[PKMN FULL] Hoenn: Square One [IC]

Pokémon / Inventory:

AVRIL'S MONEY: $32 000

AVRIL'S TEAM:
🌼 Poppy (Flabebe) ♀
Flower Veil
Synthesis, Fairy Wind, Grassy Terrain, Aromatherapy, Wish, Magical Leaf

🌼 Hydrangea (Shellos) ♀
Storm Drain
Water Pulse, Mud Bomb, Recover, Rain Dance, Mud Sport, Hidden Power (?)

🌼 Wisteria (Inkay) ♂
Infiltrator
Night Slash, Hypnosis, Topsy-Turvy, Pluck, Reflect, Psybeam

🌼 Venus (Mawile) ♀
Intimidate
Fairy Wind, Crunch, Sucker Punch, Iron Defense, Taunt, Baton Pass

AVRIL'S INVENTORY:
🌼 2 Empty Pokéballs
🌼 2 Potions
🌼 Eviolite
🌼 Silk Scarf
🌼 TM for Ally Switch
🌼 5 Rare berries

🌼 Holotch (phone version)
🌼 Fanclub Membership card - valid until October 17^th
🌼 Various clothes and commodities

AVRIL'S CONTACTS:
Jordie, Shuna, Natsuko, June, Marcella, Hikaru

AVRIL'S BADGES AND RIBBONS:
🥊 ➕

🎀• 1

🌼 Character art made with [SPAN="color:rgb(40,180,40);"]https://picrew.me/image_maker/338886[/SPAN]

Even with a tasty ice cream in my hand, the breeze blowing through my hair, Erin and Ellen sitting beside me and keeping me company, something irks me. It comes up as soon as I look down at my feet and remember what I'm wearing. It comes up when I look towards the two waitresses as well, or even when I just close my eyes and stop focusing on the positives. It's like a little voice inside my head…

This is supposed to be a perfect moment: the girls who are now sitting beside me really tried their best to get here too, by not only pulling me around on skates (so that I could recover) until we got to one of the most relaxing places along the Trainers Corridor, but also by paying for my treat. And yet, these are the same people who made me struggle and push myself with all of the techniques they tried to teach me.

Honestly, I feel contrived. As much as I'm enjoying their company right now, the voice inside my head tells me over and over that I should just keep my distance. I don't want them to do all of this for me, because it looks like I disappointed them before and I will do it again. They even said it themselves! Life is a struggle! And struggle brings conflict, and I hate it.

Ellen and Erin looked genuinely enthusiastic to see me skate more and more confidently. They really wanted me to learn those tricks, and I feel like I made some progress, but overall I still disappointed them. Both with falling and messing things up, and with my attitude! But I think I also disappointed myself for having still given into… being in this situation. I could've said I don't feel like it and I didn't. I could've spared myself from this struggle.

"So… I probably haven't told you but, my actual goal is to become a singer! A real good singer!" Ellen brings me back to reality with that revelation. It's the one thing I'm too shy to practice with! "And my family hated it at first."

"Oh yeah, I remember that for sure!" Erin echoes her friend.

"They just wanted a normal career for me, Littledale style. They didn't want me to travel 'round the world or anything, but that's something I'd also love to do! And I'm going to fight for it too!" The red haired girl's eyes start to sparkle. That is… a difficult thought to process for me.

As she keeps talking about how she kept pursuing her dreams even if it meant working many jobs and arguing with her family, I fixate on… how little she seemed to care about avoiding struggles. Even when it involved other people.

Can I really do it? I gave in the first time, when I eventually decided to come here and "give training a try". I almost did it when I called my parents and told them I'd like to come back and try something else. But in both situations, the pressure was astounding. It was hard to think straight and handle that turmoil of feelings. If one side really has to win over the other, whose side would it even be? Why would I have to face that dilemma in the first place?

I must look uneasy on the outside as well, because Erin looks over to me with a concerned look. "You alright, Avril? Your ice cream is just melting in your hand, hurry!"

"O-oh I…" I smile nervously. "I don't like people arguing like that is all…"

"Well…" Ellen speaks up now. "I guess sometimes it just has to happen, but! That's why I have my bestie over here." She looks up towards Erin with sparkling eyes. "If you surround yourself with the right people, who can make you feel comfortable and motivated, you can get anywhere!" She makes it sound easy.

That's where I get quiet again though… the red haired waitress has definitely hit a weak spot here. Both her and Erin move slightly closer to me and lean on me for what is almost a hug, but as I fall into their embrace, I'm still silent.

"Hey! Y'all come down here, we'll finish up in this part of the field!" Merry calls out from down the hill. Ed shrugs and follows instructions, Jed following and Sunny reluctantly bringing up the rear.

Merry waits at the other side of a field, which Ed notes isn't tilled like the previous area, just natural earth and grass. The lack of a prepared arena implies that Merry doesn't have any gimmicks planned, so their Pokémon must be strong enough to stand on their own.

"Alright, final round. Winner takes all. Who you got left?"

Ed doesn't say anything as he sends out Gremlin. She hisses at the sun and takes refuge in Ed's shadow, but grins at Merry regardless.

"A Sableye! And look how pretty she is. Well, in that case... Miltank!" Merry sends out his Miltank, putting Ed on edge. He's read about them, and despite their appearance, they can be just as formidable as their male counterpart, Tauros.

Sunny scoffs from her position at the top of the hill. "Let me guess, it knows Foresight."

"Not necessarily." Ed shakes his head, noting Merry's easy-going grin. "Some Miltank naturally have the ability to make contact with Ghosts. I'm not sure why they gained this power, but some have it."

"Well that's not fair!"

"Enough chatter, let's go! Miltank, Stomp that little varmint!" Miltank charges forward at a frightening speed, like some kind of horror movie monster, except she's a cow. This confirms Ed's suspicions, and he starts formulating a new plan.

Gremlin sinks into her shadow as Miltank approaches, dodging the mighty hoof as it comes down. Miltank looks around warily, no doubt expecting a trick. Ed holds his arm out to the side, and Gremlin rises from his shadow, leaping onto his arm and then onto Miltank, causing her to flinch with Fake Out.

"Go for Low Sweep!" Miltank's speed is a problem. Ed knows Gremlin is too slow to gain any meaningful advantage, but any reduction to Miltank's mobility will be helpful.

Miltank grins as Gremlin gets closer, stomping her hoof into Gremlin's chest. Gremlin grits her teeth as she grabs Miltank's leg, struggling to fight back against such strength. Unable to just phase through the attack, she instead sinks into the ground, putting Miltank off balance as her hoof hits dirt. Gremlin quickly pops back up, kicking the back of Miltank's other knee.

Ed knows Gremlin will lose if forced to match strength, so falls back to his old tricks, which luckily are Gremlin's forte. As Miltank goes for a Headbutt, Gremlin's eyes glow with eerie light, confusing her before she can make contact. Gremlin cackles as she steps aside, causing Miltank to slam her head into a rock on the ground.

Her laughter stops when she sees the rock split in two from the impact. Miltank flails wildly in her confused state, but Gremlin manages to avoid her reckless attacks with Detect. Ed calls for another Low Sweep, but Miltank shakes off the confusion in time to hear Merry's command of Stomp, trampling Gremlin and charging out of range before she can pick herself up for a counterattack.

"Gremlin! Are you okay?" Gremlin stubbornly gets back up, spitting out a broken piece of tooth before nodding. "Then confuse her again, then go for the legs."

Miltank rushes back in for another Headbutt, but again is subjected to Confuse Ray. This time, however, the attack connects, and Gremlin clutches her head and cries out in pain from the impact.

"Change of plan! Dodge again!" Miltank goes for Stomp, but Gremlin drops into her shadow to dodge. Miltank starts stampeding trying to find her opponent, accidentally stepping into a small hole and tripping. Gremlin seizes the opportunity to attack, popping out of Miltank's shadow and grabbing her leg. Ed frowns at the display, Miltank flailing as Gremlin attempts to... pull a muscle in her leg? It's not exactly a normal strategy, but Miltank's frantic lowing and pained cries imply it's an effective one.

"Gremlin, enough! You're just being cruel now." Gremlin scowls at Ed, but releases Miltank from the illegal pin, kicking Miltank in the leg to be petty.

"Get some distance so you can heal up!" Merry calls out. Miltank staggers back upright, curling into a ball and rolling away.

"Did you say heal?!"

Miltank is fairly far away, but Merry's powerful voice still carries far enough to be heard. "Drink your milk and get back here, girl!"

Gremlin scowls at Merry, looking like she's about to try that leg pin on them next. Ed quickly gets her attention before she does something he'll regret. "Gremlin! Use Shadow Sneak to get over there!"

Gremlin looks at Ed like he's crazy. He understands why, but he has a plan. "I know, it won't work, but it's the only way you can get over to her in time. Get over there and Disable her healing technique once she's used it."

Gremlin looks over at Miltank, who is now drinking a stream of her own milk. Gremlin grimaces in disgust, but leaps into Ed's shadow regardless. He follows her shadow form with his eyes as she darts across the field, popping out of Miltank's shadow. Before Miltank can react, Gremlin's eyes glow red as she smacks Miltank's udder. Miltank cries out in surprise, as dark shadows crawl up her body and settle around her head, a mental block preventing her from using that technique again.

Unfortunately, that also angered Miltank enough to slightly disobey. Merry had ordered her to return after healing, but they hadn't said anything about bringing Gremlin with her. Miltank grabs Gremlin as she curls up, rolling back to Merry with the poor Ghost in her clutches. She's nice enough to drop her off in the middle of the arena before coming to a stop at Merry's side.

Gremlin struggles to stand, suffering from acute motion sickness. Ed quickly calls for a time-out as he checks on her, which Merry obliges.

Ed looks over Gremlin, but she's looking rough. "I'm calling it. There's no way we-" Gremlin holds up a hand to stop him, then vomits out some gravel. She coughs and wipes the dust from her mouth, but isn't wobbling anymore, at least. She grins shakily, but takes her position.

Ed inhales slowly, his mouth set into a firm line. He doesn't like it, but Gremlin insists on finishing this fight. She's brave, and Ed has to respect her decision, even if he doesn't agree. "Alright. Resume."

Miltank immediately throws herself forward, rolling like a runaway tire. Gremlin hits her with Confuse Ray, getting run over in the process, but manages to hold on by the skin of her teeth. Miltank comes around for another pass, but in her confusion ends up rolling up the hill toward the Gym.

"Look out!" Jed grabs Sunny as he dives out of the way, but Miltank manages to stop at the top of the hill, ending her Rollout.

...and immediately falling over from confusion, tumbling back down the hill and landing on her head. Now it's Merry's turn to rush to their Pokémon's side, but she's not seriously injured. They step back as Miltank staggers to her hooves, on the verge of collapse but unwilling to quit.

Gremlin runs in, taking out Miltank's legs with a Low Sweep. She pins Miltank to the ground, getting in her face and hissing at her to just stay down already. Miltank tries to kick free, but is too tired, laying back and accepting that she's beaten.

"Miltank can't fight anymore!" Jed announces, picking himself up. "Which means... The Challenger wins! Leader Merry has been defeated!"

"You don't have to sound so surprised..." Sunny grumbles, but grins as Ed offers Merry a handshake.

Merry shakes their head, but tips their hat to Ed. "That was some mighty fine battlin', son. You got a quick wit to you, I'll give you that! Along with these." They reach into a pocket of their overalls, retrieving several small items.

"For your victory, you've earned the Dell Badge! Along with ₽5000 and this Technical Machine! It contains Bulldoze, a Ground type attack. Use it to smooth over any damage your fights might cause."

Ed accepts the rewards, tucking them into a vest pocket for now. "Thank you. It was a good match, and I think I learned a lot."

Merry tips their hat again, a gesture that Ed mimics despite not wearing a hat, and the two make their way back up the hill. Sunny makes a beeline for Ed, but Merry steps in front of him to cut her off.

"Now then... you were next, right? Let me just give my team a quick fix and we'll have our battle."

Sunny steps back, already reaching for the door. "Well, about that... I'm canceling my appointment. I'm not ready after all."

"Wait, you can do that?!" Ed is incredulous.

Merry nods, not looking away from Sunny. "Normally, yes. Things happen. But this ain't a normal occasion. You were in such a hurry, earlier. Kept buttin' in on the match, makin' your comments and tryin' to rush things. I don't take rudeness lightly, Missy, so I'm gonna make you a deal. You can fight me now, or if you really need more time, you can come back tomorrow afternoon. If you're not here by sundown, you'll have plenty of time to 'get ready', because I ain't acceptin' your challenge again for another week. Sound fair?"

"A w-we... a wha?!" Sunny stammers, looking to Ed for help, but Merry never breaks eye contact. "That's... that's not allowed, is it?"

Merry's good mood is gone, and they walk past Sunny to the door of the Gym. "I'm the Leader, it's my choice to accept a challenge or not. I can tell you're not gonna fight me now, so I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe you should think about your actions more carefully next time."

The door closes in her face, leaving Sunny stunned and shaking slightly. Ed tentatively puts a hand on her shoulder, but she barely reacts. "You okay?"

"I... I don't know. But I have to do something, Eddie."

Ed opens the door for her with a shrug. "Well, we have the rest of the day and all morning tomorrow to figure it out. Come on, let's go back to the Pokémon Center."

AGE: 17 ⟡ HOME REGION: Johto
DATE: Monday September 28 ⟡ TIME: Morning
LOCATION: Birch Research Institute

Eight in the morning is early for Marie, but everyone in the lab looks far more awake than she feels. It's not like she'd stayed up late reading about the Birch Research Institute and the three professors at its forefront- she'd gone to sleep at a very respectable eleven p.m.- but the horrors of Route 102 are still exacting their revenge on her body.

Pulling a Slowpoke in a wagon isn't doing much for her recovery, either.

"Do you have coffee?" is the first thing out of her mouth when she enters the building, because the Pokémon Center's machine was one she'd never seen before and her tired brain couldn't process the instructions pasted on the wall before some other trainer told her to get out of the way.

She may have been slightly hysterical when she deliberately ground her heel into the girl's shiny shoes and stormed out the door without finishing her breakfast.

A guy named Vikram takes pity on her and shows her to the kitchenette, where she stares unseeingly at her haggard reflection in the bottom of her mug of black coffee for several minutes before remembering she needs to add cream and sugar to make the garbage bean water tolerable.

"Mornin'," Brendan says, reaching around her for a mug that has a big thumbs-down image on the side, which changes to a thumbs-up as he fills it with hot coffee from the pot. Marie mumbles a greeting as she stirs her near-white concoction and surreptitiously squints at the detail on her own chipped mug. It's a picture of a Krabby smoking a cigarette, surrounded by the slogan Life is fucking relentless.

Marie nods sagely. Life sure is.

Brendan is talking. She should have been paying attention to that, instead of her mug and his tiny, clip-on white top hat.

"-what you wanted to learn about?"

"Um." Marie sips her coffee-flavored milk and frantically tries to track the gist of his question. "I have to learn everything about Pokémon."

Brendan shakes his head. "That's still-"

"No, I'm- I don't want you to teach me all of it. I want you to teach me how to start."

"Oh." Brendan slurps his coffee. "Can you write an essay?"

"What?"

"I make deals with travelling trainers. My dedicated field researchers can only cover so much ground, and the Ranger Database is helpful but limited for my application. So you all who walk from town to town, spending time in nature and observing Pokémon- you're helpful citizen scientists. Deal is: three hundred words per essay, focusing on a single species' habits in the wild. Habitat, numbers observed behavior- you know. E-mail those essays to me and I'll mail you cool stuff."

Marie considers this as they both lean against the counter, sipping their coffee. "How does that help me, though?"

"It's studying!" Brendan says brightly. "Just not from a book."

"Oh."

"You can do it as you travel, and learn along the way. It'll force you to pay attention. You can use your PokéDex and the Ranger Database and everything to get some context, I don't mind. Just tell me what the ones you see are doing."

It's not a terrible idea.

"Sure. I can do that."

"Okay!" Brendan downs half his coffee in one go, which is horrifying. "Good talk. Go practise."

"What?"

"Out there." Brendan gestures toward the back door of the laboratory building. "We've got all kinds of Pokémon hanging out on the grounds. Go practice writing about them, and I can give you feedback right away. That way you're prepared when you head off again."

Marie nods and starts toward the back door, trying her best not to spill her coffee while also towing Pokie along behind her.

How'd she end up with homework?

Pokémon / Inventory:

HIKARU'S TEAM:
⚡ Rei (Tynamo), ♂
Levitate
Spark, Charge Beam, Tackle, Thunder Wave
⚡ Hoshi (Staryu)
Illuminate
Psywave, Rapid Spin, Water Gun, Camouflage, Confuse Ray, Harden
⚡ Aruku (Clobbopus), ♀
Technician
Rock Smash, Leer, Feint, Detect, Bind, Brick Break
⚡ Tsuga (Treecko), ♀
Overgrow
Mega Drain, Pursuit, Pound, Quick Attack, Quick Guard, Detect

HIKARU'S BADGES:
🥊 - 🧱

I GOT YOU, I GOT YOU IN THE END!

It took how many tries now? I feel like Benji was just tired of seeing me try and try again. But let's not get into it, all that matters is that I got my badge.

I actually got it by doing possibly the one thing that Avril would kill me for: hitting my own Pokémon to boost the other. I also did another dishonorable thing: tell Rei to go hide right under the ceiling. Those were definitely the highlights, the things that I know will spark some fire in my comments. But honestly, after seeing Benji himself do something similar with his Wormadam, I'm more than happy to return the favor.

Speaking of Wormadam, that's who he used in this battle too. And right there on the spot, I knew I had to get Rei if I wanted to have a chance. None of my Pokémon can really boost their strength, but Rei can apparently. And he does so by damaging other Pokémon nonetheless! That's why, after a while, I just decided to park the thing right by the ceiling and tell him to shoot some Charge Beam here and there, on whatever was easier to hit. I was sure that by doing this, I could've overpowered Wormadam. If he dodged enough attacks or something.

Of course the problem was Stunfisk, against whom I sent out my Treecko. Risky move because there were many Signal Beams coming for her, but - this was the interesting part - Tsuga fainted only after bringing the Stunfisk down with her. And here it was definitely a matter of mobility and prediction more than anything… like, I had to really become my Pokémon's second pair of eyes and make our reaction times the shortest they could be. The Sandstorm of course only made things harder but even with all odds against us… we pulled out some clutch maneuvers. If anything, the previous battles really did teach my Pokémon a lot, and acted as nice practice sessions. All the battles I had against Orion and Cass helped too, it seems!

Benji still remarked that I had a long way to go - because of course he would - but thinking about it, yes, it was true. He also had to acknowledge I had improved as a trainer, though, and that I was training my Treecko quite well. I… didn't buy it though, not until even Wormadam got defeated by a nice sequence of Thunder Wave - Charge Beam - Spark from Rei. That also wasn't easy to achieve, with the Pokémon already very strong from Quiver Dance, but… with some quick dodges, my Tynamo still came out on top!

And this, everyone, is how I've made progress in life. Headbutts. Trying again and again because why not. If I look at the badge now, as I wait in the Pokémon Center lobby for my Pokémon to get healed, I feel as if I got lucky with this battle with some of the dodges. Maybe I got Benji on a day when he was tired altogether, since it was Sunday, 6 pm. But hey, luck is also something that sooner or later just has to turn in your favor.

This… now leaves me with nothing to do though. I'm still stuck on this wheelchair for a couple more days, and I can't get out of Slateport until that's sorted out. My blog may get some nice comments from this Benji battle post, but what then?

📚📚📚

I decide, the following Monday, to spend some day in the public library. I'm not doing anything that I couldn't already sort out from my hospital bed, but the more time I spend lying down on it, the more I itch to leave it. I don't have the excuse of beating Benji anymore, but Avril and the Mega Stones come in useful in this case…

The library won't tell me anything I don't already know from the internet, but what it can give me is legitimacy… so that I can see what's true and what's a myth. There's a lot of those online, including some totally absurd prices that Key Stones were sold at (but that I'll probably never reach), not to mention the horror stories about Glalie dislocating its jaw and all that.

Wait that's actually true!?

After that slightly undesirable revelation (which may still not be entirely true, I may have picked up a not-so-trustworthy book anyways), I look for better photos of the stones I have with myself. Even the library resources confirm it: two of them are Key Stones, and the trainers have to hold them. In fact, various items were created for this purpose, with some even becoming fashion statements. Necklaces, gloves, glasses, anklets even.

The other two I have are a Mawilite and a Sceptilite. It's almost a perfect coincidence how I snagged up exactly these four items from the cave Aggron was guarding, and how me and Avril came out of that.. "adventure" with a Treecko and a Mawile to boot! I assume fate wanted to play with us a bit and let us know that those stones were meant for us, haha!

That reminds me, though. Avril did message about those stones some time ago, but I've never heard from her since. I might have scared her off with the hospital thing and really, I doubt she likes me much in the first place after what I dragged her into. But… although I could already sell the stones I don't need, I'd rather meet her again before that. The stones are not the only thing that's been left pending.

Despite their haste to leave it the day before, Ed and Sunny had found themselves back on Route 102 after Ed's battle with Merry. As it turned out, Sunny's refusal to fight stemmed from her lack of Pokémon.

"You heard what Merry said!" She'd argued. "Four one-on-one battles, no exceptions! If I only have three Pokémon, how am I supposed to do that?"

There was logic in what she said, although Ed felt justified in being bitter, so he'd only agreed to help her if she helped him. As such, they'd spent the remainder of Saturday afternoon and into the evening doing research on the local Pokémon, seeing if any of them would make a suitable addition to Sunny's team.

On Sunday morning, Sunny had gone back out there while Ed talked to people around town. After conducting these interviews, he now uses one of the Pokémon Center's computers to compile his notes and write a report to Professor Brendan.



His initial draft exceeded five hundred words, but he was able to trim it down after some revision. Satisfied with his work, he glances at the clock to see that it's nearly noon.

"Clock is ticking, Sunny... where are you?" He briefly considers going out to find her, but logic dictates that she'll return to the Center before going to the Gym, so he'll definitely encounter her if he just wants here.

After leaving the Ranch (they'd politely insisted she not stay another night), Tsu found herself back on the trail to Oldale. According to the information she'd gathered, it would take almost a full day of walking to get there, assuming she didn't get sidetracked.

But that information was based on human foot speed.

"Sorry I don't have a saddle, Shiny. This isn't gonna be comfortable for either of us, but it'll get us to town faster!" She climbs onto Shiny's back, taking a moment to find a comfortable position. She's never tried riding Shiny for an extended time like this, but considering that even Riptide doesn't want to be here anymore, it's the best option she can think of.

They start off at a slow walk, just to get a feel for the setup. Tsu finds it better to lay a little flatter than to sit up, distributing her weight more evenly across Shiny. Shiny picks up into a light trot, which isn't too bad. A nice pace, and Tsu can balance fairly well as long as she holds onto Shiny's mane.

They encounter a slight hurdle when they meet a wild Poochyena in the middle of the road, Shiny slowing warily at the sight of it. It growls at her, but Tsu learned her lesson on the first day out here. She looks to either side, and sure enough, there are two more lurking in the shadows.

"Ready to run?" She whispers into Shiny's ear, gripping her mane and locking her legs as tight as she can against the pony's flanks. "Get us out of here, Flame Charge!"

Shiny bolts forward, leaving flaming hoof prints in her wake as she tramples Poochyena. The others spring from cover to try to intercept, but Shiny puts on more speed with Agility, Tsu clinging to her back in a mixture of fear and excitement.

After a minute that feels like an hour, Tsu calls for Shiny to slow down. The loss of Agility almost throws Tsu off, but Shiny slows to a better pace. She's breathing heavily, and Tsu slides off her back, her legs almost giving out when she touches down. She leans on Shiny for support, her legs shaking from the adrenaline. "Let's just walk for a bit, yeah? Catch our breath." She takes a few faltering steps, still gripping Shiny's mane for support.

🔥🔥Later, around noon...🔥🔥

Back atop Shiny and moving at an easy trot, Tsu pulls the Ponyta to a stop when she sees someone sitting on the side of the road, leaning against a tree with their head in their hands. "Excuse me! Are you okay?"

The girl on the ground looks up, apparently snapped out of her thoughts by Tsu's voice. Both girls are surprised to recognize each other.

"Tsu?"

"Sunny!" Tsu hops off of Shiny, going over to offer her friend a hand up. "What are you doing out here?"

Sunny accepts the hand, pulling herself to her feet. "Oh, I was just... thinking. Doing some last minute preparation before my Gym battle today." She looks a little red in the face, but Tsu thinks she's probably just embarrassed to be caught napping.

"A Gym battle? Wow, you move so fast, Sunny! Didn't you just get here?" Sunny looks away, but Tsu is too caught up in her train of thought to catch her expression. "Oh, wait! That must mean I'm close! We made really good time, Shiny!"

Shiny nickers softly, proud but a little tired. Tsu comes over to stroke her mane. "Well, good luck with your battle, Sunny. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help, I'd be happy to!"

Sunny pauses, coming over to pet Shiny as well. "You mean that? You'd help me?"

"Of course! That's what friends do, Sunny. What do you need?"

"Well... Can I borrow Shiny for a bit?" Sunny pats Shiny's cheek, making the little Ponyta toss her head in annoyance.

"You mean, like, for training?"

"No, I mean... okay, look. The Gym is a series of one-on-one battles. Specifically, four of them. But I only have three Pokémon!"

"Why don't you just catch another one?" Tsu strokes Shiny's neck to calm her, as the suddenly heated conversation happening over her back is starting to spook her.

"There's no time! I've been out here all day trying to catch one, but I've had no luck! And I don't have time to train it, anyway. The Leader said if I don't fight him today, he won't let me challenge him for another week! I can't spend a whole week here, Tsu!"

"What about Ed? Can't you use one of his?"

Sunny frowns as she looks away. "Eddie... isn't very happy with me right now, I don't want to push my luck. And Merry has already seen all of his Pokémon." She reaches for Tsu's hands, looking into her eyes. "Please, Tsu, you said you'd help!"

Tsu is taken aback by this behavior. She's only known Sunny for about a week, but she's never seen her so desperate. What happened in the past few days? And Sunny was right, she did say she'd help... "Alright, you can use her in your battle."

"Yes! Thank you! You're a good friend, Tsu!"

Tsu gently pets Shiny's cheek, looking her in the eye. "Do your best, Shiny. And do what Sunny says, okay? She actually went to school, she knows more about fighting than I do."

Shiny presses her head against Tsu's chest, pushing lightly. Tsu laughs, grabbing Shiny's face and kissing her own the forehead. She returns her to her Poké Ball, which she hands to Sunny.

"Take her to the Center first, okay? She might still be a bit tired from riding down this road."

Sunny holds the ball carefully, her eyes sparkling with delight. "I will, I promise! Thank you again! You should come watch me!"

"Oh, I'm not letting you out of my sight!" Tsu smiles, but she's not joking. "That's my daughter in your hands, so I'm coming with you."

Sunny laughs, though a bit nervous. "Yeah, that's fair. Come on, I need to be there before sundown."

"Welcome back, Sunny!" Merry offers a friendly greeting as Sunny approaches. "For a moment there, I didn't think you were showin' back up."

"I told you I would, and I don't back down from a challenge." Sunny seems back to her regular, confident self. Behind her, Ed nods to himself in agreement of her stubborn nature, while Tsu just looks mildly concerned. Merry gives them each a nod, but their focus remains on Sunny.

"Well then, let's get to it!" Merry leads the group outside, taking a position on the field where the afternoon sun wouldn't be a hindrance to either competitor.

"Leader Merry versus Challenger Sunny!" The referee, who hadn't been introduced to any of the teenagers, calls out. "Challenger, please select your first Pokémon!"

Sunny grabs a ball, sending out Sputter first. "I know you're going to pick Miltank, let's just get this out of the way."

Merry pouts, pretending to be insulted. "Aw, come on! Don't take all the fun outta this. But you're right. Miltank, let's go!" Miltank appears, mooing aggressively.

"Is that bad?" Tsu asks Ed quietly, watching as Miltank starts with a Rollout.

"Possibly... Miltank is very strong, and can bypass Sputter's immunities. Sunny probably wanted to eliminate Merry's ace as soon as possible, but Sputter isn't as physically powerful as Miltank, so she'll have to be tactical here."

"Sputter, use Confuse Ray!" Miltank runs over Sputter as a ghostly flame lights on her wick, the ghost light surrounding Miltank's head as she rolls back to Merry. She comes back around for another pass, fighting through the confusion to hit again, so Sunny calls for Minimize, making Sputter a smaller, more difficult to hit target.

Confuse Ray pays off as Miltank stumbles on her way back to Merry, landing on her face and sliding to a halt in front of the Leader.

"Now's your chance! Use Will-o-Wisp!" Sputter launches more ghostly flames, which leave a very real burn on the fallen bovine.

"Well played..." Ed nods approvingly, and Tsu looks to him curiously. "Burns are an excellent combat tactic, both offensively and defensively. Not only will it damage Miltank over time, it will also weaken her physically. You see, burns are sensitive, so the body naturally holds back to avoid agitating the wound and causing further-"

"Oh, look! She's healed herself!" Tsu interrupts, pointing to Miltank. Sure enough, she's snapped out of confusion and used her Heal Bell technique to cure the burn.

Normally, Sunny would have followed up Will-o-Wisp with Hex, but against a Normal type, she'd instead gone with Sputter's strongest Fire attack, Flame Burst. As soon as Miltank finished healing her burn, the little mote of fire explodes in front of her, which the battle-happy bovine finds more annoying than painful. She charges over to where Sputter was, and through what must be some trick of the light, her eyes appear to be opaque white and somehow shining. Miltank raises her hoof up, and despite Tiny Sputter's best attempt to dodge, she brings it down on the Litwick's head, snuffing her flame and leaving her unconscious in a hoof shaped crater.

"Litwick is unable to battle! First round goes to Leader Merry!"

Sunny curses under her breath as she returns Sputter. "I wasn't expecting that... but, I was expecting not to beat that one, so it doesn't count!" She tosses another Ball, sending out Striker.

Merry considers the Aron for a moment, before sending out their Wooloo. They start off with Cotton Guard, Wooloo's coat getting several layers more dense. Striker digs up heavy stones from the earth, flinging them at Wooloo with Rock Tomb. The stones get lodged in Wooloo's thick coat, barely effecting her.

Merry calls for Double Kick, Wooloo swiftly moving across the field, avoiding the potholes caused by Rock Tomb, and lashing out with her dainty yet solid hooves. Striker barely reacts, merely pulling up more rocks to throw at Wooloo.

The heavy rocks start taking a toll, and Merry notices Wooloo starting to slow as the rocks stay stuck in her fur. They order another Cotton Guard, making Wooloo as defensive as she can get. Sunny orders another Rock Tomb, and now both Pokémon are on equal terms regarding speed and defense.

Striker follows up with Metal Claw, small blades emerging from her forelimbs as she slashes at Wooloo. Wooloo tries to dodge, but is too slow, so she kicks Striker away with Double Kick. She follows after Striker to get in more kicks, Striker blocking with more Metal Claw.

An orange aura builds around Striker, and she's looking tired. "It's time, Striker! Use Reversal!" Striker charges in, slamming into Wooloo and knocking her back toward Merry. She picks herself up, also looking tired from the fight.

Merry whistles appreciatively at the move. "That was a good hit. Wooloo, use Copycat and use that move yourself!" Wooloo rushes forward, surrounded by the same aura, knocking Striker backwards from the impact. She struggles to stay standing, nearly done for.

Merry smiles sadly, shaking their head at Sunny. "You fought well, but even with all those rocks, Wooloo's still faster. Copycat and finish with Reversal!" Wooloo charges in, ready to finish the fight.

"Striker, Protect!" Striker summons a protective barrier, stopping Wooloo in her tracks. Before she can dance around to attack from the side, Striker drops the shield, using Reversal one more time and knocking Wooloo out cold.

"Wooloo is unable to battle! Point goes to Challenger Sunny!"

Sunny lets out the breath she'd been holding, relieved that her strategy worked. "Good job, Striker. Just two more to go..."

Even Merry seems impressed. "That was a good plan, if a bit reckless. Shows your Pokémon trusts you, lettin' herself get beat up like that. And you were smart to slow down Wooloo, take away her biggest advantage."

"Thanks. I saw her fight with Addie, I knew I needed to counter her speed. I'm just lucky you sent her out against the one Pokémon I have that can do that."

"You learned a lot from watching your friend fight, didn't you?" Merry looks her in the eye, suddenly a bit less jovial than before. "Gave yourself plenty of time to come up with a strategy, too."

Sunny doesn't respond, looking away from those intense eyes. Instead, she sends out Flare. "Are we fighting or what? Send out your Pokémon."

Merry sends out Yamper, sensing they won't get through to Sunny with just words. "Yamper, start with Charm."

"Flare, use Fire Fang!" Flare eagerly charges in, but Yamper rolls over onto its back, tail wagging and tongue hanging from its grinning mouth. Flare lands next to Yamper, petting the little dog's belly rather than fighting.

"No! Flare, Taunt it so it can't do that again!" Yamper Howls at Flare, and he flicks it in the nose and sticks his tongue out at it. Dark shadows settle on Yamper's head, and suddenly it's eager to fight.

Sunny orders a Fire Punch, but Yamper digs underground. Flare punches at the hole anyway, trying to see if he can reach Yamper underground, but of course he can't. Yamper unexpectedly chomps down on his hand, causing Flare to scream in surprise and pain, but that is cut short when Yamper tries to drag him into the hole, making him hit his face against the dirt.

Yamper emerges from a new hole, and Flare angrily swings his flaming fist at it, managing to hit it in the face. Yamper bites down on his hand again, lightning coursing through Flare from Thunder Fang. He hits Yamper with a Headbutt, but is feeling the sting of paralysis.

Yamper dives back underground, and all Flare can do is wait for it to emerge. He locks up from paralysis, just in time for Yamper to jump out and slam into him, knocking him out.

"Darumaka is unable to battle! Point goes to Leader Merry!"

Sunny returns Flare to his ball, her hand shaking as she does.

Merry tilts their hat back slightly, returning Yamper. "One more Pokémon?"

"Oh, why bother?!" Sunny yells, face flushed with anger. "I already lost! Your Gym is rigged, you know that? I have to beat three of your Pokémon, but you only have to beat two of mine! At least against Wally I could keep going if I won, you make me pull out if I knock out one of yours!"

Merry frowns, not appreciative of the slander. "Hey, I pull mine back if I knock out yours, too! It's fair!"

"No, it's not fair! I didn't even have four Pokémon, I had to go out and catch one just to face you! I didn't have time to train it!"

"Well that's your fault, you set the-"

"Why is everything always my fault!" Sunny yells, surprising Merry into silence. She looks around at the others, her anger abruptly vanishing and leaving her looking tired. "I... I mean... I'm gonna go." She runs away, hopping the fence rather than going through the Gym doors.

"Sunny? Sunny, wait!" Tsu chases after her, struggling to climb the fence as easily as Sunny had. "Come back!"

Merry watches them go, pulling their hat down to hide their eyes. They make their way up the hill, where Ed and the Gym trainer are still waiting.

"On her behalf, thank you for the match." Ed bows his head respectfully to Merry. "She'll be fine, I apologize for her behavior, both before and after the match."

"She's young, still has a lot to learn. Don't you worry about it none." Merry checks their pockets, but doesn't find what they're looking for. "I usually hand out a consolation prize, but I didn't grab one. Ellie, do you have one?"

The Gym Trainer checks her pockets, pulling out a TM. "Grassy Terrain okay?"

Merry nods, handing the TM to Ed. "Make sure your friend gets this. You might wanna go find her now, she looks like she needs some support right now."

"Right. Thank you again." Ed hurries after Sunny and Tsu, going through the door of the Gym.

AREAS
Mount Chimney Park Reserve, The Desert, Lavaridge Town, Chimney Peak

POKÉMON
Baltoy, Bonsly, Cacnea, Durant, Heatmor, Koffing, Larvesta, Machop, Magby, Numel, Sandile, Slugma, Torkoal, Trapinch, Tyrogue, Wynaut

The trails north of the Winstrate property quickly bleed into what is now known as Mount Chimney Park Reserve, a huge swath of land encompassing the lower two-thirds of the mountain and a wide berth around it. Trails extend all across the park, winding west up the ancient flows to Lavaridge, all across the forested foothills, through the hot, steaming tunnels surrounding the volcano and even into the desert bordering the east. Rangers roam the area, as do avid hikers, scientists, spelunkers, explorers, mountain bikers, and treasure hunters. Several small ranger stations are available to check in and even bunk at, for anyone that needs a little help or rest. And rest people do need, as they trudge through all kinds of terrain and elevation changes.

Cable Car Base Station
Easily the best method for ascending to Lavaridge and to the crater, the cable car gets plenty of traffic to and from the town. It takes quite a while to walk to, for those coming straight from Mauville- at least three overnights between the big city and the station, more for those unaccustomed to traversing mountainous terrain. One may choose which branch to take, depending on their aim: the ascent all the way to the peak, or the more practical trip straight to Lavaridge itself- most people prefer not to spend a day or so hiking up the ridge. Journeying trainers and Rangers may use this transit option for free if they show their licence to the operator. This is also the largest and most used Ranger Station in the park.




Technically, the desert is still part of Mount Chimney Park Reserve, but it tends to be thought of as its own place. The rangers allow this, too- the HRD classifies the desert as separate from the rest of the Reserve, as the ecosystems and Pokémon population are so vastly different. This is a favorite area of treasure hunters and ruin maniacs, who insist there are secrets in this desert that no-one has yet found. Certainly, anyone who goes in immediately finds everything they own covered in sand, and continues to find wayward grains for days on end.



Desert Stations - South and North
These two larger ranger stations bookend the path through the desert, ready to close off the area during the frequent impenetrable sandstorms. Those wishing to cross the desert must at the very least check in with the rangers upon entry and check out upon exit, so they are able to perform search and rescue operations. They also offer to escort travelers who may be nervous about the endeavor, or pair them up with more experienced visitors. Those going alone are advised to take the shortest route, sticking close to the western cliff wall and sheltering in the sand-eroded caves for the night inevitably spent in the harsh environment.

PROMPT: treasure tracker


PROMPT: wild ways


Titan Lapideous
Once, it was said that the ancient titans were sealed away, for humans feared their power. Perhaps that was true. But new research argues against those legends- it is said now that the ancient titans wait patiently, and will wait forever, for their bodies do not deteriorate. It is unclear what or who they are waiting for- a hero? A commander? A cataclysmic event? Nobody knows, and the titans are silent. They move, sometimes- venture forth from their homes, inspect the state of the world- but most often they sit, motionless, in the caves they carve for themselves, and wait.

It is said, now, for it is well-known- the ancient titans will take on challenges. For what reason they do so is uncertain- to strengthen themselves? To find one who proves their worth? It is unclear, but what is clear is what is required to initiate such a challenge. Two offerings are required to initiate a battle: one must be a natural energy restorative such as berries or herbal medicines, and the other must be something recognized as having value to Pokémon or to ancient humans. Nothing based in modern technology, basically.

Regirock may be battled in the Desert Ruins at the southern tip of the desert. If you lose to it, it will command local Pokémon to escort you to Desert Station South. If you knock it out, you will be chased back to Desert Station South by local Pokémon. If the latter occurs, it will be highly dangerous for you to enter the desert again for some time.

However, if your team wears Regirock down to where it feels you are going to win, it will dim its lights and bow to you, then eat the restorative offering. It will then show its respect by offering you a gift: a Z-Ring embedded with either a Rockium-Z or Groundium-Z, or an evolutionary item for a Pokémon it saw in battle. The evolutionary item will follow the rules of an offering- technological evolutionary items are not available.

With the connection of the cable car system directly to the town from both the Park Reserve and the peak, Lavaridge's tourism industry has blossomed. While still a small town with a close, familial culture, the residents have opened their arms and doors to all kinds of travellers. The hot springs are ever-popular, Lava Cookie vendors are found on every corner, and locally made, handcrafted products as well as Groudon-themed merchandise are flying off the shelves. Lavaridge has a wide variety of themed shops, most of which are extremely tourist-oriented. Considering, too, that a large part of its draw is trainer-facing, Lavaridge vendors can and do easily shift themed, trainer-oriented products.


The Herb Shop
The family who owns this shop try every once in a while to re-brand under a more fun or trendy name, but what people have always said sticks around- "The Herb Shop" is, for all intents and purposes, the store's true name. They sell, as they always have, natural supplements and remedies for both humans and Pokémon.


Available From Various Vendors:




PROMPT: mimos


Cable Car Lavaridge Station
From this busy hub on the eastern edge of town, one may choose to ascend to the peak of Mount Chimney or descend to the foothills. Journeying trainers and Rangers may use this transit option for free if they show their license to the operator.

Hot Springs and Sand Baths
There are many different facilities that provide the familiar services known to be Lavaridge's oldest and most loved attractions. Well-behaved Pokémon are welcome to join their trainers for a spa day, and some even come out having learned something!


SandZone
Hot and steamy obstacle courses await inside and outside the old Lavaridge gym building! Run through on your own or with Pokémon to try to beat the time on each course! Entry fee is $1000 for two hours, plus an additional $250 for each Pokémon registered to take on courses. SandZone staff encourage Pokémon to join in, going so far as to tutor them in specific moves used to manipulate the sandy facility.



Winding trails lead from Lavaridge to the open crater of Mount Chimney, through ash-coated forests and craggy climbs. These routes are long, hard hikes but beautiful- though many choose to skip them in favor of taking the cable car. There are few structures up here- the peak's natural beauty has been relatively preserved, even with the construction of the new Lavaridge gym and its increased foot traffic.



Lavaridge Gym
The new- well, nearly a decade old, now, but new to the town- Lavaridge Gym has been built partially into the side of Mount Chimney. It has the usual amenities, of course, but Gym Leader Flannery has built it here for a reason- a hall at the very back of the gym leads to a cable car, which brings participants to the center of the open crater. Inspired by her late mentor Blaine, five ultra-reinforced battle platforms hang high above the lava. Far below the platforms, but still well above the lava, machines are driven into the crater walls and together form a Recall Field- any registered Pokémon passing through the field will be turned to energy and bounced back into their PokéBall, and will be considered unable to battle. Flannery and her challenger will take up positions in individual safety pods at opposite ends of the central platform, cheers from the audience echoing into the cavern from where they gather at the crater rim.

Flannery's fiery matches are a huge draw for Lavaridge tourists! The amount of challengers Flannery has in a day, ranging from provisionally licensed students to highly ranked tournament-goers, means she's almost always booked up two or three days in advance. Flannery herself is thrilled with her career. She loves Lavaridge, and loves to see it thrive, and is so pleased to have had a hand in it. She's still peppy and fiery even as she's getting close to forty, and excited for any battle brought to her! She's confident and commanding, but happy and approachable, and takes her job seriously while still wholeheartedly enjoying it. She works Thursday through Monday, 11am to 7pm, but her 2:30 timeslot is always reserved for lunch. Due to the sheer amount of challengers and need to rotate and heal her Pokémon frequently, she only accepts 2v2 singles or doubles. Pokémon are released simultaneously, so no party has an advantage of choice. Flannery is currently experimenting with a more aggressive battle style, rather than using her usual strategic and defensive plays. Those that defeat her will receive the Heat Badge, their monetary prize, and a TR for any Fire-type move.

The field effects of a volcano are not always well-known to challengers. Fire techniques are boosted in power, water techniques become limited as they evaporate quickly. Rain summoned by Rain Dance quickly dissipates, and Hail becomes rain and then vanishes. Abilities such as Dry Skin and moves such as Weather Ball are affected, but not ones like Chlorophyll or Solar Beam- Grass-types can not pull energy from lava in the same way they can from sun. When this heat is compounded by Sunny Day, all but the most powerful of Water-based techniques fizzle out. It's logical, of course, but who battles frequently enough in volcanoes to know all of this?



Contest Hall
Contests are packed back to back on Flannery's days off, taking full advantage of the gym's field and spectator areas. Coordinators must direct their shows from a safety pod during performance rounds, rather than be on stage themselves. The Coordinator's Association has a reception desk just inside the Lavaridge Gym, where Coordinators may register and spectators may purchase tickets.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays Only
9am: D-Rank Singles
10:30am: D-Rank Doubles
Noon: D-Rank Singles
1:30pm: D-Rank Doubles
4:30pm: C-Rank Singles (Tuesday) or Doubles (Wednesday)
7:00pm: B- or A- Rank Singles (Tuesday) or Doubles (Wednesday)

Cable Car Peak Station
From this station, riders may choose to descend southwest into Lavaridge or directly south to the foothills. Journeying trainers and Rangers may use this transit option for free if they show their licence to the operator.

go relax :)

Sunny runs until she feels like she can't run anymore. She's in pretty good shape, so that takes a while, and she finds herself back on the road, not far from where she'd met Professor May. She stops to catch her breath, convincing herself that her face is flushed from exertion, and not from her embarrassing meltdown back at the Gym.

Of course, phrasing it like that just makes it harder to ignore. Of course she'd overreacted, and of course it looks bad. She hates that her anger is getting worse lately, and that her temper has led her to explode at people twice this week.

"Maybe that professor lady was right. Maybe I am just going through the motions. This isn't what I want! I'm supposed to be cool, a smart and savvy trainer who can overcome any obstacles in my way, who can eventually be a leader, even a champion! But instead I'm out here, talking to myself like an idiot."

She turns back toward Littleroot. "I should go apologize. Maybe... no, that will just look worse. I'll look weak. I need to stick to my convictions!" She instead turns to Oldale, but can't bring herself to start walking.

"What convictions? All I'm proving is that I'm a child. I threw a damn tantrum back there! Merry saw it, he knows! Eddie and Tsu both saw it... no telling what they think..."

It's all too much, trying to sort this out on her own is giving her a headache. She wishes Eddie were here. "He's seen me like this before, he'll understand. But... he came looking for me last time, and I told him not to worry. He probably thinks I'm... no, wait. He was afraid I'd do something stupid, and that's exactly what I did. I signed him up for the Gym battle, without his permission. Again. Oh, man... how does he keep putting up with me? Why do I keep doing this?"

A small grunt of effort is all the warning she gets before something slams into her from behind, arms wrapping around her stomach as a weight hits her in the back, bearing her to the ground. The breath is knocked from her lungs as she hits the ground.

"Give her back!" Whoever tackled her yells. "You promised! You promised you'd give her back!"

"Ow..." Sunny groans, trying to push herself up. Her assailant isn't making any other moves, just clinging to her and gasping for breath. She sees a fallen hat on the ground, and finally places the voice.

"Tsu, get off of me!" She tries to pry Tsu's arms loose, but the older girl is surprisingly strong. "I can't reach the ball if you don't let me up!"

Tsu's grip loosens slightly, just enough for Sunny to push her off, earning a surprised yelp from Tsu. Sunny flips herself into a sitting position, retrieving Shiny's Poké Ball from her belt. She hands the ball over, noticing the shape her friend is in as Tsu snatches the ball.

Tsu's hat got knocked off, her glasses are askew and her hair is a mess. She's breathing hard, her face is red, and there's a fresh scrape on her knee from when she tackled Sunny.

"Tsu, you're bleeding. Let me... are you crying?"

"No!" Tsu protests, fixing her glasses on her face. "...okay, maybe I am. But you can't just run away like that!"

Sunny knows this, but rolls her eyes anyway. "What, you thought I was just going to run off and you'd never see me again?"

Tsu's expression reveals that that's exactly what she thought.

"Aw, come on! I told you I'd give Shiny back! You didn't believe me?"

Tsu just looks at the ground, holding Shiny's ball tightly. "I've heard that before... and I believed him, just like I believed you. And then he left, just like you did... and I never saw him again."

Oh.

"Tsu..." Sunny scoots closer, taking a look at her knee. "I think it's just a scrape, you'll be fine. Come on, stand up."

Tsu chokes out a laugh, surprised at Sunny's words. "Aren't you gonna ask what I meant? About last time?"

"I mean... do you wanna talk about it?"

Tsu puffs her cheeks slightly in annoyance. "I let a friend borrow my Pokémon before a Gym battle. But he turned out to be a bad friend. Kind of like you."

Sunny slowly lets out a breath. Looking away from Tsu. "Okay. I deserve that." Still hurts to hear it, though.

Tsu pushes herself to her feet, offering Sunny a hand up. "I was ten, he was fifteen. He borrowed my Spearow, Minty, so he could fight the Celadon Gym. It's a Grass Gym. I had to go to school, and he never met up with me after. I never saw him again. So this time, I made sure to keep an eye on my Pokémon. To make sure I could chase my 'friend' down if they ran."

Sunny takes Tsu's hand, letting her pull her to her feet. "Look, Tsu... it's been a rough couple of days, alright? I'm kinda working through some stuff."

"And I just want you to know that I don't make friends very easily. They tend to leave, or I do. So if I call you a friend, I really do try to take it seriously. ...by the way, you're bleeding, too." Tsu swipes her thumb along Sunny's chin, which she'd scraped up in the fall, making Sunny wince from the contact. "It's just a scrape, you'll be fine."

Sunny mutters to herself darkly as Tsu recovers her hat. "Maybe you should think about pants next time you tackle someone. Might save your legs the pain."

Tsu laughs as she puts her hat back on. "Don't push it." She looks Sunny in the eye, then nods, apparently deciding the conversation is over.

"Okay... anyway, I guess I'm going back to the Pokémon Center. Nothing else for me at the Gym."

Tsu thinks about it, falling into step beside Sunny. "That's fine. What about Ed? Shouldn't you go find him? He seemed really concerned when you ran off back at The Point."

Sunny blushes slightly at the mention. "What, and you weren't?"

Now Tsu blushes. "Well... I stayed behind with Marie. We worked out a bit of a, uh, trade... haha... so I was kinda distracted at the moment."

Oh yeah. Marie. Forgot about her... Sunny abruptly facepalms as she realizes something. "Dammit! I needed that badge..."

"Ohhh... right. You turned down Brawly's, so you're actually behind Ed now. And if Marie beats Merry, she'll be ahead of you."

"Don't. Remind me..." Sunny mutters, hunching her shoulders in grumpy dejection.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Tsu steps in front of Sunny, making her stop short. "How about a trade?"

"Huh?" Sunny quirks am eyebrow questioningly.

"You need to catch more Pokémon so this kind of thing doesn't happen again. How about you and I go out tomorrow morning and look for one? Then, if I manage to beat Merry tomorrow, I'll get a TM you can use to make it more powerful. In exchange, you convince Ed to let me use the TM he got from Merry."

"I mean... you could probably just ask him? He'd probably let you use it. Wait, no..." She realizes too late she just gave up her leverage in this deal.

"Hmmm..." Tsu takes off her hat, scratching her head as if in thought. "Well, then you'll just have to owe me a favor. Maybe there's something else you can get me. If all I really have to do is ask Ed."

"Yeah, well... I'll talk to him about it, see what I can do."

"Great! It's a date, then!" Tsu smiles sweetly at Sunny, making her wonder just how much of the "clueless tourist" persona she's displayed so far is genuine.

"You'll really help me catch something? Because I was out there all morning and didn't find anything up to my standards."

Tsu pauses at that, genuinely thinking it over. There's the Tsu I know.

"Well, maybe the problem is your standards, then? You might need to think outside the box, leave your comfort zone. Maybe it's time to experiment?"

"Did someone say experiment?!" Another voice joins the conversation, and both girls turn as Ed comes jogging up the road toward them. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, hi Eddie! We were just talking about my battle, and all the things I did wrong today." She glances at Tsu, a hint of venom in her words which Eddie doesn't seem to pick up on.

"Ah, a post-battle debrief, excellent idea. Speaking of which, Leader Merry asked me to give you this. They said it was a consolation prize." Ed hands Sunny the TM, which she eyes warily.

"Grassy Terrain? What is this, a joke?!" She tries to crush the device in her hands, and when that fails, cocks her arm back to throw it across the field.

"Sunny, wait!" Ed grabs her arm, while Tsu just takes a step back.

"Wow, Grassy Terrain? Sounds kinda cool, what's it do?"

Sunny calms down enough for Eddie to let go of her, keeping her eyes on Tsu. Once he's sure she won't overreact again, he turns to Tsu to explain the technique.

"Grassy Terrain allows the user to terraform a small area, encouraging plant growth and empowering Grass elemental energy. This makes Grass attacks more powerful, and also creates a curative effect on any Pokémon inside the terraformed area, healing their wounds."

"Oh." Tsu seems disappointed, but shrugs. "Doesn't sound like anything my team could use."

"Yeah, mine either." Sunny agrees.

"Still, could be useful to hold onto." Tsu comments, which Ed agrees to.

"Yes, it might come in handy some day. Although, my team also would have little use for it. Although..." He puts a hand to his chin.

Tsu steps closer to Sunny. "What's with the hand thing? He does that a lot."

Sunny rolls her eyes, but smiles. "It's how you know he's really thinking. He says the 'textile sensation' keeps him centered, or something."

"...you mean 'tactile'?" Tsu looks at Sunny in confusion.

"What?"

"Tactile. It means 'touch-based'. What you said, textile, refers to fabric."

"Wh- uh... I... I don't know, sure? He says a lot of smart things, I can't remember them all! And how do you know what it means?" Sunny pouts at being called out like that.

Tsu just shrugs. "I've been talking to my friend Lucy. She's a fashion designer, remember? She called you grungy and outdated?"

"Hrmm... right. Her." Sunny scowls, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

Their conversation is interrupted by a soft coo-ing, followed by startled wing flaps as Eddie yells out in panic. "Ah, bird! Bird!" A small white Pokémon that Sunny doesn't recognize, but her Holotch calls Pidove, drops a parcel at Eddie's feet before flying away.

"Are you okay?" Tsu hurries over to Ed, while Sunny just laughs at him.

"Wha... what... it flew away. Good. ...what's this?" Ed gets over his momentary panic when he notices the parcel, and the name and address on it. "It's from Professor Birch at the Research Institute."

"No, seriously, are you okay?" Tsu grabs his arm in concern, not sure what else to do. "I thought you'd been attacked or something."

Ed stiffens at Tsu's touch, glancing down at her hands. "I'm... fine. It just... startled me, is all. I wonder what's inside this package!" He pulls his arm free, stepping away from Tsu to open it. Sunny takes the opportunity to casually take it from him once he's done so.

"Let's see! It's... some seeds. That seems cruel, making a bird carry seeds around. What if it got hungry?"

Ed snatches the seeds from Sunny, letting out an exasperated breath. "I doubt the Professor would send me any ordinary seeds. This might have something to do with the report I sent him."

"You finished that already? And you didn't let me read it? Eddie, I helped you write it!" Sunny pouts, and Ed just shakes his head.

"You helped with the research, you didn't write... actually, you have a point. When we get back to the Pokémon Center, I shall forward you a copy of my report. It's in my emails, I'll just need a working computer to access it."

Sunny brightens at the news. "Is that all? I can do that right here." She starts typing on her Holotch.

"I'm sorry... what?" Ed looks at her in confusion and concern.

"I'll just send myself a copy right now. Your email is '[email protected]' and your password is just your last name spelled backwards." She grins as she looks up from her device. "See? I already sent you look mad."

Indeed, Eddie is glaring at her, his hands trembling as his eye twitches slightly. "It appears that a security update is in order. It seems my information has been compromised." He turns away from Sunny, walking back toward Oldale.

"Sunny..." Tsu scuffs at the ground with her shoe. "I think you might have some boundary issues you need to work on." She follows after Ed, leaving Sunny by herself.

"...dammit, I am a bad friend!"

Name: Kira Wolf || Day: Thursday, September 24 || Time: Evening
Location: Petalburg Forest Outskirts

Name: Kira Wolf || Day: Thursday, September 24 || Time: Evening
Location: Petalburg Forest Outskirts

"Well, well! Not often I get to see so many returning faces 'round here!" Merry chuckles as Tsu approaches. They notice Ed and Sunny in the back, tilting their head slightly to gesture at Sunny with their chin. "Let me guess, that one put you up to it?"

Sunny looks away, suddenly deeply uncomfortable. Tsu, meanwhile, just shakes her head, even smiling at Merry. "Actually, this was my idea. Ed even tried to talk me out of it, but I wanted to see how well my training has been going!"

Ed sputters in protest. "I merely said that-"

"Well, hell! That's what the Gym's for!" Merry casually interrupts, taking a liking to Tsu's attitude. "Let's get out there! We'll get this battle started quicker than a Seviper in July!"

Tsu pauses, looking back at her friends. "Is... is that fast? I don't know how fast Seviper are, or what the month has to do with it..."

Ed raises one finger as he takes a breath, but Sunny cuts him off before he can launch into a lecture. "Just get out there, you goof!"

Tsu follows Merry out, and they're soon joined by Ellie, the Gym Trainer who'd served as referee during Sunny's match. "This official Gym Battle has begun! Challenger Natsuko versus Leader Merry! Trainers ready? Challenger, send out your Pokémon!"

"Let's start with the Grand Duchess! She's eager to show off how much stronger she's gotten!" Tsu tosses the ball, already used to the reaction from the others as Stacy appears. Tsu takes the moment to pat the Duchess's cheek as she leans down to gently nuzzle her Trainer.

"Hoo-whee!" Is Merry's eloquent response. "Now that's one I don't see every day! But let's see how she fares against my Tauros!" Tsu steps off the field as the multi-tailed bull emerges, vaguely recalling seeing one before at a trip to the Safari Zoo back in Kanto.

Stacy, on the other hand, isn't happy to see Tauros. She roars and slaps her tail against the ground, startling everyone but Merry, even Tauros. Tsu smiles in delight as she notices Stacy moved slightly to better put herself between Tauros and Tsu, realizing that was a display of affection and protection for her Trainer. "I love you too, Stacy! Go win this!"

"Uh... *ahem*..." Ellie takes a moment to recover her composure now that she sees Stacy isn't going berserk, just making an Intimidation display. "Both Trainers ready? Begin!"

Tsu has Stacy start with Leer, to show Merry she means business. Stacy glares at Tauros, intimidating him further. Merry calls for Horn Attack, and Tauros charges in to ram Stacy. She grits her teeth and takes the hit, and Merry decides to step things up a notch.

Stacy Tackles Tauros, so Merry calls for Wild Charge. Electricity crackles along Tauros, resulting in a sparking burst upon impact which pushes Tauros back. Stacy lets out a low hiss, but stays where she is.

Merry is confused by Stacy's lack of reaction, while Tsu just smugly grins. Sunny looks closer at Stacy, thinking back to the very beginning of the fight. When Tsu patted Stacy's cheek like that... "She slipped something under her tongue!"

Tsu waves at Sunny cheerfully. "Sure did! Before the fight, I made sure to give Stacy a Wacan Berry, which temporarily negates her weakness to Electricity!"

"Fascinating..." Ed is paying more attention now. "She doesn't have the best variety when it comes to techniques, but Miss Tsu certainly has a few tricks up her sleeve."

"Haha... yeah..." Sunny frowns, keeping her eye on Tsu. "She's definitely a rookie, but she's better than I gave her credit for."

Back at the fight, Stacy calls forth a rush of water, riding the wave into Tauros. Merry calls for Spite, and Tauros' eyes glow red as he looks into Stacy's. She grumbles as a hex is placed on her, preventing her from using Waterfall again. That's annoying, but Stacy can still Bite. Tauros uses Horn Attack, pushing against her as she tries to lift him in her jaws.

"Don't try to lift him, keep him pinned! Go for the neck!" Stacy adjusts her grip, causing Tauros to gasp as Stacy Bites into something vital.

"Aw, dang..." Merry mutters, kicking the ground in annoyance.

Tauros glares at Stacy with red eyes full of rage as electricity crackles along his hide, bursting out when it reaches Stacy's mouth. Stacy is pushed back, her tongue lolling out of her mouth from the tingling static.

Merry makes a token effort to communicate with Tauros, but the bull just charges forward, sparking with more electricity.

"Stacy, use Splash!" Stacy throws herself into the air, soaring over the enraged Tauros. "Merry, what's going on?"

Merry shrugs, but winces slightly. "You've gone and done it, is what's going on. Tauros has the Ability Anger Point, and you pushed the button."

Tauros paws at the ground, then lowers his head and charges again, horns shining in the sun. Stacy leaps over his head again, eyeing the bull warily.

"Well, get control of it!" Tsu protests, but Merry just shakes their head. "I've tried. Only thing that'll calm him down is a time out in his ball or gettin' knocked out."

"Fine, we'll do that!" Tsu watches as Tauros throws a tantrum, stomping on the ground and sending ripples through the earth. Stacy expertly hops over the ripples, not even noticing them. "Now's your chance, Bite him!" Stacy throws herself forward, wrapping her long body around Tauros as she bites into his shoulder. Tauros flinches as Stacy lifts him off the ground, his hooves flailing in midair. She rises to her full height, Tauros shouting in rage and fear before Stacy tosses him back to earth, where he lands with a heavy thud.

Tauros lays still, breathing heavily, but unable to stand. Stacy moves closer, and Ellie quickly calls it.

"Tauros is unable to battle! First round goes to Challenger Natsuko!"

Merry recalls Tauros, while Stacy leans in closer to Tsu, letting out a soft roar that sounds like the whimper of a dog, but much lower and with more bass. Tsu hugs Stacy as best she can, gently patting the serpent's belly. "You did good, Stacy! I'm sure everyone loved it!"

Stacy looks over to the sidelines, at Sunny, Ed, and Ellie standing there looking at Stacy with a mix of awe and fear. She looks down at Tsu, doubt obvious in her grumpy frown.

"Well, I loved it, and isn't that the important bit?"

Stacy rolls her eyes, grumbling something along the lines of I guess so...

Tsu grins apologetically, returning Stacy to her ball. "Sorry for the delay! She has self-confidence issues. For some reason she doesn't think anyone likes her."

She tosses out her next ball, Shiny neighing happily at the open fields before her. "Say hello to Shiny! ...Shiny, no, we'll go for a walk later, this is a battle!"

Merry smiles as Tsu wrangles her pony back to her position. They consider their options, finally tossing out Miltank, who grins menacingly at Shiny.

"Battlers ready? Begin!"

Miltank curls into a ball as she throws herself forward, rolling toward Shiny. Shiny races to meet her, leaving flaming hoofprints as she picks up speed. Shiny tries to trample Miltank, but the cow easily outweighs the pony, tripping Shiny up and forcing her to dodge. Miltank keeps rolling, picking up momentum as she comes around for another pass.

"Shiny, use Agility!" Shiny leaps over Miltank, then rushes to close the distance as Miltank unfolds and stumbles a step.

"Quick, Metronome!"

Shiny slaps Miltank with her tail, faint wisps of smoke rising as the fiery hair brushes across Miltank's coat. Miltank rocks her front hooves back and forth, and the white energy forms into a purple blade, which slices clean through Shiny without leaving a mark, though she cries out from the impact.

"That was Psycho Cut!" Ed grins in excitement, especially when he sees Miltank start hypnotizing herself again.

"We need a power boost, Shiny. Use Sunny Day!" Shiny tosses the ball of light into the air, where it bursts and sends a gentle glow down on the field.

The Metronome energy flows into Miltank, and her eyes go pure white as the energy lifts her off the ground. A pair of spectral golden wings emerge from her back, and she exhales a stream of flame as bright as the sun, dwarfing the light of Sunny Day.

Ed gasps in surprise, his Pokédex already out to identify the technique. "That's... Sacred Fire! The flames of the Legendary phoenix Pokémon Ho-Oh! It's so rarely seen, most of our data comes from myths!" He clutches at his hair in excitement as Shiny stands calm before the Sacred Fire, absorbing it into herself.

"Oh, but Shiny has Flash Fire! Between the light of the sun and this divine power up? Merry is in trouble now!"

Ellie and Sunny stare at Ed with concern, Ellie even taking a small step away from him.

Tsu listened to the informative Ed Talk intently, realizing now that she has the edge. Merry's quiet "aw dang..." confirms it, so she quickly calls out for Flame Wheel. Shiny's mane and tail extend as fire swirls around her, and she charges toward Miltank as fast as she can.

Merry quickly calls out for Stomp, but Shiny collides with Miltank before the bovine can lift her hoof off the ground. Smoke rises from a nasty burn on her torso, and her subsequent kick to Shiny's flank is notably lacking in oomph.

"Miltank, Rollout and get some distance so you can heal!" Miltank curls up, running away from Shiny.

"Oh, no you don't! Shiny, give chase with Flame Charge!" Shiny has no problem keeping up with Miltank, clearly the faster of the two. She shoves Miltank off course with Flame Wheel, and Miltank follows her prior order, healing her burn with Heal Bell.

Shiny rears up on her back legs, Stomping on Miltank's head and finally knocking her out.

"Miltank is unable to battle! And slightly out of Poké Ball range... Second round goes to Challenger Natsuko!"

Merry sighs as they look at how far Miltank got before getting knocked out. "May as well continue this over there. That work for you?"

Shiny trots up to Tsu, her head held high. Tsu chuckles nervously, hoping Merry isn't offended by Shiny's smugness. "Sure! Whatever you say, Leader Merry!"

Tsu returns Shiny as Merry jogs over to Miltank, following at a more sedate pace. Ellie leads Ed and Sunny to another hill they can watch from.

"Alright, I'm still working with this one, so sorry if he's a bit unruly..." Tsu tosses her Lure Ball, and Riptide yawns as he appears.

"A Totodile, huh? Well, then I choose Skiddo!"

Sunny grabs Ed's arm. "Goat! Those things are tougher than they look..."

"Combatants ready? Begin!"

Skiddo starts out with Grassy Terrain, causing the grass to grow thicker and flowers to bloom around the pair. Riptide glares at Skiddo, trying to intimidate it with Leer.

A glowing orb forms between Skiddo's horns as it uses Nature Power, while cold mist emanates from Riptide's mouth as he uses Ice Fang, large icicles growing from his teeth. He charges in, but Skiddo is faster, throwing the Energy Ball with a toss of its head. The orb strikes Riptide in the chest, making him stumble, but he chomps down on Skiddo's leg.

Skiddo bleats in pain, but the flowers around them release glowing green pollen onto the two, somewhat healing them both.

Skiddo hits Riptide in the head with its horns, briefly forming a connection as red energy flows from Rip into Skiddo. Riptide flies into a Rage, angrily clawing and snapping at Skiddo.

"Riptide, no!" Tsu yells out, remembering last time he used Rage.

"There are problem?" Merry asks simply, keeping an eye on Rip.

"No, just... it's like Anger Point, he doesn't listen to me when he uses Rage!"

Skiddo uses Nature Power, throwing a point blank Energy Ball at Riptide. A red aura flares around him, and he bites onto the grassy mane around Skiddo's neck with Ice Fang.

The Grassy Terrain heals them a bit, but Skiddo restores more energy with Horn Leech, while Riptide tries to roll Skiddo over, maintaining Ice Fang as he dangles from Skiddo's neck.

Tsu notices Riptide go slack, and Skiddo hops and tosses its head, sending Rip to the ground. He rolls once, looking dazedly up at the sky.

"Totodile is unable to battle! Point goes to Leader Merry!"

Tsu sighs as she returns Rip to his ball. That didn't go at all how she'd hoped, but she reminds herself that Rip is still a baby crocodile, and not very tactical despite his strength.

"Well, well! Down to the wire! I hope you're havin' fun, Miss Natsuko, because this is turnin' into a very interesting battle!"

"I am, actually! Let's see where this last match goes! Come on out, Cyrano!" Tsu tosses the ball, and her Nosepass appears in a flash, but doesn't move from where he's summoned.

Merry nods, moving their hand along their remaining Poké Balls. With a determined nod, they send out a dog.

"Aww, who's this little guy?" Tsu coo's at her opponent, who jumps forward a step, snarling and barking at her. She yelps and jumps back, and even Cyrano turns 90 degrees to the left, though his expression never changes.

"This is Herdier. He helps me round up the Wooloo, along with battlin', of course."

"Of course... nice doggy..." Tsu tries to regain her composure, embarrassed by her frightened reaction to Herdier's Intimidate.

"Ready? Pokémon Battle!"

Herdier starts out with a Howl, while Cyrano uses Thunder Wave. The static pulse washes over Herdier, making little sparks dance along his fur.

"Follow up with Thunder Punch!" Cyrano waddles forward, his arms spinning full circles as static builds up along them. He hits Herdier with both hands, electricity bursting on impact.

Herdier digs at the soft ground, disappearing into a hole.

Sunny nudges Ed. "Hey Eddie, didn't Yamper do the same thing against Neo?"

Ed nods, watching the field. "But I don't think Nosepass have as sharp of senses as Magnemite. Unless it has a way to sense movement underground he may be a sitting duck out there."

Tsu, on the other hand, isn't bothered. "Cyrano, Harden up until it pops out. It can't beat your stony defense!" Cyrano draws loose dirt and traces of iron to him, adding more layers of stone armor to his body.

Herdier bursts out of the ground, but static crackles along his fur, causing him to lock up before he can strike.

"Behind you!" Cyrano turns, his arms out straight as a rock hovers between them. He fires the rock like a bullet from a railgun, striking Herdier before it can burrow back underground. Cyrano stares at the hole Herdier dug into, Hardening his armor while he waits.

Herdier pops back up, this time striking Cyrano and spinning him around. Cyrano revs up his arms for a Thunder Punch, but instead jumps forward and delivers the shock from the end of his nose. Herdier dives back underground, so Cyrano waits, and Hardens.

Merry adjusts their hat, hiding their face in the shadows as they reconsider their plan. Herdier leaps from the ground again, actually managing to knock Cyrano over.

Cyrano doesn't move, but before Ellie can call it, Tsu holds up her hands. "Wait! He's just using Rest!"

Merry looks back up at that. "Herdier, get in there with Ice Fang! Try and freeze 'im before he wakes up!"

Herdier starts gnawing on Cyrano with a mouthful of icicles, as though he were a giant chew toy. A chew toy made of stone, though, and Herdier is probably hurting his own jaw more than Cyrano.

It takes Cyrano a moment to wake up, and even longer to stand, but once he's back on his feet he throws himself forward with a Thunder Punch, knocking Herdier back. He hefts a rock between his arms, taking careful aim at Herdier. Herdier tries to escape underground, but is gripped by paralysis, and a well placed Rock Throw knocks him out.

"Herdier is unable to battle! Victory goes to Challenger Natsuko!" Ellie calls it, and both Merry and Tsu return their Pokémon.

Merry approaches Tsu, hand outstretched. She bows her head respectfully before taking their hand, and they retrieve an envelope and a badge from their overalls.

"Congratulations, Miss Natsuko, that was a mighty fine battle! You've earned this here Dell Badge and the ₽5000 reward!"

Tsu grins in excitement at the envelope, doing some quick math in her head. "That means I can finally pay back Lucy! And still have a little left for myself, heh heh."

Merry just nods, clearing their throat to get Tsu's attention. "You've also earned a complimentary TM. Now, having watched you battle, I think you'd get some good use out of this Bulldoze techni-"

"Um, actually? Leader Merry?" Tsu interrupts, surprising Merry. "I was more thinking I'd like to get a Grass type TM? I think it would be useful to branch out, no pun intended."

Merry blinks in confusion, looking to Ellie. "You got one on you?"

Ellie checks her pockets, finding a suitable TM. "I've got Bullet Seed, how's that sound?"

"Perfect!" Tsu accepts the TM, bowing to Merry once more. "Thank you both so much. It was an honor to battle you!"

After receiving the package from Brendan yesterday, Ed decided to travel back there in person for more information. Yes, he could have just sent an email, but he'd prefer a proper discussion on the matter, not just a simple letter in response.

Plus, with Sunny headed out with Miss Tsu for some training, he had little else to do today.

So it is that he finds himself back in Littleroot proper, at the...cozy little research facility Professor Brendan runs. Is that right? Professor Brendan? Professor Birch Jr., perhaps?

Distracted by his own tangent, he enters the lab and doesn't see Brendan, but instead two women, Professor Heather Wisteria and presumably Professor May Norman. Wisteria is putting some files in a cabinet while May sits at one of the two desks in the room, staring sullenly into an empty coffee mug.

"Oh, good morning, Professor! And… Professor." Ed nods to them both, happy to see his teacher again.

May groans at Ed's tone. "It's too early to be that upbeat. Heather, tell him to come back later."

Wisteria rolls her eyes, but otherwise ignores May. "Good morning to you too, Edison. Anything I can help you with?"

"Actually, yes." Ed pulls out the packet of seeds from his satchel, showing them to the Professor. "These arrived for me yesterday, from… I guess from you, Professor Norman."

"It's May. Norman is my father." She glares at Ed, but it's half-hearted. He gets the idea she's been fighting this battle for a while.

"Right, sorry… I was rather curious to their effect, and figured I'd stop by."

Wisteria raises an eyebrow at that. "Could you really not have sent an email? Or even called?"

"Well… I thought of that, but… you see…" Ed stumbles, wondering how she had the same thought as him on the matter. "My Holotch is broken, slight misadventure in a cave, you see, and I haven't been able to fix it."

"So buy a new one." May interrupts. "Plenty of options around here."

"I would, but… I just… prefer Holotch to the other phones."

Wisteria chuckles, pulling out a notepad from the desk. "You're a particular one, Edison, with particular tastes. I know a place in Mauville that sells Holotch, I'll give you the address." She hands him the piece of paper, which he tucks into his vest pocket.

"As for your seeds? Not much to say, actually. They were grown inside particular types of terrain, one for each of the four. If they enter the corresponding terrain again, the latent energy inside is awakened." She reaches into a bag of sunflower seeds on the desk, biting one open as a demonstration. "If a Pokémon cracks the seed and eats it while under the terrain effects, they receive a power boost. It's quite simple, really."

"I see…" Ed nods, tapping his chin… but nothing stands out. It really is that simple. "Well… that's good to know."

"You got your answer, so go. We're busy." May grumps, and Wisteria offers Ed a sad smile.

"Sorry if you were expecting more. But I'm sure you have plenty of other things to do, right?"

Ed just nods, looking out the window. He has options, sure, but Littledale really is just a stop on his journey, not a destination. Maybe he can…

Wait.

"Actually, yes. I'll be going now. Goodbye, Professors." He waves, which only Wisteria returns, and heads outside. In the moment he'd been looking out the window, he thought he'd seen someone familiar out in the field, so he makes his way along the fence line to check. His advance goes unnoticed, for the girl under the tree heaves a sigh and drops her forehead onto the notebook perched atop her knees.

"Why is this hard?" she complains, muffled, to her Slowpoke, which simply peers over the edge of the wagon it rests in rather than give an answer.

"Something hard? Perhaps I can be of assistance?" Sure enough, Ed recognizes Marie and the Slowpoke he'd fished up sitting under a tree, although the wagon is new.

Marie perks up at his voice, curls flipping back from her face. There's ink smudged across the tip of her nose. "Edison! It's been a while! Um, I suppose you've met with Brendan already, if you're down here. He gave me homework," she says disdainfully. "Three hundred words of facts about a Pokémon species or whatever. It shouldn't be this hard, I just- don't know what to write."

"Oh, I know! It's great, isn't it?" Ed completely misses the tone of distaste in her voice. "It would be fine if he didn't put that upper limit on the project. Less than four hundred? I had to cut out some of my report! I've actually just come from there, but I saw you out here and wanted to say hello."

"Hello to you, then," Marie smiles at him, relaxing back against the tree trunk. "Say hello to your son, as well. I've been calling him Pokie. Oh, and I suppose your other one- here."

Marie clicks another of her PokéBalls, surprising Ed when a tall tree-like Pokémon emerges. It takes him a moment, but the pieces fall into place. "Wait, that's an Exeggutor! But it's… wait, you mean this is… Cutie?!"

He hops over the fence to get a closer look, but Cutie turns away from him. Ed pauses, but Cutie's tail and the fourth head located on it move closer, nuzzling against him. "Oh… I didn't know… how did this happen?"

Marie shrugs. "Alex said… something something Dewford in summer, close enough to Alolan climate, minerals in the ground out in the Wilds… yes. They took me training, the twins, that same day we made Cutie, and then he evolved. It was… hectic."

"I'm… actually sorry I missed that. I think I would've liked to see that." He gently pats the tail face on the cheek. "And you got… Pokie, was it? You got a wagon for him. You've been busy."

"Well, the wagon is temporary. I traded a rock to a child for it." Marie ploughs ahead without any elaboration on that, despite the confused reaction from Ed. "But I do enjoy being able to spend time with my Pokémon, so perhaps I will buy a nicer one later. Well…" she bites her lip, scowling a bit. "That is, if I start making money. I'm kind of… broke."

"Broke? Do you need help? Is that why you're out here? I hate to say it, but Professor Brendan doesn't exactly pay very well."

"Oh, no, I'll be fine, this is for… educational purposes." Marie sighs. "I don't know much about Pokémon, I'm sure you've noticed. Brendan said this might help. I suspect it's more like "force me to pay attention". But I must do things like this if I am to have a chance at being top eight in the League Tournament, mustn't I?"

"Top eight?" Ed tilts his head at her choice of words. It's oddly specific, but there is logic in what she says. "I suppose you're right, yes. Learning by observation is a proven effective method, and a bit more hands-on than my own learning, I'll admit."

"Top eight is quarterfinals, and quarterfinalists get to challenge the Elite Four. I want to do that. And I didn't get the book-learning you did, so I have to make up for it. But you're doing this for Brendan too, right? So that's extra studying for you."

"Well… I wouldn't call it extra studying, it's just me writing down the things I was already going to do. I wrote a report on Seedot simply because of how many Sunny and I ran into on the way here. They're actually fascinating, if you take the time to look at them. And don't just run to the Gym straight away…" Ed grumbles a bit at the end there, an uncharacteristic display of annoyance.

It's Marie's turn to tilt her head. "Trouble in paradise?"

"What? Oh, no, just… a bit of an argument. Sunny's been a bit… much lately. She's being extra Sunny and trying my patience a bit too much. I'm not sure… I'm sorry, I don't want to bore you with details."

"Oh, no, I'm quite happy to listen!" Marie pats the ground next to her, inviting him to sit. "What's she doing to bother you? You're so patient, I didn't think anything could!"

Ed fidgets for a moment, but takes a seat anyway. He has to think for a moment to decide how to put this. "Sunny never liked school, when we were kids. I did, though. Learning new things, figuring them out, reading and hearing about all the amazing things Pokémon could do… she wanted to be out there, actually doing it. So did I, I suppose, but now that we're actually doing it… she's still in a hurry. We're out here, living our dream, right? Why does she have to rush? Why does she have to pull me along with her? I'm not ready to fight the Gym Leaders, I'm not… I'm not trying to get into the top eight. And I don't think she respects that. Moreover, I don't think she respects me."

Marie blinks at him, lips slightly parted, but before he can feel too self-conscious she smiles again. Not the mischievous or coy ones that he usually sees, but something genuine and a little sad. "That's a big deal."

Ed stares straight ahead, turning a little red. "Yes. Well. It is, isn't it. I, uh… I didn't mean… You were doing something..." He turns more red, clearly out of his depth now.

"It's not so important," Marie decides, and proves it by setting the notebook aside. "It's more important to be around for my friend in his time of need. Or however you want to put it." She tugs on her curls, thinking. "Why doesn't she respect you? She should. You're like, good at stuff. And you know things. And you respect her. Unless you don't. I don't know."

"Oh, we're talking about me… it's not your problem, you don't have to deal with it if you don't want to." He looks over at her raised eyebrows. "Oh, you want to, okay…" He slowly reaches up, lowering his goggles over his eyes.

"Oh, don't do that, that's so… avoidant. I'll look mostly at Pokie if you want, just- don't hide." Marie drags said creature out of the wagon and into her lap with some struggle. "There we go. Have at it."

"I'm not good at this…" Ed relents, pushing the goggles back up. "You might not believe this, but I'm not the most active of people. When I was small, I didn't go out and do things, I didn't make decisions. But, at school, Sunny convinced me to help her with a project. I don't remember what, it's not important. But she kept coming back and she kept convincing me to do things. I think… maybe in her mind she had to keep pushing me or I wouldn't do anything. That sounds really one-sided… eventually I came out of my shell, a little. You may have noticed I tend to be the voice of reason for her."

Marie hums, playing with Pokie's feet. "I did pick up on something like that."

"Right. Sunny usually has ideas. They don't always work, which is where I come in. But lately? She doesn't listen as much. I've had to be more direct with her, even forceful, if I think she's making a mistake. Taking on these Gyms is fine, but she's moving too fast for my liking, and signing me up for battles is taking it too far. She wants to fight them, but she wants to watch me fight first, so she knows what to expect. She's just using me, I fear."

"Kind of sounds like it, yes." Marie frowns. "That's not fair. For- for like, many reasons."

"Not to mention, she's been acting strangely ever since the ferry. When we first met you and Avril, and again when we met Tsu, she's seemed more aggressive. When she came into my room at the Pokémon Center, that was probably my fault. I apparently forgot to lock the door. But yesterday she got into my emails to read the report I wrote. In all fairness, she helped with the research, but that's crossing a line, right?"

"Um, yes, I would say so. Big time. That's- there's boundaries, in any relationship, and I can't pretend to know what those are for you two but- the way you say it, it seems like they've been broken." Marie taps her index finger against her lower lip. "I know she's possessive. But the email, and just walking into your room, that's… something else."

"Possessive?" Ed finally looks over at Marie. "You think so? I should probably talk to her about that."

"Among other things, yes. It really is detrimental to everyone when she flies into a rage over someone flirting with a guy who isn't even her boyfriend," Marie sniffs.

Ed pauses, thinking back to the Point. "Wait, I thought she was mad because I gave you the Ball, and accidentally sabotaged your rivalry. Who was flirting?"

Marie laughs. "Ah, but think- she was keeping the Lure Balls from me right from the start, though she offered them to you and Natsuko. She was trying to punish me for flirting with you. It certainly didn't work."

Wait, she what? "You were flirting with me? That's why… oh, but then… oh. I didn't even think about that…" He shakes his head, thinking back to prior conversations. "So, you're saying that Sunny… has a crush? On you?"

"Why wouldn't she? I'm gorgeous," Marie says grandly, with a toss of her curly hair. "But that's not what I've been exploiting. This whole conversation's been about her possessiveness, Edison, and you think she's possessive over me? No, if she were into me she would be thrilled to see me flirt with you- both of us together for her to enjoy. But it's only you she wants to keep, I'm afraid."

Ed puts his hand to his chin, considering Marie's advice. "She has a strange way of showing it. I would never have picked up on that… perhaps I'm being too hard on her. Yes, she needs to reevaluate her boundaries, but she has no reason to fear losing my friendship. I'll definitely have a talk with her later."

Marie opens her mouth, hesitates, and comes out with a weak "I hope that goes well for you." She clears her throat. "How long will you two be in town yet?"

"Well… not much longer, I imagine. I convinced Sunny to stay a few days, but to be honest I think we've seen all of Littledale and it's getting a bit stale. It's been nice running into you and Miss Tsu while we were here, but we'll probably head out this afternoon, or tomorrow if something comes up."

"Ah, so soon! We probably won't see each other for a while again, then. I wish your Holotch wasn't still out of commission; that would make meeting up so much easier." Marie pats his hand. "But Mauville is busy! Maybe that will keep you occupied long enough for me to catch up."

His hand twitches at her touch, and he quickly pulls the note paper from Professor Wisteria out. "Well, funny you should say that, I was actually told about a place in Mauville that sells Holotches, maybe I'll get it fixed soon! I can call you when I do, we can talk about it later!"

"Oh, then let me-" The paper disappears from his hands before he can protest, and Marie quickly scribbles her own number on it, along with her name in loopy script, with a heart dotting the "i". "Perfect." She tucks it back into his vest pocket and smooths it flat. "Now you'll be able to get ahold of me for anything you want."

Ed quickly rises to his feet, nearly tripping over Cutie in his haste. "Absolutely! I can, I can totally do that, once I get there, just… just need to get it fixed, or replaced, I hadn't thought about it!"

Marie flashes him that coy grin she favors. "Keep thinking about me 'til you do, okay?"

"Of… of course, I… I keep all my friends on my mind. I don't have many, but you're… you're a good friend. Good, uh, good luck with your report. I'm just… yeah." He turns to walk away.

"Edison," Marie calls after him, voice strangely gentle.

He stops, looking back at her. "Yes?"

"Thank you. For, um, saying I'm a good friend." She pauses, and then: "Also, that was flirting, what I was just doing to you. Pay attention to that."

"Ah. Thank you, I'll remember that. For later." He quickly turns away, heading back toward the lab, only to stop and go the other direction. "I'm… going this way…"

It's after noon, and Tsu is back at the Pokémon Center, healing her team after her recent Gym battle. She's in good spirits, and thanks the desk nurse after her Poké Balls are returned to her. She steps away from the desk, tucking all but her Lure Ball into her skirt pockets, sending out Riptide. The little Totodile pouts and refuses to look at her, so she just scoops him up and hugs him close to her chest.

"Aw, cheer up Rip! I think you did great out there. It was a close match! You can't blame yourself."

Riptide mutters darkly under his breath, but doesn't try to bite Tsu, so that's progress.

Tsu gives him a kiss on top of his head. "I know what will cheer you up. I saw a little diner by the road leading north, we can stop there for dinner. Apparently they specialize in all kinds of pie. Meat pies, fruit pies, cream pies, you name it! Mmmm… I could really go for a nice dessert pie, maybe a chocolate one? But I bet you want something more savory, huh?"

It's about at that moment that Avril gets inside the Pokémon Center herself, seemingly quite tired and with her head in the clouds. She doesn't walk, but rather skates around the lobby, looking for a seat, before turning towards the black haired girl and slowly approaching her. Even now, Poppy precedes her, waving and chirping at Tsu before her trainer can do the same.

The happy chirps catch Tsu's attention, but she keeps a tight grip on Riptide just in case he gets too curious. "Oh, hi Poppy! Hi, Av- whoa." Seeing her friend gliding around the Center, seemingly effortlessly, catches her off guard. "Nice wheels, Avril. I didn't know you could skate!"

"H-Hello," Avril mutters as she stops in front of Tsu. "It would be weird if I still didn't know how to skate, after all that practice…" She pants, her cheeks visibly red. Poppy giggles from up above, before perching herself on her usual spot between Avril's hair.

"Well, I guess it's always fun to try a new hobby." Riptide snores lightly in Tsu's arms, having fallen asleep, so she returns him to his ball. "...little guy just conks out when he's weightless. But what brings you 'round these parts, stranger? Just takin' in the sights?" She briefly imitates the local accent.

The blonde girl shakes her head slightly, a somewhat resigned expression on her face. "Well, I was meant to tag along with June but it didn't happen, I rushed through the path to here after a bad situation happened and now I've picked up this weird odd job of being a waitress on skates!" She hastily speaks up, without pausing for a single breath. She keeps her eyes fixed on Tsu, almost as if she's studying the way she will react.

"A waitress, huh?" Tsu thinks it over, before shrugging with a smile. "I don't think I could pull it off! I'm not coordinated enough. But it's good that you found a job! I just got out of debt, myself. Maybe a part time job would be a good idea… especially if I'm going to feed my team like I have been. I've spent too much time at the Fan Club, I've spoiled them."

"You know… neither did I, Tsu… it was a shock to go to that place expecting a normal job and then getting nearly forced to wear these, but I kind of survived. Meaning…" Avril laughs nervously. "Maybe it's not so hard after all? Maybe you could also pull this off!"

"But as for the Poké-" The blonde girl stumbles on her words as she tries to keep speaking. "Uh… nevermind."

Tsu tilts her head curiously, her smile fading. "No, go ahead. Is something bothering you?"

"I… said nevermind…!" Avril gets all defensive, before looking down and sighing loudly. "Sorry but… it's a lot, kinda hard to talk about it." She whispers, wobbling slightly on her skates.

Tsu puts her hand on Avril's shoulder, not sure what else to do. "I understand, it's fine. If you're not ready to talk about it, you don't have to. But when you are, I'll be there. I'm heading out, maybe I'll see you later?"

Avril watches her friend leave and remains silent, with only Poppy chirping from on top of her head and waving goodbye to the other girl. But after no more than a minute of walking away from the Pokémon Center, the clacking of roller wheels announces the blonde girl catching up to her again.

"I'm s-so sorry…" She apologizes between huffs. "But yeah, I'd better talk about this. You already helped me in the past, so maybe you're the right person to begin with and… yeah, if it isn't obvious enough, I need help again." Poppy seems completely unaware of the conversation and seems to be really having fun up there, instead.

Tsu shakes her head with a chuckle and a smile. "It's fine, I get it. Always happy to help!" She keeps walking, as Avril can easily keep up with her. "What's on your mind? You can tell me, no matter what it is."

"Ok, so… how do I say this… well…" The Kalos girl mutters. "Some bad stuff happened in Petalburg and Route 102 even after we met and it just made all my doubts even worse… and now I know Poppy may disagree but like…" She takes a heavy breath, while Poppy still doesn't seem to care about anything in the world.

"I've felt like such a failure of a trainer, you said I could bond more with all my Pokémon but I can't bring myself to, and now I just… I just want to quit!" Avril confesses, trying to make it sound as serious as she can. "I couldn't go home right away though so I took up some jobs and now… it feels like some sort of limbo. And then… aah!" The girl has to stop talking and focus on staying upright after she stumbles on her skates.

Tsu catches her, almost going down herself, but somehow the girls manage to stay standing. "Okay! That's certainly a lot to think about. Maybe you should take the skates off, we can take this a little slower?"

"Oops, you're right, I'll just get to that bench…" Avril runs a hand through her hair. "Thank you…"

"No problem. " As Avril takes a seat, Tsu puts her hand to her chin like she's seen Ed do. Maybe it will help her think. "Alright… I'm no expert, but this seems like a lot to deal with. Has taking it slower helped? Given you some clarity?"

"Slower? Well…" The blonde girl closes her eyes briefly and pauses again. "I guess the worst moment was… Saturday to Sunday? Back when I was still on Route 102. I was 100% sure I would go home no matter what. But the more I think about it the more uncertain I get! I even…" Avril's mouth makes a slight smile. "I got some heavy advice not too long ago, and it said that life is a struggle regardless, so I shouldn't feel bad about it… but how is that good advice?" Avril groans. "I don't want to feel bad and especially make other people or Pokémon feel bad!"

"Life is a struggle?" Tsu shakes her head. "That's terrible advice! Who told you that? Actually, it doesn't matter." She takes a seat next to Avril. "Sounds like you're getting a lot of advice from a lot of sources. I think you need to figure out what advice to follow and what not to. Figure out the things that matter to you. You have Pokémon problems? Ask a Pokémon expert. If you're having Avril problems, ask Avril. What do you want? Not what others want, or what they think you want, or even what you think you should do. Do what you want. It works for me."

"Oh no what I meant is that…" Avril hastily replies. "That it's better to struggle to get where you want rather than giving up on things, because… ok, what happened is that my colleagues at the skating café thing took me out for a skate and wanted me to learn some tricks, but I was falling over and over and not really getting them and that made me sad. And so…"

The blonde girl takes a breath before diving right into her storytelling again. "They gave me that advice! They said that you're going to struggle with basically anything in life, so you just have to find things that you feel good doing even if you struggle and keep at it, because that's how they became so good at skating despite falling so often when they started out, or how one of them still pursues a career as singer even if her family is not so happy about it… and oh, sorry for rambling, that was a lot."

"No need to worry! It's good to have context. I guess it makes sense, if it's about sticking to what you want to do."

"Hm… but yeah, what I want to do… what I want to work for and struggle at without feeling bad about it… uh…" Avril puts her hand on her chin as well, mimicking Tsu, but stays quiet, looking unsure of what to say.

"Well, we said we'd stop so I could change into my sandals and keep going wherever you need to go but I still haven't gotten to it and I'm making you waste your time... that's a start if any-" The girl chuckles nervously, but as she bows down to tie off the laces, the little sprite on her head floats down into her field of vision, shaking her head and chirping playfully. After that, Poppy does nod… while pointing at the skates.

"You need to stop thinking like that!" Tsu chuckles, watching Avril change shoes. She momentarily feels a little awkward for it, so she looks up at the sky instead, watching the afternoon sun start making its way towards the horizon.

"Poppy please, I've skated enough for today, but…" Avril whispers in the meantime, getting back a few chirps from her Pokémon. "We'll do it again for sure!" She continues, as she finally gets ready to go again. "And, Tsu… look, if there's one thing that comes to mind, it has to be Pokémon… I'm struggling with it right now but some of the feelings Pokémon gave me in the past, they make it worth it, I think…"

The Kalos girl grabs her Holotch as well, at this point, and goes straight into the Gallery, trying to find that picture of her and Jo that Tsu shot back in Slateport. "Even this was… quite nice, you know? I guess I should look for help before giving up entirely, if that's the case."

Tsu looks at the photo, a genuine smile on her face. "Hey, I remember this! That was a good day, we need more like this one…" It also reminds her of her photography, which she's been putting off lately. I should take more pictures, I'm not bad at it...

"It was, yeah…" Avril smiles as well. "And to think that I got to know the both of you because of Poppy…"

"Yeah, she's definitely the more impulsive one. No offense." Tsu rises from the bench, stretching her arms over her head. "Let's keep going, I think the lab is right down the road."

"Oh right, how embarrassing of me…" Avril gets up as well and quickly catches up, now holding the skates in her hand. "Where did you say we're going exactly?"

"Some place called the Littleroot Research Institute. My friend Edison suggested I go there. Apparently the local Professors, Brendan and May, are former Hall of Fame Champions like Wally. I figured I'd check it out, and Ed said I could take on research assignments there. Hmmm… I wonder if I can use my camera…"

"I see…" the blonde girl replies as if she's in awe. "So you were going to those experts anyways… might as well…" Avril now seems to be just thinking aloud, her words getting harder to discern. "Oh wait, Ed… Edison?"

"Mm-hm! I met him on the ferry heading to Slateport. We went fishing at the Point together. He's a good guy, if a bit weird. You know him too?"

"Oh y-yeah, but not much… I remember he said some stuff about Poppy not being happy with me and got me into some practice battle and then Poppy got knocked out for the first time in so long and I ran away…" Avril finds herself rambling again. "A-anyways! He is weird for sure!" She ends her 'speech' with a pout, before trying to collect herself.

Tsu pats Avril on the shoulder to comfort her. "I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt Poppy. But, it must have been hard for you... She seems okay now, though. She's a tough little cutie!"

"It wasn't even him…" The blonde girl mutters as she tries to lean against Tsu's shoulder. "But still, that was one of the worst situations that being a trainer got me into!" Poppy smiles towards the other girl in the meantime, nodding towards her to show appreciation.

"I can understand that…" Tsu gently frees her arm from Avril so she can recover a Poké Ball from her pocket, sending out Shiny. The little Ponyta looks around, excited to see the open fields. Tsu strokes Shiny's mane, and Shiny walks beside the two girls. "I had a bit of a scare with Shiny recently, I thought I was gonna lose her. But I got her back, safe and sound. I don't know what I'd do without her."

"You what?"

Avril shoots Shiny a nervous smile, but still looks fairly fazed by those words. "I-I'm glad things were fine in the end, I can definitely relate to that… I m-mean, I've spent basically half my life with Poppy, I don't even remember what it's like to be without her…"

"Well… it's a long story, but someone ran off with Shiny's Poké Ball, and I had to chase her down. In the end it was all just a misunderstanding, but it was really scary at the time!" Tsu pats Shiny's cheek, the pony lightly pushing her head into Tsu's side in return.

"I understand how you feel, you know? There's a lot that can happen, and it can be scary sometimes. But… like you said, if not for Poppy, you and I might never have met. And I'm sure there's a dozen other things you've been able to do thanks to Poppy that are even better than just meeting me."

Avril smiles again, but it doesn't look entirely happy. "Here's the thing, Tsu… if not for Poppy, I and Kimberly wouldn't have met either. Or…" The girl pauses briefly and takes a breath. "Or Marie, or Hikaru - right, the one trainer who basically brought me into the depths of the cave in Dewford thinking I was this masterful trainer or something…

"But then again you're right, I guess I just have to focus on the good… just focus on this moment, and hope it can continue…" The blonde girl is rambling once again, but this time with her cheeks getting gradually more red as she speaks.

Tsu puts her arm around Avril's shoulders, pulling her into a side hug. "I think that's a good idea. Don't let yourself get distracted by the bad situations you find, but focus on the good ones. Go and make more good moments, like walking down the road with your best friend on your head and a cute pony by your side." Shiny neighs happily, sounding like she's laughing.

"And another great friend beside me…" The Laverre girl adds, never letting go of Tsu until they both reach their destination.

Pokémon / Inventory:

AVRIL'S MONEY: $32 000

AVRIL'S TEAM:
🌼 Poppy (Flabebe) ♀
Flower Veil
Synthesis, Fairy Wind, Grassy Terrain, Aromatherapy, Wish, Magical Leaf

🌼 Hydrangea (Shellos) ♀
Storm Drain
Water Pulse, Mud Bomb, Recover, Rain Dance, Mud Sport, Hidden Power (?)

🌼 Wisteria (Inkay) ♂
Infiltrator
Night Slash, Hypnosis, Topsy-Turvy, Pluck, Reflect, Psybeam

🌼 Venus (Mawile) ♀
Intimidate
Fairy Wind, Crunch, Sucker Punch, Iron Defense, Taunt, Baton Pass

AVRIL'S INVENTORY:
🌼 2 Empty Pokéballs
🌼 2 Potions
🌼 Eviolite
🌼 Silk Scarf
🌼 TM for Ally Switch
🌼 5 Rare berries

🌼 Holotch (phone version)
🌼 Fanclub Membership card - valid until October 17^th
🌼 Various clothes and commodities

AVRIL'S CONTACTS:
Jordie, Shuna, Natsuko, June, Marcella, Hikaru

AVRIL'S BADGES AND RIBBONS:
🥊 ➕

🎀• 1

🌼 Character art made with [SPAN="color:rgb(40,180,40);"]https://picrew.me/image_maker/338886[/SPAN]

"So that's the place, correct?" Avril points at a small, squared building sitting at the edge of a large property, with already a few Pokémon visible inside. She's still standing close to her friend, the only one who's already been here and seems to know the professors who work at this lab, hoping she can rely on her for reassurance.

If her trainer is more lukewarm about this, Poppy feels quite enthusiastic to finally meet the renowned trainers, Brendan and May. She chirps and floats around, hoping to convey some of her eagerness to Avril, but also keeps an eye on Tsu and Shiny, smiling at them whenever she can.

Tsu pulls out a travel brochure she'd picked up at the Pokémon Center. "...yep, that's the place! Ed said the professors inside are a bit quirky, but they know their stuff."

Shiny easily keeps up with Poppy, excited to have another Pokémon to play with. She'd only tried to eat Poppy's flower once, but Poppy had quickly convinced her not to try that again. Her flower is a quintessential part of her after all!

"Well… let's go together, I guess!" Avril tries to keep calm, but is still too reliant on her friend. She helped her even with Kimberly, so what could go wrong?

"Sure. Shiny, we're going inside now, okay?" Shiny dutifully trots over to Tsu, nuzzling her hand as Tsu pulls out her Poké Ball and returns her. "She doesn't like being inside buildings."

Heading inside, they find the surprisingly small lab space in its usual state of casual disarray. Professor Brendan himself, wearing a beanie colored to look like a Poké Ball, is seated at one of the desks. He hears the door open, wheeling himself over to greet the two, his arms draped over the backrest as he sits backwards in the chair.

"Good evening, ladies, and welcome to the Littleroot Research Institute! I'm Professor Brendan Birch, and it is lovely to meet you!"

The blonde girl somewhat freezes, knowing that the moment has finally come. This allows Poppy to chirp and wave towards Brendan before her trainer, who speaks up only after that. "H-hello, nice to meet you too. I-I'm Avril! And that is my friend Poppy." She gestures towards the Fairy type floating above her head.

Beside her, Tsu waves to the Professor. "And I'm Natsuko. Natsuko Soyokaze."

"I don't often see Fairy types around here, so it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Poppy" Brendan smiles, turning his beanie inside out so it now resembles a Voltorb rather than a Poké Ball. "And what can I do for you today? I'm always happy to help."

"Right, uhm…" Poppy's trainer is way less enthusiastic than her, but she tries to keep a smile on her face even if it looks quite forced. It's definitely harder to speak about these issues with people you've just met. "I came here to journey through Hoenn as a trainer, because it seems I've always had potential, but things haven't gone so well lately and…"

Here's the reveal. "I think I need some help, or else I'm just going to give up."

Brendan's attitude changes immediately, as he gets up and offers Avril his chair. "Alright, tell me more, I'll help however I can."

The door in back opens as another researcher enters the room, holding a pen and clipboard. "Brendan, I need you to sign off on these-"

"Not now, May. I'm in the middle of something." He sits on the edge of his desk, while May frowns in annoyance and leans against a filing cabinet. "I'm all ears, Avril."

She takes her sweet time sitting down and getting at ease, but eventually explains how she got here… including how she met Poppy and how that's different than catching a Pokémon in the wild, how she was frightened by those high-stakes battles at Valerie's gym, how everyone still praised her bonding skills with Poppy and pushed her to become a wonderful trainer, and of course, all that happened once she actually reached Hoenn and gave it a try.

When putting everything in perspective… Avril becomes very emotional. It's all very bittersweet, because even past the bad moments, she can see there's a light shining through… and the advice she's received just a few hours before is basically the cherry on top of all this. She's no longer convinced that giving up is the solution, but is ready to embrace feeling lost once again. Poppy seems to listen carefully to every word her trainer says, before diving head straight for her cheek and hugging her trainer… her own way.

"You say you're ready to give up, but it sounds like you want to keep going, too." Brendan offers gently. "I think this is a big decision, not one to be made lightly or even right away. Maybe you could slow down, but I'd recommend continuing to travel, even if you don't battle."

"He's right." May speaks up, the first she's spoken since she arrived. "Battling isn't for you, I think you've shown that much. But there are plenty of other things you can do with Pokémon. And traveling can help you figure out what you want to do. You could be a Doctor, a Ranger, a Researcher, even a Professor, teaching others. Just not a battler, because you don't have the constitution for it. Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"And it's not just what you want, but your Pokémon as well." Brendan chimes in. "Poppy looks like she'll stick with you no matter what you do, and that's a rare and strong bond. But what of your others? How do they feel about your journey?"

"T-that is precisely the biggest problem I have though… maybe. You know," Avril looks down in shame as she speaks, "I feel like a failure because I've never understood my other Pokémon well and… even if I do slow down and choose not to be a trainer, what about them? I'd rather travel with just Poppy but I owe it to my other Pokémon too…"

"Well, let's see them." May crosses her arms impatiently. "See how they feel about you."

Avril shudders, but tries to find the strength to do that by repeating herself what she just said. She caught those Pokémon and so, she owes them. And Brendan and May are simply there to help her fulfill this unwritten deal. And so the girl leans to the side where her stuff is and pulls up three Pokéballs from her tote bag.

The first to come out is Angie. Avril looks at Tsu while her Pokémon appears, knowing that they caught her together, but the Water Type doesn't seem to care. She looks around nonchalantly before trying to bury her head inside of her trainer's bag, pulling out a single Oran berry and munching on it happily.

The second Pokémon is Wisteria, who starts to float around the place filled with excitement, zooming around the four humans before perching himself on top of Brendan's head.

The third and final Pokémon makes Avril tremble as she timidly explains, it was caught by chance. It helped her out in battle, but only in its own way, and almost hunted and ate another Pokémon in front of her dastardly innocent eyes. The small, pouting menace known as Venus materializes in a flash of light in the middle of the group, but soon decides to jump up and land on Avril's lap, a good place from which she can show off her maw and… attachment to her trainer.

The girl is busy enough with collecting herself after rolling back on Brendan's chair, but even after she does so, her expression is anything but calm. She's supposed to be doing a proper introduction for Venus now that she's also out, but she can barely whisper her name.

"Well, they're certainly a free-spirited bunch!" Brendan laughs as Wisteria perches on his head.

"That's one word for it." May mutters as the Pokémon move about. "You're just gonna let that one take whatever she wants from your bag? And what's with that look? You're not scared of your own partner, are you?"

"May…" Brendan shakes his head at her. "Sorry, May tends to be a bit blunt…"

Avril is visibly turning more pale as the seconds pass, though. There's no hiding it, and she realized it too, because she just nods at May's question. "I bonded with Poppy because of s-sheer luck and because I took advantage of her being in danger… that's it…" The girl mutters, almost crying. "But this is not the same thing, I failed, I failed, I… I'm no better than the bad trainers I saw at home. But my Pokémon deserve better! At least I know this…"

"Well… hey, at least there's that!" Tsu tries to comfort her friend. "You can't be as bad as those others if you're trying to improve, right?"

"This is an improvement?" May quirks an eyebrow at Tsu, gesturing to Avril keeping herself as far from Venus as possible. "This doesn't look like training, or bonding. Venus here needs someone who isn't afraid of her if she's going to reach her full potential."

"What, someone like you?" Tsu snaps at May.

"Yes, actually." May doesn't back down, meeting Tsu's glare with a cold look of her own. "I've trained plenty of Pokémon, and I know a bad match when I see it."

"Wha… Avril?" At a loss for words, Tsu turns to her friend, but May isn't done.

"Avril, the choice is yours. You can hold onto Venus and try to raise her yourself, let me train her properly, or let her go. Choosing not to make a decision isn't really a choice at all."

The girl's mind goes towards the stone she promised to Venus, and how she still hasn't got it back. Another problem she hasn't resolved! In her plans, she would release Venus to begin with after giving her that stone (the one Hikaru still owns) because what May has just said is definitely true: they don't match. But leaving Venus here is an alternative she didn't know was possible.

Overwhelmed by feelings, Avril circles around the answer for a bit, looking at Tsu, then Brendan, then May. In the end though, she accepts the professor's offer. "As long as I can see her again once I get her what I promised…"

May nods, holding her hand out for Venus' Poké Ball. The Mawile looks around warily and, when Avril only looks at her with a sad smile, she tries to jump off her and sneak past Tsu, grinding her teeth. But her attempt is short lived, as she disappears in a flash of light back into Avril's… or rather, Hikaru's Pokéball. The girl quickly hands it over, just so that she can get it over with. "I feel sorry for her but I can't keep her around like this!"

Brendan claps his hands together once, breaking the tension and drawing attention back to himself. "Well, this certainly got heavy! Avril, if you'd like, there are several ways you can work on being a trainer even without battling! I'd recommend continuing to travel, bonding with the Pokémon you have. Maybe you could help with my research? I'll always accept reports on Pokémon you encounter during your travels. Or… just be yourself. Don't stress yourself out too much, just enjoy the country and the company you keep. You seem like a smart girl, and you have friends who care about you."

One glance at Tsu is in order here for the blonde girl, who then bows down and thanks Brendan for the kind words. "I h-hope my Pokémon can understand too…" she adds - to which Poppy nods, obviously - before fixing her eyes on Brendan. "You also said… reports? What about those?"

After giving Avril some more quick Pokémon care advice, Brendan introduces the new topic. "Reports, uh? Just an ongoing deal I have going here. There's only so much data I can collect here, so I've been outsourcing to traveling Trainers. Just a quick report, three to four hundred words, about a Pokémon you observe in the wild. Their habits, how they interact, just basically write what you see. It's a good way to learn more about Pokémon, I can collect and collate the data here, and some of May's trained bird Pokémon will bring you a reward!"

May nods at that. "My birds are well trained. They can find you anywhere."

"Well… that's not creepy or anything…" Tsu mutters under her breath.

"Ok, ok… so you do think something like this can help me with… uh… getting better, right?" Avril asks in the meantime, looking more towards May than anyone else.

"Well, it certainly can't hurt!" Brendan shrugs with a smile. "Learning about them is just one way to improve your skills, and you don't have to battle them or disturb them. Don't be afraid to try something new, you might like it. And if you don't, at least you learned that about yourself."

The girl tries to feel Brendan's smile and mimic it herself, as Poppy reassures her from above. "A-Alright, I will try to write those reports and just… see how it goes, right?" Her eyes move towards the skates, still there on the floor, and the waitresses' words come back into her mind. "Thanks for that… opportunity, Brendan and May…" Avril adds.

"Hey, no problem! We're here to help, after all. My door is always open!" Brendan smiles warmly at Avril.

"Mine isn't." May responds, which just makes Brendan roll his eyes.

"Hers isn't. But if you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask."

"Yeah I know I'm a lot of work…" Avril chuckles nervously, as if to validate what May said and blame herself instead. "But alright, one open door is better than none! Thank you very much…"

Tsu puts her hands on Avril's shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze. "You are not work, Avril. Don't be so down on yourself!" The Laverre girl nods a few times, trying to convince herself that Tsu is correct.

Tsu bows her head to the Professors. "Thank you both for talking with us."

Brendan looks to Tsu, as though he'd forgotten she was here. "You know, you could fill out reports for me too, Natsuko. What do you say?"

"Me?" Tsu slowly backs away, quickly making excuses. "Oh, no thank you! I'm terrible at writing essays, I hated them in school. You wouldn't hear anything interesting from me! I think I'll just stick to what I've been doing so far!"

"But, Tsu…" Avril chimes in, sensing the opportunity to give her some of her own medicine. "Even if you don't like writing much, you know how to take the chance and get some nice pictures… that's pretty helpful for this job, right?" She smiles, and finally looks a bit less restrained. "I could even lend a hand with writing if you want!"

Tsu looks between Avril and Brendan, and notices even May in the back smirking. "Well… I suppose trying new things can't hurt. How about we write our first report together, so we can see if we like it?"

The blonde girl didn't quite expect this outcome when she started encouraging her friend, but now is even more relieved that this is the case. If she's going to start a new task, doing it with Tsu is certainly going to help. "I-I'm up for it!" Avril smiles towards her friend, definitely in a better mood than when she entered the lab in the first place.