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Isla's adventure continued with the train to the Wild Area, taking her away from the place she'd called home for the past two years. She caught several of her old classmates aboard, some chatting with each other and others keeping to themselves. Isla found herself in the latter camp, keeping busy by sewing a few of her spare shirts together into a makeshift chew toy.
Her hand was properly bandaged up now, having already had to rebandage it since it seemed Om's habit of biting her was, well, a habit. At least now she knew how to quickly get him off. And she was actually starting to figure out the timing of Om's chomps so she could avoid them. It was kind of like a little game between them.
The toy, however, was to keep Om from biting everything else around him when Isla's hand wasn't an option.
Eventually they made it to the Meetup Spot, the final sanctuary before the untamed wilderness ahead. There was a store inside the station they got off at where Isla purchased a belt made for holding pokeballs. It had six slots, and Isla was eager to fill them all. Especially after the excitement of catching Om. She also happened to notice a perfectly good poke-doll, something she'd forgotten these places stocked else she wouldn't have bothered with making one herself. Oh well.
Thus, she currently found herself skulking around the grass at the fringes of the Meetup Spot. She knew there were countless pokemon in the Wild Area proper, but if there were any pokemon unique to this spot in particular she wouldn't want to miss them. Beside her was Om, laying comfortably in the grass with his new, vaguely-doll-shaped collection of stitched-together shirts (stuffed with further shirt), and Woop who seemed upset with Isla for keeping him inside the ball the entire train ride.
"Sorry Woop, I couldn't really keep an eye on you and work on the toy at the same time. Couldn't risk you getting into trouble again, you know?" Isla offered Woop a soft smile. The Mime Jr. frowned at her defiantly, something that lasted mere moments before he just couldn't be mad anymore. At her, at least, as he'd now shifted the blame for his neglect on Om. He glared at his shelled companion, and Om glared back, the toy in his mouth being the only thing keeping him from taking further action.
Isla continued her search until she laid eyes on a ball of shaggy brownish-grey fur. It stared at her from some bushes at the edge of the Meetup Spot, watching with big yellow eyes and a toothy grin. A thick lump of fur hung limply from its face like a beard, wiggling around as a single mass. Something about that beard was mesmerizing.
It beckoned her toward it with a wave of its paw. Who was she to refuse?
She moved toward it and it pulled its head back, hiding in the bushes. Surrounding the Meetup Spot was a ring of crags with the only opening leading to the Wild Area, so hiding could only do so much. Despite this, Isla pulled apart the bushes and found no Meowth waiting behind. Instead she found a crack in the rocks; an opening leading to the darkness within. The Meowth's bright yellow eyes gleamed from within, meeting her own before turning to go deeper.
Was it trying to show her something? There was a moment of hesitation as she looked at the narrow crevice, just wide enough at the bottom for her to crawl through. Only a moment before her curiosity got the better of her. It was a bit of a squeeze between her and her bag but she made it through, with Woop and Om close behind.
It was fortunate for her that the gap-too-small-to-be-called-a-tunnel didn't go on for very long, as her hands and knees were beginning to hurt from the crawling. It opened up into a torchlit cave, and in the middle of the circular area were a pair of Meowth that were locked in combat. They slashed wildly at each other with their claws, as several more of their kind surrounded them in loud excitement.
At the head of this ring of spectators were several boat-looking things. "Boat-looking" because she doubted the boat-shaped collection of branches and litter could survive long on water. And sitting atop one of them was a Perrserker, watching the pair of battling Meowth with glee as it munched on a berry.
The battle continued until one of the Meowth finally fell. The Perrserker brandished its claws, the points coming together so they resembled a sword, and pointed them at the victor. "Serker!" it called. The victor raised its arms and the crowd went wild.
Isla figured it was some sort of Meowth fight club, but what she hadn't figured was why she was led here. The answer came quickly as the Perrserker turned its attention to her. It pointed its blade at her, then at her pokemon, and finally at the victorious Meowth still in the arena. "Perr! Perr!" it ordered, raising its other claw high. Did it want her to join in the fighting?
Well, she didn't mind the thought. It might be fun to test her mettle as a trainer, after all. But she wouldn't force her pokemon to fight if they didn't want to. "What do you think?" she asked them "Do you feel like battling?" Woop looked at her with a blank smile. She wasn't sure he knew what was going on, but he didn't seem against it either. Om, however, seemed more worried about munching on his toy. He laid on the ground paying no attention to the battle-hungry cat pokemon.
"Sorry, I think we'll pass," Isla told the Perrserker. "Om isn't up for it and I don't think Woop is ready for you guys yet." The crowd of Meowth and their leader mumbled amongst themselves, considering her answer. The victorious Meowth didn't need to consider anything, clearly unsatisfied with her answer. It stomped up to Om who was still ignoring everything and tried to pry his toy away.
It struggled to pull it away from Om's strong jaws, only making the Chewtle more and more frustrated until Om finally let go of the toy. His maw detached from the bundle of rags and instead clamped down on the Meowth's head. He shook his prey in his jaws before tossing it aside, the once-proud Meowth now unconscious on the ground.
Silence lingered over the crowd before being broken by erupting cheers. Isla looked around at them, still confused. Woop decided to go poke the fallen Meowth's body and Om only cared about getting his toy back. When Om reached out with his jaws the toy was suddenly flung out of reach by a glint of light. It landed several feet away, a grey coin clattering beside it.
Om scowled and looked to where it had come from. The Perrserker was standing now, its eyes fixed on Om with an eager grin. A tiny sphere of light hovered over its hand, materializing into another coin identical to the one on its forehead. "Serk!" it barked. The crowd of Meowth moved to block the exit Isla had come from.
While Isla searched for another exit, the Perrserker flung a coin between Isla's feet. "Perrrr…" it growled in warning. She looked at where it had hit, having dug firmly into the stone floor. It didn't look like she had any choice in the matter.
"Sorry but I guess we're fighting, guys," she told her pokemon in defeat. "Are you ready?"
Ready or not, the Perrserker wasn't waiting. It charged at Om with its arms wide and ready to strike. Om stood its ground, ready to strike back the moment it came close. But Perrserker wouldn't let it. Before getting in Om's range it clapped its hands, the impact creating a shockwave that made Om flinch. Perrserker took the opening to grab Om. It spun the little turtle around laughing all the while, and launched him into one of the boats.
Om pulled itself out of what was now a pile of rubble, shaking off the dust and defiantly facing its foe. The cave filled with the audience's raucous cheer. Isla, meanwhile, was still struggling to figure out what to do. "Om, uh… Bite?" It was the only move that came to mind when she thought of him, really.
When Perrserker was done flexing for the crowd, it came in for another attack. Its head glimmered with a metallic sheen as it crashed down on Om's own, pushing the Chewtle back. But not far back enough. Om sprung back immediately, clamping its jaws on the Perrserker's arm.
Perrserker flailed in a futile attempt to shake the Chewtle off, even slamming it into another of the boats. But Om wouldn't budge. It glared at Om before letting out an ear-splitting Screech. Even Isla was forced to cover her ears, a luxury Om didn't have. Om held strong but Isla could see he was shaken.
Another metallic flash passed over Perrserker's head as it crashed it into Om's, the force of it finally knocking the Chewtle loose. Om reeled from the hit, feeling it far more than the last one.
Isla could tell it wasn't going well, but she wasn't sure what she could do about it. "Om, try to Protect yourself and buy some time." She searched through her memories of everything both Sonia and Winston had taught her, hoping that looking through her pokedex at the same time would help things spring to mind.
Perrserker brandished its claws and rushed at Om with a flurry of Slashes, each one colliding harmlessly with a barrier. Om focused intently on keeping it up against the onslaught, unable to do much else. Then, the viking pokemon stopped its attacks. It summoned another coin, flipping it in hand before throwing it straight at Woop.
The Mime Jr. had been watching intently at its first real battle, a battle he hadn't expected to end up a part of. The coin hit his head dead-on, sending him tumbling back into the crowd. The crowd tossed him back out into the arena. He stood up, fear across his face as the Perrserker casually approached him.
Isla hadn't considered the possibility that she'd be using both her pokemon. Words sprung to mind, Winston's words after she got her starter. "He doesn't have a lot of offensive power but he's got some good support moves. I'll be counting on you to have my back if we end up in any double battles." She didn't really know what most of Woop's moves were good for, but if Winston thought they were useful then they had to be.
Perrserker loomed over the frightened mime pokemon, the little thing suddenly less interested in battling. "Parharharhar!" laughed the Perrserker, enjoying the upper hand. It crouched, meeting the mime face to face and letting out a deafening Screech.
Isla plugged her ears again, but Woop seemed unbothered by the attack. Now that she thought about it, Woop didn't react to the last Screech either. It was a chance. "Let's try your moves, then, one at a time." she said. "Copycat."
The command clicked in Woop's mind immediately. His demeanor did a 180, the trembling little thing suddenly standing straight and sneering his opponent just like they had done to him. He still didn't look the slightest bit threatening, but it managed to catch Perrserker off guard. A pale glow enveloped Woop as he opened his mouth and unleashed a Screech identical to the Perrserker's own.
Perrserker clutched its ears at the sound, a chance Om wouldn't miss. Without waiting for Isla he rushed in and clamped down on its leg. Perrserker screamed with pain, taking a step back and tripping over the turtle in the process.
"Hmm. I think I get it," said Isla as she watched the results. "Okay, I already know about these two… Let's try Encore." At once, Woop's expression returned to its normal, cheerful vacancy. He clapped for the fallen viking. Suddenly, the Perrserker's screams turned into Screeches. It tried to force its own mouth shut by hand but it couldn't, control of its own body having been forced away.
Om winced from the sound but kept attacking, gritting his teeth right on its opponent's body.
It looked like the tables had turned, somehow. "I wanna try the next one but I don't think I need to anymore. Can you use Copycat again, Woop?"
Woop obeyed, though he wasn't imitating the Perrserker this time. He got down on all fours and furrowed his brow as he crawled toward the Perrserker. The glow from before coated him again, gathering in his mouth as he opened it and forming a set of sharp, purplish teeth. It used said teeth to gnaw on Perrserker's other leg as it shrieked helplessly.
Isla stretched, glad to finally be out of that cave. Those Meowth really needed to get a bigger opening for it. At least it was pretty nice of them to let her free after their leader passed out. But what she really needed to worry about was getting her pokemon healed. Both of them looked pretty worn out, Om more than Woop. Om was mostly glad to have gotten his toy back, while Woop was still busy nursing the wound on his forehead.
Despite everything, she'd say it was a good experience. She learned some new things, her pokemon gained some experience, and she managed to make it out of there alive at all. It was a shame she wasn't able to get one of them, but her pokemon probably weren't in a state to go catching.
Just as the thought crossed her mind she felt a tug at her pants. It was a Meowth, using its beard like a sort of basket to carry a bunch of berries. They looked like the berries that Perrserker had been munching on, berries she recognized as Oran now that she could see them closely.
"Are you giving these to me?" Isla asked. The Meowth nodded. "Thank you. Give them to the others, please." The Meowth obediently set them down in front of Om and Woop, who eagerly ate them right up. Task done, it looked back at Isla expectantly.
A thought occurred. She pulled an empty pokeball from her belt. "I'm not sure what you want, but I want to take you with me. What do you think?"
The Meowth answered with gleeful hopping. That was good enough for her. She tapped the ball to her new companion's head, pulling it inside.
One. Two. Three. Click.
Spoiler:
Fuzz the Galarian Meowth♀
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Hasty
Moves: Fake Out, Growl, Hone Claws, Scratch, Pay Day, Metal Claw
Vito ♂
Rollout | Defense Curl | Powder Snow | Growl | Water Gun | Aqua Ring
Oblivious
Carmen ♀
Splash | Tackle
Swift Swim
Spoiler: Inventory
Holocaster Smartphone
Pokédex
ATC
Pokéball x4
Black Parka x 1
Black Wool Hat x 1
Badges: 0
Watchtower Ruins - Spirits Entombed - Part 1
Raph stepped slowly onwards across the grassy fields of the Wild Area. It had been a few days now since his conflict on Lake Axewell and he had been taking his time meandering through the woodlands and grasslands since then, training his pokémon, battling other trainers, his victory streak was perfect he might add, things were back on track, even if he didn't get a powerful pokémon like Hydreigon as he wanted. He had realized that Vito and Carmen were both powerhouses by themselves anyway, especially Carmen which had surprised him. Whoever said Magikarp was a weak pokémon had clearly never met her.
As he walked on with hands behind his head, he was moving in the general direction of Motostoke, at least he was pretty sure that's where he was going. He couldn't tell why, but something in his gut had just told him he'd been going the right way. It was a strange feeling, but something just felt right about the path he had chosen to take… almost suspiciously so, as Raph wasn't one for gut feelings most of the time. He ponders that for a moment, rubbing his chin and closing his eyes, only to open them and find yet another strange occurrence.
"Fog..?" He mumbles to himself, looking around with a slight mote of confusion. The weather forecast hadn't said anything about fog near Motostoke right? So why was this here? His brow furrowed and he reached into his pocket, pulling out his smartphone and pressing the button at the side, letting the screen flair to life. He scanned the systems briefly, looking for the weather forecast, but alas…
"No signal…? Ugh, really?" Raph sighs in frustration and keeps walking with a frown. He supposed he'd just continue to follow his gut for the time being, since nothing else was working clearly. Surely at this rate he'd arrive at Motostoke before too long anyway.
"HI-YAAAAH!!"
Leaping from the fog, a screaming figure, shorter than he was, charged at him. Before he could react, Raph felt a sort of bag or net come down on his head and ensnare his shoulders, before being slammed in the stomach by a small creature. This was followed by a glob of sticky gel pinning his foot to the ground, and a splash of water and snow hitting his side.
"Release your misty terrain, you weird, well-dressed fairy-type!" he heard the figure speak. It had the voice of a young man, and he could feel the small creature from earlier crawl up his chest. After a second, the critter let out a chirp.
"Caterpie."
"Wait, he's a what? Oh." the boy responded.
Raph simply stood there, somewhat stunned, yet somehow unsurprised. Nothing could ever be easy, this was clearly just today's flavour of bothersome. With one hand he grabs the small creature now clinging to his chest, a Caterpie, common enough that even he recognized it and pulled it from his chest, holding it in one hand. The other moved up to the rim of the net now encapsulating his head, which he slowly pulled up, off and tossed to the side.
With a tired gaze and the Caterpie still held in his hand to signify his frustration, he turned his head with a furrowed brow and a tired gaze towards the trainer who had attempted to… capture him. He was dressed a little ridiculously, that was for sure. Definitely not for the cold weather anyway. "Hmm…" The hat, the net, the caterpie? This guy looked like a bug catcher, one of those guys they always made fun of on TV for being extraordinarily weak. Did people still do that? "...I don't even look like a fairy type, you pillock."
"Hmpf." the boy narrowed his eyes at Raph and stowed away the net. The three worm-like creatures clinging to his white coat eyed Raph curiously; he counted four including the Caterpie. The critter wriggled in his hand before the bug trainer took it from him. "I see you got the same idea that I did by coming here." he said, crossing his arms.
"...what?" Raph mumbled indignantly, his expression darkening by the second. Who was this guy supposed to be anyway? The same reason? What was he even talking about? "I'm just trying to get to Motostoke mate… that was the plan until you tried to catch me in your net. What reason are you on about?" The question rattled off and Raph had to wonder why he was even bothering rather than telling this guy to sod off and move on. It was… strange, he had to admit. The weird get up, the chirpy voice, the bug obsession, it all rang just a little bit familiar, though Raph couldn't figure out why.
"...Motostoke…?" the boy mused, looking down as if remembering something. "Wait, yeah, why did we come here again?" he looked at one of the bugs on his shoulder, which responded with a squeak and shake of its head. The boy nodded back; he somehow understood the bug's reply? After a moment of consideration, the strangely familiar trainer stepped forward and extended his hand.
"Sorry for attacking you, friend. I'm Simon. I know you're scared and this might sound weird," he leaned in closer, "but we might be falling prey to some sort of fairy-type illusion -assuming you're not one. But don't worry though, I'm a trainer from the Wedgehurst academy, so I've got us protected if the bugger tries to pop out at us."
Raph sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with an exasperated expression. Right, that made more sense than he cared to admit. This kid, Simon? He was one of Raph's ill fated classmates. The older trainer couldn't say why he was so forgetful, maybe remembering was too much effort? Was he… subconsciously lazy too? That was one hell of a thought. Still, if a bit… eccentric, Simon seemed harmless. Raph reached out, grasping Simon's hand firmly and giving it a rather non-committal shake before letting it go. Judging by the introduction, Simon didn't remember him either, though much like with Arrietty that didn't surprise him.
"I'm Raphael." He states, otherwise not reacting to Simon's lunacy and rambling about fairy type illusions. Still something about what he said struck Raph as odd. "This… isn't the way to Motostoke?" He furrowed his brow once more in mild confusion. How had he gotten so far off course? He had been fairly sure this was the right way, even if Simon said it wasn't, he still felt like it was. Why was that? He cursed to himself once more in regards to the lack of signal, if his GPS was active this wouldn't be a problem. "Don't suppose you've got a phone that has a signal? I've been trying to check my GPS to get out of this damn fog but I can't get a signal through."
Simon shook his head and tapped his Xtransciever to be sure. "Nope. We've been walking with no signal for almost half an hour now, but I wasn't really checking before that either. I reckon we should just keep walking and we'll probably reach Motostoke, assuming that's where we are going." he pointed in the direction Raph had been heading in, coincidentally also the one he'd been going in too. Simon leaned into one of the bugs on his shoulder, a white larva. "If that thing turns out to be an illusion, you do your ice thing again, right?" he whispered a little too loudly, to which the Pokemon gave a squeaky hiss at Raph.
"I'll lead, just in case there's any danger ahead. Stay close."
So he said, but all it elicited from Raph was a tired sigh. "Alright mate, go right ahead." It was far too much effort to argue with him at this point. Besides, something was off about this whole situation… at least this way if something terrifying did happen, Simon would be eaten first.
As the pair and pokémon continued to wander aimlessly through the fog, they would notice how that gut feeling leading them forward would grow stronger and stronger, almost ominously so. Raph pondered the effect with increasing worry. It didn't feel like anything he had ever felt before. It was a desire to push on in the current direction, but it felt almost alien to him. He was loath to admit it, but had Simon been right? Was some other force influencing their actions? He stops in his tracks, taking a second to ponder, but before he could go much further with that, another familiar voice cuts across the fog.
"Well hello there sonny!" Slightly muffled and clearly elderly, the words rang out through the haze towards Raph and Simon. The former watching as waltzing out of the fog was the old man he had met near the shore of Lake Axewell. "I thought I heard some voices in this soupy mess, wouldn't have thunk it was you!" His warm eyes closed into a smile as they had before and he moved to stand in clear view of the two youngsters.
Simon would take note of the man's appearance as he turned to face him. His soft brown eyes were long and showed wisdom, topped by exceptionally bushy grey eyebrows. A large green parka jacket topped with a hood covered most all of the man's face besides that. His clothes were an odd mix of tracksuit and snow wear, all matching that same dull green colour, very uniform. "You must be another one of the students from Wedgehurst eh? It's good to see two of you travelling together so early on your journeys!"
"Yeah, we are…" Simon narrowed his eyes at the man and nodded. Something told him this one wasn't an illusion, and the voice and appearance were oddly recognizable. He was confused by what he had just heard, however. "Wait, you two know each other? You're from the academy too?" he turned to ask Raph, both a little relieved but also a bit offended by the mistrust.
"Um… yeah. My bad, I thought I mentioned that." Raph mumbled, shooting the old man a glare, getting a grin in return. He had hoped to avoid unnecessary reminiscing, but still, Simon didn't seem too perturbed as he turned back towards the old man.
"Are you on your own, sir? If you're as lost as we are, you should stick together, I have a feeling it's not safe here." As Simon spoke those words, the Scatterbug on his hat let out a timid squeak, as if warning him about something.
"Ohoho, what a kind young man… but I wouldn't worry sonny, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself." His eyes tell Simon he's smiling, but after a moment they open, dressed with a more serious expression. "Neither of you are incorrect to assume there's danger in this fog however… past the soupy grey mist, something is waiting, luring travellers in closer. A ghost type Pokémon up to much mischief, I think you'll find." He pauses. "Though mischief isn't the best 'M word' to describe what that creature is doing." With a bombshell dropped, the old man shakes his head and returns to a cheerier tone.
"Keep walking this way and you're sure to encounter it eventually… If you were to deal with the creature and make things safer for those passing through, well, I think a reward would be in order. The pair of you are trainers now, aren't you?" The man's eyes shifted from Simon to Raph; there was a greater knowledge underneath those innocent old eyes. Raph couldn't help but feel himself being taken back to his encounter with this man on Lake Axewell. Since that day, he had been wondering if he had somehow had a hand in the scenario that had played out on the island. It all seemed too conveniently timed, like he was being tested by this crazy old man. If that was the case, then was the geezer testing him again? Testing him, and testing…
His eyes turned to the other trainer standing beside him. Testing Simon?
"Alright." Raph sighed, shoving a hand into his pocket and pulling out a pokéball. With a swift toss, the capsule burst open with shimmering light and an excited looking pokémon landed on the ground. Vito looked around to see a bunch of people and pokémon he didn't recognize. With abject glee, he bounced swiftly in place, unsure of who to approach first. Both of his flippers started wagging like crazy as he examines so many potential new friends! Raph closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over the bridge of his nose in response. "I'm willing to go give it a look, at least." His gaze turned to Simon once again. "...and you?"
Simon was looking at the spherical Pokemon curiously, tapping his chin as if remembering something. As he did so, the Scatterbug and Caterpie on his shoulders widened their eyes and scuttled into the back of his hood. Simon snapped his fingers. "You're the spheal guy from school!" he exclaimed, looking at Raph then pointing at Vito. "I knew I'd run into him before, so that clears you up as not an illusion. This little ball almost helped me catch my first Pokémon!"
"Sphee! Sphealelel!" Vito puffed himself up just a little in response, positioning his flippers as if they were hands on his non-existent hips. Raph rolled his eyes, but it was amusing how chuffed his pokemon seemed over 'almost helping'.
"Hell yeah, laddie!" Simon grinned at Spheal. He was still slightly suspicious of the old man- but the familiarity of his face and the believability of his story made it unlikely that he was trying to trick them. As a Ballonlea boy, ghost-type tricks and mischief were no stranger to Simon, and attracting unaware humans on a massive scale in an area as wide as the wild area did sound difficult, but plausible. It would have to be an extremely powerful ghost-type, and one with some sort of hypnotic power- and Simon was up for the challenge.
"With us and Vito - I mean Raph - we've got this spectral troublemaker covered!" he pointed at himself confidently, somehow having learnt the Spheal's name. "We'll give a shout when it's safe. Let's go, Raphael!" Without waiting for a response from either of them, the eager trainer marched ahead and motioned for Raph to follow. To which Raph watched tiredly for a few moments, raising his arms and positioning them behind his head as he stretched.
"Geez… what a handful…" Raph mumbled, Vito already rolling ahead, following the other trainer who had such a similar energy to himself. Raph was about to take off as well, when the voice of the old man caught his attention one more time. "The strange sense of longing instilled in passers by… the mysterious fog clinging to this area without letting go. I wonder, are they connected truly? Or is something else the cause of the latter?" In response to the words, Raph raised a singular eyebrow, but the geezer just laughed and waved a hand flippantly. "Oh don't mind me boyo, just an old man rambling. You'd better get a move on, eh?"
Raph was almost certain that nothing this old man said was simple rambling anymore, but as Vito was getting further and further away, he thought better of hanging around to ask more questions.
As the pair and their pokémon meandered through the fog covered woodlands, Raph found himself having to move just slightly faster than he would normally like to to keep up with the bug catcher. Vito rolled circles around the two of them, moving in front of Simon then looping back behind Raph constantly, as if trying to keep the two reined in together. However, he noticed the creatures perched in the various parts of Simon's attire were cowering more and more by the second into their hiding spots, in stark contrast to the enthusiasm of their trainer or his own Pokemon.
Raph was already a little tired of this other trainer. He was over excited, too eager to throw himself at… whatever this was. Hell, Raph had been ready to go himself but Simon had sprinted off before they could get much more info. It was kind of funny that he remembered Raph for Vito, despite the fact that he had only received Vito on the last day of their time at the academy. It was admittedly unlikely Simon would remember him for much else, he didn't interact much with his other students, it had been far too much effort for him to consider it worthwhile. He watched as the other trainer paused for a second to give Vito a mid-roll high-five.
...and considering his interactions with people like Simon, Aeliana and Pia, Raph had probably been right in that assumption. Arrietty had seemed alright though, maybe it would have been okay if he had picked and choosed.
Simon himself seemed sociable and eager to talk, but was clearly more captivated by the energy of the Spheal circling them. The spirit of this Pokemon was immensely strong- surely Raph couldn't always be as aloof and laid-back as he was now; such a relaxed training style would be an insult to his creature. Though despite Simon's aversion to Raph's low energy, he had a feeling the older trainer knew what he was doing, which was reassuring given the situation they were going to be in. In his thoughts and fascination with Vito's speed, he had completely neglected to notice that all of his own Pokemon had completely tucked into his coat and pockets. Even his recently-captured feisty Snom, who he expected would jump at the opportunity to battle, had snuggled into his hood and out of sight.
As they walked the fog seemed to get thicker and soupier by the second, the feeling in Raph's gut got stronger as they followed it to its source. Eventually, however, their movement was interrupted by a sound. Raph stopped walking entirely as a dull, droning ring was heard nearby, like… a tolling bell. He sped up slightly to catch up to Simon and nudged him to get his attention. "Do you hear that?"
Simon stopped, nearly tripping over Vito when he turned around. He waited for the sound to play again. "...is that a church bell…?" he asked. "Mad creepy. Where's it even coming from?"
"No idea, I-"
Before Raph could finish a sentence a tingling sensation ran down his spine. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand and his heart started to clench. This feeling… it was the same thing he had felt when confronted by the Houndoom, the same feeling he felt when Hydreigon had roared. This feeling meant danger.
"Move!" Without thinking, he grabbed Simon's jacket and threw him roughly to the ground… only for Vito to crash into his own back at the same moment, knocking the whole party to the ground. Within the same second, the fog was forcefully parted. A massive orb of black and purple energy raced through the area, crashing forcefully into a nearby tree and crackling with ominous black energy. A shadow ball. Quickly looking up from their pile, Raph saw the source. An ominous spectre of a pokémon looked upon them. A single empty eye peered at them and a strange antenna upon its head crackled with greenish energy. Gold filigree marked its body… and mouth. Its entire stomach opened into a gaping, empty maw, from which the shadow ball had erupted.
"Dusk… noir!" Immediately, more energy began to seep into the pokémon's stomach through the fog. Dusknoir, that must have been its name. It was charging another attack. Without stopping to think, Raph scrambled onto his feet and stumbled forward, moving quickly towards any nearby trees that could serve as cover, glancing over his shoulder as he did so to make sure Simon was following. He'd also managed to get to his feet, dazed from the fall but otherwise unharmed. The pair noticed a dead tree a few meters ahead; wilted and bent, as if something had sucked the very life force from it. They hurried to find cover behind it- but not quick enough, as the ghost Pokemon fired another deadly purple blast from its maw. Inches before it hit them, the ball exploded into thin air, blocked by an invisible force which shimmered slightly in reaction to the blast. Sticking out of Simon's coat pocket, a small burmy's eyes glowed yellow as its Protect attack faded away.
"Shite, shite, this is bad!" Simon gritted his teeth as the two safely made it behind safe cover. Safe for how long, they couldn't tell. "That's a Dusknoir! Those things are insanely strong!" Another shadow ball coasted forward and the tree cracked and strained behind the pair. They were lucky they had selected a sturdy oak, but even that wouldn't last long in response to this pokémon's onslaught.
"...merde." Raph muttered as his eyes scanned the nearby area for something that could help. Alas he could see nothing in the fog. "Damn it, I can see it's bad… we've got to do something though, don't we?!" He quickly peeked his head out and saw Dusknoir charging another shadow ball to launch their way. The fitful ghost type's eye looked dull and empty, and every time it moved to attack sparks of green energy burst from its antenna. Yet the more it attacked, the more fog it dragged away and into itself. That gave Raph reason to pause, as the area around Dusknoir became more visible. It was standing in front of what… looked like a ruined tower? There was something just in the tower's door frame. It floated ominously there, some sort of stone..? A soft green glow seemed to emanate from it, pulsing every few moments. Was that what the pokémon was after?
"Fuck me- alright!" Raph dashed out from the tree, moving to the next one and waving his arms wildly. "C'mon you twat! Shoot this way!" There was no way their tree would last another blast and Raph desperately needed to make an opening for a counter attack. Their opponent seemed to need to take time to charge attacks between shots, so if Raph could guide one away…
Dusknoir turned to aim at him and the trainer cried out as he dodged and ducked to the side. "Vito, use Powder Snow! Simon, do… something! Attack or whatever you bug nuts do!"
Vito immediately rolled out from behind the tree as the shadow ball was launched, gliding over and barely missing Raph, it crashed roughly into a large mound of stone. The ice type pokémon responded to the opening swiftly, unleashing a barrage of snow and ice from his maw as he rolled on by. The attack glanced off of Dusknoir's side, dealing some minimal damage, but it alone was barely enough to grab the powerful ghost's notice…
"It's bug catcher!" Simon yelled, dashing in the opposite direction Raph and Vito had gone in. He ran a short distance to flank the Dusknoir, and reached into his coat pockets with both hands. He felt a dozen legs cling on to his sleeves as the Pokemon inside anticipated an order. "Alright, lads! Hit him with every special attack you've got!" he commanded, and quickly took his hands out, pulling along with them a Caterpie and Burmy. As he did so, Scatterbug and Snom emerged from his hat and hood, ready to attack. Sliding into a stable position, he pointed his arms forward like two cannons. "Now!" All four bugs squeaked in unison, blasting string shots, hidden power and powder snow at the enemy Dusknoir.
The ghost Pokemon barely reacted as the globs of string hit its side, but its eye flinched slightly as the combined snow and water splashed against its head. Letting out a deep grumble, it turned towards Simon and dove underground. Simon noticed a purple shadow quickly approaching his position, swimming through the dead grass and rocks.
Simon gulped and attempted to sprint away from the Shadow Sneak attack, barely avoiding a full-on hit as the Dusknoir resurfaced and knocked him off his feet. He fell hard on the ground, his coat cushioning the impact but sending the Snom and Caterpie clinging to it tumbling off. Simon hurriedly picked them up and shoved them back in his pockets, crawling backward as the Dusknoir stared him down with its single soulless eye. However, before he could move to attack the boy further, Vito barrelled forward with a Rollout, rocketing off a tree. He struck Dusknoir hard on the side of the head and caused the ghost type to stagger a little to the side. Without missing a beat Raph ran in quickly, grabbing Simon by the arm and roughly dragging him to his feet. His heart was fit to burst in his chest, but he wasn't quite at his limit yet. He had to think quick, if he didn't do something fast then Dusknoir wouldn't be the only ghost wandering about.
Expecting Simon to follow, he released the bug catcher's arm and took off at a similar pace. Vito was falling in behind them in turn, having turned after his impact to maintain momentum. Without a source of water nearby, Carmen wouldn't be too much help… so the little ball was Raph's only lifeline right now. Well, him and Simon were. Raph glanced over his shoulder at the trainer, his brow furrowed and his gaze serious. He was a pillock alright, but he had gotten this far too, with four pokémon besides. Like it or not, they were in this together.
"Dusknoir isn't nearly as aggressive as it could be! Judging by the speed it's moving and the attacks it's using it could already have us dead!" He gasped a little, talking and running was hard. "You know what that means right? His focus is divided! He's distracted by something and…" The fog had cleared even more now, the floating stone Raph had seen earlier was clearly visible. It was glowing with the same green energy as Dusknoir's antenna. "Listen Simon! You see that rock over there?"
Simon squinted for a second as he looked in the direction Raph was pointing in. "Uh, yeah?" he responded, nearly tripping over himself as another shadow ball crashed into the floor behind them. Raph felt himself knocked forward by the impact slightly as well, but he couldn't let that affect his judgment right now.
"This might sound kind of nuts, okay? I'm going to get its attention again… while I do, you need to hit that thing with everything your little guys can manage alright? Absolutely everything!" He felt his breath running out, there was no more time to push himself, he was getting close to the breaking point. "Can you… Can you do that?!"
"Kinda nuts? That is fucking nuts, mate!" Simon shouted back, but after looking back towards the Dusknoir, quickly changed his mind. "A-alright! But if we die here, this is on you!"
"Noted…" Raph growled, before quickly diverging off in a different direction from Simon, letting the latter run ahead towards the floating stone. He really, really hoped this worked. "Hey dickhead!" Raph screamed out, causing Dusknoir to turn away from Simon for the briefest of moments. The imposing ghost type began to charge another Shadow Ball, aiming it at Raph as he fled; however, in that moment both the stone and Dusknoir's antenna flashed with a bright green light.
"DUUUUUSSSK!" The pokémon howled then turned towards Simon, who was still running. Dusknoir had a much clearer shot on the bug catcher than he did at Raph, and Raph knew it. Immediately he stopped running away and instead started running through options in his mind; with only a few choicesleft he reached into his bag and produced a familiar red sphere. He quickly threw the empty pokéball forward and it collided with Dusknoir's head harshly. Instantly, the ghost type was drawn into the ball, yet before it could even hit the ground cracks began to form on the capsule's surface. "Now, Simon!"
The bug catcher wasted no time, sprinting to the stone as fast as he could while taking out his Pokemon once again. The tower was only a short distance away, but the parts of ruined walls and stones he had to jump over slowed him down. On top of his head, Scatterbug squeaked at him. Before he could react, the stone suddenly began glowing a stronger green, before blasting a dark crimson ray, crackling with black energy. Before it got close, however, Simon felt the Snom on his shoulder leap off with all of its strength, its icy shell shining brightly as she used Mirror Coat. The ray collided with the bug and was immediately reflected back at the stone.
"Good stuff, tiny!" Simon cheered between breaths as he caught the Snom mid-sprint. The stone wavered slightly as its own attack hit it back, giving him just enough time to get close. Simon jumped onto a fallen pillar in front of the stone before leaping off and landing on top of it. "Scatterbug, Caterpie! Bug Bite!"
The two bugs jumped down onto the floating stone as he did, their teeth glowing white, and bit down hard onto the small purple cracks. A loud shriek suddenly sounded from the stone, followed by a powerful shockwave, sending all three of them flying backwards… and in the same moment, the pokéball containing dusknoir shattered. It immediately roared in pain, grasping its head as its antenna started to shudder and crackle. Raph had no idea how, but somehow attacking the stone had done severe damage to Dusknoir. He would have contemplated on how strange it was that the rock had attacked Simon as well, but he had no time to think on that. Despite the damage it had taken, Dusknoir was still very much up and healthy… and its pained rage was now turned towards Raph.
The single eye of the ghost type pokémon began to glow and it rushed forward. Dark energy was coalescing around its fist and it looked ready to strike at Raph directly. He was exhausted beyond belief and forced his body to move, but a sudden spasming pain in his chest caused him to tumble. As he falls to the ground, pain surging through him, he turns his head to see Vito, the little Spheal screeching as he charges as fast as he could in Raph's direction… but Raph could see he wouldn't be fast enough. He just needed a moment to catch his breath, but that moment wasn't coming. It looked now, like it might never come.
The sharp, purple eyes of Anabel glared down at a pair of photos on the table in front of her. Her delicate hand slid the photos past the 'International Police' badge that sat on the table. One was a photo of a Clefable, Bisharp and human corpse with a stash of moonstones; the second was an image of a Diggersby burrow, stuffed full with nuts, berries and a single blue egg.
"You're sure you ain't reading too much into it?" A raspy voice pushed a cloud of smoke into the single beam of light that lit the room. It was followed by the face of a heavily browed woman, her scowl as sharp as the flecks of hair that made up the bob atop her head.
"I don't believe in coincidences," Anabel hissed back, much to her partner's dismay. "We should question them both. Find out what they know about each other, see if their stories match what they told the rangers." She huffed, glaring at the cackling rangers who played cards in the office just outside the room.
Aeliana reflexively glanced up in the shock of the light above her flicking off. She held her breath at the sound of the footsteps that thudded against the concrete. Her eyes widened and she sat up straight. A desperate look gracing her facial features as she watched the shadows of two women walk towards her.
"Please… Can I have my Pokémon back now? How's Clefairy? W-What about Tampa and Fiesta?!" the pink-haired girl questioned. After being escorted to the ranger camp, the trainer had had all three of the Pokémon stripped from her possession, along with pretty much everything else she had been carrying up to this point. The rangers claimed it was for security reasons, but no sooner had they taken them from Aeliana, they shoved her into this tiny room by herself. The girl felt like they were treating her as some kind of criminal or something of the sort. "It's been long enough, right?"
"Awww, you're a cutie, aren't you." One of the two officers swooned, with an ominous air of sarcasm. A small, bright beam of light flicked on, blurring the vision of the young girl. She could barely make out the lilac hair of the smaller, suit wearing woman and the spiky bob of the taller woman in the trenchcoat who continued to tease her. "I can imagine you've had a long day with work and all. How much does it pay, huh? Killing pokemon? I been thinkin of gettin me a day job." The trenchcoat woman spat, her thick Unovan accent breaking through as she struggled to keep the cigarette in her mouth.
Aeliana glanced up at the taller woman, who was now towering over her. Did she really think she was the one who did all that? Surely the rangers had shown them her Pokémon. It was highly unlikely that someone like Tampa would have been capable of all that.
"Nothing else to say? You know what Belle? I think she's mockin' me! If I didn't kn-"
"Tasha." Anabel said calmly, halting her partner's tirade. She was staring into the young woman's eyes and she didn't see a liar. "Turn the lights on. Let me get this one." She ignored any sarcastic retorts Tasha may have had and instead sat across the table from Aeliana. "I'm sorry about her. My name is Anabel. I work with the International Police. I was hoping me and my partner could ask you a few questions about an incident that happened today. I know it can't be easy, with what happened to you, but if you co-operate, you'll make things a lot easier for yourself."
Anabel slid a photo across the table. This one was a photograph...mugshot of Ruben Sancho. "What can you tell me about this individual?"
Aeliana took the photo, blinking slowly. "Ruben…? Not too much, really. We graduated from the trainer's school back in Wedgehurst. I think he got a Bounsweet as his starter Pokémon. I think he was an up and coming football star before he enrolled, but… I never really spoke to him much during our time there." She paused, slowly glancing back up towards Anabel. She was getting a bit curious as to why she was suddenly being asked about her former classmate. She raised an eyebrow. "Why? Did something happen to him?"
Ruben looked down at the photo the smoking lady had put in front of him. He raised a brow, the face immediately striking a chord, but it didn't bring a name with it.
"We graduated together. I think she was a dancer?" He shrugged, baffled by the question. "I didn't see her anywhere near the egg if that's what you're wondering. I dunno if I could see her stealing. From what I remember, she was actually a bit of a ditz." He rubbed his head in defeat, before he noticed the woman's flat expression. It wasn't like everyone at the school had to be buddy buddy, but he could understand she'd be skeptical at him not even knowing her name. "I took a lot of night classes."
"They're classmates. That's all you've got on 'em. Face it, this is all a big misunderstanding." Tasha croaked, choking up a cloud of smoke as she laughed at Anabel.
The smaller officer refused to relent. She looked down at the images: Ruben holding a blue pokemon egg, while he and the ranger fled a horde of Diggersby; Aeliana standing over the corpse of a man and a clefable; a sketch of a scowling woman with an eyepatch.
"That's the same egg she was sighted with and the shadowy slash against the wall is exactly the same as her other kills." Anabel explained, biting a thumb. "There are no coincidences. Put them in a room together and see what they let slip." She growled, powering out of the room.
Tasha watched on with a deep sigh.
Aeliana glanced at the door, her eyes lighting up as it opened, only to suddenly drop back into fretting as she noticed it wasn't a ranger or one of the officers bringing back her Pokémon. "Hey… S-So, you're here too, huh?"
"I guess so...Aeliana, right?" Ruben shrugged, unsure of any sort of protocol for addressing an interrogation cell mate, but glad to see the girl was at least as confused as he was. "I'd say 'I'm innocent, I swear', but if you watch movies you'll know that's basically a cliche now. What're you in for?" He asked, joining her at the table with a sigh. Aeliana tensed up at the boy's question but Ruben was far too busy preening to notice.
"I… They found me out in the Watchtower Ruins. They think I killed…" She paused, her lips dry as a feeling of nausea worked its way into her stomach thinking over the situation. "They think I killed a guy… and his Pokémon… and a Clefable… But I didn't do anything and now they have Tampa and the others and…"
"Oh…" Ruben responded. His undivided attention was on Aeliana now. "That's cool," He lied. Slowly, he began to edge his chair away from her. "Hardcore..." His voice breathless and full of fear. "Mine seems kinda small now, I got caught taking an egg while I was running away from a ranger. S-stupid story."
Aeliana's eyes shot up. A look of disbelief gracing her features. "You can't be serious… You don't actually think I did it, do you?"
"No! Not at all! I believe you!" Ruben pleaded without an ounce of conviction. Aeliana's eyes narrowed, frustration evident in her voice as she spoke.
"What about you, Mister Sports Star? You've been down on your luck ever since that injury, right? Maybe stealing that egg to sell it off is a quick way to line your pockets?"
"Ay, hold on don't worry about my pockets. My pockets are good. You need to worry about working on that alibi for why they found you in a prayer circle with a couple of corpses. Unless you're claiming it was a suicide pact, someone has to have done it," Ruben snapped back in defense. As he finished his rant, he noticed the glass of water sitting on the table and edged just close enough that he could get to it quicker than her.
"What are they talking about?" Anabel asked, prodding Tasha, who had the radio to her ear.
"He thinks she did it," Tasha answered nonchalantly.
"They're turning on each other? We haven't even played our hand. What are they planning?"
"Yeah, a real genius play here. With the case she's laying down on him, if I was the judge I'd prosecute him on the spot. As for her, she had nothin' to begin with. Wait..."
"There was someone else there!" Aeliana exclaimed.
The two officers waiting outside leaned in.
Even Ruben steadied his stance at that.
"A blonde lady," Aeliana continued, her eyes moving to look down at the ground before her. "The man that was hurting the Clefairy and the Clefable… We tried to fight him off, Tampa and my Pokémon, that is. We… weren't doing too well. He had a Bisharp so, Fiesta and Tampa could only do so much…" Her voice grew quiet, chills running down her spine as she thought back to that moment. "He was going to use Bisharp to kill us… He even had Tampa in his grasp… That's when she showed up with a Greninja…"
She looked back up at Ruben. "She was about my height… Blonde hair down to her shoulders. She had an eyepatch over one eye, the other eye was cold and virtually lifeless. She was wearing a long, dark red trenchcoat… She killed that guy… killed his Bisharp, too. I don't know why she interjected like that, but… before I could say much she was gone… Then the rangers showed up and… next thing I know, I'm here and my Pokémon are gone."
"Our birdy sings. She did know something after all," Tasha said with a smirk, putting her cigarette out on the table. She stopped as she noticed Anabel smirking. "Don't get ahead of yourself, she saved her on a whim, it was still a coincidence." Despite herself, she couldn't help but smirk at the revelation with her partner. "Get the Herdiers in, we're burying this bitch."
Rain pounded the top of Achille's tent while the smell of soup grew in intensity as it cooked. Three of the four tent occupants eyed the pot hungrily as it bubbled away on the small electric stove. Joiuse eyed the entrance of the tent warily, which just seemed to be her default state of rest by now. It was just a simple onion soup, but after all the running and being knocked on his ass that happened today it might as well have been ambrosia with how it smelled. Luckily there was a distraction in the form of an electronic chirping sound from Achille's pocket.
You're really staying in Galar for another year?
Oh shit, I forgot to tell Mireille. His sister had spent a lot of time in the lab the past few years, and he'd fallen out of the habit of texting her due to that. This was actually a quick turn around on news from her. I guess I stirred things up back home.
I meant what I said. I didn't study two years for this recommendation just to back out without even trying.
He stared at the sent message for a few seconds. He was getting frustrated for no good reason. He did leave her out of the loop after all. He sent a second message to try and soothe things over.
Sorry. How are things going with your work?
I just got transferred to the Pokéball R&D department, so finally doing my part in rejoining the Béringers to the Pokemon world. But don't think you can squirm your way out of this by mentioning my work. You're really okay staying there? Not just angry still?
Shit, that was worth a try. Bringing up her research worked when they were younger.
Galar is tolerable. I walked through a blizzard and a thunderstorm on the same day, but the trainers are decent.
He scooted closer to the simmering soup and stirred it. The action drew the attention of Proudhon and the recently dubbed Alizé. The Magikarp watched the circular motion of the ladle with hungry eyes. Too hungry and tired to start trying to cause trouble, Achille assumed. Alizé, who was previously comfortable hanging from the tent's support beam, left her perching spot and fluttered down to sit in his lap. The Noibat made it a habit of clinging to him in some way when she was outside of her Pokéball.
She was small enough that he barely even noticed when it happened, so he didn't pay it too much mind. Hopefully it would go away with time. He set the ladle back to a resting position and checked the latest message.
Well, look at little Achille becoming travelled! Not even a single complaint that the local small town grocer doesn't stock Pecha-Pinap Baltoid. I was afraid you decided to stay in a foreign region for three years solely out of spite.
I said it was tolerable, not that I was in love with it. Also fuck Roland still. Remind him to get his own dream.
His stomach let out an angry growl and Achille decided it was good enough to call the food done. He switched the stove off, the simmering stopping not long after the heat ceased, before he grabbed Alizé and moved her to his shoulder. He procured a couple vessels for the soup from his bag, a shallow bowl for Proudhon and a measuring cup for Alizé, from his bag. The phone alerted about another new message. He checked it while the meal cooled a little more.
And here I was getting hopeful again. You do know stopping this little feud would probably do a lot to actually sway dad, right?
Achille frowned at the low blow. He obviously realized that, but it was a matter of principle.
I get it. I'm just going to kick his ass at least once before then. Then I promise I'll be a team player.
He filled each bowl with a bit of the soup. It was still too hot to eat, but fuck he was hungry. He set the measuring cup on the ground and allowed Alizé to crawl to the ground using his arm. The Noibat chirped a happy Noi Noi-bat in appreciation.
He brought the shallow bowl to the problem child, setting it down and kneeling next to the Magikarp. "Okay Proudhon," he addressed the fish, "are you fine on your own? Don't take this as an insult, you got beat up pretty bad in the cave. I'm not saying you can't eat on your own… but I question the physics of this."
The disclaimer was pointless as the Magikarp took offense to it anyways. "Karp-magi karp Magikarp!" He ranted angrily at his trainer. He rested his face against the bowl, leaning it ever so slightly off the group. The soup actually poured from the bowl to Proudhon's mouth without any mess. An impressive feat, that was still causing Achille to cringe.
"Are… you okay?" Achille asked. "That just came from the stove. It's still very hot."
"... karp." Proudhon replied quietly. Sounds like it did hurt. Regardless, he proved he could do it on his own.
Achille held up the last bowl to Joiuse, who just shook in the air at the offer. Her exaggerated "no" motion due to a lack of a pivoting head. Achille claimed the bowl as his own, sitting and checking his messages once more.
Fine, but that's a promise. Now. Let me tell you about my adorable new assistant. The lab adopted a bunch of Heliolisk and Helioptiles to help power some of the machines.
They gave one to me and he is PERFECT. Not only do I not need to carry any more heavy spare batteries for my field tools but he also knows every part in my toolbox already. We set up an area for them to bask in the sun outside.
He opened the attached picture and, yup, that was a lot of Helio-lizards lounging on large rocks next to a corporate office. At least he found a new thing he could distract her with since the research plan failed. It sounded like she was going to fawn over her new Pokemon any chance she got for the next few weeks.
Achille smiled as he took his first bite of his meal. It was still too hot, but it beat the chill from his drying clothes. He'd let her talk about her "assistant" for now, and worry about the blizzard he had to cross getting back from the Giant's Seat later.
"There ain't nothin' worse than a dead end, is there," Tasha grumbled. She had been squatting over the trunk of a tree that seemed to be the last place the little dog pokemon would lead them too. Rather than barking at any enlightening evidence, the Herdier had opted to stop for a whiz and mark his territory all over the tree. "You're sure she left?" She asked with a hint of spite in her tone as she gestured for Aeliana to join her.
"Right before the rangers showed up. She must have heard them coming and took off to avoid being caught," Aeliana nodded, accepting the blue pokemon egg Tasha decided to pawn off on her. It was heavy. Not so heavy that the girl struggled, but it made her consider how much strength it took for Tasha to carry it under her arm for so long as if it were a loose jacket. She clutched onto it and hugged tightly, not noticing the envious eyes that Ruben watched on with.
She paused. The pink-haired trainer was growing more and more curious about just who this woman was. While the mysterious blonde had been quick to kill that man who had been harvesting the Moonstones and his Bisharp, her actions had in turn saved Aeliana and her team's lives.
"Who… exactly is she, anyway?" the trainer finally questioned. "Why does she have you both so worked up?" Before Tasha could respond to Aeliana's question, Anabel finally spoke up, her Lilac hair glistening under the falling sun.
"Avril Morris. She's left her mark at the scene of countless murders, and I don't doubt she's done even more than we're accusing her of. Like you two, she was a graduate of the trainer school in Kalos, just over fifteen years ago now."
"Arbitrary fact." Tasha butted in, not caring for the unnecessary detail.
"Was she involved in…" Ruben asked, hesitating to finish.
"The Z incident? Stopping it probably. Many of her classmates were after all. CEO of Radicorp, Kalos' pokemon professor and even the champions of Sinnoh and Kalos all played their part. It's safe to assume she was among that group."
"Damn...so she's strong." Ruben recoiled, affirming his reaction with an uncertain glance in Aeliana's direction.
"We're strong." Tasha snapped back, chewing on the butt of a new cigarette. "This ***** is on a whole other level."
"I don't understand…" Aeliana replied, literally regaining a foothold in the conversation as she stepped between Tasha and Ruben. "I don't know all of the details, but aren't they all regarded as heroes? I mean, I don't necessarily approve of her methods, but…"
"Heroes fall kid," Tasha said. There was a chill in the air. Ruben especially gulped in response to the statement, glancing remorsefully down at his cast.
"This was 15 years ago, right…?" Aeliana questioned. She glanced over at Tasha. "How does one person, one wanted for a ton of murders, manage to stay ahead of the international police for that long? Wouldn't her former classmates know something about her to manage to help track her down? I feel like there's only so far one can get before reaching a wall with nowhere else to go…"
"Because kid, even if she was easy to just grab, you gotta get a warrant. You know how much **** we get into just for roughin' someone up, even if we see 'em do the crime we gotta prove it. These dirtbags get to waltz around and shoot up the town and the second we try to step in we get-"
"Tasha." Anabel butted in. "What she means is that Avril is very good at keeping evidence at a minimum...but not this time."
"Big talk coming from someone using a couple of kids as their prime sources of information," a familiar voice called out. Aeliana's eyes widened at the sound, quickly remembering it from the night previous. She looked about the area, spotting the source standing atop a tree branch just a bit further ahead. That blonde hair, the ice-cold eye, the coat and eyepatch… there was no doubt about it. Avril had found them instead of the other way around. "And here I thought the rangers in Kalos were the pathetic ****s… Looks like it goes all the way to interpol."
Aeliana opened her mouth to speak, when she felt a sudden pull. The Greninja from the night before was present as well. With ease, it had somehow managed to not only grab hold of the egg she had been carrying, but pull it from her arms without so much as a struggle. The Greninja stared the pinkette down for a moment, hopping back and up towards the blonde woman in the tree.
Ruben noticed the trembling hands of the officers as they reached for their pokeballs. As it stood, they were the only things standing between him and an international murderer. The sight was enough to make his chest tighten. Again he looked to Aeliana. The girl was frozen stiff.
"Now!" Anabel's broke through the ringing in Ruben's ear. On cue, a fearsome Fearow came coursing through the trees and crashed through the branch Avril and her Greninja were standing on.
"****, Shino hold onto tha-" Avril cursed.
Before the blonde had time to properly react, she and the Greninja found themselves falling to the ground below. The Greninja tried to tighten his grip around the egg, going as far as to somehow manage to turn in the air and land on his backside to keep the egg from busting upon landing. That said, the force of the Fearow's assault caused the egg to go flying through the air. Avril on the other hand, landed on the ground with a solid thud, groaning in pain as she lay on the ground in a crumpled heap.
"I can feel my blood starting to boil from this excitement…" Avril muttered, her voice suddenly sounding very uneven and chilling as she climbed to her feet. The blonde reached for a poké ball from her wrist, a smirk stretching across her lips all the while. "If you want to play a game, that's fine with me… Let's go, Sadie!"
A fierce roar echoed out through the area as the trainer tossed the poké ball forward. Aeliana felt her stomach churn as the familiar sight of an enraged and terrifying Krookodile came to stand before her. Visions of what the Pokémon had done to the man from the previous night replayed through her mind as she slowly took a step back from the group.
The officers ran forward, tossing their own pokeballs to stand against Avril's Krookodile. With the line of defence reinforced, Ruben regained his senses. He looked over to the battlefield, where an Alakazam and an Escavelier stood against a Krookodile. He whispered a silent 'thank ****' that the two powerful pokemon were on his side.
As he glanced up, he noticed the egg tumbling toward the ground. The Greninja that had stolen it was picking itself up from the ground. Ruben knew it was now or never. With a mixture of fear, adrenaline and sheer determination taking over his body, Ruben dropped his crutches and sprinted toward what would have been the egg's eventual landing spot. Even with the weight of the cast boot around his leg and the uncertainty of his recovering ankle, the athlete felt as though he'd barely lost a step as he dived forward to catch the egg just before it could hit the ground. He quickly climbed to his feet and beckoned to Aeliana before fleeing the scene of the battle.
She didn't move.
"She's dead. She's gonna die, she's dead," he repeated to himself, readying a sprint as he noticed the powerful water type regaining its bases. Still the girl hadn't moved an inch. He dropped his head, running past her as though he hadn't seen her at all. His gut clenched. He stopped. "If I die for this *****…" He bemoaned through gritted teeth, beginning back toward the danger zone. As he ran, he watched what was unfolding on the battlefield in horror.
Avril's Krookodile had narrowly dodged a focus blast from Anabel's Alakazam and was about to launch a counter attack of her own. The Krookodile raged forward, slamming the Alakazam to the ground with a feral roar before suddenly snapping her razor sharp teeth into the side of Alakazam's neck without a hint of remorse. It gritted its teeth and began to ragdoll the psychic type it had locked in its maw.
"Alakazaaaaam!" Anabel screeched in horror. Ruben winced. He noticed even the Greninja watched what was happening with a hint of regret. Ruben turned away. His body tensed up, imagining the detail of what was happening behind him but he dared not to turn around.
"We need to go now," He stated bluntly, the fear evident from the sweat on his face. Without further questions, he began dragging the girl by the arm. Motostoke was in sight, but Ruben made one fatal mistake. The same mistake he told himself not to make just a month ago or even four years ago...he looked back.
"Escavelier, knock her off with Megahorn!" At Tasha's command, the bug knight surged toward the shadowy sand croc. However, the Escavelier came to a screeching halt however as the sudden appearance of a large, yellow Ampharos stood in his way, before slamming a sparking, electrified fist right into the creature's face.
"Can't you see those two are having a moment…?" Avril taunted with a sneer. Her eye suddenly darkened as she spoke. "Wait your damn turn!" As Avril said those words, her Greninja locked eyes with Ruben, spotting the egg peeking from under his arm. In a flash, he stood before them. His eyes lowered to the egg in Ruben's hand.
Once again on cue, the Fearow from earlier landed between Avril's Greninja and the two young trainers. It lowered its back, letting four pokeballs fall onto the ground. Ruben was stunned. He looked back over to the battlefield, noticing Tasha give him a nod of assurity before frustratedly returning the Purrloin that was knocked past her and returning her attention to the battle. Ruben had to think fast. He grabbed the pokeballs and confronted the stunned girl.
"Aeliana, look. Your pokemon. I need your right now, I need you here with me. Come on." He grabbed her, shaking her to consciousness as best he could. If they were going to hold off the Greninja, she couldn't be running on autopilot. Not now.
Aeliana's gaze focused onto Ruben before looking down at the balls at the ground. Without missing a beat, the pink-haired trainer quickly scooped them up into her arms before turning her attention back to the Greninja standing before them. She seemed hesitant for a moment, taking Tampa's ball into her hand. Images of her team attempting to battle the Bisharp from the night prior began to play in her head. Could she really put her Pokemon through that situation again?
Ruben quickly scanned the balls with his pokedex and picked out Lesca's. It was about to be do or die time and judging by the looks of the other battle, die time was a lot closer. He tossed the ball forward, the little grass type burst forth and read the situation. She looked back at Ruben, uncertain what exactly he expected her to do in this situation.
"Razor Leaf!" Ruben called. The Bounsweet looked her opponent up and down, then backed off. She was not about to get embarrassed alone by that thing.
Ruben looked to Aeliana, looked to his pokemon, then looked to Greninja."Fearow, you trynna help out?" He questioned, receiving an assuring nod from the flying type. "Aeliana, I need you too. We're a team right now, and whether we're kicking a ball on grass or we're fighting for our lives, if everyone's not pulling their weight, we don't deserve to leave on our feet."
"...I… I mean…" Aeliana stammered. She glanced down at the poké ball in her hand. Despite her reluctance, she knew that Ruben was right. Things could just turn out worse if she didn't even make an effort. Steeling her nerves, the pink-haired trainer gripped Tampa's ball tighter and tossed it out onto the field. "Let's go Tampa! Attack him with Bite!"
The gator Pokémon burst forth from the ball. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted her target, Avril's Greninja. Her body was shuddering with anticipation, the Totodile eager to redeem herself for what had happened the previous night when she battled against that Bisharp.
Charging forward, Tampa began to snap her jaws open and shut as if attempting to scare the Greninja with her sharp teeth. Meanwhile, the said frog Pokémon nimbly managed to dodge past the oncoming Razor Leaf attack from Ruben's Bounsweet. The sound of Tampa's gurgling quickly reached his ears. The Greninja glanced down just in time to see Tampa jump forward and attempt to bite his arm. In one fluid motion, the Greninja suddenly hopped back, launching forth a barrage of Water Shuriken at the two Pokémon.
Before the attack could land, the Fearow barrelled in, taking the shuriken meant for the Bounsweet on its wing. Tampa on the other hand, took the attack head-on. The Totodile staggered back, but managed to keep on her feet despite taking the attack at point-blank.
"Yes Fearow! Alright, I need you to follow up with…" Ruben began, flicking through his pokedex to realise he had nothing. "You just do your thing." With a nod, the Fearow charged toward the Greninja, launching a fury attack.
"Tampa, fall back and use Water Gun!" Aeliana ordered.
"Lesca, help her out with Razor Leaf."
The Totodile hopped back, jaws snapping open to send out a blast of cold water. The Greninja quickly hopped up, once more dodging the Totodile's attack. However, this left him open to Fearow's oncoming assault. The bird Pokémon slammed into the Greninja and began to slam its beak into his body repeatedly. Greninja let out a pained grunt as he reached forward, suddenly grabbing the Fearow by its neck in an attempt to stop the assault. Leaning back, the frog Pokémon's mouth opened wide before unleashing a chilling Ice Beam straight into the Fearow's face. Fearow screeched with pain as the two tumbled to the ground below.
With no length of time to recover, both the Fearow and the Greninja were torn and scratched at by Lesca's leafy barrage. Only the Greninja managed to climb to its feet following the assault as the Ice Beam had already flattened the powerful flying type. Lesca and Tampa were all that were left. All the while, Greninja's eyes lingered on the egg.
"Do we stand our ground, or do we run?" Ruben asked Aeliana, with a trepidation in his tone. Peering past their immediate threat, he could see the mess of knocked out pokemon that lay around the police officers.
"Now then…" a familiar voice began, gaining the attention of both trainers. They turned to see Avril slowly walking towards them. Her voice was calm and steady, clearly having worked out her agitation on Anabel and Tasha and their Pokémon. "I'm only going to say this once... Give me that egg. I'm tired of playing these stupid games with a bunch of stupid kids."
"Why are they so interested in that egg?" Aeliana cautiously asked her male counterpart.
Ruben stood before the powerful pokemon and his trainer, breathless. He refused to answer Aeliana's question. Not out loud.
As the sun began to set, once again, Ruben and Aeliana could see the silhouette of the Greninja standing before the beacon that was Motostoke in the distance. To Ruben, that was home. He shut his eyes and took a long, mournful breath. A single look behind him reminded him where he was. A dead end. He raised his free hand and lowered the egg to the ground before rolling it toward the Greninja, begrudgingly all the while.
Avril motioned towards the Greninja, signalling for the frog Pokémon to pick up the egg. Aeliana watched the duo nervously, as if she was expecting the blonde woman to lash out and assault the duo at any moment. Just as the Greninja bent down to pick the egg up, a loud, deafening gunshot rangout through the area.
"****ing ****!" Avril exclaimed, her hand quickly grabbing hold of her right shoulder.
"You are NOT...getting away from me again! I lost my ****ing job because of you." Anabel growled. Gun pointed, she glared down the barrel, Avril's head the target. "I give a damn if we don't take you in alive."
"Lost your job?" Ruben asked, a brow raised.
"We're PIs. Not International Police." Tasha sighed, standing at Anabel's side with her own gun cocked. "Reason it's taken so long it's been the two of us working on the case for a long time." She spat her cigarette out onto the ground. "When the cops can't get the job done kiddos, you take things into your own hands."
"Anything left to say for yourself, Avril?" Anabel asked with a scowl.
Avril let out a pained chuckle. "Isn't that a bunch of hypocritical Tauros ****? In what way is this any different from what I did?" She looked Anabel dead in the eyes, smirking despite the situation she found herself in. "The rangers and police couldn't do anything to stop Cinder… So I did it myself. I played by different rules… and I won."
Aeliana glanced between the two private investigators and Avril. She really didn't know what to think of all of this. The longer she watched, the more uncomfortable the pink-haired girl felt. She wasn't sure who Avril was or what all she had done. She did know that the blonde had saved her life earlier and it was that reasoning that made the pinkette feel like this wasn't a fair ending for the woman.
Legs started working before her brain. Aeliana suddenly made her way forward. Without a moment of hesitation, the trainer placed herself between Anabel and Avril, the private investigator's gun now aimed at her instead. Avril stared up at the younger girl, her eye wide in surprise at the development.
"Aeliana...get out of my way." Anabel hissed, her lip between her teeth. A click sounded. Anabel tightened her grip on the trigger.
"Belle…not the kid." Tasha's comrade didn't listen. "Belle…" Her finger tensed again. She pulled the trigger.
Anabel clutched onto her hand in pain. A trickle of blood running from her hand and onto the gun she dropped onto the ground. Ruben, egg in hand, stepped between the angered Private Investigator and her target. Lesca, fresh off a Razor Leaf attack, stood beside him.
"She said it better than I was gonna, but if you were gonna turn your back on everything that got you here and kill Aeliana just get her...that's some bull****."
Looking between the kids and the investigators, Avril took this as her time to make a hasty exit. Taking a ball of the bracelet, the trainer called out a Noivern. All the while her Greninja stood at the ready, just in case he would need to run some last minute interference. Avril climbed up onto the Noivern's back, her eyes drifting one final time to the egg in Ruben's arm. A quiet curse escaped her lips, with a forlorn look in her visible eye. She recalled her Greninja, before the Noivern let out a loud screech and took off into the air and away from the group.
"****! ****! ****! ****!" Anabel roared with every shot that missed the wings of Avril's escaping Noivern.
Ruben watched her in the periphery of his vision, clutching the egg under his arm. He looked back to Aeliana, giving an remorseful expression. He wasn't sure if they did the right thing, and something told him the answer wouldn't come easy.
"Guess I'd better call home? Tell 'em I ran into a serial killer," Ruben said, his joke choking in the tension. "Not gonna be back in Wedgehurst for a long time." He added, speaking to no one in particular, but looking to Aeliana for some sort of affirmation.
Aeliana merely rolled her eyes at the boy's comment. She moved towards Anabel, offering the lilac-haired woman a hand to stand up with. "Are you okay…?"
"Just leave." Anabel grumbled, her eyes locked on the part of the sky where Avril disappeared from view. "You can grab your things from the Ranger HQ and just go…"
Vito ♂
Rollout | Defense Curl | Powder Snow | Growl | Water Gun | Aqua Ring
Oblivious
Carmen ♀
Splash | Tackle
Swift Swim
Spoiler: Inventory
Holocaster Smartphone
Pokédex
ATC
Pokéball x4
Black Parka x 1
Black Wool Hat x 1
Badges: 0
Watchtower Ruins - Spirits Entombed - Part 2
...instead of an impact, or the sound of impending doom approaching, Raph heard the clanging of scales. As his shaky gaze looked upwards, his eyes widened at what he saw. A massive dragon type pokémon stood over him, it's grey lizard-like body was adorned with larger, gold and red scales that clanged together as it moved, creating distinct and sonorous sounds. Dusknoir gazed in confusion but before he could respond, a familiar voice once again cut across the clearing.
"Kommo-o! Repel the beast with Clanging Scales!" In response, the dragon type, Kommo-o as it was called, clapped its hands together and Raph had to cover his ears as a shockwave of sound formed infused with draconic energy. It rushed forward and sent Dusknoir clattering backwards, tumbling through the air with its antenna sparking wildly, granting Raph the breathing room he needed to collect himself and scramble to his feet.
With abject shock and awe, both Raph and Simon's eyes turned to the edge of the clearing, as standing with those same kind eyes formed into a smile was the mysterious old man. With a light chuckle he moves a hand to the fastenings of his coat and grips, his knuckles turning white with force as he does. "Now boys… you look like you've seen a ghost!" Suddenly the old man moves with intense speed, he leaps forward, kicks off a nearby tree and flips through the air. He moved with the agility of a Mienshao and in that same motion ripped his coat clean and tossed it through the air.
As the old man landed, he was dressed in a traditional yellow gi. The martial arts uniform was well worn but one detail shone through more than any other… emblazoned upon the chest was a symbol, a sword laying across a shield, the insignia of one who bears, or bore, the title of champion in the Galar region. Raph's jaw slowly started to drop, just who the hell WAS this old man? "Continue as you were gentlemen! You're on the right track going after that rock, but you seem to be having trouble dealing with its unfortunate guardian. Leave him to Kommo-o and I, we'll keep him busy while you finish the job!" Another Shadow Ball launched from Dusknoir in the direction of the old man and his kind expression shifted into the serious and focussed form of a true master, both of pokémon and of martial arts. With movements as swift as water he leaped upwards once more, twisting his back to curve around the arc of the ghost type attack to dodge it perfectly, then without missing a beat, he let loose a battle cry so intense it shook the trees and charged towards Dusknoir to join his pokémon in the fight.
Simon watched the old master with starry eyes as he got to his feet. "That's… ex-champion Mustard!" he exclaimed, starstruck. What was he doing here- wasn't he living on some private island? And why had he decided to stay with them? How on earth did Raph know this legend? Simon was quickly snapped out of his trance when the stone beside him began shaking violently, glowing brighter and brighter. Suddenly, a purple cloud burst from the cracks in the stone. After a few seconds it formed a spiral shape, studded with green orbs and a similar green face in the center.
"Spi...ri...tomb..." it growled as the cloud stabilized, and the face turned to look at Simon. It let out another screech at him. The Pokemon did seem weaker than Dusknoir, but it certainly wasn't harmless.
Simon scrambled behind cover, covering his ears. He looked at Raph who was a short distance away, noticing the young man had put a hand to his chest. "Raph, you good mate? I think your 'nuts' idea might actually work!" he called out. The calls of Simon knocked him out of the state of wonder he had found himself in upon Mustard's reveal. Raph vaguely remembered the name from a long time ago, but the specifics were lost on him. Regardless, it seemed Mustard was here to help them so he had no time to slouch. Finally releasing his grip on his chest, Raph took a step forward, then another, then started to push himself again. His footfalls crunched on the leaves below as he started to move towards the mysterious stone that Simon was facing.
Before too long, Vito had turned and reached his trainer's side. "Water gun Vito! Focus on the stone still, don't let the face distract you!" Without missing a beat Vito launched upwards out of his roll and stabilized in the air, his snout opening to unleash a torrent of jet water towards the mysterious pokémon. The blast of water struck true at the stone at the center of the Spiritomb, the twisted ghost type not expecting another attacker to appear. It screeched out in surprise and pain and in the distance, Raph was certain he heard Dusknoir doing the same.
Spiritomb raged in response to its new attackers and turned its shifting body to face Raph and Vito, two green eyes pierced towards them and with a sickening laugh echoing from its gaping maw it shot a wave of black energy towards the attack Spheal, striking out at it with Dark Pulse before either Vito or Raph could react.
Hoping to attack while it was distracted, Simon looked at the Pokemon clinging to him- all of them had been knocked out by the earlier shockwave, but Scatterbug looked to be unharmed. "Quick, Scatterbug, hit it with a b-"
Before he could finish his order, the creature hopped off his arm and charged towards… Vito? Simon's eyes grew wide as he realized she was acting completely of her own accord, and moving much faster than he had ever seen her before. She nimbly scurried under the wave of dark energy emanating from the spiritomb, before looking up and spraying a strange pink powder at it. The pink color spread along the purple wave immediately, wavering and shimmering as it grew unstable and weak. As the energy began to weaken, Vito took greater notice. The power employed by this new friend was useful! "Sphea!" Vito called in thanks before curling into a ball and darting forward, initiating a rollout the small Spheal crashed harshly into the oncoming attack but shattered the dark pulse on impact, taking minimum damage and continuing onwards at a greater speed towards the Spiritomb.
"Knock 'em dead, lads!" Simon pumped his fist and cheered the two Pokemon on. He looked back at the Spiritomb, who was getting visibly overwhelmed by the three trainers assaulting it. The bug catcher had a rare, sudden realization. "Raph! We're gonna seal this thing up for good!" he shouted at him. "Scatterbug, I need you to cover the cracks in the stones with String Shot!"
"Right!" Raph nodded, then turned to watch as Vito approached, rolling up a fallen pillar and launching himself high in the sky above the Spiritomb below. As the string shot attack was prepared, Spiritomb found itself assaulted from all sides, its captive Dusknoir nowhere to be found, it was now vulnerable to these two trainers' attacks. It moved to turn and float away from the oncoming attacks, disappearing into the tower, but above Vito had already started to fall from within the tower. "Vito, use Powder Snow! Now!" The tiny spheal spun rapidly in the air, whipping up cold winds around it and freezing the moisture of the fog in the air; a barrage of snow balls and icy shards shot down and struck the Spiritomb from above, digging into its stone base and finding purchase. Spires of ice quickly formed between the spiritombs physical body and the doorframe of the tower, preventing it from fleeing inside and beyond. It wasn't a perfect freeze, as Spiritomb immediately began to charge an attack in retaliation, but any chance it had of floating away to flee was gone.
"Now!" Simon commanded. Scatterbug skittered forward and fired a large glob of string at the face-shaped ley lines in the ghost-type's stone. The cloud encapsulating it began to fizzle out as the first shot blocked most of its source and paused its attack. The green face looked down in confusion, just in time to see another string shot fully seal it in and causing the purple cloud to fully fade away. Unable to attack, the stone shook erratically in the air as it attempted to break free. "Let's finish this! Scatterbug, bug bite!"
As Scatterbug launched itself towards the now completely trapped Spiritomb, Vito continued to fall from above, bouncing on the ground gently, as he did so he quickly began to roll again to generate momentum. From beyond the open doorway Raph caught up fully at last, standing by Simon he called out. "Vito! Use Rollout as well, attack that thing from both sides!"
Simon's bug leaped up at the floating stone, its tooth glowing as it bit down. At the same time, Vito ramped up the side of the ruined tower's wall and collided hard with the keystone, a direct hit that resonated alongside Scatterbug's own. A ghastly wail pierced out that caused both trainers to grab their ears. The ice holding Spiritomb in place shattered, the silk blocking its ability to manifest melted away and a green and purple light shone brightly from within the stone…
Then, in complete silence, the light dissipated and Spiritomb's keystone fell motionless to the ground. It was defeated.
"ALRIGHT!" Simon threw his fist into the air in celebration, but was worried he had spoken too soon. Both trainers turned to look at the Dusknoir from earlier, only to find it was nowhere to be found, instead walking toward them was old man Mustard. His jacket re-equipped but the hood left down, sitting upon his old head, which now returned to his pleasant smile was a small round hat, black and green in colour. "Hohoho, seems like I needn't have worried." His eyes flashed with a sort of recognition and his smile grew into a grin, clutched in his hand was a newly filled ultra ball. Mustard had managed to capture that monster?! "Well done boys… it seems I was right to place my trust in you."
------
Mustard had explained to the two new trainers the situation as he understood it. The pokémon sealed in the keystone was called Spiritomb, a ghost type pokémon with an exceptional spiritual presence. Somehow Spiritomb had managed to exert control over the much more powerful Dusknoir via the antenna on Dusknoir's head… which apparently allowed the massive pokémon to guide the spirits of those departed. It was a little bit over the pair's heads, but they understood enough to accept that Spiritomb had been using Dusknoir to do harm to people, it seemed to take some sick amusement in it.
The old master hadn't stuck around for long after that, much to Raph's annoyance and Simon's disappointment. He seemed satisfied, as if he'd learned something important, then meandered away into the fog and mist. When Raph called after him in irritation, asking about their reward, Mustard had nonchalantly thrown a green parka and hat back… much like the one he had given Raph at the lake.
Though as he vanished completely, he mentioned that when they had grown in strength, the keystone containing the now fully sealed Spiritomb would be more than a fitting reward.
Simon had been keen on the clothes and Raph already had a set. So it was that he had ended up walking away from the Watchtower Ruins with a large, haunted rock under his arm. One he had no idea how to wake up, or how to even capture if it did wake up. What a pain that Mustard man was… though Raph supposed based on the history he supposedly had according to Simon that he deserved some form of respect.
"Mate, he's one of the longest-reigning champs in Galar history!" Simon explained excitedly. "1968 to '86, he beat Opal with his fighting-type Pokemon! The man's a bloody legend! And we- we got to see him actually fight! Did you see that move he did when-"
Then, something caught Raphael's attention.
"Simon, can it a second yeah?…" Raph muttered, looking around the clearing they had stepped in. There was an almost mystical atmosphere about this part of the wild area, the ominous presence of Spiritomb and Dusknoir quelled, yet… "There's still fog, everywhere, so thick I can't even see three meters ahead of us. If this oversized pebble was the cause, then why is it still here?"
Simon looked around. "Shite, maybe there is some fairy-type pulling tricks on us."
There was a sudden noise from the nearby fog, a shifting of padded feet along the ground. The silence of the clearing seemed to echo with some sort of presence and as the two stood still, Raph could feel the same heart clenching, spine tingling sensation he could before. Only now, it was infinitely more intense, the feeling took his breath away like he had been punched in the gut and winded in an instant, he placed his hands on his knees and gasped, staring at the floor below. Something was nearby, something unbelievably strong.
"Oi, you good?" Simon put his hand on Raph's back, concerned that it was the second time this was happening.
Raph looked up just in time to see a pair of piercing yellow eyes shining through the fog staring at him and Simon. The fog around them seemed to thicken and the eyes focussed on them more intently. The two trainers could barely see each other and themselves… but the eyes stood out against the mist like two shining beacons. Then another sound echoed ominously across the silence, it was sharp and rang in their ears, moving through their heads back and forth like a song. Whatever this creature was it had made that sound, it sounded like it was…
Howling.
"S-Simon, mo-"
Before Raph could even finish his sentence the pokémon bolted out from the tree line. It had a lupine body decorated with red plating that almost looked like armour. A blue plume of fur trailed down from its head and just by sprinting outwards and into Raph it sent him flying, clattering across the ground onto his back with a loud, "OOF!".
Vito squealed in fury seeing his trainer get struck so swiftly and viciously, he threw caution to the wind and took off full force into Rollout, kicking up dirt as he launched himself at this mysterious pokémon.
Yet when he tried to connect… he passed through the creature as if it wasn't even there.
Simon stumbled back as the creature almost took him down with Raph. Shakily, he pulled out his net and held it defensively against his body. "G-get back!" he shouted half-heartedly. Surprisingly, the timid Scatterbug on his shoulder was the one to squeak aggressively at the wolf-like Pokemon. It eyed the boy and his bug momentarily. Suddenly, Scatterbug hopped off Simon's coat and landed in front of the Pokemon, putting itself between the two. She poofed up the fur on her collar and began glowing a bright white, staring down the much, much taller assailant, which watched silently. A few seconds later, the glowing faded away, leaving behind a completely new and metamorphosed Pokemon.
"Spew!" Simon's Pokemon squeaked, bristling all the hair on its new body.
The wolf stared down the brave, tiny creature, unflinching. It looked at Simon. A single breath left its snout, blowing the mist around it away. Then, without making another sound, it turned around and dashed into the fog.
After the shock from the encounter wore off, Simon realized he'd be holding his breath the entire time. He quickly released it and ran to help Raph up.
With a grunt, Raph took Simon's hand and was gladly pulled to his feet. He had been hit by that pokémon… but it had felt strange, less like a physical body and more like some power or essence blowing him clean off his feet. Vito quickly rolled over and started to rub his face to Raph's leg gently, apologetically even, as if the little Spheal was ashamed he hadn't been able to help his trainer. "Thanks…" He mumbled to Simon, before reaching down and lifting Vito up into his arms. "What the bloody hell was that thing?"
As in response to his question, from the clearing where they stood the fog started to recede, further and further, inch by inch. It began to disappear and fade away into nothing, until eventually the sunny midday sky and the treeline beyond could be seen clear and unimpeded. With the departure of that mysterious creature, the fog was nowhere to be found. "Huh… ask and you shall receive. Whatever it was, it seems the fog was tied to it after all." Raph's eyes shift down to look at the newly evolved pokémon by Simon's legs. "Seems your little friend… scared it off?" The words didn't seem right leaving his mouth. Evolved or not, it seemed unlikely that Simon's Spewpa had intimidated that beast. Though Raph supposed that in the end it didn't matter now that it was gone.
Simon picked Spewpa up and lifted her to the now-visible sky. "Hell yeah she did! Sent fido running off with its tail between its legs!" he cheered. Just as suddenly as the bug's courage had come, it was gone, and little tears were swelling in its eyes from the thrill of the moment. "You're a legend, fuzzy!"
Simon's Xtransciever gave a small beep. He tapped the screen; the signal had been restored and it was now showing him their accurate location. Though Raph and him had missed Motostoke's entrance, they weren't far, and Simon reckoned that a couple days' journey would get them to the city gates. Raph heard the same beep ring out soon after and as he checked his device he let out a sigh of both relief and frustration. He was glad this ordeal was over, but if it had never happened at all he'd already be at Kabu's door.
"I think I've had enough training and thrill for this entire trip," Simon said, looking at Raph. "I'm gonna go straight to Motostoke."
"Training and thrill huh..?" Raph mumbled, giving Simon a tired look that expressed his entire opinion of the guy. Simon was… definitely a handful, but he was skilled enough to make use of his bug pokémon in a way that wasn't useless. That alone was a feat, considering what he knew of bug catchers and the stereotypes surrounding them.
"Care for a traveling partner?" Simon grinned, interrupting Raph's train of thought. The older trainer's eyebrow raised just a little more than average. What a boldfaced thing to ask, this guy was as straight to the point as Raph had come to expect.
...still.
Had all that had happened not just happened, Raph would have declined on the spot. Yet he wasn't that lucky, it had happened after all, all of it. Least he could do was keep the kid company on the way to the next city, if anything else tiring got in the way Raph could let Simon deal with it in his place too. He smirked, yeah, that was a good idea. Tucking the keystone in his bag and placing Vito on the floor beside him to roll along, Raph placed his hands lazily behind his head and started to meander in the direction of Motostoke, his pace was lazy as always, but he felt like he'd earned that this time. "Sure, you can stick around until we reach the city yeah? Just don't chat my ear off, you pillock."
Melody begrudgingly trudges several feet behind the girl and her Yamper. Now that they're on the right path, does she really need to be here? Can she just… turn around and walk back to that tower? That seems like a good place to set up a camp for the night. She stops to consider this when her thoughts are disrupted by another scream.
"You REALLY need to quit that." Melody scolds as she jogs forward to see what the cause of that scream was. "What now?"
"Look!" The young girl says as she points to some scattered blue and white fabric strewn across the tall grass.
"Ya know, there's a good chance your Pikachu really hates that dress." Melody says dryly.
"She does not!" Gia shouts. "Something tore it off her! She's in trouble!"
Great. She can't walk away from this now, can she? "Calm down. We're probably right behind it. It's too neat to have been here long." Wind could blow the fabric away, bird Pokemon could make off with the bits to make nests out of, a herd of Pokemon could run by and stomp the fabric into the dirt.
"M-maybe you're right." Gia breathes in deeply before raring her shoulders back. "Okay! We've got to be close! Let's go, Clary!" The two tear off once again.
"Can you no-- HEY! The fog is getting thicker!" Melody groans. She has run more than enough today. Why does she have to do this? What karmic entity did she piss off? She allows her head to fall back and heaves a large sigh before half-heartedly jogging after the girl and her electrical dog. "Slow down!"
It isn't long before Melody's reluctant trudging several feet behind Gia proves problematic. Even a mere ten feet away, it was becoming more and more difficult to see her. "You good up there?"
"Yep! Clary's on the scent!"
"We're gonna walk off a cliff." Melody grumbles into her hand.
It's then that Melody notices two small, red spheres glowing off to the side. She pauses her stride and glances in its direction. "That's not ominous at all."
"Py py!" Nightshot calls happily to the glowing orbs.
"Friend of yours?" Melody asks. The glowing orbs slowly begin wafting towards them, and upon getting close enough to touch, the rest of its features finally take shape.
"Oh, duh. Welcome back."
"Skuuuull~" The Duskull happily waves with its ghostly arms, causing Nightshot to float off of Melody's shoulder and return the wave.
"Sorry about--" Melody looks back in the direction they came from.
"GYAAAA!" Comes a distant scream.
"-- her." Melody grumbles. "STOP DOING THAT!"
"GET AWAY FROM PIKACHU YOU FREAK!"
"... ****. GIA!" Melody calls as she looks around the fog filled area.
"Skull." The Duskull taps her shoulder and points slightly towards the right, its eyes brightening within its skull and making the area slightly more visible. The ghost begins to float in its pointed direction with Melody and Nightshot following close behind.
Only a few tentative steps were taken before Duskull's eyes cast a light on the situation at hand. Gia was steadily backing towards a steep incline with the aforementioned Pikachu in her arms while her Yamper stood between them and… something. As that something drew steadily closer to Duskull's light, it began to take shape. Pointy ears, yellow fur. Another Pikachu? That's what it looked like while obscured by the fog-- until a shadowy arm of some sort launched out from underneath the figure's body and launched towards-- not Yamper, not the Pokemon that was growling at it and attempting to threaten it, no, it was aiming for Pikachu. Why would--
It's a Mimikyu.
"G--" Melody only manages to get out that single sound of warning before the helpful Duskull leapt into the shadows of the ground and darted straight for the disguised ghost. In an instant Duskull leaps from the shadows underneath Mimikyu and strikes, causing both the creature and its ghostly hand to be thrown back before they can strike their target. A brave and helpful action to be sure, though the lack of Duskull's eyes leave both Melody and Gia nearly blind once more. Perhaps it's that inability to see that makes the sickening crack of a neck snapping sound so much louder than it has any right to be. "Please tell me that wasn't you."
"We're fine--! But I don't see that thing anymore!" Though out of sight, neither Duskull nor Mimikyu can be very far. The sound of Astonishes being sent back and forth can be heard moving around the trainers in an uncomfortably close circle.
Melody follows the sound of Gia's voice and quickly finds her silhouette hidden behind the mist. "We've got to get rid of this fog. Do you have any fire types?"
Gia shakes her head. "All my Pokemon are electric."
Probably should have seen that coming. Melody thinks to herself. Before she can think of another tactic, Gia's Yamper lets out a sharp, pained yip. Both trainers turn to see that Duskull had been hurled at it from the fog.
And… there goes their only real way of seeing this ****ing thing. Nightshot zips over towards his new Duskull friend and Melody steps in front of Gia, knowing full well that homicidal muppet is coming for Pikachu next. "Nightshot, take Duskull and hide."
"Py?!" The Dreepy calls in surprise.
"No time to argue, go!" Melody calls as the unsettling chatter of the evil cosplayer creeps its way louder and louder. Even being able to see, Duskull didn't stand a chance against this thing. Dreepy won't fair any better, especially since his best attack will go right through the fairy in a potato sack. "Trust me, I've got an idea!"
"Py py!" Nightshot gives a salute before phasing into the ground alongside Duskull. Clary the Yamper rolls back onto her feet and lets out a growl into the murk.
"What's your plan?" Gia asks.
"I'm going to hope my Rookidee has Keen Eyes." Melody says as she reaches for Bishop's Pokeball.
"That's not a plan!" Gia screams-- right into Melody's ear, causing the teen to flinch.
"Tough ****, it's the best one I've got." Melody narrows her eyes as she looks at Yamper and then follows her eyes into the fog. Yamper can probably Fairy Kruger, so she has a decent idea where it is. This worked for Jasper. Let's give it a shot. Melody thinks as she rares back and heaves Bishop's Pokeball into the grey haze. "Bishop, use Peck!" The Pokeball quickly flies out of sight. The sound of it making contact with-- something fills the air, and for a brief instant the human pair can see as the energy leaving the Pokeball causes a bright light to appear.
"De! De! De!" Rookie shouts as his sharp little beak pecks into Mimikyu's broken fabric.
"Sounds like he's making contact with… something." Melody thinks aloud. The consecutive hits convinces her that Bishop can see a hell of a lot better than she can. It's then that Bishop lets out a squawk of surprise as Mimikyu evades his attacks by sinking into the ground. Immediately after, Yamper lets out a sharp bark of warning and rushes towards the trainers.
"-- Move it!" Melody says as she grabs Gia's wrist and jerks her away from the cliffside. A burst of black shoots from the ground right between where the duo previously stood. The shadows give form to Mimikyu as it descends back to the ground and launches its ghostly hand for Pikachu.
"Would you knock it--" Melody growls as she swings her satchel off of her shoulder and slams it into the satanic pillow case. "Off! Fight what's in front of you!"
The satchel-powered assault doesn't do much, though it does knock the enraged Mimikyu back to the ground.
"Clary, use Nuzzle!" Gia screams. The yellow pup launches for the grounded Mimikyu and… adorably nudges it with her nose. Obviously it doesn't do much, though the sparks that resonate off the haunted textile and the way it jitters and jerks show that, if nothing else, it paralyzed it. It also gave Bishop the few seconds he needed to turn and fly back for his opponent.
"Use Thief!"
Bishop glides into the sparking Mimikyu and slashes at it with both its wings and talons. The sound of tearing fabric can be heard before Bishop flies away from Mimikyu with talons full of stuffing and yellow cloth. Mimikyu retaliates by letting out a shrill shout that causes Bishop to
halt his turn around as he flinches.
Mimikyu takes the time to dive back into the shadows-- though this time, upon realizing that it's not getting close to its prey until it takes care of the problems standing in front of it, it barrels towards Melody.
"Son of a--" Melody doesn't have time to finish before she leaps away from Lucifer's laundry bag, landing on the cold ground with a heavy thud.
"ROOKIDEE-DEE!" Bishop shouts in warning as he flies towards his trainer. Melody turns onto her back to see the Mimikyu spiraling down from its attack with its ghostly hand aiming straight for her neck.
She throws her arms over her throat and face and braces for impact-- and impact that something interferes with.
"Dree-pee-pee!" Nightshout calls out the closest thing he can to Melody as he phases from the ground and flies right through the shadowy-claw to bite down on Mimikyu's already broken neck. Was it… using a normal love? Scratch maybe?
Melody jolts up from the ground at the cry of her partner Pokemon and watches as he throws the rag-doll towards the cliffside. "Nightshot! Be careful! You can't see-"
"Py py!" Nightshot motions towards his own eyes with his stubby arms. They have a glow to them, and that glow casts a light through the fog and onto Mimikyu.
Nightshot… learned a new move? Lock On? Melody shakes her head before turning towards Gia with a confident smirk. "I've really got a plan this time!"
"O-okay!" Gia calls back, clearly exhausted from the sheer stress of the fight with the Pikachu-impostor.
"Have Clary follow Nightshot! Nightshot, use Astonish! Bishop, use Thief!"
"Clary, u-use Spark!"
Nightshout speedily glides down towards Mimikyu, releasing its own shrill shout, the soundwaves of which were enough to send the ghost tumbling backward. An electrically powered-pup zooms towards it next, and while this would normally be the time when Mimikyu vanishes into the shadows-- paralysis catches up to it. Another attack hits its mark and sends Mimikyu flying straight into Bishop, who rips another decent sized chunk of floof and fabric out of Mimikyu's disguise.
Mimikyu falls back to the ground head-first. Upon landing, its broken neck twitches for several seconds before going completely still.
Even more seconds pass, trainers waiting with held breath, before Melody lets out an exasperated sigh. "I think it'll be down for awhile."
"Catch it!" Gia calls out.
"-- What?" Melody asks, her tone a mixture of surprised and severely undone with life itself.
"If you don't, it will come after Pikachu again! I just know it! Please!"
That… wasn't something Melody could argue with. By how determined it was to get to Pikachu during that battle, it might just wake up and track them down again. The punk teen's shoulders slump. "Fine." She says as she reaches for a new Pokeball. This is so not how she intended to use one of her limited resources… although… it is a fairy type, maybe it will come in handy if a bigger dragon comes to pick on Doom Noodle. "Guess you're coming with me." She says as she tosses the Pokeball half-heartedly towards the unconscious Mimikyu.
shake…. Shake… shake… ding.
"You better start behaving yourself, or I'll throw you into a washing machine." Melody grumbles as she picks up the Pokeball. She's barely upright again before she's met with a harsh tackle-hug from the green-dressed girl.
"Thank youuuu! You saved us! Right, Pikachu?"
"Chuu…" The exhausted Pikachu on Gia's shoulder gives a short wave.
"It was…" This is usually where people say 'nothing.' Screw that. "-- actually a **** ton of work. Keep better track of your Pokemon."
Gia lets go and tugs Pikachu back into her arms. "You're right… I'm sorry."
Melody gives a shake of her head. "I'm not the only one you should be apologizing to. Nightshot, where's Duskull?"
The Dreepy in question looks down before shaking his head. "Dree…"
"She probably slipped away to get some Oran berries to heal herself with." Gia points out.
"-- She?" Melody raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah. You couldn't tell?"
"... No(?)" This girl is Valerie levels of weird. "Which way is the nearest berry tree? I want to thank… her for saving our asses back there."
"Um… it's pretty hard to tell in this fog… I think there's one near the watchtower?" Gia half asks, half proclaims.
Melody shrugs. "It's a start." She clips the newly caught Mimikyu's Pokeball onto her belt loop. "Will you be okay making it out of here on your own?"
"Yeah, Clary can sniff us out. Can you… apologize to Duskull for me? Unless I see her first. If I do, I'll tell her you're looking for her."
"Yeah." The very corner of Melody's mouth turns into something that, if raised just a bit more, would almost look like a smile. "That'd be great."
"Neat!" Gia beams. "I'm going to find the nearest ranger station. They'll heal your Pokemon so you don't have to trek back to town."
Melody glances down to her belt. "Guess I've got to track down one of those too." She sighs as she reaches down to collect the satchel she smacked the nefarious knapsack with. "C'mon, you two, we're getting the hell out of this fog."
"Py py!"
"Rooo!"
Both Pokemon cry as they fly over, each choosing one of Melody's shoulders to hitch a ride on.
"Heck yeah! Look out world, this VAL-uable gal is on FIRE!" Valerie and Flame had finally stepped out from the train to take her first steps to the train's destination: The Wild Area. As far as the eye can see, the Wild Area has been filled with beautiful greenery, clear water, and the many different types of pokemon who live within them. Excited as she may be to explore, Valerie got out her X-transceiver. There's one thing she for sure needed to do.
"Luna's gotta hear about this!"
@VAL-entine: YO
@VAL-entine: LUNA
@VAL-entine: LUNA
@VAL-entine: asdfghjkl;l
@LunaBeam: I'm here, I'm here! Sorry!
@LunaBeam: What's up?
@VAL-entine: I'M LIKE
@VAL-entine: SCREAMING
@LunaBeam: Did you make it to the Wild Area?
@VAL-entine: yea! just made it!
@VAL-entine: POGGERS!
@LunaBeam: Nice! You're gonna get a lot of pokemon, right?
@VAL-entine: damn right, girl! i'll DM you later about em' kay??
@LunaBeam: Looking forward to it! Have fun, Val!
@VAL-entine: lates!
With the news shared, it was finally time to get going.
"Excuse me!" but then came a call from right behind her. A slander woman had approached Valerie - her uniformed seemed like someone who worked with the station to greet newcomers to the Wild Area. "I'm glad I caught you! You ran out from there before I could give you this!" She handed Valerie a small brochure - it looked like a map. "This is a map of the Wild Area. This place we're right now is simply called The Meet Up Spot. From here, you can travel from all of the other spots you see there, before you reach Motostoke."
"Oh wooow... there's a lotta places in here," Valerie observed. "Thanks, lady! I gotta check out as much as I can then!"
"Well, if you're feeling up to it, I do have a minor suggestion," the lady continued on, directing Valerie's attention to one spot of the map: Giant's Seat. "A bit far off from here is a destination called the Giant's Seat, where sometimes thunderstorms brew, but does also attract some Electric-type pokemon, and even certain Dragon-type pokemon. In fact... and this is what I've heard mind you: experts are saying that the climate over there is just right now for a certain pokemon to appear... a legendary pokemon."
"A-A LEGENDARY?" Valerie shrieked. "Like.. a super-amazing gigantic pokemon that is S-tier in awesomeness?!"
"I believe it's called a Rayquaza," the lady explained. "Experts say that when the climate is just right, Rayquaza is said to roost in a certain section of the Giant's Seat. I'm not sure where that is exactly, but if you're feeling up to it, you can check it out for yourself! Otherwise, the Wild Area is filled with many wonderful things to explore, like Lake Axewell, The Watchtower Ruins..."
"Already decided!" Valerie perked up. "I'm gonna see - and make friends with Rayquaza!"
"Make.. friends?" the women questioned, but then followed up with a soft giggle. "I hadn't heard of a pokemon like that making friends with people, but you're more than welcome to look for it yourself. Just a reminder, Monostoke is beyond the Wild Area, which is all marked on your map."
"Niceness! Thanks, missy!" Valerie with Flame ran off once more, waving the helper woman a tender goodbye as they went. Now, Valerie has a destination in mind: to meet up with Rayquaza. Valerie could only recall the name from a book she had unwillingly read during her days of the academy, but that pails in comparison to actually meeting one up close. Though Valerie's end goal was simply thus: to make Rayquaza a friend, all a part of her 100 friend quest.
Yes, her 100 friend quest, inspired by a certain legend...
It all started when Valerie's grandmother first took her in. The pain of having her own mother and father not accepting who she is was heavy on her heart, but her grandmother's love helped mend it. Luckily for Valerie, as long as she had a loved one in sight, she was able to accept any surroundings she was put in, and live on with her head high.
While Valerie was putting away and organizing her things, she accidently bumped against a bookcase - which had a book that came flying out from there onto the ground from impact. Valerie picked it up, only to notice that the cover had some sort of... creature that she hadn't even seen before. It looked like a pokemon, but... she couldn't make out what it was. Curious, she showed the cover to her grandmother.
"What's this, Gran-Gran?"
"Ah... the legendary pokemon, Mew."
"Mew?"
"Tell me Valerie, have you heard of the story of Mew?"
"Nuh-uh."
Long ago...
Mew was a pokemon who always loved making new friends with pokemon, and human alike. Mew is said to have the DNA of every single pokemon contained within its body, so it was able to get along with any pokemon it was able to meet. Humans were curious beings for Mew, but Mew was openly friendly towards them as well. Pretty soon, Mew was able to make countless friends... 100 even. While it was a number, Mew considered them all precious.
But then one day... tragedy struck.
Everyone started fighting over Mew. See, Mew was more than just a pokemon: it was able to do anything with its power; perhaps even creating miracles, some would say. Imagine the possibilities one would have if they had their hands on Mew's power! But this line of greed led to unbearable pain for Mew. War and conflict started to consume the world, leaving everything in Mew's path in chaos. At the end of the fighting, all of Mew's 100 friends were lost... forever. In its grief, Mew decided to hide itself from all others, hiding itself from humanity and pokemon, in order to prevent another tragedy.
The story left Valerie in thought, that following night. Making a lot of friends and then losing them all at once? In a way... she can understand that pain. She herself lost all her friends, after all. If it weren't for her grandmother, she would of been left all alone... like Mew has. In fact, she wondered, is Mew alone right now? The idea of staying hidden from everyone to prevent more trouble was nice of it, Valerie thought, but it must feel so lonely not having a friend for comfort.
Maybe if Mew were to make a friend right now...
Then...
It was then that Valerie smiled. She had an idea.
"Mew's gotta know that the world is a lot better now... alrighty! I'll make 100 friends, and then I'll make friends with Mew!"
Which led her to today. She had already made 5 friends, and 95 more to go. Still, while she had her quest in mind, there's nothing wrong with having fun along her way! For example, her current destination:
The Dappled Grove.
Valerie and Flame looked around in joy at the beautiful sight - The Dappled Grove was filled to the brim with thick shrubbery and forest, with many different types of berries from the abundance of berry trees there. The pokemon around here seemed to be enjoying themselves, playing along with each other, and eating some of the delicious berries that they were able to pick around there. All except one.
"Cynda!"
"Eh? What's up, buddy?"
"Quil!"
Flame pointed towards a certain berry tree - underneath it, was a small yellow and black pokemon, that seemed to be trying to reach up for the berries that rested on top. It tried climbing, only for it to be dropped back downward.
"Oooh, blimey, wonder what that small ball of cuteness is..." Valerie asked, but then she remembered: "Oh! Just gotta ask the Dex!" She got out the high-tech encyclopedia that she kept with her: her pokedex. According to the professor, any pokemon she encounters will be registered in this pokedex, and if she encounters a pokemon she hasn't seen before, all she had to do was turn it on and it will play the information for her. So, she pointed her pokedex at the small pokemon.
Morpeko: Two-Sided Pokemon! An Electric and Dark type pokemon! As it eats the seeds stored up in its pocket-like pouches, this pokemon is not just satisfying its constant hunger. It's also generating electricity. It carries electrically roasted seeds with it as if they're precious treasures. No matter how much it eats, it always gets hungry again in short order.
The pokemon, Morpeko, seemed sad, and quite hungry to boot. It definitely wants the berries on top of the berry tree, but nothing is going its way.
"Cynda!" Flame cried out. Flame hopped out from Valerie's shoulder, approaching the small electric pokemon. The two communicated a bit - with the jist of Cyndaquil saying, no need to worry, leave it to Flame! As he then faced the tree, giving it a good, strong tackle. The berry tree shook, dropping a wide variety of berries from it.
"Ohohoho! Nice job, Flame!" Valerie complimented. "That's my Flame-bro for ya!" The Cyndaquil nodded. the Morpeko gave it a delighted smile as Flame, with his long nose, pushed a fallen berry right up towards the Morpeko for it to eat. The Morpeko gladly accepted it as within seconds, it started to happily munch on the fruitful Oran berry.
"Haha! You've got the right idea," Valerie happily cheered, picking up two more berries, and handing one over to Flame. "Gosh, we hadn't eaten since we've left Wedgehurst, haven't we buddy? Let's have a break!" The trio then ended up eating berries. The Morpeko looked up at Val, giving her a satisfied response.
"Peko!"
"No problemo, little-sis!"
"Mor!"
"Woah-hoho, already gobbled that down? Suuuure like your berries, don't cha'? Awww, but, the Dex' said you're always a hungry pokemon, right? What happens if we leave? Will ya' be able to get more food by yourself? Wish we could do somethin'..."
Flame looked up at Valerie.
"Cynda!"
"Ooooh, you're right, Flame-bro!"
"Mor?"
"Yeah! So check this out, Peko-sis: there's a lotta good things to eat out there in the world, y'know? Like Sandwiches, or those sweet and spicy ice-cream bars... you gotta check em' out too!"
"Peko? Peko!"
"Sooo hey! Wanna be friends? Huh? Wanna be?"
"Mor-Mor!"
"Awesome-sauce! Hold still a sec...."
Valerie got out her XTransiever, and aimed it at the Morpeko, with her and Flame in the shot as well. "Allllrighty, ready? Annnnnd... Frieeeeend HYPE! Awesome! We're pals now!"
Flame turned towards Morpeko and gave her a cheerful cry, with her replying with an equally happy cry. Still, she was still hungry. She searched around for another berry on the ground, but when she reached for the nearby Oran berry she found...
It was snatched.
The Oran Berry was snatched up by a sneaky Mankey who was also pretty hungry. The Morpeko stomped her feet and gave it a pout. Valerie couldn't make out what they were saying, but she could guess, they were playing the classic game of back and forth "Give it!" to the response of, "Don't wanna!", until the Mankey had enough - it kicked Morpeko, sending her tumbling to the ground.
"Heeeeey, c'mon!" Valerie pleaded. "That ain't very cool of you... you... errrrrr... what the heck are you...?" Valerie opened her pokedex once more.
Mankey: Pig Monkey Pokémon!
Fighting Type! It lives in treetop colonies. If one becomes enraged, the whole colony rampages for no reason. When Mankey starts shaking and its nasal breathing turns rough, it's a sure sign that it is becoming angry. However, because it goes into a towering rage almost instantly, it is impossible for anyone to flee its wrath.
"Yeah, okay. That ain't very cool of you, you.... MANKEY!" Valerie continued. "You outta stop Mankeying around and--w-whoa, what they--" Valerie's line of demands were interrupted by a whole group of Mankey, now swarming the berry tree. They each picked up berries one-by-one from the ground, and from on top the tree since they were good climbers.
"Daaaamn, look at em' all..." Valerie awed. "Hey uhhh Flame-bro? Maybe we should do something about this!" Flame nodded, and started pleaded with them to perhaps try and leave some for the rest of the pokemon around... only for him to be bullied and kicked around as well.
"Welp, nice try..." Valerie remarked at her fallen Cyndaquil. Flame managed to get back up, but seemingly more ready to now take all the Mankey on - this time, by force. "You're fired up, huh? Right then! Leeeeet's... huh?"
Valerie then felt something strange. Like... something that made her all tingly. It was like some sort of pressure that could crush her at any moment. The Mankey could feel it too, and they all looked around, but nothing really stood out.
That was until, she slowly stood up.
The Morpeko who had been bullied around by the first Mankey gave off like... a strong, evil, dark, oppressive aura. Before Valerie's eyes, she turned from a light-yellow to a darker purple colour.
"...Peko-sis?" Valerie tried calling out to her, trying to see if it was the same sweet pokemon she knew. But she wasn't anymore.
Not with her crimson red eyes.
Before anyone could even blink, the Morpeko rushed in with her fast Quick Attack, drop kicking the nearest Mankey, sending it flying. It then grabbed the next Mankey by its tail with her powerful Bite, easily failing it around and slamming it on the ground again, and again, and again, and again, and again, until she threw the Mankey as hard as she could towards where another group of Mankey were mostly crowded towards, knocking them all down.
One Mankey tried scratching the Morpkeo, only for it to be retalited by the Morpeko hitting it square on the nose with her head, with a follow-up kick to the face. Another Mankey tried kicking it, but Morpeko easily dodged, grabbing its leg and slamming it to the ground, stomping on it to make sure it didn't get back up again. She then picked the Mankey back up above her head, throwing it towards another fast approaching Mankey, knocking them both down and out.
Eventually the Mankey all wised up and started to flee, but was stopped by the Morpeko who caught up to all of them, unleashing a strong-electrical current that was released from her cheeks: Thundershock. She zapped them, leaving them all incapacitated. When it was all over, Valerie and Flame -could smell the lingering smell of charred, smoked Mankey, overready. Beneath the piles and piles of fallen Mankey left Morpeko, breathing heavily. But soon, she noticed one Oran berry had fallen out from the paws of one of the Mankey she beaten. She picked it up the ground, and eaten it, turning her back into her lightly coloured, gentle self again, as she happily ate the Oran berry.
Valerie and Flame could only blink and watch in awe.
Flame (Valerie's Cyndaquil)
Before Valerie started on her journey, Flame was constantly brought down and disrespected by being an incredibly weak pokemon. It trains harder than most of the other pokemon, however. After Valerie helped it to train, it was finally able to ignite the flames on its back. Now, Flame's dream is to be the strongest pokemon in all of Galar.
Youngster Johnny
Johnny's father brought him a Zigzagoon as a friend, when he didn't have any. Ever since his dad saved him and Ziggy from an accident, Johnny's dream is to become a champion of Galar with his self proclaimed top-percentage Zigzagoon. After a hard-fought battle against Valerie, the two became friends.
Pokemon:
Ziggy (Johnny's Zigzagoon)
Arrietty Maverick
A fellow graduate from the Pokemon academy in Wedghehurst. Seems reserved, but friendly.
Pokemon:
Wren (Arietty's Torchic)
Trainer ID
Valerie (Val) Amity
Her main goal for her journey is seek at least 100 friends - humans, or pokemon. So, she seeks to meet and obtain as much pokemon as she can for friends. She also seeks a successful endeavor within her Gym Battle challenge in Galar, in the hopes of one day, becoming champion, like many other trainers who have the same dream.
The sunlight peered through the haphazardly pitched tint far earlier than Melody would have liked. She lets out a small groan as she raises her arm to her head to block out the pesky rays… which causes another groan. That's right, she took a pretty good sideways dive onto the ground to dodge Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak. Her arm and hip are probably a little bruised from the impact. That explained the ache she felt, but it didn't explain the warmth she felt pressed to her side. She slides her arm away from her eyes to see a mixture of yellow and blue cloth has tucked itself in with her blanket.
"... Da hell?" She mumbles as she sits up, careful not to disturb the still sleeping Doom Noodle who was asleep on her pillow. Is that… Mimikyu? It's bottom half is the same, but its Pikachu-esque head has been replaced with blue fabric. Now it kind of looks like Lucario? "Hey." She gives the little ghost's stomach a light poke. "Did you let yourself out of your Pokeball?"
"Kyyyu." Mimikyu calls as it wriggles itself awake, stretching out slowly before hopping up. "Kyu!"
"... You didn't go kill anything, did you?"
Mimikyu shakes its head (well, its whole body) before hopping onto Melody's leg. "Mi-kyu-mii-mi?" It taps the new part of its disguise with its hidden, ghostly hand and stares at its new trainer expectantly.
"Uh…" Melody blinks sleepily. Is it asking what she thinks? "That's cool. I guess you had to do some repairs after Bishop ripped your clothes up, huh?" But where did it get the fabric?
"Kyyu!" Mimikyu cheers excitedly before launching itself against Melody for a hug. Its hard work has been acknowledged!
Melody blinks slowly as she raises her hand to give the ghost a gentle pat. Is… this a different Mimikyu? The one she caught yesterday was more like the second coming of Giratina. This one is… cute? "Why are you being adorable?"
Mimikyu's hand slides out from the costume and wraps itself around Melody's wrist as the fairy gives a gentle hum.
Melody quirks a brow. "O-kay? You wanna be friends?" Wait.
I just wanted to be friends with you~ That's why I like to copy Pikachu~
The obnoxiously adorable song replays itself in her mind. Right, Mimikyu are jealous of Pikachu because they're the ghosts of Pokemon who were abandoned, and Pikachu's incredibly popular for… reasons Melody doesn't really understand. It's cute, yeah, lots of Pokemon are. Anyway, is Mimikyu happy now because it got caught? It thinks they're pals now?
Melody puts on a small smile. "You need a name." After the mishap with Duskull yesterday, Melody did remember to check if Mimikyu was a male or female after catching it. She's the owner of a female haunted pillowcase.
Mimikyu makes a happy purring sound as it slides back onto Melody's leg and resumes its expectant gaze.
Melody rests her palm on her cheek as she studies the now-cuddly creature. "I guess Memes is too basic, yeah?"
Mimikyu tilts its head.
Melody taps her cheek. Mimikyu's a ghost. Haleigh named her new ghost-pal after that freaky ass kid's movie about tearing out people's eyes and replacing them with buttons. What's another freaky movie? There's that one about the haunted doll. Mimikyu's kind of a haunted doll. "What about Annabelle?"
"Miiiii!" The ghost fairy begins to hop around the room excitedly. Guess it's a hit then.
"Awesome. Anabelle it is."
With that settled, Melody begrudgingly agrees to get started for the day. After getting dressed, putting the tent back into its tiny bag, and feeding herself and her Pokemon, Melody made a quick trip back to Oran Berry tree in hopes of finding the friendly Duskull from yesterday. Not a trace of her anywhere. "Do you think a Ranger found her?" Melody asks the Doom Noodle that is hooked onto her shoulder again.
"Dree…" Nightshot looks down. He doesn't seem to have a lot of faith.
"We can ask. You guys need to be healed up anyway."
It's a (shockingly) simple walk to find the nearest ranger station. Melody and gang only came across a dozen or so Pokemon and all of them were at a distance. Though, to be safe, she did return Annabelle to her Pokeball… just in case another Pikachu shows up and her new friend tries to go for round two. It's not long before Melody finds her way to one of the red medical tents.
"Um. Knock knock?" Melody speaks to the small flap that constitutes a door.
"Come on in. We don't bite. People." A voice calls.
Okaaay. Melody slides the flap back and steps inside. She is greeted by two Joltiks that scitter towards the entrance to investigate the new arrival.
"Woah, careful, dudes. I almost stepped on you." Melody scolds as she steps over the tiny creatures.
"Don't worry about them. They're too fast to get squished." That same voice from earlier calls. As expected, he appears to be a ranger, decked out in the black and reddish-orange getup. His hair is a short, shaggy, reddish brown, and Melody feels an instant burst of dread when she sees that he's wearing some kind of goggles. Great, is he expecting a sandstorm? She has had more than enough weather conditions for one adventure, thank you.
"Expecting sand?" She asks.
"A ranger is always prepared." He says as he wheels in his computer chair over to a healing machine. "Either you're here to get your Pokemon healed, or you're here to report an emergency and you're very calm about it."
"Got me. Free healing, please." Melody takes the two full Pokeballs from her belt and returns Nightshot to his own. "You know this thing isn't plugged in?"
"That's what those two are for." The Ranger points to the two Joltik, who quickly leap onto either side of the machine and begin charging it to life. "I'm Mat, by the way. These two are Nik and Knack."
"Melody. I thought Joltik drained machines of electricity." She says idly.
"I pay them in batteries." Mat explains as he inputs the healing orders to the machine from his laptop. "Everyone looks good. No major injuries. Give them five minutes and you'll be set." Mat explains. A soft crackling breaks out from Mat's pocket before Melody can reply.
"Mat? Are you there? Copy."
Mat holds up a single finger. "Excuse me a second." He says as he takes the communication device from his pocket. "Hey. I'm healing a trainer's 'mons. What's up?"
"We're getting a lot of complaints from Dappled Grove. Some kid's working the Nidoran into a frenzy. Can you go over and check it out?"
Mat looks at Melody and gives an overly-exasperated sigh. "Sure, yeah, let me finish up here." He sets the device down and shakes his head. "I did not become a ranger to babysit some obnoxious kids. What do they want me to do? Call his mom?"
"Is it against the ranger code to kick his ass until he goes back home?" Melody asks.
"Eh, not in those words, but something like that." Mat gives a small laugh. There's a few seconds of a pause before his eyes light up with an idea. "Hey, Mello?"
"... What did you just call me?"
"Melo-dy, sorry. You wanna come along? There's three Great Balls in it for you if you help me deal with this kid."
Now this is more like it. Free stuff. Hell yes. Melody gives a little smirk. "Sure, I'll bail your ass out."
"Great. Nik, Knack, you're in charge while I'm gone. Don't eat my laptop." He says as he reaches under his makeshift desk and pulls out a sign that reads, Stepped out. The Joltik will heal your Pokemon. He wheels over and hangs said sign on the machine before finally standing up. "I'll give you a ride on the Roto-bike. Grab your mons and come outside."
"On it." Melody takes the three Pokeballs from the machine and hooks them back to her belt. Alright, time to get some free stuff.
With the Roto-bike, it doesn't take long at all to get to Dappler Grove. Once Melody hops off, Ranger Mat kicks down the bike's brake and motions for the Rotom inside to come out.
Melody shoves her hands into her pockets. "I thought Roto-machines didn't need real Rotoms anymore."
"They don't. This one's my pal though. He likes to be a bike." The Rotom in question agrees by zapping brightly.
"Weird career aspiration but okay." Melody shrugs. "How are we supposed to find this kid?"
"My guess is he's going to be around a bunch of Nidoran or a bunch of annoyed trainers." Mat says with a shrug. "So we listen for sounds of aggravation."
"BAM! Hah, atta boy there, Ziggy!" perhaps the sounds of a cheek youngster was what they were looking for. A youngster with a bad-boy looking jacket, proudly combed his pompadour-like hair after he and his partner pokemon, Ziggy the Zigzagoon made swift work of a pair of Nidoran. "That's the top percentage for ya, amirite?"
"That sounds obnoxious enough to be what we're looking for." Melody declares as she makes a bee-line towards the new voice with Ranger Mat trudging a few feet behind. She makes it to the top of a little hill to see a young man… combing his pompadour and-- would you look at that, battling Nidorans. This has got to be the guy. "Hey!" She calls out, giving a short wave to get the youngster's attention. "Are you the one bothering all the Nidorans?"
"Hah? Whazzat, now?" the youngster stopped combing his hair to give the girl a sidelong look. "What's it to ya, mate?"
Melody's eyes narrow as she folds her arms over her chest. "You're bothering people so much that they're griping to the rangers." She motions with her head towards Ranger Mat as he catches up to the two. He gives a lift of his hand that almost constitutes a wave. "So knock it off." The teen growls.
"Are you mad?" the boy snapped. "This is our training regimen, girlie. The status of being top percentage ain't a hunky-dory trip, let me tell ya'."
"I'm getting there." Melody can feel her left eye deeply considering twitching.
Mat runs a hand through his hair before giving it a shake. This is so very much not what he signed on for. "Look, kid, it's cool that you wanna be the best and all, but you gotta… not make trouble for the rangers and tick off your fellow trainers in the process. Ya follow?"
"Pssh, who cares?" the youngster replies, burying his hands in his pockets, giving off an annoyed expression. "When I'm champ, I don't gotta deal with all that rubbish anyway. D'you possibly know how many people will make songs about the wonder and glory of Johnny and Ziggy?"
Mat opens his mouth, seems to think better of whatever he was about to say, and takes a step back, giving a small hand motion towards Melody. Yeah. This is not in his job description.
Melody slowly balls her hands into very tight fists. "I could make a song right now about how much you don't deserve that Zigzagoon."
Johnny gave Melody more of a stink-eye. "...What'd you say?"
Melody's annoyance eases as a small smirk forms. "It'll be an Obstagoon one day, right? Someone like you can't handle a Pokemon like that."
"Hah, tough talk for a squirt," Johnny replied. "But you also got spunk, girlie... I respect that, in a way. Who are you?"
"I'm Melody from Spikemuth." That last part likely explains her interest in Zigzagoon and Obstagoon. "What are you? Besides grinding on my last nerve."
"Name's Johnny, top percentage of anythin' I do," Johnny replied firmly, giving his Zigzagoon a gentle pat on his head. "And this Zigzagoon is Ziggy, top percentage in being my partner and bro. Got a problem with that? Tough bellsprout."
"Real original name there." Melody rolls her eyes. "-- And what's that even mean? Top percentage. Name one thing you're good at besides tormenting innocent Pokemon and making life more of a bother for everyone else."
"Heh, top percentage means top percentage, mate!" Johnny explained with a confident grin. "Lemme tell ya: one time we defeated a team who sought to use some ancient 1000 year old or whatever guy for a cannon that would destroy everythin'! And one time, we defeated a tyrant overlord to save a dimension. Now, now, this ain't news to brag about, I know, but that's only a taste of what it means to be top percentage. Pretty sweet, huh?"
"I really don't see how your Dungeons and Dragonites campaign has anything to do with what we're talking about now." Melody says with a quirk to her eyebrow. "Look. Leave the Nidorans alone and I'll pretend you're not a disappointment to Piers and Jareth and the Goblin Kings."
"Alright, alright, already you big Togepi, I get it. I'm done here anyway," Johnny submitted in a huff. Then in his own quiet breath, "Geez, a lot less fun than that other kid…"
Melody tries to hide her surprise. She was certain this was going to come to blows-- hell, she was trying to get him to throw a punch. This was. Huh. So this is solving your problems with words. "Great. Go mess with that other kid then."
"Wonder how she's doin'..." Johnny mumbled to himself. He then signaled for his partner Zigzagoon, who barked in obedience. "...Yer name's Melody, yeah? Are you a trainer too? Lemme guess: from that academy?"
"Yeah." Melody finally lets her arms slide away from her chest and lets her fingers relax. It doesn't look like they're going to brawl. Shockingly he's all talk. "Is it obvious? Do I have a post-it on my forehead?"
Johnny turned his back to her. "...When you told me that I might not be worthy of my partner pokemon, I admit, that threw me for a loop," Johnny explained. "Maybe a long time ago, I would've believed in you just packed up and gone right home. But then… that other kid said, it don't matter what other people think. It's as long as you and your partner believe in each other, as friends."
He then gave a sigh. "Alright, alright… after takin' a deep breath and thinkin' about it, I'm sorry fer' pickin' on all those NIdoran. My bad, just wanted to get stronger… so I can battle her again and prove myself." He then gave Melody a back glance. "Hey, just to warn ya if you wanna be a champ? You seem tough, real tough, but I don't think you can beat that kid either. Not in a million years. There's just somethin' about her that I… Eh, it doesn't matter anyway; that's what I think. Welp, see ya. C'mon, boy." the duo then calmly left, without another word.
"Huh. Guess he's not such a bad kid after all." Mat points out as he stretches his arms. "Don't know how you did it, but you struck some sorta' soft spot."
"Nah, I just picked at him until he gave up." Melody answers. "... I think it was Valerie who set him straight."
"Val-a-what?"
"Another girl from the academy. She's all about… friends and junk. What he said about 'that girl' sounds like her." Melody rolls her shoulders. "That was weird-- and you could have handled it yourself."
"Eh, maybe." Mat replies with a shrug. "But I hoped if I hung back, you really would write a song." He grins playfully.
"I'd have to come up with something that rhymes with 'obnoxious.'" Melody says as she watches Johnny walk off. Now she's kind of curious. What did Val do? There had to be more than a friendship speech in there. Guess she'll have to throw a message into the chat next time the older girl streams.
"Dooodododoodo… / Ray - quaz - a, Ray - quaz - a, / Rayquaza is gonna be a champion! Dododo…" as if the perfect timing wasn't such a thing already… here comes a familiar pink-wearing trainer. Singing a tune with her acquired Cyndaquil and Morpeko, no doubt on her way to see Rayquaza, a pokemon rumored to be roosting on the Giant's Seat. "Chaaaaange into a Ray - quaz - a - ful champion, toooooo… save the Galar region…"
Mat glances over his shoulder when he hears another human voice. One look at the girl and he immediately becomes pretty sure Melody has some kind of summoning powers. That's got to be this Valerie. "Hey, Mello?"
"Excuse me?"
"-dy. Is that Valerie?"
Melody turns to see one walking friendship speech and... a new friend it looks like. Good for her. While Melody wouldn't admit it, she did have something akin to respect for Valerie for having a goal and sticking with it. Even if the goal is ridiculous, she has one, which is more than Melody can really say. "... Hey, Happy." Melody raises her hand halfway before awkwardly dropping it. "... She might not see us. She lives in her own world."
"If Rayquaza could get further closer / I wonder what that would be like? / Whooo! I'd be so haaaaaappyyyy… inside my heaaaaart…" Yup, she's in her own world. Nay, in her own universe, as she continued to trot on.
"What's that trope... crouching Persian, hidden badass?" Mat asks. There's got to be some reason why that youngster is so certain his new pal wouldn't stand a chance.
Melody shrugs. "Let her go."
"Don't you wanna--"
zip-zap!
Mat's Rotom bursts out of his watch and zooms towards Morpeko. He knows this one!
"... Or not." Melody huffs.
"Peko?" Peko turned her attention to the incoming Rotom. She was curious about it at first, but ultimately stuck to her eating.
"Meh?" Valerie noticed that her Morpeko was lagging behind. "What's up, Peko-sis? And… whoa is that a Rotom? And… HEY! Double-whooooa!?" Ah, now she notices Melody. "Mel-Mel! Where'd you come from? Hiii! Suuuup! Like, O-M-G, you like, teleported like an Abra or something, woooow!"
"Sweet Zamazenta I want her to be our new Champion." Mat grins.
Melody does her awkward half-wave once more. "Hey, Happy." She greets. "... We've been here. For like ten minutes. Pay attention! This place is dangerous."
"Bzzzzt! Bzzt Bzzt!" Rotom hums, electricity sparking from his body as he flies circles around the three new arrivals. The girl gives off a lot of electrical energy!
"Haaah? Dangerous?" Valerie inquired, rubbing her temple with her two index fingers. It looks like she had no idea. But perhaps… "Ooooh, Mel-Mel, are you talkin' about those Mankey? Causeeeee Peko already dealt with them all. Like, imagine playing a game of UNO-WN and having a card that makes your opponent draw like, the entire deck. And wins you the game."
She really doesn't know. Oh, geez, she can't let this girl keep wandering around on her own. The rangers will end up picking her out of a Nidoking's teeth. Melody begrudgingly makes her way down the hillside. "Well, yeah, Mankey, and Gurdurr, and Nidokings butting heads, and evil Mimikyus." A pokeball strapped to Melody's belt wiggles at that last part. "Lots of... stuff."
"Evil Mimikyu's? And… lots of stuff? Hmmm… hmmm… yeah, makes sense, I guess things can be a little dangerous," Valerie agreed a little bit too… nonchalantly. "Right, right! Your warning is all in the vault now, Mel-Mel! Buuuut we're still gonna meet with Ray-Ray, so even if it's dangerous, it won't stop us cause this Val-iant gal is on FIRE!"
"Ray… Ray?" She needs a dictionary to keep up with this girl. Most of the time she can follow since she occasionally tunes in for a stream (on a different name, throwing out the occasional troll comment) but that's a new one.
"Duuuh, Mel! Rayquaza!" Valerie clarified. "I'm sooo gonna meet with Rayquaza, and become friends with it!"
Oh geez. She is going to die. Melody can only stare in disbelief. "Alone?"
"You got this, Val-iant! I'm rooting for you!" Mat calls from the little hill. Looks like she earned another fan.
"Haha! Thanks man!" Valerie called after. "Well Mel-Mel, gotta make like a Spoink and bounce… oh but WAIT, WAIT, aaah, I keep forgetting - BAM!" She got out her XTransiever. "Wanna be buddies with me? Huh? Whatddya say!?"
Well... that will probably be the quickest way to learn if she actually meets Rayquaza... or gets eaten by it. Melody kicks one of her feet back and shoves her hands into her jacket pockets to grab her phone. "Yeah, sure. Let's... do it."
"Heck yayaz! New friend for the wiiiin! Just hold still a sec…" Valerie then quickly approached Melody, wrapping her arm around her, and holding the Xtransiever so that the camera pointed to the both of them. "Alrighty, ready? Annnnnd…. Friiiiiiend… HYPE!" A new image appeared on Valerie's Xtransiver: her new buddy Melody, a fellow aloof graduate from the academy.
"Woohoo! You and I are buddies!" Valerie cheered. "Hey! If there's anything you need Mel-Mel, Sliiiide me a DM on Chatter anytime! Till then, lates, Mel! Ray-Ray's awaiting, sooo I can't drag-on here! Cyaaa!" Valerie then happily ran skippily off, with her two pokemon quickly following her behind.
If she's going to do this, she might as well do this right. Melody holds her own phone up and taps the side to activate her camera. With the hand visible on screen, she raises the classic 'rock on' symbol. She decides against smiling... the only person who could get a non-forced looking smile out of her was Elias. She doubts Val will mind, the lack of a smile fits her... aesthetic.
Once the photos are taken, Melody tucks her phone back into her pocket. She feels like she should get a pin or something now. Or she should see a little bar over her and Val's heads growing. "... Thanks. I"ll... keep that in mind. If I ever need anything." She lifts her hand up to flash the symbol once more, this time flashing a very discrete smile as Val takes off into the sunset.
"I guess... if anyone could be Rayquaza's friend, it'll be her." She thinks aloud. "Good luck... Val-Val."
"She's a breath'a fresh air." Mat says as he strides down the small hill. Two newly healed Nidorans hop along behind him.
"Bzzt bzzt!!" Rotom sparks happily.
"She's... unique alright." Melody shrugs.
Mat taps his elbow against Melody's. "Your great balls, madam." He says, holding out the three blue and white balls.
"Sweet. Thanks." Melody says as she collects the three balls and tosses them into her satchel.
"... Hey, Mello?"
Melody sighs. She's going to accept this nickname. It's easier that way. "Yeah?"
"I didn't get to see you in action or anything but... ya didn't look like you were gonna take any junk from our pal Johnny. I thought you were gonna knock his clock off when he said you'd lose to her... and ya didn't."
Melody shrugs again. "She probably could."
"You just started your journey, right? Most kids don't give up 'til Kabu at least."
"You can't give up on a goal if you don't have one." Melody taps two fingers to her head and gives a half-hearted salute. "See ya round, Ranger."
Mat huffs as the punk teen starts making her way through the grove. His Rotom zips back into his watch and he gives the screen, now Rotom's face, an affectionate tap. "Maybe they'll learn from each other. Their journey's just beginning, after all."
Rosa walked with the Snorunt in her arms. The Pokemon had grown restless after sitting idly by in her bag for hours on end, though it had become somewhat fascinated with the glowing stone that had been placed next to it during its slumber.
"Runt?" The Pokemon questioned, turning the small stone over in its mitts a few times. Rosa had no personal attachment to the item, so she'd allowed the icy 'mon to have at the stone. The Snorunt had spent the past thirty minutes trying to crack the thing through various means. It'd tried biting, headbutting, throwing it against random stones, shoving it towards Rosa in hopes that she could do something about it, and everything in between.
"I don't know either, girl." Since they'd started the trek back to her bike, Rosa had managed to snag a reading on the Pokemon. She recalled the creature's dex entry, wondering if the thing about being visited by a Snorunt and prospering would hold true or not.
Whether it was for prosperity's sake or not, the gears of fate were turning, and Rosa had long since been caught up in the machinations of their unseen operator. Every piece on a chess board has its role. Every pawn has a price, for no one life in war is expendable. Every action has its reaction, and every battle has its own set of consequences and rewards regardless of its outcome.
Unbeknownst to her, Rosa was about to face her first true battle at the hands of this system.
- - - - -
The pair walked through some freshly fallen snow, finally having made it back to the place where she'd first encountered Nat. Her bike was covered by a soft and fluffy veneer of clumpless snow. Rosa placed the Snorunt on the ground, giving it time to frolic about before she had to go back in the girl's bag.
"Fifteen minutes, alright? I know I'm not really your master, but try not to wander off too far, yeah?"
The Pokemon glanced up at her for a quick second and then nodded its head. "Runt!"
Rosa smiled. It was good to see the Pokemon having gotten over its traumatic experience so quickly. She watched as the Snorunt quickly waddled through the snow, creating a sort of maze as it circled around on itself time and time again.
The trainer dug around in her bag for a few seconds, searching for the busted styler. She looked at the device which was still crusted in a stubborn layer of dirt and dust. Luckily it had been far enough away from the Ranger's body as to not be burnt by the Sizzlipede.
It was a newer model than what she was used to. Then again, it had been nearly eight years now since she last had the chance to hold one for herself - it would be odd for the technology to have stood stagnant while everything else in the world progressed so rapidly. Rosa pulled up the sleeve of her sweater and held the device against her right wrist.
"Doesn't look too bad." She let out a quick sigh as she pulled her sleeve back down. "Maybe I'll see about getting it looked at in Motostoke. Although…"
If the device were actually registered to a deceased Ranger, it would be hard to find anyone willing to fix it. And even if they did, what would they say when they found the data stored on the device didn't belong to her? Was she sure she even wanted to use the thing? Maybe it would have been best to just give it to Nat after all.
She shook her head. It was too early in the morning to be thinking this hard about the moral ramifications of taking the device. Her eyes felt extremely heavy, but she was dead set on getting out of the chilly climate before making camp for the night. She pulled out her Pokedex and checked the time.
"Seven 'til five. I wonder if that Snorunt's going to come back… it's been thirteen minutes already."
"Ruuuuuunt!" The Pokemon called out as it hopped through the snow back towards Rosa.
The girl smiled. This feeling wasn't too bad. And then she noticed it. The Snorunt wasn't hopping out of excitement or glee, but in a panic. It was trying to catch her attention. Rosa quickly reached into her pocket, pulling out one of the two balls within it for protection.
"Snorunt! What's wrong?" Rosa called out, placing her finger lightly on the ball's button without tapping it. She didn't want the poor thing to get the wrong idea as it hurried back up to her.
"Runt! Runt!" The Pokemon stopped in front of her and began to jump up and down frantically. The Pokemon motioned and nudged itself back towards the direction it had come from, hoping that Rosa would take the hint and follow.
"You want me to go with you? But we just got-"
"Runt!" The Pokemon exclaimed, cutting the girl off.
"Okay, okay. I'll come with you. I guess I need to see whatever's got you so excited."
But she didn't have to go anywhere. The second she took a step in the Snorunt's direction, she noticed what it had been pointing towards. There was a Pokemon slowly and methodically tracing the steps that the Snorunt had made in the snow when it had first run off. But… there was something odd about this Pokemon. The trainer looked closer, hoping to see what kind of Pokemon it even was.
"Isn't that… one of your friends from before?" Rosa looked down at the Snorunt, watching as its eyes filled with tiny tears. The Pokemon vigorously shook its head in both agreement and disagreement. "I don't really know what that means?" She said, questioningly. "So it's not one of your friends?"
The Pokemon shook its head no.
"So it is one of your friends then."
The Pokemon shook its head no again.
Rosa sighed. "You're really not making this easy on me…"
The Snorunt began to shake as it quickly turned to look around it. Rosa wasn't sure exactly what the Pokemon was searching for, but it gave up quickly enough. The Snorunt wiped its tears and then looked up at the girl.
"Runt." The Snorunt placed the stone it had been holding down at Rosa's feet before turning to face the approaching Snorunt. "Runt. Runt Runt Snorunt."
"Uhhh, okay?" Rosa bent over and picked up the stone before looking up towards the two Snorunt that were now having a staring competition between them. "That Snorunt…" there was definitely something off about the Pokemon. Its eyes… its whole body… It felt like the Snorunt's beady red eyes stared through its foe and straight into Rosa's soul. The girl laughed uneasily as she rose to her feet. "H-heh. What's up with that Snorunt?"
"Runt!" The Snorunt which had been travelling with Rosa stepped over to block the opposing Pokemon's glare. She threw out her arms, making her tiny body as big as she could. "Runt! Runt Runt Runt, Snorunt!"
The opposing Pokemon smirked as an icy stream began to escape from its mouth. "Snor… Snorunt." The red-eyed Snorunt rushed its opponent, moving much quicker than any Snorunt Rosa had seen so far. The Pokemon burst through the snow and got right into the Snorunt's face before letting out an unsettling scream. "Runt!"
The Snorunt which was blocking the path to Rosa flinched, taking a small step backwards as it slightly recoiled from what it had expected to be a physical attack.
"Runt." The Pokemon whispered in a mocking tone. The icy stream which had been flowing lightly from its mouth thickened into a powerful Frosty Breath attack which forced the opposing Snorunt hurtling backwards.
The Snorunt bounced against Rosa, knocking her off her feet and into the snow. "Ow!" she exclaimed instinctually. Her gaze slowly raised to meet the opposing Snorunt's, who was now standing over her. The Pokemon grinned evilly, its red piercing eyes beating into hers. There was an apparent blackish-red aura around the Pokemon which the girl had only just noticed.
"Runt Runt." The Snorunt whispered as it reeled its head back. The frost built up around the Pokemon's mouth as it inhaled deeply, ready to release the final blow. Rosa fumbled around her pocket in a daze.
This was it. A point blank attack from a deranged Pokemon. This was all that her life had come to. Everything she was, that she'd hoped to be, that she would have liked to learn and experience… it was all moot. The girl closed her eyes, her fingers only having just brushed against the ball in her pocket as the Pokemon began to bring its head down. There was nothing to do now but accept it.
"Ruuuunt!" The Snorunt cried out as it bashed into the red-eyed Pokemon. The poor thing's body was covered in a frost which had caused the snow around it to freeze together and stick to its body. The Pokemon lumbered towards the deranged Pokemon, wincing in pain with each step. "Runt." The Pokemon shook its head. "Runt Runt Runt."
The red-eyed Snorunt wiped the frost from around its mouth and grinned. "Ruuunt."
The Snorunt got up in the face of the red-eyed Pokemon, taking in a long, deep breath with each step that it used to close the distance between it and it's foe. "Runt!" The Pokemon screamed out, hoping to get a similar reaction from the Astonishing move as its opponent had gotten from it previously.
"Ru-Ru-Ru." The Pokemon chuckled as it rose to its feet. "Snooorunt." The Pokemon doubled itself, and then doubled again, and again. In just a few seconds, the red-eyed Pokemon had surrounded the Snorunt with body doubles. "Snorunt." A black, Shadowy Ball appeared between the Pokemons' hands. "Snor-Snor."
The Snorunt's eyes widened as it was struck from all directions with the attack. Only one of the moves damaged it however, sending it tumbling off into the distance due to the direct hit. The deranged Snorunt turned slowly, dispelling its doubles as it met Rosa's eyes again.
"Snoooorunt." It whispered. "Snooooorunt." The Pokemon took a step closer. "Snoooor-"
Rosa gripped the ball in her pocket and quickly tossed it out. "No!" She screamed.
"Muuuunchlax." The Pokemon burst free from its ball and looked around. "Munch?" It questioned, chewing on the leftovers in its mouth.
"That Snorunt… it tried to protect me. Even though I'd barely even done anything for it. We have to make things right Ezra! You have to beat that red-eyed Snorunt so we can heal the other one!"
"Munch." The Pokemon looked disappointed.
"If you win, I'll be sure to buy you something good in Motostoke."
"Munch?" The Pokemon's eyes lit up as it turned its attention to the Snorunt in front of it. "Munch." Ezra grinned wide as it intertwined its claws. "Muuunchlax."
The Snorunt grinned. "Snorunt? Snorunt, Runt Runt."
"Munchlax?" The Pokemon exclaimed, taking a step back.
"Runt." The Snorunt's grin changed to a grimace as it took a step forward.
"Munch." Ezra shrugged. "Munchlax… munch."
The Snorunt's grimace faded as it stopped in its tracks. "S-Snorunt?"
"Munch." Ezra stated firmly.
Rosa stared in utter confusion as the two Pokemon had their whole back and forth. "What even is going on here," she muttered to herself before slapping her cheeks. "Get it together, Ezra!"
"Munch munch!" The Pokemon waved its arm over its head without looking back.
"Snorunt." The Pokemon lowered its head, having lost some of its previous confidence.
"Ezra, that Snorunt should be slightly weakened from the fight it had with Snorunt earlier! But don't get caught off guard, its got some dirty tricks up its sleeves and its attacks are strong!"
"Munch?" Ezra questioned, tilting her head slightly as she looked at the Snorunt's body. "M-muuuunch?"
The Snorunt sighed. "Snor. Snorunt, Runt." The Pokemon motioned towards Rosa before spitting on the ground. "Runt."
"Munch!" Ezra shouted, baring her teeth at the Snorunt.
The red-eyed Pokemon smiled and then beckoned Ezra to come at it. "Runt."
"Munch!" Ezra rushed at the Snorunt, baring its teeth and ready to strike.
The Snorunt dodged out of the way of the slow-moving Pokemon and lashed at its fatty back with an Icy Wind. The Munchlax swung around, throwing its tongue out to Lick the Pokemon as it retreated. The Snorunt tumbled over, wiping the spit off in the snow before being Tackled deeper into the snow.
"Munch!" Ezra called out in between its successive Bites across the Snorunt's body.
"Runt!" The Pokemon refused, blowing its Frosty Breath against the Munchlax's face each time it pulled back to attack again.
"This is looking bad…" Rosa muttered as she felt around in her pocket for the other ball. It might be kind of cheap to go two on one, but this Snorunt was too strong to leave to just one of her team. "Wyatt… we need your help." Rosa tapped the button on the ball and then released the Whismur into the snow at her feet.
"Whis?" The Pokemon asked quietly.
Rosa nodded her head. "A sneak attack. The Snorunt's attention is solely on Ezra right now. You can sneak up and finish the job. You're both too weak to do this on your own, but if… we… act together…" her words slowed as began to mull over the meaning of her own speech.
Wyatt wasted no time, however. The Pokemon had gained a small amount of confidence over the past few days. Now it had the chance to act on that confidence and help out not only its master, but a partner. The Whismur quietly waddled over towards the trench that Ezra had pushed the Snorunt into.
"Whis…" Wyatt whispered to itself as it made it to the edge of the pit.
The Pokemon watched the reciprocative attacks between the two. Each blow seemed to wear the other out more and more, and despite the intensity of Ezra's attacks, it was slowly becoming apparent that the speed advantage of the Snorunt would see it win out before the Munchlax could land the finishing blow.
It was up to Wyatt to end this, just as Rosa had said. The Pokemon glanced over at its trainer who was lost in thought. The Whismur nodded its head, taking the girl's words to heart. It was strong. It was powerful. Its voice was its greatest strength, and with it, it could avenge its friend.
Wyatt leapt into the crevice, landing squarely on Ezra's back. The two Pokemon immediately looked up at the new addition. Ezra's eyes widened, realizing what was about to come. The Munchlax ran through an array of emotions in the span of a second before landing on acceptance. She wrapped her arms around the red-eyed Snorunt and closed her eyes, ready for what was to come.
Wyatt reeled back, opening its ears and taking in a massive breath. "Whiiiiiiiiis!"
The two Pokemon shuddered. The Disarming Voice continued as Wyatt reeled. The Pokemon pushed itself to its limit, crying out to the point that it passed out from lack of oxygen. The Whismur wheezed as it struggled to refill its body. Rosa, having been snapped out of her daze, rushed over to the pit to check on the Pokemon. Both Munchlax and Snorunt were out cold, but Wyatt was still sitting there shaking as it tried to regain control over itself.
Rosa reached out and pressed the pokeball against Ezra before scooping up Wyatt. "You both did so well." she cooed softly.
"Snor…" the Snorunt which had been travelling with her crawled through the frostbitten grass to the edge of the hole. The Pokemon looked up at Rosa with tears in its eyes. "Snorunnt." The Pokemon cried as it fell into the hole. The Pokemon caressed the face of the red-eyed Pokemon, and then rested their heads against each other.
"Is that… one of your friends?" Rosa asked, placing Wyatt back in his ball.
The Snorunt looked up at her, its eyes heavy and its body weak. "Snooor."
Rosa nodded her head. She only had one of the herbs, but she'd be able to carry the red-eyed Pokemon with her to a healing station. The trainer fumbled through her bag for a few seconds before pulling the herb out. She crushed it up between her hands and then reached out towards the Snorunt that she'd been travelling with.
"Snor." The Pokemon swatted away Rosa's hand.
"It'll make you feel better. Remember how it helped the Snorunt yesterday? It's good for you, even if it tastes bad."
The Pokemon shook its head. "Snorunt." It rolled over on its side and motioned towards the red-eyed Pokemon. "Runt."
Rosa looked at the Pokemon with a confused expression. "Are you sure?"
The Pokemon nodded. "Sn- Snorunt." It reached back out towards the Pokemon's face, rubbing its little hand against the attacker's peak.
Rosa shrugged. "I guess I can carry you with me until we get to healing instead…"
"Runt." The Pokemon shook its head. "R-Runt." It motioned towards Rosa's pocket which held the two filled balls.
The girl reached into her pocket and held out Ezra's ball. "You want this?"
The Pokemon nodded. "Runt." It motioned lethargically between the herb and the red-eyed Pokemon, as well as between itself and the pokeball.
Rosa shook her head. "We only stayed together because-"
"Runt!" The Pokemon cried out at the girl. Its eyes were filling with tears and it had begun to shake. "Runt… Runt, Snorunt." It shook its head slowly before looking over at the red-eyed Pokemon. "Snorunt, Snor-runt."
Rosa nodded her head in understanding. "Alright… I got it." The girl reached out and lifted up the red-eyed Snorunt. She cradled the Pokemon in her arms and gingerly fed it the crushed herb. "Come on, eat it all up."
The Pokemon slowly opened its eyes as it munched on and swallowed the herb. "R-runt?" The Pokemon questioned as it rolled out of Rosa's arms. As it hit the icy ground, something fell off of the Pokemon. "Runt?" The Snorunt looked around and then gazed into the hole where the other Snorunt lay. "R-R-Runt?" The Pokemon's eyes filled with tears as it gazed back up at Rosa. "Snorunt." The Pokemon shook its head before taking off back in the direction it had come from.
Rosa reached back into the hole and pulled out the Snorunt that she'd been travelling with until now. The two watched as the other Snorunt rushed off back into the treeline. The trainer pulled out an empty pokeball and held it up to the Pokemon in her off hand.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Runt." The Pokemon nodded as it closed its eyes.
Rosa smiled, happy that she was able to have a consensual capture with such a quirky Pokemon. "Alright. In that case, I welcome you to the team, Yzma."
The girl pressed the ball against the smiling Snorunt. The ball glowed and shook in her hands a few times before finally making a clicking sound. As much as she wanted to sit around and celebrate her first real victory in battle, she needed to get the Snorunt taken care of. As it stood, Wyatt was the only Pokemon in her party still relatively healthy.
Rosa turned to walk back towards her bike as she stepped on something and nearly slid out into a full on leg split. "What the heck?" She muttered as she pushed herself up out of the snow. She reached over after getting to her feet, picking up the clump of material. "Is this what fell off of that Snorunt from before?" She looked the item over for a few seconds and then shook her head, putting it into her bag with the rest of her random items. "Guess I have two things I need to have looked at in Motostoke now."
-Inventory-
Spoiler:
- ₽20
- Notebook and Pen
- 3 Pokéballs
- Galarian Pokédex V. 8
- Rosa's ATC
- Old Rod
- Simon's Knit Wooloo Sweater
- Rotom Brand Electric Bike
- Dawn Stone
- Wishing Piece
- Busted Styler
Snow whipped around painfully around Achille, the chill in the wind stinging his eyes and nose. He'd had enough of the cold already, but sucking it up and trudging through the blizzard was the fastest way out of the Giant's Seat and back on the path to Motostoke. So he clenched his fist tighter inside his pocket and trudged on, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of his head telling him to be afraid of the snow after the last incident.
Clinging to his back underneath his jacket collar was Alizé. The little bat had crawled up there while he was disassembling the tent and refused to leave. Although he had been initially hesitant to become the tiny pokemon's trainer, her instant and often very literal attachment to him did make her an ideal teammate in the bonds sense. She would need work on the independence and self-confidence side though.
Only inches behind him was Joiuse. The Honedge matched his pace carefully and watched the snow from behind his shoulder. It hardly needed mentioning that the paranoid ghost-type did not approve of the limited visibility right now. Still, Achille was happy to have her next to him in these shit conditions. She was jumpy, but had good sense for a sword.
A strong wind blew across the field suddenly. Achille raised his arms in front of his face to stop both the piercing cold wind and the fat snowflakes being pushed along "Putain de Merde!"
"Hooonnne." Joiuse chided, barely audible over the wind. Okay… Achille was mostly happy to have her along right now.
The wind began to die down, and Achille could check his surroundings again. The bridge over Lake Miloch was just visible several yards away; an indication he was still on the right track to escaping this bleeding storm.
Da-ru… Ma-ka...
Something was audible over in the distance, but just barely. Achille had to squint to make out anything, but there was a shape running across the bridge. Whatever it was happened to be pretty small. Achille felt no danger in walking closer to get a better look.
Daru… Maka… Da-ru...
As he got closer to the bridge he began to make out the shape and sound better. The tiny shape looked to be a white, circular Pokemon running with a disk like object. It also appeared to be running across the bridge, which made Achille stop his approach. What is it running from? The voice was still largely lost in the wind, but he was beginning to be able to hear distinct sounds.
Ma-ka… Daru? The Pokemon could now see him as well. Achille could now identify the little ice-type pokemon as a Darumaka, something he recalled looks completely different in Galar compared to the ones back home in Kalos and those in Unova. The tiny monkey-like pokemon continued it's hustle across the snowy landscape while clutching a black record-like device.
Once the Darumaka got close enough, it jumped onto Achille's leg and quickly scurried up the young man. Climbing around and onto his back, the Darumaka ultimately decided to stay behind Achille's shoulder, opposite of Joiuse. Achille reached back to prevent Joiuse from making any rash decisions, gently guiding her in front of him and away from the newfound passenger.
"I want to see what's chasing it," He reassured the Honedge. Her wary glances towards the ice-type told Achille he made the correct call in moving her in front. He felt a rustle under his collar and heard several angry "Noi, Noi, Noi"s; Alizé was not too happy about the Darumaka's sudden appearance either from the sound of things.
Achille shushed both of his pokemon and gestured towards the bridge. A distinctly human shaped figure started crossing from the other side, stopping upon seeing Achille. The figure watched for a second, then continued towards the trainer at a slow, but steady rate. As it neared, Achille was able to make out features like a pristine, all-black suit underneath a heavy black coat. The man was tall and lean, easily towering a good half-foot or more over the teen. Despite the ongoing blizzard the man's salt-and-pepper hair was flawlessly combed back. Achille also noticed the man's nose was crooked and bent, likely from multiple fractures, as well as a faded scar on his upper lip.
Something about the man set off warning bells in Achille's head. Likely his cold, gray eyes, narrowed in on him like a hawk on the hunt.
"Good evening trainer," the man said, just loud enough to be heard over the blizzard. "Hand over the Darumaka and the technical record, then be on your way."
"And why should I?" Achille shouted back. "It doesn't seem like your pokemon, and you don't look like you're trying to catch it. Who are you anyways? Ranger? Aether? Plasma?"
"None of that concerns you," the stranger shouted back. His previously stone cold expression was starting to show a touch of annoyance at the pushback. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of strange pokeballs. These were a dark steel color with an odd black spiral on the exterior. "Now, hand over the Darumaka, child. That is a command and not a request."
"Now I'm definitely not handing it over, léche-cul."
"It's a shame when children are hurt on the job," the man said coldly, his eyebrow twitching a bit at the insult but otherwise not visibly reacting. He released the pokemon inside of them, revealing a lethargic and emotionless Bergmite and Darmanitan. "But I suppose this will prove a proper lesson on sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."
Something about the way the two pokemon were acting caused Achille's stomach to sink. He felt the Darumaka grip the back of his jacket and looked back to see it staring at the Darmanitan. From behind his head the flapping of wings told him that Alizé had taken flight, with Joiuse now in a defensive position as well.
"Very well then. Number Two and Number Three, use Power Snow."
At the man's command the two Pokemon robotically opened their mouth and let loose a full powered Powder Snow aimed directly at Achille's group. Achille jumped to the side while Alizé and Joiuse flew away from the attack.
The Darumaka jumped off of Achille's back. The small monkey launched its own Powder Snow and charged the Bergmite. The stranger gave a command to dodge, which the Bergmite dutifully did. Achille pushed himself up and formulated a quick strategy.
"Alizé, you're with me. Joiuse, I'm trusting you to mostly be on your own. Get hits where you can, but I want you to support me and Darumaka." The Honedge took off towards a position between both Bergmite and Darmanitan. Achille took off towards the Darmanitan with Alizé right behind him. "Alizé, start us with a gust!"
"Dodge it Two." The suit-clad man interjected quickly. "Use Curse, Three." A small gale of cutting wind was formed by the Noibat's wings, but the Darmanitan was able to roll away from the worst of it. Snow was flung around from the impact of the wind, creating a very short lived smoke screen. Joiuse finally reached her position between the two battles and let loose a horrible Metal Sound into the smokescreen.
On the other side of the battlefield the Bergmite's eyes began to glow with a purple aura as it's moves grew even more sluggish. The Darumaka jumped at the Bergmite, but it's tackle didn't appear to have much impact on the now "curseified" Bergmite.
"What the fuck did you do to them?" Achille demanded. "Why are they so lifeless? Why are you just calling them by a number? Who the fuck are you?" In his rage he nearly forgot to give a command to Alizé, and the Noibat just hung in the air awaiting an order. "Alizé keep using Gust, don't let it get close."
The bat's wings beat even faster, sending more waves of cutting wind into the snowy smokescreen. Meanwhile the Darumaka continued it's assault. The monkey rained multiple bites on the Bergmite, but the attacks appeared to have difficulty breaking through the icy mites armor. The gust assault on the Darmanitan continued as a glow within the snow slowly grew in intensity. The glow reached a critical mass and then exploded, clearing the smokescreen. At the center of the explosion was the Darmanitan, except instead of the jolly afro'd ape it now looked like a two faced snowman with a pillar of flame for a nose. Despite the energy pouring out of the pokemon its face didn't reflect the energetic rage he expected, it just stayed the same blank stare.
"As I said, child, none of that concerns you. Close the distance Two and Ice Punch. Three, Rapid Spin the pest off of you."
Shit, Alizé is extra weak to that. Achille realized that a full powered punch from the Darmanitan would probably take the Noibat out of the fight. "Try to dodge it Alizé!"
The Darmanitan suddenly leapt towards Alizé with its hidden legs, surprisingly quickly. The ape's arm emerged from the body of the snowman, its fist covered with snow from the body. The little bat flapped as hard as she could, but she couldn't generate enough force to escape her foe's attack. Achille winced as he realized the Darmanitan and Noibat were on a collision course.
A blur shot out from the side and intercepted the fist before it could make contact with Alizé. The bat remained floating, the ape fell to the ground, and the blur was spiked into the snow. The piled up snow prevented Achille from seeing who took the attack, but he had to hurry to take advantage of the situation. "Hit it with Supersonic, quickly!"
Alizé returned to a glide, closing her eyes and pointing her ears at the emotionless pokemon. An ear-piercing tone came from the speaker-like indents in her ears. Achille and the stranger covered their ears in pain, and the Darmanitan began to look unsteady on his feet. A few feet away a silent Joiuse emerged from the snow, brushing off flakes of frost with her ribbon-arm. "Oh merde, good save!" The Honedge flashed a thumbs up, then sped off to assist the Darumaka.
The Bergmite pulled its legs close to its body and began to spin on the ground. The Darumaka had to stop its bites to even hold on. Darumaka's grip gave out after a few revolutions at max velocity. The tiny monkey was thrown off the Bergmite and bounced a few times before standing and slapping his face a few times, a Work Up move.
"Tch, let's try that again," the suited man scolded. He pinched the bridge of his battered nose with a frown, but his frustration had still not become outright anger. "Tackle the target, Three. Two, hit the interloper this time."
Alizé looked ready to dodge this time, darting back and forth in the air rapidly. The Darmanitan wobbled on its feet, barely able to follow the rapid bat. Perfect, he's absolutely bewildered. "Try to pick up the pace, Double Team!" The bat accelerated further, becoming a blur and eventually appearing as three different bats flying in a twisted pattern through the air. The Darmanitan clenched its fist, but couldn't focus its eyes onto a single target. The burning snowman tried to leap at its target again, and stumbled from its vertigo. The pokemon ended up spinning around and flailing its arms, accidentally hitting itself and crumpling into a pile.
"DARRRRUUUU"
A cry came from Achille's left. The Darumaka and the Bergmite were quickly closing the distance for a mutual tackle. The Darumaka's face livid with anger while the Bergmite remained a blank canvas. The two collided, each ending up an immovable object to the other's unstoppable force. Darumaka wrapped its arms around his foe, and the two continued their sumo match, digging their feet into the ground. The tiny monkey found a grip on the ice chunk and redoubled its efforts.
"...dar...ru...MAKA!" The pokemon shouted, actually managing to lift the Bergmite a few inches off the ground. With a grunt it launched the helpless Bergmite a few feet into the air and was thrown onto its back by the exerted force. The triangular pokemon reached the apex of its flight about six feet in the air, and began his descent to the ground. There was a loud swish as Joiuse flew in from the sidelines with a timely Aerial Ace. The sword pokemon's sheathed blade spiked the Bergmite into the ground, kicking up a small explosion of snow.
Snapping his attention back to his own battle, Achille realized the Darmanitan wasn't even able to stand back up. The snowman struggled to stand upright again, falling under the weight of its "head". The snowman's flame cleared the snow in sweeping lines as it stumbled about. Finally the disoriented pokemon crashed onto its back, where it finally dropped its arms and stopped moving.
"Yeah, how do you like that, grosse merde?" Achille pumped his fist at the victory. Sure, they appeared weaker than normal, but he beat a full grown Darmanitan with a young Noibat. "Now why don't you fuck off and leave or send out something stronger next time?" He pointed his finger at the stranger and smirked. Joiuse moved in front of him again, floating between him and the stranger while the Darumaka and Alizé continued to stare the man down from their position.
The stranger withdrew both Darmanitan and Bergmite to the strange pokeballs, causing Achille to grit his teeth and Darumaka to angrily begin another charge. The man didn't react to the threat and returned the black pokeballs to his coat pocket. His mouth twitched into a smirk as he reached inside of his suit and withdrew another black pokeball, but with the yellow stripes that Achille was used to. A normal Ultra Ball. The Darumaka stopped the charge upon seeing the new pokeball, huffing for breath and creating little water-vapor clouds with each exhale.
"If that is what you want, then we can end the play time early." The tall stranger bounced the expanded pokeball in his hand a few times, and Achille wondered if it would be a normal pokemon that emerged from it. Before that question could be answered though, the man raised his hand to his ear and covered it from the wind. "Now?" He demanded into the earpiece Achille didn't even notice before. "Fine, I'm on my way back. I've bagged a few."
Without a further word the man turned around and began heading back over the bridge.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?!" Achille shouted, who the fuck was he to issue a challenge like that and then run away. "Not going to back up all your connerie?"
The man stopped and turned his head, but didn't meet the teen's eyes. "Try to stop me if you want. We'll see if that was… ahem… bullshit or not." Then he continued on his way. Achille grit his teeth and clenched his fist, but didn't give chase. The Darumaka also growled in frustration, but did not follow. Soon the strange man disappeared into the storm, and Achille exhaled the breath he had been holding since the man looked back. Fuck that guy's smile is unsettling.
His reflection was cut short by the sudden fuzzball attached to his cheek. Alizé had dived at him as soon as the danger had passed, clinging onto his face before dropping down to his shoulder. "Yes, you did a good job." He assured the Noibat, smiling at the bat and scratching her head with the tip of his index finger. Alizé happily squeaked before crawling back towards his collar and returning to her spot in his jacket.
"Oh, and Joiuse," Achille said, acknowledging the Honedge in front of him, "great job today. Thank you for the save earlier." The sword just did her nodding motion in acknowledgement and returned turned towards the Darumaka, who was staring dejectedly at the bridge.
"So, I don't know who those were to you," Achille said, kneeling down next to the pokemon. It looked back at him, but didn't otherwise move. "I do know you probably won't find that guy again staying here though." He let his words sink in for the pokemon as he reached for an empty pokeball. Fuck it, I've already picked up one partner because I felt sorry for them.
He pulled out a normal red and white pokeball, expanding it to capture size and setting it in the snow next to him. The Darumaka looked at the pokeball, then Achille, and then repeated the cycle a few times.
"Look, you don't have to if you don't want to. I will be going all over Galar for the League Challenge. I'll meet a lot of people out there. I'm not saying we even have a good chance of finding him, but I think it's better than hoping he comes back here."
"Daru."
"If it means anything, I'm pretty impressed with your fight there. I think we'll work well together."
"Daru."
The Darumaka looked back at the bridge and sighed. It pushed itself back to its feet and faced Achille, picking up the pokeball. It raised the pokeball over its head and dropped it, causing the ball to open. Darumaka disappeared into the pokeball and it fell back to the ground, giving a few weak wiggles. The capture confirmation sounded before the pokeball burst open again, releasing the now captured Darumaka.
"Daru."
"Good to have you aboard… Ignace."
New Pokemon:
Ignace
Male // Inner Focus
Powder Snow // Tackle // Taunt // Bite // Avalanche // Work Up
Got Item
TR: Rock Tomb
Inventory:
Spoiler:
1000₽
Pokédex
ATC
Pokéball x2
Old Rod
TR: Rock Tomb
Stampede (Male, Swift Swim) - Water Gun, Smokescreen, Twister, Focus Energy, Dragon Breath
Heroes of a Sort
"Who the hell are you?" One of the punk wannabe trainers demanded.
Catherine sighed. "A reluctant interloper apparently."
Her Horsea had forced the Krabby and Sandile back as she and Indra had climbed down. Now she was standing between the two trainers and the injured, growling Manectric. It was a very surreal experience and she felt as though she hadn't quite figured out how she got there, but there she was.
"We saw it first, shove off." The second of the trainers punctuated that sentence with a rude hand gesture.
"Yeah!" His twin added.
Catherine looked the two of them over again, shaking her head like a disappointed parent. "Honestly, I wish I could, but my Horsea here likes to play hero."
"If you know what's good for you, drag that little runt off."
"Look," Catherine replied exasperatedly, "That's not going to happen. So just make this easier on all of us and leave. I'm not in the mood for asking twice."
"Fuck this. Claws, use Metal Claw!"
The attack came with little warning, but it wasn't exactly unexpected. The Krabby rushed forward, one of its pincers shining with a silvery, metallic sheen. It shot its claw forward like a piston towards Catherine's Horsea… and hit nothing.
The Horsea easily dodged the attack, hopping to the side with much greater speed - it was still raining after all and Catherine had come to the conclusion that, like Indra, it had the Swift Swim Ability.
"Horsea - ugh you need a name," Catherine started to command, "Stampede, I guess, use Dragon Breath!"
There was a moment of delay, Stampede taking a second to realise he'd just grown a name out of nowhere, then he retaliated. At close range, he blasted Claws the Krabby with a torrent of violet, sending the other Water type tumbling back towards its trainer.
"Snapper, get in there with Bite!" The Sandile rushed in now, running past his partner in an attempt to slam his jaws shut on Stampede.
"Indra, Bubblebeam!" Catherine interjected, taking advantage of the pair's focus on her Horsea.
Snapper lunged for Stampede, but just before the Ground type could reach him, a surge of high-pressure bubble bombarded him and Indra's attack smashed him to the side.
"I have more than one Pokemon you know," Catherine said dryly. She wasn't sure if it was just because she had been to a formal trainer's school or what, but the way the twins battled seemed pretty sloppy to her. "Honestly, you're lucky this Manectric is injured or you'd both be toast right now."
"Shut up, bitch!" One of the twins snarled.
"Yeah, we're going to catch that thing and use it to get a gym challenge recommendation. We're going to be famous!" The other one added.
Catherine scowled at the disgusting pair before her. "So you were going to take advantage of its injury and then leave its egg behind? Is that about it?"
"What of it?"
"Nothing much, just that the both of you are repulsively selfish," Catherine said, "Stampede, Water Gun on the Sandile."
Much quicker on the uptake this time, the Horsea leapt up high and unleashed a powerful stream of water at Snapper. With a sharp command, Claws moved in front of the Ground type to shield it from the super-effective attack, being knocked back by the force of Stampede's attack.
"Indra, Bubble Beam!"
"Poli!" Indra cried out determinedly, releasing another potent Bubble Beam at the opposing Sandile. Snapper was too slow to avoid the attack and was send flying past his trainer by the barrage of bubbles.
"Get your shit together, Snapper!"
"Claws, Razor Shell!"
The Krabby charged forwards again, a jagged blue glow encasing one of his Pincers. He tried to slash Indra, but the Poliwag skipped out the way with a giggle. The Krabby continued to ineffectually swipe at Indra, but with Swift Swim in play, was far too slow.
"Dragon Breath, Stampede."
The Horsea interjected, ducking under one of Claw's wild Razor Shell attacks and getting in front of Indra. He then, at close range, unleashed his flame-like Dragon Breath. Claws was catapulted by the force of the attack.
"Dig!" Snapper's trainer commanded. His Sandile obeyed, diving into the ground like it was a pond and leaving a hole behind. "Not so great now that you don't know where we're coming from, are you?!"
Catherine didn't respond. She was focused on the ground, looking for any sign of the incoming attack.
"Don't get distracted, Claws, Razor Shell!"
The Krabby charged forward again.
"Indra, Double Slap!"
Catherine barely looked up from the ground as Indra easily intercepted Claw, twirling past his Razor Shell and repeatedly smashing the Krabby into the ground with his tail.
"Now, Snapper, get the Manectric!"
Catherine whirled around, she had been so focused on her opponents she hadn't even been thinking about what the Manectric had been doing. Snapped exploded out of the ground, slamming into the Manectric's injured leg and knocking it off its feet. The Manectric howled in pain and fury.
"Water Gun, Stampede!"
"Into the hole, Snapper!"
Snapper dove into the hole, avoiding Stampede's attack.
"Great idea." Catherine smirked, "Into the hole, Stampede."
Without a moment of hesitation, the Horsea hopped into the hole in pursuit of Snapper. A moment later, a faint rumbling was heard as violet light flashed out of both ends of the Sandile's tunnel.
The rumbling stopped, then immediately started again as a narrow geyser erupted out of the Sandile's original entry point, Snapper flying out of the hole with it and landing unconscious next to the pair of trainers.
Stampede hopped out triumphantly soon after, turning his attention to Indra and Claws just in time to witness a counter attack.
"Flail!"
The Krabby began to shake, wiggle and thrash wildly. Indra was buffeted by the attack and knocked rolling back towards Catherine. Stampede hopped forward to take up the fight.
Then a bolt of lighting dropped from the sky with an ear-splitting, thunderous sound and bathed the area in bright yellow light. The surprise Thunder attack struck Claws and immediately took the Krabby out of the battle, leaving him knocked out in the middle of a smoky crater.
The injured Manectic limped forward, electricity crackling over her body as he growled low and viciously. The twins backed away, recalling their fallen Pokemon.
"Try saying your sorry, maybe she'll pretend you mean it," Catherine offered.
The Manectric growled again and the twins decided to forgo the suggestion and immediately took off at a run.
Catherine watched them go, sighing to herself as the distance between the siblings and her increased. She turned and looked down at the Manectric. "Well uh, that's that. I guess your egg is safe."
The Manectric snorted, turning around and hobbling back towards its nest. Catherine was about to comment on how ungrateful that was when, suddenly, Indra interrupted her.
"Poli!?"
It was a tone she hadn't really heard yet. Similar to the familiar sound she had come to associate with confusion. It took a moment before Catherine decided it was surprise. But what was so surprising?
The answer came when she looked back towards the Manectric and saw it moving back towards her with its egg gently grasped in its mouth. It placed the egg in front of her and then stepped back.
"Oh no," Catherine said, understanding dawning on her, "Absolutely not. I'm not raising your egg for you. You can do just fine a job of keeping it safe on y-"
She was cut off by the Manectric growling at her and nudging the egg forward towards her.
Pia sighed at the sight of a wide open field with several small forests, huge and small lakes and icy mountains. What a day this had been. Graduating from trainer's school, receiving a Pokémon, bonding with said Pokémon, going on a train, meeting her humiliation and on top of that the girl with her Pichu only just now arrived in the wild area that they would have to travel through to get to Motostoke. Thankfully they only had to get through a certain part. While Milla looked very excited, Pia was less ecstatic about the idea. Not that she hated being outside, it was knowing that she might had to sleep in the wilderness with wild Pokémon ready to prey on her petite figure and her even smaller Pokémon companion.
As the pair made their way through the grassy fields, occasionally seeing the sight of a pack of Bunnelby hopping around in search for food, Pia reminisced on the situation that unfolded on the train. She was so hasty in leaving after losing like that, that she conveniently forgot to pay Aeliana her winner's money. She didn't want to say that was her reason for leaving so quickly... But it was one of her reasons for leaving so quickly. She opened her purse and counted the Poké dollars that she still had. The amount was 450... not an awful lot but considering Pia was born and raised in poverty, this was already a lot of money to her. Yet she knew she wouldn't come far with this amount. It was nearly enough to afford a room in a cheap inn or Pokémon center. Pia was a good actress, she could act like a damsel in distress to get them to offer a room for a cheaper amount. She'll just act like she never knew any comfort! Which... isn't entirely lied.
"Hey you!" The girl suddenly heard a few meters away from her. It seems like she was so lost in thought that she didn't realise she was coming across a trainer. "Yeah you!" The boy called out again at Pia. The girl in question raised an eyebrow at the young man with seemingly no manners or social abilities to know that what he was doing was pretty rude.
"You has a name. It's Pia. Can I help you?" The girl tried her best not to sneer back at the boy but she did sound rather strict which startled him.
"A-As a matter of fact, Yes!" He bowed a few times in front of her. "I'm sorry, mi- I mean Pia! My name is Kit!" The boy hastily said. "I've been trying to catch a Pokémon for a few days now but I haven't been able to catch a single one! I've lured them with berries, I tried to make booby traps with pit falls and! and! I also tried to call for them! Nothing is working! I saw your Pichu and I thought... maybe you can help me!" Kit clasped his hands together and with a shimmer of hope appearing in his golden brown eyes, he pleaded.
"I-I see..." Pia eased her composure and glanced at Milla. The Pichu raised her shoulders and tilted her head. She could only guess she was waiting on what Pia would decide. Seeing how it was already pretty late in the evening and the pair still had to search for a roof above their head for the night so Pia's first thought was to refuse. For that reason she turned around and waved. "I"m sorry but I'm rather bu-"
"I'll pay you 1500 Pokédollars and.... and!" Kit yelled, squabbling with his arms in an attempt to stop her. "This stone!"
Pia's eyes spoke a trilogy of books hearing the sound of Pokédollars... and a generous amount too for just showing someone how to catch a Pokémon. She immediately turned around with the brightest of smiles and thumbs towards herself.
"Alright, Kit. Sounds like you got yourself a teacher." She exclaimed. Milla facepalmed at the sight of her trainer changing her mind so quickly over money.
A blue bird hopped down the station roof to a little less higher street lamp. It snuggled inside her own blue warm feathers with the added benefits of her fluffy white wings. The bird seemed very contained with herself as it stared down at the people coming in and out the train station building. Curiosity ever her greatest bane as one girl in particular caught her attention. She watched as she gave her Pichu friend spray from some sort of substance. The tiny scratches she had were immediately healed up! Not that the Pichu looked all that hurt. The girl really seemed to care for that tiny Pokémon.
The bird was trying to look so hard that she fell from the street lamp, using her wings as quickly as she could to fly away before hitting the ground. Her clumsy manoeuvre did earn her attention from the Pichu. The girl, however, didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were on the Pichu only, making sure that every bit of her needs were fulfilled as she gave it some water to drink. What would it feel like to be cared for? What would it feel like to be someone's Pokémon? Those were the questions that rang in the head of this blue bird for a while now... and so she decided to investigate. Through this Pichu the bird might finally know! And so she followed them through the wild area. Trying to be as stealthy as she could.
Chapter 2-2 / Two birds with one stone
"I saw a pack of Bunnelby just a little while ago here. Let's try to catch one of them." Pia searched around the tall grass area that they had just passed earlier, motivated by the Pokédollars that were offered for the lessons. "Keep in mind that Pokémon need to be weakened before you can catch them. That doesn't necessarily mean "hurt them" but you can also confuse them or catch them off guard. The berry lure and the calling you tried doesn't give a very good successful rate. The pit trap you tried might actually work! To make it more perfect, try to give them a soft landing so they don't hurt themselves falling down." Pia kept on rambling as quietly as she could while softly and slowly moving her fingers through the blades of grass.
"Wow! You really care a lot about Pokémon, Pia!" Kit was amazed by the girl's skill. Milla agreed with the boy and hastily nodded, proud as she was to be her Pokémon.
"I wouldn't say that." Pia commented, still searching.
"You're going as far as to teach me how to not hurt them!" Kit said out loud but was immediately silenced by the girl who held a finger up against her lips. "A-Ah! Sorry!" He apologized a lot more quietly. It was too late, however. The pack of Bunnelby that Pia had her eyes on sprinted from their spot towards the woods as fast as they could. A clumsy Bunnelby tumbled behind the group but was helped by another member of the group to get away from them.
"Well... That was a waste of time." Pia stood up and dusted off her clothes. "We'll have to find a new pack. I'm sure there are more around here." She held her hand above her eyes as some sort of visor to keep the sun out of her eyes while she looked. Kit was watching her every move and writing as much as he could on his small notebook.
Just when Pia sighed for not being able to find any other Pokémon near them, a Swablu nearly beheaded her and landed just a little bit away from them. The blue bird held it's wings out like some sort of karate kid. It was obvious it was challenging them to battle. Both the girl and the boy blinked from the sudden development. Milla wasn't all that surprised on the other hand... She had seen this bird following them for a while now. It wasn't as stealthy as the bird thought she was. She just chuckled it off. The Pichu was the only one to do something about the situation and stood ready for battle, waving at her trainer to gain her attention.
"R-Right!" Pia regained her composure and took out her Pokédex. She had seen this bird before but couldn't quite get on the name.
"SWABLU. THE COTTON BIRD POKÉMON.
SWABLU HAS LIGHT AND FLUFFY WINGS THAT ARE LIKE COTTONY CLOUDS. THIS POKÉMON IS NOT FIGHTENED OF PEOPLE. IT LANDS ON THE HEADS OF PEOPLE AND SITS THERE LIKE A COTTON-FLUFF HAT. IF IT SPOTS SOMETHING DIRTY, IT WILL WIPE AND POLISH IT WITH ITS COTTONY WINGS. IF THE WINGS BECOME DIRTY, THIS POKÉMON FINDS A STREAM AND SHOWERS ITSELF.
GENDER: FEMALE"
Pia was puzzled for a moment. This Pokémon was quite the opposite from Milla when it came to taking care. Where Milla was like a baby Pokémon, this Swablu was… more mature? She couldn't quite put her finger on it. All she knew is that she had to catch this Pokémon if she wanted to find a place to sleep for the night.
"Milla! Leap in and go for a Thunder Punch!" Pia called out, this time having gone through the effort of memorizing her moves before starting a battle. Milla in turn did as her trainer asked to and zig zagged towards the bird only to punch it full in her face with a Thunder Punch. It was strange because… Swablu seemed to be taking that punch on purpose and took no effort to try and dodge it.
"What I'm doing now is weakening the target with a move. The weaker they are, the easier they are to catch. I wouldn't try hurting them too much though." Pia told Kit but kept her eyes on the battlefield. Kit nodded and wrote down the tips Pia just gave him eagerly.
The Swablu flew up after the hit to her face and aimed to Peck the Pichu with her beak. The two ran around in circles for a while until Pia called for Milla again.
"Do a Thunder shock!" Again, the Swablu seemed to deliberately stay in her spot while Milla uncharged the electronic energy throughout her entire body. Swablu was hit once again, seemingly on purpose which stroke the trainer as very odd.
"Oh! You are choosing Electric type moves because Swablu is a flying type Pokémon! That's so clever!" an excited Kit cheered from the sidelines. Pia was too distracted to give a proper response at this point. She was thinking… Thinking hard about why this Swablu would purposedly get hit by attacks. Was it… a masochist…?
Then Milla suddenly jumped up and down in an attempt to communicate with her trainer. She picked up a rock and threw that away from her, mimicking a trainer throwing a Poké ball. Pia seemed even more confused but grabbed a Poké ball from her pink coloured bag and proceeded to throw it towards the bird's direction. Of course Pia had practiced catching Pokémon in the trainer school but doing it for real this time was something entirely different. A nervous chill travelled over Pia's spine as she saw the Poké ball rock left and right. The seconds that the button on the ball still flickered felt like long minutes but eventually the ball stopped moving altogether. Pia caught a Pokémon… for the very first time.
"That was awesome! You looked so cool doing that!" Kit cheered, jumping up and down much like Milla was doing. It was exhausting to watch but what was even more exhausting was realizing how much time she had wasted today. Milla brought the ball back to her trainer and laid it at her feet for Pia to pick up.
"Here. This is yours." She said to the boy but he could only blink.
"What? Why? You caught this." Kit exclaimed, confused by her actions.
"I caught it for you. Didn't you want to learn how to catch a Pokémon?" Pia held the ball out to him. Kit pushed the ball back towards Pia and shook his head at the girl. He could see that she meant well but this was not how he wanted to catch a Pokémon.
"I'm already grateful for you showing me. I can't possibly take this Pokémon away from you and Milla. I want to catch my own Pokémon!" Kit had a mischievous grin spreading across his face. He was up to something but he wasn't going to say what. Pia raised an eyebrow at it but she wasn't interested enough to ask. Instead she went about it a different direction.
"Why did you come all the way here from Johto without a partner Pokémon if I may ask?" Pia asked. She wasn't usually interested in others but the fact he came here without any knowledge at all was something she thought strange. She knew she hit a sensitive cord once the mischievous grin was having turned into a sad smile.
"I'm here to search for my father... He went missing a long time ago. They have stopped searching for him but I refuse to give up!" Kit balled his fists, frustration showing on his face even just slightly. Pia knew this frustration well although for different reasons. "Do… you have a good relationship with your father, Pia?" The boy asked shyly.
"I don't know my father." Was the short answer she gave, building a wall between them almost immediately. "He probably doesn't even know that I exist." Her attitude was as a silence before the storm and it scared Kit. "I-I see! I'm sorry for asking!"
Pia realized her own behavior and turned her gloomy expression into a warm smile instead. Kit sighed in relief upon this view, although he might've just been distracted by her cute smile. He blushed looking at the older girl.
"A-Anyway! I learned a lot from you so please take this reward!" Kit took out a small purse and the rock that he promised her and offered it to her with his head held down, the reward ready for the taking. The way the purse looked seemed like it was all his money. Had he promised her his whole savings just for a lesson? Was it that important to him?
Pia reached out to both the purse and the rock but her hand stopped for a second. Just thinking about taking a small boy's savings who had not a Pokémon of his own yet and thus no way to make new money made her feel terribly guilty. In the end she only picked up the rock.
"Keep your money, Kid. You need it more than I do. Good luck on finding your father." With those words she left the boy behind. The view of Pia leaving with Milla at her side imprinted in his mind.
Sachi stood a few meters away from the train station, staring at the male in front of her in confusion. She had gotten off the train a few minutes ago, having bid Simon "see ya later", and ready to walk into the wilderness. Unfortunately, a strange man rushed towards her with an unexpected surprise.
"I can't thank you enough! Thank you, again, for offering!"
"I-" Sachi was about to reply, but the pokemon in her arms let out small hiss-like clicks, opening their eyes. The vermillion-haired teen looked down, only for the emerald to clash with yellow. The two stared for a while before the pokemon clicked excitedly, leaping forward to hug the female's neck.
As the pokemon snuggled close, a black and red feline layed on the female's opposite shoulder, glaring at the pokemon. The feline didn't like how the pokemon was getting cuddly with his human, but he couldn't attack, the pokemon was very young and probably didn't know the human was his territory.
The man looks down at his wrist, gasping, "Oh no! My train's about to run! Gotta blast!" The man grabbed a bag that was at his feet and slung it over his shoulder, running off towards the train station.
"But why me?" asked Sachi before the man could get farther, stopping in his tracks. "And I don't remember offering…" The man turned, the cloak he wore covered his whole body and top half of his face, only revealing his mouth, showing a small grin.
"Someone told me you're the best person for that job! And as for the offering, that same person told me you'd be fine with doing it either way."
"..." Sachi opened her mouth to reply, but was at a loss of words. Someone recommended her? But who? Why? She barely started her journal and was already being given a huge responsibility! And who would offer in her stead without her permission?
"You''ll learn who in the future! As for who I am…" the man smirked, turning around, "That will also wait for the future!" Running towards the train station, the man didn't notice Sachi's stretched out hand, opening her mouth.
"Hold… on…" Sachi softly called, but because it was too soft, the man didn't hear, heading inside the train station. The girl stared for a few seconds before she sighed, looking down at the pokemon snuggled to her. She didn't expect for a baby Treecko to be thrown at her, but she couldn't abandon the poor critter. She had no choice but to accept what happened and keep moving.
She adjusted her bag with one hand while holding the Treecko with the other, turning towards the Wild Area. Well… Like Tori says, just keep swimming I guess...
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Welcome ??? the Treecko!
Spoiler:
https://media1.tenor.com/images/ec5d7e51c0552b67b63137f41e2b15ee/tenor.gif?itemid=5483113 Gender: Male Moveset: Pound, Leer, Lea***e Ability: Overgrow Nature/Characteristics: ?? was born with a Timid nature, and likes to relax. He is a very shy pokemon with a childish personality, tends to cling towards Sachi whenever out of his pokeball.Due to having hatched a few hours prior, his personality resembled that of a small child.
Sachi walked over to a nearby berry tree, placing her bag down and the baby Treecko as well. Grabbing her parka, she quickly lifted her arms and took off the clothing, revealing the red/black halter top underneath, then wrapped the sleeves of the parka around her waist, tying a small knot right over her bellybutton.
Tora jumped when his human was about to shed her outer layer, not wanting to get tangled. Landing on top of the bag, he flicked his tail, watching as Sachi walked over to the tree. He saw the baby pokemon scurry over and jump on Sachi, climbing until he reached her shoulder. He narrowed his eyes, the baby pokemon was going to be very clingy from the looks of it.
"Maybe…" Sachi uttered as she noticed the berries on the tree. "I could use these to make more poffins… and different kinds too…" She could feel the Treecko on her right shoulder, but decided to focus on the tree for now, she had some berries to grab.
As Sachi picked the berries, she didn't notice a pair of black beady eyes watching her from the tree, peeking through the lea***e. Sachi moved over to the bag, opening it, and grabbed a spare container. The berries fell inside as the female counted, "...Seven...Eight." Three Pecha berries… Three Oran Berries… A Persim Berry… A Leppa Berry… Maybe I should get more? She turned towards the tree, noticing a Chesto Berry hanging from a low branch. "Maybe so."
Reaching out, her hand barely skimmed the berry, making it sway a bit from the movement. The red head huffed before giving the Treecko a glance, realizing she forgot something, "Treecko, does Gex sound good?" The Treecko stared for a few seconds before clicking happily, nodding his head. "That's good, i'm glad you like your name!" Turning back to the berry, she tried grabbing it again, but standing on her toes with the other hand leaning on the tree.
Her hand was close, but still didn't have a good enough grasp to pull it away, sadly. Just as she was going to try a third time, she saw Gex climb up her arm until she felt his front paws on her wrist. Gex clicked before leaning up, using his two hands to grab the berry, but before he could pull…
"Chirp!" Gex blinked before noticing a blue and white pokemon standing on the branch connected to the berry. His yellow eyes clashed with coal black, having a small staredown before the pokemon's beak glowed white, striking fast.
Sachi quickly pulled her arm back, bringing Gex and the Chesto Berry along the way as the Swablu's Peck missed. As Gex climbed down to her shoulder, she grabbed the Chesto berry, throwing it towards the open container, "Are you ok Gex?" Gex clicked before moving to hide behind Sachi, clinging onto her neck from behind. She turned to the Swablu, noticing it didn't follow Gex, but preferred to sit on the tree, as if protecting it. Is the tree it's home?
Sachi moved towards the open container, closing the lid before placing it back inside her bag. Slinging the straps around her shoulders, she waited for Tora to jump before catching him in her arms, with Gex appearing on her right shoulder. Turning to the tree and Swablu, she bowed a little, "Sorry for taking berries from your tree. I didn't know, we'll be leaving now." Straightening up, she turned and began to leave, not noticing the Swablu staring at her from behind.
However, she was only a few feet away when she heard a cry, coming from where she just left. She turned, only to see a trainer a couple years younger than her standing in front of the tree, his Spearow flapping in the air with Swablu laying in front of the tree.
"Perfect! Now finish it Spearow!" The kid commanded, "Furry Attack!" Spearow cawed before soaring down towards Swablu, his beak glowing white as he got closer.
Swablu slowly stood on her feet, glancing up only to see the Spearow getting closer. Her eyes widened, she wouldn't be able to block or counter in time! A Yamper jumped in, electricity radiating off the puppy pokemon. Spearow panicked, halting his attack before he got too close, flapping away, from the electricity.
"Hey!" The kid cried, "Who the-" Turning, he was ready to curse at the interlope, but stopped when he noticed it was a girl, older than him. She had a Treecko on her right shoulder with a Litten carried by one arm, the other holding an open pokeball.
"What are you doing?" questioned Sachi as she walked over, standing beside Swablu, Bolt in front of her.
"Fighting of course!" retorted the kid, glaring at Sachi, "Now move! I have to teach that Swablu a lesson!"
"Lesson?" Sachi repeated, narrowing her eyes. As if sensing Sachi's displeasure, Bolt growled, his fur standing from the leftover electricity.
"I was gonna catch it yesterday, and in front of my friends too! But instead, it defeated my Spearow and humiliated me, in front of my squad! So I'm here to get revenge with my Spearow now stronger than ever!"
Sachi stared at the kid before shaking her head, "You can't take it out on her though. She was defending herself."
"Don't care! She humiliated me, so Spearow's going to attack her for as long as I want in return!"
Sachi's expression darkened, glaring at the kid, "So you're going to keep attacking even after she's fainted?"
"What's wrong with that?! Pokemon can handle it, they're here to battle!" The kid snarled, turning to Spearow, "Fury Attack!"
Spearow took to the skies once more, beak glowing as he soared down towards Swablu. This time, the cotton bird pokemon was ready, but she didn't expect for the Yamper to jump in front of her, electricity radiating off the puppy as he nuzzled Spearow. The latter cried out in pain, quickly flying back before too much damage was done. Landing in front of the kid, Spearow flinched, small sparks appearing around him, revealing his new status condition.
"Seriously?!" The kid snarled, glaring at Sachi as she glared back, allowing Tora to jump in front of her. The feline hissed at the child, noticing his hostility towards his human. "This isn't your business lady!"
"It is after what you said." Sachi retorted, glancing at Bolt, "Bite." Bolt growled before opening his mouth, his teeth glowing as he ran towards Spearow, his tail giving of sparks of electricity.
"Move Spearow!" Spearow moved to flap his wings, but flinched when the paralysis acted up, preventing him from moving any further. His eyes widened when Bolt appeared in front of him, jaw opened wide. The puppy pokemon bit Spearow's left wing, earning a squawk of pain.
"Throw him." Hearing his trainer's command, Bolt twirled his head, bringing Spearow for the momentum, only to let go halfway, causing the bird to be thrown at the tree.
Spearow squawked in pain when his back hit the tree, landing on his stomach.
"Spearow! Peck!" Spearow shook his head, beak glowing as he got ready to flap his wings.
Out of nowhere, a cry was heard as music notes hit Spearow, interrupting his attack. The tiny bird pokemon cried out before falling, landing face down. Swablu landed beside the fainted Spearow, puffing out her chest.
"No fair!" The kid whined, returning Spearow before running off. Sachi sighed before turning to Swablu, who was already staring at her and her team.
The Swablu chirped, staring between Sachi and the berry tree for a few seconds before nodding. The cotton ball pokemon flapped her wings and flew towards Sachi, landing in front of her.
"Yes?" Sachi uttered, confused by the pokemon's approach. Swablu chirped again, lifting a wing to point at her, confusing the girl, but when she noticed the pokemon point towards the pokeball in her hand, she got an idea. "You want me… to capture you?" She earned a nod in return. She quickly returned Bolt, grabbing another pokeball for Tora's, before grabbing a third, but empty pokeball. Sachi kneeled down, placing the pokeball on the grass in front of her. "If you really want to come, then tap the middle of the pokeball."
Swablu stared at the pokeball before walking a few steps, pecking the white button. Welcome to the team, Aria
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Welcome Aria the Swablu!
Spoiler:
Gender: Female Moveset: peck, Growl, Disarming Voice, Mist, Fury Attack Ability: Natural Cure Nature/Characteristics: Aria has a Modest nature, and is very alert to sounds. She has a motherly instinct, which will soon become apparent to Sachi and the rest of her team. Having lived in a berry tree half her life, she knows the different kinds of berries and wouldn't mind helping Sachi collect more!
The sun was peeking through the snow clouds above and Raph had to squint a little as he looked up towards the sky. The snow itself was finally starting to let up after what felt like an age traversing the Wild Area with this awful weather all around. Who thought it was a good idea to leave in Winter anyway? It had been about three weeks of tiresome walking and a few too many naps under the trees where it was warmer, talk about unnecessary effort. If it wasn't for the amount of training it had given him and his two pokémon, he might just have taken a Corviknight Taxi straight to Motostoke City. His smartphone was in his hand and Vito was rolling pleasantly behind him. The knit cap Mustard had given him was tucked away in his bag, so his messy hair hung low; he kept the parka on to combat the cold. The GPS said they were just over a day away - thank goodness - and now that they were so close to the city a travel lodge wasn't far off.
His ears tuned in momentarily to the ramblings of his ever-enthusiastic travel partner. "...so like, yeah we did exchange numbers and whatnot, but was it in a, 'you're my rival now' kind of way, or a 'keep in touch' kind of way? I have no idea." the younger trainer went on. The Pokemon clinging to his attire had all somehow fallen into a serene sleep, despite all the noise and arm-flailing. He continued, "I'll probably text when we get to the lodge or something. Or is it too late? There's a chance she'd be at the same lodge, though- shite, that would be awkward."
The travel lodges, as they had been told, were establishments built mostly for non-trainer families to enjoy the Wild Area on vacations… but as with anything out in this wilderness, trainers were drawn to it like moths to a flame. Most lodges were very close to cities and there were only five or so across the whole Wild Area. Eventually the buildings adapted to their clientele, building small dirt battlefields for example. Besides, families came to the wild area to see wild pokémon, right? Seeing those captured by trainers in the area was good for business.
Thus it was they were heading to the one nearest Motostoke, ah yes, 'they', Raph had almost forgotten. He was travelling still with one of his misbegotten classmates, Simon. The young man was obsessed with bug pokémon, as Raph had learned, and he was very eager to talk about them… and the league… and Vito… and well, Simon just liked to talk. It was exhausting. Raph could hear him still, badgering on like a kid brother about something while Raph watched his phone, still in response to a pang of guilt he put the device in his pocket and turned his head to look in Simon's direction. "Sorry, what were you saying..?" He mumbles with a grimace. "I was just checking my phone, the lodge is just a few more hours out."
Simon closed his eyes and nodded, rubbing his chin. "Yeah, that could be something I could say to her. Play hard to get- like a Pokemon. Good advice, Raph." Typical, the boy hadn't even noticed he wasn't listening. "I do hope we can get ourselves a good meal there. I don't think my da' would approve of an all-cinnamon-bun diet."
------
"GOAL! It's a second by Craig Ian! Motostoke lead two to nothing in the first fifteen minutes. Wedgehurst looking toothless going forward and Motostoke are able to take full advantage. Cover your ears if you're watching, Ruben Sancho, because of course, the beloved chant is echoing across the Mote stand." Of course he was watching. Ruben peeked up at the TV. His head had been buried in his arms as he leaned against the bar, but the mention of his name was enough to provoke a masochistic urge to witness more of the horror show.
"Huh, the footies on. Must be tough to organize matches in the stadiums, what with the League challenge and that." Across the room, Raphael and Simon had just entered, snow still clinging to their boots from the floor, faces red from the cold air. The place was pretty empty, so Raph could speak with little fear of being heard but for the bartender, a technician working on the security cameras and some moping drunk at the bar.. "Bloody hell though, Simon, you said this was reception, yeah? It clearly isn't mate."
"Well I dunno- You think my family ever had the dosh to come to one of these places? All the doors look the same." the bug catcher responded, tapping his snowy boots against the floor.
Raph sighed and took a few steps inside. "Aw well, c'mon might as well have a drink… er, well juice for you maybe? You can't actually have a pint yet right?" The older of the pair led them inside, stepping up to the bar, he settled down and turned to the bartender soon after. "Pint of Raboot Red please… and a pinap juice if you have it."
"One sec mate," The burly bartender grumbled as he hobbled past them, clunking a glass in front of the sulking sports star. "This one's on the house. Rough one to swallow for you, that. Reckon Wedgehurst'll get relegated the way they're playin' without ya lad." He explained, patting a despondent Ruben on the shoulder.
As he noticed the individual the bartender had gone to serve watching the game, Simon squinted and craned his neck to see around the technician and make out the names on the screen. "Looks like the Motes are getting their kicks while they still can, with the Boltund Blitz gone and all." To which Raph could only stare blankly at the game, before turning to raise an eyebrow at Simon.
"The Boltund Blitz? Who's that? I'm more of an International fan, I don't really watch the regional stuff." He took a sip of his drink as the bartender placed it in front of him. "Speaking of which, I missed the qualifiers. Hope the Kalosian team does well this year."
The bartender reeled, stepping back in front of Simon and Raph as he heard the question.
"Sorry mate, did you just say you've never heard of Ruben Sancho? You can't be a football fan in Wedgehurst or Motostoke and not know who Ruben Sancho is, surely…" The bartender pleaded in disbelief.
"Goal-scorer for Wedgehurst? Big-shot football player at the grad ceremony? Does that seriously not ring a bell?" Simon continued, equally surprised as he set down his glass. "I even got him to sign his own trading card I had- sold it for almost 500 quid!"
"Um… I guess the name Ruben sounds kind of familiar..?" Raph had a quizzical look on his face and sighed as he leaned back in his chair, taking another sip of his drink before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm telling you I'm not much of a fan of the regional games… and I'm hardly devoted to the international stuff either. Only organized sports I tend to watch are the Pokémon League matches. Now that I think about it, I missed the exhibition match between Champion Crane and Champion Stone while I was in the wild area…" He was rapidly losing interest in the conversation, drifting into his own thoughts, but he snapped himself back to attention long enough to throw the incredulous bartender and Simon a bone. "Well alright, tell me more about it then, why's he not on screen with them? You said he was gone, Simon?"
"Yeah, leg injury. And he's still going on his journey despite that!" Simon lowered his juice to let Burmy sip from it. "Come to think of it, I wonder how he made it through the wild area. Prolly cruised right through in some luxury taxi to Motostoke."
"Guy's having a rough day. They'd be peppering Motostoke if he was on the pitch," the bartender added with a sigh.
If Craig Ian's hattrick goal wasn't enough to bury Ruben's face into the bar, overhearing the Ruben centric conversation on the other end of the bar certainly was. This old tale again. He reeled in defeat and jumped off the bar stool, walking toward the exit.
He stopped, recognition hitting him like a crunching tackle to the shin. There were very few people who he remembered from the academy but Simon Pearburgh was definitely one of them. The kid could talk the leather off a basketball, but Ruben always appreciated the space he was willing to give him when they did share a lecture. Honestly, he was surprised the kid managed to graduate. Acknowledgement, at least, was deserved for that much.
"Alright Simon," He gestured with a tip of the proverbial hat and a low key nod.
The boy's eyes grew wide as he suddenly realized Ruben had been here the whole time. "Oh, hello Mr. Sa- ah, Ruben!" he waved his arm enthusiastically, almost flinging the caterpie clinging to it. He silently cursed himself for the luxury taxi comment, gritting his teeth, and considered offering him a drink with him and Raph as an apology. Before he could say anything else, another person addressed the footballer.
"If it's any consolation Mr Sancho, the team has statistically improved in your absence." The bespectacled technician explained as he tinkered with the secure camera behind the TV, not even stopping to look at them. The man had very few loose articles of clothing worth noting. Wearing a black polo, black trousers and a very routine head of brown hair, he was the type to fade into a crowd within seconds. One thing that did stand out about him was the Blackspear Industry logo emblazoned on his sleeve. "They're conceding a lot less chances on the counter attack and expected goals have them as the fifth best defensive team in the league." He continued.
Ruben and the bartender exchanged glances. Neither were entirely sure what the man had even said, let alone what he was implying. Ruben glanced at Simon and Raph, surveying the room to see how universal the sentiment was. Raph at least looked baffled too, though significantly less interested, while his young friend had furrowed his brow at the technician's tone.
"What's a square like you know about footie?" The bartender scoffed. "One of the perks of the job to get copies of the Wedgehurst manager's playbooks or something?"
"I'm actually a Circhester United fan. We fix the lights at the stadiums, so we get big discounts on season tickets for clubs that are Blackspear clients." The technician said with no uncertainty. The bartender, lost for words, looked to Ruben who could only muster an uncertain shrug in response.
"Wait… Mr. Sancho..? Ruben…?" Raph mumbled to himself, his gaze slowly shifting from the technician, lazily over to the man in question. So then, this guy was the Ruben that Simon raved about? He did look a little bit familiar, maybe Raph had seen him on TV after all. Although, Raph himself has no memory of him. Well nothing more than vague flashes of his face on TV… it was on TV right? Hmm… how did Simon know him anyway?
He considered introducing himself... but the ensuing interaction would no doubt be exhausting. Besides, knowing his luck, Simon would take care of that for him before too long.
Simon turned to face the technician and crossed his arms. "Numbers are one thing, but Ruben's the heart of the Wedgehurst team! Besides, you've got no right to talk about success as a Circhester guy, mate." he added with a sly grin and a glint in his eye.
The technician scoffed at the comment. He gave the camera a few taps and just like that, it was capturing the scene again.
"Circhester are a team on the up. I assure you." The man spoke calmly, before taking his leave.
"Thanks Simon... Circhester are doing better than us...but thanks." Ruben said with a sigh. He glanced back at the TV, as though he was expecting something to have changed. "Put one on my tab for these two. Imma head, out, I dunno if I can watch this much longer."
As they watched Ruben head for the exit, Simon leaned over to Raph, visibly conflicted about something. "You think we should invite him to sit with us? Or would that be weird? No, we should." he whispered. Not even waiting for a response, he called out to the athlete and motioned for him to come over. "Hey, you can sit with us! We'd love to hear about your wild area trip!" he nudged Raph and winked. "We'll change the channel to something better if you'd like!"
Simon looked at the bartender and whispered, "Quick, switch it to cricket or something."
"Nah, you guys enjoy, I really go-"
"Oi." Raph interjected, his brow furrowed as he turned his gaze from Simon to the retreating Ruben. "Look mate, I can't say I'm much interested in the footie side of things… but do me a favor and at least sit with us for the drink you bought to keep this kid company, yeah?" His tired eyes meet Ruben's, Raph had an aura of chill about him that dialed the situation back a little. It wasn't that he cared much for Ruben, or Simon in the case that the bug boy's offer was rejected, but if Ruben didn't stay Raph was the one getting his ear talked off. A little bit of effort now would save him a whole lot more later. "'Sides, can't say I remember much, but I'm not so much a dolt that I can't get it from context. You went to the academy too right? Humour us and take a seat as our classmate for a bit, alright? Not like the place is packed, plus it's gonna snow heavy again soon so we ain't going anywhere, not any of us, so you might as well."
It wasn't so much an offer as it was a command and that only served to irk Ruben even more. The guy was right though. Ruben peered behind himself, to the window where thick flakes of snow were pelting against the window. Again, he looked at the TV, hoping to see a number other than a zero to oppose the three.
"Sure, I'll get another Lemon Water. If we're talkin' Wild Area, you're going first."
Simon grinned and motioned towards the seat beside him excitedly. Not even noticing that his Pokemon had finished the entirety of the pinap juice, he began recounting him and Raph's watchtower ruins adventure, skipping none of the details, exaggerating the facts - namely his own contributions - and, of course, the appearance of the legendary Mustard. His mind went blank once he reached a certain part, however- the moment where they had encountered the strange fog creature, and his Scatterbug had evolved.
He looked at Raph. "Say, I can't remember much about what happened in that fog... you recall anything?"
Raph in turn raised an eyebrow. Was Simon being serious? It wasn't like him to be coy, or clever, or to hide potentially dangerous information. No, no way this was a conscious choice of his to lie. That was curious. Raph remembered the encounter quite perfectly, especially the part where he got floored. "...we just had some trouble with a wild pokémon. Your Scatterbug evolved and scared it off, that was all." Still, if he didn't remember it wasn't worth it to go into it, in his opinion.
"I had a bit of a run in with some twats before I met this one." Raph sneers for a moment at Simon, before the expression tires him out. "...naw but seriously, there were some guys trying to pick on an injured pokémon. Dickheads dressed in black suits. With that injured 'mons help I spooked 'em off but it makes me think…" He pauses, scratching his chin gently as he looks out the window at the falling snow. "They talked a big game, so I gotta wonder who those freaks were working for."
He sighs, this was exhausting but his part was over. "Right so, Simon didn't exactly tell it as I recall it but he was close enough. Ruben, right? What about you? How'd the wilderness treat you?" It was hard to imagine this famous footballer had been a part of his graduation class and he had somehow never noticed, but well, he couldn't exactly deny the possibility that he had blanked that information.
"Last time I did a story exchange, the other person turned out to be accused of murder. That was a lot more palatable. Also kinda disappointing." Ruben mused. Whether he meant it to be aloud or not hardly mattered. What was said was said. "Sh-she didn't do it by the way. It's a long story." He sighed, deciding he'd already said too much. "They don't tell ya being a pokemon trainer's gonna make your life so surreal. Reality checks come thick and fast on top of it though." He added with another longing glance at the TV.
"Oh mine'll be surreal alright." Simon pointed at himself confidently, "When I become champ, I'll be setting the new bar for what a trainer ought to be!" To which Raph rolled his eyes.
"Trust me mate, you're definitely setting a new bar for something…"
A long awkward night followed for Aeliana after she parted ways with Ruben and returned to the Pokémon rangers' camp near the Watchtower Ruins. Her mind was still heavy with thoughts as she rested for the evening, ranging from her encounter with Avril to Anabel and Tasha to the egg that was now under Ruben's care. Sleep did not come easy to the girl. In fact, she wasn't even sure if she somehow managed to get a full hour before daylight began to lighten the foggy terrain. Regardless of her fatigue and how she felt, the pinkette decided it was time to get a move on and finally resume her journey properly.
Walking across the fields, Aeliana looked down at the small, pink Pokémon that held onto her hand tightly. The Clefairy that she had only caught originally to have her wounds treated was still attached to pinkette like her life depended on it. The fact that the Clefairy had even decided to come along with her was baffling to Aeliana in and of itself.
Initially, the trainer had been forced to leave the Clefairy behind when she ventured off with Ruben and the two private investigators. For obvious reasons, at least, that's what she was told when she returned to the camp following the whole Avril situation, the medics in the camp had deemed it too dangerous to let Clefairy leave with her current wounds. In fact, they had told the trainer that it was a miracle she was even still alive given all the damage she had taken and how long she had been wandering about without receiving proper medical treatment. It had taken all night for the medics to get her and the other Clefairy that survived the incident into a reasonable and stable condition. Afterwards, the rangers had explained to Aeliana that they planned to help the Clefairy relocate to a more… secure location. She really couldn't blame the rangers for wanting to undertake such a massive migration with the Pokémon. After their horrifying experience, the best thing for them was to probably find a secure location away from any possible human contact for some time.
This had left the trainer with a decision to make, however. Aeliana had to decide what to do with the Clefairy she had caught. Naturally, she figured the best thing to do was release her. After all, Aeliana hadn't really caught her in the normal sense. She really wouldn't have been surprised if the pink Pokémon wanted to go live in hiding with the rest of her herd. That said, she was adamant in leaving the girl. In fact, when Aeliana gave her the offer, she had burst into tears and latched onto the girl's body in a vice-like grip. There was no way that she could release Clefairy after that, and as a result the pink Pokémon was now a member of her team.
"Hey guys, mind if we take a little break?" Aeliana questioned, she glanced down at her Lotad and Totodile, both of which were following close behind the pink duo.. The fatigue of the previous night was still weighing heavy on the girl. "Just wanna rest my legs a bit, you know? Is that cool?"
Tampa gave an eager nod. She was in the mood for a little play and she was super interested in her new friend. The Totodile waddled over towards Clefairy, giving her a bright toothy grin. Clefairy blushed, looking a bit unsure and took a small step away from Tampa as a result. The gator Pokémon looked a bit surprised and hurt even. Fiesta, taking note of the rather awkward tension in the air between the duo, slowly stepped forward and gave a gentle nudge to the Clefairy. He looked up at her, small smile forming on his bill. This was followed by Tampa performing a little jig of sorts, which resulted in the Totodile balancing on her tail and spraying water up into the air, attempting a sort of trick for the Clefairy. Clefairy gasped in surprise, before a small giggle of sorts escaped from the pink Pokémon's mouth. Taking this a positive sign, Tampa nimbly landed on her feet and extended a hand for the Clefairy to come and play.
Clefairy looked at the Totodile's hand nervously, before glancing back at her trainer as if asking for advice. A tired smile on her lips, Aeliana offered a small nod. "Go ahead, she won't bite."
Clefairy smiled softly and took Tampa's hand. The duo ran off a bit ahead to go play with Fiesta waddling as quickly as he could from behind. A small chuckle slipped past Aeliana's lips at the sight.
"With those three, I really am starting to feel like a mom or something…" the pinkette mused allowed. She reached into her bag and slipped out her phone, plugging her earbuds into the jack. A small yawn slipped past her lips as she closed her eyes, but not before putting on her Lil' Boober playlist. "But for now, I'll just… shut my eyes. Just for a bit."
"Do-do-do-do-dooooo~" a sharp voice then cried out from nearby. "I'm chillin' out with the crew by the schoolyaaaard, cause' we're gonna see! Rayqauza, it won't be too haaaard…" a sharp song came from the cheerful pinkist, Valerie with her Cyndaquil and Morpeko closely following right beside her. Flame was enjoying the sights, while Peko was happily eating a Pecha berry.
"We're ridin' the HYPE train now!" Valerie cheerfully pointed out, staring at her map. "Alllmost at the Giant Seat! Ray-Ray's up head!" Flame cheered on, but Peko was mostly indifferent. All she cared about were the possible wonderful cuisine that was waiting for her to try. Whatever that may be.
"Then again, maybe I'll catch that nap a bit later…" Aeliana whispered quietly. She gently pulled her earbuds out from her ears and looked up in the direction of the voice. A small smile tugged at her lips as she recognized the owner of the voice. "Well, well… If it isn't my favorite streamer of the graduating class. Looks like I'm not the only one still wandering around out here, yeah?"
"Oooh?" Valerie turned to greet the kind girl, with a bright smile. "Heeeeey, it's Aeli-bae! Good to see ya, girl! Maaan, looks like you got ahead of me, but I'm glad I caught up with ya! What's up, sis?!"
"Just taking in the scenery and catching a small break is all," Aeliana replied, a slight tinge of blush rose to her cheeks from the use of Valerie's nickname. It had been a bit since the pink-haired trainer had heard the nickname from the joyful trainer. "This place is a lot bigger than it looks from the pictures, so um… I might have gotten a bit lost at points and distracted with other things. But, enough about me. What about you? I think I heard you singing something about going to see… Ray-Ray…? Who is that, another friend of yours?"
"He's gonna be!" Valerie proudly declared. "Rayquaza hyyyype! We're on our way to see em'!"
"Rayquaza…?" Aeliana questioned. She raised a curious eyebrow towards the younger trainer. "As in… the Rayquaza? Here just outside of Motosoke?"
"Heck yeah!" Valerie replied. "A lady at the Meet-up Spot said that there's a niiiice thunderstorm over at the Giant's Seat right now, and at a certain spot there, Rayquaza is gonna take a nice rest there! Only for a bit though, sooo we're gonna meet it, and make pals with it! Oh! Oh, oh oh!" she ran up to hold Aeliana's hands together. "You gotta check it out, Aeli-bae! Well? Wellll? Whadda say?! After all, you need alotta party members to beat Dragonite Quest, riiiight?"
Aeliana let out a light giggle. "Well, I guess I can't very well turn down an invitation like that can I?" She turned and pointed to the gaggle of Pokémon just ahead. Tampa was busy running ahead of both Clefairy and Fiesta, the three playing a game of what the pinkette could only assume to be tag. "Let me just get my team and we'll head for Giant Seat."
"Woooo! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Valerie cheered loudly. "Heck yeah! The Val-Ael tag team f-t-w! Oooh and b-t-w sis, those are some cute pokemon! I've got some myself! My Cynda-bro here is Flame, and my girl Peko is a Morpeko!" Flame gave a welcoming cry, while Morpeko continued to munch away on her berry. But, she seemed friendly enough.
As if on cue, Aeliana's Pokémon made their way back to the trainer. Tampa smiled brightly at Valerie, offering the girl a friendly wave. Fiesta kept his eyes downcast, his small body shaking in worry for a bit, but he tried to smile up at the newcomers as well. The Clefairy however, tensed up upon seeing Valerie. She instantly ran behind Aeliana, clutching her leg tightly in an attempt to hide from sight from the girl.
"This is my team. Tampa is the Totodile and Fiesta is the Lotad," she explained. She then gently reached behind her, taking the Clefairy into her arms. She began to gently stroke the small Pokémon's head, opening her mouth to introduce her to Valerie, when a sudden thought went off in her head.
She had never actually named her Clefairy.
"Um… and this… This is... Mahina," Aeliana resumed. The Clefairy blinked slowly, turning to look at the pink-haired trainer curiously. "Yes, Mahina. She's a bit nervous around new people, but… She's a good girl, aren't you?"
A small tear welled up in Mahina's eye, but the Clefairy quickly wiped it away and smiled before hugging her trainer tightly.
"Right! Tampa, Fiesta, annnnd Mahina. Their names are all in the vault now!" Valerie gave a warm smile to her pokemon, with her Cyndaquil exchanging the same warm look. Of course, Morpeko is still only focused on eating, but she's still friendly enough. Valerie thinks so, anyway. Valerie then took one of Aeliana's hands, attempting to have her move with her. "Alllllright, it's time for this party to move! Let's go, sis!"
The duo found their way upon the Giants Seat, after some travel through the Wild Area. The plains of the Giant's Seat stretched far and wide, with the sound of thunder echoing the area at random intervals. The area was also surrounded by mountains and rocky terrain that made certain areas of the section inaccessible, except for a few Electric-type Pokémon that made it their home. It was definitely not a place where trainers should go unprepared. Still, there were quite a number of trainers who were braving the dangers of the storm and Seat for the chance to catch a glimpse of the foreign legendary Rayquaza as it makes a temporary roost in the wild area.
"Maaaan, this is kinda intense," Valerie pointed out as thunder kept roaring and booming. "I guess Ray-Ray is an intense kinda Pokémon, huh? Guess that's legendary for ya…"
"Yeah, well… Being a legendary kinda means you gotta make an impact, right?" Aeliana suggested. "I doubt many people would be interested in seeing it if just wanted to curl up and eat berries all day like a Skwovel."
A loud clap of thunder caused the pink-haired trainer to jump slightly. She felt a tight grip in her arms, the trembling body of Mahina grabbing her attention. She began to pet the Clefairy again, humming softly as she looked around the area. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed a few of the people in the area looked a bit… odd. Various people were shuffling about, mumbling something or other before splitting off and making their way further into the Giant's Seat. All of them were dressed in black and seemed to be carrying some kind of brief case with them.
"...Hey, Val?" Aeliana called out. She pointed ahead to two of the black-clothed onlookers. "Do these guys look a bit...weird to you?"
"Eh? Hmmm…" Valerie tried to study the two black-clothed strangers. They seemed to be communicating to each other about something, but she couldn't quite make it out. "Guess they look like they got fancy dinner plans later, buuuut… dunno, you think so, sis?"
Aeliana let out a nervous chuckle. "I um… I don't think there are any restaurants out here…" She glanced down at the Clefairy in her arms, who seemed to be tensing up nervously. Aeliana couldn't blame her. They really had had a pretty interesting time out here to say the least. "...I think we need to keep an eye on them. Carefully, though. There's been some um… not good people out here…"
"No kidding?" Valerie could only ask, still in her thinking pose. She glanced at the mysterious people, then back at Aeliana. "Awww, heck sis, they don't look thaaaat bad--"
"GON!" all of a sudden came a sharp cry, seemingly from a Pokémon. Alerting each trainer's attention, they looked around… until they noticed a couple of strange blue Pokémon started pouring in from a nearby opening of a rocky passage. The horde all charged right in the open field, hot-blooded for some action, but seemingly stopped to examine all the crowd there.
"Hot jiggly jigglypuff… look at em' all?" Valerie observed, peering into the horde of Pokémon. "Lets see… what does Dex say…"
"...Those are called Bagon," called a voice from behind them. It seemed to be another trainer, though dressed up in a not-so-familiar garb that seemed almost tribal-like. She greeted the two girls with a stern expression. "Dragon-type Pokémon who live in this part of the Wild Area. The crowd here must have attracted quite a lot of noise to attract them; perhaps they want to make sure that you guys don't disturb their home."
"Bagon, huh…" Valerie could only look on to the curious Bagon. While they watched however, some were not so patient.
"The hell are you a lot staring at?!" It was one of the black-clocked strangers who had briefcases on them. He looked annoyed at the Bagon. But without warning, he kicked one of the nearby ones, sending it tumbling away.
"Wh- hey!" Valerie called out to him. "You didn't have to do that, y'know?"
"Damn pests, just get out of here! H-Hey, what are you growling at?!" But the Bagon did not take too kindly to that sort of aggression. They all started to roar, and angrily charged right in. They were now battle thirsty.
"Forget this lot, Sheamus!" the black-clad woman lectured. "I told ya this was a waste of time. Let's just get a move on before the whole Wild Area comes after our heads, mate!"
Sheamus didn't need to be told twice. The man tightened his grip on the briefcase and took off running with his friend closely following behind. Aeliana watched as the two dashed past her and Valerie. She wasn't really sure if they had chosen to ignore them or somehow hadn't noticed them. Regardless, she didn't have much time to process it in her mind. The angry growling of several Bagon quickly caught the pink-haired trainer's attention instead.
"Welp… Looks like we get to take care of the clean-up," Aeliana mused allowed. She glanced over her shoulder at Valerie. "Think you can back me up…?"
"Right! Valerie's backup command is a go!" Valerie determinedly cried. "Let's burn, burn, BURN, Flame!" Her Cyndaquil eagerly nodded, jumping right in front of the raging wild Pokémon. He ignited his back, spewing a roaring flame on his back, forcing the Bagon to think twice before approaching him. They hesitated a bit, but then one decided to charge right in anyway.
"Right then - Use Ember!" Valerie ordered, directing her Cyndaquil to spew forth countless amounts of spitfire towards the incoming target, coming in direct contact with it easily from basically running into the flames. Burnt and bruised, the first wild Bagon fell. But more were on the way..
"Help him out, Tampa!" Aeliana exclaimed as she tossed out the poké ball holding her Totodile. The gator Pokémon eagerly looked out onto the battlefield, eyeing one of the charging Bagon with glee. "Attack 'em with a Bite!"
The Totodile ran forward and met the wild Bagon head on. The Bagon dashed forward and tried to slam its head right into the Totodile's gut, but Tampa quickly leaned back and balanced on her tail in order to dodge the assault. She followed up by quickly lunging forward and dashing behind the dragon Pokémon, where she then chomped down on the wild Pokémon's tail. The Bagon let out a surprised, pained growl, turning around to try and shake the Totodile off, but Tampa quickly followed up with a Scratch attack that caused the Bagon to faint on the spot.
"Try not to hurt them too much," the girl with the strange garb from before suggested calmly. "They're territorial, but their anger isn't their own fault."
"Ooooh, good call," Valerie agreed. "No problema! I mean, whaaaat's the worst that can happen? Just gotta tackle 'em' for a little bit… Oh! Speaking of! You know what to do, Flame!" Flame, without another word, charged right into another wild Bagon, tackling it into the ground.
But meanwhile… Peko was still happily eating her Pecha berry, away from the fray. That was until she was encountered by another Bagon. Not knowing what will happen next, the Bagon without warning headbutted her, forcing her to drop her berry. When she tried reaching for it…
Splat.
The Bagon crushed the berry with its foot, smooshing the berry to pieces. On cue, Valerie and Flame both felt a sudden chill. "Whoa… what's this… cold feeling?" she asked, with her and Flame surveying the area. "Waaaaait… doesn't this feel familiar?"
She got back up on her feet, and next thing Valerie and everyone knew, a Bagon was sent flying overhead, hurling towards the nearby small crevices, even shattering it upon impact.
This time.
The battle field turned a bright red.
She gazed at the field with her crimson red eyes, directing all the wild Bagon on to her. Without warning, she charged right in the fray. She bit the nearest Bagon by its leg, lifting it upwards, and slamming it down on the rock-hard ground again and again and again and again, even swinging it to bash the incoming Bagon who were coming at all sides towards her. She then threw the Bagon away, like a flop of garbage. All the other Bagon attempted to retreat, only to be stopped by a sharp cry.
There was another Bagon, who seemed a bit larger than the others. Perhaps this was their leader? But in any case, the other Bagon cleared the way for him, as he sought to challenge Morpeko. He charged in with a headbutt attack, only to be blocked by one of Peko's sole foot, stopping him completely. She then readied one of her arms into a small fist, radiating a dark, powerful energy around her. She quickly thrusted up her arm, delivering an uppercut right on the Bagon's jaw. This technique was only talked about in legends, but to see here upon one's very eyes… the skill of overpowering darkness:
The Bagon fainted upon impact, causing the other Bagon to flee back to the cave. Almost out of breath, Peko tried to collect herself. "Oooh snap, hold up," Valerie quickly reminded herself, reaching in her bag. "Heads up, Peko!" she threw something at her - another type of berry, it looks like. Peko then transformed back into hers sweet self by the alluring smell of the sweet and tender Persim berry, now enjoying it to the fullest.
"Heck yeah! Boss Battle: Cleared!" Valerie triumphantly declared, flashing a 'peace' sign with her fingers.
Everyone else exchanged glances.
"So much for taking it easy on them," Aeliana said. She whistled softly as she gently poked at one of the fainted Bagon. With the sudden rampage that Valerie's Morpeko went on, she was a tad concerned that the rodent might have somehow ended up killing the poor thing. "Is she… always like that?"
Peko continued to nonchalantly munch on her berry. "I'd be mad too if someone took my berry away," Valerie implied. "You don't mess with a girl's berries!"
"I guess you've got a point there…" Aeliana mused. She smiled down at Tampa, who looked up at the trainer with a toothy grin. Placing her Clefairy down beside the gator Pokémon, before looking in the direction that the two black-clad strangers ran off in. "Still… something about those two strikes me as familiar… I wonder what their deal is, anyway."
"I hear ya'. Kicking a Pokémon like that ain't cool!" Valerie agreed with her arms crossed, nodding. "But whatev. Still gotta track down Rayquaza! Where… ever it is…"
"Hmm, if the wind is right…" it's the strange girl with the even stranger garb again. She looked up at the sky, the breeze blowing through her hair as she was wafting it with her hand. "I'm going to guess it's gonna settle down further ahead, at a fairly high peak, mind you, but it shouldn't be too far."
"Huuuuh, really?" Valerie asked with a amazed glare. "Wow, you sure know your stuff, missy!"
"Huh? Oh, well, let's just say I know these things indeed," the girl offered as an explanation. "Well? Off you go - didn't you two wanna see Rayquaza too?"
"Good call!" Valerie cried. "Right then, the Val and Ael hype train is on course once again! All aboard, sis!"
"Right…" Aeliana said. She quickly reached out, taking Valerie's hand in her own before leading her in the direction that the woman had pointed out. It just happened to be in the same direction that the two from earlier took off running in as well. "Let's get a move on then. I've got a feeling Rayquaza isn't gonna hang around if we're late."
The oncoming wind got a bit stronger and fiercer as the duo pressed onward, as they eventually reached a hill for them to hike on foot. Still hand in hand, the two girls climbed the rough surface of the hill. The thunder oddly began to quell, but the air seemed heavy, filled with an oppressive energy that could drive any other ordinary person away.
"Haaah… man, what a trip…" Valerie said, starting to feel the effects, but her mind was still set on her mission, as were many other things. "Heyyyy, Aeli-bae? You're still doing the whole dancing thing, right?"
"Yep, that's the plan," the pink-haired girl replied. "I've been slowly looking getting a squad put together. So far there's two… " she smiled down at her Clefairy, who was gripping her tight yet again, but the smile from her trainer put Mahina at ease. "Plus a mascot, I think. That said, we haven't had a lot of time to do much practicing out here, you know?"
"Ahhh, yeah I think I get cha'," Valerie replied. "Uhhh… so, I never got to ask you, but why do you like dancing anyway?"
Aeliana stopped walking for a bit, the girl looking down at the ground. Mahina gave the pinkette a curious glance, wondering why she suddenly stopped like she did. She slowly released her grip on Valerie's hand, slowly bringing it over her shoulder to idly rest over that faded skull tattoo. "It was just… something I started doing one day, you know as a form of expression. I um… didn't have an easy time of it when I was younger, so… this helped me just put my energy to better use, that's all."
"Huh. Well, alrighty," Valerie replied, followed with a gentle smile. "I always thought you were uber cool, dancing here and there, but if it helps you too, then that's double the uber cool-ness! Oh and heeeey, I hope you show me some new moves, someday too! The-number-one-fan -of-Aeli-Val here gotta brag, girl! Triple the uber cool-ness!"
Aeliana could feel her cheeks heat up at the girl's compliment. She quickly looked away, but there was little she could do to hide the smile on her face. "Yeah, sure. I mean, I'm gonna be doing contests anyway, so I'm sure you'll get a good chance to see some of them!"
"Yooooo, let's goooo!" Valerie cheered. "Aeliana in contests?! Nooow we're talking! Gonna stream every bit of it!"
The two's friendly banter continued, with the rest of the hike becoming more and more of a breeze to go through. Pretty soon… the two arrived at the peak, at long last. The peak of the hill had a bold scenery from above - they could see parts of the Giant's Seat from there, with the peak itself having patches of grass for a couple of wild Pokémon to live in. A couple of Noibat were hovering through the air, while a family of Manetric and Electrike were cuddling with each other for warmth. The Manetric seemed to be like a mother, tending to her children.
"D'aaaw, how cute!" Valerie swooned, trying to hover closer to the Pokémon. But, the Manectric barked at her, warning to stay away. "Oh! Doooy Val, remember what Mel-Mel said, you gotta be more careful!" Flame nodded in agreement, but Morpeko had another idea. She went closer to the wild Pokémon, with her berry in hand. The Manetric growled at her. "Whoooa! Hey, Peko! What are you…" The Manetric stopped growling as soon as she figured what the little Morepeko was up to: she was uncharacteristically handing over her berry, for the Manetric's children. The young electric happily barked, taking the berry and sharing among themselves. "Peko has a soft spot for kids? Huh…"
Aeliana smiled at the sight, her cheeks flushing as she watched the tiny rodent Pokémon share her berries. She didn't seem to mind this side of the Morpeko. She made a small note in the back of her head to never outright just take food from it. Waiting for Peko to share her treats was much more important.
Sadly, the moment between Valerie's Morpeko and the Electrike was bright to a rather abrupt end. No sooner had the baby Pokémon began to enjoy their berry did the familiar sight of the two strangers in black come into view. Aeliana's eyes immediately narrowed. Her grip on Mahina tightened, the Clefairy seemingly burying her face into Aeliana out of instinct.
"Looks like this is the place, Nel…" the man formerly identified as Sheamus said looking around. HIs eyes narrowed as he spotted the Manectric and her babies, a threatening smirk coming to grace his lips. "This is the last of the rabble we need to clear outta here, yeah? Let's hurry up and get this over with."
"Beh?" Valerie turned to meet the strange individuals. "Wait… it's you guys, from before! Y'know, what you did to that Bagon waaaasn't really cool!"
The female identified as Nel glanced over in the duo's direction. She rolled her eyes at the duo, clearly not impressed with Valerie's lecture. "Get over it kid, we've got business to attend to. Just take your girlfriend there and go bugger off."
"Wha? Business?" Valerie tried to comprehend, rubbing her temple together. "Business… business… Oooooh, you wanna see Rayquaza for yourselves too! Welllll, we're here to see him too!"
"Val… I don't think these two just want to see Rayquaza," Aeliana said quietly.
"What d'ya mean?" Valerie asked, giving Aeliana a perplexed look.
"These guys… They're not good people…" Aeliana continued. "I think I met a friend of theirs, a guy out in the Watchtower Ruins. He was hunting down Clefairy and Clefable for their Moonstones…"
Nel stepped back. "Gerald? You know him?"
Aeliana nodded in response.
"We haven't heard from him in days! Where is he?" Nel questioned.
Aeliana froze up. Visions of that night playing in her head once more. "...dead. He was killed."
"K-Killed?!" Valerie shrieked. "How?! What?! Where?! When?! Why?! How?! - Wait I just asked how - okay, okay… Val, deep breath … In, out… Hah. Okay. He got killed?? Like… KILLED-KILLED?!"
"He just killed a Clefable!" Aeliana exclaimed. "He was gonna kill my Totodile!"
Shameus scoffed. "Forget them, Nel! We've got other things to take care of!"
The man turned his focus back to the wild Manectric and her babies. A pokeball gripped tight in his hand as he took a step forward. Without a second thought, he tossed the ball forward. A bright light exuded forth, unveiling a menacing Zangoose. An unnerving aura exuded from the Zangoose. Its fur stood on end, its claws razor-sharp. The eyes were what made Aeliana the most uncomfortable. They looked… lifeless and empty.
The woman did the same, tossing her pokeball forward, releasing a magnificent light that revealed a slithering Seviper, who continuously hissed out his tongue, like it was stalking his prey. Though he too had eyes that looked hollow, and empty… like it was a doll of sorts.
"Uhhh… let's see…" Valerie took out her Pokedex, examining the two Pokemon. "The white and red pokemon is called a Zangoose, and the long black and gold pokemon is called a Seviper, Dexter says. But uhh… that's weird, the dex also says that they're like, enemies that fight each other on sight? But they're literally right there not… fighting each other?"
"That's what I remember hearing," Aeliana replied. "I don't know why these two are… so off."
The Manetric stepped forward, storing electricity in her mane. She knew that these two were trouble, but it didn't matter who, she was determined to protect her children. She gave the two strangers a loud and sharp bark, warning the two to stay away and stay back, or else there will be trouble.
The man Shameus, spitting the ground, giving an annoyed expression, gave his pokemon a command: "...Get rid of them."
The Zangoose charged right in after the order. Peko went in as well, to deliver a spark attack, but was ultimately pushed back by the Zangoose offensive strength, as it merely delivered a swift mega-kick against it. As it knocked its prey on to the ground, the Zangoose honed its claws. "Slash attack," Shameus ordered emotionlessly, now ordering his Pokemon to directly slash its target with its sharp, strong claws. The Manetric was struck to the ground, reeling from the attack, but is now forced to suffer being slashed repeatedly over and over.
""Wh-HEY!" Valerie yelled out at them. "What do you think you're--"
But when Valerie tried approaching them, she was stopped by the other one's hissing Seviper. "We warned you brats to clear out!" Nel stated. "We're going to be capturing Rayquaza by any means necessary, and we want no distractions. Understand?"
"Looks like we've got another battle on our hands," Aeliana sighed. "I'm starting to think the people of Galar are just overly aggressive. I think Unova deserves an apology."
"What's your damage, anyway?" Valerie asked the black-clothed woman. "Who the heck are you guys?"
"That's not for you kids to know," Nel replied sternly. "We're just here for business."
"Like, yeah, I heard you loads already," Valerie replied. "I mean… I dunno what all this business things are about cause I dunno about it, but why do you gotta take it out on poor innocent Pokemon? They're our friends!"
"Friends? Haha… ahaha! I guess a kid would believe that load of rubbish!" Nel said with a conceded laugh. "Kid, Pokemon are nothing more than tools of business. Friendship? There's no such thing with these creatures. They're all merely objects for us to use. Get it?"
"Hellllll no!" Valerie yelled, stomping her foot. "You've like, tooootally lost the plot, lady!" She then turned to her Cyndaquil, who was seething from the events taking place. "Let's burn her lights out, Flame!" Flame eagerly agreed, igniting the flames on his back, approaching his target: the nearby Seviper.
"You want to actually fight me, runt?" Nel mocked. "You've got no idea who you're messing with."
"Aeli-bae?" Valerie said to Aeliana, still focusing her attention to her foe. "We like sooooo gotta hit her. Maybe one or twice, and then a million-billion times. Kay?"
"Yeah… Yeah, you're right," Aeliana replied. The girl suddenly felt her confidence growing in the situation they had been presented with. Valerie's determination to see this through to the end and help the Manectric and her babies was quite reassuring to the dancer. She took hold of her Lotad's poké ball and tossed it out. "Alright, Fiesta! Let's do our best!"
The Lotad in question emerged from his pokè ball. He glanced around nervously, a frightful squeal crying out through the air as he took notice of the large and imposing Seviper standing before him. As if on instinct, the Lotad suddenly scurried away from the snake Pokémon as quickly as he could, his larger body trying to hide behind Flame as best he could.
"Foolish brats get stung! Go Seviper! Poison Tail!"
"Freaky hags get burned! Go go Flame! Ember! Burn, burn, BURN!" The two Pokémon maneuvered as ordered, with Flame getting the brief best of Seviper as he managed to pressure the Seviper to back away from Flame's continuous fire attacks. "Go on, sis, me and Flame got this."
"Right… Come on, Fiesta! This is no time to be all scared! I believe in you!" the pink-haired trainer assured her Pokémon.
He slowly turned away from the commotion of Valerie's Cyndaquil and Nel's Seviper, instead looking over at Sheamus and his Zangoose. The Lotad felt himself curl up in fear at the thought of going against something with such an imposing presence… And those claws looked sharp enough to tear through his lilypad with ease! He sent a nervous look back to his trainer, but Aeliana gave him a look that only screamed confidence. A small, audible gulp escaped the cowardly Lotad as he turned his focus back to the Zangoose.
"Really…? You think that thing is gonna be anywhere near a match for my Zangoose…?" the black-clad man taunted. "Zangoose, Slash now!"
"Fiesta, jump back and fire a Water Gun!" Aeliana commanded.
Sheamus' Zangoose charged forward, the claws on his right paw gleaming as he took a wild slice in the direction of Aeliana's Lotad. Fiesta let out a panicked wail as he jumped back, before snapping his eyes shut in fear. He wildly shot forth a Water Gun attack, but in his nerve-ridden state, the water sprayed everywhere except for his intended target… including Sheamus' face.
"Flame - Use Quick Attack!" Valerie shouted. Her Cyndaquil rushed in against the Seviper fearlessly. The Seviper tried to retaliate by snapping his tail wherever the Cyndaquil was running to, but due to his small size and fast nature, he was able to evade each blow, until he got into position to tackle the Seviper right on the side of its face.
"Enough screwing around, Seviper!" Nel barked. "Hit it with your Screech, then Wrap!"
Without warning, an ear-splitting screech from the Seviper pierced the air, causing both Valerie and Flame to try and cover their ears to reduce the noise and pain it was making. But then, while Flame's defense was down, the Seviper wrapped its long body around Flame, squeezing him with all his might. It then sprang up using its body, slamming Flame right on the ground upon impact.
"Dang it!" Valerie cursed.
"Now, finish it off with a Bite!" Nel commanded hastily. Her Seviper moved in swiftly to bite, with his venomous fangs, on the fallen Cyndaquil, only to be interrupted by a lightning quick tackle - strong enough to fend it off a few feet. It came from Valerie's Morepeko, but she wasn't in her other, angry form. She was seriously up to battle with her normally cute and gentle persona.
Peko glanced back to Flame, as Flame managed to rise back on his feet. She then gestured to both Valerie and Flame, to leave this battle up to her, and for Flame to get some rest. Valerie nodded, seeming to understand. "Guess you wanna help those Pokemon too, huh? Right on, Peko-sis! Let's shock her to her core!" she proudly announced, with her Morpeko storing electricity with her body, ready for combat.
"It doesn't matter how much trash you have, it's still TRASH!" Nel once again mocked, ready for another command. "Seviper!" her Seviper slithered back in, ready for another engagement.
"Zangoose, Mega Kick!" Sheamus shouted.
"Fiesta, Absorb!" Aeliana ordered.
The Zangoose slammed his foot right into Fiesta's body. A pained-wail echoed out from the Lotad, but despite the force of the blow, he managed to launch himself forward and latch onto the Zangoose's leg. A feral growl escaped the fur-covered Pokémon before he slammed his foot up and down against the ground in a desperate attempt to try and shake the Lotad off. Fiesta soon lost his grip and went sailing through the air. Zangoose hissed at the sight, before launching himself with claws ready to slash at the lilypad Pokémon once more. However before he got the chance to, a sudden blast of water sprayed at the creature's face. Tampa was staring up at the Zangoose, growling herself in annoyance for the Pokémon hurting her friend like that.
Meanwhile, Peko managed to bite the Seviper's tail as it was going for an incoming strike, then she followed it up with a fierce Thundershock on direct contact against it. The Seviper writhed in pain from the electrical shocks until it managed to throw Morpeko away, right on the ground. Fortunately, Peko managed to get back up on its feet, even after it collided with the floor.
"Get em', Peko-sis! Quick Attack, then land with a Power Trick!" With the shout of Valerie's commands, Peko kicked off from her feet, running herself straight towards the Seviper. The Seviper had quick reflexes however, managing to easily dodge the Electric pokemon's attack.
"Poison Tail!" Hel commanded.
Her Seviper, right after dodging Peko's attack, used its poisonous tail to strike right at Peko's body, knocking it a few feet away to the ground. Peko barely managed to stay up, but… she was encased in a purplish complexion. She got poisoned.
"Venoshock." Nel then confidently ordered, having her Seviper spew a purple, poisonous liquid from its mouth, drenching the Morpeko completely, sending her flying away. She landed right near Valerie and Flame, knocked out.
"Sis! C'mon… hang in there!" Valerie tried to cheer on, but Peko only gave a weak response. She wasn't able to go on. Flame gazed at her, and after a while, he ignited his flames once more, brighter and hotter than ever. He then directed a glance to the Seviper, then back at Valerie. The two nodded to each other, as Flame once again went back to the fray.
"How many times are we going to do this?" Nel said with a sigh. "You can't beat me, kid. And there's no way your little friend is going to beat my partner."
"Just watch us!" Valerie boasted. "Aeli-bae and I are gonna put you lot in the dirt!"
"Why do you try for such Pokemon anyway?" Nel asked, though somewhat a bit uninterested. "They're all weak."
"I already told ya!" Valerie shouted. "They're sooo not weak, or tools! Pokemon are our friends! I'm gonna make 100 friends, and Aeli-sis is gonna be the best dancer with Pokemon in the world!"
"Sigh…" Nel shook her head. "This is why I hate brats… go and get them, Seviper!"
"Tampa, Bite now!" Aeliana shouted.
The gator Pokémon charged forward, biting onto Zangoose's tail with as much strength as her jaws could muster. A pained hiss escaped from the Zangoose, before it turned and slammed its fist into her head with a powerful Mega Punch. The gator released Zangoose's tail from her mouth, tumbling over in pain from the force of the blow.
"Give it up, kid… If this is the best you've got, then you ain't got a chance," Sheamus taunted.
Aeliana didn't dignify the man with a response. His Zangoose turned and readied to take another Slash at the recovering Totodile, but then an idea came to the trainer.
"Fiesta, Mist…" she said to her Lotad quietly.
Lotad nodded and slowly closed his eyes. His
lilypad began to vibrate and quiver, slowly emitting a thickening fog that spread out through the immediate area. The Zangoose and its trainer both paused, Sheamus looking around in confusion at the sudden change in weather. This was her chance, and Aeliana couldn't let it go to waste.
"Now, Tampa! Bite!" the trainer called out.
Tampa launched herself up at the Zangoose with glee. In the fur-covered Pokémon's surprise, he was suddenly tackled to the ground. The Totodile snapped her jaws open, gurgling triumphantly, before slamming them around the creature's shoulder. Zangoose hissed in response, grabbing hold of the Totodile in an attempt to pry the gator off of its shoulder. This however, left it completely open to a surprise assault from Aeliana's Lotad.
"Now Water Gun, Fiesta!" Aeliana cried out.
The Lotad lurched forward, gasping in surprise as a rather sharp torrent of water burst out from the Pokémon's bill. The combined force of the watery blast along with Tampa's prying jaws, was enough to send Sheamus' Pokémon reeling back in anger and pain. Tampa quickly released her grip on the Zangoose's shoulder, before slashing at the Pokémon's face with her tiny, yet sharp claws. The Scratch attack hit Zangoose with enough force to send it toppling over, fainting on impact with the ground.
"Wh-What?!" Shameus said in disbelief, over his fallen pokemon. "Hey… hey, hey, hey!! How could you… lose?!"
"Aaaaalllllright, Aeli-sis!" Valerie cheered on.
Nel gave her partner an angered glance. "You lost…. to that RUNT? That's unacceptable, Shameus!"
"Haha! Flame and I are gonna burn, burn, BURN away at you next!"
"Don't get cocky, kid," Nel warned, clenching her teeth. "You're still trash! But, if it's a battle you'd want… fine! Seviper! Wrap!!" Her order was more forceful this time, but her Seviper obeyed the same way, slithering its way to Flame.
"Flame - Quick Attack!" Valerie called out. Flame rushed in with blinding speed, evading Seviper's tail in order to strike it on its body, sending it back a bit.
"Poison Tail!" Nel then ordered. Her Seviper quickly struck back against Flame, hitting him square on with its venomous tail. "Follow up with Venoshock!"
"Ember! Don't let it beat you!" After the two called their moves, their pokemon followed in suit, with Flame's Ember colliding with the sludge from Seviper's Venoshock. While Flame's Ember was weaker, it managed to collide with the Venoshock attack enough for it to be weakened for Flame to easily dodge.
"If only we had a cool move like Fiesta did…" Valerie stood in thought. But then… she eventually remembered. "Ooooh yeah! We have THAT attack!"
"Seviper - use Bite, then Wrap!" Nel wasting no time, ordered her Seviper to perform the same signature combo he used against Flame previously. But this time…
"Flame - Smokescreen!" Valerie called out a different attack, one where Flame released a dark cloud of black smoke, surrounding the two Pokemon. "Woooot! Takin' a page from Aeliana f-t-wwwww!"
"It won't work! Seviper, Jump! Get out of the smoke!" Nel's Seviper from where it stood executed a jump, trying to escape the cloud. It tried to sense where Flame could be hidden, but with no avail.
"Gotcha! You can't dodge in mid-air, honey!" Valerie declared. "Flame! Super-duper Ember, mega-ultra charged!" Flame jumped, delivering another swarm of Flames, contacting against the Seviper repeatedly.
"Seviper…!!" Hel called out, but her Seviper kept on being hit after hit after hit by Flame's attack, until it spewed into a burst of flame, as it crashed on the ground. Eventually the smoke cleared up, leaving the Seviper to lay there on the ground, unable to get back up, with Flame landing back safely on his feet. "I… It can't be!"
"Yeahaaaaz! Flame is the POGCHAMP! Cryyy of victory, buddy!"
Flame's back erupted into fire, as he let loose the loudest cry it could muster. "Cynda…. Quuuiiiiiil!"
Nel kneeled over, punching the ground. Valerie walked over to her. "Hey, soooo, you guys did a lot of bad things," Valerie started. "Buuut that was a good battle. C'mon, if you promise not to do bad things anymore, maybe… we can be friends next time?"
"Get bent, kid," Nel hissed, recalling her Seviper, and collecting herself. "Because of you two…!"
"Because of us what?" Aeliana questioned. She was in the middle of congratulating her Totodile and Lotad, but stopped to give Nel her full attention. "What the hell thinks you lot have the right to do any of this? Rayquaza or not!"
Nel simply stayed silent. She then got back up on her feet, but Valerie still wanted answers. "Just who are you guys, anyway? Who are you working for?"
"You think we'd share anything with a bunch of kids?" Nel responded. "We'd rather die."
"Are you serious?" Valerie questioned. But Nel ignored her, and then signaled to her partner about something. She then seemingly got out another pokeball.
"We're not finished yet," Nel stated "This time, the kid gloves are off." The two stared down at both the girls, prepared for another battle. That was until… a sudden burst of wind came. Everyone shielded themselves from the unexpected burst of wind.
"What's… happening?!" Nel shrieked, trying to keep herself from tumbling over.
"I don't…" Shameus started to say, but then got a realization. "Wait… could it be…"
Mahina let out a panicked cry, burying her face into Aeliana's chest. The pink-haired trainer could feel her Lotad scoot closely against her leg as well, his body trembling all the while. Tampa stared around in awe, her eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Rayquaza…?" the pinkette questioned towards Valerie. She was the one who led them on this expedition, after all.
On cue, there was a very loud roar. After, there was then a sudden shadow that zipped past the hill, towards the sky itself. Before everyone knew it, the wind settled down. Finally being able to unshield herself, Valerie was met with an impressive sight: a very large emerald dragon Pokemon hovering nearby. The large dragon was curious, eyeing the humans and pokemon, with its piercing eyes.
Even Nel and Shameus were awed by such a creature. "It's magnificent…" Shameus remarked. But for them, there was no time to be awed. They both nodded towards each other. "Ready the capture balls - It's time for our mission to be complete."
They both hurried to approach Rayquaza, and readied their pokeballs, but only to be stopped by Rayquaza's roar, sending them both flying backwards. "Ergh… it's… too strong… gaaaaaah!" But only to further prove that point, the dragon then released a strong wind, that was even powerful enough to twist the cloud formations that were high above it. The winds blew away Nel and Sheamus so far that it sent them right off the peak, tumbling down the rocky path formations.
Valerie gritted her teeth, but patted Flame on his head. "This is the guy you gotta beat," Valerie stated. "If you wanna be the strongest, that is." The Cyndaquil nodded, as Valerie tried to give the legend its attention.
"Ummm… Mr. Ray-Ray! Sir!" Valerie started to shout, just enough for the legendary creature to hear her, like a member of the divine greeting their subjects. "My name's Valerie! This is Flame, Peko, Aeliana, Tampa, Mahina, and Fiesta! I… I really wanna be friends with you!"
The Rayquaza was unresponsive, and continued hovering. It eyed Valerie, seemingly curious. "I heard in a story, long ago there was a story where a Pokemon called Mew made 100 friends, but only to lose them all cause the world got so messed up… I know how that feels, losing every friend you got, and feeling alone.. But now! I wanna meet as many awesomely-cool pokemon and people as I can, making friends and memories with each and everyone one of them so I can reach Mew! I want Mew to know that this world CAN be a great and happy place once again, and if he needs a friend, I super-wanna be friends with him too!"
"That's quite the legend…" Aeliana thought, watching Valerie carefully. "A hundred friends, huh…?"
"I wanna learn all I can about people and Pokemon and be friends with all different kinds! Even with legendary pokemon! So that's why I wanna be friends with you too! So? What do you say?" Valerie continued to plead. But as a response, the Rayquaza opened its mouth, charging a bright green ray of energy inside. Valerie was taken aback a bit, as the Rayquaza, pointing upwards towards the sky, unleashed a destructive blast of energy that could seem to almost even rapture the very heavens. It then stretched its long body, flying a bit higher from where it hovered.
Valerie tried to comprehend…. But eventually, in a way,she could tell what it was trying to say. "I should be a stronger trainer first, then… huh?" Valerie clarified. Her Cyndaquil and Morpeko exchanged glances and nodded. The Rayquaza roared, and even with his huge body, it quickly flew off, right through the thunder clouds, and into the deep sky. It seems like everyone who even looked up could see the long dragon pierce through the sky like a green arrow. Valerie gave a cheerful smile as it flew off. "Alllllrighty! RAY-RAY!" she yelled after it. "I'm gonna get SUPER, SUPER stronger, THEN you'll see me as a worthy friend! It's a deal!! Wait for us, okaaaaaay?!" Soon the dragon was out of sight from the Wild Area, flying off completely.
"Maaaaaan that was soooo awesome!" Valerie commented, feeling jazzed up from the experienced.
"Yeah…" Aeliana whispered, the pink-haired trainer still trying to process just what she had witnessed. "I don't think… I know, no one would believe what we saw today, Val!"
"Nah, that doesn't matter," Valerie reassured. "We've got this memory alll in the vault forever, y'know?"
"Yeah…" Aeliana replied. A moment of silence between the two, before Aeliana turned her focus to the girl beside her. "So, one hundred friends…? How many do you have so far?"
"Seven," Valerie said, getting out her Xtransiever, flashing Aeliana a wide smile. "Scratch that! Eleven! C'mere girl, let's get a shot in, you and your pokemon, allll as official buddies!"
"Heh… Sure thing," Aeliana replied. She glanced down at her team, all of them nodding in excitement to join in.
"Woooop! Alrighty, Skarmory! Let's get it!" Valerie with Peko and Flame got in tight with Aeliana and her Pokemon. Valerie wrapped her arm around Aeliana, pointing her Xtransiever towards herself, and them all.
"Everyone ready? Aaaaand… frieeeeend HYPE!" A new picture formed in Valerie's Xtransiever: her faithful dancing friend Aeliana with her three Pokemon. A solid bond was sure going to form between them.
****
"Damn… we gotta report to HQ about this, Nel. Especially about those kids!"
"Don't worry, Shameus, this is far from over. One way or another... They'll pay for this."
Level up!
Friends 7 -> 11
Mission: B2 Completed!
Valerie obtained: TR Rock Tomb!
Aeliana obtained: TR Aqua Jet!
Flame (Valerie's Cyndaquil)
Before Valerie started on her journey, Flame was constantly brought down and disrespected by being an incredibly weak pokemon. It trains harder than most of the other pokemon, however. After Valerie helped it to train, it was finally able to ignite the flames on its back. Now, Flame's dream is to be the strongest pokemon in all of Galar.
Youngster Johnny
Johnny's father brought him a Zigzagoon as a friend, when he didn't have any. Ever since his dad saved him and Ziggy from an accident, Johnny's dream is to become a champion of Galar with his self proclaimed top-percentage Zigzagoon. After a hard-fought battle against Valerie, the two became friends.
Pokemon:
Ziggy (Johnny's Zigzagoon)
Arrietty Maverick
A fellow graduate from the Pokemon academy in Wedghehurst. Seems reserved, but friendly.
Pokemon:
Wren (Arietty's Torchic)
Melody Argent
A fellow graduate from the Pokemon academy in Wedghehurst. Harsh, but looks out for Valerie.
Trainer ID
Valerie (Val) Amity
Her main goal for her journey is seek at least 100 friends - humans, or pokemon. So, she seeks to meet and obtain as much pokemon as she can for friends. She also seeks a successful endeavor within her Gym Battle challenge in Galar, in the hopes of one day, becoming champion, like many other trainers who have the same dream.
Vito ♂
Rollout | Defense Curl | Powder Snow | Growl | Water Gun | Aqua Ring
Oblivious
Carmen ♀
Splash | Tackle
Swift Swim
Spoiler: Inventory
Holocaster Smartphone
Pokédex
ATC
Pokéball x4
Odd Keystone
Black Parka x 1
Black Wool Hat x 1
Badges: 0
North Lake Axewell Lodge
11.27 PM. Simon's phone displayed as he stared at what felt like the millionth unsent text he'd come up with. He'd tried every combination of simple greeting, clever joke, not-so-clever joke and indirect greeting he could think of, but he somehow couldn't muster the courage to press send. Letting the phone drop on top of him, he covered his tired face with his hands and let out a slow, exasperated groan. It didn't help that he could only afford to pay for the cheapest (and also most uncomfortable) bed, but this whole Sachi business was just the nail in the coffin for him getting a good night's sleep. Normally talking to someone was a breeze; he just had to say some words off the top of his mind and the rest just followed; but this message felt like going into uncharted territory, except even worse than when he'd actually gone into the uncharted territory of the wild area.
The boy turned to his side and looked at the three dozing Pokemon on the desk, which was the only other furnishing in the room beside a chair and dresser. Caterpie and Spewpa were huddled together for warmth, while Snom slept a few inches away with its ice shard, preferring both the solitude and the cold. He glanced at the window to check if Burmy was still there. Surely enough, the nocturnal Pokemon was still hanging from the top of the frame, looking curiously into the distance as it often did. Without turning, the Pokemon let out a chirp.
"...yep. Still figuring it out." Simon replied after a pause. For a few minutes, he continued to stare at the ceiling, trying to force thoughts of something else that would get him to sleep. His mind settled on the pleasant buzz of a group of beedrill. His felt eyes slowly beginning to close as he let his mind drift.
Suddenly, a loud squeak from the window caused his eyes to snap open again. Simon groaned and sat up, glaring at Burmy with a look of mixed annoyance and confusion. The Pokemon dropped down from the frame and onto the windowsill, and pointed outside with one of its legs. Simon got up and looked in the same direction, rubbing his eyes for a bit before noticing a person moving around in the field behind the lodge.
"Y'know what, maybe a late night walk is what I need to clear my head." he said, allowing Burmy to climb onto his arm. "If someone's up this late, prolly means they have the same idea." He quickly put on his boots and coat, and headed downstairs to the courtyard where he'd seen the individual.
Sure enough, someone did have the same idea. Only difference was, this was no leisurely stroll. Ruben's sprint slowed to a crawl and he lurched forward, gasping for air. Sweat dripped to the floor from his face as he reached down to slap the cast around his ankle.
"Not, fucking now." He growled a threat to the uncooperative segment of his leg.
"Evening, Mr Sancho-" Simon walked up to Ruben, shivering slightly from the cold. "Isn't it a bit of an odd time... and weather... and condition to be training in?" he asked, slightly concerned.
"Alright Simon?" Ruben managed to squeeze a greeting between pants. "Wouldn't really call it evening, but-" He stopped, interrupted by a pained shriek in the thick of the night's snowstorm.
"Shite, where did that noise come from?" Simon looked around. "It didn't sound like a regular Pokemon cry." His question was answered by another loud screech, higher-pitched this time. "Something must be in trouble! Quick, this way!" he sprinted off in the direction of the sound. Ruben groaned and followed, hobbling along as quickly as he could.
Before long, the pair had reached a small clearing a short distance away from the lodge, dimly lit by the spotlight coming from the building. They noticed a trio of men, talking loudly besides what looked like a large Pokemon. Neither could make out what they were saying just yet, but as they approached, they heard the same cry a third time, coming from beside the pokémon in question.
Simon raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to shout something- before he could make a sound however, he and Ruben were suddenly grabbed by the arm and yanked downwards by someone.
"Quiet, don't make a sound." Raph's voice was quick and cut across the two before they could exclaim or let out much of an argument. He had grabbed them both as they approached and dragged them into the shrubbery beside the clearing, the leaves obscuring them from sight. Raph turned his gaze to the three men in question, ensuring that they hadn't been alerted, but sure enough he had no reason to worry.
The three were speaking loudly amidst each other, not exactly being subtle. Perhaps they felt that the night time was enough of a cover for them to get away with whatever business they had here. "Do you guys remember the shady tossers I mentioned earlier..?" Raph whispered to the other two, now crouched beside him. "The ones who attacked me? Well look who it is." He nodded in the direction of the clearing once more. Two of the men, louder than the third, were bolstering around the large pokémon they had cornered.
One was tall, slim and had a combover of blonde hair, his pointed nose a little crooked, and reminded Raph of a murkrow's beak. The other was stout, rugged and had a face only a mother could love; his tanned skin shone in the spotlight thanks to his bald head, a few scars on that dome made it look oddly rugged, almost like a Geodude. There was no doubt about it, these two were Malcom and Dom, the exact characters that had attacked Raph when he had stood in defense of Hydreigon back on Axew's eye.
The massive Pokemon which they stood beside floated ominously above the ground, and the air around it was frosty cold. It reminded Raph of a floating mask- a white face with a pointed mouth, cold blue eyes and a pair of black horns. Raph remembered seeing this pokémon online when he had researched Shoal Cave, the place Vito came from. Its name was Glalie, it had likely been drawn in here by the snow.
More familiar to Raph and much more ominous, was the cold and vapid look in its eyes. Lacking all emotion, not responding at all to the cries of the small pokémon beside it. One the boys recognized it as a Snorunt.
"Excellent… another wonderful success for the Dark Balls! Wouldn't you agree, sir?" Malcom scoffed, adjusting his shirt collar with a sneer. "Without any battle needed, Glalie is ours and will do exactly as we request."
Dom chuckled with a grin in turn. "Maybe we should test it out, eh? Set it on this little one to shut it up, see how far we can push this icy rock to go against its nature." He sneers in turn, looking up at the Glalie floating above it. " 'Member how violently it tried to protect its baby? Kind of ironic it'll be the one to take it out… plus the lil shit's givin' me a headache so-"
"Shut it, both of you, your voices are irritating." The third individual spoke up, causing the other two goons to immediately freeze and stand to attention. "You've already failed once and wasted more than enough time out here. As your immediate senior, you realize I have to report your fuckups to the admins, right?" The more he spoke, the more the three onlookers felt an odd familiarity with his voice. As he turned away from the Glalie, rubbing the back of his neck with a sigh, their suspicions were suddenly and shockingly well founded. The inconspicuous face, the short brown hair, the kind of guy that could easily fade into the crowd. Now dressed in a black suit with a case in hand and matching sunglasses to cover his eyes. "That's… the technician from the bar..?" Raph muttered incredulously.
Simon clenched his fist as he stared furiously at the bald man. "Why aren't we going in there and dealing with these psychos?" he hissed at Raph.
"Call me fuckin' replacable." Without so much as a second thought, Ruben dragged his cast through their bushy cover to confront the trio. "Hey! Circhester just lost five nil to Wyndon, you prick. How's that for statistically whatever..."
The three goons all turned to glare at Ruben as he burst into the clearing. The two lower ranked fools immediately opened their mouths to speak, but as their leader rose a hand they silenced themselves. "Mr. Sancho… isn't a bit late for someone with your injuries to be out and about?" He furrowed his brow into a glare. "Wedgehurst will continue to struggle with your absence, no? We'd hate for something else to happen to you."
"Oi, you lay off from that Pokemon!" Simon suddenly yelled at the suited men, running up to stand beside Ruben. His eyes darted between them and the snorunt on the ground, which was trembling as it looked at its emotionless parent.
In the bush Raph looked out with disbelief. How on Earth was it that he had somehow ended up in this situation with the, apparently, two most incompetent classmates he had? With a sigh he stood up from the shrubbery and took a few steps forward himself. "Hey, you asshats at it again yeah?" he mumbled lazily, his gaze drifting between Malcom and Dom, causing the two to widen their eyes incredulously before hyper focusing on Raph with rage in their expression.
"S-sir!" Malcolm growled, pointing wildly forward in anger. "That's him, that's the miscreant who got in our way!"
"Yeah, and he's got backup now!" Simon spat back, ready for a confrontation.
Raph shrugged and sighed. "Simon, really..? Aren't you a little too eager?"
"I had thought you were a little too similar to the reports." The technician stated, cutting across the interaction. "I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it would seem that you were the one holding up our two newest employees. I expected someone altogether a little more impressive looking, but you…"
"...barely look like I'm paying attention? I get that a lot." Raph sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. When he snapped them back open, his gaze was focused and his brow furrowed. "There, you have my full attention now, asshole. Vito! Hit Glalie now!"
Rolling up a fallen log nearby, Vito burst into the clearing at full speed, crashing through a few branches as he catapulted towards the floating ice pokémon. Raph had asked the two bozos beside him to wait because Vito had been just beyond the clearing gathering speed. He was hoping that with the charged rollout he could take the Glalie out with one hit, but this amount of damage would have to do.
"You… sneaky little rat..!" The technician cursed under his breath. "You two, don't just stand there!" His eyes turned to his lackeys and they responded quickly, tossing two pokéballs outwards.
"Listen 'ere, you little gym trainer, might've beaten us last time but now you're meetin' our partners in crime!" Dom cried out, to which Malcom sneered in agreement. "Yes, with elegance and brutality, our pair can't be matched by the likes of you!"
"Go! Meowth!"
The pair called the same name in unison, but the pokémon that appeared were anything but the same. Malcolm's Meowth was lavender in colour, with a sleek body and a smug expression. Dom's, however, was brown, furry and overgrown, with sharp claws and a twitchy expression, looking like it was about to explode just standing there. Both however, had the signature coin attached to their foreheads, one gold and one black. Interestingly enough, Raph noted, neither of these pokémon had the dull eyes of the Glalie. Had they been captured normally?
Suddenly, Raph felt Simon brush past him as he sprinted into the fray. Taking advantage of the distraction, the boy had made a mad dash for the small crying Snorunt. He sidestepped Dom's Meowth before it could fully materialize, before rushing past its trainer and reaching the terrified Pokemon. In one swift motion he picked the Snorunt off the ground and continued to run forward to circle the goons, with Vito thankfully keeping them busy enough that he stayed out of the line of fire.
"Glalie, use Ice Shard on that irritating orb." the suited technician commanded. Without missing a beat, Glalie obeyed the orders of its captors. It turned and growled, firing pointed shards of ice towards the Spheal.
"Keep rolling Vito! Don't stop, weave between the trees!" To Raph's call, Vito responded and did just that, darting between the treeline, bobbing and weaving; the shards missed and struck the trees in the way, but Vito was prevented from getting close as a result. The technician sneered, clenching Glalie's dark ball in his hand confidently.
"You fools… This Glalie is already fully evolved, your pitiful hatchlings stand no chance." He was met with a splash of cold water to the back of the head. He spun around, in time to see a small black creature poke its head out of Simon's coat pocket, the boy still running around towards his comrades.
"You don't disrespect the boss!" Dom growled, the large man also turning to face Simon. "You'll regret ever sticking your nose in our business- Meowth, metal claw!"
Simon's eyes grew wide and he raised his arm to brace for an impact, but it never came, as the Meowth's attack clanged against an invisible wall. Burmy squeaked, its eyes glowing, keeping the Protect barrier up for as long as he could. Held up by Simon's other arm, the baby Snorunt simply stared at the Glalie with tears in its eyes, making no attempts to even escape his hold.
He quickly made his way back to Ruben and Raphael, panting. "Did- did this guy just try to murder me?!" the boy stammered, taking a slight step back to stand behind Raph. "I didn't think you meant it l-literally!"
Instinctively, Raph sighed a moment, before stepping forward, moving in front of Simon fully. "I don't mince words, Simon, just stay back and keep your head down."
Raph's eyes scanned the battlefield, watching Vito continuously dodge as well as the two Meowth's moving in closer to the trio. Raph turns to look at Ruben, quickly speaking in a hushed tone. "You went to the academy, right? Can you get that Glalie off my back?"
"It ain't ideal, but I'll see what we can do." On Raph's request, Ruben wasted no time tossing Lesca's pokeball onto the field. "Lesca, I need you to put some leaves on that Ice Ball, keep his attention for a while. You do that for me?" He practically pleaded to his pokemon.
As he suspected, she wasn't pleased. The pokemon eyed her opponent before looking back at her trainer with an expression of utter disgust. "I know, I know, first Greninja, now this. I'll make it up to you, just hit him." Rolling her eyes, Lesca readied herself and began firing Razor Leaf in Glalie's direction. The sharpened leaves sliced across Glalie's icy body, causing enough damage to make it flinch and turn its gaze in the small attacker's direction.
Taking that as his chance, Raph quickly whistled and Vito turned through the trees, rolling swiftly along the ground to return to his trainer's side. It was time for a two-point strike. "Vito, attack Glalie with-"
"Oh no you don't!" The shrill voice of Malcolm rang out as his Meowth leaped in, striking Vito with a scratch and causing the round pokémon to stumble a few paces backwards. Damn it, Raph hadn't been paying enough attention to those clowns. "You've embarrassed us, insulted our direct superior and now you're trying to do it all again! No no no NO NO!" Malcolm gripped his hair before pointing wildly in Raph's direction. "We won't let you! C'mon Dom!"
The larger man trundled a few steps forward, his own Galarian Meowth following suit, both poised and ready to strike out at Vito or Raph himself, whichever ended up being closer.
Realizing Raph wouldn't be able to handle the combined assault of two other trainers for long, Simon took a few deep, cold breaths and dashed away from him, Snorunt still in hand. He looked down at Burmy, who had been watching both the battle and the trembling Pokemon beside it closely. "Alright, lad, let's try to not die here." he muttered before extending his arm and allowing his Pokemon to hook onto it. "Hidden Power on the fuzzy one!" he commanded, hoping the attack would reach Dom's Pokemon before it let out an attack at Raph.
Dom snarled as he turned to Simon again. "Malcolm, you get the tall prick. I'm gonna deal with this little twerp." he spat. His meowth turned to face the trainer as well, readying its claws. "Look at that, now I got both the kids all to myself. Easy pickings." the suited man smirked.
His Meowth lunged forward as the scratch attack intended for Raph was redirected towards Simon. Powering through the barrage of blue orbs sent flying at it, the steel Pokemon's swipe barely missed the trainer as he dodged to the side. Before it could recover, Burmy launched another barrage of orbs, this time aimed all for its head. The projectiles hit their mark, causing Meowth to stumble and fall forward into the snow.
Meanwhile, Raph ducked as an ice beam aimed for Lesca barraged passed and nearly struck him in the shoulder. He looked over towards Simon with concern for a few moments. He was just a kid, involving himself in something dangerous like this. Damn it, maybe he should have tried to get them all to leave.
Yet as his eyes settled on the trembling snorunt, Raph let out a sigh of resignation. In the end, something in him couldn't have allowed that.
"Vito, use Rollout!" Vito leaped and started to spin rapidly. Falling quickly to the ground, he started to move… but was slowed down. The snow everywhere was making the ground uneven and difficult to move through without severe resistance. Raph grit his teeth as the Alolan Meowth easily side-stepped the attack, which was lacking its usual impact. "Ha! Seems that for an ice type you lack the grace to deal with these conditions, no?" Malcolm spat, and Raph furrowed his brow in response. He couldn't let the situation get to him.
"Lesca, Sweet Scent! Keep drawing him in!" Ruben called out, his pokemon barely surviving the onslaught of ice type attack near misses. Every so often, she even managed to land a counter-attack of her own as the hulking hunk of ice begrudgingly tanked the attacks and powered forward.
As his two colleagues continued their assaults, Dom stood confidently as he commanded his Meowth to attack once more, almost toying with his opponent. Simon jumped backwards once more as he dodged a metal claw attack- too slowly, however, as the attack struck his arm and the Burmy hooked onto it. He heard the sound of ripping fabric and screamed in pain as his Pokemon was also sent flying backwards. Unable to hold his bleeding arm due to the other Pokemon in his hand, Simon stumbled back into the snow, wincing at the stinging cold on the cut. He looked back towards Burmy, the bug's coat of fluff now scattered on the ground, as it got back up and chirped a warning. Simon turned his head in time to see Meowth lunge at them again, with Dom slowly approaching. He closed his eyes and attempted to shield the Snorunt with his other arm.
Suddenly, the ice-type wriggled out of his grasp, and hopped forward. Simon noticed its eyes flash briefly before it screeched at Meowth, stopping the Pokemon in its tracks when it made eye contact with Snorunt. Meowth stared in confusion as its claws began unwillingly retracting, as if its ability to scratch had been completely… disabled.
As the battles raged around, Raph was still stuck at a standstill. He watched as Vito desperately charged at the Meowth and Malcom squealed in giddy delight as the snow continued to slow Vito down, preventing him from landing a decisive blow. Raph cursed under his breath with each miss, growing louder each time. Once again he was stuck in a situation without a way out, he had to think or else he'd be backed into a corner he couldn't slide out of. Since the start of this journey it had been one near death experience after another… Vito there beside him every time. Over that time what had he learned? Malcolm was right, Vito was an ice type, yet Raph was letting himself get beaten by snow-
Wait… an ice type. Vito was an ice type. So being surrounded by snow shouldn't be a negative, it should be an advantage. Raph quickly pulled his pokédex up and looked over Vito's moves again, reviewing their effects swiftly, a plan started to form.
"Vito! Use powder snow… on yourself! You have to freeze yourself!" The small pokémon and Raph's opponent both looked baffled.
"Lost your mind in the face of defeat? Pathetic! Meowth, pop that insufferable little balloon with Night Slash!" With claws shimmering in twisted dark energy, the Meowth rushed forward aggressively. Vito's eyes met Raph's. The pokémon's confusion and worry were present, but Raph's certain gaze made him feel better. Raph knew Vito could handle sub-zero conditions, maybe if he was frozen he could resist an attack or two while Raph had more time to think.
What happened next exceeded his expectations.
Vito hefted with both flippers and launched himself into the air, using powder snow he whipped the white dust at his feet around his own body and began to encase himself in a sheet of frosty armour. Malcolm could tell something was wrong, and called out for his pokémon to hurry and strike Vito down.
But before the dark type Meowth could intercept, it too was encased in a block of ice. Lesca narrowly dodged yet another Ice Beam, lingering just long enough to align the shot with the Meowth's trajectory. She panted as she watched the ice block collapse to the ground, her satisfaction only hampered by the smug laughter of her trainer. She glared back at him, but his excitement far exceeded his capacity for social awareness.
As the Meowth clattered to the ground, the ice shattered and it shivered out, slowly dragging itself to its feet. However, before it could even respond to the manic cries of its suited trainer, it was already too late. As Vito encased itself in a full sphere of ice, the now completely round ball of frost fell and sat comfortably in the snow, Raph's pokédex beamed to life once more and he looked in surprise at the screen.
"Vito forgot Growl… and learned Ice Ball instead!"
With a small grin, Raph read the description, before looking up to sneer at Malcolm. "Thanks for the reminder mate, Ice types sure are useful! Vito, use Ice Ball!" The small frozen sphere began to spin rapidly on the ground, the ice and snow sticking to or being splattered aside with ease. Like a torpedo, Vito took off, bursting quickly across the snowy terrain, the layers of white no longer holding him back. "Meowth, dodge! Do something!" Malcolm cried out, but it was no use. The still sluggish Meowth was incapable of dragging itself away and with an echoing crunch, Vito's sphere of ice crashed full on into the cat pokémons head. Meowth was sent catapulting through the air, where it struck a tree nearby before collapsing limp onto the ground below.
"N-No!" Malcolm yelled as he trudged quickly in Meowth's direction, pulling a small green pokéball from his bag as he did so. Vito however, had no intention of stopping, bursting away from Malcolm and kicking up a spray of snow in his direction, the Spheal started to roll swiftly in the direction of Simon and Burmy.
Simon snapped out of his state of frozen fear and began quickly dragging himself backwards to reach Burmy. The Pokemon was trembling from the cold already, and quickly ducked into his coat pocket. "I n-need you to help Vito and Snorunt!" Simon commanded, noticing the ball of frost barrelling towards their opponent and quickly getting up. Behind Meowth, Dom had immediately lost his confident composure after noticing Malcolm's defeat, and was panickedly looking between his colleague's Meowth and his own.
Before he could issue a command, the fuzzy cat growled at Snorunt in rage and ran forward with its jaw open, ready to take out the meddlesome ice-type. In response, the Pokemon conjured a large ice shard in its hand and pointed it forward defensively. The Meowth continued, ready to bite down, but was quickly met with another blue orb hitting it in the eyes. This slowed down its attack, and just as it got close enough, the Snorunt hurled the javelin-like shard forward, striking the enemy and halting its charge completely… just in time for Vito's steamrolling ice ball to crash into it, sending it flying even further than the first Meowth.
"ALRIGHT! Get 'em, Vito!" Simon cheered, fist-pumping his non-injured arm.
Dom stepped back as he watched his meowth crash down, and clutched his tie. "Gah! You little pieces of shit- boss, it's not goin' good!" he said, panic in his voice as he turned to his superior.
"Boys, I could do with a hand if you're not too busy!" Ruben staggered helplessly as his Bounsweet was cornered by the menacing Glalie drone. "You kinda left us with the big one."
"Vito, follow me." Raph whispered as he ran up to the area where Simon was standing. He was concerned over the younger trainer's injury, but there wasn't time to think about that now. Without a word he nodded to Simon, then at Ruben, before moving with Vito in a wide arc, skirting the edge of the battlefield. Perhaps it was foolish, but he had to trust them to occupy Glalie.
Simon in turn quickly picked up the Snorunt again and ran back towards Ruben. The expression on ice-type changed to fear again as it saw its parent, and it began shivering once more. Simon cursed under his breath, realizing he couldn't force it to battle against its own kin. As he noticed Lesca was battling the Glalie however, an idea popped in his head.
"Mr. S- Ruben! What moves does your Bounsweet know?"
"Razor Leaf's the best one. I dunno, Sweet Scent, Rapid Spin, Pl-
Simon stopped him at that last statement. "Rapid Spin, yes! I've got an idea!" he looked down again at Burmy. "You're going to have to trust me, lad." he said, and Burmy nodded. With a single look, the bug knew what it had to do, and it crawled onto his arm.
"I'm gonna need you to throw Burmy as best as you can- tell Bounsweet to allow him to hook on, then use that move!" Simon looked at Ruben, hoping that the footballer would take his insane plan seriously.
"I dunno what's going through your head right now, but…" Ruben said, getting a feel for the weight of the pokemon. "Alright Lesca, you heard the man. Burmy's gonna latch onto you and-" He began, before noticing the pokemon pull away in horror. "Look, the faster we get it done, the faster he gets off you. You really wanna keep fighting that thing?"
With one look back at the Glalie, the little grass type made her decision. She offered her head to be latched onto.
With both pokemon in hand, Ruben pulled back. He stretched out his arm and hurled the duo into the air to let them fall like a missile. "Now! Rapid Spin!"
As the Bounsweet spun through the air, the bug latched onto her head was spun as well, its weight trailing behind like a burmy-shaped hammer toss. Simon waited for the right moment, and… "Do it! Offensive Protect!"
Immediately, Burmy let go of Lesca and was flung forward towards Glalie. The floating ice ball opened its mouth as its master ordered an ice beam to intercept it- but the move deflected off the Pokemon. The suited man noticed a shimmering force around the hurtling Burmy. "What? How is it-"
Before he could finish, the protected Burmy missile crashed into Glalie, sending the floating orb back and knocking it into him.
The higher ranking black-suited goon growled in irritation as he caught his breath. With disgust he pushed the dazed Glalie away, letting it float in a stunned state for a few moments before barking a command. "You useless, frozen rock! You're supposed to be our ace in the hole! Snap out of it and-"
"Vito, now!" Bursting out from behind the suited psycho came Vito, now back to a regular Rollout. The Spheal crashed into the goons leg and sent him staggering backwards, howling in pain at the impact. He quickly went to right himself, but underestimated the pain in his now injured leg, stumbling slightly. He looked up just in time to see Raph rushing him as well. "What the-?! Ack!" Raph grabbed at the Technician's arm, his fingers gripping Glalie's twisted pokéball and attempting to pry it loose. "You…! You again, you little bastard! You don't know who you're messing with here!" He smashed his palm into Raph's forehead, trying to push the younger man back and locking the two in struggle. In response, Raph quickly angled his head and opened his mouth, biting down hard on the man's hand and causing him to roar of agony, only for his voice to be cut short- the second he pulled back in pain, Raph swung the toe end of his boot directly into the suited man's nads. "Y-you.." He wheezed. "S-sneaky, dirty, little shit… Glalie! Kill him!"
Without missing a beat, Raph gripped the dark pokéball as Glalie turned towards him, and swung the item at a nearby tree with all the might he could muster. The black casing cracked, then sparked, then suddenly burst in a small explosion of black sparks. The crackling electricity burned Raph's hand, and he yelped in surprise as the impact knocked him off his feet. The deed, however, was done. The fragments of Dark Ball fell uselessly to the ground.
Malcom and Dom, having retrieved their injured Meowths, rushed back to the scene of the confrontation… only to stare dumbfounded with their superior at the ruined pieces of their ace in the hole. In the same moment, the once empty eyes of Glalie suddenly regained life, the blue colour shimmered and its gaze focused to a laser point. Its empty expression was rapidly replaced by a face nigh overflowing with unbridled rage.
Rage which it immediately directed towards the would-be technician.
"GLAAAAAAAAAAAA!" With a cry that sounded similar to icicles crashing onto metal sheets, the Glalie unleashed an ice beam that barely missed the Technician as he stumbled backwards. "Y-you two idiots! Run! RUN!" Despite his… compromised state, he picked himself up and sprinted full force into the woodlands. Glalie turned his attention to Malcom and Dom, who released a shared eep before sprinting after their leader, Glalie in hot pursuit.
"D-Damn you! You wretched interfering children! You'll regret this! You'll regret- AAAH!" The sentence was cut off by a scream and the sounds of fleeing footsteps moving faster and faster by the second.
Just like that, it was over. The goons seemed to have no more Dark Balls to fix their problem, either that or they didn't have time to use them. Within moments they were already out of earshot… and with a deep sigh, Raph fell onto his rear and shoved his slightly singed hand into the freezing cold snow for comfort.
With the men gone, Simon and Ruben quickly made their way over to him. "Holy shit, you all good mate?" Simon asked, his Burmy now safely back in his coat as he still held on to the Snorunt. "That was insane- those guys could've killed you!"
Suddenly, the three of them heard the sound of tense, ragged breathing coming from beside them. The Glalie was slowly floating back towards them, its blue eyes filled with rage as it eyed the humans. Simon noticed its stare was fixated on him.
"Oh, right-" he muttered, slowly crouching down and setting the Snorunt on the floor, which had been eyeing the Glalie closely. The little Pokemon let out a weak cry, as if to ask if the Glalie was there; the large ice ball responded with a loud growl.
Tears of joy began to well in the Snorunt's eyes and it ran back towards its parent, crying the whole way. The Glalie floated down to meet its baby and bumped its head softly against it affectionately. It floated back up to look at the three trainers, who dared not move, letting out an aggressive growl before being interrupted by the offspring. The Snorunt chirped a few cries and squeaks and pointed at the trio before looking back up- which seemed to calm the Glalie down once it understood the situation.
The Pokemon floated down once again and allowed its child to climb on top of it. After breathing a final snort of goodbye, the Glalie quickly turned around and floated off into the darkness.
Simon waited for a moment then sighed. "So much for having a nice night walk." he said, laughing nervously as he clutched his arm.
"Far be it for you to ask if I'm alright…" Raph sighed, before picking himself back up from the floor. "Your arm looks like it's about to fall off. You need a bandage or something…"
"Statistically irrelevant bullshit." Ruben grumbled under his breath, sitting again to let his ankle rest. "Wait...." he mused aloud, taking a good hard look at Raph. "You're actually a good looking guy. I get it now. Hold on, that came out wro-you know what, fuck it. Who cares?" Ruben finally let his comment sit, laying back to enjoy the stars instead.
------
The following morning came and went, but the three young men who had driven off the goons the night before had each decided on their own terms to sleep in quite a bit longer than the lodge's other residents. Who could blame them after the previous night's experience? When their waking eventually came, they met outside the lodge. Their final destination for this chapter was only a day's walk away, but considering the dangers clearly present, they had agreed it would be better if they travelled together as far as the city was concerned.
It was a cold and crisp November afternoon when they headed out for the final leg of their wild area trek, but the sky was clear and it seemed the snow over Lake Axewell and the surrounding region was finally set to stop. After returning to the clearing, just in case, before they left, the three had found a case for storing technical machines, dropped by the head goon from the night before. As they divvied out the TRs found within, Raph raised an eyebrow at Ruben.
"It was too much effort to ask last night, so I didn't bother." He began, considering how to broach the topic. "But gotta be frank, I didn't expect the compliment on my, er, face? Look, I just wanted to let you down easy before we hit the road. I appreciate it, really, but I don't swing that way."
"Oh umm…" Ruben began, the moment sitting in the distant corners of his memory as though it had happened years ago. "I know someone that has a thing for you. She says hi." He shrugged, not wanting to say much more.
"So… not you then. Okay, that makes things easier." Raph was visibly relieved.
"Actually guys, speaking of, uh, girls…" Simon spoke up timidly, which was unlike him. Both older boys looked at him curiously, which only made him withdraw more into his shell. "Yesterday night I… went outside because I couldn't sleep. There's... . this girl I've been meaning to text for like, weeks now, but I've been putting it off, cause I just can't figure out how to. I thought going on a night walk would clear my head- and it honestly kinda did, I thought I was gonna die back there- but it's… I dunno, what do you guys think I should do?" he looked at the two trainers, only now realizing that his cheeks had turned bright red.
"Ayyy, my man Simon." Ruben scoffed, gently punching the younger man's non-bandaged arm. "Who is she then? What you got in mind? Is she a link? Is it a friends plus type deal?" Ruben chuckled, leaning in to soak up more of the gossip.
"Friends plus- mate, he's sixteen." Raph sighed, to which Ruben shrugged in a 'fine, this one's yours' manner and kept walking. Raph brushed a strand of hair out of his face. As the trio began to walk he stared up at the sky. "Tch, this is the same girl you were ranting about yesterday yeah? You mentioned 'rivals' and that, so here's guessing she's from the class back at Wedgehurst? Weren't many girls your age there so if I was bothered to remember names and faces I'd probably already know." He shook his head gently, already tired of this line of thought.
"Lots of girls at school had a thing for me… but I'm not really bothered with that stuff. My advice? Delete her number, relationships are a lot of work for little return y'know?" Raph continued, but frowned as he realized Simon wasn't like him in that way. "Or just text and get it over with, she'd prefer someone confident over someone fretting and leaving her hanging without a text, surely?"
Simon pursed his lips and looked away. "But, problem is, I just don't know how to- y'know what, forget I asked." He huffed, sticking his hands in his coat and eliciting an annoyed squeak from the Caterpie resting inside.
Noticing Simon's demeanour drop, Ruben hobbled forward to catch up.
"Hey Si, think of it like this; you just designed a bug bomb to throw at an ice mask. You don't know what coulda happened. It could've killed us… but you took the shot. She's either gonna like you or tell you to buzz off, but something's gotta give before you can find out. Once it's done, dust your hands off and know you put your best foot forward. What you reckon Raph? How's that for sound advice?"
"Huh..?" Raph looked up from the phone now in his hand and tilted his head with a tired gaze. "Oh, yeah mate, stellar. Just do that Si, you'll get the girl in no time." He paused, about to return to flicking through the various apps and programmes at his fingertips, before looking up briefly one more time. "Si is good by the way Ruben, that's like half the syllables. I like it."
Simon pondered the advice for a moment, took a deep breath, and took out his phone. The screen automatically opened to the unsent text. "Alright… I just gotta take the shot." he repeated Ruben's words, and pressed send.
Melody calls as her ghostly ragdoll leaps into the air and summons a very pink, sparkly breeze that crashes into a trio of Bunnelby. Conceding defeat, the three rabbits take off towards the vast field.
Melody holds her arms out to catch her Mimikyu as it falls back to earth. "I guess that's their tree." The trainer mumbles as she looks back at a fruit tree she had attempted to sit under-- thus occurring the bunnies' fluffy wrath. "Is everyone okay?"
"Py py!" comes the familiar call of a Doom Noodle. Bishop does the closest thing he can to a shrug (being a creature without very pronounced shoulders.)
Melody gives a small smile and a subtle nod towards the bird and the dragon. "Let's get going before they bring reinforcements."
Today marks day ten since their arrival in the wild area. While they could have wandered into Motostoke by now, it seemed somewhat redundant when the ceremony was still days away. Hanging around in town seemed incredibly dull, all things considered. Plus… she never did find their Duskull friend. They've gotten into a couple of brawls with some wild Pokemon and even had a couple of practice matches with Ranger Mat, but never once came across Duskull. It's probably not much, but these last ten days had made her team a little stronger. Maybe her too? Her endurance is better anyway, and her shoes had gotten pretty scuffed. She didn't understand why that was important to so many, but more than one person had pointed out that they recognized her as a new trainer because of her clean shoes. Why so many passerbys were so focused on her feet was a question she would rather not dwell on for too long.
Speaking of passerbys, there's one now. Melody stops when she sees a hefty man waving as he makes his way towards her.
"Are you Melody Argent?" The man asks upon getting closer.
Melody raises an eyebrow. "Who wants to know?"
The man lets out a rather jovial laugh. "I was told you might say something like that. I have a package for you."
Melody's reluctance to deal with people in general is counterbalanced by her enjoyment of free stuff. "I guess you don't know what's in it, huh?"
"Afraid not, miss!"
"Well, hand it over I guess." She says as she holds her hand out. The man hands over a small cardboard box and then gives a quick salute.
"Have a great day, miss!" With that, he takes off with what Melody would describe as pretty impressive speed for a hefty guy.
"Are all delivery men that happy?" And do they have lives? Did he really roam the entirety of the wild area to give her a tiny package? This world is full of mysteries. Mysteries Melody quickly disregards as she tears into the package and pulls out a small, folded note.
I thought your thief-friend might like one of its own. Don't give up. - Your Benefactor.
Melody rolls her eyes. "Benefactor, really?" Melody holds her left hand out and gives the package a shake. What comes out is a silver chain not unlike the one her skull is hooked to. Hooked to this one is a… is a…
Oh, it's a little silver Bishop piece. That's actually sweet-- and quickly noticed by its intended recipient, it seems, as Bishop lands on Melody's shoulder to inspect the new shiny.
"Don't take off with it. It's for you." She explains as she calls the young bird onto her left wrist and slips the silver chain over his head. "What do you think?"
Bishop puffs out his chest and sways until the new silver piece catches the light. He bobs his head in approval.
"Awesome. Wanna find us another tree?" Food supplies are running a bit low. It wasn't her original intent to camp out for so long.
"Dee!" The Rookidee spreads his wings and leaps off of Melody's arm to take to the sky. Soon enough, a tree is spotted and Bishop signals for its trainer and comrades to follow.
It takes roughly ten minutes for the group to arrive at the tree-- only to find it, just like the last three they had found, barren-- and this time it seems they're not the only ones disappointed by this. Standing around the tree in a circular formation are a group of Petilil. They're a lot smaller than the ones Sonia used to bring around, and a lot… sadder looking. One notices Melody and crew coming towards them and lets out a sound of alarm. One by one the Petilils turn, and one by one they glide over.
"Uh. Hi?" Melody asks uncertainly as the Petilil form a new circle around her and her one not-airborne companion.
"Peti peti lil lil!" The group cries in unison and begins leaping up and down. They don't seem the least bit aggressive, rather… very desperate for… something.
"Okay, okay! What do you want?" Melody attempts to shout over the growing cries of insistent plants.
The Petilil in front turns and begins to float away. After a few seconds it turns to see if Melody is following. Since she isn't, it motions with its leaves. The other Petilil begin to float after, and Melody is pretty sure she doesn't have a choice but to go along.
The petite swarm leads the trainer across the fields to yet another barren tree. Upon reaching the tree, several of the young Pokemon begin floating around what appears to be a pile of fallen leaves. As the Petilil move the leaves away they reveal another Pokemon, maybe using the leaves to hide?
The Petilil clear the leaves and once again begin bouncing and crying, while a very burned and… very unconscious Lilligant lies where the leaf pile was.
"Oh… ****." Melody breathes. She walks over and slowly kneels beside the charred Pokemon. When Melody puts her ear to the grass type's mouth, she can hear very soft and very raspy breaths. She's alive. Barely. Melody mentally curses herself for not buying potions before boarding the train. "Okay… let's take her to a ranger station." If she can survive that long. The nearest one's a ways off. Melody cringes as she lifts the barely-breathing Lilligant into her arms, flinching when several shriveled petals fall off of the Pokemon. This is bad. Real bad.
"I give you one thing to do and you can hardly do that right! Look at this mess you made! You're about as useful as a paralyzed Magikarp you stupid ****!"
"N-No, stop! I'm sorry, I swear!"
A gasp slipped past Aeliana's lips as her eyes shot open. Her breathing sharp and heavy as she sat upright in her sleeping bag. Her eyes darted to the left and right as she took in her surroundings, as if double checking to make sure she wasn't back in that horrible place. The dim crackle of a dying campfire to her left filled the air with the faint, smokey scent of burning hickory wood. A small, content gurgle to her right alerted her to the sleeping forms of both her Totodile and Lotad, who were slumbering at the foot of her sleeping bag, while her Clefairy was nestled close to her side. The pink Pokémon shifted slightly, but didn't wake up from the sudden movements of the pink-haired trainer.
"...Why are all these stupid memories bothering me now?" she mused quietly to herself. She yawned quietly, her body still tired from all the commotion she had been forced to endure from the previous days, yet sleep was not something she really desired to do at this point. "Might as well get moving, I guess…"
Silently slipping out from her sleeping bag, Aeliana stood up and stretched. A mild crackling noise coming as her back popped from the movement, before she slowly made her way to the nearby lakebed. The group had decided to camp for the evening after parting ways with Valerie following the incident in Giant's Seat. Thankfully, they were finally on the path to reaching Motosoke, and would likely finally reach the city by lunch time at the latest. It was a welcoming thought for the pink-haired trainer. The Wild Area, while proving to be quite the adventure for her and her Pokémon, had proved to be quite taxing.
In Aeliana's mind, the sooner she could say good-bye to this place the better.
As she came to the lakebed edge, the pinkette knelt down and slowly scooped some water into cupped hands before splashing it on her face. She peered into the water, taking in the sight of her reflection the bubbling water of the lake. All things considered, she wasn't looking too worse for wear at the moment. The faint sight of dark circles were starting to form, but it was nothing that a little extra makeup could cover up. With any luck, resting would come a bit easier once she had a proper bed to sleep in.
"I guess I should plan out the rest of our trek before rousing Tampa and the others. They could probably use a few extra minutes, anyhow…" Aeliana thought aloud.
She wiggled her toes against the sandy lake edge, before adjusting her position and dipping her bare feet into the water. Once seated comfortably, Aeliana pulled out her Pokédex and fired up the map to get a better grasp on where she was.
"Should just be straight ahead… A bit to the left, after that… Yeah, not hard at all," she surmised. A smile graced her lips, proud of how her navigation skills were already starting to show signs of progress. "I guess a few good things did come out of this trip after all."
Despite her accomplishments however, Aeliana couldn't keep her mind from drifting to those thoughts. After the Clefable… and then the Mancetric and Bagon, those dark thoughts had been flooding into her mind like a river after a monsoon. She honestly hadn't been dwelling on the past for some time, not since she had come to live with her grandparents in Circhester. Sure, she had talked about it a bit when she was put into counselling shortly after arriving to deal with her… behavior problem when she first arrived. But as time progressed, the pinkette had made the decision to just leave those memories where they belonged in the past. In a figurative sense, she had just… locked them behind a door with no intention to ever open it back up. Now, they were kicking down the door with the might of a Mudsdale's kick.
Aeliana hated it.
Suddenly, the sound of rustling bushes caught the girl's attention. The pinkette glanced over her shoulder, a curious eyebrow raising at the sight of a small, white Pokémon coming out from the shrubbery. A small mop of green hair rested on top of her head, with what looked like a red horn poking out of the front of it. Curiously, Aeliana took her Pokédex and scanned the creature before her.
"Ralts, the feeling Pokémon. Ralts senses the emotions of people using the horns on its head. This Pokémon rarely appears before people. But when it does, it draws closer if it senses that the person has a positive disposition."
"A Ralts, huh…?" Aeliana questioned. "I guess you must've picked up on my mood and came to see what the commotion was, huh? Sorry to bother ya."
Aeliana slipped her Pokédex back into her pocket and slowly began to rise up to her feet. As she did so however, the pink-haired girl noticed that Ralts came ever closer to the girl. She watched as the small psychic type reached out, gently placing a hand against her leg. Aeliana watched quietly, not quite sure how to process what she was watching. That said, her mind quickly went elsewhere as she noticed a more nervous expression on the Pokémon's face. The psychic Pokémon began to tug on the girl's pant leg, all while pointing in the direction she had just come from.
Suddenly, Aeliana had a very bad feeling.
"Rook! Rook! Rookidee!" Comes the loud cry of Bishop as he sails through the sky. Upon spotting the pink haired trainer, he began flying in a circle above her and calling for Melody to follow. In the hopes that they could find someone closer to them-- rather than making the incredibly long trek back to the ranger station, Melody had sent Bishop ahead to scout. From the sound of things, he found something… hopefully someone. Hopefully a ranger who has some kind of clue what to do for a Pokemon in this rough of a condition.
The swarm of Petilil urge Melody to walk faster to catch up to Bishop, though she is reluctant to move any more quickly and risk jostling the wounded Pokemon in her arms. Realizing she isn't going to be moving any faster no matter how much they nudge, they float a little bit ahead and begin their bouncing and shouting in the hopes of signalling whoever it is that the Rookidee found.
Eyes turning in the direction of the shouting plants, Aeliana watched as a short figure began to rush towards her from the horizon. Before she had any time to process what was going on, the Ralts standing beside her began to tug and pull at the girl's pant leg again. All the while she was pointing dramatically in the direction of the commotion. Suddenly, this all felt very familiar.
"Friends of yours?" Aeliana questioned. Ralts nodded. "Alright, let me just grab my shoes and stuff."
Aeliana hurriedly slid her shoes back onto her feet, followed by calling her Lotad back to its poké ball. Tampa, though groggy from being woken up so suddenly, sprayed a quick Water Gun to douse the campfire, while Mahina helped the trainer gather up her bag. Ralts,looked impatient during the whole thing, constantly pointing and whining.
Bishop continues to circle the little campsite while Aeliana collects her things. He was not above swooping down and pecking at her head if it sent her in the right direction, but since she seemed to be going along on her own, he chose to wait.
"You guys are going to get something else's attention if you don't pipe down." Melody scolds as she walks behind the leaping, shouting Petilil. What would be a Petilil's natural predator anyway? Are they made of meat or plant fibre? This is not anything she expected to be thinking about today.
By the time Aeliana has her shoes, the Petilil have her in their sights. Much like they did to Melody, they quickly float ahead and begin to circle around her and her Totodile. Still a bit behind, Melody isn't quite sure who it is they've found-- but there can only be so many people around with that vibrantly pink hair.
Ralts crawled on ahead and looked to the Petilil worriedly. The pinkette watched as the plant Pokémon circled around the psychic-type, the Pokémon babbling back and forth with each other in what she could only figure was them discussing the situation. Aeliana was about to ask just what they were talking about (a fact that she knew was silly on account of the language barrier), but before she could even get two words out of her mouth, the sight of yet another familiar face came into view. Shoulder-length hair, leather jacket, resting *****-face like someone had spit in her bowl of Squirtle-o's and then threw them on the floor.
"Melody…?" Aeliana questioned. She quickly began waving her hands over her head to get the shorter trainer's attention. "Alola! What's going on?!"
Damn it, Bishop, I said find a Ranger. Ah, well, beggars can't be choosers. While Melody can't say she likes Aeliana, she's fairly certain the taller trainer isn't a complete idiot. She might be able to help, maybe she even thought ahead and brought some potions or something… unlike herself, who could not be bothered to make a trip to the Pokemart. As Melody draws closer, she slowly raises her arms up just a tad to reveal the shriveled and charred Lilligant huddled against her chest. "She's barely breathing. I don't have anything to help her." Melody explains.
Aeliana visibly recoiled at the sight of the poor Liligant. "How… who could've done this…?" she questioned, before her eyes widened. "You didn't see anyone in black suits did you?"
"No? But I wasn't there when it happened. These guys flagged me down and took me to her." The look on Aeliana's face says it all: She came across someone (or several someones) in a black suit and they also left a Pokemon half dead… or worse. Great. Superb even. "Do you have any potions we can give her?"
"Not exactly… I um… didn't think I was gonna need them so early on," Aeliana replied. Her eyes cast downward as she felt her Clefairy peek out from around her leg. The pink Pokémon began to tremble at the sight of the Lilligant, though thankfully Tampa was quick to offer her a reassuring pat on the back. "The only ranger station I know of is back around Watchtower Ruins… I don't know if she can wait that long."
She can't exactly be angry at Aeliana for having the exact same thought she did. Melody looks down at the trembling flower as her Mimikyu peeks out from behind her leg to see the shaky Clefairy. Her Dreepy slowly floats from Melody's shoulder towards the Clefairy. He seems hesitant for a few seconds before giving her hair swirl a small tap.
Melody sighs, cursing herself for not getting Ranger Mat's number in case of an emergency. "Do you have any other ideas…?"
"Berries," Aeliana suggested. "They're not a miracle cure, but they should be able to help her until better medical attention can be paid."
Aeliana pointed behind her towards the lake. "There are some berry trees not too far ahead. Let's hurry, Mel!"
"That was my first idea too." Melody peers up to the taller girl with a frustrated gaze-- not at her, at life in general. "Some son of a ***** has looted all the trees we've found." She follows Liana's finger towards the lake. Perfect. Maybe the fruit thieves have left those alone. She gives a determined nod. "Lead the way."
Aeliana wasted no time in taking her fellow trainer and their would-be patient to the area where she had seen the berry trees. When the group arrived, Aeliana gasped at the sight she saw. Many of the trees were bare of any berries.
"I don't understand… I saw berries on them when we passed by yesterday…"
Son. Of. A. *****. Is this a prank? Is someone purposefully going along just minutes before them just to screw them over? Melody grits her teeth. They can't keep going from tree to tree in hopes their ****-face of a thief hasn't gotten to that tree yet. "Who the **** needs this many berries?" Melody mumbles under her breath as she looks down to Lilligant. Is she… more brown now? That's not good. "Nightshot, see if they left us anything."
The Dreepy nods and begins to float towards the tree top. Bishop, following suit, flies to a different tree to investigate.
"Give them a hand Tampa," Aeliana said as she looked down at her Totodile.
The Totodile nodded and began to waddle off towards the trees. Before leaving the duo's sides however, the blue gator reached up and patted Melody's leg in an attempt to comfort the girl. The Ralts gave a concerned look at the two trainers, before she too joined in the search for the berries.
"Don't worry about it! I know they're gonna find something!" Aeliana encouraged.
Mimikyu lightly taps Melody's leg with her shadowy hand. Melody glances down and gives a short nod. "Go ahead."
"Kyu!" Annabelle shuffles off towards the most distant tree in sight. One of them has to have an Oran or a Sitrus berry they can use to buy themselves enough time to get Lilligant to the base. Melody breathes in deeply and breathes out slowly. It's fine. It's in the process of being fine. Just... give it a minute and try not to jostle Lilligant. "... Have you caught three Pokemon since we've been out here?" What? It's better than standing in uncomfortable silence.
Aeliana glanced over at her Pokemon. She noticed both Fiesta and Mahina had joined in the search as well. "Three…? No, I caught my Lotad back before we left Wedgehurst. The Clefairy I caught a few days ago…"
She trailed off for a minute, watching the Clefairy in particular. The wild Ralts looked over at the pink-haired trainer for a moment, before turning back to the nearby tree.
"And Ralts? Did you bribe Sonia into giving you two starters or something?" Melody asks, her eyes trained on Nightshot as he floats towards another tree with a disheartened expression. Whatever did this, she is going to hunt it down and kick it in the ass repeatedly. No one needs this much fruit.
"What? No way, Tampa is my only starter!" Aeliana exclaimed. She returned her attention back to her searching Pokemon. "She just showed up this morning and actually took me to you… I'm wondering if she knows the Lilligant…"
Melody blinks slowly. The way Ralts was tugging on Aeliana and hovered around her as they walked, she figured they were close. That one just came up to her a few minutes ago? Maybe she's just incredibly bad at determining what Pokemon feel, or maybe all Ralts are like that with sweet natured people? Right, right, not the point. More important things to focus on. "I figured she was yours. Looks like she likes you."
"Py py!" Nightshot calls victoriously as he spots an oran berry tucked away at the tip top of one of the trees. He wriggles his lower body as he reaches up to get it, but before he can grasp it between his little nub hands, the berry is snatched away. "DREEPY!" Nightshot calls angrily as the creature leaps out of the tree and onto the next.
"Oh, no, you're giving that back!" Melody shouts. "Don't let him get away, Nightshot!"
The Dreepy's eyes glow as it locks onto the creature and zooms after it, biting onto its tail and giving it a good yank to send it tumbling down from the tree. Melody can feel her left eye coming desperately close to twitching as she sees what has been giving them so much trouble.
A Greedent. How did she not suspect that? Her eyes narrow dangerously. "You piece of ****. You must have heard us talking. Your fellow Pokemon is dying and you won't give up one berry?!"
Tampa looked up the tree, her eyes coming to rest on the sight of the Greedent attempting to hop from tree to tree. The gator quickly rushed after the greedy Pokemon, scampering up the tree after it. She gurgled angrily as she grabbed the berry, attempting to pry it from the wild Greedent's paws.
That's the spirit. Get 'em, Tampa! Melody smirks at the little 'dile's determination. "Bishop, use Thief!"
The bird Pokemon flies between the branches with his claws extended and snatches the berry from the Greedent's paws. It probably could have stashed the berry in its cheeks were it not already trying to fight Tampa and Nightshot back, but alas, three on one is more than the greedy Pokemon can fight off.
Bishop turns around and flies back to the two humans, stopping just a few inches from Aeliana's face and offering her the Oran berry.
Annoyed with the loss of the berry, the Greedent glares at the agile crock and opens its wide mouth, firing a round of Bullet Seeds.
"Tampa, try to spray them back with a Water Gun!" Aeliana shouted. The Totodile leaned back and shot a blast of water at the Greedent. The bullets smacked up against the stream of water, before sputtering down to the ground below. "Now use Bite!"
The Totodile lurched forward. Her jaws snapped wide open as she prepared to chomp into the wild Greedent. The rotund Pokemon was prepared however, as it suddenly slammed his round gut right into Tampa. The blue gator wailed in response, nearly tumblin out of the tree in the process.
"Nightshot, catch her!"
"Py py!" The Dreepy calls as it jets towards Tampa. The little blue gator only had time to fall about four inches before she would find herself on the back of a small dragon jet.
That's… a pretty cool sight, Melody has to admit. "Now use infestation!"
Dreepy glares at the Greedent as small specks of black energy began to form around the larger creature. Greedent lets out a hiss of aggravation as the little black dots begin biting into its fur, eating away at its health a little bit at a time. In an attempt to heal up from the damage taken, the larger Pokemon retrieves another berry from its tail and goes to stuff it in its cheeks.
"ROOK-I-DEE!" Bishop shouts as he swoops down and slashes across Greedent while nabbing the berry in its mouth. That… didn't look like Thief. It didn't exactly look like Peck either.
"Peti Peti Lil Lil!" The squad of Petilil cheer from behind the human trainers, bouncing in encouragement.
Totodile smiled, a sudden idea popping into her head. She glanced down to her ride, gurgling before pointing towards the Greedent. Nightshot nodded in response and began floating towards the Greedent. While moving, the Totodile on his back began to shuffle and shimmy about, until she suddenly launched herself at the Greedent. A wild gurgle echoed out into the air as she tackled into the Greedent before chomping down onto the Greedent's shoulder.
A second berry in its mouth, Rookidee flies back towards the human duo and puts the berry on Lilligant's chest. When she doesn't move, he nudges it towards her mouth. Very weak, very tiny eyes open just a little, and shaky hands reach up to grasp the berry and take a tiny bite. Bishop coos in approval before flying back towards the action, just in time to see Tampa latch onto the larger Pokemon's shoulder.
Nightshot lets out a little cheer for Tampa before following suit and chomping down onto Greedent's other shoulder. In an attempt to shake the smaller Pokemon off, Greedent leaps for the ground and prepares to bodyslam Tampa into the dirt.
"Tampa! Just hold on…" Aeliana began. Before she could go further, a tiny hand was felt against her leg. The wild Ralts was looking at her before pointing towards the Greedent. "You want to help…?"
A nod.
"Okay… Okay, then…" Aeliana replied. She had never battled with a wild Pokemon before, but she figured there was a first time for everything. She pulled her Pokedex back out, giving the psychic-type a quick scan. "Ralts, use Confusion!"
The tiny Pokemon scooted forward, taking aim at the Greedent in the tree. She closed her eyes, slowly drowning out all the commotion around her. The Ralts then suddenly let out a fierce wail, before sending a wave of psychic energy at the Greedent.
The Confusion lands and stops the large Pokemon before it can hit the ground. Greedent looks around with a deeply confused expression, trying to figure out why it didn't smash into the ground-- and why these pesky little reptiles are still clamped onto him.
"Nice shot, Ralts." Melody grins. "Bishop! Help them out!"
"Roo!" The Rookidee calls as it flies towards the trapped Greedent. His beak glows with a powerful light before he swipes across the floating Pokemon's head and back. In its mouth-- another berry. Geez, how many does that damn thing have on it?
There's a small fire that sparks behind Melody's eyes as she glances towards Ralts and then Aeliana. "Ready to finish this?"
The Ralts let out a loud, shrill cry in the direction of the Greedent. Aeliana winced herself, all but covering her ears from the pitch of the tiny psychic-type's cry.
Melody cringes at the loud voice coming out of the little psychic-fairy. Even Bishop, returning to Lilligant with another berry, seems displeased by the sound-- and he barely has ears. "Nightshot, Dragon Tail!"
The Dreepy lets go of Greedent just in time for the freakishly loud sound waves to crash into the large creature. Up, up, up it goes, and Nightshot flies after him, his tail beginning to glow. Once the Greedent is up so high that the sound waves stop reaching, the tiny dragon does a powerful spin with his tail and sends it crashing into the rodent's oversized gut. Greedent goes flying backward, several berries dropping from his tail as he falls.
Mahina and Fiesta wasted no time in quickly making their way over to the berries. The two Pokemon began to collect the berries, with Mahina using the Lotad's lilypad for a dish of sorts to help transport them. Meanwhile, the pinkette watched as Ralts turned and slowly crawled towards her, placing a hand on her leg while looking up at her with a soft smile.
"You did a great job, Ralts…" Aeliana said, smiling down at the psychic-type. She knelt by the small Pokemon, gently patting the top of her head. This in turn caused a faint blush to appear on the psychic-type's cheeks. "You really helped save your friend there. She's lucky to have you around."
"Thanks little dude--etts?" Melody says as she kneels down to take one of the berries from Lotad's leaf-plate. Awesome, they got a Sitrus berry after all. Lilligant, feeling just slightly better after nibbling on the Oran Berry, is able to lift her head. She trills out a very soft thank you to the humans and Pokemon before taking a bite into the berry. The sound of soft munching is heard as Melody observes Ralts and Aeliana.
"Ya know, you two make a pretty good team." Melody says with a small grin.
Aeliana looked up towards the shorter girl. "You really think so…?" All the while, the blush on Ralts' cheeks grows darker. A small smile on her graces the Pokemon's lips, but she keeps her eyes focused on the ground.
"Well, if it wasn't for her, we'd be trying to find out how to re-inflate a very flat Tampa." Melody jokes. Lilligant begins to wiggle in her arms a bit and she sets the little flower on her feet, keeping her hands on her little skirt to hold her steady. "Ralts agrees with me by the way." She adds when she notes how the little fairy is blushing.
Aeliana looks back down at the Ralts. A moment of hesitation passed, before she reached into her bag and pulled out a poké ball. She noticed the Ralts looking at it curiously, before taking a deep breath and holding it out towards her.
"What do you say, Ralts…? Do… Do you wanna come with us?" Aeliana asked. The Ralts looked at the ball again, then back at the trainer. Without further thought, she reached up and pressed the button in the center of the ball with her tiny, nub-like hand. The ball snapped open, before a bright light engulfed the Ralts and pulled her inside. "Heh… welcome to the team, Clara."
"Py py!" Comes a little cry and an encouraging clap from a certain Doom Noodle that's floated his way back to the group. Melody slowly lets go of Lilligant once she gains her footing, and the little plant begins to shuffle her way towards the group of Petilil, all of whom begin to bounce and happily trill amongst themselves.
"What do you know? A happy ending." Melody folds her arms over her chest and smirks at both the Poke-family and the trainer with her new companion. Right. She should… probably say… something. "... Thanks, by the way. You know, for helping me find the trees."
"Oh, yeah… Well, no problem!" Aeliana replied, the smile bright on her face. "That's what we're supposed to do, right? It's no fun to go at it alone all the time, right?"
Yes, the answer is yes, but judging by the peering eyes of a certain Doom Noodle, she's not supposed to say that. "I guess not."
Lilligant shuffles back towards Fiesta for another berry and to trill another thank you to her fellow grass type. She then shuffles her way back to the humans and gives Melody's pant-leg a soft tug.
"Huh? You okay down there?"
Lilligant nods, and Melody raises an eyebrow as she realizes it's become very quiet. Where did the Petilil--
"Peti peti peti peti!" The group cries in unison as they hover back from… wherever they just went to. Once they get close, two of the Petilil float over to stand beside their mother and place two shimmering stones on the ground in front of the trainer's feet.
Melody blinks slowly. "For us?"
Lilligant nods and trills happily.
Aeliana slowly took a step forward, scooping one of the stones into her hand. Blue stone shined brightly in the morning sun, yet also offered a bit of a calming sensation just looking into it. Fiesta also seemed to stare intently at the stone.
"Do you mind if… I take this one?" Aeliana asked. "It's really pretty.
"Me? No, I don't mind." Melody says before leaning down to pick up the other stone. After examining how brightly it shines when held up to the light, she slides it into her bag. The pleased Petilil begin to trill and spin in small circles. They're… very active for Pokemon without feet. Melody watches Lilligant for a few seconds before speaking up again. "I can see the WatchTower from here. I think I'm going to take her to the ranger station, you know, to make sure she's okay." Melody looks towards said tower and takes a single step forward before turning back to Liana. "I'll… see you in Motostoke, yeah?"
"Yeah, of course!" Aeliana beams. She took a moment, recalling Tampa and her other Pokemon into their poké balls, save for Mahina who once again chose to nestle into the pinkette's arms. The girl thanked the Petilil for their gift and then turned her focus back to Melody once more "Just be careful out there, okay? See ya later!"
"I've stayed out of trouble this long." Most likely because she has interacted with exactly four people in the last ten days. "I think I can hang in there a little longer." She gives the other girl a half-hearted wave before motioning for the horde of plant Pokemon to follow her. Just to be safe, she scoops Lilligant into her arms again. "Can you tell your kids not to scream the entire way?" This is met with only a soft giggle from the mother Pokemon. "I'll take that as a yes. Let's go." Melody says before she begins the trek back to the Watchtower. One last pitstop, and then it's onward to Motostoke, where their real adventure will begin.
