[PKMN FULL] Seeds of Tomorrow [M][IC]

Maria's legs shook with every step she took as she ran blindly through the forest. A light rain had taken to falling through the leaves of canopy of trees overhead, bringing with it a chill in the air that made the tall blonde even more uncomfortable than before. The breeze blowing through the air seemed to cause whatever daze Maria was in as she ran to come to an abrupt end, which in turn followed by causing her legs to finally give out from underneath her. The girl fell to knees, her body trembling as she struggled to catch her breath.

"I couldn't... I'm sorry, I..." Maria whimpered, her breath sputtering out of her lips in quick, sharp huffs. She could feel her chest tightening, her heart was racing. In a state of panic, the tall girl flipped her bag around and began to rummage around inside of it. She felt a small tinge of relief as she found her inhaler, quickly bringing it to her mouth to try and help soothe the oncoming asthma attack she could feel welling up inside of her. Maria took it slow, calming her breath and body as best she could, before resuming her apology. "Please... let's all c-calm d-down and..."

She paused, taking a look around her. Logan wasn't there. Neither was John or Melody. She was completely on her own, in the middle of the forest... somewhere. Just as soon as it had left, Maria could feel another wave of panic starting to overtake her body. It had finally dawned on her what had happened. She had ran away from them all... She was alone in some creepy forest, now... All because of that stupid argument.

Maria closed her eyes, thinking back to the confrontation that had happened such a short time ago. It was so familiar... the way Logan and Melody had been fighting amongst themselves like that. It was like she was back home again...

"You're drinking again...? Is that all you ever do anymore?"

Bloodshot, angry brown eyes gazed up from his shot glass towards the sound of the voice. A thin, blonde woman, probably close to in her forties, was staring in disgust at the man before her. Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun, clad in nothing more than a fluffy pink robe and a matching pair of slippers on her feet. A rather flashy pearl necklace dangled around her neck, looking very out of place given her current attire.

"Does it really matter to ya? It's not like one or two drinks are gonna mess with anything," the man scoffed. He was dressed in what looked to be a rather fancy three-piece suit, but it was looking rather sloppy at the moment all things considered. Wrinkled and stained, it looked as though the man had been wearing for a few days in a row at this point. Despite his best attempts at trying to ignore her, he could feel the woman's eyes staring down at him in constant judgement. "What the hell do you want, Eve?"

Eve scoffed. "The party... Don't you remember? We're due at the McMillain estate in thirty minutes, Frank! Yet here you are once again, drinking away without a care in the world and looking like you just crawled out of the damn gutter! It's embarrassing!"

"Well, I suppose it's better than looking like some whored-out bimbo!" Frank shouted back, slamming his glass in anger down on the table. The glass instantly shattered from the force of the impact, several shards managing to embed themselves into Frank's hand. The inebriated man seemed to not notice, however. Whether or not it was from him being drunk as a Skuntank or not was up for debate. "I go out and work hard, I make the living for this lifestyle, and all you ever do is nag and bitch! I'm sick of hearing your endless shit, Eve!"

"You work? Cut the Tauros-shit, Frank... You go into the office at 9:00 AM and by 9:30 you're at the Rhyhorn track betting on the races. Everyone knows it, it's fucking ridiculous!"

Frank sneered. "Maybe I wouldn't be there if you'd just be a good bitch for once and quit riding my ass!"

The shouting and yelling seemed to increase in volume with each passing moment. Unbeknownst to the two arguing adults, a small, frail blonde child had began to stir in her bed from the constant anger and yelling going on beneath her. A small, quick yawn escaped her lips as she sleepily sat up in her bed, before a series of faint coughs sputtered out from her lips.

"...M-Mommy...?" the small child called out, rubbing her head in pain as she attempted to adjust her version in the darkness of the room. "M-Mommy, I'm thirsty..."

There was no response, however. At least, there didn't seem to be one directed at her. The child was able to hear some sort of commotion going on downstairs. As to what it was, the small girl couldn't be sure. Gripping hold tightly onto her stuffed Pancham, the tiny tot dropped out of her bed onto the floor and started to make her way carefully down the stairs. The sound of the voices got louder as she walked, easily becoming more recognizable as those belonging to her parents. She silently crept down the stairs, holding onto the railing as she stared at the sight before her.

"I make the fucking money around here, Eve! All you have to do is sit on your ass and look pretty... I know it's hard work for you, but it ain't a fucking concern what I do with my share of the income to make you or that little bitch happy!" her father shouted.

"That little bitch is your daughter!" Eve snapped back.

"That little bitch that neither one of us asked for?!" Frank questioned. "Those fucking bills pile up, you know! A month in that stupid ward and the doctor still can't fucking fix her! I never wanted the stupid brat anyways!"

"I don't recall asking for her either!" Eve shouted, her voice dripping with venom. "But you were sooooo worried about what the boys at the club might think that you insisted we get married and have the stupid child. It's too late to do anything about it now! So man up and grow a fucking pair and quit hiding behind you're damn booze!"

Frank lost his temper in that moment. Without a word of warning, he lashed out and slammed his fist right into the woman's gut. Eve let out a pain-filled scream as she fell to her knees and desperately to tried and catch her breath, but Frank was on top of her without a moment's delay. He began to punch and kick at the woman, yelling various curses and inflammatory remarks to his wife with each blow... Unbeknownst to them both, a trembling, seven year old Maria watching all the while.

A loud boom of thunder snapped the blonde out of whatever thoughts she was currently having. Maria glanced around in surprise, as if waking up from some kind of nightmare, to the feel of heavy rain cascading through the treetops to the forest floor below. Despite the downpour of rain, Maria didn't move. She sat in silence, her mind racing with thoughts spurred on by memories of times long past.

"It's... It's okay, Maria... That's done now... It's past... W-We can... We're not..." she tried to encourage herself.

Her own words fell on deaf ears, though. The memories had been stirred up and despite her best efforts, the tall girl could bring herself back up to her feet. It was then that the rustling of a nearby bush caught her attention. A wild Pokémon attacking? It was a forest, after all. Maria scrambled, climbing up to her feet in a hurry as she prepared herself for a battle. Without warning, she took hold of her Chimchar's ball, releasing Jango out to be on the ready for whatever creature was about to emerge from the forest greenery. Needless to say, the last thing she expected to see was a curious and tiny Ralts crawling out from the forest depths.

"...OZ?" Maria questioned, making her way towards the Psychic Pokémon with Jango hot on her heels. The Ralts smiled softly at the trainer, slowly reaching out to pat her on the leg. Maria sighed in relief, reaching down (albeit cautiously) to carefully pick up Logan's partner. "We've... We've all b-been worried sick about you. W-Where in the world have you been?"

Oz only looked up at Maria in silence, offering a comforting pat on the blonde's shoulder.

"...N-Never mind. We'd best find someplace to wait out t-this storm and then f-find Logan and the others..." Maria determined. She felt OZ wriggle about in her arms, suddenly pointing out and ahead from the bush she had just crawled out of. "...Do you know of s-somewhere...?"

Maria gently sat OZ down, the Ralts regaining her balance before slowly making her way back towards the bushes she had just crawled out of. Maria gave a nervous glance towards her Chimchar, who quickly scampered ahead to follow behind OZ. Without having any other options at the moment, Maria quickly gathered her bag back over her shoulder and followed the two Pokémon deeper into the woods.

Next Objective: Find Shelter!

Maria had read many books back during her days in the hospital and even back at camp. She couldn't count the number of hours that she whittled away, reading of adventurous knights, the life and times of various historical figures, and even silly and humorous anecdotes. When it came to subjects involving horror and the macabre however, Maria tended to shy away. While the tall trainer had no real expertise in regards to subject manner, she couldn't help but think that this was the setting ripped straight from a horror novel.

Logan's Ralts had led her and Jango deep into the woods. The rain hadn't let up in the slightest bit, and the wind was definitely starting to pick up with each and every step. The trainer and the Pokémon were positively soaked to the bone, and the wind did little to aid in the situation. The group came to a stop in front of what Maria could call an abandoned manner of sorts. It looked to have been abandoned some time ago. The passage of time and weathering of the house was apparent. Paint was fading and chipping away, with various windows having even been shattered. The grass around the abandoned house was littered with shards of glass and broken roof tiles, and the wood of the porch leading up to the front door was literally rotting away. Thick vines wrapped around the building in various spots. A howling filled the air. Maria wasn't sure if it was from the wind blowing around her coming from the wind blowing through the broken out windows of the house. Either way, she was able to tell that this place was not somewhere she willingly wanted to set foot in.

Maria stared up at the dilapidated building for a moment or two longer, before glancing down to OZ. "...Y-You want us to go in there...?"

OZ glanced back up at Maria, tilting her tiny head at the girl's question before gently patting her leg and pointing forward. Maria sighed in disappointment. Of course the Ralts wanted them to go into the house. She probably had no idea what kind of condition the house was in. All she was doing was trying to get the group into some kind of shelter to wait out the storm. Maria opened her mouth, preparing to try and explain the reasoning why the group should keep looking... however a loud clap of thunder and bright flash of lightning was more than enough to cause the blonde teenager to drop all reluctance and make a mad dash towards the front door of the manner, all the while Jango and OZ followed closely behind.

Maria stopped just short of the door, her hand coming to hold the slightly rusty knob. She gave it a gentle twist, as if checking to see if the door was unlocked. Though a bit creaky, the door did begin to push open… As to whether or not Maria was relieved or disheartened by this fact, she was unsure. Her legs trembled beneath her as she slowly pushed the door open just far enough to slowly poke her head inside.

"...H-Hello…? I-Is anyone in h-here…? W-We're coming in, okay…?" the girl called out.

Silence was the only response, however. At the very least, this confirmed that she essentially wasn't breaking and entering someone else's property. Pushing the door open further, the trainer and Pokémon stepped inside before carefully pushing the door shut behind them. Inside was pitch black. Maria couldn't even see her hand in front of her face, a factor she quickly realized would make traversing through the abandoned house quite difficult. She glanced down at her Chimchar, quickly taking note of the small flame glowing on his tiny rump.

"J-Jango…? Is there anyway y-you can make your flame a b-bit brighter…?" Maria questioned.

Jango tilted his head, as if thinking over what the blonde girl was asking. Eventually, the Chimchar gave the trainer a rather toothy grin before appearing to focus intently. Sure enough, the small flame on his backside did grow a bit larger. While it wasn't enough to completely illuminate the room, it did provide enough light so the group wouldn't be completely fumbling around in the dark. Taking a moment to scoop up OZ into her arms so the tiny psychic Pokémon wouldn't fall behind, the girl and her Chimchar began to cautiously make their way forward.

They appeared to be in some sort of entry hall. From what Maria could tell, the house was well furnished… at least, that had been the case before it was apparently abandoned. Several pictures hung from the walls, most of them faded out from what was likely the passage of time. An old, ticking grandfather clock stood against one of the walls. Amazingly enough, the pendulum still seemed to be working, but the hands of the clock appeared to have been broken off long ago with the glass covering the face having been shattered as well. Various decorative plants were spotted here or there as well, most of them wilting or rotting away however. A thick layer of dust covered the floor and most of the furnishings, an observation that caused Maria to be thankful once more that she had remembered to bring her inhaler with her from camp. A chill was still prevalent in her air, however. The old, musty building did very little to keep some… if any heat inside of its walls, unsurprisingly.

Unbeknownst to the trainer and the Pokémon, they were not the only ones currently occupying the abandoned building. A pair of glowing, pink eyes was staring at the group intently as they made their way further into the manner. A wide sadistic grin stretching across its face as it watched the group with glee. By its side, a small creature slowly crawled out by its side. A cloth obscured most of its features, with a rather crudely drawn face having been drawn across the sheet to resemble that of a Pikachu. It seemed like the dilapidated manner was home to a Banette and a Mimikyu...

Banette shook with glee and delight as it floated forward. It had been so long since a human had had the lack of commonsense to wander into its halls, very long indeed. The marionette Pokémon closed its eyes for a moment, sniffing the air before suddenly squealing in delight! That aura! There was so much negativity and darkness shrouding off that human that it was going to be like a feast! Oh, this was going to be fun! The Banette could hardly wait to begin to its curse upon this unsuspecting fool! The Mimikyu however, seemed a bit unsure. It slowly skittered forward, glancing between the Banette and the retreating form of the human girl and her Pokémon as they moved further into the halls of the mansion. The Mimikyu wasn't looking particularly thrilled with this situation. This wouldn't be the first time that the Banette had gone out of its way to make a poor, unsuspecting human its victim... and they were never circumstances the Mimikyu was looking forward to. A long, claw-like hand reached out from beneath the sheet that covered the Mimikyu's physical features, taking hold of the floating Banette's leg. Banette quickly glanced over its shoulder, glaring at the Mimikyu with ferocity as it saw the disguise Pokémon shake its head in disagreement with this plan. Banette growled in annoyance, quickly swatting the the claw away. How dare this lowly creature question its plans! Without warning, the Banette floated down and quickly delivered a fierce slap across the Mimikyu's face, causing the said Pokémon to recoil in a mixture fear and shock.

Banette had a look of absolute contempt on its face. What sort of ghost Pokémon would go out of its way to try and take pity on a human of all things? It was absolutely disgusting. It wasn't the first time that Mimiky had tried to do such a thing, and to be quite frank Banette had had enough with this cowardly behavior. It would get this tempting feast with or without Mimikyu's help. Without even another look of acknowledgement, Banette floated off... leaving the Mimikyu alone to stew in its cowardice.

Next Objective: Wait Out The Rain...

---

Maria coughed violently, the urge to throw up rising in the pit of her stomach. On her head, a cold washcloth was placed to try and bring down her constant fever. Her beloved Piplup doll, Mr. Tux, was wrapped tightly in the blanket to keep her company. The small child sniffled, slowly sitting up in bed as she staggered off the edge and hit the floor below.

"Momma...?" the small ten year old called out, her throat raw and dry. "Momma, I need a drink of water please..."

Silence. Maria had been slowly getting used to it at this point. Many a night had gone by since her latest bout with illness that she had to either get her own drink or be lucky enough to bump into one of the hired helps in the hallway on her way towards the kitchen. Her amber eyes narrowed, confirming her deepest fears. It was late, about ten minutes after midnight. Chances were that most, if not all of them, had gone. Henry, her favorite of the family's butlers, was more than likely to stay into the early hours of the morning, often making sure that everything was just right for the next day or perhaps to make sure notes were filled out for the others assignments in the morning. The problem was that, if Maria could remember properly, tonight was a Tuesday. Henry always took Tuesdays off.

"I guess it's no b-big d-deal," Maria replied, another coughing fit escaping her lips as she grabbed hold of her Piplup doll. She offered the tiny penguin-shaped stuffed animal a weak smile. "I guess we'll have to get our own d-drink... Momma and daddy are both probably sleeping. W-We shouldn't disturb them..."

With Mr. Tux securely bundled under her arm, the ten year old blonde shuffled her way out of her bedroom into the hallway. The house was always so quiet, you could practically hear a Rattata drop a pin. Walking around the house late at night always made Maria feel a bit uneasy, especially she was alone. Thankfully, that was not the case. The girl kept her Piplup doll close to her chest as she made her way down the hallway towards the kitchen. The faint glow of the pale moonlight being the only thing to illuminate the otherwise dark halls. As she slowly rounded the corner to the stairs, Maria's eyes spotted the door to her parents room. The small girl quickly took in the sight of the door being slightly ajar, a faint light shining out into the hallway and the sound of what appeared to be... heavy, frantic breathing.

Maria slowly shuffled her way forward, her grip on Mr. Tux growing even tighter with every step. "M-Momma...? Momma, is that you...?"

Her hand was shaky as she slowly reached out to the doorknob. She stood there for a moment, staring in silence, before slowly pushing the door open. The Piplup doll dropped to the floor as a scream echoed out through the house.


A loud, crash of thunder caused Maria's eyes to snap open. She gasped in surprise, her body trembling as her eyes darted around, quickly taking in the sights around her. It all started coming back to her. She was in that old, abandoned manor that she had stumbled upon when wandering through the forest. Currently, the blonde was seated on an old rug inside of a rather dusty and cold den. In particular, she was seated in front of a fireplace. A small flame was burning in the place, the girl and her Pokémon having decided to sacrifice one of the dining room chairs to help produce a small amount of heat, courtesy of Jango.

The said chimp Pokémon was snoozing by her side, with OZ right beside him as well. In her lap, sat a roosting Ducklett. The small duck Pokémon was looking up at her trainer in concern. A small, curious quack echoing out into the expansive room. Maria sighed, slowly reaching out to gently pet her Pokémon.

"Sorry if I d-disturbed you, Lucy..." Maria said, slowly shifting in a manner to let the Ducklett hop off her lap. The girl and her Pokémon slowly walked towards a window, taking in the sight and sound of the rain pitter-pattering against the glass. "I haven't been t-thinking about this stuff for a w-while...? Why am I only thinking about it n-now...?"

Maria closed her eyes, pressing her head against the cold glass. She had been trying so hard to forget about that night. She figured that with this journey, she might be able to finally start putting this stuff behind her... to just forget about it all. The tall blonde had managed to at the very least put a majority of these memories into the back of her mind, but... ever since the incident with Melody and Logan, the thoughts and memories had become... quite vivid. The girl began to have thoughts that maybe she wasn't ready for this journey after all. Maybe she really did need to go back to camp.

The sudden sound of a door creaking caught Maria's attention. The girl spun around, eyes wide as she slowly took a step forward.

"H-Hello...?" Maria called out. No one answered, prompting the girl to speak a bit louder. "Is... Is s-someone there...?"

Jango and OZ both seemed to stir as Maria made her way across the room. The faint glow of the lit fireplace made things a tiny bit easier for the trainer to make things out. The door on the left side of the room was definitely open. Had it always been that way, though? Maria felt her body shaking with every step as she made her way to the door, gently pressing it open. A dark hallway stretched out before her, only lighting up when a flash of lightning happened to strike from outside the windows. The girl all, but screamed as she felt a hand suddenly touch her leg. Her gaze quickly shot down just in time to see OZ gently looking up at her, a small smile gracing the tiny psychic-type's face.

It was a comforting presence, one that didn't get to last too long. A delighted squeal quickly echoed out into the air, causing Maria to jump just in time to see Jango go dashing down the hallway with excitement.

"J-Jango! Jango, get back here!" Maria called out.

Of course, the Chimchar chose not to listen to his trainer. The small chimp was much more interested in what the sounds coming down the hall were. Maria whimpered in response, but knew she couldn't just turn back and leave her Chimchar alone in this place. She quickly made her way down the hallway, frustration evident in her voice as she reached her Pokémon. The Chimchar was staring through an open doorway, his eyes focused as if he was looking at the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

"J-Jango, I r-really think we n-need to go…" Maria began, but her voice trailed off as she spoke.

Her eyes went wide. The sounds of screaming and yelling began to fill her ears. She stood there in the doorway, the sight before her rendering her completely speechless. The room that stretched out before her was… it was from her home. The hosting room where her parents held their social gatherings. Everything was like it had been. Maria could see the pool table that had been set up in the middle of the room. There was a dimly lit fireplace against the northernmost wall. Her father's bar was seated in the corner, with plush leather-seated stools around it. And by that fireplace, was a very familiar sight...

Her mother and father.

Both of them were yelling at the tops of their voices. Her father was holding his favorite glass, half filled with what Maria knew was his favorite liquor, a few ice cubes floating on top as per usual. Her mother was yelling at him, lecturing him about how he needed to do more for the family and how his drinking was getting out of hand. Their voices growing louder and more violent with each passing moment.

Maria found herself wincing with every insult. The blonde found her breath quickening with every curse. Jango suddenly glanced up as he watched the blonde girl slowly walk past him. Lucy watched nervously as Maria slowly began to make her way towards the arguing couple.

"P-Please… That's enough, s-stop…" Maria whispered. "M-Momma… D-Daddy, please…"

Neither of the girl's two parents seemed to be listening to her, however. The arguing began to grow only more violent, the blonde flinching back as she watched her mother slap her father across his face without so much as a single hesitation. She watched helplessly as her father began to shake with anger, tossing his glass across the room before suddenly lunging at her mother. Maria's eyes widened in horror at what she saw next. The man shoved his wife to the ground, his large hands finding their way around the woman's neck as began to squeeze with all the strength he could muster.

"N-No… No, no no… D-Daddy, stop! P-Please, that's enough!" Maria shouted, her voice shrill with fear at the sight before her.

The blonde seemed to lose all sense of control. She quickly stumbled forward, completely throwing caution to the wind. Maria quickly reached out, her smaller hands wrapping around her father's arm in an attempt to pry him off of her mother. Her mother's face was quickly changing colors as she too struggled to free herself from her husband's grasp. First from red… then to blue… then… black…?

Maria slowly released her grasp on her father's arm as she fumbled back. Her mother began to giggle… and then she burst out into a demented laugh. Her eyes began to blow an eerie, blood-red as she flashed Maria a wide, yellow-toothed grin! Her father seemed to be oblivious to this, his grip on his wife's neck growing ever tighter all the while. Maria was speechless as her body trembled at the sight of her mother… The older woman's starting to swell up like a balloon… until suddenly…

POP!

Maria flinched as the woman's head literally popped like a balloon. Within an instant, the scenery faded around her. Gone was the familiar sight of the family hosting room, instead replaced by a dusty and dirty kitchen. Her father was gone… Her mother was gone… All that remained was the girl and her Pokémon. Maria began to cough violently as Jango, Lucy, and OZ all made their way to her side.

"What… What in… How…?" the girl could barely fumble out. Had she been seeing the whole thing? There was no way, right…? "It all felt so real…"

The girl slowly picked herself up off the ground. Her breath still short as she tried to push what she had just witnessed as far out of her mind as she could. The sounds of thunder and splattering of rain against glass was once again the only noise that filled the room… That is, until the creaking sound of a door caught her attention yet again. Maria quickly spun around, the girl dreading what ever could have been making that noise this time, only to come to see a small, yellow Pokémon come skittering out from within one of the kitchen cupboards. It almost looked to be a Pikachu, only the ears were a bit off… and the face looked like it had been crudely doodled by a six year old.

"A Mimikyu…?" Maria questioned. It was then that the realization dawned on her. Mimikyu was a ghost Pokémon. "You… You d-did this didn't y-you?"

Mimikyu squeaked in surprise. The small ghost Pokémon looked around, tilting its head in confusion before it finally realized what the girl was accusing it of. It began to violent shake its head. No, it was the Banette! Maria didn't seem convinced, however… Nor did Jango. The Chimchar quickly ran forward and spat out an Ember attack at the Mimikyu's direction. The small ghost Pokémon wailed in response, quickly skittering out of the room.

"I knew this p-place was a b-bad idea…" Maria whimpered. "We… We have to get out of here… R-Right now!"

Next Objective: Make For The Exit!

---

Maria's Pokémon were startled by the amount of energy the blonde suddenly showed. She wasted no time in climbing to her feet and making for the door to the kitchen. Lucy gave a worried look towards Jango and OZ, before the trio of Pokémon quickly began to follow behind the girl. The blonde threw the door open without a single moment of hesitation, only to stop as her eyes widened in shock. The doors in the hallway had seemingly all vanished, only one door at the far end remained. The girl's eyes widened, her mind racing to process what had happened.

"I... I w-was sure there was... D-Didn't we come from...?" Maria questioned, glancing down at the Pokémon by her side for some sort of answer. Jango and Lucy seemed to be at just a loss as she was. "...W-We should h-head for that door, I guess? M-Maybe I'm just remembering wrong..."

The group began to exit out of the kitchen, walking slowly up the hallway in the direction of the door. All the while, the Mimikyu slowly began to skitter out behind them. A worried squeak escaped from the disguise-wearing Pokémon as it shuffled forward as quickly as it could, trying to gather the attention of Maria. The blonde froze, a shiver running down her back as she turned to see that the wild Mimikyu was following behind them.

"G-Go away!" the tall blonde trainer managed to squeak out, recoiling a bit at the memory of what had transpired in the kitchen.

She recoiled slightly as the ghost-type bounded forward, but it was thankfully quickly intercepted by Jango. The Chimchar hissed at Mimikyu, quickly spitting out an Ember in its direction which caused the ghost to jump back in surprise. Maria took the opportunity to quickly quickly scoop OZ up into her arms, making a break for the door with Lucy and soon Jango following close behind. Mimikyu let out a weak whimper. Why didn't this human understand? It was trying to help her! The ghost attempted to garner the trainer's attention once more, but Maria paid it no mind. Instead, she ran straight for the door and threw it open without so much as look back at over her shoulder at the wild Pokémon.

Words could not express the confusion that was suddenly etched across Maria's face as she stepped through the door. She was no longer in the seemingly haunted manor. Rather, she now found herself back in Eterna Forest. It was clearly late afternoon as she stepped into the wood, the sun still shining brightly overhead with an orangish hue decorating the otherwise green surroundings. As Maria stepped further into the forest, a familiar sound quickly garnered her attention. She quickly turned to the left, a worried whimper slipping out of her lips in the process.

Logan, Melody, and John... They were all there too. Logan and Melody were locked in a tussle on the forest floor, a pokéball gripped tightly in Melody's hand while Logan was desperately trying to pry it out and into his own. John was there too, his voice loud... much louder than Maria remembered. The girl trembled, taking a step back away from the arguing trio. Her hand began to frantically reach for the doorknob... only to find it gone. The door was gone! She quickly spun around, her eyes darting all over the place to find the door. How did a door just disappear? How did all the doors just disappear?!

"Get... off, Logan!" Melody shouted, snapping Maria's attention back to the struggle before her. "I'm... Not letting you... trade it for another life!"

"I have to find OZ! You would do the same if it was Terra!" Logan snapped back, his eyebrows furrowing in anger as he focused all of his energy and trying to pry the ball out of Melody's hands.

"You're both being ridiculous!" John shouted. The boy boldly stepped forward, attempting to pull the two fighting... friends...? Teammates? Honestly, Maria wasn't sure what they even were at the moment, but the boy was trying to pull them off of each other to his credit.

"G-Guys... P-Please... W-We need to stop," Maria stammered out. Her voice soft... hardly audible over the growing volume of the arguing trio. Her eyes widened as she remembered something important. "O-OZ! I f-found OZ... W-We can stop this n-now..."

But the three didn't stop. If anything, they're arguing only grew more violent. Maria winced as she watched Melody start to claw at Logan's hands. She gasped as she watched John grab the girl by her hair, pulling it fiercely in an attempt to try and pull her off of Logan. She snapped her eyes shut as she heard Melody scream, Logan suddenly having darted up and bit the girl right on her shoulder. The bite seemed to be hard enough to cause Melody's grip on the ball to loosen just enough. Logan smirked in satisfaction as he pulled the ball out of the girl's hands, before shoving her down to the forest floor and hopping to his feet.

"I got it! Now I can hand this thing over and those guys will help me find OZ!" Logan shouted in celebration.

The boy turned and began to make his way towards what Maria could only assume was the direction of the men who were hunting the Eevee to begin with. The tall blonde slowly took a step forward, her throat dry as she attempted to call out to Logan yet again to get him to stop. But the sight of what happened next brought everything in her world to a halt. Maria watched as Melody suddenly grabbed hold of a large rock. The girl picked it up without hesitation, before suddenly launching it straight at Logan. The rock smacked the boy right in the back of the head, causing him to tumble over in surprise. But Melody's assault didn't end there. She quickly darted over to Logan, grabbing the rock again in the process, before tackling onto him and holding the rock over his head.

"I said you're not trading Eevee away!" Melody shrieked, her voice bubbling with twisted glee as she brought the rock over her head and slammed it down into the back of Logan's skull.

Maria felt her stomach churn. The girl falling to her knees and snapping her eyes in fear. But closing her eyes simply wasn't enough. The sound of the forest was soon filled with a mixture of crunches and squishes. Logan's voice loud as he screamed in pain, before becoming garbled and heavy with a sound that was definitely liquid mixing in. Eventually, the boy's screams became quiet... simply fading into the air only to be replaced by Melody's heavy breathing.

"M-Melody... What have you done...?" John questioned, his voice full of disbelief.

Melody didn't answer, however. She began to laugh loudly, voice cracking with hysteria as she turned to face John. Maria's eyes slowly opened, her body numb with fear as she watched the female trainer slowly climb to her feet. A twisted smile graced Melody's lips as she began to walk past John, only stopping long enough to jab a knife... a peeling knife, straight into the boy's chest. Maria let out a shrill scream, the girl crawling into a ball as she watched Melody begin to slowly pace her way towards her.

"I haven't FORGOTTEN you MARIA~" Melody sang in delight, another knife gripped tightly in her hands.

Maria needed to run. She needed to get up and run away. But she couldn't. Her legs wouldn't move. She didn't have the strength to pull herself to her feet. She began to frantically look around. She needed Jango... and Lucy... and OZ... But all three Pokémon were nowhere to be seen. She could feel her chest getting tight. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck standing on end as Melody approached. Her eyes were glowing red, blood splattered all over her clothes, and flashing a sickening, yellow, demented, toothy grin. Maria watched helplessly as Melody came to a sudden stop, before screeching in glee and diving straight down towards her. Maria let out a loud, ear-splitting scream as she closed her eyes, bracing herself for sudden death...

A death that never came.

A loud clap of thunder shot the girl's eyes open. She frantically began to look around. The forest... was gone, replaced once more by the drab and musty interior of the abandoned manor. She felt a small touch on her legs, glancing down to see OZ staring up at her in worry, with her Chimchar and Ducklett both close by as well. Had... had she been imagining all of that? It felt so real... sounded so real. She closed her eyes... she could see it all in her mind. Her three supposed friends fighting... then Melody snapping and... and...

Just the images of what had happened to Logan and John were enough to make the girl sick. She quickly scrambled to her knees, crawling to a nearby corner where she found herself vomiting violently from the images flashing through her mind. This house was driving her crazy! She had to escape! She had to get away from...

"K-Kyu...?"

The sound of the tiny, yet curious cry immediately grabbed the blonde's attention. She turned, her eyes narrowing at the wild Mimikyu. She wanted to scream at it. She wanted to tell it to just go away and leave her alone... But she couldn't. This place had finally pushed the blonde to her breaking point. In fit of blind fury, the blonde quickly climbed back to her feet and shoved past Jango, Lucy, OZ, and the wild Mimikyu. She had had enough of the Pokémon. She had had enough of Logan and the others. She had had enough of this whole stupid journey. All she wanted to do was just quit all of it and go back to her room at Camp Floaroma. A mixture of anger, fear, and anxiety were all running together within Maria, and she had no idea how to handle any of it.

Without thinking, the girl ran up the first flight of stares she saw and into the first door she found. She slammed it behind her, her breath quick and tight, before slowly making her way into the far left corner of the room. It was here, that Maria finally collapsed. The blonde felt all her emotions bubble up and let loose into an emotional break down of screams, sniffs, and sobs.

...All the while, a pair of glowing red eyes watched her from underneath a dusty, abandoned bed.

Next Objective: ?????

Jango watched as Maria ran out of the door, the Chimchar reaching out to try and stop his trainer. The blonde simply ignored her Pokémon, however. It was either that or she was in such a state of panic and dread that she had completely zoned everything out around her as she blindly ran to find some kind of safe zone to hide away from. He quickly spun around staring at the Pokémon around him. Lucy was in a state of panic. The Ducklett was running back and forth, nervously twitching as she was clearly wondering what they were supposed to do now. OZ was doing her best to try and calm the blue duck Pokémon down, but she was clearly in the midst of a panic attack that could rival that of her trainer's. The Chimchar's eyes then drifted over towards the wild Mimikyu.

The ghost Pokémon was completely silent. It's small, tail-like claw was reaching out to try and do something, but that came to a halt the second it noticed Jango staring at it. It slowly backed away, quickly taking notice of anger showing in the Chimchar's eyes. In a flash of rage, the chimp Pokémon suddenly bounded forward and began to screech and squeal at the wild Mimikyu. Mimikyu flinched at every noise the Chimchar made, Jango going as far as to jab his finger into the disguise Pokémon's chest before pointing out at the door Maria had just ran out of. Mimikyu's body went stiff. It quickly began to shake its head, trying its best to try and deny it. Jango was accusing it of haunting the human girl! Didn't they understand! It wasn't trying to scare her, it was trying to help the girl and the Pokémon escape! OZ looked on at the two arguing Pokémon, slowly determining that she had to do something to put this whole mess to rest.

The Ralts slowly crawled forward, putting a hand on Jango's own. The Chimchar glanced over at OZ, a questionable squeal escaping from the fire Pokémon's mouth before OZ turned and offered a comforting smile towards Mimikyu. This seemed to at the very least diffuse the situation for the time being, but they still needed to know what was going on. OZ moved closer towards the wild Mimikyu and put a comforting hand on its head. It squeaked a curious squeal, as if asking for its side of the story.

Mimikyu glanced over at Jango. "K-Kyu...? M-Mimi...?"

OZ smiled, glancing over her shoulder at the Chimchar in question. As if on cue, Jango offered the ghost Pokémon a somewhat forced smile. It did little to comfort the small bundle of nerves that was Mimikyu. However, the ghost Pokémon figured it truly had nothing to lose at this point...


Maria was tired. She was cold. She was scared. She wanted to do something, anything to go back and stop all this mess from happening. Yet, she knew she couldn't. She was stuck in some haunted house and lost in the forest at well. Maria paused, a sudden thought entering her mind. The blonde, with eyes puffy and red from her tears, began to look around the room. She didn't see the wild Mimikyu anywhere. The problem with that however, was that she also didn't see OZ, Jango, or Lucy. A sudden feeling of dread entered the blonde's stomach at the realization of what she had done. In her blind anger and panic, she had managed to not only lose sight of that wild Mimikyu, but her own Pokémon as well.

Maria sunk further in the corner, thoughts of her the creatures she had been put in charge of, either via the camp or her own accord, wandering aimlessly and being tormented by that crazy ghost Pokémon entering her mind. "Oh... n-no... They're probably being ripped apart... O-Or driven insane... I b-bet Jango is going to k-kill me... and it's all my f-fault..."

Maria began to feel her heart race. No, she knew that she couldn't just leave them down there. She had to go back out and find them. She had to get out of this house. Slowly, the blonde picked herself off the ground and began to make her way towards the door… only for a sound to echo out into the room, some kind of light-hearted giggle.

The trainer froze, slowly looking around. "H-Hello…? J-Jango, is that y-you…?"

She took another step, trying to look into the shadows to see if the Chimchar in question was hiding somewhere she hadn't seen. Maria supposed it was possible that he had managed to follow her up the stairs in time without her noticing. Another giggle, this time a bit slower slipped out into the air. Maria felt her heart begin to race.

"Jango… J-Jango, this isn't funny…" Maria whimpered. Another step, and another giggle was heard shortly after. It was much louder this time. Maria glanced over her shoulder, her eyes narrowing as her gaze fell upon the musty, old bed. "J-Jango, c-come out right now…"

At the sound of her demand, the laughing came to a complete and total stop. The room was now deathly silent. Only the sound of the rain splattering against the window reaching her ears. Maria began to make her way towards the bed. With every step, she could hear the beating of her heart growing louder. She silently reached down onto her knees, her eyes squinting as she looked into the darkness.

"J-Jango…?"

A sudden flash of red eyes. Maria screamed in surprise as a black blob suddenly shot out from underneath the dusty bed. Her eyes wide as she looked up above her, taking in the sight of a strange, doll-like Pokémon. It laughed with glee as it circled around her in the ar, staring down at her with blood-red eyes and grinning in delight with its yellow, zipper-like teeth.

The Banette was quite pleased with its work. It had taken much longer than it would have liked, but the human had finally managed to get right where it wanted her to be. The Banette made a note in the back of its mind to deal with that stupid Mimikyu later. If it hadn't tried to interfere, chances were that the Banette would have gotten the human right where it wanted her to be much earlier. In a way, the ghost figured it wasn't too bad. After all, Mimikyu's constant interference had at the very least separated the human girl from her Pokémon. This was going to make getting its feast much easier.

"A B-Banette…? Wait, does that mean that Mimikyu w-wasn't alone…?" Maria stammered out.

She unfortunately didn't have the time to think it all out. The blonde watched as the Banette's eyes began to glow. A dark energy started to form in between its claw-like hands, quickly taking the shape of ball of sorts. Maria whimpered, the girl's legs giving out from underneath her as she fell to the floor and braced herself for impact.

"KYU!"

Maria jumped at the familiar cry. Her eyes darted towards the left, as the door to the room had swung open and the sight of the wild Mimikyu from before had quickly entered her vision. The disguise Pokémon launched itself up towards the wild Banette, slamming itself into the attacking Pokémon with as much force as it could possibly muster. Banette was taken by surprise, the Pokémon's attack dissipating before it fell back with a look of anger stretched across its face.

"M-Mimikyu…?" Maria questioned. "What… W-What's going on…?"

The sound of footsteps entering the room caught her attention. The girl turned turned to see more familiar faces. Jango, OZ, and Lucy were all following the wild Mimikyu. Lucy let out a delighted and relieved quack as she quickly waddled over towards her trainer's side, looking over her to see if she had been hurt. Jango wasted no time in hopping onto the girl's shoulders, embracing the blonde in a delighted hug.

"J-Jango… L-Lucy…" Maria stammered. The girl shook her head. There was no time to question how they had managed to find her or why they weren't angry over her just up and running away from them earlier. Right now, they had to take advantage of the ghost Pokémon bickering and run away. "L-Let's go… This is our chance…"

Maria shakily climbed to her feet and began to make for the exit of the room, when OZ suddenly reached out and put a hand on her leg. Maria's eyes glanced down at the tiny psychic-type, watching as the Ralts looked from Maria towards the MImikyu. The disguise Pokémon was doing its best to try and keep the Banette pinned down, but was taking some rather nasty scratches and claws to its face in the process. OZ was looking up at her expectantly. As if she was trying to tell the blonde something. Jango then hopped down from her shoulders, taking his place besides the Ralts. He too was looking back and forth between Mimikyu and his trainer, hopping up and down in a very excitable manner. That's when something suddenly dawned on Maria.

The Mimikyu hadn't been trying to haunt her. All of those visions she had seen were the work of the Banette! Mimikyu had been trying to warn her!

Maria felt a lump in her throat. She felt awful, blaming the poor wild Mimikyu for all of those incidents. Likely, it had been the MImikyu that helped OZ and her two Pokémon find her as well. Turning her focus back towards the dueling ghost-types, Maria felt a small ping of anger bubble up inside of her as she watched the Banette finally manage to push the Mimikyu away with a rather fierce Shadow Claw. The wild Mimikyu let out a pain-filled cry as it was knocked up against the wall, the neck of it's disguise seemingly breaking from the force of the impact.

"W-We… We have to help it," Maria determined. She glanced down at Lucy and Jango. "P-Please, we can't j-just leave it."


Jango squealed with delight as he bounded forward. Lucy, a bit nervous, slowly followed behind the energetic Chimchar. The Ducklett wasn't particularly thrilled with the thought of fighting against such a scary Pokémon, but she had a feeling that she wasn't going to get much of an option in the matter for the time being.

"Lucy… W-Water Gun!" Maria quickly spat out.

A stream of water shot forth from the Ducklett's mouth, splashing up against the wild Banette's head as it prepared to finish off the Mimikyu. It seemed to jump in surprise from the attack, quickly turning to glare at the Ducklett for daring to interrupt it. The ghost shot forward, slashing its claws straight into the Ducklett's gut. Ducklett stumbled backwards, only for Jango to suddenly jump towards the Banette. He screeched in anger, attempting to scratch at the ghost with his sharp claws. Banette merely laughed at the Chimchar's feeble attempt however, the monkey's claws seemingly phasing right through its body.

"J-Jango, c-calm down! N-Normal attacks w-won't work," Maria tried to warn.

The Chimchar's anger was getting the best of him, however. Jango tried to scratch at the Banette again, only for the ghost to launch a punch right in the Chimchar's face. Jango fell back in pain, holding his head in irritation as he glared daggers at the Banette.

"Lucy, W-Wing Attack!" Maria called out. "J-Jango, u-use Ember!"

The two Pokémon followed through with the trainer's commands. Lucy slammed her wing into the back of Banette's head, which distracted him long enough for the Chimchar to spit a ball of fire in its direction. Banette's anger only seemed to grow in response, however. The doll-like Pokémon suddenly let out a rage-filled, ear-piercing screech causing Maria and her two Pokémon to shudder and hold their ears in pain. Using the distraction, the ghost suddenly lunged forward towards Maria's Ducklett. It slammed its claws right into Lucy's face, slashing at it continuously. Jango stumbled forward, attempting to spit another Ember at the ghost, only to be sent flying back when a ball of dark energy flew into him.

Maria slowly fell to her knees, looking at the sight before her. Jango was down. Lucy was down. Things were looking very bleak, very quickly. Maria glanced up at the Banette, watching as it was once again forming another Shadow Ball… when she suddenly felt a small hand on the side of her leg. The girl glanced down to see OZ looking back up at her with a determined smile before placing herself between the trainer and the wild Banette. OZ closed her small eyes, focusing a small wave of psychic energy at the ghost. The ghost grunted in frustration, holding its head in pain. A fierce glare was sent in OZ's direction, before the wild Banette zipped over towards her and slammed its claws into her without even the smallest bit of restraint. OZ wailed in pain as she was sent to the ground in one pain, her tiny body shaking in pain.

"O-OZ!" Maria cried, quickly running towards the frail Ralts. OZ slowly looked up as Maria scooped her battered body, a small smile still managing to grace her face as if she was still trying to comfort the blonde. "Y-You shouldn't have done that… What about L-Logan, he'll be w-worried sick about s-seeing you like this…"

Maria didn't have time to lecture the Ralts any further, however. The angry grunts of the Banette quickly caught her attention as she turned to see it hovering just before her. It glared hate at the girl and the Pokémon in her arms, rearing back to take a swipe at both OZ and the girl. A tired, battered Jango slowly looked up at this point, his eyes widening as he saw his trainer in danger. The Chimchar staggered back up to his feet, screeching in anger at the sight before him. Banette's vision snapped back towards the chimp Pokémon just in time to see a wheel of fire completely engulf Jango before he charged straight towards the ghost Pokémon, slamming his body into the Banette with all his remaining strength. Banette went sailing from the force of the blow, slamming up against the bedroom wall before collapsing on the floor in a heap. Time seemed to freeze as Jango and Maria both stared at the wild Banette. Slowly, it tried to pick itself up, arms shaking in pain, before it simply gave into the pain and fainted on sight. The battle was finally over.

"Thank Arceus…" Maria managed to whisper, her body slumping against the wall as she tried to catch her breath. A matching, tired smile graced the Chimchar's face as well. "J-Jango… Lucy… good job…"

Reaching into her bag, the trainer pulled out two pokéballs and recalled her two teammates back to rest. It looked like things were finally calming down now. The girl and the Pokémon were all back together. The wild Banette was finally taken care of. Even the storm seemed to be letting up… All that remained now was…

Maria's eyes snapped wide. "We have to escape!"

As if on cue, Mimikyu skittered across the room, it's tail-like claw waving for the girl to follow it. Maria seemed hesitant for a moment, but realized that the ghost Pokémon in question was indeed trying to help her get out of the abandoned house. She gently pulled herself back up to her feet and wasted no time in following it. Mimikyu led the girl all the way back down to the foyer of the manor, going as far as to open the front door so the blonde could leave without any issues. Maria smiled weakly down at the wild Mimikyu, before stepping outside onto the front porch with it behind her.

The late afternoon sky was fading into dusk as stars began to paint the sky. The clouds were beginning to break apart, bringing with the rising moon a crisp, cool wind in the air. A soft smile of relief stretched across Maria's lips as she took in the scents and sounds of Eterna Forest. Suddenly, the girl felt much more calm and at peace than she had before entering the abandoned house or the forest earlier in the day. She glanced down at the wild Mimikyu and nodded.

"I'm… I'm s-sorry about before… all of this," Maria began. "Y-You were j-just trying to help and I… I treated you t-terribly. P-Please, I hope you c-can forgive me."

The Mimikyu merely waved the tall blonde's concerns off. It seemed as though the ghost Pokémon had no regrets or hard feelings towards the trainer, much to Maria's relief. Sighing in response, Maria turned to begin making her way back towards the woods proper. It was then that a sudden thought entered the blonde's mind. The wild Mimikyu… It had nowhere to go. There was no way that it could go back into the house. When the Banette came to, it would likely focus all of its anger and hatred on to the poor thing. She glanced back over at the Mimikyu, hesitating for a moment before stepping way towards the small creature once more.

"Kyu…?" Mimikyu questioned, the broken head of its disguise flopping about as it looked up at her cautiously.

"M-Mimikyu…" Maria began, reaching into her bag to pull out a spare pokéball. "...Would y-you… I m-mean, if you d-don't mind… W-Why don't you come with us…?"

The world around the Mimikyu seemed to freeze. The human…? Was she actually inviting her to come along? At first, the Mimikyu thought it had to be a dream. She even went as far as to pinch herself with her tail-like appendage. However, when she found herself still staring up at Maria, the ball still held in the trainer's hand, tears began to slowly fall from the eyeholes of the disguise. At first, Maria was startled, afraid she had done something to upset or offend the ghost Pokémon. Her fears were put to rest however, when the Mimikyu's tail reached out and pushed the button in the middle of the ball, pulling her inside.

Maria smiled weakly. "Welcome to the team, Mimi…"

Placing the ball holding her new teammate into her bag, Maria glanced down at the Ralts still held in her other arm. All that remained now was for the blonde to track down Logan and the others. Of course, this forest was huge… Who knew how long it would take her find them? OZ looked up at her with a weak smile, the Ralts taking in a deep breath before suddenly yelling out, very loudly. Her voice carried all the way to the tops of the trees, echoing out into the night sky. Maria flinched from the volume of the cry. It looked as though OZ was going to lend her aid yet again.

Next Objective: Reunite With The Group!

---

---

Maria sat alone on a small bench just outside of the Pokémon Center. A wave of emotions rushed through the blonde, but she wasn't really quite sure how to describe how she actually felt. Angry…? Sad…? Disappointed…? Scared...? They were all viable options at the moment, especially with the future of the team now up in the air. She was sure that her speech would have finally made some sense out of the situation, that it would have diffused all the tension that was floating in the air around Team Fruit Punch. In reality, all it had done was making things worse. Logan had decided to leave the team, intent on forming a new group to replace the void that was being left behind by those he was leaving. Raeliana also seemed to be interested in the prospect of finding a new team as well, as did John.

Maria had at the very least made the latter two members of the group see some sense. While she wasn't able to make them change their minds there on the spot, they had promised to at the very least think things over and then reunite later that afternoon. It was a slim ray of hope… But in retrospect, Maria still found it was better than none.

Now, the blonde found herself thinking things over as well. She knew that she had to brace herself for whatever choice John and Raeliana would make, especially in the event that they both decided to try and find a new group to join as well. Just the very thought of it made several questions pop in Maria's mind.

Was there a team that would consider taking her along with them?

Would she be forced to go back to camp if there wasn't?

Were any of the other teams going through this same thing?

It was a very stressful situation, to say the least. So, Maria found herself doing what she normally did during these trying times. The girl sat with her sketchbook out on her lap, her pencil gently moving across a page as she occasionally looked up at her subject, this time a wild Fletchling, before moving back to draw some of the finer details in the work of art. The girl had completely closed out the world around her, nothing remaining but herself and the tiny bird to accompany her thoughts…

Besides Maria and the bird, there was one more notable interested party that appreciated the quiet surroundings of Eterna Pokémon Center. Looking like a Ducklett in a school of Wishiwashi with his tattoos and 'Death Grip Skull' vest, Kurt Schneider sat amongst the a company of bird watchers; all of whom were there to appreciate the array of Pidgey, Fletchling and Starly the perched in the trees of Eterna's greens.

"So peaceful, aren't they." Kurt uttered in appreciation of the birds, much to the surprise of his much older bench neighbor. As he followed the trail of a stray Starly, his eyes fell upon the most beautiful sight of his day. He wandered over to her, wasting no time in boldly taking a keen interest in the blonde girl's hobby. "Hey, what is it you're drawing there?" He asked, masking the coarseness of his voice as well as he could.

"One of the Fletchling," Maria answered bluntly. "That one over there…? The feathers on its head are brighter than the others so…"

She paused, eyes growing wide. Maria slowly looked up from her sketchbook. Her pencil stopped moving. Her hands started shaking as her eyes fell upon Kurt.

"W-What…? W-Were you watching m-me?!" the blonde questioned. Her heart started racing as she shrank back against the bench. "Oh no… This is it, M-Maria… He m-might be a m-mugger or s-something… He's g-gonna steal my-my Pokemon! Oh, I knew I s-should've stayed in the hotel… Stupid, stupid Maria!"

"Oh! I- I wasn't trying to spook ya or anythin'. I thought Logan would've told you ab-" He rambled, his voice breaking out in its full gravelliness until he was able to collect himself. "You uh...just seemed so into it. Plus you were forcin' the pen on the page pretty hard...I just thought-fuck." He grumbled to himself as his frustration at his own paralysis bubbled up. His fist clenched by his side. His arm was shaking. "I'm-I'm gonna go. Sorry." He murmured through gritted teeth.

He stomped a few feet away from the pretty blonde, berating himself internally with all sorts of less than tasteful curse words. All of a sudden, he came to a stop. His knuckles were whitening with tension as he approached Maria again.

"I noticed you're not here with your team, and I know you're on Logan's team. So I don't think it's too crazy to think you're gonna wanna change."

Maria blinked slowly. "M-My team… change?" A thought then sparked in her mind. "Y-You know L-Logan… That means… That means you're from C-Camp Floroama too…?"

"Yeah...he didn't tell you anything, huh? Good for nothin' punk." Kurt grumbled, grating his teeth. "If you're lookin', you could join the new Team Cola."

"The n-new Team Cola?" Maria questioned.

It looked like other teams were having the same kind of problems. Did that mean that he was abandoned by his team? Maria didn't want to dwell on it for too long. The girl closed her sketchbook and returned her focus back to Kurt.

"...I… I m-mean… W-We haven't d-disbanded yet…" Maria began to stammer out. "But… I g-guess it's something I c-could no-look into…?"

"You're actually on board?!" Kurt exclaimed, surprise evident in his voice.

Maria wasn't actually sure if he had actually acknowledged whether or not she said she was mostly just curious about checking out a new group, but the blonde quickly decided not to press that matter for the moment. The girl took her sketchbook and pencil and packed them up into her bag before slowly sliding off the bench.

"Um… S-So, where's the rest of this n-new Team Cola…?" Maria questioned.

"I'll show you." Kurt beamed in excitement.

"O-Okay…" Maria stammered out. "L-Lead on, then…"

With Maria's hand locked into his, Kurt marched through Eterna until the duo arrived at the door to the Spelunker's guild. Outside a young boy, face donned with glasses and back burdened by an overstuffed backpack. Partnering him, a youthful faced, but pretty girl.

"Amy, Shane, this is Maria. She's who I'm choosing to replace Herman." Kurt announced with an air of authority about him.

"That was fast." Amy announced rather absentmindedly. "You must've had her lined up for a while. Hi I'm Amy!" The girl walked up to Maria and clasped the blonde's hands inside her own. "You're gonna do awesome on Team Cola."

Maria's face was already beet red from being dragged about Eterna by Kurt. She barely had a chance to recover before Amy had grabbed her hands and smiled warmly at her. The blonde really didn't know how to respond to the abundance of energy that was being shown to her. She offered a small, very nervous smile to the girl however. The last thing Maria wanted to do was upset her should this really end up becoming her new path in this journey.

"It's um… v-very n-nice to meet y-you," the taller girl responded, trying to gently pry her hands free of Amy's grasp without making it seem too obvious. "Ah… Are y-you from another t-team too…?"

"Another team? No, this is team Cola. Well...most of it."

"We're dropping Hermann. That's the short of it." Kurt could barely whisper. "We think you'd be a great inclusion."

"Kurt thinks you'd be a great inclusion." Shane muttered under his breath, to the response of a sharp scowl from Kurt.

Maria glanced down at the boy and then back over at Kurt. "H-Hermann…? Is s-something wrong?"

She quickly picked up that something didn't seem to be sitting with all of Team Cola. Not that it was a particularly difficult deduction. Shane seemed to be rather upset over Kurt's idea. The last thing she wanted was to start off a journey with someone holding a grudge against her. What if they came to outright hate her? What if they wanted to take any opportunity to hurt or embarrass her?!

"I d-don't mean to… If this is a b-bad time or something, then… M-Maybe you should j-just go get your other t-teammate back," Maria quickly suggested. "Y-Yeah, so um… I'll j-just go back and um… I appreciate the offer b-but…"

"No, wait! Shane's just being a kid." Kurt's desperation was evident to all present. Even the fourteen year old, who watched with pouted lips could see how much Kurt wanted this to be a permanent change.

"So what happened with your team why you're even considering this?" Amy enquired.

"She's got Logan on her team."

"What's wrong with Logan?"

Kurt just rolled his eyes at that. It was as if Amy could only see the good in just about anyone.

"She's got that Melody girl too. You know how much of a piece of w-" Kurt stopped realising he wasn't entirely clued up on Maria's relationship with the individuals he was slandering. "Look, Maria, we've got a great team. This journey will be a lot better for you if you join us."

"I don't wanna leave Herman. He doesn't even know. Sure he's a scared-Espurr, but...he's fun." Shane explained, tapping his fingers together.

"I like Herman too, but he's not cut out for this. If he's gonna run away at every sign of danger, how's he gonna cope?" Kurt explained, putting a hand on Shane's shoulder.

Maria flinched slightly at Kurt's reasoning. She knew he wasn't exactly wrong. Logan could really push a few buttons pretty easily and Melody… could be quite scary to deal with herself, but it still didn't really sit all that well with her. There was also the matter of the person she would be replacing.

From what it sounded like, this Herman had a lot in common with herself. The girl knew that she wasn't exactly the most dependable member of Team Fruit Punch, at least not with what they had dealt with so far. Maybe that was part of the reason the team was falling apart now… What if she did replace Herman here? What if similar things happened here? Would this new group want her to leave? Would Kurt think Maria was just a waste of space as well…?

"He… k-keeps running away…? Is it that b-bad…?" Maria inquired, her eyes slowly drifting to the ground as she spoke.

"It's holding us back, that's for sure." Amy huffed as she planted a hand on her hip. "We wanna be the first team to finish and with teams like Ginger Beer, Sarsaparilla and Strawberry Milk we've got our work cut out for us carrying Herman. At this rate we might not even finish." Amy ranted on. Kurt's pained expression told of his disagreement.

"We don't hate the kid. I just don't think he can handle it. The world out there is real, and people like him...they get swallowed up." Kurt finished with a sigh.

"He… He d-doesn't really s-sound to sold on this…" Maria thought.

The girl wondered if this was something that the group merely came up with spur of the moment. She really wouldn't be wrong. After all, Team Fruit Punch came up with the potential idea of splitting not even a full five minutes after the announcement from Doctor Hickory. Of course, Maria really wasn't sure of the whole dynamic between Team Cola, but she figured that if she was potentially taking someone's spot that she should at least inquire.

The blonde took a deep breath, slowly looking back up towards her potential future teammates. "Have… H-Have any of y-you actually talked to H-Herman about this? M-Maybe this is something that y-you all c-could work through…?" She paused, realizing how she had worded it made it sound like she was coming off as slightly ungrateful for their invitation, which instantly caused the blonde to backpedal a bit. "I m-mean, d-don't get me wrong! I'm r-really grateful for this chance, d-don't be mad! B-But… w-well… You all d-don't seem to be t-too sure on the whole thing… I d-don't want there to be any resentments…"

"We did tell him. He ran away." Shane barely whispered.

"He could be anywhere now." Amy announced, her tone extremely melodramatic.

"Y-You… I mean… W-We should go l-look for him," Maria replied.

The girl closed her eyes, thinking back to the incident in the forest. In particular, she remembered back to the point when she ran away from Melody and the others, as well as her time in that old abandoned house. She knew that during that time, the last thing she found herself wanting was to be alone… and if Hermann was as similar as he sounded, something told the blonde he was probably the same.

Next Objective: Find Hermann!

Maria nervously made her way over to the challenger's side of the battlefield. Her heart was racing with every step she took. Her mind was buzzing with a multitude of questions. What was she even doing right now? What in the world possessed her to think she was even going to be capable of this? Did she even have a strategy to be able to deal with whatever Gardenia would throw at her.

Amber eyes slowly drifted towards Logan. The blue-haired boy's eyes were cast down to the ground. Clearly, he was taking the loss to the grass specialist very hard. The sight was enough to cause Maria to start doubting herself even more. Out of all of Team Fruit Punch, the blonde always figured that if any of them were a natural born gym challenger? It would be Logan. If he couldn't win, what chance did she have?

"Maria, right?" Gardenia called out, causing the blonde to snap back to reality. A comforting smile graced the gym leader's lips. "Don't stress it so much. As long as you give it everything you have, everything will be fine!"

Maria gave a weak nod in response. The taller girl could tell that Gardenia was trying to help her relax, but the blonde couldn't quite shake off her anxiety over the situation.

"Might as well get this over with…" Maria inwardly mused.

The blonde reached into her bag and pulled out Jango's pokeball. She could feel the ball shaking in her hand. As to whether or not that shaking was a result of her own hand trembling or the Chimchar inside quivering in anticipation, Maria wasn't sure. Regardless, the teenager tossed the ball out towards the lush, meadow-like field.

"J-Jango, I choose y-you!" Maria called out.

The Chimchar in question took to the field. A look of excitement radiating from his face as he looked around, before his eyes locked onto Gardenia's. The Chimchar gave the gym leader a cheeky grin, flexing his arm and puffing out his chest in an attempt to assert his dominance.

"No-No, d-don't be rude!" Maria snapped. The blonde frantically gazed over towards Gardenia. "I'm sorry! P-Please don't b-be mad!"

Gardenia merely chuckled in response. "Don't worry about it. Your Chimchar has a strong spirit."

Kurt glanced over at the door, where Logan had chosen to watch the match from. This was his first time seeing Maria in action, but Logan knew the girl well enough. Her stepping up like this made him curious as to what it was that caused their team to split so spontaneously.

"Alright then, let's get this started! Deerling, you're on!" Gardenia called out.

The gym leader tossed out her poke ball, sending out a bright pink, deer-like creature. Maria stared in awe at the Pokemon, quickly taking in what appeared to be its gentle demeanor and the dainty, yet beautiful yellow crown of flowers that adorned its head. Jango on the other hand, seemed to be anything but impressed. The chimp began to hop around anxiously, screeching at the Deerling in an attempt to impress her.

"Alright Deerling, start out with a Jump Kick!" Gardenia called out.

"J-Jango, use Ember!" Maria countered.

Logan perked up as he heard Maria give her pokemon a command. The farce of a battle they had at Floaroma gate was the only time he'd seen the girl participate in anything but practice battles at camp.

The Deerling dashed forward, leaping into the air with her back hooves first in an attempt to slam them into the small monkey Pokémon's head. Jango quickly rolled out of the way, causing Gardenia's Pokémon to nearly miss her attack. Jango spun around, spitting a small ball of fire in the direction of the deer. The flame splashed against the grass type, causing a pain-filled wail to escape her mouth.

"J-Jango, n-now use Scratch!" Maria ordered.

"Deerling, Tackle!" Gardenia countered.

The Chimchar dashed forward, claws ready as it hopped up into the air to attack the Deerling. A look of determination graced the Deerling's features as she too charged forward. The larger size of the grass Pokémon gave her the advantage in the collision of the duo, however. Her head slammed right into Jango's belly, causing the chimp to fall back to the ground.

"Leech Seed, Deerling!" Gardenia commanded.

Jango slowly picked himself off the ground just in time to see a barrage of seeds shoot forth from Gardenia's Deerling. The seeds shot forward, landing softly into the Chimchar's fur. Jango gave a confused glance towards the Deerling, before suddenly dashing forward with an excited squeal echoing out into the gym.

"N-No, wait J-Jango! U-Use Ember again, d-don't attack with Scratch!" Maria called out.

The Chimchar didn't listen as he charged ahead, however. He jumped onto the deer Pokémon and scratched at her head, causing the Deerling to buck and hop about in an attempt to shake the fire monkey off of her body. Jango grinned as he hopped off the Deerling himself, landing a short distance away from the grass Pokémon. He quickly stuck his tongue out at Gardenia's Pokémon, going as far as to spin around and taunt the deer by slapping his own rump.

Kurt looked back at Logan as the Chimchar's taunting took place.

"Hey, does he always do this?" Kurt cried, seeming far more panicked than the situation called for. Logan just looked at him and shrugged. Dismissing the useless so-called former teammate of Maria, Kurt looked back up at the battle with pleading eyes, his knuckles whitening. "C'mon Maria! You got this!" He yelled.

Maria could feel her face heating up from embarrassment. The tall blonde opened her mouth to oppose the Chimchar's Taunt, when she noticed the seeds that had been launched into his fur suddenly sprouted open! Vines sprung forth and wrapped themselves around the Chimchar, glowing faintly before Gardenia's Deerling too began to glow. Maria's eyes widened as she noticed that some of the Deerling's wounds from Jango's attacks seemed to heal slightly.

"Deerling, Tackle again!" Gardenia ordered.

"Jango, try t-to jump over it!" Maria called out.

The Deerling came charging towards the Chimchar once more. Jango's eyes narrowed,the small chimp keeping his focus on the charging deer Pokémon. Maria's eyes widened in horror however as instead of preparing himself to jump, the Chimchar suddenly began to charge forward himself. A wheel of flames soon surrounded him, before he then slammed into the Deerling. The two Pokémon collided, but the fiery power of Jango's attack was enough to push Gardenia's Pokémon back. The Deerling was launched backwards, before landing in a crumpled heap back in the direction of her trainer.

"Yeaaah!" Kurt yelled, his bellowing near shaking the building. "How are you likin' the newest member of Team Cola, Logan?" He taunted.

Logan's folded arms fell to his side at the sight. He knew Maria was good with pokemon, but this good? Her Chimchar had brushed Gardenia's first pokemon away with relative ease.

"My pokemon weren't feelin' so good." Logan grumbled. In truth though, he was awed by Maria's performance already. Biting his tongue was the easy part, seeing her leave his team would be much harder.

Maria felt her heart begin to race. She couldn't believe that she had managed to take down a gym leader's Pokemon like that. She glanced away from her celebrating Chimchar to Gardenia, only to see the leader looking calm and collected as ever.

"Your Chimchar did very well, although he is a bit of an… independent fighter," Gardenia mused. "Well, let's see how he fares with my next Pokemon. Parasect, go!"

Maria watched as Gardenia called back her Deerling and tossed out another poke ball. The ball snapped open to reveal a large, bird-like creature with a massive mushroom growing on its back. Maria stared at the creature cautiously, a shiver running down the blonde's back as she looked into its blank, vacant expression.

"J-Jango, start off w-with a Flame Wheel!" Maria ordered.

Jango began to charge forward. Just like before, flames began to circle his body as he ran towards the Parasect. The bug Pokemon seemed to remain perfectly calm, however. Maria found herself wondering if the Parasect was even awake.

"Parasect, Protect!" Gardenia called out.

The Parasect gurgled in response, the creature digging his feet into the grass in the process. Without a moment's hesitation, Jango slammed body into the Parasect with as much force as he could muster, but the attack… seemingly did nothing. Before Maria could even question what had happened, the vines wrapped around Jango began to glow, siphoning energy from the Chimchar and into the Parasect. Jango winced in pain, but Gardenia took advantage of the opening.

"Now, use Stun Spore!" Gardenia called out.

The Parasect lurched its body forward, the spots on the creature's mushroom glowing as a golden, pollen-like powder showered over Maria's Chimchar. Jango growled in anger, trying to reach out and scratch at the Parasect. However, Jango's body suddenly felt quite stiff… As if he was having difficulty moving.

"Parasect, now Slash!" Gardenia called.

The Parasect charged at Jango, its massive swinging down into the Chimchar's head. Jango was sent flailing back… the vines wrapped around his body glowing yet again.

Jango let out a pain-filled moan as he struggled to pull himself up to his feet. His legs were shaking from the constant pain all the while. Maria bit her lip in apprehension, slowly bringing out the Chimchar's poke ball. A defeated sigh escaped her lips as she recalled the weakened Pokemon.

Next Objective: Win The Gym Battle!

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