[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

Foxrally · Jan 26, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Turffield Stadium

Simon burst through the doors of the Turffield stadium, panting, turning the heads of everyone in the lobby. "I'm… here!" he called out. The aroma of fresh pecha-berry-scented bodywash wafted from him as he took a moment to catch his breath, before righting himself and striking his signature thumbs-up pose.

"YOUR FUTURE CHAMP IS HERE!" he yelled out again, more clearly this time. After seeing Raph's challenge and subsequent battle on the TV, he had bolted from the gym as fast as he could to catch up to him. That battle had been exhilarating- it was such a close call at the start, and then Vito had evolved?! Simon still felt butterflies thinking about the pure beauty of what he'd witnessed.

The lobby he'd screamed into barely had any people - most had gone into their seats already, and the few latecomers who were buying their tickets squinted and gave him weird looks, whispering something about 'is that the bug guy'. There was the familiar sight of ball guy however, and the masked mascot immediately recognized the young man from his Kabu challenge.

"412! You're taking your first step to greatness now! Let your spirit grow with the light of victory like a plant on a sunny day!" the ball-headed man shouted back, throwing his arms up towards the sky triumphantly.

"Thank you, Mr. Guy! I promise I won't disappoint this time!" Simon responded as he ran to the front desk and slammed down his ATC. He looked at the gym worker manning the front desk, "Simon Pearburgh, 412! I'm here to-"

"-to challenge Milo, yes. We heard you quite well from the entrance." the man at the entrance smiled calmly. "You're in luck, the previous challenger has just ended their battle."

Simon grinned; this was gonna be good.

-----------

After the rules of the gym mission had been explained to him, Simon found himself standing in the middle of a large indoor field in his challenger uniform, the area being fenced off just like Motostoke's wilderness had been. Scattered around were ten Wooloo, as he'd been told, and all he had to do was herd them into the right place, a corral at the other end of the field. In the distance, he could hear the crowd settling again for a new challenger and got louder once he released all of his Pokemon.

He crouched down to address his team as they formed a semicircle around him. Spewpa, Caterpie, Burmy, Snom, and his newest partner, Princess the Joltik. All of them looked at Simon expectantly, the trust in their eyes as evident as always despite their differences. These five Pokemon had risked their own safety for him constantly; all of them had chosen to be part of his team- and he wasn't going to let them down now.

"Alright, team. We're going to have to work together on this one - this is our moment. Stick to the plan and help each other out if you need to." he whispered. Spewpa, Caterpie and Burmy nodded eagerly, and Snom let out an icy hiss. Princess seemed a little on edge, but Simon comforted the Joltik with a pat on the head. "Don't worry, tiny. Follow my lead and we'll be celebrating with cinnamon buns tonight." With a quick wave, the bugs all crawled onto his sleeves.

As he got up, he spotted the nearest camera and posed with a wink. "Galar, you're about to witness a champion moment!" he called out.

The voice of the announcer took that statement as him being ready.

"3! 2! 1! Begin!"

Immediately, Simon began sprinting towards the center of the field, all five Pokemon clinging to his jacket. As he ran, he grabbed Caterpie from his right sleeve and threw him up into the air as hard as he could. He watched the bug soar majestically, waiting for the right moment...

"STRING-A-CHUTE!" he yelled out, not stopping his sprint. Immediately the flying Caterpie stopped midair, as a large, tarp-like net of thick string escaped its mouth. As it hung in the air for a few precious moments, the caterpie scanned the field from a bird's-eye view, taking note of the position of every stray Wooloo. Once it had done so, it released its parachute, and fell back down to the ground - where it was caught by a precise swing of Simon's bug net.
"What'd you see?" Simon asked as he picked up the dazed but unharmed Caterpie from his net. The bug squeaked a few times as its antenna flailed around, and Simon nodded. "Alright, perfect! Now for part two! Spewpa, Caterpie, you take the east side where there's more of them- Princess, Burmy, you stay with me on the west! Snom, focus on the corral!"

With a series of squeaks the bugs all hopped off and dispersed, as Simon ran towards the side Caterpie had mentioned to him. After a minute of running, he'd found it- a hay bale. "Alright, your time to shine, Burmy!" he called out, fishing out the little grey bug. It let out a hesitant groan before swinging off of his arm and into the pile of hay, allowing the material to stick to its skin. Before long, Burmy was then cloaked in a layer of straw and grass, turning him into…

"The perfect bait!" Simon exclaimed, pulling the Pokemon out of the bale. He looked up at the clock above him - six and a half minutes left, and with no Wooloo to show for it. If this worked, however, he wouldn't even need all ten minutes.

The second step of his plan now complete, he then turned his attention to the Wooloo on the west side- he counted three. Two of them were grazing right beside each other, while the third stood a short distance away. As he approached the lone Wooloo it raised its head, noticing the smell of something more even enticing than the grass.

"Oi! If you want some of this, you're gonna have to follow me!" Simon taunted, dangling the straw-covered Burmy in front of him.

The hungry Pokemon galloped excitedly towards him, and as he did so Simon slowly herded it towards the other two. Just as the three of them were close to each other, he yelled out. "Princess, NOW!"

With a high-pitched squeak the little Joltik jumped off of Simon's head and released an enormous Spider Web, draping the sticky string over the three Wooloo and tying them tightly together. All three of the Pokemon's eyes were fixated on the Burmy bait as they began galloping even faster towards Simon.

Now for part three. Keeping the packed Wooloos close enough behind him, Simon sprinted to the other end of the field, where Spewpa and Caterpie had been at work. The two Pokemon had attached long, sturdy strands of string to the seven remaining Wooloo, long enough that the sheep Pokemon hadn't noticed yet. Just as he got close to one of them, Spewpa and Caterpie emerged from its wool and attached the final line of string to his own three Wooloo.

"Amazing job, lads!" Simon cheered, his two Pokemon climbing back onto his sleeves. "Now for the final piece!"

As he continued to bait the three stuck Wooloos towards the corral, something beautiful happened. The first Wooloo Simon had left behind fell over, then the one beside it, then the next, and the next… Soon, as if driven by a ravenous three-wooloo engine, Simon was effectively dragging the entire herd along the ground behind him, tied together by string. Once he approached the corral, he spotted Snom on the fence door.

The ground in front of the fence had been covered in a thin layer of ice, barely thick enough to notice, but enough to continue the momentum of anything that would step on it. Just before he reached it Simon rolled to the side, and watched as the chasing Wooloos did not. The three Pokemon stumbled over the ice and slipped into the corral… dragging along the rest of the herd with them like a wooloo-shaped chain.

The crowd roared as the announcer's voice blasted through the speakers. "TIME! With three full minutes to spare, number 412 has successfully completed the gym mission!"

Exhausted, Simon fell back onto the grass laughing. "HELL YEAH!" he screamed over the cheers of the crowd, throwing another thumbs-up in the camera's direction, before getting jumped on by his Pokemon. The bugs squeaked together triumphantly as they swarmed on him - even Snom was feeling the energy! Simon grabbed the group and held them all in a tight hug. This was his family, and together he knew they'd be able to move mountains - or at least, for now, uproot trees.

Simon stood back up and looked towards the entrance to the battle pitch, where Milo was now waiting for him.

"Let's continue our champion moment, lads!" he exclaimed before breaking into another sprint.

Shak · Jan 26, 2021

Ruben Sancho

18 | Male | Footballer

Chapter 6- 2 | Big Dunc

Wedgehurst Stadium

Chrome fluttered through the hallway of varnished wood. The little bird bounded from pillar to post, every so often peering over to where the little Bounsweet stood proudly beside their trainer who was busy exchanging words with a group in white medical garb. Of course the Rookidee knew nothing of what they were discussing, his mind was firmly set on the immensely formidable stature of the pokemon that carried them here.

Corviknight. The form Chrome himself aspired to achieve one day. Few pokemon had such an iron grip on the skies as a wild Corviknight and while he had adopted a new station that relegated him from the luxuries and freedoms a wild Corviknight may have access to, Chrome took great pride in what the idea of standing at the heed of his new team as a powerful steel raven.

"Don't suppose you're here to save our season then?" One of the physios joked to Ruben, dismissing pleas to get a move on from his female co-worker. "Reckon this is the season you stay fit."

"We hope so," Ruben laughed back, shifting the steaming breakfast wrap he was holding between hands. Since the incident with Rosa and the women with the piercings, Ruben hadn't had much time to stop and talk to anyone. It seemed like any time he did, he was always on the receiving end of those awkward laughs and uncomfortable smiles. He was living under the shade of a lie, and that sun he was telling Rosa about was getting harder and harder to see. "I'm just here because of a mixup. I'm sure it'll be sorted soon." Ruben smiled back, feeling that pressure to explain himself yet again. There was always that burning hope that the next person he spoke to didn't know; the hope that they hadn't seen the pictures.

"Hopefully we'll be seeing less of you this season." The female physio smiled as she finally managed to drag her associate out of the agonising conversation. Ruben just watched as she scolded the man and peaked over her shoulder at Ruben. The footballer stared just long enough to forget about shifting the hot wrap, the shock of the burn jolting him into reflexively dropping his breakfast on the floor.

"****." Ruben grumbled, watching defeatedly as his two pokemon swooped in to investigate.

"'ere he is!"

♪ "Da da dada da!
He looks where he wants!
He looks where he waannts!
Ruben Sancho!
He looks where he wants!
Tits, ass, face, legs,
Da da dada da!"♪

The chorus thumped through the hallway. Ruben scoffed, a smile growing on his face as he instantly recognised at least one of the lads that bellowed the chant. The leader of the little posse, 24-year old senior team left winger, Curtis Johnson. In no uncertain terms, he was the bad boy of the club. Arrests, public scandals, fancy cars, poor performances, fights with fans; Curtis had all of them. Rube quickly recalled the pokemon as the older player hustled over to embrace him. He grabbed Ruben's head, despite giving away at least six or seven inches to the young striker, and gave him an affectionate noogie.

"Here's the shagger!" Curtis cracked, to the amusement of the other lads. He released Ruben from the headlock, but not before grabbing his face and planting a wet sloppy kiss on his forehead. "What a lad. Here I was thinking you were a square. You got some life to ya me son." Even with his smaller stature, Curtis had the energy of a man twice his size. Ruben couldn't help but laugh along. Curtis had always been one of the most welcoming players when he joined the club. Although the duo had grown apart in rise in stature and of course in his absence, Ruben always looked to Curtis as a misunderstood mentor figure. "How'd they look underneath then? Good pair?"

"Be surprised if you could you find them in there? She didn't look the biggest." One of the other boys joked - an under-23 player who Ruben didn't even recognise.

Ruben responded with a bashful smirk, which earned an eruption of noise and excitement from the boys.

"Oi! Mankeys! Shut up!" The voice of the PR Manager, Tania, boomed over the sound of her heels clacking against the floor. Her authoritative entrance earned her at least a few seconds to get her point across. "The course leader's running late, so I'm locking you lot in to make sure you don't ruin any more meetings." She was halfway to unlocking the door the boys were waiting outside of before she even started speaking. Once the door was open, she gestured for them to go through. While the rest of the boys, including Ruben were intimidated enough to walk straight in, Curtis stopped and the eyes of Tania.

"So Tan, when you gonna let me show you a presentation? Mine paints the perfect picture." He smirked, making mock sex faces at her. While he spoke, Tania was pressing the lead out of the mechanical pencil in her hand.

"Curtis...I'd rather stab this into my eyes than see anything you've got to show me. Now if you'll excuse me." She scoffed, strutting toward the door. As she turned to lock the door behind her, Ruben stepped forward.

"Wait, Tania, can we not leave? I-I need to run and get some breakfast real quick." He reached out in a last ditch attempt to save his morning nutrition. It worked. Tania stopped raising her brows in surprise.

"Oh? You missed out on breakfast did you? You didn't get your cornflakes in? Your jam and toast?" Tania asked, tilting head to accentuate the sarcasm her tone was absolutely drenched in. "Get here earlier next time."

"I had to come from Turffield." The footballer turned league challenger grumbled. His eyes fell to the ground, practically accepting defeat before Tania even had the chance to get her next words out.

"Oh did you?" Tania asked, curling her lip in faux sadness. "Poor baby. Maybe next time you think about peeking down a girl's shirt, you'll do it closer to Wedgehurst so you can make it to your harassment course with enough time to grab your gluten free bagel." There was no shortage of spite in her tone and Ruben could hear all of it. He fell into his seat. Tania looked between the rest of the boys, none of whom had anything to say. "Good, glad we're clear then." As she went to shut the door, it was stopped by a gruff man who made even Ruben feel small. Had his very defined and pointy nose not dominated the composition of his otherwise tiny face, he'd fit the perfect image of the 'Tall, Dark and Handsome' moniker. Instead, he was content with settling for two of the three. He even had to lower his head to fit through the door. Tania looked up to him, then looked him up and down. "Paul." She said with a nod.

"Tania." He responded, his thick working man's accent grumbled with no flair or inflection. With that done, the woman slipped out and the new arrival found a seat in the circle of tables. Curtis smirked at the new target. The easiest catch in the room.

"Oi oi! Dunky! Knew you'd find yourself here eventually. I gotta ask, when they said get the lady a ring, did you just get the wrong picture or?" Curtis was the loudest laugher at his own joke, while the rest of the lads were far more scared to laugh in the face of 'Dunky' or Big Dunc as he was more commonly referred to as. "Lighten up Dunky it's just bants. Bet that's what you said to the missus when she started bruising." That one earned a more earnest laughter from the rest of the lads, unable to contain themselves this time.

While all that played out, Ruben wrestled with the door handle, hoping Tania had somehow not twisted the key enough or something. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite so lucky.

"I swear Tania's got it out for me. She's always on my back for everything I do." Ruben grumbled.

"Lucky for some." Curtis jibed, again earning snickers from his posse.

"The guy's ten minutes late, but I can't go grab some breakfast? She's always pulling some petty ****." Ruben huffed, leaning against the door.

"He's right though, she do be on some petty ****." The under-23 player spoke up.

"Here." Big Dunc spoke up, holding a foil wrapped sandwich out for Ruben to take. "Now you lot can quit your *****in and your **** jokes." There was a stillness about the room once he spoke. Ruben scanned the rest of the faces in the room, unsure what he should even do in this situation.

"Thanks," he said plainly, taking the sandwich and finding his seat.

---

While the lecturer droned on about proper introductions and the manner of personal space, each attendee found a way to distract themselves. Curtis built himself a paper plane, a few of the Under 23 players were sending goofy selfies to each other across the room. Ruben sat and watched Big Dunc. The older man had been giving his full attention to the presentation, the entire time. The young man couldn't wrap his head around how a guy that seemed so calm, so composed, could've been accused of something so heinous. Ruben could only imagine what the guy was going through.

Ruben was startled as the Big Dunc climbed to his feet. The sound of clattering of chair legs filled the room until Ruben found he was the only one still seated.

"Mr Sancho…" the lecturer motioned for him to join them on their feet. Hesitantly, the young footballer followed the instruction. "It strikes me that I may not have the full attention of the room. Since Mr Sancho is new, I hoped we could repeat our introductory exercise."

Ruben glanced at the lecturer, then at the groaning group of players who were already mentally checking out of the next task. The lecturer gestured towards Ruben. "If you could start Mr Sancho. Just give us your name, age, occupation and what you feel you did to end up where you are right now."

"What, so I just...introduce myself?" Ruben grumbled. "We all know each other...pretty much." His gaze wandered to Big Dunc, but it was the under 23 players he had in mind. It made him realise just how long he'd been away that he had no clue who those people were. In the three years Ruben spent at the club, he'd played with Big Dunc plenty of times but the two had never had a one to one conversation. Ruben flinched as he noticed Big Dunc open his mouth to speak.

"It's an exercise in taking responsibility lad. Tell us who you are, and tell us what you did. Own it," Big Dunc said as plainly and with as little doubt as he had before. Ruben took notice, while the other boys looked at Curtis with uncertainty. It was the only other senior player in the room who stepped up.

"Alright, I'll get it done." Curtis sneered. "My name's Curtis Johnson, I'm twenty-four, I'm a full time heart throb, part time heartbreaker. On the weekends I just so happen to play a bit of footy. I'm the first choice left-winger for Wedgehurst FC." He stood with his chest out, brimming with pride at his introduction. The lecturer let it hold for a moment before egging him on to finish. "I'm here because the chicks love me. I was told this was a self defence class." He joked, to the amusement of the younger players. The lecturer picked the frown from his face and slapped on an appreciative smile.

"Thank you Curtis. Would anyone like to go next? Paul? Nathan?" There was a silence about the room. No raised hands, not even an uttered word. "That's okay. How about we take a...say twenty minute break, and come back to it. I think I need to go and move my car...." The lecturer deflated and hung his head as he scurried out of the room.

The other players threw their feet up and pulled out speakers to listen to music on the notion they'd have a 'sound clash' to see who had the better playlist. Ruben couldn't help but think back to what Tania had said. He sighed. Again, the dragging of chair legs caught Ruben's attention as Big Dunc stepped out of the room. While the other boys were distracted, Ruben took the opportunity to chase. He just had to find out.

As Ruben turned the corner, he saw Big Dunc stepping into the toilet doors. Keeping low, Ruben quickly tailed him and slipped through the doors himself.

Ruben stood in the mirror as the cubicle shut. ****… he hadn't actually thought this far ahead and now he had to stand and wait? He could step out and walk back in? Maybe even speak to himself to make it sound like two people had been in since Big Dunc walked through? He grabbed a clump of his with one hand, embarrassed by the situation he found himself in.

"Any reason why you followed me here mate?"

Ruben froze. Had he known the entire time? The young boy stared at himself in the mirror a moment in the hope he was hearing things or that Big Dunc was on the phone or maybe even meeting someone in the cubicle. The teen flinched as his senior teammate spoke again. "The stuff we've been learning about applies to men and women mate." Even with his deadpan delivery, Ruben could hear the sarcasm.

"I wanted to ask a question. I couldn't ask in there." That was that. Ruben melted in embarrassment. His own reflection gave him a pained look back.

"Spit it out then lad. Not often you catch me in a spot where I can't get out."

"Did you do it?" He asked, closing his eyes as he let the question wisp into the atmosphere.

Silence. The toilet flushed and Big Dunc calmly stepped out of the cubicle. Ruben staired into the mirror as the accused domestic abuser stepped beside him to wash his hands.

"If you're gonna ask me mate, own it." Big Dunc was gone. Ruben grumbled, thoughts of that night playing through his mind again.

"And… were you right?" She asked out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Ruben asked, caught completely unawares.

"You said you thought I seemed cool and wanted to find out if you were right." Pia quoted, referencing to what he had said earlier that day.

Ruben's confusion fell to realisation, then bent to concentration and finally curled into a smile.

"Yeah. Yeah I was." He nodded into the mirror.

---

The group sat in their seats again, the lecturer was restationed at the front his eyes devoid of the optimism he'd began the session with.

"So, would anyone like to go next?" The man asked, coffee already obscuring his words before he finished speaking.

"I'll go." Ruben announced, springing to his feet. The whole room sat up for this one.The lecturer almost choked on his coffee, the life returning to his eyes at Ruben's enthusiasm. The young footballer cleared his throat, ready to speak his sins away. "I usually go by Ruben Sancho. I'm eighteen years old. I'm a Striker for Wedgehurst Town Football Club, and I'm here because I looked down a girl's shirt in public and that was wrong." Ruben finished with a nod, basking in the praise of the lecturer. He was completely oblivious to Big Dunc shaking his head. The lecturer didn't seem to care much.

"Bravo Ruben. Fantastic stuff. See, we're really getting somewhere now. Who wants to go next?"

This time, it was Big Dunc who stood up. In the same unceremonious manner that he'd done everything else, he spoke. Ruben, Curtis, the other lads and even the lecturer leaned in for the moment. Each of them on edge, yearning to hear Big Dunc say those words.

"My name's Paul Duncan. I'm only a couple years off thirty. I'm a central defensive midfielder and first team captain at Wedgehurst Town. I own my own business and charity…" He paused, a heavy breath was inhaled and exhaled before he could find his next few words. "...and I'm here because I tried to take control of something that wasn't mine to control. My reaction was inexcusable and now I'm trying to find peace with the decisions I made."

There was a heavy quiet about the room. No one was really sure what to make of it. He certainly didn't outright admit to anything, but there was an ominous certainty about the room's other occupants that more or less shouted 'we know you did it'! Despite the daggers that were being stared into him, Big Dunc spoke with an authority that won him the room again.

"If you lot listen to what Tania says, your careers will go a lot smoother." The words certainly won him back most of the room. Ruben squinted and the lecturer nodded with approval. Curtis didn't seem quite so convinced. On cue, those who were further away from the door than Big Dunc heard the sharp clacks of heels echoing through the hallway. The door opened, and surely enough, Tania stepped in.

"Boys, your session is cut short. Lucky you, you get to be ****ty people a week longer." She spoke through gritted teeth. Curtis scoffed, drawing ire from Tania again.

"Can't be that bad, can we? We're here." Ruben squinted at those words. He looked down at the pokeballs he had laid out on the table. He'd quit the league challenge, right? Right? Somehow he still found himself worrying about his battle with Milo. 'We're still here', he repeated in his mind.

"Curtis, if it were up to me, you'd be behind bars. For now, I'll settle for my thirty grand bonus." With that, the only woman in the room took her leave.

"You've blessed plenty of woman with your good deed." Curtis shouted down the hall but Tania kept her pace. The lecturer remained silent, while Big Dunc shook his head.

Ruben jumped to his feet and and ran to the door.

"Tania!" He called out. Fortunately, the heels stopped clacking and and the woman stopped. She refused to turn, but she stopped. "Thanks!" Ruben waited for a response that never came. Tania continued walking before she disappeared into the hallways of the stadium.

forg · Jan 27, 2021

Nona Rodriguez
◇ Galar Mine

Spoiler:

There was no rest for the ambitious as this man's shovel continuously excavated. Calloused hands were colored powder black, intermingled with sweat and bread crumbs that originated from the sandwich-stuffed green backpack. Specks of mine dust and dirt made themselves at home on the man's handlebar mustache.

"GUNTHER. We are close! I can feel it!" cheered the gentleman as he filled yet another five gallon bucket with soil. The container's contents then joined the ten foot tall pile in which for his runerigus to frolic in.

A runerigus bursted from within the hill of dirt, high on rapture. "Uuuuoooee!"

The man cackled to the adoring display and retrieved his cell, snapping another image of the five-foot wide tunnel's entrance that progressed wider, inch by inch. But the man did not seem to mind, seemingly unfazed by the duration of the commitment. "How're you finding it, boy?"

"OOOEEEE."

"Rejoice! I think we're closer, Gunther buddy boy!" He figured the entrance was as wide as needed and progressed deeper, now on his knees inside this aforementioned tunnel.

Runerigus continued to frolic. "Ooooooo."

The thwacked passageway received no mercy from the older gentleman, who killed time with nursery rhymes his companion would often initiate; hot cross buns, jack and jill, row your boat, and twinkle twinkle little star are only a few off their mental playlist.

But their day was later interrupted by an unanticipated guest.

Chapter 5.2

"I'm extremely sorry. I really am, I didn't mean to run away like that. I was just scared and didn't think, so- ah, no, that sucks, doesn't it?" asked Nona to her beldum, who, like the previous time, decided to be in front of her. Beldum demonstrated their indifference to it with a v-shaped bounce. "Oh, really? I think it sorta sucks, but I guess it uh… hmm-"

A powerful voice filled the tunnel, which startled Nona into a silent, frozen pose. "WHO GOES THERE?" Her hand instinctively gripped the opposing wrist, eyes widened in anticipation of what is to come.

Metal clanked, followed by the sound of approaching steps. "HELLO? IS ANYONE THERE?"

Her feet could not be lifted, petrified upon the many possibilities of who it may be; perhaps a homeless man who made it his home? Or a bored spelunker? Perhaps a man simply doing a hobby? Did she catch a man on his last straw, ready to go insane after a horrible life?

But it was not a young hobbyist, or an unhygienic stray. No. The man that emerged from the corner before Nona was…

If one pondered how a love child of Kanto's Gym Leader Blaine and Eggman from Sanix would appear to be, they should wonder no more: the gentleman that revealed themselves to Nona was of a tall six foot stature, average build but with a beer belly, bald with beige skin, and a mahogany handlebar mustache. They sported dull colors with their sleeveless white -now blotched with black and brown-shirt, dark brown overalls, red bandanna acting as a scarf, matching red boots, knee and elbow pads, and black gloves. Adorning his bald scalp was an equally brown helmet with dim light attached to it.

"A young girl?!" exclaimed the man, somewhat surprised by her presence. "How did you get yourself lost when the path is located right behind you?"

"Ah… good mid-afternoon. Or noon. I think it's sorta too late for morning, hahaha…?" she sheepishly greeted, but his own bow caused her to flinch, unexpected.

"Good morning to you as well, girl. You are the second to stumble upon our expedition-"

"Actuallyyyy…" Nona interjected, yet could not muster the necessary courage to go through with her claim.

The gentleman cleared his throat, arms crossed as he awaited her response. "Yes?"

Nona gingerly plucked Beldum out of the air in front of her and to her chest. "...u-um. I'm sorry because I was the first one. Too. The one who screamed and-" Laughter suddenly pierced her timid words. A small gasp left her lips while Beldum slipped out of her grasp, ready in case they carried sinister intentions.

"-AHAHAhahaha... Young girl, do not apologize to me, apologize to Gunther, my boy here," he explained, a hand extended to his side. "Gunther" took only but a minute until they arrived; Nona identified the creature as a runerigus.

She shifted to face the shadow-like pokémon and clasped her hands together before them. "O-oh, um…! I'm really sorry-"

"Stop. Do not utter another syllable." The command puzzled Nona, who immediately gazed up to the man.

"Did I do something wrong? I didn't-"

"Aaaaa tatatata.[/i]"

With a hand raised to instill emphasis on her confusion, she attempted again. "Wait, I'm-"

"TATATATAAA! Did your mother not teach you to listen to your elders?!"

Her hands became more expressive as he pressed on. "U-um, yes! I'm really sorry, I'm-" His growing annoyed expression shut her up. "...er."

♤♡◇♧

Beldum glared at runerigus, but the aloof pokémon paid no mind as they received a chin rub from Nona. She sat atop a five-gallon bucket, sharing hot cocoa in separate mugs. A single sip sent Nona into eternal bliss.

The man leaned forward. "How is the taste?"

"It's very very good!" she babbled on. "It's one of the best I've had! So, I don't like fast food hot cocoas, especially after that one time when they gave me chocolate with spoiled milk- oh god I almost wanted to throw up. I want to throw up now as I talk and think about it, ugh! But well, I just got used to making my own. I mean, not from scratch-"

"Of course."

"-but from hot chocolate packets I buy. All I gotta do is mix it with milk and that's it! They say mix it with water, but with milk it tastes better to me and it's a richer taste. I just um… I like it sweet and unhealthy."

"How disgraceful," he stated of Nona, of whom blushed in shame while the gentleman rummaged through his bag. When he found the bag of chocolate pieces he presented it with pride, one hand gingerly acting as the stand while the other tapped its contents. "This, little girl, is how you make chocolate. Not with cheap powder and cheap milk. But with quality ingredients."

Her eyes lit up with wonder, a fanatic of chocolate. "Oh wow! What kind of chocolate is it?"

The gentleman returned the bag to his backpack, and unfortunately refused to share his wisdom. "Do you think I'd be so foolish as to reveal where I collect my chocolate?!"

"O-oh no no no no, it's okay if you don't want to!"

Their trivial conversation persisted throughout the afternoon. Nona would have aided the man with his shoveling, but he had rejected her -every ten minutes due to her constant offers- and insisted she keep him company.

Until he had come to terms with the reality of the situation.

"-and in the show they use these giant mechas to fight angels, but it's not like other shows. It's all psychological, even sorta focuses on the characters and how they tick and-"

He studied the discovered passageway. "Girl. Listen to me," then interjected the ruin maniac.

Oh no, what did I do or say? she panicked, sitting upright and with a sheepish grin. "Yes! What is it?"

"We can dissect and scrutinize your favorite past times… after we journey towards the damn ruins, GUNTHER, WE DID IT BOY!" he had begun, enthusiasm having exploded upon reaching the last few words and turning to face his companion. "Go and clear. And YOU," he then pointed at Nona, who flinched with her fingers pressed against her chest out of surprise. Gunther plucked the small lamp from near the opening and dashed towards the other side.

"A-ah, yes...?"

He pointed at the passage with the shovel, small hole setting off claustrophobic alarms in the young trainer. "Can you fit in this hole here?"

"I-I don't know, I've never crawled in a hole before-"

"A full fledged Pokémon Trainer who is unwilling to take risks, HAH, what a disgrace to the title you carry," the ruin maniac discredited Nona's character, far too focused at his reachable dreams. Nona took a step back, hands behind her back and body slightly hunched over in shame.

"I know, I'm kind of a, um, yeah. I'm always scared, haha…?"

His joy melted into disappointment, impatient to continue forward on the journey. "Leave or stay, then," he ultimately told Nona, his bag snatched on his way out the cave. "Whatever you choose does not concern me." His sudden movement and change of pace elicited an anxious whimper from Nona, who remained indecisive.

The prospect of squeezing her body through such a small passage sent shivers up her spine, but guilt washed over her whenever she rejected the option of giving him a helping hand. But the man's words of annoyed wisdom, as per usual in her journey, caused her to question her guarded ways.

What would her father do?

He would help.

He always gave a helping hand to a stranger, dropping everything regardless of how embarrassed she and Moises became.

He would be disappointed in her current hesitation.

Her father and brother had always been there for her to ask for advice. And they're a click away.

She knew what he was going to say.

The older man had long left amidst her final musings. But, much to her surprise, he returned to retrieve his companion that had been waiting inside the mystery room out the other end of the passageway.

"Wait! I can help!" Nona blurted out. Her nails dug into her thighs to ward off any incoming second-thoughts and regret. And albeit a minute fraction of him expected her to bend and crack, he remained pleasantly surprised regardless.

"You better not be toying with me, child. There is a lot at stake here."

"Um… no, I can help. It will help me get rid of this bad, er, cowardly thing of mine anyway, s-so… um, yes. I will help you!"

♤♡◇♧

She gulped. It was now or never. Her dread only worsened the pace, thus her odd display of brief bouncing with hands being whipped back and forth as a form of building courage for herself.

"How is that activity working for you?"

"I'm good! I'm very very good!" she quickly responded with an anxious tone, voice broken as her action told a different story.

Unable to witness the nervous child go through with such an easy task, he sighed and retrieved his cell. "Oh for Arceus' sake, stop your foolish nonsense and allow me to get a hold of someone who can-"

Nona swiveled to face the mustachioed man, moist hands clasped together. "I can do it!" she blurted out once more. "I'm ready. Yeah. I'm ready."

"Oh?" Intrigued, with crossed arms they sat atop the upside down five-gallon bucket and observed her. But all this did was push her on edge, which left her with a speeding heartbeat that soon traveled to her eardrums.

"Y-yeah… um…" She had begun to turn, but swiveled quickly prior to her next question. "You said you knew what to do if I got stuck, right?"

"Certainly. "

She scrunched her face, jittery hands clutched at her turtleneck and gently squeezed the neck. "S-so… okay. I'll let you know. Like, if I kick my feet a lot, in case you can't hear me, that means I'm stuck," she further elaborated on her plan.

He opened his hand and signaled for her to focus on the tunnel. She returned to facing the 25-inch wide passageway with a five foot entrance, hands briefly tugging as the hems of her sleeves before standing before it.

And so she began. She knelt and hesitantly slid her hands on the rugged passageway's opening. Beldum kept Nona in view as the lamp behind it illuminated everything, but darkened its front, thus the glowing, bloody red pupil.

Nona whimpered as her upper body entered and initiated the nerve-wracking exploit. At first it was an easy feat as she crawled inside, but upon having to shrink into an army crawl a minute in, she began to worry.

"Oh my god it's so small…! I-I don't know if-" She proceeded to squeeze and push herself, inch by inch, with the help of her footwear and minute body movements. The smell of musty minerals and soil invaded her nostrils, cringing upon nails accidentally scraping against the rough surface around her. "H-hey, um, have you ever done this?"

The man relocated from the bucket to the passageway's opening. "Why, what do you take me for? Of course I have!"

"Did you… u-um. Did you ever get stuck?"

"Of course I have."

Nona's body trembled with his words, panic steadily setting in as her anxiety grew impatient with the progress. "You did? Really? Oh, wow- how?!" Her voice rose in pitch. She yelped with every small, sudden scratch and pinch that came with squeezing through.

"How do you think? I crawled my way out, foolish girl."

"But how did you get out?" Nona persisted, having only traversed halfway into the passageway. "Wasn't it, u-uh, scary?"

"Of course it was."

"Did it take a while?"

"Of course it did."

"Did you ever do it again?"

"Of course I did."

"But why did you do it again?"

He sighed, the back and forth forcing him to speak more than he had in recent times. "Girl, why must you let your anxiety get the best of you?"

"A-ah, I'm so sorry! I'm just so scared and nervous and stuff-"

He then interjected, sensing her panic heighten. "Since I figure you have the time, then let me tell you why I continued." The man took a brief peek at the hole, relieved to see Nona making progress.

"I'm ready! I'm listening!" she reminded him, prompting him to chuckle as he leaned against the wall.

"You see, it's more than a hobby. It's my career. For, you see, as a young man I took interest in spelunking. And apparently so did the audience I eventually began to include. Alas I did what any reasonable man would do and that is to make a profit. Some paid to send me to strange caves. Others paid me to get exclusive, live feed of my explorations instead of waiting until I uploaded my cut version."

Nona halted, fleeting wonder soon taken over by the previous trepidations. "Oh wow! That's… that's amazing! So you're like, a small celebrity? Oh my gosh, h-how was it?" Her quivering and anxiety did not go unnoticed by him, of whom whistled his runerigus over. "O-oh! I forgot you had the runerigus!"

"Oh ho ho ho," bellowed out the gentleman, impressed by her knowledge as he pushed his cuddly runerigus aside, who had desired an embrace. "You know about this boy's brand?"

Her voice echoed and delayed thanks to the passageway. She shimmied past one tight spot. "Yeah! Like, um, it's cute but isn't it cursed? Like an ancient evil thing?"

"WOMAN-"

"YES?!"

"-have you no shame saying such lies in front of him?!"

A gasp escaped Nona's lips, guilty after listening to a mental replay of her words. "I'm so sorry! I'm really sorry I really am!"

"Do not apologize! Never apologize!"

She began to quicken her pace without a second's thought, her beldum moving out of the end of the tunnel to reveal just how close she was. "B-but I didn't mean-"

"ATATATATA!"

Suddenly Nona's shoulder fell in place within an open gap, her body sliding forward an inch more until it could no longer budge. "Wai-"

"AAAAA TATATA!"

There an immediate blanket of horror thrown upon her, eyes widened and breathing now uneven. "S-sir?!" she whimpered out as Beldum closed the gap in reaction, nudging her forehead in an attempt to calm her.

The old man jolted to his knees, scrutinizing the edges of her form against the passageway.

"Girl, listen to me. You are in no danger. You can get out-"

"I can't move! I-I, I can't move!"

"LISTEN TO ME," he roared, which succeeded in grabbing her attention. "I'm going to push you forward. And it's going to hurt-"

Nona interjected, feet thrashing in anticipation of the act. "That's okay! It's okay if it hurts, I just don't want- FUUUU-!" Her clothes caught on to the passage walls, yet did not stop the surface tears and scratches to accumulate on her skin as she was launched forward. Wilhelm had pushed until he no longer could, cheeks and chest pressed against the mine wall. Red marks had formed and appeared when he unstuck, eyes squinted to better study Nona.

"Just a little bit more, woman!"

"Okay! I'm okay! It's okay! It hurts only a little bit!"

"Do not worry! I will take you to the doctor myself to get it checked out! But, for now, let us move forward! Onward to the ruins!"

Minutes of patient wiggling led to Nona's head poking at the end of the passageway, a proud Beldum hovering at its end. In turn she gained a surge of energy that allowed her to wiggle out. Hands reached for the floor, but could not reach. Alas Nona let her body hang, one hand aiming for the floor and the other helping her lower body escape the passageway.

"IT HAS TO BE THERE, TELL ME IT'S THERE, NONA!" the man's voice erupted from behind. But before she could respond she braced for impact and fell to the ground; her elbow took the brunt of the fall.

Nona siphoned her pain via a hard bite to her right hand, but all it did was leave her whimpering over both injuries.

"NONA. TELL ME. WHAT DO YOU SEE?!" the ruin maniac hollered, impatient for an answer as her focus remained on her bruises and cuts; small dots of blood had concentrated on her shoulder, arms and abdomen, the largest bruise located on the right elbow that absorbed the impact. Her black turtleneck was cut and torn, the largest found at her lower abdomen.

At last she glanced up and scanned the room before her. The lamp illuminated but a small section, but there was a different light source that took her by surprise; it appeared to be an opening to… the outside?

"NONA-"

"I THINK I FOUND IT," she hollered in return. "I FOUND ANOTHER WAY… IN?"

There was a brief minute of silence.

"...WHAT?"

gimmepie · Jan 27, 2021

Catherine Carlisle and Pia McGuire

Bad Company

The weather was still quite cold in Turffield and Route 4 before it, but it was definitely warmer than it had been on Route 3 which had been drowned in snow. For most, this meant it was the ideal time to be out and about. With the Gym Challengers starting to flow into the city(?), the effect the weather was having on people was only magnified.

For once though, Catherine barely even noticed what would usually be an insufferably large crowd. Her attention was focused on her phone, rereading the same short message as she internally debated whether or not to even bother responding.

Happy 19th birthday, Catherine!

We would have sent you something, but we weren't sure how to get anything to you since you're on the road and you don't tell us where you're staying. It looks like you'll be in Turffield soon to challenge Milo. Good luck, we'll be watching!

Love Mum and Dad xx

The message was infuriating for several reasons. They were messaging her because they didn't want to feel guilty more than anything. She didn't miss the implied threat either, that they were watching to make damn sure she was keeping to the challenge.

It was grating on her nerves, especially because she had resolved to be better than people like them. That would mean she should reply, but she didn't want to give them that kind of satisfaction.

So wrapped up in her mental debate with herself as she was, Catherine didn't notice that she was walking directly towards the side of a building. Not until she collided with hard brick and nearly fell over as a result.

Catherine rubbed her head, looking around to make sure nobody had seen that. Blessedly, nobody seemed to have noticed. She went to walk back the other direction, but something stuck to the wall caught her eye. A hastily made poster with "HELP WANTED!!!" printed on it in large bold letters.

"Please help me investigate the strange monuments on the Turffield outskirts. Assistance will be rewarded." Catherine read the subcaption out loud to herself and took note of the address and contact information written at the base of the poster.

She was already in a bad mood, waking into a wall hadn't improved it. She had exactly no desire to help some crackpot investigate some rocks. Dragging other people into their conspiracy bullshit made her feel more like strangling this person than doing them a favour… but again she reminded herself of her resolve.

Catherine replied to her parent's text with a brief "Thanks" and then started heading deeper into Turffield to meet the person who had put the poster up.

"Oh look! That totally looks like a mystery!" Pia excitedly said to the recently evolved Milla. It was strange to now be talking to a slightly bigger version of the previously small mouse. Her huge head and tiny body had made place for a new body with the right proportions. Only her tail was now longer and larger.

"Chu!" Milla responded with a small screech, happy to see her trainer so excited about these small things. Pia looked at the piece of paper stapled on the wall of a building once more.

"Please help me investigate the strange monuments on the Turffield outskirts. Assistance will be rewarded."

"Yeah, definitely. If that doesn't scream mystery then I don't know what does." Pia nodded to herself and took the piece of paper from the wall. If she was gonna solve it, no one else needed it, right?

Catherine arrived at the address from the poster, finding herself outside a quaint brick cottage not too far from either the famed Turffield Monument or the central gym stadium. It was the kind of building that exuded homely vibes.

Catherine reached for the rusted knocker on the door, then noticed the electric doorbell on the exterior instead. The dinging sound echoed out from within.

"Just a minute!" A frantic, nasally male voice called out from inside.

At the same time, another girl walked up behind Catherine. One that was all too excited to solve a mystery of her own. The girl in question was Pia with Milla on her shoulder.

"This should be the address…" Pia mumbled to herself. She looked up from the paper she was holding and noticed the presence in front of her, although not immediately recognizing the girl as Catherine. "Oh hey~ Someone else came here before m-" Pia spoke but as soon as the presence in front of her turned around, her face turned a lot more sour. "...oh. Fuck." She spoke, now recognizing the girl as Catherine… One of the classmates she didn't want to come across.

"I couldn't agree more," Catherine responded, recognising her classmate quickly. "You're welcome to lea-"

Catherine didn't get the chance to finish the sentence, the door to the house very suddenly flew open, revealing a short, skinny man with a messy mop of black hair and enormous round glasses.

"Ah, excellent! Two responders to help me with my situation. Come in, come in!" The man didn't wait for a response, immediately hurrying back into his home.

Catherine considered just turning around and leaving for a moment but reluctantly followed him inside. Pia seemed to share similar thoughts but eventually sighed and followed the black haired girl inside together with the man. How inconvenient. Why Catherine of all people…

The interior of the house wasn't dirty as such, but it was extremely cluttered. Shelves lined every free wall and every available surface was covered with little porcelain trinkets, books and stacks of paper.

The man cleared off a pair of dusty old arm chairs and indicated them to the girls. "Sit! Sit! I'll be right back!"

He then disappeared deeper into the cottage. Presumably the kitchen going by the rattling sounds beyond.

Catherine, with a hint of caution, took the nearest of the offered chairs. Everything about this situation was screaming at her that it was time to leave, but she was committed now.

"I'm going to assume you came here for that mystery as well?" Pia decided to speak up after taking a seat herself. The silence was killing and she wanted to pierce through that. All she knew from Catherine during the gym challenge right now is how she apparently was being mean to Simon. She hadn't seen her anywhere before that. Not that Pia minded… Catherine was probably one of the classmates she liked the least.

"Well, I don't make a habit of showing up at the houses of strange men," Catherine replied, "So yeah."

Pia gritted her teeth at the reaction itself. Of course there wasn't technically any reason for her to be triggered at said reply because there was no way Catherine had figured some things out she preferred to leave unspoken but it still set her off.

"No, you abuse strange boys instead." Pia scoffed and crossed her arms. This girl, seriously. At least she didn't have to worry about her own reputation with this girl because if there was someone with a worse reputation, it was the abomination that was right beside her.

Huh? There were only two things that sentence could mean, and Catherine was pretty sure she wasn't being called a criminal. So clearly Raphael hadn't been the only one that had been fed the story that made her the villain. When the hell did these people start talking to each other?

She refused to let another of her classmates get the better of her over that though, so she forced herself to remain calm. However, calm didn't necessarily mean nice. "Sorry, did I strike a nerve? Maybe you've got some business endeavours going on I didn't know about?"

"Listen here you little bi-" Pia started out but stopped immediately, pretending like nothing had happened as the man that had invited them into their own came back with three cups of tea and handed them out to them without a clue of what had been going on between the two girls who were not at all friends. Not that the guy knew anything about that.

"It's so nice seeing a pair of young friends at my door," the man said, although he didn't exactly seem old. He couldn't be out of his early thirties or so. "I uh… I don't get out much."

"Sounds pleasant," Catherine responded, shooting a glare at Pia, legitimately envious of the man. "About that help request?"

"Oh, yes, right!" he exclaimed, "Have you heard of the new monuments that randomly appeared just out of Turffield? It's very interesting, very exciting! I'd really like to know more about it. People say it could be ghosts or even aliens! If I'm being honest though… as much as I'm fascinated by that sort of thing it also terrifies me a bit and I'd rather have someone else look into it and find out where they came from for me."

Catherine felt her irritation grow again, naturally, he was trying to make other people do the work for him for his own selfish reasons. She couldn't fault him for being afraid, it wasn't like he was a manipulative twit like Ruben… but it still didn't sit right with her. Again, she had to remind herself of what she'd promised. "So you want me - us I guess - to take a look at the rocks?"

"That's right! Of course, you'll be compensated for your time."

"A mystery is a mystery. I guess I'll help out." Pia shrugged. Even if she had to work together with this insufferable person… Milla had been sitting right beside her the entire time, wondering what the hell was going on between her trainer and the other girl. Were they… not friends? Pia noticed Milla staring at her and scratched her head.

"Excellent!" the man chimed, jumping out of his chair and rushing to open the front door. "Do let me know what you find out!"

Catherine stood up, leaving the untouched tea behind and left the strange man's home. "Right."

"Right…" Pia stood up as well and followed the girl. She guessed she had to put up with her for a little longer.

Sonata · Jan 28, 2021

Poké:

5020 ♦ Pokemon: 5

CHAPTER 6.4 - IS IT TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE?

Rosa stared at her knees as she sat on the bed. The room was a bit larger than the one that she'd had in Motostoke, but it was still… empty. She remembered back fondly on the morning of the opening ceremony when she'd gone over to join Jasper for breakfast. Sure, he probably saw it as a bit of a hassle, especially given what had happened the night prior, but… she'd genuinely-

*Knock. Knock.*

Rosa looked up at the sound of the knocking on her door. There weren't too many people that would have known she was here. Ruben to be certain, possibly Pia, and then-

"Rosa?" The voice whispered to her through the crack beneath the door as the knocking hand trailed down to the handle. "You in there?"

The girl quickly got up and walked over, peering through the peephole. "S-Simon?"

Her childhood friend was standing just on the other side with a sad expression on his face. "Yeah, it's me."

Rosa unlatched the several locks that were installed on the door and pulled it open. Given her experiences in Motostoke, she'd been being doubly sure to check and lock each and every entrance around the room. "Simon, but how did you-"

"Well… you disappeared with Ruben freakin' Sancho. There's only so many places you could have realistically have gone." The boy shrugged as he looked around her, "After that, I just checked the front desk and they pointed me here…"

"Oh," she looked the boy up and down, letting her eyes linger on the package he held at his waist. "What is-" she started softly before looking up and locking gazes with the boy.

"You mind if I… if we sit and talk for a minute?" He looked down at the girl and smiled weakly, clearly still hurt at the fact that he'd been abandoned just a couple days prior.

Rosa shook her head immediately. "No, no! Of course not, please come in. Make yourself at home."

The boy nodded and walked through the door, taking off his shoes before stripping off the wet and muddy outer layer of his attire. The boy held the festively wrapped package in his hands and looked around the room before taking a quick few steps towards a table on the other end of the room.

"This is a gift-" he started, turning to face her as she climbed up onto the bed. "It's… mostly from me, but Mom and Dad chipped in as much as they could too."

Rosa shook her head and smiled. "You know you didn't have to do that."

Simon nodded as he grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the side of the bed, turning it around so that he could lean on its back as he sat and talked. "I know, it's just…" he sighed, "It's been hard on everyone, y'know? We knew going into this that we wouldn't always see each other, but I still just get so-"

"Simon," she laughed lightly and held up her hand. "It's okay. I don't blame you for what you did."

The boy swallowed hard as his face contorted between several different expressions. "Yeah… I'm sorry, Rosa."

The girl shook her head. "It's not your fault. I know what it looked like, but… he's not as bad a guy as he seems."

Simon took in a deep breath and then crossed his arms before hiding face behind them. "If you say so. I just wish you'd be more careful about who you hang out with. I know it's an adventure and all but-"

"Simon!" She laughed uncomfortably again, pushing herself further up into the bed. "Why did we both go on this journey in the first place?"

The boy stared at her for a few seconds and then nodded his head. "Do we still have a deal, then?"

The girl bit her lip and looked away from him. "Motostoke, huh?" Everything started in Motostoke… and everything could very well end there as well. "Yeah, we still have a deal."

Simon slowly rose from his seat. "As long as you're aware… here," he said softly, holding out his hand towards her as he rose from his seated position.

Rosa smiled and rose to a standing position on the bed, scooting over towards the edge. "After everything else… I could use that."

Simon took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her, to which the girl returned the act. The two embraced for several seconds until Simon let go, wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "You make me worry so much… and you haven't even called to let Mom or Dad know you're doing alright!" He laughed in between sniffles, wiping his face every few seconds.

The girl smiled as she plopped down onto the bed and inched her way back towards the edge before she slid off the side. "I know… I've just been busy."

"Yeah… I hear you." He whispered, turning his head to follow her as she made her way over to the table.

"So, what's this?" she questioned, lifting the box up off the table before putting it back down. "It feels like… clothes?"

"Hey, look at you." He chuckled, sitting in the chair properly now as he faced her, twiddling his thumbs. "I'd hoped to get you something myself, but I've been running myself ragged just taking on odd jobs and sending money back home as is… so I decided to pitch in a little more to make it closer to what you'd wanted."

"What I wanted?" She furrowed her brow, looking over her shoulder at him as she began to tear into the plastic wrapping. "What do you mean what I-" she stopped as she pulled the lid off of the box, revealing a pink and yellow floral pattern. "Is this… is this what I think it is?"

The boy nodded solemnly. "When they saw what they'd done to your battle outfit on tv, they knew they wanted to at least make this something you truly wanted. You always did look so cute in a kimono back when you were still practicing."

Tears quickly filled the girl's eyes as she lifted the dress out of the box and held it up against her, stepping back slowly to look at herself in the mirror. "It's… it's perfect."

"That's not all, either." The boy smiled and nodded towards the box. "Under the wrappings."

The girl slowly folded the kimono back, wiping the tears from her eyes as she placed the garment on the table and began to check beneath the underwear. "It's… a fan?"

"Exactly. But look at what it has on it-" he said excitedly, taking a few steps forward directly from his seated position. "That Pokemon is-"

"Celebi," she whispered, opening the fan fully to reveal the depiction of a rose garden, covered in a light frost. The Pokemon hovering just above the flowers as it leans in to take in the scent. "It's beautiful."

"They figured the symbolism would be good for you." Simon whispered to her as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Do whatever it takes, Rosa. Even if our deal falls through, just make sure you don't have any regrets."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, closing the fan before placing it back in the box.

"There's no reason to be," the boy started, turning her slowly towards him as he squatted down. "I know you can do it. You're strong enough now - maybe not as strong as me, but you'll get there. After all, what are guardians for if the person they're supposed to be protecting can get the better of them?" He smiled cheesily as he flexed and squeezed the non-existent muscles.

"Yeah, you're right." She sniffed, smiling at him as she pursed her lips. "But I meant… I'm sorry for leaving you there, without any explanation."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're safe." Simon stood slowly and let his eyes linger on the girl for a moment before he turned and headed towards the door. "We'll all be waiting to see what you can do out there in your new outfit." He winked at her and then put on his shoes before letting himself out.

Rosa watched as the door slowly swung shut, following the boy's exit. She turned her head to look once more at the box and then glanced out the window. "What can I do?" She glanced back at the tv - which was muted, but still playing the channel on which they were broadcasting the challenges for that day. She didn't recognize the person stepping into the arena now, but from the look on their face, she could tell they were going to prevail. "I wonder... what will it look like when I step out there?"

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

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

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.

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.

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:

Shak · Jan 30, 2021

Ruben Sancho

18 | Male | Footballer

Chapter 6- 3 | Close to Home

Wedgehurst Stadium

"We're here at Wedgehurst Stadium, home of the bounding Wooloo. We've got a fantastic show for you today. I'm your host Daniel Carrell, this is my ever present co-host Trevor O'Leary and of course I saved the best until last, our very special guest today is eighteen year old Wedgehurt Town Centre Forward, Ruben Sancho." The muted but charismatic show host announced from behind his side of the triangular table, while Ruben and his co-host sat on the opposing side. "Of course if you're watching you're probably aware but tonight's game pits the home side underperforming Galarian league Stalwarts, Wedgehurst town against the irresistible table toppers, Wyndon City." All three men were in shirts, though Ruben's was of course the blood stained one he'd worn to the casino a few nights prior. No doubt anyone who took a proper look at the boy's wrists would've noticed the faint red patches on the otherwise luxurious white shirt with gold linings on the upper back. The host leaned forward excitedly, where his slightly older co-host seemed much more unimpressed by Ruben's presence. " I'm just gonna throw you in the deep end with the questions here Ruben. You've watched a lot of games this season from home, I imagine it must be scary knowing when you come back this is the kind of opposition you're dealing with."

"First of all, thank you for having me, it's a pleasure." Ruben began easing himself into the natural conversation as he found a spot in his seat he was comfortable with. "Of course it's frustrating being injured," he admitted, not even breaking a sweat at the usually daunting topic. "As a player at the top level though, you always want to face the best opposition and I can't think of many teams in history that compete with this current Wyndon team. I've been desperate to come back and be part of what I feel could be a historic win today." Both hosts found the funny side of Ruben's comment, struggling to mask their chuckles as they laughed off the statement. There was an awkward pause as both men let the comment settled before finally, Daniel Carrell the host, finally reigned things in.

"That chant though. Thirty minutes from kick off, the away fans are singing it right now. Is it one you've had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of?" The show host gawked, listening out to the murmuring chants of the sixty-five hundred Wyndon fans whose voices seemed to encompass the entire thirty thousand capacity stadium in that moment.

♪ Naaaa naana,
nanana naaa,
nanana naaa,
POWER!♪

"Never at full force." Ruben replied in a whisper, licking his lips at the thought. He stared out into the stands. The home fans, the Wedgehurst fans, seemed to taking their time to show up. Even with all the empty seats, they still outnumbered the Wyndon fans in the thousands. Yet, with all that said, that fraction of Wyndon fans were cheering their team on a whole half hour before they even arrived. "One hundred thousand people singing his name from the stands…" At the thought alone, Ruben's eyes began to water.

"Of course Ruben, we couldn't have you here without mentioning it…" The host began. He shrugged off the utter disgust of his co-host to continue with his question. "...there's pictures circulating…"

"Noh, yer not doin this," the co-host spat, "we're here to talk football." He grumbled to an accepting nod and smile from Ruben, who gave the co-host his full attention. "Let's be real, Wedgehurst have been embarrassing this season and no one gives them a chance in this game. Let's just get to the break so we can talk about things that matter." The man threw a dismissive arm in the air to accentuate his point. Ruben raised a brow, before sitting back with a smile.

The players stood in formation under the floodlights on a late evening in Wedgehurst while Ruben Sancho sat and watched from the analysts box. The rest of the days games had been played and it was confirmed; if Wedgehurst were to lose this game, they'd be seven points adrift - condemning them to set the record for the longest period the club had ever spent at the foot of the Galarian League Table. Ruben and the two show hosts watched the screen eagerly, waiting to hear an announcement that the action was proceeding.

"...and we're off." The voice of the commentators blared through the screen as the first ball was kicked. "It's played to Johnson, the Wedgehurst players look a bit nervy in opening proceedings. Johnson tries to take on Gatlin…loses it early."

"Oh dear." His partnering commentator groaned as the Wyndon City Right Winger, Justin Gatlin, took the ball from the feet of Curtis Johnson and started sprinting down the wing. "It's really becoming a habit from this young man and you absolutely can't do that against this quality of opposition." Gatlin took the ball past Wedgehurt's Kalosian Left Back, Felix Garde. Once he reached the box, unmarked, he whipped the ball in with a stroke of his right foot.

"Goal. Max Power gets on the end of a low cross from Justin Gatlin. Wedgehurst are down inside the first thirty seconds."

"Routine at this point. Not even a celebration from Max Power. He looks like a man expecting more today, doesn't he?"

♪ Naaaa naana,
nanana naaa,
nanana naaa,
POWER!♪

"Power! In for a second! This time it falls on his weaker left foot but he makes no mistake and it's another tap in for Max Power. Just sixteen minutes played."

♪ Naaaa naana,
nanana naaa,
nanana naaa,
POWER!♪

"Hattrick! Goal number three of the game for Max Power and that's a record for the fastest hattrick scored in Galarian League history, just twenty three minutes gone. A record for the most consecutive hattrick scored with three in three games. The undeniable Max Power makes it look effortless."

A pained Ruben watched as Wyndon hit a fourth, then a fifth before the stroke of half time. Max power alone had four. It was sung by a fraction of those in attendance, but Max Power's song seemed to shake the entire City of Wedgehurst in that moment. A flood of Wedgehurst fans were already leaving with just over a third of the match played. How could Ruben even blame them? He looked down at the bench, where the number seven had been raised in red. Curtis Johnson to be subbed off.

"He's throwing his shirt down Curtis Johnson, the fans that are still here won't like that at all. You can't blame the manager, he's had a torrid game Johnson."

Ruben covered his eyes. It was a horror show. The fearsome figure of Max Power closed in on his Wedgehurst teammates. They just cowered away. Ruben could see not one of them wanted to take the ball. No one was ready to take a risk and make something happen for the team. He looked up at the screen, where the image of him looking down onto the pitch had somehow made its way onto the screen. Ruben shrunk into his seat. Only one chant could even come close to rivalling that of Max Power's on the day.

♪ Get out of our club,
Get out of our cluuuub,
Ruben Sancho,
Get out of club!♪

There was an awkward silence in the studio. The graphic of a cosy little barn was accompanied by the number zero. Opposing it, on the other side of a little dash, a tower piercing the clouds accompanied by the number ten. The host cleared his throat but still took another moment to even find the words.

"Umm...Wedgehurst Town nil, Wyndon City ten. We all thought it would be emphatic...but that's quite the result for Wyndon in staving off Motostoke at the top of the table. If there was any doubt about the 'GOAT' status of Max Power...here's a list of the records broken in this game: Most goals scored by a single player in a Galatian League, Max Power smashing the previous record of four. He got seven." The host gulped before continuing. "Biggest margin of victory. Most shots on target with thirty four. A surprising one here, most distance covered by twenty one year old Benny Smith. Ran his socks off for Wedgehurst today, to no avail. Ruben, I'm going throw the question to you first. What do you think happened here?" The question was posed but earned itself little more than an absent teary eyed stare and stroke of the face from Ruben. The co-host quietly scoffed to himself. In no business to help the despondent teenager out this time around. "Ruben?"

"Ruben?"

"Rosa's great. We got off to a rough start at first. Got a little heated, her boyfriend thought we were...y'know, but once we got to talking, I think we hit it off. Then there's Haleigh. Really nice girl, she likes lemon pie, which is a little strange but I invited her over for next Christmas, so hopefully my Nan can change that. Val...I should've mentioned Val last time actually, she's-

"Ruben…"

"Huh?"

"Your enthusiasm is a huge relief, but the task was to find out personal facts about those you'd met once before."

The words of The Counsellor seemed to bring the world around Ruben back into focus. The 'familiar' sight of books - hardbacks and encyclopaedias - stole his mind away. 'The psychology of accountability' was the first that caught his eye.

"I've got a lot of ammo for that one." He smirked, perking up. "Raph, Simon, Aeliana…basically a full clip."

"Well there's Aeliana. Big Lil Boober fan actually! Who knew?" Again, he found that pep to respond with little hesitation. "I'm trynna get her tickets...Lil Boober's a little hard to reach though." Ruben finished with a smile, waiting for the nod from the Counsellor before he continued.

"Alright, so Raph…" he paused, not really sure what to fill that in with. The Counsellor pencilled in some notes while Ruben collected his thoughts. "He's a tough one to crack really. Doesn't give much away...can I get away with that?"

"Of course."

"Next is Simon then, I guess. Cool kid. I said I'd meet him in Turffield. Actually,I should let him know I'm gonn-"

"Ruben, remember…" The Counsellor began, leaving room for Ruben to finish the sentence with him. "Only rule, no phones." The duo finished together as Ruben slipped the phone away.

"Sorry...ummm, Simon, right. He catches bugs exclusively . No idea why, but he likes it. Learned pretty quickly you don't trample on that. Kid has a line. Gotta respect it."

"Interesting you call Simon a kid. How old is he?"

"I dunno." Ruben responded with a shrug. "You need any more on Simon? That's three, so…"

"I can't help but notice you seem very hesitant to speak on those you seem to feel you're forming a bond with." The Counsellor replied with no emotion attached to his statement whatsoever. He flipped his notebook and, with his eyes alone, challenged Ruben to answer however he saw fit. He got nothing from Ruben. "If you're willing, I'd like to ask you about your relationship with your family. I do no research on my clients beyond things that relate specifically to the situation I've been hired for. In your case, I'm here to ensure the distance from your career isn't negatively affecting your mental state. That of course means I need to know what resources you have for your pokemon journey. I know about your academy, a little about who you graduated with and nothing more. For that reason, I'd like to gain a little bit more insight into your home life. Could we start with your mother?"

"My mum's great yeah. Couldn't ask for a better one. She's a major part of how I became the man I am toda-" The spiel was cut short by the session timer. Ruben looked between the clock and The Counsellor.

"So, was it her? Your girlfriend?"

"Eighty six seconds."

"The ****?"

"That's how long it took you to ask me. I've been counting since I walked in the door." Ruben sighed, staring at the clock on the wall as Stitch examined his ankle. Unlike in Motostoke, Stitch had his full equipment to work with and he was making full use of it. Ruben sat with his back against the wall on a treatment bench, his ankle suspended by a sling for no other reason than Stitch's convenience. "No, 'how's it been being home Ruben'? No, 'are you feeling okay'? Just straight, 'is it her'?" Ruben finished with a grumble, folding his arms and backing even further into the wall.

"You 'aven't been at 'ome." Stitch replied coldly, squeezing some pain into the ankle for good measure. "Your sister is really keen on becomin' a physio and she's makin' good use of the contact. If you went home, she'd have mentioned you." He noticed Ruben wince at that, but topic hardly called for Stitch's playfulness. The fact Ruben hadn't gone home at all was a concern but not one he'd address right now. His interests were elsewhere. "So was it your girlfriend or not?"

"She's not my...don't say that word Stitch."

"She's cute. Can we talk to 'er? I reckon she likes you and if she 'ears about how honourable you've been in protecting her from public address." Stitch scoffed as he finished with a flourish which earned him a spiteful glare from Ruben. It was obvious to Ruben that Stitch knew exactly why he made the decision he did.

"**** off Stitch. My phones on your desk." While Stitch gave him the phone and he typed in the password, Ruben sighed. "If I start using that word...it changes things. You know? Things are perfect right now...she's perfect right now, I don't wanna change that?" Ruben bit his lip, as the phone began to ring. He was taking no risks with this call. "Just, don't say anything alright...and don't say that ****in word to her."
The phone stopped ringing and both men went silent. They stared at it for a few seconds before Pia's voice blared through the loud speaker.

"Ruben?"

"My word. Is that the future Mrs.Sancho I hear right now?" Stitch practically sang in response, earning him the most hateful of glares from Ruben.

"Umm...R-Ruben." Pia stuttered through the phone, clearly not expecting to be ambushed with the energy she was given.

"Don't worry darlin' I'm here with 'im." Stitch grabbed the phone and fought off any resistance from Ruben to continue his trouble making. "He's blushing like you wouldn't believe and it's beautiful. I wish you could be here to see it. Why haven't you taken her with you actually?"

"Because Stitch...I'm just here for boring Physiotherapy stuff and visiting family." Ruben explained, gritting his teeth. The physio seemed to care little for the hostility as he continued to whimsically prattle on to the girl about how excited he was to meet her. Ruben watched, rolling his eyes and finally breaking into a smile.

"Ten nil blud. Ten nil. We conceded ten goals...and couldn't score one. Curtis Johnson, ****! Taiko Watitipiti or whatever the **** his name is, ****! Benny Smith, I like him, but he's **** too!" Scarfman yelled down the camera, wasting no time in making his voice heard. His eyes were filled with uncontrolled fury and every gesture exaggerated to the Nth degree as he counted the '****' players on his fingers.

"Glad you realise you can't keep blaming Ruben Sancho." Scott, the interviewer, chuckled.

"Wah? Who can't? I want that poison out today. **** not playing him. I want him out today!"

"How can you still blame him? He wasn't even on the pitch."

"No, but he's the reason all that **** was. Scott, let me break it down for you. A football club is a business, yeah. Every year, they have to balance the books otherwise it's unsustainable. When the club spends fifty two million a year for what? What's he been doing?"

"Well we've seen the pictures, we know what he's been doing," Scott interjected with a snicker. The whole crowd, of mostly young lads, responded with knowing laughs. Even Scarfman broke a smile.

"I can't even be mad at that one." The scarf moved a little, a big smile pushing it. Quickly, the cheeky grin crept back into a frown and it was back to business as usual. "They're paying him to run around in a field and catch Cutieflys in a net Scott." Scarfman stopped for a moment, watching as Scott shook his head. "My club. Our club Scott. Then he has the nerve to go on TV and shed tears for us? **** off! When's the last time you played you ****ing phony?"

"Come on. He's been injured."

"Eight months Scott. My wife created a person in less time." Scarfman scowled, again to the amusement of the crowd behind him. "It took less time for my wife to develop the most beautiful little girl in the world, than it has for this prick to step on a football pitch. I'm supposed to have sympathy for that? I'm done Scott. **** playing him. Get Ruben ****ing Sancho out of this football club."

Jay · Jan 31, 2021

Vito
> Turffield Hillside
> Mood: Great!
> The Mischief Maker

Vito was very happy.

On the side of a grassy hill, just at the edge of a small pool of water, he relaxed in his newly evolved form. He lay down with his head placed squarely on his beloved trainers lap. Lumi the Litwick was globbed onto Raphael's shoulder. Selene sat a comfortable and respectable distance away, close enough to listen, but Vito had learned she didn't like cuddles the hard way. In the water beside them Carmen swam laps, but occasionally poked her head out of the water to listen. Vito was with his family... and family was good. It was the best, even! Ever since he had defeated that puffy pokémon in the stadium they had been getting a lot of attention! Raph was good at avoiding attention though, so as they slept at the inn last night he snuck them out early in the morning and took the whole gang to this quiet place to relax.

Lots of people thought pokémon weren't very smart in this world, Vito especially, which was rather rude he thought. Raphael wasn't like that, when they were all together like this he'd read everyone stories and tell them things that were important. Vito loved listening to the stories, they made the world seem so big and wide, it made him excited to be Raph's partner. They would go all over the world and see all these things together, Vito was sure of that, with the others too! He smiles widely as his eyes sink closed, relaxing and yawning a little at the thought of it... though only a moment after Raph's hand tapped his blubbery head to get his attention.

"Vito, are you paying attention at all?" It made Vito very happy to hear his name, always, so he smiled wider and nodded. Opening his eyes, the Sealeo turned his attention back to what Raph was showing everyone today. He had a book, one he said he had from when he was just hatched! It was very interesting and talked about some very strong pokémon all over the world. They were so powerful that everyone was interested in hearing more, Vito especially! Even Selene perked up her ears with every new chapter and Carmen would poke her head out to look.

Carmen had told Vito earlier that she really wanted to fight these strong pokémon. Vito didn't understand why Carmen always wanted to fight however, it was fun to battle sure, but wasn't it even more fun to make friends! Vito had made so many pokémon friends along the way, outside of his own party.

Like Spewpa and Caterpie! Or Lesca too! He couldn't forget Prim or Milla either, oh and of course his best friend forever, Wren!

His eyes sparkled a little, they were all so cool...

Wait, focus, right.

"This next one is another mythical pokémon, do you remember what they are?" Raph said and Vito furrowed his brow, before giving a nod. My...thic...al... that meant that these were super strong and super rare pokémon, ones that nobody was even sure were real. Vito wondered what it would be like to not be real, could he still eat poffins? A dreadful thought. The pokémon on the paper was a drawing, with no real pictures like some of the others had. It was large and angry with six muscular arms and a huge tail and scary teeth too! It was pink and grey and had floating golden rings, were they a part of its body?

"They say this pokémon is called Hoopa." Raphael narrated, reading the words on the page, Lumi shivered a little at the name, he was so easy to scare! "In old stories it could use these rings it has to make things disappear and re-appear somewhere else. It's meant to have a secret place where it put things it liked, stealing whatever it wanted. Raph nodded a little as he continued to speak. "They say it was so terrifyingly powerful that it was punished by Arceus himself, bound by its own rings with almost all its power sealed away." Raphael turned the page and Vito's eyes widened, he saw another pokémon that looked sort of the same, but it was drawn way smaller and cuter! It was still the same colour, but it only had two rings and arms, not like, a million like it had before. "This is what they say it looked like after its power was locked away."

Wait, that was still Hoopa?!

Vito furrowed his brow again. If Arceus sealed his power away, would he go back to being a Spheal again? That might be kind of fun sometimes. He liked being big and all the extra blubber made him warmer at night, but it wasn't very easy for Raph to pick him up anymore.

Still... he had gotten a lot stronger too, so Vito couldn't complain. Especially when it had helped Raph so much.

Raph kept talking about the next pokémon in the book as the others listened and Vito rested his head once more and closed his eyes. It was all very interesting but Raph had a comfortable lap, so it was his fault really that Vito was so sleepy. He'd just rest his eyes for a moment as his trainer read, he was safe here, safe and sound. So it was okay to take it easy, just for a little, that's what Vito thought.

Yeah, he'd just rest his eyes... for a little bit.

When Vito finally stirred awake and opened his eyes he was certainly surprised. Everything was dark already! How long had he been napping for it to already be so late in the day? He heard the gentle sounds of multiple snores as he slowly rose his head from Raphael's lap. His trainer had fallen asleep with the book in his hand down by his side, Lumi was sleeping silently upon his shoulder, Selene had moved to rest by his leg as well. Deep below the nearby waters surface a few bubbles occasionally rose and Vito had to assume that Carmen was sleeping down at the bottom.

This was nice, he thought, being able to rest with everyone. It was a bit of a weird place to nap, but Vito could live with that. His only worry is that it would soon get too cold for most of his friends to be sleeping in the open. He should maybe tap his flipper to Raph's cheek, get his attention so that-

KA-THOOOOOM!!!

Vito nearly jumped out of his blubber at the sound of a massive explosion happening by the river at the bottom of the hill. What in the heck was that sound?! With a worried expression he turns his head downwards and for a brief moment he sees a bright, pink tinted light, only for it to fade into the vague shape of two... things. Maybe pokémon?

He frowned gently and turned to his trainer, still sleeping soundly somehow. Honestly, Vito liked sleep, but how the heck had he all managed to nap through THAT? The same could be said about his team mates too, they were all resting, looking so peaceful. They had all been through so much recently, they must have been exhausted. All the travel, all the stress, everything. Vito looked downwards towards the grass and thought hard, Raphael wouldn't be happy with him but, maybe just this once it would be okay... to go it alone?

Vito nodded resolutely to himself. Just this once then, for their sake.

Slowly, Vito quietly edged away from his family... then quickly began to roll down the hill to the site of the commotion.

At the bottom of a small hillside, a heavily damaged Tauros barely managed to stay standing as it valiantly holds the line in front of two young Applin. It has been battered and beaten and hasn't managed to land a single hit against its maddening opponent. The pokémon it faces, Tauros thinks, is not of this world. With every charge, every strike, every attack he made he was caught in a golden ring and sent out another direction. Then he was barraged with psychic energy impacting his body before he could even turn to attack again. Right now it was all he could do to stand in the face of this mysterious and aggressive opponent. He had underestimated the tiny pokémon and that had been his undoing.

Still, he had to stand, Applin would be too slow to get away otherwise... and his foe knew this. It was smiling at him darkly even now, a mischievous look on its face.

This pokémon, unbeknownst to Tauros, was called Hoopa. With golden rings it stole all it desired and the small apple like pokémon before it were interesting and new. Hoopa had never encountered such a thing before, but this stubborn bull decided to intervene. No matter, Hoopa had found the Tauros boring and unable to keep up even slightly. It was a simple matter now to finish the arrogant farmyard bore for good. It had been fun to play with him for now, but Hoopa had other places to go, other things to see and do. He'd take what he wanted and leave... and as he rose his golden ring high, read to unleash a barrage of attacks and snatch what he wanted in a single fell swoop, Hoopa made ready to do exactly tha-

Wait, what was that noise?

As Hoopa turned to look a large, rolling ball of fat collided hard with his face, crashing into him in mid-air. "H-Hoo?!" He tried to mumble underneath the fat and force of the impact but he couldn't even manage the word. With a sound cracking smash Hoopa was sent sprawling across the grass and crashed into a nearby fence with a loud smash. The injured and hunted pokémon looked on in shock as the ball landed and bounced gently on the ground at the site where Hoopa had once stood.

"Seal!" Vito slapped his flippers on the ground in excitement at his solid hit, then turned and gave a firm nod to the Tauros. Barely able to lower its head in respect back, the bull pokémon nudged the Applin's with his nose and began to lead them away.

"H-Hoopa....!" The furstrated and nigh rage-filled growl of Hoopa echoed from the ruins of the fence and Vito turned to face the pokémon he had just attacked once more.

This... was nuts!

That was all the Sealeo could think, like, ho boy! The drawing was a little off but the cries confirmed it, this was a hecking Hoopa, THE actual Hoopa. From the book. The scary strong one... that like, actual God had to seal right? Vito felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of his face as he smiled nervously. Suddenly it was becoming clear to him that he might have bitten off more than he could chew.

Still... as he rolled down the hill and saw the situation unfolding, Vito couldn't exactly NOT do what he had done either right? At this moment, he had to think, what would Raphael do? Thinking that, well, the answer became obvious.

"S-Seal!" Vito cried out in response, defying Hoopa's anger with his own frustration. He didn't know why Hoopa thought he could just take what he wanted, but that wasn't okay. Deciding better than to acknowledge his new opponent, Hoopa quickly turned his gaze to his now fleeing quarry. With a frustrated scowl, he pulled himself up and swiftly began to float after Applin and Tauros.

Oh boy, looks like it wouldn't be that easy.

Surrounding himself in ice, Vito activated Ice Ball and began to charge, rolling across the ground swiftly towards Hoopa. Though this time the dimensional pokémon was prepared. Expanding and lifting one of its rings, Vito rolled right in. For a brief moment, everything went dark... then Vito found himself flying at high speed from the other ring soon after, shooting high into the air as Hoopa had completely repositioned him. He catapulted through the sky and splashed down hard in the river below. If Hoopa was able to predict anything he did, even slightly, Vito would just be tossed aside by those tricky hoops. That wasn't good, that wasn't good at all. All Vito really knew how to do was roll so... how was he supposed to do anything else? What were his other options? Powder Snow? Water Gun? Wouldn't they just be redirected as well?

He had no choice, he had to keep trying!

He burst into a rollout and rapidly entered pursuit of Hoopa, who to Vito's thankful surprise, wasn't that speedy at all.

He rolled to strike, but was redirected. Ice balled back in again, but was shot to the side. Launched water gun after water gun, but each one was tossed in different directions, with some being sent back at him!

Hoopa conversely was getting pretty annoyed at this goofy attacker. He was TRYING to take his little apple for himself, but this damned, fat, roly-poly dumbo kept getting in his way. Seems Hoopa would have to teach him a lesson after all. Repositioning his golden rings, Hoopa darted into one and burst out of the other, a devilish grin spread across his face as he landed beside and struck Vito hard with a burst of psychic energy, his Hyperspace Hole attack hit home!

Vito was sent sprawling across the wet and mucky grass, rolling sideways and landing harshly on his back with a squeal. That had... really really hurt. This was the power of a mythical pokémon, after one little tap, Vito could barely even stay conscious. With some considerable effort he rights himself and meekly cries out again, his voice echoing across the empty fields and catching the attention of Hoopa, who incredulously turns to look at Vito once more. The shock on the mythical pokémons face was evident, it was inconceivable that such a lowly thing as Vito would survive, let alone remain conscious after one of its attacks even WITH his power sealed away. This was annoying, but interesting, maybe he could play with this pokémon for just a moment longer.

Hoopa wondered after all, if he would survive too.

Vito saw that look in Hoopa's eyes as the rings began to move and the aura of psychic power in the air began to grow exponentially. He was going to attack again... Vito had really done it now. One more of those would mean more than just a KO. He closed his eyes and winced, thinking of Raphael still on the hill... thinking of how much everyone would worry about him.

No! He couldn't lose, not like this, not for nothing! He had to think, what would Raphael do if he was here? What order would he give? Vito's eyes scanned the ground around him, the floor was slick and wet with muck, very slippy and slidey, not good for rolling at all. He wouldn't be able to use Rollout or Ice Ball effectively to dodge without build up, if he tried he's just slide all over the place.

Wait... he'd slide all over the place! With his new form and larger, flatter belly, his bigger and stronger flippers too, then maybe he could...

Hoopa dashed quickly into one ring and popped out of the other his mind was ready to deliver a powerful psychic barrage to the space in front of him, demolishing the weaker pokémon before him.

Vito quickly shifted himself sideways, rolling over swiftly as if to begin a rollout, but rather than start to move he let his body right itself, landing on his belly and sliding across the mud, drifting into a small turn across the ground and harnessing his momentum to loop back in front of Hoopa. The psychic barrage the mythical pokémon had planned impacted the mud and caused a plash of the murky substance to bounce up into its face. With a growl of irritation it wiped it away only to find Vito waiting a few paces ahead, as he slid in front of Hoopa he released a charged water gun which burst forward and struck the tiny legend in the jaw, sending him sprawling into the dirt again. The impact from the water gun had pushed Vito backwards at the same time, sending him slipping from the force of the attack and adding another trick to his newfound arsenal.

Using the starting momentum of Rollout and the backwards force of water gun, a pokémon like Vito went from being stationary to incredibly nimble on slippery surfaces like this one.

Hoopa darted upwards in rage, unused to being challenged like this by someone so small and dashed into his golden rings again and again. Vito glided and darted, drifted and slid across the mud in all sorts of directions as Hoopa furiously followed, tearing up the hillside with his psychic type strikes, his Hyperspace Hoops allowed teleportation, but only so much as Hoopa was fast enough to dart through them and in a way where Vito could predict where he was going to land each time with ease.

In fact, with how these loops worked...!

As Vito poised himself higher on the hill, Hoopa darted into one of its golden rings, but as he did so, Vito quickly began to rollout... and rushed into the other at full speed! Flying through the interdimensional space, the Sealeo collided hard with Hoopa mid transition and both pokémon went flying out of the ring that Hoopa had entered through! With a skidding halt, Vito sprawled out and skated across the slippery ground, while Hoopa was sent catapulting through the air from the immense impact, bouncing across the dirt with whines and whimpers until it too skidded to a halt.

With an irritated grumble it lifted its now heavy head to look at the triumphant Vito, raising a hand, it tried to muster more psychic energy, but couldn't quite manage it, despite all his best efforts Hoopa couldn't muster the strength he had exhibited just a few moments prior.

That move is out of PP!

Hoopa cursed itself and Vito quietly with its last conscious thought. In the end, it was just a pokémon too. With a quiet splat, Hoopa's head fell down into the mud... unconscious.

Vito's eyes brightened and he clapped his flippers together excitedly! He had won, holy heckin' gosh he had done it! He beat the mythical pokémon Hoopa and saved the day! He was so full of glee and excitement. He couldn't wait to show Raph and all the rest of the gang! They'd be so proud of him! They'd think he was the coolest pokémon in the world! They'd-

"Vito?" Raphael's voice cut across his glee and Vito turned quickly to look in the direction of the voice, yet he couldn't see his trainer anywhere, that was odd, the voice seemed to echo from everywhere at once. So why couldn't Vito see him? A perplexing problem indeed.

"Vito...? Hey buddy, you're drooling on me."

Drooling... on him?

"Vito, c'mon, wake up we gotta eat!"

On a lazy afternoon on a late Winter's day, Vito the Sealeo opened his eyes slowly and yawned a little. He had fallen asleep on Raphael's lap... and rather disappointingly it seemed he had been dreaming. What a shame! If only that had all been real, everyone would have been so impressed that he'd managed to defeat the mythical Hoopa, especially after only hearing about him the day before.

"You look displeased, sorry, did I interrupt something good?" Raphael smiled down at his partner and Vito's frustration quickly melted away. With a big and goofy grin, the Sealeo smiled back and barked out a cry of affirmation, as if to say that everything was all good. From the water, Carmen shook her head dismissively and by his side now, Selene rolled her eyes to the heavens, Lumi gave a small sympathetic smile and Raphael gladly pat the blubbery pokémon's head.

"Let's go, Vito. I'm thinking curry would be good today, how about you?"

That did indeed, sound good to Vito. The Sealeo quickly pulled himself from his trainers lap and began to flop towards the hills descent. With that signature smile he claps his flippers together to hurry his family up, the memories of the dream put aside for now, as the thoughts of a good meal filled his head. It didn't matter if he hadn't done something as impressive as beat a pokémon like Hoopa, he was plenty content with beating Milo for now! As the day was still young and dinner awaited, Vito was content to keep going like this for now, after all...

Vito was very happy.

As the group left their hillside retreat, floating high above them another pokémon watched and let out a small snicker. With a mischievous grin and a glint in its eye it disappeared into a floating, golden ring, which quickly vanished to follow.

Evily · Jan 31, 2021

Sachiko 'Sachi' Akabane

Epoch 6.1: Turffield

Welcome to Turffield! Reunions and Reveals!

"Turffield at last!" Seto cried as he fell to his hands and knees, weeping slightly. Behind him was Sachi with an awkward smile, a drop of sweat on her cheek, who chuckled nervously. Around her neck was Pua, on her left shoulder was Aria perched, Shippo was in her arms, Gex was hunched over her right shoulder, and Tora was standing beside her.

She was hoping to get through the Galar Mine quickly, but when Seto appeared after having sent Emilia to Sachi's grandmother, she had a feeling it would take awhile. And indeed it did… the trouble Seto brought delayed them a bit...

- - - - - -**Flashbacks** - - - - - -

"Sachi! I can't see!" Seto cried as he waved his hands around, darkness covering his whole vision. He felt something on his head move, and then his surroundings were visible. Blinking, he looked down at the vermillion-haired girl, who had one hand lifted up.

"Your hat was over your eyes, Seto."

"Thanks for the save!"

- - - - - -

"Shit! A zubat! Get back Sa-" Seto was cut off when Aria opened her mouth and used Disarming Voice, knocking Zubat away. Then Tora jumped up and used Bite on the Bat pokemon, pulling him down to ground level, earning a squeak. "-chi… Oh."

"What was that Seto?" Sachi turned to her pseudo-brother, hearing the last bit he uttered out.

"N-Nothing! J-Just shocked at how quick your pokemon came to action." Seto stuttered, giving the girl a nervous smile. 'I forgot about Tora's protectiveness towards Sachi, and from what I heard about Aria… she's motherly and no doubt gained a protective streak… At least she isn't as violent as Tora.'

"Tora's normal like that, although Aria's was a surprise. She's never done this before, must have been influenced by Tora…"

Scree! Slowly looking behind, the male's eye widened as he paled when he saw a group of Zubat heading his way. "NOOO!"

- - - - - -

"A sandshrew?" Sachi mumbled as she watched Seto hold a small sandshrew in his arms, giving the girl a smile. The Sanshrew looked to be around a foot tall when the species are usually two feet tall, so it's either born small or...

"I found him!" Seto beamed, unaware of the danger he put himself in.

"Seto… why did you kidnap a baby Sanshrew?"

"A baby…?"

"Look behind you."

Seto did and paled, seeing an angry-looking Sandslash with their claws ready to strike. "SHIT!"

Sachi sighed as Seto sent out Yen to fight the angry mother while the baby escaped his grasp, waddling over to Sachi. The girl gently picked up the baby before walking over once the battle ended with Yen as the winner. The mother hissed at Yen, laying down on the ground, injured and refusing to give up. "I'm sorry for what Seto did, miss." Hearing Sachi's voice, the Sandslash took a glance, shooting up with a grimace when they noticed the baby Sanshrew in her grasp. Kneeling down, Sacho gently placed the baby pokemon on the ground, allowing the two to reunite.

"Aww!" Lifting a hand, Sachi grabbed Seto's ear and pulled hard, earring a cry.

"Again, sorry for the trouble he caused. We'll be leaving now." Sachi bowed before walking away from the parent-child duo, dragging along Seto by the ear.

Sandslash stared at the humans retreating figures for a few seconds before their nose sniffed up a familiar smell. Looking down, the mouse pokemon saw a vulpix placing down a folded handkerchief. She let out a small howl before turning around, running towards the human. Sandslash slowly lifted a finger and unfolded the handkerchief, revealing two oran berries and two poffins.

- - - - - -

It was morning when they got out of Galar Mine and stepped into Route Four, Sachi looking around with a smile as Seto grumbled, sporting a few bandages for the small cuts he gained from his troubles. Every time trouble came, Sachi and her pokemon were there to help along with Sachi's medical expertise in patching up his wounds. It was a good thing her grandmother taught her first aid, she was going to need it with Seto around.

"I'm tired and hungry Sachi…" Seto whined as they walked down the hill, passing along brown fences.

"Almost there…" mumbled Sachi as she looked over the scenery, looking out for anything before they began their trek down the hill towards Turffield. "Turffield is just ahead." She lifted a finger to point towards the town a couple meters ahead, gaining Seto's attention.

"Turffield's in sight!" Seto exclaimed, pointing at the town nearby once he took notice. "Let's go before it gets late!" Without waiting for a response, Seto ran down the hill, desperate to get to the town before any more accidents occured.

"S-Seto! Wait!" Sachi called out, jogging after the male with her pokemon alongside her. She sighed when she heard the male's cry alongside an unfamiliar pokemon's. "Another accident… when did Seto become accident prone…" In a few minutes, she reached the male, where he was sprawled on his back on the ground, a few inches away was a Galarian Meowth, hissing at the male with tears in their eyes.

Stopping in between the two, Sachi kneeled down to help the male when she noticed Galarian Meowth's tail was twitching, and a bit of the middle was disproportionate from the rest with the fur in that area a bit dirty. Did Seto…? "Seto… did you step on Galarain Meowth's tail?"

"I don't know… I just know that my back hurts…" Sachi stood up, facing the scratch cat pokemon, who hissed back, revealing his claws.

"Shippo." The fox pokemon gekkered a bit before jumping from the teens arms, landing across from the Galarian Meowth.

Tora hissed at the other feline before sitting beside Sachi as Aria cooed from her perch. Pua gave a small cry as she snuggled closer to Sachi from her spot, watching the stare off between Shippo and the Galarian Meowth with curiosity. Gex chirped from laying down on her head, his tail swishing from side to side.

"Quick Attack." Shippo rushed towards the Galarian Meowth with a streak of white flowing behind, tackling the scratch cat pokemon. The cat was thrown back a few inches, hissing from the impact and pain, but slowly stood back up, glaring at Shippo.

- - - - - - **Flashback Ends** - - - - - -

"Alrighty! Now let's-" Seto's interrupted by a ring, then another ring comes in. Confused, Seto looked around for the sound, only to hear Sachi's voice after the ringing stopped. He turns to see the teen glancing around with the phone open and next to her ear. "Sachi?"

The teen looked over at Seto, giving him a nod, before looking away, putting her concentration back into the phone. After a few minutes, the teen closed the phone, ending the call.

"Who was it?" Seto questioned, placing a hand on her shoulder. It might have been her grandmother or Tori, but with how quiet Sachi got, he threw his guesses away and decided to ask instead.

"I… I don't know who they are, but the voice was familiar. They want to meet me at the spot where you can see a portrait of a giant pokemon, saying that they had something for me." Sachi explained, blinking down at her phone.

"That sounds too sketchy! Skip!"

"But it sounded like the same person from the Wild Area… I still have to thank them, they didn't seem like a bad person."

"Sachi! Stranger Danger! You don't know him- Sachi!" Seto called out as Sachi began walking into the town, letting out a huff before jogging over. "I'm coming to make sure this person doesn't do anything weird, okay?"

"Don't be rude to them." Sachi complied, wanting to know why the person wanted to meet and also to thank them and ask if there was a way to repay the person.

- - - - - -

"We meet again." a familiar voice spoke, causing Sachi to flinch while Seto stiffened. The two turned around, only to see a cloaked figure in between the two rocks. "It's been awhile, Sachiko."

"How did you know her name?" Before Sachi could open her mouth, Seto cut in, moving his arm in front of Sachi to prevent her from moving forward. "She never gave you her name and doesn't know you."

"Seto!" Sachi cried, shocked at her pseudo-brother's intervention. "It's okay!" She moved under Seto's arm and walked over, stopping in front of the cloaked figure. "I'm sorry about him. What was it you needed to give me?"

"Before I give you, how is the Treecko I passed along?" the cloaked figure asked, causing Sachi to blink before she called out Gex. Said pokemon let out a small cry as he appeared at her feet, but when he noticed the cloaked figure he jumped and hugged them around the neck, clicking happily. "Passed along? Gex?"

"Gex, huh? What a fitting name…" The cloaked figure lifted an arm from inside the cloak, petting the gecko before looking over at Sachi. "Remember when I said I wanted you to watch over Gex? I never did specify for how long… Sorry for pushing you into it, but I had an emergency and couldn't bring this little guy with me, so I needed someone to watch him for awhile."

Sachi stared at the figure, the cogs in her mind slowly turning as she processed the words. "So… you mean…" She didn't want to say the words, she couldn't.

"Yes, I have called to pick up Gex."

"Oh…" She didn't know what to say, Gex became a close friend and having just heard that it was time to part? She didn't want him to go, but the man did make sense. He never specified how long and did tell her to watch over him, not that he was giving Gex to her permanently. Just the thought of separating from the gecko forever pained her, but she had to respect the figure's wishes. "I… I see… Very well…" Grabbing Gex's pokeball, she hesitantly handed it over, forcing herself to not show her sadness.

"Thank you Sachiko, for watching over him. He was right, you were perfect for the job." The figure gave the girl a comforting smile before lifting his other arm out, revealing a brown and cream colored egg inside an egg case. "For helping me and watching over Gex, this I give you."

"W-Wha…" Sachi stared at the figure, thinking of many responses, but she couldn't get them past her mouth. "A-An e-egg? A-Are you sure?" An egg! That requires more responsibility than watching over a baby pokemon! Did they really think she was ready for that? She didn't know herself, but they must have the wrong person for this job! "I-I can't watch-"

"I'm not asking you to another job, I'm giving this egg to you. It does require you to watch and care for it, but the pokemon that is revealed will be your and yours alone. Consider it a reward from me and him."

"I-I…" Stuttering, Sachi reluctantly held out her arms as the figure placed the case, and the moment it touched her skin, she got goosebumps. To handle such a fragile life… And giving her the responsibility… But she couldn't refuse, it would be rude and inconsiderate, so she hesitantly nodded. She couldn't recall if the figure was a female or a male, her mind too panicked to think straight, so she let out the first thing in mind. "I-I'll take c-care of the e-egg, sir!"

The cloaked figure nodded, giving the teen a warm smile before placing a hand on her head. At the warm touch, Sachi's tense figure slowly relaxed. She took a deep breath before looking up at where the figure's eyes would be, "Are you sure?"

"I am sure." The figure assured before removing his hand, causing Sachi to frown. "I must go. I will be watching from afar, Sachiko. Take care, you will see me and Gex again in the future." The figure turned as Gex perched on their shoulder. The gecko turned around and waved at Sachi, causing the girl to smile and wave in return, her eyes watering a bit. At the figure's words, she closed her eyes and shook her head, pushing away the sad thoughts. The figure assured that they will meet again, she was going to see Gex again, she couldn't cry!

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

After the small meeting, the two went over to the Pokemon Center to heal their pokemon then signed in to the closest inn, managing to get a free room due to being a gym challenger, whereas Seto had to pay for his own. It was nighttime and they were getting ready for bed.

"Sachi?" Seto knocked on the bathroom door, earning a response. "Are you okay?"

"..."

Seto sighed, walking over to the single bed, where the egg case was placed in the middle. He looked at the egg for a few seconds before glancing at the door. Sitting down on the bed, gently as to not rouse the egg or cause it harm, he brought out Sachi's flip phone along with some tools he kept in his bag. As he began tinkering with the device, his thoughts drifted.

For as long as he's known, Sachi loved to help people, no matter what price came with it. However, when it came to rewards or compensation, she would refuse, believing that she didn't deserve any. He understood why she wouldn't accept since she wasn't used to it, but he could also tell that she had self-doubts about herself. She told him once a quote her mother told her, "The most truly generous persons are those who give silently without hope of praise or reward." From what he saw, she took the quote literally, willing to help and not asking for anything in return. The only thing she wanted, from what he and Tori observed and theorized, was to see her mother once again, to have her family complete.

As he added and took our parts to change how the phone flips, he took a glance at the egg case. Being handed over an egg and told that you're the owner, a responsibility that big isn't found often, and it also means that she's being given the chance to raise her very own pokemon from scratch. But… was Sachi ready for such a thing? With how shy she is, her self-doubt, how protective she might become… he feared that she might even throw her life away just to keep the egg safe.

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

At Home:

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

Inventory:

Spoiler:

gimmepie · Jan 31, 2021

Catherine Carlisle and Pia McGuire

It Gets Worse

It wasn't long, only a relatively short and icily silent walk later, that Pia and Catherine found themselves on the outskirts of Turffield. The real Turffield Monument could be seen in the distance, but their focus fell on to the smaller, newer appearance.

The stone structure they had been sent to investigate was an imperfect circle of jagged stone pylons with another, smaller, one at its centre. Each stone had been carved into in places, their surfaces marked with some sort of strange symbols or runes.

To Catherine, it looked eerily similar to something she'd read in a manga - a few different ones actually. Between that and the severely imperfect and ramshackle appearance of the pillars, any faint willingness to consider this wasn't some sort of bad con job were quickly dismissed.

"Aliens. Right." Catherine rolled her eyes and sighed. She'd gotten herself involved in something painfully dumb.

"Oh!" Pia clasped her hands together upon the sight. "This looks like that chapter in Cardcaptor Buneary where Buneary goes out in the middle of the night because of random monolith's appearing! They thought it was aliens but Buneary knew it had to be another card!" Pia excitedly claimed, glancing back and forth at Milla and the scene, completely forgetting Catherine was there too. "That was such a good chapter. They really captured the personality of the card so well." the girl nodded in approval while Milla pretended she knew what her trainer was talking about. Of course she had seen her trainer read books but… yeah it was cute seeing her excited. It was a new side of Pia.

Catherine did a double take, her eyes narrowing into a suspicious squint. "Y-yeah. They did and that is exactly what it looks like."

Pia flinched. Ah yeah, Catherine was still there…

There was something supremely awkward about finding yourself in complete agreement with a person who you shared a strong mutual dislike. It took a few moments before Catherine could gather herself enough to continue the job at hand. "I'm betting it's the same deal here too. Some idiot was inspired by the show or something and set this up as a tourist trap."

"... You reckon we could follow the footsteps of that chapter?" Pia thought out loudly. She had read the chapter too? She knew Catherine was somewhat of a nerd but Cardcaptor Buneary…? "Actually, that would just be stupid…" She sighed. Or… someone really wasn't that stupid, were they? Milla once again looked up in confusion. Were they having an actual normal conversation? This is the longest they have probably held out without being at each other's throats…

"Like we even need to," Catherine replied, "Anybody with even so much as half a brain cell could tell that this is a hoax. I'd put money on someone with a Rock type setting it up with Stone Edge or something and then carving gibberish into it at night. I'm going to just sit right here until a tour guide with a Geodude or something shows up."

Catherine walked over to the side of the fake monument Pia wasn't observing and sat on the grass, leaning against one of the rocks. She pulled out her phone and started browsing for updates to series she was watching, hoping Pia would stay on the other end.

Pia raised an eyebrow at the passive reaction from Catherine. Was she going to wait here for hours for the tour guide to come by? It annoyed Pia. She had to do more today than hang out with someone she absolutely despised. She sighed and grumbled, exchanging glances with Milla who only shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not going to sit around and do nothing for hours. I'll go find him instead." Pia took one of her Pokéballs from her bag and threw it up in the air. "Prim, can you go search for someone that's guiding a big group?" Pia asked Prim, her Swablu, emerging from the Pokéball.

"Buuuuu!" The blue bird saluted her and flew off.

"You shouldn't waste your Swablu's time," Catherine remarked, barely looking up. "Your impatience is making work for it that you don't need to. Besides, you can't narrow it down until they get here anyway. There's other reasons to guide a tour group here. Stop being selfish and use your head."

Pia sighed again. This girl.

"At least I'm trying something else than just sit and wait. I'm going to assume you'd also like to do other things today too." Pia shrugged. It was hard to deal with people like Catherine. "We still need more practice for the contest routine too…" The girl grumbled. She was way too impatient to just let this slide and wait it out.

"Sitting and waiting makes sense. Sending your team members out on a fool's errand doesn't," Catherine countered. "Besides, if you still haven't practiced enough, that's on you. You could always use your time now while you're waiting to practice… or you could have if you hadn't just sent one of your Pokemon off to do something stupid."

"No wonder no one likes you with that high and mighty attitude." Pia mumbled just loud enough for Catherine to hear.

Pia was about to get angry again when she realised a very critical point to their interactions up until now, and the interactions Catherine had with others in class. It was always Catherine and someone else fighting and bickering over what Catherine said, it was always them trying to defend themselves of anything Catherine accused them of. She knew better than taking anything Catherine said seriously. She'll just stop denying anything Catherine said, see how she likes that.

"You know what? Yes. I am a fool and very impatient and I'll just wait here for Prim to return." Pia sat down right next to Catherine, which she knew would annoy the girl to bits and that's exactly why she did it. She hated the fact that Catherine was right and thus resolved to annoy the girl as much as possible out of pure pettiness.

"That's the first step, now if only you could manage to actually do something with that information." Catherine moved slightly to the side, Pia was uncomfortably close… probably on purpose. Pia only chuckled at the development. Should she move closer again? Or was that too mean?

The moment Pia wanted to move in closer again, Prim came flying back and landed upon her head, acting like a hat like she would sometimes do. Being content to have to be able to fly around again, she notified Pia of her developments.

"Bluuu! Swabluuu!" Prim screeched happily. It was both a thank you and sign.

"I knew you'd like to be out and about. So... they are coming?" Pia scratched the chin of the blue who only spread her wings again, enough for Pia to understand.

"It seems they are heading this way." Pia sighed, hating the fact Catherine was right but at least Prim had the chance to spread her wings.

"What a shock." Catherine rolled her eyes and stood up, putting her phone away. She watched as a few moments later, a large group came into view, led by a young man with a Boldore at his side.

As the group came closer, Catherine walked towards them. "Hey!"

The tour guide stopped in place, looking at her confused. "Uh, me?"

"Yeah. Does your Boldore know Stone Edge?" Catherine replied, coming to a stop at the head of the group.

"Y-yeah. Why?" The guide stammered out, apparently discomforted by the intense interrogation.

"Interesting. Pia got up as well and walked over towards the man, standing right next to Catherine with her hands placed on her hips. "Do you also happen to know this chapter in Cardcaptor Buneary where Buneary gets the card of the rock after solving the mystery about the monoliths?" She jumped straight to the point, similarly to what Catherine had done. They had wasted enough time.

"U-Uhhh…" At this point, the tour guide looked very uncomfortable. Who were those two girls suddenly questioning him? And… was that a Swablu on top of that girl's head?
"I'm going to assume that's another yes going by the idiotic look on your face," Catherine said, "Awful coincidence that you have a Boldore with Stone Edge, that you're leading a tour group to a monument made with Stone Edge and that you're familiar with a series that had a fake monument that looks a lot like this."

The tour guide made several stammering noises that sounded vaguely like attempts at speech, but words seemed to be failing him as his face got redder and his expression more flustered-looking.

"I think we know enough here. Do you have anything to say for yourself? Misleading people like that, tsk…" Pia just continued on with no mercy. It was a dick move and both girls were here to make sure he knew that.

"I just wanted to make a little extra cash! I wasn't hurting anyone!" The guide blurted out suddenly, looking at the girl's desperately as the group behind him started muttering among themselves.

"No?" Catherine said, scowling. "You wasted the time of every group you brought here. You wasted our time because we got sent out here over nothing. You wasted the time of the guy that employed us. Worst of all, you created a situation where I had to deal with her in the first place."

Catherine punctuated that sentence with a glance sidewards at Pia who seemed only content that Catherine was so annoyed by her presence as if the resolve she had made earlier. "So yes, you have hurt people. Your selfishness and greed has made problems for tens of people at the minimum. You just choose not to think about that because the only person that matters to you is you."

"I'm so-"

"I don't care," Catherine cut him off, "You're not going to get any sympathy for your guilt out of me. I'm not interested in giving you any more attention than necessary. We're going to record your confession for the guy that sent us here, then we're going to leave. Whatever happens with you and the angry people behind you after that is a problem you brought on yourself by acting like an asshole."

Catherine pulled out her phone and pointed it at the teary-eyed tour guide.Pia just stood there, feeling a little bad for the guy to be made so mouth-dead by the other girl.

Not long after, Catherine and Pia found themselve's back in the dusty armchairs in the cluttered cottage. The man with the messy hair and massive glasses was across from them, having just handed back Catherine's phone after watching the video confession.

"So, that's all it was?" he said with a strange sigh, "I'm both relieved and disappointed. It is what it is though."

"He seemed to be mournful about it so I don't think he'll do it again." Pia shrugged. He was literally tearing up back there and watching him having to explain it to the group he was guiding seemed like it had been punishment enough. He had gotten angry demands for money and all so…

There was something else though. Ever since she had decided to not take Catherine seriously anymore in any way possible she had found herself being less frustrated with the things she said. It was fun in an odd way to annoy her a little.

"Well, that's good, I suppose." The man seemed deflated and lost in thought, his emotions conflicting. The three soon found themselves sitting in an awkward silence. Pia took that moment to look around the room. He mentioned they'd get a reward earlier and seeing his room filled with so many different knick-knacks made her curious to what it was supposed to be.

"You mentioned a reward earlier." Pia brought up, breaking the silence in the room. No doubt Catherine had also waited for it seeing as she hadn't stormed off yet.

That remark elicited a sigh from Catherine. Of course, she had known from the beginning that Pia was just in it for the reward and didn't particular care about this man. Seeing the greed so unabashedly displayed though, it made her blood boil. It was just another example of everything wrong in the world, another example of something she had to aspire to be better than.

The man, however, didn't seem nearly as perturbed. In fact, he jumped up with suddenly renewed energy. "Right! One moment!"

He hurried out the room and, after a minute of loud clattering from elsewhere in his small home, bustled back into the room holding a wooden box. He opened it to reveal a stack of glittering stones, each a different colour from the last.

"Evolution stones!" he exclaimed proudly, "I'm not a trainer so I don't have much use for them. Besides, I have plenty more of them. Feel free to take one!"

"Wow… that's a lot. How did you get those?" Pia asked out of pure curiosity. She looked inside the box and saw a stone resembling a sun. It was the only thing that really struck her attention at that moment. She also saw a bunch of Water, fire and thunderstones but getting one of them felt like she forced either Cintra into an evolution she might not want or force Milla into another evolution… Or she could just keep the stones away from them until they had decided for themselves…

As Pia kept thinking she ultimately sighed as her own thoughts were exhausting her. It was as easy as that, to keep the stones away from her Pokémon. She closed her eyes and picked one stone. Opening her eyes she found the sun-like stone inside her hand. Not knowing which Pokémon evolved from that she felt relieved. She didn't want to be that kind of trainer.

"Oh, it depends," the man said, "I collect them so sometimes people give them to me as gifts or exchange them for the papers I write. I publish a lot of research documents."

He watched Pia examining the Sunstone, proud to show off his collection; he didn't notice Catherine hadn't taken one even until she abruptly stood up to leave. "Uh, aren't you taking one?"

The temptation was very much there, but seeing Pia had solidified in Catherine's mind that if she was going to be a better person that the ones she hated so much, she couldn't let herself share their motivation and she couldn't taint the good she did by claiming rewards for personal gain. "I'm fine. I don't want a reward. Just let Pia have mine if you're that determined to give stuff away, she looks like a hungry Yamper."

With that, she turned and walked out of the cottage without looking back, proud of the decision she'd made.

Pia raised an eyebrow at the girl. A hungry Yamper, huh?

"Sorry about her, She's often very cranky." Pia apologized to the man. He looked super confused at the reaction but settled down with Pia's explanation.

"Well, care for another one? I really don't have any need for them." He held out the box towards Pia once more. Pia hesitated for a second but since the guy was offering anyway…

"I'll take this one then." She said, taking the thunderstone along the bunch after all now that she had settled on keeping the stones away from the Pokémon after all. "I'll go after her, thank you for the stones. If you need any help solving mysteries again, you can count on me." Pia said with a thumb facing towards herself and a wink, specifically not mentioning Catherine because no way in hell she was going to solve another mystery with Catherine again.

The man nodded at Pia, making the girl smile. She turned around and left the cottage as well, watching Catherine from a distance who had no care in stopping for the girl at all.

"What the hell was that about?"

She just had to follow her. Catherine had been hoping for a quick escape but it seemed like she would have to suffer Pia's presence a bit longer. "What was what?

"You made the guy nearly cry with how you stormed off." Pia scoffed.

"I don't want to hear that from the self-centred bitch who was using the poor guy for the possibility of a reward. You didn't even do anything remotely helpful, but you looked like a ravenous beast when those stones came out. Don't pretend you give a shit about him. We both know you're more interested in getting under my skin than in his emotional wellbeing. You're probably not even telling the truth. Now, unless you have something worth my time to say, leave me alone."

Pia was a bit surprised with the amount of shit that came out of Catherine's mouth out of nowhere. She wasn't wrong, Pia was a bad person, she knew she was. It being blatantly said out loud like that made the girl realise she haven't been acting to it enough lately… What was she doing helping people out of kindness? If anything, it made her shallow and two-faced. Exactly the kind of villainess she was supposed to be but still… her actions lately hadn't been leading up to that. Pia took a deep breath. Time to put her acting lessons into practice again.

"You got it right on the nose. I'm just doing it to get under your skin and I don't care at all about that guy's wellbeing." Pia said with a bright smile, almost finding it amusing but deep down she felt like she was somehow… lying? The guilty overthrew her but she knew she had to throw that away. Not that Catherine had to know anything about that. It was indeed funny getting under high and mighty Catherine's skin like that. She didn't have to prove to Catherine what kind of person she was. If anything, she was right and having Catherine know about that would help her more into the role she should be playing.

"But don't be worried. I'm not the villainess of your story. It seems you're your own already."

"And what that's supposed to mean?" Catherine retorted, "Your head is so far up your ass you're half the size you should be. You're not important enough to my story to be the villainess, get over yourself."

Pia chuckled. Sure, the words stung. They proved something she already knew and it confirmed them. She wasn't important, not to anyone. Not even Ruben or Arrietty. She was just there, ruining more lives than just her own. Being that dark spot to make the light in their lives more illuminating. Time would show them and she'd be alone yet again. As was fitting for someone like Pia.

"Go figure that out yourself. I'm not "important" enough to tell you." Pia scoffed and walked off, waving her hand around to wave goodbye.

gimmepie · Jan 31, 2021

Catherine Carlisle
18 | Female | From Wyndon

Indra (Male, Swift Swim) - Rain Dance, Hypnosis, Bubblebeam, Double Slap, Mud Shot, Refresh

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

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

Vessel (Female, Dry Skin) - Fury Cutter, Scratch, Absorb, Poison Powder, Spore

Watch and Learn

Catherine toyed with the zipper on her challenger uniform. She was now standing just beyond the exit into the first chamber of the gym, Vessel sitting on her shoulder and Holo running laps at her heels.

She had spent the last several hours watching the other various challengers making their way out onto the pitch and attempting to wrangle the ten Wooloo and battling Milo. A lot of them failed, but plenty made it beyond to Milo. She had seen several of her old classmates among them.

All of them had served as test subjects for Catherine as she sat in front of a screen watching them. She supposed that it wasn't the most sportsmanlike way to achieve victory, but that wasn't a concern for Catherine.

Unlike the likes of Simon and Raph, she didn't want to be there. She wasn't out for the championship, or for the glory of being a challenger. She was doing the gyms because she didn't have a choice. If she wanted to go back to her old life of being left alone, it was necessary.

She didn't need to win the league or whatever, she just had to win eight battles. So she would, even if that meant sitting in the gym lobby for a few hours watching the official stream and plotting around it. That was how she had settled on Holo and Vessel for the gym mission.

"Begin!"

The distorted voice rang out over the speaker after Catherine nodded her readiness to the official. Before her, the infamous ten Wooloo were spread out grazing. If she didn't know better, she'd have said they had spread out this much to spite her. Most of the challengers had dealt with two sizable clumps of Wooloo, for her they had spread out as far from each other as they could it seemed. It was not typical Wooloo behaviour as far as Catherine had learned, but it was fine. It wasn't going to matter anyway.

"Okay Holo, you know what to do. There's a treat in it for you if you do exactly like you were told."

The Electrike barked excitedly.

Catherine sighed again and, much to the confusion of the audience, calmly walked over to the edge of the paddock and sat cross-legged on the grass. Vessel remained on her shoulder.

Holo, however, didn't go with her master. With another bark of excitement she took off at a full sprint, dashing underneath the legs of the shocked Wooloo, making as much noise as she could as she did it. Once the Wooloo were significantly worked up, Catherine gave a whistle. It was time for the next stage of the plan.

Holo began spitting fireballs, each Flame Burst exploding into smaller cinders. The anxious and annoyed Wooloo began crying out in alarm and moving away from the mini-explosions as Holo continued to run about them, barking and yipping loudly and joyously, loving every moment of her game - and she was even getting a treat for it!

Eventually, the herd of Wooloo were clumped together in the middle of the field. They stood backing each other, forming a defensive line against the energetic Electrike that was apparently attacking them. It seemed they didn't notice that the Flame Bursts were very intentionally not hitting them.

They also didn't notice what was happening where Catherine was sitting. "Vessel, you're up."

The Paras didn't make a sound as it scuttled down Catherine's arm from her shoulder and made its way across the field. While the Wooloo were occupied with Holo's ruckus, Vessel easily crept up on them undetected, slipping under the legs of one to stand in the midst of them in the centre of their defensive ring.

"Holo, come here!" Catherine called out. There was no point in looking like a fool having her own Pokemon caught up in what was about to happen.

It took a moment for the Electrike to obey, but she did as she was told and bounded back towards her trainer. The Wooloo didn't get the reprieve they were expecting though, before Holo had gotten more than a few metres away, a cloud of golden powder burst up silently from the middle of their group.

The rapid series of Spore attacks created a cloud that quickly overtook the Wooloo before they even realised it was happening. The result was near-instantaneous. Their eyes dropped, their heads sagged. Then, in quick succession the Wooloo dropped, each of them falling asleep.

Catherine got to her feet and started casually making her way over to the sleeping Normal types as Vessel scurried out from between them, eventually meeting her and climbing back to her shoulder.

Catherine heard a handful of the less-intelligent audience members yelling that she had cheated or broken the rules. She also heard a few people shushing them. She didn't really care about either group, but it was the latter that were correct. The rule was that she couldn't knock them out, nothing was said about forcing them to take a nap.

Now the Wooloo were helpless, and they were rather famous for being easy to roll.

"Help me out, Holo." Catherine made her way to the nearest of the Wooloo and started rolling it towards the pen at the end of the field. Holo barked cheerily and rushed up, pushing her head into the sleeping Wooloo and lending her strength to the effort.

It wasn't the quickest method, but it was efficient. The first parts of Catherine's plan hadn't taken more than a few minutes and the Wooloo proved just as easy to roll around as Catherine had been led to believe. With time to spare, a flock of sleeping Wooloo were in their designated pen.

"That's time! With two minutes left on the clock, challenger 861 has completed the gym mission and will move on to challenge Milo."

"Well, that's one chore out the way," Catherine said, looking to her Pokemon, "One to go for now."

Spoiler: Inventory

Sapphire Rose · Jan 31, 2021

Pia McGuire ft. Ruben Sancho
Poké:

5550 ♦ Pokémon: 4

Shopping shenanigans

While Turffield was a town famous for its vast farmland and hilly landscape, the two city dwellers found themselves in the familiar surroundings of a shopping complex. With drinks in front of both of them, Pia and Ruben sat among the busy café's patrons watching as the city passed them by. It had been a hectic day for both of them. As always, playtime for Milla had turned into playtime for just about every passing pokemon. Unfortunately the
preservers of the botanical gardens weren't quite as forgiving as the market stall owners on route 3.

Thus the pair of young trainers found themselves in a much more crowded space, separated once again only by Ruben's status. The famed young footballer had taken it upon himself to satisfy the pleading fans who demanded his attention.

He had to. Many of the fans had already asked about the picture and the last thing he needed was Pia finding out about it. The faster they got out of public, the better. He looked back at the girl. Sipping on her tea, she hardly seemed bothered that she was made to wait for her date to rejoin her at the table at all. As expected, Ruben was getting a lot of dirty looks from the women in the building. He was Ruben Sancho the Womaniser now. He flinched with every side eye that was shot his way. Some of them were even glaring at Pia...those were the ones he needed to keep an eye on.

While Pia was unaware about the whole picture situation and thus didn't know the real reason behind the constant glares that were being thrown their way, Pia had been eying Ruben's clothing attire. A tracksuit. It was something he wore often and not something that bothered her all that much but the reactions they had been getting and not knowing the reason behind them made the girl suspect it had something to do with his clothes.
'So…" One of the baristas slowed her pace as she crouched to catch Pia's attention. She angled herself so that it was obvious to Pia what she was about to address. The worker looked between Ruben and Pia, then smirked. "How is it?"

Pia glanced from the barista to Ruben. What was she getting at? It hadn't been that obvious that they were "a thing", right? Yet the look in her eyes and the smirk on her lips told Pia that she was talking of… uh… something different. A bashful blush spreaded on Pia's cheeks. They hadn't been that serious yet, or not as far as Pia knew at least but she wasn't going to give this curious barista that kind satisfaction.

"The tea is good, if that's what you mean." Pia responded indifferently. The barista's smirk only grew, mistaking her answer for something else. The woman collected the empty plates, which mostly sat on Ruben's side of the table.

"Well I wouldn't mind me a piece of that tea." She said with a growl. The purring barista was quickly chased away as the lauded football star came crashing back into the seat, leaving behind a booth full of disappointed fans. He watched, with concern in his brow, as the uniformed girl walked away with that same grin while Pia glared at her as if something was being taken from her.

"What was that about?" Ruben asked, returning his attention to Pia.

"Someone putting her nose in places where it does not belong." Pia responded with a smile, happy that her "boyfriend" had taken a spare moment to get back to her. It had been fun spending time together but today they seemed to be a bit more in the spotlight than usual…

"We're catching quite the attention today." She remarked.

"Yeah...funny that," Ruben said with a gulp. "Hey, someone asked me about the contest back there. There's one in Turffield? Are you entering?"

"Ah…" Pia brought her tea cup back to her lips and looked away. She had forgotten to tell him she was going to enter the contest here… she thought she had mentioned it but she realised now that she couldn't remember a conversation where they spoke of it. "I'm planning on entering. I prepared a performance that I will be doing. I trained for it for the past couple of weeks." She said with a sheepish grin.

"Oh…" Ruben answered, just a little disheartened that this was the first he was hearing of it. He glanced back at the crowd of admirers he'd just left behind for this conversation. "Are you entering with anyone?"

"Hm?" Pia looked up, only to see Ruben looking a bit… disappointed? "I'm not going with anyone but I am supposed to meet Arrietty there." She answered him, though… when she did, the conversation between them fell quiet for a bit. As if Ruben had a million more questions but couldn't find the way around. "Would you… like to come with me?" She was surprised by her own question, even if it was just to get rid of this uncomfortable mood they had found themselves in. Although it probably only felt like that to Pia since this was about her now… and something she was going to do. She often felt it uncomfortable when the conversation was turned towards her. She was afraid he was going to find out something about her that he didn't like but… contest wise, she would like it if he was there. That was a feeling she could settle on. "I… would like it if you came to watch but I don't expect you to if you don't want to…" She eventually continued with a rosy glow blessing her cheeks, she still didn't look at him.

"Oh? Don't I need to buy tickets?" Ruben asked, trying to gain a picture of exactly the sort of event he was getting himself into. All he could picture the amazing suit he'd worn to the casino. It was at the dry cleaner for now, a contest would be a fantastic opportunity to wear it again. "The suit's at the dry cleaner but yeah...I'm looking forward to it."

Hearing him looking forward to it made Pia even more shy to actually attend. It was not at all like her so she quickly diverted the conversation to something else, like she usually would if it had changed to something that was about her. Her eyes fell upon his attire again.

"Is there… something else you could wear? I'm guessing it won't be ready for the contest. Shall we go shopping for clothes? I can't help but notice you wear tracksuits often." Pia sprung up. Thinking about shopping made her excited, especially since she would like to see Ruben wear something else than just tracksuits. He'd look amazing in stylish clothes.

"Clothes shopping?" Ruben responded with a grimace.

"Yes!" Pia clasped her hands together happily. "Let's go shopping! We don't have much else to do today, right?" Pia had excitement written all over her face.

The boy's resistance deflated in the face of Pia's excitement. How was he supposed to put a dampening on that? With a sigh, he nodded in defeat.

Again the footballer watched the side eyes he was getting in his periphery. Pia was still none the wiser. The girl was clung to his arm and he begrudgingly let it happen. It would've been a lot easier if he couldn't see the shocked faces watching as 'The Ruben Sancho' walked past, arm in arm with the girl he'd supposedly taken advantage of. He shot Pia a concerned smile as she stopped him in front of a clothing shop.

"What is your budget actually?" Pia asked the young footballer, staring at a pair of jeans and a nice shirt that seemed to be of decent quality. It looked sophisticated, it was better than the tracksuit he was currently wearing. He'd look good in these clothes.

Ruben peered over the girl's shoulder, trying to get a better glimpse of what exactly she was choosing. Part of him was questioning what these had to do with suits but another part of him was terrified to ask.

"I dunno...five hundred thousand?" Ruben shrugged, genuinely unsure what sort of number to suggest. He looked down at some of the clothes next to him, struggling in an uneducated search for the price tag. The number he found was considerably lower than he'd been expecting. With the budget he'd suggested she'd be able to buy enough of those jeans to clothe everyone in the mall...well, probably. "Actually...you decide."

"Ohhhhh~ You're giving me free reign over your money? That's dangerous." Pia teased the unaware Ruben. Part of her immediately felt guilty over how she had thought of using him and his money at first at the double date in Motostoke. She… just hadn't expected she'd genuinely come to like him. Catherine's words ringed inside her head but she brushed them off. Despite what she thought back then, she refused to use him. Not Ruben. She wanted to hold on to this little happiness she was feeling a little longer.

"Let's go in then. I think we can find some good stuff here." Pia grabbed Ruben's hand and led him inside the store. It was big and it was divided in a few sections. Men and women, formal and informal. It made it easier to look around.

It felt like an eternity to Ruben; but after a shopping trial by fire, where he was essentially a makeshift mannequin for the best part of an hour, they found themselves back outside. A ragged Ruben watched the girl bound around with bags in her hands. He'd honestly had football matches that left him less exhausted.

As skipped through without a care in the world, Ruben spotted the worst thing he could've seen in that moment. A gossip magazine with their faces plastered on the front. Ruben chased her down and grabbed her before she had the chance to stumble across the evidence.

"Pia! Wait!" He glanced around, looking for any excuse for the urgency. "There's some trainers in Track Stop, the shop we just passed that I can't miss out on. We've gotta grab a pair first." Ruben explained, practically dragging the girl away from the magazines.

"But this shop has good clothes you can wear to the contest." Pia said, a bit confused but also glad to see him a bit more lively during the shopping they were doing. "Surely we can head inside this shop first and then head to the Track Shop after?" Pia smiled.

"They're limited edition. I dunno how long they're gonna be in stock." He pleaded, before walking goal-side of her and blocking her path to her shop of choice. Pia sighed and placed her hands on her hips. If they were limited edition she would have seen a crowd gathering there, yet the store he wanted to visit wasn't all that busy but she also didn't want to risk him missing out. Still…

"You're going to distract me again once we leave the Track store. This store first, then the Track store. It doesn't have to be long." Pia said, coming closer to the boy and trying to get past him.

"That's why we take breaks in between, right?" Ruben quickly snapped back, stepping in the girl's path once again. As she dismissed his suggestion and tried to pass him again, he doubled down. "And, if we get the break, I'll try on whole outfits, not just individual bits and pieces. Fair trade, right?" He smiled, all his cards now on the table.

Pia questioned his intent for a moment but ultimately she yielded. If he was going to be so persistent about it, who was she to stop him?

"Fine then. Let's go to the Track Shop first." Pia sighed in defeat, showing him a small smile.

Ruben turned Pia away from the store and ushered her toward Track Stop, away from the cursed images of him looking down her shirt. All the trouble he was going through...he thought to himself as he watched the girl walk toward the shoe shop. A relieved sigh escaped his lips. Part of him wondered how things would've ended up if he'd just followed Tania's suggestion in the first place but he quickly shook the thought from his head. Crazy.

"Excuse me…" Ruben said as he stopped a passerby. "If I pay you, say," he pulled out his wallet and handed them a wad of cash, "however much is there, could you get rid of those magazines for me? I'm gonna be in that shop over there, just make sure it's gone by the time I get back. Thanks, you're the best!" By the time he finished his explanation, he was already catching up to Pia to make sure the girl had as few questions as possible.

"Wait, aren't you Ruben Sancho?" The confused man said, but Ruben had already disappeared into Track Stop with Pia.

Once he had caught up, Ruben found himself in a haven of designer trainers, tracksuits and sports gear. He looked around the place in awe, a smirk on his face. Most notable were the images of him along the Cradidas sports line. The first thing Ruben grabbed was a football of all things, which quickly earned him an audience and applause from those in the shop. Ruben looked between the ball in his hands and the girl he'd walked in with.

"Sorry guys, that's not what I'm here for." Ruben smiled, setting the ball back in the basket and earning a few mock jeers from the crowd. The boy jogged back to the girl and was immediately followed by a shop assistant who ignored pretty much everyone else to attend to Ruben.

"Can I get you anything Mr Sancho?" The man asked with a smile.

"Limited edition HyperActivz, The Sanchoz? Size eleven?" Ruben explained, his confidence faltering with each detail he added to the lie. The shop assistant only stared blankly at him. "Oh are they not in stock?"

"No, we have them, they're just not limited edition." The man explained, his expression apologetic as if he was to blame for the misunderstanding. When he noticed Ruben's guilty expression as he peaked to see if Pia was looking at him, the shop assistant leaned in to kill the tension. "For what it's worth, I'm glad to see you two are together. The pictures really had me worried."

"Ah… huh?" A blush appeared on Pia's cheeks. The words "together" somehow made her heart sunk every time she heard it. It's mostly because she just really didn't want these kinds of happy moments to end yet and it always felt like it could at any moment but there was something else in there that made the blush immediately disappear. "Wait, what pictures?" Pia asked.

Alright then thanks mate!" Ruben hollered as he practically dragged Pia out of the store. He quickly peaked at the other store. Whatever the guy he paid had done, the magazines were gone. "Oh well, I guess if there's no limited edition we can get straight to trying on these clothes." He beamed, hurrying toward the store. Pia found Ruben's behaviour very suspicious, it felt like he was trying to hide something… but she ultimately shrugged and let it go. Together they went inside the store.

"Go ahead to the dressing room, I'll bring some outfits. If you find something on your way bring that along too." Pia pushed him in the direction of the dressing rooms with a teaseful smirk. A promise was a promise, Pia had free reign over his money and outfit choices now and she was going to fully use this opportunity. Ruben hesitantly walked over to the dressing area, peeking one glance back at the girl. What did he get himself into… All for the sake of that goddamned picture. He had gotten this far now, he better commit. It was like Big Dunc said...he had to own it.

Meanwhile Pia had practically glided through the store and began swiping away at the clothes she thought would look great on Ruben. She was completely oblivious to all the dirty looks she was receiving as she went about her business.

Just outside the shop, the starstruck man Ruben paid was excitedly telling everyone he could that Ruben Sancho was now in the shop with the very girl on the cover of the magazine he held in his hand.

As Pia pulled away at the curtain of clothes on a rack of wooly jumpers, she was met with the face of a girl in her late teens who poked her head through. She clutched the jumper Pia was trying to swipe past and refused to let go.

"Slut." The girl hissed, causing Pia to stagger back. Vision no longer obscured by the hanging garments, Pia caught sight of the whole group of girls that backed her assailant up. "I bet all the clothes he buys you make up for what he did, don't they?" The girl folded her arms, the rest of her friends sneering and giggling in agreement.

Pia was flabbergasted by the sudden insult. "First of all, these clothes aren't for me and secondly, excuse me but make up for what?" Pia hissed back with a somewhat raised voice. Who the hell did this girl think she was calling her stuff out of nowhere? What was going on?

"Girls like you make me sick. The moment someone famous is involved it's always no issue at all, isn't it? You've got no self respect!" The girl kept throwing insults at her, even pushing her to make it clear she was tired of the sight of her. At this point onlookers around them in the store started to overhear the word exchanges between the shorter girl and considerably taller girl who pushed her. None of them seemed to particularly want to get involved in this argument. Pia looked visibly confused at the conversation.

"Pia!" Ruben called, slipping through the building crowd to get in and among the commotion. "What's goin' on?" As he reached Pia, the spiteful teen scowled at him, looking him up and down with utter disgust.

"Men like you should be locked up." She spat. Ruben just stared back for a moment.

"Pia, let's go." He finally sighed, leading the girl away from the chaos.

There were maybe a hundred things Pia wanted to say back to the girl but all of them escaped her as Ruben brought her away. It was humiliating to be called out like this and being stared at by the rest but it was nothing she didn't expect from dating someone like Ruben. Yet, this whole situation didn't add up for some reason and Pia couldn't put her finger on as to why…

"What was that about? What was her problem? Geez…" Pia complained, still a bit furious. She tried to look back at the still shouting woman, but Ruben shifted himself to block Pia's sight of her.

"It's nothing...I just..."

"Go ahead whore! Sell yourself on the promises of some half baked celebrity." The woman practically screamed through the shop, even prompting a serious conversation from the security. It was Ruben who acted first though.

He let the girl go and checked she was okay before marching back into the shop toward the teen who had been slinging the insults. The makeshift barricade of a clothes rack that the girl had was effortlessly pushed away by the quietly furious Ruben. "Whatever dirt you think you have is for me, not her. In fact, I didn't even do what you think I did. That's the stupidest part about all of this. We're dating!" He announced, making sure the gesture was caught by the crowd. "The picture you saw was a date. We'd been on a date before, we've been on dates since, whoopdee fuckin' doo. So go ahead, call me a womaniser and a user, I don't care. I like that gi…" he stopped himself midflow, thinking of all the ways he could take those words back. He glanced back to where Pia was standing, hoping to himself she hadn't heard what he just blurted out. The room around him seemed to freeze, as if nothing around him would continue until he finished his thought. "I like her a lot. Doing it my way has been working so far, so I'm gonna keep doing it" He finally sighed in defeat. "So go ahead, take your pictures and make your 'Ruben Sancho goes soft' headlines."

Pia had been quiet during the whole ordeal, watching the guy literally confess his feelings for an audience inside a store was super embarrassing and her face said as much as it had turned as red as a tomato. She no longer noticed the people holding their phones up to film whatever was happening and the group of girls that Ruben had directed his anger to was so quiet that to her, they didn't even exist anymore. She just saw Ruben standing there, staring back at her.

A cheer flew over the heads of the watching crowd - the guy who Ruben paid. His cheer was followed by cheers and applause from those that didn't have their smartphones out to film the drama.

Ruben reeled. The adulation felt alien to him all of a sudden. He raised his hands to the crowd, as though he was apologising for missing a last minute winning goal and just left. No "sorry my date is waiting', no 'I'd love to stay and chat but she wants to get a move on'...he just left. The moment he reached Pia, he turned the girl and hurried her away from the crowd. The boy had a visible blush on his face as well but Pia couldn't help but look back at the onlookers who were now applauding Ruben rather than just watching.

"Ruben, I kind of thought we had already established that…" Is what Pia could muster up to say after a short moment of silence while he dragged her away. Her heart was pounding like crazy and she didn't dare look at him at this moment.

"Yeah well...I guess I said it before. Now I'm admitting it." The boy gulped in response. He let out a heavy sigh as though the weight of three Snorlax was finally being lifted off of him.

"If it makes it any easier to admit, I-I like you a lot too…" Pia smiled, finally letting herself look at him. Ruben stopped looking at her too. The two leaned in...before Ruben stopped and looked over at the still watching crowd. Pia looked between him and the crowd and smirked too. "Best not give them any more than they've already got." She joked as the two shared a smile.

"Yes Tania. I'm sorry, you were right and I'll never doubt your PR knowhow again." Ruben rolled his eyes as he paced up and down the hotel room with a tracksuit laid out on the bed. "I'm not saying it again, that's the thir- I'm sorry Tania, you were right and I'll never doubt your PR knowhow again." He sighed, leaning on the wall as if just saying the phrase was exhausting to him. He watched Pia as she walked past and took the tracksuit off the bed, replacing it with a brand new suit from the shopping trip. He reached out to grab the tracksuit but Pia pulled it away and nodded toward the suit she'd laid out. "Yes Tania, I'm sorry, you were right and I'll never doubt your PR knowhow." He repeated, this time through gritted teeth. "No, I wasn't taking that tone with you, I'm just…" As he said that, he looked to Pia. To put her expression into words, it could only be described as an "oh? Is that so?". Ruben quickly pulled the phone away from his mouth and mouthed an "I'm lying" to Pia before returning to his conversation. "Alright, I'll see you at the contest tomorrow. Yes, I'll still do the PR." He said absentmindedly, looking over the suit that was bought for him. The price tag was still hanging from the collar. Only fifteen thousand poke? Ruben looked up at Pia, who was busy ironing the clothes she would be wearing the next day. She'd make a serious effort to keep him from seeing her performance dress, which was currently hanging on the back of the door. "No, no don't cancel…that. Yeah, I still want to attend. Thanks Tania." He finished, hanging up the phone with a sigh and looking down at the suit again before settling on to watch Pia finish her ironing.

Pia's Party

Memories

STAGE 1: Wedgehurst -> Wild Area -> Motostoke

Wedgehurts
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
Couch McGuire
A failed attempt.

Turffield
Bad Company.
It gets worse.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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. They're neutral with each other.

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.

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

Outfits:

Daily Outfit:

Spoiler:

Contest outfit:

Spoiler:

Ribbons:

Badges:

Foxrally · Feb 1, 2021

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Turffield Stadium

The infectious excitement of the crowd exploded into an uproar of cheers and screaming as Simon stepped onto the field. The deafening noise was enough to terrify all of the bugs clinging to him spare Snom, who instead relished the attention and glory of the moment. Simon was equally as thrilled, throwing out a thumbs-up in the direction of the camera, knowing his father back home was watching - and at this very moment, the entire world was. This was his chance to prove what he'd told Sachi, Raph, Ruben, his teachers- to prove to everyone else that he was right. He was going to be champion, and there was nothing in the world that could stop him.

Taking a deep breath, he ran towards the center of the field to meet Milo.

The burly but friendly-faced gym leader stood in the center, arms crossed, giving Simon a cheery wave as he approached. "So, you're the bug kid I've heard so much about! It's a pleasure to finally meet ya." the man said, grinning.

"I-it is?" Simon stammered, a little starstruck by the imposing figure of the gym leader.

"Of course! I couldn't wait to meet the boy who'd taken on Kabu with a Snom, and managed to last more than two seconds." Milo laughed heartily.

"Pleasure's all mine, sir!" Simon grinned, his ears now getting accustomed to the noise of the crowd.

"I hope you battle with as much fire and intensity with me as you did with Kabu, then. Go ahead and pick your Pokemon." Milo said, pulling out one of his own Pokeballs.

Simon nodded and made his way to his side of the field. He crouched down, allowing his five Pokemon to hop off of his sleeves. All of them looked ready to battle despite their obvious anxiety at the noisy crowd. He began, "Alright team, we-"

Without waiting for him to finish, Snom stepped forward, letting out an icy hiss that Simon understood quite well by now. She was going to battle, whether he wanted to or not. Grinning, he nodded to the Pokemon and looked at the rest of the team, considering who to pair with Snom. Spewpa's moveset was mostly ineffective on grass-types and besides, her and Caterpie were likely exhausted from running around between all the Wooloo. Burmy's moveset was equally ineffective as well… That left Princess, who had the least battle experience out of all of them. Simon tapped his chin for a moment and gently picked the Joltik up.

"What do you say, lassie? Ready to show the world what royalty's made of?" he asked, winking. The little Pokemon was rightfully scared by the whole situation, but she squeaked back at Simon with a nod, remembering her bravery against Ferrothorn.

Simon placed her on his head and stood up, recalling his three other Pokemon to their Pokeballs and faced Milo again. "We're ready!"

And with that, the battle was underway.

"Go, Appletun!" Milo called out, releasing his first Pokemon. A small green lizard-like Pokemon with a round body burst out, a small chunk of apple adorning its head, and it landed with a thud before letting out a yawn.

Simon smiled confidently; given the typing of this Pokemon, he already had the advantage. "Snom, show 'em what you're really capable of!" he yelled out, pointing his finger at Milo dramatically as his Pokemon stepped forward.

The grass-type gym leader grinned back, and gestured for Simon to bring it on.

"You've asked for it, then!" the bug catcher exclaimed, "Snom, start off with a Struggle Bug!"

The little Pokemon squeaked as her body glowed green and she fired off multiple rays of energy. The beams then coalesced into one powerful single attack that charged towards Appletun.

"Dodge, then Leech Seed!" Milo called out. His Pokemon responded in turn by rolling to the side, taking a little damage as the beam scraped past it before belching out a large brown seed at Snom. The seed smacked into the ice-type's side and latched onto her as vines grew out of it. Snom shook vigorously to try and shake off the attack, but immediately felt her energy get drained as the seed began taking effect.

"Ignore it for now, Snom!" Simon called. "Use struggle bug again!" Snom nodded and blasted several more energy rays at her opponent.

"Protect!" Milo responded, to which Appletun stopped moving and put up a white shimmering barrier in front of it.

"Don't let up, Snom! Struggle Bug again!" Simon called out. As Snom fired out another attack she shuddered a little, feeling her energy get sapped even more by the leech seed.

"Protect again!" Milo ordered once more.

Simon furrowed his brow. What was the gym leader trying to do? "Alright, Snom, enough playtime! Knock him out with Powder Snow!" he pointed at Milo. "Try this on for size!"

"That's just what I've been waiting for!" Milo exclaimed. "Appletun, use Apple Acid on the snow!"

As Snom blasted a flurry of snow at her opponent, the green Pokemon met the attack with a glob of yellow acid that immediately melted the incoming move. "Now, hit it with Rollout!" Milo commanded. He grinned at Simon, "Try this on for size."

The bug catcher clenched his teeth as he realized Milo had closed off both his options. "Snom, dodge and powder snow again!" he commanded. Snom nimbly jumped to the side, barely avoiding the charging figure of Appletun before spraying it with another Powder snow. The grass-type hit the snow with another Apple Acid as it rolled, weakening the attack - and whatever remaining damage it sustained was immediately drained from Snom's life force.

Simon was beginning to realize Milo's strategy- he was stalling him out. "Snom, powder snow again! Focus on hitting him first!" he called out, hoping the damage would take Appletun out before it could hit his own Pokemon.

"Full steam ahead, Appletun!" Milo commanded. As Snom shot a full-power blast of snow at Appletun, the Pokemon weakened it once more with apple acid and charged right through, crashing into the little bug with immense damage as the super-effective move hit. Snom squeaked as she was sent flying back. Appletun rolled around towards Milo as more energy was sapped from its opponent, healing up the Powder Snow's minor damage.

"Looks like your partner won't be keeping up for long." Milo smiled at Simon and crossed his arms confidently. "I'm aware Snom can only learn two moves - and it looks like you're out of options! Appletun, finish her off with a devastating rollout!"

As the grass-type Pokemon charged towards Snom, Simon's worried expression shifted into a devilish grin as he reached into his pocket. "That's where you're wrong, Milo!" he exclaimed with a glint in his eye. With one hand he fished out his Pokedex, and with the other, he pulled out a small, blue record disk - the TR farmer Barrow had given him. Flicking open his dex, he slapped the record into the disk slot and pointed it at Snom.

"Stop that bad apple in its tracks with... Icicle Spear!" he commanded. Snom's eyes gleamed with energy as she learned the new move. Just as Appletun drew close, the little bug jumped up with all her might. Suddenly, all of the spikes on her body exploded outwards, showering the area below her in razor-sharp icicles. Appletun, now too close to dodge, attempted to counter with its acid- but failed as the ice withstood the attack.

"No!" Milo cried out as his Pokemon was then barraged with the icicles, delivering immense damage and knocking it out of its rollout. As it skidded to a stop and the dust cleared, Appletun laid on the ground, fainted.

"ALRIGHT!" Simon cheered, throwing his fist into the air, to which the crowd roared back. Snom stood on her legs and let out a massive victory cry. They could hear the voice of the announcer blaring over them, hyping up the incredible twist.

"Astounding! Learning a move mid-battle as a trick- challenger 412 never ceases to surprise us!"

Milo laughed and recalled his Appletun, shaking his head. "Guess I got fooled after all. But don't think this match is over yet!" He pulled out another Pokéball, and tossed in the air. "Go, Eldgeoss!"

A green and white Pokemon emerged, materializing in the air before gently floating down with the large ball of cotton on its head. It greeted Snom with a polite bow, to which the bug hissed some sort of bug-expletive back.

"Oi, Snom- language!" Simon scolded, blushing a little.

"Eldegoss, start with Hyper Voice!" Milo commanded.

"Dodge and use Powder Snow, Snom!" Simon pointed at the gym leader again. "Let's finish this!"

Painstakingly, Snom managed to roll out of the way of the soundwave, taking some damage before spraying out her attack. The snow buffeted the Eldegoss but it remained standing, eyeing it's opponent carefully as if awaiting something.

"Now, follow up with another- uh, Snom-?" Simon stopped as he looked at his Pokemon. The little bug let out a feeble squeak as the leech seed on her side glowed one last time and sapped the remainder of her energy, and she finally fainted. "Ack… well, you did a great job, lass." Simon sighed and recalled her.

The crowd cheered as both Milo and Eldegoss grinned at each other, the grass-type now back to top shape after the heal. "Told you not to count us out yet!" the gym leader told the young trainer.

Taking a deep breath and quickly exhaling, Simon allowed Princess to crawl onto his hand and held it up to meet her at eye-level. "It's all on you now, Princess. Remember, believe in yourself as much as I do in you." he whispered, to which the Joltik gave a shaky but determined chirp.

"Go, Princess!" Simon called out, extending his arm as the Joltik hopped off. The appearance of a shiny Pokemon earned a few impressed cheers from the crowd, but Simon was wasting no time with any more theatrics. "Get up close and personal with Fury Cutter!" he commanded.

Watching Princess skitter towards the Eldegoss, Simon awaited the gym leader's reaction. Yet, surprisingly, Milo did nothing, instead crossing his arms as if waiting for something himself. "Stand your ground, Eldegoss!"

As Princess reached her target, the Joltik leaped up, her legs glowing with light green energy, and dug them into Eldgeoss' fluffy body, swiping repeatedly. "Great hit, lass!" Simon cheered.

Suddenly, Princess' body was sent flying backwards by an invisible force. "What?!" Simon gasped, confused as to what had just happened. Looking at his Pokemon, he realized she was now covered in small pieces of white cotton clinging to her fur.

"You activated my Pokemon's special ability- your Joltik won't be so quick to attack now!" Milo exclaimed, pointing at Simon dramatically himself now. "Eldgeoss, Synthesize!"

Watching the grass-type heal the Fury Swipes damage back, Simon looked at Princess, who was frantically trying to remove the cotton from her body. "Quick, lass! Before she attacks again!"

"Too late!" Milo called out again. "Eldegoss, pile it on with Cotton Spore!"

The Pokemon hopped towards Princess and blasted another volley of cotton balls, even larger this time. The attack clung to the Joltik's body once more, nearly smothering the tiny bug in cotton.

"Gah, no!" Simon cried out. He could barely see his Pokemon under all the fluff as it weighed down her body. "Princess! If you can hear me, Fury Cutter the cotton and try to even the odds with Spider Web!"

It was nearly imperceptible over the cheers of the crowd, but Simon heard her squeak back in response. After a brief moment, the Joltik managed to cut a hole through the cotton on her face, and blasted out a large net of spider silk.

"Not so fast! Eldegoss, Leaf Tornado it away!" Milo commanded. Eldgeoss spun around rapidly, whipping up a tornado of leaves that picked up the grass and dust around them before shooting it forward at the net in midair. The spider web was immediately picked up by the wind, spinning around before getting redirected back to the Joltik with the rest of the attack.

Now almost completely immobilized under the weight of the cotton and her own spider web, Princess was easy pickings for the Eldegoss. "Hyper Voice!" Milo commanded. The grass-type screeched out another sound wave, hitting Princess with all of its power as the bug struggled to even lift a limb. She squeaked in pain as she called for Simon's help.

"Shite, ah- what to do, what to do…" Simon's eyes darted between her and Eldegoss, watching as it wailed on her with another attack.

"412's Joltik has been rendered entirely immobile! Will we be witnessing our first victory from Milo today?" the announcer's voice blasted through the speakers as the battle unfolded.

Panicking, Simon considered his options- spider web and electroweb were both prone to bring redirected, and fury cutter was useless from a distance… was this really it?

"Hyper Voice again!"

He looked back up, seeing Eldegoss fire yet another soundwave at his Pokemon. Was he going to fall now, after getting so close to victory? Had it all been… for nothing? Tears welled in his eyes as he clenched his fists in frustration.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of the Pokedex still in hand. The device, now connected to Princess, was displaying the Joltik's information on the screen - and one particular move caught his eye.

"...Beat Up…?" He mused, looking at the screen. He realized he'd never actually checked what Princess' moveset was after she'd joined him in the caves. What did that move even do? Time was running out- if he wanted to win, this was his only chance. Everything was riding on this decision.

"Princess, use Beat Up!" Simon commanded, screaming out the order with all the energy left in his lungs.

But… nothing happened.

"Princess-"

A deafening, resounding cry suddenly sounded from within the cotton pile, echoing loudly through the stadium. The speakers above screeched with feedback as the sound hit them and both trainers were forced to cover their ears as the cry continued for a few more seconds. A flock of Rookidee resting on the upper bleachers of the stadium flew away in fear at the sudden noise. Then, it stopped.

The crowd was silent for a few moments before the announcer's voice cut through. "Aaand we're back online, it appears nothing has- wait, what is that?!"

Just as the Rookidee were flying out through the opening in the stadium's ceiling, a small yellow figure leaped down from the roof. It was followed by another, and another, and then a dozen more small figures a swarm of creatures all began to hurtle down towards the battle pitch. Both Simon and Milo looked up in confusion as the figures got clearer.

"It looks like… a swarm of Joltiks?!"

Simon's eyes grew wide and he looked back at his Pokedex.

Beat Up: The user gets all party Pokémon to attack the target. The more party Pokémon, the greater the number of attacks.

As he looked back up he witnessed several dozens of electric bugs land onto the grass around Eldegoss in a circle, each growling loudly as they began approaching the grass-type. A few more landed beside Princess and formed around her defensively. Milo's Pokemon was panicking now as it looked to him for assistance, trying to back away from the intruders.

Before Milo could even call out an order, the nearest Joltik let out a high-pitched battle cry and lunged towards Eldegoss, latching onto its body before pummeling it with attacks. The other Joltiks quickly followed, piling onto the poor grass type from all directions as even more came plummeting down from the ceiling. The bugs swiped with their claws and pincers, spraying cotton everywhere on the battlefield. Eldegoss cried out before finally succumbing to the weight of all the Joltik, falling over in a pained heap as they continued to attack.

"Eldegoss! " Milo called out. "Use Synthesis, try to repel them somehow!"

It was too late, though. After a few more moments the Joltik battalion hopped off of the grass-type's body and swarmed back towards Princess, leaving behind a fainted - and fairly cut up - Eldegoss.

The stadium was nearly silent as the crowd's murmurs echoed through. Flabbergasted, Simon simply stood there with bated breath as he watched a referee run up to Milo and the two exchanged a few words, both of them glancing back at him a few times. The swarm of Joltik was now swarmed around both him and Princess, their eyes fixated on where the Eldegoss once was.

Suddenly, the referee turned around and made a thumbs-up gesture towards the camera. Milo gave a more subtle one to Simon too, winking.

The announcer's voice boomed throughout the stadium. "CHALLENGER 412, SIMON PEARBURGH, HAS DEFEATED TURFFIELD GYM LEADER MILO!"

"I… did…?" Simon mouthed blankly and blinked a few times. "I did?!"

The crowd around him erupted into cheers as the league victory theme played through the speakers. "FUCK YEAH, I DID!" Simon screamed at the top of his lungs, triumphantly posing for the camera before getting jumped by the several dozens of Joltik around him, toppling him under the weight of their embrace.

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

After a while of struggling to get back up, Simon had managed to shake off some the Joltik-weight and make his way to the center of the field to meet Milo again.

"I see you took my comment to heart about battling with the same intensity." The gym leader laughed as Simon approached. "That was an exhilarating battle, thank you."

"I- no, thank you- that was amazing from you too!" Simon blurted out, still flustered from all the emotions he was processing right now. "Did… did I really win?"

"You heard the announcer, kid! You used a valid move. Looks like your unusual friendship with these wild Pokemon has served you well." Milo replied, beaming.

"I'd say they're… more of an extended family." Simon replied, glancing at Princess on his shoulder.

Reaching into his pocket, the gym leader took out a small golden piece of metal and handed it to Simon. "As gym leader of Turffield, I bestow this grass badge to you." He stuck his other hand out for a handshake. "And thank you for a battle I won't soon forget."

Simon took the gym leader's hand eagerly and shook it, still starstruck to hear those words come out of such a legend's lips. "Th-thank you!" He managed to stammer out as the crowd continued to cheer. He caught a glimpse of the microphone clipped to Milo's chest, which suddenly reminded him of something he meant to do.

"Mr. Milo…? If I may?" Simon said, gesturing at the device.

"Of course." The gym leader unclipped the mic and handed it to him with a cheeky smirk, ignoring the referee's glare in the distance.

Simon took a deep breath and screamed into the microphone. "I MADE IT, DA'! YOU HEAR ME? TELL EVERYONE AT HOME I MA-"

The rest of his sentence fell only on the two trainers' ears as the microphone was cut off again.

forg · Feb 1, 2021

Nona Rodriguez
◇ Galar Mine

Spoiler:

An eleven inch tall, 30 inch wide opening hid itself behind bushes against the mountain's side. Sunshine filtered through the lush greenery and into the cave's dark contents. From this spots of light were filtered and speckled Nona and Beldum alike as they watched the gentleman crawl through the gap from the sidelines. Unfortunately the placement of the opening in relation to the inside of the cave meant the gentleman had to improvise - the opening was located up to Nona's waist - and therefore would need to prepare to fall or maneuver around this obstacle.

Beldum remained within Nona's embrace, relieved the explorer had returned Gunther the runerigus back to the confines of their pokéball to better tackle this new turn of events without distractions.

"I have blocked off the only other path inside. Only we know about this discovery," the older gentleman informed her as he slid his chest through the slit, recalling how he had quickly poured the buckets of soil back into the old passageway Nona had crawled through originally, having packed it all in as tight as he could.

Nona nodded in glee, somewhat proud of where she had brought them; without her, he may have still been digging. He may have given up. Or maybe he may have partnered with the wrong individual. Worse yet, what if he pursued a different path and had been buried alive?

She felt her confidence rise, albeit just a smidgen.

The young trainer squealed and pressed her cheek to Beldum's skull, of whom hummed as they drowned in her affection. "I'm so happy! I don't have to explore alone either- oh! What if we find some weird pokémon?!" Nona enthused with eyes that sparkled with wonder, a hand moving to better express her words. Meanwhile he allowed his body to drop as his feet propelled him forward, hands inches from the ground.

Chapter 5.3

The entrance from which the light emanated from shrunk as the distance between it and the explorers grew, allowing the darkness to fill the void. Nona trailed slightly behind the explorer with her companion the beldum at the group's rear, guarding them. Here she partook in photographing the glowing stones and the occasional snapshot of her pokémon and older gentleman to better chronicle this portion of her journey; she will never venture into cavernous systems like this again.

"What's your name? If it's okay to ask…?" Nona asked out of morbid curiosity. Her fingers ran across the tunnel wall, feeling every crevice and bump that met with skin.

He paused, but only for a brief moment, before resuming his slow trek with eyes that scrutinized and studied every inch of the walls that their lamps' light touched. "Did I… not introduce myself?" he inquired in return, startled by the fact that he did not introduce himself properly. She shook her head. "Nonsense. I am certain I introduced myself."

She grew flustered on the possibility that she either misheard, did not hear, or simply had selective hearing. "Oh no, that's okay!" she piped up in return. "I probably, um, forgot or something, yeah. I have a bad memory, hahaha! Yeah, I'm like that a lot." Her hands moved with her words as the very expressive individual she was. "Kinda like a blonde- nothing against blondes! Just the saying, you know, uh-"

"I will only say it once more, so listen good, woman," he interjected, which prompted her to hush nervously. In anticipation Nona placed hands over her chest, fingers tapping her collarbone. "...Wilhelm Vincent Rudolph."

Nona's transient silence concerned the man, but upon turning to catch a glimpse of her he was perplexed by her large grin. When she noticed she had snatched his attention she gave Beldum a quick glance before she inched closer to the old man to match his pace. Beldum followed suit, afraid that any gap between them would lead to a disaster.

Then at last she spoke. "Wilhelm... Wilhelm. Wil- Oh my god, that's your name-"

"Yes. It is my name."

"-it sounds amazing and old-school! I love it! Then Rudolph reminds me of Christmas and the holidays! Vincent makes me think of Valentine's Day, too-"

Wilhelm proceeded to interrupt once more, annoyance further rising as he witnessed her hands and fingers trace hearts, trees, and the like on the air before him. His pace quickened in order to leave behind the child that kept inadvertently delving into his past. "Do not associate me with the happiest days of the year, woman. That damn winter holiday already does," retorted Wilhelm. Nona, again, quickened her pace to match Wilhelm's with more apologies to give.

Together they traveled deeper into the tunnel, of which continued to shrink, inch by inch, the further they traversed. But it only took a few minutes more until the glowing stones embedded into the walls were no more and the tunnel opened into a large chamber. Nona described the obvious in response, "Oh wow, it changed! Is it like a room?" yet she was simply background noise to the mesmerized Wilhelm. Hieroglyphs made their debut as he lifted the lamp to eye level, hoping that the close proximity of the light source would uncover the secrets within the walls. But little did they know that within these a single, large question mark, with its half-lidded eye, glared at the trespassers as they passed by it.

Wilhelm's hands trembled as fingers sloppily traced the hieroglyphs of varying sizes. Feet dragged him from glyph to glyph, muttering out his knowledge on the ruins and journey that brought him here. "These are… we did it. WE DID IT!" he exclaimed in rapture and broke into a laughing fit. Nona smiled at this display, his joy contagious. So much so she herself erupted into a small bouncing session of her own and briefly clapped out in joy.

"Eee! My god, I bet you're so excited for this!" Nona continued to grin in reaction to his excitement, eyes flickering between the plethora of hieroglyphs. In contrast, Beldum cared not for the discovery, but for Nona's euphoric expression, amused by her childlike wonder.

There was an immediate chuckle coming from Wilhelm. "Of course I am," breathed out the joyous man. He handled a magnifying glass and tools at his disposal. "Now, woman, please be useful and jot down notes of this," he commanded, throwing Nona off guard. She paused before letting the responsibility settle in, unable to find a notebook or paper within her sight.

"O-oh! Do you have a notebook I could write in, or-"

"What?! A trainer without a notebook and pencil?!" exclaimed the explorer, voice lacking the usual annoyed or frustrated tone is usually carried. He stuck his hand into his backpack as Nona nervously twiddled with the hem of her sleeves, trying to remain calm as her emotions were at an all time high, hence her extra sensitivity to Wilhelm's comments.

Upon locating the notebook Wilhelm then tossed it Nona's way, of whom flinched and yelped, failing to catch it. "Here. Use this." But he did not bear witness to her letting it plop to the ground, far too preoccupied with the wondrous discovery.

She scrambled for the notebook in a hurry-

The ground beneath her melted away into an iridescent hole. The tranquility was pierced by the sudden introduction of otherworldly chanting and voices. "WILHELM?!" Beldum, shocked, attempted to slide beneath her armpit, but their measly, small body was no match for Nona's. Her hand was unable to grip Beldum, of whom rushed down to her aid, but just as quickly as the hole appeared it had vanished; Beldum slammed into the ground, a second too late.

At first Wilhelm dismissed her cry, truly believing she was simply goofing off on her cell, which could have easily created the noises. But as he turned he realized his mistake. "Wha- NONA!"

He turned soon enough to witness her arms vanish into an iridescent hole in the ground before it vanished into thin air, closing on itself.

Never having been left without their partner, Beldum immediately broke into full-panic mode. They shrieked and haphazardly bolted from every space in the vicinity, terrified. A trembling, red pupil scrutinized every detail of the soil Nona had been on seconds prior, yet the tears that began to form forced it to squint as it burned.

Wilhelm's fingers ran over his bald head, bewildered over the sudden turn of events. "What in Arceus' name do I do now?!" With a head blank and lacking ideas, he resorted to the easiest solution. "Woman, this isn't amusing! COME OUT." But of course it did not work. Nona practically vanished into an otherworldly hole that, also, vanished into thin air.

His heartbeat deafened his ears as he scoured the ground within the vicinity. Fortunately no other iridescent, portal-like hole materialized, yet there was still no sign of Nona, only the echoes of Beldum's woes.

Wilhelm paced within the chamber. "I don't understand?!" he hollered, impatient and erratic himself. What if… she was taken? What if, regardless of whether she vanished or was teleported, the answer is staring right at his face?

Beldum thrashed and wailed erratically all the while Wilhelm similarly grew frantic, feet hurtling him from one random part of a wall to the next. The man hoped to find the answer amidst the cavern walls with hands that ran over the edges of the latin letters and inside crevices, nails that dug down chiseled lines, and eyes that traced the hieroglyphs. He skimmed for anything - anything - that could point him in the right direction. But instead it instilled in him a dreadful, cold feeling down his spine.

Hieroglyphic patterns decorated the large room, etched eyes staring the man and Beldum down in disdain. They judged his sins. Like a knife they stabbed through his frozen exterior and reminded him that the world is a mysterious and cruel place, hope is not always found; Nona could be forever gone. With all the mistakes he's done, with all the people he's damaged, little did he fathom that his greatest success would come with such a horrific package.

But suddenly Wilhelm suffered from a horrible epiphany. Like puzzle pieces the hieroglyphs and disappearance flickered an idea to Wilhelm's old mind, one that would have given him a dose of ecstasy moments earlier, but now it brings with it dread and horror.

It was as he feared.

He muttered the words, voice cracking at the reality of the situation. "Damn Unown."

So focused on the task at hand Wilhelm was that he did not take notice of the letters that had detached themselves from the walls behind him. Beldum's own perception was lacking, only becoming aware of their presence due to their sudden chanting.

His chest turned ice cold, hands frozen in place over the "R" cave hieroglyph his hands had paused over. Fear drenched his being.

Without warning the letter before his hands broke from the wall. Horrified, he couldn't finish his sentence before the creature rammed into his face. "NO-!"

gimmepie · Feb 2, 2021

Catherine Carlisle
18 | Female | From Wyndon

Indra (Male, Swift Swim) - Rain Dance, Hypnosis, Bubblebeam, Double Slap, Mud Shot, Refresh

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

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

Vessel (Female, Dry Skin) - Fury Cutter, Scratch, Absorb, Poison Powder, Spore

Yours is Mine

Catherine walked out onto the pitch to the sound of a cheering crowd, all poised and waiting excitedly to watch someone fail. It was an unpleasant feeling, like being surrounded by a flock of hungry Vullaby waiting to pick at your remains. She was pretty sure she couldn't have felt more out of her element if she tried. Yet, she had a job to do.

Milo was waiting for her on the opposing side of the pitch, his bulky arms crossed across his chest as he smiled at Catherine. She wasn't going to be taken in by that trick though, she wasn't the sort to be disarmed by something as simple as a friendly smile. She wouldn't be letting her guard down.

"Welcome," Milo said, his grin widening. "Can't say I've ever had someone sit down through my gym mission before."

"It's not like me running around like an idiot would have improved things."

"I suppose not." The smile faltered on Milo's face for a moment as he looked down at Catherine. With a degree of effort, he plastered it back on. "Well, I look forward to an exciting battle."

"Right," Catherine said, "Let's get this over with."

Milo's smile dropped again, his brow furrowing slightly. "I can't tell if you're extremely confident or extremely unmotivated. I hope it's the former because I won't go easy on you."

"Don't worry about it," Catherine said with a sigh, "I don't expect you to. Can we just do this already?"

"We certainly can," Milo replied, "Select your Pokemon."

"Alright, let's go Indra." Catherine lazily tossed her Pokeball, releasing her Poliwag in a flash. He called out happily, eager to be of service.

"A pure water type? I look forward to seeing your strategy. Here's my choice." Milo's grin returned to his face, his face lighting up with the excitement of an incoming battle. He tossed his own Pokeball, revealing a small dragon-like Pokemon with wings and a tail resembling chunks of an apple: a Flapple.

"Indra, Rain Dance." Catherine was wasting no time. She had seen Milo's Flapple in battle a few times and knew it would be coming in hard right out the gate. It was important to get the field advantage as soon as possible… besides the sooner she won the sooner she could leave.

Indra leapt up and pirouetted, dark clouds forming above the arena as he moved. In a second, the first drops of rain were falling over the battlefield.

"So that's your strategy is it?" Milo commented, his wide smile never faltering now that he was in his element. "Let's see how fast you are then! Acrobatics!"

The Flapple shot towards Indra, moving in arcing and erratic movements that made its trajectory harder to predict. The Grass Dragon was fast, closing the distance in the blink of an eye and lunging at Indra from the air.

It wasn't fast enough though, Indra jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack and forcing his opponent to pull up to avoid colliding with the ground. At a command from Catherine, he retaliated, pummeling the Flapple with a flurry of Double Slaps with his tail.

The Flapple hissed its disapproval, but those attacks weren't nearly enough to beat it. Milo didn't call a retreat either, he had other plans. "Sucker Punch!"

As Indra went in for the attack again, the Flapple twisted in the air, avoiding Indra's attack and smacking him aside with a backhand strike of its wing.

Indra tumbled over the grassy battlefield, rolling to his feet with a determined look in his eyes. It surprised her, but Catherine couldn't deny a jolt of pride seeing her partner's resilience.

"He's a lot more spirited than he looked. I'm impressed!" Milo called over from his side of the field.

Catherine didn't respond, she wasn't about to be distracted by pointless conversation with the gym leader. There was a battle at hand to focus on.

"Mud Shot, then Double Slap again!"

Indra spat a torrent of mud at the Flapple, the speedy Dragon dodging to the side only to find Indra had closed the gap between them and closed in on that very side. The Poliwag struck the Flapple twice with his tail, battering it down towards the ground and then backing away before there could be a retaliatory Sucker Punch.

"A regular Bubblebeam!"

As the Flapple righted itself it was struck by a surge of rain-enhanced bubbles. The attack wasn't very effective at all on a Pokemon like Flapple that was both Grass and Dragon typed, giving it a double resistance, but the boosting effect of Rain Dance helped alleviate that just a little.

The Flapple rose up again, growling with a frustrated hissing sound. Evidently, it didn't like being smacked around a Pokemon that, by rights, shouldn't stand a chance against it.

"A regular Bubblebeam?" Milo questioned, "Well, I'm looking forward to seeing the special kind! If you last long enough to show me that is. Grav Apple!"

The Flapple attacked. A ball of green light formed in front of it, vaguely reminiscent of an apple. There was no time to admire the shape though. The construct blitzed towards Indra.

Catherine's Poliwag danced to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack as it detonated into a shockwave at his side… only for Flapple itself to slam into him at ground level, sweeping over the grass and glowing faintly with green. Indra hurtled across the battlefield, taking a lot of damage from the sudden Grassy Glide.

Catherine winced, that bastard gym leader had just used her own tactic against her. She was going to have to watch out for that in the future, Indra wasn't going to take another Grassy Glide or a Grav Apple well. It was possible just one more would spell the end of the battle for him.

That would be a problem, if things kept up too long, she was going to have to reset the rain and only Indra could do that. It was time to put the real plan into action and regain the lead.

"Mud Shot, keep it at a distance!"

Or at least make him think that's what I want.

Indra hopped vigorously back to his feet for his trainer and spat another blast of mud at the opposing Flapple.

"You can't keep us away that easy, Grassy Glide!" Milo called. His Flapple obeyed, easily dodging to the side of the attack and closing in on Indra.

Catherine couldn't help but smirk. "Hypnosis!"

It was Milo's turn to wince, his Flapple was too close and too committed to the attack to back out. Idra's eyes and the swirl on his body glowed an eerie blue. Instead of slamming into Indra, the Flapple lost its momentum and crashed into the ground in front of him, asleep.

"That's not good," Milo commented.

Catherine ignored him. "Bubblebeam like we practiced, then hit it with Double Slap."

Indra ran forward, swinging his whole body in an upward arc as he released the Bubblebeam. The attack barely hit the sleeping Flapple, knocking it onto its side but for the most part flying straight up towards the slowly thinning rain clouds above.

"What are you up to?" Milo questioned, for the first time looking unsure of the situation. He didn't have time to follow up on the question though, his sleeping Flapple was being bombarded by tail strikes.

Indra kept up the onslaught as the bubbles reached the peak. Some of them fell, streaking towards the ground, even striking the downed Flapple on occasion. Others were catching air now though, falling much slower if at all.

"Now Indra!" Catherine commanded. Field advantage was everything in battle and she'd just made Milo's arena her own.

The Flapple's eyes flew open and it angrily shot back up into the air to see… nothing?

It looked around frantically, unable to find the source of its ire. That was until Catherine called for another Double Slap and Indra slammed into it from above. The Flapple wheeled around in time to see Indra land against another bubble and trampoline off of it.

It tried to follow, but it was all but impossible to keep track of the Poliwag as Indra pinballed from bubble to bubble.

"Incredible," Milo breathed, genuinely impressed, "Go after it and use Sucker Pu-"

Whack.

Indra flew from another of the bubbles and slammed into the Flapple with another series of quick strikes from his tail. Double Slap wasn't a particularly powerful move, but Milo's Flapple was taking so many hits from it that it didn't matter.

Again and again, the Dragon was struck by an onslaught of the weak attacks and it was adding up. It was sagging in the air, fluttering about frantically as it tried to get a counter attack off. The bubbles weren't designed for longevity though and were starting to burst upon Indra's contact with them. It was coming down to the wire.

"Sucker Punch!" Milo called hastily.

As Indra soared toward the Flapple like a missile, it whipped around and finally landed a firm hit, shooting Indra back across the battlefield with the force of the impact.

"Bubblebeam!" Catherine called even as Indra went flying. He attacked with the biggest surge of Bubbles he had had mustered yet, the attack thundering into the Flapple like a wave. Both Pokemon hit the ground hard.

There was a moment of silence, even the audience waiting with held breaths. The Flapple rose first. Then Indra shakily climbed to his feet. The two Pokemon looked at each other. Then the Flapple dropped to the ground.

One down.

Spoiler: Inventory

Dragon · Feb 2, 2021

Valerie's Quest for 100 Friends
Poké:

1000 ♦ Friends: 17

vs. Eldegoss Part I

Valerie alongside Flame finally had Turffield within their sights. The long trek through the Galar Mine and through the fields of Route 4 were about to pay off. "Ah… sweet!" said the energetic Valerie, with her sights beaming over the horizon. She finally started to see some buildings. "Next stop on the friend hype train: Turffield! Keep your arms and legs inside till we come to a stop!" She with Flame on her shoulder, jetted off… until the hype train was stopped, on account of a ball of rolling wool.

Luckily, the ball of fluff had stopped in its tracks, right in front of Valerie. On closer inspection, it seemed to have legs… and eyes. It was a Pokémon, who baa'd quietly in front of Val's presence. "Heyhey, what's a ball of cuteness like you doin' here?" Valerie had asked it, giving it a small pat on the head. Unlike her Meowth, it responded to it well. Her patting session however was interrupted by a sudden shout.

"Whoa there!" Valerie and Flame looked onwards to see where it was coming from: a tall, young man who had the build of the heavens… seriously, to Valerie, you could wash clothing on his ironing board abs, but that's another story. He ran up to them, immediately checking in on the small woolly Pokémon. "Good, not hurt… finally caught up to ya, you little rascal."

He then turned to Valerie. "Mighty thanks for catching this here Wooloo," he thanked her sincerely. He seemed like a nice enough fellow. "I thought we had them all accounted for, but she always just manages to slip away."

"Sure! No problems, mate…. wait…" Valerie had a good look at the guy. He looked cute, sure, but there was something quite familiar about him… and then, bingo. "Heeeeey, you're the Gym guy, Milo!"

"Gym guy? Hah, well that I am," Milo gave her a small chuckle, rubbing the back of his head with his hand shyly. "I take it you're a trainer, then? Cute Pokémon you got there too!"

"Name's Valerie! Buuuuut you can call me Val," Valerie introduced. "And Flame's my bro! We're in the League challenge along with my mates from class."

"You're from the academy in Wedgehurst then!" Milo recognized. "Very well done indeed; Professor Magnolia sure taught a nice crop this year, haha!"

Valerie's eyes then lit up, as others like to dub it the oh no, what is she thinking this time, look. "Yo! Wind-Mil," she started. "Can I get in a battle with you rn? Huh? Please? Can I?"

Milo crossed his arms. "A battle? Right now?"

"Heck yea!" Valerie replied. "Like I reaaaaaally wanna see what a Gym Biss is all about, yknow? I wanna be super duper duper strong with my Pokémon buddies!"

"Usually I take all my challenges in the Stadium," Milo replied, but still had given it some thought. After a while, he nodded. "But heck. Why not? A little practice battle won't hurt - I owe ya one for catching Wooloo, after all. I'm in!"

"Yes! Hyyyyyyyype!" The two trainers took their respective places upon the new field of battle. Valerie, as giddy as she was, still had a decision to make. "Now, who to have out…" a sharp cry from Flame became the quickest answer to her question. "Pfft, duuuh Valerie! Course it has to be Flame-bro! Go on then, buddy!" Flame leapt off her shoulder, leering down to the opposite trainer, Milo.

Milo got out a single pokeball. "Right, you're on, old friend… Eldegoss!" he threw it, sending out a fairly short, yet strikingly unique Pokémon evident from the ball of fluff on its head. When she was sent out, she immediately noticed Flame, being the Fire-type Pokémon that he was. Her friendly smile turned into a sinister one, and her eyes looked like she was about to commit something heinous. It sort of put Flame on edge, as he started to sweat with a look of concern on his tiny face… it was like he was about to get overwhelmed by this Pokémon's aura.

"Ready Flamey?!" Valerie's shout snapped Flame out of it. "When we fight someone tough like this, Flame goes BRRRRRR! Iiiiits whoop-ass time!" On cue, Flame's back ignited. A chance to battle against a strong Pokémon who he sensed on first glance? Only a fake-fire type Pokémon would cower from that.

The battle was finally underway. "Alrighty flame, first we show off your Uber mad skills, then we beat that puffy Pokémon, then… ummmm, question mark, question mark, question mark, then, PROFIT!" Flame nodded, upon Valerie's plan. He learned to just roll with it. "Shower it with your Ember!" To begin, and on command, Flame let loose a barrage of his spit-fire attacks, right towards the opposing grass-type.

"Alright partner, let's show them what your Leaf Tornado is all about!" Milo smiled brilliantly, commanding with confidence. Eldegoss, leaping into action, whipped up a barrage of leaves, and with her power, controlled the wind current flowing through the air, creating a miniature tornado that she wrapped herself around in. She let the tornado loose, blowing away Flame's ember swarms immediately upon impact, hitting Flame directly with the strong wind current, blowing him away.

"Daaaang, no one told me we'd be something that could literally SUMMON tornadoes!" Valerie cried out. She held onto her visor tightly, trying to prevent it from blowing away. The attack was that powerful - it blew Flame upwards, sending him crashing on the ground when it was finally over. "C'mon, stand up! We still got this!"

Flame eventually did stand, reigniting his flames. "We'll try the direct approach. Give em' hell with a Quick attack!" Flame rushed in as quickly as he could on all four legs towards the Eldegoss, but Eldegoss showed no concern, giving Flame a very taunting grin.

"Cotton Guard!"

Plop! Flame's attack was stopped short… by a wooly wall of fluff that surrounded the Eldegoss. "Whaaaaaaaa?!" Valerie could only shriek, realizing that one of the most OP movesets in the field were in the form of delightfully fluffy material? Now that's a new one. Flame carefully observed the cotton formed, only to turn his attention back to the Eldegoss. On closer look, there seemed to be something… off about this pokemon. Was it… laughing at Flame?

Flame's instincts too over - he tried getting away, but it was too late. "Now, use Pollen Puff!" Milo then cried. Eldegoss moved about round and round, releasing pores of pollen from her cotton on top of her head. The pollen floated gently, eventually surrounding Flame innocently. But after a while… each one exploded.

"Aw ma-- Achoo!" The resulting explosion wrapped the field in a light smoke, but tickling to Valerie's nose, it made her sneeze. When it cleared, Flame was on the ground, covered in bruises. He manages to slowly get up once more, but to only have another look at the Eldegoss, wearing her sinister grin. It was surreal; to Flame, it started to look like the Eldegoss was larger than life, like a titan looking down on a mere speck blown by the wind. It was too much. The aura she exuded made Flame unconsciously want to back off a bit.

"What's the matter, Flamey?! Go get her!" Valerie tried reaching out, stopping Flame in his tracks. The Cyndaquil looked back at Valerie with Valerie glaring at Flame back. "Don't worry, bro! We'll just attack and attack till we win!"

Flame wasn't so sure. But still, he went back and ignited his flames. Mustering up the strength he had left, he gave it one last go: to tackle his opponent, or at least something to hold his ground. The Eldegoss continued to wrap herself with the cotton she released, as a soft barrier that cushioned Flame's attack. He tried again and again, but on his third attempt, was stopped short with an accidental glance of Eldegoss's menacing look. "What's wrong, Flame? Try your Fire attacks! Like Ember!" Valerie cried out, with Flame obeying, releasing barrages of Embers from his mouth.

"Push em' back with Hyper Voice!" Milo commanded, having Eldegoss take a brief inhale, letting loose a terrifying shout that echoed the entire field. Valerie was forced to cover her ears to block the sound, while Flame, trying to stand his ground, eventually was blown backwards. The result, making him crash upon the nearby pole.

The Eldegoss stopped her shout, having Valerie finally uncover her ears. "Awww Flame, we can't lose like this! Stand up! Stand up, stand up, stand up!" she tried to cheer on. Flame managed to raise his head up slightly, with his sights upon the Eldegoss. But, he knew, he was losing consciousness. Despite Valerie's shouting, he couldn't even hear her. All he could see, and hear was… the Eldegoss's laugh, and the cheeky look on her face, knowing she had greatly bested her opponent. Flame then subbcommed, fainted where he sat.

"Oh… RIP…" Valerie mumbled, disappointedly. "FMLLLL! Guess we lost this one."

She was then greeted with Milo placing his hand on her shoulder. "A nice try," he complimented with a sincere grin. He then reached in his pocket, taking out a small berry. "This here is a Sitrus Berry. Give it to your Cyndaquil, then head to the center."

"Aww, thanks Wind-Mil," Valerie said with a small smile, happily accepting the berry.

Milo then nodded. "We're gonna head back now. If you decide to take on the Gym, we hope to see ya' again." He then started to leave, taking Wooloo and his Eldegoss with him, back towards the direction of town. His Eldegoss glanced back, at her defeated Fire-type opponent. This time it was without a smile, but with a look of disgust.

She hated a lot of things.
But, out of all things she hated.
Fire-Type pokemon were the ones she hates the most.

P1 Valerie's Party

Journal

STAGE 1 - WEDGEHURST & ROUTE 2
vs. Zigzagoon pt.1
vs. Cyndaquil
vs. Zigzagoon pt.2

STAGE 2 - THE WILD AREA
vs. Morpeko
vs. Zangoose & Seviper
vs. Nidoran

STAGE 3 - WEDGEHURST
Opening Ceremony Pt. 1
Opening Ceremony Pt. 2
Opening Ceremony Pt. 3
vs. Swirlix
vs. Meowth

STAGE 4 - ROUTE 3
The Mystery of Mew ACT I Pt. 1
The Mystery of Mew ACT I Pt. 2
vs. Cherubi

STAGE 5 - GALAR MINE NO. 1 / ROUTE 4
vs. Dugtrio
vs. Vespiquen

Current Location

Route 4

A road dotted with wheat fields, long dirt paths and rolling hills, Route 4 is where most of the crop focused farms of Galar find a home, as opposed to the livestock trade of Wedgehurst and surrounding regions. Route 4 is the heart of this cultivation, the source of food, hard work and life across Galar. A bright and happy place to contrast the gloomy overcast of the mine before it, the hopeful atmosphere is known to attract some species of rarer, popular pokémon, making this place popular for trainers as well.

Trainer ID

Valerie (Val) Amity

Her main goal for her journey is to seek at least 100 friends - humans, or pokemon. So, she seeks to meet and obtain as much pokemon as she can for friends. She also seeks a successful endeavor within her Gym Battle challenge in Galar, in the hopes of one day, becoming champion, like many other trainers who have the same dream.

Items

Pokeball x1

Greatball x1

Moomoo Milk x3

--

TR: Rock Tomb x1
TM: Dig

Badges

---

Galarian Pokédex V. 8

#032: Nidoran♂
#035: Clefairy
#172: Pichu
#155: Cyndaquil
#158: Totodile
#246: Larvitar
#255: Torchic
#263: Zigzagoon
#270: Lotad
#293: Whismur
#335: Zangoose
#336: Seviper
#384: Rayquaza
#416: Vespiquen
#420: Cherubi
#546: Cottonee
#582: Vanillite
#684: Swirlix
#778: Mimikyu
#821: Rookidee
#824: Blipbug
#867: Runerigus
#885: Dreepy
#887: Morpeko

Remember: Val loves you! ♡♡♡
Struggle: Valentine ♡ Chatter: @WillUBMyVALentine? ♡ Dizcord: Valentine#1196

Fen-Fen · Feb 2, 2021

Haleigh Windsor
17 | Female | From Circhester and Spikemuth

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

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

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

Wooloo Wranglin'

Haleigh looked up at the towering stadium that loomed over her. She took a deep breath, letting the wind blow through her tousled hair. This was all that it came down to. Those two years at the Academy, all for the shot at being where Leon stood. A part of her couldn't believe that she made it this far, especially given how much Haleigh had been through just to get here.

The girl clenched her fist. None of that mattered. All that mattered was that she was going to lead herself and her team to victory, show everyone what this girl was made of.

She was going to prove them wrong.

To her right, Corey was mirroring his trainer and stood in awe at the size and scope of the building. The Scorbunny wore a serious, determined expression, looking as ready to go as Haleigh was.

His trainer looked down at him, a confident smirk on her face. "So, you ready to go? Ready to show all of Galar how strong we are?!"

He gave a resolute nod and exclaimed, "Scor!"

"I can't hear you! I said, are you ready to GO?!"

The Scorbunny belted out another cry and jumped up as high as her chest, giving her the most intense look the little Pokemon could muster. "SCOR!"

She giggled and patted him on his head. "That's what I like to hear!"

With that little pep talk out of the way, Haleigh and Corey made their way into the lobby of the stadium, their heads held high and their stances oozing with confidence. She walked up to the front desk, slamming her hand down at the desk and exclaiming, "Haleigh Windsor, number 41, ready to rock!"

The poor league attendant at the desk - a bespectacled young man with short brown hair not much older than Haleigh - recoiled at the girl's extreme, in your face enthusiasm and stammered out, "O-oh, sorry ma'am, there's already a match in session. You're going to have to wait. Feel free to wait over there, maybe watch it while you wait…" He offered an apologetic expression, hoping not to earn the ire of the teen.

Haleigh looked momentarily disappointed, seeing as she was raring to go and get the battle started. However, she perked right back up at the mention of a match and replied, "Okay! I'll come back up when it's over."

She took her seat over on a sofa, Corey sitting next to her and watching the TV as the camera panned over the battle. The boy that was battling him was wearing a standard white League jersey, a bucket hat and flashing confident expressions at the camera. Haleigh laughed with glee as she recognized the face.

"Simon! You got this mate!"

She watched enraptured as she tuned in to see Simon's Joltik duke it out against the Eldegoss. The Joltik tried to get up close with a Fury Cutter, but got swiftly rebuffed by the foe's Cotton Down ability and a flurry of Cotton Spores.

Haleigh winced as it looked like the poor little bug was done for, trapped under all of that cotton. He-

"Princess, use Beat Up!"

At first, nothing. Then, Haleigh heard a shrill cry coming from the pile of cotton, cutting off the feed for a few seconds before returning to the sight of a few tiny yellow specks raining down from the roof of the stadium. Were those…more Joltiks?

The purple haired girl watched in awe as the swarm of Joltiks then started to descend upon the poor Eldegoss, attacking it with unbelievable power and leaving the grass Pokemon in the dust.

Haleigh got up from her seat and jumped up, cheering for him as she realized that he had knocked out all of Milo's Pokemon and won. "Woo! He did it! That's what I'm talking about!"

As soon as the match was over, Haleigh sprinted over to the desk, shouting at the poor League attendant, "Woohoo, now I'm really ready! Get me in there!

The man winced as he took the enthusiastic exclamation head on, mumbling, "Y-yes ma'am, we'll get you right in."

She rocketed over towards the locker room, moving into a private stall so that she could get changed into her uniform, ditching the jeans for the gym shorts and leggings, putting on the Spikemuth tank top and getting her tie-dye jacket.

By the time she emerged from the changing stall, Haleigh saw that Simon had come out of the stadium, looking quite pleased at winning the battle. The dozens of Joltik who'd joined him flooded into the changing area as they crawled beside the bug catcher.

She called out to him. "Yo Simon, mate, that was one hell of a battle you put on! Congrats on your win!"

"Yo, Hales!!" Simon ran up to her, jumping over a few Joltik in front of him. "Thank you- I still can't believe it myself, honestly! You going up next?" he asked.

The girl flashed Simon a peace sign. "Yeah mate, you better believe it! That battle's got me all fired up and ready to go! I reckon me and Corey here are gonna get the win against Milo too."

The Scorbunny let out a cry of "Scor!" in agreement, raising a fist in the air.

"Absolutely, lad!" Simon crouched down. "Gimme five!"

Corey leaped up and gave the boy a high five. Haleigh laughed at the fire bunny's enthusiasm, saying to Simon, "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I think we ought to get goin'. Cheer for me though, would ya?"

"Wait." Simon grabbed Haleigh's shoulder, his face now dead serious. "Spikemuth Handshake, go."

Haleigh turned back, a look of glee on her face as she remembered when she and Melody taught him the Spikemuth handshake back in school. "Right on!"

She started out the handshake with a fist bump with her right fist on top of Simon's right fist, switching to their left fists, doing one last fist bump and bringing in her arms in an X shape, the two of them finally shouting "SPIKEMUTH!"

"Now you go GET 'EM, GIRL!" Simon slapped Haleigh's back. "I'll be cheering you on!"

Between the pep talk that she and Corey shared and the one that she just did with Simon, the punk teen was more than ready to face the challenge of her first gym battle. She gave a wave as Simon took his leave, walking out into the stadium from the locker.

This was going to be the epic start Haleigh had been waiting for.

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

Haleigh emerged from the locker room with Corey beside her onto a grassy field inside of the stadium. A short distance away from her were the ten Wooloo that stood by docilely, grazing the grass and letting out the occasional bleating noises. On the far side of the field laid a corral with its gate open, making it quite clear what the goal was.

"Challenger 41, are you ready?!" The man's voice over the speaker oozed with enthusiasm and gusto.

Matching the announcer's energy, Haleigh shouted back, throwing up her right hand up in a peace sign, "Hell yeah I'm ready! Let's get 'em Corey!"

"3, 2, 1! Begin!"

The punk trainer and her partner made a beeline towards the Wooloo. Obviously, she couldn't attack them to get them to move (not that she'd want to hurt the harmless Pokemon anyways). She had seen some of the others' ways of getting the Wooloo into the corral - ranging from Raph's Eevee managing to scare the shit out of them to the point they ran away to Simon wrangling them and wrapping them up in spider web.

A smirk crosses Haleigh's face as an idea formulates in her head on how she was going to round them up. Her mind flashes to the Skiddo race just a few days earlier, the pure feeling of exhilaration, the wind in her hair and the pure speed that she was able to go. Luckily for her, the Wooloo seemed to be on the bigger side and she wasn't all that big herself, meaning she could probably ride them for short bursts.

"Alright little Wooloo, consider your arses good as wrangled!" The exclamation was met with a few murmurs from the crowd,

She dashes over to one of the Wooloo, mounting the fluffy Pokemon, assuming the Skiddo racing position that she had picked up from yesterday's race. Elbows slightly bent, leaning forward, hands on the-

Horns. Wooloo didn't have horns. Instead, Haleigh reached down toward the strands of braided wool and grabbed them. Corey jumped up onto the Wooloo, sitting down behind his trainer and grabbing on to Haleigh's waist.

However, just as Haleigh was about to ride the Wooloo, it seemed the sheep Pokemon was having second thoughts and started bolting off in the opposite direction of the corral. Haleigh let out a grunt, managing to just barely hold on to her makeshift ride.

"Easy, easy! Circle back, I want to round up your friends too. Corey, hop off and get in front of me and get towards the Wooloo." The Scorbunny complied, taking off with a running start towards the flock of Wooloo.

Haleigh, her Wooloo and Corey all came barreling down towards the oncoming Wooloo, arcing their trajectory over a long distance to get themselves behind the flock to lead them. As the distance between themselves and the herd of Wooloo drew ever closer, an idea flashed in Haleigh's mind. Where was the fun in just chasing them into the corral? No, the scene was missing something flashy, something that'd mark this challenge as hers.

What was a good show without some pyrotechnics?

She raised up a fist in the air, absolutely exuberant and relishing the moment. "Corey, get up high in the air, and LIGHT IT UP!"

The Scorbunny started sprinting in a zig-zag pattern, crouching his body low to the ground to store up energy for his leap in the air. Corey started crouching ever lower the closer he got to the Wooloo until-

WHOOSH. He took off in the air, getting several feet up in the air and taking a deep breath before finally peppering the air with a flurry of flames. The combination of the galloping girl on her Wooloo and the makeshift fireworks were more than enough to get them moving, sprinting in the direction of the corral.

One by one, each of the other nine Wooloo got inside of the corral before finally, Haleigh hopped off of her Wooloo and looked up towards the crowds, a raucous applause and cheering following her successful Wooloo wrangling.

"With three minutes and six seconds remaining, challenger 41 has cleared the gym challenge! Congratulations, challenger!"

The words rang in Haleigh's ears. After all that the girl had been through in the last several months, it all came down to what lay next.

"Let's go get us that badge." She gave the crowd one last look before turning her head forward, ascending the stairs into the lights of the stadium and onwards towards the awaiting battle.

LinearAxel · Feb 2, 2021

Melody Argent

18 | Female | From Spikemuth

Inventory

Spoiler:

Nice Work You Did, You're Gonna Go Far, Kid

Melody stands outside the Turfield gym, gently gripping the skull charm against her chest. "Ready for round one?" She asks the Doom Noodle perched on her shoulder.

"Py." He answers before giving her cheek an encouraging head-boop.

Melody gives a small smile in response before walking towards the doors. She shoves them open and makes her way quickly to the front desk, where a green haired girl is manning what looks like a sign in sheet.

"Good morning! How can I help you?"

"Challenger 182 here to challenge Milo." Melody answers.

"One-eighty-twooo… One-eightyyy-- Samantha Argent?"

" Melody. "

"Oh! I see here, sorry. Okay, let me see your Pokedex. We'll get you scanned in and ready to go. You can change into your challenger uniform over there."

"Cool." Melody says as she hands over her Pokedex. The green haired girl scans the machine and smiles when Melody's trainer card pops up.

"Excellent! We'll call for you over the entercom when the challenger's field is ready for you-- Miss?"

The words fall on deaf ears as, when Melody turned to face the dressing room, her attention was stolen by a group of three people huddled together, whispering. She could just barely make out their words.

"-- Wouldn't bet on it. Spikemuth trainers hardly ever make it far."

"They've gotten better since Marnie took over."

"If by better y--" The man catches Melody's stare and immediately closes his mouth.

"Miss Melody?" The green haired girl asks again.

"Huh?"

"We'll call for you when the challenger field is ready."

"Great." The punk teen sneers at the huddled group as she makes her way to the dressing room.
A frowning Doom Noodle sits on the dresser as Melody hooks the back of her last earring. "How's it look?" She asks.

Nightshot lets out a thoughtful hum before realizing what's missing. He dives into Melody's satchel and comes out with a thin, plastic container in his mouth.

"You think?" Melody asks, to which the Doom Noodle replies with a nod.

Melody takes the container and pops it open. Inside are several stark white hair extensions that the punk teen begins to thread into her hair.

Ding! Challenger 182, please come to the challenger's arena.

"That's us." Melody says as she threads in the last strand. "Let's rock." She says, the slightest hint of pride in her tone.

After a brief explanation of the goal, Melody comes to stand in a large arena. Above her is a large timer, and in front of her are 10 Wooloo. She just needs to guide them towards the goal post like big, fluffy footballs. Alright, fair enough.

"Ten minutes starts now!" A voice calls out, quickly followed by the chime of a bell.

"Let's go, Piper! Use Shadow Sneak!" Melody calls out. The tiny ghost shoots out of her Pokeball and immediately dives into the shadows of the arena before leaping out of said shadows beside two of the Wooloo. Being normal types, Melody didn't have to worry about the ghostly attacks knocking the sheep out, but it did serve to spook them into running. Seeing their friends suddenly bolt, the other Wooloo two began to shoot off in different directions. The first two running towards the goal while the others darted in the opposite direction.

****. Melody thinks to herself. She figured the Wooloo would stick to their herd mentality and run together. Okay, this is fine, she can work with this.

9:30 left. Plenty of time. "Use Bullet Seed to keep those two running straight!"

Piper floats along behind the two Wooloo that started for the goal post. Each time one of them tried to move to the right or left, the little pumpkin shot a round of loud, crackling seeds against the ground near their feet, causing them to dart back in the other direction.

Eight minutes and eight Wooloo to go… but those eight Wooloo are now further from the goal than when they started.

"Nightshot, let's turn these guys around. Quick Attack to the right! Lyric!" She calls as she reaches for another Pokeball. "Pin Missile to the left!"

Nightshot zips in front of the four Wooloo headed in his direction, the frantic Wooloo stopping short and turning around when the blurry dragon-jet cuts in front of them. On the other side, Lyric fires several missiles into the grass in front of the other four charging Wooloo. Like their friends, the sight of the shining needles shooting at them causes them to about-face.

7:15

"Keep them together!" Melody calls out as she joins in the fray, charging down the center of the arena to where her Pokemon are herding the sheep Pokemon back into their bundle. An eager Lyric charges after the Wooloo, playfully nipping at their legs when they try to break out of their sheep-heap. They outnumber him; however, and it's not long before more than one attempts to break free at a time.

"Piper, come back! Nightshot, Quick Attack in a circle!"

Once more the tiny pumpkin dives into the shadows and quickly crosses the arena, reappearing in front of Melody and hitching a ride on her shoulder-- outside of using Shadow Sneak… she is not very fast. Meanwhile, Nightshot zips into action with his Quick Attack, zooming in a tight circle around the Wooloo to keep them together. It works like a charm-- for thirty seconds or so, before the little dragon makes himself dizzy from the speedy circles and begins to fly closer to the ground.

"Nightshot, here!" Melody calls out as she holds her arms out to catch the dynamo-dragon. The unsteady Dreepy crashes into his trainer's arms with a dazed expression.

"Pyyyyy…"

"It's okay, little dude. We're almost there." She encourages.

4:45

"Fall back, Lyric!" Melody calls as she comes to a stop.

The dark type turns to go back to his trainer and looks up to her expectantly. This seems to be the opposite of what they need to be doing! The clock is ticking!

The Wooloo, several feet ahead now, slow to a stop now that the danger seems to have stopped pursuing them.

4:15

"Just one more push. It's going to take all four of us. Ready?"

She's answered by three eager cries.

"Okay. Lyric, Snarl!"

The Zigzagoon hops onto his back legs and releases a sharp, loud growl. They're too far away for the attack to damage the Wooloo, but the sound sends them shooting off in different directions again. Two for the goal, three to the left and three to the right.

"Piper, Bullet Seed them back!" Melody says as she points to the right-charging Wooloo. "Nightshot, Infestation around the other three! Lyric, follow me!"

3:50

Melody charges straight forward with Lyric at her heels. The two split from one another and run alongside opposite sides of the Wooloo to prevent them from breaking apart from one another.

Four Wooloo down. 3:30 to go. Piper floats into the air and fires another Bullet Seed in the path of the right facing Wooloo to get them to turn around. Nightshot, shaking the dizziness from his eyes, summons forth a swarm of tiny, ghostly insects that give chase to the left Wooloo, soon cutting in front of them and forcing them too to turn around.

"Don't let up! Guide them this way!"

Bullets are fired, ghostly bugs buzz, very distressed Wooloo bleat in frustration as the ghostly pair steer them into the center. Melody grins as the six draw closer, scooping up Lyric and diving out of the way as the Wooloo charge for the goal.

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Wooloo in the goal!

"Congratulations, challenger! With 2:35 left on the clock, Challenger 182 advances to challenge Milo!"

"Thank ****." Melody heaves a sigh as she bends down with her hands clasped to her knees. "I… am not a farm person."

A chill runs down Melody's spine as she walks across the small, dark pathway between the challenge stage and Milo's arena. She can feel her heart begin to drum more quickly in her chest as the sound of the crowd echoes within the short chamber. "This is it." She whispers while gripping her necklace gently against her palm. She feels Doom Noodle's little, shaky arms rest on her shoulder and flashes a confident grin. "Let's teach these people how to rock."

The lights of the arena cause the numerous spikes on Melody's challenger uniform to reflect and give something of a twinkling effect as the challenger walks to the center of the arena. The mountain of a gym leader stands center stage and flashes a charismatic smile. "Challenger 182, Melody, right?" The man asks in a jovial voice.

"That's me."

Milo makes a pointed look at the white streaks in the teen's hair and gives a small nod. "Before the ceremony in Motostoke, I had some drinks with Piers. He told me about this girl that broke backstage before one of his concerts to ask him to sign her endorsement. He said that girl had a lot of guts and a lot of nerve." Milo folds his arms over his chest. "Then I read about a girl from Spikemuth that charged into a burning building to save someone she'd never met, and I thought, that girl's got a lot of guts and a lot of nerve. She's got to be the one Piers was talking about."

Melody tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and casts her gaze away from the gym leader. "You got me."

"Thought so," Milo says warmly as he extends his hand. "But it'll take more than guts and nerve to win in a gym challenge. Are you ready?"

Melody reaches out and clasps the gym leader's hand. "Ready and waiting."

The two part and make their way to opposite sides of the arena, Melody clutching one of the Pokeballs tightly in her hand as she turns to face her opponent.

"I choose you, Flapple!"

The apple-wyrm takes shape on the battlefield and quickly takes to the skies. Melody clutches the Pokeball in her hand tightly before raring her arm back. "Let's go, Bishop!"

The Pokeball bursts open and the light takes to the skies, shaping into the raven Pokemon as it ascends. "Squire!" He caws powerfully as he sizes up his opponent. A dragon! This will be a true test of the strength he's gained since evolving. Gleaming red eyes cut to Melody and Bishop gives her a confident nod.
"Looks like we've got a sky battle on our hands, folks!" The announcer's voice calls through the stadium. "Our first match will be Gym Leader Milo's Flapple versus Challenger Melody's Corvisquire!"

"Begin!" The referee calls with the wave of his flag.

"Flapple, use Grav Apple!"

As Flapple glides forward, several large apples materialize in the air and begin flying towards the battle-hungry raven.

"Push them back with Fury Attack and get in close!!"

Bishop flies towards the ambush of apples with a glowing beak. A frantic flurry of head-movement pecks into the apples and causes them to crumble. The bird's eyes narrow in a determined fashion as he flies in close to the wyrm.

"Now Leer!"

"Sucker Punch!"

The trainers shout at the same time. Bishop's eyes glow a vibrant, threatening red as he stares down the wyvern-Pokemon. Said Pokemon balls his tiny hand into a fist and throws a punch-- that makes no contact, instead sending the grass type spinning in the air. Milo is forced to give a small laugh. "Looks like you got me."

Melody smirks as her eyes seem to flicker in excitement. "Use Pluck!"

While Flapple regains its balance, Bishop descends upon the dizzied Pokemon, his glowing beak crashing into its backside from behind. The grass type yelps out in pain from the super-effective hit combined with his own lowered defenses. As Flapple flies forward, putting some distance between himself and Bishop, Melody calls out again. "Hone Claws!"

Bishop flaps his wings and flexes his talons, a sharpening sound is heard as a gleam appears over the Corvisquire's talons and eyes.

"Use Dragon Claw!" Milo shouts. His dragon quickly recovers from the attack and flies forward to slash his sharp claws across the powering-up raven's head.

The attack hits its mark and the sharp fangs tear across Bishop's face. The raven shouts out in pain and instinctively flaps his wings forcefully in order to fly backward, away from the threat to his sight.

"That looks like a critical hit!" The announcer calls out. "Can Melody's Corvisquire keep on?"

"Bishop! You okay?" Melody calls out. The raven Pokemon shakes his head frantically before steadying himself and looking back to his trainer.

Bishop squints as if having a hard time focusing his sight after the slice across his face, but he gives a determined nod.

"That might leave a mark… but I bet Milla will think a battle scar makes you look stronger." Melody adds as she gives the bird a thumbs up.

Bishop's eyes light up at the mention of the little electric mouse and he gives a powerful caw, followed by a determined flap of his wings that sends him several feet higher into the air. "Squire!" He shouts to his opponent.

"It seems like our challenger is still in this! But can Bishop the Corvisquire really summon the strength to go on after such a powerful blow?"

Bishop shoots the announcer a rather indignant stare before looking back to Melody for instruction.

"Use Hone Claws again!" Melody calls out. The hype-man has a point: There's no guarantee that Bishop can take another hit. They need to lure Flapple in close and strike hard to turn this around.

"Now use Acrobatics!" Milo shouts.

Acrobatics - The user nimbly strikes the target. If the user is not holding an item, this attack inflicts massive damage. Melody grits her teeth as the description of the move flashes before her eyes. There's no way Bishop's going to be able to keep going if he takes an attack that strong. "Bishop, DROP!"

As the apple-wyvern flits through the air, Bishop's wings cease their flapping and tuck against his sides. He begins to fall to the grassy fields below with Flapple gliding right behind.

Melody clenches her fist as Bishop falls closer and closer to the grassy ground below. "Now Power Trip!"

Mere feet from the ground now, a dark, chilling aura gathers around Bishop's body. Right when the raven Pokemon is about to collide with the ground below, he opens his wings and releases the explosion of dark power. Two hone claws, four power boosts, one incredible attack. Having closed in to land his Acrobatics attack, there was no escape for the apple-flavored Wyvern.

Flapple spirals away from the explosion and hits the ground with a powerful thud, and as the darkness and debris clears from around Bishop, the proud Raven can be seen standing in a small crater. The burst of power cushioned his blow and allowed him to land with relative ease.

"Flapple, return." Milo says as he holds out the wyvern's Pokeball. As Flapple vanishes from the field, Milo gives the punk teen a pleased smile. "Not bad."

"What an explosive conclusion! Challenger Melody has won the first round!"

Melody releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding and thrusts her fist into the air. "Way to go, Bishop!"

"Squuire!" Bishop calls as he puffs his chest out.

"I can see what Piers was talking about." Milo says as he reaches for his second Pokeball. "You've got a real fire inside you, but if fire doesn't have anything to work with, it'll burn itself out. Can you keep going?" He tosses his Pokeball into the air before snatching it back up and tossing it towards the arena. "Let's go, Eldegoss!"

The small Pokemon appears on the battlefield with a powerful, though pleasant, trill.

****. Melody thinks to herself as she reaches for Bishop's Pokeball. She knew this one was coming, but that didn't mean she was happy at all about it. That thing's ability is going to be a pain in her ass. "Bishop, return."

The raven Pokemon stares indignantly at his trainer as the beam hits him and returns him to the safety of his ball. He wants to keep fighting! The blow to the head wasn't that bad!

"Sorry, bud." Melody murmurs to the Pokeball. "Be my backup, okay?" She says before hooking Bishop's ball to her belt and retrieving another one. "Let's go, Annabelle!"

Annabelle makes her debut on the arena with a flourish, spinning around the grassy arena and showing off her new, Flame-inspired costume.

"The second battle will be Challenger Melody's Mimikyu versus Gym Leader Milo's Eldegoss. Begin!"

"Eldegoss, use Leaf Tornado!"

"Annabelle, Double Team!"

As the spiraling leaves glide towards the ragdoll Pokemon, Annabelle puts on a determined face and summons multiple Clonabelles. The storm of leaves collide with several ghostly fairies, yet they all merely vanish out of existence upon being hit.

"Now use Burning Jealousy!"

Annabelle, along with the remaining Clonabelles, all glare hatefully as their eyes begin to gleam a dangerous red. Fire sparks from underneath Annabelle's disguise before quickly spreading across a great deal of the arena. Flames feed off of the grassy area and grow before washing over Eldegoss like a powerful wave.

Melody makes a mental note to buy Aeliana and Aria lunch next time she sees them. The special, fire-type move really is her ace in the hole. "Nice shot, 'Belle!"

Eldegoss shakes the ashes from the top of her head and gives a determined glare to the ragdoll Pokemon. Her trainer grins at his Pokemon's resilience before looking across the arena to Melody. "We're not done yet. Eldegoss, slow Mimikyu down with Cotton Spore!"

"Annabelle, get behind them with Shadow Sneak!" From what Melody remembered of Eldegoss, its key strategy seemed to be to slow its opponent down, and her usual strategy of pummeling full-force into her opponent was going to be playing right into Milo's plan-- if they don't make contact with the grass type; however, its ability can't kick in, and if they can avoid the Cotton spores, they've completely overthrown this part of Milo's tactic.

Annabelle sinks into the shadows and glides underneath the arena and then leaps into the air behind her opponent. "Now use Fairy Wind!"

Annabelle sways in the air, the familiar pink, twinkling wind summoning from her little body and blowing forcefully into Eldegoss' back. As Eldegoss is pushed back, the force of the wind blows Annabelle further upward.

"Eldegoss, Pollen Puff!"

Eldegoss spins around and summons forth her own twinkling attack. Without the ground beneath her, Annabelle can't sink back into the ground to dodge, and she takes the attack head on. She hits the ground with a sickening cracking sound, her disguise broken.

Melody smirks with excitement once more as Annabelle hops back up. "Copy Cat!"

Annabelle smiles underneath her disguise as she twirls and summons a return Pollen Puff, glimmering particles dancing around her before striking into her opponent. Even without the disguise, the bug type move wouldn't have hit the fairy-ghost too hard; a grass type, however…

The strike hits hard and sends Eldegoss toppling over.

"Now Shadow Sneak into Burning Jealousy!"

An eager Annabelle vanishes into the shadows once more and reappears mere inches from where Eldegoss lands, her eyes glowing with a vengeful rage as the arena is once more taken over by a wave of fire. As the fire begins to fade, a blackened Eldegoss lie unmoving on the field.

"Eldegoss is unable to battle!" Calls the referee.

"That calls it! Challenger 182, Melody Argent, has defeated the Turfield Gym!"

Melody flashes a grin and holds her hand up in the rock on symbol. "Nice work, Anna--"

"Kyyyu!" The ragdoll Pokemon cries as she leaps into the air and wraps her ghostly arm around her trainer's neck. Melody laughs as she returns the Pokemon's odd little hug.

Milo smiles at the pair as he walks across the battlefield. "You had some interesting tricks up your sleeve." He compliments.

"All-Out-Pummeling your Eldegoss wasn't going to work, so I had to work with what I had."

"Brute force alone can only get you so far. Like I said before, it's great to have fire, but if you don't have anything to feed that fire with, you'll crash and burn pretty quick. You proved there's more to you than brute force, and that's what gave you the win." With that, Milo holds out the small green badge. "So I present you with the Grass Badge."

Milo places the badge in Melody's palm before giving her hand another eager shake. "Good luck out there, 182."

"Miss Melody?" The green haired girl from before asks as Melody steps out of the arena.

"Yeah?"

"Congratulations on your victory!" She cheers happily before presenting a small box. "I was asked by a deliveryman to give this to you after you won your match."

"Yeah?" Melody asks with a curious expression. She takes the box and immediately opens it, giving a tiny chuckle and a tiny smile at its contents: Inside are a pair of earrings shaped like Grass badges along with a tiny note.

I knew you could do it. Don't give up. - Your Benefactor.

"Big dork." Melody says under her breath. She turns the earrings to the little dragon on her shoulder so that he can get a good look. "One down, seven to go, yeah?"

Dusty · Feb 3, 2021

David Sornum - Turffield
[/I]

Gravel crunched under David's feet as he walked up the lane, the early afternoon sun warming his back. He took a deep breath through his nose, enjoying the clean scents of the town around him; fresh cut grass, the smell of recently cooked meals from the occasional food stall he passed. He had decided he liked Turffield, despite only having been there a couple days. Motostoke had been fine, but definitely had the cramped feel of a city. And the walk through the mines had been even worse. This town was definitely preferrable to the previous stops on his journey.

He was pulled out of his daydreaming by a sharp stab to the top of his head. "Ouch!" he exclaimed rubbing at the spot on his head while Red flitted up into the air dodging his hand. David glared up at the small Fletchling as it darted this way and that. "Yes fine, I know we need food. Or more accurately you need food."

Red darted around his head and few times chirping, "Fe! Fe! Fletchliiiing!" then returned to his usual perch on the top of David's head.

"If you're so eager maybe you can lead the way," David chuckled as he glanced upward. Red chirped happily in response and leapt into the air, flitting this way and that through the market, stopping before each of the stalls before moving on. David followed quickly, keeping a careful eye on the pokemon to ensure he didn't snatch any items. Red was a terrible thief, especially for small trinkets and bits of food.

A few minutes later David knelt on the ground and slipped the small bag of bird food into his backpack. Red hopped down from where he was perched on David's shoulder and hopped down onto the backpack, trying to slip inside the pack along with the feed. "No you don't," David growled his hands darting forward and grabbing Red who chirped angrily. "This," he said, "is for later. I watched you eat a whole chunk of cinnamon roll, you do not need more food right now, you'll spoil dinner." Red continued to struggle between his hands and chirped angrily. David sighed, shaking his head. "If you don't behave, you'll be taking a rest in your pokeball and Goose will have her turn." That calmed the Fletchling down and David tossed him into the air, the small bird catching itself with a few quick wingbeats.

Zipping the backpack closed David started down the street again, Red flitting around his head again. "Right, so….gym challenge? We're probably not ready for that, so…training instead? Or just enjoying the sights?" Red hovered in front of him with an indignant look and poked him in the forehead with its beak. "Okay, so you're strong enough for the challenge. But I'm not, so we'd be training me, okay?" Red seemed mollified as it perched on his shoulder, then got distracted again as it fluttered down to the ground and picked up something in its beak.

David gave the object a questioning glance as Red dropped it into his hand, then stared up at him. It was a small coin, reflecting the sunlight in the afternoon sun. He chuckled as he placed the coin on his thumb and flicked the coin up in the air, spinning end over end as it caught the sunlight. Red chirped happily as he darted into the air and snatched the tumbling coin out of the air in its beak before returning to David's hand, depositing the coin again. It was a common enough game they'd played, and David enjoyed it even more as it served as effective precision training for Red. Making something into a game was always the best way to motivate him David had found.

They continued down the street that way for a while, David flipping the coin up into the air and Red snatching it as it fell, as the two made their way out into the outskirts of the town where they'd be able to more easily train. The paved and gravel streets of the town had given way to dirt tracks and the buildings replaced with fields of corn and wheat. He absentmindedly flipped the coin up each time as he watched the waves of wind toss fields of yellow grain, enjoying the sight and pleasant atmosphere.

That was suddenly disrupted by the angry chirps of Red. Startled out of his thinking he glanced up to see Red shooting past him through the air. Tracking Red's direction he saw another bird pokemon, this one larger and darker, with a glint of silver in its beak. He put the pieces together quickly in his mind. The Murkrow, at least that's what he was pretty sure the black bird pokemon was, had seen the game he and Red had been playing and decided to steal the coin for itself. And now a very angry Red was in chase as the two quickly flew off into the distance. He groaned and forced himself into a quick run trying to keep up with both pokemon.

It was several minutes when he finally caught up, gasping for breath, as he found Red in a panic dodging the attacks of a half dozen murkrow. Thinking quickly he pulled the other pokeball from his belt, thumbing the ball and throwing it. In a flash of silver light Goose appeared, and David quickly said, "Goose, use Water Gun on those Murkrow, just scare them off if you can! Red, dive to the ground quick!"

Goose took a moment taking in the surrounding before jumping to action, quickly blasting off a water gun, then another, and another. The shots weren't terribly accurate, but they were enough to give Red the cover he needed to make for the ground. The first shot, though inaccurate, took the first Murkrow unawares blasting it full in the face. The second and third managed to only clip wings, and the rest after that missed completely as the flock of Murkrow spun around and fled across the field of corn.

David was startled by the sounds of clapping as a well tanned man walked up the road towards him. "That was pretty well handled! I saw from the house," he said gesturing to the farmhouse a few hundred feet up the road, "but looks like you had it well under control. Your Fletchling okay though?"

He glanced over at Red who had recovered and hopped up onto a fence, chirping angrily in the retreating Murkrow flock's direction. "I think he's just fine," David replied, then continued low enough for Red not to hear, "though maybe a bit of an injured pride."

The farmer laughed, a deep bellied chuckle. "Aye that sounds about right. I'd thank you for scaring them off, but I'm sure they'll be back before too long. The vermin like the corn and I cant seem to be rid of them for more than a day or two."

"I'm surprised to see them here, aren't they native to Jhoto?" David asked.

"You're right about that! Invasive species and all that, some trainer released a few of them and whaddya know a few years later there are hundreds of the bloody things all over the place." The farmer grunted, shaking his head. "Worst part is they teach each other. They're smart buggers for sure. One finds an easy spot for food and lets the others in on the secret. Put up a scarecrow and it only takes one to realize it's a fake and they'll teach the rest. Hell, they weren't a fan of my sprinkler system disturbing their snack so they taught themselves to turn it off!" He turned an eye to David, "If you can think of something I haven't yet, be my guest."

David nodded absentmindedly, trying to think of a way to solve the problem. Nothing came to mind immediately and he shook his head. "I'll think about it, maybe I'll think of something." He shrugged and waved goodbye to the farmer, Goose on his heel and Red joining, though still angrily chirping over in the Murkrows' direction, though they'd long disappeared into the trees.

He was still thinking of the problem a few hours later as he sat by a gurgling river, Goose happily splashing in the water while Red flitted from branch to branch in the trees ahead. Training had quickly taken a back seat while he pondered the problem. The Murkrow were only interested in the easy access to food, and scaring them off had only been a temporary solution up till now. He doubted he could easily scare them away, and even if he did they'd probably be back as soon as he left town.

He was momentarily distracted as Goose nudged his side. "Lett! Lett, ducklett!" The pokemon had dropped a river stone by his side. Goose looked pointed down at it, then back at David.

He picked up the stone taking a close look at it. It had a polished sheen to it and a hypnotic pattern of brown, green, and gold lines of stone running through it. All things considered it was quite pretty. "Uh…I think its Tigers Eye. Very pretty Goose!" He placed it carefully in front of him as Goose quacked happily and turned back to the river. His thoughts were interrupted again a few minutes later as Goose returned with another pretty stone, this one granite he was pretty sure. Then another stone that looked like petrified wood. Within a half hour David had a small pile of pretty river stones in front of him.

He chuckled as Goose hopped into his lap facing the stones, admiring them. David smiled, for a moment forgetting the Murkrow problem as he scratched at Goose's neck just the way she liked. The moment didn't last long as a low rumbling came from Goose's stomach, and the pokemon began quacking sadly. "Okay, okay," David chuckled, "you did very well collecting those rocks. I think you've…earned…a snack." His words trailed off as a thought suddenly came to him. Maybe, just maybe a way to deal with those Murkrows.

--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_

An hour later, after feeding both Red and Goose, he had returned both to their pokeballs. In front of him by the riverside he'd placed a small bowl and a few dozen silver coins, and he sat with the bird feed bag in his lap. It hadn't taken long for a few Murkrow to appear in the trees as they moved around the nearby farm and to take notice of the pile of coins shining in the afternoon sun. He watched them carefully, not making any sudden moves. Before long one of the braver ones leapt down from its perch and landed on the ground a few feet away from David, then lunged forward grabbing one of the coins before leaping into the air and flapping its way back up to the tree branches. The process was repeated a few more times as the rest of the small flock stole away a coin each, each theft being accompanied by more and more of the laughter like cawing of the birds.

Then David pulled out his pokeball and released Goose by his side. The Murkrow squawked and hopped back a few branches recognizing their earlier attacker, but Goose didn't pay them much mind and soon their bravery returned. David nodded at Goose and the small duck pokemon exclaimed "Ducklett!" as it went about their plan. Goose walked over to the pile of coins, then deposited a single silver coin into the bowl. David took a food pellet out of the feed bag and handed it over, Goose happily munching the snack down. David allowed Goose to have a couple more snacks in exchange for coins, then said, "Why don't you go have a swim Goose and we'll let our friends have some food too." Goose quacked happily as it waddled over to the river and hopped in, squashing happily in the cool water.

Predictably, it didn't take too long before one of the Murkrow, the bravest one who had grabbed the first coin, leapt to the ground and deposited the coin it stole hesitantly into the bowl. David smiled, his plan had worked, at least for now. He pulled a pellet out and placed it in front of the Murkrow who greedily snagged it and flew off, enjoying its treat. Soon the small flock had all returned their coins to the bowl in exchange for food, then began stealing more coins from the pile to buy even more food. Before too long the pile was gone, all placed into the bowl (though David had had to keep a careful eye on the bowl to make sure the Murkrow hadn't stolen from it). The food in his feed bag was almost gone too now that he noticed it.

Sighing he turned to the Murkrow who were much friendlier now. "Much more delicious that food, huh? Well I can tell you where to get more if you want," he said with a smile. He was hoping the food was more appetizing than corn, and that the birds would be eager for more. Several closest too him perked up at that, at least vaguely understanding his words. "To do that though, I'll need a bit of help…" he held out a hand with five food pellets in it, and then held out the other containing an empty pokeball. "More food if you want, but you'll have to help me for a while. Deal?"

Several moments went by as the first couple Murkrow glanced at the pile of food in one hand, but nervously avoided the pokeball in the other. Then one of them, not the bravest of them but the one who had always been second, hopped forward on unhesitant feet, glancing from the food to the ball, and back again. "I take good care of my friends you know, just look at Goose over there," he said gesturing with his head at the still happily splashing duck pokemon. "You help me out and I'll take care of you too!"

"Mur…murkrow!" the pokemon cawed before snagging all five pellets in a bite. Then with a beak stuffed full with food it tapped the button on the pokeball carefully. It disappeared in a flash of red light that was absorbed by the ball. David felt the ball shudder slightly in his hand as he watched the flashing red button, nervous. One heartbeat went by, then two, then five, and then the ball settled, the button blinking a solid black as the ball gave a satisfying "ding" noise.

David let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Wheew, okay so glad that worked." He glanced down at the ball, then around at the other Murkrow in the clearing still hopping and fluttering around, some watching him and waiting for more food. "Okay buddy," he said to his newly captured pokemon, "we've got some convincing to do. You think you can teach your friends to give coins to the lady at the bird feed stall in the market instead of me? Easy food and don't have an angry farmer waving you off all the time." He grinned, hoping the second part of his plan worked as well as the first. And hoped the woman who owned the stall wouldn't mind some…unconventional business. He just hoped he wasn't training a flock of Murkrow to steal any coin they saw. Ah well, baby steps. He'd deal with that if he had to. Calling out to Goose and walking out of the clearing, the group of Murkrow, now two dozen large, cawed and flapped after him, watching to see where the man who'd given them so much food would go next.

PastelPhoenix · Feb 3, 2021

Achille Béringer || 18 || ♂️
Location: Turfield.
Current Status: Redeeming a promise

Joiuse - Shadow Sneak, Fury Cutter, Autotomize, Metal Sound, Block, Aerial Ace

Proudhon - Tackle, Splash, Thrash

Alizé - Absorb, Tackle, Gust, Supersonic, Double Team, Wing Attack

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

Achille found himself in a quaint little town after emerging from the other side of the mines. He'd poked his head out of the mines from time to time during his training, but never actually followed the path all the way down to Turfield. The air felt fresher than it had in Motostoke, a welcome change to the stagnant and dusty air within the mine and sometimes humid air of the steam-powered city. Though the prospect of finding entertainment in the town between his gym training seemed fairly bleak.

Well, there was something interesting here. He recalled the jaw-shaped lump of stone in his bag, still safely wrapped in cloth and in its own pocket. The man he met in that cave said he had a lab in this town he was returning to, and part of his payment for accompanying him was restoring this fossil for him. A lab with the capability of restoring a fossil to life should stick out in a town like this. With nothing better to do at the moment, Achille set about combing the streets of Turfield.

The houses here were spaced far enough apart for each to have a sizable garden, in stark contrast to the rather cramped layout he got used to in Motostoke. The residents of Turfield largely seemed to use it as a place for gardening of some sort. Most houses had at least a plant or two around their houses, and frequently he'd pass by a large and elaborate garden that took up the entire yard. The rainbow assortment of flowers adorning the path made the search for the laboratory actually quite pleasant.

And then he found it, sticking out like a sore thumb. A plain, industrial style building with not a leaf of foliage around. Just a field of stones and boulders with a large shed, surrounded by digging gear. 'Turfield Museum of Natural History', according to the sign out front. Even if Johnson wasn't there, they'd no doubt know where his laboratory is.

Achille stepped inside the large warehouse-like building into a little lobby made up of fake walls that didn't even reach the ceiling. Just high enough to block out the view from even the tallest person. The fake walls were painted an inoffensive tan color, and the various sofas in the "lobby" looked quite dated. A glass pane separated a receptionist area from the rest of the lobby, but no one was in the room on the other side to greet him.

The door on the other side of the room was propped open, leading to the rest of the museum from what Achille could see. The place looked open, the lights were on and he could hear music further inside. Did it just have no fare? He checked over some of the papers taped to the reception window, but they were mostly for local events, a few of which had already passed judging by the dates. He did find a small doorbell attached to the counter, though, and pressed it.

A small chime came from deeper within the building, and the music stopped not long after. The door on the other side of the reception room opened, and in stepped a young woman with an unbuttoned lab coat she clearly had just thrown on before opening the door. She closed the door behind her, stepping up to the counter and taking a seat at a desk on the other side of the glass. "Sorry, is there anything I can help you with?" She said, Her voice slightly crackly coming through the speaker system.

"Actually, I was hoping you'd know where to find a Barnabus Johnson?" Achille asked. "Fossil guy? Has a lab in town?"

The lady just nodded, standing back up and grabbing something from the desk. "You're at the right place then! Meet me in the room just past that wall, I'll take you to the lab." She pointed towards the open door leading deeper into the museum. She then took off through the door leading further away from the entrance, leaving Achille to shrug his shoulders and head to the next room.

Cabinets with bits of specimens lined the walls of the corridor-like room. A few individual stands stood with larger specimens, mostly what looked like Pokemon fossils and the occasional large crystal. Most surprising was the full Aerodactyl that hung from the ceiling. Upon closer look Achille could tell that some of the bones looked to actually be concrete with a thin coat of paint, but from further away it looked like an entire skeleton. He gave a quick glance over the placard describing the large winged pokemon, having to pull out his glasses to do so, and noted the admittance that full skeletons were hard to obtain, so they made proxy bones for missing samples. Still, the amount gathered in one place surprised Achille.

A door closing behind him snapped Achille back to reality. He turned to find the woman from reception leaving an "employees only" door. Her lab coat was now properly buttoned, and she was tying her hair into a short ponytail. "Oh, I didn't think you'd want the full tour," she said as she made eye contact with Achille again. "It's pretty quiet so we're free to walk-ins. Oooor we can just go back to the labs." Something about Achille's face must have conveyed disinterest in the tour.

"Oh. Yeah. Straight back to the labs is fine." Looking at rocks wasn't exactly high on his priority when there was a prehistoric Pokemon waiting for him. The worker looked relieved at the rejection. He probably shouldn't ask for a tour after the revival with that reaction.

Achille was led down the corridor, taking in the sights of the museum as he passed. No that he could actually see the continents of the display cases he found them full of small geological samples. The actual contents varied from case to case without a particular rhyme or reason. One case was dedicated to a small display of evolutionary stones, while another contained a few fossilized plant matter and a third various sea shells. The positioning of the cases in any sort of order seemed secondary to getting full cases out onto the floor.

At least that was the vibe until they turned the corner at the end of the corridor.Beyond lay a much grander scene than the miscellaneous piles of rocks that stood in the other room. Pokemon bones, both new and old were formed into skeletons of various completeness. Unlike the Aerodactyl in the other room, these skeletons didn't include faux-bones, but steel replacements in the rough shape of the missing bone. It was cruder, but the variety of none-the-less impressive partial skeletons far surpassed his expectation. He got a rough sense of Galarian history just passing through the room, noticing older species near the front of the room while more modern Galarian wildlife sat near the back.

His gawking time ended when they approached a final set of twin doors near the back of the room, marked as another "employees only" room and sporting a card reader lock. Achille admired the exhibit adorning the back wall, a Charizard skull and wings mounted on the wall with some diagrams of Charizard's anatomy, while the lady knocked on the heavy wooden doors. "Hey, Uncle Barney," she shouted, causing Achille to cough at the unexpected nickname. "You've got someone looking for you. Some kid."

He heard some yelling behind the wall, a muffled "I'll be there in a minute" followed by the sound of metal being moved. His guide let him know it would probably be a minute or two, leaving him to glance over the room again. "This room feels really… different from the other one." He tried to break the ice, and the impressiveness of this room far exceeded the expectations set by the entry room. "You should really move more of these to the other room."

The woman sighed. She looked over at the Charizard display with a sort of wistful expression. "Yeah, I know the entry way is a little… shabby." The tone of her voice hinted at this being an ongoing debate. "Uncle Barney is a biiit of a perfectionist. We have some great displays here, but he doesn't want to move them away from his lab until they're 'ready'. We finally moved the Aerodactyl after months of me badgering him. It alone made the entryway much more exciting."

Achille gave some awkward sympathetic statements right before the door to the lab opened, sparing him from the conflict he inadvertently stepped in.The familiar face of his fossil hunter friend emerged from the lab, the rest of his body following once he spotted the trainer. "Ah, Mr. Béringer!" Barnabus exclaimed. "I was beginning to fear you would never show. I can take over from here, Abigale."

Abigale excused herself, starting back towards the entrance again. Barnabus led Achille back into the lab, propping the door open behind them. Series of cabinets lined the walls of the lab. The labels he could make out listed date ranges far, far in the past as well as what type of material was stored inside; be it plant, Pokemon, or minerals. A very large and ornate desk with an equally grand bookshelf sat in the corner of the room. The bookshelf was both packed with a wide array of books and acting as an impromptu filing cabinet. Massive leather bound tomes, slim paperbacks, magazines, binders labeled with permanent marker, and loose papers created a sense of chaos on the bookshelf. The desk was shockingly tidy. Above, the wall was lined with various certificates and diplomas. Achille's eyes were drawn to a doctorate in geology and a piece of paper labeling his as the curator for this particular museum.

The most surprising thing was a very large plastic child's pool filled with sand and water in the corner. Inside some Pokemon he initially mistook for a rock sat on a patch of dry sand. He normally had a good memory for Pokemon, but he was quite sure he's never seen this before. He pulled the Pokedex out from his pocket and pointed it towards the Pokemon.

"KABUTO the SHELLFISH POKEMON" the tiny speaker played in a robotic voice. "Unchanged for over 300 million years, this Pokemon once lived on the ancient seafloor, defending itself from predators with its hard shell. Once thought extinct, the Pokemon was first revived from an ancient fossil in the Kanto region. Rare colonies of living, wild Kabuto have been found since the initial revival."

"Ah, you've met Snippers!" Barnabus exclaimed, looking over at the Pokedex. He walked over to the small and placed his hand on the "beach". The Kabuto stirred, then moved towards the man's arm and climbed it, ending up around the man's shoulder. "I kept thinking back to the cave and how much easier it would be if I had my own Pokemon for protection."

Achille looked at the odd pairing. The graying professor-looking man and an ancient water bug. He couldn't comment on it too much though, his initial pokemon was a living sword after all. "I'm guessing Snippers wasn't one of the wild ones the dex mentioned?"

"Good assumption," Barnabus added. The bespectacled man made his way towards a set of large doors near the desk and swiped a badge from his pocket in the lock, getting a beep in return. "The revival machine is a new purchase for us, so I wanted to test it out before attempting the reconstruction of your pokemon." He entered in some code to the keypad, and the large lock audibly disengaged. "I decided to grab my favorite fossil from my personal collection for a test run, and Snippers is the product of that. Didn't want to accidentally ruin your reward."

Barnabus pushed the door open, leading the pair into the furthest room of the building. Various machines which Achille couldn't even guess the purpose of filled the room alongside what looked to be stone cutting tools. The curator walked over towards one of the machines, pulling open what looked like a glorified drawer with a lacy pillow inside. "Now, if you would, Mister Béringer."

Realizing that was where the fossil was meant to go, Achille slung his backpack off and placed it on the closest thing resembling a counter-top. He unzipped the main compartment of the bag then reached into an inner pocket. He grabbed the cloth-wrapped fossil, pulling it out and undoing the string holding the cloth together. The unwrapped fossil was handed to Barnabus, who then set the fossil on the pillow and closed the drawer again. The curator fiddled with his computer a bit before a light began to shine from inside the draw. The whirring of machinery followed, but Barnabus left the console.

"Sadly, this isn't instantaneous." Barnabus said. "It'll take a few hours for this to complete. I welcome you to check through the rest of the museum in the meantime though."

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

A certain model kept catching Achille's eye. He was completing a second run of the museum after killing time with lunch and a walk around town and found himself wandering back towards the Tyrunt and Tyrantrum display piece. It was another one of the largely steel displays in the crowd, but knowing he was going to be raising one kept him coming back to observe it more.

The Tyrantrum was posed in an aggressive and protective stance above the Tyrunt. Most of the skull and teeth were there, save for a large chunk of the lower jaw.

"If you're wondering if the other jaw fossil made it to this display, rest assured it has." The voice of Barnabus surprised Achille, and he turned around to face the curator. "Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you." The older gentleman apologized and adjusted his suit. "Simply came to fetch you as the process should be complete in a few more minutes."

"Oh," was about all Achille mustered, letting his eyes wander back over to the little Tyrunt model. Sure enough, he found a familiar chunk of rock on the left side of the lower jaw. Almost exactly opposite of the one he had. "Alright, let's head back there."

He followed the man back to the laboratory section. They made a pit stop to pick up Snippers inside the "office" portion of the lab, before Barnabus again swiped his card and entered some code to gain access to the equipment room portion. The room inside felt warmer than he recalled it being when he left, no doubt due to the massive machine he heard shaking away in the corner. Barnabus went over to a computer in the corner, pulling up screens full of various charts and graphs with a flowing stream of data, presumably checking the Pokemon reconstruction process.

"How's everything going?" Achille peered over the shoulder of Barnabus, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. A list of elements and percentages drew his eyes due to the flashing colors, red, green, and yellow. As he predicted, most of it flew right over his head.

"Right about done. Basically just waiting for the little bugger to wake up at this point." The man clicked in a few more areas before everything on the screen stopped moving. The machine that was previously whirring away stopped, replaced with the sound of some internal mechanism slowing down. "That about does it then." He sighed in relief, reaching up to pat the Kabuto on his shoulder and getting a happy clicking noise in response.

"Wait, you mean done done?" Achille asked, his excitement beginning to pique again. It seemed a little anticlimactic for literally recreating life.

"Indeed, we just need to release them at this point." Barnabus stood up from the console, stretching his fingers and popping his back. He headed towards a large cylindrical object in the center of the room, a mess of pipes, tubes, and wires flowing from the machine to various devices all across the room. Achille joined him up, crouching down to get a better look. The doctor took the handle of a large door across the front of the machine. "Ready?"

"Merde, of course I am."

Barnabus pulled the door open with a grunt, causing a gas to flow from the doorway that obscured Achille's vision. He waved away the vapor-like gas with a cough and took off his now-foggy glasses. Inside, the machine resembled a Pokeball. High-tech equipment lined the walls of the cylinder, but more importantly was the Pokemon now at the center of it. A two foot tall dinosaur-like Pokemon lay in the center of the machine, blinking as if waking up from the world's longest nap.

"Well, there's a surprise." Barnabus said, crouching to examine the Tyrunt alongside Achille. "It looks like that fossil actually belonged to a female Tyrunt. That's a tad uncommon."

Achille didn't respond, as the Tyrunt was beginning to stand up after shaking off the millions of years of unlife. The dragon type yawned, revealing a row of razor-like teeth, before moving to leave it's new "nest". It walked right up to Achille, making a sort of cooing noise and nuzzling his leg. She then gave the air a few test sniffs before moving like a rocket to Achille's bag.

"Well, that's a good sign." Barnabus said as Achille rushed over to stop the "newborn" from trampling his bag while uttering a stream of merdes. The Tyrunt had it's head in the bag before Achille could even reach it, and managed to snag an egg sandwich before the trainer pulled her out of the bag.

"What's a good sign, my food immediately being stolen?" Achille grumbled, grabbing his bag and returning it to his back. The Tyrunt devoured the sandwich without chewing. The entire thing was gone in three bites.

"No, the cooing." Barnabus explained, chuckling at the Pokemon's mischief. " For all intents and purposes, reviving a Pokemon is no different from birthing them from an egg. This isn't really the same Tyrunt that died all those years ago after all, just a clone of her. Consider that cooing a form of imprinting."

Achille sighed, following where this was going. "So I'm mom now?"

"Congratulations on a healthy birth then! Do you have a name for her yet?"

The trainer looked at the Tyrunt once again, who now stared at him with a cocked head. He supposed that meant more food?.

"Yeah, she's Aliénor."

New Pokemon

Aliénor
Female // Strong Jaw
Tackle // Tail Whip // Roar // Ancient Power // Charm // Bite

Inventory:

Spoiler:

LinearAxel · Feb 3, 2021

Melody wasn't one to find a lot of interest in rocks, though every resident of Turfield she had locked eyes with since arriving in the city (town?) had mentioned in one way or another that the stonehenge was something she needed to see. Deciding to take a look so that she could, at the very least, tell them she had seen it, the punk teen opens the door from the Pokemart to head for the hillside. When she opens the door; however, she comes face to-- chest with a familiar face.

"Woah, excuse me, Mi-- Melody!"

"Hey, Hop." Melody steps back and gives a subtle nod of greeting. Hop came around from time to time during their time at the academy-- and Melody avoided him as best she could. His boundless energy and optimism were incredibly draining to her. "Did y' stop by t' see the gym challenges?"

"Nope! Well, that's not my main reason. I'm gonna check 'em out though!"

Melody can already feel her patience beginning to drain. "Then?"

"Oh, people started reporting some weird stuff going on around the ruins, so I thought I'd check it out and make sure it's nothing suspicious. Have you checked the ruins out yet?"

"No." Melody responds almost automatically-- only to mentally kick herself when she realizes what's coming next.

"Why don't you come along? I can't wait to see what one of Sonia's top students can do out in the field."

I should have lied. Melody mentally scolds herself. Although… something weird might be more of those aura Pokemon, so it could be worth her time to check out. She can probably convince Hop that he owes her a free lunch for playing assistant too. "Alright. Lead the way."

~~

(Meanwhile, over here)

After arriving in the pleasant Turffield some time ago, Clovis was sitting at a bench with Cortex, who was quietly sitting to his right. The young man was catching up on some much needed reading. Or, tried to catch up. Archimedes was also present, perched on the back of the bench, but was more interested in just taking in the fresh air, and observing his surroundings.

Silently, the three enjoyed the silence, after dealing with the excitement of trouncing Ruben and the battle with Oleana. Well. As silent as it could be.

"Thaaat's right, folks! I, Luxore, the magician, present a very rare Pokemn to you! This here Gothita is unlike ANNNYother Gothita in the world!"

A street performance was going on just across the way from where Clovis hadsat himself. The performer appeared to be a magician, with the typical black top hat adorned with white trim, tuxedo and regular outfit to match. With him, was indeed a Gothita, hamming it up to the crowd with a wave.

"And just to prove it to you, she will perform feats of prestidigitation never seen before! Behold!" As soon as he pulled off his top hat, Clovis… ducked his head down. For Arceus' sake, this is such old hat! Pardoning the pun, who would-

"Ooohhh," the small crowd hushed in great interest. ... Damnit.

Presenting the hat to the crowd, it appeared empty. But, once he placed the hat on the ground, Gothita walked up to it… and she did an overly flashy twirl, then patted the top of the top hat.

"Goooothiiiii-TA!"

An extra flashy pat, little sparkles flying off. *Wiggle, Wiggle*

"Ooohhh, lookee there," someone in the crowd mumbed aloud. "Such a cute little cutie pie," a female voice squealed. The Gothita, already bowing, as the top hat floated into the air. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, don't blink!" For seconds, the hat floated in the air, before… tentacles? Tentacles seemed to squirm out of the hat, before climbing out, now an Inkay appeared, now wearing the top hat. Clovis, seeing this, went through his memory lab. Inkay and Gothita… both Psychic-types. Typical. He had to have the Inkay's Pokeball sealed inside the hat. And the Gothita.... Clovis' eyes rolled over to the Fixation Pokemon that was eating up the attention. A real princess. Well, it's a Gothita. As the crowd continued to cheer, Clovis eyed the Inkay and the magician. However, the Inkay noticed Clovis. He gave him a small wink, before attending to the "stage."

Hop and Melody arrive on the scene as the Gothita levitates the sparkling hat. "Check that out." Hop says with an amused smile as he gestures to the performance.

Melody's head slightly dips to the side as she observes the scene at hand. "Have these people never seen a psychic Pokemon levitate something before?" Do they live under rocks? This is pretty standard fare for psychic Pokemon. As she speaks, she feels Nightshot latch tightly onto her shoulder and let out a soft hissing sound. The punk teen quirks an eyebrow before glancing around the area. The only person that solicits this kind of reaction from the Doom Noodle is…

"Hey, is that Clovis?" Hop asks before raising his hand up in an excited wave. "Hey, Clovis!"

Perking his ears up, he heard a familiar voice. Looking over… he saw… Hop. Oh, no… not again. During his time at the academy, Clovis was normally "volunteered," to help Hop with this or that, and how Hop constantly tried to befriend or get Clovis to talk about himself. Most of all… to smile. Clovis sighed, and closed his book, tucking it into his bag. Right next to his reading device. "Alright, Cortex… you'll need to return for now. Archimedes, you can stay out of your ball if you wish." Cortex shortly nodded to both Clovis and Archimedes, the Wild Pigeon meeting the nod before Cortex returned. "Craww, craw?" Archimedes, hopping on Clovis' shoulder, cawed questioningly at the individual greeting his trainer.

Seemingly unable to read the less-than-enthused expression on Clovis' face, Hop jogs over towards the other male. "Are you busy? Melody and I are heading up to the ruins for some investigating. You should come too! Investigating is right up your alley, right?"

Melody looks away uncomfortably from the interaction, struggling not to bury her face into her hand and groan. Mixing Hop and Clovis seems like mixing oil and gasoline. Mixing her and Clovis is like adding… fire to more fire. All three of them together? There's no telling what kind of explosion they'll unleash on one another. Then again… Melody has to admit that she always enjoyed seeing how Clovis maneuvered out of this kind of social situation. When she was watching from the sidelines rather than being forced to interact with him herself, the punk teen found herself frequently amused by The Brain.

She takes a single step forward before the Gothita from before appears in front of her face, levitating atop the top hat while balancing on one foot. "Taaaa?" She asks, green eyes glistening.

Wait-- green eyes? Don't Gothita have blue eyes? Is this one wearing contacts? She does seem to be wearing lipstick and face powder. Do they make contacts for Pokemon? Melody reaches into her pocket to dig for some spare change. "Just because you're cute." She says before placing the money on the rim of the hat.

"Gothita!" The Pokemon says with a big (and clearly fake) smile as she leaps into the air, spinning in a circle as the hat below her spins and glimmers in the light. As the Psychic type floats away, Melody is left wondering how she's making that sparkle effect. Is there something on the hat reflecting light? She keeps the psychic type in the corner of her eye as she steps over to stand beside Hop.

Oh, damnit… SHE'S here too… damnit, this is the worst time to run into BOTH of them at the same time. Clovis, now on the verge of a serious illness, manages to look up at Hop. "I… sure. I'll help. I was going to go to the ruins before my Gym Battle anyway," he said with a sigh, as he stood up. This will be a good opportunity to take a look at the ruins, and at the same time, try to get more information. Still, he felt sick in his stomach, the anxiety of having to interact with the one person who defeated him. "In that case, let's go."

All Melody does is nod. That's probably the best way to avoid inviting one of Clovis' snide comments that she will be hard-pressed not to take as an invitation to punch him in the face. She's still somewhat certain assaulting a fellow challenger will get her disqualified from the challenge-- though a few minutes with Clovis and they might make an exception. She should still try to be nice though, yeah? In the spirit of competition? Who knows, in the two months since she's seen Clovis, maybe he's chilled out.

"Awesome! This'll be great. Getting to see two of Sonia's top students in action. C'mon, this way!" Hop encourages with a motioning wave before taking off at a steady jog, leaving the duo in the dust and Melody shoving her hands into her pockets.

"Onward, I guess?" She asks.

"... Fine. If Hop is looking into this, then it must be important. Besides, he clearly needs the help. Just don't get in my way," Clovis hissed. The feeling of nausea and embarrassment caused Clovis' voice to add a hint of venom to his tone. But, immediately turning away to avoid eye contact, he began to follow Hop. Archimedes, again, merely observed. He didn't want to act out of line with Clovis' intention, but wasn't quite sure of them in the first place. So, the Wild Pigeon simply acknowledged the young girl, and looked on.

Melody clenches her fist before rolling her eyes. She can't assault him… but would it really be so bad if she just… accidentally bumped into him and he fell over the side of the hill? The punk teen's shoulders slouch as she hurriedly walks to catch up to Hop, deciding against asking what's up with the giant pigeon. Clovis had a HootHoot, didn't he? He didn't seem like the kind to stock up on two of the same type of Pokemon. "What are we investigating, exactly?"

"You know the Stonehenge that's up here? Some people have reported that more rocks are being added to it. Normally that sort of thing's not a big deal, but people get pretty intense about their national landmarks." Hop explains.

Fantastic. Melody thinks to herself. This is exactly how I wanted to spend my day… staring at rocks and seeing if something shows up with even more rocks.

"...." Quietly, Clovis walked on. He tried to avoid contact with Melody as possible. After such a humiliating defeat, Clovis felt even more sick than before. Humiliation, embarrassment, and angst riddled his mind. "Crr-aww," Archimedes tenderly called, as he nuzzled against his trainer to comfort him. "Huh? Oh, Archimedes," he trembled, stroking the Wild Pigeon's mane of plumage, as a . "Thank you, such a good bird you are," he lovingly praised, as he groomed Archimedes.

Melody quirks an eyebrow. Should she say something to break the uncomfortable silence between them? Clovis probably won't like it, but Clovis doesn't seem to like anything, so does it really matter what she does? Probably not, and it will make her feel a hell of a lot less awkward to not walk in silence. "Do you like bird pokemon?" She finally asks, her tone a bit more dismissive than she intended for it to be.

"...." Clovis slowed, and turned slightly to Melody. Not making eye contact, but clearly acknowledging her. "Well. I like MY bird Pokemon. Unlike that petulant Hoothoot I let go. No, Archimedes is a fine Pokemon," Clovis cooed, giving the Wild Pigeon extra attention. "The only reason I had lost to you the first time was that Hoothoot was a lost cause."

"Oh, really? That's the only reason." Melody rolls her eyes. "Then, enlighten me, oh wise one, why did you lose round two? Don't tell me that Hoothoot had you so dejected that you couldn't focus. You're more competent than that."

"The reason why is… I pushed poor Cortex when he wasn't ready," he cringed, before walking on to catch up with Hop.

"Are you--" Aaand he's gone. Melody can feel the hair on her neck standing on end. Is he serious?! What a lame ass excuse! I wasn't ready ? That's what children who can't catch a ball in a game of catch say. Okay, fine, they'll battle again. With his new precious bird and--

"Py?" A soft voice accompanies a light poke to Melody's cheek, bringing her back out of her head. The punk teen blinks and glances towards the small dragon, who gives a questioning head-tilt and a small wiggle in response.

"Yeah, I'm good." Melody says with a small shrug.

Up ahead, Hop flashes a large grin as Clovis catches up. "It's just up ahead." The aide says with an eager point towards the top of the hill. The stones can be seen from here-- as well as something moving around them.

Steadying his eyesight, Clovis observed the Stonjouner. It would appear that the Stonjourner seem agitated in their movement. They are placing more stones here and there across the hill, some just seem purely anxious and erratic in their movement. Seeing this, explains, "Hop, there's something making the Stonjourner distressed."

"You think? About what?" Hop asks. It makes sense; there's no documented cases of the stone-Pokemon ever doing something like this to the historic monument before. There must be a reason for them to do it now, and it's likely got something to do with them trying to draw attention to their distress. What is it that's distressing them, though? Nothing about the environment has been altered recently, and there's been no reports of anything disrupting their way of existence. In his own observations, he has seen no differences.

Melody joins the pair and narrows her eyes at the erratic movements of the rock-type Pokemon. "Do you think we can follow them to the source of the problem?" No, probably not. If it was that simple, someone would have done it.

"I, uh… not sure what we can do. Perhaps Cortex can persuade them to calm down, and explain the situation," Clovis questioned, as he held up the Pokeball his partner was contained in.

"Great idea! Cortex can ask the Stonjourner what's wrong and communicate it to you, and you can tell us what he said." Hop says, causing Melody to raise an eyebrow. The Stonjourner are going to tell Cortex, who's going to tell Clovis, who's going to tell them. It sounds like a game of telephone where something is bound to be lost in translation. Then again… psychic Pokemon never caught her interest and she, admittedly, doesn't know a lot about how they work.

In response, she gives a small shrug. "It's worth a shot."

"Alright then. Cortex, I need your help." Cortex, now appearing before the group, looked up at Clovis in question. "Can you ask the Stonjourner what they're upset about, partner?"

"...." Cortex merely blinked, and shuffled it's heavy body, looking on at the Stonjourner on the hill. The blue lights flashing off of his shell began to glow with a steady beat.

Hop watches with an easy-going smile while Melody watches with a perplexed expression. A minute after Cortex is released, her eyes flit between the psychic-bug and his trainer. "What's the verdict?"

A bit more time passed, before Cortex began to shuffle around once more, now looking up at Clovis, Melody and Hop. Then, his eyes rested squarely at Clovis. Silent, once more. "...."

In that moment, Clovis' mind was filled with sorts of images. Stonjourner, sleeping at night… but, some sort of intruder… with a floating Pokemon, and a very small Pokemon alongside them. They… look familiar. Several more images appear… the figure has a large bag. Using the Pokemon on hand, they clear out the ruin of the Stonjourner. Then… the figure steps back out. A key feature that Clovis noticed was a large… hat.

"That magician, near the center. He's the one responsible. We just don't know why he's doing it, but he seems to have hidden something in the ruin."

"Hold on," Hop says as he reaches for his Roto-phone. He holds the phone out and quickly begins to tap, Melody looking over his shoulder as he pulls up a news article. "Lots of things have been reported missing over the last few days."

"Around the time the magician showed up?" Melody asks.

"It doesn't say that, but I'd bet good money on it." Hop says as he pockets his phone.

"You'd think the police could put two and two together." Melody grumbles.

"Don't worry, we'll make quick work of this now that-" Hop's words are cut off by a soft, pained sound. He turns back around to see another Stonjourner, much smaller than the others, hobbling towards the stone structure. His smile fades to a sympathetic frown as he reaches for his own bag. "You two head back to town. I'm going to take care of that little guy, and then I'll catch up."

"Understood. Let's go, Melody. He may still be entertaining," Clovis called as he ran in the same direction they came from.

"-- Coming." Melody blinks before breaking into a run and quickly catching up to her fellow trainer. She fully expected Clovis to make some remark about being able to handle this on his own. Huh. Maybe he really has chilled out since their last meet up. This might actually prove to be fun after all.

Leaving Hop to tend to the Stonjourner, Clovis and Melody ran back to where they found Clovis originally, but the same magician was found. Seeing him take tips from a slightly larger crowd than before, but was clearly wrapping up as soon as he saw both trainers.

Melody slows to an easy-stroll and takes a few steps closer to Clovis. "How do you wanna do this?" She asks softly as they close in on the area where they left the magician. Her instinct is to tackle the guy and demand he confess to taking the stolen goods. That… probably won't go over well in front of a crowd. Something more tactful would be their best bet, and let's face it: Clovis has far more tact than she does-- at least she thinks he does. He comes across as a guy who has tact.

Clovis simply strolled up to the crowd, and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know anything about… anyone who has entered the ruins? Unlawfully?" He questioned the performer, getting a nervous leer out. Meanwhile, Gothita was hogging up attention from a couple of the other watchers, and Inkay just watched with a curious eye. "Ahem… what is a young man doing, making such flimsy accu-?" "Cortex, I need you once more," Clovis called, cutting off the snobbish performer. The crowd was mixed with annoyance and confusion. "Cortex, if you'd be so kind to share with us what you showed me earlier?"

"...." The blue lights that ran off of the shell began to glow brighter, and pulse more strongly, as Cortex began to flash the same images through the crowd, and through the performer. "W-What is this?! This is fairly illegal, I'm sure," The performer scowled, but was met with a fairly upset crowd. "Hey, my girlfriend told me some jewelry o' hers was missin'!" "My brother told me he lost some money after meeting a character like you!" "I lost my Official Pokemon League Hat!"

The crowd, growing more and more agitated, the magician scooped up Gothita and Inkay in his arms, and immediately dashed off, running towards the stadium on the right.

"UGH, I hate running… damnit, let's go! Cortex, return! Archimedes, see if you can slow him down!" Clovis called, as the Wild Pigeon flew off of his shoulder while recalling his partner. "Melody, he may be trying to lose us by running around the stadium towards the ruins! Try to catch him off guard on the other side," he instructed hastily, before running off without hearing so much as a reply.

The entire time Clovis interacted with the magician, Melody didn't even bother to hide the small smirk that formed on her face. Clovis had the guy dead to rights, and there really was no talking himself out of anything when the psychic-bug had what was basically video evidence of him stashing the goods in the ruins. Huh. While Melody never gave Psychic types a lot of thought before this, she's very much beginning to appreciate the easy button that Cortex has teleported into their investigation twice now.

"On it!" Melody calls out with a far more excited-- dare say even friendly tone as she darts off in the opposite direction. If she can make it down this side street quickly enough, she can cut the guy off before he gets to the ruins. A fire of enthusiasm sparks to her eyes as a determined smile forms on her face. Nightshot's little grip on her shoulder tightens as the small dragon looks ahead apprehensively. When Melody gets like this, things tend to escalate very quickly for them.

However… Clovis was not quite the runner the charlatan was. Slowly, he was gaining distance from Clovis. "Archimedes, try to slow him down with a Quick Attack!" "Crrrrrr" Archimedes, flying low to the ground, began a beeline towards the man's legs. "Bwah! Gothita, use Psyshock!"

"... Hmmph! Goooo-THITA!" She wasn't entirely enthused with the thought of getting dirty, but he was still the breadwinner. Hopping on his shoulder, the Fixation fired a multicolored beam of light. "Archimedes, use your Quick Attack to dodge! Then, follow up with an Air Cutter from above!" Quickly averting the Psychic attack, Archimedes flew back into position, and fired off gusts of wind, whipping up blades that flew around Luxore, making him slow down to avoid any attacks.

The escape artist gains several feet while the Gothita and Unfeazant do battle; however, once he gains enough distance to believe he's in the clear, Melody bolts from the short-cut side street, now accompanied by a monochromatic Zigzagoon whose fur is standing on end. "Get a Pin Missile ready, Lyric." Melody says with a smirk as she raises her fists in front of her chest. "One more step and that fancy suit of yours is getting filled full of holes." And if he somehow manages to evade Lyric and gets any closer, she can punch him. That's also a thing that can work.

"Augh… little brats," Luxore growled, as Clovis caught up to him from behind. He was caught between the two young trainers. "You know, children… a good magician is never without an escape trick!" He yelled before he pulled out a small, black ball, and threw it to the ground, causing a smokescreen to appear. "You won't be so lucky next time we meet, brats!" He yelled, as his voice became distant.

"Melody, the ruins! He's trying to distract us! We'll catch him trying to collect his loot! Archimedes, return!" Clovis called, returning the Wild Pigeon before running off towards the ruins.

"How did I not see that coming?!" Melody scolds herself as she reaches for Lyric's Pokeball. "Thanks for the backup, li'l dude." The punk teen tucks the Pokeball away before breaking into a frantic sprint. This fancy-suited-fake-****er isn't getting away from them that easily.

So, Melody and Clovis traced the steps seen by Cortex through the ruin, shortly after Luxore entered first. Eventually, after going through the halls, they could hear other frantic footsteps. Until, finally, they came upon him with a stash of stolen goods, hastily stuffing them into a burlap sack. "Y-You damn brats! How did you manage to follow me here?!" As the last of his words echoed through the ruin, a number of Stonjourner appeared and blocked the doorway, preventing an escape. "Damnit… Inkay, Gothita, you're useless!" He turned, and yelled at his stage Pokemon, his voice echoing harder off the walls. But… Gothita simply huffed, and turned away. Inkay, meanwhile, lazily floated in the air and mocked the magician with a raspberry.

"URGH, FINE! You little brats will deal with my ACTUAL Pokemon! Drowzee, I choose you!" Turning his back on his stage hands, Luxore took a single Pokeball, and a Drowzee appeared before Clovis and Melody. "Drrroow-zee!" The Hypnosis Pokemon's lips curled into a mischievous smile, and readied himself. "Yes, this Drowzee of mine helps me 'convince' loyal fans to make donations to me. So what? Like you punks will stop me!"

"A single Drowzee? On you? Such a waste of a good Pokemon," Clovis sighed, before unclipping a Pokeball from his belt. "You caused me an incredible inconvenience. You're a pathetic example of a trainer, and an adult human being. Now, Cortex, I choose you!"

Cortex appeared once more, bright blue eyes observing the Drowzee before him.

A Drowzee? Melody is really starting to dislike this particular family of Pokemon. "Are you as offended as I am?" Melody asks Clovis while reaching for a Pokeball, though she stops when she feels a light tap to her shoulder from Nightshot. The Punk teen nods in understanding before turning back to face their rather obnoxious opponent. "Let's rock, Nightshot!"

"Dree-py!" The small ghost cries out as he flies over to join Cortex.

"Drowzee, Poison Gas those brats, and their Pokemon too!" "Drrroooowww…." A heavy inhale could be heard, Drowzee just about to cloud the room with poison.

"Nightshot, Quick Attack!"

"PY PY!" Nightshot calls angrily as he zips across the ruins, slamming forcefully into the psychic type before he can summon his poison gas.

"Now use Hex!"

The small ghost's body vibrates violently as he summons forth the ghostly black energy that sweeps over their psychic foe.

Rolling to the ground after the physical attack, Drowzee instead heaved with a "HURGH" before the Poison Gas was possible. Now, a crippling Ghost attack forced Drowzee to stay down.

"Cortex, finish up with Struggle Bug!" The light on Cortex's shell began to glow green, before streaks of green began surging to the air and striking Drowzee.

"W-Wha…" Luxore stood, mouth agape. Drowzee laid unconscious, a look of utter shock could be seen, before Luxore recalled it. He stood, silently. Both Clovis and Melody stood at the ready, as well as Nightshot. However, Cortex seemed to observe him, and the two Pokemon that didn't fight. Eventually, another voice echoed through the hall.

"The jig is up, Luxore!" Hop declares from the entrance of the cave, the Stonjurnour happily stepping aside so he and his Dubwool can step inside. "You're outnumbered and way outmatched." The aide flashes a proud grin to the trainer duo. "I figured you guys could handle that battle, so I hung back. Great job!"

"It wasn't exactly hard…" Melody says with a lazy shrug. "Guy's got no skill what-so-ever."

"No, he only used his Drowzee primarily to hypnotize people into relinquishing their possessions. However," Clovis paused, eying the two other Pokemon. Inkay, and Gothita. Both of which seemed to be dismissive about losing their meal ticket. Instead… well. Inkay merely floated around Luxore, taunting and mocking him. As for Gothita….

Gothita stepped lightly, save for Luxore's left foot as she passed by. "Thiii-TA!" She stomped on his foot, before stepping up to the three individuals, and gave an expectant look that said, "Well? Which one of you is going to feed me now?"

"Gotta admit, I expected more." Melody says with a brief but exasperated sigh. Her annoyance; however, begins to melt away when she watches the huffy little Pokemon stomp on the magician's foot. "What's up, spunky?"

Hop meets the expectant gaze of the psychic Pokemon with a big grin. "I don't think she wants to go back to the wild."

"She's not his Pokemon?" Melody asks.

"Nope! Neither of them are. The only Pokemon registered to Luxore is that Drowzee."

Melody looks at the Gothita and then to the Inkay. Both Psychic types. Her eyes then fall onto Cortex before she turns to face Clovis. "I know someone who's pretty good with Psychic type Pokemon."

Clovis, at first… doesn't catch Melody's half compliment. Then, after what feels like a few very long seconds, Clovis turns and says, "What, you're talking about me? I mean, of course… obviously, but," stopping himself, he looked down at the Gothita. "Hmmmph!" She pouted, unsatisfied with the green-haired one. Little… hmm. Inkay is a much more interesting find, and I'm not sure Gothita would be very… compatible with my team. Turning to see Inkay watch Clovis, seeming amused with his internal turmoil, he spun back and replied with, "Well, uhh… clearly, this Gothita would be in better hands if she went with you. What do you think?" He asked, hoping Melody would prefer to take the rude Psychic-type.

Hop gives another snicker at the little Pokemon's annoyed expression. She doesn't appear too keen to go with Clovis, and he doesn't seem too keen on taking her. That might not be a fantastic match; however… "Yeah! You two look like a good match."

"You think I've got good hands, huh?" Melody asks with a playful smirk and a raise of her eyebrow. She keeps her gaze on Clovis for a second or so before looking back down at the Gothita. A shock to no-one, she's sure, she does like the aesthetic of the gothic Pokemon, and this one in particular has a pretty fun attitude. A little dramatic, but she gives her props for not taking **** from anyone. "You wanna come with me--" there's a brief pause as a fitting name pops into her head, "Celeste?"

"... Hmm… Thita," she mused, before giving a shrug, and gave a tiny nod. This girl was a WAYYY better fit than the moss head, or the walking pinecone. Not to mention, she would be glad to get away from that foppish hack and the other two creepy Pokemon.

"Go-thita. Goth." She crossed her arms, ready to be caught.

Melody reaches into her satchel for a Pokeball. There's a brief second of hesitation as she moves the white and red balls aside to take out one of her Great Balls instead. They're a little fancier and she has a feeling this little princess will appreciate that. "Here." Melody says as she kneels down and gently taps the psychic type's head with the button of the ball. A single shake followed by a click.

"Nice." Hop says with a grin before both he and Melody turn their attention back to Clovis. "What about Inkay?"

Clovis, clearing his throat of the sigh of relief, replied, "Yes, of course. Inka-YYYY," Clovis yeeped with surprise, spinning around to find big, black orbs staring back at him. Clovis, in his shock, fell to the ground on his bum. "Inn-kakaka!" The Inkay laughed and laughed, before floating over to Cortex, floating around him and observing. Cortex, watching Inkay back, before the latter got bored and floated back to Clovis.

"Well… a bit of an oddball you are. But, you'll fit in quite nicely, I think," Clovis spoke, as he raised himself and dusted off his pants. Inkay, again, floated just a bit before his face, trying to tell him something. "Hmm… what is it, Inkay? Oh, of course… I see you do want to come with me… in that case," he trailed, before pulling out a spare Pokeball. "Alright then… Id, welcome to the team!" For a split second, Clovis was unsure why he said Id, he was going to name him Occipita. But, Id is a fine name. Either way, before he realized, Id had already been touched by the Pokeball, and absorbed inside, shortly followed by a click.

"The Id to your ego? I like it." Melody says with a small smirk, trying to recover from the small laughing fit the Inkay had caused by lunging in front of Clovis' face. This is a good match, she approves.

"Looks like this turned out great for everyone." Hop says as he folds his arms behind his head. "Oh! And the police said they would give a thousand poke reward to whoever gave them a lead on the robberies. Why don't you two split it?" Hop thinks aloud while digging into his bag. Melody raises a questioning eyebrow when he takes out two CD cases. "You can have these two. They could really come in handy."

"Sweet." Melody says as she reaches out to take one of the TRs. Stealth Rock, huh? That might come in handy when they make the round trip back to Kabu.

"Sure. Not a problem at all," Clovis chimed in, before recalling Cortex and grabbing his own TR. "After which, I can finally challenge the first gym. But of course… what do we do with him?" Looking over, Clovis saw Luxore still standing there, silently, his Drowzee already recalled.

"Oh, right." Melody's eyes narrow as she stares at the magician. Well… this is awkward. Dude just stood here and watched them catch his Pokemon, didn't he? She can only assume he knows that anything he says can and will make this a ****-ton worse for him.

"I'll keep an eye on him until the police show up." Hop declares, that grin never fading. If he tries anything, Dubwool will put him in his place!"

"Great, I'm leaving then," Clovis slightly head bows at Hop before walking-

"OOF"

Into a wall of Stonjourner. Stumbling back… Clovis looked up, worried. A-Are they angry at us for trespassing? As if to answer his thought, the Stonjourner picked up both Melody and Clovis… and began to… cheer? "Woah, woah, nonono!"

"Holy ****ing--!" Melody shouts as she's picked up by a giant, sentient rock; however, upon being set on the shoulder of the sturdy Pokemon and realizing what they're doing, her surprise melts into amusement and she lets out a… surprisingly genuine laugh followed by a small cheer.

"Looks like a thank you to me!" Hop says through his own laughter. "You okay, Clovis?"

"Nononononono, augh, I'm gonna be sick," Clovis squirmed in anxiety, his stomach churning not only from having to be around Melody again, but also being rocked by sentient rocks.

"Woooah there. Put him down, guys, please?" Melody asks. The rock Pokemon do as asked and set the moss-haired trainer back on the sturdy ground.

"Ya want some pepto?" The punk teen asks from her rock-perch. No, she's not getting down until she has to. She never gets to feel tall.

"N-no… I just need to go," Clovis stuttered, slowly making his way out of the ruin, clamoring against the walls as he made full use of his excuse to separate himself from Melody and Hop.

"That guy." Melody says as she props her elbow against her knee and rests her cheek against her palm. "Can't figure him out." Hope he's okay.

"You make a great team, though!" Hop encourages.

"Thanks, I guess." Melody gives a small shrug. "You don't have to stay with me, ya know. I'm gonna party with these guys a little while longer."

Hop laughs softly. "Alright. Take care, Melody, Stonjorner." Hop gives a small wave before heading down the path after Clovis.

And so, with the combined efforts of an unlikely partnership, two wrongs were made right.

Melody caught a Gothita!

Nickname: Celeste(ia)
Ability: Competitive
- Psyshock
- Hypnosis
- Fake Tears
- Charm
- Confusion
- Thief

Clovis caught an Inkay!

Nickname: Id
Ability: Contrary
Psybeam
Pluck
Payback
Peck
Hypnosis
Wrap

[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/omi0jS3.gif[/img]

ba-dum tssss. [icon]coffee-pot[/icon]

Chapter 5.2

Bad Company

Don't let me disappear

[font=Brawler][color=#91a8d4][i]Here comes the boi

Always follow your Dreams ~

Sachiko 'Sachi' Akabane

Epoch 6.1: Turffield Welcome to Turffield! Reunions and Reveals!​​

It Gets Worse

Watch and Learn

[I]Only thorns left on this rose.[/I]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/omi0jS3.gif[/img]

ba-dum tssss. [icon]coffee-pot[/icon]

Chapter 5.3

Yours is Mine

lover of milotics

Me but more fabulous

Wooloo Wranglin'

That Dream...Make it Come True!

David Sornum - Turffield

How did this even happen?

That Dream...Make it Come True!

Epoch 6.1: Turffield

Welcome to Turffield! Reunions and Reveals!