[PKMN OPEN] The Pokémon Trainer Academy (T) [Best Veteran 4Q '11]

Valorie trudged along through the snow, her steps cautious as she tried to avoid slipping and falling even as her feet sunk in and offered valuable traction. She really didn't need more bad luck spiting her. In every direction there was only snow and perhaps a snow covered tree. She could see some pokemon in the distance, but they seemed to have no desire to harass the poor girl and kept their distance. What had she ever done to deserve this? Whom had she spited to have karma hit her this hard? ...MacKenzie, was that you?

For the longest time it felt as if there was no end in sight. She passed through a valley, ignored the pleas of her legs as her thighs began to burn and her shins began to feel stiff. This time she did not have Shu to help her 'take her mind off of it' so to speak and so she forced herself to ignore her body's natural 'GET HEAT' response to the frigid air and snow. A part of her had to wonder why the honedge wrapped possessively around her forearm had not resumed stealing her life force. In fact, it hadn't really done much of anything for some time now! Aside from the passive if not irritating trickle of it feeding off her it wasn't exactly killing her. If only Shu hadn't fainted she could have just asked him...

It wouldn't be until Kale was quite close that the sickly girl even noticed he was there. Her mind had been elsewhere. Exhausted blue eyes looked up at him with mild fright as if fearing he might be another ghost. Yet, as she absorbed his words she quickly calmed. The small girl's expression changed to one of mild relief as she became immediately convinced that her troubles were over. She'd found someone, someone she didn't -think- was a rocket spy! "Yes..." Valorie responded in a somewhat lackluster tone as if disappointed in herself. "I've been out here for a long time. I--I've been robbed and... and I'm freezing. Help me..?" Valorie then proceeded to explain, pleading with the boy between shiver-filled breathes. She seemed rather desperate, pathetic even. It didn't seem to occur to her to even explain the honedge attached to her arm, which seemed to tighten subtly as the two closed the distance between each other in an almost possessive manner. Perhaps Valorie simply had more pressing matters on her mind? Her free hand was balled into a fist, drifting to her chest in a concerned gesture. If one disregarded the blade there really wasn't anything remotely threatening about her, and it gave little indication of actually being able to control her.

"Most of my pokemon were stolen... The others aren't fighting fit." Valorie hurriedly uttered in a slightly distracted tone, wobbling a tad where she stood. She was clearly a bit excited. Out in this deadly winter wonderland, she now had a warm ray of hope shining down on her.

Valorie was rendered speechless as Kale... denied her. She seemed confused, temporarily unable to grasp that someone would leave her out here. That was so... wrong! How could someone do something like that?! For a very long moment the sheer shock left her speechless if not visibly frustrated as Kale went on to have an argument with... a pokemon. Valorie was decidedly too exhausted to stand there in the snow and argue in spite of how much what Kale'd said bothered her. As Kale turned back to her after seemingly having had a change of heart he would find that Valorie merely stared in a thoughtful manner. She was a bit tense, but seemed to relax as he relented in his harsh earlier response, moreso as he went out of his way to drape a scarf around her.

"I just want to get back to the academy." Valorie lamented in response to Kale's offer of hunting down the thieves. She knew exactly why they couldn't do that, on top of the fact that they had no way of tracking said thieves down.

Her feelings on the matter of Kale's initial rejection would be left unsaid, at least for now. Perhaps under less dire circumstances she would've condemned his actions on the spot, but there was a time and place for everything. Valorie trudged along behind Kale, trying her absolute best to keep pace as she entirely failed to notice he was slowing down for her. Only once Kale spoke did it occur to Valorie that he apparently wasn't exactly in a rush. Lifting the arm still being clutched by the wild honedge Valorie gave it a gentle shake as if trying to get it off of her as she began to explain. "...She won't let go." Valorie started in a frustrated tone. "She was--She attacked me and tried to drain my life force, but Shu used disable to stop her. I think she might still be disabled." Valorie went on in a now somewhat thoughtful if not subtly nervous tone. She of all people was aware of the unlikelihood of that being true, but that raised a much more unnerving question.

Why hadn't Honedge tried to finish the job?

As the two neared the afformentioned alcove an idea occured to Valorie, simple but reliable in practice. "If you could heal Shu... he's telepathic. He could ask her himself." she remarked, producing two pokeballs with her free hands. Valorie hesitated for a moment as she observed that the alcove was just a few moments away now. "He fainted trying to protect me from a wild pokemon." she added rather quietly, gaze watching Kale in search of something.

Valorie nodded in response to Kale's question; whom was she to pretend she knew why pokemon did any given thing? She certainly wasn't some sort of psychic, that was for sure--That's why she had Shu! Who better than a ghost to understand why terrifying blade-spirit monsters insisted on overstaying their welcome?! She would of course have to wait a bit longer on that one. She didn't much feel like overworking Shu, even if it was just to speak to another pokemon.

Valorie was silent, but not because she had nothing to say. She was still quietly coming to terms with Kale's initial decision to abandon her to the cold. Was she supposed to ignore that, simply forget it had happened? A part of her was hurt and that part of her very much wanted to confront the boy, but the more rational part of her knew there was a time and place for everything--But not now. She moves to sit down in the alcove. She wasn't thrilled about the cold ground underneath her but at least she was resting her aching legs. Crossing them before her she used her boots as a buffer between her knees and the ground. She supposed that was about as comfortable as she was going to get. Producing the two pokeballs from earlier she watched Kale with mild interest, allowing her train of thought to be diverted to the issue of reviving Shu.

As Kale approached her with objects Valorie looked up only to appear somewhat surprise as a waterbottle and a revival herb were placed into her lap. Somehow, she hadn't really expected much--Perhaps she was still sore over earlier. Valorie nodded, shifting her attention to the bottle of water. Did she really want this? Somehow she found the idea of drinking chilled water counterproductive, but a few moments of thought reminded her how warm people were and she nodded again in satisfaction.

"Thanks..." she replied in a slightly meek tone. Whether this was shyness or exhaustion wasn't clear. She began to try and open the water bottle, only to realize this was a somewhat complicated procedure without both hands to secure a grip and twist at the same time. The short, chilled and exhausted girl was clearly having a hard time with it. Kale's questions seemed to soothe her frustration however and distract her from her... greatest challenge yet. As she idly fiddled with the bottle she replied. Now that she was sitting she only seemed to be half awake, drawing a perhaps uncomfortable amount of attention to just how ready to physically collapse she actually was.

"My name is Valorie Ryder. I was a student at the academy before 'Team Rocket' dragged me off and locked me in their mountain base." Valorie replied in a somewhat friendly if not somber tone. "...Now they've somehow turned all my other pokemon against me and I don't know what to do anymore." she continued, her tone becoming hollow and exasperated. Crack! The seal of Valorie's water bottle snapped as she managed to twist the cap off. She took a moment to take a deep sip. This seemed to jog her out of her self-pity. "Oh..! This is Rex." she offers, simultaneously priming one of the pokeballs from earlier and releasing a tyrunt nearby. The pokemon looked tired, but it was certainly fighting fit. "I--um... I'm not good with nicknames, but I kind of forgot what his species is called." she admitted, only slightly defensive. Producing Shu's pokeball, she hesitated a brief moment to eye the dragon type pokemon. Rex was less than thrilled with the snow, but his response was simply to quickly move over next to Valorie and huddle up to her for warmth. Valorie in turn offered Kale a bashful smile as she leaned against the pokemon readily.

Producing her other occupied pokeball she this time aimed down at her lap for ease and released Shu. A golden human mask formed on her lap, which she promptly took and shifted to the side. "And... this is Shu. I just need to--" Valorie started as she began fiddling with the revival herb. How did she even use this thing? Did she... throw it at Shu's mask? Was that how this worked? Valore held the herb out, only for a shadowy tendril to reach out and snatch it as it got within a foot of the mask. The herb was enveloped by shadow after a moment, vanishing completely. The tendril retracted only for Shu's shadowy body to materialize out of the mask. If it hadn't been apparent already, he was a yamask.

"Uuuugh! What WAS that?! It tastes like--It tastes like a foot..! A really gross foot that has been stuck in a shoe over several hours of travel through a desert!" Shu's ghostly voice echoed in indignant disgust. Valorie just sort of... gawked slightly, restraining the urge to ask Shu if he had any idea what he was talking about. Shu looked around for a moment, gathering his surroundings before noticing the ever so slightly concerned look Valorie was giving him.

"...What?" he asked ever so innocently. "You wanted me to try and talk to her again?" he quickly adds in a matter-o-fact tone.

"Well, yeah! How'd you know that..?" Valorie asked in response, puzzled to say the least.

"I was ennervated, not deaf!" Shu replied in a teasing tone, only to get a rather blank stare in return. Valorie clearly had no idea what he had just said. After a moment Shu took advantage of the situation. "There is no rest for the dead~" he explained, doing his absolute best to feign a malevolent tone and simultaneously reaching out and wiggling his fingers in Valorie's general direction. The small girl's eyebrows shot straight up, her expression clearly a tad unnerved. She declined to comment, if not for her own dignity's sake. Shu chuckled light-heartedly before floating down to the blade clutching Valorie's arm. Suddenly he became tense, cautiously moving in as if to touch the blade but never quite doing so.

"Hey, why're you still here?" Shu asked in a slightly demanding tone. For a moment, he waited. "...She's ignoring me." he then explained, less than thrilled with this. He reached out and finally seemed to touch the cloth wrapped tightly around Valorie's forearm. A jolt of pain shot through Valorie causing her to emit an audible squeak and draw back, startling Rex a bit in the process. Valorie seemed a bit disorientated by the sharp pain and softly shook her head in an attempt to regain clarity with only mild success.

"Stop that! Can't you see she doesn't need this right now?!" Shu demanded again, rather irritated now. The sentient blade began to emit a shrill, metallic noise. "...We did what you wanted. Why are you still here?" She pressed, seemingly understanding the noise the honedge was emitting. For several long moments he merely listened.

"Uh-huh." Shu remarked casually as he continued to listen while a disorientated Valorie regained her senses more fully. "She says that she was searching for her family, and that she was forced from her home when that pokemon from before moved in. She says that you gave her closure and that leeching off of you has helped her cope." Shu went on to explain, once again disturbing Valorie who more or less felt a little violated right about then.

"She wants to keep on doing ...this. She wants to accompany you." Shu added after a long moment. Valorie's disturbed expression immediately shifted to one of anger.

"She tried to eat my spirit!" Valorie replied, entirely irate with the gall of this soul nibbling ghost. What did she look like, some sort of buffet? She was using that life energy!

Shu was silent for a moment as if torn by what he was hearing. "...She says she can help you find your way back." She said, clearly unsure what to make of the offer himself. This took Valorie off-guard, and while her first thought was that she really didn't want a parasitic pokemon clinging to her any longer than necessary she did have to reconsider because of their situation. Valorie turned her gaze on Kale, expression now slightly distraught. She didn't know what to do.

Valorie didn't seem completely aware of the hidden emotions being conveyed from Kale's non-verbal language, or if she was she didn't show it in return. She merely watched Kale with a mildly puzzled look on her face as if noticing but not quite grasping the thoughts never quite breaching his lips. In truth, she simply did not trust what she was seeing. He had already tried to abandon her once and she couldn't simply forget that possible near death situation. What was with that look..? Was he using her somehow? Was his pokemon calling the shots here??

...She declined to confront Kale once again, as this was still really just an awful time to stop and have a conversation about that.

"She was expecting us to have actual pokemon to fight with. Hehe... That's actually kind of funny." Shu remarked in response to Kale's observation, his amusement only half-hearted. It might seem he considered himself Valorie's equal rather than one of her pokemon. Weird, perhaps? A shrill noise emitted from the blade in such a tone that almost seemed to convey passion in it's strength. "...No need to get personal." Shu seemed to reply, rather dismissively. He became aware of Kale speaking directly to him and turned his attention to the boy, red eyes slightly puzzled.

"...That sounds about right, but I usually leave that sort of decision up to this one!" Shu replied in his ghostly tone, ever so slightly flustered at having been put on the spot. He simultaneously gestured towards Valorie, revealing something clutched within the shadowy mass that was one of his hands. Upon inspection it appeared to be an everstone.

Valorie seemed slightly crushed at Kale's advice in comparison, eyes falling to the vampiric blade that wished to continue this parasitic relationship with her. To say she wasn't thrilled would've been an understatement and yet...

"Alright."

Valorie was admittedly rather somber. Could she live like this? Would this honedge push her over her, toppling her already poor condition into oblivion? She felt her arm involuntarily rise and shift directions to point the attached blade off into the distance. Well, that was convenient! She moved to return Rex to her ball. "...She hates the icy weather." Valorie explained, adjusting the scarf Kale had given her in preparation to depart. Shu in turn seemed to phase into her shadow, vanishing from sight.

As Valorie finished preparing to leave she observed Kale's conversation with his mawile, declining to comment for one of many reasons. Things started to become transparent to her once Kale threw a sweater to her that she awkwardly tried to catch. The tired and sick girl hesitated a moment before struggling to put the sweater on, mostly on account of the large blade she could not remove from her arm. With a little psychic magic on Shu's part however she managed to maneuver it over and past the blade without incident, shuddering in a sort of relief at the heavier clothing. Without furthr delay she sped up to meet Kale's side, at least slightly refreshed from her momentary rest.

Valorie observed Kale for a moment before her curiosity got the better of her. "I think she pointed us in the direction of the academy. It's over that way. ...It's complicated between you and Aria, isn't it." she remarked in a thoughtful tone as she gestured off into the distance. "Is this sweater special..?" she then asked, not having been oblivious to Kale's reluctance to give it to her.

Valorie seemed rather pleased as Kale explained his feelings toward his pokemon. One probably wouldn't expect even a slight smile from her in her current condition but she managed anyway... lips curling subtly up in a manner that could honestly be missed if one wasn't paying good attention.

Her ears could've never dreamed of picking up the virtually non-existant crunch of a stalking predator's feet, muffled entirely by the thick layer of snow.

Valorie seemed to take a single hint from Kale's irritation with her questions, and that hint was to close her mouth. She merely watched Kale, exhausted eyes showing some level of concern, gaze infrequently shifting to the vampiric blade for a brief moment's thought. It was only one Kale asked her a question that she next spoke.

"It's so hard to figure out where we are with all the snow..." Valorie remarked, slightly distressed in tone. Her gaze searched the grey skies to no avail. A snow white world spanned as far as the eye could see, an almost featureless world where nothing but hope could give them sustenance.

"Nnn--She says we're almost out of the mountains, about ten kilometers from town. The academy is much farther." Shu's disembodied voice echoes helpfully. "...Kilometers?" Valorie hesitantly asked in an appropriately frustrated tone. "...About six miles." Shu reluctantly translated. Valorie was... a tad daunted. Sure, she was a pokemon trainer--She had the legs to make the distance, but these weren't exactly ideal conditions! In fact, they were awful! She couldn't think of a worse condition to be in right now!

"...Great." Valorie responded, a bit of hope having left her tone. As she continued to trudge on, arctic winds causing her scarves to trail erratically behind her, she couldn't help but wish for a pokemon that didn't mind the weather to come and whisk them away to a place where the hot cocoa flowed like water.

Valorie sighed, allowing herself to relax a little--Just enough to speak casually. "I wonder what my parents are doing." she remarked, seeming to speak to thin air. In reality she was of course taking a much more passive route to attempting conversation. "If... If it's really Christmas I--I guess I've been gone for a long time." she quickly continued, thinking aloud. Had... there even been a search team? Had anyone noticed she'd been missing, or did they just think she was training vehemently as she always had? Had they given up? Had her friends and family been forced to move on?! Memories of faces she desperately longed to see flashed before her eyes--It was getting harder to remember exactly how they looked. Details became lost in time and she found herself greatly distressed by this. Shaking her head she assured herself that she was simply too young to die, and therefore she wouldn't.

"I had a pokemon I raised from an egg." Valorie began. "She was a dratini, my second pokemon. I got her one night from a trainer--They didn't have the time to raise her themselves, and they gave her to me because... because they knew how how much I wanted a dragon type pokemon. ...I remember training with her in weather like this--But it was never this cold... It never felt this cold, anyway." she reminisced out loud. She seemed to be trying very hard to hide the fact that this memory was painful for her, but if one looked closely they would see tears now mixed with the falling snow. Valorie fell silent as she attempted to quell her emotions. She very much did not want to be seen like this, burying her face in her scarves for the moment being. Weakness wasn't something she intended to be known for. This was... unacceptable. She prayed the snow hid her pain well enough from Kale's radars.

...

Crunch!

The sound of pounding, heavy feet against snow was finally faintly audible as something rapidly closed the distance between themselves and the group.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

"Look out!" Shu called out, startling Valorie out of her thoughts. The ghost had turned upon the sound of none other than Haxorus sprinting towards Valorie. Crash! Haxorus slammed into the timely shield Shu generated with his protect at full force, further startling Valorie and causing her to fumble with her pokeball as she struggled to produce a response to her attacker. Haxorus sprung back slightly, crouching back down and eyeing the teen in a predatory manner. To say Valorie appeared terrified would've been an understatement. Quick to awkwardly throw out Rex, Valorie cringed as Haxorus immediately confounded her attempts at protecting herself with speed, headbutting straight through Shu's next attempt at protecting them devastate Rex with a dragon claw attack from her head-axe that sent the poor pokemon flying through the air where he fainted mid-flight.

Valorie looked around in an attempt to find somewhere to hide or lose the apex predator in but of course found nothing. Haxorus had waited until the most ideal moment to strike, and now..? Valorie was understandably having a panic attack right about then, desperately searching for something to give her an edge here. She'd completely forgotten about Aria. Her arm however, had a mind of it's own. The honedge attached to Valorie's arm raised itself and abruptly yanked her forward to stab at Haxorus' thick reptilian armor. The move seemed to knock Haxorus off balance, shattering a plate of armor and inflicting a wound underneath. Valorie's eyes widened in horror of what she was seeing done to what was by all rights her own pokemon, but it took only a moment for Haxorus to shrug it off and smack the blade away with her head, axes glowing with a dark power. The blow was enough to send Honedge flying, but Valorie's meager added weight stopped it. Instead the blade yanked Valorie off balance by her arm, painfully pulling a muscle in the process. She emitted a yelp and clutched at her arm, stunned into inaction.

It seemed Valoie had become a damsel in distress yet again. She needed saving, and judging by how vicious and absurdly fast Haxorus had been it didn't seem like Kale would get a second chance if he hesitated now.

Valorie froze up where she stood, unable to keep up with Haxorus' speed. Had she performed a dragon dance before approaching them..? It certainly seemed like it, and Valorie would know--That was her pokemon. To her relief Aria stepped in and brought down the mighty dragon finally, leaving Valorie with a mere fright to last her the entire week. She was still recoiling from her start when Kale approached her, eyeing Haxorus with a sort of horror and disbelief. She was still absorbing what had just happened, processing the events.

That, and her aching arm was making it very hard to think. It was a very sharp pain that threatened to steal her breath away and it only got worse as she released the breath she'd been holding in. Suddenly a psychic aura grasped her arm, lifting it just enough to counteract gravity. Valorie sighed in relief as the pain slowed to a distant soreness. She could think clearly again.

Her gaze focused on Kale's concerned eyes, but his sympathy was met with puzzlement followed quickly by a sort of disappointment. She quietly averted her gaze down at Haxorus, attempting to avoid discussing the moment they'd just shared. Subtle shame burned through her.

"Thanks--All of you." she offered weakly, her voice audibly shaken from the earlier experience. She clearly wasn't used to being attacked like this. She looked back and forth briefly, gesturing at the fallen haxorus. "That was one of my pokemon. She--She was always stir crazy if I didn't let her hunt, but she would never do this. She'd never attack a human... I made sure of that." she explained in a somber tone, simultaneously moving forward and cautiously leaning down to inspect the fallen pokemon. Her eyes slowly moved over Haxorus, searching for something--Anything really. To her dismay there was no mind control collar to be found, no rubber mask hiding the gardner underneath. She was left without answers, including a far more immediate problem.

What did she do about her precious pokemon? Haxorus was clearly down, but could she just leave her there in the snow? It felt wrong. She needed a potion, but a part of Valorie knew Haxorus could simply get back up and keep attacking them. She seemed torn, unable to make a decision.

...Overwhelmed.