[PKMN OPEN] Z: A Kalos Journey - Rebirth [M] [IC]

Shak · Apr 11, 2019

-Drew Tucker

Kade Andrews

Emma Kuzunoha

​

Life - Best Teacher

"Linda, I need a hot water bottle to bed seven, left aisle."

The woman, Linda; who had been on her knees sifting through the hollow space of the old wooden shelf in the dusty storage room, turned to face the voice that had addressed her. She straightened herself up, doing her best to neaten her uniform. The bobble that had surely been holding her hair together at some point, had gotten lost in the mop of stress and dishevellment that grew from her scalp. She looked up at her colleague with a disheartened frown and shook her head. "We're all out. We're gonna have to start wrapping up splints in towels if things stay the course."

"Lin...hot water bottles." The other nurse snapped her fingers in Linda's face.

Linda tuned out, just for a split second, before lowering her head into her palms. "Tania, I just can't. Beatrice sent me in here for a bedpan, and I've spent the last ten minutes looking for slings."

Tania sighed, her haste melting into pity. The sounds of squeaky footsteps crept through the door of the storage room they found themselves in. Tania looked over Linda and rested a hand over the girl's head. She stepped past her younger colleague and grabbed a bedpan from the corner of the room. "Here, get back to Beatrice." She smiled, holding the bedpan out for the girl.

Linda stumbled through the doors to the ward she'd left just moments before her encounter with Tania. Bedpan in hand, the girl hurried past a drove of groaning patients, reluctantly turning down cries for help as she finally came to a stop at one of the few beds in the room. "How is oh-"

"Mr Heaton, I'm happy to say, there's nothing else wrong with you so the doctor has cleared you to leave." Beatrice stood at the foot of the hospital bed. A man with a large reddened wrap of bandage holding his shoulder in place, sat there, a ghostly expression on his face.

"I think- I think I'd like to stay." The man spoke weakly.

Beatrice's smile faltered and broke into a weak chuckle. "Not that I'm rushing you anywhere Mr Heaton, but surely your recovery would be much more comfortable at home."

Linda backed out of the scene, stepping past Beatrice before letting out a deep sigh.

"Um, excusez moi..." then called out a voice from nearby. A young, slender woman came in the ward from the hospital hall. She who's left eye and temple, as well as both arms were all bandaged, but she was seemingly composed and had fairly good motor skills — enough to walk, at least. "C'est vraiment une foule... Perhaps I can be if some assistance? I offered to help out a short while ago too."

Kade's head perked up, hearing a somewhat familiar voice. He was sitting on the edge of a hospital bed, fiddling with the new ring hanging from his next beside the one that had belonged to his grandparents, unsure of where he had gotten it.

With nothing else to do while he awaited his official discharge from the hospital, he headed toward's the voice to see the familiar face of a young blonde woman. It took him a few moments to remember her name, but it quickly enough came to him that this was Emma - one of his Aquacorde classmates.

"Um... hello?" he ventured, not entirely sure how to initiate any sort of interaction in his current circumstances, "I didn't know you were still here too."

Linda looked between the two trainers. She looked both up and down, trying to formulate some sort of answer to the blonde's question. Before she could speak however, her senior nurse stepped past her.

"I see the two of you are looking strong. I trust you'll be continuing your journey soon enough." Beatrice interjected forcing as much sincerity into her overly rehearsed phrase as possible.

Linda looked at the bandages across Emma's eye. She furrowed her brows, but held her tongue.

"Right... I'm just waiting for the doctor to say I can go," Kade replied wearily.

"I... just wanted to help out a bit," Emma added. "I'm not really as injured as you may think."

"You look pretty injured," Kade said bluntly, "What happened to your eye?"

Emma would only reply with a small, light giggle... that was perhaps in embarrassment. "You'd probably think I was crazy..."

"Would I? I did a lot of crazy things recently," Kade said, toying with the mysterious ring again.

Emma shrugged. "I honestly don't know where to begin," Emma started, almost reluctantly. "You know that black, shadow... thing that appeared in Shalour? Well, I tried fending it off you see, and ummm... Qu'est-ce que tu sais... I got clobbered pretty hard, to put it lightly."

"Wow, that was brave," Kade responded, "I don't actually know how I got injured. I just got back to the tower again, then there was a flash and then I was in a medical area."

"I see," Emma responded politely. "Well, I thank the stars you're alright. You said a 'flash', but you had no idea what it was?"

"It came from the direction of Shalour," Kade replied, "People are saying I got caught on the edge of a nasty attack."

"Ah, well that attack was orchestrated by a group known as Team Cinder..." Emma explained. "They summoned something called a 'Dark Mewtwo', as well as many clones to try and destroy the city. I'm afraid you've unfortunately gotten in the mix of it."

"I see... I'd heard of Team Cinder in passing but this was only my fir- second encounter with them. It's probably my own fault for getting caught up in things, Sky and I chased down one of their members who attacked the Tower. He got away though."

"You guys dealt with Cinder too, huh?" A voice croaked from behind one of the beds, segregated by a curtain, in the corner of the room.

Both Beatrice and Linda were startled by the unfamiliar voice. The senior nurse swiped the curtain away, revealing the bed ridden form of a fourteen year old boy. His skin was littered with scrapes, cuts and bruises, but the most noticeable blemish the boy had been cursed with was the singed black skin that obscured his left arm.

"You're awake?" Linda gasped.

"Drew..." Emma recognized.. she had a pitiful look.

"Drew?" Kade questioned, turning to see his injured classmate. He'd had no idea that he had been in the same room as one of the Aquacorde graduates the entire time he had been there. It took another severel moments before he noticed the charred and blackened skin of the boy's arm and pieced it together with the image of the severely injured youth he'd flopped down next to shortly before he'd been knocked out.

"You were there, at the tower," he splurted out, "I was right next to you when I got knocked out."

"I was pretty sure I was dead." The boy responded flatly. He scanned his person, noticing his charred arm.

"You looked like you could have been," Kade replied, equally flatly.

"I don't suppose you found my Pokemon too..." The boy forced out a chuckle, his back aching as he did. "Or any of my stuff for that matter..." He added, the concern he'd been masking washing over him.

"You were holding a Pokemon when I saw you," Kade said, "I don't think I saw anything else."

"The same person brought you both in," Linda interjected, clutching her hands tightly by her sides. "He didn't give us a name, and I'd be lying if I said I remembered what he looked like, but he told us to tell you to visit the Coumarine Pokemon Center, they'll have what he found of your team." She finished, knowingly slowing the last part of her sentence. She glanced up at Drew, seeing his brows furrow. "He said he found a bag full with pokeballs spilling out...one was empty."

Drew's expression fell. The events of the night atop the Tower came rushing back to him: Victor, Brycen, Mustang, Nebula...Caesar. The last he'd seen of the Scrafty, well...he shook the thought away. Flashes of the scenes in Glittering Cave echoed his mind as he traced the memory. "How long was I out?"

Before Linda could give her more sympathetic recounting of the night, Beatrice stepped forward once again. "We cant be certain how long you were knocked out before you arrived here, but you've been here for two weeks now. Since the night of the fall of Shalour city."

"We weren't certain if you'd make it." Linda added.

"Fall of Shalour city?" Drew mused to himself. "So Cinder attacked the whole thing?"

"I'm afraid so," Emma explained in a small hint of dread. "Avril, Jackson, myself, and a few other of our classmates encountered Team Cinder as well. Both of you said you've encountered a member? What exactly happened?"

"Well..." Kade began, reluctant to relive the events that had transpired in Shalour. He took a deep breath before pushing onwards, "I was outside of the arena when the attack began. Sky noticed that the tower was damaged and got me, since she thought they might need fliers to help rescue people on the higher levels. We rushed over there as fast as we could, the tower was already really badly damaged when we got there. It was on fire, covered in holes...chunks were falling off of it. We sent our Pokemon to help anyone they could and rounded the tower, and when we got there..."

Kade stopped for a moment, feeling the shaking begin again. In his mind he was seeing Victor shoving a Scrafty to its death with casual ease. He forced himself to continue, his voice taking on a cold monotone as he tried to separate himself from what he had experienced.

"We went around the tower, and came across a man on an Aerodactyl. He was wrestling with a Scrafty."

Drew's head shot up at the mention of a Scrafty. He opened his mouth to enquire, but found himself overwhelmed by Kade's relentless recounting of what he'd seen.

"Something was anchoring him to his Pokemon, so it couldn't do anything to him. He shoved it off. Sky and I tried to save it, but he had his Rotom block us. We couldn't do anything but watch as it fell. There was no way it could have survived. He tried to run, so we went after him. We caught up to him, and Sky attacked him. They were battling - they even Mega Evolved their Pokemon. I..." his breath caught and for a moment he felt dizzy and ill, he remembered what he had done and it disturbed him almost as much as the attack on Shalour did. "I came up behind him an-"

"Kade, slow down..." A diamond of clarity formed under the pressure from Kade's mess of an explanation. Though Drew's gaze had lowered once again to the sheet that lay over him, he spoke with an authority that stopped the older trainer right in his tracks. "You said you ran into a trainer flying away from the tower...he pushed a Scrafty off of his mega evolved pokemon? That's Victor, no doubt about it." Every few weeds, a crack of doubt broke through, but the boy clung to the sheen he assumed came with the rigid lack of vulnerability he was showing. "He's a member of Team Cinder, and considering he was trusted to set the charges at the top, I'd say he's a pretty high ranking one too. The Scrafty he pushed off was mine..." His breaths hollowed as he finished his last sentence.

"It was yours?" Kade said, eyes wide in disbelief, "I'm so sorry. We tried to save it, but there was nothing we could do. We really tried."

"I'm just glad I had to find out from you." Drew sunk lower into his bed as he made the statement. As much truth as there may have been to it, the teen truly had no room for glee in that moment. "Bastard would've loved to rub that one in my face. Mr.Tucker, had you tested your pokemon more often, he wouldn't have been willing to throw his life away in search of greater challenges." His impression of Victor grew more and more weary with each word. "Piss off." He huffed in the end. He could feel his chest getting heavier, so soothed the welling with a deep breath, staring out the window over Coumarine. "So what happened to him in the end? And dont make it good news." He grumbled, as he watched a flock of Wingull soar over the city bay.

Kade took another deep breath, steadying himself before launching back into his recount of events.

"While he was battling Sky, I... I had Nimbus grab him and sink his claw into him, that's how we found out he was anchored to the Aerodactyl, we couldn't pull him off and drop him. Then there was another explosion at the tower, our Pokemon were there, we had to break away and make sure they were safe. He tried to hit me, but Cumulus took the attack, she nearly died too but Stratus saved her... I saw something fall from the tower, something glowing and then it was gone. When we got back, there was next to nothing left of the tower, that's when I ended up near you. Moments later, I was knocked out by the attack. Next thing I knew, I woke up in a medical bay with a ring in my hand. I don't know what happened during the rest of the attack."

"I... I see..." Emma could only say. "I'm sorry that happened... that must of been really tough."

She then sighed, going into another thought. "...This Victor person must of been another admin of Team Cinder," Emma could only piece together. "But, how did you meet him? What kind of man is he?"

"He was with professor Sycamore and Jackson's sister, back at the parfum contest. Sick bastard even pretended to be disabled the entire time." Drew grumbled. He grit his teeth when he realised just how long he'd sat with the man - trusted him. "He knows all our names..." He clenched his burned fist. Blood seaped through the cracked skin, like the lava on the back of the flaming camel he'd battled that night. "I sat there and...and told him...about everyone." His throat felt like flames were searing through it as he growled through each word.

Linda sprung foward and did her best to tend to the damage.

"I've met him before too," Kade said "Back in Lumiose, I was with Lillie and we found him battling Brie. He beat her easily and was about to attack her when she couldn't fight back, but Nebby drove him and his Rotom away. He wasn't pretending to be disabled or anything then though. I had no idea he was in Team Cinder... he congratulated me for my perfomance at Parfum Palace when I was battling him before... although battling is a bit of a stretch."

"He's probably been watching us the whole time. Cinder...probably have." Drew responded flatly, only breaking his gaze through the window after he'd said his piece. "Look..." He added, searching his bedside. "I didnt want to bring this to any law enforcement without any evidence but, for a long time, I've had reason to believe that professor Sycamore, Silph company and The Manning Fossil company were all in cohorts with Team Cinder. I lost the documents that would've proved it, but Mr Manning, at least, verbally admitted to me that he's involved." Drew explained, as he gave up on searching. "I...uh, the main reason I didnt act on it sooner, was because I thought if I left it alone it would all go away. I was angry. Angry that Mr Manning's daughter used me to get my parents to pass on buying her dad's company." He stifled a chuckle as he began to tear up. "I just get this nagging feeling, that if I hadnt been so lazy...so stupid...so petty...Shalour...wouldnt have happened." His gaze fell as he finished. A single tear snuck its way through his sniffling.

"I dont think you can be blamed for Sharlour," Kade replied, "But I certainly know how you feel. If I'd been more decisive, been better, maybe I could have done something about Victor back in Lumiose. Certainly, I would have been a bigger help to Sky back in Sharlour if I'd battled him with her properly from the beginning."

Emma had listened quietly, until she gave off a sigh. "Listen you two..." Emma began, almost relunctantly. "I need to tell you both something. Brace yourselves; it's not going to be an easy thing to hear."

Drew found himself straightening his back at Emma's behest. His gaze didnt once rise from his bed spread.

Emma's head and heart were heavy. She had thought she had collected herself from what had happened, but it was still a lot to take in. She took a deep breath and let it out. "...The professor... Professor Sycamore..." she started, with her heart pounding, and the air filled with a forlorn density. She shifted her eyes around the room a bit, trying to buy as much time as she could to garner herself. With the atmosphere quiet, she finally came around.

"Professor Sycamore... is dead."

A silence befell the room.

Beneath the droning beeps of machines, the moans and groans of aching patients and the shuffling footseps of nurses doing their best to allieviate the pains, one could hear the sinking of hearts as Emma spoke those words. Not just from the three young trainers discussing the matter, but from sufferers who had nothing better to do than use the ensuing conversation as a numbing agent to take their mind off of their own situation; as well as those simply familiar with the famous professor's work.

Beneath even all of that, Drew Tucker sat in his bed, snickering. He finally looked up from his bed sheets, a smirk on his face. "What?" He asked with a smile, shaking his head. "What are you talking about?"

"The Professor, myself, and a few other students also encountered Team Cinder," Emma started to explain. "However, against the likes of them, we found ourselves outmatched and cornered... that was until, Professor Sycamore gave as a venue to escape, and a secret weapon to battle against that Shadow Mewtwo... if it weren't for him, none of us would of made it out of there." she shifted her eyes away again, in a conscious effort to try and bury her deep feelings. "...He fought valiantly... right until his end. He's... he's gone."

Kade just found himself standing there, staring off into space. How could someone he had seen nearly every day up until graduating, and even sometimes after, have been erased from the world in the space of one night, because of Cinder's actions. Sycamore had been a good man, and evidently a brave one. It was wrong that he had fought valiantly, saved others and couldn't be standing there to talk about it. Meanwhile, here he was?

"I guess that rules him out as a suspect." Drew's neck creaked. He angled his head, and curled his mouth into a smile. His expression darkened, as he lowered his head once more. "We can't let this stop us though, right? Gotta keep moving on with our journies and stuff...you guys should probably get moving."

"The two of you are ready to be disc-" Beatrice began, but a simple outstretched hand from Linda reminded her of the situation.

"Probably..." Kade sighed, nervously scratching at his arm. His expression was still somewhat vacant as his mind continued to play the information over in his head.

"I should be getting back out there soon..." Emma said, albeit, a tad perplexed. "Will you two be okay? You need not push yourselves too hard after what happened..."

"Yeah..." Kade replied, looking at the wall behind Emma's head.

"...I understand," Emma finally said. "Please, excuse me then." She curtsied to the nurse, as she made her way out of the ward. About midway, she stopped to glance back at Drew, with pitiable eyes. "...Sorry." she whispered, finally making her way out.

Spoiler:

Coumarine City - Hospital​

LinearAxel · Apr 11, 2019

Reflections

Sebastian Allender

Coumarine City

Today makes day fourteen. Every day for the last two weeks Sebastian opened his eyes and fought back the feeling of nausea that washed over him, along with the creeping realization that the horrors that played inside his mind during slumber were memories, not mere nightmares. He swallows that sickly feeling down before rising from his bed.

After getting dressed and pulling his hair back, the shinobi leaves the hotel room that had been so graciously given to him after being taken to Coumarine city. Sebastian glances across the hallway to see the housekeeping cart is parked outside the next room over, meaning his mother had already put herself to work. The woman arrived several days prior, having gotten the first flight out after hearing of the attack on Shalour city, and, after a failed attempt to convince her son to come home, stayed in order to help administer a cure for the Ash Rot illness.

A gentle brush against Sebastian's hip brings his gaze downward, Fay'lene, the newly evolved Lycanroc was leaning against her trainer. Since Shalour's fall, Selkie has felt more comfortable resting in her Pokeball at night, while Fay'lene has chosen to sleep at the foot of Sebastian's bed. The redhead offers her a tired smile and a brush behind her ear. "Let's go."

For the last two weeks, each morning has been the same: Sebastian wakes, grabs something akin to breakfast from the hotel lobby (typically a fruit), and walks to the hospital. Each day he asks one of the nurses if those who attempted to sacrifice their everything are making progress towards recovery. Renia and Victoria, he and Sasha managed to dig them out of the rubble after the collapsing building broke through the psychic barrier. It would seem the barrier stayed strong long enough to shield both trainers and Pokemon from the brunt of the force; both Victoria and Renia were not nearly as...crushed as he expected upon digging them out. Both suffered severe blows to the head, and, fourteen days later, were yet to awaken, yet...they were alive, it's more than so many others could say. If they can find the strength within themselves to awaken, they might recover yet.

Next he peers silently into Emma's room. The light is just beginning to peek through the windows, adding just a glimmer of hope to this desolate place. He opens the door just enough to slip through and places a small pink shell on her windowsill. This new addition makes thirteen, along with a bouquet of wildflowers he and Selkie collected from the route connecting the two cities, the day she was brought in. One of the nurses has a Happiny who happily casts refresh on the flowers when she checks on Emma, which has kept them from wilting.

The gentle brush of Fay'lene's wagging tail alerts Sebastian that a familiar face is approaching, and he quickly steps into the hallway, for risk of waking Emma.

"Hey, gorgeous." Sasha manages an exhausted smile as she sinks down to her knees to hug the wolf Pokemon around the neck. The dark circles around her eyes, along with the sheer exhaustion that radiates from the way she holds herself tell that she hasn't gotten more than a handful of hours of sleep since that night. She squeezes Fay'lene tightly to her as she glances up to Sebastian. "Did you bring your violin today?"

"No, not this time." Sebastian shakes his head. "Maybe this evening. It's a bit early to wake everyone."

"They're really gonna miss your music around here when she gets out, you know." Sasha rests her chin between Fay'lene's ears. "I overheard a doctor say she might be dismissed today."

Sebastian's shoulders visibly relax at her words, the first good news to be heard in days. "Thank goodness--" Realization washes over him as he gazes down at the Ranger, suddenly realizing how unfair it is to rejoice in a cherished friend's wellness when Sasha's family members are still in critical condition.

"Hey, don't give me that look." The blue haired ranger accuses. "It's great that she's better."

Sebastian offers a meek nod. "How's--"

"No change. I'm on my way back now." Sasha rises from the ground after giving Fay'lene one last scratch behind the ears. "We'll talk later, yeah?"

"Of course."

"Cheer up. Things...are gonna get better." Sasha keeps that exhausted, yet confident smile as she walks past the shinobi and his wolf. Her inhuman amount of confidence in such a trying time is something to be admired...if not...perhaps misguided. He takes one last glance at the small window peering into Emma's room and cracks his own smile. "I'll see you soon, Emma."

Not far from Emma's room is Drew's, another friend Sebastian frequents-- albeit, he has yet to actually step inside this one. The guilt that eats away at his stomach as he makes his way to that door prove he has no right. He should have looked for Drew amongst the chaos, he should have known he was in the city along with the rest of them, and he should have searched for him. He didn't even know Drew was in Shalour until the first time they came to the hospital, when Selkie caught a familiar scent and rushes into his room. She pulled back the curtain to see a trainer she was so very fond of lying there, almost dead. Perhaps he wouldn't be in such a bad position if Sebastian had found him, if he had taken the time to look for him.
Better yet, if he had have fought the younger teen when he wanted to leave this life behind him. Drew wanted to end his journey weeks ago, he wanted to leave Team Cinder behind...and Sebastian told him not to give up, practically pleaded that he shouldn't give up, and now he's here...like Renia, like Victoria, fighting for his life. "...I'm sorry." Sebastian whispers as he presses his forehead against the door. It's such a pitiful little word, it doesn't fix a single thing, yet it's all he has, this single, pitiful little word. His shoulders slump in defeat as he steps away from the door. He keeps his eyes downcast as he silently walks away from the door, Fay'lene loyally padding behind him.

The duo leave the hospital and make it to their next destination in silence. On the outskirts of the city, not far from the Route 12/Coumarine City sign, is a small, makeshift memorial. Small stones are laid in a circle, and a broken branch has been planted in the center, both wildflowers and store bought flowers have been placed underneath the branch, and on a metal slab, drilled into stone, read the words:

In Memory of Augustine Sycamore, Professor, Teacher, Father, Friend.

***Flashback***

Sebastian and Selkie make their way down the path that becomes Route 12, the fire fox padding several feet behind her trainer, clutching the two halves of her broken branch. The fur underneath her eyes is darker, still damp from the tears she began to cry the second Sebastian called her out of her Pokeball.

The shinobi stops mid stride to turn back to his partner, a Pokemon that is nearly unrecognizable to him in this state: In all the time the two have been together, even when Selkie was a young Fennekin who could sit in Sebastian's palms, he never once thought of her as small. She was so brave, her personality so bold and passionate, she had always been larger than life. Now the fire had been snuffed out of her eyes and her heart, the passionate that once resonated in every little hair no longer evident. Sebastian turns and kneels so he can scoop the devastated fox into his arms.

Together they walk along the route, searching for trees with fallen branches. Each time they come across one, Sebastian sets Selkie down and lets her hold it, and each time the little fox grips the branch in her hands, studies it...and shakes her head.

"Don't worry." Sebastian puts on a small smile as he touches Selkie's head. Their quest to find a new branch was a desperate attempt to lift both their spirits, finding Drew in the hospital left Selkie in such a hysterical state that Sebastian had to take her away. They had to do something, something to get their minds off the sheer helplessness they both felt. The broken branch only amplified that helplessness, leaving Selkie in a weakened state. Searching for a new one...they could at least feel as if they were doing something; gaining strength back after the fall. "We'll find one."

"Brai…"

A gentle ruffling from the bushes causes Sebastian to stagger back to his feet and stand in front of Selkie, expecting a wayward Cinder grunt to leap out. His harsh glare fades instantly when the figure steps out into the open, revealing not a black and red clad grunt, but a black and white clad trainer-- wearing a hat that made her look like fox ears were poking out. Her garb reminds him of traditional breeders, in a way, and in her hands is a small bushel full of berries.

"Woah--! Sorry, didn't mean to startle you there." The young girl looks from Sebastian to Selkie, and her eyes widen at the sight of the fox. "Oh, wow! She's beautiful! Can I pet her?"

"Ah…" Sebastian glances down at Selkie, who nods and steps forward. Normally the fire type jumps at the chance to make new friends, yet now she seems to be stepping forward only out of necessity. "Yes, go ahead."

"Hey, cutie." The girl smiles as she hunches down onto her knees and sets her basket down, then begins to pet the fox behind the ears. When Selkie lifts her head to reveal her tear-stained face, that smile quickly fades. "Oh...hang on." She reaches into her bag and pulls out a small container of tissues, which she uses to bad the fox's face. "I know...today's a sad day…" It's only then that the breeder sees the broken branch laying where Selkie once stood, and the uncomfortable way she's holding the branch currently in her hand. "Ah...I get it...you really don't like this one, huh?"

The breeder eases back into a sitting position and looks up to Sebastian. "I guess you've figured out that not just any branch will do."

"It seems that way." Sebastian nods. "You seem to know a lot about Braixen, miss…?"

"Kyoko." The breeder nods in acknowledgement. "I've done a lot of studying on the Fennekin family line. And Vulpix. All foxes, basically."

"Sebastian."The shinobi returns her nod. "And this is Selkie."

"Cute name. It really fits her." Kyoko hands Selkie the tissue before resuming petting the Pokemon's head.

"Thank you." Sebastian decides to sit across from the young woman, looking down at her just feels awkward. "Is there something we should be looking for in a branch?"

"Well...all Braixen and Delphox are different. It's about as helpful as a Damp Rock in a rainstorm to say, but...it just needs to feel right to them." Not the answer anyone wants. Quick, bring the mood up with a fun fact. "...Did you know that roots can grow out of a Braixen's broken branch?"

"Ex-cuse me?" Sebastian asks. How is that possible? It's not a sapling, it's a stick.

"I'm no scientist, I can't really say how it happens, but I've seen it." She looks at the confused faces and leans forward. "Why don't you guys plant this one? You'll see. Once it takes root it'll sprout."

Sebastian looks at the broken stick on the ground and begins to question this young woman's grip on reality. "What...do you think, Selkie?"

"Braai?" She's just as confused as he is.

"Try it? If it doesn't work, you can look back on this and laugh about that crazy girl on route 12 that told you to plant a stick." Kyoko encourages. These two look like they need to do something to get their minds off their troubles. She has no way of knowing that they were so closely involved with the fall of Shalour, though one look into Sebastian's tired eyes, or Selkie's tear stained ones, and it's easy to see they've been through something terrible. Since Shaour is just a stone's throw away...she can make an educated guess.

Selkie turns around and walks back to the broken branch, and picks up one side in each hand. She then walks over to Kyoko and holds the two sides out to her with a puzzled look. Which side goes in the ground?

"Like this." Kyoko takes one side of the branch and points it downward.

Selkie keeps the broken end pointed down and returns to Sebastian, where she peers up to him with a determined glimmer in her saddened eyes. She wants to try, with so much death and destruction, she wants to help bring something pretty and vibrant into the world.

"Okay." Sebastian hoists his partner into his arms. "Let's try it."

"Perfect! I've got to get these back to the center. Maybe we'll run into each other again?" Kyoko gathers her collection of fruits and stands. This is something they need to do on their own.

"I hope so." Sebastian waves as the breeder scampers back across the trail. What an...odd young woman. A well meaning yet...odd young woman. As she fades into the distance, Sebastian holds Selkie close and begins to stand. "Where should we plant it?"

"Xen…" Selkie looks around the area. There's plenty of trees here, if they plant it here and it grows, how will they know which one is theirs? She points down the path they came from, closer to the city, where the trees are more spread apart.

The duo had walked for no more than a minute when a snapping sound from above causes Sebastian to stop. A branch has broken free from one of the taller trees and falls free, landing directly in front of them. Strange, Sebastian thinks to himself. There's little wind today. Did a Pokemon break that branch free? He looks upward to search for a rambunctious Aipom playing a prank, or an ornery Spearow shooing them from its nest. While he sees neither, there is something about the tree that catches his eye: There are large portions where the bark has broken off, leaving behind a sheer white. The tree best known for such an appearance is…

A Sycamore tree.

Sebastian quickly sets Selkie on the ground and grabs the branch. "Selkie...do you know what this tree is called?"

She merely shakes her head.

"It's a Sycamore tree." Sebastian smiles sadly as he holds the white branch out to his partner. "I think...I think the Professor wants you to have this."

Selkie's eyes widen, and as she reaches for the branch, they begin to swell with tears. She takes the white branch in her hands and hugs it tightly to her chest, letting out a loud, desolate sob as she buries her face into her trainer's chest.

An hour later, once Selkie had cried herself out, it became all too evident what needed to be done: The duo found a grassy space barren of trees for several feet in any direction, and had a small memorial service for their professor, where they planted the broken branch in his honor. At the time, they could only write his name out with pebbles found along the pathway, though, after Sebastian's mother arrived, and was shown their makeshift memorial, she ordered a proper engraving.

**Present day**

Sebastian calls Selkie from her Pokeball, and she walks along the pathway until she finds a suitable flower to join the others. She picks the tiny plant and places it in front of the stone, before she returns to Sebastian's side, a little hand gripping his pant leg.

"Wish us luck, Professor." Sebastian puts on the bravest smile he can. "We're going to make you proud."

End

Evily · Apr 12, 2019

Minami 'Mina' Haruka
Status: Route 12 | Mission 1 - The Race!

Inventory

Spoiler:

Mina looked around the Baa De Mer Ranch in awe, seeing all the Skiddo and some Gogoat, "Woah, there's a lot of them." Some Skiddo were resting on the soft grass others running around, and a few were with some Gogoat grazing.

"Excuse me? Are you here for the race?" asked a voice, causing Mina to turn and see a young man about Jackson's age with curly brown hair and sea blue eyes, wearing a white jumpsuit and matching pants, a brown hat resting on his head. "If so, im sorry, but you are going to have to wait until next year."

"Race? What do you mean?" asked Mina, glancing at Electra who was on her right shoulder, glancing at the male. Race? There was a race occurring? But why did the male say to wait until next year, and he sounded disappointed while saying it.

"The Baa De Mer Ranch, us, was challenged by one of their rivals back in Unova, but…" the male frowned as he swepped his hand towards the grass types. "Half of our troops are gone helping out at Shalour, our main lead, the strongest and fastest Gogoat, is under the weather, and the others are either in the same condition or aren't enough to handle the challenge." Mina looked over to where the man pointed and saw that one particular Gogoat was resting inside the shed, with about two workers looking over him. "We are in the middle of looking for a replacement, but so far, no such luck…"

"What about the Skiddo?" asked Mina, seeing some Skiddo racing each other. The man glanced at her and then at where she was looking. "We do have one, it was personal trainer by our prized Gogoat and its coach, but the problem is that its shy, every time we try to get it to enter a race, it backs down. Must be scared to enter a race since it will be its first time." The man points to a specific Skiddo laying down under a tree by the shed. "Oh, right. I'm Jack, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Jack. I'm Minami Haruka, but you can call me Mina." Mina smiled as she shook the man's hands before looking over at the shy Skiddo, who was lifting its head to look at the sick Gogoat before glancing at the other Skiddo running around, a familiar expression appearing before disappearing just as quickly. "Hey, who are the challengers?" asked Mina as Jack led her down to the shed, waving to fellow workers along the way.

"The challengers?" Jack grimaced at the thought before frowning, petting Gogoats mane. "I don't know how many are coming, but I can assure you they aren't what you expect."

"Aren't what I expect?" Just as Mina was going to ask more, one of the co-workers ran towards them, warning them that the Unova challengers are here. "****, the race is going to start soon now that they are here. I'll see you later Mina." Said girl watched as Jack ran off to help his fellow workers get everything ready for the race before turning back to the field, watching the shy Skiddo glance up at the shed before frowning and glancing down, almost as if ashamed?

"Hah! I heard your best rider is down! This will be a piece of cake!" laughed a male voice, heading towards the oval tracks next to the field, "We are definitely going to win this this year!" "What are you saying Tao? We aren't only going to win this year, but the rest of the years coming as well!" The two voices laughed as Jack tended to the sick Gogoat, sucking his teeth, listening to the challengers talk.

\Timeskip/

"Jack! Let me participate!" Jack, tending to a dirt Skiddo, turned and saw Mina walk up with the shy Skiddo from before, but lagging behind. "What? Do you have a ride pokemon?"

"I don't, but I managed to convince Skiddo to be my partner for this race." smiled Mina as she petted Skiddo's head, earning a hesitating cry. She remembered the memory well: approaching the shy Skiddo and telling him about the situation and how they needed his help. At first, he shook his head, looking scared, so Mina asked if he was scared to face the challengers, only to have the Skiddo look away in shame. She assured that being scared isn't bad, Gogoat must have also went through that, he just learned to face his fears and reach the goal with all his strength. Gogoat wouldn't be angry at him for backing down, you have to learn when to step up or to bow down from some battles. After the little pep-talk, she was on her way to ask Jack to join the race using Momo when she heard footsteps, or more like hooves steps, and saw the shy Skiddo slowly walking up to her, looking at her with shaky, but determined eyes. "He wants to win this race and make Gogoat proud, this battle being of those to step up and fight head on."

"Are you sure? That Skiddo is the only one who has the strength to keep up with the challengers, so it's going to be 2 vs 1?" asked Jack, unsure if he should let them enter the race. He did want the race to go on, but in their favor. Without Gogoat, it wasn't possible and the shy Skiddo's fears might overtake it before the race finished, stopping their win. "I'm sure, we have to do this. You're not the only one who hear the challengers bad talk the ranch." Mina frowned, remembering their words, "We'll make sure they regret underestimating us."

\Timeskip/

"Alright, Pokemon and riders, at the starting line!" called Jack, acting as the referee for the race. Mina, who was dressed in an outfit similar to Jack, but sky blue in color with her hair tied into a high ponytail, walked towards the starting line with the shy Skiddo, who was fidgeting, looking around with timid eyes.

"It's okay Skiddo, don't worry. We can do this." Mina tried to encourage her partner, but the words were shot down the moment two Zebstrika appeared, one on each side of her. Both had their riders already perched on their back, a male and a female.

"Well well well, look who they got here." Mina and the shy Skiddo turn to see the male Zebstrika rider smirking at them, "So they're letting little kids enter the race too? How poor…"

"Aww, don't tease them Tom. It's not their fault the adults suck." smirked the lady, the male 'Tom' laughing at her words. "Excuse me, this is a race, not a mouth-off contest. Leave the course if you're in the wrong track." hissed Mina, pissed at their words. The shy skiddo only neighed nervously, slowly shrinking away at the menacing gaze of the two Zebstrika.

"What did you say, you brat?" hissed Tom, not liking Mina's attitude. "I don't appreciate little brats who have an attitude." "I wouldn't have one of you can control yours, so zip it." hissed back Mina, but held back a pained whimper when the lady, who was on her other side, pulled on her hair.

"Leave the race to the adults, little girl. This isn't a playground." glared the lady, pulling on Mina's hair harder, causing her to let out a pained shout, attracting attention.

"Hey Kim! Physical Attacks aren't ok in this race! I see you doing it once more and you're out of the race!" called one of the referee's who arrived to help Jack with the race. The lady, Kim, frowned and let go, glaring at the girl.

"Look what you made me do! I got in trouble because of you brat!" "Then don't do it if you don't want to get in trouble, simple as that!"

"Are you racers ready?!" called out Jack with his helper beside him on the side of the track. Mina glared at the two racers before leaning into Skiddo, looking forward, the other two racers copying her position. "Ready...set...GO!"

All three Pokemon speed off, running around the track while avoiding each other, or one was avoiding the other two. As Mina and Skiddo entered their third lap, the male racer, Tom, appeared beside her, "Do you really think you can beat us brat? We are the best in Unova!"

"Thanks for the commentary, but this is Kalos, not Unova." retorted Mina, encouraging Skiddo to go faster and pass Tom. Just as he was going to pass, a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed her hair, trying to pull her off once before leaving just as quickly.

"Tch. You held on pretty tight, you got lucky brat." hissed the lady rider, Kim, as she appeared on Mina's other side.

'Did she? Are you serious?' Mina glared at the two, knowing that it was Kim who pulled her hair, trying to get her out of the race in a cheap way. "So you're resorting to cheap tricks now? How low of you." Before they could say or do anything, Mina encouraged Skiddo to go faster, and faster he went, passed the two riders and a whole lap ahead.

\One Lap Later/

Mina smiled at how close they where, a couple steps left to reach the finish line. "Come on Skiddo, we are close." Skiddo let out a happy cry, speeding up, only to fall when he tripped over...a hoof? Mina was launched and landed beside Skiddo as she saw the two other riders race passed them, smirking at the fallen duo.

"See ya next fall!" Mina ignored their jeers and crawled over to Skiddo, checking him over.

"Are you ok Skiddo? Does your leg hurt?" Skiddo looked over at Mina, surprised at how caring she was even though she scraped her hands and knees on the ground and had dirt all over her, but was making sure he was ok first. He nodded and cried out before standing up and shaking off the dirt, waiting for Mina to jump on his back. Mina smiled and slowly stood up, only to fall back down as she grabbed her ankle, hissing at the pain radiating.

"I twisted my ankle, Skiddo, can you kneel down so it's easier for me to get on?" Skiddo nodded and kneeled down beside her, leaning over a bit so she can get on easier, standing back up once she was secured on his back. Mina, once again, hissed lowly as her hands grabbed Skiddo's horn, her hands hurt from being scrapped on the ground and grabbing his horns without treating it first hurt, but she endured the pain. "Let's win this race." And Skiddo ran off, slowly catching up with the Zebstrika and passing them as the riders watched the duo in shock at their quick recovery.

"How?! I thought you made sure to trip the Skiddo to where her ankle would twist?!" "I did!" Mina ignored their talk as Skiddo passed and rushed with all its might, passing the finish line, making a whistle blow.

"Mina Haruka and her Skiddo are the winners!" Mina smiled tiredly as she slowly got off Skiddo, hissing at the pain on her right ankle, but stood either way. She looked over to Skiddo and pet his head, but was interrupted when a hand roughly grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, facing a furious Kim.

"How dare you! You were supposed to have give up when we tripped you and injured your ankle! Not get back up! We were supposed to win, not a brat!" she hissed, using her other hand to grab Mina's hair, about to pull, when Tom came and grabbed both her hands, pulling her away from Mina, looking nervously at Jack and his helper who were nearby. "Kim! Don't give us away!"

"You did what?!" roared a voice, causing everyone to flinch and turn, seeing an old man standing beside the referees, glaring at the two Zebstrika riders. "I didn't train you two this way! To use cheap tricks to win!" The old man stomped over to the two grabbing their ears and pulling them away, earning pained cries. Mina watched the two get scolded while fixing her hair, surprised at the old man's appearance.

"Are you alright Mina?" asked Jack as he approached her, hearing the two rider's talk and looked at her worriedly, noticing her put less pressure on her right ankle.

"I'm alright, it's just a small sprain. Nothing much." "But-" "It's nothing, don't worry." jack sighed as she pushed away the subject, but smiled as he saw how happy Skiddo was, never seeing him this happy before. "Mina, I have something to give you for helping us."

Mina looked over at Jack as she grabbed her clothes, about to leave and get changed. "A request?" Jack held out a ™ disk, placing it above her clothing. "It's the ™ Agility. We taught most of the Gogoat and Skiddo this, but there was no need for us to each it to this guy with his amazing speed. So i'm handing it down to you since we won't need it for awhile."

"But what about when you get more Skiddo or Gogoat in the future?" asked Mina, surprised that he was giving her a ™. "We have another one, don't worry."

Shak · Apr 13, 2019

-Drew Tucker

​

Mustang & Sally

The decrepit form of a hobbling fourteen year old drew the attention of many a civillian in Coumarine city. The boy limped through the streets purposefully. He barged past everyone that refused to leave his path before they met. Not one victim garnered any sympathy.

Drew Tucker, draped in the seared hoodie and dri fit tracksuit bottoms he wore that night, stood before Coumarine Pokemon Centre. His expression fell, as his mind wandered. Sycamore. Caesar. Of course he was excited to be reunited with his team, but those two were just a reminder that things were never going to be the same. No doubt his zombie like appearance was causing distress among the patrons of the centre as he stepped through the doors. That was none of the boy's concern. "Excuse me, my name is Drew Tucker, I've been told my pokemon were left here." He practically threw himself at the front desk, startingling the Pokemon nurse who almost spilled her mug of tea.

"Tucker? I can take a look, but the name doesn't rin-"

"Take a look. Please." As he cut the woman off, there was a brief silence before she set her mug down and walked into a back room.

It was the longest wait of Drew's life. His eyes burst from his skull as he watched the woman return with a small box.

"Can I just have you answer a few questions first, just to confirm your identity." She spoke softly, looking the teenager up and down, her expression filled with concern.

Drew however, couldnt take his eyes off the box. The thing looked like a rubik's cube. It was made up of a bunch of smaller cubes. Certainly not the type of thing Pokemon Centres usually handed out pokeballs in.

"How many pokemon are in here?"

"Eight." Drew responded absentmindedly, staring at the box.

"I'm sorry, there are seven in there. I can't give you the bo-" The nurse sighed and began to walk back into the back room.

"Right, Caesar..." He interrupted again. "There should be an eighth ball in there. Empty. An egg too."

The nurse stopped in her tracks and turned to Drew. A smile crept onto her face. She walked back up to him, and handed him the box.

As he opened the box, the first thing he noticed was there was indeed eight pokeballs. He furrowed his brows. At no point on his journey did he ever have eight active pokeballs. With Caesar gone, he knew he had to count that out, so he should've been down to seven. There was Nebula, Mustang, Levi, Zephyr, Wailmer, Salad. Six. One of those undoubtedly was the empty ball of Caesar. "Brycen?" He muttered to himself. He'd lost the Quilladin's pokeball as early as Santalune city. Whoever saved him really took care of everything.

The nurse emerged from the back room again, this time with his backpack in her hand. Drew's 'saviour' had even organised his bag compartments. Drew searched through, even finding the electrizer he'd recieved back in Lumiose. "Man...who the hell is this guy?" He sighed, rummaging through the rest to see what else he could find. "Hey, do you know what he did with my egg?" He asked the nurse.

He matched her expression as he noticed her frown.

---

The saviour had his egg. Were they his hero or a thief? Drew wasnt even sure what the difference was anymore. People he'd trusted, people he'd accused, people he'd loved; all diverted his expectation at some point. Coumarine's docks were as good a place as any to sit and contemplate just how life had screwed him over once again. It wasn't the time to sit and wrack his brain over what went wrong. Instead, he just rested his head in his clasped hands and watched the fisherman pass by.

With a deep breath, he pulled out two of his pokeballs. A tense sense of trepidation scraped across his bones like a wire. The first ball burst open after he dropped it, revealing a weary but healthy Quilladin. The two met eyes, before a nod was shared, and no words exchanged.

The Quilladin looked at the second ball expectantly. His trainer had always paired him up with Caesar the Scrafty. After their battering at the hands of that Camerupt, the two were surely in for a session of boot camp in order to close that gap. From the ball, an unexpected pokemon emerged. Not Scrafty, not Kingdra, not even the capable new recruit in Wailmer, instead a pokemon Brycen didnt even recognise. It was sleek and black, gold rings decorating its fur. He looked up at his trainer, who seemed just as surprised as he was.

Drew reflexively clawed his pokedex from his bag and pointed it at the pokemon in front of him. He recognised it, but part of him refused to believe what he was seeing.

Umbreon, the evolved form of Eevee
The Moonlight Pokemon
When exposed to the moon's aura, the rings on its body glow faintly and it's filled with a mysterious power.

"Neb?" Drew barely managed to push out a single word. He stared at his evolved pokemon, dumbfounded. "I always thought Eevee evolbved when they really liked their trainer..." His voice broke as he choked up. He pulled his hood down over his eyes, but his mouth curled into a grin. With his sight obscured, he didnt notice the black pokemon walk up, until she rubbed her ear against his hanging black hand. "Thanks, Nebula." He smiled, looking down to his pokemon.

The Umbreon wasnt satisfied with just acknowledging her trainer. She scampered over to the Quilladin, who'd watched things take place, with an unimpressed scowl. She stood before him and lowered her head. The grass type recoiled slightly, but composed himself and balled his hand up into a fist, playfully nudging the Umbreon's head away with it.

Drew chuckled at Nebula's disheartened reaction to the gesture. It was the first time he'd actually seen the duo get along...somewhat. He glanced down at the rest of his pokeball, that he'd now attached to the strap of his bag again. "I guess the rest of you won't wanna be cooped up in those things after all this time either, huh?"

Brycen and Nebula watched in awe as Drew tossed pokeball after pokeball, a member of his team appearing with each flash, and a memory along with them. Zephyr emerged, the Gligar instantly zipped toward his trainer, hugging tighter than he'd ever hugged him before. Wailmer and Mustang emerged, the whale especially causing a large wave that washed across the port. Salad emerged, the Leafeon bounding excitedly at just the thought of being out of his pokeball after so long.

Drew couldnt help but smile. Even with everything that had gone wrong, he continued to get stronger, despite it all. He weathered the seasons, and came through with his roots in tact. It wasnt all sunshine and rainbows though. He still had awkward encounters he had to ammend. He glanced down at the Leafeon, who was now struggling to get the upper hand against the Umbreon who was now much more capable of shoving him off. Then he glanced at the two water types, the larger of whom was waiting eagerly to reconviene with the new trainer she'd barely been able to spend any time with. The Kingdra however, was already zooming around the docks. Drew smiled warmly at all three.

The grass type was never going to be a fixture on his team, especially given the fact he wasnt his to begin with. He'd have to give him back to Avril soon. Just watching Wailmer over in the water saddened him. As much as he loved the idea of having a Wailmer, it just wasn't practical. He had to make it work somehow. Mustang. That Horsea that was just being a nuisance at his lowest point on Ambrette beach. Now here he was, a Kingdra. With all that said, he'd had two battles. One where he took hits and just raced around a bit, and another where he just...ran. Drew had come to the conclusion that the the water type wasnt cut out for battling. He'd have to let him go too.

---

The young trainer rubbed the head of the Gligar nuzzling up to his cheek. His eyes were following the relentless tracks of the Kingdra, as he Nebula and Salad sat on the Wailmer's back. He glanced back at the banks, where he'd left Levi and Brycen. The two seemed to be doing Levi's tower thing, so Drew felt it best to leave them to it.

"Woah, there buddy!" A voice from the port caught Drew's attention. He turned to the sight of a couple of canoers helping their capsized friend. The trio seemed to have gotten caught up in Mustang's storm. "Is he yours?" One of the canoers shouted, noticing Drew.

Drew's body stiffened. He really didnt need this kind of confrontation. "Sorry, it won't happen again!" He shouted back with a sigh.

"Won't happen again? He's an awesome beast! He's got all the energy in the world!" The first man laughed as they rowed closer. It was only then that Drew noticed the team of Sharpedo that were swimming alongside them. "You ever think of putting him in races?"

"I only caught him not too long ago. I'm a trainer myself." Drew hummed, watching Mustang intently. He looked down and observed the canoers more closely. "You guys race?"

"Not quite. We're travellers. We're canoeing round each region. These boys keep the longer parts a little shorter." The canoer laughed, as he gestured toward the Sharpedo, who grumbled beneath the water. "I'm Rory, this is Sally and the wet guy over here is Owin. Don't blame your Kingdra, Owin's a terrible canoer anyway." Rory laughed at the sharp glre Owin shot him at the insult.

"Drew." The young trainer responded. "The Kingdra's name is Mustang...and umm..." He began, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Honestly, I've been thinking about letting the big guy go. Then you guys show up, all this interest in him, even the perfect situation..."

"Nohoho, not a chance pal." Rory chuckled. "Your Mustang is a beast, but we're not here to take him from you."

"Look, it's something I've put a lot of thought into. We've been through a lot recently." He raised his charred arm for the canoers to see. "I think its hit Mustang harder than most, and he could do with a change of pace. He was never really cut out for battling anyway. I'm doing this for him, not me." All four of them looked over to the water type again. He was still going. "He's got all this energy, but hasnt found somewhere to put it yet. All he needs is some direction." Drew finally finished. He tossed the Kindgra's pokeball for the for Rory to catch. The older man scanned it for moment, before tossing back to Sally, who caught it hesitantly.

The woman glanced back up at Drew and furrowed her brows. "You're not gonna say goodbye?"

"Honestly...he won't even notice I'm gone."

Spoiler:

Coumarine City - Coumarine Bay​

Stinging Bea · Apr 13, 2019

Avril Morris

Couramine City

Chapter 21-3 | Change Part III

Current Party:

Avril didn't utter a single word as she slowly walked back towards the hospital. Her mind was racing. A wave of emotions were rushing through her. She didn't know what had happened... She didn't know how in the world she had brought herself to do it. In a single instance, the Cinder grunt was gone. He wasn't captured by the rangers or the police. He would face no trial. He was essentially proclaimed guilty and punished by Avril in a fit of rage. It was because of that rage that his soul was now removed from this mortal coil.

Avril closed her eyes, trying her best to try and clear her mind from the thought of what she had done. It was an idea that proved fruitless, however. The moment she closed her eyes, Avril found herself staring down at the now headless corpse of the Cinder grunt. She could feel the cold steel of the pipe in her hands, with the sounds of flesh being smashed against it echoing through her ears.

The very thought of it made her sick.

"Emma... Let's just get back to Emma..." Avril said quietly, leading the way back into the hospital.

The blonde quickened her pace as she made her way back to the detective's room. Her face was pale. Her body was shaking. The blood of the grunt was still splattered on her shirt. She was most likely a sight to behold. Avril found herself having to thank Arceus that it was late enough that virtually no one was around. The girl stepped into Emma's room, alerting both her Greninja and Jigglypuff as she arrived. Shino stared at his trainer as she brushed by him, not even offering the frog pokémon a brief greeting in the form of a wave. A concerned look was in his eyes as he watched Avril take her seat back beside Emma's bed before turning his focus towards Marble. The Flaaffy merely shook her head in response. Shino was perceptive enough to tell that something had happened while the duo was out... Something about Marble seemed different than usual. At the same time though, he seemed to realize that inquiring with the sheep pokémon was going to be pointless. It was as if Marble was a million miles away.

"She's still out..." Avril thought with a sigh. She honestly couldn't tell if she was relieved or worried over this fact. Maybe it was a strange mixture of both. "At least she won't be able to see me like this... I should maybe use this oppurtunity to change or something..."

"Mm..." The shifting of bedsheets suddenly came, followed up with some light groaning. It was coming from the bed where Emma was sleeping in... and Emma herself. Slowly, she could feelher consciousness returning, and slowly, her eyes started to open. Her vision was blurry at first, and the light of the room she was staying in blindsided her, until she became more and more accostumed to it, as her eyes have now somewhat fully opened. She had a severe headache, her arms were numb, she could still taste a small aftertaste of blood from her mouth... but she was awake, fully conscious. "Oh..." she moaned, slowly rising herself up. "Where... am I...?"

Avril froze. She slowly turned around, her eyes quickly meeting those of a groggy and confused detective. "...E-Emma...?"

Doing the same, Emma turned her body a little in response to someone calling her name... to meet the gaze of her worried, seemingly grieving friend. "Is that you... Avril...?"

The thoughts of changing her clothes and cleaning herself up vanished. The younger of the two blondes quickly pushed her way towards Emma, thankfully catching herself before she outright pounced on the recovering girl and instead settling placing her hands on her shoulders as she looked the detective over.

"Thank Arceus you're finally awake..." she sighed, relief evident on her face. "You had me worried sick..."

Emma greeted Avril with a weak smile. "S-Sorry," she apologized heartily. "I'm... sorry to have worried you... oh..." she felt her head throbbing. The incident seemingly caused her head trauma, but luckily it didn't seem too serious enough that she couldn't at least talk.

"Hey..." Emma then said, noticing Avril's bloody clothes. "That looks like blood... what happened? Are you alright...?"

"Damn it..." Avril cursed, quickly shaking her head at Emma's question with a reassuring smile. "This...? It's just from a wound I got back during that mess in Shalour. It... probably just opened up a bit or something. I've been so worried about you that I've been failing to take care of it properly."

"Oh..." replied Emma. "I'd tell you to take care of yourself, but... I guess I have no room to talk, haha... I'm just glad you're alright."

Avril sighed again, slowly taking her seat beside Emma once more. The smile slowly faded from her lips, her face once more having concern written all over it. As glad as she was, both for Emma's recovery and for the fact she was able to avert the incident from earlier, there were some things she figured she needed to let her best friend know.

"You've been out for about two days now," Avril began. "After you tried to buy that time against Shadow Mewtwo, the Lugia that was summoned by the flute of Laurent's was able to take care of business. You've been out of it ever since, sleeping for two days here in Couramine City's hospital. A lot of people got taken here from Shalour... Or rather, what used to be Shalour. I think it goes without saying that the city has been basically wiped off the map..."

"Two days..." Emma sighed frustratingly. "That damn Team Cinder..." she cursed and regretted. "Monsters... Demons! The many people that have been killed because of them are — oh..." she then gave Avril a saddened look... and a heavy heart. "Avril! I'm... I'm so sorry about what happened to... Robin..." she then bowed in place, no matter how much pain from her head gave off. "My... deepest condolences..."

"Oh... uh, yeah..." Avril replied, her voice trailing off as she looked away. "Listen, don't worry about that... I mean, it hurts... It's not gonna stop for a while, but... the important thing is I didn't lose you either." Another pause, a thought suddenly popping up in the younger girl's head. "Emma... Back in Shalour... What were you thinking? Don't you know you could've been... you could've died, you know?"

Emma rose back her head to meet with Avril's eyes. "Once again, I apologize for that," she explained. "To be honest... I don't know. All I remember was that, I watched everyone becoming worried and scared... and something within me surged up — I couldn't just sit by and do nothing... it was the first time that I did something that I didn't justify because I'm a detective. It was because that... it was my deepest wish, to not only become a shield for everyone, but... maybe to help give everyone... hope?"

She then shifted her eyes away. "But... it was a pretty foolish thing to do, I will admit. After all the times I tell people like yourself, Jackson or Laurent to not risk your lives upon a dangerous quest — look what I did! I can see now that all this time... I was truly the most arrogant one."

"Give everyone hope, huh...? I don't think arrogance has anything to do with that," Avril mused. She smiled weakly at Emma before continuing. "That said... don't do something like that again... I mean, you're important to a lot of people... people who would have quite the hard time recovering if anything happened to you."

"I know... it will not happen again," Emma responded, turning back to Avril. "You should be careful too. The way you charged at Gabriel Artece like that was pretty reckless..." she then sighed, continuing with a lighter heart. "Avril, I... I don't have any parents, or blood siblings. But you're... you're like a sister to me. If anything happened to you, I... I dunno what I'd do..."

"A sister..."

Avril remained quiet for a moment, her mind suddenly taking her back to that fateful night when she charged Gabriel. Perhaps if she had been stronger... maybe if she had been able to do something different, Sycamore would have still been around. Then there was the encounter just a little while ago in the alley... That moment when she ended up killing that Team Cinder grunt suddenly becoming very vivid. Would things have played out differently had she not killed him? It was very possible, probably even likely, that she had managed to save someone's life tonight by taking the situation into her own hands.

Avril's eyes slowly drifted down to her hands. The thought of that moment, while not pleasant to dwell on for long for most, was certainly giving her an odd feeling. She wasn't feeling quite as sick to her stomach over the thoughts of the man's head being bashed in. Rather, she found herself feeling somewhat... satisfied.

"Ehehe... sorry," Emma started, playfully sticking her tongue out. "Was I being a bit too sentimental again? Don't worry, I'll be okay! I'll be outta here in no time, and we'll beat Cinder for sure! But this time, we'll both get even stronger, and we will battle them together!"

"Yeah..." Avril replied simply, rising up from her chair. "Listen, I... I think you should get some more rest. I'm gonna go grab a nurse and let 'em know your about and then retire for the night, okay?"

"Okay," Emma agreed softly. She then stook her arms out and gave Avril a smile, hoping for a hug. "...Best cure for my injury?"

"Yeah, of course..." Avril said. She knelt down to Emma's level, returning the hug that was being offered.

Avril could feel the blood on her shirt being pressed up against her body, somehow sending her a reminder of what happened... of what was to come. She slowly pulled away, looking at Emma's smile... A smile that she knew she needed to keep safe. Motioning for Shino and the rest of her team to follow, Avril bid Emma a good night before making her way to try and find a nurse.

"Sorry, Emma... But... I think I'm gonna be riding solo from this moment on..."

gimmepie · Apr 14, 2019

Kade Andrews
Motivation?

Stratus (Female, Reckless) - Growl, Wing Attack, Quick Attack, Double-Edge, Aerial Ace, Double Team

Contrail (Male, Big Pecks) - Flame Charge, Roost, Quick Attack, Steel Wing, Ember, Aerial Ace

Noctilucent (Male, Insomnia) - Tackle, Foresight, Hypnosis, Feather Dance, Peck

Cumulus (Female, Dancer) - Pound, Air Slash, Revealtion Dance, Roost, Feather Dance, Captivate

Floccus (Male, Defeatist) - Quick Attack, Agility, Ancient Power, Dragon Breath, Acrobatics, Quick Guard

Nimbus (Male, Moxie) - Night Slash, Sucker Punch, Swagger, Haze, Wing Attack, Sky Drop

Kade found himself on the outskirts of Courmarine City, resting against a huge tree as the sun fell down upon him. Before him he could see the sprawl of the city as it gradually petered out into the forest beyond. Directly, across from him was the Courmarine Gym.

Despite this though, Kade was yet to move from where had sat since arriving. Never before had he felt such trepidation about taking on the gym challenge. Yet here he was, unable to bring himself to take the few steps that would take him into the gym.

Am I really up to this?

He reached down and retrieved Cumulus' pokeball, rolling around in his hand. His poor choices had lead to her suffering a nasty injury, and he knew that she'd taken nearly as long to recover as he had. If he couldn't even make the right decisions when they truly counted, how could he be expected to make them in a gym?

His thoughts drifted back to the other major battles he'd had. He remembered Stratus landing a clutch Double-Edge on a Ninjask stuck in a rock, Arcus evolving at just the right moment in his rematch with Grant's Tyrantrum - winning through pure grit and determination and Nox, bringing home the unlikely, narrow victory with a close range Hypnosis against Korinna's Hawlucha.

It was true enough, that he'd achieved three gym wins on his journey already. However, they had all been close calls and he'd even had to challenge one of the gyms twice. This wasn't even including his battles with Sky. He'd lost all three of those, and just when he thought the margin had been closing she'd shown him how much she was holding back. She hadn't even been enough to stop Victor.

He leaned back further into the hard wood of the tree trunk, sighing. It was depressing and exhausting to think how far he still had to go if he ever wanted to have a shot at his dreams. Even more so when he considered how little he could do to protect his Pokemon. He closed his eyes, resting his head in his hands.

We have to be better. I have to be better.

"DIE!!!"

Kade's head snapped up at the sudden shriek, his heart suddenly lurching into the back of his throat and his body trembling. He whipped around, frantically searching for the inevitable Cinder attack that was sure to follow such a horrifying outburst. His head located the source of the noise and he froze.

Sitting nearby him, a small colouful bird with vividly blue wings and an unusual, musical note-shaped crest was staring at him curiously with its head tilted to the side. Despite his shock and confusion, Kade instantly recognised the creature and knew it was the one who had produced the nerve-rattling scream.

"A Chatot?"

"I'LL MURDER YOUR FAMILY!!!" Yet another horrific scream, now the few passers by in the area had also noticed the commotion and were staring with a mix of disgust and befuddlement.

"Who taught you to say that?" Kade questioned, rubbing his eyes as if trying to confirm he wasn't currently dreaming.

"NO SCOPING MOTHERFUCKER!"

Kade could now hear the mutters of disapproval, but he was far too preoccupied with the bizarre, horribly rude, Chatot. Without even thinking about what he was doing, he found himself reaching for a Pokeball, turning his head to find one so his shock-slackened grip could probably grasp a capsule.

He turned around, ready to catch the bird, but it was no longer in its place. The Chatot was already flying up, heading for the trees.

"NICE SHOT! NICE SHOT! AAAAAR! STAR PLAYER!"

With that unusual farewell, the bird disappeared from view. Kade followed it with his eyes and then turned around, his vision settling on the Courmarine Gym. A faint smile graced his lips as he sighed, shaking his head.

"Alright, why not?" he said to himself, "I'll take on the gym. It's not like anything more shocking than that is going to be waiting in there."

Spoiler: Pokemon at Sanctuary

Spoiler: Inventory

forg · Apr 18, 2019

Margarita Fas

"Okay. F*ck." Margarita stared up at the branch. Eelektrik refused to unwrap himself, the height too great for the eel. Pawniard's foot repeatedly tapped the leaves beneath, crunching them into diminutive pieces that flew away with the wind. Larvesta was further off, unsurprisingly protecting the two eggs with motherly attention.

EEEEE. E, shrieked Eelektrik. His woes were like nails on a chalkboard to Pawniard.

"Yeah. No." With one click the pokéball released a flash of red, engulfing the misbehaving eel. It thrashed wildly before submitting to the light, desiring to stay out.

It was during this commotion that from the black and red egg a small bump was felt, startling Larvesta. She let out a cry to her trainer, but it went unheard. With a more panicked tone she shrieked and immediately acquired the attention from the other two.

"What is it?" The two glanced her way. Pawniard was the first to notice, yet was not as amazed by the sight as Margarita, who managed to figure out what was taking place.

Beneath the tree shade, with Larvesta's warmth, the egg began to glow a brilliant white. Larvesta's shriek turned into silence, too ecstatic to produce proper sound at the birth of what she considers her child.

The white glow manifested itself, limbs and a tail forming before the trio. Within seconds a feline shape had been created, the white shattering into a small light show that showcased the newborn... Litten.

It was a litten.

EEEEEEEE, was all the bug could cry out, large, hot tears trailing down her cheeks. She wrapped the cat in her fur, to which the newborn did not react to. Instead it let the view of the new world sink in, attempting to comprehend the environment around.

"Ah shit. Yeah, I forgot eggs do that," Margarita mumbled to herself. Pawniard mocked the bug, rewarded with a thick glob of webbing not a second later. "Hey be quiet, this is a... a baby. It's a baby." She was amazed. Mesmerized. She never truly believed she would see the birth of a Pokémon.

"This is... this is very nice," Margarita mumbled, hand covering her mouth amidst in deep thought. The pawniard gave her a puzzled look, caught off guard by her comment. He remained silent. A small, diminutive, minute sense of jealousy popped into existence for Pawniard, grimacing at Margarita as she approached Larvesta.

NIIIIIIIIA. His cry for attention failed. AAAAAAI!

"Stop. You had your spotlight already," she grumbled without facing him, crouching in front of the small kitten. Pawniard kicked the dirt, cursing under his breath. "Let's go see the nurse-" Her words were interrupted by the bug's whine, not wanting to budge. She enjoyed her child's warmth. "Come on. You too? I have enough with Nene."

The knight shouted his frustration in response to her comment.

Margarita left the department store with a child's pull along wagon, Larvesta, Litten, and the blue egg riding along.

"I look like a child." Pawniard walked in front of Margarita. Doing so prompted her to announce her movements, otherwise the soldier would get in the way.

In the newly bought diaper bag a large amount of Pokémon food was stored. Hidden inside were sweets, mainly for Eelektrik's sweet tooth.

They ventured into the route, sandwiches neatly stacked in the wagon in anticipation of another few hours of training and rest. But it didn't take long before they reached an obstacle; a group of slowpokes had gathered and lay in the middle of the road. Their baggy eyes and groans indicated some malady had taken over them.

Margarita continued to move forward in hopes of some sort of clue or observation to scream out to her. Unfortunately that was not the case.

The group stared at the mess with the exception of Pawniard, who did not hesitate to command the mass to slide on over. Of course they did not budge, their pounding headaches forcing them to tune out the surrounding environment.

"If you said to move then that was rude," Margarita turned to face her partner. She watched as the annoyed Pawniard marched towards the creatures, giving the poor Slowpoke a kick and shove.

A squeal shot out from the poor slowpoke that felt the sharp blades poke at them. "We don't have enough food to wait for you to push them. Let's go back." At first he remained with the pink cluster, arms folded as he glared at them. But the further his team walked, more eyes blinked and moved to get a better look at the pawn. Their pupils and red eyes unnerved Pawniard.

Within seconds he gave in, immediately chasing after his trainer. Aaaaiiee! As he was on his way to catching up, Litten's sudden whines caught Larvesta's attention. The cat's worries for the slowpokes had Larvesta glancing up at her trainer, clicking and scraping against the metal wagon for her undivided attention.

She halts. "...yes, Nana? What is it." Larvesta points back towards the pile of pokémon they abandoned. Margarita sighed, hesitant in her twist to see the small, pink mountain. Litten vocalized his worries in a louder voice, quickly shedding his timidness. Meeeeow.

"Except I don't know what to do to help. Don't know if it's a stomachache or something." She then observed her pawniard catch up, goosebumps returning to him when he gave the creepy eyes one last look. "Nene doesn't want to return either."

Both Larvesta and Litten glanced at Margarita, although the former displayed determination unlike the latter's worry.

She let out a long sigh. "Okay yeah fine."

Daisuke Mitsuharu · Apr 19, 2019

The First Domino ; Veilstone City, Sinnoh

??? ; ♂, ???

[h2][/h2]

Party:

Inventory: Empty

Funds: 0 Poké

Mr. Flynn was in a hurry, but considering the times, he was also cautious. With Team Galactic gaining some notoriety in the past weeks, petty crime in Veilstone City had skyrocketed.

The vision of a utopian world order which Team Galactic served on a platter to its newcomers must have sounded like paradise to the more disenfranchised members of society, who likely turn to crime against their will in order to survive from day to day.

Mr. Flynn was a staunch proponent of justice and adherence to laws, but even he could understand why people who are dealt a bad lot in life do what they do. Still, he couldn't abide by their actions.

Based on the statistics recorded by Veilstone City Police, it was plain to see from the numbers displayed on the graphs that Team Galactic's rise to prominence had contributed in large part to the increase in crimes committed. Worst of all, their base of operations lay just a few blocks from the city's Pokemon Center. That didn't bode well for anyone, including Mr. Flynn.

The reason no singular person in the city had protested their presence was a logical one (if not cowardly), one stemming from fear and the human desire for self-preservation. The organization had never been large to begin with, but their most recent growth spurt caused their numbers to climb exponentially.

In their present state, it was possible for Team Galactic to gain control over Veilstone City without being met with much resistance. Due to the organization's sheer size, dissidents would be stamped out immediately and with little effort.

Mr. Flynn desperately wanted today to be just a regular day at work, but it turned out fate had a different plan for him. "Don't move." He felt the barrel of a gun press against his back, hidden under the thick covers of a coat which, according to him, had definitely seen better days. He felt the hairs on his arms stand as his assailant led him to a dimly-lit alleyway where there were no people around. "Give me all your belongings."

Mr. Flynn spun to face his burglar, who was a rather young man (likely not older than 21) holding him at gunpoint. Though the trigger hadn't been pulled yet, he could just imagine the bullet lodging itself into his skin and the waves of pain that would accompany it afterward.

"Here, you can take my wallet. Just don't--"

As he reached for his pockets, the man who had his gun trained on him stepped closer. "Stop. I'll take it myself." Those words along with the firearm staring him in the face were enough to deter Mr. Flynn from resisting the man's instructions.

That remained the case until a rock coming from behind the man hit him on the head with a thwack.

At first, Mr. Flynn found himself bewildered by the turn of events.

However, a Gallade swandiving from the top of a building to knock out his assailant (who had been mobile seconds ago) alerted him to his chance for escape.

"Let's go mister!" The form of a black-haired boy peered from the side of the alleyway leading into the populated parts of the city; with a waving motion, it beckoned for Mr. Flynn to move. "You don't need to tell me twice," Mr. Flynn muttered under his breath as he fled the scene. The black-haired boy soon followed him with his Gallade in tow.

Mourning ; Hearthome City, Sinnoh

Kaito Ishikawa ; ♂, 16

[h2][/h2]

Party:

Inventory:

1x Badge Case
5x Super Potion
5x Great Ball

Funds: 5000 Poké

Kaito had a habit of leaving out in the middle of the day to scurry off someplace, and Caius at the time wasn't sure where he was going. Not that it was any of his business, but Caius - even among the most curious of kids - was a rare and special breed; he was the kind whose questions you couldn't just stave off with empty answers. What stimulated Caius' curiosity further were the times when Mr. Flynn - his father - would accompany Kaito to wherever the boy went. Now that was definitely suspicious.

Caius never put two and two together out until the sporadic trips outdoors suddenly stopped and Kaito would spend that chunk of his day cooped up in his room instead. It was denoted by a subtle change in his attitude, which he always dressed up with a sunny smile when Caius was around, but Caius could see through appearances. Something was wrong.

"Are... you okay?" A soft voice followed by gentle knocking prompted Kaito to open his door. With the door now ajar, the unmistakably familiar figure of Caius emerged, thumbs twiddling nervously and eyes fixed to floor.

"Hey Caius. What's up?" Kaito's greeting was a little languid.

Caius looked up to meet the taller boy's gaze. "I wanted to ask you if you were okay."

A mechanical smile amidst an ensemble of melancholic features was directed in Caius' direction. "Don't you worry your head over me. I'll manage."

Having known Kaito for some time now, Caius had him figured out. Whether or not the guy himself noticed, Kaito tended to squint his eyes whenever he was lying, which he did as he reassured Caius of his well-being. The creasing of eyebrows told Caius all he needed to appraise the legitimacy of his words.

"But you're acting weird…" Caius tried to pry for more information.

At first, Kaito deflected any and all of Caius' attempts at getting him to open up. But, eventually, the genuine worry in Caius' voice caused him to lower his guard and tell Caius the truth.

"My dad died recently, and well... I've been a little down in the dumps about it." The out-of-place euphemism was meant to be humorous, but it didn't quite make its landing. As much as Kaito tried to make light of the topic, talks of death often made people unprepared for them uncomfortable. Looking back, Caius rationalized that Kaito likely didn't want him to feel uncomfortable, which explained why he made an effort to steer the conversation elsewhere every chance he got.

"I… I''m sorry..." Caius couldn't find the right words to say to console him. Struggling, he shot his second shot. "Don't… don't forget we're family too." With the loss of his father, Kaito must've felt like he was alone. Caius didn't know much about Kaito's father, and in fact, he'd always thought Kaito was an orphan his father took in to work for him. Even in passing, Kaito never brought up his father during conversations. But, seeing how his death affected him, Caius could tell he was important to Kaito.

With every ounce of his being, Caius tried everything he could to return Kaito to his former self. But, in the back of his mind, he knew that only time could nurse his wounds. So he left him alone until he was ready to talk.

"Thanks, little Cai." Curt words of gratitude echoed through the narrow second floor hallway and reached Caius' ears as he was walking to his bedroom. He turned back towards the sound of the voice. "No problem, big Kai!" Smiles were exchanged along with words, and eventually, once all avenues for talking were cut off, Caius waltzed to his destination - happy with himself.

Goodbye, For Now ; Hearthome City, Sinnoh

Kaito Ishikawa ; ♂, 18

[h2][/h2]

Party:

Inventory:

1x Badge Case
5x Super Potion
5x Great Ball

Funds: 15000 Poké

"Hey Cai, would you mind letting go now?" With Caius' arms wrapped tightly around his waist, Kaito tried to squirm his way out of them. But to no avail -- the 9 year-old did not want to budge.

"No." A muffled whine, which was a result of having his face buried in Kaito's shirt, escaped Caius' lips in the moment that followed. Neither words nor actions seemed to convince him to let go.

"But Cai. I'm going to miss my flight." Kaito was starting to stand his ground, his tone of voice taking on a slight agency to reflect his impatience at the situation.

"Nuh-uh. I don't care. I don't want you to go."

"Caius…"

Kaito was headed for the Hoenn region. Thanks to Professor Rowan pulling some strings for him, he received an internship offer from Professor Birch, whose research dealt with the study of Pokémon habitats. This often meant that the professor had to travel to different parts of the Hoenn region for his research, which was a boon for Kaito; he could never stand being kept in one place for extended periods of time.

In addition to the opportunity being a chance for him to learn more about Pokémon, it was also a chance for him to explore the Hoenn region. The prospect of roaming unfamiliar territory excited Kaito, but Caius was far less thrilled about it, since it meant he was going to be left behind.

"Caius."

"Mm?"

Applying a bit of force, Kaito pried Caius off him and spun him around.

"I'll be back before you know it, okay? So sit tight and don't give Mr. Flynn any trouble!" Kaito showed teeth as he smiled at Caius, whose hissy fit seemed to have somewhat subsided at the display. That was a relief.

"I'm a good kid. I never do anything wrong…" Caius grumbled under his breath, just audible enough for Kaito to hear.

"I know. Which is why I have nothing to worry about, right?"

"You bet!" Caius shot him a thumbs-up.

"That's a good boy. I know you'll hold down the fort for me while I'm gone." Placing a hand on Caius, it occurred to Kaito just how much he'd miss the little guy. The games he'd play with him on his JoyStation after work, the Pokemon battles Caius would challenge him to (battles he'd end up winning most of the time, much to the dismay of the 9-year-old) -- for now, he would have to set it all aside, which made him a little sad.

"Alright, Cai. It's time for me to go. Take care of yourself now."

During Kaito's entire encounter with Caius, Mr. Flynn had been in his car beckoning Kaito to get inside. With Caius looming over Kaito at the time, getting to the car was hard to do. Now Kaito was free from Caius' grip.

The sound of a seatbelt being fastened was overtaken by the sound of the car door slamming shut as Kaito situated himself in the vehicle. Rolling the windows down, he couldn't help but make conversation with Caius one last time before he left for good.

"Don't delete my save files from your games, you hear?"

Caius stuck out his tongue. "No promises!"

As the car slowly back from the driveway and into the road, Kaito could see Caius waving at him, this time with a grin on his face rather than a pout.

Eventually, Caius came out of view, and Kaito was left to mull over his thoughts. One thing was for certain: he was going to miss this place.

Shak · Apr 20, 2019

-Drew Tucker

​

Stairway to Heaven

Drew sat atop his Wailmer still. The afternoon was passing him by, and he found himself weary. He watched Sally and Owin train with the Kingdra he gave them. He really didnt feel like doing much more. The distinct accent of Rory broke through Drew's daydream.

"Hey kid, you should join us!" He glanced down onto the banks, where Rory was laying down, watching his two partners play with the pokemon. "We know you've got your journey and stuff, but..."

"I've got more than my journey." Drew bit back, returning himself to face the duo and their fast water types again.

"Oh? What might that be?" Rory teased, as he climbed onto the sleeping Whale.

Drew's expression fell further into a scowl. He looked back at where Brycen, Levi and Zephyr were all working together to build what was the largest of Levi's towers so far. He looked back at Nebula and Salad, who slept soundly on Wailmer's back. "I gotta stop Team Cinder. It's not just about a pokemon journey anymore."

"Team Cinder?" Rory scoffed, stuffing a cracker into his mouth. "It's just a terrorist attack. Feels like there's one every couple of years, and they always get dealt with. Leave it to the champion." He lowered himself and returned to the position he'd been in on the bank. "Woah boy, this Wailmer of yours is way more comfortable than the grass."

"I should join you on what?" Drew sighed, changing the already tedious subject.

"Fishing competition." Rory smiled, his eyes closed. "There's a pretty nice prize to it too. Apparently a lot of business big shots come here as a sort of networking event. Silph Co, Devon Corp, you name it, they're all there. It's kinda messed up, but what happened to Shalour is the perfect oppourtunity to expand the business by investing in smaller ones and promising to help the community. Prize for winning the competition is tickets to that."

Drew held his reaction to the mention of Silph Co. He found himself on his feet, and climbing down from Wailmer. "I gotta go take on the gym, I'll be right back!"

Rory jolted up and watched the boy run up toward the three pokemon building the tower.

---

"Guys, we're moving. It's time to take on that gym, let's get a move on." Drew panted as he arrived before the group. He glanced up at the Aron atop the tower, reaching up to the sky. The young trainer broke a brief smile at the steel types antics, before regaining his focus. He pulled out Levi's pokeball and shot the red beam out of it.

Levi dodged. The pokemon came tumbling down the tower and crashed heavy into the ground once he hit the floor. The shakily placed rocks that made up the tower came tumbling behind him. Brycen and Zephyr watched in horror, waiting for the Aron to emerge.

"What happened there? Levi, you alright, bud?" As Drew stepped forward to help his pokemon, he barely managed to dodge a rock that shot like a bullet toward his head. "L-levi?" As he spoke, the pokemon shot out from the pile and charged as hard as his little legs could take him. His steel frame slammed into the trainer's leg. Drew could barely see any emotion in the pokemon's face, but those narrowed eyes were something he'd never seen in the Aron before. "Woah, Levi, you can make another one! Dammit, that hurt." He staggered back, clutching his shin. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

The Aron stood before his trainer expectantly.

Brycen and Zephyr watched on. The Quilladin grabbed the crying Gligar and gave him a gentle noogie.

Drew eased his leg back to the ground and looked up to where the steel type had been reaching. It was just the sky. "I'm guessing the tower meant a lot to you. So I'm sorry." He sighed, sitting down beside Levi. "I guess finally getting to build one that big only to see it fall down right in front of you must've been pretty crappy. I haven't exactly been the most attentive of trainers either, huh?"

The Aron stared up at the sky again, the same emotionless expression on its face.

Drew followed the trail of his gaze, but again saw no more that the blue sky. "What, you think Newt's up there?"

Levi's head shot toward Drew, eyes widened.

The teenager's expression sunk at that. "Right. I guess if you believe that stuff." He muttered under his breath. "Newt was probably a better trainer than I've been then, huh?" He noticed the pokemon recoil. "Not that I'm trying to make it about me, I just...He's gone Levi. I had to accept the same with Caesar. I know it hurts. You feel even worse when you just replace them straight away." Drew watched with pained eyes as Levi trotted over to his tower, knocking down its remains. "Keep fighting and getting stronger, that's what Newt would want." He paused and walked over to Levi, lowering himself with the steel type's pokeball in his hand. "Even if that's not with me."

The Aron's eyes were resolute as ever.

"I guess I haven't given you a lot of chances to do that, huh? I promise, next gym battle is all you." He smiled. He stuck out his fist.

Levi tilted his head, until Brycen stepped forward and bumped his fist with Drew's. Zephyr glided forward and landed on Drew's hand with a grand gesture. Drew looked over to the rest of the team. He couldnt help but notice that Wailmer once again, couldnt be a part of this. His mind was taken away as he felt the touch of cold steel tap his fist.

Spoiler:

Coumarine City - Coumarine Bay​

Stinging Bea · Apr 21, 2019

Avril Morris

Couramine City

Chapter 21-4 | Change Part IV

Current Party:

The faint sound of running water echoed out from the shower. After finally parting ways with Emma and making her way back to her little room in the local pokémon center, the trainer made a beeline for the shower so she could attempt to clean off the sight and stench that remained from her little encounter with the Cinder grunt back in the alleyway earlier that evening. Once again, she had left her pokémon out of their pokéballs. Shino once again sat quietly in the corner, the Greninja keeping a steady eye out on his teammates as he did so. As usual, Mint was busy rolling around the room. It was a habit that he noticed the Jigglypuff had. There had been very few times that the balloon pokémon had actually sat still, and even the late hours of the night seemed to be little to slowing her down.

What concerned Shino the most however was his other teammate, Marble. Something about the Flaaffy had been off ever since she and Avril returned from their walk back at the hospital. The sheep pokémon was overly quiet, her eyes constantly staring at the ground as if she was deep in thought. Shino sighed, coming to the decision that he needed to get to the bottom of this. He slowly picked himself off the ground, making his way over towards Marble.

"...Marble..." Shino croaked out, causing the Flaaffy to jump in surprise. Shino gave his teammate a curious glance. Mint seemed to stop rolling at this point, turning her attention towards the two conversing pokémon. "You've been silent ever since we left the hospital. What happened?"

"...Shino... It's nothing, really! I'm just tired, you know? I mean, it's getting pretty late..." Marble mewled. Shino's gaze never left the Flaaffy. Her eyes drifted back down to the floor, a her small hands pressing together in apprehension. "...it's that obvious...?"

Shino nodded. "I've known you since Lumiose City... You're an easy read at this point."

Marble sighed. "Mama... we ran into one of those scary humans from that city..."

"Team Cinder?! They're here?!" Shino questioned, his eyes wide with surprise. The Greninja quickly closed the space between himself and Marble, looking the Flaaffy over for any signs of damage. "Did they hurt you? What about Avril? Wait... that blood from earlier... What happened?!"

Marble slowly pulled away, trying her best to try and calm Shino's nerves. "No, no... I mean... The man... he attacked us, but we were able to fight him off..."

"Of course you did!" Mint cheered. A broad smile graced her mouth as she gave Marble a firm pat on the back. "You're a tough cookie. Both you and Avril! I only wish I had been there so I could've given them a piece of my mind!"

"No... No, you don't understand," Marble protested. She took a step back from both of her teammates. "I... I don't know what happened, but Mama... Mama changed..."

Both Shino and Mint looked at each other curiously. Shino took a step forward, kneeling down to Marble's level. "Changed...? Changed how...?"

Marble looked a bit nervous to continue. The Flaaffy took hold of her tail and began to wring it in her hands as she walked back and forth. "Mama... Mama got mad. She got real mad... She... She suddenly tackled the man and... she... she..."

A look of realization suddenly washed over Shino. "Marble... You can't..."

Before another word could be mentioned, the faint sound of scratching reached the ears of the group. Shino turned to the nearby window where he spotted the familiar form of Radar waiting on the other side. He quickly opened the window, stepping aside shortly after so the Noivern would have enough room to fold his wings and squeeze inside. A look of disapproval graced Shino's face as Radar stepped inside, something the bat pokémon seemed to notice right away.

"What's your problem...?" Radar asked nonchalantly.

"Do you really need to ask that? Where have you been? Do you have any idea what's been going on?!" Shino questioned. Radar merely grunted in response, brushing past the Greninja as if he wasn't even in the room. Shino didn't seem to take to kindly to this, as he reached out and grabbed a firm hold on to Radar's tail. "I'm talking to you, dammit!"

Radar let out a loud screech, snapping his tail from Shino's grasp with ease. "I don't recall having to answer to the likes of you..."

Shino didn't relent. "This isn't time for any of your antics. We've a serious matter to discuss in regards to Avril!"

Radar's gaze narrowed. "What about Avril...?"

"She ran into one of those Cinder humans again," Shino explained. He glanced over towards Marble, who instantly found herself looking somewhat discouraged. "...From what Marble said, she... she killed him."

A blank look took over Radar's face. "So...? I don't see the issue here."

Another glare from Shino. "She took a life, what do you mean this isn't a big deal?"

"After what these humans have been doing, I fail to see why what our trainer did is a bad thing. They've had it coming, right? It's not like it's the first time we've done something like this anyways..." Radar grunted. "I killed one that night myself..."

"You did what?!" Shino croaked out in disbelief.

"I did what you couldn't. Those bastards killed Lulu... I took punishing them into my own hands," Radar explained.

"That wasn't your call to make!" Shino snapped. "I'm the team leader in this group. I can't let you go around an-"

"You? The leader?! Don't make me laugh!" Radar snorted. "Some leader. You couldn't even keep us all alive. You were down and out for the count when that professor of yours and our trainer's sister both died as well. Was it your leadership that led us to the beating we received at that tower as well?!"

Shino suddenly let out a loud croak. Without warning, he quickly plowed himself into Radar, toppling the bat pokémon over onto the ground. Radar let out a loud screech of anger as he began to thrash and flail about, his claws slamming into Shino before essentially prying the frog off of his body. Both pokémon glared at each other, breath heavy before they began to charged towards each other again. Thankfully the fight managed to be delayed with Marble grabbing hold of Radar's tail and Mint plowing into Shino in an attempt to hold him on the ground.

"S-Stop this... Why are you two doing this?!" Marble demanded.

"I refuse to let myself be ordered around by a... leader such as this one. If he claims to have such a position on this team, then it's time for this fool to step up!" Radar roared.

Before any more of Avril's pokémon could get a word in, the door to the bathroom suddenly slammed open. Avril stepped out of the bathroom, looking at the chaos before her in disbelief. It was a wonder that the staff of the center weren't already up here and attempting to throw them out.

"What in the world are you all doing?" Avril questioned, as she made her way over towards her pokémon. "Do you really want to end up sleeping outside? Because that's what's going to happen if you all don't keep it down."

Her pokémon all stared at Avril intently as she spoke. There seemed to be a different air about her, as if she was carrying herself far differently than before. No smile graced her lips. Her eyes looked cold and empty, as if she had become an entirely different person than she was prior to taking her shower. Her physical appearance had changed too. Gone were her boots and her seemingly fashionable style that she had worked on with Victoria earlier on back in Ambrette Town. She was now dressed in somewhat baggy jeans, with a black, flowing tank top worn over her torso. Her leather coat was gone, being replaced with a long, black, hooded jacket. A pair of black sneakers graced her feet. The Ampharosite she had received from Robin was still worn like a necklace of sorts around her neck, but it was now offset by a black, leather choker. The only thing that seemed to be in place that even reminded the team of their trainer was her wool-knit hat on her head.

Radar grunted again as he walked past his teammates, making his way towards the blonde girl. Avril raised an eyebrow, noticing that he seemed to be holding onto something in one of his claw-like hands. Radar's gaze softened ever so slightly as he dangled the trinket down for Avril to take.

"What do you have there?" Avril questioned. She took the item from Radar, her eyes widening as she realized what the bat pokémon had been carrying the whole time... Robin's goggles. Avril slowly looked back up at the bat, realizing now just what he had been doing. "You've been flying back there every night trying to find these...?"

Radar nodded. Avril's gaze lowered back down to the goggles... the only true piece of Robin she had left to remember her by. The goggles were singed a bit, with a small crack running down one of the lenses. It was obvious they received some damage in the chaos that erupted in Shalour, but... they were still in one piece... She sighed. In a way, she knew that this was it. There wasn't going to be any going back now.

"Radar... Shino... Mint... Marble... We need to talk," Avril said quietly. The blonde made her way over towards the nearby bed, coming to sit on the edge of it. "Earlier tonight... well, I ran into a Team Cinder grunt. I'm not going to bore you with the details. One thing led to another, and... before I knew what happened... I killed him. At first, I was confused. I felt guilt, I mean... I took someone else's life, but... After finally getting to talk with Emma... thinking about what happened to Robin, Sycamore, Lulu... all the people of Shalour and people who may have been hurt or were killed because of the stuff back in Lumiose City and Shantalune Forest..."

Avril paused. Her hands clenched into fists. She gazed over at her wrist. Her pokéball bracelet. There were only four balls on it now. Somehow during all the commotion, she had failed to notice that another of teammates were gone... Cecil was gone too.

"I think... no, I know I made the right call," Avril finally continued. "These people... no, these monsters... They've done too much damaged, they've ruined too many lives and... no one is doing anything to stop them. Our so called Champions ignored them. The police and rangers are useless... So...it's time for me to take things into my own hands. But... I can't do this alone... If I'm gonna play things at their level, to strike them down any way I can before they do this kind of stuff again... I'm gonna to need your help. Shino, Radar, Marble, Mint... I'm not gonna force you all, but... please, lend me your strength."

Avril glanced up at her pokémon, nervously awaiting their response. The four looked at each other, all fully aware of what their trainer was asking. Radar was the first to make his move. The Noivern nodded his head in reassurance, slowly making his way towards the girl. Mint followed closely behind. She wasn't sure what all this was going to mean for her, but she figured she owed Avril enough to lend a hand. It was because of the trainer she had been given the chance to grow stronger and she wouldn't betray that gift now. Marble, though clearly nervous, made her way over next. The Flaaffy knew she had to take care of Avril... she was practically her mother, after all. She had taken care of her back when she was just a baby Mareep... and the bond between them just wouldn't let her turn her back on the trainer.

That left Shino.

The Greninja stood quietly, thinking over many things in his head. Despite the anger he still felt towards Radar, he knew the Noivern was right. All the loss that Avril felt that night... it was all riding on his shoulders. He wasn't strong enough to protect Lulu. He couldn't save the girl's sister. Professor Sycamore... the man who had essentially been a father to him, was gone. All this time, Shino thought he had been getting stronger, that he was doing what he needed to keep his teammates safe. Radar was right. He wasn't a team leader... he had been fooling himself this whole time. Now however... it was time to change that.

Avril smiled, albeit weakly, at her pokémon. "Thank you, everyone..."

Her path was now set. In order to avenge everyone who had been lost... in order to save more from meeting similar fates, Avril would now be stepping up and taking the law into her own hands. Playtime was over. Everything from this moment on would be a stepping stone towards her true goal. Avril slowly removed her hat, a look of sadness at the garment before she laid it off to the sad, before placing Robin's goggles carefully in her hair. It was time to say goodbye to the girl she had been... It was time to say goodbye to "Avril".

Oddball_ · Apr 22, 2019

-- Profile --

Name: Chris Rodriguez

Pokémon :

Location: Coumarine City

Inventory:

Spoiler:

Violets in Coumarine
~

Waves crashed against the underside of the docks as Chris sat with his feet skimming over the top of the bay watching the ships drift about lazily in the afternoon sun. He'd made it out of Shalour remarkably unharmed in comparison to most people he'd seen, and after a minor inconvenience involving an interrogation as to what had happened, he'd been allowed to roam the city.

He stretched and took a deep breath before climbing back to his feet and picking up the soda that he'd been enjoying during his reflection on the edge of the drink.

"Somebodies been busy." A familiar female voice called from behind him as he drifted aimlessly down the pier.

Turning on his heels to face the woman, tossing his empty drink container down to his happily bobbing slop Pokémon by his side which quickly proceeded to consume the paper cup with a voracious hunger. "I had a feeling today was far too quiet." Chris sighed, as he waved for the lavender haired woman to join him.

"I was going to warn you about Shalour, but something more pressing came up." Violet explained quickly, before being shrugged off by Chris.

"I've thought about that. Even if you had warned me, nothing I could have done would have stopped what happened. I mean, the authorities would have laughed me off as some silly foreigner, and they had an airship that almost rivaled the Plasma Frigate. Or maybe it did, and I'm just biased. Who knows?" Chris sighed as they started walking down the docks once more. "Plus, I made it out in one piece… and while it might be crude to say, so did the people I care most about. So, it was bad, but… nobody but these Cinder people are to blame."

Violet remained quiet for a very long time. "You're remarkably… Zen about this whole situation. How many drugs do they have you on?"

Chris chuckled in response. "A couple I won't lie. The doctors think that while physically I came out unscathed, there could have been some severe amplifications of the pre-existing post traumatic stress that I suffered before. Thankfully, it still only seems to manifest as a loss of hearing, which this little thing fixes rather adequately. Plus, I've been talking to this girl for a few weeks now and being able to… vent to someone has helped I suppose."

"The blonde skater girl with the Gallade right? I saw her when I was trying to see what was happening. She made it out safe then?" Violet sighed in relief.

"From what she's told me, some debris fell and shattered her shoulder, but in comparison to the suits she and her partner carved up, well…" Chris paused as he turned his head to look towards the nearby contest hall. "Do you hear…"

"Shouting?" Violet responded in unison. "Once more for old times sake?" She inquired.

"No going into abandoned buildings though." Chris retorted as the two began to run over.

- - -

"Non, non, non! This is terrible!" A dark skinned woman with a large ball of white hair on her head claimed, the back of her hand across her forehead with her arm crooked.

"We're ruined! I'll be laughed all the way back to trimming Furfrou in Lumiose." A brown haired man in an apron sobbed as he cradled himself on the contest hall floor.

Chris and Violet share a concerned glance between each other as the cautiously approach the duo. "Excusez-moi, my friend and I couldn't help but notice that you two seem to be upset by something. Is there anything we could do to help?" Violet asks.

The sobbing stylist sniffles once more, before looking up at the trainers whom had appeared before him. "Ah, something tragic has happened. See, soon a very special guest judge is to arrive and myself, the mistress to my left, and… another whom has fallen ill in the back room due to the stress of all this had designed the most perfect costume for them to wear. Only it disappeared overnight! Nobody can find out where it went, and we're absolutely ruined if we don't get it back before the guest arrives."

Chris cocked his head to the side. "…and I imagine this guest is arriving long before a new outfit could be put together."

"Yes, within the hour from what we have been told." The woman responds.

"Well, do you have any leads as to who might have stolen it? Is there some competitor in town that would want you to fail?" Violet asked.

"Non, the contest house specifically asked for us on this. We had designed some new outfits for a film studio here in Kalos a few months back, and we had gotten wonderous reviews from it."

"Hmm… where was it kept. How could anybody get in to it without either a camera or somebody on staff seeing it?" Chris asked. "If you don't mind, would you show us around."

"Of course monsieur trainer… if you would find this for us, I would promise you, the both of you, free haircuts for life. Recolours, everything!"

- - -

"And nobody saw anything?" Violet asks as her hand brushes the table where the case containing the freshly tailored costume was supposed to be resting.

"No, that's the strange thing! The only peculiarity last night was an unidentified singing noise being heard in the alley outside, but it was… not right. Like, still beautiful but off key. As such we all assumed it was just some drunkard stumbling home from the bar."

Violet stops brushing her hand on the table and looks curiously past the table towards the ground behind it. "Your outfit wouldn't happen to have a blue and pink feather motif would it." She asked curiously as she bent down and picked up two large feathers that seemed to sparkle in the light, one pink and one blue.

"No, albeit that does give me the most fabulous idea." The seamstress responds curiously.

"So." Violet begins, twisting the feathers in the light. "Where did these come from, I wonder."

Chatot. The Music Note Pokémon.
It can learn and speak human words. If they gather, they all learn the same saying.

Chris Pokédex called out in his hand, dinging as an image of a blue and pink bird began to project.

"Interesting." Violet mused. "That isn't an ordinary Chatot. The colours are all different."

"Which means, it's likely to be memorable. We should ask around." Chris responded, nodding his head.

"No need! I've seen that bird!" The hairdresser calls as he claps his hands together. "It belongs to a little girl from the orphanage! We hired her to help clean up the hall! Angelique was her name! She should be here now actually! Follow moi!"

- - -

The cluster of people found the little orphan girl sweeping the stands in the empty contest hall. Her hair tied back in a ponytail and her face hastily washed to only moderately hide all the dirt that covered it, her janitorial uniform likely the cleanest thing she owned.

"Little miss! Little miss!" The hairdresser called.

"Y-yes?" She asked in mild terror as a group of four adults came running towards her.

"Why would you steal it!" The hairdresser exploded furiously, only to be held back by Chris as Violet walked up to the little girl who quickly raised the broom as a barrier between her and the rabid man.

"Something went missing from backstage, and we found some very pretty feathers that we hear might belong to a friend of yours. We just want to see if you know what happened." She called sweetly.

"I didn't take anything! It's miss Molly! She flies off when I'm sleeping and takes things she likes." The orphan girl sighs. "She likes to hide them in the rafters. Follow me…"

She turns and motions for them to follow her towards the backstage area, where access to all of the light rigging could be accessible. "If she took something, it'll probably be up here." She called as she climbs the ladder and starts walking across the narrow beams.

Chris and Violet followed quickly behind, the other two lagging behind.

"Are you sure it's safe?" One called.

"I think you've got it from here." The other laughed nervously.

"MISS MOLLY." The Orphan shouted, causing Chris to almost lose his footing on the beam. "You are in BIG trouble!"

"BIG trouble!" Something repeated in a slightly off tone.

"Where is it!" She growled at the bird, poking it in the forehead a few times as it chirped in annoyance.

"Magnifique!" The bird squawked as it flew over towards a shadowy corner and grabbed something in its talons before flying back to the little girl.

"I think this is it." She sighed. "I'm so sorry about this, I try and keep her in the Pokéball, but she was a gift from my sister and she just doesn't listen to me."

Chris nodded, as he and Violet helped the girl get back down the ladder to return the suitcase.

"Have you tried battling with her?" Chris asked after they were all safely down.

"N-no! I don't want her getting hurt!"

Chris nodded and knelt down to the little girl. "Pokémon need to train. Pokémon that are traded or given away especially. They feel a certain level of disconnection with their new trainer. They feel abandoned. In my experience, battling with a Pokémon will help them learn to trust you, and to listen to you when you tell them that stealing stuff isn't okay."

Violet smiled. "It doesn't have to be battling." She knelt down beside Chris. "You're standing in a contest hall. Some Pokémon can learn better in this type of environment as well. It's obvious that Miss Molly has some form of… attention seeking nature. Maybe you should talk to somebody about entering into a junior league contest. The prize money might be a little better than what you're making sweeping floors anyway."

The little girl nodded, the Chatot flying down and landing on her head before squawking in response. "Prize money. Prize money!"

"I think she likes that idea." The orphan laughed.

Chris' Museum:

ShinyDiamond · Apr 22, 2019

Dust Fabre

Coumarine City
Location: Seaside Bay
Mission 6 - Ruby

Inventory

Spoiler:

Pokémon

Spoiler:

If he could forget these past two weeks, he would do so in a heartbeat. Nothing but injuries & people crying every minute. The fact he was one of these people doesn't help. He wanted so badly to get out & leave this city, but his condition prevented him from doing so. Not like Dust would be happy either way.

What happened in Shalour City spread far & wide throughout the Kalos region. Many lives were lost in the catastrophe, & it affected many who were involved. This is surely gonna make an entry in the history books. Things didn't get any better around here. There was a disease in the rise, this ash rot they call. A lot of people caught this disease, & the doctors were saying it was the result of the cloned Pokémon turning into dust.

Dust has some of those ashes in his bag, though he's forgotten about it. He was more concerned about getting better so he can finally move freely again. He was pretty happy when he was set free from the hospital, but that day in Shalour City still stuck in his mind. Was it safe to step outside? Was it even safe inside? He did his best to shake off these doubts, retrieving his belongings & Pokémon. He looked at those still bedridden, mortified that he could leave earlier than them; many of which had the disease.

That's how he ended up helping the staff, by delivering some medicine to those with the illness. Dust, with Rozu sitting next to him overlooking the ocean at the bay, skips a pebble over the water surface. "Not really how I imagined this journey would end up." He looks at his reflection on the water, examining any possible symptons on his face. Thankfully, he doesn't look sick. It's still unsettling. "Man, I really wanna get some training done, but that whole incident has me distracted," he rants at Rozu. Rozu points over at the medicine they need to deliver, staring sternly at his trainer. Dust sighs in response. "I know I know. I just needed to sit down for a minute." He scratches his hair, still bothered by everything. He picks up the medicine, handing some to Rozu, & looks around. "Right, I guess we'll take the monorail." With some guidance from Rozu, they make their way to the monorail. They get on board & overlook the area outside. "They better not think to destroy this place either."

"Ah!" A voice squeaks & the sound of something dropping onto the floor reaches Dust's ears. When he looks over, he spots a girl with a bow in her hair bending down to pick up what looks like a Pokémon. Actually, it looks more like a Pokédoll. The monorail shifts a little, causing the doll to roll over to Dust. "Oh, come on…" the girl whines silently, walking over to get her doll. Dust picks up the doll, & looking up close, it's a Zorua doll. He looks at the girl, who is just standing their flabbergasted. She can't seem to speak, or rather, she's too scared to.

"Uh, here," he hands the doll over to the girl, but it doesn't look like she makes any move to take it. "I'm handing it over to you." Still no response. "You gonna take it or not?" No change so far. "Seriously…" Dust was just staring at this point, wondering who the heck this girl is & why she isn't making any move to take her doll. It almost feels like a minute just standing there. "Just take the doll already!" With a sudden burst from Dust, the girl squeaks & quickly swipes her doll from Dust into her arms. She whispers something into her doll, which is a little weird. Rozu chops his paw down on Dust's forehead, who winces in response. "What's the big idea!?" He stares at Rozu, annoyed & angry. Rozu crosses his arms & looks away with a huff. "Don't take that tone with me!"

"Uhm…" Dust's attention is caught by the girl, forgetting about Rozu's chop attack...for now. "Thank y-you."

"It's nothing."

"A-are you taking those t-to someone…?" she asks about the medicine, pointing at Dust's supply.

"Yeah, a few people," he answers, showing the medicine to the girl. "What's your name?" he asks. The girl adjusts her hair. She must be the shy type. It's a wonder he's even getting a word out of her.

"It's Ruby," she smiles.

Spoiler:

"Dust," he replies. She giggles.

"That's an odd name." Dust turns away.

"Oh, & yours isn't?"

"Hee hee, sorry." Ruby's smile is a little infectious, as Dust also smiles all of a sudden.

"So is that suppose to be your Pokémon?" he asks, pointing at the Zorua doll in Ruby's arms. She blushes & rushes to put her doll inside her bag.

"P-please forget about that!" She asks abruptly, waving her arms in front of Dust. He decides to leave the subject be. Rozu walks up to Ruby, waving his paw at her. Ruby notices Rozu & bends down. "Aw, what a cute Riolu." She pets his head, nudging his head towards her hand in response.

"Are you here sightseeing?" Dust coughs, getting Ruby's attention. She stands up & looks away.

"I don't think I could do that without thinking about that incident." She must be talking about Shalour City. "I was in Lumiose City when it happened. I can't imagine what everyone there must've felt…" She was looking down in the dumps. Not like she was actually there then.

"I can." Dust's reply catches Ruby a bit off. He speaks again before she can get a word in. "Before you ask, yes I was there. How willing you are to hear about it is up to you."

Ruby shakes her head. "I know from what the news have told us. Besides, I w-wouldn't want you to relive that," she reassures him. She looks down from the gondola, struggling to speak. "I don't think anyone should go through that…" Dust scratches his head, a little concerned this discussion is a bit much for Ruby. Hell, he's not too comfortable talking about it either.

The gondola finally reaches its stop. Dust & Ruby, with Rozu on Dust's left shoulder, get off onto dry land. "It was nice chatting with you Ruby, but I got some medicine to deliver." He gives her a smile, "Maybe we'll see each other again." He turns & starts walking away, setting his sights on the road ahea-

"W-wait!" Ruby speaks out loud. Dust stops & looks over at her. She shyly pushes her index fingers together, having trouble getting her words out.

"Yeah?"

"Could I maybe...c-come with you?" she asks quietly. Dust is a little confused at her sudden request. She waves her hands around out of embarrassment. "I-I don't mean anything by it, I just want t-to see how the medicine will help t-the ill!"

Dust chuckles. "It's fine, you can come with. But you might have to guide me, as I seem to lose my way very easily, & I don't think Rozu's too keen on keeping me on the path." Rozu sighs, rubbing his head as if he had a migraine. "See?"

Ruby giggles. She walks up to Dust & looks at Rozu, & smiles. Rozu. "I guess I'll take it from here, Rozy."

There's a long silence between the three. Dust breaks the silence with a hard laugh, nearly dropping the medicine he was carrying. Rozu drops down from his shoulder, looking pissed, & wails a bunch of punches at his trainer's side, who continues to laugh at Rozu's expense. Ruby covers her mouth in embarrassment, regretting calling Rozu Rozy.

Shak · Apr 22, 2019

-Drew Tucker

​

A Dance of Fruit and of Thorns

"You know, when I said I needed to challenge the gym...I didnt mean you guys should come with me." Drew mumbled, just loud enough for the three canoers behind him to hear.

"How could we make our boy Mustang miss his old teams gym battle?" Rory mocked, wrapping his arms around both the teenager and the seahorse pokemon. The weight of Rory was even more excessive given the fact the canoers had opted to carry their gear on them. "Besides, what else are we supposed to do while we wait for the competition?"

Rory's question was drowned out by the collective gasps of the group as they arrived at a larged tree at the tip of the rural sector. The Coumarine City Gym. Drew was the first to turn and appreciate the spectrum of colour the city boasted. The seamless fade from forest green, to industrial grey before it finally settled on the ocean blue that swallowed any other hue that may have wanted to peak out in the distance. Coumarine was breathtaking.

The view wasnt why they were there though. The teenager stepped forward and treaded through the large arch that opened the tree bark.

The group were met by a wall of vines that blocked their progress any further into the gym. As he peered through the gaps in the wall, Drew managed to make out the form of the gym leader. He was, in the most honest of descriptions, a punk. He wore a spiked leather jacket. He wore glasses with only half the frame, cutting under the lenses. He even had what looked like a miscoulered Staryu growing out of his forehead. Drew's lip curled at the sight of him. It was hard to believe a guy like that had any form of official position in the pokemon league.

"Yo, any pokemon you wanna declare?" The grunt of a much larger, but similarly dressed man took Drew out of his train of thought.

"Ummm...declare?"

"Cassius' gym rules say anyone who wants to challenge him for a badge, will battle him in a best-two-out-of-three set of one vs one battles. The catch is that each pokemon will be chosen at random. So any pokemon that have a good reason to be eliminated from the selection should be now through declaration." The man explained, tapping a tray with six deposits for pokeballs.

Drew's expression fell. He'd just promised Levi that he'd use him in the next gym battle, now here he was being told that he didnt even have a say in the matter. Worse yet, he had a lot of pokemon in his team that weren't ever going to be the ideal for this sort of situation. The first that came to mind were Wailmer, Nebula and Zephyr. The first of whom was almost completely immobile outside of water. The second he couldnt trust was battle ready, despite her evolution. Zephyr...well the Gligar was still an infant. Drew hadnt battle with him once, but he just knew the kid wasnt ready yet.

Time seemed to flash by, and here he was, standing across the battlefield from the gym leader. The voices of Rory, Sally and Owin faded into white noise as he grabbed his first pokeball. He couldnt garuntee it was going to be Brycen or Caesar like he could in any other battle before now.

The teenage trainer tossed his ball, and the all too familiar sight of the Quilladin's green and brown back landed in front of him. "Good start, huh?" Drew couldnt help but smirk. He noticed the gym leader sigh as he tossed his own pokeball. A Tangrowth.

"Yo, let's get this battle started!" The referee announced.

"Sunny Day!" Cassius shouted. His voice sounding like a bomb in the dense atmosphere of the carbon dioxide filled tree trunk. The sun emerged on his pokemon's command. "Then, Power Whip!"

"Brycen, Pin Missile!" Despite the giant grass golem charging at him, Brycen planted his feet and confidently fired a torrent of bullets embued with bug type energy. They were just enough to stifle the Tangrowth's attack, knocking him out of his stride.

"Fire a toxic!"

"Dodge then, go Pin Missile again!" In a quick exchange of sequences, Brycen continued to come out on top. It took far more than just two Pin Missile attacks, but with Tangrowth handicapped in both move choice and ability to close the distance, any strategy that Cassius may have tried to conjure was little more than a formality. The Quilladin decisively found Drew's first victory in the contest, leaving him in a position to win with the very next battle.

"Next pokemon then?" Cassius smirked, grabbing the pokeball that was raised in the capsule.

Drew placed Brycen's pokeball back in the capsule. He watched intently, as this next choice could be damming. He needed either Levi or Nebula.

A Pokeball was pulled out from the rest by a vine. Drew stared at it for just a moment before grabbing it. This was it. He intended to get his gym badge off of this battle alone.

Both trainers tossed their pokeballs. From Cassius' a grass bird materialized. From Drew's...Zephyr. "Dammit..." Drew grumbled.

He grabbed his pokedex and scanned the pokemon.

Tropius
The Fruit Pokemon
The bunch of fruit around its neck ripens twice a year and is delicious. It's a highly favored tropical snack.

"Real useful professor." Drew sighed. Even in death, the man never failed to make Drew smile. The boy had little time to rue over the trivial pokedex entry however, as rather than size up his new opponent, the baby bat decided it appropriate to dive on his trainer and rejoice about being released from his pokeball. "Zephyr, I need you to focus on the battle here, alright." He practically tossed the Gligar back into the battlefield as the referee issued them to begin.

"Solarbeam."

The sheer force of the beam shook the room, but Zephyr's agility left him cackling with glee as he effortlessly glided around the attack.

"Nice, now counter with Poison Sting." On Drew's command, Gligar fired a poisonous needle from his tail, which dug straight into the Tropius. It barely flinched.

"Air Slash." This one hit. The tropius used its wings to slice through the atmosphere and send the visceral winds chopping the baby bat out of the sky. "Dragon Hammer!" The follow up attack was enough to end Zephyr's battle right there.

The spectating canoers gasped as they watched their new friend's head fall. The gligar was pulled back in a beam of red light and the battle was even once again. The odds were now in Drew's favour though. He had two pokemon he was confident would give a showing of themselves, and only one he had doubts about.

The last of the each teams pokemon were chosen. Drew summoned his first...Wailmer. His expression fell. The sight of the Whale wriggling her massive size around was enough to sap away the last of the teenager's confidence. If he lost here, this would technically be his first official gym loss. At least he knew what he was getting himself into next time around. He just needed to know what Cassius' last pokemon was.

Tropius burst forth again.

"What? You've already used Tropius, you cant use him again."

"That aint stated anywhere in the rules." Cassius responded flatly, looking Drew up and down. He noticed the boy clench his fist. Whatever was running through his mind didnt fill him with confidence. The battle wasnt even over yet.

"Wailmer, start off with water spout!" Drew ordered and his pokemon obliged. At full health, the attack crashed into the Tropius like a missile, but it survived.

"Giga drain!" Cassius ordered flatly. In a instant, Cassius had removed Drew's best weapon, most of Wailmer's stamina and the majority of the effect of that last attack. There was little Drew could do that wouldnt be simply delaying the inevitable.

"You win! I forfeit." He sighed. "I hate to admit it, but there's nothing else I can do against this. I'd rather not put my Wailmer through the unecessary hurt."

"I respect that," Cassius nodded. "That does however, mean you lose. Thank you for the gym challenge."

Drew ignored the last few statements from the gym leader. He looked down at the pokeball in his hand, then up at Wailmer. He was practically drowning in the disappointment his pokemon felt. "I'm sorry...Wailmer."

Spoiler:

Coumarine City - Coumarine City Gym​

gimmepie · Apr 22, 2019

Kade Andrews
Expectations Subverted

Stratus (Female, Reckless) - Growl, Wing Attack, Quick Attack, Double-Edge, Aerial Ace, Double Team

Contrail (Male, Big Pecks) - Flame Charge, Roost, Quick Attack, Steel Wing, Ember, Aerial Ace

Noctilucent (Male, Insomnia) - Tackle, Foresight, Hypnosis, Feather Dance, Peck

Cumulus (Female, Dancer) - Pound, Air Slash, Revealtion Dance, Roost, Feather Dance, Captivate

Floccus (Male, Defeatist) - Quick Attack, Agility, Ancient Power, Dragon Breath, Acrobatics, Quick Guard

Nimbus (Male, Moxie) - Night Slash, Sucker Punch, Swagger, Haze, Wing Attack, Sky Drop

The Courmarine Gym was like nothing else Kade had ever seen. The three he had experienced previously all had their unique charms to suit the type specialities of their leaders certainly, but the Courmarine Gym exemplified this concept like no other. The building was a giant greenhouse, filled to the brim with thick foliage that made it nearly impossible to see beyond.

Kade passed through the doors and into a passage formed by trees and crawling plants, finding himself engulfed in a tangle of thin draping vines, almost like a natural curtain between himself and the battlefield. Standing before him was a large man with a shaved head, tree-trunk arms and a beer belly donned in a leather jacket.

"Give us ya balls," he instructed in a gruff tone.

"Huh?" Kade sputtered, unsure as to what the thug-like figure was getting at. The giant of a man sighed exasperatedly.

"Doesn' anyone of ya kids read the damn rules before comin' in here? Your Pokemon is randomly selected for each round of the battle. So's Cassius'. You wanna battle 'im you're gonna have to give me your pokeballs so I can check em' out."

"Oh, okay then," Kade said, stunned. He had not head of the Courmarine Gym ever having a gimmick like this, he supposed it was something new that this Cassius person had implemented after taking over from Ramos.

Somewhat reluctantly, Kade handed over his five regular pokeballs and loan Flight Ball and watched as they were placed in a tray with sx impressions in it; one for each ball. This was slightly problematic, he had been intending to challenge the gym using Nimbus and Contrail.

Kade sighed, stealing himself. He had decided that he had to be more decisive, work harder, be stronger - be better. If he was committing to his path, then he was going to have to commit to it truly and plunge into the unknown head first. The beer-bellied man stood aside and let Kade pass through into the main body of the gym.

What Kade saw now was an open grove in the centre of what could essentially be described as a forest,, thick brown and emerald walls enclosing a field of vibrant green grass. On the opposite side of the battlefield stood the man Kade assumed was Cassius. The man was tall and thin, dressed in tight jeans and a baggy white shirt below a spiked hoodie. His head was shaved nearly all over bar a path of spike blue-green hair near the front. Sagging eyes were concealed behind half-framed glasses. Between the hulking man that had greeted him and Cassius himself, Kade may have thought the gym had been taken over by a gang if he hadn't known better.

The man from the entryway reappeared, handing Kade his Pokeballs back. Then, interestingly enough, moved to stand in the referee's position.
"This is simple enough," Cassius said, his tone laid back and casual compared to his gruff staff member. He gestured towards a large monitor screen sandwiched in between a thicket of leaves and branches. "The computer will tell you which one of your Pokemon you're using. Neither of us are allowed to switch. Best out of three wins."

"Right." Kade nodded. Thankfully for him, his entire team were Flying types with a natural advantage against a Grass gym like in Courmarine. He imagined that some of his peers may have found this unique gimmick quite a lot more troublesome.

"Let's get on with it then," Cassius suddenly announced. As he did so, the screen flared to life and began to rapidly cycle through each competitors available Pokemon in a blur too fast for the eye to comprehend. Shortly thereafter though, it froze, revealing the two Pokemon that would be going into battle. Floccus and Cassius' Tropius.

"Well, this is a new one on me," Kade said to himself, "I'm not used to being the one grounded against an airborne opponent. Alright Floccus, you're up."

Kade released his Archen from its Pokeball, the fossil Pokemon crying out with joy and leaping up and down excitedly, enthused for whatever was coming his way. Even as Floccus continued to caw with delight however, there was a second flash and a large brown Pokemon with vastleafy wings emerged, vibrant yellow fruit dangling from its neck. It produced a low bellow that drowned out Floccus' cheering.

"Sunny Day." Apparently, Cassius wasn't one to stand on ceremony, and neither was his Tropius. The winged Grass type flared its wings, taking to the air, its shadow looming over Floccus as the sunlight behind it intensified, deepening its shadow. Floccus hopped about on the spot, ready for the fight. "Air Slash!"

The Tropius gave a mighty flap of its wings and a gust of wind, accompanied by a pair of shimmering silver blades blasted forward from the motion.

"Agility!" Kade instructed, and in an instant, Floccus wasn't standing where he had been before. The prehistoric Pokemon had taken off at a run and was now gleefully running laps of the battlefield, his pace steadily increasing. The Air Slash exploded harmlessly against the ground, the gust nearly knocking Kade off his feet.

"Smart move," Cassius acknowledged, "But, you're going to need to do more than just run. Leaf Storm!"

The Tropius grumbled a low roar as its plant-like wings glowed vibrantly. Then, with a single flapped, a torrent of glowing leaves were raining down upon the battlefield in a gale, each one exploding against the ground as it struck it. Much of the arena was engulfed in the powerful attack. This was one that Floccus couldn't dodge so easily.
The projectiles hailed down on the tiny avian and blasted him about the field with a cry of pain. Unlike Kade's other Pokemon, Floccus didn't resist Grass attacks and it showed. When the smoke cleared, it was apparent that he had already taken a lot of damage. That was bad news in and of itself, if Floccus took any more heavy hits, Defeatist would kick in and halve his own power. Cassius smirked slightly.

Kade had to admire the man's Tropius, it was a fine Flying type specimen and it had total command of its domain with its aerial assault. He had to commend Cassius' knowledge too. It was clear that the Sunny Day earlier had been to trigger the Tropius' Solar Power and beef up its attack power, but beyond that, he seemed fully aware that despite his wings, Floccus could not follow into the air.

Kade grimaced, he was unfamiliar with the position he was in. It was one thing to fight with Floccus when he was battling another grounded foe, because of Floccus' superior agility. However, he was completely out of his element trying to battle a Flying opponent when he himself was the one stuck on the ground. It was the reverse of what he was used to.

Don't panic. You have to be better than this now. You know all about Tropius and you know all about aerial combat. How would someone battle Stratus or Contrail if they were grounded? You have ranged attacks and you have all the information you need. Make it work.

"Floccus, we can't stand around forever, Dragon Breath!"

Re-energised, Floccus cawed out an affirmative as he launched his counterattack. He opened his mouth wide as he thrust his head upward, launching a torrent of blue and purple flames skyward at the Tropius.

"Air Slash!" Cassius commanded again as once more his Tropius unleashed the silvery blades of wind. The two attacks collided in mid air between the combatants, struggling against each other before in an explosive moment, the Air Slash broke through and continued its trajectory.

"Dragon Breath on the ground!" Kade yelled. Floccus did as instructed, turning his head straight down and unleashing the attack once more. The force of his own attack propelled him high into the air as the Tropius' attack collided with the ground missing its mark. "Now, Ancient Power!"

Floccus turned his attention back to his opponent as a silver-white glowing sphere formed before him and rocketed towards the Grass type. The impact was audible as the Ancient Power struck its target, the Tropius letting out a groan as it was knocked backwards by the attack. Unable to get off a counterattack, Cassius was forced to watch the Archen land safely back on the ground with an excitable flap of his near-useless wings.

"Interesting," Cassius commented, "You have a lot of maneuverability. Dragon Dance!"

In the air above Floccus, the Tropius began to twist and twirl gracefully as it flew, its body radiating a fierce red aura as it did so. That was somewhat ominous a sign for Kade. It meant that the Tropius had been specially bred. It also meant that its Speed and Attack had now grown and it would be harder for Floccus to avoid being attacked.

"Floccus, Quick Attack!" Kade ordered.

"Ar!" His Pokemon responded, dashing forward so fast that he was visible only as a blur. He got as close as he could on the ground and then jumped hard, shooting up like a rocket. Kade smiled slightly, he was right that building enough speed would let him be able to reach the Tropius on its lower passes.

"Leaf Storm," Cassius calmly responded. With far greater Speed than before, the Tropius rounded on the incoming Floccus and unleashed its gale of energy-infused leaves. There would be no way for Floccus to dodge while still shooting forward.

"Dragon Breath!" Kade hastily ordered, hoping to at least lessen the impact. Even as he continued his upward trajectory, Floccus spewed out a torrent of the draconic flames against the incoming Leaf Storm. The powerful Grass move blasted apart the counter-attack and collided with Kade's Archen, sending him careening into the ground with a loud bang and a cloud of dust arising.

Groaning and now far less enthusiastic, Floccus shakily pushed himself to his feet. Kade winced, he knew that after that, he'd have to look for a way to counter the drop in Floccus' power caused by Defeatist.

He looked up at the Tropius. It had taken far, far less damage than Floccus had. That being said though, it was looking a lot moe beat up than one might expect. That was absolute confirmation that Cassius' Tropius had Solar Power for its ability.

"Leaf Storm once more!"

"Agility!"

The outpouring of the Tropius attack began again, and once more, Floccus was on the run. Ducking and dodging through the gust of dangerous leaves, avoiding the projectiles as best as he could. Kade watched as the onslaught continued, his little Pokemon straining to avoid as much as it could, although a few of the leaves did unfortunately clip him. Miraculously though, Floccus was still standing.

The Archen was exhausted, hurt and panting heavily, but he had made it through the attack. What was more, Kade was pretty sure if that Leaf Storm had come with the same intensity as the first, that wouldn't have been the case. Even better, he could see that Cassius' Tropius was really feeling the effects of its ability now. Even though it had only taken a single attack, it was looking surprisingly worn down.

"Time to finish it off, Dragon Hammer," Cassius ordered. This was the moment.

The Tropius shot down in the direction of Floccus, its front paws glowing with a blazing purple light. Reaching its full speed in just a moment, Cassius' Pokemon dived for Kade's Archen, attempting to drive its legs into the frail form of the bird.

"Acrobatics!" Kade countered.

As the Tropius approached, Floccus leapt up, somersaulting into the air above it. The larger Pokemon collided hard with the ground, the impact echoing throughout the gym. Then, before it could get up, Floccus struck it from above, driving it back into the ground with surprising force.

"Dragon Breath, Floccus!" Kade called. Floccus latched onto the back of the Tropius with his claws and opened his maw wide. The familiar blue and purple blaze erupted out over the back of the downed Tropius, spilling over its formed. The Grass type struggled against the attack, but couldn't leverage itself against the continued abuse. Eventually, after several, long and tense moments, the Tropius stopped struggling.

"Looks like the challenger wins that one," the gruff man with the beer belly commented.

"It appears so." Cassius nodded in agreement as he returned his Tropius, "Well done. You wore down my Tropius' health using his Solar Power against him and lured me into close range by draining his Special Attack with Leaf Storm's kickback. You battled against an aerial advantage very well."

"Flying types are kind of my specialty," Kade admitted, thanking Floccus for his efforts and returning him to his ball, "It was kind of weird to be on the other side of things, but thinking on it a bit, I just battled you how people tend to compensate against me."

"So it seems," Cassius replied, "Time for the next round though."

Both trainers turned to watch the screen as the roulette began again. This time landing on Tangrowth for Cassius… and Floccus again for Kade.

"Tough luck," Cassius remarked.

Spoiler: Pokemon at Sanctuary

Spoiler: Inventory

Dragon · Apr 22, 2019

The Emma Kuzunoha Case Files

RESERVE

detective

......

Episode 1: Coumarine City "The Pink Devil"

CRASH!

Another tree came crashing down in the nearby route of the port city, Coumarine. Many of the smaller, weaker wild pokemon fled the scene to safety. Emma had thrown herself out of harms way, crashing towards the ground for now. She had met many horrible and dangerous opponents before... but this was definitely a first. And perhaps the most dangerous one of all. Her foe slowly approached her, holding up what it seems like a huge boulder... with a malevolent intent. Emma could only lie there in a strange awkwardness -- yet in terror -- over the being she was up against.

She had never met something so strong.
So violent.
So devilish.

So...

Pink.

It loomed her overhead, with a sickening sadistic smile on her face. After two years in law enforcement... so this is how Emma's tale ends.

To be udderly crushed to death...
...Because of an Audino.

But who could of seen this coming? Certainly not Emma.

***

It all started when Emma was discharged from the Coumarine hospital. She still had to wear some of her bandages, but she was indeed functioning and was able to freely walk about. She had finally received her pokemon back from the pokemon center, with even a new pokedex and holocaster that was delivered to her. Plusle and Minun sat happily inside her bag, excited to see Emma right as rain once again. Everything that happened upon Shalour, however, still weighed in on her mind. She wondered about the physical, and mental stressed it had put on everyone... more than ever, she wanted to remain strong for all of them, until they can find their own way on what they want to do. But first, it was time to just unwind, so she decided to just head around the nearby route, to take in the fresh air and scenery. All that time she spent, lying upon er hospital bed, it was truly refreshing taking in the fresh air. Everything for once, seemed peaceful and she was truly enjoying herself...

CLONK!

"Oww!" she winced. She was truly enjoying herself, until she was hit by a red apple. She looked above, as it came from the nearby tree. On top of one of the branches, there was a slightly small pink pokemon. An Audino, who sat idly by with a bundle of apples it was apparently eating. It was watching Emma, who rubbed the back of her head. She seemed to had been... giggling at her. Emma rubbed her head, giving the wild Audino the stink eye. "What the hell...?" Audino threw another apple at Emma. This time it landed on Emma's forehead, hitting it square on.

The Audino started to laugh even harder.
Was it... enjoying Emma's misery...?

"I thought Audino's were supposed to be nice!" she called out to it. The Audino only responded by throwing even more apples. And even more than that. "Kn-knock it off!" Emma protested. trying to cover and protect herself from the barrage of apples. The twin electric pokemon who sat in her bag remained inside, shielding themselves too. The attack continued for a fair while, until it abruptly stopped.

After a moment, Emma finally uncovered herself and opened her eyes. When she looked back at the tree trunk, the Audino wasn't there. After looking around the area a bit, she finaly noticed the Audino had crept a few feet behind her. The Audino was chucking, with both of it's arms behind her back.She waved with her left hand at Emma, as Emma returned a puzzled look back at it. Then, the Audino got out her right hand. And, in Audino's right hand... she was holding Emma's pokedex.

"Wh-He-Hey!!" Emma yelled, after scavenging and frantically searching her belongings. Not even Plusle and Minun knew what happened, as they both had both of their eyes covered too. Emma's pokedex had been swiped, while they all weren't looking. Emma was not amused. "You give back my pokedex right now!!"

The Audino stuck out her tongue. And gave Emma the middle finger.

"Did you just---"

The Audino then opened the pokedex out, watched it as she brushed her own ears, like it was holding a mirror. Emma trotted grumpily towards it. The Audino closed back the pokedex, giving Emma a more honest, and calm look. She took Emma's pokedex and held it in front of her. It seemed to be signalling that Emma could have it back now.

Emma looked at it skeptically. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all... maybe it was just an odd pokemon, obsessed with vanity. After all, there's no way an Audino can really be unfriendly. She let her guard down, and happily accepted back her pokedex.

"Thanks, I--- AUGH!" ...Which gave Audino the opportunity to punch Emma in the stomach. Emma was knocked back a few feet, clenching her stomach from the blow. She wasn't seriously injured there... but it still made her cough out a lot. She had finally managed to kneel up, to find the Audnio laughing at her some more. Emma was now officially furious.

"Alright. It's on."

The Pink Devil...
To Be Continued...

gimmepie · Apr 24, 2019

Kade Andrews
No More Running

Stratus (Female, Reckless) - Growl, Wing Attack, Quick Attack, Double-Edge, Aerial Ace, Double Team

Contrail (Male, Big Pecks) - Flame Charge, Roost, Quick Attack, Steel Wing, Ember, Aerial Ace

Noctilucent (Male, Insomnia) - Tackle, Foresight, Hypnosis, Feather Dance, Peck

Cumulus (Female, Dancer) - Pound, Air Slash, Revealtion Dance, Roost, Feather Dance, Captivate

Floccus (Male, Defeatist) - Quick Attack, Agility, Ancient Power, Dragon Breath, Acrobatics, Quick Guard

Nimbus (Male, Moxie) - Night Slash, Sucker Punch, Swagger, Haze, Wing Attack, Sky Drop

"Sorry, Floccus," Kade said, "Looks like you're not quite done yet after all."

"Ar," Came the shaky response. It was plain to see that after the beating he had taken from Cassius' Tropis, Floccus didn't have much fight left on him without having adequate recovery time.

"Grassy Terrain," Cassius instructed, prompting a surprised look from Kade. He had been expecting the gym leader to press his offensive advantage here, but instead he was going for a setup move that would also heal Floccus so long as he was grounded.

The grassy battlefield glowed a bright green as the covering grew thicker and taller, the battlefield become much lusher as a result of the move. Kade wasn't sure what Cassius was getting at, but he wasn't about to give him a chance to pull anything. His earlier Sunny Day had faded, this was his shot, before Cassius could launch a powered up Grass attack.

"Don't wait for him, Acrobatics!" Kade called, Floccus leaping into action. The Archen rushed forward, jumping up high and lashing out downwards with his taloned feet. Cassius didn't even twitch as the Flying attack made contact… and neither did his Tangrowth.

Instead, as the attack landed, the Tangrowth's viney, tentacle-wrapped body seemed to come alive. The vines reached out and wrapped around Floccus, pulling him down and restricting his movement. There was no getting away for the Archen.

"Giga Drain," Cassius said calmly.

His Tangrowth reached up with its gangly arms and gripped Kade's struggling Archen, pulling him into a bear hug. Then, there was a flare of bright green light and a screech of pain as the glow persisted. Once the light faded, the Tangrowth dropped Floccus to the floor at his feet where the fossil Pokemon lay unconscious.

"I guess that ties us up," Cassius remarked, returning his Tangrowth.

"I guess so," Kade replied, doing the same for his fallen Archen. Technically speaking, Kade knew he had the advantage at that stage, even with both combatants sitting at a win each, he held the type advantage and none of his strongest Pokemon had come into play yet. That being said, he was still put off by Cassius' choice to set the Grassy Terrain. He didn't need it to defeat Floccus - which left only one explanation. He had already been setting up for the next battle in case he didn't roll Tangrowth.

The roulette began again and Kade and Cassius both watched the screen intently. Then, as soon as it had started, the roulette came to a stop and both of them had their competitor selected. Cassius would be battling with a Leafeon… and Kade's side hand landed on Cumulus.

Kade's breath hitched. The last time he had tried to battle with Cumulus, she had nearly died. Could he really call on her to battle for him again so soon? What if she was badly hurt again? How could he expect to retain her trust? How could he live with himself as a trainer or become a gym leader in good faith if he knew he had allowed that to happen?

Still, he had promised himself he was committing to this course of action. He reached for Cumulus' ball, and as Cassius released his Leafeon, he hesitant called her to battle. With dual flashes of light, Cassius' Pokemon emerged with prideful cry and Cumulus elegantly fluttered to the ground.

"You weren't kidding when you said you specialised in aerial battles," Cassius remarked, "Interesting."

Kade didn't reply, he was too busy focusing on Cumulus. He was sure it was too early for this. Yet, he had gone on.

"I'll be taking the first move it seems," Cassius said, "Sunny Day and then Leaf Blade."

The Leafeon let out a sound that was half cry of joy and half growl as the sun above it suddenly glowed violently bright through the top of the greenhouse roof. Then, its leafy tail glowed nearly as bright, shining a vibrant green as it suddenly rocketed rocketed forward at a breakneck pace.

"Dodge!" Kade yelled, surprised by the Leafeon's insane speed. It had been almost like watching a Quick Attack. One moment, it was standing calmly at the ready, the next it was letting out a battle cry as is lashed out at Cumulus with a swipe of its tail, crossing the distance between them almost too fast to follow.

Cumulus let out a squawk of surprise, jumping up as she flung her wings open and flapped hard. She narrowly avoided the attack as it slammed into the ground, radiating out a shockwave from the force of the collision. As expected, the Grassy Terrain earlier had been to set up for the third bout and increase the strength of further Grass moves.

"After it," Cassius ordered.

His Leafeon leapt high, easily making the distance to the low-flying Cumulus. Once again its tail lit up for a Leaf Blade.

"Roll back!" Kade called out, Cumulus replying musically as she tumbled backwards, flaring her wings as she came out of the flip to steady herself in the air. The Leaf Blade sailed through the space where Cumulus had once been, its user landing daintily on its feet beneath Cumulus.

This Leafeon seemed powerful enough as it was, but boosted by the effects of the Tangrowth's lasting Grassy Terrain, it was monstrously strong. It was going to be essential to counteract that boost.

"Alright, Feather Dance!" Kade said.

Cumulus began to spin and twirl gracefully in the air over Cassius' Leafeon, shimmering feathers falling down over it. The gym leader smirked.

"Swords Dance."

Even as Cumulus danced above, the Leafeon entered into a strange duet, making sharp aggressive movements as a red and blue lights surged over its body. Kade watched, waiting for Cumulus' Dancer ability to kick in, but it didn't.

"It's pretty hard to mimic one dance whilst performing another," Cassius answered Kade's confused look, "and I do believe our different dances just cancelled each other out. Leaf Blade!"

"Over it!"

The Leafeon sprinted forward at its unnatural speed and leapt high into the air, whirling around and swiping out with a blade like tail. Cumulus flapped hard, moving just over the top of the other Pokemon, the Leafeon once again landing harmlessly back on the ground. If Feather Dance was going to be neutralised every time he tried it, it looked like it was back to plan A.

Cassius raised an eyebrow, but made no comment other than to give his Pokemon its next instruction.

"Grass Whistle,"

Kade almost visibly deflated as an odd, musical humming began radiating out from the Leafeon. He looked on with horror as Cumulus began to falter in the air as he eyes slowly shut. Then, she plummeted down, collided hard with the grassy battlefield. Kade was thankful that it wasn't a stone battlefield like Grant's, but his problems were far from over.

"Leaf Blade," Cassius instructed again.

"Wake up!" Kade yelled, but it was to no avail. This time there would be no dodging the supercharged attack. The Leafeon rushed forward, rotating as it reached the downed Oricorio, it swept the Leaf Blade up and under the slumbering bird, launching it upwards. It wasn't done there though, it leapt up high above Cumulus, flipping forward and slashing its Leaf Blade down in an overhead motion.

Cumulus slammed hard into the ground with a reverberating crash that send the elongated grass of the battlefield out it waves. The onslaught didn't end there either, as the Leafeon landed by Cumulus, it swept its tail out in an arcing motion again and flung her across the battlefield. Cumulus collided with a tree and sunk to the ground, her eyes fluttering open. She groaned in pain and Kade felt his stomach twist.

He was watching her take a one-sided beating for him yet again. How could he let that continue? His hand twitched, unconsciously reaching for her ball. Cassius seemed not to notice.

"Once more!"

The Leafeon rushed forward, ready to finish the battle off with another of its explosive Leaf Blades.

"Dodge!" Kade yelled instinctively, but to his horror, Cumulus didn't budge. His eyes opened wide as the Leafeon's front legs touched down and it pivoted around on them, bringing its Leaf Blade around towards the unmoving Oricorio.

Then, Cumulus twisted too. Not out the way as she had been commanded though, she gracefully pivoted on the spot, and as she did so an array of wispy, ghostly purple lights burst into existence around her. In mid-attack, the Leafeon couldn't avoid the sudden Revelation Dance and was bombarded with the lights.

The Leafeon was knocked tumbling along the battlefield by the attack and Cumulus let out a low, warbling sound, one more akin to something one would expect from Nimbus than her, as she turned her head to stare directly at Kade.

"Cumulus?" Kade floundered, this was nothing like he'd ever experienced from her before. Yet, he could tell exactly what she was saying. She was making her point clear that she wasn't going to spend the whole battle running around until she passed out. She was going to fight for him whether he liked it or not. "Are you sure?"

Cumulus nodded, turning back to face the Leafeon as it returned to its feet.

"Well alright then," Kade sighed, taking a deep breath to centre himself. He'd told himself he was going to be better, it was time to actually do it.

Spoiler: Pokemon at Sanctuary

Spoiler: Inventory

forg · Apr 27, 2019

Margarita Fas

Fingers pressed against the computer mouse, hands brushed against book spines, eyes skimming through the pages, all for the sake of ridding her newborn kitten from the worry that plagued him. Pawniard sat in the kiddie corner of the library, admiring the old depictions of medieval war and tournaments. Meanwhile Larvesta and Litten were hidden from public viee within the tree foliage. Margarita believed it was best for fire types, especially a newborn, to be far away from paper.

A loud vibration shook the table, startling Margarita. She quickly retrieved her phone, not wanting to be rude to others inside the library.

It was a text. Odd.

Beautiful, did you rest as is expected from you?

Preposterous. How did he ever get her phone number?

Margarita was quick to respond, unnerved he managed to get a hold of her.

How the hell did you get my number

She continued until she found the text that may be of use. Upon leaving the desk to locate her book, her pocket vibrated.

I am glad to see you are still alive lovely.

Seeing as how he refused to answer her question, she did not respond and instead skimmed through the contents of the book before her.

Out through the library doors Margarita appears to her pokémon. Larvesta and Litten happily migrate from their branches down to the little red wagon. Pawniard was passed out cold, having been unable to keep himself awake during the wake. As a result he was returned to his pokéball to continue his rest.

"Uh... I have this list, okay? I'm going to try to see if there's any of these common remedies given to Slowpokes. It's... not that big at all, but hey I'm doing something," she took time out of her day to explain herself to her two fire creatures.

They trekked through the city towards the supermarket and stores. Unfortunately not everything was found, but the little they collected may be enough.

With it they returned to the miserable pile of Slowpokes, moaning and whining as they focused on the pulsating pain overcoming their senses. "Guess this is it." Litten stood from his place, curious to see if the slowpokes would be cured of their malady. Larvesta did not feel comfortable with the kitten approaching the pink pile, afraid they may react badly to any one of the remedies.

Margarita rummaged through the sack of store-bought items, pulling out what appeared to be a green tonic. "Hey," she began, crouching down next to the closest slowpoke. Their groggy eyes slowly rose, meeting with Margarita's seconds later.

A large shadow overcame the area as if dark clouds had flown overhead. Margarita thought nothing of it, yet when the two fire pokémon discovered the source their expressions contorted into that of horror. "Can you drink thi-"

A very strong force swept the trio off their feet, and wagon, knocking the wind out of them.

Amongst the slowpokes one had summoned a large wave, their very presence worsening a few of their headaches.

gimmepie · Apr 29, 2019

Kade Andrews
The Dance of Defiance

Stratus (Female, Reckless) - Growl, Wing Attack, Quick Attack, Double-Edge, Aerial Ace, Double Team

Contrail (Male, Big Pecks) - Flame Charge, Roost, Quick Attack, Steel Wing, Ember, Aerial Ace

Noctilucent (Male, Insomnia) - Tackle, Foresight, Hypnosis, Feather Dance, Peck

Cumulus (Female, Dancer) - Pound, Air Slash, Revealtion Dance, Roost, Feather Dance, Captivate

Floccus (Male, Defeatist) - Quick Attack, Agility, Ancient Power, Dragon Breath, Acrobatics, Quick Guard

Nimbus (Male, Moxie) - Night Slash, Sucker Punch, Swagger, Haze, Wing Attack, Sky Drop

"Leaf Blade," Cassius ordered, apparently not being too interested in letting the sentimental intermission continue.

His Leafeon's tail glowed a bright green as, aided by the bright sunlight, it closed in on Cumulus instantl and slashed its tail across at her.

"Over the top, stay in close and then Air Slash!" Kade ordered.

Cumulus thrust down with her wings and brought her legs in, flying narrowly over the top of the Grass attack. With the Leafeon's back now to her, she thrust her wings forward and at close range let loose with a pair of silvery blades of air that crashed into the Grass type's back and sent tumbling back towards its trainer. Shakily, the Leafeon climbed back to its feet.

"Synthesis," came the command from Cassius.

His Leafeon look to the sky, glowing with a warm light as it absorbed the enhanced sunrays and used their energy to begin mending its wounds. Kade saw an opportunity at that moment and seized it.

"Feather Dance, quick!" he called, realising that he could take the chance to decrease Cassius' offensive power while his Leafeon was in the process of healing away the damage it sustained from the close range Air Slash.

Cumulus began to twirl and spin elegantly through the air, a delicate rain of white-glowing feathers falling over the battlefield where Cassius' Leafeon was located. The light of the feathers merged with the light of the Synthesis as they both overcame the body of the Leafeon before fading awake.

"Counteract it with Swords Dance," Cassius responded, causing Kade to involuntarily smirk.

The Leafeon began dance in sharp motions as red and blue surged over its body, but it wasn't the only one. In the air above it, Cumulus immediately began to mimic its movements as the same light engulfed her. Unlike before, when Cassius had moved simultaneously, this time Feather Dance had come first, freeing Cumulus to activate her Dancer ability.

"Got you," Kade said, "Pound!"

Cumulus shut her wings and dove down hard for the Grass type, but Cassius was having none of that. He gave a quick command to his Leafeon, and, in a split second, it was lashing out with another Leaf Blade.

Cumulus closed in on the Leafeon, opening her wings and flinging one forward in a haymaker movement as the Leaf Blade swung across. The attacks met, struggling against each other, but even after the Swords Dance increase, Cumulus was overpowered by the Leafeon and send spiralling back through the air towards Kade.

"Revelation Dance!" Kade called, and as Cumulus was flung back the attack began.

As she spun, the wispy lights of purple appeared around her, moving with her spiralling momentum. The, one after the other, the lights rocketed away from her towards Cassius' Pokemon until her momentum came to a sudden, forced, halt in front of Kade.

The Leafeon completed it swinging motion only to find itself face-to-face with a hail of ghostly orbs as the Revelation Dance struck. The Grass type was bombarded by the Ghost attack, crying out as it was obscured by an ethereal glow and blasted back off its feet despite its efforts to hold firm.

"Roost!" Kade instructed, taking the brief reprieve they got whilst the Leafeon was down for some recovery. Cumulus folded her wings as a radiant glow moved over her, her wounds from the battle becoming visibly less severe as the move continued. The light soon faded as the Leafeon managed to return to its feet.

"Synthesis," Cassius instructed, looking to level the playing field again. Kade jumped on that, there was no way he could afford to let that Leafeon recover, and now was the perfect chance to get in a shot. With the intense sunlight from the earlier Sunny Day beginning to fade, the healing move would take slightly longer to run its course.

"Air Slash, Cumulus!"

The Oricorio gave a musical cry as she suddenly flung her wings open, even as the warm, sunny glow began to radiate out from her foe. She pulled her wings back and then thrust them forward hard. A single shimmering blade exploded out from the motion, twice as large as the two smaller blades Kade was used to seeing her produce. The attack surged across the battlefield with a gust before colliding with the Leafeon with a rush of wind as it tried to heal.

"I see," Cassius said, "You've switched from battling hyper defensively to hyper offensively. I have to admit, I didn't see that coming. I thought even after committing to the fight, you'd try something more hit and run. Your Oricorio's ability to fluidly adapt to your instructions is impressive."

"Thank you," Kade replied, "When it comes to flow of movement, Cumulus can't be beat."

"Indeed, I don't think we can match her movement prowess. That being said, we still have you outmatched in power by a wide stretch. Use Last Resort!"

The air itself seemed to vibrate with power as a blazing, coruscating golden aura flared up around the Leafeon, causing the thick grass to say wildly as it pulsed and grew.

"Revelation Dance!" Kade called, "Built it up as much as you can and don't let it go until I give the word!"

Cumulus fluttered forward a bit and began her dance. Elegant and eerie, but somehow different than Kade had seen it during the battle before. There was a certainty and a confidence to Cumulus movements that he hadn't seen outside of when she first learned the move - when she protected him from Victor's Rotom. As she twisted and turned, a swarm of wispy purple lights began to phase into being, spiralling around her in a powerful vortex.

The intensity in the room increased as a wave of force surged out from the Leafeon, causing the grass of the battlefield to sway in an uncontrolled frenzy. Then came the attack.

The Leafeon swung its tail hard, in a motion much like its earlier Leaf Blades. From that motion, the Last Resort erupted into being: a huge, vaguely star shaped golden blast with energy trailing behind from each of its points' like a sea of comet tails.

"Hold on!" Kade yelled, as the attack collided with the still-building Revelation dance.

The glorious golden missile met resistance as a wall of spirally orbs of ghostly light blocked its path, the attack striking each other with an impact that echoed across the gym, making the glass pains of the greenhouse shake.

The individual components of the Revelation Dance started to shatter into an ocean of glitter, still caught up in the vortex of the attack as it began to lose its density. At first glance, it seemed as though the Revelation Dance was losing out, and this made sense - it's a weaker attack generally.

As the trainers continued to watch however, something else was apparent: the Last Resort was also being slowly stripped away, its golden light being pulled into Cumulus' vortex, merging with her Revelation Dance and coating the ethereal light of her orbs in a radiant glow.

"Alright," Kade said, feeling his heart hammer, he knew this was the deciding moment, one way or the other, "Let it loose!"

Cumulus cried out the affirmative as she unleashed her combined attack. The spiralling Revelation Dance expanded outwards slightly, ripping apart what was left of the opposing attack before, one right after the other, streak of purple and gold rained down upon Cassius' Leafeon like a meteor shower.

The Grass type howled as it was bombarded by the combined power of both attacks, its form totally obscured by the vibrant melded lights as the exploded against and around it. Then, after the last projectile detonated against the Leafeon, and the light faded away, it was revealed once more.

The Leafeon was still standing, it's body was shaking from the effort, its was snarling from the strain with one eye tightly shut and its teeth bared, but it had not gone down. It was an incredible sight and an impressive display of power and resilience. Wobbling on its feet, it began to stalk forward towards an exhausted, slumping Cumulus.

"Leaf Blade," Cassius ordered, his calm expression finally shifting. Even Cassius was looking on at the combatants with a look of bewilderment, but if his Leafeon wasn't down, the battle wasn't over. It's tail gloed the familiar green as it approached.

"You still good, Cumulus?" Kade asked, his breath catching in his throat as his heart continued to jackhammer in his chest.

"Ori!" Cumulus replied, much of her musicality gone from her tone because of the strain, replaced now with defiance and determination.

"Okay, then Air Slash!"

With the greatest amount of effort Kade had ever seen it take, Cumulus drew back her wings and then roughly flung them forward. A pair of shimmering Air Slash blades shot forward in a blustery wind, racing towards the Leafeon as it continued to stalk forwards with a single minded focus.

The Leafeon swung its tail forward to intercept the Air Slash with its Leaf Blade… but the light faded from its tail and it stumbled on its feet. Unable to keep moving to dodge, it was struck by the incoming Air Slash and blasted off of its feet, rolling along the ground until it came to a halt at Cassius' feet.

For a moment then, there was silence. Then, the referee spoke up.

"The challenger wins!" he said, "...somehow."

Cumulus turned to Kade and cheered enthusiastically, raising her wings in celebration. Then, immediately crashed to ground unconscious. Kade rushed forward to scoop up her limp form, sighing from relief to find that she had merely fainted, her battle had not triggered any serious relapses as best he could tell.

"You were incredible," he said to the sleeping Pokemon, "I never knew you had that in you… you pushed yourself to keep standing just long enough for us to get the win you absolute mad bird."

"Congratulations on the win," Cassius said as he returned his defeated Leafeon, "That was quite the impressive performance, and I'm not really one to give unneeded praise. Keep it up, and you could go far."

"I hope so," Kade replied, "Im lucky to have amazing Pokemon, but I still have a long way to go. For now though, the only place I'm going is back to Pokemon Centre to get Floccus and Cumulus fixed up."

"I'd say that's a wise choice."

Spoiler: Pokemon at Sanctuary

Spoiler: Inventory

Shak · May 9, 2019

-Drew Tucker

Avril Morris

Trampled Water Lily

Sally watched Drew intently. She'd known the kid for the best part of a day, and off the back of a crushing defeat, he seemed more chipper than ever. He bobbed his head from side to side and was even whistling as he cast his line into the water. There was just an off air about her two man canoe though. Both Rory and Owin had gotten stuck in and already caught a handful of fish, while she noticed her young partner had resigned to letting several of his own bites go. "Drew, are you alri-"

"I'm fine. I'm not sulking about the loss. It's hard being as far behind your peers as I always seem to be, but I'm not gonna let that slow me down, y'know?" He leaned back as he finished, tugging on his fishing rod.

"It's just that you're not actually catching anything..."

There was an awkward moment of silence, before Sally found herself splashed by a torrent of water. She brushed the water out of her eyes and looked up to see the culprit chasing a school of wishiwashi out to the open ocean. "You've got a full team of healthy pokemon that adore you. Even that one does, believe it or not. I'd say you're doing pretty okay." She smiled, pointing toward the Kingdra. "If anything, absence makes the heart grow fonder."

A spritz of water flicked off the tail of Drew's first catch. A Wishiwashi. The tiny white pokemon was flung past their canoe, completely missing the bucket he was intended for. As Drew's gaze followed the fish's trail however, he found himself enamoured at the sight of a blonde girl traversing the outer city. If he didnt recognise the girl at first sight, the distinctive figure of a Greninja strolling next to her was enough to give the teenager confidence that this was who he thought it was.

Meanwhile, Avril was slowly walking up the streets of Coumarine. After a rather long night of debate, the girl had decided to continue on with her journey of challenging the gyms scattered across Kalos. She figured it would be a good way of testing her teams strength as they progressed. Avril also knew that Team Cinder would most likely up their aggressions towards her once they found out what she was doing.

"I think this gym is supposed to be a grass-based gym..." Avril mused, glancing over her shoulder at Shino as she spoke. The Greninja crossed his arms over his chest, nodding at his trainer's words. "It probably would be best to start with Radar... Maybe following up with Marble."

Shino flinched, looking somewhat offended by Avril's logic. The trainer sighed, rolling her eyes at his response.

"Don't give me that... I know you're strong, but water isn't exactly a stellar choice for fighting grass-types," she reasoned. "Don't worry. I promise you're gonna get your chance soon."

You're an afterthought...

Drew recoiled and rubbed his head as that thought played back in his mind once again. "I swear, she looks completely different every time I see her. So much stronger too..." He mumbled to himself.

"What's that kid?" Sally responded, plunking yet another Wishiwashi into her water bucket. She glanced back to meet Drew's line of sight. Like a sniper, she instantly zeroed in on the focal point of the boy's attention. "Ohhh, a girl, huh? You know her?" Her amused demeanour was heightened in response to the boy's bashful dismissal of her question. "You like her, don't ya?"

"Can we n-"

"Go talk to her. We've got plenty of time to win this thing. Get your head screwed on." She pat him on the back and grabbed his rod from his hands. "Go on. We're not going anywhere." She pushed, forcing a sigh from Drew.

The teenager pulled out one of the pokeballs from his bag. "Fine, I got her Leafeon, so I guess I should give it back now anyway." He tossed Wailmer's pokeball and hopped on the Whale's back.

Before he knew it he was at the docks just in time to get up into the city and intercept the girl's path. The ride had given him time to consider a fair amount though. Between Rory and Sally's excited gossiping and his reflection on his time with Salad, Drew realised that there were plenty of opportunities for him to at least try to get to know the grass type, but he never had. The way he saw it, he'd wasted a lot of opportunities on his journey, maybe even beyond. This couldnt be another one of those moments.

He returned his Wailmer and ran up to where the blonde trainer was walking, stopping in the road in front of the girl. "Hey Avril!" He waved excitedly.

Avril glanced up ahead of her, the familiar sight of Drew coming into her vision. It had been some time since she had seen the boy. If she remembered correctly, the last time they crossed paths was back in Cyllage City. Under other circumstances, the blonde figured that this would be a welcome sight. Then again, things were a lot more complicated than they were just a few weeks ago. Regardless, Avril managed to muster up a small smile as she offered a wave to the younger trainer.

"Hey there, Drew... Been a while, yeah?" she greeted. "What's up?"

Drew's enthusiasm faltered. Normally such a flat response would have matched his own tempo beat for beat, but there was a striking difference between what he expected given who was in front of him and what he got. If it were anyone else he would have written it off immediately. "You umm..." He began, having to gulp before he could finish his sentence. "You seem different."

"Well... You know, it's just been a long couple of days," Avril quickly responded. "What with all that mess in Shalour and then recovering and all that... I guess I'm still just a bit tired."

It really wasn't a complete lie. The girl really was still a bit fatigued, with sleep being a bit of an afterthought. She really didn't need to recover from anything, however. Compared to some of her classmates like Emma, she had gotten off pretty lucky. At least, when one considered the physical aspects of it all. Shino glanced between the two trainers, cautiously glancing at Drew as if analyzing whether or not the boy was buying what his trainer was telling him.

"Anyways, there's no real point on focusing on me. What about you, though? How have you been holding up?" Avril questioned. "Outside of Emma, you're the only other one I've seen since we all were transported here."

The mention of Shalour caused Drew to withdraw even more. He tugged at his sleeve behind him, completely obscuring his heavily bandaged left arm. "I've been fine. Took a hard knock, so I was out for a while, but I've honestly never felt better since." He chuckled. "I've actually been looking for you for a while now." As he said that, he pulled out one of the pokeballs he'd placed into his pocket. He held the ball out for Avril to take. "I know it's been a while since you saw this guy..." A forced smile and an offering of her pokemon back were all he could muster to avoid the topic of Shalour being revived.

Avril glanced down at the pokéball, her eyes widening as the ball suddenly snapped open. In a flash of light, the girl suddenly found herself being tackled to the ground. Excited yipping filled the air as she felt soft fur suddenly nestling along the crook of her neck with glee. Shino had a look of surprise on his face. The Greninja had not been expecting this reunion.

"S-Salad...?" Avril questioned. She managed to pull her overly excitable Leafeon back, staring at the grass-type pokémon in disbelief. The blonde had left him back at the daycare just outside of Camphrier Town for safe keeping. At least, that's what she thought. "What are you... how did you get here?"

"Well, I remembered you asking about how they were doing, and when Faye gave Neb back to me...I figured I could bring Salad back to you too." Drew laughed, his smile finally easing into one of genuine warmth. "You gotta be pretty happy to see him, right? Especially after all this time." He let out a deep sigh, unloading all the excitement he'd picked up in that moment.

Avril glanced back down at the Leafeon. His tail wagging back and forth in delight as she gently scratched behind one of his ears. If he had been carrying Salad for this long, that meant he was with Drew during the whole Shalour incident. It was very well possible that the girl could have lost yet another pokémon had things gone even the slightest bit different.

"You've no idea how relieved I really am," Avril admitted, smiling down at Salad one more time before finally pulling herself back up to her feet. "Thanks for taking care of him, Drew."

The younger teen leaned forward, half expecting the girl to hug him. He almost stumbled forward, but just managed to steady his footing before he found himself clattering into the girl. "No problem. I can't really claim I did anything special though." Drew laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. He bit his lip as his own mind wandered to thoughts of how things may have been different, but instead he thought of how his team may have looked had Avril not suggested he take Nebula back in Lumiose. How different his journey would be now. She'd already done so much for him on this journey, he was happy he was able to give back. He began to blush as his mind raced.

You're an afterthought...

Not anymore... He reaffirmed himself in his mind, despite the racing heart and sweaty palms, he felt confident. "Hey umm...Avril..." He began. Reality poked him in the heart about as soon as he began to speak his mind. He faltered, looking down at the girl's starter instead. "Shino's looking real strong. I bet Brycen'd be jealous..." He laughed awkwardly again. He grabbed the grass type's pokeball and pressed the button, summoning Brycen to stand beside him.

The Quilladin emerged with a stretch. Though, his stretch was short lived as he caught a glimpse of the duo that stood before him. He completely dismissed the Leafeon. It was the blonde haired girl, but especially the dark blue frog that caught his attention. "Quilla?" The grass type enquired looking between the water type and the two trainers.

Shino looked down at the Quilladin, a blush gracing his cheeks as he offered the grass-type pokémon a friendly wave. The two really hadn't properly seen each other since that day they gathered at the daycare center along with Selkie. He knelt down to Brycen's level, a sound Avril could only assume was some sort of friendly chuckle of sorts coming from the frog as he noticed the rather large height difference between himself and Drew's pokémon.

"Well... Yeah, Shino's been through a lot recently. He's kind of been my frontrunner a lot, so I guess him reaching his final stage so quickly was only natural," Avril reasoned.

Drew scoffed, looking at the difference between the two starter pokemon. "Brycen's been my front runner too, bu-" He began to explain, but thought better of it after receiving a sharp glare from Brycen. The grass type took one more intense look at Shino, before looking expectantly up at his trainer.

Drew had already forgotton the distraction. His eyes had met with Avril's and he looked away in an awkward mess. Every word he had intended to say before freezing earlier came rushing back to his mind. He recalled his encounter with Laurent. Those lessons about subtlty and revealing truths about yourself. They wouldnt do. Not now. If the shortness of breath and sweaty palms hadnt put him off before, they certainly were now.

Avril turned her attention back to Drew, noticing that something about the younger boy suddenly seemed a bit off. "Drew, you um... you feeling alright? You're looking a little pale all of a sudden."

"Oh...yeah...look...ummm, I've been thinking..." He began, stumbling over each word. He managed to steady himself with a deep breath. "Just from how Salad reacted when he saw you, it's pretty obvious how awesome a person you are." He clasped his hands together, a grating feeling in the back of his head just ushering him to stop. "One of the best moments I can remember on my journey is getting ice cream back in Cyllage. If you're not doing anything, I'd love to do it again...as like...a date." He cringed as he said that last word. He'd put it all out there. All or nothing.

The area around them suddenly got extremely quiet. It was either that, or Avril was so bewildered at the fact that Drew had just asked her out that her brain was imploding and everything around her had somehow been sucked up into some sort of parallel dimension where only she and the boy remained. She gazed down at Drew, a lot of things suddenly clicking into place for her. The way he always seemed to be so uneasy and fidgety around her... The way he looked like he was about to be sick a few moments ago... The strange way he seemed to try and force small talk... All of them were sure signs that somewhere along the way, the younger trainer had managed to fall for her.

"Well, ****."

Avril sighed in frustration. Why did everything suddenly have to be so hard? Now on top of everything else, she was going to have to deal with crushing a boy's hopes and dreams. She really didn't sign up for this kind of thing.

"Listen, Drew... I mean... I'm flattered, I really am," Avril began, closing her eyes as she tried to think of a way she could break this off as gently as she could. She suddenly wished it was Emma or Odette who found themselves in this situation. Arceus knows they probably would have had a lot more tact in dealing with this sort of thing. "But... But the truth is... I just... I just don't feel the same. I mean, don't get me wrong. You're a great kid... And I really do enjoy the time we spend together, but... I mean just don't feel that kind of connection... like that."

"O-oh..."Drew's gaze fell to the ground. "Right..." His throat dried up and palms fell cold. "No problem." He croaked. The chuckle he forced fell flat, barely managing to squeeze its way out of his air filled chest. "I should probably get out your way, me and Bry have...yeah..." He sighed; his head hung as he began back to where he'd left his canoeing friends to catch their fish.

"Damn it..."

"Drew, wait a minute!" Avril called out. She knew he was going to take her rejection hard, but still felt the need to offer some form of proper reconciliation. The girl began to follow after the younger trainer, going as far as to put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's talk about this."

A cold chill ran down the boy's spine. He sniffled. His chin fell to his left shoulder, as far from the invading hand as possible. "There's nothing to talk about. I'm fine." He turned just his head to face her, his expression locked into a tense smile. The croak in his voice was enough to deter him from forcing out another excuse and run the risk of breaking down halfway through his sentence. He could barely talk if he wanted to. He cupped Avril's hand, in both of his, and took it off of his shoulder. With another nod, Drew turned and headed back toward the docks. A particularly dragged step was enough to end the life of an unfortunate flower, as the broken hearted teenager walked off into the sunset.

Spoiler:

Cyllage City​

ShinyDiamond · May 11, 2019

Dust Fabre

Coumarine City
Location: Hillcrest Cliff
Mission 6 - Ambush

Inventory

Spoiler:

Pokémon

Spoiler:

"Thanks. You're a big help."

"Just make sure to get enough rest." Dust bids the recipient farewell & walks back to Ruby, who was waiting by a bench nearby. She was feeding Rozu some berries to pass the time. "Alright, that leaves a few more deliveries." Dust informs, looking into his backpack.

"Heh heh," Ruby giggles. Dust looks over at her, closing his backpack up.

"What's so funny?"

"It's nothing, heh. You just remind me a lot of my brother." Dust cocks his head. He's a little concerned now.

"I feel sorry for you if your brother is anything like me." Ruby just giggles some more.

"Sure, he's a little rough around the edges, & a little stubborn, but I still care about him." She looks like she's in deep thought. Dust almost speaks to break the silence, but lets her be until she talks again. When he looks at her though, her smile turns to a frown. "He's...actually the reason I'm even out traveling." This catches Dust's attention. He sits down to learn about Ruby's reason.

"Well, you don't look the type to dive into danger," he jokes, hoping to lighten the mood. She smiles, if only slightly. He thought it might be rude to pry into her reasons. Plus they only just met.

"He's...missing."

Dust is silent. He didn't have anything to say about that. He couldn't really think of anything to say. "It's been 9 years since I last saw him. I don't even know if he's still alive. I've spent most of my life searching for him, but I haven't found any sign of him. It's hard to wrap my mind at the thought he might be gone for good..."

"What's his name?" Dust asks, being careful not to upset her. Ruby parts her hair to the side, remembering her times with her brother.

"Morgan." Dust finds that a strange name. It doesn't really ring a bell either.

"Well, how far have you searched?" he continues asking. He doesn't know why she's telling him all this, but she is getting this off her chest. It might be good for her health to vent at someone.

"I thought he might be in Sinnoh, since that's where we lived together, but I never found him there. I've already searched Unova too. I came to Kalos from there," she explains, counting her fingers how many regions she visited & how many left she needs to visit. "It's...it's been hard. I don't know how much longer I can take this." She hugs her Zorua doll to calm herself. "I...have made some friends since I left home."

"Well, that's good at least," Dust reassures her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll find your brother in time." He tries to cheer her up, giving a thumbs up & a smile. Ruby just smiles awkwardly. Dust can tell he didn't make the situation any better. He takes his hand off her shoulder & looks away, a little baffled. "H-hey, I'm no good at comforting." Despite the awkwardness, Ruby still laughs.

"Don't worry, I understand." She smiles. Looks like talking has helped her a little.

"Well, I should get the rest of this medicine to the infected," Dust gets up & stretches his arms out. Ruby stands up, putting the berries back into her bag. Rozu hops back onto Dust's shoulder, a little stuffed from being fed.

"So where's the next place?"

In the next moment, Dust pushes Ruby to the ground, just as a strong wind cuts through the ground Dust was standing on. Rozu jumps off Dust's shoulder & lands, scanning the area. Ruby, on the ground, is confused at what is happening. Dust gets up & looks around. Where did it come from? He scans the bushes & trees nearby & manages to catch some rustling in the bushes. "There!" He points in the direction the attack came from. Rozu sprints in that direction, using Force Palm on the bushes. A figure dashes out of the way & into the forest. "After 'em!" Dust gives chase, leaving Ruby behind. She's left with only her Zorua doll. She holds on to it & follows Dust & Rozu.

The cloaked figure is running around the trees, trying to lose their pursuer. Dust keeps his eye on them so he doesn't lose sight of his attacker. "Wait, stop! I just wanna punch you!" he shouts, raising his fist at them. An Absol appears nearby & swings its horn, shooting Psycho Cuts at their pursuers. They make a quick dodge while trying to keep up. "Rozu, you do the same!" Dust points out, ducking from another Psycho Cut. Rozu, glowing purple, swipes his arms at the Pokémon & attacker. With Copycat, he sends a Pyscho Cut right back at 'em. It hits a tree in front the cloaked figures as it tumbles down, blocking his path. They make a change of direction, but Dust is quick to block him. "Going so soon...?" He smirks, an angry tone in his voice. Their Absol is quick to act, his horn glowing purple as he goes for Dust. He backs away to avoid the attack, but the figures takes advantage of that. They lunge at him, placing their hand on his face as they push him straight to the ground, slamming his head, & makes a break for it. Dust, keeping it together, grabs the end of their cloak, which pulls him back & flips them around, & landing flat on the ground. Dust now has the the cloak in his hands, so now he can get a look at his attacker. "Tough break for you, pal." Unfortunately, Absol slashes a Razor Wind the the ground in front of Dust, causing a puff of dust to fill the air. Dust covers himself quickly, & tries to take a look for his attacker & Absol.

"Stay away." Dust hears a voice he's never heard before. A guy's voice. Was it his attacker? He looks around, trying to search for them. In the confusion, they just manage to escape his sights. He scowls, slamming his fists into the ground.

"Damn it!" he shouts, pissed off. Ruby manages to catch up to Dust & Rozu, looking at the damage in their surroundings.

"A-are you okay?" she asks, worried to heart for Dust who she can see is on the ground.

"Does it look like I'm okay?!" he shouts at her, an angry look in his eyes. Ruby steps back from him, thrown off by Dust's anger. Rozu nudges Dust's arm, looking sternly at him. He looks at his Pokémon, then at Rozu, realizing his sudden outburst. He looks at the ground & rubs his face. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Just irritated." He gets up & dusts himself off, looking at the spot his attacker was on. "Never even got a good look at him..." He looks at the cloak he stole from his attacker, the only thing he has on him. "...I'm keeping this." He huffs, still pissed off, putting the cloak in his backpack. Rozu walks over to Ruby. She picks him up & looks over at Dust.

"Let's head back. We can figure out what that was all about..." She suggests, starting to walk back to the city. Dust keeps his eye on the ground the figure was at before following suit.

-

Back into the city, Dust has his arms crossed, tapping a finger on his arm. Ruby could tell he wasn't taking what happened earlier well. "S-should we go to the authorities about his?" She suggests, hoping to lessen the tension in the air.

"...No," he answers.

"Huh?"

"He didn't go after anyone else. That attack from before came for me. I don't know what his deal is, but I can only assume."

"Aren't you exaggerating a little?" She cocks her head, worried about the whole thing. Dust sighs.

"Maybe I am. But everyone already has enough on their plate from the whole incident two weeks ago." Dust thinks hard at what to do. He walks back and forth, deep in thought. Rozu sighs, knowing he's in his own little world now. Ruby looks around, uncomfortable with the long silence. Deciding on what to do about it, she makes a break for Dust's backpack, catching his attention.

"L-let's just focus on delivering the medicine for now, hm?" she suggests, doing her best to smile. Dust sighs & nods, beginning walking to his next destination. "Uh, i-it's that way." She points in the opposite direction Dust is walking from. She can see a vein in his forehead as he turns around & goes in the right direction, in a huff. Ruby & Rozu follow.

-

"Thanks for your help. I very much appreciate it," the doctor gives his thanks to Dust, handing him some items as a thank you."

"Yeah, whatever," he half-heartedly replies, putting the items away in his backpack. His mind was still on the attacker from before, so he wasn't in the mood for conversations.

"Well, if you're ever willing, we could always use the help," he offers to Dust, trying to give Dust something to do."

"I can't help fulltime. Sorry," he rejects.

"Don't worry, you're not obligated to. It's voluntary. We really appreciate the help nonetheless."

"..."

"Something on your mind?" he asks Dust, wondering about what he's thinking about. Dust shakes his head in response. "Well, we're always accepting any help we can."

"Of course. Take care & good luck." He waves goodbye & leaves the hospital. He catches up with Ruby outside, rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Man, why does it feel like a very long day?"

"Because you think too much," she points out, laughing a little. Dust doesn't retaliate, since it was true.

"I need something to do, damn it." He goes into deep thought, & no sooner does he slam a fist into his palm. "The Gym!"

"Oh?" Ruby is curious.

"I love a good challenge, & I'd love to get stronger. Plus, I need to relieve some stress." He sounds excited. It's almost as if he's forgotten about earlier. Ruby chuckles.

"I'd love to see that," she smiles, clearly thinking about how Dust battles.

"I wonder if the Gym leader is battling someone right now. Do they have time for it? Are they also dealing with the injured? What strategy should I go for? I need to go over this with my Pokémon, I can't go in blind. I gotta think carefu-" Ruby is already pushing Dust to the monorail, seeing that Dust would be standing all day in thought. Rozu, who was on Dust's shoulder, shakes his head at his trainer's constant habit.

Spoiler:

[PKMN OPEN] Z: A Kalos Journey - Rebirth [M] [IC]

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