eye on Arianne this whole time, giving tips and instructions. "See, that's already good enough for going places! You can probably do that with your Pokémon too once he evolves, or get something like a raft for him to pull while swimming. You probably won't even need special gear like the one we usually provide, but… there's a reason why it was invented, you know?"

"For people who can't swim?" Arianne replies, causing a visible facepalm on the girl who she replied to. "Uh… oops!"

"Well… some gear is always nice to have as a safety net, or for longer trips. But if you're feeling up to the task, you can try standing up on Mantine and surf that way now! It's not easy, sure, but you can work it up to a comfortable position where you won't lose your balance." The trainer keeps helping the Cinnabar girl as Mantine slowly speeds up. It's such a rush of adrenaline when Arianne actually gets her posture right and is able to surf not on a normal board, but on a living one… one that corrects her own mistakes by adjusting its position accordingly. This Pokémon is clearly trained for this job, after all.

"I got it, I got it, I got it…" Arianne yells enthusiastically as she surfs past everyone, only to shudder and lose her balance as Gwen comes around while surfing on a Gyarados, waves of water spreading from its path. Mantine helps her out by keeping a wing under her body, preventing the girl from sinking too much. But as she recovers, Arianne can't help but laugh.

"Fun while it lasted uh?" Bridget laughs as well. "You may still have to work on handling the waves but that's going to be a breeze if you keep at it! You're already a pretty good surfer in my book. Just what I'd expect from a Cinnabar native!"

"Oh, thanks! I appreciate it." Arianne nods happily as she resumes her practice. Thinking about it, it's quite nice in here. Shielded from the cold that's raging outside, swimming with her friends and Pokémon in her natural element… her fingers are already wrinkled, but she'd stay inside this pool for far longer than this.

TEAM:
Eric, lv. 33 • Espurr, lv. 17
Blitzle, lv. 18 • Mizar, lv. 19
Lulu, lv. 26 • Honedge, lv. 19

​

Arianne Chandler
Vermilion City
Monday, May 27^th, Early afternoon
Written with QueenNothing as Gwen and WizardOfOdd as Richard

"S-so… that's the place uh?" Arianne points towards a large warehouse in the distance, actually not too far from yesterday evening's showoff. To be fair, only her finger really peeks out from her sweatshirt's sleeves, which are in turn barely seen under her denim jacket. She even has her fingerless gloves on, but neither of those things is that good at retaining heat and, therefore, Arianne is still shivering here and there. It also doesn't help that the cold seems to get stronger and stronger - in fact, it seems to come from this part of the city specifically. "Not sure about you two, but Hana sure picked the wrong person for this when she told me to investigate…"

Yes, this was Hana's idea apparently. Right after the swimming session, just before the three trainers would leave the Gym - and possibly the city as a whole, given how cold it had become - the leader stopped them on their tracks, seemingly relieved to see them. "You two did well against me and I'm sure your friend is a good trainer too! Plus, you're from my brother's place, so I figured I'd ask you a favor…" she began, before getting into how the cold weather and the clouds shrouding Vermilion are definitely not normal.

"I know right? It came up overnight and I was totally unprepared and I'm someone who feels the cold a lot!" Arianne couldn't help but voice her complaints, to which Hana agreed wholeheartedly. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. And I've noticed how the cold seems to come from a series of warehouses in the southern harbor. But for some reason the police forces don't want to help out, so…"

Believe it or not, that's how, after a hasty lunch, Richard, Gwen and Arianne have ended up here. A lonely harbor with a few warehouses, trucks, cargo ships, and… the silhouettes of some people emerging from the fog. "Think we ask those people some information and call it a d-day?" The Cinnabar girl turns towards her friends, unsure of what to do.

"Asking around is one of the most important parts of being a detective!" Gwen smirks, holding her index finger and thumb to stroke her chin. "This'll be just like Detective Greedent Reloaded!"

"Let's find out who stole all the berries!" Arianne chuckles, trying her best to mimic the show from what little memories she still had. "But also, let's keep our Pokémon ready to go… I don't like this…"

Gwen raises an eyebrow at Arianne. "I'm not talking about the original Detective Greedent series, I'm talking about the Reloaded series! That's the show where things get real, they swear and have guns and they even killed off Patrat Boy! That's how ready I am for this!"

"Not a film critique here, but I'm pretty sure that show was canned because of declining ratings and that stupid decision didn't help at all. The Patrat Boy fiasco was quite a stir in the media at some point, and don't start about what happened to the Cleffa Girl, my heart boils with rage every single time I remember what happened to her." Richard passionately shows his displeasure at Gwen's comment.

"Maybe if you actually paid attention you'd know that it makes perfect sense for Cleffa Girl to-"

"Oh, speaking of Reloaded things…" Arianne speaks up from further ahead, her voice now more serious. "Let's stop here."

She raises a hand, before turning and walking right back. Someone else has caught her attention. "Shhh… See those people out in the open? They're bad guys. The same from Cerulean… except I'm not sure if you saw them too back then. When I did, I got grabbed and got played like a fiddle by a Drapion as they stole some Pokémon."

"At least he didn't send you straight to the local hospital…" Richard mumbles. "Pretty sure most of our peers have also seen those shady guys lurking around Cerulean before."

Gwen's voice grows more serious as well while still maintaining how pumped up she is. "Oh, I've seen those bastards before alright! That must mean Morgrem Guy is with them!"

"The one I saw was a girl… interesting. I'm not sure that's her of course, but that outfit does look a bit like the one she had." Arianne sighs. "So… what to do? Maybe they don't remember us?"

"Well I mean, Isn't that good? Pretty sure you don't want to be targeted by that kind of crowd." Richard carefully peeks over the corner to avoid suspicion.

"I say we get in there and tear them to fucking shreds!" Gwen smacks her fist into her palm, not understanding the gravity of the situation.

"Gwen… trust me, we can't do it just yet. Maybe we should just go back and report what we saw and…"

"But I wanna kick their asses now!" Gwen pouts before wincing from her shirt collar being tugged. "Oh come on Bead, you know how Morgrem Guy was!"

"Sure… But we have to make sure it's not us that is on the receiving end of the ass-kicking." Richard starts to close his eyes while tapping the side of his forehead. "Let's think for a bit, they have much superior Pokemon strength… They definitely know the area much better than us also, which will definitely become a problem… Hmm… This means that frontal assault is not the way—"

"Not sure about going for the back, it might be all for nothing… but really we just need to talk with them and not be threatening right…" Arianne whispers, but is interrupted.

"DETECTIVE GWEN WILL DELIVER JUSTICE TO YOU!!!"

Gwen jumps out from behind the container the group has used as cover and with very loud footsteps, charges forward fist-first while Bead hopelessly tries holding her back.

"Nevermind!" Arianne yelps, giving Richard a not so gentle nudge to make sure he's aware of what Gwen's doing. All that the Cinnabar girl can do after that is run right after her friend, Pokéball in hand, leaving a trail of breath clouds behind her.

Richard confusedly looks over the container only to find Gwen already standing in front of the shady people. He shakes his head in disappointment and sighs. "This is my life now…"

"Detective Gwen is here to stomp you out with the power of our bond as trainer and Pokemon! Count your sins evildoers, and tremble under the name that is-"

"Who even said we're evildoers? Who even said we need stomping?" One of those figures replies, trying to sound stern but not necessarily angry. "You should watch your mouth. Or maybe… maybe you should ask her instead."

Arianne arrives on the scene with a finger already pointed towards her. The voice, the attitude, the outfit… it's definitely that girl. "Yeah, we remember you guys. Mind telling us what you're up to this time around?"

"I don't know, what'd you think we're doing now?" The young woman shrugs. "Just think of us as the annoying roadblock characters in games and move on."

"Nice try, but don't think you can outsmart my expert sleuthing skills!" Gwen boasts. Bead rolls his eyes.

One of the shady figures, presumably a young man, does his best to face away from the Cape students. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!" He says, voice quivering as if he's trying to hold something back. "Why don't you leave and go play tag or whatever brats do."

"Wow, thanks for the help, I totally needed it." The woman hisses.

Gwen flashes a toothy grin and grabs a Pokeball from her belt. "That confirms my hypothesis! We won't let you get away this time- Tusk, come on out!" The bright flash of a Pokeball and a mighty "KYEW KYEW" loudly spells out to everyone nearby what's about to take place.

"I'm not fighting you with my Pokémon. What you gonna do girl?" The woman crosses her arms, looking down on Gwen and Arianne.

"I'm gonna attack you, that's what! Tusk, use Dragon Rage, and quick!"

Tusk, facing the shady man, flings his jaw open and a purple lighting-like energy charges up in his throat for a few seconds before releasing an arc-shaped projectile. The shady man grits his teeth and tosses a Pokeball of his own, releasing a light that forms into a Morgrem that stands in Dragon Rage's trajectory. The attack hits him head-on, but zero damage is done- after all, fairy-types are immune to dragon-type attacks.

"Trying to attack a human uh? Now that's something I could report to the authorities…" The masked girl smirks. "Thanks by the way, you've almost redeemed yourself." She says as she turns towards her companion.

"Oh but now I can help out! Thunder Wave that Pokémon!" Arianne releases her Blitzle as soon as she sees the Morgrem appear. "I have a better team this time and we can outnumber you!"

"Well, thanks for the battle practice, I appreciate it." The girl finally pulls out her Drapion's Pokéball, and takes some steps back in order to give her Pokémon enough space for a grand entrance. "Protect!" She yells, and her Dark-type quickly complies, blocking the Thunder Wave that was approaching Morgrem with a clash of green and yellow sparkles.

"You're not Paralyzing me this time!" The shady man attempts to sound confident while wheezing. "Now come on, scram already you damn brats!"

"Why are you just standing there!?" Gwen roars in frustration. "Why don't you fucking cowards attack us or something!?"

"I'm tired." Is all the masked woman mutters. But instead, the man's body stiffens. "...that's none of your business!"

Gwen gives him a coy look. "I think I've figured you out! Except nothing less from a super sleuth- Tusk, use Taunt!" Tusk holds a hand out and beckons Morgrem and Drapion with a finger, all while letting out a cocky "Kyew kyew!"

"Well Drapion, you heard the lil guy… let's give him what he asked for." The girl commands, gesturing for her Pokémon to move onward and attack. And so, a barrage of Poison Cross or Night Slash comes for Tusk and Blitzle. Some of those attacks are blocked by Eric's Protect, once Arianne has called him out as well of course… but some still hit the intended targets, including Tusk, dealing heavy damage. And this time, the Cinnabar girl doesn't have Mulan to help her out…

Gwen watches in frustration the sight of Tusk skidding backwards against the ground. "Shit, maybe Taunt wasn't such a good idea…"

"Wow, you don't say?" The man loudy cackles while Morgrem sticks his tongue out and places his hands near his head to make a teasing gesture. "We're gonna give you a world of pain now!"

"Wow I'm so scared." The woman shrugs, definitely replying to her partner in crime. "Maybe we're just better off doing this... Haze!" She shouts, this time revealing her Honchkrow. In a matter of seconds, everyone is engulfed in its thick black smoke.

"You have Talon right? Maybe now…" Arianne tries to speak up, but her words get muffled and her nose gets itchy in no time. "Ugh…"

"I do just uh… he's with Palm right now…"

"Uh, okay, your world of pain can wait until we meet again… which will happen by the way!"

"As if!" The masked woman lets out a cackle. The shady man gives her a dirty look and mumbles "Why you…" before giving up halfway and running away.

Just as the pair tries to escape, a purple light shines briefly inside the thick Haze before a yellow one follows suit almost immediately. Unfortunately for them, just as they are about to hightail it anyway, they realize that they can't move their own body at all.

Shortly after, everyone on the battlefield can hear a sound approaching them. It is a sound of footsteps, and it comes from behind the cargo Ari and Gwen used to hide themselves earlier.

"Sorry, I couldn't find the right opportunity until just now." Richard walks in with a stern look on his face.

"WOAH!!! That's so cool Richard!!" Gwen excitedly shouts, eyes gleaming. "This is just like how in Detective Greedent Reloaded-"

"I'm not sure what's happening anymore… but ok… thanks haha!" Arianne coughs a few more times.

"That show was a mistake…" Richard mutters under his breath. "So, what are you going to do now? Are you two going to give up nicely and turn yourselves to the authorities, or are we doing this the hard way?"

"Believe it or not, the authorities are by our side." The masked woman chimes in. She tries to speak calmly and confidently, but her voice is slightly cracking by now.

"Is that so?" Richard calmly replies. "Well, you'll find out what happens next soon enough, but for now… Uri."

As soon as Richard speaks out his order, the Cape trainers can faintly see a faint glow that starts to intensify as time starts to tick away. But just moments before Uri does what Richard had just ordered him to—

"Bulldoze."

A devastating wave of dirt suddenly sweeps Richard's team away from their previous location, cancelling Uri's grasp of the two baddies in the process.

As the effect from the earlier Haze starts to wear off, a sound of clapping hands echoes from behind a different container, accompanied by a hysterical laughter. It doesn't take long until the source of the voice shows itself, it comes from a top hat wearing shady man and his Gabite in tow.

"Bravo! Bravo! What a surprise! To see you and your Pokemon here, I thought you two were mincemeat by now." The man gleefully exclaims with an eerie smile on his face.

"We were having some fun until you came in and took things way too seriously." The masked woman pouts. "I'll do the same from now…"

"Well, I'm not going to argue if you do think that getting your ass handed by these young kids is fun, but otherwise…" The man's fingers zip across his mouth.

"Well, we're not doing too great right now uh? Hopefully no more people will come…" Arianne sighs, looking at Richard in search of some reassurance.

"So here's the deal kiddoes, as much as we like to spend some time playing with you but we adults have our responsibility to deal with so we can pay our bills… So be good children and stick your noses where it actually belongs, will you?"

"Make us." Richard answers with a firm tone.

"Hahaha...HAHAHAHAHA!!!" The man with a top hat laughs wildly before wiping the tears from his eyes. "What a brave kid, I wonder whether you can maintain that expression when I butcher you and your entire team for good."

Richard grits his teeth in anger.

"So, since you all are still so eager to play with us. Let's play a game then." The man with the top hat let out his Electrode on the battlefield. "So how the game works is basically, we'll go away from this place and you may try to follow us… But, but, but, there's a teeny-weeny catch~" The man says with a playful tone. "If you do well, let's say I won't be able to ensure your safety. Because after all… Explosions are deadly." Sparks start to fly from his Electrode's body.

"Oh, just leave this to me! You can only explode once!" Arianne clenches her fists, before getting Eric to run back to her and bracing himself… and then running head first towards the Electric-type. "You know what to do!" She yells even louder, clearly talking to her Pokémon.

"Well, suit yourselves. Bye kids, never want to see you ever again." The man in top hat grins before running away towards the back of the warehouse.

"N-no that's not what we should be-" The masked woman calls back her Drapion and follows suit, not without some concern.

"H-hey, wait for me too!" The masked man yelps in desperation, kicking it into hightail while his Morgrem casually follows him, hopping like a Greninja.

Ari lets out her best battle cry, with Eric immediately getting up his Protect. The greenish shield appears right in front of the Cinnabar girl as the world around her goes white and a sudden wave of heat reaches her from all directions. She feels like a true hero for an instant, facing the strongest of enemies with such courage… only to get knocked away, literally flying backwards for an eternity before landing near where Gwen is, with Eric right on top of her.

Gwen, who had ducked when the explosion went off, peaks her head up, and gasps in horror. "Arianne, are you okay!?"

"Are you ok first of all?" Arianne replies with urgency, still laying down on the ground. "I could be better but if that kept you safe it was all worth it!"

"Well of course I'm fine, I made sure to duck just like in the movies- what kind of super sleuth would I be if I didn't?"

"I mean, good to know Gwen, but-" The Cinnabar girl looks around frantically, only to see Richard tightly hugging his Kadabra. "Richard, you alright?" She recalls Eric and tries to get up to a sitting position, at least, but - oh what a familiar sensation - her whole body hurts.

"Stupid… Why did you have to do such an unnecessary thing…" Mutters Richard with a pained voice.

"I had to try it and I thought we could take it better and what they did to me in Cerulean is..." Arianne machine-guns the words out of her mouth. But she knows Richard is right anyway. Maybe not by principle, but he definitely beats her in pragmatism.

The boy closes his eyes as he tries to stop his hands from trembling. And soon after he lifts himself up while returning his Pokemon to their respective Pokeballs. "What's done is done… Sorry, but can we go straight to the Pokemon Center now? I'm very worried about Uri."

"I'm sorry… yeah, let's go!" Arianne nods, trying to calm down and taking some heavy breaths. No other masked people seem to be around, just a few Pokémon passing by, and the three trainers. "Actually I might need some help getting up… again." She admits.

Gwen anxiously shifts her head around before extending an arm out to Arianne, who accepts the help with a nervous smile. "Uh, I-I can give you a hand… but I agree with Richard! Our Pokemon need to be healed as soon as possible- especially Kadabra. We can give those losers payback some other time!"

TEAM:
Eric, lv. 35 • Espurr, lv. 19
Blitzle, lv. 21 • Mizar, lv. 19
Lulu, lv. 29 • Honedge, lv. 19

​

Now that Casey's fully dry, he can actually tell: the heat of the day has passed, but no warmth has lingered in Vermilion. Not even the thermoregulating sea is keeping the frosty mist from creeping across the harbor- in fact, the harbor seems colder than the rest of the city. Casey shivers, and halfway wishes Pepper was still small enough to drape around his neck. The ambient heat around his legs will do, though. Quite apart from all their other Pokémon not tolerating the cold, they'd figured it would be better not to look like trainers- not to look like a gym leader had sent them, since these people refused her before. But Pepper had given him big, sad eyes about being put away, and Casey had relented.

Casey has questions about the gym leader's plea, ones that Vera can't answer, and he's not going to settle for not knowing. But for the cold, he'll settle for tugging his friends and his Pokémon just a little closer.

Soon enough, they're confronted with a gate- hastily closed but still slightly ajar, and nervously patrolled by a skinny young man in a uniform. A posted sign says "Authorized Personnel Only When Closed", which presumably means… not them. It's probably just to keep people out of the way while they use heavy machinery they use to unload and load ships. But they're still not the people who do that, so they're not just going to be able to walk right in, especially since this guy looks like he's taking his job very seriously. Casey murmurs a suggestion of finding another way in, but a quick wander of the perimeter only turns up tall fences.

"This skinny one is easy," Casey says, slapping the horizontal wooden slats spanning a tiny alley between two buildings. "We can just climb it, c'mon."

He's already halfway up before the protests begin. "We absolutely can not climb it!" Vera looks at the fence towering over her head. "It's like twenty feet tall, there's no way I can get up there!"

Casey leans back, twisting to look down at her. "Sure you can. Just like climbing a ladder! 'Cept your footholds are harder to find. And sometimes there's not any. Anyway, 's only fifteen at best."

"Oh, fifteen, got it. In that case… it's still too tall!" Vera scowls at the fence, crossing her arms and refusing to try. Pepper mimics her stance, huffing out a breath.

"Yeah, come on - get back down here," Jordan pleads, evidently taking her side. "Gonna be a lot harder to investigate if one of us falls and breaks our neck."

Casey relents, kicking off the wall and dropping down with a thud. "Fine. But this's the easiest way in we've seen, so what else you got?"

Jordan peers back around to where the skinny guard is. "Well, the gate's technically open…" He scratches his head. "You know that episode where Frogadier uses her Smokescreen to distract the uncooperative stagehands so that Detective Greedent could get past them and investigate backstage?"

"You know I don't do fiction," Casey says, at the same time as Vera's blunt "No idea what that is."

"Oh. Hm." Jordan looks slightly embarrassed. "Okay, well, as I was saying, there's a Frogadier that uses Smokescreen to- anyway, the point is, one of us could distract the guard so the rest of us can just sneak past."

"Oh. You coulda just said." Jordan lets out an exasperated sigh and rolls his eyes at Casey. "Who's the most distracting out of us?"

Wordlessly, Jordan and Vera both turn their gazes toward Casey. He laughs. "Yeah, okay! Convenient, since I'm the only one who can climb over anyway. Alright, let's... y'all circle wide- Pepper, go with- and I'll march right up, right?"

March right up he does, calling to the guard after the other three split off. Eyes on me, buddy.

"Hey there," Casey says, once he's within normal conversation distance of the lone uniformed guard. "How's it goin?"

"Um, this area is for authorized personnel only!" the guard says. Casey isn't bothered. The man's clearly nervous about something, and that means it'll be easy to keep him talking. Nerves don't let people think.

"Oh, yeah, totally get that. But what's all this for, y'know?" Casey makes sure to gesture to the right and- yep, the shorter man's eyes track that motion, falling even further from the left side, where Jordan and Vera are approaching. He takes a few steps back and to the right while gazing up at the warehouse walls, and the guard instinctively follows the conversation. Good. "I'm new in Vermilion; was just takin' a walk and ended up over here, then I couldn't walk any further! So what's this? And does it usually get this cold?"

The last question is something he's been personally mulling over, rather than an attempt at light but uninteresting conversation. But apparently the young man has much to say about it.

"Um, no, not at all, and it's- I'm worried!" Casey tilts his head at the vehemence. "Well, this is part of the shipyard and docks, and I went out there earlier, before everyone else got called to check out the explosion- and even the sea is freezing! Moving salt water, freezing? In May? No, this is wrong. And terrible, it really is."

"Terrible for what? The ships?" Casey's hand comes up to stroke his chin in a show of thoughtfulness. The man's eyes follow. Distract with motion, okay. His friends are sidling up to the wall left of the gate, but he doesn't allow his eyes to linger on them. He stretches, exaggerated motions, and clasps his hands behind his head despite the air rapidly cooling the patch of skin where his shirt rides up.

"What?" The man seems momentarily distracted, for some reason. "I mean- um- no, the ships are fine. The ice is pretty thin, they can just plow right into it. Um."

The guy's spacing out again, a light dusting of red on his cheeks. Casey's sure his look the same- the cold is starting to get to him. He drops his arms and sticks his hands back in his pockets, shuffling his feet a bit. Casey only allows the silence for a beat- he can't risk the man glancing in the wrong direction, even if Pepper's tail is currently rounding a corner on the other side of the gate. They're in. "So, uh, what's the ice terrible for, if it ain't the ships?"

"Oh- yes. The marine life, of course. All the Pokémon that live in and around the harbor, they're all going to be affected by this sudden change in temperature. Most of them can live through the cold, of course, but a lot of them either migrate or go into a stasis mode overwinter, and this might trigger those instincts and completely screw up their patterns- is this funny to you?!"

"Uh." Casey cuts off his own laughter. "No, no, sorry- I was just, y'know. Struck. Didn't think a gate guard would sound like a marine biologist."

"Oh. Well." The man quickly loses his fight and his shoulders slump. "I'm studying to be, actually. This is just a temporary thing, for some pocket money. I wanted to be by the sea." A gentle smile spreads across his lips, but his eyes have a faraway look to them. "It's majestic, don't you think? And breathtaking, and unknowable, even with the best technology we have at the moment- I know I'm meant to be out there, figuring it all out."

Huh. He's met people like this, of course. People who seem to know their destiny, people who are so drawn to something they can't bear to stay away. It's amazing, their unwavering and endless passion for one specific thing.

Casey himself has never felt that.

"Ah- sorry, that's a bit much, isn't it?" The man laughs ruefully.

"No, no! I love that." Casey is absolutely sincere about that. "It's- it's gorgeous, that kind of passion. I'm glad you have it!"

"Gorgeous?" the man repeats, and his face flashes red, like Jordan's does when he tries to talk to girls. Oh, right, Jordan's waiting now- I'm s'posed to be gettin' out of this conversation.

"Nobody's ever called me… Um! I- I like your beard a lot, by the way!"

"Huh? Oh, thanks!" Casey preens, just a little bit. "I had a moustache, but I didn't like that very much. Was kind of worried that it looked unbalanced without it, though."

"Well…" the man gathers his courage and stands up as tall as he can. Still shorter than Casey. "Well, I'd- I'd like to see that someday! Then I can tell which is better. So- uh- here!" He fumbles his phone out of his pocket. "Take my number. Call me sometime, okay? Oh- oh my god, I never even introduced myself- I'm Tristan. Um. What's your name?"

"Nice to meet ya, Tristan, I'm Casey!" They take a quiet moment to enter information, confirming numbers and posing cheerfully (Casey) and nervously (Tristan) for contact photos. Casey almost slips his phone away, but- good excuse to split, use it. An exaggerated double-take does the trick. "Oh shit, is that really the time? Sorry, I gotta run- was supposed to meet some friends for lunch! Thanks for the conversation! See ya 'round!"

Tristan waves goodbye as Casey jogs away, back to his chosen entry point around the corner, breath puffing in clouds around his face. He peeks through the gaps in the boards and sure enough, his friends are peering back.

"The hell took you so long?" Jordan asked. "We were starting to get worried. Did he seem… I don't know, suspicious or anything?"

"Oh, nah, Tristan's cool." Casey motions for them to step back as he climbs, still talking. "He's not much older'n us, just doin' the gate thing for some extra cash. Wants to be a marine biologist, this's closest he could get at the moment. Kinda sucks. Hey, move back- thanks." Casey drops to the ground easily. "He gave me his number f'r some reason. Said he likes my beard? Which is nice, nobody else seems to appreciate it." He sniffs with an exaggerated air of being put out.

Jordan stares at him as he speaks, dumbfounded. "You got his whole life story in- nevermind, we can probably use that skill in a minute here to get info outta people." He steps back and stands next to Vera, evaluating Casey's face. "I don't know. What do you think about the beard?"

Vera shrugs, not giving Casey's face a second glance. "I've seen better, but it's his first beard."

Casey scrubs his chin with both hands. "See you grow a better one," he huffs.

Vera raises an eyebrow at that. "I can't. Do you see any hair here?" She smirks as she gestures to her face.

"Nah, that's right." Stop poking the Beartic! admonishes one part of his brain, but on the other hand: Vera's fun to rile, and he mentally throws his hands in the air as the rollercoaster dives down the track. "White hair don't even show up, 's worse than blonde. Surprised you don't look bald at the scalp."

"Bald!?" Vera looks shocked, then angry, grasping at her hair. "At least I can actually grow mine out, instead of just letting it sit in a messy pile on top! It doesn't look cool! It just looks untidy!"

"C'mon now, Jordan's doesn't look bad at all!" Casey teases gleefully.

"Wait, no, I wasn't talking about… I mean, I wouldn't say… I mean!" She looks away from them both, but Casey catches her face going red as Jordan instinctively reaches up to smooth his hair down along the grain.

"Hey, at least I actually take care of my hair," Jordan protests. "Kind of. Anyway, the investigation, guys?"

"Right!" Casey claps his hands together, but even just his usual enthusiasm is too much for cold fingers and he ends up rubbing them together for warmth. And to stop the stinging. "Oh-kay, now, don't try to be sneaky. Lookin' sneaky gets you in trouble, 'cause then people think you don't belong. If we act like we belong, nobody's gonna ask questions."

"Right, makes sense." Jordan pauses. "How- how do you know this? Do we want to know?"

"I dunno, do you?" Casey's list of places he's confidently wandered into is long, and now probably isn't the time to go into detail. "I've been places, y'know? It usually works out."

"He has a point." Vera concedes, leaning in closer to Pepper for warmth. "If people see someone walking with purpose, they ignore them. If they hesitate, people take notice. They ask questions. They think 'what's she doing here, is she lost? Can I help her?' And then they make a scene when… well, you get the idea."

Casey wonders how many times Vera has snuck into places she doesn't belong, but noise and movement in the distance catches his attention before he can ask.

"There's people that way. I think? Hard to tell in this weird snow-fog."

There are, in fact, people, but not as many as he thought at first- Machamp may be humanoid, but they don't count as "people to talk to". So the few assisting in moving giant crates are ignored as Casey makes a beeline to a figure that looks as if they are directing the scene.

"'Scuse me," he calls. The broad-shouldered woman looks up from her clipboard, brow furrowed.

"What, more demands?" she snaps, then does a double-take. "Oh. Teenagers. How'd you get in here? Are you lost? If you're not, you should get lost. Ahaha. Seriously, though, we don't have time for any nonsense. Scram."

Casey doesn't let a frown slip onto his face, not yet. But being stonewalled right off the bat isn't ideal. "It's cool, we just had a few questions, won't take hardly any time, really-"

"Gate's that way." She jams a thumb over her shoulder, eyes glued to her clipboard. "I don't have time for you."

"She doesn't know anything, I told you she didn't look important." Vera sounds slightly more arrogant than usual. Casey blinks. Where's she going with this? "We need to find someone in charge, not their assistant."

"Assistant?! Little girl, I'm the on-duty supervisor for this section, so if you're not getting something from me, you won't be getting it at all!"

"Well thank you for agreeing to help us, then!" It probably would sound more genuine if Vera didn't raise her voice to match the supervisor's. Casey reaches to the side and links his pinkie with hers. Chill out, he wants to say, bein' antagonistic gets you nowhere.

"I said I didn't have time for you, do you not listen? Go." She turns abruptly and stalks over to a pair of Machamp to give them orders. Vera follows, slipping her hand free of Casey's, and the other three have no choice but to hurry after her.

"Hey! Don't just walk away from me!" Vera marches right up to the supervisor, closer than a casual conversation would allow. "If you're the only one who'll give me answers, then I demand answers!"

"What part of 'leave' didn't you get? Get out of here, kid."

"Not until you talk to me." Vera crosses her arms defiantly, also preventing Casey from taking her hand again. He tsks.

"Ugh." The woman runs a gloved hand down her face. "Fine, since you won't leave- what do you want?"

Vera grins triumphantly, but it's short lived as realization seems to dawn on her. "Um… Casey, go ahead and ask your questions."

Wait, hey, this is YOUR thing, I thought YOU were gonna do the talking! "Uh, well, you see, we… we talked it over, and, uh, Jordan- Jordan remembers what we were gonna ask, right?" Casey gives up and nudges Jordan. "Right?"

Jordan looks at the woman like a deer in headlights, but manages to somewhat compose himself and contribute. "Um, uh?" Well, barely. "Y-yeah, so we were wondering if… you know, you noticed anything weird… any weird stuff, lately, that is."

The supervisor raises an eyebrow, but before she makes a real attempt at answering a horn beeps twice and a truck pulls up next to her, tired-looking driver leaning casually out the window.

"These need a home, too. More on the way."

The supervisor throws up her hands, clipboard narrowly missing both Vera and the man in the truck. Vera ducks, looking between the two adults as the woman starts yelling. "How many more?! This is insane, this is too much, I'm supposed to be off all week and they drag me in for- for what? Bullshit!"

"Tell me about it," the truck man says, gently pushing her clipboard down. "Actually, don't, I don't need to hear my own thoughts coming outta your mouth. Email the Foundation, I'm sure they'll care so much about how we all have to put in all this extra work in this freakish cold because of their "change of plans", or whatever they're calling it."

"I'll fuckin' do it, watch me," the woman grumbles, gesturing to the Machamp, who begin unloading the truck.

"Sure, sure," the man sighs, leaning back in his seat and tugging his beanie over his eyes. "Wake me up when they're done."

"You hear that?" Casey whispers. "Sounds like weird stuff t'me." Jordan nods subtly, brows furrowed.

Vera leans in closer to the supervisor, trying to get a better look at the clipboard, but has to quickly step back as the woman turns, almost getting smacked again. "What was that all about? Trouble with the Foundation?"

"Oh, you have no idea, they're out here pushing their way up the queue and having us clear space and we're still trying to compensate, I don't know-" the supervisor hesitates, eyes flashing across their group, and snaps her mouth shut. "I don't know why I'm telling company business to three kids and a lizard."

Pepper looks offended, though it's more likely because of the scathing tone than being called a lizard. "Oh, we don't mind; it's interesting to know what people's jobs are really like!" Casey tries, but the supervisor has made up her mind once more.

"Other people mind. Now, get out of the way. More trucks are coming in."

Their group gets shoo'd away, then they scramble to get out of the way as the foretold trucks begin arriving, each laden with miscellaneous cargo. Casey facilitates by catching Vera's elbow and steering her away from what very well could be a potential fight. It's easy to angle their escape back toward the gate but slip aside once the supervisor is distracted and huddle together behind a stack of pallets, with Pepper in the middle as their portable space heater.

"Well, that's… something, right?" Jordan asks, hands hovering over the Charmeleon's tail. "Do we report back with what we have?"

"And say what, that some 'Foundation' is making a lot of deliveries?" Vera grumps, her expression softening as she scratches under Pepper's chin. "We need more than just half of a name, we need evidence."

"We don't even know what we're lookin' for evidence of. What d'you want me to do, talk to everyone in the place an' hope they happen to mention something?" It's not a bad idea, but even Casey is getting pretty cold out here. And that's getting on his nerves, along with the fact that Vera came in here with no apparent plan whatsoever.

"Maybe people closer to our age will be easier to talk to. Like, uh, Tristan, right?" Jordan offers.

"Yeah, maybe a supervisor was a bad choice," Casey muses. "Too invested in their job, right? Let's find some friendly people."

It's a good bet to head to where the trucks are coming from- they find themselves in a mess of boxes and pallets and hectic activity, bundled-up workers doing their best not to slip as they load up truck beds and move boxes in some kind of organized chaos. There are a few people scribbling on clipboards here and there, but none that seem to be as "in charge" as the supervisor from the previous area.

"Okay, still actin' casual," Casey says. "But- gotta have a plan. Vera, you're no good at talkin' to people. See if you can get a clipboard and look busy, just listen. Pepper, go with Vera, you can't lift stuff so people will ask questions if you're with me 'cause Jordan, you 'n' me are doin' work. Show off your big strong muscles for the ladies out here."

"I'm working on 'em," Jordan huffs, pinching his right bicep a little. "But yeah, lead the way."

Vera frowns at Casey's words, but shrugs after a moment's thought. "Fine. I'll see what I can find. Come on, Pepper."

The two pairs split from each other as they stride into the work zone, Vera vanishing into an office while Casey and Jordan integrate themselves into a group of people loading boxes into a truck.

"Hey, backup has arrived!" Casey announces cheerfully. Relief shows plain on the three faces, and one of them slaps him on the shoulder as they hurry off to "finally" take a break, leaving Casey and Jordan with a young man and woman who give them a quick rundown of the task at hand. It's just moving stuff, as expected, walking back and forth from the pallets and passing boxes up to their new coworkers in the truck bed.

"Can't believe the Foundation would do this t' us, y'know?" Casey shakes his head as he slides a box onto the tailgate. The woman tilts her head, but the man groans loudly.

"Oh don't get me started," he complains. "Half of us are in on our day off, we're not working with anyone we know, the whole system's been thrown outta wack, just because they needed a whole warehouse at like, two in the morning!"

"A whole warehouse? These things are huge, what the heck do they need that much space for?" Legitimate curiosity colors his question, which is helpful- being genuine gets you places, after all.

"Beats me," the woman answers, as Casey heads back for his next box, nodding to Jordan along the way. Jordan barely acknowledges him as he focuses on carrying the one he'd picked up. "Worst part is that we were nearly done moving stuff, almost had it all sorted, and then- boom!"

"Boom?" Jordan wheezes out as he holds out the box. Shoulda come lifting with me more, huh? Casey thinks at him, smugly. "Careful, it's kinda heavy-"

"Yeah, that's about what we heard over here," the man laughs shortly.

"It's not funny, it means we have to find new places for more shit" the woman says, elbowing him out of the way so she can take Jordan's box with ease, ignoring his warning. "It was an explosion, or something, by one of the other warehouses."

"Wh- any idea what's doing that?" Jordan asks as the woman points him towards another pallet. Casey suddenly recalls glossing over Tristan's mention of an explosion. Maybe he should've pursued that further...

The man scoffs, and Casey has to nudge the box further into the truck to get his attention. "As if we're told anything! Just "stay here, do your work, don't tell anyone which warehouse the Foundation is using". As if, one, it's not obvious, but two, we'd go around telling all our friends about the exact details of every damn shipment. What do they think we do in our spare time?"

"Obviously work, work, and more work," the woman snorts. Casey and Jordan laugh along with the man. "Even if we weren't getting a little bonus for this, I still wouldn't be going around talking like that."

"Oh, you're getting a bonus? They didn't tell us anything about that when we came in here," Casey complains. Hopefully his acting isn't too over the top, but it's not like he can ask Jordan, even as they brush shoulders passing each other by. Casey's more used to melodrama, not acting believably, and Jordan knows what that looks like from him. But they're within earshot of their "coworkers", so all he does is gently tilt his head and look for any subtle clue on Jordan's face, which is puffy, red and betrays nothing but mild pain and discomfort until he sets down his box. Casey wasn't even sure if he heard him, but he slips into character as he composes himself.

"Well, it must be that warehouse, huh?" Jordan dusts off his hands and sighs. "That's really too bad, lord knows we need a bonus."

"Oh, dude, don't we all. Here, tell the super that you know which warehouse it is- B-17, down thataway-" The woman points past the work zone, closer to the sea itself. "Be slick about it and get that cash, right?"

Casey grins widely- not for the promise of cash, obviously, but for the best information he could have hoped for. "Thanks!"

Soon enough, and with some less vitally important chatter, fifteen minutes have gone by and the other worker makes their way back from break, looking far less sour than they had and carrying canned drinks for the four still working. Casey and Jordan accept theirs with a "cheers!" and head off- allegedly, to give another team a break, but really to collect Vera and Pepper.

Casey turns the can over in his hand. The label says "Sparkling Liechi" in a big, cheerful font and he makes a face. "What'd you get?"

Jordan grimaces, rolling his left shoulder back. "A pulled muscle, maybe. What'd you say this was, a quadricep? Or is that the one in your leg-"

"Prob'ly your tricep, I can show you stretches later-" Casey shakes his head. "You really shoulda done workouts with me, I told you. Didn't I? But I was talking about your drink, obviously. I don't want this carbonation."

"Oh, um." Jordan looks down and spins the can around to show him the label. "Morning Orange. It's zesty. Still carbonated, though. I'll have that if you don't want it."

"You shouldn't have two," Casey sniffs. "That's crazy sugar! Vera can have it."

Jordan shrugs, taking a sip from his can. "Fine. Speaking of, where is she?" He craned his neck, scanning the area.

Casey hums a note, scanning near where he'd last seen her. If he hadn't remembered what Vera's outerwear looked like, he probably would have just skimmed right over her- she actually blends in pretty well, having added a white hard hat to her ensemble and hiding her face under her scarf.

Despite her supposed goal of listening in, she's actually nowhere near any other workers. Instead, she's half hidden by some shipping containers, intensely focused on drawing on her stolen clipboard. A flickering light emanates from the ajar container next to her, a subtle clue to Pepper's position.

As Casey approaches, Vera nods at her clipboard, tearing off the top sheet and folding it up. "Got ya somethin'," he says in her ear.

"Oh, sh-!" Vera yelps in surprise, her hands going into her pockets as she pushes herself away from the wall.

"Dammit, Casey!" She pulls her scarf away from her face, her mouth set in an angry line as she catches her breath. "Don't sneak up on me like that, what's wrong with you? You gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, sorry," Casey laughs, scratching Pepper's neck when the Charmeleon pops his head out of the crate. It's nice to be close to his little heat source again. "Have a soda, we're goin' for a walk. There's a warehouse we gotta see."

"You guys found something?" Vera follows behind, opening her soda and cursing as it fizzes over, the spilled beverage freezing within moments of hitting the ground. "...this is terrible."

"Yeah, a huge something." Jordan replies, narrowly moving his foot out of the way of the spillage. "The Foundation's got a whole warehouse over here, and we know which one it is." He rubs his hands together, probably because of the cold, but paired with his enthusiasm for the news he was relaying, he also looks a little like a cartoon villain. "B-17... Come on, this way."

The B block of warehouses, unlike the D block where they had been working, is weirdly empty. It's almost concerning, the lack of activity, with the unnerving silence only broken by the gentle crash and cracking of the frozen sea. The cold fog is still but for their puffing breath, and the ice under their feet is slick enough to slow their pace to a shuffle. Or a slide, when Casey feels like playing. He almost wishes he had his skates- or, really, has skates that fit him. Voicing this thought only gets him an annoyed 'shush' from the determined Jordan and a disinterested "Hmph" from Vera. He sighs and focuses on checking numbers again. They're just past B-15, following the icy road as it curves around B-16.

And they quickly retrace their steps when they get a good look ahead.

"I'm not even tryin' to talk to those guys," Casey mutters, as they peek around the corner once more.

B-17 is guarded.

A few individuals circle the warehouse as they watch, but at least five others stand at attention at the barricaded entry to the building. Not that the barricades seem necessary, considering the thick coating of ice holding the main doors in place. The whole building is similarly covered, and Casey wonders why. Even the frozen haze in the air is thicker here, which is super weird. It makes it hard to see the figures clearly, even as close as they are.

"Sh-should we get closer and get a better look?" Jordan asks, but there was a shaky uncertainty in his voice.

"I think we've seen enough." Vera shivers, unable to keep her teeth from chattering. "Is it just me, or is it colder suddenly?"

Casey only now realizes he can't feel his ears, and reaches up to check that they're still attached. "Thought it was just 'cause we stopped moving…"

But it's not. Even Pepper whines, and when Casey looks he is shuffling in place, feet no longer thawing through the thick ice and tail flame starting to dim. "Ooh, buddy," Casey cooes, hefting the Charmeleon into his arms. Sharing that heat makes the cold bearable again.

Not that Jordan and Vera have that luxury.

Jordan glances between Casey holding his Pokémon, and the shivering girl. "Y'know," He starts, inching closer. "Human body heat's no Charmeleon, but it's better than nothing…"

Vera shoots him a bemused look, but seems to reconsider as a stray breeze makes her shiver even more. "Yeah, fine. You have a point. Come here." She nestles up close to Jordan, letting him put his arms around her. He looks pleasantly surprised, but mostly surprised, that that worked.

Casey and Pepper watch this with the same amount of surprise, but Casey's is more fixated on the fact that Vera of all people not only agreed to affectionate physical contact, but very nearly instigated it. But he lets a grin slip onto his face. This is good, he thinks. This is nice.

However, it is also freezing, and he has a duty to uphold: a duty to be Jordan's personal menace.

"So, uh," he coughs, letting his grin turn into more of a leer. "Hate to break up the snuggle squad, but we don't actually have to hang out at the docks anymore."

Jordan glares at Casey as Vera quickly, but not roughly, pushes away from him. "Right! Nothing more to see here! Let's get out of here before we freeze!"

Casey stifles his giggles and ushers them ahead, a complicated maneuver when one has an armful of Charmeleon. It's quick enough work to leave through the main gate, Casey ducking his head so as not to be recognized by Tristan.

They're all looking forward to thawing out in the damp heat of Vermilion Gym.