[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

Fen-Fen · Sep 8, 2021

Haleigh Windsor
18 | Female | From Circhester

Corey (Male, Blaze) - Flame Charge, Double Kick, Headbutt, Agility

Coraline (Female, Weak Armor) - Tackle, Harden, Astonish, Spite, Ancient Power

Cornelius (Male, Synchronize) - Disarming Voice, Confusion, Draining Kiss, Hypnosis

Orion (Male, Snow Cloak) - Powder Snow, Tail Whip

Cerise (Female, Adaptability) - Covet, Quick Attack, Baby Doll Eyes, Growl

Reyna (Female, Torrent) - Peck, Bubble Beam, Pound, Growl

Spoiler: Memories

Mummy Dearest pt. 1

Despite what might otherwise be a day that would be marking the beginnings of summer, Haleigh found herself pulling out her old purple bomber jacket to keep herself warm against the unseasonably cold temperatures. A few days had passed since she had gone through Motostoke Riverbank and in fact, had been dealing with much of the opposite problem with a blazing hot sun bearing down on her. Now, the punk trainer and her team were approaching the bridge that carried Route 5.

Looking up at it from down below reminded her of how much progress she had made in the several months since she was up there on that bridge. There were many feelings she had on that fateful day, just a glimpse into the many emotions she had carried those four long years. The sight of the bridge also brought back some of those emotions.

Haleigh sighed. Sure, she definitely had a lot to be proud of as a trainer. She had made it past the stage when many would have already been eliminated and had come back from a devastating loss with flying colors. But thinking about what it took to get there made her pause and reflect. She didn't have all that much time to do that nowadays with how busy she'd been with getting back on track in her journey.

It wasn't just the four-plus years she's been away from home that bothered her. Had she actually been able to start her journey at age fourteen like she wanted, she'd have also been out on her own in a similar fashion and doing what she's doing now. It wasn't just being cut off financially. Haleigh never really cared for the frivolous things that were thrown her way. It was something that went even deeper than that.

It was fitting, then, that the Pokemon who she opted to have by her side at that moment was her faithful Kirlia. Back then, she had pushed him away to avoid completely breaking down right then and there. Now though…

"Kirlia." Cornelius looked up at Haleigh, seeming to bring her attention back down to planet Earth.

"Eh? Ah, yeah mate, I'm just thinking..." Haleigh looked up with a wistful and far off gaze, craning her neck to see the top of the bridge. She sighed as she looked back down. "Guess I haven't really sat down and talked about that, have I?"

Her Pokemon shook his head. He had a vague idea about the things Haleigh had been going through, but she hadn't been explicit about any of it. Following his trainer's gaze, Cornelius vividly remembered that day on the bridge when Haleigh was clearly going through something. She was still going through it, based off of the overwhelming aura of sadness, anger and anguish he was detecting rolling off of her.

As if she were shifting around a great weight, she exhaled deeply and hunched over. "I thought...it'd be best to pretend that part of my life didn't exist. But something about it always comes back, even when I don't want it to. Even when I'm on the other bleedin' side of the region, I still think about them."

She took a seat on the grass, scooting forward to get close to her Kirlia. "I've never talked about it with anyone. Not Simon, not Achille, not Val, not even Mel knows about any of this. I don't know what good it can do now, but I think...maybe if I can just get this off my chest, it'll be a bit easier to bear. Let me tell you about how I came to be Haleigh Windsor the Pokemon trainer."

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

"We'll be just a few more minutes until we're back at the Windsor manor, Madame Windsor."

Haleigh scrunched her nose a bit at the overly formal way that the chauffeur addressed her. Couldn't they ever just call her Haleigh or even just Ms. Windsor? That was probably something her parents insisted on.

She sighed as she rested her face onto her hand, looking out the window and nervously picking at her newly painted fingernails. Nail polish was certainly nothing new to her, but its black color contrasted sharply with the only colors she was allowed to wear: red, pink or anything else her mum deemed as "appropriate for a young lady." Appropriate, what a bunch of bollocks. This coming from the same woman who had a suspicious amount of "business trips" with a guy that was sweet-talking her.

She glowered at the thought of seeing her parents again. They probably wouldn't be happy with her either. They never were. There was always something she did that made her a fuckup. Wanting to be a trainer? No no, that wasn't her role for the family, she had to be a smart, proper young lady with an interest in business. Wanting to even own a Pokemon? No, those filthy creatures were too much of a bother, too dangerous for her to handle. Performing the best she could at school even if it was like pulling teeth? Not good enough, she should be getting all A's and doing all of the best looking, rigorous extracurriculars.

If they weren't going to ever be happy with her, Haleigh thought she might as well sport a look she was happy with. Gone was the school uniform or the prim and proper dresses her mother made her wear. Instead, Haleigh had opted for a punk look, with her hair dyed a bright purple, two ring piercings on each ear, a black Marowak skull tank top and ripped denim shorts. It was cool, it was loud, it was something that was hers.

"We've arrived. Allow me to get your luggage." He stepped out of the car and went to the boot of the car, grabbing a few suitcases out of there with Haleigh following suit and grabbing the smaller bags she brought with her inside the car. The pit in her stomach Haleigh only grew as she got out of the car and found herself back at the mansion she called home.

The two of them waited as the chauffeur rang the doorbell. Haleigh flinched as she could hear the door being opened from the inside. Once the door finally opened, two figures stood at the door: a blond man dressed in an immaculate suit and tie with a dark-haired woman dressed in a dress shirt, blazer and pencil skirt. Her parents.

"Ah hello dear, how was-" Haleigh's mother stopped her greeting abruptly as her face iced over as soon as she registered Haleigh's new appearance.

Haleigh's father cleared his throat as he said to the chauffeur, deftly grabbing his daughter's suitcases, "I'll go ahead and take it from here."

The chauffeur took the hint, swiftly taking his exit and leaving the family to their own devices. Once he was gone, Haleigh's mother was the first to break the ice. "Haleigh Kathryn Windsor. Why in the hell are you dressed like some hooligan skank?!"

The teen winced at her mother's words, all of the confidence and bravado that the new look had afforded her died as a knot in her throat. She froze, clenching her fists and casting her glance downwards.

"Haleigh. Why. Are. You. Dressed. Like. That?!" Haleigh's mother repeated the question with venom dripping from her voice.

Her father started raising his voice, "Your mother is asking you a question Haleigh, answer it!"

"Fuck off," Haleigh growled as she walked briskly past them, walking up the staircase to her room.

Her parents, unfortunately, started walking up the stairs to follow her. Her father grumbled, "Young lady, that is no way to talk to your parents. Come out here and talk to us."

'Come out and talk', they always said. They didn't really give a shit about her. Only when their precious little doll dared speak out of turn or did something that was inconvenient.

She rounded the corner and rushed into her room, slamming the door behind her and locking it. Hatred. Anger. Despair. The sadly familiar mix of emotions roiled within her, churning and barely kept together from her desire to not further upset her parents.

From outside of her room, her mother shrieked, "Haleigh, open the door this instant!"

"Go away."

The voice of her father chimed in, "Haleigh, listen to us, we want what's best for you."

She raised her voice a bit and repeated, "Go. Away."

"Haleigh, I swear to Arceus, if you don't get out here-"

She couldn't hold it in anymore. Giving the door a solid kick, she screamed, "SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU OLD BITCH, I SAID GO AWAY!"

Haleigh breathed heavily, her fists clenched so tight that her nails dug into her palm. Though she couldn't see her parents, she could tell they were so taken aback that they had nothing else to say at that moment. All that Haleigh could hear was her ears ringing from the stress of the situation and her heart seemingly about to pump out of her chest at any moment.

Then she heard the hurried footsteps - the light clacking sound of platform shoes, so her mother - move away from the door. Haleigh waited in anticipation for what seemed like ages until finally she heard those same footsteps come back along with another sound: jingling. Keys. Oh no.

She saw the handle jiggle around until the key had unlocked the door and in came Haleigh's mother, her face contorted with rage and malice. She rushed forward until she was in Haleigh's face, glowering at her with unbridled fury that was quieter but no less potent than what Haleigh had exhibited. "You. Get out here. Now."

That tone left little room to argue and she reluctantly did as she was told, slowly shuffling out of her room and back into the hallway to face her parents.

Her father was the first to talk, his tone caked with icy contempt as he said, "You went behind our backs, lie to us, insist that we indulge your stupid fantasy and have you drop all our hard-earned money we spent on you just to have some battles out in the middle of nowhere for fun?"

Haleigh's mother chimed in and said, "There's going to have to be consequences. Give me your phone."

Haleigh glared daggers at her mother, backing up against the wall so that she couldn't so easily get to the phone in her back pocket.

"Give me your phone," her mother repeated, matching Haleigh's movements to maintain her proximity.

The teen dug into her back pocket, reaching for her phone before suddenly throwing it with all her might in the direction of her father. Her aim was wide, however, and the phone smacked hard into the opposite wall, clattering to the floor as the room fell so silent someone could hear a pin drop.

After an agonizing few moments, her mother broke the silence by grabbing Haleigh forcefully by the wrist and hissing into Haleigh's face, "You think you're all that by disrespecting us? You think you're going to be some trainer that's going to be the next bloody champion when you can't even get your sodding life in order? Please. You're nothing without us. Weak. So go ahead, throw your tantrums, dress like a trashy harlot, act like you don't care. But if you insist on acting like a stupid child, we'll treat you like one. No phone, no access to money, and you don't leave this house."

She sighed as she added, "It's a shame it's come to this. I would have thought you had some love for your parents." With that, Haleigh's parents seemed to finally finish with admonishing their daughter and took their leave, walking downstairs to do something else.

Now that they weren't around, Haleigh started walking limply back to her room. Haleigh's expression of contempt faltered and one of anguish took over as tears started rolling down her cheeks.

--------

Haleigh returned her attention back to the present day as a shiver went down her spine while she fidgeted with a blade of grass. "So yeah, that's the sort of life I had. Great parents I had, huh?" She laughed a little, though it was utterly devoid of any mirth or humor.

"I was a bit of a bastard myself though, not gonna lie. Like daughter, like mother I guess." She gave a forlorn look off to the side, her eyes already teary eyed from the memory.

In response, Cornelius gently held her hand and stroked it in a comforting gesture. Haleigh smiled back at him, though it was slight and didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks, mate."

She gave a deep sigh as she said, "Right. Well, after having my phone taken away from me n' all that, my mum kept her word and forbade me from doing much of anything outside of that manor. It's a big place, but once you've seen it all it might as well have been a prison. I was pretty down in the dumps, but I managed to summon the energy for a nighttime expedition into town. I had no idea what the hell I was doing, and with how I was feeling, Arceus only knows what dumb shit I could have done."

Cornelius noticed an unexpected spike in positive emotion as his trainer gave another smile. Love, exactly like the love she had for him and the rest of her team.

"But fate had other plans for me that day. Someone I could call a friend in that dark time."

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

Two weeks had passed since Haleigh had her big argument with her parents. True to their word, she wasn't allowed to leave the manor to do anything and her phone - even if it had still been working after she smashed it into a wall - would not be available for her to use. Her parents even had the gall to say it was a pretty light punishment considering how much there is to do and she could still do any number of recreational activities. As if that made what happened a few weeks ago okay, like they were trying to cover up the stench of their toxicity with perfume. Fucking pricks.

Haleigh pulled the hood up on her hoodie to obscure her face. It was at some ungodly hour in the morning that she found herself roaming the streets of Circhester. It was a pretty city to just walk around and lose yourself, but the swirling dark cloud over Haleigh's head negated any of that beauty she might have otherwise taken solace in.

No, none of that was going to be enough to quench that swirling dark pit of despair. She needed to do something to turn any of it outwards, to make her feel alive again. Smash something. Tag up the wall. Throw a brick at a window. Anything to cause a stir.

She continued aimlessly walking through the streets, moving past the scenic parts of town and finding a block of industrial warehouses tucked away to the south of town. One of them in particular caught her eye as one that was seemingly abandoned - and had been that way for a long time. A perfect place for a no good lowlife like her to hang out in.

Getting in wasn't going to be that much of a problem, as the old chain link fence that surrounded the entrances and exits were falling apart and had many spaces in it big enough for a person of Haleigh's size to crawl into.

Before she could get into the facility, however, an unexpected cold sensation from her right ankle caught her off guard and she yelped, jumping back and falling on her rear.

"What in the hell-"

As she looked towards the source of the disturbance, Haleigh looked down to see a very small spiky bug. A Snom, not at all an uncommon Pokemon to see around Circhester - though usually not in the summer.

"Snom!" The Snom happily chirped its name, looking up at Haleigh.

Haleigh scoffed, "Oi, watch where you're goin' ya little bugger. Now if you'll excuse me-"

Though the teen started to turn to face away from the ice bug to continue her mission, her gaze couldn't help but wander back to the Snom. It was just too damn cute to just ignore like that.

"A-actually, hold on." She knelt down to be closer to the bug's level. "Mind if I stay a bit?"

"Snom!"

It wasn't clear how much of her words he could actually understand, but Haleigh nonetheless took his enthusiastic cry as a yes.

She laughed and said, "A real master of conversation, aren't you?"

Haleigh decided to sit cross-legged to get more comfortable while she examined the Snom intently. She never got the chance to have extended interactions with Pokemon. All she had were plushies, the rare in person encounter with one if she was allowed to stay over at the house of a "friend" (basically anyone that she could make good small talk with and convince her parents that they were worth hanging around) or seeing them around town.

As she was looking at him, she realized that this Snom was pretty far away from anything she would consider snowy or icy. What was it doing out here? It could be lost, perhaps. It certainly wouldn't be the only creature in that derelict warehouse that was lost were that the case.

She took the backpack she was wearing and plopped it down next to her, sifting around the various items she stuffed in there such as spray paint cans and a torch until she found the thing she was looking for. "Got some granola bars here. They were for me of course, but I wouldn't mind sharing if you fancy one."

The teen offered a bar out to the Pokemon, who gobbled up the bar with delighted squeaks. The little Snom's happiness was infectious, as Haleigh couldn't help but giggle and feel happy along with them. "You liked that, huh? Arceus, you're so cute…"

Haleigh gave the little bug a pat on his head. She said to him, "Y'know, being a trainer is probably real nice. Being outdoors, having all the freedom you want, spending time with lovely little creatures like you. I've always wanted to be one since I was a little girl, but my parents aren't fond of the idea…"

She frowned. "They don't believe in me. Nobody does."

As she continued to look at the content Pokemon, her smile returned as she added, "But fuck 'em, I don't need their approval. You believe in me, right?"

"Snom!"

Haleigh pumped a fist in the air as she exclaimed, "Hell yeah, that's what I like to hear!"

Even in this short interaction, Haleigh could tell that being around Pokemon really was what she wanted to do. There really wasn't any other feasible alternative. If she were to follow in her parent's footsteps, she'd be subject to a life under their rules, their absolute control. Otherwise, there was nothing. She was nothing.

But she didn't have to lie down and take it anymore. She was done being weak. With her eyes shining, Haleigh said to the Snom, "Tell you what, little fella. You wanna be my Pokemon? You and I can travel Galar together and meet other cool trainers and Pokemon!"

To her delight, Snom replied with his trademark cry.

"Alright! Then it's a deal, mate! I'll get you a Pokeball later, but If you'll go ahead and just hop in here…"

Haleigh gestured to the bag, remarking, "You'll have to bear with me, but once I get you in, I know a way I can get you cold, you must be burnin' up out here."

The Snom rushed into the bag at the mention of the word cold as Haleigh gingerly scooped up the bag and held it in her arms. She...did it. She had a Pokemon in her possession. It was something she had for herself, something to call her own. Unlike all of the useless shit her mother got for her, it could interact with her, inspire her, share happiness, grow with her. In a very real sense, all of Haleigh's hopes and dreams lie in that humble little Snom in her bag.

Fen-Fen · Sep 8, 2021

Haleigh Windsor
18 | Female | From Circhester

Corey (Male, Blaze) - Flame Charge, Double Kick, Headbutt, Agility

Coraline (Female, Weak Armor) - Tackle, Harden, Astonish, Spite, Ancient Power

Cornelius (Male, Synchronize) - Disarming Voice, Confusion, Draining Kiss, Hypnosis

Orion (Male, Snow Cloak) - Powder Snow, Tail Whip

Cerise (Female, Adaptability) - Covet, Quick Attack, Baby Doll Eyes, Growl

Reyna (Female, Torrent) - Peck, Bubble Beam, Pound, Growl

Spoiler: Memories

Mummy Dearest pt. 2

Now Cornelius' intrigue was thoroughly piqued. She...had another Pokemon before even Corey was with her?

As if to answer his question, the warm feelings that Haleigh had been giving off were starting to wane and in its place something dark was starting to stir within her. Simple adjectives such as sad, angry or hurt couldn't do what he felt through Haleigh justice. There was sadness, but in it he could sense many dimensions as to why and to what she was sad about. There was anger, but apart from the expected sensation of it being directed outwards as if towards someone, there was also just as much being projected inward towards herself. There was pain, akin to something being ripped away and leaving a gaping, festering wound.

To match her internal emotional turmoil, Haleigh started to tear up again and cry in earnest. "I...I had such high hopes for the two of us. In the short time I got to know him, he was the sweetest little guy and then...then…"

She took a shuddering breath as she rubbed at her face. "Oh Arceus. That night...what happened that night, it…"

Cornelius gave Haleigh a comforting pat on her back and looked at her with a concerned expression. She had already divulged so much tonight that delving into something that was somehow even worse than what she had told may be too much for her to handle all at once.

Reading Cornelius' face, Haleigh steeled her expression and said, "No, I ain't going to stop now. All this pain that I carry, it comes back in the end in some form or another. I can't just keep running from it."

Taking a deep breath, she composed herself well enough to keep telling her increasingly perilous tale.

----------

All Haleigh could think about was Pokemon, Pokemon, Pokemon. It truly was her ticket out of the hell her life was.

Preparations, unfortunately, ran a bit slower than she'd like on account of having to prepare her things on the down low to not arouse any suspicion from her parents. A t shirt in a backpack here, some small items of non-perishable food there. Most importantly, however, was getting her hands on some valuables to sell off. All of that frivolous jewelry she got from her mom was finally going to be appropriated for a better use.

Given a few days' time, she reckoned she could be ready to head out if she could get her hands on a few more key supplies. She was quite glad that all of the vital supplies though, she was able to find a Pokeball for him - though the method for getting it was less than ideal; she did not fail to see the irony of living as lavishly as she did and yet had to resort to nicking a ball from a local store because her parents took away her cards.

With a wide grin on her face and clutching the Pokeball that housed her friend, she decided it was time for another outing in the freezer. Haleigh even bundled up in a jacket and pants so that she could hang out in there for a little while.

She wasn't worried about interference from her parents going in the direction of the kitchen since her mum was going to a dinner party and her dad was out of town on a business trip. Haleigh peeked into the kitchen door, making sure there wasn't any staff milling around before deciding to swiftly make her way through it and towards the freezer. She opened the door of the freezer and left it ajar to ensure she wouldn't be locked out. After pressing the button, her friend appeared once more and gave a happy squeak in the cold environment.

"Hey mate, it's a bit chilly in here, yeah?" She laughed at her quip.

"Snom snom!"

"Yeah, well I'm glad you like it." Haleigh kept her hands in her pocket, soaking in the good company of her Snom by giving him a look that warmed even the chill of the freezer.

With little else to do but pass the time and chat, Haleigh yammered on and on about various mundane things in her life - careful to avoid anything with her parents - her excitement for the journey, what other friends Snom might meet along the way if she can find them.

Haleigh's tolerance for the freezer was starting to wane as she realized the coat she was wearing was a bit too light for the weather. "Alright, I'm gonna have to go back out for a few. I need to grab a heavier coat from my winter stuff."

The Snom perked up, starting to crawl towards the freezer door. "Snom?"

Haleigh shook her head. "Nah mate, you can't come out, I don't want to risk my mum finding you. She'd have a goddamn meltdown if they caught me with you."

His face turned crestfallen to that denial. Haleigh sighed. "I know, I know. But I swear, once we get going proper on our journey, we'll have all the time in the world to explore everything. I promise."

She opened the door to let herself out of the freezer and step outside into the warmer air of the rest of the house. As she did so, however, the familiar clacking sound of platform shoes made her freeze and her heartbeat skyrocket. Shit. She wasn't supposed to be home for another several hours at least. What in the hell was she back for?

She dashed back into the freezer, exclaiming, "Shite shite shite, I gotta hide you!" Before he could even register what was going on, Haleigh pushed the button on his Pokeball and recalled him and put it in the pocket of her coat.

She heard her mother's voice call out from nearby, "Haleigh? Where are you, dear?"

Damn. She must have already seen that she wasn't in her room if she was looking around other parts of the house. Blast it all, if she can just-

"Ah, there you are." Haleigh nearly jumped out of her skin, realizing that she had been spotted and that running away at that point would be asking for even more trouble.

She gave an airy laugh as she said, "My my, you look like you've seen a ghost, it's just your mother, silly. I was just-"

Her eyes narrowed as she realized what Haleigh was wearing. "Why on earth are you wearing a jacket? You can't be that cold in here."

Haleigh stammered out, "A-ah, um, well, I-I was just trying on some winter stuff, see what I can keep and what I can get rid of, but I was a bit peckish, so I came out for a snack."

Unfortunately for Haleigh, she was a terrible liar on the spot - and her mother was all too aware of that. Given her rambunctious nature as of late, she was not going to let anything slide. She scanned Haleigh up and down, noticing that she was clutching something in her coat pocket tightly. In a tone that was superficially sweet but belying a threat, she asked, "Dear, what's that you got in your pocket?"

Haleigh shifted into a defensive position as she grumbled, "Nothing important."

Her mother scrunched her face and huffed. "Haleigh, that is no way to be talking to me. If it truly is nothing, then stop making a fuss about it and show it to me." She extended out her arm, gesturing with her hand.

Haleigh growled in response, "No, I ain't givin' it to you. Sod off already!"

Her mother sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "You really want to make it this difficult for you then, huh? Fine, we'll play your way."

Without warning, she gave the girl a firm shove, knocking Haleigh off balance as she staggered backwards and was forced to extend both of her arms to brace for the impact onto the ground below. She dropped the object that she was clutching and it rolled away from the two of them. There was no mistaking it, however, as the shape of a Pokeball.

Her mother walked over and nabbed it before Haleigh could reach over and grab it back. She examined the object in silence for a few agonizing moments before she focused her attention back on her daughter. "So, daughter of mine, are we playing with old toys again? Because I'll say, this looks very much like the real thing."

"Give him back!" Haleigh started getting back up and made another grab for the ball, trying to do what her mother did to her and knock her down. She didn't come in fast or strong enough from her prone position, however, and was summarily rebuffed by her mother and knocked back down to the floor.

Her mother smirked. Haleigh's mention of a he confirmed her suspicions on what lay inside it. She wasn't sure how and why she managed to get a Pokemon, but it seemed that she was as dead set on starting her journey as ever. She had seen Haleigh skulking about the house more than usual like a lowly Rattata up to something.

"You went behind our backs like a no good scoundrel and brought this filth into our home. You steal, you lie, you cheat. No matter what I do, you always spit in our faces and dishonor us time and time again. What is a mother to do with this ungrateful little beast she calls her daughter?"

She walked over to the counter, went over to a knife block and pulled a steak knife out of there. "Perhaps there is another way to show you reason only a beast knows how to respond to."

Haleigh's eyes widened in fear, all of the bravado she had up to that point gone and left with only terror at what she was experiencing. She had seen her mother in many different ways up to that point. She was controlling, manipulative, petty, hypocritical and materialistic. Even still, the thought that she could very well be stabbed by her own mother was not something she could have imagined in a million years. She swallowed the growing lump in her throat and managed to say, "M-mum, what are you doin'? P-put that down."

Her mother sneered, "So now she respects my authority. You really are a beast through and through. I've tried everything a good mother can do to correct her daughter's wayward ways. I've been nice, I've encouraged you to seek out other options, I've explained over and over again why you cannot live out those silly dreams of yours. Then we tried to discipline you again and again. And yet, you still persist. Perhaps a more permanent reminder will be what it takes to know your place."

She started approaching Haleigh and pointing the blade at her. "If you're a good little girl and cooperate, it'll be over before you know it and we can have you all patched up nice and neat right here."

No no no no no no. This was a bad dream, surely. The image of her mother wielding a knife and pointing it at her, those chilling words, the deranged look in her eyes. The jarring image burned into her mind, transfixing her as if under a spell. Everything in her mind is screaming at her to run like the wind but she was frozen in place, feeling as if even breathing was an action that required everything within her to do.

Just as Haleigh's mother was about to come in and grab her, something in her miraculously broke the spell, injecting all of the adrenaline in the world to allow her to spring up and make a beeline for the hallway.

At that point, her mind blanked as all she could think of was getting as far away from her mother as possible. Run, run, run, don't look back. Where she was running she wasn't even really consciously aware of, just somewhere to hide.

When she arrived at the stairwell, her mind immediately linked the thoughts of her room and safety and booked it up the stairs. Haleigh managed to reach for the door and open it to go through, only to have her mother take the chance to grab the handle and prevent her from closing the door all the way.

"Haleigh, let me in! Let me in. Let me in. LET ME IN!"

Haleigh pressed with all of her might against the door, trying to close it just enough to allow her to lock it. She pushed and pushed with all of the strength she had and then some until at last, she managed to close it and turn the lock.

She bolted for the supplies that she had been hiding under her bed, quickly going through what she had. She went over to her dresser and scrambled for as much jewelry as she could hold on to before putting it in her bag. She quickly threw some clothes in there, not thinking about what she was even throwing.

Hearing the frantic steps of her mother just outside the door with a jangling set of keys was her cue to flee out onto the balcony and take her leave. Just as she had done several times already, she climbed over the top of the balcony, turned herself around, lowered herself onto the balcony below hers and climbed out onto the path out towards the street.

There was no returning to this place after what had just occurred. There was no unseeing the things that she had seen. With a heavy heart, the young teen started to walk ever farther away from the place she once called home until it was no longer visible in the distance, leaving her Snom to an unknown fate at the hands of her mother.

-----

After lingering on the last part of her recollection, Haleigh broke down completely and doubled over in agony as she started to sob with everything in her. Of all the torment and pain she had suffered on that day, leaving her Snom behind was probably the thing that tore her up the most. She wanted to hope that at the very least she simply gave him away or released him, but the image of her mother wielding a knife was all that she could think about in response.

"No no no no no, what did you do to him, what did you do, what did you do…"

If she had just stayed and fought, he could still be right there in her arms. If she hadn't been weak like her mother said. If she hadn't decided running from it all was the only way.

Her sorrow gave way to red hot anger that'd make the flames that Kabu's Pokemon conjure up pitiful in comparison. She sat back up, trying to fill the vastness of the Wild Area with her screams as she wailed, "YOU CRAZY BITCH, YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU RUINED MY CHILDHOOD, YOU RUINED MY DREAMS, YOU RUIN MY LIFE STILL! LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!!!!"

After she screamed, she collapsed into a ball and continued bawling. In her hysterics, Haleigh had barely noticed that Cornelius was forced to back off and give her a little bit of space. Once she was had finished with her screaming, Cornelius was going back over to comfort her when all of a sudden, simultaneous flashes of light burst from her direction and out came every other member of her team: Corey, Coraline, Orion, Reyna and Cerise.

Haleigh noticed the sudden arrival of her team as she looked up and in the direction of where she heard them materialize. They all had looks of concern and pity for their trainer. It seemed like once again they found her in a dire emotional state. There was only one thing to do. Slowly, all of them came up to Haleigh and started embracing her as a group and giving their own unique gestures to comfort her. Even in the depths of her anguish, she couldn't help but feel touched that they all cared for her to this degree. She graciously accepted their presence while she continued to process all of those years of held back emotion.

Orx of Twinleaf · Sep 8, 2021

Team:

Rij

Henj

Pelj

Tim T
The Lake of Outrage was a sparse place. It took Tim most of the day just to find enough roots to hold him over. There was grass and moss for his mons, but Tim couldn't eat such things, and it seemed the roughness of the area discouraged a lot of the more palatable things from growing. Or perhaps the storm had just knocked all the fruit and nuts down. It had rumbled through the night, as if the sky itself were snoring in slumber, and still through the day it growled and murmured, flashing with arcs of power. Though the rain had at least let up a little bit, the lightning was still quite active.

The constant thundering at least kept Tim's attention in the present. Tim and Henj had waded out into the water as Rij stood by at the shore. Tim was dressed this time—to keep his Rij's and Henj's balls on hand—and was fighting off a bit of a cold that had tried to set in on him in the night. The water of the lake was a few shades warmer than the rain itself for some reason, though that might have been because of Pelj.

The little Rolycoly sputtered as Tim lifted her out of the drink again. She had her eye pinched shut and her wheel spun uselessly in the air.

"You see, it's not so bad," Tim said, almost reassuringly.

Pelj blew some steam out her back—apparently that was where she breathed?—and looked over at Tim determinedly, signaling she was ready. Tim dunked her under the water again for the umpteenth time. Henj watched with interest nearby, the big Stonjourner standing in the water just in case something tried to pull Tim down again, as had happened outside Hulbury. Rij was Rhyhorning around, uninvested in the scene but on hand to respond if something came out of the treeline to pick a fight.

The water bubbled a little as Pelj heated up in her focus, and Tim brought her back up again. Tim didn't think there was any way a Rolycoly would be able to swim, and she was certainly too small to perform Rij's trick of jumping up for air. All the same, it would be pertinent for her to be able to hold her breath if needed, and to keep from panicking if she ever fell into water, so that she could wheel her way out without drowning. Pelj sputtered a little less feverishly and then was ready to be dunked again. Tim obliged.

As a Rock that might someday also be a Fire, Pelj had a strong natural aversion to being submerged. It wasn't that such mons were afraid of water, necessarily—as many of them did still have to drink it sometimes—, but they were roundly uncomfortable with large quantities. Rocks usually sank quickly due to the density of their bodies, and would be likely to drown. Fires were unmanned by being devoid of their pyrogenetic abilities, and as a lot of them had internal burner organs they went through oxygen faster than the norm: they would be quick to drown if sent too deep. Or something like that. Tim hadn't paid too much attention to that kind of thing back in class. Actually, maybe he was mixing that up with the physiologies of those fantastical elemental creatures in that book series he used to read back in grade school. Tim brought Pelj back up.

Whatever the case, Pelj had balked immensely when Tim brought them all to the water. Rij and Henj seemed to be over it—except that Henj still seemed a little tense—so Pelj put on her brave face and pretended not to be bothered. Even so, Tim could feel her trembling when they'd first started. She was already improving though. Tim dunked her again and this time she even kept her eye open. Tim wished he could understand what his mons were saying. He wished he could know why Pelj agreed to Tim's brutal regimen. Tim had pointedly made sure Pelj always had a clear shot to the edge of the clearing or the mouth of the cave whenever it was time to sleep. She could have and by all rights should have snuck away in the night by now. She still had never even been properly caught. Tim brought her back up.

Her red eye squinted off into space in determined focus. Why? There was no reason she should want Tim's approval, or care about his input at all. Was she drawn to Rij or Henj instead? Tim briefly entertained the notion that perhaps she had taken interest in Henj as a mate, but dismissed the thought quickly. Even for wild animals there had to be easier ways to get laid, right? Ways that didn't involve some bogeyman waterboarding her as if performing some militant baptism? Tim dunked Pelj again.

And what of Henj the Stonjourner? It had been … some months anyway since Henj had approached out of nowhere and forced himself under Tim's care. Henj's gift with charades could be no natural ability: he had been around humans before. He knew enough about humans to be able to understand when Tim asked him if he bled: which should have made no sense if Henj didn't understand that other creatures had blood. He knew enough about humans to flex his arms to communicate the notion of strength to Tim: a gesture that should have had no meaning to a creature without muscles. Very rarely, Henj even suggested a direction to go in while foraging, even though he shouldn't have the slightest idea what to look for given he didn't seem to eat. Henj certainly acted as if he were quite old. He didn't chatter and prattle like Pelj did, but some nights he would speak quietly in his low stony voice to Rij as the Rhyhorn drifted in and out of wakefulness. What did Henj talk about? Why was Henj here? Even with a ball, Tim had no way of keeping a half-ton living statue around if he didn't want to stay. Tim let Pelj back up.

Then there was Rij. The Rhyhorn that had belonged to Tim's friend and who had effectively become an entirely different mon after her death. Even when Tim's friend had been alive, Rij hadn't talked much. He would cough or bark but he hadn't often spoken the way other mons did. Now that Tim's friend was gone, Rij never spoke, and it was rare to get so much as a growl out of him. Henj's talks with Rij were always one-way, and Pelj quickly stopped trying to talk to him at all, chattering instead to herself or occasionally Henj. Tim's friend had never spoken much of her family, outside of Rij, and indeed her service had only been attended by Tim himself and a handful of the quirky rangers she had kept company with.

Tim had met some of them before the accident, when he'd first come to Galar. He used to be more outgoing. "You two know Versusan right?" Tim had asked, approaching two men where they were loitering with their mons near the road through the woods.

"Aye 'at we do, bruv," the slimmer of the two had said in a gravelly voice through filed teeth. His ratty green hair had grown out over his face so completely Tim had thought the man had perhaps just been outright blind. Between the hair and the teeth, Tim had been hard-pressed to say whether the man or his Carnivine had the more shark-toothed grin.

The other ranger was inhumanly large. His arms and legs had looked like tree trunks made of meat, and his bald head had almost merged necklessly into his muffin-shaped belly. "Who wants to know?" he had said in a surprisingly suave voice through what continued to this day to be the longest, most bushy purple beard Tim had ever seen on a real human being. It was almost as if the man had himself spat up his Grimer companion.

Tim had paused a little, a bit nonplussed at seeing the men up close. "I'm her friend," Tim had said after regaining his composure. "I'm thinking of getting her something for her birthday coming up, I thought you two might know what she likes. I've seen her talking to you before."

Sawtooth had frowned a little. He had seemed to have some sort of tic where he had to keep his mouth open and chewing at the air when at rest. "Her friend?" he had asked, doubtful. "We donnae 'ave friends." He had shared a look with his Carnivine, both he and the mon seeming offended. "You tryin t'start sumthin, bruv?"

Tim had been taken aback at that response. Beardbelly had stepped in to take the reins of the conversation with his incongruously velvet voice. "Wait, are you that Timereaux she talks about?"

Sawtooth's demeanor had changed quickly. "Oh, aye, aye, 'at's right! Her little boytoy, innit?" His laugh had been a sound like a lawnmower hitting gravel. Tim had supposed he had something wrong with his throat.

"Maybe I should just ask some other rangers," Tim had said, unamused. That had only made Sawtooth laugh more though.

Beardbelly had said, "That won't do you any good. I'm sure you've noticed this but we and her are a touch"—he looked at his Grimer—"estranged from the rangers proper."

Tim had been confused to hear this. She had always seemed amazing to him. He had known of no one else—still knew of no one else—that could navigate rough terrain as well as she could. Although … he had never seen her use her styler before. "Aren't … Aren't you still rangers though?"

"Yes, officially. But the other rangers find us to be unsavory." Beardbelly had shaken his head dolefully.

"Think we oughtta style more, bruv," Sawtooth had said, chomping at the air. "Use the styler, 'at is. Think it's important ta keep a relationship widda ferals, aye. But 'at ain't no fun. Chilicon 'ere can do whatever needs done!" He had clapped his Carnivine on the head proudly.

"But what if you needed a mon to put out a fire or something?" Tim had asked.

"'At's the fun part, bruv! Makin you and yer partner fit through any situation. 'At's rangerin! Chilicon and me crossed a canyon once, didn't need ta style a single bird!"

"The other rangers find us to be reckless thrill-seekers and don't associate with us," Beardbelly had said. "They shouldn't have any right to complain though, when Gunkther and I have been doing this longer than half of them have been walking." His Grimer had just shrugged philosophically: it was what it was.

"Aye," Sawtooth had said again, "so we ain't the sort ta be makin fun of." But then he had smiled, showing off that even his molars had been filed. "But if you's a friend a Versusan's we might be able to 'elp ya, bruv."

Tim had never gotten either of their names. The last he had seen them was at his friend's service where they and a handful of other equally-outlandish characters were all who attended besides Tim and Rij. They had been sad to see their small number of freaks lose a member. If they could see Tim now, would they consider that number replenished?

Thunder roared, pulling Tim back into the present. He made to dunk Pelj back into the lake but she lifted out of his hands, lit by a bluish light. Tim, astonished, watched her haplessly float to the shoreline and land in bemusement behind an Espeon that had come out from behind one of the large stones at the shore. Rij was facing the newcomer but hadn't made any noise, and Tim had evidently been so deep in his thoughts he hadn't noticed.

"Esp, penon," Espeon said gently to Pelj before turning a hateful look out at Tim. Tim wasn't sure what Espeon had said, but whatever it had been made Henj grunt, deeply offended. Pelj blinked in confusion and tried to respond, but Espeon quieted her gently. "Nop, penon, esp." Pelj seemed angry at the tone.

Did Espeon think Tim was torturing Pelj? Was Espeon trying to butt in and play hero in a situation it didn't understand? That irked Tim but he wasn't going to be the one to escalate the situation. "You mistake me," Tim said to it, but it wasn't interested in hearing his excuse.

Espeon shot him an invasive thought of disapproval in that telepathic way Psychics sometimes did. "Nop espee," it said with finality, posturing. It slapped Pelj chidingly with its tail when she tried to move out of behind it. Tim started to move towards the shore, and Henj was still making an intense face, as if Espeon had said something so offensive it couldn't be answered. Had it just bunched Tim and Henj together as torturers?

"Nohr," came a deep, strong voice.

Tim and Henj and Pelj all stared in shock, the only sound in the air being the rain. Espeon regarded Rij with the stink eye. "Espee nopenon e—"

"Nohr," Rij said again as a clap of thunder punctuated his shout. He looked absolutely incensed. Tim couldn't imagine what Espeon had said.

Espeon frowned, looking down its nose at the Rhyhorn. Pelj was lifted again, protesting, and placed in a treetop to keep her from running off. "Nop, penon," Espeon told her before stepping forward. Tim and Henj moved to approach but then the water ebbed unnaturally, pushing Tim back. Henj stood up to it easily but still stopped to let Tim brace against his leg. Tim looked up at Henj and Henj closed his eyes, mouth turned down at the sides: Henj wasn't going to go into shore for some reason. Henj looked back at Rij and Espeon so Tim had to be content with watching, as he couldn't walk against the water like this and Henj wasn't going to help.

"Espee nopenon een," Espeon said pointedly, strutting. "Sespon espee." It smirked.

Rij didn't say anything in response but snorted dangerously, head down. Tim opened his mouth to give a command but Rij looked him in the eye and Tim felt his voice die in his throat. Rij, content that he'd silenced his Trainer, shivered all over with Rock Polish.

"Espee, espee, espee," Espeon taunted. Tim saw its eyes flash bluish but couldn't say anything to warn Rij. Sure enough, Rij was outlined in light as the Psychic caught him, lifted him, and smacked him down with a thud. Rij got back to his feet again, shivering another Rock Polish. Neither Espeon's words nor its attack was getting Rij to shoot off early.

Espeon didn't attack immediately again, so Rij got in his third and final Rock Polish. Unfortunately, shimmers of light formed at Espeon's forehead, flashing off Rij as Espeon used Psych Up. Both mons glistened in the rain with the whitish glimmers of Rock Polish. They stood watching one another, unmoving. Tim could hear Pelj's distant chattering and then the rain picked up, falling harder. Lightning flashed and the mons blurred at one another as the thunder rolled.

Rij shot forward with a Horn Attack but Espeon jumped, turning in the air to sweep a multicolored Psybeam. But Rij had kept running, putting himself away from the sweep even as he tumbled on himself, rolling into a full turn to fling a Smack Down as Espeon fell through the air. Espeon glowed with its own Psychic, using it to perform a quick midair jump to dodge the attack before landing and firing another Psybeam. Rij took this one head-on as he met Espeon's chest with his Drill Run, tossing it aside. Espeon rolled to its feet and chased Rij away with another Psybeam as the Rhyhorn galloped along the beach to line up another pass.

"Put me in, Henj," Tim said quietly as he patted the Stonjourner's leg, watching the fight.

"Nortons, jouron," Henj said quellingly, refusing. He wasn't even giving Rij his Power Spot.

Espeon shoved Rij sideways mid-charge with a sidelong Psychic. Rij rolled to keep his momentum, eyes flashing red as he breathed the black light of Scary Face across Espeon, snuffing out some of its Rock Polish lights. Espeon made an annoyed sound and just used Psych Up again, but Rij took that opening to send a golden Smack Down between Espeon's eyes. Espeon reeled as Rij lined up a Drill Run. Espeon tried to jump out of the way but the weight effect from Smack Down robbed the jump's height and it had to self-Psychic again to just barely dodge away. The rain continued to fall. Thunder rumbled like a crowd murmuring, boomed like a crowd roaring.

"Put me in there, Henj!" Tim growled again.

Again, Henj refused. As if he thought this was some sort of matter of honor. Pelj was bouncing up and down feverishly in her tree, helpless to interject.

Rij kept close quarters, pressing the advantage with Horn Attack jabs. But Espeon dodged every one uncannily perfectly, trails of orange light following it as it did so: Detect. Rij's own Move let up and Espeon took the opportunity to spin about with a one-two mule kick that flashed with light on each impact. Rij stumbled back from the unanticipated Double Kick—a normal wild Espeon wouldn't know such Moves, certainly—and sent another Scary Face out. Espeon accepted the debuff as bright particles twinkled out from its body, coalescing at its front in a star-shaped pad of light. Espeon crashed its Last Resort into Rij head-on with a clamorous sound like a marching band being hit by a train. The boom of noise faded into another roll of thunder as Rij was sent bodily tumbling backwards across the shoreline.

"We don't do things alone on this team, Henj," Tim said now, at his limit. "We run together, we train together, we sleep together, and so help me we will fight together no matter your silly ideas of honor. Now send me in there, dammit!" Henj had the grace to look a little uncertain but still didn't obey. "Now, Henj!"

Henj heaved and sent his big leg soaring through the water, Tim carried on its front. With a great spinning kick, Henj sent Tim flying through the rain. Espeon was too busy gloating about its latest hit to notice in time. Lightning flashed as Tim landed on the Psychic mon, clinging to it as they rolled towards the treeline.

Tim put in a bit more of a roll to make sure he came up on top, straddling the Espeon, who was looking up at him in open shock. Tim brought a fist back to knock that stupid look off its face, holding it down with his other hand. His fist seized in the air, held stock still by Espeon's Psychic. Unfazed, Tim sent his head down instead, headbutting Espeon's snout.

Espeon snarled and clawed Tim's face with surprisingly-sharp claws. It was enough to make Tim rear back so that Espeon worked its body out of under him and sent a Double Kick into his ribs. For an Espeon, it had a lot of oomph on the physical side. The kicks threw Tim off onto his back.

Tim got back up, catching his breath. He noticed Rij had gotten to his own feet behind Espeon. Espeon seemed livid at Tim's intrusion, grabbing his arms with its Psychic and lifting him into the air, ready to bash him into the ground for his insolence. Rij sent Espeon up with a Horn Attack from behind. Tim felt the hold let go of his arms as Espeon was sent towards him. He locked his arms around Espeon's midsection and turned in the air as they fell to land on top of the mon. An especially loud blast of thunder punctuated the impact.

Tim rolled off of Espeon and shakily got up. He saw Henj had come back to land, and was already at the treeline, one arm up and one leg out to let Pelj jump down and use him as a ramp out of the tree she was in. Lightning flashed again and Tim looked at Rij. Rij had a strange look on his face as the thunder rolled over them.

"We fight together, Rij," Tim said. "We do things together."

Rij's eyes eased a little and he looked down. Tim had always thought Rij was disinterested, or maybe that he was just stupid, but seeing him now Tim wondered if maybe neither of those things were true. It was less that Rij didn't care and more that he was somewhere else, distracted. Thinking about something else.

"We're alright, Rij. We're alright."

Rij snorted and waddled away to nibble at some bushes. Tim would have given anything to be able to know what Rij was thinking. Tim had precious little to give, but he would have given it anyway. He would give his arms to understand what his mons said. He would give his legs to understand what his mons thought. He would give his life to be able to know they were content under his care.

Pelj and Henj came up now to join Tim in looking down at the Espeon. It was still breathing of course, but to Tim's surprise it was even still conscious. It looked up at Tim with narrowed eyes.

Tim was unable to read the look it was giving him. "Don't mess with us," Tim told it. He could think of nothing more to say to it, and neither Henj nor Pelj seemed to want to add anything.

Tim started walking away from it, to go gather Rij and move somewhere else to train, but Espeon called out to him as it got up. It said something to him a little haltingly, and then added something to Henj and then to Pelj. Pelj seemed to immediately forget the context of the situation and bounced up and down in satisfaction, as if she had been praised. Henj just muttered thoughtfully.

"What did it say?" Tim asked Henj. Henj motioned for Tim to wait and Espeon sent him images of a forked branch that Tim couldn't make sense of.

Espeon walked shakily away to the stone it had earlier emerged from. Tim turned to leave but Henj and Pelj made him stay put. After a while, Espeon came back with two jewels in its mouth and dropped them in the sand. It shot Tim an image of the numeral one. "You want me to take one?" Tim ventured for confirmation. Espeon nodded unsmilingly.

Tim looked at the jewels and found them to be a Sun Stone and a Dawn Stone. Yet two more Evolution Stones that shouldn't be in this area: apparently the Lake of Outrage really did generate them. But what about this Espeon? Had it been guarding it? Like the Glaceon from before? What, did these Eeveelutions consider themselves gurus or something? Tim wondered how many more of them were around.

Tim finally picked the Dawn Stone. Not because he meant to get any use out of it, but for the same reason he'd taken the Ice Stone from before: perhaps someone else could use it. Tim was sure he wouldn't be cheapening the efforts of these Eeveelutions by passing on their prizes. After all, Tim was going to be applying his own test of sorts before giving out such things.

"Thank you," Tim said to Espeon. It seemed like the thing to say. "And uh, sorry for headbutting you."

Espeon just shook its head and took the unclaimed Sun Stone, turning away to disappear into the treeline. Pokémon were strange creatures. Much like humans, they could be guided by any number of unseen ambition and goal. Their motivations and aspirations in life were varied and many. How hard it was to discover such things from other humans when one could speak with them in a shared language. How much harder it was to understand such things from animals that didn't even use the same body language.

Tim looked between Henj and Pelj as he pocketed the Dawn Stone. "Maybe we should look for more of these," he said to them. "Might be a little more interesting than our usual training." Pelj hopped excitedly at the notion. Henj frowned thoughtfully and shrugged. "What do you think, Rij?" Tim asked, turning to face the Rhyhorn where he had started grazing again.

Rij swallowed a mouthful of grass and snorted, although with a bit of a gleam in his eye.

MurkMire · Sep 10, 2021

Name: Clovis Solanine
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Current Party:

Chapter 8-1: Fanning the Flames! Clovis Versus Kabu!

After leaving the motel, Clovis walked down the streets of Motostoke. There was nothing else on his mind than the battle that was ahead. He lagged incredibly far behind the rest of the group, but... he's back. Nothing could change his current train of thought.

But, while on the way, Clovis remembered to visit the Pokemon Center before going straight to the gym. His inventory was bare bones, only containing some Pokeballs, Burn Heals, and an assortment of random items. Of course, he also equipped Cortex with the Light Clay that had been given to him previously. Though, after the previous visit, Clovis was too embarrassed to walk inside, but swallowed his pride once more. He walked in.

The Nurse Joy on duty noticed, and just gave him a small nod with a soft smile, before attending to the trainer before her. Returning the nod, Clovis walked over to the Mart attendant, and sheepishly asked for specific supplies. Though he didn't need the Burn Heals now, he was glad he had bought them much earlier before. "Hey... you okay?" "Uh- Yes, I just need some Super Potions... about five. And, one Revive." Clovis continued to place his eyes on the ground. He thought that maybe in this pitiable state, no one would recognize him. He didn't notice the possible looks of others, but he didn't care, either.

"Here... do your best," the attendant spoke. The Super Potions, and the single packaged Revive, now Clovis began to place in his medicine pocket. Nodding in respectful thanks to both the Mart attendant, and Nurse Joy, he left. The sickness in his stomach, ever so slightly in his stomach.

~~

The previous night, Clovis laid in his motel bed with just a single lamp on, only the moonlight bleeding through the curtains. Having taken the time before to feed his Pokemon, allowed them to remain out of their Pokeballs. Neural, laying on the couch with a happy look on his face, Morphe seemingly to float aimlessly in the room, Id merely sat on a side table with an annoyed look on his face, Pariet sleeping next to Neural as a makeshift "pillow", and both Archimedes and Cortex had sat before Clovis. Archimedes nuzzled against his trainer's face before looking him in the eye. Saying nothing, but receiving a headpat, Archimedes understood. He pecked the Pokeball, and returned to his ball. Cortex merely sat on the floor. Those bright blue eyes looked up at Clovis, eyes that analyzed his trainer.

He could feel those eyes scanning him over, and he looked over at his partner. Though his Pokemon (mostly) agreed to stay, Clovis was still unsure of himself. Still unsure if he should keep being a trainer. With that line of thought, Clovis could feel a new set of eyes looking him over. He looked up, and saw Morphe frozen in place in the air. The eyes, all of them, glued on Clovis. It floated over and seemed to try to communicate with him.

"..."

But still, Clovis remained silent. Neural took notice, but yawned, and scratched himself again. "....." A new sensation tugged Clovis' senses. A strong, urging sensation. It came from Cortex, it's rhythmic blue lights that shone on the shell shine a bit brighter, a bit more intense. "Cortex... what are you trying to tell me?" Out of Clovis' bag, the badge case floated towards Cortex. "You... you want to help me tomorrow, Cortex? But, this will be a Fire-type gym...." But, the sensation that came from Cortex remained. This was very much unlike Cortex, being so straightforward and willful to fight. Pulling his head up, he looked to the rest of the Pokemon in the room. And, Archimedes' pokeball. But, at this point, it would seem that the rest of the Pokemon have no qualms.

"Alright, Cortex. It's you and me, again. Which, reminds me," he muttered, as he stood up, taking the badge case and returned it to his bag. But, not before taking the Light Clay from the bag. "Cortex... with everything that has happened, I forgot to give you this. Please, take it." With that, the Light Clay floated out of his hand and into Cortex's shell, tucked away for use. "I suppose... it's time to prepare everyone for tomorrow." He silently polished Cortex's shell, before taking care of the rest of his party as the night kept on.

~~

The thoughts of the previous night lingered, but were quickly dismissed as he walked up to Motostoke Gym. The red brick building, seeming larger than before, but this was different. This day, he was not here as part of a starting ceremony. He was here for a fight. He was here for the challenge. "It's fine, just stop," he muttered to himself, a fleeting thought pounced, but he shook it off.

Walking inside. Clovis saw into the familiar lobby, a bit of traffic here and there. Walking up... he stood before the clerk for the gym challenge. "Ah, yes... Clovis Solanine? Been a while since your last challenge, but go ahead into the changing room. Your challenge will begin in thirty minutes to an hour." "Thank you," he nodded as he said thanks. Still... he saw the clerk giving him a look. A look that made him walk to the changing room a bit more quickly. He felt eyes on him ever since he walked out of his room. But, again, it was he dismissed these fleeting feelings and began to change.

He sat on the bench inside the locker room, sitting in silence as he mentally prepared himself. "I... will not... be weak." He continued to sit there, thinking about the upcoming challenge, before the intercom started up, "Clovis Solanine, it's time for your Gym Challenge. Please, enter into the lobby, then into the double doors next to the reception counter." The challenge begins, anew.

It was a blur, a streak of events before Clovis found himself in the Challenge Area, a field with several patches of tall grass, various trainers dressed in the garb of Motostoke Gym on standby. "Welcome to the Motostoke Challenge, a challenger that was silent for a while, but is making a sudden comeback! The rules are simple, catch a Pokemon while the gym trainers are constantly working against you!" Looking around, Clovis does indeed see the trainers along the boundary of the field, keeping tabs on each patch of grass. Two trainers, per patch. One of which... seemed to look familiar. One of which... seemed to look at him. But, he turned back to the patch of grass.

But before long, a blaring sound that initiated the challenge called out, ringing in Clovis' ears. "Argh... damnit," he cursed under his breath, as the sound of rustling grass could be heard as he cradled his skull. "Wh... okay, okay. Uhh, Neural, I choose you!" Elekid, popping out of the ball, began to flail his arms around wildly. "Neural, listen. We need to catch a Pokemon here, but the trainers here will also be working against us. Are you ready?" Spinning around, Neural looked Clovis in the eye, and nodded, before beginning to run off into a patch on the right. "Neural, slow down! Augh, fine," he sighed, following his Elekid into the grass. "BEE! Bee-BEEBEE!"

Walking up, Clovis could see that not only Neural was provoking a wild Sizzlipede, but also an opposing Growlithe. The Growlithe, in question, belonged to a young trainer. Dark, tanned skin. Bright, blonde hair. Eyes, blue as the ocean water. And a grin, of sparkling white. "Alright Growlithe, let's go!" "Arf! RRrrrrrrgghh!" The Growlithe growled at Neural, the Elekid was ready for a fight, but Clovis stood there, frozen. "A-ah... Urgh, Neural, attack the Growlithe! Thundershock!" Spinning his arms wildly, Neural fired loose a stream of electrical strikes, but Growlithe gracefully dodged out of the way. Clovis could only watch, as a familiar form took the place of Growlithe. "UGH, THUNDERSHOCK AGAIN!" But, before Neural could proceed, Sizzlipede attacked with a Bite attack, causing Neural to flinch from the surprise attack. "Come on, you got two to worry about! Growlithe, Ember!"

"Come on, be a good punching bag, yeah?"

"SHUT UP. Neural, Shock Wave!" "BeeeeeeEEEE!" An orb of crackling electricity spread wildly as it hit both Sizzlipede and Growlithe. The gym trainer looked at him curiously, and asked if he was alright, but got no reply. "Well, whatever. I'm just here for the challenges. Growlithe, Flame Wheel!" Growlithe, as it begins to run, is enveloped in whirling flames, slamming into the Elekid, knocking it prone. "Beee... BEE!" Again, Neural fired off a Shock Wave, and hit Growlithe for a critical hit. Not even paying attention to the Sizzlipede, Clovis stepped forward and looked down on the Growlithe and his trainer. "Neural, Charge. Get ready for another Thundershock on that Growlithe." "...Bee?" He turned, and looked curiously, but simply shrugged. "Beeee, Bee-BEE!" He spun his arms again, his body now crackling with electricity. The Sizzlipede tried attacking with an Ember, but seemed to do less damage than before.

"Neural, attack the Growlithe with Thundershock!" "...." Neural just stood there, looking over at Clovis curiously. Confused, as he gave instructions to knock out the opposing *wild* Pokemon. "I... I mean Sizzlipede! Obviously, what do you take me for?" Instead, before both Growlithe and Sizzlipede could attack again, Neural fired off another Shock Wave, attacking both Pokemon and knocking them out. A speaker called out, "With that strategy of electrifying execution, Challenger Clovis has knocked out both a trainer Pokemon and the Wild Pokemon!" Snapping Clovis out of his thoughts, Clovis tossed an empty ball from his side, and threw it at the Sizzlipede. "You good? Got that out of your system? Then catch it," the young man spat, before returning his Growlithe. Clovis didn't look at him, Clovis didn't want to. Instead, he looked over to the ball.

One shake, two shakes, *pop*

"SSSsssss," the Sizzlipede hissed, still weak, but still raring to go. Neural, seeing this, growled back as he spun his arms with gusto. "Quick Attack, let's wrap this up." And just like that, Neural went from a charging pose to a quick tackle, knocking Sizzlipede to the ground, knocking it out. "Pokeball, go."

One shake, two shakes, three shakes... *bing*

"And there you have it, Challenger Clovis has completed the challenge in just a short amount of time! Get ready, ladies and gentleman, for a rip-roaring, explosive battle!"

"... Right." Clovis walked over, and picked up the ball before noticing... more eyes on him. Quickly, he stood up before the trainers all seemed to give him that look. Especially the blonde-headed trainer. "Hey, Growlithe okay?" "What's that trainer's problem" Voices could be heard, but Clovis just recalled his Elekid, not even looking at him. He just clipped the ball to his belt, and walked past them all. Ignoring them.

"Excuse me, challenger." The attendant beside the door called. "Sorry, I know you're ready to really get going, but I gotta make sure you're keeping that Sizzlipede you caught." "Ah... yes... no, I will not." "Then please, allow me to vacate that Pokeball for you. Besides, Kabu needs a moment before the stadium, and the crowd, is ready."

Nodding, Clovis handed the ball to the attendant and stood silently. His right hand on Cortex's ball as it's clipped to his side, running his hand over the smooth surface. "Listen... just between you and me," the attendant spoke up, as he placed the Pokeball into a machine, transferring Sizzlipede out of it and into the Gym's PC. "This gym is all about testing a trainer's true mettle. And... if you're not ready for what happens next," he whispered, before handing the empty ball back, he leaned in and finished with, "You're gonna have a bad time. Good luck."

The lights above the door flashed green. He gave one final nod to Clovis, before pressing the switch for opening the door. Bright lights began to flood into the room, the roar of the crowd rushed in. The stadium was empty, and ready. Clovis slowly proceeded.

"Ladies and gentleman, let's welcome to Motostoke Stadium, a gym challenger that hasn't been seen in a long while! Cloviiiiiiiiiiiissss Solaniiiiiiiiiine!"

A bit of a louder than normal applause had met Clovis' reception, causing him a bit of relief... and anxiety. Still... Clovis walked, waving out to the open air.

As Clovis stepped into place, Cortex's Pokeball in hand, he waited. "And, our fiery gym leader of Motostoke, the wild fire of Galar! Please welcome, Kabu!"

The older gentleman stepped forth, the spotlight on him, as he walked onto the field, waving to the now roaring audience cries. Though seeming to look on at the crowd, Kabu eyed the mossy-headed challenger.

"Meek... afraid... troubled. Nothing remote to a fire, let alone a spark within him."

Like a predator, a Pyroar eying a young Rattata, Kabu sized up Clovis. Every step he took towards the field, his piercing eyes never strayed from Clovis. The eyes that Clovis could feel on him, in turn, felt as if his very being was being perceived by this man. He could hide nothing.

Kabu continued, until he stood on the opposite end of the field. Though he stood with the usual confidence of any gym leader, Kabu was... different. He stood tall, yet ready to pounce, ready to attack. Clovis seemed to shrink in place, he felt that Kabu had him figured out. "Just like everyone else, with the way I've been getting looks ever since I fled that cave. Ever since I-"

But Clovis stopped and noticed that Kabu reached to his lapel, and pressed against it. His eyes, still unmoved. His lips moved, finally, but Clovis could make out just enough of what he was trying to tell him.

"Be ready to face the fire."

"Centiskorch, I choose you!" Quickly, in succession, as if what just occurred in the last fifteen seconds was an illusion, Kabu tossed a Pokeball high into the air above, and to the ground fell an impressive sight. The crowd roared once more with excitement, as Centiskorch landed on the field and hissed, screeched with pride. It lashed and bit, it's flames sparked and flew, before falling upon Clovis. Eyes of equally piercing, soul crushing weight fell on Clovis' form. Seconds passed, the crowd roaring a little less, as Clovis stood. In fear. Eyes that pierced... eyes like a Zangoose. Eyes, like Tex.

"What's the matter, trainer? Let's show everyone some real fire!" Kabu called out. Clovis, shakily, threw the ball, muttering the name of his partner. "C-Cortex... g-go," was all he could manage, as Cortex appeared on the field, lights brilliant as Centiskorch's flames. The bright blue of Cortex's shell had shone, not unnoticed by the trainer. Clovis stood there, confused and timid. "..." A sensation could be felt on Clovis' being, a tug. Was it Cortex, trying to urge Clovis on?

"Let the battlllllllllllllllleeeeeeee BEGIN!"

The music began to play, the audience began to scream and chant, everything began to become more intense. The audience, the lights, the music, Kabu, Centiskorch, even Cortex... but Clovis only shuddered again. That same sickness began to settle in, he almost fell to one knee, but the sensation pulled him back up. "C-Cortex... I-" "Centiskorch, Sunny Day!"

The Centiskorch cried into the open air, a bright light began to shine above. That's right. A bright, sunny day, and piercing eyes, before Clovis.

"Our challenger seems to be eying the Gym Leader, waiting for his next move! How will Kabu respond?"

"Fire Lash, let's go," Kabu called, before an instantaneous lashing of the Radiator Pokemon hit and struck Cortex, singeing it hard before it collected itself back. Seeing Cortex hurt, Clovis began to panic. Began to fear.

"C-Cortex, use... R-Reflect!" Cortex did so, as a bright, blue barrier of light formed, protecting Cortex. "C-Cortex-" "Scald."

Merciless in his attack, Kabu ordered Centiskorch. A pressurized, scalding jet of water fired from Centiskorch's mandibles, striking Cortex hard, the singe now deeper and beginning to give off flicks of embers. "Cortex... Cortex, Light Screen!"

And again, a brilliant display of gold now shone to protect Cortex, but it was hurt pretty bad. Kabu looked on at the steadfast Dottler, and his trainer struggling to stay together.

"I have to get through to him, somehow."

"Centiskorch, Bug Bite!" Slithering, Centiskorch trailed, ready to strike with it's terrible fangs. It reared up, mandible agape, as it flung down and bit down on Dottler's shell and gnawed away. A cry of pain echoed on, reverberating through Clovis' being. A cry not unlike one he made long ago. A cry for help.

Help.

HELP.

"... HELP"

Clovis' eyes widened, they began to stream immediately with tears. Now wracked with familiar fear, he cried in a desperate attempt, "CORTEX, CONFUSION!" The lights on Cortex's shell began to glow purple, forcing off Centiskorch, and with seemingly more aggression than Cortex had previously displayed, flung the opponent up and away. The Centiskorch fell to and across the ground, now struggling to retain it's poise as it seemed to be confused.

"Would you look at that, ladies and gentleman! The challenger seemed to lie in wait as Kabu began his fearsome attack and countered with a powerful Confusion attack! What's more, Centiskorch is confused! Clearly, a match of Bug-types in the heat of battle! How will things play out now?"

"There is a spark, but it's weak... time to stoke them."

"Centiskorch, attack! Solarbeam!"
"CORTEX, RECOVER!"

But, Clovis failed to realize the futility of this action. Centiskorch, despite the confusion, began to glow a brilliant yellow. It struggled to retain it's aim, before firing an impressive blast of Solarbeam. Though Light Screen was up, it didn't fail to knock over the Dottler, now on it's side as it tried with all it's might to flip back.

"Centiskorch, Thunder Fang!" Though Kabu was lucky once, Centiskorch had unfortunately struck itself, recoiling in it's own damage.

"Cortex... CORTEX, use Confusion, then Recover!" Cortex applied Confusion to lift itself onto it's proper station, before beginning to heal. Centiskorch, however, seems to shake itself of the confusion.

The form of Cortex seemed to shudder and tire, but the lights that shone across it's shell remained a brilliant blue. The shell is singed, gnawed and blasted, but the bright blue of Cortex's light continues to shine brightly.

"C...Cortex... are you okay?"

Centiskorch and Kabu both stood in wait, a hush rung about the stadium, though the music continued to play. Clovis, seeing Cortex beaten down and still continue to shine... a wave came across him, as one last image came through his mind's eye. The bright blue of Cortex's shell brought Clovis to one of the last memories he had, before he left for Galar.

Darkness, only lit by neon lights of Sunnyshore's downtown area. Bright blue neon lights, shining down on a dark alley way. Sounds of a struggle, sounds of a violent thrashing. Cries, ringing out into the night. Bright blue neon lights, shining down on a bloody battle. Sounds of both snarls and hissing. A flurry of white streaks, and a lashing of purple and red.

With these faint images, Clovis felt himself lose control over his senses again. He felt the threat was at his throat again. His eyes rolled back, as tears quietly rolled down his cheeks. He could tell he was calling attacks, but this entire time, he was trapped in his mental processes. What once was a series of connected thoughts, was now a series of tangled anxieties, fears and self-hatred.

He felt he was tangled in the scribbles of his mind as he saw Centiskorch land a consecutive hit of Fire Lash, knocking out Cortex. Unable to speak, feeling that he was unable to breathe, he merely fell to his knees, as he weakly held up the Pokeball and returned Cortex.

The last thing he saw was an older gentleman walk up to him, before he blacked out.

Foxrally · Sep 11, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Xan

Kass

Jerry ♂

Sphinx ♀

Spoiler: Inventory

Motostoke Riverbank

Simon paused for a moment. "Excuse me, what?"

The helmet gave a miniscule tilt to the side and asked, "What part of that wasn't clear?"

"No, no, I understood you, it's just-" Simon narrowed his eyes, "You just said I'm psychic because I know what three times eight is?"

Xan snorted, saying nothing for the moment as their head turned in Kass' direction. The Kadabra gave them a shrug before leaning over to whisper to Simon; technically the question was eight times three, not three times eight…

"While most things can on technicality be described as 'psychic' to some degree," Xan began. "What we're dealing with here is some kind of psychic tendency working at above-normal levels for a person that people wouldn't typically describe as psychic. Really, all I'm getting is the faint telltale thrum of psychic effort. In theory you could be calling upon some manner of psychic power to help out with multiplication, I wouldn't know - though my best guess is that it's more to do with the more extraordinary abilities you're exhibiting."

Simon opened his mouth to say something, then sighed as he gave up on understanding Xan at all. "Okay, I'm lost- what abilities are you talking about, mate?" he asked the trainer, though his eyes shifted between them and Kass.

"You- are you kidding?" Xan laughed, pointing loosely at Kass. "You can- okay, it's not something I have a wealth of data on - but understanding Pokémon speech beyond a general gist isn't common in my experience."

"Kadabra kad," said the Kadabra, eyes shining.

Simon blinked a few more times, incredulous, "Wait, so… me understanding Pokemon so well is actually a psychic thing?" He looked at Xan excitedly, "Like, levitate-things-with-my-mind kind of psychic?!"

Xan hesitated, clearly struggling not to explain eighty things at once. Eventually they said, "...Loosely, yes. If you're interested, I'd be more than happy to conduct a full evaluation. I have- well, okay I'm not going to mince words or anything; this is my field of study. Life's work, more-or-less. Even if I'm vastly overestimating the potential, here, your- er, this," they waved their hands around a little. "Is scientifically significant."

"Ka kadabra…" Kass whispered, awe-struck and definitely not holding in laughter no way absolutely not. The chosen one…?

"Psy psyduck…" Jerry echoed. The chosen one.

Simon gasped, looking wide-eyed at Xan. Was he really some kind of chosen person to inherit this power? He'd heard of humans born with incredible abilities; could he really be one of them…? He glanced at Kass then back at Xan.

"That is…" he struggled to find his next words, "...probably the most ridiculous way someone's tried to mess with me." the boy let out a laugh, coupled with a disappointed sigh. "I thought you were actually being serious for a second. I'm glad your Kadabra's a fan, but telling me I'm a psychic-type too isn't really going to get you any backstage passes, mate."

"Backstage passes?" Xan chortled. "Yeah, no, I'm not messing with you, I'm completely serious. By all means you're entitled to opt out, but if you are interested like you seemed to be we should find somewhere dry I can get the laptop out and we can sort out where you're at." They turned away and began scanning the surrounding area for good spots. "Guessing you're not at the visible phenomena stage."

Simon thought about it for a second, then shrugged- he would humour the researcher's theory, if not out of curiosity's sake, then at least to chat with Kass more.

"Not sure what 'visible phenomena' counts as for you psychics, but I can usually understand most Pokemon pretty well if they're willing to talk. Normally I'd demonstrate with the rest of my Pokemon, but Scolipede is a bit of a mute and the rest of my team… well, we're not on speaking terms for now."

"Visible phenomena are just, well, that. If something teleports or moves something with psychokinesis, you can see it. If something perceives a possible future or sends a telepathic message, there isn't much of a chance people are going to be any the wiser." Xan gestured to a rock under the shade of a nearby tree and began the stroll over. "There should do."

As the group made their way over, Kass matched Simon's pace and gave him a concerned glance.

"Kadabra dabra? Kada da dab, kadabra ab abra?"

The Kadabra was asking why he wasn't on speaking terms with his team. Simon considered deflecting the mon's concern for a moment, but realized that if anyone could help, it would be another Pokemon- and somehow, it felt less weird to open up to one about it than to another trainer like Haleigh.

"I… I said a few things to them that I probably shouldn't have," the boy began, "and now they probably hate me. It's because of Scolipede, they think I didn't let the rest of them out during my gym battle because I'm embarrassed of them- but I just wanted to be seen as strong for once, you know?"

"Bra dab?" Kass echoed, as if to say 'for once?' The Kadabra went on - there had scarcely been a moment on-screen Kass had witnessed where Simon wasn't showing great strength in some way or another. And it was clear that strength was shared - not just that Simon was strong, or Snom was strong, or Princess was strong, but that Simon was strong with them, and they were strong with him. Kass didn't know what Simon had said, the Psychic-type admitted, but they assured the bug-catcher that even if his worries were realised - and Kass was confident they wouldn't be - not talking it out was the worst thing they could do. All of them deserved better than that, Simon included.

"You… you really think so?" Simon said as he took in the Pokemon's words. "...thanks, Kass. I guess I really needed to hear that."

"Adabra abra," said the Kadabra: Simon was very welcome. They shot bug-boy a single finger-gun of reassurance. The two reached the shade - not as drastic of a relief as it should've been, thanks to The Magnificent Jerry's aura of temperate climate - where Xan had taken cross-legged seat upon a rock and was booting up their laptop.

"Thanks for doing this by the way, Simon," said the helmet. "I'd pay you if I could - but then if I could pay participants then I wouldn't have been here in the first place."

"I'm as curious about this as you are, so I'll accept a selfie with Kass as payment." Simon turned and winked at the Kadabra. "So what do you need me to do?" he asked as he sat down on the grass.

"Well," said Xan. "I can't record answers just yet while it's still coming on, so I guess we'll go for a little experiment." With one hand they pulled a Pokéball from their pocket - with a smug nod, Kass whispered that it was theirs - and with a palm spread flat the sphere began to levitate from its resting point. "Describe to me what you can sense here, if you don't mind."

"Whoa, sick!" Simon exclaimed; "You're levitating it! I've only ever seen it on the telly before, but that's incredible… It's like you're pushing it from below out of thin air." He craned his neck around to look at the sides of the Pokeball, almost as if to check it wasn't some trick still. "So what am I supposed to sense here?"

"Well," Xan laughed a little. "Seems you're sensing something, but I'll hold off on that for the moment. How about now?" The scene above Xan's palm underwent no visual change beyond a minor movement of the ball for a fraction of a second.

Simon squinted at the ball for a few seconds… then looked back at Xan. "Uhh, nothing changed, but it feels… more stable, I guess? Wait, is this about me talking to Pokeballs?"

"No," the psychic chuckled. The confirmed one, that is. "The levitation is the focus here. And more stable is right, you're not wrong. Anything in particular you can pick out about why that might be the case?"

"Well, I can tell there's more psychic stuff happening now than there was a few seconds ago. Or maybe I just noticed it and it was there all along?" Simon shrugged.

Xan shrugged back, "Maybe. How about now?"

Simon stared at the ball some more. "...nothing…?" he answered with uncertainty.

"Right, right," the helmet murmured. The laptop must have turned on by now, judging by the rhythmic clattering of keys. "Well, you caught the red herring - didn't change it at all on that last one. I wish I could give you a proper gauge of what the results of these tests mean for you, but, er, no such luck. Though you'll be happy to know that with your help, my sample of human psychic participants has just doubled in size, to two. We could do another test with focal aids, if you're down for that."

Simon was still confused as to what Xan was trying to test, but he was nonetheless glad he could help. If anything, this could shed some light on the issue Rosa had presented to him way back on route three. "Um, sure- wait what's a focal aid?"

"It's a- yeah," Xan began, cutting themselves off to lift a hand toward where Kass was helpfully holding up their signature spoon. "Psychic focus is a concept that I'd hope is self-explanatory? There are a few different things that can help psychics in that regard - metals, crystals, incense. And there's Kass' spoon; that's a psychoconjured construct." After a quick look around to take stock of the sparse foot traffic, Xan raised both hands to their helmet and pulled it off to float above their head. They closed their eyes and, after a short delay and a long breath in, clapped their hands in front of their face. Retrieving the headgear from above and handing it out to Simon, they told him, "I wear seven of the things, if that's any indication of how much I value them."

Simon blinked in surprise- this was the first time he'd seen Xan without a helmet, especially with how keen they'd been on keeping it on during the gym challenges. They didn't really look like what he imagined a psychic did - whatever that was supposed to be - but he was glad he wasn't just staring at a reflection of himself in a visor anymore. He grabbed the headgear as it was given to him and examined it curiously; it was amazing how it never fogged up after long use. He noticed that there were small square-shaped engravings on the outside; similarly, he also spotted similar shapes on Xan's boots and backpack. Inside the helmet were strips of metal and foam that didn't look like they belonged, some even blocking parts of the visor.

"Whoa… so what could I use for a focus then?" he asked. "I wasn't born with a silver spoon like Kass over here." The Kadabra snorted and gave him rapid finger-guns of approval.

"Well, that temporarily," said Xan, nodding at the helmet. "And don't worry; psychic power makes it relatively easy to keep apparel clean. Put it on and we can repeat the experiment, the change should be noticeable. Long-term I'd advise finding whatever works for you. If you want to try out Odd Incense I have a spare, but it's not my cup of tea so it doesn't exactly come highly recommended. Better than nothing, though."

Simon took off his hat and plopped the helmet on. It fit surprisingly well - the dark visor was also far easier to look through from the inside despite the tinted outside, and didn't feel as stuffy to breathe in as he'd expected. It did do a good job of making his surroundings quieter though, which he supposed was useful for 'focusing' if this was the point of the helmet.

"Alright, hit me with it." he nodded, feeling much cooler now that he looked the part. Whether or not he believed Xan yet, he couldn't deny this made him feel a little more like a proper psychic. Once again Xan levitated the Pokéball above the centre of their palm, and the psychic display that Simon saw was rendered in clearer fidelity than it had been before. Through the visor the actual objects in his field of vision were a little foggier, but the nature of the psychokinesis was more distinct - as if he was seeing clearly now, and with the headgear off he'd been looking through a pane of frosted glass.

"As a little bonus," Xan began. "See if you can catch what I caught. The impulse of psychic effort."

"Wait…" Simon mouthed, still a little confused by what he was sensing. "I can tell that there's something… radiating from you? But not like regular psychic stuff, it's… warmer? Clearer?"

"When I walked up to you, back there, and you were listening to Kass," the practiced psychic explained, "You were making a psychic effort of some sort. Presumably a subconscious attempt to understand Kass - however the hell that works. I'm attuned to my psychic senses, so I could pick up on it. You may not have realised how attuned you are to yours, but now you're certainly in the position to try. And psychokinetically levitating this ball is textbook psychic effort. I'm wondering how much of it you can catch."

Simon nodded slowly as he began to understand what the psychic meant. This feeling, sensation at the back of his head… it was the closest he could describe to a '6th sense', a confusing new feeling in his brain that he couldn't quite categorize- but he could tell it was coming from Xan's head, and to a lesser extent their hands. "This feels really weird, but I think I can see what you mean now…" Simon said, feeling a little queasy from this new experience.

"Can you describe it to me?" Xan asked, ready to type. "I prefer unprompted specifics; don't want to contaminate the data with my influence. As much as I can avoid it, at least."

Simon heard the rustling of grass behind him. From near the bridge, having been staring into nothing, Jerry approached.

"Um, okay," he began at Xan, "that weird feeling, I feel it coming from your head mostly, but also your hands. It's like-"

"Psyduck!" Quacked Jerry, running up furiously. It was important. Jerry carried an urgent message! "Psy-iy… psyduck." There was… a Froakie…

Slowly but surely Simon and Kass' heads turned and they shared a look. In unison they shifted their bodies to gaze down at the river where, sure enough, dozens of the invasive Froakie were frolicking.

"Kadabra," said Kass. Jerry was right. There was indeed a Froakie - many, in fact.

"Jerry, they aren't dangerous." Simon said, reassuring the Psyduck. He glanced at Xan to clarify, "Jerry is worried about some froakies down the river."

The psychic glanced over and after a little while shrugged, "They look far enough away to me."

"Psy-iy-iy," Jerry doubled down. Froakie approach. The Psyduck didn't appear frightened so much as convinced of the importance of his… warning? Was it even a warning?

"Dab ad dabra," Kass assured him. They would be on lookout for approaching Froakie. Apfroakching. This seemed to relieve the Psyduck, so the Kadabra turned to Simon and continued, "Kadabra abra, da dabra." Not the best word they'd ever made, the Psychic-type chuckled. Alas, would that any of their minds held enough power to understand the machinations of their duck-billed friend.

Simon opened his mouth to say something in response, but paused as he realized something- as Kass was talking, he felt that strange sensation again, the same he felt from Xan; but on himself. The effect was much stronger than he'd expected, and he hadn't even heard half of the Kadabra's sentence before he quickly took the helmet off.

"Okay, that was way too weird." Simon shook his head rapidly and closed his eyes, as if trying to shake off the aftertaste of the sensation, "I just felt… when Kass was talking, I felt that same feeling coming from me." he looked at Xan with concern, a bit of panic in his voice, "Is that supposed to happen? Do you feel it too?"

Kass moved closer, concerned, but didn't speak for fear of weirding out the bug catcher again.

Perplexed, Xan frowned and answered, "I notice it, it's not uncomfortable or overwhelming. By all means if you're uncomfortable you can stop for now," Their fingers clattered across their keyboard as they noted things down. "Really should… account for discomfort or strain, begin with… yep. Didn't see this coming," they began to address Simon again, presumably - though the typing never stopped and their eyes never left the screen. "That was very irresponsible of me, I'm sorry."

"No, no, I'm okay." Simon let out a sigh of relief as he calmed down and placed the helmet beside Xan. "I guess it's something to get used to." This new information was still a little overwhelming to him- the talent that he'd attributed to simply being good with Pokemon was actually something far more unnatural... which now had him questioning something.

"Um, Xan-" the boy began, "How… how do people get abilities like this?"

The psychic took the helmet in psychic grasp and floated it above their head. They clapped once in front of their face like they had before, and a little collection of hair, bug fuzz and little remnants of String Shot were expelled from the headgear to fall on the grass below the rock. The last expression of Xan's that Simon saw before the helmet shielded their features again was a wince of pensive disgust.

"Typically, prominent psychics would tell you, and the rest of the public, that some people are born with a talent for this sort of thing. It is those select few who are lucky enough - or perhaps 'destined' - to make use of psychic power," they explained. They stopped typing and looked up at the bug catcher. "Those prominent psychics are fucking morons - either that or they're deliberately trying to pull the wool over people's eyes. Interaction with the fundamental psychic forces of the universe is the purview of all living things, not simply those with a lucky head-start. Innate talent is but a single factor of the equation - as it should be plain to see, knowledge and training go a long way in developing psychic proficiency. The problem is that training is only given to those who already possess talent, and knowledge is… well, for lack of a better word, lacking. Hell, look no further than yourself - how long is it that you've been communicating with Pokémon?"

Simon tapped his chin, trying to count the years before realizing how stupid the thought process was. "Basically as long as I've been able to speak." he answered. "Ballonlea's full of Pokemon."

"I'm not going to pretend I know how long that is, but correct me if I'm wrong, that must be several years?" Xan tilted their head. "Since the start of your enrollment in Wedgehurst Academy, at least, though I'm guessing at least a little longer than that."

"Very funny." Simon responded, unamused.

Xan shrugged, "Assuming that's a long time, relatively speaking, then it's a long time for everyone in your vicinity to have witnessed your ability and, somehow, just not thought anything of it. Of course without a specific time frame I can't say that for certain - there exists a certain tendency to almost equate psychic power to psychokinesis specifically, I suppose because it's the most flashy thing that humans have historically been capable of. But you exhibit something of an extraordinary perceptive power, which is harder to spot from an outside perspective but shouldn't by any means be discounted. And yet here we are."

Simon nodded. It was still hard for him to grasp, but he had a hundred more things on his mind now. Even if knowing that his ability was specifically psychic didn't change anything now, he needed to know more, and answer at least some of the questions that revelation had led to. "Well, is there anything I can do to help your, um, research in the future?"

Kass threw their arms in the air and cheered. Jerry cheered a moment later. The Vulpix a few paces away perked up in attention for a moment before slumping back into a sulky sit.

"Glad you asked," said the psychic scientist - psyentist? - as they resumed typing with fervour. "You're aware of your emerging talent now, and your ability to perceive psychic phenomena should allow you to discover some things on your own. Perception is the root of ability - naturally, you can't psychically affect an object much if you can't psychically perceive it. If you do start moving on to anything that affects more than just yourself, I advise targeting something you're familiar with to start, a light piece of clothing you wear often, like maybe your hat or that net, or one of your partners-in-crime for the gym challenge if you need something living. Make sure they're fine with it first, though - regardless, best you can do to help me is continue to develop your power and keep a record of your progress. Moving at your own pace, of course. And if any of your team start developing psychic ability, keep a record of theirs, too. I can give you a list of things to look out for - you wouldn't happen to have a phone or anything, would you?"

"Oh! Yeah, I do." Simon said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the device. He paused for a moment, "Wait, is this like homework? If so, I'm revoking my consent."

Xan shrugged, "Depends on how you think about it. I'd hope you'll have enough interest in the subject that it wouldn't be a slog - if not, well, you're not obliged. It'd just help me out a lot. Science needs allies, and all that."

Simon let out an exaggerated sigh, "Ugh, fine. I thought you were going to give me something interesting to do. Hey Kass, you still looking for that pic?"

"Da!" The Kadabra exclaimed, their second raised-arm cheer in the past minute. With a less-exaggerated sigh, Xan dug around in their pocket and pulled free a different, more modern-looking phone than the one they were using earlier.

"Okay, fine, I'll take a few pictures," said Xan. "Just give me your phone afterwards and I can copy them over - and I can get you that list while I'm at it."

"Yep, sure-" Simon said as he got up excitedly, now much more distracted. He looked at the Kadabra and struck his signature pose, "Now Kass, show me some CHAMPION MATERIAL!"

Joint post of Turnip and Foxrally

gimmepie · Sep 11, 2021

Indra (Male, Swift Swim) - Rain Dance, Hypnosis, Bubblebeam, Double Slap, Earth Power, Refresh

Stampede (Male, Poison Point) - Water Gun, Smokescreen, Twister, Focus Energy, Dragon Breath, Icy Wind

Holo (Female, Lightning Rod) - Tackle, Thunder Wave, Spark, Howl, Flame Burst, Flash

Vessel (Female, Dry Skin) - Fury Cutter, Absorb, Poison Powder, Spore, Rain Dance, Protect

Lancer (Male, Dry Skin) - Taunt, Revenge, Sucker Punch, Poison Jab, Rain Dance, Toxic

Inventory:

- ATC
- Expensive PokeGear
- Pokedex
- 800 Poke (On ATC)
- TM Icy Wind
- TM Flash
- Wishing Star
- TM Protect
- TM Rain Dance

Badges:

CATHERINE CARLISLE
Wild Area Chronicles - Part Two: Fear

"Ready, Holo? Lancer?"

Holo nervously barked the okay while Lancer simply deepened his confident smirk. Catherine was still working her way through her battle training for the day and had decided that Holo would benefit from just diving into combat training. Naturally, Lancer had been quick to volunteer to be her sparring partner. Luckily for him, it made sense to Catherine; he was clearly very used to fighting on his own and moving independently.

"Okay, you're on your own now, Lancer. Holo, Thunder Wave!"

"Trike!" Sparks crackled over Holo's fur as the charge shot away from her.

Lancer hopped easily to the side then shot forward with a sudden burst of speed, slamming a Sucker Punch into Holo's side and knocking her sprawling. He pressed his advantage as Holo hurriedly scrambled back to her feet, attacking with a Poison Jab.

"Flash!" Catherine ordered, squinting her eyes instinctively before the attack even began.

A blinding white light exploded outward from Holo, dazzling the incoming Lancer and allowing her to dash out the way while he overshot and was forced to stop his momentum and gather himself.

"Flame Burst!" Catherine almost felt guilty for attacking with that one, knowing Lancer's Ability left him vulnerable to Fire. Of course, she wouldn't hold back though. Lancer himself would never accept that.

A fireball formed in Holo's maw and she spat it at Lancer like a missile while he was still rubbing at his eyes. He turned just in time to duck under the worst of the attack, but it exploded and scattered searing embers everywhere, searing his back twice as much as it would a Pokemon without his vulnerability.

Lancer winced and his eyes narrowed. He dashed forward without a moment's delay, his clenched fist glowing with the orange that signified his Revenge attack.

Holo backed up, but that wasn't nearly evasive enough to stop Lancer. She needed to go to the side, but she kept just backing away.

"Holo, move!" Catherine yelled.

Holo barked, seemingly coming out of her daze. It was too late though, Lancer's attack caught her head on and sent her flying across the patch of grass that had become their battlefield. She hit the ground hard and it took several moments for her to shakily rise.

"Flame Burst again, Holo. We need to push him back," Catherine instructed.

Lancer approached casually. He had plenty of time to, because Holo wasn't attacking. She stood there, frozen. Shaking. She was too scared to move.

Catherine's brain didn't have time to choose the correct expletive. Lancer swatted Holo away, not even bothering to use one of his moves. She was knocked tumbling even as he kept approaching.

Holo stayed down. She was still plenty able to battle physically. But it was clear to Catherine that practice was over for the day.

"Lancer, that's enough. I think we're done for now."

"Gunk?" Lancer looked displeased as he questioned Catherine, but did back away from his cowering opponent.

"It's not going to be much practice if you just beat up a cowering opponent with ease," Catherine said, "That's enough for today."

Lancer sighed, but obeyed the instruction. Grumbling to himself, he started making his way over to where Indra and Stampede were currently training with their Water attacks' power to watch with Vessel… or maybe goad them into fighting him.

Catherine let that be, turning her attention back to Holo. The Electrike had managed to rise on her still shaking legs and was slinking away, looking downtrodden. Sighing to herself, Catherine followed behind. "Wait."

It took a moment for the command to register, but Holo did eventually stop. She turned to look at her master, her eyes wide as though expecting some sort of retribution or punishment for her failures.

Catherine sat on the grass in front of her Pokemon. "You've had it pretty rough lately, yeah?"

Holo blinked in surprise at this, sitting down herself to hear what her trainer had to say.

Catherine took this as her queue to continue. "You're still barely more than a baby. You only hatched back just before we went into the first mine. Then not long after that, you got caught up in a death battle with a blacksuit, thrown into a gym battle, chased by an Onix and then you had to fight that messed up Scolipede. That's a lot. That's more than I should ask of anyone as young as you."

Holo whimpered a little, but she didn't turn away. What was her trainer getting at? Was she in trouble? Or had her weakness made Catherine feel guilty.

Catherine didn't have some special Ability to understand exactly what Holo was saying or feeling, but she'd spent enough time with the little Electric type now to get the gist. She smiled at her companion as warmly as she could. It was nothing of the sort. Well, maybe a little guilt, but that was no fault of Holo's.

"It's not your fault if I made bad calls, silly." Catherine shook her head. "I'm not blaming you. You've been through hell. I bet you'd be hard pressed to find a Pokemon as young as you that has seen so much. I think it's impressive you're still willing to fight with me after all I've dragged you into so soon."

Holo didn't say anything, she just continued to look at Catherine confusedly.

"I'm not good at talking like this, or at all really," Catherine began, "But what I'm trying to say is that it's okay if you're scared. It's normal. You don't have to feel guilty or weak because of that. The fact that you're still trying is really courageous."

Holo made a noise part way between a bark and a scoff. It was a doubtful sound, an almost dismissive one.

Catherine shook her head again. "I'm serious."

Holo repeated the noise, but something of it was lost. Her expression said she wanted to hear more. Catherine could tell she needed the encouragement.

"I mean, look at me. I'm scared all the time. Every waking moment. All I can think about is how messed up other people are. Everywhere I look, I see how other people use each other, manipulate each other, mistreat their supposed friends and family - their Pokemon too. The world is a dark and scary place and every time I go into a city I'm surrounded by people who want to tell me otherwise so they can victimise me too. Only a few days ago, all I wanted to do was hide from all that."

Holo tilted her head curiously. "Trike?"

"Yeah, that was my entire goal. I was just taking on the league because I made a stupid deal with my parents. I was just trying to get through it so I could go back to spending my life hiding in my room. When I battled Kabu though, I realised that I couldn't hide away like that anymore. We're in a position where we could make things better. We could make the world, or at least Galar, a less scary place. It wouldn't be right to just hide away now. I don't want to."

Holo nodded her head. She understood.

"Of course you understand." Catherine laughed, "It took me nineteen years to have that realisation. It took you a couple of months. That's why I admire that despite how scared you are, you're still willing to fight alongside me."

Holo barked encouragingly, standing up and letting electricity crackle over her to show her readiness.

"We don't have to rush though," Catherine said, "We'll keep working at our own pace. I'll never make you fight a battle you don't feel ready for. So don't hold it against me if sometimes I regret my choices and want to go back into hiding. It's going to take work for both of us."

Holo barked enthusiastically.

"Yeah. We've got this," Catherine said, "Now, it's getting late. Let's gather up the others and I'll make us some patented 'stuck in the middle of the Wild Area curry.'"

That night, Catherine found herself in her tent in the dark, the interior lit only by the light of her phone. Indra, Stampede, Vessel and Holo were snuggled up around her while Lancer slept sitting up against a tent pole in the corner. It was quiet and peaceful. A little too warm, but it was worth it for the closeness with her team.

Catherine looked down at the screen on her phone. Twenty missed calls from her parents. A bunch of texts demanding that she answer them. Catherine scowled. Then, with a few quick button taps, she deleted the messages and marked the call notifications as read.

She shut off the phone to conserve power and wiggled down into a more comfortable position. Fuck them and fuck their stupid deal too. She didn't need to go hide in her room in their house anymore. She was going to make Galar a place where she never felt she had to hide again. Whether they liked how it reflected on them or not.

Fen-Fen · Sep 11, 2021

Haleigh Windsor
18 | Female | From Circhester

Corey (Male, Blaze) - Flame Charge, Double Kick, Headbutt, Agility

Coraline (Female, Weak Armor) - Tackle, Harden, Astonish, Spite, Ancient Power

Cornelius (Male, Synchronize) - Disarming Voice, Confusion, Draining Kiss, Hypnosis

Orion (Male, Snow Cloak) - Powder Snow, Tail Whip

Cerise (Female, Adaptability) - Covet, Quick Attack, Baby Doll Eyes, Growl

Reyna (Female, Torrent) - Peck, Bubble Beam, Pound, Growl

Spoiler: Memories

The Day After

Keep on going.

Those three words were the mantra that guided her life as far as she could tell. Doing so at the present moment, however, felt like it took everything in her. She felt the most exhausted she had been in a while. Her throat was sore from all of the crying and screaming she did the night before. She felt raw and sensitive, like someone had reached into her soul and forcibly ripped something out of her. It seemed even doing the normal morning routines she was used to felt like it took all the effort in the world.

Even as much as Haleigh wanted to keep chugging along, she knew it just wasn't going to happen based on how she was feeling. Perhaps it shouldn't happen either. Resting in general wasn't something she afforded herself often. Of course part of it was due to the demands of the journey, but she couldn't deny part of it was to give her as little time to reflect on her sordid past as possible. Today, however, was going to be a day of rest.

To her pleasant surprise, all of her team had been doing nice little things with their trainer throughout the day, each with their own unique touch to correspond with their respective personalities. Cornelius had foraged the surrounding area for herbs so that she could brew a soothing herbal tea. Orion snuggled with her and amused her by making little bursts of snow rain down on her. Cerise had shown her trainer some pretty flowers she had seen, to which Haleigh picked one and gave her to wear as a pin on her head. Corey played a brief and easygoing game of football with her to get a little blood flowing. Even Coraline showed that she cared by hovering next to her and watching a movie with her while they shared snacks.

And yet, even as her heart warmed at her team sticking with her and helping her through this tough time, there was a gaping sadness that came along with it. Her Snom should have been right there with everyone else. He was the one that started everything and gave her the spark she needed to start this journey that she was on. To think she had left him behind and left him behind to face Arceus knows what fate at the hands of her psychotic mother.

Her expression darkened as she thought about the most likely possibility. Coward. If she had been able to face her mother, he could be right there with the rest of the team, happy and complete as she would be. Anything her mother could have done to her would have been worth the price if she could just have him back.

She could feel the tears coming again. Even if she wanted to hold them back, she couldn't summon the wherewithal to hold them back. It's not like there was any real reason to hold back anyways, it was just her and the Wild Area. Even as she replayed the events in her mind, the pain was still as fresh as it was four years ago and during the previous times she had cried that day.

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

While she remained in the throes of her sorrow, a Pokemon observed her curiously from a distance. He was a small red and green winged bug, hovering and darting around. His form wasn't the best though, on account of one wing being a bit underdeveloped compared to the other. He wasn't overly familiar with humans, but even he could tell that she was far from a threat just sitting there.

Now that he observed her more closely, something about the situation felt familiar somehow. It was...what was the word he was looking for? It was just her, just one human, no one else. He was too, on account of not being able to keep up with his old swarmmates. All it took was one storm and bam, now they were nowhere that he was able to tell.

Ah, lonely, that's the word he was looking for! Well maybe if this human was lonely, perhaps he should swoop down and say hi, lonely Pokemon plus lonely human equals not lonely human and Pokemon!

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

After what seemed like an eternity, the point where Haleigh finally tired of crying came and she was left drained and empty. She figured she had spent long enough from her team and did not want to worry them even more than she already was.

As she was getting up, her attention was drawn to a loud buzzing noise that was getting closer and closer. When she saw the Yanma approaching her, Haleigh stopped for a moment, gauging the creature's intent. It was moving fast, but not aggressively or like they were raring for a fight. The way it was moving was a bit peculiar, with random dips and turns towards its right before righting itself to a straighter position.

The bug Pokemon cried "Yannnnnn!" Probably their way of saying hi.

Haleigh replied, "Oh um, hello. A spirited one, ain't you?"

"Yan yan!" He managed to flip on to his back in an apparent attempt to do a midair flip, but soon ran out of momentum and was forced to awkwardly right himself.

Haleigh chuckled a little bit as she exclaimed, "Woah there, little guy!" As she got a closer look at him, she realized why his flying was a bit off. One of his wings was smaller than the other.

"What a peculiar wing you got there. I guess it can't be all that easy being out here with it, and yet here you are."

Haleigh scratched her chin, trying to remember anything she could about what Simon had said about bug Pokemon from the many, many times that he yammered on and on about them back at the academy. She knew as a general rule many bugs preferred to be in swarms, though she couldn't recall if that applied to Yanma specifically.

A small, wistful smile comes on her face as she says, "You kinda remind me of someone I used to know. Cute, a bug, lots of energy and spirit, maybe a bit lost."

She paused while she mulled over her words. "Maybe you're not him, but it'd be nice to have someone who can remind me of him. If...you really want to, you can come with me and my other Pokemon. We're a large family, but there's always room for more."

The Yanma tilted his head. Family, that was a word that was like swarm, right? Swarm was a good thing, so family was a good thing. He didn't know how human had a swarm because they're human but if they're offering swarm…

"Yan!" He nodded his head vigorously.

Haleigh's smile became more pronounced as she motioned in the direction of her camp. "Thanks."

With that, the two of them made their way back to the camp Haleigh had set up. Even if for just a bit longer, Haleigh's heart had been pulled from the darkness of the past. It really did come back to Pokemon to help her shoulder some of the burdens she faced in life. No, they weren't going to be a magic cure to her woes. Knowing that in some form another that they were by her side, however, made it just a bit easier to bear.

Sonata · Sep 12, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 6

CHAPTER 10.6 - PRAY RETURN

Rosa sat on the edge of the bed, staring out the window as Simon finished gathering up her personal belongings from around the room. Elena sat with her legs up in a chair on the other side of the room from the girl, rubbing Yzma's head absentmindedly as she too looked out the window.

"What a muggy day," the girl muttered, moving her attention over to Rosa momentarily. "Just a terrible day for rain, isn't it?"

Rosa nodded, looking at the umbrellas that Simon had bought in anticipation of the bad weather. "I hope that the taxi doesn't take too long," she whispered, letting her gaze drop to her hands. She thought that if this day were to come, she'd feel a little more sad - maybe even upset, or irritated at the fact that her journey was over. But right now she just felt… empty.

Simon looked down at his phone as he swung the girl's bag over his back. "Well, looks like it should be here in about fifteen minutes. We should go ahead and start heading down, just in case." The boy grabbed one of the umbrellas and laid it on the bed next to the girl before he started to put on his shoes.

Rosa looked up at the ceiling as Elena jumped up to join Simon as he walked towards the door. "Yeah… no use waiting around." The girl grabbed the umbrella that had been tossed over to her and ran her fingers along the exterior as she slowly rose to her feet. "At least with the weather as bad as it is, it's unlikely anyone will have to see me like this," she muttered, thinking about all the people she'd managed to get a little bit closer to over the past several months. "It's… for the best."

Something that looked more like a ghost walked around the cold streets of Motostoke. Pia's hair was a mess, her makeup was a mess and the girl was drenched to the bone from the rain that hadn't stopped ever since she left Ruben's apartment. With her phone in her hand she dragged her feet along to keep on making steps. A worried Milla and Prim, who had left her Poké ball of her own accord, were at her side to occasionally help keep the girl on her feet. Milla on one side and Prim on the other.

A ringing phone was what eventually split the silence of the night. Pia hesitated to pick it up. They could be telling her that her mother had passed away after all… but with every last bit of courage that had still remained of her corpse, she picked it up.

"Pia McGuire…" She said quietly with a cracking voice.

"Hello there, you're speaking to Nancy. I'm a nurse from the Wedghehurst Medical Center. I was asked to contact you in regards to your mother. She's currently in our care."

"Yes… I-I…" Pia felt a knob in her throat that made it hard for her to speak. "I… heard she's in a critical state…"

"She has an aneurysm and is currently being treated but-"

"What… is an aneurysm…?" Pia interrupted the nurse as she spoke.

"It means she had a ruptured aorta. It's a very critical condition. The cause of it is unknown to us yet but she's currently being treated by us. That is unfortunately all the information we have for now. She was lucky that she was found as it was happening." The nurse continued. Her voice was kind but you could tell she was used to this kind of thing.

"I-I see… Please keep me posted on her situation…" Pia fought back against the tears as much as she could.

"We will, please take care and let the news sink in. Our doctors are doing their utmost best."

"....Thank you…"

Somehow a sigh of relief left Pia's lips. She was at least still alive. It was now just waiting on the Taxi that would bring her back to Wedgehurst.

Rosa stared at the balls in her pocket, wondering what she should do with them when she got back home. She could release them, but would that really be responsible? Ezra at least has come from that area… but what about Wyatt? What about the other Pokemon she'd captured from around the region? What about Zorro?

The girl felt that familiar sting in her eyes as the three trainers made their way up to the roof of the building - though she was much too exhausted to even think about crying at the moment. She was relieved… almost. At the very least, she wouldn't have to worry about any of this anymore. Maybe she'd just pass the balls off to Simon as she got in the cab and let him take care of the deed for her.

Rosa smiled slightly as she started to empty her head. 'These memories… won't matter anymore. I can leave everything to Simon, just like we promised each other.'

The corners of her mouth began to curl as the thoughts ran through her mind, and then promptly turned to a smile once more as Simon pushed the door open, revealing a most unexpected sight.

"Pia?" Rosa whispered to herself, rubbing her already bloodshot eyes as she looked at the figure dripping with rainwater. The girl grabbed Simon's hand, wiggling her fingers under his as she took hold of the umbrella and tore it away from him before walking over towards her fellow graduate. "Pia, what are you doing out here at this time?"

The previously unaware Pia turned around upon hearing the sound of her name from a familiar voice. Though words didn't immediately leave her, her worn out and expressionless face told a trilogy of books and seven movies. Another tear rolled down her cheek even though she was no longer really sobbing. She looked horrible on all fronts.

"Rosa….?" A quiet sound left the lips of the girl before she went completely quiet again. A husk of a former Pia standing in front of Rosa.

"Pika…" Milla tugged at her leg, worried as ever while Prim sat next to the Pikachu and shielded her from the rain. Pia looked down at them before returning her gaze to Rosa.

"A taxi… I'm waiting on a taxi…"

Rosa felt a Froakie take a spot in her throat as she swallowed a few times while taking in the Visage of the girl. She extended her arm out, letting the umbrella cover the other girl before deciding whether or not it would be appropriate to close the distance between them. She knew that look… but she didn't expect to see it on someone like Pia.

"What for?" Sure, it wasn't the neatest way to ask and if she'd had a few more seconds to think about it she very well may have said it in a bit kinder tone, but her own head wasn't right at the moment either. Here in the rain, on some random street in the midst of Motostoke, two sets of bloodshot eyes looked to each other with an unfamiliarity that should have been washed away months ago. "I mean…" she started again, realizing what had just come out of her mouth. "Why are you out here alone? I would have thought that Ruben would have at least saw fit to give you an umbrella or to call a taxi to his place instead."

His name alone was enough to send a thousand daggers right through Pia's already broken heart. Ruben… the fact that he cast her aside so quickly upon meeting someone better… it hurt.

"... He got a new toy now…" Pia looked away from Rosa.

Rosa watched the pained expression cross Pia's face at her own words. The look of this girl in front of her… she was once again reminded of herself - in a way. Though their situations were different, it seemed that the pain Pia was feeling was something not too uncommon in her own past.

The girl clutched the pendant around her neck, not yet having done away with the accessory she'd forged together with Melody who she'd abandoned in the dead of the night. "Pia… I'm so sorry," she took a few more steps towards the girl, awkwardly wrapping an arm around her. Were they close enough for this, she wondered? Would Pia push her away and go off on her now? She'd already seen through Rosa before, maybe it would make her feel better to tear into her… "You deserve so much better."

"No… I really don't…" quiet words left the older girl's lips. "This is exactly what I deserved." Even colder words followed. She didn't react much to Rosa's physical consoling, unlike Pia usually would. She didn't seem to care much at all at this point.

It was not long after that a Corviknight taxi landed right in front of the pair. With its dashing feathers and intimidating beak it managed to still pull off a confident smirk and a salute. The pilot on top peeked down towards the two girls.

"A Taxi for Pia McGuire?" He asked. Pia peeked her head up and slowly and nodded. The sight of her was enough for the middle-aged man to go "yikes."

"See you around… Rosa…" Pia grabbed Rosa's arm that was wrapped around her to gently force the girl to let go. She then stepped inside the Taxi with Milla and Prim following her. "To Wedgehurst, please…"

As Pia stepped up to the Corvitaxi, another bird fluttered down just behind it with another elderly man sitting in the cab. "Taxi for a... Miss Valdes?"

Rosa looked at the man, then back at Pia whose back was now turned to her before finally resting on Simon and Elena. The girl sighed, her mind wandering as she made her way back to Simon to retrieve her bag that he'd prepared for her. "Thank you… for everything," she looked up at the boy whose pained smile was quickly hidden with one of encouragement.

"Of course. I'll always be in your corner, Rosa. Just wait for me."

Rosa smiled weakly at him as she gripped the straps of her bag a little tighter. "I sure hope so," she whispered as she turned on her heels. The sound of the taxi door slamming shut caught her attention, causing her once more to look up towards Pia's cab. "Because I have to break our promise."

Rosa rushed forward, passing by her own taxi before flinging the door of Pia's cab open, pushing herself into the seat just as the Corviknight began to lift it off the ground. The girl labored to catch her breath, her heartbeat raced as she looked back at Simon - catching the disappointment on his face as he looked up after her. Elena stood just beside him… glowering. Rosa furrowed her brow, wondering if she'd made the right choice as she turned to look at Pia.

"I'm sorry. I know this might be me overstepping, but… I couldn't leave you. Not when you look…" she paused, her eyes drifting across the girl's figure. "I'm worried about you, and I don't want you to hurt yourself even more than you already are. Call me selfish, but I want to see you safe to wherever it is you're heading."

Pia blinked a few times at the sudden change in situation. She glanced at Rosa before turning her gaze back in front of her.

"Then… We're going home…"

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

Sonata · Sep 13, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 6

CHAPTER 11 - GOING BACK

"I feel bad for leaving Pia right now…" Rosa sat on the bench, looking out over the train tracks she'd taken at the start of her adventure. The pokeball was grasped firmly in her hand, her fingers fidgeting around the button as she spun it in her palm. "But even though I ran off with her, it doesn't change the fact of what is my reality. I ended up in the same place, despite thinking I was going to make a difference. My journey is over… and now there's… there's no more…"

The girl paused for a moment. She looked out over the tracks, and then over to the station and finally off into the distance. Rosa took in a deep breath through her nose, closing her eyes as she tightened her grip around the ball.

"This is where it started…" she looked down at the ball in her hand, smiling weakly at the Munchlax contained within. "Where we started."

Rosa looked slowly back towards the tracks, thinking about the battle that she and Jasper had fought to clear the Munchlax which had cluttered the area. She wondered how he'd have fared if she hadn't been there - would it have been easier on him to not have to worry about her? What about in their unknowing first dealings with the mafia in Motostoke? If she'd not been there, would he have even had to solve the case or would he have just moved on with his night?

"I just make everything harder," she sighed, twirling the ball a little more as she thought about the battles the two of them had been in together. "We've had our ups and downs… but we've had just as many good times as we've had bad."

The image of bug boy popped up in her head, talking to Ezra as he played the intermediary in their domestic conflict. She remembered how she felt in that moment - betrayed, angry, upset… sad. But what else was new; she was always sad, after all. Besides, she hadn't exactly taken the time to come to understand the Pokemon in the first place. It was all just a consequence of her desire to assume an amicable persona.

Dahlia crawled out of the neck of the girl's sweater, looking down at the ball in the girl's hand as she tucked her wings behind her. "Cu?"

Rosa looked at the fairy and then back at the ball. "Yeah… it's probably best to just get it over with, I suppose." She whispered, tapping the ball's button twice as the Munchlax burst free from the ball.

"Munch?" Ezra questioned, looking around at the surroundings as familiarity washed over her. The Pokemon started to waddle off towards the track, her head turning from side to side as she pondered something before looking back at her trainer. "Munchlax?"

Rosa pursed her lips, letting the ball drop back into her pocket as she looked at the Pokemon. "I know we've been together for a while now, but… I've felt so terrible about taking you away from your friends. And since we lost to Kabu…" she paused, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes as she pressed the bridge of her nose. "Since we lost to Kabu, my journey is over… our journey is over, and so it just - it just feels like the right thing to do."

Ezra cocked her head at the girl, waddling cautiously over towards the girl. "M-Munch?" The Pokemon questioned, grabbing onto the hem of the girl's sweater as it started to pull her off towards the tracks. "Munchlax?"

Rosa tugged at her shirt, pulling it free from the Pokemon's grasp. "I'm sorry… I don't feel right keeping you from your friends and family. I think… I think it's right that…"

"Munch!" the Pokemon cried out, inching closer to the girl as small tears began to form around its eyes. "M-m-munch! Munch munch munch!" The Pokemon choked out, the tears welling larger in her eyes as it continued to step towards the girl, reaching up at her sweater as she patted blindly for the pokeball she'd just been released from.

"No!" Rosa cried out, bunching up her shirt as she jumped back from the Pokemon. "Just go! We never got along, right? So just go! Go back to your friends! Go back to where you belong!"

Ezra stared blankly at the girl, her mouth agape as she searched the girl for any moment that she could jump at her in. "Munch…" she whispered, her mouth slowly closing as her gaze fell to the ground. "Lax." She looked back over towards the track, taking a few steps in their direction before looking back over her shoulder.

Rosa watched the Pokemon walk away, tears burning in her own eyes as she spun on her heels. The girl closed her eyes as tightly as she could, pushing the tears away such that they didn't have a chance to fall as she started to put distance between them. "I'm sorry… I should have known better…" she whispered, shaking her head slightly as she quickened her pace. "You should have had a better trainer. I was never going to be good enough for you."

Dahlia hovered over Rosa's shoulder, a worried look on her fuzzy little face as she looked back over at Ezra who they were gradually putting distance between. The fairy looked down into Rosa's pocket, seeing that the ball was still sitting open within the sweater. The Pokemon took one final look back at Ezra, seeing the Munchlax looking back at her with tears in its eyes before shaking its head as it rushed off towards the train tracks.

"So… what are you going to do?"

Zorro looked up at Dahlia, watching the Pokemon as she looked out the window. The question hung in the air for a few seconds, with the young Grass-type not really sure how to answer.

"What else? Ezra was our - is our friend. Just because Rosa isn't feeling good right now doesn't mean that anything has changed." The Pokemon paused, looking up at Rosa who'd fallen asleep with the light on while reading one of the books she'd picked up in Motostoke. "It's obvious what has to happen, right? We can't just leave things like this. It's not good for any of us - and think about how lonely Ezra must feel out there!"

"So… you're going to go after her?"

Zorro nodded, sitting up as he looked around the room. "I'll do what I have to to protect my friends. I know what I'm doing is right - whether Rosa wants me to do it or not."

"Hmm," Dahlia mused, tapping against the window a few times as she looked out at the forest. "If you say so. I suppose the responsible thing to do would be to help you find her. It won't do anyone any good if you get lost - or mistake another Munchlax for her like you did that Toxel before."

"I was just trying to be a good big brother! I said I was sorry," the Pokemon crossed its arms and threw itself back on the floor. "How much longer are you going to harp on that?"

Dahlia giggled for a moment before shaking her head. "Just like you're trying to be a good teammate now, right? Good intentions are meaningless if you're not smart enough to know what to do with them." The small Pokemon looked down at Zorro and then back out the window before moving up towards the lock. "Well, if we just sit around here it's only going to get later. Might as well head out and see what happens."

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND
PRAY RETURN

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

Foxrally · Sep 13, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Bridge Fields

The weather in the wild area had taken quite a turn in the past couple of days since Simon had left the Riverbank region and stepped into the area known as Bridge Fields. He had continued ahead of Xan after his meeting with the psychic, leaving the scientist to their notes and passing by a few Froakies on the way. He'd spent most of the first day on Scolipede - a galloping horse-bug was certainly more comfortable in the hotter weather - but now that it was getting colder, and his ankle felt better, Simon had actually decided to give the Pokemon a break, and was continuing the journey on foot. The day was nearing its end as the sun was setting in the distance, and he could even spot the looming shape of the eastern Motostoke bridge in the horizon.

The late-spring snow was likely the last of the season, and as such wasn't as difficult to walk through as it had been on Lake Miloch or route three, but the resulting cold temperatures had Simon donning his coat again. A coat that, as he slowly realized, was much lighter than usual.

Till now, the presence of Scolipede had managed to fend off Simon's growing feeling of loneliness. Even if the Pokemon never talked back, it felt nice to have a soul for him to speak to, and companionship was always one of the few comforts during a long journey. Now, though, the boy was left alone with his thoughts. Thoughts of guilt, regret, shame for treating the rest his team the way he had. Even after hearing Kass' advice, Simon had still been too afraid to face them, afraid of being rejected once more by those he cared about. He didn't feel like himself anymore- would his team accept him like this?

Trying to ignore the growing pit in his stomach, Simon sighed and looked in the distance. There didn't seem to be any sort of caves that he could rest in - the bridge fields were essentially flat land - so he reckoned he could pitch a tent some distance away from the path and call it a night. Normally this time of the evening he would've called for a spontaneous training session followed by a team dinner, Simon thought, a wistful smile creeping up his face. He instinctively made his way over to the nearest tree (Snom and Burmy always needed some kind of elevation to hang on) and after checking that it wasn't home to some greedy Skwovet, pitched his tent beside it.

He unfurled his sleeping bag and sat down, the snow below serving as a comfortable but cold cushion, and plopped his bag in the center of the tent. In that instant, the crushing realization that he was alone hit him.

There was no Larvesta to fly around and light the tent on fire. There was no Caterpie to steal his food. There was no Princess draining his phone battery while he wasn't looking. There was no one.

...and he missed them. But was he ready to face them yet?

The boy sighed and reached into his bag, pulling out his phone. It was nearly fully charged; he'd barely used it the entire trip. He scrolled through his apps, noticing Raphael's several missed calls again but quickly swiping away the notifications. He looked at the social media apps- he'd logged out of his accounts ever since the mines, and muted the group chat he had with his academy friends, unbothered to respond to anyone after the events of Hulbury. He'd even ghosted his Joltiktok account- the silly page where he'd post his training videos and all of ten people watched. He opened the app and flicked through the videos, letting out a chuckle as he spotted one of Larvesta crashing unceremoniously into him as the thumbnail. As he continued down, however, he noticed the comments were far more than before- some even in the double digits. More people actually cared about these?

He switched apps and went on his Instagran, finally logging on after essentially a month of inactivity. Almost immediately, he was bombarded with a flood of new messages.

ele_king5: bro where u at?? where the joltik gang
Magmarizur: dam that kabu battle was FIRE lol where ur vids at? I miss seein that snom
glamella: hey i wish u kept ur series going tbh
fluuuffyy: your spewpa is SO cute and fuzzy i want to hug her!!
samuraifan: bringing some much needed respect to bug-types!! come back!!
nota_forextrader: I love your page! Let's connect!
Ledybalover02: i hope you use your burmy in a gym battle someday!!

The list went on and on, hundreds of people who he didn't know sending him messages of encouragement and asking where he'd been, mentioning his previous gym battles… Simon was amazed, how had he ignored all of these people before- one by one he read each message, and slowly realized they all had one thing in common… they weren't talking about Scolipede, they were asking about his team.

"Being strong doesn't mean you have to shun people and rough it out alone. You got a lot of people in your corner."

Simon looked at the Pokeballs in his bag. He now realized what Haleigh meant. It wasn't just about winning, it wasn't about being strong on his own. This was about being strong as a group, with friends at his side, no matter who they were- and that included his Pokemon too.

"Your strength is shared, Simon. It's not about you being strong, or Snom being strong, or Princess being strong… it is that you are strong with them, and they are strong with you."

He laughed as a single tear rolled down his face. Kass was right. He couldn't keep running away from it- if he couldn't muster the strength to talk to his team now… he would never have the strength to talk to them at all.

He took a deep breath as he grabbed his Pokeballs and exited the tent. The sun was just about to set now, but there was still a little bit of daylight left. He paused for a moment, looking at the devices, and held his breath... before releasing all the Pokemon.

All at once, it happened. Larvesta crashed into him immediately, squeaking affectionately as he fell into the snow; Snom began chirping angrily and flung a snowball at his face; Princess immediately ducked into his pocket for comfort. Caterpie jumped onto his chest, sniffing curiously at the smell of food; and Burmy was already charging up another water orb to throw at him.

Simon let out a shocked-yet-relieved laugh as he sat up and wiped the snow from his face, "I-I've missed you too, guys-" he began, spitting the snow out, and looked in front of him. While the others had all immediately jumped on him, Spewpa was still on the ground, eyeing him sternly.

"Okay, everyone, calm down for a second, please." Simon said as his expression turned more serious. "This… this is important. Gather round, please."

Several of the bugs let out confused squeaks as they hopped off and formed a semi-circle around him, with Larvesta only listening once Snom had hissed the order to him. Simon sat in the center of them all.

"I…" he began hesitantly, eyeing his whole team until his eyes landed on Spewpa. "I owe you an apology. I owe you all an apology."

The others let out more puzzled squeaks as they glanced at the Pokemon in question, then back at Simon. Spewpa remained silent, eyes closed in wait.

"I want to apologize for being so… blind. I know ever since Scolipede joined the team, I haven't been the same, and… I'm sorry. I was so frustrated at my own 'weakness', like some people had me believe, that I thought I needed someone else's help to be strong, and it was the only way people could take me seriously. The whole time, I focused on what I thought others saw as strength… and never realized that I had it with me the whole time. With you all."

The bugs remained quiet, even Larvesta. Simon continued, feeling a ball in his throat.

"And that's why-" he choked on his words a little, "I'm sorry for giving up on all of you! I should never feel ashamed to have you as my team, because without you guys, how-" he paused, feeling the tears coming on, "HOW COULD I EVER CALL MYSELF CHAMPION MATERIAL?!"

His words hung in the air for a moment as a restrained sob slipped through his expression.

"SPEW!"
Spewpa threw herself at Simon, tears streaming down her eyes as well as she buried herself in his chest. Why did the idiot have to make everything a speech, she squeaked, as the rest of the team all joined in on the embrace - even Snom - some of them crying too.

Simon was caught by surprise again, falling back into the snow as the combined weight of six bugs jumping at him was too overpowering. "You… you guys forgive me?" he mouthed, now in full sniffle-crying mode.

The bugs all squeaked in unison, equally in affection and equally chiding him for being so ridiculous. Simon smiled through the tears as he brought them all into his arms and hugged tightly. "I promise you all… from now on, we're never leaving each others' sides again."

After a few moments, Caterpie broke the silence- he was getting hungry.

"I'm sorry, laddie, but -sniff- I'm afraid we're out of cinnamon buns." Simon said as he straightened up, wiping away his tears with a smile.

The green bug shook his head and squeaked, begging to disagree. He quickly ducked into Simon's tent, and moments later; he emerged with a pristine cinnamon bun in his mouth.

"Wha-?! Where'd you get that?!" Simon asked, incredulous. He'd checked every corner of that bag for any leftover buns; how had the bug found more?

Caterpie squeaked smugly. Bug's secret.

Simon laughed and looked at the rest of his team, "Hey lads, how about we make ourselves some cinnamon bun curry for old times' sake?" he asked. The Pokemon cheered together in unanimous agreement.

"Then let's get- wait, where's Anorith?" Simon realized, his eyes growing wide.

A muffled gurgling sound came from the snow a few feet behind him. Simon turned around and spotted the familiar shape of Anorith's tail and legs sticking out of the ground, halfway buried in the dirt.

Simon laughed as he recalled the Pokemon and brought him back out the right way up, in front of him this time, and made a mental note to replace the Pokeball Victor had provided him with. The rock-type seemed confused why everyone was crying over a curry and let out a hurried apology in case it was his fault. "No, no, don't apologize- the only thing you should be sorry for is not knowing what classic Pearbugh cuisine is!"

Spewpa and Burmy squeaked, they would go grab the pots, and Princess chriped that she would go collect wood. Snom sighed and offered to help with water, and Larvesta excitedly volunteered to light the fire. Simon cheered, "Let's go team- cooking time!"

Orx of Twinleaf · Sep 13, 2021

Team:

Rij

Henj

Pelj

Tim T
"Jouron …?" Henj finally ventured, muttering as Stonjourners mutter.

Tim and his mons had been staring at the Jolteon for almost a minute, the Jolteon staring back, both parties surprised at one another. Tim had been leading his mons towards the beach again for more training—and perhaps to find another Eeveelution guru—but hadn't expected to run into an Eeveelution around the bend of this strange, obelisk-like stone. For its part, Jolteon had apparently also been on the move, carrying a Thunder Stone in its mouth, bound for the treeline. Thunder rumbled above, the rain itself having stopped a little while ago.

Henj's whispered askance was enough to break the tension. "Block it!" Tim said.

Henj, with the effects of Block to aid him, skittered about to stand behind Jolteon, the Electric mon blinking and dropping the stone, baring its teeth. Jolteon crackled and fired a yellow Thunderbolt for Tim, but the bolt folded on itself with a sound like a tuning fork. The Move connected on Rij's horn and dissipated uselessly, canceled by his Lightning Rod. The Rhyhorn fixed Jolteon with the stink eye.

Jolteon's ears flattened against its head. It took a step back and remembered Henj standing behind it. Jolteon muttered to itself, surrounded. Dark clouds growled overhead, growling for violence.

"Pelj," Tim said to his little Rolycoly, "I believe this is a good situation for you and I to get some practice in. Rij, stand by. Henj, don't let it get away."

Jolteon's eyes hardened in fury and it hissed something that sounded roundly vehement. Rij just snorted in response, unimpressed. Pelj hopped up and down, excited for a chance to run the field without one of her larger teammates pulling the weight. Jolteon snatched up its Thunder Stone and lunged at Pelj with a greenish swipe from its paw. Pelj stood up to it easily, but then Jolteon kicked off of her, streaking through the air like a lightning bolt in its own right. Henj reached to block it, but despite his Move's influence failed to intercept. He confusedly watched Jolteon hit the ground behind him, and then the mon was running away towards the beach.

Tim was already running, Pelj wheeling alongside. "It's got U-Turn, we can't block it in. Run it down!"

A crash of thunder signaled the start of the race as Tim and his mons ran after the Jolteon. Henj's wide strides thumped the earth like a heartbeat, Rij's scratching gallop a drumroll. Tim managed to glance at Pelj as she wheeled alongside him. She had an intense look in her eye. As if she were disappointed and angered to be robbed of her chance to perform. Or maybe she was embarrassed to have been used as a springboard for the Jolteon to slip them.

Even for a Rolycoly, Pelj was something of a runt. No amount of training would fix that either: terraform creatures didn't just get bigger in response to exercise. Her growth, if it happened at all, would either take long, slow years or Evolution. Chances were good she'd be a runt for all her life. It was a practical matter on Tim's part that she not be asked to do the kinds of things Tim asked Henj to do. She had the spirit, sure, but she was just too small. Tim imagined, perhaps, that her coming under his care was her way to compensate. It was hard to be a runt in the wild. It was easy for mons—and even humans, honestly—to equate size with power. Pelj wanted to be strong, but she might never be big.

Jolteon slowed a little bit as it bounced its gait, kicking at the air and briefly leaving pinkish afterimages behind itself. It started to pull away, boosted by its Agility. Tim ordered a Rock Polish and all three of his mons shivered and shone, keeping pace with Jolteon. Tim had to push himself harder to keep up though. It was beginning to be at such a speed that he wouldn't be able to comfortably keep up for very long.

Pelj was pulling ahead of Henj and Rij, her little stony wheel a more efficient mode of movement than their legs. Jolteon abruptly kicked sideways, throwing up mud as it drifted into a tight turn, making back for the treeline. Pelj leaned hard into her turn, driving a skid mark through the ground as she glided about in a drift of her own, gaining. Rij kicked himself into a tumble, rolling along to aim himself after Jolteon, losing some more momentum than Pelj had. Tim and Henj both just had to slow down a bit to take the turn, falling behind.

"We're bound for the trees, Henj," Tim wheezed out. "I'll carry you." He whipped out his ball and recalled the Stonjourner: Henj was just too big to keep up in the woods, Rock Polish or no.

There was a weakness brought on by size. Pelj wouldn't have to worry about that. In her smallness she had different strengths. Did she just not recognize that? Evidently not. But if she didn't recognize that, it fell to her Trainer to make it apparent. It fell to Tim. Pelj had to shine in this encounter. This was her chance.

Jolteon kicked again, putting on another Agility. Pelj shook out another Rock Polish without being told, hot on Jolteon's heels. But Tim stopped Rij before he did the same. "Wait, Rij, you have to carry me. I can't keep up."

Rij glanced at Tim out of the corner of his eye but didn't stop. Tim ran alongside, psyching himself up, and then leapt onto the Rhyhorn's back. Rij shook out his second Rock Polish as soon as Tim made contact, trying to catch up to Jolteon and Pelj.

Tim had never ridden Rij before. It had just never felt like the sort of thing he should do when he could just walk alongside. Tim's friend had ridden Rij a few times though, so Tim knew Rij at least knew how to carry someone. But to Tim's dismay, Tim didn't totally know how to ride properly. Tim was immediately reminded that Rhyhorn riders usually used saddles, as straddling Rij's high spine while the Rhyhorn galloped at speed was like having a spud bar's shaft trying to saw him in half through his crotch. Tim tried not to think about how cripplingly saddle-sore he was going to be.

Jolteon ran into the treeline, Pelj close behind. Rij shook in a third Rock Polish to catch up while Tim lowered himself along Rij's back—the high spine now also grinding a bruise into his chest. Tim slipped his hands into Rij's ear ridges for handholds. Rij didn't seem to mind. Jolteon was visible just ahead, to the left, weaving through the trees as the trunks whizzed past. Thunder complained overhead, the sky unhappy to have its view of the chase blocked by the canopies. Pelj was ahead of Rij, about side by side with Jolteon. Rij wouldn't gain anymore between having to dodge trees and having to carry Tim.

Jolteon sent a yellow Thunderbolt sidelong into the air, aiming to bring branches down into Rij's path. The tuning fork sound kicked in again though as the bolt zigzagged back on itself to fizzle into Rij's horn. Tim felt tingles through his hands as the energy siphoned into Rij's body. Jolteon made a loud, frustrated noise, annoyed.

Jolteon looked over at Pelj and drew close alongside her. It tried to kick out at her with a greenish U-Turn, likely hoping to use it to completely reverse direction, but Pelj pulled away, leaving Jolteon's paw to clip a tree. Jolteon stumbled a little and lost some lead to Pelj. It quickly kicked out its third Agility to catch up. Pelj shook out her third Rock Polish, trying hard to keep the lead in this race to nowhere. Rij, overburdened, was beginning to fall behind.

"Pelj, you have to get in front of it! Rij, Smack Down!"

Rij lobbed a golden stone from his maw, but Jolteon had looked over its shoulder when it had heard Tim speak. Trailing orange light, Jolteon uncannily twisted on itself, dodging the stone with the perfect evasion of Detect without even losing any speed or tripping itself up. Jolteon and Pelj continued to pull away. The trees fell away abruptly, giving way to a field of standing stones that stretched for a while in all directions, a field of grey stones on grey earth under a grey sky.

With Jolteon's Detect down, Tim said, "Scary Face, Rij!" Rij's eyes flashed red and he sighed black light forward to wash over Jolteon's hindquarters. Jolteon didn't have to see it for the effect to take hold. Jolteon slowed a little, allowing Pelj to overtake it and get in front. Jolteon tried one last act of defiance, its whole body rumbling with noise as electricity crackled all over it. It tried to launch a shimmering Thunder at the Rolycoly in front of it, but, again, Rij's Lightning Rod pulled the Move backwards. Jolteon moaned despairingly.

Tim pulled a little on one of Rij's ear ridges and the Rhyhorn began to bear away from Pelj and Jolteon. "Smokescreen!"

Pelj chattered triumphantly as a thick black cloud streamed from her wheel. Jolteon disappeared into the opaque curtain, growling. After a moment, Pelj cut into a hard drift, turning away and stopping her Smokescreen mere feet from crashing headlong into one of the standing stones. The smoke continued crawling in her wake, covering the stone. A loud, wet smack issued from the cloud as the sky roared in approval. Rij slowed to a stop near where Pelj wound down.

Tim slid off Rij's back and crumpled to the ground clumsily as the only thing he could feel below his belt was a pulsing ache between his legs. Rij gave his horn to help Tim up as the smoke cleared to show Jolteon on its side, ears down flat against its head, legs working slowly at the ground. Tim approached and Jolteon shakily got to its feet, one eyelid drooping. It still had the Thunder Stone in its mouth and was ready to bolt again. Pelj and Rij came up on Tim's sides to stare Jolteon down. Tim had his hand in his pocket, on Henj's ball.

Jolteon swiped forward at Tim's wobbly legs with a greenish U-Turn. Tim went to a knee as Jolteon sprung backwards, but Tim wasn't having it. Tim whipped his hand out and sent Henj's ball soaring beside Jolteon's retreat. The Stonjourner popped out some ways away in Jolteon's path. Jolteon, still shaky from its earlier impact, bounced roughly off Henj and landed on its belly. Jolteon scrambled, turning back towards Tim. Henj put one giant foot down on its back, pinning it to the ground in the mud. The sky rumbled in interest.

Tim walked up to Jolteon's front. If looks could kill, the look Jolteon was giving Tim would have reduced Tim to a red mist. Tim knelt down to pry the stone from Jolteon's mouth but the mon wouldn't let go. Tim put his other hand on its head to push but brought his hand away, hissing in pain. It was like Jolteon was covered in needles. Not tree needles either, but the kinds that pulled and pushed fluids from and into soft bodies everywhere. Sure enough, Tim's hand was bleeding a little. Jolteon sneered, saying something around the stone in its mouth.

"You lot are holding these stones to give to those that show their strength, right?" Tim asked it. Tim of course wouldn't have understood Jolteon even if it didn't have a stone in its mouth, but he was saying this for Pelj's sake. She had to hear it. "So that's why you won't let me have it. I didn't earn it right?"

Jolteon didn't respond but just gave Tim a quizzical look. Tim looked over at Pelj. The little Rolycoly was watching Jolteon intensely with her red eye. Pelj noticed Tim looking at her and returned his look curiously. She balked a little when she looked around and realized that Henj and Rij were looking at her too. "Pelj," Tim said, "take the stone."

Pelj blinked and then wheeled up to Jolteon. Jolteon gazed at Pelj without the fury it had looked at Tim with. Its half-lidded eye was closing further now, the side of its head swelling. Pelj looked into Jolteon's eyes and then took a moment to glance at Henj, Rij, and then Tim. Tim nodded a little and Pelj looked back to Jolteon. She formed a gold stone at her back and chucked the Smack Down into the top of Jolteon's head. Jolteon's head clapped against the ground and it let go of the Thunder Stone. Pelj wheeled forward and then spun on it, kicking it backwards towards Tim and away from Jolteon. Lightning flashed and then the wind kicked in the first drops of a storm.

"Let it go, Henj." The Stonjourner stepped off Jolteon's back. Jolteon got to its feet and looked down at Pelj quietly. Pelj looked back up at it, her eye and back glowing with intensity. Jolteon glanced up into Tim's shades a moment and then walked slowly away back towards the treeline as the rain came on stronger.

Tim bent down and picked up the Thunder Stone, pocketing it with the rest. Pelj was looking at him shyly.

Size wasn't everything when it came to a fight. If that were the case, there would be no place for mons like Milo's. But Milo's mons were strong. This had always been obvious to Tim, but it apparently had not been obvious to Pelj. Through this latest encounter, Tim hoped he had made it clear to her. A Trainer wasn't just a caretaker or an overseer. A Trainer brought out the best in their mons. There could be no room for doubt in Tim's mons. Not only could there be no doubt regarding Tim's orders, but none of his mons could be let to have doubt in themselves either.

Tim nodded at Pelj and smiled. Tim didn't need to praise his mons. It should be obvious to all of them how well they'd done. But, in case it wasn't, Tim said it anyway. "Well done."

Rij and Henj looked at each other with raised brows but otherwise took the praise as evenly as they took anything else Tim ever said. Pelj though steamed, the rain hissing off her red back. "Colyrol?" she hesitantly asked Henj. "Colyrol!" she excitedly said to Rij. She screeched her wheel and then did mad donuts, a spiral of steam rising into the rain.

"Rolycoly colyrol!" she screamed in her little voice. The sky itself roared out, a thunderous voice bigger than the biggest mon, cheering with the runt of a Rolycoly as she danced in the rain.

PastelPhoenix · Sep 14, 2021

Achille Béringer || 18 || ♂️
Location: Wild Area 2
New Rumors.

Joiuse - Shadow Sneak, Slash, Autotomize, Metal Sound, Block, Aerial Ace

Proudhon - Tackle, Splash, Thrash, Bite, Brine

Alizé - Absorb, Tackle, Air Cutter, Supersonic, Double Team, Wing Attack

Ignace - Powder Snow, Tackle, Taunt, Bite, Avalanche, Work Up

Aliénor - Rock Tomb, Dragon Tail, Roar, Ancient Power, Charm, Bite

Terrot - Tackle, Growth, Razor Leaf, Tail Whip, Leech Seed, Worry Seed

Looming shadows towered over the wild area, indistinct pillars of darkness surrounding the foggy plains below. Achille knew they were just the walls outside of Hammerlocke, but their size combined with the lack of visibility created an oppressive atmosphere that shot an occasional chill down his spine. The occasional lights from a passing Inkay or the dragging sound of a moving Dwebble did nothing to lighten the ambiance either.

Joiuse seemed within her element. The sentient sword gently whistled a tune as she floated along the path, oblivious to the creepy-ass scenery around her. Even worse, the whistling was not vocalized. A soft whistling nearly carried away by the wind played within his own mind on loop.

"Okay, I'm fine with most of the weird brain noises, but the whistling is not cool." A small chuckle replaced the whistling, but then Joiuse allowed silence to return. The two continued down the path to Hammerlocke, but a small sense of unease still remained. The silence was actually about as bad in hindsight; the area seemed less like a cheap horror movie scene and just made him feel insignificant among the towering shadows.

"On second thought," Achille said, " just talking is fine."

The Honedge shot him a look of curiousity. Talk about what, she seemed to say.

"What Irene wants seems obvious. I don't even know what the rumor is, but she seems to have some kind of a grudge." Joiuse thought for a moment, then waved her hand dismissively. She didn't think much of whoever this Irene was, nor spending time humoring her. "We'll beat her like the rest, huh?" A bob of her hilt forward in confirmation.

"I wish I had your confidence about this." Achille chuckled nervously. "I feel like someone is about to expose some horrible secret more and more recently. Max warned me months back to be careful with the family history; how I wasn't going to be able to hide it for long. I didn't expect to run into people who knew my uncle though."

A small whisper at the back of his mind. The feeling of pride; following that, a weaker feeling of insignificance. Not his own insignificance, though—he was looking upon something insignificant.

"Again with the insignificant thing," Achille rolled his eyes at the dramatic wording. "You have some strong opinions on people you've never met, huh?" The Honedge waved her hand in a semi shrug. Something she didn't think much about, apparently.

"Anyways," Achille started to change the topic again, "beside the Flare guys we have the proposal from Papa. Not to mention that suited guy we ran into last time we were in the Wild Area." Achille sighed, just remembering all the weirdness dropped in his lap recently. "Either of those up to your standards of significance?"

A chill ran down his spine, his mind briefly seeing flakes of snow intermingling with the fog. He recalled a figure in black approaching from a blizzard—straight out of his memory. It took the trainer a second to realize it was just his spectral companion. Then the illusion faded.

"So, about this illusion thing," Achille said, reluctant to sidetrack the conversation so soon, "could you always do this? Did you just want to torment me with learning one handed sign language?"

The Hondege waved her hands in a concise dismissal of the idea. This was new to her too; this growth of her ghost side abilities. It wasn't too long ago that she was stuck vocalizing in horribly inefficient auditory tones. Discovering she could project an imitation of a human voice that carried a recognizable emotional tone into Achille's head had been a pleasant surprise, and the hunch to do the same with images came recently.

"Weird," was all Achille could say about the situation. "But that guy left a big impression on you, huh?"

Joiuse pointed at him. You as well. She followed up her comment with imagery of chains and prison cells. Drowning in a sea of apathy and compliance, desperately clawing towards the surface but making no progress. Achille felt an underlying current of fear coursing through the entire scene; this was a very deep fear of her's.

"Merde, that was kind of intense." Achille had stopped at some point, and found himself standing in the middle of the road when he came to. The fog and blurry shadows suddenly weren't so unnerving. His first few steps were off balance, regaining his senses after he accidentally clammed up during the illusion. "Back on the Ghost powers thing, can you do that with anyone?"

Another no, then a point of her finger. Only you.

"Damn, that'd be a nice trick if we were ever in trouble." It had to be some kind of bond or trust related phenomenon. Stranger phenomena were related to human-Pokémon bonding, and psychic types already treated the mind like a playground.

A massive shape began to form in the fog, towering above Achille and Joiuse. It solidified into a massive gate after a few more meters, and beyond was Hammerlocke. End of the road.

"Well, let's look for Irene."

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

It didn't take too long for Achille to find hints of Irene around. The woman wasn't trying to hide, and people near the gate were more than happy to point out where she was. It seemed like she had just recently left the area just outside the gates to head into the hills further down the wall. Something local rookies did from both Hammerlocke and Motostoke, a kind of unofficial trainer club.

Armed with this information, he just had to follow the noise of the crowd. A local pointed him in the direction the group usually hung out. It didn't take long for Achille to hear the sound of Pokémon battles just over a large hill.

Climbing the hill was trivial, especially after his climb in the Motostoke caves. Occasionally a spark of lightning from a missed attack shot up from behind the hill as the trainer slowly climbed. At the top he found a sort of natural arena; a spot of land encircled by hills large enough to catch most missed attacks. The little canyon was filled with a group of roughly ten people, loitering around a small stakes battle.

"Oh shit, it's actually him." Someone in the crowd shouted with a chuckle. The sparring Magnemite and Sneasel stopped, staring up at the interloper. Various other members of the group shared a few whispers of excitement at the appearance of the challenger. Seems I found the right place.

"'Bout Time you showed up, asshole." A short woman stood up and reached for a Pokéball. Green jacket, black hair tied in a ponytail, recognized him. This was Irene, though she looked a bit familiar.

"Ah, Putain de merde. It's you." Achille almost didn't recognize the trainer without the Monferno or the Motostoke gym bandana. "Let me guess, you got salty that I annihilated you in the gym challenge?"

The gym trainer tossed her Pokéball to the side, releasing the fire-type primate. The light from the Pokémon's tail illuminated the fog around the arena, casting a yellow glow to everything. "You didn't annihilate shit. You wouldn't have made your little five minute wager if your Tyrunt didn't use a cheap move like Dragon Tail."

"Oh noooo," Achille placed his hands across his chest, faux scandalized, "you would have caused me to run over five minutes. I still would have obliterated you even if you managed to stall me. Joiuse nodded alongside him, bobbing her hilt back and forth.

"Like hell you would have," Irene spat back, accompanied by a few cheers. "Me and Toby here are undefeated and training under Kabu himself. You took the shortcut and went to a fancy school to get your recommendation." The Monferno puffed out his chest and crossed his arms, exhaling a snort of fire from his nostrils.

Achille felt his face flush with anger, he worked three damn years for that. "Look, I'm here and absolutely ready to kick you and Toby's ass. You got your wish for a rematch." He got a few cheers from the crowd, excited to see a (technically) professional level bout at their little hill arena. The Magnemite and Sneasel cleared the field, headed back towards their respective trainers.

"Just tell me," Achille added, stepping up to his side of the field, "why spread rumors about me? What are you saying about my family?"

The gym trainer gave a smug smirk. "It brought you here didn't it? Saying that you were a backdoor for your family's company to enter Galar and form a monopoly."

There was a soft "oooo" through the crowd as Achille processed what he just heard. It was absurd and out of left field. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me," Itene crossed her arms and leaned forward a bit. "It's funny how Chairman Rose is exposed, and here comes a foreign kid from a wealthy family trying to take over the Championship. You lot saw how much power Rose had to force people to look the other way, and wanted some of that for yourselves, didn't you?"

"Yeah, tell him!" One of Irene's fan's seemed to buy that explanation. Joiuse rolled her eye.

It's dumber the more she explains it! Achille sighed, trying to find where to begin his refutation. "First off, why the shit would we enact this secret plan right after the person who did this scheme prior got caught?" Achille accentuated his points with open hand chops to his palm. "Secondly, we don't even have a monopoly in Kalos. We're a shipping company, competition is literally everywhere. Shit, Galar has more shipping comp-"

"Yawn." Did she say 'yawn'? Achille grit his teeth. Irene mocked a yawn. "We're we going to battle, or were you here to give me an economics lesson."

"Va te faire chier, pompe à chiasse." Achille spat the words while reaching for a Pokéball.

"Hold on," Irene interrupted that too, earning another muttered swear from the challenger. "You have a Pokémon out already." The amateur trainer pointed in Joiuse's direction.

The Honedge looked towards the trainer, looking for permission to enter the arena. "Fucking merde, if you wanted to get your ass kicked in a favorable matchup towards you, let's go." Achille nodded to his partner, and Joiuse floated into the ring.

"Now, I only have time to kick your ass once," Achille straightened his jacket, making sure he could move properly if any dirty tricks came his way. "So a single one-on-one match only, deal?"

"Not a problem with me, pretty boy." Irene uncrossed her arms and sent Toby into the ring.

The two Pokémon stared each other down, waiting for the first command. Joiuse remained calm, her arm fluttering in the wind. The Monferno had more to prove, grunting and taunting Joiuse to move first.

"Taunt!" "Shadow Sneak!" Both commands came simultaneously.

Monferno was first to move, doing an obscene gesture mid cartwheel. The action was cut off by a shockingly enraged Joiuse, plunging downward and bringing a pillar of shadow out of the ground into Monferno's stomach. The ape recovered with a handspring, brushing off the surprise hit.

"Really, that pissed you off?" Achille asked Joiuse, surprised that was all it took. He knew Pokémon moves had odd effects on the mind, but that was just a childish taunt. "Metal Sound?"

The possessed sword ignored the command, shivering with a suppressed rage. Merde. Irene laughed, the schadenfreude clear on her face. "What's the matter Six-fifty? Even your Pokémon finds me annoying?"

"You're damn right she does." Achille wasn't even going to try and deny that she was deep under his skin. "Sorry, but I'm revoking your membership to my fan club for that. Aerial Ace."

"Ember!"

Joiuse took off like a coiled spring fueled by rage, cutting a fast a narrow arc through the air with her scabbarded blade. Monferno made a circle with both hands, stacking them in front of his mouth and blowing the embers through a makeshift blowgun. A rapid assault of tiny flames followed, exploding with a small snap after a short distance. Trails of light streaked through the fog, eliciting a cheer from the audience for the impromptu fireworks show.

Joiuse could not avoid all the embers on her approach, several Embers cracking against her scabbard mid-flight. She remained on target, though. Her edge slammed against Monferno's side, producing a much louder noise.

A loud smack rang through the valley, getting a few winces from the audience and at least two 'oh shit's. Monferno recovered from the hit, tucking into a roll to follow the momentum. Joiuse continued the attack on her own initiative, unsheathing herself and rushing forward with a Slash.

The slippery fire-type managed to line up a shot mid-roll, letting loose a small burst of Ember. The flames collided against Joiuse with a loud snap, each impact slowing her down more and more. The steel-type was forced to give up the pursuit, losing focus of the attack.

"Keep on 'em," Irene shouted after Monferno ended his roll on his feet. "Flame Wheel!"

The fire type leapt back into the fray, tucking into a ball and rolling downhill. The flame from its tail grew as it rolled, forming a flaming line down the middle of the monkey-ball.

"Dodge it!"

Achille's warning was heeded too late. The overconfident Honedge tried to interrupt the attack with a Shadow Sneak, but miscalculated the distance. The shadow leapt out of the ground just behind Monferno, not even grazing him. The shadow tried to catch up to the rotating simian, curling like a scorpion tail.

It could not close the gap. Monferno pulled out of the roll and directed the accumulated fire towards his feet. Joiuse was struck by a flying kick, and sent tumbling hilt-over-tip across the clearing.

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

"Come on, you know he's faster than you. Get it together and Autotomize!"

The command came through, but Joiuse struggled to hear it over her rage. Faster didn't matter. She just needed one more good hit like that Aerial Ace. A slash would do the trick. Or even a Shadow Sneak, right under its chin.

<But he's right. We'll lose if we aren't even fast enough to land a hit.>

A dissenting voice welled up from within herself. The sad part of her obsessed with observing and waiting. The one seeing threats in every shadow. No, she needed to attack. Needed the pressure.

<Our attack is worthless without keeping up a defense. We cannot keep taking hits like this.>

Shut up. Shut up. She lunged into another Slash, taking a wide arc for maximum impact velocity. One more hit, and it is over.

<That Flame Wheel cut right through every defense we have. I don't think we're surviving the next one. We need to fall back and build up speed.>

A burst of Ember striked her once again, knocking her so far off course she had to abandon the assault. Each fireball hit worse than the last. The pain and the new voice were too distracting. Damn this slow metal body. Damn this interloper.

<What new voice? I've always been here. If anyone is new, it's this unstable lunatic hijacking my body.>

"JOIUSE!"

<Just. Autotomize.>

THE NEXT HIT WILL END THIS. CONTINUE THE ATTACK.

<That's it, I'm taking over.>

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

A brilliant flash of light blinded everyone in the crowd. Unlike Monferno's flames, this flame was a pearl white and shone like a miniature star within the fog. Achille remembered this light vividly, and grinned while shielding his eyes.

The light faded, leaving the sound of whirring machinery and scraping metal. There were now two Joiuses with bright pink eye gems and hand-cloth, occupying a large scabbard meant for twin blades. One of the swords held it's struggling twin in the scabbard, forcing it into the Autotomate. A startled gasp came from the crowd, who just prior had been egging Monferno on for the K.O.. That's one way to regain control. Now to turn this around.

The calm half of Doublade released her grip, letting her still raging half loose. "Now let's attack," Achille shouted. He felt his frustration quickly turning into excitement. Get ready to lose again, Irene. "Aerial Ace!"

"Shiteshiteshite," Irene's fist clenched around her jacket sleeve. "Knock 'em out of the sky with Ember, then Flame Wheel!"

"Good luck," it was Achille's turn to don the smirk, "you're not getting two moves!"

The aggressive Joiuse took a narrow and precise swing through the air, her calmer half following closely behind. Monferno dropped into a crouch, building up a mouthful of fire.

Monferno fired the attack. A fireball the size of Achille's fist sped forward on a collision course with the attacking sword. A loud crack echoed through the hills as the Ember impacted Joiuse, sending the mid-Aerial Ace sword off center.

Flames at the tip of Monferno's tail began to build in intensity. "Here comes the Flame Wheel," someone in the crowd shouted.

A cloth hand reached forward and grasped the hand of her twin. The Joiuse that had been trailing the attack pulled her twin to the side, correcting the trajectory of the attack.

TWACK. The attack impacted. Joiuse slammed hard against Monferno's side for a second time, and the ape was not able to just roll this one off. The fire-type bounced off the ground a few times, thrown from the impact.

The ape rolled to a stop, pushing itself onto its knees almost immediately. Its arms were shaking, almost as much as his embarrassed trainer.

Monferno collapsed back down, exhausted. Irene looked like she wanted to die.

"So, did you see any cheap tricks there?" Achille walked into the center of the arena to half cheers and half jeers. He placed a hand atop the newly-evolved Joiuse's scabbard, leaning slightly against it.

"I-You-Just-" Irene spat a bit of word salad, trying to make words in her embarrassment and frustration. "Fuck you, Béringer. You win, I'll shut up." The poor girl looked like she wanted to be anywhere other than here. She hurried over to her collapsed Pokémon, checking that he was awake before getting the Monferno into a piggyback motion. The green-clad trainer stood and dashed towards the gate, fading into the mist.

The crowd began to thin almost immediately. Several of the most vocal supporters of Irene followed her, likely to comfort her. None of the stragglers wanted to even attempt to top Achille's fight, given how no one made for the center arena. People would be rushing for the free field at the clubs back home. Groups instead began to split off, talking amongst each other in the hills.

No need to crash this club more than I have. Achille tapped Joiuse on the scabbard, motioning for her to follow. After a few steps a man and woman from the crowd stood up, moving in the same direction as him.

"Oi," the man shouted for his attention, "mister challenger!"

Achille stopped and turned. They both seemed around his age—though most of the people here probably were. Both of them wore the purple of the Hammerlocke gym; his in a League shirt and hers as a jacket. Please don't ask me for a battle too.

"Good job dealing with Irene," the man continued. Both of them giggled, remembering something about the match.

"Yeah, she's been a right pain in the arse since Kabu made her a gym trainer," the woman added.

At least not everyone here was looking for me to lose. Looks like Achille wasn't going to have to fight off a dozen revenge battles today. "You mean she wasn't always a trou du cul?"

"Nah, she was pretty cool once," the woman continued, crossing her arm as she recalled this mystical Irene of the past. "Toby was pretty damn cute before he evolved and turned into an asshole too."

"Her attitude mostly came after Toby evolved," the man continued, "She pretty much became the strongest in the club, got some simps, and started dreaming of trying to be a big trainer."

"Oh sod off with the dreaming stuff," his companion protested, "she is pretty good. Just… full of herself."

"She probably could get a recommendation not too far from now," Achille had to give her some props. He was on the back foot there again. Does Kabu teach all his gym trainers annoying fighting styles? "The ego needs a lot of help though."

"Damn right it does!" Mr. League shirt voiced his approval loudly, catching a few stares in his direction. He shrunk a bit under the eyes of the rest of the club stragglers, giving a nervous chuckle. "Anyways, I think this will help you."

The amateur trainer tossed a small box towards Achille. The Kalosian fumbled with the box, not expecting to have to catch anything at all, and felt something heavy and round shift inside. Even without looking he recognized the weight and shape of it.

A three pack of Pokéballs. No, he checked the box closer, Ultraballs. "Merde, you sure?" These were a pretty poké for most people.

"Don't worry about it!" The guy scratched the back of his head.

"We went half in on these to try and catch a good Pokémon," the other one added. She smiled at Achille's reaction, seeing the professional trainer impressed by the gift. "Seeing you wipe the smirk off of Irene's face is worth it though. Think of it like our ticket for the show."

"Well, I do aim to entertain." Achille felt himself grinning. After the lackluster feeling post-Kabu, he needed some recognition. "Thanks. Honestly."

"Hey, just make sure you use them once on the telly," she added. "Preferably a strong Pokémon too."

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

Achille picked a hill away from the trainer club and unboxed the new Ultraballs. His legs felt as stable as jelly as the adrenaline wore off. He picked a spot on a hill that looked flat enough and sat down, snapping the Ultraballs into the spare slots on his holster.

Flare wasn't leaving his head for some reason. It pushed him to hunt down the source of some rumor he heard a single word of. A rumor that had zero basis in reality.

"I feel like an idiot." Achille addressed no one in particular, falling back into a lying position. Two Joiuse thoughts came to his head at once. Sympathy and curiosity. The two swords side-eyed each other in the scabbard.

"This Flare thing is just messing me up a little. I keep expecting it to be revealed at any time now, and just feel on guard since Motostoke city." The two thoughts thing was another thing he needed to get used to. He noticed each half had a horn like-guard, but only in one direction. Right-horn seemed more like the Joiuse he knew pre-evolution, if a little more methodical and cautious. The left-horn seemed almost like a new Pokémon, but he could still see the Joiuse within the personality. Particularly in her slightly-sinister sounding laugh.

"It's not very well hidden, is it?" Two nos from Joiuse. Achille sighed, digging through how to unfuck this mess. "I've got to start telling people, huh? Before they find out from someone else."

He answered his own question, pulling out his phone. He should start with the person who at least deserved to know. He opened up his messenger app and opened the conversation with Haleigh.

Hey, if you're free I want to try and meet up before we enter Hammerlock.. And Send.

Inventory:

Spoiler:

Sonata · Sep 14, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 11.2 - MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL

Zorro waddled after Dahlia, following the pink Pokemon through the night as they made their way into the Slumbering Weald. The Cutiefly had managed to pick up on Ezra's aura - albeit incredibly faintly - as they'd made their way back to the point where Rosa had released the Munchlax.

"Just how far in did she go?" Dahlia grumbled, following the Pokemon's aura as they continued to travel through the foggy forest. "At least it looks like she had an idea of where she was going… otherwise this trail could have very well just gone on and on."

"Is it getting stronger?" Zorro questioned, cocking his head up towards the Cutiefly. "You said it was weak when we started, but does it seem like she's getting closer?"

Dahlia looked around, noting the various auras that were sleeping peacefully in the thicket. "Yes. We are getting closer. I don't know why she'd have run in this deep, but we are getting closer to her."

Zorro looked around them, seeing a few Pokemon sleeping in the bushes, while some larger types had made their homes in the trees themselves, whether in their branches or within a den beneath their roots. "I wonder what my home was like before I was hatched."

Dahlia shook her head as she continued to drift further on ahead. "Who knows? You apparently belonged to a breeder before, so it could have gone either way. The fact that Rosa ended up with you could b-" The Pokemon abruptly stopped, her head turning quickly from side to side as she searched for the aura she'd just sensed. "We're being followed," the Pokemon whispered as she closed the distance between herself and Zorro. "We need to go faster."

Dahlia let her legs dangle, motioning for Zorro to hold onto her. The Grass-type extended a small vine from his flowers, grabbing hold of all her legs at once before the two lifted off the ground and sped quickly through the forest. Dahlia looked behind her repeatedly, catching small glimpses of that familiar aura as those of other nearby Pokemon slowly drifted further away.

"What's going on?" Zorro questioned, turning slightly to see what Dahlia was looking for. "I don't see anything back there."

"No, you wouldn't be able to. But it's coming. I don't know why, but it's following us in particular. Hold on, I'll try to lose it." The Pokemon looked forward, noting the direction of Ezra's aura which had been progressively getting stronger as she flew in its direction and then abruptly turned to face another, much stronger aura which she didn't recognize. "A distraction…"

The Pokemon zoomed forward, looking at the various Pokemon laying about deep in their own slumber, unaware of the encroaching darkness on their homes. Dahlia grimaced, flying on as fast as she could towards what seemed like one of the stronger auras that was close by. She glanced behind her, feeling the aura pressing down on them now as it continued to grow ever closer. The Cutiefly looked at the ground behind her, watching the shadow as it raced along just behind her.

"What's that?" Zorro asked as he pointed towards a figure leaning against a tree just a short ways ahead.

"Our distraction," the Pokemon whispered before charging headlong at the Pokemon in question. "Wake up!"

"Huh?" The Pokemon which had been leaning up against the tree opened one of its eyes, seeing the two much smaller Pokemon in front of it. "What are you kids doing out at a time like this?" The black and white Pokemon questioned, twirling the leaf in its mouth as it looked out over the woods. "Oh… get behind me." The Pokemon quickly lumbered to its fight before taking on a fighting stance. "Whatever you are - come on out. You can't hide your presence from Pangoro of the Weald forever."

Dahlia looked at Zorro who was still hanging from her legs and then glanced up at the Pangoro she'd run into. "I'm sorry," she whispered, before flying off back in the direction of Ezra's aura.

"What's going on, Dahlia?" Zorro asked, still completely in the dark about why they'd suddenly rushed off. "What's that Pangoro trying to fight? I'm maybe just… a little bit lost about what's going on."

"Don't worry about it, Zorro. That Pokemon will take care of him, and we can focus on getting Ezra and get out of here. We can't afford to get into a fight right now without everyone else." Dahlia continued to pick up speed, no longer stealing glances behind her as she darted through the trees in the direction of their target. "Ezra you better be ready to go," the Pokemon whispered to nobody in particular.

Ezra stared at the rock she'd found, still uncertain about how exactly she was supposed to move something so big by herself. If she knew where the Munchlaxs' new nest was, she could most likely seek their help… but it'd been too long since she'd been with the rest of them and had no idea where to even start looking.

"I have to get this done before she leaves… I don't want her to actually go on without me," the Munchlax whimpered, wrapping her stubby arms around the stone again as she tried to pull on it with all of her strength - only managing to actually move it a few inches before falling back down on the ground, completely exhausted. "How much time do I even have left… what if she's already moved on?" Tears started to form in the Pokemon's eyes as she covered her face with her dirty paws, shaking her head back and forth as she tried hard to swallow. "It's all my fault."

"Yeah, that's great hun but we've got to go." Dahlia burst out from the treeline, finding the small clearing the Ezra had found herself in. "What are you even doing here, anyways?"

Ezra slowly split her fingers apart and looked at Zorro and Dahlia both for a few seconds before uncovering her mouth. "Y-you're real, right? Not just bits of my imagination since I haven't slept or eaten in a while?"

Zorro waddled over to the Munchlax and placed his vine on her head, rubbing back and forth as he smiled at her. "Of course we're real. Regardless of what Rosa says, we know it wouldn't be the same without you there."

Tears welled up in Ezra's eyes once more as she looked at her two former teammates. "Y-you guys!" She whimpered, pushing herself up off the ground so that she could give the two of them a proper hug. "I can't believe you actually came out here to find me."

"Yeah, yeah." Dahlia muttered, pulling away from the hug after a couple of seconds. "I couldn't just let Zorro run off on his own… but tell me, what are you trying to do by hauling this big ol' fuckoff rock through the forest?"

Ezra looked at the massive stone and then back at the ground. "It's special… a special rock. I remember how close Yzma had been with that other one, and wondered if this one might prove to be useful in a similar way at some point. And… maybe since it was so much bigger it'd work even better."

"Okay… but how did you even know how to find this thing? Was it just dumb luck or-"

"We used to play around this rock a lot when I was growing up." Ezra ran her hand across the stone's surface, thinking back on the old days. "Me and the other Munchlax would… would play here. We'd dance, eat the fruits that fell from the nearby trees, and sleep cuddled up next to it. The rock was always warm, no matter the time of day and it glowed some nights when it wasn't completely covered in moss." Ezra continued to pet the rock, remembering back to her life before that fateful day. "I thought it only made sense… all the other Munchlax have moved on, and you guys are all that I have left… so I-"

Dahlia flew up to Ezra, placing one of her legs over the Pokemon's mouth as an ominous wind began to surround the three of them. "Shh… it seems like our distraction didn't work too well."

An insidious laughter rolled in with the dark mist. The shadows around the Pokemon began to creep up the length of the trees and hovered of them as a dark figure hovered out of the trees. "Jeanne… you still have my Jeanne…" Darkrai smiled menacingly at the three Pokemon as it dug its hands into the bark of a nearby tree, tearing off a large chunk of it as it approached. "No… not you... but you will do for a bargaining chip."

Zorro jumped up, putting himself immediately between the Pokemon and his friends who were still hovering around the stone. "I'm not afraid of you! I know your trick and I won't let you hurt any of my friends!"

Darkrai scoffed, feeling the scar that had been left over his eye as he looked down at the Roselia. "And? What exactly do you think you can do that your impromptu friend Pangoro couldn't? You're nothing to me." The Pokemon raised its hand towards the three Pokemon, creating a Dark Void which consumed them completely. "Sleep, and become useful as my tools."

"No!" Zorro winced, pushing back against the void which encompassed him. "I won't… let you… get, get, getttaaa…" the Pokemon fell on his face as his breathing grew heavier.

"You know nothing about the strength of friendship, little one. You know nothing about what it can make you do - about the decisions you'll make, the sacrifices you'll accept just to spend another moment with that person whom you care so deeply about." Darkrai approached the void, holding his hand out towards the Pokemon which had fallen asleep within it. "Now dream… sleep, and dream until the moment when your master knows what sacrifice she is willing to make for you."

"Agh!" Dahlia cried out as she burst out from beneath the sleeping Munchlax. The tiny bug stabbed into the Darkrai, Draining away his energy with a Kiss.

"Ugh!" Darkrai winced, slowly floating away from the void as it dissipated. "Who do you think you are?" The Pokemon raged, his attention fixed completely on the audacious Cutiefly.

"I might not be as strong as either of these two, but I've had just about enough of these antics of yours." Dahlia quickly moved around, waking the other two Pokemon before the Darkrai could take advantage of their sleeping forms. "But as long as I'm able to stay awake, I will make sure that they can stay at their strongest."

Zorro winced as he pushed himself up off the ground. "I heard what you said, Darkrai." The Pokemon propped himself up against the stone behind him, a determined look upon his face as he forced a barb out of each of his vines. "What you did to that boy… it was wrong. You didn't really care about him - if you did, you would have never taken him to that cult! You would have never let him be turned into some orb! You're the one that doesn't know anything about friendship, all you care about is power! You're just, just… evil!"

"What do you know?" The Darkrai screamed, rushing towards Zorro with his arm outstretched. "You're just a child."

Zorro closed his eyes and stretched his arms out in front of him at the last second, just barely stabbing the Poison Stingers into the Pokemon as it placed its hands onto the Grass type's face. "You're just evil."

"Nothing but a simple child who can't think of anything new to describe the foe in front of him." Darkrai smirked as he tightened his grip around Zorro's face. "That'll be the last time you use that against me. Now, forget."

A dark energy crept into the Roselia's body as the Disable coursed through him, causing the barbs to retract from the Darkrai's body. "N-no. What did you do to me?" Zorro pulled his head free from the Darkrai's grasp and looked down at the bushels of flowers at the ends of his vines, trying repeatedly to produce the barb in the same way he did numerous times before.

"Good. Now, wait there while I prepare your grave. Once you're on the edge of death, perhaps you too will see the value in the decisions I've made." The Pokemon began to laugh as it backed away from the other three. Darkrai placed his two hands in a way that it looked like he was waiting for some sort of orb to be put between them. Within seconds, a sphere of energy began to form between the Pokemon's hands as it continued to laugh in a menacing manner. "You are nothing. Not to me, and not to your master either." The Darkrai closed its eyes for a moment as the sphere of energy began to grow large enough to touch his hands. "Hyper Beam."

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND
PRAY RETURN

CHAPTER 11 - WILD AREA
GOING BACK

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

Sonata · Sep 14, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 11.3 - MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL PT.2

The beam of energy crashed down on Zorro who'd put himself between the Darkrai and the rest of his friends. The Grass type was immediately pushed back as he called out frantically to the other two Pokemon "Get behind the rock! I'll protect you!" The Pokemon's attention was pulled back to the energy weighing down on him as he was pushed up against the stone by the force of the beam.

The whole forest was quickly lit up with the energy of the Hyper Beam, as the Pokemon which had made their home at the edge of the clearing quickly awoke to the conflict and stared in awe at the Darkrai's powerful attack.

As the dust settled, it seemed that a crater had been formed in the place where Zorro as well as the stone Ezra had hoped to deliver to Rosa had once stood. The other two Pokemon - who were smart enough to get a bit further away from the impact of the attack - peeked out from behind a tree a fair ways back.

"Zorro," Dahlia whispered, looking towards the crater as she waited for the dirt and dust that was kicked up to subside. "Zorro!"

Darkrai laughed weakly as his body hovered somewhat limply at the edge of the crater. "You… were nothing compared to me."

Just as the Darkrai began to celebrate victory, a figure leaped out of the crater. Its form was familiar, but slightly larger and different in a few ways than it was before as a thorned vine burst out from the bushel of flowers, swiping across the Darkrai before glowing bright green as it absorbed the Pokemon's energy.

"I'll do whatever I must to protect my friends." The Pokemon adjusted the mask on his face before looking back up at the Darkrai who was still in the midst of resting after that massive attack. "I don't care how strong you are - I have people who are counting on me, so I won't lose!"

Dahlia sighed, vaguely recalling such a line having played on some animated show back during their time in Turffield. "No matter how many times he changes his looks, he is still just a kid… I suppose we should go help him."

Ezra's eyes flashed brightly as she looked at the newly evolved Zorro in awe. The Pokemon clasped her hands together as her mouth turned up into a smile. "I did it… I found something useful for them. I can… I can go home now!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Ezra." Dahlia scoffed, looking over at the Munchlax before motioning towards the Darkrai. "We do still have a legend to take care of first."

Darkrai scoffed at the Pokemon now standing in front of him as the other two returned to Zorro's side. "So, you've evolved… but does that truly change anything? You are still so much weaker than I. You just barely survived that last attack and I c-"

The newly evolved Zorro rushed the Darkrai as he monologued, hitting him with a Poison Sting which had a renewed source of strength behind it. Ezra and Dahlia both took the opportunity to follow their friend, striking the still recovering Darkrai with a Bite and a Draining Kiss respectively.

The Darkrai recoiled, biting his own tongue as the attacks struck him. "Fools!" The Pokemon cried out, his whole body shaking as he looked down at the three much smaller Pokemon in front of him. "How dare you assault me so? Mine journey is a righteous one, and you would deny me!" The mythical Pokemon formed orbs of darkness in each of its hands before launching them at Dahlia and Zorro. "Sleep! Just. Sleep, and give me back my Jeanne!"

Dahlia dodged the orb which had been thrown her way and turned quickly towards Zorro, ready to aid him out of his slumber once more. However, the newly evolved grass type simply swatted away the orb with the newly thickened bushel of flowers at the end of his arm before lunging forward for another Poison Sting directed at the Darkrai's face.

"You talk too much." Zorro smiled, trying his best to look cool as he ran a free bushel of flowers through the petals on his head. "Why don't you just shut up and dance?"

"What?" Darkrai asked, confused as he pushed the barb out of his face, hardly bothered by the damage. The Pokemon shook his head, "Why don't you all just give up. All I want is my Jeanne… just… please. Don't make this any harder than it has to be!"

Zorro smirked as he leaped away, letting a shower of petals rain down between himself and the Darkrai from both his head and the bushels on his arms. "Like I said, how about you just dance?" The Roserade began to twirl, creating a whirlwind which kicked up the Petals he'd let drop between him and his foe, making them appear as though they were Dancing as they rose up to strike the Darkrai with a ferocity not typically likened to flowers.

Dahlia shook her head slightly as she flew around the Darkrai, looking for her opportunity to strike. "That boy and his one-liners…" The Pokemon sighed before diving in to the retreating Darkrai with a Fairy Wind which trailed behind her wings.

"Ugh!" Darkrai growled as he fell back into the blizzard of flower petals. "That's… enough!" The Pokemon roared, placing his hands back into the same position he had before. "I don't care if I can use you or not anymore!" The Pokemon quickly filled the space between his hands, creating an orb similar to the one from earlier before pointing it straight down the funnel of petals. "Begone!"

The Hyper Beam roared as it cut through the flowers and started to carve a path in the ground as it followed the Roserade which was dancing away from the line of fire. The other two Pokemon quickly hid behind the Darkrai and attempted to continue their assault, with a staying Draining Kiss from Dahlia and a gnawing Bite from Ezra as the Darkrai continued to focus his efforts on the Grass-type, despite the numerous attacks coming at him from his blind side.

"I said enough!" The Darkrai cried out, splitting his body several times as Double Team created hundreds of copies of the Pokemon and allowed him to slip free from his attackers. "I'm tired of playing these games with you! Dodge this if you can!"

The hundreds of Darkrai focused their beams on the dancing Zorro, who now had no idea which one he should be focusing thanks to being focused solely on dodging. "Well… that's fine. I can figure this out." The Pokemon smiled, shimmying about a little as a few dozen petals fell from his body. "Why don't you try and dodge this?" The Roserade laughed lightheartedly as the leaves began to hover in the air before two flew at each copy of Darkrai, chasing them down without rest until the only one which remained was the real one.

"Get him while he's recharging!" Dahlia flew quickly over to the Pokemon, sinking her stinger into the Darkrai as she watched Ezra follow suit with her teeth. "Come on, Zorro! This may be our only chance!"

Zorro ran his vine through the petals on his head before walking confidently up to the Darkrai. "Don't worry, he can't do anything to hurt us anymore."

Dahlia continued to suck the Darkrai's energy as she closed her eyes. "Yeah, I don't think that's true, but okay kid."

The Grass-type forced the barbs in his vines to extend further before leaping at the Darkrai. Roserade started to scale the Dark-type, plugging the barbs into the Pokemon's body repeatedly before reaching its face. "You can't hit what you can't see!"

"Kid, I live in the dark, I don't think you know what you're- Aaaah!" The Darkrai cried out as Zorro plunged the barbs into his eyes. "You fucking… ahhhh!" Darkrai screamed out in pain, but not without releasing the Hyper Beam. The Pokemon pulled its arms up, moving the orb along with them before finding the place on his body where Zorro was still stuck. "Leave me!"

The Hyper Beam struck the Roserade, forcing the Pokemon off of the Darkrai instantly before forcing Zorro up above the tree line. Dahlia quickly retracted her stinger and followed the beam up into the air, finding the unconscious Zorro just before he started his plummet back towards the ground.

"I gotcha kid." Dahlia used a Fairy Wind to help cushion the Pokemon's fall as the two slowly came back down to the clearing where the battle had broken out to begin with. "That wasn't too bad… but I don't think we actually accomplished anything with that fight."

The bug type looked around the clearing, not catching sight of the Darkrai or its menacing aura anywhere around. Ezra, however, was laying on the ground in the same spot where she'd been attacking the Dark-type - only somewhat damaged, but most definitely put to sleep and left a Nightmare by the Pokemon before it escaped.

"I guess it's up to the responsible one to see you both back home safely then, huh?" Dahlia shook her head, looking up at the sky. The sun had only just started to rise, but it would still take a good long while to get back to Pia's house - especially now that she was carrying some extra baggage. At the very least, she was thankful that the issue of trying to move that massive stone had solved itself. "Well… I'm just wasting daylight if I don't."

Rosa was rushing around the exterior of the house with Ozzy, Yzma, and Wyatt, frantically searching for the two Pokemon she'd somehow managed to lose over the single night of being back home. "Where are they?" The girl whispered to herself quiet enough that it wasn't loud enough for the concern which plagued her to crack her voice. "Why would they have run off now of all times? I don't understand… Zorro… Dahlia… please be okay."

"Runt!" Yzma called out, wobbling over towards Rosa before grabbing onto her dress. "Runt, runt!" the Pokemon pointed out towards a path leading away from the house where three Pokemon were slowly making their way over.

"Is that…" Rosa began, shielding her eyes from the sun as she took a few steps forward. "Ezra? But who is she with… oh. Oh? Is that… Zorro?" The girl took a few steps forward, stumbling over herself a bit as she tried to get a better look at the Pokemon off in the distance. Just as she was making up her mind to start running to greet them both, Dahlia hovered up closer to the girl's face to make its own presence known.

"Cu! Cu, cu, cutie." The Pokemon buzzed, making motions as best as it could to explain the current situation. Although, for such a small Pokemon, conveying the fact that they'd somehow come across Darkrai, fought him, and lived to tell the tale all on their own was probably asking a bit much. After a few moments of her attempt at an explanation, the Cutiefly stopped to catch her breath and then rubbed up against Rosa's cheek before floating over to and landing on the Roserade's head. "Cu."

"So.. that is Zorro then." Rosa smiled, leaning over to hug the newly evolved Pokemon. "You look so strong! And you're so big! It seems like just a few weeks ago you were still just an egg in my bag…" the girl's eyes drifted over to Ezra, who was doing her best to not make eye contact as she dug around in the dirt. Rosa expression became pained as she took another look at the other two Pokemon. "Did you two… go out to find her after I let her go?"

Zorro pushed himself away from Rosa and took a few steps back towards Ezra. The Pokemon put his arm around the Munchlax and nodded proudly before motioning towards himself. "Rose."

"I see…" the girl looked the three Pokemon over, not ignorant to the apparent damage that Zorro had sustained through the events of the night prior. "Well… I can't have the two of you running off to find her again and again… I think I could probably figure out something a little bit better in the meantime." Rosa motioned towards all three of the Pokemon. "Now come in here. You have no idea how worried I was when I couldn't find you this morning. I think I… I just need a moment."

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND
PRAY RETURN

CHAPTER 11 - WILD AREA
GOING BACK

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

Sapphire Rose · Sep 15, 2021

Pia McGuire feat. Rosa Valdés
Poké:

5550 ♦ Pokémon: 4

Ending unplanned

She tried to forget but he had grown roots around her ribcage. They had sprouted flowers just below her collarbones and all day she had plucked their petals but after all that plucking she had never been able to ascertain if he had truly loved her or not.

Pia laid on her bed, staring at the hand she had cast in front of her and glanced between her fingers to the roof. The very roof she had lived under just before she left on her journey. It had been at least half a year since she had been here last. Her bed slept just like it did before. As if nothing had changed at all. If only that had been true. It had been a week now since both Rosa and Pia had arrived back in Wedgehurst and all Pia had done in that time was lay in her room like some broken doll that was discarded by her owner.

The TV in her room was turned on. It was a small old one, like everything else in the house was, but it did its job. Milla was occasionally tapping on the remote to a different channel. She was bored, just like all the other Pokémon in Pia's possession were. Most of them were currently outside, either training or playing with Rosa's Pokémon. Only Milla and Cintra, who was curled up beside the egg Pia had gotten back at the daycare a while ago, had remained in the depressed girl's room this whole week.

Pia sighed once more, a regular occurrence these days, and turned around in her bed to face the wall next to her. Her phone was still beside her and it had been a few days since she was last contacted by the hospital with news about her mother. Not… that she was waiting on any more information since then. Maybe she had just been searching for a reason to actually visit her mother. Not a casual "Hi I'm your daughter so I came to check up on you" but something that pushed Pia towards her so that she had no choice but to visit her. Even though… her mother had yet to wake up.

While Pia was still a bit light-headed, she still chose to eventually get up.

"I'll be back in a little… Make sure you eat…" Were Pia's words to her Pikachu and Eevee before she left her room. She walked through the rundown hallways and passed both what used to be her mother's room and the "guest" room Rosa was given to sleep in. Pia felt bad she couldn't offer the girl anything better in this house that screamed poverty but also didn't have the energy to do anything about it. The house overall was in a terrible state but the random plants, pottery and photos hanging on the wall gave it a little more life. She stood in front of a family picture of her and her mother before she headed down from the squeaky stairs.

Rosa tilted her head slightly to the noise, smiling softly at Pia as she closed the book she'd been reading while leaving her finger on the page. "Hey, how're you holding up?" Rosa watched the girl as she came into the room, not even noticing what had been on the television this whole time until she heard the name 'Ruben Sancho' come across the speakers. She quickly glanced over towards Zorro, who'd taken up his seat next to her and had been left in charge of the remote.

"Rose!" The Pokemon called out, pointing towards the screen. Rosa followed the bushel of flowers over to the screen, still reaching for the remote as she did so.

"Ruben Sancho dating a porn star? Not anymore it seems like." The mustachio'd anchor quipped as a heavily edited image of Pia, Ruben, and his new fling popped up in the corner of the screen. "In the last couple of weeks, this Pokemon League challenge has heated up as Ruben Sancho has been spotted sporting a new woman on his arm, having left behind Champion hopeful - Pia McGuire. Suspicions arose some time after the girl's battle in Hulburry about her mother's profession and where her own interests may truly lay in regards to it."

The cameras cut to a view of the street as Rosa reached over the Roserade, fighting the Pokemon for control of the remote as she started to furiously jab at the volume down button until the screen defaulted to subtitles only.

'On these very streets, Madam McGuire may very well have conceived our challenger - given her promiscuous profession.'

Rosa stabbed the nail of her thumb into the power button, causing the screen to black out in a wave of static. The girl sat still for a moment, waiting to hear what Pia would say before she slowly sunk back into her pillow which she'd propped up against the headboard behind her.

"I didn't…" she started, looking over at her book which in her haste had been closed without marking its page. "I wasn't even really listening - it was just for the background noise, so I didn't even realize what Zorro had put on until you came down." Rosa placed both of her hands in her lap, running that last line through her head a couple of times before looking up at the still lethargic and defeated looking girl. "Whatever's going on… it's going to be alright. We all have our secrets… and it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Pia rubbed her temple at the whole thing. It seemed she wasn't the only one with a mischievous Pokémon. Despite what she had heard, she flopped onto the couch, closed her eyes, sighed and reopened them and rested her emerald lookers on the cover of the book that Rosa had been reading.

"What's it about?" Pia gestured towards it, completely ignoring what she had just heard on TV.

"It's uh…" the girl grabbed the book, placing it back in her lap before flipping through the pages, trying to find roughly where she'd left off. "A Trainer's Guide to Pokemon Pranksters. I happened to run into Xan just before Motostoke and they recommended me a few pieces of literature to check out… though admittedly, I doubt that I'll need them anymore and some of what they recommended wasn't exactly the most fruitful in the research I was hoping to use them for. It's mostly for new captures, but I was hoping for something a little more… "

"What were you looking for specifically?" Pia sat back up, now interested in the topic at hand. "The attic has quite a few books about Pokémon research laying around as well. I've read all of them already so I don't mind you taking a few. Of course there are also mystery and romance novels up there if you'd like something more entertaining." Pia fiddled with her fingers with still that emotionless expression on her face.

"Ah," Rosa started, slowly closing the book back. "I mean, I think I already found what I was looking for initially, though it wasn't really what I'd hoped to see. I know what I have to do now, but… especially after losing to Kabu I don't know that I really have the strength to do it." The girl's gaze slowly drifted over to Pia, having caught on to the slight change in her demeanor. "Though, I can't say I wouldn't be against reading something a little more interesting." The girl smiled as she lifted the book by its spine, letting its pages hang freely as she wobbled it back and forth. "These textbooks are quite dry, after all. They hardly leave anything to the imagination, and when they do - it's always at the most inopportune moment."

Pia took that as a sign to get something better to read and stood up from her spot and gave her a "wait here" nod before heading back upstairs. A little faster and a little more excited than she had previously been and the most life the girl had shown since Motostoke. She came back not too long later with two different books. One reading "The Detective of Myria" and another one called "Unova's myths". She held out the detective one towards Rosa first.

"This one is a fantasy story about a maid working for a baron. A man much too handsome for his rank enters the household as a butler and since then weird things happen in the manor she works for. With no good detectives around, she takes the role upon herself as starts investigating the weird incidents that bring the manor in uproar. This is one of my favourites. It combines mystery with fantasy and uses the romance genre elegantly without it taking away from the detective story." Pia described the book. It had a colourful cover and looked rather old but it was obvious it had been well taken care of. She then held out the second book. "This book describes the myths in Unova. Despite it's boring cover, the author of this book did research on various mythical Pokémon that can be found in Unova among others. It's explained interestingly and clearly described the author's thoughts as he travelled for his Research. He has a few other books but this one stayed with me the most."

Rosa looked at the two books which had been extended to her and nodded, flipping open the detective novel first as she flipped through the first few pages - fighting the urge to jump all the way to the back and check the number on the bottom corner of its conclusion. She figured that the Unova's myths book might hold some more promising results for her, but it was clear which one Pia favored of the two. "I think I've earned a break," the girl started, stacking the myths book on top of the one she'd been reading earlier before setting them off onto a table. "When was the last time you read this one?"

"A while back." Pia said as she sat down again. "My... mother and I read it together the first time I read it when I was younger." The hesitation in Pia's voice to speak about her mother was evident. There was a moment of silence between the two before Pia opened her mouth again to address whatever had been said on the TV.

"They're not… wrong you know." the girl started. "Not about the porn star stuff though but… the things about my mother they said. Not even I know who my father is." Pia tried to put a light-hearted joke in there but the situation wasn't anything to be laughed at. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I… I didn't know at first. I got suspicious when she was suddenly able to bring food to the table while we were only barely managing before. I was furious at her and did something stupid. We had to move away from Hammerlocke after that... " the girl fiddled with her fingers again, not looking at Rosa but at her own knees. "We never really… talked much any more after that… Despite that all that, when I saw those ladies in Hulburry I kind of realized…" Pia looked up again and gave Rosa a pained smile. "She was just a mother trying to feed her child."

Rosa nodded her head, inching closer to the other girl before wrapping her arm around her waist. "Everything's going to be alright." Rosa laid her head on Pia's shoulder, opening the book to the first page as she placed it in a place where they could both see what was printed. "You don't have to explain yourself to me… least of all to me. For now, let's just… go back."

Pia would quietly sob as she listened to Rosa reading the book for her, taking her back to a time when life was just a little bit easier.

Rosa sat on the grass at Simon's parents house with Pia, sharing some triangle sandwiches that his mom had made for the two of them as they watched their Pokemon play around with the Munchlax which had found itself a new home.

"It's a shame that you won't be sticking around a little longer," Mrs. Dansen sighed, sipping her tea on the rickety old lawn chair that they'd pulled out from the shed a few moments prior. "When we saw what happened at your battle and then got the call from Simon, we had already started planning a welcome home ceremony for you and everything." The woman took another sip of her drink, trying to rock gently in a chair that had been stuck firmly in the ground. "But I think it's for the best that you didn't. Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone makes some promises that they just can't keep… I feel like you might have come to regret the decision if you'd actually come back home that day instead of running off with your new friend."

Rosa smiled gently and nodded, taking another triangle from the picnic basket before passing it over to Pia. "Yeah… I really need to apologize to him at some point, but I don't really want him to know I'm thinking about leaving home again - despite the fact I never actually came back." The girl grabbed another triangle before taking a small bite out of one of its corners as she gathered her thoughts. "I'll let him know eventually… maybe once we get settled in to a place over in Hammerlocke." The girl looked over at Pia, not sure if it was her place to explain the situation or not. Given what had been on the tele the past few days, it didn't seem like it was such a big secret anymore - but at the same time, electronics weren't exactly commonplace in the Dansen household either.

"My mother was moved to the Hammerlocke Central Hospital after her first surgery failed because Hammerlocke has better specialized doctors. She still hasn't woken up yet but I'd like to go see her once she does." Pia explained while leaving the somewhat finer details out, having already realised that despite Simon probably knowing about the whole prostitution thing, his parents might not. Chills travelled over her spine when she realized that probably every one of her classmates knew about it by now, still, she took a deep break. "Rosa has been a great help to me." She smiled at Mrs. Dansen.

Simon's mom smiled and nodded, taking another sip of her drink. "I'm happy to see that she's been able to find more good friends on her journey so far." The woman looked over at Rosa and slowly rose from her seat, hobbling over towards her as she held onto her back. Mrs. Dansen wrapped her arms around Rosa as her husband came out of the house with a suitcase for the girl. "You've grown so much since we last saw you. And you looked so beautiful in that dress… I do hope you're able to change your mind so we can see you in it again." The woman kissed Rosa's cheek and squeezed her tightly for just a second before letting some space form between them again. "And I hope your mother recovers so we can both see you back on stage again as well, Miss McGuire."

Simon's dad shuffled proudly over, carrying Rosa's bag up on his shoulder as he crossed the distance of the yard. "Got you some bedsheets, a few different outfits," he leaned in a bit closer, covering his mouth a bit as he whispered loudly, "and a bit of spendin' cash for ya too in case the two've you get thirsty on the train over."

Rosa smiled and nodded, taking the surprisingly hefty suitcase from the man before looking over at Pia. "Well, from what I remember from the last time we loosened our strings a bit, she's a bit of a lightweight… but I think I'll manage to find a use for it." The girl wrapped her free arm around the man, squeezing him as tight as he could with only one hand. "Thank you… and take care of Ezra, won't you? She eats a ton and loves to cause trouble… but she's a good Pokemon."

Mr. Dansen nodded and then winked at the girl before giving her a little flex of his muscle. "Don't you worry about that. She can eat as much as she wants - so long as she earns her keep."

"Munch!" Ezra cried out, pulling her head out of the now abandoned picnic basket as she licked the crumbs up from between her digits.

"Thank you for the snacks, Mr. And Mrs. Dansen." Pia got up and bowed respectfully before turning to Rosa. "Shall we?"

Rosa nodded, looking off down the same road that had started their journey. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go meet your mom."

Pia's Party

Memories

STAGE 1: Wedgehurst -> Wild Area -> Motostoke

Wedgehurst
I choose you part 1
I choose you part 2
I choose you Final

Wild Area
Train to Wild Area ft. Raphael & Aeliana
Two birds with one stone
Two birds with one stone part 2 + Bird Brain
Wild Area with Arrietty

Motostoke
Double Trouble part 1
Double Trouble part 2

STAGE 2: Route 3 -> Galar Mine 1 -> Route 4 -> Turffield

Route 3
It's the most wine-derful time of the year | Part 1
It's the most wine-derful time of the year | Part 2
A Festive Fight to the Finish
The Mystery of Mew! | Part 1
The Mystery of Mew! | Part 2
The Mystery of Mew! | Part 3
A Two headed reflection

Galar Mine 1
Galar Mine #1 | Part 1
Galar Mine #1 | Part 2
Galar Mine #1 | Part 3

Route 4
Route 4
Coach McGuire
A failed attempt.

Turffield
Bad Company.
It gets worse.
Shopping shenanigans
A challenger approaches!
Gym battle: Turffield
Here and Now
Performance Post: Dreaming Fairy
New Friendships

Route 5
Homecoming | Part 1
Homecoming | Part 2
An eggcelent situation.

Hulburry
Gym battle: On treacherous waters Part 1
Gym battle: On treacherous waters Part 2
Hulburry Part 1
Hulburry Part 2
Hulburry Part 2
The Hypocrites' Waltz
The Hypocrites' Waltz Part 2
Duplicity
Duplicity part 2
Pretty Little Liars

Motostoke
To all beautiful things come an end...
Pray Return

Pia's journal

Arrietty Maverick
Pia and Arrietty met in the Wild Area although the two have shared classes before. It struck Pia as odd that the girl seemed to have no ambitions or goals at all. Although disappointed upon finding out this girl had no fire burning that would light her path, Pia made it her mission to help this girl get a goal and become a bit more social. Arrietty is the closest Pia can consider a "friend".

As according to their promise, Pia helped Arrietty get ready for her very first contest in Turffield. However, the girl ran off from stage when she was up. Pia has been feeling guilty for "forcing her into contesting" ever since.

Ruben Sancho
Pia met Ruben during Motostoke while on a double date with him, Arrietty and Ainsley. The date went disastrous with both Arrietty and Ainsley running off but Ruben and Pia were able to grow just a tiny bit closer during their search for Arrietty. They have been texting since and are on good terms with each other. They both seem to be interested in just a little bit more...

Ruben and Pia are officially dating since the end of the year festival on Route 3 following their "official second date" that went well. Pia knows about Ruben's ankle and that it's still hurting. They're in close contact with each other through calling and texting. They went on another date on Route 4 where Ruben had a gig for a coaching session with kids with the promise to spend time together after that. Both confirmed their feelings for the other by sharing a kiss. Pia likes him a lot.

Their relationship became public knowledge when a picture of Ruben staring down Pia's shirt was shared on social media and all gossip magazines. Ruben has been hiding it from Pia but as they went shopping, Pia got vocally attacked by a group of girls calling her out for being a whore and having no dignity. Ruben stood up for her and made their relationship public knowledge, no longer wanting to submit Pia to such harassment. Ruben publicly announced he likes Pia a lot and that they have been dating as opposed to what he has been saying before. Pia still doesn't know about the picture that's going around.

Despite the situation that had happened in the mall, Ruben insisted towards Raphael that they're just "friends" while Raphael announced to know more about their relationship due to being uncomfortable with the fact of calling Pia his "girlfriend". He has been slowly getting into the idea of being in a relationship with her throughout Turffield. The two of them visited his home in Wedgehurst during the events of Route 5 where Pia ended up meeting his sister Daija and his little brothers. He told Daija to stop calling her the "G" word but he ended up admitting to her he indeed considered Pia his girlfriend. During all of this Pia has been thinking about their time together and has grown quite fond of Ruben, more than she probably realizes herself as she has to constantly remind herself that she shouldn't be feeling the things that she is feeling. She believes that it will all come to an end but has recently started clinging on to a little spark of hope...

The two of them exchanged Applin's during their Valentine's day date where they also decided to release them, promising each other that they would stay together.

They've proven to be currently in love with both of them starting to show effort in their relationship. However, Pia's big secret that she's trying to keep hidden from Ruben is becoming a ticking time bomb...

In Hulburry things have started to get rocky for the two when Pia found out Ruben lied about not being in Hulburry when he broke into the gym Pia was having a photoshoot at with Aeliana and Nessa. He brought along Ainsley, two new friends Pia didn't know and Simon. The lie upsetted Pia greatly as lying is something she absolutely hated and the reason for it was so that Ruben could hang out with his friends. She hasn't messaged him since Nessa booted him out of the gym.

Raphael Allard
Pia met Raphael during her train ride to the wild Area together with Aeliana. Thinking that he had a lot of potential in becoming a chamption which would benefit her, Pia approached him thinking they could become friends. Their interactions didn't go as smoothly as Pia had hoped. After their argument at the end of her battle with Aeliana, the girl ran off thinking she had blown her chances. Raphael doesn't harbour any ill intend towards the girl and only hoped to give her some advice.

They have resolved their issues in Galar mine 1 and worked together to battle Oleana in which they were victorious. Raphael brought the issues with Pia's overprotectiveness of Milla back up on Route 4 when Pia was refusing Milla from battling. Raphael spoke some sense into her, prompting her to finally trust Milla. Raphael understands Pia better now and Pia has a better opinion of Raphael now too.

They met again during the events of the Turffield contest and spend some time talking to each other while Pia tried to get Ruben to apologize to Arrietty. Raphael said something similar to what he said on Route 4 and confused Pia in her actions. He seems to know more than he lets on.

Aeliana Kekoa
Pia met Aeliana during the train ride to the wild Area together with Raphael. Although her interactions with Aeliana went a little bit more smoothly than with Raphael, Pia still ran off at the end of their battle in an attempt to distract her since Pia owed her money for losing. Although Pia has declared Aeliana her rival, they haven't spoken since and Pia attempts to keep it that way.

Pia met Aeliana again on Route 3 when she was on her way to the end of the year market. Together with Rosa and Valerie they went into an haunted mansion. Although they didn't converse much, Aeliana made some comments that Pia saw as snarky that were meant well by Aeliana. This indicates that Pia still thinks that Aeliana is out to get her.

Their friendship was given a second chance in Hulburry during a photoshoot with Nessa that Aeliana had invited Pia for. Pia saw this as a really good chance to start her own "career" rather on relying on Ruben and his fame. They shared a moment together and seem to be on good terms again.

Ainsley
Ainsley was Pia's date partner during the double date in Motostoke and is Ruben's best friend. Ainsley pretended to be rich and paid for the date with Ruben's money. Pia saw through the charade and called him out on it after Ainsley suggested they'd book a hotel together and make love. He ran off afterwards, angry that the feelings of lust he harboured towards Pia were not returned. Pia doesn't think highly of Ainsley and told Ruben that he needs "better friends".

Pia and Ainsley met again in the Hulburry gym after he and Ruben broke in so that they could ask Nessa's hand in marriage. He called Pia a "gold digging sket" because of her relationship with Ruben and the pettiness he holds towards her for the date that didn't end in the hotel room. They both dislike each other greatly.

Melody Argent
Although Pia and Melody attended the same Trainer school and were in the same class, they never once teamed up for an assignment. Both didn't have a very good impression of the other and avoided them like the plague. It's not until the Festival Fun-time Flurry that they have tried teaming up to win a competition as both of them were interested in the prize. They chased down a cheater together and have a better opinion of each other since their teamwork. They figured out that they're a pretty good team actually. Both of them thinks "the other is not so bad after all".

Valerie Amity
Pia met Valerie on route 3 where they went inside a haunted mansion together with Aeliana and Rosa. They didn't get to converse much but it was enough for them to establish some sort of familiarity. Valerie calls Pia "Lady P" as a nickname. Pia thinks of Valerie as someone with too much energy but not a bad person overall, maybe a little too naïve.

Pia was able to form a friendshop with Valerie in Turffield where she finally managed to catch the girl alone. Pia decided that Valerie's stream and followers could help her towards her goal of becoming rich, one she is trying to head towards to against ever since the events with Catherine. She feels guilty about this though.

Rosa Valdés
Pia met Rosa on Route 3 and went inside a haunted mansion together with Aeliana and Valerie. They were stuck inside a room together where Rosa found golden nuggets and shared one with Pia. Rosa's small moments of kindness seemed insincere in Pia's eyes, someone who is well versed with duality. When Rosa left the end of the year market after they had gotten out of the haunted mansion, Pia followed her and saw her crying. Pia comforted the crying Rosa but as soon as Rosa had gotten herself together again, Pia fell the need to call her out on her duality, telling her that how she was acting now was quite different from before. Rosa denied at first but as soon as Pia had driven her into a corner, she stopped trying. After Jirachi appeared for a brief second, Rosa walked off. They're neither on bad or good terms but both have things they probably need to speak off.

Simon Pearburgh
Pia met Simon in Galar Mine 1. Pia thought nothing more of him than a bug nerd. They partnered up to battle against Oleana and his clever strategies impressed Pia, prompting her to compliment him after their shared life/death situation on Route 4.

Pia considers Simon to be a positive influence and appreciates him cheering her on during the contest in Turffield where he appeared to be the loudest in the room.

Pia met Simon again in Hulburry after he broke into the gym that she was having a photoshoot at with Aeliana and Nessa. She was disappointed in his behaviour but guessed this was probably Ruben and Ainsley's idea as he just stumbled up behind them.

Catherine Carlisle
Yeah.... Pia really doesn't like Catherine but she enjoys getting under her skin.

Kit
Pia met Kit in the Wild Area. Kit had been trying to catch a Pokémon for days but had yet to catch one. He begged the girl to help him in exchange for money and a strange rock that he found. Pia taught him how to catch a Pokémon but after hearing that Kit is in search for his father, she decided to only take the strange rock as her reward and left the pouch with Poké behind for the boy to keep. Kit seems to have developed a crush for her because of that.

Daija Sancho
Daija is Ruben's little sister by 2 years. Pia met Daija during her trip to Wedgehurst with Ruben on Route 5. Daija was wary of the girl at first as she is well aware of her brother's "type". She has given Pia her nod of approval when she found the two being silly in the living room after she had left the house for a little bit to cool off. She thinks Pia is a positive influence in Ruben's life.

Jovian and Livia McMiller and Daniel
Pia met the McMiller couple and their foster son on Route 5 when she took a nap outside in the cold covered in her own Pokémon. Livia McMiller invited her at her home with happened to be the Nursery on Route 5. Pia investigated the Chimecho mystery of how she had suddenly laid two eggs. She appeared to be fostering them as trainer's had left those eggs behind. Chimecho have her a mint-green coloured egg with darker green swirls as a thank you for getting her wishes across to the McMiller couple.

Trainer ID

Pia McGuire:

Pia was born in the town of Hammerlocke in the Galar region and is part of the first graduating class of the Wedgehurt trainer's academy. Despite having lived in poverty, her mother has been able to pay for her tuition in alternative ways. She's quick witted and rather clever but is sometimes a bit "too" honest. Pia dreams of becoming an actress and does almost anything to get more money. When it comes down to it, what she really wants is to no longer live in poverty and live a bit more happily.

Inventory:

4x Pokéball
Galarian Pokédex
Xtransceiver
Broken Flashlight
King's Rock
Sun Stone
Thunderstone
Mint green Pokémon egg with darker green swirls

Outfits:

Daily Outfit:

Spoiler:

Contest outfit:

Spoiler:

Ribbons:

Turffield Ribbon 2nd place:

Badges:

Turffield Grass badge

Hulburry Water badge

Motostoke Fire badge

Foxrally · Sep 15, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Dusty Bowl

Simon could barely manage to drag his feet through the sands of Dusty Bowl. The hot temperatures of bridge fields were nothing compared to the downright blazing heat that this part of the wild area regularly experienced, as evident by the lack of vegetation around (minus the dead trees); and to boot, it seemed the region was due for a sandstorm, the beginning of which he could already see in the distance. He would have done anything to avoid the heat and sand and simply travel at night (or better, avoid the area entirely), but Blackspear had told him to meet with them at the edge of the area connecting to the Lake of Outrage - and unfortunately, going through Dusty Bowl was the quickest way to get there if he didn't want to be late. Simon was not one to enjoy the heat at all - Ballonlea rarely got hotter than the low thirties - and had shedded his coat once again to avoid heatstroke, but still had most of his Pokemon sitting in there as he tied it around his waist.

"How you lads holding up?" he asked as he took a break, wiping his sweat away with his black undershirt and fanning himself with his hat. Spewpa, Burmy, Caterpie and Princess were each nestled in one of his coat pockets, and he'd recalled Snom to her pokeball for obvious reasons. The bugs each gave varying levels of exhausted-sounding squeaks, all lamenting the heat as well. Burmy complained it was too hot to sleep.

"Well, that makes five of us." Simon responded, looking around to see where the other two much-more comfortable Pokemon were. As a fire-type Larvesta was absolutely relishing the blistering heat, and was as energized as ever the minute Simon had stepped into the area. He remembered reading something about Volcaronas having a connection to the sun, and the fact that the desert region was also big and flat also did not help to discourage the Pokemon's urge to fly off into the distance. Simon spotted the little firebug spinning in circles a short distance away, playing a game of catch with a tumbleweed. "Oi, Larvesta, stay close!" he called out. The bug did a few more spins before coming back his way.

He searched around some more for his other companion, one whom he didn't expect to take to the environment so well. For some reason, as soon as they'd arrived, Anorith had gotten surprisingly excited and leaped out of Simon's pocket into the nearest sand dune, to 'swim' in it. Simon hadn't expected it to work, but it did- being a rock-type likely meant the Pokemon had some advantage in sandy conditions, or he'd somehow learned Dig in the past week. This prompted Simon to wonder if the Dusty Bowl was perhaps an ocean in some ancient time, and if there were any more fossils around. Regardless, Anorith was greatly enjoying himself in his area; and Simon spotted him jumping out of a dune before landing in another and digging himself in. Being effectively a newborn as well, he didn't trust the bug to wander off on its own either. "Anorith, you too, don't stray too far." he mentioned.

After a few minutes of rest and a much-needed drink of water, Simon forged ahead once more. The sandstorm wasn't on top of them yet, so he wanted to get as much distance covered before that happened. He spotted a few wayward hippopotas on the way, as well as a couple of moving rocks which he assumed were dwebbles, but little more than that, which was understandable given how far they were from the nearest body of water. It seemed even the local Pokemon were preparing to take shelter, both from the heat and storm.

-------

An hour or so passed before Simon reached a large stone structure, one which had seemingly formed into a natural overpass. The massive rocks had created a sort of semi-cave, sheltering the ground below from the sun and wind. One of its largest walls was opposite the direction of the storm, so the young man decided this would be a good spot to pitch his tent and wait it out.

"Ride's… over, lads!" he huffed, untying the jacket from his waist and putting it on the ground for the bugs to get out. He fell back onto the sand, exhausted but glad to finally be on something that wasn't sizzling hot. Anorith popped his head out of the sand beside him and squeaked, a little sad that the group was stopping, and they were soon joined by Larvesta as the bug gracefully crashed into the rock wall.

"Let's just… take a break here and wait the sandstorm out." Simon managed to say between breaths. "Yo, Anorith, hit me with some water gun."

The Pokemon obliged- Simon was blasted with water from Anorith's mouth, along with the vast quantities of sand the bug had ingested on the way here.

"What is that- ugh, pfah!" Simon sprang up as the shock of cold water mixed with dirt hit his face; though he would've been lying if it wasn't a relief from the heat. "Th… Thanks, Anorith." he said with a sigh, to which the bug responded with a happy gurgle.

A worried squeak from Princess grabbed Simon's attention. The little Joltik was staring into the distance, shaking slightly, warning that something was approaching. Simon looked in the same direction and narrowed his eyes; there wasn't anything there- oh. Through the sand, he managed to spot a few pairs of lime green eyes approaching. They seemed to be concealed by the sand, but the closer they got to the cave, the easier they were to make out.

"Don't worry, Princess, it's just a few Silicobra. They're usually pretty harmless." Simon reassured the Joltik and let her climb onto his arm, though he understood why she was worried. Small electric-type bug was probably on the menu for a ground-type snake.

Although, as the Pokemon got closer, Simon realized they didn't seem in the mood for hunting at all. In fact, the silicobras seemed exhausted, and were approaching at a sliggoo's pace.

Noticing Simon, one of the Pokemon let out a weak hiss- not a statement of aggression, but one of peace. It was hard to make anything of what it had said due to the hoarseness of the Pokemon's cry. Spewpa looked at Simon and squeaked in concern, repeating what the snake had said.

"They're… thirsty?" Simon mouthed. The idea of a desert-dwelling ground-type seeking out water was a bit strange to him, but again, he'd been garbage at Pokemon biology class. He figured that if even fire-types like Larvesta had to drink water at some point, ground-types probably also had to do the same. "Well that's great, then! Come over, everyone, we can help!"

The snakes seemed surprised that Simon could understand them, but all readily accepted the help. They slithered forward, some of them eyeing the bugs curiously but were thankfully smart enough to keep their distance. Simon tapped his chin; it wouldn't do any good to blast them with a water gun like he'd just done now. He needed a way to keep a large amount of water in a single place, hopefully for a long period of time, and usable safely by the ground-types. He needed… a plan.

After a few moments of deliberation, the young man clapped his hands, ready to spring to action. "Alright, team! I know what to do. We'll need all of us on this one!" he called out, summoning all the bugs around him. They all let out a unified squeak, ready to help.

"First things first- Anorith, Princess, use Dig and Fury Cutter to carve out a big hole in the sand! Try to keep it as close to the wall as possible, and after that, make a smaller, deeper hole in the ground."

Both Pokemon nodded and quickly got to work. Simon turned to Spewpa, Caterpie and Larvesta, "Okay, while those two are at it, I'm gonna need you guys' string shot. You've seen a Spider Web before, right- I need you three to recreate that, but stronger and thicker- enough that no liquid can go through. Spewpa, you good to show them how?"

Spewpa gave a confident squeak, and motioned for Caterpie and Larvesta to follow her lead. Next, Simon turned to Burmy. The half-awake nocturnal Pokemon was content with watching everyone else work as he laid back on the sand, but the trainer had other ideas. "Burmy, no slacking! Your job is to make sure our new friends get water right now. Levitate a few water orbs in front of them, but make sure they don't move- no attacking." he added sternly.

Burmy sighed before reluctantly getting to his feet and approaching the Silicobra. Several of them recoiled at the sight of the Hidden Power orbs of water, but after a few moments, realized what the bug was doing, and gratefully began lapping up the water.

Finally, Simon pulled out a Pokeball and released Snom onto the sand. The little ice bug immediately recoiled at the sight of the environment and looked up at Simon scornfully; for what inane reason had he brought her out in this weather?

"Language, Snom." Simon wagged his finger. "It's all about teamwork- and I need your help too!" He looked back to check on Anorith and Princess' progress, and found that the hole was already partially dug out, and with a narrower indent in the middle like he'd asked. "Perfect! Snom, I want you to use the power of your ice shard to create a pillar of ice in that center hole!"

Snom hissed and rolled her eyes, unsure what this whole scene was about but eager to get back into the confines of her much colder, much more comfortable Pokeball for once. The bug blasted an icicle spear from her back towards the hole, which fit snugly and acted almost like a centerpiece, before blasting it with more snow to fill in the rest of the space.

"Perfect." Simon gave her a thumbs-up. The ice would serve to keep the water cold long-term. He glanced over at the three string-shotters - they'd already made quick progress on the tarp-like web. "Now, all we need is some sort of support to make sure that won't fly off… oh!"

Just his luck, there was a pile of medium-sized rocks sitting just outside the cave. He ran over and grabbed a couple of them in his arms, and reached for a third one- before it suddenly moved away from his reach. A pair of curious eyes popped out from underneath, before dashing back under the rock.

"Oh, sorry!" Simon laughed and apologized. "Didn't mean to disturb you, I'm getting rocks for a watering hole. If you wanna come and cool off, you're free to!" he said, leaving the dwebble alone and grabbing a few more rocks beside it. The bug slowly emerged from its shell and let out a timid squeak. "Of course! The more the merrier." Simon responded with a grin.

As he got back to the construction zone, he saw that the hole had just been finished, and so had the string-shot tarp. "Awesome, now, let's move that sheet over to the watering hole and cover it up."

With the help of his bugs, Simon grabbed the edges of the sheet and spread it on the bottom of the pit like a waterproof coating. He then placed the rocks he'd collected on the edges, pinning it down. "And finally, time to fill it up! Anorith, Burmy, use your moves to fill the whole thing with water- Snom, throw in your powder snow as well!"

The three Pokemon diligently got to work, and within just a few minutes, the watering hole was already halfway full. Simon turned to the Silicobras, and noticed they'd been joined by several more wild Pokemon- the dwebble from earlier, a couple roggenrola, and even a hippopotas. Despite the species' differences, the Pokemon were all patiently and calmly sitting around him, watching the construction process curiously.

"Oh wow, looks like you do have a lot of friends." Simon laughed as he sat down beside them. The dwebble scurried a little closer to him and let out another timid squeak as Simon rubbed its head gently.

"Don't thank me, lassie, thank the team! I'm not doing any of this alone." he replied with a smile. Suddenly, his eye caught a glimpse of something jutting out of the dwebble's shell; it looked like some sort of red crystal. "Whoa, cool shell! Big fan of the jewelry."

The dwebble let out another squeak, saying that it was actually quite a bother to have on; for some reason it always made the weather hotter.

"Oh, really? I mean, I could take it out if you want." Simon said with a shrug, and the dwebble nodded eagerly. The boy carefully crabbed the crystal with his hand and pulled- it came off quite easily, apparently only being held up by a few pieces of sandstone. Simon examined the gem more closely; it did seem to be radiating some heat…

An excited squeak sounded beside him. Larvesta had immediately taken notice of the new shiny, and was chirping loudly for Simon to give the crystal to him. Simon shook his head, "Larvesta, no- what did you learn last time you took a random rock that wasn't yours?"

The fire-type let out a sad chirp. He just wanted to be cool like Snom, he lamented. Simon raised his eyebrows; so that's where the obsession with crystals came from. With a chuckle, he handed the gem over to Larvesta. "Alright, fine then. I'm pretty sure this one doesn't belong to any black-suited criminals anyway."

Larvesta raised his arms in a cheer and grabbed the warm crystal, hugging it close and shooting off to fly a victory lap. A few moments later, Burmy let out a cry; the watering hole was now done! The pristine water looked refreshing as ever in the middle of the sands, and the wild Pokemon quickly slithered, hopped and skittered over to quench their thirst.

Simon grinned as he gave a proud thumbs-up to the bugs, who responded with a cheer. "All in a day's teamwork, gang! Drink up!"

Anorith squeaked in confusion. This wasn't a pee-hole?!

Dragon · Sep 15, 2021

LIVE ♡ CHAT

SailorPink: hearts up!
DeepSeaSeadra:

GalarSeviper:

SailorPink:

gl Val!
leonisbae99:

raiduyha:

LeafeonSalad:

Kabu DAY ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡
Flame DOMINANCE hype!
Poké:

1000 ♡ Friends: 21

"Alllllrighty! Time to BURN it UP!, pal!"

Val and Flame proudly roared, gearing themselves up for their next challenge: against the 'Lord of Fire', Kabu, Gym leader of Motostoke. His powerful Centiscortch was the obstacle to overcome in order to win their third badge. For Val, she knew that only Flame was the one for the job--after all, she aims to prove that their own fire will blaze hotter, brighter, and more furious than Kabu's. As the duo was set to begin their Gym Challenge, they were then greeted by an incoming crowd.

"Hey, it's Valentine!"
"Good luck Valentine!!"

It seems like a small group of young teens had approached Valerie - those that were fans of hers! Greeting them all with a cheerful wave and smile, Valerie also couldn't help but noticed that some of them were holding colourful, yet ominous looking signs that distinctively read, Demon Queen. Some even had cute assortment of costumes on, from horns, to dark capes, to false fangs... this is almost like Halloween!

"Hey, heyyy! Look at you guys!" Valerie beamed. "Aha, I dig the gear, but what's with all the Demon Queen signage?"

"That's who YOU are!" one of them said. "Didn't you hear? You're now the Demon Queen of Galar!"

"Wha--" the fans all cheered and clapped for her, but left Valerie in bewilderment. "H-Hold up, friends. Since when I am a demon of... anything?"

"Hold on! Excuse me!" After then sudden call, they all stopped, paving the way for an older looking young woman: one who was conspicuously rolling in a wheelchair. She wheeled herself in front of the crowd, facing Valerie. She did a small body-only curtsey, as her way of introducing herself politely and promptly. "Valentine! It's good to meet you face-to-face at last!"

"Nice to meet you too! But, are you saying we've met before?"

"Ah, excuse my manners!" the girl apologized. "You remember... SailorPink, correct?"

"Ohhhhhhhh! Heck yeah I do! You're one of my mods!" Valerie and the girl then gently took each of their hands and shook them. "Girrrrrllll, you done WONDERS helpin' out the stream! Like, thanks for dealing with that weirdo the other day, ack! He was on my case like a hard-ass detective looking for candy for days! But I didn't know you were in Galar!"

"I am from Kalos, and yes, while you were in the League, I wanted to see you battle myself! While I was here in the city, I met so much fans of yours that, well, we wanted to form like a fanclub of sorts! Eventually we... decided that I'd be the president of it, which took me by surprise, but I'm loving it!" the girl, SailorPink looked around the cheering crowd. "By the by, since we're now talking IRL, you can call me Belle."

Valerie nodded. "You can call me Val!" she smiled. "And eeeey, I have a fan club now?! Totes pog!! But ummmm... what's with the Demon Queen stuff?"

"The crowd has been dubbing you that ever since your successful victory over Nessa!" Belle explained. "When you used a combination of Attract and Thunder Wave to both infatuate and paralyze the opponents.. they couldn't do a thing against you! It was like, a demonness, effortlessly taking down The Hero with her broken skills and magic!!"

After another loud cheer from the fanclub, Valerie pondered this for a bit. "Demon Queen eh?" At first, the prospect of being... a demon queen? Super weird. But then again, "RAWR!" the followed 'rawr' from Valerie was a good indication for one to realize, there really was no 'pondering' about it. "If I'm the Demon Queen, guess that makes you lot myyyyy... Little Monsters?!"

"Love that! We're Little Monsters!!"
"Praise Demon Queen and Lord Flame!"
"Claws up!"

"Claws up indeedy! And aaaay, Lord Flame?!" Valerie beamed, turning to Flame. Flame's back ignited into flames, surely excited for the upcoming match, and to give his newfound fans a show, just like what Val would do. Looks like both him and Valerie were both getting into things. "Well, my Little Monsters! We're off to conquer Motostoke!--Oh but first, I need some sorta demon-like wear, don't I..."

"Valentine! We got something for you! A boy and a girl came from the crowd, holding some plastic Houndoom-styled horns accessory, one that had a crimson coloured jewel that one can wear across their forehead.

"That looks so cool! Did you guys make it?" Valerie had then asked, being handed the items. The duo nodded.

"I'm June!" one of them introduced - she seemed slightly younger than Valerie. "And this is my sis, July!" the other one looked exactly the same - they were both twins. "We helped with all the costume designing and the club helped bought all the accessories for everyone. A small group of us are part of the art crew, and we're the leaders!"

"Awwww, I love artists! Lemme see here..." Valerie promptly put on the horns. The crimson jewel was a nice touch, it was like she was a sorceress, and that jewel on her forehead was a symbol of her infinite power. Or something like that. "Fits perfectly! Thanks so much, you guys!"

"Oh no, thank you for being cool with all this," Belle remarked. "And um, thank you for helping me out that one time, with... you know."

"No prob, sweetie! That's what our Demon Kingdom is for, right?!"

"Bon chance against Kabu, Valerie!"

"Ah! Let's see... how do you say it again... oh! Merci! No worries, my Little Monsters! Your Demon Queen is gonna conquer and rule Motostoke! Our Demon Kingdom, FTW!"

"By the way..." Belle added. "There's actually one more thing we wanted to give you."

"Hm? Oh! This is..."

Ladies and Gentlemen! Finally! The next challenge in our very own Motostoke Stadium is here!! The Red-Hot Kabu is ready for a Firey fight! Will the challenger douse Kabu's flames, or will they get burnt?!

The stadium was filled with the roars and cheers of the energetic crowd that had attended today. Kabu, Gym Leader of Motostoke, had entered the stadium with his familiar competitive face. Among the Gym leaders, Kabu was a veteran, and was hailed as one of the strongest - and the gym challenge against him was revered to be so difficult that many people had dropped the Galar League all together. He entered to the front of the stadium, waving to the crowd. Serious and strict as he was when he battles, he's still a beloved figure in Galar.

Coming from the other side, Valerie entered the stadium too wearing her usual Gym Challenger outfit, but also wearing the horns and crimson jewel that her fan club have given to her. She hollered and waved to the crowd who have cheered her on. Within the crowd, the now called Valentine Little Monsters were cheering the loudest.

"Allez, Allez, Demon Queen!!" Belle shouted.

"It's all yours, Demon Queen!" yelled June.

"Go for it!" July followed.

Valerie had finally met Kabu face to face in the arena. Kabu sized her up for a brief moment. "Ah, Valerie Amity! I have heard about you," Kabu greeted. "You've bested both Milo's Grass-type Pokémon and Nessa's Water-types, and now have come to challenge me. Excellent!"

"'Course!" Valerie stated. "Hope you're ready, Kabu Daddy, cuz this here Demon Queen is now gonna conquer Motostoke!"

"Kabu... Da--" Kabu was taken aback, but regained his scenes, after a clearing of his throat. "You wish to conquer this city? Very well! But know this: every Trainer and pokémon trains hard in pursuit of victory. That means your opponent is also working hard to win. Will you, prevail over me? Then show me your strength! Your potential! Come, Centiskorch!"

Kabu's thrown pokeball released his most powerful and famous of all his pokemon: Centiskorch. The crowd cheered as his pokémon spewed flames furiously from his mouth, shooting it in the air. The flickering fire blew past Valerie, blasting her side of the arena with a burst of sweltering heat that even she could feel.

"Maaan, I can see why you beat the pants of a lotta people," Valerie admitted. "But my bro's got more heat than the devil's nutsack! GET EM', FLAME!!" Her own pokeball opened up to release her partner and bro, Flame the Quilava. When Flame popped out, she and Valerie both hi-fived and bopped their fists together, before Flame ran upwards to the arena, now face-to-face with Kabu's Centiskorch. Not deterred or intimidated, Flame ignited his back. He was in his battle stance, ready to give this fight everything he has. And more.

It looks like both combatants our ready! The crowd's excitement has been turned up to 11!! Will Quilava's fire be enough to vanquish Centiskorch?!

"Let the Battle... BEGIN!"

"Are you all READY, Little Monsters?! It's tiiiiiime... to take down this HERO!" Valerie shouted. "Rush in there, Flame! hit it with a Double Kick!"
Flame as fast as he naturally could, ran up to the Centiskorch to hit it with his hind legs. His foe was able to evade the consecutive blows however. But not giving in, Flame unleashed a flurry of even more strikes, only for Centiskorch to dodge them all, and countering by knocking away Flame quickly by the base of its tail.

"Is that all you got?" Kabu wondered. "Centiskorch! Unleash your Fire Lash!"

"Nuh uh! Flame, counter with Quick Attack!"

The two Pokemon clashed, with Flame only able to counter thanks to the added force of his speedy attack. With quick thinking, Flame dropped to a hand stand to deliver another barrage of twin kicks, but Centiskorch again was able to easily evade. Flame chased the Centiscorch around the arena, continuing to barely miss his enemy, striking the ground from where he was aiming for.

"I warn you --- If my Centiskorch really want to dodge, it can dodge forever," Kabu pointed out with his arms crossed. "Your Quilava is fast. But in terms of speed, Centiskorch will not be beaten easily."

"Hah!" Valerie gritted her teeth, but still gave an eventual excited grin. "We'll show em' who's boss, Flame! Flame Wheel attack!"

Flame mustered his agility to curl himself in a ball, igniting himself to make him a ball of fire. He lunged himself to the Centiskorch, but after Kabu's command to dodge, the Centiskorch slithered itself out of the way, causing Flame to crash to the ground with so much force, the flames rocketed to the air, like a live flame geyser. Valerie ordered Flame to do another quick attack to keep the pressure on. Centiskorch once again evades, but Flame continued on the assault. The two pokemon were now clashed in a virtual game of tag; with both of their speed increasing over time, the pokemon eventually became hard for the naked eye to see.

INCREADIBLE! The speed of these two pokemon can't be matched!! Don't blink, folks! Or you'll miss the action!

"FLAME! Use Double Kick!" Valerie then shouted. Flame maneuvered himself with his added speed from his quick attack, to position himself up and above Centiskorch. Like a warrior's axe preparing to slam down against his unfortunate foe, he flipped himself to aim the back of his foot against Centiskorch's head. Centiskorch nearly moved out of the away, with Flame colliding with the arena with enough force upon the ground to cover the area in the dust that developed upon impact.

"Be on your guard," Kabu instructed Centiskorch. The dust made it impossible to see the Quilava until he quickly popped out in front of it, attempting it to blindside it with a surprise attack.

"Spray it with an ember swarm!"

"Repel it with your Fire Lash!"

With a quick, deep breath, Flame spewed out swarms of flame from his mouth, clashing with Centiskorch's flame-wrapped tail. The flames danced, like cotton puffs blowing through the summer breeze in the air. The fire developed more and more until that particular area of the battle field was eurped completely into a sea of flames. The blast of heat was blown throughout the battlefield, with even Valerie and Kabu both feeling the quick change of the atmosphere. Soon Centiskorch mustered its strength, enough to counter Flame's fire barrage, striking him with his tail after popping forth from the erupting fire.

"Do not let up!" Kabu called. Following the command, Centiskorch unleashed a flurry of Fire Lash attacks, combing and hitting Flame one strike after another. With its last strike, it slammed Flame to the ground with considerable force. It then stopped, observing Flame sprawled to the ground. It's guard could not be wavered however -- and good thing it didn't -- for Flame found the strength to stand back up on his feet. "You are quite tough..."

"Flame won't lose to another Fire-type!" Valerie declared confidently. "Tackle it!"

Flame charged in, to hit Centiskorch directly against his body. The Centiskorch absorbed the hit, and countered by wrapping Flame with his tail, slamming him on the ground. It wouldn't let up on its stranglehold, until Flame found a chance to pelt it with flames, right on its face. Centiskorch slithered away, to reposition itself to avoid the ember swarms.

Valerie then had a small idea. "Hey, bro! Let's try a combo attack!" Valerie suggested. "Like, Swift and Flame Wheel! The Flaming Swift Wheel!!"

"Centiskorch, do not waver! Fire Lash!"

Flame shot out a barrage of glittering stars, wrapping them around his body. Then, encasing himself with a cylindrical casing of fire, he once again raced to lunged himself towards the enemy Centiskorch, this time with an array of stars surrounding all around him. Centiskorch found itself deflecting the starry attack that came its way, but could no react quick enough for Flame to maneuver himself and strike it right on the side of its body.

"That's an impressive technique," Kabu complimented.

"Alrighty! Now for a Double Quick KICK ATTACK!!" Valerie then shouted. With all his speed, Flame rushed and climbed himself towards the stadium walls, then using the structure, he leaped out against them, then like an action hero performing his signature attack, he used the speed from his quick attack, and the force that he pushed himself against the stadium to ready a double barrage of kicks.

"Counter him with your Thunder Fang!" Unfortunately, Kabu was prepared to counter strike. Recovering from Flame's blow, Centiskorch narrowly dodged Flame's drop kick, biting it square on the side of his body. Flame's body suffered from the effects of the electrical current that passed through Centiskorch's fangs before he was thrown across the arena, hurling it back into the air. "Now! Blast it with Scald!"

In a surprising twist, Centiskorch unleashed a jet stream of boiling water from its mouth, making contact against Flame. The sudden water attack was super effective against the fire-type Flame; the blow sent it hurling through the air, hurling it to the ground where he crashed with an auditable 'thud' that rang through the stadium.

"Dang it! Thought that would work for sure!" Valerie bellowed out. "I gotta tell ya, Ka-boom, your Centiskorchie really is something! Muuuuust of been through a lot with ya, right?"

"Centiskorch is my faithful partner, and forever my sworn friend," Kabu explained with a nod. "Ever since our first encounter through Lavaridge..."

"That's in Hoenn, right?" asked Valerie.

"Indeed," he replied. "When I first met Centiskorch, he was but a Sizzlipede. It was quite a sight -- back then, his flame could not even compare to a mere candle. But that did not deter him, for he had an ongoing quest to grow strong. Overtime, through my clashes with my rival and friend, the ex-Gym leader of Lavaridge, he grew to a force that rivals the sun itself."

"Whooooooa, the sun?!" beamed Valerie, now starry eyed. "That IS pretty strong!"

"But even though he is this strong, there is a powerful force that is hailed as the strongest," Kabu had a secret smile on his face. "I speak of the Champion, of course. As a Fire-type, his pride demands us to clash against Leon's Charizard, and come out victorious. Don't ever forget, Valerie, even if you have the desire to win, there are those who work equally hard, if not harder, to realize their passion, and their dreams."

Valerie gave a softer smile. "You got some really cool buddies! I'm really happy for ya'. But you know somethin'? I've got some really amazing friends too." Almost on cue, Flame stood back on his feet. Beaten and battered, but still raring to go. The battle was far from over for him. "And we're gonna get stronger together! So much so that we're gonna conquer the sun!"

"I see," Kabu said, now with a secret smile on his face. "Then show me. Show me the strength that surpasses the sun itself! Come, Centiskorch! Perform your Sunny Day!" Centiskorch's whiskers glowed a sinister red, as it formed a ball of light to launch in the air. This ball expanded a bit, and it seemed as though it contained energy and power enough to light, and warm up the stadium.

It's Sunny Day! MY GOD, it's SUNNY DAY! When it activates, the sunlight becomes harsh all around the field, increasing the power of fire-type moves, while decreasing the power of Water-type moves! This is Kabu's signature technique!

"Now, Centiskorch! With all your might, blast your foe with a Solarbeam!" As part of his strategy, Centiskorch quickly released a powerful energy wave right at Flame -- but fortunately, Flame had ample enough to dodge; albeit, barely. "He's still quite nimble. But what you say to this! Rapid Fire Solar Beam!" Centiskorch formed its Solarbeam in the air, but this time, the single energy wave turned into multiple beams that spread throughout the field. Flame once again attempted to dodge them all, but eventually the numbers gain was too much to bear, as it tripped itself up and fell against blast after blast, that upon impact, created a small explosion that covered the field in dust. The crowd meanwhile, was loving it.

"Get up, Flame! You can do this!" Valerie cheered on. It was sheer willpower and stubbornness at this point where Flame finally managed back on his feet. "Nice! Alrighty, if fire moves are increased, we gotta make the most of em'! Flame Wheel, and make it hot!"

"Centiskorch! Fight back with your Fire Lash!"

The two Pokemon collided once more, generating blasts of heat waves upon impact. The sparks of flame scattered around, like blossoms in a storm. Flame changed up his game plan; after the collision, he held on to Centiskorch's tail. Then came an immediate call out to use a swift attack from Valerie, but was repelled by Centiskorch swatting it away with another Fire Lash. Valerie then shouted Flame to pelt it with ember, staggering the Centiskorch enough to help Flame regain his footing. The Centiskorch roared, its own will allowing it to overpower the spray of ember attacks. Using this, Kabu quickly ordered a Thunder Fang move, having his Centiskorch rush in to deliver another electrical bite upon Flame's foot this time -- but despite the pain Flame countered back by hitting Centiskorch square on with his other foot, hitting it with a strong kick.

The two pokemon stumbled, knocking each other down. "We gotta try something else..." Valerie realized. "Guess it's time for that new move; the one that Belle gave to us! Ready, Flame? Time for Toxic!" When Flame got back up, he spat out dangerous looking purple fluid - fuild that he sprayed all over Centiskorch. The Centiskorch cried and roared out in pain upon contact.

"Did you say, Toxic?" Kabu observed.

It's TOXIC!! A surprising move from the challenger! When Toxic hits, the opposing pokemon becomes poisoned! But not just any poison, the poison will steadily increase in effectiveness! This won't be good for the Gym Leader, in a drawn out battle!

"Call it, one of the Demon Queen's powers!" Valerie cheeked. "Aaaaand she has the best followers a queen could ask for!" her fanclub cheered loudly for her, especially Belle who was even more amped up; the thing she gave to Valerie before her match: it was a TM, Toxic. It was something her father had gave to her long ago, before her... unfortunate incident. While that's a story for another time, she figured that Valerie would make the most of it. And looks like she did.

"No matter. We will simply end this battle quickly! Centiskorch, fire another Solarbeam!"

"Dodge, dodge, dodge! Quick Attack!"

Poison aside, Centiskorch fired blast after blast, but with Flame's speed, combined with his nimbleness, he was able to evade. Then Centiskorch fired multiple blasts at once, to try and cover Flame's dodging at a wider area. But after the blasts, it flinched from the damage from the poison, giving Flame the opportunity to hit it square on with his body. But even after getting hit, Centiskorch powered through to swat Flame aside with another Fire Lash.

"Thunder Fang attack!" ordered Kabu, his aim to keep on a steady of attacks before the poison takes hold. Instead of lunging to bite Flame, his fans grew into a stream of sharp electrical bolts, changing from a close range attack to a long range attack. When Flame landed, he barely managed to roll out of the way. Baring its fangs again, Centiskorch charged forward and increased the intensity of its attacks, now having the area filled with lightning strikes and the sound of pounding thunder with each attack. With his speed, Flame finally found the chance to charge forward, hitting Centiskorch square on the head. Centiskorch prepared to counter attack, but it once again slowed down, due to the increased damage form poison. Avoiding the counter strike from Centiskorch's tail this time, he jumped up from Centiskorch's swing, hitting Centiskorch once again - this time from below. Centiskorch fell backwards, straight to the ground.

"YeahYAZZ! We're getting that W now!" Valerie declared happily, while Flame was catching his breath. Centiskorch seemed to have stopped moving. At least, from what he can see. After a while, the call was being made.

"Centiskorch can't continue!" the announcer started. "The winner is---"

"This battle is not over yet!" the shouts of Kabu rang through the stadium. The crowd as quiet, and in awe, as his Centiskorch... found its way back up. Struggling so, but made his way back up regardless. It once again leered down this adversary, the Quilava who had pushed it so far. With a deafening roar, the flames that were decorated around Centiskorch intensified. "The fire in our heart has not died out yet!"

Valerie grunted, as she was sure the battle was won. In truth though, deep down, she knew that Kabu wasn't the type to go down easily. After a deep breath, she looked on the battle with a smile once again. "We're just getting started too! Ain't that right, bro?!" Flame roared just as viciously, igniting the flames on his back to an intensity that he had never reached before. The intense flames wrapped around the two Pokemon blazed and burned so brightly, that it could even be seen if one were to look from overhead while riding a Corviknight taxi. The sun's rays were still strong.

"Strike with Fire Lash!" Kabu shouted - and with his Centiskorch now throwing and whipping around his fire-blazed tail over and over, as Flame made every attempt to dodge, jump each attack.

"Attack with Flame Wheel!" Valerie and Flame's plan of attack now was to meet them head on, countering against each of Kabu and Centiskorch's moves to try and find an opening of their own. After Flame ducked from Centiskorch's last swipe, he made himself into a ball of fire to attack. With Centiskorch once again counterattacking with its Fire Lash, the fire attacks canceled each other out, once again sparking spits of fire everywhere. Flame continued rolling as a fire ball after the attack, trying to maneuver himself so that he can strike from behind, but with Centiskorch's speed and reflexes, it managed to match him once again. The two clashed again and again with their fire-type attacks, like two knights crossing their swords. Eventually, the stench of smoke was wafted in each of the competitor's noses, but their focus remained strong.

"Use a double kick!" Valerie again orders, but when Flame went for simultaneous kicks, Centiskorch managed to dodge by ducking at the last second, then using another Fire Lash to strike Flame's abdomen for a clean hit. It hit Flame again, and again with its tail, until it jumped, and wrapped itself around Flame, slamming him onto the ground. After the dust that formed from the crash subsided, Flame laied motionless at the arena.

A Powerful hit from Centiskorch connects!! Is it over for our challenger?!

The Little Monster's fan club grew quiet, as the rest of the audience cheered. The worried and disappointed looks on their faces were telling. The looked at Valerie, who had her eyes closed, and... was quiet herself. That smile on her face was rubbed away, as she also stood motionless at her side of the field.

"Is this the end of our fight?" Kabu had asked, but with no response from the two. Centiskorch meanwhile, panted and wheezed, looking upon his fallen foe. Flame still didn't move an inch. After a while, Kabu sighed. "Such a shame."

"Yeah..." Valerie could only respond. "It's a shame... that you forgot what the Demon Queen said!" Kabu raised an eyebrow at Valerie's words, as he then witnessed, a stubborn Quilava once again finding his way back to his feet. "Cuz' Demon Queen Val said, we're just getting started!" The audience once again was flabbergasted, but followed up with a roar of cheers for both competitors. Valerie's fan club cheered as well, also in awe of their Lord Flame's incredible tenacity! Another battle-ready roar from Flame, he ignited himself once again.

But this time...

The flames started to wrap all around himself. The fire around him grew bigger, and bigger, until Flame was encased in fire that was shaped like a another beast - one that was like battle-ready armor for him. Seeing this, Centiskorch intensified the flames it had on it too. "Excellent! Then let this battle continue!" Kabu announcement turned up the excitement of the crowd. "Now, what will you do now?"

"NP! We'll use Swift!"

"So, another swift attack... hm?" But this Swift attack from Flame was different. The usual glittering stars were now ablaze. It still had the same behavior as Flame's normal swift attack, but now it was on fire. Flame controlled all the stars he had released, throwing them all at once towards the Centiskorch. With all the added strength from the flames, Centiskorch couldn't defend as easily as it did, now being pushed back. "Incredible..."

"Now use Double Kick!" shouted Valerie. Flame rushed in, now with his feet blazed with darker-coloured crimson fire that he intends to strike the Centiskorch with.

"Fight back with a long range Thunder Fang!" with Kabu's attempt to attack from a distance, Centiskorch used his fangs to release twin bolts of electricity. Flame dodged out of the way, and continued to run. He then jumped, to avoid another wave of Centiskorch's attacks, only to be met up with another wave from mid-air. He managed to knock the bolts out of the way, however, with both of his flaming kicks. The clashed resulted in sparks of electricity and fire to sparkle around the field, so much so that even the audience members can see it all flicker and float.

Flame dropped closer to Centiskorch, spinning himself around so he can kick Centiskorch with his hind legs. Centiskorch, not dodging this time, blocks Flame with his tail, using Fire Lash. The two clashed with each other, striking with tail and feet, scattering flames everywhere with each impact. After the final clash, Flame caught the Centiskorch, hitting it square on its body, causing it to be knocked back a few feet, but it was still standing.

"NOW Flame! Use Ember!" Instead of usually spitting out swarms of fire, Flame this time formulated flames from his mouth, and from the flames it had wrapped around itself, until they all clustered together, forming a giant ball of fire overhead. The giant ball of fire turned a bright crimson red, increasing in heat.

"Solar Beam!"

Kabu tried to counter-act. Centiskorch mustered all of his strength, and released another energy blast, aimed right for Flame. Flame in turn, jumped up towards the ball of fire, and punches it, hurling it straight towards Centiskorch. The two attacks were sent flying right towards one another, and when they met at the center...

Boom. A huge explosion impacted the arena, with a gust of smoke and dirt flying everywhere. Luckily, there was a shield they implemented for the stadium so that the audience couldn't feel the impact and effects of the pokemon moves, but it still made it very hard to see the result, through all the black smoke. Luckily the smoke started to dissipate so that the pokemon can be seen again, but then, the arena turned quiet.

Flame and Centiskorch stared each other down, exhausted and out of breath. Meanwhile.. silence. Silence from the two competitors, and all who attended the stadium. Nothing but the sound of the panting from the two pokemon can be heard.

Flame stumbled for a bit, but managed to remain standing. As for Centiskorch...

It fell down to the ground. It had stopped moving, and now unable to continue the battle.

The judge of the battle looked on. After a while, he finally broke the silence. "Centiskorch is unable to battle. Quilava wins! The winner of the match... goes to the challenger!"

Everyone still remained silent, including Valerie and Flame, who simply exchanged glances. They both pondered for a bit, not really taking in what happened at first. So... so we won?" Valerie had asked him. Flame looked down at the ground at first, but then looked back at Valerie, while standing on his hind legs. With a deep breath, he let out an outstanding roar -- a roar of victory.

IT'S OVER! It's finally overrrrrrrrr! Challenger 100, Valerie Amity and her Quilava, pulled off an impressive victory over the Gym Leader!! The announcer can barely be heard from the screams and thunderous cheers coming form the audience.

That was Valerie's clarification, all right. She couldn't contain herself as she ran up right to Flame, swinging him around in pure bliss. Kabu meanwhile, approached his friend Centiskorch, who remained on the ground, but seemingly regained consciousness. He knelt down beside it. Centiskorch couldn't meet his eyes. It was disappointed it didn't win, but Kabu gave him smile, nonetheless. "My dear friend..." he assuaged. "You've done admirably, as you've always done these many years. Well done." Centiskorch stood back up, finally meeting Kabu's eyes once again. The duo gave warm looks at each other, then turned their focus back at Valerie and Flame.

"Young Valerie and Flame," he called for both of them. "You've given us quite a battle, and earned yourself a victory. Congratulations."

"Awww, that's sweet of you, Kab-oom," Valerie complimented. "Thanks sooo much!"

With a nod from Kabu, he reached something from his pocket, handing it over to Valerie. "Allow me to give upon you, the Fire Badge, as proof that you've defeated me!" The two trainers shook hands, as Kabu handed over Valerie's now third badge. Centiskorch with his tail, gently patted flame on his head, as a sign of appreciation for this victory as well. Kabu then gestured towards Valerie up towards a section of the crowd; it was all the Little Monsters -- her fan club --who had cheered her on. He then nodded to Valerie, allowing Valerie to have the floor.

"RAWR, my Little Monsters! Demon Queen Val KO'd the HERO of Motostoke! Nooooow our Demon Kingdom is RAGING FORWARD! " she announced heartedly, with her fan club cheering on for her. But she wasn't done yet. "So as like, a tooooootes rad declaration of now the evil ruler of Motostoke, Val has an announcement! If your cute Demon Queen becomes champ and ruuuules over Galar... her first decree! She's gonna do away with the endorsement rule! Thaaaat's RIGHT! Anyone, no matter who they are, or what they like, be who you wanna be, and come and challenge the DEMON QUEEN! Do you have what it takes to be the hero of Galar who defeats the Demon Queen?! Challenge if you dare! Our Demon Kingdom will be awaiting for you!!"

New badge!

Fire Badge!

Obtained TM Toxic!
All friends learned Toxic!

♡ Hiii! I'm Valerie, a 21 year old streamer who streams all sorts of stuff!
♡ RN, I'm a Pokemon Trainer, participating in the League!

I would like this channel to be a positive space for everyone. I see no problem as long as you follow the general rules and are not mean to each other! You can be mean to me instead. :) ♡

♡ Most of the donations will go towards streaming, and to various LGBTQ+ friendly charities!
Don't feel obligated to donate, but every bit helps!

gimmepie · Sep 16, 2021

Indra (Male, Swift Swim) - Rain Dance, Hypnosis, Bubblebeam, Double Slap, Earth Power, Refresh

Stampede (Male, Poison Point) - Water Gun, Smokescreen, Twister, Focus Energy, Dragon Breath, Icy Wind

Holo (Female, Lightning Rod) - Tackle, Thunder Wave, Spark, Howl, Flame Burst, Flash

Vessel (Female, Dry Skin) - Fury Cutter, Absorb, Poison Powder, Spore, Rain Dance, Protect

Lancer (Male, Dry Skin) - Taunt, Revenge, Sucker Punch, Poison Jab, Rain Dance, Toxic

Inventory:

- ATC
- Expensive PokeGear
- Pokedex
- 800 Poke (On ATC)
- TM Icy Wind
- TM Flash
- Wishing Star
- TM Protect
- TM Rain Dance

Badges:

CATHERINE CARLISLE
The Tides Begin to Change

"Stampede, Icy Wind!"

Catherine's Seadra acted on the order fast, summoning up a chilling wind that froze the river's water around the Palpitoad he was battling. The opposing Pokemon struggled, the ice cracking around it, but it was too late.

"Now, Dragon Breath!" Catherine commanded.

Stampede complied, a violet blaze engulfing his foe until it didn't have the strength left to continue fighting against the ice. Stampede ceased his attack, revealing Palpitoad unconscious, floating amongst chunks of broken ice.

"That brings us to the finals!" The man who was serving as both referee and announcer said from the riverbank. "It'll be Catherine Carlisle versus Henry Schmidt."

Catherine looked at her next opponent and smirked. He was standing nearby the referee and scowling at her with contempt. She had been planning to enter the tournament anyway when she happened upon it on her way through the wild area. Her initial meeting with Henry had served well to double her resolve though.

Catherine was in the process of talking to the organiser of the small event, the same person who would later serve as the referee. Well, he was talking. For the most part, Catherine ignored him and focused on filling out her entry.

She wasn't there to socialise, she was there to train herself up before her next gym battle. If there was one thing that her battle against Kabu had taught her, it was that the point where she could rely solely on outwitting her adversaries was over. Coming across an opportunity to battle against a bunch of other trainers in the middle of the Wild Area was a surprise, but a useful one.

Unfortunately for her, there were those present who recognised her. It seemed like just about everyone present was "subtly" pointing at her and whispering behind her back. That wasn't anything she hadn't dealt with before. She'd experienced plenty of that back at the academy. So she didn't really pay it any mind… until someone was bold enough to say what they all were to her face.

"Oi, I recognise you. Don't I?"

Catherine half-turned to see the speaker. He looked like he was close to her age, probably a little younger. He was dressed for the hot weather, a long blonde ponytail poking out the back of his cap. The brand name emblazoned upon his chest was enough to tell Catherine that this was the sort of person who blew a lot of money on their appearance.

"I don't know. You tell me." The confident, sleazy smirk on the boy's face was enough of a sign that he did, in fact, know who he was speaking to. He had the air of someone who was up to no good.

"With a feisty attitude like that? I think I do! You're the trainer who had that big blow up battling Kabu. I think you yelled something about everyone being terrible and that you were going to win the whole league. Then he beat you, right."

"No." Catherine finished filling out her entry form, barely looking at this newcomer before turning to leave.

"Ah, right. You got lucky and scraped a tie. Carly was it?"

"Wrong again," Catherine replied dryly, "It's Catherine. If you've got something you want to get off your chest, get on with it. I have more important things to do."

The smirk on the boy's face twisted slightly, becoming half a grimace. Evidently he didn't like being handled so dismissively. Catherine guessed he was the sort of asshole who was used to getting his own way. He clearly thought he was hot shit.

"My name's Henry," he replied, "And I just thought you should know that a lot of people didn't take too kindly to your attitude. Especially when you clearly don't have the skill to back it up."

"I wasn't talking about people's battling Ability when I said what I did. I was talking about people's personalities. So far, you're not doing much to prove me wrong."

"That's rich comi-"

"Shut it," Catherine snapped, cutting across him and stunning him into silence. "I don't need to hear anymore of your obnoxious Tauros crap. If you've got a bone to pick with me, meet me in the finals and vent it in the battle. Assuming you're good enough to get that far."

"And you are?" Henry scoffed.

"Plenty." Catherine kept walking, leaving the other competitor alone to rage silently.

Now, the finals were indeed upon Catherine and she stood on the bridge a mere few feet away from Henry. She could see the dirty looks he was shooting her out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't give him the satisfaction of acknowledging it.

"Trainers ready?" the ref asked.

Catherine nodded.

"Always," Henry said, radiating confidence.

"Then begin!" the referee instructed.

"Alright Stampede, let's finish this up!"

"As if," Henry said, "Bond, wipe them out!"

In unison, both trainers released their chosen Pokemon into the river below. Stampede emerged in a flash, a blue and green Drizzile appearing nearby him a moment later. Both Water types swam apart from each other then awaited instructions.

"Bond, Water Pulse!"

"Counter with Twister!" Catherine instructed.

The Drizzile formed a shimmering blue orb of water between its hands and then hurled it in Stampede's direction. Stampede didn't flinch away from the challenge though, summoning up a tornado between him and his foe that pulled the water from the river up into it.

The Water Pulse exploded into a surge, but the detonation was harmless against Stampede's Twister. The vortex started moving forward towards Bond, drawing in more water as it did so. The Drizzile tried to swim away, but the tidal pull of the Twister was pulling him in. He struggled in vain before being sucked and thrown about.

"Dragon Breath." Catherine instructed.

The Twister abruptly ceased, leaving Henry's Drizzile - and copious amounts of water - falling through the air back towards the river below. Stampede took his chance, blasting Bond with his signature violet flames as the Water type plummeted. He followed Bond's trajectory down, keeping the Drizzile in his sights to prolong the damage.

Bond hit the Water in something halfway between a fall and a dive, quickly re-emerging for his next instructions.

"It will take a lot more than that to beat us," Henry declared, "Mud Shot!"

"Under the water." Catherine instructed.

Stampede did as he was told, ducking beneath the river's surface to avoid the incoming stream of mud. He dashed through the water, surfacing off to Bond's side.

The Drizzile looked around for Stampede, but as he did so, Catherine was already calling the next attack. "Smokescreen!"

Stampede spat out a thick cloud of dark smoke that billowed over the battlefield obscuring it completely within moments.

"Just like we practiced," Catherine said, "Focus Energy and then Dragon Breath!"

"You won't get the chance," Henry sneered, "We don't need to see you to hit you! Swift!"

From where Catherine was standing, she watched as several faint gold glows blipped into existence in the depths of the Smokescreen, then abruptly plummeted down like an aerial bombing.

She heard them breaking the water's surface, noting that some of them faded out as they struck. The others, she knew, would find Stampede below. That was fine though, he could take a few more hits.

"Under the water?" Henry questioned.

"The Smokecreen can't penetrate beneath the water," Catherine replied, "Stampede is directly below your Drizzile right now."

Henry's eyes went wide with horror. "Move!"

It was too late. Catherine had long since given the attack command, Stampede had just been waiting for the right moment. Just barely visible through the gradually thinning smoke, the faint glow of a purple blaze erupted into existence from beneath the water's surface. Bond the Drizzile was engulfed within.

The attack cleared up more of the smoke. Now Bond was faintly visible at a squint, sluggishly treading water.

"Get out of there!" Henry yelled.

Bond made to do as instructed, but something in his movements was off. He was swimming far too slowly.

"Looks like he's been Paralysed," Catherine commented, "Twister!"

Henry swore under his breath as, once again, Bond was pulled up into a powerful vortex along with water and smoke. He watched as his Pokemon was thrown violently around in the tornado before being thrown unceremoniously out of it and onto the river's edge.

The Drizzile didn't get back up and Stampede returned to the surface triumphant.

Henry looked from his downed Drizzile and back to Stampede with shock before looking back at Catherine. "When did you get this good?! How did you get this good this fast?!"

"I was always this good," Catherine said, "But now I'm motivated."

Henry said something else, but it was so distorted in his shock, disbelief and frustration that Catherine couldn't even understand it. He gave her one last dirty look before he dashed off the bridge to retrieve Bond.

The referee passed him as he ran, calling out Catherine's win to the small crowd that he'd assembled. There was a smattering of applause.

"Well done," the referee said to her as he arrived, "That was quite the show."

"I didn't do anything special."

"I beg to differ. That was a heck of a smackdown! Now, here's your winnings." The man opened a small plastic box to reveal the spoils of war. Inside the box was a Lure Ball, a pair of Water Gems and three cans of Lemonade.

Catherine took the ball and the gems and stuffed them into her bag. "You can keep the drinks, it's hot out and you've got stalls and a banner to take down. Share them with whoever, I don't really care."

"Are you sure? They're part of the prize."

"I said it, didn't I?" Catherine replied. "Come on Stampede, we've got some more ground to make up today."

With that, Catherine returned her Seadra and started making her way deeper into the Wild Area.

Sonata · Sep 20, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 11.5 - A QUIET STORM

Rosa walked solemnly across the wild area as she thought about what she should do next. She'd gone with Pia to Hammerlocke so that the girl wouldn't have to deal with her mother's condition alone… but there was nothing she could realistically do for the girl aside from just… being there. The hospital was stuffy, cramped and entirely too bright. Not to mention uncomfortable, given both that she didn't know who the person laying in the bed was and it was her first time in a place like that.

Everyone that she'd ever personally lost had been taken before she even knew it, and she still wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not. The whole time that the two girls had sat in the room together hovering around Pia's mom, she had passed the time by telling Rosa stories from when she was younger. The girl passed the time waiting by remembering what it had been like when the two of them lived together. Rosa couldn't help but wonder… would it have been better if she'd been stuck in a room like that, with all of her emotions festering as she watched her own mother's life tick away with each of the passing seconds?

She couldn't be sure. Despite the fact that Pia's mom was still in a coma, it didn't sound like her recovery would be impossible - just that it would be incredibly expensive, and judging from the state of their house in Wedgehurst…

Rosa shook her head. "The best thing you can do for her now is give her some space to breathe." The girl whispered to no one in particular as she looked up at the sky. The sun was high up in the air, and the clouds were soft and fluffy. The Wild Area had a certain smell to it… one that she couldn't properly describe, but as of a couple weeks ago didn't know if she'd ever get to experience again.

So many things had happened to her the first time she came out this way. So many things were going on… and the current reality she was dealing with was so far and away. There was no mafia, there was no idea eating away at the back of her mind that she might be able to find that man from her memories - hell, she didn't even realize she still had those memories until a short time ago. From what she'd heard in whispers and rumors about her fellow classmates, this place had been anything but calm for the most of them. But for Rosa… the Wild Area was the last 'normal' place she'd been in since she started her journey. The only thing to worry about out here, was-

"Jang!"

The girl stopped in her tracks, her attention being called towards the unusual cry. Her head turned, but as far as she could tell, there wasn't anything out here that could have made the cry. "It sounded… scared," she whispered, letting her hand slip into her pocket.

Her fingers fumbled around the pokeballs which lay filled in her sweater before brushing over towards the styler. "Maybe I'm not worthy of being a trainer anymore…" her fingers wrapped around the device as her face grew hard. Her thoughts drifted to the crying Pokemon, and then to the ones within her own pocket before flashing to memories of Pia, Melody, Haleigh, Ruben, Jasper and the Simons. "But does that mean I can't be-"

"Jaaaang!"

The unseen Pokemon cried out once more, calling the girl's attention towards the sound of its voice. Rosa dropped the styler back into her pocket before rushing off in the direction the call had come from. The girl found herself staring at a small thicket nearing the water's edge that was much too bunched together to do anything to with her hands.

"Ugh," she groaned, sliding the bag off of her shoulder as she started to dig around inside of it in search of something. "Where is it, where is it… don't tell me Simon didn't pack it just because- aha!" Rosa pulled the knife out that Tavi had given her and immediately set to work on some of the roots that she'd already pulled slightly loose.

"Jaaaang…" the Pokemon groaned as the light began to peek through the thicker part of what Rosa had been hacking away at.

"There, there. I'm not gonna hurt you…" the girl whispered through heavy breaths as she continued to cut away at the wood.

"Raaa!" A voice cried out, followed by a weight which latched itself onto the girl's shoulder, pulling her back away from the hole she'd been working on as a set of sharpened teeth dug into her shoulder.

"Fuck!" The girl cried out as she fell down, landing on top of her bag that she'd set a few feet away. Rosa rubbed her neck, feeling at the indentions where teeth had most definitely been but relaxing slightly as she realized that no blood had been drawn. "Who the…" the girl started as she rose to her knees. Her eyes trailed over to the patch she'd been working on when she slowly began to sheathe her blade. "Oh… is he your friend?"

Rosa's eyes had fallen on a child - no more than seven or eight years old - who was completely caked in dirt and covered in small scratches. The child bared their teeth at the girl as they walked awkwardly on all fours, pacing back and forth in front of the place she'd previously been cutting away at.

Rosa watched the child for a few moments and then slowly put her knife back in her bag before presenting herself in a slightly more refined manner. "I'm sorry," the girl said softly, bowing her head to the child. "I wasn't planning on hurting your friend. I heard them crying as I was walking around. It sounded like they were scared, and maybe hurt, so I just-"

"Raaa!" The child screamed at Rosa, their voice breaking as the gutteral sound trailed on.

Rosa watched the child in a quiet stillness. "Do you… do you understand what I'm saying?" The girl continued to watch the child as they continued their protective prowl. "Hmm," she mused, reaching behind her to pull out a potion. "I suppose I made the right decision by picking up a couple of these before leaving Hammerlocke…" she whispered to herself, nudging at the sleeping Dahlia in her other pocket before placing the potion on the ground in front of her. "After all, you never know what's going to happen."

"Cu?" The Pokemon lazily floated up to Rosa's face and rubbed at its eyes before slowly taking a look at what was going on around them. "...Cu?"

"I need your help, Dahl," Rosa tapped the potion and nodded her head. "I don't think the kid really understands me, but they're protecting a Pokemon that I think might be hurt and I just want to help it…"

The Cutiefly looked at Rosa and then back over at the child who was still patrolling that same small area. Dahlia slowly floated down to the ground and then sighed with a heave of her tiny body. "Cuuuuu."

Rosa smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Dahlia." The girl looked up at the child across from her and waved, grabbing the potion with extremely exaggerated movements before spritzing Dahlia with the bottle a few times. "See?" she called out before motioning towards Dahlia. "It's good for them. I don't want to hurt your friend, I want to help them!"

"Cu!" Dahlia followed up, a little bit of her energy coming back as she floated up to Rosa's shoulder.

"Raaaa!" The child cried out again, shaking their head vigorously.

"Dammit…" Rosa muttered as she quickly started to fumble around in her pocket for a specific pokeball. "Just get the kid to move out of the way for a moment, okay?" She gave the ball a tap against her chin before releasing the Pokemon off in the direction of the child.

"Tox!" Ozzy - having been freed from his ball with clear instructions - quickly set to work on forcing the kid to move off from the hole where Rosa had been working. "Xxxxel!"

The kid scurried off, standing their ground at first before noting the sparks coming off of the Pokemon's cheeks as it waddled towards them. "Raaa!" The kid screamed, running a short distance away before stopping to look back, then running a short distance again once Ozzy had caught up to them.

Rosa sighed, watching the Pokemon chase the kid. "It almost feels like they're playing," she whispered, shaking her head as she made her way back towards the Jangmo-o. "Now, let's see what we can get done here."

"Raa!" The kid called out, realizing that Rosa had made contact with the Pokemon they'd been protecting. They quickly skirted around the Toxel before making their way back over to where Rosa had started to kneel down. "Raaa!"

Rosa ran her hand gently across the small dragon as she started to spray it with the potion. "There, there," she muttered as she pet the Pokemon. "It's going to be alright… hmm." the girl tilted her head as she continued to apply the item, noting the distinct lack of the distinctive scale which normally sat on the Pokemon's forehead. "Yeah, it'll be alright," she whispered again, rubbing the Pokemon as it began to move about weakly.

As the potion came to its last drop, the girl quickly pushed herself back out of the hole and backtracked to where she'd been before, noting that the kid was giving her a deadly glare with each step that she took. Despite the child's apparent lack of communication skills, they weren't completely stupid. Sure, they could have jumped on her and attacked like before, but what would that have done for them? If the worst happened, she might even hurt the Pokemon she was trying to treat even more.

"Grrrr," the kid continued, taking quick peaks over their shoulder down into the clearing before looking back at the girl with as menacing a look as they could manage. "Raaa!"

"If you really want that Pokemon to get better, we'll have to get it to a Ranger center. That missing scale on its head probably hurts a lot, and if it doesn't get treated it might end up getting infected… and in the worst case, your friend could die." Rosa sat on her hands, having already placed the empty potion in front of her. "I'll leave it up to you to decide…" she sighed, shaking her head slightly. "If you can even understand me," she murmured.

The child continued to switch back and forth between watching the Jangmo-o and Rosa for several minutes. After a time, the kid seemed to come to terms with the girl's contribution to the Pokemon's recovery as the Jangmo-o began to cry out a little louder now. The child continued to watch the girl, jumping at her every now and then - but never closing the distance they'd put between them. After a few more moments like this, the child finally cocked their head and rose to their feet.

"Raa." The kid barked, taking the steps over towards Rosa to close the gap before grabbing onto the sleeve of her sweater. The child pointed off towards the water and used the full of their weight in an attempt to forcibly move the girl. "Raa. Raa. Raa!"

Rosa looked back at the child, confusion spreading across her face as she shook her head. "I don't know what you want, kid. I don't have any way to go out over the water."

The child let go of the girl's sleeve as tears began to well up in their eyes. "Ra!" The kid stomped their foot before pointing more forcibly in the direction of the water. "Ra! Gra! Ra!"

Rosa looked out over the water, noting that a storm was starting to brew somewhere off in the distance. The girl clenched her fists as she she sighed, nodding slightly as she rose to her feet. "Alllright, alllright… take me wherever you want to go then." The girl held out her hand to the kid before looking back over at the hole where the Jangmo-o was still laying. "But that Pokemon really should have-"

The child grabbed the girl's hand and tugged her down towards the waters edge, much more excitedly grunting and screaming now than they were before. "Ra!" The kid pointed towards the water before slapping its surface a few times. "Ra! Ra!"

Rosa looked down at the water, seeing absolutely nothing except for her own reflection at first. However, as several seconds went by, a singular larger than average Magikarp made its way to the shallows by where the two were standing.

"Karp?" The Magikarp blubbed in front of Rosa, bobbing its head just above the water before turning around.

Rosa started to tilt her head, unsure of whether this was a good idea or not - there was a thunderstorm brewing off in the direction that this random kid had been pointing, and now she was supposed to be putting her life in the hands of a Magikarp of all things? The girl turned her attention towards the child in question, noting that they were already stepping down into the water and motioning vigorously towards her. The girl took a deep breath, looking towards the sky for a moment before stepping into the water as well.

"But what about the J-"

"Ra!" The kid screamed as soon as Rosa had fixed her grip on the Pokemon's 'crown'. The child turned their head slightly, looking behind them once more to the place where they'd left the Jangmo-o. The child nodded their head at the shadowed figure as it reached into the clearing and lifted the dragon out with ease. "Ra…" the kid whispered, wrapping their arms tighter
around Rosa's waist.

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND
PRAY RETURN

CHAPTER 11 - WILD AREA
GOING BACK
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL PT.2
ENDING UNPLANNED

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

Sonata · Sep 20, 2021

Poké:

2220 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 11.6 - A QUIET STORM PT.2

Rosa followed the lead of both Dahlia and the child - with her Pokemon sitting on the much smaller girl's shoulder as they led her down a path of chipped, bent, and broken scales. She hadn't been sure of it before, but between the tone of the child's voice and the way that they walked when she wasn't prowling about had helped to give it away. They'd been walking for nearly an hour after arriving on the Magikarp that the kid had somehow called over for them - and as if she hadn't been wet enough after that awkward little excursion, the moment that they'd made landfall again, the rain immediately hit them. And of course, she'd not thought to pack an umbrella.

"Raa," the girl whispered, getting on all fours before getting as close to the ground as she could. The child pointed off towards a small clearing as she bared her teeth.

Rosa kneeled down next to the girl, taking cover - or as much of as she could - behind a small bush that was nearby. Sure, she was completely drenched from head to toe, but that didn't mean she had to go and muddy up her sweater at the same time. Mrs. Dansen had only just washed it for her a few days ago, and it still held… Simon's scent. The girl shook her head, trying to clear it of the encroaching thoughts.

Rosa's eyes rose to meet the extended finger of the child, noting a figure shuffling about in the dark, his actions obscured by both the sound and curtain of the rainfall. "What's he doing over there," she whispered to the girl, craning her neck slightly to get a better look.

"Boom!" Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the clearing for a moment… but a moment was all that was needed to take in the horror of what was going on.

"Jaaaang!" A cry pierced through the sound of the rain following the boom of the thunder. The Pokemon's head was forced back down into the mud and muffled by a thick, firm hand.

"Aw, shut up. It's nearly over anyways."

Rosa inched closer, making her way around the bush as she tried to listen in closer to what was going on. The girl looked at the ground around her with each step that she took, noting the numerous Jangmo-o which had all been subjected to the same type of scale extraction as the one she'd come across before.

"Jaaang," one of the nearby dragons reached up towards the girl, its weak cry betraying the stoic look on its face as it craned its neck to look at one of its brothers before closing its eyes again.

Rosa clenched her fists, letting her hand slip into her sweater pocket as she searched for the pokeballs and styler alike that she was setting her mind to using. She continued to look around, taking count of the numerous Jangmo-o which had already been harvested as she felt a pain in her chest, causing her to drop to her knee. "Not now," she whispered, looking up at the figure as he held down the struggling Jangmo-o with one hand and continued to wrench the scale on its head back and forth with a set of pliers.

"Coooome on, almost there. Get on out of there you little bugger," the man continued, grunting as he placed his boot on the prone Pokemon's head and began to yank at the scale with both hands.

"Stop!" Rosa cried out, rushing forward a few feet before falling back to her knees. Her eyes were locked on the struggling Jangmo-o which had clearly been sedated, given its incredibly lethargic movements and the fact that its eyes only briefly opened every few seconds. "What do you think you're doing?" The girl shouted, tightening her grip on the pokeballs in her pocket.

The man pulled the pliers off of the scale before looking down at them and then over at the girl. "Well, what's it look like I'm doin', eh?" The man dropped the pliers into the mud and jammed his hand into a bag which was laying open just a few feet away next to a significantly larger scaled dragon. "The scales from this here Kommo-o ain't worth much, but the heart shaped ones of these Jangmo-o go for a pretty poke on the black market. I'm just tryn'a make a livin' out here kid." The man pulled a couple of balls from his bag before releasing them into the thunderstorm above. "And ye' ain't about to stop a good thing!"

Rosa looked up at the sky, watching as the two flying type Pokemon chosen by this poacher - Noctowl and Corvisquire - began to circle around her. The girl looked back at the child behind her, noting that Dahlia was still on the other girl's shoulder. The Cutiefly likely wouldn't be a good choice against something it was bound to weak against - a decision she was able to easily make now thanks to not being encumbered by all the different things that had been plaguing her when she'd made the similar mistake against Kabu.

"Take care of them!" Rosa called out as she deftly pulled the balls for and released both Wyatt and Yzma.

The girl immediately turned her attention back towards the man in front of her, knowing that her Pokemon would be able to handle the Pokemon in question. The girl thrust her hand back into her pocket, feeling around for - the knife. Her fingers wrapped around the blade's handle as her mind began to wander to the potential of 'what-if'.

"Raa!" The girl which had been safely hidden a fair distance behind Rosa made her own attack, rushing quickly at the man who'd been hurting all of the local Jangmo-o.

It was somewhat funny to Rosa - seeing this tiny child assault such a large and burlish man in the same manner that she herself had been attacked before. But, even more than that it provided an opportunity. Rosa released the knife, and shifted her hand over to the styler that had been beside it. The girl looked around at the various Jangmo-o that were still struggling and in pain, fighting against the sedatives that the man had used on them.

"Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Just… feel it."

The girl had had nothing but time these past couple of weeks. Between the concept of not being a trainer anymore, trying not to be a constant reminder to Pia of what she had been forced to leave behind for her mom, and just in general not having anywhere to go or anything to truly occupy her time with - she'd found herself dancing. Reading, and dancing. The books that Xan had listed for her had been insightful for a few different things, but only one of them had any sort of detailing that she thought might be helpful with her styler training.

And even if she wasn't a trainer, it didn't mean she couldn't become a Ranger.

"You're going to pay for what you've done," the girl whispered, launching the styler as she performed a quick pirouette.

Her eyes focused on the device which was now spinning and gliding across the uneven and soggy ground. It was harder to control than before, but she'd learned enough since the last time that she used it - at least she thought that she had. Rosa closed her eyes once more, focusing on that one feeling - that singular emotion she wanted to convey to these Pokemon around her more than anything else - and placed it in the center of her forehead. She danced, absentmindedly performing various spins, dips, and leaps across the ground as her form mimicked and guided the styler around.

"Jang? Jangmo. Mo-o-o."

"Jang! Mo!"

"J-Jang?"

"Jang!"

"Jangmo-o! Jangmo-o!"

A smile slowly crept across the girl's face as she 'felt' the various Pokemon which her device was rousing. Something inside of her was going out to them - it was connecting her thoughts to them in a meaningful enough way. She was finally using the device properly, and she could hardly contain her excitement at that realization. The singular thought in the center of her mind began to waver as it was washed over by the various different thoughts and feelings which had started to roll in with the waking of the Pokemon. But, it had been enough.

Rosa opened her eyes, looking at the nearly dozen Jangmo-o which had awoken to her call. She pointed towards the poacher and smirked, feeling fully confident in her newfound ability. "You're going to pay for what you've done. We can do it the easy way, or the hard way - but either way, I will be taking you to the Rangers."

The man tossed aside the child which had been scratching at and climbing around his face like some sort of animal and then quickly produced an additional pokeball from within his bag, releasing the Glalie which had been stored within. "Yeah, I highly doubt that! Glalie, use Ice Beam!"

Rosa's eyes quickly darted towards the child, watching in what seemed like slow motion as the Glalie was released and immediately started to charge up the icy beam while staring in the direction of the girl which had just been assaulting its owner. The girl motioned for the Jangmo-o to start attacking the Glalie, but it felt like her entire body was made of sludge - and she was trying to walk through sand.

"Run!"

"Ra?" The child turned their head towards Rosa, not noticing the attack which was already connecting with their body. "R-a-" she stuttered as the beam of ice struck her in the head and sent her tumbling back in the direction that they'd all come from.

Rosa looked quickly over her shoulder at the Jangmo-o which were overwhelming the Glalie, and then at the two Pokemon she'd released as they took down both Noctowl and Corvisquire with little effort. The girl's eyes aligned with Dahlia's form, who was already zipping down in the direction that the child had been sent.

"Help her, Dahlia!" Desperation dripped from Rosa's tongue as the words slid out of her mouth. She'd just felt so full of power - so strong, so valiant, so proud - and now… all she could feel was fear.

"Cu." Dahlia dipped back up from the spot she'd shot down into just seconds before, barring the way from Rosa.

"Dahlia, what are you doing? She could be hurt!"

"Cu." The tiny Pokemon shook their head, motioning off towards the battle that was already ongoing.

"No, I have to make sure she's okay! If it turns out that bad, we'll just take her with us to the Ranger station." Rosa easily pushed Dahlia out of the way given her size and weight - but what she found when she followed the path that the Cutiefly came back to stop her only brought confusion. "Where… is she?"

Rosa looked around, certain that the attack had sent the child off in this direction. The girl looked at the ground, not noticing any fresh footprints or blood that might have been a result of the attack… in fact, the only thing on the ground around her was the skid mark in the ground from where the girl had likely come to a halt, and the impressions of her own shoes.

"But, that doesn't make any sense," the girl whispered, taking a few steps further.

"Cu!" Dahlia flew back in front of her trainer, vigorously motioning back towards the battle she'd completely abandoned. "Cu!"

Rosa took a hesitant step back, giving the area a final once over before biting into her clenched fist. "Dammit," she whispered as she turned on her heel and bolted back towards the fight.

"This is hardly fair, you know?" The poacher looked up at the girl as she ran back into the clearing. Three of the Jangmo-o that he'd successfully harvested scales from sat atop the man, and the Kommo-o which had been put to sleep nearby was holding the Glalie firmly by the spikes on its head while forcing the ice-types full weight into the back of the man who'd thought to cross her.

"Ko." The Pokemon smirked as it saw Rosa come back into the clearing. The Dragon lifted the Glalie up into the air and then slammed it into the ground repeatedly until it lost consciousness. "Ko." The Pokemon nodded, brushing its claws against themselves as if to wash its hands of the matter.

"Looks like you decided to go the hard way, huh?" Rosa sighed. She wanted to feel good about this victory - and there were so many things that she could use to make herself feel better in this moment… But her mind was stuck on that kid. "But still… where could she have gone off to so quickly?" Rosa whispered to herself, not really sure what a plausible answer was to even consider so she could push the idea out of her mind.

"So, what's your plan now, kid?" The poacher smirked, looking at the other Pokemon as best as he could. "Don't know how you kicked these ones into action, but I know for sure that-"

Rosa smirked, the thought of the kid slowly drifted away from her. The child wasn't a stranger to this place, that much was certain. She probably got hurt and ran off to find some of her Pokemon friends after getting scared… that was probably the best she was going to be able to do for the moment, at least. Her mind drifted over to Melody immediately after, wondering what the girl would do in a moment like this. Given how they beat that cult leader in Motostoke, she was sure her… friend would have loved to be in this situation with her. The best she could do was honor her memory - as an apology for ditching her so abruptly.

Rosa casually strolled up to the man, reared back her leg as he continued to talk - for whatever reason - and smashed her boot into his face.

"Yeah, I think that felt good. You deserve at least that much." The girl smirked, pulling back her leg again. "So this one's gonna be just for fun."

Rosa smiled, looking out over the rising sun. The rice ball in her hand had long since gone cold, as had the tea that the Rangers at the station had provided to her. But neither of those things really mattered to her. She'd done something good today - for no reason than to help someone other than herself. It felt… nice.

"Ko." The dragon looked down at the girl, having just come over from the Ranger's station.

"Oh, hey." The girl whispered, not really sure what she should do or say in this moment. After all, she only just managed to transfer that one feeling to a few of the Jangmo-o for the first time today. It wasn't like she could understand the Pokemons' speech or talk to them telepathically.

"Ko." The Pokemon replied curtly, pulling its arm out from behind its back as it pushed another Pokemon in front of it. "Mo-o."

Rosa's eyes fell from the parent, to the child they'd presented to her. "Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm not a trainer anymore, I couldn't-"

"Ko." The Pokemon replied again, getting down into a combative stance before throwing a few quick punches. "Mo-o?"

Rosa watched the Pokemon's display and then clapped, smiling slightly. "Yes, very strong. But still, I really shouldn't… I'm not a trainer anymore, so it wouldn't be right."

The Pokemon let out a heavy breath as it looked down at the girl. "Ko." The dragon replied again before turning away from its child. "Mo-o."

Rosa watched as the Kommo-o walked slowly away, leaving its child behind with her. Her eyes slowly fell to the Jangmo-o in front of her - one of the litter that hadn't lost its scale yet, apparently. The girl looked into the Pokemon's eyes and then tilted her head back towards the Kommo-o.

"Go back to your parent."

"Mo-o." The Poekmon replied, retaining its seated position beside the girl.

Rosa took in a deep breath, held it, and then slowly exhaled. Her gaze fell to the balls in her pocket. "I… don't know what to do with this."

Rosa's Party

Memories

CHAPTER 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
GOODBYES, AND HELLO TO A NEW JOURNEY
TROUBLE'S ON THE TRACKS
NAMES AND NIGHTMARES!

CHAPTER 2 - THE SOUTHERN WILD AREA
ENTER THE WILD AREA!
NEW BIKING BIKERS!
THE MYSTERIOUS SHINY POKEMON!
RANGER DANGER! PT.1
RANGER DANGER! PT.2
RANGER DANGER! FINALE!
RED-EYES BLACK-HAT!

CHAPTER 3 - MOTOSTOKE
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND
INN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A POUND PT.2
SHADY SHOPPING
THE OPENING CEREMONY
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.2
THE OPENING CEREMONY PT.3
INN WITH THE FAMILY
ALL BETS ON BLACK
LATE NIGHT LULLABIES
SNACK ATTACK!

CHAPTER 4 - ROUTE 3
VS SIMON
VS SIMON PT.2
MYSTERY OF MEW
MYSTERY OF MEW PT.2
WINTER FESTIVAL
A TWO HEADED REFLECTION

CHAPTER 5 - GALAR MINE AND ROUTE 4
DAYDREAM OF MINE
DEVELOPMENT AND MISSED CONNECTIONS
BUGGIN' THE COSMOS

CHAPTER 6 - TURFFIELD
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.2
GAMBLE FOR A RUSE PT.3
IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?
TURRFIELD CONTEST PERFORMANCE
PLANNING AND CHALLENGE
VS MILO
GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
FEAR THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 7 - ROUTE 5
WORK FOR A PROMISE
WORK FOR A PROMISE PT.2
BUDDING YOUTH
BUDDING YOUTH PT.2
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.2

CHAPTER 8 - HULBURY
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.3
VS NESS
VS NESSA PT.2
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ
THE HYPOCRITES' WALTZ PT.2
DUPLICITY
DUPLICITY PT.2
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
FEAR THE BEGINNING PT.4

CHAPTER 9 - GALAR MINES NO.2
CIRCLING THE ANSWER
NINE
NINE PT.2
XAN WAS HERE

CHAPTER 10 - MOTOSTOKE
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
TURN THE PAGE
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
EACH VERSE TENFOLD
EACH VERSE TENFOLD PT.2
THE LONG WAY AROUND
PRAY RETURN

CHAPTER 11 - WILD AREA
GOING BACK
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL
MUNCHLAX RETRIEVAL PT.2
ENDING UNPLANNED
A QUIET STORM

Rosa's Journal

Simon Dansen

My childhood friend. Absolute idiot. Can't ever get a read on him anymore. Buttface. Always there when I need him. Always there when I least expect him. JERK. Showed me up in battle and evolved his Pokemon before me.

He came to "rescue" me after I coerced Ruben into protecting me in the underground casino. I told him off... and then didn't apologize until much later. He came to wish me a late merry christmas after Ruben gave me his spare room. He reminded me of our promise from before our journey started, and gave me my christmas gift which was a traditional Johtoan kimono and fan - all to prepare me for the upcoming contests. He also told me I should call his mom and dad since they're so worried about us both now that we're gone, but... I'll figure it out later.

Jasper

An ex-classmate. He took my bait and threw me for a loop when we were fighting a group of Munchlax together. Not as bad a guy as I thought. Because of him, I have to re-evaluate my notes on everyone else just in case. I'm interested in trying a different approach with him when next we meet.

Helped out a wrongfully arrested girl. Really smart. Observant. Kind, but doesn't like to show it. Isn't a terrible cook.

Charles the Biker

An eccentric, but strong man. Indulges in bad puns. Love for bikes. We left on good terms.

Nat the Ranger

A doting older brother to several sisters. A strong trainer who follows their duty. Only spent a day with them. Not sure if I want to meet again or not since I stole a broken styler from his scene of investigation. We left on good terms, I think? Unless he notices that something's missing.

Budew Girl

Never got her name. Apparently she's a challenger like the rest of my classmates. Comes from a family of Budew fanatics. They breed Budew in their hometown and journey around with all three forms of it. She seems endearing. It might be interesting to meet her again in the future. As long as she's not being accused of theft, that is.

Achille Béringer

Rich kid. Pays his debts. Is keen on rich kid things. Doesn't seem much different from how he was in school, but still need to reevaluate.

Melody Argent

Cute and kind. She keeps to herself kind of like I do. Loves music. Feels similar to Simon. Still need to reevaluate because of interactions with Jasper. Kind of maybe, possibly, a small amount of a badass. Finger guns - super corny. Don't harp on the idea of being in contests. If that culty stuff doesn't get figured out by the time we come back to Motostoke, I'll have to remember to find her around town. She's much more attuned to pop culture than I am.

AAAAAHHH! We did so much in Turffield, and even more just after! I still can't believe that she wont that contest and made it look so... so easy! She's just, like, wow. I still don't know what to do with all of my thoughts, but after that delivery we did together especially I just. Wowee. Jeez.

The Family // Damien(?)

Not the family himself, I don't think. I still haven't got his name or what role he really plays in all this. He's a shady motherfucker - pardon my Kalos. I still don't know how much of the stuff I've gone through in Motostoke has been orchestrated by him, but for the moment I'm not planning to try anything. I still don't know enough about him to make any real guesses. The longer that I stay around this town, the further behind the veil that I see. I'm scared even to go to sleep at night so long as I'm here. They have eyes... everywhere.

Buggy Simon

Some kind of freak of nature. I guess he understands Pokemon in some way that I can't; like, he understands what they're actually trying to say when they speak? Kind of cool, but also weird. Him and Simon used to hang out every once in a while at school. He knows about my "secret styler".

Valerie

An absolute ray of sunshine and happiness. She's also a streamer, and earns enough money from it to show it off. Not put off by literal ghosts. Has some kind of dream of meeting Mew.

Aeliana Kekoa

Alolan dance girl. She's supposed to teach me sometime. Pretty much just how I remembered her in school. I didn't get to spend much time with her when we all hung out. Didn't seem too bothered by the ghosts.

Pia McGuire

Pia... definitely is afraid of literal ghosts. I had a few choice words for her, but... after we saw Jirachi, it just felt like the time had passed, so I gave up. She's seen me without my mask, so next time we meet up is probably going to be awkward.

Haleigh Windsor

A friend of Melody's. I intentionally ran into her after failing to catch up with Melody, due to the addition of Haleigh. We had a short battle, and then made a promise for drinks with Melody after I urged her to drag the girl along with her to the contest in Turffield. She seems quite naive, so I may be able to get some more use out of her as long as I stay true to her persona. She's battle hungry, the same as Simon, but her Pokemon are still a little lacking - that coming from someone who still has no idea what she's doing here herself. She might end up being a good sparring partner in the future since she knows a little of what I've got and we're on relatively equal footing.

Mother Priscilla

The leader of the Turffield Sisterhood. I thought at first she was just an escort, but once we got to their hideout, I slowly started to realize what she really was. She's an incredibly dangerous woman who has no trouble pulling a gun on important people or those that she may need. There's still too much I don't know about what's going on to get a good grasp on what her and Damien's goals are, but given what I've already seen I really could do without finding out.

Ruben Sancho

Truth be told, I hadn't cared for Ruben when we went to school together. I thought he was your average rich celebrity who was forced into something he didn't really want to be a part of. After getting involved with the family and finding myself in that gambling hall, and then finding Ruben there as well, I felt that my suspicions were true. I had no second thoughts about what I was going to drag him in to. But as time went on, I found myself feeling more and more regretful with each time that he said Pia's name. And then because of me, news about him and Pia got out before either of them were likely ready to go public. And after all that, Simon attacked him out of the blue... but even after all that, he still offered me a free room at the local hotel. I already apologized to him about Simon, and about lying to get him to go with me. But, I should apologize again. He's not as bad of a guy as I thought he was.

Outfits

Spoiler: Here be a number of large images

Inventory

Spoiler:

[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

Me but more fabulous

Mummy Dearest pt. 1

Me but more fabulous

Mummy Dearest pt. 2

Branch into Psyche

[font=special elite][color=#FF3399]Toxic Terror[/c

[img]http://i.imgur.com/omi0jS3.gif[/img]

Me but more fabulous

The Day After

Don't let me disappear

Don't let me disappear

[img]http://i.imgur.com/omi0jS3.gif[/img]

Branch into Psyche

How did this even happen?

Don't let me disappear

Don't let me disappear

[I]Only thorns left on this rose.[/I]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/omi0jS3.gif[/img]

lover of milotics

Don't let me disappear

Don't let me disappear