[PKMN FULL] Seeds of Tomorrow [M][IC]

[gimmepie]

Seeds of Tomorrow

"Welcome to Camp Floaroma, located just on the outskirts of peaceful Floaroma Town overlooking the beautiful Floaroma Meadow.

It is here among this gorgeous scenery that, like the flowers surrounding you, you will have a chance to grow, overcoming the obstacles of your past that would otherwise keep you down.

Over the next few months, you will have access to our various facilities and be involved in our Social Rehabilitation Program. You will be provided with education tailored to your needs, regular therapy and fun social programmes that will, of course, culminate in you, along with your assigned group, undertaking your very own Pokemon journey alongside a carefully selected starter Pokemon."

-Dr Cygnus Hickory​

---

That was three months ago, when you received your acceptance letter and were entered into Camp Floaroma, a special programme designed to help troubled youths come to terms with their pasts and begin looking forward to the future.

Along with the other members of your assigned group, allocated the fun little moniker "Team Fruit Punch", you've been through a difficult several months. It's been a hard road full of uncomfortable speeches, dorky group activities and excruciating therapy sessions, but, a few weeks ago, you of Team Fruit Punch finally received your very own starters and were signed off to begin your journey together.

This is where our story begins, as you and the rest of Team Fruit Punch take your first steps out of the camp and back into the world beyond. You may have earned permission to begin your journey, but you still have a long way to go.

Location Information

Floaroma Town

Spoiler:

Floaroma Town is a small, scenic semi-rural town located northwards of Jubilife City and south-west of Eterna City and Eterna Forest. It is famed for the flowers that grow all about the grassy town and has a friendly, albeit quiet community that suits its sleepy atmosphere.

Unless you like flowers though, there's not a whole lot to do in Floaroma Town. Although, if you're willing to travel a few hours to the east, one can take a tour of the Valley Windworks.

Camp Floaroma
Although it's hardly an attraction, Camp Floaroma can be found on the outskirts of the town overlooking the nearby meadow. The camp is comprised of a handful of rustic-looking buildings including two dormitory blocks for the campers and one for staff, a main building containing a cafeteria, library, medical facilities and a few offices and a barn. There is also an outdoor auditorium near the centre of the camp.

Floaroma Meadow
The only real lure for tourists to visit Floaroma Town is the expansive flowery meadow to the north. Here vibrant green grass is covered in a seemingly never ending sea of beautiful wild flowers of just about every colour imaginable. Many of Floaroma Town's residents volunteer their services tending to the meadow to keep it healthy. The campers are also often recruited to help.

Pick a Peck of Colours Flower Shop
This award winning florist sells a wide variety of both fresh and dried flora as souvenirs of the town. Perhaps though, a more practical application of the store though, is that they are one of the few places in the Sinnoh region to have a reliable stock of useful berries to be purchased by trainers.

Route 205 (South)

Spoiler:

Route 205 is a long route, divided in two by the ultra-dense Eterna Forest. The southern portion, the longer segment, begins life as a simple dirt road surrounded by open, grassy fields as it exits Floaroma and follows the Eterna River east towards the valley windworks.

A simple bridge leads across the river to the north, and from there, still moving alongside the river, the fields of grass gradually morph into a tougher terrain. The flat landscape eventually becomes rugged and hilly and the green pastures thin out as the rocky walls of the valley rise up on either side. At the end of the valley, grassy land begins to take over again on a wide plateau before Eterna Forest.

Valley Rest House
Between Route 205 and the upcoming Eterna Forest, it's a long way between Floaroma Town and Eterna City without much in the way of civilisation between. This knowledge gave rise to the Valley Rest House, a small establishment at the end of the Route 205 valley that provides simple, rustic lodgings and basic medical care in lieu of a proper Pokemon Centre.

Eterna Forest

Spoiler:

Eterna Forest in an enormous temperate woodland forest that covers a huge swath of land between Floaroma Town and Eterna City.

The forest is dark. Gigantic trees with trunks thicker than a Snorlax tower over the ground, impossibly high and casting an eerie shadow over the ground below as they block out much of the sun. At night it is practically impossible to move about within.

While it is dark inside the forest, it's not quiet. An abundance of wildlife can be found within and an endless, everchanging chorus echoes through the forest at every hour of the day. If one listens carefully, they may be able to pick out the sounds of individual species. In particular, Grass and Bug types are very populace here, but they are far from the forest's only denizens.

Moss Rock
In a small clearing, an enormous jagged stone can be found. Although, it may be hard to recognise it for what it is at first as it is almost entirely covered in thick green moss and lichen. Several smaller variants of the Moss Rock can be found throughout the forest if you look for them, but this one is particularly noteworthy.

Old Chateau
Approaching the exit out to the northern segment of Route 205, it's hard to miss the Old Chateau. This decrepit old mansion seems somewhat out of place within an ancient forest in some ways, although it has long since been claimed by the environment around it, being overgrown with various plants.

The interior of the building is surprisingly intact, compared to the outside. However, it is home to many Ghost types and rumour has it that the building is haunted for real.

Route 205 (North)

Spoiler:

The valley of route 205 seems to reform on the other side of Eterna Forest, travellers exiting the forest finding themselves looking at surprisingly mountainous terrain extending down from the monstrously large Mt. Coronet in the distance.

A lake, fed into by the Eterna River, sits in the centre of this short segment of route, barring the way into the city beyond if not for thin strips of land around its edges and a wide boardwalk across its centre.

Eterna City

Spoiler:

Although far from being the largest city in Sinnoh, Eterna City is many times larger than neighbouring smaller towns like Floaroma or Celestic. Still though, it is dwarfed by the towering Coronet Range that looms on the horizon nearby, practically surrounding the city in mountainous terrain.

Eterna is the oldest city in the Sinnoh region, and is largely composed of very old buildings causing more modern architecture to stand out like a sore thumb in places. The streets here are very wide and ancient looking pines and oaks are dotted throughout the settlement. As far as cities go, Eterna is quite quiet and has a slightly solemn atmosphere because of the shadow cast over all the old architecture from the surrounding mountains.

Eterna Square
The top right of the city is dominated by the large park known as Eterna Square. The square is grassy, well-maintained and built around a small natural monolith with small lakes visible nearby. The rocky monolith itself is flat and grassy on top with its summit being accessible from three sides by great stone steps. At the top sits an enormous bronze statue depicting the legendary Dialga and Palkia. Many special events and festivals are held here.

The Spelunker's Guild
Located in a small, old building in the headquarters of the Spelunker's Guild. This is an officially recognised association of cavers that sprung up in the city on account of its proximity to Mt Coronet and the many caves close by it.

Here it is possible to receive a basic explorer's kit to help get through caves and, for more experienced trainers with a few badges under their belts, it is possible to get licensed to access the vast Sinnoh Underground.

The Museum of History
The top left of Eterna is home the ironically modern building that houses the newly relocated Museum of History that was once spread across several smaller old buildings. Unlike the Oreburgh Museum, the History Museum is dedicated entirely to the history of civilization in Sinnoh as opposed to natural sciences. Each wing of the building houses exhibits of a different era in the region's history except it's most popular, the area dedicated to myths and legends.

Eterna Gym
The Eterna Gym is one of eight currently active official league gyms in Sinnoh. The building is another of the more modern ones that stick out among all the older structures in Eterna, but is otherwise pretty unassuming on the outside. Inside however, it is like walking into a forest. The building appears to be multiple stories but is in fact single story but tall to make room for the large number of trees inside. The floor is made entirely of grass and the roof is made from glass to allow sunlight inside.

A clearing near the centre of the gym serves as the battlefield. Here the Grass leader Gardenia will battle trainers with two or less badges in a 2v2 single battle or those with three or more in a 3v3 single battle. She will not battle a challenger who has only a single Pokemon.

NPC List

Team Lemonade

Spoiler:

Esther Merrygold

Spoiler:

- Severe ADHD
- Poor concentration and impulse control
- Friendly

Christopher Colson

Spoiler:

- ASD
- Special interests are Bugs and contests
- Socially awkward and blunt.
- Christopher not Chris.

Klause Richards

Spoiler:

- Suffers from a depressive disorder and random bouts of apathy
- Made a lot of recovery headway the past month.
- Calm and collected

Team Cola

Spoiler:

Kurt Schneider

Spoiler:

- Former gang member. Can be a jerkass as a result.
- Struggling to reconcile his personal interests with the hyper masculine gang life he comes from.
- Tends to deal with negative emotions by substituting them with anger.
- Protective of his group. Oddly good with kids.

Shane Denvir

Spoiler:

- From an abusive household, removed by CPS and sent to the camp to recover.
- Very quiet and reserved but has a jokester buried in him somewhere.
- Wary of adults.
- Acts young for his age (roughly 13)

Amy Carlton

Spoiler:

- Recovering addict with a scarily long history of substance abuse
- Briefly lived on the streets
- Very open and easy going

Herman Joyce

Spoiler:

- Runaway with anxiety issues
- Checked himself into Camp Floaroma
- Friendly, but very flighty.
- Passionate about skating.

Players

1. Magnificent Magilou as Maria Cosgrove
2. Shak as Logan
3. Sapphire Rose as Melody Farrel
4. TheWizardofOdd as Jonathan Mist​

 

[Shak]

-Logan

Free Churro​

​

A rogue spec of sky blue raced through Floaroma town's pallet of flamboyant colour. It charged through the meadows of yellow dandelions, the trenches of purple lavenders and the troughs of pink orchids, leaving behind nothing but a trail of trampled flowers for the chasing blotch of grey to continue its pursuit.

With just a slip, the spec was gone. It was a boy, hiding around the corner as the grey suited man disappeared into the thick of Floaroma. The black sleeves of the boy's jacket jumped up his arm as he punched the air in triumph. A churro stick broke the mischievous grin etched across the boy's face as he took a satisfied first bite. As he turned however, that grin slowly faded away.

Logan, the boy with the blue hair, stood at odds with a scrawny brown haired child. He was alone. It was impossible to ignore the empty cup the child held in his hand. It forced Logan to look down at the brown sugary treat he held in his own hands. With a heavy heart, Logan held the cinnamon stick out for the child. The two watched each other for just a moment, and like a reflection in a mirror, the boy outstretched his hand and snatched the churro from Logan before scurrying away. Now Logan was alone, accompanied by nothing more than an empty cup, rolling on the ground.

A flash of light burst from his hip. Before Logan could so much as regain his vision, he felt a small patting on his leg. He looked down and furrowed his brows, uninspired by the gesture. "Oh, you again?" He offered a soft smile to the creature as he looked over it. The pokemon before him was barely taller than a foot, white in skin and its head was topped by a beige dome. Uninspiring indeed. How could he see this thing as strong? He was responsible for this 'Ralts' as the camp director had called it, but he didn't know the first thing about it. Thing didn't even make a noise. "You really gotta stop doing that,"

The grumble of his stomach was enough to take his mind off his lacklustre starter. He shot up like a sprout and returned his newly acquired Ralts. If food couldn't motivate him, few things could. He took out his poketch. 11:35AM. "Guess it's time to hit the ro-" he began before being cut off by another grumble of the stomach. "I'm sure the others wont mind if I'm a little late."

Spoiler:

- Empty -​

Floaroma Town​

 

[Stinging Bea]

Maria Cosgrove

Camp Floaroma

Hesitation

​

Current Party:

"Okay... It's time. You can do this, Maria... All you have to do is open the door and down to the Pokémon Center in town. It's not that far of a walk... Everyone's waiting on you too, so it would be rude to keep them waiting, right...?"

A tall, blonde girl stood still in her room located at Camp Floaroma. Her eyes were fixated on the door in front of her, one that would lead her outside and eventually to the gates of the camp that she had called her home for the past three months. From there she would head down into Floaroma Town proper, where she would meet some of her fellow campmates and then embark on a journey across the vast region of Sinnoh. It was bound to be a long trip, where the girl would encounter all sorts of Pokémon... and cities she had never been to. The cities would most likely be bustling... full of people staring at her... going everywhere... lots of talking...

Maria's hand paused as it touched the doorknob, thoughts swirling through her head at the possibilities that awaited her once she left the camp. It was enough to cause the blonde to quickly pull her hand back, as if the doorknob was burning her palm upon contact. She quickly staggered back, her breath quick and sharp as she tried to keep herself from having a mild panic attack. The very thought of simply walking through Floaroma Town was enough to make Maria want to crawl under her bed and simply hide from the rest of the world.

"No... No, no, no... This is a bad idea... A really bad idea..." Maria told herself, quickly sliding her traveling bag off of her shoulder and tossing it onto the bed. "It's... It's not a good day for this. I mean, I'm not feeling well today anyways... My stomach has been hurting all morning. B-Besides, what's that old saying? Three's a crowd? Yeah, that's it... And there's supposed to be four of us in this group. That would practically make it a mob. N-No one likes a mob..."

Her rambles echoed out into her room as Maria quickly opened her bag and began to remove its contents. After spending hours the previous night making sure to carefully pack everything away, the blonde was more or less simply dumping it all out in a rush. Various outfits, toiletries, and a few personal knickknacks all tumbled out onto the bed, all the while she hardly gave any of it a second thought. Maria was only snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of a round, ball-like object rolling off of her bed and bouncing on the floor a few times before coming to a stop just short of the cursed door.

It was a Poké Ball... her own to be exact. The girl paused in her hasty unpacking, her gaze slowly lowering towards the ground where the ball rested. Inside was a Pokémon, one that the camp had taken the time to select and assign to her for this very journey. Maria was somewhat impressed that they had taken the time to give every camper a Pokémon of their own. After all, these were specifically chosen to help them with their various "needs" and that thought alone was enough to let Maria feel that the counselors were somewhat rational in their thinking. However at the same time, she hated them for it. Maria could hardly take care of herself, and they knew that there were days they practically had to drag her out of her room to even go down to the mess hall for a meal. Now all of a sudden, they expected her to be responsible for another creature? The very idea was absurd.

As a result, Maria... hadn't even worked up the nerve to actually let the Pokémon out of its ball. She loved Pokémon. She truly did. That said, the fear of the creature constantly judging her... watching her... always being around was enough to make the blonde feel like she was going to be ill.

"I... I suppose I need to return this... whatever it is," Maria mused, slowly making her way towards the Poké Ball. "It wouldn't be right to just keep it stuffed inside that ball forever... I'm s-sure they can find someone else to take care of it... Then again... w-what if they yell at me? W-What if they think I'm some kind of m-monster? I didn't mean to just leave it in there... I really didn't!"

The girl's panic was enough to cause her to drop the Poké Ball again. The ball bounced on the ground, suddenly snapping open and expelling a beam of light that gradually took the shape of an orange, chimp-like creature, one that Maria quickly recognized to be a Chimchar. A small flame burned on the Pokémon's backside as he took a deep breath, stretching his arms and legs out after what must've felt like ages being cramped up inside of that small ball. Maria's breath suddenly grew short as she stared at the creature with wide eyes, his own gradually coming to meet her's. The room was absolutely silent... but not for long before Maria suddenly let out a small, fear-filled squeal as she recoiled away.

"P-Please, d-don't hurt me! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, I swear!" the blonde exclaimed.

The monkey Pokémon gave Maria a confused look, slowly tilting his head in confusion, before a broad smile suddenly graced his lips. Without warning, the orange Pokémon quickly bounded forward and grabbed hold of Maria's leg, causing the girl to panic and quickly climb up on her bed.

"W-What is this thing doing?! Is it going to kill me?! It's trying to kill me, I know it! Where's the ball?! I have to get it back inside the ball!"

Maria's gaze slowly lowered to the floor, her eyes coming to rest on the Poké Ball. Chimchar seemed to follow her gaze, the smile never leaving its lips as it dashed towards the ball and began to roll it across the floor. The fire-monkey was teasing her. And doing a right good job of it as well.

"The room... It's not safe in here, I have to get out now!" Maria exclaimed.

Her beloved sanctuary was now defiled by this wild beast's presence. She'd have to live her life somewhere else. She knew that escape was her only option at this point. Almost as hastily as before, Maria grabbed her belongings and began to stuff them in the bag. This caused the Chimchar to raise a curious eyebrow towards her actions, before quickly hopping his way towards the girl and climbing onto the bed. This caused another mad scream of fear to escape the girl's lips as she herself slid off the bed and made her way towards the door. Without so much as a second thought, Maria threw door open and dashed outside as the Chimchar followed with glee.

Like it or not, her journey had officially began.

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Start of a Journey​

"Oof, it's already 11 o'clock? Wake up Shelly."

The boy said it to his Pokémon sleeping next to him. The Pokémon starts to wake up smiling at it's trainer who smiled back at it. His eyes then fixated at the beauty of Floaroma Meadow with all of it's beauty, Pokémons flying around colorful flowers while being playful with each other. He then put back his pocket watch back to a pocket on his vest, and then he head to the center of the town where he's supposed to meet with the others. He had already packed his stuff since 9 in the morning, and since he had nothing to do he decides to do some bonding with his new partner at the meadow.

"I can't believe that it's actually the time to leave the town".

John's words isn't without any reasons as he spends quite awhile in the camp, and he felt quite happy doing the activities there. Dr. Cygnus gave him his starter Pokémon since 7 in the morning, and although John was quite surprised that he got a Stunky it proves to bond quick with him as it wouldn't mind sleeping besides it's new partner when he decides to sleep under a tree near the meadow entrance. Now, both trainer and his partner walks around to the town center where they were supposed to met their friends, when suddenly he heard a grumble from his trusty partner.

"Hm? You're hungry already? Well it's supposed to be lunch time anyway.. but i don't have any food for you right now.. so sorry Shelly i'll buy some while we wait, i'm also hungry anyways haha."

As it was understanding what it's master meant, it starts to rub itself at it's master's feet.

"I don't want to break your fun, but i'm the type to trip easily so.. Let's stop it okay?"

Shelly understood, and quickly retracted it's body while looking a bit sad. John then had to convince Shelly that he doesn't hate what Shelly does, but it's just that he trip easily. After a bit of convincing, John eventually bought a few berries for Shelly and a kebab for himself. He then reached the Pokémon Center and then look back at his pocket watch

"Hmm.. it's 11.40, am i coming too fast? Logan should be late, and i'm not sure that i convinced Maria to come out of her room earlier this morning. But, at least i'm spared from the chastising of Melody. Well, what can i do at this point? Might as well enjoy the wait."

And so John waited for his fellow campmates, preparing for a journey that he didn't knew would change his life forever

 

[Sapphire Rose]

Melody/Raeliana Farell
Melody // Floaroma Pokémon Center

---

"Hey Rael,

Yesterday was a bit of a silent day. I saw our psychiatrist for a last session and she was glad to hear that you are able to stay conscious for a little bit longer than you used to. She was a little sad she couldn't speak to you directly so she made me give you a message from her, I left it in the drawer beneath our desk.

Rockruff was a little uneasy yesterday. I think he felt the anxiety you were feeling for leaving this place. It's not like I don't understand. This place has been our safe haven for roughly 3 months. It's weird thinking about how far we've gotten and how sudden we have to go on a journey. However, we are not there yet and this journey is supposed to help us. So try to cheer up a little, you are not alone in this.

Oh and Maria asked for you yesterday too. She's an odd girl. As soon as I said "No, it's me." she ran off like a scared Teddiursa! It was adorable in a way.

That's all I have the report for today. Let's try our best!

- Melody

P.S: We have to name the little fellow. Do you have a preference in names?

P.P.: Logan and John came up with the Pokémon Center as meeting spot. Be there before noon. I don't want to be the last one arriving."

Raeliana sat back in her chair as she closed the soft pink notebook in front of her. The cover read "Daily Notes" and that's exactly what this notebook contained. A small dog-like creature was sleeping on her lap but awoke as soon as Raeliana grabbed for one of her drawers. With his tail wagging, he jumped up and tried to reach for her face. Raeliana flinched completely for the moment but tried to settle down. It's been a week since "they" received this little Rockruff and both Raeliana and Melody had to get used to the unpredictable affections this little boy would give.

"Come on, I need to grab something." Raeliana told it with a soft smile spreading across her lips and tried to reach for her drawer again to take out a small letter. Rockruff was understanding and jumped of her lap, only to sit down right next to her like a puppy waiting for it's master to get ready.

Dear Raeliana,

Melody told me that you are able to stay out until noon nowadays. I'm very glad to hear that and I'm so proud of you! Remember that small steps are also progress and are necessary for the healing process.

You can reclaim your crown. I'm sure of it.

- Until we meet again, Dr. Pine"

Raeliana smile brightened. Dr. Pine had been a great help since she arrived here. She was so broken, and in so much pain... it was a hard process to retrieve her sanity but it was thanks to Dr. Pine that she got this far. "Let's get ready to go soon..." Raeliana spoke softly, glancing down towards the still-waiting Rockruff. "Roof!" It replied happy, tailing his own tail for a mere few seconds. "Hmm... I think Terra would be a good name for you. I wonder what Melody thinks of that..." She got up and walked towards her bed. There was a filled bag on it in which she hid away the notebook she was just reading. Looking past it, she saw another note.

"Wear this." it said. This note was laying on top the outfit Raeliana was currently wearing that Melody chose for them. She threw it away in the trashing bin next to her desk. It was almost noon which meant she had to start walking toward the meeting spot but as soon as she grabbed the doorknob, the empty eyes she had started regaining a shimmering of light.

"Already tired...? Well then. I'll take it over from here." the tone in her voice was completely different than before. The little Rockruff noticed this as well but without even hesitating it jumped against the leg of the young, thin girl. "I think Terra is indeed a nice name." She bend down to pet the small head of the Rockruff now named Terra. Terra jumped around happily and got in front of Melody.

"Okay little boy, lead the way." Melody closed the door behind her and followed the Rockruff down the hallway, towards a new adventure.

 

[Shak]

Team Fruit Punch

Maria

Logan

Melody

John

---

The First Straw

Melody was tapping her foot against the ground with an impatient expression across her face. It's not like the others were super late, but she was already here with John and Melody doesn't like waiting. "I swear, if I find out Maria is still cooped up in her room whining with her face hid in a pillow that she doesn't want to go, she's going to get an earful." she promised, knowing very well she was within earshot of John. "Oh, and Logan too of course." She added, looking at the watch on her wrist. She could already feel the stares of the Pokémon center lady behind her.

"Well, let's just hope that's not the case shall we?" John chuckled. The most he could do to ease the tension was offer the nurse an apologetic smile. He then looked at his pocket watch and sighed. They were screwed. What the hell were they thinking coming so late when they knew they're dealing with Melody?

Almost on cue, the blue haired boy, face slapped with sweat came running through the doors. He hunched over, panting to catch as much air as he could before he searched for his team. In his hand was a sagging slice of pizza, with most of the cheese and pepperoni hanging off the base. Logan held the snack up to eye level and scrunched his face in disappointment. Just behind him, his Ralts came waddling in and tapped its hand on its trainer's leg.

As he lowered the pizza from his eyeline, Logan noticed the familiar faces standing around in the Pokecenter waiting area. His face spread into a smile. It felt like ages since he'd seen the rest of Team Fruit Punch. Ever since they were told about it, Logan had longed to traverse the Sinnoh region alongside John, Melody and Maria. He knelt down and tapped his Ralts, the pointed to Melody. "Oh, hey it's-oh, she does not look happy…" his excitement withered and he slowly backed away once he realised his elation wasn't shared.

Seeing Melody's expression start to change even more. John pulled out his Pokéball. "Shelly, would you mind entering the ball again?" Shelly entered her Pokéball obediently. John's attention then went to Logan in which he signalled to Logan with his wry smile. Did the boy actually understand what the hell he'd done? His best bet would be to ask for forgiveness or face consequences much worse. Then, John knew all too well, that just wasn't Logan.

"Hmf." Melody crossed her arms and walked up to the late boy who was only a year younger than her. "Logan, you're late." She smirked, a sadistic glint in her eye.. "You know how very much I dislike waiting." Melody's tone was a kind one, yet the intimidating look on her face did not fade.

Logan continued to back away as the girl piled the pressure on him. The same mischievous, albeit nervous grin etched across his face. He'd all but forgotten about the uneaten pizza slice hanging by his side as he rattled off his excuses. "C'mon Mel, you know it wasn't my fault. I mean...there was traffic, old lady crossing the street, I hit a deerling...what could I…" Logan's droning trailed off as he looked past Melody to the sight in a neighbouring room. "L-look, it's Maria!" He yelped, pointing to the sight of the taller girl cowering away from a bounding fire monkey.

Maria had indeed been inside the Pokemon Center the entire time. Her eyes were wide with fear. Sweat was dripping from her forehead and she was short on breath, making her look as though she had been running a 10k marathon. The tall blonde was currently crouched underneath a table, wincing everytime the mischievous Chimchar decided to jump up and down on the table.

"P-Please… S-Someone help…" Maria managed to squeak out.

"Wait. Maria?" Melody took a glance to the girl hiding under the table after Logan mentioned her, successfully distracting her and making her take her eyes off him. "I guess I have to apologize. I had not noticed you." Melody tried to bend down to meet Maria's eyes. "... But you can't let your little Chimchar run havoc like that. So please, get up, join the group and try to discipline the little guy a little." Melody stood up and walked back towards John and Logan, especially Logan since she wasn't finished with him yet. "John, be a darling and help Maria please. As for you…" Melody's sinister grin returned as she faced Logan. "You know better than to make up silly excuses like that. How are you going to thrive in society one day if you can't even take responsibility for your actions?"

Logan took the moment of breath he'd been allowed to savour the first bite of of his delicious hot pizza. At least, that's how he'd envisioned it. Before he could turn that dream into a reality and squelch the cold lump of molten cheese between his teeth, Melody was right back on his case. By now, he was literally back against the wall. He eased his hands in front of him to shift the brunette out of his space, but quickly thought better of it, instead opting to shimmy himself to freedom. "Ummm...pizza?" He offered, holding greasy glob as a gift of apology.

Melody watched the cheese fall to the ground. The food was almost as disappointed as she was. She was finished with Logan and turned to where John was aiding Maria. She really just meant the best for them.

While Melody is reprimanding Logan, John is taking his time to assess the situation between Maria and her new partner. "Um.. Maria, I think Chimchar just wants to play, maybe you should try to play just a little bit with Chimchar?" But looking at Maria's current condition, he immediately stopped trying to give advice and instead remedy the situation temporarily. "Maria, here a berry. Try to give it to your Chimchar, he would probably stop jumping for a while."

Any comfort John's offer of a berry may have given Maria was surely supported by the gentle touch of the tiny white hand of the feeling pokemon, who took it upon herself to rub the terrified trainer's knee.

Maria initially flinched from the sudden contact of the Ralts, but somehow found herself quickly able to calm herself down in regard to the smaller, much more gentle Pokémon. She then glanced over towards John, her eyes coming to eventually rest upon the berry he was offering her to feed to the Chimchar.

"F-Feed him the b-berry…? Oh… Um… I mean… I couldn't… W-What if he bites me and decides that h-he wants to eat p-people… I… M-Maybe you could do it instead, yeah…? Yeah, that's a good idea, right?" Maria quickly rambled out.

"Maria, I know you're afraid of him. But he is your partner, you can't escape from him for our entire journey. It's okay to be afraid, there is always a first time for everything. However, running away will not solve your problem.." John continued to plead to the terrified blonde. "I trust you can do it Maria and that's why, please have a trust in yourself." John then smiled warmly at Maria as he finished speaking.

"W-Well… What if I just… gave him to you?" Maria quickly questioned. "I've been thinking that… Y-You know, m-maybe I should just stay here…? I'm not feeling too w-well anyways…"

"Maria…" John starts to tilt his head while his smile starts to widen even more that it starts to resemble slasher movie scene.

Melody's head did a 180° turn upon hearing the words "maybe I should stay here" coming from Maria. Her expression hardened to stone at that.

"W-What are you staring at m-me like… You want me-that thing to bite me, don't you?!" Maria quickly accused.

A shadow bounded over John's head. Now stood atop the only shelter protecting Maria from being the table terrorist's dinner, was Logan. His face wasn't marred with arrogant bombastic triumph or an angered vendetta against the pokemon that was scaring his friend, instead Logan looked over the Chimchar in awe, his jaw agasp as he examined Maria's new starter. He crouched down and hung his head beneath the table to face the girl, even dangling the pokemon as if presenting it as a prize. "No way, how'd you manage to get a Chimchar? All I got was...well that thing…" He huffed, pointing to the Ralts that was doing its best to empathise with Maria's situation.

"I d-didn't ask for it…" Maria whimpered, the sudden thud on the top of the table causing her to recoil yet again. "Y-You can have it if you w-want!"

At Maria's words Logan sprung to his feet and held the fire type in the air. "Haha! Yes! I'll take it."

Melody's Rockruff, Terra, ran over to the pair as well with Melody following it. "Come now you two." She began, sighing and shaking her head again. "Your partners were thoughtfully chosen by your psychiatrists. You can't just go around and say stuff like that. They can hear you." as soon as Melody finished that sentence, Terra turned around and jumped against her leg. Melody flinched and let out a small "SQUEEE!". It took a few seconds for her to regain her posture. "cough, you get what I mean." she held her hand against her mouth when letting out that small cough. Thankfully, Terra didn't seem to be too bothered by her reaction. He got kind of used to it.

"I, for one, am really grateful that I got little Terra here." She said with pride and bent down to give the little fellow a pat on his head as an apology for behaviour.

Logan looked Melody up and down, then scoffed. "Well maybe if yours keeps touchin' your leg like that, you can trade with John, then everyone's happy," he teased. The comment gave him a flash of realisation as his attention turned to John. "What did you end up with anyway?"

Melody turned away from John with crossed arms and a "Hmph!". She wouldn't trade this Rockruff in a million years.

John slightly giggled seeing Melody pouting behind him, "Come out, Shelly!" John said while throwing his Pokéball. "I got a Stunky. At a glance I was worried that since it is a Skunk Pokémon and a Dark/Poison type Pokémon that it would be a handful. But it's kinda cute now that I look at it again." John then rubbed Shelly's head with his hand which elicit a huge smile from his partner. "So Maria, even a Pokémon that you think is dangerous is actually pretty tame. I'm sure your Chimchar is pretty much the same." Feeling that Maria would probably never be convinced with words, he then said "Well, if you don't believe me, why don't we do it together? At least you're not doing this alone, and do you really want to be stuck under that table forever? So, how about it?"

"Ummm...excuse me!" A voice cracked through the chaos of the young group of trainers enjoying each others company. It was nurse joy, though her name was thoroughly ironic at that point as she glared at the boy stood atop the table with the Chimchar in his hands. "I'm going to have to ask you to get down from there or leave."

Team Fruit Punch paused for just a moment, before their blue haired member piped up again. "Alright guys, you heard the lady, we gotta go." He chirped as he hopped down from the table, finally letting go of the Chimchar, instead reaching for the pokemon's trainer's hand. It took just about all of his might, but he managed to tug the almost six foot tall girl from under the table. "We'll conduct our trade elsewhere." He sniffed, directing his snide toward the nurse.

Maria felt her face darken from the sudden focus on their small group, an instant desire to crawl back under the table rising to hide from the looks all the while. That said, the grip Logan had on her hand was making fulfilling that desire quite difficult for the blonde. Her situation was made worse by the sudden weight that fell upon her shoulder. Maria's whole body went stiff as she slowly turned her head to glance over her shoulder… only to come face to face with her Chimchar. The little monkey Pokemon had a huge grin on his face as he suddenly poked the blonde in her cheek with his tongue, causing a small whimper to slip past her lips.

"C-Can we j-just go now…?" Maria questioned, desperately wanting to escape all the looks or her Chimchar. The tall girl wasn't even sure which was freaking her out more at this point.

John and Melody exchanged concerned glances as the other allowed Logan to practically drag Maria out of the pokecentre. With the nurse standing expectantly and half the group heading out, it was time to start the journey of Team Fruit Punch. Whatever that meant.​

 

[Shak]

Team Fruit Punch

Maria

Logan

Melody

John

---

Million Honey

The shelves of the pokemart were stacked to the brim with a litany of potions, elixirs, PP Ups, Antidotes and Paralyze heals. Logan scanned the shelves intensely, as though he had…well...intent. He was in fact, lost. His gaze bounced between the shelves and the other much more assured shoppers. Every opportunity he had to move to the next aisle, he did, always in search for the rest of his Fruit Punch Teammates.

He jumped at the feeling of a hand tapping his shoulder. The boy spun on his heel and turned to face an old man in a set of dungarees. The man offered him a warm smile, but Logan backed away. "My apologies young man, I didn't mean to startle you. I just couldn't help but notice you're in the trainers section, but completely dismissed the potions. Perhaps you're looking for something more potent."

Logan raised a brow. "Potent?" The boy questioned. "What's a potent?"

The old man smiled. "Something very useful for budding trainers such as yourself." The man responded sharply, gesturing towards the pokeball hooked to Logan's belt.

"I should really grab my friends first. We're travelling together, I shouldn't leave without 'em." Logan pushed off his back foot to leave, but something compelled him to stay. He glanced around, almost as though checking to make sure his friends weren't watching to ensure he didn't screw up, then returned his attention to the old man. "So like, what are we talking here? Strong Pokemon? A Chimchar, Shinx or something?"

"Much better." The man smirked, prompting the confused teenager to do the same. He ruffled around in his bag for just a moment before pulling out a jar of golden liquid. "This my dear boy, is Million Honey."

"Woah...million." Logan gasped. He peered into the glass. His own reflection stared back at him, a boyish and wondrous expression peering into his face.

"I can give this to you for as little as Ten thousand Poke. This will be the best honey you've ever tasted. I can guarantee it." The old man sung, presenting the honey as glamorous as he could. Any hubris he may have entered the engagement with was passing with each breath with each second the blue haired teen didnt buy any honey.

"Ten thousand? That's like…" Logan stopped to count on his fingers. At that point the man was at the stage of holding his breath completely. "A hundred poke discount! There's no way I could pass that up! I'll get the others, since they got the money, but we're definitely buying!" Logan announced before bounding out of the pokemart, leaving behind him a very confused but satisfied honey merchant.

Logan practically sprinted to the town rendezvous point that the group had agreed upon. The fountain was just off the centre of the town, not far from where he'd stolen the churro just a few hours ago. He had expected to find the entire group, but instead stumbled on Maria quietly scratching away at an old notepad, while tucked onto a bench. "Hey Maria! Have you got our group savings? I need some cash to pick up something I found in the store."

Maria quickly flinched at the sound of Logan's voice as he came running towards her, the girl snapping her book shut before stuffing it back inside of her traveling bag. Her cheeks were flushed, as if she was suddenly quite embarrassed over something. As to what that something was, Logan probably wasn't sure.

"G-Group savings…? What do you n…" Maria began to question, her eyes suddenly going wide with fear. "Are… Are you planning to rob me or s-something? I don't have that m-much on me, I swear!"

"Rob you?" Logan cocked his head to the side, almost offended by Maria's question. He took a second to brush off any wondering thoughts as to what the blonde may have been insinuating and returned his thoughts to the matter at hand. "Maria, we're about to get Million Honey, for Ten thousand poke! I just need the money." He announced bearing his pearly whites as he sold the dream.

"M-Million Honey…?" Maria responded in question. "What… Why do we need honey…?"

Logan's vigor weakened as Maria once again failed to share his enthusiasm. "I mean...we might need it. It doesn't matter. It's down from a million poke. You can't miss a deal like that." He pleaded.

Maria seemed a bit apprehensive. "I… I m-mean… That does sound like a good deal…"

The girl began to idly twist a strand of hair between her fingers. She was suddenly very nervous about turning Logan down. The last thing she wanted to do was upset her fellow companion… He could end up developing some kind of grudge against her. What if it was enough for him to outright hate her and encourage the others to abandon Maria out in the middle of nowhere? The very thought made the taller of the two shudder in fear.

"W-Well… m-maybe just one jar, then…" Maria determined, her voice still sounding a bit unsure.

"I knew you'd be on board! You're awesome Maria." Logan cheered, throwing a sharp hook at the air. He invited the girl into his celebration with a gentle jab to her arm. "Now I just need you to help me convince the others," he continued before he glanced down at the girl's bag. "Unless you've got the cash on you now? We could buy it to surprise them."

"But… W-What if they don't like honey…? Wouldn't they be mad that we used our money on something they don't like…?" Maria questioned. She suddenly saw images in her head of Melody berating her for wasting the money like that. Then more images of Logan being upset that they didn't get the honey that they wanted, which in turn caused the tall girl to begin panicking even more than she already was. "I… I d-don't… I mean… Can't we j-just…"

"C'mon Maria, if this isn't a once in a lifetime opportunity, I don't know what is." Logan pleaded once again, practically nudging the girl off the bench. He took a quick scan of her person and rightly or wrongly made the decision that it wasn't her who had been entrusted with their group budget. "I know where to find Melody. We can go ask 'em."

"Can't we just… until she changes back…?" Maria questioned, the last bit falling off into the air as Logan nudged her off the bench. It seemed the blonde was going to get little input in the matter now as Logan had set his mind on that honey. "I know… M-Maybe I can wait here until after y-you buy it?"

"Huh?" Logan's all action pace was slowed for just a moment. Maria had never been so resolute before and it had knocked him out of his stride. He couldn't let it bother him though. He wasn't going to miss out on Million Honey because she wanted to wait around. He glanced at the backpack she'd left sitting on the bench. Like a bullet he shot in and grabbed it, held it up in front of himself as though he were dangling it over a live volcano. "Now, I'm guessing you're gonna want this, so hows about I give it back to you once we get to the Pokestyle store?"

A worried look was on the girl's face at the sight of this. Was he actually blackmailing her? What if he went through there and pulled out her sketchbook! Knowing her luck, Logan would probably be the kind to try and show it off to everyone. They'd all laugh over how bad her drawings were and then she'd have to lock herself away, if only to hide from the embarrassment this time.

"Okay, okay, just… P-Please, don't look inside…" Maria pleaded, following along behind Logan as quickly as she could.

--------

"Hmmm… nope."

"Hmmm….. ew."

"Oh! This one is cute! What do you think, Terra?" Melody turned around towards Terra, holding a light pink dress in front of her and posed. Terra replied with a small "wrraff!" in agreement. Melody seemed delighted by this and made a twirl, making the poke style store owner smile as well.

On her way to the changing room, Melody grabbed for the back of the pink dress. "Let's see…" Melody searched for the pricetag. "2100 poke?!" she almost yelled out as she was heavily disappointed by the pricetag. She grabbed for her purse… then glanced over to Terra with a saddened expression. "I have 1900…"

In her bag was another purse. It was the group allowance. She started wondering if the others would notice her taking 200 poke from that. "Wraff!" Terra ran small circles around Melody. "Yeah, you're right… I don't want to be irresponsible..."

Just as that thought flashed through her head, the familiar raspy voice of Logan rang through her head like a pestering guilty conscience. Before she could even react to the frightening coincidence, the wandering mug of the ever curious blue haired teen burst through the curtain of her changing stall.

"Hey Mel, I need to as-ugh-" And just like that he was gone. She furrowed her brows in confusion, but the expression alone wasn't enough to explain the sudden appearance and disappearance of Logan's head.

Melody opened the curtain, as she hadn't began undressing yet, and found a blue haired rascal being dragged out of the store. Raising that same eyebrow again, she started wondering what he needed to do in a clothes store. It took a few seconds before she realised that Logan almost entered her changing room while she was undressing.

The face of the brown haired girl turned bright red from embarrassment and anger. " Logan!! I will turn that face as blue as your hair if you dare to ever do that again!!" she screamed at him and followed him towards the door, leaving behind the dress in the changing room. Terra happily followed as if nothing was happening at all.

"Wait...Mel...please!" Logan barely manage to gasp out his words between struggles with the bouncer. He found himself bouncing across the concrete as the security guard stood in the doorway, brushing his hands triumphantly. Maria caught up just in time to see the defeated teen deflate on the ground. "Maria...we're gonna miss out on that honey." He sighed.

It was only then that he glanced back at the doorway to see an inscenced Melody storming towards them. As if on instinct, Maria began to shrink away. The girl's nervous gaze immediately drifted to the ground in an attempt to try and avoid making eye contact with Melody.

Melody had eyes only for the blue haired idiot that almost watched her undress for the moment, although she did notice Maria in her eye corners. With her hands placed on her hips she stood in front of Logan, who was at that point still halfway on the floor. "Do you have an explanation for yourself?" She asked quite intimidatingly.

The unease of the incident wasn't completely lost on Logan, but his hunger to capitalise on his honey incident far exceeded his capacity for social awareness. He clasped his hands together and took a step away, putting himself just out of Melody's arms reach and practically hiding behind Maria. "Now Mel, I know you're probably busy, but I...and Maria were thinking. There's this guy right...he's selling million honey for ten thousand poke. We agreed that we can't miss an opportunity like that. We kinda need access to the group piggy bank. I mean, it's a limited time offer." His conviction waned as he said the last sentence and noticed Melody's expression hadn't changed. "Isn't that right Maria?"

"W-Well… I um… That is…" Maria stammered, the girl's body tensing up as Logan moved to place her between himself and Melody. "I… I d-don't know, but… If this h-honey is as special as L-Logan said it is… M-Maybe we should g-get some… you know…J-Just one jar… "

Melody crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at both the tall blonde and the blue haired dolt. Her hip slightly moved to the right side for her to lean on her own standing figure. "And what is so impressive about this honey that it's so expensive that I could easily buy almost 5 pricey dresses?" the tone in Melody's voice indicated how she was absolutely not impressed nor convinced.

Both Logan and Maria visibly flinched at the tone in Melody's voice. The blonde unknowingly grabbed a tight hold onto Logan's arm, somehow managing to hide behind him instead.

"S-See? I knew it was a bad idea… She's g-gonna kill us n-now. I knew I shouldn't have come… I'm stupid, I know… I s-should just g-go b-back to my-my room… C-Can I just go back, please?" Maria began to ramble off.

Logan glanced back at Maria. Her paranoia made him chuckle, if only a little. It was that It made him realise that he couldn't let his team miss out on this opportunity, even if they didn't know what they were missing.

"How about this? We go to the old man. We sample the honey. If you're not impressed, you can buy as many dresses as you want with the money we don't spend on honey. If you are impressed...we buy it!" He threw his arm up in a grand gesture as he finished his moment of genius. "Whaddaya say? It's a no brainer, right?" He wriggled his arm from Maria's grasp and spit on his hand, sticking it out for Melody to shake.

The brown haired girl in turn stared at him as if he had done something truly disgusting, which he had. "It's our groups funds… I'm not going to buy dresses with that…" she sounded slightly offended. She then sighed as she realised Logan wasn't going to give up easily. "Let's go get a sample then. But only a sample!" She spoke like a mother reprimanding her kids.

"Haha! Yes!" Logan cheered. "I promise, you wont regret it!" Before he even finished his sentence, he had already begun barreling toward the pokemart where he'd met the old man, leaving the two girls in his dust.​

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Team Fruit Punch

Maria

Logan

Melody

John

---

Vespiquen Sanctuary

"I shouldn't be late even if I take a stroll, right? Knowing them, i think they'd be more late than me. Not that I hope someone will get into trouble though." John murmured to himself as he took a trip around the meadow for one last time before he had to embark for the journey. After all, he probably wouldn't have another chance to see the beauty of Floaroma Meadow for quite a while, besides he had finished his library visit 20 minutes earlier.

Not long after, a sweet aroma wafted through the air carried by the gentle breeze that swept across the meadow.
"Hmm.. This smells like honey, maybe a beekeeper lives nearby. Maybe I should buy some honey there if i could, after all honey is useful in attracting Pokémon. That and maybe I could use some for my tea."

He walked through while trying to pinpoint where the honey smell originated from. After a few minutes of walking, he found a white house with hordes of Combee hustling back and forth from the building. He spotted the hive towering over the back of the house. The droning was deafening, but John endured it for the sake of discovery. The Combee didn't seem that bothered by him after all.

"Ah, so this is the beekeeper's house. Maybe I should ju—" John's thought suddenly disturbed by a much harsher higher pitched buzzing noise from a nearby flower bush. "What's that? From the sound of it, it definitely isn't Combee. I have to check it out, Come out Shelly!"

In preparation for the worst, John threw his Poké Ball into the air and unleashed his partner to help him investigate. They both then sneakily walked to the flower bush so they could find out the truth behind the noise. As the approached, a cluster of Combee fled the scene, leaving behind a Cutiefly writhing on the ground in agony. He stepped forward to investigate the injured pokemon, but a larger group of Combee rushed back in and attacked. John barely managed to dodge, but now the Cutiefly was in more danger than it was before.

"That doesn't look good. I have a plan Shelly, but I couldn't do this without your help. I need you to divert them while I evacuate that Cutiefly. When we make it to safety I'm going to call you back into the Poké Ball so they don't realize where you have gone, understand?"

Shelly nodded at John's order and started to run as fast as she could at the Combees. When Shelly was close enough to the Combees she shot Acid Spray at one of them, angering the group and making them chase Shelly who continued to run away as ordered. As the diversion worked, John then ran as fast as he could, securing the Cutiefly and ran away to a bush far enough from the flower bush.

"Jeez…I…Should…Start working out…More…" John was gasping for air as he used all of his lung capacity to dash away. "Return… Shelly!" He grabbed Shelly's Poké Ball and activated it once more, leaving the Combees confused with the sudden disappearance of their aggressor. "Gah, it's badly injured. I'm no Nurse Joy, but at least I could help you out a bit." John took a Potion from his backpack and used it on the Cutiefly. "But seriously, why are those Combees here so aggressive? The beekeeper should know something about this."

Although he was still quite exhausted, he was still determined to find out why those Combee were attacking Cutiefly. John walked once more to the beekeeper's house.

"Excuse me, is there anybody home?" John said while knocking the door.

"Who's there? Are you a honey buyer or not?" A man in blue checkered shirt and black jeans opened the door. He looked no older than John himself, so naturally the trainer found himself asking how a man as young as this was able to run a honey distributor but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

"I am, but may I ask, do you know why your Combees attacked this Cutiefly? As far as I know Floaroma Meadow is-" While trying to complete his question, the man cut John's inquiry before it finished.

"Look, my gramps left me in charge today, I ain't got time to be protectin' every pest that wanders onto the ranch. If your cutiefly got hurt, put it in a pokeball or somethin'. The boy finished. He stepped back, ready to slam the door in John's face, but the trainer persisted.

"Excuse me for my tone Sir. But, you're already a grown up and you should be more responsible with raising your Pokémon. Combees wouldn't attack random Pokémon for no reasons at all, if you really are a real beekeeper then please act like one." John answered the man with quite the tone, considering he rarely raise his tone at all.

"I just told you, this is my gramps' ranch! " The man was quite angry hearing the statement of the boy in front of him. "How about this? I'll call him, and you can consult him with you issue." The teen finally sighed.

---

Logan finally found himself at exhaustion of his stamina as he finally arrived back at the pokemart, once again running full pelt. He was even more fortunate now than when he'd bumped into the Million Honey man, as this time he didn't even need to go into the store.

"No Carlson, make sure the customer is satisfied. This is a selling opportunity, offer some complimentary honey so he can see how well Million Honey works. Alright, I'm on my way." The man sighed as he hung up the phone.

The man was stood outside. It didn't for a moment strike Logan that the man's phone call may be too important to interrupt. Important or not, Logan enthusiastically tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey old man, we got the cash, but my friend wants a sample of the honey first." He huffed, mocking Melody's voice as mentioned the 'sample'.

Melody's eyes rolled as she crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Sorry young man, but you missed the window for that offer. I can't sell it for less than a million now. Unfortunately, I have to head back to the Vespiquen Sanctuary to sort out a customer issue. I don't have any on me at the moment." The man turned and began to walk away.

"Wait! We'll still buy." The flustered teen was tiptoeing on the spot. Even with his back turned, the beekeeper could see his desperation. He smirked.

"Oh hell no we don't." Melody immediately interrupted and stepped in front of Logan, pushing him aside and keeping him at her back. "Is this how you treat a potential customer?" Melody changed her stance to somewhat more intimidating for a girl her height. She was like a karen asking for the manager. "What do you mean he 'missed the window for that offer'? He was going to get money, was he not? Besides, what makes your honey so amazing that it's worth 1 million poke to begin with?" she kept rambling on with that stern tone in her voice she would often use against Logan, Maria and John. Or any kid that was in Floaroma camp, really…

"For all I know, this is just one big scam." as Melody spoke those words, she briefly glared at the blue haired idiot in her back before facing the older man. That he was much taller than her didn't seem to bother her at all and Terra also one-upped her by growling at
him from behind Melody's leg. Even he wouldn't dare getting between Melody and her prey now.

"Hey don't tick him off." Logan pestered as he watched the honey merchant mull over Melody's rant.

"I suppose I could offer you that sample. I've no doubt that Million Honey is legitimate. My Combee are the best in all of Sinnoh. However I need to go and deal with a customer comp...enquiry at the sanctuary and I don't have any honey on me as I was able to sell the last portion." The man sighed. "You're welcome to try your sample if you're willing to join me on my commute to Floaroma meadows. You can even watch the process see just how worthwhile the honey really is." With that, he began on his way, with little concern for whether or not the group were following him.

Logan turned to Melody, his hands clasped together. "The Sanctuary…" He practically begged, his eyes wide with wonder.

"D-Do we really h-have to go…?" Maria whimpered quietly. "I've n-never heard of… what if it's a trick and he just wants our money… or to kill us… or both…?"

"Yes. We are going." Melody sighed in response to Maria's whimpering. "I didn't just snap at him to not sample that honey in the end. I want to know what it is that makes this honey so worthwhile." With that, she started following the old man in the direction of what appeared to be the road towards the sanctuary. She knew full well that they didn't have a million poke on them and if this man was even a little bit as clever as he appeared, he should have known that. Why would honey be this expensive?​

 

[Shak]

Team Fruit Punch

Maria

Logan

Melody

John

---

More Cutieflys with Honey

The group found themselves wafting through a huge platoon of Combee that fluttered in formation back and forth through a wide space of garden. The ground was littered with an assortment of flowers, not too dissimilar to those in Floaroma Meadow. Towering over the small hut in the distance, was a massive beehive that Combee seemed to relay back to before being deployed on their next nectar retrieval mission. Logan turned as he strolled, practically walking backwards, as he observed the regimented graft of the yellow pokemon in awe.

As they drew closer to the hut the figures of Carlson, the beekeeper's grandson, and John became clearer.

"Gramps!" Carlson called as he stepped forward. His callout startled the injured cutiefly in John's arms. "This is the guy, he was complainin' about some wild cutiefly gettin' hurt in the garden."

"And what did you say?" His grandfather responded sharply.

Carlson opened his mouth to respond, but hesitated. He noticed the trio stood behind his grandfather. "We actually got customers for once?" Carlson joked to response of a harsh shushing from his grandfather. "And some pretty ones too." He smirked with a wink to Melody.

Melody's relaxed expression turned back into a stern one within 0.5 seconds after that comment as she ignored what the farm boy had just said. It was looking like a scam more and more. Or at least like someone trying to earn fast money. She coughed as she stepped forward again. "John, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Me? I was here for a quick stroll until suddenly I heard a loud noise that I thought doesn't belong to a Combee. When I checked the source it was a horde of Combees who attacked this Cutiefly. That's why after I saved Cutiefly, I came here asking about the reason why those Combees are more aggressive than usual, which made me stuck here for quite a while," John retold his story while petting the head of Cutiefly gently, trying to calm it down.

The brunette nodded. "I see." She said with another stern tone in her voice as her eyes shifted to the boy and the old man.

"Here, let me see the Cutiefly." The Honey man huffed, his old grey moustache ruffling on his lip. He grabbed a jar of honey from the cupboard, where it seemed as though a hundred jars were stored and rubbed some on the wounds of small bug pokemon. "It certainly won't heal the wounds, but it does a fantastic job of easing the pain and quells the risk of infection." He stomped over to the table in the middle of the room and placed three small glasses. He looked up at the three teens, who patiently waited for his next move, and finally to the fourth who had missed the previous altercation on account of his newfound fascination with the working combee. "I suppose you'll be wanting that sample now." He spoke as he filled each glass with a spoon of honey. "There. Million Honey."

Maria stared apprehensively at the spoon that the old man had handed her. At the very least, the honey did give off a very pleasant aroma. That said, the tallest of the four teens still found her mind drifting off to… less than reasonable thoughts. What if this honey was some kind of poisonous concoction that the old man had been cooking up? What if it was laced with some sort of drug?

Maria glanced nervously over towards Melody, her eyes immediately casting down towards the ground for a moment in an attempt to try and avoid eye contact. "Are… Are we really gonna do this…?"

Before Maria knew it, Melody had already stuffed the spoon in her mouth for a taste. Melody is someone who is very hard to please and the expression on her face that wasn't at all switching to a somewhat more pleasant one told enough about the honey. "Hmm… not bad." She spoke after swallowing the honey. "I get why you wouldn't price it like other honeys. That much I'll admit." She laid the spoon on the table and crossed her arms in a fashion she would before lecturing someone. It's a pose the three other teens would know all too well.

"However, 1 million poke is still way too much. If you want to sell these, you should price them accordingly so that customers are able to afford and possibly keep coming back." Melody's gaze rested upon the hurt cutiefly. "And then there is still the matter of why these Combee were so aggressive. Can you explain that?" Melody's voice was more calm than before.

"It ain't like we can afford to sell like the pokemart does." Carlson bit back through the side of his mouth. Again he was met with chagrin and spite from his grandfather, but this time, he was having none of it. "What? I ain't wrong. The girl's right. Your little One Million poke stunt ain't gonna work if no one knows how good the honey is. Even when they do, who's got that much to splash on honey?"

"It's simple marketing. Outrageous prices intrigue people. 'Why is it so expensive,' they ask, then they come to sample. Exhibit A." The old man ended his rant by displaying the set of customers who had been intrigued by the extortionate pricing of the honey.

"Idiots like that maybe." Carlson scoffed. As he spoke he pointed outside, where Logan was writhing around in pain. "That's why your Combee are so aggressive. All the work they put in to create the honey and for what? It to be stolen by a bunch o' wanderin Cutiefly and a moron with blue hair."

"We don't own the land. Not to the pokemon anyway." The old man huffed.

"Then protect our investment." Carlson snapped. "Advertise. You got an empty jar that you're selling as 'million honey' with no brand." By now the two were facing away from each other, at odds like two children arguing over who ruled the playground.

Maria looked between the two men, quickly feeling her tension rising as they argued amongst themselves. Her eyes drifted down to the spoon still in her hand, honey slowly starting to drip from its curved surface. Melody had eaten her sample and seemed to be doing okay so far. Maybe it wouldn't hurt…

Maria brought the spoon up to her lips, taking a deep breath as if to mentally brace herself for the worst before finally putting it in her mouth. Her eyes widened as the sticky, sweet substance coated her tongue before it began to slowly slide down her throat. Maria smiled softly, licking her lips in satisfaction.

"This is actually pretty good…" the tall girl said quietly.

"It is Million Honey after all." The man huffed again.

Those words were a trigger for the bee stung boy that was bouncing around in pain outside. In an instant, he was stood over the jar of honey his eyes wide with wonder. "Million Honey." He mumbled to himself, almost drooling. It only took one unchallenged glance around the room before sticky handful was shoved in his mouth. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and a dopey smile crept across his face. Once he returned to reality, he turned to each of his fruit punch teammates forcing the most pleading Lillipup dog eyes he could. "W-we're buying, right?"

John who had eaten the honey after Maria did, sighed and commented at the pitiful sight "I don't want to be the one to break your dreams my friend, but do you realize that even if you worked your entire life that you only have a slim chance of saving money to buy this honey? For fair price sure, but for one million poke? No way, Jose." He then averted his gaze, from the deflating Logan, to the bickering pair who were still murmuring among themselves with their back facing away from each other.

"I hate to do this old man but your grandson does have a point. I'll admit that your honey is good, extraordinary even, but it wouldn't do anything good sitting at a cupboard without any buyer to take it from you. Sure you'll take a lower profit if you start selling low, but I'm sure your honey would be famous anyway judging by its taste alone. So why not building your brand first then you can sell it for the price it deserves?" John tries to reason with the old man.

"Besides…" Melody's gaze switched to the cutiefly again. "I think I might have an idea for your brand. Let me…" Melody searched around the room until she saw a piece of paper with a pen. "Borrow this!" As soon as those two words left her mouth, Melody started scribbling on the piece of paper. What she eventually showed seemed like a drawing of a Combee and a Cutiefly each on a side with the words "Million Honey" in the middle.

"The name itself is catchy so I wouldn't change that if I were you and to make the Combee less aggressive, have the cutiefly work on the ranch too!" Melody's head was filled with ideas and a small sparkle of light was shimmering in her eyes like a little girl in her true element. "You can have them bring you small things you need for the honey in exchange for a little bit of honey for themselves!" Melody clasped her hands together as she stared at the look on the face of both the grandson and the older man.

Carlson turned to Melody and examined the drawing in her hand. His face cracked into a smirk. "Talented and beautiful. See gramps, maybe we should hire her for business management. We'd actually get somewhere then."

The old man grumbled once it was his turn to look over the picture. "While I appreciate the gesture, I shall not beset the future of my business on a picture you just scribbled together. Unfortunately, there's no place for the cutiefly here."

While he'd been sulking in his own corner of the room, one thing eased Logan's mind of the pain that he wouldn't be the recipient of the best honey he'd ever tasted. One of the combee, the one that stung him, had turned its attention to leftover honey that gooped in the palm of his hand. He snickered mischievously as he teased the pokemon, before spitefully swiping its golden prize away. The game of 'now you see me' was concluded when he stuffed the hand in his pocket. What came out wasn't just a sticky hand, but a piece of paper.

Logan unfolded the balled up page. It was a drawing. Two combee, illuminated by the light of the sun. Their wings seemed to glitter with gold. The negligent teen had just caught the tail end of the proceedings the more mature members of the room had just concluded. He glanced up as the Million Honey Man had just rejected Melody's impromptu drawing. "How about this?" he blurted out.

The old man scowled down at Logan. Another insult to his brand of course. His expression softened as he took the time to properly look over the picture. It was crafted. Time and care were put into it. Two bees shining with the gold of quality. This was premium. This was Million Honey. "I-it does fit." He sighed. "Did you draw this?"

"S-sure…" Logan shrugged, his expression slowly growing into a smile.

"It's crude, but I think we can make this work." The man huffed, tilting the image of the two Combee, envisioning the picture with the words Million Honey sticking out the side.

At that moment, the Cutiefly weakly fluttered out of John's hands. It pitched itself on the picture that Melody had drawn. The man's expression softened again.

"So you like the idea of earning your keep, hmm?" The pokemon was defiant however. It tapped on the image of the cutiefly. It was clear what it meant.

"The girl and the bug are right gramps." Carlson said, throwing in his unecessary two cents.

With its point made, the cutiefly fluttered back over to the trainer that had saved it.

"So be it." The man sighed. He walked over to the cupboard where the jars of honey were stocked in their hundreds. "I know it's million honey, but I'm sure we can spare two." He noticed Logan's face light up in the corner of his eye. "One for that cutiefly," He began as he handed one to John. "Hopefully it gets its fill." Then he turned to Melody. "I suppose if I don't want the rest to go to waste..." He nodded to Melody as he held the jar out for her.

"Hey, what about me?" Logan pouted. The combee fluttered in his face in response to his outburst, shutting him up.

Melody glanced up at the man and the jar, and then to the blue haired dolt who pouted like a small child. She sighed. "Thank you, sir." Melody took the jar from him with a kind smile. She then turned to Logan and held out the jar towards him. Before he could even fetch the jar from her with his eager hands, Melody held the jar away from him in a stern manner.

"You're going to have to promise me, and Maria and John, that you won't try to spend our group funds on your own anymore."

"Fine." The boy huffed in response. "I promise." He practically rolled his eyes as he issued the half hearted vow. He glanced up to his buzzing new friend, who seemed just as eager as he was about their new jar of honey.

John pats the head of the Cutiefly as he tries to say his goodbyes to it "Don't be reckless anymore, okay? It's worrying to think about what will happen if i wasn't there to save you? Take good care of yourself alright? I hope we can meet again one day"

Cutiefly looks saddened at the apparent goodbye and tries to enter John's vest pocket

"Ow, ow don't stab me with your mouth.. Stop moving.. Arghh, my seams are being undone."

---

"What would you have done?" Carlson inquired as he walked over to his grandfather with a teapot in hand. He filled each mug, then stirred some honey into them. His grandfather glanced up at him, a brow raised. "If the kid had actually came to you with the million poke…you wasn't gonna make him pay that, were you?"

The old man simply took a breath in response. "You know, I never once said it cost a million." The mug in his hand swilled, mixing the golden honey into his steaming beverage. A cutiefly perched on the teapot. He watched it carefully, but it just waited.

"You did say one hundred thousand." Carlson snapped back.

Again the man sighed, lifting one of his legs to rest upon the other. He allowed himself to relax as the cutiefly fluttered away. "Yes I did, but I chose honey over vinegar." He tapped the mug with the spoon, the chime of which caught the fly's attention. He took a sip of his tea, then looked down into the mug. "It's not sweet enough."​

 

[Stinging Bea]

Team Fruit Punch

Maria

Logan

Melody

John

---

Baby Steps

The afternoon sun was bright as Team Fruit Punch arrived at the gate which would lead them out of Floaroma Town. Maria clenched the strap of her bag tightly, her amber eyes staring at the wooden structure as if it was the most intimidating thing she had ever seen. Her legs were practically shaking as her mind raced with a mixture of apprehension and dread.

"Is all of this really necessary…? It seems to be a pretty big risk… Sending four kids out in the wild with these tiny Pokémon?" she wondered.

Maria closed her eyes for a moment, thoughts of the savage Chimchar that had been resting inside of the Pokeball inside of her bag flashing through her mind all the while. This was definitely a bad idea. Wild Pokemon were dangerous enough, but the one that was supposed to travel with her was even more unpredictable. Hadn't she traveled outside enough? This sort of thing was supposed to be handled in steps, right?

Gentle as the tug may have been, Maria was startled by the shift of her tights. It was Logan's Ralts. The Pokemon looked up at her and began to rub her leg. She couldn't make out the expression on its featureless face, but the Pokemon's ever present calm was palpable.

Maria lurched forward as a much heavier hand clamped down on her shoulder. The tiny Pokemon's trainer stepped forward, with much more purpose than the little lady could even attempt to muster.

"Come on Maria, we been smellin' dandelions and compost for four months. If we don't leave now, we're never gonna get out of this place. Ain't that right, OZ?" Logan contested. A took a big sniff of the air, then followed up by taking the first step out of the town. The careless action led to him knocking the Pokemon on the back of the head in the process.

Nectar, Logan's new Combee, fluttered alongside the trainer's head as he passed through the gate.

"Geez Logan, you should be more gentle with your Ralts. You almost scared the heck out of it." John sighed at his reckless teammate. He even knelt down to ensure the baby Pokemon was okay. His nose wrinkled as a zephyr of wind tickled past it.

It was his new teammate. "Don't be jealous Diana I'm just…" He began, but paused as the Pokemon dismissed him. She fluttered down to his bag, where he stored the golden treat he was certain the little pink bee was digging for. "What? You want more? You should eat your honey more frugally, this kind of honey doesn't come any random day you know." John fed his newly acquired Cutiefly that rested on his left pocket. His right pocket was still messed up due to Cutiefly's efforts to stay with him but John hadn't found the time to fix it yet.

Melody followed the boys with Terra being held in her arms. He refused to let go of her and felt like he hadn't gotten enough affection for the day, and was only eager to show that and beg for some more as he occasionally licked Melody's hand… making her flinch every time he did that.

"I can't believe I am saying this, but Logan is right." Melody's piercing gaze fell upon Maria. It wasn't just a message for Maria. Melody had someone else in mind who also needed to get out more often.

Maria's gaze followed that of Melody's, eventually causing the taller girl to look over her shoulder at the bag resting on her back. A look that spoke of absolute panic quickly overtook Maria's facial features.

"W-What? No, you can't mean… W-What if it attacks me again? You all s-saw how blood thirsty it was back at the Pokémon Center!" Maria exclaimed.

Again John sighed at the sight. It was apparent that his efforts to teach Maria at the Pokemon Center already came out of Maria's ears quicker than a Quick Attack. He then decides to taught her once more on the spot. "Come out, Shelly!"

His skunk partner readily accepts the answer of it's trainer and happily came to his partner's arm as John opened his hands, signaling that he's looking to embrace Shelly.

"Look Maria, she isn't exactly the cutest Pokemon around, people think it's a smelly, nasty, and e- Ow…Why did you bite me, it's not my opinion Shelly.. Ow-ow.. I'm sorry okay.. It's my fault.. Please stop biting me!"


Shelly retracted her fangs and decides to pout, which unfortunately also means John had to calm it down once more.

"Geez.. Well.. There's a mishap but my point still stands, don't judge your Pokemon based on their looks. I'm sure Chimchar will grow close to you, I mean it," Says John while trying to find bandage on his backpack's pocket.

Unfortunately for John, Maria had completely zoned out on his reasoning as soon as she saw the boy's Stunky bite into his hand. Her face was white as a sheet as she stared in abject horror at the sight, the girl whimpering all the while.

"I don't want to die… I don't want to die…"

Melody sighed as she was fed up with all the whining and hastily grabbed for Maria's bag. As soon as her hand stumbled upon a round object, she grabbed it as fast as she could and threw it up in the air. "Come out little Chimchar! Show your trainer you aren't as scary she makes you seem to be." Melody's sass was inevitable.

Maria froze as she felt Melody began to rummage through her bag. It was beginning to seem like none of her personal belongings were safe from prying eyes and hands, at least when it came to this group. Unfortunately, the taller of the two had little time to protest as she bore witness to Melody calling Chimchar out from his Poké Ball. Maria could feel her heart literally stop beating as the sight of the familiar, orange Pokémon took form. The Chimchar looked around eagerly, a bright smile gracing his lips as he wasted no time in scurrying forward and climbing up his trainer's leg until he was properly seated on her shoulders. The color quickly drained from Maria's face, the girl absolutely petrified with fear.

"P-Please s-someone h-help m-me…" she barely managed to whisper.

John slightly chuckles at the sight while patting Shelly's head. He whispered "Good luck" then decides to leave Maria to her own devices.

The idle whistling that caught the attention of the roosting Starly came to an abrupt stop. Logan turned his head on a dime, as he noticed the bickering of his teammates was no longer in earshot. "Hold on Nectar." He stuck out a hand, bopping the unsuspecting Combee on the nose. Without missing a beat, he found himself right in the thick of things, facing Maria with his arms folded."They give you a cool pokemon like a Chimchar and you're really gonna waste him like this?" Logan scoffed, offering Maria no sympathy.

"I… I'm not wasting him…" Maria tried to stammer out. Her protests were hardly audible though, thanks in part to the reminder of something rising on her shoulders. "It's j-just… I mean…"

"There are a lot scarier things out there than this guy, Maria." Logan sighed, as he reached out to wrestle the little, playful chimp with his hand. "Heck, you could've been right about the old man. He could've robbed us blind." He shrugged.

Maria glanced away at Logan's statement, the girl clenching her fists slightly at the prospect of being robbed. "W-Well… S-Someone h-had to be c-careful. Those t-two still were pretty shady…"

Logan backed off at that comment. He thought back to his time in Jublife and all the genuinely terrifying things he'd encountered. If only Maria could understand. His gaze followed the Chimchar as even amongst the chaos it was glued to its trainer. Logan stepped forward to Maria and grabbed her by the collar, awkwardly wrenching the taller girl towards him. "Alright, listen here..."

Melody wanted to push Logan back off but watching the behaviour of the Chimchar on Maria's shoulder, she decided to let it go. She had a feeling this little Chimchar might want to handle it to show his trainer that he isn't all that bad.

Maria visibly flinched from the contact by Logan. The girl let out a nervous whimper, something that didn't go unnoticed by the Chimchar on her shoulders. As if on instinct, the chimp Pokémon released his grip on Maria's shoulders and scrambled forward. He latched onto Logan's arm tightly, before lunging forward and scratching at the boy's hands fiercely. A sharp glare had overtaken the Chimchar's facial features as he outright hissed at the boy who had been holding onto his trainer.

Logan shuffled back, clutching his hand in pain. "If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get!" The boy announced like a comic book villain. "Nectar, don't let him get away with that! Use...bee attack." Logan called out, a fearsome glint in his eye.

The Combee thrusted forward with an excited buzz just at the mention of his name. It had no clue what the command it received meant, but it was happy to play along with the pantomime. It fluttered its wings as hard as it could toward toward the Chimchar until it eventually picked up a gust of wind that barrelled toward the fire type.

"H-Hey! Chimchar… um… D-Do something!" Maria cried out in panic.

The Chimchar hopped off of Maria's arm and began to chase Logan's Combee around. Fire began to spit from his mouth, but the Combee made for a very difficult target. Maria wasn't sure what was going on or what to do. Her amber eyes were wide with confusion and a little bit of awe and fear.

Melody's face turned into a somewhat amused one as she watched the situation unfold in front of her eyes. Terra was also quite enjoying the view. "Well, well…? Ain't this interesting."

A sadistic smirk crept across Logan's face as he glanced across the faux battlefield at the confused girl. "Nectar, it's Maria we're after, forget about the Chimchar and go for the head." He roared, pointing to Maria's forehead.

Maria crouched down, all but screaming in horror as the Combee dove down towards her. A loud screech filled the air, however. Maria's eyes snapped open just in time to see her Chimchar slam his claws into Nectar.

Logan's facade broke - just for a moment - as he watched his new catch knocked to the ground in one hit. He forced a smile onto his face. "Oh…" His attempt to force out another poorly thought out quip faded in his mouth. The sight of what was supposed to be the saviour of his team crumpled beside a tree trunk faded away his smile even more. "Be happy you didn't have to deal with O…" He tried, but seeing the little psychic type still clutched onto the frightened trainer told the whole story. "OZ…" He finished under his breath.

Maria glanced all around her at the scene. She spotted the look of frustration… anger… disappointment…? The blonde couldn't place it, but… she knew whatever Logan was feeling was directed at herself and her Chimchar. She just knew it. Maria felt her stomach starting to do flips as she slowly took a step back.

"I… I d-didn't m-mean… I'm s-sorry, I… I…" she began to stammer out. Her body began to shake, her eyes quickly zipping to the ground in the process. Suddenly without warning, the tall girl pulled away from Logan's Ralts and made a beeline for the Chimchar. Without so much as a second thought she scooped the Pokémon up into her arms and dashed away from Logan and the others, not looking one of them in the eye as she took off down the road and away from the town gate.

"I'm s-so stupid, I know… I'm just a waste of s-space… Y-You'll all be better off without m-me, so j-just g-go on without me!"

"Terra, block her escape route with sand-attack." Melody commanded her Rockruff. Terra immediately jumped up from Melody's arms and dashed to get in front of the tall blonde girl who made an attempt to run back to camp. Once in front of her, he unleashed a sand-attack. Before Maria could react, Rockruff had already gritted his teeth in her brown boots so she wouldn't be able to run off easily again.

"That was fun to watch." Melody admitted as she let out a small giggle as she held one of her hands in front of her mouth. "But you went too far Logan." Her expression immediately shifted as she glared at the blue haired boy who still looked pretty disappointed in his defeat. "But Maria! I just have to compliment you! The way you hold yourself off, that was kind of amazing. I just wish you would do that without being pushed in a corner as well." Melody showed an expression she hadn't shown any of her "friends" before. One of compassion and sympathy. "But please. If you even dare to run back to camp, I will come and fetch you." Within only a fraction of a second, Melody's face was suddenly much more intimidating without losing that expression of compassion. The same applied to her voice.

Maria seemed to lock up, her eyes fixated on the Rockruff that was essentially nibbling on her boot. A worried whimper slipped past her lips as she unknowingly seemed to tighten her grip on the Chimchar in her arms. If one didn't know any better, they would almost assume that her fear of the chimp Pokémon had simply vanished without a trace… or in a more likely case, she had simply forgotten all about it with all the other "deadly" incidents going on around her.

"C-Come on… H-Haven't I been through enough…?" she whined. "I feel l-like I'm about to have a heart attack…"

"Oh C'mon." Melody sighed as she made her way to the tall girl. "You're missing on life acting like that." the much smaller girl pulled Maria at her sleeve, all the while being careful to make no physical contact, and pulled her back to the group. "Logan. Apologise." Melody barked at him while putting Maria in front of him, forcing the two to make up. Melody sure as hell wasn't going to travel with the two of them bickering all the time. Terra in meanwhile followed the group patiently as she stood behind Melody's legs.

"Apologise?" Logan sniffed, unsure of how to even react to such a suggestion. "It got the job done, didn't it?" He winged, pointing to the now snug Chimchar clutched in Maria's arms.

Maria glanced down in the direction Logan was pointing. For the first time since this whole incident had started, the tallest of the remaining group had realized that she had in fact been holding onto her Chimchar for… quite bit actually. A faint blush quickly rose to her cheeks at the realization, one that quickly deepened as her Chimchar looked up at the trainer and offered a rather toothy grin.

"I… I g-guess… I didn't realize…" Maria muttered quietly.

"Well, now that you've worked up the guts to hold him without throwing a hissy fit, how about you name the little guy." Logan suggested as he shook the flecks of blood off of his scratched hand. "That's how you show him he's part of the team, y'know?" He rubbed his injured Combee's head, before returning him to his pokeball.

"A n-name…?" Maria questioned. She glanced back down at the Chimchar in her arms, the familiar feeling of being a nervous wreck starting to bubble back up in the pit of her stomach. "W-What… What if I g-give him a name he doesn't like…? H-He might attack me or something or hold a grudge against m-me…"

Melody sighed again but before she could say anything, Logan interrupted the growing tension with his words.

"Luckily you get more than one shot at this. Besides, John named his Stunky a name that sounds like 'smelly', so worst case scenario, you'd have the second worst nickname on the team." Logan snickered as he looked out into the direction the older trainer had wandered off in. Melody couldn't help herself and giggled a little. John indeed had chosen a rather odd name that could easily be wrongly interpreted but his Stunky didn't seem to mind at all.

Maria nodded quietly in response and returned her focus back towards the Chimchar in her arms. She held the orange Pokémon out, her eyes narrowing a bit as she began to run through various names in her mind. Her eyes would occasionally light up as a particular name would push itself into the forefront of her brain, but just as soon as that would occur she would quickly shrug it back off in the fear of it being a rather tasteless or downright terrible name. The tall girl wasn't sure just how long she stood there in thought, until eventually she took a deep breath and prepared herself for the worst.

"What… What about J-Jango…? Maria asked the Chimchar in her arms. "D-Do you like that name…?"

The Chimchar tilted his head in response to the girl's question, appearing to be somewhat deep in thought. Then without warning, the chimp Pokémon let out a squeal of delight as he squeezed from the girl's arms, managing to hop onto her shoulders again and give her a rather enthusiastic hug. Maria flinched from the sudden contact, her eyes wide with fear as she began to scramble.

"O-Oh no… He hates it! I knew this was a b-bad idea!" she stammered in disappointment and fear.

Logan sniffled as he watched the two fumble around. His eyes watered up, but he quickly rubbed away the moisture. "Guess it's official then." He sighed, looking down at his Ralts. He resisted the urge to scrunch his face in disappointment. "Welcome to the team, Jango." He sighed again, following along the trail of footsteps John had left behind.

Melody in turn looked a bit like she was trying to smile but failed miserably at it and instead had a half smile while her face looked like she was in pain. "J-Jango…? Well… sure if that is what you want to name him." She staggered a bit as she sounded a bit disapprovingly. She quickly took notice of that and clasped her hands together a bit more excitedly with a small, a bit more cheerful smile spreading across her pink colored lips. "Looks like little Jango likes his new name! Welcome Jango!" Melody spit out overly happy in an attempt to not get Maria's spirits down again. Terra came from behind Melody's legs and friendly barked up at the Chimchar who was now named Jango.

Maria smiled weakly, probably the first time since this whole journey began. She readjusted the Chimchar in her arms as she and Melody began to follow after Logan and John. Maybe this journey wasn't going to be so bad after all…
​

 

[Sapphire Rose]

Team Fruit Punch

Maria

Logan

Melody

John

---

A hot potato and a peeling situation

The sun tucked behind the trees as Team Fruit Punch trekked down the path of route 205. Flanked by thick brush and led only by the separation of the trees, each of the young trainers treaded briskly with one intention - make it to the next city before nightfall.

John remained a few paces ahead of Logan, and while the more athletic of the two could have caught up had he tried, he instead chose to sit back and observe the questionable behaviour of his teammate. John was far from the most talkative in the group - Logan gave the great honour of that title to Melody - but he was rarely this avoidant. Naturally Logan was intrigued.

"Hey, uh...John?" Logan called, putting his foot on the gas a little in order to make up the distance between the two. "What was that about, back there?"

"You sure you really want to know why I left you guys back there? The reason isn't really that interesting, you know."

Logan furrowed his brows, pushing even harder now to maintain John's pace despite feeling the fatigue of the day.

"Well leaving us isn't the problem. Sure she was being a baby about it, but Maria was pretty upset back there. You could've at least stuck around to make sure she was okay..." The younger of the two protested.

Hearing that, John only smiled wryly at his friend "Haha... Is that so? Well, i guess i owe her an apology... But…" John turned his body to meet Logan's gaze and stopped his step. "You see, you're both already capable enough to resolve the issue, right? There's no use for me being there, i'll just be a deadweight hanging around for no reason. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, while for me i'm probably more to the not very useful side. Or that's how i believe it, haha.." John struck a wistful smile while laughing.

Logan felt like his head had been drenched in water. Among everything John had just tossed at him, he was still struggling to pick out the information that justified ditching Maria in her time of need. "Useful?" He repeated, ruing John's choice of words as though they were his own. "What's that got to do with anything? She's your friend, right? She needed your help...well, maybe not needed, but you know what I mean. I think?" He mused, allowing the situation to escape him.

"Mmm.. I heard you loud and clear, guess i was stupid to think that, thanks Logan." John then turned back to look down at the ground and silently mused "Once a fool, always be a fool eh?"

The coos of a hoothoot whistled through the treetops. Both trainers looked up to notice a backdrop of autumn orange had been painted over the sky during their dispute.

Logan looked back down to John and tilted his head. He sighed and stared pensively at the ground before he noticed the girls arriving behind them in the corner of his eye. "How about I go find us a place to camp for the night." He suggested as forced a weak smile onto his face. "You catch up with the girls and look about grabbing us some grub. Giving great advice really works up an appetite, y'know?" He finished, practically forcing himself out of the situation and disappearing into the forest before John could interject.

"Sheesh Logan... Hahahaha." John laughed at his friend's action, however it sounds more genuine and unrestrained compared to the one he uttered during the conversation with Logan. "Welp… I guess it's time for me to call them… Maria! Melody! Come here quick!" John screamed at his two friends at the distance, calling them to quickly arrive where he already stands.

The shorter one of the two girls immediately responded back with a sigh. "Don't command me around." Was the next response given by Melody. It was half-hearted and sounded like she was just being a tsun-tsun as the two girls drew closer towards John.

"Could you both help me with the potatoes, please? If you both don't mind, I have to forage some herbs and mushrooms while it's not too dark." John asked them both as polite as he can, as he is still mindful about the incident earlier.

Maria froze glancing up at John as he spoke. "Y-You want m-me to help cook? I m-mean… I don't mind, but… W-What if I mess something up? What if I d-don't cook them enough or s-something and everyone gets sick? I… I probably shouldn't. Everyone would be b-better off, yeah…"

John was torn at the time, at one side he really need to forage mushrooms and herbs for their dinner. However, Logan's words earlier still left a pretty hard hit to how John do things. It caused John to be stuck standing while panicking on what to say. "I… I… Uh…"

Melody glared at Maria with crossed arms but while she wanted to address her friend's behaviour, she also saw John struggling. Melody sighed. "You won't mess up because I'll be here helping you." Melody turned to John. "You wanted to gather some mushrooms and herbs, right? Go right ahead." She said, however, there was a slight undertone in the way she chose to say it. She hadn't forgotten how John just wandered off while Maria needed help.

"I'll stay with Maria and help."

"You're going to help me…?" Maria questioned. The taller girl suddenly felt even more anxious than she had when John gave out their assignments. The thought of Melody supervision and judgment made her fidget very uncomfortably. "Are… Are you s-sure? I'm sure you h-have better things to do, r-right?"

"In fact, I don't. So yes I'm sure, I'm going to help you." Melody reassured her, although it probably wasn't much of a reassuring.

John was relieved at the fact that Melody would help Maria. "Sorry Melody, I owe you one." John decided to go and started foraging in the forest.

Maria opened her mouth to protest, but John was too quick to make his escape. The boy was gone in a matter of seconds, leaving only Melody by the tall blonde's side. Maria glanced down at her remaining friend, but only for a moment before locking her eyes to the ground. She could feel her anxiety building even more. A sudden desire to run back to camp and lock herself away burned through her mind. For the first time, possibly ever, she wished she was suddenly surrounded by more people.

"...Potatoes, r-right…?" she questioned, voice barely a whisper.

"Yes, Maria. Potatoes." Melody replied searching through their backpacks and supplies. She found a sack full of the brown vegetables but the knife they had brought for peeling them seemed to have disappeared. "There we go." Melody found a small peeling knife in her own bag, she held it out to Maria.

A sharp scream slipped past Maria's lips as she stared at the knife in Melody's hand. Her body trembled as she took a nervous step back. Her eyes were so wide she looked like a Stantler in headlights.

"I… I knew it! Y-You just w-wanted John and Logan away so you could off me, d-didn't you?" Maria accused. The blonde reached into her bag, hands shaking violently as she pulled out the ball holding her Chimchar. "W-Well, I won't let y-you have y-your way!"

Melody stared at Maria with the most judgy look she has ever given her before rolling them eventually. Melody was kind of done with Maria's behaviour for the day. "Maria. How else are we going to peel the potatoes?!" Melody raised her voice but immediately silenced herself and coughed with one hand in front of her mouth. She knew better than to yell at Maria. Raeliana had actually left behind a mental note for her the other day that it would make things worse. Melody instead sighed and stood up to walk over to the desperate tall girl. "Peel the potatoes." She said with a very sharp tone as she grabbed one of Maria's hands and forced her to hold the knife, causing a frightened squeak to escape the blonde's lips.

"I'll clean them. If you would just peel them that would be great." Melody didn't seem to be at all intimidated by Maria's pokeball but she was somewhat pleased with how she was protecting herself with Chimchar. She felt like Maria was already growing even if it was just slightly.

"O-Okay, I'm sorry! Please don't b-be upset…" Maria whimpered.

She quietly returned her Chimchar's ball to her backpack and began to slowly go to work on peeling the potatoes. Her hands were very shaky as she held the knife, as if the thought of just holding the knife itself was enough to freak her out. Maria's skill at potato peeling was rather… lacking to say the best. The blonde had inadvertently began slicing a few chunks of potato off at the same time she had been trying to peel one.

"Oh no… C-Come on, M-Maria… we can do this…" she muttered.

Melody watched the tall blonde in pain. Maria was easily the worst potato peeler in existence, only next to Raeliana's little brother. "Let me show you how to peel them." Melody eventually said slightly annoyed and snatched both the potato and the knife out of Maria's hand, perhaps a dangerous thing to do but then again… Melody was quite on edge.

The knife gently rubbed on the surface of the potato, releasing it of its outer skin in small, delicate strips not much thinner than a few papers. "That's how you peel. Try it again." Melody handed the knife and potato back to Maria.

Maria nodded weakly in response, her hands still shaking as the knife and potato was returned to her. She kept her eyes focused on the work in her hands, which did seem to go a bit smoother this time. It was nowhere near as perfect as Melody's peeling, but far less chunks were hitting the ground.

Despite this however, a very unsatisfied look graced Maria's face. "I knew I c-couldn't do it right… I'm so stupid to even try…"

Melody smiled at Maria, a very very rare thing considering her snobbish attitude. "You're doing much better. We should try to not waste too much of our food supply." Her compliment was disguised in a lecture, nonetheless, it was also a rare thing for Melody to say. Maria's shaking hands didn't go unnoticed, however. "Is it possible you have a bad experiences with knives? You're shaking a lot." once again, straight-to-the-point Melody pierced the pleasing aura she was just giving off with a sharp tone.

Maria jumped a bit, her cheeks flushed as Melody questioned her. "What…? Um… N-No, not r-really… I'm just… I'm just trying n-not to cut myself or anything." The blonde paused, her eyes glancing down to the knife in her hand. "I m-mean… What if I slip and cut my finger and then there's a l-lot of blood… or I cut it all the way off and… and…"

Much to the blonde's horror, the images in her head began to spin. Her face visibly paled at each image. Her legs began to shake violently, as if she was going to collapse at any moment from the dread of it all. Maria took a deep breath, trying her best to calm her nerves and regain her composure.

"E-Everything's fine… T-Totally fine," she eventually repeated.

Melody sighed, perhaps that was a question she shouldn't have asked. Raeliana is much better at dealing with this paranoid delinquent and the short brunette was almost considering forcing Raeliana to come out but she probably wouldn't appreciate that much. "Hmm…" Melody replied to Maria's crazy outburst of weird accidents she thought would happen.

"Then tell me, Maria. Why is it that you are so scared for everyone and everything?" Melody asked a little concerned but not expecting a direct answer seeing as most people back at camp who were paranoid didn't really know where it was coming from.

Maria glanced up from her potato, the taller girl looking down at Melody questioningly. Her initial mind track was to be suspicious of her. Melody had never shown much concern for her, much less Logan or John. She always just assumed that any she might show was on the behalf of Raeliana. Still, the blonde pushed that thought aside.

"I… I just… It's…" Maria stammered. The blonde quickly turned away, focusing back on the potato in her hands. "I j-just don't do p-people… okay?"

"Decent enough." Melody shrugged, though it was as if she was going to judge her based on her reply. "In any case, three potatoes should be enough for the four of us. I don't eat potatoes so that will save you some time." Melody returned to washing the other two potatoes before putting them near Maria for her to peel. Melody's stomach had occasionally been making sounds since lunch, which she also had skipped.

"Y-You don't eat p-potatoes…?" Maria questioned. She took a moment to carefully place the peeled… and somewhat damaged spud aside, deciding that she would eat that one since it looked like it had just survived a war. "Y-You have to be hungry, right? The last thing any of us had was the honey…"

Melody was silent for a few moments, deciding on whether she should answer the question or not. Since she asked Maria a question a few seconds ago she thought it only fair to answer one of hers. "Potatoes are full of carbs and I don't eat carbs. Carbs make me fat and I already gained some weight over the past few weeks."

"But… Y-You don't look it t-to me…" Maria replied, a faint blush gracing her cheeks as she looked up at Melody for just a moment. "Besides we have a l-lot of walking to do s-so it's not you're going to gain a bunch from one potato…"

"Look." Melody swept all of her brown locks over her shoulders and tilted her head a bit. "I don't want to talk about it. I just don't eat potatoes, okay?" Melody's voice was once again strict and piercing. Like thunder splitting the silence of the night. She finished up washing the last potato and placed it near Maria before she stood up and reached for her bag. "I'll be over there for a little while we wait for the boys." The short girl sat down near the place they were going to camp. She took out a soft pink notebook and started writing.

Maria visibly flinched as Melody walked off, returning her attention back to the last potato. One didn't have to listen carefully to hear the tall girl berating herself, all the while her body shaking again as if a complete breakdown was imminent. Maria couldn't even bring herself to try and look in Melody's direction. The fear of being yelled at again was too much of a risk.

This was going to be a looooong night...

​

 

[Shak]

-Logan

Drowned Reflection​

​

Logan had spent the best part of fifteen minutes shuffling through Spinarak filled bushes and tucking in and out of trees where he'd scare the odd Pachirisu up the trunk. Any leftover rays of sunlight clipped off the treetops like an orange flame that swallowed the entire forest. It was only the sunset that lead the blue haired adventurer to his settlement.

Logan burst through a bush and tumbled into an opening in the forest. The first thing he noticed were a few hives dangling from the trees that walled the area. He smiled coyly and dismissively, remembering the Million Honey he had on his person. Again, his attention wandered. It wasn't until he laid his eyes on the lake in centre of the clearing that he decided to act. He clambered to his feet and stuck his fingers in his mouth to unleash a sharp whistle.

Within seconds, the Combee that had been lost in the brush, came barrelling to his trainer's side.

"Atta boy." Logan praised. "How's this for a campin spot, huh?" He sung with satisfaction, evoking a similar response from his partner. As his attention returned to the lake though, a sense of trepidation fell over him. He carefully studied the water, like a Zigzagoon entering a new habitat. Before long, he was stood over it, his sock and shoe ripped off and his toe hanging over the water. He clutched onto the grass, hunched over like a frightened Purrloin, but poised to take the fatal dunk. With a deep breath, he stuck the toe in. The water was cold. Logan kept lowering it, soaking his trouser leg, but he never felt the bottom. He dragged his foot out. He faced the water again, more concerned now than he was before.

Logan stared down at the water for more than a moment. With the evening sun creeping over the trees, it was difficult to make out just how deep the water was, but Logan was determined to find out.

Nectar watched as Logan disappeared into the woods again, before he re-emerged with a tree branch. Nectar watched him roll up his sleeve, stick the branch in the lake and wriggle it around, while it seemed the only resistance he faced was the weight of the water itself. Nectar watched his trainer with concern. He watched him punch the ground in frustration. He watched him panting, distressed for the first time since they'd met. He watched Logan's Ralts burst from her pokeball to comfort him. He watched Logan push her away and return her to her pokeball. It didn't get prettier for the Combee from there. That fierce and determined look in Logan's eye, to Nectar, it was both terrifying and inspiring. Like nothing he'd ever seen while being just a number in a hive. What was Million Honey to a pokemon who was no more than one of those million? He watched as Logan checked the area before he stripped down, leaving nothing but his boxers still on. He saw. He saw the darkened patches, markings, bruises, scars that blemished the boy's body.

Despite the awe of the gawking Combee, Logan unglamorously tossed his clothes aside and thrust the best part of half his body in the water. Even with the extension of both his arm and leg, Logan still couldn't find the bottom of this body of water. He pulled himself up once again. Once again, he'd lost this game of 'chicken' with the lake, but he still had one more round. He stood up and looked down at his reflection on the water's surface. With only a breath of hesitation, Logan jumped in.

The last thing Logan remembered before he woke up was splashing, thrashing, coughing and crashing, watching the light of the sun disappear from under the water's surface. Now he was lain out on the bank, the sun nowhere to be seen.

"You're a dickweed." A coarse voice croaked.

Logan looked to his left. A punk, donned in black and twice the size of the diminutive Logan sat on the bank, overlooking the lake.

"Kurt?" Logan's voiced croaked aswell. His eyes were still blurred from the rinsing over exposure to the fresh water, but the frightening figure of Kurt Schneider cut an all too recognisable silhouette. Logan looked down on himself, the blackened skin of his torso telling a thousand stories. Whether or not Kurt had bothered to read into them was irrelevant, they were impossible to miss.

"Hazing. Happens to all of us." Kurt sneered dismissively. "No need to be a ***** about it."

Logan grabbed his hoodie and pulled it over his head. "Why did you-" He began before being cut short by Kurt's scoff. If he didn't know any better, he'd have suggested Kurt was embarrassed to even explain why he helped him. Not that he had to explain. "Where's you're group?" He asked, trying to force the ceaseless look of wonder back onto his face.

"I didn't play nice with their new friend, so I had to take five." Kurt sneered again, rolling his eyes. Then he gestured over to the blue pokemon bounding in and out of the water. "Plus, Marill wanted to take a dip. I'd ask you the same question, but it looks like you're out here taking failed swimming lessons." Kurt chortled, unforgiving in his amusement of the prospect of Logan drowning. A brief silence sat between them. Logan was unwilling to budge, instead reassuring himself that the protection of his hoodie was enough to salvage the dignity of his mutilated torso and limbs. "Wait…you're on the team with that blonde girl, right?"

Logan blinked a blank faced blink at Kurt's comment. Not that it was out of nowhere, but that it was a far cry from anything he'd seen the intimidating former gang member interested in before. Albeit, he didn't know him that well. "Huh? You mean Maria?"

"I don't ****in know her name, I'm asking you." Kurt shrugged, his face reddening as he tucked away. "The tall one." He sniffed, practically hiding his face from Logan.

"Yeah, that's her. What about her?" Logan furrowed his brows, staring blankly at Kurt.

The larger of the two unfolded in response to the question. His bulky frame straightened at the realisation. "Nothing. Just let her know it was me who saved you. But don't tell her that I told you to tell her, got it?" By the time he finished, he'd clutched Logan by the collar and lifted him off the ground. Once he was satisfied with the younger teen's answer, he tossed him to the ground and began on his way. "Try not to drown, dickweed!"

Logan was now left alone in the clearing. He pulled at his hoodie, as the cotton had begun to dampen against his skin. The pokegear in his pocket began to flash and buzz. It was almost night, and he hadn't spoken to his group since he split up with them…however long ago it was. He grabbed the device and held it to his mouth. "Hey guys, I found this awesome spot, you really gotta check it out! This is gotta be where we're sleepin tonight, no questions asked." He even added a little chuckle at the end for flavour. Trademark Logan. He clicked send on the message, letting the group chat hear the excitement and enthusiasm he had for the upcoming camp. Once the message was sent, he plopped the phone beside him.

OZ burst from her ball again. Logan deflated to the ground and she quickly hurried toward him, giving as big a hug as she could manage.

Spoiler:

- Empty -​

Route 205​

 

[Stinging Bea]

Maria Cosgrove

Route 205

Privacy

​

Current Party:

Morning came early for Maria, but it was a welcoming presence just the same. The sound of the singing Kricketot were still in the air, mixing in with a chorus of hoots provided by a wild Hoothoot that was nestled in a nearby tree. One would most likely assume that the sounds would have put a fear in Maria, causing the blonde to feel even more on edge than she had been during the day thanks to the antics of her traveling companions. She found it quite peaceful, however... almost as if nature itself was playing her a soothing lullaby.

"This is probably going to be my best chance to slip away for a bit..." Maria thought.

The girl sat up in her sleeping bag hesitantly, glancing over at her companions. John, Logan, and Melody were all still sound asleep in the tent. While Maria didn't have any negative feelings towards her companions, the blonde had found traveling together for even this short amount of time to be... rather taxing. Back at camp, she was forced to be involved in various group activities. That said, there was always the chance to go back to her room for some private time. While some viewed it as the girl being a complete and total recluse... and they probably weren't entirely wrong in that regard, Maria also used that alone time to unwind and simply deal with whatever uncomfortable feelings she might have had during the day. She wasn't as up close and personal as Logan or as rational and easy to deal with things as John seemed to be. Nor did she have another person to take control of various situations like Melody and Raeliana. Those few brief moments alone were all she had. It was... trying at times, especially now that slipping away was proving to be rather difficult.

Mustering up the courage to do so, Maria quietly grabbed her travel bag and slid her boots onto her feet before crawling out of the tent and stepping out into the early morning air. It was cold... very cold. Maria figured it was to be expected from living in a chilly region such as Sinnoh. Still, she knew that she couldn't let this opportunity pass her by. The girl slowly began to walk away from the tent, taking the time to glance over her shoulder at it one more time, before walking along the river bank to find a suitable location.

The blonde wasn't sure just how far she had been walking. The trail by the bank seemed to stretch on for some time, making for a bit more enduring of a trek than than she really would have preferred. Eventually the miniature journey did seem to come to and end however, when the tall girl came to a small clearing in which the winding river seemed to empty out into a pond of sorts. It was quiet... No snoring from Logan... No sleep talking from John... It was just the way she liked it. The perfect place to gather her thoughts and just... be herself. Maria knew that she'd probably have a lot to answer for should the others wake up, especially in the form of Melody... that said, she really couldn't bring herself to be bothered.

"I guess I should take an extra precaution... Just in case," Maria determined. While she did revel in the thought of having some private time, she knew that just sitting in the wild all alone wasn't exactly the smartest plan. The girl made her way to a nearby stump and took a seat before rummaging about in her bag. Slowly, she pulled out the Poké Ball containing her Chimchar. She seemed a bit... hesitant to call out the chimp Pokémon at first. While she slowly starting to get used to his rather... excitable personality, she really wasn't sure just how much of that was due to the presence of John and the others being there just in case things went south. Of course, John had done little to help her in regards to the previous incident... which Melody herself had went out of her way to start. Still, Maria figured it wasn't exactly Jango's fault. Taking a deep breath, she tossed the ball out and called forth the Chimchar in question. "C-Come on out, Jango..."

The Chimchar stretched his small body as he emerged from the Poké Ball, a small yawn escaping his mouth as he took in the sight around him. He sleepily rubbed his eyes, before they suddenly came to rest upon Maria. This in turn caused a delighted squeal to escape his lips as he bounded forward, quickly scrambling his way towards the blonde. Maria flinched as he grabbed hold of her leg, before scrambling his way up the tall girl's body and promptly sitting upon her shoulders. It took absolutely everything Maria had in her to not scream in a wild panic at the sudden contact, however she managed to somehow keep her composure all the while. After a series of deep breaths... many deep breaths, the blonde managed to calm herself enough to gently pull the chimp Pokémon off of her shoulders and down to the ground.

"O-Okay, Jango," Maria began, her voice very shaky. "I'm h-happy to see y-you too, but I'd r-really l-like s-some alone time... S-So why don't y-you play or keep watch... or something...?"

Jango tilted his head questioningly as Maria spoke. The blonde wasn't sure whether or not he truly understood just what he was asking, but eventually the Chimchar bounded off happily. He scrambled his way up a nearby tree, squeals of delight echoing out into the early morning sky all the while. Maria sighed in relief at the chimp's acceptance of her command before turning her attention back towards her bag. She quickly began to rummage around it, eventually pulling out her beloved sketch book and pencils.

"I haven't gotten to draw in a while," Maria thought as she flipped the book open. She began to flip through several pages, eventually coming to one that had the rough edges remaining... one that had been torn out to be exact. Her frown grew as she closed her eyes, vivid memories coming back to the incident with the Million Honey. She knew the boy didn't rip the page out... No, that happened on account of how he ran around carrying her property. But still, an anger began to bubble up inside the normally timid girl at the remembrance of the way Logan had so thoughtlessly not only treated her belongings, but then dared to show her private artwork off and claim it as his own. "I can't believe he did that..."

The blonde shook her head. No, no... it wasn't good to think about such things now. She came out here to collect herself. She came here to have some private time and calm her nerves. Without so much as a second thought. She gazed back out at the pond before her, another deep breath escaping her lips, before looking around more closely at her surroundings. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on a nearby stone by the bank of the river. Sitting atop the rock was a slumbering, peaceful looking Caterpie. Coupled with the serene surroundings of the babbling pond and the gentle, early morning breeze, it didn't take the blonde too much thought to realize that this was the perfect subject for her next sketch. Without another moment of hesitation, Maria put her pencil to the paper and began to go to work.

In that brief moment, all of Maria's troubles began to fade away. She was no longer concerned about what Melody might do should she wake up and find the blonde gone. She was no longer worried about how John had just abandoned her like that during one of her panic attacks. Thoughts of how Logan had treated her during his quest for honey vanished. The troubling behavior of her Chimchar disappeared. For a brief moment, all that existed was herself and the subject of her work. Maria's attention to detail became impeccable. She focused all her energy on capturing every bump and fold in the sleeping Pokémon's skin. She made sure to make note of every crack and crease of the stone rock that the wild Caterpie called its bed. She even made sure to put an amazing amount of focus into the blades of grass surrounding the stone that the bug slept on. All the while, she began to quickly lose all attention to the time that was passing her by... Though to be honest, Maria honestly didn't care. For the first time since leaving Camp Floaroma, she was truly at peace... A peace that unfortunately didn't last too much longer.

A loud squeal of delight suddenly snapped the girl from her trance-like state, practically scaring the tall blonde off of the stump she sat on. The sound was enough to cause the subject of her art to stir from its sleep as well. The Caterpie let out a nervous wail of fright before suddenly slinking off the rock and into the tall grass below, escaping not only the source of the disturbance, but Maria's make-shift studio as well. Maria reached out in hesitation, as if asking the bug to come back, but the creature was already long gone. It was then that the source of the commotion came into view. Without warning, a feathered, blue, duck-like creature came tumbling out of the tree in a mass panic. A Ducklett, the blonde quickly realized. The wild Pokémon looked around in absolute terror, quickly spotting the human girl and wasting no time in waddling its way towards her. It was then that Maria got the second part of the puzzle put into place before she had even the slightest second to question what in the world was going on around her. Jango came bounding out of the tree with a wide grin slapped across his face. His eyes quickly narrowed at the Ducklett cowering behind his trainer's leg, which was then followed by the playful and mischievous chimp Pokémon making a mad dash towards his newly appointed playmate.

"J-Jango, maybe it's t-time to stop..." Maria whimpered.

Her plea fell on deaf ears, however. Jango merely charged on ahead towards the trainer, eagerly chasing the wild Ducklett around a panicked Maria's legs. The girl flinched, her eyes wide as she began to question how in the world she could get out of this situation. She instantly began to regret her decision in coming out on her own, desperately wishing that Logan, John, or even Melody were out at the pond. The blonde quickly began to get dizzy watching the commotion going on around her, and it didn't take too much longer before she promptly tried to step forward and away from the ruckus... only to trip up on the Pokémon and fall on her backside. The wild Ducklett cowered behind her, a nervous quack escaping its small bill. Maria winced, looking up just in time to see her Chimchar preparing jump at both her and the Ducklett (albeit, mainly the Ducklett). In a moment of panic, Maria quickly grabbed hold of Jango's Poké Ball, managing to successfully call him back inside before he would have landed whatever attack he had planned for the Ducklett.

"Thank Arceus..." Maria sighed in relief, her heart still racing a mile a minute. A faint, whimper-like quack soon caught the blonde's ears, however. Maria turned to see the Ducklett that Jango had been tormenting still standing close by. Its feathery-body quivering and quaking in fear. "O-Oh... Um... I... I'm r-really sorry... I'm s-sure he didn't mean any h-harm..."

Again, Maria paused. She really wasn't sure if Pokémon were truly capable of understanding just what she was saying or not. A frown graced her lips as she decided maybe it was for the best if she simply back up and make her way back to camp. The tall girl offered another quick and quiet mumble of apology before making her way to her belongs that got scattered about in the commotion. Maria busied herself with quickly gathering everything up, but she suddenly noticed that her pencil was no where to be found.

"Oh no... D-Don't tell me I lost it..." Maria whimpered.

She had planned to buy another set when the group reached the next city. Still, she needed that one to last her until then. A small quack once more was heard, causing the blonde to spin around. The Ducklett stood before her, her pencil being carried carefully within its beak. The duck Pokémon slowly waddled forward, before stretching it's neck out a tiny bit as if offering the girl her pencil back. Maria seemed hesitant to reach for the pencil. Fears of the wild Ducklett wanting some kind of revenge for the terror her Chimchar had put it through were racing through her mind. Her hand shook as she slowly reached towards the Ducklett's bill... where it then promptly deposited the pencil in the palm of the blonde's hand.

"I... Um... Thank y-you very much," Maria said weakly. "I'm s-sorry again... Um, s-so, we'll just be going now."

The blonde placed her pencil back into her bag and then slowly began to make her way towards the camp. She didn't get far though before she heard the sound of a branch snap behind her. She quickly spun around to see the wild Ducklett waddling along behind her. Maria tilted her head in confusion.

"What... what are you doing...?" the girl questioned.

The Ducklett sheepishly looked at the ground before waddling forward with a weak smile of its own.

"Are... are y-you saying you want to come w-with me...?" she asked.

Ducklett remained silent for a moment before offering a quick nod. It took another step forward, looking up at the girl with pleading eyes. Maria was surprised to say the least. She had expected that the Ducklett would be angry with her or something of the sort. Now it suddenly wanted to follow along with her...? To say that she was confused would have been an understatement.

"I m-mean... If y-you really want...?" Maria eventually replied.

There was something much more... calming about the wild Ducklett. Maria was still a bit nervous about the creature, yet... she didn't feel as anxious as she did around her own Chimchar. The girl pulled out one of her unoccupied Poké Balls and held it towards the wild Ducklett. The duck Pokémon gave the ball a curious look before it slowly reached forward and pressed the small button in the middle with the tip of its wing. The ball snapped open and engulfed the wild Ducklett in a beam of red light before pulling it inside. Maria stared at the ball quietly, the gears of her mind whirling as she stared at the ball in amazement.

"I... I guess I j-just caught a Pokémon..." Maria mused... a small smile managing to tug at her lips all the while.

Ducklett Joined The Team!​

 

[Shak]

Team Fruit Punch

Maria

Logan

Melody

John

---

Sour Dreams

It had been a long night once they all arrived at the campsite. Logan had made set up easy for the others, going so far as to put up the tent for them to stay in. The eccentric blue haired teen had fallen asleep long before they arrived, making for a less than lively end to the night. They were tired. It was their first night staying outdoors after leaving the Floaroma Camp, so their quiet supper could have been put down to that. It was a silent night, everyone was already deep in their sleep. Everyone… except John.

"You're useless… Go die"

It was a nightmarish dream for John. Unlike other people who found that waking up was the end of a much needed solace, it was the start of his.

As soon as he woke up, he could feel a severe sense of pain in his chest just like being stabbed by multiple knives and he was panting heavily. He quickly reached inside his backpack for a syringe and stabbed the needle into his left arm. His hand trembled violently. He knocked Logan's night light over, and instantly looked over to his teammates, who had been sleeping in the same tent. All three sleeping bags were still so John staggered outside to avoid waking any of them; still clutching onto his left arm.

"All will be fine.. All will be fine… All will be fine.." The hollow, strained murmuring ,moaned like a ghost from outside the tent.

No one could come to his aid this time. He was all by himself, his eyes full of tears trying to hold the extreme pain that he was feeling. Not even the gentle wind of the night would bring peace of mind to the boy.
————————————————————
The sun was just starting to peek through the treetops as Maria made her way back to camp. The serenade being played by Hoothoots and Kricketot became replaced by the occasional tweeting of the early morning Starly. The tall blonde glanced down at the Poké Ball in her hand. It was hard to believe that she had managed to actually catch a Pokémon… even though technically it joined her out of free will. All she had meant to do was draw a Pokémon in general, but… now she had a new companion to journey alongside herself and Jango. She made a mental note to herself to think of a name for her new teammate. The last thing she wanted to do was get Melody on her case for not naming it.

As Maria took in the early morning sights of the forest, the small smile on her lips dropped slightly as she realized she was approaching the campsite. Thoughts of the previous night quickly began to run through her mind, making her feel slightly uncomfortable at the thoughts of it all. As she walked towards the tent, her eyes quickly came to rest on the form of John. The boy was sitting quietly, staring into the fire like it was the most fascinating spectacle in the world. John didn't even seem to be aware of the blonde's presence.

"What should I do? Should I call out to him? What if he's still upset about yesterday? He just ditched me yesterday… Maybe he wanted me to get hurt…"

Maria bit her lip in apprehension. She didn't know what possessed her to do it, but the girl managed to gather up her courage (which wasn't much) and made her way over to the campfire.

"J-John…?" the tall girl called out, albeit in barely a whisper. "What… what are you d-doing out here s-so early?"

John initially didn't make any response to Maria's whisper, the aftermath of the incident still lingered heavily on his mind blocking away everything else other than his own thoughts. However, he slowly realized that someone was beside him. "Aaarghh!" The man was startled to see Maria and screamed, the shock sending him crashing head-first into the ground.

Maria visibly flinched at the sudden scream, the blonde having to fight the urge to run away in a wild panic over the fear of possibly being attacked. However when she witnessed John hurting himself, Maria found herself throwing caution to the wind and making her way towards John. She paused a few feet away, still not able to bring herself right to his side, but was at least close enough to most likely be heard a great deal easier.

"J-John? What h-happened? Are you okay…?" she asked, a mixture of concern and fear in her voice.

"I'm fine… ouch… Just a little bump on the head. No need to panic." John tried to reassure Maria that he's completely fine. "I just wasn't expecting you to be awake this early." John was rather hesitant to continue talking, after all he was afraid that he caused Maria to think that she was unimportant, but he eventually managed to gather up the courage to talk with her. "Uh… Maria, can I have a word with you?"

Maria stared at John blankly for a moment. The gears in her head whirling away at the thought of what John wanted to say to her. "Oh no… You're mad aren't you? I'm s-sorry, I didn't m-mean to scare you! P-Please f-forgive me!"

"No!" John blurted out a scream on reflex at her reaction. Maria fell back, the girl almost curling up in some strange attempt to hide herself. "I'm sorry… you didn't make any mistakes at all. It was all my fault." John immediately tried to stop her on getting more panicked due to his scream earlier. "What I want to say to you is... I'm sorry for leaving you behind yesterday. It was an immature choice on my behalf to think that your situation would be better if I wouldn't interfere on it, instead I caused you much bother. I'm truly sorry."

Maria glanced up at John, her body shaky as usual. "N-No… It w-was my fault… I know I'm the one c-causing all the problems s-so far…"

John was uneasy at the fact that Maria still blamed herself for what had happened thus far. He was hesitant at using more push to make sure Maria understood his point, however he didnt want to wallow in more regrets like what he had done yesterday. He then decided to pep himself up and mustered all the courage he had, and approached Maria. "Maria... look me in the eyes." John then put both of his hands in Maria's shoulder.

"Maria, please... look me in the eyes… Did we ever tell you that everything was your fault? Did we ever once tell you that you're a bother? Not even once…" John then composed himself for another talk. "Maria, everyone made mistakes at first, Logan.. Is… Well… Not the brightest bulb in the room, Melody often doesn't realize that her bluntness in both her attitude and her conversation hurt other people, and me? I… I'm a coward who can't do anything but run away from my problems. No one is perfect Maria, not you and not even us."

John then put his hands on his head, he appeared to be confused on what to say next. "Uh.. I… Just want to say… Please don't be afraid about saying what you have on your mind. I'm not forcing you to immediately be brave, but promise me you'll try it slowly." John gazed at Maria, smiling at an attempt to reassure her.

Maria's eyes were wide with panic during John's entire speech, however. The moment the boy put his hands on Maria's shoulders, his eyes staring deeply into her own, a wave of absolute panic ran through the tall girl. Maria had more or less missed the entire point of John's speech, instead focusing on trying to pull herself away. When John finally let go, Maria all but fell over as she scrambled to put some distance between herself and her friend.

John realized what he had done after Maria fell herself. He was talking to Maria, not talking against a child, he extremely lamented that he used the same technique he would use against a child. He felt like he was going to die from the embarrassment that he instead caused Maria to be more afraid of him. He then squatted and hid his facing down face with both hands "Just kill me…" He slowly muttered. He then stood up again and talked to Maria in a somber tone. "Maria… I'm going for a walk… Just hope that I don't end up floating in a river, ok?" John walked slowly away from the camp following the trail to wherever it might lead him.

"Will you guys keep it down? Some of us actually like sleep." The husky morning voice of Logan yawned through the gap in the tent. The voice was followed by the blue haired boy, but not like his team fruit punch teammates had seen him before. While the damp trouser leg may have struck them as odd, the sixteen year old dragging a Lucario plushie behind him would have taken both the unsuspecting teens aback. As he finished rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Logan raised a brow at the lack of masculine figure to explain the deeper of the two voices that woke him up. "Hey, I was kinda expecting John to be out here...you're getting really loud, y'know Maria."

Maria blinked slowly, turning to face Logan with a look of confusion on her face. "B-But… That w-wasn't… I d-didn't…"

"I mean, it's cool you can do impressions and all, but you should do that stuff when you get some time alone." Logan continued as he walked toward the lake and pulled out a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo. "We should probably get rid of that tent by the way. Y'know, when Mel gets out and all. I think it's leaking." He shook the plushie, it also sharing the same dampness as his trousers.

Maria glanced back at the tent and then towards Logan. Her eyes slowly drifted down towards his trouser leg, amber eyes growing wide as she opened her mouth to respond… only to stop herself entirely. No amount of mental preparation could give her the courage to take on this challenge. Rather, Maria decided to simply make a mental note to sleep on the far opposite side of Logan at all times.

"S-So… That's a nice L-Lucario doll…" she quickly pointed out in an attempt to try and change the topic.

Suddenly a small groan could be heard from the tent. The sleeping beauty had just woken up from all the commotion outside. As the zipper of the tent slowly opened, a brunette with messy bed hair came out of it, still wearing her light blue pajamas. Something Melody would never do, meaning that the one waking up was in fact… Raeliana.

"G-Guys…?" A timid voice was heard escaping the lips of the young lady. "Why is sleeve all wet…?" Raeliana asked. She brought her small nose towards the sleeve to take a sniff but immediately turned her face away. "I-It smells too…" her soft voice was wholly unlike Melody's.

"Yeah, I was just saying to Maria, I think the tent's broke. I dunno if it rained last night or somethin, but we should really think about getting a new one." Logan explained as he nestled his face in his own sleeve. "Your throat alright? You sound like you got a cold or somethin."

"W-What…?" Raeliana looked up a bit confused, her whole demeanor that of a small little bird. "Uhm… no I'm fine." She answered. She realised they must be used to the strict and demanding voice of her other self. Compared to that, her own voice would indeed sound like she would have cold…

"I don't think it has rained last night. The ground is all dry…" she mentioned quickly to take the attention away from her voice while looking at her feet.

"Ah well, whatever it is, we should probably get John out of there before he drowns or something." Logan sighed, standing up and making his way to the tent. He checked inside, only now noticing that his own sleeping bag was the hub of the dampness in the tent. His eyes widened and his heart sank at his sudden realisation. "No...nonono. Dammit." He uttered to himself, utter horror and trepidation rushing over his face. There was no time. He sucked up his panic and burst out of the tent, beginning its deconstruction without a second thought. "Well, John's not in here, so we'd best just get a move on." He panted through his hurried motions. "Good thing we all brought a change of clothes, right?"

Maria watched as Logan began to hurriedly take down the groups camp. She honestly did feel bad for the blue-haired boy, but… Well, she really didn't want to focus too much more on this incident if she could help it. The blonde turned her focus back over towards Raeliana, offering a small smile (the first one since this whole trip had started to boot) towards the shorter girl.

"I'm… I'm glad you're here," Maria said, the girl feeling much more at ease all of a sudden. "I don't know h-how much more I would've been able to take w-without you s-showing up sooner or later…"

Raeliana's gaze turned towards the taller girl. She wasn't one for smiles and she often looked more expressionless than anything else but the blonde girl was the only one Raeliana could offer a small smile to. "Ah yes… I'm sorry about what you had to deal with yesterday…" she apologized, the soft warmth on her lips immediately disappearing as she pointed towards the notebook inside her bag. The cover was visible and it read "daily notes". "I read it just before we all went to sleep. I'm really terribly sorry…"

"Well… I guess it's okay," Maria replied. Her eyes drifted to the notebook in Raeliana's hands just for a moment. She knew that the duo kept notes about the events that transpired over the day for whichever one of them wasn't out at the time… The taller of the girls always wondered just what kind of notes they took in that regard, however. Returning her focus to the conversation at hand, Maria's smile faltered just a bit. "I… I b-brought it on myself, m-mostly… I haven't m-made things easy for y-you guys since we left c-camp."

"Uhhh, Maria, you haven't ummm...seen John have you?" Logan asked, his demeanour shrinking as he barely worked the courage to face the girls again, let alone speak to them. Only his concern for his friend could bring him to be so courageous.

Maria looked towards Logan, thoughts of her interactions with John just a short while ago causing her face to turn a bit red. "He s-said he w-was going for a w-walk for a while," the blonde explained as she pointed in the direction John had walked off in.

"A walk? Where? Why? We don't have time for that. We gotta go find him...I gotta go find him. You guys stay here." Logan rambled on, storming in the direction Maria pointed, still dragging the soiled tent behind him.

"I… tend to forget how lively he is." the short brunette said as she watched the blue haired young man ran along the path his friend had been following. "I.. I want to change into something else." Raeliana's gaze fell upon her still stinky sleeve. She grabbed a lousy t shirt from her bag. No one was around except Maria. Raeliana was embarrassed but the tent was gone and she really wanted to get rid of that smell. She turned her back towards Maria and lifted her pyjama sweater slowly, revealing scars all over and a spine so visible that you could literally count them. Taking it off entirely went much faster and so was pulling the other t shirt over her head. She turned back towards Maria with a reddish tint spreading across her cheeks but decided to focus on her hair, which she did in a messy bun, something that looked much better than her bed hair but still unwholly Melody.

Maria's eyes widened as she watched Raeliana change into something a bit more presentable. It wasn't so much the sight of the shorter girl changing in front of her, although that was something Maria would most likely never have the courage to do. Rather, it had to do with what she saw on Raeliana's back. Maria had to practically cover her mouth with her trembling hands to keep from screaming in shock.

"R-Raeliana…" Maria barely managed to whisper. "Your… Your… W-What happened to your b-back…?"

"My back…" Raeliana's soft voice was heard from where she stood. "O-Oh right…" She remembered. Maria probably saw all the scars on her back. "I had some… unfortunate things happening to me." Raeliana tried to explain. It was hard to talk about the incidents without completely breaking down. "I-I… Uhh… I." Raeliana was stuttering. Remembering what happened made her feel the pain inflicted over her entire body all over again even though she doesn't remember everything since Melody occasionally took over. "I… was hurt. Many times… I'm sorry you had to see that." Raeliana bowed down with guilt written all over her face.

A wave of panic suddenly took over Maria. It hadn't been her intention to make Raeliana uncomfortable or start breaking down. The blonde began to mentally berate herself. She began to reach out slowly, preparing to reach out a hand of comfort to the shorter girl, but stopped and instantly pulled back instead. Whether or not it was of her own fear of making contact with someone or the fear of upsetting Raeliana more, Maria wasn't sure. What she was sure of however, was the fact she didn't want this sudden feeling of tension hanging in the air should the brunette feel the need to switch.

"No… I'm sorry, I shouldn't h-have s-said anything like that to m-make you feel bad," Maria began, her grip tightening on the strap of her travel bag. "P-Please forgive m-me… I won't s-say a word, I swear…"

Raeliana looked up a bit confused. "What…? No, you didn't make me feel bad at all. In fact…" Raeliana stepped a little closer and tried to smile, even just slightly. "Thank you for listening." She spoke softly.

"H-Hey… uhm…" Raeliana once again looked at her feet. "I'm sorry for… For Melody's harsh words. She doesn't dislike you. She's just… careful. I guess…" Raeliana tried to explain shortly and brushed a few strokes of hair out of her face. "And I'm glad we get to travel together."

Maria stared wide-eyed at Raeliana. The last thing she expected was for the brunette to be so accepting and welcoming towards her after seeing her back like that. Even now, Maria found herself wondering if Melody had suddenly switched places and was trying to lure her into letting her guard down.

"Oh… It's n-no problem…" Maria replied, cheeks deeply flushed. "I guess you s-should thank Melody for that m-much… She stopped me from running back to m-my room twice now…"

"Y-Yeah… I'm glad she was able to stop you." Raeliana's soft smile became a slightly awkward one. "Her attitude has brought me many problems back at camp... She can be very…" the short girl seemed to be deep in thought. She was trying to find the right word for Melody without her scolding her later. "I-Intimidating…" She said after a short moment of silence. "But… there are times I wish I could be more like her…"

Maria honestly wasn't sure if that was really a good aspiration to hold. Melody… was scary to say the least. Most people were to her. Raeliana was the only person at camp that Maria actually felt somewhat safe and calm around. That said, the blonde always had a fear she would just snap back to her alter ego, something that had happened on more than one occasion.

"...I guess she does have some admirable qualities," Maria reluctantly replied.

Raeliana smiled at Maria, if only softly. Then she suddenly remembered they were supposed to wait for their two other travelling companions."I wonder where the boys are…?" Raeliana started searching around with her eyes along the path she saw Logan walking.

"Guys, I found him!" Logan called out from just beyond the trees.

"Bollocks!" A scream could be faintly heard from just as far away, scaring a flock of Starly from their nest.​

 

[Shak]

Team Fruit Punch

Maria

Logan

Melody

John

---

The Hunters Troupe

"C'mon big guy, you can sleep later." As Team Fruit Punch ventured further north of Route 205, they discovered a much more treacherous terrain than the soft woodland they'd called their bed the night before. With half the weight of John slung over is back, Logan definitely felt the difference in density of the ground. Where his feet had once cushioned into lively dirt and grass, they now clunked into the stubborn cobble. His aching soles quickly became an afterthought as he stopped at an opening. Eterna Forest. Just before he made his first step into the enclosure, he felt a gentle tug at his trouser leg. "Oh, come on OZ, now's not the time." He sighed, correctly guessing it was the little white emotion pokemon that obviously felt some disturbance in his mood. The little pokemon looked up at him, despite the lack of expression, the gesture spoke a thousand words. With a sigh, he lifted John's arm off his shoulder and lifted the little pokemon onto it. "If you're that worried, I suppose you can stick around for a little while." The disturbance provided just enough of a delay for Maria and what Logan thought to be a very quiet and out of sorts Melody to catch up.

Maria panted as she followed along behind Logan and the others. She was a little envious of John, who was essentially getting a Spoinky-back ride from Logan all the way up towards the forest, as well as her other two companions who seemed to be taking all this physical activity in stride. She had mentally debated for a bit about catching a small break to allow her to rest and catch her breath, but the last thing the blonde wanted to do was hold up her companions or make them think she was being a burden on the group. In retrospect, Maria figured she really couldn't blame her fellow teammates. She figured that they most likely forgot that she wasn't exactly in the most ideal physical condition, despite the fact she was a good head taller than they were for the most part.

"J-Just… Just keep going, Maria… Y-You'll b-be fine…" the blonde whispered, trying her best to be her own motivational speaker as she trudged along the worn path towards Eterna Forest.

A small Rockruff jumped into the arms of Raeliana out of nowhere, causing her to let out a small screech. Thankfully, the brown haired girl had started getting used to his occasional waves of wanting attention but it was a close one. Melody had almost swapped places with her but Raeliana tried to keep her restrained, knowing how much her blonde friend was struggling to deal with her other personality. She glanced over her shoulder to check on her and found her a little worn out looking. "H-Hey guys…? Shall we take a break… I really need one…" her timid voice managed to break out from her vocal cords. She was hoping Logan would buy it without asking too many questions.

"We'll rest in a minute Maria, we just gotta check the forest first." Logan dismissed without a second glance. His eyes wandered through the life of the forest. From Weedle to Butterfree, creatures and bugs scuttered crawled and fluttered beneath the shade of Eterna forest's towering trees. He plucked the fidgeting Ralts off of his shoulder and slung her in his arm. "You heard the lady John, we'll rest after the forest." Logan turned and gave a little salute before slinging John's arm over his shoulder again and continuing forward.

Raeliana sighed, she didn't mean to out Maria…

Maria let out a pained whimper, tightening the grip on her bag. "Thanks anyways, R-Ra… I mean, M-Melody…" she said, slowing her pace for just a moment to try and catch her breath. "This is g-gonna be a l-long trip… trip if w-we go at this p-pace all the time..." She glanced up ahead at Logan, the boy not even letting up for a moment as he prepared to enter the forest. "D-Do… Do you even know w-where we're going…? E-Eterna Forest is a b-bit bigger than just the c-camp grounds… M-Maybe we should check a m-map first…?"

"If we stand there looking at that thing, we'll be here forever. C'mon Maria we've gotta keep moving." Logan stated with authority, towering over 5'11" girl. He could feel OZ still wriggling away in his arms, the little pokemon near enough hitting boiling point, but he had no plans to stay in this place longer than he had to.

The leaves above their heads rustled, causing Logan to jump. The moment of indecision provided the perfect amount of chaos to free OZ from her infuriating prison. She dived from Logan's arms and made a beeline deeper into the forest.

It took Logan a few seconds to notice that the weight from his arms had been lifted, let alone where it had gone. Despite the pokemon's lack of speed, her diminutive size made her hard to catch. She weaved between the thick of the bushes to avoid Logan's grasp, all the while heading in a single direction with determination and purpose. One last dive, saw the pokemon disappear into the forest.

"Dammit, what the hell is up with her." Logan questioned the other members of his group as the bushes and trees around them began to rustle again.

"W-Wait a minute…" Maria panted as she and Raeliana finally managed to catch up to the blue-haired boy. "Y-You're n-not thinking of j-just running in there blind to look for her, are you? I m-mean… We n-need to find her, but… Eterna F-Forest is h-huge… W-We need a plan or s-something… don't we…?"

"Waiting's what got us into this Maria, I'm go-" Logan's rant was interrupted by a brown fleck of wind flashing before his face. Before he could even identify the invader, it was joined by a flock of what seemed to be its allies. A group of men in thick jackets and baseball caps stepped from behind the trees. Logan's jaw clenched as he noticed the rifles in their hands. Like a protective barrier, a squadron of Spearow and Herdier stood at attention in front in front of Team Fruit Punch.

"You, kid, what was that you were just chasing?" The oldest and gruffest of the men stepped forward to ask. His spruce moustache ruffled on his lip as he spoke. He had to tilt his army cap from over his eyes to get a better look at Logan.

"My Ralts," Logan replied sharply, reluctant to say anymore than he had to. He glanced across his team to make sure none of them had been broken at just the sight of the guns. He wasn't sure what his teammates had seen in their life, but he was almost certain a close encounter like this wasn't an everyday occurence for them.

"Well, we wish you the best. Sorry about Spearow, he must have seen a kill and gotten eager." One of the younger men said with a spit. He walked over to Logan and handed him a Zigzagoon tail, before following behind his teammates to return to the thick of the forest.

John rubbed his tired eyes. "Is that… A Zigzagoon tail? Oh… I'm getting nauseous." John felt more queasiness than ever after watching the remains of Zigzagoon held by Logan with blood still visible on it. "This is not good though, the fact that those hunters are now roaming the forest with freaking rifle on their backs, has now dialed the danger level up to eleven," John said while showing a worried look at Logan.

Raeliana looked like she had been seeing a ghost, or something equally dangerous. Her face had gone pale at the sight of the zigzagoon tail. She was determined to let Melody take over now but before she could even close her eyes, Terra proofed a good distraction and barked at Logan. "T-Terra…?" A half-squeal came out of Raeliana's small mouth, somewhat shaky too. Terra was barking at the zigzagoon tail that Logan was holding. It was as if he was trying to warn for something but wasn't able to tell what.

"Oh no… Are we really going in there? Those Spearow are going for kills… and those weird guys too? Well I mean, we can't just abandon Logan's Ralts, but… What if the Spearow try to peck our eyes out or those men shoot at us?!" Maria thought with dread.

"I know, we-we should split up j-just to find OZ s-sooner," Maria suggested. The tall blonde glanced over to the forest, her legs starting to visibly shake. "One of us s-should stay out here though… In c-case she c-comes back out while the rest of us are inside…"

"No, we can't split up aga..." Logan huffed, his fist trembling by his side. The fluff of the Zigzagoon tail poked through his fingers. He grabbed the leftover pokeball on his waist and pressed the button on the front. The Combee emerged from the pokeball, but Logan's attention was on the Spearow that circled in the sky above their heads. "Nectar, I need you to stay with our friends, okay?" He nodded to the yellow bug, before turning to his friends. "I'm gonna ask those guys for help. I figure if those Spearow are good for anything, it's finding stuff, right? " He finished, as he tapped the Combee on the head and turned to leave Fruit Punch once again.

The little Rockruff poking at Logan's legs seemed rather displeased with his course of action. Terra kept on barking at him and the Zigzagoon tail. Once it was clear he wasn't receiving the attention it needed, it ran off but not before stopping and barking again, this time directed towards Raeliana and Maria. It was obvious that he wanted them to follow and so he ran off again, deep into the woods…

Logan bit his lip as he turned just as the little rockruff disappeared into the forest. Another runner? He thought to himself, an internal sigh, seeping into his body language. "Look, you guys find out what Mel's Rockruff wants, I'm gonna go after these hunters before they get too far away." Logan ordered, this time committing completely to his pursuit.​

 

[Stinging Bea]

Team Fruit Punch

Maria

Logan

Melody

John

---

The Hunt

"Hey!"

Marco, the most burly of the hunters, stopped at the sound of Logan's voice. He pointed his gun at the boy. He watched through his scope as with a mischievous grin as Logan stumbled back with his hands in the air. A few other the others guffawed at Marco's antics, but the older and gruffer man found no such joy in the poor teen's misfortune.

"Ey, it's the kid lookin' for the Ralts. Did you find him yet?" The leanest of the men asked, a cigarette bobbing on his bottom lip as he spoke.

"Well, no actually...that's why I'm here." Logan responded. The stench of fear radiated off of him as he looked up to the men that towered above him. His eyes jumped between the guns in their hands. They were guns. He didn't need to envision them as anything else to hyperbolise the fear they inflicted upon him. The screeches of the Spearow above were his only reminder as to why he'd chased these men down in the first place. "I was wondering if you guys could help me.." He barely managed to continue, swallowing his words at the end.

"Sorry, but we're busy kid. We got a catch to get. One that sells for a big-" Marco began to explain. The cold stare of the eldest hunter was enough to quell his friendliness. "We're workin'."

"What if I helped you? I could be a pretty good hunter." Logan spat back, gritting his teeth.

Once again, the men laughed at the pathetic sight before them. Again though, the eyes of the eldest hunter softened.

"Marco, pass me your talkie." He ordered, practically ripping the walkie talkie off of Marco's jacket before the man could heed the demand. He held the walkie talkie out in front of Logan. "You know how to use one of these, right?" He asked, only continuing after Logan gave a nod of affirmation. "If we find your Ralts, we'll let you know. Now, if you find any rare Pokemon in the forest, you let us know. You'll be easy to find." Again, Logan nodded to the man's explanation, but as he reached to grab the walkie talkie, the man pulled it just out of his reach. "Now if you leave the forest with this, there'll be trouble. Understood." He finished, a much less friendly tone took over as he finally handed the walkie talkie to Logan. Once he was satisfied, he returned to his troupe, leaving Logan to do the same with his own friends.

"So, how was the conversation going? Judging from how you walk and walkie talkie in your hand. It must be going smoothly is it not?" John tried to get confirmation from Logan.

A smirk grew across Logan's face. He looked over the walkie talkie that garnered him, what he interpreted as, praise from John. He spun the walkie talkie in the air. "Those guys aren't so bad. Looks like they're gonna help us find OZ, and all we gotta do is help them 'look for' rare Pokemon." Logan scoffed, making air quotes as he said rare Pokemon. "Seems like a fair trade to me." He smiled, swinging his talkie as he walked past the group.

Maria, as usual seemed more than just a bit apprehensive about the developing events. In particular, something about this group of men that Logan quickly found himself not only associating with, but agreeing to help really rubbed the girl the wrong way. The blonde seemed hesitant to bring it up, but since neither Raeliana or John seemed to be voicing any concerns...

"...I… I think this is a really b-bad idea…" Maria stammered out quietly. "Those m-men… s-something isn't right about them and… we would b-be better off j-just looking for OZ and T-Terra w-without them… I think… Maybe…"

"I think you have a point, Logan. They're hunters and they have more experience on Pokemon tracking more than we do. Cooperating with them is the best choice to find OZ, but I just can't shake the bad feeling… I'm afraid that they would do something bad against that rare Pokemon, you see that Zigzagoon Tail earlier, right?" John stated his thoughts as he tried to weigh between the opportunity and danger of the situation.

Raeliana shook her head hesitantly, feeling a bit more confident about voicing her concerns now that her friend, Maria, did as well. "I-I don't want to end up being the reason a… poor Pokémon dies…" Raeliana clasped her hands together glanced at boys, hoping they would get what she meant. "a-and Terra... "

In the distance, they could hear a faint bark running farther and farther away from them.

Logan's ears perked up at the sound of the barking that trailed deeper into the woods. "Well, sounds like if we don't act fast…" He began, before marching after the sound, seemingly on his own orders. "C'mon, I'll let the guys know later!" He called back as he began to run and leave the others behind.

"Geez Logan…" John had the dilemma of staying behind with the girls or running towards Logan, with a heavy heart he made his decision. "I'm going after him, I don't want Logan to make a reckless decision and hurt himself in the end. Take care you two, don't hesitate to call me if something happened. And if we both don't come back… Well, let's just hope that won't happen." John ran towards Logan who already dashed away first.

"H-Hey! Terra is my Rockruff, don't leave me behind…" Raeliana tried to speak but her voice got softer and softer the moment she spoke of Terra as her possession, it made her shake at her core for just a moment before she realised John had already gotten after Logan. "Let's go Maria!" Raeliana spoke to her, wanting to grab her hand and pull her along but the thought made her freeze right on the spot. "U-Uh… l-let's go…" she said once again and chased after the blue haired dolt and the four eyed boy, referring to John's glasses.

Logan skidded into an opening. While running, he'd been updating the hunters on rare Pokemon he'd seen: Ratatta, Sentret, Patrat, Kricketot. The snide comments he received upon each update completely flew over the blue haired teen's head. The opening he skidded into was wholly uninspiring. While it was probably the rarest pokemon he'd seen since entering the forest, Melody's Rockruff barking at the foot of an unassuming tree, nipped the bud in any excitement Logan carried into the interaction.

"Terra, we're supposed to be lookin' for OZ, remember? Put that nose of yours to good use if you wanna he-" He scolded before being interrupted by the little dog barking at the tree again. Logan followed the Pokemon's line of sight. "Achoo!" He sneezed. A tuft of brown fur caught itself in his airspace, giving the mysterious Pokemon just the blink it needed to escape his line of sight.

Before the fleeing tree fiend could escape, it was clattered out of the branches by a keen eyed Spearow.

"Got one." Logan's grin near swallowed the walkie talkie, as he watched the scruffy furred Eevee tumble from the tree.

"Geez… You... ought to slow... down before I lose my consciousness, Logan. And what the hell are you doing? Aren't we supposed to find OZ? You're creeping me out with that smile, you know?" John barely managed to catch up with Logan without himself fainting.

Before he managed to utter another word to his reckless friend, he saw the Pokemon that fell from the tree earlier. "Uh… Logan, I'm pretty sure that's an Eevee. Wait, don't tell me you're going to give this Pokemon to the hunters." John's expression hardened as he imagined how the lovable Eevee would end up as the hunter's prey just like how Zigzagoon did.

"Hey, they're helpin' me find OZ, the least I can do is help them out." Logan shrugged. "What they do with their catch is none of my business."

"But… y-you know what they d-do with their catches… right…?" Maria questioned, her face paling as she thought back to the Zigzagoon tail. "W-We can't j-just give this Eevee to them."

Terra ran over the the Eevee and sniffed at it, making the Eevee feel uncomfortable. Raeliana finally caught up to the trio that had ran ahead and was catching her breath. She glanced up, finding the Eevee in front of them and stared at it. "S-So cute…" She whispered underneath her breath. "Logan… P-Please don't tell me you notified the hunters yet. Pleaassee…." She almost begged, getting up all close at Logan before pulling back in a panic. Terra barked at her feet in an attempt to get something from her bag.

Maria glanced between the Rockruff and his trainer, a sudden realization coming towards the blonde's mind. She knew that Logan would most likely be upset over the situation, but the thought of those men doing something to the wild Eevee (or any other Pokemon for that matter) was something that the tall girl couldn't stand in the slightest.

She glanced back over to Raeliana, her body trembling with nervousness. "Catch it…" she mouthed, hoping her friend would understand what she was getting at.

"C-Catch it…?" Raeliana repeated, looking like she was seeing a ghost instead of her friend right where Maria was standing. Terra kept barking at her. "B-But… S-She won't be free-…" She stumbled over her own tongue but before she could finish her sentence, Terra had jumped up and grabbed her bag. He swirled it all over the ground with Raeliana's belongings dropping all around them. "T-Terra! No!" Raeliana tried to stop him and ran after him but he kept running around with the bag, not listening to his trainer for the very first time. Finally a few Pokéballs dropped from the bag. "Wraff!" Terra rolled the Pokéball towards his trainer with his nose. Eagerly waiting for her to throw it towards the Eevee who seemed to not at all mind the thought of being caught. Everything was better than being hunted down.

Before Raeliana could make her next move, a Pokeball came flying over her shoulder and collided with the pleading fox Pokemon. Behind her, Logan triumphantly punched the air as the Pokemon disappeared into its ball. It rocked once, then twice...then the ball burst open, the frightened fox scurrying toward the Rockruff and it's trainer.

"We gotta trade that Eevee for OZ, that's our best shot at finding her." Logan grumbled, standing his ground.

Nectar fluttered hesitantly between his own trainer and what he assumed was soon to be his new opposition.

"Logan… Do you realize what are you trying to do? If you dare trade that poor little Eevee to the hunters and let it get hurt…" John was gritting his teeth, he appeared to be mad that Logan would trade the safety of the hapless Pokemon for his own Pokémon's that was not even guaranteed in the possession of the hunters.

John then looked toward Melody's fallen Pokeballs and then moved his gaze to the owner. "Mel, please... You have to be the one who catches the Eevee, otherwise, it won't even survive another day."

Raeliana looked at Logan in horror. Her eyes closed and while she did that, Terra's tail started to wiggle like a helicopter. Terra knew what it meant when Raeliana was closing her eyes. "Logan you absolute dimwit. Are you out of your mind?!" The moment Raeliana opened her eyes again, she wasn't Raeliana anymore but switched places with Melody. "Are you really this heartless to trade a life for another life? Are you right in the head?" Raeliana's timid and soft voice had been traded for Melody's piercing and strict tune. She grabbed a Pokéball from the ground and looked at the poor little Eevee who had hid behind the legs of the young female. It looked startled, noticing that the person in front of her wasn't the same one anymore but it was submissive nonetheless.

Melody dropped to her knees and held the Pokeball in front of the little Eevee. "You decide. Do you want to live or are your forfeiting your life to that blue haired punk?" She asked the little one. Eevee seemed hesitant for a moment but decided that this new person wasn't all that bad. She moved closer to the pokéball and booped her nose against the dot in the middle, opening it and being succumbed to the bright red light that trapped her inside the ball. The pokéball rocked inside the hands of Melody. Once… twice… and after the third time, it stopped rocking.

In a flash, Logan pounced on Melody, trying to pry the Pokeball from her grasp. "OZ is out there…" He grunted as he struggled. "If we don't save her…"

Melody completely flinched at Logan's attempt to touch her, making her more furious than she already was. Terra felt that and growled at the blue haired dolt.

Maria began to feel her heart race as she watched the scene start to play out in front of her. Her hand trembled in fear as she reached out. Her voice was shaky and uneasy.

"P-Please… That's e-enough…"

"Logan… You…" John had enough with Logan's antics, this time he decided to go the physical route even if his body couldn't even remotely compete with Logan's. He gripped Logan's right arm with as much force his body could muster.

Maria closed her eyes. Her breath growing short. "Stop… J-John… M-Melody… L-Logan…"

John's intervention was just enough to drag Logan off of Melody, but he was aptly dismissed by a swing of Logan's arm. "I'm not gonna let you guys trade OZ because Melody wants to catch a stupid Eevee!" The youngest of three glared between his teammates, his eyes full of spite and watering with desperation.

Maria visibly flinched at the growing volume of her three companions. She began to picture it all. Their voices. Their anger. Their constant strife and accusations. It was enough to take Maria back to those horrible, destructive arguments. The blonde suddenly just acted on impulse and did what she found herself doing on those long nights. She turned and ran. No words uttered. No more pleas. She had to hide. She had to get away from it all. Thoughts of escape were the only things on the blonde's mind as she ran deeper into the woods.

Any further words of malice or strife were caught at the tips of Logan and Melody's tongue. They watched their teammate disappear into the forest, but had no time to react. The bushes behind them rustled. Much deeper barks than those of Melody's Rockruff shifted the leaves. The smells of smoke, mud and gunpowder clouded the area.

"Logan, old chum. Spearow gave us a heads up. You found something interesting?" The head hunter spoke.

Logan froze.

"I-" He began. He looked between his team. Melody, John, the empty space vacated by Maria.

"He did." Melody tried to regain her composure but the pouncing of Logan left her shaking. "It ran away in that direction. I actually felt like catching it but Logan here wouldn't let me." Melody used her sass in her advantage and lied her way through the situation. She glared at Logan behind her.

"I see. What Pokemon was it that you found? If I may ask, young lady?"

"It was an Eevee. A real cutie too." Melody replied with a cute manipulative smile. She couldn't risk it that the Spearow implied to them what the Pokémon actually was so she chose not to lie. The sooner the hunters would be on their way, the sooner they could leave this forest. Not before finding OZ first though because Logan was being a baby about it.

The rest of the hunters glanced amongst each other, whispering even, but their leader remained unwavering. He smiled at the polite young woman and began to walk in the direction she'd pointed him. "Thank you." The others continued to exchange glances before closing the gap behind their leader. As they disappeared, it was him that stuck behind. "Logan, we'll only help you find your Ralts if you actually help us find the rare Pokemon." With one last nod, he was gone.
​

 

[Sapphire Rose]

Team Fruit Punch

Maria

Logan

Melody

*bulbagarden.net image removed*

John

---

The problem with trouble shooting is that trouble shoots back.

As soon as the hunters were away, Melody crossed her arms. "You lost my respect, Logan." Melody spoke. "... Not like you had much of that anyway but you lost that little bit of respect I had for you." Her voice was piercingly strict like always as she lectured him. Still, she sighed and wondered if she was maybe to harsh on him.

"... Let's go find OZ. Poor little thing must be scared being all alone out here." The brunette girl, who had immediately taken the bun out of her hair that Raeliana had kept it in all morning, took out the Pokéball in which she caught the Eevee. The small Rockruff at her side stared at her with puppy eyes… but also as if he was warning her. "Yeah… It might be better to keep this one safely inside here until we leave the forest." With that, she put the Pokéball away in her bag, secured underneath the stuff she had picked up from the forest ground again.

Logan was still planted firmly with his behind on the ground. He was defiant. Refusing to acknowledge Melody even for a second. In his mind, she'd left OZ out for the wolves, all for the sake of a cutesy little fox she'd only just met. His partner could've been dead by now. Not that he'd been much of a partner. That thought alone forced him to swallow his pride. He climbed to his feet and followed the path of chaos left by Maria, without giving his friends so much as a single word.

"Damn it." John threw both of his Pokeball and released both Shelly and Grace outside. "Maria went somewhere we don't even know and freakin' Logan just have to bolt out like that. We have to find OZ quick or that idiot is going to do something crazy." John scratched his head while scanning his surroundings, hoping he could find Logan's partner before more chaos ensued.

Melody sighed in annoyance. The taller one of the four had wandered off? She only just noticed. Logan's clawing hands on her body was something that kept visualizing in her mind, she was annoyed with how much it bothered her still or rather… Raeliana. Because the shaking wasn't something caused by her but an automatic response from the slumbering Raeliana who was now laying dormant on the back of her… their? Minds.

"Let's follow that idiot before something really stupid happens." Melody spoke, following John who was tracing Logan's steps and possibly Maria's. "You know, for a Pokémon you didn't even treat that well, you're awfully worried." Melody shouted at Logan.

Melody's word sliced past Logan's ears, riding on the breeze like blades of wind. His foot hovered above the ground, just for a moment. "She's out in the forest. On her own." Logan stated with the bluntness of a hammer. He allowed his foot to hit the ground, then spun on his heel to face Melody. "If you hadn't wanted to catch your precious little Eevee we'd have a great chance at finding her! Now? She could be anywhere, and guess what, now Maria's left us too! Thanks a lot Mel." Logan finished his rant, turning his back to the girl that had scuppered his plan to save OZ.

Melody allowed herself to blink a few times before rage started to fill her eyes. Knowing that shouting even more probably wasn't going to make this situation better, she sighed again trying to calm herself down. "You really are ignorant." She said with a calm yet clear voice, like an icy wind piercing across your face. "I was being begged to catch her by both John and Maria. If I hadn't caught it, you would've handed her over to the hunters and left her to die. Trading one life for another." Whilst speaking, the rage she tried to calm herself from started to boil inside her again. "Blaming Maria leaving on me is not fair but you know what?" Melody was so ticked off that she showed a smile. A small one yet intimidating as she stepped away from the group. "I'm done with your childish banter. See how you get to Eterna. I'll go on my own." With that, she walked away from them, her Rockruff following close behind.

John's anger had hit an all-time high. With all of the voice he could muster he screamed at both of them. "Enough you two, pipe down!" He trembled with rage while he pointed his hand at Logan. "You! Do you understand what the frickin' hell you just tried to do!? You just tried to justify the murder of an innocent Pokemon for OZ's sake, do you realize how she would feel when she knew about the fact, huh!? Would you like if someone you love had to become a murderer just to save you!?"

Logan turned his head away from John in a strop.

Then John then moved his wrath towards Melody. "And for you, yes you Mel. For the love of God, could you please stop using a snarky tone against Logan? He just lost his beloved partner somewhere he didn't know, so a little bit… Just a little bit of understanding would be nice. Imagine how would you feel if Terra is gone somewhere you didn't know. And if you really going to Eterna sure go ahead, but doesn't that also mean you're leaving Maria alone? That's really messed up if you want Maria to be safe."

"Hmph." Was the only sound Melody could make as her back was turned towards them. She had stopped for a slight moment but Terra was still glaring at Logan. "You misunderstand me. I wasn't about to leave Maria by herself." Melody's snarky tone hadn't faded but she was much calmer with John, mostly because he was the only one not causing her issues of the bunch. The only one who had a sense of maturity about him.

John took a deep breath to calm himself. "Look, I didn't mean to offend both of you, but if you both have the energy to bicker with one another, then why don't you both use that to finish the issue we're currently facing? Let's find OZ, fetch Maria, and then get out from the forest without getting anyone hurt, okay? If you want to bicker with each other then you could do it later, after we save our dear friends. Is that clear with you two?" John could only flash a faint smile at both at them as he tried to keep his own composure in check.

Stewing over Melody and John's words burned Logan to his very core. His head was hung, but that burning fire forced him to look ahead. He flicked his jacket collar up, and glared forward. "OZ trusted me to be her partner, way before I trusted her. Hunters or no hunters, I'm not about to give up on finding her. You guys go find Maria, I'll find OZ on my own." Picking up whatever he had left of his faith that his starter could be found, Logan started in the opposite direction.

"Leave him be, John. There is no getting through that thick skull of his." The brunette told John. She started walking ahead again, away from Logan because she really couldn't be near him anymore. With that, both Melody and Logan left John standing in the center for him to choose who he'd join. Terra let out a small but sad bark but wouldn't leave Melody's side.

"Rgh..." John let out a faint grunting noise, he understood that this was a choice that both of his friends forced him to make. He tried to think of all the risks both of them would encounter if he left them alone to their own devices. It wasn't an easy choice but choices eventually had to be made and with that realization, John let out a deep sigh. "Let's split up, don't do anything rash that would endanger yourselves and if you both find either OZ or Maria don't forget to tell the others."

John walked to a direction both of his friends didn't take. He didn't want to split the party but if he had chosen one of them, he was afraid that he would make one of them feel abandoned.

​

 

[Shak]

-Logan

A Bitter Pill to Swallow​

​

Droplets of rain began to break through the barriers of branches and leaves that protected the mud of Eterna forest. That barrier could do nothing to protect the mud from the trudging feet of Logan. The destructive teen was chewing away at his own tongue, contemplating just how the day had went so wrong.

The morning was an utter disaster. Sure, he'd managed to cover it up before his teammates caught on to what had happened, but bedwetting…again. His knuckles whitened as his fists clenched in his pockets. The last thing he needed was for that to get back to his councillor.

Then there was Kurt. Logan rolled up his sleeve to look over the carnage of scars and bruises that ravaged his arm. He took a deep breath, then dropped the sleeve. None of it mattered now. Since day one, he knew it wouldn't…no, couldn't last.

Maria had run away; John didn't care; Melody had ditched her team for an Eevee she didn't even know. Typical. OZ was gone. Everyone was gone.

He found a tree and sat down; his head hung between his knees. The quiet of the steady rain and the droning buzz of his Combee were his only company now. The latter lowered himself and settled on his trainer's shoulder, while the former continued to settle and soak the young trainer. Logan looked at his pokemon, wet patches on his trouser leg where his face had been. He sniffled and turned his face from the concerned bee.

The Combee continued to plead, but the buzzing was useless. Instead of paying him attention, Logan looked down to his side. The walkie talkie. The feedback from the small machine was overpowering that desperate call of the pokemon. Before Nectar knew it, Logan had the device held to his mouth.

"Hey-uh…guys." Logan began. He cleared his throat, continuing with as deep a tone as his voice could manage. "I think I could really be helpful to you…" His conviction trailed off as he mulled over a way to convincingly end his cry for help. "You know, in finding those rare pokemon." He waited a few seconds - no response. The feedback continued to crackle through the talkie, despite Logan shaking and examining the device. "I can help you find an Eevee or something." He added, biting his tongue the moment that name left his mouth. More feedback. "Guys…"

"Sorry Logan, we were on a hunt, we couldn't here you because we had to use our own talkies." The stern voice of the hunter's leader buzzed through the talkie. A few snickers scorned in the background but were quickly hushed. "How is your search for your Ralts going?"

"No luck. Haven't been able to find her."
"Well, your friends must be lending a hand."

Logan lowered his walkie talkie at that statement. He wiped the leftover tears from his eyes. "I thought they were friends, but they don't care about her at all."

"That's sad to hear."

"I was wondering if I could meet up with you guys…"

"Use the compass feature on your talkie. The button at the bottom. It should show you what direction we're in. We'll find your Ralts together."

A smile grew on Logan's face. He climbed to his feet and pressed the green button on the bottom of his walkie talkie. An indicator appeared on his screen, pointing him North East. Without missing a beat, Logan was already storming full pelt in the direction the compass pointed.

Spoiler:

- Empty -​

Eterna Forest​

 

[Shak]

-Logan

What Would You Have Done?​

​

A rifle poked up from the trenches. Bullets and debris stormed the muddy field, soaring back and forth like fighter jets. Screeching flames seared the air above their heads. Behind the rifle, a green helmet popped out of the trenches. Just behind that, dead eyes, a gruff face and budding moustache. The soldier surged forward beneath the air of danger that hovered just above the field. He stopped and took cover behind a stray barricade that rooted from the ground. His eyes slammed shut before they could lock on the sight beside him.

"Boss, boss talk to me." The thick Hoenn accent of Marco rung through his ears. It pierced through the deafening drones the took the war-torn sky.

"Marco, where's the kid?" The gruff soldier stumbled forward, keeping himself obscured by the standing debris.

"Sir, your Stoutland is-"

"Leave him. Where's the kid?" The soldier panted. He scanned the field but saw no sign of the missing recruit he referred to.

"He's with Scully. Looks like he's got a twisted ankle. He's not walking so good."

"Arrrrrgh!" A sharp cry cut through the white noise of war. The voice broke in youthful angst, albeit pained. Both men knew. They took their chance and ran toward the sound. Bullets flew toward them, but they were quick. Any shots fired at them were reflex shots, hail marys more than anything and they both managed to dive to cover unscathed. They gulped in their breaths of relief, but the sobbing behind them dragged them back to their harsh reality.

"They got me sir! They got me! I'm gonna…I'm gonna-" The young soldier screamed through gasps of air. His thigh was spewing blood.

"No, you're not son. No, you're not. Close your eyes." The gruff soldier rushed in to support his injured comrade. He propped the recruit up, forcing him once the pain caused the boy to resist. An explosion lifted the turf behind them. Every member of the platoon flinched in fright. "Close them!" He yelled. "Think of somewhere sweet."

"Where are ya? Back home? Lady in ya bed? Eatin a golden crusted apple pie with whipped cream?" Scully piped up, leaving a satisfied sneer with his own suggestions. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and put it in the boy's mouth. "I think ya can finally have one. Ya earned it" Scully sneered again as the boy chuckled, his eyes still clenched shut in pain. Marco and their leader allowed themselves a warm smile aswell.

"I'm…I'm in the woods. With my Pa. We're eating Buneary stew." The young soldier blurted out, calming as he spoke.

Marco tapped his leader, who was lost in the moment. As he caught his attention, he pointed out the advancing frontline of the enemy army. All three soldiers looked between each other, a beat of urgency flashing through all of them. They all looked down at the kid again, then back to their own trenches.

The leader felt his stomach sink. He looked down at the boy in his arms again, his eyes watering as he saw the boy in a much different light. "That's it, kid. You're doing well. Keep your eyes closed." He took his pistol from his belt and pointed it to the boy's head. His eyes met each of his teammates one more time. His finger gripped the trigger. He could see smoke rising from the barrel…

"So…y-you ummm…" Logan interrupted, his words riding on each breath.

"What would you have done, Logan?" The troupe leader spoke, his dead eyes staring into their campfire.

"I…I would've ummm…did you?" Logan asked again, but his pleas for answers fell on deaf ears.

Scully sat on the bench beside Logan's. The last crust of a cigarette curled up on his lip. He spat it on the ground and replaced it with a fresh one on reflex.

"Scul." The youngest of the troupe, who was sat right next to Scully, gestured for his lanky friend to hand him a cigarette. Scully sneered and handed him the box. The hollow sound of the lone cigarette that bounced against the walls of the small container caught the young man's attention. "You're giving me the last one?"

"Wait…" Logan gasped. The two men looked up at the young man expectantly. "Ben, you smoke?"

Ben and the troupe leader exchanged a glance. The older of the two sighed and returned his attention to Logan.

"Why did you betray your comrades Logan?" The leader asked, heavy in his tone and demeanour. He noticed the hesitance in the boy's response but remained resolute. "Your friend knew where to find the Eevee. I could see it in her eyes. She didn't want you to tell us, yet here you are. She's no fool." He spoke with the same dead eyes, locked onto Logan.

"I umm…" Logan stammered before being interrupted by Ben.

"But I'm tired of waiting. You're going to help us convince your little friend to talk." With Ben's last words, he stomped his cigarette into the ground and ushered Logan in the direction they'd left Melody and John. Each member of the troupe followed behind, leaving Scully's fizzled cigarette in their wake.

Spoiler:

- Empty -​

Eterna Forest​

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Jonathan Mist
Location : Eterna Forest
Partner Pokemon :

​

​

Fear​

Droplets of rain started to fall down on the eerie forest, the noise it made when it drops to the ground broke the deafening silence. The drizzle alerted the brown-haired boy beneath the forest, forewarning him of the impending rain.

"Hmm… It started to rain already, eh? You both should enter your Pokeball before you're soaked wet." John appreciated the help that his two Pokemon gave him, however, it was not worthy to substitute it with his Pokemon's health.

Both Pokemon defiantly disobeyed their trainer's suggestion, especially Shelly who was staring at John with her eyes reflected the worry she felt about her trainer.

John smiled weakly at the gesture both of his Pokemon showed to him, he crouched down to pat Shelly who ran towards his legs. "Haha, you shouldn't worry about me, Shelly."

As the boy was absorbed in the act, the droplets started to drop more frequently through the gap of the shade Eterna Forest gave them. John looked up towards the falling rain as memories started to fill in his head.

He sighed as the unpleasant and dreadful memories started to rush in through his mind, it caused the warm smile from earlier to be ceased from existing at the boy's face. All his companions could see is a face devoid of smile the man usually tried to show upfront.

"Why… Why… Why..." The man then laughed alone almost maniacally, although deep signs of sorrow could be heard through the tone of his voice.

Shelly and Grace were scared with had befallen their trainer, they both made noises in order to snap out John of whatever thoughts he was having.

It took quite a while until John realized what just took place, but he eventually snaps out from his thought. "Ah… I did it again, do I?" He took a deep breath. "Well let's just take a rest for a bit, I'm sure it'll clean up my head."

John sat down at a giant root of a tree nearby, he held up his white umbrella to shield him and his Pokemon from the falling droplets of water. Shelly jumped up to his lap while Grace took her place on John's pocket. As the rain kept on going, John was drowning even further in his own thoughts, with an expressionless face and his gaze focused on the inscription on his umbrella.

"Mother... Father… I'm afraid… What if I never saw even a flicker of light at the end of this journey? What if everything I try in the future worth nothing at all? What if it's all just a hopeless dream of a foolish man?"

The thought persistently loomed over the young man who was desperate for closure.

His Pokemon realized this act, and this time they made an even louder noise towards their trainer to snap him out permanently.

"Hahaha, fine fine. I guess we should get going then. It's true that we're not going to find OZ if we keep lounging around here."

John lifted himself and put another fake smile on his pale face, continuing his seemingly never-ending facade to act like everything was fine.​