[PKMN FULL] TRAINERS (IC)

Aquacorde · Mar 19, 2022

FROM LAVENDER TO CAPE

This is the time of year where Professor Roy Palm actively and excitedly checks his email multiple times per day, keen to find out how his little flock is taking to their journey. No reports from Hoshi this early is a good thing, certainly, but having to wait for the children to reach Lavender has been as agonizing this year as every year since he changed their route.

Finally, they start trickling in.

But not from who he expects.

From: Jarmie Katalan
RE: Noel
Ambitious- has ideas far above her level of execution. Exhaustingly creative. Little understanding of battle strategy or even her own Pokémon- checked her Mawile's moves for the first time during the challenge. Turned the battle into her own drama. Declared me her master. Please advise.
Result: Challenger loss.
(( post 1 // post 2 ))

It looks much like an evaluation, albeit from someone who has only heard rumors of what they are meant to achieve. Palm squints at the message, willing it to tell him more. Is Miss Katalan posing as a gym leader now? Or is she just doing this for fun? It might even be a simple, genuine plea for help- though that is unlikely.

Well. It's more insight into his students regardless, so he'll take it. Noel seems to be keeping her tendencies to drag everyone around her into a dramatic performance, but as always, he wishes she would put the tiniest fraction of that into paying attention to her studies. To send a Pokémon into battle without knowing any of its abilities- that's bad practice at best.

The next email to appear in his inbox- and distract him from advising Miss Katalan- is what he's truly been waiting for.

From: Beaumont Tayloz
RE: Esmeralda Gonder 24/05/19
Miss Gonder presents as very serious and anxious to fight. She has solid strategies but is shaky when forced to expand on them. She seemed shocked by strategies designed to counter attacks. Miss Gonder loses her will to fight far too easily, despite her bravado going into the match. A second wind was instigated only by her Beedrill, who insisted she continue. She rallied to take down one of my Pokémon, then chose to forfeit rather than put her Pokémon through a battle it would not win.
Battle Format: 3v3 singles.
Result: 1-2, challenger forfeit.
(( post / post 2 ))

Palm frowns. It was always rather clear that Ralph's uncaring façade was just that- a façade- but for her to lose her drive in such a way is unlike her. Hopefully she regains her confidence by the time she challenges Hana, otherwise she might be in for a rough ride.

From: Jarmie Katalan
RE: Arianne
Timid and unwilling to rise to a challenge. Unfocused and indecisive. Unpredictable and unconventional but not always thoughtful and doesn't see potential consequences or counters. Falls apart quickly when on the back foot.
Result: Challenger loss.
(( post 1 // post 2 ))

Another from the Warden, this time Arianne- but could it really be? Palm frowns. The Arianne he knows is not timid or reluctant- perhaps her first taste of professional battle had thrown her for a loop.

From: Beaumont Tayloz
RE: Casey Holt 24/05/19
Mr. Holt displays straightforward execution of most moves with few exceptions, most notable being equipping his Charmeleon with a set of sturdy sticks. He leans heavily into mobility. His Pokémon have little issue following quick commands. He shows some skill at observation and analytical thought, but seems to prefer action. He displayed clear discomfort when his Pokémon was paralyzed, and chose to forfeit the match rather than allow his Buneary to fight to her own knockout, despite the Buneary's tantrum. Mr. Holt did not seem to take in any of my suggestions and comments during battle, but gave me instruction on how to battle in the future with an obvious expectation that I should follow his lead.
Battle Format: 3v3 singles.
Result: 2-2, challenger forfeit.
(( post ))

Palm's interest is piqued by the idea of that little Charmander grown up but still using weapons, and is vastly unsurprised at Resident Athlete Casey Holt directing his Pokémon in much the same way as he directs himself, but ultimately has to chuckle at Beaumont's clear bafflement towards the end of the message. Someday Casey might not hold himself with such arrogance, but today clearly is not that day.

From: Beaumont Tayloz
RE: Vera Hill 24/05/19
Miss Hill held me in clear contempt from the beginning. She was immediately disobeyed by her Rockruff, which chose itself to lead the battle. Her strategies are highly predictable and straightforward. She disregarded any attempt to coax her into considering a different approach. Miss Hill becomes easily flustered when her ideas do not work and shockingly overconfident when they do. She struggled to overcome my Emolga, then coasted on extremely hard Ground-type hits from her Cubone to finish the match.
Battle Format: 3v3 singles.
Result: 3-1.
(( post ))

Palm covers his face with both hands and sighs. If Casey Holt could be arrogant, he had nothing on Vera Hill. He almost wishes Beaumont would have defeated Vera, if only to give her a bit of a reality check. The girl will have a hard time with Hana if she refuses to strategize. And that ego could certainly get her in trouble.

From: Beaumont Tayloz
RE: Bruno Dillinger 24/05/19
Mr. Dillinger came in with effective preplanned strategies, but failed to account for certain countermeasures and floundered when improvisation was necessary. He is creative enough to succeed at improvisation, just slow to come up with and execute new ideas. He is clearly very knowledgeable, but can yet be tripped up easily. Mr. Dillinger's Pokémon have little trouble executing complex strategies and back-to-back commands and are clearly well-trained. He displays some uncertainty handling a headstrong Fomantis, but it obeyed him regardless.
Battle Format: 3v3 singles.
Result: 3-1.
(( post ))

None of that comes as a surprise. Bruno has always been analytical and intelligent, but slow and methodical in action. However, he seems to have taken to a gym setting well. It's a relief to know at least one of his students is likely on a steady path.

From: Beaumont Tayloz
RE: Gwen Alanis 24/05/19
Miss Alanis is excitable and has little filter between mind and mouth. She is quick to adapt to new information and ideas. Like Miss Hill, she swings into overconfidence when things are going well. She seems to be under the impression that a Pokémon can do anything given enough high-volume encouragement. Her ability to use moves in unconventional ways is impressive when intentional, as is her ability to roll with the unexpected. Her Axew finished the match by swallowing its own Dragon Rage and launching it and my Heliolisk into a wall. She was over the moon.
Battle Format: 3v3 singles.
Result: 3-3, draw.
(( post 1 // post 2 ))

Palms smile grows wider as he reads. If anyone would excel far more in the field than in the classroom, it would be Gwen Alanis. All that energy, directed at what she actually enjoys- a perfect match.

From: Jarmie Katalan
RE: Richard
Timid and apologetic. Pokémon clearly attached to him. In his head at first but found his footing when his Pokémon was in trouble. Can get aggressive. Fairly adaptable and responsive to danger.
Result: Challenger loss.
(( post 1 // post 2 // post 3 // post 4 ))

Richard has a good head on his shoulders, but there's always been something weighing him down. The comment about being responsive to danger is curious, that is for sure- Palm wonders what happened to make Miss Katalan recognize that in Richard. If only she had been trained to write these properly…

From: Beaumont Tayloz
RE: Jordan Springs 25/05/19
Mr. Springs was clearly nervous and unfocused. He relies a lot on type advantage, but showed decent adaptability and creativity when his hand was forced. He has some difficulty controlling his Pumpkaboo. He made a deliberate choice to battle with an injured Pidgey- he was clearly uncomfortable with his own idea, but was clever enough to take a gamble with Mirror Move that paid off. Mr. Springs shows promise and capability with roundabout strategies and consideration for more nuances than just direct attacks.
Battle Format: 3v3 singles.
Result: 3-0, though one was declared unable to continue by Mr. Springs himself.
(( post ))

Palm finds himself surprised at Jordan's wits. He was a nice boy, a decent student, a hard worker- but never showed as much clever subtlety as Beaumont implied he had. This journey has done him good so far, perhaps.

From: Jarmie Katalan
RE: Ralph
Cocky and aggressive with insults at the ready. Both clever and forgetful of basic knowledge. Tried to LEVEL MY GYM using Magnitude. Will be sending invoice.
Result: Leader forfeit.
(( post 1 // post 2 // post 3 ))

So Miss Katalan really is styling herself a leader? Palm makes a note to send an inquiry to Beaumont later. He decides in a split second that the Warden will not be receiving reimbursement for Ralph's actions; it is a gym leader's responsibility to take challengers in a place that can withstand a battle, after all.

Regardless- this report tells of a much different Ralph than Beaumont's had. She likely took a lesson from her loss to him, but was it the right one? To swagger in with aggressive bravado and maintain it- it may cause others to look on her unfavorably. He'll await Erika's experience with interest.

From: Beaumont Tayloz
RE: Richard Wolstenholme 25/05/19
Mr Wolstenhome appeared serious but most notably irritable- he rose to challenges and suggestions with anger, rather than taking them as an opportunity to learn. He opened with straightforward attempts but did make significant use of strategy when forced. Mr. Wolstenhome seemed to be desperate to perform well, or at least to win. However, he chose to forfeit the match when a prior injury to his Kadabra resurfaced and rendered it unable to continue.
Battle Format: 3v3 singles.
Result: 1-0, challenger forfeit.
(( post 1 // post 2 // post 3 // post 4 ))

Another note about aggression for Richard, this time much more intensely focused on. Odd- the boy was nothing but kind to his classmates and teachers. Something to keep an eye on, no doubt about it.

From: Jarmie Katalan
RE: Gwen
Some signs of unconventional training, some skill at countering attacks. Quickly lost control of her Axew. Difficulty adapting to surprises. Paralyzed by indecision in the face of a simple Fire Spin.
Result: Challenger loss.
(( post ))

Palm frowns. After Beaumont's evaluation, he had expected a glowing report from Miss Katalan as well, but this does not paint Gwen in such a pretty light. Hopefully she rallies before facing Hana.

From: Beaumont Tayloz
RE: Arianne Chandler 25/05/19
Miss Chandler competently executes basic countering strategies and displays creative move use. Her Pokémon obey readily and without question. However, she routinely failed to take advantage of openings and had difficulty recovering from a disadvantage. Miss Chandler needs to be aware of backing herself into a corner. She lacks consideration for her opponent's strategy and potential rebuttals, especially when focusing on performing her own established techniques.
Battle Format: 3v3 singles.
Result: 1-3.
(( post ))

Beaumont's evaluation agrees strongly with Miss Katalan's for once, and therefore- this is not a fluke of the day, not for Arianne. Palm frowns and pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to remember the many practical battling classes he had overseen. Perhaps her creativity had been overshadowed by Noel or Gwen, or at least not recognized in their chaotic wake. But her floundering had not been recognized either, not with half a dozen other children struggling to command a Pokémon.

Did he fail her?

How many others like her has he also let slide by?

Palm snaps his laptop closed and lets his forehead drop onto folded arms, heart as heavy as his head.

And thirty seconds later, he's asleep.

css by riki

QueenNothing · Mar 21, 2022

Gwen Alanis

Wednesday, May 29
Evening
Saffron City

"Hah! I win again!" Gwen shoots her fists into the air, Playstation 2 controller grasped in her other hand.. Jenny had gotten the idea to ease her younger sister into a serious conversation by using video games as a gateway, but either she chose the wrong game or that was a bad idea because the two have gotten pretty competitive with an old fighting game- titled Project Pokemon: Close Combat- for quite some time now. They don't know how long they've been going at it, but hearing Pix and Custard's snoring signals it must be pretty late.

"Damnit." Jenny clicks her tongue. "How the hell have you beaten me so much? I've been playing this game since before you were even born!"

"Because you're playing as a shitty character." Gwen sneers. "Armstrong's like, the absolute lowest of the low of low tiers. This game may be older than me but I played the hell out of this when you were in Cape."

"Aw, is Armstrong really that bad of a character? He's been my main guy since the game came out. I knew he wasn't the most well designed character, but I mean he's half Machamp. What's not to love about that?"

"What's not to love? He sucks, that's what! Have you seen how many frames it takes for his attacks to come out? It's pathetic! He's a bad matchup against everyone, even Gustavo, and he's literally half Garbodor! What's there to like?"

Jenny shrugs. "I don't really care. He looks cool."

"Well, get ready to lose again!" Gwen cackles, selecting her character. Once that match starts, she instantly starts mashing a series of buttons in a specific pattern, causing her character to perform a variety of flashy attacks, all in quick succession of one another. That brings the lifebar of Jenny's character down to nothing before the in-game timer is at 30 seconds.

"Fuck!" Jenny cries while the in-game narrator announces her humiliating loss. "Okay, maybe this character does suck. Let me change!"

At the tap of a button, very era-appropriate metal music is blasted and a menu displaying a large selection of colorful characters pops-up. The entire presentation is off-putting to Jenny, claiming it "brings back bad memories…", whereas Gwen simply finds it incredibly appealing. A red and blue cursor each move across the menu as the two seek out new fighters to play as.

"Man, I haven't thought of some of these guys in like a decade." Jenny remarks. "What kind of names are these anyways? Mindy Moon, Jace Ace, Heavy Steel, and…" Her face freezes as her cursor stops on a certain character who stands out to her, a young woman who is a human-Toxicroak hybrid donning purple clothes and hair.

"Why'd you just stop like that? It's just Sasha Striker- Ohhh."

It's not long before the two sisters burst out laughing in unison at the character's name, briefly interrupting Pix and Custard's sleeping. "Ah jeez, I almost forgot what I wanted to talk to you about." Jenny snickers

"You mean Dragon Lady?"

"Yeah, Dragon Lad- err, Sasha." Jenny clears her throat. "We broke up right before you moved in. She said she couldn't take care of a kid. I was fine with that, and I vaguely understood that taking you in would be hard. Although deep in the back of my mind I was just a tiny bit bitter, y'know? But now that I've actually had you in my custody for as long as I have, I can now say I fully understand where she was coming from."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gwen aggressively shoots up a brow.

"No, it's not like that! It's just… It just hasn't been easy. I mean, having to take care of a teenager and then going from two incomes to one income and welfare, that goes without saying. Of course, things got easier when you attended Cape… but now I have to wonder if that was the right decision."

"...you're kidding, right?" Gwen tries to laugh off, but Jenny's expression remains dead serious.

Jenny's head sternly turns left and right. "No, not really. I'm really starting to think Cape left you woefully underprepared for the real world after the whole Hana incident and your encounter with Sasha's Gyarados. In retrospect it feels almost irresponsible sending you off to a boarding school where you didn't have any proper adult figures in your life. I guess it didn't really seem all that weird to me at the time because I certainly lacked that, and I wish I could have been more involved in your life so I could do for you what I needed so badly."

"...what are you trying to say?"

"This is what I really wanted to get at, but it's not gonna be any easier to deliver." Jenny exhales through her nostrils. "But I'm wondering if allowing you to travel across the regions was a good idea. I'm just not sure if you're responsible enough to handle it."

"Of course it was!" She snaps, brows furrowed. "What are you talking about!? I already started so-"

"Yes, but as your legal guardian, I could pull you out at any time." Jenny states with a completely straight face. "This isn't to say that's what I'll do, I don't wanna be cruel or anything. But if you keep getting yourself into all these life-threatening situations, I think I'll have no choice as the only present adult-figure in your life."

Gwen sits still with her jaw agape, dropping her controller to the floor. How could these words be coming from her dear older sister of all people? Worse yet, it confirms every negative thing said about her by the likes of Vera and Bethany. "You- you can't do that!! I waited so many years to go on a Pokemon journey and you just wanna… take that away from me!?"

"Well, if I did decide to go that route I'm not saying you'd never have that chance again. Give it a year or two at a local, more competent trainer school and you might be better off on your own."

"Oh, come the fuck on!!" She snarls, jumping to her feet. "You'd really send me back to school again after all the hard work I did at Cape!? Or what about all the incredible progress I made as a trainer!? I've only fought two gym leaders so far and I have…" She glances down to her hands to use her fingers to count. "...Like, ten Pokemon already, and I take perfectly good care of them! My career as a Pokemon trainer would be ruined!! Are you really gonna do that to me!? Arghh, I can't even stand thinking about sitting in another classroom again!"

Jenny's brow twitches, but she ultimately keeps her cool. "Look, it's not something I want to do. Like I said, I realize how cruel that might be to you, I really do, and I'd hope you've learned your lesson by now. That's why I'm giving you a chance- as long as you can promise to me you'll stay away from any unnecessary danger and get through Kanto safely, I'll let you continue."

"Danger!? Being a trainer is already pretty dangerous, so what am I supposed to do, wear a fucking helmet and kneepads whenever I'm walking!?"

"I never said that." Gwen finds it impressive how composed Jenny is. She usually goes along with Gwen's bits, but she can be frank when she needs to. "That's why I added the 'unnecessary' part. Coming across a rampaging Tyranitar in the middle of the mountains isn't the same thing as infiltrating a criminal organization's headquarters with the delusion of overthrowing the kingpin."

"What's wrong with that!?" Gwen throws her arms outwards. Custard shivers from the volume so Pix snuggles her tightly. "What am I supposed to do if I come across some thugs like that!? Watch and do nothing!? Fuck no! If I see someone doing wrong I absolutely need to give them hell! Why can't you understand!?"

"I thought we already had this discussion, but apparently I need to repeat myself." She reaches for an already opened can of coffee and chugs down the rest, tossing the can behind her once finished. "Look: That is not your job. You don't know how to handle these things. That's a job for trained adults. If you know of any suspicious activity or whatever, your job is to call the police. And I can't stress this enough: Getting involved could get you potentially killed. That'll put a swift end to your career as a trainer."

Gwen stumbles over her words, flustered and lacking a counterpoint. This is starting to give her flashbacks to when Quartz had her and Casey return those machines. She falls to her rear, crossing her arms and legs with a loud and irritated "Fiiiiiiiiiine." Facing the opposite of Jenny, she murmurs to herself before going quiet, creating an elongated moment of silence. The only sound to fill the void is the soundtrack of the game they had been playing.

"Sooooo," Jenny tries changing the subject to cheer her young sister up. "I'm getting back into battling, starting with the Tomorrow Cup that's, err, tomorrow." She chuckles, hoping to lighten the mood. Gwen stays silent, leaving Jenny wincing with concern. "A bunch of participants dropped out so it was pretty easy to enter at the last minute. It'll be nice to see Krox shine after so long, huh?" Still no response from her. Jenny sighs through her lips, rising to her feet. "I see. I'll give you some space then."

Her slippers slide across the wood floor, turning back every now and again to see a quiet pouting Gwen, before arriving at the hallway entrance. Right as she's heading to her room, she turns around a final time, opening her mouth a few times before she can hesitantly speak up. "If… if you need anything, just give me a holler and I'll be there. Uh… goodnight champ."

A sliding door shuts behind Gwen as she remains in her spot, not moving a muscle. Today might have been the closest thing she's ever had to an argument with Jenny. Does she make a good point? Maybe. But for Gwen to just sit back while injustice plays out in front of her very eyes, that's just not possible. She doesn't want to break a promise she made with Jenny though, which is why she has a compromise in mind- and it involves Gwen getting stronger.

"Rest well guys," Gwen says, looking back to her sleeping Pokemon. "We're gonna have a long day tomorrow."

Spoiler:

CCS and art by Aquacorde

Aquacorde · Mar 22, 2022

Casey Holt

Friday, May 31, 2019 // Early Morning, Day 12
Saffron City

10-13. we can make this leap

Spoiler: geronimo - sheppard

It occurs to him, halfway through his jog over to Silverfield Studios and ultimately far later than it should have, that he should tell Aurelia that her Beedrill is with him. He sends a quick text with little explanation, and a spike of vindictiveness drives him to set his phone to silent as soon as the peppy pop ringtone kicks in.

Aurelia will wait. He has other fears to face.

"Stuff just keeps changing with you, doesn't it?" The casual statement rubs against the unhealed scrapes and bruises that linger from Casey's struggle to accept exactly that, but he's not given any time to sulk about it. Sorley reaches both hands up to paw curiously at the fresh growth of stubble along his chin, so Casey pulls their loose springy hair in response. "Ow, no, not fair!"

"How that ain't fair?" Casey pushes back, but Sorley's already moved onto the next new thing,

"Who's this, who's this? You never said you had a Beedrill or a Weedle or a Kakuna!" They reach out a calloused hand to shake one of Beedrill's legs, which the bug accepts bemusedly.

"''Cause I never did. And still don't. This's my sister's."

"Why do you have it?"

"Uh…" Casey backtracks to the beginning of the story, and realizes there's a lot more leadup than he thought. "You know the crime I saw in Cerulean that all o' yours rescued me from?"

Sorley's hair bounces with a sharp tilt of their head. "Yes? Of course, yes, but what-"

"Same people, okay, are out in Saffron- but actually not really. Maybe. Uh… okay, no, I can't summarize all o' this."

So summarize he doesn't, as they all pile into the tiny fire-warmed sitting room. Sorley and Casey in each chair, of course, but Pepper on Casey's lap, Parsley's head in Sorley's crossed legs, Beedrill perched on the high back of Casey's chair, and Ginger nestled in the crook of his arm. It's a good thing nobody's claustrophobic, even though the air is still uneasy between Ginger and the rest of the Pokémon.

It takes a bit of time to untangle the steps leading up to having Aurelia's Beedrill at his side, especially without touching too much on the truth of their relationship. It's never been something Casey talks about, not to anyone. He and his sister simply aren't close, he explains to people. The age gap really impacted the development of a relationship, he tells them. They had very different experiences, he says, and not much in common.

He says nothing different to Sorley, who accepts much of what Casey says at face value, and definitely doesn't tell them he's currently ignoring calls from Aurelia. When pressed on why Beedrill is still with him, he lets Beedrill take the blame and claims it was curious about his party and adventures. Not strictly untrue, but certainly not the primary motivation the bug had expressed.

Sorley blinks owlishly at him, but again- takes it at face value. Casey doesn't particularly pride himself on his ability to lie, hide, and slip around the truth but it's part of him nonetheless, and it's a convenience to be able to dart around Sorley's prying questions. They may be decently perceptive, but now that Casey can see the patterns of their rather tactless inquiries he can head them off without too much trouble.

Someday he'll have to face these things head-on. Someday he will have to bare his soul to the truth and trust that someone will accept it all, won't turn his secrets against him.

Today he stays guarded.

"I guess I'll take it back to her today," he concludes with a shrug, despite the disgruntled buzz from behind him. What else could he do? Well, technically, he could allow it to claim one of his own unused PokéBalls and stay with him forever… but that seems wrong, somehow, more wrong than allowing it to be free from any trainer. "She was gonna use it in the tournament. There's still rounds left an' I don't think she's gone out yet." It'd be more of a surprise if she had, really. "Is three-on-threes done?"

"Nah, nah. We're on a break for today, last few rounds go tomorrow. It's a shame, a shame! I wanted to go see the Musical! I don't know what it is really but it sounds neat and different!"

Sorley pulls a crumpled flyer from their pocket and leans precariously in their chair to shove it toward Casey. "Look, look, it's supposed to be dancing and music and performances! I like shows!"

"Me too," Casey says, skimming the flyer. "I've never done a whole show on my own. Been a volunteer for all kindsa acts, but never made one…"

"You should try! Oh, but I wanna see it and I can't- wait! Do it and record it!"

Casey laughs. "I don't even know where to start with that. Not much for Contests in Kanto. I looked up some of Bruno's mom's shows once. Her Swellow was cool! Never thought I'd end up tryin', though." His cheery veneer slips for a moment when he adds: "I don't got anyone to record, anyway."

"Not anybody, not at all?"

"Literally everybody I know in town is walkin' around with a Ghost." This probably isn't true, as he definitely hasn't kept up with the entirety of his class, but the ones he has… "Arianne put hers away yesterday but that ain't a guarantee it'll stay put."

"You're really really limited by this, you know."

Casey chooses to watch Sorley's hands scratch the base of Parsley's horns rather than the expression on their face.

"So what're we gonna do today?"

And there it is, the unavoidable reason he's here again this morning.

"I guess I'll, uh. See Golurk again."

"And do what?" Sorley presses.

Casey doesn't know. Yesterday he'd maintained wary eye contact with the stoic Ghost for about forty minutes, tripping over his words the entire time to ask questions to him and to Sorley about the individual and the species. That information swirls in his head, not comforting in the slightest.

Casey's always been someone who learns via activity.

"I'll battle him?" His voice peaks at the end, the statement turning to confusion at his own words. Casey clears his throat, even as his heart hammers away at the base of it. "We'll battle. Pepper needs an outlet."

"Okay, okay!" Sorley starts to wriggle out from under Parsley's head but stops halfway, looking thoughtful. "Do you want me to battle?"

"No, I… I want Golurk to just." Casey waves one hand vaguely, jostling Pepper. "Stand there?"

Sorley shakes their head, which is a funny sight when it's mostly trapped by Parsley's. "That's not a battle!"

"C'mon, it's… training," Casey wheedles, finding his mark. "Safe training for me an' Pepper, because Golurk's way high power and resistant to most of his attacks, and I know he won't do anything t' me, okay? Training for us."

Sorley resumes their slow slide out from under the Gogoat. "He's allowed to negate attacks," they decide.

"Yeah, sure, sure."

Sorley finally extracts themselves from the chair and subsequently the crowded little room. Stifled silence falls but for the scratchy crackling of the electric fireplace.

Casey jumps when Pepper puts clawed hands on either side of his face and presses their foreheads together. "Wh- hey, buddy, what's…"

Slow breaths. Inhale… exhale… Casey could almost laugh, could almost cry, remembers teaching Pepper how to breathe rhythmically through stretches until he gets lost in the pattern. But only one shaky inhale gets the better of him and the rest smooth over, forehead-to-forehead with his warm Charmeleon, Gogoat draped across his feet and Buneary in his arm.

A quiet, stilted buzz, much like an awkward clearing of the throat, pulls Casey from his accidental meditative state. Beedrill, his brain sluggishly supplies. Must be very confused.

He tilts his head back to look it in the eyes, still perched on the back of his chair as it is. "There's a lot to say," he sighs, rueful smile etching itself onto his face. "I guess basically… I'm scared of Ghosts and I'm tryin' not to be."

The Beedrill tilts its head, as if it can't understand the idea of being so, but nods once in acceptance.

Casey wonders, suddenly, how many questions it's ever been allowed to ask.

"There's a lotta questions I'd have for you if you could talk," he murmurs. A gentle, spindly limb pats his head and a low, sad buzz vibrates through it.

Unfortunately, there's not going to be enough time for them to truly figure each other out. Sorley's here to lure Parsley out with snacks and Casey out with distracting chatter, to tow him hand-in-hand to where the warehouse door creaks and shudders open to reveal the looming blue mass mostly shadowed by the close alley walls.

Groc · Mar 22, 2022

Vera Hill
Chapter 10 - Out of Mind, Out of Doors
Saffron City; May 30th, morning

Despite what they'd agreed on, Casey wasn't at breakfast this morning. Vera can't help but feel responsible, which makes her sad, and in a roundabout way, angry. She's not sure what to feel anymore, and stares at the morning news while mindlessly stirring sugar into her tea.

The news is reporting that the local Poké Ball factory was vandalized last night, and that they're unable to fill orders after their power was cut. They're asking any trainers of Electric types to lend a hand in their time of need. Vera idly thinks that Ebony knows an Electric move, maybe he should volunteer. Come to think of it, Trixie could Mimic an Electric move, too...

The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes this is an opportunity. Casey won't talk to her while she has Ebony and Trixie with her, and he's unlikely to believe that she just left them in her room. But this way, she can send them off, they can do a good deed, and they can even get some training in. It's perfect!

So she heads out into the crowded city, following the directions on her phone and refusing to talk to anyone. Jordan tags along also, muttering something or another about Mirror Move - he's probably planning on lending the factory Hop as well. That's fine. When they arrive, they turn over their Pokémon to a very grateful employee, Vera taking a moment to relish in the praise. Then she heads outside and immediately sends Casey a text.

We missed you at breakfast. I sent Ebony and Trixie on a job, I have no Ghosts with me. Can we meet and talk? Maybe just hang out?

She holds her phone in her hand as she starts walking, eagerly awaiting his response. It takes a few minutes, almost long enough for her to get to the Gogoat stop, before he replies.

sorry busy gotta find a dude dont know how long it'll be

She stares at the text, reading it over and over again. She went to all this trouble, and he's still dodging her? He didn't even use proper punctuation in his response! Her plans for the rest of the day, half-formed as they were, are dashed. Her temper is rising, and her temperature with it.

She turns away from Jordan. "I'm going for a walk. I need some air. Some space. Just… time to think. I'll see you later."

She starts typing on her phone, probably harder than she needs to, and pulls up a map, hoping to find something to calm her nerves. Looking at the map, there's a park nearby where trainers can play with their Pokémon. Maybe she'll head there. But first, she needs to stop by the Center and pick up one more member of her team...

🪨 🐶 Soon... 🪨 🐶

Iggy barks happily as he chases a random leaf on the wind. Vera walks behind him, not concerned about keeping up with him. He won't go far from her. She's kind of jealous of him. He's so effortlessly happy, so free of stress and unburdened by intelligence.

She thinks back to the beginning of her journey. It seems so long ago and far away, and she's changed so much since back then. Back then, she wouldn't have concerned herself if someone was upset with her, or if she'd pushed someone away. That was just how she was, she'd move on. But could she go back to that? Keeping cool and aloof from anyone she meets?

Thinking back, most of the people she'd met on the road, even other students like Gwen, wouldn't care if they never saw her again. She'd rubbed so many people the wrong way, she's not sure how she managed to rub Casey and Jordan the right way. Maybe their friendship is just a fluke.

Or maybe she just needs to try harder to talk to people.

Iggy seems to feel that way, as he's happily barking and jumping around a Growlithe that watches him warily. It growls slightly, and Vera immediately steps in.

"Iggy, come here!"

"Growler, heel!"

Another voice cuts in as Vera hurries over to Iggy, and a man heads over to Growlithe as well. Or maybe a boy, he looks to be about Vera's age or just a bit older.

"I'm sorry about him, he's excitable, and this is the first park I've taken him to." Vera picks up Iggy, who immediately tries to lick her face.

The guy just laughs as he kneels beside his Growlithe, petting its head. "No worries, he's just a grumpy old man. Aren't you, Growler? Yes you are!"

He seems friendly enough. His eyes are dark, but they shine as he laughs, and he has a great smile. Dark skin, red hair, a strong jaw... Vera imagines he makes new friends easily, and her instincts are telling her to walk away. Just like when she first met Casey.

"So, uh... I'm Vera. This is Iggy. I'm new in town." Why did I say it like that? "Well, not new, I'm just passing through, mostly just... staying for a few days..."

"For real? No way, me too!" The guy stands, offering Vera his hand. "I'm Xander, but my friends call me Bo."

That doesn't even make sense, why would they call him that? Vera warily accepts his hand, giving it a quick shake. His grip is strong, and though she can't tell under the blazer, he seems pretty fit, in a lean kind of way. "Nice to meet you, Xander. What, uh, what brings you to Saffron?"

"You know, just here to see the sights, check out the locals, and participate in the Student Cup. You?"

"Um." Vera puts Iggy down, and he immediately goes over to Growler. With his trainer at his side, the Growlithe just quietly endures the attention. "I'm just visiting all the big cities, you know? Saffron is just next on the list."

Xander nods, and Vera actually looks at him. He's a little shorter than her, by about an inch or two. "Right on, right on. Doing the whole Gym tour, yeah? Hey, can we like, walk while we talk? You look a bit tense."

Vera bristles at the insinuation. As if there was something wrong with being wary of a stranger? But she refrains from snapping at him. "Sure. A walk sounds lovely."

"Haha, 'lovely', I like it." Xander laughs as he starts walking, Vera falling into step beside him and their Pokémon following. "So like, you said you're not from around here, where are you from? If it's cool to ask."

"It's cool. I'm from Viridian Town, but I go to school in Cerulean. Cape College, you've heard of it?"

"I have! I'm actually a college man myself, but like, in Violet City. That's in Johto, it's real far away. I study at Earl's University. Go EU!"

"Oh." So he's foreign, then... That works out perfectly for her. If she screws this up, she'll probably never see him again. "What do you do there? I mean, you said you study there, right?"

"Yeah, I study cosmetology. I was thinking I just wanted to like, cut hair and make things beautiful, but I'm looking into battles and stuff right now, you know? Seeing how a Pokémon's performance is affected by their looks and learning therapeutic treatments for after battles."

Okay, what? That was... more than i expected. "That sounds... pretty interesting, actually."

"It is! I'm also on the cheerleading squad. They call me Flamethrower because I'm such a good baser. Probably also because I like Fire types so much."

"Cheerleader, huh?" Vera chuckles, which Xander seems to catch.

"Yeah. It takes more than most people think, actually. It's really a team sport, you gotta be coordinated and versatile and ready to step up at any time. You ever try it?"

"Me? No. We don't even have a sports team at Cape, why would we need cheerleaders?"

For the first time, Xander loses his chill smile. He actually looks disappointed. "That's a shame, man. It's really fun and a great way to meet new people. Everyone likes cheerleaders, right? And the guys love the outfits, am I right? You'd look good in one."

And with that, she's on edge again. "Are you saying I don't look good now?"

Xander puts his hand to his chin, looking Vera over. "Nah, you're good. Look, I study beauty, right? And what's on the outside is only half of it. You gotta feel good if you wanna look good. You got the looks, I'll give you that, but you give off a lot of 'stay away' energy right now. I like the hat, though. You got confidence to wear that."

Iggy barks happily at that, wagging his tail. Vera appreciates the compliment, although she thinks there was more to it than just that. "Stay away energy, huh? If that's the case, can I ask a favor?"

"Depends on the favor." Xander grins like he just said something clever.

Vera stops walking, turning to face him. "Will you kiss me?"

Xander stops as well, almost stumbling in surprise. "Will I what?"

"Will you..." Vera steps closer, getting right in his face. "Kiss me?"

Xander blushes, looking away from her eyes. "Well, it's hard to say no to that, but... why? I just met you."

"Just... okay. My friend said I'm bad at it, and I don't like being bad at things. So I need to practice, and get better. Now will you or not?"

She realizes she's glaring at him, and he looks at her for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, I'm down. Let's do this."

She doesn't give herself time to think. She moves forward to kiss Xander just like she had with Jordan, quick and direct. She pulls back, crossing her arms across her stomach. "Well? How was it?"

Xander blinks in surprise, and doesn't answer right away. "...I mean, everyone's bad at some things. Nothing to be ashamed of."

"That's not helpful! Let me try again!" She steps forward again, but this time he leans into it, meeting her halfway before she's ready. It takes her off guard, and not in a good way, and she pushes him back this time. "What was that?!"

"I'm kissing you, like you asked."

"No. I kiss you. How else can I get better?"

He sighs and shakes his head. "Look, I'm no expert. I haven't done this very much, alright? But it's not one or the other, it's a shared experience. You gotta let someone in."

Vera gags at the idea. "Why? I don't want anyone inside... ugh, just... no!"

"I think I see why your friend said you were bad at this."

Vera feels her face heating up, and shakes her head. "Shut up! I didn't ask for your help!" She turns and walks away.

"You totally did, though!" Xander calls after her, and she lowers her head and walks faster. She ignores him, ignores Iggy whining at her feet, and makes a beeline for the hotel. Maybe talking to people was a mistake. Maybe she just needs to go hit something instead.

Maybe joining that Student Cup tournament would be a good idea.

Eleanor · Mar 26, 2022

art by Aquacorde

Arianne Chandler
Saffron City, Western district
Friday, May 31^st, around 9:30 a.m.

Electric Owl

After the obligatory detour to the Eastern district to retrieve Alice and Blitzle, Arianne is left with a few minutes to relax, but not enough to do anything too meaningful. Once she reaches the Pokémon Center, the shower is her first destination, and the bed her second. Well, not for sleeping, it's early- but for tidying up some of her stuff and sitting down a bit, definitely.

After having indulged in a rather nice dinner at the Pokémon Center's Cafeteria and a quick walk outside after that, Arianne is in bed for real. She's keeping some of her Pokémon outside but it's the typical ones, Eric and Lulu. Oh, and then there's Espurr. She's looking rather stiff - as all Espurr do, perhaps - as she picks a corner of Ari's bed to sleep on, while the girl looks at her carefully, remembering her own words in that conversation she had with Casey. They both fall asleep nearly at the same time though, and nothing strange happens during the night.

Part of her says "duh", part of her says "phew".

Speaking of Casey, though…

his methods have proven effective, his advice is on point, his intentions are genuine. Whatever. But are there different voices out there? Is there someone who can help out not with Bagon, but maybe with Espurr this time? Putting in work also means getting more knowledgeable on how to train Pokémon, right? Maybe this is just a way to feel better about herself, and deep down she knows this, but she's ok with buying herself some more time before she puts in real effort.

Before she can complete this train of thought, Arianne is already in front of the nearest Trainers' Club.
From the outside it looks like a typical storefront- a large sign on top of the door says "Five Stars Club" in red, bold lettering, and a Ledian is also displayed as a mascot. Apparently it's a cozy place to train Pokémon, meet up with other trainers, but also acts as a help center of sorts, and lets people post small one-time job offers and such.

Close to the entrance of the building stand a few people, just a few years older than Arianne: they look nice and welcoming, almost as if they're there for her. Surely, a trainer's club like that will be bustling with more trainers like her who are trying to improve their skills and can give her a hand- and so, she heads straight for the center of that group.

"So… you're here for the tournament, right?"

"Actually I… wait. There's a tournament here?" Ari's eyes sparkle. "Where do I sign up?"

"Well hol'up. You came here for something else, right?"

Arianne's head shakes quickly, like a Pokéball when a wild Pokémon is being caught. The young man who approached her tilts his head and smiles slightly, clearly eager to see her reply.

"Well yeah, but a tournament sounds way better than-"

"If you're looking to train your Pokémon or get some help, then are you truly ready for a tournament?"

Another person from the group interjects, this time a girl. "I mean, tournaments are a serious kinda thing, a serious environment, you know…"

"Are we talking Tomorrow Cup or…?" The whole group reacts in many ways. The boy and girl who are talking to Arianne shrug or roll their eyes, some people in the back sighs more loudly. Arianne raises an eyebrow.

"How am I gonna know my strength if I don't sign up and try to battle a few times? Plus, I'm sure even being a spectator will be…"

"Oh my… why are you joining tournaments if you're not giving it your all to begin with? Why put your Pokémon through that pressure? You… kind of risk making a fool outta yourself, uh?" The first boy continues, trying to sound caring and rational as he surgically hits Arianne where it hurts.

"Wow… guess you're right, but I'm confident I can do ok! And like I said, I can always watch battles…"

The boy and girl who are at the forefront exchange a quick look of complicity before one of them speaks up again. "Say, what's your goal with Pokémon training? Do you want to become a professional battler or…?"

"Oh, I still don't know for sure. But hey, it sounds pretty nice!" Arianne excitedly replies, to which the girl questions "And…?"

"And…?" Arianne echoes her.

"Pokémon can be used for much more, you know. Transportation, field work… you know." She continues, looking at the Cinnabar native with eager eyes. "Oh yeah, that seems nice also!" Arianne nods with a grin.

"You might wanna look into it instead of battling all the time. Pokémon are more than what you think, got it? And…" The girl runs a finger through her hair. "You don't even have to train them by battling." Something Casey urged Arianne to do, basically.

"I don't know, battling seems to improve pretty much everything in a Pokémon, right?"

The boy answers this time. "It may as well be true but think about it: do you think your Pokémon would be happy… when all you care about is winning and getting the trophy at the end?"

"Ok so… you don't like competitive stuff."

"Pretty much."

The group proceeds to pile on and on various stories about trainers that pushed their Pokémon too far and regretted it. It's easier to do so, now that Arianne is being rather quiet. And of course she is- in the light of what she and Casey talked about the day before, these talking points are really finding a fertile ground to grow on. Furthermore, the pressure to perform well in battle- be it a Gym Leader evaluation battle or a simple tournament- is building up inside of her. Sure- part of her is asking herself why she doesn't even recall anything like this being explained to her in Cape College: if training Pokémon was this dangerous, they should've made sure to give her all the necessary information, but it feels like they just didn't?

And that makes it all the more weird. In fact…

it doesn't take her long before she just walks away from the Trainers' Club. Officially, it's just because a friend called her, but what she really means is that she needs some time to think. As she walks away she's quickly thrown a small pin and seems to overhear the group talking about how easy something was.

The girl sits on a bench a block or so away, under the shade of a tree.

What was so "easy" that the group felt the need to mention? What was that strange gift about? All she really needs to do in order to find out is look at the pin more closely. It looks like there's a… Noctowl probably- Arianne isn't really sure of that given that the drawing lacks a bunch of useful details- with yellow eyes and spread wings. It's actually a familiar sight: a similar graffiti had been spray-painted on the factory where the girl brought Blitzle and Pichu.

Arianne feels a chill run through her back.

TEAM:

Eric, lv. 36 •

Espurr, lv. 25

Blitzle, lv. 28 ↑ •

Alice, lv. 19 ↑

Lulu, lv. 33 •

Mizar, lv. 23

(Blitzle and Alice gained +4 levels from the Factory event!)

Aquacorde · Mar 26, 2022

FROM VERMILION TO CAPE (AND BACK)

Professor Roy Palm's email inbox is an explosion of bad faith, ultimately. No matter how many "no comments at this time"s he sends out, more inquiries flood his account, and the more legitimate inquirers he fields, the more unhinged conspirators worm their way through. Maybe it will calm down once he prepares a statement, but it's difficult to do so when everyone in the region is breathing down his neck. Then again- he has to do something. Clear this out at the very least, so he can see when his students make their way into Celadon. That's the most important thing, after all.

He sighs as more mail pops onto the screen even as he starts his cull. Several in a row, too, as if the sender was firing them off one by one after preparing a batch. And that absolutely tracks, doesn't it? Hana does it this way every year.

He just thought this time, she wouldn't have bothered.

From: Hana Palm
RE: Coralie Summers 26/05/19
Battle notes: Coralie led with a Dedenne, which was quick and responsive to even unconventional instruction. She used her PokéDex to remind herself what Whiscash was but somehow completely missed its typing and tried to electrify it. She seemed out of her depth when she couldn't rely on electricity. Her next choice was Bulbasaur, continuing with the type advantage. It was strong and determined, but slow to execute commands and both trainer and Pokémon buckled under pressure very quickly. Stalling out Whiscash with Leech Seed may have been a good idea, but she would have benefited from setting it much earlier in the match. Sleep Powder would have failed completely had I chosen to dive away from it. Her Bulbasaur was easily overwhelmed by speed. Her last choice for the battle was a Silcoon, which was a very poor choice for the pool even after it evolved. Any water on the wings would have brought it down, which Coralie clearly did not consider. She took great advantage of her newfound mobility, though, which shows promise for future strategies.
Trainer notes: Coralie seemed surprised every time her Pokémon took a hit. She benefited heavily from my own lenience. She showed little grasp of strategy or timing despite occasional creative move use. She clearly loves her Pokémon, but how much training they do together is questionable. She clearly believes that a Pokémon can do anything with enough heartfelt encouragement.
Format: 3v3 singles
Result: 3-2
(( post // post 2 ))

Speaking of things Hana did every year…

The first few Cape students to reach her always benefited from her testing of the waters, so to speak. Was this what the League was citing, in accusations of helping Cape students? Just because they win doesn't guarantee them a good review, as this email proves on its own.

Coralie was a sweet and excitable girl, of course. Palm had hoped she wouldn't be so distracted by the wide-eyed wonder of new adventures that she would forget her education, but it seems that something has gone amiss here. And unfortunately, winning against Hana would not be any kind of wake-up call.

From: Hana Palm
RE: Gwen Alanis 27/05/19
Battle notes: Gwen led with a Misdreavus- a solid choice in terms of type and maneuverability, but she was quickly outpaced by Whiscash. The Misdreavus used time in battle to get its trainer to focus and made some decisions on its own to make up for her lack of ability to command. Gwen seemed unable to find her own footing and relied on her Pokémon to create space for her to make a decision. Her Pikachu was unable to take advantage of its typing and showed little in the way of trained strategy to make up for it. Her Arbok was an interesting choice to pit against Lanturn, but panicked and did not execute any of the random commands Gwen chose in an attempt to break her out of a Whirlpool.
Trainer notes: Gwen shows some ability to strategize and use well-timed moves in combination, but that showing was limited. She is easily overwhelmed and distracted, even despite me reminding her to pay attention several times. Her Pokémon need far more training. She needs to react more quickly and become far more decisive. She did not accept any post-battle review and instead chose to run away from the gym.
Format: 3v3 singles
Result: 1-3
(( post ))

Another less than stellar evaluation of Gwen, this time with added troubling comments about her Pokémon. Is she training at all? He recalls Beaumont's note: "She seems to be under the impression that a Pokémon can do anything given enough high-volume encouragement." Has she been relying simply on that, rather than actual work? There doesn't seem to be much for bond forming, aside from potentially the Misdreavus. Perhaps the sheer quantity of Pokémon she has been collecting is causing an issue.

From: Hana Palm
RE: Arianne Chandler 27/05/19
Battle notes: Ari tried to force an advantage via switching several times, which only resulted in her Pokémon taking more hits than they needed to. Her Wartortle was a good choice for the pool and displayed excellent maneuverability and protective/regenerative strategies. However, it was unable to do much beyond prolong its knockout. Her strategies with Morelull didn't fly in the pool until she set up an impressive showing of Ingrain and created her own platform. Draining and stalling Lanturn worked out for her, but she quickly fell apart using the same ideas on Lapras. Her last registered Pokémon was a Blitzle, which she quickly realized was ineffective against Whiscash and forfeited.
Trainer notes: Ari clearly tried to rely on type advantages to give her an edge. The switching strategy would not go over well in a professional setting. She is not very flexible with her strategies and needs to take her opponent into consideration. She is creative and enthusiastic but struggles to apply those to winning a battle- she mentioned she was worried about her win record. Her Pokémon respond to commands with unquestioning ease.
Format: 3v3 singles
Result: 1-2, challenger forfeit
(( post ))

Ari is clearly trying. No notes about indecisiveness or timidity this time, and the consistent praise of creativity. Yet, more suggestions that she relies on preconceived strategies and poor consideration of opponents' abilities. At some point the girl will have to start being more responsive to others- hopefully she will have found her footing by the time she reaches Celadon. The comment about a win record sticks out, though- that is very Ari, isn't it, to be worried about any type of "grade"? He hoped she would have relaxed that expectation of herself a bit, but perhaps not yet.

From: Hana Palm
RE: Vera Hill 27/05/19
Battle notes: Vera led with a Misdreavus, like Gwen did- still a solid choice. However, her Misdreavus failed to do much to Whiscash and she instead sacrificed it to lower stats, which would have been a poor play if I had chosen to switch out. Her second choice was a somewhat inattentive Inkay, a solid choice for the same reasons as Misdreavus, and it pulled off some impressive retaliation against Whiscash. Vera seemed offended that I would use a healing move. She was happy to put Croconaw to sleep, but made a mistake in calling Swagger without knowing its effect and Inkay was taken down. Mimikyu performed well, taking out Croconaw with two hits, but was easily overpowered by Kingler.
Trainer notes: Vera displays a decent variety of move use and a ruthless aim for weak points. Her preference seems to be for debuffing her opponent, but her ability to capitalize on that is lacking. She doesn't seem to see all the options her opponent has available. Her Pokémon respond well but are very easily overpowered- more training would be helpful. She holds herself in high regard at best, and praise only makes it worse.
Format: 3v3 singles
Result: 2-3
(( post ))

Palm rubs his eyes. Perhaps this loss will knock Vera down a peg- clearly she needs it. And training, which this should also inspire. It's interesting to see that she has gone for a debuff-focused strategy, though- very different from when she battled Beaumont and relied on straightforward, hard hits. Now if only she could combine the two, find a balance that allows her to turn battles to her advantage and press that advantage through.

From: Hana Palm
RE: Casey Holt 28/05/19
Battle notes: Casey brought a Charmeleon to my gym, which was bold, but claimed he didn't have a choice. He kept it as far away from the pool as possible and relied heavily on Smokescreen, particularly to flood the pool with ash so Lapras was forced to surface. He chose to recall rather than let it faint and followed with a brutal Buneary, but switched to Skiddo when Whiscash came out. The Buneary screamed at him about being switched and became a distraction. He tried to stall Whiscash out but switched strategy quickly after learning it knew Rest. He switched back to Buneary before he knew what my last Pokémon was "because she wanted to fight". It held its own against Lanturn but he pulled it before knockout after it struggled to overcome Whirlpool. Skiddo almost fared similarly.
Trainer notes: Casey is haughty, defiant, and prone to backtalk. He clearly cares for his Pokémon- the Skiddo is babied, and he is uncomfortable when they get hurt or are struggling. He takes their wishes into account when battling but doesn't let them run the show. They execute nonstandard commands and interpret instructions without hesitation. Good use of secondary move effects to improve maneuverability. Biggest thing to work on is his attitude.
Format: 3v3 singles
Result: 3-0, two of his declared retired
(( post // post 2 ))

The evaluation is astonishingly good, especially considering it's from Hana, but Palm still frowns. What is happening to Casey? He was never so combative at Cape, just a bit self-important. Clearly he's taking well to the Pokémon and training parts, but to have multiple gym leaders note his attitude towards them...

From: Hana Palm
RE: Jordan Springs 28/05/19
Battle notes: Jordan intended to rely heavily on type advantage, with a lineup of three Grass-types. He tried a few powder attacks before finding success with Poison at close range. He wanted nothing more than to help his Tangela when it was dragged into the pool- he tried to power through but gave up and helped it fairly quickly, choosing to retire it from the match because he could not keep it out of the water. He faltered when he sent an inattentive Skiddo out to battle, but had success when stalling out Kingler. His Skiddo wanted to play with Croconaw more than battle. He set a Leech Seed but got scared of Ice Fang and recalled her- not particularly strategically, just on emotional basis. His Pumpkaboo was the most reasonable choice for the pool and hit well, but when he tried to stall Croconaw I switched to Whiscash. He almost had a good strategy with Worry Seed against Rest, but he mistimed and woke Whiscash at full health.
Trainer notes: Jordan is hesitant, unsure, and slow to make commands. He spends a lot of time analyzing a situation but doesn't tend to make something of that analysis in time to execute a strategy. He displays a decent amount of foundational knowledge even so. His Pokémon need more discipline as well as training- they are as distractible as their trainer, and seem to be allowed to do as they please most of the time. However, he clearly cares for them and they respect him enough to execute the commands he does manage to get out.
Format: 3v3 singles
Result: 1-1, challenger forfeit
(( post ))

Palm sighs. Jordan's review is similar to that from Beaumont, but he should have improved by now, shouldn't he? Then again, all of that should be solved by a decent amount of training- which it should be clear to Jordan that he needs, after this experience. Hopefully their long break in Saffron will let him settle into some kind of routine.

Hopefully that break is good for them all.

He wishes he had one.

From: Roy Palm
RE: Evaluations
I appreciate the effort, but I can not take these into consideration, as you are aware.

From: Hana Palm
RE: RE: Evaluations
It's unfair, Roy, and they're lying, they're totally lying, you know that's bullshit, right? I'm going to get my title back, they have no legs to stand on. Something else happened. Not related to the accusations, but I can't talk about it.

From: Roy Palm
RE: RE: RE: Evaluations
Call me.

css by riki

QueenNothing · Mar 27, 2022

Gwen Alanis

Thursday, May 30
Noon
Saffron City

"Furret is unable to battle. This battle goes to Gwen Alanis."

Both Pokemon on the battlefield are withdrawn, and a trainer, whose name Gwen glossed over, disappointedly walks away. A very slight smirk is visible across her face, but it's less defined than usual. It's been a little difficult to keep it up after spending so much time grinding in one of many Battle Clubs Saffron has. She's currently on a win-streak, having beaten 20 different trainers, although that's not really as impressive of a record as it might sound. At least that's what Gwen learned after easily striking out eight or so low skill trainers. The difficulty ramped up a little after that, but nothing that took a tremendous amount of effort.

She hopes by battling her way to the top ranks here she can sharpen her skills and prove to Jenny that she's strong enough to handle the responsibilities of being a Pokemon trainer. That way pulling Gwen out of her graduation journey won't even be a consideration. But she hasn't really learned much from all those battles, and they did more for her ego more than anything else. She's not too far in the clouds to believe she has a chance against someone at Jenny or Sasha's level, but the challenge she's taking will only put her against trainers in her age bracket. Her spirits are high enough that she feels she could defeat another twenty more trainers. No way it can be that hard, right?

That's when her next opponent walks up to the platform.

"Mother of Arceus, why does it have to be her?"

Long blonde braided pigtails, a baby blue fluffy skirt, suspenders over a white blouse and lace knee high socks under blue mary jane shoes are all things that'd look adorable on anyone else, but on a certain young woman they somehow manage to highlight her foul nature. Of course, her next opponent is none other than Bethany Miller- not that Gwen remembered her name.

"Galar Girl!" She sneers. "Showed up to be my next victim, huh?"

"Ye ne'er learn." She states exhaustedly. "Yer far tae weak tae defeat me." She's a lot more to the point with her insults, no cryptic name calling or anything like that. She's very confident in her assessment of Gwen's skills, which only fuels her disdain.

Gwen's fist tightens and shakes. "I'm sorry, I thought I just heard somebody talk shit about me!"

"Ah'm jist tellin' ye th' truth, Gwendolyn." Why does she always call her that?

Out from her purse is an Ultra Ball which summons Bethany's first Pokemon, her Feebas. Anyone else would laugh off the fish's pathetic appearance, but Gwen's already made that mistake and knows how fearsome the foe Feebas can fight. She thinks hard about her choice of Pokemon until settling for the Lure Ball latched onto her belt.

King lacks any type-advantages when compared to someone like Custard, but size alone could more than make up for it. And sure, that didn't exactly work in Flynn's favor, but he's clearly lacking in ways Gwen isn't. She knows how to battle.

King lunges his head down towards Feebas, bearing the fangs in his wide open jaw. As he gets in close, preparing to bite down on the fish, Feebas hurls up a glob of mud in an arc that splatters all over King's tongue. The taste has his head retract in disgust, furiously shaking his head to fling off the muck. To capitalize on this, Feebas splashes against the battlefield, her height increasing with each flop, until she's so high up into the air she meets King at an eye level and blasts a stream of boiling hot water right into his eye. Having eyelids would probably be beneficial right now, at least that's what it looks like with how much he's squirming around with red eyes, loud screeches echoing throughout the building.

Gwen knew the fish Pokemon was tough, but this is on a whole other level- how can a Feebas of all Pokemon jump that high? It shouldn't be possible, and her brain starts to wonder adrift as she's stumped by the sight. If it weren't for the Gyarados hisses, her confusion would have likely taken her out of it.

Feebas has more up her sleeve though. She flops to the very end of the battlefield, almost meeting Bethany's feet, and slaps her tail against the ground with enough force to fling herself into the air and right into the monster's maw. As if the poor Gyarados wasn't suffering enough, Feebas vigorously flails around in his mouth. Harshly slapping her entire body against every corner throws King's head in the same direction, and to any onlookers it'd look like he's pretending to get hit. To finish him off, Feebas stares straight down King's throat and pumps a Scald right into it. The burning is enough to finish King off, and so to make sure she doesn't go down with him, Feebas strengthens her output enough that she rockets herself backwards, right out of the Gyarados' jaw and back to the battlefield. She victoriously flops against the ground while King crashes behind her, unable to continue.

"Gyarados is unable to battle!"

Clearly that didn't work out. To be fair, it's not as though she's battled with King a whole lot since he evolved just yesterday, but she probably shouldn't have sent him out if that's the case. Her next pick should be someone she's trained plenty with.

"KEW KEW!"

Tusk's cry is as prideful as always, even in the face of Bethany's next Pokemon: A Doublade. This is their first time seeing her with this Pokemon, and it's shape is unlike anything they've faced before. But when has that ever discouraged Tusk?

Right when the AI referee starts the round, Doublade's body is covered in shadows and he sinks into the ground. Tusk panics, swerving his head left and right, but Gwen's familiar with how Shadow Sneak works.

"Tusk, counter with Iron Tail! Behind you!"

Even if he's not sure why, he skids his feet against the ground to swing his iron-coated tail, ramming it into Doublade right as he reappears, and blocking the attack. But Tusk's attack does little against the steel-type Pokemon, as shown when his scarf-like arms reach to unsheath his blades. Tusk gasps and the swords, also covered in shadows, slash at him from both sides. Thankfully they aren't sharp enough to leave any serious injuries on him, but light cuts mark Tusk's chest- not that it's much of a hindrance to him.

He swipes with a Dragon Claw only for that to be blocked by Doublade crossing one sword over the other in the shape of an "X" as the Sword Pokemon is covered in a layer of steel, just like when Tusk uses Iron Tail. Any damage that could have been done is negated by the thick coat. Doublade disappears into the dirt again, rising out from the opposite side of the battlefield. The steel coating shatters into pieces, giving Doublade the speed to fly forward- this is probably Autotomize? Gwen isn't entirely sure. Extending his long arms outward, sword in each hand, Doublade spins around while moving in a straight line, and slashes Tusk twice when passing him by. Tusks nearly collapses, but stays standing out of stubbornness. He gives Doublade a nasty glare, heavily panting, and Gwen has battled with him enough to know where this will go.

"Tusk, don't do anything crazy! I know you're mad, but if you wanna win we gotta-"

Tusk ignores his trainer and jumps right at Doublade, releasing a battlecry with his jaw open to go for a Crunch. But such an obvious attack won't work on Doublade. He vanishes with Shadow Sneak and immediately floats up behind Tusk, channeling the ghastly energy from his body into and concentrating it into his swords. He does a spinning trick with them just to rub it in and swings them downwards, slamming Tusk straight into the ground.

Tusk, not being one to give in, rises to his feet. He wants to keep going, but a certain something about him has Gwen wanting to recall her Pokemon.

"Tusk! Your, uh… your t-tusks!"

The dragon-type lowers a single eyelid and pats his mouth with his grubby hands. In-place of where his tusks should be is nothing, forcing his mouth agape. He frantically looks around and to his left and right lay the disembodied tusks. He cries out in horror, distracting him from the Doublade behind him preparing a Night Slash. His swords mercilessly slice across Tusk's back, the unsuspecting blow having him drop to his knees with two cuts left across his back.

Axew is unable to battle!

Gwen grits her teeth and curses under her breath, beaming Tusk back to his ball as Bethany does the same. She's basically already lost, but one round still remains. She might as well stick it out so she can get something on the Galarian trainer.

Pix is her final Pokemon, and by some wild coincidence, it's the same for Bethany. Except, well, he's not even a Vulpix anymore- sometime in-between their last and current battle, she used the Ice Stone found in Rock Tunnel to evolve him into an Alolan Ninetales. He stands proudly, tilting his head upwards with his eyes closed, his wispy tails waving back and forth as they glisten under the bright light. Urghh. Gwen hates his gaudiness. Pix's ability might make Ninetales sparkle or whatever, but he won't be so proud when that same ability works against him.

Gwen calls out for a Flamethrower, but by the time it even starts charging in Pix's throat, Ninetales namesake are all evenly spaced and curl inward. Pointed shards of ice form from the tips of his tails and shoot forward one by one, taking turns pelting Pix in her forehead and each hit pushing her back just a little more.

"Pix, Dig to get outta there!"

Pix perks her ears up and scratches her paws at the dirt below her, even as the Ice Shard onslaught goes on. But soon enough, she escapes through the hole dug into the ground, completely out of Ninetales' sight. He's unamused by that though, and rests his hind legs, yawning out of boredom. Just like their trainer, Bethany's Pokemon annoy the living hell out of Gwen.

From behind Ninetales, Pix pops out of a little hole. At the call of her trainer, she spits powerful flames forward. Maybe too strong for Pix even, since it's near impossible for her to aim the unstable flame straight forward or even stand still. That just makes it laughably easy for Ninetales to dodge. He gracefully side-steps the fire-type attack and glares at his foe with wide, glowing eyes. That's never a good sign, not from this Pokemon. Nothing happens at first, yet Gwen's body is tensed up as she anticipates something, anything.

"Pix, Flamethrower… huh? Pix?" The Kantonian Vulpix does nothing but stand still. Was that Hypnosis? No, it can't be. She'd be sleeping if that were the case, but she's just kinda… in a trance. What is this?

Before she can reach for her Pokedex, Pix tumbles backwards and yelps in distress. Even if the attack wasn't actually visible, the damage left behind certainly was, seeing as how Pix stumbles trying to get back up.

"Extrasensary." Bethany states. "If ye dornt recognize these 'hings immediately, ye'll ne'er gang anywhere. Ninetales, Extrasensary once more!"

"Pix! Fire Spin, quick!"

A hasty ball of fire hits the area Ninetales's paws rest and bursts into a frightening tornado of fire that the ice-type is now trapped in. Ninetales pants and leaves his tongue hanging from his mouth- Even with the gap in skill between the two Pokemon, fire still melts ice, especially when the ability Drought is in-play. But the flame walls are transparent enough to see through, and searches the battlefield for Pix, hoping to slap her with a Disable, but she's nowhere to be found.

"Pix, Flamethrower!"

A hole in the middle of the tornado opens up and out from it sticks Pix's head. Out from that comes another Flamethrower from below, one that can't miss as easily at such a range. Ninetales howls with agony, being scorched by two fire-type attacks at once, and raises the back of his paw to his forehead in a dramatic fashion. Confidence flowing through her, Gwen displays a cocky smirk, pearly whites and all. No way to get back at Bethany like stomping the fully evolved Pokemon into the dirt, the same Pokemon that humiliated her and Pix near the start of their journey.

"Disable."

Ninetales fights against the current, doing his best to get his eyes open amidst the heat, and stares at Pix with glowing blue eyes that gradually lessen the flames before they stop entirely. Pix tries again to shoot flames to no avail, and Ninetales eyes flash once more, putting her into another trance before she dozes off and falls to her chest. The vortex dissipates, and Ninetales smiles. One less nuisance to deal with.

"Shit!" Gwen's fingers find their way in between her hair.. She may have improved significantly since their last battle, but at the end of the day she's still defenseless when her Pokemon are asleep. She finds her mind slipping away as she's swallowed by uncertainty. This is starting to look all too familiar…

Don't just stand there! Do something!

"Argh, Pix! Come on, get up! Flamethrower! Fire Spin! Dig! Quick Attack! Something!"

Unsurprisingly, shouting out the names of random attacks does nothing, and Pix continues to snore. A perfect target for Ninetales' next attack: She's consumed by a dark shadowy flame that drains her energy and has her whining in her sleep. Ninetales has a guaranteed victory in his paws, but for no other reason than to rub salt in the wound he leaps backwards into the air, deflecting lights from his tails and back at Pix in the form of bright pink sparkles that batter and burn her, defeating her end putting an end to the battle.

"Vulpix is unable to battle! Bethany Miller wins!"

Without another word, the Alolan Ninetales is returned to his Pokeball. Bethany turns around and starts to sashay away, almost as if they never met. Gwen can't let her slip away like that, she needs to know why she keeps failing to overcome her. If she wants to show Jenny she is strong enough to handle a career as a trainer, she needs whatever input she can get from those more experienced. And like it or not, Bethany has another region's worth of experience under her belt. What's her secret?

"Galar Girl!" Gwen cries, catching her attention and prompting a quick "Eht's Bethaneh!" "Urgh, whatever! Look, I just wanna know how your and your Pokemon are just so much… better."

"Ah'm surprised ye finally acknowledged 'at."

"Yeah, so am I… but if I want to be a good trainer I can't keep losing to you like this! I know you traveled through Galar or whatever, but there's gotta be something I'm not doing right!"

"Ye'd be a stoter tae underestimate th' Galar League!" She barks. "They drill intae yer head everythin' there is tae ken abit Pokemon battlin', it'd make Safari bairns greet for their mummies! 'At alone was enough tae git me sae serious! Ye'd be lucky tae even get past trainer's skale, only th' most class of th' lot make it 'at far!"

"Okay…" Gwen understood half of that. "But like, there's gotta be something else, something I can do! I can't believe I'm saying this but give me some advice or something! I need to get stronger! Please!"

Bethany blinks a few times and chuckles through her teeth. Clearly she's getting a kick out of this. "Aw, finally seein' things for whit they are, eh?" Out comes her braggadocious laugh Gwen despises so much before her throat is cleared. "But if ah'm tae give ye a coupon ay me wisdom, ah'd say yer tae coothie with yer Pokemon."

"Huh?"

Bethany rolls her eyes. "Yer tae friendly with 'em! Ye treat 'em loch babes! Ye need tae min' whose in charge! Pamperin' yer Pokemon won't get ye anythin' more than a puckle gym badges! Train 'em frequently and discipline 'em if ya need!" She folds her arms and sighs. "Anyways, ah'm aff for my next battle. Ah want tae hone me team for th' student cup tha' moorns nicht."

"I really don't think I like that advice- hey wait, student cup? What now?" By the time she looks up, the Galarian Pokemon trainer is already far away, either too far to call out to or she's blatantly ignoring Gwen, as Bethany trudges forth into an "Employees Only" area where her next battle is definitely not held. Navigation never was her strong suit.

As for the advice she parted with, Gwen really disagrees with the philosophy behind it. How could she just suddenly start treating her Pokemon poorly when forming a bond is part of the joy of being a Pokemon trainer? She wants to immediately disregard it as bullshit, but seeing how hard she lost, well clearly she's doing something right that Gwen isn't. And if not for her training method, what else could it be? Could it really just be entirely her past experience?

It's all overwhelming for her to think about after such an intense battle, so she might as well just put it off for later. The student cup Bethany mentioned though- that's something that sounds more fun. As much as it sucks her winning streak is broken, at least she can take a break and do some quick research on the aforementioned tournament.

Spoiler:

CCS and art by Aquacorde

Ninetales · Mar 29, 2022

Coralie Summers

Vermillion City

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pokémon

♡

Theme song

Coralie's team:

Florian the Bulbasaur
Stella-Luna the Noibat [*]Mavis the Drifloon [*]Clover the Silcoon [*]Teddy the Dedenne

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A Beautifly Battle

Teddy hopped down from Coralie's arms, electricity pulsating from its cheeks, a determined look painted upon his face.

"Alright!! Teddy, that's the spirit!! Let's keep up the momentum!!!"

Hana nodded at this, impressed at the optimism from her opponents. Slowly she reached for another pokeball, tossing it upwards as her pokemon emerged from within, directly into the pool.

"Come forth, Whiscash!"

Not initially recognizing the pokemon before her, Coralie brought out her pokedex to familiarize herself with it. "Whiscash, the whiskers pokemon. As a result of causing tremors by thrashing about, it developed the ability to foretell real earthquakes."

"Ooooh! What a cool Pokémon!! But don't worry, Teddy, we can do this!!"

Hana nodded in Coralie's direction, indicating that it was her move. The elder female was curious as to what the other's strategy would be and if it would change due to her newest Pokémon.

"Teddy, use your thundershock on the surface of the water, just as you did before!" Coralie instructed, her eyes aglow with unadulterated wonderment as her pokemon began to charge electricity, before releasing said energy. The bolt hit the surface of the water, dancing across it. However, Whiscash appeared to be quite unaffected by such an attack, its lax expression remaining steadfast.

"Oh!! It didn't do a thing!" Coralie exclaimed aloud, failing to mask the shock in which laced her tone.

Hana's lips curled upwards into a smirk at this, resembling that of a mischievous Purrloin after having swiped someone's prized possession. "Whiscash is a water and ground type Pokémon, giving it complete immunity to all electric type moves, such as your Teddy's thundershock." She explained, to which Coralie nodded.

The bubblegum-haired female would have to swiftly rethink her strategy, now cognizant of the major type disadvantage present.

"Whiscash, use dive!" The dual type Pokémon immediately swam deeper into the pool, completely out of line of sight.

"Be careful, Teddy!! Can you see it?"

"Dede!! Dede!!"

"Now up, Whiscash!" The Whiscash emerged from the water, materializing as swiftly as it had vanished, now airborne. "Use Zen Headbutt!!" A pink pulse swirled around the Pokémon as it aimed its attack directly at Teddy.

"Run and dodge it, Teddy!!"

Teddy narrowly escaped the oncoming attack, Whiscash's body smashing into the ground below, causing Coralie to instinctively hop backwards, so as to avoid any debris which might fly in her general direction.

She was quite impressed that Teddy was capable of dodging such an attack, his velocity certainly wasn't to be underestimated.

"Wonderful job, Teddy, now use Tackle!! Send it right back into the water!!"

The Dedenne, dashed towards the opposing pokemon, smashing head first into it, doing just as his trainer had commanded, the Whiskers pokemon flailing into the pool's azure waters.

"Your Dedenne is fast." Hana admired, tucking her brown locks behind an ear. "But we shall see just how fast. Whiscash, Muddy water!!"

Whiscash slapped at the water with its pectoral fins, causing it to swirl around quite fiercely, waves crashing into the edge of the pool threateningly. The water slowly transformed into a deep brown hue, and utilizing its tail, Whiscash sent a gargantuan wave forwards, spilling over the edge of the pool directly at Teddy.

"Jump up, Teddy!!" Yet, to no avail, the electric type was swiftly encompassed by the massive wall of water. As the tide of filthy water receded, Teddy was left upon the shore's edge, soaking and unconscious. "Eeeeeek!!!"

Coralie rushed to his side, kneeling adjacent to Teddy before holding him on her lap. "You fought hard, sweet Teddy!! I'm so proud of you! Rest up now, alright?" Holding her pokeball, she summoned the Dedenne back inside, resuming an upright position once more.

Taking out another pokeball she threw it in the air. "Florian, give me a hand!!" Within an instant, the grass and poison type appeared before her very eyes, an expression which indicated his preparedness. Bringing him forth was a calculated decision, his grass-type moves would be extremely effective against Whiscash, though she knew her guard had to remain up. Hana clearly had a few tricks up her sleeve and likely had a few means of countering her pokemon's weaknesses.

"Dive, Whiscash!" Just like that, the aquatic pokemon disappeared beneath the surface of the pool once more, its movements unknown to both Coralie and Florian alike.

"Whiscash is going to jump up, Florian! Stay alert!"

"Bulba! Bulba!"

The quadrupedal pokemon backed away from the edge of the pool, ensuring to put distance between himself and the opposing pokemon if and when it were to emerge with an attack. Florian leaned backward slightly, a concentrated expression plastered to his face.

"Now! Leap and use muddy water!"

As foreseen, the Whiscash broke the surface of the water, assuming tremendous height. However, this time, water swirled around its body at a rapid pace, a move which resembled a more intense aqua jet.

"Eeeeeek! Florian, watch out! Use Seed Bomb!"

But it was too late, the whiskers pokemon came crashing down upon the Bulbasaur, water momentarily swirling around him.

"Don't give it a chance to recover, Whiscash, use Zen Headbutt!" Utilizing its tail fin, the Whiscash became airborne once more, gaining momentum as it dove right at Florian, who was still noticeably stunned by the initial attack.

"Oh my gosh! Florian, dodge to the right!"

Made too sluggish, Florian fell victim to the super effective attack, sent reeling backwards as Whiscash bashed him with its cranium. The grass and poison type recoiled, grimacing in pain, and at the sight of this, Coralie couldn't help but feel her panic steadily rise.

"Oh, Flors! Are you alright?" Coralie asked, her flustered state evident in her tone.

"Your Bulbasaur is determined, there's absolutely no questioning that. He withstood two powerful attacks, one in which was super-effective." Hana began. "However, determination alone won't win a battle. Skill, strategy, and strength are all collectively necessitated in battle. Battling is both simplistic and complex at the same time, there are a lot of factors that come into play." She smiled then. "Now, it is part of my profession to test your skills and see what you bring to the world of pokemon battling. Therefore, I won't be holding back in the slightest."

Coralie listened to Hana's words of wisdom, knowing they were valuable, yet feeling slightly intimidated by the other's prowess. She had the type advantage, yet it was of no benefit if Florian was outwitted and inevitably incapable of landing a damaging blow. She had to think. Strategy wasn't her strong suit by any means, she was an individual who thrived on impulsivity and spontaneity simultaneously, and in most cases - it paid off. Though, she was cognizant that luck alone wouldn't earn her a win.

"Back in the water, Whiscash!"

Coralie was growing tiresome, she wasn't particularly inclined to engage in a continuous game of hide and seek, wherein the two couldn't anticipate their opponent's next move. Thinking back to Teddy and his thundershock, she came up with an idea.

"Florian, use sleepowder over the water!"

As on command, the dual-type pokemon released a glimmering powder from the opening of his bulb, which swirled over the surface of the water. Whishcash instantaneously was induced into a deep slumber, to which Coralie capitalized on.

"Now use Leech Seed!"

A minuscule seed emerged from the bulb, shooting out before planting itself on Whishcash, green roots encompassing the opposing pokemon, slowly sapping it of its health.

"Well played."

Hana hadn't anticipated this move and even seemed mildly impressed by the masterful attack combination which was executed before her eyes.

"Wake up, Whishcash! Don't allow them to act further!"

"Now's our chance, Florian! Eeeek! Seed bomb, let's go!"

At his trainer's command, Florian released a plethora of seeds which rained down in the direction of where Whishcash slept, which exploded upon contact with the water's surface, creating violent waves. Coralie's eyes lit up with unadulterated excitement as such a spectacle. Haze loomed over the water momentarily, gradually fading. Once cleared, Coralie caught sight of Whishcash in an unconscious state, her lips curving upwards into a smile that mirrored that of a Cheshire Meowth.

"Florian! We did it!" She cheered, unable to contain her elation.

Hana returned her pokemon to its pokeball, gazing at the bubblegum-haired teen who had begun prematurely celebrating, a lopsided smirk upon her own face. She waited for Coralie to come off her high before extracting her next pokeball.

"Lanturn, help me out!"

As the water and electric type pokemon emerged, Coralie reflexively brought forth her pokedex, so as to analyze the new pokemon before her.

"Lanturn, the Light Pokémon, and the evolved form of Chinchou. Lanturn's antenna light is strong enough to penetrate the ocean, and can be seen on the water's surface."

"Lanturn. So it's also an electric type." Coralie mumbled thoughtfully, briefly glancing at Florian who seemed just as perplexed as she was.

"Well, let's keep the momentum going! Right, Florian!"

Coralie nodded then, smiling at Florian reassuringly. She acknowledged Hana's words, and they admittedly unnerved her ever so slightly, though she couldn't allow her confidence to falter. Not now.

"Florian, let's give them another dose of sleep powder!"

As the Bulbasaur emitted the cloud of spores, Hana hesitated not a second.

"Bounce, Lanturn!"

At her instruction, the azure-coloured pokemon dodged the attack seamlessly, stunning both Florian and Coralie collectively with its agility.

"EEEK! Florian, watch out!!!"

Florian managed to evade the attack, whilst Lanturn redirected the move once more, gaining significant height. "Confuse ray!"

Instantaneously, Florian found himself succumbing to confusion, his consciousness replaced by utter disorientation.

"Florian! You'll be alright! Give her a Seed Bomb!!" The confused pokemon launched seeds in all directions, unable to accurately determine where his target was. Fantastically, one connected with Lanturn, who retreated to the pool below after sustaining such a super effective blow.

"What Luck. Luck won't win this alone. Now, Lanturn, use Whirlpool, at once!"

The dual-type pokemon complied with its trainer's orders, summoning forth an immense whirlpool, the waves crashing into Florian, entrapping him within the rotating vortex.

Coralie was astonished. Just like that, the battle was turned on its head, Hana now clearly advantageous.

"Florian! Try to free yourself! Use your vines!"

It was as if he didn't hear her, the Bulbasaur immobilized both by the whirlpool itself and by his discombobulated state.

"Now, Lanturn, use Discharge on the whirlpool!"

Within seconds, an electric current enveloped the whirlpool alongside Florian, who remained trapped within the vortex.

"Florian!"

An explosion occurred from the force of the electric current and once it cleared, the Bud pokemon was completely motionless.

"Oh my!!" Coralie fumbled with Florian's pokeball momentarily, before summoning her beloved partner within it. She held the capturing device against her chest, mumbling sweetly to her companion. "Have a good rest, Florian."

She returned her gaze to Hana, who was eyeing her carefully. "Your Bulbasaur was quite something. The tight bond you share is obvious, however, you need to improve upon your quick-thinking skills and diversify your battling strategy. Failure to react accordingly to your opponent's moves will only prove detrimental. Nonetheless, I'm curious to see your next pokemon. Do choose wisely."

Coralie nodded, entering a contemplative state. Feeling spontaneous and flustered, she decided to take a risk. Extracting a pokeball, she released it, Clover making her battling debut.

"A Silcoon. Certainly an unanticipated choice. Coralie, was it? I see you're full of surprises indeed. Let's see if your decision will be fruitful."

Coralie's mind was racing a mile a minute as she processed the water-type specialist's words, offering a nod in reply. She cast an unsure glance at Clover, whose meek disposition was both unnerving and reassuring simultaneously.

"Lanturn, use Bounce!"

Coralie held her breath as she watched the aquatic pokemon spring upwards, gazing over at Clover. She was cognizant that speed wasn't the Silcoon's forte whatsoever. She was in a transformative state, preparing for her next stage of life. Yet, at this acknowledgement, Coralie realized that this fact could perhaps work to her advantage. Silcoon, Cascoon, and similar pokemon utilized their energy for self-protection during this life stage, meaning that defense was their strong suit. Therefore, this was something she could capitalize off of.

"Harden, Clover! Build up that defense!"

Clover seemed to thicken the cocoon that encased her body just before Lanturn connected the blow. Despite the defensive efforts, the super effective hit still dealt considerable damage.

"Clover!! Are you alright?"

The Silcoon didn't audibly reply, instead she leapt slightly forward, which Coralie interpreted as a "yes."

"Alright! Let's use Harden again!!" Clover did as instructed, her outer shell thickening once more.

"Lanturn, use Whirlpool at once!"

Once again, the immense maelstrom materialized, swiftly barreling towards the bug-type pokemon.

"Can you dodge to the right, Clover?"

To no avail. The Silcoon was too sluggish to evade such an attack and found herself consumed by the maelstrom, trapped at the vortex just as Florian had been.

"Clover! Oh no! Can you try to break free?"

The Silcoon struggled but her efforts were fruitless. All she could do was wince as the spiral of water continually battered her.

"My, your Silcoon sure is durable, now allow me to test that durability. Lanturn, Discharge now!"

"Clover!!"

It seemed hopeless, Hana had cornered her again with repeated tactics. Coralie's panic was rising, her thoughts muddled, frenzied.

As the electricity engulfed Clover, Coralie initially could only watch in horror, before slamming her eyes shut, bellowing out a cry of support.

"Clover!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!! Hold strong!!"

Once again, the combined energy of the attacks resulted in a massive explosion, haze momentarily suppressing Coralie's vision. Upon clearing, Coralie watched in awe as Clover stood, scratched and battered, still gazing forwards.

Instantaneously, the pokemon was bathed in a luminescent light, illuminating the surrounding area. Coralie could only stare in surprise and bewilderment.

".... C-clover?"

The pokemon's rigid body fell as two large wings emerged and opened. As the light faded, the creature took flight.

".... Clover.. You've evolved?" Coralie muttered, breathlessly, the realization dawning on her, as her companion turned to face her.

"Beautifly!"

Coralie extracted her pokedex, taken aback by the overwhelming beauty of the pokemon before her.

"Beautifly, the butterfly pokemon. Beautifly has a long mouth like a coiled needle, which is very convenient for collecting pollen from flowers. This Pokémon rides the spring winds as it flits around gathering pollen."

"Clover!! You're beautiful!! EEEEK! Look at you! I'm so proud!"

The dual-type pokemon did a spin in the air much to her trainer's delight, who couldn't stop smiling from such a spectacle. Never before had Coralie witnessed evolution, thus it was an immensely special moment, one in which she would cherish forevermore.

"I'm sorry to disrupt, but we still have a battle on our hands." Hana chided, though her lips curved upwards into a grin. "I'm looking forward to seeing what your Beautifly can do!"

Coralie and Clover exchanged a glance, nodding at one another.

"Alright, Lanturn, bounce!"

As the Light pokemon bounded upwards, Coralie had an idea. She wasn't about to falter once more or repeat her past mistakes. She would turn the tide in her favor.

"Climb up, Beautifly and use tackle!"

Clover did as instructed, gaining height instantaneously, barreling into the Lanturn.

"YES! Good job, Clover!"

Lanturn landed roughly, grimacing.

"Clover! Use Tackle again!" With that, the Beauifly descended at immense speed, colliding with the opposing pokemon once more, who seemed too disoriented to evade said attack. Lanturn was sent flying into the pool after the impact.

Coralie couldn't believe Clover's newly acquired velocity. It highly contrasted to Silcoon's slowness.

"Your pokemon is certainly impressive, however, things aren't over for us quite yet! Lanturn use Whirlpool!"

This time the Lanturn formed an even larger maelstrom around itself, utilizing the pool water. Coralie was amazed by such an attack, swiftly regaining her focus.

"Eeeeek!!! Here it comes!! Fly up, Clover!"

Doing as she was advised, Clover flew upwards, up and over the whirlpool, giving Coralie an idea.

"Dive down, Clover! To where Lanturn is in the center of the vortex." This was her only chance. Lanturn was exposed from above, which she had to capitalize off of.

The attack was successful, and as Clover collided with Lanturn, the whirlpool was decimated, cascading waves surging over the battlefield, drenching both Hana and Coralie simultaneously.

Lanturn law in the pool, unconscious, whilst Beautifly fluttered above victoriously.

"Dear Lanturn, you put up a tremendous fight. Take a good rest."

Coralie was in a state of shock, her mouth agape as she cognitively processed her win.

"Clover.. We-we.. We won!! EEEEEEK! WE WON! OH YOU DID IT!!!"

Clover flew towards her, flitting above Coralie as the bubblegum-haired girl twirled around, a human embodiment of unadulterated jubilance.

Hana approached the girl, a dignified smile plastered to her face. "I'm sorry to cut your celebrations short, but I did want to congratulate you on your victory. You are a blossoming trainer, albeit have a long way to go. I look forward to seeing where your travels take you and I'm sure we'll encounter each other once more in the near future."

Coralie nodded, Clover perching herself amongst the girl's tresses. "Yes! Thank you for the kind word! I promise, I'll do my very best!"

Aquacorde · Mar 31, 2022

Casey Holt

Friday, May 31, 2019 // Early Morning, Day 12
Saffron City

10-14. bombs away

Spoiler: geronimo - sheppard

When did he last face down a Ghost-type?

Was it back in Lavender, when he tried his absolute best to fight Bruno's Gastly before having Ginger forcibly return him to his PokéBall? No, it can't have been so long… but he's never fought Tiny, or either of Vera's, and he hadn't fought any Mimikyu in the dripping basement of the hydroelectric plant- no, he'd protected them, he'd forgotten…

It must have been Gwen's Misdreavus then, in that same space, when she'd been so cruel as to try turning his fear into her advantage. That hurt still stings, even if he's seen her since, even though he still considers her a friend. It stings as much as Tiny, as much as Vera's Mimikyu. Deliberate choices, all of them.

Even when he overcomes this fear, that hurt will still remain, won't it?

Casey shakes the thought out of his head. The point of this isn't to heal past hurt. The point of this is to make the future better.

Golurk looms. That's the only word for what he does, internal glow casting dancing light from the cracks in his outer shell as he stands motionless in the shadowed alley, shoulders near brushing the brick buildings on either side. It's not his fault. He's just built like that. But it's still intimidating to be stoically observed by a giant possessed statue, and the hairs on the back of Casey's neck prickle with sweat. Despite knowing Sorley won't make any commands, despite knowing Golurk will do nothing but negate attacks.

His fear says, you're a fool to trust like this. The majority of him agrees vehemently.

But a flickering spark of defiant hope powers his steps across the alley's uneven pavement.

Taking up a position far enough from Golurk to reasonably do battle, Casey hands Pepper his tanbō and pats the Charmeleon's head. "It's practice, okay? We haven't practiced properly in a while an' we need to." I need to. "Better'n tryin' not to fall in a pool, huh?" Pepper nods vigorously.

A horrible screeching scrape turns out to be Sorley dragging a swivel stool into the wide open workshop entry. "Hey, hey, show me what you're gonna do on Saturday!"

"How'm I s'posed to have ideas so quick?" Casey complains. "I'll show you what we do normally."

"Fine, fine! Just make it exciting!"

How exciting can it be? Fire is flashy, he supposes. "Okay, Pepper, let's warm up! Breath a little fire, get that goin'."

Pepper inhales deeply through his nose and lets the exhale trickle from his mouth in a steady, light stream of fire. Control! But the thin stream doesn't go far before dissipating into gentle heat, and Pepper's lungs can only take so much strain. Casey calls over to Sorley: "Golurk can take a hit?"

"Yep, yes!" They point two aggressive thumbs-ups in his direction, rocking precariously on their stool.

"Okay, Pepper, let's see how full blast looks." Casey honestly doesn't recall, doesn't even know if he's been able to see this ever, and that's worrying. He should know, all of the time, exactly what his Pokémon can do at the limits of their power. If he doesn't, there's no way he can make the right calls, is there?

Pepper inhales.

But there's a reason he doesn't know. Drought-powered fire, in a dingy little basement. A whirl of flames, burning the savanna. Fire is a hazard. Fire is dangerous to everything around, even Pepper himself. Those big eyes even wider with fear and shame flicker into Casey's mind even as the blast of twisting flame launches dead-on at the rivet across Golurk's chest. Casey's heart jumps to his throat as heat blows through the alley, burning away the damp chill as it had burnt the dry grass of the savanna-

But nothing else burns, not this time, not when Golurk calmly reaches out a hand to catch the flames, circling his wrist to wrap the line of fire around his fist, creating a huge spinning ball of flickering heat. The Flamethrower peters out with the remainder of Pepper's breath as both he and his trainer watch Golurk in wide-eyed wonder as he points his flaming fist to the sky and opens his stiff fingers with a jerk, dispersing the flame in a shower of gentle embers.

Sorely spins on their stool, smug grin flashing directly at Casey once every rotation.

"What is that?!" Casey's voice cracks with a mix of awe, fear, and absolute confusion as his accusing finger shifts between targets. Golurk, Sorley, Golurk, Pepper? No, Sorley, obviously, but Golurk is so skilled as to do this on his own…

"Negation, I told you!" Sorley's delight at showing off dances through their voice. "It's good, right? Right?"

"But- but how, I mean, what move?" Even going a mile a minute, Casey's brain can't come up with anything that should look like that. Not from a Ghost- but wait, who is he to know what's possible for a Ghost?

"It's just Fire Punch, yes?" Sorley's innocent tone is undercut by their glee, but it doesn't stop Casey's confused splutter. "Do it again, see it again!"

"I- fine, sure, Pepper, go on-"

This time he watches only Golurk, swallowing distrust and ignoring the prickle of sweat at the back of his neck. He watches the towering Pokémon's hand burst into flames well before Flamethrower reaches him, watches the fires join together in his palm and Golurk's wrist begin to rotate in its socket, watches how the motion encourages the jet of flames to merge with Golurk's own fire and coalesce into a spinning ball. Once more, Golurk lifts his arm high in the air, and this time Casey sees a second flare pulse through Golurk's hand as he roughly splays his fingers to disperse all of the fire once more.

"Holy shit," Casey breathes, grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Sorley, that's so cool! How- what- does- Fire Punch?"

"Yeah, yeah! Fire Punch! Golurk's good at punches! But he's gotta be good with punches too, right?"

"Oh, you're gonna have to teach me how that works. Oh, but later! That'd be for Ginger. Ginger, you should be watchin' this!"

He can barely see her in the shadow of the workshop, lounging atop a pile of leather hide. But she's watching, he knows. She wants to get stronger.

But it's not her turn, it's Pepper's.

"Fire's good," Casey sighs, and a huge weight blows away with his breath. "Fire's not scary anymore." Pepper flashes a toothy, overjoyed grin up at him, and a pang shoots through Casey's chest. How much of his fear was due to my own? And should he really be saying that after one whole not-terrible experience? "You're a fire-baby, you're built to be good at it," he decides, rubbing Pepper's face between his palms. There were just mistakes. "I wonder how good we can be?"

Pepper's muffled, fond complaints don't quite even register, because Casey's just seen something spectacular, and now he's getting ideas. "What if we can mix it?" he asks Pepper rumbles quizzically. "What if we can mix Flamethrower with something, so Golurk can't block it?"

Pepper drops into a braced stance, tanbō held away from him, and even though the image is skewed by the Charmeleon's snout cupped in his hands, Casey knows what Pepper is thinking.

"Right, let's go!"

The first blast is all fire, but Pepper cuts it short as soon as he realizes it's not what he wants. Sorley calls a question, but Casey dismisses it. "Maybe start with Dragon Breath and wrap fire around it? Fire moves better, right?"

That shows promise- the punching light blue cone is dominant, but flames flicker around Pepper's mouth through the breath. Golurk braces himself, stands his ground with a stiff, outstretched arm, frost coalescing into a palm-sized icy shield whose dancing fractals disperse the Dragon-type energy. "Ice Punch, huh?" Casey calls. Sorley cheers and applauds his guess, which Casey takes as an affirmation. "Wonder which he'll choose when we get this down!"

It takes four more tries to wrap fire along the whole of Dragon Breath, and another two to sustain both together in a shot powerful enough to give Golurk a shove. But in that moment, he surprises Casey once again: Golurk reaches out with one fire-coated hand and rotates his wrist to pull Flamethrower into the small vortex and away from the Dragon-type beam. The fire is guided high, as Golurk's arm stiffly rotates upward, while the other hand forms the splayed-fingered icy shield directly against his chest to disperse the less malleable Dragon Breath.

All this within a fraction of a second!

The flames above burst into nothingness and Casey can't even be irritated that his idea was foiled, because that was the coolest thing he's seen done in a long time! And by a Ghost-type, no less!

And by a Ghost-type…

Golurk returns to a neutral stance.

Casey digs nails into his palms.

So what? So what if he's a Ghost-type? He's a Ghost-type doing the coolest shit ever, he's a Ghost-type that can barely phase through anything, let alone ditch his whole body, he's a Ghost-type with only a single Ghost-type move in his repertoire, he's a Ghost-type with literally no interest in doing anything weird to Casey himself. He's less volatile than any Ghost-type Casey knows much about. There's nothing to say Golurk would hypnotize, bind, alter, or possess him.

He's just some Pokémon.

"We should practice melee too," Casey announces. Especially since we can't do any damage like this. He knows that's not the point, of course, but proving to himself that he's basically unable to damage this Ghost-type makes him itch.

"Golurk's gonna dodge more, then!" Sorley calls back, voice bouncing across the alley in strange ways as Parsley spins them by shoving his snout into their knees.

"In here?" Casey gestures to the tight alley. "Good luck to 'im." And his brain latches onto that immediately- "You're gonna wanna get in close and stay in close, okay? He's not flexible, we been seein' that, and I don't think he can move 'round well in here."

Sorley's smug grin flashes in his periphery. Casey suddenly realizes they've been much less chatty than usual through this whole endeavor. "You got nothin' to say about it?"

"Nah, nah, I got plenty to say! But if I say it, then you know it, yes? So I can't say anything in a matchup, not really! Not when you can hear me!"

That's fair. He'll have to watch himself for that problem in the future, he's sure. But for now- it's training, and he's figuring things out on the fly. And all he wants to do is figure out how to land a hit.

"Rush 'im, Pepper!"

Tanbō in each hand, Pepper speeds straight for Golurk's knees. The right leg takes a heavy, stiff step backward, catching all of Golurk's weight, so Pepper shifts his trajectory to the left, winding an arm back to club Golurk as he passes-

And misses to the tune of multiple ker-chunks as Golurk's left leg disappears into its trunk.

"What?!"

That's fuckin' freaky, his brain buzzes frantically, but Pepper's stationed under a precariously balanced goliath and that's an opportunity-

"Dragon Breath on its butt!"

That punching cone of force connects with the back of Golurk, sending it toppling forward as physics demands. But an engine-like roar topples Pepper backwards in turn: Golurk zips headfirst down the alley, Sorley shrieks in glee as they're spun wildly in the wind, and time slows to a crawl for Casey as his thudding heart lodges dead in his throat, blue giant looming ever larger.

What can you do when a Ghost three times your weight is about to flatten you?

Casey swallows hard around the vice grip of fear around his throat.

Nothing.

Golurk fills the alley. There's no escape.

(Ker-chunk.)

All his Pokémon are on the other side. There's no protection.

(Ker-chunk.)

There's nothing.

Nothing but dull terror in his eyes as they stare into glowing, yellow, stoic doom.

And a hot, whipping wind knocking him on his ass as the roar of blood in his ears becomes the roar of cannon-like, handless arms pointed straight down at Golurk's sides, lifting the giant Pokémon high above even the tall Saffron rooftops, glow disappearing in the bright light of the rising sun. Casey's eyes track his every movement, track the spiraling spins taking Golurk higher and higher until he finally finds his balance and starts a slow descent back into the alley.

"...sorry, I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to…" Sorley's voice fades in as they scramble to his side with Parsley at their heels, and out again as Casey's adrenaline-pumping brain latches onto something else. Windows are opening all over the buildings facing the alley, sleep-addled complaints and undirected anger starting to echo and overlap and eventually target the culprit- Golurk, finally landing heavily on the single leg still extended, further down the alley than he'd been before- behind where Pepper is dragging himself to his feet, shaking his head and looking around for one of his tanbō.

All his Pokémon are between them now.

Something wet and slimy worms its way down his spine, and Casey jumps two feet in the air from sitting, which he vaguely registers as not being something he knew he could do. The jumbled noise that comes out of him is obviously incomprehensible, but Parsley's slobbery tongue swiping across his neck is answer enough. "I- I didn't need another heart attack," Casey fumbles out, leaning heavily on his Gogoat as he realizes his knees are very weak. A glow in his periphery makes him flinch, but it's only Pepper, running to the huddle and waving his second tanbō in triumph. Golurk is where he landed, completely still. As if he knows one move would send Casey spiraling.

A half-sob, half-laugh chokes him unexpectedly. Golurk does know, doesn't he? That's the whole point of working with him. Golurk is considerate. Golurk hadn't meant to scare him, hadn't meant to end up in that position. Golurk had fixed it, even, pouring all his energy into preventing an accident, putting all of Casey's Pokémon between himself and Casey.

But knowing doesn't quell emotions half as well as it should.

"Hey, look here, look here." Sorley has his clammy face in their hands, panicked eyes begging his to meet their gaze. Casey does, for the most part, but can't help his eyes flickering to where Golurk still stands. "You're okay, right? Right? Didn't get hit?"

"No, I, the- the wind got me." His tailbone isn't happy, and one of his palms might be scraped. The fading shakiness, that's all adrenaline. "I… didn't like that." The admission comes out in a smaller voice than intended, and Sorley bites their lip.

"Okay, okay well, we can be done, let's go inside and get some tea, and, and, talk? About this? I don't want you to leave right now, um, Golurk can leave, that's fine, but let's have tea and-"

Casey's brain isn't working, so he cups Sorley's jaw in imitation of their hold on him, and covers their lips with his thumbs. "Shush a sec."

Sorley fidgets restlessly, in muffled noises and aborted movements. Parsley shifts, and Casey finds he no longer needs to lean on him. Pepper hugs his legs, keeping the cool morning air from seeping back into his bones. Ginger's eyes bore into him from underneath Sorley's abandoned stool- she moved to help him, didn't she? Beedrill spins gently on top of it. Noise complaints filter down from the apartments above.

Golurk stands silently, half a block away.

And things are okay.

What can you do when you thought life was over, and everything returns to normal in an instant?

Move forward.

"Let's have tea," he decides.

Sorley breaks into a relieved grin under his fingertips.

Groc · Apr 1, 2022

Vera Hill, Arianne Chandler, Gwen Alanis
Chapter 10 - Five Star Review
Saffron City; Friday, May 31st, morning

Vera scowls as she walks away from the Fan Club, her head down and her expression hidden behind her wide-brimmed hat. She'd waited until nightfall to start training so Ebony and Trixie could join in, but that didn't leave much time. Still, she'd made it to the Five Star Club in time to sign up for the Student Cup, or would have if those thugs had let her in. Instead all she got was questions, and doubts, and more unsolicited advice. She needs a plan, but can't think clearly right now.

So it is she finds herself walking, trying to clear her head. She wants to avoid the park, but city sidewalks should be fine. It's not like she's likely to run into anyone she knows here!

No sooner does she think that than she nearly trips over someone's feet. She curses herself for not paying more attention, finally lifting her head. "Sorry about that, I was thinking about- Arianne?!" Indeed, the person she'd stumbled upon- literally- is her classmate, looking similarly lost in thought.

The Cinnabar girl's first response is a nonsensical yelp, as she loses her composure and drops the pin she was fiddling with. But seeing her friend definitely brings back some of her usual enthusiasm. "Vera! Hello!" She grins as she looks up towards who's now standing beside her. "Don't worry about it- how are you doing?"

"Oh, uh… fine! I've been doing fine, you know? Was doing some training, sent some Pokémon to the factory yesterday, thought I'd enter that tournament. What… what about you?"

"Oh- hey! Arianne!" Another voice draws near, coming from a familiar Cape student with a Misdreavus by her side. "Didn't expect I'd find you here!"

"Sounds just like… Gwen too?" Arianne turns around right as she's trying to answer Vera's question, before waving at the Saffron girl. "Hello there! But as I was saying," she turns back around, "I pretty much did the same stuff as you, Vera."

"Vera? Who's tha-" She glances over to her and scrunches her face in repulsion. "What the- what the hell are you doing here!?"

Vera had taken a step back, and is glaring coldly at Gwen. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Eh?" She flicks up a brow. "Of course I know you, you're that bitch I battled on Route 11! Nobody talks to me or my Pokemon like that!"

Vera scoffs, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "You're the one being a bitch right now. I was trying to have a conversation before you came barging in."

"Why you piece of…!" Gwen shakes her fist and growls, clearly unable to think up a comeback, and flips the bird at Vera. She leans close to Arianne and loudly whispers "Careful Ari, this girl is bad news!"

Vera lifts one eyebrow and says nothing, though her smirk betrays her smug satisfaction.

Throughout that exchange, Arianne smiles awkwardly, then grimaces, then takes some time to pick up the pin she's dropped, then finally tries to speak up.

"Girls, uh… calm down, please! I'm friends with both of you just the same!"

"Wait, you're friends with white-hair girl!?" Gwen shifts her gaze between the two girls in bewilderment.

"Doesn't mean I'm less of a friend to you!" The Cinnabar girl rebounds, but her delivery is sure getting a bit more… urgent. "I… I actually have some stuff to share, it's actually nice that you're both here at the same time."

Vera sits down beside Arianne, looking somewhat relieved at her words. "What's on your mind? Something about that pin?"

"...Sorry about that." Scratching the back of her head, Gwen lowers herself onto the bench as well, leaving little space between her and Arianne. "But yeah, what is it?"

"Right. I just got this pin from some people staying outside that Trainers Club, you know, the one in that direction. And I'm trying to understand what it is…" She sweeps off some dust from the pin as she holds it in front of her, so that Vera and Gwen can see. "Maybe one of you has seen this symbol before? Or maybe you ran into those people on the way here?"

"I think I met those people, not that I had a choice." Vera frowns at the memory. "They wouldn't let me in, just kept talking over me and asking all kinds of inane questions."

Gwen carefully examines the pin, finger and thumb against her chin. "I swear I've seen this guy somewhere before. I know it, it's just- it's on the top of my tongue…"

"Hm… I think I saw something kinda like this even near that one factory… the one who needed help with some generator thing or something and put a help request at the Pokémon center. Did you see that?" Arianne asks after a pause. "Might be worth a shot…"

Vera shrugs as she leans back, adjusting her hat to keep the sun from her eyes. "There was some graffiti by the factory, but I don't know if it matches. I wasn't paying attention to the wall art, it wasn't even all that good."

"No, I know for a fact this is something I've seen like, a long time ago, before Cape even. But where?"

Vera shakes her head at Gwen's insistence. "Maybe you saw it in one of those silly cartoons you and Jordan are so fond of."

"Wait, you know someone else who likes cartoons?"

"I mean… cartoon or not, we could already say…" Arianne furrows her eyebrows. "Those two things are related! Those people we met could have something to do with the factory sabotage thing."

The girl sighs, as her eyes quickly go from Vera to Gwen and back. "Think they might be the actual culprits or something like that?"

"Uhh… you're not suggesting we i-investigate or anything, are you?" Gwen asks in an uncharacteristically nervous manner.

"You're not scared, are you?" Vera taunts. "Either way, I think we should leave any actual investigating to the police. But we could mention that, see if they at least let us in."

"I am not scared!" Gwen snaps. "But… I think white haired girl is right about leaving it to the adults, as much as I really hate to say it." She crosses her arms and mumbles under her breath.

"I… guess so, yes." Arianne nods, sounding somewhat resigned. "Not sure if you got the news yourselves but I got a message about, well, the Cerulean thieves or something being related to stuff that's happening here in Saffron. Guess adults are already working on things!"

She sighs once more. "Speaking of adults working, did you also see who got suspended from her position?"

"Yeah, and it's fucking bullshit!" Gwen jumps out from her seat. "If the League knew what was good for them they wouldn't can Hana Palm!"

"They probably had a reason." Vera shrugs. "Probably something political and boring, but what can you do?"

"You know, I have to say that… you may be wrong there, Vera. They said that Hana was suspended for making it easy on us Cape students but she went pretty hard on us, so… that sounds like a lie almost." Arianne points to Gwen as she speaks.

"I just thought it was because of the whole investigating thing. At least that's what Jenny told me the text meant."

"It's probably like that yeah, I just…" Arianne shrugs. "I feel like we might wanna keep an eye on that, but also not get into too much trouble ourselves. Can't do much else than that, like you said."

"Weeeeeell," Gwen says, eyes wandering to her right. "If you don't have anything else to say, how about we hang out since we bumped into each other? I mean, I haven't seen you in like, two whole days!"

"Really, two whole days?" Vera sighs dramatically. "How ever did you survive?"

"Oh my god, could you just shut up already?"

"You first, bitch! Again, you interrupted me. How about you wait your turn?"

Arianne, stuck in the middle, rolls her eyes and remains quiet for a moment, her arms slowly making their way to the girls' shoulders in the meantime. When she's ready, she pulls them closer, in the best makeshift hug she can manage to do. "Please, girls… don't argue like that ok? I don't know Substitute myself…"

"R-right…" Gwen squeaks, red cheeks and all. "Uh, sorry about that again…"

Vera looks away, very uncomfortable but not fighting the hug. "Yeah… fine, I'm sorry, too…"

"So… hanging out, right? I know a few cool places and I'm sure you know even more, since you're from here," Arianne smiles while looking towards Gwen as she smiles giddily. "Or here's another idea, we could… get back to those guys and see if we can make them budge. I could use a Trainers' Club's help right now!"

"I'm sorry, I guess I missed something- what guys are we talking about?"

Vera sighs, but tries not to be rude. "Right, you came from the other way… Basically, there's a tournament going on at the Trainer's Club. I wanted to join, but some thugs wouldn't let me in. I was discussing it with Arianne, and apparently they wouldn't let her in either."

"Yes! And, Gwen…" Arianne chimes in. "You would be interested in that tournament too, right?"

"Oh, you mean the Student Cup? I'm way ahead of you!" She smirks. "If some assholes are gonna stand in our way then we can use force!"

"Well… I guess it's better if we don't, you know. Also because…" Arianne actually sighs. "Maybe they're right, I'm not fully prepared for this tournament. But they can't stop me from going in and getting help, too!"

"Arianne, I forbid you from listening to those jerks." Vera scolds her sternly. "They don't get to decide if we're ready or not, and they certainly don't get to push us around! I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Gwen. If they're going to get in our way, we're within our rights to move them, in any way we have to."

"Got it! Not like I had a choice, I'd still want to help you out with them in the first place." Arianne tightens the hug ever so slightly. "So… should we prepare a list of things to say or…" she goes from looking at Vera to looking at Gwen. "Should we do the good old sleep powder thing?" She chuckles.

"That's the spirit!" Gwen cackles. "Give 'em hell!"

Vera squirms free of the hug. "I was hoping to resolve this without committing a crime, but to be fair, they deserve it. If we're doing this, we should strike from the shadows, so they don't see our faces. Or maybe we just push past them, and let Gwen hit them if they try to stop us?"

"Sleep powder worked fine last time, right Gwen? If we could put Lulu in a good spot…" Arianne runs a finger through her side bangs. "It will be fun."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get this started!"

"Sure, let's go." Vera rises from the bench, adjusting her hat as she heads back the way she came from. "Follow me, I know where it is."

A joint post between Groc, Eleanor, and QueenNothing.

QueenNothing · Apr 3, 2022

Gwen Alanis ft. Arianne Chandler and Vera Hill

Friday, May 31
Morning
Saffron City

Is this crossing the line on the promise she made with her older sister? Arguably so. She did say to stay out of unnecessary danger- and if those fuckers are just put to sleep, what danger will there even be? Hell, they should be lucky Gwen won't just unleash her entire team and stomp them out.

"I have an idea!" Gwen curls her lips while presenting one of her Pokeballs. "I can have Marshall use Haze for cover and that's when we hit 'em with Sleep Powder! It's foolproof!"

"Sounds about right, but we'd have to act fast, right?" Arianne smirks. "Oh right! I wonder if any of your Pokémon could give my Morelull a ride…"

"Not that I have on me. I switched my team out this morning for my tournament team, so no Talon. Maybe Bead could try, but…" She peeks over her shoulder to see a disapprovingly frowning Misdreavus. "Yeah, probably not him."

Vera shakes her head, shrugging. "Maybe my Inkay can carry her? I don't have any Pokémon that can fly, unless you count Ebony."

"Isn't that your Misdreavus? I mean, they can float, so it's basically the same thing."

"Yes, he is. Any reason your Misdreavus can't do it?" Vera snaps. As much as Gwen would like to clap back, she's already upset Arianne enough with their arguing.

"Jeez, no need to be so rude!" Yeah, that sounds good. Definitely makes Gwen look like she's in the right here. "It's not that he can't, he just doesn't wanna help me do stuff like this, especially not after the whole Hana incident."

Vera pulls out Ebony's ball, calling out the shy Misdreavus. "Ebony, we need someone to carry Arianne's Morelull. Can you help us?" Ebony looks back and forth between the three girls, then slowly nods. Vera smirks at Gwen. "Ebony says yes."

"Oh, perfect!" Arianne smiles, as she pulls out Lulu's Pokéball. Soon, the tiny mushroom Pokémon materializes on the ground in front of the girls, tilting her head to the side and looking around carefully. "Actually wait, how will Ebony carry Lulu here?" A dumb smile shows up on the Cinnabar girl's face.

"He can just use his mouth." Gwen answers nonchalantly. "That's how Bead always stops me from doing stuff."

"His mouth?" Vera reacts with disgust. "You know Misdreavus have hands, right? Ebony, show her." Ebony drifts down toward Lulu, extending his two long clusters of hair like hands. He doesn't grab her, waiting for her to come to him.

"What the–" Gwen's jaw drops. "Bead, how come you never do that!?" Bead makes a shrugging motion with his hair.

Lulu doesn't seem to trust Ebony at first - in fact, she's almost ready for a wrongly-timed Sleep Powder, when Arianne sees that and stops her. "It's fine, he's friendly…" The girl kneels down to look closely at her Pokémon, before explaining her plan to her. She sheepishly nods, bouncing closer to Ebony on her single root.

Ebony carefully picks Lulu up, as though afraid to make a wrong move. Vera nods in satisfaction, sending out her Mimikyu as well. "And Trixie can move through their shadows, deploying more Sleep Powder with her mimicry skills. They won't even know what hit them." Despite her earlier caution, she's taking a bit of glee from this plan.

"Not bad, witch lady! I like the way you think." Gwen chuckles.

Vera looks away self-consciously, but mutters under her breath, "It's better than calling me 'white hair girl' all the time…"

"Yep, that's definitely sounding like a compliment!" Arianne smiles.

Across the street is the prestigious Five Star Club, and standing in-front of that is a group of young adults dissuading handfuls of trainers wanting to sign-up for the Student Cup at the last minute. Those must be the thugs Vera and Ari mentioned, huh?

"Alright guys, here's the plan," Gwen holds her sketchbook up to her chest, displaying a rough overhead view of the street she drew. "So this is us, right? So what we're gonna do is move behind this bench, then duck and roll behind the trash can, and then we all hide behind this signpost right here. Then we look around to make sure they don't spot us and that's when we book it to the other side of the street! When the coast is clear, that's when I'll send out Marshall and have him use Haze, and Operation: Naptime is in full swing! Cool, huh?"

"Wait, we… go to that trash can, then to that other bench, then… I lost you there, sorry!" Arianne shakes her head in confusion. "But also, am I not too tall to hide behind that thing? I doubt you would even fit there!"

Gwen groans, pinching her forehead. "Can't you just crouch or something? And it doesn't matter if I don't fit, we're just gonna be there for like, a minute or something!"

"Or…" Vera sighs, rubbing her temples, "We could just walk along the sidewalk, like normal people do? Why make it complicated?"

"Because that'd be lame! Besides, if they see us they could report us to the police or something when they wake up!"

"That's what Haze is for, to obscure our faces. We just have to get close enough without being suspicious. We could probably pop it from here!" Vera looks at the sketchbook again. "...besides, we can't all fit behind a signpost. Especially not you."

Gwen gasps. "What's that supposed to mean!? Are you calling me fat!? At least I'm not a bitch!"

"That's debatable." Vera scoffs, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "All I'm saying is that you're wider than a signpost. And me."

"Gotta give it to her, you don't wanna look like that… detective guy hiding behind lamp posts in that one game…" Arianne chuckles slightly.

Gwen growls and grits her teeth. "Alright, fine then! Since witch lady here wants to be all lame we're gonna do things the boring way!" Without so much as gesturing to the other two to follow her, she turns around and marches straight towards the Five Stars Club.

"Wait, don't just walk right up to them!" Vera hisses as she quickly follows after her, Arianne in turn trailing behind and gesturing for Ebony and Lulu to come along.

A handful of people obstruct the entrance, but in particular two young women seem very persistent on handing out buttons to any passerbys. Gwen, being far away enough to not be noticed, pops open a Pokeball to send Marshall out in-front of her.

"Marshall, Haze!"

Marshall blinks and a thick black smoke seeps from his mouth, fanning outwards and over the startled thugs blocking their way. "Now!"

Vera turns her back to the crowd, nodding to Ebony. "That's your cue, deploy Sleep Powder." Ebony nods, carrying Lulu through the Haze and over their target. Vera looks to Trixie next. "Be ready with Copycat if any of them are still awake."

And with that, Lulu spreads as many spores as she can beneath her. Sleep Powder falls down through the Haze attack, all over the group of people, while the Morelull is high up enough to not be seen through the smoke. The complaints and huffs coming from the gathering soon turn to yawns and inconsistent blabbering, and as she picks up on this, a big smile appears on Arianne's face. "Looks like we did it, girls!"

The smoke clears, and the only thing in their path is a dozen unconscious bodies lying on the ground. Nothing they can't tip-toe around. "That's what they get for standing in our way!" Gwen reaches over to high-five Arianne, who returns the gesture gladly. "Skilled trainers like us deserve to be in that damn tournament!"

She then turns to Vera, playful contempt in her voice. "Of course, it'd suck if you were excluded too- how else would I kick your ass?"

Vera frowns at the implication, but rolls her eyes. "We'll see which of us gets farther. I'd say see you in the finals, but no guarantees."

"Yeah, no guaranteeing you can make it as far as me!" Gwen grins, eyebrows furrowed and pearly whites exposed. "Now then, let's all rightfully claim what's ours!"

Spoiler:

CCS and art by Aquacorde

Aquacorde · Apr 9, 2022

~~Casey Holt~~ Sorley Silverfield

Friday, May 31, 2019 // Early Morning, Day 12
Saffron City

10-15. toe to toe

Spoiler: toe to toe - barenaked ladies

Sorley tries their best.

They are good at several things, bad at several more, and mediocre at most. That last part including tea-making, which they hope Casey won't be too displeased by as they fish the bags out of the mismatched mugs. Sorley's the same as any other being, really. They're not very worried about their abilities. They don't worry about much, in the grand scheme of things. They're optimistic, delight in solving problems, and are game for a challenge!

It's a little sad that they have few people with whom they can share joy they find in life.

But they have their guardians, and their coworkers, and a few others they connect with sometimes!

Not all of them are quite in the same stage of life as a fifteen-year-old part-time professional trainer, though. Everyone they know either is well past that, looking back on rose-tinted memories, or had never chosen to take that path at all.

Except for Casey.

Maybe it's odd that they would be friends. Not odd on Sorley's part, of course, because how many times have they reached out to people their age? How many classmates chose to partner with others? How many other trainers have made vague excuses, drifted off with the wind, never kept in contact? Of course Sorley would keep trying to find friends. Everyone needs friends, and there's friends out there for everyone! So it's not odd that Sorley would try to maintain a friendship with another teen trainer.

It's odd that Casey would keep trying.

He's made some good points about it, sure. But the more Sorley sees of him, the more obvious it is that he likes to turn heel and march confidently in the opposite direction of any problem he has.

What makes Sorley worth facing issues for?

Casey blinks at them, mug of tea halfway tipped to parted lips, and Sorley realizes they've let that slip out in a very small voice.

Oops.

They hide their embarrassed flush behind loose hair and knees drawn to their chest. Casey puts his mug in this mouth, possibly before he can put his foot in it.

But when he's done, all that's left is: "I like you."

"You don't even know me. You know your other friends better but you're running away from them."

Guilt flashes across Casey's face. "That ain't about you."

"It might be, though, it might be! What happens when it is me that you go running from, even though you like me? What happens when you don't call me or answer me or, or just leave because maybe something happens like just now or-"

Oh, they were so close to keeping a friend.

"-or Missy keeps following you around and you get mad at me or you just decide you can't deal with anybody at all who has Ghosts or you don't want to deal with someone who doesn't dress as nice as you or you don't want someone always talking your ear off or clinging onto you-"

And now they're ruining it, with all these uncontrollable words falling into a jumbled mess for someone who's already gone through some crap today to shoulder the burden of sifting through and dealing with, for Sorley's own sake. "-or someone who can't say things at the right time, or makes it all about themselves, or-"

Casey's hands are on their jaw, like earlier, ignoring the wet tracks of tears in favor of making an X with his thumbs over their mouth. Sorley's ramble peters out incoherently. "Inhale," Casey commands.

Sorley does, a jittery and messy breath.

"Exhale."

They sigh out past clenched teeth and squished lips.

"Inhale."

Oh, we're doing this more.

Casey makes them do this until Sorley's jaw loses its tension, until their knees drop down to the chair, until the tears dry on his knuckles and Sorley's getting bored enough to start picking at the chair's textured upholstery. Casey brings his hands back to his lap, looking like he doesn't quite know what to do with them now that he's kneeling awkwardly in front of Sorley's chair.

Sorley tries very hard not to think about all of the things they've just admitted to worrying about.

Which certainly isn't going to do them any good, because they've started a conversation and Casey hasn't left. And if Casey hasn't immediately tried to leave, he probably isn't going anywhere. That's both hopeful and distressing in tandem. Sorley is not particularly one to run away from their problems, but that doesn't make them any more comfortable to face.

Especially not when Casey is reviewing everything they've just said under his breath.

"Look, I don't leave people for forever," is what Casey haltingly opens with. "Actually the opposite, usually, they... I mean, I don't try to leave people, it just. Things just happen, I guess. I try to keep up, but it's hard to remember, and… that part's my fault. But I don't try to leave my friends, any of 'em. Jordan and Vera, I'm goin' back to them when I can. Hopefully soon. Prob'ly sooner than it would be, since you're helpin'. And I keep comin' back to you, don't I?"

Casey takes a deep breath, mulling over his next words, brow furrowed. And lets it out in a frustrated woosh, as if the thought got stuck somewhere.

Sorley clamps their own mouth shut and waits. It takes quite a bit of effort, and just when they think the dam is about to break, Casey finds his words.

"It's been hard to come back. Yesterday and today both. But it's not hard to call you and talk to you. So you, you an' me, we click. We work. And it's my own problem that's makin' it hard on me. So I gotta fix that. I knew that, I been knowin' that, but I… thought I could get by without doin' it for a while longer." Casey scrubs his flushed cheeks with both palms, so his "Guess I was wrong…" comes out muffled.

"I told you that a week ago," Sorley grumbles. Casey tips his head up to glare at them. "Sorry, sorry, but- I did!"

"You did," Casey allows.

"Are you using me?" Sorley asks, into the ensuing silence.

"Huh?"

"For practise, for Ghosts, for getting over it so you can go back to Vera and Jordan and, and- am I just a, a stepping stone?"

"Wha- no! I literally just said you're my friend, what-"

"But why, why am I your friend, I have Ghosts and you've known that since the day we met, why are you choosing to keep being friends with me? You ran away from your actual best friend because he got a Ghost and why aren't you running from me? What do I have for you that makes you come back? It's training, right? Right? Training to get over your Ghost-type thing? What happens when-"

"What did we do in Lavender?"

Sorley trips over the remains of their words, and eventually settles for "What?"

"What did we do in Lavender?" Casey demands again.

Casey, outlined in pink and orange lights, watching his friends head off. "Met up at the festival."

"And?"

Music and whirling lights and laughter. "We danced for a while."

"And?"

Yelling, shoving… "We ended up in a fight. Missy rescued us." Making faces at Casey, the clattering of game booths, quick flight through a crowd. "Britney caught me, but I ran away again. We watched some acts… I dunno, I dunno, why are you asking about Lavender?"

"Was any of that me tryna use you for practise?"

Ah. "No."

"Don't be sayin' stupid shit, then."

Sorley hasn't looked Casey in the eye for a moment, but now that they do- he looks genuinely upset, hurt glare scrunching up his face and hands clenched atop his thighs. "Sorry, sorry," they murmur. Casey sighs.

"Insecurity makes us think the worst," he says, as if repeating something he's been told. Sorley flinches to be caught out like that, but he's right. It's their own issues making things hard for them.

But it's not all about the individual, is it? Because their behavior because of that insecurity affects others, affects each other. It informs Casey's wariness and Sorley's clinginess, it drags at them both to cause tension where none should be. It puts them on edge and pulls them apart, even when they're both trying to hold on.

"We had a good time in Lavender," Sorley says, confidence bleeding back into their words.

Casey hums an agreement. "And in Cerulean."

"And in Cerulean."

"This time's a little rockier," he admits, and Sorley giggles. "But that's okay."

"Yeah. Yeah, that's okay."

Casey seems to suddenly realize he's been kneeling on the floor for a while. "Hey, look, the carpet pattern's stuck to my knees."

Sorley laughs, loud and unexpected, and Casey flashes them a blinding grin in turn.

They'll be okay.

Even when they finally tell him about that.

Eleanor · Apr 10, 2022

art by Aquacorde

Arianne Chandler
Saffron City, Western district
Friday, May 31^st, around 10:30 a.m.

featuring QueenNothing as Gwen and Groc as Vera

Last moments of hesitation

"Wow… what a show!"

She snickers in front of the three Cape College trainers, looking intently at them as they enter the lobby of the Trainer's Club. Her bright ginger hair waves slightly as she springs up from her seat and takes a few steps towards them. "I didn't think you'd go this far to get in, but I clearly should've known better, uh?"

"Hey, look who we have here!" Gwen smirks. "And yeah, we did pretty great back there! Ari and I really showed those fucks whose boss- and Witch Lady did alright too, I guess."

"It was… kind of necessary. But they should be fine once they wake up!" Arianne tries to downplay the issue. "And yeah, you two did great." She smiles at Gwen and Vera.

"Well, of course we did great." Vera smiles, running her hand through her hair. "I'm awesome."

The redhead chuckles again. "We'll see what they think about that another time," she gestures vaguely towards the door of the club, before quickly bowing her head. "But thanks for that. First, because they deserved it and second, because you got in trouble in my place to deliver that punishment!" She continues, with a face that frankly looks like a villain in a children's cartoon. "Anyways," she snaps out of that rather quickly. "I'm Courtney, nice to meet you! And you, 'witch lady'?"

"That's not going away anytime soon… I'm Vera. I'm here to sign up for the tournament, and those goons got in my way." She smiles sweetly at Courtney, her slightly furrowed brow giving away her real intent. "I don't like people in my way."

"Understandable." She replies immediately after. "But, well… if you join the tournament, you'll get more people in your way. Including me! So don't say I didn't warn you, haha!"

"I guess first place won't be as easy as I thought." Gwen snickers. "We got some tough competition, don't we Ari?"

"Just know I beat her two days ago," Courtney replies in her place, almost nonchalantly. "So yeah."

Arianne confirms by nodding her head. "But… I could always beat you in a rematch, who knows?" She smiles, her competitive energy rising more and more.

"Just know that I'm not going down as easily." Gwen points to herself with her thumb. "Now then, are we signing up or what?"

"That's the place, by the way," Courtney gestures towards some sort of reception counter. "If you go there you'll see a few more people who won't go down as easily!" She chuckles again. Case in point, Arianne can already feel a few pairs of eyes on her and her friends as she looks around the room. She can't let that phaze her though.

"Yeah yeah, everyone says that. But not many of those people have had the crime-fighting experience of say, Ari and I, do they? I think that alone gives us a huge advantage!"

Vera pushes past Gwen, ignoring all the looks and stares as she heads for the counter to sign up. Arianne takes that as her cue to leave that conversation, and follows the white haired girl while simultaneously trying to drag Gwen along. "Those are like apples and oranges anyways…" She whispers to her, before lining up right after Vera. "It's just not the same thing..."

"What? Being a badass carries over, right?" Gwen says loudly as she's being pulled by people watching her.

"Yes but no… whatever." Arianne facepalms internally, but on the outside, she smiles mindlessly. "Ok, maybe a little."

"A little?" Gwen scoffs. "Don't sell yourself short! We've got this in the bag!" Arianne smiles again at that, but it's really a sign of resignation to her friend's attitude.

"I forgot how loud you are." Vera shakes her head at Gwen as she steps away from the counter. "I get it, we were awesome, but that doesn't really apply here."

"Maybe not to you it doesn't." She sneers.

It may as well be up to the Cinnabar girl to calm the waters… again. "Well Gwen… we got no element of surprise here. It's your typical battle. I'm not saying it in front of Courtney but…" Arianne whispers in her ear. "I've lost a bunch of my recent battles, so I'm not that confident about this. And yeah, Vera… is kinda right."

"Pfft. Whatever." Gwen hands her license over to the receptionist. "I still believe in you!"

And that's at least nice to hear. She trusts Gwen's judgment in this case, as they watched each other's battles on at least two occasions, and knows the Saffron girl's capabilities. It's not like she's bad by default when people tell her that she needs to improve on something, right?

It's just hard not to listen to those thugs she's just put to sleep though. Their words still echo in her head. What is she doing there, in a tournament where people compete to win, if she knows she's not at her absolute best?

Arianne waves to Sarah distractedly as she waits behind Gwen. That's another opponent to be wary of, especially considering she's become Courtney's mentor of sorts. Even as she waves back with a posed, gentle smile on her face, before the redhead gets her attention again.

"R-Right… thank you Gwen!" She finally concludes, finding the courage she needs to step up and register herself.

TEAM:

Eric, lv. 36 •

Espurr, lv. 25

Blitzle, lv. 28 •

Alice, lv. 19

Lulu, lv. 33 •

Mizar, lv. 23

Ninetales · Apr 11, 2022

Coralie & Elliott Summers

Saffron City

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pokémon

♡

Theme song

Coralie's team:

Florian the Bulbasaur
Stella-Luna the Noibat [*]Mavis the Drifloon [*]Clover the Beautifly [*]Teddy the Dedenne

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Elliott and Case of the Missing pokemon!

Amidst the business of Saffron, Coralie found herself tucked away in one of the city's countless green spaces. She was perched upon a bench, bubblegum tresses twisted into a claw clip, her azure eyes dancing across the black and white pages of one of her favourite manga. In this moment, she was in another world, a bystander as she observed as the protagonist struggled with her feelings regarding a multitude of love interests. Coralie found them all to be alluring and couldn't blame the main character, as she'd be just as conflicted. The lines came to life around her and Coralie silently wished to offer said protagonist some words of encouragement, whilst simultaneously wanting to scream at the undeniable attractiveness of each and every character.

Florian, in the meantime, was fast asleep under the shade of a nearby cherry blossom tree.

Who knows how long she had sat on that bench? When Coralie read, the world around her melted away, time was non-existent. "Oh! Just confess your love already!" She huffed as she reached the conclusion of the manga, closing the book dramatically, her hands folded over the cover.

"Who are you talking to?"

The young trainer audibly gasped, startled by the unanticipated voice, glancing over her shoulder to see whom it belonged to. It seemed most familiar…

"E-Elliott!?"

"The one and only!" He chuckled then. "Aren't you a little old to have imaginary friends, Li-Li?"

"Oh stop! I was talking to myself. But, oh my gosh! It's really you!!" She stood up and flung her arms against the young man, instantaneously acknowledging the considerable height difference between them.

"You grew! I think you must be taller than dad now!! What brought you to Saffron?!?"

"I think you may be right about that, Cora. And, well, I'm participating in the Tournament Cup tomorrow!"

Elliott had a plethora of nicknames for his little sister that stemmed from their childhood and it was almost nostalgic for Coralie to hear such names again.

"Oh, that's so exciting!! Have you been training with your pokemon a lot?'

Before the teenager was able to provide an answer, Florian, who had just been awakened by the commotion, hopped over to Elliott, who crouched down and offered him affectionate head pats, before resuming an upright position once more.

"Yes, well.. I was actually training with them earlier this morning, but it seems that I'm missing a pokemon. Violet, my Skorupi, she wandered off somewhere and I've been unable to find her….." He sighed before mumbling. "She really has a mind of her own!"

Coralie blinked momentarily, as she processed her elder sibling's words. "She's missing?? Eeek! Well, what are you standing around for, Elli?? We have to find her!!!"

She shook her brother, flabbergasted at his relaxed composure and perceived lack of urgency. If Coralie were in his position, she'd have the entire population of Saffron form a search party and wouldn't rest until every rock, tree, and flower was turned over.

"Yes, I know. Phoebe and Buddy are searching the sky and I thought I'd check this park for Violet - when I happened to run into you of all people. You'll help me find her, won't you?"

She ogled him incredulously before nodding. "Yes, of course, I just said I would, didn't I? Anyways, nevermind that! Standing around and twiddling our thumbs won't do us any good!! We need to split up and track her down!" She then reached for her bag, extracting all of her pokeballs, before proceeding to release each pokemon in her party.

Elliott momentarily stood in awe as each of her companions emerged, the realization that his baby sister was a budding trainer finally dawning upon him. It had been quite some time since the two of them last saw one another, and in that time apart, Coralie had certainly evolved as an individual. Albeit, she still was his energetic, goofball klutz of a sister, no doubt.

"Ok! Listen up, you guys. We have a missing pokemon on our hands! Her name is Violet, she's a Skor-Skurrupti."

"Skorupi." Elliot promptly corrected.

"Skorupi, right." Coralie nodded, a tinge of pink upon her cheeks at her failure to pronounce the name. "We have to find her! Her current whereabouts are unknown, obviously, but she must be somewhere in Saffron!! Are you guys willing to help out?"

All of her pokemon cried out in unison, signifying that they were indeed willing and ready.

"Yayy! Thank you, cuties. Ok, let's do this!! Clover, Stella-Luna, and Mavis, you can take to the sky and search for Violet that way. Florian, Teddy, you two will come with me and we'll search on the ground. Does that sound good?"

Each of her pokemon offered another cry of acknowledgement of her instructions, varying in degree of volume. With that, the three flying types took off, each in different directions, so as to increase their chances of efficiently pin-pointing Violet's location.

The petite girl then directed her attention toward her brother. "Elliot, we'll split up. You go that way and I'll go this way. We'll meet back here in an hour or however long it takes us to find Violet!"

"That way?? Which way is that way?"

"That way is that way." Coralie motioned in the direction opposite to her.

"Which way?"

"That way."

Coralie giggled. "Elliot, you're hopeless."

"Hey, I heard that!"

"No you didn't!" With that, she turned and took off running, so as to evade her brother if he decided to give chase. It was unlikely given the present circumstances, and she knew that if he tried, he'd easily catch her regardless. She, at 148 centimeters in height, would never be able to outrun a 16 year-old boy, who was nearly 30 centimeters taller. It felt like old times, when the two of them would chase each other around Cerulean, their friends running alongside them. It was indescribable bliss, and Coralie couldn't help but smile as she darted out of the park and around the corner. It was tremendous seeing her brother again, even if they had to part ways once more in order to locate Violet.

A while later…

Coralie was walking in downtown Saffron, Teddy and Florian further back, searching the street corners meticulously. All around her were vendors and countless people moving about, peering in the various storefronts and conversing loudly. She passed by an outdoor shop with eclectic trinkets on display, having to combat the immense urge to stop and take a look. She had to remain focused on the task at hand and thus, increased the pace in which she was walking at, so as to eliminate any possible distractions. Surely Violet wouldn't be browsing around any of the local shops.

It was then that she came upon another park, one which was gargantuan in comparison to the green space she was previously at. The pink-haired girl glanced around the space, so as to see if she could spot Violet from afar. To no avail.

Coralie sighed then, feeling a slight ache in her feet from all of the walking and running she had done in the past half-hour since she began her search for Violet. Her choice of footwear certainly wasn't the most ideal in light of the circumstances, as her dainty sandals offered little support. Practicality wasn't particularly a strong-suit of Coralie's, though she wasn't about to let a small ache slow her down.

Addressing her pokemon, she offered them a bright, toothy smile. "Don't worry, Florian, Teddy, I have a feeling Violet isn't too far! We'll find her soon, I'm sure of it!! Then, we can play to our heart's content!"

They both mirrored her enthusiasm, delighted at the prospect of playing. Teddy took off, nose pressed against the verdant grass as he tried to pick up a scent which would hopefully lead them in Violet's direction. Florian followed the Dedenne, hopping about with great fervor. Coralie was grateful for her pokemon's efforts, she felt truly blessed to have such compassionate and willing pokemon. Though, she couldn't help but feel a small pang of guilt as Violet remained unfound. She was cognizant that despite Elliott's composure, he was deeply troubled over the disappearance of his pokemon, as anyone would be. The thought that she was in danger crossed Coralie's mind, and she bit her lip anxiously as she considered such a horrid cogitation, her hands instantaneously becoming clammy. Wiping her palms on the skirt of her dress, Coralie exhaled audibly, momentarily slamming her eyes shut. Now was not the time to fret over the unknown. They had to find Violet as swiftly as possible.

A sudden screech from Teddy alerted Coralie and she sprinted in the direction where the sound came from. "Teddy!! Are you ok!??"

Mavis's POV:

Mavis floated about the streets of Saffron, scanning the ground from above, though hadn't managed to have any luck in finding Violet. Albeit, she was a tad distracted gazing at all of the scenery. Saffron was ginormous and there was a lot to observe. Never before had she visited such a bustling city, nor had she seen so many clusters of people and pokemon all within one place. The world was much bigger than she could have ever conceptualized, and she could only wonder of all the places she would travel to alongside Coralie, Florian, and the others.

Mavis soon found herself in a district with a plethora of vibrant food trucks and outdoor shops, the sight was nearly overstimulating. One thing in particular, however, managed to catch her eye. It was one lone lollipop. Clutched firmly by the grubby hands of a child who trotted alongside his mother, it retained its wrapper, which was decorated by a bright pink heart amidst a navy background. She instantaneously became transfixed with this lollipop. She wanted it.

Lowering herself closer to the ground, Mavis closed in on the apple of her eye, positioning herself above the unassuming child. Perhaps theft was immoral, though that was none of her business. If her mission to secure the lollipop was indeed successful, no one would become cognizant of it. Especially not Coralie, Mavis didn't wish to disappoint her peppy trainer.

Extending her arms, the Drifloon wrapped her heart shaped hands around the stick of the Lollipop, tugging on it until it was free from the child's hand. An audible gasp exited the mouth of said child, who pointed frantically at the ghost-type as she made her swift escape, gaining considerable height so that pursuit would be impossible. Her mother echoed this surprise, yelling in shock, whilst demanding that Mavis drop the lollipop at once, though to no avail.

It was too easy. Like stealing candy from a baby.

Coralie's POV:

Coralie soon found herself in the brush, surrounded by lush deciduous trees on all sides in a small secluded action of the park, where she spotted Florian, Teddy, and other pokemon which seemed to fit the description of Violet.

She was astonished, ogling the bug-type in awe as the bug-type carelessly munched on a Babiri berry. "Violet?? Is that you??"

The Skorupi then acknowledged her, chirping in reply, a gesture which confirmed Coralie's suspicions. It was Violet, indeed.

"Oh my gosh!! We found you!!" Coralie squealed. The trainer's inexplicable excitement perplexed Violet, who continued to munch on her Babiri berry nonchalantly.

"Elliott has been so worried about you!! We were searching high and low!! You can't just go running off by yourself like that." She exclaimed, kneeling beside the dual-type pokemon, Florian and Teddy at her side, the two of them eager to make a new friend. The mention of her trainer seemed to catch Violet's attention who had finally finished nibbling her snack, and she chirped enthusiastically. Coralie gingerly extended her hand and stroked Violet's head, much to her delight. "Don't worry, we'll find Elliott soon! He's been looking for you as well. Oh! And my name's Coralie, by the way. I'm Elliott's younger sister! It's nice to meet you." She then gazed at her two pokemon and giggled. "And these two are my friends, Florian and Teddy." As the pokemon appeared to be acquainting themselves with one another, Coralie resumed an upright position, glancing over her shoulder, hands upon her hips. "I wonder where Elliot could be.."

Out of nowhere, a horde of pokemon unveiled themselves from the brush, surrounding the group from all sides, much to Coralie's horror. Beedrill.

"Oh! Sorry. Are we intruding?? Don't mind us!! We'll be just leaving now." As she took a step forwards, a Beedrill rushed at her. "EEEEEEKK!" She winced, and braced herself for the oncoming assault. Florian jumped in front of her, threateningly elongated vines so as to dissuade the Beedrill from continuing its attack. Such a tactic worked, though the four of them had found themselves in quite a conundrum and were seemingly trapped by the enraged Beedrill who could strike at any moment.
"We don't want any trouble!" Coralie burst, attempting to think of a way to diffuse the situation. She didn't want to resort to battling, considering how outnumbered they were. "Just let us through, we'll be gone and we won't cause you any more trouble! I pinkie promise!" The Beedrill didn't seem to care for her explanation, nor did they desire to listen to reason.

Just then, a pokemon swopped in from above, much to the surprise of both Coralie and the Beedrill.

Clover.

She positioned herself directly in front of Coralie, scowling at the aggressors who were growing increasingly agitated at yet another pokemon occupying their territory.

"Clover!! Where did you..??" Coralie was astonished by her pokemon's unexpected arrival, though grateful nonetheless. It was likely that she was flying overhead and spotted them from above.

As the Beedrill appeared to ready themselves for attack, Coralie knew that battling was their only option, as it was evident the Beedrill had no intention of allowing them to leave peacefully. "Alright, you guys. We're going to have to bust ourselves out of here, ok? Let's kick some Beedrill butt." Clenching her fist, she was ready.

As if anticipating her command, a Beedrill fired a Twineedle directly at Clover when it was intercepted by a psychic attack. Bursting through the entrance of the trees was none other than Elliot himself, his Butterfree in toe.

"Need a hand?!"

"Elliott!?!? How did you…"

He cocked a grin towards his younger sibling. "What kind of older brother would I be if I let you get pulverized by these Beedrill? I heard your screams and had to come save the day!"

"I was about to pulverize them, actually." She stated, matter-of-factly, though was unable to wipe the smile off her face at her brother's appearance. Talk about perfect timing.

The Beedrill clustered themselves around the entrance of the grove, so as to corner and disorient the group.

He stood beside her, Phoebe by his side, carefully studying the Beedrill. "Beedrill are highly territorial pokemon and live in colonies, which is why there are so many of them. They'll ruthlessly defend their territory from any perceived threat, which just so happens to be you guys. They won't back off unless defeated." He glanced at Coralie, then at Clover. "I have an idea, we'll take care of them quickly and use a combined attack. Does your Beautifly know any moves that generate wind?"

"Yes! Clover knows gust."

Elliott nodded then, having already formulated a plan. "Excellent. Follow my lead."

As two Beedrill rushed at them, Elliot didn't hesitate a second. "Phoebe, Psychic. Stop their pursuit!"

The Butterfree did as told, her wide eyes glowing as she seized control of the larger of the two Beedrill's bodily autonomy, slamming it into the other Beedrill, as they both hit the ground with a thud.

Coralie would only watch in awe, before catching his brother's eye.

"Now, whirlwind, Phoebe!"

Coralie interpreted that as her cue. "Alright, Clover! Use Gust!"

Both butterfly pokemon beat their wings furiously, generating gale winds which instantaneously launched the Beedrill into oblivion. They stood no chance, the combined attack was simply overpowering.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Coralie collapsed onto the grass beneath, a guttural laugh spilling from her chest, a release of her nerves.

"You did good, Bebe. And your Clover is really something, Cora." Elliott commented, as the Butterfree perched herself on his head. He then caught Violet's gaze, who seemed somewhat shameful at having caused such a conundrum. He kneeled down beside her, before picking the Skorupi up and swaddling her like a baby. "I'm glad you're safe, Violet. Though, no more running off, ok? I almost had a heart attack."

She chirped apologetically and he couldn't help but chuckle, both in relief, and at his sister's antics.

"Get up, Li-li. All this commotion has worked up my appetite, I could use some grub right now." He patted his stomach with his free hand. "Besides, there's no telling when those Beedrill will come back for round two, we better get outta here."

Coralie sat up and giggled lightheartedly. "Let them come back. We'll teach them another lesson! Right, you guys??"

Florian, Teddy, and Clover all echoed similar sentiment. "I'm hungry too, though. Plus we have to find Mavis and Stella-Luna. They can't be too far off. I wonder what they've been up to.."

"We'll have a picnic in the park where we were earlier then and wait for them to return." Elliot suggested, exiting the clusters of trees in which they were situated.

Coralie hopped to her feet and followed him, her pokemon in toe. "Sounds good to me… hey! Wait up!"

Aquacorde · Apr 16, 2022

Casey Holt & Jordan Springs

Friday, May 31, 2019 // Morning, Day 12
Saffron City

10-16. rebel against myself

Spoiler: rebel beat - goo goo dolls

Ah, she's gonna be furious.

Aurelia may have only called him twice, but the tone of the single text she's sent leaves no question as to her expectations. And even after spending so much time resolutely ignoring her while with Sorley, he still has to prolong the return of her Beedrill. If his workout clothes feel out of place in this fancy lobby with its crystalline chandeliers, they will feel absolutely disgusting next to Aurelia's perfect outfits.

So he'd be changing into something more presentable even if he didn't look as if he'd just come in from the rain.

Unfortunately, as with yesterday, his usual process of returning for a shower and a better breakfast will take far longer than it should. One would think pocketing all his Pokémon would streamline things, but skirting along walls and keeping a wary eye out counteracts that ease. Sneaking all the way to the elevators at the far end of the building to go up to their floor spends even more time, as does peeking around corners and ducking into the shallow shadow of doorways at the slightest sound.

Beedrill is absolutely baffled, and relatively averse to being ushered into corners as they make their slow and erratic journey toward Casey's room. At least his friends don't know that it's temporarily in his custody, so even if they see a lone Beedrill…

Well, they probably won't notice.

He shouldn't keep avoiding Jordan and Vera like this, he knows. He knows! But he still doesn't quite know what to say, or what to promise, or how to move forward. He wanted- still wants- time and space. But how much? For how long?

If he doesn't have answers, how can he expect to have any kind of conversation about it?

Avoidance it is.

"What are you looking for?" An all too familiar voice makes him jump and he whirls around to find himself face to face with Jordan, who is holding a half-eaten banana, and now peering behind Casey. He glances at Beedrill hovering nearby. "Is… is it with you?"

Avoidance it isn't.

"Yeah, uh, for a bit. How- how're you, how's your banana?" Casey bites down a grimace. Very smooth. He really was confident that he'd be able to avoid both of his friends. How long had Jordan been watching him dart from doorway to doorway? How many things is Casey about to have to answer for? He isn't ready for this. And he's already itching to get away…

But he can't. He has more to do than avoid. And Jordan's his best friend. It'll be fine. It has to be fine.

"Oh, you know. It's good. It's a banana." Jordan shuffles his feet slightly, probably sensing the tension. "How are… things?" He asks slowly.

"Uh…" Confusing. Exciting. Stressful. Interesting. Scary. Wish you just knew. "They keep happening," is very much not the same as a confident fine, good, thanks. "I'm keeping up," doesn't make it seem better. "What've you been doin'?"

"Ah, oh." He must have expected more of an answer. "Not much, really. You hear about the Poke Ball factory? They need some help from Electric Pokemon so Ve-" Jordan's face suddenly flushes and he hurriedly stumbles into his next sentence. "I-I thought it would be good to lend them Hop. Figured they could make use of his Mirror Move, what with all the Electric-types they'll have around. And um, yeah. Just kind of chilling. Checking out the city."

"Yeah. Yeah, that's legit. Uh." Casey twists the hem of his shirt between his fingers. "'S probably good training for Hop. There's- there's a tournament on, are you gonna do that?"

Jordan perks up at the mention of the tournament. "Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Don't know if I'll be any good in it or place or anything, but it's good practice for me, too. Get myself and my Pokemon out there a bit, you know. You?"

"Nah, I- I wanted to, same reasons, but I can't- I can't do it yet. Like, if I went up against you and you had Tiny out I don't- it's not gonna work. I only knocked out a Ghost one time ever, I don't know if I can do it again. I didn't get anywhere close this morning, against Sorley's Golurk." Casey rakes his fingers through his hair. "So, uh, no. Maybe a show, there's a show thing tomorrow. But I can't fight. Yet! I, I'm trying. But I can't do it yet." The bitter frustration leaks into his words at the end. "I wish we could go together. That would be cool. We've never even battled, have we?"

A look of... what is this, pity? Sympathy? It's uncomfortable, whatever the sad expression crosses Jordan's face as he listens is. But he quickly switches to a more upbeat demeanour as he starts speaking. "Huh! Yeah, I guess we haven't. How about that. Well! If you ever want to just, um, train with me a bit, we can work on that. And Tiny's, uh, tinier than Golurk, so maybe that's not as. You know. Baby steps. If you want to." He gives Casey a small smile. "If you ever need me for that. Or anything, really. Or if you change your mind about coming with me to the thing. Let me know."

"I do! I want to. I'd like- okay, like is a strong word, but- to try with Tiny. Uh. Not now, I gotta- I gotta shower and get this one-" Casey gestures to Beedrill, who has been watching the exchange intently. "-back to where it belongs. And you gotta do a tournament, so. But maybe… maybe I can meet ya over there? Cheer you on?"

The words are out of his mouth before he can think about how they're completely undermining his resolution of space and time, but now that they're out he doesn't know what he'd do if Jordan said no.

"Yeah! I'd like that," He sounds and looks genuine. Relieved, even. "Would be nice to have someone in my corner, you know. What about uh, your thing? This show thing?" Jordan furrows his brows in contemplation, probably searching for something to say about it given the lack of details. "Do you- should I… do you want me to come to that, maybe?"

"Yeah! Yeah, yeah, for sure!" Casey can't help the grin creeping back onto his face. It's relief, it's joy, it's a realization of how much he really, really wants to be with his friend. It's a choice he's making as he speaks, nixing the plan to keep his distance. It'll work- they'll work- if they just go with the flow. They don't have to be together all the time, but he doesn't have to completely cut himself off. "Uh, I don't know what I'm doin' for a performance yet, gotta plan somethin' but- it's at nine in the morning, I think usin' the same center at your tournament. So that's easy. And you can see how good I look on stage!" Casey twirls dramatically, as if he is wearing something far more spectacular than a sweaty t-shirt and athletic shorts. "Whatever I do, it's gonna be sparkly."

Jordan laughs, sounding more at ease now as well. "Well, knowing you, I know I can count on you to bring the pizzazz." He accompanies the last word with awkward jazz hands, before giving him a more serious nod. "But yeah, that sounds like a good time, definitely. I'll be there."

"Good, yeah. Thank you. I-" Casey hesitates. Standing in a hotel hallway in damp workout clothes and being observed by a Beedrill with no inclination of giving privacy is not the greatest time to talk Jordan's ear off about how grateful Casey is that Jordan is so kind and accommodating and patient and- well. All of that. "I'll go get my shit together and meet you out at the tournament! It's gonna be a good time."

"Okay!" Jordan waves his banana hand at him. "Sounds like a plan, I'll see you-"

Oh, that's too easy of a target.

Casey's hand shoots out to stop Jordan's wrist so he can take a giant bite of the banana.

"Hey, wait a-" Jordan cries out. "Casey, wh-!"

But any protest is overwhelmed by Casey's muffled giggles as he dashes away down the hall, Beedrill speeding along behind him. Jordan will get him back later, for sure- and that'll be fun, too.

He's glad for that. He's glad nothing's been ruined. Jordan might need more from him, later, some clarity at least, but it- it seems okay. And later gives Casey time to put his messy thoughts in the correct order, to find a way to explain the feelings wrenching him back and forth, the impossibility but necessity of distance…

Later. He'll have time for that later.

budube · Apr 17, 2022

Bruno Dillinger
May 29, Wednesday

Chapter 9: Treasure Hunting

10:00 am, Route 6

By the time the two kids exit Vermilion the skies start getting clearer. Just barely, though, it's still not as hot as Vermilion usually is, but it's not as cold as it was when they arrived. Whatever was wrong with the temperature at Vermilion is beyond any of their minds but it's none of their business either, the only thing that matters is that they battled Hana and also learned how to ride pokémon, something Deborah already knew how to do, but Bruno didn't. He figured it would be a useful skill to have.

The temperature was also not optimal for the egg Bruno was holding, which just added to the desire of leaving earlier, but thankfully it's doing alright inside his backpack at the moment. It seems the egg is almost ready to hatch, yet still, Bruno wishes he had an incubator with him right now to avoid risking something happening to the egg.

"This is Route 6, isn't it? Professor Palm told us to go this way."

"Does it really matter?," Deborah asks, holding one of the three plushies she didn't leave at her home in Vermilion. "It's really not like Palm will know if we take the train instead."

"He told us to take this path, though. Those are the rules," the boy answers. "And how do you plan on taking the train without money, anyways?"

"Umm…" Deborah goes quiet and tilts her head sideways thinking of an answer, but she quickly gives up and shrugs before starting to look at her surroundings. "I've been here before!"

"Is that so? Great, that makes things easier. Which way do we go?"

She shrugs. "Oh, I don't know. I only went to Saffron by train, like normal people."

"Then…?"

"I used to go exploring to see if I could find some treasure," she says with a smile. "Dad told me once this is where he found the Deep Sea Tooth for his Huntail. But that was years ago, so I wouldn't know if it's possible to find one anymore. Personally I haven't found any."

"A Deep Sea Tooth here? Could it be that this area was sea at some point?"

Deborah shrugs. "No idea, maybe? I do believe him, though, he does have a Huntail."

"Right…"

Bruno doesn't have many reasons not to believe it, either as amusing as it might sound. He knows full well it was Mr. Cormac the one that got Deborah into all of that sailor stories and stuff. If he had made up a story about how he obtained the tooth of a deep sea pokémon, then he would have said he found it at the Sevii Islands to make it more interesting.

"... We could keep following this path until we find a sign or someone else to tell us how to get to Saffron, though," the girl says, breaking the silence.

Turns out, finding the correct path isn't that difficult. Arrow signs scattered across the Route signal which way the two kids need to go, just like Deborah said. However, their journey is too quiet, even for Bruno, something he would not expect when traveling with the girl.

"Are you okay?"

Deborah doesn't answer, she seems to be deep into her own thoughts until Bruno calls her name. "W-what? Oh, yes. I'm fine."

"... Sure."

"It's just… I don't know what happened there. Why was it so cold? It makes no sense."

"... I don't know," he says. It obviously doesn't help, but to be honest, the environment in this part of the region does not make any sense to begin with. "... I'm sure things are fine now… b-by the time we left Vermilion, things were already going back to normal, weren't they…?" he says, putting a hand on her shoulder. It still doesn't seem to do much for the girl, though. It could be because his arm is shaking or because he doesn't sound too convinced, maybe both, but this isn't really what he is good at.

"I guess…," Deborah says, trying to sound reassuring, but she's really expressive and it's obvious this is still bothering her. However, after giving things another thought, she frowns and replies with a more optimistic tone. "Y-you're right! Things are fine now, there's nothing to worry about! We can do things in Vermilion after this is over, right?"

Bruno nods, but he doesn't answer, because he can, in a way, understand how Deborah is feeling and is still unable to do anything.

Like in Cerulean.

This has nothing to do with it, does it? Why would those masked guys steal creatures that can't take the cold?

"Bruno, don't stay behind!"

He shakes his head. He shouldn't be thinking about that, there's already a whole team investigating it.

"This is not the path to Saffron."

"Because we are not going to Saffron… yet," Deborah answers, holding Bruno's arm, something Shir doesn't like while she's still standing on his shoulder. She took him to the south western part of the route, taking almost a complete 180 turn and going back to where they came from. "This is where dad says he found the Deep Sea Tooth."

"This place has… water, alright. But are you sure there's something like that here?"

Deborah shrugs. "I hope so. Why else would all of these people be here?"

Bruno looks around him. Yeah, this place has more people than he would think, many of them carry things like shovels or other digging tools, while others just have their diving and digging pokémon with them.

"Is it always like this here?"

"Yup! A lot of treasure hunters!" She nods, confident. "That's why I usually look somewhere else, just so I don't have anyone to steal my stuff."

"Somewhere else…?" Deborah nods. "Don't you think you haven't found anything ever because you always looked in the wrong place?"

"What!? How dare you!" she snaps. "Don't underestimate my treasure hunting skills!"

"But you haven't found anything…"

"Quiet! We'll find something this time, got it? A sunken ship! We are going to use it to get to the other side of the region!," she starts protesting, while she scans the area with her eyes and starts stomping the ground many times, until one of her feet sinks in a hole, nearly making her fall to the water. When she recovers her stance, she glances at said hole with a huge grin.

"That makes no sense. Even if we found a sunken ship, we wouldn't be able to take it back to the surf- what are you doing?"

All of a sudden, Deborah starts walking in circles around Bruno, looking inside his backpack or his hoodie's pockets. Of course, Shir doesn't appreciate her snooping around Bruno and her, and as soon as the girl wakes her up, she hisses at her, ready to jump directly on her face.

"Holy-... yikey!," she yells in genuine surprise, almost falling down. However, she doesn't stop, and instead of staying away from Bruno, she decides to avoid the Fomantis by kneeling by his side to take a look at the pokéballs hanging from his belt. "You don't have any water type pokémon, do you?"

"No- You literally have a Psyduck."

Deborah pouts and looks back at her pokémon, while he just stares at them while holding his head. "He doesn't know how to swim…"

"If I may…," someone says all of a sudden, before Bruno is able to come up with something. Both kids turn their heads to where that voice came from, just to see a short man walking towards them, seemingly coming from a group of two other people, all of them dressed according to what they are apparently doing here.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we couldn't help but notice your enthusiasm to find something here," he says, adjusting his round glasses and then hiding his thumbs under his vest. He takes a small breath before continuing. "You can call me Hal, I'm the leader of this group, we are-"

"Treasure hunters!"

Hal opens his eyes at Deborah, not in surprise, it appears to be cluelessness more than anything, and then he turns his head to look up to the sky, still holding his vest before answering. "Uh… no, not really. We are a group of archeologists, which you could say is like treasure hunting, except we do it for the historical value of said treasure."

Deborah groans.

"But anyways, rumors say that hundreds of years ago Saffron used to be a port town or something similar, we are trying to discover what kind of evidence there is to this claim," Hal says, then holds his vest the same way as before and looks up again. "Thing is, my buddy forgot the pokémon capable of searching underwater, so we would appreciate it if some trainers could help us."

"Well, the only pokémon we have capable of swimming is her Psyduck and-"

"N-no! He can't swim! Not underwater at least. We can't help, sorry!"

"Really now?" Bruno asks. "What happened to wanting to find a sunken ship and all the treasure?"

"Well there's no point in treasure hunting if you're not keeping the treasure!" Deborah reproaches begrudgingly.

"Oh, you can keep whatever you find. Once we finish taking our notes, that is," Hal points out.

"Count me in, count me in!" the girl yells full of enthusiasm, her frown turning upside down into a big grin again. Bruno rolls his eyes. "But… there's still the problem that Dukko can't stay underwater much."

Hal clicks his tongue. "That's not a problem, that's where my team comes in. Follow me."

With the diving move all taught on Deborah's Psyduck–via a graduating college student called Philip, who has access to various TMs–, both kids are back to the hole the girl almost fell into earlier. Deborah puts Dukko on the ground, who stares down at the hole before turning back to his trainer, holding his head with strength.

"What is it? You can swim now! You're free!"

Deborah starts acting as if she was the one diving, while Dukko looks at her not feeling anything better than before, and then stares back at the water, confirming his lack of confidence with a faint quack.

"That's an issue with TM moves. Since they are moves your pokémon was never trained to use, some have trouble getting to use them after learning them," Philip explains.

"When this is over your Psyduck will be able to dominate this move better, but you should still train it to get used to it," Hal adds with a nod. "But for now… it seems to need some kind of push to get it into the wa-"

'QUA-'

"Dukko!" The Psyduck starts flapping his arms and splashing some water out, out of surprise of being pushed into that hole, just to later find out he can, in fact, float without any trouble.

The aggressor here was none other than Bruno's Spoink, who at this moment is trying to pick up his pearl from the ground. Bruno didn't notice he made his way to the Psyduck, and apparently nobody did either, save for Ivory–the older woman, whose in charge of the group's data analysis–who after knitting one of her eyebrows at Bumblebee writes down something on her notepad and shows it to Philip.

Philip scans Bumblebee with his PokéDex and checks some information about him. He then gets up and walks towards Bruno with his TM case and machine as soon as Dukko submerges underwater.

"Heyo, Ivory says your Spoink likes being sneaky."

Bruno looks back at the woman a bit confused at first, but then agrees with her. He's been nothing but a pain lately, honestly.

"She also says something has been hiding here for a while, so she wants me to teach it how to use Covet in case something happens."

"Covet…?" Bruno looks back at his Spoink, who has just managed to lift his pearl back from the ground. "That move's for stealing from other pokémon, right? What would you need it for?"

The blonde guy shrugs. "In case we–meaning you– have to steal something back? Look, if ya don't wanna to steal something, I'd say that's pretty noble of ya," he says with a smile. "Just figured I'd let ya know what Ivory thinks. Her powers of observation are a big deal, she might actually have a third eye or something, it's scary; there might actually be something here."

Bruno looks around. He's unable to see anything other than Ivory staring at both of them tapping her pen on her notepad and Deborah kneeling in front of the hole, waiting for Dukko to come back, but that's not really the issue here.

Covet, a move used for stealing. Bumblebee already does that, and Bruno doesn't like that habit of his. It hasn't been easy controlling Bumblebee from sneaking around to grab things that aren't his, and Covet could be, in a way, encouraging this. But, if Bruno trains Bumblebee to use his stealing abilities and stealth in battle, he could get into his head that this is only okay to do in a competitive scenario. At least for now, exploiting this strength could prove useful, also because he doesn't know what's going to happen with whatever was going on in Cerulean. If anything, if this doesn't work, Bruno can always have Bumblebee forget that move.

"Ehh, bud!," Philip calls, waving his arm in front of Bruno's eyes. When Bruno snaps back to reality, Philip looks in the same direction he was and chuckles, pointing at Ivory. "Really? She's like… 40 years old, bud. Or were ya looking at your friend?"

"What…? No, I was just…"

"I'm messing with ya." The young archeologist laughs and waves his hand at him. "Whatever. Covet. Yes or no?"

"O-oh, yeah, sure." Bruno calls his pokémon back and while Philip prepares the machine, the boy goes to see Deborah who's still kneeling looking at the hole Dukko dived in.

"I'm bored. Do you think he got lost? Maybe I can call him back." She puts her hand inside the water and starts shaking it.

"It hasn't even been three minutes. He's probably still looking for something."

"Yeah, maybe.". Still boring if you don't do anything, it kinda misses the point of treasure hunting," the girl says with disappointment. Her eyes open wide all of a sudden, though, when she sees something approaching from the water. It splashes way too much water at the kids the moment it jumps out of the water, revealing it's Deborah's Psyduck holding a pink object with his hand.

Hal claps his hands together as he walks to where the two kids are. He takes a magnifying glass from one of his vest's pockets and takes a look at the object Dukko brought with him.

"This is a scale! Perhaps a bit too hard for a fish, but a scale regardless," Hal observes, taking the scale from Dukko's hands before showing it to his partner. "Ivory? What do you think?"

The woman takes her time to react to his words, since she's been looking for another notepad inside the many pockets of her backpack while also staring at the plants behind her. Hal holds the scale in front of her, as she slowly writes down all of her observations.

"Do you think this might have been from an ancient species? Probably some yet undiscovered pokémon?" Hal asks, seeing how his partner keeps writing things down, placing his free hand under his chin. Ivory shakes her head in answer, showing her notepad to him. "Deep Sea Scale… this belongs to a Gorebyss, then." Ivory nods, and Hal looks at her disappointed.

Ivory stares at him with a sad face. She writes some things on her other notepad and hands it to him, giving him a wholehearted smile.

Hal reads what Ivory wrote down carefully, and when he gives her back her notepad he already has some of his enthusiasm restored. "You're right! If there were Gorebyss in this part of Kanto, then the water must have been even deeper back then than we thought!," he says, readjusting his glasses and holding his vest once again. "Philip, boy! We are done for today! We are coming back here tomorrow, don't forget the pokémon this time!"

Philip sighs and raises his thumb at him as an answer.

"This is yours." Hal says, giving the Deep Sea Scale back to Deborah, who's been standing with Dukko, all bored, this whole time. "Thanks to both of you for your-" all of a sudden, a pokémon jumps from the tall plants in the field, snatching the scale with its mouth and sliding at full speed to the hole the group used beforehand.

"Ah, thief!" Deborah yells in surprise, pointing at what ended up being a wild Buizel, with Dukko instantly going after the pokémon.

While both pokémon are apparently racing underwater, Bruno just stands doing nothing until he receives a message in the form of a paper ball to his head.

'Go steal it back!'

Bruno looks back at Ivory, who tilts her head to where the two pokémon were fighting. The boy nods.

"Deborah, I'm sending Bumblebee. Do you think your Wingull can identify what other spot the Buizel is using to get out of the water?"

The girl nods, sending Skipper outside of his pokéball.

"Skipper, I need you to guide Bumblebee to where Buizel is!" Skipper doesn't give an answer. "You know what a Buizel is, right? They are small water pokémon with orange fur. They are really fast, especially underwater. I think they have two tails… or was that Floatzel? I know Floatzel has two, because they use it as propellers to swim faster, but I don't remember if-"

"Deborah!"

"Ah! Just look for an orange pokémon coming out of the water!"

Skipper nods and starts flying away, with Bumblebee following after him, and the two kids running behind, and with the three archeologists following them, for some reason.

When the Wingull cries its signal and starts flying in circles, everyone stops moving, except Bumblebee who springs up and falls on the Buizel's head without knowing what hit it.

When the Buizel raises its head, Bumblebee extends his arm at it to help it get up, he then tries to communicate with it, getting closer to the pokémon, and apparently flattering it, despite the fact it obviously doesn't know what's going on. When Bumblebee is close enough, he tries to grab the scale, but the Buizel is quick to move it away, and after realizing what was going on, it tries running away, but it's taken down by Bumblebee's pearl before it happens.

When everyone gets to where the pokémon are, Bumblebee gives the scale to Bruno, while Deborah tries to cheer up her Psyduck, who had lost track of–now Deborah's– Buizel during their fight and had trouble finding the way out.

"Here, this is yours," Bruno says, giving her the Deep Sea Scale.

"Oh, you can keep it," she says. "If I'm honest, I think Gorebyss are scary."

"I don't want a Gorebyss either…"

"Then don't get one. Deep Sea Scales are big, hard and pretty, you could make a necklace out of them, like the Dragon Scale one I have!" Deborah raises her eyebrows all of a sudden, looking back at him with an open mouth. "I have an idea! We could have matching necklaces! You know, like those guys from Nugget Bridge that had red bandanas!"

"But they wouldn't match…" he answers in a low voice, but he smiles. "Sounds nice."

He then feels someone patting his back. When he looks behind him, he only sees Philip laughing with a big grin with Ivory smiling by his side as well, slapping the back of the young man lightly.

Bruno got a Deep Sea Scale!
Bumblebee grew to level 19!

Bruno's Party:

Bruno art by Aquacorde

Juno · Apr 24, 2022

Tangles Art Cred

Chapter 10: A Firm Hand

🏙️ Saffron City 🕙 May 31st, Morning

He's whistling as he makes his way to the Five Stars Stadium. Jordan feels ten times lighter after talking to Casey; everything is going to be okay between them, and it's one less thing to worry about, especially right before the tournament. It's still quite early, but he wants to get there well before the event starts to get familiar with the area, and maybe even do a bit of training. It'll help calm his nerves.

The Tomorrow Stadium catches his eye on his way, though, and he takes a quick detour to check it out. A rush of excitement, but also anxiety fills him as he follows a small crowd inside. He knows the arena the student cup will be held at is nothing like this, thankfully, but the atmosphere here alone puts him a little on edge at what's to come. People have already filed into the main stadium, either to look for prime seats together or make use of the arena for training. It's more packed in here than he thought it would be at this hour.

He watches a pair of Bisharp spar for a few minutes but leaves them after an awkward chuckle when he's caught staring by their trainer. He hangs around the venue for a little while longer, but can tell all the participants here right now are busy getting ready for the tournament and nobody really wants a kid loitering about and distracting their training teams.

So Jordan wanders around aimlessly, checking out the different facilities housed nearby. There are places to eat, shops to buy gifts and souvenirs at, and a large, modern park. He eventually locates the much smaller Five Stars Stadium, and although the setting here is a bit more intimate, he still feels a bit intimidated by the idea of training in front of other people—potentially trainers he will be fighting later—so he returns to the park for that instead. There were far fewer people, and they were more spread out.

One by one, he lets out his team. Curiosity grabs their attention before he does, and he lets them explore their new surroundings as he considers who will be going in the tournament today. The format is 3v3 singles, with up to 6 Pokémon registered. So he could register all of them, but does it want to? His type coverage isn't great, so any diversity will be helpful. He's just not sure if all of them are quite tournament-ready. Not just training-wise, but the 'discipline' comment still nags at him, and it's one he's not quite sure how to tackle yet.

He needs Tangles' help to round up everyone when he wanted to address them; it takes her several tries to pull Tiny off a tree as she keeps phasing out of reach, and Spirit was steering Sage steadily after a child with a box of cookies when he catches up to them. Finally, he manages to get them all in a circle around him to chat.

"So, the tournament is in a few hours! You see that stadium over there? No—not that one, that one," He corrects their gaze from the grand Tomorrow Stadium they all instantly turned to. He shrugs and adds, "But maybe one day, though. Now, we might not all be fighting in it today, but regardless, more training is never a—"

Spirit shakes his club in the air angrily before he finishes his sentence, and throws it at the back of Tangles' head in a bid to prove his battle-ready strength. The Tangela looks annoyed, but tanks it like a champ.

"...I don't think you're making the point you think you are. Let's just train for a bit and see how we're feeling, okay? I'm putting you in two groups—"

His instructions are quickly drowned out as his Pokémon dissolve into a fight amongst themselves over who deserves to participate. He wants to wait until it dies down, but it's giving him a bit of a headache. Emotions are running high already today, and compounded with the comments about his lack of discipline, about the training...

"Hey! Stop it!" Jordan yells out. He's not sure if he's ever raised his voice at them. Not like this, at least. He sounds angry, for once. A hush instantly falls over his squabbling team. Even a few random park goers glance over.

He swallows as all his Pokémon turn to look at him with dumbfounded expressions.

He feels bad.

"I'm—I'm sorry, but... we're going nowhere fast like this." He drops his voice back down to his usual level. "And I need your help. I need your cooperation. We have to be in sync, okay? And... and you have to trust my decisions. Even if you might not like it."

They've returned to their semi-circle formation around him and are still quiet. They don't look upset, though—maybe just surprised, if anything. Jordan takes this for compliance and nods. "Um. Anyway, as I was saying—two groups. And I'm sorry, again. For yelling."

He sets Sage and Tiny up to practice their Razor Leaf and Bullet Seed aim with Hop—he is a large target, but fast in the air, and good at tanking their Grass-type moves. After returning from the Pokeball factory, he seems to have gotten a bit stronger as well. He's also instructed to Roost as needed.

Once they have gotten their routine going, Jordan turns his attention to his other two Pokémon. It's true Spirit is the least experienced, but that's not his fault. He can't grow if Jordan won't let him, and he's not been giving him the chance to lately.

"Okay, Tangles—we are going to be sparring with Spirit." She looks at him, horrified, like she's just been asked to beat her own child. Jordan smiles sadly. Is that what it is for me, too? He ponders his reluctance to let him fight. He's not bad at it, by any means, and he held his own very well against a gym leader's team back in Lavender Town. So...

"I know. But he's not a baby, and we have to remember that. Because you—" Jordan kneels down next to Spirit now. "—are a warrior!" He finishes, psyching up the little guy. He grabs an abandoned umbrella someone had left leaning against a bench and holds it like Spirit does his club. "Yeah! Let's practice our Swords Dance."

Jordan stomps along rhythmically with the Cubone as he performs his war dance, humming tunelessly. They're waving their clubs, they're having a good time, and they're getting pumped for battle. Spirit is really giving it his all, even though they are just training—he must really want to participate.

"Alright, now, let her have it! And you remember our training from earlier too, right? Your game is attrition." He points to Tangles, reminding her of their new strategy. She nods, rooting herself in place with Ingrain as she braces for the attack.

The Swords Dance sharply boosts the Cubone's fighting spirit, and though her natural resistance to Bone Club considerably lessens the effect of his attack, she plays along and feints heavy damage after the hit, unrooting herself and rolling around dramatically as the Cubone cheers.

"Good, good! Now, show me your Focus Energy."

Spirit takes a deep breath and channels his energy. A dim glow surrounds him, getting brighter as he concentrates on upping his damage.

While he does that, Tangles works on rooting herself again. It's easy over grassy terrains, but recalling their lack of surfaces to latch onto in Hana's gym, Jordan also has her try extending her roots through cracked concrete and into other organic matter, like trees and bushes.

The flurry of Bone Clubs that follow are definitely striking deeper. Tangles practices Mega Drain as well, careful not to overdo it over Spirit's Ground-typing, and they switch back to Ingraining her for sustenance. Jordan cycles through most of Spirit's attacks with him, also preparing him for more reflexive but simple attacking decisions he should be able to execute on his own in a pinch.

"Alright, so at close range, we..." Spirit charges up and Headbutts the rooted Tangles at his trainers prompt.

"Good, good! Okay, and now we're running, and running, and—oh, there is some distance between you and your opponent. She is throwing a Vine Whip your way, and—" The Cubone quickly throws his club at the approaching vines in response, knocking them back. He jumps in the air to catch his weapon and sticks the landing with a Bone Club.

Jordan beams proudly at what the Cubone's achieved today. He's still apprehensive, but feels a lot better about putting his baby in the arena.

As the time ticks down, he has everyone finish up their training and rounds them up to head on over to the venue.

"How do you feel about entering the tournament with me?" He asks, scooping up Spirit. The Cubone waves his club in the air excitedly, and Jordan sharply jerks his head back to avoid being hit, but he laughs. "Alright, let's do this thing."

Party

Tangles
Tangela | F | Lvl. 25

Ingrain
Constrict
Absorb
Vine Whip
Sleep Powder
Poison Powder

Hop
Pidgeotto | M | Lvl. 27

Headbutt
Pluck
Twister
Mirror Move
Roost
Wing Attack

Spirit
Alolan Cubone | M | Lvl. 19

Focus Energy
Feint Attack
Bone Club
Headbutt
Swords Dance

Sage
Skiddo | F | Lvl. 22

Tackle
Growth
Vine Whip
Play Nice
Razor Leaf
Leech Seed

Tiny
Pumpkaboo | F | Lvl. 22

Razor Leaf
Shadow Sneak
Confuse Ray
Scary Face
Worry Seed
Trick-or-Treat

???
??? | ? | Lvl. -

It appears to move occasionally. It may be close to hatching.

Inventory

- Pokédex
- Pokégear
- 2-person tent
- Tangles' plant

Moon Stone

budube · Apr 24, 2022

Bruno Dillinger
May 29, Wednesday

Chapter 10 - Part 1: A Warning

16:00 pm, Saffron City
Not long after exiting Route 6, Bruno and Deborah part ways again, at least for a little while; something about finding a place to make a necklace with Bruno's Deep Sea Scale. He could've helped with that.

He had forgotten what Saffron's air felt like. Of course, after days traveling through different, more natural environments by foot, walking into the more congested air of perhaps the biggest and most populated city in Kanto was definitely something. It already felt like home and he hated it, but at least he made it.

Bruno recognizes the city has changed since the last day he was here. Definitely not for the best, at least according to his mother, since one of the first things he saw was an announcement about a Pokémon Musical, and he knows full well she doesn't want anything to do with Pokémon performance events anymore. Regardless, most stuff is where he remembers it to be, which is good news, he doesn't remember Saffron by street name, just by observation.

After walking a few squares north of Saffron Park used to be a small restaurant called Fausto's, they seem to have gone out of business, though, and there's nothing there now. Bruno walks past the empty building and finds the alley they found Jackpot in, just as nasty as he remembers, and then he turns right. That old and wasted building he used to live in isn't gray anymore, it's white, which somehow makes it look dirtier.

However, it's when he's about to walk in that his PokéGear starts ringing. Unknown number, but he's not really one to save many of them, it could be anyone.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, am I talking to Bruno Dillinger?"

That raspy voice, as if someone had drank not long ago. He knows it from somewhere.

"It's Detective Brown. Cerulean," the voice says. "I believe I didn't introduce myself back then."

"Detective… wait." He didn't know the Detective had his number, he probably got it from the other officers. Regardless, it's his voice, so it must be something important... and definitely something bad. He feels his stomach start acting up.

Bruno looks around him to see if no one is following him before ringing for reception to open the door. "I remember. C-can I help you?"

"Are you still on that Pokémon Journey whatever thing? Where are you right now?"

"Just got to Saffron…"

"Oh, that's great news," he says in really obvious sarcasm, sighing with frustration and taking a long pause before he continues saying something else. "Cerulean Police has gotten some reports from Saffron's about masked guys similar to ours making their things there. You know what it is, stealing Pokémon and all that."

Bruno doesn't say anything.

"Thing is, we found out the masks were a trademark for the Pokémon Liberation Group. Don't know if you've heard about them."

"... n-no, I haven't."

"Well, they are pretty much another group of criminals that steal pokémon from other people. Up until now everything lines up, right?"

"M-mhm…"

"Right, the difference is that the Pokémon Liberation Group believe in the idea that humans shouldn't own pokémon and as far as we can tell, they don't use pokémon themselves."

"But that's…"

"It's bullshit, exactly," he says. "It's possible the Pokémon Liberation Group started making their move because of the Tomorrow Cup in an attempt to boycot it, we don't know, but whatever it is, just wanted to let you know and ask you to take care. Try avoiding crowded and empty places, and watch your back, I guess. If something worth calling you for happens, I'll let you know. Goodbye, kid."

He closes the call. Bruno stares at the screen on his PokéGear in silence, hearing only his own thoughts.

What happened in Cerulean is just as big as he thought, and now he's involved in it. He jumped into it because he thought it was the correct thing to do, but it's proving to be more problematic than rewarding.

Was he being followed while he was making his way home with Shir on his back? Probably not, things would've gotten really ugly if someone noticed her there.

The Fomantis starts waking up from all the city noise, and she'll probably get angry, so Bruno closes the PokéGear, his both arms shaking terribly before entering the building.

He's glad he's home. He's safe there.

Bruno handed over his Deep Sea Scale to Deborah

Bruno's Party:

Bruno art by Aquacorde

Aquacorde · Apr 28, 2022

Casey Holt

Friday, May 31, 2019 // Morning, Day 12
Saffron City

10-17. only ever looking back

Spoiler: bad blood - bastille

Casey hasn't brought particularly nice clothes with him on his journey. He likes to treat his things well, and bundling even the hardest of wearing silk shirts into a backpack is not treating them well. He doesn't even have a basic dress shirt, which he is vaguely surprised at. Then again, he hadn't needed them at Cape much anyway.

He'll have to buy something for the show.

But this morning he has to settle for his most neutral, least tattered shirt and a good pair of dark jeans. His jacket and boots suffer a quick polish after his hair is halfheartedly fluffed and stubble-turning-to-beard is glared at.

It's fine. He looks fine. Well, he always looks great, actually, but he's styled as well as he can, and that will have to do.

Casey watches himself turn in the full-length mirror and clicks his tongue. Even if it's fine, what's the point if it all? He's not trying to impress Aurelia, nor would she treat him better if he did. She's already furious, and this will not placate her.

But maybe the effort will offer some protection against her harsh judgement, and he knows the leather jacket can stand up to some physical punishment.

Casey steels himself, and sets out with only Beedrill trailing after him.

They get into the mirrored elevator, and Casey angles his arm out so Beedrill can perch on it. The bug's wings and antennae droop. Is that the way a Beedrill would sigh?

"You could have stayed wild," Casey murmurs, even knowing before it buzzes vehemently at him that it couldn't have. Pokémon that have been trained often have a hard time readjusting to life in the wild. Beedrill, for all its power and capability, would have had a lonely struggle. Like Ginger. Only some naive kid wouldn't have been able to force it to come with them, and if they did would just as likely give up on it eventually.

"But you can't stay with me, either." Beedrill protests, a whiny buzz. "You can't. There's so many- so many problems with that. You're tournament level. I can't even use you right now, it's not right. And then that's not right, either- you wouldn't be gettin' the training or focus you need. My three need so much more attention than you- they're in a, what is it, rapid development stage or something. I'm in a rapid development stage. I don't- I think you're better taken care of by Aurelia. 'Cause I can't. And what's the other option, Palm's?" Beedrill makes a disgruntled noise. Apparently it's been sent away before. "So if you can't be wild, and you can't go with me, and you don't know anyone else… you gotta go back."

Beedrill crosses its needled arms and turns its back on him in a pout. This is slightly sullied by the fact that Casey can see its sadly drooping antennae, reflected over and over in the mirrors surrounding them.

They don't look bad together, himself and a Beedrill.

But that's not a path he can take.

The elevator dings and Beedrill hovers on its own as they walk down the hall, which is good for Casey. He's not so strong as to support sixty-five pounds of bug with one unbraced arm for very long.

It's relatively troubling that Aurelia has been staying in the same hotel as he'd booked for himself and his friends. Of course she's in a very fancy room high at the top of the building, but it's the same hotel nonetheless. It's distressing to think they could run into each other at any point where Casey is unprepared to do so.

It takes a lot of mental preparation for him to be able to function in front of her.

Even then…

Casey raps firmly at the door.

Some moments of shuffling his feet later, it opens to Aurelia's hard hazel eyes and floral perfume. "Get in here," she says to Beedrill, and as soon as obediently hovers through the door she closes it in Casey's face.

And on his foot. Ow, fuck.

"Found your Beedrill," he says, meeting her gaze without flinching, channeling pain through a clenched fist at his side. "You owe me answers."

Aurelia tsks and gives the door another futile shove against his boot before relenting.

The sitting room of the suite she's commandeered is big and bright and spacious, with pristine furniture and no personality other than luxury. It bears an itchy, unwelcome resemblance to the penthouse Casey grew up in, right down to the older sister glaring daggers at him for daring to exist.

"I thought you lived in Saffron," he comments idly. Aurelia scoffs.

"Never."

"Where do you live, then?"

"I will only be answering one question. Is that what you want to know?"

"No."

Casey's brain kicks into gear. Now that's a challenge- how much information can he get without using a question? His eyes wander across the suite's living area. Nothing is out of place. The only thing that indicates someone is staying here is the Beedrill settled dutifully on the floor, and a box of discs on the coffee table.

"Cape doesn't allow us to purchase TMs," he tells her. Her eyebrow twitches.

"How are you meant to show diversity of techniques?" She's been on a graduation journey. She knows what the leaders are looking for, even if they are not the same leaders she had faced.

Casey shrugs. "Natural sets are prioritized. Make do with what ya have."

"That's ridiculous," Aurelia snaps. "No wonder you're weak."

A soft question pings in Casey's mind, but he ignores it. "We're allowed to receive them as gifts along the way, or take advantage of people willing to teach us. But there's not many opportunities for either of those. At least not so far."

"I would imagine not." Aurelia sniffs. "Technical Machines are both expensive for common people and an item to collect for those that are able. Neither would share with the likes of you."

Casey hums. "Yeah, too bad the reusable ones are still uncommon here."

Aurelia's lips curve into the tiniest, sharpest smile. "Saffron has done its work as the shopping capital."

"Yeah, I thought those might've been the new ones." Casey gestures to the box. He absolutely hadn't thought such a thing. "I hope they aren't bad discs. I've heard there are scams going around." He absolutely hadn't heard such a thing. Acting is harder without a basis in truth. He'd be shaky if he weren't so tense.

Aurelia's eyes narrow. "Do you really think I would fall victim to a scam?"

"No, nope, 'course not. Not intentionally. I'm sure you buy directly from reputable collectors. I'm just sayin', I've heard bad things."

Aurelia scrutinizes him. Casey's breath comes a little more shallow, and sweat prickles along the back of his neck. He's not in danger. She can't do anything to him. He's strong now. He…

It's hard to get his body to believe him.

"I haven't tested them yet," Aurelia muses. "They are only collectibles, nothing worth using for my own Pokémon."

There.

"Well, good luck testing them, then." Casey's nonchalance is key here and he knows it. "I s'pose you really only have to test one or two, if they're all from the same place. So that's convenient."

"It is." Aurelia's gaze is more thoughtful than critical, now. Casey shuffles his feet and tugs at the hem of his jacket as she watches. Self-awareness is key to acting, isn't it?

Aurelia makes up her mind and gestures to the box. "Pick one for your Charmeleon."

"I, uh, don't know what you mean." God, he's gonna nail this musical thing. Acting!

"I'm using your Pokémon to test my machines," Aurelia says matter-of-factly, and Casey tries his best to look uncertain about the idea. "Pick. One."

"Okay, okay." He thumbs through the box of discs, neatly alphabetized as expected, and his act nearly crumbles when he finds exactly what he's been pining for. "Uh, this one's fine, I guess."

Aurelia scoffs. "It doesn't already know that?"

"No," he says simply, refusing to elaborate. His Pokémon are his business. He slots the disc into his PokéDex and pulls up Pepper's moves. They're all good, especially now that he has better control of Flamethrower, but there's definitely one they haven't been utilizing as well as this move would be.

He presses the overwrite command, and hands the ejected disc back to Aurelia. Weird to do that, rather than end up with a handful of shattered plastic.

"Bring it out and prove it worked."

"Uh, that's dangerous-"

"Get ready to put out some fire, then. The point of the exercise is to prove these are real, is it not?"

"It is," Casey sighs, and brings Pepper onto the scene. His Charmeleon waits expectantly, but none of the usual pleasantries are going to happen here. Aurelia seems to confuse him anyway- he keeps squinting at her, nostrils flaring. "Pepper, can you do an Ember?"

Pepper cocks his head, glaring as if Casey has forgotten something important. "No, try it," he insists. Pepper, good boy that he is, automatically looks around for somewhere reasonable to aim. His eyes lock with Beedrill's, and the bug gives a tiny nod.

Little tongues of flame fly, three in quick succession, and Pepper dances and leaps with unrestrained joy. Beedrill takes the hits stoically, and Aurelia looks like she's going to say something before Pepper launches himself into Casey's arms, chattering away happily. "Whoa, buddy, okay-"

Aurelia hums, satisfied with the display. "As it should be."

"Yup," Casey agrees.

"Now leave."

Casey's brain whips into a frenzy. "Uh- hold on, hold on, I haven't asked any questions yet."

Aurelia pauses, reviewing the conversation. "Hm. You haven't. What do you want to know?"

What does he want to know?

So much. Why she didn't look for Beedrill. Why she never texted back. Where she lived, what kind of life she led, what the rest of her team was like. If she ever spoke to their parents, if she was as ignored as he was…

"Why do you hate me?" is the soft, unguarded question that ends up falling from his lips, that makes them both suck in a breath and mirror stricken looks across the room.

Aurelia recovers in a heartbeat. Of course she does.

"Too many reasons to name."

And Casey's heart drops, his throat closes, and he's out the door in a flash.

Ninetales · Apr 29, 2022

Coralie & Elliott Summers

Saffron City

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pokémon

♡

Theme song

Coralie's team:

Florian the Bulbasaur
Stella-Luna the Noibat [*]Mavis the Drifloon [*]Clover the Beautifly [*]Teddy the Dedenne

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Charlotte's Web

Coralie and Elliott were indulging in bento boxes, purchased from a quaint shop that was seemingly manned entirely by an elderly woman, who was similar to Coralie in stature, and whose soft jet black eyes and willowy voice reminded them of their maternal grandmother, Kiku. Coralie had customized her bento with onigiri, tamagoyaki, sashimi, and buneary-shaped apple slices, whilst Elliott opted for a larger bento option with onigiri, tsukune, chicken katsu, edamame, and hot dogs cut to resemble Octillery. Both were quite ravenous, having wolfed down their sustenance in mere minutes after selecting a place to sit in the park.

The Summers siblings were positioned upon a quilt, underneath the shade of a thick-trunked tree. Said quilt was a gift to Elliott from their grandmother and sewn upon it were Vivillon in their various colourful patterns. It held deep sentimental value to Elliott, as their aforementioned grandmother, Kiku, designed it specifically knowing that he wished to see a Vivillon of each pattern. The mere thought that such a pokemon possessed such aesthetic variations was absolutely mind-boggling to the young trainer.

The two were recounting stories from their respective travels thus far now that they were finally provided the opportunity to do so. ""That's when the cake vanished into thin air!!" Coralie exclaimed dramatically, mimicking an explosion with her hands for added effect.

Elliott seemed in disbelief. "What!? Where did it go!?" His cheeks were so stuffed that he resembled that of a Skwovet, pieces of rice flying from his maw whilst he struggled to enunciate.

"Mhmm! Gone! I blinked again and then next thing you know, Stella-Luna and Florian disappeared, too! POOF, just like that! I was SHOCKED!" She paused then, gazing at her brother's flabbergasted expression whilst allowing him to process her words, before continuing. "I was panicking, you know, I was so confused! That's when the fog cleared and Mavis made an appearance. It was her! She was the culprit all along!"

Speaking of culprits, Mavis had managed to smuggle an apple slice whilst the siblings were chatting and the theft had gone unnoticed. She truly was an evil mastermind.

"So did you get the cake back?" Elliott inquired, ravenously shoving another onigiri into his mouth.

Coralie nodded. "Yep! I challenged Mavis to a battle, if we won, she had to return the cake and join us on our journey, and if we lost, well, the cake was all hers. Those were the conditions. Now here we are!"

It was fun to reminisce about the past and exchange silly stories, it reminded Coralie of just how grateful she was to have such an opportunity to travel. She could only imagine the wonderful experiences that awaited her as she continued her journey around the Kanto region.

Elliott swallowed finally, a small burp escaping his lips. "That was a great story. That Mavis of yours is quite the meddler. But, man, speaking of cake, it would be nice to have a slice right about now. You think there's a cake shop anywhere nearby?" There was a grain of rice stuck to his lip, a sight which Coralie immediately noticed. She couldn't help herself but giggle.

"What're you laughing at?" Elliott's tone became more accusatory as each syllable parted from his lips, the fact that he was the subject of Coralie's laughter progressively dawning on him.

"Oh nothing!"

Eliott simply groaned and dabbed at his mouth reflexively, sensing that there had to be something on his face. That did the trick.

"Oh! Elliott, do you remember that time we baked a cake for Amika's birthday and you dropped it?!?!"

The memory instantaneously registered to Elliott, though he rejected responsibility for said mistake! "What?!? No, you bumped into me and then I dropped it! That was your fault, Coralie!"

"No way! I didn't even bump into you!"

"Yes you did!"

"Did not!" Coralie huffed.

"Did too!"

The two broke out in laughter, acknowledging their own ridiculousness.

"It was a good thing we managed to bake another cake in time!"

Coralie nodded, another giggle filling the air. "Definitely! Amika loved it! And that cake was much prettier anyways! I would say it was definitely a success."

"Agreed." Elliott paused, recounting Amika's delighted expression upon seeing the famous 2nd cake they had baked. It was turquoise and lilac, Amika's two favourite colours, and was meticulously decorated with roses made of icing, something that Coralie had insisted upon.

"Oh yeah, I heard there's an upcoming tournament for journeying students such as yourself. Are you planning on participating?"

Coralie had almost forgotten about the tournament altogether, especially with all of the commotion that had occurred earlier. "Oh!! That's right! I am planning on battling in the tournament." She exclaimed, suddenly realizing she had done no prior training thus far and had done nothing in preparation for the Tomorrow Cup.

Elliott seemed to read her thoughts, causing Coralie to contemplate on whether or not he was secretly an Alakazam. "Have you done any training yet?"

She shook her head. "No, not yet! I guess that thought never crossed my mind." she sheepishly admitted, gentle laugh slipping from her maw. To be truthful, Coralie didn't always treat battling like a serious endeavour. It was something that was enjoyable, an adrenaline-inducing activity. Though if her fight with Hana taught her anything, it was that battling required more skill than she had previously thought. It wasn't necessarily as simple as the stronger pokemon won, there was strategy that could be utilized to sway the fate of a battle, and strategy wasn't something in which she had quite grasped yet. Thus far, she was running on pure luck.

"Well, I could use some extra training for my tournament as well. What'dya say to a battle?"

Coralie seemed momentarily incredulous at such an unanticipated suggestion, before her lips curved upwards into a beaming smile. "I'd love to! Let's do it!!!"

Elliott stood up. "I've been training with my pokemon relentlessly for this, but I'm curious to see how you operate as a trainer."

She nodded excitedly, her mind racing as she simultaneously hypothesized which pokemon her brother would use and considered which pokemon she should use.

The two of them cleaned up the space they had claimed in the park, Elliott delicately folding up the quilt whilst Coralie discarded the food scraps before they positioned themselves for battle.

"Let's do a 3 versus 3 battle, I think that would be the easiest." Elliott announced to which Coralie nodded energetically.

Elliott glanced around at Violet, who was preoccupied playing with Florian. He discovered earlier that Violet's pokeball was mysteriously destroyed and had no feasible explanation for how that could've occurred. Though that was a situation he would deal with later.

He withdrew a pokeball, lightly tossing it into the air and thus summoning Charlotte. The Galvantula appeared in a burst of light, to Coralie's amazement. He reflexively reached for her pokedex as a means of gathering information on such a peculiar specimen.

"Galvantula, the Elespider pokemon, and the evolved form of Joltik. When attacked, they create an electric barrier by spitting out many electrically charged threads."

"Wowww! How cute!" Coralie was absolutely enamored by the bug-electric type pokemon.

Elliott seemed gratified by her reaction. "Her name is Charlotte, and she's really cool. We've been training frequently for the tournament and have been working on developing several strategies to counter opponents with type advantages. We've also been training to improve Charlotte's overall agility. We've made steady progress, isn't that right?"

He affectionately gave the Galvantula a pat, a gesture which made her chirp blissfully.

"Well hello there, Charlotte!" Coralie almost forgot that a battle was about to take place, as Charlotte had managed to capture her attention completely. Nonetheless, Coralie was impressed by Elliott's prowess. It was very evident that he possessed a lot of valuable knowledge regarding training pokemon, knowledge in which she lacked.

Elliott laughed at his sister's distractedness. "Come on! Let's get this battle started already!"

She smiled sheepishly, reaching for a pokeball, though pausing midway. She wasn't decisive on who to call forward for battle. She didn't know who would fare well against Charlotte, as she had absolutely no clue as to what the Galvantula was capable of, or what tricks Elliott had up his sleeve. She was shooting in the dark here.

Fumbling slightly, she managed to summon Mavis, who floated passively at her side. "Mavis! Now's our time to train for the Tomorrow Cup! Do your very best, ok? I believe in you!"

"A Drifloon, huh? Well, let's get this party started, then! You can have the first move!!"

"Ok!!' Coralie replied, her adrenaline increasing tenfold. "Alright, Mavis! Use Gust!!"

At her command, the Drifloon generated a gust of wind aimed in the approximate direction of Charlotte.

"Dodge with agility, Charlotte." In a flash, the fully-evolved pokemon raced forward, disappearing and reappearing several times in a matter of mere seconds, boosting her speed considerably. This action astounded Coralie, who hadn't anticipated that Charlotte would move so swiftly and gracefully.

"She's faster than she looks." Elliott remarked aloud, seemingly reading Coralie's thoughts once again. He was a psychic type, he just had to be. Coralie was becoming increasingly convinced of said theory. Did that mean he would predict her next move??

Without hesitation, Charlotte used her hind legs to launch herself towards Mavis. She did such without instruction from Elliot, knowing exactly what he expected of her. The two were completely in sync, proof of their bond. This, however, gave Coralie an idea. She recalled her battle with Hana, wherein Clover threw Lanturn's trajectory off with tackle Whilst Lanturn was mid-air.

"Astonish, Mavis! Quickly!"

"Grab hold of Mavis."
The attack connected, though Charlotte seized hold of Mavis utilizing her pedipalps and subsequently pulled her downwards. "Now use Thunder Wave!"

Instantaneously, the Elespider pokemon produced a jolt of electricity which consumed Mavis, the Drifloon succumbing to paralysis.

"Eeeeekkk!" Coralie watched in horror as Mavis weakly attempted to combat her paralyzed state.

"Electro Ball, now!"

Charlotte then proceeded to generate an immense pulse of electricity, shooting it at Mavis at a breakneck pace. As the attack hit, it set off a miniature explosion. Once the smoke eventually cleared, Mavis was revealed to be in a state of unconsciousness.

"Oh no!! Mavis!! Coralie summoned her fallen pokeball back into her respective ball, glaring at it apologetically, before tucking it away in her purse.

"Electro Ball is an attack that inflicts more damage the faster the user is compared to the target. By using Agility and paralyzing your Mavis, I increased the gap in speed, therefore making Electro Ball all that much more powerful."

Coralie nodded at his words, her eyes falling upon Charlotte once more. It was becoming clear to the young Cape College graduate how knowledgeable her elder brother truly was. She also was perplexed by his strategy. Raising one's states and immobilizing an opponent before going in for the kill was a deadly combination, one which she had to consider as she decided upon her next pokemon.

"Teddy, give me a hand!"

The Dedenne entered the battle, squeaking excitedly. This was much to Elliott's amusement as he took a moment to glance at the new pokemon which had arrived on the field. Coralie's rationale for bringing forth Teddy was his typing. Being an electric and fairy type, he resisted both bug and electric type moves, which gave her an advantage. Furthermore, Teddy's electric typing gave him immunity from being paralyzed by Thunder Wave. Elliott wouldn't be able to utilize the same tricks as before.

"Alright, let's see what you got, little guy!"

Elliott's words seemed to fire up Teddy, whose cheeks pulsed with electricity.

"Your move, Li-Li."

"Alright!" Coralie didn't react right away. While she had considered the typing situation, the bubblegum-haired girl wasn't actually sure how she should start this battle off.

"Use Charge, Teddy!"

With that, the Antenna pokemon began generating electricity, readying itself for whatever Charlotte may throw their way. It was a safe choice, though she figured it would also be a means of baiting Elliott.

It seemed as if Elliott was utilizing the same method as Coralie, as he failed to provide his pokemon with any commands. Neither one was willing to strike, both parties were sizing one another up so as to react accordingly and counterattack.

Coralie took the bait.

"Tackle!"

The attack connected, Teddy darting towards Charlotte and crashing into her.

Coralie celebrated the hit, though swiftly recounted their previous battle, not wanting for Teddy to be grasped by the Galvantula's pedipalps once more. "Get out of range, Teddy!"

He did as she advised, racing away from Charlotte before he managed to seize him. In and out. That's how they would have to deal out damage.

"Yay! Good job!" She complimented, feeling slightly more in control of the battle. "Let's go for it again, Teddy! Tackle once more."

"Agility, Charlotte."

Once again, Charlotte gained speed, appearing and disappearing in a flash as she ran.

"Stay focused, Teddy hit her dead on!"

He did as he was told, successfully managing to take aim at Charlotte. However, his attack went straight through her, the Elespider pokemon seemingly vanishing upon contact.

The real Charlotte appeared suddenly, much to the shock of both Teddy and Coralie alike.

"That's a move called substitute. With it, Charlotte can essentially create another copy of herself to lure an opponent in, while the real Charlotte evades oncoming attacks."

Coralie was absolutely dumbfounded. Who knew such a move existed?? It appeared as though Elliott's tricks were limitless.

"Now, Charlotte, entrap them with Electroweb!"

The Galvantula leapt up, gaining momentum whilst finding a perfect angle to launch her attack. She then spit out a ball of silk which formed into a gargantuan web. Said web landed on Teddy and the electric currents which flowed through said web shocked him endlessly.

"Teddy!! Oh my gosh!!"

"Let's finish them off with Bug Buzz." Charlotte complied, rubbing her Pedipalps together whilst contemporaneously vibrating her body, producing powerful sound waves which battered Teddy. The combination of both attacks did him in. He fell into unconsciousness.

"Oh, Teddy! I'm so sorry." She cried, withdrawing him within his pokeball. The young girl gazed at said catching device which she firmly clutched, feeling slightly guilty. It was her misjudgement that caused both Teddy and Mavis to suffer. Her callowness was truly beginning to reveal itself, and it was something in which she was now forced to confront. She lacked the knowledge acquired through battling experience and was therefore unable to properly predict her opponent's moves and respond accordingly.

Coralie found herself growing quite flustered, though on the contrary, was equally amazed by Elliott's expertise and move choice. It was exhilarating and disconcerting concurrently. Elliott sensed her discombobulated thoughts. "Hey, this is supposed to be fun, right? Take this beating as a learning opportunity." She couldn't help but smile, though rolled her eyes. His words were oddly comforting.

"Florian! It's your time to shine!" She beckoned to the jolly pokemon who was nibbling on a blade of grass. If anyone was capable of defeating Charlotte, it was Florian. He happily trotted over, immediately readying himself for battle.

"Your famous Bulbasaur, huh? I'm curious to see how you battle with him."

"Ready, Florian? We'll have to be weary, they have quite a few tricks up their sleeves!"

Florian nodded in understanding.

"Your move." Coralie was feeling bold. Perhaps it was a mistake, though she wasn't simply going to allow herself to fall victim to Charlotte's traps once again. Elliott himself seemed mildly surprised at her insistence that he make the initial move. "If you say so. Charlotte, use Electro Ball!"

"Alright, Florian, counter it with Seed Bomb! You've got this!!"

Both attacks collided, generating an explosion of energy. "Woohoo, yes!!"

"Alright, now use Leech Seed, Florian!" Utilizing the smoke to her advantage, Coralie saw an opportunity.

The bulbasaur emitted a seed which landed upon Charlotte, who wasn't able to dodge said attack as the smoke hindered her vision. Within seconds the seed had sprouted, vines wrapping around the Arachnid-like pokemon, incapacitating her whilst slowly sapping her health. She was using Elliott's own tactics against him, immobilizing Charlotte via her own means.

"Florian, use Stone Edge!" She had to capitalize on Charlotte's weakened state.

Large jagged rocks jutted out from the earth in the approximate position Charlotte was in, dealing significant damage.

"Charlotte, hold in there." Elliott reassured, though he flashed his younger sibling a miniature smile. "I must admit, I definitely didn't see that coming."

So maybe Elliott wasn't psychic after all.

"Alright, Charlotte, use Bug Buzz." Though she was considerably strained, the Elespider pokemon managed to generate sound waves. The combination of her bodily vibrations, alongside the sound waves seemed to slightly loosen the seeds in which entrapped her, whilst dealing damage to the Bulbasaur simultaneously.

"Now, let out some electricity." Charlotte emitted electricity, enveloping herself in an electric shock; the result of such a move was that the sprouts embedded in her were fried and she was subsequently freed.

"Use Takedown, Florian!!" The Bulbasaur charged full-force at Charlotte.

"Dodge, Charlotte, use Agility!"

The Galvantula was too fatigued to evade Florian's attack in time, and he smashed into her, sending the EleSpider pokemon crashing into the ground with a thud whilst he himself suffered with recoil damage.

"Charlotte!"

Upon investigation, the Galvantula was unable to continue battling. Elliott returned her to his pokeball, murmuring softly. "You did very well, Charlotte. I couldn't be more proud." In the meantime, Coralie was indescribably ecstatic, almost in disbelief! "WE DID IT!! WOOHOO! Florian, oh you are wonderful!!" She scooped up the Bulbasaur and twirled around with him, nearly squeezing him to death in the process.

"Don't forget, Cora, I still have two pokemon left." Elliott teased, a low chuckle escaping his lips. He then selected a pokeball before tossing it in the air, Buddy emerging triumphantly.

Coralie hardened her expression slightly, she was well aware that Buddy was Elliott's strongest pokemon. Even taking a simple glance at the Heracross was enough to determine its sheer fortitude and strength.

"Buddy, remember what we've practiced." The Heracross buzzed in reply, threateningly spreading his wings as he ogled Florian. The two were playing together earlier, so it would certainly make for an interesting battle. "I know that's your friend, Florian, but remember, this is a battle! I want you to do your very best, alright!?"

Florian seemed to take her words to heart, as he held Buddy's piercing gaze.

"Alright, Florian, run up to Buddy!"

He did as he was told, darting in the direction of where Buddy stood.

"Now, use Sleep Powder!"

As Florian neared his target, he emitted a verdant cloud of powder from his bulb.

"Fly up, Buddy!"

With that, the Heracross opened his wings and soared upwards, narrowly dodging the potent powder as it filled the air. The Single Horn pokemon then began to maneuver whilst airborne, mimicking a dance of some sort, an action which Coralie found to be most peculiar.

"Swords Dance." Elliot began, his lips curving upwards into a confident grin. "It's a move used to boost attacking power."

Coralie nodded, knowing how necessary it was to incapacitate Buddy while they still had a fighting chance. "Florian, Leech Seed!"

As Florian shot the seeds upwards, Buddy dodged them effortlessly, much to Coralie's dismay.

"Megahorn."

Without the slightest hesitation, Buddy came barrelling down on Florian, his horn increasing significantly in size.

"Dodge to the right, Florian!"

To no avail. The attack hit straight on, and Florian was sent reeling.

"Florian!"

Coralie gasped as her pokemon lay in a heap, unconscious, reflexively withdrawing him into his pokeball. "Thank you, Flors. You did so amazing. Have a nice rest." She whispered to the ball, before redirecting her attention to Elliott who had approached her.

"You weren't too shabby, Li-Li. Your Florian is definitely well-trained." He commented. "Still lost, though." He chuckled to himself. Teasing was necessitated of him as her elder brother, it was the law.

She sighed dramatically. "Well, you are an actual trainer, after all! Imagine if you did lose to me, that would be just embarrassing!"

The two laughed and Elliott offered her a toothy grin. "You showed some promise, sis. You just need to think more strategically. Oh, also, I thought I'd give you this."
Elliott then proceeded to present Coralie with a Technical Machine. "That's ElectroWeb, the move Charlotte used to trap your Dedenne." He explained, offering it to her. Coralie took it, considering who to teach it to, but chose to make such a decision at a later time. "Thank you so much, Elliott, I'll put it to good use!"

"Now, let's get ourselves to the Pokemon Center and then we can do some more training. Sound good?"

Coralie nodded, giggling to herself before she took off running. "Last one to the Pokemon Center's a rotten egg!!!"

"HEY! You got a head start! No fair!!"

[PKMN FULL] TRAINERS (IC)

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