[PKMN FULL] Hoenn: Square One [IC]

[Aquacorde]

Marie Rachelle Mocinno

AGE: 17 ⟡ PRONOUNS: she/her ⟡ HOME REGION: Johto ⟡ DEVICE: PokéGear
DATE: Monday, September 21 ⟡ TIME: evening
LOCATION: Dewford Town

Chapter 2 #12 - Battling Brawly

"Wow, that's an interesting lineup!"

Brawly shields his eyes from the setting sun, appraising Cutie towering over the dojo. Stunnie has already burrowed into the sand, and Tuie- Tuie has decided the best place to be is atop Cutie's leafy heads.

Marie has, perhaps foolishly, decided that her second gym challenge will be a triple battle.

Brawly's choices take up stances on the other side of the field. Poliwrath, she knows. Mantine, she knows. Raichu, she knows, but that thing is a very different Raichu than she's seen before. It hovers atop its tail, lazily dodging Mantine's slow wingbeats as it surfs loops around its teammates.

Fighting, water, electric.

Psychic, electric, grass.

She should be fine.

The Alexes, eating their dinner, watch intently from the dojo entry. They'd taken her on a detour through Dewford on the way back from the Wilds, dragging an older guy called Jim with them to the dojo. So they both could watch for real, they'd explained, instead of having to pay attention to the nuances an official referee has to. Jim had rolled his eyes and grumbled about finally getting to do his job. He seems like a long-suffering sort, even now as he clears his throat and raises a little flag.

"This official Dewford Gym battle is about to commence! Leader Brawly vs Challenger Marie! A triple battle, three Pokémon each. Ready?" Both parties confirm, so Jim waves his flag. "Begin!"

Marie knows that Tuie knows what to do; even with the Natu sitting high in the sky atop Cutie's head she can be confident that Tuie is already charging up, and will be ready when Marie needs her to be. So she focuses closer to home, where Poliwrath is directing the other two and Mantine's powerful wingbeats are creating some kind of- of Tailwind, yes, that's a move! Not that Marie knows what it does. Sand streams past her in mockery of Benji's tactics as the shallow layer covering Stunnie whips away. The weird Raichu just hovers, smiling amicably.

"Cutie!" Marie yells. The Exeggutor stirs, looking around for her, and then bends his three heads down low to hear. "Reflect!"

Cutie nods, returning to his full height, and begins to summon barriers to form a low, haphazard wall across the field. Wind blocked, Stunnie once again burrows into the sand. "You'd better be using Charge down there!"

Brawly looks interested. "What's the goal?" he asks.

"What?" Cutie continues to form barriers. The floating Raichu uses its tail to grind along the tops, like Marie's seen skateboarders do across Goldenrod.

"What's the goal?" Brawly repeats. "Are you setting these up for a reason?"

"Um-" His Mantine floats closer to the barriers, bolstered along by Tailwind, and she grins. "It stopped the wind, right?"

Stunnie's tail pops out from the sand and he slaps it hard into the ground, propelling himself straight up to Thundershock the surprised Mantine in the underbelly. The winds above the barriers knock him back down, but he burrows again immediately, shuffling along the calm side of the translucent pink wall.

"Oof! Sure did," Brawly agrees. Marie has a suspicion that he's not taking her very seriously. What's YOUR goal, gym leader?

The Mantine blows a large bubble of water, but instead of hurtling toward any of Marie's Pokémon, it engulfs Mantine itself. It blows more bubbles, increasing the size of the veil even as it glows aqua blue and reabsorbs some of the water. Marie's eyes narrow. Healing, huh? Fine.

The Poliwrath vaults the wall of barriers, unwisely landing exactly where Stunnie has settled and getting a charged zap for its troubles. Mantine beats its wings hard to revitalize the Tailwind and Cutie bolsters the barriers as the Poliwrath tosses Stunnie over the wall, Thundershocks be damned. Stunnie burrows in the sand piling up against the barriers and the Raichu darts after him, trying to track his movements from above.

Marie knows her timing. Tuie's nowhere near full power yet.

She yells up to Cutie, calls for Mega Drain, but instead the Exeggutor takes a few steps back, leaning his head back as far as can before whipping forward with astonishing speed to nail the Poliwrath into the sand, Tuie holding on for dear life.

"Whoa-ah! That's not Mega Drain." Brawly's tone has no undercurrents of judgement, but Marie bristles anyway.

"Stunnie!" she snaps, and the Stunfisk rises for his vengeance, but his charged Thundershock disperses into a sudden wave of water. Marie scrambles to climb atop Cutie's chunky trunk- she is not going to put her shoes through the dryer again today- and the Raichu looks fleetingly smug as the sand compacts around the glowing Poliwrath.

What's with the healing?!

And where's Stunnie?

She spots him quickly, clearly angry about the compact sand being more difficult to burrow into, but she has no time for a command before the Poliwrath summons a ball of water between its hands.

"Tuie!"

A blinding flash of pinkish light and the Poliwrath crumples, water spilling across the sand that Tuie flutters down upon. Her own smug look is fueled by the dropped jaws of all three Marshalls and Jim's raised eyebrows. "Not skilled, huh?" she teases, and the Alexes are suddenly red in the ears. Brawly laughs, recalling his Poliwrath as Jim makes the official call. Tuie retreats to her perch.

"Wondered what she might've been doing up there! Should have found out earlier, I guess. But," he grins, widens his stance, and pounds a fist into an open palm, "it's not happening again."

A haze of electricity crackles across the field, emanating from the surfing Raichu, who surges forward as if the sparks were a powerful wave and- disappears? Marie glances wildly around but it's the twins' craning necks that clue her in- atop Cutie's head the Raichu shoves its cheeks gleefully into Tuie's feathers, no matter how much she squawks about it, only retreating when the crackle of electricity surrounds the bird as well. And then, swooping into a loop, a ball of yellow energy forms atop Raichu's tail and it swings, midair, to slam it home.

Tuie falls from Cutie's head, not even conscious enough to open her wings, and the only sure thing Marie can do is call her back.

"Is that a forfeit for Natu?" Jim asks. Marie nods tightly. All that setup for nothing!

"Now what?" someone wonders, and Marie is somewhat surprised to find it's not her that has spoken. Brawly's Raichu surfs lazy loops around his Mantine as the Tailwind dies down again. She frowns, and Brawly continues. "That's what you were waiting for, wasn't it? But I took it away, and you still have to finish the battle."

No I don't, Marie thinks petulantly, but… she'd requested a triple battle for a reason. Paulo had told her, hadn't he, that wild Pokémon don't play fair. They don't play by rules. If this was a battle with them, she wouldn't be able to retreat. Sure, she could run, but she knows she can't outrun many Pokémon for long.

Battling is training. As much as this is a gym match, this is also practise. This is exercise. This is training.

So what can she do?

Cutie doesn't do Mega Drain anymore. And if he doesn't do Mega Drain, she's hesitant to ask for Absorb. Pokémon are instinctive, and they don't choose to forget their more powerful moves and keep weaker ones. That makes sense. Even if it's not true, it makes sense. Maybe that's something to ask Edison. Not now, though. Now she needs to remember.

That Mantine still has the ring of water around it. It's still healing.

Why not do the same?

"Cutie!" It's predictable, now, the duck of the head to hear her voice. She's going to have to find a way around that. Maybe get better at projecting. "Leech Seed on the Mantine!"

A seed forms atop Cutie's head, where Tuie had been sitting the whole time. A seed much larger than he had made as an Exeggcute, a seed the same shape and size as one of his heads. Like firing from a t-shirt cannon, it arcs up and comes down perfectly upon the Mantine's back, cracking open and bursting into thick roots that curl around the flat body, forcing the wings to curl in on themselves and crashing the Mantine to the ground. The roots pulse and Cutie glows with a green light as the Mantine shudders, healing itself with its own blue glow. The Raichu surfs over to tug and saw at the roots, but eventually shakes its head in despair.

Brawly shakes his own head, with a smile on his face. "Don't sweat it, little dude," he says. "We still have tricks up our sleeves. Why don't you give that Exeggutor a little love, huh?"

The Raichu darts in, but Marie's on guard already. Stunnie's Mud Shot sends the Raichu tumbling off course, but when he tries to retreat into a burrow he finds himself stumped by the wet sand once again. "Just go!" Marie yells, and Stunnie launches himself with a slap of his tail, little fins acting as gliders as he coasts across the fading barrier wall. He drops onto the prone Mantine, and even Raichu's Teleport doesn't come fast enough to save it from a charged Thundershock. The Mantine wilts, the last of its energy drawn into Cutie before it collapses, and a gentle wave of water from Raichu only takes Stunnie out of the running.

Brawly clicks his tongue to silence a complaint from the Alexes. "I know you know but you don't need to say anything at the moment." The twins sulk. Marie's eyes narrow. Jim calls both knockouts.

It's just Cutie and Raichu left.

"Hypnosis!" Cutie comes to eye level with Raichu, staring deep into the sky-blue eyes.

Nothing happens.

"Ah," Brawly shakes his head. "Electric Terrain prevents sleep. What else?"

He didn't attack?

The Raichu surfs around Cutie's heads, following as he straightens up. A well-placed Reflect knocks it out of the sky for a moment, but it quickly recovers and darts in to press its sparking cheeks to Cutie's trunk. The staticky electricity courses through Cutie, and his next not-Mega Drain is easily dodged, though it puts a good dent in the sand. Barriers are thrown up in a spiral around Cutie's trunk, but the Raichu drifts between them easily. Barrage, in this new form, turns out to be rather like Leech Seed but quicker, and the seeds don't burst into vines on contact. Not that they make contact with the Raichu.

Brawly is counting something. He reaches five, and calls: "Hey! What's your last move?"

Marie opens her mouth, then shuts it. She also counts to five. "I don't know?"

"What?"

"I don't know!" Her frustration finally bleeds over into her voice, and she stomps her foot into the sand. "I don't know what he does! I caught him today, and I looked at his moves once, and I saw him use them a few times, and then I went training with your kids and he evolved! And I told him to do Mega Drain and he did something else, and I don't know what that is, either! And I don't know what he does instead of Absorb, now-"

Cutie fires a rain of small seeds from each of his heads, in all directions, and Marie yelps and presses herself up against his trunk. Raichu throws a web of electricity up between Brawly and Cutie, the twins duck into the dojo, and Jim calmly steps a few paces to his left. The scattering of seeds dies down quickly enough, and all that's left is the crashing of waves against the nearby shore.

Brawly makes a gesture to Jim, who announces: "Gym Leader Brawly has forfeited the match. The challenger is the victor!"

What?

The Alexes start a chorus of complaints, but Brawly shushes them. "You went out to the Wilds?"

They know exactly where this is going. Marie can tell. "Yeah…"

"Which part of the wall did you climb?"

"Uh, between Isa's house and-" Boy-Alex slaps a hand over his sister's mouth. "We went through the gate! Like we're supposed to!"

Marie can feel Brawly's disappointed stare, even though the man has his back to her. "And you decided to train a challenger?"

"Yeah, because she just got that Exeggcute, and-"

"Marie," Brawly beckons her, without looking, and she slinks over. Why? You're not the one in trouble! "Tell me about your training session."

"Um." The twins look at her with pleading eyes. "We went into the Wilds, and found a nice little clearing, and they brought out their Pokémon so they could spar with Cutie." That's fine, right? That's enough information. But not anything to get them in trouble.

Brawly considers this. "And your Exeggcute evolved during training?"

"Yeah."

"And then what?"

"Huh?"

"And then what?" Brawly presses, and Boy-Alex sucks in a breath, as if realizing something. "What happened after it evolved?"

"Um, I was confused? Because he's way different from the Johto Exeggutor. But Alex said they're the same species, just different forms. And this form only happens here on Dewford and in Alola. Maybe a few other places, right?" Boy-Alex nods. "But mostly Alola."

Brawly nods. "Yeah. Specifically, it only can happen on Dewford in the sunny months. You're lucky to have come here around this time. So, Alex explained this, and then…?"

"And then we left." Girl-Alex looks like something has dawned on her. "We went back over- um, back through the gate, and went to Jim's, and came here."

"Right." Brawly crosses his arms. "Who wants to explain to me what you missed?"

The Alexes simultaneously stare at their feet and mutter unintelligiblly. Brawly shakes his head. "Uh-huh. Go clean up your dinner, please."

Marie waits for them to scurry away before asking, a little more hesitantly than she normally would: "Um. What did they miss?"

Brawly sighs, dropping his lecture stance, but heavy footsteps announce Cutie's arrival, being led by Jim, and it's he that answers her question.

"They didn't help you train him after he evolved." Cutie sluggishly swings his heads down to nuzzle at Marie, and she remembers that the static is still locking his movements. She pats him and calls him back to his ball as Jim continues. "It's all well and good to gain power, but if you don't have skill to back it up, it's worthless. Leaving you with a Pokémon in a completely different form with moves you've never seen used and then dragging you straight to an official match is… not ideal, to put it lightly."

"That said," Brawly chimes in, "you should have checked your PokéDex at some point. A twelve-year-old is not always the most reliable source of information."

Jim heads into the dojo as Marie flushes and pouts at the ground. Brawly does have a point.

"You didn't go to a Trainer's School, did you?"

The kindness in his voice is kind of awful. She doesn't need any pity! "No," Marie replies sullenly.

"Well done getting my badge, then," he says, and that's not what Marie expected to hear. "You'll have to work very hard to catch up to your peers who have, though." That's more like it. But that's something she knows already.

"Why do I get your badge? I would have lost if you fought for real."

"All challengers would lose if gym leaders fought for real," Brawly corrects, and that makes sense. "I give my badge to people I think deserve it, who show me they can step up to a challenge and do their best to overcome. People who don't give up, and people who are willing to learn and grow." He laughs, suddenly, clapping her on the shoulder. "My mind was halfway made up when you came in here with a week-old license and no merits to speak of and requested a triple battle! That takes guts, kiddo."

Marie shrugs, self-consciousness crawling unpleasantly across her shoulders. "I thought it would be good practise."

"I think you were right," Brawly says. Jim returns from inside the dojo and hands him something. "And you've won yourself a prize. Here," he presses two things into her hand. "The Knuckle Badge and some prize money. Don't spend it all in one place."

Marie is already thinking of the market in Slateport.

Spoiler: Team

Pokémon On Hand

Tuie ⟡ Natu ⟡ Female ⟡ LV 20 -> 23 ⟡ Magic Bounce ⟡
Peck // Teleport // Stored Power // Cosmic Power // Ominous Wind // Night Shade -> Confuse Ray
Stunnie ⟡ Stunfisk ⟡ Male ⟡ LV 21 -> 24 ⟡ Static ⟡
Revenge // Mud Shot // Thundershock // Tackle // Water Gun // Mud Sport // Charge
Cutie ⟡ Alolan Exeggutor ⟡ Male ⟡ LV 17 -> 20 ⟡ Frisk ⟡
Bullet Seed // Hypnosis // Reflect // Leech Seed // Dragon Hammer // Barrage

Spoiler: Inventory

Trainers' License [registered in Johto and Hoenn] ⟡
$23,000 ⟡
Knuckle Badge ⟡
Empty PokéBalls x 1 ⟡

Sunscreen ⟡
Berry-Print Bikini ⟡
Beach Towel ⟡
Oversized Sunglasses ⟡
Large But Lightweight Backpack ⟡
Rechargeable Battery ⟡
Variety Of Necessary But Uninteresting Things ⟡
Variety Of Interesting But Unnecessary Things ⟡

Spoiler: Contacts

Dad ⟡
Mom ⟡
Brothers #1, #2, and #3 ⟡
Brawly ⟡
Edison ⟡
Van ⟡

 

[Eleanor]

Hikaru

18 - ✨ - Castelia City
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Pokémon / Inventory:

HIKARU'S TEAM:
⚡ Rei (Tynamo), ♂ lv. 22
Levitate
Spark, Charge Beam, Tackle, Thunder Wave
⚡ Hoshi (Staryu), lv. 19
Illuminate
Psywave, Rapid Spin, Water Gun, Minimize, Confuse Ray, Harden
⚡ Aruku (Clobbopus), ♀ lv. 18
Technician
Rock Smash, Leer, Feint, Detect, Bind
⚡ Tsuga (Treecko), ♀ lv. 20
Overgrow
Mega Drain, Pursuit, Pound, Quick Attack, Quick Guard, Detect

HIKARU'S BADGES:
🥊

Hurts to laugh

Wednesday, September 23^rd - Slateport Hospital

Avril, 22/9, 11:48 a.m.
Hello Hikaru, how are you? Hope you're feeling better, and I wish you a quick recovery <3 <3 <3

Avril, 22/9, 11:52 a.m.
I brought the berries back and got the reward, so we can split it next time we meet up! Bar guy didn't even wanna give me anything and I had to fight him in a battle, but I won thanks to Mawile! :o

Avril, 22/9, 11:54 a.m.
Oh, maybe you could find more information about those stones you found while you're in Slateport, right? The fanclub could be a good place ^-^
See you soon Hikaru!

"See you soon"? Please girl, don't make me laugh. It would hurt, and it would be sad.

The fact that I'm reading this at… 7 pm on Wednesday, according to my XT, is already sad enough. But honestly, not checking my inbox or writing stuff during my stay at the hospital has been very helpful. I know it would be just miserable to see all of those people waiting for more content, while having none to show.

Now let's see what Avril actually wants.

So, of course she starts off with the kind words and hearts. Then she goes to… hey, this is actually great! You go girl! You stood up to that guy and succeeded. And finally, the stones and Mawile. The more serious part of this whole conversation.

From what she said, it seems like Mawile is starting to bond with her, and that's… alright. Of course it would happen. I may not get a Pokémon that can Mega Evolve after all.

If this is how it is, then yes, it's one more reason to get these stones examined by someone who actually knows their stuff. I still have all of them myself, but I'll be happy to give some to Avril in case she needs some - not anyone else though. Just Avril, because of all her help when she got me out of that cave.

Hikaru, 23/9, 7:14 p.m.
Alright, I can try to find out more about the stones. Happy to see you and Mawile are getting friends

Hikaru, 23/9, 7:23 p.m.
Also hello! I'm chained to the bed in this hospital with stitches but I'm getting better, probably will have to stay here at least one more week though

The doctors put these stitches in my wound sometime yesterday, not too long after I got here, but said they would have to stay there for a while. I asked them what it meant and it turns out, it takes at the very least one week to heal up…

The good news is that things should start to get better as early as tomorrow, when I'll be able to at least get out of this bed and out of the hospital. The bad news is that I will have to use a wheelchair to do so, otherwise the stitching is at risk of breaking. Oh, and I can't really leave Slateport until that's removed, too. I might want to check if there are other clinics around the region that can remove my stitches, but the doctors already said that it would be very difficult to find one in the area I'm about to explore. In short it's just… not worth the struggle.

So, apparently, I'm just destined to spend time in Slateport. Given how that went last time, I may as well stay in bed one more week straight, but perhaps the fact I ended up here means that I should at least try and get my revenge on this city while I can. Or try to find things that I overlooked the first time I was here…

Or even try to beat the gym again! I have nothing left to lose anyway… and this time, I may even have a chance.

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Katrina Purcell
Location: Southern Pokemon Center, Slateport City
Pokemon at hand :

Friday, September 18th​

Chapter 1 - 13
Anxiety - Part 2​

Silence ensued between me and Jack as I sat down in front of him. There were so many questions in my head that I wanted to ask, yet I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. And so I decided to stay put and waited until he started the conversation.

"What, is there something weird on my face?"

"...You look exhausted."

His eyes widened before he chuckled. "Well, that wasn't the answer I expected. I appreciated the concern though."

The statement I uttered before wasn't an understatement at all. The dark circles under his eyes told all the story I needed to know.

"Rest."

"Okay." He nonchalantly answered before he started to scribble once more on his book.

"Are you listening to me?" I said sternly.

"Well, I wouldn't answer if I didn't hear you the first time…"

"Then rest…"

"Uh, I could say the same thing for you…"

"At least I already slept for four hours. I don't think you've tried to sleep at all."

"Well I did sleep already, for an hour I guess? It'll be fine.

Bang.

I couldn't hold my anger as I slammed the table. "You look horrible, Jack! Go to sleep, please!"

He glumly looked down before clicking his tongue.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, it wasn't my intention to…"

The atmosphere took a turn for the worse, all thanks to my temper tantrum. I really didn't want to hurt him, and yet… I did it again and again… From all things I had to inherit from my mother, why this!?

Jack shook his head while still directing his gaze downward. "No, you don't have to. You're just being concerned about my health. I'm the one who was supposed to be sorry. That's enough, don't show that kind of face. I understand where you are coming from, although to be honest, your meddlesome attitude reminded me of someone I know."

"Sorry for being meddlesome…"

"Nah, I guess I should've phrased it properly. I didn't mean bad when I say you're meddlesome, it's just that it's rare to see someone care that much for someone they just recently knew."

"I could say the same way about you, you know?"

"...Touche. Glad it was the case though, initially I was afraid you were the cunning douchebag type, which was why I was on the defensive..."

"I'm sor— Ouch."

Jack suddenly flicked my forehead before he started to chuckle while shaking his head.

"If you want to say something, then use thank you. Stop saying sorry all the time."

"Sor—"

I clammed up as I realized I was about to say sorry again, while Jack was laughing once more.

"Anyway, why are you here? Can't sleep?"

"Yeah, I don't know why but my stomach—"

I stopped mid-sentence as I realized that the weird pain I felt earlier was already gone. Maybe it was indeed because I was nervous earlier.

"Hmm… What's wrong?"

"No, nothing… Anyway, I was going outside because I couldn't sleep and then I saw you on my way."

"Well, so much for having white hair. Are you surprised to see me with this hair color?"

"Well, of course."

"And you wouldn't ask any question about it?"

"Well, not if you're not comfortable speaking about it."

Jack's tired eyes shined when I said this. Maybe he was shocked when I said this, but it's simply common sense. Everybody had things they would like to hide from everyone else.

"Anyway, you shouldn't go out at this hour, especially since you didn't bring any Pokemon with you."

"Eh, how did you?"

"Would Aurora let you go out if she knew? She barked when you hadn't eaten dinner yet, so I just assumed that she knew nothing about your planned escapades." He shrugged before grabbing the paper cup on the table. "Just don't go, okay? In case something happened."

I nodded slowly.

"...Phew, well… I think I'll follow your advice now. Here, take it."

Jack offered me the book he was scribbling on. It seemed to be used a lot before, which was clearly visible from the wear and tear on the book. It also had a lot of page stickers to mark certain pages.

"I almost wrote everything I know inside this book, double battles are in the earlier parts of the book, maybe around page 10? And the ones about Benji are obviously in the latest part. Take it, I think you'll need it more than me at this point."

"I can't accept it… This is…"

"Well, I mean it's just a loan. You said you can't sleep, right? It's much better to read this than to loiter aimlessly at this hour. I'll be off now then, I guess you're right about me needing to rest." He raised himself from his seat.

"Jack! Wait!"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Well, why not? There should be no reason why people shouldn't be kind to each other, no?"

His answer was not wrong at all… I was happy… Really happy hearing his answer, yet...

"If it only was that simple," I mumbled.

"You said something?"

I shook my head and Jack went to his room without any more delay. I hated myself for being unable to keep my thoughts from leaking earlier…

While I did think that Jack did this due to the goodness in his heart. But I just couldn't shake the thought that sooner or later he would let go of his philosophy. Even when I desperately wanted this to be wrong, yet the fear lingered heavily on my mind.

Everybody I knew did, so why wouldn't he? The faster I try to rationalize this as a temporary anomaly, the less heartache I would experience down the road.
​

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[WizardOfOdd]

Katrina Purcell
Location: Southern Pokemon Center, Slateport City
Pokemon at hand :

Saturday, September 19th​

Chapter 1 - 14
First Gym Challenge​

Today was the day I was going to challenge the gym.

I've done all I could last night, Jack's notes were really helpful for me to understand what I should do for the battle today.

It was subtle but the number of scribblings and corrections inside was enough proof to me on how passionate he was about Pokemon battling, even if it made his notes slightly harder to read.

I was nervous as hell, but... "As long as we're together no one can beat us, right Aurora?"

Aurora leaped to my embrace as she nuzzled my nose in joy. I wanted to stay that way for the day. But I had to hurry, I promised Jack that we would meet at a nearby diner to grab breakfast together.

It only took me ten minutes to arrive at the place, but Jack wasn't anywhere to be seen.

I took a glance at my Holotch. Knowing him, he should've been here ages ago… Did something happen to him?

Confused, I called his holotch in hope that he would answer my call.

Strange… There was no answer at all. Did he ditch me? And if so…

NO! No! He wouldn't do such a thing, I believed that he would come no matter what, and even if he didn't, it must be because something happened to him.

In the middle of my panicked state, I could hear a voice calling me from inside the diner.

"Ah sorry, I had to go to the bathroom earlier."

It was Jack, but I had to blink twice seeing the way he dressed up.

"Impressed by my choice of clothes, mademoiselle?" He did a gentleman bow while grinning widely.

He was wearing a blue dress shirt, beige trousers, brown dress shoes made from suede, finished with beige blazer draping from his shoulders. The way he dressed made him look like he was some character out of a graphic novel, although of course, I couldn't say that to his face. That'll be embarrassing.

Wait… The label on the shirt… It's Marc Fuller's! That alone would be worth around six digits these days… How did he...

"Uh, Kat… Can you not, I don't know… Not examine me like I'm some sort of rare Pokemon?"

I jolted in embarrassment as I realized I was encircling Jack while looking at his choice of outfit.

He sighed. "Thanks to a certain someone I had to be more careful in picking my clothes for the day."

"Well, I mean I'm just saying my opinions, it's not like I was criticizing you for what you wore yesterday."

"True, but being told that I dressed like a golf caddie wasn't exactly a statement I would like to hear, you know?" He looked at me with a peeved expression.

"That was an accident, I didn't mean to—"

"I know, I was only joking. Let's eat now, we shouldn't waste more time than this."

We had a quick breakfast before we traveled to the gym together. It was a familiar place yet I had cold feet before entering. I'm still afraid that even with all the preparation I did, I still would embarrass myself.

Yet I couldn't see any hint of nervousness on Jack's face. Confused, I decided to ask him directly.

"Jack, are you nervous at all?"

"I am, honestly I'm scared. But we don't have much of a choice, no?" He scratched the back of his head while keeping a smile. I couldn't understand how he could keep his emotions under wraps. But he's right, there was no use of me to think this any further.

No time to dawdle. It was now or never.
​

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[WizardOfOdd]

Jacques 'Jack' Tenenbaum
Location: Slateport Gym, Slateport City
Pokemon at hand :

Saturday, September 19th​

Chapter 1 - 12
Battle at Slateport - Part 1​

Disaster. Absolute disaster.

That's all I could say when I watched how Kat and Benji's battle unfolded upon my eyes.

At the start it was all peachy, Kat carefully nitpicked her opportunity to attack. However, neither Garnet's Water Gun nor Aurora's Freeze-Dry managed to hit the mark due to the protective barrier set up by the Alolan Sandslash to protect it and its ally Wormadam.

For some reason, Benji played defensively? I didn't really understand why, but maybe he wanted to gauge Kat's capability? Only Benji would know the answer to that question, but the bottom line was at this point almost none of Kat's offense from both of her Pokemon managed to land on any of Benji's Pokemon.

Kat then proceeded to use Disable after the Alolan Sandslash used Protect to defend itself which was a good move… But I couldn't emphasize more how her next choice was the impetus to an actual disaster.

"It's time, Aurora!" Katrina yelled while pumping her fist.

Familiar white clouds swirled around the ceilings of the battlefield as snow and ice particles slowly descended from it. Yet the poor girl in front of me didn't realize that she just courted defeat to her own door.

Benji's smile widened as Alolan Sandslash's body started to get covered by a light blue aura, yikes… I knew exactly what was going to happen next, and my guess was correct.

The Sandslash rushed in on Aurora at a terrifying pace before inflicting a powerful Rapid Spin on her, sending her crashing towards the arena wall. Even worse, before Aurora even managed to recover properly, Garnet was launched to the wall too, this time thanks to Wormadam's Flash Cannon.

Slush Rush was really something else.

At this point, Kat wasn't able to control her composure. Perhaps the suddenness of how the disaster unraveled was too much for her to handle.

I wanted to scream instructions to help her, yet I couldn't. I was afraid that I would slight her if I did it. Who am I to tell her how to win if I couldn't even pull a W from her. So I did the only thing I knew on doing

I stood up from my seat before I started yelling. "Come on, Kat! You can do this!"

She nodded with a smile on her face, which she probably shouldn't do in her situation… But it may have helped with her as she managed to stun the Sandslash temporarily while doing Swords Dance with Confuse Ray.

But it was two against two, not only one on one. Wormadam stole the chance and did a Quiver Dance before following up with consecutive Electroweb usage which not only covered the battlefield with lightning infused webs, the exact thing that might bring Garnet's downfall.

Aurora's return didn't help things as Wormadam was fast enough to avoid attacks from both her and Garnet. Things were not getting better at all as time elapsed when Benji's Sandslash managed to recover and finish a Swords Dance.

One Flash Cannon after a Fury Swipes later and Aurora was out from the battle, and… Garnet was left to fend off the attackers on its own.

It was not a pretty sight, Garnet kept pushing on and kept using Recover to heal itself even when the pressure from both of Benji's Pokemon made the constant struggle as a mere effort in delaying the inevitable.

At one point, it was too much for me to watch. I had to close my eyes while clasping my hands tightly.

It didn't take long until the battle was over and soon I rushed over to Katrina.

"Haha, I blew it, didn't I?" She laughed at what happened, but I knew instantly that it was a lie. Her smile wasn't holding up as her eyes started to get moist.

"Hey, you've done everything you could… I'm proud of you. I'm sure you'll be able to beat him next time."

"...Can I have… No, nevermind. Thanks, Jack."

"Yeah..."

After a bit, she managed to regain her composure. Which was all I wanted… But I couldn't shake off the fact that what I've said earlier made my stomach churn.

What a hypocrite. I might have told her that next time might be the charm for her. Yet all I could think was how much of a perennial loser I was to lose again and again without anything good coming from it.

But I couldn't back down now, not after what I've put my friends and family through.

So I took my spot at the battlefield, hoping that what appeared as my one last shot would finally amount to something.
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[Eleanor]

Avril Reese

16 - ♀ - Laverre City

With QueenNothing as Junko Enomoto​

Pokémon / Inventory:

AVRIL'S MONEY: $20 000

AVRIL'S TEAM:
🌼 Poppy (Flabebe) -♀- lv. 29
Flower Veil
Synthesis, Fairy Wind, Grassy Terrain, Lucky Chant, Wish, Magical Leaf

🌼 Hydrangea (Shellos) -♀- lv. 26
Storm Drain
Water Pulse, Mud Bomb, Recover, Rain Dance, Mud Sport, Hidden Power (?)

🌼 Wisteria (Inkay) -♂- lv. 20
Infiltrator
Swagger, Hypnosis, Topsy-Turvy, Pluck, Reflect, Psybeam

🌼 Venus (Mawile) -♀- lv. 23
Intimidate
Fairy Wind, Feint Attack, Sucker Punch, Fake Tears, Taunt, Baton Pass

AVRIL'S INVENTORY:
🌼 Holotch (phone version)
🌼 Fanclub Membership card
🌼 Eviolite
🌼 Silk Scarf
🌼 Various clothes and commodities

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

AVRIL'S BADGES:
🥊

🌼 Character art made with [SPAN="color:rgb(40,180,40);"]https://picrew.me/image_maker/94097[/SPAN]

Holding onto June, pt. 2

Wednesday, September 23^rd - late evening - Petalburg City

"Girls, it's getting pretty late. Junko, why don't ya walk Avril here back to where she's stayin'?"

"O-oh, no w-worries, she doesn't have t-to!" The blonde girl chimes in right away, but it's more of an act of courtesy. Part of her actually wishes for June to come and spend more time with her alone, but part of her thinks that's too selfish.

"N-no, he's ri-right." June pauses to take a deep gulp. "Th-that's not an issue at all." She glances over to her uncle, who wears a sly smirk across his face as he walks up to the front door to hold it open. "You heard her, Avril- take as much time as you need with Junko." Tetsuo chuckles.

Well… was there any way she could object? The blonde girl follows Tetsuo with her eyes, but eventually turns towards June with a raised eyebrow. "S-shall we g-go, then?" The tall girl looks back at her, nervously nodding with her bright red face before taking a step outside.

"A-alright!" Avril recalls her Pokémon and grabs her cloth bag, a smile on her face as she follows June. "T-thank you very much for everything… T-Tetsuo!" A short laugh comes after that, as she's not sure if she's pronounced his name right. He doesn't give any comment on it though- he just continues to grin while waving, followed with a "Have fun!"

The door eventually closes behind the two girls, and Avril takes a deep, long breath. "T-thank you as well, June, you… you've been s-so kind!" She then declares, her face way more red than usual.

As she takes a few steps forward, the brunette's face grows equally flushed. "I-i-i-its really noth-th-th-thing…"

"J-June…" The blonde smiles, nearly crying happy tears. She stands still for a bit, and it's silence again between the two girls. It's Poppy who breaks it, by floating in front of June's face and softly blowing some Fairy Wind towards her, giggling. At that point, even Avril can't help but giggle herself. "W-we should be having fun now, right? That's what he s-suggested."

June lowers her glasses to quickly clear them with a cloth from her purse. "W-well I certainly enjoyed our time together…" Her shaking hands place her glasses back to their native location, although it takes her longer than it should to get them on straight.

"W-we have tomorrow as well, r-right June? A-and if you r-really are ok with it we c-can return to the PokéCenter… t-t-that's more time… together…" Avril starts to realize the implications of what she's said only as the words have already left her mouth.

"Yes! Tomorrow would be just swell!" A sudden yet subtle confidence boost in her speech before she twirls a strand of hair with her index finger. "A-and there's the contest too. M-maybe we can meet again tomorrow at the Pokémon Center?"

"T-that's going to be great!" Avril laughs. "Uhm, do you know w-when the Contest starts?"

"Umm, I believe it's held at 3 pm… I don't know the themes admittedly, I should probably check ahead of time from now on…"

"Oh, it's ok! W-we could check those t-tomorrow morning! And, actually…" The blonde girl blushes. "We c-could spend the morning t-together too if you w-w-want?"

"Of course. I'm sure I'll have time in the morning." June responds, twirling her hair again.

That's a very reassuring thing to hear, especially when part of Avril's mind is still fixed on Kimberly. It's probably the shock of being chased for such a futile reason. "Oh thank you thank you! W-when's a good time for you to m-meet up?

"Maybe… 8 am?"

"Oh, that's p-perfect! So 8 a.m. at the PokéCenter, got it!" Avril hastily replies, with a wide grin on her red face that soon turns into a loud yawn.

"R-right, speaking of PokéCenter... let's go b-back there, if you w-want? I'm g-getting tired myself…" She admits, scratching her head. "A-and, you're not doing it j-just because Uncle told you to, right?"

"N-no no no no no, of course not!" She rapidly waves her hands. "He just, umm… n-nevermind."

"I-I'm sorry for b-bringing him up again…!" Avril hastily replies, trying to interpret June's reaction, only to let herself go and yawn loudly. "Uh… ok, J-June… let's just make the b-best of the time we have left! A-alright?" The tall girl simply grins softly through how flustered she is and mods with an "Absolutely."

"Yayy!" The shorter girl replies straight away with a cheerful laugh, before starting to walk away from Tetsuo's house, June still accompanying her.

💞💞💞

"You k-know I'm not really a night person but… P-Petalburg by night seems very cozy, don't you t-think?" Avril speaks up after a while, her mind now drifting to another night that she and June spent together… "Surely less s-scary than that shipwreck adventure, hehehe…"

"Oh, that was… a bit frightening." A single tremor comes from June as she hears the other girl's words, but she's able to shake it off. "B-but it was still enjoyable!"

"Aw, it was a-alright! B-but, speaking of which…" Avril pauses to think for a moment. "W-what's there in Petalburg to d-do? You know your w-way around here very well, r-right June?"

"Indeed! I've already mentioned my fond memories of visiting my grandma, so I'm very familiar with the area. There's lots of nature spots such as Lake Petalburg, a few shops and restaurants, specifically there's… well, there's a lot actually, and I might be here all day if I listed them all. M-maybe we can figure out what to do tomorrow morning?"

"O-oh, that's very cool! And it's no p-problem, I'm sure a nice b-breakfast can help us decide." The blonde girl smiles, before taking in the night air with another long breath. "You know, s-so far… this is the city that reminds me of h-home the most."

"Isn't it just lovely?" June gazes into the starry night sky in an almost awe-like state. "Of course, Petalburg almost- no, it is a second home to me, so it'd be impossible to disagree."

"I-It really is! You know… I have n-no idea how long this trip will t-take, and so I d-don't know when I'll be b-back home in Laverre…" Avril raises her head to the sky as well, a wave of feelings overcoming - although just for a brief moment - even her shyness and her blushing when she's around June.

She pauses for a bit, breathing in the silence and rattling her pendant, which resonates as clearly as ever. "E-even if this is no Laverre, it's s-still a special place!"

"Yes, definitely." June nods, her movements getting increasingly more jittery. "E-e-e-especially after t-today."

The blushing comes back strong. Avril just nods a couple times, with Poppy happily chirping in her place. That has to mean something like "Yes, my trainer completely agrees!"

The mood feels eerily familiar by now. Night time, only a few lights around, a calm breeze, the smell of the sea, no other person in sight. June… it's your chance! She doesn't quite act the way Avril would have hoped, though… she just sort of fidgets in her place. The blonde girl is not ready to take matters into her own hands. Or lips. Maybe tomorrow…

"Especially after t-t-today, yes…" Avril finally replies, her voice unsteady just as her next few steps.

June holds her glowing face with her hands, taking a few steps as well. She opens her mouth, but no words come out for a bit until she points out "W-w-w-well it l-looks like the Pokémon C-c-c-center is up ahead. Th-thanks you for tonight, and I guess I sh-should make my farewell now…"

"T-thank you J-J-June! It's been… ma-marvelous!" Avril hastily replies, still grinning and blushing. But really, not even that obscure word could quite explain her feelings. She takes a small step to the side, towards June. She looks at her eyes, her face still red, as her mind jumps between different memories of different people without any logic.

Finally, her head lands on June's shoulder, making some space between her long hair. Not quite on top of it, as June is too tall for that, but close enough. "S-s-see you tomorrow." The brunette shakes at a rapid speed while allowing Avril's contact, face as red as a tomato. She again opens her mouth with no words to follow before eventually she can muster up a nervous yet warming "S-s-s-s-s-see you tomorrow a-a-as well…"

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Jacques 'Jack' Tenenbaum
Location: Slateport Gym, Slateport City
Pokemon at hand :

Saturday, September 19th​

Chapter 1 - 13
Battle at Slateport - Part 2​

I stood upon the battlefield as Benji chose two Pokemon to fight me, it was Alolan Diglett and Alolan Sandslash again. Was he goading me? Was he intentionally trying to piss me off by picking Alolan Sandslash when I knew his strategy with it already? Probably.

But there was no point in dwindling on it, I had a battle to finish.

"Come on! Let's have a great battle!" Benji enthusiastically attempted to cheer me up, which lit up the crowd instead.

I respected his attempt to make me feel more energized for our fight, but honestly, if I had a choice I would've just ran away and called it a day. After all, I doubt that I had the capability to hang in a battle against Benji.

If there was one other thing I was having a problem with, was that I didn't understand why the crowd was so eager to see a greenhorn getting his ass kicked, or maybe they're the type who enjoyed the feeling of Schadenfreude. It's their business about what to feel but they being here didn't help at all with my already fragile nerves, you know?

"You want to postpone the fight? It's okay to do it if you're not feeling well…" Benji looked at me with a concerned look.

Ah great, my mind was going elsewhere again.

With not much time to spare, I decided to throw Muchorin and Kaplan into the fray. Both of them were visibly in a joyful mood to experience this fight, oblivious to the fact that their trainer was stressing over the fact that he was about to experience the worst beatdown of his life… Okay, maybe second… Or even third… Okay, there were so many that I didn't even remember anymore.

Fortunately, unlike Katrina, I've researched the rule well enough to know that using an item was allowed. And so I threw an Eviolite necklace I've prepared the day before just to raise the almost non-existent chance of me winning towards Muchorin. Which caused Kaplan to squawk continuously towards me.

I could only smile seeing him complain about Muchorin's item. But sorry bud, I'm running tight on the budget after the trip to the tailor.

After much time wasted, the battle finally began. And it started strongly in favor of Benji who decided to whip out a powerful sandstorm just as the battle began. This meant that his Diglett either had Sand Force or Sand Rush, both are pretty bad in their own way.

I decided to go on a pressuring route, where both Muchorin and Kaplan went into hard offensive against both Sandslash and Diglett respectively. But Diglett decided to hole underground using Dig while Sandslash protected itself.

Several skirmishes of moves at close range between Kaplan and Muchorin against Sandslash later, Diglett popped up once more this time while unleashing a powerful shockwave using Bulldoze which obviously the Sandslash already prepared to counter using Protect.

Great, but I had a plan on my own. Behold, Operation Lift-off!

This plan was meticulously prepared last night when I obtained some intel about his Pokemon that had the potential to do this kind of stuff. But unlike the grandiose name, it involved Kaplan simply flapping its wings as strongly and quickly as it could while lifting Muchorin above the ground as high as possible.

The crowd went wild seeing this occasion, while even with the sandstorm that had impaired my view, it was clear that Kaplan was not amused as he was basically forced to cough continuously with sand entering his beak. He had to suffer lifting a Pokemon above his lifting limit while Muchorin was visibly enjoying the ride.

As the energy wave subsided, Diglett made another attempt to sink itself inside the ground to prepare another attack. But this time, I had an idea of what kind of strategy would be able to snatch victory from

So while Muchorin was using Flame Wheel against Sandslash's Protect, I ordered Kaplan to use Supersonic on the hole that Diglett dug. The fact that the tunnels earlier were gone thanks to Bulldoze caused the sound waves to resonate loudly inside the hole.

Benji realized what's up and tried his best to unleash a counterattack using Fury Swipes, but alas by pressuring it to use Protect by using Kaplan's Supersonic left Muchorin open to unleash a powerful breath of flame on the tunnel using Incinerate. In a confused state and with no place to run away, Diglett was completely toasted inside the tunnel.

So how did the battle end? With typing and number advantage surely I could win this battle easily, no? That was my thought initially. Yet the reality was much crueler than I expected because as soon as the weather changed to Hail it turned into a one-sided slaughter in favor of Benji.

Tough luck, again huh? Bullshit, it was all my fault that this happened.

Both of me and Kat went outside the gym as soon as possible so other people could battle the Gym Leader.

As soon as we stood outside she exclaimed. "We both lose pretty badly, huh? I guess there's always next time."

It was an innocent statement that flew out of her mouth. But, for me who was under so much stress, I couldn't stop my body from trembling with anger towards myself.

"GOD. FUCKING. DAMNIT!" I yelled out loudly. The passersby around us were looking at me with shock and concern.

Why wouldn't they? They were seeing a man with a face redder than a tomato trembling more than a Pokemon that got hit with Earthquake. My bloodshot eyes that reflected pure rage like a wild beast didn't help at all with their concern.

"Jack..."

"WHAT!?"

I accidentally swatted her hand in reflex. At this moment, I just knew she would lash out again towards me. But no, I was wrong.

She sat silently without uttering any words at all. The fact she didn't do any yelling at all actually made me feel even worse about what I've done.

I had hurt someone else... Again.
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[QueenNothing]

Junko "June" Enomoto

Wednesday, September 23rd, Evening

There's a reason June avoided initiating any contact when she spent time alone with Avril.

After last night, a seed of uncertainty has been planted into her head. Avril seemed like she was giving some kind of signs she was expecting something… but so did Robynn, and that certainly didn't go as expected. Anything sudden would have been too much of a risk- June isn't sure how her relationship with Robynn will go from here, and she certainly doesn't want a repeat of that.

"Sooooooooo… how'd it go with Avril? Y'seem pretty excited, huh?" Tetsuo notices his niece shaking with a nervous euphoria as she walks through the entrance of his home. "Umm… I suppose you could say that, yes…"

Tetsuo gives off the slyest smirk. "I take it ya enjoyed yourself. Did you-"

"No. W-we didn't." He looks genuinely surprised his niece managed to answer his question before he even finished but disappointed at the answer given.

"Aw, come on Junko! Y'gotta take initiative sometimes, y'know? Lay down those trademark Enomoto Moves!"

"I-it's just- I'm not sure when I'm supposed to…"

"That's what ya gotta get good at! Work on finding out when the time is right!" He pauses his pep-talk to scratch his face, which glows red. "A-although, errr uhh, now that I think about it… That is actually pretty hard, ain't it?"

That's odd- Uncle never second guesses his advice, especially not his romantic advice. What's going on with him? June tries thinking through everything that's happened involving him lately and-

"Wait a second… Uncle, what was Pete doing here today?"

Tetsuo goes flushed, and June only grows more intrigued. "Uhhhhh, well, errrrrrrr… y'know anyone can visit the dome if they pay the fee, right? It's not a big deal or anything."

"Then why did you invite him over for di-"

"That's enough!" He interrupts, face still red. "Errr, it's getting late. The bath is ready, and while you do that I'm goin' to bed. I wanna get lots of rest."

"I need to get up early, so I should as w- wait, what do you need to be well-rested for?? You rarely get a full-night's slee-"

"ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH, I HAVE THINGS TO DO!!" He shouts, storming down the hallway. It's a little comedic to see a grown man act this way, but to some extent, it's a little charming to suspect her uncle might be in the same boat as her.

---

🐞June's party🐞

32,492​

Spoiler:

• 
  
  
• Einstein (Dottler) lv. 26 M|Telepathy
  Struggle Bug|Super Sonic|Confusion|Light Screen|Reflect
  
  
• Chip (Wimpod) lv. 22 M|Wimp Out
  Struggle Bug|Sand Attack|Defense Curl|Aqua Jet
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Sting (Beautifly) lv. 23 M|Swarm
  Mega Drain|Gust|Poison Sting|Bug Bite|Electroweb|Air Cutter
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Kit (Surskit) lv. 24 F|Swift Swim
  Bubble|Quick Attack|Sweet Scent|Water Sport|Bubble Beam|Agility

Dottler sprite by KingOfThe-X-Roads, Wimpod sprite by leParagon

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Jacques 'Jack' Tenenbaum
Location: Streets, Dewford Town
Pokemon at hand :

Sunday, September 20th​

Chapter 2 - 1
A Place to Soot the Soul - Part 1​

I did it again. Once more I hurt someone else who cared about my wellbeing.

The trip on the boat turned really awkward as both I and Kat stayed in silence all the way to Dewford. The same thing happened at the Fanclub house in Resort Cove where we only talked when we needed it, which was almost close to none.

Contrary to what I had told Kat yesterday… Oh wait, it's two days ago now… I didn't realize the time had gone so fast. I was loitering around the street of Dewford past midnight without any purpose other than to distract myself from my issues.

I couldn't sleep at all. Not even the comfortable bed at the beach house could help me fall into slumber.

In the middle of my aimless walk, I could smell a fragrant smell wafting through the air.

It was the smell of coffee.

It made me think about dad. He used to grind some coffee beans on his own, he told me that it was the best way to get coffee of great quality. I wondered if he was still working at this hour, yet I couldn't find the guts to call him.

You will never succeed as a Pokemon Trainer.

Dad used to tell me that again and again in order to dissuade me from taking this path, I thought it was foolish to tell me that even with the physical limitations I had. But, maybe I was the foolish one. Losing definitely wasn't the way to be a good trainer.

I was too ashamed to go home, yet at the same time, I was just tired of trying to achieve something that was just impossible for me to do.

I knew going into the building where the smell originated wasn't the best idea considering it reminded me of my father and how I just remembered a bitter part of my childhood. Yet I couldn't stop my legs from walking towards the dimly lit shop.

As I entered, I was greeted by the antique interior and yellow light that helped to set a welcoming and comfortable ambiance. Yet there wasn't anyone there, except a single gentleman in red sitting near the window seat while smoking his cigarette.

"You have a customer, Callie!" The man let out a deep booming voice without any noticeable effort.

The voice prompted a girl that looked like she's in her early 20s to run out from the back of this establishment.

"Hello, welcome to Happily Ever After. May I have your order?"

"Uh… Do you have any good coffee recommendations?"

"...I'm so sorry, but may I recommend you some decaf green tea instead?"

It's not hard to see that the girl tried to be as respectful as possible, but it shocked me that my request for a coffee turned into a recommendation for a completely different beverage.

"And you still wondered why you hardly got any customers."

"Shut up! They mostly came during the morning breakfast, so it's fine to have almost to none right now."

The man in red shook his head before turning his face towards me.

"That lady is just looking out for you. Consuming too much caffeine would be bad considering the state you are in."

"O-oh… I'll order that thanks."

"Aight, one decaf green tea coming up!" The girl cheerfully rushed back towards the back of the restaurant, leaving me alone with the mysterious gentleman inside the cafe.

I took a glance towards him, from his choice of outfit he looked like a white-collar worker, but his gruff voice and rugged appearance and physique suggested he was some sort of a former athlete, a sports coach in his early to mid-30s, maybe? Or maybe he's just a gym Rattata? Who knows.

​

"Is there something on my face? I guess you're the type to judge the book by its cover, huh?" The man grinned while resting his face on his right palm.

I waved off both of my hands due to being surprised at his accusation. A gesture that made him giggle before stubbing his cigarette until the fire on it extinguished.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help it… Come, you can sit right in front of me."

"No, I'm fine… I don't want to disturb you."

"Hey, I don't mind. I'm happy to have someone to converse with, but of course, that is if you don't mind my presence here that is."

Not talking with strangers past midnight was a reasonable thing to do, yet at this time I was desperate enough to do it just so I could distract myself from thinking about my burdens. And so I took my seat beside the man, not knowing what was going to be the result from our conversation.
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[budube]

Miranda Lockhart

Friday, September 18th

Chapter 1: Final - Confusion

09:30 to 11:30 - Slateport Market & Northern Pokémon Center
"Where the hell are you taking me!?" I ask Maritza. I'm genuinely concerned, after all, she isn't from this region either. Does she really know where she is going? But she doesn't answer, no. She just keeps walking. As we continue, the place starts getting more, and more, AND MORE crowded. It's sickening. Slateport is probably as big as Phenac City, and that is the biggest place in the entirety of Orre and it doesn't even have like half the people this city has in whatever this fucking place is! I hate crowded places, which is silly considering I used to live in one of the most populated areas in the region and would sneak my way into colosseum battles.

"Calm down, will you? It's just Slateport's market. It's the best place to do some shopping!" she says. "Or that's what that booklet in the ferry said. For what it looks like, they weren't lying! This place is amazing! We can buy all we can possibly think of, it has everything!"

"Why the fuck would I want to go shopping!? I thought we were going to read, write or something else! What are you even planning to buy, huh? So far you haven't picked something from any of the stands!"

"That's because I'm not interested in what I've seen so far." she answers, avoiding any kind of visual contact with me. "See? There's only swimsuits and swimming accessories here and neither of us know how to swim."

"Then what's the fucking point!?" I yell even louder. Some people start turning their heads towards us, as if those assholes couldn't mind their own business. "We've been walking for minutes! It should be self… ex-pla-na-...fuck!- It should be obvious that everyone sells the same crap!"

"I'm looking for better trainer gear." she explains, except that more like explaining it feels like she is ignoring me, just like yesterday. What a piece of shit. "A backpack or a shoulder bag would be good. I think a beret could fit with my clothes, but at the same time I need to buy better clothes for exploring…"

She doesn't even try to listen to what I say! She's just talking to herself about all the shit she wants to buy here! I would walk away, but she is holding my wrist as tight as possible as if she became a totally different person from yesterday! It's probably because she has her gloves on though…

I look at the three Pokémon behind us: Mankey, Sandygast and Cyclops (that's Maritza's Staryu), they came with us, and they seem to be the only ones having fun in this whole mess. Juggernaut is a different story, though. He won't hang out with the rest of the Pokémon, maybe he doesn't want to get near them or any of the other people. He'd rather look at everything from Maritza's parasoul. He looks as confused as I am with this disaster. The difference is that he is here... voluntarily, or whatever the word is. I mean, he can run away whenever he wants, it's not as if this shironette jackass is holding him by the antennae or something.

"Oh, look! Clothes!" she suddenly yells and drags me with her. This stand doesn't sell swimming and beach stuff, or at least the guy attending the place said they were 'summer clothes', which I believe are the same shit.

Maritza finally lets my hand go to try on some sunglasses she found. Sunglasses she could've tried in a completely different stand!

"Do you like these?" she asks me, as if I cared. Before I can even think of an appropriate answer, she hands them over to the other guy and tries other ones. "What about these ones? I think I like these frames better. Not a big fan of thick frames, but I like the other one's color more."

"I don't know." I finally answer, because I don't know what the fuck she wants me to say to begin with! Do they fit her? I guess they do, but I'm not going to say that, fuck her! Why is she even so excited about this? What is she thinking!?

"I don't know either… I think I'll take both"

I shake my head and start walking away, hoping that this was already over, but never have I been so mistaken in my life.

"Hey, Miranda!" she calls, holding my wrist and pulling me back again. I just turn my head with a frown, about to ask what the fuck does she want now, but she answers that first. "Do you like this tank top? I think it would suit you."

"I don't care!"

"But you need more clothes and I think it would look good on you!"

"Well, I don't want it! I can buy clothes myself, I don't need some rando from yesterday to choose them for me!" Who the hell does she think she is? First she treats me like shit the night before and now wants to buy me stuff?

"You can choose them yourself, I'll just pay for them!"

"I don't want you to buy me anything, dammit! What is it that you don't understand!?" I can feel my throat starting to hurt as I yell, and I hold on my bat as tight as possible. I think that if it wasn't because of it, I would've punched Maritza or one of the many assholes that turned their faces towards us because of this shitshow. "I don't even want to be here! I thought we were going to do something important, not this bullshit! We could've continued the lessons from yesterday, or trained our Pokémon! Hell, none of us has a single clue on how to battle! You didn't even know what you were doing yesterday when you caught your Staryu, and now you are taking me to this place for no reason and I-- argh! Fuck it, I'm out of here!"

---

I get back to my room in the Pokémon Center, and as soon as I close the door, I see the P☆DA vibrating where I left it, and I know exactly who it is! I totally forgot about him!

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" I repeat as I rush to my device, just to see I was right. One of the few words I learned how to read before leaving: Dad. I quickly pick up the P☆DA to answer the call. "Hello?"

"Miranda? Hi. How are you doing?" my dad answers. He seems to be pretty chill about it, but that's just a facade. In truth, he is sad because I forgot about him, he's very sensible with this stuff. "You had me worried. I asked you to calm me when you got there."

"Sorry, dad. I may have gotten really excited with the gym, I forgot to call you." I answer. "But I'm fine. How are things there?"

He sighs from relief, disappointment or even both. He is probably looking at the floor while he walks in circles in his office now while he waits for a cup of coffee to cool down a bit.

"Things have been going smooth since you left, yes. It's been some time, hasn't it?" he laughs. I'm not going to say anything, he knows that was a terrible joke. "How did your first gym go?"

"It went like sh- I mean… no too well. I had to catch another Pokémon first."

"Oh, and how did that go?"

"It was alright. Mankey and I had our first battle at the beach. We tried to catch a Stunfisk first, but it got away…" I instinctively form a fist with the hand that piece of shit zapped yesterday before continuing "... so we got a Sandysgast instead."

"A what…? I don't think I've ever seen something like that here. Maybe you did in the Colosseum once." I don't answer. I haven't seen that thing anywhere either, just in comic books I couldn't read. That's how I knew how cool it was. "... I'm very happy for you, though. Don't forget to be careful out there."

"I'll be."

"Well, my baby girl, I gotta leave you now. I was just worried you didn't call when you arrived and wanted to check you arrived safe. I'm glad you are doing alright." he says "Maybe you can tell me more about your adventure some other day… One more question, though. Have you made any new friends already?"

I don't answer that question, not quickly at least. The first and only person to come to my mind is Maritza. After all, she is the only person I've met so far, and she is not my friend. "No. No one. It's just Mankey and I."

"I see… Well, I'm sure you are going to meet new people as time comes. Maybe that person can teach you how to read or how to battle as well. Who knows, maybe they'll be your love intere-"

"Dad!"

He laughs at me. What an asshole. "I'm kidding, of course. But you never know that." he goes quiet for a moment. "I'm not taking more of your time. You are probably busy today. I don't know how this gym system works, but if you already have a second Pokémon I'm guessing you can already challenge it?"

"Tomorrow. On top of the second Pokémon thing, I had to do some paperwork to register the license in here and… Fucking shit, the license!" I listen to him saying 'Language!', but I don't reply. Going out and retiring the license now means potentially encountering Maritza again, but I'll probably forget later and will take me one more day to leave this forsaken city… "I have to leave now! I have to get the license so I can go to the gym tomorrow!"

"I understand. I have to close the call too. Take care now, honey. I love you. Congratulations for your catch, by the way. I'm very proud of you."

"... Bye." I look at the P☆DA for a little bit, mostly trying to look at the hour just to remember it isn't even accurate, but hopefully it's still early to retire this thing… Well of course it is, I just woke up like two hours ago.

First person I see when I walk down the staircase to the Pokémon Center is Maritza, of course, holding a bunch of paper bags with all the shit she bought there, while wearing a weird black cap that she probably also bought there.

"Oh, hi." she says as soon as she sees me, which is pretty much instantly. Like she was waiting for me, except that she wasn't, she was looking for her license too. "Coming for this too?" she asks, exaggeratedly extending her arm and putting her license all over my fucking face!

"That's none of your business." I say, moving her arm away and walking behind her.

I would expect her to go back to her room after what happened earlier, but no, she insists on hanging on with me and staying by my side! She is unable to take a hint! She is completely clueless! But I say nothing. My throat had already dried out from earlier.

"You know, I thought a bit about what you said back there." Sure, that's why she bought all that shit. "And I think you got a fair point! None of us know how to battle, and I think we should do some training first." Oh, she actually- "That's why I choose to skip this first gym and I'm going to have as much fun as I can in this city!" Never mind.

What pisses me of the most is that she is laughing at this shit! And I can't even be angry about it because skipping the gym is actually a fair decision! But why be an asshole about it? Why not battle me instead? Why does she keep excluding me from every fucking decision she makes!?

"I may have gotten carried away with it, though." She continues. By that moment, she stops laughing, which gives me the idea of this being something more serious than what she said before. "You see, since I'm ill I was rarely able to go outside. Most of the clothes I bought were from catalogues my mom showed me on the internet, so you could understand what being able to look for these things myself is for me."

"That's…"

"But I bought a lot of stuff there, isn't that amazing!?" She then yells with her eyes shining from excitement. "You should've stayed there and bought something for you, honestly. So many really cool things! Here, let me show you. Let's go to your room."

What the fuck? Why does it have to be my room?

---

Well, I'm here at my room again. Maritza keeps taking shit out of each bag and showing it to me before putting it back in. I can't even explain how boring this is. I mean, I'm not even paying attention, I just want to fall asleep.

"... and last but not least…" she finally says, pulling one of the bags and takes out a white tank top that is… She bought it. "This is for you."

I sigh. I frown at her too, but honestly I just gave up trying to reason with her. "I already told you I didn't want that." I say, on my last, failed effort of trying to put this nonsense down.

"I know, but… looking here… it doesn't look like you have many clothes." she says. "Take this as a gift. From friend to friend."

"We are not…" I sigh again. Never mind, there's no need. She is right, I came here with nothing, but accepting this just feels wrong for some reason, but what choice do I have? "... I guess I'll take it."

Maybe I was too harsh with her… Well, no, I don't think I was. She was an asshole yesterday and I still feel bad for what she did. But she made it clear that she didn't want to humiliate me at least.

I don't even know how to feel about this. I'm not angry, not anymore. Just confused. Can I trust her? Was I right being angry at her? Whatever the answer is for any of these questions is beyond me. Maybe it's worth sticking with her for a while, at least until my reading is a bit more fluent and I don't need her anymore. This makes me think about the conversation I had with my dad, about making friends here. I don't think I can consider Maritza one, but maybe… I could, at some point.

"You are still going to challenge the gym right?" I nod to that. It's the best battling experience I think I can have right now. "I'd like to see how it goes, so I'm coming too. As a spectator, of course." she giggles, but I don't say nothing.

We don't talk to each other for the rest of the time she stays in my room. At some point she just gets up and asks me if I want to go eat with her. I don't accept, I've had enough for today. The food here is free anyways.
Current Party:

Inventory

Spoiler:

- 4 PokéBalls
- 5 Potions
- P★DA (Pokémon Digital Assistant)
- ₽100

 

[Embyr]

Name: Kira Wolf || Day: Monday, September 21 || Time: Day
Location: West Wilds

One Egg-citeing Adventure

Kira grumbled as she felt something cool splash her face. Groggily, she wiped off her face with the back of her arm "Water…" she muttered to herself.

Kira quickly shot awake as she realized where the water came from. Turning to her left Azure stood squaring off against a larger yellow Pokemon with black, boxing glove hands. Heaving a large tree limb, he threw it in Azure's direction.

"Azure quick! Brine!" Kira called out, scrambling to her feet. With a large burst of water Azure shot the tree limb from the sky, breaking it in half and sending it twirling to the left and right.

"Alright Azure, The Makuhita this time! Brine!" Kira called out. Azure however uncharacteristically didn't follow her orders, instead turning towards her with a happy, welcoming bark. The Makuhita as well seemed to give a friendly wave before shuffling through a nearby bush, pulling out another tree limb.

"Azure!" Kira called out, still not exactly grasping the situation. The Makuhita appeared to call out to Azure before heaving another tree limb towards him, one Azure breaks in half with another salty burst of water.

Finally understanding the situation, Kira breathed a sigh of relief. Silently thanking Azure's tendency to make friends. "Hey Nyx, you up?" Kira asked, quickly spotting the small fox alone a few feet away.

Kira quickly dug through her bag for a box, from inside pulling out a few palm sized pink berries. "Hey, it's not much, but I got a bit for you to eat here if you're hungry." Kira said as she approached the sulking fox, holding the food out for her.

Nyx gave an angry cry as she clawed at Kira's hand, glaring at her trainer as she disregarded the offering.

Kira gave a small yelp in surprise as she was clawed at, dropping the berries and grasping at her hand in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "I guess I deserve that… I'm so sorry Nyx." Kira apologized, giving Nyx a sad look.

Nyx gave a bit of a huff as she got up. Refusing to look at Kira, she sauntered over to the discarded berries and claimed them before returning to her spot to eat.

Kira sighed "At least she's fine…" she said under her breath before turning to Azure. "I got a few here for you as well." she said as she pulled out blue and a red berry for Azure. "Again, not that much…" Kira apologized.

Suddenly something soft struck Kira in the shoulder, splattering all over her shirt as it impacted. "Ack, the hell!?" Kira exclaimed, her attention shifting over to the culprit.

The Makuhita laughed at Kira's misfortune before turning his attention to the tree behind it. As he shook it, many berries fell from the tree and landed on the ground nearby. One by one, Makuhita picked them up and pitched them towards Kira.

Not fully ready Kira panically threw up her hands, resulting in another splash of berry juice and pulp, earning another laugh from the Makuhita. "Alright fine, this time then!" she said as she took a baseball catcher's stance.

She started off a bit rough, several of the berries slipping through her fingers as they were thrown, however eventually she managed to get the hang of it and caught nearly each one thrown her way. "Alright, I think I got it, faster!" She called out, starting to get into their game.

As the Makuhita picked up speed, one of the berries she caught seemed significantly harder than the rest. "Hold up there!" Kira called out to her new friend, looking over the strange pink oval berry. Flipping it over in her hand, Kira nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise as the face looking back at her cried out. "Ack!" she said startled, dropping the strange berry.

The 'strange berry' rolled across the ground a few feet before aligning itself upright. With short hops it made its way over to the berry pile, digging through it one berry at a time with some sort of psychic force.

Kira cocked a brow as she watched the strange pokemon hop across the ground. Pulling out her Holotch, she opened up the Pokedex app and scanned it "Exeggcute huh? The picture shows six though…" she wandered out loud as the pokemon dug through the pile of berries, keeping a wary eye on its audience.

Suddenly the Exeggcute let out an excited cry as from the pile, two more emerging. All three nodded at each other before hopping deeper into the forest, occasionally turning to keep an eye on the group they left behind.

Kira stared momentarily at the eggs slowly hopping away from them before turning to her own crowd of Pokemon "Lets go check on them." she called out for Azure and Nyx before turning to the Makuhita. "Thank you again for the help!"

The Makuhita shook his head at Kira's apology and took the lead towards the Exeggcute, following slowly behind the panicking pokemon. "Huh, I guess he feels bad…" Kira remarked as she followed behind, grabbing a few more of the berries at the base of the tree before following along.


- - - - - - - - - - - - -


It was a leisure stroll, following behind the panicked egg Pokemon deeper into the forest. "We're not trying to hurt you." Kira called out, her efforts proving fruitless.

After about half an hour of this "chase" the Exeggcute hopped down into a small hole under a nearby tree, hiding in the dimly lit burrow from its pursuers. "Hey, come on out, none of us want to hurt you!" Kira called out in a soft tone as she knelt down by the hole.

The egg Pokemon merely cowered in the furthest reach of the burrow, too afraid to do much of anything. "Alright, if you're not coming out, we're coming in!" Kira called out, in a playful warning tone before turning over to the party. "Nyx, can I count on you for this?"

Nyx gave a huff at the command, defiantly laying down in the shade of a nearby tree. "I guess that's a no then…" Kira muttered annoyed before turning to Azure and the Makuhita. "Either one of you then?"

Eagerly, Azure quickly volunteered and rolled up towards the burrow. Trying to fit inside proved to be rather difficult however. Being rather large and round, he simply plugged up the hole as he attempted to enter.

"No luck then…" Kira sighed, turning to the Makuhita "I'm guessing you'll have the same problem then?"

Makuhita looked at Kira and nodded affirmatively. Suddenly though, he threw some sort of pink object at Kira with the quickness.

Kira quickly threw up her hands in a bit of a panic, miraculously catching the berry this time. After giving it a bit of a look over in her hand, her attention turned towards Makuhita who was eagerly pointing towards the hole. "Wait, you're expecting me to do it?" Kira asked. Makuhita nodded with a confirming grunt.

Kira gave a heavy sigh as she looked back at the burrow "Alright, I'll give it a shot." Kira resigned. Kneeling down she dug at the sides of hole, widening the gap just a bit before beginning her crawl inside. It was a tight fit, making it difficult to move much more than forwards or backwards. "Damn it, I should have brought a light…"

After a few feet of crawling she could hear the same Pokemon from before, whimpering a bit at the far end of the burrow. "H-Hey…" Kira called out, pushing past a tree root "I brought you something."

As she presented the pecha berry the silhouette of the Pokemon could be seen moving closer. There seemed to be more of them this time though it was hard to tell exactly how many, Four, five? Either way, the group cautiously moved forward, examining the berry closely before presumably eating at it.

"Right, Then let's just get out of here and…" Kira began before interrupting herself, noticing something behind her was blocking her from crawling backwards.. "What the?'' Kira muttered, trying to kick whatever it was out of the way. "Hey! Help! Someone out there!" Kira called out as she began to flail her legs, trying to break free any which way possible.

Suddenly, she felt something grab a hold of her ankles before swiftly dragging her out, the Makuhita cheerfully praising itself for its handiwork as Kira laid face down on the forest's floor. "Ugh… Not what I expected, but thanks." Kira groaned as she sat up, brushing the dirt off of her shirt.

Timidly the Exeggcute hobbled out of the burrow in a cluster. There seemed to be five of them this time, all looking up at Kira with a weary look. With them they seemed to be an oval shaped stone, carried along with a psychic force they cradled it closely.

"Hey, you know that's not another one of you all, right?" Kira asked as she reached out for the stone. The Exeggcute's eye's all glowed a bright blue color as she got close to it. "Right, you all can keep the rock!" Kira said as she quickly pulled her hand back. "Still though, aren't there supposed to be six of you?"

The Exeggcute let out a cry as they faced out deeper into the jungle. Looking up at Kira, they gave her an expectant look before hopping in the direction they pointed, all while carrying their precious stone with them. After looking at each other and exchanging a shrug, the group followed behind them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

After an hour or so of following the group came across a small clearing, dominated by a tall tree in the middle. From its top three yellow egg-like heads hung, one of which seemed cocked a bit, as if it's ready to fall off.

Looking up at the tree, the Eggecute let out a loud cry before turning back towards the group. Quickly, Kira pulled out her Holotch, scanning the new Pokemon "Eggecutor, so this is what you're looking for then?" Kira asked as she read through the entry. "Alolan variant, Dragon grass, If a head falls off it becomes… Oh, so that's what you're wanting."

The Exeggcute nodded at Kira's deduction. Quickly shifting its attention from Kira to the Exeggutor with an expectant look.

"It's a fully evolved dragon type… Even with type advantage I kinda doubt Azure could take it on his own." Kira explained as she looked down at the Exeggcute. Makuhita however, didn't seem to care as he stepped forward, flexing his arm ready to battle.

Kira gave Makuhita a surprised look before turning to Azure "I'll leave this up to you then buddy. If you're up for it, we'll fight."

Azure gave a nod before rolling up towards the clearing, meeting Makuhita side by side. In response the tree began to shake as it uprooted itself, turning to meet its challengers.

"Right then, Azure, Aurora beam!" Kira called out. The bright Multicolored attack shot from Azure's mouth, striking the Exeggutor in it's long trunk and staggering it backwards just a bit. Makuhita, following up on Azure's attack, charged forward and struck it at the base with a thrust of its palm.

Despite the attacks, Exeggutor quickly regained its bearings and lashed out its tall head, striking Makuhita and sending it flying back towards the edge of the clearing.

"Nyx! Quick! Go in there and support Makuhita!" Kira called out. Nyx however was hesitant to respond, looking between the Exeggutor and Makuhita, she gave a sorry look before ignoring Kira with a huff. "Ugh, fine. Azure! Stagger it before it attacks again!" Kira called out, hoping to buy Makuhita a bit of time to recover. Just as before, Azure struck at the Eggecutor again with the colorful, icy beam.

Exeggutor however recovered much more quickly from the attack this time. Taking a few steps forward, a green veil of energy surrounded its foot as it stomped at Azure. "Roll to the left! Get out of there!"

Azure was quick to oblige, leaving behind an icy trail as he dodged out of the way of the first stomp. However in the process he ended up rolling behind Exeggutor where he was promptly smacked by the pokemon's long, wooden tail.

"Azure!" called out a worried Kira as the Exeggutor continued its approach. Taking a moment to recover from the previous attack, Azure only managed to watch as Exeggutor stomped. "No!"

Charging forward, Makuhita threw himself in between Azure and the Exeggutor with his arms crossed. As Exeggutor stomped a green barrier formed around him, blocking its attack.

Kira gave a brief sigh of relief "Alright, you're both up! Azure, get in there with Makuhita and use ice ball!" Together, the two Pokemon charged forward and struck at the base of the trunk.

Exeggutor stumbled backwards, looking as if it was nearly ready to fall over. On its last hop though it recovered and lunged forward, sending several large, orange glowing seeds towards Azure and Makuhita. Each of them exploding on impact.

Kira gasped, not expecting the surprise attack. As the smoke cleared, Azure and Makuhita were both still up, however it was clear they were both on their last legs. With a loud cry, Exeggutor surrounded itself in a bright green glow, the bits of bark they managed to chip off together mending, the ice left over from Aurora beam melting.

"Its healing… Both of you! Get out of there!" Kira called out, scrambling for Azure's pokeball. Before she could manage to recall him though a swift gray blur charged forward from behind Kira. With a dark aura, the creature somehow managed to disrupt the Exeggutor's glow, stealing it for themselves. "Nyx!" Kira excitedly called out.

Exeggutor seemed panicked, its trump card interrupted by the new arrival. Once more, it swung its head at the group.

"Alright, the three of you go! End this!"

Makuhita took a step forward and crossed his arms, protecting the group from the attack just as before as Nyx and Azure charged forward. With a swipe of Nyx's claws and a bash of Azure's icy rollout, the large tree was sent toppling. Its top landing a few feet away from Kira and Exeggcute, knocked out cold.

Kira let out an excited shout as she ran forward "You did great Azure!" She said, rubbing the seal affectionately on the head with a smile. "You too Nyx!" She said as she reached out to pet her on the head as well.

Nyx took a guarded step back away from Kira… before stepping forward again, accepting her praise with a weary look. Almost as if she was telling Kira "You owe me."

Suddenly she heard Makuhita call out from behind her. As Kira turned to look, one of the Exeggutor's heads could be seen hopping away from the unconscious body looking around in confusion. Quickly the Exeggcute from before hopped up towards it with an excited cry. After a few exchanged nods and grunts, the former head joined together with the other five Exeggcute, finally completing the set.

"Well, congratulations to you all!" Kira said excitedly as she approached the set of Exeggcute, each of them giving Kira a happy cry. "As for you…" Kira began, her attention turning to Makuhita. "You were a really big help. I don't have a pokeball for you right now but if you'd like to join us, you're more than welcome to."

Makuhita shook his head in response, much to Kira's surprise. "Hm? Okay, can't say I was expecting that…" Kira remarked in a questioning tone. Taking a step next to the Exeggcute, he looked down at them with a proud look before turning back towards Kira.

"Alright, I see… Here, at least let me get a picture of you four before we part ways." Kira said as she pulled out her Holotch, beckoning Azure and Nyx over into the shot. "Alright, look over here and smile!" She called out. With a click, she took the picture. Each pokemon framed giving a joyful smile, even Nyx, although less exaggerated.

"Alright…" Kira began as she turned specifically towards Azure and Nyx "With that done… where do we go?" she asked, pocketing her Holotch. Each of them gave an unsure look before the Exeggcute hopped forward. Enveloping it in a blue glow, they picked up the rock they were cradling before and flung it far in the direction the Exeggutor's head was pointing.

Kira watched as the rock soared far into the distance, disappearing in the loamy tree tops. "I guess I'll trust you all on that. We'll see you all!" Kira called out, waving bye towards Makuhita and Exeggcute.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

After several minutes of walking, the three of them could hear movement up from ahead, setting the three of them on guard. As the brush ahead of them parted, a young man in ranger's clothes emerged, holding his shoulder in pain. "The hell are you doing out here so late?" the ranger asked, looking over Kira suspiciously.

"We were taking a guided tour and got lost." Kira lied, waving down Nyx and Azure. "I'm really glad you found us!"

"Yeah, I was just heading out here because we heard a crash." He explained, looking past the three of them. "You didn't have anything to do with that did you"

"No!" Kira quickly replied, looking the man over. "What happened to you? Are you hurt?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, this?" He asked, rolling his shoulder. "Yeah, get this, a rock flew from the forest's canopy and nailed me. Nearly knocked me to the ground." he explained, rubbing at it some more. "Still have no idea what threw it, whatever it was must have had a hell of an arm."

"Yeah, one hell of an arm…" Kira agreed, unable to look the ranger in the eye as she spoke,

The ranger gave a sheepish look as Kira repeated his words. "S-Sorry, I shouldn't be cursing like that in front of you. Either way, let's get you back to town. You look like you've been through a lot." He said, beckoning Kira along with a wave as he turned back into the brush.

Kira cocked her brow at the ranger apology but decided not to say anything about it. "Sure thing, let's go."

Spoiler:

Pokemon on Hand​

Spoiler:

Azure the Spheal
Male / Calm / Thick Fat
Level: 23 --> 24
- Brine
- Aurora Beam
- Aqua Ring
- Defense Curl
- Ice Ball
- Rollout

Nyx the Zorua
Female/Timid/Illusion
Level: 18 --> 19
- Pursuit
- Feint Attack
- Fury Swipes
- Hone Claws
- Fling
- Snatch
​

Inventory
​

Spoiler:

Money:
₱1,500


Medicine:
1 Burn Heal


Pokeballs:
None


Berries:
3 --> 9 Oran Berry
4 --> 5 Chesto Berry
3 --> 4 Leppa Berry
1 --> 5 Cheri Berry
1 --> 2 Pecha Berry
1 --> 3 Rawst Berry
1 --> 3 Aspear Berry
1 Persim Berry

Trainer items:
Ability Capsule
Rocky Helmet
Eviolite Collar
Eviolite


TMs:
TM56 Fling


Other:
One Piece Swimsuit
Holotch
Pokemon Fan Club Membership (Expires: October 17th)
Mysterious Stone

Gym Badges:
Slateport City

 

[QueenNothing]

Junko "June" Enomoto

Thursday, September 24th, Morning

June makes sure to wake up two hours before she's supposed to meet Avril today.

There's a burst of time where she's stressed over what to wear, and she's lucky there's a large selection of old clothes her family has left behind- and fortunately her aunts all had a similar build to her when they were June's age, so they should all fit like a glove. Of course, this comes with the downside of too many options, but with the help of her uncle, who's oddly energetic this early in the morning, she narrows it down to a high v-neck pastel pink dress that reaches just a little below her knees and matches them with pointed white flats. It's not something she'd wear on most occasions, but Avril seems to like pink.

After that, she prepares a bento to pack with her. It dawns on her she's not actually sure what Avril likes, and she's even less sure if her being from Kalos has any impact on what she likes. June just decides to prepare her breakfast favorites: slices of tamagoyaki, a few onigiri, broccoli, soy sauce for dipping, and a few strips of grilled tofu and Seaking.

With everything ready, Tetsuo cheers her on as she heads out the door. On her way to the Pokémon Center, she tries bracing herself by hiding her nervousness for what she has in store for her.

---

After walking past the automatic doors of the Pokémon Center, June quickly peeks into her metal bento container to make sure everything is still in place. It's a bit unnecessary, as the food is compact enough that moving around isn't likely, and it's the same with the contents of this container. She sighs with relief and takes a few steps forward, nervously shifting her head to seek out Avril.

It turns out to be difficult to spot the girl she's supposed to meet in a crowd of trainers preparing for the day, but eventually her eyes land on exactly who she's been looking for: Avril, standing close to the Jobs board, Poppy floating nearby, and she looks quite absorbed in her reading. She's not really paying attention to her surroundings, is she? June figures it's up to her to approach her.

"Um… Avril! Hello!" She speaks up as she steps closer to the blonde girl, meekly grinning non-stop.

"O-oh good morning J-June!" She turns around quickly, seemingly startled by June, but just as quickly is able to put up a smile on her face. "H-how are you today?" She asks, as Poppy waves and chirps at the brunette.

"I suppose I've alright," June responds, twirling her hair while noticing Avril's polka dot dress, in place of the pink one she was wearing the day before. "I-I actually spent the morning packing breakfast." She holds the metallic container up by the handle to show Avril, slightly blushing. "I wasn't sure what you liked actually, s-so I hope you enjoy what I've brought along..."

"U-uhm, I a-a-a…" The Kalosian looks at June's breakfast with wide eyes. "S-sorry… I was s-saying, I just thought we'd have b-breakfast together at the Pokémon Center and you r-really didn't need to prepare all of t-this…"

Poppy looks much more thrilled about June's breakfast, though, and flies closer to take a better look while Avril breathes in. "Still, t-thank you so much for this, June! R-really…"

"O-oh no, it's really not that much of an issue for me! I-I mean, I certainly didn't mind preparing it for you…"

The blonde girl scratches her head, adjusting her flower hairpin with a serious expression, but soon starts to grin once again. "W-well June, do you k-know of any nice p-place where we could s-sit outside? T-this looks like a p-perfect day for that!"

"Th-there's outdoor tables, are there not? Perhaps we could settle there!"

"A-amazing! L-let's go then!"

It doesn't take long for the pair to seat themselves in one of the many tables scattered outside the center for outdoor dining. As June settles down, she detaches a level from the multi-layered bento container, removing the lid from the top layer to present to Avril.

"As I've stated, I'm unsure what kinds of food you like, so here's a favorite breakfast of mine: tamagoyaki, onigiri, grilled tofu, broccoli, and some soy sauce for dipping. B-b-but I didn't know if you liked meat, s-so I included some grilled Seaking as well b-but if you don't like it I don't mind eating it…"

"T-that is so much food, and it looks p-phenomenal too!" Avril gushes- that's a good sign. "It's all s-so new to me though…" She smiles with a hand in her hair. Poppy flies closer to inspect June's breakfast as well.

"O-ok, I think I'll start from the… tam-" Avril stops, grimacing. "O-omelette looking d-dish there, as ice b-b-breaker…" She blushes more and more heavily as she keeps talking.

"I expected this might have been the case, that you're unfamiliar with dishes popular in Ransei, but hopefully that's alright." June modestly explains and then hands the girl sitting across from her a fork. "I-I also considered you probably use this instead of chopsticks. B-but yes, the tamagoyaki is pretty sweet, and I find it quite enjoyable because of that."

"T-that is true, yes… s-sorry June for butchering the n-names of food!" Avril replies. "And y-yes, we never used c-chopsticks at home… b-but I can try if you w-want!"

"Well if you'd like…" She grabs two pairs of wooden chopsticks, handing one to Avril and breaking apart the other.

The blonde girl tries to mimic June, and gets that first step right quite quickly… but then spends minutes on end just fiddling with the sticks, clearly struggling to pick up any bit of food with them. It's honestly kind of charming seeing a foreigner struggle with something that's so mundane to June. Avril's cheeks turn red as she throws June some nervous smiles. "I w-want to really e-eat this food the w-way it's meant to, b-but as you can s-s-see this is my f-first time and I'm n-not doing do well and I'm s-sorry, June…"

"O-oh, no it's not an issue! Afterall, I brought a fork along for that reason!"

"T-thank you, I'm j-just too used to it!" Avril giggles, as she very gleefully accepts the fork. She looks as happy to actually be able to eat as June is that she's even eating her cooking. She gives some of her food to Poppy as well, before finally starting to eat.

"This is r-really so m-much stuff and I-I'd love to try it all but… how do y-you even have such b-big breakfasts h-here?" Avril eventually chimes in, laughing playfully.

June's not sure what she means. "Is there really that much food?" She asks, tapping her lower lip. "This is an average breakfast for me, I'm always certain to start the day with enough protein, vegetables and carbs."

"A-average? T-things are so different than in K-Kalos then… you n-never stop surprising me!" Avril's cheeks turn red once again. "G-g-guess that's why you're this t-tall, hehehe…" Actually, the reason she's as tall as she stands is because it runs in her family- Her Aunt Akira makes June look short in comparison- but she doesn't find it worthwhile to bring up. "Y-yeah, I suppose so." She answers, placing a piece of broccoli into her mouth.

"I-I was k-k-kidding…" Avril adds as she munches on some grilled Seaking. Oh, that's kind of embarassing- June isn't exactly great at picking up jokes of that ilk. "And no Poppy, this is not for you, trust me." She then calls out her Pokémon, who chirps playfully as she floats in circles around the two girls.

"R-right, we were s-supposed to look up C-Contest themes for later? D-Do we have to go to the h-hall this time or…?" The blonde girl then asks, tapping her lower lip with her finger like June usually does. "In D-Dewford, they were at the Fanclub b-board but I d-didn't find them at the PokéCenter b-board today…"

"I believe they have them posted on the Contest Hall website…" June simultaneously shovels a slice of tamagoyaki while pulling her PokeGear from her purse. After opening the browser and closing numerous Bulbapedia articles about bug Pokémon, she does a quick search of the website.

"O-oh! T-that's good to know!" Avril smiles, trying to move closer to the other girl.

While the page loads, June takes a bite of the last tamagoyaki slice before moving onto the tofu. "It seems it's at 3 pm today, and it's a Doubles contest. The themes are…" When actually reading the themes she pulls her head back and pokes her lip. "Medieval, Revolutionary, and Lightning?" Were these picked from a hat?

"T-those are weird themes i-indeed!" The blonde girl remarks. "A-at least we have more time to p-prepare, though!"

"That's true- I suppose I should start preparing for these ahead of time. B-b-but I did want to ask, wh-what were our plans until the Contest?"

"D-did you plan anything y-yourself, June? I have not…"

"I-I'm afraid not actually… I must have been so caught up in preparing breakfast that didn't cross my mind at all…" She follows with a stilted nervous laugh that doesn't last long.

"Actually…" Avril looks pensive. "R-Right! Before you c-came in the lobby, I was r-reading stuff on the public board and… I-I think I've found a job offer from the C-Conservatory that your f-f-family has? And…" She takes a heavy breath. "H-Helping you out would be the l-l-least I can give back a-after we had dinner and even b-breakfast together! P-Please, June?" Her cheeks are even more red than usual as she finishes, and it definitely makes June flushed as well.

"O-oh that! Uncle asks trainers to take attendance of the Pokémon living there and compensates them. It's pretty simple really, all you need to do is check off Pokémon on an attendance form to make sure everything is alright. It's a nice way to view species that aren't usually found in Hoenn!"

"T-That sounds very cool!" Avril gushes, with Poppy chirping after her. "G-guess we now know what to do this morning, r-right June?"

"Of course! That sounds just lovely!" She answers, clapping her hands together. Nothing seems desirable quite like being surrounded in nature with Avril by her side.

---

🐞June's party🐞

32,492​

Spoiler:

• 
  
  
• Einstein (Dottler) lv. 26 M|Telepathy
  Struggle Bug|Super Sonic|Confusion|Light Screen|Reflect
  
  
• Chip (Wimpod) lv. 22 M|Wimp Out
  Struggle Bug|Sand Attack|Defense Curl|Aqua Jet
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Sting (Beautifly) lv. 23 M|Swarm
  Mega Drain|Gust|Poison Sting|Bug Bite|Electroweb|Air Cutter
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Kit (Surskit) lv. 24 F|Swift Swim
  Bubble|Quick Attack|Sweet Scent|Water Sport|Bubble Beam|Agility

Dottler sprite by KingOfThe-X-Roads, Wimpod sprite by leParagon

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Jacques 'Jack' Tenenbaum
Location: Happily Ever After, Dewford Town
Pokemon at hand :

Sunday, September 20th​

Chapter 2 - 2
A Place to Soot the Soul - Part 2​

A pot of red soup bubbled in front of me as it slowly simmered, releasing a mysteriously exotic yet appetizing fragrance. As if my empty stomach needed any more push for me to hurry up and chow down the boiling noodle soup in front of me.

How did it come to this?

Initially, I and the mysterious man beside me only conversed about small kinds of stuff, nothing much really. The weather, about the cafe itself, you know? The usual boring ones.

Our conversation was cut off by my grumbling stomach which led to the stranger walking to the back of the counter to prepare something I didn't expect.

He went back to our table with a portable stove and several ingredients which apparently he used to make a noodle soup on our table.

Yes, my stomach grumbled, but I didn't expect to be cooking instant noodles at this hour, together with a stranger to boot. Also, the girl that had manned the shop? She was now sitting next to the stranger with a giddy expression as she waited for the soup to be done.

"And, it's done! If only it was raining It would've tasted even better, oh well... Can't do anything about it. Hey, take some. It's best to eat this while piping hot."

"Piii~ Piii~" A Pokemon cry could be heard as it slowly climbed on the old man's shoulder. The voice came from a Piplup.

"What is it, Cody? Didn't I already tell you that you can go sleep on your own?"

The Piplup puffed his cheeks before it started to hit the old man with weak pecks on the cheek.

"Hey, why don't you sleep with me instead? Come here Cody~" Callie said to the sleepy Pipup while opening her arms widely.

Unfortunately, the remark only caused Cody to stick his tongue before hugging his trainer's face tightly. A gesture which she didn't take too happily as she started sulking.

"Hey! Hey! Cut me some slack, I don't have time to deal with two spoiled brats at once." The man said as he cradled the sleepy Cody with his left hand. He shook his head with disapproval painted on his face. "Sorry, you had to deal with this…"

"Oh no, it's okay."

"Glad your face brightened up, it's much better than the doom and gloom you showed up in earlier… Well, the Pangoro eyes are still there, but that's what a good night of sleep would easily fix," He grinned.

I giggled slightly, I guess I would've looked horrible right now if I saw myself in a mirror.

"Sorry that this may sound intrusive, but if you want to pour out whatever it is that's bothering you, I'm all ears."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course it's fine! The atmosphere right now calls for it anyway. So if you have something you can't say to others, then maybe you can clear your mind here. You probably wouldn't meet us again after this, so your secret will be safe." Callie answered for the man while making a zipper gesture, encouraging me to talk up.

I hesitated for a bit before I told my story. I obviously skirted through several aspects of it, but I essentially told them how all my efforts in studying Pokemon battling didn't seem to hit the mark as expected, which eventually led to my current state.

"...That's a problem. But if you do want my advice on it, then I suggest that you should run away from your problems."

I almost choked on the noodles hearing his response. Running away!? What!? Like, how? How could I run away? I've tried my best for my entire life, yet this guy would tell me to do that in a straightforward face? What the hell!?
​

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[WizardOfOdd]

Jacques 'Jack' Tenenbaum
Location: Happily Ever After, Dewford Town
Pokemon at hand :

Sunday, September 20th​

Chapter 2 - 3
A Place to Soot the Soul - Part 3​

"What are you doing? You're shocking the poor guy."

"Sorry, sorry… I guess I didn't phrase it well enough. By running away, I mean temporarily..."

The man smiled softly before taking another portion of the noodle soup.

"Listen, from your eyes itself I can see that you're trying hard. But even humans have their limitations. You get tired, you get bored, you get fed up, those things are humane, if you experience them that is the sign that you are a human. And that's why you should learn when to run away."

"But, what if I had run away from my problems for so long? Do I have the right to run away again?"

The man sighed, before smiling again.

"Silly kid… You already knew half of your issue all this time. However, if you force a machine that has too much wear and tear to work, it will eventually implode. Surely you don't want your brain to go kaboom, yeah?"

It was a serious moment, yet I couldn't help but crack a bit with how the old man described the situation.

"Take a day off, don't think of anything remotely close to Pokemon training and you know, maybe you can just take a walk, or go to an arcade, or have a picnic somewhere, or… Even better… You can help me here." Callie answered on behalf of the man.

The man rolled his eyes while smirking mischievously. "Woah, I didn't think you're this desperate, Callie."

"What? I'll tell you that my beauty and personality would make everyone in my vicinity all swoon over me." She confidently said while waving her hair.

"Yeah right, if that's the case then please do tell why you were rejected by Bar—"

"AWAWAWAWA!" Callie started to scream incoherently as she scrambled her way forward in a panic to shut the man's mouth. However, the noise also awakened the already asleep Cody, causing him to lunge in a fit of rage towards Callie.

It was a rowdy atmosphere, but all of us shared quite a lot of laughs inside the coffee shop.

"Welp, it's been a great time talking with you guys, but sadly I'll have to bail now. I have some work to deal with later." The man raised himself from his seat while cradling the sleeping Cody.

I looked at my Holotch only to end in a panicked state as I didn't realize it was already 3 o'clock by the time we finished talking. So I paid for my meal and walked out… Well not before I exchanged contacts with Callie, learning about coffee seemed to be a fun way to spend my free time.

Who knows, maybe I could brew one for dad when I visit him. so I parted ways with both the man and Callie… Only to be embarrassed when I realized that the old man and I shared the place to stay as I met him once again at the beach house reception.

"Pfft… I guess this was fate, huh?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that exactly. But Sir, may I ask your name?"

"Well, you should tell me yours first if you want to know mine."

"The name's Jac— No, it's Arthur."

"Arthur, huh? That's a great name… Mine's Vincent, nice to meet you, Arthur."
​

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​

 

[QueenNothing]

Robynn White

Wednesday, September 23rd, Noon

Hello there, my wonderful viewers! You may be wondering what I'm doing here, just standing in-front of the PokéCenter on this very average day, checking my phone for the time. My answer for that would be that I'm waiting for a package from a brother of mine.

Just yesterday, he promised a package would be delivered to me today- although shipping from Unova to Hoenn in that short amount of time makes me skeptical. It's a minute from the promised delivery time, and…

"SQUAAAARRKK!"

There's a noise from above, and I look up to see a Pelipper descending from the sky. The flying-type lands on an outdoor dining table, and I notice it wears a blue cap with a logo imprinted on it and a dash reading "Pelipper Mail Services".

Oh, uh. Alright I guess. I was expecting a mail carrier to just hand it to me, but this works. Plus, they're kind of cute- although I hope these little guys are being well compensated.

The Pelipper opens their beak, exposing a medium-sizes cardboard box that has my name on it. With relative ease, I pull it out of their beak- I don't know how it's not covered in saliva, but I'm not complaining- and find that it's not super heavy.

"Thanks little guy!" I say to the Pelipper who "nods" (Can Pelippers nod?) and lifts off. Truthfully, I have no clue what's in here, as my brother refused to tell me. He likes surprising things, sometimes to an annoying extent, but it's kind of charming, y'know?

I haul the box up to my rented room, peel the tape off the top and see a note is greeting me.

Hey Robynn!

I heard you're doing contests in Hoenn! I'm so happy for you, and I'd LOVE to take a trip to Hoenn with Mother to check out your performances someday! But I'm stuck with all this incredibly boring paperwork I have to sign to acquire the gym before becoming the new leader. It sucks, but it'll all be worth it in a few weeks!

Anyways, here's my old prop case! With the gym and all that I won't have time to act in musicals anymore, so I figured you'd put this to better use than me!

XOXOXOXOXO
Conny

P.S. Be sure to introduce me to Wallace when you meet him!

That last bit gives me a good chuckle, but when that wears off I realize I've struck gold! Digging through all these packing peanuts eventually nets me this cute pink carrying case that has a heart seal on it- yep, this definitely used to belong to Conny. Clicking it has it pop open, and I'm greeted with the sight of many props. There's quite the variety: a top hat, a pirate hat, maracas, a frying pan, a black cape, and I go through these until I find something that'll help me out.

"Perfect!" I cry as reach for a miniature crown that can fit the head of a small child- or a Pokémon, in my case. This'll definitely benefit me for tomorrow's contest.

---

❄️Robynn's lineup❄️

100,700​

CREDITS

Spoiler:

CAST

Seel as Peridot
lv. 20|M|Ice Body
Aqua Jet|Water Sport|Encore|Icy Wind|Ice Shard|Helping Hand

Meowth as Ruby
lv. 20|F|Technician
Fury Swipes|Fake Out|Growl|Pay Day|Taunt|Bite

PROPS USED
Pokeball x9
Poryphone 2
Ultra Ball x3
Prop Case

 

[budube]

Miranda Lockhart

Saturday, September 19th

Chapter 2: Part 1 - Sandslash

10:58 to 11:05 - Slateport's Harbor - Slateport to Dewford Ferry
"If you ask me, I'd say you did pretty good!" Maritza says, putting a hand over my shoulder while we wait for the ferry to Dewford. "It was your first battle, and against a Gym Leader nonetheless. Sure you could've done better, but for a first battle… it was a fun experience, I bet! You learn from these mistakes."

"But I didn't learn shit, that's the problem!" I yell as I try to get her hand away from me. Who does she think she is? "The battle was too short! I wasn't able to do much, and the few things I did weren't useful for anything!"

It was a humiliating defeat if you couldn't guess already. Sandygast did absolutely no damage to the Leader's Sandslash, and while his Diglett would theoretically be easier to deal with, that asshole wouldn't stop going underground! Before I could even realize, I was done for!

While I rant about it to Maritza, the ferry finally gets here. We take a spot for ourselves in the ship's deck and then Maritza keeps asking me questions.

"By the way, why did you keep using Mega Drain against his Sandslash?"

"What do you mean by that? It's type advantage: Grass is stronger than Ground."

"I mean that's technically true, but…" she sighs. She takes her PokéGear outside and looks through the Hoenn Ranger Database application. "Here look, on the Sandslash page: … while commonly, Sandslash are desert creatures that have an affinity for the Ground type, the Alolan variant of the species has evolved to make its habitat in the tall and cold Mount Lanakila. Developing sharper claws to help them climb and break big boulders to make their homes in, this Pokémon has gained affinity for the Ice and Steel types... In short, it's not a Ground type. Look! There's even a picture here, comparing both variants: Not only are common Sandslash more yellowish, while the Alolan ones are blueish! Common Sandslash also have more needles on its back and the Alolan variant's needles look more like icicles coming out of its back! Not only that, look at their claws! Desert Sandslash's look like knives or daggers, to put it that way, they are just like straight nails. It's what you would expect from a Pokémon that just uses them for hunting, but take a good look at the Ice one's, they are shaped more like pickaxes! Not really big pickaxes, though, just enough for them to-"

"W-wait! Let's go one step at a time, alright?" I interrupt her, before my head explodes from listening to her so much. "So basically, you are telling me there's this one region where Sandslash not only live in a totally different place than usual, but also are a different type than normal, is that right?"

"Correct."

My breath starts getting more heavy as I try to understand all this shit. I hold my bat against my chest while I rest my chin on it. I try to remain calm, but... "How the fuck was I supposed to know!?" I yell, dropping my bat on the ground and holding my head instead. "There's only one Sandslash we get in Orre! Nobody told me anything about these 'regional variants'! And you say it's… an Ice type, right? Ice AND Steel type nonetheless!" Maritza nods. I gotta love how she doesn't seem to be upset about how pissed I am with all this shit. She just smiles and nods as if she's making fun of my idiocy. "That's bullshit! Mankey could've taken care of it in one blow! It was the perfect match-up!... Oh my god, I must've looked like an idiot right there… what the fuck was I doing using Mega Drain on a Steel type?"

"See? I told you this was a good experience, you did learn someth-"

"Why the fuck is it even called Sandslash then anyways? I understand the normal species live in desert so the name does makes sense, but why not change the name for this one that lives in a fucking piece of shit icy mountain so it doesn't confuse anyone!? Who the fuck thought it was okay to keep it that way!? Why not call it Iceslash or something?"

Maritza does seem to be ignoring me again. She looks like she is thinking about something else while I keep ranting about how much I hate Sandslash now, but she is constantly turning her eyes at me in a creepy way… well it's not really creepy, just weird because she is constantly looking between me and her PokéGear. "I know!" she cheers all of a sudden, clapping her hands and almost dropping her device doing that. "Why don't you leave a comment about it on the Sandslash page in the Ranger application?"

"Why would I do that, so assholes can laugh on my face for using Mega Drain against a steel type?"

"Well, that will happen probably… but you don't know how to read, so you will never-" I hit her leg with my bat and then try to push her aside. She laughs and then says sorry before continuing. "... but maybe you can get a professional answer on why they kept that name, or maybe have it changed!"

"Okay, that sounds alright…" I answer pretty much instantly, not with any kind of interest at all, more like interrupting her but not wanting to be an asshole because she forgot the most important part! "... but you are missing something… I. Don't. Know. How. To. Write!"

"That's what is interesting about it! It'll be your next lesson." she says "Take this as a writing exercise. I will help you redact what you try to say before posting it and also help you if there's a word you don't know, but you'll do your best to write it."

"So you'll teach me how to write 'piece of shit icy mountain' basically."

"What? No. That's another thing: No swearing. It's pretty possible that your comment gets deleted if you did that and you can get banned from posting comments too, that would be missing the whole point."

I go quiet and think about it for a while. This is probably the weirdest lesson ever! I got angry at some Pokémon's existence not making any kind of sense and Maritza just said 'Yeah, you tell 'em!' She is pretty much giving me the chance of telling other people to go eat shit!

"Let's do it."
Current Party:

Inventory

Spoiler:

- 4 PokéBalls
- 5 Potions
- P★DA (Pokémon Digital Assistant)
- ₽100

 

[Juno]

[tab=backtostory3-4][/tab] [tab=pokemon3-4][/tab] [tab=diary3-4][/tab] [tab=inv3-4][/tab] [tab=id3-4][/tab]

​

3-4: Feline Friends

🌳 Petalburg City 🕙 Sept. 22nd, Morning​

The room felt cramped, and the bed was small. She didn't have her own thermostat, and the showers were shared between all the other Trainers staying there. At least it was clean and well kept. Marcella didn't sleep well, but she felt rested enough by the morning. Doing her makeup by the window with just a compact was a bit of a challenge, but she was definitely not pushing and shoving for a mirror in the public bathroom. At 10 am, she was finally dressed and ready to head out, with Bijou at her side.

Before letting her party out of the room, she knelt down to talk to the Wooloo that was enthusiastically sniffing at the crack under the door. "Opal. Hey." She wasn't too used to her new name yet. That, or she just didn't want to pay attention to Marcella. The girl frowned. "Hey!" The Wooloo finally looked up.

"We won't use the 'leash' today, but you stick to me like glue, okay? Just know that I have the scarf in my purse in case, so don't wander off from us too much."

Opal burst through the door as soon as it opened and rolled down the hallway. Marcella had half a mind to wrap the scarf around the Wooloo's neck right then and there, but the Pokémon stopped at the end of the corridor like she was waiting for them, giddily bouncing on her hooves. Marcella smiled and sighed, shrugging at Bijou. It was a good enough compromise.

Downstairs, they passed by the odd jobs board on the way through the Center. Her eyes flickered towards it briefly. No, I don't have to do that. It was fine. The complementary room was fine.

...

Doesn't hurt to take a look though.

Not too many people standing around the board at the moment, so she casually made her way over and looked through the selection of flyers and notes posted up on it. Menial tasks for menial pay, as she'd expected. Even if she was in dire need of extra cash, she didn't feel like temp-waitressing for hours or whatever to earn it.

As she turned away from the board, she walked right into the person behind her, causing them to drop the papers they had been holding. That was clumsy and unlike her. She blamed the lack of a quality sleep she got last night. "I'm so sorry, excuse me—"

"—oh, my bad. It's okay, I got it—" They both began at the same time. As she feigned stooping down to help pick up the scattered papers, she caught a glimpse of some ugly, green font spelling 'PETALBURG FOREST CENSUS—HELP NEEDED", before the man quickly collected everything himself. They looked up at the same time.

"Oh, hey." What a small city. It was the Ranger she'd met the previous evening. He sounded as unenthused as she remembered, but he was smiling at her.

"Good morning." She greeted him back. "Still recruiting, I see."

"Yup." Parker nodded towards the board they were standing in front of, before putting down his flyers and shuffling around some of the other notices pinned up. "You looking for a job?"

"Hm? Uh, not really." She hesitated, unsure of what else one would be doing by an odd jobs board. "I was just kind of, you know..."

"Curious about what the commonfolk get up to in their spare time?" He teased as he finally pinned one of his own papers up. Marcella watched him carefully avoid covering anyone else's leaflet. Considerate.

"Very funny," She smirked, leaning in to get a better look at his Forest Census thing.

PETALBURG FOREST CENSUS—HELP NEEDED​

- Observe and spend time with the local wildlife up close
- Fun way to learn about wild Pokémon in their habitat!
- Will be granted access to the amenities and equipment of our Ranger Station
- Trainers with prior experience handling Pokémon preferred

Your task is quite simple! Participants will be to helping tally the displaced local wildlife in the area. As with previous years, volunteers will be assigned a quadrant within the outskirts, so please stay within your assigned area and report back with your findings when you are finished with your tally. Warning: do not attempt to enter the forest.

For more information, please stop by the Ranger Station marked out below.

It was accompanied by a small map, pointing to the location of the Station, as well as a few research papers on forest wildlife census methods and the results of previous years' census cited in fine print with QR codes to each. The flyer read like the epitome of "we'll pay you in experience", but the kind of experience it was offering was exactly what she needed.

She must have looked lost in thought, as Parker cleared his throat to get her attention. "Did you actually want to stop by? You didn't seem particularly interested yesterday."

"Maybe. I mean, no offense, but you didn't give the best description of the job, really. I think you guys need a different recruiter." And I take it you didn't make the flyers.

He laughed. "Fair enough. I am heading back now, actually—putting up these flyers was the last of my errands to run in the city, so feel free to come with if you want."

Marcella thought it over. She didn't really have anything planned for today aside from looking around the city. And the man wasn't bad company, if a bit quiet. "Sure, lead the way."

"Yup. Oh, wait." He paused, glancing at her. "Hm. That's okay, we have extra ranger outfits. I'm sure something will fit."

You want to put me in a uniform? "Oh, give me a few minutes, I'll change." She said quickly.

"What, you don't like what I'm wearing?" Parker joked, giving her a twirl as Marcella shot him a look.

"Miles, please. Just wait here, I'll be right back."

✿✿✿✿✿​

As soon as they stepped outside, Parker whistled sharply. Marcella glanced around, puzzled. A cluster of Taillow that had been pecking at the ground nearby scattered off, and a Meowth emerged from the shrubbery next to the building, giving her Trainer a dirty look before zeroing in on a slower Taillow and scampering after her prey.

"Hey, cut it out. Come back." Parker called out to her, far too quietly for the distance she'd already put between them, and far too lackadaisically for the offense of completely ignoring her Trainer. The Meowth did not turn back, and Parker did not seem particularly bothered.

"She's kind of a wild one," Marcella commented, recalling her antics on the ferry. "Maybe you need to be a little more assertive." Before he could answer her, Opal had excitedly decided to roll after them, too. "Hey! Opal! What did I say earlier? Like glue!"

She set off a few paces after her, but the Wooloo was surprisingly fast when she wanted to be. Marcella tsked and let her be, watching the Meowth chase the Taillow up a tree, with Opal circling them at the base. "Didn't seem like either of our approaches were particularly effective there." A clearly amused Parker observed, as he caught up to her at a leisurely pace.

She's not mine, what's your excuse? Marcella thought to herself, annoyed, as she quickly sat down on a nearby bench to root through her purse. It seemed like she needed to bring out the scarf-leash after all. "Oh! Actually," She looked up and scanned at the nearby shops. "You live around here, right? Do you know anywhere I could get like, a Wooloo-shaped harness, for example..."

"Oh, uh, there's... Pocket Pets Accessories over there—usually for, you know, Yamper and the like, but I'm sure it's not a stretch to find something you can wrap around your Wooloo." Parker paused. "We'd probably have something more suitable down at the Ranger Station, actually. And if not, Sharon's pretty good at tailoring gear to fit specific Pokémon, so I'm sure we'll find something for her there—"

Marcella's surprised gasp cut him off, as she suddenly noticed something sitting quite close to her on the bench, that was not there just a moment ago. It was a different Meowth, and it'd appeared so noiselessly that she jumped a little when she saw it. It quickly endeared itself to her, though, purring softly as it sauntered right between her and her purse. There was a little bit of random debris in its fur, but despite that, it seemed shinier, with a brighter coat than others of its kind.

"Oh, cute! Is this one yours, too?" Marcella asked as she reached out to pet it. The Meowth eyed her purse curiously as it continued to purr from the attention.

Parker looked over. "Um... No. You might not want to get too close, actually—the wild ones are known to nick things."

Bijou put her front paws up on the bench to investigate the stranger. She looked like she wanted to jump onto the seat as well, so Marcella scooped her up and watched as the two feline Pokémon greeted each other with sniffs.

"Look, I think they like each other!" Ignoring Parker's advice, Marcella pulled out her Rotom phone to snap some pictures. He sighed, looking off in the distance. A minute or two later, the Meowth turned to leave. Deftly leaping over her purse, it trotted down the other end of the bench and disappeared into a crowd of people walking nearby.

"Bye, sweetie!" She called after him, deleting a few of the blurrier pictures she'd taken before turning back to Parker.

"Alright, if you're ready to go now..." His voice trailed off as his eyes landed on her purse. "Hey, was your bag open like that the whole time?"

Marcella shrugged, still swiping through her photos to find The One for social media. "I was watching them the whole time, nothing happened."

He exhaled sharply. "I dunno, I think you should check your stuff. I'm serious! Those little guys are sneaky." Parker insisted as she gave him a dubious glance.

"Tch," Was her response, but she finally put her phone down and did as she was told. "I'm telling you, I—" She rooted around the bag confidently, but suddenly went quiet. Parker raised an eyebrow.

Hold on, where's my wallet? There's no way...

She didn't want to tell him he was right, but the beat of silence probably gave it away.

"Well?"

"It—I may have lost my wallet."

"Lost— I hate to say 'I told you so', but, y'know. Come on, let's go track it down." It was the first time she'd heard him do anything close to raising his voice, and honestly, he seemed more bothered about the missing wallet than Marcella probably should have been. "Aw, damn—where did that rascal go?"

As Parker scanned the area, Marcella internally debated whether it was worth the trouble or not. It wasn't a lot of money, but it was all the money she possessed at the moment. I wonder if Daddy considers this an emergency... she pondered, but quickly squashed that train of thought after imagining how the conversation of 'I need more money because a wild Meowth stole my wallet' would play out. No, she had to get it back.

"There it is!" She looked up, in the direction Parker was pointing. As the crowd dispersed, she could still see the shiny Meowth quietly padding off with its new treasures. "Hey, come back here!" She called out. Its body went rigid momentarily at the sound of her voice, before picking up the pace as they started chasing after it.

"It's running! Bijou, get 'em!"

The command earned her a tortured expression from the Purrloin, but she set off after the Meowth as she was told. As if it weren't hard enough for Bijou to chase anything that moved, the Meowth also turned back periodically to pelt her with something. The pellets glinted in the sunlight as they flew in her direction, landing on the pavement with a soft tink.

Are those...? Marcella stopped to pick one up. Unbelievable, it's weaponizing my money.

She heard another sharp whistle from behind. This time, Parker's Meowth dropped out of the tree she was in, narrowly missing the little thief as it ran by almost directly below. "Go! Bite!" He called out, as his Pokémon raced after it.

A few more coins were being thrown in their direction, cutting through the air like razor-sharp shurikens. Marcella had to admit, she was actually kind of impressed—its aim was quite good, considering it had to switch from running on all fours to a sort of bipedal lumber to dish out the coins.

Suddenly, a ball of white wool barreled past them, and into the Meowth. "Oh—Opal!" She didn't know when the Wooloo had started paying attention to the situation—probably when her playmate fell out of the tree—but Marcella was glad she did. The wild Meowth was knocked to the ground, dropping her wallet at last. As Marcella and Parker started closing in, the Meowth quickly began picking up as many coins as it could. Before it could launch them again, though, Parker's Meowth had also caught up, tackling it down with her Bite attack. As they all stood around the wild Pokémon, it dropped the coins it was holding, defeated. "Finally. You and your friends, I swear..." Parker breathed out as he shook his head at the Meowth. It shrugged, pulling itself in an upright sitting position and began licking its paw.

Parker and his Pokémon helped Marcella pick up most of the scattered coins, as she deposited their findings back into her wallet. "That all of them?"

"Yeah, more of less, I think. Thank you." Marcella said distractedly, but she glanced over at the wild Pokémon. Quick and agile. If it's just coins it wants...

"Cool, and don't mention it. Anyway, ready to go?" He set off briefly before turning back. "...Marcella?"

She had stooped down next to the wild Meowth, who was now cleaning its fur. It stopped to look up as she knelt down, and Marcella smiled, holding out a small handful of the coins.

"Hey, you want this, right?" The Meowth looked at her suspiciously. "You were pretty good with them. If you want to come along with us, you don't have to steal anymore. Maybe you could even teach Bijou how to do that thing with the coins." They both glanced back at the Purrloin, who was... catching up, slowly, but surely. But most definitely slowly.

The Meowth snatched up a coin and considered it. Suddenly, it dove into her purse.

"Hey—!"

Before she could fully react, it resurfaced, pulling out an empty Luxury Ball and nudging it towards Marcella. "Ah," She laughed. "Right, let's make it official, then."

Meowth has joined the party!

Party

​

Purrloin ♀ // Bijou
Level 22

Scratch
Fake Out
Sand Attack
Play Rough


Art

Clamperl ♀ // Pearly
Level 13

Clamp
Water Gun
Whirlpool
Iron Defense


Art

Wooloo ♀ // Opal
Level 20

Tackle
Copycat
Double Kick


Art

Meowth ? // ???
Level 15

Pay Day
???
???

​

Dear Diary

CHAPTER 2: LIVE FOR FUN

2-1: M.I.A.
2-2: Footwear Filchers
2-3: Cut Off
2-4: Bijou Bootcamp
2-5: Beached
2-6: Pearly
2-7: Showtime - ft. Avril, June, Tsu, Robynn, Shuna
2-8: Natsuko vs. Marcella - ft. Tsu
2-9: The Three C's
2-10: In/Dependent
2-11: Connections - ft. Avril, Hikaru

CHAPTER 3: YOUR BRAIN GETS SMART

3-1: Fiancé
3-2: Promise
3-3: Roughing It
3-4: Feline Friends
​

Inventory

₱31,000, more or less



Medium-sized leather suitcase of clothes
Rotom Phone (Sky Blue)
Fanclub Membership Card (Annual)
Luxury Balls x 3
Silk Scarf
Contest Pass
​

Trainer Info

Badges



​

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Katrina Purcell
Location: Granite Cave
Pokemon at hand :

Sunday, September 20th​

Chapter 2 - 1
Cave of Hope and Despair - Part 1​

I walked through the dark cavern with anxiousness with no exit in sight. Traveling upon the unknown just for a chance to found something that I was not sure even existed here. Most people would've told me I'm stupid, and I would agree with their assessment. Yet, I regret nothing.

The reason? It's thanks to the dreaded feeling I had in my mind that I couldn't shake off.

I thought I could keep the feelings and impulse inside of me shut tightly, but the crack that Jack showed yesterday was enough for me to understand the truth.

I was a burden.

Either he admitted it or not, it was the truth. It was clear that he was carrying a heavy burden by himself and yet he would still go that far for a person who couldn't give him anything back. Perhaps he was a saint, or maybe he just didn't have what it takes to refuse my request? I probably would never know the answer to the question… No, I'm just scared to know the answer.

I'm scared that if I continue to be useless for him then I will lose someone who cared for me not because of my status. It's true that he never asked me for anything? But until when? What if one day he changed his mind? What if one day he was in trouble and I couldn't do anything to help him? The thought alone sent shivers down my spine.

I would not be abandoned. Never again.

When I heard about the rumors that there was a Key Stone inside the caverns, I knew I had to act immediately. It was a chance for me to get stronger, I couldn't pass it up at all. I only watched famous trainers use them on television, but it was clear to me that it was a very powerful item.

My desire to obtain it was even emboldened when I found out it could evolve certain species of Pokemon even further than the limit that experts once thought. I had to get it, no matter what.

For how I ended up here, it was really easy to deceive the rangers. I just had to bide my time for the correct moment to show up and with a little act at the end of the paid tour, it was so easy to bail from the group, just like taking candy from a baby. I also got a King's Rock for my troubles.

However, inside the cave was a totally different situation than the touring route the rangers provided us. Compared to the tameness of the earlier tunnels, the tunnels inside were infested with Pokemon that acted with caution when we approached them. However, we didn't have any choice but to venture onward on the rugged path the tunnel gave us.

An hour had passed since we started our adventure inside the tunnel. We had rested four times at this point, which was a bad thing. I really misjudged my capability to withstand the harshness of this area, my leg was barely able to keep up with it. It was so bad that I'm sure that I would wound up in a wheelchair again if we couldn't find an exit soon.

Going back towards the entrance wasn't an option that was available at our table either, there were so many tunnel branches that I doubted we'll be able to reach it before it's too late.

Several Aron rushed towards us, which was met by Garnet's Bubblebeam to the ground just in front of us in a move that seemed like a deterrence for the pack of Aron to not get too close with us. It was followed by Aurora who leaped forward and barked several times towards the pack.

Strangely enough, instead of being agitated nor ran away, instead, they jumped again and again while letting out constant pained cries. It was just almost like they were crying for help…

I nodded towards their direction which made them quickly bolt towards the other direction, it gave me the impression that my intuition was correct. So I pushed my limping legs as much as I could through the dark and humid corridors of the tunnel, only to be greeted with several flying debris. One even almost grazed my face.

I couldn't help but scream loudly and squat instinctively in horror at the realization, but thanks to Garnet and Aurora I was able to get back up my feet rather quickly.

However, the flashlight I held wasn't so lucky. The debris knocked it out of my hand and caused it to malfunction as it was sent slamming into the wall, leaving us to rely solely on Staryu's Illuminate ability as our sole source of light.

Whatever sent that debris, we had to deal with it whether we liked it or not. I could only hope that Garnet and Aurora could handle the creature that did it. Otherwise…

We might rest here. Forever.
​

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​

​

 

[Eleanor]

Avril Reese

16 - ♀ - Laverre City

With QueenNothing as Junko Enomoto​

Pokémon / Inventory:

AVRIL'S MONEY: $20 000

AVRIL'S TEAM:
🌼 Poppy (Flabebe) -♀- lv. 29
Flower Veil
Synthesis, Fairy Wind, Grassy Terrain, Lucky Chant, Wish, Magical Leaf

🌼 Hydrangea (Shellos) -♀- lv. 26
Storm Drain
Water Pulse, Mud Bomb, Recover, Rain Dance, Mud Sport, Hidden Power (?)

🌼 Wisteria (Inkay) -♂- lv. 20
Infiltrator
Swagger, Hypnosis, Topsy-Turvy, Pluck, Reflect, Psybeam

🌼 Venus (Mawile) -♀- lv. 23
Intimidate
Fairy Wind, Feint Attack, Sucker Punch, Fake Tears, Taunt, Baton Pass

AVRIL'S INVENTORY:
🌼 Holotch (phone version)
🌼 Fanclub Membership card
🌼 Eviolite
🌼 Silk Scarf
🌼 Various clothes and commodities

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

AVRIL'S BADGES:
🥊

🌼 Character art made with [SPAN="color:rgb(40,180,40);"]https://picrew.me/image_maker/94097[/SPAN]

Something to remind me...

Thursday, September 24^th - morning - Petalburg City

"...And these are all the Dustox I've captured at National Park in Johto when I was younger! Wurmple can evolve into one of two Pokémon, Silcoon and Cascoon, which evolve into Beautifly and Dustox respectively…"

"Y-you caught all those Pokémon y-yourself?" Avril gushes as she follows June through the conservatory, mostly staying on the paths as opposed to June, who looks as if she doesn't have a single worry as she guides the blonde girl through the open area- the Beautifly atop her head compliments her demeanor. The glass dome that was visible from outside looks even larger from this perspective, and all the things that it protects are even more worthy of Avril's appreciation.

Well… sure, there are some Bug-types that don't look too friendly or even happy to get some company, but most of them are just stunning - especially the Mothim and Butterfree who are flying all around the area. Not to mention, June walking beside her makes Avril feel safe.

Poppy doesn't agree though, and is more than happy to float around the dome, chirping and smiling at every Pokémon she sees. Well, except the Dustox of course, since they're Poison types… and Sting, since June herself called him "aggressive". Much like her trainer, she also feels safer when June is around, the difference is that she doesn't have to stay beside her all the time, but can just fly into her at a moment's notice.

"Yes!" June eagerly nods as she checks off a few boxes on a form carried with a clipboard. "Well, maybe not every single one. Some of them I had assistance from my parents, but as I got used to aiming Pokeballs, eventually I caught them all myself."

"That's great, J-June!" Avril replies, blushing. "W-well, I could l-learn a few things from you t-there. I got M-Mawile thanks to a m-missed throw!" It was in the dark of a cave and in a dire situation, but whatever.

"It definitely takes practice. I, umm…" She nervously pauses, gripping the clipboard close to her chest before she's rather suddenly at ease again. "I wouldn't mind helping you out sometime!"

"O-oh, that sounds fantastic!" The blonde girl smiles back at her. "S-speaking of helping you out though… H-h-how do you think I'm g-going?" Avril shows June her own clipboard, trying to look over to hers and check on their overall progress.

"I think you're doing swell!" She compliments, marking down a Bunnelby that hops across the ground before it disappears into a bush. "It's a simple task, so we should be done in no time! Although I wish Uncle explained himself more clearly…" June briefly releases a displeased sigh, but quickly bounces back to her enthusiasm. "I was wondering, since we'll receive payment for this once we finish, perhaps we can look through the local shops here?"

"I-I'm glad! I-it's the least I c-can do, as I-I said before." The blonde responds. Whereas her chopstick adventure didn't go as planned, she's more than happy to know that at least this time she's actually doing things right. And really, at this point, there's not many things that can make that grin on her face go away.

"S-shopping? Sounds a-amazing as well… i-if you still have time, of c-course!" June's time doesn't seem to be the issue actually. The real question actually is… if her bag can swallow even more stuff.

"There should be enough time between when we're done and the contest…" June's finger pokes at her lip although it quickly slides off. "Yes actually, I believe so!"

🐞🐞🐞

"So this is the shop that I really need to see, r-right?" Avril giggles, closely following June as the two girls enter a clothes shop. Finding things to do seems the best way to spend time with June without getting excessively flushed and forgetting how to form sentences… and a shopping spree is perfect for this! The reward that both girls received from Tetsuo is only one more reason to go.

"Well, I don't know if I'd say need, but…" She pauses when making eye contact with the waving cashier on the other side of the building and lightly dips her upper body and returns to her sentence. "There is an interesting selection here. My family used to shop here- in fact, Uncle still does."

"O-oh, that's d-definitely the case!" Avril looks around the shop with a smile. All the clothes look quite different than what she's used to, but the atmosphere is still quite homely. "Hm, all items seem more… simple here, but they're still very cute!"

June's pointer finger rests on her lip. "I haven't really thought of many outfits as cute, but I find it's an interesting descriptor."

"Of course!" Avril gushes at all the different items. "W-well, they're not the f-fanciest dresses around, but t-they're colorful and the p-prints there are cool! L-like…" The blonde girl then whispers as she picks up what looks like a berry print dress. "T-this one here! It matches with m-my kerchief, too."

"I'm… I'm sure it would…" June blushes, turning her head to the rack Avril pulled the dress from. She appears to be casually glancing at the available dresses until a sudden thrill of excitement comes from where she stands. Both Avril and Poppy can't help but chuckle in response, and move closer to the taller girl.

"Oh!!" Hastily, she swipes a different dress off the rack and holds it up, revealing a white dress with a Ledyba pattern. June adoringly beams at the gown, her twinkling eyes focusing on it. "It costs three thousand Pokedollars- I can't resist!"

"See that's what I mean!" Avril replies, somehow with a flawless pronunciation. "Oh, and I'm s-sure it will l-look great on y-you June!"

"Th-thanks!" She buries her face into the tags of the dress. "This should fit me… I've never actually experienced this rush when seeing clothes before- I usually just wear what's serviceable."

"O-oh, I do that too most of the t-time, but sometimes… i-it's cool to stand o-out and wear s-something special! You h-herself had a cool dress at the D-D-Dewford contest, r-right?" The blonde girl looks at June, eager to see how she'd look in the dress she's picked.

"If I'm honest, I didn't think much of it. I just wore it because of the color. But this…" she eyes her dress again with a wide grin across her face. "This is something else."

"Aw, s-sure looks like it! Y-you have to try it!" Avril and Poppy nod in sync.

"Of course!" June, still facing Avril, leads the way to the changing rooms. "Say, do you have your eye on anything?"

"Uhhhh…" The blonde girl chuckles nervously, looking first at a stand with some tops, then at some other simple dresses, then at some accessories, then back at the dresses. "I d-don't think I can match y-your print, hehe… but I m-may as well try that berry dress from b-before!"

It does look different from the dresses that Avril has already packed, being longer and more straightforward. A Hoennian dress for a Kalosian girl… even if she may not like how it fits on her, she knows she has to give it a try.

Avril quickly runs over to the dress and picks it up, before resuming to follow June and entering the changing room next to the one the taller girl was already stepping in. After a while, the two adjacent doors opened up at the same time.

"Aaaaw! P-perfect! S-splendid!" Avril gushes. "And most of all, c-cute…"

Of course, June's face flashes red as she holds her cheeks in her palms. "Th-th-thanks, y-y-y-you t-too…"

"O-oh, my d-dress is no match for that L-L-Ledyba of yours!"

"It is indeed a lovely dress- n-not to p-put yours d-down o-or anything- but I'm even more convinced this purchase is a necessity!" Even while wearing it, June still can't take her eyes off the simple Ledyba dress.

"Y-yes! It would l-look cute in c-contests too!" Avril replies. "A-and… I'd love to b-buy this dress t-too! It feels… s-special." She then takes a peek inside her own changing room, where her swing dress is hanging. "You know… t-that one dress feels special to me b-because it was a p-parting gift from family. That's w-why I like it. T-this dress… it's not even m-mine but I'm a-already warming up to it t-though." Possibly because she wore it in front of June, whose hand gravitates towards her pendant.

"Ooohhh… that must be difficult. I won't be seeing my parents for some time, but I have family around Hoenn, so I'm not that upset about it. B-b-but I-I'm sorry t-to hear that!"

"I-I… It's a-a-alright June really…" The blonde girl blushes. "I-I… I still f-f-found… this p-place and…" That last part is especially hard to say, as obvious as it sounds. "And t-this is w-why this d-dress… feels s-special."

The brunette's face continuously stays red. "I-I-I-I-I really appreciate the sentiment! I just-" She freezes for a brief moment. "I j-just need to change back first!" She scurries back to the changing room, slamming the door behind her.

"W-well, I have to d-do the same if I w-want to buy this, d-d-don't I?" Avril nervously laughs, as she mimics June. A couple minutes later, and both girls are outside the changing rooms.

"A-a-and now let's go!" She feels a bit more relaxed in her usual clothes, and is definitely eager to complete that purchase. "I-it may not be the best d-dress, or look p-perfect for me, but it's o-o-okay with me!"

"I-I think it looks just s-swell…" As soon as she finishes her sentence, June turns her head and leads the way, this time to the cash register.

There is a slight problem with the Kalosian girl's plan though, and she's reminded of it right before the payoff can happen. The cute bags and backpacks on the stand she's just walked by…

"S-say, June, what do you use to carry all y-your stuff w-when you travel around H-H-Hoenn?"

"Well, besides my purse, I have a messenger bag that all my necessities are packed in, and I travel light. If I have something I currently don't need but might in the future, I could always leave it with my uncle and have him mail it to me."

"Hehehe…" Avril giggles more and more nervously, her cheeks getting more red as well. "I… I d-don't, so… w-well you saw what I n-normally use when I t-travel. P-point is… now that I t-think about it, I'm a-afraid this dress won't fit anywhere in my b-bag, or will just get w-wrinkled."

"O-oh.. well, that is unfortunate…"

"Maybe… W-w-well, I can maybe find s-something else that can remind me of t-this place, and of the g-g-great t-t-ti-time… you know…"

Avril's eyes move away from June - surely that would have only flustered her more - and try to gaze around the shop, looking for something… much smaller. Like a pair of earrings, or a bracelet, or a necklace. There is definitely enough space for something like that in her bag, and what would one more jewelry item do to her?

"Something s-small but with a strong m-meaning…"

June blankly inspects a display of accessories. Similarly to before, she gasps when her pupils gravitate towards a bracelet decorated with a Butterfree-shaped brand. "That one definitely stands out to me!" She eagerly shares, pointing at the bracelet.

"Y-y-yes! June, that looks g-great!"

Well, surely having June direct the blonde girl to that bracelet made it feel even more special, but it still had its intrinsic charm. Butterfree and June fit well together - the connection was so immediate! But even then, that Bug-type was… cute even on its own. Avril can't help but blush as she picks the item up. "Thank you J-June…"

"It's n-no issue at all." She awkwardly smiles back, taking a few steps towards the cashier.

"And here we g-go! Say hi to your new small friend, Poppy!" Avril giggles once the purchase is completed, trying to fit her newly bought bracelet on her left arm… along the two or three that are already there. "Oh and, about the d-dress…" She turns towards June, who still has reasons to be baffled at the blonde girl's previous choice. "It's all g-good." Displaying a pleased grin on her face, June simply nods in response.

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Katrina Purcell
Location: Granite Cave
Pokemon at hand :

Sunday, September 20th​

Chapter 2 - 2
Cave of Hope and Despair - Part 2​

What was that?

I raised my head to see an Aron being ganged up by three purple Pokemon with jagged teeth and gem-like eyes. It was not a great sight at all, so I intervened almost immediately.

Not that I had any other choice than to intervene, but even if I did, I just couldn't let it be, not when its family begged me for help.

So using the fact that the pack was ganging up on Aron without caring about our presence, I launched an ambush by using Bubble Beam and Icy Wind consecutively, freezing one of the mysterious Pokemon in an ice block while the other two slimly evaded both the water splash and the chilling freeze.

The other two Pokemon extended their shadow and turned it to a branch-like shape as it was launched towards both Garnet and Aurora. It was hard to dodge a wide attack like that since we were in a cramped space, but my worry dissipated as the defiant Aron shielded us by conjuring a transparent wall that I could recognize as the move Protect.

The Sableye wasn't happy with what happened as their eye turned red, enveloping both Aron and Aurora with the same colored aura.

They followed it up by another move that caused their eyes to gleam. This time their gem-like eyes gleamed with a dark hue of purple which shot out beams while they were smirking. It was as if they knew that I wouldn't be able to counter them, which was actually the case.

I was a fool to not realize what was happening, I ordered both Garnet and Aurora to counter the beam using Icy Wind and Bubble Beam once more. But only Bubble Beam came out from Garnet's orb, while Aurora opened her mouth only to realize that the move wouldn't come out at all from her mouth which allowed the dark rays to hit both Garnet and Aurora.

Using the smoke from the last attack, I grabbed my Pokedex inside my bag to check what Pokemon I was fighting against right now. My fingers still hurt from traversing the caverns, but I couldn't waste any more time.

Okay so from what I could see, I'm fighting a Pokemon called Sableye. It's a Dark/Ghost-type and—

My train of thoughts was interrupted as the beams were launched once more, this time… Towards me. I was only able to escape unscathed because Aron had recovered its ability to erect another protective wall.

At that moment I knew I had to be more careful than ever. Unluckily for me, the situation turned for the worse as the third Sableye was finally able to thaw itself out of its cold prison.

If only this was an open field, then I can… Oh wait…

I suddenly realized that there was a strategy worth enough to try in this situation. I wasn't sure that I had the same capability as what Jack had shown against Benji to execute what I had in mind, but I just had to try.

"Aron, can you help me block most part of this tunnel?"

Aron was confused with what I was saying, but it seemed to understand what it needed to do. It launched a shockwave that caused the tunnel to partially collapse, but the Sableye dodged it… Yet it was all according to my plan.

Garnet launched a powerful Bubble Beam from its orb once more, this time with them being forced to compete in a small space to approach us they weren't able to escape from being soaked.

"Aurora, unleash Snow Warning!"

Aurora's howl echoed through the cave as light blue energy surrounded its body. But instead of white clouds that hovered above them, the ceilings of the cave were low enough to turn it into a thick white wall of billowing white clouds that blocked the surrounding line of sight.

The temperature itself was what I aimed for and even with obscured sight, it was not hard to seal the deal. After another Bubble Beam and Icy Wind, Aurora roared once more removing the cloud wall to reveal the three Sableye frozen solid.

With them unable to retaliate, Aron unleashed several spears made of rock which encircled the frozen Sableye. It hit the targets perfectly, knocking them all out in quick succession.

Just as I thought everything was over, the Aron that fought with us ran through the unconscious bodies of the Sableye pack alongside the other members of its family. We followed through the tunnel to find a Lairon with its leg badly damaged.

I launched to action and sprayed the Super Potion I had in my possession. Jack told me to be frugal, but this is probably one of the rare situations where I shouldn't consider doing his advice especially with how gnarly the leg injury was.

The potion helped the wounds to close, not 100% healed but it was good enough for Lairon to move its feet again.

I wished I could spend more time together with the Aron pack, but with several hours that already elapsed without seeing the exit in sight. I just couldn't afford to waste any more time inside this cave.

However, the Aron that fought alongside us blocked our way. Causing us to look at it in confusion.

Several minutes elapsed before we were finally able to understand what it was trying to do.

It wanted to join us in our journey.

Of course, I didn't reject it, I mean it would evolve into a hulking metal Pokemon called Aggron, right? I was giddy at the idea that Aron would turn into it one day.

Just before I pulled an empty Poke Ball to capture Aron, I noticed a weird marble stuck on one of the holes in Aron's body. It was similar to the description of the Key Stone I've heard… But this one was strangely grey? Did it undergo a series of chemical reactions until it ended up this way?

The mere fact that it looked similar to what I heard about the Key Stone gave me hope that this stone would end up being something great. So I just ignored the oddity factor of the stone and put it inside my bag for a more detailed inspection later.

So I continued our walk inside the cave, but we couldn't find any signs of an exit at all. As resting became more frequent as time goes by, I started to lose sensation on my left ankle and as a result, I accidentally fell and scraped my knee.

My Pokemon rushed towards me with concerns clearly shown in their expression. They were not in good shape either as more and more Pokemon started to attack us the deeper we went inside this cavern system.

I hope Jack didn't read the message I sent him this morning, otherwise... It's not just me that would end up being lost in this cave.
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