[PKMN FULL] TRAINERS (IC)

[Juno]

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Chapter 4: Cold Feet // May 24th
ft. Casey Holt, Vera Hill & Bruno Dillinger​

Jordan glances at the clock. There are two full battles in front of him. That will be enough time for him to calm down. Plus, he can learn and prepare while he watches Casey and Vera - yes, it was a good idea to go last.

He turns his attention to the field as the giant screens light up. Everything else besides the two blondes in the arena below falls away. Before long, the two send out their first Pokemon... a strange choice from Beaumont, considering, unsurprisingly, that Casey first sends out Pepper, but he was eager to see where this goes.

Jordan tries to watch the exchange of Embers and Magnet Bombs. He wants to root for Casey, and, more importantly, to pick up anything that will help him in his own battle later on, but... he can't concentrate very well, for some reason. The flashes of flame and light were bouncing in front of him, but he's not really able to absorb the techniques or form any strategies as the match plays out. It almost feels like he's just mindlessly watching TV at home, like this isn't happening right in front of him, and he doesn't have to be down there himself shortly...

Stop it, get your head in the game.

A booming "Magnemite is unable to battle!" pulls him back into focus briefly. They won the first match.

Yes. Jordan privately celebrates, but Casey looks… annoyed, for some reason.

Beaumont's Heliolisk comes out next, and the tanbō sees more action than it previously did. Casey and his team are holding up really well. Not that Jordan didn't expect him to, but he had assumed his rashness and lack of forethought might be a problem for him. Still, the battle is by no means one-sided - Pepper goes down, then Heliolisk, then Parsley... they were neck and neck the whole time, until two remained.

The battle between Ginger and Emolga is different. As Jordan watches the two dance nimbly on the field, he starts reviewing the full battle in his head, and comparing notes.

Spirit is scrappy, but small. He fights with his Bone Club, too, kinda like Pepper. That Slam, though... I can't send him out against Heliolisk, he would get crushed if it lands. Maybe Tangles, actually. She is sturdy.

The crackling of electricity draws him back into the present. Speaking of scrappy, Ginger was holding her own against the Electric squirrel Pokemon pretty well.

And Sage doesn't know Pursuit- it wasn't necessary for the win, but it prevented Heliolisk from coming back in a later match. Not that I would match my Pokemon up exactly the same way, no- I can't do that.

Strangely, he isn't feeling more prepared. The more he thinks about it, the more he focuses on what could go wrong. What his team's shortcomings are.

Hop's nimble on his feet, too. Is it going to make up for his injury, though...?

"What are you doing?!" Vera exclaims, right next to him.

His thoughts are interrupted for good now, as Casey... runs up to the Pokemon and pulls them off each other? He and Vera watch quizzically as Ginger now directs her frustrations toward her trainer, and the boy shouts something out to Beaumont. The exchange between the two that followed is not really audible, but given what flashed up on the screen after, he had some notion of what happened.

A few moments later, he feels Casey sit back down next to him, Ginger back in his arms and still sulking.

Jordan isn't sure if he wants to be approached right now, but gently tries anyway. "Hey, so what happened out there? I mean, I know what happened, but like, why…?"

"Ginger Endured." Casey shrugs. Ginger grumbles. "And we couldn't do anything else; he saw everything already. So I forfeited."

If he's feeling any way other than neutral about the outcome, he's certainly not showing it.

"Well, you did your best. You all did." Vera offers, watching the playback on the big screen.

"Yeah, it was a good battle. You guys did well." He says unconvincingly. Not because he doesn't believe it, but his nerves have him too distracted to properly comfort his friend right now. "Really."

He glanced at the clock again. Just then, the same assistant from earlier approaches them again. "Miss Vera Hill?"

"That's me! The one and only…" she sweeps a lock of hair behind her ear, Iggy following at her heels as she follows the assistant.

"Good luck out there," he smiles shakily at Vera.

Casey echoes his sentiment, but Jordan knows he's under scrutiny.

"Kinda hot in here, isn't it?" He laughs nervously, fanning himself.

"No?"

"I think I'm gonna step out for a bit."

Before Vera could notice him, Jordan steps out to compose himself. Making his way back to the lobby, he bursts through the front doors a bit too forcefully, standing just outside the entrance of the building. He breathes in the fresh air, eyes darting between the strangers around him. They are looking at him a little weirdly, no doubt because of his dramatic exit.

One person heading his way catches his attention. He is walking to the gym as well and he doesn't seem to notice Jordan until he raises his head and looks another way, all to walk another route to the gym again trying to convince Jordan that he didn't notice him.

"Um… Excuse me, please." he says, looking at the floor and passing behind him.

The stocky boy does not particularly stand out in a crowd, but even with his face down, Jordan recognized the dark ponytail he is wearing. "Hey, Bruno? Bruno!"

"Oh? O-oh! J-Jordan… hi." he answers nervously "I… didn't see it was you."

"Yeah, glad to see you made it through Rock Tunnel in one piece, too." It was nice to see a familiar face. "You headed to the gym?"

"Mhm." the boy answers, but he doesn't sound very sure about it. "Did… did you challenge the gym already?"

"Ah. Well. Not quite." Jordan fidgets. "Almost, though, I guess. Although… " He frowns and pulls out his PokeGear to check the time. "You might have to come back a little later, actually - I think Vera, Casey and I took up the last few spots for this time frame."

"Oh, are Vera and Casey here too?" Bruno asks. "A-anyways, I think I'll come back tomorrow then if I have time then. Good luck with your battle."

"Th-thanks, and yeah, Vera should still be battling right now. We just watched Casey, and it was… uh," Talking to Bruno for a bit was a nice distraction, but suddenly, the battle he just watched and all his worries and concerns are flooding through his mind again. "It looks challenging, I mean- of course. But it's a little different seeing it right there, than, you know, on TV and stuff, so." Jordan takes a deep breath and laughs nervously. "I don't really know if I want to do this, to be honest. Right now, at least."

"Well um… You can always skip or try another day." Bruno says. "I don't know if I want to challenge the gym either. I mean, I want to, but maybe I shouldn't do it yet."

A rush of guilt washes over Jordan. "Oh, I didn't mean to…" He looks at the younger boy - although he is not super close with Bruno, he does know he's the… somewhat anxious type, and he probably shouldn't have said all that right as he was about to head into his first gym. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you nervous, too. If you want to, you should at least head in and get a feel for it. Like I said, Vera just started, and… even though Casey's battle was nerve-wracking to watch, I think there was a lot for me to take away from it. Here, actually—" Jordan moves back towards the door, and beckons. "Do you want to take my time slot?"

"What…? You can do that?" he asks. He doesn't seem too surprised, if anything he looks more concerned than anything else. "But aren't you going to…? Will you skip the gym?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm sure that should be fine - we're both Cape students with official school gear, I don't see why not," Jordan says, feeling a bit lighter already. "You were right, I don't have to do this today. In fact, I think I'm gonna hurl if I make myself go back into the stadium. But it's okay, I just need some more time to think on it. I… I'll be back when I'm ready, but I think this is right for me."

"If you say so." Bruno goes quiet for a second looking at the city from the gym's entrance before adding: "Do I have to register or something? Or maybe we should wait inside in case they call you."

"Let's see if we can find one of the attendants in the lobby, they can probably help us with this," Jordan pushes the door open. He doesn't really want to go back into the stadium area - it's partially because he might hurl, but he also doesn't really want to explain all this to Casey right now. "Oh! She's over there. Come on!"

Bruno hums as an answer and follows Jordan inside the gym to speak to the attendant. He still doesn't seem to be too sure about all of this, but he doesn't complain either.

Pokédex

Pokemon on hand:

Tangela // "Tangles"

Ingrain
Constrict
Absorb
Vine Whip
Sleep Powder
Poison Powder

Pidgey // Hop

Headbutt
Sand Attack
Gust
Mirror Move

Cubone // Spirit

Leer
Growl
Bone Club
Headbutt

Skiddo // Sage

Tackle
Growth
Vine Whip
Play Nice​

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[moon]

Ralph Gonder

Only Truth

Lavender Town
Friday May 24th
Midday, Day 5

No wonder the battle had gone horribly. In the midst of all the upset feelings this morning, Ralph had completely forgotten about breakfast.

Stomach practically screaming, she stepped into the Pokémon Center again with quite little awareness of anything other than the tummy ache. As such, she practically walked into her uncle before she noticed him. For a few awkward moments, none of the two said anything. Then, Ralph's belly decided to break the silence quite aggressively.

Joseph chuckled his chuckle - how had Ralph never noticed how similar he sounded to her dad when he did that? - and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hungry, girl?"

There were about a million things Ralph still wanted to say, or shout, or be really rude about towards him (and her dad for that matter), but the ache was just too strong right now; it took utter priority.

"Very," she said, and even decided to show her resignation with a sigh and slacking shoulders.

"I know a place," her uncle said and ushered her outside. "Bring your pokémon too!"

The place was a ramen bar a few streets away. It wasn't fancy at all, but it was clearly well beloved by the locals, and Ralph could have sworn the man serving them looked at Joseph as if he recognized him well. They ate for a few minutes in silence on one of the benches that made up the 'outdoor seating' of the bar. Ralph took out Sandsy, Coldy, Softy, Edgy and Greeny from their pokéballs and the owner of the bar heartily served them their own helpings in special pokémon bowls.

Ralph felt strange. There wasn't actually rage within her anymore. It was as if she had let it go - partly at least - in the gym battle. She mostly felt really tired now. The lack of good sleep and breakfast had done a number on her, and her body was still quite sore from the cavern trek yesterday as well.

She dared a glance up at Joseph... Her uncle. He didn't look like he was feeling awkward. And he treated her just like he had done before. He noticed her glancing over from across the table, of course. He put down his ramen bowl. Uh-oh, he was gonna talk wasn't he? Ralph kept slurping.

"I can't believe Charles never told you about his family," Joseph started. "Your family."

"I mean, I knew you existed," Ralph mumbled through the ramen.

"Yeah, but he said he never told you anything about what happened. Why he doesn't talk to the others anymore."

Ralph kept slurping and didn't look up.

"Do you really not want to know?"

"Am I really allowed to have lunch with you, uncle Jo-Jo?"

Joseph's expression became slightly shocked, but then soft. "You remember calling me that?"

"I honestly didn't know your real name was Joseph, and you didn't look the same back then," she said, not able to keep an urgent tone out of her voice, and finally putting the bowl down. "Like. What? You were... You were just a kid too..."

"Hah! And I don't recall having a Ralph for a tiny little niece. But here we are."

Ralph shrugged again and turned to pet Greeny who had been eating out of her tiny bowl right next to Ralph on the bench. The rat looked affectionately up at her, and then turned to grin lovingly at Joseph too. Stupid rat. Stupid, cute rat.

"I'm sure you're allowed to have lunch with family members. I just won't be allowed to travel with you like we planned. That's a shame." He genuinely looked sad now, and it tugged at Ralph's heartstrings a bit. She could tell he really meant it when he said it. "I was so excited to be on the road again."

"It's a stupid rule," Ralph scoffed. "Why do they have it?"

"Because otherwise, it can really become an unfair graduation journey. Not everyone has the money to pay for a guide, or has supportive siblings or uncles who can coach them to beat every gym or capture the best pokémon."

He looked at her with a serious stare when he said the last sentence.

"Did... Your family not support you?"

"Oh, they supported me alright! The Accoras are all trainers. All of them having been taught at the fancy Safari Academy. Well, all but two."

"You and dad!" Ralph deduced with almost a gasp, forgetting the tough facade completely now. "Did he go to Cape College? And he never told me?!"

"No, no. See, back then, you were... Five, I believe? Charles - your dad - he had somehow managed to avoid going to trainer school. Our grandpa and mom really pushed for all of us siblings to do it, and they both have rigorous background as trainers themselves. It's in the Acorra blood. Being a pokémon trainer! But your dad, he didn't want it. He made up excuses and, well, I honestly am not even now sure what he said to manage to avoid getting drafted for Safari Academy. It's not like we didn't have the money."

Even Ralph's pokémon had drawn close and started listening intently now; perhaps they sensed how important this seemed to be for their trainer. She was leaning in over the table, clutching it with her hands without noticing. Sandsy was a bit on edge. His trainer was usually very cool, even if she wasn't always calm and collected. But now her aura was quite different.

"And he didn't go to Cape College either. But at this time, mom - your grandma - had really been pushing for your older siblings to get licenses."

"But they've never said they wanted to be trainers either," Ralph said with a puzzled look.

"No. They were of the same mindset as Charles. The trainer life wasn't for them. But your brother was still young and impressionable. And, well... Your grandma..."

Joseph clasped his hands and leaned on the table, brows furrowed. Ralph was at the edge of her seat, Greeny and Softy practically in her lap, Sandsy and Edgy hovering near her and even Coldy peering in from behind her now.

"One day, it was revealed that she had managed to get your brother accepted into Safari Academy, against your parents' wishes," Joseph said with a slow nod. "She had convinced him that he wanted it, although I'm sure he didn't actually. It was a real mess. I didn't hear all of it, of course. Me and your siblings were shoo'd away when they had the big fight."

Ralph nodded very slowly too, trying to take it all in. "So... You're saying that it's grandma's fault?"

"They think it's Charles' fault, for breaking family tradition. Quite dishonorable." He said the last part in mock voice, and Ralph wondered if her great grandpa sounded like that. "Anyways, they managed to explain to the school that it was a mistake, and then you all packed up and left only weeks after."

"But then my siblings always knew. They just never talked about it. At all," Ralph said blankly.

"I bet Charles told them that the Acorras were a taboo topic in the Gonder household," Joseph shrugged.

"But, hang on here," Ralph said and put a finger in the air, thinking hard. "Why did dad let me become a trainer? If he hates it so much?"

"That's not the case at all," Joseph said with a raised eyebrow. "Haven't you been listening?"

"What?"

"He didn't want to be a trainer. Neither did your siblings, really. Others tried to decide for them. But you? You came to him one day and told him that you wanted to be a trainer, didn't you?"

"No... It was my brother's idea."

Joseph raised both eyebrows now. "Oh was it really? That's a bit surprising. But you didn't object?"

"Clearly not," Ralph said, gesturing to the creatures flocking her personal space and gently pushing Softy's big body back down onto the bench.

"Haha, I'm glad! That's why your dad let you. See? You wanted it. He wouldn't let someone else decide for you. He told me he's extremely proud of you."

Ralph felt a strange sting of guilt at that. He was proud? And she wasn't even trying her best... Maybe it showed on her face, because Joseph suddenly looked concerned. She decided to change topic, fast.

"But what about you? What happened with you then?"

He crossed his arms with a smile. "Charles was always my favorite sibling. I thought he was really cool for going his own way, and I had so far made up excuses for not starting Safari Academy yet even though I was already fourteen, because I kind of wanted to be cool like him even if I actually did want to be a trainer. I was devastated when he left the city. I sent him letters, but any replies, I saw our mum throw in the trash. It wasn't nice. But one day, there came a different letter. From a Professor Palm, who had accepted me into Cape College after a thorough meeting with a Charles Gonder." Joseph lit up even more at the memory. "Mum didn't object - it was gonna be hard for me to get into Safari at this age anyways. So there I went, being a trainer up in the north. Finishing the journey faster than anyone else. Made them all real proud. And I kept in contact with your dad every now and then. Without your grandma knowing, of course.

Ralph watched him speak and felt many things at once. Admiration for her dad's strong belief in doing what you felt was right, not what others told you, was one thing. A new, strange anger directed towards the Accoras was another. Not towards Joseph Accora, of course. There was really nothing to hate there, in his whole being.

"Hold up though," she said after another thought struck her and raised a finger again. "You were fourteen when I was five? What? But dad was at least thirty! Or more?"

Joseph let out his chuckle. "Well, there's more things you don't know about the Accoras yet, I guess. More people."

Ralph shook her head and just decided to pat Greeny without asking anything else. This was almost too much to take in already. But still...

"Hey," she said, and Sandsy noticed that her usual Ralph-esque aura was back again. "Thanks for telling me all this. At long last."

"Only the truth is good enough, is what I believe," her uncle replied. "More ramen?"

Just then, someone else slammed his hands down on their table, making everybody present jump.

"Hi Ralph! Hi Sandshrews!" Aberdeen Montany said cheerfully. "Great! I was just going to look for some wild pokémon. Wanna come with?"

He turned to Joseph then as if he just realized the man was there too. "Oh, hi, who are you?"

"I'm kind of in the middle of a conversation, Montany," Ralph sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Go on, you two," Joseph urged though. "I know there are some exciting species around the Power Plant in the west, for example."

"Oh really! What kinds?" Aberdeen asked him, excitedly.

"But..." Ralph looked from one of the guys to the other. She didn't feel finished here yet. Food-wise, she was satisified, but family-wise? There were even more questions to be asked now that she knew more.

Joseph leaned back with a content look though. "I promise to stay in touch. Now, off you go!"

"Don't tell me what to do," Ralph snapped, but there was a glimmer in her eye, and she could tell that he could tell.

She stood up, recalling most of her pokémon entourage to their balls, but then hesitated, despite Montany's excitedness, and turned back to her uncle. "Come with us? Just one more adventure."

"Rules, Ralph," Joseph said, so low that Aberdeen couldn't hear it.

"You can really just be there, no coaching needed, it'll be more like a show, to show you what I've learned," she urged. She really wasn't ready to let go yet. "Don't you want to see me catch a pokémon?"

"Ralph, I've seen you outsmart Lycanrocs, hold your own against cave monsters, brave through hordes of toxic wild pokemon and battle a gym before breakfast. I know your capture will be fantastic."

She slumped, and turned to follow Montany at last, who had already started bounding down the street.

"One more thing," Joseph said and made her glance back over her shoulder at his face - which, now that she really thought about it, wasn't too dissimilar from her dad's after all. "I'm really proud of you, girl."

Greeny

Lv 9 | Sandsy

Lv 19 | Coldy

Lv 15
Edgy

Lv 18 | Softy

Lv 10
Ralph's Profile | Current Chapter

 

[moon]

Ralph Gonder

More Sparks

Lavender Town
Friday May 24th
Midday, Day 5

The power plant towered in the distance.

"It looks so dirty somehow," Montany said unhappily where they were hiding in one of the many shrubberies on the gently rolling hills. "Unnatural."

"Of course it is, it's human made," Ralph retorted.

"But I mean, it makes me feel much worse than the Pokémon Tower, and that place was freaky."

"You've been to the tower? Visited the, uh, Jarmie Katalan?"

"Yeah! This morning! She completely smashed me in a battle. I guess I've been training too many pokémon instead of focusing on making those I've already had strong."

"And now we're catching more pokémon," Ralph said, eyebrows pointedly underlining the statement.

"Gotta do what feels right!" Aberdeen said with his trademark wink.

That was true, of course, Ralph had to agree.

"So what was it like, the tower battle?"

"Told you, she obliterated me! Lavender has a good gym."

"That wasn't the gym though. The gym is down that way." She cocks her head. "And the leader is called Beaumont."

"Really? Two gyms in this small town?"

"One gym and one conservative entitled brat from what I heard," Ralph muttered, thinking back on what Marcus The Oddball had painted up Jarmie to be like.

"That's not the story I was told! See- OH LOOK!"

They both sharpened their eyes forwards and noticed a small yellow and black pokémon quickly making its way across the hill they were hiding next to. Ralph had her pokédex ready to scan.

Elekid.

"Aw, an electric type. I think I probably shouldn't capture any more of those right now. Focus on the Pikachu I have, you know? I wish your dad had told us what kind of pokémon are here."

"He's not my dad!" Ralph grunted, but calmed rapidly. The Elekid looked pretty interesting. And it could evolve several times. "The actual gym uses electric types. I don't have one yet."

"Then you should catch it!" Montany said encouragingly. "Go on, battle it!"

"Don't tell me what do to," Ralph said as she stepped out of the brush, but she didn't really sound annoyed. Her focus was forwards, and she was clutching two pokéballs in her hands.

"Sandsy, go!"

The timing was perfect. Elekid was just about to stroll past them, when Sandsy appeared right in its way. It reacted with a battle stance, electricity crackling between its small horns.

She had battled an electric gym leader and not done too shabbily. This wild little pokémon would be a piece of cake.

"Bring it," Ralph said from the side of the scene. Montany cheered on from the shrubberies.

Spoiler:

Elekid immediately fired off a Thundershock. It merely bounced off Sandsy, who blinked but wasn't hurt at all. Elekid looked surprised.

"Never met a ground type pokémon before?" Ralph smirked. "Sandsy, Swift!"

She assumed the Elekid would be speedy. But the energy bolts of Swift could not be escaped, no matter how fast it could run or jump. Unexpectedly though, the Elekid didn't even try to run. Instead, it fired off its own Swift attack! The energy bolts met in between the pokémon over the battlefield, slightly closer to the Elekid, and most of them collided with small sonic booms that made the grass straws bend and flutter.

"He's quick thinking!" Montany commented behind Ralph.

"Or just lucky," Ralph said. "Sandsy, Magnitude! It can't escape this one."

"Uh, do you really want to be using Magnitude this close to the Power Plant? What if you ruin something!"

"It worked fine inside the gym!"

"Yeah but like... don't you think the gym is meant for that? An electric gym for sure has been built to withstand ground attacks, right?"

Ralph groaned. "Fiiiiine. Sandsy, abort! Instead, use, uh..."

But Elekid took the opportunity to attack when they were distracted. It closed the distance to Sandsy with what must have been Agility or Quick Attack, and tackled him hard. Without giving him the chance to counter-attack, it then delivered a devastating Low Kick that made Sandsy fall over.

"OUCH! Very quck thinking!" Aberdeen commended with an applause.

"Hey, who are you cheering for?" Ralph grunted. "Sandsy, are you okay?"

A quite annoyed Sandshrew jumped back up on his feet, but didn't immediately attack. He was too well trained (or not trained enough) to act on his own in a controlled fight. Elekid took that opportunity to come in for another Low Kick. But Ralph could think quickly too.

"Rapid Spin!"

Sandsy listened and reacted in time, and the Low Kick was repelled and Elekid pushed back by the spinning impact.

"Keep spinning, tackle it!"

Sandsy kept the momentum up and chased after the Elekid. Unfortunately, it seemed to use Quick Attack again to escape the initial assualt, then changed direction and came back around. Elekid's tackle and Sandsy's Rapid Spin collided with strong force, and both battlers were pushed back. Ralph could tell the impact had done a number on Sandsy.

"Let's try something else. Rock Slide!"

Sandsy still had some fight in him. He got up and materialized huge chunks of rocks. The boulders flew towards the Elekid, but the wild pokémon once again used its speed to avoid most of them, and when one boulder got too close, a Low Kick made short work of it.

"How can a wild pokémon be this good?" Montany exclaimed.

But Ralph was smiling. "It probably loves battling and has trained a lot on its own. But now it will train with me. Sandsy, Sand Attack!"

The scoop of dust hit Elekid right in the face after it dodged the last boulder, and it took it by surprise and made it stumble backwards. No longer so fast.

"Fury Cutter!" Ralph called out.

Sandsy closed the last distance and dished out cut after cut with his claws, faster and stronger for each slash. Without much direction and maybe panicking now, Elekid resorted to using a Thundershock as defense. It crackled and made Sandsy back off, but didn't hurt him. The Elekid was strong and quick, but not always focused. She could work with that.

"Sand attack again!" Ralph said, when she noticed the Elekid had stopped blinking as much.

A new scoop of dust wasn't dodged either, and Elekid was thrown off its game once again.

"Use Rapid Spin to bounce up high!"

Sandsy, as usual, followed Ralph's commands even without knowing the full plan. He started spinning and used that to propel himself up high above his opponent. Elekid stumbled but tried to get away with Quick Attack.

"Swift! Keep it in place!"

Sandsy fired off the energy bolts in Elekid's path, hitting it and stopping it dead in the spot. The force of the fired up energy launch combined with the spin also kept Sandsy afloat just for a little while longer.

"Now, Rock Slide from above! Bury it!"

The boulders materialized anew and rained down on the electric pokémon from above, effectively caging it in. A crackling was heard from beneath the pile, but then only silence.

"Wow, Ralph! What was that?" Montany said, walking up to her exictedly.

"Something I saw a pokémon do in the wild," she mused proudly and walked up to Sandsy to give him a pat on the head. "Well, that pokémon in particular isn't wild anymore." It was being trained by her uncle.

"Did you use such strategy in the gym too? I gotta try stuff like that. Combining moves to make new effects. I wonder what Grimer and Pikachu could do together... Electrified goo?"

Ralph approached the pile of shimmering boulders and mentally blamed herself once again for having rushed off in anger to the gym without a plan. Maybe she could have won if she had been thinking more clearly. Ramen and an honest family sure helped with that.

"Are you alright under there?" she asked the rock pile.

A growl came back at her, but it turned into a whining noise after a little while.

"I'll let you out on one condition. Let me capture you! I'll train you to not be confused and lost when somebody throws sand in your face. You've got a lot of cool skills. I think we'll work well together," she told the wild pokémon, almost nonchalantly.

Silence met her, but she wasn't patient enough to wait for longer. Sandsy helped her get the rocks away, and Elekid emerged. Tattered and weak, but not entirely fallen yet. It sure had fight in it.

It didn't flee however. Instead, it limped over to Sandsy and reached out its hand. Sandsy looked surprised, but happily took it. A crackling sound was heard as a spark was let loose from Elekid's fingers. Sandsy jumped in fright, and Ralph instinctively entered a fighting stance. But Elekid just giggled. It was just joking. Sandsy was skeptical, but seemed to forgive it, as it turned to Ralph and nodded.

"That is so cute! It agrees!" Montany said in awe.

Ralph grinned and finally raised the hand that was holding the second pokéball. It captured Elekid without any fuss.

Greeny

Lv 9 | Sandsy

Lv 19 | Coldy

Lv 15
Edgy

Lv 18 | Softy

Lv 10
Ralph's Profile | Current Chapter

 

[moon]

Ralph Gonder

Companions

Lavender Town
Friday May 24th
Afternoon, Day 5

Aberdeen didn't capture any new pokémon this time. The two trainers spotted several more electric types living in the hills though, and at some point they wandered so close to the Power Plant that some guards spotted them and started moving towards them with a Houndour and Manectric menacingly growling. Ralph and Aberdeen rather quickly removed themselves from the area.

Eventually, they were back at the pokémon center, healing Elekid and Sandsy up. Ralph had taken out Greeny for some company while they waited, and she seemed to enjoy playing with Aberdeen's Pikachu. Ralph tried to focus on watching the pokémon, and not glance around for her uncle every minute. He maybe wasn't even around anymore. Maybe he had gone back to Cerulean already. By flight, perhaps - Marcus and his Dragonair flashed in her mind. Or perhaps he had started traveling to Fuchsia even…

"Hey, Ralph?" Aberdeen snapped her back to reality. "How strong is your Rattata?"

"Uh."

She thought about it as she watched the rat and the mouse chat happily. She wasn't the one to rely on the pokédex' measured energy levels much. Instead, she typically just looked at the pokémon of others and made her own instinctive estimation of their power level. As for her own, she usually had a pretty good idea of where they were in relation to each other and others since she knew them well. Greeny? She was a natural talented fighter - she had shown that ever since they first met and battled Lycanroc, and then Coldy. But she hadn't really shown much interest in battling unless she had to. And although she was probably crafty and independent, she certainly wasn't as high in pure power level as Sandsy, Coldy or Edgy. Ralph hadn't trained her much at all, she realized slightly embarrassedly.

"Not very strong, I guess. But she can hold her own when she needs to!"

"When she becomes a Raticate she will be pretty strong, I think!"

"Oh, right. Yeah." When would that happen? She'd have to grow a lot for that, probably.

"Or maybe she will stay a Rattata. Some pokémon don't want to evolve. I'm not sure my Onix should, haha. Imagine that temper with a Steelix... And Pikachu might be happy as he is."

Ralph furrowed her brows. "But she won't become as strong if she's just a Rattata, right?"

"Well, you clearly keep catching many pokémon too," Aberdeen said with a shrug. "Maybe you don't have to battle with all of them? Some do keep pokémon as pets, you know."

Ralph blinked at him. "Not trainers though."

"Sure they do! Haven't you seen some of the high profile trainers in the tournaments, with small unevolved pokémon sitting on their shoulders or being carried in their arms before and after they start the battles? They're like mascots! Pets. I wonder if my Grimer could be my pet... Nah, she'd want to become a huge Muk and keep slamming everybody, honestly. I couldn't take away battling from her!"

Ralph leaned forward, studying Greeny more closely. The pokémon noticed, and left the Pikachu to tip-tap up to her trainer happily. The rat was a bit of an oddball. Joseph had seen her pack in the wild, and told Ralph that Greeny had never really fit in. Maybe it was just her peculiar eye color, but it could also have been her personality. She was very kind and generous, and even intelligent, but a bit oblivious and foolhardy too. Not like Edgy, who definitely was foolhardy, but also quite aware.

Perhaps a battling life wasn't what Greeny needed? She would make for a fantastic mascot though. Adorable, and matching Ralph's hair and eye colors perfectly. They were meant to be, honestly.

She picked her rat up with a smirk. "I'll think about it. Thanks for the idea, dork."

Aberdeen first looked a bit taken aback by being called dork, but then just laughed.

"Where did you even find an Onix anyways?"

"In Rock Tunnel, of course! You should have seen Arianne's face when she met it for the first time! Well, I didn't see if fully because me and Wartortle were deep in the underground lake at the time but-"

"Youuu hung out with Ari in the tunnel?" Ralph asked, very bad at hiding her sudden tension. "And Eric evolved?"

Aberdeen nodded and stared into the distance as if he was mentally reliving the memory of whatever adventure they had had. "Yeah, man, it was intense. Cave monsters! Sunken ancient treasure! Several Onix! This dude Niels had one too-"

"You met Niels too?"

"You met Niels too?"

They stared at each other for a second, before Aberdeen burst into laughter agian. "Wish you could have been there! It'd have helped against all those wild pokémon."

"Mhm," Ralph muttered, folding her arms without thinking about it.

"What, jealous? Did you have a boring tunnel trip?" Aberdeen said with a wink.

Ralph just rolled her eyes. "So how was Ari doing? Did she get here okay, or...?"

"Haven't you talked to her since? She's here too now, yeah. In Lavender. You got her number in Cerulean, I thought?"

Ralph shrugged and retreated further into the cushions of the couch where they both were sitting.

Aberdeen suddenly seemed flustered. "Ooookay, I don't know what this is about but sorry that I asked. She, uh, seemed happy! She didn't mention you."

"She wouldn't," Ralph grunted.

"Why not?"

"Weren't you sorry you asked?"

The boy blushed now and looked away before he stood up. "Um. Whatever. Sorry. I'll go check if the pokémon are healthy now."

Ralph immediately felt like the biggest jerk in the universe. Aberdeen was literally always a package of positivity, and she was just being mean. In school, she literally wouldn't have paid any attention to Montany or cared about how he felt. But now? She was alone on the journey, except for the people she survived adventures with. Aberdeen had been one of them. She forced herself to dump her negativity in the tunnels of Rock, all in one microsecond.

"Wait, sorry. Fuck. Sorry."

"Whoa, language, Ralph!" Aberdeen said, but he seemed to feel more at ease already.

Ralph sighed very loudly and demonstratively. "I was a dick to Ari too, and then just left her without saying anything. She probably hates me."

Aberdeen leaned his head to the side, as if thinking hard. "I doubt it. She hated being in the tunnels, but I don't think she was, like... Upset. Maybe you should just talk to her? Say you're sorry?"

Now it was Ralph's turn to blush. "Just like that?" she spat.

The boy shrugged. "Why not?"

As he went up to the pokémon center counter, Ralph pulled out her pokégear and stared at Ari's contact. But she put it away again when Aberdeen waved her to come. She couldn't really bring herself to call or text Ari. It felt silly. Cringy.

But she had survived and dealt with Rock Tunnel, family drama, and lost a gym battle without losing her soul. Facing Ari was probably the next thing she needed to sort out. At some point.

Greeny

Lv 9 | Sandsy

Lv 21 | Coldy

Lv 15
Edgy

Lv 18 | Softy

Lv 10 | Jolty

Lv 14
Ralph's Profile | Current Chapter | css base by Aquacorde

 

[moon]

B R I G H T EVENING

The afternoon in Lavender Town is getting late, and it is a very special day. Jarmie Katalan, the town's sour sweetheart and Warden of the Tower is turning twenty years old today! In the square in front of the Pokémon Center at the very center of the town, the stands and decorations have now finished setting up. There is food for sale, food for free, games, rice lamps, puppet shows, dancers, even a fire eater! Not just locals are here; people from all over Kanto who admire the Warden (or sympathize with her cause) have come here to pay respects and celebrate.

Jarmie herself is nowhere to be seen yet. Perhaps she prefers to not get all attention on herself sooner than she really has to. Was this party even her idea? Of course not. Lucretia Torres, however, loves this. She's floating around the market square and adjacent streets now and ensuring that everything is looking absolutely perfect. Opposite of the Pokémon Center, a big stage has been raised. Certain performances have been scheduled, such as a pokémon street dancing troupe, a short ballet about the Pokémon Tower and also some singing performances throughout the evening, by pokémon and humans alike. And of course, spontaneous admissions from the locals have also been scheduled. Lucretia will be hosting the whole thing. All eyes will be on her for a moment, not just on Jarmie. She can't wait!

There is someone else who is already at the scene though. The eyes of Mav Musashi are following this person as they move to seemingly appreciate the grandeur of the raised stage. Mav's crossed arms tighten and he leanes if possibly even harder against the wall of the Pokémon Center.

"Tayloz," he mutters under his breath. "Some guts to show up here tonight."

Beaumont Tayloz is optimistic. Of course he will appear at these festivities to congratulate the Warden! As the gym leader of the city, it would be almost offensive not to. His eyes scan the square, where people are starting to arrive, and he spots several of the Warden's notable followers there. They aren't exactly unknown. He has urged his own gym workers to come here tonight too, and to be on their best behavior. They all just want what's best for Lavender in the end. Even his father and the Tomorrow Foundation do. Surely.

His thoughts flicker briefly to the Power Plant, where not even he is let in... But he shakes the thoughts off. Today is a happy day! He will be a happy gym leader. He puts his biggest smile on, and goes to buy a caramellized apple.

OOC note: I (the GM) will be playing Beaumont and Jarmie for this evening, so let me know if you wish to interact with them! If you wish to use Mav or Lucretia (or any one else's side char), talk to Lina or Loomie (or the other char owners) respectively.

The chapter event description repeated:

There will be several annoying (possibly drunk) people trying to start trouble throughout the evening! You can help the police and trainers from either or both of the gyms to calm things down and apprehend the troublemakers! Trouble can mean trying to cause accidents on purpose, picking fights verbally or physically etc.

- Reward? A good time + extra recommendation from the Gym Leader and/or the Warden towards Palm in your favor.

- Alternative? You can try to avoid the party alltogether, or refuse to help out with the troublemakers. Nobody will really think less of you for it.

 

[Eleanor]

More than words
🍀🍀🍀
Arianne and Ralph - written with Adventure
Lavender Town - Day 5 - May 24^th

​

---

♫ - Linkin Park - Talking To Myself
Arianne ran out of the Pokémon Center by herself, completely abandoning her plans to call someone to hang out with once she realized for how long she had actually been sleeping. What she saw as the sliding door closed behind her only reinforced these thoughts: the whole plaza in front of the Center was full with stalls, decorations, and happy people. All things that weren't there before, and that Jarmie merely hinted at just a few hours before.

After her battle in the tower, Arianne had promised to at least show up at this event, and meet Jarmie and Lucretia again. So, without wasting any more time, she joined the crowd and started looking at the various stalls, keeping an eye out in case someone she knew happened to pass by.

At the edge of the market square, not yet seen by Arianne, this someone happened to be. Having parted ways with Aberdeen once more, Ralph was now skeptically wandering among the stalls, taking note of any Cape trainers she recognized, and young trainers she didn't recognize. She wondered why so many young trainers had come here to celebrate the birthday of this Jarmie person. They didn't seem to be older than Ralph. Had they really graduated from a trainer school already? Then again… Ralph never did pay good attention to her classmates; she had kept falling behind in years and hardly any of them had been her 'friends' in the end. She probably couldn't point many out. She hadn't even known Ari or Deen before their journey.

Before she spun back too deeply into self-critical thoughts, a loud argument right next to her caught her attention. An upset guy almost slammed her in the face with his arm as he was gesturing, making angry faces at a young woman not even a meter away, who didn't look much happier herself. Ralph was gonna open her mouth to rudely tell the dude to 'watch it', but her ears and brain registered enough of their conversation to stop her and make her listen in instead.

"Your work is destroying the town, Antonio. It's pure betrayal, really."

"My work is betrayal? You're undermining our official status as Lavender's gym, Lucretia! You're splintering the town, if anything!"

The Lucretia woman's eyes narrowed and she stepped very close to the Antonio man. "Dear cousin, understand one thing. Tayloz doesn't even belong here," she said. "He's fake."

"Beaumont is the best gym leader this town could have! Our gym is fantastic!"

"Jarmie calls it a piece of plastic garbage."

"It's actually pretty cool," Ralph said, finally stepping in front of Antonio, arms crossed and a tough look aimed at Lucretia. "Have you even been there?"

Lucretia quickly eyed the Cape trainer up and down, and then smiled slightly. "You must be a traveling trainer student! You should come visit the Pokémon Tower! Jarmie's real gym is nothing like that electric prick's-"

"He wasn't a prick, actually," Ralph interrupted her. "Well, okay, maybe a little bit. But he knows what he's doing."

"That's what I'm saying!" Antonio said, invigorated by this back-up.

"From what I heard," Ralph continued with attitude, "this Jarmie kid showed up and thought herself so important that she could-"

"Listen here, little trainer," Lucretia said, now stepping up into Ralph's face instead. "Jarmie is the granddaughter of the last Warden. Jarmie is now the Warden of Lavender Town."

"Of the Tower!" Antonio piped in. "That doesn't mean-"

"It is her rightful place to be the gym leader. And no rich boy paying his way to the top is going to change that!"

"He didn't pay his way! You people are practically criminals!" Antonio now shouted and almost flew at his cousin. His words practically echoed all over the festival square.

At first willing to dismiss all the shouting she was hearing as nothing important, Arianne decided to walk closer when she recognized a familiar voice. It can't be…

"Lucretia? And…" Yeah, Ralph. Why were they arguing like that, but most importantly why did she have to come across the both of them in such a weird situation? "Stop already! What's happening here?" By then she was right in front of the other three.

Ralph's arms fell when she realized who had appeared. Ari! For a moment, she forgot what she had just been doing.

"Oh, it's just the Tower lunatics spreading propaganda again, nothing unusual," Antonio said confidently, although it did kind of look like he was using Ralph as a shield.

"Well, I think they've got some good reasons to do that," Arianne pointed out, as she took Lucretia's side. Luckily it wasn't Mav, that would've been a much more complicated situation.

Ralph started feeling quite uneasy. Ari sided with the 'Tower lunatics'?

"I battled him earlier today," she said, but the usual power behind her words wasn't quite there. "He's the real deal..."

She weighed her next words carefully though. She didn't want to argue with Ari on the opposite side. She didn't actually care that much about the gym squabble. Aberdeen's advice rang in her head. And what Ari had said several days ago came back to her as well.

I try to be myself every time, and be honest about the way I feel. So please, if something's bothering you, let me know! We can figure out a solution without losing trust of each other!

"So. Maybe no one is actually being fake. Maybe Beaumont and this Warden are both true to themselves, and... And maybe they just haven't been honest about the way they feel. To each other. Because then, if something's bothering them, they can figure out a solution without losing trust of each other."

"Trust? What trust?" Antonio grunted.

"Hm, that's kind of interesting," Lucretia mused, and looked closely at Ralph again, who had been looking at Arianne this whole time instead of at any of the two Lavender residents. "I... Am not sure the two have actually talked in private, ever, now that I think about it."

"Well then. Maybe they need to swallow their damn pride and do that," Ralph said, clearing her throat.

But she was still just looking at Arianne. She wasn't going to back down now - she needed Ari to take the hint that she was ready to apologize now. She just hoped Ari would accept it.

Those green eyes set on her, those words too… Arianne only thought she would have been happy to see Ralph. She really did! Coralie was so convincing, after all. "Merely talking won't cut it at this point…" She sighed.

She also truly stood by her words, this time, and she had very good reasons to. "They're just gonna end up arguing, just like you two!"

"Well, then maybe neither of them deserve to be gym leaders," Ralph scoffed.

Both Antonio and Lucretia gave her dramatic looks at that, but the purple haired girl just shrugged. "Ari, can we go somewhere and talk?"

Ralph sure had some hope left in her. So, as difficult as it was to accept her suggestion, she had to comply. It was probably her last chance to make it up to her.

Arianne shuddered as she weighed her words, trying to think of what to say, before a single faint word escaped her mouth. "A-alright."

The two left the cousins and walked side by side into a side street. There were market stalls here too, selling sweet smelling goodies and brightly colored toys.

"I'm sorry," Ralph began, now staring at her own feet and clasping her elbows. She decided to just let it all out, even if it would be a jumbled mess. "I should have been honest about wanting that Bagon from the start. And when you caught it, I shouldn't have been such a dick and mope about it. And then I shouldn't have just left without saying anything when we saw those classmates. Whatever. No, I mean, it's not whatever. I mean that I'm really sorry and I've been thinking a lot, and I don't want to be that kind of friend- I mean person. I don't want to be that kind of person who is a dick like that and doesn't let others have nice things."

She shrugged and realized that she wasn't entirely sure where she was going with this. She sighed, and felt really stupid for appearing so weak and not even daring to look up at Arianne yet, but she was going to force herself through this.

"What I mean is, I'm not a nice person, and I haven't really cared about that before, but now I think I do care and want to be, well, not as not nice. So please forgive me. For being not nice."

"No no no… Ralph, listen, it's really me who should've been honest. It's all my fault." Arianne's voice crackled as if she was about to cry. "I should've just told you all the things I felt back then. But I was too concerned with what you would think of me."

She reached for one of the Pokéballs in her backpack. "I wanted this, I really wanted this… But I also wanted you, no matter your feelings. I'm sorry, Ralph, please forgive my selfishness."

Those words came out way more spontaneously than expected. It's as if Arianne knew just what to say the whole time, but… she didn't try that in front of a mirror or anything. She was still baffled at herself, if anything, for how well that first take seemed to have been going.

Ralph finally looked up at her and saw that Ari was just as much as a mess as herself. And suddenly it all felt stupid. She couldn't stop a laugh from escaping her. Probably stemming more from nervosity than actual joy. Quickly, to not confuse Ari, she spoke again.

"Girl, I know you wanted that dragon, and I'm happy you caught it, and it's whatever now! We're such dorks." She took some deep breaths to calm down, still with a smile. "Thanks though. For not, you know, hating me."

"Of course…" Arianne took some heavy breaths. "And thank you for everything, really… You didn't deserve all the things I got you into." She hugged her friend tightly. Yes, now Ralph really felt like an actual friend.

Ralph hugged back, and it finally felt like the last of the tension of the past few days simmered away. Finally.

"So what was that I heard about sunken treasure and cave monsters, from Montany?" she abruptly said to change the topic, and broke free with a curious face.

"Well… I met him inside Rock Tunnel and had a really crazy adventure…"

The two girls slowly strolled together back towards the main square as they began recounting their respective adventures over the past days for each other.

---

Arianne's team:

Eric •

Mulan •

Alice •

Mizar •

Lulu

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Richard Wolstenholme​

Lavender Town, May 24^th, Afternoon

​

Chapter 5 - 5
Battle at the Haunted Tower - Finale​

"Well, it's now one on one, your luck has ran out and I don't have any intent to let you win. Smog won't work to deal damage this time, but I still have a ton of arsenal that's super-effective against your Bronzor."

Richard only put up a serious face as Jarmie declared her confidence.

"Fire Spin!"

"Confusion, rubble shield now!"

The spiral of flames coming out from the Lamp Pokemon failed to make contact as it was immediately intercepted by the debris surrounding the battlefield. The debris itself consolidated in front of the Iron Mirror Pokemon who used its psychic power to manipulate its surrounding to its advantage.

"Smart, but let's see how long you can withstand this, Smog!"

Richard gazed in horror as he finally realized how bad the air condition had become. The dark purple smoke already spread towards outside of the battlefield, worsening the sight and breathing condition of everyone inside, even Laura who stood far away from the center of the conflict was not safe from the poisonous gas.

But even with the horrible condition, Richard saw Jarmie's determination painted ever strongly on her face. He deduced that whatever it is between her and Laura, it's also the reason why she dares to bet her own safety as long as she wins. Even so, he wouldn't surrender nor pull his punches as doing so is a huge disrespect to both Eileen and Victor's who tried their best to deliver their trainer a worthy victory.

Argh... I need to finish this as fast as I can. Richard covered his mouth and nose as much as he could with his left arm.

"Confusion!"

Victor emits another psychic energy around it to clear the fog and repel whatever Lampent tries to throw against it, but to its surprise the poisonous fog around it disappears without any signs of Lampent.

"Will-o-Wisp!"

"Confusion!"

Another makeshift wall made of stone and whatever rubble available was erected once more, this time Victor treads more carefully as it creates a wall around it. It was almost a surefire defense mechanism… Almost...

"Got you!"

Instead of appearing behind the Iron Mirror Pokemon like before, Lampent emerged above Victor leading the Iron Mirror Pokemon to be trapped inside it's own defense, leading it to be easily doused by the blue flames turning its body bright red in the process.

"Smog!"

"Jarmie! It's enough!" Laura screamed from the control panel.

"Shut up!" *Cough!* *Cough!*

"Urgh… The air…" Richard wheezed as he tried his best to not choke on the fumes.

The smoke was already too dense for the health of the participants, not even Jarmie's Lampent was free from the gruelling effect it inflicted.

Thankfully Laura already started to run towards the door, realizing it's the right time to intervene as both Jarmie and Richard's safety in stake she opened the entrance door as wide as possible, causing the Smog to disperse slowly and returning the visibility of both Pokemon and their trainers.

Jarmie gathered her breath as much as she could before ordering her Lampent to strike once more. "Ember!"

"Confusion!"

Trying their best to ignore the effect of the Smog that was already affecting them, both Jarmie and Richard continued the battle with all their remaining concentration. Not willing to give up the victory for their own reasons.

Victor and Lampent both valiantly fought against one another even if both of them already suffered from status conditions, both of them traded several attacks without backing down at all.

"I have enough of this, time to end this! Minimize!"

"Confusion!"

Victor released a powerful blast of psychic energy much to the Lampent's shock. The Lamp Pokemon was already used to the debris usage that it didn't expect a psychic energy blast. The blast caused him to be staggered, opening it to another attack opportunity.

"Hypnosis!"

Victor's eyes turned bright blue as a wave of energy with the same colour bursted out from his eyes, putting its opponent into a deep slumber.

"Lampent, wake up!"

"Payback!"

Unable to respond to it's trainer's call, the Lamp Pokemon was on the receiving end of a harsh strike from the Bronzor launching it to the wall which cracked upon impact.

"Again, Pay—"

Just as Richard was about to wrap the battle, the Iron Mirror Pokemon eventually fell. Unable to soldier on due to the damage it sustained. All while the Lamp Pokemon, slowly but surely levitated out from the corner.

The battle was a victory for Jarmie, but instead of a celebration there was only dead silence between both participants. Jarmie hung her head down due to how she won while Richard was unable to find the right words to say.

He knew it was wrong for her to endanger both of them, but… For someone who didn't know anything about what happened between Jarmie and Laura, he didn't think that it should be him who should speak to Jarmie regarding this. And just as he was about to turn his head to call Laura.

"What hell are you thinking huh!? You're trying to get the three of us killed!?" Laura shouted as she pinched Jarmie's right ear, twisting it as hard as she could.

"Ouch! Stop it!"

"I will when you stop endangering yourself trying to impress me! I-I… Why!? Why do you have to…" Laura struggled to talk as tears started to flow from her face.

"Laura, I—"

Richard stood while lowering his head, he was not sure what to say to help Laura who was hugged by Jarmie to pacify her cry. He didn't know anything about her problem to say something constructive, yet at the same time he didn't feel like it's the right thing to just leave them alone like that.

"If I may… I know I'm probably overstepping my boundaries here, I don't even know why you guys are like this... But, I think you guys should… Talk it out, it's just that I... Don't want you guys to regret it if you don't… Uh, you know… Talk... Because I've been there before and yeah, it's I… Yeah, well… You get the point." Richard rubbed his head as he looked away to hide his awkwardness.

"Pfft… You're a really kind person aren't you, Richard?" Laura giggled happily as she wiped her tears from her face.

After a bit of conversation, Richard decided to leave Jarmie and Laura alone to sort out their issue with each other. Even if he wasn't sure that the dialogue would result in a proper conclusion, he was content enough that both of them have good intentions, even if they couldn't express them properly.

Just as the young man was about to leave the two girls behind, he turned his back to see the two of them bicker once more causing an old memory to resurface...

"We'll be friends forever, won't we?"

Richard closed his eyes as he remembered the words that once gave him comfort, he walked as fast as he could without arousing suspicion towards the exit door to avoid Laura and Jarmie from realizing the tears that were slowly rolling down his face.

I guess no matter how much you try… Trying to escape your own past is futile indeed...
​

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​

​

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Richard Wolstenholme​

Lavender Town, May 24^th, Afternoon

​

Chapter 5 - 6
A Start of an Unexpected Adventure?
Ft. Courtney Nair and Sarah Sherwood​

"Come on Sarah! We can't pass this up. That Rotom is ours!"

An unassuming brunette girl took another bite of her dessert. "I don't buy it. It's not worth it to break rules like that…"

"That's the second time you tell me no, I expected better of you!" the redhead in front of her complained.

"So what, I have my reasons. I don't do it to be mean and you know that, Courtney."

"And I have my reasons to go anyways! But still… just a little help, how hard can it be?"

Most people had already got their lunch and left the restaurant, but among those who were still there, these two girls were definitely the loudest. Luckily, they were sitting at a small table near the corner of the room, away from the other trainers.

Darn, this is awkward… I should focus on my lunch, but yet... Richard tried his best to avoid their suspicion that he eavesdropped on them, to help support his ruse he aimlessly tinkered with his phone app while his ears were fully focused on skimming important information he could scavenge.

He wasn't too keen on the idea of listening through someone else's conversation that didn't involve him especially since the reason he came to the restaurant was purely because he needed some food, but rumors regarding an elusive Pokemon like Rotom? It wasn't something he could pass up that easily. He had no intention to catch the Rotom, but he wasn't going to let the chance to see one slip by.

Actually eavesdropping from Courtney wasn't even that fruitful, the boy had to go through many complaints before getting much information. Not like she seemed to care at first: she was just too busy trying to get Sarah on board.

It was only when she started to lose hope on her friend actually tagging along that she decided to look around the room… and was given an opportunity to get someone else - anyone, really - involved. That's all that mattered to her in the end.

"You there!" Courtney got up from her seat and walked towards Richard. "You heard it all didn't you? Do you know what that means?"

In the meantime, Sarah facepalmed, but went unnoticed by both.

"Uh, excuse me?" Richard was utterly confused, this time he wasn't even playing dumb at all.

"Oh please, don't act so innocent! Since you overheard me, now you're in the mission! You're coming with me tonight!" Courtney proclaimed, winking at Richard.

Richard tilted his head, confused with Courtney's logic. "Okay… I'll admit that I'm actually eavesdropping to your conversation, but um... I don't think it's a good idea to invite me."

"Hahaha, so I was right!" Courtney laughed, victorious. "Now, if you've eavesdropped you've also heard that I need some help, right? Sigh…" she paused. "How dare you not to help a girl in need!"

Sarah, in the meantime, was herself trying to eavesdrop her friend from her seat, hoping that she'd just come back and stop bothering strangers. But… she already knew, that was not a very Courtney thing to do.

"I... Hate to rain on your parade, but I think you skipped through so many steps… You would like to invite me, a complete stranger who you don't even know his name and you know purposefully eavesdropped on your conversation to hunt a rare Pokemon you aim to find? I'm sorry Miss, I really am, but even if you invite me, I would just be an excess baggage. You should invite a much more trustworthy and competent trainer instead of me."

"Excuses, excuses! Trust me, the more we are the better. Now would you just come to our table so we can plan out our adventure…?" Courtney almost interrupted Richard, still a smug expression on her face.

"Oh my, look at the time! Haha… I didn't realize it took this long for me to eat my lunch." Richard nervously glanced towards his phone, faking an urgency to get the hell out of the restaurant as quickly as possible. "I'm really sorry, I really do… but I have to go now. I wish the best of luck for both of you on your search for Rotom, thank you for the conversation, bye!" Richard stood up from his seat before he courteously bowed, he then tried his best to escape the restaurant, but alas…

"Both of you? But she's not even coming! Do you understand the problem now? I'm not gonna get another chance!" Courtney complained, fake tears on her face. "And if you think you're not that good, why not prove it with a battle? You do seem strong after all!"

The red haired girl then smiled slightly: she had just come up with the best idea of the day. "Let's say… if you win, it means you have all it takes to be the prince for this damsel in distress. And if you lose, you owe me, so you'll have to tag along!" Courtney whispered in Richard's ear, after grabbing him by the hand.

Oh no… She's not going to give up isn't she. Do I even have the heart to leave a girl alone in a cemetery? I'm not sure… Exploring the graveyard at night doesn't sound like a good idea, but… Argh… Oh well, Might as well get this over with. Richard tried his best to find the best answer as possible, after he was roped into signing the petition that the Pokemon Tower followers made, another chance of trouble was not something he was very eager to look after.

"...I don't have any say on this, do I? Fine, let's battle… I guess… But umm… On one condition."

"What on Earth are you doing Courtney!?" Sarah quickly appeared behind her friend. "What did this boy even do to you! You're really outdoing yourself… Come back to our table right now!" She pulled the red haired girl away from Richard, gesturing at the ice cream that she left melting unattended. Of course, Courtney pulled Richard along as well, creating some sort of human chain. "I'm not letting him go now!" She cried out in defiance.

"What's this condition? It better be something I can get behind." Courtney turned to the boy.

"Whether I win or lose, I'm leading the way. Deal?" Richard put out his hand for a handshake.

"It's already too late uh? Whoever you are, are you sure about this? I'm Sarah by the way, nice to meet you!" The brunette introduced herself.

"You seem quite confident, boy… Deal I guess. I'll do my best!" Courtney smirked in the meantime, with an expression that really just said otherwise.

"Uh… Well, honestly I'm not, but I think your friend had made up her mind. I'm Richard, nice to meet you too!"

"Oh but you don't have to do her bidding, you need to stand up to her!" Sarah explained. "I suppose you're from Cape, right Richard?"

In the meantime Courtney just stood there, eyeing Sarah carefully. "Just what are you trying to do?"

"The right thing!" the brunette hastily answered, grinning happily, much to the dismay of her friend.

"You're not mistaken, Sarah. And judging by the way you mentioned Cape… I presume you both came from Safari, am I right? Also, I think even if I refuse, your friend would just storm the cemetery alone and… I… I just can't leave her like that. Although, I really appreciate your concern, I really do… But I guess it's inevitable at this point." Richard smiled towards Sarah as he tried his best to convince Sarah that he was fine with it, even if he actually had a lot of problems with Courtney's plan.

"Yes we did study and there!" Courtney explained. "Alongside some other people who wanna find this Rotom but don't deserve it."

"Is that how it is, Richard? Then…" Sarah paused and thought about what to do for a while, without paying attention to her friend's words. "I might as well come along then and help you two out."

"Oh really? Richard, what did you do to her?" Courtney asked, baffled.

"I really appreciate it, Sarah. Should we battle now, then? I have something to do, remember?" Richard reused his excuse from before to hasten up the battle, the quicker it ended the better it'll be for both him and Sarah.

"Oho! Sure, we can do a one-on-one! But to make it more spicy… if you lose, you'll have to get another trainer to come with the three of us! Let's go-"

Sarah interrupted Courtney, who was definitely excited out of her mind because of how well things were turning out for her. "First of all, your molten ice cream is waiting for you. Second, we need to pay. And third, don't you think you've asked enough favors to a stranger today?"

"You can be so annoying at times! How many times have I told you this Rotom-searching adventure is so important?" she answered, unamused, but eventually complied and sat back down at her table. She finished her dessert as Sarah, once she grabbed her stuff and pulled out her Trainer card, started talking in Richard's ear.

"Don't know if you've noticed but, we're all very scared of that graveyard and Courtney is first in line. Usually she'd go alone - I didn't think she'd go as far as to bother you but the fact she did means she's really scared. And that got me wary as well. But… I guess if we find more people, we can make it through, while also keeping her in check. Sorry she dragged you into this but…" the brunette explained, trying her best to go unnoticed by Courtney, "but hopefully we can turn this into a win-win situation!"

"I certainly hope so, thanks for sticking up with us. Otherwise… Well I don't want to think what will happen otherwise." Whispered Richard while eyeing Courtney who was still busy with her dessert.

"Hey, what are you talking about you two?" Courtney remarked, as she eventually finished her ice cream. "I trust in you, but this doesn't help!"

"Nothing important, really. So, shall we fight? Or… Maybe you have second thoughts?" Richard skillfully changed the conversation topic to avoid suspicion.

"Of course I wanna fight! Right now, on the battlefield outside… once we pay I guess. After what happened last night, I'm so eager to win again!" Courtney cheered as she walked towards the counter, followed in tow by Sarah. "Haha! You'll get used to her if you stick to it!" she commented as she turned to Richard, getting a pout from her friend.

"Haha, this might not be as bad as I thought." Richard giggled, as he followed both of them to the counter to pay for his own meal.
​

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​

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[Eleanor]

What did I say?
🍀🍀🍀
Richard, Courtney, Sarah
Lavender Town - Day 5 - May 24^th

​

---

♫ - Paramore - Misery Business
Now on the battleground outside, Sarah stood in between the two opponents. The scenery was a lot different than the night before, with many trainers passing by, bright flowers and greenery, but also some party flags and stands thrown in!
"Alright, since this will be a one versus one, you should throw out your Pokémon at the same time… or go for a rock paper scissors game if you feel lucky! What do you prefer?"

"I'll win no matter what!" Courtney chuckled. "So that boils it down to you, boy!"

"Let's just do it at the same time, I'm not going to change my pick anyway."

"You're still confident I see! Well then…" Courtney grinned. "Sarah?"

"Yessir! So, both of you pick up your Pokéballs and move to your sides. And now 3… 2… 1…"

"Here goes nothing… Go, Victor!" Richard decided to go with the Mirror Pokemon to boost it's spirits after the last defeat against Chandelure, Courtney may be an easier opponent but than Jarmie but he didn't want to assume it with lack of information. After all, he knew all too well that overconfidence is a recipe for disaster.

"Bring it!" On Courtney's side, precisely at the same time, her trusted Magby appeared on the field. The girl grinned more widely as she noticed that her opponent was a little Bronzor.

"Well then, let's go with Ember!" Magby quickly let out a burst of little, but nonetheless scorching flames at the Steel type.

The Bronzor looked back at his trainer, unsure if it could win. The flames emitted by Magby reminded it with the Chandelure it lost to earlier in the day.

"Don't worry, Pal. You have the ability to beat that Magby, trust me. Stand your ground! Let's prove that you're much stronger than she thinks." Richard tried his best to boost the Mirror Pokemon's confidence while flashing a huge smile.
"Well?" Courtney playfully gazed at Richard, as the flames hit his Pokémon. "Get up close, Magby!" she then commanded.

"Unfortunately for you, Victor is more heat resistant than you expected. Payback!"

Hidden from sight thanks to her own flames, Magby was already a few inches away from her opponent when it recovered. Her surprise punch, however, suddenly clashed with the Steel tape's retaliation. The two Pokémon stood still for a while, trying their best to stand their ground, until a second punch sent Victor flying. The Faint attack had succeeded.

"No… Something feels fishy here…" Richard muttered with a low voice to avoid Courtney from listening to him. Victor was not a pushover in terms of defense: the fact that it had lost an exchange of attacks with a Magby was enough of a hint that something was not right but he didn't quite understand what.

However, the problem soon became visible to his eye when he saw that the Mirror Pokemon was enveloped in a familiar red hue he had seen just earlier in the day. No way… Why now!? Victor was burned again, and to make things even worse, this time it happened very early compared to the one that happened when it battled Chandelure.

"Ouch, this is a terrible start…" Sarah muttered from the referee spot. But to be honest, having Richard lose could mean having more people on the team, which I'm totally OK with. Courtney's playing herself!

"Don't lose momentum! Ember once again!" Courtney called out in the meantime, her Magby inhaling and getting ready for another attack.

"Gah… Confusion!" Victor sent out a psychic energy towards the Magby to stop it from spouting flame once more.

The Fire type seemed to flinch at first, but was still able to recover quickly and spread her flames around the battlefield. Just like before, she then lunged at her opponent for another Faint Attack.

"Confusion!" Richard yelled towards the Mirror Pokemon, Victor desperately tried to muster psychic energy towards the Magby, with its body glowing in the mix of red and purple hue. It tried its best to hurl Magby away from it. But the little Fire type kept pressing on, despite the attack coming her way, and was able to land another punch on her opponent - albeit taking some damage in return. Victor was knocked away as the flames dissolved.

"Good for me, I suppose…" Sarah kept thinking aloud as she kept her eyes fixed on the battle.

Richard gritted his teeth, his initial smile already gone away from his face as the battle tilted completely towards Courtney's favor. Why Victor had to be burned… If it didn't get burned then Victor would've..." Richard immediately shook his head, there was no time to wallow in self-pity, if he couldn't beat Courtney through pure power, he just had to be smarter to circumvent it.

Magby looked at the airborne Bronzor with fiery, intimidating eyes, just as Courtney mimicked a similar gaze towards Richard. "Good, now Fire Spin!" The small Fire type quickly breathed in before a large stream of fire erupted from her beak. It scorched Bronzor some more, but dissolved just as quickly as it came.

"Well, well… I think your Magby is now running on fumes," Richard said, as he plastered the most convincing fake smile to taunt Courtney. In reality he was putting all his chips on the taunt, either the taunt worked or Victor down for the second time in the day. Even if he didn't want to pull this card, he didn't have a choice. After all, he didn't want to imagine what will happen to Victor's confidence if it loses another match that quick.

"What do you mean? This maybe?" Her Pokémon caught up onto this and sent out a cloud of dark, thick smoke. "Come get her!" the read haired girl tried to turn it around, as her Pokémon stood still inside the cloud of smoke, ready to punch Bronzor once again.

"Confusion!" Victor sent another wave of psychic energy towards the Magby, it was evident that it didn't work quite well as it didn't send the Magby away from the smoke.

Magby could actually still feel the energy messing up with her movement and reaction time. She tried to move around the cloud of smoke without leaving it, knowing that even if she didn't do anything Bronzor was still being crippled by its burn. "Hey Richard!" Courtney teased him in the meantime, "she just wants to play! It's not nice to keep a lady waiting."

"Well, I'm sorry… I'm really sorry... But from what I see, you're just trying to let the clock tick down because you're too afraid to face a burnt Pokemon. Ah well, I can't blame you…" Richard shrugged with false bravado.

"What are you talking about!?" Courtney pouted. "I know what I'm doing."

Before the smoke faded away for good, Magby jumped out from it and ran towards Victor once again, getting ready for the hit. Her trainer eagerly followed the Fire type with her eyes as she got closer and closer.

Richard clicked his tongue. He didn't want to resort to this tactic against anyone including Courtney, but with no other choice he immediately sprung to action. "Victor, Hypnosis!" The Mirror Pokemon's eyes turned blue as it hypnotized the poor Magby into a deep slumber.

Seeing her little starter miss her attack and slowly collapse onto the ground so suddenly made Courtney much more serious and worried. "Magby…!" she shouted, to no avail.

Richard glanced towards his partner, it was already starting to pant as it held the pain from being burned. Pressured with no time to spare, Richard immediately ordered Victor to wrap the battle. "Victor, Confusion, full force!" Victor grunted as it mustered everything it could use against the Magby, this time the psychic force sent the Live Coal Pokemon crashing hard towards a nearby tree.

Magby tried to get back on his feet and recover from the hit, but still couldn't fight just yet. And yet, the hit she took only made Courtney more worried. "W-what are you… monster! Magby, come on, get up!"

Richard suddenly shuddered, his eyes turned unfocused as he started shaking for a reason he only knew.

Sarah immediately left her spot and ran to Richard, trying her best to help him get back to his senses. "What's happening? Are you alright boy?"

Courtney, standing further away, didn't notice the consequence of her words. In her mind, it was all teasing and snarky remarks. She kept her eyes on Magby, who was struggling as well, but eventually noticed how Sarah wasn't in her usual spot anymore. "Time out, I suppose?" she yelled, eager to hear a response from her former classmate.

"Ah? Uh?" Richard awakened from his stupor, staggered only to see Sarah in front of him. He immediately turned his eye towards Victor who did it best to come to the aid of his trainer, but immediately fell down to the ground, succumbing to the burn damage it took.

"No need for timeouts Courtney, you've won!" Sarah shouted back before turning back to Richard one more time. "Glad to see you're recovering. What happened there?"

"Why all of this fuss?" the red haired girl came along as well, after returning Magby to her Pokéball. "I haven't done anything…" she muttered, still genuinely convinced that, no matter what she said, her words would never cause such serious and troublesome reactions.

"I-I'm fine… Congrats on your victory… Ahaha..." Richard nervously laughed as he tried his best to avoid Courtney and Sarah's suspicion.

"Are you still sure you want to come with us to the Graveyard? Don't think about Courtney, I am the one who wants to know." the brunette asked, as her friend still seemed puzzled.

Richard took a deep breath before he opened his mouth. "Yup, I'm a man of my word, besides you'll be there too, no? I'm sure I'll be fine." He smiled to assure her.

"I-I suppose it's all sorted out? Yay!" Courtney cheered. "We can meet in front of the Center some time after dinner. Together, nothing can stop us!"

"You lost the battle in the end, Richard. Meaning, I'd like for you to get at least one more person into our group. I agree with Courtney on this… the more we are, the better." Sarah chimed in afterwards. "Deal?"

"Sure… I understand your viewpoint on this. I'll try my best. Oh, we should exchange contacts too, it'll make meeting up much easier. Of course, If you don't mind that is..."

"Oh sure, I can do that." Sarah exchanged her number with Richard.

"This has gone better than I could ever expect! But I assure you, this time it's going to be a truly spicy adventure. I can't wait!" Courtney chuckled in the meantime, the memories of last night seemingly gone away in an instant.

As she heard those words, the brunette chuckled. Her friend had told her what happened during their breakfast, and looked very scared about going out at night ever again but… after hearing those rumors about Rotom, and how their more popular classmates would explore the graveyard at night, she had really turned back to the usual Courtney. "Alright, let's get your Pokémon healed up. You've both battled very well, and… I'm glad we've come across you, Richard.

Courtney's team: Magby • Shinx • ???
Sarah's team: ???

 

[moon]

Ralph & Arianne
Friday, May 24th, Late afternoon
Lavender Town Square

Even though the main performances were not due until later on, on the main stage, there was still plenty of interesting amateur entertainment to look at in the streets already. Ralph and Arianne bought some delicious locally made ice cream and then came across an exotic dance troupe at the edge of the big square, consisting of Panpour, Pansage and Pansear. They ate and watched the impressive pokémon antics with half attention though, because they were still telling each other about the past few days.

Ari had eagerly revealed which ones of their classmates she had met at the camp, and then described the misadventures she had with Aberdeen and Niels more in detail, before moving on to talking about Coralie and the battle against Jarmie Ari had had earlier. When she admitted that she had lost, it actually made Ralph feel a bit better, and she told Ari about the battle against Beaumont she had lost, and how Aberdeen had lost against Jarmie too. Apparently it wasn't very common to win against the first gym on your graduation journey anyways.

Ralph had eagerly been listening, feeling quite good about being back in Ari's uplifting presence. The tunnel depression felt so far away. As if on cue though, Ari then realized that beside the electric gym battle, Ralph hadn't revealed what she had been doing since they parted ways on Route 9.

Ralph first looked like she was about to speak, but then furrowed her brows for a while and turned to look at the funny monkeys again. They were now performing some sort of dance routine using their elemental powers, that surely wasn't really approved for safety here among people. Still funny to watch though.

"After I, um, left you… I caught some pokémon," Ralph finally began. "Not a dragon, sadly. But a Geodude, sort of, and an Elekid and a rat."

She let Greeny out of her pokéball to show Ari the Rattata with the peculiar eyes. Greeny happily jumped into Ralph's arms and nestled herself on the trainer's shoulder, blending in surprisingly well with her purple hair.

Arianne smiled happily. "Hey, that's very cute! For being a new catch, it seems to like you a lot already…" She sighed, thinking about her own friendship with Lulu and some of her other companions - changing topic would've probably been more helpful. "Uhm, how did Rock Tunnel go for you instead? I'm curious to know, now!"

Ralph smiled at the first part, but her expression then darkened. She walked to sit on a park bench just nearby at the edge of the street, where there were less people. Ari followed the purple haired girl and sat down next to her.

"So, I met someone else on Route 9. We had an adventure in the night, and… Then we decided to travel through Rock Tunnel together. It went pretty badly. We were ambushed by strong wild pokémon, and Joseph… Ah, that's his name. Well we got separated and it took some time and some battles before we safely arrived in Lavender."

She had admitted that they had traveled together. If she now revealed to Ari who he really was… Would Ari think it was cheating? She hadn't known, though. But she did remember being worried about this already before knowing. Traveling with an experienced trainer on your graduation journey. It kind of screamed 'I'm weak and can't do this on my own', Ralph felt. Part of her now completely regretted ever having agreed to this at all. But at the same time, if she hadn't, she might have never learned the truth about her family.

She glanced at Ari. "I don't need another trainer to help me on this journey, okay? This man and I just happened to be going in the same direction." She stopped herself. That was a lie. No more lies. "Or, actually, Joseph just wanted to travel a bit and thought it would be fun. But I didn't ask him to, and I didn't plan on letting him coaching me or anything. So it wasn't against the rules to travel with him for a while, right?"

"I… don't know? I didn't look too much into it, and I also don't know who that Joseph is… But I don't think it's a problem. It was just for Rock Tunnel." Arianne smiled back, trying to reassure her friend. "And if you…" She stopped right there. Offering to help Ralph on more occasions, after nearly having her drown… still didn't seem like a good idea. "N-nothing."

Ralph felt like Ari didn't sound convincing. If she wasn't sure if it was a problem or not with Joseph being a random stranger, she really wouldn't take kindly to learning he was actually her uncle. And neither would Palm, or anybody else. So it would have to remain a secret. Ralph sighed and scratched Greeny under her chin.

"Yeah," she just said. "Just for Rock Tunnel."

The monkeys seemed to have finished their little performance and scuttled away to some other street, a woman who might be their trainer following them. People moved away a bit and made the area where Ari and Ralph were sitting even less crowded. Ralph's head was buzzing with worries again now. She had to think of something else, not let it spiral down.

"Are any of your family members trainers?" was the first thing she thought to ask, and then almost bit her own tongue on purpose for having chosen such a topic.

"Uhm?" Arianne raised an eyebrow, but still tried her best to answer. "They definitely have pets and stuff, but no one in my family is a real trainer like we're about to become. W-why?" She struggled a bit at the last few words, or at least that's what she thought… graduating didn't sound so easy now, apparently.

"Um, well. I used to think I was the only trainer in my family, but I learned today that my Dad has neglected to tell me that all of his side of the family went to Safari Academy. Well, nearly all of them. So now I'm wondering what's actually waiting for me in Fuchsia, I guess. That's where they live." Phew. Good save.

"Well, it sounds like they'll be happy to see your progress, right? That should be fun!" Arianne gushed. "I'm actually wondering what my friends from Cinnabar will say once I get there…"

Her mind went back to Serenity and all of the other friends of hers that she used to call while at Cape, and realized that it was probably time to call them soon. Or maybe not, she still didn't feel like she was living up to expectations.

"I don't know, I don't really know if they know I exist anymore. As for friends, heh, I pretty much only had one friend before Cape College, and we drifted apart," Ralph said, shrugging. It was fine though; Casey had grown and become so overwhelmingly social anyways. He'd probably just tire her out if they tried to hang out these days. Or rather, a voice further within her said, he'd think she was just a weird bitch. "Did none of yours go to Cape College too, then? Or Safari?"

Arianne grimaced, a certain redhead coming immediately to mind. Did she really know no one else better than her to talk about? "I had one or two older friends go to Cape, but I haven't heard much from them lately. And… well, I know of one girl who went to Safari. I didn't know until yesterday but she's actually in this town!" She put on a forced smile on her face.

"We're more like rivals than friends though. I… a-actually don't like having her around."

Ralph raised her eyebrows curiously with a little smile. "Ooh. Ari has drama? Point at the girl and I'll beat her up for ya," she said and playfully raised her fist.

The black haired girl just shrugged. "I don't even think it's anyone's fault, we're just grown to be different. And yet we used to be best friends when we were kids! She was just so playful and happy all the time…"

Courtney was really that one younger kid who tried to get involved with the slightly older, more popular cliques, and she actually did that very well. Confident, bubbly, eager to learn as well. It worked alright when they were just kids. Now though, who knows what got to her head.

"Anyway. She went to Safari Academy one year before I left for Cape, so this is why I thought she had already graduated. I didn't go back home for the holidays since Cinnabar is pretty far, so I couldn't know!"

"I get that," Ralph admitted.

That was kind of what had happened with her and Casey too, although they were certainly not rivals these days.

"The people I hung out with at the Cape… None of us cared about what others thought of us. Didn't even really care enough to be actual friends. But I still think, you know…"

Ralph stared off into the distance, too busy looking at her own inner words to really have her eyes look at anything.

"I think it's okay to choose your friends. If someone doesn't make you feel good, don't waste time on them. You know how Montany is so annoying? But I still choose to hang out with him, because he's, well. He makes me have fun, I guess."

She paused for a moment.

"I guess I chose him to be my friend."

The realization felt pretty weird to Ralph. Kind of cringy, too. But it was true, wasn't it?
"So yeah. You don't have to choose that Safari girl," she concluded.

"I've been around her for years. That alone means… you're not strangers to each other anymore!" Arianne pointed out, thinking back once again about what she'd told Ralph that day, before separating.

Ralph shrugged, and once again thought about Casey. "Not-strangers can work fine. By the way, um. I chose you as a friend too. Just so you know."

"You did, really? After all I put you through?" She asked as she touched her hair. That river adventure, or even before… relying on her to find a place to sleep, relying on her to find a Bagon for herself… she had to sort all that out.

"All you put me through?" Ralph shook her head. "I mean, if you don't wanna, we can just be not-strangers too. It's whatever."

Her actually nervously patting Greeny who had settled on her lap now though, kind of indicated that it wasn't really whatever.

"You… don't mind?" Arianne looked at her, puzzled, but soon found herself trusting her instinct and reaching out for a hug. "Thank you, Ralph."

The other girl accepted it, Greeny excitedly squeaking in between the two friends and doing her best to be part of the embrace as well.

 

[QueenNothing]

JP w/Eleanor
------------------
"Hello ma'am, welcome to Pokey's, where we'll always be happy to serve you with a smile."

Gwen's attention was occupied by a waiter who wore an unconvincing smile that reached both his ears. His twitching, bloodshot eyes seemed to indicate he wasn't very thrilled to be working at the moment.

Gwen, sitting at a large round table with her Pokemon in a packed restaurant, struggled to form a sentence.

"I-I-I got a-Uh-Can I get-Uh-" She ended up giving up on her sentence and just held up the coupon Doryu gifted her. The waiter aggressively wrote down her order.

"Excellent, and can I get your Pokemon anything to eat tonight? It's Pokemon Eat Free Night, so you can order any select menu item." His eyes continued to twitch with every word he spoke.

Shit. Gwen thought to herself. I have to actually talk to the waiter.

"Uhhh, C-C-Can I g-get a th-the Diglett Grilled Cheese for my Pikachu, and my Vulpix would like th-the Tangela Spaghetti."

"KEW KEW!" Gwen had to shift her attention to address her noisy Axew, sitting on a high-chair, excitedly pushing his middle claw against a very expensive steak on the menu like a child pointing at candy in a grocery store.

"I'm sorry Tusk, I know I said I'd get you whatever you wanted, but I didn't know the free options would be limited, and I can't afford that steak." Tusk crossed his arms and pouted, then pointing to a different menu item less enthusiastically.

"A-And this one would like the Moltres Hot Wings." Finishing her intense order, she sighed heavily with relief and sipped on her soda she previously ordered. She was glad that Jess didn't need to eat too often, having to finish that order for another sentence would have been too much for her.

With the waiter taking their menus to report their orders to the kitchen staff, all Gwen could do right now was muse on what happened to her throughout the day, managing to drown out the screaming kids and waiters unenthusiastically singing their customers congratulatory birthday songs.

Before I fought Beaumont, I thought something was weird about him, and I guess I never stopped thinking he was weird. His smile was creepy, but there had to be more than that.

As she took another sip from her soda, her eyes widened slightly.

Now that I think about it, isn't it weird that Magnemite used Magnet Bomb on Pix? It had to have electric-type attacks, so it's really odd how he used something that would deal so little damage.

Her mind was stuck on this thought for quite some time, returning to reality when their food was placed on the table.

"Oh, th-thank you so much." She got a solid look at her Pokemon's food, all very cutely crafted to resemble the Pokemon they were named after.

Custard, sitting in a high chair much like Tusk, was nibbling on a grilled cheese sandwich that was sliced in-half, the bread toasted to make it appear it had the face of a Diglett. She did enjoy it, although she just wished her food was a bit sweeter.

Pix was also sitting in a high-chair, her food placed in a bowl she'd be able to eat from. She ordered the Tangela Spaghetti, two meatballs topped on pasta covered in pesto sauce placed in a bowl to give it the appearance of a Tangela.

Tusk's order was a plate of hot wings with a side of fries. There wasn't really any way to make hot wings physically resemble a Moltres since it's anatomy was so basic, but the spiciness of the sauce coating the wings was enough to make up for that. Tusk didn't mind the spiciness at all, rather he very much enjoyed it.

Gwen just had chicken strips and fries. No cute details to make it look like a Pokemon or even a unique flavor to it, just plain ol' chicken strips. By Gwen's standards, they were definitely very delicious chicken strips, but lacked the personality of the food her Pokemon got.

"Thank you guys so much for today! You deserve this so much." Her Pokemon collectively looked up from their plates to Gwen, all letting out a cheer of accomplishment. Even if her food wasn't as colorful as what her Pokemon got, at least they were happy with it. Plus, it was free.

Gwen continued to nibble on her chicken strips, but her chewing got increasingly slower as she absorbed a conversation two strangers were in the middle of.

"...And this only makes me more excited to catch that Rotom!" a high pitched voice from a table across the establishment echoed through the restaurant, immediately followed by someone else's "Shh!". Hearing the name of a rare Pokemon caught Gwen's attention, leading her to twist her body in her chair and spotted one brunette and one with red hair, still half way through their dinner.

"I still don't believe it, for the record." The brunette sighed. "But whatever, we'll go and find it, as you say."

"Did somebody say Rotom?" Gwen butted into the strangers conversation, abruptly bolting out of her chair, firing her gaze at the distant table. She needed to know more about this.

"Ohperfectyou'recomingwithusthisverymoment…" The redhead replied, still quite loudly and apparently very excited, her eyes sparkling and her own tongue struggling to keep up the pace, drawing the ire of many people and Pokemon who wished to peacefully enjoy the meals, before her friend would just put a hand on her mouth to shut her up. "Not again, please…"

"Sorry, but we were just talking about my Gym Battle and how Beaumont did not, in fact, have…"

"Oh please! Stop it!" The other girl set herself free from her friend's grasp. "We're going to the Graveyard later and catch a Rotom! I'm sure there's a few hiding there! And… Sarah please!" She kept talking as she frantically moved her hands, trying to catch her friend before she shut her mouth again. "The more we are the better, right?"

"I'm sorry… she's just scared to the point of begging strangers for help. But I don't want her to cause you trouble, you can leave this to me!"

Gwen's eyes lit up like a Mareep using Flash in a dark cave, followed by a cocky grin. "You can count me in! I've always wanted to see a ghost-type up close!"

"Oh yeah, that's the spirit!" The redhead shouted from the other table, as her friend just facepalmed beside her. Again.

"You said there's a graveyard with ghost Pokemon nearby?" It was a little difficult to manage her confident attitude when the premise of being able to encounter ghost-types excited her to no end. "That's sooooo cool!"

"Yes, there is! But-" The girl was stopped once again by her friend, who this time yelled much louder than everyone else. "Can't we just stop shouting! Come on!" A collective chuckle and a timid round of applause seemed to echo through the restaurant. Gwen flinched with embarrassment, slowly making her way to the table the duo was sitting at while holding her drink.

"I need to know everything about this." Her nervousness seemed to disappear while she pulled out a chair to sit in.

"Ok ok, first things first I'm Sarah, and this is Courtney. We're from Safari. And you are?"

"Wait, you're the one…" The red haired girl didn't give the newcomer any time to answer. "I saw you this morning fighting against Winston, right?"

"Oh, THAT guy…" Gwen winced and took a few sips from her soda before continuing. "Yeah, I beat his ass, and beating him was kind of fun cuz he thought he was hot shit."

"You're pretty strong then! And we never liked him either. I still didn't get your name though…" Sarah intervened as her friend nodded in admiration.

Gwen flashed another cocky smile, reaching both ears. "My name is Gwen Alanis, and I'm from Cape College. You may have heard of my sister, Jennifer Alanis."

"That doesn't remind me of any-" Courtney chuckled, but couldn't even finish. "Oh yes, I saw some of her battles!" Sarah gushed. "My family's keen on battling but… I'm not surprised if you haven't heard about them. I'm an only child and my parents have stopped going to tournaments by now."

"Sarah, you know me, I got better stuff to do than sit in front of the TV for hours." the younger girl laughed.

Gwen, in an absolute state of euphoria, bolted out of her chair again, slamming both her hands on the table. "OH MY ARCEUS, YOU KNOW JENNY!? THAT'S SO COOL, ISN'T SHE JUST THE COOLEST? DID YOU SEE HER BATTLE YEARS AGO WHEN IT WAS KROX AGAINST THAT GUY'S GYRADOS, AND THEY WERE ON THEIR LAST POKEMON AND JENNY WON WITH A ROCK SLIDE BECAUSE MOXIE POWERED KROX UP SO MUCH, OOH OOH OR HOW ABOUT WHEN SHE USED KRONA TO-"

"AHEM!" Gwen nervously noticed a very irritated waiter behind her.

"Ma'am, here at Pokey's we like to keep our space fun for the whole family, but we're receiving complaints of very disruptive noise from some of our guests, so if you can't keep it down we're gonna have to ask you to leave." Gwen apologized, nodding timidly, waiting for the server to go away.

"H-Heh, but yeah. My sister is the coolest." The Unovian trainer leaned back in her chair, resting her arms behind her hands. "You said your parents battled in tournaments? Who are they?"

"Uhm…" Sarah looked at the waiter, grimacing. "Anyways, it's Robert and Emma Sherwood. And…" She grinned widely. "Jennifer's a nice battler, but my parents are just way better!"

Gwen was getting ready to slam her hands on the table, but did a double-take not wanting a repeat of what just happened. "Yoooo, Emma and Robert Sherwood? Man, they were super good in their day, it's a shame they retired. But they're a thing of the past, Jenny is where it's at now."

"Jenny? Just wait until we graduate!" Courtney chimed in, a smirk on her face. Gwen returned a smirk of her own, appearing more playful than before.

"Oh, when I graduate I'm gonna be on my way to the Pokemon World Championships, just you wait!"

"I…" Sarah hesitated for an instant. "You know, now I wanna go there as well. And beat you of course!"

Gwen, still smirking, took her arms out from behind her head and crossed them. "Well, I'd challenge you to a battle if we didn't have plans to go to the graveyard soon. But…" The black-haired girl uncrossed her arms to use her index finger and thumb to tap her chin. "Speaking of that, when are we gonna go there?"

"I only battle like this when I feel ready anyways… right Courtney?" Sarah smiled as her friend nodded.

"Also… we're going some time after dinner. 9 sounds perfect!" The redhead continued. "Up for an ice cream before going?"

"How could I refuse?" Gwen cheered. "I mean, it's probably not as good as the ice cream we had in Unova, but ice cream is ice cream! I just need to…" She stopped herself when she realized she left her food at her table. "Shit, I should, uh, probably finish my food first. But after I take care of my bill, I'll be sure to get back to you!"

Courtney made the "I see you" gesture towards Gwen as she got back to her seat, smiling to her friend afterwards. "We got her at least. Even if that other boy doesn't show up… we will definitely succeed now!"
Sarah smiled, but only inside. More people to keep her friend in check was always welcome, but she couldn't tell all that to the redhead's face.

Gwen began stuffing her face with the rest of her now cold food. This didn't bother her, because what was to come was worth the consequence of cold chicken strips.

 

[budube]

Bruno Dillinger
May 24, Friday

Chapter 5, Part 2: vs. Gym Leader Tayloz​

---

Afternoon, Lavender Town Gym

Bruno didn't see how Vera's battle turned out. He was too busy preparing a strategy, or at least he tried to prepare one because he was too nervous to even think straight. But at last, the time has come.

As soon as he enters the battlefield, and sees the large crowd and the big screens, he gets intimidated and realizes he isn't ready for this yet, but it was too late to back off already.

"Mr. Dillinger, right? Welcome to Lavender Town Gym!" the Gym Leader says, not long after Bruno steps forward. "My name is Beaumont Tayloz, Gym Leader of this town. I assume you know what my job's about, right? With this battle I'll put to test everything you learned at your trainer school."

Bruno doesn't answer.

"You have three Pokémon with you, right?" Bruno nods. "Good, then I'll be using three as well, to make it a fair game. Give me your best shot! Go, Magnemite!"

Bruno knew there was going to be a Magnemite in the game. Every electric type trainer that's obsessed with machines has one, and by the looks of the gym, he was one of those. Bruno put more thought in a strategy against that Pokémon because nothing in his team could counter the Steel-type. Luckily, he managed to think about something before he was called. Will it work? That's a different thing.

Bruno throws his first PokéBall, without giving any names. A purple cloud of gas comes out of it and Gospel makes his appearance.

"Gastly? Interesting. Interesting choice, indeed." he exclaims. "Most people would choose to go for type advantages, so this is unexpected. Don't think I'll go easy on you because of it, though! Magnemite, Supersonic!"

As soon as Bruno hears the move Beaumont's Pokémon is about to use, he covers his ears, and before he shouts 'Hyper Voice!', the Gastly delivers the attack, drowning the supersonic waves the Magnemite shot at him with it. The plan seemed to be working.

"Gospel, second stage!" Bruno yells without hesitation. The Gas Pokémon's eyes glow a purplish light which reflects in Magnemite's own before putting it to sleep on the spot without letting the Gym Leader react to it.

Third stage. Bruno waits for Mr. Tayloz to make his move now.

"Interesting strategy you managed to pull out there." he cheers. "It took me by surprise, I admit it. But just because my Pokémon is asleep, it doesn't mean it's all over for them."

Tayloz takes Magnemite's PokéBall and before returning them, he says: "Let's see what your Gastly can do about this!"

But to the Gym Leader's surprise, nothing happens.

"Fourth stage." Bruno whispers. Gospel starts accumulating the gas around his body, getting bigger and bigger before exploding in a big cloud. Part of that gas is directed at the sleeping Magnemite and another one shape shifts back into Gospel, but he is feeling dizzy now.

What happens now? Fifth stage. Wait for Mr. Tayloz to make his move, again. He either tries to wake Magnemite up before Gospel's curse makes them faint, or he decides to wait. Whatever decision he takes, it's a checkmate for the Magnemite.

He decides to wait.

It doesn't take more than a minute for the Magnemite to faint and be able to return to their PokéBall. Without much in between but the A.I. judge announcing Magnemite not being able to continue, Mr. Tayloz is ready to send out his next Pokémon.

"Go, Emolga!" As soon as she enters the battlefield, the Pokémon starts flying around at full speed. In fact, she was too fast that it pretty much looked like she was multiplying herself.

Gospel yells another Hyper Voice, making all of those clones to disappear. They were useless against him, but that was the plan wasn't it? Because the battlefield was totally empty.

Bruno looks upwards and sees the Pokémon gliding in circles, above him. Gospel tries to get closer and strike this time with Hypnosis, this time pointing at the real Emolga.

"Emolga, use Quick Attack!" The Gym Leader yells. But why? Quick Attack wouldn't-

Emolga is quick to disappear from Gospel's ranged attack, pretty much passing through him and appears behind the Pokémon. This is what he wanted to do.

"Gospel, behind y-!"

Before Gospel is able to react, he is zapped by Emolga's Thundershock. The attack is able to knock out Gospel easily, since most of its health was already zapped by the explosion caused because of his curse.

"Gastly is unable to battle!" that was… something.

"I bet you thought I was crazy when I went for Quick Attack." Tayloz laughs. "You are a skilled strategist, Mr. Dillinger. However, when you don't have a plan, you have to improvise and a new plan can come of it if you calculate it well."

Bruno doesn't answer.

"It's not over yet, though, is it?. Show me what your next Pokémon has to offer."

The boy's hand shakes between his two PokéBalls. Shir has type disadvantage, but Bumblebee is slow, so he doesn't know what to pick. Emolga was the real threat here, not Magnemite.

Bruno finally makes his decision. He looks at his PokéBall and takes a deep breath. "Your turn." It's better to go for his strongest Pokémon. He might not get good reviews for this. "Shir!"

"Interesting choice." the Gym Leader smiles.

Shir looks at the crowd not long after she was sent out. She is clearly excited at seeing everyone look at her, that she even waves at two girls that were whispering at each other while staring at her. Bruno quickly calls her out, though which doesn't put her in a very good mood.

"Cut it down... pay attention." he says. Shir looks back at him and she seems to be angry for being talked to like that. Tayloz, on the other hand, only looks at him with intrigue.

"That Pokémon sure likes to receive attention, doesn't it?" he asks, expecting no answer from him.

"... She… she has to know her place. That's all." Bruno says. Shir gets even angrier at him. Hopefully this works.

The Gym Leader's smile fades before commanding his Emolga to use Quick Attack at Shir.

The grass-type hisses once she is hit and is sent rolling back to Bruno. She is quick to get up and looks with anger above her where Emolga is gliding in circles again. Shir shoots multiple Razor Leaves at her, but none of them get even close. She starts to grow even more frustrated.

Improvise, improvise, improvise. That's everything Bruno is able to think of right now. Emolga doesn't have anything to take Shir down quickly, she would have done that already if that were the case. However, Shir can't do much either. What is Tayloz even waiting for, then? Improvisation?

Bruno tries to think back. He needs to take Shir up there somehow, but he needs some boost.

He thinks of something.

"Growth." Shir takes in sunlight, which is gathered on the top of her head. There doesn't seem to be much of a change in appearance, but once she is done she appears to have more energy. More energy won't give her the ability to reach Emolga, though. Second part of the plan. "Use Leafage against the floor."

Shir does as she is told. She starts spinning with great force, extending her arms and the leaves on her back. Once it reaches a certain speed, a swirl of leaves strikes the ground, propelling her upwards at great speed.

Before Mr. Tayloz is able to call Emolga back or the Pokémon is able to react, Shir grabs her leg, similar to what happened with the Tyranitar in Rock Tunnel in some way, except that this time she doesn't fall, even better, she gets to climb on her back and bites her opponent.

Frustration. It's the first time Bruno used that move. He didn't know how to feel about a move that gets stronger the more the Pokémon dislikes you, working. But at least that threat was almost over.

Emolga eventually gives up to the Fomantis' attack, and she plummets against the floor, not without attempting to take Shir with her. As she falls, she covers her body in electricity, zapping Shir and forcing her to let her go. The attack itself doesn't do much to her, but it's enough to give her some damage. Emolga hits the floor, and Shir, while hurt, manages to land safely, with her back leaves extended like a cape while she falls.

"Emolga is unable to battle!"

Tayloz's last Pokémon is... "Let's do this, Flaaffy!"

The lamb Pokémon jumps on the battlefield. He quietly stands in front of Tayloz waiting for his first command and once he gives it, his tail starts glowing, sending electricity through his fur which is shot in the form of a Thunderwave at the Fomantis.

She isn't able to avoid it, and Bruno pretty much has to withdraw his paralyzed Pokémon and send out the last one.

"Smart choice." Tayloz nods.

Bruno breaths. If Bumblebee is knocked out, it's game over, so he has to be careful with him.

Flaaffy sends another Thunderwave at Bumblebee, which he avoids by jumping to the other side of the field. He shoots a Psywave at the Pokémon. The first one was always the strongest blow, he found that out in Rock Tunnel but it's a move that needs recharging after one use. Pretty unconventional for moments like this.

"Cotton Spore." As soon as Flaaffy recovers from the attack, he starts shaking its body, sending some of his fur slowly flying at Bumblebee. He tries to jump, but the Cotton Spore obstructs his path and doesn't let him move. Tayloz seems to be more quiet now, and is also very adamant of not letting Bumblebee get close to Flaaffy.

Next thing that happens is a Thundershock, shot directly from Flaaffy's tail, narrowly hitting Bumblebee's pearl and knocking it off.

"Now let's finish this with Take Down." Flaaffy gives a backflip and stares at Bumblebee, while he tries his best to get his pearl back. The Electric type charges against him now, he isn't very fast, which explains why Cotton Spore and paralysis were used.

Bumblebee is finally able to pick up his pearl, just as Flaaffy is about to strike. His pearl glows instantly and both are knocked out by the shock wave made between Bumblebee's Zen Headbutt and Flaaffy's Take Down.

"Spoink is unable to fight! Flaaffy is unable to fight!" the robotic voice says. "Leader Beaumont is out of usable Pokémon. Challenger Bruno Dillinger wins!"

Mr. Tayloz smiles as he brings Flaaffy back to his PokéBall. Both him and Bruno walk to the center of the battlefield to shake hands. "That was an interesting battle." He says. Bruno nods. "I was genuinely surprised since the moment you sent out your Gastly. You are able to synchronize your Pokémon moves in very creative ways. I'll make sure to report that to Professor Palm together with some other things more, of course."

"Um… th-thank you, Mr. Tayloz."

"You are still pretty young and taking a good path as a trainer. I hope to hear more about you eventually, Mr. Dillinger."

---

Bruno's Party:

Bruno art by Aquacorde​

 

[QueenNothing]

It was late evening at the Lavender Town Pokemon Center, shortly after Gwen had eaten dinner, and just before she planned to grab ice cream with two students from Safari Academy. The Safari students, Courtney and Sarah, were doing their own thing for a bit, leaving Gwen with time to kill. Right now, she spent it digging through her bag she had placed on the floor of her rented room, hoping to find something to do to kill time.

She rustled her arms inside the bag, trying to find her sketchbook, as this seemed like a ripe opportunity to practice that. Unfortunately for Gwen, she was incredibly bad at organizing her belongings.

"What the-" Gwen exclaimed, pulling out a smartphone with a few cracks on the screen. "My phone! THAT'S where it went!" She attempted to turn it on, but to no avail, as the screen stayed blank. "Oh yeah, when was the last time I charged this thing? Should probably look for that too while I'm at it." She then set her phone to the side, continuing her search.

She paused when she felt another object, which she quickly pulled out, revealing an unopened bag of potato chips, to which she raised an eyebrow at. "I don't remember ever packing these…" She said aloud, turning the bag around to check the expiration date.

Best By 01/15/2017

The moment she read the date, she tossed the bag behind her with the same force she tossed Pokeballs. "I am NOT taking my chances with chips that old."

The rummaging continued for about ten minutes. She was beginning to give up, until she felt another item that she pulled out. It was the Fire Stone she took as a souvenir from Rock Tunnel. "Ohhhh, that's right! Pix can evolve now!" Gwen then reached over to the Pokeballs she had resting on her bed, and released Pix from her Pokeball.

"I can't believe I forgot to tell you about this, but look what I found!" Gwen held up the Fire Stone, mesmerizing Pix. "You can evolve now!" Although…" The trainer held her index finger and thumb up to her chin. The lessons Doryu shared echoed through her mind, as well as her knowledge of how evolution stones worked.

"It'd be cool to see you as a Ninetales, but thinking about it, that's not a great-" Gwen paused, as she noticed Pix suddenly jumping towards her, almost as if she was drawn to the stone. Gwen reflexively threw up her arm which she had been holding the Fire Stone with.

"Pix! It's too early for this!" Pix did her best to reach the evolution stone, scratching up the arm of her trainer, but to no avail. "Master Doryu said...Well actually, I don't remember the exact words, but it was something like uhh...Wait for the right opportunity. Discipline, or something like that." Gwen rapidly shook her head. "But still! You're pretty inexperienced. If you evolve now, you'll never learn any more cool moves, unless I can find a TM or something, but those are way too expensive!" The Vulpix gave up, looking both understanding and disappointed.

"Aww, don't worry girl!" Gwen rubbed Pix's head. "You'll get there in no time! Just like how I'll become the world champion in no time!" She paused to laugh heartily. "Just you wait, when you evolve, we'll win so many battles together!"

All Pix was able to respond with was a nod, still gazing at the Fire Stone. Gwen took note of this, and stuffed it back into her bag.

"Say, since you're out…" She went on, reaching for another mysterious object lost in the abyss that was her bag. "How about we play a game of catch!"

Gwen was dumbfounded to realize she wasn't holding a Pokemon toy, but rather what appeared to be a plush toy, shaped like a Liepard that stood on its hind legs, wore a black cape and mask, and had an "L" plastered onto its chest.

"What the- Dr. Liepard, what are you doing here?" In her confusion, the black-haired girl had a delayed reaction to her Pokemon jumping up to grab the toy from Gwen's hand, and began teething on it. "AAAAAAAHHHH!!! PIX, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO DR. LIEPARD!?!?"

Gwen was able to get the toy out of her Pokemon's mouth, and played with Pix until it was time for her to meet up with Sarah and Courtney. Even while Pix had fun, she couldn't seem to get her mind off the Fire Stone.

Pix though about how much she'd be able to help her trainer out if she could just use the stone. She had to push herself to her absolute limit to take out both Magnemite and Emolga, and if she was a Ninetales, she could do that with half the effort. At the end of the day though however, it was up to Gwen who opposed the idea. Hopefully she was right that the right time to evolve would indeed feel as if not a minute had passed.

 

[Aquacorde]

Casey Holt & Jordan Springs & Vera Hill & Bruno Dillinger

Friday, May 24, 2019
Lavender Town
Afternoon, Day 5

5-14: aftermath

The main arena's doors shutter closed behind the four of them before Casey actually remembers.

"Wait, Jordan, you're not battling at all?'

"Of course I am! Just… not now," Jordan quickly turns to Vera and Bruno, changing the subject. "Congrats, you two!"

"How did you even pull off that win? I didn't, uh, see the beginning of it." If Casey's lucky, the younger boy won't notice the new scratches Ginger put on his arms when he'd gripped her too tightly. But Casey's not always lucky. And Bruno's perceptive, and basically eye level with those scratches anyway.

Jordan had pulled him out from under the bench when he came back in. Casey gives him a warning look and sighs. He may have also had his eyes closed under there. Yeah, he has a problem. But that's not the point right now. So he waits for Bruno to gather his thoughts.

"No idea." Bruno answers. "Well, I actually planned a counter for the Magnemite. Emolga was improvisation. Flaaffy was luck… kinda. How did it go for you?"

"I forfeited." It kind of stings, a little, to have forfeited and then watched two of his classmates succeed. Vera with her stubbornness and Bruno with his intellect. And he couldn't win even with Beaumont giving him leeway. Oh, right… "I didn't like what he did. He put Magnemite against Pepper, like he was trying to go easy on me. That ain't right."

Bruno just nods. He takes his time to think for an answer, but eventually it comes to him. "Now that you mention it… something similar happened against Emolga. He could pretty much have finished Shir while it was in the air, but instead waited for me to somehow get up there. It was weird."

And he'd even told the guy not to pull the same stunt on his friends! Rude. "Hope other gym leaders aren't like that. I want a fair fight, even if I'm gonna lose. At least then I'd learn somethin'. Well, okay, I learned some things. But he shouldn't have done that! 'S rude."

"I don't know what you two are complaining about. He didn't go easy on me at all!" Vera crosses her arms as she complains. "But I agree, he was rude at times."

"There's no-" Casey begins, but catches himself quickly. Bonnie had type advantage, and her hits were solid. Maybe Beaumont didn't go easy on Vera. Maybe Beaumont had been going all-out, and Vera won anyway. With a single Pokémon, basically.

Aurelia prob'ly did similar.

No, who cares what his sister did? She hadn't fought Beaumont.

But Vera and Bruno had.

And they won.

"Nothin' more rude than people not taking you seriously," he says, and feels the slight discomfort of hypocrisy. Hadn't he just thought that of Vera? "I took him seriously. Used everything I could think of!" And still lost. "And made stuff up, too. Just couldn't- didn't have any way to get at that Emolga, really." He sighs again. "Ginger needs more diverse moves."

Vera shrugs. "I noticed that. She only really has the one trick, doesn't she? She just hits things really hard."

"Same as Bonnie, huh?" Casey retorts. Ah. No, hold your tongue. "Least Ginger's fast." No, that's not-

Vera immediately turns on Casey. "You wish she was as strong as Bonnie. Who cares if she's not that fast? Did you see her take on that Heliolisk? Where did speed get him? A bone to the face, that's where!"

"If she didn't have Bone Club you'd'a been shit outta luck! And Sapphire wouldn't'a lasted thirty seconds if you had t' use her!"

"H-hey… you guys…" Jordan timidly attempts to diffuse the situation, but his interjection falls on deaf ears.

"You don't know that! She's as fast as Ginger, and has some good tricks. You just never saw them because they weren't useful in Rock Tunnel. Not that I needed to use all my Pokémon."

She swept Beaumont with only Bonnie, because- "Nah, ya just had to flail around with a super effective move! Job done!"

"Yeah? Well… I won! I could have won with Sapphire, too! I'll prove it right now! She can beat anyone on your team, super effective or not!"

"What is happening?" Jordan wonders aloud. Maybe he was talking to Bruno. Maybe to himself, or genuinely asking a question. Casey doesn't really care enough to answer him at the moment.

"Fine! Sapphire against Ginger, right here, right now!"

"You're on!" Vera grabs Sapphire's ball, looking more confident now than she had against Beaumont.

Casey barely catches Bruno's soft, unaffected goodbye to Jordan and raises a hand in farewell as the boy disappears. Whatever. He doesn't need an audience.

He just needs an outlet.

Pepper Bomb • Charmeleon • lv22 | Ginger • Buneary • lv17 | Parsley • Skiddo • lv17
Casey's Profile | Extra Characters | TRAINERS Art | Bruno's SU | Jordan's SU | Vera's SU

 

[Groc]

Vera Hill, Casey Holt
Chapter 5 - Cat Fight
Lavender Town, May 24th

---

Vera faces off against Casey from the other side of the small fighting ring. There are many like it in the Gym, designed for training matches exactly like this one. "One on one. You ready, Casey?"

Casey nods, letting Ginger hop down to take her place, while Vera sends out Sapphire into her arms.

Like they did against Beaumont, Casey and Ginger wait, somewhat impatiently on his part and intensely focused on hers.

Vera scratches Sapphire behind the ears before setting her down to battle. "Do your best, Sapphire. Go get her!" Sapphire casually strolls up to Ginger, stopping just out of reach to sit and lick her paw. She starts grooming her ears, not even looking at the Buneary. Ginger stares coolly while Casey shuffles in place. Vera tries to play it cool, but can't hide a small smirk, because she knows what comes next.

Suddenly, Sapphire lunges forward and slaps Ginger in the face with a Fake Out attack! Ginger reels, the impact throwing her just off-balance enough to prevent retaliation. "Bite her, while she's off guard!" Sapphire pounces, aiming for the neck, but only gets a hold of the shoulder as Ginger tumbles to the ground. Casey calls for Pound; Ginger kicks both feet into Sapphire's belly and dislodges teeth from her shoulder. The Buneary scrambles up as Sapphire is tossed back, but a Meowth always lands on her feet.

"Sapphire, keep your distance! Ginger's stronger than she looks." A little backhanded, but a compliment nonetheless. "Keep moving, and use Pay Day." The golden charm atop Sapphire's head glows, and small gold bits spontaneously appear around her. She gathers a handful of the coins to throw at Ginger, eyes wide as she watches her foe's movements. Ginger ducks and weaves, coins occasionally catching her as she starts to choose rolls and bounces to cover distance, her focus entirely on Sapphire while Casey watches the field.

Ginger bounces higher, and Casey falls back to his preferred technique- "Frustration!"- but Ginger doesn't bounce high into the air, doesn't use gravity to compound the force of the blow. She springs forward, accelerating with each touch of her nimble feet to the ground, and slams her entire body into Sapphire, sending both flying back toward Vera. "Oh, that's- hey, that's Quick Attack!"

"That's new…" Vera tries to figure out how to counter that. It's not as strong as Frustration was, but didn't Casey say Frustration was getting weaker? But it's fast, so maybe… hell with it, I'll just attack. "Sapphire, slow down her attack with Icy Wind!" Sapphire shakes off the hit, exhaling a blast of freezing fog as Ginger stands.

Casey's grin makes an appearance for the first time since leaving the gym, which Vera thinks is unwarranted in this situation. "Do it again!"

A second full-body hit, straight through the chilly wind, sends both Pokémon stumbling. Ginger scrambles to right herself, unable to follow up quickly enough with the Pound Casey calls for.

Vera sees that as proof her idea worked, so she also calls for a repeat performance. Sapphy breathes more chill air directly into Ginger's face. Ginger grimaces as frost crawls along her fur, and scowls at Casey's suggestion of Baby-Doll eyes. Rather, she braces herself, powering her defense in preparation for Sapphire's next hit. "Fine, same thing," Casey allows.

"Getting nervous, Casey?" Vera taunts, starting to enjoy this. Casey's grin falls once more. "Sapphire, can you fake her out again?" Sapphire shoots her Trainer a glare, clearly not willing to try, and instead Screeches in Ginger's face. The shrill noise makes Vera and Ginger wince in tandem. "Okay, you could have just said 'no'..."

"Fine, no defense- just Quick Attack!"

Ginger puts her fancy footwork to use and darts away and around, all the way behind Sapphire to slam into her from behind, bowling her over and rolling across her back with the momentum to pop up in front of her once more. Sapphire slowly picks herself back up, hackles raised as she glares daggers at Ginger. "Sapphire, get back, use another Icy Wind!"

Sapphire lets out a shrill battle cry as she lunges at Ginger, furiously swiping and slashing with her claws. Ginger jumps backward with each swipe, making her way to Casey's side of the field. "Right- Ginger, listen-" Vera can't hear what he says next, not that she's listening. "Fine! If you want to stay close, then Bite!"

Ginger darts in again, bouncing with each accelerated step, but instead of ending in a tackle she puts power behind a little fist aimed straight at Sapphire's mouth. Sapphire closes the distance, catching the punch in her teeth. The impact drives her back a step, but she maintains a hold on Ginger. Ginger uses this to her advantage, pulling the cat in by the mouth to drive a spring-loaded ear directly into her eye. Sapphire screeches in pain and rage, a shrill scream right in the rabbit's ear. Ginger reels for half a second but has the presence of mind to pull her hand out of Sapphire's mouth and body-checks her; a Quick Attack with no momentum, a Quick Attack that Vera did not hear Casey order.

Sapphy staggers under the attack, but flies into a rage, clawing Ginger in the arm, the chest, and the side of her face. Ginger's punching with ears and fists, wherever she can get a hit in. Neither Pokémon seem to hear their trainers' commands anymore, not above the flying fur and snarls and growls. Casey gives up first, bellowing out "Forfeit!" as he jumps into the fray, quick hands yanking the girls up by the scruffs of their necks and holding them as far apart as his arms will allow, both still reaching to hit the other despite the distance.

Vera rushes in to grab Sapphire, who protests the entire time. Rather than risk her claws and teeth, Vera returns Sapphire to her PokéBall. The ball shakes in her hand, but she holds it tight until it settles. "Well, that was intense." She sighs, "You okay, Casey?"

"Uh, yeah," he says, somewhat distracted by Ginger attempting to kick him in the arm. He drops her onto his shoulder, where she settles herself with zero regard for his comfort. "Neither of them got me."

"Oh, good." Vera smiles at him. "Looks like I win, then."

"What?" Ginger stills, hard stare levelled at Vera.

"I win." Vera brushes her hair back behind her ear. Honestly, it should be obvious. "You said you forfeit, so I win."

Casey frowns. "Neither of them were listening, though."

Vera also frowns. There's no reason to argue, and she knows it, but she can't back down now. "Yes, but you called it. You even grabbed my Pokémon. If this were official, I'm pretty sure that would disqualify you. So I win." She turns her back, unwilling to argue the point any further.

Casey huffs at her back. "Next time," he says sourly. "Next time I won't call it."

 

[Dragon]

Susanoo vs. Amaterasu

A Play in Lavender​

The curtain screen started to open, showcasing a scenery that has tall mountains, a bright sun, and luscious flowers, greenery, and all sorts of pokemon who lived around the area. A light then shined upon someone who greeted the audience with a bow. She seemed to be one of Jarmie's helpers, a young woman who was dressed up in a traditional kimono, with her hair neatly bunched up. She stood at the far end of the stage, facing the crowd.

"Long ago here in Lavender…" she started to say. "The entire town was sunk in chaos. Evil spirits, demons, and even twisted ghouls haunted our realm, bringing terror for our citizens. This is all the work of the chaotic being who reigned over the land… Susanoo."

"Puhuhuhu… Ahahahaha!" came a rather sinister, yet hearty laugh. It could have only belonged to one person - Noel - who dazzlingly descended upon the stage, like she was floating down from the heavens. "Fear me! Revere me! Bow before me, fools who are encased with mortal coil! For those who have not… witness my might!"

Upon those words, flames started coming out from both sides of the stage. Then as the fire died out, there were the sounds of thunder, and flashes of light that illuminated the stage, quickly dying down again. Noel then raised her right hand, and clenched her fist. Her body was then surrounded by a harsh, black aura - that became like a summon ritual for her, as many, many spirits - in this case, Ghost-type pokemon, poured out from the stage and surrounded the crowd who were watching. They were more quirky and silly than scary, making silly faces at the unsuspecting crowd, and even surprising a few of them as they kept on popping in and out from the ground, using their transparent, ghostly nature to weave in through all sorts of places.

With a snap of Noel's fingers, the stage turned black, with the background not being seen anymore. The spotlight then shined on her, as she elegantly strutted out of the stage via the steps that were there. The scenery in the Lavender festival was covered by naught ghost-type pokemon who were just floating around, watching Noel come from out of the stage, to the area near the crowd.

"Hear me, mortals! Lavender has been stagnant, peaceful… and boring," Noel decreed. "With my power, I shall bloom a new era of Lavender! Chaos… darkness… excitement!" The Ghost-type pokemon all started to chuckle and laugh. Even more Ghost-type pokemon popped out from the stage, to the environment outside; they were even looming over various parts of the fair. The lights of the festival suddenly grew dimmer and dimmer - as Noel simply stood there and chuckled menacingly. The festival grew darker, and darker… until there was then a brilliant flash of light.

Noel hid herself from the blinding flash of light - until she managed to see a sight that made her grit her teeth. The spotlight then shone upon someone standing on top of a tall light post.

"You…!" Noel said in shock, viewing the illuminated figure.

"Though the flowers of evil blossom, be it known... Abominations are fated to perish!" The figure, with the flick of their arm, made the festival's lights shone brightly again, causing all the ghost-type pokemon to dissipate and scatter. The figure then seemed to slowly descended from up high, back on the ground. She was wearing a black and red hakama, with a fox that resembled a Ninetales.

"Amaterasu?!" Noel shouted in a mixture of shock and disgust. "I thought I had sealed you away!"

"Amaterasu is an entity of light who has helped our town illuminate through the darkness," the narrator continued. "She is also the sister of Susanno. Now, she is here, confronting Susanno once and for all…"

"Sister," she said to Noel. "Your chaos ends here."

"The only thing that shall 'end' is yourself, my foolish sister!" Noel declared. She then got out a pokeball from her belt. "Behold, my strongest servant! Come!" she then threw it, revealing her Mawile, Amethyst. Her Mawile had a similar dark outfit as Noel, and was more prone to baring her other mouth and her fangs, trying to be as sinister as she can.

"Behold, my partner who embodies the power of the sun!" A brilliant flash made into a ball took form into a small pokemon - it was Luna, who was dressed as Amaterasu. She gave a heroic pose, facing her Mawile foe.

Noel grinned menacingly. "Attack!!" she screamed, ordering the Mawile to charge forward. The Mawile lunged, preparing her Iron Head attack, only for Luna to dodge out of the way swiftly. The Clefairy retaliated using Doubleslap, only for it to be blocked by Amethyst's seco\nd jaw. The two pokemon kept at it, performing their attacks one after another, spilling their battle even outside the stage.

"Behold!" Noel stated, clasping her two hands together. "My faithful minion will now be enshrouded with my overwhelming power!" Noel was then surrounded by a dark aura, that was soon also encased in her Mawile. The Mawile roared, seemingly having herself become powered up. Amethyst quickly jumped, launching her Vice Grip upon the unsuspecting Clefairy. She clamped on to her, then threw her across the stage to the wall.

"You will never defeat my dark power, sister!" Noel boastfully gleed. "What hope do you possibly have to defeat me?!"

"The people's wishes…" Amaterasu softly inquired, turning to the crowd. "The people who I fight for, protect… they will become the source of my power."

Noel glanced back to the crowd, then back to Amaterasu. "What good will it be to rely on insignificant mortals?"
"Individually, they are weak," Amaterasu explained. "But together, their hopes and dreams are enough to illuminate this world that is strong enough to pierce darkness! Now, come together, everyone! Join together… share with me your power!"

Luna and Amaterasu clasped both of their hands together, in a silent prayer. Noel glanced back to the crowd, and then snickered.

"As if the peoples' wishes will be enough to… huh?" light started to stream from the stage, like mini droplets raining down upon a dry surface. It enveloped Amaterasu and Luna, encasing them in a sharp aura of bright golden light. "This... this can't be!What is this power?!"

The aura got stronger and stronger, even going as far as illuminating the stage itself from it. Luna readied her battle stance again, and Amaterasu released herself from her prayer. "You never did understand, sister," Amaterasu inquired. "As long as people work as one, even the faintest of light can pierce the ever growing darkness. Now, it is time to end this!"

Luna raised both of her arms, gathering bunches of light particles from the air. She gathered all the light, and turned it all into a ball. The sphere grew larger and larger in size, as Noel and Amethyst eventually had to shield their eyes from the growing light. "Evil forces, begone!" Amaterasu declared, having Luna throw the sphere of light. The light struck both Luna and Noel, creating a small explosion that made the light burst off. The light exploded into sparkles, that dazzled and dropped throughout the stage, and the area outside the stage where the viewers were watching from. Noel and Amethyst were both gone, but there was still a voice that lingered.

'I WILL return, Amaterasu. Chaos and darkness will never rest… ever.'

"And so, Susanno's reign came to an end, and peace came for the town of Lavender, and for the world," the narrator continued. "To this day, who knows where and when the ever growing darkness will return, but as long as trainer and pokemon hearts are at peace, may that day never come. Thank you for listening, everyone!"​

 

[Aquacorde]

Casey Holt & Jordan Springs & Vera Hill

Friday, May 24, 2019
Lavender Town
Evening, Day 5

5-16: it's a celebration

Spoiler: music

This is good. This is very good for him. This party is exactly the sort of thing Casey likes to insinuate himself into. He hasn't had much opportunity since starting at Cape, but that hasn't dimmed his enthusiasm for such events. Perhaps to someone with data to compare it would seem like it has- he's so far stuck to a much smaller area than he normally would. But it's not like anyone here knows him well enough to notice a difference. And he's not yet itching to go explore the rest of the festival. Though it won't be long. He has visited every stand in his little radius at least twice so far.

He joins the queue once again at one stand in particular, eventually requesting a specific drink along with a few fruit skewers. Third time he's been here for food, first time he's gotten a drink. He has Ginger hold the skewers as he wanders back toward where he'd left Jordan. Pepper would have complained less, but as the plaza became more crowded Casey had opted to put him away rather than potentially set someone on fire.

He walks along the row of chest-high hedges, counting under his breath. Fourth one... He dangles the skewers over the hedge and they're quickly snatched up, as is the pink-tinged drink he offers next.

A noise of disgust precedes grey eyes peeking over the hedge to glare at him. "Casey, what the hell is this?"

Vera brushes leaves out of her white hair as she stands up properly, irritation obviously trumping anxiety. Casey grins at her anyway. "It's punch!"

Vera shakes the cup lightly, making the ice rattle inside. "They call this punch?"

"Okay, I did water it down a little, but-"

"This isn't 'watered down', you spiked a glass of water with a splash of punch! Go get me a real one."

Casey holds his hand out for the cup, but Vera pulls back, keeping it out of his reach. "No, I'm keeping this one, because I'm still thirsty. Just… go get me a real one." She sits back down, once again hidden from the sight of casual passersby.

Casey rolls his eyes at Vera's hedge, then again as he passes Jordan watching those performers they'd spoken to earlier, bobbing his head to the music but completely off-beat. This has basically been his night so far, fetching things for Vera after dragging her from her room because she's holding her highly debatable win over his head and also gets spooked by groups of more than six people. There's gotta be a thousand here; most of Lavender must have turned out for this thing. Amazing! Casey wonders if he'll meet this birthday girl, this Jarmie. Maybe. Though probably not at this same food stall.

This time he requests two parts water and one part punch. Nobody needs that kind of sugar; it's nasty and dehydrating. Vera won't realize, not after he's primed her with the earlier concoction. And indeed she doesn't, though she does look at him with some suspicion. Damn, Casey, neutral face. Not smug.

Vera accepts the drink with a shrug. "Thank you. I should be fine now. I'll be here if you need me."

"Well yeah, you haven't really gone anywhere else. Don't you wanna go see stuff?"

"It's fine. I'm just… partied out." She maintains eye contact for about one second, then looks away from him with a sigh. "Okay, for real, this isn't my scene. I actually kinda hate this. But you… you shouldn't be stuck here with me. I'm probably just gonna go back to my room and get ready for later. You can go enjoy the rest of the party. If I really need something, I… Jordan can come find you."

He knows Vera is kind of antisocial, but not wanting to explore is just weird. Aren't they on a journey to explore? But if she's sure, well… "I'll be back later!"

He bounces randomly from performance to performance, not yet spending much time with vendors as he lets himself be tugged along by the flow of things. Some of the crowd he recognizes- Cape students, trainers from the gym, the woman who sold him Pepper's tanbō- and he chats briefly with several of them. Sees Noel, briefly, but doesn't dare get close to that show. Continues wandering.

It's a beautiful evening, even if that group of ghosts has spiked his heart rate. Why'd she have to use all of those, anyway? He likes her shows. But he can't hang around there, not when she does something like that.

As he's walking, a familiar Rockruff bounds up to Casey. "Oh, hi, Iggy!" Glancing around as he scratches the puppy, he spots Vera a short distance away, trying to get his attention.

Jordan joins up with them too, as Vera scoops up Iggy. "It'll be dark soon. We're going to find those Safari boys now. Just wanted to let you know. We'll see you later, okay?"

Casey tries not to hover nervously. There's no way he's going with them, and he can't stop them from going, and it wouldn't be good for anyone if he tried anyway. They can handle themselves. Well, they can make their own decisions. And they don't have such a problem with Ghost-types. So they'll be fine. Maybe. Maybe he should…

No, he can't go. He knows that.

"If you don't- if you aren't back when I wake up, then, uh, I'll… I'll call Ralph? And she'll go find you." Yes. Good plan. Ralph can do pretty much anything; a graveyard won't be a problem for her.

He wishes it wasn't a problem for him.

"Don't worry, Casey, we'll be fine!" Vera tries to reassure him, then seems confused. "Wait… who's Ralph?"

"Wh- Ralph Gonder? She's got purple hair, dark skin, nose ring…" Vera nods slowly, but is still looking at him blankly. That's baffling. How can she not know Ralph? "You went to school together for three years."

"Oh. Well… I don't think I had any classes with her, then. It was a big school."

"It really wasn't." Casey shakes his head as Jordan snickers. He's getting distracted. "But, uh. Come back safe?"

"We'll be fine Casey. We could even bring you back something cool! Maybe a Rotom?" Vera smiles slyly at him.

"If you do that I will literally die." He actually might. Rotom can probably cause heart attacks, right? Phase through you and stick some nasty ghostly electricity through your heart. Casey presses his lips together as if that will help repress the shudder rolling up his spine. "Do not bring me anything."

"Whatever," Jordan sighs. "You're missing out on a cool experience."

He knows. But it's not enough of a regret to override the fear. "Be safe," he says instead, and waves them off.

He's not quite sure what he's going to do if they come back possessed.

A voice at his elbow makes him jump, the water in his glass suddenly all over his shoes. "Hey, hey, don't look so worried!"

Casey's verbal keysmash is met with a reasonable amount of comprehension- zero- so he forces his words to align properly into the most pressing question: "Are you working right now?"

"Well, technically yes but mostly no!" Sorley tilts their head, hair bouncing even tied up in twin puffs as it is, and laughs. "No no, wait wait, that's not what you really want to know! My Pokémon aren't with me. That's what I was gonna say anyway! Don't look so worried- Golurk and Sableye are up at the graveyard!"

Casey really does not see how this should make him less worried. "So…?"

"So? So Golurk will look out for people! And bring them to me if they're in trouble! Like he did with you! So! Your friends will be fine." Sorley loops their arm through Casey's, yellow batwing sleeves somehow not a hindrance, and tugs him into the crowd. "Hey, hey, you should stick with me! Then you can help them if Golurk has to bring them back, yeah?"

He shoots a last glance in the direction his friends had left in as he's pulled further into the excitement. Well, not like I can do anything else about it. "Besides," Sorley, says, as if adding onto Casey's own train of thought, "you're athletic and stuff, right? Right? I want to do that."

Casey glances to where Sorley's pointing and sees pairs of performers twirling, leaping, lifting, and throwing each other in tune with lively music.

"Oh, absolutely!"

Spoiler: more music

Pepper Bomb • Charmeleon • lv22 | Ginger • Buneary • lv17 | Parsley • Skiddo • lv17
Casey's Profile | Extra Characters / Sorley's Profile | TRAINERS Art | Jordan's SU | Vera's SU

 

[QueenNothing]

JP w/Eleanor
------------------
Courtney's eyes sparkled as she licked her sour cherries ice cream. "It's really that good, isn't it?"

"Sure, it's good alright…" Gwen said, pausing after taking a lick of her mint chocolate chip ice cream. "Fer a Kantonian ice cream." She tried her best to do a Galarian accent, but did so poorly she ended up bursting into laughter. "Nah, it's pretty good. Not quite up to snuff with Casteliacones, but you can never go wrong with ice cream."

"Uhm… yes, it's nice! You can't really go wrong." Sarah giggled back at her. The redhead did so as well.

"Pft, you two should've tried more flavors then! Those tiny cups won't give you the full experience." She pointed at the small vanilla cup that Sarah had almost finished.

"Getting the 'full experience' with the pricier options seems like a scam if you ask me." The black-haired girl remarked.

"And I'd rather not get indigestion now, you know. You should also eat that more slowly."

"Oh heck no, I don't want it to melt away!" Courtney laughed. "It's worth the extra money, too. And… speaking of which…"

"Yes?"

"Where's that boy from today? I wanna go already! I'm scared that other trainers might just get the Rotom first."

Sarah looked back, even more puzzled. "You're probably the only one who's got this crazy idea. And it's also not 9 pm yet, so of course he's not here yet."

"Yes but-" The brunette interrupted her. "It's you who told Richard to meet at 9. You also said Rotom is easier to find when it's really late at night."

"Uhm… you win there. But I'm still so excited!"

Gwen froze right as she was about to take a lick from her ice cream. "...Whose Richard?"

"Yes, look, I'm. So. Excited." Sarah mocked her, in the least excited tone possible. "All I know though, is that with more people coming with us we'll all be safer. And…" She turned towards Gwen. "Richard's just a trainer we met today and decided to come with us." The Unovian trainer nervously nodded in response.

"W-Well that's no worry!" Gwen tried to seem confident. "As long as I get to see ghost Pokemon!"

"Well, that's good!" Courtney chimed in. "But… remember, we're going because of Rotom!" Her eyes were sparkling already.

"I'm sure the, uhm, other Ghost types are nice too." Sarah smiled at her friend's remark.

"Ghost types are super cool and mysterious!" Gwen spoke up. "Rotom is one of many ghosts I'd love to see up close! Man, I just can't wait to get my hands on it!"

"Excuse me?" Courtney turned more serious. "I'm sorry, but that Rotom is for us! You can get whatever else you can find."

Gwen subtly backed away, gently furrowing her eyebrows. "That's stupid. How are you gonna split a Rotom? There's only one!"

"Whatever, it's mine. I just really need it you know?" The red haired girl pouted. Sarah rolled her eyes instead. "For all I know there could be more than just one. It's gonna be alright."

"Well I guess I don't mind that much." Gwen inched slightly towards the Safari students. "I already have an electric type anyways. It's important to have a well-rounded team, so that way you're ready for anything...But if there's a third Rotom, I wouldn't mind catching one for myself." She continued to lick her ice cream.

"Oh, I'll be glad to have you get the second rotom too… if it's even there. I have other plans for a team, actually." Sarah reassured the Cape student. Courtney smiled as well, happy to hear that she was still there in the Pole Position, until the brunette girl turned towards her. "Say, Courtney, you already have an Electric type, don't you?"

"Who cares?" She mumbled, some ice cream still in her mouth. "I just want a cool rare Pokémon!"

"I'm sure there's other cool rare Pokemon!" Gwen exclaimed, pumping a single fist into the air. "Like...maybe there's a Phantump! Or Dreepy! Or maybe even Spiri-" She paused as she remembered an incident that occurred in Rock Tunnel the previous day. "Uh, now that I think about it, there's no way a Spiritomb is around here. But still!"

"I hope so, those are really strong!" Sarah grinned. "I'll say." The Cape trainer snarkily remarked. Courtney, instead, still wasn't quite satisfied with that answer. "No, no, those are still frequent to find compared to Rotom! If only I could find it and catch it… you know, it would just…" She already tried to imagine that scene in her head. Looking down on all of the other Safari Trainers with better Pokémon than her, or who just made fun of her…

"Haha, I get it!" The brunette chimed in again. "No more picking on the Cargo girl!"

"Hey, stop it!" Courtney immediately replied, as she kept going through her ice cream.

"Sure, they have better Pokemon.." Gwen began. "..But they honestly kind of sucked. You saw my battle with Winston, he had Riolu and Scyther, which can be really strong, but he didn't know what he was doing. He didn't even have any kind of bond with his Pokemon!"

"Not like they would notice…" Sarah shrugged, as she finished her ice cream. "Yeah! But this time, they'll have to notice!" Her friend answered, triumphantly.

Gwen, having finished her ice cream, took a bite from the cone. "What I mean is that it doesn't matter how rare your Pokemon is. If you and your Pokemon know each other enough, you're almost unstoppable!"

"Well, of course!" Sarah nodded happily. "Now that I think about it, I should be able to beat people like Winston myself."

"Yeah, but then they tell you that it's all luck and whatnot, don't they?" Her friend laughs it off. "Guess I'll just get a Rotom and shove its Pokéball in their face, it's easier." Gwen shrugged. "I guess you're right, but it always feels good to know that you won fair and square against someone like that." She then tossed the remains of the cone into her mouth.

"Maybe." Courtney replied, just not that interested in that conversation anymore. Sarah agreed with Gwen, instead, but still looked a bit puzzled. "I beat another girl who was kinda like Winston. She behaved for a bit but the next day, she was mocking us as if nothing happened!"

"They're all the same." The Cape trainer stated, remembering something a classmate of hers told her.

Sarah shrugged. "I guess so… Safari as a whole isn't the most, uhm, welcoming place." Courtney nodded in sync with her friend. "Hey, at least the courses were good, though!"

"Makes sense why Galar girl didn't go there…" Gwen gazed into the distance, thinking aloud.

"Gala- who?" The redhead picked up on what the Cape trainer was saying.

Gwen shook her head, snapping back to reality. "Oh, I'm just talking about someone from Cape. She's super rich, but still went to Cape. Definitely makes sense why now."

"Makes sense actually…" Sarah pondered, as Courtney nearly talked right over her. "Oh, it's not worth it! Cape's not as good and it even has some weird admission test…"

"Are you sure, Cargo girl?" The brunette replied sarcastically, nudging her friend's nose with her finger and earning herself a pout.

"Bet I could easily pass that test." Gwen chuckled. "I got amazing grades in my classes at Cape."

"Oh, we have a Pokémon nerd right here!" Courtney laughed. "Then again, I saw you battle… So I gotta give it to you. I guess this would be just right on your level, right Sarah?" She turned towards her friend.

"For sure! I'd love to battle you. Too bad we can't do it now…" The brunette sighed. "We should all keep our team in top shape for this Graveyard adventure thing."

Courtney shuddered at that thought, but hoped that everyone else wouldn't notice. Or at least, that they'd blame it on the cold gusts. Way too scared to go alone, she still wasn't quite at ease even with Sarah and Gwen offering to come along, and even the reward - Rotom - seemed to not be worth it anymore by now. Just don't tell anyone! It will be ok… She thought.

Gwen, to the contrary, was bottling up her excitement, visible from space. Even the mention of ghost-types seemed to light her eyes up.

 

[Aquacorde]

Casey Holt

Friday, May 24, 2019
Lavender Town
Evening, Day 5

5-17: dance the night away

Spoiler: music

Casey lifts Sorley from the hips and tosses them high into a flip, catching their heels and bending his knees to take the impact of their feet coming down on his shoulders. Yes! They've been trying to do that one for a while. It's been a little rough on his scraped palms, but so worth it. Sorley grins down at him, hair falling even further out of their puffy ponytails as Casey spins, slow and controlled, reaching up to catch their left hand with his right in preparation for breaking stance. Casey is strong, and Sorley is light and agile, and that's a great combination for mimicking the performers. Ginger had tapped out after their first stumble- there's no way they can do everything the acrobats are doing, of course not. They're having fun trying, though, and dancing in between attempts!

But they don't go back to their silly moves and dramatic twirls, not this time, because Sorley's attention is captured halfway through their dismount; their expression turns sharp and they're patting his head urgently. "Let me down, let me down-" As soon as their feet hit the ground they're darting through the crowd, tugging Casey along by the cuff of his jacket, ignoring muffled curses and yelps from those they shove aside. They break past a tightly packed wall of bodies in tandem with a resounding thwack and Casey's trying to take everything in while still moving- the circle of onlookers surrounding two parties, a teenager crumpling to the ground, a flushed woman following through on her hook, her two friends' cheers hardly heard above the gang of teens screaming at them. The woman wobbles, steps back to right herself, and Sorley skids to a sudden halt between her and her victim. Casey has to dance around them to avoid tripping, finds his footing only by using their shoulders for balance.

"Whoa whoa whoa hey hey hey what's happening?" For being so small, Sorley easily commands attention. It's probably due to how well they can project, actually- not the time! Way too much going on right now! The assailant blinks- she seems confused, eyes darting around until they land on the person still on the ground behind Casey. Understanding washes over her face and now Casey understands, too- wobbly, flushed, slow on the uptake- drunk. Her friends behind her, too. The others?

With Sorley and Casey- well, mostly Casey- providing a barrier, the unconscious teenager's friends have dragged him to their edge of the ring. None of the voices clamoring for Sorley's attention are slurred, neither of the teens rallying behind Casey are off-balance. He still can't make heads or tails of their story, though, not with the adults in front of them shouting just as loud.

"HEY!" Casey yells, and thankfully the group quiets just long enough for him to point at one of the teens. "You- what's goin' on?"

"She punched Ethan!"

"Yeah, saw that- why?"

"They've been harassin' us all night, all night, we din't do anything-"

"Ah- sch- no-" Sorley shushes the assailant. Her eyes narrow- not great- but she does shut up. "He wasn't askin' you. But-" they turn back to the teenager. "that true?"

"Might be," the boy sulks.

"Nah, nah, c'mon," Sorley's easy tone settles the teens even more. "Help me figure this out."

"Haven't been followin' them all night. Didn't even see them 'till an hour ago." The rest of the teens murmur in various tones of agreement. Aside from Ethan, still out cold with an already-purpling jaw. As Sorley coaxes more of the story from the teens, Casey surreptitiously slides his phone out of his pocket and texts some details to an emergency number. Head injuries are not to be taken lightly.

Huh, Sorley's doing well, Casey thinks, tuning back in, and curses himself immediately as the argument swells again.

"They don't belong here," the boy spits. "All those factory workers, comin' in actin' like this is their town now, actin' like they can come in and celebrate the Warden's birthday, as if they care, no! They're just here for cheap booze. They don't deserve to be here! Go back to your barracks, freeloaders!" - "Trespassers!" - "Leeches!" - "Thieves!"

Sorley again attempts to mediate, but the teens are loud and the adults start in on them as well, insults flying back and forth as both groups lunge at each other. The surrounding crowd, too, is rallying for a fight, egging both groups on, forcing them closer together as the ring shrinks inward. The bottleneck they're creating is a mixed blessing; neither party can get at the other, not with Casey and Sorley between them, but that means the two are very firmly trapped between eight people who are actively trying to punch each other. Casey catches a wrist just before its wild swing catches him in the face, blocking an attempt on the other side with his elbow, and thinks now what?! He's never fought anyone, not for real, what's he supposed to do?

The woman tears her wrist out of his grasp and a single step back is all the warning he gets before she body-checks him. He doesn't go down, but he feels Sorley stumble and gasp at the impact and he can't even focus on them because the other two adults are piling on and it takes all he has to stand his ground, and really now what?! I gotta get out, how do I get out?! His stance is all wrong and he's going down any second, he knows it, his heels sliding back and knees buckling under the weight of three others-

Several people scream in unison.

And Casey's falling forward, all that resistance no longer needed against bodies that aren't there. He catches himself on one knee, looks up to see people falling away, as if a blast of force has radiated from where Sorley's hand rests on his back. The blue glow outlining human forms fades as they hit the edges of the circle pit and crumple against the onlookers' feet.

Casey grits his teeth against the cold sweat breaking out along the back of his neck. Can't go down right now.

But he also can't stand up.

Sorley's fingers tap gently on his shoulderblades and he focuses on that, focuses on breathing, definitely doesn't focus on that terrifying demonstration of power- no! Barely hears Sorley commanding the dissolution of the crowd, notes vaguely the arrival of someone official. He reaches for his PokéBalls but something flits in front of him and he jumps, gasp harsh in his ears, PokéBalls clattering away. His broken focus picks up on Sorley speaking more quickly than even their usual- "Yes yes thank you Missy love you lots really appreciate it I'll see you later leave before he passes out-" and Casey sits heavily, vision starting to blur around the edges.

But Sorley's there, hands on his face, forcing him to look at them. "Hey, hey, he's gone- look at me- don't worry, he's gone, they're all gone, you can breathe now. Do it. C'mon. With me, yeah? Breathe."

It's hard.

But he gets there, shaky breaths eventually slowing to match Sorley's. Patient, is the first real thought he has. For someone so busy, they're really patient.

He's still shaking, but he's in control again. He glances up into concerned but unfamiliar faces. Clears his throat as Sorley sits back on their heels. "Hi."

"Hello," one of them responds quietly. "We need a statement from you. Are you able to do that right now?"

"Uh." He glances to Sorley, who pats his knee. "Yeah, that's fine."

Pepper Bomb • Charmeleon • lv22 | Ginger • Buneary • lv17 | Parsley • Skiddo • lv17
Casey's Profile | Extra Characters / Sorley's Profile | TRAINERS Art

 

[Aquacorde]

Casey Holt

Friday, May 24, 2019
Lavender Town
Night, Day 5

5-18: get up again

Spoiler: music

Casey bounces back quickly.

He kind of has to. If he doesn't pick himself up, who will?

Well, Sorley did. This time. And before, in Cerulean. And Jordan always does, like in Rock Tunnel. Vera did too.

For all his ideas about self-sufficiency, he's been rescued by others with worrisome frequency.

He frowns. Sorley pokes him in the side. "Hey, hey, you can't frown at a party!"

"I can frown wherever I want," is his petualent response, then remembers he's not talking to Jordan. His filter's really off-kilter. He'd thought it was because of Jordan, but- no, he never solved that, did he? It might be Jordan. But it's also dropping around Sorley, now, and he's only met them twice. It's probably all related, somehow.

For all his ideas about constantly moving, he's been stuck on this… thing with Jordan for the better part of a day now.

He's really got to shake this off.

Sorley looks at him quizzically as he shakes his head, but Casey heads them off by letting his mouth turn up into his usual easy grin. "Let's go see stuff, huh?"

They wander, more room for idle chatter now that they're not persistently out of breath from trying to keep up with professional dancers. No, Casey hasn't gotten any Pokémon items yet. Yes, Ginger is warming up to him more. Oh, right, they have nicknames now. Pepper Bomb- yes, after the hot sauce- is a Charmeleon now, and he accidentally caught a Skiddo named Parsley. Why is Casey here?

"What? Uh, this is the way we're s'posed to go. Why are you here?"

"Working! I told you earlier, didn't I?"

"Well, you said technically-" Sorley cuts him off with a dismissive wave.

"There are many many nuances! We have a booth here somewhere that I'm working at but I only am working here and now because there's a party!"

"Who's 'we'?"

"My coworker's here too! Probably at our booth. I hope? She should be, anyway."

"As should you!"

Casey startles at Sorley's shriek as they're scooped up and thrown over the shoulder of a brown-haired woman, perhaps in her thirties and broadly of Casey's stature. "No no Britney whyyyy!"

"Because you're supposed to be helping me," Britney says, striding away quickly enough that Casey has to jog to keep up. "I knew you just wanted to hang out at a party and not actually work!"

"Is that so bad?" Sorley grumbles, chin propped in one hand and making faces at Casey as he tries to keep up as they wind through the bustling crowd. "I made a friend! No, well, no- I made a friend a few days ago, but I found him again here! I couldn't find him if I just sat at a stinky booth all night, could I?"

"The booth isn't stinky, it smells like leather." Britney ignores Sorley's complaints and drops them behind said booth, gesturing in a way that apparently means "put the wares back out, will you?" because Sorley does just that, pouting all the while. "This your Cape College friend?" Sorley grumbles an affirmative.

"Yeah, uh, hi. I'm Casey."

"Britney; nice to meet you." She shakes his hand firmly and eyes him critically. "I heard someone asking around about Cape trainers earlier, wondering if they had gotten to Lavender yet. Guess you have. Did your classmates make it?"

He'd passed by Noel's show, and a few other familiar faces in the crowds. And Bruno at the gym. And of course Jordan and Vera… "Yeah, I think they did. I haven't seen everybody yet, though…"

"Maybe you should check in with them."

Maybe he should.

But right now it's Sorley that's demanding attention, showing him different styles of Mega Stone accessories. "Hey, hey, did you pick which one you're going to Mega-Evolve yet?" Casey shakes his head. That's still a difficult question. And he doesn't even have a Keystone, let alone the appropriate Mega Stones. Sorley laughs brightly, assuring him that they'll be around when they do figure it out.

And under their breath, "See the games booths kind of to the left-ish? Wait over there- I can get away again in about fifteen minutes."

They pretend to wave goodbye for the night with Britney keeping a fairly suspicious stare trained on Sorley, and Casey meanders away, letting the shuffling crowd obscure him. A glimpse of hair the same color as his own has him turning sharply, but the person is gone before he can really look at her. Ugh, that's what he gets for worrying all day about how he's doing compared to his sister. Starts seeing her places she's not. That's annoying.

Bet Aurelia's not debilitatingly afraid of Ghosts…

No! He's not gonna let either of those ruin the rest of his evening!

He joins the crowd gathered around one of the booths. It's for a balloon popping game, but something's weird- Casey gathers that the line has not been moving, and he wonders why that could be for about half a second before he spots the problem and shoulders his way to the front.

"Hi, Debbie!"

She doesn't pay any attention to him. Not until she throws her last dart at a yellow balloon, popping it!

"Yes! Eiscue, Eiscue, Eiscue!" she yells in excitement pointing at a small plushie hanging at the top.

"You only popped one balloon…" the man hosting the game says in a very annoyed tone, taking an even smaller plushie from a shelf to his right. "You get a Meowth or a Seel, you choose."

"Ugh." Debbie goes quiet for a bit, and points at the Seel. Then puts her hand in his pocket and takes out… nothing. "No money…"

"Aww. Don't worry it happens! Tell your parents to give you more next time and come again!" the man says, and in a lower voice he adds. "Or don't."

Debbie picks up five more plushies from the ground and starts walking away, too concentrated on not dropping any of them to realize she is about to crash into Casey. He sets a hand on each of her shoulders and holds her at arms' length. "Geez, watch where you're going! What are you doing with all of those?"

Debbie raises her head to look at him without hiding her disappointment. "Oh, hi, buoy kid." she says. "I wanted that Eiscue over there, but got all of these instead and now I'm out of money. I'll probably leave them in my room once I get back to Vermilion. Do you want one?"

Casey inspects her armful. Misdreavus, Seel, Minccino, Skitty, Gastly and Bounsweet… "How about you win me a Charmander one? Here, I've got money- get that Eiscue, too."

Her expression changes as soon as Casey hands her the money. She drops all of her prizes and jumps at him to hug him, which would have probably dropped anyone smaller. Hugs of enthusiasm are somewhat aggressive. "I'll take it! Don't you want to play, though? A-actually, don't, that'll cost me more money. I'll get the Charmander, and the Eiscue and uhh… that thing over there, and… I don't know. Where did you get the money?"

"Huh? I just have it. I mean, my parents? I guess?" Casey shrugs. "Go ahead and use all of it."

"Uh? Okay! Tell them to give you more, though! Anyways, bye! Have fun and stay away from the ghosts!" she laughs and heads back to the counter and forcefully hits it with both hands. "Got more money!"

Casey steps aside, rolling his eyes at the ghost comment. As if he needs reminding. As if he has a choice in this infested town…

"Boo." A voice at his elbow says, clearly with no intent to scare him. He doesn't jump this time. "C'mon, let's get outta here before Britney notices I'm gone!"

"Debbie's winning me a Charmander," Casey protests vaguely. Sorley surveys the girl critically.

"Well it's not gonna happen anytime soon. Let's go, let's go! I'm hungry, and cold, and there's soup over there."

"You're cold?" It's not even remotely chilly.

"I'm small," Sorley says indignantly. "Buy me some soup."

Casey obliges, which Sorley expresses no small amount of surprise at. But there's no reason not to, really. And besides, something about soup is nagging at his memory. Something Vera said…?

Oh, right.

"Hey, is "soup's on" a Johto phrase?"

"Maybe! I've heard it a lot. But maybe not! Maybe it's a Kanto one, and Kanto people just forgot!"

Sorley chatters on between bites of soup and Casey lets them. It's fun to listen to their theories, their miscellaneous facts about Johto and their random observations. Sorley's brain seems to work like his, which is interesting to see from the outside. And enjoyable to take a backseat to, for the moment, while he thinks about other things.

He didn't think losing to Beaumont would bother him so much. Well, actually… it's not the loss. Most people lose their first gym battle. Despite doing the best he could, the expected outcome still prevailed. He's not upset about losing.

So what's actually bothering him?

The obvious answer is that Beaumont thought so little of Casey that he intentionally handicapped himself. That's irritating, to not be taken seriously. To be given false confidence. To be allowed room to win rather than winning through entirely his own merit. But Casey had lost- he hadn't won unfairly, so all of that is easily put behind him.

Bruno and Vera had won.

Bruno and Vera had won after Casey told Beamont to take them seriously.

There it is.

How far ahead are they, then, to win without lenience? How much stronger than his team is Bonnie, to defeat three leader-trained Pokémon on her own? How much smarter than him is Bruno, to find a way around his own weaknesses? What have they done differently?

Why is he behind?

"You're frowning again," Sorley waves a spoon in their face. "Why's that? Still thinking about Missy? He won't come back, not unless I call him, and I'm only gonna call him if we're in real trouble again, so don't worry!"

"Uh, no, wasn't thinkin' about Missy." Now he is, though. He grits his teeth and dismisses that train of thought. "Was thinkin' about my gym match."

"With Beaumont? Or Jarmie?"

"Beaumo- what? Jarmie? Isn't that the birthday girl?"

"Yeah, yeah, that one!" As if Jarmie is a common name. "She's a gym leader too! Well, not officially. There's a whole thing, that's what the fight was about, you know?"

Casey does not know.

"So, so, the tower, right? In the east? It always has a Warden, and they're important in the community, and they're in charge of the tower, 'cause it's a historic landmark. And Jarmie's the Warden now!"

"That makes her a gym leader?"

"No, no- well- kind of? So, so, the Tomorrow Foundation built a gym and all and put Beaumont in it and that's the official one but a lot of people think that Jarmie should be funded and be the official one because her family's important to the Lavender and Beaumont is just the son of a Foundation bigwig or something like that!" Sorley finally takes a breath, which is somewhat impressive. "Oh, but, now that I say it, they both are what they are because of, of nepotism. Aren't they?"

"Yeah, seems like it." Another gym leader. Beaumont is the one he's being graded by. But another battle is more training. And a chance to be taken seriously, maybe. "What's she like? As a gym leader?"

"She likes music! She plays music during battles. Some people say it's distracting. Maybe that's the point? And she's clever, you'll have to- oh." Sorley grimaces. "You can't battle her."

"Why not? She's a gym leader. She has to take-"

"No, no, you didn't listen right," Sorley sighs. "You can't battle her. She uses Ghost-types."

Oh.

"The tower is right by the graveyard, too. You can't go there."

Sorley's… not wrong. Casey presses his lips together and looks anywhere but at them. He should be able to. He should. There's no reason Ghosts should affect him like this. They're just another Pokémon type, they're just Pokémon, they're just…

They're malicious, they're eerie, they can do things a normal Pokémon can't. They can crawl inside your mind, confuse you, possess you, take your body for their own. Keep you under their control for who knows how long. Make you do things, say things that you never would.

"Look," Sorley says, slipping their hand into his. "It's okay! Everybody struggles! You just gotta learn to cope."

He should have learned a long time ago. He doesn't know what else he can do now.

He lets Sorley steer him along physically, but Casey takes up the reins of conversation. Anything to change topics, anything to get back to enjoying the evening. And he does, for while, but he can feel himself spacing out more often. Losing track of what he was saying. Moving slower, keeping closer to Sorley.

"What're you doing?"

Casey blinks. His head is resting on Sorley's shoulder as they watch a food vendor's flourishes. "Oh. I dunno." Sorley laughs and pats him on the head. "Where haven't we been yet?"

"Oh, oh, I know!" They whirl him around and tug him along by their joined hands, past food stalls they've eaten at and booths they've perused, past the games they'd left Debbie with and the performers they'd learned from. Through light and noise and laughter and cheer and out the other side to stand in a familiar warm red glow.

"The Pokémon Center?"

"You don't stay up late, do you?"

Casey laughs. "It's that obvious?"

"Yeah, yeah, now go to sleep! See you later!" Sorley gives him a quick hug and shoves him through the automatic doors. Well, attempts to shove him. Casey's both heavy and balanced and therefore not easy to move. But he goes willingly, a half-smile and a "good night" on his lips as Sorley vanishes back into the night.

Pepper Bomb • Charmeleon • lv22 | Ginger • Buneary • lv17 | Parsley • Skiddo • lv17
Casey's Profile | Extra Characters / Sorley's Profile | Debbie's Profile | TRAINERS Art